Cold sweat drenched the forehead of a young man, eyebrows clenched in an unconscious frown while his body tossed and turned, unable to find peace in the depths of his sleep. Visions unfolded in his mind’s eye, disturbing images lashing at his thoughts like vicious whips of ice, relentless and painful. Ever so slowly, the chaotic mixture of shattered colors melded together, finally forming a solid picture to view as he delved ever deeper into the nightmarish dream.
Purple and black shadows hovered on the corners of his gaze, lurking and slithering to and fro like deadly night predators, waiting silently for their prey to collapse and allow them to rip and shred at his flesh. Riku shivered, his consciousness feeling raw and vulnerable as he desperately tried to make sense of the scene before him. A figure emerged in the blink of an eye, forming from a pillar of murky, mud-like darkness that also formed the ground below them. A heavy weight dropped into Riku’s hand, and an instinctual urge drove the boy to leap backwards, habitually raising the blade above his head in his familiar fighting stance.
Mere seconds before he had moved, the mysterious mass had struck, the shadowy visage sharpening upon the impact into the fierce, lithe form of an armored man, not much shorter than Riku himself. He recognized the shape- and as it straightened, he remembered. The shock of recognition lit inside Riku’s mind, and he felt a fierce sense of protectiveness skyrocket inside him. It was the very same armored being he had fought inside of Sora’s dreams, back in his own universe and inside Yen Sid’s tower. Then, it had been a dark prison for his best friend’s heart, as well as a protection.
But now? What was it doing here? I thought I destroyed it. Why is it attacking me. Here, now? He still hadn’t quite grasped that it was a dream- his adrenaline felt too real, the threat too close to home. If anything, he was sure it was real, the feel of his Keyblade reassuring and feeling far more real than the wooden sword Hive City Scientists had given him. This was familiar, this was something he knew. And until he broke that chain that tied him into sleep and away from reality, it was all he’d have for now.
It took only one more aggressive movement from the Armored Shadow to trigger his fighting instinct, and as he rushed forward, all thought was lost, the two meeting in the middle in a vicious collision of weapons and blows, both trying their hardest to gain the upper hand.
Strike after strike, wound for wound, they were evenly matched; neither could best the other, and neither would give up. It seemed exhaustion was a thing of myth, and Riku could feel no weariness in his limbs as he struck again and again, trying his hardest to at least injure his opponent. All he could feel was the same thing he felt back then, when he had fought this thing in Sora’s dream, as though it were happening all over again. Protectiveness, and a fierce desire to succeed, for his friends, and for himself. It was almost a trial.
This continued for the immeasurable amount of time a dream allows to pass, and suddenly, Riku’s enemy staggered, leaving it free for a blow; which he took without hesitation, aiming for a violent slash to the skull and hoping to end it there and then.
The blow connected with a loud, gruesome thud and the sound of shattering glass, sending the darkness enveloped helmet the figure wore flying, the visor shattered and metal protection, dented.
At that moment, it felt as though every fatigue Riku had ever felt came crashing down on his body, forcing him to his knees, his single free hand being forced to the ground in an attempt to keep him from collapsing outright. Confusion erupted in his mind, and through his now harsh breathing, he realized his opponent had not fallen, it was then he realized this beings weapon was not the same as the one it had wielded back then. This one was shaped differently, an entirely different type of faux keyblade. But was it really fake?
Aquamarine eyes jerked upwards, anger and frustration coursing through him. He had struck the final, and fatal blow, yet he was the one whom felt defeated. Finally he met the things face, and his pupils dilated in shock as they met familiar- yet wholly unknown, sapphire blue eyes, that stared back at him through strands of honey blonde hair.
His immediate thought was that it was Roxas, the Nobody that he had struck down so long ago in the World That Never Was, and had spoken to in Sora’s dream. But no, this was someone different. Though the differences were subtle, they were enough to know for sure. This was the other one, the teen whom had bared an identical semblance to Roxas himself during the three questions he had been asked. Yen Sid had told Riku and Sora of him before, one of the ones who were waiting for them to defeat Xehanort.
Ventus? The name felt foreign to him, and a hazy memory of King Mickey mentioning it in the past surfaced, but quickly faded away. The feeling of exhaustion swept over him again, and he groaned, forced to look away from the blank expression of the teen before him.
Armored boots stepped forward, stopping just before Riku’s bowed figure, and the elder prepared himself for a killing blow. But it didn’t come- instead a touch on his shoulder, full of… he couldn’t describe the feeling. It felt like light, but it felt almost felt like it was sad. Vitality rushed into his body again, and he raised his head once more to meet those eerily similar cobalt eyes. The blow Riku had dealt ‘Ventus’ earlier had left no marks, and aside from the other strangely losing the hostility he had possessed.
As the gloved, armored hand guided Riku to his feet once more, their eyes never leaving each other’s, a smile came to the Blonde’s face, eyes closing as he let his hand fall to his side. A light shone, and the shadows that had clung to his armor vanished, leaving the bronze and copper colors of the metal behind, almost as though the battle had cleansed him of the darkness.
“Sora can definitely rely on you.”
As he said that, the dark environment around them melted, and their keyblades both vanished into a wisp of light. Riku felt so many questions buzz in his mind, but a sense that he couldn’t ask them now blew them into dust while a feeling of peacefulness touched his heart- and they both were blinded by light.
A jolt shocked the young man awake, bright eyes widening with the jolt of his sudden dive into wakefulness. Confusion and disorientation shook his entire being, and he scrambled for a small lamp beside his bed in the struggle to figure out his surroundings. The flickering bulb switched on, and a feeling like he had been kicked in the gut hit him. He drew his knees upwards, breathing heavily while he rested his arms upon them. Realization that he wasn’t back in his own, real home, flooded over him, and the frustrating wooden sword he now possessed rested almost mockingly against the wall beside his bed. But at the moment, he was too encased in the fleeting memories of his dream to care. What had that just been? Had it really been a dream? Was it the isolation of being stranded in this strange new world, finally getting to him?
Riku shook himself, running a hand through his silver hair as a sigh escaped his lungs. A true-blue memory of golden hair in the mass of a crowed touched his mind, and he knew that tomorrow, he needed to explore the rest of this be-damned city to see if it had only been his mind messing with him, if only to find some answers, or even a sense of self-assurance.
“Was that really you… Ventus? Or really just a dream?”
