I, Alleh, do not claim to own Kingdom Hearts. I wrote this fan fiction to get it out of my head. Enjoy!

A blast from the past! I orginally started this fan-fic well over two years ago. It really sucked. :D About a month ago, I decided that I should start writing fan-fics again. That brought about the decision to look at my old fan-fic and decide if I either wanted to trash it or revamp the old thing. While I probably will never get around to fully completing the story, (and if I do, it'll be a miracle) I now present the story in an updated version much better than the sorry story of two years ago.

-------------------------------------------------------

The darkness was alarming. Peering around, he saw a thick dark fog surrounding him. The darkness of the fog called to him, seemed to wave its tendrils to invite him to join whatever lied in the depths of its deception. But he knew better. Quickly, he spun around and bolted in the other direction. His reaction was not quick enough, was never fast enough. Tendrils of the utter black caught his leg; squeezed them until he cried out in pain. The darkness absorbed his agony and there was no sound as he howled. Tears streamed down his face in deep rivulets. Ebony veins continued to travel up and around his body, sucking the life out of him as slowly as possible. Soon they stopped upon their objective and he watched in horror as the darkness lingered on the spot where his heart laid.

"Stop, my heart is my own! No! No!" He tried to say, but his throat had closed long ago. As the veins leapt into his skin, the young man went limp with a last unheard scream as he let the darkness take him to sweet slumber.

Before he slipped from consciousness, the voice spoke to him as it always did. Smooth as silk and cunning enough to make all his mental defenses fall. He felt the voice probe his mind and reveal his deepest secrets.

"You are not destined for what you seek."

-------------------------------------------------------

"Ah!" A gasp escaped Riku's tense body which was heavily beaded with sweat. Pulling the straight locks of silver hair away from his flushed face, he glanced around the gully and let out a sigh of relief. Sora and Kairi were no where to be seen. This time he had been lucky they hadn't found him. But how much longer could his luck hold out? Riku closed his eyes to reflect as the gentle sea breeze and the slapping sound of the waves washed over him.

"Damn," he whispered in desperation. "Not again! When will they stop?" The dreams had been reoccurring as long as Riku could remember. It was always the same: the attack of the strange darkness, the message from the strange voice. You are not destined for what you seek. What could that mean? And the voice was…so vaguely familiar…

"I'm being stupid," he told himself. "Dreams aren't messages, prophecies. It's a load of shit. Nobody knows, so what does it matter? I'll just ignore it, like always."

But he never could, not for long.

"It matters much more than you could fathom," An unknown voice called out to Riku. Twirling around to face his addressor, Riku stared straight into the shadows of a man only inches behind him. His rough form was clothed in a full-length tan cloak. Over his head the stranger wore a hood obscuring any facial features, if there were to be had. The man seemed to slip and blur at the edges as if he were crossing different periods of time, and Riku couldn't be sure if he was truly there. The more Riku focused on him, the more lost he became in that strange darkness of his mind, just like in the dream The voice of the man seemed similar to that of the voice in his dream…was there a connection? Riku shook his head to clear his mind of any stray thoughts after realizing he strayed too long in a response.

"Who are you?" shouted Riku. He wasn't going to take taunting from a man he didn't even know. The thought came to him that maybe the visitor had seen his trauma during his dream and a tinge of red spread across his face.

"You are very kind," the stranger jested and laughed a crooked, malicious laugh. "My name matters none, and you will soon enough know why. I've only been amused by your antics during your dream. Do you know what it is that you seek?" Even though he couldn't see the features, Riku knew the man was sneering through his veil.

"Shut up!" Riku lashed out at the man with a fist, but quick as lightning, the man jumped to his left and seemed to disappear on the wind within the next second. Riku gasped and glanced around to see where the man was. Laughter reached his ears.

"Your day will come, boy. And when it does, how useful you will prove to be..."

Riku stood mesmorized momentarily. He scoffed a curse at the enigma and pushed the new ideas arising in his mind to the side. He glanced up at his raft which was now almost complete.

They had started the raft the week after Kairi had moved to Destiny Islands, planning to sail off into unchartered worlds, new adventures, and a new life. It seemed that new plans always came when Kairi did. Now, two years later, the raft was nearly ready. The waves gently rocked it back and forth on its stronghold in the sand. The planks were secure. The mast was up, but not the sail. They would put that up today.

'To new worlds." The young boy grinned a childish smile. Looking the raft over one time, he imagined Kairi graciously thanking him for all his help as two sailed off, leaving Sora behind. Later, Riku would pull out a paopu fruit and…..

He swore. Provisions! Where was Kairi when you needed her? Riku figured she was probably at the beach, talking with Selphie or Tidus. He began to amble along the shoreline towards the front beach of the island, picking up shells to give to Kairi on the way. He laughed innocently to himself. She was in the palm of his hand; finally his and not Sora's. He saw the two of them before they saw him. Sora must have been sleeping; he was lazing down in the sand and Kairi was standing over him quizzically. Riku watched as Sora woke with a start, his brown and spiky hair bouncing to a rhythm of its own. Kairi strode out towards the water while Sora gazed after her like some sort of lovesick puppie. They started to laugh. Clenching his fists as well as his heart, Riku absent-mindedly picked up a log next to him and strode off toward the pair.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Kairi giggled and turned around to look at Sora. Her bright blue eyes held a secret that neither of the boys could ever comprehend. It just made Kairi all the more irresistible. Kairi quickly felt Riku's presence and looked up slowly with her face expressionless. She swiped a stray strand of auburn hair out of her eyes to confirm what she saw. Sora, as always, was clueless.

"Hey! I guess I'm the only one working on the raft!" Riku yelled to them from behind. Sora jumped up in shock, just in time for Riku to stride forward and throw him the log.

"Woah!" He scoffed and barely grabbed a hold of the log. His blue eyes sent a momentary glare in Riku's direction. What's his problem?

"And you're just as lazy as he is." Riku pointed a finger at Sora, whose glare had turned into a childish frown. He sat down beside Sora and relaxed.

Kairi giggled. "So you noticed!" She spread her arms wide and jumped in the air. "Alright, we'll finish it together! I'll race you!"

"What? Are you kidding? No way!" The boys exclaimed and neither moved a muscle. But when Kairi shouted, "Ready? GO!", each boy jumped up and started the race. This was one of their daily rituals.

With a slight lead, feet slipping comfortably in the sand, Riku glanced behind him. Kairi was slowly keeping up to the boys, grinning and laughing. Her smile was infectious and he couldn't help but return it. "Where are we racing to?" He called out, although he already knew the answer.

"The paopu tree, of course!"

The time was right for one of Riku's usual confusions. He was directly under the bridge leading to the paopu island and he jumped, reaching for the planks of the bridge. Grabbing a hold, he pulled himself up and looked down. Kairi was holding back a surge of giggles and he extended a hand to pull her up along side him.

Sora, however, only kept running. He grinned wildly to himself. He was in the lead! The wind whipped through his hair and that was the only sound he heard. Which was strange…why didn't he hear Riku's footsteps? Just keep running, he told himself. When he opened the door to the upper level of the bridge, Sora was shocked to see Riku and Kairi looking on in laughter from their comfortable spot on the paopu tree.

"W-wha-what? That's not fair!'" Sora spat furiously. He clenched his fists and advanced towards them.

"Oh, Sora, stop whining. If you can't win, just learn to do it and do it faster! Or stop getting tricked so easily!" Kairi had thrown on her annoyed tone, which made Sora stop. His mood changed from furious to concerned in an instant.

"But-- I'm not--!" Sora stared at Riku who only stared back with a strange look in his eyes. The two turned away from Sora and began a discussion. Sora couldn't help it; he released a smile. They were his best friends, after all. When he reached the paopu tree and took a seat on its bent trunk, Riku was finished having a discussion with Kairi about the raft. As she turned around to face him, he grinned. "What's up?"

"We need you to go gather our provision for the raft."

"But why only me? Doesn't Riku need to help, too?" Sora protested.

Kairi sighed and gazed at him thoroughly. "You were sleeping when you were supposed to be helping. He wasn't." She continued to reprimand Sora and their conversation turned into giggles as Sora made a childish excuse. Riku tuned them out.

Well, I wasn't truly asleep. Riku thought. It's not my fault I fall into that dream, that darkness. It pulls me in…Heopened up his mind and began to think about that dream again. Did it really mean something? And if so, what? Was it going to change his life? Strangely, a memory of a man in a tan cloak with his face hidden behind a hood flashed in his mind. What did he say...? Try as he might, Riku had forgotten the entire incident. When he came to, the scene had changed. Kairi was standing in front of him with her hands clasped behind her back; her usual stance. Sora was leaving down the bridge behind her.

"I better go check on the raft…Ya know." She smiled sheepishly. She seemed a little awkward, Riku thought, but he didn't ask about it. "We're leaving the day after tomorrow, right?"

"Right." He grinned supportively and waved goodbye as she turned to leave. Maybe she was just worried about their trip. That must be it. Riku turned to his left and examined a paopu fruit hanging from a branch. I'll share one with Kairi some day, he mused. But…will Sora do it first? Shocked filled his mind at the thought of his feelings towards his best friend. He realized it was only natural. He loved Sora as a friend, but there was no way he would lose in the battle for Kairi's heart. He had never lost anything to him before. He wasn't going to start now.