Full Summery: After the Mark of Mastery exam, Riku became a True Keyblade Master. Even though he failed, Sora congratulated him with a big smile. But is Sora really happy for his friend? Is he truly okay? After all, Riku's not the only one battling the darkness, not the only one with regrets and promises. The difference is, Riku is strong, but is Sora truly as bright as his "friends" think he is?

Or will the darkness consume the light?

Disclaimer: Nothing but the plot. Square and Disney owns the rights to the games, cover belongs to Saltycatfish over on Deviant Art. Link's in my profile if you wanna check out her stuff!

.o.0.o.

A little boy with spiky brown hair and deep blue eyes clutches onto a giant gold key in his hands. He stands in a room with one bed, two doors on either side of it, and folding closet doors across. Toys are clustered infront of the closet with a dresser to the left and right of it.

The little boy shines his keyblade around, checking the doors, the closet and the bed behind him. He runs to the left door and checks the hallway, his heart leaping in his throat when beady yellow eyes flash before disappearing around the corner. He runs to the other door and hears hissing. The boy quickly shuts the door and holds it closed, listening to the sound of skittering until all goes quiet again. He opens the door and shines the light, relief flooding through him when nothing is there. He runs back to the bed and shines a light there too just in case.

Black shadows quickly move out of the way until there's nothing left. The little boy looks at the clock and sighs, only one hour left.

He looks over at the other, older boy in the room, watching the doors along with him. The blonde boy gives him a kind smile before his eyes dart towards the closet.

A squeaking sound causes the little boy to jump and his blue eyes to lock onto the closet. He's very sure he's seen the door move and slowly walks up to it, the giant key raised in case something jumps out. He whips the door open and flashes the light inside, only to see nothing there.

He closes the door and turns around, his breath hitches when he sees yellow eyes shining in the darkness, the thing in the shadows staring at him with a predatory gleam so strong it burned. The older boy steps in front of him, his own backhanded weapon posed as he tries to protect the child. The boy raises the key in his own hands, getting into a ready stance when the thing chuckles and speaks, words whispered with a chilling hiss.

"You cannot save him..."

The creature lunges and knocks the older boy away. The little boy screams, swinging his weapon in a haphazard attempt to fight the shadow off. The creature knocks the key out of his hands and pins the boy down, his screams continuing as the thing raises a clawed hand and swipes down...

.o.0.o.

Sora bolts up in bed, sweat pouring off him as he holds a hand to his chest. He quickly turns on a bedside lamp, his movements jerky as his eyes dart around the room he is in. He heaves a sigh when he sees the familiar guest room in the Tower of Mystery, the place he is staying for training to be one of the seven warriors of light.

His breathing finally slows and figuring that he isn't going to get anymore sleep, he pulls off the covers and stands. Judging by the light outside, it's still a little ways 'till morning, which means in all likelihood everyone is still asleep, so Sora decides that a walk will probably do him some good.

He closes the door quietly behind him and walks through the tower halls, stepping out into the courtyard and feeling the pleasant breeze of the night. It's a full moon, which means a calm light shines gently on the courtyard grass and arrangements of colorful flowers that usually bloomed so beautifully in the sun. Not a cloud is in the sky, which means there are very few shadows much to Sora's relief.

He walks to the middle of the sparing grounds and summon the Kingdom Key, the keyblade that has been with him since the start of his journey almost over three years ago. It was the same key that began showing up in his dreams, trying it's hardest to protect him along with the boy who looked so much like his Nobody. Both trying help him chase away the darkness in his mind. Unfortunately, they couldn't help him with every nightmare, especially the nightmare he'd just had. He had heard somewhere that dreams were the gateway to the heart and that if someone could decipher the meanings behind them, they would learn more about themselves. But what could this dream possibly be trying to tell him?

Sora shakes his head before he goes over to one of the training dummies, swinging his keyblade at it as he practices for the up and coming battle against Master Xehanort. He zones out so much that he doesn't notice the new presence, watching as he brutally attacks the dummy without really focusing on it.

"Never expected you to be up so early for training."

Sora yelps and swings his keyblade blindly at the intruder, only to be blocked by a familiar blade shaped like a bat's wing with an angel wing branching out from the side at the tip. Blue-green eyes gaze at him under silver bangs in mild amusement.

"Oh, and now you're picking a fight? What's gotten into you?" The person says in a joking yet slightly concerned tone.

Sora takes a moment to absorb who the voice belongs to, a pale yellow jacket and grey pants, strong hands holding the Way to Dawn with the usual teasing smirk. Deep blue eyes widen as Sora pulls back with a gasp, "Riku! I'm so sorry, my mind was somewhere else!"

"So I've noticed," Riku says as he banishes his keyblade, "mind telling me where it was?"

Sora's own keyblade disappears and he pastes on his usually carefree grin as he scratches the back of his head, "just...thinking about what we're gonna do about the upcoming war is all."

"Really?" Riku crosses his arms and raises a brow, "aren't you the one who says that everything will be alright?"

"Well yeah," Sora says, "doesn't mean I don't worry. Especially since Xehanort..." he trails off, looking away from Riku to the ground. Riku growls low in his throat but when Sora looks up again Riku still has the same cool expression he always has.

"I wouldn't have let that happen Sora, and even if Xehanort did manage to do it, your heart's too strong." He puts a hand on Sora's shoulder, "you always have your friends to pull you back. Me, Kairi, Donald and Goofy, King Mickey... we'll always be there to bring you back."

Riku smiles in assurance, causing Sora to smile as well, "you're right," Sora concedes. Riku nods and the smile turns into the usual cocky grin.

"Aren't I always?"

Sora pretends to think about it, "weeeeell, there was that one time-" Riku smacks him on the back of the head, giving him a playful glare which causes Sora to laugh. Riku rolls his eyes,

"Whatever dummy."

They walk back inside just as the sun comes up, in good spirits as the other residence of the tower begin to stir and prepare for the day. Though Riku is right in that Sora's friends would always be there for him, there is still a little niggling in the back of his mind. Even if Riku thinks that Sora's heart is strong, Sora isn't so sure of that himself. And he off times wondered, would his friends still stay by his side when they found out how weak it really was?

.o.0.o.

Hello everyone! Thank you for taking the time to read this! This is my First Kingdom Hearts story and I hope to see how it goes! I need to warn you of some things though, so you can decide whether or not you want to continue reading.

1. There will be OOC (Out Of Character) moments in this, especially for Sora. I just can't see him acting all cheery and smily without it being a facade more often than not. He's not stupid, he has gone through some shit and he's only human. Riku's not the only one and he shouldn't be in my opinion. If you don't like this, then this story is not for you.

2. If you came here expecting people to hook up, you will be greatly disappointed. Sora and Riku are close, as well as Axel/Lea and Roxas, but there's nothing "official". You can take it as Romantic or platonic if you'd like though! (Just like the games, am I right? xD)

3. This is a Canon Divergance or "Altered Universe" Story that takes place between Dream Drop Distance and Kingdom Hearts Three. Not everything is like the games, but there will be spoilers for most of the games in this. If you haven't played the games, read the novels, or at least watched the cutsceens somewhere and don't want to be spoiled, then either do that first and come back, or don't read at all.

Okay! I think that covers it! Any additional warnings will be at the top of the chapter when needed. If you have any questions or critisms, let me know! Flames are like water off of Donald Duck's back for me, but please be polite? We can all be civil here hm? :)

I hope you all have a fantastic day!

~Sorceress