Kingdom Hearts drabbles set 2 (Kingdom Hearts, PG)
challenge: 221: Spellbound
title: Moonlight
word count: 220
rating: all ages
characters: Isa, Lea
spoilers: for their existence, and KHII
Isa doesn't go out at night. He's actually kind of a stick-in-the-mud, to tell the truth, and is no fun at all, which is the very reason why Lea likes hanging out with him. He makes the best expressions whenever Lea is bullshitting, a blank look that tells Lea he wouldn't believe him if he said the sky was blue, and every now and then he'll say something so funny in that deadpan voice that makes Lea laugh for hours and--
Well, anyway, Isa doesn't go out at night, but Lea's had a good record with 'eating icecream before dinner' and 'running away after accidentally breaking a window,' so he thinks 'breaking curfew' will be an easy sell.
And it does go easy, relatively speaking, and he drags Isa a few feet out of his house, laughing all the while, and then the moon comes out from behind a cloud and Isa starts to shake.
"It's the wrong shape," he says, and his voice has the rough highlands accent of Isa's parents. "There are thirteen shadows who believe they are people, but their copper-eyed hearts have run away, and Ansem. And Ansem. And Ansem."
The trance breaks, and he stares at Lea in wonder.
"Axel. Didn't you already kill yourself?"
Isa faints then, and Lea barely catches him before he hits the ground.
Challenge: [224] Sublunar
Title: To the Moonrise
Word Count: 255
Spoilers: For the existence of Lea and Isa, a continuation of the previous drabble
Rating: PG
Isa has three hours until he dies.
He doesn't tell Lea this. He doesn't tell Lea much, these days. Just simple things, useful things: where to find food, where the heartless will attack from, where people are hiding.
Which of those people will turn into heartless.
Lea hates Isa's divinations, but he accepts that they're the reason that, of those who couldn't escape, they've survived the best.
Isa presses his thumb to the cut on his brow and traces patterns onto the floor. It's a practical use of the injury he received earlier, though it makes Lea bristle and fuss like a mother hen. The mouse bones jump and sing, make his teeth click and hum like electricity, and they say:
Isa has two hours until he dies.
It's less accurate than the night divinations, but Isa finds it too difficult to break its thrall now, and a night's incapacitation could spell their end as swiftly as a too-vague divination. Isa knows because he's seen it.
Lea thinks his headache is from his injury. He's half right. The moon is getting brighter every night. It pulls and tugs at his mind, inviting him to see everything if only he would give in, and it hurts more and more each night he resists. He's going to lose the battle one night--this night. He's seen that, too.
They have ten minutes until the moon rises.
Isa has one hour until he dies.
Saix has three days before he wakes.
Lea has...
Saix will...
Axel has...
They....
The moon rises.
Challenge: [222] Historical AU
Title: So a Cowboy Walks Into a Bar
Word Count: 130
Spoilers: I have no idea. Spoilers would imply someone can keep track of this part of KHI/KHII
Rating/Warnings: All ages
Notes: As I'm the one hosting this challenge, this is obviously disqualified from voting. I wasn't planning on writing anything, but after mentioning "cowboy Sora" I just couldn't get the idea out of my head. Also, this joke is terrible and should not be read by anyone.
The doors of the saloon swung open, and in walked a cowboy with a head of hair you could hide a herd of cattle in, and shoes big enough to water them all. He sauntered past the man in the cowprint duster polishing his gun, nodded to the older, blond sheriff seated at the next table, flipped a coin into the basket of the silver-haired man playing the piano, and settled himself at the bar.
"What can I get you?" the barman asked, setting down his deck of cards.
"Information," the cowboy said. "I'm looking for a man named Ansem."
The music stopped. The cowboy noticed the cattle rustler, pianist, and sheriff were all staring at him.
"I'm sorry, sir," the barman said smoothly. "I think you'll need to be more specific."
Challenge: [223] The City
Title: City Lights
Word Count: 280
Spoilers: none
Rating/Warnings: All ages, in the same canon as my "The Mayor" stories
This was supposed to be a temporary job, a chance to step away from the demands of the city and design something just for fun. A play island, that's what they wanted.
What Reeve got was an undeveloped island, a pile of random construction supplies, and a trio of teenagers on summer break. He felt an immediate, physical longing to get back on the boat and go home, and he spent the night searching the coast for a hint of the city lights.
But the planks of wood turned into platforms for climbing, and the ropes hung from branches perfect for swinging, and when he woke one morning to the sounds of the boys squabbling over how best to reroute the waterfall or bend the palm tree's growth, and he could smell the fresh scent of Miss Alma's fruit pies baking, and he wanted to reach out and grab hold of time, slow it down so this summer would last.
Eventually, the last nail was hammered, the last rope was tied, the last secret was tucked away for a child to find. There was a party, of course, and all the villagers thanked him, laughed with him, shook his hand and cuffed his head and danced until they were so exhausted, even two of his boys fell asleep on the beach.
The third, Baralai, sat beside him. "You know, sir, I'm interning at the Mayor's office this fall," he said, slowly.
"I'm sure you'll do well," Reeve said, his eyes on the coastline.
"He said he's planning on retiring this year," the boy said. He let what he'd said hang in the air, and went to wake his friends.
And the city lights never seemed so far away.
Challenge: [225] Warmth
Title: Familial Love
Word Count: 225
Warnings: Vague spoilers for KHII, mainly deals with my own headcanon. (There must be some reason Leon was hiding!)
Leon's sister was crazy.
He should have figured it out when he was six and she was eight and she dressed him in ruffles and bows for the first day of school and...
He'd definitely figured it out by the time she was twelve and had said, with a beatific smile, that when she grew up, she wanted to make a place filled with joy and laughter where everyone was always happy, and that's why she wanted to be a bartender.
Everyone should have figured it out after Sephiroth--after Cloud told them he was leaving because it was dangerous to be near him, and she packed her bags and took the first ship after him. Leon discovered she'd left when he read the sticky note she'd attached to the fridge.
Leon didn't know she was back until he heard Yuffie and Aerith giggling louder than usual, and he peeked into Merlin's house and saw her with--oh God, were those photographs?
"Of course, I thought he'd look best with blue ribbons, but he was really attached to the pink, and--" She turned around and gave him a winning grin. "Welcome home!" Tifa chirped, as if he had been the one who'd been away.
Leon slammed the door shut.
Bonus!drabble. Written as a joke when discussing a pastiche challenge
With apologies to William Carlos Williams
I have eaten
the paopu fruit
that were in
the fridge
and which
you were probably
saving
for Kairi
Forgive me
they were delicious
and the juice got all over
my awesome pants like whoa
title: Moonlight
word count: 220
rating: all ages
characters: Isa, Lea
spoilers: for their existence, and KHII
Isa doesn't go out at night. He's actually kind of a stick-in-the-mud, to tell the truth, and is no fun at all, which is the very reason why Lea likes hanging out with him. He makes the best expressions whenever Lea is bullshitting, a blank look that tells Lea he wouldn't believe him if he said the sky was blue, and every now and then he'll say something so funny in that deadpan voice that makes Lea laugh for hours and--
Well, anyway, Isa doesn't go out at night, but Lea's had a good record with 'eating icecream before dinner' and 'running away after accidentally breaking a window,' so he thinks 'breaking curfew' will be an easy sell.
And it does go easy, relatively speaking, and he drags Isa a few feet out of his house, laughing all the while, and then the moon comes out from behind a cloud and Isa starts to shake.
"It's the wrong shape," he says, and his voice has the rough highlands accent of Isa's parents. "There are thirteen shadows who believe they are people, but their copper-eyed hearts have run away, and Ansem. And Ansem. And Ansem."
The trance breaks, and he stares at Lea in wonder.
"Axel. Didn't you already kill yourself?"
Isa faints then, and Lea barely catches him before he hits the ground.
Challenge: [224] Sublunar
Title: To the Moonrise
Word Count: 255
Spoilers: For the existence of Lea and Isa, a continuation of the previous drabble
Rating: PG
Isa has three hours until he dies.
He doesn't tell Lea this. He doesn't tell Lea much, these days. Just simple things, useful things: where to find food, where the heartless will attack from, where people are hiding.
Which of those people will turn into heartless.
Lea hates Isa's divinations, but he accepts that they're the reason that, of those who couldn't escape, they've survived the best.
Isa presses his thumb to the cut on his brow and traces patterns onto the floor. It's a practical use of the injury he received earlier, though it makes Lea bristle and fuss like a mother hen. The mouse bones jump and sing, make his teeth click and hum like electricity, and they say:
Isa has two hours until he dies.
It's less accurate than the night divinations, but Isa finds it too difficult to break its thrall now, and a night's incapacitation could spell their end as swiftly as a too-vague divination. Isa knows because he's seen it.
Lea thinks his headache is from his injury. He's half right. The moon is getting brighter every night. It pulls and tugs at his mind, inviting him to see everything if only he would give in, and it hurts more and more each night he resists. He's going to lose the battle one night--this night. He's seen that, too.
They have ten minutes until the moon rises.
Isa has one hour until he dies.
Saix has three days before he wakes.
Lea has...
Saix will...
Axel has...
They....
The moon rises.
Challenge: [222] Historical AU
Title: So a Cowboy Walks Into a Bar
Word Count: 130
Spoilers: I have no idea. Spoilers would imply someone can keep track of this part of KHI/KHII
Rating/Warnings: All ages
Notes: As I'm the one hosting this challenge, this is obviously disqualified from voting. I wasn't planning on writing anything, but after mentioning "cowboy Sora" I just couldn't get the idea out of my head. Also, this joke is terrible and should not be read by anyone.
The doors of the saloon swung open, and in walked a cowboy with a head of hair you could hide a herd of cattle in, and shoes big enough to water them all. He sauntered past the man in the cowprint duster polishing his gun, nodded to the older, blond sheriff seated at the next table, flipped a coin into the basket of the silver-haired man playing the piano, and settled himself at the bar.
"What can I get you?" the barman asked, setting down his deck of cards.
"Information," the cowboy said. "I'm looking for a man named Ansem."
The music stopped. The cowboy noticed the cattle rustler, pianist, and sheriff were all staring at him.
"I'm sorry, sir," the barman said smoothly. "I think you'll need to be more specific."
Challenge: [223] The City
Title: City Lights
Word Count: 280
Spoilers: none
Rating/Warnings: All ages, in the same canon as my "The Mayor" stories
This was supposed to be a temporary job, a chance to step away from the demands of the city and design something just for fun. A play island, that's what they wanted.
What Reeve got was an undeveloped island, a pile of random construction supplies, and a trio of teenagers on summer break. He felt an immediate, physical longing to get back on the boat and go home, and he spent the night searching the coast for a hint of the city lights.
But the planks of wood turned into platforms for climbing, and the ropes hung from branches perfect for swinging, and when he woke one morning to the sounds of the boys squabbling over how best to reroute the waterfall or bend the palm tree's growth, and he could smell the fresh scent of Miss Alma's fruit pies baking, and he wanted to reach out and grab hold of time, slow it down so this summer would last.
Eventually, the last nail was hammered, the last rope was tied, the last secret was tucked away for a child to find. There was a party, of course, and all the villagers thanked him, laughed with him, shook his hand and cuffed his head and danced until they were so exhausted, even two of his boys fell asleep on the beach.
The third, Baralai, sat beside him. "You know, sir, I'm interning at the Mayor's office this fall," he said, slowly.
"I'm sure you'll do well," Reeve said, his eyes on the coastline.
"He said he's planning on retiring this year," the boy said. He let what he'd said hang in the air, and went to wake his friends.
And the city lights never seemed so far away.
Challenge: [225] Warmth
Title: Familial Love
Word Count: 225
Warnings: Vague spoilers for KHII, mainly deals with my own headcanon. (There must be some reason Leon was hiding!)
Leon's sister was crazy.
He should have figured it out when he was six and she was eight and she dressed him in ruffles and bows for the first day of school and...
He'd definitely figured it out by the time she was twelve and had said, with a beatific smile, that when she grew up, she wanted to make a place filled with joy and laughter where everyone was always happy, and that's why she wanted to be a bartender.
Everyone should have figured it out after Sephiroth--after Cloud told them he was leaving because it was dangerous to be near him, and she packed her bags and took the first ship after him. Leon discovered she'd left when he read the sticky note she'd attached to the fridge.
Leon didn't know she was back until he heard Yuffie and Aerith giggling louder than usual, and he peeked into Merlin's house and saw her with--oh God, were those photographs?
"Of course, I thought he'd look best with blue ribbons, but he was really attached to the pink, and--" She turned around and gave him a winning grin. "Welcome home!" Tifa chirped, as if he had been the one who'd been away.
Leon slammed the door shut.
Bonus!drabble. Written as a joke when discussing a pastiche challenge
With apologies to William Carlos Williams
I have eaten
the paopu fruit
that were in
the fridge
and which
you were probably
saving
for Kairi
Forgive me
they were delicious
and the juice got all over
my awesome pants like whoa