"He's getting away! That thief stole our freshest bread!" Smirking as the path entrance came into his peripheral vision; he noticed smugly that it was still partially covered from the view of passers-by. He could easily evade the officers chasing after him and duck into the safety of the thick mess of vines covering the entrance, though that would mean he'd have to lay low for a while, or at least until his theft had been pushed back by more pressing matters in Agrabah. 'Princess Jasmine was kind enough to give me an easy route out of town… though I doubt she ever thought I'd use it to make my getaway.'
He almost felt bad about what he was doing. Almost. That is until the vision of a thin, weak, almost broken boy flashed into his thoughts, making his heart race faster, the realization sinking in again. He had to get the bread there quickly, before his companion could drift away again. It had only been coincidence that he found him unconscious on the shoreline one morning. Of course, that had been when he WASN'T running from the authorities, stealing bread to help the starving boy.
"This way!" a raspy voice had shaken him from his wandering, his eyes instinctively landing on Scuttle as he hid partially in the clearing, Sebastian on his back. They were so far inland that it was almost impossible for them to reach Agrabah, but then again, when you've got wings, I guess you find ways around that sort of thing.
Nodding, he veered off from the dry sandy path, leaving the guards to wander about in confusion, scratching their heads as they held their swords awkwardly in their fists. He wanted to laugh, though he knew he couldn't risk it. 'Sora's counting on me.' He reminded himself, dodging the line of sight as a guard passed them by.
…
It'd taken them a while to finally reach the shore, Scuttle unable to fly farther than the tops of the trees, so that they wouldn't become any sort of target for any unwanted followings. Finally away from the monotonous deserts of Agrabah, Riku and friends found themselves in the midst of a multitude of lush tropical trees, a hidden bay nearby. From the bay they could follow down a small path toward the ocean, where Riku has originally found Sora. However, needing to rest his tired body in the fresh-water, Riku had hauled Sora's light as a feather body from the water, clear into the midst of the bay, hidden entirely from human sight, where he would be immersed in the fresh crystalline pool of water located there. And although it was doing wonders for the mysterious tears in Sora's baby blue fins, he had yet to explain what had happened for him to get such wounds.
"He's over there." Scuttle whispered softly, so as to not disturb the placid silence of the bay, the life within it lying still and at peace. More importantly, Riku realized, was that Sora, for the first time since he'd found the boy, was sleeping soundly atop a rock beneath a small sliver of sun that reflected and danced across his fair skin, his angelic face placid as could be. His cerulean scales glistened softly as he turned atop the large stone protruding from the water, near the shore in the bay.
Jumping in without a second thought to his clothes, the only precaution he took was to make certain the bread stayed dry as he swam across, hoisting himself atop the rock, bread in his hand, and having held it above water the entire time. "Sora… Hey, wake up. I brought you something really good to eat today." He coaxed softly, nudging the smaller boy with his free hand as his long lean body unfolded over the rock, his bare feet crossed at the ankle, holding himself upright by leaning forward.
"Mm… You didn't steal it, did you?" he grumbled under his breath, weary as he too sat up straight, though it appeared openly difficult with his wounds. "The kelp here is delicious to snack on. I refuse to eat stolen bread."
Even with his wounds he was still a pain. Riku sighed as he recalled the first time the two had spoken. It had been almost a week ago, and still they were unable to find a suitable hideout for Sora, other than the bay. As open as it was despite the protection of thick vegetation, the bay was vast on the inside, and could still be stumbled upon at any time. They couldn't guard it 24/7 and knew they needed to relocate soon.
"Idiot," he muttered, climbing to his knees so that he towered over Sora, who sat confused on the rock, his still-torn tail-fin swaying to and fro as he gazed up at the larger boy. "You'll eat what I tell you to." He snapped without really meaning to, straddling the boy without actually sitting on top of him.
Flinching at the larger boy's harsh words, Sora tried to scoot himself back, using the small amount of energy he'd managed to regain in the sunlight. Because of his sore and tired body, however, he didn't get far before Riku had pushed him back against the rock.
"Riku… You're hurting me…" he whimpered, struggling beneath the other boy whose free hand had found and clasped both of Sora's above his head. The look in his eyes was fear, but among that fear was an almost child-like plea that made Riku remind himself the young merman was still very weak.
"Sorry…" he whispered softly, gently releasing Sora's hands before sitting up fully, holding the bread before him. "Here…" he continued carefully, offering the fresh baked good he'd acquired before coming back to Sora.
"…But it's stolen, right? I can't accept it. I'd rather die than eat something stolen from someone else." He declared, crossing his arms adamantly, still lying on his back beneath Riku. "You can't make me eat it."
Sigh, "Fine, I won't make you eat it. But just know you'll starve if you don't. I'm not bringing back anything else till you've eaten all of it. And before I can believe you, I need to watch you eat it to make sure." He added, standing atop the rock, having set the bread beside Sora on its smooth surface. "Just call me when you're hungry." With that he leapt into the water, knowing that Sora couldn't follow quickly with the poor condition his tail was in.
"I got a hot date with some salt water." Sebastian, having not noticed the commotion on the rock, too absorbed in arguing with Scuttle, swam out to meet Riku half-way.
"Yeah," added Scuttle, grazing the tops of the placid water with his feet as he spoke to Riku. "There are treasures just calling my name out there. I can't rest too long or they'll all be gone. Take care of him, alright? I'll tell Ariel you found him. She's been worried sick."
Nodding, Riku pulled himself up out of the water and onto the dry land, shaking off the excess water before glancing back toward the mysterious finned boy. 'He's still just sitting there… I wonder if I was too harsh… Come to think of it, has he ever really seen a human before? It looks like he was pretty sheltered in the ocean.' Shaking it off, he watched as Scuttle and Sebastian flew away, towards the ocean's mouth.
Gazing up at the sky as he sat down to a small fire on shore, he noticed the fading purple colors, the pearly moon replacing the golden sun in the vast expanse of open sky. He'd retrieved a change of clothes from a nearby hiding spot in the rocks and changed, leaving his other set of clothes to dry on a nearby boulder, off to the side.
Because Sora refused to eat his 'cousins' even more so than eating Riku's stolen bread, that left Riku with a good amount of salmon to cook over the fire-pit, filling his stomach gratefully. However even the best fish in the sea couldn't distract him for long. He found himself glancing up to check on Sora several times but couldn't help worrying. To Riku's knowledge, Sora had yet to eat the bread. There it sat beside him as he lay curled up on the rock, arms wrapped around his slim upper body, his beautiful blue tail curling beside him, as if to protect from the gentle night breeze blowing in the bay.
Was he really not going to eat? Was he that righteous and naïve that he wouldn't eat the only food given him, his only reply being that it was 'stolen'? To Riku it didn't matter, but it seemed to be life-or-death to Sora… Or was it that he was simply too weak to think of eating? Had he not eaten in so long that his stomach could no longer accept food? Realizing he should probably check on Sora, now that he was asleep,
Tossing on his old clothes, now partially dry, he dove back into the chilly water, warmed only by day with the help of the sun. Wincing slightly at the nip of the water, he glided along the bay, out to where he'd first perched Sora, having been afraid that the boy might be too weak to fight the current if pulled in.
'I should have never left him up there. I'll pull him onto shore beside the fire, so that way I can drag him back to the water's edge if he gets weak or dried out. For now I think he may want to rest on something warmer than a giant rock.' Having reached Sora within moments, he hauled himself onto the rock easily, making his way to the center where Sora lay curled up in the fetal position.
Lifting him with both arms, Riku dove back into the bay feet first, barely noticing as he cut gracefully through the water, even while carrying Sora. Reaching land within moments, Riku carried the smaller boy's frail body toward the fire, finally bringing him to rest upon a simple straw mat he'd woven in his spare time. Though it was large enough to hold two people, he decided he would pass, instead wanting to sit and guard the boy during the night. "I'll go out tomorrow morning and collect some fruit for you to eat." He muttered, as if Sora were listening as he slept, oddly at ease as he curled comfortably onto the straw, almost magnetically stuck to Riku, who had been sitting at the edge, drying his hair with a spare towel, also hidden in the rocks.
"He's still cold…" a voice whispered somewhere nearby, hidden in the dense greenery around the bay's edge. "Take this blanket to cover him with, and slip this around his neck. He will be able to heal quickly this way, and become more comfortable on dry land."
Turning side to side, desperately searching out the soft voice, yet unwilling to leave the mat unguarded, Riku called out into the night. "Who are you? Show yourself! I won't let you anywhere near Sora."
In response to his declaration he received an amused chuckle, a shady figure catching his eye as it moved, his head whipping to the side in order to stay focused on the immediate threat. "Lucky I'm a friend and not a foe."
Crimson bangs and opal eyes met him as he turned back to check on Sora. She was there, kneeling at his side, caressing his cheek comfortingly, a soft baby blue blanket draped over his small body. Her posture didn't indicate a threat, though the fond look she gave Sora as she cared for him filled him with envy and great annoyance.
It wasn't that he was envious of her. It was deeper than that. It was the fact that Sora appeared so at ease and happy as the mysterious girl hummed a soft tune to him, stroking away strands of dark hair from his forehead, his fair skin glowing softly under the moonlight. The pain and confusion had long since left him, replaced now by an almost natural soothing power flowing through his body… Why couldn't Riku do that? Why did Sora never look at him with peaceful eyes or let down his guard around Riku? He just didn't understand what was so special about this girl.
"Atlantica…" she whispered, making it obvious she was now speaking to Riku, unlike her earlier 'Rest easy now, Sora… It'll all be ok…' that she seemed to repeat over and over to Sora, calming him.
"What about it?" Riku replied, anger lacing his words. "Is that where he lives? Is he some kind of runaway? Is he a fugitive?"
"Stupid…" she sighed; shaking her head as she sat on the other side of the mat from him, hand still absently stroking through Sora's soft brown hair. "He didn't run away at all… More like he doesn't really have a home. He'd been staying at the palace there, but when the Heartless came and attacked, he was knocked unconscious. Somewhere along the line he'd floated with the current to the shores of Agrabah, where you ended up finding him. He'd destroyed the Heartless, but at what cost to his own body? He has yet to heal…."
"So are they looking for him down there? Are they trying to find whoever saved them? I bet if we return him there, he'll be welcomed as a hero and surely he'll have a nice home to stay in." he deduced, looking to the mystery girl for confirmation.
"I'm afraid it's just not that simple. The rest of the merfolk have no idea who it was that destroyed all the heartless. Aside from Princess Ariel, no one would care. He's better off staying here, on land, and leading a life as a normal boy. It was a special charm Ariel left him with that kept him alive as he drifted here." She explained, examining the tear in the boy's tail-fin.
"I see… So where do you come in? Who are you and how do you know about what happened in Atlantica, and who he is, and about the Heartless?" he asked, not really meaning to sound as accusing as he had.
"That's easy, idiot. I was instructed to find Sora and make certain he is healed and well cared for. Now that I've found him I can begin healing him and go on to finding him a good family. I guess you could say I'm like a fairytale social worker." This brought a smile to her lips as she awaited Riku's slow reply.
It had taken time for her words to sink into Riku's mind. However, once they had, they rang like bells, repeating over and over until it drove him mad. '-Begin finding him a good family…'
"So, what you're saying is that you're going to take Sora away from here? Away from me as well, right?" his voice nearly cracked, hot tears springing to his eyes as he gazed down at the poor boy, nuzzling into the mystery girl's hand as she cupped his cheek.
"Yup –That's the plan at least. By the way; you can call me Kairi from now on. He'll be here until tomorrow night. I'm afraid it will take that long to heal his wounds." She replied, noting the sorrow in Riku's gaze. "B-but don't worry. He's not going to die… I hope. With this around his neck and if you keep him away from the ocean and the bay-water, he'll be find and heal quickly." Holding up a crystal blue gem, smoothed into a teardrop shape and hung from a slick chain of silver, she unclasped the ends and secured it around his slender neck.
"That stone has Ariel's healing charm in it, doesn't it? He asked, still amazed as he watched the boy emit a soft, smooth, almost relieved sigh before shifting under the blanket, onto his side. It had taken him a while, but at last his eyes fell to where Sora's tail should have been peeking out of the soft covering. Instead what he found was a pair of tiny white feet, the toes flexing and moving slightly upward, back under the blanket as Sora curled into a ball. "What in the…world?"
"It will take him some time before he's used to his new legs, but he'll adapt quickly, no doubt. But there is just one warning I must give you. If even the tips of his toes or the pads of his fingers or the hair on his head should make contact with the sea water or the water of the bay, he will revert back to his fins. If this happens you must dry him off thoroughly and he should turn right back." She explained, smirking softly as she watched Sora's sleepy face.
"Too bad you have to take him tomorrow…" he sighed, leaning his elbows against his knees as he too watched the boy, steady breaths filling his lungs.
"There is ONE way you can keep him~… Though I don't know how well that would work out, considering what I saw earlier on the rock. You know you shouldn't force him like that and then say such mean things. He's weak, so it's even worse." She scoffed, leaning back on her hands as she gazed at the exposed stars shimmering in the night.
"What do I need to do to keep him?" he almost yelled, sitting upright to stare at her for further explanation. "And what do you mean you don't know how well it would go? He refused to eat and I was afraid he'd starve. So sue me!"
"Pinning his hands to force him to eat, then going on to say you wouldn't bring him anything else until you see him eat the bread sure sounds sketchy to me." She muttered glancing at the loaf as it sat lifelessly on the edge of the matt. "He needs fresh fruit, you asshole. With the state he's in his stomach will just reject the food and send it back up. Go pick some bananas and the mint leaves growing over there. He can eat the bananas for breakfast and I can make him an aroma medicine to relax his muscles."
At first unwilling, he finally decided that it was the best thing for Sora and set out to gather the fruit and leaves.