Disclaimer: I do NOT own Kingdom Hearts. I…really seem to not own anything. How sad is that!?
BlueMouse: Eh…never really matters. As long as you're reading the story, it all works out for me. x3 Eek! I forgot to reply to your email…DAMN! I will once I've posted this. Obviously, once you're reading this, you'd have read the reply already. Hah. Me is stupid.
Lozzieh: Hey, you DO have a reason to review! GOSH! And don't blarh me missy!
snow-kitty231: YAY! YOU FOUND IT! And nevermind to what? And obviously, I am writing more. What would you have expected of me, my friend?
Chapter Seven: New Friends, New Enemies
Sora watched in awe as Aly zoomed around smashing things with her hammer. How she obtained this hammer, Sora didn't know. If she was high on sugar, where she got the sugar, Sora didn't know how to answer that one either. He jumped back as Aly bounced in front of him and tapped his nose.
"You want me to tell you a secret?" she asked.
Sora stared at her, bewildered. "Uh…I guess so…"
"GOOD!" she said excitedly. Pulling him closer, she leaned forward so her mouth was almost touching his ear. "Sora…" she whispered. Sora's face went red, and he tried to pull away, but she held his arm tight. "Do you want to…" His face grew hot. "Do you want to…GO INTO THAT SHOP OVER THERE!?" He flew back as the scream echoed through his ear and made everything vibrate. "AHAHAHAHAH! YOU THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO ASK YOU TO HAVE SEX OR SOMETHING, NO!?" Aly screamed again. "AHAHAHAHAH!"
Sora was almost on the verge of crying. "W-what's the matter with you?" he whimpered.
"Oh, nothing," Aly replied. She grabbed his hand as more Heartless appeared, and dragged him into the closest shop. As they went inside, Sora let his eyesight wander, and it stopped on a man with a roughly shaved face and dirty blonde hair. He was reading a magazine behind the counter.
"Welcome," he said. He looked up from what he was reading, and he eyed Sora. "Hey, kiddo…you don't look like a customer–Oh, Alyss right? Great to see you again!"
"ALY! A-L-Y! Got it memorized? But other than that, how's it?"
Before the man 'Cid' could reply, Sora waved his hands between them. "Wait…you KNOW each other!?"
Cid went back to his book, and Aly shrugged.
"Nope. I just bought something in here not so long ago, that's all."
Sora shook his head. "So…that's where you got the hammer from?" he asked.
"Yup."
"Ah…" They stood in the shop for a while, looking at all of the objects that they could buy.
"Seen anything that you want to buy, Sora?" Aly suddenly asked.
"Uhh…what?" he replied, looking confused.
Aly looked at his hands. "Oh yeah…you don't need a weapon, do you?" she mentioned, pointing at the Keyblade. Sora had completely forgotten that it was there, and stared at it suspiciously.
"I forgot about that…"
Aly ignored him and turned to Cid. "Sorry, Cid, that we had to just barge in like this and not buy anything. But we were being ambushed by those bloody Heartless, and I was bored of smashing things. So, we'll be leaving you now. Thank you for your hospitality." She lowered her head in gratitude, and began to walk out of the room.
Sora shifted nervously, and began to follow her. "Where are you going?" he asked urgently.
"Going to find my friend. You know…the short one that has a thing for Riku," she replied, her expression not changing in the slightest.
"She likes Riku?" Sora laughed. As they turned the corner, they noticed a man standing not so far away from them.
"The Heartless…" he said to them. "They'll keep coming after you…"
Aly leaned over to Sora. "I think he's talking to you..."
Sora gave him an I-don't-know-you-and-why-are-you-talking-to-me look.
The man went on, his dark brown hair swaying with the evening wind. "The Heartless will keep coming as long as you wield the Keyblade…"
Riku sighed as he sat cross-legged on the floating circular ice-block, watching the sleeping Neru.
My butt's gone to sleep…his head moaned.
With that, he slapped himself. Shut up you! You know you can't go anywhere while Neru's in this condition!Riku rubbed his sore face. She could just be sleeping, Riku, he argued.
Well, why don't you wake her up?He looked at Neru again, and blushed. I…I can't do that! She looks so peaceful…He clenched his fists. RIKU! Stop being a wuss! Be a man already! You're fifteen! Act like it! I'm sure Neru wont mind being woken up!He shook his silver hair. Oh yeah, what am I going to tell her!? 'Oh, Neru? I'm afraid that I've somehow gotten us stuck on a floating ice-block. Are your feet cold?'His other half twitched, trying to get his body to lean over and shake the motionless Neru. What, can you think of anything better, mister right!? We can't just leave her here!!
"Riikuu-kuuunnn…"
He stopped and blushed at the sudden nick name. "Are…are you awake now?" he asked the squirming girl. No answer. "Neru…"
"NOES! DON'T LET THE MONKEY TOUCH THE QUEEN! It's MY chess board!" Then silence.
Riku raised an eyebrow. Maybe we should put her out of her nightmare misery and wake her up? his head began again.
No, but I have another idea!
We'll write a note and go look for a form of life!Riku scanned the area.
Oh, and what is that?
How the hell am I meant to do that!? Get paper and all! And I can't see anything at all! Ignoring this last comment, he decided he would go with his plan. Looking through his pockets, he tried to find something sharp that could grind well. He couldn't find anything, so he just pulled the buckle off his shoe and began to dig into the ice.
"Dear Neru," he began, reading out the letter as he wrote. "I am sorry…" The noise of the grinding ice made him clench his teeth. "…But I am probably not going to be here when you wake up." It took a while, and Neru didn't stir once while he wrote. Then he got up, and started to walk away.
Neru raised her head as the sudden cold wind blew through her ears. Putting her hand on the ice, she felt some rough texture, a bit different from the type she was sitting on.
What… She began to read.
'Dear Neru,' it said. 'I am sorry, but I am probably not going to be here when you wake up. I have gone to see if I can find somewhere that has someone who can help. You were sleeping, and I can't carry you…well, let's just say that I can't jump with you on my back. I can't even get you on my back when you're asleep! Well , enough of my rambling, but I have to go now. Hope the jumper keeps you warm while I'm not here! Sorry again…Riku.'
Neru sniffed and looked at what she was sitting on.
I'm on ice! Wow…I never thought it was possible that ice could float…except for in water of course- She stopped when she heard a noise not so far away. Slowly getting up, she began to look behind her.
"Riku!?" The boy in front of her slipped and squealed as he almost fell off the block. "I thought that you were gone! I just read your letter-"
"-It's harder than it looks!" He was standing on the second block closest to the one that Neru was on. It was floating up and down, and it was making Riku look rather…idiotic. He was still stumbling around, trying to regain his balance on the slippery surface. Neru got up and jumped over to the next block skillfully. "How did you…"
"Don't know. I must be Batman." She grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the next block. It took a while, because Riku kept falling off, but they eventually got to the top. "I…don't remember this place," Neru mentioned suddenly.
"Why would you," Riku replied. "Or have you been here before?"
"Nah, never got up to this part." Riku shook his head, not knowing what she was going on about. Though she didn't look like that she knew either.
Looking around the top of the area, the both stood in awe at what they saw. It was a big arch, made completely out of stone. But what made it look extremely beautiful was that the light reflecting off the surrounding waterfalls and ice blocks created rainbows and many different colors that neither of the teenagers had ever seen before. Neru grinned widely at the boy standing next to her.
"Isn't it just awesome, Riku?" she asked him. Riku let a smile touch his lips, and he looked at the lights.
"Yeah…"
"Simply amazing, isn't it?"
Neru froze as the voice echoed around the ice valley. Riku turned fast and his gaze rested on a tall lady in a black cloak with a staff and a crow on her shoulder. Just looking at her creeped him out, but he didn't want to look like a wuss in front of Neru.
"Who…who are you?" he asked, making his voice strong and fearless.
"I…am Maleficent…" she replied.
Neru looked like she was going to die of fright when Riku dared a glance at her.
"My…you two children look rather cold out here…" Maleficent went on. "How about you come with me, and I'll take you back to the castle. It's a whole lot warmer there."
Riku looked at Neru, who was staring straight at him, shaking her head profusely. He put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay…we'll just stay for a while," Riku whispered. "And you're going blue! We need to get somewhere warm." Neru looked up at him, and her lip quivered. "Hey, don't cry! Just trust me!" She lowered her head, and nodded solemnly.
"Have you made your decision?" Maleficent asked patiently, stroking the crow that cawed softly with her every touch.
Riku turned to her, and gave her one stiff nod. "Yes. We'll come with you."
Maleficent smiled. "Good…"
Sora sat there like a little kid being told what to do on his first day of school. The man that they had met had introduced himself as Leon. Aly sat there, looking like she knew everything that was going on. This made Sora feel even more uncomfortable. Staring at his Keyblade, he mumbled a few words in reply to Leon as he ranted on about saving the world and Heartless being drawn to his heart.
"What was that?"
Sora's head snapped up, and he stared at Leon. "Uh…nothing," was what he replied.
"Are you even listening to me!?" Leon said angrily.
"Hey, Leon, he obviously is like anyone else you talk to. No one wants to listen to you ramble!" someone from the sidelines said. This girl was known as Yuffie.
"Shut up! I just want to know if he is! It's important! Sora, did you hear me?"
"HE HEARD YOU!" Leon's head snapped around to see Aly standing up angrily. "Gosh, Squall, what's the matter with you!?"
"The name's Leon - hey…how did you know my name?"
Aly's eyes narrowed to slits and she edged to the door. "Oh, wouldn't you like to know…" The door opened slowly. "Wouldn't you like to know…ah…crap." Looking out from the house they were in, she saw a whole horde of Heartless swarming around under the balcony. "Uhh…Sora?" She turned to her friend who was being cornered by the bouncy Yuffie. "I think I might be needing your help with this one…"
"So many of them…" Leon grimaced, scanning the open area. "There must be a boss somewhere." He turned to Sora and Aly, taking out his sword. "Let's go, small fry…"
"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME!?" Aly started charging like a maniac at Leon, but Sora held her back.
"We need to help! Forget what he called you!"
"HELP!" They both turned to see two figures fighting the Heartless above them.
"Fight, Goofy! Fight!" the smaller one said. The other one was loosing his balance as the Heartless attacked his shield.
"I'm tryin' Donald, but…I'M FALLING!"
Before either Aly or Sora could do anything, they found themselves underneath two extra bodies. Aly shuffled herself out of the pile and grabbed her fallen hammer. Picking it up like it was weightless, she rested it on her shoulder and pulled Sora out of the mix.
"Up, everyone!" she ordered. The two stumbling figures just twisted on the floor as the Heartless closed in on them. "I SAID GET UP!" she screamed again. The two that had fallen on her got up and stood at the ready. "Good," she mumbled.
"We need to get rid of these Heartless! Got it?"
"GOT IT!" the two others said. Sora stared at them, then turned to Aly.
"What…are they? Are those…"
"Your new comrades?" Sora nodded. "Yup!"
"THE KEY!"
Aly sighed and turned, slightly annoyed. "Hey, Donald, Goofy, can't you see that we're busy?" They stood in silence.
"How did you know our names?"
She stood there. "Uhh…I can read minds."
'Hehehehe…bulimic!'
Aly grabbed her ear. "NERU!? WHERE ARE YOU?" There was no answer.
Sora stared at her funny. "What's the matter?"
"I…I just thought that I heard Neru. I don't know how though…"
So named 'Donald' tapped his foot impatiently. "What are we going to do?" Suddenly, a big armored creature rose from the darkness, and stood in front of them. Its arms twisted around, and its feet crushed the ground underneath it. Aly stared at its clinking helmet.
"We…are going to fight…"
