Bait, Chapter 25

Riku crossed his arms and shielded his face from the worst of the impact. The spell was powerful enough to knock him off his feet, as he felt the heat of the flames sear into his arms and chest, to be doused almost instantly by a deep but soothing chill.

Sora had cast blizzard over Riku to keep the burns from progressing, and immediately leapt on Lea, punching every exposed inch of him he could find while screaming at him about why he should have been listening to that lecture instead of sitting there muttering curses at his teacher.

Kairi had gotten up from where Riku pushed her and ran to his side with a cry. He had lowered his arms and Kairi was relieved to see that he was still conscious and alert. His arms did not guard his face from the full impact, and she could see some minor burns and scorch marks on his cheeks.

The rest of his upper body had borne the worst of the damage. The skin on his arms had turned bright red and had a shiny, blistered appearance, and she could see the same injuries through the holes the flames had burned in his tunic. He was clearly in pain, wincing with each intake of breath, tears running down his face from the effort of not letting Kairi watch him suffer.

"Will you two IMBECILES stop fighting and get Master Yen Sid down here, quickly!" Lea and Sora looked up, both of them sporting bloody noses, and the younger boy ran out of the courtyard as fast as his legs could carry him. Lea looked over to the scene before him, feelings of guilt swimming through his head. He had done this to Riku.

"See? This... is why... control... is important..." Riku admonished Lea between gasps.

"Try not to talk..." Lea said through gritted teeth. He went to the fountain they were near and filled a basin that had been sitting at it's edge with clean water from one of the jets. Going back to Riku, he slowly lathed it over the burns. The boy sighed, the cool water was soothing against his burning skin.

Sora returned with Yen Sid in tow. The old man was at Riku's side immediately, using a combination of Curaga and Blizzard to treat the burns. They all looked on with a mixture of awe and revulsion as new skin formed everywhere the wizard's hand touched, and after several minutes the only evidence of Lea's blunder were the scorched holes in Riku's clothing. Turning his attention off his charge, Yen Sid looked at Lea with a searing expression.

"I think several of us have tried to impress upon you four keyblade wielders how dangerous the magic arts are. Magic is not a toy or an ability to boast about! What if your spell had backfired worse than it just did? You could have killed everyone in this castle! I think a night of forced confinement might be necessary to make you see the seriousness of your actions..."

"Don't master! I think he's been punished enough already..." Riku exclaimed- noticing the bloody nose Lea still had from when Sora attacked him. Yen Sid just waved his hand and continued.

"And as for you Sora, I think some psychological training might be in order. Losing control of your temper like that can be dangerous in the wrong situation. Just think of how you lost control of your anger as well as your magic when you last fought Xigbar..." Sora hung his head, both in shame and because he didn't want to have any thoughts of Xigbar after what he did to Riku.

"Yes, that would be wise. It wouldn't do well to lose control and be killed. Not when you have other plans..."

End of Chapter 25.

A.N. The chapter's called "Burning admonishments..." pretty bad pun huh? Ok, anyone who's seen "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" scene in "Fantasia" knows how scary Yen Sid can be in his wrath. I wanted to get a moment of that in, because in Kingdom Hearts he comes across as more of a harmless mentor type- kinda boring! Also, many of you can already guess what these "Other plans" of Sora's are- the seed has been planted so to speak. The vengeance quest will begin within the next few chapters... Keep your eyes open!
~Jade