Author's rant: I finally got around to writing and posting something!! *grumbles something about meaning to write a certain fic 8yr ago that isn't yet started* .... uhh, yeah. So, hope yas enjoy. I intend to make this a LOT more interesting, soon. ^.~ Also, a lot of Chapter 1 takes place on a part of the island that is not actually in the game -- always seemed to me that there was a part of it on the east side that nothing happened on. But 'nuff rambling, on to the story.
**********
The sunrise was beautiful that morning, and Arou was particularly pleased he'd been able to awaken before even the first sliver of fiery light had appeared on the horizon. Something about looking over the sea at day's first light made everything seem perfect, and the rest of the island didn't matter, if only for a few moments. Arou retreated a few feet into the small cave that had served as a shelter for the several weeks he'd been on the island. Smoothing back his chin-length auburn hair -- a futile gesture made only due to habit, since the slightly matted hair would not be smoothed back -- he sat with his sunburned arms holding his legs to his chest, thinking again of how he'd arrived on the island.
Unlike his cousin Kairi, Arou remembered all too well the circumstances when he'd stowed away on his uncle's boat, taking the only desperate chance he had to leave his father behind him. Only a few days ago, the small vessel that had carried Arou to freedom had been tied up too loosely and carried out to sea. Finally he knew there was no chance he'd be forced to return to his hated father, but he was still scared to be seen on the island.
Inhibited by his fear of detection, all Arou did was watch. Every day for the past five weeks, he'd watched his cousin with her friends: Selphie, so cheerful and innocent; Tidus and Wakka, with their seemingly constant sparring matches; .. Sora and Riku, who'd developed a rivalry over Kairi that was only thinly veiled by their friendly competition over everything.
Thinking of Kairi's friends, Arou scowled. His young cousin received such favorable treatment not only from Sora and Riku, but also from her family, the branch of Arou's family that had so stubbornly refused to save him from his father. In every situation, Kairi got praise for trying where Arou got blows and angry yells for his every imperfection.. He'd tried closing himself off to the world, but that had only earned him more blows; forcing himself not to care left him feeling empty. A pang of bitter jealousy shuddered through Arou. What had she done that he hadn't? What made Kairi perfect, while he was just a worthless liability?
Arou refused to think about it. As the sun came into full view over the horizon, he tidied up his shelter, picking up his fishing knife and slinging it around his waist on a crude palm-frond thong, and set out to climb from his shelter to a hidden point near the top of the island's waterfall. Here, he would torment himself for the remainder of the day with the vicarious pleasures he always experienced when watching Kairi, endlessly promising himself that he would have such happiness for himself someday soon.
**********
"Hey, down there. Better hurry up or we'll lose the whole day," Riku grinned as he chastised Kairi for losing so much distance on him during their halfway-finished rock climb, and she responded with a sheepish giggle.
"If you'd just waited for Sora to get up, he could have helped me! You stop jumping up ahead, Riku. If you run too far without me, I'll be lost!" Riku smirked at Kairi and jumped down a few feet of rock to hold out his hand and help her up. She might be slow, but at least she wasn't as prone to drifting off into daydreams as Selphie, the only other girl on the island! It hadn't been too long since he'd first met her, but Riku was beginning to like Kairi well enough.
Suddenly, Sora's voice rang out from below them, calling for Riku and Kairi to wait up as he leapt and scrambled up the rocky incline. Once he caught up, he clung to the steep ground, unsuccessfully trying to catch his breath and even managing to yawn instead. Kairi laughed at him.
"You're not slow like me," she rolled her eyes at Riku, grinning, "but you're such a sleepyhead, Sora! I was hoping you'd catch up, though." She paused a moment as she made sure of her hold on the rocks. "Riku tells me the view from behind the waterfall is great!"
"And," Riku continued the thought, "not much further up, so c'mon." He began climbing again, reaching the top much faster than Sora and Kairi, and disappeared into a little crevasse in the rocks. Before either of his friends reached the same point, they heard an angry yell from the cave -- not Riku's voice -- and both hurried to catch up. Sora reached his goal first, and as he climbed over the edge of the entryway, he pulled his toy wooden sword from the place it always hung at his waist. Not that it would do any good against the knife with which a boy he'd never seen before was keeping Riku still against the wall. The waterfall echoed loudly in here, for another opening in the rocks led to a view from directly behind it; the echoes gave the cave an eerie reverberance that couldn't be so easily heard from the outside of the narrow cave.
Kairi finally arrived, and let out a startled gasp as the blue-grey eyes of her cousin turned to look at her with an expression she couldn't identify.
**********
The sunrise was beautiful that morning, and Arou was particularly pleased he'd been able to awaken before even the first sliver of fiery light had appeared on the horizon. Something about looking over the sea at day's first light made everything seem perfect, and the rest of the island didn't matter, if only for a few moments. Arou retreated a few feet into the small cave that had served as a shelter for the several weeks he'd been on the island. Smoothing back his chin-length auburn hair -- a futile gesture made only due to habit, since the slightly matted hair would not be smoothed back -- he sat with his sunburned arms holding his legs to his chest, thinking again of how he'd arrived on the island.
Unlike his cousin Kairi, Arou remembered all too well the circumstances when he'd stowed away on his uncle's boat, taking the only desperate chance he had to leave his father behind him. Only a few days ago, the small vessel that had carried Arou to freedom had been tied up too loosely and carried out to sea. Finally he knew there was no chance he'd be forced to return to his hated father, but he was still scared to be seen on the island.
Inhibited by his fear of detection, all Arou did was watch. Every day for the past five weeks, he'd watched his cousin with her friends: Selphie, so cheerful and innocent; Tidus and Wakka, with their seemingly constant sparring matches; .. Sora and Riku, who'd developed a rivalry over Kairi that was only thinly veiled by their friendly competition over everything.
Thinking of Kairi's friends, Arou scowled. His young cousin received such favorable treatment not only from Sora and Riku, but also from her family, the branch of Arou's family that had so stubbornly refused to save him from his father. In every situation, Kairi got praise for trying where Arou got blows and angry yells for his every imperfection.. He'd tried closing himself off to the world, but that had only earned him more blows; forcing himself not to care left him feeling empty. A pang of bitter jealousy shuddered through Arou. What had she done that he hadn't? What made Kairi perfect, while he was just a worthless liability?
Arou refused to think about it. As the sun came into full view over the horizon, he tidied up his shelter, picking up his fishing knife and slinging it around his waist on a crude palm-frond thong, and set out to climb from his shelter to a hidden point near the top of the island's waterfall. Here, he would torment himself for the remainder of the day with the vicarious pleasures he always experienced when watching Kairi, endlessly promising himself that he would have such happiness for himself someday soon.
**********
"Hey, down there. Better hurry up or we'll lose the whole day," Riku grinned as he chastised Kairi for losing so much distance on him during their halfway-finished rock climb, and she responded with a sheepish giggle.
"If you'd just waited for Sora to get up, he could have helped me! You stop jumping up ahead, Riku. If you run too far without me, I'll be lost!" Riku smirked at Kairi and jumped down a few feet of rock to hold out his hand and help her up. She might be slow, but at least she wasn't as prone to drifting off into daydreams as Selphie, the only other girl on the island! It hadn't been too long since he'd first met her, but Riku was beginning to like Kairi well enough.
Suddenly, Sora's voice rang out from below them, calling for Riku and Kairi to wait up as he leapt and scrambled up the rocky incline. Once he caught up, he clung to the steep ground, unsuccessfully trying to catch his breath and even managing to yawn instead. Kairi laughed at him.
"You're not slow like me," she rolled her eyes at Riku, grinning, "but you're such a sleepyhead, Sora! I was hoping you'd catch up, though." She paused a moment as she made sure of her hold on the rocks. "Riku tells me the view from behind the waterfall is great!"
"And," Riku continued the thought, "not much further up, so c'mon." He began climbing again, reaching the top much faster than Sora and Kairi, and disappeared into a little crevasse in the rocks. Before either of his friends reached the same point, they heard an angry yell from the cave -- not Riku's voice -- and both hurried to catch up. Sora reached his goal first, and as he climbed over the edge of the entryway, he pulled his toy wooden sword from the place it always hung at his waist. Not that it would do any good against the knife with which a boy he'd never seen before was keeping Riku still against the wall. The waterfall echoed loudly in here, for another opening in the rocks led to a view from directly behind it; the echoes gave the cave an eerie reverberance that couldn't be so easily heard from the outside of the narrow cave.
Kairi finally arrived, and let out a startled gasp as the blue-grey eyes of her cousin turned to look at her with an expression she couldn't identify.