Kingdom Hearts {Reader Insert}

37. Strength and Truth

Your group made its way up the mountain. You couldn't find anything but the occasional Heartless. When Leon reported this to the Captain he made the decision to move the camp up near a small village. It took a day to get everything there, and another day to set up more than just the individual tents. Rumors passed around the men that they had seen Shan-Yu outside of camp near a cave. Your group, along with Mulan, moved to check it out.

A half an hour walk from the camp brought you to a cave entrance. You could see footprints in the snow. Your group entered the cave. Candles were lit in small alcoves around the empty room. You stepped forward to inspect the candle on the far wall in front of you. It sat in a puddle of wax, as if it had been burning for a long time.

"It's a dead end," Yuffie said.

"They must have left," Mulan said. "We should alert the Captain that there were people here."

"Right," Leon nodded.

Leon turned to leave and the others followed.

The ground shook before you could reach the exit of the cave. You stopped to maintain your balance, but watched as a forcefield filled the opening in front of you. Mulan shouted in surprise as the two of you were cut off from the rest of the group.

"Shan-Yu!" you heard Tifa shout as she looked at something outside.

"[Name]!" Mulan grabbed your attention.

You turned and watched a dozen Heartless rise from the shadows in the cave. Out of the farthest corner walked a dark purple centaur-looking creature wielding some kind of staff.

"What do we do?" Yuffie asked behind you.

You turned to the four of them outside. "Go after Shan-Yu! Mulan and I can take care of these guys!"

Before they could respond you spun towards the nearest Heartless. You must have caught it off guard because your keyblade swung right through its center. Heartless ichor covered your blade and the creature disappeared, leaving behind smoke and a glowing heart that faded away.

"Come on, Mulan," you called out as you eyed the bigger Heartless across the room. "We can do this."

"Right!" Mulan steadied herself before letting out an angry shout as she attacked the nearest Heartless.

You blocked an attack from the small Heartless to your side, and then leapt out of the way as the centaur-creature charged toward you. Had you not dodged, its staff would have thrown you across the cave. You readied yourself again, watching the creature. If you and Mulan were going to make any progress, you would need to get rid of that first. It charged again, its movements quick and aggressive. You managed to block again, but you didn't have any time to attack. You thought back to your training, attempting to recall anything your friends had told you about defending and countering these kinds of attacks. Instead, your memory took you to the training you had done on Destiny Islands with Tidus and Wakka. In your mind, you saw Tidus rushing toward you, but you remained until the last moment before turning to strike. I have to give myself time to watch and wait.

You ran across the room and away from Mulan, attacking or knocking back any Heartless that were in your way. Then you turned and squared off against the centaur Heartless. It stamped a front hoof angrily before charging. You watched it's steps and looked for a weak side. The front of the creature was covered in armor, but its sides and rear were exposed. As it reached melee range, you turned to the side and led with your keyblade. Your weapon spun away from the creature and then the momentum carried on toward its side. You thrust your keyblade with all the weight of your body and it slashed at the creature. The centaur let out a screech of pain and then threw its staff back towards you. You didn't have time to dodge, but you attempted to block. The force of the attack threw the keyblade out of your hands.You followed it as you were flung across the room and landed hard on your side. You let yourself huff in pain once before calling your keyblade back to you. You caught the centaur rushing your way again from the corner of your eye. You rolled to the side and out of the way, glad that your attack had slowed down the creature. You stood, painfully. Your hip was at least bruised if something wasn't broken. You gritted your teeth and stuck your keyblade through the little Heartless that popped up next to you. It faded.