Riku jerked back hastily, apologizing. "Oh man, I'm sorry." Cloud, an interesting, if barely noticeable, shade of pink dusting his cheeks, closed his eyes and banged his head on the ground lightly. "Fuck."
Before Riku could say anything further, or stop straddling the blonde, the ground dropped out from under them. IN reflex, Riku latched onto Cloud as the two fell down the chute now under them. Then he regained his senses and worked with Cloud to try and slow them down. He could see a light past his feet, and it was rapidly getting larger.
Their efforts were in vain and they shot out of the chute, rolling on the grass at the end of it. When they finally stopped, they were lying on their sides, arms wrapped instinctively around each other. For a while they just lay there, regaining their ability to breathe. Riku finally broke the silence with a greatly profound statement.
"Ow."
"You okay?" Cloud asked, raising a hand to gently brush Riku's bangs away.
"Uh, yeah, I think so," Riku replied, looking at the blonde with wide, tropical eyes. Cloud blinked, seemed to realize what he was doing and withdrew his hand. He untangled himself from Riku and stood up.
"Good, we should get going."
Riku stood up, not looking at him. "Right, which way?"
"This way," Cloud replied, heading for the twisted, mist-filled forest that now lay before them. Riku followed.
"I wonder why that chute opened," the youth mused aloud, finding the silence uncomfortable.
"Because you kissed me," Cloud returned quietly.
"But that was an accident," Riku protested.
"Doesn't matter."
"It still doesn't make any sense," the youth argued.
Cloud shot him a brief, rueful smile. "Since when do things need to make sense in the land of the Heartless? Besides, Ansem is a very jealous man."
A breeze picked up and ran through Riku's hair, feeling like a cold version of Ansem's fingers. Riku shivered and moved closer to Cloud subconsciously.
"I don't like this place," Riku stated, glaring at the swirling mist and the gnarled, barren, black trees.
"The Glade of Sleepless Death, where spirits walk freely, yet chained to the mortal realm," Cloud said, also looking around edgily.
"Oh...sucks to be them," Riku commented, rubbing absently at the goosebumps raised on his arms. Cloud noticed.
"Are you cold?"
Riku shook his head. "Not really. It's just this place."
The mist surrounded them, thickening until they could barely see each other, let alone where they were going. Wordlessly, Cloud reached out and took hold of Riku's hand to keep from getting separated.
Riku kept silent, though his chest tightened. Riku wasn't terribly good at lying to himself, and had to admit that it felt nice to touch the young man. But why? Shaking his head, he attested it to the fact that Cloud was his closest companion in this strange world. That, and his eyes looked like Sora's. Oh god Sora, I'm so sorry.
The next thing Riku knew, he was lying on top of something shaggy and very warm. "Ow!"
"Riku?" a familiar, deep voice rumbled in surprise.
"Beast?" Riku returned, sitting up to look into his friend's blue eyes. "You're all right!" Riku exclaimed as they disentangled themselves.
Beast chuckled. "It'll take more than a few shadows to kill me."
"Ugh, I hate mist," Cloud's voice drifted in from the side.
"Who's that?" beast asked.
"Oh, that's Cloud, my friend."
"Riku?" Cloud sounded closer.
"Over here," Riku called back.
Moments later the swordsman stepped out of the mist and nodded to Beast in greeting.
"Now what?" Beast asked. The wind picked up and the mist cleared enough to reveal an arching hill that almost spiraled.
"Looks like we might be able to get out of here with that," Riku suggested, pointing at the hill.
"Sounds good to me," Cloud said, striding forward.
"The sooner we get out of here, the better," Beast agreed, following. "I don't like this place."
"Neither do I," Riku agreed.
At the base of the hill, a tall, lanky man stepped out of the mist, blocking their way. With a start, Riku realized that the man was in fact a skeleton dressed in a well tailored black and grey striped suit.
"Ah ha! Visitors! What bring you to the Glade?" the skeleton asked cheerfully.
"Just passing through," Riku replied, heading for the hill. the skeleton leaped in front of him, spreading his thin arms wide. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you pass," he said, sounding truly apologetic.
"Why," Cloud demanded, narrowing his eyes at him.
The skeleton raised an eyebrow at him, his bone moving as well as any flesh. "I'm sword to protect this bridge with my life."
"But you don't have a life," Riku pointed out.
The skeleton waived his hand. "A trivial detail."
"Get out of our way," Beast growled.
"What's the hurry?"
"This place is creepy and I've got to find Sora," Riku said, somewhat impatiently.
"Creepy?" The skeleton echoed, plainly startled. "But, the Glade is so peaceful and quiet."
"It's creepy," Cloud asserted flatly.
'You obviously cannot appreciate the Glade's natural beauty. And you still cannot pass."
Beast growled and strode up to the skeleton, grabbing hold of his suit jacket and pulling him off the ground. "You try my patience."
The skeleton glared back calmly. "And you are wrinkling my jacket."
Riku stepped forward. "Look, Ansem has my best friend, someone I love more than anything. I just have until the thirteenth hour or he'll become just another Heartless. To get to him, I need to pass this way. We certainly don't want to hurt your bridge or you, will you just let us through?"
The skeleton blinked at him, then slowly smiled. "A cause as worthy as yours indeed warrants passage. And, if I may, I'd like to accompany, to further help your cause. This is an adventure to be sure!"
It was Riku's turn to blink and he glanced at his companions for advice. Cloud just shrugged Beast set the skeleton down with a snort and a gruff nod. "All right, you can come with us."
"Wonderful! I am Jack Skellington," he announced, sweeping an impressive bow. Then Jack turned to the woods and whistled through his bony fingers. "Zero!" An answering bark was heard and soon a white ghost dog floated out of the woods. The ghost went up to Jack and nuzzled his hand, then floated over to Riku to sniff him curiously.
Riku petted the dog gingerly, not sure if he could even touch it, but found that he could. Zero was bitingly cold to the touch, like a lamp-pole on a winter day. The ghost also wasn't fully tangible, and Riku found his fingers sinking in as if Zero was made of crushed ice.
"Now Zero, stay here and be good," Jack ordered. Zero whimpered, then barked, licked Jack's hand and disappeared back into the woods. "Shall we go?"
The others nodded and were grateful to find out that Jack knew the way towards the castle from the Glade.
Cloud hung back from the others, lightly fingering the peach in his pocket. It had survived all of his tumbles without even a bruise. He could almost feel Ansem's presence in the deceptive little fruit, and he took it out of his pocket to look at it. Grimacing, he cocked his arm, preparing to throw it into the mist. A warm breeze, completely out of place in that land of cold death, brushed across his cheek carressingly. It carried the words, "I wouldn't do that love."
Cloud shuddered and lowered his arm. "Don't make me do this," he whispered hoarsely, but there was no answer.