Other-Worldly Rewrite
Kairi sulked, leaning against a tree and watching the fire flicker in the middle of the clearing. They'd been camping here for a few days and it was still just as miserable as the first. The sky had been overcast for the past few days and it was getting cold with Autumn soon approaching. Of course, the leather straps tied around her feet and body, pinning her to a tree, didn't help at all. They chaffed.
"Are you comfortable, Kairi?" Her captor asked, his face blank where there should have been emotion. She glared at him from the corner of one eye, not bothering to lift her head. He stood, calm in all respects. Even his hair stood still, the blue barely reflecting the pale sunlight through the pine trees.
"What are you going to do with me, Saix?" Kairi spat her captor's name with disgust and an almost amused look clouded his eyes.
"Why, you ask me? Because you are the fire that feeds Sora's anger, and we need him to help fulfill our goal." The Nobody turned around, heading back to the fire. Watching him go with hate-filled eyes, Kairi kept the tough act up until he was no longer paying attention. Then everything but sadness fell from her eyes, her hands playing with the leather fringe on her skirt. Her outfit had changed once she arrived in this world and although it wasn't a big problem, it was like nothing she had ever seen before. It didn't help in the least with trying to figure out where she was.
"Sora's in danger… all because of me." She knew the Keyblade master far too well. He would search for her to the ends of all the worlds; he had done it before. But how would he know where to go? She had never been here before. Everyone wore animal skin like savages here, and she had seen no one else since they got here. Hearing a noise behind her, Kairi turned slightly, expecting to see another deer like the one roasting on the spit over there, but she got a surprise instead. A slight swish and her leather bonds were cut, the pressure on her chest released. Now fully turned, she was faced with another girl, thin strands of blond hair falling into Kairi's face as she grabbed the red-head's hands and sliced through the leather strips there too. Standing, the newcomer beckoned wildly, green sleeves waving silently as her blue eyes betrayed slight worry.
"This way!" At first Kairi was shocked; She hadn't seen another person for about three days. What was more amazing was that she was actually wearing clothes, not some brutish leather corset. It was a green flowing dress, down to her knees, which were then guarded by mid-calf boots.
"Who-?" The question died on her lips, having rapidly given way to confusion. She stood cautiously, though she didn't know why she was even risking the wrath of the cross-scarred nobody.
"Believe in yourself. C'mon, hurry!" The blond girl urged quietly, her eyes not showing the reason for hurrying though. Shaking her head in pure amazement, Kairi followed.
Saix rested his chin in his brown gloved palm, watching the fire flicker faintly. It could have been mocking him, but that didn't matter. Its master had been taken care of and the element no longer bothersome to the berserker. He had gotten revenge for the one Axel had sent to death, the one he often reminisced about, and hopefully she would be at rest in Kingdom Hearts. He glanced up at the roasting meat, watching the fat sizzle and drip off the deer carcass. Sometimes these woods felt familiar. The scars on the trees, or just the horizon in general, reminded him of something he couldn't hold, like smoke from a fire or lightning in the sky. It may well have been that it was something he knew, for this world had lost its heart long ago, its people dissolving into darkness. And he could feel her here, in the wind and storms that often ravaged the sky. He had already gone off track of his mission once, having left a sleeping Kairi to stand in the center of a storm, feeling the static charge of Larxene herself thick in the air. In fact, he had come to this place, by orders to avoid Sora, but also because he missed her. Missed the static shock she sometimes couldn't control, missed the sadistic humor she filled his day with. This world was where he had found her, her first day of nonexistence. Grunting in slight disgust, he watched the smoke rise from the fire, wafting around the meat and dissipating into the air. That was what Axel was now: just smoke, nothing more than a nuisance. Suddenly the muscle around his ear twitched and his instincts kicked in, sharpening his hearing in one direction. The rustle and crack of dead and broken trees was heard and there was Saix's cue to stand, tightening the straps on his chest armor. Shrugging the weight of his heavy shoulder pads, he took one look at the tree 10 feet away, then grabbed his claymore and began walking. Kairi couldn't have gotten far.
Kairi and her new friend stumbled down a hill, kicking leaf loam into the air with their boots. She still hadn't learned what the blond's name was, but that wasn't half as important as getting away from the blue-haired face-mauler. Skidding to a stop when the ground became level, they were scouting for the next escape route when they immediately caught sight of him.
"Namine…There you are. Who would have thought you'd show up here?" Saix's vaguely satisfied smirk confused Kairi, but at least she now knew who her partner was. But whether it was a good or bad thing Saix knew her would be difficult to decide.
"Namine?" The green-clad girl looked down, another emotion clouding her eyes, which seemed always empty. The scarred male turned his head, staring at Kairi with self-assured eyes.
"Kairi, I'm afraid leaving is not an option." As he said this, a set of wolves circled from behind the trees, their eyes strangely empty and the Organization sign emblazoned on their fur. One rubbed his face on the Diviner's thigh guard and the man's hand absently snagged the ruff of the creature's neck. Holding out his other hand to Kairi, he said in monotone,
"I'll take you to see Sora." Kairi's back went ramrod stiff. Sora? Her best friend and the one she had set out to find in the first place? She missed him very much. Could this nobody, whom she knew she couldn't trust, really bring her to Sora? But despite the temptation, it didn't take Kairi to long to make her decision. She took a step back, clasping her hands in front of her.
"You don't want to see Sora?" The Luna Diviner retracted his wolf-gloved hand, giving his captive a mockingly confused face. The heartless wolves at the man's feet shifted, growling slightly.
"I do, more than anything else." Kairi pleaded, looking down and putting a hand over her heart, the one she once shared with Sora.
"But not with you around." The girl prepared herself for attack, Namine crouching beside her. Saix's lip twisted up, revealing sharp canines in a sadistic grin, and the scar on his face bunched up as the nobody's eyes half closed in amusement.
"If I had a heart, this would be where I die of laughter." His false mirth was interrupted by the tremendous growling from around his feet, causing him to turn fast. A man, covered in a black traveling cloak, stalked out form behind a large pine. The hood was pulled far over his eyes and only a cryptic frown was visible from under the dark grey shadow. A wicked looking, dark sword was held lightly in the man's right hand.
"You…" Saix's burnt amber eyes narrowed in hollow anger. "Didn't Roxas take care of you?" The stranger lifted his sword, amid the deep growling of the Nobodies, and pointed the sword menacingly at the Organzation member in leather.
"You can take it from here, Riku." Namine said, relaxing her pose. Kairi swung towards her new friend, shocked.
"That's Riku?!" If that was her childhood friend, her had certainly grown taller. The three wolves lunged forward from Saix's side, their master glaring icily at the party crasher. Several swift moves by the hooded Riku and the wolves were howling pitifully, their essence fading into dark threads. Another quick sheathing movement and blue darkness spun wildly in the palm of Riku's calloused hands, illuminating the simple black shirt the boy wore. Only a fast block saved Saix from another scar and quickly the man pushed off, launching himself into the air to gain distance. Landing slightly unsteadily while pulling out his great sword from his belt, there was a crunch as Riku slammed Saix into a tree. His hand pinned behind his head, Saix snorted as his skull began cracking some of the smaller bones in his hand. Suddenly the tree behind his back was covered in a dark cloth, and the man sank into it, smirking all the way. The darkness whipped and whirled, shrinking as it went, but Riku didn't follow him; there was no need. The blackness disappeared and Kairi approached the boy, who was standing still in the slowly receding light of dusk.
"You're here."