-SL-: Not as many reviews as I expected, but I'm still glad I got some! Beggars can't be choosers they say…

Welcome to Mitth-Sonycca: chapter 2

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Sapphire eyes groggily glanced about as swirls of pink, amethyst, and mango past them by. Sora propped himself up slowly on his elbows and felt as the warm breeze blew swiftly against his soft skin. A sudden pain shot through the side and he curled over to one side, pressing a hand to the pain trying to dull it out, feeling some cloth cover it, but as he withdrew his hand after a while, he saw something red filling out the lines of his palm. Sora shivered knowing that it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that it was blood. (SL: -shudders- I just hate when blood does that. When it's so light that it just falls between the cracks.)

Sora just laid there on his side as he stared at the metallic wall and various working tools in front of him, figuring he was probably in the back of a jeep or something. Then it hit. He was in some jeep, with some person he doesn't know, nearing the night – he peered over the side of the vehicle and saw nothing but sand – in the middle of no where! Sora's breaths came out in short, straggled gasps.

I have to get out of here! He thought frantically as he curled up into a fetal position, What if I'm dealing with some psycho here! Th-they're probably going to try to rape me or some sick shit like that. Worse even… His eyes widened as he held his breath unknowingly and stared into nothingness, his body shaking uncontrollably they'll make me their… sex slave

"NOOOOO!" Sora cried out loudly and the jeep came to an instant halt in surprise. Without hesitation, Sora took this opportunity to make a run for it. Scrambling to his feet, he crawled over the backside of the jeep and fell on his back into the sand. He rolled over and with a crawling start ran away from the automobile.

"Hey! Where the hell are you going!" came a different voice from the one Sora last remembered hearing. This one was younger, still with a hint of roughness but not as rough as the other. Sora continued to run but turned around and started to run backwards, looking at the new figure, but only catching a semi-quick glance before turning back around and running at full speed. Sora thanked god for his swiftness earned from years of practice and being on the track team, so there was no way in hell that guy was going to catch him. From what he got from his glance, Sora noted that the man who had called out to him, for one thing, was tall. He had these stormy grey eyes and messy chocolate hair. Sora didn't really want to know what the rest of him looked like because quite frankly, he didn't care.

Sora wasn't that far away until something burst from underneath the sand causing him to fall back with a startled yelp. There ahead of him was this… thing. Sora didn't know what to call it actually. Every inch of it from head to toe was black except for its piercing golden eyes, which as soon meeting with Sora's sapphire ones, scrunched up at the bottom as if it were smiling, though it had no mouth. Sora returned the look with a twitchy, uneasy smile. The things eyes scrunched up more.

"Don't breathe… don't blink… don't even think… just… keep… still…" Sora heard the guy say quietly, slowly above him. Sora gulped awkwardly as he kept eye contact with the thing. Sora took this time to look at the creature more. This thing had claw like fingers and antennas bent in sections as if someone hade been trying to curl it, but it was too stiff. The thing's eyes scrunched up just a bit more and Sora noticed that were its mouth was supposed to be was stretching. Sora watched in utter fascination as the area grew and broadened until the little holes formed and widened into larger ones. Sora's eyes widened in horror as a petrifying shriek came from the creature, giving him the strongest urge to forget what the older male said and run for dear life, and the holes widened and snapped to reveal the inside of the things now revealed mouth. It smiled wickedly at Sora, baring its double rows of razor sharp teeth, a sinister chuckle emitting from it as it stepped forward. Sora couldn't help the scream that came as the fiend launched itself at him and he twisted to the side.

No sooner than Sora heard a curt 'shit', did he hear a deafening bang then a dreadful wail come from the ghastly thing and was being dragged violently back to the jeep. He looked over his shoulder as best he could and saw the monster crouched over, growling in a sinister way that sent a shiver up his spine and then it just suddenly… disappeared. Sora was barely processing all that was happening before, so he wasn't all that surprised when the creature started to disintegrate all of a sudden.

"The other side, get in, quick," the older male commanded as he shoved Sora to the other side of the vehicle and hopped into the driver's side. Sora stumbled a bit but managed to jump into the passenger side before the guy sped off. Sora looked behind him again and saw nothing, but he figured even if there was anything out there now, he wouldn't be able to see it unless it was starch white with some flashing sign or something. Sora looked up into the midnight sky and his eyes widened with amazement. The moon he was so use to with its silver glow no longer hung in the sky, but now was replaced with not one, but three mauve orbs.

With a sigh Sora brought one knee up to his chest and rested his chin against it, a pulsing pain in the side of his head making itself known once again. Sora shut his eyes tight as he tried to ignore the pain, but it seemed to get worse. The smell of vanilla and roses soon made its way to his nose along with a hint of something pungent.

"Sedoian weed, or Sweet-and-Sour weed, dulls out pain," said the guy abruptly. Sora opened his eyes slowly and looked down at the smoldering pale blossom. He tentatively took the stem of the plant between two fingers and examined it, never had he seen something this… this…

"Cute…" Sora said absently as he breathed in more of the smoke. It had a long stem, at least a foot long, and had beautiful blade like leaves. The bases of the petals were long and thin, but the tips opened up into heart like form, a watery blue with soft lavender stripes in color. "This is supposed to be a weed?"

The man shrugged as he continued to drive. "As for the being cute part, yeah, I guess it is. Also in helping with the senses, it's also used to be given to the one you care for deeply."

"Someone you care for deeply?" Sora looked up at him, "As in love?"

"Yeah, someone you love, but I'm just saying it how the old tale goes. For your case, you're supposed to give it to your girlfriend back in town if you truly love her-"

"I don't have a girlfriend," Sora said sharply.

"Oh, so then… you have a boyfriend-?"

"No!" Sora cut in shortly, his face heating up instantly.

The man raised a brow at the suddenness of his answer, but said nothing. Sora pouted slightly and looked down at the plant.

He was silent for a while then Sora heard him exhale deeply, "All right, but if you had a girl – or guy, you would give the flower to them and stick it behind their right ear. If you have a mother or if you have a sister and it's just a present, you put if behind her left ear. This signifies that you will be with them forever. Come to think of it, it reminds me of the papou fruit. They're practically the same thing although the papou fruit is more of a Mitth-Sonyccian original."

Sora listened while looking at the flower as he told his tale. "I have two questions, if you don't mind me asking." The man was silent so Sora took this as a sign to go, "One, Who are you again? And two, who or what is Mitth-Sonycca?"

He was silent again, but only for a short while, "I take if you're not from around here to be asking something like that." He gave Sora the once over and then looked forward again. Sora watched as his body shook slightly in a short scoff though it wasn't meant to be disrespectful or anything. "You don't even look like you're from around here. Ok, to answer your questions, one, the names Leon, and two, Mitth-Sonycca isn't a who or a what, it's a where, and it's right over this dune."

Not only a few minutes later were the two riding through rows of clay buildings in the city of Mitth-Sonycca.

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"Christ, Leon! You gave the kid Sweet-and-Sour weed! What they hell were you thinking!"

"For god's sake! It's not like I gave him a freakin' bouquet! It was just one."

"Just One! Leon, you don't even know what kind of effects that just one could have on him since he's not from around here! He could have died, Leon, since his body isn't use to this kind of flower. Christ, we're sill testing what kind of effect it has on our own people."

"Well he didn't, did he now, Cloud?"

"… That's not the point."

Sora sat in the corner chair of the clay house, twiddling the weed that had stopped smolder between his index and thumb. His head shifted from side to side as he watched and listened to the two bicker on, the battle soon dieing down.

"Well, whatever. What took you so long, and why is the kid even with you?"

"I found him in the dessert near here on my way back here. We ran into a heartless along the way-"

What's a heartless? Sora thought as his brows knitted slightly.

"A heartless? You took care of it, right?" Cloud asked a hint of seriousness of his tone. Leon nodded his head in confirmation.

Cloud only scratched the back of his head as he stared at Sora, "You know, I never did get your name.

"It's Sora," Leon and the said boy replied in unison.

"OK, I'm Cloud, all right?" This came out more of a statement then a question, "That dope over there is Leon." Sora heard a slight grunt come from the brunette man as nodded his head.

"What happened to your head?" Cloud said as he bent over him and ran his slender fingers across the bandage Sora had forgotten was there. The memory of the man that had knocked him out returned for a moment, earning a shiver from him.

"I… I don't know," Sora replied dishonestly as he hugged his knees close to him.

Cloud sighed, "Well, I guess I need to get this cleaned quick before it gets infected or something. How long have you had this on?"

"I don't know," Sora replied again.

Cloud grabbed Sora by the arm and started to take him to one of the other rooms. After a few minutes Sora came back into the room with his head was more neatly wrapped in a new set of bandages and was sitting in the chair again.

"Something's been bothering me…" Sora said slowly, waiting to see if he could continue.

"Sure, what is it?" Cloud asked from his seat on the windowsill in that room where he was watching the stars.

"What's… what's a heartless?"

Cloud was silent as his head turned to the side. Sora lowered his head, wondering if he hard asked a wrong question.

"You want to know what a heartless is?" he asked after some time.

Sora could only nod doubtfully at the tone Cloud took on.

Cloud nodded as well. "A heartless…" he said slowly, "A heartless is what you get when people die around here. For some reason, when a person dies here, the darkness they harbor in their heart takes form into one of those creatures you saw. They form from the greed, the anger, the pain we all have in our hearts, however little it may be. Some even have the ability to create them of their own will," He finished.

"Why did a heartless try to attack me?" Sora asked quizically.

"Because of two reasons. One, you probably walked into one of their many territories, and two," he jutted a thumb over in Leon's direction, "You were with him."

"Ok, so I understand the territory part, butr what does being with Leon have to do with any of this?" Sora tilted his head as he asked another question.

"I'd rather not say," Cloud stated firmly.

Sora nodded, Cloud answering most of his questions now. Cloudhopped down from the sill and walked over to Sorasuddenly which startled the boy, "We need to take you to Riku, you can't stay with us, it's too dangerous. He'll probably figure out a family that can take you in for a while until he knows what to do with you." And before Sora could say or do anything, he was pulled to his feet and dragged out of the house.

On his way to Riku's.

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Sora shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably, looking down at each in turn, as he waited for the Riku of his dreams. Sora looked as Cloud and Leon walked around the small room in search of the boy. This was so weird; he had only see the other in his dreams. He was always sweet, and gentle, and tender it was unbelievable. Is that how he truly was?

"Riku!" Cloud called.

Silence.

"Hey, Riku!"

"What, damn it?"

"Someone's here to see you."

Silence.

"If it's Yuffie, tell her I don't have the money yet, and if it is Sephiroth… tell him fuck off, I can't deal with his sexual harassment today."

"No, Riku, someone different," Cloud grinned.

Sora was greeted with only silence for a few moments before he head the padding of foot steps. He watched the corner intently as beads of sweat started to form against his skin, a lump forming in the center of his throat. Sora listened closely as the steps where louder and louder, surprising him that he could even hear them over the rapid beating of his heart.

And there he was, in all his semi-naked glory.

Riku leaned and arm against the wall as support as the hand of the other held up the cloth loosely hanging from his hips. Sora swallowed the lump in his throat as his eyes trailed a bead of water traipsed down his lean body, starting from the tip of Riku's soaked silver hair, trekking down his seemingly smooth, abnormally pale neck. He stared as it curved against his perfect chest, gliding along his chiseled abs. Sora dared himself not to look any further and he looked up into the face of this God. The expression there was awe-inspiring. His head was tilted back slightly as his extreme aqua eyes looked directly at Sora, a frown forming on his beautifully pink lips. Sora couldn't take it.

Thump!

Sora hit the ground, hard, unable to process all the thoughts and images that were running uncontrollably through his mind; so it shut down.

-SL-: Great great, I got the second chapter. I don't expect every chapter or fic to be a hit, but I'm really hoping this one is. Thanks to those of you who review!