BbS: Vol 1 Contents and Bios
Written by: Kanemaki Tomoco
Original Plan: Nomura Tetsuya and Oka Masaru
Illustration: Amano Shiro
Copyrighted by Disney and Square Enix
Translations: gold_panner
Notes: No profit is gained from these translations unless you count meeting and befriending amazing people profit. Every effort is made to make them as accurate as possible.
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Vol 1: Something Strange
Contents
Introduction
Story 1: Land of Departure
Story 2-A: Dwarf Woodlands
Story 2-B: Enchanted Dominion
Story 2-C: Castle of Dreams
Story 3: Thoughts
Story 4: 13 Crossroad--Radiant Garden
✫✫✫
Characters
Main Characters
Ventus - I'm sure your dreams will come true if you believe - The youngest of Eraqus' pupils. He is a pure-hearted being who relies somewhat on his senior fellow pupils Terra and Aqua, one reason being his youth.
Terra - My dream is to become a Keyblade Master - One of the three pupils training under Master Eraqus at the Land of Departure. He hates evil and has a strong sense of justice, but he has a tendency to try to use strength to control the darkness in his heart.
Aqua -Tomorrow, Terra and I have our Mark of Mastery Exam, right? I went and made some charms - A woman who is skilled at balancing both the power of magic and the power of the Keyblade. She is the serious and reliable one of the three, and she treasures her heart's bond with Terra and Ventus more than anything.
Land of Departure
Vanitas - Go see for yourself. Terra'll stop being Terra - A masked boy who visited the Land of Departure on the day of the Mark of Mastery Exam with Master Xehanort. He seems to have some connection to Ventus...
Master Xehanort - It's fine like that. One does not destroy the darkness in one's heart, one controls it with strength - A Keyblade Master who once trained with Eraqus. He and Vanitas paid a visit to the Land of Departure on the day of the Mark of Mastery Exam, but it's impossible to guess what's in his heart.
Master Eraqus - More importantly, let's begin the Mark of Mastery Exam - He provides strict guidance as the teacher of the three main characters Terra, Ventus and Aqua, and he is the legitimate successor for protecting the Land of Departure.
Dwarf Woodlands
Snow White - Thanks, Ven. I'm Snow White - One of the seven princesses with hearts of pure light. Because of her beauty the Queen is after her life, and so she lives in hiding with seven dwarves.
The Queen - Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all? - The Queen of this land, checks in a magic mirror to satisfy herself that she is the most beautiful in the world. One day the magic mirror stated that princess Snow White was the fairest in the land, and now she is trying to kill her.
Seven Dwarves - That's what all robbers say! Quiet, you! - Dwarves that live in a little house in the forest and mine for gemstones. There are seven; Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Bashful, Sneezy and Dopey.
The Magic Mirror - How dazzling! That young girl's heart is filled with light - A mysterious mirror that tells the truth, hung deep below the castle in order to satisfy the Queen's pride.
Enchanted Dominion
Phillip - I found out that princess Aurora has been cursed to eternal sleep, and I want to save her - A young man who met Aurora in the forest by chance, and fell in love with her. He is a heroic prince from a neighbouring country, who wields in battle a shield of virtue and a blade of truth that three fairies gave him for his fiancée Aurora's sake.
Aurora - I met you in a dream. To be meeting you for real, I just... - A princess cursed by the witch Maleficent to fall into eternal sleep on her 16th birthday. She is one of the princesses with hearts of light.
The Three Fairies - Dreams are strong desires. Princess Aurora's strong desires twisted fate and led her to true love - The three fairies are good fairies who gave Aurora various blessings when she was a baby. Flora is the most leader-like of the fairies. She gave Aurora beauty. Fauna gave Aurora a beautiful voice, and Merryweather gave Aurora the light of hope.
Castle of Dreams
Cinderella - I'm going to the ball tonight! If I believe, my dreams will come true, won't they? - A strong-hearted woman who continues to believe in her dreams even in the toughest of circumstances. Her pure wish is to give hope to not only the hearts of the people around her, but every life she touches.
Prince Charming - Wait! Please, even just your name! - The handsome prince of this land, who had no interest in marriage. His worried father threw a ball at the castle, where he fell in love at first sight with a woman, Cinderella, and came to believe in destiny.
Fairy Godmother - I am a fairy that appears before those who believe in dreams - A fairy who performs miracles for people with beautiful hearts and who don't forget their dreams with the magic words 'bibbity bobbity boo'. She appears before Cinderella and presents her with a dress and a carriage for the ball.
Lucifer - Watch out for Lucifer! - An ill-natured black cat kept by Lady Tremaine. It's the natural enemy of mice like Jaq.
Jaq - Hey, partner! You can relax. I'm an ally - Cinderella has experienced some awful things, and Jaq the mouse is her friend who sometimes helps her out and sometimes cheers her up, generally lending her strength.
Mysterious Tower
Yen Sid - Mickey. Something ugly just might be about to happen... - A great magician, and Mickey's teacher. Sensing something unusual in the realm of light, he sends word to Master Eraqus right away.
The King (Mickey Mouse) - The Keyblade isn't to be used to hurt people! I'll fight by your side! - The King of Disney Castle, he receives enormous support from his nation. He was training under Yen Sid to become a Keyblade Master, but upon finding out about the strange happenings in the world be became restless with worry and sneaked out of the castle with the 'star fragment'.
Radiant Garden
Dilan - Don't go thinking Radiant Garden will fall that easily - A soldier who holds the gate with Aeleus, and is proficient with a spear. In contrast with Aeleus, he is also proficient in manipulating people's hearts.
Aeleus - You're not getting into the castle this time - One of the body guards who protects the castle under Ansem the Wise. A valiant general who doesn't say much.
Braig - ...What do you want, gramps - One of the bodyguards of Ansem the Wise's castle. With his carefree demeanour and always ending his sentences with "~is all i'm sayin'," he blinds people. He encountered Xehanort and seems to be planning some sort of conspiracy.
Even - There's no darkness in his heart? Wait, it was taken from him? It can't be... - A genius researcher who studies the heart diligently. He also has sharp intuition, seeing through to Ventus' secret with one look, but on the flip side, he is very self-absorbed when it comes to his abilities.
✫✫✫
Introduction
The sun sank between the sky and the sea. A boy stood on the shore, in between the sea and land.
"This world is too small...," he muttered.
The silver-haired boy gazed at the setting sun.
✫✫✫
How much time has passed since then?
A man in a black coat stood there, holding 'something' wrapped in a large white cloth. He was standing in front of the same ocean that the boy had, long ago--except it was night. The sort of night where it felt as though nothing existed save the sound of the waves.
A white goatee peeked out from inside the black hook. It seemed the man was old. And, inside the large white cloth, a boy's face could be seen. The boy was not asleep, neither was he unconscious. His unfocused, reflection-less eyes were open, and the man carried him just as if he were a doll.
"This empty, prison-like world... is perfect for you," said the man. And then, he laid the boy's body on a bent tree that was on the island. Yes, just like a doll.
The white cloth wrapped around the boy fluttered in the ocean breeze. The boy's eyes slowly closed.
✫✫✫
Ocean--deep ocean, prenatal darkness. The boy sank, still wrapped in that white cloth.
Hey, where is this place?It was a small voice calling out to the boy. He replied:
Who are you?Light spread. The white cloth came loose. The boy touched down on ground. The voice continued:
I'm a newly-born heart.
The boy looked up into the pitch-black emptiness, and asked:
But... this is my heart. Why are you...
Yes, this place was inside the boy's heart. It was a place of light sunk deep at the bottom of an ocean of darkness. But the light was fractued.
The voice that had introduced itself as a newly-born heart said:
Light was flooding out. I headed towards it, and ended up--here.
The boy put a hand to his own chest, and said:
Yeah, my heart is fractured. That must be why. But... soon enough, I'll lose everything.
It seemed that everything, all of it would be lost... but the voice said:
Then you should connect your heart to mine.
The boy responded to that voice unconsciously. Just then, the light that should have been fractured off began to fill out. At the same time, the boy felt a heat deep inside his chest. Something was being filled out.
Our hearts are in contact like this. By connecting both our hearts, your fractured heart is stoppered up, but someday it will fill out with your own strength.
Okay, I understand.
The boy nodded. Someday, with my own strength, my heart will be filled out--no, I'll fill it out.
Okay then, open your eyes. Together now...
I know. There's something I have to do with him? The boy answered:
"Let's open the door."
The light continued to fill out. His field of vision was cleared, the world was filled with light, a vivid white light. Finally, the boy's heart was also filled up.
The boy looked up into the darkness.
✫✫✫
The man--no, old man--wearing the black coat walked towards the black ocean, his back to the boy lying on the tree trunk. He had no need to be in this place any longer.
The moment the old man went to leave, he senses something behind him. The boy's hand was stretched out to the heavens. And then light gathered in his hand, along with--
"Oh, a Keyblade," said the old man. The boy certainly was gripping a shining Keyblade in his hand. Light rose from it, into the heavens.
A smile curled on the old man's lips. The light reflected in the boy's unseeing eyes. And the light... to the sky.
✫✫✫
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Vol 1: Strange Things will be continued in Story 1: Land of Departure
I own this book all thanks to the amazing ucco ~ ILU~ You can see the cover here. The back cover is just sparkles, I can take a webcam shot if you want but it's nothing special! As I mentioned in a previous post, there are also no extra illustrations by Amano Shiro in this book; instead, there are 7 Bio pages in full colour with nice renders of every character in the game.
You might have noticed the stars; they aren't in the book, they just use boring old extra spacing to show scene transitions. But I like to think of interesting things (binary in seven days, xxx for xion axel and roxas in days, the <<ЯR>> in reverse/rebirth~) to make it pretty. Just know that it's not in the original.
I also can't be bothered to do translation notes for this right now, but if you have any questions about choices please don't hesitate to ask!! :D Comments and suggestions and corrections are also always welcome~ o3o
Thank you so much for reading ♥