[M-006] OOM: In the World That Never Was - Dream with Riku
Sora finds himself walking through the darkness. He raises his head up and around him to take in his surroundings, but it's difficult to make anything out in clear definition. He can feel the crevices and molds of walls on either side of him, which he touches with his hands, but his eyes cannot help him. The sounds of his feet echoing against the
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This is a place he is always hesitant to go - but a place that he has pushed himself into far many times before, for the sake of attempting to save his friend's missing pieces. It's a place that he fears every time he steps into it, for each footfall takes him that much closer to the Darkness within.
He doesn't go there, when he has a choice. But this is his dreams, isn't it...? There are no choices to be made, there. Not for his own sake.
Riku is sitting on top of steps, the ones that lead to the long tower that he has never truly understood. It's not one you can enter, but it's easily climbable. It's not one that you can break, or burn, or destroy - though it's surrounded by rubble. There are monitors at the top, the large screens changing colours to some form of tempo that only they understand.
It's silent. Empty. Deserted.
It could almost be called peaceful, if one were to find places like this comforting.
This is his mental realm, he appears as he is to himself. He is taller than he once was, more developed. He does not have the cloak - that is merely a disguise. He wears the clothes of an older teenage boy, what he wishes himself to merely be.
But the eyes, they are covered, as they will be for a long time. He's not reeady to face his own truths.
Not even inside his own mind.
While the silence has been broken, it's not something that Riku notices immediately. He's concentrating, you see - concentrating on tracing paths, pulling together pieces, listening to the hints and whispers that would lead him to Sora's mind. This is not something he is doing consciously, though it takes most of his mental capacity. Dreams ebb and flow, and changes can occur before you are even aware of it.
Because it is unconscious, he cannot control this mental effort. Therefore, it has an affect that he would never have meant to happen.
Sora has been pulled into his own mind.
The calls, Sora's voice - he misses all of these clues. But it's the whisper of his own name, soft and hesitant, distant as if it's not coming from someone's mouth at all. That's what startles him, and his eyes open wide behind the blindfold.
He's suddenly aware of the instrusion.
Riku has no idea how to handle this - so he goes with the one instinct that comes to mind first. It's a coward's way, but it's something that could earn him time while he fixes this.
He stands up, jumps off the stairs, and runs away.
There are telltale signs, though, of course. In this place without substance, his feet echo loudly. Surely Sora would hear it, and be able to track his journey.
Might he try to follow?
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"Hello?" he calls, disregarding the fact that whoever means to escape might mean him harm. He's prepared, nevertheless--his Keyblade appears (merely upon a thought) in his hand, a shining beacon in the dark of this place.
He turns from one side to the other. Where is that sound coming from?
Don't use your eyes, Sora. Use your heart.
It's something he feels he should do, as though someone close to him is advising him.
Sora shuts his eyes, clutching his Keyblade, listening for the footsteps that are steadily fading. And then he knows.
Opening his eyes once more, he runs towards the direction. He doesn't know who he's chasing after, but it's someone, and he's prepared.
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He can't quite make sense of who this is, yet. He's sleepy, he's not in balance of his center - as proven by the fact that he gave into the urge to run. All he knows is that he doesn't Like this.
Nobody should be in his own head. Nobody.
"STOP
" He pronounces loudly. His voice booms through the surrounding area, far louder than it ever could have in real life. He's reached the edge of a wall, now - a seperation between two broken alleyways. "GET OUT OF HERE
"
He prepares to jump over it. If he has a moment to think, he can gather his wits, and kick this intruder out.
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He frowns, his feet spread apart, his entire body tense.
"Who are you?" he calls. He can hear his voice echoing, bouncing off the solid forms surrounding him. "I won't hurt you."
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He knows it, and he knows it well. The sound of it, the emotions behind the words. He's spent far too much time with the person behind it, he's spent far too much time trying to find the person behind it, to not recognize it now.
"....Sora?"
His own voice is far more hesitant than he would like. But this is just another part of his dream -- right?
It couldn't possibly be real, no matter how much his head is ringing from the warning of instrusion.
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"I'm...looking for my friend," he continues, his voice loud. "His name is Riku?" He isn't even sure why he thinks this someone can help him.
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He raises his left hand into the air, snaps his fingers. In this place, this is enough to do what he wishes to do - now he has the protective distance of the cloak around him. He reaches to pull the hood up, and then steps out of the shadows.
"Where are you?" He asks, deepening his voice. Until he knows if this is a trick or not - he does not want to give away his identity.
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"I'm here," Sora calls out. His hand automatically tightens around the hilt of his Keyblade just in case. One can never be too cautious, especially in such a strange place like this.
But he has a vague feeling that things will be okay.
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So he takes steps in the direction he feels is necessary, and -- and it looks like Sora, as well as sounds like him. His breath catches for a moment, but he can't... he can't trust this.
Not yet.
Not after everything he's been through.
"Explain yourself."
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His initial thought is to attack and demand answers, but something holds him back. Now that the voice is closer, less ridden with echoes and an overall sense of hollowness, there's a stark familiarity to it. But it's still masked in something he can't quite get through.
He lets out a breath. "I'm Sora," he says slowly. He doesn't want things to become hostile if he can help it. "I don't...know where I am or how I got here. But I'm looking for my friends."
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Way to the Dawn. That's what he needs - that's what will keep him in control of this situation. As soon as he has thought this, he feels the hilt held strongly in his grasp. But he hesitates to show this as an offensive move, yet - so he plants the edge into the ground, leaning on it as if he's feeling casual.
He feels a little more assured, now. Far more confident than a moment before.
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His Kingdom Key is not the bright yellow and silver that he remembers. It's black; there's an intricate chain-link pattern etched down the length of it, tipped with a Gothic blade, sharp and dark...almost as dark as this place.
He nearly lets go of the Oblivion in surprise. "What...happened to my keyblade?" he asks.
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"That is not the tradition keyblade," he says. "How can you prove yourself to me?"
If this person were to attack, Riku would only have his beliefs confirmed. Sora would not attack blindly.
Would he?
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"Prove myself to you?" he asks, surprised. He isn't even sure who this someone is! Not really.
He thought--hoped--it might be Riku, but if Sora were to find him, he would recognize the other boy immediately, wouldn't he?
This black-cloaked figure didn't seem to know who he was at all.
"How do I do that?"
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Riku considers this. There's one point for him, really - Sora wasn't always the greatest of help, was he?
He could either try to shake this person out, or give him the benefit of the doubt. One singular chance, before treating him as the intruder he is.
"Answer me this, then," He says, and grips the hilt of Way to the Dawn more tightly. "What's big, red, round, and dead?"
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Riku.
It's Riku.
In the back of his mind, he can't help but wonder how many times must he find him only to realize that this isn't real?
"Riku," he says, his voice barely a whisper. He swallows. "It's--Riku. Riku when...he's wearing red and has eaten too much."
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