Ventus's Story

The Land of Departure

Ventus, a Keyblade wielder, had been training diligently under Master Eraqus along with his best friends Terra and Aqua.
One night, Ventus--- or Ven, as they called him--- was  up on the summit watching a meteor shower when Aqua arrived and gave him a good luck charm called a "Wayfinder".
At the Mark of Mastery exam the next day, Aqua passed the test and was recognized as a true Keyblade Master. But Terra, Master Eraqus decided, was not ready for the same honor.
Ven was already fraught with concern for his  friend when suddenly, a boy in a mask appeared out of nowhere and claimed that Terra was leaving; by the time Ven caught up with him, he would be a different person. And without any further explanation, the masked visitor vanished.
Sure enough, Ven could not stop Terra from leaving. Scared he had just lost one of his best friends, Ven donned his armor the same way Terra had done, and flew off to go find him.

Dwarf Woodland

Ven could not contain his excitement as he  took in his first glimpse of another world. Here, in the mountains, he met seven dwarfs mining for jewels. He asked them if they'd seen Terra, but the dwarfs mistook this strange visitor for a thief and sent him on his way.
As he was walking through the woods, Ven heard a scream. It was Snow White, who had been frightened by the shadows of the woods. She was looking for a place to rest, so Ven took her back to a cottage he had seen along the way.
The cottage belonged to the dwarfs, who treated Snow White much more cordially than they had Ven. Strange monsters had attacked her, she explained, after she met a man with a sword like a key.
Convinced this could only be Terra, Ven rushed off to find him---but Terra had moved on to other worlds.

Castle of Dreams

Soon after arriving in the chateau where Cinderella and Jaq lived, Ven noticed something strange: for some inexplicable reason, he had shrunk!
It wasn't long before he learned of Cinderella's plight: no matter how hard she worked, it was never good enough for her stepmother Lady Tremaine. Tonight, she wanted to go to the ball more than anything, but the way Jaq saw it, "Stepmuddy" would make sure Cinderella never had time to make a dress.
Ven and Jaq decided to scavenge for materials and make the dress themselves, braving even the claws of Lucifer the cat to collect the last item they needed, a beautiful pearl.
Cinderella was delighted with the lovely pink dress they had made for her. She thanked them and got ready to leave for the palace. Dreams do come true, Ven thought, as he remembered his and his friends' own dreams of becoming Keyblade Masters.

Enchanted Dominion

Princess Aurora had fallen into an eternal slumber from the evil fairy Maleficent's curse. Now, her heart had been stolen as well, and it fell upon Ven and the three good fairies watching over her to go to the Forbidden Mountain and get it back.
When they freed the princess's heart, a memory played back before their eyes, of the day Aurora and the prince of her dreams were finally brought together and fell in love.
Before Ven and the good fairies could escape the castle, they were confronted by a furious Maleficent , who informed them Terra was the one who stole Aurora's heart. Ven found himself torn; the friend he knew would never do that, but hadn't the masked boy said Terra was on the way to becoming a "different person"?
It was Aqua who showed up to put an end to his fears. But when she insisted Ven return home with her, he ran off; there was no way he could go home until he had tracked Terra down.

The Badlands

On the badlands, Ven once again found himself face-to-face with the masked boy. He asked how exactly Terra would be a "different person".
"The Terra you know will be gone forever", the boy explained. And much to Ven's surprise, he summoned a Keyblade.
Not only was the masked boy a Keyblade wielder, but a vastly superior one. With disdain, he prepared to finish Ven off--- but Mickey arrived just in the nick of time. The two joined forces and managed to drive the assailant off.
Mickey, too, was a Keyblade wielder. He had been training under the great sorcerer Yen Sid, but ran off without permission when he learned the worlds were in trouble. Ven smiled at how much they had in common.
But when Mickey tried to show Ven the "Star Shard"; he had been using to travel from world to world, it erupted in an unexpected blaze of light that engulfed the both of them and whisked them off to destinations unknown.

Radiant Garden

Ven followed Mickey as far as the castle doors, but the guards, Aeleus and Dilan, prevented  him from pursuing his new friend any further.
Instead, he wound up chasing an enormous Unversed through the city. Along the way, he rescued Scrooge, who thanked him with three lifetime passes to Disney Town; apparently, Ven was not the only one to hail from another world.
Next, Ven met the great wizard Merlin and learned about a special book with the power to waken one's inner strength.
When Ven finally managed to corner the Unversed, he found Terra and Aqua, who had been chasing Unversed of their own. The three Unversed combined into one massive form, and it took Ven and both his friends fighting together to bring the giant down.
Their happy reunion was spoiled, however, when Aqua accused Terra of putting himself too close to the darkness. Realizing she had been sent by Master Eraqus to spy on him, Terra stormed off, shocked and hurt.
While searching for his friend, Ven rescued a little boy --- an orphan named Ienzo --- from the Unversed. The boy's guardian, Even, thanked Ven for his heroism and pointed him towards Terra.
Terra seemed distant; his words had the ring of resignation. Ven felt uneasy going after him this time; instead, he went to tell Aqua. But she brushed him off --- again insisting he return home to the Land of Departure --- and left him there alone.
Ven took out a battered wooden sword Terra had given him back in better days. Terra had even performed a mock ceremony, pretending to pass the power of the wooden "Keyblade" on to Ven. It was a happy memory.
He remembered the talk the three of them had that night. "Being a Keyblade Master is all I've dreamed about," Terra had said. "Well, you're not the only one," replied Aqua. They were all of one mind, working toward a single goal.
Ven was still reliving these memories when a boy name Lea showed up and, out of nowhere, demanded the two of them fight. Baffled, Ven agreed --- but Lea only ended up wearing himself out before their "battle" had begun. As Lea and his friend Isa started taking digs at each other, Ven watched in envy, missing the days when friendship was so simple to define.

Disney Town

When Ven arrived in Disney Town, the annual Dream Festival was already in full swing. Captain Justice, the town's "fearless defender and hero," showed up to greet him. But the only reason Captain J --- whose real name was Pete --- had suddenly grown a conscience was to win a prize for good citizenship. As a result, he had been rushing to people's rescue when, if anything, they needed rescuing from him.
At Huey, Dewey, and Louie's ice cream shop, for example, he offered to fix their new ice cream machine --- but when it proved more difficult than expected, he decided to "fix" it with his fists instead.
Fortunately, Ven was there to intervene. He got the machine up and running, and Captain J fled the scene in a huff --- foiled yet again

Olympus Coliseum

A young aspiring hero named Zack had been chasing Philoctetes, trainer of heroes, all around town, hoping to become his next student. Phil had already taken Hercules under his wing, but he agreed to rethink which of them he'd train based on their performance in the upcoming Games.
Naturally, Phil's decision dampened Hercules's spirits. He had been born a god, but someone had kidnapped him as a baby and made him mortal. Training with Phil and becoming a true hero was the only way he could rejoin his parents on Olympus. Ven offered to help him practice.
Both Hercules and Zack made it to the final. However, no sooner had their match begun than a swarm of Unversed attacked the town, threatening to cut the Games short. Ven didn't want their hard work to go to waste and ran off to face the Unversed alone --- but Hercules forfeited the match anyway, and together, they drove off the Unversed.
Zack showed up to help afterwards, but Phil explained that being a true hero takes more than muscle; you've got to have heart and care about people. This time, only one of them had cared fast enough. The whole competition with Zack had been so Hercules would make a new friend and rise to the challenge.
Ven said his farewells and promised to come back and visit Hercules and Zack once they'd become true heroes.

Deep Space

After Ven battled with an Unversed in the Lanes Between, it took refuge in a passing spaceship. Ven decided to board the ship and finish it off.
There, he met Experiment 626, who knew Terra's and Aqua's names and carried a trinket just like Ven's Wayfinder. More interesting still. 626 kept trying to follow him. Ven didn't want this friendly creature to get hurt, so he told him to stay behind, then went to the machinery bay to fight the Unversed alone.
But Ven hadn't been there more than a moment before 626 burst onto the scene. He was like a different creature, and his face was twisted in a violent snarl. Together they destroyed the Unversed, but 626 continued to lash out at everything. Only after hitting Ven did he finally return to his senses.
With a sad expression, 626 held out his "Wayfinder". It had been smashed to pieces. Ven cheered him up by explaining that real friendship can't be broken so easily.
Just then Captain Gantu appeared with blaster drawn, accusing 626 of only knowing how to hurt and destroy. Ven and 626 seized an opportunity to escape the spaceship, but as pursuers closed in, the hyperdrive on 626's patrol car malfunctioned, sending Ven hurtling off to the far corner of space.

Never Land

Slightly and Cubby were helping Tinker Bell hunt for a shooting star which had landed in Never Land the night before, so Ven decided to join them.
Along the way, they ran into Peter Pan, a boy who could fly. He talked Slightly and Cubby into helping him steal pirate treasure instead.
Ven, however, decided to stick with Tinker Bell, and they found Mickey's Star Shard in the Indian Camp. Tink was delighted to get her hands on the "shooting star", but Captain Hook showed up and nabbed Star Shard and pixie alike. Ven found Peter Pan, and together they set off for Mermaid Lagoon, where they knew Captain Hook was lying in wait.
As cannonballs from the pirate ship rained down on them, Tinker bell appeared. She told Peter Pan she had escaped with the help of a man carrying a large sword.
The cannon fire ceased, and Captain Hook gleefully assumed he had won. On the contrary, Ven and the crocodile had both come for him. Defeated, Hook plummeted into the sea, screaming as the crocodile chased him off into the horizon.
Peter Pan and the Lost boys, who had put a stop to the cannon fire, returned with an empty treasure chest. Slightly suggested they fill it with their own treasures, so when Ven's turn came, he placed the wooden Keyblade Terra had given him inside the chest. Tinker Bell was next, and she was about to put the Star Shard in when Ven explained it might belong to his friend. But no sooner had she handed it over than a burst of light whisked Ven off into the sky.

Mysterious Tower

The Star Shard sent Ven to the tower of the great sorcerer Yen Sid, where he met a magician named Donald and a knight named Goofy. Both were very worried about Mickey, who turned out to be their missing king.
Yen Sid knew Ven had left home without Master Eraqus's permission, but let the matter rest; his own apprentice Mickey was never one to follow directions either.
When Yen Sid used his magic to locate Mickey, they discovered him lying hurt on the badlands. Darkness soon clouded the image, Ven immediately set off to help his friend --- once he had convinced Donald and Goofy to let him go alone.

The Badlands

Soon after coming to Mickey's rescue, Ven found himself face-to-face with Master Xehanort, triggering a sudden, traumatic recall of Ven's lost memories.
Should Ven's light ever clash with Vanitas, the darkness he had lost, the "x-blade" would be forged --- the ancient letter in its name a symbol of death and endings. Master Eraqus feared this, which was why he had kept Ven from leaving home. Ven found himself accepting this explanation for all the distrust that had been festering inside him.
"Learn the truth", Xehanort commanded, before casting Ven and Mickey alike into the Lanes Between.

The Land of Departure

Ven was greeted by Master Eraqus, and immediately confronted him about the x-blade. The very mention of the name confirmed Eraqus's worst fears, that Xehanort had not truly abandoned his old ambitions
                   *                *                 *
Once, Xehanort's fascination with the legend of the x-blade and the Keyblade War had been so great that he had sought to recreate the war, plunging the world into darkness just to see what new light would dawn. Master Eraqus tried to stop him, but his face was scarred by the wave of darkness Xehanort unleashed.
                  *                 *                *
Unwilling to repeat this failure, Eraqus prepared to imprison Ven and prevent Xehanort's ambitions from being achieved. But before he could, Terra arrived and rushed to Ven's defense. Their teacher's power was formidable, and the only way to hold it off was for Terra to release the darkness inside him.
Ven watched his best friend and Master square off, and then Terra picked him up and tossed him back into the Lanes Between.


Destiny Islands

A portal to the Lanes Between opened and Ven came tumbling out onto a beach, where he was confronted by Vanitas.
Ignoring him, Ven trudged off to find his way back to Terra. When Vanitas insisted they join and create the x-blade, Ven flatly refused, knowing he could prevent the blade from being forged if he did not fight.
                   *                    *                   *
Years before, Master Xehanort had tried to draw the darkness out of Ven, intending to pit the boy against one of Master Eraqus's students of light and create the x-blade. But though countless monsters had closed in on Ventus, he had refused to fight, let alone rely on darkness, and soon lay on the ground in defeat.
Xehanort's patience had finally run out, so he extracted the darkness from Ven by force, thereby creating Vanitas.
                    *                     *                       *
Now Ventus's two halves faced each other again on the beach. Vanitas beckoned Ven to the Keyblade Graveyard, where he could either fight, or watch as Terra's and Aqua's lives were snuffed out.