Previously in Kingdom Hearts III: Setting out from Yen Sid's tower, Sora prepared to go on one final journey to quell the forces of evil and bring about an end to the tyrannical reigns of both Maleficent and the mysterious Master Xehanort. Though still a trainee with the Keyblade, he is confident in his own abilities, as he has made multiple journey's already in comparison to both Riku and Kairi.
Sora's first journey took him to a kingdom plagued by a wintry storm in the middle of summer. After dealing with some Heartless, he is tasked by Princess Anna to escort her to find her sister, Queen Elsa, the only being with the power to restore the summer. Their journey takes them up the mighty North Mountain and has them come across an odd mountain man named Kristoff, his reindeer friend Sven, and a magical talking snowman named Olaf. Sora ultimately rescues Elsa from the ambitions of Maleficent and teamed up with the young queen to defeat the schemes of the vile Prince Hans and restored peace to the kingdom of Arendelle.
Reuniting with his close friends Donald Duck and Goofy, Sora was tasked by King Mickey with bringing their friend Belle to safe keeping in their world. Upon arriving at the Beast's Castle, however, they discovered that the Beast had already freed her and was too depressed to bring her back, only having moments left before he would be cursed forever. Sora and his friends rushed back to find her, only to find trouble in her suitor, a brash hunter named Gaston, who vowed to kill the Beast and win Belle's heart back. After saving Belle from a Heartless, Sora brought her back to the castle in time to help the Beast defeat Gaston. Wounded during the battle, the Beast's curse is lifted when a grieving Belle professes her love to him. Restored to a human, he graciously allows Sora to leave with Belle, promising to be there once she returned.
Sora's next mission sent him looking for Riku in the dense jungles of the Wild Jungle. Despite his mission, Sora allows himself to be roped into a search mission for a missing boy named Mowgli, who is the target of the wicked tiger Shere Khan. After Sora is kidnapped by a band of monkeys, he comes face to face with Khan and vows to protect Mowgli. A battle ensues in which Sora and the lovable bear Baloo defeat Khan and send him off in a fright over fire. After reuniting Mowgli and Baloo, Mowgli is drawn to the Man Village by the siren song of a young girl, where Sora is certain he belonged.
Sora has grown much since he started out on this journey, but after he met up with Riku in the Wild Jungle, he learned he would have to do something he didn't think he was ready for: go on a mission with his best friend and crush, Kairi. Despite his nervousness and quaking heart, the Keyblade hero sets off back to Disneyland to find her...
As Sora departed from the entrance to the Jungle Cruise, he knew his search for Kairi would have to take him farther than the confines of Adventure Land. Once he saw that she was no where in sight, he hurried down the path back towards Fantasy Land.
Sora skidded to a halt by the entrance to Fantasy Land via the New Orleans Square and once again looked for Kairi. Once again, he saw no sign of the red headed girl. "This would be so much easier if she would just show up!" Sora thought aloud. "Guess I'd better keep looking." Sora continued down the fanciful streets of Fantasy Land, passing by the Prince Charming Carousel, which seemed to be slowly gathering momentum to spin. Rather than wait around and hope Kairi was going to come off, he decided to keep exploring the rest of Fantasy Land in the meantime. As he passed by the Rabbit's Hole and neared Gaston's Tavern, his attention was fixed on a mysterious ivy covered boulder hidden away. The boulder appeared to lead to nothing, but seeing as how different the ivy looked in comparison to both the Tavern and the Matterhorn behind it, he decided it was worth an exploration.
The closer he got to the boulder, the closer he noticed that the ivy was covering more than just a rock. He pushed his hand through the ivy and found a path leading down towards something. "A secret tunnel? I wonder where this leads? Guess there's only one way to find out."
"Sora?!" a voice called from behind him. Sora did not need to turn. He'd heard that voice many times in his life and many more times in his thoughts and dreams. "There you are. I've been looking all over for you."
"So have I, Kairi" Sora answered, finally turning to face her. He hadn't seen Kairi since they'd parted ways on their journey. Something seemed different about her, he noticed. It wasn't an immediate difference, but instead one only he could tell, having been around her as long as he could remember. "Wow, you've really changed Kairi."
Kairi eyed Sora curiously. "I have?"
"I don't think a stranger would notice" the boy continued, scratching beneath his nose nervously. "But you look like you've grown a lot stronger with the Keyblade. It looks like you haven't been pulling any punches since you started along side Riku and me."
Kairi laughed. "Thanks Sora. You've changed a lot too."
"Eh, not too much I hope." An awkward silence followed as Sora and Kairi each exchanged smiles, both unsure where to carry the conversation next. "So...did you enjoy the worlds you've seen?"
Kairi nodded. "I've seen a lot since I started out. Obviously not as much as you, but I noticed how much work it is to keep the worlds in order. I've mostly been out there helping Mickey find some of the princesses. That's why I want to go out there and find more worlds than just the ones I've been to. What about you?"
Sora smiled contently. "I've been doing a little bit of everything. Keeping the peace, stomping out Pete and Maleficent, the usual stuff."
"Glad to hear you haven't run into any serious trouble yet" she responded happily. "I was wondering, if you wouldn't mind...ya know...if I went with you to a world?"
Sora gasped. "Really? I was about to ask you that myself."
"I guess great minds think alike? So, have you figured out a world we can get to?"
Sora turned back towards the tunnel covered in ivy. "I think so. I found this pathway that leads to something. If it's another world yet, I don't know. I haven't seen Mickey or Riku to let them know. But, I guess this is what being a Keyblade Master is all about: finding and opening pathways on our own."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Kairi exclaimed eagerly. "I want to see if you pull any punches yourself!"
Sora grinned. "Think you can keep up?"
Kairi stared at Sora, a determined look in her eyes. "I didn't challenge you and Riku to races for nothing. I think the two of us will be fine."
Sora nodded. "Glad to hear it. Let's go, Kairi!"
New Party Member: Kairi
HP: 60
MP: 110
Friendship: 90
Weapon:
Destiny's Embrace (+2 STR, +3 MAG)
Armor:
Armor of the Princess (+1 STR, +3 MAG, +4 DEF)
Accessories:
Princess Charm (+4 AP, +2 MAG)
Items:
x2 Potions, x2 Ethers
Abilities:
Mage Power: Double the power of Magical Upgrades
Faithcharge: Send columns of light hurtling at enemies (Cost 10 MP)
Shining Light: Restore Allies HP and cure them of ailments (Costs 99 MP)
Light Storm: Unleash Sora and Kairi's joint limit, Duality Blades
(Consumes All of Sora's MP)
Magic Boost: Boost the Power of Magic Attacks
Leaf Bracer: Allows Cure to be cast even when under attack
Item Boost: Boost the potency of Items on the field
Lucky Lucky: Increases the Drop Rate of rare items
Shining Aura: Boosts the Defense of Party when HP is low
Air Combo Plus: Adds One Hit onto all aerial combos
Leaf Bracer: Allows Cure to be cast even when under attack
Item Boost: Boost the potency of Items on the field
Lucky Lucky: Increases the Drop Rate of rare items
Shining Aura: Boosts the Defense of Party when HP is low
Air Combo Plus: Adds One Hit onto all aerial combos
Sora and Kairi looked at each other one last time and exchanged determined smiles. Finally, the two each took parts of the ivy and pushed it away. Sora allowed Kairi to pass first and followed her down the long and winding tunnel. The deeper the two went into it, the less of Disneyland they could hear. Finally, the two reached yet another wall of ivy. Not waiting another minute, the two pushed past the final ivy pathway and entered their first world together.
High in a tower, hidden deep within the forests, a young woman was bracing herself for what was sure to be her ultimate test. She was going to ask something almost completely forbidden by her mother.
Rapunzel took long and deep breaths as her mother eyed herself in the mirror. Rapunzel was a beautiful young woman with one incredible feature: her enormous amount of hair. Brushed daily since birth, she had grown it so long it was nearly a mile in length as she approached her 18th birthday. She utilized her hair for almost everything, from a broom to a pulley to raise her mother up from the grass every day when she went out to buy the two of them food and other things. But the most incredible thing her hair could do was heal injuries done by both time and worldly things. She never knew why she had this power or what it was meant for, but she did everything in her power to keep her hair safe from anyone or anything that would dare to take it.
For her entire life, Rapunzel's mother, Mother Gothel, had kept her locked away in the tower, telling her that her there were wicked people in the world who would use her hair for their own purposes. Gothel, in turn, utilized her daughter's hair for her own purposes and never did reveal her true motives to the naive girl.
Gothel, who stared at herself in the mirror, was almost always dressed in burgundy colored robes and had long curly black hair that hung down to her shoulders. Despite looking fair often, when she began to show even the slightest signs of age, she would go to Rapunzel and use her daughter's hair for youthful enrichment. As for the love and affection a mother was supposed to show her daughter, Gothel could not be more of a distant mother to her daughter. She often teased her daughter and mocked her for her naivety and her lack of worldly skills, skills she refused to let her know.
Rapunzel nervously approached her mother, gulping as she neared the woman's cold shoulder. At the urging of her little chameleon friend named Pascal, who hid beneath a chair, the girl summoned what courage she had and spoke to her mother. "Um, Mother? In case you didn't know, my birthday is coming up soon...". Rapunzel waited for her mother to answer, but she never did. Not wasting anymore time, she continued. "And, there is really only one thing I could ever want for my birthday."
"I already told you, my dear" Gothel answered condescendingly, "I don't think we can find a bigger and better room for you to paint in,"
"It's not that" Rapunzel answered. She hurried over to a curtain overlooking their fireplace. Raising her hair like a pulley, she pulled open the curtains, revealing a mural of herself looking at mysterious golden objects floating in the night sky. "I would like to see the floating lights for my birthday."
"Those are just stars, my dear."
"Stars that just appear on one day of the year?" Rapunzel asked curiously. "I don't think so. These are lights and they only shine on my birthday every single year. I can't help but feel that somehow, they're meant for me. I need to see them, Mother, in person. I need to know what they are."
Gothel rolled her eyes and looked away from Rapunzel. "Oh, my dear. You don't know what is out there, just waiting to harm you. I have kept you here, safe and sound, all these years for your own protection. You are not ready for the world you are going to see."
"But Mother--"
"I do not want to have this conversation again, Rapunzel" the woman coldly replied. "The answer will not change. You are not to leave this tower! Do I make myself clear?!"
Rapunzel shrunk back from her mother. Gothel sighed, theatrically falling into a chair beside the mirror. "Wonderful. Now I am the bad guy. All I want to do is keep my little girl safe from all of the monstrous creatures and dark people out there. Is it a crime to love, Rapunzel?"
Rapunzel lowered her head. "No, I suppose not."
"Now, is there anything else I can get you for your birthday?"
Her heart sinking and her eyes near tears, the girl quietly whispered her next desire. "Can I have some more paint? I think I'm running out of some colors."
"A trip to that part of the Kingdom will take a long time, Rapunzel. Are you sure you will be alright alone for that long?"
Rapunzel nodded. "I will be fine, Mother. Here. Where no one can find me..."
"And that is exactly why I know you will be safe" Gothel grinned. She patted Rapunzel on her head before turning to leave the tower through another of Rapunzel's pulley systems. "I will be back soon, my dear. I love you."
"I love you too...Mother..."
A wall of ivy bustled slightly before Sora and Kairi emerged from a tunnel. As soon as they were out of the tunnel, they began to look at where they were. All they could see around them was a wide forest. Streams flowed gently down the hill, trees steadily swayed back and forth through the breeze, and the sounds of little woodland creatures scurrying about in the trees above and the grass nearby echoed in the otherwise quiet forest.
Sora stepped back and stretched himself as he eyed their current whereabouts. "Another forest, huh?"
"Well, it's an improvement over the last forest I was in" Kairi remarked.
"Did your forest freeze up in a manner of seconds?"
"Did yours have tree monsters?"
Sora laughed. "Touche. I guess we'd better take a look around. Who knows what we might run into here." As Sora was about to inspect their surrounding area, the loud shouting of men caught him by surprise. A small group of men charged out down a dirt path. Their swords were out and they seemed to be on the hunt for something. They stopped when they noticed Sora and Kairi, but withdrew much of their hostility.
The lead man approached Sora. "You there! Have you seen Ryder?"
Sora shrugged. "Who?"
"Flynn Ryder" the man answered impatiently. "The thief. He stole a very valuable object to the King and Queen. We lost sight of him here in the woods."
"No, but we'll be on the lookout" Sora answered. "What does he look like?"
The man reached into his pocket and unfolded a piece of paper he plucked from within. The image on the paper showed a dashing rouge with an abnormally shaped nose. "This more or less is what he looks like. Be on your guard. He's a wily one, that Ryder. If you see him, contact the authorities immediately. understood?"
Kairi and Sora both nodded. "Will do" the girl responded.
The man turned back to his fellow armored comrades. "Let's keep searching the woods! Ryder can't get that far without his friends." The guards darted off into the deeper parts of the woods, allowing Sora and Kairi to relax.
"Should we help them?" Kairi asked.
"I'm not sure, yet" Sora answered plainly. "We'd have to find this Ryder guy first. Then, we should make a better call on the matter."
Kairi nodded and looked past Sora. Sora followed her glance until his eyes caught a man similar to the one he had just been shown in the picture, hiding behind a rock nearby. Though unlike the picture, he did not have an abnormally large nose. Sora and Kairi approached the man, who jumped back in fright at the sight of them. When he noticed they were not with the men who were hunting him, he heaved a deep sigh of relief.
"Those guards just don't know when to quit" he said thoughtfully.
Sora and Kairi eyed the man curiously. "This isn't him, is it?"
"Didn't that picture say he had a big nose?"
The man grunted. "Aw come on! They still haven't gotten my nose right?"
Both Keyblade Warriors summoned their weapons. "You are Flynn Rider!" Sora shouted, aiming his weapon at the man.
"Whoa whoa! Easy guys!"
"What did you steal from the King and Queen?"
"Nothing they'd really miss" Ryder reasoned. "Especially with their daughter missing for years now. I mean, honestly. They have all the wealth in the world. Would they really miss a simple tiara?"
"It doesn't matter" Kairi exclaimed. "Stealing is still stealing. You're coming with us."
Ryder looked past Kairi and jumped back onto the rock. "What the heck is that thing?"
Sora and Kairi spun around and found themselves face to face with one of their least favorite sights: Heartless. The two redirected their weapons at the new enemies while Ryder hopped off the rock and ran off into a patch of ivy. He vanished behind the ivy as Sora and Kairi were surrounded by Shadows.
"We have to catch that Ryder!" Kairi shouted.
"These guys go first!" Sora reminded her.
"Right!" Side by side, Sora and Kairi lunged forward to battle the Heartless.
Defeat All of the Heartless
As the final Heartless fell to Kairi's Keyblade, Sora and Kairi looked around for Flynn. But they could find no trace of him, until a gentle breeze pushed the ivy wall he had slid past open, revealing a long pathway. "My guess is he went down that path!" Sora assumed.
"Then let's follow him!" Kairi agreed.
Sora and Kairi hurried down the path they hoped would lead them to Ryder.
Sora and Kairi turned the corner of the pathway and were awestruck by what stood before them. An almost angelic meadow with a small waterfall that peacefully fell to the ground behind the main viewpoint of the meadow: a tall tower with more of the green colored ivy wrapped around it.
"This place is beautiful" Kairi remarked.
"I wonder why a place like this was hidden from public view" Sora added.
"This could be Ryder's secret hideout" Kairi pointed out.
"I didn't even think of that" Sora replied. "Good thinking. We might have to find a way in to catch him. Let's look for the entrance."
Sora and Kairi looked all over the base of the tower, in virtually every nook and cranny. But neither could find an entrance to the tower. Both were about to give up when they noticed the window was wide open above them. "Up there" Sora exclaimed.
"But how are we going to get up there?"
"Think we should fly?" Sora asked.
Kairi was apprehensive to the idea. "Um, shouldn't we only use the armor for emergencies?"
"Then we have to climb the tower" Sora shrugged.
"How? There's no ladder."
Sora eyed a quiver of arrows lying on the ground below. "I guess we could climb it with those" he answered, gesturing at his discovery. Kairi raised an eyebrow at the sight of the arrows, but not after Sora plunged two of them into the soft crannies of the tower. "Unless you want to fly up, this might be our only way."
Kairi nodded and grabbed two arrows for herself. Together, the friends painstakingly climbed the enormous tower. Kairi lost her grip for a moment, but regained it after pushing herself forward. Sora heaved a sigh of relief as she recovered and pressed onward. The two finally reached the windowsill. Sora hopped in and pulled Kairi in after him. When the two were acclamated to their new area, they were stunned at the events unfolding in the castle. Long blonde hair hung off of every banister and rafter the tower had. The loose ends were fit to a chair, securing a panicked Flynn Rider within.
"Oh great" Flynn replied sarcastically. "As if I didn't have enough to worry about."
"So this is your hiding place" Sora accused.
"I wanted it to be" Rider continued. "But I found out this secret abandoned tower isn't so secret or abandoned."
"Who are your friends, thief?" a young woman's voice echoed throughout the room.
"Aren't you jumping to conclusions?" Sora asked the voice.
"I will be the one asking questions" the voice replied, trying far too hard to be threatening.
"Can you get me out of this hair?"
"I'll let you go" the voice continued, "provided you tell me what I want to know." Sora and Kairi both noticed someone moving quickly through the shadows. Finally, when they saw the long blonde hair that followed the figure stopped near a staircase in the distance, the two faintly began to make out the figure of a teenage girl, holding something in her hand. "Who sent you here? Who else knows about this place? And who wants my hair?"
Kairi raised her eyebrows. Sora shrugged as his friend looked to him for support. "Someone is after your hair?" he asked nonchalantly. "Who would want hair? We're just here for him." Sora pointed at Flynn. "So there's no need for all this secrecy."
"What about you, thief?" the girl's voice asked Flynn.
"I was just looking for a place to hide. I saw a tower and a I climbed it. The last thing I need is some--." He struggled against the chair that secured him to the chair he sat on, but could find no give. "--some blonde hair, okay?"
The figure slowly came out of the shadows and into the light. She was a very beautiful girl with golden sunshine colored hair, a pink dress, and emerald colored eyes. A chameleon rested on her shoulder, eyeing Sora and Kairi curiously. In her hands, she wielded a frying pan. Whether or not she was good with the weapon was yet to be seen, and Sora felt uncomfortable with striking a girl immediately. After all, he'd only sparred with Yuffie and Tifa in the past and had never tried to harm them before. Ursula and Maleficent were other stories, but she didn't seem quite like them.
"So, none of you are after my hair?" she asked curiously.
"Nope" Sora replied cheerfully.
"Not in particular" Kairi responded.
"I'd rather get out of your hair actually, and--wait a second!" Flynn looked around the chair anxiously for something. "Where's my satchel? Did I lose it? Where is it?"
"Your satchel is hidden somewhere in this tower, Flynn Rider" the girl answered, pointing her frying pan at him. "And there is no way you will ever find it!"
"Look, just give me my satchel and you and I can part ways and--"
"I am willing to make you a deal" the girl interrupted the thief. She climbed up on top of a doorway and pulled back a curtain, revealing a beautifully illustrated picture of her watching star like objects shine in the skies above a castle in the distance. "Do you know what these are?"
"You mean the lantern thing they do for the Princess?" Flynn said, still struggling to free himself from the hair.
"Lanterns?" Sora asked.
"Sure. Long time ago, the King and Queen's daughter vanished into the night. Some say she was kidnapped by some creepy witch. Anyway, they release those things every year in hopes that she would return home."
"Tomorrow is my birthday" the girl explained. "And all my life, I've wanted to see the lights in person. If you bring me to those lights and return me to this place safely, Flynn Rider, I will return your precious satchel to you."
"No can do, Blondie" Flynn replied. "The Kingdom and I aren't exactly simpatico at the moment, so I cannot take you."
The girl looked down to the chameleon on her shoulder. With his two little green paws, he pounded as if he intended to instill pain on him. "Something brought you here. Call it what you will. Fate...destiny..."
"A horse" Rider replied bluntly.
"Without my help, you will NEVER see your precious satchel again" the girl reminded him.
Rider, panicking at the thought of returning to the kingdom, looked frantically over to Sora and Kairi, "Why don't you just have them take you?"
The girl looked to Sora and Kairi curiously. "Will you tell me why you two have come here then?"
Kairi looked to Sora, who decided to take the initiative. "Well, it's a bit of a long story, but we'd be happy to take you to see the lights."
The girl jumped with excitement. "Thank you very much--um--"
Sora pounded on his chest. "My name is Sora and this is my friend Kairi."
Kairi gave their new friend a courteous wave. "Hello."
"Well then" Flynn chided, "Sora and Kairi, was it? If you're going to take Blondie here to see the lights, then there's really no reason for me to be--"
"Not so fast, Ryder" Sora stopped him. "You're coming with us."
"What? Why?"
"First of all" Kairi explained, walking closer to Flynn, "you are the reason we are even here in the first place. Secondly, we could use your knowledge of the kingdom when we get there. Thirdly, along with the promise of your returned satchel, we promise to not turn you into the authorities."
"And what good are the promises of a spiky haired kid, his red headed girlfriend, and a girl who's more hair than girl?"
Kairi seemed flustered by Flynn's accusations, but Sora didn't notice. He was instead trying to figure out the right thing to convince Flynn to come along with them. But his blonde haired captor was the one to talk first. "Trust us or not, let me tell you this! You can tear this tower brick by brick, but you will never find your satchel without my help."
"Let me get this straight" Flynn reasoned, looking at Sora and Kairi first. "You two are going to let me go off free if I go with you guys to this light show?" When Sora and Kairi nodded, he turned his attention to the girl. "And you will return my satchel to me when I take you to this same show and bring you back safe and sound?"
"I promise."
Rider raised an eyebrow. "You 'promise'"
Rapunzel's mood did not change. "Yes. I promise. And when I promise something, I never break that promise. Ever."
Flynn sighed. "Fine, Blondie. You win."
"My name is Rapunzel!"
"Fine. Rapunzel, you win. I'll take you to see these lights."
Rapunzel nodded and yanked her hair free from Flynn, causing him to spin around and fall to the ground with a thud. "Well then, shall we be off?"
Kairi sighed. "What have we gotten into?"
"Trust me, Kairi" Sora laughed, "you'll get used to it."
The four companions all stood before the window. Flynn jumped out first, climbing down with a pair of arrows of his own. He looked up and grinned. "Are you guys coming or what?"
Sora grinned. "Let's go!" Sora slammed his armor piece and his armor came around him. With one quick flick of the wrist, he jumped aboard his Keyblade and flew down into the meadow below. Once he landed, he deactivated his armor and looked up at an astonished Flynn. "Are you coming or what?"
"Touche, kid" Ryder called. "I gotta get me one of those flying swords." Flynn continued taking piece by piece out of the tower, slowly making his way back down the tower.
Sora sighed and put away his Keyblade. "You'll find that they're picky about their owners. You can't just buy one."
"Well that's certainly a deal breaker" Flynn sadly answered, but his sadness returned to astonishment when Kairi did the same thing, flying out the window and despite almost losing her balance, landed with enough grace beside Sora to make Flynn grunt. "And she can do it too?"
Sora scratched his head as he addressed Kairi, "Wow, you're getting pretty good at flying."
Kairi beamed at her friend's compliment. "Thanks, Sora. I'm not as good as you and Riku, though."
"Hey, we're not masters at it yet either" Sora reasoned. "I'm sure you'll get the hang of it in no time. You just need a little practice, that's all." Sora looked around the meadow. "So, where's Rapunzel?"
Kairi pointed up. Sora looked up in awe as Rapunzel fastened her hair onto a hook hanging by the window. She stepped out cautiously and began to slide down her hair as if it were a rope. Before landing on the ground, she crouched in and stared at the ground as if she'd never seen grass in her life. She nervously placed her bare foot on the grass. Once she felt the grass tickle her toes as she'd dreamed it would, she released her hair and raced about the meadow, laughing and jumping as she did.
After a few minutes, Rapunzel calmed herself down and returned to her friends. "I can't believe I actually left the tower!" But before anyone could reply, her eyes widened and her tone turned into a guilt and fear stricken one. "I can't believe I did this. Mother would be so furious with me."
"This could be harder than I thought" Sora remarked.
"Let me handle this" Flynn replied coolly. He walked over to Rapunzel and put a hand on her shoulder. "Ya know, I can't help but notice you feel at war with yourself. Let me ease your conscience. Rebellion is healthy for someone to grow up. Sure it may crush your mother's heart and ruin your relationship forever--" At those words, Rapunzel shriveled up, curling into a ball of her own misery. "--but hey, sometimes you've got to make difficult choices. But if you're struggling with this, how about we forget this light stuff and restructure our deal. You go back inside, I get my satchel, our friends here forget I was ever around, and we all part ways as unlikely friends right?"
"In your dreams!" Kairi exclaimed boldly.
"No. I am going to see those lights and you are taking me there" Rapunzel announced.
"Oh come on!" Flynn pouted.
Rapunzel confidently strutted past Rider, and stood by the ivy walls, waiting for him and the others to follow. As Rider was left in frustration, Sora walked up to him. "Just a warning, until we make it to the city, our deal is not yet set."
"Blackmail, huh? I may have underestimated you two." Rider hurried along after Rapunzel, with Sora and Kairi close behind him.
Kairi nodded and grabbed two arrows for herself. Together, the friends painstakingly climbed the enormous tower. Kairi lost her grip for a moment, but regained it after pushing herself forward. Sora heaved a sigh of relief as she recovered and pressed onward. The two finally reached the windowsill. Sora hopped in and pulled Kairi in after him. When the two were acclamated to their new area, they were stunned at the events unfolding in the castle. Long blonde hair hung off of every banister and rafter the tower had. The loose ends were fit to a chair, securing a panicked Flynn Rider within.
"Oh great" Flynn replied sarcastically. "As if I didn't have enough to worry about."
"So this is your hiding place" Sora accused.
"I wanted it to be" Rider continued. "But I found out this secret abandoned tower isn't so secret or abandoned."
"Who are your friends, thief?" a young woman's voice echoed throughout the room.
"Aren't you jumping to conclusions?" Sora asked the voice.
"I will be the one asking questions" the voice replied, trying far too hard to be threatening.
"Can you get me out of this hair?"
"I'll let you go" the voice continued, "provided you tell me what I want to know." Sora and Kairi both noticed someone moving quickly through the shadows. Finally, when they saw the long blonde hair that followed the figure stopped near a staircase in the distance, the two faintly began to make out the figure of a teenage girl, holding something in her hand. "Who sent you here? Who else knows about this place? And who wants my hair?"
Kairi raised her eyebrows. Sora shrugged as his friend looked to him for support. "Someone is after your hair?" he asked nonchalantly. "Who would want hair? We're just here for him." Sora pointed at Flynn. "So there's no need for all this secrecy."
"What about you, thief?" the girl's voice asked Flynn.
"I was just looking for a place to hide. I saw a tower and a I climbed it. The last thing I need is some--." He struggled against the chair that secured him to the chair he sat on, but could find no give. "--some blonde hair, okay?"
The figure slowly came out of the shadows and into the light. She was a very beautiful girl with golden sunshine colored hair, a pink dress, and emerald colored eyes. A chameleon rested on her shoulder, eyeing Sora and Kairi curiously. In her hands, she wielded a frying pan. Whether or not she was good with the weapon was yet to be seen, and Sora felt uncomfortable with striking a girl immediately. After all, he'd only sparred with Yuffie and Tifa in the past and had never tried to harm them before. Ursula and Maleficent were other stories, but she didn't seem quite like them.
"So, none of you are after my hair?" she asked curiously.
"Nope" Sora replied cheerfully.
"Not in particular" Kairi responded.
"I'd rather get out of your hair actually, and--wait a second!" Flynn looked around the chair anxiously for something. "Where's my satchel? Did I lose it? Where is it?"
"Your satchel is hidden somewhere in this tower, Flynn Rider" the girl answered, pointing her frying pan at him. "And there is no way you will ever find it!"
"Look, just give me my satchel and you and I can part ways and--"
"I am willing to make you a deal" the girl interrupted the thief. She climbed up on top of a doorway and pulled back a curtain, revealing a beautifully illustrated picture of her watching star like objects shine in the skies above a castle in the distance. "Do you know what these are?"
"You mean the lantern thing they do for the Princess?" Flynn said, still struggling to free himself from the hair.
"Lanterns?" Sora asked.
"Sure. Long time ago, the King and Queen's daughter vanished into the night. Some say she was kidnapped by some creepy witch. Anyway, they release those things every year in hopes that she would return home."
"Tomorrow is my birthday" the girl explained. "And all my life, I've wanted to see the lights in person. If you bring me to those lights and return me to this place safely, Flynn Rider, I will return your precious satchel to you."
"No can do, Blondie" Flynn replied. "The Kingdom and I aren't exactly simpatico at the moment, so I cannot take you."
The girl looked down to the chameleon on her shoulder. With his two little green paws, he pounded as if he intended to instill pain on him. "Something brought you here. Call it what you will. Fate...destiny..."
"A horse" Rider replied bluntly.
"Without my help, you will NEVER see your precious satchel again" the girl reminded him.
Rider, panicking at the thought of returning to the kingdom, looked frantically over to Sora and Kairi, "Why don't you just have them take you?"
The girl looked to Sora and Kairi curiously. "Will you tell me why you two have come here then?"
Kairi looked to Sora, who decided to take the initiative. "Well, it's a bit of a long story, but we'd be happy to take you to see the lights."
The girl jumped with excitement. "Thank you very much--um--"
Sora pounded on his chest. "My name is Sora and this is my friend Kairi."
Kairi gave their new friend a courteous wave. "Hello."
"Well then" Flynn chided, "Sora and Kairi, was it? If you're going to take Blondie here to see the lights, then there's really no reason for me to be--"
"Not so fast, Ryder" Sora stopped him. "You're coming with us."
"What? Why?"
"First of all" Kairi explained, walking closer to Flynn, "you are the reason we are even here in the first place. Secondly, we could use your knowledge of the kingdom when we get there. Thirdly, along with the promise of your returned satchel, we promise to not turn you into the authorities."
"And what good are the promises of a spiky haired kid, his red headed girlfriend, and a girl who's more hair than girl?"
Kairi seemed flustered by Flynn's accusations, but Sora didn't notice. He was instead trying to figure out the right thing to convince Flynn to come along with them. But his blonde haired captor was the one to talk first. "Trust us or not, let me tell you this! You can tear this tower brick by brick, but you will never find your satchel without my help."
"Let me get this straight" Flynn reasoned, looking at Sora and Kairi first. "You two are going to let me go off free if I go with you guys to this light show?" When Sora and Kairi nodded, he turned his attention to the girl. "And you will return my satchel to me when I take you to this same show and bring you back safe and sound?"
"I promise."
Rider raised an eyebrow. "You 'promise'"
Rapunzel's mood did not change. "Yes. I promise. And when I promise something, I never break that promise. Ever."
Flynn sighed. "Fine, Blondie. You win."
"My name is Rapunzel!"
"Fine. Rapunzel, you win. I'll take you to see these lights."
Rapunzel nodded and yanked her hair free from Flynn, causing him to spin around and fall to the ground with a thud. "Well then, shall we be off?"
Kairi sighed. "What have we gotten into?"
"Trust me, Kairi" Sora laughed, "you'll get used to it."
The four companions all stood before the window. Flynn jumped out first, climbing down with a pair of arrows of his own. He looked up and grinned. "Are you guys coming or what?"
Sora grinned. "Let's go!" Sora slammed his armor piece and his armor came around him. With one quick flick of the wrist, he jumped aboard his Keyblade and flew down into the meadow below. Once he landed, he deactivated his armor and looked up at an astonished Flynn. "Are you coming or what?"
"Touche, kid" Ryder called. "I gotta get me one of those flying swords." Flynn continued taking piece by piece out of the tower, slowly making his way back down the tower.
Sora sighed and put away his Keyblade. "You'll find that they're picky about their owners. You can't just buy one."
"Well that's certainly a deal breaker" Flynn sadly answered, but his sadness returned to astonishment when Kairi did the same thing, flying out the window and despite almost losing her balance, landed with enough grace beside Sora to make Flynn grunt. "And she can do it too?"
Sora scratched his head as he addressed Kairi, "Wow, you're getting pretty good at flying."
Kairi beamed at her friend's compliment. "Thanks, Sora. I'm not as good as you and Riku, though."
"Hey, we're not masters at it yet either" Sora reasoned. "I'm sure you'll get the hang of it in no time. You just need a little practice, that's all." Sora looked around the meadow. "So, where's Rapunzel?"
Kairi pointed up. Sora looked up in awe as Rapunzel fastened her hair onto a hook hanging by the window. She stepped out cautiously and began to slide down her hair as if it were a rope. Before landing on the ground, she crouched in and stared at the ground as if she'd never seen grass in her life. She nervously placed her bare foot on the grass. Once she felt the grass tickle her toes as she'd dreamed it would, she released her hair and raced about the meadow, laughing and jumping as she did.
After a few minutes, Rapunzel calmed herself down and returned to her friends. "I can't believe I actually left the tower!" But before anyone could reply, her eyes widened and her tone turned into a guilt and fear stricken one. "I can't believe I did this. Mother would be so furious with me."
"This could be harder than I thought" Sora remarked.
"Let me handle this" Flynn replied coolly. He walked over to Rapunzel and put a hand on her shoulder. "Ya know, I can't help but notice you feel at war with yourself. Let me ease your conscience. Rebellion is healthy for someone to grow up. Sure it may crush your mother's heart and ruin your relationship forever--" At those words, Rapunzel shriveled up, curling into a ball of her own misery. "--but hey, sometimes you've got to make difficult choices. But if you're struggling with this, how about we forget this light stuff and restructure our deal. You go back inside, I get my satchel, our friends here forget I was ever around, and we all part ways as unlikely friends right?"
"In your dreams!" Kairi exclaimed boldly.
"No. I am going to see those lights and you are taking me there" Rapunzel announced.
"Oh come on!" Flynn pouted.
Rapunzel confidently strutted past Rider, and stood by the ivy walls, waiting for him and the others to follow. As Rider was left in frustration, Sora walked up to him. "Just a warning, until we make it to the city, our deal is not yet set."
"Blackmail, huh? I may have underestimated you two." Rider hurried along after Rapunzel, with Sora and Kairi close behind him.
No comments:
Post a Comment