Post by InuKun on Feb 13, 2009 13:19:58 GMT -4
I've been told by some to give up writing, whilst many others have asked me to continue writing. So I came up with a solution. In all fairness, you may say whatever you like regarding any of the stories I write (be they completed or uncompleted), however to avoid any potential violation of the Forum Rules, I ask that any negative criticism be written in a matter so as to not get Kris coming after you.
Now that that's out of the way, let's begin.
Once upon a time…
…There was an old man who spent all his life writing stories. His last story was that of a very special Key that fell into the hands of a very special girl. This Key was the Key to our survival, and the Key to the heart of the one she loved.
But the old man died before finishing the tale, and so the girl did not get her Key. Instead the Key opened the door of Dreaming, setting in motion events that would lead the world to being swallowed by Darkness.
"Marvelous! Simply marvelous! I wonder what will happen next?" said the old man who was supposed to be dead!
There was once a boy, a simple ordinary boy, who was known on the world of the Internet as 'InuKun.' Inu had friends, wonderful friends, who were a veritable rainbow of differing personalities and ideals, and whom all called 'VA:S' their home.
One night, Inu had a dream, and in his dream he was ascending a great and winding staircase. Higher and higher he climbed, and below him the world fell away, and as it vanished into the darkness so too did his memories of it, until there was nothing but him and this staircase.
Then, at long last, Inu reached the top of this staircase, and before him stood a door, hanging in the darkness, silent and ominous. He reached a hand out, and pushed the door open.
Instantly, the stairs fell away, faded into the darkness, and he fell, plummeting into the darkness and was swallowed by it. He felt nothing, thought nothing; he was as empty as the darkness he fell into. He was nothingness.
There was nothing, and then a light shined down on her, and suddenly she existed again. Elly existed again. And then more lights flared into the darkness, and more things came into being. Three pedestals, and floating above each was a weapon. From left to right, they were a shield, a sword, and a wand.
And then a voice resounded within his head.
"So much to do… so little time…" it said. There was something calming about its tone.
Elly looked about wildly, trying to find the source of voice. It seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere all at once. "Take your time… don't be afraid… the door is still shut."
Elly wondered exactly what door this strange voice was referring to, but before she could ponder this further the voice spoke again:
"Power sleeps within you," it said. "If you give it form… it will give you strength.
"Now step forward, and choose well. Can you do it…?"
Elly, unflustered or even the slightest bit hesitant, took one step forward, and then felt an inexplicable pull, as though invisible strings attached to her heart were tugging her in the direction of the shield. She didn't understand it, but felt no compulsion to resist. She drew closer, feeling no foreboding at all as she came up to it and took it in her hands.
"Power of the Guardian…" said the voice. "Kindness to aid friends… A shield to repel all…
"Is this the form you choose?" Elly didn't have to think about it very hard. The answer was 'yes'!
"Your path is set…" the voice said as the other weapons disappeared.
Then the lights went out again, and Elly was again plunged into nonexistence.
When the lights blazed again and the world flared back into existence, Kyo Starr looked down at the wand she'd chosen, remembering the words the strange voice had told her when she'd chosen it. "Power of the Mystic," it had said. "Inner strength… A wand of wonder and ruin…"
It had been the path she'd chosen; inner strength, wonder and ruin.
Then the lights that allowed him to exist flickered, but they didn't go out completely.
They merely dimmed. But from the now deeper darkness came foul creatures, half a dozen, whose bodies seemed to be made of the very darkness that spawn them, and whose faces were skull-like and as pale as a full moon.
"There will be times when you will you will have to fight…" whispered the voice, caring and concerned. "Keep your light burning strong… don't be afraid…"
Kyo raised her wand, a smirk on her face. This would be interesting…
A light flared in the distance, and the world existed, but InuKun remained in the darkness of nonexistence. The darkness disturbed him, not for what it might hide, but that it hid him even from himself. While wrapped in it, he was not but thought, scarcely even aware that he had form to go with it. Wanting form, a shape, he raced through the darkness toward the light that would give him form, emerging into it while still clutching the sword that symbolized the path he'd chosen.
"Power of the warrior… Invincible courage… A sword of terrible destruction…"
And then InuKun looked up into the light, as its brilliance grew and the world around him flared into sharp focus.
"The closer you get to the light…" said the mysterious voice, "The greater your shadow becomes."
Inu turned his head and looked over his shoulder, finding that indeed his shadow had grown quite warped and elongated from being so close to the light. Oddly, it seemed to get longer still, even though the light wasn't getting any stronger.
No, it wasn't getting longer. It was standing up!
To his amazement, his shadow rose off the floor and stood tall above his head. It began to take a shape of its own, changing, shifting into a burly, barrel-chested creature with skin as dark as the deepest night and a face like a bleached-white skull.
Awe gave way to terror as Inu looked upon this grim visage, and he swallowed a lump in his throat as he looked up at this nightmare, clutching the sword with both hands before him. In turn, the dark being looked back down at him, its soulless glowing yellow eyes impossible to read. Then it raised a great arm into the air, the boy reacted instinctively, dodging to the side just as the creature brought its arm down on where he'd stood with a thunderous crash. Going on nothing more than adrenalin, Inu got to his feet quickly and slashed at the Shadow's hand with the sword. It drew its hand back defensively, giving a low groan of pain while glaring at the boy through its emotionless eyes.
He locked eyes with the Shadow, frozen to the ground for a few moments. Then the creature raised its arms up high again, and he snapped to his senses and leaped out of the way just as they came crashing down again, intent on flattening him.
After dodging the attack, Inu rushed back and slashed at the Shadow's arms, swinging the sword about wildly, being driven on by nothing but fear and panic. He scored another hit, causing the Shadow to withdraw again, only to reel back and attack once more, lashing out with its arms rather than slamming down on him. This time Inu was too slow to dodge it, being flung a fair distance by the impact and bouncing once or twice before finally skidding to a stop, face down.
Inu groaned, pressing a hand against the ground and pushing himself up. He looked groggily at the Shadow as it raised a single arm high into the air, intent on crushing the boy like an insect, and though battered and bruised, Inu rose to his feet shakily, the sword clutched loosely in his right hand and his head hanging down limply.
Then, as the Shadow brought its arm down to deliver the coup de grace, Inu snapped to attention, his body bracing rigidly as he raised the sword up over his head, holding it with both hands as he pointed it at the rapidly descending hand. The sword sunk into the palm with the sickening sound of tearing flesh, piercing all the way through, and the Shadow halted just as its palm reached the hand guard.
A moment passed, and then the Shadow drew its hand back and roared in pain and fury, and Inu was frozen to the spot with awe at his own audacity. This was his fatal flaw, as in that moment's hesitation the Shadow swept its arm down and grabbed him, hurling him high into the air in anger.
Inu tumbled through space, soaring higher and higher as though he would fly on forever. Though at last, inertia gave way to gravity, and he began to fall earthward again. As he plummeted he looked down at the creature below, which was so far away it seemed tiny, though it was rapidly getting larger as Inu hurtled toward it. His mind suddenly snapped, and he knew he'd only have a fraction of a second to react when the time came.
When he came within range, everything seemed to transpire in slow motion. He could see the creature's arms reaching up toward him, and instinctively he swung his sword at its hands, making them back off as he continued to fall toward its face. At the last possible moment he held the sword out in front of him, and it impacted with a dull 'shink,' sinking into the creature's forehead up to the hand guard.
Inu stood there on its face, still gripping the sword hilt as he stared in awe at the pail yellow eyes of the Shadow; the life slowly draining out of them. Its body creaked under the strain of holding up its own dead weight, and finally its powerless muscles gave way as it collapsed, and Inu rode its corpse all the way back to the ground.
When the head finally hit, the force threw Inu from his grip on the sword hilt, and he sailed several meters away before landing roughly on his back. Rubbing his aching head, he stood up, looking through blurry eyes at the still form of the Shadow.
Cracking noises filled his still ringing ears, and before long he realized that they were coming from the Shadow, great cracks erupting from the point where the sword was still embedded in its forehead and spreading over its whole body. Then at last with a great and final crack, its body split open, and this great and strange black light shone from its vivisected corpse, as well as copious amounts of a strange black blood-like ooze. The whole thing made Inu feel uneasy, reminding him vaguely of a caterpillar breaking free of a cocoon.
As he stared in awe at this display, he shifted, and a splashing noise alerted him that he'd accidentally stepped in a puddle of the black ooze. By the time he looked down to investigate, it was already too late, for in the instant black tendrils of the ooze rose up and wrapped themselves around his leg. He felt it begin to tug, and immediately he began to sink into the ooze like it was quicksand. He panicked, beginning to tug frantically at his leg, desperate to free himself as he sunk ever faster, but the pull of the ooze was just too strong. Within moments, Inu had sunk in up to his face; a desperate scream for help silenced as the ooze covered his mouth. Lastly, he closed his eyes, resigned to his fate as the ooze covered him over his head and he once again sunk into the darkness.
"——— Don't be afraid."
.
.
.
"You hold the mightiest weapon of all."
.
.
.
"So don't forget:"
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"You are the one… who will open the door…"
Now that that's out of the way, let's begin.
I present for your reading pleasure, the epic tale of Kingdom Hearts: Hearts into Dream, an extended piece of pros featuring several users from VA:S itself as the main cast. We begin, as we should, at the beginning, with the prologue.
Kingdom Hearts: Hearts into Dreams
Chapter 00: Dive to the Heart
"I've been having… these weird thoughts lately. Like, is any of this for real… or not?"
~Sora, Kingdom Hearts
~Sora, Kingdom Hearts
Once upon a time…
…There was an old man who spent all his life writing stories. His last story was that of a very special Key that fell into the hands of a very special girl. This Key was the Key to our survival, and the Key to the heart of the one she loved.
But the old man died before finishing the tale, and so the girl did not get her Key. Instead the Key opened the door of Dreaming, setting in motion events that would lead the world to being swallowed by Darkness.
"Marvelous! Simply marvelous! I wonder what will happen next?" said the old man who was supposed to be dead!
--The World of the Waking Dream--
There was once a boy, a simple ordinary boy, who was known on the world of the Internet as 'InuKun.' Inu had friends, wonderful friends, who were a veritable rainbow of differing personalities and ideals, and whom all called 'VA:S' their home.
One night, Inu had a dream, and in his dream he was ascending a great and winding staircase. Higher and higher he climbed, and below him the world fell away, and as it vanished into the darkness so too did his memories of it, until there was nothing but him and this staircase.
Then, at long last, Inu reached the top of this staircase, and before him stood a door, hanging in the darkness, silent and ominous. He reached a hand out, and pushed the door open.
Instantly, the stairs fell away, faded into the darkness, and he fell, plummeting into the darkness and was swallowed by it. He felt nothing, thought nothing; he was as empty as the darkness he fell into. He was nothingness.
--The Station of Awakening--
There was nothing, and then a light shined down on her, and suddenly she existed again. Elly existed again. And then more lights flared into the darkness, and more things came into being. Three pedestals, and floating above each was a weapon. From left to right, they were a shield, a sword, and a wand.
And then a voice resounded within his head.
"So much to do… so little time…" it said. There was something calming about its tone.
Elly looked about wildly, trying to find the source of voice. It seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere all at once. "Take your time… don't be afraid… the door is still shut."
Elly wondered exactly what door this strange voice was referring to, but before she could ponder this further the voice spoke again:
"Power sleeps within you," it said. "If you give it form… it will give you strength.
"Now step forward, and choose well. Can you do it…?"
Elly, unflustered or even the slightest bit hesitant, took one step forward, and then felt an inexplicable pull, as though invisible strings attached to her heart were tugging her in the direction of the shield. She didn't understand it, but felt no compulsion to resist. She drew closer, feeling no foreboding at all as she came up to it and took it in her hands.
"Power of the Guardian…" said the voice. "Kindness to aid friends… A shield to repel all…
"Is this the form you choose?" Elly didn't have to think about it very hard. The answer was 'yes'!
"Your path is set…" the voice said as the other weapons disappeared.
Then the lights went out again, and Elly was again plunged into nonexistence.
When the lights blazed again and the world flared back into existence, Kyo Starr looked down at the wand she'd chosen, remembering the words the strange voice had told her when she'd chosen it. "Power of the Mystic," it had said. "Inner strength… A wand of wonder and ruin…"
It had been the path she'd chosen; inner strength, wonder and ruin.
Then the lights that allowed him to exist flickered, but they didn't go out completely.
They merely dimmed. But from the now deeper darkness came foul creatures, half a dozen, whose bodies seemed to be made of the very darkness that spawn them, and whose faces were skull-like and as pale as a full moon.
"There will be times when you will you will have to fight…" whispered the voice, caring and concerned. "Keep your light burning strong… don't be afraid…"
Kyo raised her wand, a smirk on her face. This would be interesting…
A light flared in the distance, and the world existed, but InuKun remained in the darkness of nonexistence. The darkness disturbed him, not for what it might hide, but that it hid him even from himself. While wrapped in it, he was not but thought, scarcely even aware that he had form to go with it. Wanting form, a shape, he raced through the darkness toward the light that would give him form, emerging into it while still clutching the sword that symbolized the path he'd chosen.
"Power of the warrior… Invincible courage… A sword of terrible destruction…"
And then InuKun looked up into the light, as its brilliance grew and the world around him flared into sharp focus.
"The closer you get to the light…" said the mysterious voice, "The greater your shadow becomes."
Inu turned his head and looked over his shoulder, finding that indeed his shadow had grown quite warped and elongated from being so close to the light. Oddly, it seemed to get longer still, even though the light wasn't getting any stronger.
No, it wasn't getting longer. It was standing up!
To his amazement, his shadow rose off the floor and stood tall above his head. It began to take a shape of its own, changing, shifting into a burly, barrel-chested creature with skin as dark as the deepest night and a face like a bleached-white skull.
Awe gave way to terror as Inu looked upon this grim visage, and he swallowed a lump in his throat as he looked up at this nightmare, clutching the sword with both hands before him. In turn, the dark being looked back down at him, its soulless glowing yellow eyes impossible to read. Then it raised a great arm into the air, the boy reacted instinctively, dodging to the side just as the creature brought its arm down on where he'd stood with a thunderous crash. Going on nothing more than adrenalin, Inu got to his feet quickly and slashed at the Shadow's hand with the sword. It drew its hand back defensively, giving a low groan of pain while glaring at the boy through its emotionless eyes.
He locked eyes with the Shadow, frozen to the ground for a few moments. Then the creature raised its arms up high again, and he snapped to his senses and leaped out of the way just as they came crashing down again, intent on flattening him.
After dodging the attack, Inu rushed back and slashed at the Shadow's arms, swinging the sword about wildly, being driven on by nothing but fear and panic. He scored another hit, causing the Shadow to withdraw again, only to reel back and attack once more, lashing out with its arms rather than slamming down on him. This time Inu was too slow to dodge it, being flung a fair distance by the impact and bouncing once or twice before finally skidding to a stop, face down.
Inu groaned, pressing a hand against the ground and pushing himself up. He looked groggily at the Shadow as it raised a single arm high into the air, intent on crushing the boy like an insect, and though battered and bruised, Inu rose to his feet shakily, the sword clutched loosely in his right hand and his head hanging down limply.
Then, as the Shadow brought its arm down to deliver the coup de grace, Inu snapped to attention, his body bracing rigidly as he raised the sword up over his head, holding it with both hands as he pointed it at the rapidly descending hand. The sword sunk into the palm with the sickening sound of tearing flesh, piercing all the way through, and the Shadow halted just as its palm reached the hand guard.
A moment passed, and then the Shadow drew its hand back and roared in pain and fury, and Inu was frozen to the spot with awe at his own audacity. This was his fatal flaw, as in that moment's hesitation the Shadow swept its arm down and grabbed him, hurling him high into the air in anger.
Inu tumbled through space, soaring higher and higher as though he would fly on forever. Though at last, inertia gave way to gravity, and he began to fall earthward again. As he plummeted he looked down at the creature below, which was so far away it seemed tiny, though it was rapidly getting larger as Inu hurtled toward it. His mind suddenly snapped, and he knew he'd only have a fraction of a second to react when the time came.
When he came within range, everything seemed to transpire in slow motion. He could see the creature's arms reaching up toward him, and instinctively he swung his sword at its hands, making them back off as he continued to fall toward its face. At the last possible moment he held the sword out in front of him, and it impacted with a dull 'shink,' sinking into the creature's forehead up to the hand guard.
Inu stood there on its face, still gripping the sword hilt as he stared in awe at the pail yellow eyes of the Shadow; the life slowly draining out of them. Its body creaked under the strain of holding up its own dead weight, and finally its powerless muscles gave way as it collapsed, and Inu rode its corpse all the way back to the ground.
When the head finally hit, the force threw Inu from his grip on the sword hilt, and he sailed several meters away before landing roughly on his back. Rubbing his aching head, he stood up, looking through blurry eyes at the still form of the Shadow.
Cracking noises filled his still ringing ears, and before long he realized that they were coming from the Shadow, great cracks erupting from the point where the sword was still embedded in its forehead and spreading over its whole body. Then at last with a great and final crack, its body split open, and this great and strange black light shone from its vivisected corpse, as well as copious amounts of a strange black blood-like ooze. The whole thing made Inu feel uneasy, reminding him vaguely of a caterpillar breaking free of a cocoon.
As he stared in awe at this display, he shifted, and a splashing noise alerted him that he'd accidentally stepped in a puddle of the black ooze. By the time he looked down to investigate, it was already too late, for in the instant black tendrils of the ooze rose up and wrapped themselves around his leg. He felt it begin to tug, and immediately he began to sink into the ooze like it was quicksand. He panicked, beginning to tug frantically at his leg, desperate to free himself as he sunk ever faster, but the pull of the ooze was just too strong. Within moments, Inu had sunk in up to his face; a desperate scream for help silenced as the ooze covered his mouth. Lastly, he closed his eyes, resigned to his fate as the ooze covered him over his head and he once again sunk into the darkness.
"——— Don't be afraid."
.
.
.
"You hold the mightiest weapon of all."
.
.
.
"So don't forget:"
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"You are the one… who will open the door…"
…To be continued