Inverted Sky

Chapter 3: Destiny Islands part 2

Upon arriving on the island the next day, Sora glanced around and saw three other teenagers around her age playing on the beach. She tilted her head briefly to this, as despite them being there yesterday, she didn't notice them at all. Though she soon took on a smirk and walked over to the first one, whom was a young girl with brown hair. Of which was styled into one large curl on the back of her head and two more on either side. She wore a yellow dress with overall straps and a large pocket on the chest, a pair of brown-colored sandals and a blue beaded bracelet on her left wrist.

"Hey Selphie, how's it going?" Sora asked to the girl with a wave and a small smile.

This drew the other girl's attention, to which she turned to Sora with her piercing green eyes and returned her smile. "Hey Sora...I'm doing fine. Though what about you? I didn't get to talk to you yesterday, did something happen?" she greeted and she placed the jump rope in her right hand behind her back.

"Not really, the same old stuff...Riku, Kairi and I were busy with the raft." Sora said with another smile as she placed her hands behind her head.

"You three still doin' that?" a boy's voice spoke up from behind Selphie.

This teen had a orange hair, which was tied up with a large blue bandanna. He wore baggy yellow pants that close up halfway down his lower legs, while each leg of the pants had a large, grey, "X"-shaped strap with blue tips. He also had on a tank top that was a pale yellow color with black lining, plus a pair of green sandals and blue wristbands on each wrist. His brown eyes looked to Sora as a small smirk spread on his features, to which he spun a blue and white ball on one of his fingers.

"You guys ought to do something better with your time." he continued as he stopped spinning the ball and rested it between his hand and hip.

"Oh~? Are you suggesting another three-on-three, Wakka?" Sora questioned with a small smirk.

"Now way!" another boy's voice came up from the other side of Selphie.

He had messy sandy blond hair, blue eyes and had a fighting stick on his back with his arms hanging over each end. The boy had on a small, yellow, short-sleeved shirt with white sleeves, yellow hems and white lining around the center. He also wore navy-colored pants that had uneven legs, with the right reaching past his knee and the other barely reached his mid thigh. There was also a small scar on his right cheek that he always had a new story for of how he got it.

"When it's just you and Riku on a team...none of us ever stand a chance." he continued as he flipped the fighting stick off his back and swung it briefly in his right hand.

"Are you kidding me Tidus? Riku took all of us on at once and we couldn't beat him, it doesn't matter who is on his team." Selphie added with a shrug of her shoulders.

"She's gotta point." Wakka said with a light sigh, which sparked for the other two to sigh as well.

Sora raised a brow to each of them them briefly before looking up and tapping her chin. "Alright, how about this...I'll fight all of you at once. Whoever can land a blow on me first will have dibs on being Riku's partner for our next competition." she said with a small smirk spreading on her features.

Immediately following these words, each of the other teens looked to one another before nodding and rushing at Sora. This just made said girl chuckle as she ducked and rolled out of the way from their initial attacks, to which she quickly pulled out the wooden sword from her side. She then knocked the ball Wakka threw at her right back to him, which nearly hit him in the face as he caught it.

Yet Sora had to stay on guard as Tidus circled around to her right, while Selphie went to her left. Though as the blond boy swung his stick toward his opponent, she quickly blocked it with her own weapon. However, the other girl soon whipped her jump rope at Sora, which lead for said teen to side step out of the way and cause it to hit Tidus instead.

This created a brief opening for Sora, to which she immediately grabbed the other end of the jump rope before it could return to its owner, and pulled Selphie toward her instead. All the while, Wakka threw his ball at Sora once more, yet she simply deflected it to hit the other brown-haired girl instead. Which left the tan-skinned boy wide open for the attack Sora hit him with as he tried to apologize to Selphie.

After this, Sora placed her wooden sword on her shoulder and looked to the three as they groaned lightly from a bit of pain "Is that all you guys got? You'll never catch up to Riku or me at this rate." she said with a small grin on her features.

Though after these words, each of the three glance to one another once more and charged forward all at once. Yet within a few moments, the trio were laying on the sandy beach breathing heavily from their overwhelming loss. "Don't worry guys...you've definitely gotten better." Sora said with an encouraging tone and smile.

Both of which made all of them immediately feel much better, though none of the three could ever explain why she always had such an effect on people. It being like she could just cheer anyone up simply by believing in them. Though after waving to each of her friends in farewell, Sora head off down the beach to meet up with Riku and Kairi, both of whom were waiting for her.

"About time, what kept ya?" Riku asked with a raised brow and tilt of his head.

"Nothing...just saying 'Hi' to our other friends." Sora responded as she gestured behind her as if pointing at Selphie, Tidus and Wakka.

"Oh yeah...I forgot how much we'll be missing them." Kairi spoke up silently as she looked down in thought.

"And not just them...but each of our families as well." she continued, her expression turning to one of uncertainty.

"Don't worry Kairi...we can always come back here to visit." Sora began with a small smile to her.

"No matter how far we are in distance...our hearts will always bring us together." she finished as she placed a hand over where her heart is, as if to further her words.

This made Kairi immediately smile and nod in response, though Riku just chuckled and nudged Sora with his elbow. "When did you get all mushy? I thought you're supposed to be the 'tomboy' type." he said with an amused tone.

"Oh whatever! Are we gonna gather what we need for the trip or not?" Sora said quickly as she looked to the side with a slight flush on her cheeks.

"Right..." Kairi started as she pulled out a small piece of paper that was hanging on her blue belt; "...we'll need a few seagull eggs, some coconuts, a couple of mushrooms, if you can find them...and three bottles of fresh water."

After she read these off from paper she placed it back on her belt and looked to the pair in front of her. "So? Which one of you will get what?" she asked with a small smile spreading on her cheeks.

"Well...since the last time anyone asked Sora to get water, she got it from the ocean...I'll do that part." Riku stated with a sigh and shrug.

Sora huffed to this and groaned silently; "I was only five at the time!...And none of you mentioned that it would be water that we'd be drinking." she said quickly in her defense, yet Riku simply shrugged once more.

"And I guess I'll take care of getting the eggs as well. That'll leave Sora to find the coconuts and mushrooms." the silver-haired boy said with a brief nod before he headed off to do his side of the tasks.

This made Sora growl silently before huffing once more; "I was only five." she muttered again before giving Kairi a quick nod of her own as she too went on to find what they needed.

Though the auburn-haired girl just giggled to all this, as she really loved being with her two best friends. Her then bringing forth what appeared to be an unfinished charm made from shells, it being in the shape of a star. Yet while she worked on completing this, none of them knew that today could potentially be the very last peaceful day on the island they would ever have.

It was around the middle of the day when Riku had everything he chose to get. Though the water was easy to get from the island's spring, the seagulls were very good when it came to hiding their eggs. Yet despite his own difficulty, Sora's search for the mushrooms was beyond frustrating for the poor brown-haired girl. She had gotten the three coconuts, yet only two mushrooms by the time Riku was finished. However, Sora was highly determined to find one more before calling it a day...which she soon began regret.

Though she delivered her items as she found them, this almost seemed to make it all the more annoying to the girl. Her being aggravated that she still had one last item to find, while everything else was already done. Riku and Kairi even volunteering to help, only to be denied by their friend's 'do not give up' attitude. But after a few more minutes of searching, Sora ended up coming to a small cave in the mountain that made up the island itself. It being right next to the spring that Riku filled up the bottles for the water they needed.

The brown-haired girl blink briefly at the entrance before smirking lightly and going into the cave. "It's been a while since I came in here." she muttered silently as her voice echoed softly against the walls.

However, once she arrived in the large cavern, she glanced around the walls that held many drawings upon the rocks' surfaces. All the while, at the far end of the cave, there was a large wooden door that held no knob and had golden, glowing lines around the edges. Though Sora simply focused her gaze at a particular drawing on the wall beside this door. The illustration being one that she and Kairi had made not long after they first met eight years ago.

Sora then kneeled down and looked at her drawing of Kairi's head, then to Kairi's picture of Sora's own head. The brown-haired girl gave a soft smile to this as she recalled how the two had immediately became great friends the very day they met. "It feels like so long ago." Sora whispered to herself as she glanced to the side and saw a gathering of mushrooms.

Yet she didn't pay them much mind as she picked up a rock and looked to the sketches once more. Though she briefly glanced up in thought, she soon smiled wider and began drawing something between the two heads. Upon finishing, it revealed to be her hand with a star in it being offered to Kairi; 'Maybe I really could share the Paopu fruit with her. Or perhaps I'd be better off...' Sora thought silently as she looked down without finishing this musing.

'Though...would Kairi even accept it from me?' she continued on, to which she closed her eyes.

But Sora was soon brought out of these thoughts as she heard a quiet sound of a rock shifting behind her. This made her quickly turn to the source of the sound and blink a few times at the sight of a figure in a brown cloak. Yet what made Sora ready for a fight was their face being completely shrouded in shadows, and the fact that they gave off a very ominous presence.

"I've come to see the door to this world." they spoke silently in a low male voice as it barely echoed off the walls around them.

"Who are you?" Sora questioned as her hand inched toward the wooden sword on her side, despite not knowing if she could take the man alone.

"This world has been connected." he said as if ignoring the girl before him entirely.

"What do you mean 'connected'?" Sora demanded as she took a short step back and gripped her weapon.

"And talking about 'this' world...that means you've got to be from a different one. How did you get here?" she continued as her eyes narrowed on him, her gripping the handle of her sword tighter.

"Tied to the darkness...soon to be eclipsed." the cloaked man all but whispered as he still paid no attention to the brown-haired teen and her questions.

"You do not yet know, what lies beyond the door." he continued as his hood shifted slightly toward her as if to finally acknowledge the girl's presence.

"This door?" Sora asked as she glanced briefly to the large wooden door on her right.

"I've come to believe that this door leads to the heart of this world. It probably sounds childish, but my mother always said that a person's heart is like a door...so why would a world be any different?" she said before placing her free hand where her own heart is.

"I just have a feeling that's what it might be." the blue-eyed girl finished as she placed her hand back to her side to be ready for a possible fight.

"Hmph, there is so much to learn...and yet you still understand so little." the man said, though his tone seemed to become a bit more quiet than before.

"Oh yeah? Well I'm going to go out to see every world out there and learn all there is to know." Sora stated with narrowed eyes, her sounding as if she were accepting a challenge.

"A meaningless effort. One who knows nothing can understand nothing." he retorted in his normal whisper of a voice.

"Hmph, says you. We're all born without knowledge...it's through our experiences that we learn anything in the first place." Sora began as she looked to the door with a smirk.

"And I'm not going to stop until I've learned all that I can." she finished as she gently pressed her fist on the door's surface.

Though after she turned back toward the man, he was already gone. This lead for her to quickly look around the cave, yet found no trace of him ever being there. While her eyes narrowed once more to this, she soon let out a breath and walked to the mushrooms she saw before. Sora soon plucked them from the ground and started heading out of the cave, though not without first giving a brief glance toward her new drawing and then the door.

"I'll show that guy. Who ever he was and wherever he went...I'm gonna learn all sorts of things when we travel to other worlds." she muttered as she reached the end of the cave and walked out.

Sora then headed back toward Kairi and Riku as they sat on the beached raft itself, both just waiting for her return. She quickly placed the last mushroom in the open chest they made specifically for their food, and closed it. Then as Sora turned to her friends, they gave a nod and started heading toward the dock that had each of their boats. Yet despite Riku leaving early from being exhausted, Sora and Kairi stayed to watch the sun set.

"You know, Riku has changed." the auburn-haired girl spoke silently as she tilted her head to the side slightly.

"Yeah...I've noticed it a little bit too. He seems a bit more..." Sora started before looking up in thought as if trying to think of a proper word.

"I know exactly what you mean." Kairi said with a light giggle, to which her and Sora shared a brief nod and chuckle with one another.

"Well...I think we've all changed in our own ways since we've met, right?" the brown-haired girl added with a short shrug of her shoulders.

"Maybe..." Kairi muttered silently as she trailed off and looked down in thought, to which she then looked back to Sora with a soft smile.

"Sora...don't ever change." she continued, to which said other girl blinked few times and tilted her head in response.

Yet Sora slowly smiled lightly and nodded her head; "I won't." she said with a slightly wider smile as the two shared a glance.

"Promise?" Kairi asked with a small grin, to which Sora nodded once more; "Promise." she said with her own grin.

Thank you to everyone that has left a review, I hope all of you who read this story have been enjoying it thus far. I know that not much is happening since it's Destiny Islands, but the last part for this world is coming up in the next chapter. So our Heroine Sora's journey will truly begin after the next chapter. ;) But until then, I'll see you all next week.