//------------------------------// // CH54: Encampment // Story: Kingdom Hearts F.I.M: Rise of The Elements // by Spirit Shift //------------------------------// Rushing towards the sound of the screech, the group instinctually pulled out their weapons. Rounding a hill they came upon the sight of the ensuing battle. A large, dragon-shaped heartless, easily the size of three people, and with the apparent strength of ten, was surrounded by 4 warriors, each wearing a type of leather armour. Dash, having led the charge with her flight, opted for the simplest option. Wrapping her keyblade in electrical magics, she slammed into the heartless, stunning it with lightning, and the warriors beneath it with her sudden appearance. Trying not to face palm, Twilight and the rest of the group approached the warriors who, in turn, readied their weapons in her direction. Immediately, it was apparent that these warriors were not human. Their visible skin appeared to be clad in scales, and they clearly possessed fangs and claws. Even though some of the warriors used blades, some used metal claws as weapons over their own natural appendages. “Wait!” Twilight called out, putting her surprise on the backburner. “We’re here to help fight that thing. We’re on your side.” The warriors glanced at each other, unsure of what to do. Before they could decide, however, the sound of thunder echoed across the charred landscape, demanding their attention. Dash, who had all but body slammed the heartless, flew back and landed next to the team after delivering a follow up strike against it. The beast itself struggled to shake off the remaining bolts of static that had struck it. “This is amazing,” Twilight whispered to the girls close to her, the ghost of a smile growing on her face. “Heartless are rare enough, but a dragonoid one?” Said dragon heartless, after regaining its bearings it charged at the gathering of warriors. As Rarity readied herself, summing a litany of magical weapons to use, a loud battle cry rang out across the area. And, in an instant, a tornado engulfed the heartless. Said tornado then caught fire. From behind the flaming tornado came a figure that seemed to glide along the ground on skates of wind. With a manic grin on his face, he leapt directly into the tornado that he created. From the girl's point of view, the tornado exploded outward in a torrent of flames and wind. Standing atop of the charred heartless as it slowly disintegrated into darkness, was a man no older than them standing atop the creature, their weapon stabbed into its head. What shocked the girls was the weapon itself. It was a silver keyblade. Its red handle is decorated with stylized flames that flew along the middle of its silver body. And the tip ending in a white circle with what seems to be two prongs of flame coming out of it. The boy itself wore a tattered mask that covered the lower half of his face, his straight silver hair tied back in a ponytail. He wore a white tight fitting shirt with black highlights on the shoulder areas, light blue jeans and black hiking boots. As the creature vanished, he dropped to the ground and finally looked over his surroundings. His eyes widened at the sight of the girls. However, just as he took a step forward, one of the native warriors rushed towards him, claws at the ready. Leaping into the air, the warrior slashed down at him, with the keyblade wielder dodging it easily. Several more swipes followed before the other warriors followed to aid him. After a small skirmish, the strange wielder swung his keyblade, releasing a small whirlwind, just enough to lift up a cloud of soot and dust to cover an attempted escape. Unfortunately for him, the warriors saw through his strategy and continued their assault. ~~~ Meanwhile, the girls stood, speechless as the events took place. AJ spoke first. “What just happened?” she said, taking off her hat to give her head a scratch. “I dunno but that fire tornado was kinda cool,” Rainbow scoffed. “So… are we going to stop them or…?” Twilight, meanwhile, had her finger to her chin in thought. “Well, while I am concerned about that boy, we don't know if he’s malicious or not. I think we should--” She was interrupted by a slight tap on her shoulder from Rarity, who in turn pointed at the sight of Pinkie standing in between the Keyblade wielder and the warriors. Twilight’s face fell when she realised what happened, and full on facepalmed, when Pinkie started dancing. While Rainbow stifled a chuckle, AJ just shook her head and began to approach the gathering. However, before they could get too close, the boy set off a small explosion, throwing Pinkie off her rhythm and escaping as she planted face first into the dust. It was then that AJs walk turned into a run. “Pinkie, you alright?” she called, rushing over her fallen friend. The girl in question sat, arms crossed and covered in dust from curly hair to toe. “I didn’t get to finish my friendship dance,” she muttered, spitting out some soot. “You, outsiders!” One of the warriors, the one with the claws, stepped forward, his voice a low gravelly hiss. While his weapons were not levelled at them, she still approached with caution. “Are you allied with that human?” He finished? Twilight carefully stepped forward, while not reading her weapon, she also did not dismiss it either. “No, we just got here, and we just want to know what’s going on?” “she said. “And if we can, we’d like to help.” The warrior nodded, finally lowering his guard. “Yes, I can tell as much from your subordinates… greeting,” he said, drawing out the final word. “Subordinate?” “Rarity scoffed. “Why were you guys trying to kill each other?” Dash yelled, stepping forward. Another native stepped forward, “Excuse you, child!” he said, spitting out the last word as if it was an insult. “If we wanted to kill that traitor, his head would be in my hands!” “Enough, Warrior Talos, we need no further engagements.” He turned to the girls and lowered his head slightly. “Apologies, if you are indeed here to learn our story, and perhaps assist, then there is much we must tell you. I am Warrior Trial of Clan Skrath.” As he said his name, he slammed a fist into his chest. Turning, he approached his teammates and slammed a fist on their chests as he introduced them. “This loud one is Warrior Talos, of clan Thrall.” Talos grunted, and glared at the girls, as if judging them. Trial moved onto the next, this one holding a large spear with a jagged edge. “This is my son, Warrior Tyros of Clan Skrath.” And finally Trial moved towards the last one, however, instead of rapping his chest armour like the two before him, Trial simply held out a hand as if to gesture to him. This one held a simple long blade. Twilight noticed immediately that he had a deep scar that ran from his mouth, and down his neck. He regarded them with a stoic look. “And this is Soldier Areth, formerly of Clan Weld.” Dash, also having noticed that particular feature, leaned in close to Pinkie. “Dude, that's such a cool scar,” she whispered before being nudged by AJ. Twilight nodded respectfully before gesturing to herself and her team. “Thank you for the introductions, My name is Twilight Sparkle. My friends here are called Rarity, AJ, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and…” she trailed off, her smile faltering for a second before continuing. “We’re travellers doing research and helping out where we can.” “Come with us to our village,” Trial replied, “we doubt you can do much to help us now, but we shall tell you our story.” “Ay now before we go,” called AJ, “who was that guy you all were fightin’?” Trial merely turned and began walking. “As mentioned, we will tell you when we reach our encampment.” Pinkie crossed her arms and pouted. “Well you can just tell us on the way, can’t you?” Trial let out a small grunt. “Your subordinates are untrained,” he said, addressing Twilight, who frowned at the insinuation. “Those creatures can appear at any time. We will remain silent, and on guard.” Rainbow turned, and gave a rather confused look at her friends before following Trial and his band back to their base. ~~~ The walk was mercifully short and, although Twilight appreciated the silence, her thoughts continued to turn back to the boy she saw earlier, and this world in general. Having questions float through her mind was normal for her, as if questioning was all she thought about, but this time, more questions than usual filled her head and it was starting to get harder to figure out which one was more important. “We’re here.” Trial’s gruff voice cut her out of her own head and forced her to take in her surroundings for the first time since they began walking. Not that there was anything different about the burnt and sandy terrain. However, she did recognize the fact they were now standing in front of man-made wall. Dark, charcoal coloured bricks built up a wall with 4 similarly armoured warriors guarding the entrance which, strangely, had no doors or bridge, just an arch. One of the defenders called out to them first. “Brigade designation and report!” He ordered. Trial once more slammed a fist into his chest. “Trial brigade. Reporting. The threat has been delt with. We’ve had another run in with the rogue. Five travellers discovered, non-hostile. Permission to enter under recommendation of Clan Skrath? “Permission granted. Keep them under watch.” Another defender responded. And with that the four guards separated and allowed the group to pass. Inside the village, The girls let out a small but stunned gasp. Their encampment was just as it sounded. There weren't more than a dozen tents laid out in ordered rows, with only the bare minimum of activity. However, like Twilight had guessed, only dragon-like people lived here both small and large, yet non of them looked older than the soldiers leading them. Trial stopped and turned to his teammates. “Warrior Talos, inform your clan head of my arrival and that I am leading these visitors to the war room for a debriefing.” Talos let out a snort, and Dash could make out the bare licks of flame exit his nose. “I AM, the clan head,” he said slowly, dangerously. Trials, however, wasn't fazed. “Not… yet.” he returned, with the same intensity. “Now follow orders and inform your father.” Talos glared at him before performing their fist to chest salute and stomping off. “Warrior Tyros, you will follow me as back up.” Tyros nodded and saluted. “And Areth, go rest. I’m sure you must be tired from the battle.” Areth’s eye went wide and he let out a low growl. However, just as he took a step forward to argue, Talos moved in front and addressed his father. “Actually, sir. I have made arrangements that I need to attend to, would you allow Areth to accompany you as your backup instead, sir? Trials looked from Areth to Tyros and nodded. “If Areth is in good enough condition then he may, though I command you to take care of your business then meet me in the war room. Is that understood?” Tyros snorted a lick of flame and made his way behind them, bringing up the rear that had previously been Rarity’s position. His piercing glare and nasty scar sent shivers down her spine. Grabbing AJ’s arm, the two switched positions, Tyros saluted, turned on his heel, and marched away. Trial looked at the girls and gestured with his head the direction he was bout to lead them. “Once we get to the war room, I will answer all your questions, and discuss how you can be of help to us.” As grand as the term war room was, the room in question was nothing more than another, slightly bigger tent. Inside sat a charcoal black table, made of the same brick material that the outer wal had been made of. Trials stood at the head and Areth stood near the entrance with the girls gathered around the table. Once more, Trial addressed Twilight first. “Thank you for your patience, we can speak freely here. Once more I am Warrior Trial, of Clan Skrath and this is our encampment until we can obtain enough resources. I assume you and your subordinates want to know what happened to this world?” Rarity spoke first. “While I appreciate you getting straight to the point, I cannot hold my tongue any longer. We are not her subordinates!” “Yeah,” cheered Pinkie, “we’re her friends!” Twilight held her hand up. “Girl’s please.” She then turned to Trial. “But they are correct, despite what you might think, there’s no hierarchy between us. I would appreciate it if you stopped calling them that.” Trial shook his head. “Foolish. There must always be a leader. And from that display of command, even someone like Areth can see who is in charge of this group. But I will concede nevertheless.” Twilight frowned, but nodded anyway. “Thank you, please continue. What happened to this world, it cant have always been like this.” “Very well,” Talos began, steepleing his clawed hands atop of the table. “I will tell you the fate that befell this proud race of dragons…”