Kingdom Hearts; The Dark's Keeper

Chapter XXII; Land of Dragons

"What is that?" she asked.

"The guy in black," Sora explained.

"One of the bad guys!" Donald added, jumping up a little like he often did when talking. X assumed he didn't want to be overlooked.

"I knew it! There's a rumor in the Imperial City about a spy in black, lurking in the mountains. I'd been up here tracking him, but when you arrived I lost him," Mulan explained. Sora grinned nervously and rubbed the back of his head.

"Sorry!" Goofy said.

"Don't apologize, Mulan said without a pause. "But I do wonder where he went." She looked around the summit. It was such an open space, disappearing would be a hard trick to pull off. She gasped suddenly.

The group turned quickly to see what had surprised her. At the top of the mountain, there was a swarm of the same Heartless as the last time they had been there. X held back a groan. It was such a large group, he didn't have the energy for this.

"Again?" Donald complained.

"X, can you do something?" Sora asked, glancing at X. X shook his head, summoning his daggers to his hands.

"No, I mean, maybe," X admitted. If he wanted to use all his energy he could probably get rid of them all. It would be difficult since he was only a knight. "But it's honestly easier just to kill them."

"Ok, first things first!" Sora said, drawing his keyblade.

The good thing about these Heartless was they were easy to kill. It took only one hit to release the hearts they held captive. Soon the sky was filled with pink hearts and the Heartless were gone. Sora was a bit away from the rest of the group, staring at something that wasn't there anymore.

"Are you ok, Sora?" Donald asked.

"Did ya get 'im?" Goofy asked. X was momentarily confused but brushed it off. He had probably just failed to notice the cloaked figure reappearing during the fight. And apparently getting away again too.

"Oh- he's gone," Sora said, coming out of his thinking. His hands crossed behind his head as he looked at Donald.

"What!? You lost him?" Donald said.

"Easy Donald, not like you caught him," X said with a chuckle. Donald glared at him, but X didn't pay him much mind. What could he really do?

"Anyway. What now?" Sora asked looking around.

"I think that we better get rid of all the Heartless first," Goofy suggested. He jumped a little his hand going to cover his mouth as he glanced down at X. "Well, most of them." X sighed heavily.

"You all can relax. You don't have to specify every time. I think we get the picture. I am an exception. It doesn't need to be constantly stated," X said calmly. Mulan tilted her head to the side, but no one offered to explain it to her.

"Sorry, it's just so weird to think. You seem so normal," Sora said, rubbing the back of his head as he looked down at the snow nervously.

"How did ya lose your heart anyway?" Goofy asked. X frowned, thinking back to the day in the forest. The Neoshadow that had sought him out. It wasn't hard to know. It had been sent.

"Neoshadow took it. It's kinda a long story how that all happened, I'll tell you guys when we have the time," X said, rubbing the back of his head. 

"Promise?" Sora asked.

"Promise," X agreed.

They were distracted by a rumble that shook the entire mountain. X frowned, trying to locate the source of the sound. The others looked around similarly.