Chronicles of the Keyblade Book 4: Poisoned Pasts

Chapter 4: The Bandit

"Pigie!… Pigiooo!"

The calls of the strange bird outside slowly started to wake me. I moaned, not wanting to leave the warmth of my bed just yet. His cot was surprisingly comfortable… then again, he didn't get much sleep that night.

crunch…

I was worried about Emily. I wondered how she was doing. Merlin said that he had about a week, but who knew if Robert would attack in the meantime.

crunch…

"What is that?" I wondered, sitting up and stretching. Emily's Emerald shard came free of my shirt and dangled from around my neck. I lifted it in my hand and looked at it. It still glowed brightly, but there was a faint flicker. She was holding… for now…

Crunch…

The sound made me turn and tense. I look around, looking for what would be making that sound. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, but the door to the outside was ajar. I guess I never locked it. That's when a box of my food stocks was open. And one was missing.

Crunch…

I look soward the sound and see a foot from around a box of blankets. I get up and peer around the box to see the strangest creature I've ever seen! It was like a dog, but it used it's forepaws like hands. he was mostly blue and black with a yellow collar… wait, not a collar, just a ring of yellow fur. On his hands looked like caloused skin. He was eating on of my food stocks. That's what was making the crunching sounds.

"Hey!" I said.

"RI!" It shouted, dropping the half eaten food stock and looking at me. his eyes kinda reminded me of Shadow from how red they were, but he also had a marking on his face that looked like a mask, complete with two long tufts of fur on either side of his face under his ears.

"Who are you?" I asked it.

"Riolu." It replied.
"How did you get in here, Riolu?" I asked it, thinking it had a funny name.

"Ri, Riolu." It said, pointing a paw at the door.

I look at the door, remembering that it was ajar. "Well, that was a dumb question for me to ask any way." I said. "What are you doing eating my food? I need that."

Riolu looked down. "Rio…" It said. "Ri, riolu ri ri lu." Was it's answer…. I think.

"Is that all you can say?"

"Ri."

"I guess so…" I said. "Well, I need to leave. So I can't have you in here and eating what food I have left."

Riolu looked down and nodded. He reached for the food stock he was eating and looked at me, the question clear. I smiled. "Yeah, you can have that." I told him as I started packing a backpack.

"Ri ri!" It said and picked up the foodstock, sat, and continued eating it as he watched me pack. I decided he didn't have to leave right this second. After all, I'm here.

A few minutes later, I slung my packpack over my back and was ready to find that water.

"Ri riolu, ri?" Riolu asked, making me look at him. He gave me a funny look.

"What?" I asked.

Ri, riolu, ri?" It asked again, but slower. He could clearly understand me, but I couldn't seem to understand what he wanted.

"I'm afraid I don't understand you." I told him as I stood.

Riolu grunted and closed his eyes. A second later his two 'mask ties' stood on end, and my head was suddenly filled with pictures. The first was a stormy night under a tree, then a star fell from the sky and landed gently nearby. It was my Gummi ship! The scene shifted to me working the door open and looking inside. I saw myself sleeping on my cot, counting in my sleep. Then I smelled something yummy and found the food stocks. The pictures shifted to the gummi ship in the field and me in the field. Then an overwhelming question of 'why' accompanied the pictures.