disclaimer: Nope. Never. I've been trying to get Sora to get the guys phone
number but......
A/N: I am SO sorry about the late update! It has been so LONG since I've even LOOKED at this fic! Damn that Naruto, getting me all hooked into writing fiction for that section!! *le sigh* I swear, it has awesome persuasion powers.......
But I'm here updating this now!!! XD And there will be 1 more chapter after this one, so I hope you can hold out that long!! ^____^;
Darkness Within by Uzumaki Inari
!~!~!~!~!~!
Hold me Whatever lies beyond this morning Is a little later on Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all Nothing's like before - -- - Utada Hikaru - Simple and Clean
!~!~!~!~!~!
Long, sharp claws came down swiftly at Cloud, and he barely had time to move. He dodged backwards and fell over.
'Man, she's fast...' he thought. 'I almost didn't avoid that.'
The black dragon lunged again. Cloud shot up off the ground and dodged again. He picked up his sword in two hands and swung it at the dragon long neck. Her whole head and neck swerved out of the way and the bandage covered blade ripped through the air harmlessly beside the beast.
Metal hitting stone made a horrible 'clinking' sound. Cloud realised this as his blade made harsh contact with the floor. It sent a searing vibration through his arm.
The blonde lifted the sword again and made another swing at the dragons' head. Again, it was avoided, but Cloud kept going with the swing. He swung the sword back around and rammed it through a black scaled claw.
The beast howled in pain. It flailed its tail and head like it had gone mad. She lifted the bleeding claw and tried to pry the weapon out.
Cloud's grip on his sword had been broken when the claw was lifted. Fierce teeth literally plucked the sword out and hurled it across the room. Grinding his teeth, the swordsman got in a fighting position. Eyes narrowed, he prepared for the worst. With a growl, the she-dragon reared her head and prepared to strike.
A shuriken was suddenly flying through the air. It embedded itself directly into the dragons' right eye. The reared strike got fouled up and the dragons' teeth found themselves deep into stone. A shriek of pain echoed throughout the hall. Blackish-blue blood dripped down the large scaly face and onto the floor. The small blade had done its job well.
Looking over, Cloud saw Yuffie desperately trying to find another shuriken to throw.
Aerith rushed over to the dumbfounded Cloud. "Are you alright?!" she nearly shrieked.
A nod. "I'm fine... But I need to get my sword back."
"Already done."
Blue eyes shifted from the pink clad woman to the shaggy brunette walking towards him. Gunblade in hand. Sword in the other.
"You should go on ahead and find Sora," Leon stated. "I think us three can handle the dragon from this point." The brunette looked over to the writhing beast not a hundred feet away. "It's blind in one eye, and can only use one claw. How hard could it be?"
"I think you're right." Cloud took his sword from Leon's hand and heaved it over his shoulder. "I'll go on ahead and be back as soon as I can."
He started running to the large hallway on the other side of the room. As he ran past Yuffie, he could hear her cry of,
"Hey, where the hell do you think YOU'RE going?!"
!~!~!~!~!~!
Riku smirked as he watched the remaining of the three attack the defenceless Maleficent from his balcony in the corner.
"Stupid woman...." he muttered. "She should have known that she could never defeat them....." Still smirking, he went to take care of the other problems he had, like that bloody blonde swordsman.
!~!~!~!~!~!
The hallway didn't last long. Cloud ran down it until he came to an end at a large steel door.
"Might as well start here," he said. Putting both hands on the door, he pushed one of the doors open and walked inside. And gasped.
Inside was a swirling mass of nothing. Or so it seemed. Tentively, Cloud took a step into the strange room. Solid. He took another step, and then another, till he was in about ten feet. Then he noticed something odd and disturbing.
About fifteen more feet in, there was a large bed. Black sheets were scattered everywhere and what looked to be cloths were lying haphazardly all over the place. In the center of the bed, lay a large lump. Squinting his eyes, Cloud saw that the lump was breathing. Cautiously, he walked over and his eyes widened.
"Sora!!" he called out. The brunette froze. Running the rest of the way, Cloud hugged the boy to himself.
Sora just sat still and let himself be hugged.
Cloud on the other hand was so thoroughly relieved that he found himself doing a little victory dance inside his head. He buried his face into the boy's warm neck and ran his fingers through his dark hair. Cloud hadn't realised just how much he had missed him.
"C-Cloud...?" Sora mumbled. Cloud nodded against the smaller male's neck. Sora slowly wrapped his arms around the small of the blondes back. "Can we.... leave here now...?" Again Cloud nodded.
Finally letting go of the dark haired boy, the swordsman stood up and offered Sora a hand, which the boy took. He moved his legs to the side of the bed and the sheets fell from his mid-section. Cloud instantly felt himself blush; why did Sora have no cloths on? The answer came to him almost instantly and he felt guilty. Of course he knew why Sora was naked! Riku had probably molested him whenever he had the chance.
Sora pulled himself up with Cloud's help and immediately fell back down, crying out in pain. He let go of Cloud's hand and clutched at his lower half. Cloud, not wanting to be a pervert but still wanting to know what was wrong, let his eyes skim down to see why the boy was in pain.
And his eyes widened.
Blood was caked onto Sora's inner thighs and he had various cuts on both of his legs. Cloud found himself unable to pull his eyes away from the sight.
After a moment, Cloud pulled his blue-green eyes away and removed a black sheet from the large bed. He covered Sora in it and hauled the brunette up into his arms, trying his best to ignore the loud painful protests that were wretched from the boy's throat. Making sure that he wouldn't slip out of his arms, Cloud made his way out of the room and back into the hallway.
!~!~!~!~!~!
Leon sighed as he wiped his forehead with the back of a hand. That god- forsaken dragon had taken more of his energy then he had intended. He looked over to his two teammates and saw them just as tired, if not more, then he was. Yuffie was laying on the floor eagle style, and Aerith sat beside her, panting slightly.
Both covered in minor cuts and bruises, but nothing that a good hi-potion wouldn't fix.
He sighed again.
They were pathetic. Cloud had practically handed them a half dead monster on a silver platter and they still had a rough go about it.
So yet again, he sighed.
!~!~!~!~!~!
Still up on the balcony, fierce aqua eyes shone with a killer intent. His head was bowed down and his long silver hair hung in his face. He was glaring down at the three figures, two of them on the floor, the other standing. They were his friends.
'That stupid swordsman was NOT supposed to be able to get into that room!!' Riku thought to himself. The only way one could get into that room is if they had strong powers of darkness. Riku did know that the blonde had a few run ins with the powers of darkness, but his powers could not be that strong. 'He must be a lot darker than I first thought....'
Still infuriated, Riku made his way off the balcony and on his way into the large chamber.
!~!~!~!~!~!
Cloud walked as slowly as he could to get to the large main chamber. He had the biggest erge to simply run like a madman out of there, all the while, clutching to Sora like a lifeline. But everytime he would speed up, the movement of his arms would cause Sora to whimper in pain.
The blonde couldn't believe as to how thin Sora had gotten. His small hands had been clinging to Cloud's cloak as if he was afraid that he'd disappear. Even through the blanket, Cloud could feel Sora's hip bones. When he glanced down at the boy's face he could see how sunk in his cheeks were, and how his collar bones stood out, quite unlike how they used to only slightly protrude. It was as if the boy hadn't seen food in the whole week and a half he had been here.
It was lucky that they'd gotten here when they did; Sora probably wouldn't have lasted much longer.
He had passed out in the blonde's arms.
The hallway seemed to go on forever. It didn't seem to have an end to it! 'Was it this long on the way in?!' he thought.
Cloud got to the end of the hallway, and walked fast paced into the large main chamber. Leon, Yuffie and Aerith looked up upon hearing the loud footsteps.
"It took you long eno-" Yuffie stopped speaking. "Oh!" she exclaimed. "Sora!!"
The three others scurried over and checked to see how the small brunette was. Aerith stroked his face in a motherly way.
"Is he going to be okay?" she asked. Cloud nodded.
"I think so. But we have to get him out of here first," he said, holding Sora a bit closer. Leon nodded in agreement.
They all started for the exit. 'Why does everything is this damn fortress have to be so bloody big?!' Yuffie thought to herself. She gripped herself around the arms and tried to warm herself as she walked. She had the worst case of cold shivers she'd ever had! Why did she have to get them now?
"It feels like something bad's gonna happen...." the ninja muttered. Leon eyed her strangely from his position to the side of her so she stuck out her tongue at him. He rolled his eyes. 'She is such a child,' he thought.
There was an unnatural silence in the dark hall, broken only by their footsteps, and it seemed to be louder than anything that any of them had ever heard before.
Cloud's eye twitched. This ringing in his ears was starting to get to him.
A chill crept up on them all suddenly, and a rush of cold air flew by them. Everyone stood stock-still so as to not be blown away.
"Where do you think you're all going?!"
Aerith was the first to look up. Her squinted eyes widened and her mouth gapped open. Standing there, perfectly still despite the raging wind coming from behind him, furious and angry looking, was Riku. She recognised him from her dream. The wind stopped suddenly and the rest of them looked up.
"You!!" Cloud exclaimed. "Where the hell were you hiding out all this time?!"
The silver-haired boy clicked his tongue dangerously. "I have been watching your conquest over Maleficent," he replied. His eyes narrowed dangerously. "And I have not been hiding anywhere."
Cloud faced Leon suddenly. He handed Sora over to him, and Leon barely catching on in time to catch the unconscious boy. The brunette man arched one eyebrow as he wrapped his arms around the lithe boy. "Cloud, what are you doing?"
"I'm going to settle this once and for all." There was an eerie tone of finality in what Cloud spoke.
Silently, Cloud drew his sword.
!~!~!~!~!~!
All he could see was darkness. All he could feel was pain and hurt. Why would Riku do this to him? Did Riku think that his friendship meant nothing?
Slowly, dim blue eyes opened to see still nothing but darkness. His breath was drawn in short, uneven puffs. Why was it so cold? He shivered violently; was it always this cold?
No.
It hadn't been as cold in Cloud's arms. When Cloud had first picked him up, warmth spread through his form like wildfire. He was so desperate for that warmth, that much needed heat that he had clung to the blonde as if he would die without him.
And he would have.
Had Cloud been a cruel illusion created by Riku, or simply a dream his subconscious made up to try and please him, he would have died. All the ache he felt in his chest, and the gnawing pain in his stomach would have overtaken him and he would have stopped living. He would not have physically died. Riku would have had something to say about that, but his soul would have left him forever.
It had been real though, and that had made him happy.
Cloud made him happy.
Realisation dawned in his lifeless blue eyes; he was in love with Cloud.
The thought had filled him with so many feelings that he was confused at first, but then he realised that you weren't supposed to understand love. It was meant to be a mystery. You didn't know why you loved someone, you just knew that you did.
So for the first time in a long time, Sora smiled.
He was bombarded suddenly with a blinding light, and raised his arms to cover his head.
!~!~!~!~!~!
Sora refused to open his eyes. He didn't want to know what that clinking metal sound that woke him up was. He didn't want to see who was breathing so heavily, or who grunted so much.
Yet his eyes seemed to open of their own accord. They didn't like what they saw.
Riku. Cloud. Locked in a vicious looking battle. Their swords were being pushed against each other and they struggled against the force of the other. Teeth were bared and eyes were locked.
Sora was confused and frightened. What was going on?
Suddenly the two swords came apart and sparks flew. The silver haired warrior's demonic black sword swooped around and tried to attack the blonde from above. The blonde's own large bandaged wrapped sword flew upwards to block it. Sparks flew.
For the first time since he woke up, Sora realised where he was. He was in the large main chamber of the Heartless castle. He was in someone's arms. He glanced upwards and saw that it was Leon who was holding him. The brunette's attention was on the fight though. Sora turned his attention back to the fight as well.
The two swordsmen were hacking back and forth across the floor at each other. The swords were swung this way and that, as if desperate for blood. Which they were. Each of the males was out to draw the living red substance out of the other.
Once again Cloud and Riku locked swords. Riku face broke out into a menacing smirk and he made a kick to the blonde. His foot connected with the blonde's side. A nasty crack was heard throughout the hall. The bastard's foot had smacked right into Cloud's ribs, and by the sound of it, had broken a few. Cloud had grunted in pain and clenched his teeth. His sword faulted slightly.
Riku kicked him again. Another sickening crack was heard.
"Cloud!!" Aerith cried out. The others were resisting the erge to go out and help their friend. But he had specifically told them not to interfere.
Slowly, Cloud fell to his knees. His sword fell from his hands and landed heavily on the floor. He clutched at his aching ribs tentively, wanting to try and sooth the nasty pain coursing through his body, but knowing that if he touched them, it would burn.
Riku smirked again, knowing that the blonde was spent. He was far from done the fight though. He would still kick and claw if he had to, which he most likely would have had to.
For the first time, Riku noticed that Cloud had one black wing protruding through his left shoulder blade. He had always just assumed that it was a feathered part on his cloak. It was sleek and shiny and twitched every so often. Casting his cruel aqua eyes back to the wing's owner, Riku saw that the blonde had his eyes scrunched shut in pain. He scoffed; it seemed that he wasn't as tough as he though himself to be. What a fool this Cloud was.
All this time, the boy had been grinned like a Cheshire cat. The hand on his sword tightened visibly. In one fluid motion, Riku made one clean, hard cut.
A scream was retched from Cloud's dry throat. He fell foreword and barely caught himself before crumpling to the floor.
Cloud's wing lay on the floor, severed from his back.
!~!~!~!~!~!
A/N: OMG, I just cut off Cloud's one and only wing! I'm so CRUEL! *sniff* I feel all guilty....
Anywhoddle, this was a long chapter. For me anyway. Anywho, despite the eon it took me to update, could all you sweet reviewers please review?? : ) If you could it would make me very happy, and would make me post the last chapter faster. I swear it will!!
And it won't take as long as this one did! If it does, I'll get my newly appointed beta Jeshka Sama to kick my ass.
Happy? Good.... NOW REVIEW!!! Please....
A/N: I am SO sorry about the late update! It has been so LONG since I've even LOOKED at this fic! Damn that Naruto, getting me all hooked into writing fiction for that section!! *le sigh* I swear, it has awesome persuasion powers.......
But I'm here updating this now!!! XD And there will be 1 more chapter after this one, so I hope you can hold out that long!! ^____^;
Darkness Within by Uzumaki Inari
!~!~!~!~!~!
Hold me Whatever lies beyond this morning Is a little later on Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all Nothing's like before - -- - Utada Hikaru - Simple and Clean
!~!~!~!~!~!
Long, sharp claws came down swiftly at Cloud, and he barely had time to move. He dodged backwards and fell over.
'Man, she's fast...' he thought. 'I almost didn't avoid that.'
The black dragon lunged again. Cloud shot up off the ground and dodged again. He picked up his sword in two hands and swung it at the dragon long neck. Her whole head and neck swerved out of the way and the bandage covered blade ripped through the air harmlessly beside the beast.
Metal hitting stone made a horrible 'clinking' sound. Cloud realised this as his blade made harsh contact with the floor. It sent a searing vibration through his arm.
The blonde lifted the sword again and made another swing at the dragons' head. Again, it was avoided, but Cloud kept going with the swing. He swung the sword back around and rammed it through a black scaled claw.
The beast howled in pain. It flailed its tail and head like it had gone mad. She lifted the bleeding claw and tried to pry the weapon out.
Cloud's grip on his sword had been broken when the claw was lifted. Fierce teeth literally plucked the sword out and hurled it across the room. Grinding his teeth, the swordsman got in a fighting position. Eyes narrowed, he prepared for the worst. With a growl, the she-dragon reared her head and prepared to strike.
A shuriken was suddenly flying through the air. It embedded itself directly into the dragons' right eye. The reared strike got fouled up and the dragons' teeth found themselves deep into stone. A shriek of pain echoed throughout the hall. Blackish-blue blood dripped down the large scaly face and onto the floor. The small blade had done its job well.
Looking over, Cloud saw Yuffie desperately trying to find another shuriken to throw.
Aerith rushed over to the dumbfounded Cloud. "Are you alright?!" she nearly shrieked.
A nod. "I'm fine... But I need to get my sword back."
"Already done."
Blue eyes shifted from the pink clad woman to the shaggy brunette walking towards him. Gunblade in hand. Sword in the other.
"You should go on ahead and find Sora," Leon stated. "I think us three can handle the dragon from this point." The brunette looked over to the writhing beast not a hundred feet away. "It's blind in one eye, and can only use one claw. How hard could it be?"
"I think you're right." Cloud took his sword from Leon's hand and heaved it over his shoulder. "I'll go on ahead and be back as soon as I can."
He started running to the large hallway on the other side of the room. As he ran past Yuffie, he could hear her cry of,
"Hey, where the hell do you think YOU'RE going?!"
!~!~!~!~!~!
Riku smirked as he watched the remaining of the three attack the defenceless Maleficent from his balcony in the corner.
"Stupid woman...." he muttered. "She should have known that she could never defeat them....." Still smirking, he went to take care of the other problems he had, like that bloody blonde swordsman.
!~!~!~!~!~!
The hallway didn't last long. Cloud ran down it until he came to an end at a large steel door.
"Might as well start here," he said. Putting both hands on the door, he pushed one of the doors open and walked inside. And gasped.
Inside was a swirling mass of nothing. Or so it seemed. Tentively, Cloud took a step into the strange room. Solid. He took another step, and then another, till he was in about ten feet. Then he noticed something odd and disturbing.
About fifteen more feet in, there was a large bed. Black sheets were scattered everywhere and what looked to be cloths were lying haphazardly all over the place. In the center of the bed, lay a large lump. Squinting his eyes, Cloud saw that the lump was breathing. Cautiously, he walked over and his eyes widened.
"Sora!!" he called out. The brunette froze. Running the rest of the way, Cloud hugged the boy to himself.
Sora just sat still and let himself be hugged.
Cloud on the other hand was so thoroughly relieved that he found himself doing a little victory dance inside his head. He buried his face into the boy's warm neck and ran his fingers through his dark hair. Cloud hadn't realised just how much he had missed him.
"C-Cloud...?" Sora mumbled. Cloud nodded against the smaller male's neck. Sora slowly wrapped his arms around the small of the blondes back. "Can we.... leave here now...?" Again Cloud nodded.
Finally letting go of the dark haired boy, the swordsman stood up and offered Sora a hand, which the boy took. He moved his legs to the side of the bed and the sheets fell from his mid-section. Cloud instantly felt himself blush; why did Sora have no cloths on? The answer came to him almost instantly and he felt guilty. Of course he knew why Sora was naked! Riku had probably molested him whenever he had the chance.
Sora pulled himself up with Cloud's help and immediately fell back down, crying out in pain. He let go of Cloud's hand and clutched at his lower half. Cloud, not wanting to be a pervert but still wanting to know what was wrong, let his eyes skim down to see why the boy was in pain.
And his eyes widened.
Blood was caked onto Sora's inner thighs and he had various cuts on both of his legs. Cloud found himself unable to pull his eyes away from the sight.
After a moment, Cloud pulled his blue-green eyes away and removed a black sheet from the large bed. He covered Sora in it and hauled the brunette up into his arms, trying his best to ignore the loud painful protests that were wretched from the boy's throat. Making sure that he wouldn't slip out of his arms, Cloud made his way out of the room and back into the hallway.
!~!~!~!~!~!
Leon sighed as he wiped his forehead with the back of a hand. That god- forsaken dragon had taken more of his energy then he had intended. He looked over to his two teammates and saw them just as tired, if not more, then he was. Yuffie was laying on the floor eagle style, and Aerith sat beside her, panting slightly.
Both covered in minor cuts and bruises, but nothing that a good hi-potion wouldn't fix.
He sighed again.
They were pathetic. Cloud had practically handed them a half dead monster on a silver platter and they still had a rough go about it.
So yet again, he sighed.
!~!~!~!~!~!
Still up on the balcony, fierce aqua eyes shone with a killer intent. His head was bowed down and his long silver hair hung in his face. He was glaring down at the three figures, two of them on the floor, the other standing. They were his friends.
'That stupid swordsman was NOT supposed to be able to get into that room!!' Riku thought to himself. The only way one could get into that room is if they had strong powers of darkness. Riku did know that the blonde had a few run ins with the powers of darkness, but his powers could not be that strong. 'He must be a lot darker than I first thought....'
Still infuriated, Riku made his way off the balcony and on his way into the large chamber.
!~!~!~!~!~!
Cloud walked as slowly as he could to get to the large main chamber. He had the biggest erge to simply run like a madman out of there, all the while, clutching to Sora like a lifeline. But everytime he would speed up, the movement of his arms would cause Sora to whimper in pain.
The blonde couldn't believe as to how thin Sora had gotten. His small hands had been clinging to Cloud's cloak as if he was afraid that he'd disappear. Even through the blanket, Cloud could feel Sora's hip bones. When he glanced down at the boy's face he could see how sunk in his cheeks were, and how his collar bones stood out, quite unlike how they used to only slightly protrude. It was as if the boy hadn't seen food in the whole week and a half he had been here.
It was lucky that they'd gotten here when they did; Sora probably wouldn't have lasted much longer.
He had passed out in the blonde's arms.
The hallway seemed to go on forever. It didn't seem to have an end to it! 'Was it this long on the way in?!' he thought.
Cloud got to the end of the hallway, and walked fast paced into the large main chamber. Leon, Yuffie and Aerith looked up upon hearing the loud footsteps.
"It took you long eno-" Yuffie stopped speaking. "Oh!" she exclaimed. "Sora!!"
The three others scurried over and checked to see how the small brunette was. Aerith stroked his face in a motherly way.
"Is he going to be okay?" she asked. Cloud nodded.
"I think so. But we have to get him out of here first," he said, holding Sora a bit closer. Leon nodded in agreement.
They all started for the exit. 'Why does everything is this damn fortress have to be so bloody big?!' Yuffie thought to herself. She gripped herself around the arms and tried to warm herself as she walked. She had the worst case of cold shivers she'd ever had! Why did she have to get them now?
"It feels like something bad's gonna happen...." the ninja muttered. Leon eyed her strangely from his position to the side of her so she stuck out her tongue at him. He rolled his eyes. 'She is such a child,' he thought.
There was an unnatural silence in the dark hall, broken only by their footsteps, and it seemed to be louder than anything that any of them had ever heard before.
Cloud's eye twitched. This ringing in his ears was starting to get to him.
A chill crept up on them all suddenly, and a rush of cold air flew by them. Everyone stood stock-still so as to not be blown away.
"Where do you think you're all going?!"
Aerith was the first to look up. Her squinted eyes widened and her mouth gapped open. Standing there, perfectly still despite the raging wind coming from behind him, furious and angry looking, was Riku. She recognised him from her dream. The wind stopped suddenly and the rest of them looked up.
"You!!" Cloud exclaimed. "Where the hell were you hiding out all this time?!"
The silver-haired boy clicked his tongue dangerously. "I have been watching your conquest over Maleficent," he replied. His eyes narrowed dangerously. "And I have not been hiding anywhere."
Cloud faced Leon suddenly. He handed Sora over to him, and Leon barely catching on in time to catch the unconscious boy. The brunette man arched one eyebrow as he wrapped his arms around the lithe boy. "Cloud, what are you doing?"
"I'm going to settle this once and for all." There was an eerie tone of finality in what Cloud spoke.
Silently, Cloud drew his sword.
!~!~!~!~!~!
All he could see was darkness. All he could feel was pain and hurt. Why would Riku do this to him? Did Riku think that his friendship meant nothing?
Slowly, dim blue eyes opened to see still nothing but darkness. His breath was drawn in short, uneven puffs. Why was it so cold? He shivered violently; was it always this cold?
No.
It hadn't been as cold in Cloud's arms. When Cloud had first picked him up, warmth spread through his form like wildfire. He was so desperate for that warmth, that much needed heat that he had clung to the blonde as if he would die without him.
And he would have.
Had Cloud been a cruel illusion created by Riku, or simply a dream his subconscious made up to try and please him, he would have died. All the ache he felt in his chest, and the gnawing pain in his stomach would have overtaken him and he would have stopped living. He would not have physically died. Riku would have had something to say about that, but his soul would have left him forever.
It had been real though, and that had made him happy.
Cloud made him happy.
Realisation dawned in his lifeless blue eyes; he was in love with Cloud.
The thought had filled him with so many feelings that he was confused at first, but then he realised that you weren't supposed to understand love. It was meant to be a mystery. You didn't know why you loved someone, you just knew that you did.
So for the first time in a long time, Sora smiled.
He was bombarded suddenly with a blinding light, and raised his arms to cover his head.
!~!~!~!~!~!
Sora refused to open his eyes. He didn't want to know what that clinking metal sound that woke him up was. He didn't want to see who was breathing so heavily, or who grunted so much.
Yet his eyes seemed to open of their own accord. They didn't like what they saw.
Riku. Cloud. Locked in a vicious looking battle. Their swords were being pushed against each other and they struggled against the force of the other. Teeth were bared and eyes were locked.
Sora was confused and frightened. What was going on?
Suddenly the two swords came apart and sparks flew. The silver haired warrior's demonic black sword swooped around and tried to attack the blonde from above. The blonde's own large bandaged wrapped sword flew upwards to block it. Sparks flew.
For the first time since he woke up, Sora realised where he was. He was in the large main chamber of the Heartless castle. He was in someone's arms. He glanced upwards and saw that it was Leon who was holding him. The brunette's attention was on the fight though. Sora turned his attention back to the fight as well.
The two swordsmen were hacking back and forth across the floor at each other. The swords were swung this way and that, as if desperate for blood. Which they were. Each of the males was out to draw the living red substance out of the other.
Once again Cloud and Riku locked swords. Riku face broke out into a menacing smirk and he made a kick to the blonde. His foot connected with the blonde's side. A nasty crack was heard throughout the hall. The bastard's foot had smacked right into Cloud's ribs, and by the sound of it, had broken a few. Cloud had grunted in pain and clenched his teeth. His sword faulted slightly.
Riku kicked him again. Another sickening crack was heard.
"Cloud!!" Aerith cried out. The others were resisting the erge to go out and help their friend. But he had specifically told them not to interfere.
Slowly, Cloud fell to his knees. His sword fell from his hands and landed heavily on the floor. He clutched at his aching ribs tentively, wanting to try and sooth the nasty pain coursing through his body, but knowing that if he touched them, it would burn.
Riku smirked again, knowing that the blonde was spent. He was far from done the fight though. He would still kick and claw if he had to, which he most likely would have had to.
For the first time, Riku noticed that Cloud had one black wing protruding through his left shoulder blade. He had always just assumed that it was a feathered part on his cloak. It was sleek and shiny and twitched every so often. Casting his cruel aqua eyes back to the wing's owner, Riku saw that the blonde had his eyes scrunched shut in pain. He scoffed; it seemed that he wasn't as tough as he though himself to be. What a fool this Cloud was.
All this time, the boy had been grinned like a Cheshire cat. The hand on his sword tightened visibly. In one fluid motion, Riku made one clean, hard cut.
A scream was retched from Cloud's dry throat. He fell foreword and barely caught himself before crumpling to the floor.
Cloud's wing lay on the floor, severed from his back.
!~!~!~!~!~!
A/N: OMG, I just cut off Cloud's one and only wing! I'm so CRUEL! *sniff* I feel all guilty....
Anywhoddle, this was a long chapter. For me anyway. Anywho, despite the eon it took me to update, could all you sweet reviewers please review?? : ) If you could it would make me very happy, and would make me post the last chapter faster. I swear it will!!
And it won't take as long as this one did! If it does, I'll get my newly appointed beta Jeshka Sama to kick my ass.
Happy? Good.... NOW REVIEW!!! Please....