The Calm Before the Storm (Riku, Open)

[Sora]

CAUTION! SPOILER ALERTS FOR KH3D AHEAD!

With the Mark of Mastery exam concluded and the results ending with only one of the two friends passing, Sora has since returned back home, to his small island in order to get a little relaxation time in before venturing off once again to train.

The young keyblader walked down the usual paths. Odd. Things seemed so much smaller than he had remembered! And his last time home had been so short lived that he didn't really get the chance to just re-explore.

After mindless wandering, he finally came to the islands edge, to the shoreline that him and his friends use to frequent. His eyes lit up as the bright blue ocean greeted him to jump right in, and after throwing off his shoes and tossing them off to the side, he gladly did. He finally felt like a kid again as his body crashed through the water's surface. Sora casually made his way back to the shore as he sprawled himself out. And so, there he sat on the warm sandy beach basking in the rays the sun offered him. It was a peaceful day. Perfect for lounging about like he use to before things became... complicated. All that was missing was Riku and Kairi... But, he was sure they had their own things to do. And besides, they'd only end up calling him a lazy bum and tell him to get back to training. He chuckled lightly at the thought, and almost wished one of them would come tell him to get his rump back into gear!

As his feet rested in the tide, the brunette threw his arms back behind his head and stared blankly up at the cloudy sky. What was going to happen now? How long would it take for him to pass the Mastery exam? Was is really right for him to just leave like he did? Was it perhaps a bit selfish of him to go off on his own to train? This was the only bad thing about being alone... He thought too much...

Letting out a heavy sigh, the spiky headed youth closed his eyes, and attempted to clear his head. He was suppose to be relaxing! Not worrying about things that could wait until later. He just wanted a moment of peace for once.

[Riku]

Riku wasn't happy in the least with the results of the Mark of Mastery. He even asked Yen Sid if he was mistaken. That was when Yen Sid said "What? Do you want me to take yours away and make you both start over?"

Riku quietly laughed, taking in the surf. He then heard a noise, and his instinct as a Keyblade Master made him spring to his feet, standing up on the small plateau he, Sora and Kairi always watched the sunset from. He knelt and saw the familiar brunette, smiling broadly as his friend approached, then jumped into the water, relaxing. Riku stood up straight and shook his head. Even in this quiet, short lived peace, he was still relaxing and playing around, enjoying what was left of his life here before he went to retake the exam. Riku walked to the other side, dropped off, and landed on the other side, sneaking around. He walked over to a small, hidden spot behind some bushes and pulled out two very familiar pieces of wood.

He then saw Sora lay back, and decided to walk over, sauntering up until he was above Sora, looking down at him from just above.

"WAKE UP, LAZY BUM!!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, laughing as he'd jump back, awaiting a flail-fit like no other. He then tossed a sword at Sora's left side, letting it stick into the ground.

"Enough relaxation, we gotta train up! Any of those big bad Heartless come along, we don't want to catch you with your shoes off!" he said, winking and dangling Sora's shoes from his now free hand, having grabbed them before he gave Sora his rude awakening. "Come on, just for old time's sake!" he mused, pointing his sword at Sora tauntingly. "Or I'll tell Kairi you were a wuuuuussssssssss~"

[Sora]

Peace and quiet.. Calm, easy sounds of the waves as they rolled in.. He could get use to it... A smile curled over the brunette's lips as he enjoyed his time.. Only, after a few moments, a shadow loomed over him, causing the bright glow he could see through his eyelids to dim. When it didn't go away, his brows began to furrow as he cracked an eye open to see what was obscuring his sun.

"WAKE UP, LAZY BUM!!

The loud booming voice threw him off guard as the keybearer jumped, his heart racing and threatening to beat right out of his chest. "Oh, geez, Riku! Are you trying to scare me to death?!" With a heavy sigh of relief that it had only been his silver haired friend, Sora rested a hand on his still uneasy heart. He glanced over as he heard a thus beside his head.... The wooden swords him and Riku use to play with when they were younger.. Man, did that bring back old memories!

"But I just got here!" Sora huffed, as he jumped to his feet stretching out his arms and letting out a gentle yawn before letting his limbs swing loosely back to his sides as his fingers gripped around the wooden sword's handle. "I'm not a wuss!" He retorted back, slightly flustered as he reached for his shoes and slid them back on his feet. Their proper place. He gave his small sword a few test swings... These things felt.. much bigger and heavier back then... Now it was almost like waving around a giant toothpick.

"Alright, then!" He began as he swung the sword off to his side, just as he would his keyblade, and crouched down preparing for a fight. "Bring it!"

[Riku]

Riku smirked and took a step, the sand crunching beneath his shoes as he closed the distance between him and Sora in a flash. He took a swing, his wooden sword traveling up in an arc from lower right to upper left, then, he would feint and swing it back up, and across where Sora's chest was. Whether Sora dodged or not, he would then put distance back between them, jumping up, and back, landing on the bridge above. When they were just kids, they would restrict their battles to the Islet, usually walking away bruised, sore, and laughing. He popped his knuckles, popped his neck, and pointed his sword in his usual stance.

He had adopted this stance through Ansem's influence, and it had proven to be an effective stance, knowing that Ansem was the Heartless of a Keyblade Master, just like himself, a Master... However, this wasn't a battle between Keybearers, a battle for supremacy, this was a little scuffle between friends, a memory long past... something Riku expressed to Sora through this. He missed the simple days... the days of being brought out here by Sora's Dad, sitting, watching the sunset... this wasn't a fight. He and Sora were talking, relating, doing what they did best, and getting better with every attack.

"Don't hold back! Do whatever it takes!" he said loudly, smirking down to his best friend.

[Sora]

This was great! The nostalgia that this brought back was intoxicating. If there weren't important things at hand, he'd just suggest they do just what they did when they were kids and play out on the beach until the sun came down, then trudge their way back home battered and bruised and drained of every last bit of energy that they had.

After successfully raising his blade to block the first attack, he foolishly fell for the feint and was greeted by the hard surface of the wooden blade raking across his chest. It didn't seem to hurt as badly as it had when they were kids, but there was still a distinct sting the was left behind. Bright blue eyes glanced up as Riku had put a good distance between the two. His fingers twitched with anxiousness, wanting so badly to summon his keyblade into his hand. No, this was suppose to be just like their old fights, so keyblades were out of the question.

So, he did the only thing he could, and closed the space between them and jumping on the bridge to join his silver haired friend, swinging the flimsy wooden sword from his upper right in down in a diagonal before bringing it around again for a horizontal slash.

After his small attack was finished, he quickly retreated, chuckling as he went, obviously having fun with their game. He jumped off the small raised land and off back into the tide of the ocean, his feet splashing loudly as he landed. As he waited for Riku to catch up with him, Sora picked up a few paopu fruit that had fallen into the water from the nearby tree. He took the three he had gathered and chucked them over the edge, hoping to smack Riku in the face with at least one of them.

"Come on, don't make me wait down here!"

[Riku]

Riku watched his friend jump up, and swing at him. Riku was lax today, and didn't mind taking it easy on his friend, so he let these two hits connect. He then would swing, but miss as Sora jumped off of the Islet into he surf. He took off after him, only to see something yellow fly up and smack him in the face. He flailed, slipping on the moist grass on the edge of the plateau, and would tumble into the water, sinking down.

He didn't come back up.

Below the surface, he peered at Sora, then swam around where the light from the sun would reflect into the water, where it was too bright to see into the crash and lull of the surf. Then he would kick off of the bottom with all his strength, preparing his weapon as he raised out of the water above his head, when he noticed-

His sword was floating right there.

In the insanity, he summoned his Keyblade by mistake!!

He withdrew his attack, pulling his arm back as he would fly past Sora and hit the side of the Plateau with a smack, sliding into the water. He sat in the water for a second, looking at his Keyblade. Why... He didn't drop his sword, or so he thought... And he could sense no Darkness nearby... usually, his Keyblade didn't come out without his notice unless there was a threat of some sort. He stood up, perplexed, then looked out in time to see that the surf had carried the sword away. He sighed, then looked back at Sora.

"...Whaddya say we give the Keys some air, eh?" he said, smirking and pointing the Keyblade to him.

It still bugged him... this was a time of relative peace... why did his Keyblade appear...?

[Sora]

Grinning as he waited for his friend to follow after, he only heard the light thud the paopu fruit had made after hitting it's target, as Riku tumbled into the surf in a not so graceful manner. He couldn't help but burst into uncontrollable laughing and chuckling as Riku made his entrance.

After a few short moment, he managed to calm down, quickly scanning the water's surface for the silver haired keybearer. Nothing. "Riku?" The young brunette called out. Still no answer. "Come on, this isn't funny!" He called out, though he knew to Riku it would only sound like random babble from under the waves. The small wooden sword floated along the surface caught his attention though.. Maybe Riku had managed to knock himself out before falling into the bright blue surf? With the huge splash he had made and the sun reflecting brightly off of the surface, he hadn't actually seen his friend since he fell in. Getting panicked now, he prepared to dive in just to make sure, only to see a figure hurdle out of the water.

"WHOA!!" Sora arms flailed slightly as he hurriedly put his puny sword up to block the keyblade, only to watch Riku zip past him instead and smack right dab into the wall and slide back into the water. He watched as Riku stared at his keyblade in a sort of disbelief, almost like he hadn't meant to summon it and suggesting they give their weapons a bit of fresh air, trying to play it off. Sora wasn't one to bring up a matter Riku was trying to avoid, so he nodded in agreement and tossed the toy sword off onto the beach, and in a bright flash of light summoned his own keyblade. As he took a few steps forward to continue their playful fight, the world suddenly began to spin.

His free hand quickly reached up to feel his forehead as his feet halted to a stop and glues themselves to the ground. He wasn't warm, but for some reason, the world only kept spinning until the blurry image of Destiny Islands turned into a smoldering heap of ruins. Flames licked up into the air as chunks of nearby buildings were torn apart and scattered about. Where. Where was this? And what had happened?!

Sora took a step back as he tried to take it all in, trying to decipher exactly where he was. The white brick rubble wasn't much of a clue but.. Wait, was that..? A piece now set ablaze with fire with a far to familiar symbol. Three very distinct circles. Confused and rushed to find King Mickey and Queen Minnie, his eyes were only greeted by a menacing black figure in the distance that stood among the flaming ruins of the castle as he took out a few more sections that had been left standing. Before he could even act, and take a step to stop the destruction, a large black hole had already began to swallow him, and despite his struggle to free himself, he shortly found himself in the dark.

"NO!!" He cried out, quickly sitting up, his eyes flying open as they frantically searched their surroundings. He was back on the islands, now sitting in the shallow water. He had apparently fallen sometime in between the vision he had just witnessed, and luckily he hadn't been far out into the surf.

He finally calmed himself for a moment to collect his thoughts.. "I.. I don't know what just happened.. Riku..." Bright blue eyes filled with worry and concern looked up to his friend, who was surely just as confused as he was. "We have to go to Disney Castle..."

[Riku]

Riku had once again prepared to attack, but as he stepped forward, Sora's eyes had gone blank, and a sudden feeling of foreboding filled him like ice. He suddenly banished the Keyblade, reaching out and grabbing his friend's arm to keep him from swan diving into the ocean, and helped him to a sitting position. Sora's eyes looked as though they were confused, then, suddenly, afraid. Riku's heart pounded as he shook Sora, trying to make him come around.

"Sora! Sora, wake up!!" he called out desperately. The last time Sora had done this was within the world of Sleep, and because of this, Xehanort almost had him...

Riku gently slapped Sora's face, trying to get Sora to respond.

What's going on... one second he's laughing and wanting to fight, and now this...

He tried again to shake Sora, but a sudden NO!!! escaped from his lips, causing Riku to flail back and land in the water himself. He scrambled to his feet and knelt next to Sora, who looked as though he just watched a friend die... what happened?

Sora then expressed his thoughts about whatever happened, and said that they needed to get to Disney Castle. Nodding, Riku opened his mouth to say something when an object glinted out of the corner of his vision. He glanced over in time to see a bottle, with a letter in it... Bearing Mickey's royal emblem. In a mad dash, Riku scurried over and opened the bottle, thinking it to be a distress cry, or something, but...

Dear Fellas and Kairi

I want to thank you guys for everything you've done for the worlds... you three have grown into great friends, both for each other, and to me. I mean, I couldn't remember the last time I saw such good friends! Anyways, before I get away from myself, Minnie is throwing a festival, and I want you guys to be there! I've got some loose ends to wrap up, so I may not show til later, but you guys come on out, all three of you, and have a great time! I'm sure Donald, Goofy and the guys will love to see you again!

Sincerely
King Mickey Mouse



"They want us to come to a festival?" Riku scowled, thinking to himself. He didn't know what to make of it, but knew that they needed to get Kairi and head that way. Now. He looked at Sora, awaiting his response.

[Sora]

He could still feel his heart pounding in his chest, the image still fresh in his mind. He flopped back down into the calming waters as he threw out his arms. He was sure of it. That place he had visited in his 'dream' had been Disney Castle and the terror he had felt was real. And it still stuck. Usually, after waking up, you'd get a wave of relief with knowing it was only just a dream.

But the even stranger part had been the timing. Out of the blue, completely out of nowhere. He hadn't even been tired or woozy until the vision had hit. He rattled his brain trying to make heads or tails of the situation, only to see Riku reach for an object in the water and pull out a small rolled up letter. The royal seal! He quickly scrambled over to peek over Riku's shoulder as he skimmed over the message. A festival?

"I'm not sure but.. I feel like something is going to happen... I saw the castle... Completely in ruins and it had gone up in flames and this shadowy figure was standing among it all... Riku. They're all in danger!" He almost felt like his wild claim would only be taken simply as his imagination getting the best of him. But what he saw was real. He just knew it.

"I know it sounds crazy but.. Something really bad is going to happen.. We have to go. Now."

[Riku]

Riku looked at Sora with concern. He's never serious like this unless he's sure about something with his very Heart.

That was only half of Riku's worry. What was worse was the fact that not only was he serious, he was frantic. Sora only freaked out at his own birthday parties... never over anything that could be life or death.

"Go find Kairi. Grab a Gummi Ship and meet me there." he said quietly, putting a hand on Sora's shoulder. "What they need is three Keybearers to help keep things in order." he smiled and nodded. "Let's keep this from happening."

Riku felt that their friendship had only grown since their Island fell victim to the Darkness, even when they fought each other. He swore from the day he found Sora in Oblivion that he'd risk everything to protect him and Kairi, no matter the cost... they were his true friends.

Without another word, Riku started off towards the boat dock, standing on the edge, and pulled out a little block. A Gummi Block. He held it up as the water in front of the dock began parting, the hidden Gummi Ship coming out and floating in front of him. He gave one glance, and smirk to Sora, before starting to board, before yelling "Don't be late!"

[Sora]

Sora placed a hand lightly over his heart. The rapid beating hadn't slowed at all. If nothing else, it had only quickened it's pace. What made this so terrifying was the fact that he had seen it all before it had even happened. The fear that he wouldn't be able to stop something he knew was about to take place. And with the festival starting shortly, it only left room for several innocent lives to be lost. And the Queen! She was there without Mickey. Not that she couldn't take care of herself, but she wasn't much of a fighter....

He nodded as Riku helped give him a goal. Find Kairi and make it to the castle. Maybe having Kairi with him would ease his nerves a little.. Though, he was almost just as worried about dragging her into this whole mess. But, they needed more backup if what he saw actually happened.

"Got it!" He even managed to give one of his grins as he watched his friend walk off towards the docks and hop into his Gummi Ship. He gave a giant wave before taking off in the opposite directions back onto the islands. "We won't be! See you there!"




THREAD END