courtings | to light the darkness.

You're pretty far from home. It's... [He's not quite sure how to put it, especially to someone so young.] It's possible that your world is in some kind of danger, and that's why you're here now. But we can save it! [He'll make sure of that.]

I still don't really understand, but... If something bad is happening then we have to stop it! What do I do?

Hmm, well... we'd have to try and find your world and hope that it's still in decent shape. Which means taking the gummi ship. But really, you should leave this to me!

Gummi ship?

But, I can't do that. My home and the people in it are all really precious! If something's endangering that, I won't stay quiet about and just watch. So...!

Hmm... But... [While Sora can tell that this boy is pretty determined, he's also really young. Not that he can judge that much, since he was only fourteen when he started all this. Sometimes, age doesn't matter one bit.]

Can you fight?

Fight? Well... Not the way you're asking, I don't think. But there's plenty I can do, like special techniques, and I can use an avatar too, so don't worry! Things will work out somehow!

An avatar? What's that? [Something specific to the boy's world, probably, and it sounds like he has some experience, at least. Sora's taken people along with him before, but usually they knew how to use a weapon or magic. Is this really going to be okay?]

It's a little hard to explain... It's changing your spiritual energy to a physical form, but only certain people can do it, and nobody knows how or why. A friend of mind told me they're like the manifestation the user's willpower. I can show you, if you want.

[That sounds like it's the sort of energy that would be powerful enough to protect the boy in an emergency, so maybe it'll be okay after all.]

You're going to need to save you're energy if you're coming with! So I'll see it later. What's your name, anyway?

Okay! I'm Matsukaze Tenma. Just Tenma is fine!

All right, Tenma! I'm Sora! And if you follow me, we can head to the docks!

Yeah! Nice to meet you!

Ah, by the way, what are we supposed to be fighting, exactly?

[It's time for walking and talking as they head for the port where the gummi ships are kept.]

They're these monsters called Heartless. They're pitch black, and some of them can melt into the ground and move around like that. But they're not as scary as they sound! They're pretty easy to take down if you have the right weapon.

Really...? I've never seen anything like that before. Then, what kind of a weapon do you need? I don't think I'd know how to use anything like that... The best weapon I've got is right here. [ He places a hand on his chest. ]

[At the gesture, Sora realizes that he hasn't made the wrong choice in letting Tenma come along with him. The sight causes him to smile widely.] Well, it's kind of like that. I use a weapon called the Keyblade, but... it's part of my heart, too.

[He extends his hand outward and suddenly the weapon in question appears there, a large key with a small chain hanging off of it.] It's specifically for fighting Heartless, so it works really well.

I see! [ He smiles brightly, at that, and studies the Keyblade in fascination. It's not something he's seen before, but hearing the source of its power is really reassuring somehow. Maybe it's because Pegasus is a bit like that, too. ]

I don't have anything specifically meant for it, and it does sound kind of scary, but I'll do my best. I think that, in doing that, you'll always be answered for it.

[Sora doesn't want Tenma to end up traumatized by any of this, but the boy seems to have made up his mind, so that's that. He'll just have to work that much harder to keep him safe.]

Don't worry, I'll protect you! You can count on that. [The Keyblade disappears as Sora's leads Tenma to where the gummi ship is parked.]

Yeah, thanks. Don't worry about me too much, though. I don't want to get in the way, and I've gotten beaten up plenty of times, so... Besides, I have things I want to protect, too. People are always stronger like that.

You're right about that. So long as your heart is in the right place, you'll be fine! [And they approach the gummi ship!] Why have you bean beaten up, though? [A comment like that isn't one that Sora can just ignore.]

[ Tenma has nothing more to say to that, so he just nods his agreement enthusiastically. And then he sees the gummi ship. ]

Woah, is this it? It's so colorful! I've never seen a ship that looks like this before!

Oh, um! It's kind of a long story, but...

Where I'm from, soccer got in this really messed up state where it determined people's value to society. An organization called Fifth Sector was created to provide relief from it, by saying victory had to distributed equally, and they'd do things like determine the outcome of matches beforehand. It was meant to save soccer, but it just brought the people who loved it pain instead. Playing like that isn't soccer at all!

So, my friends I decided to resist and bring real soccer back. Fifth Sector didn't like being challenged, so they tried to put us in our place, by force sometimes. Once, they even tried to destroy me so I could never play again, but Tsurugi saved me before that happened. I got to return the favor later on. It was pretty tough, and we went through all sorts of things, but eventually our revolution succeeded.

But that's why I'll fight. I won't ever let anyone take that away from us!

[Seeing someone's reaction to a gummi ship is always pretty entertaining, although Sora realizes he was the same way the first time. He's not quite sure how they're going to pilot this thing without Donald and Goofy to help, but... they'll figure it out. Right?

At that point, though, Tenma launches into an explanation about his own world. So he plays soccer? And apparently in his world, it's something that's taken very seriously.]

Wow... I can't believe they'd put you through all that because of something like soccer. It's that important where you're from, huh? [Each world has different values, so it's not so surprising, really.] I'm glad that it worked out in the end! Is Tsurugi a friend of yours?

Of course! Soccer gives you dreams and courage, and helps you get stronger, and besides that, it's a lot of fun! Something like that is really important.

Yeah. He's helped me out a ton, and all of his plays are really incredible. There's been lots of times where I've thought we couldn't have won without him. Everyone else, too. I'm really thankful I've gotten to be friends with so many wonderful people!

So you're all a team? That sounds great! [Sora's grinning as he leads them around to the area where there's a ramp to board the gummi ship.] Some of your friends might still be back there, so we've got to get rid of the Heartless so you can all go back to playing soccer!

Yeah! We can get through anything if we're together, I think.

[ He takes the ramp on in to the gummi ship and finds a place to set his stuff down before looking around. ]

Wow, there's so many buttons... It looks so futuristic. I wonder what this one does?

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2/2 AND SUDDENLY THERE WAS A SPEECH? oops....

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