Authors Note: Aahh, it's been too long, hasn't it? I'm trying my best to speed up, but college is a BIG time drag this year round. So much work means little 'me' time, and even less thinkin time.
Chapter 22: Race Against Time
Riku and Cloud had a stroke of luck while they were on their way out. A big meeting was going on in the centre of the palace, meaning none of the guards were around (The captain was sure their captives wouldn't break out) to stop them. They quickly zipped across the corridor to another door.
"You got any idea where we're going?" Cloud asked Riku.
"Of course not! But we have to hurry and find an exit, sitting here will solve nothing." He replied, in a whispering tone but clearly annoyed.
They slowly opened the door, discovering they had found the Emperor's Chamber. Luckily, though, they were on the 2nd floor and the guards were only posted up on the lower floors.
"Out of the frying pan, eh?" Riku said.
"I think something's going on. Let's see if we can hear what they're saying" Cloud said.
"Maybe we could if you'd be quiet!" Riku whispered loudly.
"Says you…"
They crouched down to listen in on the conversation. Speaking were the Emperor, his captain, and Mulan and Shang.
"…so they have been caught?" Shang asked.
"Yes, they are in the prison. We will decide what to do with them in the morning." The emperor replied.
"Sir, if I may ask…"
"Yes, Shang?"
"Are we absolutely sure that it was only the people you've caught? I mean, what if there are more?"
"There aren't any. I am sure of it. That will be all, I presume?"
"Yes, sir."
"Then you are dismissed."
As Shang and Mulan walked away, a cloaked man walked hastily towards the emperor. He stopped at the front of his chair, and whispered something into his ear. It was incoherent to Riku and Cloud.
"If only we had Sora or Sophie with us, maybe we could hear what they're saying…" Riku said, disappointed.
As the hooded man walked away, the emperor visibly grew agitated. He had an angry expression on his face. He immediately got up and faced his captain, giving him orders.
"I want the guards ready. If they are coming here to fight, then so be it. But we will not lose China this early in the game! GO! NOW!"
Before the emperor had even finished his sentence, the captain was dashing for the barracks, knowing what was coming.
Unfortunately, Riku and Cloud thought this meant that they knew they had escaped. Stupidly, they ran across the balcony, alerting a nearby guard who was in the opposite corridor.
"Hey you! Stop!" the guard said as he chased them.
"There aren't any other doors up here that aren't locked, Cloud!" Riku shouted.
"Well then screw the doors!" Cloud shouted back.
And without thinking, they jumped through the window, all the way down to the ground.
Or at least they should have. Instead they landed on a massive pile of soft snow. It still hurt like hell, but at least they hadn't killed themselves from the jump.
"Ouch, let's never do that again…" Riku said.
But as Cloud lifted his eyes to what stood ahead of him…
"Don't think we'll get that chance anyway…"
Surrounding them were 5 vampires, dressed in similar clothing to the guards, but where the colour should have been, there was nothing but black and grey.
But before they could even think about it, several blades shot through the vampires, killing them all instantly. The blades were actually silver daggers, and behind the vampires stood a lone person. Wearing an unzipped black coat and underneath, a dark red shirt covering his upper body. Around his neck, he wore a necklace with a cross on it, indicating he was a Christian. Lower down he wore tight black trousers and heavy cargo boots.
"Come on!" He shouted. Before they could ask, he saw several other guards taken out, disintegrate into ash. Others were subdued, Riku guessed that they were human and as such were being protected from the oncoming battle.
"What in god's name is going on?" Riku shouted.
"Haven't you heard? It's a battle, now come on!"
"No, wait! We have friends, still in the prison!"
"Ok then, let's move!" Without hesitation, they bolted for the jail, as the battle quickly became full-scale. Screams were heard. Some gunshots rang. The guards were so desperate to hold the line; they didn't take notice of Riku, Cloud or the man helping them. Because of this, they were easily able to get in the prison, and there lay Sora and Sophie, both happy to see their friends.
"You two get them to the ship, I'll defend us!" The man called to them as he stood at the door, and unleashed his weapon.
And to Riku's utter surprise, he too had a Keyblade.
"You got em?" He said to them.
"Yeah, let's get moving!" Riku said.
The battle made it hard for them to find a path through without getting in the way of anyone. A few guards broke lines to attack them, but the man held them off. It seemed like the man knew where he was going: out of the city. Away from the battle that raged on. A voice in Riku's head pleaded with him to turn back and help the people, but he didn't obey. He continued to run, Sora slung on his back.
Suddenly, the man stopped.
"Why are we stopping here?"
He stayed silent for a few seconds.
"We have company."
Time seemed to stand still as the y stood still. The man edged forward, barely enough to move him. Suddenly and without warning, he jumped back and chucked his Keyblade forward. As this happened, someone jumped out of the snow, deflecting the blade.
"The captain… You guys go, I got this."
"But-"
"Your friends need more attention than this, just go!" He raised his Keyblade, similar to Sora's it had reappeared in his hand. "And the name is Kaine, by the way." He said nothing more as he ran forward to combat his foe.
Riku didn't hold any longer and started running again, towards the hills where their escape lay.
Meanwhile, Kaine prepared to battle his opponent.
"You are in my way, boy. I will not let a little ass who wields a fancy key better me in a battle!" the captain announced, proud and cocky.
"We'll see. Just keep acting smart. It'll get you nowhere." Kaine replied.
Riku and Cloud did not hear anything else except the clashing of a blade against metal armour. He assumed that because he hadn't see the captain draw a weapon, he was fighting hand to hand. But that wasn't the main thing on his mind right now. What mattered was getting out of here. He felt guilt for leaving China in danger, but he knew he could do nothing.
When they reached the Gummi, Sora fell to the ground exhausted, but his friends didn't notice, still running for the ship. He struggled to get back to his feet, but then the sight behind him put a look of terror on his face.
The sun was rising.
Fearing the inevitable, he screamed as he fell off the rock he had fallen on hurting his leg and slowing him down. His friends heard it and realised Sora had fallen behind.
"Sora! What are you doing? Get in, quick! The sun is up!" Riku shouted at Sora. But he hadn't seen Sora's fall, and Sora was running out of what little energy he had left finding it hard to stand.
Quickly, the line of the sun raced towards Sora's position as he crawled towards the ship. 'He's not gonna make it!' Riku realised as he jumped out of the ship and ran for Sora. But he was too late, the sun making contact with Sora as it began to burn him alive. Sora first felt this by throwing up blood, indicating signs of internal damage. Just what had than man done to him? It wasn't important as he continued to crawl towards the ship, feeling his last ounce of energy drip away as he fell into the snow, moaning in pain as his back begun to smoke. It was on fire.
Riku finally reached Sora and grabbed him, but his back was badly damaged and sensitive, causing him to scream in pain as Riku picked him up and ran for the ship.
"Don't look at the light, Sora! Don't look!" Riku shouted, beginning to cry at the damage that was being done to Sora's back… that he was only making worse. Making a mad dash for the ship he quickly got in and raced for the back room and closed the door behind him. Collapsing on his knees with Sora falling in front of him. Sophie who was in the room rushed over and pulled Riku away.
"Get out of here, I'll help him!" Sophie ordered. Riku was frantic and bewildered at his friend nearly dying, but went for the door and carefully made sure not to get too much sunlight in the room. Luckily he didn't get either of them harmed.
"Okay, Sora, I need you to stay with me, you can pull through this." She took off his upper body clothing and checked his back. The burning had stopped, but blood was everywhere. Sora was hit bad. From what she could tell, Riku had gripped him too hard, causing blood to rush to the open wounds.
"You'll be fine Sora I just need to clean your wounds so you don't get too badly scarred…"
In the control room, Riku went straight for the controls to get them out of there, only to notice that they were already lifting off. Cloud was at the controls.
"You know how to fly a Gummi?" Riku asked, tears still in his eyes.
"No, but I can get auto-pilot running. So until Sora wakes up, we can't go anywhere new. We best go back to Hollow Bastion."
"I'm up for that. L-let's just get out of here…"
As the ship geared up and they began to lift off, Riku took one last look at what they were leaving behind. He felt so guilty. He could only hope that whoever was invading had good cause, and most importantly, that Sora would heal. He sat down in a seat in the back, bursting into tears.
Cloud turned around to check on Riku, hearing his sobs. 'Man, poor guy. I hope Sora's alright…'
The ship blasted off and in 5 seconds, they lost sight of the Land Of Dragons.
An Hour Later – Gummi Ship
Sora slowly woke up and scanned the area around him, realising he was back in the ship. He felt a slight pain in his head and his back, but other than that he felt his strength slowly return to him. He looked around and saw Sophie wasn't in the room. He decided to go to the front deck. In the control room, Riku was sleeping in the chair next to him. He also noticed Sophie was standing at the front of the ship, watching what lay ahead of them, and in the co-pilots seat was Cloud, also sleeping.
Before he could say anything however, Sophie turned around and put a finger to her lips, indicating he should be quiet and let them sleep. She leaned forward towards him and whispered in his ear:
"I drip fed you some blood earlier while you slept. You kept having spasms in your sleep, but I knew you'd be fine."
Spasms? Man, he knew he was a heavy sleeper, but…
Suddenly and without warning, the ship rumbled violently, throwing Sora out of his chair and sending Sophie hurling onto the floor. Riku woke up and realised something was terribly wrong. Rushing to the controls, he looked at the damage and realised someone had shot their engine.
"We're going down! And fast! Buckle up!"
End Chapter
Authors Note: Again, I deeply apologise for the wait.
Disclaimer: I don't own KH or FF. I do however, own Sophie. Kaine belongs to KHfanatic a.k.a. Tuba Bean.