Binded By Grip
Riku scanned around him as the rain dripped from his black coat. He stood on top of the lion statue guarding the roof of the library. What is this world? He thought briefly. I gave Kairi to Sora, I said, "Take care of her"
Riku looked down the library; it was a good forty of so feet up. He threw off his coat and let the rain peck at his buff body. His yellow shirt and blue pants had never lost their appeal to him. His silver hair was shoulder length and back on destiny island, many girls had drooled over him but, he was in love with Kairi, but now it was all gone. He rubbed his arms in the cold and picked up his coat, it was time to countiued on. He had no idea what this world was, after he had disappeared along with the 'kingdom hearts door' he lost everything around him, and found himself alone in this city. Now he was alone. It had only been a few days since he last saw his friends, but already he felt a tug at it heart. Giving a sigh he turned to the elevator, but a scream broke through the windless rain. Running back to where he stood a man grunted. Trying to pull him up onto the head of the lion statue that jutted out from the side of the building. Without thought, Riku jumped down and took the mans hand. He pulled with all his might under his shoulders. The mans feet and body seemed limp even though he was awake. His eyes were shallow and empty. Riku gave another tug and the man finally gave help and raised himself up and Riku helped him up and over the ledge, back onto the flat roof. The man turned sharply at Riku and said nothing. Riku took note of his appearance. Two black wings of feathers stretched out. His face was long and his hair was silver and cold. A black cape flowed beneath his wings and high covering boots covered his knees and feet. He said nothing to Riku but turned his head and looked out into the city below. Riku put out his hand hesitantly,
"Hey, are you going to be alright?"
"There is fear within you, how can I trust you?" He said mysteriously.
Riku took back his hand, "Sorry, what were you doing there?"
"…I don't really know, must you be so into everything and open?"
"Open?" Riku stated confused stepping back; no one had ever called him open, closed yes, but never open.
"No, your cold, a darkness has been in your heart, a cold one, it will never be erased, much like mine"
Riku stared at the man and sat down. It still rained against the dark sky and a chill ran through the air.
"I thank you for sparing my life, for that I have no impulse to kill you" He watched Rikus expression that remained unchanged. "Perhaps darkness is in you more than I thought, no matter, my name is Sephiroth, but nothing more do you need to know about me, nor do I need to know anymore than your name either." The man stood up and began towards the elevator. Quickly Riku followed him and the two took the elevator down to the libraries main floor.
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"So your name is Riku?" Sephiroth stated uninterested.
Riku nodded, "Yeah, I'm kind of new here, are you?"
Sephiroth pretended to ignore Riku and said nothing as they walked into a soup house that Riku had suggested. Riku was the last in and noticed that suddenly Sepiroths wings had disappeared. Riku thought nothing much of it and walked up with Sephiroth to the counter where a middle-aged waitress crossly asked for their order. They each said their own and soon two steamy bowls were laid in front of them. Riku looked at Sephiroth as he took a bite into his soup, I'm surprised he hasn't told me to go away; then again, I haven't known him for very long….
"Riku" Sephiroth said interrupting his train of thought, "I can tell by the way you act that you're searching for something, or someone, are you not?"
"I guess you could say that," Riku said remembering that he didn't care much to see his friends, as much anymore time and time again, this was one of those times.
"Yet you are doubtful"
Riku tilted his head, Why is he so…like this?
"I can read your thoughts thank you, not really, but your actions speak louder than words, as for the answer to you question, that's none of your business"
Riku nodded slowly in fear and the two finished the rest of their soup in silence. Riku paid for the soup and the two walked out. The rain had become harder and Sephiroth's wings had returned and stretched out. He gazed at the sky,
"Riku" Riku turned his attention to Sephiroth, "Never lose sight" He said bitterly and without warning zipped into the sky and out of sight, leaving a trail of feathers behind. Riku picked one of the black feathers and put it into his coats pocket and put his coat on. He shivered slightly in the cold and began outside of the city, it was time to return, and awaken his path. Most importantly though, he knew he shouldn't lose sight.
Riku took a final look at the city as he exited. The wind and rain had ceased, revealing a bright an sunny afternoon. The land outside the city was a hot sticky desert. Riku went on through the desert, he needed to make sure that no one followed him or saw him when he awakened himself once again. The city soon became a mere speck on the desert plain as he reached a group of palm trees, shading a small pond of water. He disliked water, but he was too thirsty to resist and bent down and scooped it up into his hands and drank greedily. When he had finished he laid his head against the base of a palm tree and sighed,
Kairi…. I don't even feel the love I used to feel for you. You truly are Sora's now, he'll take care of you, I…in the depth of my heart, always thought it might turn out like this…
Riku let his eyes close but they didn't stay closed for long as a crunch of sand plowed nest to him. Jumping up, he looked up to see a girl riding a camel. A blue bandana went across her forehead and under her hair on the back of her head. Her hair was blonde and her eyes were green and deep. She was slightly shorter than him and she wore a pair of white jeans and a white shirt with a red plaid one over top. Wow, she's hot. He thought with a smile in the back of his mind. She stared angrily at him,
"Argh, what in the world do you think you're doing here, you could easily get killed here!"
Riku looked at her innocently," I'm traveling across the desert?"
The girl rolled her eyes and jumped down, staring Riku in the eyes, "Sorry, I get a little…. fired up…. at times"
"You're not fired up…."
The girl blushed, "Sorry, my name's is Ricki, what's yours?"
"Riku, our names are similar"
"I suppose, seriously, what do you seek out here, and don't tell me treasure"
"Well…. it's hard to explain, and you'll think I'm crazy if I told you…"
"No biggie, I've had mentally bad people in my day that I've met, so don't be afraid"
"Okay, I'm from another world sorta…" Riku started out.
"Oh! So you must've gotten pulled to the wrong world, how long has it been sense the worlds were restored…"? Ricki went into some thought before her and Riku both responded at the same time,
"Two weeks and five days"
"Yeah, it has been nearly three weeks, but I need to find my way back home to Destiny Island…." Riku started again
"Destiny Island?" Ricki interrupted, "Never heard of it, but go on"
"Anyway, Sora and ……um…. I just want to find my way back, do you know how I can do that?"
Ricki looked at Riku with mixed emotions, "Yes, I do, in the next town is a man named Luke, he knows how to travel from world to world, now that physically impossible…"
"Then lets get going!" Riku said almost happy, and began dragging along Ricki.
Ricki pulled herself free, "Sadly this desert takes literally a year to cross, this world is huge…if you want to travel, you have to call upon powers…."
"Powers? Possibly the dark powers?"
"Yes, you know of this, then I guess it's safe around you…. I have not always had my ability, I can summon heartless pieces, or even heartless themselves and use them to unleash power, travel etc. I just got this ability after everything became right, but after it, nothing went right for me, my parents left me, they thought I was embedded with evil. I guess I have a purpose know" Ricki said sadly, nearly in tears.
Riku put his hand on her shoulder,
"It's okay…. we all make mistakes"
Ricki looked up, "But how…"
"You called upon darkness, let it sit inside you, you made a mistake, just like I did"
Riku gazed thoughtfully at the girl, as a dark orb formed around her and created the shape of a heart in flames. Riku stood with amazement as the sandy scenery around them smeared away and they found themselves in a dark black city, much like the one that Riku had left,
"Is this…"?
"No, this is where Luke is, I merely transported to here…. but don't think I can cross into other worlds this way, cause I can't, I can only do every once in a while, usually it doesn't work, surprised it actually worked this time…"
Riku nodded, "This man Luke, can you tell me more about him?"
"Yes, he is a mysterious young man, to tell you the truth not much is known about him…." Ricki said informally.
Riku nodded and followed Ricki through the deserted streets to a small inn. Its sign was fresh and warm smells echoed from a meal, eaten hours ago. The two walked in and Riku was surprised to find that a man was at the counter, even at this hour,
"Why Ricki! Haven't seen you in awhile!" The man exclaimed. His eyes were brown and a beard of black jutted down his chin and under his nose. He wore a brown cowboy hat and was completed with a traditional cowboy outfit.
"I've been good, how are you doing?"
"Good, glad to hear you're good, haven't been seeing you much"
"Sorry, anyways, is Luke here?"
"Yeah, just went into his office," The man pointed to a nearby door at the end of a short hall that on the doorknob a sign called, 'private' was on it. Ricki and Riku walked up to the door and walked in,
"Luke?" Ricki stated searching the office.
"Ricki!" A man jumped up from his desk and walked over to Ricki and Riku, "About time" The man wore a bright red trench coat but his face was so well hidden by the hood only darkness covered his face, except for two silted eyes,
"Who might you be?" The man said angrily towards Riku.
"Riku,"
"Ah, Riku, so what brings you here?"
"Well" Riku started, "My friends and I were separated, and I am searching for them, Destiny Island is where they should be found"
"Destiny island huh? Young man, how do you expect to find one world within over 700? Sure when the heartless raged rampage there was only nine or so left, but now in the number we have now?" Riku was unable to say anything and the man smiled, "Ricki, leave the two of us, I think I understand something about Riku" Ricki hesitated but left and closed the door behind her and Riku turned to Luke,
"It appears in your own heart something is holding you back from returning to your home"
Riku jolted back and Luke nodded, "Many years ago I was like yourself, a youth, how old are you?"
"Fifteen now"
"Then I guess my thoughts might be right, but I shall not reveil my suspicions for the moment, so you wish to return to Destiny Island?" Riku watched at Luke stood up and pulled down a map containing hundreds of stars, each with a tiny name.
"Riku, these are the worlds we know of, some haven't even been discovered, your destiny island, is over fifty-five million light years away" Luke casually pointed to one small star, "A good while if you were to travel by a gunmi ship"
"So how long, what can I do to get home?" Riku said coarsely.
"Not much, I'll see about something, for the moment, go with Ricki, she's a wise girl, but be careful of her, she's my daughter"
Riku's mouth nearly dropped but he nodded and walked outside, closing the door behind him and finding Ricki sitting on a stool, talking to the man they had seen earlier,
"So Riku how was it?" Ricki questioned Riku as he sat down.
Riku nodded bitterly,
"Good"
Ricki rolled her eyes, "Anyway, how'd you like to see the town?"
Riku sighed, "Isn't it a bit late?"
Ricki shrugged and began outside Riku could hear that the rain had become harder. Ricki came back in soon after and Riku went outside and sat down Indian style and looked up into the sky, Kairi, this is good-bye, I'll see you only as a friend now, you kinda always was a better person with Sora, I was always the loner.