Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and its characters do not belong to me. Niitro'kai, however, is of my own creation.
I thought it important to add a brief note: This fic is not Mary-Sue, and it deals with friendship, not with falling in love.
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Chapter One: A Voice in the Darkness
Darkness.
Drifting.
And solidity, after so long falling.
He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, slowly opening his eyes to the half-light of wherever he was; nowhere in particular, really. But what had happened? The island, the shadows come alive..was it all just a dream? If it had been a dream, then how had he gotten here, somewhere he didn't know? Too many questions, with no answers...
|Hello.|
"W-who's there? Where are you?"
|I'm here. You just can't see me. Not yet.|
There it was again..it made his head feel funny, like he wasn't actually hearing the voice. Like it was in his mind. Oh, great..now I've got voices in my head.
|You're not hearing things, and you're not going crazy. I promise you that.|
He thought he saw a flicker of movement to his left, and then there she was, sitting in front of him. He couldn't make her out very well, but his overall impression was of a sizable individual, catlike, with..wings? The only clear thing were slit-pupiled, pale purple eyes, veined in silver. And they were staring directly into his own.
|I am Niitro'kai. You are Riku, yes?|
"I-I am. How do you know my name?"
|I do. It's not important how.|
"Oh...what am I supposed to do now, then? How do I get out of here?"
|Don't worry about that right now- all will be explained in due time. Until then, I do recommend that you get some sleep.|
Riku snorted, skeptical.
"Sleep? On what?"
|Is fur not a pillow suitable enough for you?|
With that, he felt her twine around him, and the end of her tail brush against his face. No other options came to mind, so he leaned back against her, finding her fur to be soft and clean, and with an odor that was not unpleasant. Then a wing wrapped around him, and he fell into a dreamless sleep.
---
When he awoke, it was to fur tickling his nose and sun shining on his face. Bleary-eyed, he sat up to find himself in another strange place. He was in a real bed now, in a tastefully decorated, but insignificant sort of room.
|Good morning.|
That startled him, and he jumped a bit. It took him a moment to remember, but once he did, he turned around to get a better look at the creature. She was, indeed, a cat..perhaps a meter high at the shoulder when standing, maybe a little more. The first animal that came to mind was a panther, but she was different in several ways: her ears were large and pointed, with long tufts at the tips, and seemed to be split vertically down the middle by color- purple and blue; her eyes were ringed in such colors as well, and ebony falcon's wings were barred in the same; "stockings" and a tailtip that faded from azure to violet completed the assessment. When she sat up, however, he noticed another marking on her ruffed chest. A red shape, reminiscent of a heart divided into sections, stood out prominently against silky black fur. As she looked at him, he got an uncanny impression that she was smiling at him, in her own sort of way.
|See something you like?|
"Sorry...it's just, I've never seen anyone like you before."
|Nor are you likely to again, I think. Now that you are sufficiently rested, there is someone who is very much eager to see you.|
"Why would someone want to meet me?"
|Because you're special, Riku. And for that reason, Maleficent sent me to ensure your safety. Now that you have awoken, I am to take you to her. Other than that, I know nothing.|
"And once you've done that, you're going to leave me, aren't you?"
There was a note of melancholy in his voice...he had no idea where he was, where his friends were, nothing. And now that he thought he'd found something secure to hold onto, it was going to be gone.
|I never said that, now, did I? I won't leave unless you ask me to. That settled, I need to take you to Maleficent, or she'll have my hide for being late.|
Having finished, she hopped easily down from the bed, landing softly on large paws, which undoubtedly hid sheathed claws. Niitro'kai stretched languidly, flipping her tail once or twice for good measure, before looking up at him.
|Well, are you coming or not?|
With no further ado, she pushed open the door and moved out into the hallway, giving him a moment to catch up to her. She allowed him no further time, however, and led him down a series of halls, until they stopped before a rather large and imposing set of double-doors. She pawed at these, and they opened with her soft tapping to reveal an immense hall of vaulted ceilings, where shadows with lives of their own were prolific.
"Hello, Riku. We've been waiting for you for quite some time. I trust you slept well, my boy?"
A tall woman in strange garb addressed him thus, and he assumed rightly that she was the one Niitro'kai called "Maleficent."
"Uh..yes, I did, thank you..."
They merely stood there, for an indeterminate amount of time, before anyone spoke again. It was Maleficent who did so, and this time she was not speaking to him.
"You're still here, Niitro'kai? You've finished what you were sent to do. Now put yourself somewhere out of sight; we no longer have need of you."
Riku found those unnerving, argent-gleaming eyes focused on him again, and one closed briefly in a wink, before she padded away to a shadowed corner and curled up on herself, wings folded over her body.
Bracing himself, he stepped forward into the hall.
---
.endchapter.
Err, that would be my first attempt at KH fanfiction, as well as attempting to get down the story of 'my' Niitro'kai. She's existed for a while, but I needed to give her a story.
Don't worry, though, because the story's about Riku, too.
Reviews are always lovely..
