Mirror Dance Prologue
By Dew
The wind blew violently around him as the rain pelted his cloaked skin. He didn’t mind the numbness, his mind focused solely on the creatures that withdrew themselves from the shadows of the ground slowly. Their yellow eyes seemed to tear into his body and Riku felt his hands clench into fists in nervousness and excitement. He felt his Keyblade hum in agreement.
Their hunger for his heart filled him as Riku smiled crudely at them. He could feel their anxiety – they had not tasted a heart of someone so powerful in such a long time… It had been too long.
Finally their patience drew thin and the black demons lunged, hoping to tear his heart out from his body. Riku withdrew his Keyblade from its haven and twirled it around his body in defense. The Heartless hissed in protest as they eyed and felt the raw power that radiated from the blade within the eighteen-year old boy’s hands. Riku’s lips drew a tight line of determination as he lifted the weapon into a fighting stance.
The Heartless hissed once more, growling some language between each other as they eyed Riku hungrily.
“The Keyblade Master…” Riku’s Keyblade translated, vibrating softly in the silver-haired youth’s hands. “The Keyblade Master…”
“Strong heart,” another hissed. “Keyblade…the Keyblade…”
Riku gripped his Keyblade tighter, eyeing the Heartless in front of him and his back tensing as he heard the breath of the Heartless behind him. The battle would be short, yes. The battle would be painfully easy; they always were. The Heartless will swallow their fear of the Keyblade and lunge, their hunger overtaking their terror of his weapon.
He would kill them all but Riku never made the first move.
It was suicide to make the first move.
The wind howled with anticipation as the rain fell down upon him and the Heartless, awaiting the inevitable battle in the near future. Riku felt the cold seep through his cloak but even then he did not lower his gaze or his defensive stance.
A Heartless lunged at last.
Riku felt his Keyblade react and felt his body swing around the attacking Heartless and brought the weapon down, cleaning slicing the demon in half. It screamed as it exploded into a black fog. Adrenaline was rushing in Riku’s veins even as the rest of the Heartless hissed and growled some more, not wanting to meet the same fate as their companion.
<That’s it…> he thought, watching the Heartless fidget. <Come at me.>
“The Keyblade…” they were hissing. “The Keyblade…powerful heart…a Keyblade Master…”
“KEYBLADE…!!” the Heartless chanted, circling around the teenager with hungry yellow eyes. “KEYBLADE…”
<Come at me bastards, that’s it…come get me…> Riku thought further, his gloved hands soaked with rain and sweat.
As if answering his prayer, the Heartless charged at him, their black claws positioned to rip his body apart. He took half-a-second to take a breather then launched into a fury of attacks – slicing open a Heartless to his right, stabbing another to cover his left. Riku ignored the throbbing pain on his back and the scent of his own blood flooding into his nostrils.
<Shit, shit, shit…> he thought has he swung in an arc to hit three of the Heartless as the others attacked his open sides and back mercilessly. <I’m taking too much damage from these flunkies…>
He withdrew, jumping back to a safe distance and watched the Heartless breathe out heavily, their crazed eyes glaring into him, searching for his heart underneath the cloth and skin. He felt their raging hunger flood into him. Riku glared back steadily, not letting his fatigue show. These Heartless were far stronger than the others he had fought in the course of the three years of his journey, Riku concluded as he was surrounded once more by the Heartless pack.
“Keyblade…our death…the Keyblade…” they murmured, “Like the Pure Hearted One...a Keyblade Master…”
Riku’s green eyes widened then narrowed. <They know.> his mind snarled with eagerness. <They know…they know where he is…>
“Where is he?”
His voice startled the Heartless – they reeled back as if stung. He took a step forward, making the Heartless in front of him step back. Riku’s forest green eyes were flaming with inner hope…that the three years of his painfully long journey might be finally…finally over…
“Where is he?” he repeated, his voice taking on a lower undertone. His hands shook as the Heartless stubbornly refused to answer. “Answer me!” he yelled, his young features taking on those of an impatient child’s. “Where’s Sora?”
The Heartless were silent and even the world seemed to silence as the wind howled the name over and over again in his skull. The name of the one had searched for three years…
“He knows…” one finally whispered.
“He knows…” another repeated more firmly.
“The Pure Hearted One…he knows…!!”
Riku gripped his Keyblade tightly. The Heartless started to shriek silently, their shrill voices ringing inside his skull painfully. They seemed no longer interested in his heart, only in the ritual they were performing. Riku felt his body tremble as he waited patiently for the Heartless to finish. He could feel a smile. He wanted to smile; he wanted to dance for joy.
<They know…>
“Gone…” one told him. “Search for him…we search for him…yes…the Keyblade…it calls us…”
“Where?” he cut in, “Where is Sora?”
“Gone…” they repeated, their voice more hysterical than usual. “Searching…yes we are…searching for the Keyblade…it calls…gone, gone, gone…” The Heartless snickered, possessed by some demon of a deeper darkness. Yellow eyes faced off against green as the Heartless sniggered. “Gone, gone, gone, gone, GONE…and the Keyblade calls…”
They melted into the ground slowly, still howling with silent laughter. “It calls…”
“Wait!” Riku cried, jabbing a hand towards them. They did not stop and when their antennas vanished into the ground. “Tell me where he is! Where is Sora?”
“It calls…” the Heartless answered, their voices fading. “The Keyblade…it calls…”