This was brought about by seeing the news that Neku Sakuraba is appearing in Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance, which instigated a lot of crying and fangirling on my part. To try and manage all the spare energy I had, I had to run about my backyard like a loony for about ten minutes and then Tke and I decided to write co-fics inspired by what has been revealed about the game. You can see the reports and such on KH Insider.
This is actually a two part, the first can be found on Tysonkaiexperiment's profile, its Sora's view on Neku during their first meeting, so please go read that too!
Title—Ever Flows the Land's Well of Purpose
Author—Chronos Mephistopheles
Fandom—The World Ends With You/Kingdom Hearts
Challenge—Self-Challenge
Couplings/Characters—Neku Sakuraba, Sora
Warnings/Rating—K/T, nothing bad
Summary—Drabble co-write one of two with Tysonkaiexperiment, the other drabble is on her profile. Sora and Neku meet in Traverse Town.
Notes—The title is linked to Tysonkaiexperiment's title for her drabble; they're two lyrics from the Final Fantasy XIV theme song Answers. It's a beautiful song that Tke recommends to everyone (and it has nothing to do with this fic so don't worry about it).
Ever Flows the Land's Well of Purpose
Neku glanced about his surroundings, not recognizing the area at all. Dark shadowed buildings made of a dark brick loomed all around him. Taking a deep breath, he flinched as a burning pain singed the inside of his left hand, a familiar pain. He glanced at it, and watched as the black numbers of a timer began counting down. He reached up, fingers brushing against the comforting weight of his headphones, the current tune playing at the lowest possible volume. His hand felt for his pins, feeling them in his pocket, and then the weight of his cell.
Grabbing it, he flipped it open and searched for a message. No message from the Reapers could be found, and yet the timer still continued to run. He began wandering around this unknown area, quickly coming to the realization that this place couldn't be Shibuya. Nowhere in Shibuya had this appearance: the darkness, the shadows…the silence.
Walking along the lower pathways, he was startled when the loud noise of another's voice came from around the corner. "Riku!" Neku wondered briefly why he could only hear this other guy, and even then he was yelling someone's name; and was he part of the Game? Was he the only other Player? His eyes flashed in recognition as Noise began to spawn in tangible forms. Weren't they only supposed to be seen with help from the Player Pin? It sat in his pocket, but he wasn't activating it.
The shadow-like Noise, Noise he had never seen before, began making their way towards him. Neku knew immediately that these were much more dangerous than what he was used to, and without a partner his skill would be wasted. He carefully maneuvered his way around them, spotting the guy who had yelled out the name earlier. His spiky brown hair reminded Neku of an untamed version of his own, and even the eyes were similar. If he didn't know better, this guy could be something like a long lost twin.
"Riku!" He yelled out again, and Neku rolled his eyes, making his way towards him.
"Shut your mouth, you're so noisy." He sidestepped another Noise and stopped in front of him, asking the question that could make or break Neku's survival in the unknown territory. "You playing the Reapers' Game too?"
The guy blinked and Neku had to withhold another eye roll. "Remove your glove," he said, showing him the timer counting down on his hand. Only forty some odd minutes left to go… The other's hand was shown, no signs of a timer or anything. Neku sighed. "I guess you're not."
The guy who could be something like a twin rested his hands behind his head, smiling widely. "Well, I guess since I'm here, I might as well help you; you're a friend now."
Neku was unable to hide his shock before turning his back to him, his hand already going to the mp3 player resting around his neck. "You can't become friends just like that, it's not that easy."
"I can too." The other said in something that sounded akin to disbelief. "It really is that easy, I'm Sora, nice to meet you." And now Neku had a name for the guy.
He scoffed and took off in a run, away from the Noise that had been creeping up ever so slowly, partly wondering if the other guy (Sora, he reminded himself) couldn't see the Noise. And if he could, why wasn't he worried? He increased his speed, and something instinctive in him told him to jump before a cloud of sparkles appeared and swallowed him up.
He felt his eyes widen, and the music in his ears sounded louder. Sparkles and glitter and shiny things seemed to surround him. Neku wondered where he was now, and if this cloud of things trying to smother him in glitter was there to help or harm. If so, it was an odd form of Noise.
Slowly the cloud began to disperse; the darkness of his previous area appeared the same, so he hadn't gotten very far. He took a deep breath, and as he released it, Sora appeared in his mind's eye. He wondered if Sora managed to survive the Noise. If not, then there wasn't anything Neku could do about it now. And if he did, then Neku entertained the idea of finding him again, if only for someone who might know his way around.
Noise began appearing from the shadows, and Neku reached for his pins. It wouldn't hurt to make a friend or two; especially one so trusting and welcoming as he.
