Otherworld-Spira-
"Yuna?"
The blond boy cradled her cheek, tenderly whipping away a tear that shone crystalline in the light of the full moon. She gazed up at him, green and blue eye slightly puffy and red rimmed by her crying, rose coloured lips lightly opened to take hitched breaths. Tidus bent down towards her, lids slowly falling shut.
For a moment time seemed to stand still, no sound, no movement, even the wind whispered no longer through the trees.
It was broken roughly though, as the light of the moon turned violet and with a scream of surprise something fell from heaven into the water next to them, dousing them and destroying the romance of the night efficiently.
"What the hell?!"
The blond pushed the summoner behind him, out of reflex reaching for the handle of his sword.
Had something followed them on their flight?
Had they been found?
Or just a fiend?
Whatever it was, Tidus was sure that he would be able to handle it.
A moment later the figure broke through the surface again, not far away from them. It was a young man, sputtering, cursing loudly between spitting out mouth full of water, flaying his arms as he tried to stay above the surface. Not easy at all as he was clutching what looked like two giant keys.
Weird.
After a few seconds of hesitating he dove forward, swimming the few feet that separated them with one powerful stroke. He tried to help the struggling man, grasped one of his arms and wanted to pull him towards the shallower part of the lake.
The reward for his struggles was a hefty knock over the head, curtsey of a flaying key.
Weird choice for weapon or not, it definitely hurt like hell.
Tidus rubbed the sore spot on his head, grimacing. Enough is enough.
He rose his right hand, felt the tendrils of magic weaving around him, cool currents of energy.
"SLOW!"
At least this once luck was on his side, the man was not immune against the spell and like this it was easy for Tidus to grab the collar of the shirt...was that a flower print?... and drag the fair haired man on the shore. Yuna immediately was next to him, a cure spell already forming on her lips, but he gestured to her to forget about it. Breathing heavily he leaned over the slim figure that was wrecked with coughs, which only slowly subsided and was replaced by hitched breathing
"You're alright?"
The bend head jerked upwards at Tidus voice, turning into his direction, and though the man was blindfolded, the blond youth had the feeling that his gaze burned him to the core.
"Do I know you? Your voice, it sounds familiar..."
A lopsided smile turned the corners of the blitzball players lips upwards and unconsciously he raised one hand to scratch at the back of his head.
Know him? Yeah, sure...
"I'm fairly sure ya don't. I'm not from around here."
A deep sigh came over the mans lips as he gracefully got to his feet, grimacing at his soaking wet clothes that clung icily to his skin.
"It isn't as if I am from around here."
Tidus and Yuna took a startled step backwards as one of the keys, a long, sleek thing, black as midnight, flared up in purple light and vanished into thin air. But before either of them could react, the stranger turned to them, cutting off any unasked question with one of his own.
"Where am I anyway?"
"The Macalania Woods, near the Calm Lands...Spira, do you know that name?"
Yuna trailed off as the young man just shook his head and she looked at the blond youth next to her, seeking help, but he just shrugged, eyes still fixed onto the man before them. Something was strange about him. Not only the keys and that he obviously was not from Spira.
Had Sin send another through time? The white haired man seemed a bit too calm for that. But, if I had, than why?
What reason would his old man have to send someone else, but him here? And wouldn't Sin have to be near for that? Tidus shook his head in frustration, no answers, and he wouldn't get any if he did not question.
Yuna seemed to have come to the same conclusion, for at the moment she took a step past him, leaving the protection he had offered. Her hands were clasped in front of her, soft features set in determination, though curiosity sparkled in her eyes brightly.
"Are you from Zanarkand too?"
"Zanarkand? No."
The keywielder shook his head slightly, before he raised a hand and pushed dripping white hair back from his face, fingers running through the jagged strands, grey and silver highlights, drops sparkling like tiny pearls.
For a moment Tidus saw something different, an image overlaying the one in front of him. Black gloved hands running through slightly shorter hair, wet with the spray of the sea, with the same gesture. The other hand not holding a key, but a wooden sword. A boyish face, still soft with the lines of childhood, but the first hints of adulthood already beginning to show. The faint outline of high cheekbones and a strong jaw, broadening shoulders and developing muscles. Eyes, blue and turbulent as the ever changing water behind him, sparkling with mirth and triumph.
"You lost again! Twelve to zero for me. Why won't you give up, Tidus? "
"Please, tell us. Who are you? Where are you from? Has Sin brought you here?"
Yunas voice, excited and curious, shattered the ghost like image, ... was it a memory?... and replaced it with the man that stood in front of him. The blond shook his head and tried to clear it from the last lingering afterimage.
Was he going crazy?
"My name is Riku, I can not tell you more. It is a long story and you would most likely not believe me."
Riku...white hair, blue eyes...silly trousers...
Riku.
Wielding a self made sword, dreaming of adventures and brave deeds, filling hours with colourful stories of other worlds. Mock-fighting, red stick and wood clashing against each other, always victorious.
What the hell? Those weren't his memories...or were they?
"I am Yuna and this is Tidus. And you are wrong, I would believe you."
"Tidus?!"
It seemed that the blindfolded man did not even hear the summoners declaration of belief, his attention completely focused onto the blond now.
"Um, yep, Tidus. That's my name."
He nervously scratched the back of his head again, a frown creasing his brows. Things just got stranger every day. And if the look of wonderment and shock on the mans face was any indication, he wasn't the only one who thought so.
"So, you do know each other?"
Startled Yuna looked from the one to the other, uncomfortable with the sudden silence, hands folding and unfolding.
"Maybe. I am not sure, but-"
"But what?"
"Shhh. Don't you hear that?"
They fell silent, trying to catch a sound that might suggest that something was out of the ordinary. The blond couldn't hear anything that might draw his suspicion. Only the chirping of crickets, the soft bubbling of the waves against the stones of the shore, the song of the wind as it ghosted through the crystalline wood around them.
Was that guy playing a joke of on them? Trying to get out of answering Yuna's question probably.
Just as he wanted to voice this suspicion he heard it, faintly, but definitely there. Carried by the breeze he thought he could make out a howl, pain filled, on the brink of madness it seemed, and something that sounded like glass shattering, high and clear.
"What is that?"
The summoners breathless whisper sounded strained, as if she was fighting a losing battle with fear. Which seemed strange, after all that they had seen, fought and defeated, the howl of a creature shouldn't unsettle her.
But it obviously did.
Her eyes were wide and darted between the two men and their surroundings, trying to catch a glimpse of whatever made those awful sounds. Yuna's hands had fisted into her skirt, clenching onto the deep blue material, probably she was cursing the fact that she had left her staff behind at their camp.
Tidus wanted to say something, anything that would encourage her, but did not find the words to.
He felt it too. This unnamed fear and coldness slowly creeping into his heart, freezing his bones and making him shiver.
What was that.
"Heartless."
"What?!"
The blitzballer gazed at Riku as if he had lost his mind. What the fuck were Heartless?
The white haired man seemed to have felt that look, for a small, knowing smile twisted his lips as he stepped past the summoner and her guardian.
"Heartless. Creatures that were born in the darkness and steal the hearts of others. They do not stop in their slaughter until they have devoured the last heart, the heart of the world. If they are not stopped nothing will be left but the rubble of what once was a living planet."
"How terrible!"
"We must stop them than!"
"You can't."
"What do you mean, we can't?!"
Tidus grabbed onto the man's upper arm, tightening his grip as the other tried to get away. Determination was written onto the blonde's face, blue eyes narrowed and lips drawn back in a snarl. He wouldn't let that Riku guy just get away like that! He couldn't just waltz in, fuck up his life even more than it already was, predict even more doom for Spira and than walk away like nothing happened.
NO WAY!
The growling had got closer, the shattering of the crystal plants nearly unbearable loud by now and shadows danced around them.
"I have no time! Is there a closed off space nearby, something you can easily defend against intruders?"
"The traveller stop on the other side of the forest and the one in the Cal-"
Riku did not let her finish her sentence, he seemed nervous, head turning this way and that as if he was trying to spot unseen attackers, his grip on the key had tightened, knuckles turning nearly white, and shook off the blonde's grip with a jerk, before stepping away, turning his back on them.
"Go there than. Hurry! I will stop them as long as I can."
"But, let us help you!"
"Yuna..."
Gently Tidus lay a hand onto her shoulder and drew her back.
"Do as he says."
"But-"
"Kimahri is near, he will bring you back to the others. They have to be warned too. Go to the Travellers Stop. We will follow you later."
For a few seconds he thought that she would disagree and stay, but after a moments Yuna nodded.
"Alright, but be careful please."
It seemed that she wanted to say more to him, but with a deep sigh she turned and ran down the way that would lead her to the waiting Ronso.
He gazed after her, watching her fade away into the darkness. He hoped that she would be alright, that she would reach Kimahri and the others safely. Those Heartless... as if Spira wasn't punished enough with Sin already. Poor Yuna...
"DOWN!"
Things happened too fast for Tidus to react, a huge shadow broke out of the underbrush, directly in front of him, shattering the delicate crystal plants, and sending razor sharp splinters flying in every direction. Which didn't stop the thing one bit.
For a moment he saw the creature that was to be his enemy, something that might once have been a Chimera, but now was hideously disfigured. Oily blackness had tainted the once bright colours of the fiend, spreading over its whole body in a mottled net of decaying flesh, which seemed strangely alive. Moving, boiling and shifting as if it tried to shift its form.
And this lovely thing would probably have stumped the blitzballer into a early grave, if it wasn't for Riku who threw himself against the frozen youth, tearing them both to the ground and out of the Heartless' way.
Gravel and razor sharp splinters dug into his side, tearing his unprotected skin painfully. Tidus had taken the most of the impact, the other having fallen on top of him.
He felt the white haired man shifting, tensing above him, warm, erratic breath against his ear.
"Run!"
With that the weight was gone from his back and the painfilled howl of the Chimera-Heartless echoed a second later, barely audible underneath its raving the warcry of a human voice.
Hastily Tidus struggled to his feet, clutching his hurting side with one hand, while the other grasped the Brotherhood tightly. He had to help Riku.
~*~*~*~
Not to far away Riku was struggling with the fiend. He had managed to land a few heavy blows before something, probably the tail of the creatures, had swept his feet out from underneath him. The fall had been heavy and he had been lucky to roll out of the way as the creature had breathed fire into his direction.
Cursing he jumped upwards, swinging the keyblade over his head he brought it down hard onto the Heartless, eliciting a growl of pain from it, before he dropped back down to his feet. His breathing came heavy, sweat, blood and cold water trickled down his shaking frame.
This wasn't good. Not at all. The transfer between Eden and Spira had taken much more out of him than he first thought. He was weak and blind, fighting against an enemy in surroundings he did not know. Things did not look good.
Hopefully Tidus got away.
With a cry he charged his enemy again, dealing a violent blow and falling into a combination of kicks and swings. He felt the flesh of the creature give way under his feet, the meat feeling cold and slimy against his bare skin. Delivering one last strike against what he thought was the head of the Heartless, he stumbled back, gulping for air.
Why couldn't this beast just die already?
A hiss and the rattle of scales against stone let his eyes behind the blindfold widen. The air was static suddenly, his skin prickled and the tiny hairs on his arms and at his neck stood on end. Before he even could try to move out of the way electricity enveloped him. Riku couldn't help but scream as wave after wave swept through him, the thunder spell forcing spasm after spasm through his body, his nerve ends on fire and sparkles dancing in front of his eyes.
After what seemed like an eternity for him the spell wore off and he fell to his knees.
He was done for.
His journey had barely started and already he had lost. Even Ansem was silent, no snide remarks, no advice, no help.
Typical. Probably had a date with Darkness and couldn't be bothered.
He heard how the Chimera-Heartless moved in front of him, probably preparing for the killing blow.
Pressing his eyes together he awaited the final strike, which never came.
Instead he heard what sounded like claws tearing at metal and strained breathing, followed shortly by a growl of the Heartless. Before he could figure out what had happened he felt cool dust settling onto his skin followed by a pleasant tingle, a warm shiver that ran through him and soothed away most of his aches.
"Can you stand?"
What? Tidus? Hadn't he told the boy to run?
"Yes...I think so, but – "
"Fine, than run!"
The other grasped his wrist, jerking him upwards and started a mad dash down the road, the fiend howling in frustration behind them as it saw its prey escaping.
More stumbling than running they made their way through the winding paths of Macalania Forest, thorns and crystal leaves tore at their clothing and cut their skin, the cries and howls of the Heartless all around them.
They became more and more. He could feel them, like a disease spreading rapidly around, infesting everything around them. He could hear them, their whispers, screaming for the keyblade, for his heart and for the one who dared to interfere, heard how they urged each other on to catch them, kill them, make them one of their breed.
Under his feet the cold, glass-like ground slowly turned to earth and than to snow, which was soothing against the cuts and bruises on his soles. He just hoped that they wouldn't run too long through it, already he could feel the coldness creeping into his bones, freezing his wet clothes and hair and raising Goosebumps on his skin.
He nearly fell as Tidus suddenly put on another burst of speed, mercilessly tagging him along.
"Get in! Get into the house! Barricade the windows! Fiends!"
The voice of the youth was breathless, sounded more like strangled barks, but by the sounds of it had an effect.
Riku could hear upset voices, a startled outcry and the warking of what sounded like a bird. The next moment he was shoved through an opening, his shoulder scraping against wood and he stumbled into helping arms. People spoke around him, but he did not understand a single word as he was ushered future into the room, once he thought he heard Tidus, speaking in the same strange language, but before he could speak he had been lead through another door. He could feel and hear movement all around him, wood scraping against wood, the sound of hammering, loud voices barking commands, the crying of a child.
"You are freezing, you poor kid. There...", the woman who had spoken lead him on into another room, the tumult left behind them. The air in it was warm and moist, the tiles under his feet wet and slippery. "A warm bath will make you feel better. Just drop your clothes onto the floor, I will send your friend with new ones later on."
"The others, I have to help them."
His voice sounded lost to his own ears.
"No you don't, young man. We are perfectly capable of defending ourselves. And you wouldn't do any good if you just fainted on the spot. Now, no arguments anymore and off you go into the bath. Will you be alright if I leave you alone?"
He nodded slowly and waited until he heard the door close again, before he fell onto the ground, his legs just giving way.
That really had been close.
He fumbled with the buttons of his shirt, numb fingers clumsily managing to undo them. He left the torn garment on the ground, shortly followed by his pants and, after a moment hesitation he undid the blindfold too.
Eyes firmly pressed together Riku felt his way to the rim of the bath, it took him a while until he had orientated himself, and another minute to find the bucket with water, which he dumped over his head to at least wash away the gravest of the dirt.
As the white haired man finally slipped into the bath he sighed in relief. To be enveloped by the warm liquid that chased away the coldness in his flesh with delicious prickles, the light sting as it covered still open cuts and the unobtrusive smell of flowers that calmed his nerves.
It didn't take long for him to relax, his body going lax and heavy, sleep just lurking around the corner. His first real bath in years, god, how he had missed those small luxuries.
Desperately needed too. Your smell could probably be used as weapon against the Heartless.
Ansem ... shut up.
Riku rested his head against the rim of the bath with a sigh, willing himself not to think and to ignore the soft hum of Ansem's presence at the back of his mind.
So much had happened within such a short time...
Drifting in and out of sleep he did not notice as the door was opened and someone joined him in the room. Only as the other stepped to him into the water did he jerk awake, eyes opening in alarm and pressed together with a groan of pain the next moment.
Fucking light.
Finally we agree on something.
~*~*~*~
"Don't panic, 's just me."
Tidus flopped into the water next to the other, arms crossed over his chest as he eyed the other wearily.
The white hair, now grey with water hung tangled around rounded shoulders, barely contrasting with the nearly white skin that stretched taunt over sinews and defined muscles. Still, though trained the man was awfully thin, no ounce of fat or unnecessary flesh, the skin colour, which gave the young man an ethereal look, none the less unhealthy, as if he had not seen the sun for years. And than there were the eyes. Riku was not blind, like the blond had thought first, but sensitive to light as his reaction proved. Had he been looked away somewhere.
"Okay, talk."
"What?"
The other was still frowning and rubbing his eyes with one hand, while the other has reached over the rim of the bath and tried to find the blindfold.
Sighing in expiration the blond stretched out in the water.
"Does Heartless ring a bell? Devouring of the heart of the world and all that shit. And while you are at it, you too can explain why you are so familiar."
"You do remember me?"
"I am not sure. I think I remember you, or someone who had the same name and looked a lot like you. But it makes no sense. You said you weren't from Zanarkand and those images I see, they aren´t from the city either."
"Do you remember an island? Tropical, with palms and overgrown mountains? A few old shacks the only buildings, a crudely made dock..."
"And a girl in a yellow dress sitting on it, deeming everything romantic. She always had a jumping rope with her."
"Selphie."
"How...how is this possible?"
Tidus was lost, memories of a childhood long forgotten came rushing back, bits and pieces first, faces to which he slowly put names, poignant happenings, play fights, laughter. Why could he have forgotten all this? How, how came it that he could only remember his life in Zanarkand?
~*~*~*~