I do believe I am on a roll. Two chapters for STL, and now two chapters for this. I wanted to post this chapter about two weeks ago when the movie first came out on Diamond Edition to celebrate, but life doesn't always work out that way. Ah well. Enjoy!

Disclaimer! Kingdom Hearts belongs to Disney and Square Enix.

Chapter Twelve: The Bear Necessities

The Gummi Ship glided through the regions of space as it made its way to the next world. Riku was taking this chance to get a nap while Sora was looking out the window. The idea of flying through space never got old for him. Kairi however, seemed a bit anxious.

"What's the matter Kairi? Feeling a little motion sickness?" Goofy asked as he turned his chair around.

"No, I'm just worried about Esmeralda and Quasimodo. Think they'll be okay? We left in such a hurry we didn't see if they made it to safety." She replied.

"They'll be okay. Esmeralda seems like the kind of girl who can take care of herself and Quasi's tough and good at climbing. They're probably safe and sound and worrying about us." Sora replied.

"I don't know what you're so cheerful about. We didn't find that world's keyhole." Donald pointed out while piloting.

Sora shrugged. "Well, we did say we'd come back right? I'll just seal it up then."

"Are you forgetting that we have to find Axel first? That's what you promised Quasi." Donald replied. "Sora, do you know how hard it's going to be to find all of the clues to bring him back?"

"Not if I can get another lead from Roxas's memories." the boy replied.

"Sora, no! You heard what the king said. Don't force them." Donald got onto him.

"Well how else am I suppose to find the information we need?"

"We'll find another way." Kairi answered him. She didn't openly admit it, but seeing Sora pass out the way he did in Twilight Town really scared her. It reminded her of what happened over a year ago.

"Kairi's right." Donald agreed. "Besides, There were several worlds on that map that Master Yen Sid gave us. One of 'em's bound to-"

"Donald! Look out!" Goofy shouted, cutting him off.

The duck turned around just in time to see a large chunk of rock spinning right towards them. Donald jerked the ship to the right, nearly turning the ship sideways. Riku fell out of his seat and crashed to the floor as Kairi fell right into Sora's arms. The rock missed destroying the ship, but Donald was forced to dodge several other large chunks. They were caught right in the middle of a Meteor Storm. Donald was faring rather well at avoiding them, but not even he could keep this up for long.

"Look, there's another world straight ahead!" Goofy shouted, pointing to the blinking dot on his monitor.

"Prepare yourselves, this is going to be a rough landing!" Donald called behind him as he guided the ship as best as he could towards the planet.

Kairi clung tightly to Sora as he held onto the sea as best he could to keep them from tumbling. Riku braced himself against the wall and Goofy gripped the dash-board tightly. The ship spiraled out of control and headed right for the world below which was covered in a thick jungle landscape.

. . .

Deep in the jungle, those looking up at the night sky would witness a glorious meteor shower. Four creatures in particular. Two of them were spending the night in a tree, on a limb about twenty feet above the ground. A black panther and a human boy.

"What are those, Bagheera? Fireflies?" Asked the boy.

"No, those are falling stars." Replied the panther. "A Pretty sight isn't it?"

The boy nodded. The panther gave a big yawn as he stretched. "Now, it's been a long day. Let's get some rest. We have a long journey ahead of us tomorrow, man cub."

"But, I don't want to go back to the man village." The man cub replied.

"It's no use arguing anymore, now for the last time go to sleep!" The panther grumbled as he settled down to sleep, chuffing in an effort to relieve stress. Looking after this man cub was a lot more aggravating than he first thought.

The boy watched the night sky for a little while longer before he too nodded off to sleep.

A few miles away in the jungle foliage, a striped cat prowled through the undergrowth. He was using the falling stars to his favor, hoping to catch an easy meal of any creature lowering its guard to gaze up at the sky for too long.

In another part of the jungle an easy-going creature with grey fur leaned back against a cluster of leaves and plants he had folded to make a very comfortable nest. He gazed up at the sky and let a relaxed smile crawl along his muzzle. "Hah, Oh yeah. This is a sign. Somethin' good's a comin'. I can feel it."

-*-*Untamed Wilderness*-*-

Sora slowly opened his eyes before shutting them tightly again. The sun was shining very brightly despite the dense jungle foliage that surrounded him. He held up a hand to shield his eyes as he looked around, when he noticed something strange. His hand had claws...and fur! He looked around for something reflective and found a clear pool of water. He hurried to its edge and looked down only to see a brown-furred bear cub staring back at him.

"Whoa, it's like with the Pride Lands...kinda."

He kinda liked being a bear. Not that being a lion wasn't fun, but at least he could stand on two feet and still had the use of his arms instead of relying so heavily on fangs.

"I wonder where the others are." He looked around and didn't see anyone. He didn't see the Gummi Ship either, so he decided he'd explore a bit and see where he was. If he could get higher above the underbrush he could get a better view of the area.

A while later Sora was still traveling through the jungle. He had seen many strange and wondrous sights. Different plants and strange animals. A few monkeys swung by overhead and when he tried to get their attention they only laughed at him and threw various tropical fruits until he was forced to hide in a cluster of bushes.

"Sheesh, bunch'a clowns."

He kept trekking through the undergrowth until he finally had to rest. Climbing on top of a four-foot rock he held his head in his paws. "Where is everyone?"

The normally cheerful key bearer was beginning to worry. From what he had seen before the ship crashed this jungle was rather large even compared to the Deep Jungle where Tarzan lived. He also wagered a guess that his friends had taken on new forms just like he had, though what forms they were was anyone's guess.

With a heavy sigh he rested his chin on his arm. That's when he heard a soft sound. It sounded like...singing? Or, was it hissing? It was hard to tell. Sora looked above and saw a snake's tail hanging from a branch above. Remembering that bears had the ability to climb, Sora made his way up the tree trunk. It was rather slow going, as he tried not to alert the snake of his presence just yet.

When he reached the branch that the snake was on he noticed it was a large Boa. He was singing a melody to something he had wrapped in the thickest part of his coils. It looked like a black cat. It suddenly dawned on Sora that this snake was hypnotizing the creature and was planning to eat it!

With that realization Sora sprang into action. His keyblade appeared in his right claw and he charged at the snake. "Let him go!" He demanded.

"Hmm?" The snake turned its head with a certain calmness about him, as if hypnotized as well. "Well, it s-s-seems like its my lucky day. Breakfas-s-st and lunch within a few minutes-s-s time. If you'll please wait a moment and I'll be right with you." He chuckled before returning his attention to the cat.

"You had your chance." Sora replied as he leaped at the snake and struck him in the lower jaw. The snake reared his head back and it hit a higher branch.

"Ohh! My sinus!" He glared at the young bear while lowering his head. "You have just made a serious mistake, my friend. A very s-s-stupid mistake."

Sora tried backing up, but his back hit the trunk of the tree. He was trapped. The snake's eyes began to change color as they worked their hypnotizing powers on Sora. "Look me in the eyes when I'm speaking to you."

Sora couldn't resist the trance-like powers and his grip on the key blade loosened. Meanwhile the black panther who had been trapped in the coils began to wake up. It looked over towards the trunk and saw the snake's new victim and with a deep growl he bit the snake's mid section, rather hard.

The snake screeched in pain, snapping Sora out of his trance.

"Jump!" The panther called.

"What?!" Sora shouted in shock.

"Just do it!"

Sora was hesitant, but the panther was in no mood to argue. He leaped over to the bear cub and shoved him off the edge before he followed right behind.

"Strike the keyblade at the ground to soften the fall!" He shouted and Sora instantly obeyed. It worked like a charm. Sora landed safely on his feet after striking the earth which slowed his decent.

The panther landed gracefully on all four paws. "Now I know how a wrung-out towel feels like." He replied with a smirk.

Sora looked over at the panther and just now noticed there was a silver tuff of fur on the cat's head. "Riku? Is that you?"

The panther chuckled. "Who'd you think it was? The easter bunny?"

Sora smiled before looking back up at the branch where the snake had been. "Where'd he go?"

Riku looked up before shrugging. "Probably to find some other dumb creature to suffocate."

"How'd he catch you?" Sora asked, teasingly.

"Did you happen to find the others?" Riku quickly asked in an attempt to change the subject.

"No, you're the only one I've found so far." Sora replied. "So, how'd you end up in the tree?" Sora replied. It was clear he wasn't going to let his friend get off that easy.

Riku glanced back up at the branches before answering. "I thought I heard Kairi and climbed up to get a better look. That's when I bumped into scally up there."

Sora looked around when he had mentioned Kairi and tried to see if he could hear her, but didn't have much hope. If she was nearby she would have hurried over when the commotion started.

"Well, at least now we can watch each other's back in case something else gets hungry, right?" He asked Riku.

Riku glared at Sora before smirking. "Don't worry Sora. I'll protect you if something tries to eat you." With that he got up and vanished beneath the undergrowth.

"Hey! Who saved who?" Sora called as he ran after the young panther.

Unlike Sora, who had practice running on four paws, Riku was a bit wobbly and tripped up every now and then. He growled at himself, expecting to see Sora snickering, but was relieved when his friend didn't hastle him at all. They made good ground until a commotion came from further ahead.

"What is goin' on over there?" Sora asked.

"Let's find out." Riku replied as they made their way closer. They were forced to halt as several animals exploded out of the bushes and raced past them. "Run for your lives! It's the tiger!" Called a monkey from above as he swung rapidly through the canopy.

Riku and Sora glanced at each other. They both understood the look the other gave. Neither of them planned to run. "Think a bear and a panther can stand up to a tiger?" Asked Sora.

"We're about to find out." Riku replied as he hid behind some large ferns. "Hide behind that rock over there and we'll jump him when he makes it to the middle of the clearing."

Sora nodded and hurried into place. Maybe if they beat the tiger the other animals might be a bit more helpful and give a clue as to where their friends were. Sora gripped his keyblade tighter as thick paws crushed through the undergrowth. Sure enough, an orange cat with black stripes darted out into the clearing and that's when both ambushers struck at once with a mighty roar.

The tiger gasped in surprise, but not before slapping Sora across the face with a massive paw. Sora was sent flying back and Riku was quick to his defense. He tackled the feline from behind only to have the tables turn when the tiger went into a roll. Riku was forced to hang on for the ride. The two tumbled a few times before Sora snapped out of his daze. This tiger was strong!

Taking his keyblade he charged at the tussling cats. The tiger saw him coming and struck out at him with a back paw, catching Sora in his side. He fell back as the tiger successfully pinned Riku down. Fangs bared, eyes focused, it had the upper-hand and it knew it.

"No!" Sora shouted.

But the tiger couldn't hold it back any longer. With a familiar giggle the she cat smiled down at Riku. "Looks like I can hold my own in a fight. Huh Riku."

Both boys were totally taken aback. It was Riku who recovered from shock first. "Kairi?!"

She backed up, allowing him to sit up before smiling proudly at the two. "Yep."

The keyblade nearly fell from Sora's grasp as he blinked, trying to recover the ability to speak. "Why didn't you tell us sooner? I never would've...I mean...I almost..."

Kairi walked up to Sora and nuzzled into him. "It's okay. It's not your fault. I wanted to see if I could hold my own for a change and I knew you'd go easy on me if you kenw who I was. Plus you guys surprised me. I didn't recognize you at first, not until I saw the keyblade."

"We know you can fight Kairi, you don't have to prove anything to us." Riku replied, his tail swishing back and forth in an anxious manner.

"Well," Sora began. "We found Kairi, or rather, she found us...I wonder where Donald and Goofy could be?"

"They can't be too far. I tried asking some of the other animals, but they kept running away from me." Kairi replied.

"They seemed pretty terrified of you." Riku voiced his thoughts aloud. "I'll bet there's anther tiger that lives here and they just confused you with that one."

"I hope they don't run into the real one." Kairi replied.

"Well, if we spot him, I know he won't stand a chance. Not with Kairi on our side. She could probably take him single-pawed." Sora commented with a cheerful grin which earned a blush from Kairi.

Riku smiled and shook his head. "You two are hopeless." With that he turned and headed in the direction Kairi had come from. "Come on, we won't find Donald and Goofy by standing here."

Kairi nudged Sora as she past by and Sora followed right behind her.

Looks like Kairi won't be taking back seat to this world. Girl's got claws and she knows how to use 'em. I wonder what the jungle has in store for our heroes?