6:00 a.m.
"Hey..."
The sun was just barely peaking over the horizon. Many of the residents of Destiny Islands were still sleeping in their homes, save for a few early risers. At one of those homes, a boy was holding tight to a palm tree and reaching for the second-story window of the house.
A single bead of sweat rolled down his cheek as he reached back for the clear glass. It was only inches away, but his fingers could only manage grazing the smooth material.
"Hey. Hey, Kara," he whined in a whispering voice, flicking the window in hopes of catching the attention of the person on the other side. "It's Sora. You awake? Come on, we've gotta go before everyone else wakes up."
No response.
Sora sighed and retracted his arm from the window to his friend's room. His bright blue eyes rolled and looked up at the dark sky above. Stars were still out, though they were slowly being hidden behind a layer of blue.
It was unusual for a teenager to be up at such an early hour, but he had a good excuse. School was out and summer break was here, so he was able to get up whenever he wanted to do whatever.
But, today, there was someone he needed to wake up first before he went along with his plans. They plotted the past few weeks about this, he recalled. He hoped she did not forget. Sora grunted and reached back for the window again to tap on it. Instead of giving up, he was going to try again and again until the other youth woke up.
"Kara!" Sora shouted in a whisper as to not wake up the rest of the households. "You promised to help me!"
There was finally a sound coming from behind the curtains. Sora grinned and slid down the palm tree before he was seen. The light turned on and a shadow appeared on the purple curtains blocking his view.
Inside where he could not see, a sleepy teen with silver hair rubbed her eyes and stumbled along to where the calls came from.
"Mm..." she groaned softly, peeking one eye open. Her golden stare was blurry and still deprived of much needed rest. "Promise...?" The word barely made it out of her mouth as she looked on sleepily. But, then it hit her, and the teen sprung out of bed. "Oh!"
Kara was wide awake now and rushed to get herself ready. First the shower and then a fresh set of clothes.
She tip-toed through the hall in spite of the household only consisting of herself and got started with the usual routine for getting ready.
Sora was rubbing his neck, wondering how long it was going to take for her to meet him outside, but he was happy to see the girl sliding out from behind the door a second later.
"It's about time," he teased her.
Rolling her eyes, Kara smirked and walked passed Sora.
"A girl needs to take her time," she said shortly. Both youths ran to the fence line and picked up two wood-carved swords that they frequently used for roughhousing, and then they made way for the beach. "When we get there, we need to start looking for stuff to build the raft, too."
"Yeah, yeah," Sora rolled his eyes this time, and he pushed his small boat off into the water. Kara was following behind him and started rowing for another island that was not too far away from the mainlands.
With their boats side by side during the entire trip to the neighboring islands, the teens made their way to the wooden dock on the eastern side of the shore to tie down the small boats. Kara kept her sword at her side as she half-skipped down to the sandy shore.
"So, are you going to try and beat Riku today?" she asked the spiky-haired boy with a friendly smile. Although still tired, she was eager to know of her friend's plans for the day. The both of them trained long and hard in order to keep up with Riku.
Unfortunately for Sora, he was having trouble keeping up with Riku's quick attacks. It was something she often took notice of when she watched them spar. She wanted to help Sora in any possible way.
"Yeah," Sora nodded, following after her. He stopped partway and waited until she lengthened the gap in between them before raising his sword arm. "I've seen all of his tricks by now, but I still need your help. If we practice long enough, then I'll definitely be able to beat him!"
Kara blinked and let out a long sigh. He never failed to break her spirit. "Sora," she called out to the boy. "If we practice long enough, then neither of us will be able to help the others with the raft."
"Fine, then just a couple rounds." It was his turn to sigh now. They sparred as the sun continued to rise into the sky. For an hour, almost, the teens practiced their fighting moves and worked to improve their physical capabilities.
As tired as they were from getting up early in the morning, they continued on for rough an hour of nonstop training. There was nothing that could put an end to it, save for a sneaky swing of the arm that knocked Sora in the forehead.
The girl who cleverly maneuvered around him tried to catch him, but she was too late. He collapsed onto the sand with a knot in his head.
It was to her relief that he was doing fine, but he was likely going to wake up with a headache. Luckily, there was no need for her to rush him back to the doctor's office at the mainlands, but he probably could have used a bandage. Kara rested her wooden sword on her shoulder and stared down at Sora with her golden eyes.
"He's already sound asleep," she giggled, hearing the soft snores. "Maybe I'll take a nap, too, until the others get here."
The closer you get to the light...
My eyes were wide open as the sun's rays pelted the island with warmth. Looking around, I could see the palm trees' leaves swaying back and forth with the cool breeze running through.
The sun was high in the sky with small and white clouds drifting along. I could hear the ocean's waves splashing against the shore and against the high walls of the miniature island with the Paopu Fruit tree. I leaned back on the palm tree I was sitting under.
"What was that?" I mumbled to myself, looking out at the calm water. A voice. I was so sure that I heard someone's voice just now, but it did not sound like anyone I knew. It was definitely not Sora, nor was it Riku or Kairi.
Ugh, maybe I'm still dreaming, I sighed and slapped my hand against my forehead. It was pretty obvious now that the dream, or whatever it was, was over. All that I could really do was enjoy the day as it went on.
So, I chose to do so by stretching out my legs and rest on the warm sand. I sat there for another few minutes, until my body finally broke away from its sleepy state.
"Oh... another nap sounds really good right now."
But, it was already late in the morning, and I could see Kairi paddling in her boat nearby. Now I actually had to stay awake, or else Kairi would bust me for not doing any work on the raft we were supposed to be building. Was Sora awake?
I got up to my feet and gazed around the island. There he was, lying on his back by the water. It was just as I thought. Sora was sawing logs, but he did look comfortable laying down under the sun. Too bad for him, Kairi was already standing over him with a pout on her face.
"Maybe I should just let them be," I laughed to myself and shook my head. Otherwise, it'll be my turn to get scolded.
He woke up moments later and was startled by her, I saw. It was amusing to see them bickering, though it really was not anything serious. From what I could hear, Sora was giving her some excuse as to why he was asleep.
I did not catch all of it but something I heard was about some kind of dream he had- a big, black thing swallowing him up. It sounded lame and earned him a fist to the skull, but I was a little relieved to see him avoid the worst of Kairi's wrath.
A lazy bum was what she labeled him, but it went over his head apparently. He simply changed the subject to one that I've heard him and Kairi talk about multiple times over the past few months. It was amazing to me that I was able to keep on asking the same question myself, even when Kairi answered with the same words every time.
"Say, Kairi," Sora started, "what was your hometown like? You know, where you grew up."
Exactly like that. I sat down on a barrel with my head in my hands, remembering how they went about this old conversation. Right on cue, Kairi left Sora with a much expected answer, "I've told you before, I don't remember."
"Nothing at all?" he asked her another question.
"Nothing," she told him.
"You ever want to go back?" Sora turned around to face her while still sitting in the sand.
It was something that I wondered about, too, and maybe she also did. I often wondered if she really did want to go out and find her old home... and leave us behind. Her silence after Sora's question left me curious.
"Well, I'm happy here," she finally spoke up. "But you know... I wouldn't mind going to see it. Just once, at least."
"I'd like to see it, too." Sora rested his elbow on his knee and looked up at the sky. "Along with any other worlds out there. I want to see 'em all!"
I sat down on a barrel partially buried in the sand and let out a sigh. They were not the only ones interested in visiting Kairi's hometown. Much of what Destiny Islands had to offer was so old. I saw just about every part of the world, and I could point out all of the major hot spots without even using my brain.
All two of them.
A change of scenery would be nice, I thought. None of the same old stuff anymore.
"So what're we waiting for?" Kairi turned around, asking Sora with a bright smile on her face. "Let's go!"
That was exactly what I was hoping to hear. The three of us were all on board with the same objective: leave the islands and go on a fun adventure to someplace new. I smiled to myself and thought about all of the things we could do out there. New sights and smells. Surely Kairi's hometown was a wonderful place.
However, just the three of us leaving to find her old home was not the plan. I glanced to the side and noticed a muscular teen walking towards Sora and Kairi. His silver hair brushed his shoulders as he made his way down the shore. How could I forget about him? It just would not be the same without that guy.
"Hey, aren't you guys forgetting about me?" he complained teasingly, tightening his hold on a log under his arm. He stopped walking and ran his fingers through his hair before tossing the log to Sora. "I guess I'm the only one working on the raft."
Riku, the designated leader of our little islander group, walked by Sora who was stuck under the weight of the log and set his sights on Kairi. He had one of those looks in his eyes. Their conversation about leaving the islands must have reached his ears, too. Maybe even everything before that topic came up.
"And you're just as lazy as he is!"
Kairi rubbed the back of her head shyly and giggled, "So you noticed. Well, then let's finish it together! I'll race you!"
Right when Riku sat down next to Sora, she demanded for a race.
The very idea did not sound the most fun at first, but they went through with a dash across the sand regardless of how tired they were. I sat back and watched Riku take the lead ahead of Sora and Kairi, who were not too far behind.
They laughed together and ran along to the other side of the shore, where we were supposed to be putting everything together. As soon as they were out of sight, I stood up again and walked down the shore to the shallow part of the sea.
The salty water touched the tips of my shoes as I stood there with my eyes focused on the cloudy horizon. This was life as it usually was- playing on the beach with friends and then going home to rest. Once the next day came, it was the same old routine.
I frowned at the thought of repeating each day. Instead of doing that, I wanted something new in my life. There had to be something more than just this simpleness. Well, we had plans to fix that problem. It just came down to building the raft and setting sail. Now that I thought about it... The others were probably waiting for me by now.
"Kara!"
My ears perked at the sound of Kairi's voice, and I turned around to see her and Sora walking back towards the cove. They were going the wrong way to find me. I guess I need to stop shirking and do my part, too, I smiled. Before they got too far, I hurried along to meet up with the two to get started.