A Bit of Pride [Zack Connor]

[Zack Connor]

The light shimmered away as the Elephant Graveyard came back into view. Zack, still tired even after the cure spell, layed down on the ground after he had returned to his lion form. He jumped back up and assumed a defensive stance when he thought he heard something. The landscape seemed to be dotted with many pairs of eyes, watching everything they did and smiling menacingly. "I love it when the prey justs waltzes right into our midst," one of them said to another. "I can hear you!" Zack yelled at them. "You all must have sick, twisted minds if you think I'd let you-" he stopped short as many of them charged toward them. "I'm going to make sure you regret this," he muttered to them as he summoned his Keyblade and knocked a few of them back.

[Kaylee Silverlake]

Kaylee, lost in thought, wasn't paying attention. She was too busy staring at the key-chain she had just received. Thoughts and pictures of Terra flashed through her mind rapidly. Some of the Hyena's noticed this and took advantage of it. 5 of them made a dead sprint for her. One swiped the charm and the other 4 held her down. They taunted her, laughed at her, and dug their claws into her back. She struggled to get the key-chain back, but to no avail. The whole time, panic and fear were converted into Darkness, which came visibly spilling off of her. Though the Hyena's overlooked it, it was obvious, and little red flags went off in their heads when she stopped struggling.

[Zack Connor]

Zack knocked down 6 more, though he the non-stop fighting was starting to take its toll. He tiredly looked over at Kaylee, and noticed the darkness streaming out from her. "Kaylee, wait!" he yelled. He ran over to stop her from giving in to the darkness inside, but was stopped short when a hyena knocked him over as he was distracted. Five more hyenas came over to help pin Zack down. No! This isn't helping! If Kaylee sees this... He struggled harder at the thought of Kaylee giving in to the darkness, but to no avail. The hyenas weren't exactly discreet about the situation either, laughing as they raked their claws into his side.

[Kaylee Silverlake]

Kaylee was trying hard to fight it, but when she glanced over and saw Zack, she lost it. Darkness erupted forcefully from her, knocking back the Hyena's closest to her. When the dust settled, a shadowy black cat stood in Kaylee's place. This creature looked like something you'd see in a horror film with its long, razor sharp claws and jagged fangs. It gave a horrendous roar and launched it's self at they hyenas holding Zack down, showing that she still had a minor control of herself. However, nothing could stop the creature from tearing every hyena in her sight to pieces.

[Zack Connor]

The hyenas panicked and began to flee when they saw what was happening. Zack, not having the strength to fight at the moment, resorted to trying to snap Kaylee out of the dark condition by talking to her. "Kaylee... please... snap out of it," he said weakly.

[Kaylee Silverlake]

The dark creature looked around and saw the lack of hyenas before turning to face Zack. The Darkness was overwhelming, and slowly the dark thing approached him, fangs bared. Occasionally it would stop, growl and shake it's head, indicating that Kaylee was trying to fight it.

[Zack Connor]

Zack began to panic, but stayed still, fearing that if he squirmed, it would only provoke Kaylee into attacking while she was in her dark state. "Kaylee... please!" he said urgently.

[Kaylee Silverlake]

The creature gave an angry growl when he spoke and started to lunge, but it didn't. Kaylee was still fighting. Normally she would have given up and let things run their course. This time she was fighting it. Fighting it as hard as she could. The battle seemed to never end though. It went back and forth, seemingly never ending. Then, it looked like a victor was decided. The dark creature growled its victory and walked up to Zack. It raised it's paw, fixing to deal a killing blow. Suddenly the creature stiffened and fell to the side. The darkness dissipated, leaving a barely conscious, but very much alive Kaylee in it's place. She had won. She had fought it off before it was too late.

[Zack Connor]

Zack breathed a sigh of relief. "Did you get your Keychain back?" he asked, wincing as he tried to stand. He resummoned his Keyblade, and cast cure on himself. He felt a little better afterwards, but the spell wasn't powerful enough to completely recover from all the damage he received.

[Kaylee Silverlake]

The lioness lifted her head up, cast cure on her friend a couple of time, then put her head back down. "Yeah..." She answered simply, her voice quiet. Most would assume t was because she was tired and hurt. However, that was only part of the reason.

[Zack Connor]

"Hey, don't let that incident bother you," Zack said, smiling. He was feeling a lot better now. "If it makes you feel better, I admire the fact that you fight the darkness. A lot of people who have felt the darkness make no effort to get rid of it."

[Kaylee Silverlake]

She slowly stood up, still a little shaky, and looked at him. "I have to fight it... I have another promise to Terra to keep. I almost just broke it though... I almost lost and killed the one of the two people that actually wants to be my friend... One of the people that I'm suppose to protect..." She said, walking up to him and sitting down.

[Zack Connor]

"Who's the other?" Zack asked. He looked around to make sure all the hyenas were gone. We should probably leave soon. he thought to himself.

[Kaylee Silverlake]

"Alex Faith. She brings me food and such, trys to give me money and help me in every way I'll let her." Kaylee explained. When she sensed Zack's uneasiness, she got up and started to head back to the Savannah.

[Zack Connor]

Zack followed her. "Sounds like she's a good friend," he said.