When Sora awoke, he was aware of voices. 'Riku?' He snapped awake and swung up, spotting him instantly. "Riku! You're okay!"
He was a few meters in front of him, and on a knee to be level with a pricklemane, and toximander. He and the spirits surrounding him turned at his call, and Sora jumped up and snapped into his battle stance.
"Sora, wait!" Not-Riku held a hand out. "These are the good ones!"
Sora stopped, glancing between him, and the cheerfully chirping dream eaters around him. Looking at them now he could see that they were brightly colored, not as dark as the nightmares he'd been fighting. He dismissed his keyblade and stood. "Oh," he said, but his cheer came back. "But I'm glad you're okay! I was worried when I couldn't find-"
Not-Riku held a hand up to silence him as he stood, looking less than pleased. "Sorry, but I'm not actually Riku. I just look like him right now."
Sora blinked at him in confusion. "Not Riku?"
For some reason, his lips quirked into a smile. "Yeah." The hand went over his own chest. "I lost my body a little while ago. Every time I go near someone, I take the form of someone close to them."
Sora stepped back, though it was more out of surprise than fear. "Wow, really? How do you do that?"
"Uh, it just kind of... happens. I don't really know."
"How'd you lose your body?"
Not-Riku faltered, clearly taken aback by the question. "I… I don't really know that either," he confessed, looking down at Riku's body. "I just sort of woke up like this."
"Oh..." Sora relaxed and looked at him curiously. "That must be weird. How do you keep yourself straight with all these different faces?"
He laughed a little. Both at the question, and the fact that Sora was going along with it so easily. "I dream I'm other people all the time. It's not that weird for me. It'd be kind of fun if it wasn't for the fighting. Hurts like a..." he stared at him. "It hurts a lot."
"Huh..." Sora blinked curiously at him, and then he jumped. "Wait! You called me "sora"! You know who I am!"
"I do. I take the memories of the forms I take," Not-Riku said easily. "I know all about you, about Riku, and about your Mark of Mastery."
"Whooooooa!" Sora breathed in awe. "That's so cool! I know someone else who can see other people's memories too. She's a big help, and really nice. You guys would probably be friends."
Not-Riku was quiet a moment as he looked at him, then smiled. "Yeah," he finally said. "I'm sure we would."
"Then, do you know where he is?"
"You mean Riku?" Sora nodded, and not-Riku frowned a moment in thought. "He's in the other world," he finally said. "The other version of this place."
"What?!" Sora reeled back. "There's two!?"
"Yeah. There's two of every world right now. I'm not really sure why. But you're in one version and Riku is in the other. You'll basically both be working through half the worlds to try to wake them up."
Sora frowned and crossed his arms. "Man, I was really hoping we'd be able to do the test together..." Then he relaxed and brought his cheer back. "But as long as he's okay, I guess that's what matters."
Not-Riku smiled, the familiarity easing him. Yup, that sounded like the Sora he knew. And he seemed to be okay around him for now. Looked like all his thinking and planning while he was asleep was working.
"What about these guys?" Sora looked to the spirits. "Are they yours?"
"Oh, yeah! That reminds me." He knelt down again to pet the toximander. "I made them."
"You made them?"
"You can too. Do you have any dream fragments?"
"Fragments?" He frowned. "Oh! Those pieces I picked up!" He rifled through his pockets a moment, bringing out a handful. "You mean these?"
"Yeah. If you bring them together, they'll make a dream eater." He brought his hands together, miming the action. "If they're compatible, they'll resonate and you can merge them. You'll need to try different combinations to figure out..."
And then he stopped, because Sora was staring in confusion at him, and his head was tilting very slowly to the side. Not-Riku snorted, putting a hand to his mouth in a bad attempt to stifle his laughter. 'C'mon, the explanation wasn't even that bad!' But the chiding was with affection.
"If they go together," he finally said. "They'll glow brighter."
"Oh!" Sora nodded excitedly. "Gotcha!"
He huffed in amusement.
On the ground, not-Riku showed Sora the trick he was using. Keep one fragment on the ground, and simply bring the others close one at a time to see if there was a reaction. Put down a different one, and do the same. This helped go through all of them, and not miss any possibilities. And when bringing them together, it was bascially a necessity at this point to put in extra fragments for a little boost.
"It will help make them stronger. Oh, and you can use items too," he said. "They seem to resonate too. I used a potion on one to try, but once you get more items you can probably try more."
"What do they do?"
"I think it makes them stronger. The one I gave the potion to has more vitality now."
"Oh, cool!"
His excitement made him grin. "You should probably try to make all your spirits as strong as possible right away. There's so many dream eaters that they'll need to be strong to help fight."
"Yeah, I noticed," Sora frowned. "They just kept coming."
Not-Riku faltered, smile falling, but not reacting otherwise. "Wanna try to do it yourself now?"
"Yeah!"
Not-Riku pointed to the dream eaters he had already made, and the fragments he had used. He was telling Sora which combinations would create what, to help him make a new type.
"But, the more the merrier anyway, right?" Sora asked.
"Nah, let's hold off on doubles," Not-Riku said. "You'd just be unlocking the same stats, and it seems like a waste of time."
"Unlocking what?"
Not-Riku stared at Sora's questioning face, and realized he was still talking in game speak, but Sora apparently didn't in this dream for some reason. He might have to adjust how he referred to things. Fortunately, he knew Sora well enough he'd probably be able to figure out what he was saying, and help him get through the next part of this "tutorial".