289Prologue
Opening his eyes, uncertain where he was or what was happening but he found himself surrounded by an icy wasteland, couldn't see anything beyond the blizzard that swirled around him. His amber eyes could hardly see anything at all. The last thing he remembered was going to bed.
Held his hands up in front of his face to keep the wind and debris out of his sight to find anything familiar with. Wearing his grey and white shirt and black pants, only wearing a pair of red shoes, his hair was light copper red and soft spikes stuck out to the sides. Taking a few steps to wherever it was he was going, but anywhere is better than this storm. "Uhh, where am I? Mom! Dad! Riku! Anyone!" Calling for anyone he could find, but no signs of anyone.
The storm slowly died down, he could see a faint shadowy figure slowly appear through the storm.
Then another.
Three more appeared.
Several and many more until the storm died down and he was surrounded by a vast number of the black creatures, their eyes were bright yellow and had bone plate extensions, all had white skull-like masks over their upper faces, there were numerous types of them. Some looked somewhat like wolves, baring their sharp teeth and snarling at him, could see several warthogs, giant scorpions and numerous large avian creatures cycling around them. He could also see a lot dark robed figures standing alongside the monsters, they had a ghostly appearance wearing armour, unable to see their faces at all with some wearing masks and had some strange weapons. The young red head felt his heart beating faster, not liking the way they were all looking at him, waiting for the moment to swarm in like a pack of hungry predators. He was frightened, no weapons to defend himself or how to use magic. No one knew where he was for that matter, and there were no signs of escaping. But what caught his attention, up at the edge of the cliff were a group of several figures standing there. Each had a weapon that looked somewhat familiar to him, but couldn't quite tell where.
Then he heard a rasping high pitch roar that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on ends, crouched down to cover his ears to block out the noise as much as he could. Whatever made that horrific sound came from the vast horde, signaling many to make slowly their way towards him.
"Oh crap!"
This was bad and there was no way to get out of this. They were coming closer and closer, bearing teeth, fangs and claws at him. The cloaked figures drew their weapons, unable to make up what they look like from a distance and too cold to think, but he could see them baring those ghostly eyes at him which were really creepy.
RRRRRRROOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRRHHHHH!
Something just swooped down and fire speared into the coming horde, instantly incinerating the creatures before they had time to react. The fire blocked them, he looked up and there was a large dragon breathing a huge gush of fire at the black birds that tried to attack it with their numbers by their side, however it didn't stop the dragon from going further. With its powerful fiery breath and talons, they were torn to shreds and burned alive, plummeting down towards the horde. The dragon flapped its large wings to stay in flight, gave another roar in victory of its battle and turned its attention towards the boy, now trapped in a ring of fire.
He wasn't sure what's going on and about what was going to happen. It was a powerful and serpentine built with crimson and orange coloured scales, long lashing tail with a majestic tail fin. It again released a breath of fire into the creatures that managed to pass through its flames until it moved closer to the red headed boy in a protective manner. Slowly descended and landed in front of him, staring at him with its reptilian eyes, uncertain what was going on but felt as if he knew the dragon somewhere.
He was about to approach the mighty beast without hesitation...
"TAREN, WILL YOU GET YOUR BUTT OUT OF BED, THIS INSTANT!?"
"AH!" Waking up and gasping when suddenly waking up to find himself in his own bedroom. Sprinted forward in bed, breathing heavily and sweat, realized he was only in his pajama pants finding out it was all a dream. And a frightening one if he ever had one, but was glad it was just that.
"Damn, that was some weird dream." The boy murmured under his breath. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, his heart started to steady its pace and decided to get up after being woken up by his mom. "Coming mom!" Answering her call before she gets mad. Whatever that dream, nightmare or whatever it was, could not be as scary than his mother when she's mad would be enough to frighten him.
Getting dressed and getting breakfast while it was morning, putting on his clothes and sorting out his light jacket. Walks out of the bedroom and makes his way down to the kitchen to see his mom doing some dishes and breakfast. "Hey mom."
He smiles at her until she turns around, causing the teen to shiver a moment revealing her dark red hair that came down to her shoulders and a curvaceous figure, and ocean blue eyes, wearing a white top and black pants. This was Kairi, one of the Seven Princess of Hearts and keyblade master who once took on many adventures with her friends and loved ones, now a wife and mother with a family to raise. Whilst in her early 30s, she still appears youthful and well shaped for her age, possibly due to the training and magic for one of the key factors to stay active, which would come in handy of raising a family.
Taren was born sometime after the Keyblade War and his parents married soon after they were old enough, born and raised in his family's home, Destiny Island. Although not shown any magical traits, he was still a young teen and already inherited some from his father's thirst for seeing other worlds unknown. Making it one of his goals to one day leave home to travel when he's proven himself to others, even as a kid he was using a wooden sword to practice his skills, people started to believe he was becoming the image of his father.
Smiled sheepishly at her, scratching the back of his head. "S-Sorry, I forgot to put my alarm clock on."
"Honestly, Taren waking up isn't so difficult. It's almost 9 in the morning." The mother sighed and couldn't be mad at him for that. Handed him a plate of boiled eggs and toast, along with some milk. "Sometimes, you are just like your father when he was your age." She sighed and ruffled his hair, much to his embarrassment.
"Mom!" Lets out a soft groan, earning a giggle from Kairi. "Speaking of which, where's dad?" Taren asked his mother.
"Both your father and Riku are outside at the training grounds, you may get some chance to do some training with him." Kairi said, knowing it would at least keep her son busy for today to do something besides lounging around in the house. "Finish your breakfast before you go and don't take too long."
Smiles with excitement and grabs his bag with some food before he runs to the door. "Thanks mom! I'll be back later!" Shouting from afar as he ran so fast before she could make him breakfast.
"Wait! Taren, your breakf-" She stopped when she noticed the toast she made for herself was missing, easily concluding that he snatched it up in his hand. Before she could try to catch up, she suddenly stopped and felt her mind racing with images flashing before her vision.
Hordes of black creatures with bone white armor.
A shadowed figure with a metal arm.
A young girl, with fiery red/orange hair and blue wings, also a serpentine dragon made up of fire circling around her.
A demon with a human-like body, horns and spikes protruding out of its body possibly riding a demonic steed.
Her son, wielding a keyblade challenging a large gorilla-like monster.
The Unable to understand what they mean, but Kairi clearly felt they were trying to show her what was going to happen. And she didn't like what it showed her. 'Just... what were they? Are these visions or something?' Mumbling to herself while steadying herself from falling over, rubbing her head as it felt normal again. "Maybe, I should talk to Sora when he gets back." She could be just over reacting a little and that they could've been anything.
Taren walked through the woods, had his hands in his pockets. The teenager wandered through to make way to the training grounds his parents made when they were younger and now it was used for him to get started on his training. Ever since he was very little, Taren couldn't help but dream of traveling to other worlds and hopefully wield his own keyblade to save people after hearing many stories of their adventures. Being only 15 years old and already felt as if he wanted to do something bigger and better than being a normal teenage boy.
Stopping in his tracks he began to think about that dream, or should he call it a nightmare, felt so real: those monsters, the things in cloaks that look somewhat like the undead and those figures standing by the cliff looking down at him made his spine chilly and couldn't escape. And that dragon, it was like he knew it somewhere before, like it was familiar to him. Truth be told, this wasn't the first time, more like third and it got even weirder and creeper with the monsters and that dragon being a new one. 'Whatever that dream, vision, or whatever it was. It was the weirdest dream I ever had.'
"Heads up!"
Snapped from his cloud of thoughts when out of nowhere, he was caught in a strong vice-like grip and lost his footing, and then tossed over several feet before he fell to the ground hard. Thinking fast, he quickly got to his feet and saw a coming swing of a long object coming down at him, Taren threw himself to the side and thinking he could take his opponent by the side but not fast enough since he got struck by a reverse-elbow strike in the stomach which caught him by surprise. Coughed up a little as it didn't hurt too much but caused him to fall on his knees to clutch to his sore chest until he slowly recovered, looking up to see who it was that attacked him. "Letting yourself wide open again? Come on Taren, didn't we teach you how to get out of this a few weeks ago?"
Muttering under his breath he realized who attacked him and was his uncle. Turns his head around to see him and glared at him for a dirty trick. "Ugh, seriously? Couldn't you just try NOT to kill me? That was a dirty trick to attack me like that."
Riku chuckled at his nephew's response after giving him a welcome, letting go of the young teenager and helped him up on his feet. "That's the whole point, you never know who you are facing and how to act in battle." Giving the young red head the basic understanding of self-defense, even if the training has to be rough for the boy but was only fair to make him learn. "But, you did good to dodge the sword, but you need to think fast otherwise you'd be dead. Thought you could attack me by the side." Giving the basic idea of what he was going for and seeing it like an open book.
Taren fully recovered and stood up, looking up at his uncle and mentor to listen to what he did and should not do. "But, didn't expect you to be back home from Radiant Garden, did you finish your trip?"
Riku nodded. "Yeah, but it was only just to check things out, nothing for you to worry about, kiddo. Now to wait for your dad."
"Yeah, late as usua-'' Interrupting his sentence when he heard a rustling noise coming from the trees and a large shadow sprinted towards them, not wanting to fall for the same trick twice the teenager ran towards the approaching figure and raised his foot.
Riku watched what was about to happen and instantly knew who and what it was. "No wait, Taren th-"
"HYAAH!"
It was too late, and his foot planted hard into the face of the attacker, using the strength of his legs to leap off and land back to the ground with ease. Grins at Riku after what he did. "How was that? Seems I did better this time." He said with a more confident tone this time. What confused Taren was when he saw a nervous look on Riku's face.
"Yeah, but I think you might wanna look at who you kicked."
Blinked his eyes in confusion until he found out who it was. Causing his face to turn pale and trying to give a pleasant-but very unconvincing smile. "Ugh! Oh crap! Uhh... h-h-hi... dad." Looking at the twitching and slightly bruised Sora, rubbing the footprint that was on his face and sat up. He had grown much taller and now gained a strong build from the years of using a keyblade and training. Hardly changed a little but his hair still has the spiky hairstyle from his childhood.
"Ow, jeez, either I'm getting a little sloppy or you started to get a little better." Getting himself up on his feet and seeing his nose wasn't broken. "A little rough, don't you think?"
"Hey, Riku just caught me by surprise so I didn't want to fall for the same trick twice." Giving his reply to his dad, relieved he was not too hurt but feels like it would not get him out of trouble.
Sora rubbed his chin and looked at his son, having to admit that was a pretty good kick and how he was learning. "Well that was the basic idea. So, guessing you just woke up then."
"No, had breakfast." Taren replied back, but seeing the looks on his dad and Riku's faces proved they didn't buy it. "Ok, so only a few minutes ago. I kind've overslept." Nervously scratches the back of his head.
Riku starts to chuckle and smiles at Sora. "Oh yeah, he's definitely your kid, Lazy Bum."
"Hey, I haven't slept a lot since I was a kid. And only Kairi can call me that." Sora retorted, he just grew out of the habit, or in everyone's case, Kairi didn't want him to sleep to do some activities as a husband and father to his family.
Riku sighed and shook his head before returning to other matters. "Yeah, anyways let's just get started. You brought the stuff right?"
"Oh yeah, here they are." Sora walked to the bush behind him and pulled out three quarterstaffs for combat training, handed them over to Riku and Taren to get started.
First up was Riku against Taren, starting off slowly to allow him to learn using it. Striking him with both ends and how to block them, it was tricky when being in a defensive position. Getting hit in the chest, shoulder and knee a few times until he slowly got the hang of it but Riku was more experienced in combat when Taren tried to get into an attacking position. Thrusting his staff towards Riku a few times until he managed to build up speed caught him off guard, forcing the silver haired keyblade master to take a few steps and could see the sparks in his eyes to beat him. Taren anticipated it and locked his staff with his, swept his left foot but Riku anticipated it and jumped before swiping the staff away to maintain his stance. What Taren didn't notice was the corner of Riku's lip arched as the younger learner was struck from the back and lost his footing when he was suddenly spinning in mid-air and landed on the ground again.
The boy groaned and slowly got himself up on his knees, unable to comprehend how that happened when he just had Riku wide open. Rubs his he saw his dad behind him, holding his quarterstaff. Confused by his reasons and dusted himself. "Wha...dad, why did..."
"Attack you when facing your opponent?" Sora gave his response, seeing the look on his face that answered his question. "It's because you focused too much facing your opponent but never thought about keeping your guard up at all times if they had back up." Giving a lecture to his son before helping him up.
"That was unfair."
"You're right, it isn't." Riku said. "Not every foe or opponent you face will fight fairly on even grounds. Some rules you have to overlook in order to win. But you seem to have the idea of trying to get me into defense but seem a little off."
"Something bothering you?" Before he did his little stunt, Sora noticed something wasn't right with his son and was concerned for him.
"I-It's nothing dad, I can go for another round." Trying to keep his family out of it, thinking it was only a dream.
Neither of the two adults didn't buy it and knew from their years of experience it was always there for someone, even wanting to be supportive to Taren when he's now a teenager. Sora sighed and put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Taren, no reason to hide anything we're here for you."
The copper haired teen felt a little hesitant until he figured they weren't gonna stop until they know what's up with him. He sighed, and figured why not. Giving them about whatever it was he was dreaming for a while, the horde of monsters, hooded creatures and a dragon.
Sora had a thought of it, since the part of being surrounded by a vast number of monsters sounded like when he and his friends, Donald and Goofy were facing thousands of heartless back in Radiant Garden or was originally Hollow Bastion years ago. "Well, that's an interesting dream."
"No, it felt so real! I don't know why I keep having these dreams but almost like... it was trying to tell me something." Rubs his head to think of it.
Riku was quiet and thought about what they mean, they had years of experience with magic and all things that would've been considered impossible. "Well, I guess we..." Something drew his attention, uncertain what it was but made him stare out in the woods for a moment before turning back to Sora. "Uh, Sora why don't you and Taren head off someplace with more space, I'll catch up with ya."
Sora was confused about what he meant but didn't question him. "Yeah, sure. Come on, son."
"Wait, you sure? Why not-"
"Do as your father says." Riku said with a harsh tone, something that made the boy flinch, never hear him talk like this unless it was something serious. "Now go!"
Taren didn't wait a moment longer and walked alongside his father as they headed off, something must've really spooked him. Watching them leave in a safe distance, summoning his keyblade and glared at the same direction from before and feeling something wasn't right.
Meanwhile the father and son wander through the woods to find a place to continue their lessons, but Taren couldn't help but wonder what made Riku so worked up back there.
"What was up with Riku?" Asking his dad who for some strange reason didn't respond and continued on. "Dad?" This really made him felt uneasy, something was definitely not right. Decided to stop and called out for him again. "Dad!"
This time, Sora stopped and turned to see his son calling out for him. "Wha... sorry, I was a little distracted." Apologies to Taren for ignoring him, but his son didn't seem convinced by it.
Taren could read him like a book and wanted to find out what. "Don't think that I don't know, you guys are hiding something so what's going on?"
"Son, now isn't the time, we need to get your mother and head to Radiant Garden-"
"Wait, Radiant Garden? I thought we were going someplace for training? What's going on?!" Taren glared at him with an inquisitive stare to get answers out of him. This was really confusing and frustrating, he didn't understand why his father would lie about this. Why were they planning to go to his mom's homeworld without him knowing?
Then suddenly, both heard a loud beastly roar that was not far from where the two were, watching birds take the skies for refuge from whatever scared them. The Keyblade master showed a bit of hesitation, knowing his best friend was there and worried about him but was more concerned for his son's safety. Knowing he can't get out of it now and deserved to know. Sora sighed and gave in. "Alright, when we get back home I'll explain everything but right now we have to get out of here." Grabbing his arm and not waiting for a second later, but before they could have a chance a black tear in reality opened up before them, blocking their path. Giving a mist-like appearance, almost similar to a corridor of darkness.
"What the..."
"Oh, l'm afraid I can't let you do that, at least not yet." Stepping out of the portal, a figure clad in a long robe that was entirely of dark earthly brown, unable to see his face but the lower half and grey beard. His arms were hidden behind his back when standing where he was, not taking another step since his entrance.
Sora stood in front of his son and summoned his keyblade before anything happened. "Who are you?"
The hooded stranger gave out a soft chuckle. "I suppose it has been many years since we last fought." Lifted his right hand to stroke his beard, only it wasn't a normal hand, but three metallic blades that made it more of a claw than a hand, connected to a reddish pink orb located to the base of where his wrist should be. "It was someplace we first met, many years ago... Domino, perhaps?" Smiling under his hood when knowing the answer.
Hearing the name caused the keyblade wielder to stagger for a moment, his body couldn't move and his eyes were wide as plates when the realization of this person hit him. Taren didn't know what was going on, but clearly it was to his father as though the name was familiar to him.
"No... it's impossible..."
"Dad? What's wrong? Do you know him?" Taren noticed how pale his dad was, could this guy be an old enemy of his?
The stranger's attention turned to the boy who called out to the spiky haired brunette. "'Dad'?" Taking a closer look, the boy indeed shares physical features to the Keyblade Master from the images of his youth, apart from the red hair. "Ahhh, I see, so much has happened since we fought." Before anyone could react, he brought out his metallic arm to use as a shield against the keyblade that almost had him. Only pushed back a few inches and saw the angry expression on the brunette.
"You won't lay a finger on him!" Sora roared forced him back and but felt the Kingdom Key caught in that clawed grip, preventing him from pulling it away until he pulled it away when a mass of arcane energy coming from the claw engulfed his keyblade and the wielder, trying to fight the pain but was suddenly thrown back by a few feet and landed roughly on his back. Before he could do anything, razor sharp metal tendrils sprouted out of the ground and held him tight
Taren could only watch as his dad was struck by some strange metal appendages that held Sora down. "Dad!" His body felt like he was hit by lightning, unable to move much until his body tried to recover. He could only think of how to help his father get up and find Riku and his mom.
"Taren, stay back!" Sora barked, causing his son to jump and look at him in worry. "Don't do anything, he's too strong for you. Run to your mother and get away from here!"
"B-But dad..."
What could he do, follow his father's instructions or help him, but the problem was he didn't have anything to defend himself but a wooden sword, which would be very unlikely to do anything to hurt this guy. But while he was caught up in his own thoughts, a large shadow loomed over him from behind. Raised its large fist and about to strike down where he was, but Taren was brought back to his senses when he suddenly felt immediate danger, swiftly dodged the coming fist and rolled to the side. Breathing fast as his heart pounded against his chest, unsure what happened or how, but it was as if he knew it was coming. However that was but a tip of the iceberg for something else truly shocked him that made his eyes widen in shock.
"N...N-No way...!"
A few feet from him, pulling its fist out of the crater it just made and standing on all fours with the arms for support, the thing was a large beast, twice the height of a human. It was some sort of gorilla but something was not right about it. It had pitch black fur, or skin since it was so difficult to tell, certain parts of its body was covered in bone-like plates like some sort of armor, its 'mask' or something that looked somewhat like a skull. Bearing its lower jaws look powerful and could bite off an arm with those things. Those cold yellow eyes staring down at him, as if they were seeing his soul.
It looked exactly like the monsters from his dream!
Staggering in fear, his body was quivering, it couldn't be.
It was only a dream!
Was it?
"Th-That's... that..." Taren stutters.
"Incredible, is it not?" He turned to the man from earlier, almost forgot about him as he slowly approached him. "Not anything like the Heartless, but indeed a creature of darkness. A breed of creatures I have found whose sole purpose is to destroy and are bound to my will to serve." The corner of his lip raised and gave a sinister grin. "And what better way to test one of these specimens upon those who did THIS to me!" Raised his metal arm.
Sora couldn't let his son be in any danger, using his keyblade and his strength to break the metal appendages that held him to the ground. "That was your doing! And only yourself to blame for what you've done!"
"Be that as it may, but I still hold to my promise all those years ago." From a distance, both of them could see the ruby eyes under his hood and pointed his metal finger directly at the red haired teenager. "And I will start with your son! Kill him!"
Obeying his will, the beast of darkness started pounding its fists into its broad chest before making a monstrous roar and leapt towards Taron. Throwing its fists at its opponent to snatch or crush him to death, Taron managed to keep away from it and gain distance thanks to the months of training he received, but the problem was it was too damn fast and big to take on. Taren wouldn't stand a chance.
"Taren, I'm coming!" Sora couldn't let the creature hurt Taron, held his keyblade in both hands and came to save him but was intervened by the attacker who summoned it. Clashed his right arm against the Kingdom Key to take the blow.
"Don't think I forgot about you. We have unfinished business!" He proclaimed with the keybearer with a glowing red eye seen under his hood.
Sora glared at him, doesn't care about the vendetta this man held against him years ago, but won't let his son get hurt. Pushed away as he saw a blade made of metal appeared in his talon grasp, the two clashed their blades, determined to get past him and get his son away from him as fast as possible. Both exchanged blows and strikes, clashing their blades into each other to try and overpower the other. Sweeping the blade across and had him in the mid-section, keeping an eye out for any more of those metal tendrils that could pop out of nowhere. Conjured a lightning spell and blasted his foe who shielded himself creating a metallic shield, thinking it was too easy, but he underestimated Sora when he ran to the side with the back unguarded and summoned a hurricane, hurling him across the field. Groaned in pain and slowly gets himself up, glaring at the brunette for such a trick. "Damn, you." Gritting his teeth t
Sora had a small smile on his face as his plan had worked like a charm. It was thanks for all the years of being a keyblade wielder that gave him more understanding of magic and improving his physical skills. Suddenly, out of nowhere something flew past him and landed hard into the ground with its legs sticking out, almost like the one from before but this one appeared smaller. Looked dead since it wasn't moving and began to slowly disintegrate into black mist.
Turned to where it came from and was relieved that it was his best friend, some scratches on his shoulder and arm but in good condition so far. "Sorry I'm late Sora, but I had some... uninvited guests."
"Don't worry, just glad you're ok." Before he could ask what that thing was, another portal opened next to his opponent, very likely his escape route.
Getting back on his feet and wiping the dust from his coat before he makes his way to the portal. "Appears I must leave you now, gentlemen but know this, I have other businesses to attend to. Watch out for the Grimm." Taking a step into the blackness, just before Sora could have the chance to thrust his blade into his chest but was not so quick. The portal vanished, leaving the two alone.
"Who the hell was that?" Riku was confused, uncertain what was going on after he fought those monsters and perhaps his friend had gotten some answers.
Sora turned to Riku, knowing he was confused but more concerned for his son's safety. Using some of his healing spells to fix Riku up but couldn't have time for they have other problems. "I'll explain on the way. But right now, Taren is in greater danger."
Not wasting another second and ran as fast as they could to save him. Hoping they were not too late.
The ape-like monstrosity has chased Taren through the forests, throwing whatever large heavy objects it can find as projectiles: rock, trees or anything heavy would do. Stopped its pursuit, grabbing the nearest tree and pulling it out from the ground too. Taren stopped and witnessed how strong that monster was, holding a large tree in both hands. Tossed it in mid-air and fell back down, not stopping but rolled faster towards Taren.
Taren managed to survive it by rolling himself out of the way before it could crush him. He was too sore and tired to keep going, fell on one knee to rest, only for the worst luck ever was he was at the edge of the cliff, nowhere to escape and too high to dive into the shallow oceans. He looked up at the monster that just slowly made its way to him. Feeling the rising emotion of fear taking hold, this thing from his dreams or nightmares, whatever the hell it was, is VERY real and is about to kill him!
Stomping its knuckles into the ground, approaching its prey and breathing through the nostrils.
'What can I do?! That thing's coming towards me! Dad and Riku couldn't be far behind! Mom is too far away and... Mom! She could be in danger if someone like that hooded freak is after both her and dad!' Hearing it coming closer, now louder he closed his eyes and started to doubt himself. All those years he looked up to his parents and wanted to follow in his father's footsteps, see many worlds his family never heard or seen, meet new faces and maybe... someone who was right for him. It was stupid but he was a teenager who was starting to wonder about them and had hoped maybe...
"Don't give up Taren!"
Suddenly a woman's voice just spoke out, snapping him out of his sorrow and blinking his eyes. 'The hell?' Looking around to find who said that, there was no one but himself and the big brute, which was only a few feet away now. "Who... who said that?" Looking back at the monster, a moment ago he was just thinking how pathetic and weak he was. But, now it was gone, replaced by determination and beating the monster's ass. His eyes narrowed and slowly got up on his feet. Taren couldn't let this thing hurt anyone he cared for, this thing would go after his parents, his friends and anyone who couldn't. 'No! There's no way, I'm going down easy, if I'm not a keyblade wielder, then I gotta do something!' Giving the glare at the beast, balling his fists ever so tight and knowing he was going to do something incredibly stupid but didn't give a damn.
"Hey! You pea-brained bastard!" Calling out to the ape monster, which suddenly stopped and seemed to ponder what he was doing. "I don't know what you are or who that guy is..." Looking towards the monster, glaring directly into its glowing eyes as he continues. "But I'm not letting you leave in one piece. I'm gonna send you back to whatever hell hole you came out of! And I'll protect everyone I care for from you monsters! Including that old bastard! That's a promise!"
The growing sensation built up inside him, no longer caring how powerful this thing was but he was going to find that bastard and make him pay for threatening his family. Out of nowhere, a bright light came from below, forcing the red head to block his eyes with his left hand. "What the..." The light lasted only for a few seconds, confused of what was going on and then saw what was, and there in his hand was something that made him feel loss for words and felt his heart pound rapidly.
"No... no way... is this...?" Looked up for a moment and noticed the beast stopped and looked at him, for a second it looked somewhat more feral and mad, gave a snarl and unleashed a mighty roar, taking this as some sort of a threat. Hurled its heavy body in the air and came straight towards him, bearing its sharp fangs and tusks, its hands be used to attack.
From a distance a bright light engulfed the whole area, just not far from Sora and Riku who only just came to see something had happened, a pillar of light shot out from the ground, almost becoming some sort of a dragon flying high into the sky until it vanished to where ever it was going.
By the time they arrived, only found traces of a fight, yet no sign of Taren anywhere.
Sora had no idea why… but something told him that dragon-like spectra had something to do with his son. He could only hope Taren would be safe, where ever he is.
Opening his eyes as the redhead sat up, threw his head up to grasp for air. Taking a moment to calm down and try to remember what happened, he noticed that he was in some sort of large room, finding himself laid on a piece of furniture, trying to get himself to his feet but still sore. "Ugh, what just happened? Where am I?" That sort of hit him when he was someplace unfamiliar to him, but there were a lot of books, maybe some study but with knight armors, weapons in glass cases and several attires from different cultures, maybe historical items for display.
"Good of you to be awake, lad." Taren looked over and stood by the doors was a man, possibly middle-aged or older by his grey hair and a beard but appears to be in top shape by his strong frame, wearing a black long coat with red under it, clad in a black bulletproof chest and light armored strapped to his lower legs.
Taren didn't know who this guy was, he may be one of them that attacked his home and kidnapped him. "Who are you? And where am I?" Keeping his distance from the stranger, but was still feeling groggy after being attacked by those monsters. Showing no signs of fear, trying to find something to defend himself.
"No need to fear, you're someplace safe thanks to your parents." The man assured him, understanding the boy was confused and probably frightened. "But, I would rather not stand so sudden if I were you, lad. Attacked by Grimm isn't so easy to handle, especially a Beringel when they are always the most aggressive types."
Grimm? Beringel? Those names were unfamiliar to him, were they some sort of Heartless, he knew of some creatures his parents fought in the past but never heard of them. "I-I don't know what your-"
"I understand that you are confused, the Grimm haven't been active for a long time until recently."
Taren looked up at him, now wanting to know what was going on. "What are they? Some kind of Heartless?"
The man shook his head in response to the boy's question. "Not really. But they are manifestations of the darkness in some manner. But, we should get you something to eat first, probably famished while our guests are waiting." He turns to the door and walks out of the room, expecting the young boy to follow.
"Guests? Wait, uh, w-who are you?"
The man stops just by the door and looks over his shoulder to see him. "They call me... Macbeth."