Thursday, July 5, 2007

*dancing*


hellos! sorry for the lack of posting this past week and a half! my father has been home and has been studying (and we only have one computer that's hooked up to the internet, and he has to use that one!) and junk! *looks at list* wowo! i better get drawing! lol i've just been asked to join to contests that sound like lots o fun! if anyone wants to join, one is from

Kaijin Kinuma; all the rules are at her site. ^^ (holding her first contest, so she wants lots o ppl to join! ^^)

and Keya; same thing (she wants lots o ppl too!), go to her site for the rules. ^^

and i have fun requests! which are still open, btw. i love to draw!!!^^ (hasn't anyone noticed? lol) btw, i've uploaded like, two more pages to the double trouble (ouran) manga and one more to the fmc remastered. the hiei one is going a little slower cause, well...i've got nothing. but i should have something posted from that very soon! speaking of which, i told some i would post my fanfiction, didn't i? well, here it is! it's the first chapter, and it's reeeaaaallly long! u don't have to read it, but it's much appreciated. ^^


Chapter I: meeting the other side
Swarms of shadows suddenly engulfed a young man until he thought he could no longer breathe. All around him was complete and utter darkness, suffocating him, taking the very life out of him as it seemed. He struggled to reach for his throat, desperate for air, but then, he felt his face hit rock bottom, and his whole body go numb.
“Riku?” a voice echoed, ringing in his ears. Great, first I go blind, now I’m delirious! The man thought bitterly, I’m so out of it, I’m hearing voices!
Riku?” There it goes again! The man cursed silently, confused why all of this nonsense was happening to him. Suddenly light flooded his eyes and a pair of bright blue eyes stared into his own. Those eyes…they were like that of a clear ocean of a sunny day, just like--
“Are you okay?” Riku blinked. It was the same voice as the one that had spoken to him earlier! (So he wasn’t delirious!) He then felt a soft hand stroke the side of his face. “Are you hurt? Do you need help up?” Riku shook his head, his vision still blurry. He tried then to sit up; only to wince at the pain that shot through from his neck all the way down his spine. He could feel himself give way, and starting to collaspe onto his back, but before he hit the floor, someone got him. It was then that Riku finally got a good look at the owner of those bright blue eyes.
The owner appeared to be that of a young girl, his age he presumed, for her face still showed signs of baby fat, despite the dark bags that rested underneath her eyes. Her hair reminded Riku something that of a rich black silk, shining beautifully in the sun as the wind tenderly caressed it. Her skin was a light olive color, and was like that of a porcelain doll’s; soft, delicate, but cool to the touch.
But still, nothing captivated him more than her gorgeous eyes; they shone like fiery sapphires, but like before, as he stared intently into them, he couldn’t help but think of another, whose eyes resembled her own, someone that hit close to home…
“Excuse me, but can you get up?” she asked again. Her voice sounding like sweet chimes ringing in the early morning breeze.
He nodded to her question, and then groaned at the pain. Then Riku came to a slight realization.
“Wait…where…where am I? How did I get here…and how the heck do you know my name?!” Riku demanded, though unpleasantly surprised at the unintentional roughness in his voice compared to hers. But to his astonishment, the girl merely giggled softly at his demands. She smoothed out her black satin dress and smiled.
“First off, you’re in Hollow Bastion, where the witch Maleficent resides. As for how you got here, I honestly don’t have a clue. I was just taking my leisurely walk when I saw the shadows jump from the ground and there you were, lying there, still as could be! (Tell you the truth I thought you were dead!) And Maleficent has been keeping an eye on someone named Riku, and since you’re the only person that’s come up to the retched place, I could only assume you were him! I guess I was right huh?” she threw her head back and laughed gently.
Riku sat still on the cold ground in disbelief and looked around; surrounding him were vast waterfalls pouring over the sides and down into a crystal blue lake. He himself was sitting on a levitated platform of rock above the lake. Though the water was flowing over, there was no ripples or even anything to show the water breaking the water in the lake; and the lake itself seemed completely still, as if it was made of glass. This was definitely was not Destiny Islands…which meant…could he…was he…yes…it had to be it!
He was finally in a different world! He’d finally done it! He couldn’t wait to tell Sora and Kai--Kairi! Then it dawned on him, and a heavy weight seemed to be dumped onto his shoulders.
“Wait a minute!” The girl turned around at him and hopped to her feet.
“What?”
“Have you…have you found anyone else…besides me on this place?” he demanded, jumping to his feet, staring down at the girl. She shook her head sadly.
“I’m sorry, you’re the only person I’ve seen…is there anyone else that should be here?” she asked, sincerity playing on every word that she spoke. Riku’s gaze shifted to the waterfalls; did that mean…was Kairi…was she okay? And what about Sora? What became of him as well?!
Suddenly the world seemed a little darker, and the excitement of being in this new place started to fade away; he was alone. How was any of this going to be an adventure, if no one was there w/him to share the joy? Riku hung his head, and stared at his feet, not knowing what to do. He then felt a small hand on his shoulder.
“We’ll keep an eye out for anyone else, alright? Just think about it, if you got here safe and sound, I’m sure your friends made it somewhere okay. You’ll be reunited w/them soon, I can feel it!” she added w/a smile, withdrawing her hand, but then grabbing his own.
“Come on, we can’t stand here all day! I’m sure you’re starved!” she giggled, pulling him along a rocky path that led up. As they reached over the top of one hill and onto a large courtyard, Riku could see a large Victorian style mansion, w/swarms of dark creatures swooping down and hanging about; he’d never seen anything of the such before, and he didn’t like their appearance.
“Excuse me, but…what are those?” he asked, his pale green eyes wide, and shocked at the fear in his voice, but surprised that he couldn’t tear his gaze from the magnificent dark creatures. He marveled at what this new world held in store for him.
“O? Those things? They’re just heartless, made from the darkness in people’s hearts. Maleficent controls these particular ones,” she explained, shooing one away from her. Riku stared at them, wondering what damage they could do to someone, if the heartless were fought w/. “You have to be careful about them though, mess w/them too much, and they might just steal your heart!” she added playfully. Riku wasn’t sure if her last statement was meant to be funny, or if she was being serious, and then decided to take the latter. But still, as she pulled him along the pathway up to the house, he just couldn’t figure this girl out! He couldn’t tell whether she was cynical, sad, happy, funny, mad or anything. It was like each new statement held a new emotion. Or it was rather, she had no emotion at all. Serious things (like the topic she just discussed) were joked around about, and even more important than that…she somehow could tell what he was thinking! And what person would so naively take someone in, w/out knowing who they were, or why they were here! For all she knew, he could’ve been a demon out to kill her! For God sake he didn’t even know her name!
“That’s right!” he said, thinking aloud accidently. She turned around and cocked her head to the side in confusion. Riku flushed a lovely shade of maroon. “I’m sorry, I was just thinking how, well, how that I didn’t even know your name,” Riku confessed, scratching the back of his head w/his free hand.
“Is that all? My name is--”
“MIMI!!” Riku’s hands immediately clasped onto his ears; a bellowing shriek horried enough to break glass could be heard echoing from that vast house. Large iron clad doors swung open, and the shrieks continued to echo from their hollow halls; it was so terrible, Riku thought his ears might bleed. The girl cringed, her hands too, covering her own ears, though from what Riku could tell, it was more fear than the noise itself.
From the doors, a monster was unleashed; it’s face a sickly green, and it’s large yellow eyes bulged from it’s thin face. Long, oversized black garments swamped the frail body, and it’s bony hands were clasped tightly around a wooden staff w/a green bauble that gleemed w/a foul light at the end. It looked like that of a witch, and Riku gathered that “it” had to be a “she”.
Yet the girl still cringed behind Riku, desperate for a hiding place. The tall witched walked, no, almost glided (for her feet were always hidden from the public view) towards them; her scowl then seemed to transform as her thin lips split into a toothy grin, her fangs present.
“Mimi, who is this new friend you seemed to have made?” she inquired, her voice as sickly as her appearance, and reminded Riku that of nails screeching against a chalkboard.
Mimi peered up at her from the tops of her eyelids, clearly afraid of giving the “wrong” answer.
“I…I think…He said his name was Riku,,,ma’am!” she added quickly, her voice timid. It was almost like magic, because as soon as the words escaped Mimi’s lips, Riku stepped forward, almost like an act of defiance, as if to protect Mimi. The witch still grinned, as she lowered herself, taking Riku’s fleshy voice into her bony hands, clasping it like an old grandmother.
“Riku…we’ve been expecting you. I apologize for the lack of welcoming this girl must have brought, but at least you’re here…Mimi!” Mimi’s head jerked up quickly.
“Yes-yes ma’am?!”
“Take Riku to his “prepared” room, then once he’s comfortable, send him to my quarters so we can have a nice chat about what to do about his missing friends, understood?” Mimi nodded furiously as she snatched Riku’s hand (though he was completely unaware when she had let go in the first place) and tore through the grand hallways of Hollow Bastion. Not only did stairs line everywhere you went, but Riku kept noticing a large, heart shaped crest. The outline was a crimson red, and the inside was a dark black. It seemed to haunt them as she dragged him through the halls. Then she stopped at a fairly large door, that adorned the same crest. She then took out a ring of keys (from God knows where) and started to fumble w/them, trying out every key. As she tried to unlock the door, Riku noticed something peculiar that clung to her wrists.
“Are those…shackles?” Mimi looked up from her work.
“O, you mean these,” she merely stated, showing him the cuffs on her wrists. Riku kept unintentionally staring at them; unlike normal shackles, they did not chain her hands together, nor bound her to anything visible (from what Riku could tell) and it’s mere existence seem to boggle him. She smiled sadly.
“Don’t worry, it’s a story that I do not wish to trouble you w/, o darn it! Where is that blasted key!?” she added under her breath, annoyance dripping from her words. Riku laughed;
“Here, let me help you,” he offered, taking a key from the ring and “click!” the majestic door creaked open. Riku gave a sheepish grin, happy the previous topic was forgotten, and could not help but burst into a histarical laughter as Mimi threw a dirty look towards him; an then she too, could not help but laugh. Riku withdrew the key and placed back into her small, delicate hands. Mimi immaturely stuck out her tongue, and as she turned to walk inside the room, Riku returned the favor.
The room overall was very dark, and was lavishly furnished, the decour appearing that of the Victorian gothic era, filled w/dark colors (mostly black), and extravagant woodwork. Light radiated from only three points in the room, small candles all in which looked like the glow of a firefly; soft and gentle. And it didn’t help that the large windows were covered up by thick black drapes that sucked all the sunlight from the outside. The room, like the rest of the house, had a gloomy charm that lingered.
“You like?” Mimi asked happily, releasing his hand, and jumping next to the large mahogany bed. Suddenly her hands flew to her mouth as she gave out a small gasp.
“I feel absolutely terrible! All this time and I haven’t even properly introduced myself!” she giggled, twirling around, her satin dress flowing to her every move. Riku raised an eyebrow, and surpressed another laugh.
“No you haven’t…and I guess, neither have I?” he responded playfully, plopping down in a comfortable black leather chair.
“Well, (as I’m sure you found out) my name is Mimi, just Mimi.” she said, flopping down onto the large mahogany canopy bed and faced directly at Riku.
“Well, as I’m sure you know, I’m Riku, from Destiny Islands. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mimi,” he replied, truthful to his words. Mimi’s blue eyes got big.
“I knew it! You are from another world!” she exclaimed, but then quickly recovered, flushing as she hit herself playfully on the head, “I guess that was a “no duh” question right?” Riku nodded, desperate to let out his confined laughter. “O shut up,” she retorted. Unable to control himself, Riku let out, and as he laughed, he couldn’t quite remember the last time he’d laughed this hard, it felt good.
But before he could bring anything else up, he heard a familiar shrieking voice bellowing through the halls. A clear sign that talking time was over…for now at least.
***********************
Mimi quickly and quietly closed the door behind her and stared longing at it, giving a heavy sigh. Maleficent had to ruin it for her, didn’t she? Just as she was having fun, and come on, w/out HER help, Maleficent wouldn’t know where Riku was! She was the one that found him, not her! She thought angrily as she stomped through the hallways, her angry feet echoing in it’s vast nothingness. Despite the large mansion in which they resided in, there was hardly ever anyone there besides Maleficent and herself. Occasionally the Lords from the other worlds that all conspired against the world of the Light came together to forge a new evil plot, but that was only on Sundays. Normally she would walk around the place aimlessly, surprised how she could find a new place almost every day, a new corner, a new store room, even a new floor that was hidden before she would find. But now she had no time, nor did she feel like it, so she trodded towards her room…in the basement. Her door was a hidden one, but it seemed out of place in the mansion. It’s splintered wooden frame appeared rotten and neglected, and the hinges on the door were red and rusted, plus, the darn thing never seemed to close right. Figures, she thought carelessly throwing the door open, hoping she added another dent into the wall. The stairs matched the door, in looks as well as stability. The winding pathway was all but visible, for the only were two candles, one at the top, revealing the entrance, and one at the bottom, revealing the exit and it didn’t help the twelth stair also had a large hole from where her foot crashed through one time (sometimes Mimi forgot such things, and if she were to be angry, her memory failed her, causing her to get caught and crashing face foreward into a pile of splintered wood. Not fun). Once you started to walk down, the darkness would engulf you, and until you made it to the bottom, you were lost in total darkness.
After making her way down the winding pathway, she found herself at the foot of the stairs, her unwelcoming room waiting for her to arrive, almost like the meeting of inlaws, or a horrid teacher. You hated them, but no matter what, they were always going to be there; that was the way she felt about her room. This room was not lavish and comfortable like the one upstairs, and the only furniture in the room was a bed and a nightstand, that held two candles for little light and her hairbrush. The room was barren, no books to read, not even anything for her to doodle upon (if she had anything to doodle w/). Her bathroom was hardly enough to be called a bathroom, rusted, chipped, and always cold water spurting occasionally when it wanted. Showers were a pain, for whenever she tried to get it to come out more than a little drip, it would spray obnoxiously into her face as if it was laughing at her. W/a room like this, it was no wonder that she spent all of her time outside.
Flopping onto her board for bed she stared at the spongy ceiling, almost certain all the water leaks went straight to her room.
“I wonder…” she said out loud, her thoughts drifting like clouds in the vast sky, “what kind of guy…Riku is…” she asked, sounding as if she almost expecting something to answer her back. She slowly closed her eyes, and formed a mental image of him.
“From…another world?” the statement left an unusual aftertaste in her mouth, and the words seemed weird to say. She tried to imagine what another world would look like, compared to her own at least. Also since she’d actually never left her own world. Confined to the strict quarters of the mansion and Maleficent’s horrid ways, she’d never even seen past the large waterfalls, well except for that one time when she broke the barriers, but that didn’t count. Not that it would matter, only herself, the heartless, and of course Maleficent lived in this deserted hell.
Suddenly everything seemed smaller, more confined, clostrophic even. It was choking her, and she felt that everything was coming down upon her; she couldn’t take it.
She darted from the room, racing up the stairs, her head spinning wildly, and for a moment, her brain had a memory laspe, and the twelth stair got the better of her.
“AAH!” she screamed, lunging for something (hopefully the banister) to grab onto in the dark staircase. Sinking her nails into the first thing she felt, she was surprised that it was so…fleshy?
“What the hell?!”
“AAH!” Mimi screamed again, immediately letting go trying to regain her balance. The thing she just grabbed, talked (or better yet, screamed).
“Mimi?” she squinted; the voice sounded awfully familiar, and since it wasn’t Maleficent’s shrieking voice, it had to be--
“Riku?” she asked, almost in a whisper. He laughed.
“So now you’re trying to tell me you’re really clumsy as well?” It was Riku, cracking jokes at her as he was before. Though she was certain he wouldn’t see it, she threw a dirty look, but it formed into a small smile, unable to hide that she was happy to see him.
“Seems like you got your foot stuck somewhere, here,” he grabbed her tenderly by the waist, and heaved her up onto the step in which he was on. For once in her life, Mimi was glad that it was basically total darkness, for she could feel her face flame up, and she was sure it was a nice shade of pink right about now. “They said that I could find you down here, figured I’d pay you a visit, but I had no idea you’d try to run me over!” he continued, laughing, and completely unaware at Mimi’s embarassment.
“I…I was just going out to the rooftop for some fresh air, that’s all!” she defended. Even in the darkness, she felt as if she could see Riku’s smirk.
“Suuure. Well, do you want me to hand your hand so you don’t fall?” he added teasingly. Mimi gave him a ruff shove as she made her way up the stairs.
“Keep it up and I’ll shove you down, and if I’m lucky you’ll break your neck!” Riku darted up, following her as they made their way to the top, the candle now barely visible.
“O come on, I was just teasing! Let me join you if you don’t have anything else to do. I know I don’t…” he laughed. She glared, but her small smile was still visible.
“O if you’d like, but anymore jokes like that and I might just push you off.”
**********************
Riku followed Mimi unusually silent up some more narrow stairs that she claimed led to the rooftop. He had no clue why he lifted her up from the stair, from what she’d said as they were walking, she often got stuck there, and he was sure even before that she could get out on her own. It puzzled him, why he was even following her, why he even bothered to ask where he could find her. It was all so bizarre! Maybe it was because she stood out so much. Her cheerful attitude and happy smiles seemed out of place in the gloomy atmosphere that surrounded him.
“So, how was your talk w/Maleficent?” Mimi asked randomly as she forced open a door, the same heart crest adorning it’s front.
“Maleficent?”
“The witch that came ealier, the shrieking one,” Mimi described, closing the door behind them as the bright sunlight flooded their eyes.
“Ooo, right, her. Pssh! Hell if I give a rat’s rear end about her! She goes on about how she wants me to be happy and that she’ll help me find my friends…but I dunno…she seems kinda….” Riku trailed off, trying to think of the appropiate word that described her.
“Evil?” Mimi filled in for him, as she climbed a large ladder. She turned around and grinned. “Hope you’re not afraid of heights!” she jumped ontop of the shingles.
“As if!” he smirked, jumping up onto the fifth step, and then jumping right next to Mimi.
“We made it time for the sunset!” Mimi said happily, her gaze becoming distant. Riku stretched out, lying down and staring at the lofty purple clouds just floating carlessly in the orange streaked sky. It was the same sky that he saw right before he left Destiny Islands, the last time he, Kairi, and Sora were together.
“Gorgeous, isn’t it?” Riku turned and stared curiously at Mimi. “It’s the only thing that’s kept me going these past few years in this God awful place…This place…Riku, it’s as cursed as the people and the shadows who reside in it. Once you…” Mimi paused, as if she was going to regret what she was going to say next, but still continued. “Once you find your friends, or find a way to find them, leave. You shouldn’t stay here any longer than you have to,” she said, fidgetting w/her hands, Riku suddenly became baffled.
“Why? If it’s so awful, why haven’t you left?” he asked, getting up and staring right into her eyes. Mimi shook her head.
“You don’t understand, I have! Extensivly! Too many times to count! But it seems…” Mimi trailed off, staring distantly at the receading sun. “It seems that I’m bound here against my better judgement. It’s simply a matter of that I can’t leave. And even if I did, where would I go? I don’t have anyone that cares about me to take me in if I did,” she stated sadly. Riku shifted his position, now worried and curious at the same time.
“You…you don’t have any family, or even friends?”
Sundown faded into the frothy twilight, glimpes of stars twinkling in vast sky. Mimi curled up into a tight ball, as if to hide from the darkness that was about to blanket her world.
“I don’t know. My memory…I can’t recall anything beyond two years ago. I’m just Maleficent’s tool to use as she wishes, I remember being sold off to her, or given to her, something like that.” Riku blinked and as tears welled behind her eyes, and despite her effort, streamed down her rosy cheeks as she buried her head in her knees and starting sobbing uncontrollably.
Riku placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, and lifted her head, “Come on now, we’ve only just met, I can’t have you crying on me,” he added w/a playful smile, trying to lighten the mood, hoping he could cheer her up. She looked up pathetically at him, and the sight of her almost put Riku in tears. But, even though he couldn’t think it possible, he thought she looked even more beautiful like that, her tears looked like crystals shining against her face, and she almost looked like a princess. He wiped the tears from her delicate face, and smiled sadly. Mimi’s lips trembled, as she dove, clinging tightly to Riku, as if she was afraid to let go. Riku was taken back by this action, but came to a realization that he was probably the first person that heard her complaints, cared what she thought, the first person that feelings were confessed to.
And as twilight turned to night, and the purple clouds turned into a dark grey, he merely let her cry and offered a comforting hand.
It amazed him how fragile her heart was, he felt as if all he had to do was touch it, and it would shatter into a thousand pieces.
It’s amazing how the bud of two people can blossom in a matter of a few hours. For love is not measured in time.

tiwnk out!
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