*Disclaimer* I own absolutely no part of Kingdom Hearts or it characters, and though some dialogue may have been intentionally ripped from the game itself, I pretty much made all this shit up.

Trespassing

1

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When Yuffie awoke, she was dully surprised to find cool sand beneath her finger tips instead of sharp, jagged stone and cold, thrashing salt water. The sky was black, glittering with stars, and she tried to recall where she was. The last thing she remembered was falling off a high cliff, trapped by a powerful enemy who was, least to say, very unhappy with her for stealing from him.

But that's what someone like her did; steal and deceive. She was a ninja, and a darned good one at that (if she were to say so herself). Slowly lifting herself to her hands and knees, Yuffie reached inside her shorts to grab the goods she'd stolen from the stranger. "Ah," she sighed, relieved. It was still there. Made from a material she'd never seen before and stunningly beautiful, this little star-like charm was definitely worth the misfortune and undoubtedly worth her efforts in gold.

When Yuffie stood to slide it back in her pocket, she stumbled a little, nearly tripping over her own ankles. "Woo!" she exclaimed, shaking her head vigorously. "Better get my sea legs back." After giving herself a brief examination, she concluded that she was fine, save for some mild dizziness and wobbly legs.

"Hmm…" she mumbled, taking in her surroundings. It was dark, but even so, she could tell that in the daytime this place would certainly be something to see. Strange but lush green plants everywhere, an abundant procession of coconut trees, tree houses, mini waterfalls, and a breathtaking ocean right in view…but small. It was a very small island, and despite the pretty scenery, that alone made her want to leave as fast as possible. A free and beautiful bird needs room to fly!

To get her blood circulation up and running, Yuffie assumed crouching position, allowing the adrenaline to work its way into her joints, and sprang foreword, putting her legs into motion. Yuffie could think of no better way of exploring than running and jumping like a wolf chasing a rabbit. The sand made for slower movement than she was used to, but the island was so small that the sand wasn't particularly an issue.

The air was coursing through her lungs, inflating her chest with excitement, thrilling her with the taste of night. Yuffie found lots of things to hop on, but little room to run. Bounding from shack, to tree, to bridge, she soon came upon a tall wooden platform with a narrow latter attached. She scaled it in a half second, climbing all the way to the tip top. Standing proudly, legs straight and poised with her chest puffed out, Yuffie let loose a long and loud "Woooooooooooo!" into the quiet night sky that ended in an explosion of giggles.

If anyone at all was on this miniscule spec of sand, they would definitely have heard her, but so far there was no reaction from anything anywhere. Yuffie sighed delicately, mildly disappointed at the lack of response. She was hoping for a little excitement. Maybe a large gorilla clan would jump out from behind the trees or perhaps a swarm of angry tribals with loin cloths and bone piercing would try to skewer and roast her. But alas, there was nothing.

Bending her knees, Yuffie sprang from the platform with one smooth, agile summersault and landed firmly upon the ground, every bit as graceful as the most talented acrobat and silent as a tiny sparrow.

Yuffie, being the grand explorer that she was, found a passage to another side of the island in a very short amount of time. There were actually three passages to the other side, but she took the small stone tunnel way immersed within the stone cliff that separated the island into two parts. When Yuffie came out into the clearing, she spotted another tiny beachside with a number of wooden bridges connected to leveled grounds of the island. As she mounted them, a small individual platform became visible in the distance on which lay a single, severely bent tree with fruit in the shape of…stars.

But did something move behind it? An animal maybe? Curiosity flared within her, and she was bounding across the sand within a matter of seconds.

Her feet made no sound at all as she made her way across the only sturdy looking bridge on the whole island. The bridge was connected directly to the platform on which rested the star-fruit tree, and looked like it had taken more time and skill to construct than the rest of the crooked ones that lay about.

There was no one there, unsurprisingly, and Yuffie wondered if maybe the wind and the darkness had played a trick on her. But she had perfect eyesight and was certain there had been some kind of movement from where she was standing. For goodness sake, she could even make out the shape of the fruit on the tree! In the dark!

"Star fruit?" she questioned aloud. "How weird is that?" Silently and carefully, Yuffie bound onto tree's trunk like a panther, leaning over to grab a fruit. Her slender arm stretched out far, her fingertips almost touching the skin of one of them, but a quick movement within her peripherals instantly caught her attention.

She had been right; there was someone behind the tree. It did not take long to process that this person had hidden themselves and waited for her to get close enough to provide an opportunity of attack; she was a ninja and was used to those kinds of scenarios. Her body sprang backwards off the trunk, curling into smooth backflip, and landed silently into kneeling position.

"Who are you?" both she and the attacker asked simultaneously.

Extracting the sound of her own voice, Yuffie could see that the other belonged to a boy. It was silky and handsome…and undoubtedly the voice of someone still going through puberty. Immediately she came to the conclusion that the stranger and herself were not far apart in age.

"You're the one trespassing on my island--you give you're name first!" he commanded.

Underneath the moon, which was covered by thin mask of clouds, Yuffie could clearly make out the shape of a weapon in his hand--a sword.

"Finally! Something exciting," she whispered enthusiastically. Even though the words were quiet, the boy heard her and readied himself for attack. "What are you doing out here all by yourself, kid?" Yuffie asked, erecting her position. Slowly she reached for the large cross on her back--her Oritsuru--and made an effort to make as much noise as possible while sliding it out of its holster.

"I'm not a kid," the stranger said, humorously offended. "I'm fifteen."

"Oooh, aren't you a big man?" Not that she was actually one to talk at sixteen, but whatever. She was looking for a fight anyhow.

"Shut up and tell me where you came from," the stranger demanded, getting right down to business. He was calmer than she'd expected someone in his position to be, which reminded Yuffie of a number of people she knew, and it excited her.

Hope he fights just as good she thought.

"Oh, somewhere off the coast," she responded perkily. "And is that any way to address a lady?"

"A trespassing lady," he replied sternly.

"Haha! And would you fight a trespassing lady?"

"Only if she were inclined to pick a fight."

"You pulled out your weapon first."

"And I don't want to have to use it, especially on a girl."

"I bet this girl could kick your adolescent little ass."

"She'd have to get to my ass first."

Oh my! I like this kid!

"Well, that sounds like an invitation to me!" Yuffie shouted, leaping into the air with astounding speed.

The boy was quick, but just barely dodged the slash of her Oritsuru, and reacted by back flipping onto the trunk of the star-fruit tree. Yuffie thrust her weapon at him, making a buzzing saw blade of a sound as it missed his head and sliced off a star fruit. The fruit had just enough time to fall and splash into the water before it returned to her, caught expertly by her trained hand.

The boy made swift movements of his sword, jabbing and slashing, but they were easy enough to evade. Though slightly taller than herself, his height wasn't impressive, therefore, his reach wasn't impressive. Yuffie landed a smooth kick to his stomach, and he flew backwards with an unsatisfying grunt of pain.

What he lacked in reach, Yuffie found out, he well enough made up for in recovery time. His movements upon hitting the ground were instantaneously reflexive. His form curled upward, elbows bent backwards with his knees bending to his chest, and he flew foreword like a human spring, slamming Yuffie into the farthest coconut tree with both feet.

"Not bad!" Yuffie coughed out, but was hardly perturbed by the pain in her abdomen. She'd felt worse. A lot worse.

The boy made no response, as he was already running in for another attack, but Yuffie's recovery time was impressive too. She was already at the halfway point between him and her.

They both raised their weapons, preparing to strike at the same time, and the thin cloud hovering over the moon slid aside, allowing bright silver light to blaze through the night. Yuffie's eyes widened in horror when she caught site of her opponent, and just as the impact of her weapon was about to make contact with his body, she swung it out of the way, allowing his sword to dig agonizingly into her stomach.

The boy never imagined his sword would make contact that way, and so the both of them wound up losing their footing. Yuffie's back slammed against the ground just as the boy stumbled to the side, barely catching himself on a single hand.

"Ow!" he complained quietly, rolling foreword to his feet.

Yuffie was still on the ground, weapon aside, and clutching her stomach tightly with both hands. But she wasn't clutching her stomach in pain.

"Oh no! Are you alright?" exclaimed the boy, panic sharp in his voice. "I didn't mean to--" but he could no longer continue. Yuffie was doubled over, laughing with all her strength.

"Uh--wha--" the boy was confused, shocked, and for unknown reasons, offended. "What's so funny?" he shouted.

Yuffie rolled to the side, burying her face in the ground, laughter kicking up dust by her nose. A fri--" she sputtered, "a frickin' wooden sword! A wooden sword! You threatened me with a wooden sword!"

The boy's cheeks blazed hotly, and he was thankful for the cloak of night.

"A plaything! A baby toy!" she continued to rant, heightening the boy's rage and embarrassment.

"Wha-wait!" he exclaimed, "Are you telling me that that thing you were using is real?"

The cross shone in the moonlight like a bright silver diamond. Its sharp edges were as clear as day, gleaming like pointed teeth, and the boy's cheeks turned from red to green.

She…was going to kill me? he thought, mouth agape. "Who are you?" he demanded more furiously than before. "What did you come here for? Where are you from!"

Yuffie's hysterical laugh subsided into tiny giggles, and she rolled over onto her knees, swiping her Oritsuru off the ground in a single, agile movement, and snapped it back into the holster. "Take it easy, kid," Yuffie said light heartedly, standing to her feet. "I'm not gonna hurt you. I just wanted to have a little fun." She shrugged delicately and dropped her hands to her sides.

"With that?" the boy jerked his head toward the dangerous weapon on her back, his eyes narrowed with absolutely no trace of humor at all.

"I know how to use it," Yuffie said confidently. "I would never have killed you by accident or anything. I'm a ninja." She explained this as if it was the most common knowledge in the world. Or as if he were stupid.

"A ninja?" the boy repeated in a mocking tone.

"That's right!" Yuffie puffed out her chest proudly and jerked her chin upwards. "You're looking at the greatest ninja in the whole world! The universe! Be proud that an amateur like you was able to keep up with me. You got talent, kid."

"I'm not a kid."

"Yeah, sure." Yuffie shrugged one shoulder and sucked in a breath of fresh air. "Ahhh! That moon sure is something, isn't it? Pretty as the rarest materia." The boy was bewildered by her attitude, making ordinary conversation as if they were the best of friends and there was no fight just minutes ago.

Even though he wanted to ask what "materia" was, the only thing he said was, "Yeah…I guess." His right hand twitched, and he reached down to adjust his glove very slowly.

The tiny movement caught Yuffie's attention, and she turned her gaze on his face with a wide, unbreakable smile. A Yuffie smile.

Now that Yuffie could see the boy's face as clear as anything, she could see how ridiculously hot he was. Firm, corded muscles, striking silver hair that flared out in spikes around his shoulders, appealing blue eyes that blazed like gemstones, and a mature, self-controlled exterior. Upon a quick glance, it was hard to tell he was even a kid at all. The only thing that gave it away was the pre-developed bass in his voice and his slightly rounded cheeks. But those features gave him an air of innocence she found alarmingly attractive.

Ah, but alas, she did not have time for that kind of thing. A ninja can and must have no distractions.

"Put some ice on that wrist of yours, kid," Yuffie counseled. "You twisted it."

The boy didn't look down, only made a slow motion toward the injury with his left hand.

Yuffie walked past him, almost skipping, but the boy held her with his voice. "My name is not kid. It's Riku."

Yuffie made it towards the lip of the bridge and looked back over her shoulder with a wordless smile.

Riku, now facing completely forward, asked with genuine curiosity, "And you are?"

Yuffie ginned widely, white teeth reflecting off the moon.

"I am…the great ninja Yuffie!"