AN- ShadowRebirth37 here! I've taken a slight break from my hit Zoids fic, The Dark Savior, to work a little on this fic. The next couple of chapters will be short because I'm gonna be busy for awhile- finals started today and will last 'til Monday, and I need to work on my two other fics- the hit Zoids fic, The Dark Savior, and my Ecco the Dolphin fic, Search for the Starred Ones. I had to make time to work on this chapter! Things will start to heat up action and fighting-wise from now on, so get ready for a ride! This chappie will be short, 'cause I'm limited on free time to work on it. Without further a due, chapter 3- Sky Fall! (kinda ominous, ain't it?XD)
.:Chapter 3- Sky Fall:.
Riku explored the ruined castle to keep him occupied during the early afternoon. A few lone Shadows skirted the shady edges of the hallways, but never ventured to far into the bright light of the sun after him. He gripped his sword loosely, just in case on of them got bold. 'I'm just glad they're only Shadows… a Defender or a Wyvern might give me a problem…' he scowled at the thought of one of the more dangerous Heartless coming after him. He could take them down easily; he just didn't really want to have to explain why to Maleficent.
He was close to the cathedral, and was wary of the Wyvern because it was still early enough that she may attack. He still wondered why the Wyvern hadn't attacked him. Still thinking, he leaned against a support column and looked out at the sunlit sky through a large collapsed section of wall. Lost in thought, he didn't hear the quiet fluttering of wings above him…
Shuriken, Leiden and Raserei landed on a golden pipe above Riku. The trio watched him closely, as if waiting for him to make a mistake.
"For a Wielder, he sure let's his guard down a lot…" Raserei sneered, looking at the teen with disdain.
"Hush Raserei or he'll hear you!" Shuriken hissed, glaring at his hunting partner.
"Why don't you both shut your mouths, we're trying to stay hidden, remember?" Leiden growled lowly, venom dripping from his voice. The other two Wyverns ceased their squabbling at the larger Wyvern's command. Although Shuriken was the leader of the small pack, Leiden was much stronger and more cunning, and like his name suggested, liked his prey to suffer. He was cruel and ill-tempered, and had a serious hatred of humans.
"Fine…" Shuriken grumbled, looking down at Riku, who was still leaning against the column, unaware of their presence.
"Just a little while longer…" Leiden growled under his breath, smirking evilly as he followed Shuriken's gaze downward.
Riku's eyes were closed as he continued to ponder why the Wyvern had released him. He was completely oblivious to his surroundings, not paying any heed to a passing group of soldier Heartless. His thoughts had his complete attention, and he ignored everything else.
A quiet noise off to his left and an inquisitive scratch on his ankle shook him from his thoughts. Opening his eyes and glancing down, he tried to determine what had brushed against him. He was greeted by the piercing eyes of a Shadow. 'Just ignore it, it'll go away…' he thought to himself, trying to resist the urge to swing at it with his sword. He closed his eyes and leaned back against the pillar, ignoring the little Heartless.
It obviously didn't like that, for it swiped at his ankle again, this time with more force. Riku jumped and instinctively swung his sword, the blade connecting with its coal-black body. It vaporized into a black mist which clung to the edge of his sword. He froze when he realized what he had just done. 'Shoot! Now the bigger Heartless will come after me!' he cursed himself in his head, looking around the empty hallway for any threats. He sensed he was in danger, but he couldn't see anything.
Suddenly, Riku heard a strange rustling and a loud growl above him. He started to turn, but before he could something slashed his shoulder. He cried out in pain and swung his sword defensively, and it connected with something that hissed in pain and fury. Riku's blood ran cold, for the only Heartless that sounded like that was…
A Wyvern…
"Why'd he go and do that?" Raserei said flatly to Leiden, not looking up from the fight below.
"He was just waiting for a good reason to tell Maleficent why he attacked him." Leiden replied emotionlessly, also not looking up. Shuriken had struck Riku's left shoulder as he had turned with his outstretched claws. The wound wasn't very long, but it was deep and bleeding. The speckled Wyvern's size also seemed to have Riku nervous, for his concentration seemed elsewhere.
The draconic Heartless screeched as the teen's sword slashed his wing, and wheeled away, hissing and spitting in rage. Recovering his dive, he whipped around and tried to smash the teen against the wall with his claws. He ducked out of the way, and Shuriken shot upwards to keep from crashing into the unforgiving stone. Wheeling sharply, he extended his talons and dropped, trying to pin the kneeling teen. He managed to dodge, but one of Shuriken's claws caught his left arm, leaving a long slash.
Shuriken was now on the ground and moving in a slow arc around the wounded teen, hissing and snarling, taunting him into making a mistake. Panting heavily, the teen was standing motionless, both hands clutching his sword tightly as he watched the circling Wyvern. Shuriken roared loudly, baring his long, curved fangs. He flicked his bladed tail, the black arrowhead glinting in the sun. His tan wings were pressed tight against his body, ready to soar at the slightest movement.
Shuriken smirked grimly, seeing his prey grow weaker and weaker from blood loss. 'Not much longer…' he thought with a sneer, watching Riku stumble slightly but regain his balance. He tensed and slowed his circling, trying to unnerve the teen even more, and it seemed to work. His sword lowered slightly and his breathing quieted, but he still kept his eyes on him. Shuriken grinned and lifted his head almost proudly as he continued his shark-like circling.
'Not much longer… not much longer…'
Riku tried to keep from falling to his knees as the Wyvern circled him, growling and hissing. With every passing second his sword grew heavier and heavier in his hands and the simple task of breathing became a difficult labor. His vision started to cloud and his legs began to buckle, but he fought to stay up, knowing if he fell the Wyvern would be upon him in an instant.
'I need to get out of here…' he thought, watching his own blood drip off the tip of sword to the dusty ground. He had two options- either run all the way down to the library, or duck into one of the many rooms that dotted the halls, but most of them were locked or filled with Heartless. His judgment was clouded by pain, and he found it hard to make-up his mind.
Suddenly, he had an idea. He knew if it failed he was done for, but if he stayed here he knew he was done for.
'Guess it's worth a shot…'
I was shook from my nap from a loud roar and a shout somewhere out in the hallway that was connected to my lair. I lifted my head and yawned loudly, shaking it to rid my scales of the dust that clung to every surface in the castle. Another loud roar caught my attention and I looked out towards the closed door. I wondered for a second who was roaring, but another told me exactly.
'Shuriken… must have caught an unfortunate Soldier…' I thought, quickly losing interest. Just as I started to curl up to go back to sleep, I heard a pained cry. My head snapped up instantly, recognizing that the cry wasn't from a Heartless… but from a human.
'Oh no…' I thought, my mind and non-heart racing. I recognized Riku's voice and jumped to my feet, walking to the edge of my inlay and stretching my wings to their fullest. I ruffled my sapphire-tinted scales and stretched my large grey-blue talons, then retracted my wings and talons and flatted my scales. Something was poking my wing, so I bit at it, looking much like a raven does when it cleans its shadowy wing.
A Heartless's scream of pain and two loud roars caught my attention, but my ailing wing needed my attention. I licked my wing where a loose scale had rubbed the delicate membrane raw. It burned whenever the sharp scale touched it, and my patience was wearing thin. With a quiet snarl, I bit the broken scale and pulled it out. I cringed at the pain, but it subsided quickly. Snorting in disgust, I dropped the sapphire scale to the stone floor almost twenty feet below me.
I was just about to fly out through the half-collapsed wall at my right when the door burst open suddenly and slammed shut. I jumped at the unexpected noise and looked down, growling lowly. I fell silent when I saw it was only Riku. He was breathing heavily, and something didn't seem right. He staggered into the cathedral, dropping his sword after a few feet. He managed a few more steps before he fell to his knees, clutching his arm.
'What's wrong with him?' I thought, cocking my head, 'Did he get attacked?' I cocked my head again, remembering the roars of a Heartless I had heard earlier. He tried to get back on his feet, but failed miserably and collapsed on his side with a groan. I grew worried by his lack of movement and growled to him, but he didn't react. Now very worried, I spread my wings and glided down, landing silently a few feet away from him. I leaned down to him and growled softly, but there was no response.
'He's unconscious…' I thought, now confused as to why. I began to think maybe he had just warn himself out, and started to spread my wings to fly when I saw the deep slash on his shoulder. 'For the sake of Kingdom Hearts!' I cursed in my head, looking at the slash. It wasn't very big, but it was deep and it had bled a lot, although now the bleeding had all but stopped. His breathing was labored, probably from running.
I remembered how he had been holding his arm, so I looked down to try and find out why. I cringed when I saw the gash cut deep in his arm. I leaned down and sniffed the wound, and growled when I recognized Shuriken's scent. 'That traitor! He'll pay for this!' I screamed in my head, growling loudly.
Suddenly, I felt something inside me trigger, like an instinct. It clouded my thoughts and disabled my reason, threatening to turn me back into the creatures of instinct that are true Heartless. I shook my head and roared, trying to fight the instinct. I backed away from Riku and whipped around, desperately trying to stop the instinct from winning control over me. The urge to steal his heart was too powerful, and I knew I couldn't fight it off much longer. For his own safety, I spread my wings and launched into the air, disappearing through the collapsed wall.
I saw Suruko sitting on his usual perch and flew over to him, landing heavily beside him.
"Okari?" Suruko asked, "What're you doin out here so late in the day? And why are you shaking?"
"Shuriken went after Riku, but he managed to get away and hid in the cathedral. He's badly hurt and he collapsed. When I flew down and tried to help him, I nearly lost to my instincts again. I managed to get away before I reverted and possibly stole his heart. That's the closest I've ever come to snapping… thank Kingdom Hearts I didn't, or it would have been the end of him…" I said quietly, my whole body shaking, side-effects of the instincts' control over me.
"Good idea gettin away before they got full control. You should wait out here so you can calm down." Suruko said, giving me his usual friendly pat on the back. I looked up at him with worried eyes.
"But what about Riku? He needs help and I'm sure Shuriken will go after him again!" I said in a panicked voice, raising my voice slightly.
"Don't worry Okari; I'll go make sure he's okay for you, okay? I'll try to cast a cure spell as well. I'm not as gifted in magic as a Wizard, but I'll try my best, kay?" Suruko tried to cheer me up with his offer.
"Thank you Ruko… that would mean a lot." I said quietly, looking towards the cathedral. He nodded and spread his wings, flying towards the gaping hole that allowed passage in and out of the large room. I lowered my head, lost in thought.
'Why did Shuriken go after Riku? It's not like him to do that… maybe Riku somehow unknowingly provoked him into attacking. That… or he's trying to get at me… again…' I pondered why Shuriken had attacked Riku. The sun was very bright, and I, being mostly active at night, didn't like it. Not at all. I tried to ignore it as continued to think. I just hoped that Riku managed to give Shuriken a good beating, so that he would think twice about going after him again. 'If he didn't, then I'll give him a few good reasons…' I thought, smirking slightly at the thought.
If I hadn't been lost in thought, I might have been able to hear Suruko's panicked roars coming from the cathedral…
.:End of Chapter 3:.
AN- Pretty fast-paced chappie, huh?XP This was pretty long, and it took a while to type. Anyway, no that I'm outta school I'll have more time to work on this and my other fics. Please review guys, I want to know your guys' opinions!!XD No flames please!! It will take awhile for the next chapter to get posted, cause I'm gonna start work on chapter 10 of my (sorta) popular Zoids fic, The Dark Savior. Oh yeah, anonymous reviewers can now leave reviews. I'm sorry you weren't able to before; I didn't know the blocker was 'on' when you start out. You guys can now review. I will leave responses to your reviews in my profile under the "Comments to Anonymous Reviewers" section. Please leave a nice review for me guys!!XD Until next chapter.
P.S- Do I need to raise the rating to 'T' for this fic? Or should I leave it at 'K+'? Please let me know what I should do, I don't want to get in trouble for under-rating my fic!!
Ibeyla :P