Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep Novel

STORY 1: LAND OF DEPARTURE ( Part 1 )

Written by: Kanemaki Tomoco
Original Plan: Nomura Tetsuya and Oka Masaru
Illustration: Amano Shiro
Translations: Goldpanner
Copyrighted by Disney Enterprises, Inc and Square Enix. No profits are gained from these unofficial fan translations.

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The old man was looking up at the sky. The night-darkened wasteland was empty save for the wind. The sky, however, was filled with thousands and thousands of stars. One of those stars seemed to glow brighter than all the rest, and then it slid through the sky, falling.

The old man had already known that tonight there would be falling stars. On each star dwelled a world. Stars falling meant the worlds were changing.

"Vanitas—are your preparations complete?"

A boy stood next to the old man. The boy, Vanitas, was also looking up at the shooting stars. His hair was as jet black as the darkness of night.

The old man clapped Vanitas on the shoulder. "We'll be up early tomorrow, so go take a short rest."

A glint took residence in Vanitas' eyes, as if he'd realised something. "You know I don't give a damn about going without sleep for a day or two," he grinned.

The old man—Master Xehanort—also smiled. "Our story begins now, Vanitas."

"Story...? Piece of cake," Vanitas answered, putting on the mask he'd been holding to his side before looking back up at the stars. The old man scoffed.

Stars streaked across the sky.

One—two, three...

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A boy stared up at his ceiling in a trance. Striking blue eyes blinked out from under fairly long golden hair.

I have to hurry up and drop off. But no matter how hard I try to make it happen, I just can't sleep. There are too many thoughts floating in and out of my head. Tomorrow is the Mark of Mastery Exam.

The boy himself wasn't taking that exam, though. His two important friends were.

Master—short for Keyblade Master—was a title earned by worthy warriors who wielded the Keyblade.

The boy—Ventus—sat up in bed, and heaved a sigh.

He and his two friends were working hard to become Keyblade Masters, training every day. They were both older than Ventus, or Ven, and he held no ill will concerning the fact that his two friends, who had been training for a very long time, were getting to take the exam before him. He did feel some sort of vague foreboding, however.

I'm worried. Why, I have no idea. There's no way my two friends—Terra and Aqua—will fail the exam. Even so, I can't shake this feeling.

Just then, something glittered outside his window.

"A shooting star!"

Ven stared up at the sky, face practically glued to the windowpane. Shooting star after shooting star was streaking across the sky. He wanted to see them closer up.

I feel like I've seen this before...

Ven flew from the room and down the stairs into the garden, to stare up at the sky. He could see the stars falling between the shapes of distant mountains, but he didn't have a very good view from here.

Ven broke into a run again. He wanted to see them from even closer. Maybe he could see them even better if he went somewhere closer to the sky. He ran up an incline that led to the top of a mountain, panting for breath. The night air was a little chilly.