Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return

Sora furrowed his brows, the silence making him remember his wounds. He clenched his thigh more tightly, tempted to let out a groan. Instead, he lowered his head and shut his eyes tightly, hoping neither of his friends would notice the amount of pain he was in.

 

In the middle of a thought regarding the next world on the list, Riku sensed something darker than the moment among them. He peeked an eye open, glancing at Sora out of the corner of his eye. As he expected, the sense he had gotten was one that he could recognize as pain, something he had been around too much lately. He closed his eyes silently. Riku stretched an arm out to his side, otherwise keeping the same position. Way to Dawn was summoned in less than a second.

Roxas glanced up at the familiar sound, knowing it was one of a summoning. Sure enough, it was, a Keyblade in Riku's grasp. Roxas's eyebrows instantly furrowed. This guy wanted to fight again? Was that it? He was half-tempted to summon his own blade, but he couldn't sense anything threatening from Riku, so he remained still. But, what was he doing?

 

Sora exhaled a silent breath through his nose, his eyes staying shut. He was unaware of Riku's summon--he had been too absorbed in the pain to hear the faint sound that came with the action. Even if he had known of it, though, he wouldn't have understood why he had summoned it into his grasp anyway.

 

Riku thought instantly of the power of healing, the warm and cool sensation of a cure rushing over him. He focused on that and in a few seconds felt the spell at his fingertips. Way to Dawn's tip lifted slightly as Riku silently casted the spell over Sora, having been aware that his friend needed a little more heal power to help with his injuries.

Roxas's eyes rested on Riku as he observed his actions. Then he looked to Sora, knowing what was bound to happen in a matter of seconds. Something, though he wasn't sure of what exactly. All he had seen from the tip of Riku's blade was a small white light, and he knew then it meant it was magic.

 

After a few moments of the pain worsening, things suddenly died down. Sora felt himself relax, the grip on his leg loosening. He lowered his chin to his chest, his eyebrows returning to their normal position as he relaxed. Though he had experienced a cure spell more than once in a short period of time, it did nothing for his weakness, and he felt himself slipping from consciousness.

 

Riku summoned Way to Dawn away without a word, immediately bringing his arm back across his chest. His head remained lowered, the boy's eyes closed as he breathed evenly. For now, things were comfortable, even when they hadn't been moments before. He would accept it while he had it; there weren't many times when he got to enjoy moments like this one when responsibility involved the Keyblade.

Roxas glanced at Sora, seeing that he appeared a little more comfortable. He then switched his gaze to Riku, who just seemed content. He wasn't sure what they were going to do now, either right here or even tomorrow. Things were complicated now, as he should have expected coming on this journey.

 

Sora felt as if he shouldn't let himself fall asleep, a little bit afraid that his wounds were still significant enough to keep him from waking. But then he realized he would be strong enough to come out of it; he his reason to fight. With that thought, he let himself fall asleep, a bit more comfortable with the air surrounding him than he had been previously.

 

Riku learned to take advantage of times like this. Even if it wasn't exactly the peace he wanted, considering he was still on a mission, he welcomed the silence. It let him relax, and his thoughts spread out. Still leaning against the wall, the boy exhaled a soft breath, letting himself think things through while he could.

Roxas lowered his eyes to his knees and he simply stared at them in the quiet around him. The tension had left for now, but he was sure it would be back. He sighed softly, reflecting on the past he had lost. It was the only thing he could really do in the silence; sleep wasn't an option anymore, not with so much on his mind.

 

The Next Day...

Sora slept through the night without incident, still against the same wall in the cave. He had shifted his position slightly in his sleep, his right shoulder against the wall so his left wasn't touching anything. Unknown to him, Riku and Roxas had just had a conversation and agreed that Sora would stay in this area of Pride Rock and recover for at least one more day. As for those two, they had a truce (at least for now) and agreed not to attack each other but focus on the mission. Now, as they were about to leave, Riku considered waking Sora up and telling him the plans for the day.

 

Roxas heard Riku's words regarding informing Sora, and he looked to his Somebody. His eyebrows were furrowed slightly in concentration and seriousness, seeing that his friend was still sleeping soundlessly. Roxas lifted his blue eyes to Riku and nodded once, watching the silver-haired teen as he approached Sora.

Riku knelt down on one knee next to his best friend. "Sora?" he said, his voice a little quieter than the tone he used normally. After a second he lifted his hand to poke Sora's chest, making sure to avoid his left side. "Sora," he called again, his voice slightly stronger.

 

Sora heard something in his slumber...the sound of his name. He muttered something softly about waking up, though the words weren't extremely clear to Sora himself. He lifted his chin off his chest and brought his right hand to his eyes, rubbing away the sleepiness.

 

Roxas's eyebrows lowered a little more at Sora's words, his speech making them indecipherable. The blond tilted his head to the side slightly, watching him as he began to wake up.

Riku arched an eyebrow at the unintelligible words, staring at Sora. Whatever that was meant to be, he didn't think he would even hear it again to understand it. Regardless, he gazed at his best friend as he woke up slowly. Once he was completely aware of what was happening, he would explain what was going on. Then again, Riku thought, if he's fully conscious when I tell him, he'll refuse the idea. Apart from when he's barely awake and accepts anything.

 

Sora lowered his hand back to his side and at the same time lifted his head, his eyes opening. He looked around a bit and saw Roxas, but then he looked over at the person who had said his name. "What's up?" he asked, his voice showing a bit of grogginess.

 

"Roxas and I are heading out to eliminate the Heartless," Riku said matter-of-factly. He then pointed at Sora. "You're going to stay here and recover." The Pride Lands was a pretty big world, and there were a wide variety and amount of enemies roaming the land. After what happened yesterday, it would be hard for Sora to fight.

 

Sora blinked when Riku pointed his finger at him. "I am?" he asked, catching onto that last bit before the first sentence fully registered. When it did, though, he felt himself become more awake. "You two are going alone?" He arched a brow in concern, recalling what happened yesterday.

 

"We've settled things out for now," Riku said with confidence, aware of the last two words. "It'd be better that way. You're still probably a little weak from yesterday's incident." He still hadn't gotten over that, or the fact that it was his fault. But he knew Sora wouldn't want him to keep putting himself down over it, so he tried to let it go. Taking out his frustrations on the Heartless was one of the best ways.

Roxas nodded in agreement to Riku's first sentence, catching onto the ending. Yes, for now. He wasn't quite done with Riku yet, or sure if he would ever be. Regardless, they had to take care of the problem. Roxas could just put all his anger into his battles, and release some of it that way.

 

Sora shifted his gaze to Roxas just in time to see the nod. The words "for now" echoed in his mind, making him frown a bit. He didn't know what he had expected, but maybe deep down he had been hoping they made up completely while he was asleep. And aside from that, he didn't really want to be left out. He could use the day to recover, but still...

 

Riku took in the look on Sora's face. "And no objections," he demanded in a strict tone, pointing his finger at Sora. "We've already talked about it, and our decision's final." He let his hand rest on his knee and he looked at Sora, giving him the look. The look that said, Accept it or deal with me.

Roxas remained where he was, hands in somewhat tight fists at his sides and eyebrows still lowered. He had been around Sora long enough to know that he probably didn't like that they were going without him, but it was a mutual agreement, as hard as that was to believe after yesterday. Roxas guessed it just proved that, despite their disagreements yesterday, he and Riku still cared about Sora enough to want him to recover fully before going back out to battle.

 

Sora surprised himself and lifted his hands in surrender, the throbbing starting up in his left arm but not overwhelming him. "I didn't say anything," he told Riku. Given another moment I would have, though, he thought, a sheepish smile appearing on his lips. He guessed that Riku knew him well enough to see that he would object, so he had gotten out that demand before he even said anything. It was amusing, in a way. But still frustrating, since he felt like he should have been fighting too.

 

Riku smiled ever so slightly. He looked at Sora for another moment before rising to his feet. "We'll be back in a few hours. Get some more rest," he said, and after a second turned around. He glanced at Roxas as he passed him, nodding once in silence before starting out of the cave.

Roxas let his eyes wander from Riku to his Somebody resting against the wall. He nodded to him once, blue eyes on the bright pair ahead of him. Roxas then followed Riku's lead, turning his back to Sora and leaving the cave in silence.