Heyy, I updated sooner this time! Ive been in the writing mood, so you guys are lucky. That, and this is coming to a close in a short time...Anyway, here is the latest installment of Plum Wings, it's kind of short and may be a bit boring, but just deal with it, you'll be itching for the next chapter. 3

I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

PLUM WINGS & A MIDNIGHT DIRGE - RISKY

Ever since the night Demyx cried and I was unable to help him, and even a few days previous to that event, I had been thinking about how low our rate of survival really was. At first, we were fine. We could have lasted a long while like that. But at that point, the winter nights hadnt become apparent. Now that they had...well, let's just say I was growing increasingly comfortable with my mortality, considering how likely it was that I was going to perish.

But it was harder than I thought it would have been to even try to address Demyx about that fact. I had tried, but I could not bring myself to say anything about it until he ended up saying something to bring my mind back to the subject once more. So, I just had to come out and tell him. And, that is exactly what I did.

"I do not think we are going to survive for more than two weeks, Demyx." He had been watching me tell him reason after reason why, and I finally locked eyes with him. His mouth was slightly agape in what could only be thought of as surprise or shock. Slowly, he turned his head away and was looking ahead of him with a dead stare. His face killed me. I felt a pang in my heart, imagining what it was like for someone as sensitive as Demyx to have to deal with such a sufferable death...

"But, Zexion...isn't there any way, any way, to get out of here...?" His voice was trembling, with a hint of laughter in it to try and hide the fact of his fear. I only sighed, shaking my head.

"The only way is incredibly dangerous. And only you would be able to do it," Just then his eyes lit up and he shot his gaze at me.

"Tell me," He demanded. I shook my head.

"No," I said in a near whisper. I did not want him to get hurt. That was the last thing I wanted.

"You have to tell me," I was quiet for a moment. Then I looked at him, and his eyes told me all that needed to be said. He was going to get out of this place, and he was willing to do anything. I only put my hand over my eyes, not believing that I was about to tell him what to do. It was mindless when I said it, I couldnt hear myself speak. I blocked it out, hoping that because I couldnt hear myself, he wouldnt be able to, either. Of course, that was a childish hope.

"Is that all? That's easy!"

"No, Demyx. It's not..." My mind was realing with the possibilities of error, injury, imobility, fatality. And each one involved Demyx. If he were to fall, one of three things could happen.

One, he could fall and nothing but a few bruises would be there, nothing too big and it could be ignored.

"Yeah it is, Zexion. You've gotta trust me, I can do it!"

"Demyx, you don't understand the gravity of what could happen if you can't."

Two, if he fell, he would land the wrong way and either sprain, severely injure, or break a bone, the both of us would be out of commission to do anything to get us out of where we were, more than likely leading to eventual death.

"Don't be so negative. I can start in the morning, preparing stuff..."

And three, if he were to fall land in a certain way on a tree like I had with my arm...

"By God, Demyx, you're so bullheaded...!"

He could die.

But that did not stop him. Because the next morning he was awake before me, examining the trees and the cliffside we fell down. I couldnt stop him.

Hell, I couldn't even bring myself to say that he could die. He should have known what could happen. He's not the smartest kid you'll meet, but he was a pretty clever guy. Im sure he knew...in fact, I am almost positive that he knew, but he didnt want to face it the way I did.

"Demyx, are you sure you know what you are doing?" He was up in the trees, and how he got up there, I have no idea. But, there he was, like a monkey in a tree, weaving grasses, twigs, leaves, and whatever else he could find together to make a long rope-like thing. He must have been up for longer than I originally thought, based on how long he had managed to make this rope already.

"Of course I do!" He slung the rope over a thick branch, and eased himself out farther along the branch, putting all of his weight on the rope he made. I winced, thinking it would have broken right away. Surprisingly, it held him for a while. "See, Zexion? I told you I knew-" Just then, the rope snapped and he landed loudly on the ground a few feet below him. It only made those thoughts I had had earlier become more of a reality, seeing what it would look like if he really fell.

"What were you planning to use the rope for, anyway? The cliffside is too high for you to throw it up there and hope to catch it on something, you know."

"I...oh...Im not really sure..." He was slowly getting to his feet, wiping the dirt and grass from his clothes. He looked up at the tree he had fallen out of, probably thinking. But he disappeared a few moments later into the trees close to the cliffside. I followed him, and saw that he was climbing another tall tree. When he got to the top, I saw him extending his foot to touch the side of the cliff, and I felt my heart pound hard against my chest. Dirt was rolling down to the ground, but I could not really see what he was trying to do. My neck got sore after a while of trying to watch Demyx do whatever he was doing, and eventually, I had to sit down, he was taking so long. When he finally came down, he was filthier than normal and had a big smile on his face.

"I know what Im going to do," He said, panting.

"And what might that be?"

"Im going to climb up the cliff, like you said yesterday." I sighed.

"Has it ever occurred to you what would happen if you fell?"

"Well, I haven't really thought about it, no,"

"Dammit, Demyx...I don't want to see you get hurt."

"But you would risk me staying down here and doing nothing to get us out of here before the snow comes, and risk death, instead of probably just a small cut or two? C'mon, Zexion, Ill be fine! I already know how Im gonna do it. When I was up there, I dug out steps in the cliffside so my feet can stay in there, and I made other ones for my hands to hold on to. I figure I can get a whole bunch done in a day, and Ill be up there in no time!"

"Tch," I gave up. I knew there was no reasoning with him if he was already this far into that little plan of his. "Fine," I said after a while. "Then I suggest you get to it today. There are no clouds from what I can see, and if you let those steps go unused for too long they can break. That being said, you also can't make too many trips up those steps. You'll erode them if it takes you too long, which means you have to make serious progress, and should only be going up there three times at most. Understand?"

"Yep,"

"Good. Now, let's find you some food and water. You've got a lot of work to do, today. Ill stay down here and do everything else,"

"Okay, sounds good, let's get started!"

So, I set out in a part of the revine neither of us had really gone to, and I went pretty deep inside. I was picking the greenest and best leaves I could find from the trees, there was a certain tree I had found that had wonderfully soft leaves, and I picked as many of those as I could reach. When I brought them back for Demyx to try, it was like he was in heaven. Well, the closest thing to heaven he could get down here.

"These are so good!" He was smiling and eating them like they were going out of style. I had a small smile across my face, but I soon got up to look for water and wander around for a bit. There was really nothing else to do, at the time.

For hours, Demyx was up in the tree, making progress with his steps. I didn't see him again until it was dark under the trees, and when he finally came down he said the sun had almost set all of the way, and how he wished I could have seen it.

"How many steps do you think you made?" I asked.

"I counted twenty, I didnt want to stop at an uneven number, it would have made things harder,"

"Good thinking, Demyx. Maybe you really do have a brain somewhere in that head of your's,"

"Heyy!" He sounded offended but I only chuckled. I knew he was faking, he was never a good actor.

"How many more steps do you think you'll need before you get close to the top, hm?" When I asked him this, I could tell that my voice was rather upset, because even though twenty steps sounded like a lot of progress, the revine was deeper than anyone really thought. I dreaded hearing his answer.

"I guess somewhere around...geez, I dunno. But I need a lot more than I thought..."

"I see," We were quiet for a moment. I was thinking about a way to make the process go a little faster, and even though it was not much, I came up with a little time saver. "Demyx, in the mornings, whenever one of us wakes up, we have to awaken the other. Then, we go out early and find as many leaves and things for you to eat, so you have plenty of energy to make those steps. And while you're up there doing that, I will be down here figuring out a way to gather good amounts of water. I have a new weaving idea that I want to try."

And the next day we did just what I had said. I was the first to wake, and as I had said before I woke him up right then and there. And right away, we went in different directions in search of the best leaves we could find. When we came back, we had a very nice amount. One could almost say we had a feast, but leaves are less filling than one may think.

When Demyx was finished eating, he went right to his tree and began working on the steps.

"My everyday goal is at least twenty steps! And I won't come down until I have at least that!" He disappeared into the treetops again, and soon dirt began to fall. I left him there as I had before, praying he would be alright. But I had my own things to tend to, and it would take me a long time, considering I still had a broken arm. You really have no idea how painful it is not to be able to move your most dominant arm, and if you do, just how agonizing it is. Every time I felt that pang, I couldnt help but wish we could escape the revine.

Each night, we asked each other about our progress. Demyx was making an average of twenty-six steps everyday, which was actually starting to worry me, because I knew he was getting higher and higher. I thank God that he is not afraid of heights. Meanwhile, I kept creating different designs and styles of baskets from leaves and sticks to try and collect water. The first one fell apart when I tested it, as did my second and third one. There was so much room for error, I did not get a working basket until my sixth try.

But even with my eventual basket success, I could not stop thinking about Demyx, climbing little by little up the cliff. He came back on the second day with a sunburn, but for once he made no complaints. It took five days for Demyx to have any sort of real confidence about reaching the top, which was a whole lot more time than I wished had gone by. I was only hoping that the bottom steps were not getting too messed up or broken up in any way. If he fell, it would be a nightmare...

"Zexion!" He called my name one day, and I got up from another basket and went over to his normal tree. He was in the midst of coming down, but I could not see his expression too well.

"What is it?" He jumped down and landed strongly on the ground, panting and covered with dirt, as usual.

"I can make it up there, to the top, tomorrow!" He was telling me this between breaths, he was so tired.

"How many more steps do you think it is?"

"I dunno, maybe only uh, ten more or something around there," His face showed excitement, but I had a few more questions to consider before I got my hopes up.

"What has the weather been like up there these past few days?"

"Um, yesterday it was sunny with a lot of wind, and today it was the same. The wind was a little colder, though." I nodded.

"Hm. Alright. I guess that's fine. Come on, we should get to bed. If what you say is correct, you have a big day ahead of you tomorrow, Demyx. When you complete those steps, do not come back down to tell me. Run right into the school and tell them what happened on your way back. Alright?" He smiled and nodded. That night, we had another one of those more personal conversations.

"Zexion?"

"Hm?" It was dark out, and the full moon was hovering in the gap in the canopy above. It was the only beautiful thing about the entire experience, seeing the moon.

"Why do you care so much about me?" That question...it caught me off guard. Demyx never asked those kinds of questions so seriously.

"What do you mean? Why wouldnt I care about you?"

"Well, I was thinking...and, like...you're always so worried about me, mostly just these past few weeks. I was wondering if it's only because you like me,"

"No, it's not."

"It's not? Then why?"

"I have told you before. You are my only friend, and at this time in my life, I would rather not lose the only important person to me. Down here, we have to watch out for one another. Hasnt the world taught you that, yet? People will always be there to knock you down...and you've always got to have that one friend who is there lending a hand to help you back up, whether or not they are put in danger..." After a while, I had lost my train of thought, and I found myself ranting on. I did not mean to do it, but when I saw the look on Demyx's face, I knew it was alright.

"Alright..."

"Demyx, I have something to ask you,"

"Yeah?"

"When you get out of here, tomorrow," I started, "what will you do? I mean, when you reach the top of the cliff and see the bright sun and everything familiar again, what do you think will happen?"

"Well, the first thing Im gonna do is get back to the school as fast as I can, because you're still gonna be stuck down here and we need to get you out, so Im gonna go to the office and explain everything. We'll have you out in no time!"

"That...isnt really what I meant."

"Then, what do you mean?"

"Its...kind of hard to explain. I can't really say it any better than I did previously," I was quiet, then closed my eyes for sleep. "Just, get some sleep. You've got your work cut out for you, tomorrow. We cannot afford any more days,"

"Right...well, goodnight, Zexion."

"Night, Demyx. See you in the morning."