KH: Tales of Loss and Keys

Chapter 2: Creatures

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After the thing with breakfast, Firo and me went back outside. My jaw drops in awe again at the scenery. I turned my attention back to Firo again, seeing him enter the place he was practicing earlier. I rushed back to him to catch up.

"What are we doing?"

"We need to figure out what you are going to do here." His voice was serious but also gentle at the same time. "You seem to have some knowledge of swordplay, do you not?" I nodded. "We could train you to be a guard, or a knight. Other options are available though."

A knight or guard sounds nice... "I think I want to be a knight, it just seems... Familiar? I don't know..." I looked down, putting my hand on my chin in thought. I feel like there is something missing though...

"Take your time, we could try anything you like to find the right job for you." He smiled kindly at me.

"Thank you, I think I might try both a knight and guard." I looked back up at Firo with some form of conviction, "I want to be able to... Protect people, with all my heart."

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"I'll protect you with all my heart! No matter what happens!" I was looking at the orange-haired boy again, but younger.

"I'll protect you too! Then we'll never be apart!"

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What was that? Another memory? Firo looked at me with some kind of pride in his smile. "You're a nice kid, Aki."

"I'm not a kid! I should be around 15!"

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It's been a few weeks now, I've been training to be a knight with Firo. Apparently he is a middle ranking knight at the capital. We're in a small town called Troto, in the kingdom of Kotra. The captial, Queena, is where the castle and most of the markets and economy are. Troto is very close so we will probably go there one day.

Training... Will be my death... I'm so tired! I was doing different sword strikes and combinations for my training. It looks so easy and simple, but doing 500 a day kills your limbs. I sat down on the patio, exhausted and sweating, with only my black gym shorts and grey sleeveless shirt I've always had on. I grabbed the cup of water on the side and drank it greedily.

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After refreshing myself up, I had decided to do some exploring to day. There was a forest behind the backyard area that I'm always curious about. I had my coat on and the weird armour on underneath the jacket. It's hidden perfectly underneath the sleeve. Feeling prepared, I walked into the forest.

It was nice and cool, but humid too. The shade was amazing for the warm summer we were in. I could already hear the birds chirping in the distance, and the squeaks of wildlife. I walked admiring the scenery, untill I came along a small clearing.

There was a huge rock, a boulder, in the middle of the clearing. I went to inspect it, slightly wanting to jump onto it. It was large enough and even slightly smooth, the surface was at a slight angle. I jumped on it seeing slightly further than I could before when something caught the corner of my eye.

I looked down, crouching, seeing an impact mark and what looked to be dried up something dripping from it. Is that... Dried blood? I remembered what Firo had said where he found me. Was this where he found me? How hard did I hit that rock? Did I fall from the sky? Why? What had happened? I traced the dent in the rock slowly, thinking more until I saw something move.

I froze, the thing seemed to radiate fear, freezing me in place. It was dark blue with red eyes. It had a weird lightning style body the size of a middle sized dog with blue spiky antenna. It was constantly moving, twitching basically. It started to move past me towards the house. Firo! I gained control of my legs again and ran towards the creature, hoping to stop it. I got in front of it and slammed it with my armoured shoulder.

It appeared to be disoriented before swiping at me, I dodged backwards just in time. I need to stop this thing! I don't want Firo to get hurt after all he's done for me! I sudden light appeared near my right hand, making me help. After the light disappeared, something was in my hand. A sword? It looks somewhat of a key, but not really. Key...

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I was standing in front of what appeared to be a woman in fancy robes, her faced was blurred like the boy's. The room we were in was like a huge throne room almost, just really open with no walls surrounding it, just support pillars. She summoned something very similar to what I just did. "This is a keyblade, a weapon of the heart to help guide the light and keep balance. You must remember this, Aki, as the keyblade must be kept a secret from other worlds as some might use it for evil. A keyblade is a weapon of the heart so each is different from one another, just as unique as the person wielding them."

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A keyblade? That's what this is? Sounds like I can fight with it. I readied my stance, my left foot in front with my arm ready to block and my right arm aimed the keyblade at the thing beside me, prepared to counter the creature.

The creature swiped at me again. I blocked with my left shoulder and struck it across the head and chest quickly. It was split at the strikes, disappearing into black smoke.

Five more of the things spawned about two feet behind the smoke. Okay, my strategy works. But I'll need to strike all five fast to stop any from getting away... Quickly sprinting at the creatures I swung the keyblade before they could strike, blocking the ones that could with both my armour and keyblade. They were gone in a few seconds, fading into that black smoke. The keyblade disappeared as my knees buckled and I landed on the ground catching my breath and trying to calm my heart down.

No more spawned in and I gave a sigh of relief. Thank goodness. I stood up and decided to go back, as I probably will worry Firo soon. I started sprinting back. Oh no, I didn't leave a note. Oh, I'm so gonna have to do more drills aren't I?

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