Chapter Nine: Not Out of the Woods Yet

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Sora complained. "We've been going around in circles for the past few hours! See guys, I remember this tree. That's where that squirrel ran off to after he stole my breakfast."

Riku grunted as he listened to his friend's complaints. This had been going on and on for what felt like an eternity. He swore his ears would bleed if he couldn't find some peace and quiet. Riku, normally, wasn't one to complain since complaining was Sora's forte as well as sleeping. Still, hearing Sora complain made Riku want to complain about Sora. Couldn't he just shut up already Riku thought. With veins popping from his forehead, he found a resolve and a way to shut Sora's mouth for good. Taking his keyblade, he furiously swung at the tree splitting the mighty trunk in twine. Sora's eyes grew wide as the felled timber crashed to the ground. "What tree were you talking about, Sora?"

"...nevermind."

"Keep it down," Leon barked back. "We'll take up camp here."

"HERE!" Are you insane?" Sora again asked. "We can't sleep in the middle of this forest!"

Riku's eyes shot devil red as he contemplated of slicing the whole forest down. Better yet, he wished to slice Sora in half. Then he'd cut down this blasted forest. For consistency's sake, he'd cut that squirrel to bits, too. It didn't matter to him. Sora, forest, squirrel. Check. All-in-all he knew that his spiky haired blabbermouth was going to feel his blade next if his chops kept moving.

Leon shook his head in disbelief and rolled his eyes. The thought of decapitating Sora hadn't entered his head but he thought of something better. Starve him. It was simple and it was genius! Leon monitored the food rations so it would only make sense to deny a certain someone food. Leon rubbed the sweat off his forehead and took a seat on the soft brown ground. He slipped the brown bag off his shoulder first and placed it gently beside him. His other supply bag came off next and he tore it open, taking out the things he would surely need.

Sora sighed in defeat as he fell on his butt. Riku snickered at his pitiful friend. Finally, he had gotten the peace and quiet he had wished for. It had taken longer than he wanted, but the result was all that mattered.

After they had finished eating their dinner, Leon rolled out his cot and went straight to bed leaving Sora and Riku to themselves. He bade them a good night then ducked his head under the covers. In a moment he was still, the blanket moving according to his breathing. The two teens rolled out their cots but instead of sleeping, they decided to do some nighttime training. There was nothing else to do and the star's light kept them awake. They left the sleeping Leon and found a silent and secluded spot enclosed by old, rotten trees, not far from the camp. Riku summoned his sword as Sora did the same. Both boys stood across from each other, with the night casting shadows on them.

Sora charged in first, true to form, with his new keyblade and it collided with Riku's. They bounced off each other but instead of falling back, both boys jumped back into the fray, once again hitting blades. Riku turned to avoid a downwards slash then countered with a quick jab to Sora's shoulder. The spiky brunette turned away and lowered his shoulder before he could get hit. He swung upwards hoping to connect with Riku's jaw but the silver haired teen saw it coming and he back off quickly. This created a large enough space for Sora to lunge forward but he was caught once again as Riku got his blade out first and it nipped Sora on the arm. The boy cringed in pain as he held his arm fearing he had been struck in the nerve. His arms went numb and Riku would not let him rest. Seizing the opportunity, he jumped in the air and knocked down Sora's keyblade, exposing his full body. With a powerful and well-timed thrust, Sora went crashing to the ground. His body was covered in dirt and leaves. Riku stood over the unarmed teen as he held out a hand to help his friend up.

"Even with your new blade, you're still no match for me," Riku delightedly grinned.

"It was dark, so I couldn't even see your blade. I want a rematch tomorrow," Sora said over his shoulder as they walked back to camp.

Riku slipped into his cot and threw a blanket over his body.

"Oh yeah, I should have kicked his can earlier," he muttered between yawns. Victory was his and it was sweet. "You're getting soft, Sora."

"What was that?" Sora asked as he slipped under the blankets.

"Nothing. Go to sleep."

Sora, though, couldn't sleep. He rested on his back; his eyes were pinned on the night's sky. The tall canopy of the overtopping trees didn't block his view of the stars that were shining brightly. Though the moon wasn't out but there was abundant light. Sora yawned as his thoughts turned to everyone back home. He wondered how they were doing and pride welled in him as he imagined their reactions when he'd return. He truly felt he was on his way to becoming something better- maybe a hero, perhaps?

Sora yawned once again as his eyelids slowly dropped. They felt like dead weight and he couldn't resist the urge to sleep. Sliding his arm under his head, he let the chirping crickets lull him to sleep.

-KH-

Sora and Riku woke the next morning feeling the errieness of the forest around them. It looked different than it did during the night. The trees looked less savage and the glitening dew made everything bright. They found the space where Leon was sleeping in vacant. His cot, however, was rolled up and stood next to the circle of rocks where the fire used to be. Only smoldered dirt and dead twigs and leaves remained.

Riku sat up and immediately began to roll up his cot. Once he was done he tossed it next to Leon's. Sora too followed and when both boys were done, they sat quietly. There were no sounds to be heard as if the animal were mute. Either Leon was going to show up or they had best look for him. It didn't really matter at the moment.

Suddenly the rustling of leaves could be heard as Leon poked his head from behind the bushes. He signaled with his hand urging the two boys to him.

"Riku, Sora, come. I want you to see this," he whispered hoarsely.

Both boys turned to each other but quickly went after Leon. They left their campsite and wandered into a green clearing which looked out to the fields. The mouth of the forest lay behind them and they had finally gotten out. Leon once again signaled to them by clearing his throat. Sora and Riku ducked behind the refuge of a large thicket. Leon turned to them, expression, as usual, absent on his face. He pointed his thumb over his shoulder.

"We have company," he told the boys.

Riku and Sora quickly slid over and peered their heads over the bushes. Just as Leon had said, there were hoards of heartless marching. Their formations weren't exactly straight or uniformed but their massive numbers and their poison yellow eyes were enough to intimidate. They moved with herky-jerky and jagged movements as if their body was contorted and segmented. There was no purpose in the way they walked but chaos and destruction followed in their steps.

"They're moving towards the castle," Leon pointed out as he gripped the handle of his gunblade. "Don't let them through!"

Sora and Riku nodded simultaneously as they summoned their new blades. It sparkled in the morning sun as they raced from out the bushes and charged to the front of the heartless army.

The enemy broke from their scattered battle formations and jumped straight in with no resolve, no fear, no emotion. Their eyes were locked in on their foes. They were designed to kill and to trample anything in their path. Savagery gave rise to them; destruction was their purpose. Black goo littered the once green fields as Sora, Riku, and Leon fought.

"Keep them in front of you," Leon yelled as the heartless force began to push onward. "Hold them off. We must not let them advance!"

Riku swung his sword downward, trapping a heartless to the ground. Using his sword as a pole, he vaulted himself in the air, knocking down several more. A quick spinning slash took care of them.

"Riku on your left!" Leon shouted.

Riku jumped back just as a black claw tore off a piece of his clothing. The teen breathed out as he sent his blade through the offending heartless.

Nearby, Sora had his hands full. Somehow he had gotten the short straw and was faced with heartless he had never seen before. These so called Soldier heartless were a bit more armored than their Shadow counterparts. They were equipped with a silver helmet, red tipped claws, and black colored boots. They were evidently stronger but lacked the "down to earth" characteristic. Shadow heartless had a tendency to slide along the ground as they moved under the blade of swords. The Soldier heartless jumped up most of the time making them prey to more attacks.

Sora rolled under the heartless and struck them in the back. A black cloud appeared, signaling the end of his foe. However his victory was still far from over as more and more heartless sprang up above him.

"Sora, get out of the way!" Riku yelled.

However, Sora was a bit late and he felt the claws dig into his flesh. It hurt unbelievably as if he had been struck by an arrow. The claws felt like cold steel though his blood felt warm. His head began to lighten as he saw a heartless standing next to him. It's claw was inserted just below the ribs somewhere around the kidney area.

Sora looked around the battlefield with blurred vision. Everything looked fuzzy. His eyes were heavy and his breath was short and deep. Despite it all, he could see the yellow eyes around him, spinning. Sora gripped his keyblade and knocked the heartless off of him. Finding his strength now depleted, he fell to the ground. A pool of blood poured out under him.

"SORA!" Riku yelled as he ran in front of his fallen friend, protecting him from the heartless that were around. Leon came up from to cover the rear.

The heartless number began to fade slowly as Leon and Riku fought on. It was hard to fight while protecting someone who was immobile. They couldn't retreat and jump back for fear of stepping on Sora. It was tough to dodge because they had to keep themselves between Sora and the their enemy. They couldn't extend forward or else get seperated from their fallen comrade. Moving laterally was possible but they didn't want any openings to be exposed. Soon enough, they had dwindled the number down to under double digits. The remaining heartless vanished without a trace. Riku rushed over to the semiconscious brunette. He lifted up Sora's head and looked back to Leon for help.

"We'll take him back to the castle," Leon decided. "We'll wait till he's fully healed. Maleficent can wait."

-KH-

A pair of blue shoes calmly echoed throughout the castle corridor. After a quick right, the pair of feet went up the winding staircase leading to the infirmary. Merlin breathed quietly as he held two bottles of green potions in each of his hands. The liquid swished and swirled inside the container as Merlin cautiously went up each stone step. There was no light illuminating the stairwell. There were no windows to let light in and paintings and decorations that adorned the other walls of the castle weren't present. Grey colors were all that was there. However, Merlin easily navigated the stairwell to the top as if his eyes could penetrate through the darkness. He placed a hand on the gold doorknob and opened the door slowly.

"Once Sora takes this, he'll be fine," the magician told Leon and Riku. "I do advise though, that he stay for one night."

He turned to the teen who was sleeping silently on the bed. The brown blanket covered his bandaged body and a moist white towel sat on his forehead. He had been like that for several hours. Not once had he stirred or opened his eyes. Merlin used several cure spells to stimulate his blood cells and nerve systems. This activated leukocytes which would repair the damaged kidney giving Sora a way of manually reviving himself using his own immune system. Somehow, this aggravated the organ making Sora's homeostasis fluctuate. Sora's temperature spiked then dropped to normal levels. Worst of all, he was still unconscious.

Merlin sat down on the wooden stool that was next to the bedside. He uncorked both bottles and he gently lifted Sora's head. The teen's lips split giving Merlin an enterance to apply the potions. The old magician took the first bottle and held it to Sora's mouth. Tilting the jug slowly, the green liquid poured into the teen's mouth and past the throat. He performed the same procedure with the second bottle. After he was done, Merlin laid Sora's head on the pillow and turned to face the two warriors.

"Sora will be fine now. All he needs is rest."

"When will he be able to wake up?" Riku asked.

"Only time will tell. Depending on the strength of the potions, I'd say 3 hours. It normally doesn't take too long."

Riku nodded his head.

"You know it's a good thing you dropped by despite Sora's condition," Merlin continued saying. "We sent a messenger out after you a few days ago with instructions from the king. I don't know why you didn't get it at all. I'd see the king before you decide to leave."

-KH-

"I'm quite aware you have seen the movements of the heartless lately," the king said. "Our scouts were late in their report. By the time I received any information of the heartless' movements, they had already infiltrated deep into our territory and we were powerless to stop them. We set up newer barriers and erected new watch towers. Now, we should be ready for them."

Riku and Leon both nodded their heads. Once again they were in the little advisory room. The same, ancient, green rug decorated the floor and the same single window let the only traces of light in. The king sat at the head of the four cornered table with a map that was rolled out in front of him.

"Maleficent has sent out three batallions of heartless. One from the south and the other from the southeast," the king said as he took two markers and placed them on the map. "You took care of the batallion that came from the west. That's good. My advice to you, however, would be not to focus on fighting the other two batallions. Leave that to us. Our walls have never been shattered and I don't expect them to fall any time soon. Focus on your mission. Go after Maleficent and destroy her. The kingdom will stand; there is no doubt to that."

-KH-

Kairi silently entered the room that Sora was resting in and closed the door quietly behind her. Apparently no one was around. She had seen Leon and Riku head outside and Merlin was probably in his tower. The maids had not yet come with Sora's dinner and his bandages had not yet been changed. Out of curiousity she gently folded the covers down exposing Sora's upperbody. Kairi immediately blushed crimson as she stared idly at Sora's strong pectorals. His shirt had obviously been taken off. Reaching her hand out, she slowly placed it on his chest and traced his taut muslces with her finger. Her face grew hotter as she admired his build.

"What did Leon make them do? Do pushups until they dropped?" Kairi asked herself. The baggy black clothing he wore hid his physique well fooling Kairi to believe he had an air of scrawiness about him. Boy, was she wrong. Dead wrong! Who would've thought he would need every square inch of that clothing to cover his body? She still couldn't help but gawk at the physical change that overtook Sora. The muscles were new but that same wild untamable hair, and boyish attitude were still there.

Her eyes traced down his physique and landed on the white bandages were wrapped around his midsection. She tugged at them until they fell loose and quickly slipped them off. Kairi bit down on her lip to supress a squeal as her eyes widened. His core was comprised of slight washboard abs. There was the hint of muscle, far from being considered 'rock hard', but soft enough to use as a pillow. Kairi lifted her head from Sora's stomach and away from the warmth that escaped him. She had to stop fantasizing in order to do what she came here to do in the first place. It was tough being a teenager with hormones firing on all cyclinders.

Digging through the drawers that stood by the bed, she took out a fresh roll of bandages and placed it on her lap. Kairi took the water basin and dipped a towel into it.

Sora could faintly hear the splashing of water though he was sleeping. The sound was soothing to his ears and was sign that he was finally coming around. He still hadn't opened his eyes but his mind was now awake. Slowly, his senses were coming back to him. Once again he could hear the drops of water and he could feel the cold, damp rag that was now placed on his side. Though it stung a bit, this sensation felt like heaven to him. He could feel; he could feel pain. He could even hear the gentle breathing of the person next to him. The question of where he was teemed in his mind. He could vaguely remember what had happened but other than that, they were only short episodes and blurred images. Sora stirred as he felt a gentle touch on his cheek.

"Sora, are you awake?" the voice softly said.

Sora groaned as a reply. No words would come from his parched and dry mouth.

"Don't move, Sora," the angelic voice directed.

The voice caressed his ears and Sora obeyed willingly. He stopped his shifting and let the gentle words pacificy him. For once, he felt relaxed as if a huge burden had been taken off his shoulders. Sora slowly opened his eyes surprised to find that the person who was taking care of him was none other than the princess, Kairi.

"Hi," Kairi simply greeted. A soft smile was on her lips and her face glistened in the light.

Sora groaned again but was able to muffle a brief reply. Kairi placed a hand on Sora's chest stopping him from getting up. She bit her lip, feeling that she invaded his personal space. She retreated her hand and placed it on her lap with a small blush appearing on her face.

"Don't," Kairi softly said as she retreated her hand back. "Just rest your head on the pillow. How are you feeling by the way?"

"Better," Sora hoarsely answered as he looked into her blue eyes. His voice was rough but it gave him a grizzly and tough demeanor, one of experience and maturity.

Sora looked at Kairi's face to see barely visible stress marks around her eyes and mouth. Clearly, she had not been at her best and this worried him deeply. She still looked beautiful, no doubt about that. Yet, he could admit, she looked her best smiling.

"Is everything alright?" he asked. "You seemed worried."

"I couldn't sleep at night knowing that you might out die out there," Kairi answered. "I hung on every word that the scouts reported back. Each day I'd race down and talk with them hoping for news of you but none came. I began to fear that something had happened when our latest scout returned empty handed. I don't think it was fair that you had to go."

"I promised you I will come back," Sora reminded her. "And I'll keep coming back, that is, if you want me to. I don't die easily, Princess."

"Promise me you won't die," Kairi said between sobs.

Sora nodded.

"I want to hear you say it," Kairi commanded. She wanted that reassurance. She wanted him to say it to her.

"I don't know if I can, but I promise I'll try not to," he answered as he flashed that trademark grin of his.

"Sora?"

"Yeah?"

"You're a loser," Kairi said with a playful smile on her face. Her cheeks were damp with tears but at least she was smiling now. She threw her arms around Sora's body and hugged him tightly.

Sora just sat there as Kairi continued to cry on his chest. The story that Leon had told in the forest replayed over and over in his head. He could picture Selene, her anticipation and the tears. Inwardly, Sora knew he'd have to come back. Wrapping his arms around her, he vowed he wouldn't let Kairi cry over him.


I am now on summer vacation!!!

Rock out, party hard, live hardcore