Saving Chapter 1: Saving
By: BonBonPich
Full Summary: A Nobody-vampire Riku was tired of his immortal life and was about to burn himself under the sun, was unwillingly saved by the mortal Sora. Riku was led to the light within Sora. While they started to remember their prior encounter years ago, Riku's darkness began to take its toll on Sora.
Meanwhile, Riku was forced with a heavy burden to save his race and the worlds from Organization XIII, who wished to overthrow the original Nobodies' master. Thinking it would be best, he parted from Sora. But Sora was determined to find Riku even if it meant going to the ends of the world.
Main: RikuxSora. Side: AxelxRoxas. Slight: RoxasxSora (brotherly, Roxas's got this brother complex thingy).
Disclaimers: KH belongs to SquareEnix and Disney. Lyric of "Saving" belongs to the band 13th Senses.
Note: Review, please!
Revised 07/11/08 with the help of Midnight Forever
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X
I see so little time,
My eyes are crossed, my hands are tied,
All I want to do is that great thing,
I never see a passer-by,
My skin is cold; it's turned to ice,
And every thing I do, I want leaving me.
X
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The earlier tranquility had faded and was replaced by the sound of the early birds chirping as they flocked above the sky. The vast space above gradually changed from absence of color to the hue of dark orange, and into a brighter one. As always, the sound of the waves was audible, as they had been throughout his entired ordeal.
A silver-haired figure, clad in a black trench coat, sat at the base of the bent paopu tree, on the smaller land mass of the remote island that provided a perfect view of the sunrise. His oceanic green eyes glanced ahead to the coming dawn.
He had heard about the beauty of sunrise at Destiny Island but that wasn't the reason he was there. He just came, feeling as if something had drawn him to the island. It could have been anything, but he didn't bother to give it that much thought. It didn't matter.
He sighed.
He was tired of everything and anything.
The dawn would eventually come and Riku hoped it would be the last thing he saw before he turned into ashes, freeing himself from his immortal life.
'Soon…'
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From the small remote Island, the ocean led to the main island which was the small town of Destiny where citizens lived.
Sora, one of the residents, had never been a morning person. It was a surprise even to him when he suddenly woke up earlier than usual. Moreover, a sudden thought dawned on him.
He wanted to go to the play island, now. He didn't know why it had occurred to him, it just did. That was the way he always was, he never made plans, and always did things as he pleased.
The brunet boy swung himself off the bed and stretched up, glancing out the window and noting that he could make it in time to go the Island before dawn came. He ran through his morning ritual quietly so as not to wake his twin brother, who was asleep in the occupied room with him.
He left a note for his brother, saying that he'd be at school by eight in the morning. He picked up some breakfast and his pre-made lunchbox and left the house.
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Inhaling the scent of the ocean, a smile was plastered on Sora's face as he tied up his boat to the dock. After making sure his stuff would be fine by itself, he advanced onto the remote Island.
There was no one there, as he had expected.
Strange as it might seem, Destiny Island was a perfect place for everyone, but it seemed like it couldn't become one of the tourist attractions. With no ferry or anything for public transportation, the only people who made their way over there were Sora and his friends. They regularly rowed to the island in small boats they owned. The small island was practically theirs as they claimed it to be.
Sora reached the shack, which was located in the middle of the land. Inside the shack, the stairs led to the higher ground where a smaller land mass was situated, facing directly to the horizon.
When the brunet crossed the wooden bridge and came to the landmass, he blinked as he spotted a figure sitting at the base of the Paopu Tree. He studied the figure for a short while and made out that it was a boy, probably a little older than him considering his height.
He came closer to the figure; the other boy obviously wasn't aware of his presence.
At first thought, Sora was thinking about going on and greeting the boy, but when he observed the boy's features, he decided against it. Despite how open he was, he understood and respected people's privacy. So Sora merely stayed behind a paopu tree where the other wouldn't see him.
Then Sora stole another glance at the boy. It was dark, but the coming dawn had provided him enough light just to see the boy's gloomy features, contrasting to his ethereally silver hair.
'Why does he look so sad?" Sora crossed his arms over his chest and turned to the side, contemplating. 'Maybe I should start a conversation with him after all, just to see if he's ok."
That was when he noticed that a part of the bright, round shape of the sun began to peek itself above the horizon, casting a soft orange light over the Island. He paused in his place and looked at the scene instead.
While admiring the beauty of nature, something strange took place.
"Unn…urh." The strange sound caused him to look in the direction of the boy clad in black, and realize that it was him that was emitting the pained sound.
A worried frown was set in place as he jogged up to the other, now seeing the other boy clearer. He was curled up, breathing heavily, and Sora now saw the small amount of smoke that emitted from the silver-haired boy's clothes which was covering most of his skin. Sora could see his face, skin gradually turning from milky white to blistered red. 'What the…?' His frown deepened as he bent down. "Hey, are you all right?"
The boy shot up, staring with wide eyes at the brunet, seemingly shocked at the other's presence. That was when Sora noticed how unearthly the person in front of him was, with such oceanic green eyes, silky silver-hair, and pale skin which continued to fade into red and black. But he couldn't have cared less about those unearthly features at this time.
"Go away," the silver-haired boy demanded.
Seeing the other boy was obviously in pain, which he couldn't yet understand what the cause of it was, Sora was anything but compliant. He reached and put a hand on the boy's shaking shoulder. "But you don't look so good-"
"I said go away!" The silver-haired boy cut him off, shoving the brunet away. For a moment he fixed a glare on Sora, as if willing him to leave that very instant. Then he turned away from Sora and went back to his own agonizing pain. His skin started to burn even more.
Sora couldn't grasp what was going on, but he thought quickly. 'He seemed fine a moment ago. But when…' His blue eyes snapped in realization as he turned towards the ocean and the horizon. '…the sunlight!'
The boy in black fought with his heavy breath. 'I didn't know it would hurt this much.' He had never experienced such pain before, but his mind was made up. No pain could turn him away from what he was about to do. He felt weak as his life slowly drained away.
A small smile crept on his lips. 'Let it all be done…'
But then he was caught off guard as a hand pulled him up. He looked up again and saw the other boy, grabbing his hand and encircling it around his neck. The taller boy was all but shocked that the boy was still there.
"Hold on!" Before the silver-haired boy could say anything more, Sora was already hurling him onto his back with one swift motion and rushing to the shack across the wooden bridge.
It had all been too soon. The sunlight had caused his body to weaken so much that he could barely move, let alone freeing himself from the position. He could only wonder why the boy was still there, and why such a small scrawny boy could do such thing as hurling his taller form up onto his back. Moreover, he was carrying him all the way towards the shelter in the middle of the island.
Still he managed a, "What the hell are you doing? Put me down!"
"Saving you!" Came the answer.
"What?" The boy being carried made an effort to slide himself off the brunet's back, but he was too weak. 'How did he! I willed him away, didn't I?'
They reached the shack which Sora hastily entered and closed the door behind him. There was not a window in the shack where light couldn't reach. Sora looked around before putting the taller boy down carefully on the floor.
"You…" The silver-haired boy snarled; anger stood out in his voice.
Sora was panting heavily from the task. He looked down at the sitting boy for a long while, the frown never leaving his features. He pulled up the other boy's long, black sleeve and studied the slight burnt mark that had been inflicted upon his body. Hundreds of questions were in his head, ready to slip off his tongue. But the first question that came out was: "Are you all right?"
His hands that probed the burnt skin were swatted away as the silver-haired boy seemed to regain his might.
"No!" He yelled, strength slowly returning in the absence of light. "Why the hell did you bring me out of the sun? What gives you the right? I don't even know you!"
Sora backed off slightly, alarmed at the other's outburst. There was something about this guy that tensed the atmosphere, something which he would soon learn.
But still, he'd felt something under the surface of that threatening appearance.
"Calm down! Why do you have to be so angry? I saw you burning up and thought it was because of the sunlight, although the answer to why is beyond me. So I brought you here, thinking you might get better." He paused for while, looking up and down the boy to emphasize his next point. "…which I think you did."
"This is…worse." The silver-haired boy closed his eyes in dismay.
A long silence stretched between them before Sora suddenly spoke.
"A vampire?" Sora inquired.
When the burned boy opened his eyes to take a good look at Sora, seeing the blue eyes void of anything except curiosity; he sighed and nodded.
Another moment of silence overcame.
"What?" Sora asked again, mouth hanging open.
"What 'what' ? You said that yourself, boy," the said vampire stated.
"…Yeah…I did say it. It's the only explanation as to why you burned under sunlight. But…I was only kidding." Sora set himself right in front of the vampire.
"Unfortunately you are correct." The vampire frowned, not meeting the brunet's gaze. "Why else would I burn under sunlight?"
"Some kind of disease or illness perhaps?" The smaller boy put up.
"No." The taller one heaved another long sigh. He was thinking about going out to the light again. He already missed the beauty of the sunrise, but he could still fulfill his wish. His eyes automatically glanced at the doorway.
That was when a figure suddenly stood in front of him and blocked his view of the door, his eyes meeting the brunet instead.
"You're not thinking of going out there again, are you?" Sora asked, frowning.
The vampire looked up at the standing boy. "What does it matter to you?"
"Well, I don't like seeing people in pain, or worse…dying." Came the instant reply.
"You don't have to look. You can get lost or stay in this shack for a minute or two and you will never see me again, not even a trace of my body." The vampire shrugged.
"Ok, let's just say I don't want you to die." Sora altered as he set himself right in front of the sitting boy once more, blue eyes serious. "Now, let's do something about that wound of yours." The boy reached for the silver haired vampire's arms and the boy swatted it away again, hissing in pain. Sora pulled his hand away quickly. "Sorry."
The vampire's brows rose questioningly at the brunet.
"That must have hurt," The brunet pointed out.
Oceanic green eyes widened slightly. He really couldn't tell what exactly was on the brunet boy's mind. He had realized the boy was actually trying to save him from death in the sunlight and convinced him not to go back out again. And yet he was sorry for hurting him just a little when all the time it was he that yelled and shoved and swatted the boy away.
The vampire felt something strange curled up inside of his chest. He couldn't tell what it was, but he could tell that it wasn't as bad as he always had felt before when encountering another human being.
"Say, I'm Sora, what about you?" The brunet introduced himself.
The silver-haired one glanced sideways. "Riku."
"Heh." Sora let out in a soft voice with a small smile, glad that the other had introduced himself despite the lack of eye contact. "We have to do something about your wounds. There's a first aid box up on the tree house, I'll go get it-"
"No need. It'll heal on its own if given enough time." When Riku received a wide eyed look from the brunet he shrugged. "I'm a vampire, remember?"
Sora scratched his cheek with a finger, looking sideways with a lopsided grin. "Okaaay, let's say I buy this story. So you were trying to kill yourself by exposing yourself to the sunlight?"
Riku nodded.
"And I have interfered, so you're pretty upset with me," added Sora.
A nod.
"Sorry, but I still can't let you do that," the brunet stated firmly.
"I know. That look on your face told me," responded the vampire.
"Why exactly did you want to kill yourself?" Out of nowhere, the question was delivered to Riku who turned away. Sora took the hint and dropped his gaze. Since he was born, he had heard of people committing suicide and all, although there wasn't much on his Island, and he still couldn't understand or imagine how it would be to have such death wish. But he was aware that it wasn't an easy matter, and he had no intention to press upon it. "Sorry, I shouldn't have asked."
"I'm tired, that's all." Came a reply to a surprised Sora.
"Tired?" Sora's eyes rolled upward, thinking. That was exactly what a suicidal person would say when they wanted themselves to rid themselves from the world. "I see." Still, Sora found himself not being able to let things go. "But…someone would cry."
"Hmm." Riku looked away.
Sora's face lit up a little, glad that he could at least convince the other. "Seems like I'm right, eh?"
"A human boy like you wouldn't understand." Riku stated coldly.
Sora smacked both of his hands on the floor of the shack, right in front of Riku. "Hey! I'm trying though! And you don't look like you're much older than me!"
"For your information, I'm 156 years old. Although very young in vampire age, I'm still much older than you. I've seen much of everything on the darker side that I bet you've never seen once in your life. So don't go so light on me. I can kill you even now." Riku hissed impatiently as he grabbed one of Sora's small arms, glaring down at the smaller boy, parting his lips enough to reveal his inhuman fangs.
Sora, on the other hand, felt the sudden change in the atmosphere. One moment ago, he wasn't afraid at all, while he already half believed that Riku was a vampire. Then the next, he could sense that his life was being threatened. He shook slightly as he tried to yank his arm out of the firm grip, but failed. His body told him to shut his eyes, but instead, his mind forced him to look up at Riku's piercing gaze.
For a moment of staring, it was unexpected to Riku when the sky blue eyes just blinked…naively.
Oceanic eyes followed the blink, his expression turned from an angry frown to one void of emotion, and transformed into a curious look. "You. How could you still…" Riku trailed off.
The brunet looked back at the silver-haired vampire questioningly, feeling the force on his arm subside and leaving a slight throbbing pain on it.
The hand that retreated from Sora's arm pressed against Riku's forehead instead. Riku felt troubled as he asked his next question, "How could you still think that way, when I'd said I could kill you?"
"What?" Sora asked, following.
"That…what you are thinking right now." Riku clarified, pointing at the brunet himself.
Sora's eyes looked up at the ceiling for a while, as he crossed his arms over his chest, and then looked back at Riku. "Are you talking about what am I thinking? How do you know what I am thinking?"
"Vampire's ability."
"What? You can read minds? That's not fair, it's private!" Sora's voice raised by volume, eyes widening and arms thrashing about in the air. Sure he was an open person, but it didn't mean that he would gladly welcome someone to snoop inside of his mind.
"I haven't used that ability for a long while. I hate prying into people's thoughts, but you're different, so I tried." Riku's eyebrows knitted together as he closed his eyes, scratching the back of his head, feeling a little awkward in spite of himself. He only did that when he felt awkward and he had never felt awkward towards any human before in his life.
Sora was still babbling about privacy rights.
"Now would you quit it and tell me already!" The vampire pressed the matter, almost yelling.
Sora stopped dead in his tracks, then he settled right down and glared back at Riku, narrowing his eyes in suspicion. "You can read minds, can't you? Why do you need me to answer?"
Riku's forehead dropped into his hand. This human was killing him. Then again, why would he want to know so much about the reason behind the boy's thought? He looked up between his hands and explained. "My ability is not the utmost since I'm only half vampire. I'm able to read thoughts on the surface only, nothing deeper than that." He paused, and took another breath. "Now tell me already. Why did you still think of saving me when I said I could kill you."
"You looked sad," came the sudden answer. "And I didn't think you were going to kill me. You said you can kill me, but you didn't say that you would kill me."
It hit Riku full blown. Riku contemplated about it as he studied the boy once more. Did this boy just say that he looked sad so he wanted to help despite his killing intention? This boy was causing him such a headache, with the contemplation of things unknown and incomprehensible.
Yet, he felt his heart far from restless. There was something about this boy.
Sora received a look from Riku, the one that told him that Riku was nothing but a normal boy. He felt lighter, seeing the cloud above the silver-head had gone.
"Okay, I'll give up the thought of burning myself away." Riku ran a hand through his hair in a lazy manner. 'Great. Not only can't I will him to go away, but instead he's convinced me to give up on what I've wrecked my mind to decide.' He caught Sora's expression.
The smaller boy grinned from ear to ear and nodded cheerfully.
But then again, Riku mused. Where would he go now? He'd long ago abandoned the places to return to.
"So, where are you living? I can take you back home-" Sora offered, and paused, then thought for a while. "-when the sun sets," he finished, then realized. "Oh no!"
Riku raised an eyebrow at him.
"School!" He looked at his watch and found that it was only almost seven. He still had plenty of time to reach the school. But then…His eyes traveled to Riku who still looked at him with inquisition. Sora was considering skipping school, but today he had important homework he needed to get done. The teacher had already given him a third chance, and he couldn't waste the teacher's kindness. He had spent some time the night before trying to finish it and hoped it would be worth it.
"Right, you have a place to be." Riku trailed off as he got himself up from sitting for so long, feeling enough strength had returned to him. "Go." It was not demanding; nothing but a plain word.
Sora frowned. "And where will you go? You can't go out under the light, can you?"
Riku looked around, and laid his hand on the wall of the shack. "I'll just wait until night comes."
"Then I'll stay with you. I haven't missed school much; they should be easy on me if it's only for one day." Sora shrugged. Homework was homework; he could still submit it the next day even it would grant him a little punishment. But this was a life that was in front of him that could be gone if he took his eyes off of it.
Oceanic eyes narrowed, glancing sideways at Sora. "I'll be fine. My mind is made up; I'll wait until night comes and I'll go."
"But…"
Riku stared at the boy for a long while as silence reigned.
"Sora…" His voice came out audibly. The tone wasn't moody or snappy as earlier. And it was the first time Riku called him by his name.
"Yeah?"
"I'll be fine. I'll come visit you later to prove my words, okay?" The vampire said, his voice, this time sounded sincere enough that the boy found it hard not to believe.
The brunet weighed his options for a while before nodding. The smile that graced Riku's lips surprised Sora, to the point of shock. Nevertheless, he smiled back at the vampire.
"Okay. But…do you need anything? Won't you be hungry? Wait, I'll go get my lunchbox and some water. I can buy mine at the school's cafeteria-"
"I don't eat mortal food and I don't really need blood right now." Riku cut Sora's off mid sentence, his smile turned into a smirk when he saw the other boy blanched.
"B…blood?"
"Have you already forgotten what I am?"
Sora went quiet and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I did for a moment ago."
Oceanic eyes widened in mere surprise. This human boy was acting like he was talking with another normal human boy, and not a bloody monster.
"So…does that mean you kill anyone for blood?" Sora questioned with cautious tone. "Though I don't think you look like someone who'd kill."
"We've only just met; you can't judge me by that." Riku stated, leaving a tense air between them for a while before he clarified. "Fortunately, I haven't killed human for the last 60 years or so. The last and all that I've killed were evildoers anyway. Does that sit well with you?"
Sora contemplated while locking his eyes on Riku for a while. "Well…not really. But…I think there's more to you."
"You should go. I can tell you more later," Riku urged.
Sora's eyes turned sideways for a while, and then nodded. "You're not a resident here, are you? You might get lost. I'll be here after school, around 3 pm that is, I'll still find you here, won't I?"
The blue-eyed was surprised at the reassuring smile that Riku gave him as he nodded. "See you then, and don't hurt anyone here!" Sora pressed the last word.
"I won't. I'll be looking forward to seeing you again, Sora."
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The brunet boy reached the pier to the main island and ran up all the way to his school. Just midway between his school and the path to the Island was a crossroad where his house was. As Sora ran, he could make out a blond head from afar.
It was a boy, with the same blue eyes as his, though a little lighter. He wore an identical uniform as Sora did. His face resembled with the brunet's, although his hair was blond, and swirled neatly in one direction. The blond boy was leaning against one of the coconut trees, looking about, obviously waiting for someone.
"Roxas!" Sora waved and came rushing towards him. "Are you waiting for me?"
"You should have told me last night that you were going to the island, Sora. It would have been better than leaving a note like that." The (slightly) taller boy peered down at the puffing brunet.
Sora took one step back, slightly flailing at his older brother. "But I didn't plan for that, you were sleeping and I didn't want to disturb you." Then he started pacing off to avoid the ensuing lecture. "Come on, Rox, let's go."
"Hmm," Roxas made the sound in his throat as he picked up his pace. "Well, I don't mind you leaving the house early in the morning without me. Just don't come home late when we're not together, all right?"
"Eh…speaking of which," Sora suddenly gave off a lopsided grin. "I'm going to the remote Island again after school."
"What time will you be back?" The older brother asked.
"Uh…" Sora paused, thinking. He didn't know how long it would take him. He would have to wait until sunset so Riku could come out of the shack and…
"Just come home before sunset," Roxas decided for him, cutting through Sora's decision.
The younger brother's head snapped up at Roxas. "What? Why?"
"It's dangerous at night," the blond answered, looking ahead.
"But, I've been on my own since I was five, Rox! And you've never been overly worried about me coming home late. Since you've came back from Twilight Town, you started telling me not to come home late and be watchful. You know there's not much crime in Destiny Island," Sora reasoned.
It was the time they finally reached the school's front gate; students were rushing by to reach the school grounds. Roxas's frown deepened from earlier, he brought his face closer to his younger brother and said in a low voice. "You haven't heard of the news? There are several people who've been killed by an unknown cause, and some are missing. All of this happens at night."
Sky blue eyes stared into lighter blue ones, gaping. "But, isn't that some place else?"
"Close enough to Destiny Island. There's something lurking in the dark, Sora. You've got to be careful," the older brother pressed.
A moment ago, Sora was thinking of telling about his encounter with a vampire to his twin brother. Now, he didn't want to fill his brother with more worries. His twin brother might not be an overly optimistic, but Sora thought it was strange for his brother who lately scolded him a lot about not being in the house at night. 'Roxas has been this way for this past few months…' then Sora realized. 'Was this thing Roxas was talking about related to Riku in some way?' Sora was about to open his mouth to ask.
"Sora! Roxas!" a girl's voice called to both boys and they turned, seeing the redhead and a curly brunet girls walk up to them.
"Hey, Kairi, Selphie," both boys greeted their friends, Sora's friends, to be exact.
Roxas was an exchange student from Twilight Town. At first, he had been admitted to Destiny School, the same as Sora. But the one year Sora and he'd been sent to Twilight Town. He was enthralled by the place and made three close friends there that he decided to stay at Twilight School instead.
Despite being a twin, how much they looked alike, and how close they were, there were differences. Roxas liked Twilight Town where the city stayed somewhat shadowy with a late afternoon scent all the time. On the other hand, Sora enjoyed his life at Destiny Island where things were livelier and brighter.
Somehow, Roxas had only come back for Sora.
For each of them, each of the places felt like home, while another place wasn't.
Roxas expressed his decision of admitting to Twilight High, and Sora protested; when Roxas packed his belongings, Sora had gone over to put Roxas's stuffs back in places (much to Roxas's distress and annoyance); when Roxas was readied to go, Sora became clingy.
It took everything inside of Roxas to pry Sora off of him and convinced that they could stop for a visit anytime since the train was only few hours away.
Fortunately, Destiny School and Twilight School had a good connection that Roxas could stay at Destiny School for a year. At least, that was what Roxas wanted, in order to come and watch his brother for a while before leaving again.
Sora did notice that when his brother came home this time, the usual liveliness in Roxas had gone. There were times where he caught his brother sitting alone, staring off into space, and seeming gloomy. Sora still didn't have the answer to his brother's unusual behavior, and Roxas would always smile for him whenever he was around. Being a straightforward person, Sora just asked in concern. And Roxas, being a person who kept things inside most of the time, didn't tell Sora what was wrong. Things had stayed tense and hung around for the passed few months that they had been together.
The bell rang, signaling the students to pick up their paces to their respective rooms. Before Roxas went to his class, he called out to his brother. "Sora, don't forget what I said. At lunch, I'll come by."
Kairi and Selphie turned in unison with curiosity in their eyes. "What was that about?"
"Eh…" Sora gave a lopsided grin as he scratched his cheek with a finger.
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After school, Sora went straight out of school and directly to the beach to set sail to the remote Island, along with Roxas and many of his friends. He didn't mean for all of them to come but who was he to stop them anyway? Kairi had been his closest friend, and Selphie close to her, so that brought both of them. Then Tidus and Wakka, two of his guy friends claimed that they wanted to tag along and practice Blitzball.
Sora was worried for a moment over his friends' and his brother's safety, if Riku was what he claimed to be. Then again, he felt that he could trust Riku. Besides being overly optimistic, Sora also had adopted a trait of good personality judging. There was only once or twice out of numerous times that he had made a big mistake about it. Still, it was something he came to be very proud of.
Luckily, all the three couples had their boats in different directions so they would meet again at the Destiny Island. That gave Sora time alone with Roxas where he could reveal more.
Well, it could be better to have two helping hands. Roxas might not be the one who threw himself into trouble just to save someone he barely knew like Sora. But he also wasn't the one who would walk away knowing someone else was in trouble.
"Rox, the reason I'm going to the Island, because there's this…guy, Riku." Sora started, catching Roxas's attention as the blond lifted his thin brow. "I know you'll find it hard to believe since you never believe in such kind of thing. But he said he's a vampire," Sora paused, registering his brother who had his eyes widened, and Sora was surprised.
Normally, whenever Sora told Roxas that he saw someone in the dark or heard some freaky monster's scream from somewhere, Roxas would only throw him a lazy gaze, and tell Sora to knock it off. Sora couldn't help it, and blamed it on Roxas, who was the very one that, as a child, always scared Sora by pointing left and right, saying there was a man without a head at one of the dark corner, a girl with a long black hair covering her face in white dress at the far side of the sea.
Sora had learned that it all had been Roxas's tactic of scaring Sora so he would not wander off so far and come home on time. But old habits died hard and the young brunet found himself still tangled in such beliefs that strange things other than human or animal does exist.
Back to where Roxas had his eyebrow raised, it was soon followed by an exclaimed as the blond paused in paddling. "WHAT?"
The younger of the two winced at his brother's shriek, his brother never shrieked.
"A vampire!"
"Yeah, I know you won't believe me, but… Roxas, why are we turning around?" Sora asked when his brother suddenly did a u-turn.
"We're going back," Roxas stated firmly as he looked around, seeing the other two boats nearing the Island and he shouted. "Everyone! Don't go near the Island! Go back!"
"Wait, Roxas! What's gotten into you! I thought you didn't believe in such things." Sora shifted from his seat and bent closer to his brother, emphasizing the point. "Wait! Don't go back! I have to get to that Island!" Sora protested; he could also hear his friends' yelling with questions from both side. "Roxas!"
Roxas didn't stop as Sora caught the hint of real panic in his brother's blue eyes.
Sora spared a glance at his friends who had their paddling stopped and were waiting for answers.
"Turn around, and go home!" Roxas repeated.
"Wait, Roxas, turn around!" Sora grabbed both side of the small boat, standing up and looking down at his brother who still kept paddling back to the mainland.
Although they were at the same age, Roxas had always acted like the mature one among all of them, so Sora's friends automatically looked up to him as a senior like Wakka. But Roxas wasn't so carefree and uncollected like Wakka, which made them follow Roxas's words should he stress it. He would have to stop Roxas in order to convince his friends, but Sora couldn't care less about that just right now.
The seemingly harmless boy who claimed to be a vampire would have died had Sora not been there. And he was actually expecting Sora to come see him. Sora had been thinking that the matter was someone's life here. He couldn't just settle with the thought of leaving some miserable person on his own.
Sora jumped off the boat and into the water.
"Sora!" Roxas shouted suddenly as the others nearby gasped. When the brunet's head poked out of the water, Roxas scooted to the opposite side of the boat where Sora had been sitting earlier. He reached for his brother and ordered. "Sora, get back here!"
The said brother turned his head back. "You can go home Roxas. I'll catch up to you later." With that, he swam off to the nearby island.
"Sora!" Roxas repeated, his call clashing in unison with Sora's friends calling for him as they started paddling towards the island to go after the swimming boy. "Damn it, Sora," Roxas hammered against the side of the boat and grabbed the paddle again, following his brother.
The boy kept swimming until he reached the beach. He picked himself off of the water, squashing about and took his steps towards the shack.
Roxas on the other hand, jumped off the boat and dashed after his brother while Tidus and Wakka grabbed Sora's boat to tie the rope before it would be swept away by the waves. Then Kairi and Selphie who reached the pier last, could only gape at each other and each of the Blitzball boys in confusion.
Just ten more paces before Sora reached the shack; Roxas had grabbed his wrist and stopped him from going further, thanks to his faster paces. "Sora! If you said he was a vampire, then he's dangerous! Moreover, he can survive on his own, he doesn't need your help!" Roxas tried to reason with his brother but it proved fruitless when Sora shook his head vehemently like a child protesting his parents.
"No, Roxas," Sora's earlier vigilant demeanor had subsided; instead, it was replace with a droopy one as sky blue eyes cast on the sand. Sora, looking solemn all of the sudden, his worries surpassed the realization of why Roxas would say such thing as if vampires did exist. "Riku was about to kill himself. Although he said he'd already given up his motive after that, I still have to make sure he's okay."
Roxas's eyes softened at his brother's change in demeanor. He held the younger boy's both arm and asked, "Sora… Are you really sure he's harmless? You said his name is Riku?"
Sora nodded, hoping now and then that his brother could understand. Roxas always does, when he reasoned back with him instead of outbursting like a child. And Sora believed his brother wouldn't fail him this time.
Roxas heaved a long sigh, looking away. "Okay, tell me one thing. Does this…vampire have red hair, green eyes, and a pair of reversed tear drop under his eyes?"
The brunet's eyebrow rose higher than ever before. Sora looked back at his brother, questions written all over his face. He wanted to ask why such a question was being aksed; does it have anything to do with this? But now there was nothing he cared much except to see that Riku was okay, so he simply gave answer to that, "No. Riku has green eyes, yes. But his hair is silver and he doesn't have tattoos on his face."
The blond heaved a long sigh and his head dropped, eyes casting on the sand below their feet, and contemplated longer than usual. He still had his hands with firm grip on Sora, so as not to let his brother go anywhere.
The younger one waited for his brother to weigh the option whether to approve it or not, which he expected it to be the former. Until he caught sight of his four friends coming up and stopping by their sides, asking wildly of why Sora had jumped off like that. Sora returned them with a sheepish grin. His clothes and all were still wet.
Before Sora could say anything, Roxas rose his head back up and let go of Sora's shoulder. "Don't worry, Sora's been overreacting." Sora gaped at his brother; eyes silently asking of whom exactly was it that was overreacting. Then he reassured his friends that everything was okay.
When the four started to walk off towards the beach, Sora tugged at Roxas's shirt, and Roxas managed a small smile at him. Sora was unnerved, because his brother's smile was a sad one. Like the one he knew Roxas had to force off when he asked his brother what was wrong. He was about to speak, but Roxas did it first.
"Sora, promise me." The blond once again had his grip on the brunet's shoulder. "We'll see that Riku's fine and we'll leave, okay?"
"Roxas, but why-"
"Okay?" Roxas cut him off, leaving Sora no room for argument.
Sora knew this was enough for what he had asked for. Roxas had always downright rejected his whines when it came to things that Roxas deemed could be threatening to him. His brother just wanted to protect him and Sora understood it perfectly.
"Stay behind me," Roxas told the young brunet and took a step ahead to the shack.
Sora tried to peek over his brother's shoulder from behind. Roxas' behavior had added all the more confusion and curiosity to him. Generally, his brother wasn't this overly protective, especially when he told Roxas that there was something somewhere. 'And what is he talking about, the red haired guy or something? Does it have anything to do with Riku? Why is he bothered as if he'd really believe me about vampires at all?' Questions ran inside Sora's mind as he trailed beside his brother, not really obeying the command to be behind.
Roxas pushed his brother to step behind and shot an annoyed glare, but he received only a naïve look from the boy. The blond narrowed his eyes, and took great pain not to shout out loud to the heavens: 'Why the hell can't my brother so overly optimistic that he can't even think of a possible danger!'
"Roxas, I told you he's not dangerous. He only needs help."
'May I add too, of what is his obsession with helping people!' the shout rang in the blond's head.
Finally, Roxas had turned the doorknob. He stood still in front of the door, while Sora tiptoed, trying to get a peek over his brother's shoulder. The blond was literally between the door and Sora, blocking the smaller boy out.
"Riku?" called Sora.
Roxas stepped into the shack, with Sora hurrying behind. Both pair of blue eyes looked around and they turned to look at each other.
"There's no one here," Roxas stated the obvious, catching a flash of disappointment running through his brother's eyes.
Eyes traveled to the stairs that lead to the upper level, Sora made his way half up the stairs. "Maybe he's up there, I'll go check."
"Sora, don't go first!" Roxas could only hurriedly follow when the boy stomped up.
When Roxas reached the top, he only saw his brother there. Sora looked back at him, then he opened the door, which would lead to the part of the middle of the island. The strong afternoon light peeked in through it.
"He can't come out this way, or the other way downstairs…" Sora trailed off.
"Okay, good." Roxas crossed his arms with stern expression on his face. "I believed that you weren't kidding around since you were so serious. So I could take it as some freaking boy was just messing with you and now he's already got his ass back home. Now it's our turn to go home and dry yourself off before you get sick."
"He…burned, Roxas." Sora's voice was barely audible, as his eyes locked on the floor. "I saw it, his skin burned under the sunlight; it couldn't possibly be a prank." Then his blue eyes suddenly dimmed and looked shock. "Oh no…what if…"
Roxas's frown deepened as he came closer to his brother.
"What if he got back out and let himself be burned completely?" Sora's eyes finally traveled up to his brother, his eyes still blanked and shocked. "That's why he's not here."
The older brother put his hand over the boy's shoulder. This was one thing he'd came to bear so much about, his brother being guilty for something he wasn't supposed to. Having undying obsession in helping hands was a two-edged sword; Sora could become pretty vulnerable when he already believed he could help someone but failed to do so.
"Sora, there's no body—"
"Vampires burn and turn into ashes. They're blown away by the wind, Roxas. He told me that," Sora argued.
"Sora, in that case, there's nothing we can do," Roxas concluded and mused when his brother's statement struck him. 'Wait, burn under the sunlight? But…'
"I'll look around the island," Sora announced.
XxxxxxxxxxxxX
It had been another two hours that Sora and Roxas spent time searching for said vampire around the Island. Sora's friends did join in the searching later, given the description but not the identity. They found nothing though.
When the sun set, they gave up, and Sora was half-convinced and half-forced to get home. His clothes were already dried from running around in search of Riku.
Roxas was paddling back while Sora stared off into the ocean. Normally they would take turns, but Sora had only rowed around in a circle, with his short span of attention when his mind was disturbed. The blond looked over his brother concernedly, but at least he knew tomorrow things would turn out okay. Sora always had a knack of rebounding back to his usual self with a cheerful demeanor again, after a few sulk.
Roxas had hoped that whatever Sora had encountered wouldn't be associated with what he'd been trying to protect Sora from.