A/N: Hello, everyone! Tempura here with the next chapter of Re-sketch. Today we'll be moving on to the next world... If it can even be called a world in the first place.

Thank you to the anonymous Guest. Hikaru appreciates the support. After everything that's happened, she needs a little belief in herself.

Anyway, on to the chapter. Enjoy.

Re-sketch

Chapter 21: Shipwrecked

They had been flying for three days now through gummi space, cramped up in that little ship and running on uneasy sleep. Though they tried to rest as they took turns at the pilots' seats, the seats were a little uncomfortable and Hikaru always woke up after a few hours with a knot in her neck. At least they had gotten enough rest to make up for their sleepless escapade in Agrabah, but Hikaru was beginning to miss sleeping in a real bed…

It didn't help that she was a little scared of falling asleep. Her head was aching, and she knew that she needed the shut-eye, but she was scared that she would fall into that all-consuming darkness, be pulled into sleep and never wake up. She was even afraid of dreaming. Those dreams, whatever dreams… They ached almost as much as her head.

"Something botherin' you, Hikaru?"

She looked up to see Goofy sit down on one of the seats across from her with a tin of applesauce. "I'm fine," she said. "Taking a break now?"

"Ahyuck! Sora wanted to pilot again," Goofy said, just as Sora and Donald's bickering traveled from the cockpit.

"No, we are not racing the Heartless ships!"

"Aw, come on! Didn't you see that just now? They were totally mocking us!"

"No!"

"Oh, those guys," Hikaru said, resting her cheek against her knuckles as she watched Donald swipe the controls away from Sora. As long as they didn't crash the ship, a little bickering was okay in her book.

"At least it's lively around here," Goofy said.

"Never a dull moment," she agreed.

A moment passed. Goofy took another bite of applesauce and wiped his mouth on a napkin. "Are you sure you're okay, Hikaru?" he asked finally. "You seem kind of down lately."

Hikaru released a heavy breath through her nose, her expression unchanging. "I'm fine," she said again. "Don't worry about me."

By the creasing of his eyebrows, Goofy didn't seem to believe her. "You know, if you want to talk about it…"

"I'm fine." Hikaru rose to her feet, stretching her arms and cracking her neck. "Hey, feel like some watermelon? I think there's one left from the stuff we bought from Agrabah."

Goofy just stared at her for a few seconds before letting it drop. "Sure," he said, allowing himself a smile. "It is getting close to lunch time."

Hikaru walked to the back of the ship. The closet across from the bathroom was where they stored most of their goods, including their most recent purchases: robes from Agrabah, a bag of dried persimmons and pomegranates, and one last watermelon the size of a bowling ball. She had to admit, she wouldn't have minded staying a bit longer to examine the other goods being sold in the marketplace, but they had a job to do.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!"

A sudden jerk of the ship made Hikaru stagger back into the wall, the closet door slamming shut again. She rubbed her head and turned towards the cockpit.

"Hey, watch it!" Donald shouted, waving a fist in the air as he stared out the side window.

"What happened?" Goofy asked as he pulled at his applesauce-covered shirt. Hikaru grabbed some napkins, handing them over to him and looking out the passenger windows. Colors and lights blurred past them, Heartless ships traveling in the opposite direction. And traveling fast, at that.

"Darn Heartless," Donald grumbled. "What's the rush?"

"Uh… Guys?" Sora said, leaning over to look at the middle screen on the console. "There's something coming up on the radar."

Hikaru and Goofy hurried to the front of the ship, peering over the pilot seats to look through the windshield. Something in the distance was approaching, and they quickly realized that it was much larger than they had originally thought.

"What is that?!" Donald squawked.

"Wow, it's huge!" Sora said.

Hikaru could barely believe it. "A whale? Flying through space?" Well, if she considered everything else that had happened so far… No, on second thought, a flying space whale was still pretty out there.

Jiminy Cricket climbed onto the headrest for a better look and jolted when he saw the whale. "It's Monstro!"

"Monstro?" Goofy repeated.

"He's a whale of a whale, and vicious to boot," Jiminy said.

Hikaru's eyes widened. "And he's coming straight for us!"

"WAK!" Donald leapt into action, flailing his wings as he began hitting buttons and pulling levers. "Sora, get us out of here!" he shouted.

"Too late!" Sora gulped as the great whale opened its mouth. "He's going to swallow us!"

"It's true, I saw it with my own eyes!"

Riku gave him a skeptical look. "You sure you didn't just hear it this time?" he asked as he dropped down the ladder and continued past the waterfall.

"What difference does it make?" Sora said, cheeks puffing up as he pouted. "There's a huge monster in there, I'm telling you!" It wasn't like last time when the sea monster swimming around by the cove turned out to be just an oddly shaped hunk of driftwood.

Riku still didn't seem to believe him. "Hm… Alright, so if there really is a monster…" He paused, crossing his arms as he looked towards the curtain of vines that hung in front of the cave. "Do you think we could beat it by ourselves, Sora?"

"Definitely!" Sora said, raising his wooden sword into the air. "Let's do it!"

Riku nodded. "Right." He grabbed his own wooden sword, taking the lead and stepping closer towards the cave. "You sure it's in here?"

"Positive," Sora said.

"Alright then. I'll go first."

"Wait, wait!" Sora hissed, reaching out and grabbing Riku by the back of his shirt, pulling him back. "Listen! Can you hear it growling?"

The low raspy hum came whistling between the leaves. Riku crouched over, tilting his head and cautiously pulling back one of the vines to peer into the darkness. "I hear it," he said, eyes widening. He straightened up, all business as he readied his sword. "Come on, Sora, we gotta be careful."

"See? I told you there wasn't any monster," Riku said, looking up at the hole in the cave ceiling. A breeze leaked through the cavern, rustling their clothes and hair. "It was just the wind. Got all worked up for nothing."

"Aw…" Sora crossed his arms, shoulders drooping. "I wish it was a monster… Wait, what's that over there?" He stared at the strange object nestled in the rocky wall, running over a moment later to get a closer look. Tall, wooden, some kind of arch shape… and with hinges? "Is it a door?"

"I think so."

"But there's no handle," Sora said. "How are you supposed to open it?"

Riku said nothing at first. He walked over, brushing his hand along the center of the door before giving it a tentative push. "It won't open."

"Hello?" Sora called, knocking at the door. "Anyone home?" They waited a few moments. "No answer. Jeez, is that really all that's in here?"

Riku shrugged. "What do you expect in a boring place like this?"

"Yeah, I guess." He folded his hands behind his head. So much for an adventure. The cave was pretty cool though—nice and hidden. Tree roots crept down through the cracks in the walls, and a cluster of eringi mushrooms grew along the edges of the room. Maybe he could take some home for dinner.

"… Hey, Sora."

"Huh?" He turned around.

"When we grow up, let's get off this island," Riku said. "We'll go on real adventures and finally see what's out there. We can't get anywhere if we stay here on these islands forever."

"See what's out there?" Sora repeated. Real adventures… That sounded like a plan. "Yeah, sure!" He held up his sword, feeling like a knight swearing an oath. "When we get older, we'll go out there and see the worlds. Then we can be real heroes, right?"

"Right."

"Then it's a promise." Sora lowered his sword, still grinning. "But… isn't there anything fun to do now?"

"Hmm…"

They started back towards the beach, thinking hard. Then Sora got an idea. "Hey, what about the new girl at the mayor's house…?"

Sora groaned, eyes fluttering open as he pushed himself off of the floor. As he sat up, he felt warm water dripping down his cheek. "Ugh…!" Why was the ground so soft? And… why was it wet?

"Knock it off!"

He blinked, turning around to see Donald shouting up at the wall—or what he thought was a wall. On second glance, he jerked back, a moment of panic striking through his body when he realized that they were facing a line of fleshy pink gums and giant teeth.

The panic passed. "Oh, right…" That whale had swallowed them. He turned around, facing the throat and blinking when he saw the lake pooled near the back of Monstro's mouth. Mountains of wood, debris, and colorful blocks rose out of the water, while fragments floated along the surface, the undeniable remains of multiple shipwrecks.

Looked like they weren't the only ones to meet this unfortunate fate.

"Hey, Sora," Goofy said, glancing over as Sora approached. "Are you okay?"

Sora nodded, massaging his stiff neck. "Where's Hikaru?"

"She went to look for gummi blocks." Goofy looked back over to their ship, a concerned look on his face. "We lost a few pieces of the Highwind, and unless we can find them…"

Sora stifled a groan. That was just their luck. They were supposed to be on their way to another world! Of all things to happen… Oh, well, it couldn't be helped. At least they hadn't crashed in the jungle again, though admittedly, being swallowed by a whale was probably worse. It would make a better story, though. He scratched his head. "What are you guys doing?"

"Trying to get that dumb whale to settle down," Donald said, stomping down in frustration. The whale's tongue shifted suddenly, nearly throwing them off their feet. Donald gave a growl and started flailing his wings. "I SAID STOP IT!"

Something went flying through the air, smacking Donald in the head and knocking him to the ground.

"What was that?" Sora said, spinning around. Raising his gaze to the ceiling, he saw a small figure rummaging around on the top of a teetering pile of driftwood.

"Who's up there?" Donald asked, rubbing his head and scowling.

"It's just me," the boy replied, peering over the edge.

"A kid?" What the heck was a kid doing in a whale? "Hey, watch out, it's not safe…" Sora trailed off as his eyes narrowed. Wait a minute… Was it just his imagination, or did that boy's joints look kind of funny?

"Pinocchio?!" Jiminy said, jumping up onto Sora's shoulder. "Pinocchio! What are you doing here?"

The boy waved. "Hi, Jiminy."

"You know him?" Sora asked.

"Why, of course! Pinocchio and I are from the same world," Jiminy said. "But… What he's doing here, I don't know. Pinocchio—" He broke off as Pinocchio began to walk off. "Where are you going? Pinocch! Come on, quick! We have to follow him."

"Right!"

"What have you got there, Pinocchio?"

"With this, we can get out of here, Father."

Hikaru gave a little smile as she watched the little puppet boy drop a huge gummi block onto the floor of the shipwrecked vessel. It hit the floor with a loud thunk, bouncing a few times due to its elasticity. She was no expert, but she'd spent enough time in the Highwind to know the basics. "Yep, that's a gummi block. Where'd you find it, Pinocchio?"

"There was this broken old ship stuck up on one of the piles," Pinocchio said. "Must have been someone else's, swallowed up by Monstro. Do you think they'll mind?"

"Probably not. It would be better to put to use than just letting it sit in a whale's gut anyway," Hikaru said.

"What do you think it's for?" Pinocchio asked.

"Hmm… I'm not sure." She nudged the block with her shoe, tilting her head. It looked like an armor piece, or maybe it was part of a shield? Whichever it was, it would come in handy while traversing the space between the worlds, but the main thing they needed to find were some new wings and the Highwind's missing engine. Luckily, Monstro seemed to have developed a taste for Heartless if the numerous broken ships half-submerged in the water were anything to go by. "My friends should know—we could ask them," she said. "Does that sound like a good idea, Pinocchio?"

"Mmhmm!" He nodded vigorously, the joint of his neck clicking.

"It's a bit bigger than the parts you found, Hikaru," Gepetto said. "Do you think this block would actually help us out?"

"Definitely," a voice came.

"Sora!" Hikaru waved them over as he, Donald, and Goofy climbed up over the railing of the ship. "You guys doing alright?"

"All things considered," Goofy said pleasantly.

"Oh, my!" Gepetto gasped, hurrying over to help them up. "You must be the friends Hikaru told us about. So the whale swallowed all of you too? My goodness. My name is Gepetto. This is Pinocchio, my son," he added, looking down as Pinocchio gave a cheerful smile.

"Hello."

"Wow," Sora said, crouching down and looking at Pinocchio, a curious gleam in his bright blue eyes. "He's made of wood!"

Donald rubbed his bill. "Must be enchanted. Master Yen Sid and the King have done something like that before."

"Fellas," Goofy said, leaning in to whisper in their ears. "It's not polite to stare."

"Oh!" Sora stood up, scratching his head and laughing. "Sorry about that, Pinocchio."

"No, it's okay," he replied. "People are always surprised to see me! It's kind of funny." A moment later, he took a step towards the stairs. "I'm going to go looking for more blocks, Father!"

"Okay, just be careful," Gepetto called back before turning to Sora and the others. "Back at our home, I was a woodworker. Pinocchio was one of the puppets I made, and one day, he came to life! I've never had children of my own, so it was wonderful finally having a son."

"But how'd you end up here, Gepetto?" Goofy asked.

"Oh, well, we were separated during a vicious storm," Gepetto said. "I traveled all over in my ship looking for him. Met some very interesting characters out there on the way. Eventually we did find each other again, but just our luck, we were swallowed by Monstro!"

"Gepetto said that he would help us repair the Highwind," Hikaru added.

"You found the parts?" Donald asked.

"Most of them. We need a new engine though—I think our old one might've ended up in the whale spit." Hikaru wrinkled her nose. "Come over here, guys, there's someone else you have to meet."

"Who?" Sora, Donald, and Goofy walked over to the makeshift room thrown together in the remnants of the ship's cabin.

Hikaru gestured to the fish bowl sitting on a dresser. "Tada," she said. "Guys, meet Cleo. She's a goldfish."

Cleo gave a little blub, bubbles floating up to the surface of the fish bowl. She did a flip and moved closer to the glass to get a better look at the others.

"How do you do, Miss Cleo?" Goofy asked, just as a black and white kitten jumped onto the dresser. "Ahyuck, and a cat?"

"His name is Figaro," Hikaru said, scratching the little kitten behind the ears. Figaro purred as he rubbed his face against her hand.

"So, Gepetto, how long will it take to repair the ship?" Sora asked.

"Some time still, I'm afraid," Gepetto said. "That's the problem with working in a whale's mouth. It would be much different if I still had my workshop."

"Well, if there's anything you need help with in the meantime, we'll be glad to help," Sora said.

"Gepetto and Pinocchio are trying to build their own ship too," Hikaru said. "We're still trying to find all the parts we need."

"Aw, we can give you a lift in our ship if you like, Gepetto," Goofy said.

"Thank you, that's very kind of you to offer," Gepetto said. "But I don't want to trouble you any further. Hikaru told me that you were looking for your friends." He brushed his hands off on his shirt and crouched down to scoop the gummi block off of the floor. "Anyway, would you like something to eat? It's not much, but I do have some canned beans stocked up."

"Food sounds pretty good," Sora said. "Thanks!"

"Well, you guys eat—I'm going to keep looking for the gummi blocks," Hikaru said as she started for the steps along the side of the ship. "Shout if you need me."

"Alright."

Gummi blocks. We have to find the gummi blocks.

That was basically all Hikaru focused on as she walked along the floating planks of wood and the old, creaky platforms jutting out of the sides of the debris piles. She made it halfway across the lake before she spotted a promising gummi piece sticking out of the water, just the corner of something white and shiny. She moved to the edge of the platform, leaning over as far as she dared, struggling to fish the piece out with the crook of her staff.

"W-whoa!" She stumbled, flailing her arms as she nearly plunged headfirst into the pool of whale spit. Instead, she managed to fall backwards, landing hard on her behind and smacking her head against the debris. She massaged the sore spot on the back of her head, face twisted into a grimace as pieces of wood and tiny gummi blocks showered down around her.

"Hikaru!"

"Huh?" She looked up, seeing Pinocchio at the top of the teetering mountain above her.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she said, cheeks burning a little. She'd hoped that no one had seen that.

"I'm coming down!"

"What—Pinocchio, be careful," Hikaru started to say, though Pinocchio quickly made his way down the debris pile with a few small gummi pieces in his hands.

"I found these," he said, holding the pieces out. "Will these help too?"

"I dunno. We can bring it back to the ship to check," Hikaru said.

Pinocchio nodded, an excited and hopeful smile on his face as he stuffed the pieces into the pockets of his trousers. "What was that thing there you were trying to get?"

"I think it's another gummi block. It's just a little out of reach, though…" No way did she want to take a dip in that water. She tapped her staff against the wooden platform, wracking her brain for an idea—some sort of rig, or a contraption, or…

Her eyes traveled to the crook of her staff.

She spun her staff around, touching the crook to the surface of the water and mustering up her magic. "Blizzard," she said, imagining her own breath blowing out in a cloud of cold mist. Ice bloomed across the water, forming a flat, solid platform along the surface, imbedded with the fern-like designs of frost.

"Wow!" Pinocchio said, bobbing on his heels, the joints of his legs creaking with every movement. "How did you do that?"

"Magic," she said, giving the ice a tentative tap with her staff before taking a very careful step forward. The ice creaked under her weight, but it held steady as she walked over towards the submerged gummi block and dragged it out of the water. "Aha!" It was a wing—just as she'd thought.

"Magic, huh?" he said. "It's just like the Blue Fairy, then. I wish I could learn magic."

Hikaru quirked her head to the side. "Blue Fairy?"

"Uh-huh." Pinocchio nodded. "She's the one who brought me to life. Before, I was just a puppet that Father made in his workshop, but the Blue Fairy came when he made a wish on a star!"

"Really?" So, that was how it happened. Hikaru had just assumed that walking, talking puppets were something of a norm in Gepetto and Pinocchio's world. Talking crickets were, after all, if Jiminy was anything to go by. She really was getting acclimated to the odd.

"One day, though, I'm going to be a real boy," Pinocchio said. "Then I'll really be alive, and I'll get to do things that real kids do. Maybe you could even teach me magic, Hikaru!"

"Heh, maybe." She felt a grin working its way across her face. "But I think you're already like a real boy, Pinocchio," she said, giving him a playful nudge and tipping the hat from his head. Pinocchio fumbled a little before pulling his hat back on, a bashful smile on his face. Hikaru smiled back, but as the seconds passed, she felt the light-hearted cheer slip. She turned away, focusing her eyes on Gepetto's broken ship visible just through the mounds of debris as a tired heaviness returned to the pit of her stomach.

Okay, enough goofing around. Focus, focus.

"Come on, Pinocchio," Hikaru said as she propped the wing piece over her shoulder. "Let's take these pieces back so everyone can see."

"Sure thing!" Pinocchio said.

By the time they returned to the ship, it seemed that lunch had been served. Sora and Goofy, drinking out of a set of mismatched teacups, sat at a table improvised from a broken crate and a piece of a boat's tattered sail, while Donald and Gepetto worked on sorting through their collection of gummi blocks.

"Got some more," Pinocchio said, dropping his findings onto the pile.

"Found a wing too," Hikaru said, handing the broad, flat piece to Donald. "It's kind of small though… Might look a little weird on the Highwind."

"It'll do," Donald said, examining the piece closely and scraping away a smudge of dirt. "At least until we get Cid to take a look at things. Come on, let's get this thing attached."

Hikaru bobbed her head, moving to follow Donald down the steps and towards the front of the mouth where the Highwind sat idle.

Then a groan echoed out from further back in the throat, making them stop mid-step. Hikaru spun around, clutching at her staff, her hair standing on end. "What was that?"

A low rumbling began to shake the entirety of Monstro's mouth, sloshing the water against the side of the ship and sending bits of debris falling everywhere. "WHOA!" Sora fell out of his seat and grabbed onto the doorway as the ship began to tip. But it wasn't just the ship—the whole mouth seemed to be tipping back towards the throat. "W-what's going on?"

Goofy gasped as Cleo's bowl fell. He dove forward, catching the bowl and angling it so the water wouldn't fall out, but he found himself pinned against the wall of the cabin. "Oof!"

"Is it going to swallow us?!" Hikaru cried. Winding up in the stomach—that was the last thing they needed!

Donald summoned his staff, bringing it down to the floor of the ship. "Gravity!" he shouted, calling out a field of pressure that forced himself, Gepetto, and Hikaru against the floor, stuck in place like glue. But Pinocchio gave a cry as he slipped along the deck of the ship, falling out of the reach of the spell's power. He tumbled through the bars of the far railing, only just managing to grab on at the last moment, fingers scraping at the wood. His feet dangled in the air as the loose gummi blocks fell past him into the gaping hole of Monstro's throat.

Gepetto gasped. "Pinocchio!"

"Hold on, Pinocchio!" Hikaru shouted. She struggled to move, her arm inching its way across the deck, but the pressure force of the Gravity was too strong. "Just hold on!"

"I can't… hold…!" His hand slipped. "AH!"

"Pinocchio!"

"No, Pinocchio!" Sora cried.

They were stuck like that for several more seconds, clinging to the ship and hoping that it wouldn't go freefalling into the dark depths. But then everything began to level out, the water surging back to the bottom of the whale's mouth as all of the debris fell back into place with a crash.

They sprawled out across the deck, dazed and disoriented. "Is everyone okay?" Goofy asked.

"Fine," Donald called back.

"No, no, Pinocchio," Gepetto said, clutching at the railing as he struggling to pull himself back into standing. His glasses sat askew on his nose, one of the lenses cracked, but he didn't seem to notice. "My boy!"

Hikaru swore and shoved herself to her feet, staggering back a moment as she tried to reorient herself in normal gravity. Her legs trembled like gelatin, and her arms and head didn't feel much better.

"Don't worry Gepetto," Sora said. "We'll go get him. Come on, guys!"

Hikaru nodded. "Let's go."

"Be careful," Gepetto said. "Save my little boy."

Goofy placed Cleo's fishbowl back onto the drawer before saluting. "Don't worry about us—we'll be right back!" They hurried off of the ship and towards the opening of the humid throat.

"What in the world?" Hikaru looked around at the pulsing multicolored walls around them, the tunnels that led off to the far reaches of Monstro's insides, and the crates and barrels and other lost objects scattered around. Under her shoes, the ground—if it could really even be called ground—squelched with every step, a repulsive noise that almost made her gag. "I'm pretty sure this isn't what the inside of a whale is supposed to look like."

"Oh, Pinocchio," Jiminy said, pacing back and forth along Sora's shoulder. "Where could he be? Don't tell me he's in the stomach!"

"Maybe he got caught with all this stuff," Donald said. "Or he fell down one of these other holes."

A rush of cold air split through the humid throat. Hikaru spun around, raising her staff as her heart skipped a beat. "Heartless!"

"In here?!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy turned to see the strange ghost-like creatures hovering around with eyeballs hanging out of their sockets. There had to be more than a dozen of them, brandishing their claws as they closed in, and more and more began to appear in swirls of darkness.

"That is a lot of Heartless," Sora said, taking a step back as a Large Body appeared.

"Looks like Monstro's got some parasites." Hikaru grimaced. "No wonder he's so angry."

"We gotta lead them away from Gepetto," Goofy said.

"Right!" They broke into a run, heading straight for the nearest tunnel, fast enough to avoid the Heartless but slow enough to hold their attention. Goofy used his shield to fend off the ones that managed to catch up while Hikaru, Sora, and Donald blasted off spells to keep them at bay.

Then Hikaru turned back around, facing forward, lowering her hand and shaking off the cold air that clung to her fingers. A moment later, her eyes widened. "Wait, wait!" Hikaru stumbled, Donald crashing into her back and knocking her off of her feet as they came barreling out of the tunnel. All that awaited them was a cliff, and the only thing beyond was— "Stop! Slow!"

It was like charging straight into a wall of molasses. For a split second, their movements slowed, momentum brought nearly to a halt, giving them just enough time to see the steep drop beyond the edge of the fleshy cliff. The wide room stretched out in all directions, with countless tunnel openings and lonely ledges scattered along the pulsating walls. Barrels lay scattered all over the place, the wood stained and peeling.

The spell faded, and Hikaru backed away as quickly as she could from the cliff, all but gasping for air. "Oh, gods!" She couldn't even see the bottom of that gorge.

"Oh, man," Sora said, slumping to the ground. "Close call…"

"Having a little trouble, Sora?" a familiar voice came from above. "I thought that these guys would be no problem for you now that you have the Keyblade."

Hikaru froze at the same moment Sora's head jerked up. That voice… They spun around to see Riku standing on a ledge above their heads, Pinocchio at his side, safe and sound, if a little shaken.

"Riku?" Hikaru said, her voice scraping against her throat, hardly louder than a whisper.

"What are you doing here?!" Sora exclaimed.

"Picking up your slack, it seems," Riku said, his lips pressed into an expression that wasn't quite a smirk or a scowl.

"No! You know what I mean. What about Kairi? Did you find her?"

Riku shook his head. "I think you have other problems to worry about right now," he said, pulling out his sword just as the Heartless came stampeding out from the tunnel.

"Whoa!" Hikaru stumbled back out of the way as the Shadows, Soldiers, Large Bodies, and newly dubbed Search Ghosts spilled out onto the ledge. She landed against one of the barrels, wincing at the dull pain spreading through her elbow before lashing out with her staff. "Slow!" she cried, slowing down the Heartless at the mouth of the tunnel for just a few seconds, enough time to clog up the flow. But then she saw Goofy jolt as he pointed at her.

"Behind you!"

Hikaru turned around just as the barrel sprouted a set of wiry insect legs and reared back to lunge. "Uh-oh!" She drove out of the way, hitting the ground hard, the smell of sulfur flooding her nose.

Then the Barrel Spider exploded.

The explosion reverberated through the room, a concussive boom that ripped into her ears and rattled her down to her bones. Her knees gave out under her, a muted scream cracking and dying in her throat as she clamped her hands over her ears. Something wet dripped down her arm, but she couldn't—

Too much, too much, too much—

Shadows spilling through the broken window. Shadows rising up from the sand and ocean waves. A bolt of lightning that ripped through the sky.

The roar of thunder as the world fell apart.

The explosion faded into a sharp hum that cut through the muffled sounds of battle around her. Her vision swam, pain pulsing in her head, under her skull, behind her temples. She vomited, hands dropping to the ground as her whole body folded onto itself, overwhelmed by an uncontrollable trembling. Her right arm throbbed, burned, her nerves screaming with pain. She couldn't understand why. She tried to reach for the source of the pain, but all she could think of was that sound that wouldn't stop echoing in her skull.

"Hikaru!" Someone stepped in front of her as a Soldier came sprinting in her direction. The clank of metal and the sound of a blade ripping through the body of the Heartless were muffled in her ears, and she could only make out colors swimming through her watering eyes. Silver, yellow, and blue. "Get up!" Riku's mouth moved, but to her, the world sounded like her head had been submerged in water.

She blinked rapidly and tried to stand, but her legs had lost all feeling and her arms refused to move. Her heart pounded, painful in her chest, and she could feel the room beginning to close in on her, squeezing, suffocating. She could see the blurry images of Sora, Donald, and Goofy fending off the Heartless swarm, and she tightened her grip on her staff, but she couldn't move.

"LOOK OUT!" Sora shouted. He jumped back, eyes wide and gleaming with fear as three more barrels snapped out their legs and threw themselves forward.

The barrels exploded, and she felt herself flying over the edge of the cliff.

"Shut up. Just leave me alone. This is all your fault."

She plummeted through the darkness like plunging into the cold and empty sea. The air remained trapped in her lungs. Her limbs refused to move. Every inch of her body was numb. She forced open her eyes, catching only a glimpse of light before she slammed down on her back onto the glass platform at the bottom of the darkness.

Green like the grass. Red like the sunset. Sparkling with the golden gleam of two dozen four-pointed stars.

The glass began to crack beneath her, but she felt no pain.

"Giving up now?" The voice whispered into her ear, voiceless, personless. "Aren't you stronger than that?"

Then Yui was there, kneeling down beside her, trailing a finger along the cracks that split one of the stars. "Aren't you going to save us?"

Hikaru said nothing. She lay at the foot of a leafless tree, surrounded by a ring of fallen stars, staring with a blank expression. Yui watched, green eyes glowing like lights in the shadows. Then she turned away, drawing back and disappearing soundlessly into the darkness beyond the glass station.

Hikaru lay there, silent, motionless. A moment passed, and she heard a woman singing.

… We'll soar into the twilit sky

Above the crystal walls

And sail across the shining stars

Beyond the distant rising falls…

Her fingers twitched.

"This is just perfect…"

Pain shot through Hikaru's back and right arm. She could feel herself moving, half-standing and half-dragged. She forced her eyes open, feeling them peel apart like wet glue and blinking away the blurriness in her vision. Where was she? What happened? All she knew was that her arm felt like it was burning, that the air was uncomfortably hot, and that whatever her head was resting up against, it was silver and had a faint smell to it, a combination of dry earth and the mustiness of some place dark and quiet. Somehow it was familiar.

She stopped moving when she realized that her left arm was slung around someone's shoulders, and that this someone was struggling to pull her limp body around. She stumbled, regaining the sensations in her feet, and looked up.

"You're awake," Riku said, coming to a stop.

"What happened?" she muttered, words slurring as she tried to shake away the haze. Her throat was sore and dry, and her mouth tasted sour.

"Hold on." Riku helped her over to the side so that she could lean against the wall and slide to the ground to rest. The muscles in her body cried out in pain—and then sighed with relief. She raked a hand through her hair, shutting her eyes until lights began to flash behind her eyelids. When she opened them, she saw the water bottle being offered to her in a gloved hand.

"Thank you," she mumbled, taking the bottle from Riku and downing half of it in a single gulp. She coughed, turning her head away, her stomach churning as the lukewarm water washed down her throat. She waited until she was sure she wasn't going to throw up, and then she took a slow and shaky breath.

"Better?" Riku asked. He stood beside her, arms hanging awkwardly at his side as he looked down at her.

"Y-yes. Thank you." Hikaru took another breath, stronger this time. Her head was getting clearer.

Riku nodded slowly, and then gestured at her. "I hope you don't mind," he said. "I just grabbed whatever bandages you had in your bag."

Her gaze dropped down to right arm. It looked swollen, and her entire forearm had been bound, wrapped loosely in a long strip of gauze. She touched the bandages with her fingertips, just the lightest prod, and immediately cringed at the pain that shot out from the inner side of her arm.

"You got hurt in that explosion," Riku explained. "It didn't look too bad, but I thought it would be better to wrap it up."

Hikaru tested the motion of her hand. Well, her fingers still worked, at least. "What happened?"

"You tell me," Riku said. "You just froze up while all those Heartless attacked." There was a sharpness in his voice that made her recoil. "We got blasted off the cliff when those walking kegs of gunpowder exploded."

Hikaru hesitated. "What about Sora, and Donald, and Goofy? And Pinocchio?"

"What about them?" Riku snapped. Then he shook his head, shaking away that sudden irritation and replacing it with something quiet and tired. "They're probably okay. They didn't fall as far as we did," he said, rubbing his head.

She watched him as he moved to sit down across from her, and she noticed how he cringed as he bent over. Had he gotten hurt in the fall? Or was it from the Heartless? She clenched her fists as tightly as she could, nails digging into the skin of her palms, anger boiling up in the pit of her stomach. Anger at the Heartless. Anger at the whale. Anger at Riku. Anger at herself.

What is wrong with me? she thought. Why does this keep happening? You freeze up, you let your friends fight while you sit and watch… She couldn't help being angry at herself. Just like she was still mad that she'd been unconscious while Jasmine was…

"I'm sorry," she all but spat out as she jammed her hand into her bag to check for broken glass and spilled liquids. Her fingers closed around a cool glass bottle, still in one piece, and her shoulders sank down. "… I keep messing up," she added in a lower voice.

Riku said nothing, only stared, a silence that quenched some of her anger. Hikaru shifted, suddenly uncomfortable under his gaze. She tossed him the bottle, and his focus was broken by a look of surprise.

"It's a potion," she said.

"I know what it is," he said, but he still seemed uncertain somehow.

Hikaru pulled out another potion—her last, she was disheartened to find out. And she didn't have enough energy left to use a Cure spell. Just her luck, Donald had the other ethers. "Drink it," she said before tipping back her own bottle and chugging down the warm medicine. She saw, out of the corner of her eye, Riku do the same.

He coughed and cleared his throat, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. "Thanks," he said, an awkward tone hanging in the air.

Hikaru did her best to shrug. "Neither of us are any use hurt. Feeling better?"

"I should be asking you that," Riku said. "You're the one who passed out." He pushed himself up, rubbing his side before he approached her again, holding out a hand. "Come on, let's go before the Heartless find us."

As much as she didn't want to move, Hikaru nodded, grabbing his wrist and letting him pull her back to her feet. She used her staff as a walking stick, limping after him until they were walking side-by-side. The potion was beginning to work, but her body still ached. Exhaustion, panic, the throb of her right arm… She glanced around at the pulsating walls around them, wondering what sort of bacteria lurked in the slime and mucus.

"It's not your fault," Riku said after a long period of listening only to the squelching of their footsteps against the fleshy ground. There was a hesitation in his voice, uneasy and awkward. It was a complete turnaround from his irritation before, and it caught her off-guard. "What happened back there… It wasn't your fault. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said. "Surprised I'm still alive, but could be worse." I could be alone down here. I could be dead. He continued watching her, unconvinced. Eventually she conceded, opening her mouth to speak, but it took her a moment to find her voice. "It's just… Ever since everything happened, I've had a problem with sounds," she said. "Certain sounds. Like thunder, or those exploding barrels. I guess it got worse after that night on the island."

"After the island," Riku repeated before falling silence once more. "… But have you been… okay, lately?" he finally asked.

"More or less," Hikaru said, unwilling to think of what happened in Agrabah, the incident that haunted her in her sleep. "We've had a rough last few days, but…" She shook her head. "You'd know that if you came along, Riku. Why'd you run off?"

He shrugged and didn't answer for a moment. "I know when I'm not wanted."

"What? No. Why would you…? Is it because of what Donald said?" she asked, recalling that day in Traverse Town. Oh, yes, her annoyance flared up again. "Don't listen to him, he's just a grump. Probably upset because of Sora or something…" Though, thinking back, she hadn't done much to help his mood either. "We've been worried about you."

"Really?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Duh," she said. "We… Well… I was worried," she said, looking down. Sora had been confident that Riku would be alright, and he hadn't been wrong. She just never expected that they'd run into each other in the digestive tract of a whale of all places.

"Huh, figures," Riku muttered. But in his next step, he regained some of the usual swagger she'd come to expect from him. "You don't have to worry about me. I can take care of myself."

"Oh, I can believe that," Hikaru said. "Why were you even here in the first place, though? We got shipwrecked because Monstro swallowed us. You don't have a ship, do you?"

"No, I have my own method of travel," Riku said.

"What kind?"

A twitch at his lips. "I can't spill all my secrets, can I?"

"Fine, don't tell me." Hikaru huffed and pouted, but then she shook her head. She didn't have the energy to pry. "Can you at least tell me why you were in here?"

"I was looking for information," Riku said.

"About Kairi?"

"Yeah… About Kairi."

"Any luck so far?" Hikaru asked.

"Maybe. Not sure yet."

"Do you need any help?"

"Hmm…" He paused, looking at her and contemplating. "Maybe. We'll see," he said. "In the meantime, it might be best to get some rest. It's late and you look like you need it."

"Brilliant—sleeping inside a giant whale. Well, I can cross that off of my bucket list," she said.

He chuckled. "You too? Come on, we can probably throw together some shelter with the crates lying around."

"As long as we stay away from the barrels."

"We did have a watermelon," Hikaru said as she tossed Riku the bag of dried persimmons and pomegranates, "but I didn't want to lug it around, so I left in in the ship. This is all I have on me."

With their makeshift shelter of crates and cloth finished, the two of them had settled down on an old tarp to rest. For a while they just chatted—mostly Hikaru talking about all the things that she'd gotten up to with Sora and the others—but hunger had begun to set in not long after. "Well, it's better than nothing," Riku said, popping one of the fruits into his mouth. It was sweet and a little sour, the flavor stabbing into his tongue and making his mouth water. Not bad. "Plus, if you did bring a watermelon, it'd probably be smashed by now."

"Yeah," Hikaru said. "But it would have been a good projectile to use against the Heartless."

"Right, I'm sure a food fight would be a very effective battle strategy," Riku said.

"Shut up," Hikaru said, cheeks flushing. "Have you ever gotten hit by one of those things? Shit hurts."

"And how would you know that?" Riku asked.

"My brothers are idiots."

She said it with such a deadpan stare that Riku couldn't help it—he broke out into wild laughter. He clutched his stomach, stuck like that for a few moments before he managed to lean back against the wall of their shelter and wipe the tears from his eyes. But when he looked up again, he saw Hikaru's pout, and he had to stifle his remaining chuckles.

Hikaru shushed him. "You're going to attract the Heartless."

"Sorry, sorry. That was just a great mental image." It had been a while since he'd laughed like that.

"And what about you?" she asked, her cheeks still red. "I'm sure you've had some embarrassing stories, especially considering you've known Sora for years."

"Oh, where to start?" Riku said. "Kairi's birthday last year, for sure. Sora thought it would be a good idea to bake her a cake. Getting butter and cake batter out of your hair is a pain in the ass."

"Especially with your gorgeous locks, eh?" Hikaru said. "Though, how exactly did that happen?"

"Food fights may not be an effective battle strategy, but apparently we have them anyway," Riku replied.

"Did you at least make the cake?"

"Yeah. Well, what was left of it, anyway."

"Ohh… I could go for cake right now," Hikaru said, leaning back. "Red velvet with buttercream frosting. It's been ages since I had any…"

"Sounds like you have a sweet tooth," Riku said.

"Yeah. Don't you?"

He shrugged. "Dessert's alright. I prefer pie over cake."

"Hmm… Apple? Or, no, chocolate haupia?"

Riku was surprised. "How'd you guess?"

"Second thing that came to mind," she said. "My mom knows how to make an amazing chocolate haupia pie… What I wouldn't give for a bite of that right now…" She chewed thoughtfully on a persimmon.

"Any sign of your family yet?" he asked after a moment.

"No," Hikaru said, sighing. "We've been so busy, locking Keyholes, fighting off Heartless… But there's still no sign of them. I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever find them." She tapped her fingers against her staff. "Sometimes I feel like… Like I'm not trying hard enough."

"But you are," Riku said. For some reason, his throat tightened. "You would do anything to find them, wouldn't you?"

"I guess," she said. "I just have to keep telling myself that, right?" She gave a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "I hope I find them soon," she went on, stifling a yawn. "Them and Kairi…"

"You should get some sleep," he said. "You look pretty much dead right now."

"I have a hard time sleeping on the ship—I don't think the whale is going to be much better." But she pulled her hood up over her head and slumped back against the crates anyway. "Are you going to be alright keeping watch?"

"Yeah, yeah, just go to sleep already," he said, nudging her leg with his shoe.

"Mm… And don't try anything funny," she added, eyes narrowing on him from under her hood. He felt his heart skip a beat, wondering if somehow she knew what he was planning… But then he saw humor in her expression. "Last time we had a sleepover, you scared the crap out of me. Multiple times."

"What can I say? You're just too easily frightened."

"And you're a jackass," Hikaru said with a light smile. It eased some of his apprehension, and he kept an eye on her as she lowered her head and slowed her breathing. Only when he was sure she was asleep did he released a long, drawn-out sigh.

He was wasting time here. He could have just used a portal to get back to searching for that puppet—he'd so stupidly lost track of him during that battle—but he couldn't leave Hikaru alone in a place like this. And if what Maleficent said was right, trying to bring Hikaru through a dark portal back to the mouth of the whale where it was safer would knock her out… or worse.

Well, it was nice to talk and laugh with someone again, at least. He'd been unsure of what Hikaru thought of him after everything that had happened, but the way they'd been speaking, it was like they'd never separated—like he'd never left. Smiling, laughing, joking… She'd been worried about him, which honestly surprised him.

He crossed his arms and clenched his fists at his sides. That was better than could be said about Sora, he thought bitterly. Some best friend. While Sora and his ridiculous gang of new friends were off sightseeing and participating in tournaments and acting like hotshot heroes, Riku had been doing everything he could do find Kairi. And now that he'd found her…

I need to get the puppet.

A/N: Something has shifted...

Things have gone wrong very quickly in Monstro. The adventure will continue in the next chapter.

This chapter is among one of my favorites so far. Not that different in terms of overall plot for the world, but still with a lot of sequences I really enjoyed writing. What did you think of it?

Thanks for reading!