Me: Ok! So! One of my reviewers (my first one actually) pointed out that the story so far has been all romance. I was shocked/disgusted with myself when I realized he was absolutely right. The same reviewer also pointed out that I was doing that detail thing again, (believe me, he's not the first one to ever point it out either.) Um… oops. I'll try to work on that. Another thing he told me was that it wasn't actually "duck" tape. It's "duct" tape. My world was very abruptly shattered when I realized he was right again (as soon as I got out of the denial and shock that is). But that's besides the point. The point is that I would like to thank him for his advice and also for being my first reviewer. Yey for jeffiswrongC! And thanks so much again, reviewers who try and help me out are the ones who are most appreciated. And I'll make and effort to add in a little more action and violence and maybe humor. :)

Kairi: Violence? As in like… blood?

Me: Oh way more than just blood, hon.

Kairi: Like, over PG?

Me: Way waaay over PG.

Kairi: But… I'm not allowed to watch over PG… my mommy said so.

All: …

Sora: Violent like the begging of Saving Private Ryan?

Me: … WAAAH! They killed Vin Deisel! BASTARDS! (sob) (sob)

Riku: Violent like The Last Samurai?

Me: EEEEK!

Riku and Sora: (jump)

Me: I love that movie! Only it would have been so much better if he had died at the end! If he were REALLY a samurai, that what he REALLY would have wanted! What's wrong with the cinema people these days! Something IS wrong with them, don't you guys agree?

Riku: … You've failed to answer my question… again.

Sora: You didn't answer mine either.

Me: That's because you brought up the death of Vin Deisel! (starts beating Sora while sobbing) JERK!

Riku and Kairi: (sweatdrop)

Kairi: (whisper) Whose Vin Deisel?

Me: (freezes) … (looks up slowly) Kairi… I… I may just have to kill you for that. Remember, I'm the author…

Kairi: (gulp) Uh… I mean, Vin Deisel… yeah… she's cool!

Arlyn: It's a man you moron!

Kairi: Really?

Sora: what kind of a name is Vin anyway? What a freak.

Me: SHUT UP! HE'S NOT A FREAK! HE'S UNIQUE!

Riku: That's just a nice way of saying he's a freak

Me: No! He's not a freak! He's unique!

Kairi: Hey, (giggles) you guys time!

Riku, Sora and me: (blink)

Arlyn and Sora: They what?

Riku and me: We what?

Kairi: You know…they time. Um… like when one word sounds like another… only its not…

All: … (sweat drop)…

Me: Uh… read my chapter now, while we try to explain to Kairi the difference between rhyme and time

Kairi: (giggle) You did it again!

Riku: Shoot me now…

Chapter Four: Shadows and Nightmares

Riku had stopped talking to her. But Arlyn still lay listening. She couldn't even hear him breathe. The air was laden with a suffocating silence, as if he had woken and knew what she had done, and was waiting for her to explain herself. The room was too hot to bear. Her clothes were tight and confining on her skin, and she and the boy were too close. Getting up, and moving to the other side of the room, Arlyn lay down again up against the wall, her face only inches away from it. Her hot breath fanned her face as it bounced off of and returned from the white, plaster-like material. It was still too much. She felt like she wondered if it was possible that she was suddenly developing claustrophobia.

She sat up, all the while conscious to make as little noise as possible, and peeled off the outer shell of her shirt, leaving her dressed in a thin white camisole in an effort to cool herself. But she was still upset. Turning around, she studied the boy for a moment, her gray eyes emotionless. They had kissed. She didn't even know him. It was frustrating for her, though she couldn't explain why.

She walked over to the bed, reached under it, careful this time to avoid his face, and took her backpack out from under the frame, slinging it over her shoulder. She then padded softly to the open doorframe and walked outside, the brilliant stars flooding her with silver light.

She walked through flat, grassy land until she came to a small pool of crystal-like water and bent down beside it, cupping the cool liquid in her hands and splashing it over her face, closing her eyes to feel the cooling of the ever-night air. The kiss was still racing through her mind as she let the leather straps or her sack slip from her shoulders. She thought about how wrong it had been. How sudden it had been. How it wasn't her fault that she hadn't pulled away sooner…

She eventually came to lean back against a rubbery-feeling tree trunk, her feet comfortably resting in the lush grass, which glowed a light, semi-transparent color and was much thinner and flexible than the grass from her world. (A/N: I know! I know! The detail thing… TT leave me alone! I'm taking baby steps!) She hardly ever noticed the difference anymore.

The thick, humid air made things in her mind heavy and clear in a way she couldn't describe, and after a bit, she found herself fumbling with the drawstring of her backpack, pulling out the ebony flute and studying the Celtic pattern of the vines. She started to play, more out of habit than anything else, and tried to make the song as calming as possible. Her soothing melody seemed to flourish in the humid air around her.

As she played, she studied the shadowy woods a few yards away with mild interest. She had only ventured in once or twice, but without any woodland animals to chatter away, things were strangely quiet and eerie. For her, the forest was one of the most disturbing aspects about the new world, because she had grown up in a forest, and it had been completely different from this one. This one was like a shadow of a real forest, of her forest. Hers had been filled with life and constant movement, of smells and sights and noise and the countless presence of living beings. In her forest, you were never alone.

This forest, however, was still and silent. Lifeless. Nothing moved, nothing breathed, there was nothing except silence. It had been as if time itself had stopped once she had entered the canopy of leaves and rubbery trunks. She had almost felt as if she had been the focus of some silent creature inside the woods that was willing her to go away. She was not welcome. Even the trees had seemed to be leering at her, though she knew that wasn't possible.

Now, as she played her flute, she thought she saw a huge, liquid shadow moving towards her from the forest. She had only seen it for an instant. But it had been enough. Her breath caught in her throat as she gasped, making her note falter, and no sooner did she see the large, graceful shadow than did it disappear back into the forest. She blinked her eyes and shook her head, her soft hair falling into her face. She had to learn to control her imagination. Lifting the flute again to her lips, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She didn't see the shadow this time when reappeared, as her haunting melody returned to the air.

"Hey, Sora," Riku called out to his best friend. The spiky-haired, blue eyed teen turned around to look at him. "What do you make of this?" Riku asked, casually tossing a marble sized, dark blue object at Sora, who caught it with both gloved hands. The younger boy turned it over several times, letting it roll through his fingers before shrugging and looking up at Riku. "Maybe it's a seed, or a fruit or something." Sora guessed. Turning, he tossed it to Kairi, catching the younger girl by surprise.

"I wonder what Selphie will think when we go back home to show her everything we've found." After Kairi had bottled the unidentified object in her little vile, which contained a collection of unfamiliar things that they had found and seen.

"She'll do what she always does:" Riku said, tearing his way through the thick foliage of the jungle they were currently in. The moist dirt beneath him threatened to suck up his shoes, the hot humid air drew beads of sweat across his forehead. "act like a complete baby and bawl over the fact that we didn't take her with us."

Sora let out a short, boyish laugh as he passed Riku's right, while Kairi suppressed a small smile with her hand. "Don't be so mean, Riku."

Riku turned around to give her his trademark smirk, but what he saw froze his heart in his chest, making his whole frame jolt painfully. He couldn't believe it. Swirling above Kairi's head was a thickening cloud of darkness. And it was growing. Long, black tendrils of shadow were stretching themselves loose from the air and shimmering in cold, purple-electric patterns. His heart wrenched as he recognized what it was. It was the same darkness that had surrounded their island the night everything began… it was the heartless.

"Kairi!"

Seeing the look on his face, the younger girl's head whipped around to look behind her, her wide blue eyes searching. She only got the chance to scream once, and then the darkness crashed over her like an ocean wave and pulled her struggling form into its pit.

Riku ran after her thoughtlessly, pulling the KeyBlade free with a cold metallic slash and piercing it into the body of the shadows. A sickening cold feeling spread down his throat as he was immersed in the toxic shadows. His skin was burning and his lungs were searing, it was like swimming in acid. "Kairi!" He managed to choke out, the blackness swarmed around his eyes, as if trying to blind him. It was as if a swarm of wasps were relentlessly attacking his vision. It stung like hell, it even made his eyes water with pain. Soon he was completely encompassed by blindness. He could feel the panic and rage build up in his core, making him thrash violently, ignoring the sharp pains it sent up his neck.

Cold hands were wrapping tightly around him like vices, pulling him forwards, devouring him. Multiple teeth sunk into his arms, his legs, his face… they were literally eating him. Riku knew somewhere inside himself that Kairi was already gone. And he knew it was his fault. That pain was almost worse than the wasps and the teeth combined. He sliced the KeyBlade Sora had returned to him with everything he had, his aching muscles screaming at him to rest. But he couldn't. He could feel flesh ripping at the tip of his KeyBlade, but heard nothing scream. It was completely silent. Even his cries were unheard, swallowed by the darkness. Cold, putrid liquid squirted from the depths of the oblivion and soaked into his clothes and arms. It was like being covered in burning ice. It was so cold… the blood on his arms… It seemed that no matter how much he slashed at it, gutted it, pierced it, it couldn't feel any of the pain. It just continued to consume him, slowly, hard fingers threatening to bruise him… he knew it was over…

Riku sat up so quickly that he practically fell out of the bed. His hands were clenching the sheets hard; he could feel his fingernails biting into his palms through his black gloves. His breath was hard and ragged, silver hair falling into his eyes and sticking to the cold sweat on his face.

"A dream." He said to himself, his hands were shaking even as he clamped at the sheets. "It was just a dream."

Relief washed through him as he fell back on the bed, sighing heavily and staring at the ceiling. He didn't recognize it. Slowly it occurred to him that he didn't know where he was… and then vaguely his memories returned to him… he felt his frustration return. He just wanted to trash something. He was still here, from what he could tell, almost alone, on the other side of Kingdome Hearts…

Me: End of Chapter Four! Kairi… you can take off your blindfold now.

Kairi: A-a-are you sure?

Me: We're sure.

Kairi: (thinks) (shakes her head) I think I'll just stay like this for a while.

Sora: Kairi, the story's already over.

Kairi: …

Arlyn: just leave her, she's probably happier that way anyway

Kairi: (Nods Vigorously)

Me: Ok! Well how do you all think I did with the violence?

World: … (cricket chirps)

Me: (pouts, fine) well, jeffiswrongC, if your reading this, then know that the end of Riku's dream, no matter how poorly written, was an effort of mine at your suggestion… not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Actually its only my second violent scene now that I think about it… let me know how I did and don't be afraid to say it sucked. Ok? Ok. As for the rest of you –

Riku: She loves you. Now lets go.

Sora: GO where? We're stuck here.

Riku: … shit…

Kairi: (GASP) RIKU!

Riku: (annoyed) Well what DO you want me to say!

Kairi: (peeking out from under blindfold) I don't know… say sugar or shitugar… hey! Now I know how to time too!

All: (falls anime style)

Arlyn: Not this again… I thought we handled this in the LAST chapter!

Sora: Looks, like we'll just have to try to teach her again. Ready Arlyn? … Arlyn?

Arlyn: (straps Kairi into chair with harsh chains) And this time, you'll remember it!

Riku: How do you plan to get her to do that?

Arlyn: (evil smile) WITH THIS! (whips out flamethrower)

Sora, Riku and Me: EEEK! (all dive under nani's large wooden desk, and hold onto a leg)

Riku: HAVEN'T YOU TAKEN THAT THING AWAY FROM HER YET!

Me: Y-yeah! I thought I did anyway!

Sora: Well apparently you haven't!

Riku: Or she just got another one!

Nani: You think THIS is bad? Wait until you meet her sister…

Sora: She had a SISTER!

Riku: … I hate you…

Me: heh heh… (nervous grin)

Arlyn: NOW! TELL ME AGAIN! WHAT'S THE DEFINITION OF RHYME, AND WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF TIME!

Kairi: (gulp)… uh… didn't you just time again?

Arlyn: (trigger finger twitches on flamethrower)

All: (cringe)

Me: Um… read and review… and see if Kairi's still intact when we return! (cowers under the table with the boys) EEP!