Chapter 3

Light Mountain (Part 2)

Riku walked for what seemed like hours. The moose never told him it would take that long to get to his destination. He breathed in deeply as he kept moving forward, hoping to arrive in time. As he explored the world, he did manage to strike a few materializing Heartless, but it requires little effort.

Riku kept walking and walking, with nothing but his thoughts. As he moved forward, he heard a faint snap of a twig. Riku got up to his feet and turned around. He felt like he was being followed. Just then, a spear came flying out of nowhere and almost hit Riku. He dodged it and Riku slid to the ground.

"Show yourself!" cried Riku.

Just then, the owner of the spear appeared and grabbed it tightly in his fists.

"You…. you dare summon your demons and spread them in them wherever you want?" cried a young man. He was wearing a very warm looking shirt with fur on the sides, and his pants looked like they were made out of thick fur of a buffalo.

"Who are you?" asked Riku.

"I'm Denahi. And you must be Ansem." said the young man.

"I'm not Ansem. I'm Riku. And Ansem is my enemy." said Riku, standing up. He dropped his Keyblade and extended his hand.

Denahi let out a sigh of relief and shook Riku's hand. "I'm so sorry. I thought for certain you were Ansem. The Spirits told me who he was and how he looked. Your hair was silver. I thought you were him." said Denahi.

"So Denahi, you can speak to the Spirits?" asked Riku.

"I can't speak to them directly. But my brother can. He is one of them now. He is known as the Eagle of Guidance. He whispers in my ear in the form of an eagle." said Denahi.

"I'm sorry to hear that." said Riku.

"Where are you headed?" asked Denahi.

"I'm going to where the lights touch the Earth. I have the weapon that can destroy the Heartless. But I can't do it alone. I will need help." said Riku.

"I just got there myself. I've been camping there for a while now, meeting with my brothers." said Denahi.

"You have another brother?" asked Riku.

"Yes. Kenai, the Bear of Love." said Denahi.

Riku's eyes widened. "Kenai? But… isn't he the one who was punished by the Spirits?" asked Riku.

"Where did you hear that?" asked Denahi.

"Two Moose told me." said Riku.

Denahi then started to laugh. "Have you hit your head or something? Animals don't talk! At least, we can't really understand them." said Denahi.

Riku felt utterly foolish, yet kept his composure. "They told me he committed a murder." said Riku sternly.

Denahi stopped laughing and nodded sadly. "That part is correct. He did do something very terrible." said Denahi.

"What happened exactly? Perhaps there is a reason the Heartless came to the world easily." said Riku.

"It's a long story, but I'll be brief. I am the middle child of three siblings. Sitka was the oldest. Kenai was the youngest. The three of us were very close and we loved each other very much. On a very peculiar day, my fish basket was destroyed and Kenai went to retrieve it. He then ran into some trouble with a bear. Sitka and I went to save him, but Sitka was killed in an avalanche, while trying to lure the bear away from us.

After Sitka died, Kenai was furious. In his rage, he went after the same bear that attacked us, and he killed "her." After he did that, Sitka, now turned into a Spirit, turned Kenai into a bear as punishment. But I didn't know what was going on. When I arrived, I thought the bear killed Kenai too.

For a while, I chased the bear all over the woods, trying to kill him. But I had no idea that was Kenai. It wasn't until I caught up to him that Sitka appeared. Things were then clarified and Kenai decided to remain a bear forever."

Riku stroked his chin gently and spoke. "Why did he choose to be a bear?" asked Riku.

Denahi smiled. "Kenai became a man." he replied.

"That's it? That's the reason?" asked Riku.

"There's more. You see, when Kenai was a bear, he saw things through another's eyes. He learned to love, and to accept the fact that this life he was now in was going to be his forever. You see the bear Kenai killed was actually a mother bear. Her cub was orphaned." said Denahi.

"How horrible." said Riku.

"That is until Kenai adopted the little bear, and he became his … no. Our little brother." said Denahi.

"What?" asked Riku.

"Kenai became a bear, but to protect the bear cub and raise him. He finally learned to love." said Denahi.

Riku shook his head. "But, how did Kenai learn to accept his sin? He killed a mother, leaving the baby all alone. That's just…. Cold hearted." said Riku.

"Judging for what I have heard, you can talk to animals. Why don't you ask Kenai yourself? I'll take you to him." said Denahi.

The pair walked into the forest and went to a beautiful place full of waterfalls and salmon jumping up stream. And there, sitting on a rock was Kenai and the little bear cub. When he saw Denahi, he smiled, but upon seeing Riku, he quickly cowered next to Kenai.

Riku was in total shock upon walking up to them. It was true what Denahi, Rutt and Tuke have said. Kenai was a bear. But something caught Riku off guard. He did not sense darkness at all. He actually felt… light.

"Your Kenai?" asked Riku.

Kenai looked at Riku and nodded.

Riku smiled awkwardly and spoke. "I can speak to you. I know Rutt and Tuke."

Kenai was taken aback, and he spoke. "Who are you, and what do you want?" he asked.

Denahi patted Riku's shoulder. "What did he say?" he asked.

"He wants to know what I want. I'll tell him." said Riku.

"Stay away! Are you the scary monster with the yellow eyes and his army of giant oversized ants?!" asked Koda, stomping his feet on the ground.

"No. I'm not. I'm someone else." said Riku. He sat on the ground and spoke to Kenai.

"I need to know something. I hope you can answer me this question." said Riku.

"If its about Spirits and things… I'm not really an expert just to let you know." said Kenai.

"No. It's about forgiving yourself. I know what you did to Koda's mother. Please tell me…. How did you get over that?" asked Riku.

Kenai stared at Riku darkly in a very predatory look and Riku felt chills down his spine. Koda on the other hand looked up at Kenai and snuggled in his arms.

"How dare you ask me that question. And in front of Koda." said Kenai.

"Please. I mean no disrespect." said Riku.

Kenai then roared angrily. Denahi jumped up to his feet, but Riku stayed there.

"I did something bad too. I hurt my friends once. I made many mistakes. Then, I was blessed with something. I was blessed with family and friends. I don't deserve them. I really don't. But I need to learn how to forgive myself. I was hoping you might have the answer." said Riku.

Kenai shook his head. "What did you do that was so bad?"

"I was… joining forces with the oversized ants in the past. My friends and family are against them. But I betrayed them a long time ago. Now, I'm not with them. I'm against them and my friends and family have my back. But I can't forgive myself." said Riku.

Kenai snorted. "There is a huge difference between you and me. I KILLED someone unjustly. All you did was join up with the shadows. You never hurt anybody." said Kenai.

Riku looked at Denahi and remembered what he said. He remembered they were brothers. Riku turned to Kenai once again.

"I hurt my friend. My brother. His name is Sora. We grew up together, and he's been supportive of me, despite my mistakes. But I hurt him, physically and mentally." said Riku.

Kenai looked at Koda, who was still snuggled onto Kenai's arm. He looked up at Riku and let out a sigh.

"I'll be honest with you. Forgiving yourself is a long journey. It's not easy. There will be bumpy roads ahead. I don't deserve anything for what I did. I really don't. But I was blessed with something beautiful. Koda's love and forgiveness. Without Koda, I might as well be dead." said Kenai.

Koda walked up to Riku slowly and sniffed the air. "You're probably wondering how I forgave him." said Koda.

Riku nodded and Koda smiled. "Kenai and I got to know each other. I miss my Mom every day, but I have Kenai to watch over me and he loves me." said Koda.

Kenai smiled at Koda's words. "I never knew Koda's mother. I was a different person back then. Like I said, forgiveness takes time. If you yourself feel remorse and guilt for what you did, that makes you into a man. This means that you will never repeat your mistakes." said Kenai.

Riku held his hands together tightly. "I still don't know if I have the strength to move on." said Riku.

"Don't you have family and friends who love you?" asked Koda.

Riku smiled. He saw Sora's face. Kairi. Mickey. Donald, Goofy, and some of the other friends he's made so far.

"If they support you and care for you in your own journey, you'll find that forgiveness might be possible after all." said Kenai.

"You still didn't answer my question. Did you ever forgive yourself?" asked Riku.

Kenai shook his head. "No. I'm in the same boat as you. I'm still finding the strength to move on." said Kenai.

Koda looked up at Kenai with a smile. "You know… when I ran away from you, I ran into Rutt and Tuke. They got into a fight, but they forgive each other quickly. Their love was so… unconditional. While you watched over me in the forest, you changed a lot. And you felt so guilty when you told me what you did." said Koda.

Kenai looked away, holding tears into his eyes. Koda snuggled into Kenai's arms.

"I love you Kenai. I love you to the moon and back." he said.

Both bear brothers then gave each other a huge hug. Riku stood there watching them, trying to hold back tears of his own. Denahi smiled with warmth.

"Did you get an answer?" asked Denahi.

"Yes. I think I did." replied Riku.