A/N: I've been more or less AFK for a loooong time, but I recently heard a song that gave me a bit of inspiration for a brief(ish) one shot. So here goes, my brief burst of creativity inspired by Oh Catastrophe by Crown The Empire.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Kingdom Hearts franchise, nor do I own the rights to Oh Catastrophe.
Oh Catastrophe
Something wasn't right. The air was filled with an unmistakeable potency, as if a single spark could ignite the world and leave only ashes in its wake. It made the little hairs on the back of Sora's neck stand up as he stared at the sky through his window. In the week that he had been back at Destiny Islands a storm had been brewing, one that reminded him of the storm that started this whole mess.
And it scared him.
That storm had taken his best friends away from him, and started an adventure that contained both his best and worst memories. Everybody expected him to simply save the worlds and be the light's knight in shining armour whenever the need arose. And he had. He put on a brave face for the king and Donald and Goofy, and put on a braver one for Kairi.
But inside he knew that if the need ever did arise, he just couldn't do it. Sure, he succeeded the first time, but by no means did he come away unscathed, mentally or physically.
It was only in his absent-mindedness whilst staring into the swirling clouds that he noticed something. And it set his teeth on edge, sending shivers down his spine and causing every hair on his body to stand at attention. Whatever the storm was, and whatever it entailed, its epicentre was an unmoving point in the blackened sky. Come to think of it, it had ALWAYS been in that spot, and he knew EXACTLY where that spot was.
He threw a quick glance at his clock. 2AM. He'd had trouble sleeping since the storm began to brew. Tonight he'd find out why. He silently pulled on his usual outfit, opened his window, and –with a quick glance to determine his height- swiftly jumped out. Pulling up his hood, he began to traverse the dark streets towards the pier, a route that he had made so many times that he had it perfectly imprinted in his mind.
He made it just over halfway when he noticed a tall black figure a way ahead, making the same route he was. A flash of silver and Sora's suspicions had been confirmed. Riku. He had been acting distant ever since they had gotten home, although he had chalked it up to Riku's insecurities about the dark in him. Maybe this was why?
Sora made the unconscious decision to follow him (something that is incredibly difficult when rowing a boat across a restless ocean) until he finally reached the island that they played on as children. Riku had crept his way into the secret place a minute or two before Sora had reached the island, thankfully not bothering to check if anybody was following.
Sora looked around the island as he tied up his boat. He remembered it all, the endless summer days running across the beaches, sparring with sticks, and watching the sunset from atop their perch on the paopu tree. He sighed gently. Maybe one day things would be how they once were. Or maybe, no matter how well or how hard he fought, nothing would ever be the same again.
He cleared his head and walked towards the secret place, glancing up at the clouds, now swirling gently around the sky above the island. Ducking into the sort-of-hidden tunnel, Sora crouched down and clamoured through, until he was within earshot of Riku, who was currently talking to somebody, or something.
"Oh dark catastrophe, where have you been? I've looked for you so desperately… inside of myself."
Sora pondered this for a moment before he headed out into the openness of the cave. He was definitely speaking with something, but there was no emotion in his voice, almost as if it was completely involuntary. Sora peeked round the corner to see Riku kneeling in front of the door at the back, his head bowed as if he were almost ashamed to be there and his old blindfold wrapped haphazardly around his hands. He spoke again, unaware of Sora's presence.
"I know you're here, and you know why I'm doing this. You have the answer that I've needed."
Sora's mind spun out of control. It had suddenly clicked. He knew exactly who Riku was talking to. How could he? After all they'd been through, and all that'd happened, he would dare to do this?
"But it's the question that I fear." Sora piped up, stepping fully into the cave. Riku's head span quicker than Sora had ever thought possible. "What are you doing Riku? After everything we went through to get back here, you're trying to talk to him?!"
Riku's face dropped at Sora's seething words.
"It's not like that! It's not how it looks!" He barely managed to get out before Sora cut him off.
"So what is it Riku? 'Cause it sure looks like you're what's causing this storm." He scathed, venom dripping from his voice. He couldn't believe Riku would simply turn like that all over again. He just sat there, keeping a tight grip on the jet black material in his hand, opening his mouth but unable to speak a word. Sora continued;
"I knew there was something odd going on with you this week, but I never imagined this. Riku, I know that the light is where you belong, but I can feel the darkness inside of you. I'm afraid of it, silently sitting there, just waiting to crawl its way back up to the surface like and infected scar!" He was shouting now, like a parent scolding a child. He could see the anger on Riku's face, building behind his eyes.
As Riku opened his mouth to issue a retort, thunder and screams drifted with the wind into the cave. Riku's face dropped suddenly as he gasped in surprise, but Sora simply scowled at his betrayer. Riku had never seen him look this angry, and it genuinely frightened him.
"I don't ever want to see you here again" Sora spat, rather uncharacteristically. "And if I ever see you near Kairi… I'll do anything it takes to protect her."
With this Sora shot an incredibly dark look at his silver-haired friend, stricken with speechlessness, before turning and running out of the secret place, no doubt to go save the islands.
A dark figure passed behind Riku, laughing deeply as it waltzed into his line of sight.
"Poor little Riku, talking to something nobody else can see, simply trying to ask what is causing the storm so he can run away and fix it himself." Xehanort sneered.
How could Sora think such things? After all he had done to keep him safe and bring him back? He had to admit it didn't look good at first glance, but he hadn't even been given a chance to explain! Riku had wanted to give Sora a break while he and Kairi grew closer, and had sought to end the storm before it began. The only problem was that the one being that would know how to end it was locked away deep inside of him, and was being incredibly unresponsive until now.
"What an ungrateful coward, abandoning his best friend over such trivial things." Xehanort's manifestation's smirk deepened. He could see the sadness and anger growing on Riku's face, gripping the blindfold so tightly that his fingers had lost all their colour.
"To betray you in such a fashion after all you've given him. Maybe he didn't deserve it after all. Maybe…" Xehanort's face darkened, ready for the final blow. "…Maybe you should take it all back…"
Riku's face darkened ponderously. There was no way he could go back to Sora, he would simply be pushed away again. And he couldn't go to Kairi because… Well, Sora would just outright kill him. He didn't like to admit it, but Sora was the stronger of the two nowadays. The only hope he would have is if…
Is if he fell to the darkness again.
"This was your plan all along, wasn't it?" Riku said, barely audible over the howling wind and booming thunder outside. Xehanort simply laughed. Riku hated himself, but it was his only chance.
"Oh catastrophe, lead me to fade out the light" he whispered, voice cracking with sadness as he slowly tied the blindfold around his eyes. He began to exude a powerful black aura, before it slowly began to engulf him as he screamed out the end of his plea; "and uncage the night!".
His scream echoed around the islands, blending into the roaring thunder and sky-splitting lightning, as he slowly faded into the realm of darkness.
A/N: I wasn't sure about this, I just didn't get that into it while writing it. Anyway, if you're going to leave a review it is very much appreciated, and if you're going to criticise please do so constructively, otherwise I can't fix whatever the problem with my writing is. Thanks for reading!