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The Shadow Thief Chapter 6

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6
Awakening




“He really should be more…” Roxas recognized this voice but couldn’t figure out who it belonged to.

“…attacked him?” another familiar voice was filled with concern.

Roxas strained to hear more but exhaustion quickly took over. He drifted into a deeper sleep before noticing he was on something incredibly soft. It seemed only a few seconds later before Roxas opened his eyes, a red ceiling before him.

Am I dead? He thought, sitting up and touching his face. No wounds. He checked his arms and his neck; they too were unscathed.
A worried voice cut through his thoughts and the silence around him.

“Roxas?”

Roxas looked to see Kazuo sitting in a chair close to him. As Roxas’ eyes met his, Kazuo slumped his tense shoulders, letting out his breath.

“Kazuo?” Roxas asked, confused. “What happened? Are we dead—”

Kazuo held up a hand, silencing Roxas. “Niles was the one who saved you and no, we aren’t dead, but you were very close when Niles found you.” The old man paused, looking at Roxas with an anxious face. “We don’t know who it was that attacked you.”

A pause went through Roxas before he spoke again. “Niles is here?”

“Yes, he is.” A smile grew to Kazuo’s face. “You haven’t seen him in awhile, have you?”

Roxas shook his head, casting his eyes around the room he was in. He was sitting on a large comfortable bed, the red sheets over half his body. The walls of the room were also scarlet and the floor was polished wood. There wasn’t much furniture; only the bed that Roxas was in with a small table next to it, and Kazuo’s chair.

Niles walked into the room, hands folded behind his back, and smiled at Roxas. He was dressed in a long light red robe that had similar coloring to the room with a black belt around his waist. A sword tucked inside a dark sheath hung at the belt’s side. His brown hair had a small patch of gray and his tail was a lighter color than Roxas.

“How are you feeling, Roxas?” Niles’ eyes quickly swept over Roxas before settling to his face.

“Fine, I guess.” Roxas replied, shrugging.

“Good.”

Niles pulled a hand out from behind his back, revealing a pipe. He placed the pipe in his mouth as his half closed eyes and descended to the ground. Before Roxas could comment, Kazuo’s eyes lit up and he turned to Roxas.

“Irene’s still at the orphanage, if you want to see her.”

“She’s still there?” Roxas asked, “You mean she never got adopted?”

“Well, there were a lot of people who wanted to, but she refused to go. I think she wanted to see you again, Roxas.”

Roxas nodded and got up from the bed, noticing he was dressed in Wizard nightwear. His dark eyes went to Kazuo as he said, “I should probably wear something else, huh?”

“Yes,” Kazuo chuckled, getting up from his chair. “I believe Niles has something for you.”

Roxas turned to Niles, seeing that he hadn’t moved an inch. Niles suddenly jerked his head up, his hazel eyes alerted. His body was stiff and puffs of smoke were coming out of his pipe as he asked Roxas, “Something wrong?”

“Um, the clothes you got for Roxas.” Kazuo said, looking just as surprised and confused as Roxas did.

Niles nodded a few times quickly and walked out of the room. Roxas and Kazuo exchanged worried glances as they heard Niles whistling and footsteps fade. After a few quick moments, Niles strolled into the room again with a long robe over his arm and a pair of shoes in the other hand.

“Get dressed,” Niles said as he tossed the robe, slacks appearing from under it, and the shoes to Roxas.

Roxas caught the clothes in his arms, leaning forward to get the shoes before they hit the ground. He straightened and, without moving his wrist, his flame marking on both of his hands glowed. Instantly, the clothes were on him. Both Kazuo’s and Niles’ eyes widened and, after a moment, Kazuo laughed.

Niles smiled and shook his head, the pipe hanging from the corner of his mouth. “Looks like you’ve become so advanced in your wizardry, Roxas, that you don’t even need to move your wrist anymore.”

“Good,” Roxas replied, “I was getting tired of rotating it all the time. Speaking of my wrist,” He looked at the flame marking on his hand, “I should probably cover up my hands.” His eyes darted to his swaying tail as he added, “and my tail, also.”

Once again, the markings on his hand glowed and sleeves lengthened to cover his hands as his tail disappeared. Roxas followed Kazuo and Niles out of the room and down the hallway. When they got to the end, a large kitchen and a door greeted them. Crossing the kitchen, they went through the door and stepped out to the sunlight.

Roxas saw that they were in a forest. The trees were accepting the embrace of spring, their leaves a dark green. The sky was a light blue and the midday sun hung high in it. Somewhere far off, a bird squawked loudly.

“So, where’d you say we are?” Roxas asked, watching as a small bird flew overhead.

Kazuo looked at Niles, who was behind him, staring at the ground.

“Just some human forest,” Niles answered, “Nothing to worry about.”

Roxas turned to him and noticed that the house they were in only seconds before was gone. He gestured behind Niles, asking, “Where’s the place we were just in?”

“I made it disappear.” Kazuo replied, “It’s a small hut that I make; comes in handy every now and then.”

Roxas nodded as Kazuo began walking backward in a circle, his cane carving into the earth. When Kazuo finished the circle, he walked next to Roxas and crouched down, placing his hand in the dirt. The circle glowed purple, the light engrossing Roxas, Kazuo, and Niles. Seconds later, the three vanished. They reappeared in front of an old one-story house with a large sign on the roof that marked the building as an orphanage.

A few feet away from the structure were a large group — consisting of at least two dozen — children running around and playing with one another. A boy around Roxas’ age named Adam leaned against a nearby tree, his arms crossed and his hazel eyes sweeping over the children. Adam wore a turquoise robe, its sleeves folding down as he lifted one hand to scratch the back of his neck. As he did so, Adam noticed Kazuo and wide grin crossed his face. Meeting the boy’s eyes, Kazuo smiled back.

Roxas scanned the unfamiliar faces around him. “Where’s Irene?”

“She’s probably inside,” Kazuo replied as he began to ascend the stairs on the porch.

Roxas followed the old man as he opened the door. When Roxas noticed Niles not following, he turned to question his friend. Only, Niles wasn’t there.

“He went to explore the area,” Kazuo explained before Roxas could say anything. Roxas nodded and entered the wooden building along with Kazuo. They crossed the deserted playroom and went down into the hallway. All the doors were shut expect for the entrance leading to the dining room. As they neared the entrance, a sweet aroma drifted in from another room.



Irene dipped the wooden spoon into the pot and mixed its contents. She was making her stew, a favorite of the orphans. The only sound in the kitchen was light crackle of the fire below the large pot. A faint, unfamiliar voice of a boy broke the silence.

“What’s that smell?”

Irene ceased stirring and looked at the closed entrance a few feet away. Her brow furrowed as she grabbed the small kitchen knife resting on the counter. Silently, she made her way to the door and pressed herself against the wall next to it.

“Irene must be cooking,” Kazuo’s voice answered, “You would like her stew.”

Hearing this recognizable and calm voice, Irene relaxed, letting out a breath of relief. The kitchen door opened and Kazuo stepped in. Seeing the girl, Kazuo’s smile widened as he said, “There’s someone here to see you, Irene.”

Roxas entered the small room and grinned at Irene. Irene glanced at Kazuo with a confused expression. After a few moments, Roxas’ smile faded and he sighed heavily.

“I knew this would happen,” He exclaimed turning to the old man next to him. “She doesn’t even remember me.”

Kazuo frowned at Irene. “You remember Roxas, don’t you?”

Irene’s eyes snapped to Roxas. He smiled and nodded, answering the girl’s unspoken question. Irene grinned and went to Roxas quickly, hugging him. Kazuo rotated his wrist and vanished, leaving the room empty except for the two.

“I knew you would come back.” She said softly.

“Watch where you have that knife,” Roxas replied, accepting her embrace, “It’s starting to make me nervous.”

She laughed, releasing him. “Where have you been?”

“Kazuo never told you?”

Irene shook her head.

Roxas’ eyes diverted to the ground as he ran a hand through his hair. “Let’s just say I’m not exactly human.”

“Are you like Kazuo?” Irene asked after a short pause.

Suddenly, Kazuo appeared besides Roxas.

“Niles wants to see you.”

Roxas nodded and vanished from the room without another word. Kazuo turned to Irene, a smile spreading across his face. “Let’s begin, shall we?”
Chapter 6 of The Shadow Thief

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UltaFlame's avatar
I like coming up with my own. just put a bunch of syllables that sound nice togehter. always worked for me.