The Chasers: Darkness' Fold

[Reno]

Tensai blinked and giggled happily, his fingers curling into the blonde's shirt.

Terra watched them and smiled softly.

Bryna chuckled slightly but nodded. "Yeah you better Ventus - or I'm going to buy my own spaceship and chase after you!"

The bigger wolf's tail thumped with pride nuzzling the golden one and licking the little pup once more. Now they were the small, happy family.


Roxas groaned softly as Axel pulled away and his clothes were pulled back on. He let the other lead him to the table and gratefully slipped into a seat, grimancing at the stiky wetness in his pants.

"No..." Roxas said, glancing at Axel. "A shower would be nice though." Then he grinned. "And... maybe round two tonight." He winked.


~~~~

The library. It was calm yet spacious, books had been thrown about by scampering kids looking for something to read - and other bigger adult books lay open on the floor, many of them if not all of them some sort of self-help book.

In the room a tall man stood over a little boy who sat at the desk. The boy had a little pencil in his hand and the man was leaning over, taking the other's fingers gently in his own and guiding them across the page. Only a few inches away was a chart that had the alphabet on it. "Okay Ten, this is an F. It's one long line like this," He guided the hand down vertically down the page, "Then you go back to the top and connect it to the top of the line here. And then another shorter line here."

"But daddy..."

"I know, but thats what an F is."

"But it doesn't look like that!" Tensai said suddenly looking up at his father. "It's curling up..."

Name// Tensai Tellus
Age// 5
Chaser// 10
Stance// Leader-in-Training

"I know." Terra said sighing only slightly frustrated. This was becoming his and Ven's biggest hurdle with their son. Teaching him to read and write. It was even more of a struggle then it had been for Gunnar, Luci and Roxel... because their son had a little problem.

"T...The..." Tensai trailed off, looking at the pages blankly. "The words look weird again."
Terra blinked then shook his head and smiled. He was starting to believe Ten just trying to get out of learning to read because he wanted him and Ven to keep reading him stories at night?

"See now just copy the letters exactly as you see." Ven said.
The boy blinked but slowly nodded. About five minutes later and half the alphabet 'written' Ven snatched up the small chart and his eyes widened. "TERRA!"

Their son was dyslexic.

Terra sighed then glanced towards the clock. His eyes widened a fraction. They'd been at it for over an hour already? And they were only on F?! He'd never been able to keep Ten that focused on anything for so long...

"I think it's time we stop."

Tensai puted and shook his head. "No!"

"Ten-"

"No! I want to keep going!" Tensai crossed his little arms stubbornly. "It's not fair! Roxel can read and write already and Gunnar and Luci are ages ahead of me and and-"

"And you've got the volcabulary of a ten-year old." Terra pointed out, reaching out the run a soothing hand through the other's black hair. "Come on Ten, you don't need to burn yourself out over this. You'll get it don't worry. Besides it's almost lunchtime."

He had a feeling though that Tensai might never be able to read or write. But what his brain lacked in reading ability it made up in his astounding memory and ease to pick up other sorts of things. He could still to this day recite the story of his finding Sora had told him years ago, several fairytales and he knew so many song lyrics by heart - including most of the ones Roxas made up on a whim - that it was astounding. Not to mention he was already picking up simple math and rather then counting it on his fingers like Gunnar and Lucina had to at first he could do it in his head. They hadn't yet tried to see if his dyslexia was also numerical.

Tensai pouted, frustrated himself. He felt sort of stupid compared to Roxel sometimes. He was already reading his first dad's books like it was nothing - and even though he knew it by heart he still wanted to able to read and understand the words on the page.

However he did as his father said and slipped from the desk and together they walked to the door and down the hall. Just as they did they heard the call for lunch. Right on schedule.

The two slipped into the next room where a familar blonde with swirly hair was just setting the last of the food on the table, the table already having been set by Olette. He raised his eyes and smirked. "If I turn my back it;s not all going to be gone, is it?"

Name// Roxas Xipil
Age// 37
Chaser// 11
Stance// Cook

"Hey I only did that once!" Terra said innocently, sitting down. It won't be long before the other's all made it here. They had learned if Terra was hungry... Terra was HUNGRY.

"Half of it was all GONE." Roxas said and laughed.

"So who's making lunch today?" Aqua asked.
"Roxas volunteered." Olette answered.
"Hmph, better be pretty damn good." Terra grumbled.

At lunch.
Roxas watched blankly as his carefully prepared food was devoured. Even the girls were asking for seconds.
"So this is where all of Sora's cooking skills went!" Ven laughed. "I think we found our cook."
"Huh?! Why me!!!"

Tensai glanced around excitedly, then glanced over when he heard the short snapping of teeth and he grinned. "Vi-Vi!" He rushed over.

Name// Invidia
Age// 10
Chaser// 15
Stance// Healer's Assistant

The green carbuncle glanced up, her tail wagging a little as the boy approached and pet her, then pet the four flurry balls of fluff around her. They all moved and yipped up at the boy. Moombacles.

They had turned out to be quite the mutts. The qualities they had all depending on their birth. Some had the charms on their head like the other, others spit fire like their father, and some of them did both. Of course they were small litters - last year their had been five. The year before that, three. Now their was four.

Invidia was very protective of all her pups though and for the first two weeks they were nearly impossible to get to - except for Xio of course. And she was always sad to see them go - but Axel let her keep them long enough to at least teach them what she could.

One of the moombacles that walked on four legs but had the body of a small lion and the red fur except for a small ring of spiky green fur around his neck, but was almost completely like Invidia in looks, yipped again and licked at the boys fingers. Tensai giggled, picking the pup up and hugging it. "I like this one!"

Terra chuckled. "Don't be getting any ideas Ten. We already have enough animals for one ship."

"Hey I'm sure Vi wouldn't mind keeping them all." Roxas teased.

"Yeah and Seifer'll have a hernia." A new voice piped up, and a blue-haired woman walked in, smirking. Not far behind was her wife, still as beautiful as ever.

"Mmm... on second thought let's keep them." Terra said with a smirk.

"Don't you fucking dare." The hot-headed blonde grumbled, walking in right on cue. His eleven year old daughter snuck in between him, her hair up in pigtails, the blonde ends curling. around her neck was a dark green ribbon, the ends flowing behind her.

Soon the whole table was filled with familar faces, some who had been there longer then others. Terra, the leader, sat next to his son, and next to him was his mate and second-in-command Ventus. Next to him was their scouter Aqua and negotiater Fuujin. Across the way Was their pilot Seifer, his wife and communications experts Olette, and their son and daughter, pilot aids, Lucina and Gunnar. Besides them was their healer and friend Aerith. At the end of the table was a family of three, the Xipils and their two pets, Xio and Lucina watching over their pups like good parents should.

The all ate happily, speaking amongest one another about the going-ons of upcoming missions or the events of the day. Lucina and Gunnar whined about not having gone training in weeks - and Terra shrugged, mentioning they could look into it after they chased some of the keyblades out of the area.

As far as the kids weapons went... well lets just say Olette was still a little apprehensive. Not about Gunnar choice - he had chosen the gunblade like his father, which hadn't surprised her. He had always been fascinated by it and asked nearly a million question a day about it when he was younger.

However, Lucina had chosen a weapon that surprised them all. Revolvers. Teaching her how to shoot was no problem for Seifer, but they were still worried she'd one day 'hurt' herself if she wasn't careful.

Roxas spoke up, saying that it wouldn't be too bad of an idea, glancing at Ven with a smirk. Lots had changed in the Xipi;s life that fateful day two years ago.

"Well Terra's the leader! ... So that's why I asked HIM duh." Roxas said into his cellphone, shifting nervously in the bedroom. He didn't notice his lean husband lurking in the doorway. "Come on Ven stop it I haven't even asked AXEL If he wants to join the Chasers yet so stop giving me a hard time-"
"WHAT!?"
Ut oh.

And so, in about six monthes time from then, the pups were born, raised and sold off - for a lot of money to Axel's delight ('But the hot tub!') and Roxas began preparations for the first election in Delshad ever. He didn't run of course - and the day the key was handed off to the new leader - a young woman named Nexia who had a good heart and cared a lot about young children and had a way with words - Roxas and Axel sold their house, sold everything they didn't need, gathered their son and pets and were soon on their way to Sigurd - and were instantly initiated as Chasers.

Of course they - like Sora and Riku - had been highly out of practice with their fighting skills and just as Luci's and Gunnar's was beginning, the keyblader Chasers, along with Fuujin, took Roxas and Axel out to get some training and build their muscles. Roxas and Axel were still both lean characters - both relying more on magic then phsyical prowess - yet they were fierce on the battlefield once more. Axel had definitely learned a trick or two from Fuujin.

A plus had been... that because Roxas had heard the echoes of Sora and Riku in his Awakening area he had been given something speacial from both of them - their skills. Oh not all of them of course, he knew some of Rikus old spells and some of Sora's old limits - he could even glide now - but it wasn't the same.

Yet even now he still got an age-old excitement at the idea of a challenge - especally against Ven for some inane reason.

"So..." Seifer said finally as he pushed his plate away. Most everyone was finished by now. "Have you read the paper today?" He asked suddenly looked at Terra and Ven. Both blonde and brunette shook their heads. Their pilot sighed before reached into his coat pocket, an article slip in his hands and handed it over.

The brunette glanced over, seeing that many of the Chasers had tensed with anticipation of the bad news, before reading aloud. "Red and pink menances continue to rampage. The ones that call themseleves Rant and Rave have struck again - this time at a world full of jungle animals. The two were seen swinging from the vines as the forest was poisoned around them and - fuck." Terra cut himself off. "They got Deep Jungle." Sora and Riku, had they been alive, would have been PISSED. After all, they spent a night of their honeymoon at that world.

He was still baffled. Had the king not said that most likely the two would chase after them and their keyblades (now at a rounding number of 6,513)? Had he not mentioned that most like Roxas would be a likley target because he was the master?

Yet neither had made a move. In fact it seems every time they go back to check a world the two had infected - they were already gone and in another five connections away. It was a game of cat and mouse. They were having a fun time with this fucking two-year long hide-andgo-seek game gone wrong and honestly, no matter what they tried to predict or where they might be the two were always a step ahead.

If they didn't stop it soon though, they were at risk at losing a world more close to their hearts. Like Destiny, or Radiant, or Costa, or Twilight or Dragoon. No one wanted to see those worlds go.

[Rikugurl]

Ven blinked but chuckled, "Alright mom... I can't wait to see that!"

Axel blinked but grinned, taking the plate and placing it on the table. "Roxel! Your sandwich is done!" He called before leaning next to his husband. "Ah... no maybes~~"

~~~~

Some buttons were pressed, shutting some of the controls down. A sigh admitted as he leaned back in his chair, putting his feet up at the controls. Ah, what a lazy day.
His green eyes looked up at the automatic calendar and sighed. "It would be snowing back in Delshad, you know?"

Name// Axel Xipil
Age// 41
Chaser// 13
Stance// Defense Pilot

The rather big creature behind him perked his head up and looked up at the redhead, his big paws scratching his ears.

Name// Xio Xipil
Age// 20
Chaser// 14
Stance// Scout Assistant

Yes... Axel had become the Chaser's Defense Pilot... meaning he got to blow up meteors that came too close to the ship or attacking Heartless. Of course, he was pretty good at it too.
As for his Chaser number, he let his son take number 12... seeing that he was more excited about being a Chaser than he was.

But like a goof... Axel wanted to be know as 13... because of his love for Roxas.

No, Axel was like a donkey when leaving Delshad.
"WHAT!? What do you mean, become a Chaser? I can't leave this place! Why....why I NAMED this place! Can't we just get lazy and fat?"
That was definitely a no.
He had to admit though... his Chaser uniform was pretty hot!

As for Xio, he didn't mind leaving... though he would miss the snow a lot. It reminded him of the place where he was born.
But as long as Roxas and Roxel were going, he knew Vi would go along with the blonde and Axel would never leave Roxas... so he went as well.

It was sad saying goodbye to their cozy home with a fire place in every room except the bathroom.
Plus the hot tub Axel had JUST bought.
"Why didn't you tell me AFTER I bought the hot tub!"
In any case, they sold the house for a pretty high price... and the wealthiest man in Delshad had bought it.

There were NO fireplaces here. Axel sometimes was found in the boiler room and that was where he and his mate would sleep sometimes when the ship got too cold.

The redhead sniffed the air, smelling food from the vents. "Ah! Lunch time!"
He got up and pet Xio who got us as well. He was shocked on how healthy Xio still was at his old age... but then again, he didn't know the life span of Moombas.

He walked out of the room and down into the Pilot Lounge and glanced into the Departure Room.


"So.... that one goes there?" The little boy asked as he pointed at a potion and then a little pouch. He scratched his red and blonde hair as his blue and green eyes focused on the items in front of him.

Name// Roxel Xipil
Age// 6
Chaser// 12
Stance// Weapons Bed Keep (in training)

A girl walked over and knelt down, looking at what the boy was inquiring. "Yup! You got it!" She smiled happily as she watched the boy put in the stuff into the bag happily.

Name// Naminé Ankhuli
Age// 11
Chaser// 16
Stance// Item Keep

She smiled but blinked when she heard some noise and looked up, seeing Axel standing there. Roxel looked back and smiled. "Daddy!" He got up and rushed over, hugging the man tightly. Axel smiled and hugged him back. "Come on Nam, it's lunchtime."
The girl smiles and shook her hand. "That's ok! I need to finish up here!"
"But..."
"Let me do it!"
"Ok, ok~~" He pouted and walked off.

Namine grinned and turned, continuing putting items in the bags.
She had told her father that she wanted to join the fight... and what better way was it than becoming a Chaser?
Her mother was kind of iffy about it but Tidus said let her venture out.
So much for being a Blitzball champion... but her weapon WAS a Blitzball!


As for the lonely parents in Destiny, they were given the second litter of Vi's pups. Bryna had been reluctant at first, but after Sirocco's death, she needed the company. Carina helped quite a bit though after she gave her home to the Ankhuli's and moved in with Bryna.


As for the load of the ship, they were obviously running out of room. Ven had brought up the idea of getting a second smaller ship... for the kids... however the eldest was ONLY 11... and of course it wouldn't be safe for a bunch of kids to live on a ship all by themselves. So he was thinking about in the NEAR future when Namine turned 16, they could buy a ship... but everyone pointed out that it would still be hectic.

"WELL Terra and I ran a ship when I was 10!"
"Yea well... you had more responsibility."
"What does that mean!?" The kids all complained.



Axel walked into the dinning room and grinned, seeing the food. "Ah, yummy!"
He and Roxel sat down next to the cook happily and picked up their forks.

After everyone was almost finished and Axel was taking food off plates that no one wanted, their attention was brought to Seifer and Terra.

Gunnar growled, his arms crossed. This back and forth deal with the two twits were really getting on his nerves! They hadn't been able to train at all for weeks! How was he suppose to be a good Chaser if he didn't know how to fight well??

Aerith sighed and shook her head. As for her... well... she was starting to get grey hairs. She wasn't as young as she use to be. She shook her head and smiled. "Well, at least this gives us a reason to visit Connection 1 again."

Ven sighed and shook his head. "This just isn't going to work... what are those two doing?" At least... they weren't killing PEOPLE. Sure it took a lot of majick to clean up a world... but no one ever seemed hurt. It was like those two were troublesome kids that the cops couldn't get their hands on.
Well... that was exactly right.
Ven had tried scouting them out so many times on the computer it wasn't funny... but every time they found a large source of Darkness, it was Connections away from the twin sighting... and only ended up being a powerful keyblade.

Olette came up with the good question to go buy though.
"If you were a curious child, where would you go?"
That question would of been helpful if they went to all sorts of worlds... but they skipped all the worlds that didn't have keyblades since Yen Sid reported that that was what they were after... but the twins ended up in worlds where the Chasers swept up and no keyblades remain.

[Reno]

Roxas smiled as he ate next to Axel. There were a lot of reasons he wanted to be a Chaser. More then he could count really one of the more insiginificant reasons was because he wanted to travel and see the universe, even after all these years and after hearing the echoes of Riku, that need to see somemore then just the same old scenry year after year, that need to escape overcame him.
Another one was because of Tensai and Ven. If there was anything he elarned it was that family was important, and he didn't want to be apart from it anymore. Already so much time had been lost with Sora... he didn't want to make the same mistake twice. Besides, Roxel was happy Tensai and him were becoming the best of friends.
And... another one was because he was the master of the keyblade now. If he stayed in one place, it would only of put Delshad in danger - and he never ever wanted to do that. Besides... now it was his job to keep balance. He couldn't just ignore that right?
Besides, even though they were moving constantly, Roxas felt like his and Axel's lfie hadn't changed as drastically as the red-head had at first though it would. They still celebrated the holidays together, they still took care of Roxel and played with him every day, they still ate meals together, they still took care of litters of 'moombacles', they still slept in the same bed - or by a boiler, which even though it was nothing more than a cheap imitation of a fireplace, felt wonderfully romantic. Their sex life had definitely perked back up too. Now that they had their own room - Roxel and Tensai were sharing - they had the comfort of knowing they had nearly soundproofed walls between them.

And... Roxas had worked off all the extra weight he had gained from the sea-salt ice cream bars and his addiction seemed to of died way down. Sure they ahd them ins tock whenever they visited Radiant to refuel, but he left most of them for Roxel now.


Invidia yawned, watching the humans eat, her pups climbing all over her. One was chewing on her tail, another for her ear. But the minute Xio came over they rushed to him, yipping happily and attacking him. The tired carbuncle raised her head barking in 'hello' before curling up on the cold kitchen floor. The babies sure were a handful sometimes.

Okay no, all the time. When they were young she had to deal with their whining, when they were a little older she had to deal with their playfulness, and when they were old enough she'd have to deal with training them. It was a lot of work, but she was proud.

Lucina sighed not surprised in the least when they were denied. Thats what they said the last time - and the time before that too! She and Gunnar were going to get out of practice at this rate. If they ever did get that 'smaller' ship she weas so making sure one of the rooms were dedicated to training!


Terra frowned at his lover's notion leaning back again. He thought quietly for a few moments. What were they doing? It's the question they'd all pondered time and time again.

Their pattern was pretty even though. They'd attack one world every month at an almost random area - then once they got there, cleaned it and looked around the connection for any hints they got another signal telling then they were several connections away. And they'd do it again. They'd tried dozens of different technicuqes to track them - from scouting by computer, to going from world to world and having Aqua and Xio go down, to even trying to find patterns in the worlds they were attacking.

Seifer had at one point suggested they could split up and each taske a connection to watch over - but that was out of the question. If Sora and Riku couldn't face this together, they sure as hell weren't going to throw away their lives away by taking stupid risks.

And sometimes he wondered where they went between their attacks. He was pretty certain they were either in connections the Chasers had yet to reach - or slinking around the Dark Realm and watching them from afar. Neither possiblilty sounded good.

And the fact they were avoiding all the worlds with keyblades was even more baffling. Axel had offered that, quite possibly, the kids didn't KNOW what their powers were capable of or that the keyblades is what helped to strengthen them. But then what of Ultima and Twilight Requiem? Hadn't it been they who destroyed them?

"That makes the sixth world in connection one." Tensai suddenly announced.

Terra blinked in surprise and glanced down at the boy. He hadn't really been keeping count. "Sixth?" Six worlds... in 24 monthes. Why did they spend a third of their time there?

From the end of the table Roxas spoke up. "Tensai do you remember all the worlds?"

"Uh huh!" Tensai said proudly. "Deep Jungle, Atlantica, Pridelands, Neverland, Wonderland and Destiny Islands."

"You know... those are all worlds Sora set foot on..." Roxas mentioned with a shrug.

"What are you getting at?" Aqua asked.

"Well, Olette said we should think of a place a child would like to go and those were all some of Sora's favorite places to go when he was close to their age. I'm not sure but... what if when I heard the echoes of Sora's memories they somehow saw them too... and thought the worlds Sora went to were rather entertaining?" Roxas just shrugged. "And the worlds they attack between are just to... throw us off?"

[Rikugurl]

Xio smiled as he was attacked by all the fluffy pups. He licked each one of them before going to Vi and licking her. She seemed to be pretty tired of all this... but as for him, he was always exited to have more pups... especially since none of them ever looked the same.

He looked down, seeing his babies pull at his fur and he playfully swatted them.


Ah yes... the soundproof walls!
Axel thought it was genius. He wondered where they had found a ship with the soundproof but Seifer explained that they had to pay a lot extra for it... and it was all because of Ven, none the less. Between his hard metal blaring and his and Terra's violent sex, no one could take it anymore.

So Axel made good use of them. The small tummy he had was gone and he could fit into size 28 again.
Life on the ship wasn't as bad as he thought... though it didn't have seasons like Delshad had. He missed wearing scarves and hats and snuggling to Roxas when it was super cold.

Since he spent a good year or so on the ship, he decided that in the winter dates, he would put down the temperature in their room... so they could still snuggle.
Vi always thought it was WAY too cold, seeing that she came from a tropical world and she would drag Xio down to the boiler room... even if he liked the cold since he was born in a snow world.


"Or maybe they're just sight seeing."
A young voice rang out as a thin girl walked in. Namine smiled as she tilted her head, not minding all the eyes on her. Tidus taught her never to get nervous when a crowd watches or your game will suffer.
"Let's see... Deep Jungle, Atlantica, Pridelands, Neverland, Wonderland and Destiny Islands. They all have something the other worlds don't have. Destiny Island had paopu fruit, Wonderland has talking flowers, cats and bunnies, you can fly in Neverland, there's lions in the Pridelands, there's mermaids on Atlantica and there's invisible lizards in Deep Jungle."

She tapped her foot and smiled.
"Rant and Rave are about MY age... so if I wanted to go see the world with my sibling... and I've already seen all that..." She hummed as she tapped her lip. "Oh! I'd want to go see the dragons in The Land of Dragons... OR the people in Halloween Town! Or maybe even the treasure in Agrabah!"

She pouted and sighed. Well... that wasn't very helpful was it?

[Reno]

Xio should try feeding them. Then he'd realize why she was always so tired.


Terra chuckled at Namine's words, but not unkindly. "I don't think it would matter anyways. Even if we could predict what world they were going to visit in that connection next it would matter. they always make sure we;re too far away to return in time." He leaned back shutting his eyes. "And if we station ourseleves in that connection they'll just go and attack others until we leave and then come back, do what they want and run off before we get there."

"Well we could at least warn those worlds again to be on top alert." Roxas said. Even though by now they probably already were. "It couldn't hurt."

Terra nodded then shrugged. "Right. I don't know how long they're planning on playing this game but at this rate we really aren't getting anywhere. I'm afraid though that we might have to just wait for them to come to us..."

Aqua hummed a bit then looked up at them, frowning some. "What if they aren't sightseeing or just having fun though? What if... what if they're trying to draw out the King? Or trying to find a way into the castle? After all he does have the keyblade of darkness..."

"Well, I'm pretty sure the King's smart enough to take care of himself. And isn't the Cornerstone protesting him?" Seifer spoke up.

"Pureblood heartless have gotten in their before, regardless of it."

[Rikugurl]

Roxel rolled his head around as if he was dizzy. He giggled when he got a laugh out of his best friend.
He didn't understand all this grownup stuff.
He slowly slid from his chair and helped Tensai out of his before holding the boy's hand and leaving the room to go play downstairs.

Axel watched his son and Tensai and blinked. Man... could he come too? What was with all this grownup stuff? It was easier being a leader of a town for god sakes. He yawned and leaned back in his chair, running his tongue over his teeth to see if he missed any food.

Fuu frowned as she thought.
"Well... I think this is just a big game to them. I think they know we're 'chasing' them... and I think they're playing this game just because we're called 'Chasers'." As ridiculous as it sounded, Fujin's job was to listen and watch, making her a negotiator because she picked up on things people wanted or what people wanted to hear. "They act like children... and like children, they think they're unstoppable. They killed both Riku and Sora so brutally because they don't know their true powers or how to control them. They came on a whim because children have no sense of organization."

He tilted her head as she continued. "Even their names suggest their behavior... and we know Heartless go along with their names... such as Shadows, Hookbats and others. Children rant and rave all the time because they only see it their way, not considering the other side of the story. Rant is the boy and is known for his red hair. Boys and red are usually seen as being rough and violent. Rant is a more violent term. As for Rave, she is a girl and is known for her pink hair. Girls and pink are more sweet and rave can be a good word at times."

She looked around at everyone looking at her before blushing. "And uh... well.... they talk in rhymes... and children are brought up learning and hearing rhymes. But like you said... Pureblood Heartless have gotten into the Disney Castle before... and with such forceful outcomes that they use, I would think that if they wanted to get into the castle, they would of done it by now."


Ven sighed and crossed his arms. "We should find their fucking mother and report her to social services." He rolled his eyes and gruffed.

"Why don't we set a trap?"
Everyone blinked and looked back at Aerith who smiled. "If they are so childish as Fuu says... we can use a world that won't be threatening to others and make a fake amusement part... or at least a hologram of one. I'm sure the would be curious..."

[Reno]

Tensai giggled, following after his friend excitedly. He loved getting away from all the big, grown-up talk! He didn't know how Namine and the other kids stood it! sure it taught him a lot of nonsensical words and what not - but playing was much, much funner.


Roxas sighed slightly, listening to the other's talk. He took a glance at Axel before doing a double-take and rolling his eye. the red-head got so easily bored with stuff. He was just never going to understnad that life wasn't all fun and games was he?


Aqua glanced at her wife then nodded slowly. She supposed she was right... but why wait so long? Weren't kids supposed to have short attention spans? It just seemed so hard to believe...

Then again sometimes things that are hard to believe was in fact the truth.

Terra chuckled shaking his head at Ven's comment. If only it were that easy...

However he rose his heard at Aerith's input his brows furrowing. "A trap..." He repeated softly before looking down, thinking about that. Getting something like that to work - and go undetected about it would take a lot of work and careful planning and even then their were little to no guarentees.

"Has anyone you know considered that MAYBE we aren't ready to face them?" Seifer spoke up suddenly before that train of though could continue.

"Well if not now, then when will we be ready Seifer?" Terra asked in an almost condescending tone.

"W-Well..."

He smirked. "If you're scared just say so."

"I am NOT scared."

"Yeah, heh sure Sei."

"I'm not!"

[Rikugurl]

Olette blinked as she looked back and forth from her husband to Terra. "Alright already!" She giggled and put her arms up. "I think a trap would be a great idea... and fun! And if I think it's fun, I'm sure kids will think it's fun too! We could use an abandoned world and pretend we're making it into a theme part world... like Flying Causer! Then they might come and check it out."

She looked at Terra and Ven before smiling.
"You were the two that fought them before... so you should know if we could handle them."

Ven frowned, looking down.
He had to admit... he never saw that kind of power before in his life. Even as kids, they seemed to know how to control things to get what they wanted.
"Their majick is pretty powerful..."

"What about weapons?" Gunnar added.

"Rant from what we know has a whip... and Rave from what we know has a sword in one hand and a gun in the other."

Everyone was pretty silent. That sounded pretty bad...

[Reno]

Terra sighed a bit, shutting his eyes, remembering hovering in the sky, the land unseeable. "Their weapons aren;t what concern me. They also... like to play mind games. It's not going to be any easy battle, but if we take them by surprise instead of the other way around and not fall for any of their tricks we have a better chance of winning."

He looked up. "If we're going to lure them into a trap then we have to make some battle stratigies." He laid his hands on the table. "We've collected almost 7,000 keyblades - we can handle two over-powered kids."

He shook his head and smirked. "We shouldn't get discouraged just because it seems impossible."

[Rikugurl]

Everyone nodded, except for Axel who wasn't paying attention. "Alright then... a trap." Ven nodded and looked around slightly. "But... what planet?"

Everyone stopped and thought, not sure where a good place would be except...
"I know it's pretty close to your heart but... what about Atteris....?"
Everyone looked at Fuu and blinked.
She shifted a bit and sighed. "It's mostly all desert... and we can keep them away from the town... we'll have a big enough space to fight... and well... Terra has the best control there."

Everyone slowly looked at Terra to see what he had to say about it.

[Reno]

Aqua glanced at Fuujin, then towards her friend. Atteris WAS abandoned. They wouldn't be hurting any people in any way... but the battle itself... Even if they could keep the battle away from the town there were no guarentees it wouldn't get damaged in the midst, especially if Rant and Rave were to take control of the fight.

Roxas was also concerned, but not just about the town. If that battle took place their, with all that raw darkness being flung around... their would be no protection to that world's heart. It... it would be damaged permanently during the fight... and then if that happened that would would disappear for good. It was better to be an abandonned world then one inhabited... but still they were risking a world... and not just any world but Terra's.

Terra shifted uncertainly when all the eyes were suddenly on him waiting for his answer. "I-I..." He looked down at the table.

You wouldn't. Not our people's history! Our den!

He pushed down the wolf. Some things are more important than our selfish desires.

"... Sure we can do it there."

[Rikugurl]

Ven frowned as he watched Terra. He could feel the pressure... the wolf...
He placed a hand on his mate and smiled. "Don't worry... we won't let anything happen to it." He whispered softly.

Fuu shook her head. She wasn't a big fan of Atteris. It was hot and the winds were unsteady... but it was their Leader who decided where to go.

Gunnar blinked, smiling a bit. Atteris? He knew that was Terra's home world but he never did get to see it. He was kind of excited... but then remembered that he still might NOT see it. NO FAIR!

Olette smiled and pumped her hand in the air. "Yay! We get to make a theme park!"
"Or holograph."
"......Or holograph of a theme park!"

"THEME PARK!?" Axel blinked and smiled happily. "Sweet! When do we get to go!?"
Everyone blinked and looked at the redhead with a dull face.

[Reno]

Terra blinked as the hand was placed onto his. He glanced over at Ven and smiled a little more confidently and nodded. "Alright." But he wasn't so sure... that there would be ANYTHING they could do once those kids were set loose.

Aqua sighed a bit, not as excited about going to Atteris as Olette seemed to be. Atteria was a desert planet after all and the area lacked substantial amounts of water to it and that kind of cut into her magical abilty. Not that she couldn't just magick her own, but being able to use a planet's natural resouces was less taxing. She supposed she'd just have to compensate with brute force instead.

Seifer sighed, shaking his head. Great they got to go to an overly hot planet, where they'd make an overly elaborate trap for two children and probably all die in the end. But there WAS a plus to all this. He'd get to see Olette in those small, tight shirt and shorts again...

Lucina sighed, leaning back against her chair and then her eyes sparkled suddenly. Wait if she was understanding correctly... big deserted space, lots of fighting room, ample acres of sand - that sounded perfect for a training ground! She nundged Gunnar suddenly excited and whispered. "When we land we can convince dad to give us some training!" After all what else would they be doing? And their dear old mom wanted them to get exercise right? No mom would want fat children right?

Roxas shook his head, watching the expressions play out on the others faces. Apprehension, sorrow, uncertainty, excitement, fear, disbelief, mischeviousness -

"THEME PARK!? Sweet! When do we get to go!?"

and apparently cluelessness.

He glanced towards Axel and sighed, knowing he had once again drifted off into 'la-la' land. He reached up and smacked him on the side of his head. "Pay attention!"


~~~

Beige sands whipped up softly in the winds carried their grains away. The world around was ancient - and its history and past full of darkness and turmoil. The sands themseleves had never ever stopped their movement - and perilious quicksand pooled at random intervals - unseen by eyes not looking. Rumors said that deep in the pits of the quicksand was the strongest Atterians of them all - the ones who had gained so much power that they had become immortal yet when the keyblade came to wipe out their existence, he trapped them deep within the pits. Anyone foolish enough to get close became an instant meal for the unsatiable appitite.

When Terra had been a young pup such a story frightening him for reasons unknown. He had been a bright child and hated to believe in what he thought was not true; back then however he had not been afraid of the monster but rather his own weakness to face that monster. He wasn;t afraid of anything on this world anymore.

On Atteris the World of Shifting Sands. The beige grains must have moved miles and miles since the worlds becoming...

And soon that will be our world. Nothing but grains of sand twisting in endless space for all of eternity - meaning nothing. at. ALL.

Terra rolled his eyes, before glancing back hearing the happy yells of two enthusiastic children. He glanced back just in time to see a red-blonde haired children come flying through the air. He blinked in shock, instinctively reached out to catch him. "What the hell?" He looked up hearing the creaking of the swing and put two and two together. Roxel must of jumped.

"Wow! I wanna try that!" Tensai cried in excitement, pumping his legs out more.

"Oh no!" Terra said, setting down Roxel. "No jumping of the swings you two!"

"But I wanna fly!"

Terra sighed. Why him? Since both the boys had been so restless - and Namine, Gunnar and Lucina were all busy - so someone had to make sure they were getting their exercise. And... maybe he just wanted to take a good glance at his town, one last time before he put it in jeopardy.


"See," Seifer said, lifting his daughter's arm some so she matched the scope better. "Do you see it now?"

Lucina nodded. "Yeah."

He let her go, taking a few steps back. "Okay shoot."

She pulled the trigger. The bang echoed across the desert valley and far away there was a loud bing! of a can being shot "I hit it! Dad I hit it!!"

"Alright!" Seifer cheered with a wide grin. Her aim was getting better at targets farther away. They needed to practice more though - each time they got back to training for her she had to relearn some key points that should be natural to her now. But with Rant and Rave on the loose that became almost an impossiblity, unfortunetly.

Hopefully that was going to get corrected soon. The prepartions were done, and once Ven hooked the hologram up from the mainframe of their airships power and the camoflage for Sigurd they'd be set. Olette, being with communications, already sent out a false article through Connection 1's newspaper that had the whole universe talking apparently. The word was going to reach them rather quickly at this rate and pretty soon they were going to have to make themseleves scarce.

But until then he wanted to get some extra training in with his daughter. Every minute counted. In the corner of his eyes he saw Olette, Gunnar and Namine sitting together and watching.

Roxas hummed, watching Ven from over his shoulder, tilting his head. The blondes hands were running across the keys fericiously, the tapping the only thing heard as his twin finished the final prepartions.

"I dunno how you do it." The ex-leader stated, a bowl in his hands. He was stirring up some sweet smelling mixture - but he was kind of lonely since everyone else was out and about except him and his brother and it was no fun at all cooking by himself.

God he was starting to sound like Axel.

"How'd you get to be the smart one with all that brain damage?" Roxas teased suddenly, grinning widely.


Invidia purred rubbing her body into the sand, dusting up her fur quite a bit. It reminded her of long walks down the beach and soft laughter and teasing remarks and loving pats on the head. With age she was slowly starting to forget pieces of her first masters - their scent however was still strong in her memory.

Only inches away where her four pups, their father and his master. Axel didn't want them out all alone. She got to her feet and trailed back over to her family, knowing once they got back to the shp it would be bath time for her pups, but they seemed to enjoy tussling with each other in the sand, the new enviroment something exciting.


Aqua sighed, standing only a few meters away from Sigard's entrance, Tsuami appearing. The world was completely dry around her. Se breathed in and out slowly and shut her eyes, an invisible ripple running through the ground. She was a little concerned with how weak it felt - this place was drier then when the town had been in ruins! She was hardly able to pick up Terra and the young kids in the town.

She hated being at a disadvantage in a fight - but there was nothing that could be done about it. The battleground had been chosen, the prepartions almost done and she wasn't going to wimp out just because her strength, the water, wasn't around.

She looked up towards the sky, shielding her eyes away from the sun that, because of all the dust appeared red to her. The sky was spotless - not a cloud in sight. How did the Atterians STAND it?

[Rikugurl]

Keys were hit a mile a minute as things were added, changed and enhanced. Gunnar, Lucina and Namine helped a lot with the making of rides and Roxel and Tensai helped with the kiddie rides. Axel, Terra and Roxas all helped with the food court and Olette helped with the sitting areas. Aqua added some water rides and Fujin a ferris wheel.

He blinked as he heard his brother but didn't stop typing for the life of him. He just grinned as the saved the file.
Project Complete
"Maybe because I'm just that amazing."
He joked and opened another file. He looked up at a new screen and studied it before going back to his lightning typing.
"Just a few...more.... there!"
Project Complete

He got up and slowly walked to the front of the ship and looked out at the others. He pulled up his communicator and pressed the button. "The hologram and camouflage is complete. When ever you're ready to come back to the ship, we can begin."


Gunnar smiled as he heard the shot and the can fell over. She finally got it!
Unfortunately... Gunnar was a sharp shooter thanks to the mako enhancement. He was really starting to hate it... because... he honestly didn't want to be better than his big sister. He wanted her to teach him things... but... it seemed that he knew everything she did and more.

It also drew away time from his father... seeing that he learned so fast that their sessions didn't last very long...

Namine clapped after she pulled her hands from her ears. She wasn't a big fan of guns... seeing that she came from a world that didn't have any. She was kind of glad too... they were so noisy!
She stopped as she heard Ven's voice in her ear and jumped off the fence.

Olette smiled as she saw the can drop. She too was worried about guns. "She'll shoot her eye out!"
But if that was the weapon her daughter wanted...
She too blinked when she heard Ven's voice and pulled the communicator up. "Alrightly Venny, we're on our away!"


Roxel laughed as he and Tensai swung back and forth on the swings. He giggled and looked over, his heterochromic eyes looking at the amber. "Hey! Watch this!" He swung back and pushed his legs up to go up... and let go of the chains.
He went flying.
"WHEEEE!!!"

He spread his arms out but blinked as he was suddenly caught in the air. "Hey uncle Terra! No fair! I wanted to show Ten how cool I was!"
He pouted as he was placed down and looked around, hearing some yips. He looked back and giggled, suddenly running away from his uncle and cousin towards his father and pets.


Axel laughed as he rubbed on of the babies belly. It was the one that Tensai really had an eye for. He smiled, watching how gentle he was. Maybe... maybe he could give him to Tensai as a present.

Xio yipped happily as he romped around, creating dust to fly up with his large paws. He blinked though as one went astray and quickly chased after her. He quickly swifted her up with a large paw and brought her back, easily walking on his two back feet. He placed her down with her siblings and sat down... but not for long with he was suddenly rolled over by a giggling boy.

Axel blinked and laughed. "Hey now! Be careful~ You're not as small and he's not as young as you guys use to be." He frowned though as he heard something in his ear piece. Seemed like everything was ready...
He stood and looked down at the animals and son. "Come on guys, back to the ship!"


Fuu wasn't standing all too far away from her wife as she too looked around. Terra had said that they did mind games... and Ven commented that they used illusions of your worst fears... With no wind and hidden quicksands... this might not be very good in her favor. She looked back at Aqua, seeing a face of doubt as well.

[Reno]

Roxas laughed, shaking his head as he watched. This whole plan was incredibly elaborate in retrospect and with all the work they put into it it better damn well work!

He turned and Ven made the announcement, walking towards the threshold. "Dinner's almost done to so once everyone's back have them wash up and get their asses to the dining room." He called to Ven once he was finished and continued on his way back to the kitchen.


"Aaaaah...." Lucina whined as she heard Ven's words. She sighed, slipping on the safety of the gun and slipping it back into her holster. Even still, she couldn't keep the smile off her face.

Seifer laughed and pat her shoulder. "It's okay. We might get a chance to try later. " But that was doubtful. The two turned and walked back to the rest of their family and together they started to head back to the ship.


Terra laughed a little shaking his head as the boy ran off. Kids. He glanced up, fingering his communicator as he heard Ven respond. "Alright." He glanced over, seeing Tensai slipping from his swing. "It's time to go back."

They two walked off, joining Axel and his little troop of animals and Tensai snatched up his pick of the litter holding it close. Invidia laid down, letting one of her pups climb onto her back before trotting off. Xio did the same for another and Roxel father the last one and together the two parents and children started back for the ship, and Axel hurried to catch up.

Terra hesitated as they reached the town line, slowly glanced back. The sun was getting low in the sky and the falling light danced across the stone, bathing them in orangish-red light. In the distance he could see the ragged edges of the school's roof, the lined windows at the top of the library, the tops of the few swaying trees, the wrought and twisting iron of the cemetary.

"Don't worry... we won't let anything happen to it." Ven's words echoed once more.

He sighed and slowly turned away and hurried after the others.


Aqua sighed, seeing the others coming back in the distance and glanced back at Fuujin. "I guess we'll just have to let luck guide us." she joked with a small smile.


It wasn't long before Chasers were all back in the ship and Invidia took her pups to the kitchen, licking each and every one of them clean of the sand and grit that had gotten in their fur. Once the carbuncle deemed them ready for their dinner, Roxas set out two plates and the four pups crowded around them devouring the food. They'd go back to their mom for seconds later of course - but it was a slow process weaning moombacles from milk.

The others had all gathered in the pilor lounge, all looking at Ven imploringly for him to hurry and put up the amusement park. they wanted to see it in action!