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p-artsypants · 5 years

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Rage Awakened (6)

Ten years ago, Terra, Aqua, and Ventus lost their fellow apprentice, Sora, in Deep Jungle. Now, they are to return with two new students, Riku and Kairi, to lock the heart of the world. All the while, something watches from the trees. Feral!Sora AU

Based on @chachacharlieco and @violetstar-writes Tarzan AU.

Ao3 | FF.net

There’s evidence to suggest that Ansem the Wise and Kairi are NOT related, but for the sake of this fic, it makes more sense if they are.

—

Sora was great fun.

Though his English wasn’t great, he used what words he knew and great facial expressions to convey what he wanted to say.

For instance, he snagged a prickly fruit and held it up next to his face and said, “it’s me!” Then he turned it upside down and said, “Riku!”

He took her on a tour of the jungle, all either by swinging on vines, or sliding down twisting tree roots. He was always careful with her, making sure she was safe from bumping or falling, easily putting himself between her and whatever brush came up on the path.

They travelled to the lagoon and waved at the hippos. Then to a grove of fruit trees to have lunch.

It was very liberating. She had yet to see any heartless while she was with him, but she knew they were in the jungle, waiting. Perhaps he knew where they spawned and purposely stayed away from those places.

Ever since she became a wielder, even the fun days still felt like there was a underlining duty to them. The exploration of the worlds always had a looming threat of darkness about them. But in this moment, with Sora, she just felt free.

All in all, Kairi hadn’t laughed this hard in a long time.

At sunset, he took her to a large tree, that grew up passed the canopy, and brought her to the heart of it, where the trunk ended and the branches began. It looked like a basin, how the middle of the tree dipped down. But there was no standing water, as the leaves up above were too thick for the rain to penetrate. There was a collection of furs laid out on one side, while a cluster of charred rocks sat adjacent to it.

“Is this your home?” She asked, as he set her on her feet.

He nodded, and then gestured for her to stay put before leaping over the edge and down to the floor.

Looking around, she saw some logs and twigs for a fire, and got to working building one. It would be dark soon enough, and the evenings held a bit of chill. Thankfully, she had her fire magic, so the fire was alive and roaring in no time.

As she waited, she peered through the branches to try and make out her surroundings. Mostly, it was just trees, but in the distance she could see the waterfalls that Tarzan had mentioned, and the sun setting on her right.

“The Heart is to the South of here...not that I really know where ‘here’ is.” She plopped down on the furs, content to just wait patiently.

Sora returned about 15 minutes later, a furry creature in his mouth.

“Ah!” Kairi cried in disgust.

“Food!” He replied, spitting it out on the floor.

Kairi started at the dead animal with horror. He didn’t expect her to eat that, did he?

It seemed not, since he dug a knife out of the pile of furs. He then grabbed two long sticks and got to work cleaning his kill.

It made Kairi feel a little better, and she crept closer to watch him work.

He glanced up from his work for a moment. “Why Kairi come? Why in Jungle?”

The question surprised her, simply because it was the most amount of words he had strung together so far.

She pulled her legs up, getting more comfortable. “You know the monsters, the...” What had Tarzan called them? “...not-monkeys?”

“Mhm.” He nodded.

“Well, they aren’t just here. They’re all over the worlds. You remember the different worlds right?”

“Mm!” He nodded again, and then thought for a moment. He raised his hands above his head to make a point. “Big...rock, no...s-stone?”

“Are you trying to say Castle?”

“Castle!” He chirped, snapping his fingers. “Many castle! And...” he covered his eye with a hand and made a hook with his finger. “Arggh!”

“Pirates!”

“Yeah yeah! Um um...ooooooo!” He wiggled his fingers, making an eerie sound.

“Uh, Halloween Town? The ghosts?”

“Ghosts!” He smiled, clapping his hands together.

“So you know English, it’s just hard for you to remember words?”

He scrunched his nose. “‘Member things. Long time.”

“Ten Years is a long time to go without speaking to anyone.”

“‘Member home. Mommy daddy. ‘Member friend. ‘Member Kairi too.”

“What? Remember me? No...you must be mistaken. I didn’t start studying under Eraqus until about a year ago.”

“No no. Not key...keyblade. Mmm...” he closed his eyes in thought, remembering the time vividly, but not the words to describe it. But then, he pulled one out. “Garden.”

“Garden...? Why, you must have come to Radiant Garden once! I’m sorry, but I don’t remember that. My memory before 8 years ago is completely gone.”

“Not ‘member Sora?”

She shook her head sadly.

He pouted, then ultimately went back to preparing their food. “Not monkeys?” He prompted.

“Oh! Um...well, it all started about six years ago.” She relayed the information Master Eraqus had given when she was recruited. “King Mickey noticed the stars blinking out, one by one. You know, the stars are other worlds.”

He hummed, indicting he was listening. Though how much he understood, she didn’t know.

“So he, Master Yen Sid, and my Uncle, Ansem the Wise, all looked into it. Previously, all the worlds had been separated, and the only way to get between them was with the use of a keyblade.”

“‘Member that!” He smirked.

“But now, they have all been connected by dark corridors, allowing the darkness to come and swallow the worlds, and swallow hearts. Those creatures are called the Heartless, and they happen when someone’s heart is lost to the darkness. We came to the Jungle to find the heart of this world, and lock it. To prevent to world from being swallowed too.”

His mouth was scrunched up, as he digested this information.

“Too much?” She asked, “I know it’s hard to understand.”

“No no, got it. Heart too dark turn not monkey world heart lock not swallow. See?”

To her it just sounded like he was having a stroke. “Heart...too dark turns into a heartless.”

“Heartless not not monkey,” he said as a note to himself. “World’s are connected?”

“Yes. To the dark realm, through corridors...or halls or paths.”

“Oh oh oh,” he nodded. “How?”

“We...don’t really know. But Yen Sid and Uncle have theorized that either a person or entity found an existing hole between the two realms, and crossed over, creating corridors as they travelled. But this is solely based on conjecture.”

Sora’s eyes glazed over.

“Sorry, um...let’s just say, someone made holes on purpose.”

“Who?”

“We think it was Maleficent.”

He frowned, his brows furrowing in thought.

“You met her before,” Kairi confirmed his thoughts. “A long time ago. She’s a witch with horns and green skin.”

His eyes became huge. “Oh oh oh!!” He clenched his eyes shut, the word on the tip of his tongue. He curled his fingers into claws, and then swiped them through the air while he pretended to roar.

“Dragon?”

“Mmm!” He breathed in relief.

“It’s okay. Someday you’ll get your words back.”

“Kairi help? Yes.” He said confidently.

She couldn’t help but blush slightly. He had certainly taking a liking to her. “So...we’re looking for a keyhole.” She continued. “We think it’s at the waterfall, since that’s at the heart of the Jungle.”

He didn’t say anything, just put the meat on the sticks, and handed one to Kairi, demonstrating how to cook it over the fire.

That was the best she could explain the situation, given the facts they knew. She surmised that the Masters might know a little bit more, but at this point in her training that knowledge would only overwhelm and depress her, since she wouldn’t be able to do anything.

“Sora’s home...” he wondered aloud. “Mommy daddy think Sora dead?”

This conversation had quickly taken a turn for the worse. Might as well tell him the news now, instead of letting him find out later and get mad that it had been withheld. “Sora, about the Destiny Islands...” she began slowly. “Your mom and dad, probably did think you were dead, but...”

He looked up from the fire, staring at her intently.

“The Islands were swallowed by the darkness about six years ago. Riku, and I guess you too, are the only inhabitants to have survived...I’m sorry.”

His gaze fell back on the fire, and silence reigned. The sun had set, and darkness was settling on them, with only the light of the fire to protect them.

“Keyhole...” Sora began after a moment. He rubbed his cheeks with the heel of his hand. “Lock it will...save Jungle? Save Tarzan Jane?”

“That’s right.”

“Kairi leave after?”

“...yeah. We’ll all go.”

“Kairi not stay?”

“No...and you shouldn’t either. You should come back with us.”

He screwed up his lips, the thought not pleasant to him. But before he could protest, his dinner burst into flames. “Ah Ah!!” He shouted waving it around.

“I’ll put it out!” Kairi summoned her keyblade.

“No!” He kept blowing on it, putting out the flames. “Gonna eat!”

Kairi watched in concern as he put out his meat, and then began to gnaw on it like a dog.

Kairi, in turn, took her dinner away from the flames, seeing that it was cooked nearly to perfection. It tasted good, especially since she had barely eaten all day.

After dinner, Sora yawned loudly and crawled over to her to join her on the furs.

“You should get me back to camp.” She tried again.

He shook his head, smoothing out the bedding, then he laid down, tugging on her arm. “Kairi belong with Sora.”

He still didn’t understand.

Resigned, she laid down too, her back to him.

His arms wrapped around her, his face nuzzling into her hair. “Stay...” he yawned again.

Kairi was frozen. This was weird. This was uncomfortable, but...she felt safe. For all intents and purposes, he was a stranger. One day of broken conversation did not a relationship make, let alone a friendship, though she had promised him that much.

But she tried to imagine it from his point of view. All alone for ten years. Then he finally found someone like him, and the thought of having them leave him alone again? No wonder he was so possessive.

When was the last time anyone showed him any affection?

With that depressing thought, she rested her hands on top of his and tried to relax. Though it wasn’t comfortable, she eventually fell asleep.

—

“So let me get this straight...” Terra began. “You found them, but you told Kairi to run off with him?”

“Well, what else was I supposed to do? He doesn’t like you guys.”

“She’s been gone all night! Who knows if we’ll ever see her again?!”

Riku rolled his eyes. This is why he waited so long before mentioning that he had seen Sora and Kairi. “She’ll come back eventually. But without her spending time with him, he’ll never trust us. More specifically you. He likes me.”

Aqua and Ventus looked at each other while the boys fought. “Do you think Sora will actually bring her back?”

Aqua shrugged. “I don’t know him anymore. I have no way of guessing.”

A moment later, two figures dropped from the tree onto the balcony of the treehouse.

Everyone deflated ever so slightly when it turned out to be Tarzan and Jane.

“Hello,” Jane greeted warmly. “Sorry for dropping in so suddenly.”

“Time is right, time to go to waterfall.”

“What? Really?” Said Ventus, perking up considerably.

“We can’t worry about Kairi right now, we have a job to do.” Riku said, grabbing his small pack of supplies.

“Fine. We’ll discuss this later.”

Tarzan led them South by Southeast, a direction they hadn’t explored yet, much to Terra’s chagrin. They could hear the waterfall, roaring in the distance, hope filling their chests.

But then there was another sort of roaring coming from behind them.

“What was that?”

Tarzan fell into a fighting stance, grabbing his spear from his back.

“Sounds like a tiger,” said Ventus, also summoning his keyblade.

“There are no tigers in Africa, actually.” Jane explained. “It’s much more likely to be a leopard.”

“Not leopard.” Tarzan said, hushing them.

“If it’s not a leopard...what is it?”

Tarzan was quiet, listening to the growl that was getting louder. “Not know.”

The shadows from the trees shifted, and changed shape. Then they turned even darker, swelling up from the ground to take form.

It looked like a leopard alright, but black in body with blue spots. It had huge, blood red claws and eyes that smoldered with hatred.

“Not leopard.” Tarzan said again, as if it wasn’t obvious.

“It’s not a heartless either.” Said Aqua, watching the creature pace back and forth. “But I bet it’s what’s been stalking Sora.”

The creature stood only a few feet away, pacing at the tree line, it’s tail swishing back and forth. No one wanted to attack first, not knowing how strong the beast was.

Suddenly, two people fell from the trees, landing protectively in front of the group.

“Kairi!” Aqua shouted, once she saw her red hair. She grabbed her arm and pulled her into a hug. “We were so worried!”

“I’m okay, I promise.”

Aqua did not relinquish her hold, but her attention became riveted on the young man who had arrived with her.

He did not withdraw his keyblade, but he put himself between the strange creature and the others, his back to them.

“Sora! Get out of there!” Terra reprimanded.

He didn’t respond.

The not-leopard hissed and growled, and Sora returned the threat.

Then they started making strange noises, much like whispers. They seemed to be holding a conversation.

“Oh my god...” whispered Riku. “That’s the language of the heartless.”

“Are you sure?” Aqua asked, frightened.

“I used to know it, in the darkness. I’d recognize it anywhere.”

Sora and the beast seemed to reach some sort of agreement, and the cat dissolved back into shadow and disappeared.

Up until now, Sora had yet to face them. He just stood hunched over, his shoulders tense.

“Sora...?” Aqua asked softly. “Is that you?”

He finally turned, making eye contact with her. His blue eyes piercing and full of betrayal.

“It is you...” she breathed, tears blurring her vision. “And all this time, I thought we lost you...” She reached for him, but he backed away, hissing.

“Sora, it’s us.” Terra pleaded. “We’ve come to take you home!”

Sora turned on him as well, snarling and showing off his abnormally large canines.

“Hey, what about me?” Tried Ventus. If what Aqua said was true, perhaps Sora would respond better to him, someone he was close with in those days. “Don’t you remember me?”

His reaction was different, but not better. Sora acknowledged his voice and backed up further, whining like a wounded animal. He looked absolutely heartbroken.

Finally, Sora glanced at Riku, and then Kairi, who was still being held by Aqua. He let out a low, sad moan, and darted off into the foliage.

“Will go after,” Tarzan announced, making chase.

Aqua finally let go of Kairi, if only to hide her face in her hands. “He’s alive!” Her cry was muted. “He’s alive...”

Terra looked to Jane, who had quietly watched the exchange without comment. “Jane, do you know the way to the waterfalls?”

“Why, yes I do—...”

“What about Sora?” Ventus protested. “We should go after him.”

“No. Not yet,” Terra emphasized. “Finding the keyhole is the reason we came here.”

Ventus pouted, looking incredibly put off.

“Look, I can only worry about one thing at a time. Let’s go seal the keyhole, then once that’s done, we can take our time trying to help Sora. That’s not something we should rush.”

Everyone begrudgingly agreed, and on they went.

—

Disney Castle, evening. A rainy night, though well needed to keep the lush greens of the promenade full and regal. The windows of the library were open, letting the sounds of rain fill the room.

A few days ago, King Mickey finally returned from his long quest across the worlds. His good friend Eraqus had mentioned that his students had gone together to seal the final world. There was more work to do to defeat Maleficent, but for the time being, he needed to rest. Furthermore, he needed to catch up with his queen and friends.

Currently, he was sitting at his desk, carefully going over documents that had been waiting since his departure, that Minnie couldn’t cover for him. The queen was sitting on a lounger not too far away, reading a book, pleased to just be in his company. Pluto, his ever faithful companion snoozed on the floor next to the fireplace.

“Mickey?” The Queen asked.

“Hmm?”

“You know, I was just thinking...we should invite Eraqus’ students over for a dinner when they get back. They’ve been working so hard to seal all the keyholes, they deserve a reward.”

“Great thinking, Min! They sure do deserve something. Can you and Daisy take care of it?”

“Of course.”

Mickey sat back in his chair. “Do you know what world they’re in right now?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“They went to Deep Jungle. That’s the world where Sora disappeared.”

“Oh dear. That must be hard for Terra and Aqua.”

“It’s strange...the Heartless haven’t been around that long, but...I’ve had this feeling that his disappearance wasn’t an accident, like a wild animal or anything. I think someone did it on purpose.”

“You think Maleficent?”

“Or...someone else.”

Nearly a moment later, a dark corridor opened in the corner of the library, startling them both. Pluto was awake instantly, barking in warning, as King Mickey summoned his keyblade.

But unexpectedly, a bearded man stumbled in through the portal, nearly collapsing on the floor. He looked like a mess.

“Ansem the Wise?” Asked The King.

“Mickey my friend...Radiant Garden has fallen.”

#kingdom hearts #fanfiction #kh #kh2 #kh3 #rage awakened #sora #kairi #riku #aqua #terra #fanfic #ventus #feral!sora #tarzan au

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