Arc 1: In the Shadows
Chapter Eleven
Pale
Riku couldn't breathe.
Why was it that he always woke up struggling for breath?!
Riku's eyes searched for clue on where he was as slowly, agonizing in its slowness, he could breathe easier and easier, more and more.
He was in a medical bay, and the steady beat of his heart being monitored both relaxed and soothed him.
He shifted slightly and winced, realizing that he was laying on his side for a reason. His wings were most likely broken in several places…
Flashes of memory filled his mind.
Ginryō – NOOOO!
You killed him so I'll kill you.
Riku's breath caught in his throat as his eyes grew wide with horror, but the memories didn't stop coming.
Pain. Blood. Darkness.
"You need to control your temper, Riku.
or else…" trail into nothing –
– looming death if still on the path.
A dark voice whispered in his mind, sharp and biting in its accusations as he squeezed his eyes shut as if to ward it off. "You chose the Path to Dawn but here you are, still on the road to Darkness. What will you do Riku, when the Darkness consumes you? What will you do? What will you do? The Sunaena will not protect you forever. Just look at what you have already done! With the Darkness, you could achieve anything."
Riku flinched and shook his head, whispering denials. Unaware of the electric blue optics observing the injured human.
"How is the boy?" the deep voice of the Prime rumbled in his power and authority, steadily showing his concern with every word.
"He seems to be having some kind of waking nightmare. But, his wounds for the most part seem to have healed. Mentally… I am unsure." Ratchet shifted his gaze slightly. "War does horrible things on the mind. The boy was found in the middle of a blast zone, only Primus knows what happened to the boy within that time."
Air vented with the human equivalent of a sigh and Optimus rubbed wearily at his nose plate, a habit learned by copying the humans.
"We should alert the humans that the boy has awakened."
Ratchet smirked. "Already combed Lieutenant-Colonel Lennox, sir."
Riku flinched as a door opened and a medical personnel and a man dressed in a sharp uniform walked in.
"Heya kiddo." The man greeted as the doctor checked Riku's stats and medical readouts.
The teen remained silent, warily staring at the man who had taken a seat by his bed.
"The name's Lieutenant-Colonel William Lennox, I'm apart of NEST." Seeing Riku's blank look of incomprehension Lennox explained, "It's where we've put you and the rest of those wounded from Ground Zero. You've been the last to wake up."
Riku didn't look away from the Lieutenant-Colonel, his gaze haunted with a shadow that the man wished was never on a kid's face.
It was too adult. Too knowing of horrors.
But Lennox had a job to do. He leaned forwards, looking the teen in the eyes. "Why were you there kid? Why weren't you somewhere safe?"
Nowhere is safe Riku, remember that. Maybe then you'll come out alive.
Riku stared through the man, mind flashing back to Ginryō's graceful and sleek body, the way the sentient bot's metal parts tensed and flowed like water as he leapt, even with the added weight of Riku on Ginryō's back.
Riku didn't know how, but through that previous night, a bond had formed and now… it had been torn away just as fast.
NOO – !
Darkness. Rage. Liquid fire.
Riku was trembling and suddenly, the man was closer saying something.
"–id! Kid! It's OK! The bad guys are dead!"
Riku wanted to laugh and to scream at the man that he knew that! But that didn't stop the memories from looming out of the Darkness and pulling him in.
"My fault. My fault. Oh Moon's Fire it's all my fault! Ginryō… Ginryō!" and to his eternal mortification, Riku found tears streaming down his face as he broke completely in the safety of the NEST.
The boy was traumatized by the battle, Ratchet had decided with a clinical eye. The medic wondered if revealing their presence would be too soon for the boy before his resolution formed and he noted to inform Optimus of the restricted contact he recommended the Autobots take for the boy's mental health.
The boy may jut see giant robots and equate them to the enemy that had attacked his home, not looking at the optics and seeing the other side that belonged with the opposite color.
But perhaps the boy could be eased into the – hold on.
Ratchet's electric blue optics shuttered as something caught his attention.
Were those… wings that Ratchet saw on the boy's back?
Samuel had not mentioned it to them and the Lieutenant-Colonel was not reacting to the appendages on the boy's back as he awkwardly patted the quivering teen on the shoulder blade, where the wings poked out of the boy's bandaged back.
…like the bandages were never really there.
Just who was this boy, with his strange broken and singed black wings?
"Um… hi?"
Riku barely even blinked at the older man who had come in, obviously not a part of the military but very important if he could walk around the base without someone tailing him.
Riku's scarred heart throbbed in his chest and he barely held in a wince. Moon's fire it hurt but the physical pain paled in comparison to the spiritual backlash brought on by a shattered GuardWalls that had just begun to heal back together with the help of the Sunaena.
The other male shifted under Riku's blank stare.
"…Err… the name's Sam. Sam Witwicky."
Riku just blinked, like he had since had woken up a second time, just too tired and in too much pain to care about anything in particular in the moment.
Sam sighed and got up after a long period of awkward silence.
"…Riku…" the teen whispered quietly, just loud enough to be heard. "My name is Riku…"
Same paused and turned, giving the teen a weak, sad smile. "It's nice to meet you, Riku. Mind if I come back to talk later?"
Riku wordlessly shook his head before a broken whisper, "I don't mind…" then he retreated to the safety of his own head and silence once more.
Sam's smile turned into a worried frown and he left.
What had happened to the boy, and who was this 'Ginryō'? Sam didn't know and he wondered if he would never know.
Riku looked away from his view of beautiful countryside.
Sam was back, this time with a pretty blonde who he introduced as Carly.
Riku had been moved to a place better equipped to comfort an injured teen suffering from Shell Shock: the ranch of Lieutenant-Colonel Lennox, where the man's wife had welcomed the traumatized teen with open arms and gentle soothingness that was a balm on Riku's injured and war torn heart.
The silverett was just so tired.
But even with the lethargy that plagued Riku's waking hours, Riku still found the energy to gently play with the six year old Annabell Lennox, a fact that caused the Lieutenant-Colonel to warm up to the silverette even faster than Sora might have pulled off.
"Hello Riku." Carly said warmly, sitting down on the bench near his spot in the window seat. Riku blinked at her and nodded in greeting. He just couldn't muster up the energy to say 'hello' back.
Sora's words of caution rang in his ears.
…you need to control your temper Riku…
…this is why we're talking…
…your heart was screaming
so I came…
Riku shrunk into himself, visibly wilting as his arms came to wrap around his lithe frame.
Carly continued to chatter to the traumatized teen cheerily, her eyes flashing in concern. "How are you Riku? Are the Lennoxes treating you well?"
Riku dragged himself out of his dreamlike memories just in time to give a tiny nod before slipping back under.
Sam and Carly traded worried looks. The two of them had grown attached to the quiet teen.
The couple also knew that the Lennoxes were worried for the boy as well, and all four of them were at a loss of how to help him.
Sarah had simply sighed softly, and had suggested that they would do best to let him know that they'd be there with a listening ear.
But none of them knew that soon, everything would change, just not in the way that they thought.
Riku swallowed thickly, the noise loud to his ears in the silent stillness. His hand reached up to rub absently at the area where his heart rested as another shoot of fiery pain ran though his veins, making him tremble slightly as if a breeze would knock him over.
His trembling hand clenched and unclenched spastically at the pen as he put it to blank paper he had found lying around on a desk one night like tonight when he could not sleep for fear of the terror dreams that sent the whole household into disorder and panic, so certain that their charge had been attacked by something.
He had to explain things, why he was there that day and why he needed to leave again. But he couldn't say it, so he had to settle for the written word to explain for him.
By the time that you read this, I'll have been long gone and out of your hair…
Riku hugged himself once more to ward off a chill and glanced out of the window at the black Topkick and the yellow and black Camaro and whispered a broken unheard apology. He knew who they were. His Heart had Shown him.
Then he tore his gaze away from the disguised robots slumbering away the moon lit night peacefully and took a deep shuddering breath, carefully tightening the straps on his rucksack that had been found stashed away in the miraculous alley, completely unscathed, just like he had told the scavengers in a raspy haunted whisper.
Riku glanced around the guestroom one last time and closed his eyes, puling up a hand and willing a Corridor to open, the Darkness rushing to obey his will and as he opened aqua blue eyes, he walked into it; knowing that he was one world closer to finding Sora.
Slowly, but surely, Riku would find him. He would find the boy his Heart called "Brother".
Sam Witwicky lurched awake, the sickening feeling of falling causing his sudden departure from pleasant dreamland.
"Sam? Wha's wrong?" Carly mumbled sleepily.
"Something's going on with Riku!" Sam exclaimed, leaping out of bed and quickly grabbing the things he needed to look presentable but did not bother wasting time shaving.
A chill hand was clutching at his heart as he ripped open the door of the Lennox's second guest bedroom and tore out into the hall, Lennox bursting into the hall to run alongside him.
"What's –"
" –Riku."
The two ran down the hall until the end (Sam wad cursing on how far the teen's room was, even though it was only a few doors down).
They came to the room and knocked tentatively, the two men's respective partners hurrying to catch up.
"Riku? Riku please open up!"
"Is something wrong?"
"Riku!"
There was a clamor of noise and then only agonizing silence in reply.
Lennox tried the door and found it unlocked, the swinging door revealing an empty room, where there should be a person. A made bed where it should be messy and full of confused, sleepy eyed, messy haired teenager.
And on the desk, under the light of a lamp there was a note.
"'…I'm sorry, Sir. I would have told you this face to face, but I didn't know how.'" The Lieutenant-Colonel broke off before continuing with a choked voice. " 'That day, that day it all began, I was looking for someone. My little brother. Not in blood but he should have well been so – we were so close. I didn't care about the dangers, I just wanted my best friend – my little brother – back. We've been though too much to for me to abandon him now. I'm sorry sir. I can't stay. He could be looking for me. he needs me. I'm sorry I'm a coward. I'm sorry that I couldn't say goodbye face to face. But… I can't stay. Believe me, I want to so badly but I just can't. I'll be long gone, please don't look for me. I'm not worth the effort.
– Riku.'"
Hollow silence filled the room.
The moment that he stepped out of the Dark Corridor, Riku immediately wanted to run back into it's relative safety, but it had closed the moment his feet had touched the ground and refused to open again.
Suddenly he was hit with a wave of dizziness and he collapsed to the ground with every fiber of his being screaming to leave. But black spots were coating his vision and he just was so tired. He couldn't move.
A woman's laugh echoed in his ears.
Oh this is a treat!
Her cackles sent weary shivers down his spine.
Riku awoke to a darkened room, gingerly the silverette got to his wobbly feet and opened the thankfully unlocked door, which lead to a dim hallway.
Cautious and still wary of the woman's voice that had preceded his blacking out, Riku set out to find the front door, so he could know what kind of world he had landed himself into.
Riku growled as Way to Dawn refused to come to his aid on opening the locked door. It refused to come to his aid, period.
With a frustrated shout, he kicked the door and watched in stunned shock as the door swung open, causing him to stumble back.
And what he saw made his eyes widen.
"No! hey! Stop!" he ran out the door and into the fairly well maintained yard. "Stop! I'm right –"
He froze as he ran right through the paramedic handling his unconscious body onto a stretcher. " – here." He whispered, noticing for the first time that he was slightly translucent.
With wide eyes he observed how his hands shimmered slightly in the sun and how he could see the yellowish grass through them.
A woman's chuckle, the same one from before caused chills to run down his spine.
A clammy hand slick with blood grasped his own and Riku screamed in terror as he was suddenly yanked back with surprising force.
He rolled against wood floor and was up in an instant but an instant too late as the door slammed with a sudden finality.
Riku dove for the door and jerked on a handle that refused to open.
He saw the dirty cracked windows and struggled to open those, but they refused him access.
He pounded on the windows, screaming for the leaving paramedics, for the thinning crowd, for anyone to hear him – to help him.
But no one heard and the woman's cackles of devilish glee mingled with Riku's cries for aid, creating a hellish symphony.
