-Wolves In The City-
The sky was a swirled mess of raindrops and parchment-colored clouds that hung ominously over the city. In the place of afternoon sunshine, random flickers of blue-white lightening illuminated the barren cobblestone and empty sidewalks of the square. Amongst the incessant pitter-patter of the falling rain, nothing was heard save for the footfalls of the only two people not waiting it out in the buildings.
"Well, this sucks." Sora laughed, listening to Riku's ever so optimistic commentary. He turned to look at the eighteen year old, silver-haired boy with a smirk.
"Aww c'mon Riku! It's not that bad. Or are you afraid that you're hair might frizz up?" he teased, getting in return a glare that was inhuman. But upon the start of the brunette's musical laughter, that glare faded into sheer delight. Riku soon started laughing as well.
"I hate how you do that." Sora's blue eyes sparkled quizzically in the faint light.
"Do what?" he asked confusedly, his head slightly tilted to the right. Riku rolled his seafoam eyes and reached out to ruffle the youth's spiky chocolate locks.
"That." Sora blinked as the elder boy cupped his cheek in his palm, smiling gently at him with a look of absolute enamourment. Sora's cheeks flushed crimson and he smiled as he brought his hand up to Riku's. He entwined his fingers with the elder boy's, and dropped their linked hands to his side. A rather large, wet raindrop splashed against his cheek, and he suddenly remembered that time still existed. He looked up at the clouds and sighed.
"It looks like we're not going to get any reprieve from this storm." He looked over at Riku and smiled. "That means we'd better find some shelter." Riku nodded and looked around at the desolate streets. He nodded.
"There's probably a hotel or a bar around somewhere. We'll just have to wait it out there."
"I don't sense any heartless nearby, either." Sora added, zipping his black leather trench coat tighter around him. "So we can relax for now." The pair started off in a random direction, following one of the four large roads leading away from the square. They walked along in contented silence for a time before Riku spoke up.
"Isn't this exciting?!" Sora looked over at him.
"What? Wandering around aimlessly in an insanely dark and creepy city at night and in the rain?" Sarcasm dripped off of his overdramaticized words. "That's not really my idea of…"
"No, Sora. The fact that this is our first adventure together in almost three years!" Sora grinned at Riku's almost childlike excitement. He'd never really thought about it.
"Yeah, I guess it is…"
"I mean, the break back at the Island was okay, but this feels great!" He summoned Oblivion, the black, latticework keyblade appearing in his hand with a slight popping noise. He let go of Sora's hand and began swinging it around playfully, parrying and jabbing at an enemy that wasn't there. "Fighting side by side, like when we beat Xemnas. Just like old times…" Sora smiled mildly. He walked to his friend, placing a hand on his shoulder. Riku ceased his invisible duel and beamed at him.
"Yeah, it's pretty great. But you have to remember that we need to be on guard." Sora's voice dropped into a seriousness that it seldom held. "You know as well as I do how many warnings the King sent us in our summons letter. He said this was one world he'd never been to, let alone knew existed. And just like I do, you can also feel just how overpowering the sense of darkness is here." He looked around, Riku following his gaze. "I've never felt anything this strong, even when we were in Castle Oblivion." The platinum-haired teen nodded quietly, allowing Oblivion to dissipate into the air with a soft electrified sound. Sora looked at him with a loving smile. "And as excited as I am to finally fight alongside you, we need to remember why it is we're here."
"I…understand." Riku whispered, smiling at Sora with somewhat a sense of guilt. 'Since when is Sora so serious?'
"I'm glad." Sora kissed Riku and the cheek and locked hands with him once more. "Now, let's find us some shelter before I melt." Riku chuckled softly as they began to walk once more. They wandered around for quite some time until he spotted the faint, blue glow of a neon sign. He pointed at it. Sora laughed. "Hmm. Bernie's Bar & Grill. We Only Use Real Meat." He laughed and shook his head, eyes glittering at Riku maliciously. "Well, that title's a knockout for sure!" They both laughed softly, but managed to subdue it before entering the place. A small bell above the door sounded cheerily as they pushed it open, condescending the atmosphere of the building. Three or four patrons sat at the small wooden tables, hunched over their drinks with an almost obsessive air. Sora looked over at the bar, a man polishing glasses absentmindedly behind it.
"Hey there! Welcome friends! What can I do ya for?" He smiled as he looked up, but froze as soon as his eyes landed on them. A look of terror unlike anything Sora had seen slowly took over his pallored face. He backed up slowly, breath short and fearful. Sora cocked a brow.
"Are you okay, sir?" The other patrons in the place looked up at the sound of his voice, eyes widening and the color draining from their cheeks. They too began to scramble to the back wall of the bar. Sora shook his head. "What's wrong with you guys?" He looked at Riku, who just shrugged innocently. He then noticed that they were still holding hands. He groaned and rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me you're homophobic…"
"W…wolves…" Sora looked over at the bartender who was cowering in the corner. "Wolves in my bar…" Sora smiled.
"Phew! For a minute there, I thought you were scared because of this!" He looked at their interlocked hands. "But I'd much rather be…hey, wait a second! Wolves?" He looked back up at the bartender to find the barrel of a shotgun pointed straight at him. He froze momentarily, but then smiled and held up his palms. "No wait a second, boys. We're not wolves! We're just passing through and…"
"You demons! GET THE HELL OUT OF MY SHOP!" The bartender pulled the trigger, sending out bullets that narrowly missed the couple. The boys tore out of the doorway and into the street, legs pounding the pavement. The sounds of the fearful customers rang clear in their heads, terrified noises never ceasing until they finally cut into a shabby alleyway at least a half a mile away. They both leaned against opposite walls, Sora with his hands on his knees and Riku leaning against the wall exhaustedly. They both panted in uncomfortable silence until their breathing steadied.
"Wolves?!" Sora looked up at Riku. "They thought we were wolves?!" Sora shrugged.
"I guess so."
"But…but…we're just us! We don't even have fur or anything!" Sora walked to the back of the alley, confused beyond imagination and more so frustrated. He slipped by a puddle, but almost instantly stopped and returned to it. He squatted down and peered at his reflection, eyes widening in shock.
"Riku…" Riku looked over at him, following his motions to come over. He looked at Sora, and then at the puddle.
"What? It's a puddle…" Sora shook his head.
"No…your reflection…" Riku leaned down and peered at the blurred face that started back at him in the water. Once the ripples cleared, the couple both took in a sharp breath of air.
Staring back at them from the murky depths of the pool were two wolves. The one who mirrored Sora was a deep chocolate color, a darker mocha staining his muzzle and belly. The darker color also cloaked his legs to the elbows and knees, his paws a lighter shade of grey. His necklace was the only thing that remained the same. Riku's reflection showcased a grey wolf with alabaster-tipped fur, a powdery blue scrollwork heart on his shoulder. His eyes widened, and so did the wolf's. The boys looked at each other, then back at the wolves in the water. After a few seconds, they realized that those wolves were them. Sora gulped, licking his dry lips as he stood back up.
"Well, I guess we really are wolves." Riku couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from his reflection.
"And you're okay with this?!" Sora shrugged, looking back at his love who he now saw in his true wolven form.
"Well yeah. It's no different from when I visited the Pride Lands. I turned into a lion there." Riku guffawed, and Sora laughed. "It's really not all that bad. You just have to get used to it."
"But…I don't understand…" Riku looked up at Sora with his seafoam eyes, the only feature of him that hadn't changed. "Why didn't we know it until now?" Sora's blue eyes attained a look of confusion.
"I'm not sure. But the people didn't notice until we said something, either." Sora laughed. "For all we know, we're growling at each other right now!" Riku smiled at his partner's optimism, amusedly noting how his tail began to wag. "We'll be alright. We just have to teach you how to wield a keyblade when you have four legs." Riku smiled and nodded, Sora turning towards the opening of the alley. "C'mon." The pair trotted to the mouth of the passageway, cautiously glancing around the empty streets. Sora looked across the way and saw a rather large forest staring back at him. He looked at Riku. "We can sleep somewhere in there for the night and figure out what's next in the morning." The male looked at Sora and grinned.
"I trust you, Sora. Whatever sounds good to you sounds good to me." Sora beamed at him and licked his nose.
"Just promise me not to go off and start tracking Little Red, okay?" Riku laughed, and the two ran to the woods, nothing but streaks of silver and mocha under the dim sky.