Flee From Our Troubles

The Declining Times

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts ... but that's what I asked for or Christmas ... ((looks at calendar)) nope, still don't own it.

Author's Notes:
Sorry, I know this is kinda late, but my computer kind of ... died on me. I'm getting it fixed by my neighbor, he does this for a living ... sort of. Well, anyways, here's the next chapter. I hope you like it.

Brightness. Pure brightness. That's all I remember thinking as the sun shone through the trees, warming my face and pulling me away from my pleasant dreams with a bright light. With a loud groan of frustration, I sat up and rubbed the sleep from my eyes as I slowly looked around. Riku was lying next to me, looking up at the clouds as they gradually rolled past.

Without even glancing in my direction, he said, "So, decided to get up, huh?"

"Yep," I replied, giving him my goofy smile. "We got any food left?" I asked quietly as I watched in fascination at the older boy who could sit there so patiently just staring at the fluffy white masses.

"Nope. I guess you'll just have to wait until we get to the next town." I whimpered softly, not thinking that he would be able to hear, but then he smirked knowingly and said, "Don't worry. I don't think it's that far from here. But we should hurry; it's going to start raining soon."

"Really? How can you tell?" I asked curiously, bouncing closer to the older boy, my blue eyes shining like a curious puppy's.

"The clouds. Look yonder," he said, raising a creamy white skinned hand and pointing at the sky. "See them? See how they're kind of dark and gray? That means that a storm is coming," he finished, as he replaced his arm behind his head.

"Wow! That's really cool!" I exclaimed, and without thinking I pounced on the older boy.

"Waaah!" he yelled in shock, as I clipped onto his waist. "Get off me!" he ordered me while he pushed me off. He sat up, fixing his clothes, and glared at me.

"Sorry. I wasn't thinking," I said in reply to his glare, while rubbing the back of my head guiltily and smiling a sheepish grin.

"It's okay … just surprised me, that's all," he said, leaning his back against a nearby tree. "Geez, it's been nearly … what, six or seven years since anyone's done that to me? God, time goes so fast out here," he said, scratching his head as he thought.

"That's never happened to me," I said naïvely, as I packed my things into my bag.

"Hey, freak," Riku called, and I turned around.

"It's not nice to call people freaks, Riku," I stated simply with my hands on my hips as I stood on my knees.

"Well I would call anyone who has leaves in his their hair a freak," he replied nonchalantly, and in response to my confused look, said, "You have leaves stuck in your hair."

"Huh? Oh," I said, running a hand through my hair, trying to get the leaves out. I kept at it for about five minutes before Riku finally said with a sigh, "Here, let me help you." I crawled over to him and sat in front of him while he stood on his knees and started running his hands through my soft hair.

His soft caresses felt wonderful as he tenderly brushed the leaves out of my hair. But as he did so, I could feel a strange sensation arise within me, right in the pit of my stomach. Some how, when he did this, it felt so indescribably … right. Like when he touched me, nothing else mattered but us. Except … I just don't understand why I feel this way … I've never felt anything like it before! But it feels … amazing.

"There, I think I got all of them," he said as he parted my hair, checking for any stray leaves. Satisfied with his work, he sat back down and leaned against the tree for support.

"Thanks Riku! You're really nice," I said, bouncing my way back over to my bag.

"Really? I know some people who would say quite the opposite," he said, while playing with his nails.

"Well, I say that they're wrong! You're one of the nicest people that I've ever met!" I stated while I closed my bag, finally having finished packing.

"Then you must not have met too many people, then huh?" he retorted as he stood up. He reached out his hand to me to help me up, and I took it gratefully. He pulled me to my feet and we started walking through the countryside, heading to the next town.

As we walked along, I could feel my stomach starting to growl the longer we walked on. But I refused to complain; I didn't want to annoy Riku by whining too much. He didn't seem like the kind of person that liked that kind of thing. Which didn't surprise me; I don't think a lot of people do.

I watched him as he moved on, his steps confident as he walked along the pathway to the next city. Yet again, he had that far off look in his eyes, the sign that he was thinking. And for the millionth time, I wondered what he was thinking about? Maybe someone special to him? Or perhaps somewhere he wants to go? He told me he didn't have a very good relationship with his father … maybe he's thinking about that?

"Hey Riku! How much farther?" I asked, making the older boy loose the glazed far away look in his eyes.

"Not too long. It's just beyond that hill."

"Okay!" I replied, excited about getting some food. After a moment, though, an idea struck me. "Hey, Riku," I said, a certain slyness like a fox creeping into my voice.

"What?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.

"I'll race you!" I yelled, and I took off running down the pathway, sprinting up the hill and downwards. I looked behind me, and there was Riku, almost caught up to me. Kami-sama! He could run awfully fast!

When we arrived at the city, I was really tired. Riku had managed to beat me, but it didn't come as a surprise. He was a lot stronger than me. Panting, we rested on a nearby bench until we could catch our breaths. After about five minutes, we stood up and started walking through the city, Riku leading the way.

"Wow, Riku! You can run really fast!" I commented as we went along, searching for a place to eat.

"No, you're just slow," he replied while he led me into a small diner. It was grungy and dirty inside, and the seats were limited, but the smell of the food was so enticing that I couldn't resist. "Smells good, doesn't it?" he asked me as he went to a booth and sat down. When I didn't follow, he said, "Are you just gonna stand there?"

"But … are you sure?" I asked as I took a cautious step towards the table.

"Why not?" he asked in return as he stared at me with an expectant look on his face as he put his elbow on the gray-white table.

"Umm … right …" I mumbled as I sat down at the table. We sat in silence until the waiter, a woman with a short, brunette hair and yellow dress, came to our table to take our order.

"Hey, Riku," she exclaimed excitedly as she bounced up to the table. "Haven't seen you in awhile! How are you?"

"Fine, Selphie. We'll take two Cokes and a pizza," he replied in a bored voice.

"Alright," she responded, taking out a note pad and a pen and jotted down the order. "What kind?"

"Pepperoni," he answered.

"Okay, comin' right up!" she responded, before leaning in real close and whispering, "And you know, Kairi's looking for you, Riku." I watched as Riku tensed up at those words.

"You didn't tell her where I was, did you?" he whispered fiercely back, and she shook her head no.

"I wouldn't tell her even if I did know," she said quietly.

"Good," he said, and she bounced off to the kitchen yelling, "One pepperoni and two Cokes!"

After she had left, I asked, "Who's Kairi?"

"She's … no one," he replied, suddenly fascinated with the salt packets. I watched for a couple minutes as he fidgeted with the small red and white bags.

" … So… um… what's a pizza?" I asked, my curiosity finally getting the better of me, and he looked up in surprise.

"Wh-what?" he asked surprised, taken aback and dropping the packet. "Y-you mean you've never had a pizza?" I shook my head no. "You can't be serious!"

"Well … if I did have some, I can't remember it."

"Well, that's a first," he said while leaning back in his chair with a small chuckle.

"Here ya go!" Selphie screeched while bouncing over to our table while balancing our food and drinks precariously on a tray. She set the ice cold drinks on the table and placed the steaming round dish of food in front of us. After she placed them on the table with a satisfied look, she rounded on me.

"So who are you, ya little cutie?" she asked, leaning against the table.

"Me? I … um … my name's Sora …" I said in return with a blush, surprised at the sudden change of subject.

"So, why are you here? Are you traveling with Riku now?" she asked me as the spunky brunette sat down next to the irritated silver haired boy.

"Uh … I … umm –"

"He's nobody. I just found him and brought him along, Selphie. Nothing more, nothing less. Now would you please let us alone?" Riku interjected aggravated.

"Geeze, Riku! You don't have to be so sensitive!" Selphie scolded as she stood up. "I guess I better get back to work. Enjoy!"

I blushed at his words. Nobody? So I was nothing to him? Just some kid he found? "Thanks, Riku," I mumbled. I grabbed a piece of the pizza and took a bite. It was actually pretty good.

We made quick work of the food, and I was silent throughout the entire meal. But he didn't seem to notice. It's just as well; I didn't feel much like talking anyways.

When we finished the meal, Riku left some money on the table and walked out, and I quickly followed. He stopped right outside the doorway, and looked up.

"It's going to rain soon," he quietly said as he stared at the mass of gray clouds hanging overhead, and started walking. We made our way through the gray city, enhanced more so by the gathering storm. We managed to make it through the city gates without any trouble, and we were soon on a pathway to the next city.

I didn't say a word the entire time. I was still shaken by the comment he had made in the diner. What did he mean by "nobody"? Did that mean that he didn't really care? I stole a glance at him. In his eyes was the glazed look yet again. Doesn't he ever get tired of thinking? But I'm probably not much better. I looked back at the ground again. He just said that because he wanted to get rid of that Selphie girl. Yeah, that's it.

"Sora! Follow me! And be quiet; don't ask questions," he said suddenly, pulling me away from my thoughts. He started running towards the trees for cover, and, slightly disoriented, I followed. He ran into the woods, and grabbed my arm and pulled me towards him. He pushed us behind some bushes, and I felt the ground come in contact with my stomach rather harshly.

"Ooof," I grunted as I was slammed into the ground, and looked over at the other boy with a confused look. "What's wrong?" I hissed in a whisper, and he simply put a finger to his lips. He slowly stood up and looked around, then motioned for me to follow. I cautiously stood up, and he led me through the thicket, until I, too, could hear very faint voices. We got back on the ground, he gradually crawled towards the bushes, and the voices got louder. We finally got as close as we dared, and he pushed back a clump of leaves behind the bushes we were hiding in, so that we could have a better view.

Just in front of the bushes a little way was the gang that was after me, sitting around an amateur fire pit. They each had a bag full of food, and they relaxed, lazily eating while talking.

"Dude, today was, like, awesome," a tall blonde said, while leaning back and munching on what looked like a burrito from a convenience store.

"Yeah, but we didn't catch that damn brunette," a black haired boy said. He had the air of a leader about him, and the others seemed to look at him with respect.

'Are they talking about me?' I thought to myself as I watched the group.

"Don't worry, boss, we'll catch him. Something that scrawny can't possibly move that fast," a red head said, and I recognized him as the one who had spotted me in the first place.

"Yeah, you're right," the blonde said, still eating. I soon recognized him as the one I had kicked in order to get away.

"But who knows where he is by now!" the black haired boy thundered, making the other boys cringe.

"If you don't mind me asking, what are you planning on doing to him when we do catch him?" the blonde asked.

"Well …" the black haired boy smiled devilishly, "we'll kill him." I felt my body tense at this, and Riku must have noticed it too, because he put a comforting hand on my back, but it did little to calm my nerves.

"But … why, boss?" the red head asked.

"Simple. Because we can."

"But that boy … he looked so … tasty. You sure we can't have a piece of him first, if you know what I mean?" the red head asked. I felt my eyes widen and Riku pressed my back harder.

"Sure, take him. He did look … tight, so to say," the leader replied with a small laugh. I let out a small squeak, and Riku pulled me to him.

"Hey, did you hear something?" the blonde asked.

"No."

"You sure?"

"Yep."

"Can I go check it out anyways?"

"You're paranoid," the black haired boy sighed, "Fine, go ahead." The blonde stood up almost drunkenly and set down the foil to the burrito he had been eating moments earlier, and started to the bushes. I went even more, tense, if that was possible, and I felt Riku do the same beside me. But as soon as he stood up, there was a crash of thunder, and it started raining, very, very hard.

"Argh!" they all yelled as they gathered their loot and ran off down the road heading towards the town that we were last at. I let out a terse breath and we both sat up and watched the three boys flee towards town.

I could feel myself trembling as the rain cascaded down, quickly soaking my body as I sat there in the rain. I wrapped my arms around myself and I felt Riku pat my back. "R-Riku … what did they mean by me being 'tight' and 'tasty'?" I asked while I quivered at their words.

"Sora … they want you. They want your body. All I can say is you should be careful," he said. Standing up, he reached out a hand to me and I took it. He pulled me up, and we started walking.

"Which way are we going?"

"We're going to the next town. I know some people there. They can help us," he replied.

"Riku … thanks for being here with me."

"It's … nothing. Really."

Author's Notes:
So, yeah. That's the end of this chapter. I feel really bad for Sora, though. A little hint of the future. I have to warn you, the next chapter will be angsty. I'm already three pages into it, and almost done. So, review, and I'll get it done faster. I'm also currently working on a new story during my English free-write time. I'll tell you when I have it up!

Edit 2: The more reviews I get, the sooner I'll update, because I have the nice, new chapter all ready to be posted ...