Chapter Seven
Tobi yawned, scratching his head as he sat up. He then noticed that the moon was shining in though the window.
' Morning already? I must've missed Riku come in, then...'
He stood stretching his arms above his head for a moment before glancing down at Riku's bed. It looked as though it hadn't been slept in... at all. He tensed, turning toward Barret. The 60 year-old was already up and about, his bed looking very much like it had been slept in. Tobi padded over to the bathroom, where Barret was brushing his teeth,
" Hey, Barret? Have you seen Riku lately?"
Barret spat out the minty foam in his mouth and shook his head,
" Not since last night, kid."
" Oh..."
Barret frowned, turning toward him,
" Why?"
They both jumped at the sound of the door creaking open and Tobi straightened as Riku stepped in,
" Hey, where were you?"
Riku shut the door behind him, gingerly placing a hand on his side,
" Out."
Barret smirked as rinsed his mouth and spat cold water into the sink, wiping his face on the bathroom towel,
" So you got drunk or met a woman. Which is it?"
Stepping into the hallway, Barret straightened as soon as he noticed Riku's strange behavior. The silvery-haired man was leaning back against the door, hand clutching his side tightly as he took in deep, stressful breaths of air. Barret frowned, stepping into the main room,
" You okay, man?"
Riku paused and glanced up at him, waving the question away like a nat,
" Yeah, yeah... I'm fine. Just a little tired, is all..."
He started for his bed, but stumbled as a sharp pain cut through his side like a knife and fell to his knees. Tobi straightened and hurried over to him,
" Riku!"
Barret raised an eyebrow as Tobi helped him up,
" There is somethin' wrong wit ch'you."
Riku glanced up at him, then turned his gaze to the floor, where a few drops of blood had landed and were beginning to make their permanent mark in the blue carpet. Tobi tensed and frowned, his voice very calm and at the same time afraid,
" You're bleeding.... Riku, what happened?"
Kae stepped out of the shower and dried herself off, wrapping a towel loosely around her as she entered the main room. She frowned as she heard muffled speech coming from the guys' room and leaned her ear up against the wall. Barret sounded a little too serious for the morning hours,
" What happened to you? And don't think I ain't know somethin's wrong. What happened, kid?"
She straightened and jerked her clothes on, hastily tying her hair up as she exited her room. Opening the door to the next room, she was surprised at what she saw. Riku was shifting uncomfortably in a chair beside one of the beds, his expression and tone bearing that of extreme pain,
" Y'know that guy Cid was talkin' about? The one by the waterway?"
Barret raised an eyebrow,
" Yeah...?"
Riku drew in a deep breath through clenched teeth, tipping his head back a bit,
" I met him."
He tightened his grip on his side for a moment, than relaxed again. Barret folded his arms, closing his eyes as his ''fatherly instincts'' took over,
" That's what ya get for goin' off alone, ya jack%$$! I told you, ya can't keep doing this! You's gonna get yo' self killed!!"
Riku grinned, his toothy smile aggrivating Barret even more,
" Ah, but I'm not dead yet, am I?"
Barret clenched his fist tightly and growled,
" D%$$#t, kid!! Gaaagggh!!"
He then threw his arms up in the air and stormed out the door, Riku chuckling softly as he slammed the door. He winced and stood up, heading for the bathroom.
Tobi straightened, his tail twitching nervously behind him,
" Need any help, Riku?"
Riku shook his head and waved him off,
" No, I'm fine... I just need to get this cleaned up a bit. Besides, it's not that serious..."
The azure boy nodded and headed for the door, shouting as he opened it,
" Hey, Barret! You done bein' pissed yet?"
Riku smiled, shaking his head as he took out some bandages. He then straightened, sensing that Kae was still in the room... and staring at him,
" What?"
Kae blinked, straightening as she headed for the door,
" Nothing."
She nearly slammed the door behind her and went back to her room, leaning back against the door frame. Narrowing her eyes, she frowned,
" There's something about that man...."
For the rest of that day and late into that night, Kae and Barret trained diligently, Tobi took in his surroundings and explored Traverse Town, and Riku? He was forced to stay in bed and rest, despite the fact that he'd already used a potion to heal himself. Barret said that potions never really worked. He was right. They may have sealed up the wounds, but they sure as H$# didn't stop the pain caused by them. At least not any more. Potions today were a lot weaker than the ones they used back then.
At about 1 or 2 am, when everyone was fast asleep in their beds, Riku tossed and turned in a feverish nightmare. He frowned constantly, tossing and turning as if beating his way through an entire army of Heartless. Softly whispered cries escaped his lips, those cries steadily becoming louder,
" No... run.... get away...."
An ebony-haired woman with soft, glowing skin was standing in the middle of a forest by a small cottage, her back turned as a man stepped up behind her. She wore a pure white dress, her hair tied back in a half ponytail that was lined with white flowers. There was a pure white bangle on her left wrist, a charm bracelet on her right, and a silver chain dangled from her right ankle, the chain accented by a sky-bluish, crystalline star. She knelt down to scoop up a single pink flower that grew in the light of the forest floor, the cloaked man stepping up closely to her. A small baby before her reached up with tiny hands to grasp her wrist. Giggling at the child, she sniffed the flower deeply and plucked it from the ground, turning with a smile as a figure shadowed over them. Her eyes widened and she gasped at who she saw, a strong wind causing the cloak to batter and block her from view.
Riku woke with a start and shot up quickly, glancing around the room. Tobi was sound asleep in the chair beside his bed and Barret's snoring noted that the man was definitely asleep. Riku's shoulders relaxed and he reached over to the nightstand, taking the black blindfold and tying it tightly around his eyes. He could hardly see a thing without his blindfold on, and as soon as he tied the last knot, things became drastically clearer. Pushing the covers away, he crossed the room and took his cloak from the rack, slipping it on and zipping it up. He grabbed his boots and shoved them on his feet, tying them up as if he were angry at them. Then grabbing his staff, he headed out into the hall and then into Traverse Town.
