Chapter 1: Dream
CLACK! THUNK! Two teenagers fought passionately against each other. One of them had long silver hair that extended to his shoulders and bright green eyes that shone with unbridled fire. His name was Riku and he was fifteen years of age.
The other had wild brown hair that was beginning to droop down to his face because of the sweat pouring from his pores. His had blue eyes that shone with the same passion. He was a mere fourteen years old. His name was Sora and he would be the protagonist of our story.
The two fought on a small island just off the coast of Destiny Island, a small tropical island in the middle of an expansive ocean. They fought with wooden swords. Don't get me wrong though, these swords, though not sharp, were still very dangerous and painful.
But at the moment, these two were oblivious to the pain. At that moment, they had but one care and she was sitting on a large tree branch, just a few feet away.
She had fiery red hair and blue eyes that twinkled with excitement. There was a bright grin plastered onto her face as she watched the two continue on with their dance-like fight. She was Kairi and was fourteen.
Both Sora and Riku, ever since she had arrived at their little island a few years back, liked Kairi. Both of them fought constantly for her attention. This battle was no different.
But regardless of the rivalry between them, Sora and Riku were best friends. They had known each ever since either of them could remember. On the island chain of Destiny Islands, where only a few families lived for a long time, that was no small matter!
They had done everything together. Battling over Kairi was no different.
WHACK! THUD! "Oof!" Sora stumbled back holding his stomach from a harsh stab by none other than Riku. While stumbling back, his heel hit a rock and he fell to the grass, beaten.
Riku wasted no time rubbing it in either. "You'll never beat me, Sora! You might as well give up now! I'm just too fast, strong, and smart for you! Plus, you manage to leave your stomach open… every time!"
Sora scowled at him and slowly and painfully rose to his feet. "One of these days, I'll beat you! That's a promise!"
Riku just chuckled. "Whatever, Sora." He spied Kairi hopping down from her tree branch and walking over to the duo.
"That one lasted over ten minutes! You've beaten your old record by over two minutes, Sora!" She cried happily. "Of course, he still kicked your butt, but hey! You're getting there!"
Sora rolled his eyes. "Is it my fault that his hair somehow never gets in his eyes?"
"No, but it's your fault that your hair always gets in yours." Riku answered with a smirk, prompting a low growl from Sora.
Kairi giggled lightheartedly and put an arm around Sora's shoulders and then proceeded to do the same with Riku. "It's always something between you two, isn't it?" She said with another giggle.
Riku looked over at the two, suddenly solemn. "So, are we still up for what we talked about earlier? The raft, I mean."
"Yeah!" Sora and Kairi cried simultaneously.
"So, we're just going to leave everything and everyone behind? Our parents, friends, home? I'm all for it, but if you two don't want to do this, say so now."
Sora and Kairi looked at each other. They both had a fire in their eyes that easily told each other the other's decision. Sora looked back at Riku. "We're ready!"
Riku shrugged off Kairi's arm and grinned. "Great! I'll go start getting some rope and logs! Sora and Kairi, you can help too! Get logs, rope, a sail, rations, whatever you can find that will help us! We don't know how long it will take to find land, so we're going to need lots of food and water!"
They were quite naïve for teenagers, of course. This was a dangerous thing they were planning. One that could wind up getting all three of them killed! But all three of them were of the adventurous sort. Ready to do whatever it took for a big adventure. Riku, however, was probably the most adventurous of them all…
Maybe that's why it chose him first… Naw, it was because of his heart. His heart was strong. Stronger than Kairi's. Stronger than Sora's. The passion in his heart guided it to him, but by the time it reached him, it was too late. Of course, I'm getting ahead of myself here!
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Sora walked along the beach looking for some seashells he could give Kairi. Granted, it wasn't what he was supposed to be doing, but hey, all work and no play makes Sora very annoyed, so…
Finally, after gathering a bag's worth of the very biggest and shiniest of shells (of which that he planned to make a necklace with), he sighed happily and lied on his back, staring up at the clouds. They were especially big and fluffy today. Good day for cloud watching.
"Hey! That looks like a cat! And there's a dragon!" Sora said to himself quietly. Yes, indeed, it was a good day.
Soon Sora became tired though and after fighting it for a few seconds, his eyes drooped completely and he fell into a fitful slumber.
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Falling. That's what Sora felt. He didn't feel wind or anything; in fact, he didn't feel anything to tell him that he was falling. However, somehow, someway, he knew he was falling.
He realized with a slight fright that his body wasn't reacting to his commands. He couldn't even open his eyes!
Suddenly, everything changed, There was a bright flash and suddenly, he was no longer falling! No, now he was wading in the waters of Destiny Island. He could move again!
Just a bit farther out, maybe just ten feet, stood Riku, his green eyes alight with passion. He was holding his hand out, palm up, in Sora's direction. It was as if Riku wanted Sora to take his hand.
Well, Sora did the first thing that came to mind! He waded farther out, in the direction of Riku, ignoring the feeling of impending doom that was gnawing away at his gut.
That feeling was justified moments later when to Sora's surprise and dismay, a huge tidal wave rose up behind Riku and was rushing towards the two.
"Riku! Watch out!" Sora cried. If Riku heard him, he didn't show it. In fact, he didn't even move. He was like a statue, just watching and waiting for Sora to take his hand.
That's when it hit. Sora felt the water all around him, trying desperately to crush whatever air he had left after the initial hit out of his lungs.
When the water slammed against him, Sora had closed his eyes as he flipped backward through the salty water. When he opened again, he was chilled to the bone. Riku still had not moved. Not even an inch. He still stared at Sora, not blinking, with his hand outstretched.
Sora began to swim to his friend, but immediately felt a strong current pushing him away. It was as if the entire world was against him reaching Riku! After just a few moments of fighting the current, Sora just gave up, letting the current take him back to the shore.
"Sora!" He climbed to his feet and stared just a bit farther down the shore where Kairi was jumping up and down, waving at him; beckoning him to come over to her… She had not been fazed at all by the fact that Sora had been nearly killed and that Riku was still underwater.
He trudged over to her, feeling the sand sucking at his feet. At one moment, he nearly lost his shoe, but he was able to keep it. Finally though, he reached her and there, in exhaustion, he leaned over and breathed hard, coughing every once in a while to rid himself of the salt water that he had breathed in when the wave had hit him.
After a few moments of heavy breathing, he looked up at Kairi who had become unusually silent. Maybe she finally realized what had—He stopped when he saw her.
She wasn't paying any attention to Sora. No, she was staring up at the sky. His gaze followed hers and he gasps. Shooting stars? No… meteors… Yeah, it's a meteor shower! Wait… what's that? He watched as a dark form fell from the red sky.
It looks so much like… All of a sudden his eyes sharpened. Suddenly, somehow, he could make out every single detail of the falling figure. It's… me? He looked to Kairi in disbelief, as if silently asking her to tell him that it was all a hallucination or a dream or something. However, she seemed to be in as much disbelief as he was!
This can't be… He felt a sudden change in the sand beneath his feet. It was as if it was the sand had just given away, causing him to fall into a deep hole. The feeling of falling and the look of horror on Kairi's face confirmed it.
He reached out to her, silently asking her to help him, but it was too late. He was already falling into the abyss…
The sudden feeling of cold caused Sora's eyes to snap open. He soon realized that he was still falling and that he was going head first towards the ground!
The wind suddenly stopped and Sora found himself in a dark place with no light anywhere at all. He couldn't see or feel anything, but somehow he knew he was still falling.
Suddenly, he felt his feet touch down softly of solid land and his legs nearly gave out because of the surprise. But nonetheless, he kept his ground and looked around, not that there was much to see.
Regardless of not knowing if his next step could take him back into the abyss, he stepped forward and everything changed. What looked like a flock of doves suddenly flew off the platform that he was on and bright light originating from it nearly blinded Sora.
He stood upon a strange platform that seemed to be suspended in midair (or midabyss). The ground was almost like a piece of art, with a beautiful woman and seven shorter men surrounding her. It almost looked like a stained-glassed window, other than the fact that it wasn't glass or a window!
"So much to do, so little time…" Sora looked around for the mysterious voice that seemed to come from everywhere, yet nowhere at once. There was no one around though. "Where are you?! Where am I?"
"Take your time; don't be afraid. The door is still shut." As if on cue, the floor rumbled softly and three pedestals rose from the floor. On each was an item. On one was a sword. On another was a shield. On the last was a staff.
"If you give it form, it will give you strength. Now choose and choose well." Sora felt himself giving into the command and soon he was trying to decide which weapon to choose.
He looked devilishly at the sword. Wait 'til Riku sees this! He exclaimed in his mind. Quickly, he ran over to the sword's pedestal and grabbed it. Immediately, he felt something flow through him. A power, a terrible yet addicting power that coursed through his body. It scared him but he refused to back down. "The power of a warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction. Is this what you choose?" Sora hesitated but then he gripped the sword tighter and nodded slowly.
"What shall you give up?" The voice asked. He looked around and his eyes settled on the staff. Finally, he walked over to it and picked it up. "The power of a mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin. You give up this power?" Sora nodded again and the staff simply disappeared.
"Very well, your path is set. Your journey begins." There was a flash and the platform that Sora stood on just shattered, causing him to go into another free fall. It didn't last long though, for soon he landed on another one, quite similar to the first one.
"What the…?" Sora whispered quietly while looking around. "What's going on…?"
"There will be many times you must fight. Keep your light burning strong." Before Sora could ponder those words, he felt something slam into his back causing him to go sliding across the floor and stopping a mere inches from the edge of the platform.
He looked up to see what had hit him and gasped. It was a small creature, not very big at all. It was humanoid in shape, yet so very different. It had two hands, each with wicked claws extending from its three fingers. It was completely black with its eyes being a bright, glowing yellow. From its head rose two antennae like things.
Sora watched this creature in part fear and part interest. It was unlike anything else he had ever seen before! But it turned into full fear when the creature charged at him again, claws outstretched.
He cried out as he felt claws rip through his shirt and slash his chest. In reaction to the hit, he stabbed forward with his sword, only to find that the creature had literally melded into the ground and disappeared.
He held his chest while he rose to his feet and looked around. "What was that—"
"Behind you!" The voice shook Sora from his daze and he whipped around just in time to block another slash that could have ended it all right there. Surprisingly, Sora was able to push the creature back easily enough and before it could meld into the ground again, he impaled it with the sword. It disappeared in a flash, leaving no traces of itself behind.
"What… what was that thing?" Sora asked the voice. He received no reply. Instead, the floor beneath him shattered again and he fell to yet another platform. This one, however, just was brightly colored. The colors did not form a picture of anything.
There was a white door at one end of the platform and Sora began walking toward it, only to find that it could not be opened. "Hey! What gives?"
"Hold on, the door won't open just yet. The day you will open this door is very far off yet very soon." The floor once again shattered and Sora found himself on another platform.
"What is this?" He cried, getting aggravated by the vague phrases and the faceless voice. The only thing that replied was another one of those creatures. It rose from the ground. At first it was just a black blob, but soon it took the form of the first creature. Afterwards, it was joined by a few more.
Now Sora was surrounded. But he wasn't beaten. Not by a long shot.
One of the creatures attacked, slashing at Sora with its wicked claws, but Sora dodged its attack and cut its exposed back open with his sword. It disappeared in a flash.
Now three others attacked at once, coming at Sora from his front, left, and back. He disposed of them one by one, attacking the one in front first and then whipping around and taking out the other two.
Once the creatures were gone, he looked around for any other contenders. Thankfully, none arose from wherever they came from and Sora let himself relax. He tensed up again when he saw the staircase that led up to another platform… Neither the staircase nor the other platform had been there moments before.
He fought the urge to climb the stairs, but soon his curiosity got the better of him and he laid a tentative foot on the first multicolored stair. Nothing special happened and he was satisfied that these stairs would not collapse when he walked on them.
So he walked up to the next platform only to find it completely empty of anybody or anything. Except it wasn't empty. Not completely. For at the end of the platform there was a light. It was just that, a light coming from nowhere. It was like a hole had been ripped in this… this void that Sora was in.
He stepped towards the light, a grin on his face. Maybe this is it! Maybe I'll out of here!
"The closer you get to the light, the bigger your shadow gets." Sora froze at the eerie voice. He didn't like the sound of that. Quickly he looked behind him and saw his shadow on the platform. He did a double take as he saw his shadow take a form of its own.
It grew and grew into a large and dark version of Sora… and then it changed completely.
It was almost like one of the creatures that Sora had fought earlier. It had two legs and two arms. It was also humanoid in shape and was all black with two bright yellow eyes. That was the end of the similarities though. Instead of two antennae, it had a head full of thick black hair that extended down to its 'shoulders'. Where its chest would be was a huge hole in the shape of an elongated heart. It was absolutely gigantic, towering over Sora.
Sora cried out in fear and tried to run back to the staircase, only to find that the staircase, not to mention the former platform, had disappeared completely. Finally, he turned to face the… creature again.
"Don't be afraid. And don't forget…" Sora bit his lip. He couldn't take on this… this beast! It would rip him to shreds! But he realized sadly that it was either fight and die or give up and die. He'd much rather go out with a bang, so he fell into a defensive stance and waited for the creature to make its first move.
Suddenly, breaking the stillness, the creature brought its fist down where Sora was standing. The teenager was barely able to roll out of the way before he was crushed alive.
When he rose to his feet, he was surprised to find that the hand had melded into the ground and was now what looked like a black puddle in the ground. Then… some of the smaller creatures rose from the ground, causing Sora to back up some more.
The hand formed again and the creature brought it back to its side, allowing its minions do their jobs.
Just like the last batch, Sora dispatched them quickly and easily. That's when the real trouble started…
The creature brought its hands to its chest and formed a semi circle. Then Sora saw a saw ball of light form between the hands. The ball expanded and grew until it was larger than Sora himself!
There was a bright flash and Sora's eyes widened to see another ball of light originate from that first ball and fly towards him. He had no time to dodge it and it hit him square in the chest.
The pain was amazing! Sora felt the raw energy flow through his veins and he couldn't help but to cry out in agony. He felt like dying; he was afraid that he might have been dying!
Tears rolled down his face as he slowly rose to his feet again and held his sword out again, ready to attack. It hurts so much… He thought to himself as he inspected the smoking hole in his shirt where the energy ball had hit him. The skin underneath it was a bright red and Sora could tell that it was burnt badly.
The sound of the ball gaining energy again snapped him from his thoughts and he watched in horror as another ball of energy jetted his way. This time though he jumped out of the way.
Yeah! He cried in triumph. His glee was short-lived as he felt the same energy ball slam into his back and cause him to fly forward and slide roughly across the floor and land just behind the creature.
He let out a loud moan as more tears streamed down his face. "I can't… I just can't do it… He's too powerful…" He said quietly.
"Get up! You can beat the Darkside! You are stronger than it!" The voice called out. So… it's called a Darkside… Fitting. He thought to himself grimly.
Slowly, Sora pushed himself to his feet and found himself looking at the Darkside's exposed back. The creature was obviously confused as to the whereabouts of Sora and he decided to use that momentary confusion to his advantage.
Quickly deciding that its head would be as good as place as any to hurt the Darkside, he quickly jumped and grabbed onto one of its hands. The Darkside reacted immediately, bringing the hand up to its glowing eyes. Perfect… Sora thought slyly. Then he promptly jumped off the hand and onto the mess that was this creature's hair.
Now the Darkside was confused again. Big, ugly, and stupid! Sora thought with a grin. He ducked as a hand swiped across the air above the head, probing for Sora. Not stupid enough though.
Quickly, he moved out of reach and smirked. "This ends now." He raised his sword and slammed it down into the creatures exposed neck.
There was a loud flash and suddenly Sora found himself on the ground again, looking up at a very angry Darkside. That sight didn't last long as the floor beneath Sora turned black and he felt himself sinking into the darkness.
"No!" He cried as he fought the darkness. "Don't be afraid; you hold the mightiest weapon of all." The tendrils of darkness reached up Sora's body and began covering his face. "So don't forget… You are the one to open the door." And then for Sora, everything went black…
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Sora's eyes snapped open and he cried out loudly, shooting up from the sandy shore into a sitting position. He was surprised to see Kairi standing next to him and laughing.
"Sora, you lazy bum! I knew I'd find you down here snoozing!" She exclaimed once she stopped laughing.
"Snoozing…? No! This huge black… thing swallowed me up! I couldn't breathe; I couldn't—" Kairi promptly smacked him on the back of the head causing Sora to emit a sharp, "Ow!"
"Are you still dreaming?" She asked with a smirk.
"It wasn't a dream! …Or… was it? I…I don't know." Sora said quietly, now truly confused. "What was that place? It was so… bizarre."
Kairi laughed. "Yeah sure." She got up and walked over to the shore. She just stood there for a few moments, looking out at the ocean. "You know…" She said softly. "After all these years, I still can't remember anything of my home."
"Nothing at all?" Sora asked, slightly surprised at the randomness of this conversation.
"Nothing." She answered with a sigh. "You don't… you don't know what it's like living without a past. I don't remember anything! I don't even remember my own parents or my friends!" Kairi bit her lip. "I just… I still remember the day I arrived! I remember waking up in my bed that first morning and meeting you and Riku… But there is darkness before that! It's as if the memories just don't exist!"
A solitary tear feel down her cheek and Sora walked over to her. He laid a hand on her shoulder and she sighed shakily. "That's why I want to sail off with you guys. I like it here so much, but… I have to find out where I come from, you know?" She finished.
Sora smiled. "And I'll go with you! We'll see other worlds, Kairi!" Kairi looked up at him and smiled. She opened her mouth to speak but she was cut off.
"Aren't you two forgetting about me?" Riku said with a smirk. He had been watching them for some time now and had just now decided to make himself known.
"I guess I'm the only one working on the raft." He said with a smirk as he began walking over to the two. He held a pile of logs in his hands and when he was in range, he tossed them all at Sora with a grin. Sora tried to catch them all, but failed miserably, dropping them and ending up tripping and falling.
"Riku!" Sora cried in frustration as he rubbed his sore bottom.
Riku ignored him though as he walked over to Kairi. "And you are just as lazy as he is!"
Kairi giggled. "So you noticed!" Riku snorted and plopped down in the sand next to Sora.
"Okay! We'll finish it together!" Kairi said with a smile. "Better yet, it'll be a race!"
Sora and Riku let out a chorus of "Huh?" and "What, are you kidding?" earning another giggle from Kairi.
"Ready…?" She said, her voice getting louder. "Go!" Sora and Riku looked at each other, flames of rivalry burning in their eyes. Immediately, at the same time, they both jumped to their feet and began racing down the beach with Kairi trailing behind laughing the entire time.
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"So, Kairi's home could be out there somewhere?" Sora asked. It was now dusk and the trio were sitting on the island that Riku and Sora had fought earlier, watching the sunset over the ocean.
"Could be." replied Riku. "We'll never find out by staying here."
"But how far could a raft take us?"
"Who knows? We'll just have to try. And if it doesn't work, we'll think of something else! All I know is that I don't want to stay around here anymore… too boring."
Kairi finally joined in on the conversation. "So, say we actually do end up on another world. What would we do there?"
Riku paused. "I… Well, I haven't really thought about it. It's just… I've always wondered why we are here. If there are more worlds out there, why did we end up where we are? Suppose there are other worlds… then ours is just a small piece of something greater. So, we could have just as easily ended up somewhere else, right?"
Sora sighed from his spot on a tree branch and looked over to Riku. "I dunno…"
Riku pushed Sora causing him to lose balance and fall off the tree and onto the dirt, causing Riku and Kairi to burst out laughing. He glared daggers at Riku and Kairi and kicked the latter, only causing him to laugh more.
Finally, after a few moments, the group fell back into a serene silence. When Riku spoke again, he spoke it softly. "That's why we need to get out there and find out. Just sitting here and playing won't change a thing. It's the same old stuff, so let's go!"
Kairi looked at him in interest. "You've been thinking a lot about this, haven't you, Riku?"
Riku looked back at her and grinned. "Thanks to you! If you hadn't come here, I probably would have never thought of any of this! Thanks."
Kairi grinned at him. "You're welcome!" She let out a loud yawn and she stood. "Well, boys, I'm going home… gotta get some sleep… Bye!" She waved and walked across the bridge that led to the mainland and eventually her home.
Riku and Sora got up as well. Sora nodded a silent farewell to Riku and began walking off as well, but his silver-haired friend stopped him. "Sora!"
He turned back to Riku only to have a star-shaped fruit land in his arms. "You wanted one, didn't you?"
Sora looked at the fruit. "A… paopu fruit… Riku, what are you—"
"Legend has it when two people share a paopu fruit, their destinies become intertwined. They'll remain a part of each others lives no matter what!" Sora gave him a strange look. "C'mon, you know you want to try it."
"What are you talking—" Riku laughed, cutting Sora off, and walked across the bridge, leaving Sora behind.
Sora shook his head, causing his brunette hair to go wild. He walked after Riku, but not before tossing the paopu fruit into the water. That was something the guys on the island didn't need to see him carrying around!
All three of them got in their respective rowboats and rowed themselves back to their home island.