Me: Hiya peeps! I'm back after a nice long break and ready to start typing again.
Readers: YAY!
Riku: You have readers now?
Me: Yup, I have 59 reviews! (happy dance)
Army: YAY! (is eating food from Wendy's.)
Kairi: Pigs.
Me: Hey, no making fun of them! (huggles army).
All: (sweatdrop).
Me: Anyways, this is the second version of Chapter 10 that I'm rewriting. I deleted the first one cause if my beta reader read that crap that I called writing she would have bitten off my head.
Digitaldreamer: (was carving knives, notices everyone's looking at her and hides them behind her back)Knives? What knives? I wasn't sharpening any knives to stab a certain person I beta for with...Heh heh...
All: (wince)
Me: Yeah, she said to take a few days off, so I did. Now I'm revved up and ready to type again. I can usually get these test things done in one setting. This chapter will be short, just to let you know.
Digitaldreamer: Better a short chapter then no chapter at all, right?
Readers: DAMN IT! STOP WITH THE SHORT CHAPTERS!!!!!!!!!!!
Me: Sorry, it's hard to make one chapter for each test! Now go and read, god damn it!!!!!!
Realm of Trial
Ozen sat behind his desk, biting on his nails nervously; even he could not help but be worried for the keybearer. He was just about to go and visit the guards to check up on information when Linna shimmered from below the ground and met him.
Ozen grinned at her and planted a kiss on her lips. Linna smiled back at him despite the current conditions. "How goes the trial?" she asked.
Ozen's eyes shadowed slightly. "He has only one strike because of that bitch Menti, but he has passed the Tests of Courage and Trust. He is going into the Test of Love as we speak."
Linna gasped. "I was afraid of that."
Ozen raised an eyebrow. "Why, what's wrong?"
Linna rolled her eyes. "You know Heshki; she'll be all over Sora. And from what I have learned about the boy, he is in love with Kairi, even though he will not admit it. Sora won't like Heshki, and I must talk to him before he gets on her nerves and she gives him a strike."
Ozen's jaw dropped. "Okay, I admit it, Sora should be alive. I let you slide and let him into Trial without putting it to vote first. I even let you visit King Mickey and everyone else to give them information. But I draw the line at you visiting him during Trial! I'm sorry. I love you and all, but I'm going to have to put my foot down this time!"
Linna gave him a puppy dog pout, but Ozen just shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. "No, Linna. I forbid it! No!"
Linna smirked and lightly brushed her lips against his. The corners of Ozen's mouth twitched slightly, but he didn't move. Linna kissed him again, with more passion then before. She could feel his lips spread into a smile and he whispered, "No fair."
"Ah ha! You speak!" Linna exclaimed, breaking the kiss. "It always works!"
Ozen rolled his eyes and sighed. "Alright, I give in. You may visit him, but make it short! And you'd better not get into any trouble because that gets me in trouble."
Linna giggled. "Don't worry, I'll be careful!" And she walked briskly off to the set of doors which contained the Court.
Ozen smiled gently after his girlfriend. Then he turned around to visit the guards, humming a sweet tune with a bounce in his step.
Realm of Trial
..... There was a flash of light, but it was cut off. Sora blinked and looked around, seeing that he was still in the Courtroom. The Council was murmuring nervously when the doors slammed open. They all looked around to see Linna standing there, smiling at Sora.
"Linna!" Menti snapped.
Linna blinked. "Bitch," she said calmly as if it were her real name. Sora sniggered, but was silenced as Menti sent a bolt of lightening at him with her finger, just missing him as he jumped out of the chair.
"Hey, don't you dare torture my future boyfriend!" Heshki exclaimed.
This really brought up Sora's temper. She had called him her boyfriend and mentioned torture, which he had quite enough of, in the same sentence. He opened his mouth to snap some words at her, but Linna had crossed the room and pressed her hand over his mouth, silencing him.
"I need to speak to Sora," Linna said quite plainly as the young keybearer tried to resist her grip.
Menti's jaw dropped a good foot or two. "WHAT?" she roared. "THERE IS NO TALKING TO DEFENDANTS DURING TRIAL YOU LUNITIC!"
"And yet you seemed to find ways to break the rules when you gave Sora a strike for unjust reasons!" Linna snapped. "If you can give him a strike out of hatred, then I can certainly talk to him!"
Menti's face turned several shades of red as she fought to contain her anger. Somebody brought her a glass of water which she just threw back at them. A few moments later she declared, "Fine! Fine, have it your way! But no matter what you do, he can never win this Trial!" She laughed evilly.
Sora tried his best to insult her but Linna was still holding him back. Linna bowed with difficulty to the Trial, still trying to keep her hold, and dragged Sora to the far side of the court room where no one could hear them. It was there that she finally let him go.
Sora glared at her. "What was that for? That Heshki is getting on my last fucking nerves!"
Linna sighed. "That is what I need to talk to you about." When she saw that Sora had a confused look on his face, she shook her head sadly. "I know that you resent Heshki's flirting with you, but I think it would best if you let her do it." Sora was about to open his mouth to protest, but Linna held up her hand to stop him. "Listen, it is very easy to anger any of the Court, and doing so will give you a strike. Please, Sora, for once in your life, please keep your big mouth shut!"
"I've never been that good at listening, you know," Sora informed her.
"I know, I know," Linna said. "Just for this one time, then you may vent out your anger."
Sora looked at her suspiciously. "Promise?"
"Promise," Linna said truthfully. Sora just nodded bleakly. He's been through too much for a boy of his age. These should be the best years of his life, and he spends them getting tortured.
Linna opened her mouth to say something encouraging, but was cut off when they both heard Menti's angry scream. "Sora, get your ass over here! We don't have all day, you know!"
Sora groaned. "He's coming!" Linna yelled back at her. Linna smiled at Sora and placed a motherly kiss on Sora's forehead. "Good luck, Sora," She walked
out of the room.
Sighing, Sora trudged back to his chair and sat down.
"Are ya ready?" Heshki asked, giggling. Sora nodded. "Alrighty, here we go!"She clapped her hands in anticipation and the light glowed once more.
Test of Love
Sora looked down and saw that he was once again in the air. He felt Heshki wrap her arm around him and lean her head on his shoulder. "So, what do you think this Test is going to be? When you first set you eyes on me?" She giggled again and hugged him tighter. Sora rolled his eyes in disgust, but did not pull away. I just have to put up with her for a little while longer, just a little longer. And they watched the scene play out before their eyes, Sora still uncomfortably in Heshki's arms.
The Test
Sora was wondering down the sandy beaches alone. He was nine, Riku was ten, and Kairi was nine. Riku had to help his father with something, and Sora hadn't seen Kairi all day.
I wonder where she is, Sora thought. She's been here for a few weeks, and I feel something strange about her. Urrgg, it's just a girl! I never think about Selphie this much, why am I thinking about Kairi all the time? I can't get her out of my head. She asked me if I was alright... she's really nice. And pretty, and a bit mysterious..... There I go again! What is going on here, I've never felt this way before, why start now? I don't even know what I'm feeling!
Sora stopped in his tracks, his thoughts going so fast he could not even gain enough concentration on walking. His thoughts wondered to where Kairi had been the entire day, and he was starting to get a bit worried. Maybe Riku knows where she is.
He took off on the path that lead him to his best friend's house, still thinking of the red-headed girl with violet eyes.
When he got to the door, he heard some yelling. "God damn it, Riku, don't drop those!" Riku's father yelled.
"I'm trying!" came the response. Sora rolled his eyes; it was common knowledge that those two got into big fights all the time, but it was just their way
of showing affection for each other. Sora knocked on the door and the fighting stopped. He heard footsteps and the door burst open, revealing Riku.
"Hey, Sora!" Riku said, grinning cheerfully. "What's up?"
"Nothing," Sora said simply. "I just haven't seen Kairi all day, have you seen her?"
Riku shook his head no, and Sora's worries became deeper.... something Riku picked up on quickly.
"Sora? You don't look so good. Are you okay?" Riku asked, pressing his hand to Sora's forehead to see if it was warm.
Sora chuckled, batting Riku's hand away. "No, it's nothing. I've just been having these weird thoughts lately."
Riku raised an eyebrow. "About what?"
"Kairi," Sora muttered. "It's something about her that makes me feel..... I don't know. Happy, confused, a mix of things. I've never felt it before."
"Are you sure you're not sick?" Riku asked again.
Sora shook his head. 'Nah, I'm sure I'll figure it out. I'm gonna go find Kairi."
Riku was about to ask if Sora wanted company when his father yelled, "Riku, get your ass in here NOW!"
"I'm coming!" Riku roared. He turned back to Sora. "Well, good luck. When you find her, why don't you all come over here or something? We can have Mountain Dew chugging contests and play video games."
Sora nodded, laughing. He jogged off, leaving Riku to go back to work.
He had crossed about half the island when he heard a scream. "KAIRI?"
Meanwhile...
Kairi was walking around the island, picking up small thalasa shells to string into bracelets for Riku and Sora; she had to find someway to thank them for being so nice to her.
If it weren't for them, I'd be all alone, she thought. And I might even be dead if Sora hadn't saved me. He seems really nice. A bit immature, but I can fix that. Wait, what do I mean by fixing it? It's not like I have special feelings for him or anything, but still.... there's something about him that isn't in all the others. Something about him makes me feel.... safe, like I can count on him. He makes me feel warm and jittery when he smiles at me. What's going on here? What's happening to me?
She had reached a clearing in the woods where she was looking for things to tie them together when she heard a snapping noise from behind her. She whirled around and saw four men who looked to be around seventeen. They wore punk-like clothes with heavy belts and chains, poles and more longs chains in their hands. Kairi had been warned about them by the other children; they were tough islanders who enjoyed beating up kids every week and broke into houses, burning things and so forth. The thing was that they were never caught; they always managed to slip away.... literally. But right now, they were all glaring at Kairi with evil grins.
"Well, well, well," said a muscular, black-haired man who looked to be the leader. "It's the little new girl wondering around all by herself. You should be careful; you never know what kind of thug you may run into." His gang snickered.
Kairi's eyes grew wide with fear, and she screamed. This just made them angrier.
"It's time to show you that we won't stand any new trash messing up this island," one man said, as they advanced on her.
"I DON'T THINK SO!" somebody cried out. Their eyes darted to the sides just in time to say Sora fly out of the bushes, landing between Kairi and the bullies. "If you want to hurt Kairi, you're going to have to go through me first!" he declared, holding out his wooden practice sword.
The thugs laughed at him. "Fine, if that's what you want," a blond boy said, massaging his knuckles. Sora gulped nervously, but stood his ground; he wasn't letting anyone hurt Kairi. I think I'm beginning to understand this.
"Sora, run!" Kairi cried. "I don't want you hurt!"
"Same here," Sora said over his shoulder. "Don't worry, I can take them!" And he leapt forward.
The fight was fairly quick, but the author knows that if she didn't explain it the readers might kill her.
Sora brought his sword down on the neck of a brunette, and then sent it sailing to the right into the chest of another. But a chain wrapped around his throat and tugged up, sending Sora flying back and into a tree. Sora gasped in more pain as he felt a hard boot slam into his side as the leader kicked him hard; there was a crunching sound as Sora felt several ribs snap.
He pulled himself up and somebody sent a pole flying into the left side of his head. Sora fell to the ground, and somebody picked him up by the collar of his shirt and threw him at another of the gang, who punched him in the stomach with gloved hands that had metal ridges on the knuckles.
Sora groaned in more pain and sent a feeble counter-attack at his foe with his sword, but a Chinese looking man took the wooden weapon and snapped it clean in half.
Sora's jaw dropped; he knew it was over. Then the punches and kicks rained down on him, making Sora cry out in pain and Kairi cried as well, seeing him beaten so ruthlessly.
After a few more minutes, they got bored. Sora's eyes were blackened and his lip split. Some ribs were broken along with his jaw. He was covered in bruises and sharp puncture wounds.
"Come on, you guys," the leader said, sneering. "This is a waste of time. Let's get out of here." And then, laughing their asses off, they headed off towards the dock. Sora lay in a crumbled heap on the ground.
"SORA!" Kairi screamed, running over to him. She collapsed on the ground next to him, and gently picked up his head and placed it on her lap, brushing his sweaty bangs out of his face. "Sora," she said softly, tears falling from her cheeks and into Sora's shirt.
Sora's eyes fluttered open and he smiled weakly, making his lip split more and causing him to wince. "Don't move," she said. He lay still. "Sora? Why did you do that? Why did you just let yourself get beaten up for me?"
Sora just grinned mysteriously and felt his eyes close slowly. He could hear the footsteps of his friends coming to see what the hell had happened, their faces swimming in and out of view. He now knew what he had been feeling ever since he saw Kairi; love. His body could be repaired, but there was one thing that was unfixable..... his heart. His heart had been stolen, forever taken by the girl that now held him in her arms.
Realm of Trial
The flash of light once again made itself present, and faded out of view. He was glad that Heshki no longer had him in her arms, but it was getting harder and harder for him to watch those scenes; each memory caused him pain, and in some way reminded him of the torture he had suffered through a short while back; he shuddered.
Heshki cleared her throat and stood, looking put out. It was obvious that that was not what she had wanted to see. "Despite the fact that this boy has no clue what he's missing, and the fact that Kairi can't even compare to me, I still say that it was a pretty good act of love. That, and Sora looked cute when he was fighting, all his cute little muscles.'' She giggled.
Menti also stood. "I...."
"We know, we know," Yanti said. "You don't think it was good enough. Of course, you know nothing of love since nobody likes you."
"Silence!" Menti roared as the others cracked up. "All who believe the boy has passed the Test of Love, raise your hand." Everybody except for Menti
raised their hands. "Damn it," Menti murmured, sitting back down.
A woman with dark brown hair that had a somewhat purple tint to it stood up. Her skin was amber in color and her mouth was made for smiling. "Well, Sora, I am Kentali. It's an honor to meet you, especially after seeing you prove yourself over and over again. I am the Mistress of Friendship, and I am fairly sure you will pass; I don't think I have met anyone with such great friends as you." She bowed and snapped her fingers. There was another flash of light....
Disney Castle
(Dedicated to LoneWarrior, your wish is granted!)
Everybody sat in silence, nobody saying anything for quite a while. They were in too much of a daze to even notice that Riku had gotten up and left some time ago.
Riku's footsteps echoed through the hallways as he stalked won them, not really intending on getting anywhere. He was too busy mentally bashing himself to pay attention to his surroundings.
God damn it, this is all my fault, he thought to himself. Maybe if I had chosen light and gotten the Keyblade instead of him, I'd be the one who was dead and he's still be alive. Who knows if he'll ever come back to us?
He had reached the courtyard and he instantly felt the icy cold droplets of water rain from the sky, tearing at his skin and chilling him to the core. If only this rain was made of daggers...... then it could end my pain. It's no less then what I deserve.
He stared up at the sky and screamed "WHY COULDN'T IT HAVE BEEN ME?!?" His only answer was the splatter of rain on mud as he fell down onto the cobblestone street. His clothes were drenched as he continued to stare up at the sky, hoping that the rain would drown him; it was almost as if the whole world was crying for the loss of Sora. "Why didn't you take me instead? Just bring Sora back, I'd do anything," he whispered.
"RIKU!" Riku looked up to see Sora standing there.
"Ar-are you real?'' Riku whispered eyes wide.
Sora shook his head sadly. ''Nah, I'm just coming from your conscience."
Riku shook his head in disappointment.
"Don't give in yet," Sora said, kneeling down in front of Riku. "I don't blame you. I just need a bit of faith from you to go on. I will come back; don't doubt that for a second."
Riku stared into the ghostly eyes of his friend. "I'll try."
Sora smiled and blew away with the wind.
Riku heard somebody else call his name and saw King Mickey there. "What are you doin' in the rain?" he called. "You'll catch a cold!"
Riku laughed lightly and stood up, walking towards the castle. Maybe Sora's right...
End
Me: Yes, I did it! All done!
Readers: (applause)
Me: Now I gotta send it to my beta reader. Oh, and if there are any spelling or grammer errors in here, I have just one thing to say.... IT'S ALL DIGITAL'S FAULT CAUSE SHE'S THE ONE WHO BETA'S THIS STORY!
Digitaldreamer: How is it my fault, you're the one who types them in the first place, if I miss them it's probably because you hid them well.
Sora: (snigger)
Me: Well, I'll see you later! Review please!
Digitaldreamer: (goes back to sharpening knives while no one's looking)
Me: (shrinks to small chibi size) mommy....
Kairi: And don't forget to make a wish. Britt's granted one already, and we need some more!
King Mickey: If Britt wern't in a state of terror right now, she would say ten more reviews before chapter 11.
All: REVIEW!