The fall was long and endless, and yet the impact was soft and harmless. Riku's back was softly placed on the cold ground below him, as if gravity slowed the further down he fell. Riku checked his body for bumps and bruises but found none; he was completely unharmed. He wondered how that could be, especially since he'd almost been attacked just moments before. How was he unharmed? Then he remembered.

"Sora!"

Riku cried out. Sora had pushed him out of the way and he'd fallen off the path. Riku was safe. As for Sora… Riku began searching around frantically. This deserted level of the Realm of Darkness was brighter than the one before it and as Riku's eyes adjusted, it became apparent why. Soft, sparkling white snow—it reflected what little light was down here and lit up the whole underground area. Snowflakes as silver as his hair drifted past his nose and settled themselves onto the ground with the other billions of flakes. Riku lifted his head to the cavernous sky, barely able to see the ledge from where he had fallen.

"Sora!"

Riku cried again. Above in the darkness he saw something glimmer. The figure above him fell slowly, just as he had. Riku jumped to his feet to get a better look. His dear friend, Sora, drifted down from a few meters above. Desperately, trying to catch him, Riku threw his arms out, his eyes locked on the boy above. Sora fell just above Riku's touch, his face was pale and his body was limp with his head thrown back to show closed eyes and slightly parted lips. Lips that Riku knew had last called his name.

The only thing Riku could say in return was an apology, which came out small and soft like a whisper. The words had only just left his lips, and their skin had just barely met before Sora disappeared.

There was no where he could go in this darkness, yet each end of his body had vanished into small white lights that twisted around each other, flying up toward the darkened sky before fading into the nothingness that surrounded them. Riku stood still, his eyes wide and staring, trying process it all. The only thing he could understand was that Sora was gone.

"W-what?"

Riku's hands began trembling, his black gloves shaking visibly in contrast against the white snowy ground. He stared down at his hands, where Sora had just been. He was just here, he had just seen him, so how could he have just, just—

Icy snowflakes that fell onto Riku's gloves mixed with the hot, salty droplets that slowly fell from his eyes to his hands. His tears, too, were affected by the way things fell down here. They fell in slow motion, and Riku could've sworn they had stopped moving completely, stuck hanging in the air between his face and hands. The world had stopped moving. The world had stopped making sense. Riku sunk to his knees, his grief catching him as he buried his face in his palms.

"Why?" He whispered harshly. His breath was shaky and the words were distorted and hardly audible. He felt the cups of his hands fill themselves with tears, and more than just his eyes became wet. Now, his cheeks, nose, and chin were hot with an abundance of tears. He bit down on his lower lip, only to be greeted by the taste of that salty solution that stuck to his face. He didn't wipe away his tears, he didn't try to pull himself up to his feet, he just cried, as he positioned himself underneath his own, swirling cloud of guilt.

He had been so excited to take the raft with his friends and travel to new worlds. He had been so ready, so prepared. After ten years of waiting and dreaming he was finally going to do what he had always wanted to do. He remembered when he'd first told Sora of his plan to see other worlds. He had been playing around near the dock, listening to Sora who was telling of a tall tale of a monster that lived in the crawlspace just behind the waterfall.

"It's true! I saw it with my own eyes!"

"You sure you didn't just hear it this time?" Said Riku, doubtfully.

"What difference does it make? There's a huge monster in there I tell you!"

"All right. Suppose there really is a monster…think we can beat it by ourselves, Sora?"

The two stared on toward the darkness of the crawlspace. Sora was pumped and ready, while Riku had just followed along from habit.

"No problem. Let's do it! Listen. There! Can't you hear it growling?" Sora exclaimed, his voice echoed into the small cavern and disappeared into the dark corridors beyond them. The cave returned with a low growling noise that excited the two boys further. Riku was interested, but couldn't hear much over the sounds of Sora shouting. He shushed his friend and leaned into the howling entrance. The two suddenly became serious and Riku shushed his friend once more, fearing that there might actually be a monster inside.

"We've gotta be careful," Riku warned

The two cautiously explored ahead. The cavern walls becoming high above them as they passed the initial entrance. The narrow tunnel lead into an open area and suddenly the two were in awe. The dome-like structure above them was lined with large boulders and rocks that were held together with the roots of the island's trees. A loud howling sound swept past them and they were frightened, sure, but there was no sign of a monster from which the sound could've come.

"See that? It was just the wind making that noise."

The two should've been relieved to know there was no real danger, but Sora was rather disappointed that their adventure had been cut short by reality.

"Aw, man!" cried Sora, "I wish it was a monster." He threw his hands behind his head, but as his eyes locked on a structure at the end of the cave he decided not to give up on adventure so soon. "Hold on! What's that over there?"

It was a large wooden structure that look much like a door, but had no handle on it. Riku walked toward it, the structure seemed to tower taller and taller over him the closer he came to it.

"A door?" Riku mused. It looked so much like a door of some sort and he thought it might lead to some new unexplored area of the island. Riku tried his luck at opening the thing, but it didn't budge, and after a while his hands began to hurt having him wonder if he could take up wearing gloves so he could accomplish more tasks around the island. But for now, just a few tugs were enough to turn his uncalloused skin different shades of pink and red. "It won't budge."

"Geez, is that really all that's in here?" Sora seemed bummed. He looked around, searching for something else entertaining, but he wasn't the only one who'd fallen bored, Riku also seemed let down by the unexpected turn of events.

"What do you expect in a boring place like this?" Riku said in a pout. He was just as upset as Sora, but didn't want him to know, especially since his current mood was already bringing his friend down, which was the last thing he wanted to see. "Hey Sora," Riku started, trying to cheer him up. Sora turned toward him, interested, before Riku continued. "When we grow up, let's get off this island. We'll go on real adventures, not this kid stuff!"

It was a deal, but as of now, Sora was still bored.

"Sure, but isn't there anything fun to do now?"

They'd explored the entirety of the island together and Riku tried to think of anything new he might know of that could bring a better light into their life. Just then, the thought struck him, he and Sora had explored the island together, but it'd be an all new adventure if they added one more person to the mix.

"Hey, you know the new girl at the mayor's house? Did you hear…?"

As Riku returned from his memory to dig his hands into the cold ground under him he finished the thought in his mind. "…I hear she's our age."

His friends, Sora and Kairi, his two best friends. He shook his head loose from a few tears that fell slowly to the ground below him. If he'd never had this strange idea of leaving to other worlds… Kairi was content about being on the islands, never once did she want to leave, and yet Riku used her as an excuse. Look where that got him, he thought.

Look where I am because of it. I can't even see where that got Kairi…and Sora…

Riku brought a hand hard against his chest, which in all his straining from crying had begun to hurt. He started to struggle with his breathing. He took in a sharp breath and let it out in the form of a scream.

"Why?" It was the only word he could surmise from this situation. But he knew why. It was because of him.

"There's no need to shout." A mysterious voice answered to him. It was melodic and though it sounded very relaxed it made the listener somewhat unnerved.

"Who's there?" Riku shot a sharp glance around his shoulder, but there was no one there. "I said, who's there?" He shouted again, this time in the opposite direction. He couldn't even begin to think of what a mess he looked.

"Now, now…I just said there's no need to shout. No need to strain yourself. Especially after suffering such a loss."

Riku was turning his head in every direction, furiously checking for the source of the voice. He even looked above him. His eyes were on the sky when he heard it again.

"Who was he? A friend perhaps? Probably no one important if they would lose themselves to such a weak heartless, and so quickly too."

Riku shouted at the sky, angry by the words the voice had just spoken. "How dare you. Who are you?"

"Who, me?"

The voice echoed off the nonexistent walls of this hollow place. It sent chills down Riku's spine as he clenched his jaw. The voice didn't say anything for a while, and since Riku had been expecting it to give out its identity, the continued silence only tested his nerves further.

"Who else?" He shouted. "Come out!"

"I will not come out."

"What are you, afraid?" Riku taunted, trying an attitude to hide his uneasiness.

"I am not afraid."

"Then why don't you show your face?"

"Then you will be afraid."

The last line of the voice didn't echo. It didn't trail off the walls, and it didn't sound disembodied. It did, however, send a violent chill down Riku's back, one that made his hands sweat beneath his gloves and the hairs on the back of his neck stand up in a direction that he quickly turned his head toward. He could see a shadow that stood in its own strange patch of darkness in this strangely lit area. Riku called out to the shadow but it stayed eerily still.

"I said, show your face!"

"It must be boring, being trapped here in the darkness like this, especially when you're all alone."

A bout of pain shot through Riku's heart. The words crippled him. The moment they were uttered they'd stolen all the breath inside his body. Riku's eyes slipped off the empty darkness and lowered themselves to the snowy floor. He struggled to regain his breath, but as he did as he began to see his huffs in the form of foggy puffs in front of him. The cold was beginning to set in unlike earlier, and though he tried to keep his composure, but couldn't help the feeling as he sucked in his lower lip between his teeth. All that could be heard was Riku's small, forced breaths as he shuddered in front of the figure. He raised a hand to his chest and clutched the cloth that he found there. His back had just begun to hurt from all the strain when he heard the voice again speak clearly in front of him.

"I can help you find him."

Riku's head shot up with wide eyes.

"I can help you find everything that you've ever lost."

"Everything?" Riku asked with a small shuddering voice.

"Yes…all I ask is that you help me in return."

Riku narrowed his eyes, he wasn't too sure what the figure might want in return, but he was willing to give up anything if he could have Sora back with him and find Kairi. Forget other worlds—if she could bring him back to his island too then… The tension in his body was released upon the thought of being back on his island with his friends, and his hand lowered from his chest as he straightened his posture and looked straight ahead, sternly.

"Where do I start?" he said.

"Look behind you, child. For the path had lain there all along."

Riku turned his head slowly, and looked upon the ground behind him. Laying there ahead of him was a small figurine that had nestled itself between the blankets of snow. He picked it up and turned it over in his hand.

The charcoal wood was familiar, its shape like the one he had lost and was determined to find. His vision shifted to another figurine that lay on the ground just ahead of where he had found the first one.

He picked up the doll, its smooth wood familiar, as the one he had abandoned and was determined to get back. There should've been one more…and there was, as Riku looked on, he laid eyes on the third figurine.

Its old wood nearly came off in the roughness of his grip, and though it was as familiar as the other two, he felt like he hardly recognized it. Its wood was rotten and had blackened in places, especially around the chest area. The small indents where the eyes had been had long since eroded away. He placed the other two dolls in his pocket, but kept the doll that resembled him in his hand, turning it over and over. It seemed different than the one Sora had carved for him long ago, and as he kept examining it closer and closer he couldn't help but feel as though it was losing more of its familiarity by the second.

A strange feeling overcame his body. He didn't know what it was, but it was making him uncomfortable and he did not want to think about it, so he shoved the doll into his other pocket away from the others.

Startled just then, Riku took a step back as something emerged from the ground in front of him. He tightened his fists as shadows and darkness emerged from the ground, twisting and tying themselves together the same way they had when they'd taken him from the island. He was scared, though he wouldn't admit it. He was scared, because he wasn't sure where the darkness might take him this time. He was scared, because he decided to trust a voice without a face on word alone. He hesitated, long enough to elite a snarky comment from the voice behind him.

"What are you, afraid?"

Riku turned his head and smirked. He looked behind him, directly into the darkness where the voice had called from.

"I'm not afraid of the darkness."

Long strips of black ice snaked their way out of the portal and Riku extended his arm to greet them. He walked along to their tug as they pulled him into the portal ahead. He took a deep breath, clenched his teeth and locked his lips, desperate not to let the darkness enter him this time, and in return, Riku entered the darkness instead.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

By now you can tell I love flashbacks that recall moments from the Kingdom Hearts canon timeline and putting them into a context that befits this fanfiction. Riku really went through it this chapter but there are moments in KH where our characters really get the run-through so that's something to expect more of. Much more spelling errors to correct in this one. I'm wondering if this fiction should be rated G or rated T due to crude humor and (fantasy) violence.

The snowy depths of The Realm of Darkness was a reader suggestion. Thank you Wanli8970.