Following Trails that Don't Exist
"Sora, Riku…" Kairi stepped back from her friends, the sand stirring under her feet. She was worried for them, but she knew she needn't be. They'd be fine, right? "Be careful, and come home safely. Promise me that much."
"Of course, Kairi." Sora nodded, before glancing back at King Mickey, who was standing at the water's edge, looking out at the waves that slowly rolled in. Not wanting to draw out the goodbyes anymore, Sora walked towards the King, Riku taking a hint.
"Don't worry about us, Kairi. We'll be back before you notice we're gone." Riku promised, before turning and following Sora.
--
That was two months before.
The sun was setting over the horizon. Kairi stood at the same place she stood as they left, watching as the Gummiship flew off with her friends on board. Not a word from Sora, Riku or the King, for that matter. She turned back towards the cabin she'd been staying in ever since they had left, noticing a letter in the mailbox. She removed it from the slot, noting the King's seal on the back of the envelope. She opened the envelope, hoping it was the letter she'd been waiting for. Something telling her Sora and Riku were okay, and on their way home.
It was exactly the opposite.
Kairi.
If you're reading this, then something has happened to us. We're not sure when we'll get home. Stay strong, Kairi, for us. We'll be okay, promise.
Sora, Riku and Roxas.
Roxas. Sora had always signed Roxas' name with his on letters, even school assignments. He didn't feel like Roxas deserved to be forgotten. Either that or it was Roxas' influence on him. She noted a second letter included, from King Mickey himself.
Kairi.
I'm sorry that I have to send this to you. Riku and Sora wrote it shortly after we left, in case of something happening to them. They asked me, if something did happen to send it to you. Stay in the Destiny Isles, Kairi. That's all I'm asking of you at this point.
King Mickey.
Tears filled Kairi's eyes. So something did happen to them. They promised they'd be okay. What could've happened to them?! They'd fought Xehanort's Heartless and his Nobody and survived! What could've brought those two down? Were they just separated from the King and he sent it to be safe? Were they reunited now? No… King Mickey would've only sent it if he was sure he wouldn't find them for awhile.
"I had to do something." She decided. She walked up the wooden pathway to the cabin door, and headed into the low-lit wood house, setting the letters down on the oak table, and searching for some paper and a pen. "Where do they keep the paper? Where do they keep the paper?" Sora and Riku would stay here with her during holidays and whatnot, and they usually had the run of where things were put. And usually, that meant the pens were down one end of the cabin, the paper down the other.
After searching for who knows how long, Kairi sat down with pen and paper in hand. She couldn't write to King Mickey; he had told her specifically to stay in the Destiny Isles. Instead, she addressed it to Queen Minnie, hoping she'd understand Kairi's predicament, and could trust the Queen not to tell King Mickey.
Dear Queen Minnie,
She started.
I just received Riku, Sora and Roxas' letter that King Mickey was asked to send in the event of something happening to them. I cannot send this to the King, because he asked me to stay here, but I cannot. Not when I'm unsure what's become of them, and they've disappeared. I would like to borrow the Gummiship, if it is not currently in use, to search for them, with your permission.
Sincerely,
Kairi.
She put the pen down, and reread the letter, making sure she didn't sound like a complete idiot. After proof-reading it, she grabbed an envelope, knowing where they were, since they were in the same drawer as the pens, and addressed it 'Queen Minnie, Disney Castle'. Folding up the letter and putting it in, she sealed the envelope and stuck it in the mailbox, before putting the pen and letters away and going to bed, since the sky had been dotted with stars, and she lacked anything better to do, not bothering to get changed before lying down and pulling the blankets over herself. Tears rolled down her face as she cried.
--
Kairi awoke the next morning, sunlight streaming through the window. She got up and left her room, looking at the two other doors that would open into two more bedrooms, the rooms that Riku and Sora would stay in.
Kairi left the cabin quickly, trying to forget the letter she'd received the day before. She found a spot on the beach and sat down, and, unable to control her emotions, started crying again.
"Kairi, are you okay?"
Kairi turned with a start, seeing Selphie standing behind her. Kairi only managed to shake her head, eyes red from the tears she'd been crying.
"What happened?" Selphie sat down beside her, putting her arm around Kairi comfortingly.
"Sora… and Riku… Something happened to them…" She choked on the words.
"How do you know that?" Selphie asked her, thinking that it was something Kairi made up, since no one had heard from them since they left.
"I got… a letter from them… saying that something had happened… and they weren't sure… when they'd get home…" Kairi realised afterwards how stupid that had sounded.
"They'll come back." Selphie assured her. "Oh, by the way, this was in your mailbox." She passed Kairi an envelope with the King's seal on it. Opening the envelope, Kairi read it, conscious of Selphie reading it as well.
Dear Kairi,
I understand what you're going through. King Mickey didn't tell you the whole of what happened when Sora and Riku were attacked, so I will fill you in, in his place.
They had been travelling between the worlds, following weird signals Chip and Dale were getting. While looking through Radiant Garden, without the Restoration Committee knowing of their presence, the three of them were attacked. By whom, I was not told. But what I was told… you may not want to read the next several sentences, Kairi. They will only make you worry more.
Kairi read them anyway.
Sora was pinned down by one person in a group of several, and slashed several times in the back with their weapon, whatever that was. Riku ran over to save Sora, but was caught himself, and suffered the same torture. They told King Mickey to get out of there, and to contact you. The King wanted to stay to help them, but two more of their attackers chased after him, and he ran for it. That's when he lost track of them, and sent you the letter.
No, the Gummiship is not in use right now, and I've told them to go with you, but not what for. Fill them in for me, please.
Sincerely,
Queen Minnie.
A copy of Kairi's letter to the Queen was included as well, but Kairi ignored it, knowing what it said. Queen Minnie had probably sent it so the King didn't find it.
Selphie gasped when she got to the third paragraph, and it was all Kairi could do to keep herself reading, and not bursting out crying.
"Kairi, I didn't know…" Selphie looked at her friend when they finished reading, who shrugged in reply, trying to keep herself from breaking down again.
"The Gummiship will be here in a day at the most, Selphie." Kairi stopped Selphie from continuing. "I'm going to find them." Selphie nodded.
"Good luck." Selphie stood up. "I support you every step of the way. I'd come with, but I'd be a burden."
"I wouldn't want you getting hurt anyway, Selphie." Kairi shook her head. "I'll come back with them."
"I know you will." Selphie nodded. "I better get going." Selphie said sadly, knowing that this would be the last time she saw Kairi for awhile.
"Okay." Kairi nodded with renewed energy, knowing the Queen had allowed her to search for Sora and Riku. "I'll see you when I get back, with Sora and Riku." With that, the two parted ways. Selphie went back home, while Kairi sat back down, waiting for the Gummiship to arrive. After the sun set, Kairi dozed off to dreamland, falling asleep under the star-lit sky.
--
"Kairi! Wake up!" A chipmunk yelled in her ear. Kairi moaned, sitting upright. The first thing she saw was the Gummiship hovering over the water, a ramp outstretched onto the sand. "Let's go! Chip's waiting!" She looked to her side, spotting Dale beside her, before he darted over to the Gummiship and half-way up the ramp. Kairi nodded. The full-moon was high in the sky. Kairi got to her feet and looked at the moon, the pale light shining over the area. With a smile, Kairi jogged towards the Gummiship and up the ramp as Dale went inside. When she got inside, the ramp raised and closed to become the door. Kairi sat in the center and slightly further back seat of a group of three.
"Sora always sat there…" Commented Chip quietly. "We told King Mickey we were looking for them." He said to Kairi.
"Well, it's no lie." Kairi replied with a smile.
"Honest?!" Chip and Dale perked up.
"Honest as long as Sora and Riku wield Keyblades." She replied cheerily. Chip and Dale cheered for a moment, before calming down.
"Where do we start?" Dale asked anxiously.
"Radiant Garden, the place they were captured." Answered Kairi. Chip and Dale nodded, setting course for Radiant Garden, formerly Hollow Bastion.
--
Kairi looked around Radiant Garden. She herself hadn't really been here, but she'd heard Sora's stories of the place.
"What're we going to do, Leon?" A girl's voice rang. It was the name at the end that had caught Kairi's attention. She turned towards a shadowed corner, watching a group of four people, two men and two girls, talking about something. "The blood won't clean off completely!" It was a ninja-looking teenager speaking.
"I know. It seems like no matter what, it's stuck there." Commented the darker-haired of the two men, "We just can't get up off… What is it from, anyway?" The others shrugged
"I'm sorry, I couldn't help but overhear," Kairi interrupted. "I'm Kairi. I know whose blood it is."
"Do you?" Asked the girl in a pink dress.
"Yeah." Kairi nodded. "The blood is Sora and Riku's…" She looked down.
"What? How'd it get there, then?" Asked the blond haired man.
"Sora, Riku and King Mickey were here a while back without you guys knowing. They were attacked by a group of people. Sora was pinned to the ground, and his back was slashed open several times. When Riku went to save him, he was caught and had the same thing happen." Leon bit his lip.
"Impossible!" The ninja exclaimed. "Sora and Riku couldn't be brought down that easily!"
"But they were. Show me where the blood is and I can try to explain it better." Kairi challenged.
"Okay." The four of them led Kairi towards Merlin's house, then around the corner to the right of the house, and up the stairs. Blood droplets were smeared around, seemingly randomly, but Kairi could figure out their placements. She motioned to the one with blood droplets more concentrated, except in a clean spot where she guessed Sora would've been pinned down.
"Sora would've been lying down here," She indicated the clean spot on the ground. "And when his attacker slashed at his back, the blood would've splattered in either direction." She motioned to the blood droplets. She then turned to the other splatter of blood. The only difference was there was no spot within the splatter range that wasn't dotted with blood. That led her to the conclusion that Riku was standing when he was attacked. She stood about in the middle. "Riku would've darted towards Sora to save him, but was captured right about here… and his back was slashed while he was standing." She motioned to the blood droplets in the splatter range.
Kairi walked a few paces towards the edge, where she guessed King Mickey would've been.
"The King would've been about here, wanting to help Sora and Riku when he was chased away…" She motioned to the town square below. "He would've jumped down there and ran off."
"I think it'd be a good idea to believe her now, Yuffie." The girl in the dress told the ninja.
"Nah, Aerith. Ya think?" Yuffie replied in a sarcastic tone.
"Calm down, Yuffie." Leon glared. "Now we know what happened when they were attacked, but why isn't there a trail of blood?"
"They warped." Kairi concluded. "It's the only way they would've of been bleeding out all over town… but who attacked them?" She muttered the last part. She then turned to the other four. "I'm going to have a look around town, see if anyone saw anything. If you see or hear anything, fill me in." She then turned on her heals and left.
After asking around and hearing nothing new, she returned to the Gummiship. Disappointed, she flopped back down in the middle seat.
"Don't be discouraged, Kairi." Chip encouraged. "It took Sora ages sometimes to find a new lead. We just gotta keep going to the different worlds until we hear something." Kairi nodded.
"Where should we go next?" Kairi asked.
"Well," Dale started. "The last place someone would look for Sora and Riku, if they got away, would be the Pride Lands, and if they did look for them there, they probably wouldn't recognise them…"
"Let's head there, then." Kairi decided, "It's better then going to random worlds looking for leads."
While Radiant Garden had been a failure, maybe things would look up in the Pride Lands. Maybe someone had heard something about Sora and Riku? All Kairi could do was hope. Hope and wait.