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Oathkeeper

Chapter Two: Awakening

Whatever had traumatized Sora refused to leave him alone, even a week afterward. True, he was no longer breaking down and crying, like he had done for the second and final time for his parents, who were more confused then Riku or Kairi. However, he was jittery in a way that suggested paranoia. And points toward paranoia were proven when he tried to sleep over with, or have over Riku as often as he could. He had asked once if he could do the same with Kairi, however that was met with blatent refusal for a few reasons. The first was obvious. She was a girl. He and Riku were boys. Experiements may or may not have happened, and they had not yet made them conditioned against any and all thoughts of sex as of yet. The second reason, was Kairi herself.

Kairi had literally appeared out of nowhere one day. The mayor had looked away from a place on the street for little more then a second, and then when he looked back, a girl of about nine years was standing there wearing something like an expensive dress. Something you would expect a princess to be wearing.

At the time of her appearence, there had been a festival hapening in the town, and naturally the mayor had to be there. Seeing Kairi in all her splendor, looking around confused as she was, he concluded that she may be a part of something happening on the stage in front. People were already being seated, so he took the girl's hand, told her to follow, and lead her towards the back of the stage to help her find her place. When he presented her however, the manager of the upcomming preformance didn't recognise her at all. She wasn't really suposed to be there at all. And poor Kairi hadn't said a single word yet, looking positively baffled with just everything she saw.

The first word she spoke was her name when asked. And that seemed to be the only information she could provide. If she was to be believed, she had absolutely no memory of before she 'appeared' on the sidewalk near the mayor. She couldn't remember her parents, her home, and she knew absolutely nothing of where she was. Normally any sort of girl of her age in situations like this, resorted to crying. She however, remained silent and calmly observed the goings on around her with an air of fasination. She spoke softly and politely when spoken to, and said nothing otherwise, when they were trying to make sense of her.

It was during one of these intervals that two boys walking through the crowd in search of a snack stand caught sight of her, and instantly became infatuated. Both stood in silent awe, unable to say anything at all until she turned and noticed their wide eyed stares. She was taller then both, as girls were at that age. Half her head's height over the one with spiky hair. The other, she was almost eye level with. The taller boy, with lavender hair falling just above his shoulders came to himself first, and introduced himself as Riku. He then had to nudge Sora in the side before he could stammer out his name as well. She laughed, though still looking curious as all heck. What she did next almost shocked Sora into a coma. She wondered about his hair, how it defied all known physics as it did. So naturally, she walked up and started fiddling with it lightly, in an examination. Somehow, the spikes as they were, weren't all rough like she had expected. Riku almost doubled over, remembering how he had done the exact same thing when the two had met a couple of years ago, while Sora simply stood there, shaking like a leaf.

A minute or two of this passed, before she remembered that what she had done was quite rude. She stepped back flustered, before appologizing and giving her name, finally. Now that the two boys had a name for her, it was a simple matter of asking her to spend the day with them. She gave a glance back at the group of adults, still debating on what to do with the girl, before accepting, eager to see more of them and this place she was now in. And so, they resumed their quest for a snack stand, with another kid in tow. And the two boys walked all the prouder, because they were the escorts for a princess.

It was a half hour before the concerned adults had realized the mysterious girl had gone. Mild panic ensued. If the children were still around, the wouldn't have stopped laughing for a while.

It was several hours later by the light of the setting sun that they found three giggling children sitting on a beach next to the remains of three baskets of nachos. The three were dirty, sweaty, and laughing as loudly as they could. However, in her ruined dress, Kairi laughed the loudest of all. She was placed in an orphanage and none claimed her for the next two weeks. After that, she was free for adoption, though still none claimed her. So at that orphenage she remained for three months, shunned for her unique circumstance, before the mayor himself took pity on the girl he had discovered and took her home.

It was a pity that Sora's parents had such a limited view. They saw nothing of the kind of girl Kairi was, or how tragic her story might have been from certain angles. When Sora asked about her spending the night, they forgot anything of friendship. All they knew was that at the aproximate age of nine years, she was found without any sort of family. She was taken in by a widower mayor, despite the respect he garnered at the time. She did not have a proper upbringing, so she was dangerous. Sora could spend time with her, but of course he couldn't ever persue anything past their current relationship, because she was a red haired trollop waiting to happen. Her circumstance made that obvious to them. And of course, despite Sora's current state, an attempt at Kairi was exactly what this was to them.

General paranoia aside, everybody was more stumped with Sora's aparent attack then they were when Kairi appeared out of nowhere. Somehow he had sustained multiple lacerations, the worst of which were on his upper back. Those ones there were sustained through his shirt, and if anyone else on the island (meaning Wakka, Tidus, Selphie, Kairi, and Riku) were to be believed, he also sustained these injurys alone, asleep, and undisturbed for a while. Nothing had attacked him, and nobody could find out what had happened from the victim himself, because for day they found him, and the day following, he was a quivering wreck. After that, Sora had time to think coherently and realized that telling them about his dream would be unwise. He simply claimed unawareness of everything. Later he told Riku and Kairi, the former's eyes rising in suprise, before he began to ask several detailed questions. When Kairi inquired as to where these came from, Riku coughed, and said he was curious.

Through the two following weeks, Sora had been getting minimal amounts of sleep. And it gave an unreadable feeling to his two friends when they observed that Sora, the boy who slept at least eleven hours a day, all at once turned into an insomniac. Kairi used to catch him napping all the time. Now she was scolding him, telling him that he should sleep more because this was very unhealthy for him. And the result was, Sora still avoided sleep.

It was almost as if he physically couldn't stand the thought. He didn't turn to coffee (because the last time Riku had gotten him to try it, it was horrible for him) or sugar, or any sort of stimulant. He simply got on average, two hours every night, and he was on the verge of colapsing. When he inevitably did, he slept for a record breaking seven hours and twenty three minutes, tossing and turning in the thuroughs of some nightmare. But none woke him, because restless as it was, it was what he needed most.

The night after, Sora's unconcious terrors came true. He was as well rested as he could be, so he decided to watch the storm that was now terrorizing their island. Black clouds thundered, promised wrath from the heavens but did not offer rain.It was then, in her white and red coat that Kairi was seen running down the street to the docks. From there, it would be a simple matter to take a canoe to the island, where there was currently a storm.

Kairi was in danger. Sora didn't hesitate to jump out his window to the tree next to his house, climb down, and persue the girl. Moments after he was out of ear shot, his mother called him down for dinner. They didn't know that the last time he was seen on this world, was him asking to see Kairi for the night. They would never know.

The water was strangely calm, as Sora paddled his way to their favorite place. However as soon as he stepped off the boat, the wind picked up, and was blowing fiercely. Lightning rumbled in the clouds. Something terrible was going to happen. He had to grab Kairi and get the hell out of- wait, Riku came too? Indeed, it seemed he did. He stood at the edge of a small cliff overlooking the ocean, a circle of land with a short drop to water. They always used to swordfight there, but, why was Riku there, just... standing?
"Riku! Are you insane?! We need to grab Kairi and get out of here!"
"Oh, Sora, it's good you're here."
"Huh?" Riku was as calm as could be as he turned slowly to face him.
"I really wouldn't want to leave you behind. Or Kairi, you said she was here? Great, it saves us all time."
"Riku, there is a storm! Where the heck could we possibly go from here? We need to find shelter and wait it-"
"Sora, this is not a storm. This, is a new beginning. We will see other worlds, things that nobody has seen before. We'll see it together, won't we? You'll come?"
"I'll go anywhere you want, but we have to get Kairi and get out of-"
"Kairi is coming with us!" He yelled, ending Sora's talking. "We are all leaving this dying world. And we'll be happy, we will." He paused. "We are friends, right? Will you trust me?"
"... Of course I trust you. But we aren't safe here... we need to-"
"Yeah, we do. Take my hand Sora. We'll go together." Sora stared at Riku's out-stretched hand, unsure of what to make of everything that was happening. The things Riku was saying... but, he trusted Riku. So he took the boy's hand. Riku grinned.

Darkness pooled around the feet of the two boys, and Sora once again found himself being slowly pulled under into the cold, oily darkness. Panic overtook him, and he began to struggle. Riku held fast to Sora's hand.
"Sora, I know you're scared, but you must accept it! Your heart will survive it, I'll make sure!"
"No! Riku, this is wrong, you have to see it! You don't know-"
"I do know Sora! I know that it's nothing to be afraid of! Conquer it!"
"Riku, I can't! It just isn't right, let me go!"
"Accept the darkness!" Riku pleaded.
"NO!" A flash of light, blinding Sora as Riku let go of his hand. Still though, Sora clutched something. An unusual weight. Then his vision cleared.

Seriously, that which he now held looked like some sort of weapon, but one that would be seen on children's cartoon on Saturday morning. In his fist was a black handle, with a yellow guard that was shaped like a ring, encompassing it. A silver pole, with teeth at the end, like those of a key. It had the shape of a sword, but it looked like it could cut butter only with dificulty. Now, why had this appeared?

Keyblade...

Oh, wonderful. The voice was back. The voice that brought the terrible things, and turned him into a half crazy wreck for the better part of two weeks. And it called this a blade? Blades cut. He could brain something with it he supposed but...-
"Scree!" Oh no. Oh Gods no. He knew what that was. That unmistakable cry of one of the shadows, about to attack. He spun around, leading with what had been dubbed a keyblade, and sliced through one as it lept at his neck. Two more lept, and his swordarm almost moved on it's own. He knew how to fight these things, and it showed. They were cut quickly, and Sora looked around in alarm for more. Then he ran, in an aimless direction as questions assulted him, each more pressing then the last. Where did Riku go? Why were the shadows here? How the hell was he cutting them with this... toy? And... wait, where was Kairi!? Riku said she was coming too, but then, Riku was sucked down into darkness. Kairi was in trouble!
"Over my dead body! KAIRI! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Frantically, he searched the island, cutting through the creatures as if they weren't even there. Riku was safe it seemed, but Kairi sure was not. He had an intention, a goal. These things would not deter him.

Quickly, his search took him to a cave. A confined enterence, but he had a quick break in attacks, so it would be now, or never... He slipped inside, and there in her white coat tembled the goal he had set. But she didn't hear his cry. She instead stood, shaking, observing a robed and hooded man. His hood was not completely over his face, but yet, it was concealed as if there was a vast black space contained within. Kairi voiced a question, most likely on who he was, and why he was here. His presence sent a cold chill up Sora's spine. He answered in a chilling voice.

"I have come to see the door to this world." And that was all he offered. There was a large wooden door behind him, if one could call it that. It appeared ornate, though there was no nob or handle for it. Weren't doors suposed to be openable? Was that even a word...? Sora spoke up.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"One who knows nothing, can understand nothing." The last word was spoken harshly, as if he were a teacher telling a student that his efforts were completely futile. Sora could say nothing to this. Kairi was the same. The man, satisfied that he got his point across, it seemed, turned back to the 'door' as it was named. "Now, through here... the heart..." Heart, was enounciated as if he were describing something delicious. Something he hungered for. He raised a hand, obscured by his robe's sleeve, and laid it on the polished wood surface. The door screamed as it vanished, and a shockwave blew violently from it. Sora was unaffected, and stood there as Kairi was lifted off her feet and thrown backwards at him. Sora took a better stance to catch her, and braced himself. And was shocked speechless as her form passed right through him. He felt a burst of warmth, something wonderful, but then, when he turned to find Kairi, she had flown out the cave enterence, now considerably larger for some reason. Everything began to shake, and the man in his brown robe that hid everything he was, stepped into a dark corridor that the door had once barred. And a cave wall replaced the enterence as if it never existed. The cave began to colapse in on itself, and Sora barely managed to get outside. And there...

A gigantic shadowy titan threw it's head back and roared in triumph. It's sinister form had haunted Sora's nightmares since it had first devoured him. And now, it was devouring his home, perhaps his friends. It would not.
'IT WILL NOT!' Engraged at this creature's trespass, Sora charged into battle, fear forgotten. He would guard those close to him from this threat without hesitation. There simply was no other way.

It was such a pity that his world was devoured in the end, after a show of such bravery.