I was a mess getting out of bed. The sun had long since set, and Chirithy was furiously tugging on my foot in vain.
"I! Told you! Not to sleep too long!" Chirithy scolded. "I told you!"
"Alright." I croaked, still three-quarters asleep. "How 'bout I, uh, go kill some heartless or something." I was mumbling, tumbling out of bed. Unfortunately, the bathroom, which I had not noticed before, was downstairs. And a most miserable I had to go down there to groom myself. There, but for the grace of God, went I, stumbling like a drunk, all the way to the floor. By the time I had gotten to the bathroom mirror, the state of my hair had degraded from a simple cowlick, to my entire head being covered in spikes. Chirithy had slowly but nimbly followed behind me.
"What are you talking about? Don't you know that the heartless becomes much stronger at night? You'll get killed!" Chirithy piped in while I was trying to fix my hair.
"Look, Cheerie, I got a quota, right? Something like that? I don't wanna be behind the others just 'cause I slept too long." I kept going through my hair with a comb. It was dark brown, near black in fact, and I went great lengths to keep it smooth and stylish. "Don't worry about it. I'll be fine." I took a few seconds too long staring at my face. Maybe Chirithy had a point, I thought. After all, I was new. It didn't matter how much of a hot shot I was back home, things were different here. I scoffed at myself; Hell, things would probably be easier, way easier. I looked back at Chirithy with a smile, and picked him up. "Besides, you'll help me if anything goes wrong, right?"
"Uh, okay?" Chirithy looked down at the floor, he seemed unsure of himself. I chocked it to just him worrying about me. I carefully put him back down and went to look for some clothes. I felt a little better, but still wasn't quite awake yet, and the room was quite dark. But, surprisingly without me falling, I found the dresser (I did find it strange that it was on the first floor). There was a white and blue jacket, long grey pants, and blue sneakers. Casual, but comfortable. I Briskly walked out the door into the night, and immediately felt dread creeping in. The last time I fought the darkness. . . didn't turn out too well, to say the least. I took another step. The sky was covered with clouds, ranging from dark gray to pitch black: Especially dark, this night. Perfect. Chirithy was still inside, watching me through the still-open door. Please, come back inside, we can do this tomorrow.". At once, my sense of pride overcame my fear, as it always did.
"I told you, I'll be fine." I took the next few steps with ease. I will be fine, I will be fine, I will be fine. The words repeated inside my head; I was never one to back away from a challenge. Step, Step, Step; easy as pie. I wandered through the streets almost as if I knew any of them. Step. My shadows had shadows. I looked back, the house looked further away than it should. Chirithy was nowhere to be seen. Step. Step. Deep breaths. Step. All of a sudden, I couldn't move. The air was icy cold, the silence deafening. My fists clenched and I gritted my teeth. I've got to do this, I just do. I have to. . .
"Chirithy?" I whimpered. No response.
Coward. What did I expect him to do for me, anyway? Sing me a lullaby? Get me some ice cream? I wasn't some little kid. I was a keyblade wielder, and I had to fend for myself. Still, the fear was freezing as the night air. I looked down and closed my eyes and took another deep breath. I opened them.
The shadows had eyes.
My eyes widened as my shadow rose from the ground. Starting as a formless blob, It slowly grew in size, until it stature far dwarfed my own, It's beady yellow eyes staring down at me. The darkness had found me, hungry for my heart. I forcefully swallowed down the scream that had risen up my throat, and readied my key. Golden, long and thin, with a navy blue blade jagged down to the hilt, dotted with stars. Wanderlost, I called it. The name represented the emotions I felt leading up to my discovery of the keyblade. I never used it before. Well, not really. I hadn't a clue where to start; do I swing at it, or perhaps cast a spell? Could this thing even cast spells? I was lost in thought, too lost in fact, to react in time to escape the creature as it grabbed my entire figure with one hand. I couldn't hold back my fear anymore, the monster's baleful gaze drilled too deep into my mind.
"Help! Someone help me! Please!" I wriggled and writhed, but none of my struggling was enough. It's grip was tightening, likely to crush me within the next minute. Suddenly, there was a flash of metal, and the creature's eyes were gone. In fact, it's whole head was missing. It's body soon followed, dissipating into the air. I was airborne, falling fast. Next thing I knew, there was warmth. It wasn't the crushing grip of a heartless, but rather the arms of another person. I looked up at him. In hindsight, I almost wish I hadn't; That I never knew the person who saved my life that night. His beauty eclipsed that of heaven. His rose quartz hair complemented by sapphire eyes and a pearlescent complexion, utterly flawless. His arms felt so soft, so welcoming, I never wanted the moment to end. I still think about it to this day. Alas, his feet floated to the ground, and he carefully, gently, set me down. He most certainly caught my staring.
"You're staring. Everything alright in there?" His hand brushed against my forehead in a playful gesture. His touch sent lightning through my veins. I could hardly come up with any words, let alone the right words in the right order. Somehow, I managed to blurt something out.
"Yes, I think. I hope so? I don't know." He chuckled a little. God, I made him laugh. I. Made. Him. Laugh. Amazing.
"You're new, aren't you? I haven't seen you around before." He stretched out his hand. "Name's Lauriam, what's yours?"
"Ahrairah." I was doing pretty well, for someone who was utterly dumbfounded at the existence of such a beautiful boy. "How did- why did you-"
"Your Chirithy." He answered my half-finished question. "He came looking for someone to 'knock some sense' into you. His words, not mine." Lo and behold, there he was, creeping out from behind Lauriam. He seemed very squeamish, as if he feared confronting me directly.
"I'm sorry, Ahrairah. I really am." Chirithy crept closer to me. "I just had to tell somebody what you were doing. It was really foolish of you to go out like that."
"It's okay, I get it." I picked up Chirithy and cradled him. "I just have a lot to learn, right?"
"The important thing is that you go about it at the right pace." Lauriam crossed his arms. "You know, if you need any help, you can let me know. It's not like I have much else to do" He said. I could feel the warmth rising in my cheeks. I nodded with enthusiasm.
"I will."