~Deep Down There's a Light That Never Goes Out

The sun was too bright.

The boy silently complained to himself, as the heat bore down on him, showing no mercy, even as he covered his eyes with his arm in a feeble attempt to block the rays from hitting his face.

This was just like Sora.

He was just an ordinary, lazy kid, enjoying his tranquil life on Destiny Islands.

But he knew that there was something missing.

He longed to see what was outside of his home. He wanted to explore the worlds and escape from what seemed too isolated and boring for a fourteen year-old. He couldn't wait for the day when he could finally explore the life beyond Destiny Islands with his friends by his side.

"Sora!"

A cute red-headed girl peaked her head over Sora's face, startling him out of his day dreaming.

"Aw, gimme a break Kairi!" Sora laughed.

Kairi giggled in response and settled down beside her friend.

"What were you thinking about?" She asked curiously.

Sora sighed and stared toward the sea. "Just wondering what else was out there."

Kairi frowned. "We will be able to leave someday. We are working on the raft."

She pauses and then sighs herself, "I want to see the world too."

Sora smiled at her, "then we will go together."

"Deal."

"Hey what about me?"

Sora and Kairi turned to see their friend Riku coming up behind them.

Sora got up off the ground to greet his friend. "Of course you're coming with us too! We couldn't leave you behind!"

Riku smiled. "Hey, wanna race again?

Sora grinned devilishly. "Sure, but I'm just going to kick your butt like I did the last time."

"Singing your own praise, eh? Well, I'll make sure to give you a head start."

The boys continued to quip while Kairi sat there and laughed along. She tried to supress the distressing sensation that something bad was about to happen to their serene little island. She attempted to ignore the sudden rustling of the leaves on the trees, and the increasing size of the ocean waves. While the boys were busy having their race, she also struggled to disregard the brooding black hole that was headed toward the island. A black storm, filled with darkness and obscurity. She knew they were all in great danger.

The Darkness surrounded them. Hundreds of black little creatures emerged from the storm, causing distress and destroying the island that the kids loved so much. They ran. They didn't know where they could possibly run to, but nevertheless, they didn't stop. These creatures were nothing like any of them had seen before. Their behaviour; it was as if they lacked something that made them human. In the midst of all the chaos, a large doorway filled with the null darkness, formed in front of Riku.

"Riku!" Sora called out, but it was as if his friend was in a trance.

Riku neither turned, nor said anything to Sora. He was curious as to what was behind such a great power, and he disappeared as quickly as the darkness appeared, letting it consume him.

Sora didn't understand any of this. He hadn't the slightest clue what secrets were held behind that doorway, but it didn't look too inviting.

I wonder why Riku went through there, Sora thought to himself.

But his day dreaming was yet again interrupted by one of those small, menacing creatures who took a fighting stance in front of Sora.

"Alright, look here, whatever you are" Sora raged. "This is my home and I'm not going to let you destroy it!"

He had a strong desire to protect his friends. He didn't know where Kari was and he had a feeling Riku was in great danger as well. The desire was powerful enough to burn a hole in his heart. Sora could feel something within him. Some could call it magic but it was so much more.

Suddenly a long key-shaped sword emerged in Sora's hand.

"What the-" Sora stared at the weapon, wide-eyed and mouth open at its sudden appearance.

He didn't know what it was but the thing in front of him seemed to be scared of it. It started backing away from him so abruptly that Sora almost forgot that it was once scowling at him a few seconds ago.

Even though Sora had no idea what this key-shaped thing was, he had an idea that it was going to stop whatever these things were.

He lifted the weapon above his head. "This is for taking Riku!"

The key came flying down and a bright light emerged from it, completely destroying the creature. It left no evidence of even being there.

"Neat…" Sora said, breathlessly.

Now that he had a way to defend himself, it was time to kind Kairi. He hoped that she wasn't swallowed by the darkness like Riku had been.

Sora makes his way to a secret cave, where, sure enough, he finds Kairi standing near a mysterious door.

"Kairi!" Sora exclaimed, relief washing over him.

Kairi turns around in a start, "Sora!" She yells back.

However, their reunion is short lived as the door behind Kairi opens and a surge of darkness sends both of them flying out of the cave.

"Ungh…Kairi…" Sora tries to move but is unable to from the force of the blow. His mind is fuzzy, but he doesn't want to lose consciousness in danger of losing Kairi once and for all. Unfortunately, Sora is unable to win the battle with himself and he lets the darkness take over.

Uh, my head.

Sora's eyes flash open and he sits up in a start. "Kairi!"

But to his dismay, Kairi is no longer with him, and it seemed that he was no longer on Destiny Islands. He was left drifting in the ocean.

"It must have been destroyed…." Sora whispered, his eyes burning with tears that threatened to escape.

Sora had no idea where he was, and he feared that his friends were dead. He was left with nothing, and all he felt was despair.

But then he remembered something.

"The key…"

He looked around but he couldn't find any sign of where the weapon went.

"It must have been left on the island."

The hope that Sora felt was quickly replaced with desolation. But then he heard a voice inside his head.

"Do not fear, brave one. For the Keyblade does not abandon the one who is destined to wield it. All you have to do is believe."

"Huh? Is someone there?" Sora asked, looking around, but it seemed the voice was no longer with him.

"….A Keyblade eh?"

Sora held out his hand in front of him and closed his eyes.

"Alright focus. Keyblade, Keyblade, Keyblade, Keyblade…"

Suddenly, as if right on cue, the magical key-shaped weapon appeared in Sora's hand once again.

"So I can summon this thing whenever I want? Sweet!"

The carefree attitude Sora always held was back and a new desire to save his friends emerged inside of him, as he drifted towards a small, dimly lit town.

"Hey Donald, do ya think the Key is around here somewhere?" The abnormally large-looking dog asks his duck friend.

"We have to start looking somewhere Goofy. The King left us strict orders." The duck replied.

The two friends explore Traverse Town in search of the "Key" their majesty had ordered them to find. Neither one of them had any idea what that meant but the King had left suddenly to deal with the increasing power of darkness that seemed to be taking over worlds. They didn't have a chance to ask for the details, and the only thing they had was a map. So brings them to Traverse Town.

"Hey back off!"

The two had heard a voice coming from around the corner. Donald had stopped in his tracks.

"What do you think that is?"

Goofy shrugged. "Sounds like whoever it is needs our help. Lets go!"

"Just my luck!" Sora exclaimed with fury, his Keyblade in hand.

The young hero had found himself in Traverse Town, a quiet little village that he soon came to discover was overrun by the same little black creatures that had destroyed Destiny Islands. However, this creature that stood before Sora was not so little. It towered over him, and its continuous attacks were starting to leave Sora frustrated and drained.

"Hey friend, need some help there?"

He turned towards the voice. A confident looking dog came running towards him while a frightened looking duck followed with less enthusiasm. Sora had no idea who these …animals were but he was not one to turn down help, especially considering this thing wasn't slowing down.

"Help would be appreciated!" Sora smiled with relief.

The three battled the creature with all their might and finally, Sora's Keyblade was the one to destroy it.

"That's a nifty weapon ya got there," the dog said, looking at the Keyblade. "I'm Goofy by the way, and this is Donald." He pointed towards the Duck, who still seemed to be recovering from their great fight.

"I'm Sora, and thanks for the help, I really needed it." The boy said with a gratified smile. "Do you know what that thing was?"

Goofy nodded. "They're called Heartless. They consume people's hearts and that Keyblade you have there-" Goofy points to the weapon, "-is the only thing that can destroy them."

Sora looked at the key incredulously, "so what does that mean?"

"Well, the Keyblade chose you to be its wielder, so you must have a pure heart, and a courageous soul. It doesn't pick just anyone," Goofy explained.

Sora nodded, still not quite understanding. "Well, if I'm the Keyblade wielder, then I guess its up to me to destroy those things! Maybe I'll be able to find my friends too."

"Oh, you're looking for someone?" Goofy asked curiously.

Sora smiled. "Yeah, those Heartless destroyed my home and my friends and I got separated," he said, the upsetting memory hitting him like a title wave.

Suddenly he had an idea. "If I destroy all these Heartless, will I be able to bring Destiny Islands back?"

Goofy shook his head. "It's worth a shot. You said you were looking for your friends right? We're also looking for someone; our King. He went off on a quest to stop the darkness himself and I think he might be in over his head."

Sora had an idea. "Why don't we look for them together? We seem to make a great team anyway."

Both Goofy and Donald nodded in excitement.

"Great then let's go!"

And so, the three of them set of on a perilous journey to solve what seemed like a straight-forward problem. However, soon Sora would realize that the problem was not so simple, and that he would meet tons of enemies determined to destroy the power he held within his hands.

"So…..ra…..s….r….ora…."

A voice….

"So...ra."

Someone was calling his name.

"Sora!"

"Huh!"

Sora's head flies up, a piece of paper sticking to his face from where he had fallen asleep.

"Haha, wake up sleepy," the voice laughs

Sora turns to see his best friend, Riku standing in the doorway of his room.

"Oh, hey Riku, what's up?" Sora asks, yawning and stretching his arms.

Riku crosses his arms, his smile faltering. "What's up is that we have our mastery exam in twenty minutes! Get up and get going. You don't want to fail before you even get there!"

With that Riku leaves the room in a huff.

Sora reluctantly gets up from his desk chair and sleepily puts on his jacket.

"Jeez, Riku is sure enthusiastic about the exam," he sighs but a small smile plays on his lips.

Today is the day I become a Keyblade Master!