Chapter 189: Bound

The sun was starting to set. The sky was going dark. Sora's Shadow let out a long breath. He hadn't moved since he'd lied down here, oh, a few hours ago. After Maleficent had… had insulted him. Called him weak. Light-stained…

He closed his eyes, trying not to think about that. Trying to block out all his thoughts. Maybe if he quieted himself enough, he could hear Sora again.

All he ended up hearing was a soft growl. He knew that growl—it was his wolf. He sat up, a little eagerly.

"You find anything out about Sora!?" he asked.

The wolf stood in front of him, low to the ground, lips drawn back in a snarl. Its eyes were glazed yellow—though they seemed to be looking straight at him. He scrambled to get up—

The wolf leapt at him, going straight for his throat. He rolled out of the way. The wolf shook its head, recovering, then leapt at him again. It pinned him to the ground this time, sniffing him. He coughed. Its breath smelled.

"Oi!" he shouted, pounding it on the nose. "I thought I told you not to—"

'You smell different,' it said, snorting a little. Its paws pressed against his chest.

"I- what?"

He blinked a few times, staring at it. What did that mean? And- and why wasn't it attacking him anymore? Usually it'd growl and struggle whenever they were in this position. Try and take his head off. But now it was just more interested in sniffing him.

'Almost like…' It took a step back, sniffing his chest, pushing his jacket aside with its nose.

"What are you… ahg!"

The wolf plunged its teeth into his chest. Its jaws closed around his heart, a growl in the back of its throat. He struggled, trying to push it off, sit up, something. It only sunk its teeth in farther, and then tugged, gently.

Even the slight tug was agonizing. He screamed, back arching with the pain.

Having your heart ripped out of your body wasn't a pleasant feeling.

"Let- let go of me!" he shouted, kicking at it, hoping to stop it before it could finish the job.

To his surprise, it listened. It let go of his heart and after a bit of hesitation got off of him, too. Its eyes were narrowed, though, and it was still growling. He sat up, frowning at it.

"Why did you…?"

Why had it listened?

'You forget. I am Bound to you.' It looked about ready to leap at him again.

He slowly smirked. "That's right… I forgot about that!"

'You always do.'

It flicked its tail angrily, but it'd stopped growling. When it blinked, its eyes had returned to their normal gold color, instead of the blank Heartless-yellow. It nipped at his fingers affectionately before sitting down.

'Forgive me.' It looked at the ground, avoiding his gaze. 'I got a little… carried away.'

Sora's Shadow couldn't help but chuckle a little. As annoying as this wolf was, at least it was… nice to him. Sort of. In a way. The apology was appreciated, at the least.

"Don't worry about it," he told it, scratching the wolf behind the ears. "I'm still here, aren't I? Besides, nothing like a, uh, near-death experience to keep you going, ah?"

The wolf didn't say anything.

He let out a long breath, trying not to think too hard about what had just happened. The wolf attacking him only further proved it… He had a heart. But… shouldn't have one… It was... contradictory, at the least. He…

The wolf was sniffing him again, its nose tickling against his fingers.

'You smell different…' it repeated.

He crinkled his nose at it. "What are you talking about?" he asked, laughing a little. It didn't make any more sense to him than the last time it'd said that.

'Something about your scent,' the wolf said. 'It's changed. It's…'

It trailed off, sniffing his fingers a moment longer, then licking his hand.

He pulled his hand away, a little disgusted, wiping the slobber off on his pants. The wolf got up and started pacing around him, once, twice, and then the other way, sniffing him as it went. 'Something's definitely different,' it said, firmly. 'But I can't place… what…'

He got to his feet, not liking having it pace around him like this.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he demanded, feeling a little twitchy.

'Exactly what I said.' The wolf chuckled, eyes glinting. 'Your scent has changed. What do you expect it to mean?'

"But why would my scent change?"

'Something about you changed. What else?' It sniffed him again. He pushed it away with his foot. 'It's nothing major, if you're worried. Just a slight change… almost undetectable.'

He slowly glared. That would mean…

"Where's Sora?" he asked, not wanting to be on this subject for any longer. His heart thudded in his chest, mockingly.

'I don't know.'

"Then why are you here?"

It sniffed at his feet, ignoring the question for a long while.

'I got him away from that witch, like you asked,' it explained, off handedly. 'I don't believe you asked me to do anything else.' It looked up at him, eyes wide. 'Did you?'

He frowned. No, he supposed he hadn't, exactly. But hadn't there been more to the plan? And… if Sora was no longer with Maleficent…

Sora's Shadow's eyes went wide. "Wait a minute! If he's not with Maleficent anymore, then…" He stopped, listened, hard.

'Then… what?'

"Shush!"

Where was it? Why couldn't he feel it!? His connection with Sora—if Maleficent was out of the way, that meant it should've been restored. Right?

He ran his hands through his hair, pounding at his skull. "C'mon!" he shouted. "C'mon! Why isn't it there?!"

There was no familiar pulsing at the back of his mind. No trickle of Sora's thoughts. Nothing. He cried out in anger, throwing a blast of darkness at the ground.

'You haven't seen Sora, yet,' the wolf said, calmly. It didn't even look at the smoking patch of ground not three inches from it.

He glanced over at it, then cocked his head to the side, thinking. That's right. He hadn't been anywhere near Sora since this morning. And, besides, if he'd only just been taken from Maleficent—

"Where's Sora?" he demanded.

'Like I told you last time you asked, I don't know,' the wolf replied.

He narrowed his eyes at it.

"I don't trust you…"

'Then order me to tell you.' There was a glint in its eye as it spoke. 'Being Bound, I can't exactly lie if it's an order.'

He glared at it for a moment longer. It must've been pretty damn confident if it was telling him to order it around.

"Tell me what happened when you found Sora," he said, slowly. "Every detail."

The wolf snorted. Shook its head. Clearly it hadn't been expecting that order. There was a growl to its voice when it spoke.

'I- I found him in Neverland. He was running from the witch. I tackled him, pulling him between worlds…' It snorted again. 'Unfortunately, the effort knocked him unconscious. I was just trying to- to-' It paused, barked angrily, twitching a little.

Sora's Shadow watched with amusement.

'I- dammit I took a nap, alright?' It glared. 'I was tired. But he wasn't going to wake up without me noticing. I was laying on him-' twitch '-close to-' twitch 'three feet away from him!'

It pawed at its nose, clearly discomforted. 'I'm a light sleeper. He would've woken me up! Anyway… That's when… Cloud found us.' It growled something very foul. 'He didn't seem too worried about me, but then he tried to wake Sora up. I tried to fight him off…'

"He was too strong for you?" Sora's Shadow asked, chuckling a little.

'No!' It protested. 'He was- He- Sora woke up and they teamed up against me! And—' it added, sharply, before it could be interrupted. 'I was tired. Dragging people between worlds is tiring work, especially when it's against their will! There was no way I was going to be able to subdue Cloud long enough to grab Sora.'

Sora's Shadow let out a long breath. Alright then.

"Lazy," he muttered.

'You should thank me.'

"For what?" he asked. It glared. He chuckled. "Alright. Thanks for getting him away from Maleficent. Not so much thanks for not dragging him to me immediately!" He bopped it on the nose. "You can find him again, right?"

'Unfortunately, his scent's gotten muddled. Mixed with Cloud's.'

"If you find Cloud, you find Sora though, from the sounds of it!"

The wolf looked at him, long and hard.

'It's a possibility. Though it's a wonder I can find anything anymore—all you people hitting my nose has messed with my sense of smell…'

"Oh, quit your whining and go find Sora!" he laughed.

It slowly lay down, yawning. 'I think a nap is a good id—'

"Oi! That was an order!" he interrupted. "I thought you couldn't refuse those, being Bound?"

It jumped to its feet, barking sharply at him. Its eyes narrowed, and a growl rumbled in its throat. 'I simply—'

"I gave you an order."

The growling stopped short, and it bowed its head low to the ground. 'My apologies,' it barked, not sounding sincere in the slightest. 'I'll get right on that, Master.'

"Good."

It paused, though, sniffing at his feet one last time. After a moment it yipped in surprise—though it almost sounded like laughter. It looked up at him, eyes glinting, lips drawn back in a canine smirk.

'And who are… you Bound to?' it asked.

"What?" His heart pounded. "No one!"

The air around him suddenly felt very thick, and it was hard to get it into his lungs. What was that damn wolf talking about? He- he wasn't Bound. He- no! He…

But the memory played back in his head in flashes. Looking at Kairi. Wanting to kill her.

But he'd stopped. Because he…

The wolf looked at him, eyes fixed on his, grinning.

'Are you sure about that?' it asked, before turning and leaving.

He fell to the ground, clutching his chest. No. No! He wasn't Bound to anyone!

And he certainly wasn't Bound to—

"Dammit, Sora! Just let me find you already, so I can be done with this pitifulexistence!"