A/N: I am a very happy little writer. It seems the story has taken off slightly in the review department… All I can say is thank you so very much to every single person who has reviewed thus far. You guys are the reason I get my lazy ass up and try hard to make a great tale. World of Warcraft arc 1 is getting close to its end. There are only 4 or 5 chapters left… I can't believe I've even made it this far!

Reviewers are to blame. I am such a little review whore. Ily all! xD

Anyways. This chapter explains what Riku has been doing for all this time. It's rather short in comparison to the previous chapters, but that's because I decided to cut it away from the other part that catches up with Sora. If I left them together it would be a monster chapter… haha.

Up Ahead: Riku, Riku, Riku, and did I mention Riku??

Through the Looking Glass

Chapter 7

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Following Sora wasn't really that hard. Riku had been doing it for months; ever since the boy had awoken from his year-long slumber the older male had shadowed him with the attentiveness of a concerned mother. Bouncing after him from world to world, staying lost within the darkness; Riku had done everything within his power to keep the younger boy from realizing just how far from grace he had fallen. From seeing the horrible face Riku now had to wear, just to be strong enough…

But that didn't mean he was ready to disappear from his friend's life.

So, Riku left hints. He let Sora catch just the quickest glances of him. He tormented the boy with the knowledge that he was just outside of his grasp. Just a little too far gone to be saved.

And that was the problem, really.

At first leaving little hints was sufficient, but soon Riku was wanting more. He followed closer, stayed longer, observed with more intensity. And it still wasn't enough. Sora would disappear for weeks at a time aboard that stupid ship of his, leaving Riku to fret about his safety and wonder if some form of hardship had befallen the boy. So he came to a simple solution…

Use his Portal to Darkness to board the Gummi Ship briefly and make sure Sora was okay.

It was a good plan, and worked for a while. The problem was Sora's presence, which was so vibrant throughout the entire ship that Riku found it hard to leave. At first he was staying for a few minutes, then a few hours. The next thing he knew he was spending nights holed up in the cargo bay, listening to Sora's chipper voice laughing along with his friend up above. It was melodic, and Riku was usually lulled to sleep by it.

One such evening, when the teen was contently falling into the darkness of his own mind, he heard strange happenings above. The Chipmunks… whatever their names were, were making an unusual amount of racket.

"What are you guys on about?"

Sora's voice floated down through the ceiling, jolting Riku awake. He tried to listen to the conversation above, but for the life of him he couldn't turn the jumbled squeaks of his friend's pilots into actual words. From what he could hear of Sora's side of the conversation, there was something outside of the ship worth looking at.

The people above, completely unaware of Riku's presence, moved around the cockpit quietly. Sora was saying something about a black hole, and the duck he traveled with had apparently come into the room as well. "What's going on," he wondered aloud, craning his neck to look up at the area above his head.

Turbo Boosters activated. Initial power redirected from main engines...

"The hell?" Riku stood from the box he was lounging on, pacing across the room and feeling antsy.

Five…

The room was starting to shake.

Four…

Sighing, Riku clenched his fists. He didn't know if he should reveal himself and try to help out, or stay hidden in the lower decks.

Three…

He could feel the ship swaying. Up above the group was making a horrible commotion.

Two...

Someone cursed, but Riku couldn't tell who.

One.

The cargo bay jolted, sending the teen stumbling to his knees. He could feel the ship flying forward at an intense speed, but he had no idea what was going on. Sora was screaming, and it made something deep in Riku's gut twist. The boy went quiet after a moment, right after a loud bang reverberated through the floors. "Sora?!" the silver haired teen yelled, knowing no one above would hear over the commotion. Goofy had come into the cockpit by now, and Riku hoped that the level-headed guard would help his young friend.

"…I think we're going to make it out…!"called one of the chipmunks; voice so sharp that the teen could actually mildly understand it.

That's when it happened. Something inside of Riku twisted, sending spasms of pain out through his arms and legs. "Ahh..!" Sirens were blaring throughout the ship, but he couldn't hear them. The boy clutched his pulsing chest, curling forward and pressing his forehead onto the cold floor. Everything inside him was curling and changing; it was unbearable. The lights went out in the cargo bay, but to Riku's surprise his skin was letting out a slight luminescence. He groaned, dropping his head back and letting a scream be ripped from his throat.

The pain seemed like it would never end, but after a moment his breathing evened out. Riku was shaking, and unsure what had happened. Listening to the voices above, the teen tried to figure out what was going on. He couldn't hear anything over the sirens...

"ABANDON SHIP!"

Never mind. Looking up in alarm, Riku registered one of the chipmunks as the screamer. The shuffle of feet could be heard rushing out of the cockpit. If something was going on that would require abandoning the ship, then it would be best to open the Portal to Darkness and slip away unnoticed. The teen focused, breathing deeply and willing the portal to open. A lengthy moment limped by, and then another, and after a second Riku realized nothing was happening. Silver brows furrowing, the teen again tried willing his portal to open.

Nothing happened.

"What the hell…" he murmured, breathing harshly and again focusing on the darkness within. He wasn't feeling anything; it was like everything had been sucked out of him when the ship began to shake.

There was a loud crash above, followed by a quick jolt.

Ejection command received, purred a woman's voice, sending shivers down Riku's spine. They didn't know he was here, he couldn't open his portal… he would be left.

The teen kicked into survival mode, jumping off of the floor and rushing across the black cargo bay. Lights were flickering on and off, the blare of sirens still making it hard to think. He located an exit and sent it flying open with a swift kick; the door bounced against the wall as Riku rushed through and flew up the stairs behind it two at a time. He heard the safety pod eject, but pushed all panic to the back of his mind.

Bursting through another door, Riku's eyes were assaulted by blinding light. He blinked, shaking his head a few times and stumbling forward. His eyes adjusted quickly, and the silverette found himself standing inside the ship's sleeping quarters; three large cots were left empty with soft looking sheets spilling onto the floor. Riku ran through quickly, pushing out of another large door and flying out into the main hull.

He was shocked by what he saw. Sora was still there, lying on the floor with alarming amounts of blood spilling from a deep gash on his head. Riku rushed to his side, grabbing the boy by his shoulders and giving his a quick shake. "Sora!" he yelled, brushing the brunet's blood-weighted locks out of his face and looking closely at the laceration. "Wake up, wake up…"

The boy didn't show any sign of regaining consciousness. Riku sighed, gently positioning him back on the floor and running his fingers absently through Sora's hair. "It'll be okay," he murmured, quickly standing away from the boy and turning back towards the cockpit.

Doors opening with a whisk; Riku entered into the area and was shocked by what he saw. The huge glass windows at the head of the ship revealed that they were rocketing straight towards the deep expanse of a massive planet. Shocked, the silver haired teen rushed towards the controls and began mashing buttons. Nothing happened, and when Riku pulled the steering wheel hard to the left the ship showed no sign of reacting.

"…Fuck," the teen whispered, jerking more forcefully. He dropped the wheel and stepped away, ignoring the whole new slew of alarms that began going off as they approached the planet. Riku covered his mouth when flames began flying over the ship's nose as it entered the atmosphere; the silverette took two steps away and looked down.

Sora's blood was on the floor, and Riku found his heel slipping in it. He blanched, trying to keep calm even with the sirens screaming and the red beacons flashing. The teen ran back through the doors, wandering over to his unconscious friend and dropping to his knees. He already knew that the Gummi Ship only had one safety pod, and now that it was gone he didn't know what to do. Riku's dark magic wasn't working; it probably had something to do with when the ship passed through the black hole.

Sighing, the teen reached forward and pulled the peaceful looking Sora into his lap. "I'm sorry," he whispered, burying his face into the boy's soft spikes. "I've failed you…"

The ship began shaking even more fiercely than before. Riku gripped Sora tightly, hoping the younger boy was having a sweet dream that he wouldn't wake up from. The older teen was fine with facing whatever was to come alone. He breathed deeply, dropping his head back and staring up that the ceiling. Surprised, Riku realized that the Gummi Ship had mirror ceilings, and the person holding Sora on the floor was not Ansem… but Riku.

"I changed back?!" he yelped, almost dropping the boy from shock.

Riku smiled, examining his own creamy skin. He was glad that at least if he was going to die, it would be within his own body and with Sora at his side. The teen pressed his face back into his friend's hair, holding tightly to keep the boy from being moved too much as the ship began to break apart. Riku could hear metal screeching as it was ripped away in the atmosphere; the smell of plastic burning was invading the boy's nose and he wrinkled it in distaste.

Fire eventually erupted into the hull, whipping in from the cockpit and filling the room with smoke. Riku coughed, using the leather sleeve of his Organization XIII cloak to cover Sora's mouth and keep him from inhaling too much smoke. The doors that led to the control room had sprung open; looking out the head of the ship, Riku saw that they had passed through the atmosphere.

The ground was rushing at them. With a sad smile, the teen wrapped his fingers around Sora's and focused on the rate air entered his lungs. The smoke hurt, but he had felt worse pains.

A massive shudder went through the ship, and Riku realized this was probably it. He tensed unconsciously, a million thoughts rushing through his mind at once. I shouldn't have taken so long, I should have told my parents I love them, I should have helped Sora more…

The ship exploded.

Instead of blinding lights and burning pain, Riku found himself and the boy in his arms shrouded in darkness. They were falling rapidly through thin air, and after a moment the older boy realized that somehow he had activated his Dark Shield right before the explosion. Riku felt tears prickle in his nose; he shook his head avidly and tried to fight off the waves of relief as he plummeted towards the ground.

The shield shook violently when it met with the sands of the Barrens; loose debris scattered in each direction as the shelter went down and left Riku cradling Sora protectively. The two were sitting at the bottom of a massive crater, with bits of earth raining down on top of them and soiling their already dirtied clothes.

Staying silent for a while, Riku tried to figure out which god to thank for saving his life. He didn't know why his powers had come back, but he felt stronger than ever and he even still had his own body.

"We're very lucky guys," he whispered to Sora, shifting the boy in his arms and wincing at the glaring sun. They had landed in what appeared to be a great desert; as the two had free-fallen to the ground Riku had seen miles and miles of sand in all directions. Except for a small town, but the teen had no idea how to get there from where he sat now. Absently wiping sweat from his brow, Riku shifted Sora out of his lap and gently set him in the sand. "What do we do now…" he pondered, glancing down at the unconscious boy and gnawing his lower lip.

The teen struggled to his feet, bending to pull Sora over his shoulder as he did so. He wavered in the uneven sand, before slowly crawling out of the crater and heaving his surprisingly heavy young friend back onto the ground.

"Geez," Riku muttered, breathing heavily from the effort. "What have you been eating?"

Sora grumbled something incoherent in his sleep. The blood seeping from the wound on his forehead was drying, but large amounts of sand had gotten into it and it worried Riku greatly. The teen sighed in exasperation, bending down after a moment and lugging the brunet back into his arms. Carrying him bridal style, Riku set off in a random direction and hoped he could find some help.

It didn't take long for the teen to realize he wasn't getting anywhere. His arms ached from holding Sora, and the horizon didn't seem to change as they moved. Orange skies melded flatly into yellow in one direction, and mountains reached high into the air in the other. Riku moved towards the mountains, blinking slowly and feeling groggy. Sora was making more sounds now; it wouldn't be long until the boy's eyes opened and he reentered the waking world.

Realizing this, something twisted in Riku's stomach. He stopped in his tracks, imagining how Sora would react to his Organization cloak and Soul Eater.

"I…" he started; looking at the innocence in the boy's sleeping face. Riku didn't want to imagine it twisted with anger or betrayal… he didn't think he could bear it. The teen shifted his friend and ran a thumb over his cheek, smiling distantly and exhaling. "…sorry…"

Riku moved to set the boy down, having every intention of discarding any evidence of his past evil-doings. Just as the brunet boy slid into the sand, something dark flashed in the orange sky above the boys. Riku looked up, squinting past the burning sun and into a slowly forming black point in the sky. He cocked his head to the side, wrinkling his brows and stepping back from Sora. "What the…" the teen started, fingers unconsciously gripping the zipper on his coat.

The dot grew larger, and Riku wondered if another ship was crashing into the planet. He watched deftly, shocked to see that as the darkness grew it bled through the sky and began to blot out the sun.

Something wet dripped onto the teen's cheek. He automatically dabbed at it with his fingers; under examination something wet and black was smeared over the boy's hand. "…Um…" he muttered, staring in confusion. More of the substance began to fall from the sky; soon it was raining black goo over the entire desert. Riku shuddered, pulling off his coat and draping it over the unconscious Sora at his feet.

The dark storm continued for a few minutes; as the sky opened up the blot in it began to grow smaller. Riku ran his fingers through his hair, grimacing as it squelched and became waterlogged. "This is a very strange world," pondered the silverette, shaking his hands in disgust and watching as the sky slowly ran back to its original orange color.

Now the sands around him were pitch black, and everything seemed to be marred with the substance. Riku chewed on his lips, unsure what this phenomenon could mean. He stood there awkwardly, before bending down and removed his coat from Sora's body. The teen pulled it back on, fist finding its way to the hilt of the Soul Eater at his hip. Something uncomfortable was working up his spine; the onyx sands put him on edge.

Suddenly the sands began to rise up; taking on familiar shapes that Riku's trauma-ridden mind couldn't quite place. He stumbled back, realizing it wasn't the sand rising but the black substance. Slowly malleable bodies formed, with jagged ears and empty yellow eyes, and began slowly meandering towards the teen.

"We came for you we found you we feel you…"

Voices permeated Riku's mind, echoing maddeningly throughout the teen's head. "…Heartless," he whispered, feeling the air rush out of his lungs.

"We came for you we came for you wecameforyou…"

Riku gripped the sides of his head, falling onto his knees and letting a scream be ripped from his throat. He didn't understand what was going on, but the voices in his head were screeching wildly and driving him up the wall. The teen clenched his eyes, ignoring how the beings of darkness all converged on him. They were all over him; tiny claws scratched at his hood and raked over his skin.

"We'll follow you," the voices hissed, making Riku wince.

The teen clenched his teeth, feeling something tear at his cheek. "No," he gasped, comprehension flooding his mind. "Why would you follow me?!"

"The darkness; your darkness… we need you… we followed you…"

This was all his fault? He brought these evil things to this world?! Riku raked his dull nails down the side of his face, wishing to cause himself harm. Why on earth had he decided staying secretly on the Gummi Ship was a good idea? He was so stupid… and now he had brought the darkness to this new world?

Riku stood suddenly, shaking all the clinging heartless from his body. "I don't want you! Leave me!" he shouted, emerald eyes turning to ice.

"...Master…"

"NO!" screamed the teen, pulling out his Soul Eater and smashing it wildly into the nearest bodies of darkness with rage. "I am not your master! Xemnas… someone else." The heartless recoiled, their wide eyes regarding the teen with interest.

The voices started again. "He never controlled us… you're powerful, evil… We will follow you."

Riku dropped his head back, closing his eyes and feeling the sun on his face. "Am I really that evil? That you, the definition of it… want to follow me?"

He was surprised he had fallen so far; he hadn't known.

"Yess…"

Shaking his head, Riku swung the Soul Eater through the air. A line of darkness materialized where it sliced, and the teen stepped towards it. He willed it to open more, before slipping half his body into it. "Find your own master…" mumbled the boy, casting a stricken glance to where the innocent and pure Sora laid. "Hurt the boy and I will destroy you all."

With that he was gone, leaving Sora to wake to a clean and empty desert.

I shouldn't be here…

Riku was an idiot. After he had left Sora in the desert, he had realized what a mistake it was. Hours later he managed to work up the guts to go back and face the boy, just to find his brunet friend was long gone. Only scuff marks remained in the sand, and the wind had already begun blowing them away.

Finding the boy hadn't been hard, but watching him be treated like a lowly prisoner had. The two elves angered him something fierce; had Riku not been too ashamed to show his face, he would have quickly freed the boy from their evil grasp. Honestly, he didn't understand why Sora wouldn't just conjure the keyblade and break free. It probably had to do with the boy's tendency to avoid any and all forms of violence if at all possible. Riku could tell his friend was already forming amicable feelings for the mean blonde one, and trying just as hard to create a connection with the cold white-haired one.

He wasn't sure why they took him out into the desert, but Riku followed at a safe distance anyways. The teen fought through the violent winds, and at midday when they suddenly ceased the silverette tipped ungracefully into the sand and got a faceful of dirt. He struggled on though; occasionally slipping into his dark portal and enjoying the solace inside the nothingness.

When night came along, Riku observed as the group set up a small camp. And that's where he was, crouched down in the desert sands and watching the group interact. They seemed rather companionable now, and it irked the teen something fierce.

"It doesn't matter," he reasoned to himself, letting his words disappear into the lilac sky. The teen didn't really understand why watching Sora laugh along with people who would do him harm made him so angry, but he felt a quiet kind of rage work up his spine. Riku decided it really didn't matter, since as soon as they all went to sleep he would free the boy from their grasps. "Not even a bit," murmured the boy, sucking his lip into his mouth.

Apparently Riku's plans didn't fit along with Sora's, though. Not too long after the elves dropped off to sleep, the brunet boy could be seen creeping up from his spot like a sneaky little mouse. Not even five feet from the camp, Sora broke into a spit-fire run off into the distance. The blonde one didn't stir, but the colder elf immediately bolted from her curled up position and jumped to her feet. Riku heard a curse on the wind, and watched in surprise as the woman spoke a soft chant that set a deep amethyst glow to her feet. She took off after Sora, racing through the sand as if it was the solidest of surfaces.

"Shit!" the teen cursed, scrambling to his feet and taking off after the two. He ran right past the camp; the blonde elf didn't seem at all bothered by the obnoxious sound of his feet slamming through the sand.

Catching up wasn't easy. By the time Riku got there, the white haired elf was standing directly in front of Sora with a blazing palm, speaking in a low menacing voice that Riku couldn't hear over the distance. He did hear his young friend though; Sora was huddled in the sand, sounding stressed but surprisingly calm. "I don't want to fight you, Silintia…"

"Like you could!" screamed the elf, apparently named Silintia, as the fire in her palm came to life.

Riku tightened his fists, completely enraged that this woman meant to cause his friend harm. He wanted nothing more than to see her removed; to do it with his own hands. Apparently something else registered his rage. A movement in the darkness caught the teen's attention, and soon enough he realized there were heartless rising out of the sands behind him.

"We will destroy her, master…"

Gripping his head in pain, Riku let out a silent scream. The voices echoed through his mind again, and filled him with a cold, twisting fear.

"For you."

The teen fell to his knees, letting a few hot tears sear down his cheeks. "I'm not…" he started, but the heartless weren't listening. They rushed past, heading across the sands and soon enough overtaking his young friend and the boy's captor. Sora shoved the woman out of the way, screaming, "MOVE!" while summoning his keyblade and attacking the bodies as they rushed him. Riku was shocked by this, even though the logical part of him knew the keyblade master would never willing let someone fall in to peril.

The two were quickly overwhelmed though; Silintia disappeared under a wave of the monsters while Sora tore through their malleable bodies with feverish intensity.

Remaining on his knees, Riku tried desperately to dispel the voices from his mind.

"Can't you feel it? We're dying for you… master…" the voices were screeching in his head, and when they weren't forming coherent words they were simply letting out a dull roar that made it impossible for the teen to think. He continued to grip his temples, staring hard as across the sands Sora attempted to rip the heartless off of Silintia.

The boy was already partially covered as well, but his attention seemed to be completely on the woman crying on the ground. "…don't…" Riku rasped, unsure who he was talking to now. But Sora wasn't listening, and neither were the heartless. They continued to converge on the two; the voices in his head screamed along happily, and to their wild chorus the brunet boy ripped the last monster away from Silintia and stumbled back, dropping his keyblade in the process.

"Get away!" the boy roared, and suddenly he was engulfed in blinding white light. Riku recoiled, surprised to find that the voices in his head went silent as the luminescence bathed over him. After a moment Sora's body stopped glowing, and he crouched down in the sand while blackness swept over his skin. The boy let out a guttural sound before rearing up and throwing himself towards the heartless around him. Claws biting through their soft bodies, the dark teen howled and efficiently decimated the numbers around him.

Crushing the last straggler under his blackened foot, Sora whipped his head back around to where Silintia was standing and began to lumber forward. Riku shivered at the sight, finding that even though the voices had stopped he was unable to motivate himself to intervene. Part of him wanted to see the young friend rip that evil woman apart, but another, smaller part, was terrified by the crooked steps Sora took and the dark expanses of his skin.

"Sora…" Riku heard the elf whimper, scooting backwards away from the boy.

Her voice apparently registered, because after a moment Sora tipped forward into the sand and shimmered back to his normal self. He groaned loudly, and Silintia rushed to his side in a heartbeat. "Are you okay?" she asked, fingers fluttering over the boy's form.

"…I've been better…"

Riku pushed himself to his feet, sickened by how tenderly the elf helped Sora to his feet. Breathing raggedly, the teen called forth his Portal to Darkness and stepped through, taking solace in the silence that rang clear there.

After that night Riku stopped following Sora's group. He was scared, in all honesty, that he would again cause a heartless attack and have to watch the keyblade master become filled with darkness.

Sora was too pure to be like that…

So he went to Orgrimmar, and immersed himself within the culture of this new world. Finding answers was as easy as joining that table of drunken elves all talking politics; he fit in, even with his hood high over his ears and inability to speak their native tongue.

"It's those Alliance motherfuckers," one spit, spilling his drink into his lap. The elf didn't seem to notice, though, instead whipping his long black ponytail over his shoulder and continuing. "…that are to blame! If they would just die…"

A small blonde elf slammed her drink on the shoddy wooden table the group was at. "Hell yeah!" she burped, nodding enthusiastically.

The male one continued, obviously stoked by her encouragement. "Then everything would be great! No more war. 'Can't even remember the last time I saw my maw.."

Riku took a gulp from his own drink, sliding his chair back into a shadow and examining the group he was with. The small blonde and loud one aside, two other people were with the group. One was a massive green beast, which he'd learned was called an Orc, and the other was another elf with whispy brown hair and calculating eyes. It too stayed behind a hood, so Riku couldn't quite tell its gender. "I'm curious…" started the ambiguous elf, noticing the teen's scrutiny. "Why is your hair white? I thought only the Great Silencer had white hair."

"Don't know," he replied instantly, scooting his chair away from the table and standing up. The blonde elf looked sad, reaching up at him as if for a hug. "I'm afraid I must be going…"

Questions weren't good. From what intelligence he had gathered, Riku was a human and humans were the enemy. This explained why Sora had been taken prisoner, but why he was being brought to this strange city Riku had yet to figure out. He wandered away from the table, crossing through the packed bar agilely before slamming its weak wooden door open and bursting outside. He was in a place called the Drag, and had been staying there for the last day. The lack of sunlight made him feel at home, and he seemed less suspicious when sticking to the shadows.

Fumbling down the set of stairs that led up to the bar's door, Riku plopped himself down on the bottom one and sigh. He buried his chin into his palm, realizing he had probably had a bit too much to drink with that last group.

"Mind if I join you?"

The teen looked up, surprised to find the hooded person from his table wandering gracefully down the stairs. "The air in there is just too stuffy," it explained, pulling its hood down and regarding Riku with dark green eyes. A woman, with blonde ringlets of hair falling over her shoulders, was revealed to him.

Nodding lightly, the silverette patted the stone next to him and tried to hide his exasperation. He knew from observation the members of the Horde were a friendly bunch; coldly turning her away would seem out of place. "My name is Alurian, by the way," the elf spoke, taking a few more dainty steps before dropping down solidly next to him. "I never did catch yours."

"It's Riku," he mumbled, letting his attention fall away from her and back over the dark street before him.

Alurian made a sound in her throat, sliding her fingers together and wetting her lips. "That's a nice name…" she said after a moment, obviously vying for the teen's attention. Riku sighed, turning towards her and putting on his best I'm-Friendly face.

"So is yours. It's really beautiful."

Charming, charming, go for charming… he thought to himself, letting a self-satisfied smile fall into place on his lips. "So did you really come out because it's too stuffy in there?" The teen scooted closer, boring his eyes into hers pointedly.

The elf went scarlet. "Uh… I…" she began stuttering, apparently at a loss for words. "…No."

"I didn't think so."

Riku examined the elf's flushed cheeks, cocking his head to the side and doing his best to seem appealing. She was probably in her twenties, and the fact that she was so bothered by him despite the age difference did something for the teen's ego. "Then why did you come?" he pondered aloud, letting his head fall back. His hood stayed in place, but shifted slightly to reveal more of his face. Alurian stared appreciatively, and Riku realized she was probably more intoxicated than he had assumed.

After a moment with no reply and elf smiled, tilting her head to the side and rolling a tendril between her fingers. "Your hair. I was curious about it."

Laughing, the teen scooted away again. "That's it?"

"…Yeah."

Riku shook his head, turning back to the street and resting his elbow on his knee. He dropped his cheek into his palm, using it as leverage to look at the drunken girl. "I'm afraid I don't have any interesting story to tell you. I was just born with this color…"

Disappointed, Alurian stood from her spot. "Oh," she murmured, sucking her lip into her mouth. "I was just wondering, since I've heard the stories about Silintia. She's the only elf I've seen with hair like yours."

The silverette paused, looking up awkwardly at the elf. "Silintia? Is that the Great Silencer?" he grinned, before adding, "…What stories?"

"You don't know?" Alurian seemed surprised, lofting a hand onto her hip and jutting it out. "How could any self respecting elf not know?" The girl fingered her cloak, and Riku had to suppress the paranoid urges in his mind that screamed she somehow knew. He had been acting the part perfectly… there was no reason to worry. "I s'pose it's because you're not."

Blood running cold, Riku immediately shot to his feet and ripped the girl out of her casual stance. He laced his upper arm around her throat before she could even scream; the claws that dug into his ambiguous coat bothered him not. "How do you know?!" the teen hissed lowly, not expecting a reply since he was quite effectively crushing her windpipe. Still the girl struggled, shifting violently against his chest and gasping loudly.

"Ugh.. I…" Spittle ran down the edge of her mouth. "I'm on… your side," she gasped.

Riku didn't drop her, but he did loosen his grip. "I'll ask again; how did you know?" His voice took on a dangerous tone, making Alurian go rigid.

"You didn't know about Silintia, you kept your hood up at all times. I was just…" she struggled a bit against his hold, "taking a guess in the dark. I didn't think it would pan out." The elf, or, Riku supposed, human, began coughing. "Please don't kill me, we're on the same side!"

Sighing, the teen finally dropped her. Alurian hit the stone stairs solidly; she groaned from the sudden fall and clenched her eyes. "…Here," she muttered after a minute, shaky hands traveling up to her pointed ears and removing their creamy colored tips. "Wear these and this won't happen again… I have extras, you can take them." She deposited them into Riku's outstretched palm, breath coming out in sharp exhales.

Once he had slipped the small devices on, the silver haired boy regarded her with questioning eyes. "Why are you here?" he said after a moment, feeling a slight pang of guilt as she rubbed the forming bruises on her neck.

"Recon. Word has spread throughout the Alliance of strange happenings within the Horde. Prince Richard sent me to see what exactly was going on." Alurian struggled to her feet. "And what about you?"

Riku shook his head, turning away and taking a step down into the street. "That's not your concern. But know this; we are not on the same side. Now," he glanced back, indicating the bar with his head. "Go back to your business. I won't give you any trouble, and I hope the favor will be returned."

Alurian nodded absently, turning back up the stairs and wandering away. Just before entering the bar she turned back, glaring down at the teen. "Whatever you're here for, I hope it's worth it."

She disappeared into the glowing door, leaving Riku alone on the street. He ambled across it, finding a lit window and setting his back against the wall near it. A few minutes later a group of three walked by; Sora trailed behind the white haired devil and her axe-wild friend brought up the rear. They passed without seeing him, and it brought a smirk onto Riku's lips. "Oh," he murmured, emerald orbs following the brunet, "It is."

Riding the Zeppelin had not been fun. It was cramped and small, and the open quarters made him feel vulnerable. Sora could have found him at any time, and the hissy fit that would follow that made Riku shiver despite himself.

Getting aboard wasn't a piece of cake, either. The teen would have loved to just use his portal, but stepping out of it onto the ship's deck would have brought him too much attention. He was forced to port to the bottom of the boat, and physically haul himself on board. No one had been on the deck at that time, seeing as he'd been clinging to the bottom on the boat for a good hour and a half while listening to two people laugh like idiots.

Once he finally did get on board, only more trouble befell the teen. He couldn't stay on deck, because Sora was liable to wander up at any time. On the same note, the boy was obviously downstairs asleep. Riku didn't know if he was sly enough to get down there without being caught, but part of him found the idea of being in such close proximity to Sora seductive.

Only a small part, though. Most of him was freaking out.

Eventually the teen talked himself into doing it. He pulled his hood tight, and inched down the stairs slowly. When he entered a large room filled with cots, Riku was relieved to see Sora sprawled out over one with his eyes sealed and a dreamy smile on his lips.

The relief was short-lived though, because the only cot left open was right next to the boy.

"God, what did I ever do to you?" the teen whispered, taking a moment to glare at the wooden ceiling about him. He sighed in defeat, gripping his hood even tighter and moving through the room like a ghost. Riku sank down slowly into the cot, wincing as every squeak it made deafened him and threatened to wake Sora. The brunet didn't stir though, and once Riku was firmly on the bed he found sleep irresistible. He pulled the sheets over his head; the soft pillow felt like heaven and the constant sound of Sora breathing was a comfort.

Riku found he was actually glad he had no idea where they were going. Maybe he wasn't able to teleport ahead, but at least he could enjoy the serenity of the moment.

He surrendered to his dreams with a smile.

"Riku?"

Oh god he's found me it's all over… oh no oh no oh-

"Five more minutes…"

Riku breathed an inaudible sigh of relief. He had been sure Sora somehow had realized the cot beside him was currently occupied by his long-lost friend. Apparently the boy had just been dreaming; and probably a strange dream at that.

Grinning a wicked grin, the teen continued to feign sleep.

As soon as he had figured out where they were headed, Riku used to Portal to Darkness to get to the Undercity. It wasn't that he didn't like following the group, but watching them act like friendly companions didn't sit right with him. Something had happened in Orgrimmar to facilitate the change; it bothered the teen something fierce to not know what it was.

So he went ahead. The teen ended up in a massive stone chamber, standing on a marble walkway over a green lake and gaining most of the attention in the room. "What're you looking at?" he grumbled, scoffing and moving up the bridge. Riku was actually amazed by what he saw; fountains sprayed out into the lake and in the center of it a massive building with a glowing skull atop it stood. The silverette could appreciate the architecture. It's deathly and dark composure made him feel right at home.

What he didn't know was that he wasn't quite as far ahead of Sora's group as he thought. Riku wandered through the crowds of undead like he had all the time in the world; all the interesting sights had him stopping and gawking like a schoolboy.

The teen was so preoccupied that he didn't notice the time fly by. He continued to deftly wander through the crowds, and in passing he caught sight of a young elf performing a small magic show at the edge of the walkway. He stared in interest, craning his head back to watch even as he moved forward. Riku was so engrossed that he slammed right into a defenseless passer-bier; when he turned to apologize his eyes landed right on Sora's shocked face.

SHIT.

Whipping away, the teen quickly through himself into a throng of people in front of him. Maybe Sora hadn't seen… maybe…

"Riku!"

Clenching his fists, the boy in questioned broke into an outright run. "God damnit," he cursed, shoving people out of the way without stopping. A glance over his shoulder revealed that Sora was in hot pursuit; the brunet screamed his name repeatedly while catching up on him.

Fingers gripped onto the back of his cloak for a moment, before Riku heard the younger boy let out a pathetic, "…Stop…"

The teen lucked out. Someone shoved Sora away in their own hurry, and he fell back into the crowds. Riku took a hard left, jumping onto an arched bridge and rushing down it. "No!" he heard his friend yell, but the silverette paid it no mind. "Where are you going?! … Stop!" Sora briefly disappeared into a group of people, and Riku used the moment to his advantage. He grabbed an unsuspecting priest and threw his cloak over it, shoving it in the direction of the arched exit and shouting:

"Run, or I'll kill you!"

It didn't waste a moment, ripping through the crowd of people. Sora hadn't noticed that change; he was so focused on the cloak he shoved Riku aside while unconsciously yelling, "Move!"

The boy sprang into the air and tackled the teen's replacement. Wincing, Riku was relieved he hadn't been forced to take the brute of that. The elves sprang up beside Sora and began chastising him; the priest looked completely shocked and the boy seemed stricken. Riku stepped back into the crowd, letting himself disappear into the flow.

"Sorry," he whispered, knowing Sora wouldn't hear.

Note: I know it's short. Sorry! I've already got most of the next chapter written. Leave lots of pretty reviews and I'll be sure to post it lickidy split!

(also, sorry for the delay on posting this. life; it gets in the way)