A/N: Well guys, the long wait is over, My couple of lines a night didn't work out quite as well as I'd hoped, be that as it may, it still worked! So who's complaining? So without further procrastination here is the sixth chapter!
Ryker twirled his wrists in a circular motion, cutting the air in front of him with his newly made weapons. He loved the way they felt in his hands. The balance was spot on; exuberance was quite the understatement when it came to his emotions. Ryker was beyond happiness. The blades gave him a sense of power that he had never once felt in his life. Sora grinned big at the enthusiasm written on his face as they began their trek back toward the village, but his facial expression went cold-blooded as soon as Ryker's eyes could not perceive his movements.
"Hey Ryker…"
Ryker began to answer but was soon cut off from the guttural gag emanated from his body as the end of Sora's keyblade slammed into his chest. Air rushed by at an incredible rate as Ryker flew through the air in the opposite direction, crimson blood dripping from his mouth. A look of anger flickered in his eyes as he struggled to his feet, still holding his radiant metal weapons in a death grip.
"What the hell…" Ryker began before getting a puzzled look on his face. He threw his head back and forth, looking for any kind of visual cue that would clue him in on where Sora had gone.
A chilling voice froze him in place as it commanded him in a very matter-of-fact tone.
"Defend yourself…"
Ryker quickly flung his body around to face his attacker but it was no use, Sora's keyblade cut his legs out from under him. As he was plummeting to the ground a swift sidekick connected with his ribs and once again took to the air like a flightless bird trying in vain to defy its fate to stay firmly planted on the ground. The injured gradually lifted his head to see his bloody, beaten self in the cold unfeeling steel of his weapons. He felt tears beginning to form in the corners of his eyes, but he promptly blinked them back.
Get a hold of yourself! You asked him for this! Ryker berated himself mentally.
His resolve set, Ryker outstretched his arms and grasped his blades that were deeply embedded in the ground. The sharp tips penetrated the earth even more as he used them as a crutch to pull himself to his feet.
Sora flipped his keyblade in the air, silently looking on as Ryker gathered himself into a fighting stance.
"Are you ready for this?" Sora asked, albeit he already knew what his opponents answer would be.
"Are you?" Ryker sneered confidently, his anger bubbling over at the pain Sora had already caused him.
Sora smirked at Ryker's snide remark but only a moment before his face once again turned stoic. They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity before Sora decided to make his move in the pseudo chess game they were playing. He charged at his adversary, his keyblade held unerringly steady, aimed at his heart. Ryker immediately went on the defensive and sidestepped slightly and lightly tapped the end of Sora's weapon. He knocked it off course just enough to narrowly splitting his side open. Ryker swung the blade in his right hand in a downward arc, trying to catch Sora on his exposed shoulder as he flew past him with blinding speed.
Got you!
The thought had barely left his mind when Sora disappeared in a whoosh of wind.
Not this again! Ryker thought as he scanned the area.
He closed his eyes and let his other four senses take over his perception of the world. Without visual cues his other senses seemed to work at a superhuman rate, the adrenaline rush was almost like a drug for Ryker. The only other times he had felt it were when the heartless had attacked the village and him.
His ear twitched as a dead plant snapped behind him. Ryker eyes shot open as he smiled and spun around, throwing one of his blades above his in defense and slashing the other horizontally out in the space in front of him.
Ryker gaped at what he had just done. He had expected the clang of metal on metal, but that sound was never to reach his ears as the sound of blade cutting into soft flesh filled his senses. The surprised boy stared at Sora, feet firmly planted on the ground, and his arms and keyblade hanging loose beside himself. Words caught in Ryker's throat as he began to apologize profusely for the long gash his blades had left right below his pectoral muscles.
Sora listened to the almost incoherent babbling for but a moment before he grasped Ryker's head, picked him up, and drove his body into the ground. The thud was immediately followed by the expelling of all the air Ryker had in his body.
Black and white were the only colors the temporarily color blind wounded could see as he desperately gasped for air. A colorless butterfly caught his attention as he stared up into the air dazed and confused. It fluttered back and forth seemingly aimless looking in vain for a lively vibrant flower that would nourish its failing body with nectar. Disoriented as he was, Ryker looked on, intrigued with the insect's plight. It was then that he remembered that Sora had just thrown him down.
That's strange……….where did he go? Ryker thought to himself as he picked his body up off the ground.
Ryker looked around him and attempted to find the only living thing he had seen ever since he had lost his ability to see color. When he finally caught the movement of the butterfly against the same color background he was met with a very curious sight. The one butterfly he had seen was desperately trying to keep three others from falling into the darkness of the demolished sea of flowers that allured them into the peacefulness of death. Ryker watched, subdued, at the almost tragic sight that was folding out in front of him. One by one the butterflies gave up even though the lone individual kept on what seemed like pleading and begging the others to not surrender to the darkness. When all but one had fallen and been covered over with black ash, there was still one, still fluttering, still searching, still holding onto that last glimmer of hope that maybe, just maybe, he could find them in the abyss.
"Hey Ryker! Wake up!"
Ryker shook his head and blinked, trying to regain his vision. He slammed his eyes shut immediately as the sun found his dilated eyes.
Sora looked on concerned, but also solemnly as Ryker tried to regain his vision.
"Never hesitate to kill Ryker…I let you cut me to see what you would do. Hesitation is not allowed in a life or death fight. This is the most important lesson I can teach you. Heartless work on the basest of instincts, they are devoid of any human emotion. If I was a heartless, you would be dead right now."
A gust of wind whipped through the field and threw up a massive amount of jet black ash. Ryker breathed out slowly and began to stare at his blades through cracked eyelids. He still clutched tightly in his hands, which were now a pale white color.
He couldn't help but remember the three butterflies that fell into the darkness and gave up as the black substance swirled around his body.
The broken, beat, and scarred teenager's eyes shot open and leered at Sora menacingly. The words echoed over and over in his head.
Never hesitate to kill…
Never hesitate to kill…
Basest of instincts…
Devoid of any human emotion…
If I was a heartless………you would be dead…
"NO!" Ryker screamed as he leapt to his feet. "I won't die!"
Sora barely had time to avoid his throat being sliced open as a wildly swung blow missed him by inches. When he finally landed, Sora stared wordlessly at Ryker as the ash continued to churn like the ocean waves all around them. Ryker's chest heaved up and down from the new strains that he was experiencing from his first time in actual combat.
In a flash of light, Sora dismissed his keyblade.
"Enough for today, I'm pretty sure you learned your lesson. Although you got a little close to giving me a new place to breathe out of" Sora said as he slid his black, grimy fingers gingerly across his neck.
Ryker attempted a reply, but was breathing too hard to even attempt it. His whole body was bent over as he attempted to breathe deep breaths without sucking in too much black residue from the air, albeit every now and again he had to purge a large amount of black saliva from his mouth.
"Can…….you" Ryker waved his hands in the air frantically, trying to get his message across.
Sora didn't need any other hints.
"AEROGA!"
The wind emanated from Sora and blasted out in all directions, creating a giant explosion of wind. Ryker covered his face as the wind buffeted, and then absorbed him. He lay on the now bare dirt ground, cleansed of every foreign particle and also dried of his sweat soaked skin and hair, yet another positive bonus to magic.
When the wind finally calmed down Sora couldn't help but chuckle to himself.
"Seems like I've had to do that once before have I?"
"Yeah, no kidding" Ryker half laughed, half gasped.
"Lets go cool off at the fountain…." Ryker suggested.
"Sounds great!" Sora said with glee.
"Oh and Sora?"
"What's up?" Sora inquired.
"You might wanna have Kairi take a look at that cut…"
Sora's eyes widened in absolute dismay at the thought as he muttered to himself, "crap…maybe I should've just let you kill me…"
o-o
The four friends basked in the cooling embrace of the fountain. Water droplets slowly gathered in number on their hot, dry skin. Sofi giggled at the tickling effect the water had when it scurried down her arm with the quickness of a mouse, but with the gracefulness of a bird soaring with the updrafts in the sky.
Even Riku, the normally serious one, couldn't help but smile at the sereneness of it all. A deep sigh of contentment escaped his lips as he slowly let his body fall into a lying position on the circular bench, letting the contour of his body follow it. He cracked his eyelid ever so slightly to check on Kairi. Millie was sitting beside her, arms wrapped around her shoulders just in case she fainted again.
Satisfied, Riku closed his eyes and drifted into unconsciousness. Sofi watched with rapt attention as Riku's breathing slowed down and his chest began to move in a steady rhythm. The little girl was tempted to wake him up but a weak smile and a finger to her lips from Kairi made her think twice about disturbing the sound asleep Riku.
Sofi bent down and whispered something inaudibly to Riku's sleeping form before sliding back over to Millie and Kairi.
"Are you feeling better now Kairi?" Sofi asked softly.
"A little" Kairi said as she began to pull out yet another bottle of the bitter emerald green liquid. She downed it in little time at all, but no matter how fast she seemed to drink it her entire face crinkled because of the terrible aftertaste it left in her mouth.
Noticing her plight Sofi thoughtfully cupped her hands in the circular basin running the circumference of the fountain and brought up as much water as her dainty hands would allow.
"Here Kairi" Sofi whispered as she offered her hands towards Kairi's still creased visage.
The red head warmly accepted and slurped all the water she could, making sure she swished it around to get every last remnant of the acrid substance off of her taste buds. She sighed in relief and smiled both inwardly and outwardly at the altruistic little girl. Millie couldn't help herself either even though she knew about Sofi's kind nature.
Kairi ruffled the little girl's hair as she signaled Millie to let her stand on her own.
"Thank you Sofi" Kairi whispered lively. She felt tons better.
Kairi looked at the little girl questioningly when she didn't receive a response. She examined the little girl's perplexed countenance and turned her eyes to what held her stare. The red head looked at the two figures that were moving slowly towards them.
All three girls spoke at once, though they all said different things.
"Sora" Kairi queried.
"Brother!" Sofi yelled with glee.
"A spatula?" Millie raised her eyebrow at the utensil held in Sora's hand.
The trio of girls looked at each other and began to laugh hysterically, the only thing that betrayed the tears running down their laughing faces was the water that was already pouring down their faces.
Riku groaned at the loud noises stemming from the girls.
"Typical" Riku sighed to himself as the group kept their laughing fit up. He raised his soaked body upright and began to rub his temples. He was deeply chagrined at the fact that the girls didn't even notice they had woken him up, or that they had angered the monster of a headache that he was trying to coax back into its deep dark hole.
As he became more aware of his surroundings (and managed to plug his ears) he noticed how oblivious the cackling hyenas really were.
Uh-oh, Sora is in trouble when she notices. Riku though evilly.
He felt just a bit better knowing the hammer was about to be brought down on his best friend and by his fiancé no less. A quick glance past his hands, whose fingers were still deeply embedded into his ear canals made him quietly snicker as Kairi could finally see the damaged Sora. Her smile arrested in an instant as her face turned blank, then flabbergasted, although tiny cracks of anger were beginning to show on her face.
Somehow, the world was a better place as Kairi's exasperated complaint ran through the air and entered the now digits free ears of Riku. He sighed heavily as his best friend was berated about how he should be more careful. The occasional stressing of the word 'idiot' pleased him greatly. A rare smile graced his countenance at the normalcy of it all.
Sora was making excuses.
Kairi was being overprotective.
And he just got to sit back and listen to the show.
Riku sighed again and closed his eyes. Life was good.
Reminds me of the good ole days…
"Riku!"
The silver haired teenager snapped out of his reverie and searched for the source of the voice. Just as he began to turn around someone grabbed his shoulders from behind and jerked them back.
He flailed his arms in an attempt to arrest his fall into the deep basin, but it was all for naught as his head slammed into the clear liquid with a smack followed by the rest of his body. Riku came up sputtering, trying to clear out the water that was causing an unbearable burning sensation inside of his nose. His expression turned venomous once he blinked the water out of his eyes. He whipped his head back and forth, taking it all in. The first thing he noticed was that Sora and Kairi were no longer arguing, their faces twitched like hyper kids looking for that last bit of sugar that would send them flying off the wall. Millie's face was buried in her hands and Ryker was obscuring his face in the emotionless steel of his weapons.
Sofi was nowhere to be found.
His expression still screaming murder, Riku snorted his disapproval and got to his feet, preparing to go brood in the Gummi Ship for the rest of his miserable life. As he started to trudge away an unfamiliar weight bore down on his shoulders and refused to go away.
The whisper of a little girl sent shivers up his spine.
"I told you I would get you fixed up today Mr. Riku…."
If emotionless is normal. I guess you got what you wanted. Riku thought to himself.
"Yeah, fixed up alright…" Riku sighed defeated. "I'm back to the normal me."
"YAY!" A certain little girl exclaimed electrically, still clinging to his shoulders.
"Give me a piggyback ride home Riku!"
"Do I have a choice?"
"No!"
Riku traipsed away defeated.
Sora, Kairi, Ryker, and Millie were beside themselves.
o-o
The retelling of Sofi's ambush on Riku, Ryker's new blades, and the returning of the long lost spatula was the main course in terms of conversation that went along with Sarah's delicious dish of spaghetti she had prepared earlier in the day. Oddly enough, the cause of most of the hustle and bustle was absent for all of the festivities.
"You should have seen him!" Sora's voice cut through the din of Ryker's family.
"Sofi snuck all the way around the fountain and dunked him in the water!" Sora laughed heartily at his joke along with the rest of the Artaith family plus Millie. She had been invited as well to have dinner. Te little girl grinned at the mention of her name and laughed giddily with everyone else.
It was then that Roberts's voice commanded the attention at the still cracked dining room table.
"How about you show us those weapons I keep hearing about Ryker."
"Sure dad, no problem."
Ryker brought them out from under his feet and held them up for everyone to see.
Sarah gasped as she exclaimed to her son.
"Don't hurt yourself!"
Ryker just sighed and uttered his distaste in one word.
"Mom…….."
"Don't worry Sarah, he'll be fine. You forget that I taught him how to fight with a wooden sword. Next time any heartless come around they'll be no match for him!" Robert bragged to the group.
"You're telling me….." Sora said quietly to himself as he discreetly and tentatively stroked his still cut chest.
"That's what you get" Kairi whispered sweetly in his ear right before she turned back and shared a quiet giggle with Millie.
Sora sighed in defeat.
After dinner was finally done and over with the exhausted friends decided to turn in. Sofi was carried up to her room by Ryker, and Millie decided sleep in the guest room where Sora and Kairi's current abode was.
o-o
Ryker laid in his bed, contemplating what he had seen when Sora had knocked him out. He couldn't figure out what it meant and it annoyed him greatly.
"Three butterflies fell……one was left…..what does it mean!"
o-o
Sora and Kairi laid next to each other, enjoying the warmth and closeness they were rarely able to share. The only other sound in the room was Millie's steady breathing. Without warning Kairi's hand moved up to Sora's chest, causing him to flinch involuntarily.
"What are you…?"
Sora said no more as Kairi uttered the word 'curaga' and closed up the wound on his bare chest. Contented, she smiled and drifted off to sleep, leaving a surprised Sora in the wake of her loving action.
"I love you too Kairi."
Right before dozing off to sleep Sora's thoughts couldn't help but drift to Riku. He assumed that he had dropped Sofi off and went to the Gummi Ship to eat and go to bed. Sora thought no more of it as he went to dreamland, but his assumptions about Riku couldn't have been more wrong…
A/N: Haha, a little cliffie there, gotta love them. : P, anyways, I hoped everyone enjoyed this chapter, because from here on out it is going to be a lot more serious.
I also have another announcement to make. A good friend of mine is going to draw a picture of the gang from this story and I will post the deviant art link as soon as she is finished with it. I extend my thanks to her for doing this for me!