13Chapter 3: In the Jungle
"Fire! Fire!"
I shot two fireballs at the wall, causing the Gummi Blocks to break away and fall to the ground. Thankfully I just picked them back up and they stuck back into the wall perfectly, like jelly.
"Gummi's are fascinating..." I couldn't help but think aloud as I studied the wall. I was currently in a 'training room' in the Gummi Ship practicing my usage of magic, which was only Fire at this point. Clara had tried teaching me other things like Blizzard and Cure, but it just didn't come naturally. It was obviously because of the Guardiarm that I was able to use Magic, meaning the answer lay within its Synthesis. I felt so incredibly giddy just waiting to find out more about it!
"Hey there." I turned as Clara walked through the door, still smiling. "How's it going?"
"Good, I think. I've gotten used to casting it. I just can't improve my MP right now." I admitted.
"Give it time. Getting better at magic is the same as getting better at anything."
"I'm just kind of excited, I mean, I can use Magic now!" I told her. "I wonder if I can figure out how it works?"
"Good luck wi' that." Oswald chuckled as he walked in. "I've been trying to explain Magic using science for ages. Zero luck."
"Huh...wait, if you're here, who's driving the ship?" I asked.
"Auto-Pilot. Very handy." He nodded.
"Hmmm, I feel like I should go check things out, just in case." I mumbled, heading out of the room.
"There's nothin' ta worry about, Nox." Oswald insisted.
"I know, I just-woah!" I gasped as I got into the cockpit and saw a world approaching. It looked like a sphere covered in lush foliage and waterfalls. "Is that a new world!?"
"It is!" Clara pointed excitedly. "I've never seen that one before!"
"It's a jungle! I've never seen a jungle before!" I cried out excitedly.
"Well, there's always a chance the Door to Light is there." Oswald reasoned as he took the wheel.
"Ah! Let me strap in this time!" I cried as I hurried to my seat.
I held onto my seat this time as the ship shot into the world, and we stopped in the air, above a lush foliage.
"A real jungle! Let's go!" I cried excitedly as the Gummi Ship descended down and we hopped out onto tree branches. "This is so cool! Look at these trees! They're giant! And look at this flower! I don't even know what it is!"
"He's like a junior in a jungle gym." Oswald chuckled.
"You really like this, Nox?" Clara asked sweetly.
"Yeah! I mean, I've lived in Traverse Town as far back as I can remember, I've never seen a forest, let alone a jungle! Look at all these different types of nature!" I took a deep breath in. "Even the air smells different! It's so clean, and slightly smelly!"
"Right then! Time to explore for the Door of Light!" Clara cheered.
In my excitement I activated the Guardiarm and stretched the whips up to the tallest branch I could grab onto, pulling myself up and looking around. It was nothing but jungles, foliage and waterfalls, and beyond that, clear blue ocean.
"This place is incredible...it looks so huge!" I giggled, before realising something. "Oooooh god, this is really high up!"
I hung on a bit tighter, when I noticed something. It looked like...some kind of giant treehouse? Suspended on top of the trees.
"A treehouse? So people actually live here?" I wondered.
"Hey, Nox! Are you okay?" Clara called up.
"Yeah! I actually see a treehouse!" I called down. "Maybe someone lives there who could show us around!"
"Worth a go, I suppose." Oswald figured as I lowered myself down. "Lead the way."
Deep Jungle
We began running through the dense treetops towards the treehouse. Though it was kinda difficult with all the foliage.
"This place feels gigantic." I said.
"Not helpin' is that we haven't seen anything other then trees." Oswald said.
"Maybe we'll run into some Heartless to destroy!" Clara beamed.
"Seriously, don't say it like that." Oswald grimaced.
It was then that I noticed a large figure inbetween some trees. "Hey, I think I see someone!"
"Really?" Oswald asked as we all looked over. "Hmm...seems kinda fat. Must be a gorilla or something."
"Hey! Who's you callin' a gorilla!?" The figure suddenly yelled.
"It talked!" Oswald cried out overdramatically.
"Oswald..." I mumbled.
Then, the figure jumped through the trees and in front of us. And Oswald was right, he was fat, all stuffed inside some kind of blue and red jumpsuit, with a stretched chin and sharp, horn like ears, but with a kinda dumb looking face.
"Who d'ya think you pipsqueaks are, talkin' about me like dat!?" The guy questioned angrily.
"I'm thinking we're skinny. Unlike some." Oswald snarked.
"You got a big mouth on ya for such a shrimp." The guy growled. "...A kinda familiar shrimp...hmm..."
"Um, guys...his appearance." Clara spoke.
"Yeah...you're not from this world, are ya?" Oswald accused.
"Oh, so you's can tell that, can ya?" He said.
"To be fair, you kind of stick out in this jungle." I added. "Are you a world traveller too?"
"Well ya see, the ting is-wait! I'm not supposed to tell you punks nothin'!" He said. "I gots a job to be doing, and I can't find any good candidates anywhere! No way your shrimp little selves are gonna do either...I'm gonna have to keep looking!" He then did a jump right over us and into the foliage!
"Hey, wait!" I tried to give chase, but he was already lost in the greenery. "What on earth was that about?"
Oswald folded his arms. "Dunno, but it might be trouble. He seemed kinda familiar for some reason, too."
"If he can travel between worlds, he must be special somehow." Clara said. "Let's cross our fingers that we run into him again."
"We're gonna need to in order to find him here." I figured.
We did arrive at the tree house and had a look around inside, but it was evident the place was deserted from all the destroyed furniture, and the dust.
"Nobody here." I stated.
"If somebody built it, somebody USED to be here, which means this world can't be deserted." Oswald said.
"Or maybe they all died!" Clara spoke up.
We both looked at her ever-present smile, and I leaned down to Oswald. "Is she always like this?"
"Sometimes. The creepiness comes and goes." He whispered back.
Just then, Heartless suddenly jumped in through the broken windows! Only they looked like monkeys! I named these guys Powerwild's, because Manicey sounded weird.
"Heartless!" We got out our weapons as we prepared for battle.
These Heartless were much more wild then the ones we'd faced previously (shocking, I know). They bounced off the walls and leapt down on us claws flailing madly, forcing me to block with the Guardiarm as I backed away.
"Fire!" I shot a fireball at one which knocked it to the ground. I then g rabbed it by the tail and wung it over my head like a club, beating more up with the one I had until they were all defeated.
"That looks like all of 'em." Oswald said as he squashed the last one underneath his Wrench, whilst Clara vacuumed up the goodies.
"These ones just dropped regular Shadow Shards..." I mumbled as I picked them up.
"Where Heartless are, hearts are. There's gotta be people around here." Oswald reasoned.
"Um, guys?" Clara pointed to the door.
Looking inside was a gorilla with dark fur, staring cautiously.
"Huh...you were right about gorillas, Oswald." I said.
"People or primates I guess. Life has been found." Oswald declared...just as the gorilla turned and ran.
"The life is getting away." I pointed dumbly.
"Then let's follow!" Oswald beckoned as we all ran out, and watched as it jumped into the foliage. "Alright, since everybody seems to be doing it, we're umping down too!"
"Wait, seriously!? What if we fall to our deaths!?" I gasped.
"Plenty of trees to grab onto." Clara figured.
"Fine then, I'll go first." Oswald said as he jumped in. "...Hey guys! There's this giant trunk heeeeere! Wooooah!"
"Oswald!?" I jumped in after him, and landed on a long, winding trunk, which I began sliding down! "Wh-whaaaaaaat!?"
Now all three of us were surfing down this trunk, trees whizzing past us as the sky stretched above us.
"Ha ha! We're riding a tree, guys!" Oswald laughed.
"Th-This is-!" I was having trouble keeping balance!
"Wheeeee!" Clara was enjoying herself at least.
"I think I see the end coming up!" Oswald called. "Get ready!"
"I'm not! I'm not!" I panicked. "Aaaaaahhhhh!"
The end of the tree was literally the end! We fell of the edge and began falling, until we splashed into water! I pulled myself out and gasped for air before luckily being able to stand up, the water being knee high.
"Let's do that again!" Clara laughed.
"Agh, I'm all wet." I shook my head, when I realised something. "Oswald! Is your wrench okay!?"
"Please, do you doubt me?" He said. "I made sure to make it waterproof." He then proceeded to wring out his ears.
Looking around, we seemed to be surrounded by waterfalls. A group of elephants were also walking around in the water.
"First gorillas, now elephants." Clara noted. "Maybe they can talk."
"Animals can talk in other worlds?" I questioned.
"Ahem." Oswald coughed.
"Oh...sorry." I mumbled.
"In some worlds, yes. But I haven't heard anybody speak so far, have you?" He said.
"You tell me, you're the one with the ears." I pointed out.
"Marvellous, aren't they?...Wait..." His ears actually perked up. "I hear talking!"
"Really?" I asked.
"Yeah...this way!" He pointed.
We waded through the water and ended up running through some bamboo shoots, until we reached a small camp. It was simple, but also pretty messy with different apparatuses and equipment next to a tent.
"A camp. Somebody must live here." I said.
"Talkin's coming from in here." Oswald pointed to the tent, when suddenly a man came out of it. "Woooah, hello!"
And...well, he was a guy. A guy that was only dressed in a loincloth, walking on his knuckles and carrying a spear.
"Okay then..." Oswald backed away. "Should I have expected that?"
"That voice...!" A voice inside of the tent said.
"That voice!" I gasped.
"Sir Oswald!" Suddenly, Goofy and Donald burst out of the tent, followed by Sora!
"You two!" Oswald gasped.
"And Sora!" I added.
"Hey, it's you guys!" Sora exclaimed.
"Oh, are these friends of yours?" Then, a woman wearing a simple white shirt and brown dress emerged from the tent.
"Yeah. This is Nox, Oswald and Clara." Sora introduced us.
"So you must be part of the same exploration group." The woman figured. "My name is Jane. I'm here researching gorillas with my father, and our bodyguard, Clayton."
"Sora! Refer to him as SIR Oswald!" Donald insisted.
"I don't have to listen to you!" Sora argued.
"Uh...Goofy, what's with them?" Oswald asked.
"Oh, they had a bit of a fight, Sir Oswald." Goofy said.
"That's bad!" Clara gasped.
"Hey, it's alright." I assured her. "Friends do have fights sometimes."
"Really?" She seemed to ponder that, weirdly.
"Anyway, you guys are looking for the Door to the Light here, right?" Sora asked.
"That's right." Oswald nodded.
"We've been roped into gorilla seeking." Donald muttered.
"Willingly helping." Sora insisted.
"Gorilla seeking?" I echoed.
"Yes, that's what we came here to study my father and me." Jane said. "The thing is, I've been incredibly worried, what with Clayton's behaviour, and all of these nasty Heartless creatures appearing. That's why I've asked for their help alongside Tarzan."
"Tarzan, wouldn't happen to be this guy, would it?" Oswald recoiled as the hunched man sniffed him.
"That's right. He lives among the gorillas." Jane explained. "He is our closest lead to studying them."
"Gorillas aren't really my thing, but I can respect your studies." Oswald said, as I nodded.
"Really? Then, would you also be willing to help?" She asked.
"What's the problem?" I asked.
"Sora's group and Tarzan are going to take me to find some Gorillas." Jane explained. "But my father and Clayton have gone off searching on their own, and with the Heartless around..."
"It's understandable that you're worried." Oswald figured. "We were looking around anyway, so we can search for your dad and this Clayton guy. Should be easy as long as they're...y'know, human."
"Is it okay to be...going around helping people in other worlds?" I whispered.
"World travelling has one golden rule; don't let anybody know you're from another world." Oswald said. "Apart from that, we're practically free. She did the work for us, thinking we're some kinda research team. Besides, what kinda guy ignores a damsel in distress?"
"Do you ignore that, Nox?" Clara questioned.
"What? No, I wasn't suggesting that." I defended myself. "I was just wondering, that's all."
"I'll leave the rest in your capable hands, then." Oswald nodded.
"You can count on us, Sir Oswald!" Goofy saluted.
"We'll meet up back here when we're done." I told Sora.
"Sounds like a plan." He agreed.
"There's another path branching off from those waterfalls. Let's start there." Clara suggested.
"Okay." I nodded.
So we headed back the way we came and diverted from Sora's group, and ended up climbing up some vines into a thick canopy.
"Seriously, what's you relationship with Donald and Goofy?" I pestered Oswald.
"I'm just a friend of their friend. They take it way too seriously though." Oswald said.
"Nox!" Before I could retort me and Oswald turned to look at Clara. "I...um...I think you smell!"
Me and Oswald just stared at her blankly.
"...Was...that too much?" She asked innocently.
"What was that meant to be?" I questioned.
"Well, you said that friends fight sometimes. So I thought if we fought a bit, we'd make up and become better friends." She figured.
"...Oh...Clara, we don't need to fight to be better friends." I told her. "I guess just being together makes us better friends."
"Really? That's even better!" She beamed.
I knelt down to Oswald. "Seriously? She was confused by that?"
"There are some things which are new or different to her." He whispered back. "Concepts she doesn't understand. I think it has to do with her life in her world."
"Does she talk about it?"
"Not really. And I don't wanna pry, seems to be a sensitive subject."
"What are you two doing?" She asked.
"Nothing." We both stated as we stood up.
"In that case, shall we get going?" She said as she walked past us.
Me and Oswald looked at each other and shrugged before hurrying after her. We continued on and finally came to a thick canopy covered in moss, with hollowed out trunks and nests all over.
"This place looks like..." I mumbled.
"Where the gorillas live, ya reckon? Me too." Oswald said.
"Think Jane's father is here?" I wondered aloud, when suddenly a scream filled the area! "That's our answer!"
We rushed over and saw a man dressed in explorer gear cowering from a group of Powerwild's, and orange variants wearing bows and carrying slings that I named Bouncywild's.
"Heartless attack!" Clara declared as her Familiar flew forward and bit down on the head of a Powerwild.
"Leave it to us, then!" Oswald declared as he batted away another Powerwild.
"Right! Time to-OW!" I cried out as something ht me in the face. Turned out it was a stone shot by a Bouncywild, who was now giggling mischievously. "Why you-ahhhh!"
As I went to rush it, I had slipped on a banana peel of all things, much to the amusement of the other Powerwild's.
"Cheeky little-!" I shot the Guardiarm forward and decked one in the face, before slapping away the other two
"Come back here you-!" Oswald was chasing after a Bouncywild that was avoiding him and pelting him with rocks. It taunted him by dancing, but was suddenly tackled to the ground by Clara's Familiar so that Oswald could crush it with his wrench.
"You're welcome." She said.
"I could've handled it myself." He defended himself. "I just didn't wanna waste my MP."
I finished off the last Bouncywild by hammering it with my arm. "These Heartless...their behaviour is more mischievous then others...do Heartless act differently too? But if so...what causes that if they don't have a heart?"
"Hey, Nox!" Oswald waved. "We found him! Cowering over here!"
We gathered around the rather small, white moustached man in traditional adventurer gear s he gathered his bearings.
"Oh thank you. I must admit, I thought I was a goner for a moment there." He admitted.
"Are you Jane's father?" I asked.
"You know my daughter? How wonderful!" He clapped. "My name is Dr. Archimedes Q. Porter. But, you can just use my title of Professor, if that is easier."
"Jane sent us to come and find ya. She was gettin' worried." Oswald said.
"Oh dear, I didn't mean to worry her." He said. "I was just out doing a bit of field research, and I was fortunate enough to come across this area. It seems to be a home for gorillas, but the only thing I found were all those blasted creatures."
"Do you think the gorillas fled from the Heartless?" Clara wondered.
"Most likely." Oswald nodded. "In any case, we should get you back to camp."
"I believe that would be best." He agreed. "I don't think I could stand any more of those monsters appearing. And I could really go for a cup of tea."
We began heading back the way we came, when suddenly a loud noise cracked through the air.
"What was that!?" I gasped.
"It sounded like a gunshot!" The Professor gasped.
"Let's go!" Oswald said as we hurried on.
Info
Nox's infobox colour is Gold. His current Guardiarm is the Partner Arm.
Oswald's infobox colour is Purple. His current Wrench is the Oswald Original.
Clara's infobox colour is Pink. Her cureent Familiar is the Little Imp.
Any allies the group get has a Silver infobox.
Updating Vision Mix...it's been a while.
But I've been listening to 'Face my Fears' a lot and I'm in the Kingdom Hearts mood with 3 only one month away...hopefully...please let it be just one month away.
But another reason. This can be considered a Christmas present for one of my most loyal readers, ScalchopWarrior. She likes this story and since I'm in the mood, I might as well dedicate this chapter to her. Merry Christmas.
Also, a major thing to those of you who have read this story before; I did a massive change and changed one of the characters, namely Oswald, from an original character I had. Why is this? Well, I wanted to include a Disney character in the trio, and I feel Oswald needs more love. So yeah, I updates the previous two chapters as well. Quite a bit of work. But it was worth it I feel.
With all that said, next chapter is the rest of Deep Jungle. See ya then.