Light

Destiny Islands. A small archipelago to the far end of the Western Sea, it only had one island large enough to inhabit.

The main island, simply called Destiny or Central Island, acted as the gateway to the archipelago. Incoming ships landed at a Town called Destiny Port, on the eastern tip. West of Destiny Port, small mountains and tropical forests sat in the center. Destiny Town rested at the foothills of the mountains, and served as the capital of the archipelago. Residential homes spanned the island; some small beachfront shacks while others were larger homesteads. No other real towns existed. All in all, only a few hundred inhabited the entire archipelago.

Besides Destiny Island, all the other islands were small, small enough that you could walk around most of them in a few minutes. Some residents of Destiny Islands, fishermen mostly, had some small huts or shacks, occasionally a storehouse, and nobody actually lived on the smaller islands for any long period of time.

The archipelago was part of a government called the Southwest Islanders Coalition that spanned hundreds of islands. The Destiny Islands were the most westward group and the most isolated.

Life in the Destiny Islands was simple. It focused on the sea, mostly. Fishing was a large portion of business, as was shipping. Food consisted largely of fish and tropical fruits, but some domesticated animals were a part of the cuisine.

Sailing was second nature to most islanders. Most families had a sizable boat, or more, and it functioned as a second home to them.

The tropic sun beat on one of these, this one a small boat, small enough for one person to sail easily. It was anchored in shallow waters near a small island, and the owner, a red-haired girl of fifteen, sat calmly in it.

"Ahh, it's such a beautiful day," she said, stretching. She glanced across the water towards the nearby isle. Lush, green vegetation, white sand… Identical to just about any other island in the archipelago.

She stood, grabbed a waterproof pack, and dove into the sea. Surfacing a moment later, she made her way to shore.

Despite it seeming just like any other island, the girl had come to this island for a reason. She had chanced upon it a few weeks prior and had discovered something unique.

Large rocks had formed a small cave, which undergrowth had obscured. She had finally found enough time to come out here again and explore.

As soon as she hit sand, she sprinted up the beach and headed into the thicket. The mouth of the cave sat where she remembered, descending into the soil. She glanced behind her. The white beach extended to the sea, and her small boat floated in the distance.

She entered the cave. Small enough to cause her to duck, it descended and twisted to the left. The sounds of faintly howling wind and water dripping echoed. She followed where the tunnel led.

It turned out almost exactly as she suspected. The tunnel quickly transformed into a larger cavern. Sunlight spilled in from an opening at the top of the cave and reflected off a pool of water that dominated over half the floor.

She peered into the pool. It was laminated enough for her to see the bottom, which was sandy with small vegetation. A small crater formed at the center of the pool, with no vegetation growing in it.

"Oh, wow!" She exclaimed, recognizing it for what it was. "A spring!"

She immediately stepped into the shallow pool. The cool water caused her to shiver, but she quickly adjusted. The pool, to her satisfaction, wasn't stagnant. She could feel a faint water flow at her legs.

She held her breath and sunk under the surface to look around. The water flowed through an opening in the wall. She moved towards it and felt the water flow, which was light.

She breached the surface and moved back to the edge, where she left her pouch. After a second of searching through it, she pulled out a glow stick. Breaking it and grabbing her bag, she dove back towards the opening. After taking another breath, she cautiously moved through it, the light of her glow stick illuminating the tunnel.

It extended a few feet before opening into another large pool. Needing a breath but not wanting to bust her head on a rock, she slowly drifted to the top of the pool, hand extended. When she breached the surface and felt nothing, she allowed her head to surface and took a breath.

The cave was much like the previous, but the entire thing glowed under the green light of her glow stick.

"Amazing…" she said as she stared up. The cave walls were made of some type of crystal, and it reflected the light she carried. She moved over to the far end of the pool. It had an edge like the previous cave, and she climbed out of the water.

After sitting a moment, she moved towards one of the crystals on the wall. Inspecting it closely, she became confused. What appeared to be water, or a clear liquid of some type, at least, flowed inside the crystal. She tapped on it, but it felt like any other smooth stone.

"I've never seen crystals like this before…" she mumbled. She turned away and examined the rest of the chamber. The light faded curiously in a corner, and she moved to investigate it.

The floor dropped and another tunnel exited the room, its walls sparkling faintly. She slowly moved down it. Unlike the entrance tunnel, this one descended quickly and gradually widened out.

Soon, she found herself in another cave. This one, though, was considerably more alien. It was crystalline like the last, but the crystals were larger and caused the room to be almost cylindrical. No pool of water existed, but the floor was filled a few inches up with accumulated water.

An ethereal blue glow lit the room, outshining her glow stick. She hardly noticed any of this, though. What caught her attention was on the opposite wall.

Two large crystals reached from floor to ceiling, and inside each floated a human figure.


A few minutes later, the girl burst out of the entrance of the cave, breathing heavy and absolutely terrified.

She leaned against a tree and slid down.

"Wha… what was that?" she said. She sat there for a while, contemplating everything.

After about an hour, she glanced up. Black storm clouds sat ominously on the horizon. She groaned upon seeing them. She had no hope of reaching home in her little pram before the storm hit, and it looked like a massive storm.

She glanced at the cave mouth. It would have to be her shelter for the night, at least. The wind whipped her hair.

But first… She sat her pack down and headed for the water. She would have to secure her boat. She swam to it, removed the daggerboard and started swimming it to the beach.

After she had dragged it up the beach a ways, she took her things to the cave mouth and returned to the boat. Her pram was built to disassemble in case of a storm, so she pulled up the mast and carried it to the cave.

After securing her boat as best her ability, she returned to the cave. The winds had strengthened and the storm clouds had drawn closer. She brought her supplies into the cave and huddled against the wall.

She tried not to look towards the passage to the other chamber, where the-

No, she thought, shaking her head. It did no good to think of it. The wind howled, the opening in the ceiling causing the chamber to moan. The damp chamber chilled.

She rubbed her arms. She had not dressed warmly, and it was rather cold in the cave. She finally glanced at the pool. It would probably be safer to be in the other chamber, considering how this one was formed.

She reluctantly stood up. After checking to make sure her pouch was secure, she slowly walked to the pool. Activating another glow stick, she dove into the water.

The tunnel was short, but the swim was unusually long, at least to her. She surfaced and held up her light. The chamber glowed like before, but she hardly noticed.

She left the water, shook herself and moved to the opposite side of the chamber from the other passage.

She sat down and huddled again. Her heavy breathing echoed in the chamber them, which was as quiet as she suspected. She unintentionally glanced at the 'other passage'. The light reflected off the crystals and into the passage.

She slowly drifted off to sleep…


She dropped slowly down through the black sea. A brilliant light glowed beneath her, and she twisted weightlessly down to it.

She came to a slow landing on her feet, the weightlessness lifting. The platform she stood upon glowed in myriads of colors. Like shards of stained glass, their sources swirled around the glass image of a brilliant, heart-shaped moon.

A smooth glass walkway ascended to glass-like tower, and she walked towards it, as if in a daze. She felt as though she was watching herself walk across the platforms, her consciousness detached from her body

Platform after platform she walked across, each showing stained glass images of fantastic scenes, colorful characters and intriguing worlds.

Eventually, the walkways ended at a tower that resembled her home islands, beset by waves and storms. As she gazed across the image, she felt her body waver and she fell down. The platform shattered into millions of pieces as she fell through it, faster and faster, the shards of glass blended around her in a portrait of colors.

Eventually, the colors vanished, then the blackness of the sea around her, and then she breached the surface, it seemed, and she was falling through the clouds. She glanced upwards as she fell and saw the massive form of that heart-shaped moon she saw in the image. The moon reflected the first rays of dawn. She fell through dark storm clouds, the sight above being obscured.

She fell out of the clouds towards a gray, stormy sea. She felt her descent shifting until she flew parallel with the sea below.

She looked ahead. The clouds above had parted, revealing the moon to her, bathing everything in silvery light. The little island with the cave sat alone in the sea, directly ahead of her. Ominous clouds, like smoke, rolled towards her and the island. Bolts of lightning flashed within the clouds.

She held her hand forward, reaching for the island. The moon glowed and stars fell down to the sea. Something shot out of one of the stars and flew towards her hand. By the time she wrapped her hand around the object, brilliant white light flooded her vision.


Her eyes shot open.

She still sat in the cave. The glow stick sat at her feet, glowing dimly.

Must've been asleep only a few minutes, she thought. What a strange dream…

She sat there, staring at her feet until the light finally faded.

Something strange happened at that moment. The chamber lit up, brighter than before. She glanced up. The crystal cave lit up, each crystal glowing brilliantly. The light from the other passage glowed brighter than all the rest of the chamber, and she squinted.

As her eyes adjusted to the light, she stood up. Enough is enough, she thought.

She slowly descended towards the other chamber. The light emanated from the two crystals that held the mysterious figures. The liquid inside the crystals was bubbling like it was boiling. She could make out the two figures clearer now.

Both were boys about her age. The one on the left had brown hair while the one on the right had silver hair and appeared older and taller.

The girl approached the left crystal to look closer. The boy floated weightlessly in the crystal, his eyes closed in a deep sleep.

She reached out to touch the crystal, but as soon as her fingertips touched the surface, the crystal flashed. She jumped back as the second crystal did likewise, followed by all the crystals in the chamber.

The whole room brightened again, and then the smaller crystals all dimmed and went out. Only the two large ones remained glowing. The crystals pulsated with light, and she could hear a faint humming.

Then a sharp cracking sound echoed in the chamber. The two crystals split open, water pouring out. The openings widened, and the two boys fell out. The water from the crystals had filled the chamber, making a shallow pool, and that was what they fell into.

With hardly a second thought, she moved to drag them out of the pool. She grabbed the brown-haired one first, because he was face down in the pool, and pulled him over to the edge of the pool.

Before she could get the other one, she saw two blue eyes, dim from sleep, staring up at her.

"Wh… who are… you?" he said, voice weak.

"Kairi," she answered. "My name is Kairi. Go back to sleep."

He nodded tiredly. "So… ra… 'M Sora…"


Fin

No authors note at this time.

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