Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of it's characters. I do however own the plot of this story, it's original characters, original items, original moves, and basically anything that was not originally created by the KH team.

Forever Friends

By SolemnTear

Chapter Two: We'll Die Together...

Kayla closed her eyes and waited for death, but it never came. The bullet whistled past her ear and a gurgling howl echoed behind her. Kayla turned to see another Invisible Heartless, clawing at the large bullet hole in its throat. The Heartless burst into a cloud of Darkness, a few glowing green HP balls falling from it as it dissolved into the air. Kayla glared at Shadow, who had a small smile on her face.

"You said bullets didn't work!"

"I said they went through them. They work alright." Shadow chuckled

"You shot with your eyes closed! You could've hit me!"

"Could've... But I didn't... "

Kayla shook her head, an ace gunman, and she shoots with her eyes closed. Something slammed into the door suddenly, sending Shadow stumbling forward. The two girls stared, frozen with fear as the massive stone doors began to crack. Something grasped Kayla's wrist. It was Shadow's trembling hand.

"Kay... If we die, I'm glad it's with a friend like you." Shadow whispered fearfully. Kayla nodded, but before she could answer, the door shattered. A wave of black goo poured into the bomb shelter, surrounding the girls in a pulsating mass of Darkness. As it curled upward to crash over them, Shadow hugged Kayla and turned her back to the wave of ooze as it flowed over them, enclosing them in darkness until no light could reach them. Kayla felt Shadow's body slid away, and as she faded into a deep sleep, she felt the Darkness begin to consume her heart.

Kayla felt herself falling, her memories fading away into the darkness. Then there was a voice...

You must keep your heart strong...

A light burst forth, surrounding her in a warm, white glow. The darkness pulled away, as if in fear of the light.

You hold a great weapon Kayla... You must live...

Slowly the light faded, the Darkness was gone. Kayla was somewhere she couldn't recognize... but somehow it felt familiar. She stood up and looked around, it was some kind of alley with wooden boxes strewn about. There was a soft tapping that began to echo against the cobblestones. Footsteps. And they were getting closer. A tall figure stepped into the alley, half concealed by the shadows created by the wall behind it.

"Kayla?" called a voice. It was shadow! She was alive! Kayla ran forward, hugging her friend, who returned the embrace tightly.

"I thought you'd never wake up... I thought I would to be all alone here... " Shadow said in a shaky voice. She hugged Kayla tighter, the brown-haired girl's back popping painfully from the pressure. Something leathery brushed against Kayla's arms, making her shudder.

"I'm sorry you had to wake up to this nightmare..." Shadow whispered sadly. Her words made Kayla pull away and look at her friend, and nearly scream.

Large black, dragon-like wings had sprouted from Shadow's back, the pale purple wing membrane was covered in a lacework of dried blood rivulets from when they had burst worth. Her ears were now sharply pointed, and her eyes seemed to glow in the dim of the alley, the pupils now slit. But what horrified Kayla the most, was the Heartless insignia upon her friends' forehead.

"Kayla..." Shadow started, seeing the horror on her friends' face. "The darkness changed me on the outside Kayla, but I'm still me. I still got my heart." Shadow placed a hand on her chest, where her heart should have been.

"You're lucky Kayla. The darkness didn't do much to you.. It only made your boobs bigger and gave you magic stronger than mine... Me? I got stuck with my own two hands..."

Kayla was unsure about her friend. But this was Shadow, she rarely said anything she didn't mean.. And she was the worst possible liar, her eyes always said how she really felt. And now, all her eyes showed was fear of losing her only friend after losing everything else she had known and loved.

"Shadow?"

"What...?"

"Let's go kick some Heartless ass!"

"Kay, now you're talking my language!" Shadow laughed, laughed in the way only Shadow could. Now Kayla was sure that this was her friend. The two laughed loudly as they headed back down the alley. It was almost as if they were still on their world, just two best friends having fun.

"So, what world is this?" asked Kayla as the two rounded the corner.

"Traverse Town, obviously!" Shadow said with a smug grin, her arm sweeping to the side as if to show off the town like a personal trophy. As Kayla stared at the bright lights of the first world before her, she was speechless... for once...