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The Pridelands

Beorn stood on a rock in the open plains near pride rock. He stood erect and tall. he was still technically a cub, but he could fight with any of the adult lionesses for food without much trouble, and as for a territory battle, even the strongest of the males didn't walk away without being hurt first. He stood for a moment, looking back and forth, he reared his head up and let out a roar. For such a small lion it was rather impressive. It wasn't a full fledged roar, but it would definitely make you reconsider petting him. He had spent most of his life alone, fighting for his own food. He had always refused to join the pack simply because he didn't feel at home there. In most cases they would kill a lone lion, but they had felt sorry for him, and he wasn't taking anymore food then what he needed anyway. He wasn't sure why yet, but today felt different.



Beorn was walking along the open plains, he had just finished a meal, he decided not to fight, and just play the scavenger, eating the left over meat off the body after the lionesses had left it alone. He still had plenty of fight left in him, and was looking for an excuse to fight. He came across another male cub, a bit older then him, with a strange charm hanging out of its mouth, it was glowing in the light, and it was just enough of an excuse for Beorn. "Give that to me, I want it." He said, causing the cub to crouch low and growl loudly. He had heard stories about the young male cub who didn't work as part of the tribe, and he wasn't about to give up anything to someone he considered an outsider. This was more than enough of an excuse for Beorn. He lunged forward, ducking low first before shooting up and crashing his paws into his opponents shoulders. This sent the other lion tumbling backward, he bit hard into the chain to hold it in his mouth, but without his jaws, he had no defense or counter when Beorn sank his teeth hard into his the cub's neck. The other lion yelped and spit out the chain. "Fine take it..." He said before limping off. It was his first fight, and he didn't stand a chance against Beorn.

A victorious Beorn growled and strutted over to his prize rather smugly. He reached down and put it up in his jaws for a moment. As soon as he leaned back up and let his pride swell, the peculiar chain glowed. A sudden light overwhelmed him and soon he felt a strange weight in his mouth, his teeth gripping some kind of handle. When he opened his eyes, he could see something sticking out of his mouth. Something that had a shaft with a color matching a normal lion's fur, and at the top there was a lion's head, with its mouth open, as if it was roaring, the whole thing forming into an odd shape that he hadn't seen before. After all, a key wasn't something a lion would have ever seen. It took Beorn a moment to collect his thoughts, but unfortunately, that was all the time he was going be given.

A strange voice, calm and smooth rang forth around him. "Well well, I seem to have arrived just in time. Too bad there won't be much time for us to get to know each other..." As the voice spoke, strange shadows began to rise up all around Beorn, the darkness within them moving rapidly and displacing, like the river during the rainy season. Beorn growled, gripping the strange object in his mouth tighter, he had no idea what it was, but his instincts told him giving it up was not the best idea at this point.

"What is it that you want from me?" Beorn managed to mumble out through his gritted teeth, still not able to pinpoint where the voice was coming from.

"Don't worry about such trivial things. You will find out everything soon enough. But you can't grow here, no, you are much too weak here..." The voice said. Suddenly, without any warning, giant blades shot out of the ground and began racing toward him. Beorn refused to stay still and be turned into mincemeat. He jumped to the side and fell into one of the portals that had been lining the area around him, just as the owner of the disembodied voice had planned. "Excellent. That should send him to the nearest world with another heart as strong as his. Meeting up with the other keybladers and learning of the situation will allow him to grow stronger, he will kill more heartless, and when the time comes to destroy him and pull out his heart, he will make our plans that much better. Hahahaha." The voice slowly faded and the blades and portals vanished. Not a trace of the little skirmish was left behind.

Neverland

Beorn was falling through darkness, his eyes desperately trying to adjust to the ever changing surroundings. He felt the strange object disappear from his mouth, it didn't fall out, it simply was gone. He felt strange though, as if his back was straighter, his front paws longer, and his back legs seeming to align with his body, it was odd. He was now writhing and striking at the air, trying to grab at something to stop his fall. Suddenly it was bright again, he was blinded by the sudden change, unable to let his eyes adjust until crashing into a tree. He felt a branch snap against his back, and then he felt himself smash into the ground. It was odd, with that much force, his instincts told him that he should be dead, but he didn't feel that bad, odd yes, but not bad. He opened his eyes and let himself adjusted for a moment before beginning to move, shifting his back first to make sure it wasn't broken. Slowly he shifted to his hands. Yes, hands. And legs. for some reason he seemed crouched. He looked up and down at himself, he was wearing odd garments, he had no idea why, and his body had changed: no fur, and his hind and front legs had morphed. He made a sort of growling sound and twisted around for a moment, as if chasing his own, now non-existent tail, unsure of how to react to this change.

Beorn was fighting with his new body, the fact that his hind legs were so much longer made it very difficult to stand or walk as he normally would when he was a lion. He was still giving out his inhuman growl in frustration at his predicament. He paused for a moment, laying on his side. He had stood on his hind legs alone before, but only to scratch or claw at an enemy. At this point, the longer hind legs weren't going to work with his new front ones. He crawled up to a tree (still growling) and pressed with his body, pushing himself against it as he began to struggle to support himself using the tree and his legs. He managed to get up onto his legs, and lean against the tree, and for now that was much better than lying in the mud. After this he could begin to try and work with these legs.

Kyte watched the boy scramble around in this most undignified way until he finally got himself standing up against the tree, all covered with mud. She decided now was the more merciful time to come out. "Hey, you." She said as she emerged from the bushes. "Who are you, and how did you come to be reported falling out through the trees? It's possible that you can fly, since this is Neverland, but somehow I don't think that you can." The tom-boy stood with her fists on her hips and her legs spread apart. Her short purple hair swayed slightly in the breeze, and her long braid hung over her shoulder. The new white and black flower charm hung proudly about her neck.

Beorn let out yet another growl (he seemed to do that a lot), louder this time, warning the girl talking to him. He wasn't about to let anyone near him while in this vulnerable state. As if responding to his emotions, that strange object he had seen before he was thrown through that portal appeared in his hands. He felt the weight and quickly wrapped his newly formed fingers around it. Somehow he figured this was how it was supposed to be held, since having it in your mouth didn't make much sense like this. He swung the thing at the girl, still growling and glaring.

Kyte hardy blinked. "How interesting. You're like some animal turned into a human like this. Can't you even talk?" She focused on the boy's keyblade. Her eyes narrowed. "Where did you get that?" she asked, blocking his pathetically unstable attack. He didn't seem to be able to walk right.

Beorn hesitated and stopped growling. She didn't seem to want to harm him, and she seem to know something about the strange stick (for that was what he had begun to think it was). He waited a moment before he spoke. "I can talk just fine..." He said through gritted teeth. "I don't know, I was just out of a fight and I won a strange object as a prize. It looked like a charm. I picked it up and suddenly this appeared and there was a strange voice, and darkness, and big shiny claws. Then I crashed into this tree...that's all I can really tell you..." Beorn finished, lowering his keyblade. At this point, he was willing to accept help, as long as he knew they weren't going to hurt him.

Kyte nodded slowly. "I don't know much about all of this, myself, but I do know that that right there," She said, pointing to the weapon. "Is a keyblade. And I also have one." She emphasized her point by summoning the key of golden darkness to her hand. It's mystical appearance was so very different from Beorn's strong looking one. She pointed to the fang shaped key-chain on his. "See that? The key-chain is the same as your charm. From what I gather, certain people who come to possess these charms will gain a keyblade. I don't know a whole lot more. We'll have to go and Talk to Haru and Peter for more information. What is it called?" She asked. It seemed to her that keyblades had names.

Beorn took a moment to look at his weapon. "Keyblade..." He said, letting his voice trail off. "Lion's roar..." He said in the same trailing voice before looking up at her. "I'm Beorn...I was a lion a short time ago, and I'm a...human now? What does this all mean, keyblades and humans?" He knew she wouldn't have the answer, but saying it all out loud just made it seem more real. He waited a moment before thinking. "How, am I supposed to walk...like this?" He asked, looking down at his legs.

Kyte took a moment to register all of this. "Okay...so you are an animal in human form." Then she answered his question about walking. "Oh, it's not that hard. Being a lion, you probably relied on forward weight. All you have to do is center yourself." She walked over to him and held him up in the way he should stand. "Most of your weight goes to your legs. Your hind legs. Humans only have two, that's what would be your back ones. Arms are for balance until you get used to it. Does that help at all?"

[[editing]]

Neverland

Thump!
A dart stuck dead center of a target pinned to a palm tree.
Thwunk!
Another dart struck the center of the previous one.
Throok!
A third dart landed directly atop the last.

Kyte walked over to the tree and drew out the darts. She turned to her friend, Peter Pan and grinned roguishly. "Beat that, fly boy."
She was a Tomboy through and through. She was also the second-in-command over all Neverland, and with good reason! She had a strategical mind and an affinity for rough play.

A small white figure dropped into existence nearly forty feet away and watched the girl. After a moment it vanished without a trace.

Kyte snapped her head around and glared. Something had been there.
"Peter..." She began.
"Yeah." came his quick response.
The pair split up. After so long together they didn't need to say much to get a point across.


The World that Never Was

Rorrim appeared in The World that Never Was, clutching her mirror close to her chest. She didn't remember waking up, only where she was going and why. But where was she now, and how was she going to find a way out?

"Why, hello, little witch. I've been expecting you." A voice rang out through the shadows.

With that, she was surrounded by nobodies, their white bodies twisting and turning in a sort of eerie dance.

The dark form of the nobody, Xykte, emerged from a portal onto a rooftop. She looked around as it closed behind her. In a nearby street was Rorrim, surrounded by nobodies. Xykte jumped down and landed lightly in front of the girl. "Hiya, witch. Fancy meeting you here."


Neverland

A figure appeared basically out of nowhere on the beaches of Neverland, a determined look on her face. "Now where to start?" Kyxtan asked herself, looking around a bit before walking around, searching for a keyblade weilder.

Peter had realized by now that whatever had been there was gone now. But it had seemed a little...familiar. He scratched his head as he re-approached the beach. Then he froze in his tracks. There was someone there, and no one that he recognized. But it was something that he recognized. A dark, hooded cloak...No doubt about it, those things had showed up before, although they hadn't hung around long, he knew they were bad. He spun around and soared off to find Kyte.


Haru had seen the strange figure from where she was in the tree. She was about to chase after it when it disappeared. "Shoot." she mumbled to herself and climbed down. Her sword and dagger knocked against her side as she made the final leap to the floor of the island.

She was just dusting herself off when she heard movement in the bushes around her. She placed her hand on her sword in case something popped out at her.

Kyte emerged from the bushes with a wince. She had scared a rabbit part way through. Normally she could go through bushes without making a sound. She glanced momentarily at the tree, then back to the trail. Wait... Kyte did a double take and hissed. "What are you doing here?"

Haru narrowed her eyes. "I was about to tell you and Peter something." she responded. She moved her hand ever-so slightly to her dagger, just above her sword's hilt.

Kyte looked around and sighed. "Well, be more careful. If we get seen by pirates we're both toast, especially you." She looked in the direction of whatever had appeared again and shook her head. "Ah, well. It's gone, I guess...But what in heck was it?"

Haru relaxed and shook her head. "I don't know... but it has a strange feeling to it." She looked back at the Hook's ship, anchored in the middle of the bay.

"As far as I can tell, I'm the only one here until a few more hours. And that is what I need to tell you and Peter." She turned back to Kyte. "The pirates are coming ashore to look for you all again. They seem more confident this time." If that thing was what I think it was... there is going to be a lot of trouble coming. she added to herself

Kyte nodded. "Alright, thanks for the heads-up. I'll tell Peter when I see him, although He'll probably be on his way over here by..." Her voice trailed off. Peter was indeed coming this way, but something about his expression worried her. Something was wrong.

Peter stopped when He saw Kyte and Haru. He took a few second to catch his breath before looking at both girls very seriously. "We've got trouble."

Haru frowned. "What's wrong, Peter?" she asked whilst thinking, This can't be good... first the Nobody, now Peter's freaked out... that's not normal for him.

Peter grabbed Kyte's arm, then Haru's. He dragged them after him as he dashed down a nearby hole. The three slid down a long slide and tumbled into a small room. Peter was up again and peering out of a peek-hole in the ceiling. "There is a person out there wearing a black cloak with silver tassels." He narrowed his almond eyes as he looked out of their hiding place. "I think that that organization has come back."

Kyte blinked. What was he talking about? Organization? What organization? She stared at the red haired boy. "What..?"

Haru stood up and fixed her sword as Peter talked. She froze at the mention of the Organization. She looked at Peter, her eyes wide. "If they are here... then that means..." she covered her mouth as if the Organization would hear her if she spoke another word.

Peter nodded. "Yeah. I know." He gave Kyte a furtive glance.

She saw it. "Okay, are you two going to tell me what's going on or what? It seems to me that we're in some sort of danger, but I have no idea what that danger is!" She was becoming rather annoyed.

Haru gave Peter a look that said, Should we tell her? It looks like they're after one of the Lost Boys... perhaps even Kyte. she thought nervously.

Peter sighed and avoided Kyte's gaze. "You know, Kyte, you haven't always lived here. I mean, with me and the lost boys. You know that, right?"

Kyte nodded slowly. He hadn't ever talked about this before.

"Well.." He paused. "We found you on the beach, wet and weak. With no past at all, so we figured you would fit in well."

Kyte nodded again. She knew this much. The farthest part of her memory was opening her eyes to see a large number of worried boys staring down at her.

Peter continued cautiously. "And..one thing you don't know is that..." He pulled something out of his pocket. It was a pendant shaped like a flower with white and black petals. "..You were wearing this. No, wait!" She had been about to touch it. "Don't touch it unless you are ready to accept whatever fate it brings with it." He had such a serious look on his face. Kyte had rarely, if ever, seen him like this.

"Kyte, you need to know. If you accept this, your life will take a drastic turn. There's no telling if this will be a good thing or not for you. Or if your life will be like this again." Haru warned her.

"The fate and destiny that comes with this necklace is dark and confusing. But, if you are ready, take the necklace." Peter continued.

Kyte hesitated. Was she really ready? She set her jaw decisively. Yes. She stretched out her hand and took the charm. The small group stared at it for a minute. Two. Five. Kyte stood up roughly. "What is this? Nothing's happened?"

Just then, several nobodies appeared, surrounding them. Peter shouted in alarm. "They've found us!"

Haru pulled out her sword as the Nobodies started to appear. "Are you ready, Kyte? This is your first test I suppose." she mused, not taking her eyes of the constantly moving Nobodies.

One of them attacked right then and there, and the battle began.

Kyte attacked the monsters ferociously for a few minutes with her twin daggers, then fell back. "It's not affecting them at all! What the heck are they?"

Peter was holding the creatures off rather well. "They're called Nobodies, I believe. But they haven't been seen around here since the last Keybearer."

"You mean that Sora guy? I remember you talking about him. But why are they here now?" She shouted back.

"Well..." He was cut off as several nobodies charged at him. He shielded himself with his hand.

"Peter!" Kyte shouted.

Clang!

Peter opened his eyes slowly. He was alive. He looked up and saw something amazing.

Kyte stood with her back turned to him. She was facing one of the nobodies. Everything was still. Kyte had blocked its attack with a glorious weapon: a keyblade a little more than half her height, forever shimmering between gold and black, with a keychain dangling from the hilt that exactly matched the charm that now hung around her neck. Her golden eyes were hard and determined. "Sorry, but you picked the wrong person to mess with." She told the nobody. And then it was gone, dissolved into pieces of darkness.

Haru had just knocked a Nobody back when Kyte had summoned the keyblade. She stared at it. "Amazing..." was all she could say before dodging an attack from another.

As for Peter, he stared speechlessly as Kyte lifted her keyblade so that it was held in both hands and pointing up. A grin tilted the edge of her mouth. She loved a good fight, but one short phrase ended the skirmish. "Happa No Kage!"
A blast ring of shadow shot out from the keyblade and demolished the few remaining nobodies.

"Wow!" Haru gasped as they all disappeared. "That's incredible." She looked at Kyte and at the keyblade. She sheathed her sword and walked over to Peter. "Are you okay?" she asked offering her hand.

Peter took the preferred hand. "Woah." was all he could say at first. He stared at Kyte in disbelief for a bit before his normal grin returned. "Well, you sure picked up on that fast, didn't you?"

Kyte examined the beautiful keyblade in her hand. "Interesting." She watched it as it's color faded from black to gold to black again. "Any more surprises?" She finally asked her two friends.


Kyxan stood outside the tunnel and watched the first Keyblader, Peter Pan and some others finish off the nobodies. "I am too late" she said before walking away. She stopped and looked behind her into the tunnel. "They look so pathetic, I wonder what the threat is". she said before walking into the darkness.


The World that Never Was

Rorrim blinked. Her mirrored eyes reflected the nobodies in all their twisting glory, and that, for lack of the better word, scared the life out of the little nobody witch. It really didn’t take much to scare Rorrim. She backed up a couple of steps, then without a sound turned and started running in the other direction in hopes of escape.

But Xykte reappeared in front of her. "Ah-ah. No running away, now. And here I took the time to say hello." She shook a finger and clicked her tongue in mock severity.

Rorrim was quite the twitchy little witch, as her behavior for the most part displayed. She must have been shaking as she pulled her mirror from her cloak.
“Copy…!” She said to it, and from it came…

…an exact replica of the nobody woman.

“Attack!” She commanded. The clone snapped to attention, and dove at the woman.

Momentarily surprised, Xykte blocked an attack from the doppleganger. How odd it was to be staring into her own face. Familiar and yet so unfamiliar. She hated it. Xykte furiously attacked the clone, which blocked her onslaught. Of course. It was a replica. But it was only a shadow of herself, and since she herself was a shadow of a human, it could not be very stable. The nobody woman held out her hand. The keyblade of Oblivion appeared in it. She raised the tip of the keyblade into the air and held onto the hilt with both hands. "Happa No Kage!" She shouted. Instantly a blast ring of shadow spread from the keyblade and out. The Doppleganger gave a silent cry and was gone.

Xykte raced after the witch once more.

Rorrim gave a tiny squeak of surprise and, for the lack of a better defense, threw her mirror up in front of her as a shield. The mirror could not break, it was her heart.

Well, it was the closest thing to a heart she had, anyway, the only thing that kept her from being in-league with the Organization.

That, and being a witch.

Another organization member called Xolen appeared behind the girl and, smiling, said "Now now. Lets try to be polite, shall we?" He put a hand on her shoulder and felt her skin grow cold from his touch. The nobody seemed to have that effect on people.

At that moment Xykte's keyblade came down on the mirror. The moment the two objects connected, something odd happened. Xykte fell to the ground clutching her chest. She gritted her teeth together. "What's happening to me?" She gasped. She looked up at the witch and for a moment her slit pupils widened and gave her eyes an almost normal appearance, except for that permanent gold color.


Neverland

All of a sudden Kyte fell to her knees clutching her chest. She gritted her teeth. "What's happening to me?" She gasped. She looked up at Peter and Haru and for a moment her pupils turned to slits, causing her to look inhuman.

Kyte grimaced. Her chest felt empty. Someone else was in her mind. She wanted to scream. She felt nothing but a lack of emotion. "Get out of my head!" She shouted at the other entity. It seemed only too ready to comply.


The World that Never Was

The witch stared. She backed up again, holding the mirror to her chest, yet she was unable to run due to the now crowding nobodies. What had the mirror done? It had a strange way of working, especially around other nobodies, but it had never done this before.

Kyxtan appeared behind Xykte. She looked down at her, a half surprised look on her face. The woman turned to Rorrim, "What have you done??" she asked, not yelling, but with a great deal of agitation in her voice.

Xykte grimaced. Her chest felt heavy. Someone else was in her mind. She felt like screaming. She felt pain. She felt...an emotion? Fear? "Get out of my head!" She shouted at the other entity. It seemed only too ready to comply.


Neverland

Haru was at a loss for words. She didn't know what was going on. She knelt down in front of her friend.

"Kyte. Kyte. Look at me. Try to control it." she told her, it seemed like the right thing to do.

Kyte did. It seemed like the person...or whatever, on the other end wanted to be free of her as much as she did them. She managed to straighten up to where she was sitting on her knees. She breathed heavily. The empty feeling in her chest left her. "Thanks..I think I'm fine now." She said.

"Are you okay? Do you need some water?" Haru asked gently.

She thought, 'This is getting worse by the mintue. Whatever just happened to Kyte could happen again, and that would be bad if it was in the middle of a battle.... Whatever that was needs to stop.' Haru grew more worried with each thought that flashed through her mind.

Kyte stood up. "I'm fine. It's passed now. It was sort of like my mind and someone else's got tangled up in some sort of electrical shock." She shook her head as if to clear it better.

Haru gave a sigh of relief. At least she can stand ok. Then she remembered something. "Peter. You said that you saw someone in a black cloak by the beach?" she asked turning to him.

Peter nodded. "Yeah, but I don't think that she's here anymore." He said. then, all of a sudden, a small spot of light shot through the tunnel and into the cave. It spiraled around Peter rapidly until he held out his hands. "Woah, hold on, Tink. What's up?" The faerie made an urgent noise. "Really? He fell through the trees?" More bell sounds. "Where?" A response. "Alright then. Kyte!" The girl looked up. "Some kid just appeared in Neverland. He fell through the trees. We had better go get him."

Kyte nodded and exited the cave.


The World that Never Was

At last Xykte began to recover. It seemed like the person on the other end wanted to be free of her as much as she did them. She managed to straighten up to where she was sitting on her knees. She breathed heavily. The heavy feeling in her chest left her. She realized then how empty it really felt without it.

Kyxtan looked around a bit before looking back at Xykte. "What happened??" she asked, raising an eyebrow. What had just happened was rally weird, it was something that she had never seen before.

Xykte rose to her feet and glared murderously at Rorrim. "I don't know..but whatever it was, that little witch is going to pay dearly for it!" Instantaneously the nobody's hands flared with shadow fire, the purple luminance flickering in her serpentine eyes.

The other nobody looked from Xykte to the witch. "It was her?? This will be easy" she said, stretching her arm out in front of her. A scythe appeared hovering underneath her hand. Kyxtan grabbed it and looked down at the witch.

Xykte bared her teeth in a snarl. she seemed more fierce than ever. Almost beast-like. Her blood boiled, an odd thing to happen to a nobody, but she was furious, either because of what had happened to her or because she had come so close to having a heart it seemed, and it had been taken away from her again. "I'm gonna tear you apart!" She growled just before lunging at Rorrim.

Rorrim had to think quick. She suddenly tossed her mirror into the air, and it expanded to a size large enough to allow a person in. In a split second it slammed down over it’s owner…and then disappeared.

Rorrim was gone, and so was the mirror.

Xykte shouted as the witch disappeared. "No!" She reached the spot which Rorrim had previously occupied and slashed at the ground with her keyblade continuously until she gave up and threw it, after which faded away.

At last she relaxed. The effects of the mind tangle seemed to have worn off. She sighed. "We have wasted time here. We have work to do."

Kyxtan thought for a moment. "It's going to be hard, since one of those stupid keyblades has been revealed...in Neverland!" she said, getting angry at how she was so slow.

Xykte blinked and grunted. "Two. One has somehow moved from the Pride lands." She swore under her breath then sighed. "I guess we have to keep trying to collect them anyway. We may have to do battle with the awakened ones. Knock them out and drag them here to a cell, or something."

"Two?? Woah, we really need to get these unawakened ones quickly then" Kyxtan said, letting go of her scythe so it would disappear. "Have you found any unawakened ones??" she asked, walking up Xykte.

The nobody sighed. "Yes, but I got rudely interrupted on account of that witch. The girl is in Twilight Town. Can you head over there after her? I think I will be going after the awakened ones. But..." She turned around and headed for the castle. "I think I need to talk to the Superior for a bit." Xykte was the second in command, so she was the only one who had audiences with the Superior anymore. She nodded to Kyxtan and began to walk toward the large building, disappearing around the street corner.