It seems like so long ago when all this started...

Was I ever that young?

Was I ever that naive?

Was I ever that... innocent?

All I know is that one day, my world couldn't have made me happier. I had my friends... I had my crush... I had my home... I had everything in the world to be thankful for and I took nothing for granted.

And then the darkness came.

I wandered through darkness, lost and alone. It felt like forever...

Then I was reunited, and my hero came for me. And for a few brief moments I was happy yet again. And then once more, I was torn from the ones I loved and I was tossed... not into darkness, but back into the light.

And do you know what I found out?

Without someone to care for... the light is nothing but shadow.



K I N G D O M - K N I G H T S
The Shadow Of Light

C H A P T E R - 1
The Mind Of The Universe


"Yea? I'm here. What do you want?"

"Forgive me... I've been flying around in space too long. You have any idea how hard this place was to find?"

"It's the technology. It kept it off any and all of our sensors, I only found it because Tomogui's spirit sensed the spirits of the Chozo."

"He's doing fine. I brought along... an ample supply of food for him."

"No, I don't think it's disturbing in the least."

"Well that's your opinion. Now what did you contact me for?"

"Did she now? So be it. I will watch them... if they look like they are going to pose a threat, I'll eliminate them."

"WHAT?!"

"...You must be joking."

"And they havent? Well... I suppose it isn't a wonder they both were drawn here. Phazon has that kind of power... even if they don't realize it."

"Yes. I understand. I'll take care of it."

*click*

"A keyblade... a keymaster... and a heartless? Uncanny..."

"Tomogui! Finish with that meal. We have work to do..."


=======================

Planet Tallon IV
Location - Chozo Ruins

The planet chozo has a history, however that history has been hidden in the decay of the once great ruins that was the main Chozo Temple on the planet of Tallon IV. The Chozo were a strong race, proud, high psonic abilites, and even higher levels of technology.

Today, that technology has been all but erased here. 15 years ago, a comet struck this once glorius planet, and the radition encased within it spread through the viens of the planet like a poison. It killed off the Chozo, and mutated nearly every species on the planet. Back then, it all seemed like it would come to an end for the Chozo, that there would be none left to save it's ways.

Then came the Hunter. Alone, she drove off the Pirates that infested the planet, there to mine and plunder what they named Phazon, the radiation within the comet. She saved and stored all of the Chozo technology, and defeated the source of the Phazon only known as Metroid Prime.

After this, the Phazon on the planet all but disapeared. Some say it was mined away by Pirates that snuck back after the Hunter left. Some say that without the source, the Phazon integrated into the ecology and became part of the planet. Either case, Tallon IV is now a wild life preservation and lush with the wonders of nature... or so it seems.

But something stirs deep within the planet's core...

Something that is reacting to a hidden threat...

Something... dark...

=======================

Birds... so many birds. They're all singing, they're all happy. The flocking birds of Tallon IV soar around the ruins of what was once the mighty Chozo Temple, but they are not the only creatures that dwell here today.

To most who may look, (and those who would care are nothing more than tourists and archeologists,) it would seem to be the shadow of a bird passing under the sun. A shadow in the shape of a bird with wings... however when that shadow gets down into the crater of the temple, it changes...

This... Shadow... takes a form. A sloped small form that may not be nothing more than a child in the eyes of another. Today though, he's not being watched by anyone who would think it a child. Today, he's being watched by a Kender... a Kender with a very powerful blade.

Some years ago, it cannot recall when, this shadow creature landed on Tallon IV and hid from the view of others for quite a long time, only watching, only barely existing. And it got by, it learned, it changed, and it became more than just a shadow of a life.

Today is different however. Today it awoke with a threat aching in the back of his mind, pushing at his eyes. His senses told him where to go to find the threat, to find the pulse, to find something that might just yield... answers... memories... life.

But to those watching the shadow... they only feel that it is the threat they felt when they passed by this planet in thier ship. So they landed, and they followed thier senses, and now... they see a creature that both of them know... somewhere in the back of thier minds they know they've seen it before, and looking at it makes thier minds run cold.

There is but one path to answers...

And the Shadow is walking it...

Walking down into the ruins...

Walking down the path... that will lead them all... to something great... and to something horrible as well...

This is...

The path of the Mind Of The Universe...

Laria fixes her dull hazel eyes upon the small creature, not entirely sure of the reason why she does so. Both familiar and strange, the sight of the living shadow made her head throb, and yet still, despite her best efforts, the answer refuses to come.

Shaking her head side to side, she causes her short, dark red hair to swing down in front of her eyes as she pulls her ash gray cloak tightly about her and sets out after the shadow. Motioning for her companion to follow, she whispers, "Do you... recognize it?"

(OOC: Umm... to follow? You aren't holding me?)

"Ugh, I don't like that feeling... I could almost recall..." The deep, smooth, intimidating sound of Xara's voice stops for a moment. "Dammit... Somehow trying to remember it gives me a headache... I have this inexplicable urge to tear it to shreds. I don't like that crater... I'm getting a very bad feeling off of it. This whole area reaks of poisoned souls. Be on your guard."

Awaikage sniffs and studies the ground as he scurries along. Drawn to this place, why? Is there answers here?

His small head shoots up, as he thinks he hears something, but his dull senses cant detect anything. He continues his shuffling walk.

"Poisoned souls..?" The source of the other voice, a keyblade, appears in Laria's hand. "Poisoned souls or no, I still get what you mean. There's something... unnerving about that thing." She begins rubbing her thumb back and foreth across the keyblade's hilt, a nervous tick of hers. "The question is, do we follow it, or confront it?"

"The urge to kill is somewhat overbearing," he says through grit teeth, even though he has none, "but perhas it is best to not simply give in to our urges... Especially since we don't even know how powerful it is. I think it is best we tail it for a bit and see if we can determine what it is up to."

Laria nods, and continues to try and keep far enough behind the creature to avoid being spotted. They could wait to see where it's going before deciding on a plan of action.

However something Laria and Xara were not expecting happens... as much as they were drawn to the planet by sensing this shadow... it seems the shadow can also sense them.

It's a dull pulse first for Awaikage, but as the blade appears in Laira's hands he feels it like you feel a compression wave from an M-80. Awaikage knows not what the blade accually is, but just seeing it makes his 'blood' run cold.

He turns about and faces right where Laria and Xara are hiding, staring right at them and they realize it knows exactly where they are now. But something feels strange... stranger than that nagging feeling that they should know what this thing is... is the feeling that instead of a lifeless set of eyes glaring back at them, there are eyes filled with a cunning and intelegence that seems extremly out of place on a creature such as this...

Xara growls. "Damn... Well, I guess that rules out sneaking, doesn't it? I suppose it doesn't seem like the typical mindless monster, but that could mean it's all the more dangerous. I suppose we could try talking to it."

"I'd rather not... we've got no reason to confront it directly yet. Besides..." She pauses for a moment, trying to think how best to say this. "I... I'd rather just see where it's going, if it's all the same to you."

Awaikage stares at the spot where the chilled feeling comes from, and simply watches. His eyes seem strange, a white circle in them, and a raised vein surface surrounding them.

OOC: hey, you say i have byakugan, im gonna have it SHOWN as such. ^^

OOC - You can use Byakugan rp like the real thing.

Awaikage sees right through the bush and spots the Keymaster and her blade, and the sight of the blade makes his shadowy flesh break out in a cold sweat. He does not know quite why, but he feels that that blade can somehow hurt him... deeply. The question is... will it?

Before Laria and Xara can go any further, a huge earthquake rocks the area. The lip of the crater crumbles and sends Laria and Xara tumbling down into the center of it, followed soon by Awaikage whose shadow form cannot allow him to defy gravity. All three tumble down the crater for what seems like an age before slamming into the bottom, sore and shaken.

As they stand in the barren bottom of the crater, there is another Earthquake strong enough to make the edges of the crater collapse in on themselves, falling down into the ground below and forming a very steep and very tall cliff. The three now stand inside huge bowl, the lips of which are far to high to teleport or fly too. For the moment... they are stuck.

"SON OF A-" Xara shouts as the ground below them gives way. He remains quiet on the way down. Of course, he's a sword, and being held in someone else's hand, so the fall does not affect him as much as the others. Of course, she wasn't able to keep ahold of him the whole way.

Once they all lay on the bottom, the sword wriggles strangely for a second, and manages to almost stand up on its hilt. "Wonderful, just wonderful," Xara growls. "Well, whatever it is, we're stuck down here with it. Can you stand, Laria? And you, shadow, just... who or what are you?"

After a few moments, he comments, "The scent of poisoned souls is weaker down here.... However, I believe I smell the poison... Something bad is definitely approaching..."

It's probably fortunate that Laria dropped Xara as the ground fell away beneath her, because her first reaction after landing proves to be one of hostility. "I knew it was a trap!" At first frantically searching for her weapon to defend herself, she slowly begins to calm down as she realizes that while she'd been fumbling on the ground, the shadow had failed to attack.

Still on guard, but calmer now, she moves close to Xara and stares down at the little creature. "Okay, maybe not a trap..." Taking a second to clear her thought of the insecurity brought on by the its presence, she asks, "Okay, if not a trap, then what? What are you doing here?"

Awaikage cringes back. "W-who are you? What is that thing? I just search, I try to find things. What do you want with me?"