Chapter III

Run In

Point of View: Riku

Written by: Aniiston (Chapter III)

Insomnia is something that the worthless gain and the estimable avoid; the mindless accept and the important evade. The god of the sleepless night; the devil of the always awake. It is truly a master in all its glory. Slowly withdrawing the precious sleep one gets in this world; taking by force the only peace one has and will ever get. The sleepless fiend comes when one no longer understands it; when his or her comprehension has come to a fault.

Insomnia is invading me.

Gradually I am beginning to loose sleep; staying up later than I planned and awakening earlier than I wished. One would think that sleeping in an eternally dark city would be relatively simple, considering the circumstances. But this city is eternally dark in more ways than one. It is the darkness of the nightmares. In these past 4 years sleep had come easily to me; absorbing my time as though it were the atmosphere.

Now I find myself avoiding slumber willfully, despite my endless tries of dreaming. I never could dream; I prefer reality to pathetic visions and images. They simply trick the mind into believing unimaginable things; replaying a simple occurrence of fiction repetitive times. But then again, is this world not unimaginable? It is truly a Hell.

The time in which I feel faintly tired is almost around 2 o' clock in the morning, and I can sleep for almost 4 hours before I can no longer withstand sleeping. To keep myself occupied, I practice with my short swords or martial arts, both of which keep me entertained for hours. If I still find myself at a loss, I will walk outside, simply staring at the bland sky. It contains no stars, for the stars died along with the souls many decades ago.

But now, right in my home where I tended my minor wounds as well as my mutilated knee, I felt empty; as though I must drowned in my thoughts of nothing. Though a Heartless had indeed inflicted my knee, and it is burning in Hell for it, the wound was healing relatively fast, despite my poor medical treatment. I was no medic; never was. Even with the use of potions.

Lying back down upon my icy bed, I stared at my only shelf in the room. Medical equipment—seven potions, an Elixir, and two antidotes—lay upon it, waiting patiently to be used. Despite my trying of keeping away from the items, or at least trying my best not to use them, I still managed to drink a few a week. I suppose I can't help it, for I know no healing magics such as Cura and Curaga. Magic—healing magic—is not my forte.

Though I have to admit, it'd be nice to have someone, a Mage maybe, to be around when my wounds become major. But then again I really don't need one. It'd be a waste of time. My time. The people in this city know I need medical care eventually, though I know they need it more. People here fight; it is their gift, their talent. But not all of them fight. A good deal of the inhabitants have never used their fists, let alone a weapon in their entire lives. I pity those idiots.

As my thoughts began to become heavier, I felt my eyes increase in weight as well. Did I actually feel tired? It was only midnight. I had a good two hours to go. But if I was indeed beginning to feel tired, I wasn't going to stop myself from a slumber I desperately needed. And so as my eyes began to shut—I felt a small animal jump upon my chest.

Gasping slightly, I shot up, the small kitten tumbling from my chest. The cat had ruined my sleep... "If you do that again I swear I'll skin and cook you alive..." I laid back down. "...Miserable animal...deserves to go...to...Hell..."

I was asleep.

Too bad an hour later I awoke, feeling as though a truck had run over my head. I think it was the cat trying to get back at me. Either way, I felt as though I was ill. Standing up, I stumbled across my room and into an obstruction, groping the wall for the shelf that contained the medical care. After moments of searching, I came upon a glass bottle that was indeed a potion. I took a sip of it, and the headache subsided slightly. I placed it back upon the shelf and literally fell to the floor.

But I found my bed and tried my hardest to get the sleep that I deserved. But apparently I didn't deserve any and ended up staying awake for the remainder of the night. When the moon was no longer in the sky, I knew that it was time for me to rise, and I was thankful to take out my rage on the daily harvest of Heartless.

And to my joy...

It was raining.

Grabbing my duel short swords and cloak, I began making my way down the flights of stairs, avoiding taking the small platform for fear the rain had messed with it. But as I began making my way outside, I noticed a ball of white following me. I glared.

"You can't come."

The cat only stared at me. I said nothing—what was I suppose to say?—and continued walking out in the rain. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the kitten.

"I thought cats were supposed to be smart," I grumbled, picking up the worthless thing of fur and tossing it back inside the building. I turned away and began walking. Meow...The cat ran out into the rain, skipping around my feet as though it were trying to dance.

"Okay..." I gritted through my teeth. "You see this?" I kicked water in its face. "This is water. Cats don't like water."

The thing of fur began jumping in the puddles of rain. I sighed in frustration. "Fine. You know what? I don't care. Go die. I'll find your body and eat you for nutrients." The cat seemed only to smile at me, though it had nothing to smile about. Turning away for the last time, I walked towards the Entrance Gate, the kitten wobbling beside me as though I were its master.

Once I arrived inside the city, I was pleased to see the numerous amounts of Heartless roaming about, preying on inhabitants and animals. Hundreds of these black, scrawny creatures, with their sharp golden eyes and wicked grins, glared at me, standing up straight and licking their claws. I smirked, my head tilted in a confident manner, and ran for them.

And they ran for me; each one leaving his or her own food to have a piece of my heart. Too bad they'd all be dead. As the first heartless lunged at me, I quickly evaded its strike, thrusting my left blade through its head, and the right through its heart. It quickly dissolved into the rain. Multiple Heartless believed themselves to be next and flung through the air, trying their best to, in any way, harm me. Stepping forward, I jumped into the air, slicing the first Heartless' head off and the second's stomach. The third was demolished as I unstuck both weapons and jammed the silver blades into its golden eyes.

Silver meets gold.

Raven blood gushed from the Heartless as the three hit the ground, and I began my work upon the next dozen or so, who it turn, lost their lives on account of stupidity. One by one; two by two; dozen by dozen, I began working, each one falling to the ground in a similar manner.

It seemed only as though the Heartless continued to regenerate themselves, but it was not true. The Heartless always seemed to be abundant, but that's what half the fun is. They would be ending soon. The Heartless that seemed to appear out of thin air were small and weak, explaining to me silently that most were dead.

2 dozen Heartless left.

I flung the left sword from my hand, allowing it to slice through the heads of two unsuspecting Heartless. Using my right sword, I began hacking away at the fiends in front of me, mutilating their bodies and killing their souls. As I received my left blade, I quickly annihilated the remaining Heartless, and soon the city was silent. With my weapons covered in black blood, and the watery, bloody ground shimmering, I drank a potion, revitalizing my energy and healing the small scrapes and cuts I received during my epic battle.

Turning away from the street, I saw that the little white kitten was no longer in sight. I sighed. I knew it had been killed by the Heartless. But there was nothing I could do. Stupid animal. Coming into a battle. And with me. It might have had a chance of living... No, it never did. So, feeling slightly guilty, I walked towards the Entrance Gates.

Meow...

Damn...

I spun around and saw the mindless white cat jumping in the rain puddles, acting as though nothing had happened. I'm not sure why, but a relief swept across my chest and a weight left my shoulders. The cat was annoying, but it was nice having something to talk to—well, I actually yelled at the damn thing, but either it way it was a bit comforting.

Yay...I made a friend day. A damn cat that won't leave me alone.

"Come on..." I turned to leave, but was surprised to find that the kitten wasn't following me. Out of curiosity, I faced the cat to find it running away. It was leaving now? Suddenly, the kitten stopped and turned around, meowing at me.

"What?"

It meowed again before continuing running. It then stopped once again, turned around, and meowed at me. Repeating the same moments over again several times, I finally decided that the thing of fur wanted me to follow it. Where was the cat going? I continued to follow the animal for a while before I stopped.

I had never been in this part of the immensely large city of Pareja before. The surroundings were relatively the same; dark, many buildings with neon lights, but there wasn't the feel of Heartless. Probably because it was so far back. I decided to turn away. "Sorry, cat." But the thing of fur stopped as well and began crying.

I growled in frustration. "You out all animals should know that curiosity kills kittens." And with that final, witty remark, I followed the animal through alley after alley, building after building until my legs began hurting.

Inside this city; inside this world, it is rather hard for one to tell the time without a proper watch or mechanism of time, for no sun lives here. And so I would be forced to suppose the timing of my journey, though my body seemed to tell me otherwise. I had been walking for hours and the cat continued to lead.

But finally, when I had believed I could no longer walk, the cat stopped at a towering building that gave me the worst chill up my spine. The cat glanced up at me with the biggest eyes and meowed.

I glared. "What do you want me to do?" It was then I noticed that I was in front of a metal door. It certainly wasn't the most attractive of all doors, for it seemed that one touch of it would cause the thing to collapse. Cautiously, I opened the heavy door to find that it was still greatly intact, and the kitten sprinted past me. I practically tripped trying to avoid stepping on the white fluff ball, though it was hard. "Hey!" I yelled to the cat, sprinting after it.

The building was tall. About three times taller than the one I lived in, which caused it to have many sets of stairs. Step after step I climbed, feeling exhausted from simply not eating anything all day to the fact that rest has been avoiding me. The kitten continued to climb; a happy expression—I guess—spread across its face.

And at last—Thank God—we came to the top floor. I practically fell to my knees, all while glaring at the stupid feline and watched as it began scratching against a certain door. I did nothing to stop it. I didn't walk to the other side of this gigantic city, climb to the top of a forty-story building, and sit here without understanding something.

And so I stood up, having caught my breath, and awaited the owner to come to the door. No one came. The kitten began scratching harder, though I believe it did nothing to call attention to the master of the house. Walking towards the door, I banged on it with my fist, startling the kitten.

And finally the door opened and the kitten ran inside.

Though I believe I could no longer move.

I could no longer breath.

And I could no longer stand.

The young woman who had answered the door stood in front of me; her long, chestnut-red hair spilling over her shoulders, her lips slightly tinted with pink; her eyes a haunting blue and her skin a ghostly pale. I gripped for the railing as I stared at her, trying desperately hard to find my lost voice. And after moments of simply gapping, I spoke:

"K—Kairi...?"

She stared at me, her eyes equally as wide. "Riku?"

She was beautiful; simply gorgeous, and I couldn't comprehend that she was standing right in front of me. My body was trembling, as was hers, and I believe I wasn't surprised when the mug of water from her hands dropped, shattering as it met the cold floor, and her body falling after it, for she had fainted.

My quick reflexes allowed me to catch the young woman I hadn't seen in four years, and though I was just as surprised as she was, walked inside her small apartment, slamming the door behind me.