Disclaimer - I do not own Kingdom Hearts. This is made by a fan for fans. No money is being made.
Author's Note - Yeah, the chapters are kinda short, aren't they? (redundant question) I was kinda afraid of that from the start. I guess I could try to make them longer. Here's my shot at that. This chapter should be longer than normal.
Also, I fixed a rather large problem in the last chapter. "Sunlight spilling into the cave" ...WTH. It's supposed to be night time out there. Oops. I changed it.
"Sora!" Riku hissed. "Sora, get back here!"
Sora turned back just long enough to flash him one of his famous smiles, and then he was dashing forward again.
"He's gonna get himself killed," Grimna said in disbelief. The human was insane. No doubt they had both realized the situation was hopeless, but to run straight into a group of hungry giant spiders? It was suicidal. At least this other one seemed to have a head on his shoulders.
Riku looked to Grimna. "Stay here," he ordered.
Before Grimna could respond, Riku had jumped over the rock. Her mouth dropped. He would actually risk his life to save his foolish friend? They were both suicidal. Part of her illusion wavered as she watched the two of them run to their doom. One of her hairless black legs, tougher than rock and matching the glassy surface of the walls, tapped the floor in anoyance. If they kept this up, her stupid minions would eat them without a second thought.
There would be nothing left for her.
Growling, Grimna followed them, fixing her disguise as an after thought.
Axel couldn't help but be impressed. He sat down crosslegged in the dirt, watching Roxas and Psyco-Invisible-Man duke it out. Well, watching Roxas at least.
The invisible man changed the direction of his chakram unexpectedly. Roxas ducked, narrowly avoided being decapitated.
Axel leaned forward in excitement. If only he had popcorn right now.
And then their weapons were pushing against each other. Roxas grimaced, unable to glare at his enemy as they pushed against each other in a test of strength. He could feel Red Cloak's breath against his face.
"I eat my peas," the madman taunted.
Roxas pushed for all he was worth, unable to gain any ground. He glanced over at Axel, briefly considering asking for his help. He pushed the thought from his mind quickly, still mad at his friend. Axel could go screw himself. With a twist of his wrist and some fancy foot work, Roxas had his enemy back on the defensive.
Axel was completely absorbed with watching the fight. So when a soft gasp came from the cave, it was no surprise he didn't hear it. And when someone called his name, he didn't hear that either.
Sora grabbed onto another jutting rock and pulled himself over, dropping silently to the ground on the other side. He felt rather proud of that. He had traveled over half way across the cave in complete silence.
Now he faced a new obsticle. The spiders themselves. They were still too far away for those 'other senses' Grimna was talking about to kick in and alert them of his presence, but they could still see, and Sora was in plain sight. He quickly ducked behind another rock. Luckily, the place was full of them. There's nothing like a conveniently placed rock jutting out of the floor to hide behind when you need it.
Now that he was here, though, the beauty of his plan started to kick in. Just a little bit longer and he could jump into action. A huge grin spread across his face, and he had to pinch himself to keep his concentration. This was serious, he reminded himself, serious. He could be happy later.
The grin creeped back across his face anyway.
He looked to his left and nodded. It was time. Just as he was about to jump out and reveal his truly genious plan, or lack thereof, to the world, a hand covered his mouth and yanked him back. Darn.
"You're insane!" Riku said into his ear. He didn't sound too happy. They both flattened themselves against the rock as a spider took notice of the noise. After a painful moment of staring at the exact place where Riku and Sora were hiding, the spider was satisfied, and went back to doing whatever hungry man eater spiders do on their time off.
Riku rounded on Sora once again, keeping his voice lower this time. "Do you even have a plan, genious? You couldn't even take twenty of these spiders if you had your keyblade with you!"
Sora smiled brilliantly, throwing Riku off guard. "'Course I do!"
Using Riku's stunned reaction to his full advantage, Sora easily broke free of his grasp and jumped over the last few obsticles, coming to rest on a high rock right in front of three spiders. Riku took little relief in seeing that he wasn't the only one stunned. The spiders, stupid to start with, didn't know what to do with the bold appearance of a creature they'd never seen before. Riku knew that wouldn't last long. Instinct would kick in.
And then Sora would die.
He couldn't let that happen.
"Come on, giant pansies!" Sora said, sticking out his tongue and making a ridiculous face. "Betcha can't catch me!"
Bet they could. Riku followed Sora, trying to keep his inner commentary to himself. Just a little farther and he'd be able to pull Sora back, and then maybe they could make it past the other seventeen spiders and out to freedom. Right. And that brought up another important point...
What about Grimna?
Riku glanced back. Grimna was just climbing over a rock herself. Damn. He told her to stay there! Everything was going to hell. Something flashed in his peripheral vision, and he quickly turned to look. Nothing was there. Probably the walls. They glowed that same errie light even here.
Sora gave one last jibe at the spiders, something about the designs on their back and a comparison to a railroad track, whatever that meant, and jumped away. He was a good distance away from the spiders when their dazed state wore off. All at once, they sprang into action, chasing after Sora with teeth wide open and long legs making up the distance, the rapidity with which they moved contradicting their bulbous appearance. Who knew fat spiders could move that fast? Sora certainly didn't.
Riku realized in despair that he was too far away. He couldn't make it in time to save Sora. He ground his teeth and pulled out his makeshift weapon anyway, the sharp rock promising death to the next spider he came across.
But damn it all this just didn't make sense! What could Sora be thinking?
Sora's next words explained it all.
"Now, Goofy!"
Namine hadn't gone far the last time she had fled into the cave. The Invisible Man had made sure of that. In fact, she had barely taken two steps into the cave before he had grabbed her. Now, barely ten paces into the cave, Namine stood very still. It was a good idea.
A spider loomed above her, easily as tall as the cave itself. Different from the spiders Sora and Riku had come across, this one was thin and grey with white spots randomly placed about its body and legs. It had a slightly humanoid appearance in the face, with its mouth closed and an unearthly intelligence in its eyes.
And it was looking at her.
Namine cautiously took a step back. The spider followed her, it's body swaying with her movement. It didn't even have to move its legs to keep up. Namine couldn't keep the gasp from escaping her. She looked back, not daring to take one eye off the spider, though she couldn't tell why. The monster could easily overcome her. She caught Axel's red hair from the corner of her eye.
"Axel..." she called weakly. The monster tilted its head. She tried again. This time, Axel looked. His eyes grew as big as saucers.
"Holy shit monkeys," she heard him say. To her great astonishment and relief, he walked right into the cave and leaned against a wall. "I gotta add that one to my collection. Hey, Roxas! come look at this!"
Not waiting for a reply, Axel boldly strode in, slung an arm around Namine, and carried her back toward the exit. The spider's gaze never left them, and though that was unnerving in itself, there was one all important fact that Namine was grateful for.
It didn't follow.
Author's Note - Alright, I gotta end it here. It's still short, I know, but it is longer, you gotta give me that.