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Chapter 10: The Day Into The Woods

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When Ventus told him that they were going to have a staff event, he was expecting something along the lines of a dinner or maybe even bowling. Anything but –

"Hiking?" Sora frowned at his boss.

"Yes, hiking." Ventus confirmed as he tightened the string underneath his chin that was connected to his wide brimmed hat.

They were currently standing in front of the entrance of a nature pathway at the bottom of a mountain. From the position they were in, they could see that several different trails were weaved between all sorts of tall trees and bushes, making its way to the top of the hill eventually. Birds were chirping, the sun was shining, and the smell of fresh flowers was in the air.

"But why?" Sora asked quizzically. "It's so… boring."

"More like exquisite if you ask me!" Ventus smiled widely. "And what's not fun about hiking?"

"Do I really need to answer that?"

"Anyway," The blonde emphasised the word, ignoring the barista remark, "It's a great way to build teamwork and promote friendships in the workplace. Tell me, Sora, who do you know out of everyone here?"

"Uh," His blue eyes scanned the small crowd that was in front of the two. There were all sorts of people dressed in outdoor gear but none that he recognised except for, "Aerith." He pointed to the light brown-haired woman on the other side, who was talking to another employee. "And you."

The blonde rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "And?"

Sora peered around once more. "That blue-haired woman that was at your office."

"Aqua." Ventus corrected him.

"Um, yeah, her." The barista rubbed the back of his head as he refocused his eyes on the group. His eyes squinted at a familiar red-haired figure. "Huh? Since when do we allow customers into staff events?"

"Since I said so." The blonde replied curtly. "The point of today is to get you guys to know each other. Specifically the weekend kids since you never see them."

"Right…" he replied as he watched the blonde making his way towards the front of the group.

"Hey, guys!" Ventus yelled as he stood up on a bench. When his voice failed to get everyone's attention, he stuck two fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly. All heads turned towards him and he smiled widely. "Thanks for making the effort to come to the first annual staff event! If you have forgotten, my name is Ventus-"

"Or are you Vanitas?" A teenage boy with silver hair jeered, earning some giggles from the crowd.

Ventus shot him a terrifying look to shut him up before continuing. "- And I am one of the managers here at the Corner Café. The other one is Terra," he pointed at a brunette man the same age as himself, who was standing next him. He only nodded at the crowd and crossed his arms. Ventus then pointed at the blue-haired woman that was at his office. "And Aqua is from the headquarters, so she will pop in the store from time to time. On behalf of the three of us, I would like to thank you all for working so hard with us these last few months! You have all done a wonderful job!"

A cheer echoed through the group and Ventus waited for it to die down before continuing to talk again.

"Before we start the hike, I'm sure most of you don't know each other, or have never even seen each other." The blonde clapped his hands. "Let's introduce ourselves, shall we? I'll start off. I'm Ventus."

"Lexaeus." A tall muscular orange-haired man scoffed.

"Hi, I'm Aerith," she smiled.

"Hiya everyone. My name's Yuffie!" A short black-haired girl replied enthusiastically.

"Hope." The silver-haired boy announced.

"I'm Kairi."

"Demyx." A man with ash-blonde hair flashed a wide smile.

"I'm Sora," the barista smiled sheepishly.

"Vanille," said a red-haired teenage girl with a smile.

"Donald," a human-sized duck quacked out loud. He wasn't wearing any pants, which earned a few raised eyebrows aimed at him.

"Good." Aqua made her way to the start of the group and held a bowl in her hands. "We shall start the hike now. Everybody will be working in pairs and the fastest pair to make to the top first will receive a very special prize. Understood?" An agreement was heard unanimously and she fished out the first pair. "Vanille and… Hope!"

The two teenagers made their way to each other and greeted each other awkwardly.

"Donald and… Demyx!" Aqua continued to read the other pairings out. "Aerith and… Yuffie! Sora and… Kairi! And finally, Lexaeus and Fuu!"

The other pairings made their ways towards each other before lining up at the entrance of the forest. Sora grinned at his redhead partner, "Fancy seeing you here."

Kairi returned his smirk. "Surprised?"

"Astounded, really."

"Okay, guys, if you run into trouble give me a buzz." Ventus called out from the top of the bench. "Your goal is a big wooden cabin with the sign saying 'Destiny Islands Top of the Mountain Cabin'. Very visible and it should take no less than two hours to reach the top. Remember, this is about teamwork!" He held a flag in his hands. "So, on your marks!" He raised the flag up. "Get set… go!" He dropped the flag, and the teams scattered forward, with each pair making their own pathway towards the top.

"Who gave you that?" Sora asked, gesturing his head towards the bag on her back. They were fairly in the mountain forest now and the sun was directly over the top of their heads. The other teams were not in sight but Sora expected that they were in the leading position.

"Huh?" Kairi looked behind her to see what he was talking about. A faint blush crept up on her cheeks as a smile played on her lips. "Just somebody I work with. I mentioned I was going hiking and he gave me this. It even has a first aid kid!"

He gave a quick look over and chuckled. "Must be some tall friend. The bag is bigger than you!"

She puffed her cheeks at him and hitched her bag higher on her back. "You just have a perceptual disturbance."

"C'mon, Kairi. Have you even seen it recently?" Sora shook his head with a grin. He held his hand out towards her. "Here, I'll hold it for you."

"No, it's okay." She casually waved him off. "I can carry it."

He gave her a look in disbelief. "It's heavy and we'll get to the top faster."

"I'm a strong girl." She argued back, her smile unfazing. "I can handle this myself."

Sora rolled his eyes and sighed in defeat. He wasn't going to argue with her stubbornness. "Okay, fine. Don't beg me to hold it later."

Kairi only stuck her tongue out in response and walked ahead of him, wanting to prove that she was more than capable.

Something gold glinted in the sun caught her attention as she looked up to the trees above them. It was a rare giant gold and purple butterfly fluttering through the leaves and branches without a care in the world. A smile formed on her lips as she took out her phone with a mischievous glint in her eye. "I'll be right back, Sora."

He looked at what she was eyeing and dropped his bag to the ground, knowing that he was going to be waiting there for a while. "Be quick and choose a good filter this time."

She ignored his comment and followed the butterfly fluttering away further and further into the forest. "Come now, pretty butterfly." She called out to the insect. "Please, stay still."

Obviously not understanding the human language, the butterfly arguable did not stop. After some time not too far from where Sora was currently sitting, it finally did land on a small bush. Kairi stopped a few feet away from it and angled her phone camera to it to take a photo, only to lower it suddenly as the scenery in her peripheral vision made her stare at the natural landscape before her. The butterfly had led her to the edge of a cliff, which overlooked the whole town of Destiny Islands. To the left, she could even the see the island that wasn't a part of the main island, and further to the right was the city. And very briefly, she could just make out a massive white building with a giant red cross, indicating the Island's Medical Centre. The weather was perfect with the sky being clear and no clouds sighted, capturing the beauty of the whole world.

She mentally declared that a photo of the view is needed and she angled her phone camera once more, placing her foot down close to the edge of the cliff.

"Hurry up!" Sora's voice called out from behind her. "I- whoa!"

Her lips curved into a smile as she didn't take her eyes off her phone. She knew without a doubt that he had the same reaction as her. "Amazing, right?"

He gave a low whistle as he looked all around him. "It is." He shook his head and focused back on the girl. "Anyway, we have to keep going. I don't want to lose."

"Give me a second." With one final shutter of the camera, Kairi locked her phone and put it away in her pocket. She turned around to flash a cheeky smile. "That wasn't too bad, now was it?"

Before he could give a smart remark about women never being on time, a gust of wind blew past them making her lose balance.

"Kairi!" Sora cried out as he saw her wobble back and forward on one leg. He quickly dropped his bag and ran towards her. However, it was too late. By the time he past the small bush, she was already tipping backwards due to the weight of her bag. His hand stretched out towards her as she fell down the cliff, just narrowly missing her own hand, and he watched her fall down with wide eyes.

Expecting her guts to be splatter all over the ground soon, Kairi closed her eyes tightly at the anticipation. Millions of memories and thoughts ran through her mind and she instantly regretted that she chose the blueberry waffles instead of the big breakfast option as her last meal earlier this morning. Furthermore, how will they ever wash her blood away from Riku's hiking bag? Her eyes popped open as she realised that she had stopped falling and she started to laugh shakily. Instead of the cold hard ground, what she landed in instead was a massive bush, saving her from death.

Sora breathed a sigh of relief at the sight. It was a good seven or eight meters deep and the bush she landed looked soft enough. "Are you okay?" His brow shot up as he heard her laugh. "...Did you hit your head?"

"I'm okay!" She tried to push herself up from the bush. "I- ouch!"

"Kairi!" He yelled out in concern. He couldn't just watch her struggle down there alone and made the ultimate decision. Without wasting anytime, he took a few steps back and pushed himself to skid down the cliff steadily, watching his footing carefully. A few meters before he reached the bottom, he swiftly positioned himself into a forward roll, jumping at the end. Landing on his feet, he quickly made his way towards the girl in the bush. "Where are you hurt?"

Kairi stared at him in disbelief. "Where did you learn that?"

"In a video game." He grabbed her hand and helped her off from the bush. "Let me see your injury."

"It's nothing, really," she waved him off. The look he gave her made her feel guilty and her cheeks turned red as she reluctantly held up her index finger to him. "The bush cut me as I tried to get up. It's only a little cut."

Sora inspected her finger and gave a sigh of relief. "You got me so worried." He opened her bag up and searched its content for the first aid kit. A second later he pulled out a band aid and wrapped it around her finger.

"Thanks," her cheeks heated up at his act of kindness. She suddenly remembered their situation and slapped him on the shoulder hard. "Are you stupid?!"

"Ouch- what?" He frowned at her while rubbing the spot she hit. "I just risked my life because I was worried about you!"

"Yeah, but how the hell are we supposed to get out of here now?" She pointed up at the top of the cliff. The cliff was too steep to climb back up and there was no other way around it.

"Don't worry, we'll just call Ven." Sora shrugged and pulled out his phone from his pocket. "He'll know what to do."

"Are you sure you'll get a signal from down here?"

"Have faith in my phone," he replied as his lips curved into a smile when he saw a line in the corner of his screen. "Yes! One bar left!"

"How come your brick has signal yet mine has none?" Kairi frowned at her phone in disappointment. "This is an outrage!"

"Guess my phone is just better than yours," he gave her a smirk and held his phone to ear. After the fourth ring, he heard his boss pick up his phone.

"Hello?" Ventus voice echoed through the line.

"Ven!" Sora cried out loudly. "We need help- huh?" The line suddenly went silent and he looked at his phone in confusion. His eyes widen once he saw that his phone had completely turned off. "Great. Battery died."

"Useless." Kairi took a few steps back and cupped her mouth with her hands before yelling up at the cliff, "HELLO! CAN ANYBODY HEAR ME?!"

Sora caught on to her tactic and cupped his mouth too. "HEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLP!"

Ventus took his phone off from his ear and frowned.

"Who was that, Ven?" Aqua asked as she handed him a cup of coffee.

He gave her a nod of appreciation and took a small sip. "It was Sora. He said something about help but the phone cut off before he could say anything more."

The blue-haired woman sat down next to him on the couch and held a worried gaze. "Is he in trouble?"

"I'm not too sure." Ven replied, staring absentmindedly into the cup while recalling the phone call.

"What are you talking about? You saw how enthusiastic he was about hiking." Terra called out sarcastically from behind them with his own cup in his hands. He gave a deep chuckle. "To be honest, he probably wanted to cheat his way up here."

Ventus looked at him before laughing as well. "You're right. He can be a lazy ass sometimes."

A knock on the cabin door was heard, making all three heads turned. Terra went to the door and opened it, smiling at the duo on the other side. "Congratulations Hope and Vanille! You are the first ones here!"

Ventus and Aqua came up from behind Terra and loudly popped confetti at the winners. "Good job, you two!" Ventus shouted excitedly and looked at his watch. "And it took you guys only half an hour!"

"YES!" A cheer came from the energetic red-haired girl as she jumped in joy. She turned to her silver-haired partner. "See? I knew we would be the first ones."

The boy was leaning against the wall with his head in his hands. He looked up at her with weary eyes. "That's because you made us literally run up the whole freakin' hill!" He rubbed the back of his calves soothingly.

"Oh, shush you!" Vanille smiled widely. "We won, didn't we?"

"Hmph." Hope grunted. "The prize better be worth it!"

Aqua peered at the duo more closely and frowned. Their clothes were ripped in several places, hair messy with leaves, and dirt was all around their bodies and on their clothes. "What… what kind of jungle did you guys go through?" She pointed at Hope's foot. "You're even missing a shoe!"

The boy groaned as the girl just rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "You don't want to know."

Laughing as they made their way back into the cabin, Ventus couldn't help but look back onto the forest worriedly. Although Terra had calmed his thoughts temporarily, he could only pray that the barista and his companion would turn up soon as he shut the door.

For the umpteenth time, Sora looked up to the top of the cliff. He wasn't sure how much time had passed since his phone call with his boss, but he noted that the sun had moved quite significantly. No matter how hard they had yelled, no one had heard them. They tried to venture in the space they were in, but found that they were literally trapped. The walls of the land were as high as the cliff and there was no other way around. He leaned into his palm and sighed. "We'll have to stay here until Ventus find us."

"Yeah…" Kairi could only respond. As much as she hated awkward silences, there was nothing she could come up with to talk about. She couldn't help but think that it was her fault that they were stuck.

A growl was heard from Sora's stomach and his cheeks heated up in response as she turned her head towards him.

"Are you hungry?" Kairi tried to stifle her giggle as she unzipped her bag. "There must be something I've packed that we can eat." Her hand touched something and her eyes lit up as she pulled out a packet. "A-ha!"

"Sweet potato chips?" Sora looked at the packet in amusement. "They sell these things nowadays?"

"Yeah, they are really healthy too!" Kairi opened the packet and winked at him. "It's baked not fried."

"Uh-huh…" He furrowed his eyebrows as she bit into one of the chips. Even the chip itself was a bright purple in colour.

She felt her heart sink as she saw the disgusted look he held and she dug around her bag once more. "Don't worry, I'm sure I have some real food somewhere around here."

"No, it's okay! I love sweet potato," he took a chip into his mouth. "It's tasty," he concluded and stuck his tongue out at her. "Thanks. I was a bit hungry."

"Just a little bit?" Kairi smirked at his response. "In that case," she started unpacking her snacks at a rapid pace. "I have some chocolate, pocky, and oh!" Her smile widen. "Cookies!"

Sora stared at her before chuckling lightly. "Why am I not surprised you have this much food?"

"One can never have too much food!" She declared happily and opened the packet of cookies. As she was doing that, she heard him laugh loudly unexpectedly. "What?" She raised a brow at his strange behaviour.

"Nothing," he replied and settled his lips into a small smile. "I'm sorry."

Her confusion only deepen as she continued to look at him. "For what?"

"I wish I had taken our time to slowly get to the top," Sora replied and looked away solemnly. "We wouldn't have been in this mess if I didn't rush you."

Kairi blinked at him. He was definitely not thinking straight. "Sora…" she laid a hand on his shoulder softly. "It's not your fault. I should be the one apologizing."

"But," he turned his head to look at her. "You looked like you were really having fun. Winning or losing didn't matter and you were enjoying the scenery, while I wanted to get this hike over and done with. I was only thinking about myself and that's why I was so focused on winning."

"Yeah," her cheeks heated up as she instantly regretted saying that. "W-Wait, I mean," she started to get flustered. She didn't want him to think that she was agreeing to blame him for everything. "If I hadn't been so stubborn and wanted to take a photo of everything, and if I didn't fall off the cliff in the first place we wouldn't be here either. So, I was selfish too!"

He rubbed his chin and grinned slightly. "There's that too."

"Hey! You're not supposed to agree with me-"

"Screech!"

A bird suddenly flew out from the bush next to them, making Kairi jump in the process. "What the hell?!" She cried out, not even realising that a bird was in there in the first place. Her eyes followed the bird as it flew into the sky above them. "Wow!" She exclaimed at the sight, getting her phone out to take a photo.

"What is it?" Sora asked.

"Look how big the moon is!" She pointed excitedly at the sky.

His blue eyes looked up and his lips curved up upon reflex. Without the lights from the city or town, the moon was shining brightly down at them. It was big and full, and the stars surrounding it only made the sky look even more magnificent.

"I didn't realise how dark it has gotten," Kairi snapped a photo. "But somehow, it doesn't feel scary at all." She glanced over to the barista, who was smiling as well. However, not a second later, her lips faded into a stern line as she eyed the dark stain on his knee. "Sora! What happened?!"

Sora pulled up his left pants leg and grinned. "I must've scratched it when I rolled down the cliff."

"This is why they have that warning in video games saying 'do not try this at home'," she replied and took out her first-aid box quickly. "This is even worse than mine!"

"It's no big deal, seriously. I'll just peel the scabs off when it's dried."

"First off, you are disgusting." Kairi rolled her eyes. Using her phone as an extra light, she laid his leg out straight and started to clean the wound. "Secondly, stop acting so calm. You should've said something about it. What happens if you have an infection?"

"Kairi, you're overreacting." Sora replied as he watched her with curious eyes. "It's not like I'm going to die because I didn't take care of a cut."

"Don't say I didn't tell you so when you have to amputate your leg." She replied.

His eyes widen in horror. "What?!"

"I'm just kidding," Kairi stuck her tongue out at him cheekily before returning back to her task. "It's swelling up a little but it should go away soon. And at least the blood has stopped." She ripped open a bandage packet and pressed it gently on the wound. "All-right! Kairi's special wound dressing is all-" her breath hitched in her throat as she looked up, "-done…"

She didn't expect him to be this close to her. Although the only light was coming from the moon's rays, she realised that his eyes still illuminated a bright blue colour in the darkness as he looked down at her. A moment of silence passed them as she got lost in his eyes, before they snapped back to reality and quickly turned their heads away from each other in embarrassment. Her hands touched her cheeks gently and she noted that they were hot. 'Is this...?' she thought to herself as she felt her heart thumping loudly in her chest.

"-qua! I found a bag!"

Sora ears perked up at the sound. "Do you hear that?" He looked up and saw a single light beam from the edge of the cliff.

"Sora?! Kairi?!"

Kairi widen her eyes at the familiar voice and stood up. "Ventus! Thank goodness!" She waved her phone in her hand rapidly. "We're down here!"

Several torch lights shined down from the cliff to their faces. "They're over here!" Ventus called out to the group before looking down to the duo. "Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah, we are!" Sora answered for the both of them and he shot her a smile.

"Good!" A rope was thrown over the edge, with Sora catching it swiftly. "Tie this rope around you and we'll pull you up!"

Sora followed his instructions and wrapped it around Kairi and himself. After making sure it was secure, he tugged on the rope a couple of times, signalling that they were good to go. "We're done, Ven!"

"Okay, you'll have to walk up the cliff as we're pulling you up so hold on tight!" The blonde yelled out before turning to his other employees, noticing one of them was not there. "Wait- where's Lexaeus?"

"He's still on his way!" Someone called out.

"We'll have to do this without him." Ventus said in disappointment. "We'll need to use all our muscle that we can muster up! On the count of three we all pull on the rope. Got it?"

An echo of agreement was heard amongst the group, with each and every one of them holding on to a part of the rope. A nod was shared between the three organisers and a determined look was plastered on their faces. They were going to get their fallen comrades out no matter what.

"One… two… three! Pull!" Ventus yelled and started to walk backwards.

The two felt themselves being pulled upwards slowly and they started to walk up the edge of the cliff.

Groans and heavy pants were heard among the group as they used all their strength to pull the two up. Ventus could feel himself getting rope burn in his hands but he was not willing to let go. "Don't… give… up!" He panted out harshly.

A split second later, the rope started to pull back quicker, nearly making everyone trip over their own feet. Sora and Kairi were surprised at the sudden fast pace and were walking up the cliff more steadily. They were three-quarters up the cliff and their hearts started to speed up as they saw the beams from the torches.

Ventus looked back to see what had changed, only to find that Lexaeus had joined them and was walking back with ease. He flashed him a grin while the orange-haired man nodded in response. Sweat was pouring down everyone's faces as they pulled with all their might. With the final pull, the duo found themselves scrambling to the edge and fell on top of each other as they landed on the ground. Sora and Kairi could only grin widely at each other as cheers were celebrated all around them. They had finally escaped.

Ventus looked at his employees proudly. They were back at the cabin on top of the mountain and everyone was resting after their long day out. Despite the turn of events, he couldn't be more impressed. Weary, tired expressions were plastered on their faces but more importantly, the feeling of accomplishment was undeniably there too. He stood at the front the room and stuck two fingers in his mouth, making a loud whistle. "Thanks to everyone, you all have worked together as a team to find the missing Sora and Kairi and saved them from rotting to death! Well done!"

A chorus of cheers went around the room as Sora and Kairi raised a brow at the blonde's speech.

Ventus gave his two best friends a knowing look, who nodded their heads in return. A glint glistened in his blue eyes as he waited for the noise to die down. "Now, this was only going to be for the winners but thanks to everyone's efforts in the rescue mission, we have decided to share the prize with everyone as a reward." He walked over to a curtain that was in front a wooden door and pulled it off, revealing a sign saying 'Destiny Islands Mountain Hot Springs'.

Wide eyes and an excited chattered spread throughout the room as voices were raised at the revelation.

"Behind this cabin leads to a hidden hot springs! Surprising, right?" Ventus winked at his employees. "Everything is already paid for and you will find all you need inside. So, please enjoy!"

With that final word, everybody stood up and raced towards the door, with Vanille leading the way and dragging a reluctant Hope along with her.

Sora, walking next to his red head companion, scratched his head before giving a light laugh as realisation dawned on him. "You knew this would happen, didn't you?
So, this is why you are here in the first place."

Kairi rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Yup... I overheard Ven talking about this and asked if I could come."

"More like she begged me." Ventus called out from behind them and knocked her head playfully. "This is the price for coming to a staff party without being a worker; you must fall off a cliff."

"Well, don't expect me to pay that again." She chuckled softly.

Listening to their chatter, Sora laughed along with them as they made their way towards the hot springs. They walked past an empty window and he stopped for a moment to look outside, locking his eyes onto the full moon shining brightly.

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Author's Note:

Always go for the big breakfast option. Always.

Thanks for reading, reviewing, following or have favourited another chapter of Days At The Corner Café ;)