Chapter 4: Strange Whispers

It was peaceful. Just him, and Namine, sitting on the shore. No sound but the sound of the waves, everything else was silent. It was night, the moon shining brightly down on them. She shivered. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close, shielding her from the night wind.

A golden moment. Silence. Him and his beloved.

"What else could I possibly ask for?" he wondered.

Lightning flashed.

Thunder rolled.

Clouds formed in the distance.

The moment was shattered. The peace was over. The silence was gone.

Cold rain drops fell hard. The waves crashed against the shore, no longer a peaceful sea, but a raging ocean. A tidal wave rose and fell right over their heads. The water rushed around them, separating them.

He was drowning.

Not only in the water, but in the memories that were forcing their way to the surface. Flashes of laughing Organization members and taunting Real Things and shouting Soras.

Flash, scream, hit.

He stumbled back, blood pouring from his wound. Sora stood above him, cackling. He held a Keyblade in his hand, but one unlike Riku had ever seen before. There was an odd look in Sora's eyes, one that made Riku sick. Pain overtook him-

Riku shot awake, breath coming in gasps, and found himself where he usually did. In his own room. He wiped his eyes, not sure why he had been crying, and he groaned. Another nightmare, just like every night before.

It was nearly dawn, as usual. Another sleepless night had passed.

xxx

Sora hadn't slept well either. He was still in shock from the events that took place the day before. He sat on the shore, turning his sword over in his hands. Earlier that morning, he could have sworn it had been a Keyblade. But it wasn't.

He ran his hand over the bloodstain. Riku's blood. He had tried over and over again to wash the blood off, but it had done nothing.

I need a new sword, Sora thought. He couldn't walk around with this old thing, not with the blood stained on it. It would just be too weird.

There were footsteps behind him. Quickly, he hid his sword, hid his shame. It was Riku.

"How early ARE you coming down here, Sora?" Riku asked. Sora quickly hopped to his feet.

"Does it matter?" Sora snapped coldly, then gasped. He hadn't meant to say that.

"I suppose not," Riku said, ignoring how Sora had asked that question.

"Listen, Riku," Sora said. "Sorry about yesterday. I honestly didn't mean to hurt you."

"It's fine," Riku replied. "I was just overeating a bit. Did Kairi talk to you yesterday?"

Sora nodded.

"Did she seem alright?"

"Yeah. A bit freaked, but we all were, right?" Sora paused, thinking back on the conversation they had last night. Kairi had been a bit out of it, quieter than usual, and… scared. He decided to tell Riku about this. "She was quiet though. We didn't actually talk much. She-" he stopped, deciding to keep that part of the conversation private. "Do you know if she's okay?" he asked instead, turning to look at Riku.

Riku's expression was like stone.

"I think so," he replied slowly. "She seemed to take this harder than the rest of us though… You okay?"

Sora nodded. "We should get a head start on the raft, you know? Maybe getting some work on it done will help Kairi out."

Riku turned away. "About that…" he said slowly

"What?"

"We decided to put that off until things cleared up…"

Sora stared at Riku for a second. "When was this decided?"

"Yesterday," Riku replied rather quickly. "Namine and I talked about it, and she asked Kairi, and Kairi agreed, and I was supposed to tell you, and I figured I'd do that today. Just now."

"So you waited to tell me…"

"Are you okay with that?"

Sora nodded after a moment. "Yeah, sure" he said, swallowing down what he had originally wanted to say.

"Sorry, I know you wanted to see other worlds and all," Riku began, but Sora interupted.

"No! It's fine!"

Riku sighed. "We're doing this to help Kairi, you know that right?"

"Of course," Sora nodded. "That's perfectly okay."

Riku started to say more, but then stopped. It probably wasn't worth it. "I'm gonna go then…" he said after a moment, and walked off.

Sora flopped back down onto the sand. He laughed for some reason. Riku was always taking the spotlight ever since he had arrived. He was the best fighter, best runner, and now he was making choices for everyone.

What is wrong with me? Sora thought. I'm just making myself mad at Riku…

He sighed, and thought back to the conversation he and Kairi had yesterday.

He had been sitting there, slightly depressed, and shocked, and confused. She had sat down next to him, and it took him a second to notice because he was so occupied with his thoughts. She had laughed at this, but it only lasted a second.

"You okay?" she had asked. He nodded.

"Scared?" she asked.

"I don't know what happened," Sora whispered. "I really don't, and that- that's what scares me the most. I can't remember what happened. I was just sitting there, defeated, and then I was standing over Riku as if I was the victor. But-" his thoughts faded into silence. They just sat there, not saying a word.

"Are you scared?" he asked, quite a while later.

"Yes," she replied simply, but said nothing more.

And they sat there in silence, until later deciding it was time to head home.

"This world has been connected" a mysterious voice said, pulling him out of his thoughts. He turned, shocked, and found a cloaked figure standing behind him. The figure's face was hidden by a hood, and under the hood seemed to be nothing but darkness.

"Wha- who are you?" Sora asked

"Tied to the darkness" the figure continued, taking no notice of what Sora had said.

"What are talking about?"

"Soon to be completely eclipsed."

Sora had stood up by now and stared at the figure in confusion.

"You do not yet know what lies behind the door…" the figure said.

"What door?" Sora asked.

The figure chuckled. "There is so very much to learn, and you understand so little!"

Sora scowled. "I'll show you! I'm going to get out and learn what's out there!"

"A meaningless effort," the figure replied. "One who knows nothing can understand nothing. But-" the figure paused. "You want to learn?"

"Y-yeah" Sora replied.

"How do you expect to learn when you can't even leave?"

"I've got the raft!"

"But how far can a raft take you?" the figure asked, clearly amused. "Besides, your friends abandoned that, abandoned you!"

"Hey!" Sora said angrily. "They didn't abandon me." He paused and rethought that. "Or… did they?"

"…find the door to this world…" the figure whispered.

"Wha-?" Sora said.

"Sora!" He turned, and saw Kairi heading towards him. He looked back to the figure-

The cloaked figure was gone.