Screw it. I'm posting it now. Would you all review please? I love it when people review. It makes me actually want to write something...

Chapter 4: Landing. Sort of.

The ride thus far had been peaceful. Riku, not having had much sleep the night before, took the opportunity to go back to sleep, leaving Mickey in charge of piloting.

They had left in silence and secrecy, getting as far away as they could, as quickly as they could without leaving a trail. As it was, it would be very difficult for someone to track them. He slept remarkably peacefully, considering the nightmares that plagued his subconscious generally at night. Warm, comfortable, and safe, a combination he hadn't experienced in a long time. Even after his return to the island. Warm and comfortable meant his dad's house, which was far from safe. Safe meant the secret place, which was about as far from comfortable as you could get without the assistance of a torture chamber. He was free. Riku could sleep easily at last.

Morning had always come much too early for her liking, but there was just too much to do in a day to sleep in. Her hand groped for the alarm clock in hopes of making it be silent. Unable to find the clock without the ability of sight, a head of mussed red and brown hair unearthed itself from the mass of blankets, a pair of eyes squinted blindly for the clock, its incessant beeping became too annoying to tolerate. The hand roughly shoved a pair of glasses into place bringing her world into abrupt focus.

Oh, of course.

She had moved it out of reach. She had made a habit of hitting the snooze button, rolling over and going back to sleep, so to break the aforementioned habit she had moved it so it was required to get out of bed to shut it off.

Her glare would have frightened any creature, but as the alarm clock was not alive in any way shape or form it had no effect. She contemplated which she required more, sleep or sanity. A surprisingly difficult decision. Sighing, she dragged herself out of bed. Her nightshirt fell down to her ankles from wherever it had managed to hike itself up to during the night. The floor was cold on her bare feet. She gently turned off the alarm and placed it in front of a window where the solar battery could charge. Much like herself, the alarm clock did not belong on this world. Such technology did not exist on this medieval world. She was stuck here though. She had no way to leave.

It was beautiful, however. Green hills ran off to the east, and to the west a thick forest grew. The trees were ancient and strong. A river flowed just within its reaches. Two streams fed it, one, from the northern mountains, was always cold and clear; the other was fed by a hot spring and was warm and comfortable to bathe in. Peaceful.

To the south, however, was a village. It's people were suspicious of outsiders and were cold to her. They had allowed her to live in an old abandoned house well away from them. They had made sure it was livable, but had done her no other favors. She supposed they feared if they left her to die she would curse them with her dying breath. Or something along those lines at least.

She stared at herself in her bathroom mirror. "Well, Meian, another day has come." She pulled a brush through her thick, unruly hair, and tied back into a half ponytail, two strands, too short to be kept in the tail, slipped free to frame her face. Her hair had once been brown, but shortly after arriving here a little over three years ago, her hair had started growing in blood red. It had disturbed her, but she became accustomed to seeing the bottom ten inches or so brown, the rest bright crimson.

Once dressed, Meian ventured out into the morning to fetch water. Definitely something she missed. Hot and cold running water. The morning breeze ran its fingers through her hair and caressed her face. The sun was bright and the sky was clear. Just an ordinary day.

"Riku, wake up!" The King's voice tore him from sleep.

"Huh?" He looked up blearily pushing hair from his eyes. "What's goin' on?" He asked.

"We're being attacked."

Riku launched himself from the bed, instantly awake. Mickey raced in front of him to the cockpit.

"You shoot, I'll drive." Mickey leapt into the pilot's seat, flipping switches and grabbed the controls.

Riku didn't hesitate. Without missing a beat he was seated in front of the weapons console, buckled himself in and brought the ship's minimal firepower online. I should have picked a stronger ship. He thought desperately. Heartless and Nobody ships were attacking them from all sides. Shit. Riku activated the cloaking device and brought up the shields. This was not good. They had basic lasers and about thirty missiles. He would have to be right on target. We are so screwed. Even if I don't miss we're still screwed. He aimed carefully, taking out the smaller ships with the laser, they went down easily, but with so many, even cloaked and shielded they would be worn down eventually.

Something hit them. Hard. The power surged and sparks flew from the circuits. If he hadn't been belted into his seat he would have been sent flying into the console. He checked the displays. "Shields at 75. No significant damage." He reported.

"Let's keep it that way."

The ship that had hit them came into view. It was far larger than them and very obviously better equipped. What was worse, there were two. One Heartless. One Nobody. Not good. They fired.

Mickey began evasive actions. Riku continued to aim and shoot despite his aim being moved about so much. The missiles followed them. "Mickey! We've got heat-seekers." That's how they'd been hit. Heat-seekers. The missiles were gaining.

"Riku, intercept them!"

He fired, trying to hit the missiles before they were hit. Riku managed to take out one. The other connected. The jolt jerked Riku hard enough to know he'd have bruises from his seatbelt. "Shields at 43. Cloaking's gone."

Riku switched entirely to missiles. Lasers wouldn't do jack right now. Panic started to build. His shots were hitting but were entirely ineffective. The smaller ships could see them now and were wearing down their shields.

I've only got five shots left. "Shields at 15. We're losing power. We've got to get out of here!"

"Do what you can. I'm trying to find a place to land." Good. Heartless and Nobody ships couldn't enter an atmosphere. Another hit shook the ship.

"We've lost shields." He could hear the fear in his voice. They were going to die. He could think of no way they could get out of here alive. Red lights and warnings turned on everywhere. The smaller ships were taking out everything. Dread flowed through him. "Mickey…"

"Just five more minutes. Five more minutes and we'll be able to land." The King's voice was tense and strained.

Five minutes… five minutes between living and dying. Riku had to hold them off for five minutes. Fear had soaked his clothes and hair in a cold sweat that trickled down his spine.

His main concern was the larger ships' cannons. Those missiles did a devastating amount of damage. One hit and they would be nothing more than debris. They fired, he took aim carefully. Patiently targeting the incoming missiles. He could not afford to miss. He didn't. Regardless of the interceptions he could only postpone the inevitable. They were running out of ammunition. They couldn't last much longer.

"That's it." Riku said voice flat, resigned, "All we have left are the lasers." It had only been about three minutes. They were screwed.

"We're almost there."

Riku turned about in his seat. They were approaching a world at a dangerously high speed. Mickey was pushing the ship to its absolute limits. One look at the gauges told him the engine temperature was far too high. Navigation was limited, and the landing gear had been downed. Their only option was a crash landing at a high velocity. Survival chances weren't much. But they were better than out there. He'd take it. Riku's general chances of survival had always been notoriously low anyway.

Riku turned back and shot whatever he could blow up. Trying to give them enough time to, at the very least, get into the atmosphere.

The mammoth ships were aiming at them once again. No shields. No missiles left. Defenseless. Not on his life. Fingers flying over the controls, he changed the laser configuration. He opted to fire the entirety of the laser's available energy into one last shot. The heartless ship was the only one preparing to fire. He had one chance.

The incoming missile was locked in his sights. There were a myriad of alarms and warnings going off, a cacophony of sound that would have been agonizing had he been listening. An engine fire had started from the stress being put upon it. Their O2 tanks had been hit and were leaking. Riku couldn't see or hear any of it. His entire focus was centered. Time seemed to slow down. His finger pulled the trigger and a colossal burst of energy streamed forth to meet the missile, and hit it dead on.

But it didn't stop. Their last effort had failed to stop the incoming attack. It had only succeeded in slowing it down.

"I'm sorry, Mickey," was all he got out before their ship was struck.

The shock was terrible. Riku's head was whipped and collided forcefully against the dashboard. He would have been grateful if the collision had rendered him senseless, but as it was he was conscious. Couldn't see straight and wasn't sure which way was up, but still headacheingly conscious.

"M-mic—." His words were cut off by an agony that pierced his chest. He had no breath to scream or cry out and he could taste the blood in his mouth. The ship's fierce shuddering had begun to shake the ceiling panels loose, one falling sharply on Riku's head, rendering his world blissfully black.

The sun was setting and casting a red-gold light on the surrounding landscape. Putting down the book she had been reading in the failing light, she opted to go and sit on the roof, wrapping a shawl about her as she went out the door.

Meian climbed up the trellis and hefted herself up onto the roof. It was her place. Nothing fancy, just a place where she could just be. Not to mention, it was an excellent place to watch the sunset and then the stars. And for some reason, the villagers never thought to look for her up there.

She allowed herself to sigh. Meian's heart ached for company. She hadn't been completely alone today, it was true, but the villagers were always icy. What she wished for was companionship. Someone to share her days with. Maybe someone to sit upon the roof with her and watch the stars. Loneliness made the days pass by slowly. Almost unbearably so.

The stars seemed unusually bright. Meian brushed it off and accredited it to the New Moon. A shooting star blazed into view. Ignoring the part of her that deemed in ridiculous and infantile, she made a wish.

"I wish I had someone to keep me company." She muttered beneath her breath. The star blazed brighter but instead of fading back into darkness started growing larger and coming closer. Her eyes widened, a shape was becoming more and more distinct beneath the flames of its atmospheric entry. What was it? Meian stared intently at the approaching object, attempting to discern the shape. Recognition sparked in her memory. A gummi ship. Concern creased her brow. Something was wrong. At its current velocity it wouldn't be able to slow down enough for a safe landing. It was going to…

The impact shook the ground and rent the air with a deafening crash. A cloud of smoke ascended from the site. It would only take her a minute to get there, but the villagers would definitely hear and, given ten minutes, come running.

"Oh, no." Meian climbed/leapt from the roof and hit the ground running. The grass was cold and damp against her bare feet, soaking her skirt hem as she sprinted toward the smoke. Someone could be hurt or worse…

She ascended the hill, her calves burning, slipping on the wet grass. Meian hit the ground and skid, scraping her shins. She picked herself up and continued to run, heedless of the burning and stinging of her legs. Her breath sounded loudly in her ears.

Meian crested the hill and gasped in shock. A mangled gummi ship sat smoking in a crater; a small fire had started in the engines and was slowly spreading across. There was no way anyone could have…

Relief washed over her as she saw a small dark figure pull itself from the wreckage. She raced toward it to help. Upon closer inspection the figure staggering away had two large ears and a tail. A mouse? Meian shoved it out of her mind. Worry about that later. It collapsed as she drew near, unable to move farther. Meian dropped to its side.

"Are you alright?" She asked hurriedly, her heart pounding hard in her chest.

"Someone's… in there… Riku." It managed in a high voice.

Meian turned her eyes to the burning ship. It wasn't all in flames yet, but if she waited much longer, it would be. With someone trapped inside.

She made a noise of frustration. Alright then. Pulling her blouse over her nose and mouth, Meian ran into the wreckage. I must be crazy. She thought. The smoke was thick, making it harder to see, not to mention breathe despite the cloth over her nose.

Stumbling into the cockpit she looked about, quickly scanning for this 'Riku.' The name's origin was unfamiliar, so she had no idea if she was looking for a guy or a girl or even a mouse, if the creature outside was anything to go by. All she could see was a bunch of fallen ceiling panels and where a piece of infrastructure had come loose and skewered one of the seats—wait a second.

Beneath the debris, a hand protruded. She dashed over, clearing the debris off as fast as she could—some of it was deceptively heavy—and stared in horror. The impaled seat had someone in it. The fallen strut pierced straight through the person's diaphragm, through the seat to lodge immovable in the floor. Blood trailed in little rivulets down the metal beam, pooling in a thick puddle amongst the debris. She could only assume this person, this young man, was Riku. He gurgled something, possibly a moan, and tried to shift. His legs moved. Good, the strut hadn't severed his spine then. How do I get him free? Meian could feel herself starting to panic.

His eyes fluttered open, and about two seconds later he became aware of the pain his body was in. The attempted scream came out as a garbled cough; he was choking on his own blood. Oh, no. Meian thought desperately, why couldn't you have stayed unconscious?

The fire had caught up to them and a portion of the ceiling gave way near them, bending the strut to the side. Riku gasped as the metal he was impaled with shifted and bent. Wait…

If you bent metal far enough it had to break. Meian added her weight to the strut and heard the metal groan. An awful creaking was added to the cacophony as the metal strained. She winced at Riku's pained gasps but dealt with the task at hand. Finally the strut snapped and fell, taking her with it. Meian pulled herself off the floor, gritting her teeth against the pain in her leg. Some jagged piece of metal had left a gash in her calf. The metal had broken off, leaving the end twisted, hooked, and sharp. This was not going to be fun.

"Riku," She called to him, "can you hear me?" Meian laid a hand on his shoulder. His entire body was rigid with pain. He gave a tense nod. His eyes were squeezed shut. "Riku, I have to pull you up over the end of this, it will hurt, so just bear with me, alright?" He nodded again. It was getting harder and harder to breathe. They had to hurry.

Carefully wrapping her arms around his torso as best she could, Meian slowly raised him up the bar, trying not to damage him any more than necessary. She blocked out his sounds of agony, the tears of pain streaming down his face.

They had reached the end. All that was left was to drag that twisted, barbed end through his insides. She swallowed hard. It was probably best no to prolong it. It was bound to catch on something regardless of speed.

One…

Two…

Three!

She hefted him with all her strength over the end, the sound of tearing flesh and metal grinding against bone making her want to be sick. Riku had found his voice, he screamed in such utter agony Meian's stomach twisted and she retched.

Dizzy and nauseous Meian lifted Riku onto her back and began to drag him back through the ship. Her feet burned painfully on the heated floor. Every surface was agonizingly hot. Riku yelped in pain every time she lost her footing and his bare skin came in contact with the fiery floor. Her eyes blurred with tears.

It was far too long before Meian inhaled something other than smoke. She dragged him safely away from the wreckage and collapsed, Riku atop her. He'd passed out. She rolled him off and moved to do what she could for him. Her energy was sapped but she poured all the energy she dared into a healing spell. Willing the wounds to heal, the flesh to be whole. She prayed to whatever deity was listening, please, let this work. Please, please, don't allow him to die…

Poor Riku. I would probably be sadder about writing that if I didn't find the idea of Riku screaming, back arched in pain, so beautiful. As it is, Riku in pain is very attractive. Hence, the scene exists. And he's just too much fun to torture.