SECONDARYISLAND

Soku stopped her run on the seventh lap of the secondary island. Thinking about all of these new things and people in her life made her almost wish that she could go back early. The boat wouldn't be back for another hour, so even though she was only half way through her usual run, she sat next to the waterfall and stared down at her reflection in the water. She pinned her hair back to run and now looking at her own face, she understood why she used her black hair to cover half her face. There was something... oddly striking about her face. Usually a person's face is different. It has that one thing that makes it that way. Something about her face made her look symmetrical, which was a statistical impossibility. It was unsettling, she decided, and pulled the pins out of her hair so that it fell back in front of her face. The wind blew through the area and the tree above her moved, letting the sun shine down on her and the water pool under her. She looked back to her reflection and something caught her eye. A different angle or a color change that made something stand out. She turned her head toward the ivy on the rock wall behind her and stared at what she couldn't see anymore. If she looked just close enough, she could see the seam.

She pulled the ivy back and sucked in breath, at what she saw. A hole. A hole in the wall, which is not what she was expecting. A cold wind blew out of the small chest height cave entrance and a few ivy strands blew out of her hands and landed on her shoulder. The weight of the ivy pulled at her shoulder and she let that be an excuse to live out her childish desire to explore the strange cave. What did she expect? a wonderful long passage to a secret part of the island? Or maybe a small indent where someone hid their treasures. She shrugged at her own arguments and pulled the ivy back away from the hole. It was in fact a small passage, not just an indent in the rock face. She crouched and slipped past the ivy. So now the question was of the distance she could allow herself to go, before feeling too childish. The ground was hard, no longer sand but rock, and the air inside the cave was thick. She breathed in slowly and tried not to focus on the slight grating the darkness did on her heart. It was only a few feet in before the cave widened and she could stand again. The darkness was larger now and she shivered in the moist, cold air. It was another twenty feet or so before she came to a large opening, no bigger than a small bedroom or parlor, but open. Light emanated from a fungus that covered the walls and she looked around in what she feared was childlike wonder. The walls of the cave were covered in drawings. They were simple children's scribbling but they told a story. That was when it happened. She felt the moment appear and she let it come over her. The corners of her lips lifted as she stared up at the glowing works of art. the beauty of, not the works, but the feeling behind them filled her up and embraced her. She closed her eyes in the moment and ignored the nagging in the back of her mind. The cave whistled from the slight wind and the glow of the fungus pushed against her closed eyes. The air was calming and cool. It was quiet.

"You should do that more often." came a voice from behind her and before she could stop herself she spun around. Grabbing a wrist and twisting, she spun the person around and pushed their wrist into their backs, eliciting a small intake of breathe before she realized what she had just done and who she had done it to. She released his wrist and took a step back, before trying to spill out an apology.

"I'm sorry," she said with her feet together and her arms folded behind her. "You startled me." she explained as he turned around and gave her a cryptic look; his silver hair fell in his eyes as he rolled his wrist around to pop it.

"You should not do that more often, though." he said in a naturally sarcastic voice. She sighed as he looked her up and down and gave her a questioning look about her posture. Crossing her arms in front of herself and sticking one of her feet out, she mimicked his look.

"I should do what more often? " she said, not taking her eyes of the boy, even as he looked away from her and slowly made his way to a wall of the cave and trailing a hand over a picture on the wall of two people and what looked like a shooting star. His eyes were intense and she wondered if it was him that had drawn one or all of those pictures. There were tens of pictures on the walls, all in different styles and obviously drawn by many people, but he was obviously intent of paying attention to this one.

"smile." he said, and for a minute, this word didn't make sense to her. She was paying so much attention to were his attention was that she didn't actually grasp what she was asking him. Riku looked back to her and made a point to smile in her direction. She rolled her eyes and turned away from him. Heat flooded her cheeks and she was suddenly and primarily glad that it was dark. He laughed, behind her and she looked back. He was leaning against the wall and looking at her again, this time his attention was painfully directed to her whole being. She didn't visibly squirm under his gaze but felt her fingers twitching. She replayed the last few minutes and thoughts flooded her mind. Riku was in the cave, looking around before her. She had somehow taken surprise by him and put him into a situation that he couldn't get out of. He had laughed and smiled like it was nothing to him, but she still felt like it might have been just as hard for him as it was for her. He was just stronger. She grimaced. There it was again. She felt it again. Being weak hit a nerve. She felt fear in dark spaces and when put into uncomfortable situations. Why did her weakness mean so much to her and why did she want to hide it so much? She looked him in the eyes and she let herself shiver, if only in an attempt at defying who she didn't want to end up being. He smiled and gestured out of the cave. When she refused to move, he went ahead. He walked on without looking back. He may not have had complete faith in her strength, but he already had the impression that she could take care of herself. In those moments, when she followed after him a yard or two, she prayed that he was right.


Ooooooooo~ intriguing. Maybe a hint of love interest? hmmmm I wonder- Tell me what you think! I'd be glad to hear criticisms along with compliments, or even just suggestions. Thanks for reading!