Chapter 115: Keep Running

The world was spinning dizzily around him, colors swirling until they were like mud. Sora squeezed his eyes shut, aware more of the pain that rang throughout his body than his surroundings. But he had to get up. Something was wrong.

He curled his fingers around the dirt below him, took a deep breath of the heavy plant-smell around him. The sunlight beat against his eyelids unevenly. He forced his eyes open.

The color of green surrounded him, shaping what he thought first to be trees—then he noted the splashes of color that made up flowers at least twice his size.

Wonderland.

He was in Wonderland.

How did I get… here?

Sora pushed himself upright. Something in his stomach twisted angrily, and a darkness pulled at the back of his mind. For the moment, though, he ignored those things to feel at the itchy thing that clung to his face—

Oh right.

Those were his bandages.

He pulled them off his face and felt at his since-healed wound. The skin was still tender, but he couldn't feel any blood. There was that, at least.

Not sure what else to do with the dirty bandages, he shoved them in his pocket.

I was in Hollow Bastion… he thought to himself, scowling as he glanced around at Wonderland, like the answer would be in plain sight. So how did I…?

He tried to think it over, but it was all warped in his mind, and none of the memories wanted to fit together right. Trying to make them only got him snatches of conversation he couldn't make out, the sensation of being carried over someone large's shoulder, of being held by impossibly big arms, and an incredibly sick feeling in his stomach. He stopped trying to remember any more before he puked.

Ok, if I can't remember how I GOT here, then maybe I can remember what happened before—

Oh no.

That came rushing back in waves, though a lot of it was still missing. Sora remembered fighting with Riku. It had been a pretty bad fight, of that he was sure, and the pain in his body sung in agreement.

I remember- I remember stabbing him—(that was as dark and blurry as everything else, but he remembered it, and it made him sick)—and I remember feeling really angry for some stupid reason, and then- and then…

Nothing else.

Snatches of battle still played in his mind, but he couldn't really make anything out from them. Had he won? Had…?

"Oh no! Riku!" Sora pressed his hands into the ground, terror gripping his chest as he leaned forward. He'd made it out of that okay—well, relatively okay—but had Riku? Was Riku alright? Was he okay? How badly had he gotten hurt?

Oh, come on, sneered a cruel voice in the back of Sora's mind. The darkness, trying to trick him again. Do you REALLY care about him?

Sora shook it away and pushed himself to his feet.

"Of course I do," he said, to the voice, to himself. He had to make sure Riku was okay.

And… he should probably apologize. He couldn't remember what the darkness had tricked him into thinking, to make him do that, but that changed nothing. He needed to apologize.

Can you face him? argued that sneer of a voice voice. (No, not his Shadow, Sora realized, after considering it. Just the darkness.) After what you did, why would he even want to see you?

"I need to apologize," Sora said, firmly. "I can't not!"

His hands clenched into fists at his sides. It would still be hard, though.

He hated what the darkness did to him… He was terrified of it, too. Terrified of the things he could remember, as much as the things he couldn't. How much damage had he done? Had he hurt Riku bad? It was scary.

There was only one thing to do, though…

Sora was just reaching into his pockets for his star shard when he heard laughter—loud, boisterous laughter.

"Bwahahaha, so it wasn't that hard to find you after all, was it, you pipsqueak!"

Sora spun around to the source of the voice, and the laughter. Among the giant grass and flowers stood a large… Well, Sora wasn't quite sure what this guy was, but it looked like maybe he had cat ears? Cat ears, and a large girth. Sora wondered if he knew Mickey.

Sora slid into a defensive stance on reflex. The Keyblade tugged incessantly in the back of his mind, but he did not summon it. Not yet, not until this stranger was clearly a threat.

"Who are you?" Sora demanded.

The newcomer grinned and thumped his chest. "The name's Pete!"

"Pete…?" Sora squinted at him. Something about that name was familiar, though he was sure he'd never forget a mug like this one. Or… anything about Pete's appearance, honestly.

"You may have managed to slip away from us last time, despite bein' half-dead 'n all," Pete continued, "But not this time!"

"What are you—?" Sora began to ask, but then it clicked.

It wasn't Pete's face he remembered. It was his name.

Memories flickered through his mind, all dark and cloudy, but clearer than they'd been just minutes ago. A smooth, commanding, slightly-irritated voice snapping Pete's name. Pete's voice, complaining.

Sora remembered being carried on Pete's shoulder. Remembered his face pressed into Pete's back, the buttons on Pete's clothes digging into his skin. He remembered the clear image of a smirk drawn across a face he wished he didn't recognize, and at the memory, he staggered back.

"N- no!" he stammered. He could not remember all that had happened, but he remembered running away well enough. "I'm not- I'm not going with you!" he shouted. "I'm not- I- I don't want that—"

"What are you babbling about?"

A voice Sora knew all too well, accompanied by the sound of crackling flames, by burning heat, by the feel of a presence behind him.

Sora spun around, blood running cold.

There she stood, Maleficent, casting a displeased look down at him.

"No!" Sora said.

He activated his star shard before it was even out of his pocket.

xxx

"He's not here!" Sora's Shadow told the wolf, rounding on it. He'd had about enough of this. Did the wolf think this was some sort of game?

The wolf replied with a bark which he figured meant something like: 'Idiot, of course he's here!' given the tone of it.

Angry, Sora's Shadow yanked hard on the chains around its neck, making it yelp. It was glaring at him, as much as a dog could glare, that was. It definitely didn't look happy, and if Sora's Shadow himself had been in a better mood, he would have found pleasure in that.

"Don't you dare," he hissed, grabbing the wolf by the ear. "I know Sora is not here, because if he was here, I would feel him. Now where is he?"

The wolf gave a half-growl as a response, then shook its head.

"You don't know!" Sora's Shadow demanded. "How can you not know!"

The wolf pawed its nose.

"Oh, just great, you can't find the scent!" he groaned. "Some great tracking-wolf you turned out to be!"

The wolf turned on him and pounced, knocking him to the ground. It was right in his face, growling, teeth showing, its claws digging into his chest. He glared right back at it.

"Bad dog!" he said, trying to shove it off. It didn't budge. "Get off of me!"

It merely continued to growl at him.

His glare deepened, and he shifted his weight slightly. In one swift movement, he shoved the wolf off, wrestled it to the ground, and held it there. There was no fear in the wolf's eyes, only anger.

"You do not jump on me!" he said, firmly.

The wolf only growled, and its eyes flashed Heartless-yellow. Sora's Shadow could feel its form trying to change below him, and he quickly grabbed the chains around its neck and held it there, telling the darkness that composed its form to stay put.

"Now, come on," he said, releasing it. "Find his scent."

The wolf got to its feet, sniffed around a moment, and then with an air like it was too good for this, it grabbed him by the hand and pulled him forward.

The next three Worlds that the wolf led him through had no trace of Sora, just like the first. Either this wolf really was awful at tracking, or whoever had taken Sora was extremely intent on not being found.

They stopped after the tenth World. The wolf flopped down to the ground, apparently too tired to keep going. Sora's Shadow scoffed in annoyance, but honestly, he was tired too. He sat down on a nearby rock and buried his head in his hands.

"Where could he be!" he moaned.

This was ridiculous, and it was maddening. He always knew where Sora was. Always. He was sure it was impossible for him not to know where Sora was.

And yet…

He didn't.

Maybe I can just… he thought, slowly, gathering energy to teleport himself to Sora. Maybe it would take him straight to Sora. He could hope…

There was an amused look in the wolf's eyes as it watched him, a look that clearly said: 'You already tried that.' And that statement was most likely followed by the question: 'Why is it going to work this time?'

He glared.

"Yeah, well, it's not like you know where he is, either!"

The wolf instantly stopped looking smug and pawed at its nose instead, whining.

Sora's Shadow threw his hands up in the air.

"Ugh, fine!" he groaned. "Go ahead and take a few minutes, maybe you can find his scent properly this time."

He drummed his hands against his knees, trying to contain the uncertain feeling that thrummed inside of him. Something tugged briefly in the back of his mind, a slow but sharp sensation like glass cracking—

He slowly raised his head, scowling. What he'd done to Kairi wasn't holding, but…

He found it hard to care. Sora was more important. The mere thought of not being able to find Sora made his stomach roil, and besides: what good was snapping Kairi's faith in Sora if he couldn't even find Sora? How could he drag Sora into darkness if he didn't know where Sora was?

"We have to find him," he whispered, firmly, hands shaking. "We have to."