Sombra found that she didn't have to wait too long on her journey to whatever area the Speaker or the World wanted her to start her search in, as the dark passage she was falling through opened up and let her safely land in what appeared to be a district of a quaint town. By that she meant it was slightly unusual, with an eatery off to her left, a locked door further on her right, two slightly tall trees in front of her, a large wooden door behind her, and a set of stairs further in front of her that lead to a shop of some kind, not to mention more of the town. She found that there was no one in the area, meaning no one had witnessed her arrival out of thin air, though as she glanced up at the passage it sealed itself not a moment later, which told her that she was on her own, something she was fine with since it allowed her to focus on her quest, even though she was sure the Speaker would contact her once the World was done with her true body. She did note that the night sky was currently out, meaning it was likely the point in time that most of the residents were asleep, and there were a lot of stars in the sky, where she had to assume that one of them was Equus, the world she came from.
After thinking about that she walked away from the gate that was behind her, mostly because it was time for her to see what else this place had to offer and see if there were any Heartless to take out as she sought out the one who carried the Kingdom Key, who might take forever to track down since she hadn't been given any information on who her target was or what they looked like.
As she thought about that, however, she heard the gate she had landed in front of open and turned her head for a just a moment, only to discover two strangers that were totally strange to her, as one seemed to be an anthropomorphic duck, sort of like her new form he guessed, wearing what he guessed was a blue mage's chest piece or a sailor's outfit. Next to the duck was a tall figure that was some sort of dog Sombra had never seen before, with black fur and droopy looking ears, though he was wearing a green shirt, a black jacket, and yellow pants with shoes over his feet, making him look like he actually belonged in this world. In addition to those two she noticed a third companion, an actual dog that was of a breed she had never seen before, who was either owned by one of the pair or they were on their way to track down it's owner, though it did rush over to her for a moment, with what she assumed was an incredibly happy look on it's face. The duck didn't seem to care all that much as he and the other figure continued into the city, mentioning a 'key' as he walked, though in the next few seconds the tall dog came to a stop as he glanced up at the night sky, but when a surprised look appeared on his face Sombra followed his gaze as he pointed at the sky.
In that instant one of the stars went out, which, if she recalled the information she had been given correctly, meant that the Heartless had devoured a world, since that seemed to be a great way to claim a massive number of hearts at once, but she also found that the pair continued deeper into the town, while the dog went off in another direction, leaving the tall dog to call for 'Pluto' before continuing onward.
"So, they're looking for the Kingdom Key as well... interesting." Sombra remarked, though the tall dog mentioned a 'Leon' as he and his companion departed from the area she was in, meaning it might be in her best interest to follow them and see if there was more she could learn from whatever they were doing, only for her to find the odd dog running by as he followed the pair.
As she stood there, however, Sombra found that a young boy, based on the body that looked like it was close to what her new form looked like, just of the gender she expected her body to be, who wore a red pair of shorts, large yellow shoes that seemed too big for someone like him, spiky brown hair, a red shirt with a white and black open jacket over it, and he had a necklace with a silver crown of sorts at the end of it.
"This is totally weird... I'm in another world!" the boy stated, where Sombra could tell that he was excited by this fact, as if it had been his goal to leave the planet he called home goodbye for a time so he could travel from world to world, which was an interesting goal in his eyes, before she and the boy's eyes met, "Wow... what in the world are you?"
"I am Sombra, and I am an Equestrian, if you must know." Sombra replied, though she knew that the kid's curiosity would get the better of him at some point, as he seemed far too naive for his own good, but for the time being she figured there was no harm in speaking to him, "And you are?"
"Sora. I'm looking for my friends: Riku, a boy with a yellow vest and blue pants, and Kairi, a girl who wears a white top with a black one underneath and purple biker shorts." the boy said, causing Sombra to raise an eyebrow for a moment, as she found it a little humorous that the boy, Sora he reminded himself, was planning on asking random strangers if they might have seen his missing friends, though if he was from the world that had just gone out there was a chance his friends had been devoured by Heartless.
"Sorry, haven't seen them. I'm looking for someone as well, but I have no description to go on." Sombra stated, where it was easy for her to tell that Sora was disappointed by the fact that she hadn't seen Riku or Kairi, though she decided not to say a single word about it as she considered what she should be doing next, since the Kingdom Key was out there and she had to track it down.
Sora, on the other hand, figured that since Sombra was also looking for someone, and would know them the moment she laid eyes on whoever it was she was looking for, they could join forces and find those that were important to both of them, as if it was a perfectly normal thing to say to a random stranger. In the end Sombra decided that it might be worth traveling with him for a time, as there was something about him that seemed like it might bring her one step closer to finding the person she was currently searching for, to which the pair started to explore the rest of the area. In addition to the eatery there was an Item Shop, which happened to be run by three younger ducks that looked a lot like the one she had seen previously, who explained that they sold useful items, like potions and ethers, but since they had no Munny, the currency Sombra guessed, they couldn't buy anything. The other structure she had seen previously, which the duck and tall dog had walked by, was an Accessory Shop and it was run by an older human who called himself Cid, who had been interested in having new customers and was disappointed to find that all he had were two fourteen year olds to talk to.
Sombra found that the world they had been teleported to was called 'Traverse Town', a final destination of sorts for those lucky individuals who survived their worlds being devoured by darkness, which ignited the excitement in Sora's eyes as he confirmed that this was an entirely new world for him to explore.
"Fascinating... the town expands to meet the needs of it's residents, meaning it grows endlessly." Sombra remarked, as that meant there were individuals here from when the Heartless first started their rampage, or at least she assumed so since Cid's information was interesting to think about, before finding that Sora was more focused on exploring the town and she quickly followed after him without delay.
Since the first district was a bust, as there were three according to what Cid told them, the pair moved into the second one and found a man running for his life, only to trip and fall to the ground as the darkness claimed him, a fact Sombra was able to confirm as the figure's heart emerged from his body. In the following moment it was swallowed by the darkness and took on a new form, a Heartless that was slightly taller than the Shadows and seemed to wear armor on it's head, arms, and feet, like a soldier of some kind, though it jumped and disappeared as soon as it was formed. As the soldier left the area Sombra watched as a white surge of energy washed over the man's lingering body and transformed him into some sort of odd white creature that had an incredible degree of flexibility, as it moved around for a moment before disappearing as well, though it confirmed something for Sombra, something the Speaker and the World had neglected to tell her. Once someone's heart was swallowed by the darkness, and was transformed into a Heartless, their empty body, a husk of it's former self, would transform into another type of being, meaning each person had the potential to become two creatures once the darkness told hold of them.
It was an interesting thing to discover, that such a thing could happen to the people of the World, though as she thought about that information she and Sora found a number of the Shadows gathering around them, meaning enemies were here as well, to which she shifted her stance and called forth her scythe, only to pause as she noticed that Sora also had a weapon. It wasn't any old weapon, like a sword or a wooden stick he had found before his world had been swallowed by the darkness, rather it was the very object she was looking for, the Kingdom Key, causing Sombra to be surprised for a moment, as she wasn't expecting to find it and it's wielder so soon into her quest. Sora was more focused on the Heartless that were around them, confirming that he had seen them on his home world before he appeared in Traverse Town, so he had no idea that Sombra had looked at his weapon in surprise for a moment, though after discovering that fact Sombra turned her attention to their enemies. As she dodged an incoming attack she took a chance to study Sora's movements and found that they weren't great, but they weren't that bad, as he had some idea of how to move with a weapon, even though he liked to thrust his Keyblade at his chosen foe as his first move, then follow that up with a few swings.
She quickly guessed that Sora's fighting style was designed to potentially stun enemies with the first swing before lashing out at them, if that was what he was going for, before she focused on the other Heartless as she slashed through a few Shadows, only to find that they disappeared like what she had seen during her training session. Part of her was slightly disappointed in not finding any emblem Heartless, since those were the ones that would allow her to grow her power, but she also knew that beggars wouldn't be choosers and had to hope that she'd find some in the future. While she thought about that, however, she noticed that when Sora was definitely inexperienced, as there were instances where one of the Shadows would hit him in the side or would jump onto his back, taking advantage of his lack of combat experience, but he did his best to deal with them. Sombra considered what she was seeing and knew that Sora had the potential to learn and become a decent warrior, there was just a lot of training he had to do to become stronger, something they could deal with in the future, hence why she turned her focus back to the Shadows.
As they dealt with the Shadows, however, Sombra noted that the second district of the town was more like the first, it was full of shops and even had a housing area off to one side, not to mention an inn of some kind on the left side of the area, but all of it was interesting to take in as she followed Sora as he explored the town.
One of the areas they passed through had a number of gears and other mechanical items inside it, while she was slightly surprised to see that one of the houses was unlocked so anyone could walk in, causing Sora to do so and found a pair of sad adult dalmatians inside it, but no puppies. Sombra quickly discovered that there were ninety-nine puppies that were supposed to be in this place, as there was a small journal detailing the exact number, meaning each one likely had a collar on that had a number on it, to help with the counting, and she determined that the puppies were scattered across the universe, given the purpose of this town. The alley on the other side of the house happened to have more Shadows for them to fight, in fact for every two Shadows she and Sora took down more seemed to take their place, meaning they had to be careful least they get overwhelmed, though it was possible to wipe out an entire group to give them some peace for a short period of time. With that in mind they continued to explore the town, finding that there really wasn't anything major for them to do or even see, save for discovering that the third district had all sorts of power inside it, likely powering the rest of Traverse Town, only to find that the first district had Heartless for them to fight as well, like they were infesting this world at long last.
As the pair reached the area in front of Cid's shop, however, they found that the Heartless seemed to back off for a time, to which Sombra found that there was someone else in the area with them, a tall figure with short brown hair, a black vest that was over a white shirt, black pants that reached black shoes, and his vest had a white furred collar.
"They'll come at you out of nowhere... and they'll keep coming, so long as you continue to wield the Keyblade." the figure said, where he raised a finger and pointed at Sora's weapon for a moment, causing the pair to glance at him for a couple of seconds, since there was no telling if he was a friend or foe, where Sombra gripped her scythe's handle as she waited to see what the man planned on doing next, since she knew that others were after the Kingdom Key and he might be one of them, "But why? Why would such an important weapon choose a kid like you? Regardless of why you were picked, you need to hand it over... now!"
"There's no way I'm letting you take this from me." Sora stated, where both he and Sombra shifted their stances and readied themselves for battle, which was a smart move in Sombra's mind, because with the lack of information the man had given both of them it was still hard to tell if he was friend or foe, so his companion's decision to defend himself was smart.
The man said nothing as he pulled out his own weapon, what appeared to be an altered sword of some kind with what had to be the oddest looking guard Sombra had ever seen before, as if two weapons had been merged into a single entity, but that didn't stop the pair from being ready for the impending battle to start. Sombra found that the man focused most of his attention on Sora, no doubt because he carried the Kingdom Key, where his attacks were quick and to the point, as if he was testing the young warrior before more of the Heartless showed up to take them out. Sora found that this was a hard foe to fight, as he dodged his attacks like they were nothing and even blocked a few more with his blade, and that didn't include the fact that he was able to call flames into his empty hand before firing it at whoever he deemed to be the more important threat. Sombra found that she was the one that faced that attack, as the man wanted to keep her away from Sora as he tested him, though she wasn't about to let him get his way as she ran from point to point, dodging the few fireballs that were sent at her while swinging her scythe at the figure when an opening presented itself to her, finding that her foe either dodged or used the edge of his weapon to repel her attacks.
As Sombra landed nearby the figure delivered a powerful slash to Sora's chest and knocked him to the ground, though she found no blood or anything from where the boy was struck, like it was a none lethal attack of some kind to knock him out, to which she quickly rushed over to stand between the figure and Sora.
"Stand aside. My business is with the Keyblade's Chosen One." the figure stated, showing Sombra that he knew who the boy was, even though he was interested in the weapon that he carried, and he held his blade at the ready, just in case he had to take someone else down before continuing with his mission.
"Honestly, you haven't given us a good reason to listen to you." Sombra replied, where she focused her mind for a couple of seconds as she called forth her dark power as she shrouded Sora in a dark barrier, which was good to know since this was one of her greatest strengths, all while a familiar dark mist emerged from her eyes, "I'll say this once: back off."
"Yeah, back off." another voice said, where Sombra found a young girl, around her and Sora's age, rushing out of an alley and coming to a stop near where she was positioned, who had the same body that she had and happened to be wearing black shorts and a matching black top, before she came to a stop and faced the figure that Sombra was facing.
In the next moment Radiant Hope, as that was who the newcomer was since Sombra recognized her coloration anywhere, held out her hand and a blue crystalline bow appeared in her left hand as a quiver appeared on her back, which seemed to be her weapon, causing Sombra to turn her attention to the stranger once more.
"What in the... why is Darkness protecting Light?" the man asked, which was understandable in Sombra's eyes, because she had been known by many titles back when he was ruling over the Crystal Empire, namely a variation of the 'Sovereign of Darkness', and with how she looked like how, with the dark mist coming out of her eyes, that likely told the man that she was far more than he bargained for, especially with the sudden arrival of another foe.
"My business is my own. All you need to know is that I seek the wielder of the Kingdom Key, just like you." Sombra stated, a fact that reminded her of the statements she had been told back in whatever realm she had ended up in previously, she could do anything she wanted once she found the one who carried the Kingdom Key, a task that had accomplished itself in no time at all, no doubt not what the World intended, all while Radiant raised an eyebrow as she kept her gaze on the figure she had been fighting.
"Then why not come with us? We can talk things out, in an area that's safe." a new voice said, where Sombra and Radiant turned their heads for just a moment and found that it came from a girl who seemed to be a little older than both of them and Sora, who had short black hair and a metal band around her forehead, a short green top that revealed her belly to everyone, tan shorts that were somehow shorter than Sora's, and a few other odds and ends that looked like she was a stealth person of some kind.
"...Sure... I don't see why not... but the moment I sense treachery, from either of you, I'm leaving." Sombra said, though as she said that she did leave part of her statement unsaid, as those who tried to trick her in the past either ended up dead or were doomed to be slaves in the mines, so for these two she wanted them to know that she'd attack them if they tried to betray her, without actually saying the words out loud, all while leaving Radiant to make her own decision should such a thing come to pass.
The man said nothing as he nodded his head, as he was grateful for his companion's arrival since he doubted he could face all of the dark power that had suddenly appeared in front of him, because he figured that there was more hidden inside the figure that had stopped him in his tracks, and that wasn't counting the new arrival. Sombra eased herself into a neutral stance as her opponent did the same, all while Radiant lowered her bow, before she snapped her fingers and the barrier came undone, which allowed them to walk over to Sora's position without delay, since the pair felt that enemies were closing in on them. The man picked up Sora, after putting away his own weapon, while Radiant joined the ninja girl to scout out the area, though Sombra grabbed the Kingdom Key by the blade as she dismissed the mist that was around her eyes, as she was more worried about the blade than anything else, especially due to the fact that she didn't trust the pair right now and wanted to keep this out of their hands. The ninja girl, on the other hand, made sure that the coast was clear before leading the way back into the second district of the town, which told Sombra that she and Sora must have passed by their safe house at some point in time, likely causing the pair to follow after them after they noticed the Kingdom Key.
She was curious as to what the pair had to say, that much was true, and she was curious as to what Radiant might say to her once they were safe, though at the same time she kept her guard up, as there was no telling when more Heartless would show up and she wanted to be ready for anything, all while wondering what might happen next.