A/N: So, I can't help but feel guilty about that last chapter. It was dull and lifeless and yes… it definitely lacked in action. Basically it was filler, and that is what fillers do.
So here's how this chapter is going to work… there will be three preliminary battles that I actually write and each one will be from the POV of a different person (Sora, Riku, and Kairi) and they will each have a different theme of sorts… I originally wanted to do one for Shai too… but I decided that after four pages of no dialogue, you guys might get kind of bored of the writing style…. I know the heartless teams don't sound that difficult, but it was kind of hard to work that part in and still keep the theme idea alive…
Hope this update makes up for the last! Happy reading….
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THE PRELIMINARIES
YellowEyes
Yellow eyes. No less than a hundred yellow eyes, each pair accompanied with black dancing antennas that probed the air, searching for prey. Sickly and blank, no emotion betrayed in the golden yellow eyes that stared at him from across the arena. Eyes that had stalked Sora senseless on more than one occasion, desperately groping for his beating heart in their bloodlust craze. Eyes that once chilled him to the bone and haunted his dreams now set his senses afire and ironically had even become a part of him. The high that he got off of those sickly yellow eyes invigorated his entire being, heightening his reflexes to the point that he thought he might literally jump out of his skin.
When the flag dropped in the middle of the dirt arena signaling the start of the battle, Sora was gripping the hilt of Oathkeeper so tight that he deprived his fingertips of vital blood flow and they tingled from the ischemia. Or perhaps… they tingled from something other than their need for oxygen…
Was it possible that Sora's fingers were itching for a battle so badly that he could physically feel their pleading underneath his fingerless gloves? Or, maybe something else was itching for battle…
Sora's shadowy reflection shown ominously in sickly yellow eyes as his Oathkeeper sliced through the first Shadow, sending puffs of black smoke and ash to mark where it once stood, those yellow eyes being the last feature to dissolve into thin air as the Shadow dissipated around them. Sora smirked to his dark reflection as the pair of yellow eyes finally vanished in the haze of smoke.
Around him, Sora's friends and teammates were too busy with their own pairs of yellow eyes to notice the out-of-place smile that accompanied each swing of Sora's Keyblade. The Oathkeeper felt light in his palm and he swung it skillfully, vanquishing Shadows right and left with the silver blade. The way he was slicing through yellow eyes with Oathkeeper, no bystander would realize how much he missed the powerful energy that flowed through him with the Keyblade of Hearts.
Sora quickly realized that where one pair of yellow eyes would fall, two more pairs were quickly reborn from the ashes. It seemed his efforts were in vain as the yellow eyes quickly doubled in numbers around them. But, he continued to slice through shadowy flesh, Oathkeeper ripping through the Shadows like butter. As the sea of yellow eyes slowly decreased in numbers, Sora could almost see their first victory of the day on the edge of his periphery and it sent his smile to widen on his face. It was a minor battle, only against Shadow Heartless, but it was a victory no less. And as the last pair of yellow eyes dissolved into an ashy grave, Sora twirled his blade in his fingers, realizing that their tingling had subdued ever so slightly.
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Breath
Breath. Her fiery breath was what fueled her assertion, and as Kairi breathed in the dust filled air, the smell of blood and sweat wrinkled her nose and gagged the back of her throat. The arena pulsated with the thousands of live spectators, each there to see the show… the delicate balance between life and fatality. Inevitably, one team would cross that line and fall into the depths of nothingness and one team would straddle that line to the dirt, victorious. The prize? Your life… the opportunity to continue existence, to continue breathing. Inhale. Exhale.
The arena was still; the sound of her steady breathing the only break in the silence around her as spectators and contestants alike held their breath in steady apprehension, readily awaiting the start of the battle. As the flag signaled the start of the fight, the stands roared to life and weapons were drawn as Heartless danced to life. Kairi's breath came in even paced rhythms that coincided perfectly with each swing of her colorful Keyblade, the large Neo-Shadows and Wight Knights dispelling ruefully under her blade with each flawlessly timed breath. Inhale. Exhale.
The longer she gripped the hilt of her colorful Keyblade, the more her confidence grew. Her attacks were fluid and controlled, like her breath, and the Keyblade swung around her in a blur of color as it slashed through Heartless insignia. Her breath filled her lungs before traveling through her muscles and bursting out of the end of her Keyblade in a wave of force and energy, each breath exploding from her core in an attack. As her breath increased under the exertion, her attacks increased in intensity until each swing contacted with the shadowy flesh of a Neo-Shadow or the tattered wrappings of a Wight Knight's mummified exterior.
As her breath increased in rate and depth, Kairi could feel her strength waning with each movement. Her stamina diminished and when the long sharp claws of a Wight Knight pierced the skin across her shoulder blade, she sucked in a sharp breath in pain before the Oathkeeper sliced through the Knight's midsection, sending it to the sky in long smoky tendrils. She turned to Sora, a 'thank you' etched into her fierce expression, before drawing a deep breath in relief.
It wasn't long until the last Neo-Shadow that had yet to have fallen was under the blade of Kairi's colorful weapon. She glared at it through thick dark lashes as it bounced nimbly in front of her, its long black claws twitching at its sides. She closed her eyes as she drew a deep breath and lunged her Keyblade forward, using her breath to propel the blade through the Neo-Shadow. She opened her eyes as the Heartless' dance suddenly paused and it plunged across the line between life and death. She smirked ever so slightly as it drew its last breath before vanishing in a puff of black smoke that curled towards the sky in vain. The stadium roared in approving applause as her friends around her danced and cheered in victory. She smiled to herself and closed her eyes, the only sound reaching her being the sound of her own breath. Inhale. Exhale.
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Blood
Blood. Dark and viscous, flowing richly… Supplying life, yet signifying death. Blood stained the dirt floor under Riku's feet with tales of heroism and slaughter, seeping and mixing into the gritty sand in sticky pools that clung to the soles of his shoes. The second day of preliminaries was barely half way over and already enough blood had been spilt to forever stain the Coliseum battle ground. Victory and defeat: that was the story that was told in the ageless scarlet sands…
As the flag dropped, the Way to Dawn materialized at Riku's side, its power seeping into his palm and coursing through the blood in his veins. The dozen of Large Bodies and Fat Bandits waddling towards him and his friends caused him to tighten his grip on the hilt of his weapon in anticipation as he glared through long silver bangs. As Way to Dawn ricocheted off the front of the first Large Body, he grit his teeth and dodged a fire ball spat out from the Fat Bandit next to it. His blood boiled at each attempt to break the impenetrable force field that seemed to surround each oversized Heartless. Frustration turned to anger and anger to fury as Way to Dawn bounced off their bellies harmlessly, no blood drawn from his futile attempts.
Another roll to dodge a shower of flames set Riku facing the back of one very large and agitated Fat Bandit. His blood flowed with new vigor and he sneered graciously as his blade sliced through the back of the Heartless, dismissing it in a puff of smoke. His victory, however, was short lived as he was knocked to the ground with a strong blow to the back of his head.
He groaned as he pushed himself to his feet and narrowly evaded another large purple fist. He winced as he grabbed at the back of his head and brought his hand back to his face, blood smeared across his fingers and trailing down his wrist in long sticky drips. He glared back at the Large Body that had hit him, the blood on his hands smearing across the hilt of his weapon as he charged at it.
He jumped and pushed off the Large Body's engorged belly to propel him into a back flip that landed him perfectly on the backside of the jumbo Heartless. As the bloodstained blade of Way to Dawn extinguished the Heartless in a cloud of smoke, the veins in Riku's neck pulsated with revenge and he smirked at the vacant spot where the Heartless once stood.
Slowly the Heartless numbers decreased until only one Fat Bandit was left standing. Riku sneered at the beady yellow eyes as the blood on his blade dripped to the ground in long streams. In one fluid movement, he dashed forward, Way to Dawn leaving a trail of crimson in his wake as he closed in on his target. His blood ran cold as a jet of flames and cinders spurted from the Heartless' black mouth and veered straight towards him. A well-timed Blizzaga spell from Oathkeeper doused the flames and also provided enough distraction to allow Riku to dart behind the Fat Bandit. Blood splattered onto Riku's face in tiny scarlet droplets from the hilt of his weapon as he thrust it forward. Victory was assured as Way to Dawn sliced through the last Heartless and the final drops of blood soaked into the arena landscape, the final tale of triumph and fallen for the day etching into the sand along with it.
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Confessions Untold
Sora collapsed. The soft cushion of the firm mattress was soothing against his face as he closed his eyes and relished in the stillness surrounding him. He glanced at his watch, "Almost 10…" he acknowledged out loud to no one in particular since Riku was in the shower and the girls were more than likely collapsed on their own beds in the adjoining room. He grunted as he rolled over on his back, stretching his arms over his head in the process. "Twelve hours of fighting," he moaned as he ended his stretch and let his arms fall back to the bed wearily. It had been a long since Sora had felt this drained after a battle, and the feeling was well earned. Even his Shadow seemed to feel his weariness, as it was completely mute of sarcastic comments at the moment. Sora's exhaustion was accompanied by over a dozen victories in Olympus Coliseum for the day which had earned them the top spot in the semi-finals tomorrow.
Sora lifted his head at the sound of the bathroom door opening and nodded to Riku as he stepped out of the steam, wet hair dripping down his bare chest and soaking into the towel around his waist. (A/N: I now give all Riku fangirls permission to drool…) The purple bruises healing across his arms and chest told of how difficult their rise to the semi-finals had been and they contrasted sharply against his pale skin. But, Riku, being the fierce competitor that he is, had shown no weakness during their battles or afterwards and his aqua eyes still shown brightly with triumph.
"Shower's all yours man," Riku nodded towards the bathroom door. "I'm going to change and head over to meet Shai in the lobby for drinks."
Sora smirked and nodded understandingly as he pulled himself to his feet, "'Drinks'…. Right…."
Riku glared at Sora's shadowy reflection as he turned towards the mirror and started raking his fingers through the tangles in his wet hair. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he grumbled, wincing as his fingers got caught in his hair and pulled at his scalp.
Sora walked to his suit case and pulled out a pair of shorts and a tee shirt. "Nothing, nothing… It's just that you two seem to be spending a lot of time together." He chuckled at Riku's scowl as he struggled with his hair, "You know… I bet if you ask nicely…" he paused to give himself enough time to walk past Riku at the vanity and position himself behind the bathroom door… "…she might even let you borrow her hair brush, I'm sure it's probably pink with little hearts on it…"
"You little…" Riku lunged at the door and Sora laughed as he slammed it shut in his face. "Yeah! You better be glad I can't use the darkness portals anymore or your ass would be toast!" Riku yelled as he punched at the door jokingly.
Sora rolled his eyes as he turned the faucets on to the shower. "Whatever, just go meet your girlfriend, maybe you guys can give each other make-overs!" he yelled through the door, chuckling at his own cleverness as he threw his clothes to a pile in the floor.
"Yeah I'll make you over…"
Sora could barely hear the come back as he stepped under the running water, but he laughed at his friend's defensiveness nonetheless. The hot water did wonders for his sore muscles and he could almost feel the stiffness in them swirl down the drain with the dirty water that was running from his body. Man, I forgot how gross you get after these tournaments…
'You're a damn genius Fuck-up! Who would have thought that you could get dirty from rolling around in dirt and blood all day!?'
And… the return of the Shadow's voice was evidence enough that the hot shower was doing its job. Sora rolled his eyes and mumbled the words that were quickly becoming the most spoken phrase in his vocabulary, "Shut up."
In no less than ten minutes, Sora felt like a brand new man in his clean khaki shorts and dark blue tee shirt as he sprawled back over his bed and flipped on the television. He knew that he had promised to talk to Kairi about what had been going on, but honestly he felt like he needed to give her more time to do whatever the hell it was that girls do when they shower… Plus, he wanted to relax a little before entering another heated conversation with her… Plus, he didn't really know what he was going to say… And most importantly, he was stalling… Hoping that just maybe she would be too tired to remember their little discussion earlier and the whole thing would just blow over…
Knock knock
If only he could be so lucky…
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A/N: Gasp! Who could it be that is knock knocking Sora's door??? Haha It's been a while since I've done a cliffhanger… I just wanted to piss off GTA Guy again. (Hides preemptively from glare of death) lol jk
So, what did you guys think of the themes?? I am positive that I will NOT be doing another chapter like this because it was hard as hell! Made my brain hurt…
So, a little business to take of… I keep getting PMs asking me if that is really a picture of me that is on my profile. And YES of course it is. Why the heck would I put someone else's picture on my profile?? So… stop asking! Arg: )
Ahem… I also have yet ANOTHER story that you guys need to read. It's by ButterscotchNoseAppraiser and it's called "Violence is the Only Answer". It's really good and he definitely isn't getting enough reviews. And my reviewers are the best ever, so I know you guys will show him some love!
Let's see… I think that takes care of that!
Hugs and kisses to all who review and much love!!