As some of you may know, Peanut and I are crazy about Roleplaying, and it's clear, since this is the second one on this site that belongs to us. And we aren't even done with the first one! Regardless, that won't stop us from starting this new roleplay, Rude Awakening!

 

Kinda dark and mysterious title, eh?

 

As stated in the title, this RP is one on one, no exceptions. Please refrain from posting in the RP. Instead, follow us on this new journey!

 

Peanut, my amazing friend, let's begin!

Riku closed his eyes at the question, already knowing that Jihl would come up with her own answer. He would die if she had a choice, or she would torture him to the point that he wanted to die. He wasn't sure what would be worse, though--having Lightning see him like this and be taken away, or just be beaten until he was near death.

 

Cedric smiled a little. "I'm your family, Claire," he said, his hand still lingering on her head. "You can trust me to at least allow you a goodbye." He then leaned forward, pressing a kiss to his daughter's forehead before pulling back and standing. He would take her to Riku, but then they would go to the Castle.

Lightning finally looked up at her dad, her hand remaining where it had been all along on her arm. "You broke my arm," she stated quietly. He wasn't exactly setting himself up to be a kind and compassionate person, though that was how he was acting now. She shouldn't have been so surprised. He didn't want her switching sides now...

Cedric looked at Lightning, still knelt down in front of her. "I only did what I had to so you could see where you truly belong, sweetheart," he explained. "Now that you've accepted it, I'll grant you one final wish. If it's to see Riku, so be it." As long as she joined the Organization.

"And what will happen to Serah?" Lightning inquired softly, gripping her pained arm more tightly at the thought. She wouldn't have a chance to say goodbye to Serah, that was for sure. Not that she really wanted to say goodbye. It wasn't just Riku she was betraying, but Serah too.

"Serah will remain unharmed," Cedric promised. He cared for both his daughters, just in different ways. He knew Lightning could tolerate pain. Serah was a different story. She would be left alone, since she wasn't needed in the first place.

Lightning looked up again, eyebrows furrowed. "I want more than that," she declared. Leaving her alone wasn't good enough. "You never allow her to know you're alive. You stay away from her new family. Never spy on her again." She was serious. Serah wasn't going to have Cedric haunting her. Or anybody else. "Can you make everyone else stay away too?"

 

"Aw, how precious," Jihl cooed viciously, speaking to Riku since he couldn't hear what was going on over at Lightning's end. "She's ordering protection for her sister. She may be willing to damn the worlds for the sake of two people, but she's still looking out for you." She sent Riku a wicked smile, continuing to listen in on the conversation. For now, verbal abuse was what Riku would receive as torture.

Cedric rose to his feet. "Serah has nothing to do with the Organization's goals," he declared. In other words, nobody would go near her for any reason. "But I'll do as you say. I won't bother your sister." Serah wasn't of his concern anyway; Lightning was. She always had been the stronger one.

 

Riku ground his teeth together, eyebrows furrowing. His back and chest were numb because of the lashes he'd received, so he was unaware of the blood that trickled from his wounds. But hearing that Lightning was giving in.... It infuriated him. "Lightning..." he muttered. She couldn't do this.

"She'll be here soon to say goodbye," Jihl cooed to Riku, voice taunting. "You should save your words of farewell for then." It would be the last time they saw each other as friends. "But I do want you to listen to this." She turned up the radio for Riku to hear.

 

Lightning took a few moments, studying her father. This wasn't the man that she loved growing up. He was so cruel and cold now, unless it suited his purposes to be kind, like it did now. But...It went along with what she believed for so long. "I always believed I would fall," she said softly, partially to herself. "When I first met Riku, I only spoke and acted for Serah's sake. As long as she has a future...and Riku does too...mine doesn't matter." Hearing herself say those words made her feel sick. She lived by that for so long, but Riku...he convinced her that she mattered too.

Riku grunted, as if in pain, but the sound was weak. He felt the same way--weak, helpless. He couldn't even get out of this to go help Lightning! She couldn't give into Cedric and his lies... She just couldn't! This was what Xehanort wanted, what all of them wanted. If Lightning joined with them, it would lead to disaster. He would have to fight her. Please, don't do this, he begged of her. Riku couldn't fight Lightning.

Lightning slowly rose to her feet, eyes on her father now. "...Let's go," she said in the same tone. He would lead her to Riku now. She'd say her goodbyes and then face whatever future was in store for her. Her life may not have been worthless, but it wasn't worth as much as Riku's and Serah's. She'd make this sacrifice for them.

 

"Well, that's enough of that," Jihl said, turning down the radio again. Surely Riku believed that Lightning was giving in now, though he didn't seem to doubt it in the first place. "Now, back to..." She pulled back her whip and struck him again, glad for a reason to get physical again. Mind games were great, but there was nothing like the sound of a whip cracking.

Riku tilted his head back with a cry, his eyes squeezed shut at the burning that struck his skin. Jihl weakened him with what he just heard...and then struck him when he was down. His body went slack, the young man hanging by his arms as his head hung. The Organization was worse this time around than they were in the past.

 

Cedric nodded to his daughter before turning, speaking into his microphone. "On our way," he said lowly. "Keep him occupied." Lightning would be there shortly to say her goodbye. It would be more difficult because Riku would be beaten to a pulp, but that wasn't of Cedric's concern. The man started forward then, trusting Lightning to follow.

Lightning didn't hear Jihl respond to Cedric; she hardly heard anything but her own thoughts. This wasn't right, at all. But what other option did she have? As they walked closer to the door, Lightning noticed a metal pole laying on the ground. It must have fallen from the rafters or something. She eyed it intently, noticing how her father didn't even turn back for a second out of the top of her vision. If she was going to do this, she had to do it now. As she walked by, she knelt down and picked up the pole with her good hand. Gripping it with both hands, she took a quick step to catch up with her father as she swung it at the side of his head with all her might. This had to knock him out. It'd be disastrous if it didn't.

Cedric grunted slightly at the hit, stopping dead in his tracks before he fell to the side. Everything went black immediately as he fell unconscious, unaware of what just happened and that his daughter betrayed him.

Lightning grunted in both surprise and pain, her broken arm throbbing terribly. Her dad was definitely going to wake up with a headache. And when he did wake up, he would be furious with her. She looked around the room, hoping an idea would hit her. And then it did. There was Cedric's gunblade, lying on the table. She wanted the weapon...and now she could have it. She ran over towards it and grabbed it before she could talk herself out of what she was about to do. She had to make sure her father couldn't follow. ...She had to shoot him.

 

Jihl assumed that everything was fine on Cedric's end, so she kept up her work with Riku. Cedric would most likely take a while coming to her; he would make sure that he and Lightning weren't followed by taking a series of paths that were out of the way. They had to air on the side of caution; they didn't want things turning against them again.

Edited October 2, 201213 yr by Peanut

Riku's body tensed at another whipping to his back, one side of his face numb since Jihl's aim had been off. Or so he told himself. She clearly meant to hit him in the face at least once. Regardless, he felt his muscles straining in reflex, the young man instinctively wanting to get away from what was threatening him. But he was trapped. He couldn't do anything but take it.

Lightning's hands shook as she held onto the hilt of her weapon. It was in gun form, not sword. She could hardly swing a weapon again with how in pain her arm was. Tears poured down her cheeks in the form of waterfalls, her eyes stuck on her unconscious father. He didn't look so evil now...But that was what he was. And unless she did this, he'd hurt her again. Riku too. She delayed the task as long as possible though. She took off his microphone and earpiece, hiding it in the corner so that he wouldn't find it and warn Jihl that Lightning escaped. She hid the metal bar as well, though she wasn't sure why she did that. Yet in the end, she found herself standing by his legs again with the gun pointed down. Gnawing at her teeth, she set a finger on the trigger and eventually pulled at it, shooting several times just to be sure. When she stumbled into the outside world, she tried to refocus herself. I'm coming, Riku. Just hold on.

Riku grunted at another whipping, though it sounded more like a sob. When had he ever been so helpless? The only name that popped into his mind was Ansem. When he was being possessed, he was nearly this weak. But not as weak. There was no way to escape, that much he had to accept. Lightning was coming to say goodbye, and then she would be gone. Nothing more. Why did it have to come to this?

Jihl kept an eye on her watch; that was the only way to keep time in this world. It wasn't as if the sun ever rose so that she could tell time by that. After about three more hours, she was concerned. Cedric wasn't answering his radio, which meant that there was probably somebody nearby and he was keeping himself and Lightning hidden away from them. Were there other Keyblade wielders on the world? Was Cedric caught and Lightning recovered? Jihl took a break from Riku, wandering to a window. Everything looked normal...

Riku's body was limp, his head hanging as he fought to stay conscious. Three more hours of this torture, four total. How could Jihl find that much entertainment in this? He hadn't squealed once about Lightning's weakness, not that he needed to anymore. Cedric had already convinced her to give in. But...how could she? Lightning couldn't truly believe that what she was doing was right... Riku opened his eyes, but only managed to get them halfway. He was so tired... Tired from pain, tired from lack of sleep, and tired from the stress the Organization put on him as a whole. He was broken, just like Jihl wanted.

Jihl jumped, uncharacteristically startled, when a window to her far left shattered. She didn't know that it was a bullet that shattered the window, not even when she walked to that far away side of the room to go check it out. Meanwhile, closer to Riku, a figure appeared out of the shadows and quietly went over to the hanging person.

 

Lightning had to choke back a sob when she first saw Riku. He was so beat up..The first bit of torture had been for her sake, but the second was because he was a Keyblade wielder. A threat. But the greatest threat in the room was Jihl. That was why after sneaking inside and seeing Riku, Lightning hid in the shadows before shooting a window to get Jihl to walk away. Now she quietly pulled over a chair by Riku, lifting her gunblade in order to saw through the rope binding him. She had to get him out of here...I'm so sorry I couldn't find you sooner, she silently apologized weakly. It took forever to find this place.

Riku was confused at the gunshot, but he didn't have the energy to lift his head and see what was happening. But the chair that was pulled up near him, and then the small tugging he felt at his ropes... It alarmed him. But so did the smell of roses. The smell of sweet roses. Lightning, he thought, feeling his emotions get the best of him. Riku's eyes stung, tears of relief appearing. But they were also of fear. What was she doing here? Where was Cedric?

Edited October 2, 201213 yr by Forever Love

Lightning didn't have time to cut through the rope all the way before Jihl turned around and hollered at her. Light's eyes widened as she jumped down off the chair, standing in front of Riku protectively with the gunblade in one hand. Her other arm hung limply by her side, only to be used in a dire situation. That was what this situation became now though. Jihl on the offensive was definitely not a good thing.

"Lightning..." Riku said weakly, his voice nothing but a grunt. "...Run." He didn't need her to protect him. There was no point now; she had to get out of here while she still could. Clearly she got away from Cedric. She could get away from Jihl if she just ran. Riku would figure this out, eventually.

"Shut up," Lightning growled, lifting her other hand to the hilt of her weapon as she glared at Jihl. The woman stood a few yards away, whip still in hand and ready to go. "If I'm running, you're running with me." She was never going to leave him behind! He put up with this torture because of her. ...It's my fault, but I'll make it up to you. I promise.

Riku didn't respond, not that he could. It took a lot of energy just to say two words. As if he could actually run away with Lightning. He remained limp, his eyes closing as he fought his own thoughts. The thoughts that drove him crazy, ones which revealed the truth. That he couldn't protect Lightning. She was on her own.