Hey all! I wanted to get this updated before its four-year anniversary, and much to my surprise (and yours as well, I'm sure), I managed to do it.
Not much in the way of events happens in this chapter. We meet Copperhead (:DDDD), and get a little insight as to how Falcon's been doing since her parents died, but that's really about it. Oh, and brief Anxclof cameo. But if you can pick out that last one I'll be surprised. xD;
Enjoy!
Disclaimer- I don't own Kingdom Hearts.
"Char!" Riku shouted, for pure horror had etched itself on her face. He could understand at least a little dread – two kinds of special lesser Nobodies meant the presence of two Organization members, not just one, and he knew the identities of who exactly these lesser Nobodies belonged to – but Char seemed almost haunted as she gazed, frozen with fear, at the Avengers and Sorcerers moving toward them.
Like they were associated with a particularly bad memory.
"Snap out of it!" he roared. An instant later, he jolted and let out a cry of surprise as a large shadow Heartless – the one that had dropped into that pool of darkness and disappeared – rematerialized right in front of him and lashed out with sharp talons. Leaping back to avoid anything more than getting his cloak slightly torn, he immediately pressed forward again, slicing deeply down with the Soul Eater. The blow connected, and the Heartless reeled, allowing him to finish it off.
Straightening from where the angle of his last attack had forced him to half-crouch, he glanced around quickly to see how the girls were faring. Much to his relief, it seemed his shouting at Char had snapped her out of her trance, for she was now matching a Heartless blow for blow as it charged at her, claws bared. Just next to the blur of silver swords, Falcon was successfully holding off a Sorcerer, waiting until its pink cubes had lowered from its form before lashing out with her Azure Ice Keyblade and slicing into its flowing form.
Seeing that neither of them needed his help, Riku turned on his heel, only to snarl in shock and pain at the feel of a smooth-textured blade digging shallowly into his arm. All at once, the minor wounds that captain back in the Land of Dragons had inflicted on Riku began to ache again, much to his frustration. I'm used to pain; this is just irritating.
The Avenger looked almost pleased as it continued in its onslaught; it only took a few blows – and an increase of heat rushing to his arm and torso, where its weapon connected with him and tore through the leather Organization cloak – for Riku's reflexes to catch up. He had to hand it to Anxclof for creating a breed of such dangerous lesser Nobodies, one that succeeded both in hurting him and pissing him off.
For all its wits, though, the Soul Eater finished the Avenger within moments. However, almost the instant the Nobody vanished with a sickening squelch, another of its fellows took its place. Riku felt its presence in the sudden influx of cool air created by its blade swinging toward his back, and whirled on his heel to combat it.
As it turned out, though, it had several friends at its side, including a couple of Sorcerers.
"Oh, come on!" he yelled, raising his wing-like sword and parrying the Avenger's own weapon. The resulting contact created a shockwave that reverberated up his arm, but he had only a moment to recover before the Avenger was on its feet again.
He prepared himself to beat it back again, but his fears turned out to be unfounded. "Back off!" a female voice he knew all too well grunted.
A split second later, the Nobodies began to explode one by one, revealing Char hacking her way through. As the last Sorcerer convulsed under her relentless assault before disappearing, the look of anger on her face went with it, replaced by surprise and mild smugness.
Riku allowed himself to relax a little, even as he wondered at her bemusement. It almost looked like she hadn't expected to destroy the Sorcerer so easily. At the same time, though, grudging gratefulness filled him. Forgot what it was like not to have to fight by myself.
"Way to steal my thunder," was all he said aloud, smiling slightly.
Char rolled her eyes, smirking a little as her triumph overtook her strange confusion. "You're welcome, you big baby," she chuckled, falling, for a moment, back into the personality he'd grown accustomed to in Twilight Town. Back before she'd left and changed so much.
If she's changed so much in just a month, he realized suddenly, how deeply have Sora and Kairi changed in a year?
Before he could dwell on the question long enough to push its absurdity aside – they were his friends and always would be, events from a year ago hopefully notwithstanding – Char gasped and nearly shoved past him in her haste to move away. All but stumbling back with the force of her palm, Riku narrowed his eyes, wondering what had had that effect on her.
He didn't have long to ruminate on that, though, because an instant later his curiosity was palliated: Char had spotted a Heartless moving toward Falcon, who fought with her back to it, and had immediately lunged for it.
Only an instant after wondering just when Char had gotten a penchant for not letting others fend for themselves, a ripple of off-white caught his eye and he whirled around to see a Dusk undulating toward him. Relief made his battle-empowered heart slow just a bit – these things were significantly easier to take down than a Sorcerer or an Avenger, after all – but he still refused to let his guard down. Snarling a challenge, he leaped into the fray anew.
Char slashed her way past another Sorcerer, keeping her eye on the dark-haired, black-clad shape and the large Heartless moving toward it. Thankfully the Sorcerer had chosen that moment to allow its pink-cubed shield to drop, so Char batted it aside fairly quickly. Just like earlier, she marveled at the ease with which she fought it back; then again, the day Sora had limped into Merlin's house, terribly injured by these very Nobodies, had taken place two weeks ago and they had all grown stronger since then.
Still… The very revelation that should have given Char peace of mind was eclipsed by the presence of the Avengers, whose tactics and fighting style reminded her all too easily of fierce green-turned-gold eyes and repeated vows of vengeance. Just remembering the day she had almost died at Anxclof's Keyblade made a shudder of fear ripple down Char's spine. That reminds me, she realized, I kind of owe Riku for that, too.
No matter how much it rankled her, she couldn't very well dwell on it; right now, she had to keep that Heartless from goring Falcon's back. A month of fighting while keeping an eye on others had given Char that observation that had clearly eluded Riku until now.
That, or he just knew Falcon could take care of herself.
Char nearly cringed at that belated epiphany, but it was too late for her to change her mind now. She finished off a couple of Dusks with a well-placed series of blows, only sparing a moment to wonder when they had arrived. Just as the Heartless raised its claws, though, Falcon whirled and saw it bearing down on her.
The older girl lifted her Keyblade. Instead of blocking the blow like Char would have, though, she hastily parried the sharp, black talons with her Keyblade, striking the Heartless' forearms and making it draw back.
Char skidded to a clumsy stop, ignoring every fiber of her being that told her to help Falcon; somehow, the look of intense concentration on the other's face told her she wouldn't take too kindly to any assistance.
You're the only one that can fight the Heartless, Riku had said earlier. At the time Char had dismissed that as his just affirming Falcon's destiny as a Keyblade wielder, but now the redhead could see exactly what he had meant. Just like Riku, Falcon had grown used to fighting alone and only looking after herself.
At that moment, an icy blue flash rent the air between Falcon and the Heartless; it yielded to the Blizzaga attack, vanishing in a swirl of darkness that was accompanied by a pink heart floating up where it had been. Watching that, Char felt a burst of fear and nearly opened her mouth to tell Falcon to stop; to tell her just how fighting Heartless would help her and Sora's enemies.
But then Falcon was lowering her Keyblade, whose blunt tip still had a bit of mist clinging to it, with narrowed emerald eyes and a determined set to her jaw. The expression looked disturbingly familiar to Char, but before she could wonder exactly why, the other girl caught sight of her looking on.
"I'm used to this," was all she said, with a very openly bitter smile.
Char blinked a couple of times. "Clearly," she said, raising an eyebrow.
To her credit, Falcon actually spared her a genuinely amused chuckle before turning on her heel and launching herself at an Avenger, Keyblade out. It completed the gesture Char had anticipated earlier and brought up its own weapon to block; the move was so disturbingly Anxclof that nausea suddenly assailed Char and she had to look away.
That decision, born of her own emotions as it was, proved a valid one, for suddenly she found herself the victim of one of the Heartless. Beating it back proved simple enough; but then two more Avengers took its place, accompanied by Dusks that hadn't been there before.
"There's too many of them!" Riku shouted from where he was attacking a Sorcerer. It kept throwing up its shields right before the Soul Eater connected, inducing a snarl of frustration from him.
"Don't look at me; they've never been this bad before," Falcon called back, her voice strained due to throwing herself into a full-on attack on the Avenger.
Just as she fired another ice attack at it, though, a Heartless materialized right next to her and lashed out, slicing deeply into her side. A cry of both pain and shock tore itself free from her, and, holding the afflicted area with one hand, Falcon lunged, Keyblade tearing into the Heartless in a combination of strikes that gave as good as she had gotten.
As the three of them shook off their respective opponents, Char found herself instinctively drawn toward the others; they had apparently had the same idea, for soon she felt Riku's back heat against hers in a pathetic echo of what had happened to her at Hollow Bastion.
Only now Sora, Donald, and Goofy didn't stand at her back, and masses of Heartless and Nobodies alike advanced on them; she couldn't take comfort in knowing she could trust the others to take care of each other.
This is bad.
Riku echoed her thoughts aloud, and although Falcon remained silent, her heavy breathing told Char she agreed more loudly than words ever could have.
And although the battle with the sniping Nobodies in the Land of Dragons hadn't worn too much on Char, it – along with the various injuries yesterday had inflicted on her, such as the laceration on her belly from the virtual world Heartless; some of the more minor ones from the fight with Demyx; and a couple of shallow scratches from all the Heartless in the Great Maw – began to wear on her.
Suddenly, a dark red blur whirled through the air, colliding with the foes before them and knocking them back. Char blinked, feeling Riku's back tense against hers at the new arrival. Not surprisingly, the contact failed to elicit the goosebumps that had risen along her spine when Sora had done the same thing in the Pride Lands.
Her exhaustion slipped in favor of confusion then, and she searched for their savior.
She caught sight of dark gold hair and a long-tailed white coat before the owner of the crimson weapon was off again. He – she? – pursued the Nobodies, dancing around the Dusks' feet and the Avengers' attempts at an honest attack. The series of dodging movements drew the Nobodies close together, and crimson flashed again, sweeping through the foes and making them implode in a series of squelches.
Behind her, Falcon muttered "Oh great," under her breath, the exasperated words audible over her pain-labored panting. Char glanced sharply back, torn between curiosity and irritation at the other girl's words. Having to be saved rankled her a bit as well, admittedly; but she had the common sense not to show it.
Right then, the owner of that red blade came to a halt, and Char got an actual look at the one who had shown up and saved them.
At first she thought Riku had somehow returned to his normal form, so similar was the man in front of them to the dark boy she had come to care about in Twilight Town. However, his hair fell in longer, dirty blonde locks and was pulled back in a messy ponytail; and the eyes he fixed on them were violet, not turquoise. He shifted his weapon in his hands, and Char saw it wasn't a sword; the stranger wielded a scythe, whose shaft, like the hilt of Falcon's Keyblade, carried a series of scratches and nicks that suggested it had seen combat plenty of times.
His gaze swept over the three of them, lingering on a point just next to Char: on the side on which Falcon currently stood.
Maybe it was just Char's imagination, but she thought she felt the older girl stiffen.
"You guys all right?" he asked, only to grunt in surprise as a Heartless latched itself onto his scythe. Grimacing, he shook the weapon a couple of times before finally lifting one foot and just kicking it off; as it fell, he swung the scythe around, successfully impaling the larger shadow Heartless with it and making it vanish. "Geez! Stupid thing."
He glanced around a couple more times before relaxing visibly and letting out a loud sigh. As he approached them, he lifted his scythe so the shaft rested on his shoulders, blade down, and draped one arm over it. "Damn things," he chuckled, completely not looking like he'd just spent the better part of half an hour fighting. "Couldn't stand them three years ago; can't stand them now."
"Thanks, Copperhead," Riku said, sounding a little grudging. He moved away from Char and Falcon, walking a few steps forward before finally halting in front of the other. "We were in a huge bind there."
"Uh, yeah, Riku," Copperhead said, cocking his head to the side. "I could kind of tell." His eyes landed on Char, and in spite of her own reluctant gratefulness toward him, she bristled a little at the glimmer his gaze gained. "Who's this?"
"I'm Char," she said before Riku could speak for her. Gods, but this was like every single world visit with Sora all over again.
Now that the better part of her battle adrenaline was dying down, she found in herself a core of deep suspicion toward this newcomer. "Not that I'm not grateful for what you did, but any particular reason why you were in this forest at the same time we were? Apparently it's not a huge hangout for normal civilians."
Her terminology proved a mistake, as it reminded her of what she had thought about Hollow Bastion's less battle-oriented residents right after fighting through the ravine trail. Ignoring the nostalgia that blazed its way across her heart at remembering, she met that dark purple gaze expectantly.
Copperhead lowered his hand and the scythe with it. "Calm down," he said, which only served to irritate Char more. "I just… come here when I need to get rid of some stress. When I heard battle cries, it wasn't really hard to put two and two together."
"You mean you heard my battle cries," Falcon suddenly spat, making Char jump; in the other girl's silence, she had almost forgotten she was still there. Looking over her shoulder, Char was surprised to see Falcon glowering at Copperhead with a vehemence that rivaled even the redhead's own best glares. The effect was dulled slightly by the hand she still had against her side, but there it was.
And yet the redhead could also see many more emotions lurking in that emerald gaze: bitterness remained prominent, but beneath that swam a hint of pleading, a desire to know something that remained unknown.
"Well, yeah, but –" Copperhead began sheepishly, but Falcon was already striding forward, fury contorting her face.
"Shut up," she hissed, knuckles growing tight around her Keyblade; even with her gloves, that much was visible. "Why the hell can't you ever just leave me alone?"
"Fal –" he tried again, genuine contrition flashing on his countenance; before he could get more than that out, though, Falcon was shoving past him, putting enough force into her shoulder to make him stumble, and stalking off into the forest.
Watching her go, Char slowly raised an eyebrow until it vanished into her bangs. Her interactions with the redhead thus far had made it rather clear that she couldn't stand her, but this Copperhead guy remained a different enigma entirely. Something happened between them, Char assumed.
She exchanged a glance with Riku, who just gave her a helpless look and folded his arms.
To his credit, though, Copperhead kept any confusion or hurt at Falcon's departure off his face. "She so wants me," he announced with a grin.
"Uh…" Char blinked.
Riku sighed. "Anyway, thanks for helping us back there."
Copperhead shrugged. "Hey, no big deal. Like I said, I was stressed. And anyway, what was I supposed to do? Let you guys die?" Without waiting for a response, he immediately turned to Char – who cringed a little under the weight of his stare before remembering how easily he had succumbed to Falcon's fury and straightening – and addressed her. "Char, right?"
"Yeah," she replied, slowly. Warily. If the main defender of this world didn't trust him, she figured something had to be off, personal feelings clouding judgment aside.
He seemed to fail to pick that up and just smiled even more impossibly widely: a gesture that reminded her so suddenly and painfully of Sora that she almost gasped with the force of it. "I'm guessing this guy hasn't shown you around town yet, huh?" As he spoke, he nodded roughly toward Riku.
"Not exactly," the gray-haired young man admitted. Briefly, Char wondered with a surge of annoyance whether Copperhead had acted this annoyingly friendly to Riku when he had first arrived; somehow, just from the vexation on Riku's countenance, she doubted the scythe wielder had. "We just got here. And we're kind of on a mission."
His words brought everything sharply back into perspective: she had to get a hold of this machine the Organization had left here so she could return to Sora. Although from the looks of things, Xemnas probably put the thing here on purpose, Char reflected, thinking of the Sorcerers with a barely-repressed shudder.
"Right," she said, stepping past Copperhead. "So if you'll excuse us, we're off to start looking for this thing."
Frustratingly, though, she only got a couple of steps away before Copperhead called back, "Hey, wait a sec!"
It was a testament to how much she had changed, that she actually listened to him and stopped instead of just striding off into the brush like she wanted to. Well, she tried to assure her stinging pride, at least her listening to him was a valid decision; dashing off into the forest like Falcon had was reckless, and even more so since Char had no idea how to get to town.
With the thought of Falcon's departure came the mental image of the emotional amalgamation that had marked the dark-haired girl's face and glare: pain twined with anger and anathema. Shaking her curiosity off – you're on a mission, Char told herself; don't get distracted, once you're done here you can go back to Sora – she looked over her shoulder, trying to look at least a little bored. "What?"
Copperhead blinked, clearly taken aback at her lack of fire. Then he relaxed and shrugged, idly crossing one leg in front of the other as he stood. "I was just about to say if you're looking for something, the best place to start is to get familiar with where you are."
The serious words coming from him surprised Char into turning all the way around and appraising him bemusedly. She caught sight of Riku raising an eyebrow; even though he had clearly known Copperhead almost as long as he had Falcon, the logical explanation of his seemingly-impulsive desire to show Char around the Shadowed Desert surprised Riku as well.
Seeing their confusion, Copperhead tilted his head a little to the side, his amiable smile taking on a newfound smugness. "Well? Am I right, or am I right?"
"Never thought I'd hear you saying something that makes sense," Riku remarked. "But you have a good point." He looked to Char, and she hated the wariness that had embedded itself in his eyes, the very image of a person approaching a wild animal that had just bitten them.
In light of her outburst toward him earlier – when she had so desperately wanted the answers he had refused to give – his expression made sense; it still pissed her off, though. Not for the first time, she felt herself longing for the days when she had only had to worry about Sora's progress regaining his memories and the way her heart skipped whenever Riku was near. In contrast to her annoyance, the wistfulness was damn near agonizing.
"Well?" the dark boy asked. "Copperhead and I can show you around now, or later. It's up to you."
He tapped his fingers of one hand against where they rested on the opposite arm. The gesture reminded her powerfully of who he had been – of who, exactly, had taken this repulsive form to protect the ones he loved most.
For that, Char found herself agreeing with Copperhead's proposal, much as it irritated her to do so. "I guess you're right," she acquiesced, looking to the older boy. Her words made those violet eyes light up, but before he could speak she raised a finger for silence, at which he calmed, still looking annoyingly pleased. "But don't take all day about it. I have somewhere to be."
Listening to the strained undertone that lurked beneath her brusque conditions, Riku had to hold back a sigh. He couldn't help but recall the revelation that had come to him in the Land of Dragons – when she had had far too hesitant a reaction to his innocent joke about her and Sora – and felt the same incredulity that had come over him then return now, albeit eclipsed slightly by sympathy.
The thought of Sora ever not loving Kairi was foreign and tasted odd even in the back of Riku's throat; but Char wouldn't throw around his friend's heart like that. She might have liked to think she had the emotional fortitude for it, but Riku knew her better. Char was about as manipulative as Sora himself.
Still, though… she must have had to lie a little bit about who exactly she was along the way. Particularly, about how she actually knew where Riku was hiding. Not for the first time, guilt assailed him at just how thoroughly he was hiding from Sora, who undoubtedly was scouring the worlds searching for him; but like the hatred he always felt at summoning portals of darkness, Riku pushed the feeling away. You chose this.
He supposed that was the crux of the matter: having loved the same girl his whole life – the same girl Sora had professed to feel the same for until now, the same girl for whom they had competed for ten years – Riku couldn't imagine feeling that way for anyone whose soul he did not completely know. Even Falcon, as she had told him tearfully a couple of nights ago, had spent years traipsing around with Copperhead and being his best friend before his brother died and things had gone bad; she hadn't explained exactly how, but the tremor in her voice and sorrow in every tear had told Riku she clearly didn't want to discuss it.
Either way, Riku – and Sora, too – knew every aspect of Kairi inside and out. Her favorite color was pink; her favorite ice cream flavor, strawberry; season, summer; and her lips always quirked upward just so whenever one or both of her best friends spotted her. Infectiously, uncontrollably, in a way that always, always made Riku smile too.
Does Sora know what Char's favorite color is? Riku found himself wondering. How could he move on when he doesn't even know her favorite color?
But he didn't get more time to dwell on just how odd the whole thing was – Char, falling for Sora; if he hadn't seen the feeling in her eyes for himself, Riku would not have believed it – because Copperhead had begun to speak.
He waved his free hand, still grinning. Almost disturbing, really, on a face that so resembled Riku's own. His original one, at least. "Right, right. Take you around town, but keep it short. I can do that."
Riku rolled his eyes, unable to resist leaning over and muttering, "No, he can't," into Char's ear.
"Hey! I heard that!" Copperhead yelped indignantly. He lifted his hand in a mock placating gesture, already beginning to walk backwards away from them. "Don't insult your tour guide if you don't want to stay lost."
"Oh, whatever," Char grumbled, "we're coming." She stalked off after Copperhead, taking care to walk on the scythe-free side of his body.
Shaking his head, Riku followed after them, still wondering at Char's behavior. Before he could do much more than ruminate a little on whether Sora knew as much about Char as he did Kairi, though, he found the closest object of his thoughts falling back to his side.
"I just had a thought," Char muttered lowly, and Riku inwardly praised her uncanny ability to drive straight to the heart of things.
He inclined his head in a silent request for her to continue, and Char did so. "Namine," she said. "Is she… Ansem didn't…?"
She left the question unfinished, but Riku could almost hear the rest of her inquiry. He shook his head, recalling how after Char had left, he had had to painstakingly wait until Ansem actually left the computer room for a while before retrieving the artist Nobody from her incarceration there. "I left her with Axel," he explained softly.
"Axel? Really? That hedgehog?" Char snorted, albeit quietly so as not to startle the scythe wielder still trudging on ahead. "I know he'd hardly rat us out at this point, but why him?"
"Because there was no one else to turn to?" Riku huffed out a sigh. "Everyone else she knows is either dead, doesn't remember she exists, is an enemy, or had already left at that point." He lifted one hand and counted the identities of each possible savior off on his fingers: the other members of the Organization at Castle Oblivion; Sora, Donald, and Goofy; Ansem and the living Organization members; and Char herself. "Since Axel's pretty much slated for oblivion anyway, he was the best choice."
Char opened her mouth to respond, only for it to hit her that she had no rebuttal and closing it with a sigh through her nose. "I guess," she murmured.
Hearing the barely-disguised concern in her voice, Riku felt a tiny part of him relent. Gods, but sometimes he really disliked the soft spot he'd obtained for the rare moments in which Char showed an emotion besides anger or annoyance. "She's safe," he told her, laying one gloved hand over her shoulder and squeezing. "Don't worry. And anyway, didn't you say you were just worried about the mission?"
The attempt at a subject change sounded clumsy even to his ears, and he would have winced at how stupid he sounded had his fingers not still lingered on her shoulder. However, Char chose not to point it out, just giving him a grateful look. "Yeah, you're right. I was just wondering."
"Hey guys," Copperhead suddenly said from further up. Reluctantly, Char glanced from Riku to the other young man. Following her gaze, Riku detected a cloud of worry moving over Copperhead's face, evidenced by his round, nervousness-filled eyes.
"Um… Fal was hurt a little bit back there," he began, hesitantly. "Is she going to be okay by herself going back to town?"
Char narrowed her eyes. From the looks of things, his concern for Falcon's safety made next to no sense, given the venom in her voice when she had snarled at him back there. Before she could say as much, though, Riku's fingers slipped away from her and he took it upon himself to reply.
"She knows healing spells," he pointed out. "She should be fine."
"I know that, but…" Copperhead trailed off with a sigh. He looked back forward again, quickening his stride almost imperceptibly.
Then, abruptly, he glanced back again. "We were friends once," he explained to Char. "More, actually." The last part was spoken among a bitter chuckle.
This new piece of knowledge didn't stop the new flood of questions that poured into her mind; just exactly what had happened to create such a rift between them rose to the forefront of her thoughts.
As damnably curious as she was, though, for some reason, her manners firmly reined in the researcher's interest. It infuriated her, but she forced herself to calm down. Sora had always stayed silent about his obvious desire to know her past, after all; out of wanting to avoid hypocrisy, she should probably extend the same courtesy now.
Sora. Tears pricked at the back of her eyes at how badly she already missed him. If she weren't so sick of it already, she would have berated herself for such an insipidly girlish feeling. Doubtless, if he were here, he would have gone along with Copperhead's request to visit the Shadowed Desert town in an instant.
Copperhead's deep voice, tinged with no small amount of hesitation, made Char glance to Riku, who the scythe wielder was clearly addressing. "Falcon told you… she said why we stopped being friends, right?" he asked, tentatively. Tensely. As though dreading the response with every fiber in his body.
Just like that, the situation rushed back into Char's mind with the dizziness-inducing effect of standing too quickly: Riku had placed her into a situation with even more drama than her own emotions tugging her every which way about a relationship with Sora; somehow she had ended up in a love triangle that simmered with hatred at the center.
Riku clearly noticed the desperate fear in Copperhead's voice and demeanor, for his eyes widened. "No, actually, she hasn't. Not yet."
Copperhead deflated visibly in relief at Riku's confession. As he turned back around again, Char swore she heard him mutter "good" under her breath, which only mystified her even more.
She didn't get much time to dwell on it, though, because suddenly the forestland thinned out around them and revealed the sprawling town. Beneath their feet, the dirt had gradually faded away, replaced by concrete that changed the sounds of their steps.
"All right; we're here!" Copperhead announced obviously, with a very audible grin in his voice. Although the ease of his mood shift unnerved Char a bit, she knew it was really no different from how bipolar she must have seemed to Sora and the others when she'd first met them.
And now I'm comparing myself to a guy who's still in love with a girl who hates him. Perfect.
Shaking those self-deprecating thoughts off, she lifted her head and took in the town before her.
How dare he show up like that!
Falcon raced blindly through the forest, following only the dirt path beneath her feet, fury carrying her as far from that bastard and his annoyingly, achingly familiar grin as possible. Had she not spent four years navigating this forest and memorizing every shadow and nook from which a Heartless could materialize, her anger controlling her every move might have proven dangerous; as she had spent her life learning to fight here, though, it didn't hinder her as much as it should have.
The wound on her side flared up, and she barely reined in an irritated hiss, although she did slow her pace to accommodate the newfound burst of agony. Even now, minutes after the fact, she cursed herself for having let her guard down long enough for that Heartless to come after her.
Then again, though, she wouldn't have been distracted to begin with if it weren't for those white things. Not for the first time since they had shown up, she wondered as to the exact nature of those strange, off-white beings. They had never shown themselves in the Shadowed Desert before today, after all.
"Either way," she murmured aloud, coming to an unsteady halt, "I need to treat this."
By now she could feel her mental reserves had recovered enough from her constant Blizzaga attacks for her to scrape together enough mana to heal herself. She concentrated; after a moment, her free hand began to glow green with healing magic. Once she placed her hand on the wound, tendrils of warmth oozed out from her fingers into the injury, palliating most of the pain and serving to stagnate the flow of blood.
I really need to learn Curaga soon, she thought with a frown. How she had gone all these years without teaching herself the most soothing healing spell was beyond her; then again, her training had fallen to a much lesser priority after Copperhead…
After…
Just like that, the fury that the knowledge of her physical state had kept at bay burst through the proverbial dam her need for healing had slammed over it and flowed forth again. He thought he had the nerve to save her after trying to kill her?
Yet amidst the bitter thoughts, something else arose. She couldn't place its name, but the dull ache it resembled in her heart reminded her of the grief and longing she felt every time she remembered her father's smile or her mother's reassuringly ruffling her hair.
In fact, if Falcon didn't know how deeply her heart believed the contrary, she would almost trick herself into thinking she missed Copperhead.
"Right," Falcon grumbled under her breath. "Like I'd ever miss the bastard who killed my parents and tried to kill me."
But the memories of better days were there, and they refused to leave.
Maybe only nostalgia for days long past governed her feelings – this continuous, pendulum-like swinging from bitterness to the desire she hated still feeling for her best friend and the man she had loved once upon a time. Normally her refusal to dwell on this would keep her from realizing this much about that terrible night at the top of the abandoned citadel; but a year and a half dwelling on said night had given her some mixed emotions. She knew moving on was the best thing for her to do, but having to skirt so close to the source of her grief precluded that process more than anything ever could.
Guess I could start refusing the townspeople when they ask me to defeat Heartless for them, but that's just not an option, Falcon reflected with a quiet sigh as she sat down on the ground. No matter how much the reflexes trained by years in the fencing club screamed for her to keep her guard up, now seemed like as good a time as any to rest and regain her bearings.
She drew up her bare knees, ignoring how her skirt rode up with the movement, and rested her arms across them, staring out at the outline of the citadel in the distance. A small, albeit pleasant wind picked up then, rending the silence with the sound of leaves rattling; the breeze bit through the fabric of her jacket and induced a shiver in spite of her long sleeves. Her hatred of the citadel may have caused her pain, but at the same time that pain drew her to it, like a moth to a flame: unable to resist until the pain of the blaze brought by the memory crumpled her.
Unbidden, Riku's face floated into her mind, carrying the mixture of sympathy and contempt he would undoubtedly experience at seeing her right now. Thinking on that, Falcon felt her lips begin to curl into a smile that not even the caveat of knowing how her last romance had ended could control.
The contrast between Riku and Copperhead was stark, now that she considered it – both in personality and in the nature of how well she knew each of them. Copperhead's philandering tendencies made her grimace just thinking about it, while Riku's reserved personality was a breath of fresh air; and while she had spent a good majority of her life despising Copperhead before they had become friends, with Riku, they had gotten along rather easily, and still did after a month's time.
And I'm pretty sure Riku never did anything like kill his girlfriend's parents, she couldn't help thinking angrily.
Then again, though, she had never discovered for herself the true nature of his past – had heard him mention the names Sora and Kairi, and that his true form wasn't the one he had garbed himself in over the last month, but never how he had gotten to look that way and become separated from his friends in the first place. In turn, Falcon had never mentioned exactly why she spent her days avoiding one Copperhead Sandgale and regarding the Shadowed Desert townspeople with detachment she had never felt before losing the three most important people to her.
The day after was a blur; Falcon vaguely remembered cleaning the injury Xemnas' light swords had left on her side and thinking that it would probably leave a scar, but beyond that the events lay surrounded in a self-imposed haze.
Afterward, reality had stepped in and she had realized she needed a way to stay in the house, no matter how many terrible memories it held. She recalled forcing herself to go into town and advertising herself as a sort of Heartless exterminator. Only the munny offered by the Shadowed Desert people – who had been in so much awe that the girl who had moved here so many years ago now wielded the Keyblade – had kept her in the same house since then.
Before that day, though, I would have done it for the good of the people, not just for the munny, Falcon thought, lifting her Keychain and rubbing a finger over the teardrop-shaped charm. It still felt like one of her father's prized guitar picks; the smooth texture brought her both sorrow and comfort at once. No matter how painful the mixed emotions, though, she found solace in the fact that such emotions still made themselves tangible to her at all. Leaning her head back against the tree, Falcon stared up at the cloudless sky, taking a deep breath of the spring-laden air.
Smiling and laughing had proven easy enough; but they had had no real honesty behind them. Thanking the people and promising not to let them down had proven easy enough; but she had never been able to stop the thought that maybe they didn't deserve saving. Fighting for the Shadowed Desert's sake had proven easy enough; but Falcon had never found herself caring for real. The empathy and love she had felt toward her parents and Copperhead – the desire to keep them safe, to calm their fears, no matter the cost – had sputtered and lit out when they had, and now lay as a fallow, dully aching reminder of what she had lost.
She was just thankful that Riku had arrived in the Shadowed Desert when he had.
Before she could think back properly on the day they had met, though, something sounded at the very edge of her hearing.
Something that sounded very much like a twig snapping.
Immediately, Falcon was on her feet, Azure Ice in hand. Mentally cursing herself for taking even that infinitesimal moment to relax, she scanned the clearing with narrowed eyes, readying herself to fire a series of ice shards at whatever sentient being happened to appear from the bushes. When nothing happened, her tensed muscles unwound only slightly. "Who's there?" she shouted, before her common sense kicked in and scolded her for even doing that much.
Clamping her mouth shut immediately, she glanced around, and, finding nothing more intimidating than the shadows created by the leaves against the ground, tried to calm her heartbeat. I swear, if that was Copperhead…
Somehow, though, she couldn't believe that. If it was him, he would have already slipped out of the shadows, hands up in the air, laughing and completely not acting like he had murdered her parents, however indirectly. Direct or not, the fact remained that his desire to bring his brother back had made him all the more easily manipulated by Xemnas – whoever he was.
She would have searched the clearing more thoroughly for any signs of Heartless, but her stomach chose that moment to interject and offer some suggestions of its own. As she felt the organ beneath the bruises from today demand sustenance, Falcon put one hand over her belly, her fingers unconsciously flexing at the knowledge of the scar tissue just beneath.
"I should get back to town," she murmured aloud, despite her prior vow to stay quiet. "Riku's probably worried."
Was he, though? Falcon thought of Char, how she so obviously didn't want to be here, and tightened her hold on her Keyblade. She knew the grip of jealousy when she felt it, and knew she should probably try and push it aside; for some reason, though, she found herself not caring about what she should or shouldn't do.
Still, she figured she may as well help Riku search for that machine he had talked about, the very thing that supposedly lay entwined with Char and the reason she was here. Even though once the redhead left Riku would probably go with her – a fact that sent a spike of despair into Falcon's heart – the female Keybearer found herself wanting to help their mission.
For the obligation she felt toward Riku as his friend, if nothing else.
Thinking on how she so desperately wanted him to see her as more than a friend, Falcon couldn't hold back a tired sigh.
She turned on her heel and began the long walk back to town.
Char, Riku, and Copperhead passed over a flowing river, their footfalls creating a hollow sound as they crossed the bridge concealing it; it reminded Char of the steady waves in Port Royal, even though the light glittering off the waters gleamed gold and not silver.
Copperhead caught her staring at the river and cocked an eyebrow. "It usually dries up in the summer," he explained, misinterpreting the nostalgia in her stare for fascination. Rather than correcting him, Char simply narrowed her eyes against the near-blinding glimmer on the river and looked back in front of her.
As they left the water behind them, they came upon a bustling marketplace, one filled with people swarming about and shopkeepers calling out their wares. Char was vaguely aware of Copperhead pointing out each and every one as they wove between the shops, but she found herself not truly invested in memorizing them. Instead, she glanced around the town square itself, making a mental list of places where the Organization could have hidden the machine.
It reminded her of the days when she and Ienzo would play hide-and-seek in the corridors, nearly getting lost and tripping over Ansem's coattails in the process. Only this time, so much more rode on the outcome. She could feel Riku's gaze burning into her back as she scrutinized the area; clearly, he had been given this tour already, for he was much more focused on how deeply she was looking around.
"The Organization's not going to hide it in town, you know," he muttered into her ear.
Char jumped in surprise and whirled to glare at him. "Don't do that!" she whispered furiously.
Riku didn't look the slightest bit repentant as he straightened again and folded his arms. "Seriously," he said, "you look like you're searching for a place to put a bomb or something. Relax."
Relax, Sora whispered to her. She could almost feel his fingers squeezing her shoulder to accompany the echo of his voice.
"Right," she murmured with a sigh.
Riku eyed her a moment longer, before uttering a sigh of his own, as if in resignation. "Char, about what I said back there…"
Char lifted her head. "Back there?"
"In the Land of Dragons, about you and Sora," Riku clarified. He hesitated, then seemed to decide his curiosity was more important than her comfort and plowing on. "I don't… what –"
"What are you two talking about back there?" Copperhead asked playfully. Char forced her tensed muscles to unwind just a bit, grateful in spite of herself to the blonde for halting this awkward conversation before it began. It took her a moment to realize they had stopped walking.
It took her another moment to realize they had stopped in front of a set of oaken double doors that lay at the edge of the town square. Looking the doors up and down, Char turned to Riku and cocked her head to the side. "Where are we?"
"I just said we're at the saloon? Geez, way to not listen, Blaze." Copperhead lifted his hands, palms upward, in an exaggerated groan of frustration.
Char blinked and exchanged a glance with Riku before looking back at Copperhead, who now had one hand on one of the doors to push it open. "What was…?" She trailed off, before clearing her throat and narrowing her eyes. "My name is Char."
"Yeah," Copperhead said without turning around, "but I like mine better." When he earned only a confused noise in response, he glanced over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow. "What, they don't have nicknames where you're from?"
"Obviously not," Char grumbled, folding her arms.
Call me anything but Char and I'll rip your eyes out.
Not even –
That means anything, Key-boy.
Odd, then, that the urge to spin Copperhead around and give him a taste of her swords flickered only briefly before vanishing.
"Are we going inside?" Riku asked, giving Char a raised eyebrow that clearly asked whether or not she was still okay.
Meeting those amber eyes, Char suddenly hated the tan skin and gray hair and not-turquoise gaze of the form he had taken, and wanted nothing more than to grab the leather of his Organization cloak and pull him down to tell him so. I wouldn't not be okay if it weren't for you, asshole, she thought, around the heat of tears beginning to build up behind her eyes.
She just shrugged, though, and aloud only said, "I guess we are."
Copperhead grinned and nodded. "I thought so."
Riku gave him a look that suggested he should quit while he was ahead, but at the same time couldn't help wondering at Char's lack of anger. In the past, only Ansem had been able to call her by another name and escape unscathed; and right now she had made her feelings on Copperhead completely clear – if not hatred, then at least hostility and disgust.
Another effect of traveling with Sora?
As Copperhead pushed the doors open, Riku took in the scenery that had become familiar to him over the last month: the carpeted floor; the scent of apples that always seemed to blanket the interior of the saloon; the half-opened blinds letting the noontime light filter inside; the dull buzz of the customers chatting.
Copperhead tossed a few greetings over his shoulder at people who called out to him, and the occasional winning smile at the female portion of those people, but Riku tuned him out for the most part and focused on Char. Currently she was regarding the saloon with a tilted head and curiosity-filled gaze, and he could almost see her taking in as much information as possible. The gesture made sense for her and he found himself relaxing almost unconsciously, at the sight of her doing something he would expect: silently absorbing, scrutinizing.
Copperhead led them past the scant amount of empty tables – this was a busy day for the saloon, Riku noted with a raise of his eyebrows; normally the crowd was significantly smaller at this time of day – and flopped down in an empty seat at the bar at the front. With an exaggerated sigh, he unwound the strap of his scythe's sheath from around his shoulders and wrapped it about the back of his chair. "Man, I'm starving," he groaned, stretching his arms high above his head before letting them drop back down to his side with a wince. "Arm just popped," he explained unnecessarily.
Rolling his eyes, Riku slid into the chair next to Copperhead. "Like we didn't just hear it," he muttered.
When no telltale crimson hair flashed in his periphery, Riku twisted around to see Char standing there awkwardly, clearly not knowing whether to sit down or not. He saw her eyes flicker to the concealed weapon hanging off the back of Copperhead's chair and figured she was probably wondering how no one noticed it.
With that thought came a surge of sympathy so powerful that it made the breath catch in Riku's throat. He hadn't seen Char this lost since he had darted behind Sora and seized her by the waist to take her with him; the look of pure terror in her gaze then rivaled her expression now, certainly, but the air of general fear – and anger toward him, as her eyes roving over him narrowed – remained nonetheless.
"I'll just order us some food and – hm?" Copperhead had already dug out a dark green wallet and placed it on the countertop, but when he detected Riku's shift in movement he turned in his chair as well. His eyes darted down to Char's fingers tapping against her leg, and his face softened. "You all right, Blaze?"
"No," Char muttered, not taking her glare off Riku. He felt annoyance mar the pity inside him at that. I'm not letting you leave no matter how much you want to, he thought irritably. As much as I hate it, I need you for this.
Before he could say as much, though, Copperhead stretched one arm out in front of the black-clad arm that rested on the counter. Glancing up at the older man's face, Riku blinked in surprise to see a hard look in those violet eyes. An unspoken don't.
It abashed him far more than he would have liked to admit, but Riku just glanced down, trying to hide the sudden shame that lifted up from deep within him and heated his cheeks.
"I figure you probably don't want to be here," Copperhead said, surprisingly gently. "But obviously this jerk isn't going to let you go anytime soon, and a little food isn't going to hurt things. They don't actually serve anything alcoholic here," he added clumsily, "so if that's the problem, don't worry about it."
The words had a stronger effect on Char than Riku would have thought: a tiny, almost nostalgic quirk of the lips, so quick that he almost leaned forward in his surprise. Not for the first time, he wondered just what all he had missed.
Copperhead grinned. "There we go, there's a smile. Just sit. I'll pay."
Char rolled her eyes, but a rueful look had replaced her prior petulance as she sat down on Riku's other side, one elbow propping itself against the countertop. As the Shadowed Desert native lowered his arm and turned back around to call the waiter over to them, Riku risked a glance over at her.
It was completely stupid, but he heard himself repeat Copperhead's question, albeit excluding the little nickname. "Are you okay?" he asked lowly.
Char raised and lowered one shoulder; after a moment, she seemed to decide he deserved more of an answer than that – hey, Riku thought dryly, there's progress – and turned her head to him. "I've definitely been better," she admitted, pushing her bangs out of her eyes with the hand attached to the elbow on the counter. "Kind of sore. Tired." After a moment of hesitation, she added, so quietly he had to lean in to hear, "Missing him already."
There was no question as to who he was. Riku sighed, resisted the sudden urge to reach out, knowing he would probably come away with a stump for a hand if he did.
"I've been missing him for the past year and a half," he said quietly.
If Char knew Xaldin had appeared in this world again, she would hold enough anger to fill all of them.
The thought was a paltry one, but it served to lift Sora's spirits nonetheless, to remind him her fire still remained with them even though she was gone. He told himself he had to channel that fire in order to convince Beast; not only did the sight of all the strength and fury and determination that normally marked the Beast send pangs of empathy throughout Sora's heart, but the words of Mrs. Potts and the others still rang through his head.
Beast, a prince. Sora shook his head at that. He was never going to get used to that one.
Squaring his shoulders, he approached the Beast, who stood with his back to them, massive furry head angled to gaze out the window. The aura of hopelessness wafted up from him in palpable waves, and Sora heard Goofy let out a soft murmur from behind him.
"Don't worry, guys," he murmured. "We'll convince him."
"I dunno, Sora," Donald said, anxiously. The brunette glanced behind him and caught a glimpse of the doubt in those dark eyes before the duck's pride slammed itself down hard over that vulnerability. "He seems pretty upset…"
Sora coaxed a smile onto his face, even though a very large part of him agreed with Donald. If Beast's stubbornness let him listen to Sora, it would be a miracle. "It'll be fine," he said, and turned back around, tacking a belligerent expression onto his face for good measure.
"Hey, Beast!" he called.
Beast didn't even turn around. "Leave me alone," he mumbled.
Hearing the raw desperation in his friend's words, Sora clenched his fist and tried to think, suddenly at a loss for words. He could almost hear Char at his back, demanding that the Beast erase his depression, and felt a tendril of guilt work its way into his veins. Like I have the right to even say that. Nevertheless, he pushed that doubt aside and renewed his determination. "C'mon, you need to hear this."
At this, Beast actually turned his head to the side, one pale eye staring balefully at Sora. "What?" he asked softly.
Sora took a deep breath. "You used to be fearless," he said. "You would've given your life to save Belle." As he spoke, memories of fighting through Hollow Bastion and the castle at Beast's side flowed into the brunette's mind: the sewers, how difficult the involuntary replacement of a stick for Keyblade had been, and, above all, Beast's repeated creed that he needed to save Belle.
The Beast must have been recalling this as well, for he pivoted his entire body around and stared at Sora in a silent, albeit still half-hearted, request to continue.
"You gave us all courage, remember? In Hollow Bastion, and here, too." Hope and anticipation twitched within Sora's heart at the gradual brightening on the Beast's face. With the lack of interruption, he plowed on. "Are you really gonna throw that chance at happiness away?"
"The rose is your only hope, right?" Donald added. "So let's go get it back, and pound that Nobody in the meantime!"
"Yeah," Goofy said. "Remember what it was like before Belle got here?"
Beast blinked a couple of times, opened his mouth to speak, then closed it with a soft growl. After a few moments, during which Sora began to wonder if he would respond at all, Beast spoke. "I do know one thing." Those pale blue eyes – the last vestige of his humanity – narrowed, and he bared his fangs in a snarl. "This castle belongs to me! And Xaldin will never be welcome here."
Sora nodded, a relieved smile coming over his features. He exchanged a triumphant glance with his comrades, trying to ignore the pang that assailed him at the very noticeable lack of ice blue among them, before looking back at Beast. "All right," he cheered. "Let's go kick some Nobody butt!"
As he turned, his foot slid over something on the ground; at first he thought it was just a figment of the mess in the room, but when it produced a distinctive jingling noise upon being jostled, he had to reach down and pick it up. A new Keychain, he realized, and had just enough time to identify the charm as that of a rose before Donald shouted, "C'mon, Sora, let's go!"
Pocketing the Keychain hastily, Sora called back "coming!" before taking a deep breath. Thinking of the likely battle with Xaldin ahead, unpleasant memories of the fight with Demyx seeped into the brunette's mind, making him wince. At the forefront of those memories marched the sight of darkness consuming the sitar-wielding Nobody, and Sora tried to beat back the nausea that filled him at the thought of watching another die that way. It's not dying, though, right? he argued with himself. If Nobodies don't really exist, then they can't really die. And besides, Roxas didn't even like Xaldin that much anyway.
He clung to that logic as he followed his comrades out the door.
Char hated to admit it, but the prospect of food was actually beginning to soothe the anger and frustration that had been percolating inside her all day.
It didn't quite manage to push away the thought of Sora and how he was likely panicking in desperation at the notion of losing another friend to the darkness, but it definitely assisted the typical mental process of pushing it to the back of her mind. Difficult as mentally shoving Sora to the designated "worry about later" section of her mind proved to be, Char found it rather disturbingly simple to do so anyway.
Another way he's changed me, she reflected wryly, taking a sip of her water and keeping a surreptitious eye on the kitchen door behind the bar. Sora made it so easy for me to forget about all the bad things. The way my apprentices died, how I used to like Riku…
Thinking of Riku, she glanced over at him. His dark gray hair swayed, tugged by the air conditioning, as he glanced over in response to Copperhead speaking. Char found herself straining to catch a few threads of the conversation, suddenly hating the silence that had fallen over her like a suffocating shroud.
"…managed to get that Heartless, though, right?" Copperhead was asking, with his head of uncannily Riku-like hair tilted to the side.
The black-cloaked young man beside him nodded. He lifted his glass of paopu juice – which Char still marveled at the fact that the saloon had in plentiful supply; then again, though, this world apparently had a deeper connection to the others, perhaps because it had its very own Keybearer – and took a swig before replying. "Yeah," he answered, "but only because Falcon managed to figure out its weak point was on its head." A grudging undertone wormed its way into his voice at the part about Falcon, and Char's lips twitched in a vain attempt to hold back a smile. Riku still couldn't stand conceding victory to anyone else, it seemed.
Especially since, but for that battle in Hollow Bastion, his main rival – Sora – had never bested him at all.
What would it be like, Char wondered, to have a friend like that? A best friend, someone to share everything with? Vitriolic as Sora and Riku's relationship had turned in more recent times, the fact remained that Sora had had the mental fortitude to look past those transgressions and fight not just for Kairi, but his darkness-swathed best friend as well. The closest Char had ever gotten to having someone like that had come in the form of Ienzo; but even that had petered off when she had rounded the corner to find Heartless swarming the six males she had spent eleven years of her life with.
In fact, if anything, her best friend had, in the last month, had spiky hair, smelled like paopu fruit, and responded to the name of Sora.
Char struggled to eradicate any hint of melancholia that may have appeared from her countenance and focused on sipping her water. This place certainly belied the reputation that normally followed another with its name.
Copperhead laughed, shaking his head. "She would. Try to jump on a Heartless' head, I mean." He stared down at the hand still wrapped around his own glass of fizzy liquid, the smile on his face obtaining a wistful taint to it. "Once, a couple of years ago, she went charging after a big one in a blizzard." Shaking his head, he chuckled, that sorrow – the desire for things long ended – oozing into his voice as well. "Crazy kid."
As he lifted the glass to his lips, Char blinked a couple of times. Having met him only an hour ago, she should have the ability to dismiss the almost-maybe-wistfulness in his voice, and definitely should not have the unconscious comparison between her and him piping up in the back of her mind. And yet both were there, as palpable as Riku's grip on her shoulder or Sora's lips on hers.
Clearly, Copperhead missed Falcon. And a niggling curiosity was squirming up within Char to find out exactly what had happened to put a rift between them.
She shook her head with a muted growl, knowing full well she shouldn't care at all about Copperhead's situation with Falcon. That only Sora, and the thought of seeing him again, should elicit any emotion from her besides impatience and anger as long as she was in this world. But a part of her – one that resonated with Sora's unique timbre in her mind – urged her to figure out why.
Before she could decide on whether to act on that, though, the sound of multiple plates clicking against the countertop drew her attention, and the scent of fresh beef wafted up into her senses. "All right!" Copperhead grinned, and gave the waiter a thumbs up. "Thanks for the food, James."
The young, suit-clad man – another contrast to the reputation Char would have thought this place carried: the way their employees dressed, almost too extravagant for a "saloon" – shrugged his shoulders in a dismissive, yet modest way. "C'mon, Copperhead. You're giving me your munny; the least I can do is feed you guys. Uh, speaking of which…?" He trailed off pointedly and extended out a hand.
Copperhead groaned good-naturedly and slapped some coins into James' hand. "You're milking me dry, man!" he laughed.
While the waiter rolled his eyes and counted out the currency in his grasp, Riku raised one eyebrow at Copperhead. "You know, we've got munny of our own," he pointed out. "At least some of us do."
Char narrowed her eyes, knowing the comment was directed at her. "Like I had time to get some out of Sora's pockets before you dragged me here," she growled.
And now she was thinking about actually fishing around in his pants pockets. Perfect.
Fighting uselessly against the flush that rose to her cheeks at the thought, she just took a fierce bite out of her burger, pretending it was Riku's face in the process. The flavor of the meat soothed her at once, though, and she swallowed with a pleased murmur, inwardly cursing herself for being so easily pacified by food.
The blonde young man waved off Riku's words. "Don't worry about it, Riku. It's my treat."
As the waiter shuffled off, apparently mollified by his payment, the three of them readily accommodated their food. Silence descended upon them, broken only by the din of the other customers carrying on their conversations nearby and the waiters taking orders. Char suddenly became aware of how eagerly she was devouring her food and tried to make her next bite a little smaller and more polite, difficult though it proved. Guess this morning made me hungrier than I thought.
Of course, thinking of this morning made her remember the panic stamped onto Sora's face and the urgency in his voice as he had called her name, swiping Heartless aside with the Oathkeeper in the process. For the first time in the last five minutes, Char lowered her food back to her plate with a closed-mouthed, quiet sigh. Where are they now? she wondered. What are they doing now?
In all likelihood, they had probably already left the Land of Dragons. Char thought back to the reason Riku had visited the emperor after snatching her up and stifled a soft laugh. They had definitely defeated that dragon Heartless Xigbar had apparently spawned, that it was just like that bastard to create. Perhaps even now, Sora, Donald, and Goofy had boarded the Gummi ship to make their way to more worlds – still searching for Kairi and Riku and a way to the World That Never Was, yes, but now with an added goal to their list. Char found her breath jostling for room to escape around a sudden lump in her throat and swallowed past it.
Which world had been on the map after the Land of Dragons? She couldn't even remember. However, she did recall them visiting Beast's Castle afterward, and seeing Xaldin – Dilan – there, trying to corrupt the Beast. If he's still there…
Her anathema toward the Organization halted that thought and didn't let her finish it. She just hoped Sora would give Xaldin a piece of his mind and his Keyblade. If Number III's lances didn't spear him through first.
She chided herself for doubting Sora's strength; he had grown significantly stronger between their last visit to the castle and now, and could take down anything that came his way there, Organization ramping up their Heartless patrol or not. Even if Anxclof chose to come back…
Char had just an instant to shiver at the memory of Sora's rain-tinged blood running down the tip of that golden Keyblade – and wonder for the thousandth time where the Blade of Vengeance had disappeared to – before a blur of gold appeared out of the corner of her eye. Turning, she found herself practically nose to nose with Copperhead.
Riku had a bemused, yet annoyed look on his face, but still lifted his fork, laden with a piece of cheese-slathered baked potato, to his lips. Copperhead had his elbow bracing himself against the counter and the adjoining hand splayed across the underside of his jaw; his other arm rested practically on top of Riku's plate. "So, Blaze," he began, ignoring Char's flustered affirmation as to what her real name was, "why'd Riku bring you here?"
Swallowing his bite of food, Riku appraised Copperhead with an air of impatient annoyance. "Don't waste any time, do you?" he muttered.
"Well, excuse me for being curious!" Copperhead retorted, glaring at Riku over his shoulder. "You wouldn't bring just a random person here, right?" Char couldn't help noticing how he carefully skirted around using the word "girl," and the possibility of his knowing about Falcon's not-so-little crush on Riku floated to the front of her mind.
Rather than asking, though, she just sighed, the sound curling out from her like a wisp of poisonous smoke, with much the same effect: Copperhead jerked back around at once, and Riku widened his eyes. "Do you want to tell him, or should I?" she addressed the latter.
He hesitated for a moment, as though honestly weighing her question; after a moment, he relented, rolling his eyes and pulling his plate away from where Copperhead's frame hovered over it. "Fine, I'll tell him." Yet a kind of tight, restrained anger marked his words, as though he knew he would regret relating the tale again. Char felt a tiny pinprick of gratification twinge in her heart, that he found it difficult to resurrect the memory of her fury toward him.
Thankfully, Copperhead chose that moment to draw away from her and looked toward Riku as the gray-haired young man spoke. "Quite basically, we have to find… a machine," he finished, a little lamely.
Copperhead blinked. "A machine? Like, for washing clothes?"
"No," Riku snapped back, immediately on edge. He huffed, seemed to mentally smooth his ruffled temper, and began again. "Char's teacher created a machine to fight back against our enemies, and he thought it would work. But then they found, and stole, it."
"Terrible job of guarding it he did," Copperhead remarked. Although Char could only see the back of his fine-haired head, the way his neck slowly curved to angle it to the side suggested a hidden accusation behind his words.
Riku narrowed his eyes. "In my defense, I was here helping Falcon run the medicine shop that day. That's not the point," he quickly interjected, before the other young man could prod further. "The point is, Char's teacher found it here, but we don't know where it is. So we're looking for it, so we can save the worlds from this threat."
Copperhead perked up at the last part. "Can I help?" he begged. "Saving the worlds sounds pretty damn awesome! And besides, finding something like that here shouldn't be too hard. I mean, look at this place." He waved one hand vaguely at their general surroundings – the people still immersed in their respective conversations; the waiters and waitresses swarming about; the soft simmer of food cooking in the kitchen. "We're not exactly big on the whole technology thing, outside of suburbs of course."
Char craned her neck so Riku could see her around Copperhead's form and shook her head. The last thing she wanted was someone else involved in this. All I care about is getting this over with, and really, he would be more of a liability than an asset anyway.
However, the dark boy spent only a moment of blankly taking in the urgency on her face before those amber eyes shifted back to Copperhead. "Why not?" he announced. The redhead groaned aloud, a sound that, coated with volume-maximizing exasperation as it was, proved a quiet expression in comparison to the world native's triumphant laugh.
"Yeah," Riku went on, fixing eyes smoldering with spiteful smugness back on Char, "we can use all the help we can get on this. Gods only know where it could be."
Char seethed inwardly. I'm going to kill him for this.
Apparently her expression had made that thought loud and clear, because what looked like a tiny smirk stole briefly across his face before the infuriatingly neutral façade appeared again.
Seeing the thunderous expression darkening Char's countenance, Riku fought the urge to tell her to calm down. His decision was a valid one, as far as he was concerned; irritating as Copperhead could be, he knew his way around the Shadowed Desert almost as well as Falcon did, and the two of them could use all the help they could get. If Char wanted to complete this task as quickly as she claimed to, Sora notwithstanding, her behavior definitely contradicted it.
He looked back at Copperhead, who had the uncontrollable grin of a child just having received a particularly delicious piece of candy. "You can count on me!" he crowed, pumping a fist. "Now let's get done eating; I'm starved!"
Riku rolled his eyes, but couldn't preclude the imaginary strings that quirked his lips upward. Food definitely sounded like a good idea.
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