After a few hours of mindless conversation and few laughs the Lady Light was drowned in a tense silence. The only sound that could be heard apart from the dull, lull of the ship's engines was the loud, obnoxious snores of Sora, Donald and Goofy.
Azami had turned on the autopilot and was choosing to relax for a while. She had hoped to get a few hours of shut eye but with the loud snoring coming from the back of the ship it seemed like an impossible task. Sighing under her breath she looked out the corner of her eye towards the silent teen beside her.
He didn't seem to be bothered by the quiet and Azami was reluctant to interrupt his peace for she wanted to avoid an argument. Sagging her shoulders dejectedly, she turned her attention away from the boy and out the front window once more.
"Are you just as bored as I am?" Riku spoke up. His sudden deep voice made the girl jump in shock. She heard the boy chuckle at her response "I take that as a yes."
"How much longer 'til we reach the Castle?" the girl asked, brushing aside her embarrassment.
"About another hour or so," the boy murmured. He lazily kicked up his feet so they laid across the dashboard. "There's nothing to do but listen to those three snore, they make it impossible for me to sleep." Azami chuckled lowly.
"Tell me about it." She sent the boy a small smile only to find his eyes closed. Dropping the gesture she turned her attention back to the window. "Hopefully this hour will pass by quick." Beside her Riku grunted in agreement.
"The King says you and Sora have been fighting the heartless for a while now," Azami said, "must suck to fight this seemingly losing battle." Azami chanced a glance in Riku's direction. When she saw his intense glare focused on the side of her face she immediately looked away.
"You should know better than most, Incomplete," Riku muttered bitterly. "The heartless will never stop coming as long as there is light in our worlds and Sora holds the Keyblade. However, Sora seems to believe that we can win this battle and despite my personal opinions I won't make the same mistake of abandoning my friend again." Azami sat and quietly pondered the boy's words.
Suddenly, something large hit the side of the ship, throwing the occupants of the ship forward.
"What was that?" Riku demanded. He quickly pulled up an image of the outside of the ship and bit back a curse at the scene before him. "We've got heartless, lots of them!"
"Heartless!" Sora exclaimed from somewhere behind Azami and Riku.
"We can't take on that many heartless," Azami growled. She turned the ship off autopilot and pulled back on the steering wheel, slowing the aircraft down. "The only way to make it out of here alive is to shoot our way through the ships blocking our way ahead and put this baby into hyper speed to avoid the ones off to the side and back."
"Everybody strap in," Riku ordered, "looks like we'll be getting to Beast's Castle quicker than expected!"
Flipping on a switch for her guns Azami took aim and began a rapid fire on the enclosing heartless ships ahead. "Riku, tell me when we're cleared for hyper speed, I don't know how much damage those missiles pack but I don't want to take any chances!" The ship shook violently as a missile shot by a heartless ship struck the back of the Lady Light.
"Isn't there something we could do? We're a sitting target!" Donald quacked. Another missile struck the aircraft, this one striking the left side. Azami gritted her teeth, her thumbs turning red from exerting more pressure than necessary on the trigger of the ship's gun.
"Are we cleared, yet!" she asked through clenched teeth. The heartless' missiles were packing more damage than anticipated, a few missiles more and the ship would be unable to fly.
"Give it a few more seconds!" Riku growled. The ship was rocked violently once more by another missile.
"Well, unfortunately for you we don't have a few more seconds!" Slamming her steering wheel forward, Azami smashed the button for hyper speed with her foot.
Instantly the ship lunged forward at a break neck speed and shot passed any opposing heartless gummi ships. At this speed they'd be at Beast's Castle in no time.
Preview:
"The Beast doesn't like Christmas?" Sora asked. It seemed like the very thought of someone not liking Christmas was appalling to the brunette.
"Let us continue this conversation inside," Bell suggested as she moved past the group. With the help of Riku and Sora, Belle opened the wrought iron gate leading into the courtyard of the castle.