Bound By Light: Neverland Prt1

Bryan could hardly believe it. He was standing on a new world. He’d felt similarly when Hermes took him and his sister to Master Yen Sid’s tower. The wonder of something so spectacular was nothing short of amazing. Bryan hoped he would always feel that same sense of wonder no matter how many new worlds he visited.
“Kay kids, I gotta be getting back to Olympus for a spell.” Hermes said, fluttering about five feet above the ground. “Head on back to this spot and gimme a shout when you’re ready to move on someplace else.”
He gave a quick wave and disappeared back to his world.
“So this is Neverland.” Bryan said, surveying the world around him.
Hermes had left them on a mountain ledge overlooking an island. Immediately he could tell this world was special. From so high up he could see the island was divided into four quadrants, one for every season. He and Rachel were in the Autumn quadrant. Travel down the mountain was as beautiful as it was easy. The trees were dressed with gold and red and open areas of land were carpeted with fall flowers.
Rachel skipped around with the wonderment of a child. She couldn’t stop giggling with joy.
“This place is incredible.” She said, unable to curb her smile. “I say we move here once the adventure is over.”
Bryan was about to respond but a noise stopped him. He grabbed his sisters arm to stop her skipping. Shadows shifted among the trees accompanied by the familiar sound of Heartless materializing.
“Don’t lay claim to any real estate just yet.”
“I’m having that very thought.” Rachel agreed.
The two summoned their keyblades as a group of a dozen or so impish looking Heartless surrounded them.
Between the two of them the battle was over as soon as it began. This was in part because they both had long range weapons and partly because Rachel used Thunder a lot. They waited a moment to make sure there were no more Heartless around. Confident the threat had passed, the duo pressed on.
“I wonder what kind of people live here.” Rachel thought aloud.
“If this island is even populated at all. Bryan replied.
“That would suck if our first solo adventure was to a place where the only other beings for company were the Heartless.”
“Might make finding the keyhole easier.” Bryan said. “Especially if we’re not alone and the natives aren’t friendly.”
Oh the irony that would later follow that statement.
They came close to the winter quadrant and Bryan motioned to explore that area last. After all, why freeze when it wasn’t necessary? Hollow Bastion never got very cold and snow had only fallen a few times in the city’s history.
All across the Autumn quadrant Heartless popped in and out but were not very strong or hard to get rid of. But the sudden appearance of the Heartless helped Rachel and Bryan sharpen their awareness skills. However, their awareness skills weren’t honed enough to keep them completely out of trouble, as they would soon find out.
The transition between Autumn and Summer was stranger than anything Bryan could have imagined and much different to the view from the ground than it was from above. It was as though someone had drawn an invisible line defining the two seasons. On one side everything was gold, reds, oranges and faded greens and the other side was lush emerald green. Even the branches that crossed the line were split between seasons. Rachel stood right on the invisible line and looked up at the mixed branches then at her feet, one foot in each season.
“This is really weird, but so totally awesome! I bet standing between Spring and Winter is even stranger.”
The trees changed from deciduous trees dressed for the season to primarily conifers. Most of them would have made perfect Christmas trees.
“Ahhh!” Rachel sighed after a deep inhale through the nose. “Pine.” She inhaled again. “Everything smells so fresh.”
“You know I have to take your word for that.” Bryan replied.
“I know,” Rachel said. “I know that statement’s lost on you but I felt it needed to be said.”
Bryan smirked as they pressed on. She knew talking about anything regarding the sense of smell would be mostly talking to herself. He hadn’t had a sense of smell since he was six. Rachel would sometimes comment about how sad it must be not to smell the forest after a rain or freshly baked bread. Bryan really didn’t care. In his mind, he couldn’t miss what he couldn’t remember having.
“I wonder if the Heartless will be different in each season.” Rachel mused aloud.
“That wouldn’t make much sense. Why would th-aahey!”
Suddenly the world turned upside down as Bryan stepped in a trap and was hanging from a tree by his foot.
“Oh my gosh! Are you okay?!”
“I’m ok. I’m fine! Just get me down.” Bryan said, his arms flailing a bit. “No! Wait! Stop the spinning first.”
“Alright, hold on.” Rachel grabbed her brother by his vest to stop the swaying. After Bryan was relatively still Rachel followed the rope to its tether. “Ok, brace yourself. I won’t guarantee this will be smooth.”
With one hand she held the rope and the other held her keyblade. The keyblade tapped the rope and sparked with fire. As the rope burned, Rachel grabbed it with both hands and braced herself for when the rope snapped. The plan kinda worked. Bryan didn’t get hurt but the landing was far from graceful.
Bryan picked himself up and brushed himself off. “Who would put a trap in the middle of the woods!?” he snapped, very annoyed.
“Probably a hunter.” Rachel answered. “That at least proves this place is inhabited.”
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” Bryan huffed, embarrassed and grumpy he had been the one to set off the trap.
The quadrants were much bigger when traveling on foot than viewing from a mountain. They found a deer path and followed that through the woods. Bryan could feel his bad mood start to fade, especially after being able to beat the daylights out of several dozen Heartless. But he did have a twinge of annoyance that wasn’t allowed to dissipate because of Rachel being so twitchy all of a sudden. Finally he couldn’t take it anymore.
“What are you looking for!” He said sharply, moreso than he meant to. “You haven’t stopped looking behind us. It’s like you’ve got a nervous tick.”
“Don’t you get the feeling like we’re being followed?” She asked, looking around again.
“It’s probably just the Heartless.”
“Maybe,” She replied quietly.
But Bryan could hear in her voice she didn’t believe her answer. After a short while he could feel it too, like someone was staring at the back of his head. But he couldn’t tell if he truly felt like he was being watched or if his sisters paranoia had rubbed off.
“Did that tree just move?”
Now he was irritated.
“What are you talking about?”
“I turned around and I swear the tree I saw a second ago got closer.”
“We’re in a forest. All the trees look the same. You’re just paranoid. Now cut it out. What would Master Yen Sid say if you’re always this worried?”
“It’s not paranoia when you’re actually being followed. And I’m only worrying because I have reason to. I’m telling you, there’s something in these woods that isn’t a Heartless”
“But you’re overlooking one thing. Trees can’t move on their own!”
“We were left on this island by a blue man who can fly after receiving magical combat training by two genuine sorcerers. One of them has a talking owl. I think moving trees shouldn’t be too far a stretch.”
Bryan rolled his eyes, exasperated. He hated it when his sister made points that were hard to refute.
“Alright then. I’ll bite. What makes you think the tree moved?”
“That little pine tree with the bent top branch was behind those small bushes a minute ago and now it’s in front. I think it’s following us.”
“Following us? Really? Why would a tree do that anyway? Doesn’t it have enough tree friends in a forest?”
“I’ll ignore the sarcasm because I know I’m right.”
“You want me to prove nothing’s wrong? Fine. I will.”
Bryan walked right up to the tree, looked it up and down, circled it and looked back to Rachel. He shrugged in ‘see?’ sort of way that.  Rachel remained where she’d been standing with her arms crossed, still waiting for her suspicions to be disproven beyond all doubt.
“Fine.” Bryan muttered. He stood by the side of the tree, summoned the Bass Blade and gave the tree a few hard prods. A few needles fell to the ground but nothing else.
“Are you convinced now? Or would you feel better if I set it on fire? Unless you think it has feelings-.”
“There! Right there! That bottom branch just moved when you said that.”
“That only proves a squirrel lives there.” Bryan felt a twinge of frustration beginning to build. They’d wasted too much time arguing over a dumb tree. He hooked the teeth of the keyblade under the branch she’d indicated and lifted it. “See? Happy now?”
Rachel stared at the branch for several long seconds. Slowly she uncrossed her arms, looked Bryan squarely in the eye and shook her head while speaking in monotone.
“I guess you’re right. The twitch must have been from a squirrel. Trees can’t move on their own. I’ve just been a little on edge.”
Bryan dropped the branch and his shoulders slumped in a you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me kind of way.
As close siblings he and Rachel had an understanding of several forms of nonverbal communication. Her looking at him like that, speaking so dully and shaking her head while saying something positive all added up to her knowing something that needed immediate attention. Most likely that ‘something’ would not be good.
Rachel twitched her head back, signaling for Bryan to come to her. When he was at her side they both turned and kept walking, slowly and carefully.
“What did you see?” He asked quietly through the corner of his mouth.
“A pair of feet.” Rachel muttered back. She looked over her shoulder again.
“Did it move?”
“No.”
Bryan breathed in relief. Maybe whomever had been following them would give up if they suspected they’d been found out.
“There’s more than one.”
Oh great. Bryan thought. Part of him wanted some kind of confirming detail, but he also knew the more they talked the more likely they were to obviously give away the fact they knew they had a pursuer. A decision had to be made. After walking casually side by side for several yards he whispered,
“Run.”
The reaction was instantaneous. The forest erupted with shouts and battle cries. Bryan looked over his shoulder to view the pursuers and nearly ran into a tree after doing a double-take. The trees themselves were charging at them! Only when he glimpsed one or two had red-skinned arms did the image make sense. A wonderment flitted across his mind as he ran. Why would anyone leave their disguise on after they knew they’d been discovered? He shook the thought from his mind. Of all things to be curious or worried about that should not have been one of them.
“Bryan!” Rachel summoned her keyblade. “Jump!”
He did without question. Rachel did the same and brought the power of Wind around them. The swirling gust gave them a gentle push that made running less exhausting and helped them gain distance. Aided by the Wind they quickly widened the gap between them and the screaming trees. Before long the forest began to thin and opened up to a field of tall grass. Willing to try anything to lose the entourage the two charged into the tall grass. Only a few yards in Rachel dispelled the Wind. It left a much more obvious track to follow than two people running. The grass was tall and thick but still not hard to run through. Bryan kept glancing to his right to make sure he could still see his sister. The last thing either of them needed was to get separated then picked off. He could see a large dark boulder up ahead. Once they reached it they hid on the other side. Only then did they dare to catch their breath.
“This won’t work.” Bryan said, trying to keep his panting as quiet as possible.  “They have to know behind a rock is the first place we’d hide.”
Rachel nodded, also trying to catch her breath. “We’ll have to fight out way out, wont we?”
There didn’t seem to be another option. The field could stretch for miles and the deeper they went the greater the chance of getting separated. To top it off, whoever those people chasing them were probably knew the area well enough they couldn’t escape anyway. It was then Bryan noticed something that really made his stomach sink. The yelling had stopped. Rachel had noticed it too.
“There’s no way they gave up just like that. We’re never going to know they’re coming, will we?”
“That might not be true. Maybe following us is just too much of a hassle in the tall grass.” Bryan said, trying to make himself believe himself. “Or they know there’s little chance of us getting out again and chose not to bother.”
“Or they know there’s something in here they’d rather not face.”
“What makes you say tha-?”
Oh no. He could feel it too. A swell of darkness that had gone unnoticed until just then.
The second the rock behind them grunted and moved Bryan could practically hear Master Yen Sid’s voice calling them off for not being vigilant. He and Rachel jumped away as the Heartless stood up and unfurled its huge frame. It looked like a heavily armored abstract human with huge shoulders, a small waist and short legs with a rhinoceros helmet. It turned and scowled at them with beady yellow eyes. With enormous fists it pounded the ground, challenging them to fight.
Instantly the Bass Blade was in his hands. He knew he shouldn’t be surprised that Heartless could come in all sizes but this thing had to be at least eleven feet tall. He had always been pretty tall so having to look up so high to look something in the eye was daunting.
The Heartless made the first move.