"Are you sure you know how to read that thing?" Kairi asked curiously as she looked up at the already-darkening skies.
Sora was busily trying to distinguish the south from the north while staring at the map. "I think this map is upside-down." He told her.
"Are you sure?" she asked before she studied it. She shook her head. "Nah. I think it's alright. From that map… I think we're near Rocket Town." She replied.
"How do you know?" he asked.
"Just a guess." She told him.
They were silent for a while before they both wailed in unison, realizing that they're lost. "Oh man!!! I wish daddy's here…" Sora said in annoyance before handing the map to Kairi.
"I thought you know how to read maps?" she asked with a worried look on her face.
"I thought I knew how to read maps until I got that map. I'm used to other maps but this is the first time I'm in this continent!" he explained with a somewhat sheepish look on his face.
"Don't tell me we're really lost?" she asked glumly.
"Not really." He said with a silly smile on his face.
"Aw, come on, Sora! We need to find Riku already or else his parents are really going to get worried!" she said before handing him the map again. "Why don't we retrace our steps again back to where we came from?" she suggested.
"We'll go back to Nibelheim? I can't go back there!" Sora told her.
"Why not?" she asked.
"Dad knows that I'm good in reading maps… I don't want to disappoint him…" he said with a disappointed smile on his face.
Kairi was silent for a while before she sighed heavily, "Well, I guess we'll just have to continue in our journey." She told him before turning away. "What is it with boys and their pride anyway?" she muttered.
"You're saying something?" he asked, turning to her and proceeding to follow her as she led the way to the forest.
"Oh nothing. It's just that I think boys are too proud of themselves." She told him frankly.
He frowned slightly. "What made you think so?" he demanded.
"Well… first there's my dad. Whenever he does something stupid, he wouldn't admit his mistake and would just blame the world for being so unfair to him. Then there's that President Rufus guy… who's also the friend of your dad and Riku's dad… he is so arrogant. It's like he's showing the world how soft and shiny his hair is by flipping it in several occasions." She explained.
Sora raised his eyebrows at her.
"And then there's just something with boys not wanting to ask about directions whenever they're lost." She told him.
"Hey, I ask for directions!" he told her.
"But it will take you more than 10 days before you do so. You don't do it immediately," she answered.
"Because I want to learn by myself." He told her before he stopped upon hearing an owl making some noise.
"Aw, c'mon, Sora, don't tell me you're afraid of owls?" she teased before giggling.
"Why would I even be afraid of owls? Wait a minute, did you say that we're heading for Rocket Town?" Sora asked.
She nodded.
"I think we'd better avoid that place for a while." He told her.
She thought for a while before remembering that they just came from there that morning when they were to retrieve the box. "Oh yeah… you're right… but where are we going to sleep?" she asked.
"We can… look around the forest… and Corel's over there, right?" he asked, pointing to a direction.
Kairi was just silent as she observed Sora reading the map again. It was taking him a long time, and by the time he realized where to go, it was already night time.
"Sora, it's dark. We can't go on anymore." She said stiffly, eyeing her surroundings before gazing up at the full moon.
Then, there were howling sounds.
She shivered.
"Cool! Coyotes!" Sora said in amazement. "Can we look for those Coyotes?" he asked.
"Why would you even look for coyotes?" she asked frantically.
"I haven't seen coyotes before!" he said happily.
Kairi smiled weakly, "Sora, let's just look for a place to eat and then sleep. We'll continue looking for Riku tomorrow." She told him as she got his hand and dragged him to another direction.
She made sure that she remained clung to him as they walked together through the deep dark forest.
"What's in that box anyway?" Kairi asked.
"Hmm?" Sora asked.
"The box that we retrieved from that building in Rocket Town." She replied.
He shrugged. "I don't really know. Daddy refused to tell me what's inside. He said that I'm too young to understand… but I think he doesn't really know what's inside there too." He replied with a frown on his face.
"What do you suppose is inside?" Kairi asked curiously.
"Probably something really very expensive that belongs to President Rufus. The goonies wouldn't get it if it isn't valuable!" he said.
"Could it be a diamond of some sort?" she asked with a look of wonder on her face.
"Or maybe it's an artifact…" he said.
They continued to talk about the box and its possible content until they finally reached a clearing with a stream and a small hill.
"Whoa… it's so beautiful in here!" Kairi said happily.
Sora stared at the whole area with a look of awe on his face. "We can just camp out there by the stream so that we can catch some fish and then cook it!" he said with a pleased tone.
She nodded. "Alright!" she said.
Riku's feet were already beginning to get numb. Obviously they cannot sit down unless they want to drown themselves. "Grrr… if I ever discover who that person is, I'm going to murder him!" he said angrily with his fists clenched.
"Who?" she asked.
"That guy who hit my head with a shovel and pushed me down here! I swear, I'll borrow my dad's Masamune and kill that person with it!" Riku snapped.
She just bowed down her head.
He calmed down a bit, realizing that his companion does not really seem to be interested in angry emotions. "I'm sorry if I'm over-reacting." He apologized quite weakly.
She just kept quiet and stared at the dark water.
He leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms across his chest, but he felt the box that's inside his shirt. He jerked in surprise before deciding to get the box and stared at it curiously.
Samara wondered what it was, so she approached him and stared at the box. "What is that?" she asked.
"I don't even know…" he told her before he slowly opened it… something silver shone. He narrowed his eyes at it before he got it, staring at it in awe. "Wow…" he said in awe.
It was a heart-shaped pendant with a necklace. Behind the pendant were some inscriptions… but they were too small to be read. There were bigger inscriptions engraved above the small ones. Riku read the characters carefully, "Shin-Ra…" he said softly.
Samara stiffened.
"What is ShinRa?" he asked.
She just kept quiet.
He sighed heavily. "Aw man… are we even going to get out of here?" he asked in annoyance, not interested in the box and its content anymore… after all, it's just a piece of jewelry.
"I'd hate to break this news to you, but we're both going to die here." She told him stiffly.
"I think so too…" he muttered miserably before staring at the pendant again. "I have no use with this anyway… and since the box is already dirty, might as well throw it away." He dropped the box into the water and watched it float for a while before it slowly sunk down and disappeared from sight. "You want this?" he asked, showing her the necklace.
She just kept quiet.
He smiled calmly at her, "I think it will fit you very well. I can't wear this, you know? I'm not a girl!" he told her, meaning to make her laugh even for a little.
She just kept quiet.
His smile faded away and decided to just go near her and make her wear the necklace with the pendant. She did not move as he placed it around her neck and fastened it carefully. "There you go." He told her.
She just stared up at him with a tired look on her face.
They were silent for a few seconds as he moved away from her and leaned back against the wall again. He could hear his own stomach grumbling already, but he did not mind. But then he began to think about homemade cooking… by his mother. His frown deepened when his grumbling stomach worsened. "Oh man… I wish I was home… then I can eat properly… and sit down… and sleep… and be warm…" he shivered when he felt the cold air. The water had turned cold too… "Samara," he began.
She just kept quiet. He wondered why she was always quiet… and she just stays in one place away from him with her hair covering her face. Gathering more guts to speak to her (because he had to admit that she's freaking him out already with her silence), he took a deep breath before proceeding, "Are you tired?"
She did not move.
He uncrossed his arms and placed them down on the water, feeling its coldness. "Do you feel cold?" he asked.
She slowly lifted up her gaze to him, "I'm used to this." She said softly.
"Poor girl… she must've been through a lot." He thought silently.
"Please don't pity me." She mentioned. His eyes widened in awe. "How… how did she know…" he thought silently. He shuddered. "Can she read my mind?" he thought silently.
"I want to fall asleep. I want to get out of here… but I cannot… so I just have to get used to this because… I am not normal." She told him.
He was silent, observing any more reactions from her, but there was none. He blinked and looked down at the water, "You can rest your head on my shoulder if you want," he said rather shyly.
She did not respond.
Curiously, he asked, "Can you read my mind?"
She still did not answer.
He sighed heavily before he placed his hands above his head and stretched lazily while yawning. "What is the matter with you? Why aren't you answering?" he asked rather impatiently.
She just kept quiet and turned away from him. With her back facing him, she just had her hands clasped together by her chest while her right thumb lightly touched the heart pendant. She stared blankly at the water with a sad look on her face.
"Man… I think I offended her…" he thought silently with a worried look on his face before he approached her and placed his hand on her right shoulder, "Does it hurt?" he asked.
She turned her head to her right and looked down at her shoulder.
"Your hands, I mean. I…have a spare cloth here… I mean, hanky. We can wrap them so that it will be clean," he began.
"It wouldn't be necessary. It's already dirty anyway. If I'm fated to have an infection, so be it. There's nothing I can do…" she said with a weary tone.
"Well… you could at least keep your hands off the water… to avoid further trouble with infection or…" he began, but she moved away from him and just went to another area, her back still facing him. "… I guess you simply don't care if you get an infection or not…" he said softly before sighing heavily. "Very well, I won't force you to do something you don't like." He told her before he leaned back against the wall, but still keeping an eye on her. "Say, where are you from anyway?" he asked curiously. Maybe by knowing her origins, he could determine why she was just so strange.
She did not answer. He smiled slightly. "I was born in Sector 1, Midgar, but I wasn't really raised there. My dad took me to several places even when I was only a newborn." He told her with a proud tone.
The mention of the place made her respond a little by turning her head to the side, as if meaning to look back at him. He could not tell whether she is really looking at him because he could not see her eyes because of her hair, but he still smiled kindly at her. "I'm the youngest of five children. The eldest one's in his late twenties. He's a guy… a very famous one. The second's a girl in her mid-twenties. She's also famous, I guess… then there's the third in his early twenties. The fourth one's also in the early twenties. I'm 15 years old." He explained.
She just kept quiet and looked away again, bowing down her head.
"What about you, Samara, how many are you in your family?" he asked.
"Don't you ever shut up?" she asked rather mindlessly. She does not really want to talk about her origins and she definitely hates talking about herself.
He frowned slightly, "Alright, I'm sorry if I'm talking too much. I just want to get to know you better." He said before he crossed his arms and turned his head to his side with a frustrated look on his face. "Besides, I don't want to spend my time here waiting to drown…"
"What for? We're both going to die here, anyway." She responded.
"Because the silence between us is really beginning to give me the creeps!" he admitted.
She kept quiet for a while before she turned to face him again. He thought he saw her smirk at him, even though he still could not see her eyes. He could just see her lips curved into a kind of smile which gave him the creeps.
"Alright. If it pleases you… We're six in the family. Mommy, daddy, an older sister, a twin brother and myself, and a younger sister. My older sister is in her early twenties. My twin brother is 10 just like me. My younger sister is 8." She said.
He calmed down a little. "Well… finally she said something!" he thought happily before proceeding to talk, "What are their names?" he asked.
She clenched her fists, "You sound like a psychiatrist interrogating a mentally-ill patient to see if she can still remember right." She muttered.
His eyes widened in disbelief. "Hey, it was an innocent question! Besides, I'm not a psychiatrist! I'm just a kid! And how would you know how a psychiatrist could ask such questions? Have you been to one?" he demanded rather mindlessly, trying to defend himself.
She immediately clutched her head with her hands before turning away from him. He froze. "I…Is there something wrong?" he asked as he approached her.
She turned back to him and screamed, "Don't come closer!"
He was frozen in his tracks, listening to the echoes caused by her scream. It somehow made him felt so numb. "Did… I say something bad?" he asked.
She was gasping as she turned away from him again, but she did not say anything.
"Samara," he began as he approached her and touched her shoulder to make her face him, but he froze when he felt some excruciating pain in his chest… specifically, his heart. He clenched his teeth as he cringed in pain. "Ah… ow… what's… what's happening to me?" he struggled to say.
His grip tightened on her shoulder as he struggled to say her name, "Sa… Sam… Samara…"
The light from the orb was already flickering rather violently. He forced her to face him, but what he saw made him feel so cold and freaked-out all of a sudden. She was staring up at him; her face still covered with her own hair, but he could see her left eye, staring widely at him. Trying to support his own weight while he kept his eye on her.
His eyes widened when she reached for his right wrist with her right hand and grasped it rather tightly. "Samara, what are you doing?" he asked with a mixture of shock, fear and confusion. She just sneered at him as she kept on staring at him. Finally, when the orb of light faded away, he lost his consciousness and fell against her, his head resting on her shoulder while his hands limped against himself. She leaned backward against the mossy wall to support his weight.
Silence filled the atmosphere of the whole well, but she did not mind. She was used to it. But still, she felt something in her heart which made her feel so sad. She smiled bitterly as she looked up into the darkness above her and began to sing with a soft tone,
There's a summer place
Where it may rain or storm
Yet I'm safe and warm
For within that summer place
Your arms reach out to me
And my heart is free from all care …
For it knows
There are no gloomy skies
When seen through the eyes
Of those who are blessed with love…