Kingdom Bastion: Session II
The morning dawn was Sora's favourite time of the day.
The birds chirping, the rising sun, and the hope of a new day upon the otherwise distressful brunette always seemed to put his troubled mind at ease. The world was calm for once; the bright rays of sunshine spreading a golden sign of hope across the seared remains of the trees and bushes of the forest.
The heavy rain had finally died down earlier that morning, and the sky was free of the murky, sunlight-robbing clouds.
Deep in his mind, he knew that, over time, the flaky, ashen remains would soon develop into a newer, stronger form of life. Whenever there was death, there was life. The forest would regain its natural beauty, and everything would just be normal again.
Slipping on a pair of sunny-yellow boots, the boy strolled over to the still-slumbering, silver-haired teen on the far edge of the cave, and proceeded to attempt to prod the boy awake with his foot. Nothing.
But, how odd for someone to have silver hair in the first place.
Sora had always thought he was a bit strange himself, looking and sounding a lot younger than he actually was, being seventeen years old and all, but few people he'd seen rarely had long, silver hair. How old was this guy anyway? Eighteen? Nineteen years old? Maybe he was an albino; they usually had white hair and pale skin at young ages.
The teen shifted slightly in his sleep, wincing as a loose mound of dirt dusted into one of the burns. They were beginning to look slightly better, but the boy couldn't help but wonder if they were as uncomfortable as they looked.
Not that I would know. Sora guiltfully thought.
What was his name, anyway? He'd forgotten to ask before the teen dozed off.
His friends had said it. What was it? It started with an 'r', he knew that much.
Ri... something.
Rico? Ricky?
Squeezing his eyes shut, Sora struggled to remember the older male's name.
Ri...
Ri...
Riku.
Sora's deep, turquoise eyes flew back open as the gentle voice popped into his head. That sure was weird. Who said that?
Quickly glancing around the cave, he found nobody else other than him and...
Riku.
"Riku?" Sora echoed softly.
"Mnn... ?" Riku moaned groggily, opening his tired eyes slowly.
Well, this was definately a good start.
------
"So, where's this train station?"
"Right down this road."
Sora and Riku had been walking for a few hours now. With new clothes and a strengthened resolve, they eagerly awaited what they would come across in this new town. Sora walked ahead of Riku, happily humming and swinging 'his' Gunblade around.
Riku had been given a weapon as well, if the occasion arose. A beautifully crafted sword in the shape of a black and crimson bat-wing with a sparkling cerulean jewel in the center of the handle, in the shape of a fearce dragon eye. Apparently, Sora had been stealing so much over the years, he'd never been able to keep track of where he actually got everything, and was at a complete loss for the strange sword's origin.
The trip to the train station was a great way for the two males to make conversation and get to know each other better.
Sora claimed to come from a small family from a village not too far from Riku's; the sparkling, silver crown chain around his neck said to be a gift from his mother when he was still a young child. He'd never taken it off since, and, oddly enough, it never seemed to tarnish or rust.
Riku had never truly known his father, and lived with his mother for most of his life. The silver hair was said to be a trait of his father's, and his mother had claimed that Riku was a striking resemblance to him. Riku's mother had died a few years earlier, and he was left on his own in the village, something the two boys had in common.
After a few minutes of talking, they eventually arrived at the train station, and boarded a small train headed to a town just a few miles away, using the tickets Sora had swiped earilier. Nobody seemed to say a word about the strange weapons hanging from the boys' backs, and that suited them just fine. Suspicion was definately the last thing they needed at the moment. The steam-whistle of the train blew, and, slowly, but surely, it chugged off.
The train-ride was relatively slow-moving, and very few passengers had boarded. Ocassionally, the train would stop, and someone, or, at times, groups of people would dismount to their destinations. The train would get moving again, and, eventually, Sora and Riku were the only two left to ride. For the longest time, however, neither male said a word to each other, both lost in their own individual thoughts. Sora was a bit more energetic than Riku, hopping up from his seat from time to time to glance out the train's window.
Riku had taken this opportunity to gaze once again upon the strange, key-like sword. It was weird... the sword seemed oddly familiar, even though he'd never seen it before. Sora hopped down from the window to glance at the metallic weapon himself.
"You know... this reminds me of something." Sora spoke up. "Have you ever heard the legend?"
"What legend?"
"Of the two spirit-dragons, Solaris and Rigel? The peacekeepers of the universe?"
"No, what is it?"
"If I remember correctly from what my mother told me, Solaris and Rigel were both supposedly born at the same time as the universe." Sora began, leaning back into the seat's cushions. "Solaris represents light, and Rigel represents darkness, one being born from the sun, the other born of the stars. Eventually, the two forces clashed, and ultimately destroyed each other in the fight. They were reborn as spirits, and watch over the worlds as their guardians, taking on several different shapes and sizes every century or so."
"Weird story. You do know that dragons don't exist though, right?"
"Mm, yeah. But it's still a cool story." Sora grinned. "She told me it before the fire happened. I was a bit skeptical at first, but hey, anything's possible, right?"
"Yeah." Riku nodded with a small smile. Within the short time he'd gotten to know Sora, the boy was starting to grow on him. He enjoyed his positive outlook on life, and it was a tremendous relief to the stress and worry of the usual society. He liked that about him, he really did.
Suddenly, the train violently squealed to a stop and Riku and Sora were nearly thrown out of their seats. The lights on the train flickered out, and the two boys were left in a pitch-black darkness. They faintly heard the rumble of thunder and rain heavily pelting down. Sora hopped up from his seat to glance out the window yet again. Dark, swirling clouds loomed over them, and lightning streaked across the sky. The wind howled with great force and the train rocked side to side by the immense wind.
"Huh, that's weird." Sora stated from the window. "I could've sworn it was sunny out just a minute ago."
"I'll go ask the conductor about this." Riku lifted himself off the floor and headed to the front of the train, Sora watching the sudden storm curiously from the window. If he looked closely, he could've sworn he saw the shadows moving.
Within a few minutes, Riku's frantic screams erupted from the conductor's booth. Sora forced himself to pull away from the window and darted to the front of the train as fast as his legs could carry him, nearly tripping a few times long the way. When the boy slammed open the heavy, metal door, he saw a very horrifying sight.
The conductor seemed to be... dissolving.
Sora backed into the wall, terrified and sickened at the same time. "W... what should we do, Riku?"
Riku looked just as horrified as his hazel-haired companion. "I... I-I don't know... We need to get out of here and tell someo--" The older male was cut off by a quick streak of blackness brushing past him. More black figures rose up, forming a circle and surrounding the two. Beady, yellow eyes burned in their sockets, and their movements were twitchy and spaztic. The shadows readied their dagger-like claws and leapt into the air.
"RUN!" Sora and Riku ran through the dark train, but everywhere they turned, they were met with more and more of the strange creatures. They seemed to be multiplying by the minute. Thinking quickly, Sora reached for his Gunblade on its holster, but when he pulled it out, it wasn't even a Gunblade anymore.
Cyan and transparent, with beautiful white wings adorning the handle and edges, it sliced through the dark shadows with ease. Slicing the metal door open, Sora darted out into the storm, leaving Riku alone in the train to fight off the creatures with his own weapon. "Hey, wait!" The silver-haired male called out. "Where're you going?"
"We need to try to get everyone in town to safety! Follow me!"
Slicing through yet another shadow, Riku bolted out of the train as the dark creatures toppled the massive vehicle over. Gazing into the storm with rain-stung eyes, the teen attempted to navigate his way into the next town, fighting off more and more of the creatures as he went. They began to take different shapes and sizes as he approached the town, some being large and fearce-looking, others being smaller and resembling soldiers.
"Sora, where are you?" Riku's voice was lost in the storm, and he failed to hear a response.
When the silver-haired teen arrived in town, his horror only grew. It was in ruins, complete and utter ruins. There wasn't a single person around and that led the male to think that the shadows had gotten them all. They were too late. There was still no sign of Sora either, and Riku's worry grew by the second.
What was going on?
The teen sifted through the ruins, desperate to find any survivors, any at all, in the rubble. The shadows lurced and twirled around him in a dizzying dance, and he backed away. He had no idea what was happening, but he knew that if he didn't get somewhere safe soon, they'd kill him in a heartbeat. Glancing at the top of a large stone statue, he saw a familiar figure standing at its peak, gazing out into the massive storm.
"Sora!" Riku called to his friend, but Sora didn't seem to hear him. The teen bolted to the base of the statue and called to his friend again, but Sora only stared into the storm-battered sky.
"Look." The younger boy whispered. "There. You see it?"
Still slightly confused at his friend's sudden, strange behaviour, Riku followed Sora's gaze and noticed a giant, wispy rift of darkness in the sky. White lightning crackled around it, and pieces of debris and land flew into it. Reaching out to the sky with one hand, Sora whispered, "It's time."
Black vines seemed to grow from the statue and entangle Sora's body within an instant. Riku desperately attempted to climb the large statue and reach him in time, but the vines had already completely engulfed his friend's body, and he was gone in a flash of black smoke.
The wind grew with powerful force, and Riku was blown off the statue as it crumbled and drifted into the rift. The silver-haired teen fell to his knees. He was alone. All alone to face this impending disaster. The islands were being destroyed and he could do nothing but sit there and await his doom.
Lonely, are we?
For once in his entire life, Riku was happy to be haunted by the annoying voice.
Voice? Oh, no. I'm very real, Riku.
The boy's hairs stood on end at these words. Slowly turning around, he found the giant, black dragon from his dreams staring him right in the face. Only this time, it wasn't a dream.
It was real. The dragon could really kill him this time.
"What do you want from me?"
The dragon crawled closer and motioned for Riku to do the same. Still skeptical, the boy approached the beast, uncertain of what devious plans it had in store.
I want to help.
The dragon's breath wisped across Riku's nostrils and he leapt back. "Why would you want to do that?" He growled, readying his weapon. The dragon gave no reply other than a sinister chuckle, one that sent cold shivers down the boy's spine.
Fight me.
Each word was laced with a hiss, black smoke swirling around the beast's body and through its mouth, dissapating in the air as soon as it came. Its anger grew rapidly at the boy's hesitation and it snapped at him.
Fight me!
At that moment, the town, the islands, everything was gone. Darkness surrounded them both, but Riku still stood firm, not ready to give in to the dragon's demands.
Why do you not fight? Are you afraid?
"No."
Fight me, and you will be free.
"I don't trust you." The boy backed away slowly.
The beast's eyes narrowed at his opponent, and it licked several rows of jagged teeth eagerly. It grinned.
I like your attitude... little boy.
Suddenly, Riku felt something thick and tight grip around him. A cold sensastion swept through him as he struggled to break free. This wasn't a dream, he couldn't just wake up from it this time. It was really happening.
The darkness gripped him tighter and tighter, wrapping around his torso, his neck, and eventually, his head.
This is your destiny. Make it worthwhile.
Riku felt himself slipping away, slipping into the darkness. He knew he couldn't escape.
Just as he was ready to give up, another voice boomed into his head.
"Don't give up!"
A blinding flash of white light surrounded him, and he was free of his bonds. He looked down to see a young black mage staring him in the face. Its clothes were patchy and baggy, its shoes looked too large for its feet, and it wore a large, stapled hat with a star, a comet, and a zipper all in the shape of a face with a sparkling, magenta crystal ball wedged into the zipper.
"Hi." The mage smiled.
"...Who are you?"
The little wizard turned around to glance at the dragon before them. He didn't seem fazed by it at all.
"This guy causing you any trouble?"
Riku was at a complete loss for words.
"Give me a sec." The mage twirled around its wooden staff and pointed it at the dragon. The dragon growled half-intrigued and half-confused. "Hang onto something, this'll get a little bumpy."
Within seconds, the darkness was replaced by an intense, blinding light, and Riku, the mage, and the dragon were all engulfed into it.