Chapter One- Fade To Black (Camisado)

(( It's not so p l e a s a n t and it's not so c o n v e n t i o n a l ))

"Guys, I'm going swimming, 'kay?"

Sora grabbed his towel off the sand and scrambled toward the shoreline, not waiting for a reply from Riku and Kairi, who were settled under a palm tree watching Selphie spar with Tidus. As Sora stripped down to his swimming trunks (hey, he'd come prepared, after all- he'd been positively dying to go for a swim since he'd returned home from his latest venture, as Keyblade Bearers, he'd learned, didn't get vacations too often), he turned to watch the match from afar, wincing in sympathy as Selphie whipped Tidus over the head with that damned skipping rope of hers. While Tidus let out a howl and clutched at the top of his head, Sora threw his clothes onto his towel and sprinted into the surf.

At the exact moment that he turned around to see what Selphie was doing to Tidus (they'd abandoned their respective weapons altogether and were now deep in a heated argument over the merits and morals of pretending to be Indiana Jones and blinding their opponents with jumpropes), Sora heard a very distinct roaring noise behind him. Slowly, he turned to see a wave that was approximately the size of a small elephant heading straight for him.

"... Uh oh."

Yelling like an asylum escapee, he ran for the beach. Unfortunately, he didn't quite make it.

Crash. Sora was thrown into a crazy sort of somersault before skidding facefirst across the sand. Kairi was at his side almost instantly; Riku wasn't far behind her.

"Sora! Are you okay?!" Kairi demanded, nudging him insistently.

Sora groaned and sat up, spitting out a mouthful of sand before blinking up at her dazedly.

"Kai...ri?" He shook himself, ignoring the sand that cascaded off his front. "What happened?"

Riku grinned. "Wavezilla happened."

Kairi gave Riku a withering "what-are-you-laughing-for-he's-obviously-dying" sort of look and knelt in front of Sora, holding up one hand. "How many fingers?"

Sora counted three. Exchanging a furtive glance with Riku, he assumed a confident pose. "Five."

Kairi seized him by the shoulder and attempted to drag him across the beach, bound and determined to prove that he was on the verge of being comatose by the only way she knew how: taking him to see his mother. It took ten minutes of Sora howling at her ("Let go of my arm, dammit!") and Riku telling her it was just a joke before she was convinced, and only reluctantly did she relinquish her grip on him.

Sora flopped back down on the sand, massaging his shoulder and grimacing. "Three."

Kairi blinked, startled. "Come again?"

"Three. You held up three fingers, not five. Happy? You nearly ripped my arm off, dork."

Kairi rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Sora, you can be such a wimp."

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Xemnas!"

Sora let out a fake whimper and covered his head with his now thoroughly soaked towel. From underneath it came a muffled, "Damn wave got everything all wet." Kairi giggled before turning to look at Riku, who was staring rather seriously at the ocean. The waves were starting to get very choppy; more "wavezillas" were beginning to break on the shore.

Riku folded his arms. "Hey, Sora?"

"Yeah?" Sora pulled the towel off his head.

"Don't go swimming anymore today, all right? The water's getting really rough. I think a storm's coming in."

"Aw, come on, Riku!" Sora protested. "I'm a good swimmer, I'll be fine!"

"Famous last words," Riku shot back. "Stay on the shore." Ignoring Sora's whine, he tapped Kairi on the shoulder. "C'mon, the Dynamic Duo finally quit screaming at each other."

Kairi hesitated, looking back at Sora. "Are you coming?"

Sora shook his head. "Nah, I'm gonna stay here and sleep. You go ahead. Maybe I'll catch up with you later." As the pair left, Sora sighed and shut his eyes, scooting closer to the water so the waves were just barely lapping at his feet. Within moments, he was sound asleep.

He awoke a few hours later. The first thing he became acutely aware of was that he was wet from the waist down; the ride had moved in a little. That wasn't what had woken him, though. He puzzled over it for a few seconds, eyes still closed. It was a hollow sort of rushing sound... almost a roar, like a really fast gust of wind, or-

His eyes snapped open. A wave slightly larger than the one that had hit him before was coming straight at him. There was no time for him to yell, let alone move.

CRASH.Sora was engulfed in seawater, arms and legs flailing as the undertow of the wave dragged him back out into the deeper water. He struggled mightily to the surface, coughing and choking on saltwater as he gasped for breath. Frantic, he scanned the shore, looking for someone- anyone at all. He thought he saw someone walking in his direction further down the beach, but he couldn't quite be sure...

"HEY, HELP-"

CRASH. Another wave hit him from behind. Taken by surprise, he toppled forward, sinking under the waves. There was a funny kind of ringing in his ears now, as he sank farther down, and-

Sora knew no more as he sank into inky nothingness.

((It sure as hell ain't n o r m a l, but we d e a l, we d e a l ))

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Author's Note: WHOO. My first fic actually posted on And for once, it's not entirely a Humor fic. (If you found this chapter even vaguely funny, don't get too comfortable- it's going to be getting less and less funy as time goes on.) Anyway, yeah, this is my first attempt at a Horror fic, go me. oo Meh. Anyway, when in Rome... read and review, guys, read and review. - Salem