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Kingdom Hearts: Dark Dawn	By : RotSeele Category: Kingdom Hearts > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 3168 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I do not make any money from this story.

Chapter List
- 15
- 16
- 17
Sixteen - Tsenacommacah/Jamestown

Pocahontas led them through the forest, heading away from the bayside town and deeper into the trees. She didn’t explain anything beyond telling them she knew of a safe place for them to stay for a while and talk, and she warned them to keep quiet as they traveled. At first, Kaoru thought it was because she didn’t want to attract any more Heartless, but then he realized she didn’t want to be noticed by anyone. He and Rin glanced at each other, silently asking each other if they could trust the mysterious woman, even if it was too late to really turn back. Finally, Pocahontas led them out of the trees entirely and toward the bank of a river. A canoe lay overturned on the shore, guarded by a raccoon that stood to attention the moment it saw them, and a blue hummingbird that sped immediately toward them.
Pocahontas held up her hand to stop the hummingbird. “Flit! Flit, it’s okay! They’re friends.”
Kaoru swore the hummingbird glared at him and Rin with suspicion for a minute before making a series of squeaking noises at Pocahontas. Then it flew toward his face, making him flinch. The hummingbird, Flit, studied him closely for a minute before he flew toward Rinally, giving her the same treatment. Then, seemingly satisfied, Flit darted back to Pocahontas and zipped around her for a minute before heading straight back to the canoe and the raccoon.
Pocahontas looked at Kaoru and Rin sheepishly. “Sorry. He doesn’t like strangers.”
“It’s okay.” Kaoru assured her. “It isn’t the worst welcome we’ve had.”
“I bet you have lots of stories to tell. I want to hear them all, but I think we first have to get you two out of sight.” Pocahontas led them to the canoe, which she flipped over and pushed toward the water. Flit and the raccoon, whose name was Meeko, jumped in immediately. Kaoru and Rin followed after, settling themselves in the bottom of the canoe as gingerly as they could. Pocahontas pushed the canoe further into the water and jumped in, taking up the only paddle and allowing the river to help push them along to wherever she was taking them.
Kaoru watched the scenery as they floated along, smiling at the sight of the lush forest on either side of the river. The trees went unbroken for miles, with just the sounds of the wildlife and river accompanying the sights. It was beautiful.
“Hey, I have to ask,” Rinally said, sitting up in the canoe with her arm hooked awkwardly over the side, “do you live in that town back there?”
Pocahontas shook her head and paddled in silence for a while. “No, I don’t live there. My village is further inland, hidden.”
“So what’s that place, then?”
“The white men call it Jamestown.”
Kaoru twisted to look at Pocahontas. “Do you know anything about Jamestown? And why is the road between it and the forest so unused?”
Pocahontas’ shoulders lifted slightly, as if she was trying to keep from shrugging but was completing the motion anyway. “A friend of mine lives there. Or, I thought he was a friend. Suddenly he began acting strange, different from how he was before.”
Kaoru frowned. “Did he start acting differently when the Heartless started to appear?”
Pocahontas slowly shook her head. “No. It was after. That’s why the road looks the way it does. We agreed it would be safer for everyone if we limited travel through the forest. But then strangers appeared in Jamestown and he began to listen to them more than he listened to me.”
Kaoru and Rin exchanged a glance. Both of them wondered the same thing - were the strangers Pocahontas spoke of part of the same organization of the man from Belle’s world? How many people were part of this organization? And, perhaps most importantly, what was their goal?
“Did you see what they looked like?” Rin asked, shivering as the spray of the river touched her skin.
Pocahontas shook her head. “They wear long black cloaks.”
“Did you see anything else?”
“No. For the safety of both the white men and my people, we don’t go into Jamestown, but meet outside the gate to trade. So I’ve never been within their village.”
“Did these cloaked people come to your village?”
“Not yet. But we’ve been watching what they’ve been doing at Jamestown, especially with Ratcliffe, and our warriors are standing ready.” Pocahontas frowned slightly. She looked at Kaoru and Rin with a strange quirk to her lips, as if she were mulling something over. Then she put the paddle to the water and steered them in a different direction. The river changed from a violent deluge to a calm flow, and the trees grew thicker around them. Despite that, it also seemed to get brighter as sunshine shone down from above, slipping through leaves to the water below. “I don’t think it would be safe for you two to be in my village right now.”
“No, probably not.” Kaoru agreed.
“So where are we going?” Rin asked.
Pocahontas smiled. “I’m taking you to a safe place. Grandmother Willow will keep watch over you until we can figure out what’s going on. I’m certain you two are the only ones who can deal with whatever’s actually going on, and I feel I need to help you in whatever way I can.”
Kaoru and Rinally exchanged a look, but they decided not to ask Pocahontas what she meant. She was right, of course. Because of Guardian and Rinally’s magic, the two of them were the only ones who could defeat the Heartless - and possibly the only ones who could help ease the tension that was slowly strangling Jamestown and Pocahontas’ friendship with the man she had mentioned. Yet, they weren’t sure what they were getting themselves into, and beyond the few clues they had been able to get from Pocahontas herself, they didn’t actually know much about the enemy they were bound to face here. Kaoru didn’t want Pocahontas putting herself at risk trying to help them. If she drew too much attention to herself, then she might inadvertently reveal Kaoru and Rin’s presence here. Of course, if she didn’t, then Kaoru and Rin were essentially stuck hiding if they couldn’t go out and discover clues for themselves.
Pocahontas guided the canoe toward a great willow tree in the center of a watery glen. The tree was huge, larger than any tree Kaoru had ever seen in his life. Its drooping branches danced gently in the wind, brushing over the water’s surface with a mother’s gentle caress. Kaoru peered over the side of the canoe into the water, and was surprised to see fish darting to and fro beneath the clear surface, heading in and out from the center of the watery glen. He looked up toward the curving branches of the willow tree, awed at the expanse of drooping, green curtain. The tree seemed to reach an impossible distance, even for one so obviously old. And, just at the edge of his senses, he felt a whisper of power, of ancient knowledge, of kindness and of light. He saw Rinally give a full-body shiver, and her lips parted to let a breath puff out.
“There’s magic here,” Rin said softly, reaching over the side of the canoe to let her fingers trail through the water. She lifted her hand and watched as the crystalline water droplets caught the sunlight, making them sparkle like gems.
Pocahontas laughed. “Yes, there is. Because of Grandmother Willow.”
“Oh ho! I hear a familiar voice! Pocahontas, is that you?”
Kaoru jumped slightly at the old woman’s voice that rang out from the trunk of the willow tree. He craned his head, trying to spot the old woman but failing to. Pocahontas guided the canoe right up to a stump of a tree before the trunk of the weeping willow. She held the craft steady as Rinally and Kaoru got out onto the stump, then smiled brilliantly up at the tree. Kaoru ducked his head slightly as a bright light radiated from Pocahontas, not as bright as the light from Belle, but close enough to it that he was slightly blinded. Rin seemed not to notice.
“Grandmother Willow,” Pocahontas started, her smile filled with love, “these two are new friends of mine. He is Kaoru, and she is Rinally. They both saved me from the evil spirits that haunt the woods now.”
Kaoru turned his head to look at the gnarled trunk of the tree. It took a moment to recognize the grandmotherly face staring back at him from the bark, its lips turned up in a gentle smile. The willow tree’s knotted eyebrows drew together as she studied the two teenagers before her, her eyes narrowing slightly as she focused on Kaoru most of all. Then her gaze became soft and warm, and her mouth widened in a welcoming and grateful smile. “I thank you, Kaoru and Rinally, for protecting my little Pocahontas.”
“Um,” started Kaoru, “you’re welcome, Grandmother Willow.”
“Grandmother Willow, would you be willing to watch over these two until I can find a way to get them into my village?” Pocahontas asked. “They seem to know quite a bit about the evil spirits - they call them Heartless - and the strangers that are in Jamestown now.”
Grandmother Willow’s branches rustled, and Kaoru wasn’t sure if it was the wind or the tree herself making them shake. “Of course I’ll watch over them. You don’t have to ask that, my child.”
Pocahontas smiled gratefully. She looked at Kaoru and Rin then, as she picked up the paddle to the canoe. “I’m going to talk to my father. If he agrees, then I’ll come back and get you. You’ll be safe here.”
“Pocahontas,” Grandmother Willow said, curling one long branch around the handle of the paddle in Pocahontas’ hands to stay her, “please be careful. I know you wish to save John, but being reckless won’t help anything.”
The raven-haired woman looked up at Grandmother Willow, her lips turned down in a severe frown. “I know that. But you didn’t see what I saw. You didn’t see these two destroy that Heartless with the power of the gods. I believe they can do it! That they can help me! Help all of us. I need to convince my father of this. If I can convince my father to allow them into the village, then they could help us find a way to not just protect ourselves, but stop others from being hurt. You know what Ratcliffe has been trying to do! If he succeeds...” Pocahontas stopped, her voice thick with unshed tears. “If he succeeds, everything we know and love will be gone. I won’t... I can’t... allow that... Not with the answers standing right in front of us.”
Kaoru looked from Pocahontas to Grandmother Willow, seeing the sadness in the old woman’s bark face, and the reluctance to let go of that paddle. He shifted and knelt down before Grandmother Willow, placing his right hand over his heart. “Grandmother Willow, I understand how scared you are. You don’t want to lose Pocahontas to the darkness you can sense. I promise you, I won’t let that happen. I will do everything I can to protect her, but I can’t do it without help. I’m a Keyblade Wielder. It’s my duty to protect worlds from those who are trying to destroy them.”
The ancient willow tree was silent for a long time as she regarded the blonde-haired boy before her. Kaoru kept his gaze firmly on those tree-bark eyes, knowing that if he faltered, even a little bit, Grandmother Willow might not believe his words. Finally, the branch unwound from Pocahontas’ paddle and withdrew into the rustling mass overhead.
“Be careful, child.” Grandmother Willow whispered. “Come back soon.”
Pocahontas smiled. “I will.” With a gentle splash, she and the canoe were heading back the way they had come, and soon she was out of sight, the only signs of her passing the ripples upon the water.
Kaoru finally relaxed and sat back on the stump, looking up toward the sunlight that made Grandmother Willow’s branches glow. Rinally blew out a breath and sat as well, leaning back on her hands as she closed her eyes. The tree herself seemed to relax as well, though there was still a tinge of worry at the corners of her mouth and eyes. Then Grandmother Willow’s eyes focused on Kaoru, and the wind rustled her branches, as if it was reacting to the sigh she released. “I sense,” Grandmother Willow began, “that you two are seeking something as well.”
Kaoru nodded, as did Rin. “We’ve been looking for someone named Sora.” he said. “Have you met him before?”
“Hm... Sora... Sora...” Grandmother Willow’s face screwed up in an expression of confusion as she thought. At last her drooping branches shivered, as if the tree were shaking her head. “No, I’m afraid not. I know just about everything and everyone within these woods, and then some.”
Kaoru leaned forward. “Maybe you’ve seen a girl? She’s about as tall as me, with brown hair and violet eyes. And there might be a boy with her, kind of big with black hair and blue eyes?”
Again Grandmother Willow’s branches shivered in that negative way. “No, no one like that has been seen lately. The birds and animals are my eyes and ears, so what they know, I know. The only descriptions of strangers I’ve been given are those of the black-clad men in Jamestown. No one has been able to see their faces, but they’re dangerous. Predators. And they seem to be able to control the evil spirits lurking in the forest. I’m sorry. The Heartless.”
Kaoru and Rinally looked at each other. Then they looked back toward Grandmother Willow. Rin folded her legs beneath her as she sat up straighter. “Grandmother Willow, have the birds and other animals seen the strangers with a black rod? It’s only about this long,” she held her hands about a foot apart, “and can be hidden in a pocket.”
There was chittering somewhere above their heads, hidden within the verdant green of Grandmother Willow’s leaves. The ancient tree nodded sagely at whatever the squirrel was saying, then focused on the two teenagers. “They say they did see such a rod, and that the strangers offered one to the chieftain of the white men in Jamestown, the one called Ratcliffe. What he did with it, no one knows. But... but it was after Ratcliffe took it that Pocahontas’ friend, John Smith, began acting strangely.”
Kaoru felt something in his stomach twist uncomfortably. He remembered Gaston almost immediately, how the man had changed into a monster once the black rod had been inserted into his skin. The darkness had overwhelmed him and had converted him into a beast. So far, it didn’t sound like Pocahontas’ friend had been transformed, but if he was acting differently, then perhaps the rods simply didn’t just change a human into a creature of pure darkness. Perhaps they could also be used to control a human, then, rather just transforming them. I wonder why Gaston was transformed then, and not this John Smith. Kaoru frowned slightly. I guess I’ll have to find that out. Why it affects people differently. I know those rods definitely control Heartless, and I thought that’s all that these people were after. But now, I’m not so sure.
He looked up at Grandmother Willow. “Is there anything else they saw? Maybe where these people in coats disappear off to? Or how they travel? Did they see any other strangers?”
The old woman’s face in the bark hummed softly. “No, no. No one saw anything else or heard anything else. I’ll ask everyone to keep an eye on Jamestown and report on anything strange that they might see. It’s the least I can do for you, since you helped my little Pocahontas.”
Kaoru smiled. “Thank you, Grandmother Willow.”
“Um, I don’t mean to be rude,” Rinally started, “but do you think that maybe we could get something to eat? I haven’t eaten since we left... well. Since we left.”
Grandmother Willow twittered with laughter, the noise echoed by the birds and squirrels flashing about in her branches. She smiled down at the teenagers. “Of course, of course. Well, everyone? Shall we see what we can do for our friends?”
The squirrels and birds twittered again and there was a raucous rustling as the creatures in Grandmother Willow’s branches rushed to and fro. Then there was silence, save for the distant chirping and chittering of the squirrels and birds as they rushed to fulfill Grandmother Willow’s, and Rinally’s, request.
- 15
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- 17
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Kingdom Hearts: Dark Dawn