Day 12
Heading Out
"Riku!" Sora quickly jumped awake. Beads of sweat rolled down his face.
Only moments ago, he had seen himself ball his hand into a tight fist, trying to squeeze the last of the Light in Riku's heart. He saw himself forcing Riku's being into the Darkness. Him stabbing through Riku's body; Riku's Keyblade stabbing through his own.
Sora took a deep breath and sighed. It had all been a dream. . . Everything he had saw was fake. Just figments of his imagination.
That was the worse dream ever. . . I just can't get Riku off my mind. . . I can't believe that I killed him. . . How could I do that. . ? That fight. . . It was me who he was fighting, I know it was. . . But why was I so different? I didn't look like myself. . . I looked like I was part of the Darkness. . .
But how could that be? What if it was real. . ?
No. It can't be real. Riku's dead. It's a known fact. His body is back in the river beside the castle. . . He's never coming back to me.
"Sora?"
Sora's gaze slid over to Sota who was standing a few feet away from him. He had almost forgotten about his mysterious savior.
He's still here, huh? Well, he didn't take me back to Kiari yet so maybe he really is on my side. I can't let my guard down though.
"You feeling any better? You must have passed out when I changed your bandages."
Sora nodded. "Yeah. . . I was really tired."
"I'm sure you still are."
Slowly getting onto his feet, making sure to use the tree he was next to for support, he stretched his arms. "I'm still a little tired, but I feel a bit better now. Some of my strength is coming back."
"That's good to hear." Sighing, Sota continued, "So Sora, what were you planning on doing now?"
Sora shrugged. "I'm not sure. . . I don't have anywhere to go. Usually. . . I would ask Riku and then follow him. . . But I guess that I'll just have to make my own choices now. . . Man, I hope they'll be the right ones to make. Riku usually keeps me in top form, but now that he's gone. . . Who knows what mistakes I'm gonna end up making?"
"Well, it's been nice, but I have to get moving," Sota told him. "I have things that I have to do. It was nice meeting you, Sora."
Sora watched as his savior turned on his heels and began to walk away. Sota was almost out of sight, concealed by the shadows of the trees, when Sora quickly stopped him. "Wait! Please. . ."
Sota paused.
"Could I. . ?" Sora swallowed and built up the courage to ask, "Can I come with you?"
The blonde looked over his shoulder.
"Please?" Sora continued. "I won't be a burden, I promise. I just don't want to be left alone. . . Kiari said that she wanted me to serve alongside her. . . And I'm too wounded right now to defend myself. So Sota, please, take me with you. I don't care where you're going, I'll just follow you until I can find out where to go next."
A smile spread out across Sota's face. "You want to come with me?"
"Can I?"
"I don't know. . . It won't be easy with you around. It'll be easier to get caught if you're with me. . ."
"I promise, I won't get in the way! I'll do anything you say!" Sora took a step towards him. "Just for a little while. . . At least until I find out where I can go. What do you say?"
Sota bit his lip and shifted his gaze in the other direction. Sora knew that he was debating whether or not he should take the injured sixteen-year-old with him.
Smiling, Sota sighed. "Fine, who am I to leave an injured kid alone, huh?"
Sora smiled widely. "So that's a yes?"
"Yeah, you can come!"
Sora jumped up and punched the empty air. "Yes!"
"I thought you were wounded to the point where you could hardly walk. I guess that you were lying."
"No, I just have a bunch of energy and willpower."
Sota sighed. "You'll need more than that to survive around here. You need strength, power, survival skills, and brains. I can tell that you lack most of those."
"Excuse me? I happen to know a bunch of survival skills!" Sora pouted. A small red butterfly flew passed him and he swatted at it. "Go away! Shoo! Shoo!" When it landed on the side of a tree, Sora stepped over to it. "Wow, you have a cool color. . ."
In an instant, Sota was giving him a small shove away. The man summoned his weapon and forcefully stabbed it into the tree, chopping the butterfly in half. Sora watched in horror as it fell to the ground in two pieces. "How could you do that? It never did anything to you!"
Sota slid his gaze back over towards the dead bug. "This little bastard that you were about to touch has pollen on its wings that contains a deadly poison. If you would have touched it and stuck your fingers in your mouth or on your food, you would have been dead by this afternoon."
Sora blinked rapidly. "Huh? How. . . Are you serious?" He could remember the beautiful designs that had been on the creature's wings. "But. . . It looked so innocent. . . How could that thing be a deadly creature?"
"Most things that look innocent are evil. Take Kiari for example. I'm sure when she was just a little girl, everyone thought that her body lacked any type of evil," Sota told him.
Sora lowered his head. "I guess you're right. . . But how did you know it was poisonous?"
"I was poisoned by it before."
Sora's mouth fell open. "Really? But then how are you still alive?"
"I just happened to be up in the castle when I figured it out. I thought I was a goner at first, but luckily, I stumbled across a room that had a shelf full of antidotes and medicine. I found one that cured poison and quickly fixed myself up. I was lucky." Sota retrieved his weapon from the tree. "So, you know your survival skills, huh?"
Sora managed a fake smile. He ran his fingers through his hair. "Well. . . You know. . . Sometimes people stretch the truth by accident."
"Yeah, sure."
Sora sighed and then let his eyes trail over to the weapon that rested in Sota's hand. "Hey! I didn't know that you wielded a Keyblade!"
Sota blinked. "Oh yeah, I guess I forgot to mention it."
Eying the weapon, Sora commented, "I guess that if you wield a Keyblade, you must be pretty good at combat. Can you use any magic?"
"No, I can't use any type of magic. Mainly, I just use combat. What about you?"
"Well, I know a bunch of spells, and not to brag, but I think I'm excellent at fighting," Sora smirked. "I know I'm strong."
"I'm sure you are," Sota smiled. "It wouldn't surprise me one bit."
"Why not?" Sora asked.
"Oh, no reason. I mean, you are the legendary Keyblade Master. He should be strong, you know?"
"I'm very strong." Sora scratched his head and then asked, "Hey, are we gonna get going soon? Where are we going anyway?"
"Well, if you're gonna follow me, I guess that you should probably know where we're going," Sota said. "We're heading to a labyrinth."
"Labyrinth?"
"A maze."
"A maze, huh? What for?" Sora asked curiously. "I didn't even know there was a maze in this place. . . Where even are we? Do you know what his place is called?"
"This is the Dominion of Darkness," Sota told him. "This is where Kiari and her minions reside. How did you not know that?"
"You see, Riku and I just kind of crashed our ship here. We didn't know where we were and we couldn't ask anyone."
"I see. Well, now you know."
"Why are were heading to a labyrinth anyway?" Sora questioned once again.
"I'm looking for somebody. I saw him heading that way while you were resting."
"Looking for someone? Who?" Sora asked. He wondered who Sota could possibly be searching for in a place like the Dominion of Darkness.
Instead of answering, Sota began to walk off. "Come on, it's a long walk to the labyrinth from here. We'd better get there before nightfall."
"Nightfall?"
"That's when the real enemies come out."
Sora swallowed. "Like. . . what?"
"Heartless, demons, other creatures of the Darkness. Things like that. It's not fun if you run into them. I've experienced what they can do to the weak," Sota explained. "I got attacked by a group of enemies one night." Sota pulled up his shirt to reveal a scar that had once been a deep gash in the side. "Barely made it out alive."
"Awesome. . ." Sora breathed, eying the scar. "I wish I had scars like that. I would look so cool. . . Riku would even have to admit that I looked way more cooler than him."
Sota smiled and shook his head. "You don't to be injured like this, especially in your state. But either way, it is getting late. We have to move. Are you sure you can walk well enough to just follow behind me?"
Sora nodded. "Yeah, I'm good."
"All right, we'd better go. . . Before all Hell breaks loose."
