"Sora, help!" Sora plowed his Keyblade into the nearest Heartless and turned to see a heartless about to pounce on Kairi. He ran over while destroying any and all heartless that got in his way. He destroyed the heartless and positioned him self in front of her.
"Thank you!" She breathed. Sora nodded, with no time for a polite response.
Riku was currently having a harder time. He had thrown himself into the heat of the battle and was just swinging blindly not having to worry about if he was hitting anything or not. The heartless had practically formed a huge black blob that was trying to devour the trio. Riku was simply slashing through the blob and watching it slowly disintegrate. The blob didn't seem to be decreasing in size, but the three children were definitely decreasing in energy. Just as Sora had re-fought his way over to Riku the two heard a very shrill scream. Riku looked at Sora nervously.
"Why aren't you guarding her?"
"Cause I thought you needed help!"
"Does it look like I need help?"
"Yes."
"Shut up!" Riku began to try to fight his way back to Kairi but a heartless tripped him and he went under. The darkness was trying to swallow him but he kept slashing and slashing. Soon he heard another scream.
"SORA! KAIRI!" He screamed. He kept trying to fight but the heartless just kept coming. Soon he couldn't see anything and could barely move. "Ok, I have HAD IT!" Riku screamed. He threw the Heartless off and swung his blade as hard and fast as he could. About half the heartless were cleared. Riku stood there stunned. "Ok, how'd I do that?" He asked looking down at his blade. He smirked manically and swung again, and again and again. Each blast more powerful and more devastating than the last. Soon all the heartless were cleared.
"Whoo! Beat that Sora!" He said. Then he began to turn in circles. "Sora? Sora! Oh no…" He turned to the shelter. "Kairi? Sora? KAIRI!" Riku looked around devastated. Then he felt a tug on his pants. He looked down into the big yellow eyes of a small shadow. The shadow raised a unsteady finger and pointed to the shelter. Riku cocked his head. "Oh no…"
He bent down beside the shadow. "You're not going to try to steal my heart are you? Sora?" The shadow's antenna twitched and it pointed to the ground about twenty feet away. There on the ground lay the Keyblade. Riku scratched his head.
"You need the Keyblade? Sora, it's not going to do you any good! You're a Heartless now, its impossible to change someone back. You know that." Riku said sadly. "I guess Kairi's a heartless too, huh?" The Heartless looked up at him wordlessly. He pointed at the Keyblade again. Riku sighed and held up his hands in defeat. "Fine, you win! I'll get it for you." Riku walked over and picked the weapon up. He walked back over and held it at arms length. The Heartless hissed and recoiled at it.
"What? You wanted it!" Riku said holding it closer. The thing hissed again and batted at it.
"Don't you start this with me, Sora. You wanted it!" Riku pushed it forward and the thing sank into the heartless's chest as it were made of butter. Riku let go and leapt back in surprise. The weapon remained in its chest and the Heartless looked down at it as if it were nothing. It hissed once and made a turning motion with its hands. Riku walked up and took the handle. The Heartless continued to make the turning motion with it's hands, and Riku finally caught on. He turned the keyblade until he heard a loud "Click!" Then light began to spew forth from the end of the Keyblade, and Riku's hands flew to his face to block the light. Soon the entire wasteland, or at least as far as the naked eye could see, was engulfed in a horribly bright light. Riku dropped to his knees groping around trying to find Sora. Soon he found Sora's figure and pulled it towards him. It wasn't a Heartless any more. It was Sora, human Sora.
Riku clutched his best friend's shoulders tightly until the light died down. Hestood up shakily, leaving Sora still on the floor. He looked down at him slowly and then back to the shelter. Maybe Kairi was all right too. Sora sat up drowsily.
"What happened?"
"I really don't know." Riku said shaking his head. He pulled his best friend to his feet. "C'mon we gotta go find Kairi!" He said pulling him towards the shelter. Kairi was on the floor surrounded by Heartless.
"Get away from her!" Sora yelled rushing at them. With a quick swipe of the Keyblade the Heartless were cleared. Riku breathed a sigh of relief and walked over to his friend who was relentlessly shaking Kairi.
"Kairi! Kairi! Open your eyes!"
"Do you think she lost her heart?" Riku asked.
"No! She couldn't have! She's still Kairi! Kairi!" Sora shook his friend some more and Riku put a hand on his shoulder.
"We have to go! Who knows when that Axel guy will come back?" Riku said. "C'mon you get Kairi, we're going home."
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The sun beat down on the two's already sweaty faces. Riku was carrying Kairi on his back and Sora was leaning on his shoulder.
"It's so hot…" Sora complained.
"Don't worry. It's almost nightfall." He said sliding under the shade of a rock. He began to cough feebly while holding Kairi over his lap. His vision began to blur as he felt Sora fall against his shoulder. Everything was getting hazy and Sora's body heat was starting to invade his own. Riku coughed some more and tried to reach for the canteen that was strapped to his waist but his arms failed him halfway there. Riku's vision was almost gone when he saw three hazy figures approaching them from the horizon.
"H-hel-lp…" Riku tried to choke out before his vision was lost completely.
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"Sora? Sora, come on wake up!" Sora groggily opened his eyes to see Kairi hovering above him.
"Kairi? I'm so glad you're ok! I'd thought you'd lost your heart…" Sora said squinting.
"Kairi?" The girl said. "Kairi's in the other room. Are you ok?"
Sora shook his head to see that it wasn't Kairi standing over him, but Yuffie. "Yuffie? What are you doing out here?" Sora asked her.
"Out here? Are you dehydrated? Do you need more water? Some food?" Yuffie asked placing a hand on Sora's forehead.
"Out here! In the wasteland!" Sora exclaimed.
"Wasteland? You're not in the wasteland, you're back home." She said motioning around him. "Well, almost. You're in the castle, which is… kind of like home… I guess." Yuffie said putting a finger to her lips.
"In the castle? When'd we get here?"
"When Leon found you out in the Wasteland and brought you back." Yuffie exclaimed sitting down beside him on the bed. "Man, you were in bad shape when they found you." She said shaking her finger.
"Where's Riku?"
"In the room next to this one." She said pointing to the door. "Don't worry he's fine."
"That's good." Sora said settling back into the bed.
"What did you say about Kairi losing her heart?"
Sora's eyes widened.
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"KAIRI!"
"Sora, please, go back to bed! You're not better yet!" Yuffie was tugging on Sora's arm. Sora was currently trying to escape from the room to go to see Kairi.
"No, you don't understand! I need to find Kairi!" He said tugging.
"She's here! Its okay Sora, I promise!" Yuffie said tugging. Sora yanked his arm away and jolted for the door. The door opened in his face and he fell back on the floor. Leon stood over him with a stern look on his face.
"What's going on?" He asked. Yuffie stood up from the floor, where she had fallen when Sora had jerked his arm away.
"Well you see Leon, Sora here was… uh…"
Sora stood up. "I need to see Kairi! I need to see her now! Let me--" Sora fell to the ground in a coughing fit, he curled into a fetal position trying to stop the spasms from rocketing through his body.
"You are not going to see any one. You're too sick." Leon said reaching down the put the boy back into bed.
"I'm not sick! Just a little dehydrated… I just need to drink something." Sora said pushing the older man's arm away. "I'll be fine!" Sora snapped.
"You're not fine. I don't know what it was, but you probably ate something poisonous. Riku's having similar symptoms. You are going back to bed now." Leon said reaching down again. Sora once again pushed his hand away.
"I'm telling you I'm fine--"He went into another coughing fit.
"And I'm telling you, no you're not! Get back in bed now, or I'll make you." Leon said.
"No! I have to see Kairi!"
"Ugh!" Leon grabbed Sora's collar and pulled him up so he could lift him off the ground, over his shoulder and back into bed.
"Stay." Yuffie said poking his head to the pillow when he tried to sit back up.
"Thank you Yuffie, but I have this under control."
Yuffie shrugged. "Whatever you say, boss-man." She said sitting in the corner. Leon groaned and stuck a finger in Sora's face.
"I don't care if I have to tie you down-- you are staying in bed until you get better." He said. "Yuffie, make sure he stays in bed."
"Oh so now you need my help. I see how it is."
"Yuffie, please."
"Well since you said please… I guess I could help you out!" Yuffie said crossing her arms. Suddenly the door opened and Aerith appeared.
"Leon! Riku ran away again!"
"Ugh! Again? Fine I'm coming. You stay!" Leon said pointing at Sora as he ran out of the room.
Aerith watched him go. "Hey Sora, how are you feeling?"
"Fine! I'm telling you I'm not sick!" Sora said trying to sit up before Yuffie pushed him back down.
"I have permission to tie you up you know." Yuffie said pointing.
"I don't think that will be necessary." Aerith said interlacing her fingers. "Sora, you're a sensible person who listens to rules, aren't you?" She smiled.
"Yeah right!" Yuffie laughed. "If he listened to rules, he wouldn't have been banished!"
"Not helping." Aerith pointed out. Sora groaned.
"Ok, now I don't feel too good."