Well, I haven't been this disappointed by the lack of reviews I've gotten in a week's time since… I first started posting here, really. Here's to hopefully getting more this time around. I hope everyone enjoys and R&R!
--: 02 :--
Something About a Night in the Forest
Getting outside and then sneaking into the forest had been a bigger challenge than Roxas had thought it would be. He shared a room with five others aside from Hayner and Sora so they'd had to wait until they were sure everyone else was asleep before they could do anything. They mightn't have bothered with the secrecy and involved the rest of their roommates, but sadly one of said roommates was the teacher's pet of the class and the teacher would have known about their little plan faster than Roxas could win a struggle match while holding two bats. The less people who knew, the less likely it was that they would get caught.
Thus, they'd had to open the window, let Roxas climb through, get Roxas' sleeping bag through the window as well, throw Roxas a flashlight to use as soon as he'd gotten to the forest, and all of this while not waking up the others despite the fact that Hayner had accidentally hit Roxas with the flashlight when he'd thrown it.
Well, Hayner had claimed it had been an accident. Roxas had his doubts.
After all of that Roxas had thought it would be easy to just walk towards the forest and find a spot to sleep, but apparently Miss Taylor enjoyed nightly walks. She'd very nearly spotted him and Roxas still wasn't entirely sure how she'd missed the very oddly shaped tree even if it was dark.
But nonetheless he was now in the forest, far enough from the edge to use his flashlight freely, but not far enough to have gotten lost and never be able to find the camp again. He was very happy that he'd decided to bring his cell phone along despite the fact that they wouldn't have any reception, because now at least he had an alarm clock to wake him up hopefully before one of the teachers would notice he'd gone missing.
Sighing as he crawled into the sleeping bag, now forced to use one of his arms as a pillow since bringing that along really would've been annoying, he closed his eyes and silently cursed Hayner and his stupid ideas. He also wondered, not for the first time since he'd agreed to this plan, what Kairi's problem with this place was, but he decided to leave it for the next morning when he would actually be able to see what he was doing.
The next thing he was aware of was a strange noise in the distance. He grumbled to himself and turned around in his sleeping bag, trying to ignore it. A few moments later he heard it again and he grudgingly opened his eyes, momentarily confused about where he was until he remembered Hayner's challenge. He sat up and yawned as he looked around, trying to figure out where the sound had come from, but there was nothing but complete silence now. Shrugging, Roxas lay back down and tried to go back to sleep.
Several minutes of silence passed before Roxas shot up again, glaring in the general direction he'd heard the sound come from. For the life of him he couldn't place the sound but what was far more annoying was that the birds in the forest had been disturbed by it as well and were flying up into the sky, squawking loudly as they went.
"Stupid animals," he grumbled before lying down again. Hopefully there would be no more birds that would get scared and—
Roxas growled as another flock of birds took flight. This time he could've sworn he'd heard something like shuffling footsteps or something. The sound was too far away for him to really tell but if he was right, Hayner was a dead man.
"Hayner, if you're trying to scare me I swear to god I'm going to kill you tomorrow morning!"
There was nothing but silence and Roxas grumbled some more to himself, turning his back to where the noise was coming from and closing his eyes again. He hoped Hayner would get caught for this by a teacher on his way back. He hated being woken up in the middle of the night for anything short of imminent death.
He'd almost fallen back asleep when he heard the sound again. Having had enough, Roxas quickly climbed out of the sleeping bag and put his shoes back on. If Hayner really wanted to die that badly, he'd happily make the other's wish come true.
Armed with a flashlight he walked into the direction he'd heard the noise coming from, convinced Hayner couldn't possibly have gone too deep into the forest in case he'd get lost. The sounds had seemed to come from pretty far into the forest but Hayner just couldn't be stupid enough to go that far in the middle of the night.
Then again, Hayner had pulled some pretty stupid stuff over the years…
Shaking his head, Roxas moved the flashlight so he could try and memorize which way he'd need to take back after he'd reminded Hayner not to wake him up. When after a minute the noise came again and still sounded pretty far away though, Roxas paused and looked back in the direction of his sleeping bag. If he'd go much further he might not remember the way back. On the other hand, if Hayner had gone that far into the forest he'd probably thought of a way to get back. As long as he found Hayner everything would be fine.
And besides, he wasn't getting any sleep with all these birds screaming the entire time. He glared up at the sky as another flock took flight. Couldn't they all just leave in one go?
Cursing softly as he nearly tripped a few times and scratched himself on a few tree branches, Roxas sighed in relief when he heard the sound yet again, but much closer this time. He could now even hear the shuffling footsteps of before not too far up ahead as well and he ran into the direction the sound came from. As he jumped into a small clearing, he stopped dead in his tracks.
Hayner was most definitely not there.
A small shadowy figure sat crouched on the ground, its skin visible because it was actually darker than the night and its eyes glowing brightly as they focussed on Roxas. A second creature just like the first one sat a little further away in a tree, looking down at Roxas with the same intensity as its partner. Roxas' mind blanked as he stared at the two creatures, unsure whether he was hallucinating out of fatigue or plainly still asleep. As far as he knew you had to be a lot more tired than he was to start hallucinating so the second option seemed more plausible.
The creature closest to him opened its mouth and the sound Roxas had heard before echoed through the forest as it turned its body towards him, slowly starting to approach him. Roxas instinctively took a step back before reminding himself that this was a dream and he had nothing to be afraid of.
"This is ridiculous," he muttered, taking yet another involuntary step back as the creature kept coming towards him. "This is nothing more than a dream. All I have to do is either wake up or give myself superpowers or something."
Without warning the second creature jumped from the tree it had been watching Roxas from and lunged for him, the tiny claws on the ends of its hands reaching out to grab him. Roxas' eyes widened and he jumped back in surprise. The first creature lunged at him as well and although he fell to the ground to avoid it, one of the creature's claws grazed his arm and he could feel the scratch burn.
'Dreams aren't supposed to hurt…'
His already fast heartbeat picked up a bit more with the realisation that something was actually wrong and he wasn't just dreaming. Roxas scrambled to his feet and started running just as the two creatures lunged at him yet again. He needed to get back to everyone else so he could get help. What kind of help would actually work against… against what? He had no idea what these things were. He didn't know of any animals that looked like this, not to mention that they had been told that no dangerous animals lived on this island. What in the world were these things and how had no one ever found out they lived here—
Roxas yelped as a third creature jumped down from a tree right in front of him. He only barely managed to change directions before it could get its claws into him. A fourth creature — a different one this time — came flying from between the trees. This one looked like a blue lantern of sorts that hovered in mid-air without the use of any wings. Roxas ducked under it, feeling the small bird-like feet the thing had grazing his head. Just as he thought he had safely passed it, a gust of icy wind shot past his left hand and a patch of ice formed ahead of him. His hand felt like he'd been holding it in the freezer too long and Roxas shivered at the sensation. He sped up, his feet and legs burning with the exertion, but he couldn't care less. He had to keep running. Whatever these things were, he couldn't let them get anywhere near him. He needed to get back to the camp so he could get hel—
Where was the camp again?
Panic spread through him as he realised that he had no idea which way he was running or even which way he should be running. If everything hadn't already looked the same before, his panic-ridden mind surely couldn't tell anything apart anymore now. He had to find someone who could help him though, not to mention explain what these things were. He was very sure that there weren't any animals that could freeze things out of nowhere.
He dashed into another clearing only to stop dead in his tracks yet again. More of the black and blue creatures were waiting for him at the edge of the clearing, blocking his escape. Turning around, he saw the four things that had been following him already closing off his last escape route. He gritted his teeth, refusing to simply give up because he was surrounded and had no way of escaping. He glanced at the ground to find something to fight with, locating two somewhat long branches close by. The branches wouldn't do a lot against the ice those blue things were shooting, but at least he could hit anything that came close to him. Besides, he'd never been beaten at struggling once he'd gotten his hands on two bats. Branches shouldn't be that much more difficult to handle than bats, right?
As soon as he moved to grab the two branches, several of the shadowy creatures lunged forward. He only barely managed to roll out of the way and slash at one of the creatures. The branch connected and the creature was flung backwards into one of the blue things.
Roxas quickly got to his feet so he could move around better, hitting another few of the shadowy creatures before he felt a cold gust of air barely miss him from behind. He spun around to see one of the blue things hovering not too far away, readying itself to shoot another blast of ice at him. Roxas dashed forward, hitting the thing before it could shoot at him again, only to feel one of the shadowy creatures crash into him and make him fall to the ground. Roxas yelped and swung one of the branches at the creature, batting it away just before it could sink its claws into him.
Another one of the blue things appeared and although Roxas managed to dodge the blast of ice, he felt one of the branches become far heavier than it should be. He let go of the now frozen piece of wood and batted the still useable one at another few of the creatures to try and keep them at bay. The creatures he'd beaten down before had rejoined the group and they were now forming a circle around him once again, though a much smaller one this time. Roxas' free hand balled into a fist as he realised he'd never manage to beat all of these things. No matter how hard he hit them, they just kept getting back up. On top of that, he was outnumbered by about twelve to one. A miracle needed to happen if he wanted to get out of this without getting mauled or frozen.
He gripped the branch in his hands tighter, gritting his teeth as his eyes flashed around for a way to escape. Maybe if he managed to beat a few of the creatures to the side he could make a run for it again? To where though? He still had no clue in which direction he was supposed to go. Besides, even if he did get back to the camp, what could anyone there do? The teachers had said that there weren't any dangerous animals on this island so there probably wouldn't be anything there to fight these things. Not finding his way back might actually end up saving everyone else's lives.
He swallowed thickly, Sora's face instantly popping up in his mind. Going back definitely wasn't a good idea. So what then?
Before he could come up with an answer to that question, one of the shadowy figures leapt towards him again. Roxas batted it away with the branch, swivelling around quickly as he sensed one of the shadowy creatures attacking him from there. He barely managed to hit that one and use the opening it had created to get away from several blasts of ice, only to trip on another branch that was lying on the ground. He cursed loudly as he fell to the ground, rolling onto his back quickly to see what the creatures around him were doing. His eyes widened as he saw one of the shadowy things jump at him just as he'd turned around, claws aimed straight for his throat. Roxas held up the branch still clutched in his hands in an attempt to defend himself, though he knew it wouldn't work anymore at this point. He closed his eyes, bracing himself for the inevitable pain that was about to come.
A deep chuckle rang through the air and a flash of light passed by Roxas. He opened his eyes in shock, watching the creature that had lunged at him writhing in pain not too far away from him as flames lapped at its body. Several small balls of fire shot past him, the blue creatures instantly going up in smoke while the shadowy creatures were thrown back.
Wide-eyed and fearful now of an even more powerful creature, Roxas turned around to see where the balls of fire had come from. In the dark he could barely make out the shape of something that looked surprisingly human. The form raised its hand and a ball of fire appeared above its palm, the light of the fire illuminating the surroundings just before it was thrown towards one of the creatures behind Roxas.
In that brief moment Roxas had seen a man standing there with an amused look on his face. Bright green eyes had been looking at him from under fire-engine-red locks.
"And here I thought all humans in this place had been killed a long time ago. Honestly, who'd be stupid enough to return here after everything that's happened?" The form approached to stand next to him. Although his eyes were no longer used to the dark because he'd looked into the fire, Roxas had the distinct impression that the man was looking down at him. His heartbeat still racing and his mind still reeling from seeing a seemingly normal person conjuring fire out of nowhere, Roxas tried to stand up. The minute he moved though, one of the shadowy creatures lunged at him once more, that strange noise coming from its mouth as it tried to attack. Roxas instantly fell back to the ground as he heard the strange sound, a snort from above him drawing his attention away from the shining eyes that were now the only part of the creatures he could see. Another fireball appeared out of nowhere and was thrown at the creature. It burst into flames and then disappeared into what seemed like nothingness.
Roxas stared, his mind finally fully catching up to everything that was going on now that it had a moment of relative rest.
He was in a forest in the dead of night while being attacked by creatures that he'd never seen and which could create ice out of nothing. Now a man who could create fire out of that same nothing seemed to be protecting him, killing the creatures without a second thought. Actually, he wasn't entirely sure if the man was protecting him. Although his mind protested at the thought of anything supernatural actually existing, for all he knew the man was something out of this world like the creatures were and he simply wanted Roxas all to himself.
Did that make the guy some sort of demon or alien? Did those things really exist? His head was hurting…
Roxas groaned as his world started to spin in front of him. He vaguely heard the man above him asking if he was alright, though the other's voice seemed devoid of any real concern. He grabbed his head to try and make everything stand still again, but with only one arm to support him he fell to the ground, everything still spinning around him.
Demons and aliens weren't real.
Animals couldn't create ice or fire out of nothing.
People couldn't create ice or fire out of nothing, either.
There was nothing dangerous on this island.
That was how the world was. Supernatural things did not exist and he wasn't in a life-threatening situation right now. Nothing strange was going on.
"Kid, come on. Answer me."
'Right?'
Roxas shot up in his sleeping bag as music assaulted his ears. He looked around rapidly as he tried to figure out where exactly he was and where those things that had been attacking him had gone, only to find himself back in the spot where he'd gone to sleep the previous night. He frowned in confusion for a moment, trying to remember what exactly had happened the previous night that had freaked him out so much.
Weird noises, Hayner being a jerk, walking around in the dark, weird creatures… a man that could make fire appear out of nowhere…
Roxas shook his head to get rid of those last few thoughts. That wasn't right…
Bright green eyes and fire-engine-red hair illuminated by fire entered his mind once more.
Definitely not right.
He lifted one of his arms hesitantly to see scratches everywhere. Flashes of shadowy creatures ran through his head, but he shook them off. No, he'd simply scratched himself on a few branches when he'd come here last night in the dark. A flashlight could only illuminate so much after all. Any and all scratches he had came from those stupid branches.
Finally calming down and grabbing his cell phone to shut it up, he fell back to the ground with a groan. He felt like he'd barely had any sleep but then again, what had he expected after a night of sleeping on the hard ground. Dreaming about being chased around probably hadn't helped either. Honestly, that had been one hell of a weird dream.
Definitely just a dream.
Roxas lifted his arm again to stare at the scratches, noticing one that had been deep enough to bleed a little and leave some of the dried up blood on his skin. He tried to recall any branch he might've walked past that had made that particular scratch, but came up blank. He shook his head and got up, putting his shoes back on and rolling his sleeping bag back up in a bit of a violent manner. He quickly grabbed the flashlight — hadn't he left that next to his shoes, not near his head? — and started back towards the camp. He was going to forget everything about this night as soon as he got back and had rubbed it in Hayner's face that he'd stayed out here for an entire night without anything happening. He would also forget about the weird dream he'd had and he would definitely never tell anyone about it in case they thought he was insane for having believed it might have been real for a second.
It had been nothing more than a dream. Nothing more.
So yeah, I gave Heartless actual vocal chords. I always found it kinda weird that they never made a sound. Let's just call it artistic freedom and leave it at that.
Also, the reason I don't name any of the Heartless by their proper names is because Roxas has no clue what the hell these things are. Calling them 'things' seems like a more natural reaction than trying to figure out what they might actually bea called. I'll eventually start calling them by their proper names, but it's gonna take a while.
I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, especially with something actually happening in this one, and leave a review before clicking that 'back' button!
