Adult-FanFiction.org : Games

Kingdom Hearts: Dark Dawn	By : RotSeele Category: Kingdom Hearts > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 3169 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I do not make any money from this story.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
Ten - Beast’s Castle, Village

Rinally almost shot to her feet to shout “That’s not true!”, but Kaoru’s grip stopped her from moving or making a sound. She looked at him, startled, but he only shook his head. She lowered herself back to her seat and hunched a little, pushing closer to Kaoru so she could whisper into his ear.
“We can’t let them hurt Beast,” Rinally hissed.
“I know.”
“So what do we do? It’s too late to run back and warn them.”
“I don’t think he’s planning on going anywhere tonight, except maybe to his own place.” Kaoru eyed Gaston, watching the man scare the young women by thrusting the cage at them. Everyone else had erupted into conversation, accusations flying this way and that about the Beast and his association with the creature in Gaston’s cage. “We can follow him. Something’s not right about any of this.”
“Kaoru, do you think we might have to fight?”
“Maybe. And it’d probably be a good idea to make sure our stuff is with us, too. I hate to say it, but we just might have to run back to the castle tonight.”
“I thought so.” Rinally blew out a sigh and frowned as she followed his gaze to the cage held tightly in Gaston’s hands. “I wonder how he caught it.”
“However he did it, it couldn’t have been easy. I’m betting he had help.” Kaoru nodded toward the small man hovering by Gaston’s side. “Of the two, it might be easiest to question him. ‘Cept we’re not going to be able to here.”
“Got it. Wait and watch, then ambush him when he’s alone.”
“Do you have any spells that might work?”
Rinally smiled. “Of course I do. I can be a scary witch if I want to be, and from the looks of things, a scary witch is what I’ll have to be.”
Kaoru returned her smile. “It’s good to know I don’t have to just count on Guardian to get the answers I want.”
“Don’t be smart.”
The two teenagers listened intently as Gaston described his harrowing adventure in the wild to capture the Heartless in gross detail. He even acted it out, flexing his muscles and making the young women swoon, standing on tables and very nearly bursting into song about it. They learned that he had been searching for the missing people - very likely victims of the Heartless - in the forest late one night. He had followed the tracks of people and of wolves and had discovered the Beast hovering over what looked like a fresh kill. Rinally and Kaoru exchanged glances with each other. It didn’t take much to figure out that Gaston had probably seen the Beast rescuing them and had assumed that, instead of rescuing them as he did, he’d eaten them. When Gaston had investigated the area to find any evidence, he discovered several small monsters roaming about. They had attacked him, of course, and he had bravely fought them off, of course, and had managed to capture only one of them. He pled his case before the villagers gathered in the tavern, incensing them against the Beast, and told them the only way they were going to rescue their loved ones, or get them back, would be to destroy the Beast.
It was hours before the tavern began to empty out. It was too late to do anything but go home and plan the assault, or simply fall into bed and sleep off the drunken haze. Kaoru noticed that many patrons of the tavern wobbled when they stood and wove when they walked, clearly drunk. He doubted that any of them would remember Gaston’s words to them when they woke up the next day. Not that Gaston would allow them to forget, Kaoru surmised, turning his gaze back to the man who was currently enveloped in a lady-blanket, hugging two girls tight to his sides as he laughed at something one of them said.
“What should we do?” Rinally asked quietly. “If we stay here any longer, we’re going to get noticed.”
Kaoru glanced around; she was right. The more the tavern emptied out, the closer they were to being noticed by someone. He didn’t want lose sight of Gaston, but at the same time, he didn’t want to be caught and cornered by the man either. “Let’s go back up to our room and get our stuff. I doubt the innkeeper will care if we slip out early. The room’s paid, after all.”
“Are we spending the night out in the cold?” Rin asked. “Or do you think we’ll be able to come back here after we follow that jerk?”
“I don’t know. But we’d better be prepared for anything all the same.”
The two teenagers slipped out of their corner as more people began to rise from their seats and stumble their way home. Still wrapped tightly in their cloaks and hoods, Kaoru and Rinally quickly hurried upstairs, taking two at a time. When they reached their room, Kaoru stood guard in the hallway as Rin slipped inside to gather their things. It didn’t take her more than five minutes to get everything and slip out, handing Kaoru his pack. He took it and shouldered it, and then the two headed back down stairs, avoiding the common room as they sought a way out of the inn. They snuck through the kitchen, avoiding the innkeeper’s wife as they did so, then slipped quietly out the back and into the frigid deep night air. Their breath made clouds around their heads as they trudged through the ankle-deep snow as quietly as they could, coming around to the front of the inn to wait.
Gaston strolled smoothly out of the inn maybe thirty minutes later, carrying the cage with the Heartless Shadow inside. Beside him came the little man, huffing and puffing to try and keep up. Kaoru and Rin hung back in the shadows, watching the two and trying to hear what, if anything, was being said.
“Le Fou,” Gaston said, near pitching the cage at the smaller man, “this may be a little harder than I originally believed.”
Le Fou, the small man, caught the cage mere inches from his huge nose and juggled it from hand to hand before catching it more firmly between his hands. “How so, Gaston? I think it’s brilliant. You’re brilliant.”
“I am, aren’t I?” Gaston preened in the darkness, his face thrown into shadow by the lantern-light. “I could see it in their eyes. I almost had them eating out of the palm of my hand.”
“They did say it probably wouldn’t be that simple.” Le Fou pointed out. His short legs took twice the steps Gaston’s did, but he kept up with the man as he started walking away. Kaoru and Rin quickly followed to keep them within earshot, ducking into alleys and hiding around corners to avoid being seen.
“I know they did.” Gaston sniffed. “It may take a couple of days touting the story before they believe the Beast is the one behind these attacks and disappearances. Once they do, I can finally get Belle back. That is, if they keep their side of the bargain.”
“You think they won’t?”
“If they know what’s good for them, they will. All it would take is for me to say I was wrong - who wouldn’t believe the great Gaston could be wrong for once in his life? - and rather than the Beast being behind the attacks, I’ll say that they are. After all, they’re the ones experimenting with those little black creatures.”
Kaoru and Rinally glanced at each other, their expressions grim. They continued to follow Gaston and Le Fou as the two threaded their way through the empty streets of the village, continuing to listen to the conversation. They didn’t learn anything more. They ducked into an alley as Gaston and Le Fou walked up to a house and entered it, closing the door behind them. Kaoru crept closer to the house with Rin right behind him, trying to see if he could hear anything more. All he heard was muffled noises, but nothing discernible. Shaking his head at Rin, she nodded, and they quickly retraced their steps back to the alley where they could get out of sight.
“Okay,” Rin said, rubbing her hands together to warm them, “so what did we learn?”
“Gaston is working with whoever’s experimenting with the Heartless,” Kaoru said. “And whoever they are, they have to be the ones using those black rods. But he never named them, so right now, I guess they’re just They, capital T.”
“Sure, we can go with that.”
“Also, Gaston wants Belle. And he wants her so badly he’s willing to do anything to get her.”
“Which means removing the Beast.” Rin pointed out.
“Right.” Kaoru glanced toward Gaston’s residence, frowning. “And They are helping him somehow, and that somehow must be involving the Heartless.”
“But the Heartless can’t get into the castle because of Belle.”
They looked at each other with wide eyes a minute later, the shock of realization rushing through them.
Keeping her voice to a mere hiss, Rinally said, “They’re looking for a way to get to Belle, but they can’t get to her because she’s safe in Beast’s castle, which is protected not just by him, but her light as well! So They have to get someone outside the castle to breach it! So They gave Gaston use of the Heartless, all of which probably have that creepy black rod inside them, and even if he’s not the one making the villagers disappear, he’s definitely covering it up!”
“Because if he can convince the villagers the Beast is behind it all, they’ll form a mob and go to attack the castle to get rid of the Beast!” Kaoru hissed in reply. Rinally nodded vehemently. “But because they’re human, the Beast won’t hurt them! Belle won’t let him hurt them.”
“But the castle will be breached, allowing Them inside, and allowing Them to get Belle. Gaston might think They’re going to let him have her, but he’s being used by Them.”
“So why would They want Belle?” Rin asked. “I mean, there’s gotta be easier Princesses of Heart to snatch.”
Kaoru shrugged. “I don’t know. But I’m betting it has something to do with those black rods. They can control the Heartless with them without actually being around to command them. If the rods are darkness and can be used to control darkness, maybe they want to experiment with something that can control light. In order to do that, they’d need someone with a great affinity for it, which would either be a Keyblade user like me or a Princess.”
Rin smirked, but there was no humor behind it. “And They figure, good luck getting a Keyblade user with a penchant for light, so let’s get ourselves a lady?”
Despite himself, Kaoru choked on an aborted laugh. “I guess so. Don’t you think a girl or woman would be easier to control than someone like me?”
“I guess.” Rinally grumped. She folded her arms tightly around her, pulling her cloak closer to save her body heat from escaping. “So, now the question is, do we sneak back into the inn or do we try to make it back to the castle in the dark?”
“We’d never make it back before we either became wolf food or froze, so let’s go back to the inn. We can head back in the morning.” Kaoru replied. “Once we warn Belle and the Beast, we can try to prepare the castle for the invasion. Because it’s either going to be human or it’s going to be Heartless, so we need to be ready for both.”
Rin nodded and quickly began to head back the way they had come. They moved quietly through the empty streets, trying to step in the footprints they had left behind on their journey after Gaston, so that Rin could cast a quick but tiny aero spell after them and erase any sign of them being there. They reached the inn and quietly tried the front door. Finding it locked, they headed around to the back to try the kitchen door. It, too, was locked. Kaoru gestured for Rin to step back and summoned Guardian to his hand, holding the tip of the weapon up to the door. He concentrated on turning the lock and Guardian quickly obliged him with a little burst of sparks. Rinally pushed the door open silently as Kaoru dismissed his weapon, and they entered the inn, locking the door behind them. They padded quietly back up to their room, slipping inside like thieves.
Like before, Rinally quickly claimed the bed, toeing off her shoes so she could slide under the blankets. Kaoru made himself a nest again on the floor and used his pack as a pillow. He closed his eyes, listening to the soft rhythm of his breathing mingling with Rin’s. Only a second later, he opened his eyes, shifted onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. Something didn’t seem right, but he couldn’t figure out what it was, and it was bothering him enough that he couldn’t find rest. He kept staring at the ceiling of the inn as if that would give him an answer. The room remained quiet, except for their breathing, and the ceiling remained unchanged even in the darkness.
Kaoru eventually curled up on his side and forced his eyes to shut. Somewhere between that heartbeat and the next, he finally found sleep.
- 9
- 10
- 11
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Kingdom Hearts: Dark Dawn