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Insidiae Shoutouts: All the ppls who're supporting me even now- more recently: Ex-sama, trueheart, phantazy, rem-chan, im-35 & tiger. I made a lil sumf'n fer all you guys. ^_^ http://www.boomspeed.com/akewataru/waii.jpg Uh...
sorry... I was a dufus and I forgot to draw in his chain & pocket.
Hope you don't mind. ^_^. Chapter
4 : Sora shot to his feet and listened to the (somewhat) systematic breathing of his two friends. He stepped over their packs, careful not to make any noise loud enough to wake them, and headed out into the black forest without the slightest idea of where he was going. Something had touched his shoulder earlier. After waking from the dream, he had been too restless to distinguish whether it was real or not, but a light entered his vision. It sped off into the night into a random direction leaving a speechless Sora alone in the dark to wonder whether or not he should follow. Both his curiosity and his need for resolution won over and he sprinted forward into the night. His dream was immediately pushed to the back of his mind. It wasn't important anymore. If anything, it was only a warning to him to watch his back. As far as he was concerned, Ansem try to pull him down into the darkness all he wanted. He'd fight until the end. He hit the ground when his foot caught on an uplifted root. He hit the dirt with an indignant, 'Ooph!' He had to sit a moment after getting the wind knocked out of him, but the painful scrapes on his knees only made him want to run faster. He pulled himself up and started off again, with an even greater need to catch the light. The light was darting back and forth about a hundred yards in front of him, and he didn't want to lose sight of it. Chasing after the light shouldn't be so hard… he thought unconsciously. His labored breathing was the only thing he could hear besides the deafening silence of the forest around him. Their arms seemed to reach out in an attempt to snatch his limbs, but he swatted them aside hoping not to let his imagination run away with him. He heard barking up ahead that caused him to become slightly more conscious. "Pluto?" he asked himself and stopped. Pluto was running after it too? What if the light turned out to be something dangerous- would something happen to Pluto? The questions only drove Sora on faster as he broke into a much harder run. Sora wasn't sure how long he had run after the bead of light, but the moment it reached a clearing, it fizzled out into nothing. He came to an abrupt halt and took the time to catch his breath. He never knew how tired was until he had stopped. The moonlight didn't filter through the tops of the trees, a circle of foliage around the clearing reaching to grasp at each other. This crushed Sora's hope for the light of the moon illuminating his way and he cursed when he felt the familiar flood of fear creep into the back of his mind. He hated being afraid. He had been through too much just to be afraid of a bunch of shadows. He didn't know which was worse, fighting real shadows, or fighting the harmless ones that loved to wreak havoc inside his own mind. He pulled out his keyblade when he felt some kind of animal brush up against his right leg. He drew back his weapon and nearly attacked it before his common sense kicked in. "Pluto? Is that you, boy?" he asked. He heard an affirmative hum from the animal and he sighed in relief. "Pluto, oh man…You scared me good…I was right about to take a jab at you with my keyblade." Pluto gave a surprised yelp and he growled in protest. Sora reached out searchingly with his hands and held on to Pluto's collar. His adrenaline was already rushing through his veins and he couldn't stop the slight shaking that ran all throughout his arms. Holding on to Pluto was all he could do from keeping them from trembling. "Don't leave me, Pluto. Stick with me. I'm starting to really regret coming out here. I don't trust this place. I don't know why I rushed out here alone in the first place, but I know it probably wanted us out here alone for a reason. …" A twig snapped and Sora whipped around to look in the direction, knowing very well his eyesight was useless. He opened his mouth to say a few words of comfort to Pluto, but he stopped when cold lips brushed up against his ear and whispered, "Of course." Sora froze against the odd sensation. Cold, but comforting arms reached around his neck from behind in an affectionate embrace. Pluto growled, sensing Sora's posture even in the darkness. "It's all right." Its slender fingers traced an invisible line down Sora's cheek. "What are you …" Sora asked quietly. He was ever so glad of the Keyblade's presence within his fingers. It gave him the illusion of safety at arm's length. "A messenger from one who holds the thread of your destiny," it said. It's a woman, thought Sora as it continued to whisper messages delicately into his ear. "You need not know who I am. Only what I have come to tell you." Sora held his breath. "I'm listening," Sora dared to say. Pluto's growling ceased and he raced off to an unknown destination. Sora only watched his shadowy silhouette disappear from his already worthless sight. At first, the words that left her mouth sounded foreign and Sora had to strain his ears to make sure it wasn't English. Her words, though, had a metallic ping that rang loudly in Sora's ears. And they beat with a rhythm that Sora knew he wouldn't forget any time soon. As if someone had suddenly flipped on a switch inside his head, the gibberish had started to make sense. Sora let his keyblade slip from his fingers and he let the voice envelop him, "The journey will be hard. The losses will be great. The pain. Sorrow. And hate. Emotions that you must overcome for your dreams and your destiny to be fulfilled. But as for… regret…. Just never forget that whomever you chose to be in the past is who you are now. There is no such thing as time. There was no yesterday. There is no tomorrow. There is only today. Only now." She paused, allowing the words to sink into him. "Who you choose to be in the future is who you are now." "I don't understand," said Sora. The arms around his shoulders slipped away and he turned around to find the glowing form of a mysterious young woman. Her pale skin gave off the faintest traces of a blue glow. "What's going to happen to us? Happen to me? Why am I having these dreams, visions? Do you know what's-" he stopped. The amused expression of her face as an obvious indication that she had no intention of answering him. "There are many forces at work here, keyblade master. I am but an unimportant character in the tapestry of your journey. Just a messenger… but I hold one of the most important messages of all: Don't fall into the darkness." Sora nodded, hating the suggestions of her warning. Everyone is telling me that I'm going to fall… he thought, clenching his fist tighter around his weapon. The faerie laughed, "Sora," she whispered. "Sora!" He blinked. Another voice was meshing with hers- almost as if she never had a voice of her own. Sora rushed after her fading image. "Why me!?" he asked. But it was to no avail. Her figure was gone. Goofy and Donald's voices instead, took her place in the air, calling his name from afar. He snapped to attention and made his way towards the rustling of his searching companions. Pluto's barking could be heard as well and Sora smiled to himself, knowing that Pluto had indefinitely gone for help. Pluto would never abandon him. "Sora, are you okay? Pluto came rushing back to camp barking up a storm," Goofy spoke. Something crashed into his stomach and licked his face madly once he was on his back. He didn't bother to get up to answer. "Yeah- I'm fine," said Sora, a bit woozy from Pluto's tackle. It was several licks later that Pluto realized that he was the reason that Sora wasn't getting up. He jumped off the poor boy and waited for him to sit up before he proceeded to fawn over him once more. Donald stepped forward and cast a small fire spell. The orange flame floated inches above his wand, illuminating the infuriated face of its owner. "What do you think you're doing out here all alone!? Do you know how irresponsible that was!? And what if something had happened to you, what do you think we'd be able to do about it!?" he cried. Donald caught his breath shortly after his small outburst. It made Sora laugh hearing the duck's deep breaths. They resembled very much the sound that a mangled old car and its horn would make as it sputtered to life. "You think this is funny!?" "N-no," Sora chuckled, "It's not that. I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have gone out here all by myself. But you know, I didn't go alone… because- I had Pluto to protect me." He said quickly and smiled with the infamous grin that people had come to know him for. He patted Pluto's head and Pluto nodded affirmatively. Donald sighed, "Hilarious, Sora. Hilarious… just why'd you come out here anyway? There's nothing out here but a bunch of trees, moss and overgrown weeds." He brushed off some stray leaves resting on his shoulder for emphasis. Sora turned to look back into the forest as if Donald's mention of his reason would make the girl appear again. The empty silence answered his question and he forced himself to return his attention to Donald and Goofy. "I had a dream," said Sora. "A dream?" asked Goofy. "What does a dream have to do in all this?" Sora nodded. "Yeah, a dream…. I think Ansem's not completely gone." As Sora expected, the two of them immediately jumped in their respective places with an indignant, "What!?" Donald, in fact, was so shocked that his fire spell blinked out of existence for a few moments. "That's exactly what I thought, myself. But I fought him in my dream and he threw my keyblade into a cliff. I wasn't able to stop him and he told me that as long as some shadow guy exists that I'll never defeat Ansem. I just don't get it." He felt a small pang of guilt. He didn't dare tell them that he let Ansem throw his keyblade into the cliff. That part of his dream belonged to him and him alone. "And then, when I woke up, Pluto and I spotted something in the forest and we both ran after it." "Did you find out what it was?" asked Donald. Pluto turned to Sora worriedly as he replied, "Naw…It was too fast. We didn't catch it." Riku shuffled in his uncomfortably loose outfit. He was using another set of borrowed clothing and he literally had to hold up his pants to keep them from falling down. The sleeves were several inches past his wrist, making it that much harder to hold onto his clothing. "I'm not going outside like this," he said flatly, earning a round of laughter from both Ria and her mother, Helen. Riku wasn't amused, He only glared at the both of them. The only reason he was trying anything on at all was because his own clothes were drying outside. "These aren't clothes… they're blankets stitched together with thread and duck-tape." "I'm sorry, dear, I'm afraid I don't have anything smaller that will fit you. Everything else is Ria's and I doubt that you'd be able to fit into one of her dresses," said Helen. Ria darted outside temporarily to grab more clothes from her brother's drawers. The three of them were inside of her mother's room where they were giving Riku things to try on. "I'll have to hurt you if you force me into a dress," Riku said a little blunt. But Helen could detect the small amount of warmth Riku had worked into his own words. Helen laughed and wrapped a sash around his waist. "Here. Let's try this. At least if we have nothing smaller, we can just tie this around the shirt and make it fit. You can roll up the sleeves and it should look somewhat normal…And that takes care of you for now. …SO," Helen said while tying the sash's ends into a knot. "Where's your little mouse friend?" "Who Mickey?" Helen pushed up her glasses and nodded. She stepped back to look Riku over. "He's probably out throwing himself into some books. He hasn't really told me what he's looking for, but I think it has something to do with what we were talking about the other day." "About the relics, right?" She said, knowingly. Riku nearly tripped over his own foot. "W-what… how did you…?" "The walls here are like paper. If anyone's in the room next to yours, you can hear their other's every word. It's been a little inconvenient, but the four of use have learned to live with it. Anyways, interesting … quest… you two are on…" she said as if she was discussing what was for lunch. Riku, tactful as he was, couldn't figure out to say at that point, so he just let Helen carry the conversation for the both of them. He sort of expected her to be a little bit more… depressed… when she found out about their reason for traveling. "It's been a really long time since something exciting has happened around here. This is a pretty peaceful place. Ironically enough, before the heartless came, Ria was talking about just how boring a town this was," she told him. "Can we do something about my pants? I think they're going to fall down any minute now," Riku said in a low murmur. His arms were already beginning to become sore and they weren't going to stand for being ignored for any longer. Helen brushed a stray bang out of her face as Ria finally returned with a smaller pair of pants. Helen left the room for a bit for Riku to change but it wasn't long before Riku walked outside with moderately fitting clothing. "It looks good," she said. Helen tapped his nose in approval and Riku found himself incredibly uncomfortable in her presence. Strangers tended not act so close to him for one reason or another. The only people whom Riku had ever found to be so open and accepting of his somewhat selfish nature at first meetings were Sora and Kairi. The fact that his parents were strangers didn't mean they were abusive. It was just that they tended to be away from the house so often that Riku never had a chance to bond with them as much as he wished he could. When it came to his parents, conversation was few and far in between- so having some stranger fawning over him like a mother was a bit of a shock. So foreign… he thought. But.. it's still so… so… "And it's also been a while since Ria got attached to someone so quickly. I haven't seen her this happy in a long time," said Helen, watching her daughter run around the living room in her own world. …so warm… "I can still remember what it was like to be a child. Things are so simple for children aren't they, Riku?" Riku laughed coldly at her hopeful outlook. How could someone like her possibly know anything about what the real world was like? Riku hated to say it, but Helen was the kind of person who had stayed home all her life- never really seen the world. She didn't quite grasp the concept that perhaps the world wasn't as wonderful and care-free as people said it was. I should know… I lead the heartless, myself. "Naïve…. I was naïve back then," he said, his gaze magnetically drawn to the six year old as well. He crossed his arms and let his eyes fall closed as he sat down on a nearby chair. "There's nothing worse than growing up and realizing that there's a bigger world out there." Helen raised one of her eyebrows, seemingly offended, "But realizing you're a part of something bigger, more important, is something that should comfort you. Give you a reason for life. It makes you want to be important. Be something significant and play a part." She argued, but her voice was much to soft to enforce the strong message that laced her words. "That's true. But you can't ignore the fact that once you find out there's something out there- You always end up wanting more than you have. So you do go. You see what's there. You realize. You regret. And it's when you finally find out that it's all just a bunch of lies your parents used to get rid of you- that you realize it's much too late to go back….I hate the real world. I'm going to get out of here as soon as possible. The whole world can go to hell for all I- " "Riku, dear…" Helen said, "…please do me a favor…" "Mm?" said Riku. Helen walked right up to the boy and began to straighten his shirt. Once again, Riku found himself feeling awkward again. It was an odd sense of guilt under the gentle act of kindness that rendered him unable to look at her straight in the eyes. "Could you please stay here a bit longer? I know you have places to go and things to do. But since the heartless came, she's been living in fear. If you're here, you can at least make her happy just for a little bit. Keep her mind on something other than fear and sadness…" Riku didn't answer. Anger welled up inside of his chest and he couldn't help but feel offended at what she was asking from him. What he did was his own business. Who was she to ask for such a thing? What Riku and Mickey were doing was not something they could put aside, even for the small amount of time that she was asking for. And he immediately felt the horrible need to lash back at her. But it dawned on Riku just why she was asking for such an unconventional favor. "The heartless took your son and your husband." Helen's eyes watered a moment, threatening to let tears slip down her face. Riku exhaled and refused to breath in. Now he'd done it. But to Riku's surprise, Helen only looked him straight in the face and smiled. The tears almost seemed to never have existed at all. She's a strong person. How can someone like me, who's been through hell, be weaker than someone who's only been through so little?? "I'm going to start making dinner pretty soon. Would you mind lending me a hand in the kitchen? I'm sorry, but we've got s shortage of hands around the house as of late." Riku fought to keep his voice indifferent and calm, "Naw. I did chores around the house all the time. It's nothing." "Oh and Riku… whatever you decide to do…thank you," she said to him. "For protecting the only love I have left." Riku, she lost her family you dipshit. You really are just a selfish bastard, he thought to himself and followed Helen into the kitchen. "Guy's we've been so cheated out of our money…" said Sora, sighing as he pushed around the coins on his palm. They were hardly enough to buy meals for a day, let alone a week. The long, dusty but still weed-infested path ahead caused all three to join in chorus of sighs. Donald looked down into his own hand where his share of the pay was. He popped the munny into his coin bag to stop himself from joining Sora in complaining. "We can't help it. We need the money and there's nothing else in town that we can do to earn it besides this." Goofy nodded. He ducked to avoid a low hanging tree branch on the side. "The only other thing was the shopping district where we were hired to help the vendors with their merchandise…but that didn't turn out so well." Donald and Sora grimaced as they recalled the not-so-professional fiasco they had caused in the market. Each one had to split up and look for work for the day. Sora had found the weapons shop, Donald had found a small fishing company and Goofy had found a restaurant. The day started out pretty well, but things just seemed to decline until the three met in their respective conditions. Sora had cuts all over his clothes and his arms because of several accidents that included many shelves falling over on him at once. Donald was soaked to the bone from accidentally being thrown over with the net. Finally, Goofy was covered in several layers of food that was actually starting to harden. No doubt Goofy wasn't the most agile person in the world, so it was pretty expected that not all his food would get to his customers safely. They had all made bad decisions, but it was refreshing when they all burst out into laughter upon seeing each other at the end of the day. The three of them were so rejuvenated by the reunion that they decided that perhaps they could take on one more job before the day was over. So things happened that they were heading over to the ruins once more to exterminate the last of the heartless. But this time, they were to descend down into some old tunnels that ran under the town itself. It was where most of the heartless were coming from and the three came to the conclusion that there might have been a nest of them in the network of paths. "So this is it, eh?" Donald said, running his fingers over the stone door that blocked their entrance into the tunnels. There was a small opening in the corner that would have allowed several heartless to escape the underground labyrinth, but Donald, Goofy and Sora had no chance whatsoever of fitting into the open section. Ancient designs were carved onto the stone and their intricate words were already fading away. Donald traced his fingers along the curves, "Look here… there's a red trinity. It might hurt a little bit, seeing as it's stone, but it's weather –worn so it shouldn't be as strong as it was when whoever made it first put this here." "Ah, It's fine. Shouldn't be a problem," said Sora. "We've had worse." The other two agreed and they walked back several steps before Donald made the first charge forward. Sora was next and he was followed closely by Goofy. They collided with the door and after a somewhat painful impact; the door fell forward with a loud crash. "Ow…" Muttered Sora, holding his head. "Maybe it really wasn't that easy to get in here after all." He laughed. His eyes followed the path down the dark tunnel and pulled out his Keyblade to light the way with. A flame glowed just above the edge of his keyblade and he smiled as it illuminated the hallway. Things had gotten so much easier in the past few years. He had invested countless hours to homing and refining his magic so that he could control the amounts that he was able to use. He had even stayed up nights, listening to the trees swaying and the wind slipping through the branches in an eerie choir of voices. He had spent long afternoons letting the ocean's waves glide over his feet. Nature played an undeniable role in contributing to his magic. And
so did mental well-being. He meditated several times a day, sometimes
even halting their progress altogether to calm any frayed nerves that
might disrupt his concentration during upcoming battles. As annoying as
Donald and Goofy may have found it, as time past, he found that he was
more and more able to control his unpredictable sentiments. "You really think anything's down here?" He said as he lead the way down the halls. Sora hated the silence. Even awkward conversation was enough to fill the void. Just as long as there was something there to keep his mind and his mouth busy. "Maybe," Goofy said, "It could be another false alarm though. We just have to be really careful because we don't know what's down here. For all we know, this place could have traps and all." "All that's down here are cobwebs and dust," Donald muttered, pulling off some stray spider webs that had stubbornly attached themselves to his cap. "I wouldn't be surprised if this was another bogus report. We've had our share of these already." Sora shrugged. Not that they couldn't complain. It wasn't that they were actually looking forward to stirring up some trouble, but it had been such a long time that Sora actually had gotten himself into a real fight. What he had encountered so far were far below his increasing abilities. So of course he was itching for a worthy fight. Something caught Goofy's eye and he motioned for them to stop, "Hmm, wait a sec…what's this?" Goofy reached out and tapped a small section of the wall to their right. Sora moved the light over to where Goofy had motioned. He spent a few seconds squinting in the dim light before he drew back in both fear and panic. "I – I think it's a switch!" Sora cried, "Goofy, don't touch it! You might set it off!" Donald and Goofy tensed. "You mean this place has traps after all!?" Donald said, stepping forward. Their hearts sunk as another click sounded beneath his foot. Donald laughed nervously and exchanged worried glances with Sora and goofy. "Ooooh this can't be good. Is that what I think it was?" Goofy nodded gravely. "Just what do we do? Any move we make can set off all kinds of stuff in here," Sora said, looking up and down the potentially dangerous tunnels ahead. "We can't just sit there though, some heartless may come while we're most vulnerable. And worst yet, they may set off some traps on their own!" Goofy waved his hands in front of them, grabbing their attention immediately. "Everybody calm down. I'm sure if we can think this through, we can get out of here in once piece," said Goofy. "What's there to think about!? Any step we make will probably end with us a few limbs short of when we started!" Donald said. "And besides, this thing under my foot isn't agreeing with thinking things through either. If I pick up my foot, it's over!" "Well, uh, if we're lucky, we can just get out of the way. Considering how old this place is, most likely, they're not as sensitive as they were when they were first built," Goofy suggested. "That's crazy!" said Sora. But he was cut off when a stone underneath Sora's foot gave away and he lost balance in an instant. He flailed about wildly, trying to grab at something, anything, to break his fall. His hand caught one of the old torches that lined the walls, but it gave away a few inches before stopping in place with a firm click. Another trap?! Sora's eye twitched. Three things happened consecutively. First, several arrows shot out of slits in a pillar beside Sora. He painfully contorted his arms and legs into an impossible position to avoid them. They in turn caught his shirt and trapped him against the wall. Secondly, Donald dove out of the way of a boulder that rolling out from a compartment that opened up on his right. He hit another switch on the floor that gave away as a fourth trap, and had to desperately grab at the sides of a trapdoor that opened beneath him. Thirdly, after letting out an indignant, "Haiye!" Goofy dodged three flying axes. The first embedded itself into his shield, penetrating two inches past its armored surface. The other two thankfully flew off in unknown directions. Needless to say, not one of them had the composure to gracefully recover from their respective situations, so they simply sat in relieved silence. "Okay. I think this is a little late… but I think we should take it slow…" muttered Sora, pulling out that arrows that held him up against the wall one-by-one. "Should we really keep going? I mean, what if one of us really gets hurt?" asked Goofy, "Is the money really worth it?" "Most definitely not! No money's worth the heck we'll have to go through to even walk a few more feet let alone a few more rooms. It'd best if we just get out of here," Donald said. "We'll find something else to do. It'd be just plain stupid for us to keep going." "I second that… but… well we can say good-bye to meals for a couple more days then…" Sora said. Donald cringed at his words. "But whatever. Everything's gonna turn out all right. Always does." He smiled to himself. Goofy and Donald couldn't help but join in, the cheery expression suddenly contagious. Sora started off in the direction of the exit. "How about we call it a day then," said Sora. He unlatched his keyblade and idly spun it in his hand. "Sounds good ta' me," said Goofy. It almost seemed like a shame to Sora, though. There was a little something inside of him that was still trying to insist he turn around and keep going. It was the all too familiar feeling that someone was waiting for him at the end of the hall. And it seemed so close. "Sora?" Sora didn't listen to Donald's voice. He turned on his heel and actually stared back at the darkness behind him. Was there really someone waiting for him? He shook his head. His spontaneous thinking was always his downfall. Whenever he went with those random ideas that seemed to pop into his head, he more often than not, found himself in over his head. "Guys- I'm getting creeped out right now. Can we hurry up?" he said. Goofy tilted his head, "What's wrong Sora? You've never gotten the jitters before." "I know that," Sora said and shivered. "It's just that… well, don't think I'm weird or anything, but I almost feel like something is calling me into there. I know that I'd usually wanna go and investigate and stuff, but this doesn't feel right. I… I can't shake it off." "Sora, are you all right?" asked Donald. Sora cautiously put his hands over his ears, knowing for sure if he didn't leave, he'd start hearing someone speak to him from the darkness. I don't want to go on any quests. I don't wanna get distracted. I just want to find Riku and go home. He thought to himself. I know that if I go in there, I'll just go on another stupid quest. It's always the same. I'm not going to listen to it this time. "Kairi's right. You really are a lazy bum," said a voice. Sora's heart skipped several beats at once. Was that who he thought it was. It… it couldn't be! "Are you really going to be this stubborn?" "Riku!?" Sora said. He looked down the corridor and saw a figure moving swiftly in the darkness. Sora casted another Fire spell above his keyblade and raised the flame to light the shadows. His eyes caught a flicker of blue pants and a yellow vest before it ran out of sight, deeper into the tunnels. "H-Hey! Sora. Wait, where are you going!??!" Donald cried after Sora. He had run off, following the hollow tapping of Riku's footsteps on the floor in front of him. His two friends were immediately left behind and their voices faded the more distance came between them. Riku! Sora thought to himself. Don't leave me alone again, you stupid jerk! He was vaguely aware of screams sounding out behind him. Donald and Goofy. Sounded almost like they had set off more traps in trying to pursue him. It occurred to him though, that perhaps that something had wanted to see him alone and that the traps not setting off on him was deliberate. He should have cared. But something inside him told him he just didn't. Not now. He had searched for too long for his friend to let him get away so easily. "Riku! Stop running! Why won't you stop!?" he called. He slowed down a bit, his common sense kicking in. This was just the kind of situation he had been talking about earlier. Rushing into things again. "…R-Riku… Come on!" he cried. "God! Quit playing games." "Sora, don't stop running!" Riku finally replied. Sora didn't move; he only frowned in reply. He could hear Riku sigh and walk slowly back up to him. He stepped into the dim light of Firaga and Sora took a few moments to make sure that what he was seeing was real. "Sora what are you-," Riku said impatiently. "Shut up," Sora said and stepped forward. He looked Riku over once. Twice. Three times before he reached out eagerly and rested his hand up against Riku's right shoulder. Sora's face softened when he felt Riku's warmth, "Then I'm not dreaming again." There was a pang of some emotion on Riku's face- something that resembled guilt. It was one that Sora didn't understand, but all that mattered to Sora was that he had found him. "Sora…" Riku said. There was an unfamiliar tone in his voice as he patted Sora on his head. "Good to see you, slick." "Slick?" asked Sora incredulously. "Don't call me that. You may be a year older than me, but it still doesn't mean you get to call me kid names." Riku laughed warmly. "Well why not? Why don't you give me some slack. It's been a long time since I've picked on you," said Riku. "Where are we going?" asked Sora. Riku came around behind Sora and gave him a friendly shove. Sora started off a bit awkwardly, but once he got his footing back, he was running beside Riku in quick jog. "I'll tell you when you get there. You're not going to like it though. Sorry I had to get your attention like that. Believe it or not, there's no other way I could get you to come this quick," Riku apologized. Sora shrugged in reply and Riku turned to him. "There's some weird stuff going on, and you're one of the only people who can help me." "That doesn't explain diddly squat, Riku. Start making some sense," Sora said. His eyes ran down to the floor. He couldn't hear Riku's footsteps anymore for some odd reason. He could only hear his own and the clacking of his key chain as it knocked back and force against the metal of his keyblade. "I don't quite know about it myself, but if you don't fix it fast, then the same thing will happen all over again. The Heartless and everything. But worse this time." "Riku, I don't-," Sora said. But Riku stopped him. "Sora, who's the most important person to you?" Sora raised an eyebrow at him. He opened his mouth, but Riku took a sharp turn to his left and he screeched to a stop so he could turn in time. "The hell kind of question is that?" asked Sora. Riku grunted with annoyance. "Just answer it, stupid," he replied. "Well you an' Kairi. Who else?" he said. Riku came to a halt and looked up to the ceiling. He sighed impatiently. "Just one. Believe me… I won't care if you say who I think you will. It doesn't matter to me. Just answer it." Riku told him. He still didn't turn to face him so Sora hesitated. The question bothered him and he didn't know why. Riku probably felt the same about Kairi as he did, so he had to know his view on the whole thing. But it was sort of against his nature to give those kind of answers, so it took him some time to force out her name. "… Kairi… I guess," he told Riku. Riku nodded understandingly and smiled at him. Sora looked back in shock. He didn't even look like himself anymore. Almost like a whole other person. "If you continue down the right path… if you don't stop him… if you don't survive… then Riku and Kairi will be in danger," he said. Sora didn't respond. Riku noticed the silence and he knew exactly what was happening. Oops, He thought himself, Looks like my tongue slipped again. Sora's face darkened. He stepped back and glared. Sora raised his keyblade up to Riku's throat and Riku didn't need to hear Sora's words to understand the risk he was taking. "Sora. I'm sorry I had to do this. It's just that… we need you…" Riku said. "Who are you…" he whispered dangerously. The Riku reached out and snatched both his wrists into his cold fingers. Sora fought against his grip, caught by surprise by his disregard for his own safety. He had a weapon to his throat and he dared to actually reach out and grab him? "That's a secret I'm going to have to keep for now. I know that I probably got your hopes up for a little while, but your feelings aren't more important than the task you must carry out," Riku told him. His grip tightened on Sora's wrist and he flinched. "Where's Riku!? Get off me and tell me where the real Riku is, you … you…!" He searched frustratingly for the right word as he fought off the imposter's grip. Riku's face remained icy and stoic. His eyes weren't the same crystalline as he remembered. They were pale and flat. And he couldn't stand it any more so he shut his eyes tightly. "I know you're not him, so quit! Stop making me see him! Damn it!" Riku shoved him against the floor and held him down. The floor gave out under the two of them from the force of the attack and Sora felt himself falling quickly to the next level of the tunnels. Riku fell with him for only a few seconds before he suddenly sprouted wings and flew back up to the opening in the floor. He landed gracefully on the broken floor and he turned, his eyes watching Sora intensely. He could hear the imposter's words even from far away. Just before he hit the floor below him, he could hear the Riku mutter, "Forgive me, keyblade master." Then he slammed into the ground and everything went black.My sentiments go out to Ex-sama who's going through a really hard time right now. |
Insidiae
By: TeddysFromHeyll
Sora & company encounter a new threat from the distant past. But then, they find out that Sora's losing more than just hope - He's losing his heart and sinking deeper into the darkness. Can they bring him back before they lose him completely? [KairixSora]
Rated: Fiction T - English - Adventure/Romance - Chapters: 4 - Words: 23,352 - Reviews: 29 - Favs: 14 - Follows: 5 - Updated: Jan 12, 2003 - Published: Dec 7, 2002 - id: 1109119
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Full 3/4 1/2 Expand Tighten
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