Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This storyline is mine. Kind reviews welcome!

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Chapter Nine: Rogue Wave

"Go, go, go, go, go!" Riku was screaming.

Sora kept his eyes on Kairi's back, chasing after her, farther inland. It didn't matter how far inland they got, the twenty foot rogue wave behind them was going to find them, and in only a few seconds.

The plywood plank that acted as a ramp to the upper level of the shore rattled with the wind, but it looked steady enough to run up in order to get to the caves beside the waterfall. Only Kairi wasn't running for the caves. She was turning towards the little hut built into the rocks on the right of the waterfall.

What was she thinking? That little lean-to couldn't hold up to that much water!

"Kairi, don't—" Sora started to yell.

Kairi glanced over her shoulder at him. Her pace slowed and she turned completely, her eyes swallowing the towering black death looming towards them.

"No, no! Keep running!" Sora ran past, swinging an arm around her waist and practically dragging her with him.

He started towards the ramp, but Riku's hand snatched his arm.

"No time, no time, get in here!" Riku dragged Sora, who was dragging Kairi, into the hut.

The door flew away from the structure when it was pulled open, and Riku pushed them inside.

"Head for the stone. Get into the stone stairway." He ordered.

Kairi stumbled up the stairs and Sora tripped after her. Sora threw an arm back and Riku grabbed his wrist. Sora helped haul him up the stairs.

Kairi fell flat on the stairs, "This—"

The stone shook suddenly and the stairs under them trembled, knocking all of them off balance. The three of them had just barely made it into the stone part of the hut when the wave hit. With a loud wrenching noise, the wood of the hut imploded under the weight of the water.

Steamy, foamy water, filled with splintered wood, blasted into the stairwell. Riku dropped over Kairi, shielding her from most of the watery debris with his upper body. Sora hugged against the wall, bracing himself for impact.

The water gushed up over them, submerging them completely in hot, salty water. Jagged wood splinters and chunks of plywood smashed over them. Sora ducked his head, the force of the water knocking all of the air out of his lungs in a mist of bubbles. Suddenly it felt as though a hot poker had been thrust into Sora's thigh. He cried out involuntarily, twisting in the water. More of the foam forced itself into his mouth and down his throat.

Kairi was thrashing on the stairwell, gagging and struggling for air. Riku was trying to push himself up against the water. Sora screamed through the water as the pain in his leg persisted.

By now the initial burst of water had passed, and deadening thunder rushed down the flooded stairwell, along with lashing wind and more rain. Kairi gasped and struggled to get her legs under her to balance. Riku looked up and down the stairwell, searching for any new immediate danger pending.

Sora was unaware of any of that. It felt like someone had ripped his thigh open, poured molten lead inside the bone, and then sprinkled lemon juice all over the raw nerves. Hot tears welled behind his eyes, blending into the water streaming down his face. He didn't have enough breath to spare for actual breathing. Too much air was being consumed by screaming.

Was his leg even still there?! Had it been ripped off by the water? Was it horribly mangled or shredded? It felt like it! Sora rolled onto his side on the stairs, trying to curl into a ball to escape the pain.

"Sora—Sora!" Riku was yelling, shaking his shoulder.

Sora's voice faltered and he coughed. Unable to keep up the perpetual scream, his throat settled for loud moaning and crying out. He tried to grab at his leg, to try to ease the pain away, but his palm connected with something sharp and solid. Nausea swam through his body. A piece of wood had hit him and was stuck in his leg!

"Sora, don't—" Riku pulled Sora's hands away from the wound.

Kairi screamed. Sora kept his eyes shut tight. He didn't want to see it. He didn't want to look at it. The nausea was overpowering. He wanted to just lie here. Why was Kairi grabbing at his hands? It was getting hard to focus on which way up and down was.

Something brushed against his knee and that brought him back to full awareness with a yelp.

"Sora, stay awake. C'mon, we have to move." Riku was saying.

Sora didn't want to move. Where was he again? Oh, right, the stairs. Could he even move if he wanted to? The lower part of his body wasn't cooperating with his brain's orders. Maybe the water had cut off both of his legs. Heh, that'd be weird to see…He found himself giggling weakly.

"Riku…" Kairi stammered. She sounded terrified.

"He's losing a lot of blood. We can't stay here. Let's go to those caves. It'll be safer there." Riku was saying now.

"Wha--? Blood?" Sora managed to force his eyelids open.

It was still dark, but he could clearly see Kairi and Riku kneeling over him in the stairwell. They were both drenched and Riku's arm was bleeding badly. He might want to get that looked at…Why did Kairi look so horrified? And why was she staring at his leg? Sora lifted his head to see.

"No, don't look at it." Riku snapped his fingers in front of Sora's face. "Focus right here, okay?" He waved his hand around his and Kairi's faces. "Can you move at all?"

Sora fought the urge to throw up, "I don't know…"

"Well, let's find out." Riku said, hooking his arms under Sora's shoulders and hefting him to his feet.

Kairi jumped to her feet, holding her hands out cautiously, as if to catch him or something. Sora got halfway straightened before putting weight on his feet. His right leg held well enough. His left buckled in a spasm of pain and it was like his leg was gone again. He looked down before Riku or Kairi could stop him. The nausea tripled.

His leg was twisted sideways at the knee and slightly bowed, blood blossoming freely over his pant leg from the open wound on his thigh. The jagged, solid thing his hand had found wasn't splintered wood. It was bone. The realization that his bone was sticking out of his thigh made Sora's head swim.

"Oh…oh, oh—" He sputtered, all the blood rushing to his head.

Kairi's hands were over her mouth now, tears rushing down her cheeks.

Riku shifted, holding Sora upright, "Kairi, get to those caves by the waterfall. We'll wait the storm out there. I've got him. Go."

Kairi looked like she wanted to either protest or throw up. Instead, she turned and headed down the stairwell and out into what used to be a hut. Now, it was only bare sand.

All the strength was ebbing quickly from Sora's limbs and he swayed. He couldn't take his eyes away from his thigh, where the bone was very visible. Blood was staining his pant leg and the water around him. The nausea churning through his insides was unbearable.

"It—It's—That's my bone—" He stammered, "It's sticking out of me—"

"Don't look at it." Riku ordered.

Sora felt the feeling leaving his limbs and he started to sink from his upright position.

"Hey—Hey!" Riku jostled him, "Focus, man."

Sora shook his head to clear it. "Okay…okay."

Sora tried to stand up again, leaning heavily on Riku and making sure to keep all of his weight on his right leg. Sure, he could stand okay, with help, but there was no way he was going to be able to walk, much less maneuver, to the caves. Riku seemed to be realizing this too.

A flash of lightning illuminated the stairwell, lighting the blood glinting off the bone sticking out of Sora's leg. He felt his head swim and forced himself to look away, his strength draining again. Riku kept a firm grip on his arm. The light faded and thunder rolled over them.

Sora knew he was seconds away from passing out and tried to keep unconsciousness at bay. It felt like the stairs were swaying back and forth under his good leg.

"All right. We're moving." Riku stated, pulling Sora's arm across his shoulders, alleviating the stress on his leg.

Riku headed down the stairs aggressively but careful not to jar Sora's leg too badly. Every inch they gained was torture for Sora. Every step was like being stabbed in the thigh with a rusty knife. They staggered on the bottom step and Sora's knee knocked against the stone wall.

"Ah—" Sora's good knee buckled and stars of pain danced over his eyes.

"Whoa. No, Sora, hey—" Riku grappled to keep him upright.

It was too much. Sora dropped his head and vomited. Maybe passing out wasn't such a bad idea. At least then he would be numb. Then again, Riku would be left to lug his body around. He sure didn't want to do that—

Riku dropped his shoulder and pulled Sora's arm. Sora's center of gravity shifted and he didn't move as Riku hefted him up over his shoulders. Sora's leg knocked against Riku's arm, and he went rigid, otherwise his limbs just dangled. All Sora could do to protest this action was to groan.

Riku was already leaving the area where the hut had been and was heading up the sand to where the caves were. Sora accepted his fate as a ragdoll and looked around. Water was sloshing over the shore up to the top of the beach, some of it lapping into the pool beside the caves. From his sideways point of view, he could see where the paopu tree on Riku's tiny island was being further bent and bowed by the wind.

The sky above them was still ominous, a dark blue-gray color. It extended dark tendrils of rain and steam from the clouds, rushing to greet the smashing, choppy dark ocean. Lightning was still flickering above the clouds, forking down in jagged branches through the charged air. It was too dark to see the actual body of the hurricane, but it was making its presence known.

"Hurry up. It's getting worse!" Kairi's voice was barely audible over the shrieking wind.

Sora looked around as Riku carried him over. Kairi was standing just outside the cave entrance, gesturing wildly, the wind whipping her hair against her face.

"Go, get inside." Riku jerked his head at Kairi.

She mouthed soundlessly and then ducked into the cave entrance.

"Sora?" Riku asked.

Sora grunted, his throat burning from being sick. Satisfied that he was still conscious at least, Riku shifted his grip and started to duck into the entrance after Kairi.

"Watch your head." He instructed.

Sora wanted to send him a snarky retort, but he just didn't have it in him. If he had his head smashed against the stone wall of the cave, it would just the tip of the iceberg of pain that was hammering through his leg at the moment. At least it was just a hammer now, not the sharp, agonizing stab it had been just a few minutes earlier.

He felt strangely light and disoriented as Riku carried him over his shoulders down the tunnel. He could hear Kairi's voice, but the sound was slurred and all mush to his ears in combination with the storm raging outside. It was growing more difficult to keep his eyes open, and his limbs felt all tingly and numb. He wasn't complaining about the lack of nerve reception though.

He was vaguely aware of his position shifting. Hands were maneuvering him over a hard surface. The slurred speech around him was unintelligible. The dark unconsciousness was pulling at him.

Unable to fight the fog anymore, Sora let go and lost all awareness.