Kingdom Hearts: Warriors of Light
Dark Encounters-Chapter 13
"It feels like we've been walking around in circles," Kita complained. She was hot and tired and still feeling unwell from the crash.
"I'll admit, it would help if we had a map of this place. It all looks the same to me," Riku said looking around. He was hot and tired too. Kita plopped down on the ground to lean on a tree and rest until her head stopped spinning.
"You alright?" Riku asked.
"Does it look like it?" Kita asked thinking it was a rather stupid question.
"Irritable aren't you?" Riku pointed out. "Is something wrong?"
"Umm, I have a huge headache, we're lost, it's freaking hot out here and I'm stuck listening to you," Kita stated feeling annoyed.
"You complain too much, Kita." Riku sighed.
Kita felt her blood boil. She growled and stood up. She started to run like a raging bull and tackled defenseless Riku knocking him to the ground. She grasped his collar tightly and stared at him. Riku looked up in shock and gulped.
"Look, you egotistical worm! We we've been stuck in this wretched jungle for hours. There's only trees… bugs… more trees and more bugs!"
"Cool it girl!" Riku said pushing Kita off of him with little effort. "You didn't do any mental damage hitting that tree did you?" Kita slapped Riku across the face. It was an entirely different gesture than anytime she had hit him with her key blade. The look on her face was enough to say she was dead serious. Riku just started into her eyes without the guts to say anything else. He had hit a nerve. All he could think to himself was how could someone possibly be this angry all the time?
"What's wrong with you?" Riku asked daringly. Kita's face was beat red. Just her expression looked like she was holding back an explosion. But for some reason, instead of letting it out, she got up and walked a few tree's distance away. She bent down on the ground cowering in a crouched position.
At first she was just silent, then she said so quietly to herself, "This is all your fault."
"What?" Riku asked, hearing her say something.
"Nothing," Kita said sounding frustrated. She kept bend down in her huddled position.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Riku asked, not sure what to do.
"No," Kita said stoutly. For a while, neither Kita nor Riku said a word. But the silence was broken by the sound of twigs breaking somewhere in front of Kita causing her to look up. For a moment, she was frozen with fear. Right in front of her stood a huge gorilla. She gasped and ran back towards Riku and leapt right onto him, climbing him like a tree.
"Hey, what's the big idea?" Riku said as Kita's body was now covering his face so he couldn't see.
"G-g-gorilla!" Kita said clinging to Riku.
Riku had to pry Kita off his head, but she seemed so keen to hang on for her dear life. As he was finally able to peer around her and see the gorilla, he saw that it was just standing there looking at them rather harmlessly. "Aww, you mean to tell me you'll run up to any heartless, but you run from harmless gorillas?"
"I-I've never actually seen one before. It's so big!" Kita said shaking in fear.
"Kala?" a woman's voice said. "Kala? Where did you go?" The gorilla turned its head in the direction the voice was coming from and made a grunting noise. "Kala, is that you?" the woman said getting closer and closer. Soon the woman was in sight and Kita and Riku watched her coming through the trees.
"Kala, there you are," the woman said. "Oh, who are you?" she asked spotting Kita and Riku.
"I'm Riku and this is Kita," Riku introduced them both. "She was scared by the gorilla," he said explaining why Kita was hanging on him.
The woman laughed. "This gorilla? She's harmless."
"See you big baby, there's nothing to be scared of," Riku said putting Kita back down on the ground. Kita stuck her tongue out at him just to show her appreciation for his smart remark.
"I'm Jane, by the way," the woman introduced herself. "Can't say that I've ever seen you around here before."
"We came from another world," Kita explained. "There were a few more, but we go separated after we crashed here. We really came to seal the key hole to this world and prevent the heartless from getting in."
"Thank goodness," Jane said with relief. "They've been destroying everything. I live in a camp not far from here, and they're always trashing it. Clayton said he was working on getting rid of them, but he's not doing a very good job."
"Clayton?" Riku asked.
"We hired him to protect our camp when my father and I came here to study the gorilla's, but we found out he had hunting gorillas in mind instead," Jane explained. "But when the heartless started showing up, he agreed not to hunt gorilla's anymore, and just focused on getting rid of heartless instead." In the distance there was a strange yell. It was definitely a man, and sounded something like a battle cry. "Ah, Tarzan's here." A muscular man wearing nothing but a piece of cloth swung down out of the trees and landed next to Jane. "Tarzan, this is Kita and Riku. They've come to get rid of the heartless."
"Good. Friends," Tarzan said coming up to Kita and checking her out. Kita just stood there looking a little shocked and weirded out.
"Tarzan doesn't speak much English," Jane explained. "He was raised by the gorillas, so I'm always trying to figure him out."
Tarzan crawled back over to Jane and the gorilla. "Heartless, jungle." Tarzan said.
"What's this now?" Jane said looking at Tarzan as he nervously bounced around.
"Heartless, jungle. Clayton. A girl. Trouble," Tarzan managed to say.
"A girl?" Riku said. "Kita, you don't think it's Ni-Ne do you?"
"Heartless, trouble? I hope not," Kita said trying to figure out what Tarzan was saying. "But I think he knows Clayton is there."
"Clayton is suppose to go after the heartless," Jane said. "Maybe a heartless got one of your friends. Tarzan, lead the way!" Tarzan, Jane, Riku, Kita and the gorilla took off deeper into the jungle.
Ti-Day had charged into the cave in search of Ni-Ne. It was quite dim, but still with an open top, and now a hole in the wall, it was still easy enough to see around the cave. After the dust had settled, Ti-Day finally spotted Ni-Ne being strung up on the wall by vines. He ran towards her and started pulling at the vines to free her.
"Hurry Ti-Day," Ni-Ne said sounding scared. Suddenly there was a loud gunshot. The bullet hit the cave wall right next to Ti-Day and shattered the stone. He was frozen.
"I missed," said Clayton's voice as he walked out into the center of the cave.
"I wouldn't try that again if I were you," Ti-Day said. "THUNDER!" Ti-Day shouted with his staff pointed at Clayton. A bolt of lightning struck Clayton from the sky above the cave causing him to fall in pain. "FREEZE!" Ti-Day shouted causing Clayton to become immobile. Standing over Clayton Ti-Day held the sharp end of his staff high, ready to strike down. "Let her go or die."
Clayton laughed on the floor, which seemed odd since he was clearly in trouble. Or was he? The Stealth Sneak that had become invisible before Ti-Day's arrival, now revealed itself. It stood over him blocking the light from a top the cave. With one swift blow it knocked Ti-Day's staff right out of his hands. The only thing Ti-Day could think to do was run and get it back because it was his greatest source of strength, but the Sneak had other plans. It grabbed Ti-Day in its claws and squeezed him.
"Now see here boy, your little magic tricks won't work on me," Clayton said standing up from the ground. "I have special powers to back me up. You on the other hand have no hope left." Without warning the Sneak threw Ti-Day up against the wall. Ni-Ne screamed. Ti-Day's legs had broken and too far away from his magic staff he couldn't heal himself. He lay on the ground in pain dreading what would come next. Clayton approached with his gun in hand. He slowly raised it, aiming carefully for Ti-Day's heart.
Ti-Day stared up in fear seeing his life flash before his eyes.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" a strange voice said from behind Clayton. Clayton stepped aside and turned around to see who was there. It was Ni-Ne. She had managed to free herself from the wall and was now staring Clayton down with a look of pure evil on her face. Her eyes were glowing a brilliant golden yellow making her look possessed. And strangest of all was that when she spoke, her voice sounded so much older than usual. Ti-Day too was staring at her feeling confused.
"How did you get out?" Clayton asked, keeping his gun close.
"Let him go," Ni-Ne said. Her eyes were like lasers pointing at Clayton aiming for a target.
"There's no way either of you are escaping me!" Clayton said shooting his gun at Ni-Ne. However this possessed Ni-Ne was fast. She managed to draw her key blade and block the bullet causing it to fly off in some other direction. Clayton's jaw dropped in shock. The evil look on Ni-Ne's face only grew meaner as her grip tightened on her key blade.
"You'll pay for that!" Ni-Ne said moving at lightning speed towards Clayton who was ready to run away. However he had no choice but to fight back because this strange Ni-Ne was ready to fight to the death.
"Stealth Sneak, stop her!" Clayton shouted. But the heartless did not come. There was something about Ni-Ne that seemed heartless herself that could perhaps explain why the heartless no longer obeyed Clayton. Ni-Ne had her key blade pressing down on Clayton's neck, strangling him. Ti-Day watched on, glad to have been rescued, but still a little worried about this blood thirsty Ni-Ne. Clayton raised his arm up slowly to attempt to strangle Ni-Ne, but she saw his hand before he had a chance to act. Ni-Ne lifted her key blade up and then swung it down with all her might. The key blade went right into Clayton's chest.
"AHHH!" Clayton screamed in pain. Ti-Day cringed at the sight. A glowing pink heart floated out of Clayton's chest and rose into the air momentarily before disappearing. Ni-Ne slowly lifted her key blade out of Clayton's chest. Clayton's limbs all went limp, as he seemed to pass out lifelessly as though loosing his very soul. Ni-Ne herself seemed to look less tense than before, even a little sluggish. She started to sway and finally collapsed on the ground.
"Ni-Ne?" Ti-Day said, trying to drag himself over to her. "Are you ok?" he asked managing to poke her. She just laid there limp and motionless.
"Ti-Day! Ni-Ne!" Kita's voice sounded from the entrance of the cave. Kita, Riku, Tarzan and Jane had entered the cave one right after another. "Ti-Day, what happened?"
"Ni-Ne, she killed him…" Ti-Day said pointing at Clayton. "She was all… strange."
"He's not dead," Riku said examining Clayton. "He's lost his soul. His heart."
"Are you all right?" Jane asked as she examined Ti-Day. "I think your legs are broken."
"Yeah it was -," Ti-Day started to explain, but soon the problem revealed itself. The Stealth Sneak had stepped away from the cave wall revealing its presence once more. "That," Ti-Day finished his statement.
"Oh crap," Kita said looking up at the huge heartless. She started to back away slowly. Tarzan grabbed Ni-Ne and slung her over his shoulder. The Sneak was eyeing Kita down in front. It lashed at her without warning. Kita swung her key blade at it hoping to at least deflect the face, but it knocked her to the ground and managed to cut her arm with it's horn.
Riku jumped in the way and took his sword-like weapon and slit one of its eyes. It screeched so loud the whole cave shook. "Buzz off!" he yelled to it. Kita was rolling in pain on the ground. She grasped her bloody arm. "Come on babe, you're in the way," Riku said casually dragging Kita off to the side. He ignored the look of shock and disgusted on her face from his remark.
"STOP!" a voice said from the cave entrance. It was Sora, Goofy and Donald. Donald's magic had caused the Sneak to freeze in time.
"Need a hand?" Goofy said looking proud and ready to go.
"Bout time," Riku said with a smirk on his face. Sora ran up to his side.
"Let's do this," Sora said. He leapt forward and started repeatedly hitting the Sneak with the Key Blade. Riku followed his lead. When the Sneak unfroze, Donald and Goofy where there, ready to help. Donald cast highly damaging spells to weaken the beast. Kita sat and watched, holding the blood back from gushing out of her arm. Jane was trying to cover the wound for her, playing nurse for everyone who was injured.
"We've almost got him!" Riku said, still pounding the heartless.
"Take that!" Sora said doing a finishing combo that caused the heartless to fall flat on it's back. With one last hit, a pink heart floated out of the heartless, the same thing that had happened to Clayton. Slowly the heartless disintegrated into thin air.
"Good one Sora," Riku said giving Sora a noogie on the head.
"Thanks Riku," Sora said. "We make a great team. I just wish Kairi could be here with us." There was an awkward silence at the mentioning of Kairi's name. Sora really missed her and was forever worried about where she could be.
"Hey, don't worry. I'm sure she's out there having some adventure saying the same thing about you," Riku said smiling. Sora smiled seeming to feel a little better.
Ti-Day was sitting close to Ni-Ne's unconscious body. "Is she going to be all right?"
"As far as I can tell, she's just knocked out," Jane said in response. "She should be alright. Must have been under some great stress."
"Yeah," Ti-Day said thinking to himself. What had made Ni-Ne act the way she was? It was like she was someone else entirely. Not only that, but someone dark. Tarzan carried Ni-Ne while Goofy and Riku held Ti-Day up enough to walk as the group headed out of the cave and back to the camp where Jane lived.
"All right Tarzan, you can put the injured in here," Jane said pointing to a room in the tent that was closed off from the main part. Inside there were three beds. One for Ti-Day, one for Kita, and one for Ni-Ne. Tarzan carefully placed Ni-Ne into one of the beds. Jane helped Ti-Day and Kita into the other two. Jane placed a moist towel on Ni-Ne's head before she and Tarzan left the room.
Ti-Day and Kita looked at each other. "So… what happened?" Kita asked seriously. She had not been present when Ni-Ne had supposedly killed Clayton.
"Well, it's hard to say," Ti-Day explained. "The Sneak grabbed me and threw me against the wall. That was when my legs broke. Clayton was getting ready to kill me and Ni-Ne somehow freed herself from the vines. But she looked strange. Her eyes were glowing yellow and her voice wasn't her own. I don't know what was happening to her." Kita looked at Ti-Day as he spoke. She tried to imagine the scene in here mind.
"Jack said when he found Ni-Ne, she looked strange," Kita mentioned thinking it through. Maybe she was possessed then, or whatever it is that happens to her. She is part heartless. Something must have triggered the rage inside her heart and caused her to change like that. It's all very mysterious."
"I just hope she'll be ok," Ti-Day said looking admiringly to Ni-Ne's limp body.
"Maybe we should drink this potion stuff Donald made for us so we'll heal faster," Kita said looking at the bottle next to her bed. Kita took the bottle in her hands as Ti-Day did the same. "Cheers," she said taking a huge swig. The two downed their potion and decided it was best to take a nap and slowly let their injury pains drift away. "Rest well Ti-Day," Kita said rolling over and pulling the covers over her head.
"You too," Ti-Day said.
"Hey Ti-Day?" Kita asked.
"Yeah?" Ti-Day replied.
"Does this mean you'll finally give up asking her out?" Kita questioned.
"Not a chance," Ti-Day said cheerfully.