Darkness filled their lunges as Riku and Sora tumbled into an eternal
pit of darkness. Nothing seemed to move, breathing was difficult but no air
rushed past their ears or bodies to hint that they were falling. It was
just a complete feeling of being lost in darkness.
"There is a bottom!" Riku wheezed opening his eyes to see a faint glowing below his outlined feet.
Sora coughed and managed to add, "Good, I can't breath."
"Save your breath, it gets worse down there." Riku called back as the silver light grew closer. Sora wanted to ask how Riku would know the information he just told him but he just concentrated on the thin dark air around him that clogged his throat.
Riku landed, both feet on the silver plat form, gracefully as he gave a shake of his head. Sora tumbled downward and ended up on his back looking up at the eternal darkness above them. His stomach was frantically moving up and down trying to keep up with the pace of his heart that seemed to move his chest higher than his stomach.
"This must be another lost world." Riku said aloud looking around.
"Wha. . ." Sora heaved but couldn't get the words out; the thick air ate them right out of his throat.
Riku stepped over Sora and didn't pay attention to him, he just seemed to be fixated on something else. He walked back over to the edge of the platform and looked down and gave a sound of being perplexed.
"We are going down." Riku finally explained as Sora heaved on his knees.
"You. . . your. . . kidding!" Sora cried in a small voice.
Riku shook his head, "The portal isn't here, come on it's a shorter drop to the next world."
"W? World?" Sora asked. Riku looked annoyed with his questions so he didn't go further. He only joined Riku right by the edge of the platform.
"After you." Riku insisted slapping him on the back so that he fell after a long cry of surprise that turned into a horse cough. Riku jumped down after him and saw Sora's figure spinning in the silver outline of the platform.
Sora landed on his back once again knocking the air out of him worse this time. He coughed gasping for the thick air around him only to get a mouth full of darkness that stung.
Riku landed straddling Sora's head with both feet on either side of him. He looked down at Sora who was turning pale with lack of air. "You can't stay here much longer."
'I could have told you that!' Sora wailed in his mind but the only thing that could escape his mouth was coughs of desperation. His blue eyes watched Riku walk to the center of the platform and wave his hand to make the air mass ripple. Riku then took his finger and placed it in the rippling mass and sliced it down the middle creating a cut.
"Don't look so surprised Sora, it's not that hard." Riku laughed looking at Sora's expression. He smiled until he heard a great cry that sounded like a screeching hawk who just found it's prey. It shattered the cut with one great sweep of dark goo and sent Riku backwards. "Here it comes. . ."
Sora managed to sit up but could only hold his chest and cough more. Seeing he was useless he looked to Riku who had gotten up again. The edges of Sora's vision began to fuzz and Riku became a smudge in the dark background. Sora did notice though that Riku has acquired a long sword like object in his hand by a blast of white light. The darkness then took over and threw his body into a pit of it closing off a light, sound and feeling. . .
~*~*~
Eyes opened, the blackness finally took shape around him as he blinked not believing he was still in the dark world. Riku was no place to be found but the only light around him was a soft electric purple that glowed like neon lights. Sora's eyes adjusted to see that they were fragments floating around him, hung in the darkness like Christmas ornaments on a tree.
"What?" Sora asked the darkness turning around to see the same sight behind him.
Suddenly there was a rush of wind from behind him that blew the fragments around him light tattered paper to create a purple heart out in front of him. The heart then hung suspended twisting on an axis. Sora's eyes watched the heart and his hand reached out to touch it but a bright light made his hand withdraw back to shield his eyes. The light sliced through the heart sending it back into fragments but this time they disappeared one by one like fragments of glass hitting the ground.
Sora gasped but was only thrown backwards by the blast the light had created by shattering the heart. He fell through the non-breathable darkness seeing no end to it below him. He gasped and clawed endlessly but nothing seemed to materialize.
~*~*~
Sora woke with a start reaching out in front of him, sweat coating his skin with dripping blankets of fear.
Riku slapped his hands away from his face, a look of surprise glued over his passive one. He then smirked and shook his head, "Having another dream huh Sora?"
"I don't know. . .it seemed real." Sora admitted rustling his spikes with his hand. "You were there and there was darkness around us. . ."
"I don't want to talk about it." Riku cut him off.
Sora then lifted his head to look at the hotel room around him. It was run down with some of the mint green wallpaper peeling and discolored. The off white carpet showed brown spots deep in it's roots but most of the furniture seemed to be only chipped and scratched.
"Let me guess, you want to know where you are." Riku guessed getting of Sora's bed to go over to the dirty square window.
"No, I want to know where Kairi is."
Riku turned and looked at him oddly but just answered, "She's here."
"Is she ok?"
"As fine as a person with no heart can be." Riku snapped back.
Sora sat up in disbelief nearly tipping the wobbly bed over. He looked at Riku desperately wanting answers to all his questions flying through his head at that moment.
"The creatures that came to our island took it for their own, now she is with no heart and there is no way to get it back unless we go to find it."
"Where is she?" Sora demanded.
"In the other room, lying there like a zombie." Riku pointed but looked at Sora intensely. "Sora you have to help me get her heart back."
"Anything for Kairi." Sora whispered. He threw off his covers and ran into the other room where Kairi was lying.
He opened the door and as soon as he did a long bar of light lit her face illuminating the deep lines on it. Sora staggered to Kairi's side to take her limp cold hand. He held it tightly hoping his warmth would breath life back into it but it's chill just countered his warmth. She lay so peaceful, staring up at the ceiling, fixated on her last string of life.
Sora buried his head in the covers by her body almost sobbing but his eyes only watered. Kairi let out a long breath feeling his pain but unable to respond.
"Kairi please don't give up hope. Riku and I will save you. . .hang in there. Just believe your going to make it and you will."
Kairi turned her head slowly looking into his blue eyes, her face expressionless but her eyes told everything she was thinking. She wasn't going to give up hope. . .at least not in Sora. It was too early and too late to give up hope. . .
"There is a bottom!" Riku wheezed opening his eyes to see a faint glowing below his outlined feet.
Sora coughed and managed to add, "Good, I can't breath."
"Save your breath, it gets worse down there." Riku called back as the silver light grew closer. Sora wanted to ask how Riku would know the information he just told him but he just concentrated on the thin dark air around him that clogged his throat.
Riku landed, both feet on the silver plat form, gracefully as he gave a shake of his head. Sora tumbled downward and ended up on his back looking up at the eternal darkness above them. His stomach was frantically moving up and down trying to keep up with the pace of his heart that seemed to move his chest higher than his stomach.
"This must be another lost world." Riku said aloud looking around.
"Wha. . ." Sora heaved but couldn't get the words out; the thick air ate them right out of his throat.
Riku stepped over Sora and didn't pay attention to him, he just seemed to be fixated on something else. He walked back over to the edge of the platform and looked down and gave a sound of being perplexed.
"We are going down." Riku finally explained as Sora heaved on his knees.
"You. . . your. . . kidding!" Sora cried in a small voice.
Riku shook his head, "The portal isn't here, come on it's a shorter drop to the next world."
"W? World?" Sora asked. Riku looked annoyed with his questions so he didn't go further. He only joined Riku right by the edge of the platform.
"After you." Riku insisted slapping him on the back so that he fell after a long cry of surprise that turned into a horse cough. Riku jumped down after him and saw Sora's figure spinning in the silver outline of the platform.
Sora landed on his back once again knocking the air out of him worse this time. He coughed gasping for the thick air around him only to get a mouth full of darkness that stung.
Riku landed straddling Sora's head with both feet on either side of him. He looked down at Sora who was turning pale with lack of air. "You can't stay here much longer."
'I could have told you that!' Sora wailed in his mind but the only thing that could escape his mouth was coughs of desperation. His blue eyes watched Riku walk to the center of the platform and wave his hand to make the air mass ripple. Riku then took his finger and placed it in the rippling mass and sliced it down the middle creating a cut.
"Don't look so surprised Sora, it's not that hard." Riku laughed looking at Sora's expression. He smiled until he heard a great cry that sounded like a screeching hawk who just found it's prey. It shattered the cut with one great sweep of dark goo and sent Riku backwards. "Here it comes. . ."
Sora managed to sit up but could only hold his chest and cough more. Seeing he was useless he looked to Riku who had gotten up again. The edges of Sora's vision began to fuzz and Riku became a smudge in the dark background. Sora did notice though that Riku has acquired a long sword like object in his hand by a blast of white light. The darkness then took over and threw his body into a pit of it closing off a light, sound and feeling. . .
~*~*~
Eyes opened, the blackness finally took shape around him as he blinked not believing he was still in the dark world. Riku was no place to be found but the only light around him was a soft electric purple that glowed like neon lights. Sora's eyes adjusted to see that they were fragments floating around him, hung in the darkness like Christmas ornaments on a tree.
"What?" Sora asked the darkness turning around to see the same sight behind him.
Suddenly there was a rush of wind from behind him that blew the fragments around him light tattered paper to create a purple heart out in front of him. The heart then hung suspended twisting on an axis. Sora's eyes watched the heart and his hand reached out to touch it but a bright light made his hand withdraw back to shield his eyes. The light sliced through the heart sending it back into fragments but this time they disappeared one by one like fragments of glass hitting the ground.
Sora gasped but was only thrown backwards by the blast the light had created by shattering the heart. He fell through the non-breathable darkness seeing no end to it below him. He gasped and clawed endlessly but nothing seemed to materialize.
~*~*~
Sora woke with a start reaching out in front of him, sweat coating his skin with dripping blankets of fear.
Riku slapped his hands away from his face, a look of surprise glued over his passive one. He then smirked and shook his head, "Having another dream huh Sora?"
"I don't know. . .it seemed real." Sora admitted rustling his spikes with his hand. "You were there and there was darkness around us. . ."
"I don't want to talk about it." Riku cut him off.
Sora then lifted his head to look at the hotel room around him. It was run down with some of the mint green wallpaper peeling and discolored. The off white carpet showed brown spots deep in it's roots but most of the furniture seemed to be only chipped and scratched.
"Let me guess, you want to know where you are." Riku guessed getting of Sora's bed to go over to the dirty square window.
"No, I want to know where Kairi is."
Riku turned and looked at him oddly but just answered, "She's here."
"Is she ok?"
"As fine as a person with no heart can be." Riku snapped back.
Sora sat up in disbelief nearly tipping the wobbly bed over. He looked at Riku desperately wanting answers to all his questions flying through his head at that moment.
"The creatures that came to our island took it for their own, now she is with no heart and there is no way to get it back unless we go to find it."
"Where is she?" Sora demanded.
"In the other room, lying there like a zombie." Riku pointed but looked at Sora intensely. "Sora you have to help me get her heart back."
"Anything for Kairi." Sora whispered. He threw off his covers and ran into the other room where Kairi was lying.
He opened the door and as soon as he did a long bar of light lit her face illuminating the deep lines on it. Sora staggered to Kairi's side to take her limp cold hand. He held it tightly hoping his warmth would breath life back into it but it's chill just countered his warmth. She lay so peaceful, staring up at the ceiling, fixated on her last string of life.
Sora buried his head in the covers by her body almost sobbing but his eyes only watered. Kairi let out a long breath feeling his pain but unable to respond.
"Kairi please don't give up hope. Riku and I will save you. . .hang in there. Just believe your going to make it and you will."
Kairi turned her head slowly looking into his blue eyes, her face expressionless but her eyes told everything she was thinking. She wasn't going to give up hope. . .at least not in Sora. It was too early and too late to give up hope. . .