Hi. Yeah, I'm not dead. Just been super busy with midterms and school and my latest addiction, the show Heroes. I feel like it's been a month since I last updated, andI feel bad. But hopefully, you guys don't kill me, cuz I proudly (and finally) present, chapter 26!
Remembering Those Good Ol' Fishing Trips
The first thing Sora did upon returning to camp was erect a shrine in honor of Axel and Marluxia.
"I still remember all of the good things we did together…" he sniffed.
"Oh, great. I sense a flashback coming." Vexen said.
--Flashback--
Axel and Sora were trekking through the dense foliage on a hunt.
"What were we hunting again, Axel?" Sora asked the redhead.
"How many times do I have to tell you? We're hunting iguanas!" Axel replied.
"Oh, really? I love iguanas!" Sora exclaimed.
Axel hushed the boy and pointed directly in front of them. On a low hanging tree branch, an iguana was sitting and basking in a beam of sunlight.
"We'll sneak up on it when I count to three, okay?" Axel whispered. Then he looked to where Sora was, only to find that the boy was gone. He looked around frantically, only to realize that Sora had already approached the iguana. "What are you doing, you bonehead?!" he half whispered, half shouted. (how can you do that?)
"Look, Axel! It's not afraid of me!" Sora said happily as he extended his arm and the iguana climbed onto it.
"Huh?" Axel watched the reptile's odd behavior.
"Isn't she cute? I think I'll name her Juana. Juana the iguana." Sora declared.
"That is pretty weird." Axel said as he approached the two.
Juana hissed at the sight of the Nobody and jumped off of Sora's arm, then scampered away into the forest.
"Juana! Noooooooo!" Sora cried piteously.
"Get over her, little buddy. There are plenty more fish in the sea. Or should I say iguanas in the forest?" Axel said, not able to contain a chuckle.
"That's not funny, Axel! Sora shouted, wiping tears off of his face. "Juana was special!"
"You're right. Let us take a moment to pray for Juana to have a happy life." Axel said, closing his eyes. When he opened them, Sora was nowhere to be seen.
"Sora?" he called, looking around. He spotted the boy a few yards away, staring at a tree frog in fascination.
"Look, Axel! I think I'm gonna name him Freddie G.!" the Keyblade Master shouted.
Axel slapped his hand to his forehead.
--End Flashback--
"Those were great times…" Sora said sadly.
"What about Marluxia? Does anyone have any fond memories of him?" Riku asked.
The group was silent in deep thought.
"I've got one…oh, wait, never mind." Kairi said. More deep thought.
"I think I might have one." Cloud said quietly.
--Flashback--
Cloud was doing his usual morning regiment of lifting a tree trunk for exercise when Marluxia crossed his path.
"Don't you have better things to be doing aside from proving your masculinity?" the Graceful Assassin asked.
"Nope." Cloud replied.
"Oh. Have fun with that." Marluxia said. And he walked away.
--End Flashback--
"You call that a fond memory?" Demyx asked. Cloud shrugged and went to find something to eat.
"I've got the mother of all fond memories!" Sora exclaimed, jumping up from his seat.
--Flashback--
"Hey, Marluxia! Can you give me a piggy back ride?" Sora asked.
"Why would I want to do that?" the Nobody asked without looking away from watering his plants.
"Because I hear it is really good for your skin complexion." the boy explained.
"Oh. Well in that case, hop on!" Marluxia said.
"Yipee!" Sora squealed as he climbed on the man's back. Marluxia began to run around the camp with Sora yelling happily from his perch on the Graceful Assassin's back.
"Is my complexion getting any better?" he asked.
"Oh, that? I think that might only work if you give me a piggy back ride while wearing face cream." Sora said.
Marluxia immediately stopped and straightened out. Sora fell from his back and landed with a thump on the sand.
"Ow! What was that for?" he asked.
"You tricked me!" Marluxia wailed. Then he promptly ran off to huddle next to his flowers. "You guys would never betray me, would you?" he asked of them.
"Of course we wouldn't!" the flowers replied in high shrill voices. Little did Marluxia know, the flowers were secretly plotting a way to escape to Antarctica without him…
--End Flashback--
"I for one have had enough reminiscing about lost team members." Xigbar said.
"Yes. The losers will stay gone, so there is no sense in despairing over their loss." Zexion said rationally.
"That's true." Riku said, nodding in agreement.
"That's great and all, but I think Sora's already gotten bored with reminiscing." Kairi said, pointing to the Keyblade Master, who was currently trying his hand at fishing without using a fishing pole or a spear. Instead, he was using his bare hands.
"Is that kid retarded? He'll never catch anything like that!" Xigbar said.
"I wouldn't be too sure." Zexion said.
"Why would you say that?"
"Because anytime there is a slim chance of something like that happening in this story, it happens." the stoic man replied.
"You've got a good point." Xigbar admitted.
And, just as Zexion predicted, within moments, Sora had caught himself a little fishie. The boy stared at the flailing blue fish intently.
After several moments of thoughtful contemplation, he shouted out, "Hey! This fish looks just like Riku!"
"What?" the silver haired teen asked in confusion. He looked over Sora's shoulder and examined said fish. "It looks nothing like me." he said indignantly.
"Yeahuh! See, he even has the same eyebrows!" Sora defended, pointing at the fish.
"Fish don't even have eyebrows!" Riku retorted.
"Nonbeliever." Sora muttered with a pout. He turned to the fish and stroked it lovingly. "I'll name you Riku Jr., okay?"
The fish in question seemed to have given up hope for escaping, and simply lolled around in the enthusiastic boy's hands.
"Glad to hear you agree!"
"I hate to break this to you, but Riku junior, as you so lovingly call him, is a she. Not to mention, she is going to die soon without any water." Zexion said as he passed to pick up an angry looking clam.
Sora gasped and frantically dug a burrow in the sand and filled it with water. He placed the blue fish into the basin, then turned toward his silver haired best friend.
"Riku…does this mean you're a girl?" he asked tentatively.
"What?! Just because that damn fish is a girl, doesn't mean I am!" he shouted, disturbed.
"Are you sure about that?" Xigbar asked suspiciously.
"Of course!" Riku said, beginning to blush. He knew from the expressions on their faces that they were scrutinizing him and trying to imagine him as someone of the opposite sex. Judging from their hysterical laughter, it was an extremely amusing image.
All of a sudden, a huge wave washed something huge and orange ashore. As the tide receded, Riku Jr. escaped with the water.
"Riku juniorrrrrrrr!" Sora cried, trying to dive into the water and retrieve the fish.
"No, don't! It's suicide!" Demyx exclaimed while holding back the scrambling boy.
As for the orange item that washed ashore, upon closer inspection, it was revealed to be a motorized lifeboat.
Nearly everyone had a heart attack upon realizing this.
"Does this mean we can escape?" Kairi asked faintly.
"Yes! Let's go! Hop aboard everyone--except you, Tom Hanks! You stay here!" Xigbar said threateningly to a scraggly looking person. The poor castaway actor man sighed and threw his volleyball, Wilson, to the ground then walked away to be emo.
As soon as everyone was aboard the boat, they turned the motor on and began to speed away.
"Freedom!" they chorused exuberantly.
"Um, so where are we going?" Vexen inquired.
"And who's steering?" Kairi asked.
They all turned around and saw that the boat was steering itself. An automated voice box activated and Ansem's voice rung out:
"Fellow contestants, this boat will be escorting you to the location for your next challenge--be prepared, for it will be challenging!" With that, the voice box faded.
Everyone's hearts sank like stones--with the exception of the Nobodies who don't have hearts. Let's just say they dropped little pebbles out of their pockets in a symbolic way.
The next chapter will probably show on the radar in a week and a half--if you want it any sooner, then I suggest REVIEWING!!! -
ttfn!