Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. But I'm sure that's pretty obvious.
A/n: I'm sorry, this chapter is kind of short and I don't have time right now to thanks all my reviews respectively, but I do appreciate your reviews! Thank you! I wrote this in a little bit of a hurry, too, so I'm sorry if it's not very good. Next chapter will be better.
Warnings: A bit of blood and violence.
Chapter Six
Yuffie banged her head on the floor impatiently. She stared across the cockpit to Riku, who was setting the auto-pilot. He turned around to check on her and laughed.
"You're using it upside down." He said, pointing at her. She stared back at him innocently.
"What?" She asked.
He rolled his eyes. "Why are you sitting in your chair upside down?" He asked, taking the seat next to her.
"Oh. I was too airsick to notice." She muttered, rolling onto the floor and staring up at him from her back. He nodded, pretending to understand.
"Are we there yet? Hey wait, where are we even going?" She stood up rather shakily and wobbled over to her seat again.
"Twilight Town, we'll be there in a little over an hour." He watched her plop down in the seat next to him and huff. She looked pretty sick, but seemed to have it under control.
He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her over to him. They sat there happily for a long time, just staring ahead at the console in front of them. Yuffie closed her eyes. She couldn't believe this was really happening, she was going to get to visit other worlds like Sora! She'd always been jealous of him, no one treated him like a little kid, and he was younger than her!
But here she was, going on a trip with Sora's best friend. It was pretty much an extended date. Her stomach growled and interrupted her thoughts.
"I'm hungry." She groaned. Riku nodded in understanding and got to his feet.
"Well, let's go find some breakfast." He walked down the aisle to the kitchen in the back of the ship. Yuffie bounced after him.
"I can't believe Leon actually let us go, I thought he was going to fight us first!" She said, poking through the cupboards. She glanced up at Riku when he didn't respond, only to find him poised over the countertop with a dark glare.
"What's wrong?" She asked nervously. He looked up like he was startled, the glare vanishing.
"Oh, nothing, just thinking. What do you want to eat?" He asked, trying to smile and failing miserably.
She held up a cheap cup of ramen. "I was just gonna eat this. Did you want one?" She watched him suspiciously, but he nodded and took the cup she offered him. He turned away sharply and if she didn't know any better she might have thought he was upset with her.
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"Uuuugh…" Yuffie hung her head over the toilet bowl, her face pale from airsickness. She coughed violently as the ship jerked lightly to the side.
Riku appeared in the doorway behind her and cringed. "Umm, we're here, Yuffie." She leapt out of the way as she dashed out of the bathroom and out the door, throwing herself from the gummi ship.
She landed on soft green grass and thanked Leviathan for solid ground. Pressing herself into the grass she sighed in relief. Riku walked up behind her and smirked.
"If you get so sick, why did you want to go on this trip?" He asked softly, leaning down next to her and rubbing her back. She sighed gently.
"I love visiting new places, it's worth getting sick I guess." Her head began to clear and she sat up, looking around at her new surroundings.
"Wow, Riku, this place is beautiful." Her eyes were wide as she stared around the courtyard. There were brick walls all around them, and glass doors leading into a huge mansion. She climbed to her feet with Riku's help and moved forward. He took her hand and lead her forward, offering her a smile.
He pushed the doors open and they walked into the mansion.
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"Come on, you're so slow!" Yuffie bounced excitedly down the street, tugging on Riku's arm. She pulled him into a clothing shop she had found and glanced around the large room excitedly.
"This is so cool, the most interesting place I've ever shopped was Traverse Town! Look at all these neat styles. You should get some new clothes, too!" She chirped, pouncing on a rack of shirts and digging through them. Riku stared at her in wonder.
"I had no idea you liked to shop." He stated flatly. She turned to give him a funny look and stuck her tongue out at him.
"Why not?" She turned to look back at the clothing.
"Well, I guess I just never thought that ninjas could like shopping. You always seemed to tomboyish to like anything as girly as shopping for new clothes." He said boldly. She spun around to face him again.
"Why are you always picking on me for being a ninja? Are you jealous?" She put her hands on her hips. Riku leaned forward until their noses were almost touching.
"Maybe I am." he breathed calmly. "I grew up around some really girly girls. Maybe I like it when they can fend for themselves." She blushed deeply and tried to look away. She heard giggling somewhere behind her, but her mind was to occupied by the boy in front of her that was slowly violating her personal space. He brushed his lips against her cheek in a fluid motion, making her shudder at the touch.
Someone slammed into her roughly and she stumbled back a few steps.
"What the hell!" She cried, nearly losing her balance. She stared down into a pair of enormous green eyes.
"Who the fuck are you!" She leapt back in surprise. The other girl did the same.
"Oh! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to interrupt anything!" The girl blushed deeply and bowed in apology. "My name is Olette." Yuffie and Riku stared at her in surprise.
"Hey, I know you! You're one of Sora's friends! You live here, right?" Riku said quickly, before Yuffie could decide she didn't like the younger girl.
Olette beamed happily. "Sora was talking about me?" She looked like she was daydreaming.
"Um, yea. You're friends with Hayner and Pence, he used to talk about you guys a lot." As if on cue the two boys skidded around the corner of the building and charged into the shop after their friend. Yuffie huffed and turned back to the clothes rack. Olette watched her sadly, feeling guilty about interrupting the two. She scooted over to Riku as he stood conversing with her best friends.
"Hey, you should take her on the train to Sunset Hill, it's beautiful there!" She whispered to him. Before he could think of an answer she grabbed her two friends and dragged them out of the shop.
"Come hang out some time, Riku!" Hayner called back to him, giving a small wave before he had been dragged back around the corner.
"There's something wrong with those kids." Yuffie muttered, watching them go. She clutched several items of clothing to her chest and walked over to the cashier.
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It was freezing, absolutely freezing. Yuffie shivered and wrapped her arms around herself as best she could. She seemed to be in the middle of an ocean, treading water frantically in a failed attempt to stay out of the cold. It seeped under her skin, making her feel chilled even to her bones. It was difficult to move, but she tried her best.
Glancing around her nervously she noticed that it was very foggy, making it only visible in a fifty foot radius. There was an eerie glow rising up from under the water and penetrating into the darkness around her. She swam forward, determined to find a way out of this arctic ocean.
Her muscles ached from the strain and her teeth chattered. She had barely been swimming for five minutes and she was worn out, hardly able to move. She began to panic as she felt something approaching, coming up from beneath the placid water. Looking around her for any means of escape, she noticed a web of rusted metal bars not far from her, rising like a skeleton tower from the ocean.
Pushing her body to its limits, she reached a low bar and pulled herself out of the water. Her muscles cramped and screamed in pain but she pulled herself up all the same. Reaching another bar she pulled herself up onto it and braced herself between several of the rusted beams.
The light filtering up through the water flickered warningly and she knew she wasn't far enough away.
Groaning from the strain she reached up again and hoisted her aching body onto another beam, then swung up onto another one across from it. She began to panic when her body started to give out and she slipped, swinging her arms wildly and barely catching herself before falling. She tried to climb faster as the creature below the freezing ocean drew closer, its grating squeals already audible from her place high above the water.
She shrieked in fear as the water exploded from the force, splashing her with more of the freezing liquid. Yuffie had no idea what she had been expecting, but this certainly wasn't it. A man climbed skillfully up the rusted bars. He almost looked like some kind of heartless, he didn't have a face and his body radiated darkness. His arms seemed unnaturally long and he reached out threateningly to Yuffie.
She cried out and fell back, barely catching herself on a bar right behind her and scraping the skin on her elbow. He lurched forward and tried to grab her, knocking her off balance and sending her tumbling down several bars. She caught a beam next to her and screamed in pain and she felt her wrist crack from the stress. Slipping again a beam hit her right in the back, stunning her for a moment.
The shadowed figure swooped down and grabbed her shattered wrist, yanking on it and making her cry out in pain again. He pulled her towards him and she felt the rusted bar grating on her skin roughly. She grimaced and tried to pull back, but her adrenaline failed to do its job and her muscles gave out. She felt sharp teeth rip into her numbing arm, somewhat muted pain shooting through the injured limb. She screamed again and tried desperately to find her strength.
Bringing her fist back, she punch the man in what should have been his face, but she might a well have thrown a flower at him. He growled fiercely and ripped into her arm again, sending blood coursing down his chin and dripping into the water below. What looked like small, needle like fish appeared in the water, and Yuffie realized how close she had come to falling back in. Her eyes widened in fear as the needle fish scrambled wildly in her blood, fighting each other for the warm, red liquid.
She jumped back in fear and slammed her head into another beam when she felt a sticky tongue on her neck. It trailed down her throat to her collarbone and she shrieked loudly and thrashed to get away from it. The man laughed deeply and gripped her tighter, bringing his teeth down to the vulnerable skin on her neck and biting sharply into her flesh. Using the remainder of her strength she lashed out at him and released herself, falling limply down into the cold water feet below her.
Instant pain wracked her body as the thousands of needle fish attacked, ripping painfully into her skin and tissue. She cried out, but only got a mouthful of water as she sank beneath the surface. She didn't know how she would die first, bleeding to death or drowning. Agony filled her being and she blacked out as the pain became too much.
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Her eyes flew open and she panicked, thrashing under the thin blanket that covered her. Rolling to the side she threw herself up against the wall and her eyes darted around the room as she tried to gather herself. She felt like her heart was going to explode it was beating so fast. Finally settling her gaze on the boy in front of her she glared suspiciously.
"Who are you! Where am I!" he reached forward to try and touch her shoulder but she slapped his hand away and tried to press herself into the wall even further.
"Yuffie, calm down!" He tried to reach out again and when she went to slap his hand away he grabbed it.
She panicked again, throwing herself against him in an impromptu attack. He held her arm tightly in the air as they tumbled backwards off the bunk and rolled across the floor. She kicked him in the stomach and he grimaced, but pulled her closer to him. Being to near for kicks she resorted to punching him, only to find every move matched as he struggled to keep her under control. He slammed her into the floor as she began to scream and bite at him. She managed to catch him in the neck with her teeth and he yelled in pain. He pinned her arms to her sides and held her still. She thrashed violently beneath him, trying to bite him again and free her arms from his grasp.
"Yuffie, calm down! It's me! Riku! Don't you remember me?" He cried, trying to get her to look him in the eyes.
"What? Riku?" She inhaled sharply and held her breath, staring up at him. As realization dawned on her she relaxed. Tears rolled down her face and she whispered broken bits of a conversation to herself.
Riku stared at her in a mixture of fear and surprise. Climbing up he helped her to her feet and hugged her tightly. He stroked her hair and she whimpered into his shoulder.
"Riku, oh my god. What's happening to me?" She gasped, holding a hand to her head. He looked at her sadly.
He lead her in to the bathroom and pulled something from the cabinet. She took the proffered object and looked at it.
"But I thought you didn't want me to take these pills…" She murmured, looking up at him. He shrugged.
"Maybe it'll help until I can find a way to help you." he said quietly, giving her a cup of water and watching her down the pill.
She walked out of the gummi ship and leapt down to the grass outside. Laying down on her back she stared up at the night sky. The moon was barely visible above the brick wall of the courtyard. She watched it slowly rise and somewhere in the distance she heard a deep bell sound, indicating four in the morning. She wondered how long Riku had sat there watching over her.
Riku himself spread out on the grass beside her, folding his arms behind his head. She looked over at him for a moment then looked back up to the stars.
"I'm sorry if I hurt you." She said softly. He looked over at her.
"It's alright Yuffie, I know you didn't mean to." He smiled at her but she just felt worse.
"Thanks for taking care of me…" She rolled onto her stomach to watch him. He smiled and nodded. Quickly climbing to his feet he offered her his hand.
"Come on, I have something I want to show you." She took his hand and followed him into the mansion.
End of Chapter Six Thanks for reading!