Prologue: 0.9
This world has been connected
Thunder and purple lightning flashed in the sky as winds greater than any the world had known before howled. Dark creatures emerged from the shadows, crawling across the land, golden eyes shining through the unholy rain. Boats were thrown from the ocean, crashing into houses as planks were pulled loose and sent flying into the air. All who were unfortunate enough to be outside during this accursed storm fled for shelter, only to be cornered and swallowed by the shadows. From the midst of this chaos, there stood a boy.
Tied to the darkness.
A silver-haired youth stood on a small islet, connect to a larger yet still small island by a wooden bridge. A sphere of shadows loomed overhead, pulling in all the surrounding raindrops, leaves, and anything else light enough to be blown around by the dark storm's wind.
"Soon..." the boy remarked, not completely himself. No longer would he be held prisoner on these tiny islands. Though many considered them to be paradise, to him it was a prison, surrounded by water. But the oceans wouldn't hold his heart hostage anymore. Now that he had opened the secret door, there were no borders to contain him. No chains to bind him to the earth, nowhere in the sky he could not reach, not a single sea he couldn't cross.
"Where's Kairi?" a voice cut into his thoughts, "I thought she was with you!"
"The door is open," the youth stated, as if that somehow answered the voice's question.
"Huh?"
"The door is open Sora!" the silver-haired youth said, finally turning to face the other boy, "Now we can finally see the outside world!" The other boy wore a red, baggy jumpsuit, a loose belt around his waist, a black jacket, two yellow shoes too big for his feet, two white, fingerless gloves on his hands, and a silver necklace with a crown charm on it.
"But what about Kairi?"
"Kairi's coming with us!" the silver-haired boy snapped, cutting off Sora, "Once we step through, there might not be any turning back." The storm tore off a house's roof as the winds picked up in strength. "We may never see our parents again." Droplets of water were pulled from the surrounding ocean, and sucked right into the dark orb. "But we can't be afraid, we might not get another chance." Birds were pulled from their flight by the winds, their cries silenced as they were swallowed by the darkness. "I'm not afraid of the darkness!" He held out his hand, and called upon the dark powers as lightning flashed in the sky above.
"Riku..." Darkness portals opened below the two boys' feet as the silver-haired youth called upon all the powers the darkness provided. He only smiled as Sora reached out to him. The darkness swallowed him before his friend could get ahold of his hand. And just as he departed, Sora was momentarily blinded by a bright light.
Soon to be completely eclipsed.
Sora ran, as fast as his legs could carry him, a key-shaped sword in hand letting him slice through the shadows like a knife through butter. The wind was roaring now, and islands were being torn from the sea as the lucky few who found shelter were left clueless to their impending doom. The boy hurried to an ornate door that had not been there that morning. The second the doors closed behind him, the waters were pulled from the ocean, swallowed greedily by the glutinous storm, the now exposed stone and coral beneath soon to follow. Trees were uprooted as the sand was pulled up from the beach. By the time Sora was knocked out of the cave by another blast of darkness, nothing was left of the world but a single patch of sand in a whirlwind of debris, and the giant monster leading the lesser abominations.
One who knows nothing can understand nothing.
a/n: So, welcome to my Kingdom Hearts fic. I've actually been working on this for longer than Beach Pines, but until today, the universe itself seemed to conspire against me. This story is, for the most part, gonna be from Riku's perspective. So, next chapter, we'll be seeing how his journey starts out! Have a pleasant day!
