Kingdom Hearts fic: Fractured Moments - Day 3 - "Bait"
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museficSummary: Kairi takes a personal interest in protecting her kingdom.
[Set in the future along this timeline, where Kairi has become the queen of Radiant Garden.]
Someone had been robbing people on the roads, past the area served by the magical transit used near the Bastion and within the city, out where people mostly relied on their own feet.
This someone had started to fancy himself a bandit lord.
Radiant Garden sent guards to apprehend him, of course, as soon as the reports started coming in, but he vanished as soon as any kind of official patrol came through. He never attacked anyone well-armed or in large groups, preferring to pick off individuals and other easy targets. That made it easy enough for some people to pass through safely, if they could afford protection. But not everyone could, and no one should have to fear for their safety traveling through the kingdom. Guards patrolling the road helped, but they couldn’t be everywhere at once.
And lately, it had been more than robbery. Not everyone had walked away unharmed. Or in one case, at all.
The word had spread, there was a murderer along the road: no one should venture along it if they had any other choice. For weeks now, people had been listening to the warnings, taking the longer alternative routes, or choosing not to travel at all.
It would be the absolute height of foolishness for anyone to dare the roads alone, especially now that this so-called “Bandit Lord” would likely be getting desperate, with fewer travelers to target.
Kairi well knew it. She pulled the long coat a little more tightly around her, warding off the slight autumn chill that had seeped in under the trees. Each step produced a muted jingle from the coins in the bag at her hip. Being out on these roads, alone, with valuables to steal, was a very bad idea.
She tried to attune her ears to the sounds in the trees. Rustles of movement that she expected, as well as those she didn’t. The suspense felt worse than some inevitable confrontation.
A sound on the rough ground behind her, a footstep deliberately placed so she’d hear it.
She spun, eyes wide.
The man was big, surprisingly clean-cut, and well-armed, the way his victims had described him.
“Rough time of year for a young woman to be out alone.” It could have been conversational, but he made sure the implied threat was clear.
“I’m just traveling back to Radiant Garden,” Kairi said, taking a short step back, careful of the placement of her feet.
“Anyone warn you that this is a toll road?” He seemed to think that was terribly clever.
“I know it isn’t.”
More rustling in the trees, but she couldn’t see anyone yet.
“Oh, there is a toll these days, and you look like you can pay it. The coin you’re carrying is practically singing to me.”
She took another step back, and he stalked forward.
“You look familiar,” he said. “Not that it matters, you understand.”
“I’ve heard that before,” Kairi answered, before muttering another word under her breath.
The edge of the bandit’s coat caught fire. He spun, frantically trying to see what had happened, and then shed the coat entirely, stomping out the flames. “What the?” He drew his knife as he spun back to face her. “Some kind of witch, are you?”
But she’d already closed the remaining distance, Keyblade pressed firmly to his throat, and a whispered “freeze” rooting his feet to the ground. Kairi pushed forward until he lost his balance, falling backward.
“Who the hell are you?” he bit out.
She smiled brightly, as Sora and Riku finally joined her on the path. “Just the bait.”
[previous chapter] [next chapter]
[Set in the future along this timeline, where Kairi has become the queen of Radiant Garden.]
Someone had been robbing people on the roads, past the area served by the magical transit used near the Bastion and within the city, out where people mostly relied on their own feet.
This someone had started to fancy himself a bandit lord.
Radiant Garden sent guards to apprehend him, of course, as soon as the reports started coming in, but he vanished as soon as any kind of official patrol came through. He never attacked anyone well-armed or in large groups, preferring to pick off individuals and other easy targets. That made it easy enough for some people to pass through safely, if they could afford protection. But not everyone could, and no one should have to fear for their safety traveling through the kingdom. Guards patrolling the road helped, but they couldn’t be everywhere at once.
And lately, it had been more than robbery. Not everyone had walked away unharmed. Or in one case, at all.
The word had spread, there was a murderer along the road: no one should venture along it if they had any other choice. For weeks now, people had been listening to the warnings, taking the longer alternative routes, or choosing not to travel at all.
It would be the absolute height of foolishness for anyone to dare the roads alone, especially now that this so-called “Bandit Lord” would likely be getting desperate, with fewer travelers to target.
Kairi well knew it. She pulled the long coat a little more tightly around her, warding off the slight autumn chill that had seeped in under the trees. Each step produced a muted jingle from the coins in the bag at her hip. Being out on these roads, alone, with valuables to steal, was a very bad idea.
She tried to attune her ears to the sounds in the trees. Rustles of movement that she expected, as well as those she didn’t. The suspense felt worse than some inevitable confrontation.
A sound on the rough ground behind her, a footstep deliberately placed so she’d hear it.
She spun, eyes wide.
The man was big, surprisingly clean-cut, and well-armed, the way his victims had described him.
“Rough time of year for a young woman to be out alone.” It could have been conversational, but he made sure the implied threat was clear.
“I’m just traveling back to Radiant Garden,” Kairi said, taking a short step back, careful of the placement of her feet.
“Anyone warn you that this is a toll road?” He seemed to think that was terribly clever.
“I know it isn’t.”
More rustling in the trees, but she couldn’t see anyone yet.
“Oh, there is a toll these days, and you look like you can pay it. The coin you’re carrying is practically singing to me.”
She took another step back, and he stalked forward.
“You look familiar,” he said. “Not that it matters, you understand.”
“I’ve heard that before,” Kairi answered, before muttering another word under her breath.
The edge of the bandit’s coat caught fire. He spun, frantically trying to see what had happened, and then shed the coat entirely, stomping out the flames. “What the?” He drew his knife as he spun back to face her. “Some kind of witch, are you?”
But she’d already closed the remaining distance, Keyblade pressed firmly to his throat, and a whispered “freeze” rooting his feet to the ground. Kairi pushed forward until he lost his balance, falling backward.
“Who the hell are you?” he bit out.
She smiled brightly, as Sora and Riku finally joined her on the path. “Just the bait.”
[previous chapter] [next chapter]
