Two Introverts and a really weird cat
Chapter 1: There's worse fates out there (it's like, whatever)
Naminé's been living with Kairi ever since she came back from the dead, and things are good. Somewhat.
Everything on Destiny Islands is so loud and bright that Naminé, who grew up in ivory halls with nothing inside, finds herself overwhelmed. Just a little.
So, because Sora's voice is friendly but also very very loud and Kairi has an arm around her shoulder and there's waves lapping at her feet and people talking everywhere, Naminé excuses herself as politely as possible, walking away just slowly enough you can't accuse her of running.
Once she is out of sight of anyone who might force her to speak (her brain would explode currently explode at that task) she breaks into a sprint to the little cave Sora told her about sometime, the Secret Place.
Dark, still, and perfectly empty while everyone's partying.
Well, not empty, because there's a very alive thing staring at her with bright red eyes.
Vanitas has been pretty tired for a while now.
He kinda tagged along with Sora for, oh, thirteen or so years, so when the idiot went and shattered himself into a million tiny pieces for a month, Vanitas got forcibly evicted.
Which should've been good, except for the teeny-tiny problem that putting yourself together in a pinch takes a whole lot of effort. Leading to the leftovers responsible for creating his shadowy physical form spitting out one measly Flood.
If that's not embarresing enough, the powers that be slammed him on Destiny Islands of all places. Dark Corridors are out of the question in his current state, which left him to mope and gather strenght in this dinky cave for a month.
He lets out a sigh and stretches on his moss bed (that took way too much effort to make) and stares at the cave's entrance. Trying to imagine what beings of light get up to in their free time Is making him a little miffed. People don't actually throw parties for fun, right? Sounds like a lie to Vanitas.
Of course, miffed as he is, some blonde girl he's never seen waltzing into the space he's claimed pisses him off just a bit.
Naminé squeaks and shies back as the creature of darkness (for what else coud it be) glowers at her with the intensity of a thousand suns or something equally dramatic.
Considering she came here to not hyperventilate in public, her heart skipping one more beat surely doesn't make a difference.
"H-Hey, th-there, sm-little guy," Naminé stammers, though one needs to add a dozen more syllables to truly convey the extent of her anxiety. "Mmind if I, uh, sit with you?"
The creature stands up on its long limbs while Naminé starts seeing spots from surprise, only to sit back down on its bed, this time turning its back toward her.
Naminé accepts the silent invitation.
She shuffles toward the big door with this world's heart beneath it. Her legs refuse to hold her any longer and she slides to the groung, a drawn-out screech sounding from her sneakers against the smooth stone floor.
A low growl comes from the creatures direction.
"S-sorry."
Welp, the girl is here now. Driving her off will make her call the people capable of erasing his miserable existence, so.
Speaking of miserable existence, that girl's not exactly sunshine herself. Sure, she's pretty balanced as far as dark and light goes, but he can pretty much smell her fear from here. What's there to even be afraid of? Vanitas is self-aware enough to know he's pathetically weak at the moment.
Her shuddering breaths keep echoing off the walls and its grating.
So, Vanitas faces two options.
Option a) get her to leave. Impossible without alerting the keybrats to his continued existence.
Leaving Option b) get her to stop hyperventilating.
He rises from his bed once more, edging closer to the gloomy girl with small, measured steps.
She breathes in sharply at his approach. Her eyes widen as she shakes, trapped in a corner with no way of defense.
Huh, I'm still intimidat- Vanitas trips on a rock.
He trips on a rock because of his stupid long Flood legs and the girl has the audacity to giggle at him.
At least she's not hyperventilating anymore. And no, wait, what is she-
she pets his head. Her continued laughter makes Vanitas head spin. He doesn't…. not like this feeling. It's strange. Weird and disgusting.
He's somehow.. whole in this moment. He's never done this before, has he? Made someone happy?
And a few moments of fooling around later, Riku bursts in, a dark blade drawn and pointed at Vanitas.
The Riku Replica, known as Repliku (much to his disdain), looks about the party and sees that Naminé's run off again. He can understand, yes, but he also knows that she'll sit in some corner alone for an hour because asking for help is scary.
Ever since Repliku returned from the past and got out of Riku's heart for real this time, he's just been… hanging out on Destiny never imagined feeling anything resembling anything gratefulness for his creator, but… weird things happen sometimes. Weird things like being still alive thanks to the guy.
Riku, who is so understanding and considerate of his feelings it's a bit insuffrable, let Repliku stay at his house. He gets to visit his best (and maybe only) friend Naminé often enough with this arrangement, which is nice, he guesses
If anymore people at school called them Mini-Riku, though, someone'll get a broken nose.
Right now, there's a party going on and he glances at Naminé in each spare é doesn't do groups that well.
It's only natural for him to follow when she excuses herself with a panicked look on her face.
A reminder of a past conversation flashes through Repliku's head. "Overprotective," Riku had told him. 's not his fault that everyone used to treat her like garbage. A promise is a promise, fake or not, and Naminé deserves to be protected.
Even if it's from herself.
This kid's not gonna leave Naminé alone somewhere when she's definetly about to have a panic attack.
Tracking her across the Play Island proves an easy feat, considering half of it is out of the question for being the Party Zone™ and the beach is devoid of her striking blonde hair.
Which leaves the Secret Place (that's not really secret) where a panicked girl can catch a cold from sitting on the stone floor too long.
He stomps through the tunnel leading to the cave. The temperature between the tree roots is warmer than expected, but still chilly in the evening air.
What's that noise coming from the cave?
There's some.. sputtering, yowling noise up ahead.
Repliku dashes ahead, Soul Eater at the ready. The cave is close and his steps are wide; he reaches Naminé within seconds.
Inside, he hesitates, Naminé laughs, holding a creature of darkness to her chest.
Naminé 's smile falls once she sees Repliku inside.
"W-Wait!"
Soul Eater clatters to the floor with her shout. She hugs the thing closer.
"He's friendly, I promise!" She holds it up by the armpits (or whatever amounts for those with its shadowy anatomy) and even Repliku can admit, its indignant expression as its legs stretch all the way to the floor is kinda funny.
"What even is that?" Repliku spits out, one hand pointing accusingly, the other open to resummon his blade.
Naminé throws her arms around it (him?) again, and pouts. It's good that she's calmed down, though the thing is suspicious despite its apparent help. "He's my friend now and I won't let you hurt him!"
Please don't say you want to keep it, Repliku thinks.
She charges her puppy-dog eyes and his resolve quivers already.
"Can we keep him?"
Vanitas regrets cheering up this girl. She's been petting him for a minute or two, and it's horrible. Totally.
He spots Riku No.2 eyeing his sleek blue fur. Since surviving up to this point wasn't that high on his agenda in the first place, Vanitas nudges Repliku's hand. Repliku lights up and pets Vanitas' head. Disgusting.
Maybe, though he loathes to admit it, some company might be better than rotting away in this cave any longer. No matter how much his dignity suffers.
Life's just, whatever anyways. If you never thought you'd make it this far, why not let fate carry you along a bit further?
AN: hello and welcome to Two Introverts and a Really Weird Cat, the second installment of the AI stands for Adventure Incoming verse, this time featureing my favourite losers. This thing currently has.. 11? chapters out, and I'll upload all of them on here sometime, at least once a week until here's all caught up. Hope you enjoyed!