Touchdown!
Bleary-eyed, John dragged himself out of his cabin and into the cockpit. Damn - it'd been a fight just to wake up! His mind still haunted by visions of the darkness, he blinked at the screen in front of him.
Could that even be real?
A moment's discussion - there was no way they weren't going to land.
The Longsword touched down on a grassy plain - a little near a cliff's edge for Spark's liking, but it'd been tricky to match speeds and orbits with the ring in the first place. They'd been lucky not to crash - as it was, it'd been rough.
Outside, fresh air, the sounds of birds in the distance; the two teens grinned as they saw the kind of place they'd ended up in. Cortana blinked; Spark's mood was hard to tell.
"Hey - over here!"
Down the bottom of the cliffs, accessible via a rock-strewn slope, an entrance led into the ground beneath their feet. The group looked on for a moment.
"That cave is not a natural formation..." Cortana remarked.
"Maybe it leads somewhere?" Kelly chimed in.
It took John only moments to add - "I say we take a look."
Keyblade in hand, he took the lead. The cave, if it could be called that, led deeper and deeper, carvings on the walls. Somehow, they looked familiar - a little like the ruins back home, he realised. Back on Reach. But how?
The passageways opened up.
This was obviously not just a cave. Dusty, derelict machinery and strange blocky constructions covered in holographic projections. Computer units, perhaps? John couldn't put his finger on it.
"...There's something here." Arrayed on top of one of the units, a small collection of - what were they? Cards, it looked like, partly transparent and seeming to glow from within. He picked one up.
"Yeah, those are handy."
John turned around to look for the source of the voice. A slightly arrogant looking man, hair tied back, white coat -
White coat. It looked familiar, just one little thing preying on his mind - damn, damn, damn! A Nobody. A Nobody standing there as calmly as anything. Still, not like it meant a lot... could be here to help, for all he knew.
"Uh - hi, there?"
"You know, I didn't think you were going to come with so much company. Huh. No matter."
He stepped closer, raising a hand to place it on John's shoulder, the keybearer too surprised to back away. John blinked -
What was going on? All of a sudden, his head was plunged into chaos. Flashing images ran in front of his mind, wild, free - he had no idea where this was coming from -
And he was standing back where he was, once more, looking at the Nobody who now seemed a little ill. A little pale. John felt the same way himself.
"Did you do that?"
No answer.
"You did something to my head."
Eventually - "Yeah. But it didn't hurt, did it?"
"That's not the point!" he yelled. "You don't just play with people's minds like that."
"That looks like the case, doesn't it?"
Cortana, Kelly and Spark began to move around the Nobody, flanking him from all sides. Only Spark had seen Nobodies before that John knew of, but he could see them all coming to his defence.
"Okay, kid. You win this one."
And he was gone. Not a portal. John knew portals. Just - fading into the air in their midst.
He span the card between his fingers, pulse racing.
This wasn't a good start.
Could that even be real?
A moment's discussion - there was no way they weren't going to land.
The Longsword touched down on a grassy plain - a little near a cliff's edge for Spark's liking, but it'd been tricky to match speeds and orbits with the ring in the first place. They'd been lucky not to crash - as it was, it'd been rough.
Outside, fresh air, the sounds of birds in the distance; the two teens grinned as they saw the kind of place they'd ended up in. Cortana blinked; Spark's mood was hard to tell.
"Hey - over here!"
Down the bottom of the cliffs, accessible via a rock-strewn slope, an entrance led into the ground beneath their feet. The group looked on for a moment.
"That cave is not a natural formation..." Cortana remarked.
"Maybe it leads somewhere?" Kelly chimed in.
It took John only moments to add - "I say we take a look."
Keyblade in hand, he took the lead. The cave, if it could be called that, led deeper and deeper, carvings on the walls. Somehow, they looked familiar - a little like the ruins back home, he realised. Back on Reach. But how?
The passageways opened up.
This was obviously not just a cave. Dusty, derelict machinery and strange blocky constructions covered in holographic projections. Computer units, perhaps? John couldn't put his finger on it.
"...There's something here." Arrayed on top of one of the units, a small collection of - what were they? Cards, it looked like, partly transparent and seeming to glow from within. He picked one up.
"Yeah, those are handy."
John turned around to look for the source of the voice. A slightly arrogant looking man, hair tied back, white coat -
White coat. It looked familiar, just one little thing preying on his mind - damn, damn, damn! A Nobody. A Nobody standing there as calmly as anything. Still, not like it meant a lot... could be here to help, for all he knew.
"Uh - hi, there?"
"You know, I didn't think you were going to come with so much company. Huh. No matter."
He stepped closer, raising a hand to place it on John's shoulder, the keybearer too surprised to back away. John blinked -
What was going on? All of a sudden, his head was plunged into chaos. Flashing images ran in front of his mind, wild, free - he had no idea where this was coming from -
And he was standing back where he was, once more, looking at the Nobody who now seemed a little ill. A little pale. John felt the same way himself.
"Did you do that?"
No answer.
"You did something to my head."
Eventually - "Yeah. But it didn't hurt, did it?"
"That's not the point!" he yelled. "You don't just play with people's minds like that."
"That looks like the case, doesn't it?"
Cortana, Kelly and Spark began to move around the Nobody, flanking him from all sides. Only Spark had seen Nobodies before that John knew of, but he could see them all coming to his defence.
"Okay, kid. You win this one."
And he was gone. Not a portal. John knew portals. Just - fading into the air in their midst.
He span the card between his fingers, pulse racing.
This wasn't a good start.