Author's Notes: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Sora, or any other KH-related things that show up within this story. I wrote this to get credit for Creative Writing at my school, and because I had a dream that was begging to be written out.
I do own Noa, Oji, Kyuudou Island, and all the other non-game characters in this story. Don't use them without my permission, okay?
Now then, without further ado...

Kingdom Hearts: The Other Side

Chapter 1 - Shooting Stars:

They say that the stars in the sky aren't really stars. They say they're really Heartless and Nobodies just waiting, waiting for their moment to swoop down and destroy us. I go out to the beach every night, watching the sky, thinking. I am prepared. I will not let them ruin what little I have.

Kids my age think I'm crazy, you know. Crazy for believing in the legends, and what the elders say. I'm only fifteen, and already a social outcast. What a stunning turn of events. Not really.

I've been a strange child ever since I was born. While other kids were born all normal and beautiful and cute, I was born different. First of all, my mother had a C-section just to get me the hell out of her. She was never happy during her pregnancy, as I've been told a million times. I know, a C-section doesn't sound that strange, as it happens all the time...here, on this little island...it's a very rare occurrence. When it does happen, the children of the operation always seem to be, well, a little off.

What was wrong with me? Oh...well, I was the strangest child of all the kids who had been born through a C-section. I was born with a genetic mutation, one that gave me cat ears and a tail. Yeah, imagine the baby lying in her crib, brown cat ears and a brown tail to match her plain brown hair. Wonderful.

Mother was never very fond of me. Her other two children were perfectly normal, but me, the middle child...I was a freak. She never held me when I was young. When my father did, I would always be crying, begging for my mother...

I don't remember any of it. Father told me. I don't want to remember it. I never wanted to hear it.

I knew, just from the way she treated me, that Mother didn't like me. She would constantly beat down my self-esteem, call me names, yell at me for anything that went wrong, whether it was my fault or not...I didn't need to hear that she'd always been doing it, ever since I was born. Father thought I should know. Father didn't always know best.

Another thing kids here don't like about me: I get side tracked easily, and I can talk about anything for hours. Most kids on the island can't stand staying on the same subject for more than a few minutes. They move onto the next thing in a heartbeat. There's always more to say. I know that. They hate that I know that. They hate listening.

I've learned not to talk, most of the time. The only time I really open up and talk to anyone is when I'm with the elders. They've taught me, helped me to learn everything I know about the Heartless, and the Nobodies. They say that there is a 'Keyblade Master' traveling through the worlds, defeating the creatures everywhere he goes and trying to restore balance and peace. I always hope he'll come to our world. But I doubt he ever will- the last time we had Heartless here was centuries ago, and the only record we have of it is cave drawings in the cavern on the far side of the island. No one except me goes there anymore. I only go to think, and avoid everyone else.

The elders taught me how to fight, as well as giving me the books to read. I may not be an expert, but put a wooden sword in my hand, and I am one hell of a fighter. You wouldn't want to cross me, if you knew what I was capable of. Most people don't know. Most people don't bother to find out.

"See you, Oji!"

Elder Oji waves to me as I leave his home. Night is quickly approaching. It's about time for me to head out to the beach, watch the night sky for changes...and think. It's starting to feel like that's all I do, as of late...think. The elders don't seem to have much to say to me, or anything left to teach me. So I spend my nights wandering the beach as usual...and my days are usually spent sitting in the caverns, just thinking some more. I'm not sure what to do anymore.

Also...it seems like the elders aren't telling me something. I don't know what, but every time they so much as glance at me, they have this...look. Like they know something's going to happen. Like they know I'm someone special. I'm really not. Just a girl desperate for an escape from her daily hell at home.

I make my way down to the beach, just as all the other kids are hurrying home. Their legs run, run, run, moving as fast as they can, but mine...I just let my pace stay slow and steady. I stare at my feet as I walk, the earbuds in my ears- the human set, that is -blocking out the yelling of the others. They yell at me, yell at each other...they just yell. I just ignore it all, and let the music from my mp3 player fill me, letting my heart pound with the beat.

When I reach the water's edge, most of the other kids have vacated the beach, but a few stragglers remain behind. I stand alone in the sand, the waves barely lapping against the toes of my shoes. As the other kids start to head home, I hum along with my music, watching the sky, and taking note every time another star comes into view. Within minutes, the beach has emptied of all people besides myself. The sky is quickly darkening, and the moon slowly appears, casting an eerie light onto the pale sand. Stars begin to show their faces, one by one. I watch in silence, until I see something moving on the edge of my field of vision. I turn my head towards it, only to discover that it's a shooting star, up in the murky blackness of the night sky. I watch it, finding an odd nervousness shooting through me. If the legends the elders told me are true, and stars really are Heartless and Nobodies...then that shooting star could be one of them moving, starting the attack.

Biting my lip, I continue to watch it, noticing that it's coming closer, instead of disappearing over the horizon. My eyes widen, and I stare in stunned terror as it gets so close that I can make out a shape amidst the bright light surrounding the thing shooting towards the beach. It...it's shaped...like a human. If I wasn't staring before, I sure as hell am now. How would it even be possible to be surrounded in light and coming down from the sky at such a speed?

And then...the blazing light around the human-shaped meteor comes to an end. The missile has landed in the water, making a huge splash when it hits. I shield my eyes from the salt water, and as soon as it's safe, I look out at the place where the thing landed. There, floating in the water, is a boy, probably no older than me. Although I can't be sure at this distance, I think he's unconscious, but I only assume that because he has remained unmoving, just bobbing up and down in the waves, floating on his back.

"Aw, crap," I mutter, pulling my earbuds out of my ears and dropping them and my mp3 player into the sand. Once that's done, I quickly shed my jacket and kick off my shoes, running into the water and swimming towards the limp form lying in the waves. I'm not a great swimmer, and even though he was somewhat far away from my spot on the beach, getting to him is quick and relatively easy.

"Hey! Hey!" I start trying to wake him as soon as I reach him, yelling at him to try and bring him back to the world of consciousness. His eyelids flutter, briefly revealing incredibly blue eyes, but they quickly close again. I grab onto him as his motionless body starts to sink, and I begin to swim back to shore, my already slow speed brought down even further with his added weight. I make it back to the beach, dropping the boy on the sand and looking him over. His clothes were slightly torn up and damp with blood and salt water. I knew he must've been in pain, just by looking at all the wounds he had. I could understand why he'd passed out. I wouldn't want to be awake after all that either.

Still, I try again to wake him up. "C'mon, please! Wake up!" I'm pleading with him as I tap my fingers against his cheek, trying to get him to respond. His eyes open again, staring blindly upwards. "K-Kairi...?" He mumbles, clearly only slightly conscious. "Who...who's Kairi...?" I question in return, staring at him, but he only stares past me for a few more seconds, before his eyes slide closed, and he passes out again. I'm truly worried that if he stays like this, he won't be waking up again, ever.

But I know that all I can do for now is get him some help. Knowing I can't bring him to my home, I decide to bring him to Oji's place, as I'm sure the Elders could help him. I lift the boy from the sand, holding his arm over my shoulders, and wrapping my free arm around his waist to hold him up as I half-drag, half carry him in the direction of the Elders' homes, a small cluster of buildings in the center of the island's one town.

By the time we reach Oji's house, my fingers are sticky with the boy's blood, but I don't really care. I guess it's just because I'm used to having blood on or around me...but that's a different story. When I'm standing in front of Oji's door with the boy, I kick the wood of the doorframe, and within moments, the old man opens the door, smiling briefly. However, he then notices my companion, and the smile drops to a look of flustered panic.

"Oh my!" The words escape him seemingly with notice, but then he takes to ushering the two of us inside, a trail of blood droplets following us across Oji's clean wood floor. "Take him to the back bedroom, I'll be there momentarily!" I nod to him, and continue half-carrying, half-dragging the unknown boy, heading straight for the back bedroom. It's the only guest bedroom in the house. All of the homes built for the Elders have one guest bedroom, usually used for when we have a visitor to our island.

Each room is the same, with occasional bits of flair added by the Elder who owns the home. Oji's guest bedroom is very simple, with a bed tucked into the corner farthest from the door, a small nightstand beside it, and a lamp on top of that. There is also a throw rug in the middle of the wooden floor, and a window on the wall beside the bed. Only one wall hanging sits in the room, a scroll containing a simple inspirational poem, one that I've almost memorized from seeing it so many times. I enter this room, quickly crossing it to set the boy on the bed. I kneel on the floor beside him, gently taking his hand in mine, sighing softly.

"Just...don't die, okay?" I whisper to him, hoping he can hear me. "I...I don't want you to die."

Oji enters the room a few minutes later, his arms stocked with medical supplies. He immediately sets to work on the boy, stopping the bleeding and patching the stranger's wounds to the best of his ability. When he finally pulls away, he sighs, looking over the teenager again.

"Well, that's the best I can do for now." He muttered, mostly to himself, as I rose from my place on the floor.

"Is...is he gonna be okay?" I asked, my voice soft and concerned. Oji set a gentle hand on my head, right in between my cat ears. I did my best not to duck away from his touch. It wasn't really Oji that scared me, so much as the idea that another human being was touching me. I guess you could call it natural instinct to flinch away from just about all touch. Even Oji hadn't earned my trust in that area.

"...I don't know, yet. We'll have to watch over him and see how things go...I'd like you to visit frequently while he's here," He said, and I nodded in response before he continued. "But for now, you should head home. It is late, and I'm sure your mother wants you back." A sigh escaped me, and I pulled away from the old man, nodding again.

"Y-yes, sir...I'll...I'll be back tomorrow." I tell him, before hurrying out of his home, and back towards my own. I can only hope that the boy will be alright.

Yet, despite my worry, I can't help but be curious. Who was he? How did he fall from the sky like that? And...what was that look on Oji's face? Why did he seem like he knew this strange teen?

I suppose I'll ask him tomorrow.