Kingdom Hearts F.I.M: Days Long Past

by Spirit Shift


CH1: Memories of the Past

“Twilight...”

That was Spike's final response as he fell deeper into the void. He deeply regretted having to leave all of his friends, but it had been necessary, what she said had been too alarming, too sudden, and dangerous for him to ignore.

He felt it, he felt her power wrapping around him, and leading him somewhere. As he relaxed and let his body ride the pathway that had been set, he thought… He thought about what he had chosen to leave behind. His home, his friends, his family… and his sister.

He thought about Twilight, and how she would have to live on without him. The one who had called out to him promised to save the town for his cooperation. So he could only hope that Twi and the others were safe and protected.

He chuckled a little bit when he remembered how much of a nerd she was, almost dying for him even. He remembered the first time they met, the hated outcast who wanted to leave, and the lonely orphan who just wanted a friend.

~~~

Spike thought back to a time that he both hated and loved, back to the time of the sad little 6 year old half dragon hybrid that had no where to go.

In his old town, a hybrid of any kind was both extremely rare, and extremely feared or disliked. It didn't just end at glares or mean words, not even at bullying or mistrust. The town hated him, and they showed it. His every action had been met with a hostile response. Helping a lady meant a robbery attempt, playing on the sidewalk meant vandalism, even talking to others had been treated as if it were a hate crime of some sort.

Eventually, he gave up on trying to be nice, and fought back. He fought back when assaulted, and committed every crime he'd been accused of. He’d had enough of this place.

One day, a group of kids came up to him and decided that they wanted him out. He didn't care he wanted to go anyway, but since they wanted to give him a goodbye present, he'd have to take it. Being half dragon meant that he had better fighting ability and endurance than even an earthen and more agility than an avian. So up against a group of mages, he scoffed at the challenge.

He was wrong.

The adult mages must have used some spell to strengthen them, and it added up, because they slowly overtook him with their combined strength. He soon found himself on the ground, bloody, taking hit after hit after hit after hit until the hits stopped coming. Looking up, he saw a small girl wearing a purple one piece dress and sandals. She had mid-length dark purple hair with a darker purple and bright pink stripe running through it. She was standing, arms outstretched in front of him.

Almost as if she were… protecting him?

She was saying something, yelling maybe, but it was blurry and fading. The boy realized that he was losing consciousness. However, as his vision faded, he picked out the words ‘monster’ and ‘friend’, but before he could decipher them, the world turned black.

~~~

Waking up an undetermined amount of time later, the boy felt something underneath him. It was something soft, something foreign, something that had no business being there. Instincts kicked in, and he jumped up off of whatever it was that was under him.

Staring at it for a few seconds, he mentally analyzed it. It was of rectangular shape, it had a white surface, and on it lie on a smaller, more plump looking, rectangle. Baffled, the young dragon took a hesitant step forward to inspect it more closely, only to fall back to the ground in a crumpled heap. Groaning in pain, he tried to get up until he heard small foot steps enter the room.


“S-stop… you’ll hurt yourself!” cried a small shrill voice. Looking behind him, the boy saw the same young girl from the time before he lost consciousness. He immediately noticed that something was off. He looked at her face and saw that she held no fear, hate or resentment. She almost looked… curious.

He flinched as she suddenly took a step toward him, but not having the strength to do anything, he offered no resistance as she helped to lift him back on to the white square.

Since the girl wasn't hitting him or berating him… yet, he decided to voice his inner questions. “What is this? What am I laying on?” he asked weakly, throat dry and airy.

She looked surprised and ran off. Watching her run, the boy sighed in disappointment. He actually began to think that she may actually be unafraid of him, but it seems that she was just like the rest. Being half dragon, he healed very quickly so he decided to just lie there and wait until he was well enough to leave. Just as mental silence began to set his head, he heard footsteps rushing back into the room.

The girl from before came back into the room holding a small glass filled with a clear liquid.

“Water?” he thought. She handed it to him, and he hesitantly took it.

“Drink that. My books say that the injured must stay hydrated in order to heal quickly,” she said, sounding rather proud of herself for being able to put what she learned to use.

Staring suspiciously at the water for a few moments, he proceeded to down it in less than two seconds. Looking over to the purple head he noticed that she was staring at him rather intently, it was kind of unnerving. He held the glass back out,

“More,” he demanded.

The girl flinched slightly at his tone but quickly recovered. She narrowed her eyes and puffed out her cheeks in defiance. “Say please!” she demanded back.

He could only give her a questioning glance “What?” he asked.

“My books said that we should always say please when asking for something we want,” she replied, cheeks still puffed out.

He sat there for several seconds, contemplating the words meaning. He had never heard it before so he could only take the strange girl’s word for it. Finally, he relented and replied.

“Please… can I have some more,” he asked only for the world to feel weird falling out of his mouth, never having said it before.

Her cheeks stopped puffing as she nodded and took the glass back to wherever she got the water from. While she was gone, he decided to try and figure out where he was. Looking around, he saw the wooden ceiling, wooden walls, wooden doom. There appeared to be a lot of wood, making everything look almost makeshift.

“Jeez did they make this place themselves?” he thought. He realized that he still didn't know what he was laying on, and since his throat wasn't as dry anymore he could voice his thoughts better.

Eventually, she returned and handed him the water. Before drinking it he spoke out, “What am I laying on?” he questioned.

He got no response as she began to puff her cheeks out once more, a sign that he was beginning to realize, meant that he'd done something wrong. “What now?” he asked, rolling his emerald eyes.

“My books say that you always say thank you when receiving something, its only nice,” she lectured.

Once again, the word sounded foreign to his ears, as well as the sound of hit exiting his mouth. Skipping contemplation, he just went ahead and said it. “Thank you…”

A smile replacing her features, the girl finally answered his question, “You’re welcome, and its called a bed.” He suddenly got the feeling that he shouldn't have asked as the girl in front of him cleared her throat, though he couldn't figure out why…

She cleared her throat and continued, “A bed is a piece of furniture used as a place to sleep or relax. Most modern beds consist of a soft mattress on a bed frame, but I had to make due with a mattress that we found on the road. We cleaned it and now it’s my bed. With the mattress resting either on a solid base, often wooden slats, or a sprung base, we made a box that the mattress sits in.

Most beds have a headboard for resting against, with others also having side rails and foot-boards, but I have neither because we couldn't find the right wood for it.” She gestured toward the soft white rectangle under his head. “For greater head support, most people use a pillow, placed on the top of a mattress. Also used is some form of covering blanket to insulate the sleeper, often bed sheets, a quilt, or a duvet, collectively referred to as bedding. Bedding is the removable non-furniture portion of a sleeping environment. A bed can be thought of as a body and the bedding as it’s clothing,” She finished, taking in a long breath.

He figured out why…

It sounded to him that she had just read that straight out of a book, but all the books sat closed in clumps around the room. Either way, the only thing he could catch from that was the first sentence explaining that a bed was a mattress meant for relaxation.

He also noticed a lot of ‘we’s and ‘I’s but since he hadn't seen anyone else yet, he decided to factor that away for later. Taking that, he nodded dumbly and drank his water.
       
A veil of silence few over the two for a time while he drank his water and she studied him with her eyes. She had a weird look on her face, as if she were pondering the mysteries of the world. He tried to ignore it as best she could, but after a time he snapped.

“Will you stop staring at me!” He all but yelled in frustration. She flinched greatly and threw her gaze toward the floor in embarrassment.

“Sorry!” she quickly apologized. “I’ve been told that I get that way when I find something interesting, and I've never seen a halfling in person before.” She looked up and he could swear that her eyes were literally sparkling. “I’ve read about them though, in my books,” she said as she ran over and grabbed a beat up old tome. Looking over, he saw that her other books were equally or worsley, beat up, almost as if she got them from a dump.

“You look a little different from how they describe them but you match well enough. Oh, excuse me. I never told you my name. I’m Twilight Sparkle,” she finished, motioning to herself.

“I'm not something to be studied!” he hissed aggressively leaning up from his position on his back. Holding up her book defensively, she quickly tried to sooth his anger.

“NO! No, I just wanted to ask you some questions, to see if what the book says is outdated,” she said with pleading and sorrowful eyes.

He narrowed his eyes suspiciously, “Well I can't help you. I don't know anymore about myself than that book does.”

His eyes traveled downward as he adopted a downtrodden, almost sad expression. “In fact, that book might know more about me than I do.”  Looking over at his arm he noted that most of the scars and cuts had begun to heal.

“Looks like she was right about the water, either that or I've been asleep longer than I thought.” Looking up, he saw the girl named Twilight try to wipe her watering eyes.

“Are you… crying?” he asked.

In response, she held the book up to him and demanded that he read it. “You need to know more about yourself,” she explained.

He looked at the girl in disbelief, then at the book, then back at her. “Didn't you say that this book was outdated?”

She held out the book so that it pressed against his face. “Doesn't matter, knowledge is knowledge! So read,” she demanded.

Knowing that their was no possible way out of this he snatched the book and opened to the first page. After 5 minutes, he sighed and figured that he'd have to admit it at some point. “I don’t know how to read…” he admitted with shame.

“I know,” Twilight said nonchalantly.

“How did you know?” he asked incredulously.

“I watched your eyes, you just sat there for five minutes staring at random points on the page. I figured it out pretty quickly.

“Oh...”

Silence reigned once again for a few moments. Finally Twilight spoke up. “I could teach you to read… if you want?” she said shyly.

Never having asked for help, he just sat there in further silence, not having any idea of what to say or even how to go about beginning. Twilight noticed this and began first. “Do you remember what I told you when you ask for something?”

Still feeling slightly weird, he looked over at her with a face of embarrassed annoyance. “Please?”

Twilight smiled brightly and took the book in her hands. Over the next few hours she would teach him the basics of linguistics that she herself learned through self teaching and constant observation of others. It wasn't perfect, but it worked well enough for the both of them.

~~~

Eventually, Twilight closed the book after reading most of it to him as part of her teaching. She had never taught anyone anything so she was really happy about her accomplishment. Looking over his arm, the boy noticed that all of his wounds were healed. Overall he felt great mentally and physically. He quickly jumped to his feet, surprising Twilight and causing her to jump slightly. Standing up, he realized that they were about the same height at little over 3 feet. Before he could stop it a question popped out of his mouth.

“How old are you?” this seemed to take Twilight by surprise, but to his own surprise she answered without hesitation.

“I just turned 8 about a month ago,” she answered, a touch of curiosity in her voice.

This information really surprised him, but it would explain why she had that kind of commanding effect on him, making him say please and thank you like that. Seeing her curious expression, he decided to answer what he knew she was thinking. Even though he knew where it would lead.

“I'm only 6... if you must know.”

This threw a huge grin on the girls face, just like he suspected it would. “That means that i'm older than you by almost two years,” she declared proudly.

"Dragon's age slower than you humans. Even a half dragon like myself has the maturity of a 13 year old."

"Girls mature faster than guys in any species. So there!" she replied.

Rolling his eyes he started for the door. “Thanks--” There's that word again. “--for the help and teaching me to read, but its time for me to go now.”

“Go? Go where?” she asked curiously.

“I'm leaving this town. There's no place for me here,” he said, his tone one of complete contempt. Twilight just stood and stared at him, her eyes almost begging him to stay as she held the book close to her chest. Ignoring it, he opened the door to leave. Before he could actually exit, he felt  a pull on his shirt.

“WAIT--I mean, uh, don’t go. You didn't even tell me your name…” she stammered out, trying hard to keep him here.

That's it, he had had enough. “Cut the crap!” he yelled, knocking her arm off and turning back to her. Seeing her stunned face he continued, “I don't have a name! I'm just a beast and a monster. That’s all they've ever called me so that's what I am! I don’t know why you've taken care of me, or what you really want, but I don't care. I'm leaving. No one wants me here and I don’t want to stay,” he said in a more calm but threatening voice.

The girl just stood there in silence. Not even waiting for her to speak, he ran out the door and into the night.

~~~

Running back to his hideout, the nameless boy grabbed all the things he needed for his trip. He didn't know where he would go, and he didn't know how far it was, so he just decided to pack everything he had in a backpack that he ‘found’. Every stolen, borrowed, or foraged item. His thoughts kept going back to the strange girl that miraculously didn't hate or fear him. He couldn't figure out why, she said it was curiosity, but he didn't believe it. He knew that she had some other motive, but he didn't know what, all he knew was that she appeared to be kind, a little strange, nerdy, and lonely…

Very lonely.

He stopped on this, and thought back to the house he had just left behind. It was one story wide, with what appeared to be at least 2 bedrooms with 2 bathrooms and a kitchen. Then it hit him: Where was her family? She couldn't live alone, she wouldn't be able to afford that kind of place by herself. Making the excuse that they must have been out at the time, he continued to pack and plan.

Eventually, he decided that he had enough stuff inside his stolen backpack. Leaving his hideout,  he went out toward the edge of town ready to leave. Stopping at the edge of the town, his thoughts drifted back to the orphan girl in the big house. Figuring that he wouldn't be able to leave, he decided that he should at least go back and use that word she taught him one more time. At least for teaching him to read, anyway.

That's when he smelt it: burning wood. He quickly did a 180 and stared out at the town. Fire. There had been a fire going on near the other edge of the town. Quickly realizing that it was Twilight's house, he dropped his things and ran toward it without a second thought.

“Twilight!”