(no subject)

[reversedhymnal.livejournal.com]

Challenge: [o82] crossroads
Title: (before) the final forward march
Author: reversedhymnal
Word Count: 500
Characters/Pairings: Sora
Summary: At the end.
Notes: Spoilers for the secret movie thing at the end of KHII. Also, this angst is courtesy of tabitha_dornoc’s brilliance. u.u POSTPOSTPOST-KHII. I mean like. Way long past, dude.


In a crossroad, there are four paths.

Sora pulls out the carton he hides in one of his many pockets, and taps a cigarette out. The long, white cylinder is strange against the dust and grime of the world he stands rooted in, and for a long moment, he doesn’t move, just stares down at it between fingers covered only in the tatters of gloves. They tremble, just a little, and with a twist to his mouth that is both bitter and aching and fond, he murmurs, “I blame this addiction on you, Cid. May you rest in peace, you old bastard.”

He lights it with a quick flick of his finger, a little magic that, by this point, won’t make even the slightest bit of difference. The first slow inhale is sweet, like oxygen in a world that’s closed in too tight and harsh. He exhales, and the smoke curls as if it would be a barrier before him; Sora waves it away before it finishes unfurling, and winces.

It may have been a protection. The world around him, which he’s been trying not to focus on, rips an already broken heart to shreds.

The first path is that of light. Then there is darkness, and then twilight.

“Or dawn.” Sora inhales again against the memory of the words; exhales. “They’re sort of the same thing, really.”

It’s hard to think of such things, though, standing in the midst of a graveyard. The broken and bare keyblades stand like sentinels to tragedy, and the dry desert wind makes a mockery of their lack of keychains. On his belt, his own collection – down to just a few, now - jingle and clank in solitary defiance.

It’s so much harder to contemplate without Riku there to get technical.

“Damn it,” Sora hisses, eyes squinting against the low, angry sun. There are ruins across the way, and a sense of inevitable fate about the place. He stands amidst the center of everything, and all he can think about is how much he misses what he has lost. Reaching down, he grips the Oathkeeper keychain, as though it can bring warmth back to him.

It’s all he has left though, a luckless charm; it’s a cold comfort.

And the final path?

The final path… That is the path to the heart of all things. What do you will it to be?

The cigarette doesn’t last long. Sora didn’t really think it would, used to things that end, disappear; die on him. He exhales one last, slow breath, watches the smoke curl up, reaching for the angry sky and then-

Goodbye.

-getting swept away by the wind; obliterated.

Slowly, as though each move pains him, he flicks the butt away. Brings the hand up, over the wound that was once his heart. “Don’t worry,” he speaks softly, to ghosts and memories. “I’ll finish it. Like I promised.”

Then Sora straightens, broken and alone and determined, and takes a step forward, along his chosen path.

Comments

[arclights.livejournal.com]

Shot.

Through the heart.

Ow. Ow. Holy cow, girl. I'm speechless and in love.

[reversedhymnal.livejournal.com]

u.u

I. Yeah. It makes me sad, and melancholy, and I kind of want to grieve for him. But. I'm very glad you like it, :] Thank you for reading!

♥

[arclights.livejournal.com]

Oh hell yes. ♥

Honestly, though, that piece got me like I haven't felt in a long, long time. It's the subtle things, the off-hand details, the stuff that doesn't even register the first time you read it, that grip your gut and make it hurt the second time through.

Sora does break my heart, because you know that what we've seen isn't the end of it, and things are definitely going to get worse. Part of what gripped me, I guess, about Sora in KH2 is that somewhere in there he grew up while I wasn't looking, and for every little wonderful and brave thing he does, there are times when you can see him crack just a bit, and I remember that, jesus, he's still a baby.

And I can totally see your scenario happening, and all that sadness and death inbetween what we've seen so far and what this piece presents -- all the trauma that would make such a brilliant, buoyant boy so ... decimated -- wow. Wow.

[reversedhymnal.livejournal.com]

I. I. Just. Wow. T-thank you, ♥ That really means a lot, and I'm so thrilled you found it to be worthy of such amazing praise. I mean, just, yeah. Wow. *_*

And, yeah. Exactly. And it's Sora, you know that he's going to keep on going, even with the experience whittling little pieces of his soul away. And Squeenix and Disney have set up such a wonderful premise; there's a possibility for great triumph and great tragedy, and it's impossible not to play with it. Based upon what has already happened, it's only logical that more things of such a nature - twisted, uncertain, frightening, painful - would occur again.

A-and. You see so many happy fics, especially with Sora. And I don't know. Because sometimes carrying on, not letting the bad things get to you, even when they're ripping pieces of you off as you walk determinedly past. Well, it can be one of the loneliest existences of them all.

It wouldn't have been fair to Sora, not to acknowledge this fact of him as well as his bright, innocent, happy self.

Thank you again for reading, and for the wonderful review, and the wonderful thoughts you're sharing, :D They're a pleasure to read! ♥

[arclights.livejournal.com]

Just so, and with such eloquence. I think I love you! I bet what you and I see in Sora is pretty similar to what you see for a lot of the Naruto kids, no? (That or I'm a tard and you just like the pretty pictures for icons, lol.)

I think it makes it that much harder to see Sora's progression for ourselves. I mean, when we started out he was just that: bright and innocent. And watching the change, as he does start to lose those parts is what makes it all the more painful. I have to admit, though, that I am far more interested in the changing Sora than how he started out, and I'm intensely curious about what he will be like when it's all over.

Aaaa, I should seriously get on to finishing my fic. It's kind of hard to concentrate between state election followings (ALSDKGJF Conrad Burns is a tool D<) and not being able to quite navigate the finish I want.

(Randomly, a carton is a box containing ten packs of cigarettes, at least in the US. Not nit-picking by any means, but it tripped me a little both times through. XD)

It's wonderful talking with you!

[reversedhymnal.livejournal.com]

*face palm*

I'm sorry! I completely and utterly fail, apparently, at being a good person and continuing this conversation! Ack, really, my apologies, ;_; I've been horribly busy, but that's a sorry excuse.

Hee~ I don't watch Naruto, but I've read a bit of the manga, and I read some fanfics of it (askerian! ♥), and. Yeah. Possibly very similar. And I just have to say that Sakura's short hair is the hottest thing ever, and not because it looks good on her.

As a writer, and someone who is intolerably curious, I have to agree, in all their cases. The actual story line is amazing - I wouldn't have been able to keep my attention span if it wasn't! - but those things you just see the hints of, the things that make you squint at the screen and go, "Hunh, I wonder.." that really make it amazing. It's why Kairi is so fascinating to me; they barely touched upon her character, so I always wonder just who is she, what is she like? And Riku, oh Riku, of the wonderful insecurities. I think he's definitely the one who changed the most over the games. Next would probably be Axel, but Riku wins it, ♥

AND DO IIIIIIIIT, 8D Write write write it! I'm sure it will be amazing! ♥

(ahahaha, you're right! now that's gonng bug me, <.< damn.)

♥♥

[arclights.livejournal.com]

Haha! No worries. Unlike myself, people have lives. (I say this writing from a table at my waitressing job, an hour before I'm scheduled to work my hotel job. URGH.) It's a fine excuse, hon, you're not obligated to field my ramblings. I appreciate it, though. <3

The manga is wonderful, and Sakura is my homegirl for so many reasons, and I really fell in love with her all over again when she cut her hair (also disregarding how cute she is with it). The fandom likes to bash on her (maybe not so much now, I guess) for daring to be an emotion girl (ninja) and they seem to forget that under all that hardcore most of these kids are like twelve to fourteen. Which I think says a lot for the author, hee.

I'm looking forward to the next game. I'm intensely curious about how the 'secret movie' factors into the game, cos ... holy shee, what a divergence, no? Kairi is wonderful. I can't think of why people would dislike her (beyond general dislike for female characters, which I'm ashamed to say I once suffered from), but there is so much there to work with. I guess she kind of reminds me of Sakura -- she might not have the boy!angst, but she's physically the weakest link and probably prone to forgetting that HOSHI, she's a princess of heart and that makes her pretty awesome by default. She'd also do anything to help out her boys, and we know she's gonna probably save their asses on more than one occasion. Riku is also wonderful, with all his getting caught up between his guilt and his want to be with Sora and Kairi -- I like how he's turning out. I know he's the most obvious change, but I'm still not certain he changed the most, but I'm still out on that one. Still, though, Roxas won my heart in countless ways, and someday I will write something to do that boy in my head justice.

(S'okay. Blame it on being a non-smoker, assuming you are. XD)

[reversedhymnal.livejournal.com]

DD: Um. I'm a senior in High School. Does that count for anything? XD

Meh, most fandom is of the stupid variety. If they're worth their salt, they'll be able to really appreciate teh characters, their badassery, their brattiness, etc. Got to accept the characaters as a whole for it to really work. Elsewise you're just lying to yourself rather stupidly, and hiding from the world, ♥

LIKE WITH SORA. And everyone who says that he is made of sunshine, that is what he is, he is happy and he gives off happy like a lightbulb and nothing can get him down because he was just made happy. Which, in my opinion? Is a load of shit. :D Sora is teh anti-emo because he is determinedly optimistic, earnest, and a naturally good person. Not because everything that goes on inside of him is happy. It's one of the reasons I wrote this fic, after all, damn it!

*is shot for ranting in an incoherent manner, egads, D:*

Er. Sorry. ^.^;

And moo ha ha ha! As for RIku changing: About half way through KH, or a little further, he changed from a cocksure little brat who thought he knew what was best and had the world set against him, the fuckers, into something uncertain, furious, desperate to fix what he's finally realized he's fucked up in the first place. He's uncertain of his worth, of his ability to be forgiven, of being able to make up for it. And then, in CoM, he gains back his spunk; he finds that it's okay to toe the line, that it is possible to be worthy, and he's a steady, firmly grounded character who has grown into his own, walking the path to dawn. AND THEN WHAM. He goes and turns into a Rikunort, u.u

And dude. That messed him up something bad. Suddenly, everything he ever hated about what he did, about himself, he has become physically. He looks in the mirror, and he sees the face of his personal demon; he sees his mask, and he wonders Will I lose myself again? Can I take it off, when all is said and done, or will it be too late?

He wore a fucking blindfold so that he could lie to himself, make himself into something he loathed, so that he could fix the gaping hole a missing Sora created. He must've hated so much of himself while working under DiZ, while infilitrating the Orginization.

You see it at the end of KHII. Yeah, he may still be a snarky brat, but beneath that he's damned fragile, all over again, and it's up to Sora and Kairi to fix it, to slowly heal him and piece him back together again, and show that - not matter the fucking form, or the magic, or the faults - they love him, and always will.

SO BASICALLY. Riku started out top of the world, arrogant as all get out, and then he realized - WHAM! - that he knew nothing, and had fucked them all over, and so he tried his best to fix it, and through that, he grew, matured, found an equilibrium, but unfortunately, it didn't last due to circumstances mostly out of his control, and then his equilibrium was further skewed and by himself, no less, until he didn't believe he was worth staying with Sora and Kairi. Tried to run away from them, the sweet little coward, ♥

AND THAT. That is why I think Riku wins. :D For everyone else, I think, it was subtler. Sora grew and matured, began learning things he had no right having to learn and tried his best to cope with them along the way - though too late the poor boy! - and Kairi learned to take matters into her own hands, even if they weren't really capable of all she needed them to be. Roxas learned what it was like to have friends, to be somebody, same as Namine did in the memories she shared with Sora (I actually wrote a fic about this ♥), and Axel with Roxas, who made him feel like he had a heart. Axel was still a bitch and sly as fuck and more than willing to dirty his hands with a coy smile and gaze like a snake's that never falters, but now he's doing it all for Roxas. ♥

And. And. HOLY GOD. SHUTTING UP NOW! D:

(must add! i too had that unfortunate grudge against female characters, u.u AND. oh, the crazy lovely chaos that the secret movie sets off in my brain, 8D i am plotting out KH3 fic. just. an auverse has been eating my brain off in large chunks lately, ;_;)

♥ LOVES TO YOUS ♥

[thano.livejournal.com]

owowowowowowow bleeding

And I so got the Old West vibes from Sora... Dear sweet, sweet... Um...

*dribbles* YeahI'llgomemethisnow

[reversedhymnal.livejournal.com]

B-bandaid? ;_;

Eee~ I hadn't quite thought of it that way, but yes Sora is so an Old West cowboy, ♥ Oh, oh. Now. Oh. BAD THOUGHTS. chaps and gentleman charm and chaps

Thank you for reading, :D I'm glad that you liked it, though I'm sorry it hurt, *is sad* I. Feel so bad for Sora, u.u

♥

[thano.livejournal.com]

SQUEE sora in chaps~ "how d'you do, ma'am" ♥

[reversedhymnal.livejournal.com]

hat tilt hat tilt *CHARMING GRIN* and you know he'd twirl those pistols and be absolutely unable to resist winking, too, and guh, *_*

[thano.livejournal.com]

pistol twirl+wink=mah poor darlin' american belle heart all a-flutter. and he's at your elbow whenever you really need him, with that lovely little look on his face and that twinkle in his eye and... ohooohhhh nosebleed. *_*

[reversedhymnal.livejournal.com]

....it. This. Entirely your fault. ENTIRELY. *sulks*


“...There’s a lovely Rose that will suit you fine, I think,” Sora said, “at least for now. She’s good for beginners.” Then he reached a hand up, pushed his hat back, and scratched at his head. Laughingly, and just a touch rueful, he said, “You’re gonna get me shot, Miss Kairi. I hope you know that.”

“Oh, will I now?” Kairi asked, primly, giving Sora a look from under the wide brim of her hat.

“Yes, ma’am,” Sora grinned, unrepentant, and far too happy for such dire predictions. “Here I am, one of those awful wanderin’ cowboys them gentlefolk smile at all polite like but hurry on past, and I’m stealing the mayor’s pretty daughter.”


(argh. because i don't have enough crowding my brain already, ;_;)

[thano.livejournal.com]

MINE IS AN EVIL LAUGH.


“Here I am, one of those awful wanderin’ cowboys them gentlefolk smile at all polite like but hurry on past, and I’m stealing the mayor’s pretty daughter.”

... aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa... aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa... aaaaaaaaaaaaaa-

*shot*

Sorry, that was my brain melting from the adorable of this all. I... I'm... *keels over*

NOW LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE. I'M GONNA REWRITE KINGDOM HEARTS AS A DIME-NOVEL WESTERN. PLUNNIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEED. D=

[reversedhymnal.livejournal.com]

I don't read Westerns, and I don't watch them, and I don't write them, and yet it's trying, D:


The first bottle crashed over head at exactly three sixteen in the afternoon; saturday, because the bartender was a god fearing man, and those who crowded through the swinging doors and into his domain liked to get an early start, in the hopes that it would linger.

Riku leaned back in his rickety chair, sighing as he put down his hand, face down mostly from habit. He eyed the pile of coins in the center table, and considered if he could get away with quietly tucking a few into his pocket. Probably not; he sighed again, and settled his hat firmly on his head.

"What did you say to me?" the man who had thrown the bottle hissed threateningly, his left eye twitching in an unsettling way. Sora glared back at him, face stubborn and eyes like blue fire, with that particular look they got when he was defending the innocent and helpless.

"I said," he growled, "that you just want to take that back right now, if you know what's good for you."

The chair screeched into an anticipatory silence as Riku stood up, at Sora's back. At his side, he fiddled with his pistol's holster nonchalantly. "He's right. You ought to learn some manners, you sorry excuse for a human being."

"How dare-" the man spluttered, face going puce-colored, and Riku smiled a little as he watched Sora tilt his chin up, handsome face half in shadow from the dim lighting, but righteous dignity clear.

"That wasn't any way to speak of a lady," Sora explained, and then punched the man, square in his furious face.

[thano.livejournal.com]

LOOKITLOOKITLOOKIT WHAT YOU MADE ME DOOOOO.



Axel glared, pulling the dusted brim of his hat over his brow. "Now lookit what you gone done, Roxas."

Smirking back at his firey-tempered friend, Roxas reigned in his mustang and retorted, "Aw, you don't mean any a' that, and you know it." One, two, clop, and the straw-haired cowboy threw himself from the saddle and stood, back-to-back. With a whispered "gee-yup", the horse was away like a shot.

Drawing Oblivion and Oathkeeper from their holsters, he cocked the black gun and murmured, "'Sides, I never knew the time when the legendary Flurry ever stood down from a shootout."

"Did say I ever did?" Axel whispered back from the corner of his mouth, "This here, though; this here's called unnecessary bloodshed."

The wind whipped their clothing into a frenzy of canvas and cotton, swaying the signs in the tavern facades, tossing dust into already gritty eyes.

Roxas grinned. "Didn't never stop you. You gotten soft, partner?"

Suddenly, a man from the top of the tavern to the redhead's front clutched his throat, screamed, and fell through the balcony shade.

The other man fell to his knees and slumped over the crates in front of Roxas. The younger man narrowed his eyes and slid them left, where Axel's pistol was still smoking.

Axel bared his teeth in a ferocious grimace. "I reckon not."

[i-got-spunk.livejournal.com]

POOR SORA. I want his end to be tragic (makes for a better story after all), but actually reading it makes me hurt. Well done!

[reversedhymnal.livejournal.com]

Every mushy part of me wants it to be happy, but the writer in me is cackling gleefully right now, D:

Thank you very much for reading! I'm glad that you enjoyed it, even if it did hurt, ♥

[lindskaba.livejournal.com]

This makes me ache somewhere deep inside. A bit...hard for me to imagine, Sora this way, but in the AU sort of way, it's lovely. I love the bits about the crossroads and the paths...really inspired. Nice job :)

[reversedhymnal.livejournal.com]

If I imagine him years and years and hard, horrible journeys down the way, after losing all he loves, after watching Riku die, waiting for Kairi to come back when she never will again, then. Well. I can imagine it all too well, ;_; But then. I might just be made of horrible.

But I am glad that it made you feel, and that you liked it, :D Thank you very much for reading! I love feedback, even if I'm terribly late in responding to it! (sorry about that! D:)

♥♥

[tabitha-dornoc.livejournal.com]

awsdlkjaysdownaauykjg! ANGST! I love angst. I love you. I love every single damn word in this drabble.

You broke Sora! Broken and tragic and beautiful, but still going. Still walking and not-crying, and smoking his demons and bleeding from a heart that's turned stone ages ago. It hurts and it's brilliant and THIS IS HOW I LIKE MY KH FANFIC.

used to things that end, disappear; die on him, killed me swift and quick, and that's my heart somewhere on the floor.

And it's just so Sora. Sora who breathes and smiles and loves on his sleeve, making it so easy to have that taken away. And KEYBLADE GRAVEYARD. I'm just going to go whimper in some corner now. Gah.

[reversedhymnal.livejournal.com]

♥ x infinity

And I. *_* I don't know how to respond to that save with a glee that cannot be expressed in words very well. Mostly, I'm just kind of grinning like a dork, 8D I'm so glad you liked! Just.

Thank you, especially as the angst is all your fault, you horrible person, :D But, I have to admit, *pokes the fic she's currently writing* I seem to have a thing for angst, as well, ^.^;

It kind of hurt to write this, so I'm glad that it was worth it, ♥ AND YAY KAYBLADE GRAVEYARD. Dude, that ending gave me so much to play with, and made me utterly fascinated with keyblades and keychains.

I. I am such a nerd, XD

*pets you in your corner* Thank you so much for reading; your comments always make my day, ♥

[unicorn]

ARGH.

That is all. ♥

[reversedhymnal.livejournal.com]

♥♥