Disclaimer: It's not mine, nor will it ever be mine.

Chapter 7 Darkness Claims

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"Carrier of The Road to Dawn."

Riku nearly jumped out of his skin in surprise as a voice spoke from behind him. He whirled, and to his surprise, there, standing beside the tree, was a figure in full armor.

It spoke again, "Hand over the Keyblade."

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"What? Who are you?" Riku demanded, climbing back up onto the islet.

The figure didn't respond, but reached out his hand. To Riku's shock, a Keyblade materialized in the armored figure's hand.

"What? How do you have a Keyblade?!"

The figure didn't speak, but held the Keyblade in what appeared to be an offensive position.

Riku blinked, holding up a hand, "Hold it, what do you want?"

"Relinquish the Keyblade."

"What? No!"

"So be it. I'll take it myself."

The figure charged. Riku leapt away from him, "Fine, we'll play your way." He reached out his own hand.

The Keyblade flickered into existence in his hand and then disappeared, but it didn't go to his heart.

"What?" Riku whispered. He held his hand out again, focusing on his heart. Again, nothing. He couldn't sense his Keyblade.

"Looking for this?" Riku's head shot to his attacker, and to his shock, the Road to Dawn appeared in the armored man's hands.

How did this guy get my Keyblade?! His heart was pounding, and distantly, he realized he was afraid. It had been a long time since he'd been truly afraid. But here he was, weaponless, defenseless.

The armored figure attacked again, and Riku once again evaded, landing a good forty feet from his attacker.

"I will allow you to live. We will return for the others."

He doesn't mean Sora? The figure turned away from him, still holding the Road to Dawn. But Riku wasn't letting anyone walk away with his Keyblade, not after everything that had happened.

A sudden memory, from long ago sprang to the front of his mind. A Keyblade was in his hand, and Sora was in front of him, yelling at him. Within his own heart was anger and jealousy, and he raised the Keyblade at Sora. Sora reached out his hand, and the weapon disappeared from Riku's hand and reappeared in Sora's.

And Riku knew what he had to do. He could only pray that his heart was stronger than that time, and that he truly believed in himself. His hand reached out, and he reached out with his whole heart. His heart pounded as the thief began to walk away. He thought of his friends, those closest to him. And something in him clicked. A flash of light and the Road to Dawn appeared in his outstretched hand. His attacker skidded to a stop and jumped away from Riku, staring at his empty hand in surprise.

A cocky grin slowly crossed Riku's face. Armed and empowered with this feeling in his heart, he was ready to fight once again, "What's the problem? Lose something?" he smirked, raising his Keyblade up to the side of his face, aiming it at his opponent, left arm pointing loosely in the same direction. The armored man turned to face him again. Something like a growl was emitted from his opponent, and Riku couldn't help but grin wider.

They charged towards each other.

The sun was high in the sky, and Riku blinked sweat and blood from his eyes. Nothing he did affected this guy, that armor was certainly doing its job. Unfortunately, Riku wore no such armor, and his left arm had been nicked and he'd taken a hit to the head. Distantly, Riku found himself wishing that Sora would sense something and show up. He was tired. He shook his head and hardened his resolve. He wasn't going down like this, not after everything he'd gone through to return home.

He leapt high into the air, coming down at his opponent, who parried. Riku blocked and spun away, swinging down in a slashing motion. He connected, but again, the armor prevented him from doing any damage. His opponent raised his Keyblade and brought it down in a move to crack Riku's skull, but Riku brought his own blade up, catching it. They strained against each other, looking for weakness. Riku suddenly found himself stumbling forward as his opponent suddenly pulled back, and the Road to Dawn flew from his hand with another strike, sliding into the sand several feet away.

Riku leapt back, away from his attacker. He could hear his heart pounding as he panted. Who is this guy? He once again found himself weaponless. He could feel Dawn's presence, and glanced at it out the corner of his eye. The guy in the armor moved forward, raising the other Keyblade. How did he get the Keyblades? Riku once again extended his hand towards his Keyblade as the attacker charged him. Dawn appeared in his hand in a flash of light. The other Keyblade once again slammed into Dawn, sending a shockwave down Riku's arm. Riku winced, summoning his agility and speed and slipped further away from his attacker, jumping to the paopu tree.

"Who are you?" he demanded, Keyblade raised beside his cheek.

Silence.

Riku's eyes narrowed, "Who are you?!"

"A Chaser."

"A what?" murmured Riku, realizing he wouldn't receive an answer. He had decided that this 'Chaser', who wielded his own Keyblade, was part of the disturbance the King had written about in that letter.

The Chaser crouched, signaling that he was about to attack again. Riku's own muscles coiled as he too prepared to spring. Just as he was about to launch his tired body forward again-

"RIKU!! Where are you?"

Sora. Riku couldn't help but feel relieved. But he didn't answer his friend, or take his eyes off of his attacker. The Chaser also did not move. Riku spotted movement out of the corner of his eye, and Sora leapt onto the bridge that lead to the islet. He hadn't noticed the Chaser. But he did notice that Riku had his Keyblade drawn and that his friend was bleeding.

"Riku? What?"

"Sora, don't move," was all he said. Sora noticed the armored figure standing a few feet away. And he also noticed the weapon the other person carried.

"What? A Keyblade? Riku, what?"

Riku didn't get the chance to answer as the Chaser turned his attention to the younger teenager.

"Carrier of the Kingdom Key."

Sora turned and blinked, "Eh?"

The Chaser shot at Sora almost too fast to see. Sora reacted instantly, reaching out his hand for his own Keyblade. It flickered and disappeared, reappearing in the hands of the Chaser. Riku saw and he reacted.

Sora braced himself for impact, having no time to move. A clang rang out, and Sora opened his eyes to see Riku straining in front of him.

"Riku!"

"Get back, Sora," grunted Riku, "This guy was using my Keyblade when he first attacked me."

Sora's eyes widened and he leapt off of the island, placing a good distance between himself and the fight. Footsteps behind him made him whirl quickly, but he relaxed as he recognized Kairi running towards him. Neither of them spoke, but turned to watch their friend struggle against his opponent.

The Chaser was bored, and toying with him, Riku knew. He could feel both Sora and Kairi behind him, and he wished they'd run. Something about them being there made him worried, even though they'd been in dangerous situations before. Not unarmed. He shook the thought away and refocused on his fight. Their Keyblades were still locked together when the Chaser dismissed his original blade, freeing one hand. He raised it away from them, and Riku didn't understand what he was doing. He did two seconds later when he heard his two friends shout in surprise. The Chaser had cast Magnet on them, effectively trapping them where they stood. Riku's breath caught in his throat as the Chaser raised his hand again, flame dancing around his arm. No! Without thinking, Riku broke away, moving to intercept the spell. Moments later, he realized that it had been a trap.

He barely registered the pain, but turned his surprised eyes down to his stomach, where his opponent had buried Sora's keyblade. He could vaguely hear his friends screaming. Then the Chaser twisted and yanked the weapon from his side, and all Riku knew was pain, and the ground came rushing to meet him.

Sora and Kairi were freed from the spell's hold, and raced forward, completely disregarding the threat, "Riku!"

Sora's Keyblade was suddenly held in front of them, cutting them off from their friend. Riku, from his position on the ground, was aware enough to realize that his friends were in danger. He lifted his Keyblade, making eye contact with Sora, and threw it with all the strength he had left.

Sora caught it easily, and leapt forward, fire dancing in his eyes. As he and the Chaser battled, Kairi ran to Riku's side. She dropped to her knees beside him, tears welling in her eyes, "Riku," she whispered.

Riku tilted his head towards her, trying not to let the pain he was feeling be translated onto his face, "It's ok, Kairi."

She shook her head, "No, we just got you back, you can't go."

Riku didn't answer as she ripped off the jacket she was wearing and pressed it against his bleeding abdomen. She turned her eyes to the other boy currently fighting the Chaser, fear evident in them.

Riku noticed the darkness edging around his vision, and felt Kairi take his hand, squeezing desperately. He turned his dimming sight back to Sora, fear for his friend in his own heart.

Sora seemed to be holding his own, using his own magic to counter the Chaser's, and using his own unique style of improvised fighting to counter the Chaser's more rigid and practiced style. It happened too fast for him to see, or perhaps he blacked out for a moment, because suddenly, Sora was on the ground with a shout of pain, Dawn flying from his hands. The Chaser raised his weapon, and Kairi flew forward, crying out in horror.

"Kairi-" gasped Riku weakly. Time seemed to slow down. Kairi ran, the weapon bore down on Sora. No… no, it can't end like this. Not Sora, not Kairi. Please, anyone but them. No, I won't let it end this way. He dove deep within himself, finding a part of him that had been locked away for a long, long time. He thought it had been taken away, but he knew that it was still there, waiting to be unlocked.

His darkness.

'You don't belong to the darkness anymore, Riku.'

You were right, Your Majesty. I don't belong to darkness. But…

My darkness belongs to me.

It happened in an instant, but it felt like so much longer. One second everything was falling apart, and the next, he was slamming his body into the Chaser's. Sora's Keyblade flew from his hands and returned to Sora. Kairi skidded to a stop. She hadn't even seen Riku move, and there he was. She ran to Sora, and the two of them moved away to regroup. Riku didn't waste a moment, knowing he didn't have much time left. And he dove into the powers he had thought were gone. He dimly heard screaming, then realized it was his own voice screaming wordlessly. His eyes glowed, and darkness circled him. A shockwave exploded from around Riku, and the darkness surrounded him. But he did not let it consume him. He harnessed it, made it his own. And he sent everything he had at his enemy.

There was a flash of light, and then complete swirling darkness, mingling together in a whirlwind around Riku and the Chaser. The two disappeared in the darkness from Sora and Kairi's sight. Then it burst outward, and then imploded on itself with the sound of an explosion, and the spectacular show of light and darkness disappeared. It took several moments for their eyes to readjust, but when they did, there was only one figure lying crumpled on the ground.

"Riku!"

"Riku!"

Riku!"

"Riku, wake up!"

Riku sat upwards, shouting, Keyblade appearing in his hand, slashing forward, meeting another blade with a clang.

"Riku!" Sora shouted again, "Snap out of it!"

Riku panted, chest heaving, and blinked the sleep rapidly out of his eyes. There was no island, no sand, no ocean, and no Chaser in sight. Just Sora and a small clearing in the woods. His Keyblade disappeared from his shaking hands, and he collapsed to his knees, hands clutching his head.

Sora sighed in relief, dismissing his own Keyblade, kneeling beside his friend. Riku was shaking, struggling to regain control of his breathing. Sora did the only thing he could think of. He wrapped his arms around his shaking friend's form.

It took Riku a full ten minutes before he trusted himself to speak, pushing away from Sora slowly, "Sorry."

Sora shook his head, his wide eyes still concerned. He didn't say anything, but waited patiently.

Sighing, Riku sat down more comfortably, knowing that Sora was waiting for him to speak. He silently hoped that Sora would just let it go. He didn't want to talk about it.

But Sora was just as stubborn as Riku himself, and Riku sighed again, "What?"

"Tell me," Sora said. Riku said nothing. Sora grabbed his friend's arm, "Come on, Riku. Talk to me. This can't go on."

"Sora, what difference does it make? Do you really think it's going to help?"

"It might, you won't know unless you give it a chance."

Riku groaned, "Fine."

Sora blinked in surprise, "Really?"

"Yes, really," snapped Riku.

A grin slowly crossed Sora's face, "Ok, tell me."

"It was the islands. It started off with us racing, like we used to."

Sora nodded with a fond smile on his face.

Riku shook his head and sighed, "Then it turned to the night before the Chaser showed up, and then the fight, ok?"

Sora nodded again, he'd suspected as much. He continued to listen intently, but realized that Riku wasn't talking anymore. "Hey, keep going," he demanded.

"What else is there to say, Sora?"

"Please, I knew that you were dreaming about the whole Chaser thing. You need to talk about it."

"I don't want to say anything else."

Rolling his eyes, Sora poked Riku in the side, "Liar. What were you thinking? You never really told us what happened that day before we showed up."

"He just showed up and attacked me. There's nothing else to tell."

Sora sighed tiredly, Riku was being too stubborn for him to deal with, and he still wanted some sleep.

"Fine, whatever, you know what, come talk to me when you're done being stupid." With that, he turned and marched back to his mess of blankets.

"I was scared."

Sora froze mid-step. He turned back to his friend. Riku took a deep breath, "I can't remember another time that I was as frightened as I was that day. When he showed me that he had my Keyblade in his hand, I felt so… hopeless."

Sora took a step towards his friend as Riku laughed mirthlessly, "The ironic thing is, the only thing that saved me was a memory of our fight in Hollow Bastion. Where you took the Keyblade back." Riku shook his head, "And then, when you two showed up, and you couldn't summon your Keyblade… I can't describe it in words, Sora. I just can't. And when he attacked you both… I felt so desperate, and I didn't want to lose you two, not after I'd struggled through so much to find you guys and protect you." Riku shook his head, lowering his eyes, "So I was scared."

Sora knelt down beside his friend, putting his arm around Riku's shoulders. Riku hated fear, he hated how it made him feel, and he hated to admit it when he was scared. Sora knew how hard it had been for Riku to tell him this. It wasn't much, but it was enough.

Riku sighed, hating it how Sora was always right. He did feel better. Sora released him, suggesting that he try and get some more sleep. So he lay down once again, and for once, fell into a dreamless sleep.