My Dark Heart: Ryan's tale (a Destinies Intertwined, Riku x Oc sequel)

Chapter six: Detour

~Three days later~

"So, how does it feel?" 

Ryan pulled the hood of his jacket up over his face to keep his friend from seeing his injuries. "It's-- it's not..."

 "They're getting worse, aren't they?" Max guessed.

"Well... I mean yeah, but... When did you get so protective?" 

"...I never really made any friends back at the castle, always so busy training. So I'm kind of new at it. And.... and I don't want my first friend getting hurt." said Max.

After hesitating a moment longer, he pulled his hood down to reveal to his friend how bad they had gotten-- swelling up a bit, and changing in color again.

"And this isn't the only problem," Ryan admitted, "There's still no sign of Rachel... and I can feel the darkness in my heart getting stronger. Do you think... I'll be able to overcome it?" 

"Sure, if you can overcome those wounds first."

"Hey! What's your deal!?" A girl's voice was shouting from a nearby forest.

"Huh?"

"Leave me alone, you jerks!"

"Sounds like someone's being attacked." said Max, "C'mon!" 

They ran into the forest with shield and Keyblade in hand, only to find that nothing was there.

A snapping branch caught their attention, and then the voice again. 

"WhoawhoawhoawhoaWHOA, look out!" Something fell on top of him, sending him falling back into the grass.

This 'something' turned out to be a raven-haired woman, who didn't look particularly pleased at the moment.

"Who the heck are you!?" Ryan demanded, "What are you doing out here?" 

"Taking a freaking walk in the forest. At least I was, until those things attacked." They stood up.

The young man winced, having momentarily forgotten about his injuries.

"Ooh, those look pretty bad. You might wanna get that looked at." the stranger told him, "Hey, maybe I can help. Sit down."

 "Oh, but I--"

"Sit. Down." He sat on a tree stump, and she pulled out a water bottle and cloth.

After pouring water onto it, she knelt, and pressed the cloth against the gashes under his eye.

"Ow!" He yelped

"Hold still. You're not helping."

"Yeah, but... It hurts..."

"Stop whining and let me clean your handsome face." 

He did as told, too scared to protest against her.

"....I'm Shira, by the way." 

"I'm Ryan." 

"Max." He paused. "...Oh! Wait! There's this Heartless that got away from us when we were fighting it. Looks like a dragon. Any ideas?" 

"That was taken care of just yesterday." she responded without missing a beat.

Really? Could it have been Rachel? 

"So... what are you two doing out here?"

"Well, my sister ran away, and we're looking for her. Also..."

 Shira stuck a patch over Ryan's injuries and stood up as he went on. "I need to rid myself of the darkness in my heart."

"Huh? But that isn't even possible." Shira inclined her head.

"Push it down, then," Ryan responded, "I need some way to fight it."

"Maybe there's something I can do to help you after all. There's this guy I know-- he can help you figure something out. And there's always a chance we could run into your sister."

"I don't just want a chance. That's not good enough for me." A minute passed as he made a decision.

"I can't go with you-- my sister could be in trouble. Let's go, Max." 

They continued forward without her, no one said anything. It was only when they were out of earshot that Max finally spoke up. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"No, not at all. Maybe a detour wouldn't be so bad after all."

He wanted to find Rachel-- with all his heart, he wanted to see her again. But he didn't want his own inner darkness to hurt her.

Ryan folded his arms and fell into thought, briefly shutting his eyes. Then he turned around and met her gaze. 

"Wait, Shira. I changed my mind-- We're going with you."