- Chapter 1 -

Exploration

Author's Note:

You may have noticed the new cover photo. It's of Hikari herself, drawn by the amazing Kristen Verne at my request, and used as the cover with her permission. Once again, I'd like to thank Kris for doing that for me.

Okay, on with the show. Just so you know ahead of time, the descriptions of the areas may be vague or crappy, 'cause I've discovered that I'm much better at describing character appearances than environments.

Village, Hikari's Home

"Before you go out, Hikari will show you to our guest room," Hiro said to Sora.

Sora nodded. "Okay, sir," he turned to Hikari. "Lead the way."

Hikari nodded back and led Sora out of the room, leaving Hiro and Akiko alone. Akiko stood and made her way over to her husband, noticing the thoughtful expression on his face.

"Hiro, what's wrong?" she asked. Hiro turned to look at her, and shrugged.

"I sense something about that Sora boy," he said. "Something about his heart seems... different."

Akiko raised an eyebrow. "Different how?"

Hiro shrugged. "I'll explain later. Either way, we promised to help him, and I won't go back on my word."

XXXXX

As this was going on, Hikari had led Sora to a room at the end of the hallway.

"Well, here it is," Hikari said, sliding the door open.

Sora stepped in. The first thing he noticed that the room was quite spacious, and the second thing was that it was rather... empty, aside from a dresser off to the side and what appeared to be a mound of quilts at the wall opposite the door.

He turned to Hikari, raising an eyebrow. "Uhh... where's the bed?" he asked.

Hikari snickered. "It's right over here."

She made her way to the mound of quilts by the wall, revealing that one of them was actually a folded-up mattress.

"That's my bed?" Sora asked, utterly bewildered.

Hikari looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Yes. Haven't you ever heard of a futon before?"

Sora nodded. "Well, yeah, but the futons on my islands were different. They were built like couches and could be folded up so you could sit on them."

"I see," Hikari said. "Well, now that you've seen your room, shall we go see the town?"

Sora nodded, and with that, they made their way out.

Village

Sora and Hikari exited the door of the main house and descended the steps, where they were met at the bottom by the mysterious ninja, Seiko, who had apparently been waiting for them to come out.

"He's going to be staying with us for further training," Hikari said simply.

"I see," Seiko said in an oddly effeminate voice before reaching up and removing their mask. Sora gasped at the sight, which was not what he was expecting.

As it turned out, Seiko was a fairly attractive woman, apparently the same age as Hiro and Akiko, if not a little older, with long black hair tied in a bun and fair skin, though not as pale as Hikari's. Seeing this, and reminded of a similar experience in the Land of Dragons, Sora felt a sense of déjà vu.

"Wait, you're a woman?" he blurted out. At that, Hikari cracked up laughing, and Seiko chuckled slightly.

"Yes, I'm a woman," Seiko said. "But don't worry. You're not the first person to make that mistake."

Getting her giggling fit under control, Hikari walked over to stand beside Seiko. "Now that that's done, Sora, I'd like to introduce you to Seiko. She's been my bodyguard for as long as I can remember."

Sora offered a hand in greeting. "Nice to meet you." After a moment, Seiko shook his hand.

"So, what exactly brings you here?" Seiko asked.

Sora went on to explain the story he had told Hikari and her parents. By the time he was done, Seiko was wide-eyed.

"That old fool," she said. "Xehanort would risk an apocalypse just to satisfy his own curiosity? He's mad."

"No kidding," Sora said flatly. "But that's why I'm here. My friends and I are trying to stop him from causing any more damage."

Seiko bowed respectfully. "You have our full support, Master Sora."

Sora reddened slightly. "Well... I'm not a Master yet..."

Seiko just shrugged before replacing her mask. "As Lord Hiro said, your training will begin tomorrow. But for now, just see the sights. Lady Hikari?"

Hikari nodded. "Dismissed."

Seiko nodded back before stepping back and becoming a rocket, leaping high into the air like the laws of gravity simply did not apply to her and landing on the roof of the main house, from which she disappeared. Despite all of the amazing things he had seen over the years, Sora couldn't help but gape.

"Again, you get used to it," Hikari said simply. "Now then, shall we?"

Sora turned to her and nodded. "Sure."

XXXXX

The first place Hikari took Sora to was a large fenced-in yard not too far from the main house. On the wall opposite the entryway were multiple bullseyes which Sora guessed were for archery training, and mounted on the wall were several wooden swords and bows.

"As I'm sure you've already guessed, this is the training yard," Hikari said simply. "We train in martial arts and kyūdō (1) here."

Sora looked at her, confused. "Kyūdō?"

Hikari looked back at him. "Archery."

"Ohhhh..." Sora said simply. "Do you do it?"

Hikari nodded. "I have some experience, but I prefer swordplay."

XXXXX

Hikari then took Sora to the main plaza of the town, where several bonsai (2) sat around the area, and in the dead center stood a tall statue of a man with long hair and a matching beard, a large sword in his hands.

"This statue was built in honor of my ancestor Raiden, who founded this town during the Keyblade War," Hikari explained. "Though he was not a Keyblade wielder himself, he still fought in it, as he was good friends with two Keyblade Masters who just so happened to live here."

That got Sora's attention. "Who were they?"

"You'll find out at our next stop." Hikari said simply.

XXXXX

Sora was mildly surprised to that said next stop was none other than the Wutai cemetery. Hikari led him to a large shrine near the entry, where they entered.

Within were three coffins, all side by side and perfectly cared for, and behind them was a large painting in pristine shape, depicting Raiden himself, dressed in a gold-colored haori (2) with white hakama (3), alongside two other figures.

The one on Raiden's left was another man with spiky brown hair and blue eyes, dressed in a black kimono with a white crescent moon on the left side of his chest. In his hands was a Keyblade similar to Sora's own Kingdom Key, but with a slightly different shape to the teeth and and a more octagonal shape to the crown.

The one on his right was a beautiful woman with long brown hair, tied in a bun and held in place with a crescent moon-shaped clip, and blue eyes, dressed in a sky blue kimono with a pink obi and pink cherry blossoms decorating the skirt. In her hands was a Keyblade that reminded Sora of the Star Seeker, only with spike-like protrusions along the head and guard.

"The people you see here are Raiden and his two dearest friends, Oukoku and Kokoro Gatsu," Hikari explained. "According to legend, it was Oukoku himself who ended the Keyblade War. Kokoro also contributed, but could not do much, as she was pregnant at the time with their child, Hiroaki."

Sora looked thoughtfully at the picture, more specifically at Oukoku and Kokoro. For some reason, he felt some kind of connection to the two.

Hikari studied the painting for a moment, then looked at Sora again. "You know, it's funny. You kinda look like Kokoro and Oukoku, now that I can compare you and the painting."

Sora raised an eyebrow. "That's... weird."

Village, Hikari's Home

It was nightfall by the time Sora and Hikari returned to the main house. Hiro was waiting for them.

"Welcome back," said Hiro. "Did you enjoy it?"

"Yes sir," Sora said. "You have quite an amazing world, and I was glad to see it."

Hiro smiled. "Thank you. Now, I suggest you get some sleep. Your training will begin first thing in the morning."

Sora nodded. "Thank you for helping me, Lord Hiro."

"It's no trouble, my boy," Hiro said simply. "Good night."

Sora smiled and went back to the room that had been provided to him. Hikari turned to go herself, but Hiro raised a hand.

"Wait a moment, Hikari," he said. "Please get your mother. There's something we need to discuss."

XXXXX

Hikari sat in the seiza (4) position before Hiro and Akiko, curious about what he wanted to talk about.

"I've called you here to discuss the subject of Sora," Hiro said.

"What about him?" Hikari asked.

"Ever since he arrived, I've sensed something... strange about him."

Both Hikari and Akiko looked at him, their attention caught. Hiro had always had good instincts, able to sense trouble coming from a mile away.

"Hiro, you don't think he's a danger, do you?" Akiko asked. Hiro shook his head.

"No," he said. "There's something off about his heart."

Hikari raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, Papa?"

"It seems to have twice the normal amount of light and darkness of an average heart," Hiro said. "It's almost as if he has two hearts in his body."

Akiko gasped. "How is that even possible?"

Hiro shrugged. "I'm not sure myself, but some of the Keyblade lore I've read have told stories of Keyblade wielders that were able to merge their hearts with others."

"You think Sora might have been a victim of this?" Hikari asked. Hiro placed a hand on his chin in thought.

"It's hard to say for sure. It's quite possible he doesn't even know about it."

"So, what should we do, Hiro?" Akiko asked her husband.

"For now, let's just let things run their course. He's no threat to us, and from what he's said, he needs help to defeat Xehanort. If the χ-blade is forged, it will be the end of everything."

Hikari nodded, and stood up to leave.

"And Hikari?" Hiro said suddenly. Hikari turned to look at him. "I've told you this in complete confidence. For now, don't tell Sora anything of what we've discussed until we have something solid to go on about his heart."

Hikari hesitated, then nodded. "Yes, Papa." She didn't exactly like keeping such a big secret from Sora, but couldn't defy her father.

Author's Note:

(1): Japanese for "way of the bow"

(2): Kimono jacket, hip or thigh length

(3): Traditional Japanese clothing worn over a kimono. There are two types: divided umanori and undivided andon bakama. The umanori type have divided legs, similar to trousers.

(4): Literally "proper sitting"; kneeling on the floor with the feet tucked so that the top of the feet are against the floor and the heels are in a "V" shape with the buttocks resting on the heels.

I apologize if this chapter seems a tad rushed, but I decided to just have Hikari show Sora the three main landmarks of the trip, 'cause like I said, I'm bad at describing locations, and just wanted to get started on writing Sora's training sessions.

The characters of Oukoku and Kokoro Gatsu, as well as their son Hiroaki, are property of Kristen Verne, used with her permission; considering the Japanese theme of the characters, I figured they'd be perfect for Wutai.

Also, the gag of Seiko turning out to be a woman was planned from the very beginning; Seiko is in fact a female name in Japan. Like Akiko, Seiko is "voiced" by Wendee Lee.

Next chapter: Sora's training begins.

Please R&R. Happy Halloween!