• Author: N-finiteFangirl
    Fandom: Kingdom Hearts/Final Fantasy VII crossover
    Title: The Gunner Knight
    Rating: PG-13 for spooky settings, and a little language
    Summary: Set during Sora's first time in Hollow Bastion in KH1, when he had to rely upon Beast for defense from the Heartless: Sora gets seperated from the Beast in the dark corridors beneath the castle, and ends up finding something--or, to be more exact, someone--but the question is: Will his discovery be for good or for ill?
    Notes: This is the first time in a loooong time that I've made any attempts at a horror/suspence scene. Please, leave me any comments on how to make improvements if I screw up on this aspect.



    Sora had fought countless Heartless over the past weeks. He was strong enough now to snuff out a Shadow with only a swipe of his Keyblade--and most of the other types with just a few more hits. He could even cast magic as strong as Donald's spells--except for healing, which he did surprisingly better than the mystical duck ever could. For some reason, patching up wounds with power from within came naturally to him, though Donald had to warn him not to push beyond his limits.

    But now, he couldn't heal, or cast any other spell. He couldn't even touch the Heartless with his blade. He didn't have Donald or Goofy to help him out. In fact, he didn't even have the Keyblade--just a toy sword that Riku left for him when he took both blade and friends away from him.

    Riku...he acted so cold and cruel back there... It-it was almost as if it really wasn't him...

    "Sora!"

    The brunette felt a large paw shaking him out of his reverie. He looked up into the shaggy face of his new friend and comrade, who simply called himself "Beast". "Wha...huh?"

    "Are you okay?" Beast asked, his voice rumbling with deep concern. "Your eyes looked glazed over..."

    "Oh, I was just...thinking... I'm sorry." The lad grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I didn't mean to worry you."

    Beast nodded a little. "It hasn't been easy on either of us. I know that for certain...but stay awake! These...Heartless don't seem to be giving us any breathers--at least, not for long. Come, we must keep moving."

    "Right!" Sora nodded, gripping the wooden handle in his hands. "So...you're sure we'll be able to get inside from down here?"

    "Well, it's the only option available," Beast explained as they began walking down the darkened corridors, cape slowly flapping behind him. We can't fly through any high windows, the front gate was locked, of course, and there weren't any other doors to use. Besides, most people who own castles don't expect an attack from below, mainly because most people aren't able to access the lower levels." He paused to growl at some mice and rats, who quickly--and fearfully--scattered out of the walkpath.

    "How can you be sure that they're not expecting us to get in this way?" Sora inquired, shivering at the eerie glow put out by the blue-green flames of the scattered wall torches. Besides their voices and footsteps, it seems that the only noise was the echoes of squeeking and water drops. Still, the lad could feel the darkness closing in on them, watching them from every corner. And there was also the feel of a thousand eyes following them--that sent chills down his spine.

    "Well...I grew up in a castle," Beast slowly answered as he eyed a wall blocking their path. "And I know that I didn't expect an attack from the lower levels." He made a face and added, "That's how they caught us off-guard...and managed to defeat us, and...and..."

    "How they took Belle, huh?" Sora had been told of Beast's girlfriend, Belle, during their first hour together--though his friend never outright admitted that she was his girlfriend.

    "Yeah..." Beast sighed.

    Sora put a hand on the large shoulder. "I'm sure we'll get her back--along with Kairi and everyone." He gave a confident grin. "If we work together, I'm sure we could do it!" He didn't feel as confident as he sounded, but he didn't want his companion to feel the same way. No sense in having both of them feeling down in the dumps.

    Beast nodded in agreement, then shrugged off the hand. "Get back," he warned.

    Sora stepped back a few feet as the taller being pulled his fists far back before throwing his weight into the punches. The resulting effect was a new opening, and a hallway that went both right and left.

    Beast sighed. "So...which way?"

    Sora looked down each way, only seeing a sparce line of torches that faced into the darkness. The feeling of darkness closing in was stronger--as well as that of being watched. It was weird, in Sora's mind, that there wasn't another living soul besides these two. The boy wondered if Maleficent used the Heartless to fill the roles of castle servants, and suddenly stifled to urge to laugh at the image of a bunch of Shadows dressed up like butlers and maids.

    Speaking of the little devils...

    I was wondering when they would find us again, Sora mused as a whole bunch of the twitchy Heartless surrounded them as soon as they had fully entered the newfound corridor.

    "Sora, get down!"

    The lad hit the floor, covering his ears as the air shuddered with an earth-shattering roar that, he knew, would shoo away most of the Heartless. It was the brave few that the duo usually had to fight. Well, Beast had to fight, and Sora had to duck and block. Now, more than ever, the brunette understood why Kairi hated to be sheltered and protected 24/7: It was very, very fustrating having someone else fight for you--especially since you're so used to defending yourself for so long...

    And yet, Beast was good at fighting these things--clawing and rending and slashing through them like they were nothing. Sora just wished that he could help with the fighting--or even cast a spell or two. For some reason, it was nearly impossible to call up even the smallest spells without the Keyblade. The most he could do is cast a small Cure spell that could take care of minimal bruises and scratches. It still wasn't enough, though, in a place that is literally crawling with Heartless. Sora hated to just stay on the side-lines and watch while Beast put his life on the line for the lad's sake.

    Of course, Sora still forgot that just because he was against the wall, it didn't mean he was safe from a surprise attack--not from creatures that are literally made of shadows. He yelped in shock as a Shadow slipped out of the wall, grabbed his wooden sword, and scurried off down the right-side corridor. "HEY! Give that back!" Sora yelled as he immediately ran after the creature. Yes, it may only be a toy and not good enough to do any major harm, but damnit! That was his toy sword! He couldn't block half of the attacks if he didn't have some kind of weapon in his hand!

    "Sora! No! Don't--" Beast shouted after him, but Sora wasn't listening. His full attention was on the little thief that had his wooden blade.

    It took several minutes before Sora finally caught up with the little Heartless and tackled it. After a few moments of wrestling with the bugger, he finally yanked the sword out of its hands and kicked it away. "Damn thief!" He gasped, noting that, for a moment, he sounded a lot like Cid--gruff voice and all.

    The "thief" sulked back into the shadows, leaving the brunette to realize that he was all by his lonesome, with only one or two torches to give enough light to break through the thick darness around him. And there was rustling...much rustling within the shadows surrounding him. Sora swore that he saw flashes of golden eyes wherever he turned. "Beast?" He called out.

    A minute passed...but no reply. Not even the echoes of a wall breaking down or the faint sound of footsteps broke the constant rustling around him. Not even the now-familiar smell of rose-tainted fur reached his nose--just the stench of stale water...and the reek of living darkness that permeated all of Hollow Bastion.

    He had no Keyblade, little access to magic, and now no one to give him any form of aid. He was surrounded by God-know-how-many Heartless, with only potions, very little healing magic, a wooden sword that's only good for blocking some of the not-so-lethal hits, and the dexterity and knowledge of a hundred battles. He was a little tired, a bit damp on some parts of his body, and he hadn't eaten for what seemed like hours.

    "...Oh, man...I'm so dead..."