Kingdom Darkness

Title: Kingdom Darkness
Chapter: Realization
Rating: R [ NC17 later on. ]
Pairings: Riku – Sora
Comments: Second chapter, one day. My muse loves me right now. Still Shounen Ai though; maybe even less than the last one. It will get better though. I hope.


“ Speech “
// Flashback //
/ Mental Speech /


Squaresoft and Disney own Kingdom Hearts, and I make no money from this.





The gummy ship had arrived.

It was smaller than their previous one, and obviously slower, by the way it touched down rather slowly, and clumsily. It rocked back and forth on its three legs, and then the latch popped open, and the door slid down, stalling once or twice. Donald, leading the way, stopped so suddenly, that Goofy, then Sora, ran into him. Pluto, behind Sora, kept on walking though, and right into the slightly rusted and torn looking gummy ship. He looked behind and barked once, then galloped and disappeared off somewhere in the back.

“ What is it?” Sora asked, peeking from behind Goofy, squinting to see inside the dark capsule. Donald made that deflated noise he reserved for times of disappointment.

“ Remember this one, Goofy? Its one that Chip and Dale were working on. I didn’t know it ran.” Donald walked up to the side of the ship, and game its sheet metal siding a rather hard smack with his magical staff. Goofy was following behind him.

“ Gwarsh, I didn’t know they even had it. I thought there was one.ofy ofy said, his voice full of curiosity, as he without a pause, went inside and into the cockpit. Donald squawked and fluttered inside after him.

“ Wait Goofy! We don’t know if this funk of metal is safe!” Donald was trying to pry Goofy away from the controls, but he looked unphased by his friend yanking his arm.

“ It looks safe, though.” Sorimbeimbed it after them, nearly knocking his head on a loose pipe, that had just now sprung loose. He swallowed thickly, and turned to leave. But the doors slid shut the very moment he was doing to cross the threshold back outside.

“ The things starting up!” Donald said, hoping inside the navigation seat and trying to manually stop it. It seemed fruitless, though.

“ Well, we don’t wanna stay in this world, do we? We don’t even know where it is!” Goofy sat down in one of the four seats and looked through the small porthole window to his left. Sora slipped once or twice when the ship tilted back, and managed to drag himself into the seat across from Goofy.

Despite the outward appearance of not being able for flight, the ship seemed to handle well; it lifted off the ground on the second try, and zoomed off into space. It was traveling slow, though. So slowly, that the stars outside almost seemed to be standing in one place.

“ This is going to take forever.” Donald exhaled and slumped in his seat, a few feathers flying up and fluttering around him, then resting around his orange feet.

Goofy seemed to enjoy the landscape though. He was sitting on the edge of his seat, looking at each star, and turned his head every time they passed. Much like a dog hanging it head out the window, but Sora knew that even Pluto had more sense than that.

Sora himself had settled for pressing his forehead against the glass, his breathe on it making it fog up. He idly raised a hand to draw in the mist, carving out a pattern, and then wiping it away.

// Sora was ten, Riku was eleven.

They had only met a week that day, and every day since than, had snuck off to explore. And just days ago, they discovered the small cave, hidden by plants and a small water pool. It was almost impossible to see, unless you knew what to look for.

Sora pe ove over Riku’s shoulder, his eyes large as he observed the elder boy carving with a white stone. He was only drawing a tree, but it looked so fantastic. Without a second though, Sora reached out for the stone.

“ Gimme! I want to draw something!” Sora actually whined when Riku pushed him away.

“ I’m using it now. “ Riku said, with that air of ‘ I’m older than you, don’t you know?’ Sora sat on the ground, and again looked through a small pile of rocks, retestihem hem on the wall. He must have done this three times, before he felt a hand tap his bony shoulder, extending the fragment to him.

“ Thanks!” Sora exclaimed happily and took the stone, his small nimble fingers brushing with those of Riku. He didn’t seem to notice, going to work to carve on the wall. Riku, though, sat in front of his own drawing, a simple little landscape, and massaged his fingers across those Sora touched.

“ Your not very good at drawing.” Riku commented a few moments later, eyeing the stick drawing that Sora was creating, “ if that’s supposed to be me, than I should it it as an insult.”

“ Nu-uh. It looks just like you.” Sora giggle, and raised the piece, closing on eye, and striking the pose of an artist measuring their object. His aim was a little off though, which made Riku smirk.

“ You got the eyes all wrong. And my hair is not that stringy.” Riku scooted closer and grabbed Sora’s hand, raising and guiding it over the scribbled lines.

Sora, blushing brightly, peeking from underneath his arm, since it was raised at such a high arc, at Riku. He was paying avid attention to the drawing he was guiding Sora through, his lower lip drawn between his teeth and eyebrows furrowed.

Sora looked back to the drawing, and smiled brightly; next to his own drawing, Riku had drawn one of Sora. The hair was a little bit messier than what he usually kept it, but he sow caw captured his large bright eyes without even sparing them a second glance. How odd. Riku must really pay attention to minute details.

“ That looks great, Riku!” Sora tried to pull his small hand away, but Riku held onto it tightly. He was grinning again, and somehow, it just didn’t suit him that well.

“ I should teach you how to draw.” Riku said thoughtfully, and now guided Sora’s hand to work on the drawing that Sora had begun. And Riku was leaning real close to do so.

When Riku’s arm touched him, Sora moved away mostly from natural reactiont Rit Riku’s arm was off to the side of him, supporting himself on the ground, so that he was partly leaning over Sora to do so. It felt warm right here, and Sora found himself enjoying this more than the small art lesson.

“ Done.” Riku said, his voice close to Sora’s ear. He snapped out of his little daze, and looked up, his eyes widening at the two pictures. His own of Riku looked perfect! Without his friend helping him though, it would have looked nothing like this. And the one Riku had drawn of himself… they were facing each other, smiling.

“ There needs to be something more?” Sora said slowly. The two drawings looked plain to him, and were uninteresting. So he busied himself with playing with Riku’s loose sleeve instead. Riku had his fingers to his mouth in thought, then started to sketch away again.

“ How about a necklace. “ Riku murmured while slowly drawing out the chain. “ And it can have seashells.”

“ Then we should both have one.” Sora said, moving around where he sat. A few little rocks were digging into his legs.

“ How about I make one on you, and you make one of me. “ Riku was already drawing one on the one of Sora. When he finished, he passed the stone back over to Sora, who started with a long wide chain, and finished with three beads and two shells making up the weight of the necklace.

“ Perfect. “ Riku sighed, sitting back. And suddenly that warm heat radiating from Riku was gone, leaving Sora slightly cold. He turned to see his new friend sitting on a slightly raised mound of dirt, eyes raised upwards to gaze at the twisting roots coming down from the ceiling.

“ It is.” Sora said, looking over his narrow shoulder at the drawings again. It warmed his heart to look upon them, a perminant staple of their already blooming friendship. Sora looked back and fourth between it and Riku.

“ Maybe if we continue at this rate, we’ll have all the walls covered. Like those old cave paintings..” Riku sighed out. He was right; and the bare walls looked eager to be covered in carvings.

“ Yeah…” He dropped the stone and turned to face Riku, smiling a little, “ We should really make shell necklaces for each other. Then we would be best friends forever. “

“ You know what… that sounds like a great idea. “ //

“ Sora!”

Donald was standing before him, one foot tapping the ground, with both wings crossed. Sora grinned apologetically, and looking down at him.

“ I was talking to you, and you spaced out? What’s wrong with you?” Donald bantered, throwing his wings up so that more downy feathers flew from his long sleeves, “ You spaced out last night, too, you know!”

“ .. Ehehe… sorry Donald. “

“ Heya… what’s that?” Goofy said, pointing to Sora’s neck. Blinking, with his eyebrows raised, Sora looked down, to see that he had unknowingly removed a necklace from inside his red suit. The string that it was on had gone brown, and the little shells were dull, beads scratched.

Sora swallowed, and quickly tucked it back into the suit, “ Just something that Riku made for me, a long time ago. “

“ Then its gotta be important for ya, right?” Goofy asked, sitting back in his seat, and looking rather unsure of what to do with his large hands, so he kind of let them rest oddly to the side.

“ Yeah… I made one for him too!… but I don’t think that he has it anymore. “ Sora said sadly, rubbing his fingers across the smooth shells again. It reminded him of how happy he had been back then, spending his days with Riku, running and playing, competing against each other, and then everything had changed when Kairi came.

The had remained close, though, only more competitive over Kairi. And the more Sora thought about it, the more he had to wonder… / did we only compete to be together like that? /. All the races, sword fights, and even wrestles, so they could be close without even knowing it? It sounded odd, sure, but it made sense.

Sora felt like a part of himself had seeped off into darkness. His eyes went unseeing as he stared at the gummy floor. Donald had apparently washed his hands of the entire situation, and had gone off toward the front of the ship again. Goofy remained oblivious. So, quietly, Sora raised the tiny beads and shells to his lips, giving those shinny surfaces soft kisses.

“ Eh… Riku… “

Goofy was looking at Donald. His ears were droopier than usual, kind of drawn back against his head. Donald peeked over, then glanced over the seat to Sora behind him. His eyes were shut, head tilted back, fingers pressing the necklace firmly to his puckered lips.

“ He’s worried. “ Goofy said, in a quiet whisper that made the hitched in his voice that more evident.

“ He’s been worried about Riku since a few days ago, with King Mickey. “ Donald slipped across the ship, to sit in the seat in front of Goofy instead.

“ I hope we find his friend… for his sake, ya know. Its not good to be alone.” Goofy said quietly. Donald nodded in agreement, and sat down in the seat, sliding down once or twice from the glossed coushin.

“ Where could King Mickey have gone…” Donald wondered out loud. Goofy looked puzzled, looking out through the tiny little window again, and drumming his large fingers on the metal aside it.

“ On the other side… err… right? That’s were he was last, with the darkness. Fightin’ em! Along with Riku.” Goofy said. Donald fluttered a sigh and leaned back, his hands resting on his stomach.

An hour later, they came to land. It was a dark land, and from what they could see, nothing but forested area. It was hard to see, half because of how dark it was, and another because of the fogg that was slowly slipping across the baron ground. It was chilly there too. Goody clattered his teeth noisily as they walked, and Sora could feel his fingers begin to go numb. Donald was leading them all along, his magical staff creating a light that shone a good distance ahead.

“ I wondered where we are…” Donald said, looking back at the both of them. Sora breathed out, his breathe puffing in the air before him.

“ I’ve never been this cold before. Not even the water got this cold.” Sora said, suddering a little bit when a cool breeze suddenly went past him. Pluto, who had been following Goofy ever since they left the ship, stopped suddenly in the snow. Donald stopped, and raised the light.

“ Come on, you stupid mutt! Or else you’ll freeze out here.” Donald stiffened a little bit though. A loud piercing howl rang somewhere in the distance, but it sounded like it was getting closer. Pluto’s tail went straight out, and he turned in the snow, slipping around as he went, and ran straight down the path they were already going down.

“ Come on!” Goofy grabbed Sora’s wrist and started out on a full on run. Donald flapped up, rather deftly, and landed on one of Goofy’s shoulders, holding on there tightly.


His lungs were starting to hurt. The cold air felt as though it were freezing him from the inside out. Gritting his teeth together tightly, he looked back, and saw large white wolves following them, their wide mouths barking and snapping after them.

“ Woah!” Sora ran after now that he knew what his pursuer was. They turned down a sharp fork in the road, and suddenly, Donald pointed ahead of them.

“ Gates! Hurry, come on! “ Donald yelled, turning quickly to try and cast a spell back at the wolves, The light in his staff flickered out when he did so though, and they took the last few steps in blind faith. When Goofy felt the cobblestone beneath his feet, he instantly stopped, and Sora grabbed the gate, shutting it tightly. The wolves clashed against it, pushing and growling. He could catch the gleam of their golden eyes from unseen light.

“ Lock it with something!” Sora yelled. Donald came up underneath him and begun to quickly pull at the chain, pulling two of the ends together, and then using his staff to make fire erupt from it. The wolves backed off quickly, and the metal links quickly fused together. Afterwards, Sora fell back on the ground, scuttling away from the gate. Now with Donald’s light back, he could see the angry beasts, chewing at the gate and snarling viciously.


Shaking, he pulled himself to his feet, feeling more numb now than he had before and turned around slowly. Goofy had his head aimed back and was staring up at a tall castle. It almost looked like that at Hallow Bastain, but it had a sense of peace around it. What gave it away the most, though, was the stain glass window above the large double doors, which was just of a simple red rose.

“ Beast. “ Donald said, slowly starting up towards the castle. Goofy and Sora followed along behind him slowly… Somehow, Sora made his way to the lead, and pushed open one of the large doors, that had already been cracked open a little. The entrance hall was long and beautiful, but tall and dark at the same time.

Pluto was there. He was sitting in front of a open door way, his head lowered and eyes darkened. Sora came up behind him, letting his and rest on top of his knobby head, while looking out from behind the wall. There, was the great form of beast, his great back coated in his trademark purple cape. His head was lowered though, and he was rocking back and fourth, making a low sound. It wasn’t clear until he raised his great furred head, wet tracks having pierced down from his eyes, drastically damping the fur.

“ Uhh… “ Goofy said dumbly, looking in from over the top of Sora’s head. Beast turned to look quickly, aetreetreated back into a corner.

“ What have they done!” His deep voice roared, reverberating off the walls. A glint of blue against his dark fur, and it was then that Sora realized that he was holding something… Belle. Sora took a step into the room, but Beast snorted out his nose, turning to the side.

“ Stay back.” He barked, bearing his large teeth. Sora, though, took another slight step.

“ What happened? “ Sora asked quietly, trying not to look at the limp woman, dangling lifelessly in Beast’s grasp.

“ She… she fainted, and didn’t get up. I listened, but I cant hear her heart. They did something! That… that white haired man did this to her!” Beast snarled and hit one of the footrests, sending it flying across the room. It sailed and hit the wall, and when it landed on the ground, it leapt to its feet and scrambled out of the room, yipping.

“ Fainted?” Donald was now inching into the room, though mostly behind Sora. Beast didn’t seem to acknowledge him, but his glistening nose flared and bringing in the scent of somewhat damp duck down.

“ I… I don’t know what from. I was with her the entire day. “ Beast said, the longer, darker hairs lining down the middle of his back raising up, both in anger and grief, “ She got up, so say good night to Chip, like she always does. He… he wont go to sleep without seeing her first…”

“… Could it…have been the darkness?” Sora asked, feeling his heart quicken. Almost as soon as he said that, long, dark creatures, like serpents, were slipping out from the dark shadows in the corners. They were all slithering around them, boxing them in.

Beast was snarling, Donald was aiming his staff threateningly at all of them, Goofy had his shield raised, and would now and then thrust them at the heartless. And Sora… he had the Keyblade, gripping it with both hands. It was all just beginning again.





End of Second Chapter.


Any good? I know Belle and Beast were in the first one, but see, Belle not being a princess, but rather the daughter of a regular man, was not needed for her power in the first one. So, I decided to slip them in. Review and tell me what you think. Come on, it wont hurt.

- L-chan.