The sky was beginning to darken and the last bastions of light were giving way to the darkness of the night. A father and his son were sitting on a beach watching the night sky each quiet in their own wonderings.
The father reached out and ruffled his sons hair "Caden, how about we head up to the house, its getting dark."
Caden turned to his father and smiled "Alright dad." With out another word he stood up and raced down the beach towards the stairs to his house.
His father jumped up and gave chase "Wont even give your old man a head start, now that is cold." He laughed as he ran across the sand.
Caden looked back at his rapidly gaining father and grinned. He turned his head to the fading horizon and pounded his feet away into the sand. He could feel the granules bunching up between his toes as he ran. Before he could get much farther he could feel a strong hand grab him around the middle and hoist him up over strong shoulders.
Caden pounded on his dads back with his fists "Awe come on put me down dad someone might see." His father just laughed and dropped him down into the sand. "You should know by now not to mess with your old man."
Caden just punched him in the shoulder "Yea whatever give it a few more years and ill be able to run circles around you."
His father just smiled "Yes but that is a long way away now isn't it."
Caden turned and started walking up the stairs to their house " sure sure come on I am hungry."
His fathers faced kept the grin as he followed his son inside.
Caden. It is time.
Caden shot up at the sound of the voice, throwing his covers to the floor. His eyes searched the room, looking for the source of the voice.
He sat there rubbing his eyes when he saw the faint movement of a shadow in the corner of his room. He froze. He crawled farther back into his bed as the shadow slowly gained form and approached the side of his bed, its yellow eyes seemingly endless in there emptiness.
It was small but still unlike anything he had ever seen before. He sat scrunched up in fear looking at the strange denizen of the darkness for what seemed and eternity. He wondered what it wanted.
"It doesn't even look that scary". Caden thought.
" it even looks kinda friendly."
The little creature just kept its yellow gaze fixed on Caden. He slowly reached out his hand to the dark little man and tried his best to look like he did not mean any harm.
Suddenly the creature leapt forward and latched on to his arm, seemingly nonexistent
claws digging into his flesh. Caden leapt off the bed screaming in pain,shaking his arm
to try and rid himself of his fiendish passenger. As he went flailing about his room he
noticed more and more yellow eyes staring at him out of the darkness. He frantically threw the demon off and into a wall, where it promptly migrated into the wall and shadowed its way down to the floor.
With a yell Caden tore from his room and down the hall way. As he ran he could see hundreds of yellow eyes taking shape all around him. His heart was beating at an incredible rate as were his feet. He jumped down the flight of stairs and landed on the floor next to his parents bed room.
"DAD!" "There is som...... d-dad?"
He froze as he saw that the roof had been torn off and his father were floating high over head limp and lifeless under the hand of a giant...shadow. It towered over everything. Its body was composed of giant wisps of darkness that swirled ever outward and seemed to be swallowing the world whole. Caden fell back as turned its glowering gaze on him.
Caden. Do not be afraid of the darkness.
Caden looked wildly around for the source of the voice but all he could see was the ever enclosing darkness that was consuming everything he loved.
He looked up and saw his father dangling like a broken toy suspended by some unseen force from the hand of the dark monstrosity that had destroyed his home. Caden looked on in horror as what seemed to be a glowing heart was ripped from his fathers chest and consumed by the titan. Caden did not know what was happening but somehow felt that his father was gone. His father that had been the only guiding force in his life was now gone. Caden broke down and started to sob. His father was absorbed into the darkness and it slowly started to come for Caden.
This is the end of all that you are.
The voice sounded once again, and just as last time there was nothing in sight.
Caden crawled on his back never taking his eyes off the evil that was in front of him.
He looked around for some avenue to escape, his vision blurred by the still fresh tears that stained his face. He got up and started to run over the rubble that was once his home. He climbed over the broken wall and started to sprint across the sand towards the ocean. He stumbled over and fell as the darkness devoured the sky
This is the beginning of what you shall become
"JUST SHUT UP" Caden screamed as he went crashing into the waves
Caden turned and looked at his life. The sky was a black void. His house was slowly breaking apart and being vacuumed up into the dark emptiness. The Leviathan of darkness slowly stood up to its full height and raised its hand to the swirling void. Caden could only look on in horror as a towering wave of darkness began to build growing larger and larger until it seemed that it would cave and fall at any second. Finally it reached its dark apex and came crashing down onto the sand at an uncontrollable rate.
The waves around him were broiling and Caden could feel the salt stinging his eyes. The darkness was almost upon him now. It was moving at an incredible speed across the ground like an army of shadows whose soul purpose was his destruction. Caden knew he only had seconds before the darkness hit him. He brought up his arms in defense
No matter how great the darkness, One can choose to be the light.
Darkness rushed around Caden and engulfed him merging with the water around him.
He blindly flailed as he fell back into the water. He began to panic as the darkness filled his very mind. He couldn't feel, he couldn't breathe. He was becoming the darkness, and the darkness him. He began to feel numb. As he began slipping away he thought about his life that was taken and the life of his father that had already been stolen
"Why." Was the only thought that ran through his head before he succumbed to the darkness and floated into oblivion.
Caden awoke on a beach. He Laid there for what seemed to be an eternity, eyes closed as if opening them would confirm last nights events. Finally he risked a peek. There was no darkness in the sky. Caden slowly sat up and looked around.
What he saw took his breath away. He was on a veritable island paradise. There were palm trees swaying in the afternoon breeze, with wonderful looking star shaped fruits dangling close to the branches. Caden slowly stood up and brushed the sand off him self. He rubbed his eyes sleepily, it seemed as if he had just awoken from an extremely long rest. While rubbing his eyes he noticed a small black mark on the back of his hand, he brought it up to his eyes for closer inspection and realized that it was in the shape of a keyhole. A small one, but distinct none the less. He tried rubbing it off but to no avail. He sighed and brought his hands to the back of his head.
It was at this moment that everything really hit Caden. His father was dead. His home was gone and He was probably going crazy to top it all off. His knees could not take the stress and began to give out. He fell back into the sand and fought to hold back tears. Caden did not know how long he lie in the sand, just wanting everything to be over. He unfurled and lay spread eagle in the sand. The sun felt so good on his face. He Opened his eyes and just stared into the sky thinking about his father and all that he meant to him.
Suddenly there was a great burst of light and out of no where, From what seemed to be a tear in the sky a blonde haired man fell to the earth with a thud. Caden quickly got up and ran over to the man. As he reached him he saw that he was badly injured. His eyes were closed and his breaths were coming fewer and farther in between. As Caden peered over the man, wondering who he could be, the mans hand shot up and grabbed his shoulder. Caden tried to break his grasp but he could not. the man pulled himself up face to face with Caden and started to rasp out what seemed to be his last words.
"Tell Tifa that she was my light, Tell her that I defeated my darkness."
At these words the man started to cough up blood. It flecked down on Caden, speckling his shirt and pants. The man fell back and lay till in the sand, his blood slowly mixing into the golden granules. Caden did not know why but he felt strong sense of loss come over him. As he surveyed the mans wounds he shook his head in wonderment. There were massive cuts covering the majority of his body , and what seemed to be multiple stab wounds in his stomach. Caden could not fathom how this man had been able to even say anything. Caden stood up and and gazed out across the sea, just trying to make sense of all that had happened. He would have laughed If someone told him that the darkness really was an evil force bent on destruction, or that people could fall from great portals of light.
Caden stared back down at the man and noticed that he was still breathing! How could this be possible. For the first time He noticed the giant sword that lay firm in the mans right hand.
"Jeez." Caden thought to him self. "That thing looks like it ways a freaking ton. how could that skinny guy even lift it?"
Discarding these thoughts Caden went about trying to help the man. Caden new the basics of first aid but there was no way that he could deal with injuries of this stature.
He decided that he needed to get the man in some kind of shelter. There was none to be found how ever. He looked at the palm trees swaying in the wind and then looked at the monster of a sword that was resting on the sand.
"Worth a try." thought Caden. He walked over and picked up the sword with both hands. It was extremely heavy but not so much as Caden first imagined. He hefted the blade up over one shoulder in order not to strain him self carrying it over. He walked down the beach a ways to a smaller tree. "Well, here goes nothing" Caden thought as he unshouldered the hefty blade. He shifted his weight around on his feet and tried to take a stance like all those heroes that he saw in movies make. He leaned back and brought his arms across his front swinging the sword with all his might. The shock of hitting the wood that he expected never came. The blade passed right through the trunk of the palm tree and the momentum carried Caden into a full rotation as it flew from his hands and spun a few times in the air before coming to a halt quivering with its blade sticking in the ground.
"Holy shit!" Caden proclaimed. He regained his balance and looked at the damage the sword had done. The palm tree had been completely severed. There was a perfect diagonal line where the sword had sliced cleanly through the wood with out so much as a fraction of resistance. He walked over and grabbed the sword from the ground and with a few short pulls he had it free from the sand. He continued for the remainder of the day, hacking away at the palm trees and dragging them over to the blonde man. He began to fashion the trees into a small shelter over the man. It took him all day and he had finally finished by the time the sun was setting. He stuck the sword into the ground and stepped back to admire his handiwork.
"Wow that looks horrible." He thought with a grimace. "Oh well. Its not like I built shelters for a living back home."
He finished looking over his meager shelter and turned his eyes to the man laying beneath it. He was actually in quite good shape just not bulked out like one would assume from the sword he carried. Caden noticed that the mans wounds in fact looked slightly better, but he was still completely unconscious. Caden just shook his head.
"This guy cant be normal, but I am going to do my best to help him."
Caden began gathering some of the smaller branches from the trees he cut down. he noticed one of the star shaped fruits dangling from the tip. He reached out and grabbed it. His eyes ran over it looking for any indication that it would harm him. After a few seconds of debate he took a huge bite. It was delicious! He quickly devoured it and set about gathering the rest of the sticks. He brought them over to the lean-to and began to make a fire. In about thirty minutes he had a comfortable blaze going. Caden leaned back on his hands and turned his attention back to the sword. He had not really noticed before but it was a master work. It was almost as tall as he was and the blade was wider than any he had ever seen, being almost a foot and a half in width. Caden noticed the bandages that were wrapped around the blade. Almost as if it had been injured and the man had been attempting to heal it. Caden looked back at the man who was now Breathing comfortably and looked like he was sleeping peacefully now. his wounds had all but healed but he still had not opened his eyes. Caden turned his attention to the setting sun, hoping that this night would hold no darkness for him.
The sky was beginning to darken and the last bastions of light were giving way to the darkness of the night. A father and his son were sitting on a beach watching the night sky each quiet in their own wonderings.
The father reached out and ruffled his sons hair "Caden, how about we head up to the house, its getting dark."
Caden turned to his father and smiled "Alright dad." With out another word he stood up and raced down the beach towards the stairs to his house. He made it to the stairs and ran up to the door. He turned and saw his father coming up the stairs behind him. Caden smiled and turned to the closed door. He slowly reached out with one hand and grabbed the door nob.
Caden. CHOOSE!
Caden's eyes shot open. He slowly sat up and leaned on his hands. Looking around the camp sight he noticed that The man was gone along with the sword. Quickly he stood up and looked around for any sign of the man. The fire had died down and was now on its last breath, The flames dancing with the shadows all over the the sand. Caden walked down to the shores edge and stared out over the dark sea. Caden sat down with his feet in the damp sand with a deep sigh, he wished he could have at least found out the mans name. Caden was in trouble and that man looked as if he was a warrior.
"If those dark....monsters come back, I have to be ready."
He had to figure out what was going on. He wasnt even sure If he was on the same beach as his home was. He sure had not seen That star fruit before. Caden sighed as his mind drifted back to his home. His eyes hardened as he thought of his father. His fist balled up at his sides and unshed tears sprang to his eyes. He brought up a sleeve of his jacket and wiped it across his eyes.
"Dad, I really could use some help right now."
Caden was brought out of his reverie by the sounds of something at the campsite. He turned and saw a sea of yellow eyes staring at him from just beyond the light of the fire. Caden did not breathe. He did not make a sound.
Caden Go!
In a split second Caden was in full sprint for the fire. The dark horrors all began to charge him. They did not make a sound as they flew across the sand.
Caden ran to the fire and as he ran past to reached in and snatched a fiery log with one hand. The darkness was slowly surrounding him.
Every way he turned the yellow glare followed him. Hundreds of creatures surrounded him. You could almost feel their anticipation. Caden brandished the log as a sword and swished it back and forth, attempting to keep the darkness at bay. He could not do it forever though. The fire on his stick was going out fast and it seemed the demons were just toying with him. Caden was frightened but tried not to show it. He thought about his father and he could slowly feel the fright in his heart be replaced by the righteous anger he felt over the death of his father. He squared off against the encroaching darkness and threw down his dying light.
"Come on then! IM RIGHT HERE!" He yelled at the darkness. He wanted to fight it. He wanted to hurt it. He wanted revenge. The sea of yellow eyes swarmed toward him and braced him self for what he thought would be his last stand.
Out of nowhere there was a whooshing noise and a glint of light of something mettalic. Caden shielded his eyes as a line of the dark creatures went up in a puff of purple and black smoke. Caden slowly lowered his arm and saw the blonde man crouched a little ways off with the giant sword held behind him. The man turned to Caden and nodded his head, as if to say thank you. With that gesture the man turned to the darkness and began going about destroying them. He was a blur. Caden could not believe what he was seeing. The rate at which this man moved was impossible. He wielded the giant blade as if it were light as a feather. Caden could only watch in awe as the man dispatched the remainder of the evil and slid the sword in to a leather carrier for it on his back.
Caden backed up a few steps as the man approached him. He stopped and seemed to be sizing Caden up.
"Who are you?" Asked the man suddenly. He was softspoken but you could hear the determination in his voice.
"Caden" the boy replied. He realized that he was shaking. He steeled himself and stuck out his hand. Caden looked at the mans face, trying to see what he was thinking. The man wasn't even that old. He actually looked to be about 22 or 23.
The man seemed to consider the boys hand for a second before taking it in a firm grasp and replying
"Caden. I thank you for what you did." Without any further introduction, the man turned and started walking away.
Caden eyes furrowed in frustration. "Hey, you did not even tell me your name."
The man stopped and turned his head to one side, as if to take one last look at his would be rescuer.
"Cloud Strife." With that said, the man turned and continued his trek down the beach.
"Cloud Strife." Caden stood frozen in the sand for a second, the ocean breeze whipping his hair around his face. "Hey wait up!" Caden yelled as he ran across the sand. He caught up to the man shortly, who was chuckling for some odd reason.
"So you want to tell me how you can move like that, or what the deuce those dark things are" Caden was now walking beside the man with his hands behind his head.
"I have fought the heartless a long time." Cloud replied, keeping his head towards the rising sun.
Caden seemed to mull this about in his head a while. His face in a deep confusion.
"Heartless huh?" "what are they called that for?"
Cloud sighed and looked at the boy. He was only about fifteen. He had shaggy brown hair and was wearing what looked to be pajamas. Cloud could sense the darkness around him though. As though he had been completely immersed. Yet he would not be standing here if that had happened. The boys eyes looked bright and eager, but deeper Cloud could see the pain.
"I trust you will find out soon enough." Cloud responded with a small wave of his hand.
Caden was starting to get a little frustrated with this man's demeanor. He did build him a little tree trunk fort after all.
Caden threw his hands up in exasperation. "Why does everything have to be so mysterious, why cant people just tell me what is going on. Its like for every question i ask, a thousand more take its place. Why do I hear voices. Why did darkness eat my house huh!?" Cloud just looked at Caden and then turned and kept walking
Caden was starting to get angry now. "Why did darkness take my fathers heart? Why cant it just go back to how it was?" Caden was almost out of breath now. He was sure that his man thought he was crazy but he did not care. He just stared at the man, willing him to answer his questions. Cloud turned to Caden again and stared at him with his piercing blue eyes. Caden almost faltered under his gaze but kept his own rebellious glare going strong.
"You still have your heart. With that you can overcome anything." Of the many Cloud could have said this was not what Caden had expected. He felt that Cloud knew so much more about what was happening to him than he let on but he also felt that Cloud had his own battles to fight.
" I never thanked you for saving me from the heartless back there,so uhh thanks." Caden stated with some discomfort.
Cloud chuckled "Just repaying the favor."
They continued on in silence for a few hours. Caden was caught up in thoughts of darkness and his father when Cloud pointed at some small buildings in the distance.
"I have some old friends that live there, Why don't we see if they can find a place for you to stay.
Caden looked rankled at the thought "Uuh are you sure that they would do that. they don't even know me.
Cloud just nodded. "They are not like other people. They are very....in-tune with their hearts."