For Ones with Hearts...

[Rikugurl]

A classic tale based on Kingdom Hearts. This story is full of Love, action and Drama! It's rated PG-13 due to violence.

[glow=purple,2,300]For ones with Hearts...[/glow]

~Rikugurl
It was a clear night and I was sitting on on top of my house. I was looking up at the stars when I noticed that at star started shinning bright and then it was gone. "Hey Lumi"I looked behind me. "Sora!"I said as I stood up and walked over to him. "What are you doing up here?" I looked down."Nothin. So, umm..have you seen Riku?""I think he's at Kairi's house. She needed help with something." Doesn't she always need help with something....she always seems to ask Riku too."Sora, I saw a star go out? Do you think it died?""What are you talking about, Lumi? Stars just don't go out. Maybe it was a shooting star. There is alot of those in Destiny Island." A sudden wind blew at that moment. Sora looked out at the sea. "Looks like we're in for a storm. Why don't you go get Tidus, tell him of the storm and head home?" I shook my head. "Ok" I jumped off and walked along the beach shore. As I walked by Kairi's house, I saw Riku walk out. He looked at me and waved. I waved back and turned away. I walked up to Tidus and took his hand. If only you knew, Riku....... "C'mon Tidus, let's go home. A storm is coming."


~Chris
"Man, these 'Destiny Islands' sure are in an out of the way place." Duo had been traveling for days. he was starting to run out of supplies. and patience. it had been about a month since he accepted the job to find a kid with the greatest strength any world has ever seen. all his information pointed to Destiny Islands. but it was taking longer than he anticipated to get there. "damn! this bites. i shouldve been there long ago!" then, he looked up and saw it. Destiny Islands. "finally," he sighed, "now i can proceed with the job.

~Rikugurl
On the way home, the wind blew harder. I stayed close to Tidus"Lumi! Look!" I looked up to where Tidus was pointing to. Large, black clouds with purple lightning where rowling in. This wasn't a normal storm. "Sora! Riku! Anyone!" I stood there with Tidus alone with no help. The thunder was to loud for anyone to hear my cries for help. Then I looked over to the sea. A boat was being smashed around in the waters. A man with silver hair was on the boat and a sword in his hand.What's happening?

~Chris
Duo's boat was being tossed around like a leaf in a river. he despretely fought for control of his vessel. when suddenly, he was attacked by some weird little ceatures. they were easily disposed of but there were a lot of them. his boat capsized. when he came above water again, he could no longer see his boat. and the ceatures were gone. but the storm was still very present in his mind. once he got his bearings, he began to swim to shore. fortunately, he had gotten pretty close before the storm hit, so it wasnt far. when he got there, he looked around. all he could see was the sea on one side, the looming shadow of the island on the other, and a little girl and boy surrounded by the same creatures that had attacked him. being as chivalrous as he is, he decided to help them. "hold on!" he yelled through the deafening rain. and began to run towards them, long sword drawn. he quickly killed them all, but almost double the number poped up in place of them. he decided it was wiser to run for now. "come on!" he yelled while clearing a path for them to escape.

~Rikugurl
"Come on," the stranger yelled as he sliced away the cat-sized bugs. I picked up Tidus and put him on my back.. I started to follow the stranger due to the fact that he was helping. Tidus started slipping and I slowed down. A bug jumped at me and pinched my leg. I helped Tidus back up and kicked the bug away. "Come on," he yelled again and I ran as fast as I could to catch up."Is there any place that well be safe for awhile?" the stranger yelled over the rain. I led him to the nearest door, dodging the bugs. I shut the door behind me and let Tidus off my back. My hair was drenched and my clothes were soggy. Then I looked at the stranger. He was looking around and adjusted his belt. A sudden rage came over me. "You brought this storm didn't you?!" I yelled at him. He looked down at me. "What's your problem? What are you talking about? I helped you. I have a job to do here.""A job? What's your..." At that moment the door broke down and bugs scattered everywhere. I took Tidus's hand and ran upstairs. I opened the door at the top and ran across the bridge. "Come on," I yelled at the stranger as he tried to fight off the bugs. Then I noticed that Riku was standing on the other side of the bridge. "Riku!" I started running towards him. He was looking out to the sea. "Riku?" "We have to see the outside world. There must be more out there..""Stop playing games. This is serious," the stranger said as he caught up. Riku turned around, "Will you join me?"He reached out his hand towards me. As I picked my hand up Blackish purple swirls of cloud surrounded me, Tidus, Riku and the stranger. I reached out for Riku but our hands never touched. At that moment I noticed I was falling. Darkness surrounded me now. "Riku!"

[Rikugurl]

~Chris
As Duo followed the strange girl, he began to feel uneasy. he looked ahead to see a boy, probably about the same age as the girl, standing on the shore looking out to sea. as the boy turned around, he reached out to the girl. and as she did the same, something happened. that same feeling Duo had gotten earlier suddenly overwhelmed him. his feet froze, and as he looked down he saw that the others were suffering the same problems. a black ooze attacked him. and before he could react, it covered his entire body. he couldnt breathe. or at least didnt feel like trying. he couldnt see anything. not the girl, or the boy on the shore. he tried to fight his way out, but soon blacked out from the lack of air.......later, Duo woke up. and found himself in a bedroom. but noone was here. he didnt know if he had been injured or not in that black ooze, but he could stand at least. he looked around the room, located his clothing, and began to dress himself. he could not find his weapons however. and started to search the room for them. shortly after he found one of his daggers, he heard a voice from behind him. "oh, so youre feeling better i gather?" he spun around with the dagger pointed directly at a young womans neck. then quickly recoiled. "i am sorry." he swiftly apologized for what he had done. "you surprised me. and i am not very relaxed at the moment." he slid the dagger into one of the many shithes in his jacket.

~Rikugurl
I woke up. I was in a room with a red glow. I looked around around the room to notice that my clothes were on the otherside. My face turned bright red. I wraped the sheets around my body and steped out of bed. As I walked out to the middle of the room, I heard a large thud in the next room. I looked at the door and shrugged my shoulders. I continued to walk towards my clothes. All of a sudden, the door busted open. Tons of those bugs jumped in but they didn't seem to notice me. The stranger from the Island was waveing his dagger everywhere. As he was walking around, he bumped into me and I dropped my sheets. AHHH! I was naked in front of a STRANGER! I picked up the sheets as soon as I ould start thinking again and ran behind the stranger

~Chris
Duo fought off the bugs with only two of his daggers. but he could still handle it. then, he bumped into something. he turned around to see the girl from the island naked in front of him. he quickly turned away to resume fighting while she picked up her sheets again. he started to think of a way to escape. but before he could, all the bugs disappeared. he looked around trying to confirm that they were all in fact gone. when he was sure of this he turned back around to talk to the girl. "ok, now that they're gone, maybe we can get a few things straight." he said as the feeling of darkness left him. he finally began to relax. "now, why dont you get dressed and then we can talk about things."

~Rikugurl
I walked to my clothes and got dressed. I looked around the room again. Those damn bugs better not come back. I still felt strange inside though. Where am I...? I walked into the next room where the stranger was. I sat down and introduced myself. I found out that his name was Duo and that he was looking for a power individual. He was a strange person but I felt a little more comfortable with him than before. As he was talking I couldn't help but wonder where any of my friends were. I wasn't going to tell Duo about Riku......Riku? There's something strange about him.. 'Join me?' He wasn't afraid of the storm. "What! Where is my island!"

~Chris
While he was waiting, Duo finally found his long sword and the rest of his daggers. after putting them in their respective sheethes, he sat down in a nearby chair to wait for the girl. when she came in, he immeadately started to apoligize for seeing her naked. she said she new it was an accident and there was no need for apoligy. then she told him her name was Lumi. she was actually pretty cute, now that he got a chance to really look at her. "no!!" he reminded himself of the age difference and his code of honor. then he told her his name and what his job was about. she seemed interested, but her eyes looked far away. she was obviously thinking about something else. so he decided that his story could wait until later. "so, are you ok? did you get hurt at all?" he said trying to get her attention. "who were those other kids on that island?" he sat down again, pulled out a dagger and started to sharpen it.

~Rikugurl
I looked at my showing skin. "I seem to be ok." I looked at the dagger he was holding."I've never seen one of those in person. It seems we are in some kind of trouble. Maybe you can teach me how to use one of those things" I smiled at him. After awhile of talking he asked me the question i was worried about. Who where those kids. I told him about Tidus and my best friend, Sora. i told him that me and Sora played with wooden swords and stuff like that. "Everyone else isn't important." I put my hand over my head to get my muscles more relaxed. "So where do you come from, Duo?"

~Chris
"Uh?" he suddenly went tense again. that question pieced his skin and sunk into his very soul. that was the one and only question that made him uncomfortable. he shifted his weight around nervously as he said, "oh, it's not that important." he hurried to change the subject. "well, if you know how to use a sword, then you should have a sword instead of daggers. we'll get you one later." he said as he looked about the room. "in fact, i think there might be one laying around in here. ah! here it is." he picked up the sword and handed it to her. she unsheethed it and swung it a few times, testing the weight. "is it to your liking?"

[Rikugurl]

~Rikugurl
I swung the sword around. It was pretty heavy. "It'll due" I said as I turned to him. he looked like he was deep in thought. I was concerned. I walked up to him and sat down. "Don't worry, Duo. I don't know where I come from either." He didn't say anything. I looked around to find something that would cheer him up. Then I had it. "Here," I handed him my necklace."It was my mother's. She gave it to me when she died and it came with this bracelet. It's a token for my thanks. Thank you for saving me." Then I looked away. "How about exploring this place? I would like to find some of my friends"

~Chris
He took the necklace, smiled, said "you're welcome" and thanked her. while he was putting it on, she asked about exploring the strange world they found themselves in. "i agree." he thought aloud. "but i think that its getting kinda late. we should stay here for the night." she nodded in accordance. "alright then, ill go see the innkeeper. since nobodys come in either of the rooms since we woke up--except for those bugs--i assume that its an inn. you stay here." as he walked down the stairs to the lobby, he thought about why he became a mercenary in the first place. it made him burn with rage. when he got to the counter, he cast the thoughts aside. as the innkeeper walked towards Duo, the innkeeper seemed to recognize Duo. but he thought nothing of it. "hello, we're in two of the rooms upstairs. and we were--" he was suddenly interruped by the innkeeper. "ah yes, the two on the steps. yes, we found you both unconcious on the steps leading up to the inn. so we took you inside, and gave you both nice rooms. but don't worry, it's no charge." the innkeeper was very kind about the whole thing. but being the noble person he was, he insisted on paying for the rooms. the innkeeper was persistent but eventually agreed. "ok, but at least let us give you a free meal." he looked so sincere that Duo agreed to the arangement. then he thought of something. "did you find anyone else with us?" he asked. the innkeeper had a puzzled look on his face. he answered "no..no, just you two." "oh, i see. thank you." Duo, then paid for the rooms and left the innkeeper to his work. a few minutes later, he arrived back at the room. Lumi had not moved much. "so?" she asked. Duo sat down again and preceded to tell her the story the innkeeper had told him. she had a very intense look on her face when he finished.

~Rikugirl
"You mean he found us at the door steps? Just us?" Duo nodded. I looked down at the floor. Where's Sora and Tidus? I stood up and turned to Duo. "Well even if you don't find this individual, Duo, you still found a friend.Your all I got." I walked to the window and looked out. The town was quiet and all the shops where closed. Then a clock stroke 11. I looked up at the night sky. As soon as I looked up, I saw a star get bright and then it went out. I hope that doesn't mean that we'll get attacked again...I walked back to Duo. I was so tired. "Well I guess this is good-night." Then I hugged him. He put his arm around me to give me a hug in return. I could tell that he hasn't had a hug for a long time. No one should go without a hug for a long time. I buried my face into his coat. Then I fell asleep in his arms.

~Chris
Duo was surprised when Lumi hugged him. it reminded him of the last time he had been hugged. it had been long time. he put his arm around her to hug her back. he felt her fall asleep in his arms. "she must be so tired." he said to himself and smiled. he picked her up and carried her to her room. then, he put her down in her bed, covered her up, and went back to his room. there, he began the excercise that he did every night. a relaxing excercise similar to tai chi. as he preformed the movements, he began to think about how he would go about the rest of the mission.

~Rikugurl
I was walking in a strange forest. The trees where so up high that it was impossible to see much of anything. Only rays of light here and there shown threw them. As I was walking I slipped and fell down a large hill. When I stopped rolling, I landed in a pile of mud. "Lumi? What are you doing down there?" I looked up. It was Sora! he held out his hand and pulled me up to my feet. I dusted off the mud and looked at Sora. "Hey Luni, I found Riku. He wanted to talk to you." "Then bring me to him, Sora." he stared walking away and I followed him. He brought me deeper and deeper into the forest until it grew to be a jungle. He then broke into a run. "Wait up Sora!" I yelled as I tried to catch up. It was no use, I lost sight of him. Again I was alone. "Lumi?" I spun around. "Riku!" I started to run to him. Suddenly someone grabbed me and put their hands over my mouth. A strange voice began to speak. " Yes, she will do. Her heart is pure enough." Riku smiled..............I woke up. The sun was directly in my eyes. I looked around the room. Duo must have put me to bed. beside my bed there was a table that was full of food. I was starving. I jumped up and began to eat. Should I tell Duo of my dream....what did it mean?
~Chris
Duo had hardly slept that night. he just sat in the chair waiting for anything that dared to attack them. he had a lot of time to think about things. he decided to stay with Lumi and protect her in this uncertain world. and to help her find her friends. he may even find the one he was looking for before that inopertune storm swept them off of the island. nothing happened that night. when morning came, he heard clanking in Lumi's room. he went up to the door, "Lumi? are you awake?" he heard continuned clanking and russling before hearing a muffled "yes, come in." he entered to see Lumi at the table stuffing her face. "well, i see youre enjoying the free meal. there must be a good cook here." he said with a slight smile. "ive decided to stay and protect you until you find your friends." he informed her.

~Rikugurl
"You will!? Oh Thank you!" I started to run to him when I noticed that my face was covered in food. I grabbed the nearest thing and wiped my face off. It was his coat. "Oops." I said with an uneasy smile. Then I wiped the food off of his coat. "Ummm." I looked around. "So....I guess the food's really good. Y-you should have some." He shook his head. "Oh not hungry... Well i guess we should be on our way to explore then. If they have any clothing shops, I would like to pick up a new skirt." I smiled and looked at the torn one I was wearing.

~Chris
Duo's appetite had left him while thinking of the situation. "if they have any clothing shops, i would like to pick up a new skirt." she half smiled as she held out her skirt to show me the torn and tattered garment. "ok then. lets get you a new skirt. we can find out where we are at the same time. i forgot to ask the innkeeper last night." he was almost embarrassed by the fact. "ok!" she said it so casually that he forgot his embarrassment. after they found a tailor, Lumi went with the tailor to pick a style, while Duo stayed behind with the desk clerk to gather information. "can you tell us where we are?" he asked. "sure! you're in Across. the idealistic town." the clerk answered, a little surprised by such a question. "where is Destiny Island?" "Destiny Island? sorry, never heard of it." the clerk paused for a moment. Duo was beginning to lose interest. "wait. i do remember a young lad that came in the other day. he asked the same questions." Duo snapped back to attention. "what did he look like?" the clerk thought hard. "well....lets see...he had silver hair--much like yours only shorter, green eyes, and was dressed similar to the girl with you. why? do you know him?" Duo thought back to the storm. he didn't get a good look at anybody that night. not even Lumi. "no..." he began to walk over to where Lumi and the tailor had gone. but before he got there, Lumi jumped out in front of him to show him her new outfit. "look!" she exclaimed while holding out the new fabric. Duo smiled in approval. after paying for the skirt, they left. and Duo started to inform Lumi of what he had found out.

[Rikugurl]

~Rikugurl
"Across? What kind of name is that for a town?" Duo didn't say anything. "We'll do you like my new skirt? oh by the way, thanks for buying it for me."yeah it's nice," he said. "hey, the tailor said that a person looking for Destiny island to and he said that he had silve hair and green eyes." "Riku!" i looked down. Riku?"Did he tell you where he went?"I asked."No." Duo answered. "Well that really doesn't help." I was really looking for Sora and Tidus. tidus more than anyone. I was responsible for him. I wonder where Riku is now.At least someone else made it. If i can find him I might be able to find Sora and Tidus. "So, Duo, Where to next?"

~Chris
"Hmmmm...lets go to the nearest town from here. maybe Riku went there." she didn't say anything, but continued looking at the ground. he continued "the tailor told me it's about a week's walk from here." still nothing. Duo leaned down next to Lumi. "come on! lets go find your friends." finally she looked up at Duo and smiled. "alright! lets go!" she started to walk a little faster. "ok but first, we have to buy a little food and water." after getting supplies, the two finally set off. Duo knew it would be a long trip so he started the conversation. "so, tell me a little about Destiny Island. i didnt get to see much when we met." he turned and smiled at Lumi. "ok!" she said with a glow in her eyes. strangely, it made him happy whenever he saw her happy

~Rikugurl
I wasn't to happy about the whole next town thing but i didn't want to say no. he was so nice. "So tell me a little bit about Destiny island." he said as he looked at me and smile. I smiled back and started telling him of all the wonderful things that happened. "Well once me and Sora were sitting together on the dock throwing rocks at the water. Then riku came up and climbed up a close tree. He pulled down a star shaped fruit and sat next to Sora. he said ' if one breaks this apart and give one half to someone and keep the other half, when you both eat it your souls will me intertwined forever. i was thinking about giving one to kairi.' I thought that was a great myth and after everyone went to sleep. I climbed out of my window, climbed up the tree and grabbed a star fruit. I put in a secret place so no one would find it but since the storm came, i don't have it anymore." i looked up a Duo. He looked interested. I smiled. "That's really it." We continued walking till it was dark out. "Can we rest now Duo? my feet are killing me."

~Chris
"Sure. we made good time so far." she immeadately ploped down on the ground and removed her shoes, checking for blisters. Duo sat on a nearby rock. he felt something nearby. and followed its every move in his mind. but didn't change at all on the outside. to Lumi or anyone else, he just looked as tho he were thinking. eventually, he figured that it would not do anything. so he started to gather wood for a fire. after lighting the small fire, he once again began the excercise he had done every night. meanwhile Lumi had been getting dinner ready. "it's almost done!" she exclaimed from the fire side.

~Rikugurl
As i brought dinner over to Duo i couldn't help but noticed what he was doing. "What's that funny dance your doing." I said as i cocked my head to one side. He stopped and took his plate. "Nothing" he replied. "so what's for dinner?" he asked. "oh, it's some berries and some nut and earthy stuff like that. I could really go for some fish right now. actually, I'm kind of sick of that stuff because i had it everyday." he took a piece of a berry and ate it. "It's good" he replied. "Good!" I said as i sat down next to him. maybe you can hunt for some animal tomorrow so we can have some protein." "Sure, I'll do that." "Ok" I looked down at my food. I wasn't really hungry. i walked over to the water jug in my back pack and sat down next to duo again. we really shouldn't have left Across until we searched the whole thing. tidus might be there. "Duo?" "Yeah?" "is it ok if I sleep next to you tonight? I really don't want to sleep alone. No in the out like this."

~Chris
"Sure! in fact it might be better that way any way. i've heard it gets really cold out here at night. we can keep each other warm." Duo smiled at her to assure her that there was nothing to fear. after a few more bites, he noticed Lumi wasn't eating. "what's the matter?" he asked. she looked up at him. "well, it's just that i think we should've stayed in Across for a little longer. i mean, what if Tidus were there? or Sora." she looked really worried. Duo put his hand on her shoulder. "don't worry, Tidus should have been with us, but he wasn't. and the lead on Riku is the only thing we've got to go on. so all we can do now is try to catch up to him." she still looked a little unsettled. "besides, maybe Riku found Tidus." she didn't look happy. but she seemed to accept it as the only course of action available to them. she still just looked at the ground and sulked. Duo decided to let her think for a while. he just finished the meal.

~Rikugurl
Maybe i didn't want to find Riku. That dream and then when the storm hit. It was like he knew it was gonna happen. I ate a few berries and then I tossed the rest far off into the meadow for the other animals to eat. I looked at Duo and saw that he was done eating. I walked over to him and went through my backpack. I took out the blanket that we bought over in Across and laid it on the ground. i sat on the blanket and looked up at the sky. "Looks clear. I hope we don't bump into a rainstorm on the way to the next town." Duo smiled. "So, what's the name to the next town anyway, Duo?" He shrugged his shoulders and sat down next to me.

~Chris
"I guess we'll find out when we get there." Duo just looked up at the stars. "hey Duo. what was your family like?" Lumi leaned into him, but he just looked at the ground. "i...i-i don't know. when i was only four, my father killed my mother. then shot himself out of saddness." he was almost crying. "then a cop showed up. but he was a junkie. and he sold me to a mob boss for some drugs." he paused for a moment. Lumi was in shock. yet he continued on with his horrible story. "then...the mob boss trained me in all of the deadly arts and was really nice to me. he fed me. so that when i grew up. i would be his bodyguard and hitman. but when i realized what was going on, i killed him and the entire mob. i started to look for a job, but didn't need to, everytime i was low on cash, someone else showed up with a job. eventually, i ended up taking the job to find the one with the most incredible power. and then met you." there was a long silence. "i can understand if you want to go on your own from now on." he was overcome with saddness for himself.

[Rikugurl]

~Rikugurl
When his story ended, tears where rolling down my cheek. "No! No Duo! I'm not leaving you!" I hugged him and held him tight. "I'm sorry about your family." I said in a half calm half crying voice. "I don't know what a mob is or this drug stuff but..."I looked up at him. he looked back at me. A tear ran down his cheek. "Don't cry Lumi. it's not your fault." I put my hand on his face and wiped the tear from his cheek. i looked down and wiped my face with my skirt. Then I looked at the stars. "I never had a dad. I might have but I never met him and my mom never brought it up. when she died from a strange sickness I was left with my uncle who lived on the island. Duo, Look!" I pointed to the sky. He looked up. Another star had gotten bright and then faded out to nothing. "What are happening to the stars Duo?"

~Chris
"I don't know. i've never seen anything like that before." he thought about it for a minute but then dismissed it as nothing serious. "it's probably nothing." he said. "i wouldn't worry about it too much." then he just sat back to watch the fire as it danced.
~Rikugurl
I was worried about it though. Stars don't just fanish like that. Not without a reason. I looked up at him. He was watching the fire and was probably thinking about something. "Maybe we can find something interesting tomorrow. Maybe it can be a souvenir. A neat rock or a strange creature." He looked at me and smiled. "maybe." he said quietly. I reached my arms up and yawned. "I'm thinking about calling it a night. Is that ok Duo?" he nodded and then he put the fire out. He laid down and then made room for me next to him. I laid down next to him and fell asleep. in the middle of the night. the wind blew a cold breeze. I started to shiver and got closer to Duo for warmth. In the morning I woke up before Duo. I looked around and I could tell that something happened in the night. my back pack was ripped and my water bottle was open. I ran over to it and found that there was no more water left. Great, no more water.

~Chris
Duo woke when he heard Lumi say, "great, what the hell are we going to do now?" he was still drowsy but he went over to her to see what was the matter. "look at this!" she said. "no water, and the pack's been ripped open." he looked at the water bottle. "no biggie." he said. "we can just fill up at the next stream. although the ripped pack is going to be a pain." he was glad that was all that happened. but that dark feeling still hadn't gone away. he decided to ignore it for a while longer and continue on. after a few days, they found a herd of chocobos. it was finally time for a good meal. so he went out, killed one of the smaller ones(i mean it's only for two people), and brought it back to camp. Lumi was practically jumping with joy. after Duo plucked it and readyed it for cooking, she threw it over the fire.

~Rikugurl
"What do you call these birds again Duo?" "Chocobos" "Chocobos? That's a funny name for a bird." Duo seemed shocked that I've never heard of these birds. "I only had fish back at Destiny Island." i said as I covered myself up from embarrassment. "They cook well though." i started to poked it. "I think it's done." I cut up the bird and served some to Duo and myself. I then i wrapped up the leftovers and put it in a pouch. I sat down next to Duo and took a big bite out of the bird. "Wow! This is so good!" i said as I smiled at Duo. After dinner, i decided to go look for some water. As Duo was doing his funny dance of his, i headed out through the meadows. I walked for a good 15 minutes I came apon a small stream. i knelt down and scooped up some water into the water bottle. Then I heard a noise behind me. I turned around quickly to see.. nothing. I put the top on the bottle and started heading back to camp when i heard another noise. the bushes behind me rustled and then i just ran like hell back to camp. "I got some water Duo." I said as I caught my breath. "Good." he replied. After a few hours we decided to go to sleep. The next morning, we ate the rest of the Chocobo and started heading back to the trail. we walked for a good five hours. Suddenly I tripped over a rock and fell on the dirt. I got up and brushed the dirt off. i so damn dirty. i want to bathe somewhere. After another hour, i saw a peak of a house. "Duo! We're here!" I said as i ran down the trail to the village. Finally, someplace to bathe!

~Chris
While Duo was excercising, he thought about how to make some extra money. he was running a little low. what with the hotel room, the new skirt, and the extra supplies. he had only brought enough money to buy a few things he might need. he hadn't planned on picking up a girl to bring along. but no matter. an opportunity would present itself. just then, Lumi burst into camp, out of breath. she put the water bottle she left with in the pack, and told him that she had gotten some more water. "good" he said. he chose not to say anything about her running. and meanwhile, the dark feeling had been getting stronger. Duo was beginning to worry. but he decided to play it cool until they got to town. the next morning, they were walking and Lumi spotted a house. "Duo! we're here!" she yelled. and started to skip down the trail. Duo found himself smiling again. but when they got to town, they both stopped smiling. there was noone here. it was a ghost town. "what do you suppose is the matter?" Lumi asked. "i don't know." he looked around. the dark feeling was overwelming him. "maybe--" Duo was interuped by screaming. they quickly ran to the source. it was a woman being attacked by what looked like the same creatures they had seen before, but different. Duo drew his long sword and took about ten of them out in one swipe. but he knew that more would quickly replace them. he turned to Lumi. "get her to safety, then come back and help me!" he guided the woman toward her. then resumed his battle. he kept killing them, but they kept popping back up. he was about to run, when he noticed that there were fewer than when just a moment ago. and none were replacing the ones that had fallen. with renewed strength, he continued to battle them. until Lumi returned.

[Rikugurl]

~Rikugurl
I brought the woman to safety and started to run back when the woman stopped me. "Watch out. They're everywhere!" I smiled. "I'll be fine. Me and my friend will get rid of them." I ran back to the fight. Duo had pretty much gotten rid of them. I took out the sword he had given me and attacked the first one I saw. I wasn't much help. I played with Sora with swords but I never told Duo I didn't win one game. I swung left and right but the creature just kept dodging my blows. As I was trying to kill it I looked over at Duo. All the creatures that he was fighting were gone. He ran over and sliced the one I was working on. "Hey that was close." I smiled at him. He said nothing back and just walked over to the woman. He knelt down and asked her a few questions. I just stood were I was and waited for him to come back. About a hour later he walked back to me. And told me what the woman had told him. The town was chased away by a man and those creatures. he was looking for a particular person. now only the creatures stay to see if that person ever passed. He said that she stays here to warn people of this fact. He than gave me bad news. "The next town is about two days away from here and it's all through forest land." Great, just when I was relieved about finding my friends and taking a bath, I get more and more bad news. "Well I guess we had better get going then." He continued to just stand there. he started to look around the town square. "Duo? what's wrong?"

~Chris
"There's something here." he slowly said. "well yeah. we just beat the crap out of them." she just continued on her way out of town. "no. i mean there's something else here." he drew his long sword again. Lumi just looked around, perplexed. "SHOW YOURSELF!!" Duo screamed at a nearby doorway. Lumi looked to where he yelled. it was dark, so she couldn't see anything there. "Duo, are you--" "HAHAHAHAHA!!!!" Lumi was interrupted by a dry cackling. "so, you are able to sense evil. just as i was told." the voice was dry and devoid of any kindness. the owner of the voice then stepped into the light. he was a thinly built man with dark baggy clothing. Duo set his long sword back into it's sheeth. he then undid the waist strap on his jacket to reveal the scores of daggers underneath. "stay back Lumi. he is not an ordinary man." after Lumi took a few steps back to where the woman had been. both men spung into action. the thin man started to run along the walls of the square, while Duo hurling dagger after dagger at him. he didn't hit the thin man though. "is that all you can conjour up? i thought you'd be tougher! ha!" the thin man sped up. Lumi could hardly tell where he was. Duo's next two daggers hit the man on either side of his chest. he was pinned to the wall. "you were saying?" Duo smirked. "i was saying, that are much weaker than i thought." he seemed almost unphased. "although i have to admit, you're the first to hit me." he snickered, and started to walk toward Duo the daggers still in the wall. Lumi gasped. "but then again, did you really hit me?" his tunic ripped in half revealing a much thinner frame than the clothing had let on. Duo had struck to either side of his actual body. "well, no matter." Duo chuckled a bit. then drew his long sword. "i still have a weapon." "HAHAHAHA!! but will that weapon be fast enough? that's an awfully big sword. and i'm awfully fast. as you've witnessed. can you hit me with that thing?" "why don't you stop flapping that big mouth and find out?" Duo smirked even more. the thin man took off again. this time even faster than before. he was running on the walls. then, Duo disappeared. then reappeared in the center of the town square. the dead body of the thin man dropped to the ground at his feet. it was bloodied beyond recognition.

~Rikugurl
I couldn't believe my eyes. The fight was a great show but I was scared to death at the same time. When the body dropped and Duo came back I slowly walked over to him. Duo was a little out of breath and then he put his sword away. He looked at me and smile. I didn't smile in return. "What are you? No one can disappear like that." I said in a quiet voice. he smirked "Training." he said quickly. i looked at the guy that had fought Duo. suddenly and crystal heart flew up from his chest and faded way. "Duo, I'm scared. I wanna go. I want to go now!" "Ok Lumi, we can go now. The evil is less here." he then walked to the woman and said his good-byes then walked out of the town down the new trail. I ran and caught up but i didn't get to close. Duo wasn't everything he told me he was. could I really trust him. he can kill anyone at this point. Even me. We walked until we reached the forest and then he looked back at me.

~Chris
Duo turned around. he looked at Lumi and said "i am truely sorry you had to see that." Lumi had a look of disbelief on her face. "don't worry, i won't hurt you. i have no reason to. and besides, it's against my code." she finally spoke. "i...i just don't know if i can trust you. you kill a man in the blink of an eye, then calmly walk away." she looked like she wanted to cry. "i told you. it's a result of the years of training i went through. i didn't really disappear. i was just moving too fast for anyone to see." she still wouldn't budge. "ok, i understand. you can follow me from back there if you prefer. but i will still protect you. i told you that i would and that is what i will do." then continued on into the forest. he turned around again, startling Lumi. "oh, and if you need me to give you a few tips on handling a sword, i'll be happy to help." he smiled again and turned back around.

~Rikugurl
We continued walking through the woods. I was sniffling up my tears as i walked behind Duo. I wanna go home. Back to Destiny Island were there was no such think as killing ,well only for food. I looked up at Duo. His silver hair was blowing from the night wind. He seemed to be calm as he walked but I know he was thinking. He's always thinking. I heard a rustling in the bushes and a small mouse popped out. "Don't scare me like that" i said underneath my breath. The moon was full that night and the woods were dark. I was starting to get scared. I ran up to Duo and walked beside him. "Scared huh?" he said. I looked up at him. "No." i said firmly. he just made a quiet laugh underneath his voice. "I don't see what's so funny. I've never been in a place like this so I'm sorry if I’m scare--" I stopped and looked at the ground. "It's ok to be scared Lumi. I would be scared to if i was your age in a new world. it'll be fine. I promise I won't let anything happen to you." he looked down at me and smiled. I gave a small smile back and held his hand. He seemed to be shocked. he looked at me in a concerned look. "What" I asked him."Like I said Duo, you're the only one I got."

[Rikugurl]

~Chris
he smiled again. "you're right." and she was all he had. "hey, how about that training?" he asked with a smile. "ok!" she was eager to learn. every time they stopped, Duo helped her train. pretty soon, she got good. they continued on the trail with no event, and arrived in the next town. "well at least this one's populated." Lumi said as she watched the people bustle in the street. "let's look at the inn. Riku or Tidus most likely went there first." Duo turned the corner to ask the location of the inn. when they got there, they were in awe. it was huge! it must have been able to accomedate dozens of people. well, they went up to the counter and asked if any children looking like Lumi had come in. "well, there was a couple o kids yesterday. ya just missed em." the inn keeper apoligized. "oh no..." Lumi sank down into the floor. "don't worry. we're getting closer. we were several days behind last time." she perked up again. "hey, you're right!" they both smiled at each other. "let's go get some more supplies." while they were picking up some water from the well, it suddenly got eerily quiet in the town. they looked around to see a well built man walking through the street surrounded by more of those little creatures. the towns people shrank away from him. Duo just looked at him, disgusted. the man noticed. "you! the man near the well! why are you looking at me like that? don't you know who i am?" Duo answered bluntly. "no." "what? really? well then i'll tell you! i am Maxim! controller of the heartless!" Duo was unimpressed. "hehhehheh, aren't you scared?" "what are 'heartless'?" Lumi interrupted. "you're looking at them." he said gesturing towards the creatures at his feet. "what's so scary about them?" Duo said cock-eyed. "fool! i'll show you! ATTACK!" the heartless flew into action. Duo calmly drew his sword and dispatched a few of them. purposely leaving a few for Lumi to take care of. Maxim flinched. "ha! it doesn't matter! i'll kill you myself!" Maxim started for Duo. "STOP!!" Duo's voice rang out. he looked at the towns people "everyone get away from here!" he turned to Lumi. "you too Lumi." he smiled gently.

~Rikugurl
The towns people backed away into there homes. "No, Duo. i'm staying!" I said as I drew my sword. "Ok" Duo replied. "but i only was you to deal with the heartless." "Fine with me." And with that i set out on my job. I ran over to the first one and slashed it into two. Yes that training really helped! A bug jumped up to hit me but then I got it in air. "Woohoo!" I yelled as i slashed way four bugs in one blow. I was really getting the hand of this stuff. I looked over at Duo and he seemed to be doing pretty well. i continued to fight until there were no left. I turned around to see Duo and the man standing in action ,out of breath. Duo straightened himself out. "You're no match for me and I doubt that your the leader of these heartless creatures. Your to weak. Leave now or I guarantee you will not see another day." I guy gave him a dirty look. "I'll get you someday, stranger." then he ran away. Suddenly a finger poked my arm. I turned around and threw my fist at the man. He took my arm and twisted it and i landed on the ground with a big thud. He looked down at me. "You need to learn how to control yourself, girl." I saw due turn around. he squinted at the man. "Don't you touch her!" he yelled. The man just smirked and held out his hand and helped me up. then he looked at Duo. "Thank you for your help stranger. Unfortunately that was my job." i looked at him closely. He had a sword on his back that looked pretty weird. "excuse me" i interrupted. The man looked at me. "Umm...what kind of sword is that?" He took out the sword and swung it close to me. "It's called a gunblade." "A gunblade?" Duo walked over to us. "So what's your name stranger?" the man asked with an attitude. "My name isn't important to you." Duo answered. "Ok, well you can call me Leon. I see your a fighter. I'll tell you one thing, Your kind isn't welcomed in this first district. You should come with me to the second. That where strangers that lost there world go and are welcome with no charge. Oh, and I forgot to mention. There is a tournament that will be held in two more days. All fighters are welcome. The first grand prize is 3,000 munny. But i have to warn you. A guy, which i don't trust at all has been winning this contest for six years straight now. Good luck." Leon then pointed to a large door. "Through that door is the second district. Welcome to Traverse Town."

~Chris
"Thanks for the welcome." Duo was still skeptical. but they followed him anyway. Lumi turned to Duo and whispered. "Duo, should we trust him?" "i guess he can be trusted, i don't sense any evil in him. besides, we need the cash. but when i win this tournament, we'll leave to follow Riku and Tidus." "ok!" she relaxed a little. when they got to the second district, they could see a sort of stadium. there was a kind of hole in the ground, which was surrounded by stands. that was obviously where the tournament was to be. they soon arrived at a small house. when they entered, they saw two women. one had a pink dress and wore her hair in a pony tail. the other was dressed in shorts, a small top, and wore her hair very short. the women got up and Leon introduced them. "this is Aeris." he gestured to the woman in the pink dress. "it's nice to meet you." "and this is--" "Yuffie! the pleasure's all mine!" Aeris spoke up again. "what are your names?" Duo quickly responded. "we prefer to remain anonymous." "very well." that night, Duo and Lumi asked Leon and the others about Riku and Tidus. "yeah, they came through the second district too. said they didn't have any money. so we put 'em up for the night." Lumi broke in. "really? were they ok? where were they going?" Leon grinned a bit. "they left this morning for the next town. i'll show you which direction when you leave." "did you here that? we're closer than we thought!" she was brimming with happiness. "sorry to rain on your parade but because of this tournament, we'll be set back again." she settled down again. "oh...yeah." Duo smiled. "don't worry, we'll catch up." she brightened a little. "well, we'd better get to sleep. i still have a few things to teach you about the sword. where can we get a bed or two?" Duo looked at Leon expectantly. "follow me." he left the little house they had been talking in. "here's the second district inn." he led them to the entrance. "an inn?" Duo was looking a little uneasy. suddenly, a voice exploded from inside the inn. "don't worry! we don't charge anybody here! be they children or ruffians." a man with blonde hair and a cigar walked up to them. "name's Cid." Duo turned to face him. "are you sure it's ok to stay here for free?" Cid looked almost insulted. "of course! like i said, we don't charge for rooms here."

~Rikugurl
"So, how many rooms do you need? One or Two?" Duo looked at me. "Oh." i stopped and thought for a minute. "Umm, we'll take one, please." Cid smiled. "Oh I see where this is going, do--" "It's nothing like that." Duo said in an angry voice. "We just need one room with two beds." "Ok, ok. follow me." Cid said as he walked down the hall. he stopped at a door and unlocked it. "Here you go." He said as he left. "Breakfast is at six to seven so if you miss it, you're gonna have to buy some food yourself." I stepped into the room. It was well decorated and was a shade of green. The thing was was that there was only one bed. i turned to Duo. "Looks like we're gonna have to share." I sat down on the bed. "it's nice and soft."I smiled at him. He gave me a quick smile and continued looking around. "I'm gonna ask if they have a type of bath here. Is that ok?" He turned to me. "A bath sounds good to me too." i put my backpack on the bed and walked out to the hallway. Cid was walking by and I cut in front of him. "Excuse me, but do you have a bath or shower here?" He looked down at me. "Yeah it's downstairs. It's actually a pool of warm water. It has some waterfalls in it so you can wash your hair too." "Wow, that sounds nice!" He lead me down a flight of stairs and open the door. A large pool was in the center of the room. The sound of the water coming down into the pool sounded so beautiful. Cid handed me a towel. "Here. When your done make sure you sign back in." "Ok" I said as I walked into the room. It was so nice and warm. I walked over to the pool and began to take my clothes off. I put my foot in the water. Wow, it's really warm! I slid off the side and plunged into the water. The warm water surrounded my body and I felt so relaxed. I wonder where Tidus, Sora and Riku are. No, I'm not going to worry. I'm going to relax for once, and dream.

[Rikugurl]

~Chris
after Lumi left for the bath, Duo began his nightly excercises early. while he was doing so, Cid popped his head in the door. "ya know, she's in the bath now." he raised his eye brows a few times. "eh? eh?" he had this awful look on his face. "don't be absurd! it's indecent and incredibly rude to do something like that." "aw, come on!" Duo flashed Cid a stern look. "alright, alright. jeez!" Cid left. by the time Lumi got back, Duo had finished his excercises. "oh, i feel SO much better!" she said as she walked across the room. "i'm glad." Duo stated with a smile. "it's been so long since i had a real bath. i was feeling so grimmy." Duo chuckled a little. "what? is it wrong for me to want to be clean?" "no, i'm laughing because i'm used to going for weeks on end without a bath or shower." Lumi cringed at the thought of going for so long without a single bath. "well, i guess i'd better get mine outta the way. it's been a while for me too. " Duo got up and left the room. Duo came back. "where's the bath?" he looked embarrassed. "it's down the hall to the left." she giggled a bit. "thank you." and Duo left again.

~Rikugurl
While Duo was taking his bath, I sat on the bed. I looked at the pillows and the sheets. What is this that i'm feeling? I got up and looked out the window. He smiles at me so much. A star started to twinkle. I miss Riku. I stood there for while. No I don't. Stop saying that. He's not the same. I went to the mirror and started to brush my hair. He wouldn't understand. I wonder if he knows. My thought continued like this until Duo came back. "That shower was nice." he said with a smile. There's that smile again. I walked over to the bed and sat down. "I'll sleep on the floor if you don't feel--" "No, you're fine. Sleep in the bed. I probably wont be going to bed anyway." Duo interrupted. I looked down. "What's wrong, lumi?" he asked. "You need sleep. You have a tournament in a day and a half." "I'll be fine." "Duo?" "Yeah?" "What do you think about..." I grew quiet and looked down again. "What do i think about what?" "Our future?" I looked up at him. He looked puzzled. I knew he wouldn't get it. I sighed and changed the subject. "You know. Where will I live? I don't think I'll ever get back to Destiny Island. And what about you? Where will you go after you find what you're looking for." "I don't know. I never really thought of it." I wish he understood. Am I pushing it? i guess i should think this through before I tell my feelings

~Chris
Duo was a little confused. "hmm...i just don't know. i guess we'll find a place for you to live after you catch up to your friends. you still want to find them don't you?" "yeah, of course, they're my friends. but..." she paused. maybe to stop herself from saying something. "but i just don't know anymore." she started to cry. Duo hurried to her side to comfort her. "don't cry. i hate to see a beautiful girl cry." her crying slowed to a sob. she looked up at Duo and said "i'm sorry. i just don't know what else to do." Duo thought for a minute. "how about this: after the tournament, we continue following your friends. then, after we catch up, decide what to do from there." he smiled again. she stopped crying. "alright." she looked up at Duo and smiled. "that's better! now get some sleep." Duo started to get up but before he could, Lumi jumped up and hugged him tightly. "thank you, Duo." she said through his jacket. "thank you so much."

~Rikugurl
I laid down on the bed and pulled the sheets over me. I stayed up until my eyes couldn't stand the dim light of the room. Duo sat on the chair across the room. He said I was beautiful.....The next morning I got up bright and early. Duo had fallen asleep on the chair. I walked over to him and budged him a little. He opened his eyes slowly. "It's morning already?" "Yeah. we need to go to the main entrance to the second district to sign you up for the tournament tomorrow. C'mon!" I said as I pulled him out of the chair. After we had a good breakfast, we walked down to the entrance. A small bar was crowded with towns people who were anxious to see who was fighting in tomorrows tournament. We pushed through the crowd until we got to the front. The bar tender looked up. "May i help you?" he asked. Duo stood up straight. "I'm here to sign up for tomorrows tournament." "Talk about being a little late. Here's the sign-up slip." The bar tender gave Duo a piece of paper. As Duo was filling it out I looked around. I finally caught my eyes on something. A man across the room was looking at me. I sensed evil toward that direction. When our eyes met he snickered and began to talk to the person across from him. Then the blue haired man walked towards me and Duo. Duo looked up. He was squinting at the man. " I see you're a skilled fighter. How about this: if you lose to me, I give you the money and I get the girl. If you win you get to keep both. I warn you though, I never lose."

~Chris
Duo was disgusted. "First off, i don't make bets. second, even if i did, i wouldn't be so pompous as to wager a girls life. you can have the money if you win of course. it is the prize after all. but as for this pretty young lady that is accompaning me, she will stay with me. regardless." Duo scowled at the man. "very well. i'm Van. just thought you should know my name. and you are?" "Duo. i also make it a point to know my opponents name. at least when i'm fighting in a tournament." Van had a tatoo on his arm, but Duo couldn't see it from his angle. "well, i guess i'll be seeing you tomorrow then." he started to leave. "guess so." Duo watched his every step. after Van left, Duo turned to Lumi. "lets go find Leon." they went to the house where they talked to Leon and the two women. Duo knocked on the door, and Aeris answered it. "oh, it's you. nice to see you again. come in" she opened the door wide and let them in. Duo immeadiately walked up to Leon. "ok. my name is Duo. i'm sorry for the rudeness last night." Lumi followed his example and introduced herself to Aeris and Yuffie. Leon was curious. "why the sudden change of heart?" "i've decided that there are more dangerous things to worry about." Duo thought back to the tavern. "so, i guess you met Van. he's the one i warned you about yesterday. the returning six time champ." Aeris chimed in. "he's ruthless in battle. even in the tournament, he always finishes his opponents." Leon resumed. "yeah, and he's good too. almost got me last year. if i hadn't been thrown out of the ring, i wouldn't be standing here." Lumi stood at Duo's side. "can you beat him?" "i don't know yet. until i see him fight at his full potential, i won't be able to tell. so i won't know even when going into battle with him.
~Rikugurl
I stood there waiting for three hours for Duo to stop talking to Leon. I didn't say much. There was to many things on my mind. Finally he was done and he said his good-byes. On the way back to the inn, we walk past Van. "Good-luck tomorrow." He snickered. I couldn't help notice the tattoo on his arm. It was a black heart and it's liner was red. it looked so familiar. We walked back inside our room and Duo shut the door behind him. "I'm going to be training in here so if you want to watch by all means do." "Ok." I said with a smile. I watched him for hours. Sooner or later I feel asleep. I woke up the next morning. Duo had slept in the bed that night. I got up and looked at the clock tower. It was another hour until the match. I woke up Duo and we ate breakfast. "Lumi, I was thinking last night that you should stay here until I get back. I don't trust that Van guy." "No, Duo. i'm coming with you. You know, to cheer you on? Where you go, I go." "Fine but you have to be alert at all times." "ok" I said. he headed out to the fight. it seemed like the whole town came to see. I found a place to sit in the second row. The tournament started. The fights seemed to get longer and longer as the hour grew. Duo was doing a great job. The rules were was that if you get taped three times with a blade or can no longer fight, you lose the battle. Duo only got taped once within 15 of his battles. Soon it was the final round. It was about 10:00 at night. Parents sent their children home to their beds and babies slept in their mother's arms. It came down to Duo and Van. I was afraid of this. The fight started and everyone stood up. I stood up too but I couldn't see the fight. I stood on the tips of my toes but it was no use. The crowd was cheering and clapping. Then all of a sudden the crowd grew quiet and a low muffle was heard. A large thud echoed through the town. I push the person in front of me aside. Duo was on his knees. Blood had covered his shirt. Van had pierced him in the shoulder. "Duo!" I screamed.

[Rikugurl]

~Chris
Duo winced. he hadn't been struck in a long time. he almost forgot how much it hurt. but he could handle it. he had fought with a wounded arm many times before. and he could still fight at near full capacity. he got back up. "HAHAHAHA!!! i told you i never lose." Van was enjoying himself thoroughly. "well, everyone runs out of luck sooner or later. after all, you can't win 'em all." Duo smirked, grabbed his sword with both hands, and took off at full speed. he reappeared at one end of the ring, then swiftly disappeared again. he did this over and over at different places in the ring to confuse Van. the crowd was in awe. none of them could speak. even Lumi was a little speechless. but she soon resumed her cheering. Duo decided it was time to end it. he appeared a few yards to the side of Van, and threw a dagger. when Van went to block it, he appeared on the other side. Duo quickly slashed the back of Van's knees, severing the tendons. Duo looked down at Van, an almost sadistic look in his eyes. "you lose." he calmly stated. Van was outraged. he lashed out with his sword. "NOT YET I HAVEN'T!! DIIEEEE!!!!" Duo reappeared behind him and to the left this time. he flipped the blade of the sword over, and struck hard directly on the joint of the thumb. "AAAAAHHHH!!" Van was writhing in pain. Duo sheethed his long sword. "you can never hold a sword again. nor will you be able to walk. i hope you can learn to get along more with people." and with that, he left. he passed the town doctor on the way out of the ring. after collecting the prize money, Lumi rushed up to him.

~Rikugurl
I ran up to Duo with tears in my eyes. "Duo!" I hugged him gently due to the fact he was hurt. "I was so worried. Are you ok?" "Yeah, i'm fine. Let's get back to the inn before the crowd comes." I walked Duo back to the inn. He could hardly walk. Cid came running up. "Wow! I can't believe you won--" "Please" i interrupted. "Leave him to rest." "Sure, sure." I walked Duo to our room. I helped him get into bed. "Is there anything i can get you?" "No, i'm fine. I just need some--" He feel asleep. He began to sweat terribly. Damn Van. I took my backpack and my sword and quietly left the room. I walked out onto the road. The town was quiet and peace full. I walked down the road to the first district. Before I opened the door a voice came up behind me. "You." I turned around. It was Van. He didn't have a mark on him! "Where's your precious Duo? Not with you huh? looks like he doesn't do a good job at protecting you." "Shut-up! I wanted to walk to get some fresh air." "I doubt that. Attack!" he said as he pointed at me. Tons of the bug heartless appeared and ran straight to me. I drew my sword and got ready to fight. I swung left and right, taking out tons of them. but still more came. Suddenly something knocked my sword out of my hand. i looked behind me. Two giant creatures were behind me. The grabbed me and held me from underneath my arms. I couldn't move. Van walked up to me, his feet surrounded by the heartless bugs. He looked at me and smiled. I squinted at him and then spitted in his face. He wiped it off with a discussed look. "Stupid girl." "Duo! Someone help!" Suddenly Van slapped me across the face. I let out a small squeak. Blood started to come out of my mouth. "Shut-up." "You shut-up" a voice behind him said. It was Leon. "Put her down now and leave. Take your heartless with you or you'll be punished." Van snickered. he looked at me. "Release her." The Giant creatures dropped me on the ground. Van looked at me once more. "We'll get you sooner or later girl. You won't be safe." "Get out of here now!" Leon yelled. Van and his heartless left and Leon brought me back to the inn. I slept on the couch in the middle of the hallway the night.

~Chris
Duo woke up. he looked around to see Lumi on the couch. he breathed a sigh of relief. "thank god." he checked his wounds. they were completely healed. "good. now we can continue after her friends." there was a knock on the door, as Leon entered the room. "good. you've healed." "hey. nice to see you." Duo was happy to see him for some reason he did not know. Leon however, was not smiling. "there's something you should know." he said. "while you were recovering, Lumi was attacked." "what?! Is she ok?" Duo rushed over to her to check for wounds. "she's fine. I got there in time to help her." Duo turned to Leon. "thank you. really. but who was it?" "it was Van." Duo was shocked. "WHAT?! Van?! but how? he shouldn't even be able to move!" Duo was trying to comprehend these events. Leon spoke up again. "but he had completely healed. and had control of the heartless." Duo was furious. "damn him!! where is he?" his fists started shaking. "he usually hangs out in the tavern. but i think--" "i don't care what you think." Duo shoved past Leon while saying "watch Lumi for me." when he got to the tavern, he drew his long sword. "VAN!! get out here!" Van calmly stepped out of the tavern. "oh my! you've healed already?" "shut up Van! what do you want with Lumi? why is she so important to you?" Van calmly dispersed everyone around him. "she is one of the chosen ones. but that is all you'll get out of me for now. you're going to pay for beating me in the tournament." Duo glared at him "you couldn't make me pay if you tried. how did you heal so fast? you shouldn't even be able to move right now." Duo was beginning to reclaim his cool demeaner as he prepared for battle. "ah yes, about that. i used the heartless. they can heal any wound that you can inflict upon me." Duo smirked. "unless you die. then, there's nothing to heal but an empty shell of a body." Van flinched. "too bad you won't be able kill me." he drew his sword. Duo immeadately charged him. Van blocked. "oh. too bad you showed me all your strength in the tournament. i can predict your every move!" he thrusted Duo away from him. "while i still have a few tricks for you! THUNDER!!!" he lifted his arms into the air. the sky became dark, and a lightening bolt came crashing down. Duo jumped to the side. "hey, nice trick. But i still haven't shown you all of my power yet." he stopped talking but continued to stand still. but there was something not right about him. "ha! is this it? you're not doing anything! this has become tiresome. i'm going to end this. now!!" he lunged at Duo. but when he struck him, there was no resistance. and Duo disappeared. then, Duo reappeared behind Van. "it's called an after image. i moved so fast, that to you, i was still standing there. now it's over." Duo thrusted his long sword through the back of Van's neck. Van began to struggle to get off of the blade. he grabbed at it and kicked off the ground, blood pouring out of his neck. but Duo just rose the blade up, to lift Van off the ground. "this is what you get for attacking Lumi! now DIE!!!" he twisted the blade in Van's neck and slashed it outwards, causing his blood to spill everywhere. Van's lifeless body fell to the ground. Duo calmly turned around, wiped the blood off his long sword, and left. all the people clammered around Van's body as he left. when he got back to the inn, Lumi was awake.

[Rikugurl]

~Rikugurl
I was sitting on the stairs to my house. It was bright and early and the tide was about to come in. The sun rise wasn't as pretty today as it was a few weeks ago. I had gotten up early to watch it. Before I left I made sure I put the star fruit in my backpack. I really didn't know why i did this. I stood up and put my backpack on and headed over to Sora's house. As I walked to his house I passed Tidus, who was playing with a stick and swinging it around. "Watch where you swing that, Tidus." I said with a giggle. I skipped along the shore line and finally came to Sora's house. I walked up to the door and knocked on it. Sora's mother opened the door. "Sorry Lumi but Sora doesn't feel well today. He wont be out to play." i felt pretty said that i wouldn't have a playmate today but i smiled and skipped away. As i did so, I saw that there was a new boat in the dock. My face brightened and I ran to the boat. It was empty. A new person came to the Island! I looked around and found out that there were footprints leading from the boat to the strange cave. I ran to the cave and climbed in. I walked down the path and looked around. A small boy was sitting in the corner. I slowly walked over to him so i wouldn't scare him. "Hello?" i said but there was no answer. The boy looked up at me. His eyes were gray and sad. I knelt down next to him. "Hi, What are you doing in here?" Still no answer. I paused and thought for a minute. "Hey. look up there," I said as i pointed to the wall. "that's a picture of me. my friend Sora made that when I first came to the Island. I was scared too but then the kids from the Island came and made me feel better. Did you come with someone?" He looked down and still said nothing." Oh, I'm sorry. I came here with my mother. She died though but my uncle was here to watch over me. I don't think he'll mind if you stay with us." He looked up and smiled. I smiled back. "My name is Lumi. What's yours?" He stood silent for a moment and than answered is a low voice. "My name is Duo.".......I woke up. the hall was silent and at that moment Duo walked in. I sat up slowly and looked at him. He didn't look like himself. he walked up to me and looked down. "I'm sorry i left while you were sleeping Duo. I was going to get some herbs for you." "It's ok but I think we should go look for your friends now." I looked down. "I'll get my backpack then." I said as I stood up slowly and began to walk to the door. I'm too scared to go anywhere anymore.


~DK. jr
He walked down the ivory plated hallway. The hallway was cold and gloomy. he hadn't been in the castle for awhile. He walked towards the main doors of the throne. they opened as he got closer and shut behind him. He looked around the large domed throne room. Glass stained windows made the room dark and nothing was noticeable in the room except for the throne itself. He walked down the warn blue carpet to the respected area and knelt before a large crystal ball. His cap blew behind him and settled down to the floor. A shadowy figure stood up. "So you finally came. I was waiting for you. You know why I called?" He stood silent. "I'll tell you then. unfortunately the heartless have failed to get all seven princesses. They only have five and one can not be stolen no matter what. The thing is is that I have been looking at this girl for some time now." The crystal ball lightened and an image of a girl came on the screen. She had long brown hair and a long blue skirt. "This girl has one of the purist heart. As pure as a princess. The this is though is that she isn't at all a princess. Just a poor girl with no home. The Heartless swallowed her home a few weeks ago." He stood up and looked at the girl closely. "I've called you here to kidnap the girl for me. I sent out two of my best men and they died instantly from her so called 'Bodyguard'." The picture changed and showed a tall man with long silver hair. His eyes were gray but soft. He smirked. "Don't be fooled by his appearance. He killed Harum and Van with a stroke of his blade. He protects the girl with his life. The good thing is that he doesn't know that importance of this girl. That's your advantage. The disadvantage is that he never leaves the girls side. You're going to have to think of a plan to lure her away from him." "It doesn't seem that hard. Girls are foolish at that age. She'll be here with you in know time. Is there anything else I should know." he asked. The shadow paused. "Yes, one of her friends has said he would help capture the princesses for us. Maybe you can use him for your bait." he turn away." Yes, I guess I'll do that." He walked back to the doors leading out to the Hallway. He suddenly turned around. "Where can I find this girl?" The shadow sat down. "She will be found in Traverse Town but she will be leaving soon." He looked down and then continued walking. The shadow stood up again. "Oh and Cloud," He looked back. "be careful. This Duo guy knows of evil." Cloud smirked once more. "He wont be a threat to me."

~Chris
Duo felt something. he wasn't sure what it was, but he knew that it wasn't good. he knew that he would meet up with whatever was making him feel this soon enough. "Duo, what's wrong?" he turned to see Lumi ready to go. he smiled and said "nothing. come on, lets go." on their way out of town, Leon and the girls met up with them. "well, i guess this is it." Leon said with a smile. Duo walked up to him. "thank you for saving Lumi while i recovered." Duo put his hand on Leon's shoulder. "ah, don't worry about it. but about your healing, how did you recover so fast? not to mention Van's speedy recovery!" Duo's face went serious. first he told Leon of Van's heartless trick. then, he told him about the training, but just the training, careful not to reveal too much. "and with that much training, i sustained a lot of injuries. but i never slacked off as long as i could stand. my body just learned to heal faster, that's all." after their goodbyes, they finally got underway to chase Lumi's friends.

~Rikugurl
I walked alongside Duo down the dirt path. i didn't saw much. My jaw still hurt a lot. Duo hadn't said much either. We walked for about five hours before i broke the silence. "So you must have had a lot of training to recover that easy." He said nothing. I started to change the subject. "The town is about another day or so. There are no more towns after that." "What do you mean there are no more towns after that?" "They only made four towns I guess." I fell quiet again. "When we find my friends, I want to find a good home for them." i looked up at Duo. he looked down at me and smiled. "We will. You'll find a nice home to live in too, Lumi." I stoped in the middle of the path. Duo stopped and looked at me. "What is it?" " I'm not going to live in a house. I'm coming with you." "No lumi, you can't it too dangerous." "Are you kidding?" I began to walk again. "I'll be safe with you. I'll never get hurt." I looked at him and smiled. "And you'll never get lonely. I can keep up. We'll have fun together. Anyway, it wouldn't be fair if you helped my find my friends and I didn't do anything for you in return. If you really don't want me to be around you, I'll leave once I help you find this powerful person. Is that a deal?" Duo looked down at me and smiled. "Ok then!" My face brightened. After a few more hours, it was night fall. Me and Duo set up camp and sat there for awhile. Duo was deep in thought, as usual. But something was wrong. He didn't do that funny dance of his. I looked down at the ground and made swirling designs in the dirt. "Duo, I want you to tell me everything. Everything you never told me. I want to know."

[Rikugurl]

~Chris
Duo was offset by the unexpected question. "well, i haven't told you about my excercises that i do every night. it's a focusing excercise. it helps me better control my emense power." Lumi wore a transfixed face. "i'll tell you about my mission, too." he paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts. "i was approached by a person two years ago. i didn't know him. i couldn't even see his face. but he told me that he would pay me a great deal of money to find and get rid of a person with the ultimate power. he didn't know anything about this person, however. this person's name, age, even gender were unknown. but i still accepted the job because he offered an incredible amount of money." Duo was looking at the ground. but he wasn't. he was staring past it as if a book lay just below the ground. "and after two long years of searching, i finally narrowed the possibilities down to these parameters." he paused again. as if trying to come up with a different story. "it was a boy, in his mid-teens, with silver hair who lived on Destiny Island."
~Rikugurl
My eyes grew wide. He continued with his story then stopped and looked at me. I was breathing hard and had tears running down my cheek. "What's wrong?" I sat there and looked down at the ground. I felt sick to my stomach. I could hardly look at him. i finally opened my mouth. "Riku?" i said in a quiet voice. I then ran to Duo and fell at his feet. "No! You can't!. You can't!" I started to pull on his pant leg. "You can't kill him! You just can't!" i looked up at Duo and he seemed very concerned. I stood up and tried to calm down but it didn't work. I rushed into his arms and started to pound my fist on his chest. "You can't kill him! He's my friend! please--" I sank down to the ground again. Duo knelt down. "I know Riku is your friend--" he then gave me a speech that tried to calm me down. It work a little. He started to run his fingers though my hair. "Please calm down." he kept saying. I took a big breath and looked up at him. "promise me you wont kill him. Promise me you wont kill Riku!" I grabbed him and held him tightly.

~Dk. jr.
"Riku, huh?" After Cloud left the castle one of Maleficent's guards gave him a necklace to wear. On the necklace there was a small jewel where he could look at anything or anyone. He had been dwelling in his room for hours trying to figure out a plan to capture this important little girl. "I think I got it." he smirked. "Shadow!" a small bug heartless walked up to him slowly. "Yes, sire?" "I have it. The perfect plan. I think." Cloud paused. he still didn't know why he was doing this. It wasn't his nature to help the dark side. "yes sire?" "Oh, yes." he continued. "This Lumi girl obviously has a thing for this Riku character. This mission isn't as tough as she made it seem. We have two ways we can capture her. The first is that we find this Riku kid first and lure her away from Duo long enough to grab her." Cloud smiled but then paused. "the second, sire?" Cloud looked down at the weak heartless. "The second is much more harder to pull off but it's the best thing. First of all, I want you and your troops to go find them tonight." "Tonight!?" "Yes, You need to steer them off the path and get them lost. they must not reach the next town." "Why not sire?" "The next town is Tri Balamb. Tri Balamb is the only town in all eight worlds that has found the exact material that can stop heartless in their track about a mile of their town. If they get there, I myself am going to have to kidnap her, which is my last plan if all else fails." "You mean me and my troops are going to have to do the other stuff? We'll die for sure!" "Not under my rule. I'm not like Van or the others. I'm a knight so I know what i'm doing." "What is the second plan sire?" "ah, yes. I have been doing some research on this Duo character. He not at all what he seems and he has been keeping a huge secret from this girl. If we can expose the secret she will surely leave him." Cloud held out his necklace to the bug. Duo came onto the screen. "You see those bands on his hand? Underneath them lies his identity. If we were to cut those bands. lumi would be ours." "What are underneath the bands?" "Simple. A Heartless tattoo."

~Chris
"Riku, huh?" After Cloud left the castle one of Maleficent's guards gave him a necklace to wear. On the necklace there was a small jewel where he could look at anything or anyone. He had been dwelling in his room for hours trying to figure out a plan to capture this important little girl. "I think I got it." he smirked. "Shadow!" a small bug heartless walked up to him slowly. "Yes, sire?" "I have it. The perfect plan. I think." Cloud paused. he still didn't know why he was doing this. It wasn't his nature to help the dark side. "yes sire?" "Oh, yes." he continued. "This Lumi girl obviously has a thing for this Riku character. This mission isn't as tough as she made it seem. We have two ways we can capture her. The first is that we find this Riku kid first and lure her away from Duo long enough to grab her." Cloud smiled but then paused. "the second, sire?" Cloud looked down at the weak heartless. "The second is much more harder to pull off but it's the best thing. First of all, I want you and your troops to go find them tonight." "Tonight!?" "Yes, You need to steer them off the path and get them lost. they must not reach the next town." "Why not sire?" "The next town is Tri Balamb. Tri Balamb is the only town in all eight worlds that has found the exact material that can stop heartless in their track about a mile of their town. If they get there, I myself am going to have to kidnap her, which is my last plan if all else fails." "You mean me and my troops are going to have to do the other stuff? We'll die for sure!" "Not under my rule. I'm not like Van or the others. I'm a knight so I know what i'm doing." "What is the second plan sire?" "ah, yes. I have been doing some research on this Duo character. He not at all what he seems and he has been keeping a huge secret from this girl. If we can expose the secret she will surely leave him." Cloud held out his necklace to the bug. Duo came onto the screen. "You see those bands on his hand? Underneath them lies his identity. If we were to cut those bands. lumi would be ours." "What are underneath the bands?" "Simple. A Heartless tattoo."

[Rikugurl]

~Chris
"Don't worry, i promise. but i have to keep my word to my client. so i've devised a way to get rid of Riku, without actually getting rid of him." Lumi looked up, puzzled. "what do you mean?" "i mean we hide him, somewhere where he can learn to control his power and never use it. but there's no garuntee it will work out that way." Lumi sniffed. "thank you Duo." she said while hugging him. "you're welcome." Lumi had appeared to have calmed down. "well, lets eat!" while they were eating, Duo began to feel darkness creeping towards them. he quickly finished his supper and went to sit on a rock, to better focus his senses. he felt the heartless, and they were growing near. he could feel each individual one. pretty soon, they stopped, and sent one ahead. that one crept closer and closer. it came from behind Duo. he snapped around and flung a dagger into it's foot. "go back and tell your 'friends' to go around." he sneered as it fled. Lumi walked up to Duo. "did you say something?" Duo looked up. "huh? no." he smiled. "nothing." she went back to what she was doing. soon, the heartless were very close. Duo stood up and said "looks like they didn't listen. Lumi, draw your sword." "huh? why? i don't--" a heartless leaped from the bushes at Lumi, but was met by a dagger instead. "hurry!!" another heartless jumped at her. but she had her sword this time. heartless began to appear everywhere.

Missing post!

~Chris
"Don't worry, i promise. but i have to keep my word to my client. so i've devised a way to get rid of Riku, without actually getting rid of him." Lumi looked up, puzzled. "what do you mean?" "i mean we hide him, somewhere where he can learn to control his power and never use it. but there's no garuntee it will work out that way." Lumi sniffed. "thank you Duo." she said while hugging him. "you're welcome." Lumi had appeared to have calmed down. "well, lets eat!" while they were eating, Duo began to feel darkness creeping towards them. he quickly finished his supper and went to sit on a rock, to better focus his senses. he felt the heartless, and they were growing near. he could feel each individual one. pretty soon, they stopped, and sent one ahead. that one crept closer and closer. it came from behind Duo. he snapped around and flung a dagger into it's foot. "go back and tell your 'friends' to go around." he sneered as it fled. Lumi walked up to Duo. "did you say something?" Duo looked up. "huh? no." he smiled. "nothing." she went back to what she was doing. soon, the heartless were very close. Duo stood up and said "looks like they didn't listen. Lumi, draw your sword." "huh? why? i don't--" a heartless leaped from the bushes at Lumi, but was met by a dagger instead. "hurry!!" another heartless jumped at her. but she had her sword this time. heartless began to appear everywhere.

~Rikugurl
I swung my sword around and killed a few heartless. More and more came rushing in. About a hundred were back in the meadow. "Duo, I think we're out numbered!" "Lumi, get as much stuff together and start running!" I kicked away a few more heartless and started to pack things together. They kept jumping on me and pinching me legs. I swatted more away and started to shove things into my backpack. I turned around and found that Duo was covered in them. i ran over and started to push as many as I could off. "Come on, Duo! Let's go!" I yelled as I started to run down the path. More and more of the Heartless started popping up from the ground. They were everywhere. Some started to leap at me and my arms and legs were getting cut. Blood started to run down my legs. I ran faster than before, hoping i could out run them but it was no use. they kept appearing. I looked over my shoulder to see that Duo wasn't far behind. He to was having a hard time with the heartless. Me and Duo ran for a good hour when al of a sudden I ran though something. Something strange. The air was fresh like a crisp fall night. I stopped and looked around. the heartless had stopped about a foot away from me. some started to bounce on the so called invisible boundary. Duo seemed pretty surprised too. "What happened Duo? Where are we?"

~Chris
Duo looked back at the heartless bouncing off of the 'wall'. "how weird. maybe we're on somesort of scared ground." Lumi looked around their surroundings. "Duo, look! it's the town. we made it!" she jumped with joy. he turned around to see buildings only 100 yards from where they were standing. how'd we miss that? he thought as they searched for an entrance. when they found the entrance to the town, they were too tired from running to do much else but get a room. after they got to the room, Lumi plopped down in a chair. Duo began to look through the things that they had left after fleeing from the heartless. "well, at least we still have the money." he said as he threw it onto the bed. they still had most of what they needed. and what they lost, they could easily find in the shops the next morning. Duo looked over at Lumi to see her legs all bloodied up. "oh my god! are you alright?!" Duo rushed to her. "huh? oh. i almost forgot about that." she said with a chuckle

~Rikugurl
I looked down at my legs. The blood wasn't pouring out anymore. I looked up at Duo. "They're just scratches. Don't worry, I'll live." I giggled. He stood up and smiled. I looked around the room when someone knocked on the door. Duo walked over and opened it. A man about 5'10" walked into the room. "Hello and welcome to Tri Balamb." He looked at me and smiled. "Hello, and who might you be?" he said as he walked over and kissed my hand. I felt kind of uneasy. "My name is Lumi." "What a beautiful name. My name is Irvine and I'm the innkeepers son. if you have any questions please ask." I looked up at him. "I have a question. Why did the heartless stop chasing us?" "Oh, didn't you know? We here at Tri Balamb have made an anti-heartless fields around our whole town. It was really expensive but this town has more than enough money." "Oh, i see." The man looked at Duo. "You must be her big brother or maybe--" "I'm just a friend." Duo interrupted. Irvine looked uneasy. "Yeah, well it seems like you guys are in bad shape. Would you like to take a warm bath?" I stood up in excitement. "I would like to take a warm bath. Are they like the ones in Traverse?" he turned and looked at me. "Yeah but they are more of a public thing here. You can't take your clothes off but you can wear a bathing suit or just a bra and underwear. Men can wear shorts and so on. I don't think anyone is going to be washing at this time of night, so you don't have to worry. you'll probably going to be the only one there." "Ok, where are they?" "Just follow the signs." "Ok!" I took my backpack and ran out of the room. The sign were a bright blue and pointed down the long hallways. I finally reached the public baths and opened the door. again the steam hit me. No one was there. Yay! I walked over to the pool and put my backpack on the floor in the corner. I stripped down to my under garments and walked to the water. I jumped right in and made a big splash. I started to swim toward the water fall. As I was washing myself a finger poked my shoulder. A chill went up my spin and I was so startled i lost my balance and fell underneath the water. i came up for air and my hair was covering my face. I pulled my hair aside to see Duo laughing his head off at me. My face turned bright red. "Duo! Don't ever do that again!"

[Rikugurl]

~Chris
Duo stopped laughing after a few minutes. "i'm sorry, i just wanted to make sure you knew i was here. they don't seperate mens and womens baths here." he continued to giggle. it came to mind that this is the first time he's laughed in a long time. a very long time. he was just in his shorts, except for the band on his left hand. he never took that off. he took his mind off of it by talking to Lumi. "so, are you sure the cuts on your legs are ok?" Lumi looked down at them. "yeah, they sting a little in the hot water but they'll be fine. they've already stopped bleeding." Duo was still a little concerned. "ok, but make sure to wash your legs good tonite to keep infection out. but don't scrub too hard or they'll open up again." Lumi became annoyed. "ok! ok! jeez! you sound like a mother! are you going to be like this for the rest of the time we're together?" she looked at him cock-eyed. "sorry, i just worry for you." she look surprised. "by the way, i don't trust that Irvine guy. be careful when you're around him." Duo began to wash himself. "he was entirely too friendly, considering the time of night and the fact that we were total strangers. people that are that friendly usually have something else on their minds."

~Rikugurl
I stood there just watching Duo wash himself. I didn't think there was anything wrong with that Irvine guy. Yeah he was pretty weird but not a threat. Duo continued talking about something but i wasn't paying attention. I was looking at something else. Duo's body. I could tell he had his shares of cuts and scares. But that's not what I was looking at. just his body in general--"Lumi?" I snapped back to attention. "Huh?" "Were you listening?" "Oh,no i'm sorry. I was just thinking of--" I paused. "of how that pillow is going to feel good tonight." I smiled at him and started to clean myself some more. i never bathed that close to a guy. Actually i never bathed at all with a guy before. My insides felt a little uneasy but it went away fast. I trusted Duo with my life. A hour went by and me a Duo were talking our jaws off about random stuff. We finally decided to get out. As I was about to wrap the towel around me, Duo pushed me. I fell back into the pool. I came up and glared at him. Again he was laughing at me. I smirked and went close to the edge. I grabbed his foot and pulled him in. He fell in with a splash and I jumped out of the pool. He came up and started to get out of the pool. I was laughing as i started to put my towel on. Duo stood there and caught is breath from the inhale of water. then he looked up at me and smirked. he started to run toward me. I grabbed my backpack and ran out of the room. He chased me all the way down the hallway. Water from my hair was getting all over everything and so wasn't the water from Duo's hair. I finally got to the room and ran inside. Duo caught me and wrapped his arms around me. "You got me!" I yelled, out of breath. We started laughing again. I hadn't had so much fun since I was back home. The door opened and the innkeeper walked in. "You two are going to clean that mess tomorrow i hope you know." Duo got serious and let go of me. "Sorry, sir. We'll do that as soon as we get up tomorrow." The innkeeper gave us a ignorant look and left. Duo looked back at me and then we began to laugh once more.

~Chris
after the laughing fit, Duo and Lumi finally settled down a bit. Duo layed down on the bed, and just stared at the ceiling. Lumi got on the bed and laid her head on Duo's chest. "that was so much fun." she said. "yeah, i haven't had any real fun since i was a kid." Duo tought back to the only happy memories he had as a kid. Lumi started to tell Duo about one time she was playing with Sora and he got stuck in a log, and had to have his parents pry him out. after that she fell asleep. Duo knew she was asleep, but he still just laid there. he felt comfortable for the first time in fifteen years. he soon fell asleep as well.

~Dk. jr.
"How cute. But it sickens me." Cloud looked at the necklace. Duo and Lumi were sleeping together. His eyes darkened. "It might be an advantage though." He stood up and walked to his mirror. "I wish to see Irvine." The mirror rippled a few times and Irvine appeared. He had his back facing the mirror. "Irvine?" Irvine looked around then looked back at the mirror. He seemed confused. "What is it Cloud?" he asked. "I need you to do something for me. Tomorrow is the Tri Balamb parade, correct?" Irvine nodded. "Good. I need you to lower your field for me." Irvine's eyes grew wide. "What!? I can't do that Cloud. the heartless are not welcomed to this town. I'm not going to shut off the field! especially not on the night of the parade!" Cloud squinted. "You'll do as I say. A person is in there that I need. That Maleficent needs. You deny her order?" "No, but--" Irvine stalled. "This is going to be my city soon. I can't get caught letting the field down. I'll be ruined. I didn't want to work for Maleficent in the first place. Who is this that you're looking for anyway, Cloud?" "That girl that came last night. The girl by the name Lumi." "Oh, the pretty one? Why do you need her?" "Keep your questions to yourself. Lower the field tomorrow night or i'll make sure you wont live to be mayor." A ripple went down the mirror again and Irvine was gone. "Shadow!" the small heartless came forth again. "Yes, sire?" "You failed me. You wont fail again though. You don't want to loose your life do you?" the heartless quickly shook his head. "Exactly. The Tri Balamb is having their yearly parade tomorrow night. The field will be lowered so you will be able to go through. You need to capture the girl, with out failure!" Cloud pointed his sword at the heartless. "If i have to capture her personally, I'm not going to be very happy. If you think you're going to fail me. I don't want any of your army to leave without Duo's band. If you can at least take that off. She'll be as good as ours." Cloud let out a low evil laugh. "Now get going." The shadow ran off and Cloud retuned to his chair.

~Chris
Duo woke up. he grogily looked about his surroundings. it was morning, and far into the morning too. he got up, careful not to wake up Lumi. then, he went to go fetch some breakfast. the mess they had made in the hall last night had dried up. it was only water, after all. on the way to the dining hall where the other guests were, Duo passed by Irvine, who wore a concerned and worried face. Duo thought it strange that he look so down now, but shrugged it off as a difficulty with one of the guests. when Irvine saw Duo, however, his face immeadately brightened. "hey, you're the one staying with that cute little girl!" Duo became defensive. "yeah, what about it?" Irvine was drawn back. "i'm sorry. i didn't mean anything by it, i just thought you should know that tonite is the annual Tri Balamb Parade. and i thought that maybe she would like to go see it." "oh, thank you. i'm sorry i was so rude." maybe Lumi was right about him. when he got back to the room, Lumi was still asleep. he set the food down on the table and went to her side. she looked so peaceful sleeping. but he decided to wake her up so that she could eat.

~Rikugurl
"Lumi?" i opened my eyes to see Duo. He had brought food for us to eat. I looked around the room. "What time is it?" "I don't know, I know that it's late morning though." I sat up and looked at the food then looked at Duo. "What about that mess of ours? Did it dry?" Duo nodded. I smiled and started to eat. The food wasn't as good as the food in Traverse though. Suddenly i heard some yelling out in the hall. I stood up and put my ear to the door. "Hey, that kid is mine. Stop yelling at him!" "Well tell him to stop playing with that damn stick! He might break something.” I opened the door to see what was happening. I poked my head out and looked down the hall. My face suddenly brightened. There was Riku yelling at the innkeeper and Tidus was sitting on the ground playing with a stick. I flung the door open and ran toward them. Riku looked over and saw me running. "There you are Lumi." Tidus suddenly looked up. his eyes grew big and he got up and ran to me. I knelt down and hugged Tidus. "Are you ok?" i asked. He nodded and gave me a big smile. I stood up and looked at Riku. "Riku? Where have you been?" "Where have I been? I was looking for you, Kairi, Sora or whoever i ran into. I only ran into Tidus though. Sora and Kairi are still no show. I'm glad I ran into you. At least you're ok." He really didn't seem to care if he found me or not. I suddenly grew sad. "Thank you for watching Tidus for me Riku." "yeah, no problem. he was quiet anyway." he flung his hair back and gave me a obnoxious smile. I looked away. We stood there silently until i saw Duo walk out of our room. "Riku, I want you to meet Duo" i said as I pointed to Duo. Riku looked over at him and gave him a negative look. "It's him."

[Rikugurl]

~Chris
"Huh?!" Duo walked up to the group. "now, i recognize you. you're the one that was at Destiny Island when we all got torn apart. so, you're Riku." Duo looked somewhat skeptical. "you don't look like the most powerful being. but he said that you wouldn't be able to realize your true strength until you were at least my age." Riku looked very confused. "what are you talking about?" he asked with an arogant tone. Lumi butted in. "c'mon! we'll tell you about it in our room!" she pushed everyone into the room. Tidus saw the food and immeadately lauched himself at it. "WHOOPY!!!" Riku explained. "we haven't had hardly any food." Duo waved him to the table. "eat then, i'll go get some more food. then i'll explain about how i know of you." after the meal and the explainations, things were finally starting to settle down. it was mid afternoon by then. "so you're saying that i hold the ultimate power?" Riku chuckled a bit. "yes. and if you do not learn to control that power, you will ultimately go mad with power and destroy everything you see. so i am going to help teach you how to harness it and keep it under your control." Riku still looked a little skeptical. "well, we can worry about that later. you said i don't get any of this power until i'm twenty right? right now, we still have to find Sora and Kairi." "you're half right. we should continue the search for your other friends, but you will start to realize your powers little by little, over the years. until finally, all of it will be revealed to you. but we do have time." then, Riku, Tidus and Lumi statred to exchange stories on how they got here. it turned out that Riku and Tidus had been dropped in Across away from us. it was starting to get dark when Duo remembered something. "oh hey Lumi." she turned to face him. "someone told me that there's gonna be a parade tonite. wanna go?" her eyes brightened and she jumped up. "yeah!! that would be great! and Riku and Tidus can come too!" her and Tidus began to jump together. Riku was just thinking though. Duo thought it natural because he had just put a great weight upon his shoulders. Lumi jumped over to him. "c'mon Riku! lets go watch the parade!" they all left the room and Duo locked the door behind them.

~Rikugurl
As we got to the streets, I noticed that everyone in the town was here. The parade must be a big thing here. I looked around the busy streets and even saw some people that came from Traverse. We found a place were we could see what was going on. Suddenly trumpets started to blow and people started to come down the street. People were dancing and doing flips. Colored paper went everywhere and lights started to flash. Young girls with flags and young boys with candy. My eyes grew open and i was shocked. I never saw anything like it. I looked over at Riku and he didn't seem impressed. On the other hand, Tidus was jumping up and down with joy. Duo too seemed happy to see the great show. The parade went on for a good half a hour. More stuff came popping up and surprises around the corner. I was really relaxed and filled with joy when something happened. Sirens started going off and people started to go in a panic. I looked around to see that those bug heartless were coming down the street. "Duo, Look!" i shouted. Duo looked down the street. "What the--?" He drew his sword and I followed. Riku took out his and started to run down the street. Suddenly flying creatures started to drop from the sky. I slashed my sword through one of them but then three popped out. I looked down at Tidus. "Run! Run back to the inn and hide!" He nodded and started to run down the street. More and More bugs started to pop up but now there were creatures that had knives. About a hundred came rushing down the street at us. The towns people hurried away and locked there doors. I lost sight of Riku as I cut through the bugs. just then i got knocked down by one of the flying heartless. I got up and started to run down the alleyway. Duo followed closely. I swung left and right but it was just like the path, we were out numbered. Big time. Suddenly a group of creatures with knives poped up. I threw my sword forward but they blocked the blow. the started to surround me. I didn't bother calling for help because Duo was in the same situation. I grew angry and started to fiercely cut thought the heartless. Then i heard a terrible shout and i looked back. One of the bug creatures ripped Duo's band off and his wrist started to bleed. They suddenly froze and looked at Duo. they started to disappear. Before they could though i began to fight with the last heartless that wouldn't leave me alone. Duo shouted again in agony and i let my guard down. I felt a sharp pain in my side. My eyes fluttered and i fell to the ground. I put my hand on my side and looked at it. Blood covered my hand. A deep whole was implanted into my side. It suddenly got dark and I passed out on the ground. the last thing I saw was that heartless that hit me. it ran away laughing.

~Chris
"Lumi!!" Duo rushed to her. the heartless were gone. he ran to the inn as fast as he could, with Lumi in his arms, his own hand bleeding profusely. but he didn't care about that, he only cared about saving Lumi. he burst into their room where Tidus lay huddled in the corner. he got up when he saw Lumi. "Lumi! what happened?! Lumi answer me! why doesn't she answer me Duo?!" "Lumi's been hurt and i gotta heal her. so go sit on the couch." Tidus shrank away from the table where Duo had put Lumi while Duo worked furiously to stop the bleeding. "damn heartless! got her when she wasn't looking." he put gauze over the wound to slow the bleeding and wrapped gauze all around her stomach. he couldn't tell if the blood on the gauze was from her, or his own hand. but eventually, he stopped it. his hand was beginning to mend as well. but he couldn't put any bands on it until it fully healed. having hopefully saved Lumi's life, Duo flopped down on the couch next to Tidus. then, he remembered Riku. Duo had to find him. "ok Tidus, i need to go find Riku. now im gonna lock the door and give you the key. don't let anyone inside except for me or Riku. ok?" he smiled as best he could at such a time. "ok..."Tidus slowly took the key from him. "is Lumi gonna be ok?" "i think so. i stopped the bleeding so she should be ok. if she wakes up before i get back, don't let her move." Tidus was very dismal. "ok..."

~Rikugurl
I awoke. i looked around the room. I could hardly see anything. My eyes were still weak. I was in our room in Tri Balamb. I was laying in the bed and Tidus was looking out the window. My breathing was slow and I felt at peace. "You're awake." I looked up and saw Irvine standing over me. Tidus turned around and ran to the side of the bed. "lumi! you're ok!" I gave a small smile to him. I started to speak but Irvine stopped me. "You need to keep your energy." I then looked around the room worried. I saw no sign of Duo anywhere. I was worried. I tried to get up but Irvine stopped me once more. "You need to keep your energy!" he seemed a little mad. I laid back down and closed my eyes. I fell silent and blacked out once more.

[Rikugurl]

~Celest
I walked down the stone built road. The streets were quiet. It was strange to me. This was where I was born and raise. I never heard this town be quiet, not even at this time of night. Tri Balamb had changed since I had been here. I noticed that someone had lowered the heartless field. Maybe that was why the people where so quiet. I walked up to my favorite inn with my companion and opened the front doors. I looked around and no one was in sight. This is very weird. Too weird. I went up to the front desk and tapped on the bell three times. No answer. I shrugged my shoulders and walked down the hall. A door opened at the end of the hall and someone came out. it was my old friend Irvine. I smiled as he walked toward me. He didn't notice me and walked right past. "Hey," i said as i looked in back of me. He stopped and looked at me. "Yes?" "Don't you recognize me?" "No I'm sorry. i have a lot to do." "It's me, Celest." He still didn't seem to know who I am. I felt a little hurt. "I'm sorry. I don't remember you. There is an injured person here so i don't have time for hellos." I sighed and turned away from him. I continued to walk down the hall till i noticed that a little boy was crying in the room that irvine came out of. I opened that door to see a small boy sitting by a bed with a young girl in it. I slowly walked in and approached the bed. "what's wrong with her?" I asked the small boy. He looked at me. "She's dying--" he then continued to cry. I was concerned. I felt the girls pulse. The boy was right. She was dying. "What happened?" "She was fighting the heartless and told me to save myself. I ran away and then Duo brought her in and they were bleeding badly. I don't know what happened." I didn't know who this Duo guy was but i did know who the heartless were. Something wrong was going on. this was a plan. an evil plan. I put my hand over the girls forehead and concentrated on her thoughts. She was yearning for someone. A man. That was all. I sat down and waited there for a few minutes. "Where is Duo?" "I don't know. He's looking for Riku." That wasn't any help. I stood up and walked back to the main desk. irvine was sitting on a chair reading a magazine. I walked up and smacked my hands down on the desk. He seemed startled. "Yes?" "Why did you put down the field?" "What are you talking about?" He seemed very upset. "You know what I mean. You're the only one who has the key for the field. Why did you do that? That girl in there is going to die! It's your fault. The heartless attacked her!" he was quiet for a moment. "It was Maleficent's order." "So! You could have gotten in big trouble! This is going to be your city soon." he stood up. "And who are you!" "I'm a heartless." i said in a deep low voice. He looked away. "You own them an extra room. The boy will sleep there and i will stay with the girl." "Fine. here." he gave me a key. I walked back to the room and told the boy to sleep next door tonight. he seemed to be curious about my companion but he went along his way. "What are you going to do with that girl, kupo?" my companion asked. "I'm going to help her as much as I can." Just then a man busted into the room with an older boy. The boy was yelling at the man to let him go but the man didn't listen until he saw me. I stood up and drew my sword. He let the boy go and did the same. "Get way from the girl or you die." he said as he started to walk toward me. I was ready to fight for the young girl's life.

~Chris
"I said get away from her!" Duo moved sideways toward the stranger, forcing her to move away from Lumi. when she was far enough away from her, he resumed the altercation. "why are you here?" he stayed in a defensive position. "i'm sorry, i walked by and was going to help her. who are you?" Tidus spoke up. "that's Duo! please don't fight with her Duo." Tidus almost ran to Duo but was held back by Riku. "so you are Duo?" she calmed down a little and sheethed her sword. but Duo was still very tense. "i'm Celest. i just want to help her." Duo searched her eyes, and found nothing but sincerity. he couldn't sense a heartless anywhere. "very well. we'll let you help." he sheethed his longsword.

~Celest
I sat down next to the girl. That boy that had came in with Duo was looking around the room. "I want you to go next door and stay with the small boy. Me and Duo will stay here with your friend." He gave me a dirty look and left the room. i looked over at Duo. He seemed very upset about the whole thing. The girl was breathing slow and was covered with sweat. I took out a cloth and patted her head. Duo sat on the bed and held her hand. I looked down. "She's too young for you--" I said. he looked at me with tears. "i don't care how young she is." he continued to stroke her hand. It was sad to see situations like this. As a heartless, i knew how hearts worked. I closed my eyes and looked for Duo's heart. I looked for a minute but i found nothing. he had no heart? Was he--. "Look! there coming, kupo!" my companion started to shout as he pointed to the window. Shadows started coming through the window. I stood up and took out one of my swords and my whip. I looked over at Duo. "Hide the girl!" He nodded, laid on the bed and covered her with his coat. My companion flew up and started casting fire on the shadows. why hadn't i senced them? I started to cut into them like paper. tons of shadow were killed by the time they stopped attacking. a single shadow stood infront of me. "How dare you attack one of your own! Be gone with you!" The heartless jumped back out of the window. i put my sword away and closed the window. "Siren, I want you to stay with the young boys." My companion nodded and flew out of the room. Duo stood up. He was squinting at me. I ignored him. I didn't have time. I walked over to the girl. She was quiet. Too quiet. I put my hand over her mouth. Nothing. I checked her pulse. Nothing. I looked over at Duo. "She's dead."

~Chris
Duo coudn't beleive what he just heard. "she's.....d-dead?" he stumbled over the words. he broke down crying over her. after a few minutes, he composed himself and fetched the boys. he didn't know how they reacted, nor did he care. he just sat down on the couch and began to feel even more sorry for himself. every woman he ever loved had been taken away from him. he thought of when his mother died. it had been a pleasant day. the skies were cloudy, but there had been no rain. he was playing outside all day. when he came in to go to bed, his mother and father were having an argument. he didn't understand what it was about then, and he can't remember any of the words that were said now, but he remembers that the people that his father worked for were there as well. and his mother kept pointing at them and yelling. then, one of them got up. he walked to Duo's father, handed him a gun and whispered something in his ear. then, he pointed the gun at his mother's head. Duo started to run toward them to stop them, but when he did, his father started to say something. he said "don't worry, it'll all work out." then he smiled and pulled the trigger. then, he blinked a few times. looked at the gun, at his wife, and almost as if he had just realized what was going on, dropped to his knees and wept. Duo finally reached his mother, and started sobbing while holding her hand up to his face. then, he looked at his father to question him why. but before he could say anything, his father put the gun to his own head and with tears in his eyes, said "i'm so sorry Duo." and shot himself. Duo cried for what seemed like hours, but were actually only minutes. his father's employers took Duo away from his dead parents and took him to the head of the mob. where he began his training. Duo heard someone in the distance, calling him back from his dream-like state. "Duo!! snap out of it!"