Part Five: Out on the Town
It was late, or early, when Sora finally woke up from his strange dream. Leaning his aching head against the stone wall, he noticed a smattering of stars blinking down at him from the narrow gap between the tall buildings. The moon had disappeared, having set long ago, or maybe never having risen at all in this strange place. The illumination that fell across the streets and the buildings that he could see was a warm yellow-orange, not unlike the bonfires that were lit on Destiny Islands on festival nights.
Shaking his head to clear it, Sora grabbed hold of one of the crates stacked beside him and pulled himself up to his feet, only to find that he had to slump against the boxes for support. Had the past night really drained so much out of him?
None of that now, he thought, realizing not for the first time that he was on another world. Keeping one hand on the wall to steady himself, he crept through the narrow street, away from the dead end wall of the alleyway and towards what promised to be an open area of this new world. Already he noticed the differences between his familiar island and this new place. While the buildings were not much taller than the two or three story huts he had grown up seeing, they were built of stone and neat planks of wood that cris-crossed a washed plaster surface. Compared to these, the thatched huts and driftwood towers of Destiny islands looked primitive. Pulling his black jacket around him, he shivered slightly as he noticed another difference. Traverse Town was much cooler, temperature-wise at least.
It was also more crowded, he observed as he walked out of the alleyway and looked over the town square that lay at the bottom of a set of stairs. People rushed back and forth, jostling each other and yelling various things. Tents were set up along all the walls, leaving openings only where there were doors to go through and one where there seemed to be a restaurant of some sort. There had to be hundreds of people in that town square, and the more awed part of him raised that estimate to thousands. Back when he was little, still young enough for his mom to drag him with her to the mainland on market days, he had seen the throngs of shoppers in the streets stretching out for what seemed to be miles. Even that exaggerated memory paled in comparison to the sight before him.
How would he find his friends in this mess? Actually, he thought as the some of the crowd migrated towards him and a random person jostled his still-sore body, perhaps a more important question would be how would he avoid getting crushed? Just behind him, a neon sign glowed and drew his attention to the answer. A shop just a few feet away could provide shelter and a place to think before he made his next move.
The jingle of a bell welcomed Sora as he pushed open the wooden door and entered the shop, heaving a sigh of relief to be away from the masses in the square. While a few people browsed the glass cases filled with what appeared to be jewelry and a few people huddled around the fireplace, there was enough breathing room to suit Sora, who was already missing the open skies of his home island. He sat on one of the benches at the back of the store and observed the people milling around, absorbing the reality of his situation, whatever that happened to be.
"Hey kid!" A gruff voice pulled Sora out of his thoughts before he fully sank into them. He looked up, wondering who could be calling him in this place. Most of the people in the store were focused on other things, but a heavy-set blond man behind the counter was looking intently at him. He was probably the owner of the store, and apparently he was the one calling Sora.
"I'm not a kid," Sora answered back, determined to keep some of his pride while adjusting to these strange surroundings. "The name's Sora. So, gramps, where are we?"
"Hey, don't call me gramps. The name's Cid. You lost or something?" Sora saw Cid's eyes observing him, pausing for an extended time on the sword at Sora's side. Self-consciously, Sora touched the hilt of his sword, though he didn't actually grab it.
"No!" he denied before the more sensible side of him protested. "Okay...well...maybe. This is the mainland, right?"
"Mainland, kid? What are you talking about? This is Traverse Town."
Traverse Town. At least Sora now had a name to attach to this strange place. It wasn't much to go by, but it was a step forward in understanding his situation. "So if this isn't the mainland, are we still on an island, gramps?"
Rubbing his temple before answering, Cid let out a sigh. "I don't know about any island. Are you sure you didn't hit your head on something when your world was–"
Sora cut Cid off before the shop owner could continue on that subject. "Anyway, have you seen my friends? There are two of them, Riku and Kairi. Riku, he's about yay tall–" Sora held his hand slightly above his head, "And he has silver-colored hair. Kairi's kinda cute, her hair goes down to about here--" Sora made a gesture just below his shoulder. "--It's sort of a reddish color. And she's got these really pretty blue eyes that--" He cut himself off, realizing that he was starting to sound like a boy with a crush. "You know, never mind."
Cid's rough features twisted to form a grin-- The first time he had actually smiled in the very short time Sora had met him. "Hmm... with all the new arrivals, I can't really say that I remember meeting anyone like that. Say," Cid looked as if he were finally getting around to asking what he really wanted to ask. "You know how to use that?" He pointed towards Sora's sword.
Sora nodded hesitantly, and Cid was about to say more when a tall, bony woman stormed over and interrupted him. "Oh no you don't, Mr. Cid! Honestly, can you be more shameless? You leave the poor boy alone. His world newly destroyed and all. You Trinity folk have no sense of compassion, do you?"
"Hey, let the boy hear–"
The bony woman interrupted before Cid could continue. "Let the boy have some clue what's going on before you ask him to fight for you guys." She walked over and grabbed Sora by the arm, which he jerked away immediately.
"You don't have to worry about me, I can take care of myself. I just wanna find my friends," Sora said more coolly than he had intended. He didn't mean to be so rude, but the company of this woman seemed worse than Cid and anything those "Trinity folk" could throw at him – whoever they were. Besides, if he were being completely honest with himself, he didn't want to know exactly what had happened yet. That would mean facing the very real possibility that he couldn't go home and that maybe there wasn't even a home to go to anymore.
Cid shot a questioning look at Sora, who stared back at him. The shop owner just shrugged, turned to the woman, and said, "Give the boy a choice at least." Addressing Sora now, Cid set down his case. "Look, if you want to find your friends, chances are they've been scattered among the worlds. Now, the way I see it, if you can handle that weapon of yours and help us out, we can send you to those other worlds."
He stopped then, giving Sora a chance to think about his words, until the woman barged in with her own opinion. "You can't go with them. You're just a kid. You'd have to fight against those hideous creatures!"
Sora waited for her to finish, although he had to admit that he hadn't really been listening. "That's not a problem. I'm strong, and I have to find Riku and Kairi! We've always wanted to see other worlds, but more importantly, we wanted to see them together. I'll follow him and see what this is about," he responded.
"But..." the woman protested, grabbing Sora by the arm again. For someone who looked to be all bones, she still held on with a death grip even as Sora stiffened and and tried to stop himself from struggling to escape. "You need to know what's going on!"
Red-faced, Cid finally yelled back at the woman, "We can tell him exactly what's going on, Ms. Seri. And we can help him find his friends."
Seri let go of Sora and stormed back to the counter. "You're going to send him off to collect more refugees. You're going to bring more of the defenseless to Traverse Town. We're overcrowded, overrun."
Sora's right hand clenched the hilt of his sword. These people he had met were talking about him as if he weren't even present. The way they talked, they obviously had his interests pretty far down on their lists of priorities, especially the woman. He thought he could listen to them argue and watch as a scene ensued and the patrons crowded around to observe. The rest of the people in the store never bothered turning around though. Obviously whatever problem Seri, the woman, had with Cid and Trinity caused recurring confrontations if the townspeople could just ignore it. Sora couldn't, especially if they were arguing about him. He wasn't a kid anymore; he didn't have to put up with it.
"Stop it!" he yelled, leaping up from his place on the bench and going to the counter. "I'm going with Cid to hear about how I can get out and search for my friends. I'm not going to be something else for you guys to fight about."
Seri stopped in the middle of a tirade, glared at both Cid and Sora, and stormed out the door. Cid looked Sora in the eyes before he lowered his gaze. "Sorry, kid. Times are desperate, and there's really no place in this town for softies anymore. I'll take you to Trinity Headquarters, and they'll see what they can do for you, once the moogle arrives to take over shop duties.
Almost on cue, Sora heard the sound of shifting above and a little to the right of him, as if a piece of the ceiling were being moved. From a newly-revealed hole in the ceiling at the back of the store, a wide wooden ladder clanked to the ground, bouncing a couple of times before it finally settled.
As Sora looked up, a small white creature climbed down from the upper level. Short-limbed with a large torso and head, the creature looked nothing like anything Sora had ever seen before. From behind Sora could see both the ridiculously small purple wings sprouting from its back and its cat ears. A large red thing sprouted from its head and bobbed as the creature descended the ladder.
It landed with a bounce and turned around, allowing Sora to look at the front of this strange creature. Its nose was a large pink ball, and the red, bouncing thing appeared to be an antenna from the front. Overall, it was a white, round, catlike-creature even stranger than he had thought when he had just seen it climbing down the ladder. He walked over to the creature and stared at it in wonder. Lacking any better judgment, he poked the antenna and asked Cid, "What is this?"
The creature jumped back and said angrily, "Don't touch the pom-pom, kupo! Why does everyone keep touching the pom-pom?"
Cid laughed at the interaction between Sora and the creature. "That's a moogle, kid. I take it you don't have those where you come from. Sorry," he apologized to the moogle, "I don't think he's ever seen one of you before."
The moogle walked behind the counter, which hid everything but the tips of its ears and the pom-pom. "No problem, Kupo. Here's the item you requested." There was a jangling sound as the moogle placed something in Cid's hand.
"Thank you." Cid bowed his head before emerging from behind the counter. "So, ready to go?"
Sora nodded and headed towards the exit before Cid pointed to the ladder. "It's less crowded that way." For someone of his large frame, Cid moved up the ladder quickly, and soon enough he was on the second floor calling for Sora to follow. Sora scrambled up the ladder as if he were in a race against Riku.
Sora had expected the room above to be yet another shop filled with more cases of jewelry, but from the waves of uncomfortable heat radiating from the upper fireplace, Sora realized that it was something different altogether. Moogles bustled around carrying crystals and metals of all shapes and colors. One carried what looked to be a glass blower, while another hammered away at an anvil, sending sparks flying in all directions. A few paused from their work to wave at Cid and Sora, but most were focused intently on their tasks.
"That's synthesis, kid. Moogles are masters at the art. Don't see how they can stand working in this environment myself." Cid hurried to the exit, and Sora followed, diving back into the crowds he had hoped to avoid. The shopkeeper barreled through the crowd, and Sora followed in his wake. Fortunately, the crowd thinned as they approached a large wooden door.
Cid stopped there and motioned for Sora to stand next to him. "Hold out your hand," he instructed. Obeying, Sora held out his left hand to find Cid wrapping a spiked chain around his wrist. The sharp points dug into the skin near where the main veins were located, just short of drawing blood, and Sora winced. Immediately, a pounding feeling rose in his chest before it died away. His breath suddenly felt shallow, and his hand started tingling.
"What's...going..." Sora fought to make his limited air supply form the question.
"You're still awake? You're tougher than you look. I'll explain later. Just understand that this is necessary, and we should get through the next district quickly." He pushed open the door and called for Sora to follow him.
Sora couldn't observe much of this district. Just that it was as abandoned as the first one was packed and that there seemed to be many more buildings. He concentrated on the tingling feeling spreading throughout his extremities and the slowness with which his blood seemed to be flowing through his veins.
His mind became lazy, and his feet moved more of their own accord, usually more to one side or the other, rather than straight on the stone path. Occasionally, Cid's voice cut through the haze, instructing Sora to turn or be careful or steady himself.
"We're almost there. Can you keep it together for a bit longer?" The words echoed in Sora's fuzzy thoughts as he stumbled over his feet and nearly fell and would have fallen over if it weren't for the narrow wall in the alley that he could lean against.
"Come on, Sora." It wasn't a plea; it was a challenge. And the voice that he heard reminded him of sword fights on the island. "Giving up already? Never thought you were that weak. Guess I was wrong."
Huh? What was Riku doing here in this abandoned section of the city? "Riku..." He steadied himself and looked around. His friend stood just a few feet away, slouching casually and smirking at Sora as he watched him struggle to move forward. Sora had to make it a few more feet, just to prove to Riku that he was just as tough, even if he had never been as brawny as Riku.
He shuffled towards his goal, each step taking enormous effort, but with this friend goading him on, Sora couldn't just give up. As he came within arm's length of Riku, the silver-haired boy held out his hand for Sora to grab onto. With great effort, Sora lifted his bad arm, the one on the side the wall wasn't supporting, and reached out for Riku. Sora's hand passed through Riku, and his friend wavered before he disappeared, little more than a passing mirage.
Sora shook his head in an attempt to clear it. Riku was gone now, and Sora guessed that his friend had never stood in these streets. He stopped where Riku had been and looked forward. A stone door, not like the one he had seen in his dream or on his island, but an ordinary one, stood at the end of the street. That far he had to go. It was only a few yards away.
The slight breeze from a person briskly passing by him caught Sora's attention, as did a flash of auburn hair and a familiar laugh. Kairi walked by, her hands clasped behind her back as she turned to Sora. "Come on, Sora. You promised me that we'd see other worlds together. You can't fall behind now."
Even after the illusionary Riku, Sora never thought to question the reality of this Kairi. She smiled like the real one, and she leaned next to the door he needed to walk through the way Kairi leaned against a wall whenever she watched Sora and Riku duel. If his body would just listen to his mind, he would have run to her.
"Kairi!" Sora lifted his hand to wave at her. "I'm so glad you're safe. Could you...um... give me a hand?"
When her deep blue eyes focused on him, she was no longer smiling. "Sora, come here. Please."
Sora's feet carried him of their own accord to Kairi, his mind no longer clear enough to give the orders. The walk seemed to take hours despite the short distance, and even acting on their own, his legs barely seemed to move.
"Sora, please, I can't wait much longer." Her voice seemed to have lost the spirit it usually had and was now as dull and cool as it had been the night the door had opened.
"I'm coming. I can't go any faster." He really couldn't go faster, not with those lead legs and arms of his.
Kairi nodded regretfully, and a couple tears glittered in the corners of her eyes. Without speaking again, but waving slightly to Sora, she turned her back to him and headed through the door.
"Kairi!" Sora called, and he could feel his speech slurring, "Wait..." Just a few more steps and he would reach the door. Always it was just a few more steps. One, two, three, he felt his heavy feet pound the cobblestones before he nearly fell forward. The wall caught him, though, and the thought that he had reached the end of his hard journey passed through his hazy mind. He scooted sideways until he found a part of the wall that was set back from the rest.
This was a door, Sora reminded himself, and Kairi had just passed beyond it. Testing it with his little remaining strength, he found the door gave too easily beneath his weight, and he stumbled rather than walked through it.
Kairi waited on the other side, though she barely acknowledged Sora as she walked into a nearby house. He followed her in the frustrating, heavy-limbed way he now walked. In his blurred vision, he saw nothing but his goal: the entrance of the small house. He bolted for it at a turtle's pace, and reaching the door, he leaned against it again, hoping that his weight would be enough to push it in. His fingers were too numb to actually turn a knob, if that was what was required. Sora wasn't really sure if he still had fingers anymore for all that he could feel or move them.
While the door didn't give way under his weight, someone must have heard him and opened the it because there was suddenly nothing supporting his weight, and he tripped. The sight of a floor rushing up to greet him was the last thing he noticed before the blur that was his vision finally faded to black.
***
Whoa! This was not what I had planned. This was supposed to be random, boring filler. Well, okay, it's still random, boring filler, but it's completely different from the random, boring filler I had planned. Headache inducing filler, I might add. I apologize for any lack of quality, I'll try to do better next time, I promise.
Special thanks to Koorino Megumi for editing this, and kicking me into shape when it came to Sora's characterization.
Also thanks to Naela, who agreed to look at the rough-draft, even though I cleaned it up without her input. Sorry to have bugged you when you were busy. And yes, I was laughing at your last review.
VixettaremIx: (I think I spelled that right). Thanks. I was going for Disney Character with more emphasis on 'character' and less on 'Disney.'
Thanks for all those that responded. ^_^ See you next time. Eventually.
It was late, or early, when Sora finally woke up from his strange dream. Leaning his aching head against the stone wall, he noticed a smattering of stars blinking down at him from the narrow gap between the tall buildings. The moon had disappeared, having set long ago, or maybe never having risen at all in this strange place. The illumination that fell across the streets and the buildings that he could see was a warm yellow-orange, not unlike the bonfires that were lit on Destiny Islands on festival nights.
Shaking his head to clear it, Sora grabbed hold of one of the crates stacked beside him and pulled himself up to his feet, only to find that he had to slump against the boxes for support. Had the past night really drained so much out of him?
None of that now, he thought, realizing not for the first time that he was on another world. Keeping one hand on the wall to steady himself, he crept through the narrow street, away from the dead end wall of the alleyway and towards what promised to be an open area of this new world. Already he noticed the differences between his familiar island and this new place. While the buildings were not much taller than the two or three story huts he had grown up seeing, they were built of stone and neat planks of wood that cris-crossed a washed plaster surface. Compared to these, the thatched huts and driftwood towers of Destiny islands looked primitive. Pulling his black jacket around him, he shivered slightly as he noticed another difference. Traverse Town was much cooler, temperature-wise at least.
It was also more crowded, he observed as he walked out of the alleyway and looked over the town square that lay at the bottom of a set of stairs. People rushed back and forth, jostling each other and yelling various things. Tents were set up along all the walls, leaving openings only where there were doors to go through and one where there seemed to be a restaurant of some sort. There had to be hundreds of people in that town square, and the more awed part of him raised that estimate to thousands. Back when he was little, still young enough for his mom to drag him with her to the mainland on market days, he had seen the throngs of shoppers in the streets stretching out for what seemed to be miles. Even that exaggerated memory paled in comparison to the sight before him.
How would he find his friends in this mess? Actually, he thought as the some of the crowd migrated towards him and a random person jostled his still-sore body, perhaps a more important question would be how would he avoid getting crushed? Just behind him, a neon sign glowed and drew his attention to the answer. A shop just a few feet away could provide shelter and a place to think before he made his next move.
The jingle of a bell welcomed Sora as he pushed open the wooden door and entered the shop, heaving a sigh of relief to be away from the masses in the square. While a few people browsed the glass cases filled with what appeared to be jewelry and a few people huddled around the fireplace, there was enough breathing room to suit Sora, who was already missing the open skies of his home island. He sat on one of the benches at the back of the store and observed the people milling around, absorbing the reality of his situation, whatever that happened to be.
"Hey kid!" A gruff voice pulled Sora out of his thoughts before he fully sank into them. He looked up, wondering who could be calling him in this place. Most of the people in the store were focused on other things, but a heavy-set blond man behind the counter was looking intently at him. He was probably the owner of the store, and apparently he was the one calling Sora.
"I'm not a kid," Sora answered back, determined to keep some of his pride while adjusting to these strange surroundings. "The name's Sora. So, gramps, where are we?"
"Hey, don't call me gramps. The name's Cid. You lost or something?" Sora saw Cid's eyes observing him, pausing for an extended time on the sword at Sora's side. Self-consciously, Sora touched the hilt of his sword, though he didn't actually grab it.
"No!" he denied before the more sensible side of him protested. "Okay...well...maybe. This is the mainland, right?"
"Mainland, kid? What are you talking about? This is Traverse Town."
Traverse Town. At least Sora now had a name to attach to this strange place. It wasn't much to go by, but it was a step forward in understanding his situation. "So if this isn't the mainland, are we still on an island, gramps?"
Rubbing his temple before answering, Cid let out a sigh. "I don't know about any island. Are you sure you didn't hit your head on something when your world was–"
Sora cut Cid off before the shop owner could continue on that subject. "Anyway, have you seen my friends? There are two of them, Riku and Kairi. Riku, he's about yay tall–" Sora held his hand slightly above his head, "And he has silver-colored hair. Kairi's kinda cute, her hair goes down to about here--" Sora made a gesture just below his shoulder. "--It's sort of a reddish color. And she's got these really pretty blue eyes that--" He cut himself off, realizing that he was starting to sound like a boy with a crush. "You know, never mind."
Cid's rough features twisted to form a grin-- The first time he had actually smiled in the very short time Sora had met him. "Hmm... with all the new arrivals, I can't really say that I remember meeting anyone like that. Say," Cid looked as if he were finally getting around to asking what he really wanted to ask. "You know how to use that?" He pointed towards Sora's sword.
Sora nodded hesitantly, and Cid was about to say more when a tall, bony woman stormed over and interrupted him. "Oh no you don't, Mr. Cid! Honestly, can you be more shameless? You leave the poor boy alone. His world newly destroyed and all. You Trinity folk have no sense of compassion, do you?"
"Hey, let the boy hear–"
The bony woman interrupted before Cid could continue. "Let the boy have some clue what's going on before you ask him to fight for you guys." She walked over and grabbed Sora by the arm, which he jerked away immediately.
"You don't have to worry about me, I can take care of myself. I just wanna find my friends," Sora said more coolly than he had intended. He didn't mean to be so rude, but the company of this woman seemed worse than Cid and anything those "Trinity folk" could throw at him – whoever they were. Besides, if he were being completely honest with himself, he didn't want to know exactly what had happened yet. That would mean facing the very real possibility that he couldn't go home and that maybe there wasn't even a home to go to anymore.
Cid shot a questioning look at Sora, who stared back at him. The shop owner just shrugged, turned to the woman, and said, "Give the boy a choice at least." Addressing Sora now, Cid set down his case. "Look, if you want to find your friends, chances are they've been scattered among the worlds. Now, the way I see it, if you can handle that weapon of yours and help us out, we can send you to those other worlds."
He stopped then, giving Sora a chance to think about his words, until the woman barged in with her own opinion. "You can't go with them. You're just a kid. You'd have to fight against those hideous creatures!"
Sora waited for her to finish, although he had to admit that he hadn't really been listening. "That's not a problem. I'm strong, and I have to find Riku and Kairi! We've always wanted to see other worlds, but more importantly, we wanted to see them together. I'll follow him and see what this is about," he responded.
"But..." the woman protested, grabbing Sora by the arm again. For someone who looked to be all bones, she still held on with a death grip even as Sora stiffened and and tried to stop himself from struggling to escape. "You need to know what's going on!"
Red-faced, Cid finally yelled back at the woman, "We can tell him exactly what's going on, Ms. Seri. And we can help him find his friends."
Seri let go of Sora and stormed back to the counter. "You're going to send him off to collect more refugees. You're going to bring more of the defenseless to Traverse Town. We're overcrowded, overrun."
Sora's right hand clenched the hilt of his sword. These people he had met were talking about him as if he weren't even present. The way they talked, they obviously had his interests pretty far down on their lists of priorities, especially the woman. He thought he could listen to them argue and watch as a scene ensued and the patrons crowded around to observe. The rest of the people in the store never bothered turning around though. Obviously whatever problem Seri, the woman, had with Cid and Trinity caused recurring confrontations if the townspeople could just ignore it. Sora couldn't, especially if they were arguing about him. He wasn't a kid anymore; he didn't have to put up with it.
"Stop it!" he yelled, leaping up from his place on the bench and going to the counter. "I'm going with Cid to hear about how I can get out and search for my friends. I'm not going to be something else for you guys to fight about."
Seri stopped in the middle of a tirade, glared at both Cid and Sora, and stormed out the door. Cid looked Sora in the eyes before he lowered his gaze. "Sorry, kid. Times are desperate, and there's really no place in this town for softies anymore. I'll take you to Trinity Headquarters, and they'll see what they can do for you, once the moogle arrives to take over shop duties.
Almost on cue, Sora heard the sound of shifting above and a little to the right of him, as if a piece of the ceiling were being moved. From a newly-revealed hole in the ceiling at the back of the store, a wide wooden ladder clanked to the ground, bouncing a couple of times before it finally settled.
As Sora looked up, a small white creature climbed down from the upper level. Short-limbed with a large torso and head, the creature looked nothing like anything Sora had ever seen before. From behind Sora could see both the ridiculously small purple wings sprouting from its back and its cat ears. A large red thing sprouted from its head and bobbed as the creature descended the ladder.
It landed with a bounce and turned around, allowing Sora to look at the front of this strange creature. Its nose was a large pink ball, and the red, bouncing thing appeared to be an antenna from the front. Overall, it was a white, round, catlike-creature even stranger than he had thought when he had just seen it climbing down the ladder. He walked over to the creature and stared at it in wonder. Lacking any better judgment, he poked the antenna and asked Cid, "What is this?"
The creature jumped back and said angrily, "Don't touch the pom-pom, kupo! Why does everyone keep touching the pom-pom?"
Cid laughed at the interaction between Sora and the creature. "That's a moogle, kid. I take it you don't have those where you come from. Sorry," he apologized to the moogle, "I don't think he's ever seen one of you before."
The moogle walked behind the counter, which hid everything but the tips of its ears and the pom-pom. "No problem, Kupo. Here's the item you requested." There was a jangling sound as the moogle placed something in Cid's hand.
"Thank you." Cid bowed his head before emerging from behind the counter. "So, ready to go?"
Sora nodded and headed towards the exit before Cid pointed to the ladder. "It's less crowded that way." For someone of his large frame, Cid moved up the ladder quickly, and soon enough he was on the second floor calling for Sora to follow. Sora scrambled up the ladder as if he were in a race against Riku.
Sora had expected the room above to be yet another shop filled with more cases of jewelry, but from the waves of uncomfortable heat radiating from the upper fireplace, Sora realized that it was something different altogether. Moogles bustled around carrying crystals and metals of all shapes and colors. One carried what looked to be a glass blower, while another hammered away at an anvil, sending sparks flying in all directions. A few paused from their work to wave at Cid and Sora, but most were focused intently on their tasks.
"That's synthesis, kid. Moogles are masters at the art. Don't see how they can stand working in this environment myself." Cid hurried to the exit, and Sora followed, diving back into the crowds he had hoped to avoid. The shopkeeper barreled through the crowd, and Sora followed in his wake. Fortunately, the crowd thinned as they approached a large wooden door.
Cid stopped there and motioned for Sora to stand next to him. "Hold out your hand," he instructed. Obeying, Sora held out his left hand to find Cid wrapping a spiked chain around his wrist. The sharp points dug into the skin near where the main veins were located, just short of drawing blood, and Sora winced. Immediately, a pounding feeling rose in his chest before it died away. His breath suddenly felt shallow, and his hand started tingling.
"What's...going..." Sora fought to make his limited air supply form the question.
"You're still awake? You're tougher than you look. I'll explain later. Just understand that this is necessary, and we should get through the next district quickly." He pushed open the door and called for Sora to follow him.
Sora couldn't observe much of this district. Just that it was as abandoned as the first one was packed and that there seemed to be many more buildings. He concentrated on the tingling feeling spreading throughout his extremities and the slowness with which his blood seemed to be flowing through his veins.
His mind became lazy, and his feet moved more of their own accord, usually more to one side or the other, rather than straight on the stone path. Occasionally, Cid's voice cut through the haze, instructing Sora to turn or be careful or steady himself.
"We're almost there. Can you keep it together for a bit longer?" The words echoed in Sora's fuzzy thoughts as he stumbled over his feet and nearly fell and would have fallen over if it weren't for the narrow wall in the alley that he could lean against.
"Come on, Sora." It wasn't a plea; it was a challenge. And the voice that he heard reminded him of sword fights on the island. "Giving up already? Never thought you were that weak. Guess I was wrong."
Huh? What was Riku doing here in this abandoned section of the city? "Riku..." He steadied himself and looked around. His friend stood just a few feet away, slouching casually and smirking at Sora as he watched him struggle to move forward. Sora had to make it a few more feet, just to prove to Riku that he was just as tough, even if he had never been as brawny as Riku.
He shuffled towards his goal, each step taking enormous effort, but with this friend goading him on, Sora couldn't just give up. As he came within arm's length of Riku, the silver-haired boy held out his hand for Sora to grab onto. With great effort, Sora lifted his bad arm, the one on the side the wall wasn't supporting, and reached out for Riku. Sora's hand passed through Riku, and his friend wavered before he disappeared, little more than a passing mirage.
Sora shook his head in an attempt to clear it. Riku was gone now, and Sora guessed that his friend had never stood in these streets. He stopped where Riku had been and looked forward. A stone door, not like the one he had seen in his dream or on his island, but an ordinary one, stood at the end of the street. That far he had to go. It was only a few yards away.
The slight breeze from a person briskly passing by him caught Sora's attention, as did a flash of auburn hair and a familiar laugh. Kairi walked by, her hands clasped behind her back as she turned to Sora. "Come on, Sora. You promised me that we'd see other worlds together. You can't fall behind now."
Even after the illusionary Riku, Sora never thought to question the reality of this Kairi. She smiled like the real one, and she leaned next to the door he needed to walk through the way Kairi leaned against a wall whenever she watched Sora and Riku duel. If his body would just listen to his mind, he would have run to her.
"Kairi!" Sora lifted his hand to wave at her. "I'm so glad you're safe. Could you...um... give me a hand?"
When her deep blue eyes focused on him, she was no longer smiling. "Sora, come here. Please."
Sora's feet carried him of their own accord to Kairi, his mind no longer clear enough to give the orders. The walk seemed to take hours despite the short distance, and even acting on their own, his legs barely seemed to move.
"Sora, please, I can't wait much longer." Her voice seemed to have lost the spirit it usually had and was now as dull and cool as it had been the night the door had opened.
"I'm coming. I can't go any faster." He really couldn't go faster, not with those lead legs and arms of his.
Kairi nodded regretfully, and a couple tears glittered in the corners of her eyes. Without speaking again, but waving slightly to Sora, she turned her back to him and headed through the door.
"Kairi!" Sora called, and he could feel his speech slurring, "Wait..." Just a few more steps and he would reach the door. Always it was just a few more steps. One, two, three, he felt his heavy feet pound the cobblestones before he nearly fell forward. The wall caught him, though, and the thought that he had reached the end of his hard journey passed through his hazy mind. He scooted sideways until he found a part of the wall that was set back from the rest.
This was a door, Sora reminded himself, and Kairi had just passed beyond it. Testing it with his little remaining strength, he found the door gave too easily beneath his weight, and he stumbled rather than walked through it.
Kairi waited on the other side, though she barely acknowledged Sora as she walked into a nearby house. He followed her in the frustrating, heavy-limbed way he now walked. In his blurred vision, he saw nothing but his goal: the entrance of the small house. He bolted for it at a turtle's pace, and reaching the door, he leaned against it again, hoping that his weight would be enough to push it in. His fingers were too numb to actually turn a knob, if that was what was required. Sora wasn't really sure if he still had fingers anymore for all that he could feel or move them.
While the door didn't give way under his weight, someone must have heard him and opened the it because there was suddenly nothing supporting his weight, and he tripped. The sight of a floor rushing up to greet him was the last thing he noticed before the blur that was his vision finally faded to black.
***
Whoa! This was not what I had planned. This was supposed to be random, boring filler. Well, okay, it's still random, boring filler, but it's completely different from the random, boring filler I had planned. Headache inducing filler, I might add. I apologize for any lack of quality, I'll try to do better next time, I promise.
Special thanks to Koorino Megumi for editing this, and kicking me into shape when it came to Sora's characterization.
Also thanks to Naela, who agreed to look at the rough-draft, even though I cleaned it up without her input. Sorry to have bugged you when you were busy. And yes, I was laughing at your last review.
VixettaremIx: (I think I spelled that right). Thanks. I was going for Disney Character with more emphasis on 'character' and less on 'Disney.'
Thanks for all those that responded. ^_^ See you next time. Eventually.