Horse With No Name
Disclaimer - I do not own Kingdom Hearts. This is made by a fan for fans. No money is being made.
Summary - Fleeing for their lives on a desert planet, Sora and Riku must find a way to survive in the wild while fleeing their greatest enemy -- Kairi
Author's Note - I might as well say it right here. There will be no yaoi. This is not a guy/guy fic.
"Hey, Riku."
Riku kept his eyes closed. He was lying face down in sand, a feeling not so hard to place having lived next to the ocean most of his life. He shifted his weight and pushed himself up on one hand, grimacing as he did so. There were cuts all over his body and thousands of grains of sand were imbedded into each one.
"Riku!"
Riku felt a hand grab his shoulder, steadying him before he could fall back down. Another hand started to rub the sand away from his eyes. But Riku didn't need his eyes to know who was talking to him.
"Sora...,"
"Can you walk?"
Convinced the sand was now away from his eyes, Riku chanced opening them. Unfortunately, this sand was very fine, the annoying kind that found a way to get into everything and took forever to brush off. Sora hadn't gotten it all. Riku found himself blinking a thousand times and looking through squinted eyes. The world was dark. A full moon hung high in the sky and a bitter wind swept in from the east. Not fifteen feet away was the blazing remains of King Micky's gummie ship. And then there was Sora, standing in front of him.
Sora offered a hand. The dancing flames happily eating their gummie ship into nothing but hot melted plastic cast an unsteady light on his left side, giving him an etheral look.
"Can you walk?" Sora repeated.
"My legs are broken."
Sora's hand fell. So did his hopeful expression. He sat back in the sand and rubbed his head, at a complete loss of what to do.
"Pitiful," Riku stood up, "you've gotta learn sarcasm someday, Sora. I've been trying to teach you, but you're such a dimwit."
"Oh, good!"
That wasn't exactly the reaction Riku had expected.
"Come on, we've gotta go before they come back!" Sora grabbed Riku's hand and started dragging him along, running away from the crash site.
"Whoa!" Riku broke free, causing Sora to stop and grab for his hand again, which Riku easily slapped away, "What's the hurry? There are thing we'll need back in the gummie ship."
"They'll be back!" Sora yelled. Adrenaline and desperation, coupled with being way too energetic in the first place, made Sora's declaration come out as both a plea and a demand. So what he meant was: We are leaving now, Riku...please.
Riku took one look at his friend, and started to run. Sora was quick to follow.
Riku slowed down as the light from the fire was left behind. They had only the moon to guide them now, and, silly as it was, they needed to hold hands so they wouldn't loose each other in the growing darkness. And it was getting darker. Much darker.
It's always darkest before dawn, so they say. But Riku knew as well as Sora did that this darkness was not natural.
Of their own violation, Riku's muscles tensed, preparing for an upcoming fight. And then he fell.
And sank.
"Riku!" Sora's grip tightened on Riku's hand. He had run straight into quicksand, and was over three feet from hard ground. Sora was stretched over the death trap, face turned to one side so he could breath, his knees and down the only part of him on solid ground. And Riku was sinking. He had already let go of Sora's hand. Sora, however, held on tight.
"Sora."
"Hold on, Riku, I've still got some leverage here. I'll pull you out!"
"Sora, I think--"
"Shut up! Don't even think about saying it! I'm still on ground, I'm gonna pull you out. NO, I will not let go of your hand!! You melodramatic, emo little--"
"I was going to say, if you let go, I'll just blizzaga a path in the sand and claw my way out, but hey! if you're way seems better, you go for it."
Sora stared at him. "Oh."
Riku nodded. "Oh. Now let go."
Sora let go and pulled himself to solid ground.
"Good, now I can die in peace."
"Riku!"
"I'm joking, Sora, geez. Blizzga!"
Nothing happened. Riku looked at his free hands in confusion. He was already shoulder deep in the quicksand, and sinking fast. He tried again. It didn't work. He looked at Sora. Maybe he was out of magical power... Sora tried. It didn't work.
"Use an ether!" Riku said as his shoulders were consumed.
"I don't have any! They were all in the ship!" Sora had other options, though, and was already stretching across.
"Ethers wouldn't do you good, anyway."
Sora's eyes widened at the sound of the new voice. He knew, though he couldn't explain how, that this was the darkness that had been following them. Realizing his prone possition, he changed direction suddenly and tried to get his footing on solid ground. It did no good. He was kicked into the quicksand alongside Riku, whose neck and chin had already gone under. He gave one last call to Sora before going under entirely.
"Riku!"
As if on cue, a globe of darkness surrounded Sora, pushing him under the sand faster, unsatisfied with the already alarming pace at which he was sinking. The last thing he heard was the Voice, calm and cold, continueing its explaination.
"Magic doesn't work here."
Author's Note - This is my first fanfic, so I'd appreciate feedback. Good? Bad? Tell me what you think.