Parallel Binds [Kingdom Hearts Watty Awards--Parallel Universe/Canon]

:10: Agrabah

They were off, Dark focusing on their task ahead. It was up to them now to find him, this 'Sora'. After a while of finding their way through the stars, a feat that seemed almost too easy for the two pilots, Dark felt his curiosity overcome him. He had been thinking about things. Lots of things. There were so many connections to him and 'Sora' that were intriguing. He didn’t even know the boy, though. If they really were from another dimension and 'Sora' really was his other…

“Hey guys…” Dark peered over their chairs, trying to get their attention like a child. “What’s he like?” Sighing, he saw them perk, though already knew that they were averting their eyes. Almost immediately he retreated. “Nevermind.” And he stormed off to his cabin once more. His eyes still held the question.

“Here we are.” Donald’s loud, almost nasally voice pierced the thick air of the ship, and the cabin rocked back and forth as they descended to a landing. Looking out the window, Dark could see only ash spreading across miles of hills and dips. Off in the distance were tall, cone shaped structures.

Donald and Goofy gave each other a look, Goofy whispering, “Oh yeah,” and Donald nodding back to him. This only confused Dark and set his eyes forward again. What was this place?

They stepped outside, the wind churning the ash around them and sending the two behind Dark into a huddle. It was until he stepped in the mess that Dark realized that this wasn’t ash. This was sand. And the mere glance down gave Dark a confused shiver.

His clothes had changed drastically. Instead of his normal military attire, he was now outfitted in brown, strangely patterned clothing. It looked and felt ready for the sand. He even had a thick scarf wrapped around his shoulders to cover his face, shading his nose and mouth from the pelting sand. He glared forward, but wouldn't say anything to the other two, who were checking out their own new attire. They moved on eventually.

They trudged away from the small patch of a would-be oasis and quickly made their way to the buildings in the distance. The closer they got, however, the more it was apparent that this was no healthy castle. It was cracked, the walls bordering it’s domain filled with collapsed areas and horribly unstable, obviously making no effort to protect the city from anything. The streets were abandoned, and although this was not uncommon in this weather, seemed a bit tattered and littered. Piles of old junk lay in piles in the corners of the streets, and when they passed the thin slots that served as alleys, they saw bones lying in piles of cloth and junk. Past them, small houses stacked on top of each other had their windows boarded up, equally tattered. Dark didn’t know what was worse, the look of the town or the weather they were having. It seemed like a pretty stupid place to anchor. Once they got further into the city, they found a door ajar and snuck in, sitting inside to take a rest.

Dark couldn’t hold his resentment for the little dump any longer. “Okay, where the hell are we?”

Donald fumed a bit. “Watch your language, Dark!” After his scolding, he turned to the land. “This is Agrabah. Land of monkeys, rugs, and…”

“Sand,” Goofy laughed, finding this quite funny.

Dark didn’t. He looked around at the mess they had entered, not amused in the least about this sand pit that they had willingly dropped into. He kicked his feet, prying his shoes off and dumping them upside down, already having piles of sand pour out of them. “I can see that. In fact, that’s the only thing I see.”  He glanced around. “I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but this place is a dump. I haven’t seen any monkeys as you claim, and if this is what counts as a rug around here,” he motioned to the floor where a tattered piece of cloth lay, “Then I’m pretty sure the only notable thing around here are their sand castles. If there are even people here.”

Goofy scratched his head in thought. “Maybe they’re all asleep.”

Dark crossed his arms, glaring at the storm outside. “It sure seems like a task to try to figure out when. They don’t seem to have access to the sun ever.”

Donald shook his head. “No, no, Dark.” He walked up to Dark firmly. “This attitude of yours won’t work. We don’t work with frowning.” Donald almost glanced at Goofy before saying his next line, “This boat runs on happy faces,” he chirped, smiling along with Goofy.

“Happy?” His head was down, depressed and seemingly unwilling to oblige. Donald continued to push him, smiling more. And suddenly, he lit up, looking up to them and giving them a face that could barely be considered a smile. For a moment, there was an awkward silence, Donald and Goofy seemingly shocked into silence. But they both burst into laughter soon after, Goofy pointing, “Gyuck, that’s one funny face!” They were all glad to be in each other’s presence. He smiled as well, chuckling. “Okay, sure. I’ll go with you guys.”

“Donald Duck.” “The name’s Goofy.” “And I’m Sora.” Their hands came together in their little circle, as if ready to break for a play.

Dark just shook his head. “Whatever. I’m getting some sleep while I’ve got my dignity intact. Excuse me.” And he marched to the other side of the room.

They slumped. Obviously expecting different, the two remembered vividly the first day they met in that plaza. And they were expecting just that; a goofy smile, laughter, or maybe an apology and a quick joke. It’s what he did last time.

After the wind died down, Dark stepped out of hiding and approached the castle with a strut. The place was hard not to hate, with dark, threatening sculptures that seemed to put the owner of this place on a pedestal near Godhood. This type of arrogance peeved Dark, and he was almost ready to pound the jerk into a pulp already.

“Look!” Donald pointed to the outskirts of the mansion where a dully colored bird was flapping around.

“Isn’t that Iago?” Goofy saw through the darkened, dusty colors almost immediately.

Donald perked up. “It is! Get him!” And the two dashed after the little bird. The bird turned and looked at them and, spooked by their speed, flew away.

Dark, however, stayed where he was, simply watching them dart after the unknown thing. He didn’t want to leave quite yet, for out of the corner of his eye he saw something. Baskets and barrels were collected around the side of the buildings. Dark’s eyes narrowed as one of them shivered violently. He took strong steps towards it and peered inside, at first unable to see through the darkness, but soon making out… “A monkey?” Indeed, his words seemed to startle the creature as it scrambled in the crumbs of old garbage. It shrieked, ripping its way out of the trash can and flying out towards Dark. He stepped back quickly, letting the thing scramble away from him and down the street.

Raising an eyebrow, he watched the thing scuttle off. He made an amused little humm and scratched his head, looking where the other two went. Shrugging, he trotted after the monkey, intrigued by this creature. He had only seen them in books.