A/N: Now we have the first actual chapter of Dying Hearts! Enjoy?

Chapter 1: Happy Birthday!

Sora jumped out of bed before his alarm even went off. It was something unheard of on DestinyIslands. Sora usually slept through the alarm, but not this time. Today was different, today was Riku's birthday! The spiky haired teen got dressed and dashed out the door. He was meeting Kairi before going over to Riku's house. Riku's gift was safely placed in his pocket.

Sora was about to knock on Kairi's door but then it opened. Instead, he knocked Kairi's head. "Ow!" Kairi muttered. She rested her hand on her forehead for a moment. "What was that for?" She asked giving Sora a dirty look.

He flashed a quick smile. "Sorry about that!" He apologized running his hand through his hair. "Didn't know you were behind the door." He explained with a nervous laugh.

Kairi gave him a sarcastic 'oh really' look. "What did you think was there? A moogle?" She rolled her eyes and picked up Riku's gift. "You got his present?" Sora gave her and nodded. "Good, let's get going."

Riku was lost in darkness. He couldn't see a thing, but at least he was awake. At least he was alive… right? Riku began to wonder if he was even awake, or if anything from before even happened. He felt no pain and he couldn't see a thing. A dream maybe? A loud screech snapped the lost teen out of his thoughts. He jumped to his feet only to have sharp claws dig into his cheek. The force of the blow was enough to knock down. Riku summoned his keyblade in order to defend himself. The light was enough to illuminate the scene, but for only a few seconds. There was a cloaked figure with sharp claws, wings and a scythe. A sword slashed through the figure just before darkness settled upon them again. Another screech pierced the darkness. Riku couldn't help but flinch at the horrible noise. It seemed that the silver haired teen was in complete silence but then heard foot steps. Riku lift his keyblade defensively.

"You can put that down" A voice broke the silence between them. Riku judged by the voice at it was a male in his twenties. The foot steps stopped. "I'm not looking for a fight; are you?" The male added. Feeling defeated Riku dismissed his keyblade. For just a few seconds there was light. Riku took in as much detail as he could, which was much. He was right about the figure being a male, though. "Need a hand?" The person offered. It seemed kind of silly to Riku since he couldn't even see the hand.

"It would help if I knew where it was." Riku stated bluntly. Suddenly the teen was poked in the nose causing him to make a face. Figuring this was supposed to be his 'help' he accepted the hand. The man must have been strong since he was brought to his feet in a matter of seconds. "What's your name?" Riku questioned before the man could even speak.

"Zack Fair. And you?"

"Riku" Silence fell over the two. Suddenly someone grabbed Riku by the hand and lead him away. "Hey! Where are we going?"

"We need to keep moving. Too many Reaper Heartless here, even I can't handle that many." Zack explained. Although he used a friendly tone Riku could tell he was dead serious. Riku was about to ask Zack if the Reaper was what attacked him from before but he suddenly tripped over something. He lost his grip on Zack's hand and fell hard. Riku spit dirt out of his mouth as he pulled himself onto his hands and knees. Gross.

"You okay?" Riku looked up out of habit but was surprised when he saw blue eyes staring at him. It wasn't Sora's eyes, though. No, it was Zack's eyes. The teen took in every detail now that he could see, even if the light was poor. This man had black spiked hair and a scar on left cheek. "Riku?" The worry was clear both in his voice and his face.

It took Riku a moment to find his voice but finally it came. "Yeah…" His voice seemed distant as he got to his feet. He still was in awe of it all. "It's just…" His voice trailed off as he looked around. Tall trees surrounded them. "It's just I can see."

A smile spread across Zack's face. "Yeah? And how are you liking it?" He didn't wait for an answer. "I think I've found a way out." He nodded over to what looked like a deformed triangle of light. For some reason it seemed familiar to Riku but he couldn't place it.

When they reached the 'triangle' it turned out to be a large crack in a wall. Riku then realized that they were in TwilightTown. The teen squinted as the bright rays of light hit his eyes. It was a painful transition from the dark.

"I told you it was a way out." Zack said suddenly. He wasn't looking at Riku; instead the man seemed more focused on something in the distance. Zack suddenly turned to face Riku. "Did you live here?"

Riku shook his head. "No, but I've been here before." He explained to Zack. The teen wanted to smile but found that he couldn't for some reason.

Zack let out a huge sigh and ran his fingers through his dark spikes. "Uh, right." The man said absentmindedly. It seemed Zack was trying just as hard as Riku to figure it all out. "Well, let's go!" He half shouted in mild excitement. Riku nodded in agreement and made his way to the sandlot.

Hayner, Pence and Olette were arguing with Seifer and his gang. Well Hayner and Seifer were arguing, the rest were watching. Riku caught Hayner yelling something about Seifer cheating in the struggle match. It didn't sound important.

Riku was snapped out of his thoughts when Zack gave a shout of surprise. Heartless were appearing everywhere. Most seemed to ignore Zack and Riku but soon the silver haired teen found himself facing a few Nightwalkers. Riku easily slashed through the heartless until he felt a pain in his chest. It was like he had been stabbed all over again. His legs gave out from under him. He heard Zack curse just as his world went black.

A/N: HAPPY BIRTHDAY RIKU, but not really.

Assylax the Nobody, You could actually, you know, PM me, and we could, you know, talk about stuff.

David Noklevername, Yaoi! WHERE!? XD Man, you have got to upload your old stuff. I'd read it. It's really fun to do.

CirciFox81314, Yeah, this was saved in the same folder as watching Akuroku. I also have some stuff saved to my email. So, I'll be updating on and off for a while.