Shadow looked around, but couldn't find his master anywhere. The dark gray
mists of this world were settled permanently on the ground and as Shadow
walked through them, he made little eddies that swirled then returned to
their place. A huge white full moon hung above him, creating pitch-black
shadows beneath horrific statues of gargoyles and ghosts.
A few heartless passed by, their colors and appearances suited to the strange inhabitants of this world. Shadow found that he liked Halloweentown. The people were all strange and creepy, and he and Riku had made sure that they fit in. Two furry black ears protruded from Shadow's head, and a scruffy tail fell almost to the ground. His feet and hands were huge paws with short but sharp claws. Even his black jumpsuit was torn in places, allowing black fur to stick through. His unchanged golden eyes added the perfect finishing touch to his werewolf costume.
"Riku!!" He called out, cupping his paws against his mouth. Somehow, the dark keyblade master had slipped away from him at some point while they were tracking down Sora and his friends in the shadows and fog of this world.
"RIKU!!!"
A black gloved hand touched Shadow's shoulder and the boy yelped and spun around. Riku just laughed softly at his antics before motioning for him to follow. Even in his costume, anyone could easily tell that it was Riku. Along his silver hair were two small pointed ears, with short black fur on them. A soft jingle announced his every step from the silver bell hanging off of a black collar he wore. One major advantage of controlling the darkness was that it could do things for an outfit that would be nearly impossible for a normal person. Along his face and arms, the only exposed parts of Riku's skin, were black stripes, like a tabby cat. His shirt was black and skin tight, with large rips across it. He wore gray and black belts around his waist, and his signature pants which were large and baggy. They were black and gray striped as well, adding to the tabby cat motif he had going. His shoes and gloves were both very simple, just black and covered in the same soft black fur as his ears.
"So......where we goin?" Shadow caught up with Riku and fell in step with the clunking sound of his boots.
"Sora."
Shadow grumbled and his ears pressed against his head in frustration. They had all the seven princesses, and all they had to do was deliver Kairi to the castle of Hollow Bastion and then he and Riku could go wherever they like. But no, he insisted on constantly watching Sora, controlling the heartless around him to test out his friend and try and make him change sides. Shadow was getting sick of it, but some dark part inside him was happy for it. Every time Riku saw Sora helping others instead of looking for Kairi, he became angrier and angrier.
The sound of fighting told Riku and Shadow exactly where their quarry was and they concealed themselves with the darkness as they stepped through a decrepit stone wall. The keyblade master was rushing forward, leaping into the air at the last second to strike down a flying heartless. The Gargoyle disappeared when he was pierced by the blade, and elsewhere White Knights were being electrocuted by the small duck's lightning magic.
When that batch of heartless had been defeated, another wave was preparing to rise from their crypts but Riku held up his head and they stopped. The darkness swallowed them up again and Sora and company began to talk about something. A girl stepped out of the shadow of a tombstone, parts of herself held together by what looked like stitches. Shadow watched as the girl wobbly approached the disguised heroes and gave them a small plant.
~Seems the errand boy has been out again.~
'Where did you come from?'
~More business, I assure you. Some heartless needed my assistance.~
'Sure. Whatever. Why don't you go back and "assist" them some more?'
~Tsk tsk. Riku, my boy, don't take your anger out on me. Just because you see what I told you was the truth. Now go back to the ship. We don't have time for your...sightseeing anymore. If you want any chance of getting Kairi's heart back, we must take her to Hollow Bastion as soon as we can.~
'Fine.'
"Shadow."
The golden eyed boy looked up, his wolf's ears perking up as well. Sora and the others had walked away during Riku's conversation with Ansem, and Shadow had been amusing himself with a ghost dog.
"Isn't he cute? We should take him with us."
Riku rolled his eyes and created a portal in the wall to use to get back to Hook's ship.
"Don't you want to see if Sora gets the heart working?"
~"We don't care what he does."~
Blending into the darkness, Shadow wondered if it had been his imagination, or if Riku had just referred to himself as being plural. Shrugging it off, he too let his body be dragged away by his element, the darkness.
The feel of the hard wood beneath his feet comforted Riku as compared to the soft, groaning ground of the cemetery in Halloweentown. The ship was perfectly still as Shadow thumped down onto the floor behind Riku.
"We aren't moving?"
"No. I guess Hook doesn't know that we're back yet."
Shadow smiled and grabbed Riku's hand, leading him quickly through the corridors of the ship. Finally feeling a bit cheered up, Riku let himself be dragged through doors and up stairs by the strong shadow.
They reached the red door and Shadow barreled through it as well, the door slamming into the wall as he kicked it open.
"We're back!!"
The two stopped short in their tracks as they witnessed the mayhem around them. Pirate heartless were running around like chickens with their heads cut off, Shadows were popping up out of the woodworks only to be cut down by a blur of green.
~"Leave them alone for barely an hour, and all hell breaks loose."~
Shadow snickered and ran to the railing, watching the newcomer battle the enormous amounts of heartless around him. He wore green....lots of green, and was flying through the air.
"No fair. I want to fly."
Riku rolled his eyes and continued searching the deck, until he found the person he was looking for. The bumbling Captain Hook stood behind a wave of Pirates as they used their enormous swords to fend off the flying boy. In his arms was a girl in a blue nightgown, tied up with rope and gagged.
"Five bucks says that girl is what the fairy boy is after."
"Yep." Shadow nodded before suddenly breaking into laughter. Riku cocked his head and gave his lover a questioning glance. A dark finger pointed to the other side of the large ship where small Battleships were raising into the air.
"They brought out the cavalry." Doubling over in laughter, Shadow finally fell onto the floor and sat, with his legs poking through the railing as he observed the aerial battle.
~The fool.~
'Huh? What are you so pissy about?'
~We have all six of the other princesses in Hollow Bastion, and Kairi is aboard the ship. Now that idiot is risking everything by capturing that Wendy girl.~
'Is that wannabe jolly green giant really that dangerous?'
~To someone as inept as Hook, he could be deadly.~
'I'll take care of it.'
~Good to see at least one keyblade master cares about the girl.~
Riku leapt over the railing and rolled as he landed on the lowest level of the ship. As he was about to stand up, a flaming battleship being pestered by the boy came careening straight for him.
"Woah!" He jumped and rolled forward, narrowly missing the flaming wreckage. When he did stand up, he shot a death glare to Captain Hook as he menacingly approached.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Capturing the last of these scurvy princesses, what does it look like you brat?"
"Hey codfish!"
Both turned to see the boy hovering in the air in front of them, sticking his tongue out at Hook.
"Come down here and fight like a man, Peter Pan!" The captain shook his hook at the boy, who just laughed at his pathetic request.
Everyone on the ship was thrown to the ground as the engine was abruptly started and the ship flew through the air. Recovering his balance, Riku stood up and squared off against Pan.
"Leave this ship, or I'll have to make you sorry. You can have the girl, she is useless."
"You're not the captain of this ship. I'll never give her up. It's taken me too long to come this far." Hook protectively clung to the bounded girl, who pleaded at Peter with her eyes.
"You fool, what are-" Riku was interrupted as someone's foot was abruptly thrust into his stomach. The cocky boy ricocheted off of Riku and flew straight for Hook.
"Oh that's it. Now you're not getting away." Riku snarled angrily and called up the more powerful Air Pirates that he had been keeping back from the fray. They immediately grabbed hold of Peter Pan and flew up into the air with him. Hook laughed as if he had been the one to send them into battle, and stood to watch the battle progress with the air of a victor.
"Shadow." Riku said very calmly, and in an instant the boy was at his side.
"You want to fly. Fine. Teach that little annoyance a lesson." Riku placed his hand on Shadow's back and poured enough darkness into him to make the boy's body jump. Black leathery wings rose out of him, and Shadow grinned maniacally before flapping the wings to give them a test and taking off into the air.
"Ha. You guys aren't nearly fast enough to stop me." Peter Pan threw his arms forward, bashing the two Air Pirates against each other and knocking them out. Then he drew his small knife and flew in circles around the remaining two, before diving in and spinning his body. The knife dug into the heartless and they returned to the darkness as Pan crowed happily.
"Hey fairy boy. Come try a piece of this." Shadow hovered in front of the young boy, his dark wings spread out to his sides, keeping him airborne. Drawing the dark keyblade to himself, Shadow brought his hand to his lips and blew a kiss to Peter. The boy's face flushed red in anger and he charged blindly.
Shadow used his newly acquired wing like a matador cape and let Pan charge straight by him. A quick flick of his sword, and the boy was knocked unconscious and flung to the ground. Riku stood over him, sneering at the boy's weakness. Shadow landed nearby, and his dark wings disappeared in a black sparkle.
"Hey. I liked those." He pouted sadly and tried to guilt Riku into giving them back.
"No Shadow. You don't need them and they're using up my power."
~Not really. You know that as long as I'm with you, you have unlimited power over the darkness.~
'Yes. But it also means drawing it off of you. And I'd rather not.'
"Come on Shadow. Let's put this guy in the hold."
"What about her?" He motioned to Wendy, who had been forgotten by Hook and was trying to crawl away.
"I don't want to hurt her. We can take her back to where she came from. Put her with Kairi."
Shadow carefully picked up the kicking and angry girl, and attempted to carry her back into the ship without getting too badly injured. Riku reached down and roughly grabbed the unconscious boy and threw him over his shoulder. He followed the struggling shadow until they reached the different corridors that they needed to take. Shadow opened up a door and carefully un-gagged the girl.
"Why I never! How dare you do that to me? I demand that you return me to my home right this instant!" Shadow ignored the angry rantings of the young girl and untied the ropes around her.
Thump. Riku stopped halfway down the ladder he was on and climbed back up, only to see Shadow sitting on his backside, a large red footprint on his face. Shaking his head a few times, the boy got up and rolled his sleeves up, stepping into the room.
Riku just laughed and jumped the rest of the way down the ladder. Through a few more ladders and doors, he eventually found himself in the hold of Hook's ship. Barrels and boxes littered the area, and ropes fell from upper levels where some careless Pirate must have knocked them over. Riku kicked the door open and threw the limp body of Pan into it.
Walking back up the stairs, Riku could hear a fierce war being raged on in the level above him. It sounded like it was coming from his cabin. Screeches and the sound of things breaking started to worry the silver haired boy as he ran faster up the remaining ladder and quickly opened up the door leading to where he had last seen Shadow.
The dark boy kneeled behind an overturned table, blocking the broken vases and the hefty treasure chests that the screaming harpy was throwing at him. Propped up in a corner, protected by a bookshelf, Kairi's motionless body sat.
"How dare you say that about Peter!?!" A picture frame nearly took Shadow's head off as he ducked at the last possible second.
"Oh come on. He lives with a bunch of "lost boys"." Shadow grabbed a broken shard of glass from behind him and threw it over the table at the girl. Wendy didn't have to dodge it as it landed harmlessly a few feet in front of her.
"I don't care why you said it, you little weasel."
"Weasel?" Riku asked, but the two mortal combatants didn't take any notice of him.
"Seriously, you little prick, I didn't mean it as an insult. Coming from me, it's a compliment!" Shadow finally stood up and wrapped his hands around the bottom of the overturned table. Seeing that it could endanger the still form of his friend, Riku made a move to block him. Shadow stood up and hurled the table at her, but by putting up just one arm, the table broke and splintered around Riku.
"Enough fighting Shadow. Let's go." Riku walked out the door, leaving two very shocked people in his wake. Shadow followed after him though, and locked Wendy into the room before he left.
Riku walked the five feet down the hall to their room before turning around and looking at Shadow. The boy was still staring into the room where Wendy was, walking backwards. He was muttering angry curses and empty threats. His feet eventually took him too far and he ran right into Riku. The older boy's strong arms wrapped around him and kept him from falling down.
Shadow was worried that maybe Riku was angry at him, for what he had done in there, and turned very slowly to meet his eyes. But there was a smirk on his face, and his green eyes were warmer than they had been in a while. Reaching over, Riku turned the knob on their door and began to walk into their room, still holding Shadow.
Walking backwards, Shadow grinned mischievously at Riku and his golden eyes gleamed with excitement. Riku closed the door and wrapped that hand back around Shadow's waist, pulling him closer. Leaning up, he pressed his dark lips against the near white of Riku's and let the boy guide him backwards.
Reaching the middle of their small cabin, Riku couldn't stand it any more and let his hands trail down from Shadow's waist, down to his thighs. The boy shivered at his touch, but continued to kiss him passionately, impatiently. Riku's hands traveled farther down to wrap themselves around Shadow's knees. Slowly and smoothly, the two knelt down to the floor, until Riku was lying over Shadow, the boy's knees pressing against Riku's ribs.
Riku pulled away from the kiss, but Shadow's greedy mouth tried to follow. Knowing how much his lover liked it rough, Riku grabbed onto Shadow's spiky black hair with one hand and pulled his head back. Unable to see what was happening, all Shadow felt was the soft wet sensation of Riku's tongue on his neck. The knees around his ribs closed tighter as Riku licked and then sucked on the boy's strong neck.
Shadow giggled at the strange sensation, but Riku pulled hard on his hair to stop that. If he didn't know better, the dark boy would have thought that his lover had gotten more aggressive in the past few weeks. More so than he would have expected. But he didn't mind.
Riku let go of Shadow's hair and unzipped the top half of his black jumpsuit. Slipping his cold hands under the shirt, Shadow began to squirm as he felt them slide across his chest, teasing with feather light fingertips.
"That tickles."
Riku smiled and ran his hands along the boy's side, making him writhe even more. Then he let them wander down to where his boxer's began, and without hesitation slipped them under. Shadow let out a gasp and the legs he had been clutching around Riku fell indecently apart. As the boy's hand's warmed up, they began to rub Shadow's length, and the dark creature groaned underneath the older boy. Suddenly Riku stopped all his movement, and his eyes grew far away. Shadow moved, trying to get Riku to continue, but instead he pulled his hands out from under his boxers and sat up on his knees.
"Hey..." Shadow waved his hand in front of Riku's face, but his sea green eyes were blank, and he could tell that his lover was zoned out again.
Riku had felt something brush against his mind and was searching it out.
'I know you're here. Now stop hiding.'
~I didn't want to.....interrupt.~
'Yeah right. Now why are you here?'
~Just to tell you that your friend Sora is approaching.~
Not believing him, Riku tried to read Ansem's mind as he had done before. But the walls were too hard this time, he couldn't even sense Ansem's emotions anymore.
~I don't believe you were invited Riku.~
'And I don't believe you're paying any rent for my body.'
Suddenly, the entire ship lurched to a stop. Riku and Shadow went tumbling across the floor, rolling over each other until they hit the wall. Shadow sat straddling Riku and smiled at him.
"About time." Leaning down, he began to force a kiss on Riku who was trying to push him off.
"Sorry Shadow-" Riku was stopped by another demanding kiss. Giving him what he wanted, Riku let Shadow explore his mouth, feeling with his long wet tongue. Pushing against his shoulders, Riku freed himself and sat up, Shadow still sitting on his lap.
"We have to find out what's wrong. Come on." Riku stood up and waited at the door of their room for Shadow to zip his jumpsuit back up. His eyes a little duller than usual, Shadow huffed and walked up to Riku, latching onto an arm.
"I'm make it up to you later luv." Riku ran his finger down Shadow's soft face before stepping through the door and making his way to the captain's quarters. Everyone seemed still and quiet on the ship, all the heartless remained in the floors and walls, except the few Pirates who lounged against walls, keeping guard. Obviously the ship wasn't under attack or being boarded, otherwise the heartless would have been the first to know about it.
"What's up Ku?"
"I don't Shadow." Without even knocking the boy opened the captain's door and strolled in, Shadow still clinging at his side. Hook and Smee stood looking out the window at the dark space they were traveling through.
"Why have we stopped?" Riku spoke in a commanding tone, some of Ansem's superiority complex seeming to have rubbed off on him.
"There's a mysterious vessel in front of us. It is blocking our way to Hollow Bastion, and we're deciding whether or not to take her out."
Riku walked forward and peered through the grimy glass as well. A small ship was darting between asteroids, it stood out against the dark background with it's yellow and orange and red blocks. He almost couldn't believe his eyes. He had seen that Gummi Ship before.
~'The keyblade master.'~
"Ram that ship captain." Riku walked quickly out of the cabin and onto the deck of the ship. Powering itself up, the ship sprung to life and charged forward, quickly outrunning and outmaneuvering the smaller ship. Banking a quick turn, it set itself on a head on collision course for the Gummi Ship.
Like a bug hitting the windshield of a car, the smaller ship was smashed and thrown out into space, where it sat motionless and teetering sideways. Riku pressed his hand to the ground and summoned the Air Pirates from wherever in the ship they may have been. They rose out of the shadows on the ground and hovered in the air, their feet swinging back and forth.
"Shadow. Some rope." The boy smiled and put his hands behind his back. When he pulled them out again, he had long coils of black rope hanging from them. Riku grabbed a few of them and tossed one end to each Air Pirate. Shadow did the same, holding onto the other ends.
Gliding on their purple wings, the Air Pirates reached the ship and tied the dark ropes around it. Giving a thumbs up to those on the pirate ship, they flew behind the Gummi Ship and began to push it slowly back to the ship. Shadow, Riku, and a few Shadows who had risen from the ground took the ropes and wrapped them around a few posts on that side of the boat. Pulling, they began to drag the small ship closer and closer.
With one final heave, and Gummi Ship slammed against the side of the Hook's ship. Hook ordered that the ship head for Neverland, to restock before they reached Hollow Bastion since that world was so much closer. Riku nodded and watched as the world came into view, with it's dark seas.
The extra heartless faded back into the ship, or wandered around deck, ending up back at their positions. Riku pressed his face against the clear dome of the ship, which had been dented by the collision, and could see three forms inside.
Darkness spread out of Riku, and he used it to force open the top of the ship. Sora and his two companions all seemed fine, just unconscious from the hard hit they had taken.
"Shadow, would you mind taking the duck and dog down below deck. You can put them in with the fairy boy."
"Aye aye Ku, sir!" Shadow saluted and took Donald under one arm, and slung Goofy over his shoulder. Giving a sloppy salute, a pool of black seeped out under him and he slid through the deck of the ship, taking the most direct route down to the hold.
Riku leaned over and took Sora gently in his arms, pulling him out of the Gummi Ship. Using a little bit of his power, he opened up a portal and sent the ship down to another level below him. After taking care of that bit of business, he set his green eyes on the boy in his arms. He wondered how long he had obsessed over Sora, before they had been taken off the island. Every moment the boy had plagued his mind. He had just assumed that Sora felt the same way, even if it was just as friends. But this journey had sent them both in different directions, and now Riku realized that Sora cared about anyone and everyone, but never seriously.
~'He claims to search for Kairi. But I doubt he even cares about her anymore.'~
Feeling the boy start to stir, Riku put him down lightly on the deck. 'Why did you have to change Sora?' He backed away, trying to stay as quiet as he could as he walked up to the next level on deck, not wanting to be too close when the keyblade master woke up. Sensing his heart nearby, the Pirates began to walk stealthily forward, keeping their eyes on Riku to see if he was going to do anything. He just leaned against the railing, knowing that he could tap into Ansem's powers at any second and destroy every heartless on the ship in an instant.
"Wh-what?" Sora shook his head and stood up, looking around the deck of the ship. He was facing the bow, and could see the dark blue ocean. He began to look around, and did a double take when he saw the familiar silver haired boy on the deck. Hook and Smee came up behind him, sneering at their captive. Heartless danced around him, not quite coming close enough to attack him yet.
"Riku?"
"Nice to see you again Sora." Riku said coldly. Sora didn't seem happy to see him, again. And, as he slowly realized, he wasn't happy to see Sora either.
~'The heartless should just attack him already. They've had plenty of chances to stop him.'~
"Riku, why are you siding with the heartless?"
"Now how is that a way to greet," Riku paused, smiling wickedly, "old friends." He could practically feel the shiver that ran through Sora. He was sure that the keyblade master could sense the change in him, the darkness that was at his every beckon call.
'Shadow. Send Kairi up through a portal.' Riku sent extra darkness through his feet to the floor, allowing his friend to send up the girl up from her place in the cabins below. Riku could sense the girl's body sitting limply behind him, hidden from view.
"Please Riku, don't do this."
"I'm tired of your talk Sora. While you were out gallivanting with your useless friends, I was out actually doing what we set out to do. You keep asking about me, when really," Riku took a step aside, and relished in the shock and pain on Sora's sapphire eyes, "you should be asking about her."
"Kairi!" Sora took a step forward, but stopped when Riku raised a black gloved hand.
"I've also picked up a few new tricks Sora. And I think you'll get a kick out of this one." Putting his hand facing the deck in front of Sora, Riku noticed that the boy was standing just a few footsteps in front of the door that led below deck. He smiled to himself and tugged on the darkness, creating a portal directly in front of Sora.
The dark spikes of Shadow rose out of the ground, his yellow eyes gleaming with delight as he stood up, filled with the power of the fear he inflicted. Sora's whole body went slack as he stumbled backwards, almost falling down. It was the creature, the one that had.....the one he had dreamed....was it a dream anymore? Shadow smiled, an obsidian reflection as he walked slowly forward. Sora's feet finally found their way onto the trap door and Riku used the darkness to pull the lever.
Sora cried out as he fell through the trap door and continued to fall through each deck, as the darkness opened up for him, until he landed in the hold. Specifically, he landed on top of his other friends.
Riku laughed and returned to the captain's quarter, with Hook and Shadow at his heels.
"Now then Hook, since we're here on Neverland, we'll let the girl and boy go."
"Have ye gone mad! I've spent too long trying to capture that rotten brat Peter Pan to let him go now!"
"The girl isn't one of the princesses. You knew that. Nothing else matters so long as we open the final keyhole." Riku turned, an evil expression covering his face which had moments ago been cheerful. "If you jeopardize this because of your pride, you'll have to answer to someone higher than me."
"Who? My dear friend Maleficent."
"You wish." Riku muttered as he sat down on one of the plush chairs in the cabin. He happened to glance out one of the windows and saw the heartless carrying Kairi back to her cabin, to keep the Wendy girl company.
"Shadow?"
"Yes?"
~"Keep an eye on the keyblade master for me. I don't want Sora screwing anything up. Make sure he doesn't go near Kairi."~
Bowing, Shadow nodded to his friend and master. In a poof of black smoke, there were suddenly four copies of Shadow standing around. They were powerless, and had no eyes, a sign that they were just fake copies, not useful in battle. They floated through the floor, heading down to numerous parts of the ship.
"Wow."
"What wow?" Riku looked at Shadow, who's yellow eyes seemed to be zoned out, not quite looking at anything.
"He's already gotten out of the hold. And he has fairy boy with him."
"This isn't good. If Sora takes Kairi away, we'll never be able to open the final keyhole and get her heart back."
"It's hopeless anyway lad. The heartless have devoured that girl's heart and it's never coming back." Hook snickered.
"You're wrong. I will save her."
"Ah!" Shadow gasped and his body convulsed. Looking at Riku, he smiled sheepishly.
"Sora destroyed one of my copies. And it looks like he's heading for another one."
"I don't like this. Come on Shadow. I'm going to go get Kairi."
Shadow convulsed again as another bit of darkness was returned to him. Then he hiccupped. Riku couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the boy, but headed for Kairi's cabin anyway.
As the two walked down the hallway towards the room where the girl's were being kept, they could hear a high voice yelling up through the floor.
"Sora?" Riku listened carefully, putting his ear to the floor.
"Wendy, is there another girl up there with you?"
Riku stood up. "He must be talking to Wendy through the floor. We better get in there."
Shadow followed the order and opened the door. His eyes met with his archrival. The girl stood up, preparing to make an escape until she saw Riku enter as well. The boy was big for his age, and he had always worn his clothes in order to show off his huge muscles. She was preoccupied with looking at him while Shadow snuck behind her and wrapped his hand over her mouth. Pumping the darkness into her, her eyes fluttered close and she stopped moving. With less care than he should, Shadow dropped her to the floor and crossed his arms, pleased at a job well done.
Riku took the light form of his close friend in his arms, and stood listening to the confused pleas of Sora from the level beneath him. Shifting his burden to make her easier to carry, Riku exited that room only to enter he and Shadow's cabin next door. The whole ship was interconnected through ladders and cabins. Shadow helped Riku pull down the ladder in their cabin which led directly up into Captain Hook's quarters. They climbed up, and reaching Hook's cabin, Riku sat down on the window seat, with Kairi lying in his lap.
Riku stared at Shadow for a few minutes before the small boy began to shift his feet back and forth.
"What is it Ku?"
"Just the fact that you overreacted in there. Letting that girl get the best of you. Tsk tsk. Come on Shadow, you could annihilate her any minute, don't let her get to you."
"If you'd let me kill her, then I wouldn't have this problem."
"She's innocent Shadow."
~You never seem to have a problem with us taking other innocent's hearts. What's so different about that girl?~
'I don't know. And I never was exactly thrilled about what you're doing. But I guess the ends justifies the means.'
~Of course it does. But for now, perhaps your attention should be on our friend the keyblade master.~
"Huh." Riku said out loud as he heard the ladder in his cabin slam down into place.
"They're coming." Shadow phased out, intent on watching the boy fight whatever heartless Riku would throw at him.
"Shadow, delay him. Try not to kill him, just knock him and his friends out. We'll head for Hollow Bastion the quick way."
Riku stood up with Kairi in his arms and headed for the door when he heard the heavy thumping of footsteps behind him. He turned and his eyes met with Sora's again.
"Riku, wait!" Sora reached out for him, but Riku used as much darkness as he had left in him and let himself slip through a portal behind him. A second before he disappeared completely, he saw Shadow become visible, and draw his shadow keyblade.
Riku felt lightheaded, but refused to give up his hold on Kairi. Transporting one person from one world all the way to another was difficult enough using just your own powers. He had to keep exerting more, but he couldn't feel the other end of the tunnel coming close. Just blackness, all around him, suffocating him. Letting out a choking sound, Riku fell forward, still feebly hanging on to the girl in his arms.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Bright light clouded his vision as his green eyes finally opened. He was kneeling down on cold hard ground. He was panting, and his body felt like someone had hit it with a truck.
"You're incredible. But really, you shouldn't have risked bringing that girl all the way without a vessel."
Something sharp suddenly stabbed inside him, as if someone had taken a knife to his stomach. Riku cried out and Maleficent took a step back, then looked on with concern.
'Something's wrong. Something's very wrong.' Riku felt his eyes sting with tears as he curled up on himself, barely able to breath through the pain.
'What's going on?' He cried out in his mind, as his mouth moved mutely, no sound coming out from his lungs, which felt as if they were slowly being squeezed inside him.
~Something has happened to Shadow.~ For once, Ansem actually sounded concerned. Anger giving him strength, Riku stood up on his wobbly feet and tried to call Shadow to him, but he was in too much pain. Slowly, the pain began to fade, like it was being pushed away into the background, still there, but not nearly as bad. Riku tried to move his arm, but nothing happened.
'I'm dying...'
~No you're not. I just have control of your body. And therefore, you can't move, but neither can you feel pain.~
This thought made Riku feel even sicker. But for now, all he cared about was his little lover.
'Can you show me what's happening to Shadow?'
~Of course. You used up all the darkness inside you on your way here, and then lost consciousness. If I had enough power to finish bringing you and Kairi here, a mere looking glass is of no problem to me.~
Finding it very strange and unnerving, Riku watched as his hand moved without him and the darkness rose from the floor, creating a wall. It flickered into life and showed the inside of Captain Hook's cabin on the pirate ship. Quick movements ran across the screen, and battle cries rang out.
Donald lay on one side of the cabin, with stars swimming around his head. He was obviously unconscious, and doing no one any good at the moment. Running past him the focus shifted to the dog, Goofy, he was barreling straight at Shadow.
'Get out of the way!' Plunging his shield forward, Goofy ran straight through Shadow, leaving him a pile of black dust.
'NO!!!'
~Calm down Riku. That was one of Shadow's copies. Watch.~
Focusing again on the image, he could see two Shadows nearby, both lunging towards a common target. Sora brought up his keyblade and blocked one of the Shadow keyblades, but the other hit home and he was sent backwards, to skid along the ground before getting up again. Looking closely, Riku could see the Shadow was wearing down. The real one was limping a bit as he dove out of the way of one of Sora's slashes. Something blacker than his usual color was dripping down Shadow's chest and was also making the blade of Sora's weapon shine.
'Oh God...he's been hurt badly. We have to go help him.'
~I can't Riku. There isn't enough power left between the two of us to go there and bring back Shadow.~
Sora swept his blade to the side and another copy disintegrated. Turning, he set his sites on Shadow, who was standing with his blade at the ready.
'If we don't help him, he'll be killed!'
Sora jumped at him, slamming the blade down to where Shadow had been a split second earlier, but he had phased through the floor and had reappeared directly behind Sora. With a swift kick, he sent the keyblade master falling. But afterwards, it was Shadow who leaned onto his sword and gasped, as if he had been hit. His wounds were too bad, and his energy too low. Every attack he inflicted on Sora, drained him of what he had left as well.
~If we try and save him, we'll all be killed.~
With a twirl and a lot of power, Sora swung his blade forward. With a lot of effort, and a cry of pain, Shadow brought his own keyblade up to block the attack. The sheer force was enough to cause him to stumble back. Sora stepped forward...
'Make him stop!!'
.....Shadow tried to raise his sword....
~I can't. He can't be controlled by darkness.~
...Sora brought his keyblade up, level with Shadow's chest....
'Then bring Shadow here, NOW!!'
....Shadow couldn't get the block up in time....
~It's too late.~
.....and Sora thrust forward.
'SHADOW!!!!'
The blade buried itself in the dark boy's chest, but he made no sound. Only his mouth left gaping wide, and his amber eyes half closed. Riku could feel the far away pain in his chest again, and Ansem gasped from the intensity of it.
Shadow pulled himself backwards, off of the now blackened keyblade. He stood for a moment, looking at the black blood that spilled out of him. Sora stood perfectly still, watching as the blood fell out of him. He had never seen a heartless bleed before. Donald and Goofy joined him, thinking the same thing as the pathetic looking creature struggled to stay standing.
Riku couldn't think, couldn't speak. He watched as his lover's body slowly rose over the hard wood floor of the ship. Below him, his own blood was stirring, the pure darkness within him. His body lifted off the ground, but soon the blackness beneath him reached up with tendrils, wrapping around his legs and feet. Shadow began to panic, and he tried to move, but his body was stuck in that position. His arms stretched out and his legs tied together by the darkness. His head flung back in a silent scream as the darkness sucked him down.
'NOO!!'
The pool of blackness closed up, and Riku could no longer feel his connection with Shadow. The one he had since the day they had met. Gone. Gone.
'Gone.'
~Gone. And all because of Sora.~
'I will kill you Sora.'
~'You will not win.'~
* * * * * * * * * *
hope you all liked it. Please review!!
A few heartless passed by, their colors and appearances suited to the strange inhabitants of this world. Shadow found that he liked Halloweentown. The people were all strange and creepy, and he and Riku had made sure that they fit in. Two furry black ears protruded from Shadow's head, and a scruffy tail fell almost to the ground. His feet and hands were huge paws with short but sharp claws. Even his black jumpsuit was torn in places, allowing black fur to stick through. His unchanged golden eyes added the perfect finishing touch to his werewolf costume.
"Riku!!" He called out, cupping his paws against his mouth. Somehow, the dark keyblade master had slipped away from him at some point while they were tracking down Sora and his friends in the shadows and fog of this world.
"RIKU!!!"
A black gloved hand touched Shadow's shoulder and the boy yelped and spun around. Riku just laughed softly at his antics before motioning for him to follow. Even in his costume, anyone could easily tell that it was Riku. Along his silver hair were two small pointed ears, with short black fur on them. A soft jingle announced his every step from the silver bell hanging off of a black collar he wore. One major advantage of controlling the darkness was that it could do things for an outfit that would be nearly impossible for a normal person. Along his face and arms, the only exposed parts of Riku's skin, were black stripes, like a tabby cat. His shirt was black and skin tight, with large rips across it. He wore gray and black belts around his waist, and his signature pants which were large and baggy. They were black and gray striped as well, adding to the tabby cat motif he had going. His shoes and gloves were both very simple, just black and covered in the same soft black fur as his ears.
"So......where we goin?" Shadow caught up with Riku and fell in step with the clunking sound of his boots.
"Sora."
Shadow grumbled and his ears pressed against his head in frustration. They had all the seven princesses, and all they had to do was deliver Kairi to the castle of Hollow Bastion and then he and Riku could go wherever they like. But no, he insisted on constantly watching Sora, controlling the heartless around him to test out his friend and try and make him change sides. Shadow was getting sick of it, but some dark part inside him was happy for it. Every time Riku saw Sora helping others instead of looking for Kairi, he became angrier and angrier.
The sound of fighting told Riku and Shadow exactly where their quarry was and they concealed themselves with the darkness as they stepped through a decrepit stone wall. The keyblade master was rushing forward, leaping into the air at the last second to strike down a flying heartless. The Gargoyle disappeared when he was pierced by the blade, and elsewhere White Knights were being electrocuted by the small duck's lightning magic.
When that batch of heartless had been defeated, another wave was preparing to rise from their crypts but Riku held up his head and they stopped. The darkness swallowed them up again and Sora and company began to talk about something. A girl stepped out of the shadow of a tombstone, parts of herself held together by what looked like stitches. Shadow watched as the girl wobbly approached the disguised heroes and gave them a small plant.
~Seems the errand boy has been out again.~
'Where did you come from?'
~More business, I assure you. Some heartless needed my assistance.~
'Sure. Whatever. Why don't you go back and "assist" them some more?'
~Tsk tsk. Riku, my boy, don't take your anger out on me. Just because you see what I told you was the truth. Now go back to the ship. We don't have time for your...sightseeing anymore. If you want any chance of getting Kairi's heart back, we must take her to Hollow Bastion as soon as we can.~
'Fine.'
"Shadow."
The golden eyed boy looked up, his wolf's ears perking up as well. Sora and the others had walked away during Riku's conversation with Ansem, and Shadow had been amusing himself with a ghost dog.
"Isn't he cute? We should take him with us."
Riku rolled his eyes and created a portal in the wall to use to get back to Hook's ship.
"Don't you want to see if Sora gets the heart working?"
~"We don't care what he does."~
Blending into the darkness, Shadow wondered if it had been his imagination, or if Riku had just referred to himself as being plural. Shrugging it off, he too let his body be dragged away by his element, the darkness.
The feel of the hard wood beneath his feet comforted Riku as compared to the soft, groaning ground of the cemetery in Halloweentown. The ship was perfectly still as Shadow thumped down onto the floor behind Riku.
"We aren't moving?"
"No. I guess Hook doesn't know that we're back yet."
Shadow smiled and grabbed Riku's hand, leading him quickly through the corridors of the ship. Finally feeling a bit cheered up, Riku let himself be dragged through doors and up stairs by the strong shadow.
They reached the red door and Shadow barreled through it as well, the door slamming into the wall as he kicked it open.
"We're back!!"
The two stopped short in their tracks as they witnessed the mayhem around them. Pirate heartless were running around like chickens with their heads cut off, Shadows were popping up out of the woodworks only to be cut down by a blur of green.
~"Leave them alone for barely an hour, and all hell breaks loose."~
Shadow snickered and ran to the railing, watching the newcomer battle the enormous amounts of heartless around him. He wore green....lots of green, and was flying through the air.
"No fair. I want to fly."
Riku rolled his eyes and continued searching the deck, until he found the person he was looking for. The bumbling Captain Hook stood behind a wave of Pirates as they used their enormous swords to fend off the flying boy. In his arms was a girl in a blue nightgown, tied up with rope and gagged.
"Five bucks says that girl is what the fairy boy is after."
"Yep." Shadow nodded before suddenly breaking into laughter. Riku cocked his head and gave his lover a questioning glance. A dark finger pointed to the other side of the large ship where small Battleships were raising into the air.
"They brought out the cavalry." Doubling over in laughter, Shadow finally fell onto the floor and sat, with his legs poking through the railing as he observed the aerial battle.
~The fool.~
'Huh? What are you so pissy about?'
~We have all six of the other princesses in Hollow Bastion, and Kairi is aboard the ship. Now that idiot is risking everything by capturing that Wendy girl.~
'Is that wannabe jolly green giant really that dangerous?'
~To someone as inept as Hook, he could be deadly.~
'I'll take care of it.'
~Good to see at least one keyblade master cares about the girl.~
Riku leapt over the railing and rolled as he landed on the lowest level of the ship. As he was about to stand up, a flaming battleship being pestered by the boy came careening straight for him.
"Woah!" He jumped and rolled forward, narrowly missing the flaming wreckage. When he did stand up, he shot a death glare to Captain Hook as he menacingly approached.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Capturing the last of these scurvy princesses, what does it look like you brat?"
"Hey codfish!"
Both turned to see the boy hovering in the air in front of them, sticking his tongue out at Hook.
"Come down here and fight like a man, Peter Pan!" The captain shook his hook at the boy, who just laughed at his pathetic request.
Everyone on the ship was thrown to the ground as the engine was abruptly started and the ship flew through the air. Recovering his balance, Riku stood up and squared off against Pan.
"Leave this ship, or I'll have to make you sorry. You can have the girl, she is useless."
"You're not the captain of this ship. I'll never give her up. It's taken me too long to come this far." Hook protectively clung to the bounded girl, who pleaded at Peter with her eyes.
"You fool, what are-" Riku was interrupted as someone's foot was abruptly thrust into his stomach. The cocky boy ricocheted off of Riku and flew straight for Hook.
"Oh that's it. Now you're not getting away." Riku snarled angrily and called up the more powerful Air Pirates that he had been keeping back from the fray. They immediately grabbed hold of Peter Pan and flew up into the air with him. Hook laughed as if he had been the one to send them into battle, and stood to watch the battle progress with the air of a victor.
"Shadow." Riku said very calmly, and in an instant the boy was at his side.
"You want to fly. Fine. Teach that little annoyance a lesson." Riku placed his hand on Shadow's back and poured enough darkness into him to make the boy's body jump. Black leathery wings rose out of him, and Shadow grinned maniacally before flapping the wings to give them a test and taking off into the air.
"Ha. You guys aren't nearly fast enough to stop me." Peter Pan threw his arms forward, bashing the two Air Pirates against each other and knocking them out. Then he drew his small knife and flew in circles around the remaining two, before diving in and spinning his body. The knife dug into the heartless and they returned to the darkness as Pan crowed happily.
"Hey fairy boy. Come try a piece of this." Shadow hovered in front of the young boy, his dark wings spread out to his sides, keeping him airborne. Drawing the dark keyblade to himself, Shadow brought his hand to his lips and blew a kiss to Peter. The boy's face flushed red in anger and he charged blindly.
Shadow used his newly acquired wing like a matador cape and let Pan charge straight by him. A quick flick of his sword, and the boy was knocked unconscious and flung to the ground. Riku stood over him, sneering at the boy's weakness. Shadow landed nearby, and his dark wings disappeared in a black sparkle.
"Hey. I liked those." He pouted sadly and tried to guilt Riku into giving them back.
"No Shadow. You don't need them and they're using up my power."
~Not really. You know that as long as I'm with you, you have unlimited power over the darkness.~
'Yes. But it also means drawing it off of you. And I'd rather not.'
"Come on Shadow. Let's put this guy in the hold."
"What about her?" He motioned to Wendy, who had been forgotten by Hook and was trying to crawl away.
"I don't want to hurt her. We can take her back to where she came from. Put her with Kairi."
Shadow carefully picked up the kicking and angry girl, and attempted to carry her back into the ship without getting too badly injured. Riku reached down and roughly grabbed the unconscious boy and threw him over his shoulder. He followed the struggling shadow until they reached the different corridors that they needed to take. Shadow opened up a door and carefully un-gagged the girl.
"Why I never! How dare you do that to me? I demand that you return me to my home right this instant!" Shadow ignored the angry rantings of the young girl and untied the ropes around her.
Thump. Riku stopped halfway down the ladder he was on and climbed back up, only to see Shadow sitting on his backside, a large red footprint on his face. Shaking his head a few times, the boy got up and rolled his sleeves up, stepping into the room.
Riku just laughed and jumped the rest of the way down the ladder. Through a few more ladders and doors, he eventually found himself in the hold of Hook's ship. Barrels and boxes littered the area, and ropes fell from upper levels where some careless Pirate must have knocked them over. Riku kicked the door open and threw the limp body of Pan into it.
Walking back up the stairs, Riku could hear a fierce war being raged on in the level above him. It sounded like it was coming from his cabin. Screeches and the sound of things breaking started to worry the silver haired boy as he ran faster up the remaining ladder and quickly opened up the door leading to where he had last seen Shadow.
The dark boy kneeled behind an overturned table, blocking the broken vases and the hefty treasure chests that the screaming harpy was throwing at him. Propped up in a corner, protected by a bookshelf, Kairi's motionless body sat.
"How dare you say that about Peter!?!" A picture frame nearly took Shadow's head off as he ducked at the last possible second.
"Oh come on. He lives with a bunch of "lost boys"." Shadow grabbed a broken shard of glass from behind him and threw it over the table at the girl. Wendy didn't have to dodge it as it landed harmlessly a few feet in front of her.
"I don't care why you said it, you little weasel."
"Weasel?" Riku asked, but the two mortal combatants didn't take any notice of him.
"Seriously, you little prick, I didn't mean it as an insult. Coming from me, it's a compliment!" Shadow finally stood up and wrapped his hands around the bottom of the overturned table. Seeing that it could endanger the still form of his friend, Riku made a move to block him. Shadow stood up and hurled the table at her, but by putting up just one arm, the table broke and splintered around Riku.
"Enough fighting Shadow. Let's go." Riku walked out the door, leaving two very shocked people in his wake. Shadow followed after him though, and locked Wendy into the room before he left.
Riku walked the five feet down the hall to their room before turning around and looking at Shadow. The boy was still staring into the room where Wendy was, walking backwards. He was muttering angry curses and empty threats. His feet eventually took him too far and he ran right into Riku. The older boy's strong arms wrapped around him and kept him from falling down.
Shadow was worried that maybe Riku was angry at him, for what he had done in there, and turned very slowly to meet his eyes. But there was a smirk on his face, and his green eyes were warmer than they had been in a while. Reaching over, Riku turned the knob on their door and began to walk into their room, still holding Shadow.
Walking backwards, Shadow grinned mischievously at Riku and his golden eyes gleamed with excitement. Riku closed the door and wrapped that hand back around Shadow's waist, pulling him closer. Leaning up, he pressed his dark lips against the near white of Riku's and let the boy guide him backwards.
Reaching the middle of their small cabin, Riku couldn't stand it any more and let his hands trail down from Shadow's waist, down to his thighs. The boy shivered at his touch, but continued to kiss him passionately, impatiently. Riku's hands traveled farther down to wrap themselves around Shadow's knees. Slowly and smoothly, the two knelt down to the floor, until Riku was lying over Shadow, the boy's knees pressing against Riku's ribs.
Riku pulled away from the kiss, but Shadow's greedy mouth tried to follow. Knowing how much his lover liked it rough, Riku grabbed onto Shadow's spiky black hair with one hand and pulled his head back. Unable to see what was happening, all Shadow felt was the soft wet sensation of Riku's tongue on his neck. The knees around his ribs closed tighter as Riku licked and then sucked on the boy's strong neck.
Shadow giggled at the strange sensation, but Riku pulled hard on his hair to stop that. If he didn't know better, the dark boy would have thought that his lover had gotten more aggressive in the past few weeks. More so than he would have expected. But he didn't mind.
Riku let go of Shadow's hair and unzipped the top half of his black jumpsuit. Slipping his cold hands under the shirt, Shadow began to squirm as he felt them slide across his chest, teasing with feather light fingertips.
"That tickles."
Riku smiled and ran his hands along the boy's side, making him writhe even more. Then he let them wander down to where his boxer's began, and without hesitation slipped them under. Shadow let out a gasp and the legs he had been clutching around Riku fell indecently apart. As the boy's hand's warmed up, they began to rub Shadow's length, and the dark creature groaned underneath the older boy. Suddenly Riku stopped all his movement, and his eyes grew far away. Shadow moved, trying to get Riku to continue, but instead he pulled his hands out from under his boxers and sat up on his knees.
"Hey..." Shadow waved his hand in front of Riku's face, but his sea green eyes were blank, and he could tell that his lover was zoned out again.
Riku had felt something brush against his mind and was searching it out.
'I know you're here. Now stop hiding.'
~I didn't want to.....interrupt.~
'Yeah right. Now why are you here?'
~Just to tell you that your friend Sora is approaching.~
Not believing him, Riku tried to read Ansem's mind as he had done before. But the walls were too hard this time, he couldn't even sense Ansem's emotions anymore.
~I don't believe you were invited Riku.~
'And I don't believe you're paying any rent for my body.'
Suddenly, the entire ship lurched to a stop. Riku and Shadow went tumbling across the floor, rolling over each other until they hit the wall. Shadow sat straddling Riku and smiled at him.
"About time." Leaning down, he began to force a kiss on Riku who was trying to push him off.
"Sorry Shadow-" Riku was stopped by another demanding kiss. Giving him what he wanted, Riku let Shadow explore his mouth, feeling with his long wet tongue. Pushing against his shoulders, Riku freed himself and sat up, Shadow still sitting on his lap.
"We have to find out what's wrong. Come on." Riku stood up and waited at the door of their room for Shadow to zip his jumpsuit back up. His eyes a little duller than usual, Shadow huffed and walked up to Riku, latching onto an arm.
"I'm make it up to you later luv." Riku ran his finger down Shadow's soft face before stepping through the door and making his way to the captain's quarters. Everyone seemed still and quiet on the ship, all the heartless remained in the floors and walls, except the few Pirates who lounged against walls, keeping guard. Obviously the ship wasn't under attack or being boarded, otherwise the heartless would have been the first to know about it.
"What's up Ku?"
"I don't Shadow." Without even knocking the boy opened the captain's door and strolled in, Shadow still clinging at his side. Hook and Smee stood looking out the window at the dark space they were traveling through.
"Why have we stopped?" Riku spoke in a commanding tone, some of Ansem's superiority complex seeming to have rubbed off on him.
"There's a mysterious vessel in front of us. It is blocking our way to Hollow Bastion, and we're deciding whether or not to take her out."
Riku walked forward and peered through the grimy glass as well. A small ship was darting between asteroids, it stood out against the dark background with it's yellow and orange and red blocks. He almost couldn't believe his eyes. He had seen that Gummi Ship before.
~'The keyblade master.'~
"Ram that ship captain." Riku walked quickly out of the cabin and onto the deck of the ship. Powering itself up, the ship sprung to life and charged forward, quickly outrunning and outmaneuvering the smaller ship. Banking a quick turn, it set itself on a head on collision course for the Gummi Ship.
Like a bug hitting the windshield of a car, the smaller ship was smashed and thrown out into space, where it sat motionless and teetering sideways. Riku pressed his hand to the ground and summoned the Air Pirates from wherever in the ship they may have been. They rose out of the shadows on the ground and hovered in the air, their feet swinging back and forth.
"Shadow. Some rope." The boy smiled and put his hands behind his back. When he pulled them out again, he had long coils of black rope hanging from them. Riku grabbed a few of them and tossed one end to each Air Pirate. Shadow did the same, holding onto the other ends.
Gliding on their purple wings, the Air Pirates reached the ship and tied the dark ropes around it. Giving a thumbs up to those on the pirate ship, they flew behind the Gummi Ship and began to push it slowly back to the ship. Shadow, Riku, and a few Shadows who had risen from the ground took the ropes and wrapped them around a few posts on that side of the boat. Pulling, they began to drag the small ship closer and closer.
With one final heave, and Gummi Ship slammed against the side of the Hook's ship. Hook ordered that the ship head for Neverland, to restock before they reached Hollow Bastion since that world was so much closer. Riku nodded and watched as the world came into view, with it's dark seas.
The extra heartless faded back into the ship, or wandered around deck, ending up back at their positions. Riku pressed his face against the clear dome of the ship, which had been dented by the collision, and could see three forms inside.
Darkness spread out of Riku, and he used it to force open the top of the ship. Sora and his two companions all seemed fine, just unconscious from the hard hit they had taken.
"Shadow, would you mind taking the duck and dog down below deck. You can put them in with the fairy boy."
"Aye aye Ku, sir!" Shadow saluted and took Donald under one arm, and slung Goofy over his shoulder. Giving a sloppy salute, a pool of black seeped out under him and he slid through the deck of the ship, taking the most direct route down to the hold.
Riku leaned over and took Sora gently in his arms, pulling him out of the Gummi Ship. Using a little bit of his power, he opened up a portal and sent the ship down to another level below him. After taking care of that bit of business, he set his green eyes on the boy in his arms. He wondered how long he had obsessed over Sora, before they had been taken off the island. Every moment the boy had plagued his mind. He had just assumed that Sora felt the same way, even if it was just as friends. But this journey had sent them both in different directions, and now Riku realized that Sora cared about anyone and everyone, but never seriously.
~'He claims to search for Kairi. But I doubt he even cares about her anymore.'~
Feeling the boy start to stir, Riku put him down lightly on the deck. 'Why did you have to change Sora?' He backed away, trying to stay as quiet as he could as he walked up to the next level on deck, not wanting to be too close when the keyblade master woke up. Sensing his heart nearby, the Pirates began to walk stealthily forward, keeping their eyes on Riku to see if he was going to do anything. He just leaned against the railing, knowing that he could tap into Ansem's powers at any second and destroy every heartless on the ship in an instant.
"Wh-what?" Sora shook his head and stood up, looking around the deck of the ship. He was facing the bow, and could see the dark blue ocean. He began to look around, and did a double take when he saw the familiar silver haired boy on the deck. Hook and Smee came up behind him, sneering at their captive. Heartless danced around him, not quite coming close enough to attack him yet.
"Riku?"
"Nice to see you again Sora." Riku said coldly. Sora didn't seem happy to see him, again. And, as he slowly realized, he wasn't happy to see Sora either.
~'The heartless should just attack him already. They've had plenty of chances to stop him.'~
"Riku, why are you siding with the heartless?"
"Now how is that a way to greet," Riku paused, smiling wickedly, "old friends." He could practically feel the shiver that ran through Sora. He was sure that the keyblade master could sense the change in him, the darkness that was at his every beckon call.
'Shadow. Send Kairi up through a portal.' Riku sent extra darkness through his feet to the floor, allowing his friend to send up the girl up from her place in the cabins below. Riku could sense the girl's body sitting limply behind him, hidden from view.
"Please Riku, don't do this."
"I'm tired of your talk Sora. While you were out gallivanting with your useless friends, I was out actually doing what we set out to do. You keep asking about me, when really," Riku took a step aside, and relished in the shock and pain on Sora's sapphire eyes, "you should be asking about her."
"Kairi!" Sora took a step forward, but stopped when Riku raised a black gloved hand.
"I've also picked up a few new tricks Sora. And I think you'll get a kick out of this one." Putting his hand facing the deck in front of Sora, Riku noticed that the boy was standing just a few footsteps in front of the door that led below deck. He smiled to himself and tugged on the darkness, creating a portal directly in front of Sora.
The dark spikes of Shadow rose out of the ground, his yellow eyes gleaming with delight as he stood up, filled with the power of the fear he inflicted. Sora's whole body went slack as he stumbled backwards, almost falling down. It was the creature, the one that had.....the one he had dreamed....was it a dream anymore? Shadow smiled, an obsidian reflection as he walked slowly forward. Sora's feet finally found their way onto the trap door and Riku used the darkness to pull the lever.
Sora cried out as he fell through the trap door and continued to fall through each deck, as the darkness opened up for him, until he landed in the hold. Specifically, he landed on top of his other friends.
Riku laughed and returned to the captain's quarter, with Hook and Shadow at his heels.
"Now then Hook, since we're here on Neverland, we'll let the girl and boy go."
"Have ye gone mad! I've spent too long trying to capture that rotten brat Peter Pan to let him go now!"
"The girl isn't one of the princesses. You knew that. Nothing else matters so long as we open the final keyhole." Riku turned, an evil expression covering his face which had moments ago been cheerful. "If you jeopardize this because of your pride, you'll have to answer to someone higher than me."
"Who? My dear friend Maleficent."
"You wish." Riku muttered as he sat down on one of the plush chairs in the cabin. He happened to glance out one of the windows and saw the heartless carrying Kairi back to her cabin, to keep the Wendy girl company.
"Shadow?"
"Yes?"
~"Keep an eye on the keyblade master for me. I don't want Sora screwing anything up. Make sure he doesn't go near Kairi."~
Bowing, Shadow nodded to his friend and master. In a poof of black smoke, there were suddenly four copies of Shadow standing around. They were powerless, and had no eyes, a sign that they were just fake copies, not useful in battle. They floated through the floor, heading down to numerous parts of the ship.
"Wow."
"What wow?" Riku looked at Shadow, who's yellow eyes seemed to be zoned out, not quite looking at anything.
"He's already gotten out of the hold. And he has fairy boy with him."
"This isn't good. If Sora takes Kairi away, we'll never be able to open the final keyhole and get her heart back."
"It's hopeless anyway lad. The heartless have devoured that girl's heart and it's never coming back." Hook snickered.
"You're wrong. I will save her."
"Ah!" Shadow gasped and his body convulsed. Looking at Riku, he smiled sheepishly.
"Sora destroyed one of my copies. And it looks like he's heading for another one."
"I don't like this. Come on Shadow. I'm going to go get Kairi."
Shadow convulsed again as another bit of darkness was returned to him. Then he hiccupped. Riku couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the boy, but headed for Kairi's cabin anyway.
As the two walked down the hallway towards the room where the girl's were being kept, they could hear a high voice yelling up through the floor.
"Sora?" Riku listened carefully, putting his ear to the floor.
"Wendy, is there another girl up there with you?"
Riku stood up. "He must be talking to Wendy through the floor. We better get in there."
Shadow followed the order and opened the door. His eyes met with his archrival. The girl stood up, preparing to make an escape until she saw Riku enter as well. The boy was big for his age, and he had always worn his clothes in order to show off his huge muscles. She was preoccupied with looking at him while Shadow snuck behind her and wrapped his hand over her mouth. Pumping the darkness into her, her eyes fluttered close and she stopped moving. With less care than he should, Shadow dropped her to the floor and crossed his arms, pleased at a job well done.
Riku took the light form of his close friend in his arms, and stood listening to the confused pleas of Sora from the level beneath him. Shifting his burden to make her easier to carry, Riku exited that room only to enter he and Shadow's cabin next door. The whole ship was interconnected through ladders and cabins. Shadow helped Riku pull down the ladder in their cabin which led directly up into Captain Hook's quarters. They climbed up, and reaching Hook's cabin, Riku sat down on the window seat, with Kairi lying in his lap.
Riku stared at Shadow for a few minutes before the small boy began to shift his feet back and forth.
"What is it Ku?"
"Just the fact that you overreacted in there. Letting that girl get the best of you. Tsk tsk. Come on Shadow, you could annihilate her any minute, don't let her get to you."
"If you'd let me kill her, then I wouldn't have this problem."
"She's innocent Shadow."
~You never seem to have a problem with us taking other innocent's hearts. What's so different about that girl?~
'I don't know. And I never was exactly thrilled about what you're doing. But I guess the ends justifies the means.'
~Of course it does. But for now, perhaps your attention should be on our friend the keyblade master.~
"Huh." Riku said out loud as he heard the ladder in his cabin slam down into place.
"They're coming." Shadow phased out, intent on watching the boy fight whatever heartless Riku would throw at him.
"Shadow, delay him. Try not to kill him, just knock him and his friends out. We'll head for Hollow Bastion the quick way."
Riku stood up with Kairi in his arms and headed for the door when he heard the heavy thumping of footsteps behind him. He turned and his eyes met with Sora's again.
"Riku, wait!" Sora reached out for him, but Riku used as much darkness as he had left in him and let himself slip through a portal behind him. A second before he disappeared completely, he saw Shadow become visible, and draw his shadow keyblade.
Riku felt lightheaded, but refused to give up his hold on Kairi. Transporting one person from one world all the way to another was difficult enough using just your own powers. He had to keep exerting more, but he couldn't feel the other end of the tunnel coming close. Just blackness, all around him, suffocating him. Letting out a choking sound, Riku fell forward, still feebly hanging on to the girl in his arms.
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Bright light clouded his vision as his green eyes finally opened. He was kneeling down on cold hard ground. He was panting, and his body felt like someone had hit it with a truck.
"You're incredible. But really, you shouldn't have risked bringing that girl all the way without a vessel."
Something sharp suddenly stabbed inside him, as if someone had taken a knife to his stomach. Riku cried out and Maleficent took a step back, then looked on with concern.
'Something's wrong. Something's very wrong.' Riku felt his eyes sting with tears as he curled up on himself, barely able to breath through the pain.
'What's going on?' He cried out in his mind, as his mouth moved mutely, no sound coming out from his lungs, which felt as if they were slowly being squeezed inside him.
~Something has happened to Shadow.~ For once, Ansem actually sounded concerned. Anger giving him strength, Riku stood up on his wobbly feet and tried to call Shadow to him, but he was in too much pain. Slowly, the pain began to fade, like it was being pushed away into the background, still there, but not nearly as bad. Riku tried to move his arm, but nothing happened.
'I'm dying...'
~No you're not. I just have control of your body. And therefore, you can't move, but neither can you feel pain.~
This thought made Riku feel even sicker. But for now, all he cared about was his little lover.
'Can you show me what's happening to Shadow?'
~Of course. You used up all the darkness inside you on your way here, and then lost consciousness. If I had enough power to finish bringing you and Kairi here, a mere looking glass is of no problem to me.~
Finding it very strange and unnerving, Riku watched as his hand moved without him and the darkness rose from the floor, creating a wall. It flickered into life and showed the inside of Captain Hook's cabin on the pirate ship. Quick movements ran across the screen, and battle cries rang out.
Donald lay on one side of the cabin, with stars swimming around his head. He was obviously unconscious, and doing no one any good at the moment. Running past him the focus shifted to the dog, Goofy, he was barreling straight at Shadow.
'Get out of the way!' Plunging his shield forward, Goofy ran straight through Shadow, leaving him a pile of black dust.
'NO!!!'
~Calm down Riku. That was one of Shadow's copies. Watch.~
Focusing again on the image, he could see two Shadows nearby, both lunging towards a common target. Sora brought up his keyblade and blocked one of the Shadow keyblades, but the other hit home and he was sent backwards, to skid along the ground before getting up again. Looking closely, Riku could see the Shadow was wearing down. The real one was limping a bit as he dove out of the way of one of Sora's slashes. Something blacker than his usual color was dripping down Shadow's chest and was also making the blade of Sora's weapon shine.
'Oh God...he's been hurt badly. We have to go help him.'
~I can't Riku. There isn't enough power left between the two of us to go there and bring back Shadow.~
Sora swept his blade to the side and another copy disintegrated. Turning, he set his sites on Shadow, who was standing with his blade at the ready.
'If we don't help him, he'll be killed!'
Sora jumped at him, slamming the blade down to where Shadow had been a split second earlier, but he had phased through the floor and had reappeared directly behind Sora. With a swift kick, he sent the keyblade master falling. But afterwards, it was Shadow who leaned onto his sword and gasped, as if he had been hit. His wounds were too bad, and his energy too low. Every attack he inflicted on Sora, drained him of what he had left as well.
~If we try and save him, we'll all be killed.~
With a twirl and a lot of power, Sora swung his blade forward. With a lot of effort, and a cry of pain, Shadow brought his own keyblade up to block the attack. The sheer force was enough to cause him to stumble back. Sora stepped forward...
'Make him stop!!'
.....Shadow tried to raise his sword....
~I can't. He can't be controlled by darkness.~
...Sora brought his keyblade up, level with Shadow's chest....
'Then bring Shadow here, NOW!!'
....Shadow couldn't get the block up in time....
~It's too late.~
.....and Sora thrust forward.
'SHADOW!!!!'
The blade buried itself in the dark boy's chest, but he made no sound. Only his mouth left gaping wide, and his amber eyes half closed. Riku could feel the far away pain in his chest again, and Ansem gasped from the intensity of it.
Shadow pulled himself backwards, off of the now blackened keyblade. He stood for a moment, looking at the black blood that spilled out of him. Sora stood perfectly still, watching as the blood fell out of him. He had never seen a heartless bleed before. Donald and Goofy joined him, thinking the same thing as the pathetic looking creature struggled to stay standing.
Riku couldn't think, couldn't speak. He watched as his lover's body slowly rose over the hard wood floor of the ship. Below him, his own blood was stirring, the pure darkness within him. His body lifted off the ground, but soon the blackness beneath him reached up with tendrils, wrapping around his legs and feet. Shadow began to panic, and he tried to move, but his body was stuck in that position. His arms stretched out and his legs tied together by the darkness. His head flung back in a silent scream as the darkness sucked him down.
'NOO!!'
The pool of blackness closed up, and Riku could no longer feel his connection with Shadow. The one he had since the day they had met. Gone. Gone.
'Gone.'
~Gone. And all because of Sora.~
'I will kill you Sora.'
~'You will not win.'~
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