(Play 'Traverse Town')
"Hey, Sora."
"Yeah?"
"Remember what Leon and Ravus said about a World's Keyhole?" Dawn recalls.
"Yeah? What about it?"
"Well..." Dawn trails off in thought. "I was thinking about how to help Traverse Town's Heartless problem but I haven't a clue as to whether or not there even is a Keyhole here? Do you think someone here might know something?"
"I never really thought about that. Maybe Merlin would know." Sora replies.
After leaving the sanctity of the Secret Waterway, Heartless start to appear again like clockwork.
They all have to fight through multiple swarms through two districts until they find sanctuary in Cid's Accessory Shop.
There they find the southern-speaking blond behind the counter.
Dylan, Dolly and Stitch each drop one of the gummi blocks they recovered from each World. "What have you got there? Hey! Well, if it ain't a gummi block."
Donald nods, affirmatively. "Yup."
"What's this one for?" Goofy asks.
"You're kiddin' me! You're flying a gummi ship and you don't know nothin' about navigation gummis? Bunch of pinheads. Innerspace ain't no playground." Cid scolds.
"Well excuse us for being novices of space travel." Dawn retorts. "And Stitch may be from outer space too, but even he doesn't know things about our ship."
"Yeah! There's a lot we don't know. So what!" Sora backs his friends up. "We have to use the gummi ship to go to other Worlds. We don't have a choice."
"Whoa, easy." Cid scratches his head nervously as the young teens make a good argument. "I didn't know. No hard feelings, all right?"
"What? Did he think a couple of human pups would automatically know how to space travel?" Dolly mutters under her breath.
Dawn pats the dog's head in appreciation.
"Well, I guess I could lend ya'll a hand, then."
"Much appreciated."
"Thanks."
The two Destiny Islanders give their thanks.
"Basically, with navigation gummis, you can go to new places. You want one on your ship, right?"
Goofy and Donald nod.
"I'll install it for you." Cid offers. "But I got this thing I got to go deliver first."
"What do you need to deliver?" Sora asks.
"Just this book." The older blond reaches behind the counter and takes a rectangular-shaped object wrapped pristinely in cloth. "It's real old. When the guy brought it in, it was practically fallin' apart. To beat up to restore it to the way it was. But overall, I did a decent job puttin' it back together. Anyway, you mind deliverin' it for me? It's the old house passed Third District. Look for a big fire sign."
"Oh? Merlin's house?" Dawn looks away from the book that is causing her Link to Light to react back to Cid. "We were actually just on our way there."
Out of nowhere, the entire building shakes followed by the sound of bells ringing. The sudden noise causes Dylan, Dolly and Stitch to cover their sensitive ears.
"What-that?" Stitch questions, looking utterly adorable as his paw-like hands cover his long ears.
"Hmm? The bell at the gizmo shop is ringing. Go check it out if you want, but deliver that book for me first." Cid requests. "When you're done, stop by the house in the Third District. I'll be there."
"Appreciated, Cid." Dawn thanks, carefully placing the Old Book in her Spacial Pack.
"Anytime, kid."
🧡💜🧡
To save time, Dolly and Dylan show Dawn and Sora one of the shortcuts they came across while avoiding Heartless in search of their siblings. Cutting right through a once locked doorway in First District, they find themselves already in Third District.
But as their luck as Keyblade wielders would have it, more Heartless await beyond the door.
(End 'Traverse Town')
(Play 'Hand in Hand')
A third new Emblem Heartless, today, even shows itself through the masses.
A relative of the Soldier Heartless, bearing the same shadowed face and jagged visage, the dark-skinned Heartless is kitted out for aerial battle in an modified aviator cap that covers the upper half of the face and boasts a pair of shiny-rimmed goggles; the propeller on the top of the cap presumably assists it in hovering in battle, though its bat-like wings seem to do most of the flying work. This Heartless also wears thick black pants with an inverted brown Heartless-symbol silhouette at the knees and bulky brown boots with blue and gold toes. It fights with black elbow-length gloves featuring metal bands at the top and sharp red claws that allow for painful attacks. Dawn appropriately classes it as the Air Soldier.
These Heartless are appearing in small droves, and their high strength and quick attacks only add to the level of danger they present, which Dawn and Sora learn the hard way as the Air Soldiers dive bomb out from their hovering above them and beat them around like rag dolls.
Dawn is slammed into a wall quite roughly, but she feels just enough energy within her to keep fighting.
✨Dawn learned Second Chance✨
Soldiers and some Red Nocturnes join in. But with everyone's conjoined teamwork, they're all quickly dispatched.
On another note, Dylan and Dolly note that in the midst of Sora and Dawn's Thunder attacks on the Air Soldiers, their magic seems to have restored power to an open cable nearby.
Sora thinks nothing of it at the time, but Dawn feels as though it may hold some significance later on. She dismisses it for now, but will think on it later. Right now, getting this book to Merlin's takes priority.
Finding a familiar door is a burning flame on it, the parties enter and hop the path of moving stones to Merlin's humble hut.
(End 'Traverse Town')
(Play 'Merlin's Magical House')
Upon entering Merlin's home and greeting him, Dawn removes the book from her bag and hands it respectfully to the older wizard.
"Oh, that book...So, Cid asked you to bring this. Thank you." The wizard voices his appreciation.
"Merlin, what kind of book is this? I can feel magic coming from it." Dawn queries.
"I don't even know myself. In fact, it's not mine. Somehow it found its way to my bag one day. It was actually among the favorites of my young pupil I spoke to you on your last visit. It was such a curious book, I asked Cid to repair it for me." Merlin explains. "Well, I guess I'll put it here somewhere, for now. This book holds a great secret. The missing pages will unlock it. I'll leave the book over there. Do look at it whenever you like." Merlin points to a small wooden shelf big enough to hold the single book, between the room's bed and the large piles of books. "My best regards to Cid for repairing it for me. Oh, and about those stones of yours... You should ask the Fairy Godmother about that."
As if on cue, the Fairy Godmother appears from the small, ornate carriage in the corner.
"Do you know what these are?" Sora asks as he and Dawn hold out their respective stones.
"Oh, the poor things! They have turned into summon gems."
"Summon gems?" Sora and Dawn echo confusedly.
"These little creatures lived in a World that was consumed by Darkness. When a World vanishes, so do its inhabitants. These ones had such strong hearts, they became gems instead of vanishing with their Worlds."
"Can they regain themselves?" Dawn inquires, worried for the creatures' lives that she now holds in her hand.
"Yes, but only their spirits. Now, watch!" With a wave of her wand, and the magic words... "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo!"
A brief glimpse of several creatures flash before Dawn's eyes.
In Sora's gem she sees a male adult lion emerge from the darkness before stepping forth into the light, roaring to the heavens atop a rock structure. He has yellow-orange fur covering most of his body, except for his belly, paws, and mouth, which are peach-colored. His mane is rust-colored and parts on the right side of the top of his head. He has a tuft of fur the same color as his mane on the tip of his tail. His eyes are orange and his sclera are yellow. His ears are partially visible poking through his mane, and he has eight dark whiskers; four on either side of his upper lip.
From her own Summon Gems, Dawn finds herself on a small island of land within a great-sized pond in a massive, vibrant forest, overgrown by coniferous trees, and surrounded by an assortment of creatures.
The first to approach her is a giant serow with lechwe style horns. It wades through the water, stopping just short of land.
The crystal dagger Dawn was bequeathed glows as the animal approaches.
Dawn cautiously approaches just short of where land ends and water begins, raising a steady hand towards it. The large-horned serow nods in respect and comes onto land to kneel before Dawn, now having earned his trust.
The remaining creatures erupt with what the girl can only guess are cheers.
The surrounding greenery holds an abundance of small, white humanoid spirits with off-shapened heads and glowing eyes. From the moss ground to high up in the tall trees, they eye the monochromette curiously as their heads rotate to one side before springing back into their original position, giving off a rattle with the motion, just like the white marble she got from the baby gorillas.
A howl catches her attention and her gaze focuses on two beautiful white wolves. Like the serow, they tread through the water and bow their heads in respect. Dawn returns the gestures, thanking them for putting their trust in her.
As she bows, her backside hits something large and furry. She's startled back upright, looking up to find two big eyes staring down at her. Dawn whips around to find three creatures of similar physiques standing before her. One small, one medium, and one large. All having pointed ears, round bodies and stubby tails. But each one also has their differences. The largest creature has gray fur and a beige belly with gray arrows on its chest. It has pointy ears, long whiskers and large paws with long claws. The medium creature shares some similarities in looks as the large creature but coloured a mixture of blue and gray with a white belly. And lastly the smallest of the three is white and its features are a lot simpler, being limited to ears and eyes.
As the glimpses end, Dawn finds herself back in Merlin's home.
💖Sora learned summon spell Simba💖
💖Dawn learned summon spell Yakul, Kodamas, Wolf Twins & Totoros💖
"It seems as though one of your summons is incomplete, Dawn." Fairy Godmother states, noting the jagged piece missing in the Packheart Gem.
"Someone is still missing out there?" Dawn glances at the fragmented summon gem in her hand.
"Yes, but that doesn't mean they can't be reunited. Find the missing piece and they will be stronger than ever."
Dawn nods affirmingly. "I will."
"Summon spells take up a lot of Magic, so they can often only be used once per battle. It helps to have a large party in order to siphon Magic to call forth the summons, so be careful. The weaker your party, the less chance you'll successfully call the summons." Fairy Godmother explains. "The summoned characters withdraw from battle once they run out of magic. You can also dismiss them. Whenever you call, they will help you. If you find any more please, bring them to me. Don't worry, when their Worlds are restored they will return there. Sora, Dawn, please help save them."
"Don't worry. We will." Sora wraps an arm around Dawn causing both of them to laugh together.
💜🧡💜
Leaving Merlin's house, the groups find themselves back in Third District. And would you know it? A small group of Soldier Heartless block their path. Everyone stands ready to fight.
But before the first swing of their Keyblades could be dealt, someone beats them to the punch, vanquishing the Heartless in one fell swoop.
Dawn and Sora's jaws hang open as they see who's come to the rescue.
"There you both are. What's going on?"
It was Riku! Wielding a falchion-esque sword, with a red, purple and blue blade shaped like a demonic wing and a blue eye with a cat's eye iris embedded in the handle that consists of dark braids.
Sora and Dawn are both shocked and relieved at finding one of their friends after the sadness and grief they both went through after being thrown into Traverse Town after their home island's destruction.
"Riku!" Sora is the first to run up and begin playing with the silverette's face in an effort to prove he's not just a figment of his imagination.
"Hey, hey, cut it out." Riku chuckles lightly, swatting Sora's hands away.
A monochrome-colored blur whizzes past Sora to snatch up the older boy in a hug so great it lifts him off the ground. "This isn't another one of my dreams, is it? Right?" She continues to hold on for dear life, thinking that if she loosens her grip for even a second, he'll disappear.
"I hope not. Took me forever to find you two." Riku chuckles again. "And as much as I missed you, Dawn, do you mind letting me go so I can breathe? I'm not gonna disappear again."
Dawn laughs softly. "It's Riku, alright!"
She releases her near death grip on her friend. "I'm just so relieved. You were acting very strange before we were separated. I was afraid that...that the worst happened after the island was engulfed in darkness."
After coming down from the excitement that Riku is alive and well, one who is still not among them comes to mind.
"Wait a second, where's Kairi?"
"Isn't she with you?" Riku replies, perplexed.
Sora's head sulks with sadness and Dawn's normally optimistic expression turns somber. Both of them shaking their heads.
"Well, don't worry. I'm sure she made it off the island, too." Riku reassures, turning around to look at the District. "We're finally free. Hey, she might even be looking for us, too."
Despite the reassurance that her friend is here before her, something still doesn't settle right with the monochrome-haired amnesiac. Riku may be the same physically but he certainly isn't acting like himself. He seemed far too excited for someone who just had their home World destroyed and lost to the Darkness. And he doesn't appear too keen on the idea of returning. Not to mention that her Link to Darkness is going crazy underneath the cover of her hand around the strange blade he now wields. Even though he's been her friend for years, Dawn can't help but be slightly fearful and cautious to Riku's newfound attitude.
However, in the midst of Riku's speech, he didn't notice two Shadows appear up behind him.
"We'll all be together soon. Don't worry. Just leave everything to me. I know this--"
He's cut off by Sora bringing his Keyblade down on one and Dawn spinning her own Keyblade around before letting it fly and defeat the other, leaving her weapon stuck, almost picturesquely, in the ground.
Riku turns around in surprise at what the two just did.
Sora smirks playfully, letting his blade balance against his shoulder, while Dawn grins as her Keyblade vanishes from out of its place embedded in the ground and appearing in her hand of a flash of blue-black light.
"Leave it to who?" Sora jokes.
"We've learned a thing or two, Riku. We can take care of things, too."
Obvious shock is all over their friend's expression. "Sora, Dawn, what did you--"
"We weren't just wandering aimlessly without picking up a few things to help defend ourselves, you know." Dawn retorts good-naturedly.
"We've been looking for you and Kairi, too, with their help." Sora states, signifying their respective partners.
Riku's eyes narrow into a harsh. "Who are they?"
"Riku, meet Stitch..."
"Hee...Haa...Hiii!" The blue dog-koala alien greets in a similar fashion to his introduction to Dawn.
Dawn then kneels down to her spotted dog companions. "And here we have Dylan and Dolly the Dalmatians."
The two bark politely and Riku's harsh stare softens a bit.
Donald clears his throat to make his own introduction. "My name is--"
"We visited many places and Worlds, looking for you." Sora cuts in excitedly.
"And Kairi as well. So far, you're the first one we've found." Dawn adds.
Again, Riku's bitter expression softens when Dawn tells of looking for him and the missing member of their quartet. But when his gaze shifts back to Sora, it darkens again.
"Really? Well, what do you know?" Riku remarks. "I never would have guessed."
"Oh, and guess what? Sora and Dawn are the Keyblade masters and Dawn is a magical prodigy." Goofy pats the twos' shoulders in praise.
"Who would've thought it?" Donald comments, within an undertone of negativity, more so directed towards Sora.
Sora is irked by the anthro duck's remark. "What's that mean?!"
"So, this is called a Keyblade?"
Everyone whips around to see Riku holding Sora's Kingdom Key, examining it closely. Sora and Dawn are equally shocked to see Riku had taken it without either of them noticing it disappear from Sora's hand.
"How did--?" Dawn gawks.
"Hey! Give it back." Sora demands. The brunette tries to take his weapon back but his silver-haired friend moves back out of his way, watching as Sora trips over his own feet and takes one final look at the blade.
"Catch!" He tosses it nonchalantly to Sora.
Clumsily, Sora catches the Keyblade, holding onto it tighter now that it's back in his hands.
Riku, then, turns back toward Dawn. "So, Dawn, what other tricks have you got?"
"Well, there is this." She lifts her sleeve to reveal the E.C.B. "Stitch here is an alien experiment. 1 of 626. These pods here are the experiments before him. His cousins, in a sense. A lot of them were scattered to the stars when Stitch first arrived here. Like Sora and I, he's also trying to find those he cares for."
"So, you've been on your own, too, huh, little guy?" Riku ruffles Stitch's head, the two sharing a look of understanding.
"So, you're coming with us, right?" Sora asks. "We've got this awesome rocket. Wait 'till you see it!"
"No, he can't come!" Donald objects.
"What?!" Sora and Dawn cry out in disagreement.
"Forget it!" The duck mage squawks.
Dawn isn't having any of the duck's attitude. "Donald, do we need to have a recurrence of what happened on Deep Jungle? He's our friend!"
"I don't care!" Donald continues in his refusal.
"Look, duck! Just because you're the one that's got the ship doesn't mean you have to be such a bossy jerk and listen to your own opinions." Dolly barks.
"Yeah, leaders don't get anywhere by listening to their own opinions and making themselves the boss." Dylan backs his sister up.
Stitch throws in his own opinion by sticking out his tongue and blowing a loud raspberry at Donald.
However, while the majority of the parties are arguing, Goofy notes that someone has gone missing.
"He's gone."
Goofy's statement cuts off all arguments and gathers everyone's attention to see that he speaks the truth. Riku has vanished without a trace.
"Riku?" Sora calls out but receives no answer. "Nice going."
Dawn growls angrily. "I can't believe you. We finally found him and you go and scare him off, Donald. If our roles were reversed, and we had the Gummi ship and that was King Mickey that found us, wouldn't you want us to let him come along? Hmm?!"
Dolly suddenly lunges for the duck. Donald at least has enough sense to understand that he's become the target of some well-deserved anger and runs for his life. Dylan chases after, in order to calm his sister down.
"Easy there, Dawn. At least we know he's okay." Sora calms his raging friend.
"Yes, I suppose so." Dawn's anger simmers down as she reaches onto her shoulder to place her hand over Sora's comforting one. "It's better than how much we knew a few minutes ago. And from what we've seen, he can handle himself against the Heartless. We know he's alright and that's all that matters."
"And who knows? Maybe we'll run into Kairi soon, too."
"Here's hoping." Dawn murmurs.
Little do the group realize, a small furry creature watches them from afar before darting off.
🖤🤍🖤
[Main Style] | Wonderland Style | Olympus Coliseum Style | Deep Jungle Style
Keyblade: Nightfall Guardian
Obtained: Eclipse Necklace | Seeker Bands of Light & Darkness | Links to Light & Darkness | Sketchbook | Journal | Pencil Holder | Walkman | Utility Belt with Pouches | Experiment Containment Bracer | Spacial Pack | Experiment Database Laptop | Spellbook | Heartless Research Journal | Experiment "Cousins" Journal | Comet Compass
Special Items: Dalmatian Family Photo
Summons: Yakul {Loyalgallop Gem} | Kodamas {Forestrattle Gem} | Wolf Twins {Packheart Gem (Incomplete)} | Totoros {Acornsprout Gem}
🖤🤍🖤
A/N: I am giving Dawn more summons as she's more adept at Magic than Sora, while Sora will receive new Keyblades in this book. It would have been spectacular had Ghibli films been introduced in the Kingdom Hearts series.