Hearts of Darkness, Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Crossroads

    Lita stumbled into the dark cave. Mentally kicking herself, she thought, Way to go Lita. Man did you screw up big this time! It was a rule of her's that when she was traveling in worlds, to try and stay away from the locals. Only exception being refugee worlds, where the World Order didn't need to be taken into thought. Because she had been daydreaming, she got herself caught, and since there was nowhere to hide, she had to come up with some thing fast.  
     So this is what it feels like to be a cornered rat.
     Then a voice behind her spoke, "Alright, who are you? Why'd you run from us?"
     Cringing, Lita slowly turned around to see three teenagers facing her. One boy had brown hair done up in spikes, wearing black and red, with curious, dark blue eyes staring at her. A girl with red hair, blue eyes, and wearing a pink mini-dress with a black hood hanging from it looked upon her with a kind smile. The last was a boy taller than the others with long, silver hair, wearing blue jeans, a black sleeveless shirt, and a vest staring at her with suspicious bright blue eyes.
     "Well," he asked, "Are you going to answer my questions, or will I have to repeat myself?" He kept staring at Lita with a strange look on his face, but she couldn't quite place it.
     "Well, uh... I-I um. I'm a...er traveler. I c-came to..." Lita babbled for an answer, fidgeting with her locket and trying to come up with a good answer to his questions. None of which is easy when you have eyes looking at you with such intensity. Blast it! Think Lita, think! There's got to be something you...
     "We could guess that." The girl said nonchalantly, "We saw your ship flying around, and guessed you were from another world. We've never seen you around here. I'm Kairi, by the way. These are my friends Sora and Riku. What's your name?" Kairi smiled at their visitor, trying to make her feel welcome. It was obvious that the girl was nervous and was struggling to come up with and answer.
     Lita blinked, "Oh, nice to uh, meet you. My name's Lita. So you saw my Glider huh? Man I thought I was more discrete about that. I'm technically not that much of an Outworlder; I grew up here and...Hey, wait a minute! How do you guys know about the other worlds?!" She was totally lost. It was a small world, surely the inhabitants didn't know about the existence of other worlds.
     Sora just laughed, amused by her flustered reaction. He could already tell her was gonna like this girl. "We've been to see some of the other worlds." He said, "We've even saved them a few times. You see, Riku and I have these things called Keyblades, and we're Masters. So I guess you could call us heroes!" He put his hands behind his head and smiled, very proud of himself. I bet she never would have thought of that, he thought.
    Then Lita laughed too, giggling when she said, "I hate to burst your bubble, Mr. Hero. But you aren't the only ones with Keys; I've seen plenty of them. In fact, I have one too!" Lita smiled and summoned her Keyblade with a flash of fire. She grinned when she saw Sora's jaw drop. Kairi laughed too, and even Riku couldn't help but smirk. With a toss and another swirl of fire, Lita put away her Key and Sora said quickly, "So, uh, cool but hey! What brings you back here? Come to see your home again?"
     Should I ask them? Lita thought, they might know something. I guess it's worth a shot. "Not really. I'm actually trying to track somebody down. Would any of you happen to know a girl with blue hair and eyes? I don't know her name but she has a Keyblade too." Lita looked up at the ceiling and ruffled her hair. She didn't see the flash of instant recognition come over Kairi's face. She burst out,
     "I think I know who you're talking about! When I was a little girl, I was saved from some monsters by a blue-haired girl with a Keyblade! She even mentioned something about Light and spells. In fact, I'm positive she was responsible for me showing up here after my world was destroyed. Lita, if this is the same girl, then our quests are one in the same! She's one of the people we're supposed to find!" Kairi's eyes lit up and her heart thumped with excitement at the thought of another adventure. She didn't get to have any of her own, so she wasn't about to miss out on this one!
   "Kairi, how can you be so sure that she's one of the people the King meant?" Riku asked skeptically. He didn't think the odds were that off, but for some reason he wasn't to keen on traveling with this Nightshade girl. There was still something strange about her, he just couldn't put his finger on it. It was somewhat familiar, but at the same time way different. It almost seemed like the girl was kind of distorted. Here, but still not totally here. What was she?  
     Lita on the other hand, was totally torn. She acknowledged the possibility that they might end up traveling together, but that was what worried her. She had always traveled alone, and with very good reason. If something happed, and her Darkness went berserk, she didn't want to end up hurting anyone. She had no idea what she would do if it happened again.  
     But, she still was getting tired of being alone all the time. Would it be so bad not want to be alone all the time? She wondered. They all looked so nice. Sora, she could tell would do anything to help his friends. Someone to rely on. Kairi seemed so incredibly nice; she seemed so ready to have an adventure too. Someone to talk to.
     Those two were very easy to "read", a trick Lita had picked up from her mother. She could analyze a person by reading their "Heart Energy", and by reading that she could figure out how people tick.   
     But Lita didn't know what to make of the other one, Riku. He acted so collected and on the outside he looked like he could be very dependable. But on the inside? There was something about him that set him apart from his friends, something strange. A kindred spirit. Lita didn't know why she thought that, but it did seem correct.
     She continued to stare at him, finding him interesting to look at. He looked about her height, and she had never seen hair his color before. Or eyes as blue as his, they looked exactly like aquamarines. Lita liked aquamarines, they always sparkled nicely in the sun and they reminded her of the ocean. So she supposed she like his eyes. Lita had always been a firm believer in the idea that the eyes were the windows to the soul. So whenever she met someone new, she paid a lot of attention to their eyes. Strange thoughts like that continued for a few moments before Lita realized what she was thinking.
    God, she thought, what in the worlds am I doing?!? Have I gone mental!? Her heart started to thud against her ribcage, just as Riku looked over at her. His eyes met hers, and Lita could feel her face turning red. Quickly, she looked away and absorbed herself in the drawing on the cave walls.
     Well, that was odd, Riku thought, why was that girl staring at me? Again, he couldn't help finding himself thinking how strange she was. From the way she would tap her feet against the ground like she was dancing (which he thought was really weird) to her crazy, red and black hair. And just now, with her staring at me those big, green eyes. Weird kid.
     "Well, I guess if we need to figure this out, I know where to go. If we only had the Gummi Ship!" Sora sighed, frustrated that they had no way off the Islands. Then he got an idea. Turning to Lita, he started to speak when she interrupted.
     "Sora, I think I know what you're going to say. Let me tell you, it's a no-go." Lita responded, "My Glider is one person only, and you guys look like you don't have any armor. Good idea though." Then Lita got an idea of her own.
     "Oh wait! I can just open up a Corridor! Those things are always good for this sort of situation. I can set one up outside, but before I forget, are any of you afraid of the dark?"
    In all honesty, it was an innocent question, if only Lita had known before hand.