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"Namine!" she yelled. "Axel! We need your help!" she called from the mouth of the cave. When Axel approached, he, Hikari and Riku ran after the memory witch. When they finally reached Lakayna, Axel looked surprised at the sight of so many heartless and started fighting right away. Hikari however, wasn't so shocked. "I'm going to regret this," she muttered to herself. She then summoned her Dark Keyblade and thrusted it into the air. "Dismiss!" she ordered the heartless. The creatures turned around and saw the girl, almost unsure of what to do. "You are no longer needed in this world. Return to the shadows!" she commanded. All of the heartless that were attacking them disappeared, leaving the cave looking large and empty. Hikari stood there for a moment, awestruck. Her Keyblade disappearing, she sank to her knees, her hands clasped over her mouth. So this....is what he was doing. she thought to herself.


Mushu's eyes widened at Mulan's scoff at him and turned around. "Losing courage? I'll show you who's losing courage. Let's go girl, we got us some stuff to find!" he said, walking proudly towards the entrance to the farm.

Sora chuckled and smiled, looking at Mulan. "Well that did the trick. So should we go?"

Naminé couldn't help but admire her friend's courage, her determination. Though Lakayna was tired and hurt, the dragon still managed to claw and tear her way through the ranks of Heartless until she reached that which she seeked. The figurine. Once the dragon had it, she told Naminé to get them out of there as she no longer had the strength. "Right!" The petite blonde replied, her own brilliant blue eyes shining with a fierce determination. The Nobody took a deep breath and concentrated, then called upon the Darkness in order to get them out. But because she couldn't concentrate on both that and fighting at the same time, a Heartless rushed her and took a swipe at her side, its claws ripping through both shirt and skin, causing a small but fairly deep wound. Naminé hissed in surprise and stabbed Lunar Eclipse through the creature which dissapeared in a puff of smoke. She called upon the darkness again to get them out, but Hikari and all the others suddenly appeared, much to Naminé's surprise.

Riku's twin then summoned her Dark Keyblade and thrust it into the air, yelling that the Heartless were dismissed. It seemed with reluctance that the creatures ceased their attacking and dissapeared. Naminé's keyblade left her and the girl ignored her wound though her blood was causing a red stain across her white school top. Lakayna was the one much more hurt. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Hikari sink to the ground, hands over her mouth and though she wanted to go to the silver haired girl, Lakayna needed help as well. "Open your wings and let me heal you," the petite blonde commanded gently. She knew she only had enough energy to heal one of them and she'd rather heal Lakayna than herself as Lakayna had multiple wounds.

"Naminé, wait!" Riku called after the blonde, but his voice didn't reach her as the door vanished behind her. His twin called to Axel and they all ran after her, his shirt flew off, ignored and unimportant, as he went after the Nobody. They are appeared on the snowy mountain top. The Heartless were dimissed with in a moment and then Hikari dropped to her knees, a fearful look on her face. He looked down to her before glancing at the blonde as she healed Lakayna.

Riku knelt by Hikari and rubbed her shoulder gently. "Hey...Hikari...are you alright?" He had a feeling that she was connected, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to dismiss the heartless quite as easily.

Mulan smiled when Mushu became offended as she knew he was. The little dragon seemed to puff up as he told her he'd show her and then told her to go as they go and find stuff. Mulan gave a laugh as Mushu -- with a flick of his tail and a toss of his head -- stood up stock straight and walked towards the entrance to the farm.

Sora chuckled and Mulan turned to look at him, her smile mirroring his own. "I knew it would work. Mushu just needs a little push, that's all," she stated with a good natured wink. At Sora's question, Mulan nodded. Reaching up with her hand she pulled back her ebony hair -- which had grown long again since the time he'd last seen her -- into a bun so it wouldn't get in her eyes and hinder her eyesight. "What are we still doing here? Let's get going, already." Mulan said with a confident smile as she left her house. Her father and mother came into view as they walked towards the entrance, watching as their daughter walked off onto yet another adventure. When Mulan looked back, she caught her fathers eye and he smiled at her, giving a faint bow of his head. Mulan nodded and then turned her eyes to Sora as she past him. "What is it we're looking for, exactly?" The female warrior questioned, knowing that that bit of information just may help.

Thinking of you, wherever you are.

Kairi

Princess of Heart

Kairi returned Naminé's smile with a large grin and replied "Yeah see you soon, and I'll be sure to take care of myself. Make sure you do the same, and look out for the others while we're gone." The Princess waved goodbye to the rest of the group then followed Sora down the mountain towards the Imperial City. Kairi was overjoyed to be off of the mountain. Her body was no longer numb, and she was no longer shivering uncontrollably. She was now happily walking along side the Keybearer looking for Mulan's farm. It was almost night by the time the two found it. If Kairi was happy before she was ecstatic now for Sora had grabbed her hand as the two of them walked through the garden and up to the front door of the house. Sora knocked on it loudly and called out Mulan's name, telling her it was him. Kairi held onto the brunette's hand and waited patiently for someone to answer the door.

A moment later the door was thrown wide open and beautiful young women was gazing down at them. At the sight of Sora she happily cried out his name, grabbed him into a tight hug, and began asking lots of questions. Kairi let go of the brunette's hand and took a step back so that the two friends could catch up. That was when Mulan realized the crimsonette was there. She greeted the Princess, bowed, then smiled and introduced herself. Sora then introduced Kairi, and Kairi returned the greeting. She bowed then beamed up at Mulan and said, "It's very nice to meet you too Mulan. I've heard so many great things about you from Sora." The red head then caught sight of the little dog at Mulan's feet and couldn't help but exclaim, "Aww! What an adorable little dog!" The Princess knelt down and began petting the dog whose tail was wagging like crazy.

Mulan had offered the two to come inside, but Sora turned her down politely since they needed to get going as soon as possible. The Keyblade Master then asked the female warrior if she knew where Mushu was, but before Mulan could answer a voice rang out in the near distance and a moment later small red dragon stood before them. "That must be Mushu," Kairi thought with a smile glad to finally meet him in person. He recognized Sora and seemed eager to help, but when Sora told him that they'd be going to The Snowy Mountains his attitude suddenly changed. He said it was too cold up there and he was right, but Kairi thought if she could survive through it, so could he. Sora pleaded with the dragon telling him their friend was in trouble. Kairi who had bent down to pet Little Brother dropped to her knees and bowed down before Mushu and pleaded as well saying, "Please Mushu! We really need your help. If you don't come who knows what might happen to Lakayna." Kairi thought she might be laying it on a bit thick but she didn't care. It was the true, they really needed Mushu's help and Kairi was going to get it no matter what.

That wasn't necessary though for Mulan knew just the trick to get Mushu to cooperate. Kairi stood up and brushed herself off glad that the little dragon was coming. Mulan went inside for a moment to change out of her dress and into her warrior clothes and amour. The Princess wished she had something better to wear besides her short skirted sleeveless pink dress and lace up high tops. Feeling stupid Kairi just remembered that her dress had a hood. At least she could keep her head somewhat warm while they were up in the mountains. Once they were ready to leave the crimsonette bent down to pet Little Brother one last time saying, "Bye little guy, it was nice meeting you!" As the small group walked towards the entrance they saw Mulan's parents who had come to see their daughter off. Mulan nodded to them, and then the four of them set off towards the mountains. As they walked the female warrior asked the two teens what was it they were looking for exactly. Kairi looked over at Mulan and answered, "A statue. But we have no idea what it looks like, and it's been broken in half. One half is high on the mountain's peak buried under ice and snow, and the other is somewhere in the Imperial City."

Then all of the sudden the Princess felt a wave of feelings from her Nobody. Fear, worry, weakness. Kairi quickly reached out to Naminé through their bond, and found that the petite blonde was almost unconscious. She franticly asked, "Naminé! Can you hear me? Are you okay? What happened?!" Concern began to consume the crimsonette. She turned to the Keybearer and said in a worried vioce, "We better hurry Sora. I think the others are in trouble."

We pray for our sorrows to end, and hope that our hearts will blend.

Little Brother had licked Kairi's cheek when she'd pet him and when the redhead stood up, he began to whine. The tiny dog was left remaining inside the house while Mulan and the others made their way off the path and he jumped up and down, giving a few yips before dashing off and dissapearing into the house.

Mulan turned her attention to Kairi as the girl answered her earlier question, as too what on earth they were looking for. The slender warrior turned her head away and nodded, her dark eyes slightly glassy as she was deep in thought. A statue broken in half... had she ever seen something like that before? For some reason, it rang a bell and she could recall a faint image of a broken statue in her mind but it quickly faded away before the Chinese woman could grasp it. Sighing, Mulan blinked and her eyes returned to normal. Kairi had said she they didn't know what it looked like, so that wouldn't really help and Mulan couldn't summon up that image again no matter how hard she tried. However, she knew for a fact she'd seen it in the imperal city.

When she tought of the city, her thoughts turned to Shang and she felt a longing to see him, but she promised to help her friends and she wasn't about to turn down an adventure. Especially if it concerned Sora. Trouble was always somewhere close behind the boy. It was quiet for a few moments, each of them seemingly lost in their own thoughts, until Kairi spoke again. Mulan turned her eyes back to the girl and noticed for the first time how she seemed to shine within. As if she was filled with light. The female Warrior made no comment on it but did wonder. Kairi suddenly stated that they should hurry as she thought the others were in trouble. The redhead's voice alone caused Mulan to quicken her pace. "Kairi's right. We better hurry. Even if your friends aren't in trouble now, that doesn't mean they won't be in it soon. The mountain is a dangerous place," she said leading them down the familiar worn path that led to the imposing mountain.

Hikari nodded and stood up, surveying the scene before her. Seeing Naminé hurt and didn't have enough strength to heal herself, Hikari reached into her pocket and pulled out a Hi-Potion, tossing it into the air and allowed its healing powers to seal the Nobody's wounds and give her energy. "I guess we didn't come as prepared for this place as we should've been," she mused monotonously. "Come on. I'm sure that Sora and Mulan should be up here soon," she said and headed towards the entrance to the chamber.


Sora's eyes widened at Kairi's news. Really? Well come on let's go!" he urged, running up the path, though he was making sure that they were keeping up with him. Though Sora wasn't much for speed, after running so much over the past two years, his endurance was extremely impressive.