Awaken
A/N: This fic may not be updated very fast from this point forth. School is starting/has started on the 31st (I'm writing this from the 29th). I'm starting the 11th grade, which is a very important year for the high school career, and I can't afford to slip up (especially after my poor performance in Geometry last year!). Good thing is; I am taking a Writing Comp. course, which will hopefully improve my skills/vocabulary to better your reading experience. Also, if you get lucky/I have non-computer spare time, I just might do some art for this fic. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: Applies from Chapter 1 forth.
Chapter 3: The Old Places
Riku stared around, horrified. He almost dropped Sora in absolute and pure shock, as he gazed upon the remains of his home, the home he hadn't seen in months. It was just as cold as the void he'd been in before, but with stronger winds literally whipping across the dead grass and his tendered, weak skin. As the fierce gale struck him, striking like the Seven Sisters waves, each amplifying the next, Riku decided that neither he nor Sora, who looked thinner and weaker than Riku remembered, were safe in the open. He began to jog, against the tempest, towards the nearest structure still standing, one that he could barely make out, let alone recognize, through what seemed to be a forming sandstorm.
As he roamed, Riku began to look around more, to see if he could recognize anything. He could see the docks, where the boats had once been docked. In his head, he envisioned it, and saw it in his open eyes for a split second, saw when the water was clean and blue, the sand dry and white, the sky clear and cloudless. The view went back; a broken dock, smashed, destroyed, the waters crashing roughly against the beach black like the sunless sky above, and the sand darkened, stained by the oily substance that made up the Heartless. Riku frowned at his observation, and kicked some of the sand. What he uncovered caused him to jump back in awe, lose his balance, and unintentionally drop Sora at his feet; Heartless. Thousands, crawling under their feet, under the sand. Riku's jaw fell open, appalled, he started shaking all over at the sheer sight of the creatures. They burst up from the sand in great fountains, taking a thousand different forms. Riku watched, immobilized by astonishment, as they fell towards their target; the unconcious Sora.
"No! Stay the hell away!" Riku yelled, batting at them uselessly. They were unabashed at his futile attempt to defend Sora. They continued to rain around Sora, moving in to destroy him at last. Desperate, Riku threw his body over Sora's, yet Riku could hear them still coming. Riku closed his eyes weakly, dragging Sora in towards his chest, as the Heartless crawled closer.
"Stand and fight, Riku." A voice under Riku whispered. Riku forced himself to look down for it. Sora's eyes were wide open, staring at him. Through layers of windswept sand, Sora looked up at him, awake again. The pupils were faded, but his eyes still the bright, glimmering blue they always were. Sora smiled weakly, coming off as looking like a corpse forced to smile in the coffin. "Don't you remember? You always stood up for me. Stand." Riku held Sora tighter to him.
"I can't leave you here. I'm not going to leave you here." Riku whispered.
"And I'm not letting you die." Sora grabbed Riku's face with a trembling hand. "Stand and fight!" Riku frowned nervously, stroking Sora's hand, knowing there was no time to think, and leapt to his feet. Not looking back at Sora, he stomped on some of the smaller Heartless, effectively crushing them. He then ripped a board off the dock, and swung wildly, desperately, at the larger ones. They broke easily at his rough swings; his body was reduced to pure muscle after so many battles and so little to eat. Finally, with enough set aback, Riku swept Sora from the ground and ran, ignoring the searing winds. Sora seemed unconcious again, but his breathing was labored for some reason. Riku finally found the cave where he, Sora, and Kairi had spent much of their childhood drawing on the walls, and dodged inside it.
He lay Sora on the rocky ground, and listened to his breathing. He realized that there was sand in Sora's nose and mouth. Riku sighed nervously, wishing he knew CPR. He quickly decided to go on what he'd seen done before, and rested his mouth on Sora's, blowing oxygen into his lungs. Sora coughed weakly, sand flying from his nostrils, and went back to his comatose state. Riku sighed tiredly. He instinctively rested his lips on Sora's again, but quickly drew back, wondering why he'd done it. Sora's lips were strangely smooth, but Riku couldn't find any reason for him to kiss them. After all, Sora was in love with Kairi, and Riku knew it well. Murring confusedly, Riku ran back out into the flood of Heartless, grabbed more boards off the dock, and blocked off the door to the cave. The cave was dank and inhospitable, but Riku couldn't think of anywhere better. The homes were probably all destroyed and worn to the ground, and there was nothing else. Riku looked around, and noticed the door before him; the keyhole to the planet. Riku backed away from it, scared that he'd be caught in it again. There was no way out of the cave, and almost nowhere to more, and whoever had intended for Riku to be trapped here had succeeded brilliantly.
As Riku stared around at all the drawings on the walls, he began to think. What had happened to the innocent happiness that filled them as children? He, Kairi, Sora were the closest of friends. They had run of the island, the happiest children there were. They climbed the trees, just to see a little higher, a little more of what was around them. They explored every nook and cranny of the island, leaving their mark wherever it could be left. Three Musketeers, three amigos, the world was theirs. Why had their curiosity led to their downfall? What had pervaded their happiness? Why were the old places no longer pleasing? Where was their paradise now? Riku peered outside again, looking at the island in all it's bleakness. He knew what had happened; someone out there decided that happiness was too good for humanity. The old places, the places where he'd been happy, were dead.
TO BE CONTINUED....
