Chapter 2: Fragmented Memories
One week later…
The three of them lay on the shore staring up at the sky. Kairi was pointing out random shapes in the clouds. Sora spent most of his time with his hands behind his head and just listening, but he would point out shapes too. Riku lay with his right hand (which was the damaged one) on his stomach, and left arm by his side. All but two of his injuries had healed completely, one of them being his wrist, and the other was a large gash in his side. He didn't really participate in pointing out cloud shapes, but occasionally he would point out an interesting one that caught his eye.
"Hey look, Sora," he said, pointing at the sky. "It's you and me."
Sure enough, there in the sky was a cloud shaped Riku and a cloud shaped Sora, each in a fighting stance. Riku watched the clouds with mild interest that grew rapidly. As he watched, the cloud Sora and the cloud Riku started fighting, and it was a pretty epic fight.
The cloud Sora attacked and the cloud Riku was knocked off his feet and started falling.
He was falling…
Falling…
Falling…
He hit the ground, or what he assumed was ground, hard. He stood up and took a look around. He seemed to be in the halls of some sort of castle, but he just couldn't remember where exactly…
"Riku… I think I'll jog your memory"
He turned. Sora was standing there, in his fighting stance, Keyblade in hand. Riku wasn't sure what to do, but his body had its own ideas.
"Go ahead and try" he laughed.
The two of them charged into battle-
"Aw, looks like you won, Riku" Sora laughed. Riku gasped, pulled out of the dream. He looked at the clouds and noticed that the cloud Sora was slowly floating away. "I bet I could have beaten you if we actually fought though."
Riku chuckled half-heartedly. "I don't know," he told Sora. "Let's just wait until my wrist heals, then we'll find out."
"Okay!"
Despite Sora's upbeat attitude about the whole idea, Riku was troubled. If that odd dream he had really had been a memory… that would mean Sora and him were fighting, maybe even enemies.
A forgotten enemy…
Riku turned to look at Sora, who was happily discussing something totally random with Kairi. He didn't seem worried one bit. If the two of them were enemies, Sora was doing a great job of hiding it.
Unless… he forgot too
No, that's ridiculous, I'm probably just overreacting
Riku closed his eyes, just listening to the sound of the waves. It was calming, just laying there, nothing but the sound of the waves and the voices of his friends. The sun beat down on him, but it wasn't hot, just warm.
This is the life. Just laying here and doing nothing, and without anything to worry about...
He found himself on the island, but it was night, and a storm looked like it was moving in. He looked around a bit and then laughed. "I guess I fell asleep. I must be tired; this is the second time I've dosed off."
Deciding he best have a look around, he started off in a random direction.
"Come, this way…" a voice called. He turned, only just in time to see a cloaked figure walk off. Curious, he followed.
The cloaked figure led him to cave. He went inside after it, only to find that the cloaked figure had disappeared. He took a look around the cave, and found a strange door. He approached it slowly.
The door started to open and darkness started leaking out of it.
"SINK INTO THE ABYSS!" someone shouted, and the door flung itself open, and darkness came rushing out. He threw his hands up over his face to shield himself-
He opened his eyes quickly and found himself safe on the beach. Sora and Kairi were still there, still talking, and for the most part oblivious to him.
"Was that… another memory?" Riku asked himself quietly. But he shook his head. "It didn't feel like one." He sat up slowly, and turned around. There, right in front of him, was where the cloaked figure had led him in the dream. "Maybe…"
He got too his feet. Sora and Kairi looked up at him, and Sora started to ask something, but he shook his head. Kairi gave him a worried look, but she and Sora returned to their conversation. Riku headed in the direction of the cave.
Sure enough, the cave was there, just as he had seen it in his dream, except the door wasn't there.
"I should tell Sora and Kairi about this…" he said, and started to turn around. But then he laughed and sat down. "No," he whispered, "this is my secret place. It can be my thinking spot, where I go when I need some peace." He picked up a rock and ran it down one of the walls. A line was now scratched into the wall, and he slowly smiled. "A place where I can try and remember things."
Now grinning, he slowly started to sketch out the fragmented memories he had remembered.