Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and characters copyright Square Enix and such people. Not me.
A/N:
Whoohoo, next chapter. Aren't we all excited now? Yeah, took me a while. Sorry, Christmas lights had to go up and we still have the tree to do, and my room is in a constant state of disarray (thanks in part to the ferrets three) so things are just crraaaaazy over here.
Anyways, things are moving in a forward sort of direction here. Things are happening, and there are things that are going to be connecting, and yes I do enjoy writing cryptically here in the Author's Notes, have you noticed?
Thank you for the Fav and the Alert, I'm happy to hear someone out there is enjoying this!
Thanks to:
Meka – I appreciate your review very much! I'm glad you're enjoying this so far, especially since this story is so experimental for me. I hope you'll enjoy the next chapters as well.
Review and get candy! Awesome candy! I promise, I don't have a creepy van, just yummy candy.
Roxas is drifting in an out of sleep as his brother gets ready for work. The shades in the room are drawn and it is six in the morning and Demyx sits on the edge of the bed they still share because there is no space for another in the room and pulls on his socks. Roxas is blearily staring at the wall in front of his face and he is wondering about the evening before. He isn't able to keep his thoughts straight and he is slipping back into sleep when he feels a hand on his shoulder. He turns around and finds Demyx looking at him from above. His brother is dressed in his coat already, and his eyes are wide awake and he looks worried.
"Roxas," He says and Roxas blinks and pushes himself up on his shoulders and looks at his brother, "Don't go in the woods today."
"Wh…what?" Roxas is confused and Demyx's hand tightens on his shoulder.
"Just… just, don't." Demyx says, and he doesn't talk more just lifts his hand to Roxas's head and ruffles his hair and then he is gone and Roxas falls back asleep.
****
The pain is coming back. Demyx had snuck the painkiller from his mother's medicine cabinet early that morning but now it is nearing eleven and the medication is wearing off and he is hurting again. The sound of the saw is loud through his safety earmuffs and the air he is breathing through his mask was stale and it is making it hard for him to breathe and he is trying not to cough too much. He is focused on guiding the log through the guards towards the large rotating saw and he is trying not to get distracted by the foreman leading a pair of out-of-towners around the mill but he is anyway.
The man is tall and his hair is blond and and slicked back and his beard and moustache are thin. He is talking animatedly with the foreman and Demyx isn't able to hear him but he seems like he is enjoying the visit. He is dressed sharp and he doesn't look like he belongs. His companion is a woman and she is shorter and blond and she is violently beautiful in the way mountain cats are just before they maul someone. Her eyes are sharp and she is engaged in the conversation just as much as the man is although she is looking around at the workers and the equipment more than she is looking at the foreman. Then she is looking at Demyx and winking and he is looking quickly back down at the log and trying to ignore the blush and trying to focus on work and when he looks up Johnny is walking by and he is chuckling and giving him a grin and Demyx is ignoring him as well.
The foreman is passing by with the two out-of-towners and the log is coming close to the end. Demyx is making sure it goes through right and Tom is checking to make sure the pieces fall to the right sides and then they're shutting off the machine and watching the saw blade slow down with a dying whine and cleaning up and the rest of the mill is doing so as well. It is nearing break time and Demyx's mind goes on auto-pilot and he finishes and then he is taking his lunch and heading down to the stream by the mill. It is the same stream that goes through the woods but it is wider here and it has fish and crawdads by the banks and some ducks.
Demyx sits carefully on one of the large rocks at the edge of the stream and opens his paper lunch bag and pulls out the sandwiches he had wrapped in yesterday's newspaper. The ducks are drifting closer and he unwraps the first sandwich and pulls off a piece of bread and tosses it to them. The ducks are scrambling for the piece and Demyx is taking a bite of his sandwich and chewing thoughtfully and wondering why he's having a bit of trouble breathing. He's been feeling slightly feverish and he wonders if it is the worry or something worse because he has also been coughing a lot lately and his throat is scratchy. There is a duck climbing out of the water and onto the bank and coming up to sit next to him and he is hurting and he is coughing and he is putting a hand to his face and is closing his eyes and is wondering if it is the world trying to tell him he is doing something wrong.
****
Roxas is closing the rubbish bin. He has tossed the garbage out and his chores are done and he is wondering what he is going to do next. Hayner is with his mother in the city and Pence and Olette are helping their parents with the coal and Kairi has gone to visit her cousin and Roxas doesn't have anyone to spend any time with. He brushes his hands on his pants and walks out in front of the apartment building and looks around. The road is empty and he starts wandering down it and he is thinking about going to the store and getting some ice cream when he notices someone is crouched down by the wall of the next building over. He walks over and he is wondering what is wrong and then he realizes it is the pale haired girl whose name he doesn't know. He stops and he fidgets a moment and he think she should say something.
"Oh," Roxas says and that's not right but she looks up and she smiles shyly and she is holding her notebook in one hand and her pencil in the other.
"Hi," Her voice is soft and her eyes are big and blue and Roxas hooks his thumbs in his belt loops and tries to look nonchalant.
"Uh, what are you looking at?" He asks and that works better he thinks and the pale haired girl stands up and looks down.
"These tracks, they look… well, they look strange," She says and she brushes a few stray strands of hair behind her ear and looks at him and she is still smiling. "I was sketching them in my notebook."
"Oh," Roxas is taking a few steps forward and he is standing next to her and looking down. The ground has a few strange markings on it and he can't really see what shape they are, but they look almost dog like. The pale haired girl is looking in her notebook and Roxas is looking around and he sees some faint markings going towards the apartments and he is looking the other way and he sees more recent markings heading towards the walls and the roads outside the town.
"Looks like whatever it was headed towards the woods," He says and he looks at the pale haired girl and then they are taking their time walking along the tracks towards the walls at the outside of the town. Roxas is looking down and the pale haired girl is looking through her notebook and Roxas is thinking of something to say and then he notices that suddenly the larger dog-like prints are joined by large hoof prints. They are big but they look a lot like the cloven hoof prints of the farmer's goats and Roxas is a little confused.
"Goats?" Roxas asks and the pale haired girl crouches down and sketches in her notebook. Roxas waits for her to finish and they head onward towards the road and the tracks are getting clearer. Roxas isn't bad at tracking, he has chased rabbits and foxes in the woods all his life, but he doesn't recognize the large dog-like tracks or what could have made them. They look strange and not entirely dog-like but he isn't sure just what they could be. He is walking onward and the pale haired girl follows and there are clouds in the sky and they pass through a shadow as they walk past the walls and onto the road outside the town. The woods are not far ahead and the tracks are deeper in the ground and much more visible.
"What do you think made them?" The pale haired girl says and she is looking at him and is holding the notebook close to her chest and he crosses his arms and thinks and shrugs.
"Those looks like prints from a large dog, but they're a little strange, and the goat tracks are way too big for regular goats." Roxas sighs and looks at her and she looks at him and he doesn't know what else to say. She nods and they start following the tracks again to where they reach the edge of the woods this side of the stream. Roxas stares at the woods and he isn't remembering what his brother told him.
"Let's go see where they lead," Roxas says and heads on into the trees and there is no path where he is going just the tracks of the unknown animals. The pale haired girl is not with him and he turns around and he sees her standing at the edge of the path.
"I don't know." She says and she is looking warily at the forest beyond him. "It feels strange."
"They're just trees." Roxas says, "It's just the woods."
"I'll… I'll wait here," The pale haired girl says. She looks frightened and Roxas does not want to force her so he doesn't. He doesn't understand why she is so scared and he turns around and finds the tracks beneath his feet and starts following them again. They wind a bit and in some places the goat tracks overlap the dog tracks as if the goat was following and he is starting to lose his orientation a little. He looks up to find where the sun is but the canopy is thick and he isn't even at the stream yet, and then he is. The tracks head straight for a series of large stones that form a makeshift bridge with the water flowing past between them and he hops over the stream across them and he reaches the other side and the tracks aren't there. He is angry and he looks around but then notices that before him there is an animal path and he walks out onto it and he forgets about the vanished tracks.
There are no tracks on the path but it feels like a deer path or a fox path but he isn't sure. There are low bushes for part of the way on one side and short grass on the other. He is walking along as quietly as he can and he reaches a place on the path with a small clearing on one side and a patch of wild strawberries growing in it. The sun is shining on them and he is tempted to pick some of the ripe red berries but he is intrigued about where the path goes and he passes by instead. The path starts twisting as it goes deeper into the woods and Roxas is walking downhill most of the way. He doesn't know how much time has passed and he doesn't really care and he keeps following the strange path as it moves around elm and oak trees and nothing moves beyond the dark trunks and Roxas is intrigued. The woods are quieter then he remembers them being but he is sure if he focuses hard enough he can hear the chatter of birds somewhere where he can't see them.
The path is winding on and the trees are thinning out and Roxas is continuing, he thinks he can hear the birds clearer and he wants to see if he can find them. He is reaching a slight ridge and hopping down the side and he is able to see a clearing ahead of him where the trees are smaller and not standing too close together. He reaches the edge and the sun is bright and glaring and for a moment he isn't able to see a thing. He blinks and brings up a hand to shield his eyes and he doesn't recognize the place he has ventured into. There is grass growing tall in the clearing but there are trails in it as if someone or something has been walking through it. Across from him and a little to his left is what looks like a cabin. Its roof has holes and there are boarded up windows and the right corner has fallen into itself. Roxas is able to see better as his eyes adjust to the light and he is walking through the tall grass towards the cabin and he stops in the middle of the clearing and he wonders who would build a cabin way out in the woods like this. He isn't sure but he doesn't think he can hear the birds any longer.
There is a slight rustle in the grass behind him and he turns and he sees the red haired man from a few days before standing a few feet behind him.
"Well, imagine meeting you here," The red haired man says. He is standing with his hands in the pockets of his dark pants and his rifle on his back and his hat hanging on the rifle's muzzle.
"Who are you?" Roxas asks. He is a little surprised to see the red haired man but he doesn't show it. The man tilts his head slightly and his eyes narrow a bit and he is smiling slightly.
"Wouldn't you like to know," The red haired man says and he smirks. Roxas is remembering that the pale haired girl is waiting for him and is thinking that he should be getting back and he is thinking he doesn't like the way the man is looking at him. He isn't sure what to say but he speaks anyways.
"What are you doing out here?" Roxas says as he takes a step to the side. He realizes that the man is standing directly between him and the path he had taken to reach this place. The cabin is behind him and he doesn't feel good standing there between the red haired man and the dilapidated building.
"I'm looking for… my dog," The red haired man says. He glances to one side of the clearing.
"Your dog?" Roxas is unconvinced. The man looks at him and his eyes narrow slightly as he grins widely.
"My hunting dog," The red haired mans says and shifts his stance and pulls his hands out of his pockets and lets them hang at his sides.
"Seems pretty reckless to let your dog run around all by itself," Roxas says and takes another step to the side. He is not pretending to be doing something else and he is sure the red haired man knows he is trying to get back to the path he had come from but he doesn't care all too much. The red haired man shifts his pose to keep looking at Roxas as he moves.
"He's a good dog. He's just having fun," The red haired man chuckles and his eyes are glittering. Roxas doesn't feel safe anymore and he isn't sure why. He isn't scared but he is nervous and he doesn't want the man to see that even though he feels sure the man knows anyways. He kicks at the ground and keeps moving steadily to put the path at his back again. The man reaches up and pulls the cap off of the rifle and continues to speak, "It's not hunting season, after all; can't get serious yet."
Roxas is stopped with the path to his back but the words have chilled him and he is not sure why and what he should make of them. The red haired man pulls the dark knit cap on and his eyes meet Roxas's and Roxas tries to take a step backwards but he doesn't know if he is doing it or not and the sun seems filtered through clouds and the grass and trees look like they are draining of color and then suddenly the red haired man's eyes shift and his grin fades and there is a hand on Roxas's shoulder and suddenly the world is glaring and bright.
There is a hand on his shoulder and it is pulling him back towards the path roughly and the red haired man is left behind in the clearing and his grin is gone and he looks angry and Roxas is suddenly glad that he is no longer there in the clearing.
"What did I tell you?"
Roxas doesn't recognize his brother's voice. He turns and tries to walk next to him but Demyx pushes him to the front and coughs and coughs and Roxas is worried and tries to look back but Demyx keeps pushing at his back to keep him moving and Roxas does. They are following the path again but it is dark and there are rocks littering the ground and bushes stretching across some places. Roxas doesn't recognize any of the path and he doesn't know if this is where he had come from but he thinks it is, they have reached an area with a clearing to the side and he looks to find the wild strawberries but there is fallen branches and wilted leaves and a pale deer skull set right in the middle.
Roxas hears Demyx cough and he realizes his brother isn't right behind him anymore and he turns around and sees his brother leaning against a rough-barked elm tree. He is coughing hard and Roxas walks back to him and Demyx coughs again and spits something onto the ground and he looks up and Roxas meets his eyes and he knows his brother is angry. He doesn't say anything and they keep walking and there are twigs and rocks and tendrils of creepers all across the path now and Roxas doesn't know where he is going anymore and doesn't know if there is a path beneath his feet at all but Demyx is leading him and he trusts his brother and so he walks.
"How did you know I was here?" Roxas asks. Demyx is walking just slightly behind him and glancing back every now and then.
"The girl," Demyx says and coughs and continues, "Naminé, I think."
Naminé, Roxas thinks that he will remember that.
"Said you saw some strange tracks," Demyx looks at Roxas. They are reaching the stream. "I told you not to come here."
"I forgot," Roxas says. He feels bad; he knows his brother was worried. He thinks of the red haired man and the things he said and the way he looked when they were getting away and he is scared now. He walks over the stones to the other shore and waits for his brother to come across. "What's up with that guy?"
Demyx is not answering him, he is stepping across the stones carefully and he is stopping part of the way across the stream and he is looking back over his shoulder again. Roxas doesn't feel right.
"We should tell someone," Roxas says and Demyx looks at him and crosses the rest of the way to the shore and stands next to him. Roxas looks at him and he thinks his brother doesn't look like he is doing too well.
"I told Officer Xaldin," Demyx says and his voice is low and his eyes look distant. He puts a hand on Roxas's shoulder again and steers him towards where the road is. "He said he'll look into it."
"That's all?" Roxas asks, climbing up the slight incline. There is no path here at all, they are just walking up among the trees from the stream to the road and Roxas hears Demyx cough every now and then and he doesn't like the sound of it but he doesn't say anything. Demyx keeps his hand on Roxas's shoulder and they keep moving.
"That's all." Demyx says and he is looking ahead. "Let's get home."
"All right," Roxas says, and they walk.
****
Demyx isn't sleeping. Roxas is snoring softly on his side of the bed but Demyx can't keep his eyes closed. He is trying not to cough and wake his brother and he rolls onto his side and he closes his eyes and he is facedown in the mud again and he can't move and he is tasting dirt and his eyes snap back open and he is breathing hard. He can't catch his breath and he is trying but he feels the way the air is wheezing in and out of him and he doesn't know if he hears it or just feels it but he knows there's a crackling and popping in his lungs and he is scared. He has never been sick in his life other than a cold now and then but he thinks he is sick now but he also thinks that he will be fine, just fine. He slips gently out from under the covers and he is trying not to cough again and he walks to the door to their room and opens it quietly. He is slipping out and across the floor to the bathroom and he closes the door behind him and turns on the light. The glare is bright and it is hurting his eyes and he squints and turns the faucet and starts coughing and he can't keep it quiet but he doesn't care just then. He coughs and coughs and there is phlegm gathering in the back of his throat and he spits it out into the sink and he sees that it is speckled with red and his stomach turns and he watches as it is washed away by the water and he leans his forehead against the mirror and feels it cold against his skin and he closes his eyes.