Sora leapt up and struck the giant black beast Cerberus on the head one
last time. It swayed a few more times back and forth before falling down,
having finally been beaten. Sora and his new friends, a duck and a dog,
began jumping around, excited after beating the creature.
"Told you he would win." Riku smirked down at Shadow. The two of them were sitting on a black couch that they had created in their world. Riku was laying down, his head propped up on one hand and leaning on his elbow. Shadow was laying with his back curled up to him, and Riku's free arm was laying lazily over Shadow's waist.
"I said he'd never have a chance against Cerberus. I didn't count his two new buddies in there. They helped him out, he could never have beaten Cerberus on his own." Shadow looked up mischievously into Riku's aqua eyes, which were watching Sora talk to the man named Cloud.
"Woo-hoo." Shadow rolled over and waved a hand in front of Riku's face, trying to break the boy out of the stupor he fell into while watching Sora. Riku blinked and looked down at Shadow. Shadow grinned happily at having attention and hugged Riku, pressing his face against Riku's chest, cuddling against the warm body.
Riku stretched his hand out and concentrated on the black wall where his old best friend was boarding a ship for some new world. The blackness obeyed his command and faded into the floor, leaving the world again barren with the exception of the two boys and their couch.
"You've gotten really good at that Riku." Shadow sat up and felt proud of himself. It was his job to teach Riku to use the darkness, and the boy was coming along nicely. With Ansem inside him, Riku could see things that any normal person wouldn't be able to. He could sense when the heartless were hiding somewhere, in a floor or a wall, keeping themselves hidden from anyone else.
"It's not very hard with Ansem's power." Riku stood up and cracked his back before looking around bored. "I need something to do. This is getting boring."
"Well, where's Ansem? He should be back from communicating with that scary lady with the horns by now."
"Yeah." Riku felt for where the one who shared his mind had gone. Sharing a body had given the two a kind of connection, they could sense each other, and sometimes even know each others thoughts. Riku could feel Ansem closer than he expected, somewhere out in the darkness.
Shadow glanced up with his yellow eyes, he could sense his master coming as well. The soft steps of his boots confirmed what the two boys already knew and out of the wispy darkness a man appeared. Smiling to his young charges, Ansem looked unusually pleased with himself.
"What are you so happy about?" Riku said bluntly. This mad had taken over his body and trapped him in this endless world of black, so he didn't have the highest opinion of him as of now.
"I sent another vision to Maleficent. She is coming along very nicely. She is a fool, and now I control her."
"That was fast." Shadow piped up.
"So what does this mean? Why is Maleficent so important?" Riku crossed his arms and cocked his head to the side. Unlike the heartless that lived in the shadows, he didn't consider Ansem his lord and master. Shadow grimaced at his disrespect but remained silently at his side.
"She is greedy for power. And with her controlling the heartless in that world, Sora and the others who are resisting will be none the wiser of my existence."
"Until we open up the final keyhole, that is."
"Of course Riku. Once the seven princesses are gathered by my little puppet Maleficent, we will open the keyhole and I will be able to return to my true body in the real world."
"Good. I'm getting tired of having a roommate." Riku's sea green eyes bore into the dark orange ones of his captor. He would help him, but only because he had to get out of this world. To be with Sora and Kairi.
"I know you wish to find your friends and be with them Riku. Therefore, I'm sending you to the real world."
"Huh?" Shadow jumped up and looked between the two. He had finally found someone to be with, to keep him company in this world of vicious heartless, and he didn't want him to ever leave.
"Riku, it is up to you to help Maleficent collect the seven princesses. Kairi is one of them, and you will be of great help when it comes to finding her. You can keep her safe, and through your eyes I can observe my plan playing out."
"Okay, but how will I get there. I thought I couldn't leave here until the final keyhole was opened."
"No, only my body is required to stay here in the darkness. You may leave just as the heartless do, through one of the already opened keyholes. As for you.." Ansem looked down into Shadow's glowing eyes. "You will accompany him, stay hidden, but you will have to be his guardian. The heartless are hungry, and Riku's heart calls to them because he is a keyblade master. Don't take your eyes off of him." The darkness swirled around Ansem and he sunk into the floor.
"Guess he's off to find more powerful heartless, huh?"
Shadow nodded and turned, walking in what seemed to Riku like a random direction.
"Hey, where are you going?"
"We're going to the real world. The keyhole to Traverse Town is over here somewhere." Shadow grinned back at him and motioned for him to follow. Riku ran up behind him and the two walked into the swirling darkness that was their world. A few heartless emerged around them, and Riku could sense that there were more around than normal. After walking for a while, Shadow pointed ahead. In front of them was a key shaped hole. Heartless were crawling into it, Shadows and Large Bodies. Shadow grabbed Riku's hand and tugged him toward it.
"How exactly does this work again?" Riku sounded nervous and Shadow could understand why. When he had been brought to this world, he had been dragged down. He had no choice.
"Don't worry. Just control the darkness like you've been doing. It's the same kind of thing." Before he even finished his sentence, Shadow let go of Riku's hand and stepped into the keyhole. It filled with the darkness, like water having ink poured into it, and Shadow slipped straight though. 'Right. Control the darkness. Sure. Easy as pie.'
Calling up the powers he had gained from harboring Ansem's spirit, the keyhole filled with darkness again. Riku concentrated on Shadow and an image of Traverse Town. Taking a very deep breath, he extended his hand and felt it go through the soft black material of the keyhole. Sticking his foot through, then letting his body through slowly, Riku could suddenly see the stars above him.
Shadow was no where to be seen. Riku sensed around for him, and could tell that he was in a nearby wall.
"Staying hidden?"
Shadow laughed and slid through the wall, but he was still slightly transparent.
"Now I'm hidden. It takes a little more work, but this way only you and the other heartless can see me." He grinned proudly before a noise caught their attention.
Someone was laughing, then there was a harsh battle cry. 'That sounded like..' Riku took off in the direction of the voice. Shadow looked hurt, but then slid into the ground and caught up with his friend quickly.
"Take that!" Sora yelled as he lunged forward with his keyblade. A few hits against the hard armor of the Soldiers, and they disappeared. Goofy flung himself at a group of Shadows and squashed them with his shield. Donald was busy fending off a large body with thunder attacks. He too succumbed to the greater power of his enemies and disappeared.
Riku stood in awe, watching his childhood sparring partner spin around and take out another bunch of Heartless behind him. 'He's gotten much better.' Jumping high above it, Sora slashed downward and finished off the last heartless. Smiling over to the rest of his party with that goofy grin on his face, Sora gave them a thumbs up.
"You going to go say hi to him?" Shadow whispered in Riku's ear. For a second the boy didn't respond. His soft eyes just stared at the boy whom his world had revolved around for the first 15 years of his life. Then he nodded. Shadow sighed and slid down through the floor, closer to the keyblade master. Riku walked forward and Sora spun on his heel hearing the footsteps.
The two were standing ten feet apart, but it was as if they were still in different worlds.
"Hey Sora. Glad I found you." Riku tried to look calm and smirked at his best friend. Sora's dark blue eyes widened and his jaw hung open for a few seconds.
"R-Riku?"
"What's the matter Sora? You forget how to speak since I've been gone." Riku took a few steps closer and stretched out his hand, mussing Sora's hair. Suddenly the duck and dog leapt forward, brandishing a wand and shield at Riku. They stepped between the two boys, and Riku's smile fell to a frown.
"Woah. Hold on guys. This is Riku. He's one of the friends I've been looking for." Turning to the silver haired boy Sora shrugged and motioned to the two next to him. "Sorry, this is Donald and Goofy."
"You say you were looking for me?"
"Yeah, for you and Kairi. I didn't even know if either of you were alive after Destiny Island disappeared."
~He says he was looking for you. How kind.~
'What are you talking about Ansem.' Riku's eyes fell on the blade that Sora was holding even as he talked with Ansem.
~You've been watching him. All he cares about is destroying the heartless and closing keyholes. And now he's got these new friends...~ Riku thought about what he had said and realized that Sora had been helping everyone in these worlds, as if he didn't have something better to do.
"You say you were looking for us. Seems to me that all you did was find two new friends to replace us."
Sora balked at this and shook his head fiercely. "That's not it Riku. They were helping me to look for you two." Riku's eyes flicked to Sora's shadow as it rose up out of the ground. Shadow took a step towards his mirror image and began to inspect the sword he was holding. Stretching out a transparent hand, Shadow ran his fingers along the blade.
With a hiss of pain, Shadow's gold eyes flew open and he jumped back from the keyblade. He held up his black hand to see that it was smoking, as if he had been burned. Riku followed all of this out of the corner of his eye, keeping eye contact with the real Sora.
"That's a nice sword Sora. Mind if I see it?" Riku extended his gloved hand and waited to see how Sora would react. He seemed unsure at first, remembering that Leon hadn't been able to hold the keyblade. 'It can't hurt to let him hold it, it will just return to me like it did then.' Sora held out the blade and smiled, trying to restore a sense of friendship between them.
Riku reached out and grasped the hilt of the keyblade. Picking it up from Sora's hands, it felt right in his grasp. ~You see Riku. You are the true keyblade master.~ Sora's eyes widened as the sword didn't return to him. Riku made a few slashes with it, testing out it's weight and feel.
"This is a nice sword Sora. Better keep it safe, so you don't lose it." Riku tossed the sword to Sora who caught it at the last second. Riku sensed someone nearby, someone with a lot of power. Shadow picked his head up as well, motioning to Riku that they should go. Sora took his eyes off of Riku for a second to look down at the keyblade. 'But...I'm the keyblade master, I should be the only one who can touch it..' Sora looked up, but Riku had disappeared. His brown hair flew around his face as he looked from side to side for his missing friend.
"Where.." Sora let his sentence hang in the air as he sighed heavily and turned to Donald and Goofy to find out where they should go next.
Shadow leaned against a nearby wall, looking down at the three confused travelers. A black pool of darkness formed next to him, and Riku stepped out of it, looking deep in thought.
"So, you really are the keyblade master." Riku remained silent and the darkness disappeared, allowing him to lean against the wall as well.
"I don't understand. He claims that all he was doing was trying to find me and Kairi. So why did he volunteer to start closing up keyholes."
Shadow put a hand on Riku's shoulder, trying to comfort him.
"Maybe..maybe he doesn't feel the same way about you as you do for him Riku."
~Of course he doesn't feel the same way about you anymore Riku. You might have had a chance with him, but think of what you did to him. What Shadow tricked you into doing.~
Riku pulled away from the Shadow's hand and took a few steps back. His aqua eyes were clouded with anger as he glared at his dark companion.
"If his feelings for me did change, it's your fault!" Shadow couldn't believe what he was hearing, especially not from Riku.
"You made me do what I did to him. It's your fault." Snarling one more time, Riku turned away angrily and walked through the streets of Traverse Town, leaving Shadow were he stood in shock.
"Poor boy." A smooth and dangerous voice said from behind Riku. He turned slowly around, unsure of what he would see. A woman stood behind him, a woman wearing a long black dress. On her head were two horns, and she held in her hand a long staff with a glowing jewel on top.
~Ah. My dear Maleficent.~
'So this is the witch. She's tall.'
"Your friend has abandoned you." Maleficent smiled comfortingly at the boy. Riku could sense a dark power around her, different than that of the heartless.
"Why not come with me boy, I can help you find what you're looking for." Riku's eyes widened.
'Did you tell her about me when you..communicated or whatever you call it with her?'
~No. I can tell that she has some plan for you in mind. Go along with it. Let her think that she is manipulating you. It will then be even easier for us to make our plans reality.~
'Fine. But I won't be controlled like a little puppet by both of you.'
~Of course not Riku.~ The disarmingly soft voice in his head responded. Riku sighed heavily before taking a step toward the imposing woman.
"Fine. I'll go with you. Anything to find Kairi." Riku found that pretending he didn't know anything was easier than he would have expected. He could feel another presence, and his conscience returned with a vengeance.
Shadow stepped out from a wall and walked hesitantly towards Riku and Maleficent. Her cold eyes found him as soon as he stepped from the wall and she smiled to him, a smile with no warmth in it.
"And where did you come from. I've never seen a heartless like you before."
"He isn't a heartless." Riku interrupted and shot an apologetic smile to his friend. Shadow immediately grinned and now felt safe to stand closer to Riku.
"Ah. I see. Well then, my name is Maleficent."
"Mine is Riku. And this is Shadow."
Maleficent smiled icily again and motioned the two to follow her. When her back was turned, Riku reached over and hung his arm around Shadow, giving him a kind of sideways hug. Shadow smiled at him and wrapped his arm around Riku's waist. Then the two released each other and ran to catch up with the flowing strides of the witch.
* * * * * *
from here on in, I will only be writing chapters about times when Riku shows up. I'm sure no one wants to read about the game, if you've already played it. I know the lines aren't the same, and the timings may be off, but I've forgotten a lot of the specifics. I'm trying my best though. ^_^ review please!
"Told you he would win." Riku smirked down at Shadow. The two of them were sitting on a black couch that they had created in their world. Riku was laying down, his head propped up on one hand and leaning on his elbow. Shadow was laying with his back curled up to him, and Riku's free arm was laying lazily over Shadow's waist.
"I said he'd never have a chance against Cerberus. I didn't count his two new buddies in there. They helped him out, he could never have beaten Cerberus on his own." Shadow looked up mischievously into Riku's aqua eyes, which were watching Sora talk to the man named Cloud.
"Woo-hoo." Shadow rolled over and waved a hand in front of Riku's face, trying to break the boy out of the stupor he fell into while watching Sora. Riku blinked and looked down at Shadow. Shadow grinned happily at having attention and hugged Riku, pressing his face against Riku's chest, cuddling against the warm body.
Riku stretched his hand out and concentrated on the black wall where his old best friend was boarding a ship for some new world. The blackness obeyed his command and faded into the floor, leaving the world again barren with the exception of the two boys and their couch.
"You've gotten really good at that Riku." Shadow sat up and felt proud of himself. It was his job to teach Riku to use the darkness, and the boy was coming along nicely. With Ansem inside him, Riku could see things that any normal person wouldn't be able to. He could sense when the heartless were hiding somewhere, in a floor or a wall, keeping themselves hidden from anyone else.
"It's not very hard with Ansem's power." Riku stood up and cracked his back before looking around bored. "I need something to do. This is getting boring."
"Well, where's Ansem? He should be back from communicating with that scary lady with the horns by now."
"Yeah." Riku felt for where the one who shared his mind had gone. Sharing a body had given the two a kind of connection, they could sense each other, and sometimes even know each others thoughts. Riku could feel Ansem closer than he expected, somewhere out in the darkness.
Shadow glanced up with his yellow eyes, he could sense his master coming as well. The soft steps of his boots confirmed what the two boys already knew and out of the wispy darkness a man appeared. Smiling to his young charges, Ansem looked unusually pleased with himself.
"What are you so happy about?" Riku said bluntly. This mad had taken over his body and trapped him in this endless world of black, so he didn't have the highest opinion of him as of now.
"I sent another vision to Maleficent. She is coming along very nicely. She is a fool, and now I control her."
"That was fast." Shadow piped up.
"So what does this mean? Why is Maleficent so important?" Riku crossed his arms and cocked his head to the side. Unlike the heartless that lived in the shadows, he didn't consider Ansem his lord and master. Shadow grimaced at his disrespect but remained silently at his side.
"She is greedy for power. And with her controlling the heartless in that world, Sora and the others who are resisting will be none the wiser of my existence."
"Until we open up the final keyhole, that is."
"Of course Riku. Once the seven princesses are gathered by my little puppet Maleficent, we will open the keyhole and I will be able to return to my true body in the real world."
"Good. I'm getting tired of having a roommate." Riku's sea green eyes bore into the dark orange ones of his captor. He would help him, but only because he had to get out of this world. To be with Sora and Kairi.
"I know you wish to find your friends and be with them Riku. Therefore, I'm sending you to the real world."
"Huh?" Shadow jumped up and looked between the two. He had finally found someone to be with, to keep him company in this world of vicious heartless, and he didn't want him to ever leave.
"Riku, it is up to you to help Maleficent collect the seven princesses. Kairi is one of them, and you will be of great help when it comes to finding her. You can keep her safe, and through your eyes I can observe my plan playing out."
"Okay, but how will I get there. I thought I couldn't leave here until the final keyhole was opened."
"No, only my body is required to stay here in the darkness. You may leave just as the heartless do, through one of the already opened keyholes. As for you.." Ansem looked down into Shadow's glowing eyes. "You will accompany him, stay hidden, but you will have to be his guardian. The heartless are hungry, and Riku's heart calls to them because he is a keyblade master. Don't take your eyes off of him." The darkness swirled around Ansem and he sunk into the floor.
"Guess he's off to find more powerful heartless, huh?"
Shadow nodded and turned, walking in what seemed to Riku like a random direction.
"Hey, where are you going?"
"We're going to the real world. The keyhole to Traverse Town is over here somewhere." Shadow grinned back at him and motioned for him to follow. Riku ran up behind him and the two walked into the swirling darkness that was their world. A few heartless emerged around them, and Riku could sense that there were more around than normal. After walking for a while, Shadow pointed ahead. In front of them was a key shaped hole. Heartless were crawling into it, Shadows and Large Bodies. Shadow grabbed Riku's hand and tugged him toward it.
"How exactly does this work again?" Riku sounded nervous and Shadow could understand why. When he had been brought to this world, he had been dragged down. He had no choice.
"Don't worry. Just control the darkness like you've been doing. It's the same kind of thing." Before he even finished his sentence, Shadow let go of Riku's hand and stepped into the keyhole. It filled with the darkness, like water having ink poured into it, and Shadow slipped straight though. 'Right. Control the darkness. Sure. Easy as pie.'
Calling up the powers he had gained from harboring Ansem's spirit, the keyhole filled with darkness again. Riku concentrated on Shadow and an image of Traverse Town. Taking a very deep breath, he extended his hand and felt it go through the soft black material of the keyhole. Sticking his foot through, then letting his body through slowly, Riku could suddenly see the stars above him.
Shadow was no where to be seen. Riku sensed around for him, and could tell that he was in a nearby wall.
"Staying hidden?"
Shadow laughed and slid through the wall, but he was still slightly transparent.
"Now I'm hidden. It takes a little more work, but this way only you and the other heartless can see me." He grinned proudly before a noise caught their attention.
Someone was laughing, then there was a harsh battle cry. 'That sounded like..' Riku took off in the direction of the voice. Shadow looked hurt, but then slid into the ground and caught up with his friend quickly.
"Take that!" Sora yelled as he lunged forward with his keyblade. A few hits against the hard armor of the Soldiers, and they disappeared. Goofy flung himself at a group of Shadows and squashed them with his shield. Donald was busy fending off a large body with thunder attacks. He too succumbed to the greater power of his enemies and disappeared.
Riku stood in awe, watching his childhood sparring partner spin around and take out another bunch of Heartless behind him. 'He's gotten much better.' Jumping high above it, Sora slashed downward and finished off the last heartless. Smiling over to the rest of his party with that goofy grin on his face, Sora gave them a thumbs up.
"You going to go say hi to him?" Shadow whispered in Riku's ear. For a second the boy didn't respond. His soft eyes just stared at the boy whom his world had revolved around for the first 15 years of his life. Then he nodded. Shadow sighed and slid down through the floor, closer to the keyblade master. Riku walked forward and Sora spun on his heel hearing the footsteps.
The two were standing ten feet apart, but it was as if they were still in different worlds.
"Hey Sora. Glad I found you." Riku tried to look calm and smirked at his best friend. Sora's dark blue eyes widened and his jaw hung open for a few seconds.
"R-Riku?"
"What's the matter Sora? You forget how to speak since I've been gone." Riku took a few steps closer and stretched out his hand, mussing Sora's hair. Suddenly the duck and dog leapt forward, brandishing a wand and shield at Riku. They stepped between the two boys, and Riku's smile fell to a frown.
"Woah. Hold on guys. This is Riku. He's one of the friends I've been looking for." Turning to the silver haired boy Sora shrugged and motioned to the two next to him. "Sorry, this is Donald and Goofy."
"You say you were looking for me?"
"Yeah, for you and Kairi. I didn't even know if either of you were alive after Destiny Island disappeared."
~He says he was looking for you. How kind.~
'What are you talking about Ansem.' Riku's eyes fell on the blade that Sora was holding even as he talked with Ansem.
~You've been watching him. All he cares about is destroying the heartless and closing keyholes. And now he's got these new friends...~ Riku thought about what he had said and realized that Sora had been helping everyone in these worlds, as if he didn't have something better to do.
"You say you were looking for us. Seems to me that all you did was find two new friends to replace us."
Sora balked at this and shook his head fiercely. "That's not it Riku. They were helping me to look for you two." Riku's eyes flicked to Sora's shadow as it rose up out of the ground. Shadow took a step towards his mirror image and began to inspect the sword he was holding. Stretching out a transparent hand, Shadow ran his fingers along the blade.
With a hiss of pain, Shadow's gold eyes flew open and he jumped back from the keyblade. He held up his black hand to see that it was smoking, as if he had been burned. Riku followed all of this out of the corner of his eye, keeping eye contact with the real Sora.
"That's a nice sword Sora. Mind if I see it?" Riku extended his gloved hand and waited to see how Sora would react. He seemed unsure at first, remembering that Leon hadn't been able to hold the keyblade. 'It can't hurt to let him hold it, it will just return to me like it did then.' Sora held out the blade and smiled, trying to restore a sense of friendship between them.
Riku reached out and grasped the hilt of the keyblade. Picking it up from Sora's hands, it felt right in his grasp. ~You see Riku. You are the true keyblade master.~ Sora's eyes widened as the sword didn't return to him. Riku made a few slashes with it, testing out it's weight and feel.
"This is a nice sword Sora. Better keep it safe, so you don't lose it." Riku tossed the sword to Sora who caught it at the last second. Riku sensed someone nearby, someone with a lot of power. Shadow picked his head up as well, motioning to Riku that they should go. Sora took his eyes off of Riku for a second to look down at the keyblade. 'But...I'm the keyblade master, I should be the only one who can touch it..' Sora looked up, but Riku had disappeared. His brown hair flew around his face as he looked from side to side for his missing friend.
"Where.." Sora let his sentence hang in the air as he sighed heavily and turned to Donald and Goofy to find out where they should go next.
Shadow leaned against a nearby wall, looking down at the three confused travelers. A black pool of darkness formed next to him, and Riku stepped out of it, looking deep in thought.
"So, you really are the keyblade master." Riku remained silent and the darkness disappeared, allowing him to lean against the wall as well.
"I don't understand. He claims that all he was doing was trying to find me and Kairi. So why did he volunteer to start closing up keyholes."
Shadow put a hand on Riku's shoulder, trying to comfort him.
"Maybe..maybe he doesn't feel the same way about you as you do for him Riku."
~Of course he doesn't feel the same way about you anymore Riku. You might have had a chance with him, but think of what you did to him. What Shadow tricked you into doing.~
Riku pulled away from the Shadow's hand and took a few steps back. His aqua eyes were clouded with anger as he glared at his dark companion.
"If his feelings for me did change, it's your fault!" Shadow couldn't believe what he was hearing, especially not from Riku.
"You made me do what I did to him. It's your fault." Snarling one more time, Riku turned away angrily and walked through the streets of Traverse Town, leaving Shadow were he stood in shock.
"Poor boy." A smooth and dangerous voice said from behind Riku. He turned slowly around, unsure of what he would see. A woman stood behind him, a woman wearing a long black dress. On her head were two horns, and she held in her hand a long staff with a glowing jewel on top.
~Ah. My dear Maleficent.~
'So this is the witch. She's tall.'
"Your friend has abandoned you." Maleficent smiled comfortingly at the boy. Riku could sense a dark power around her, different than that of the heartless.
"Why not come with me boy, I can help you find what you're looking for." Riku's eyes widened.
'Did you tell her about me when you..communicated or whatever you call it with her?'
~No. I can tell that she has some plan for you in mind. Go along with it. Let her think that she is manipulating you. It will then be even easier for us to make our plans reality.~
'Fine. But I won't be controlled like a little puppet by both of you.'
~Of course not Riku.~ The disarmingly soft voice in his head responded. Riku sighed heavily before taking a step toward the imposing woman.
"Fine. I'll go with you. Anything to find Kairi." Riku found that pretending he didn't know anything was easier than he would have expected. He could feel another presence, and his conscience returned with a vengeance.
Shadow stepped out from a wall and walked hesitantly towards Riku and Maleficent. Her cold eyes found him as soon as he stepped from the wall and she smiled to him, a smile with no warmth in it.
"And where did you come from. I've never seen a heartless like you before."
"He isn't a heartless." Riku interrupted and shot an apologetic smile to his friend. Shadow immediately grinned and now felt safe to stand closer to Riku.
"Ah. I see. Well then, my name is Maleficent."
"Mine is Riku. And this is Shadow."
Maleficent smiled icily again and motioned the two to follow her. When her back was turned, Riku reached over and hung his arm around Shadow, giving him a kind of sideways hug. Shadow smiled at him and wrapped his arm around Riku's waist. Then the two released each other and ran to catch up with the flowing strides of the witch.
* * * * * *
from here on in, I will only be writing chapters about times when Riku shows up. I'm sure no one wants to read about the game, if you've already played it. I know the lines aren't the same, and the timings may be off, but I've forgotten a lot of the specifics. I'm trying my best though. ^_^ review please!