Disclaimer: Don't own Kingdom Hearts. And I am getting REALLY fed up with writing this! Sorry, but I needed to go to bed, and I know Lozzieh would have wanted it up sooner, so I didn't finish the WHOLE chapter. I just shortened it, and I'm putting the last part in the next chapter…
Lozzieh: Dangit! I know it's short! Leave me alone! xD
Chapter Four: And So, It Begins
Neru put a hand to her mouth to suppress a yawn that was trying to escape her mouth. Just waking up from a nice, yet disturbed sleep, it would probably be a good thing to stretch her tired muscles. It wasn't too late, but it was rather dark, and the moon wasn't visible.
She looked around the room. Aly was curled up in a corner, sucking her 'deformed' thumb. Neru laughed.
She must have been deep in thought when she fell asleep.
Still looking around the room, she noticed there was no Kairi.
She must still be with Sora.
Neru rubbed her runny nose, and let her gaze wander out the window. …Riku? She watched Riku make his way towards the bridge that lead to the smaller island. A night owl, are we?
Trying not to wake Aly, she dodged the few scribbled pages and opened the door.
I can finally talk to Riku! Without interruptions!
Skipping down the winding path, she finally caught up with the silver haired boy. He jumped as Neru tripped on one of the many loose boards that held the jetty together and hit him from behind and practically glomped him. Neru squealed and got up.
"S-sorry!" she stuttered. "I-I tripped!"
This is NOT how I wanted to start my first conversation!
"I gathered that. I got the full force of it," Riku replied, not facing her.
Neru looked at her feet.
He won't even look at me! Does he hate me that much?
Riku sighed as his face grew hot.
Why did I reply like that!? He glanced at Neru for a second, then returned to his pondering. Man…she must think I'm a jerk! Say something nice, Riku! Talk to her!
Riku turned back quickly, not looking at her face, just in case he'd be to embarrassed to talk.
"Nice night, isn't it?"
Neru looked up from her shoes, and blushed. Riku's face went red as his cyan eyes made contact with her emerald green ones. He twisted the sleeves of his jumper nervously, waiting for her reply. Finally, she said,
"Yeah, I guess." He sighed, and the tension eased from the long silence. "It's a bit cold, though."
Riku looked up at this sudden comment. "Unn…" He couldn't finish his sentence.
Just SAY it, Riku! Damn you!
Finally, his conscience won over his physical self.
"Wou-would you want to borrow my jumper? Don't want to catch a cold, do we?"
Smooth Riku…not.
Neru blushed, her whole face going red.
Great, I've embarrassed her!
"Are you sure? What if you catch a cold? I mean-" She started to mumble. How Riku was meant to understand her, he didn't know.
Just take off your fraking jacket and give it to the damn girl! Riku quickly unzipped his jacket and shoved it into Neru's wavering hands. Now, stay cool…
Neru squeaked as she slipped on the warm material.
So warm…maybe even hot…
She could imagine what Aly would say at this point of time. 'He has a nice body temperature. Just normal. Or is it too high? Maybe he has a crush on someone…embarrassment makes people's body temperature funny…or he could just be sick.'
Neru shook her head, and sniffed again. Riku doesn't like me. Everyone thinks that I'm a freak. The sleeves draped over Neru's hands. She giggled suddenly.
"I feel like a retarded Octopus! Bluupbluupbluupbluuup…"
She wiggled her hands in front of Riku's face like an actual Octopus. He sat there, his mouth twitching, face still red.
Great, Neru. Now you've made a complete fool of yourself. Nice going champ!
They stood, both not looking at each other for a long time. Riku shifted his weight onto his other foot, and Neru flinched as the boards underneath creaked. A cool breeze ruffled their layered hair.
"You want to take a walk?" Neru asked, plucking up the last of her courage.
Riku folded his bare arms. "Yeah, sure. That'd be nice."
Sora sat in the dank cave, reading the pages he 'borrowed' from Aly. Images were roughly sketched on the page, each picture representing something different that was being described with each leading paragraph.
Wow…Aly is good at writing! This stuff really captures the imagination! He turned to the next page and read on. This…? He stopped suddenly as a picture caught his eye.
It was black, with straggly, worm-like hair, and a heart shaped hole in its chest.
I swore I saw this in my dream! Sora started to read the story that went with it. His eyes widened, and he lent closer.
"Sora's shadow…" he read out loud.
How can this…But that was the only description it came with. Only a few words were written at the bottom of the page. He read these too.
The world has been connected…
Tied to the darkness…
…soon to be completely eclipsed.
You know not what lies beyond that door.
You –
"The world has been connected…"
Sora jumped back against the cave wall. "Who—who are you!?" he screamed, now facing the dark figure.
"Tied to the darkness…"
Sweat beaded across his brow. It's…Sora's breath started to come out in ragged gasps. He was panicking.
"…soon to be completely eclipsed."
In his panic-stricken state, Sora knocked over his bag. More of Aly's paper slid out.
"You know not what lies beyond that door…" the figure went on.
Sora couldn't dare move to pick up his things, but he did risk a glance at one of the pages. Another figure was drawn on it. This cloaked person matched the man standing in front of him.
Xehanort.
"You know nothing. You understand nothing."
He slowly got to his feet, his knees threatening to collapse on him any second. About to turn and make a break for the entrance, he turned again to see the man had gone.
"What the-"
"SORA!" he squealed as Kairi ran up to him. "What are you doing?"
"N-nothing! Let's go!"
"Hey! What's wrong with you?"
Sora dragged Kairi by the wrist an pulled her out of the cave. "We have to get ready for tomorrow!" he replied, fear cracking his voice. "Look," he pointed out suddenly. "I got mushrooms!"
Aly's foot twitched as she extracted her thumb from her mouth.
"Eew," she murmured to herself as she wiped it on her shirt. "Aly slobber…"
She let her eyes focus as her head slowly surveyed the room. No-one was in it, so she decided she could stop being quiet. Hoisting herself to her feet, she came across a note. She picked it up and began to read.
'Hey Aly, this is Sora.' Aly raised her eyebrows. 'I wasn't sure if you would mind or not, but me and Kairi decided to leave you a note just in case. I SWARE that I'll return them!'
"What?"
'Oh…Kairi just pointed out that I forgot to mention what I borrowed. The papers on the floor. I took a wild guess that they were a story? Was I right? See you tomorrow! Sora.'
Aly's hand let go of the paper, letting it drift onto the floor.
"SHIT!" she screamed as she bolted out the door. "NERU! NERU, WHERE THE BLOOY HELL ARE YOU!?"
Riku laughed as Neru made another 'Neru-humor' joke.
"Another," Riku asked. "Tell me another one!"
Neru rested her chin on her long sleeves. "Unn…ah! I have another!" She crossed her legs where they sat on the thick trunk of the curvy tree. "Why did the boy fail his math test?"
Riku shrugged.
"Because his mom threw a fridge at him!"
Riku put a hand to his mouth, trying to suppress a laugh.
Neru went on. "Why did the boy fall off his bike?"
Riku shook his head, still holding his mouth.
"Because his mom threw a fridge at him!"
This time Riku couldn't hold it in. He laughed so hard that he had to hold his hurting stomach and gasp for air. Neru was laughing too, at Riku, and her joke. She always laughed at her own jokes.
"Okay, third times a charm!" she said excitedly. Riku's face had gone red, and he sat eagerly for the next part of the joke. "Why did the boy suffer multiple fractures, internal bleeding, a broken nose and a bruised thumb?"
Riku decided he would have a go at answering this one. He kind of gathered what was coming. "His mom threw a fridge at him?"
"Wrong! He was hit by a truck!"
This time, Riku looked as if he was dying, or in some sort of extreme pain. Neru couldn't stop laughing at him. She never thought that she'd see the day when she met Riku, let alone make him kack himself! Then…he fell off the tree. Still laughing, he rolled on the dusty ground, tears of laughter…or pain…streaming from his eyes.
Neru crawled up the trunk and looked down at him. "You alright?" Both were laughing so hard that they were crying. Riku couldn't even get out his reply, it was that bad. Neru gasped for breath, and said, "Ooh! I have another! Just to release the tension!"
Riku twisted violently on the ground. "Nooo…"
"WHAT DID THE POLE SAY TO THE WIRE!?"
Riku moaned in between his so called 'laughing'.
"YOU ARE A PIECE OF WIRE!" They started to laugh even harder. How this was possible, neither knew. Neru wiped the moisture from her eyes and looked at the shadowed bridge. Dark figures were emerging, each with hollow eyes and antennae, from the black ground. The humor faded from Neru's face.
"No…" she whispered, only to be drowned by Riku's rasping breath. "Not now…"
And so, it begins…
