The three of them lay quietly in the warm sand, staring into the sky. The stars are shining unusually brightly, and even some of them are falling, creating a beautiful streak of light across the midnight blue sky. The sound of the waves and the wind blowing are soothing, creating a very calm, quiet, and content atmosphere. All else is quiet, asleep, on the island.
"Hey Sora..." Riku whispered quietly.
"Hm...?"
"Do you think...we'll ever see something new? I mean...like a new island, or a new world?" he asked softly, revealing where his mind had been the past couple minutes.
"Riku, you're crazy." giggled Kairi, in her usual giddy tone.
Once she got quiet, Sora answered.
"I don't know, Riku...maybe..." he commented silently. He wasn't really sure of what he was saying, but he didn't want to tear down Riku's ideas. Riku was sensitive that way.
Riku let out a long, deep sigh. About seven minutes passed by before he made another comment.
"I just...I want to get away sometimes, you know? If I get bored or upset...sometimes I just want to leave...but there's no where to go except the same old islands." he sighed again.
He saw Sora nod out of the corner of his eye. Kairi just shrugged.
A final star flew across the sky. The waves were beginning to settle down for the night, and the sand was beginning to cool down.
"It's getting late, guys..." Kairi finally said after another long silence.
"Yea..." Sora sighed. "Maybe we should go home, huh."
Riku felt a little angry. Okay, more than a little, he was pissed. Why couldn't they be as adventurous as he was? What was so wrong about wanting to explore and see new things? Besides, life was boring now, why not go have a little fun?
Riku finally just sat up.
"Ok, fine." He said, and stood to his feet.
Sora and Kairi could tell he was upset, but what could they do? Leaving the islands was just plain crazy. They probably wouldn't get very far anyway, and if they did, it would be way too dangerous out there. They'd probably end up dead, and then what?
Sora and Kairi stood up also. Kairi didn't care that Riku was angry. He was her friend, yes, but if he really believed they could leave destiny islands, then he was just plain crazy.
Sora felt sorry. Maybe he should have been a good friend and encouraged him more? Or would that put Riku in danger?
"Well...see you tomorrow, guys..." Kairi said and hopped into her rowboat. They boys said goodbye and watched her row away towards home.
"Riku...I'm sure we could go...someday...maybe when we're older, ya know? We're just kids right now...when we're adults we can do whatever we want..." Sora was trying to be comforting.
Riku nodded, although he wasn't any happier.
Sora just shrugged and put a comforting hand on Riku's shoulder.
"Well...see you later?" Sora asked, making sure Riku was still his best friend.
Riku nodded, and Sora climbed into his rowboat, rowing off into the darkness of night.
Riku sighed. He laid down again in the sand and let his mind wander. Maybe he could brainstorm some ideas. Come up with a secure plan, enough to convince Sora and even Kairi that it was safe.
His thoughts drifted off as his eyes became heavy and his body became tired. He wasn't aware of how late it was, and laying in the warm sand had provided him with enough comfort to fall asleep unwillingly.
It was about three hours later, technically four in the morning, when Riku was awakened by a loud thundering noise. His eyes popped open to see a clear, midnight blue sky instead of his bedroom ceiling. He thought maybe he was dreaming, until he heard another sound.
It was a young boy's helpless screaming.
Riku sprung up, and was suddenly stunned by the image before him.
Out on the sea was a small boat, which had caught fire and was in the process of sinking. Explosions rang out as if the boat was filled with fireworks. Pieces of wood and metal were shooting up into the sky. There were pieces of wood and metal floating all around the boat, and flames covered the surface of the water. It was far enough away to where he couldn't see any people. He saw the flames and the wood, and there was some debris floating to the shore, but most of it would float out to sea.
The boat had looked really small, maybe only big enough to hold a small family. Though he couldn't see any survivors, he could still hear that god-awful screaming.
Riku jumped to his feet, searching for the source of that deathly, ear-splitting screaming. His eyes panned the surface of the water, and stopped at a plank of wood not too far from the shore. There was a very young boy in the midst of the wood. He was holding on for dear life, screaming and crying for help.
Riku ran to the shore and charged into the water. Riku was always good at thinking and acting fast. Any other person would have stood there in shock.
He ran to about elbow-deep in the water, and reached out for the crying boy. The kid immediatly snatched onto Riku's arm, fearing for his life.
Riku swam the kid back to the shore, and helped the boy into the warm sand. The boy was still screaming and crying frantically. Riku tried to settle him down, the crying was getting to his head. That god-awful screaming.
"Shh! Shhh...it's okay, it's okay..." Riku tried to hush the kid. The boy kept throwing his fists and kicking, screaming about his mom and his sister.
Finally Riku couldn't take it anymore and pulled the kid into his arms. The boy kicked and swung even harder, kicking Riku in the lower lip and causing it to bleed.
Despite the pain Riku held the boy tightly against his chest, as tight as he could, and began to rock the boy back and forth.
"Shhh...you're okay, I promise..." Riku whispered. He held the kid tightly so that he couldn't kick anymore.
Finally the screaming and crying had died down into little sobs and sniffles.
The boy was shivering uncontrollably, probably freezing to death, and crying into Riku's chest.
Riku held the boy close, suddenly feeling like a father, and tried his best to comfort the poor kid.
Riku looked out to sea and found the burning boat. Yea, there was no way there were any other survivors. There was absolutely no recognition of a boat at all. There was just debris covering the surface of the water, still on fire, floating away farther into the ocean.
Riku looked down at the kid. He looked about 10. Riku found it slightly humorous that the boy had silver hair like him, except the spikes weren't as defined as Riku's. His hair was soaked against his head and face, but Riku could see that the boy had beautiful deep blue eyes. He was very pale, most likely very cold, and his clothes were torn.
As Riku examined the boy, he felt the boy begin to tremble in his arms. Trying to think quickly, Riku thought of the sheet in the tree house.
Riku stood up with the whimpering child in his arms. Riku hurried towards the treehouse and up into the room where the sheet was. He set the sobbing kid down and grabbed the sheet.
"Here...um...take off your shirt..." Riku blushed a little, realizing he had never said those words before.
When the little boy didn't move, Riku reached down and helped the kid out of his shirt and shorts. After the kid had only his boxers on, Riku stood close to the boy and wrapped both of them in the sheet. He hoped to warm the boy up with his body heat, and from the slowing of the boys rapid breathing, it seemed to be working.
Riku pulled the boy close and laid down on the hard wooden floor.
"Shh..." Riku tried to settle the boy down and petted his hair.
Only five or ten minutes had past, but the boy was already sound asleep in Riku's arms, tears dried up completely. Riku was glad he had been here for the poor kid, but of course his mind reverted to one thought. This is proof, that there is another world...