ShadowedDarkness: I am awesome, therefore I have brought you knew chapter! MOOO-HAAA!
Riku: ((whisper to Sora)) she's doing it again.
Sora: Sorry. I gave her candy today…
Riku: ((Rolls eyes))
ShadowedDarkness: ((Continues her rambling of nonsense in the corner of the room))
Riku: yup, okay. Heather owns absolutely nothing so no one can sue. If you sued, all you would get was a couple of pennies and some pocket lint.
Sora: Yuppers. Well, on with the story!
Memory
It was dark, something I had grown accustomed to when I actually fell asleep, there was no light. Everything was pulled into a dark void. Nothing existed, nothing mattered. In fact, I no longer mattered, not here any way. This was the feeling that overwhelmed my senses. I wasn't really here.
But that wasn't right. Darkness can't exist without light. Right? As is light without darkness cannot be. So there has to be some type of light. Some form…
Eyes widening, I tried to sit up. I was here, here was a place! I was jerked back downwards by something that bound my wrists. The binding digging into my skin, pulling me back with twice as much force as I had lifted myself. Grunting, I pulled my wrist upward, only to have it slammed back down.
And then there was laughter. I knew this sound. I heard it before. I know I had. Frustrated, I shook my head. But it wasn't coming; nothing was coming to me, nothing…
"A meaningless effort."
…except…
"One who knows nothing, can understand nothing."
…I know it…
"Tied to the darkness."
Crying out I shook my head. His voice was hypnotic in itself, but the words scared me. They threatened to unlock something that lay buried deep inside, long forgotten. I wanted to remember. I did. His voice interrupted all train of thought, but his words stirred something new…
"Soon to be completely eclipsed…"
…something that screamed dangerous…
Shivering I tried to pull my head away from the voice. That sound. I had wanted to remember, but now I wasn't so sure. Now, I was holding myself back. My past threatened to spill forth, threatened to break the damn, the wall that had been placed there. I had worked so hard to break it myself, and now that it was happening, I was having second thoughts.
"There is so much to learn, you understand so little."
Biting my lip I tried to scream 'stop', but nothing came out.
"A meaningless effort."
Those words told me exactly what I already knew. Everything I tried to do here, it was meaningless. Lying still, I tried to calm myself down. The feeling grew inside my chest. I vaguely understood that that feeling was panic.
"One who knows nothing, can understand nothing."
I already knew this though. I didn't understand. I wanted too, but that didn't mean I didn't understand other things to come. I could understand, I could. But, maybe this was too much, too much to take in at one time. I wanted to remember bit by bit. Gradually… all at the same time might be a little overwhelming.
"The heart will return to darkness whence it came."
I felt an icy chill at these words, almost like a hand had run across my cheek. But it was gone as soon as it came. That coldness, that emptiness. It was the starting point of this void.
"Darkness is life's true essence…"
The voice faded off, the darkness gradually pulling away as did the panic. It deflated like a balloon. I hadn't noticed how suffocated I was until the veil was lifted. The cold shifting to another point in time. But the words echoed around my mind. The heart will return to darkness whence it came? Darkness is life's true essence? But…that can't be right. That can't be right only because the voice said it that way, so cold. The voice had been devoid of all feeling, all hope had been replaced by something almost vile as he spoke. Like a feeling of dread, the calm before the storm. Something was wrong; something was going to happen…
That's when I realized the atmosphere had shifted.
I was floating? No…I was falling. Falling through water, falling quickly, the light from above steadily fading…
Jerking upwards I gasped. That was…weird…
Staring at the soft red glow from the digital alarm clock, I let my mind go blank. For the first time, I could remember a dream, and suddenly I didn't want to. I had almost remembered everything, I had almost understood. But I panicked?
Looking at the alarm clock, I blanched. It read 10:30…
That means…
"HEY SORA!" Came the muffled yell from outside. Glancing out of my window, conveniently placed right above my bed, I saw that Riku was standing there and waiting on the sidewalk with a very happy looking red head. Kairi.
"WAKE UP YOU LAZY BUM!"
Jerking out of my bed I quickly turned on the light. Hold up…it was still dark. But it was ten, almost the afternoon. How could it still be dark out? Jumping back onto my bed, I leaned over and pushed up the heavy window. It was definitely dark. What the hell? Leaning over I called out of my window. "What's going on? Why's it still dark out?"
Smirking, Riku just shook his head. "Don't worry 'bout it!" he called upward. "The storm is going to pass right over us. There's only going to be a little rain, so we can still go to the island. I don't think you'll mind the rain that much though…"
Blushing, I pulled away from the window. I forgot he knew me as the lunatic who dances in the rain. How I forgot that is beyond me. Quickly I pulled on my favorite hoodie. It's black and on the very back is a rose that's enclosed inside of a broken, bleeding heart with an arrow piercing its side. There's a ribbon attached to the arrow, and on top of the left side of the heart is a purple butterfly. But what got me was the saying. It read 'Happy Endings' in red crooked letters. Pulling on a pair of blood red shorts (you know, the ones that go past your knees…) and jamming my feet into a pair of black sneakers, I ran for the front door.
"Bye mom! Going out! Be back soon!" I yelled as I ran out of the door.
Running towards Riku and Kairi, The chains attached to my shorts clinking as I ran, I skidded to a halt.
"Well it's about time." Kairi sighed dramatically.
Grinning sheepishly, I shook my head. "Sorry, slept in late…" Saying that felt weird. I haven't slept well in so long that it was just kind of odd to say. Riku just smirked and nodded. "Yeah well, don't do it again Sora. Got it?" He teased, one finger poking my nose as he said 'got it'.
Swiping at his hand and blushing, I nodded. "Yeah yeah."
"Well, let's go then!" Kairi giggled pulling my wrist. I was suddenly doing this weird jog/trip thing to keep up with her while Riku laughed and quickly pulled into a jog beside us. Usually keeping up with someone is easier then this, but...yeah, I guess it's because she's pulling my wrist. Maybe that's why my mom could never keep up with me whenever I did this to her when I was younger…
Well, that solved one mystery of my early childhood…
Kairi suddenly stopped, letting go of my wrist and doubling over to catch her breath. Laughing she just gave me and Riku a mock glare. "Ya ya ya. Why do you guys have to be in such good shape?" Standing up she poked my in the stomach. "I don't get it, you're scrawny."
"Hey!" I cried indignantly, fending off the offending figure. I think I was just majorly insulted there. Blow to the ego much?
Riku just sort of stood there watching the little exchange with me and Kairi with amusement. Grabbing Riku I hid behind him and stuck out my tongue from around his waist at the-still-trying-to-attack-me-with-her-finger Kairi. Looking up at him I gave him the puppy dog eyes that no one can resist. "You don't think I'm scrawny do you?"
Pulling away from my grasp, he spun around and gave me a scrutinizing look. "You know, Kairi….I think you got a point."
Kairi burst into laughter. Blushing madly I cried. "Hey!"
"Alright. Fine, no more picking on him Kairi." Giggling she nodded. Right. I feel loved. We walked a short distance till we reached a small beach. A dock was on the far left and it held a series of small wooden boats. And that was exactly where we were headed.
"We'll help you build a boat of your own, for now you can come in a boat with me." Riku said gently, placing a hand on my shoulder and guiding me towards one of the boats. Nodding, I blushed at the hand that held firmly on my right shoulder. I know that we just met, but he seemed to get me all flustered with the simplest of actions. For example, the hand that was still on my shoulder.
Sitting on the wooden seat, thing, in the boat, Riku untied it from the dock and pushed the boat out some ways before hopping in himself. Grabbing the oars he started to row to this 'mysterious' island. I couldn't wait to get there! I was thinking about it all night until I fell asleep.
The boat made a 'thunk' sound as it hit up against another dock. Blinking and shaking myself out of my thoughts, I stared. Only word that came to mind was-"Wow…"
"Yup. It's pretty cool. No grown-ups are allowed on this island. It was dubbed the kids island a long time ago, before we were born. It's the official kid hang out for generations. We have all these things here. Over there-" he pointed to an island that stuck way up out of the water and was attached to the one I was just about to get on. "-that is my island." Looking up confused, he just laughed. "That's what everyone calls it 'cause if you can't find me, it's usually because I'm over there on that tree."
"Yup. He's always there." Jumping, I turned to see Kairi on the dock in front of me, a smile dancing across her face.
"WOAH! Don't do that!"
Giggling, she shook her head. "Well, get out of Riku's boat and we'll give you the grand tour of this place."
Smiling, I nodded. "That would be nice."
And they did. They showed me every nook and cranny of the island, even places they never showed any one else except for each other. That's when I realized how close they were. They truly were just like brother and sister…just like Kairi had said. And they were letting me into that tight knit circle of friendship that they had. I felt…moved…
"And this, this is the secret place." Kairi announced, leading me through a tunnel, that had been hidden by foliage, into a large cave like structure. Looking around, noticing all the pictures on the wall, I instantly fell in love. "We call it the secret place, but it's not much of a secret unless you're new to the island, or you're a grown-up. They never found this place, this was our own discovery."
"Yeah. All of the kids that are old enough on the island that live over here and don't think it's stupid come over here to hang out."
Twirling in a circle, I spotted the hole in the top of the ceiling and looked up at the dark clouds floating by. "This is sooooooooo awesome!" Looking back down, I noticed something that seemed way out of place. Taking a few steps forward, I realized what it was. "What's a door doing in here?" I wondered out loud, lifting one hand to run my hand against its smooth wooden surface. It honestly looked fairly new…
"Oh that? We really don't know. Nobody knows how it got in this place and the door is locked. It doesn't move or open up into anything. We once had a big hunt trying to find a key to open it…" Kairi said, walking over to stand next to me, her own hand coming up to trace its outline. "It's the wonder of the island."
Riku nodded. "Our best guess is that there's just a rock behind that thing." Shrugging he placed his hands behind his head. "It's nothing of too importance." Glancing down at his watch, he sighed. "Hey Kairi, don't you have to go home at 3:30?"
"Yeah? Why?" She asked, hand dropping from the door to turn and face her silver haired companion.
"Oh, no reason…" He shrugged, one hand waving through the air to brush off his earlier statement. "You just have exactly one minute to get there…"
"WHAT!" Kairi spun around and waved over her shoulder. "OH MY GOD! I GOTTA GO! BYE RIKU! SORA! WE'LL HANG OUT AGAIN SOMETIME!" She cried, already out of sight and completely out of the secret place.
"Oh, okay. Bye Kairi." Looking around the cave again, I smiled. This place was definitely awesome. I wasn't aware of Riku staring at me until five minutes later. Blushing, I met his gaze, only to look away at its sheer intensity. What was this feeling?
"You know. You really shouldn't hide your eyes like that."
I felt his hand suddenly lift my chin to meet his gaze. I couldn't look away. When did he get so close? Hadn't he been on the complete opposite side of the cave? His eyes were ablaze with there own fire, a passion that hadn't been there a few moments ago. His hand no longer rested under my chin, but traced the outline of it. His smooth hand was pulling itself gently across my cheek and the pads of his fingers brushed up against my lips. Leaning into the touch, I bit the inside of my lip. My stomach felt as though it was doing back flips and electric shocks seemed to flow from his touch.
And suddenly, it was gone…
A sound of frustration escaped my lips before I could stop it. Blushing, I opened my eyes. I hadn't realized that I had closed them in the first place.
"Don't hide your eyes Sora." He whispered softly.
I just nodded numbly. "O-okay…"
I watched as Riku slowly made his way out of the secret place. Silver hair flashed through-out the dim place. "It's about to rain soon. I'll wait for you in the boat."
I nodded, yeah. I don't now how long I stood there, my thoughts swirled confusingly through my brain. The only thing I could come up with was 'what just happened here?'
ShadowedDarkness: how was that? Better? Worse? I dunno, I think all my writing is bad, comment and tell.
Sora: Please? ((gives irresistible puppy eyes)) oh, and thanks for reviewing! ((waves))