Kingdom Hearts: Kingdom Hearts: Light Chaser

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Torrin had always thought of what he would tell those he left behind if he ever encountered them again. Words of apology came to mind but he never thought anything would do how he felt any justice. As Boreas explained the situation Torrin could hardly pay attention, feeling that at any moment the reminder that he had abandoned his home would surface. But after six years of potentially building anger and resentment towards him instead of showing hate Boreas extended his hand towards him. Torrin stared at his old friend in shock for a moment, not having expected him to have just let it go. "Dammit Boreas...don't go soft on me." Torrin approached him. "Boreas you jerk." Torrin smirked and smacked Boreas's hand in a strong handshake before gripping his friends arm and bashing him in the shoulder with his own.

Spoiler: An Alternate Ending

The world exploded from the force of their manly handshake, killing everything in sight. From the surface of Treasure Planet the sky lit up by a distant star going supernova. Then Treasure Planet blew up as well. The only thing left in the role play were the two muscular arms of Torrin and Boreas. The End.

"How is my uncle? And the war? Perhaps we'll have time to catch up on the six year gap but first things first. If I was able to I'd have gone back by now but there's...something else keeping me from returning as you already know. Our home could be wiped out if the Light Chaser isn't stopped. But with you here I have no doubt we'll succeed." Torrin looked over at Atmos, finding it amusing that she wore Boreas's armor. "Also, Aria's alive. She told me that Tinarah was supposed to have been returned by the Light Chaser but that never happened. No one knows what became of her but I did manage to return Aria." Atmos nodded in response. "Being here in my home realm...it's returned my strength to me. It's been some time since I've felt back at one hundred percent."

 

"Really?" B.E.N. turned around looking at Illiana and Aria. "Aw...you make an old robot's heart melt." The robot began to smile when Aria moved in front of him to console him. He immediately went to hug Aria and practically squeezed the air out of her.

Looking at the other two give in Jim shook his head and relented. "Look, if you're gonna come along you're gonna have to stop talking."

B.E.N. jumped to his feet and leapt into Jim's arms. "Oh, this is fantastic! Me and my best buddies are lookin' for a..." Jim was now glaring at B.E.N. "Being quiet." The robot lowered his voice as Jim put B.E.N. down.

"And you have to stop touching people."

"Touching and talking. That's my two big no-nos." B.E.N. responded, still excited to be a part of the group. "Say, listen, before we go out on our big search...um, would you mind if we made a quick pit stop at my place?" Without waiting for a response B.E.N. rushed over towards some bushes and began to push them out of the way to reveal a clearing beyond and a lone giant tree standing in a green valley. In the distance they could just make out a hole in its side, likely where B.E.N. had made his home.

"I think you just solved our problem."

An hour passes along the journey...​

"Pardon the mess. You'd think in a hundred years I would've dusted a little more often but, you know, when you're marooned...you tend to, uh, let things go." B.E.N. had led the group to his home, a roomy space carved out from the tree that actually appeared to be more mechanical in nature than organic. Metal plates bolted together constructed the walls and floor and the area was littered with rusted metal furniture and ratty sheets that acted as curtains. As Doctor Doppler helped Captain Amelia up a steep step and into B.E.N.'s home the robot went over to the boiling pots that covered his ancient stove and poured out two mugs of boiling oil. "Aw, isn't that sweet? I find old fashioned romance so touching, don't you? How about drinks for the happy couple?"

"Ooh. No. Thank you, we don't drink...and, uh, we're not a couple."

"How about anyone else?" B.E.N. asked happily.

After helping the Captain take a seat the Doctor cleared his throat and examined some of the markings that were faintly scratched into the walls of B.E.N.'s home. "Look at these markings. They're identical to the ones on the map. I suspect these are the hieroglyphic remnants of an ancient culture."

"I'll...uh stand guard." Jim said, taking one of the guns they had brought with them before heading back to the entrance.

​

"There you are." Choma rubbed his palms together, having rounded a corner to run face to face with Takehiko. "Some of these pirates are armed but if they try to go for any more weapons in the armory, they'll find that their guns are no longer functioning. And what of your progress? Did you accomplish your task?" Choma lowered his voice in case anyone was around listening. "I heard that the ship's sensors have picked up signs of the others. It won't be long before they're found but we're going to have to let this all play out for now. Risking a direct confrontation right now would result in loss of life. Our best hope for getting everyone out of here safely would be to let Silver and his men find the treasure and use that as our opportunity to retaliate."

 

Episode Tinarah: Episode 18
The Darkest Dungeon
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Early the next morning Tinarah would have heard the sound of a guard stepping down into the dungeon to carefully place Tinarah a tray of fresh-basked bread and some hot stew for her to eat. The steps continued down a little farther into the dungeon to the cell placed in the darkest corner of the dungeon. The guard nonchalantly dropped a half-eaten piece of bread onto the floor and chuckled before leaving, sealing the exit shut behind him. An aged hand reached out to grasp the bread and slowly pulled the food within the cell.

Tinarah had spent most of the night crying, however by the morning there was some sort of peace in a way. "I said I wanted to fight because you guys did. I didn't realized I was on the wrong side. Would it be too late to change?" Tinarah touched her necklace softly. It might have seemed like a silly question, but Tinarah didn't want to just sit around and do nothing, not anymore. She had enough of crying that she needed to do something.

By the time the guards dropped off food for her, Tinarah was meditating. Every now and then as she breathed in she tried to summon her own keyblade, when it didn't work, she tried to relax a bit. Tinarah knew that she couldn't panic anymore but was finding it hard the longer she was in the dark. "Stamatis, give me strength." The only reason that Tinarah bothered to touch her food was that if she wanted to go forward and finish whatever short life she had left in a way that would make Stamatis and Fost proud, she was not going to starve herself like when she had first arrived.

Even as she ate, she saw there was another prisoner at the end of the hall, reaching for half eaten bread. Clearly she was getting special treatment, which brought Tinarah to wonder, why did Torrin want her. Clearly he didn't bring her out of that war because of Mika, not when he was so willing to kill Mika and keep her, so why was she here? Tinarah's panic started to set in again, her appetite lessening as she pushed her half eaten bowl of stew away. Maybe... maybe she couldn't be as strong as she wanted

Another day passes...​

The guard ignored Tinarah once again as her plate was replaced with fresh food and drink. This day the other occupant from the corner cell did not receive food. Tinarah could hear the other prisoner cough. "Another day, perhaps." Came a weak voice from the cell. The voice belonged to an elderly man but in the darkness Tinarah could not perceive any of his features.

Everything told Tinarah she should be thankful for the food she was getting, eat everything provided. However as meal time came around and meditation was failing her, Tinarah sat in the dark staring at her food. She had only half her meal the day before, and yet, she still didn't want to eat. Tinarah took one bite of stew, not really wanting to eat, but was forcing herself, when she heard a voice in the silence. Slowly crawling towards the bars of her cell, she peered out and down the short hall, noticing no food was dropped that day. Tinarah looked back at the bread she had received, then grabbed all that was there.

"H-here.... I am not hungry." She said a little scared of getting in trouble but tossing the bread as close to his cell as she could possibly get it. Tinarah had no desire to interact with the other prisoners, but he was suffering it seemed, and she couldn't just not do anything, especially when she couldn't even eat all the food provided.

"Thank you child..." The man whispered, taking the bread that was just within his reach. A set of brown eyes flashed in the darkness as they looked upon Tinarah. "You...you are not from this world are you?" He spoke once more, inching closer towards the cell door so that his outline was just barely visible. "No...you are not from this time either? Or this realm..."

"I never imagined he would bring anyone to this realm of pain..." The old man trailed off and went silent as he began to eat his bread.

With the man's eyes on her, Tinarah backed away from the door, uncomfortable. Though the things he was saying caught her attention. "N-no I am not from this time... I have been displaced from my own time for quite a while now..." Tinarah offered, not going into detail, but however be was telling that something was off about her, perhaps that information would be helpful. "What do you mean realm. Masters Stamatis talked about other time periods like where I was from but not other realms. How would I end up in another realm." Panic laced Tinarahs voice as she questioned what had happened to her.

"Who.... Who brought me here? The spell Stamatis helped me with was supposed to bring me to my own time. How did I end up here." Tinarah peered at the man through the darkness trying to figure out who he was, if she should know, though in the darkness of the dungeon there was no telling.

"Displaced from your own time for quite a while, eh?" The old man nodded and gulped loudly as he swallowed his bread. "It sounds like you've met this realm's Stamatis...I suppose your journey to this point has been quite different than my own..." The old man reached his hand out of his cell as if grasping for something beyond his reach. "I cannot age, nor can I summon my key in this place...such is my curse." He withdrew his hand.

"I cannot fathom why a child such as yourself would be placed here but my being here is a result of my failures as a master." He sighed. "This is my punishment."

"This realms Stamatis?" Tinarah started to worry. "Does that mean Uncle Fost.... Master Stamatis.... They wouldn't be waiting for me in my own time? If I am not from this realm?" Tinarah asked as she watched him try and fail to summon a keyblade. She in turn did the same, stretching her hand in front of her trying to will her keyblade to come to her.

"I- I don't fully understand how I got here myself but... I think it had to do with a man called the Light Chaser. He was supposed to send me back to my brother, but for some reason my brother tried to kill me and it started a series of strange events. I couldn't summon my keyblade. It took nearly two years of training with Stamatis to get it back and almost three more to be strong enough to send myself home... But I ended up here instead. When Mika tried to free me...." Tinarah was nearly choking on her words as tears ran anew. "Torrin shattered my keyblade and killed Mika... Now here I am... I guess it doesn't matter if the Stamatis and Fost of my realm remember me... I am never getting back, am I?"

"Perhaps they might not remember you but the bonds of the heart are stronger than the links made from memories." The man responded. "But the Light Chaser is not a name that is familiar to me...perhaps my former student and this Light Chaser are one and the same. Or perhaps they are not..." He paused for a moment, a wrinkled hand gripping onto one of the cell's bars.

"You say your keyblade was broken? Sure you've been taught better to know that a keyblade can never truly be destroyed. Unless...." He scratched his chin. "Was the blade not yours? If it belonged to another that would explain why you cannot call upon it now. What happened to your own keyblade, child? With it we could be free of this place."

"I wouldn't be able to say. I never truly understood what was happening. I know one of his students took me to him, and despite the fact that we were trying to stop him, he seemed nice. He healed me, but he had my friend as well. He was going to let me go and no her... I promised to bring help... But never had the chance." The entire story really meant nothing, she had only started to tell what she knew of the Light Chaser, which wasn't much.

"The blade... It was my brothers. After my brother threw me off a bridge I was unable to summon it. I don't know why, but it has never returned. I have been using a borrowed blade for years." Tinarah admitted almost sounding ashamed of that fact.

"I see...the from the sound of it, your heart was too weak to call your own keyblade." He simply stated. "From the moment you were allowed to leave, you were made to enter this realm. I place I have had to endure for many years as its prisoner." His voice grew dry and weary. "Determination is not something that can be taught. It is found from within. Unless you can summon the resolve to call your own blade, you will have to resign to your fate." The man spoke grimly.

"But I have been trying! For a while Chrono's was the best I got, but.... I have been trying, since his broke I tried to use Master Stamatis' techniques for meditation and trying to call it to me when I can... But... Calming the mind is hard when someone wants to purge your light and use you for something important enough he is willing to kill his wife... " Tinarah said what had been distracting her from her meditation. "The keyblade first came to me when I needed it most but was too weak to know how to use. Now that I know how I can't summon it. I don't think it was ever my Destiny to wield it, but I tried, and I will keep trying, but at this rate... Who know what will happen to me by the time I learn to use it."

"If it was not your destiny to wield it then why not simply change your destiny? Your efforts have been in vain because somewhere in your heart you have already given up." The man moved back farther into his cell, disappearing into the shadows. "Meditate if you wish. But know that the keyblade will only respond to a strong heart. There is no other way. There are no shortcuts and no amount of pleading will change this."

After five years of failure, it was hard not to have lost hope in it. Tinarah didn't even know what it meant to have a strong heart, what she needed to do. It seemed as though nothing she had tried was good enough and the only thing still pushing her to try was fear. She watched as the man moved into the shadows, it seemed as though he was done talking. Tinarah pushed her bowl of stew aside, once more hardly eating. Moving back in her cell herself she tried to meditate again. It occurred to her the only time she wasn't driven by fear to get her keyblade back she had given up. She either fell into depression or she accepted her fate. It was near impossible to forget her fear, she didn't think it would be natural not to fear her fate in this place. But perhaps she should take what Torrin told her to do and make it her own. He had wanted her to get angry and turn that anger into something useful, but what if she learned to turn her fear into a goal. It wasn't going to be easy, but given the situation she had time to teach herself.

Forty days and forty nights pass...​

 

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"Yes. I don't like the plan much either but unless I decide to unleash all my magic against these pirates...that would be too messy." Choma folded his arms. "At least you shut down the ship's weapons. That was our primary concern." Choma paused, looking up and raising an eyebrow. The constant hum of the engines had faded into the background and were unnoticeable by now but when he tried to listen for it he could hear nothing. The ship had come to a stop. "Just be ready for anything." Choma warned Takehiko.

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"I didn't mention Aria before because I thought she had been lost forever." She answered Boreas before turning towards Torrin. "The Light Chaser must have saved her, then? She is a Princess of Heart after all."

"Yeah. But...when I was leaving one of his apprentices, a girl named Chrys, allowed us to leave. I have to believe there was something behind it but I figured it was better taking Aria back than risk leaving her with the others." Torrin was clearly uncomfortable about it but he let the topic slide as there was nothing more to say about it. On hearing Boreas's description of the situation at home, he was surprised that the enemy had even made an attempt to attack the castle directly. He relaxed on hearing that the attack was repelled and that his father, the man who trained them both when they were younger, was still alive.

"I see...things have been going well without me." He wasn't sure how to feel about it. It was good to know that things had not been falling to pieces or that his uncle was dying and they desperately needed Torrin to succeed him but the fact that he wasn't needed made him feel...something he could not quite explain. It had been his choice to leave but did they already forget him? Perhaps that would have been a fitting punishment for his actions. He did not know. Torrin took a deep breath. "Berengar and Grahame, dead? I'm sorry to hear that. I did not know either well but their children were kinder to me than my own cousins." And yet, he could not even remember their names. Had it really been that long?

"You mentioned coming here to recover. I assume it had to do with that wound you had when we met." Atmos spoke up.

"Yeah. A year back, just after I had passed my Mark of Mastery exam," Torrin paused and looked at Boreas, "right, I'm a master now. I had to speed up my training to help a friend. But don't go about using titles now. I don't care about that formality. Anyway...long story short, I found the Light Chaser standing over the barely breathing bodies of my second master along with the other students. They offered their light to me so that I could fight him but it wasn't enough. The effect was that I was now weaker to the light. More recently, during our last confrontation, he wounded me. That wound started to sever my ties to the darkness. I had a feeling that coming back here would undo the damage that my friends had unknowingly done to me as well as heal the wound I received in battle."

"Now that I'm back to normal, there's a few tricks up my sleeve I'd be willing to teach. Turns out, I've learned a few things on my own that I could have never done with a master."

"Oh really? And what's that?"

"Well that depends on whether or not my old friend is up to taking some time to learn something new."

"I will do what I must to protect her." The tree spoke, refusing to answer Chrys's question. Her mind was already set. "Your master will not have her!" When Grandmother WIllow shouted at the two the curtain of leaves that surrounded them closed around them to cut them off from the outside.

A BOSS BATTLE COMMENCES

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D-Links are locked in this battle.

The narrow leaves surrounding them began to glow and shot off from their branches to strike Chrys and Avra. The blades of the leaves were serrated and cut through their clothes easily. "Ah that stung! Watch it Chrys. Looks like grandma here has got some bite to go with that bark!"

Chrys took took 29 Damage! (71/100HP)
Avra took 27 Damage! (73/100HP)

Grandmother Willow: 450/450HP​

 

Episode Tinarah: Part 19
Last Stand
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The routine was the same over the weeks that followed. Occasionally the man, who had given his name as Gero, made conversation with Tinarah and pointed her in the direction in which she would be able to find her own inner strength. But the old man was tired and malnourished so he often slept more than he spoke.

Tinarah did her best facing her new resolve. She wanted to turn her fear into something useful, but the battle was not easily won. Tinarah would often share whatever she thought she could toss over to Gero, mostly bread, unable to offer much else. As time went on however Tinarah realized meditation was not enough to change her heart. It was one thing to say she would do something g different, another to actually do it.

During her time in prison she never finished a meal brought to her, and it was starting to show. In the last week or she had begun refusing to eat anything. She wanted to draw Torrin down, face her fear and see if she could, or at least die trying. It had been over a month, if her keyblade hadn't come by now through meditation, it never would.

That day when meal time had come the guard did not show up. An hour passed without the usual guard coming strolling in. And then, the dungeon's door creaked open and footsteps approached.

"So what's this I hear about you not eating?" Torrin had arrived, adjusting the gloves on his hands while he spoke casually towards Tinarah. They were bloodied. No doubt he had seen battle recently but other than that his clothes were completely pristine. "I suppose anyone would grow tired of the same meal day after day but beggars can't be choosers." He sniffed the air and shook his head. "Perhaps you could do with a bath. Prison life does not suit you but this was the only way I could keep you out of my hair until the war was over. A war that, by the way, is going well. Thallasa and Chrys have been taken care of and now all that's left is to round up the last of the resistance. Once that's over...well, I have plans for you."

Tinarah was sitting in her cell. She had not noticed the time difference when the door opened. She had really lost track of time since being down there. When the door opened, she tried to sit quietly and meditate like she had been to avoid looking at the guards, but the voice that spoke to her, wasn't the guards. Tinarah's heart pounded as she tried to keep control before opening her eyes, forcing herself to stare directly at Torrin, silent at first. Tinarah didn't trust her voice not to give away her fear, but eventually she had to get over it.

"Your plans won't work if I die first." Tinarah spoke softly, but honestly to Torrin. She refused to turn her gaze away, even if she wanted to turn around and cower in a corner. She was afraid of the punishment for her actions, but she would face it, because she couldn't let him use her. She was more afraid of what he would do to her than of death and that is what she used to get her to keep staring Torrin down. She had done this to help her face her fear, now she had to do it, or starving herself was for nothing.

Torrin blinked upon hearing the defiance in Tinarah's voice. "Ah...I see." He leaned closer, placing his hands on the bars of the cell, his yellow eyes gazing at her intently. A small smile began to form on his lips. "Allowing you to starve yourself out would be far too easy." He looked down at the melted lock of the cell then towards Tinarah. "Mind if I..."

In an instant he was now standing in front of her no longer separated between bars of metal. "Come in?" He finished his sentence, now staring down at the girl before him.


A small "eep" Escaped Tinarah's lips as Torrin entered her cell. She scooted back a little bit as she looked at him. She tried to stand up to face him at least, she didn't like feeling so small, but as she started to get her feet under her, her vision went black, her head spinning, likely a side effect of not eating for several days. Tinarah eased herself back into a more comfortable position. Her eyes darted around the cell and then back to Torrin, swallowing hard. She didn't talk this time, she knew better, but she kept her eyes on him. I won't let him defeat me. I promise. He doesn't own me, he doesn't own my fear. I can control it. Just... don't look away.

He tilted his head and frowned on seeing Tinarah's reaction to his little parlor trick. "So that's how it is, huh? Thought you were going to be more feisty than that. A bit of a let down, really." He stepped closer and grabbed Tinarah by her arm to force her onto her feet. "But I suppose that just about sums you up, doesn't it? You're nothing but a product of failures."

"But I can fix that. I've grown tired of waiting anyway." His grip on her arm tightened and with his free hand a dark orb formed and shot out blasting the door out from its hinges.


Torrin grabbed Tinarah and she was ready to fight. He pulled her to her feet and Tinarah knew that this was it, it was likely the last chance she got. If things go further like this there wasn't much chance for her. She still had some energy now, but it was quickly draining. As his grip tightened, Tinarah went to her natural reaction and tried to pull back. When he didn't let go she went to stop on his foot. "I am not letting you take my light! I won't let you take that part of me." Tinarah struggled against him far more than when he was throwing him in here.

"Last chance" Tinarah thought to herself as her free hand gripped the air. "please" She dug deep into her heart looking for the place that was locked away long ago. Suddenly a warm metal object appeared in her hand. It was silver with a heart shaped blade at the end. This one was hers. She let the fear of what Torrin was going to do to her drive her as she took the object in her hand and brought it around at Torrins legs, trying to knock him off his feet as she pulled away once more. As soon as he let go she took a leaf out of his book as she cast Blizzard at him. Turning she stumbled slightly as she made her way out of the cell, turning towards Gero's and pointing her keyblade at it. Hopefully she could free him and maybe they stood a chance at escaping.

"What!? How?!" Torrin growled in pain, surprised by Tinarah's sudden attack. Her Blizzard spell caused him to smash into the wall, freezing his torso against it. "Damn you!" There was a click heard from the cell where the old man had been kept. She had unlocked Gero's cell.

"You can't get away. I won't let you escape my grasp!" Even as he shouted the old man stepped out from his cell and took hold of Tinarah's hand, the hand that held her newly regained keyblade.

"You hold nothing over this young woman." Gero's condition seemed to be worse than Tinarah's but even still he seemed to have no trouble standing. "Are you ready to leave this place, Tinarah?"


Tinarah was actually surprised that her attacks worked, but she managed to buy herself enough time for Gero to get out of his cell. Torrin was still yelling at her and part of her heart believed they wouldn't get far, but she had to try. She locked eyes with Gero as he spoke, they would do their best. "Yes... And if we can't make it... Gero, I want you to put an end to me before he can turn me into something other than myself." Tinarah didn't know how they would get away. Neither of them were in great shape and Tinarah didn't know if her spell would hold for long, but she put some trust into Gero, ready for him to help lead her out.

"None of that will be necessary." Gero spoke as he lifted her hand to point her keyblade down the hall. A beam of light shot out from it opening a shimmering rift that was unlike any portal or light or darkness Tinarah had ever seen. Gero staggered forward and lost his footing, losing his breath from the effort of using his magic through her keyblade. "It...it is done..."

"It doesn't matter how far you go or whatever realm you hide in! I will find you!"

"Come...before it closes. I do not have the strength to do this again."

Tinarah gave a slight nod, not quite convinced with what he was saying but went with it anyways. However as he lifted her hand that held the keyblade, something happened, almost like he was channeling his magic through her keyblade, creating a portal at the end of the hall. When it was done however he seemed to be struggling to walk. Tinarah draped his arm over her shoulder, knowing she wouldn't be able to support him for long, but unwilling to leave him behind.

"If you manage to find me again, I will be ready. You won't take me again." Tinarah said softly before turning to the portal and helping Gero get through it as quick as possible while supporting him in the state she already was in.

The two walked through the portal, leaving behind the realm in which the two had been trapped in for years. Gero's weight pressed on Tinarah as he began to lose consciousness. The area they found themselves in appeared to be a tunnel of some kind surrounded in an ethereal gray energy. Behind them was a dull red glow representing the realm they had exited and up ahead were streams of light and darkness emanating from the other end.

After having not taken more than just a few steps forward a voice called out behind them. "Wait."

Spoiler

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"You're...leaving me? I gave my life for yours and you're just going to leave..?"

Tinarah stepped through the portal, the area they entered was a strange one, and with Gero's weight mostly on her, it was hard to continue walking, but the light ahead beckoned her. She hardly made it more than a few steps when a voice called out to her, and Tinarah turned to face the boy. He looked the exact same since the last time she had seen him. "I-I have to. I am sorry A, if I could have stayed with Master Stamatis and trained longer, I would have. But I don't belong here. There are dangers in my own realm that I need to help with. I don't wish your sacrifice to be without cause, and perhaps... perhaps once my own realm is safe, I can return and help yours, but this is the only way to keep what is mine. He wanted to take away my light, and I couldn't let that happen. I have to leave. I am sorry A. I will see you again." Tinarah spoke the the boy, grief filled her voice but there was a resolve there as well as she turned back to the light and pressed on once more, she couldn't give herself time for the weight of Gero to wear on her enough that she didn't make it out. She would get them out... then... then she could rest.

"But Tinarah...please..." The boy reappeared in front of her, his eyes watery and his cheeks tear-stained. "Don't leave me." He pleaded.

"Do not listen to him..." Gero spoke, his eyes briefly catching sight of A. "He...he's..."

"You!" The boy growled, a golden aura flaring up around him. A keyblade materialized in his hand. "Don't listen to the old man! He's the one who started this! He wants to take you away from me!"

A appeared in front of her and Tinarah started to wonder what in the world was going on here. "A... I am sorry." Tinarah tried to tell him when Gero spoke up and A got defensive. "He isn't the one who sent me here. A... listen.... he was going to hurt me. Torrin was going to hurt me. It is the only way I can be safe. If I stayed I would be no help to anyone. This way I can come back and help. And I will come back, I promise." Tinarah tried to argue walking towards the exit again. If she was forced to stop once more, Tinarah wondered if she would be able to push on again, she could already feel her knees shake.

"No...don't leave me..." A's voice began to grow more distant as Tinarah pushed onward. The two were nearly upon the end of the tunnel. Everything that had tormented Tinarah would be left behind, trapped in another realm.

Tinarah knew better than to think the boy in front of her was actually A. She knew he died the day Fost rescued her, so for him to be here was impossible. That being said Tinarah still felt guilty for leaving. Not only had A sacrificed himself, but but Fost and Stamatis had sacrificed so much for her. She owed them a lot but couldn't show her gratitude from another time and realm. That being said she couldn't do anything if of she had been made into a puppet of Torrins.

Stopping Tinarah turned back to the boy one last time, repeating herself once more. "I promise I will be back. All the sacrifices for me... You... Mika... Fost and Stamatis, they won't be for nothing. I will grow stronger and learn to bring myself back there. I will finish my training with Master Stamatis. I will warn them, they can stop Torrin before he becomes too powerful. Things will be right and... Perhaps I will remain there, if allowed. But I can't do anything as long as Torrin has me. This is the only escape for us. Besides... I have to get Gero home. I have to save him... I couldn't save anyone else but maybe..." A wave of dizziness hit Tinarah and she almost dropped Gero. Tinarah struggled to stay standing for a moment.

"Come, let's get you home. We are almost there." It was difficult, Tinarah was barely shuffling forward, but they started moving again. The light at the end of a tunnel. A home that she stopped believing was her home. And her brother waited their. She still didn't know what to think of him, still believed he tried to kill her, but at least he wouldn't be a dark creature enslaved to Torrin. Her heart ached at the thought of all she would have to face on that side, but as the dizziness from before refused to subside, she knew she didn't have time to hesitate. With one last push onward, Tinarah stepped into the light, Gero at her side.

 

​

Avra smirked. "Really? Puns are what concern you right now!? How about the fact that this tree hits hard!" Running up behind Chrys she leapt over her fellow apprentice's head and cut down on Grandmother WIllow's face making the old tree grimace in pain.

AP: 5/40

Roots shot up from the ground, striking both girls as they whipped about and knocked them to their backs. "See!? I told you about the bark!"

Chrys took 20 Damage! (51/100HP)
Avra took 20 Damage! (53/100HP)

Grandmother Willow: 375/450HP
​

​

Choma raised an eyebrow upon hearing Takehiko's sudden change in tone. "I agree. We should go up. It'll be nice to have some fresh air." As Choma spoke the familiar thumping came down to their level and out from the corner stepped Silver giving the two of them a hard glare. "Is there something wrong, captain?"

"Don't you captain me, traitors!" Silver growled. "I know what ya two have been up to and it stops right now!"

Out from the shadows two yellow eyes peered at them and Scroop stepped forward. "The stowaways have a way to escape the brig. I say we kill them now." Scroop snapped his claws at the two.

"You thought you were so clever sabotaging our weapons but Scroop here stumbled on to your little plan."

"Then we kill them?"

"No you idiot! We use them to bargain! Our weapons will take too long to reset and we need the cabin boy to open the map!"

"We only need one of them." Scroop spoke angrily. Faintly, the two keyblade wielders could see streams of darkness coming off of the red aliens bodies.

"Do as I say or I'll keelhaul you. You hear me!?" Silver pulled out a gun and turned his robotic arm into a second pistol. "Tie them to the mast where we can keep an eye on them."


Meanwhile...

Jim faintly smiled at Aria and leaned against the entrance frame. "I never expected to be pulled into all of this." He said after a moment of silence. "I just wanted to do something...something to show that I wasn't a screw up. My mom, she was so hurt when the inn burned down. I wanted to make things right and now because of that stupid map everyone's lives are in danger." He looked down, turning away from Aria.

Back inside, B.E.N. was humming to himself and drinking both cups of hot oil he had poured for the others. When Illiana asked about the markings he tilted his head and walked over to squint at them. "You know...I always thought they looked nice. A little homey touch of art!" He shrugged. "Flint...uh...he said the map originated from here and that the people who once lived here..." He attempted to scratch his head, unable to remember more, but on doing so he spilled some of the hot oil on himself. Being a robot, he felt nothing but he frowned on seeing the mess he made. "Oh no!" He rushed over to the kitchen, spilling some of the oil from the second cup in his other hand on the way, and threw the two cups in the sink before rushing back to start cleaning his mess.

​

Torrin shook his head, unsure of what kind of plan the Light Chaser had that he could anticipate. He just didn't know. "Maybe I made the wrong move and allowed the first part of a trap to be laid but I wasn't going to leave her there." He summoned his keyblade once more, now that Boreas had agreed to learn the technique.

"It's not something that'll change the tide of a large scale battle, but it's a nice little trick I learned when trying to keep the Chasers on their toes. See...what you have to do is..."

Boreas learned the Keyblade Transformation Repeating Crossbow!
​

"Don't try to push yourself into learning another form so soon. Weapons take a certain amount of focus and it takes time to get used to it. When the time is right you can try new forms." Atmos who had been watching seemed impressed and gave a nod of approval saying "hm" as she did so. She must have forgotten that she was in armor because Torrin couldn't read her expression given that she had a helmet on. "You know, now that I think about it, there's something else I could teach you if you haven't learned it alre-"

The waves on the beach surged inland and nearly reached the trio. The wind kicked up and the scent of the ocean air only thickened in the gust. "There's never storms here." Torrin muttered, looking around for any signs of what could have caused the disturbance. He caught a glimpse of something in the distance over the water. The air rippled and Torrin could sense...something similar to whenever he used corridors of darkness to travel but this felt off somehow. Unsettling.

The air ripped open violently sending a shockwave of magical energy that nearly knocked the three off their feet. Torrin barely managed to brace himself but still stumbled backwards. Now before them was a dark red portal that hovered over the water. Out from it stepped a young blonde woman and an elderly man, both too far away to discern any other details about them, before the portal closed. "What the...That doesn't look good." The two landed in shallow water but they seemed weak. "Not exactly how I planned today going...Dammit I hate swimming." Torrin did not know if they were going to drown in the cold water and rushed over to jump in the water to swim towards the two and help them to the shore.

 

Stepping out the other side of the portal Tinarah instantly found herself falling, unable to keep hold on Gero as they hit the water. The cold of the water shocked her for a moment, enough that she could somewhat register that she needed to do something or else she would drown. Glancing around she tried to see if Gero managed to swim, before she noticed someone run into the water, likely to help them. Tinarah tried to swim towards him a bit but after only swimming forward a couple feet she found herself shaky and too weak to keep going, she focused more on keeping her head above water as she scanned the shore to see two more people standing there as well.

"Help him... please." She was at least floating for now but Gero was barely able to walk when they had left, there was no way that he could swim in. As the figure got closer however, Tinarah recognized who it was. She panicked for a moment that he had found her too soon, but then after a second look she realized he was younger, her realms Torrin probably, and while she didn't trust him, she hoped he wouldn't hurt her. Tinarah didn't know what lay beneath the kind facade that he had when they had brought him with them to safety, but he might be her only way of not drowning. The realm thing still didn't make much sense to Tinarah, she didn't know if this realms Torrin would have the same heart or ambitions as the other realms, but at least he likely wouldn't be as powerful at this age, there was still time to stop it, though they had the Light Chaser to stop first.

As Tinarah floated however waiting for help to come her head started to spin again and she found herself sinking slightly. Her head went under a couple times but she manage to get it back up. How much longer she could keep that up though, Tinarah didn't know, long enough to get to shore she hoped.​