A Heart Unbound

Chapter 2: The Poisoned Apple

I stayed close to Sora as we walked through the unfamiliar world, for I had been scarred by the excruciating pain of my heart back in Twilight Town. We walked down a pathway in between two cliffs. The bypath eventually led to a mine that contained the most prepossessing diamonds. As we walked through the entrance to the mine, the discernible gems twinkled like colorful stars of blue, red, and green.

"Whoa!" Sora admired the view and rushed over to the cave wall. Before he could lay a finger on one of the diamonds, an angry dwarf smacked the top of Sora's head with the handle of a pickaxe. "Ouch!" Sora turned to the vexed dwarf. "What'd you do that for?"

"Get outta here, diamond thief!" The dwarf crossed his arms in frustration and raised his eyebrow, causing the skin above his eyes and around his abnormally large nose to wrinkle.

"I am no thief!" Sora and the dwarf grunted at each other.

I felt a slight tap on my left leg and looked down only to notice six more dwarfs crowded around me. Something seemed different about these dwarfs. They appeared much sweeter than the one Sora dealt with.

"Are you here to steal our diamonds, miss?" The dwarf asked his question and sneezed shortly after.

"No, no. Of course not. Sora and I only stumbled across your mine. We wouldn't even dream of stealing."

"I believe her!" One of them smiled graciously.

"Well, you shouldn't!" The angry dwarf scolded. "Get out of here! Both of you!"

"Oh, but Grumpy, they mean no harm."

"I said get out!" Grumpy rebuked. Sora marched in my direction in frustration and grabbed my arm.

"Fine! Let's go, Hana." I stumbled behind Sora as I waved goodbye to the six dwarfs who didn't berate us.

Sora and I stood just outside the mine, contemplating what action to take next. I suddenly spotted someone darting toward the forest, and that someone happened to be the boy I dreamt about.

"Sora!" I turned around speedily and shook Sora to capture his attention. "Look!" I pointed in the boy's direction.

"What? What is it?" Sora looked around curiously, and I had noticed that the boy disappeared.

"I saw him. I swear."

"You saw who?"

"I don't know his name, but he was in my dreams." I stared forward in contemplation.

"Well what are you waiting for? Let's go after him!" Sora dashed down the path leading to the forest.

"Sora! Wait!" I ran after him.

The forest exhibited a gloomy and dark aura. The trees seemed dead, for their leaves had not been present and the vibrant brown of any other tree's bark appeared dull and almost black on those. Sora stopped running and I almost bumped into him as we came to a sudden halt. The wind blew a chilling breeze that forced the formation of goosebumps on the skin of my legs. My comfortable long-sleeve shirt protected my arms from the gust; however, my short skirt proved not much help in the matter.

"Huh?" Sora tilted his head and raised his eyebrow in bewilderment as he stared at a peculiar object in front of him. I peeked from behind his shoulder and saw a fairly large mirror leaning against one of the dead trees. "A mirror?" Sora stepped closer to it and studied his reflection; although, the mirror unexpectedly fissured and darkness trickled from the large crack. Sora gasped. "Hana, step back!" I steadily stepped back, but I continued to gaze at the leaking darkness. A pool of dark essence formed just in front of the mirror, and it began to take form. Sora clenched his teeth when he saw it take form of himself. The dark shade slowly opened its eyes, revealing a glaring yellow that beamed into Sora's soul, though it didn't stare at Sora for long. It soon turned its attention to me, and it spoke.