Fan Fiction ❯ Father of the Heartless ❯ Defense Force ( Chapter 3 )

Because I do not trust my computer at the moment, I'm going to update what I have right now. The plot thickens!

I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Riku. Everything else is mine. Do not steal. Thanks.

Chapter 3: Defense Force

Maybe somewhere else, the sun rose, lighting the sky in a graceful pale blue. Yan-Shu's sun hid behind a cloak of black. The streets lit up in dark gray, not much better than the night had been. In the little one-room house, Riku stirred. He opened one eye, just a crack, to see if it had all been just a bad dream.

And stared eye-to-eye into the face of Cleo the cat. He screamed. She yowled. Her claws went flying. When she finally walked away, he found himself nursing yet another wound. Three shallow claw marks bled in drips from his cheek.

The fireplace erupted in flame, throwing light everywhere. Criss stood at the door, panting, Cleo clinging tightly to her chest. She set the cat down again.

"Sorry about that," she said. "Cleo seems to have taken a liking to you. Here, let me see that." Criss touched his cheek gently with a damp towel that seemed to appear from nowhere. "It's not as bad as it could have been. You scared her, is all. Why are you so terrified of that little cat?"

Riku scowled and turned away. No way was he going to tell this girl about his worst fear. It wasn't bad enough that he was stuck here with that cat. No, he had to tell her why it scared him now.

"Fine, don't answer me," Criss snapped. "Just don't come crawling to me for protection when she decides she doesn't like you if you keep scaring her like that."

A noise like rocks falling just outside the door ricocheted around the tiny house. Criss' eyes flew wide, like two moons on a summer night.

"Criss Nallen, this is the Yan-Shu Defense Agency!" Yelled a deep female voice from the other side of the door. "You are under arrest for the possession of a cat. Come out with your right hand in the air and the cat in your left arm. Cooperate. You are hereby sentenced to three years in the Sunday Specials Building. I repeat-"

"What do we do?" Riku whispered.

Criss threw him a frightened look. "Cooperate?"

Riku rolled his eyes. "No. Does this place have a back door?"

For a moment, Riku thought Criss would just stand there, waiting for the "Defense Agency" to barge through her front door. Then, her jaw set, she grabbed Cleo and headed for the fireplace. The flames went out again, plunging them once more into total darkness. Somehow, she grabbed his arm and pulled him through the still-hot grate inside the fireplace. He dropped to the ground below, a good eight feet from the grate above.

"Here, hold Cleo a sec," she said. Despite his fear, he held onto the calico. Above, he heard the grate slide back into place and the fire ignite again. In the new firelight, he could see that she was on a ladder connected to the damp stone wall.

Criss dropped back down and took the cat back. "So, now what do we do?"

"Do you know where this leads?" he asked.

"Not really. The only reason I knew it was there was because of Cleo. This is where I found her, in this place. I don't even know what it is, let alone where it leads."

Riku sighed, gazing toward either end of the tunnel. The ceiling was eight feet overhead. Moss grew from nearly every corner. The entire thing was like one huge circle, with a tiny stream of water trickling down the center. Criss' ladder was the only one that could be seen. Both ends curved, but not for at least half a mile in either direction.

"We'd better get out of here," Riku said. "Which way do you want to go?"

"Er...Eeny meenie minie moe?" Criss laughed nervously.

"This direction seems a little closer. Let's go."

They walked onward, following the tiny stream of water.

YaYa knew her commander well enough to know that she never made mistakes. The commander knew what mistakes meant. If Shu, their leader, was in a good mood, a mistake meant the Sunday Special Building. Or maybe she'd just mercy-kill the perpetrator. If you caught her on a bad day, however, it was straight into the Choke Vines, to be bled to death, pickled and saved for later.

Which was why she was wondering why Criss Nallen wasn't in her house. YaYa tore through the cabinet, ripped up the two quilts, and took samples from every nook and cranny she could find. The commander called her over, her voice choked from thought of what this mistake might cost her.

YaYa gazed over her shoulder, where a black cloth was held in her hands. Underneath the cloth was a neat pile of clothes, cleverly disguised as a pillow. She picked it up, examining in curiosity.

"Yellow clothes..." YaYa said.

"Sent us on a wild goose chase last night," the commander said. "Seems she is also on the run. Someone tipped her off before we got here. Bring those. Shu will be most intrigued by this information."

"You think we've got a rebellion on our hands?" YaYa asked, excited. "Oh, Yan will like that!"

"Indeed. Come. There's nothing else here."

The commander turned round and marched out of the room. Outside, the rest of the Defense Force waited silently for the commander's instructions. YaYa gave them.

"Continue on normal routes," she said. "And keep a sharp lookout for two fugitives. Criss Nallen, and an unknown boy, approximately ye tall." She held up her arms as high as the clothes stood, with the addition of a head and feet. "They will most likely be together. Dismissed!"

The dirge march continued as the thousand-strong army separated into groups of eight. YaYa and the commander made their way toward Shu's castle, which was beginning to reveal itself against the paling gray light. Neither spoke. If the information of a possible rebellion did not satiate Shu's anger at not receiving Criss Nallen, the commander was doomed.

***

Uh-oh...what happened to Yan liking cats??? Soon, we shall meet this Shu person. What does she have to do with everything in this strange world?