Chapter 2: Storm
"I say we name it the Excalibur!" Sora exclaimed.
Riku looked at him. "Highwind." Sora and Riku looked at each other. "The usual?" Riku asked. Sora just nodded.
"Are you two at it again? Okay, I'll be the judge." Kairi said exasperatedly. "First one to the cliff and back is the winner! Take whatever route you want!"
Sora looked over to Riku. "If I win, I'm the captain and if you win…"
"I get to share the paopu with Kairi." Riku finished.
Sora looked at him. "Huh? What are you—"
"The winner shares a paopu with Kairi! Deal?" Sora stumbled over his words but Kairi said, "Go!" before he could actually come up with anything to say in reply.
Riku was off! He ran ahead running across the rickety old bridge that led over the tide pool below. Sora was right on his heels.
They reached the end of the bridge and now the two split up. Riku climbed up onto a watchtower where he would ride down on a pulley and end up on a smaller cliff where he would jump off that and go into a dead sprint towards the cliff wall.
Sora however, would go around the watchtower, jump down a small drop, run across the shore, and then race to the cliff wall.
Both ways held their own strengths and weaknesses. Riku's way had the advantage of the pulley, which gave him a large speed boost, however it was slowed by the fact that he had to climb the large ladder.
Sora's way had the strength of nothing really getting in the way; it was mostly a dead sprint. However the sprinting part was its weakness too. It was a long run and it was hard for Sora to be able to sprint all the way to the cliff and then back to where Kairi waited.
Most of their races, it was very close. Sometimes Riku would win. Other times Sora would. This time, however, Sora would win.
It all began when Riku missed a rung on the ladder leading up the watchtower. It wasn't much but it slowed him down, giving Sora a chance to pull ahead.
But Riku quickly caught up when he used the pulley to slide down. They touched the cliff face nearly at the same time. Now was the most strenuous part of the race. It was the part where Sora and Riku sprinted all the way back.
Riku took an early lead, but Sora was right behind him. So close that one wrong step, they both would go tumbling.
When the two got to the drop, Riku effortlessly vaulted himself over it and Sora tried to do the same. He managed to accomplish it, but not with the grace and precision that Riku had and he stumbled slightly when he landed. Riku's lead grew.
Sora didn't quit though. Using the last of his energy, he pushed himself to his limits, once again pulling up beside Riku.
They had reached the narrow bridge now and with the way they were running, side-by-side, it was going to be dangerous. There just wasn't very much extra room for them to run! But regardless, they tried anyway.
Sora and Riku were both breathing heavily and they were slowing from the strain they were putting on their teenage bodies. As they ran, the bridge creaked loudly.
Sora spied Riku out of the corner of his eye. He knew he only had one chance to win this race. He was just waiting for the right time. That right time was just a few steps before they reached Kairi.
As they ran, Sora suddenly cried out in mock pain, causing Riku to become distracted and for Sora to pull ahead and win the race!
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"So Excalibur it is!" Sora said with a grin. Riku nodded slowly. "Hey, Riku… about that paopu fruit thing…"
"I was just kidding. You don't have to do it." Riku said quickly. Sora frowned at him. "Actually, I was going to ask if you were planning on getting the paopu fruit for me, you know, because of my fear of heights and all, but in that case… okay!"
Riku rolled his eyes. For as long as he could remember, Sora had had a terrible fear of heights. Although he was okay when he was on a safe place such as something he knew he wouldn't fall off of, but if he felt like something wasn't safe, he would just freeze in fear.
"Um, guys? Whatever you're talking about can wait until later! Soon it will be nightfall and we need to gather some more supplies by then!" Kairi said from a few feet away.
Riku and Sora looked her way. "Yeah, she's right. Let's go, Sora. We'll split up, I'll get this side of the island and you get the other!" Riku said. Sora simply nodded and walked off.
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"Let's see… mushrooms, eggs, water…" Sora closed up his rucksack and sighed. "This is taking so long… Too long…" Sighing once more, he continued on his personal scavenger hunt.
Finally, he came to a special place. It was a simple tunnel in the rock of the large mountain separating the two sides of the island that led into a small cavern. Tree roots partially covered the entrance, but Sora knew where it was. After all, Sora, Riku, and Kairi had gone in and out of ever since Kairi had first come to the island!
It was called the Secret Place. It was called that because it was a secret that no adult's ear had ever heard of. Many children of the Destiny Island chain knew about it, but each and every one had taken a vow of silence. No adult knew about the Secret Place. They hoped to keep it that way!
He pushed some of the roots aside and crawled through the tunnel and emerged in the cavern.
At the far end of the cavern was a single brown door of some sort. It had no door handle and everybody supposed that it was just there for decoration. The walls of the cavern were covered with vines and tree roots. What parts weren't covered with those has scrapes and scratches that created pictures and murals. They were the work of the children of Destiny Islands. Sora walked over to one in particular.
It was one that Kairi and he had soon after she had arrived at the island. It was a drawing of Sora and Kairi facing each other, mouths open as if they were talking. Sora remembered fondly how he and Kairi had drawn each other. Kairi's picture of him turned out great, however his picture of her was deformed and just all around bad. However, she had turned to him with a grin on her face and told him how great it was.
"That's Kairi for you… always trying to liven your spirits!" Sora said to no one. He suddenly got an idea. If he wasn't able to share an actual paopu fruit with Kairi, he'd draw himself sharing a paopu fruit with her!
He got to work, picking up a sharp stone from the ground and began hitting the rock wall, creating a wall scratch on it with every hit.
Soon his drawing took shape. It was added onto the drawing that Kairi and him had already done before. Sora had drawn his arm and hand holding a paopu fruit up to Kairi's mouth, as if he was sharing it with her.
He stepped back to admire his work. "Yes, sirree, my art has gotten a lot better over the years!" He exclaimed with a grin.
Suddenly there was the sound of a twig snapping and Sora spun around to find a figure in a brown cloak. The figure had a dark hood that cast a shadow over his entire face.
Sora stumbled back in surprise. "Who—who are you?" He demanded shakily.
"I have come to see the door to this world." The figure, clearly a man, replied.
"Huh?"
"This world has been connected."
"Listen, man, I don't know what you're talking a—"
"Tied to the darkness, soon to be completely eclipsed." The man finished.
Sora stared at the mysterious man. "Well… whoever you are, you'd better stop freaking me out like this and start answering some questions! For one, where did you come from?"
"You do not yet know what lies behind this door." replied the man.
"What are you talking about?"
"There is much to learn, you understand so little." The man said with a chuckled. Sora grit his teeth. "Oh yeah? Well, you'll see! I'm gonna get out and see what's out there!"
"A meaningless effort. One who knows nothing can understand nothing."
"Why I oughta…" Sora trailed off as his eyes became glued to the wooden door. It was as if it was beckoning him to unlock its mysteries. He took a step towards it when he remembered the man.
He looked back at the man… only to find that he was no longer there. The cloaked man had simply disappeared!
Sora looked around nervously before bolting out of the Secret Place and back outside. After leaving the place, he quickly made a decision not to tell anyone of this. They'd probably just think he was insane!
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That night, Sora found himself sitting beside Kairi watching the sunset as they did every night. This night however, Riku was not with them. He had gone home early, claiming to be exhausted. So that night, it was just Sora and Kairi.
I could get used to this. Sora thought to himself when he looked over and saw Kairi just looking out over the ocean at the distant ball of fire that they called the sun.
"Hey, Sora." Kairi said quietly. "Have you noticed something about Riku? He's… he's changed…"
Sora looked at her intently. "What do you mean?"
"Well…" She got a look of serious concentration on her face and at one point that concentration seemed to change into… what? Pain?
Sora saw this and asked, "Is something wrong?"
Kairi looked at him, her eyes full of fiery passion. "Sora! Let's take the raft and go—just the two of us!"
Sora's mouth dropped. "Kairi, what are you—"
"Just kidding." Kairi said quickly before looking back out at the sun. Sora wasn't so sure of that though.
"What's gotten into you lately? You're the one who's changed, Kairi." He didn't mean it in a bad way or an insult and thankfully Kairi didn't take it that way either.
She bit her lip. "Maybe… You know, I was a little scared at first… but I'm ready now. No matter where I go and what I see, I know I can always come back here… and I know that you'll be with me the entire time… right?"
"Yeah, of course!" Sora said with a grin.
Kairi grinned back at him. "I can't wait. Once we set sail… it'll be great." Sora laughed. "Yeah! It will be!"
Kairi looked at him and hesitated. "Sora… thanks. For everything." Sora gave her a weird look. "Don't ever change, Sora. Don't ever… change." Suddenly, she leaned forward and kissed Sora on his cheek.
The fourteen-year-old boy was stunned. Absolutely stunned. It showed in his features too! His eyes were wide and his mouth was hanging open slightly.
Kairi giggled at this and walked off before Sora could come up with a reply. She quickly got into her boat and began rowing away, not wishing to confront Sora with what she had just done. "See you tomorrow, Sora!" She yelled as she rowed farther away.
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Riku watched the two from his spot high up in a nearby tree. He had heard every word. He hadn't missed one. He remembered how they talked about his change. He remembered how Kairi had even suggested to just leave with Sora. She had said that she was kidding, but her voice said otherwise. He had… seen the kiss. Some might say that it was nothing really, just an impulse, but he knew that was wrong.
For a long time now, he had known that he was fighting a losing battle. Kairi and Sora. Sora and Kairi. It just sounded… right. He had known that he would lose her to his friend. He thought he was ready for when it happened. He thought he could handle it… It seemed he thought wrong.
Riku held back the pent up feelings until Sora and Kairi had left the island. Finally, he climbed down from the tree and abruptly sat down heavily, watching as the sun dipped completely over the horizon.
He tried to smirk at the irony. He was better than Sora at practically everything. Sword fighting, wit, strength, speed… well, most of the time with that one. But regardless, in a straight fight, he could knock Sora out with one hit! He was more mature than Sora. More intelligent too! Yet, in the end, Sora won Kairi's heart.
The smirk turned to a bitter frown. "How is it possible…?" Riku asked quietly. He didn't expect an answer.
"Young boy, why despair?" Riku froze at the feminine voice. Then he jumped up and spun around. He stumbled back at the sight of a tall and pale woman in a black robe of some sort that reached all the way down to her feet. She also had a dark hood that covered whatever hair she might have had. The worst part of this woman, by far, were the two horns that rose from her had! She carried a staff with a large, green sphere at the head.
"W-who are you?!" Riku demanded, instinctively reaching for his wooden sword, only to find that it was not there.
The woman chuckled. "Who am I? Why, child, I am Maleficent, queen of darkness! And before you ask, I have come to help you!"
Riku stared at her, contemplating what to say. "First of all, don't call me a child. Secondly, buzz off!" He turned and began walking away.
"What is your greatest desire, boy? Is it not to be with that girl?" Maleficent called out.
Riku froze and turned around. "Listen, I don't know who you are or how you know me, but you gotta leave now!" His voice was reaching a threatening level.
The dark woman simply chuckled. "Your heart is so very strong. So strong. Strong enough to harness the darkness."
"I said—"
"Do you not want to best that friend of yours again? Do you not want to prove yourself stronger once and for all? Don't you want to prove it to Kairi?"
Riku froze and turned to face her. "How do you know Kairi?!"
Maleficent ignored his demand and walked slowly over to him. "Riku…" She started quietly. "You have the chance to become powerful!"
"I already am—"
"So powerful that your friend would never be able to stand up against you! Entire worlds could fall at your feet! Snap your fingers and you'd be the king of everything!"
"What are you… what are you talking about?" Riku's voice had lost some of its strength.
Maleficent just grinned. "Listen, boy. Listen closely as I tell you of the all powerful darkness…"
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Donald Duck was not happy. That was evident in his stride as he stormed out of the Disney Castle, quacking loudly the entire way.
He ran out into the courtyard where he knew the King's Knight Captain, Goofy, would be.
Just minutes before, he had been walking along in his mage's garb. It was another perfect day at the Disney Castle. The sun was shining brightly. The birds sang happily. The mops were marching along the halls in perfect unity, carrying their water-filled buckets the entire way!
He was on his way to King Mickey Mouse's throne room to be the first to greet his king on this fine morning.
He reached it and walked in like he owned the place. "Good morning, your majesty!" He had quacked as he walked across the long room towards the throne. "It's so nice to see you this morn—" That's when he had noticed that the throne was empty. King Mickey was nowhere to be seen.
Then to add to the situation, Mickey's faithful yellow dog, Pluto, had walked out from behind the throne with a letter that had the king's personal seal on it in his mouth.
After reading the letter, Donald had found himself searching frantically for Goofy. He found him in the courtyard… napping on the grass!
"Goofy!" Donald quacked. "Goofy, wake up! This is serious!" To the duck's dismay, the Knight Captain snored on, not even aware of Donald's predicament.
Not willing to wait any longer, with a quack Donald quickly used his mage's powers and summoned a bolt of lightning from the heavens that slammed down on Goofy's sleeping form jolting him awake.
Regardless of the fact that he had just been shocked awake, Goofy slowly rose to a sitting position and smacked his lips groggily. Finally, he noticed Donald. "Hey there, Donald. G'morning."
Donald wasted no time with pleasantries. "We've got a problem, Goofy, but don't tell anyone!"
"Queen Minnie?"
"No! Not even the queen!"
"Daisy?"
"No, it's top secret!"
"Pluto?" Goofy once again interjected, interrupting the white duck.
Donald hesitated, not sure whether or not they could tell Pluto. Finally, realizing how futile wondering about Pluto was, he quacked in frustration. "Not anyone, Goofy!"
Goofy seemed to look past the irritated Donald. "G'morning, ladies! G'morning, Pluto!"
Donald Duck froze. All this time he was… He turned around slowly only to find himself looking at a confused Queen Minnie and Daisy Duck. He quack-laughed nervously.
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Donald,
Sorry to rush off without sayin' goodbye, but there's big trouble brewin'! Not sure why, but the stars have been blinking out, one by one. And that means disaster can't be far behind! I hate to leave you all, but I've gotta go check into it!
There's someone with a 'key'—the key to our survival! I need you and Goofy to find him and stick with him, got it? We need that key or we're doomed! So got to Traverse Town and find our ol' buddy Leon. He'll be able to point you in the right direction.
P.S. Will you apologize to Minnie for me? Thanks, pal.
Donald finished reading the letter aloud to Goofy, Minnie, Daisy, and, strangely enough, Pluto.
The entire group was silent. Finally, Donald's wife Daisy spoke. "What could this mean? I mean, what could be so terrible that King—"
"We'll just have to trust the king." Minnie said, cutting Daisy off. "He knows what he is doing."
"Gawrsh, I hope he's okay!" Goofy interjected.
Donald turned to Minnie. "Your highness, with your permission, I'd like to go and try to find the king and this 'key'."
"Thank you. Very much." Minnie said with a smile.
Donald turned to Daisy. "Daisy, can you take care of—"
"Yes, of course!" She exclaimed. "I'll keep the mages training! You'd just better come back soon!"
Minnie cleared her throat. "To chronicle your travels, he will accompany you."
Donald's face fell. Oh no… He thought to himself. Please don't let it be…
"Jiminy? Jiminy Cricket, where are you?" Donald quacked in dismay. He hated Jiminy Cricket. All the little bug ever did was talk, talk, and talk some more! He was always scolding Donald for his temper and always talked about some kid named Pinocchio!
Sometimes I just wish I could—"Down here!" Donald's thoughts were cut off by Jiminy's high voice. On a nearby table, a small cricket with fancy clothes on was jumping up and down, waving to get their attention.
Jiminy jumped onto Donald's shoulder. "I have a good feeling that this adventure will be so grand! When we get back," You may not be coming back alive, you bug. Donald thought to himself. "I'll tell everybody our stories! And I can tell you some of my stories! Of how the time Pinocchio lied and his nose—"
"Told me." Donald said suddenly.
"Well, how about the time when Pinocchio was turned into a don—"
"Heard it."
"How about the time when—"
"I've heard the entire story a hundred times!" Donald quacked loudly. Jiminy fell silent, obviously thinking about what he hadn't told him.
"What about—" Donald quacked loudly and threw the annoying cricket at Goofy who caught him and ended up falling into a line of statues. The statues each fell down, one by one, until the last statue fell over onto a walking mop and trapped it underneath it.
Jiminy's voice floated up to Donald's ears. "Temper, temper…" Donald suddenly quacked loudly again and stormed from the room. Seconds later, he came back in a dragged Goofy, who was still holding Jiminy, out, quacking about the fact that he was coming too.
Jiminy's voice was heard by anyone in the hall. "Now… let me tell you of the day the Heartless attacked…" Then Donald's angry quacking was heard as well.
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Sora lay on his bed with his hands behind his head. He was looking up at a toy boat he had made years back. On that boat were two cloth dolls. One a male and the other female. He hadn't told anybody besides Riku this, but he always imagined the male doll being him and the other being Kairi.
"I can't wait. Once we set sail… it will be great!" Her words replayed in Sora's head. Then… her other ones. "Don't ever change, Sora. Don't ever… change." Then in his mind's eye, he saw her leaning in and… "What happened out there?" He questioned aloud.
FLASH! A lightning bolt lit up the sky and thunder made his room shudder. Sora jumped out of bed and looked outside his window. In the distance was the island that he and his friends always hung out on. Hovering directly above it were black as night storm clouds.
Another lighting flashed and Sora began climbing out of his window with only one thing on his mind—the raft.
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Sora rowed his boat towards the island. The wind was beginning to pick up and the ocean was getting rough, but he managed to get to the island all right.
When he reached the wooden dock, he quickly noted that Riku and Kairi's boats were docked there as well! "Yes!" He exclaimed. "They can help me!"
He quickly hopped out of his boat, tied it to the dock, and began running towards the side of the island that the boat was on… until he felt something pounce on his back.
The creature, whatever it was, emitted a loud screech and Sora could feel the tips of claws on his back. Quickly, he threw the creature off him and stared at it.
"It's not possible…" He whispered. "It's not possible!" He slapped himself upside the face to see if he was asleep. Much to his surprise, he felt the blow just as he should have!
He rubbed his cheek as he stared at the black creature. It just looked up at him with curious eyes. Then suddenly, it bared teeth that Sora didn't know it had.
Sora stumbled back. "What the…?" He stared at the creature in fear as it began to advance closer to him. He reached for where his wooden sword would be but found nothing.
The creature leapt at him, claws outstretched and teeth bared. Sora quickly jumped out of the way and started scrambling away, only to find that there was another one in front of him. He looked around for a way to escape, but found that there were dozens of the creatures surrounding him!
They closed in on him, but suddenly, a path opened up… No. It didn't open up; it was ripped open by someone wielding a wickedly curved sword. The person who saved Sora quickly ran to him and ripped him away from the dark creatures, pulling him to the Paopu Tree Island.
Finally, Sora wrenched away from the man and held his sore wrist. "Who are you?!" He demanded, keeping a lookout for more of the creatures. The person turned around and Sora's eyes widened. "R-Riku?"
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Riku and Sora ran to the island. Riku had refused to comment on how he had gotten the sword or what the creatures were. He only said that the island was the only place of safety.
When they reached the bridge, Riku ran ahead, cleaving through any creatures that arose from the wooden deck. When he reached the island, he turned back to face Sora.
Sora reached the island and bent over trying to catch his breath. When he looked up, he noticed that something was missing. He looked up at Riku. "Riku? Where's Kairi? I saw her boat and I thought she was with—"
"The door has been opened…"
"What?!"
"To the outside world! The door to it has been opened, Sora! This is our chance!" Riku exclaimed, his eyes shining with excitement.
"Riku, are you crazy?! We have to find Kairi! We have to find her before… before…" He shuddered at the thought and promised himself that he would find her.
Riku's eyes locked onto Sora's. "Once we step through, we may not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again! There is no turning back. But this may be our only chance! We can't let fear stop us! I'm not afraid of the darkness!"
The grass beneath their feet became a sickly black and familiar tendrils of that darkness began winding up Sora's and Riku's legs. "Riku?" Sora cried, fear inching into his voice.
Riku stared at him and promptly held a hand out for Sora to take. "Take my hand!" He said forcefully.
Sora reached out to grab Riku's hand, not sure what would happen if he did. But he found that there was something forcing him from reaching him. Like in the dream, there was a current of some sort, pushing Sora away from his friend.
But he tried to reach Riku nonetheless. He stretched his arm and willed himself to reach Riku, but just as he was about to grab his friend's hand, he felt the 'current' strengthen and he was pushed back.
The tendrils of darkness covered Riku head to foot now and Sora noticed in horror that he was in no better condition. Then, in a flash, the darkness, along with Riku, disappeared.
Sora heard a rushing sound from above and he looked up, only to find what looked like a mass of darkness hovering above the island. He stumbled back in surprise. "What's going on…?" He whispered. Then in a louder voice, "What's going on?! Riku?! Kairi?! Where are you?!"
Suddenly, he felt something change inside of him. It was like there was suddenly a new power inside of him. He figured out what it was moments later. In his left hand was a… key?
Yes! It was a key of some sort! It had a golden handle which Sora's hand was currently wrapped around. Hanging off the handle was a small chain with an emblem of some sort at the end. It was three circles, one big and two small. The two smaller ones were connected to the bigger one at the top. Its shaft was a little longer than his wooden sword and at the very end was the key section of the weapon. The end almost looked like a crown of some sort. The kind that you would see sitting upon a king's head, only flat.
Sora figured it was some kind of weapon but he found that its edges were rounded, with the excepting of the 'crown', which was just squared off, making the entire weapon dull.
He was about to throw the strange item down, but he felt something willing him not to, as if the key was extremely important in some way. He decided to hold onto it, figuring it'd be better to face those creatures with this other than weaponless.
He looked around, trying to find any trace of Riku or Kairi. His eyes stopped on where the Secret Place was… There was a large, white door obscuring the entrance! He blinked, rubbing his eyes, trying to see if this door was real or not. And when he looked again, the door was gone.
"Good enough place to start, I guess…" He said to himself. "If Riku and Kairi are here, they would go there."
He began running across the bridge, back to the main island, but found the creatures in front of him. He spun around, only to see creatures rising up from the wood.
He gripped the key harder and he clenched his eyes shut, waiting for the creatures to attack. Suddenly, he felt the same thing that told him to keep the key, tell him to lash out with it and attack.
His eyes flew open and found that one of the creatures was in the process of leaping at him. He instinctively blocked the creature with the key. But when he brought the key to his face, he noted with surprise that the 'crown' part was glowing brightly and that as the creature came closer he brighter it glowed. On further inspection, he found that the formerly squared off ends had turned razor sharp and they glowed than anything else.
That's when the dark creature hit. It slammed into the blade roughly. Sora tensed up, ready to force it back, but found that he had no need to. For when the creature hit the blade's edges, it disappeared in a cloud of black smoke. The weapon had obliterated it.
Sora had no time to ponder this, for at that moment, the rest of the creatures attacked.
One leapt at him, but Sora destroyed it with a quick swipe of the blade. Then, he felt that same feeling tell him to duck and when he did, a creature flew right over his head and slammed against the wood planks, rolling to a stop a few feet away. It never had the chance to get up…
After dispatching the leftover creatures, Sora ran over to the Secret Place. He crawled through the short tunnel and found himself in the cavern.
At the far end of the cave was a short redheaded girl. "Kairi!" Sora cried in excitement and relief. "You're all right!"
Kairi turned around to face him and Sora was surprised at how… bad she looked. Her eyes held a blank look and her mouth as open slightly. "Sora…" She said quietly and monotonously.
"Kairi? What's—" Sora was cut off as the door, the door that was once thought to be a mere piece of decoration, flew open. A howl erupted from it and suddenly Sora found himself fighting a strong wind. Kairi, however, didn't fight it whatsoever. She just let herself be carried by it, flying through the air, right towards Sora!
Sora held out his arms to catch her and he braced himself for the impact… that never came. He just watched as Kairi flew towards him and suddenly, without warning, flew straight through him, as if she or he weren't real.
Sora looked around in surprise and confusion, but before he could think about it, he felt the wind increase and he was blown back out of the Secret Place. As he tumbled along the ground, his head slammed into a rock and he fell in blissful unconsciousness…
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Howling wind is what woke Sora finally. He looked around in a daze before his mind cleared. He found himself on a floating piece of… land? Yes! That's what it was! It was a chunk of dirt and land just floating in the sky! No, he thought as he looked around again. This isn't sky. This is… this is… I don't know. All around him was a swirling vortex of destruction. Its color was the same as the ball of darkness. Looking up, he found that the ball of darkness was actually directly above him.
He scrambled to his feet and ran to the edge of the piece of land. He looked all around for some trace of his island or his friends, but all he found were the walls of the vortex. The rest was all gone.
He began inspecting the platform more. That tree looks… His eyes widened and his heart raced. No! This is part of Riku's island! But it can't be! There's no way! If this were Riku's island, then it would mean that… everything else is destroyed…
He sat down heavily and tears of exhaustion and confusion began to flow down his cheeks. "W-what's going on…? Why is all of this happening?" He noticed that the key-weapon was still in his hand. Its razor edges had returned back to the normal, squared-off edges.
He brought the key up to his face and inspected the weapon closely. On its handle was a name. Sora read it and his eyes widened again. His name was on it! He brought the weapon down and sighed heavily. "So many questions…" He said.
Sora heard a heavy thud from behind him and whirled around. Behind him was a familiar creature… It hadn't grown since the dream. It hadn't changed in one bit! It was the exact same. Its hair was still wild. Its black arms were still muscular. Its eyes still glowed an eerie yellow. Its chest still had a huge hole in it the shape of a heart. It was the Darkside.
Sora's bottom lip quivered some and he backed up slowly. Not again… Please, not this again! But it was happening all over again. The battle with Darkside was beginning again.
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Donald shuffled around a bit, trying to get comfortable in the chairs of the Gummi Ship. The ship had recently been built for inter-world travel. It was actually just made of things called gummi blocks, a strange substance that fell from the sky many years ago. These blocks would adhere to each other and could be used for many different purposes. Nearly indestructible, they were often used to build buildings or vehicles. The Gummi Ship was just another thing that could be built with the use of the gummi blocks.
Each block had a separate purpose. Some were used to give the ship ignition. Some were used for navigational purposes. Some were used for armor and shields. Nobody knew how they worked or where they came from, all they knew is that they were useful.
Donald sigh-quacked and finally just stood up, giving up on trying to find a comfortable way to sit in the chair. It obviously had not been built for ducks!
In the distance, he could see what looked to be a hole in space. He knew that this was actually an entrance to another world. Once they passed through this hole, they would find themselves in the world's dimension. Just recently did these holes appear, though. Before, the people in Disney Castle had only known of the other worlds, but they hadn't been able to travel to them. There had been no way! But it seemed that for some reason, pathways to the worlds had been opened.
"Hold on to something, Donald. We're going through!" Goofy said in his unintelligent voice. Donald just quacked but ignored him. His tall friend shrugged and piloted the Gummi Ship through the 'hole' and immediately it was rocked back and forth, sending Donald Duck flying into the cockpit's window, quacking the entire way…
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WHAM! The ground shuddered as the Darkside slammed a dark fist into the ground, barely missing Sora. Sora rolled across the ground and finally brought himself back to his feet. He looked over to where the Darkside's hand was now part of the ground. Soon, the smaller creatures would rise from the dirt and the Darkside would begin the whole process over again. And Sora knew that the odds were he wouldn't live through another barrage of those energy blasts! Now or never… He said. And with that, he ran to the entrenched hand and leapt onto it. The dark creatures screeched and snarled at him as he did so, but he ignored them, keeping the Darkside's neck in his sights.
He ran up the arm, his key brandished. The weapon had grown razor sharp again and it glowed with the same eerie light. As he ran, every once in a while, he'd slash the arm he was running on just for the sake of doing some added damage.
Finally, he reached the top of the arm. He was now a mere couple of feet from the creature's face. He prepared to make another leap onto its head, but he felt the arm he stood upon quiver as it released itself from its prison in the dirt.
He lost his footing and fell flat onto the arm, holding onto for dear life. However, to do so, he had to let go of the key… and his only way of defense. "No!" He cried as it clattered against the ground below. It's all over… He told himself. All over. I'll never see Kairi or Riku again. I'll never be able to tell my mom how much I love her… I'm going to die!
The Darkside brought Sora up to its beady eyes and stared at him. Suddenly, its mouth opened wide and Sora could see rows of dark teeth. He could see an image of him being ripped apart by those teeth and he shuddered. What a way to go… He said with an ironic smirk on his face. I was always the one who tried to stay out of trouble… Riku and Kairi were always the ones to get me in trouble! Yet, here I am, about to die and… where are they?
His eyes hardened. "I can't give up now!" He said forcefully. He quickly stood up and ran the rest of the length up the Darkside's arm and jumped onto its head. "I have to find a way to help them!" With this new determination, Sora did the first thing that came to his mind… He began tugging on the Darkside's wild hair, trying to hurt it whatever way he could.
While doing this, he felt something strengthening him. Something familiar… Suddenly, in a flash, the key materialized in his hand. He stared at it in surprise and barely ducked in time as Darkside's hand swiped across his head, trying to find the nuisance that was pulling on its hair.
Deciding to figure it all out later, Sora gripped the key tighter and raised it above his head. "Rest in… peace!" He yelled as he drove it down into the skull of the Darkside. There was a flash and suddenly Sora found himself back on the dirt. The Darkside was no where to be seen…
He jumped to his feet and let out a whoop of victory. "I beat him! Yeah!" he raised the key above his head in a victorious position and promptly twirled it like a baton… and ending up dropping it onto the ground.
He looked at the fallen key and frowned. "I'll have to work on that later. First, I have to find a way out of here!" He didn't have to do the latter, though. The way found him.
Sora felt the wind pick up. It wasn't the same wind as before, though. It seemed to come from the ground, flowing up in a rush. He soon realized that the ground wasn't blowing; the ball of darkness was pulling!
He quickly grabbed onto the first thing he could find, a nearby tree. His feet left the ground and his body angled up to the darkness. The pulling grew stronger and stronger, causing Sora's grip on the tree to weaken. And suddenly, the tree just snapped, causing Sora to fly up to the darkness. As he rose, he felt something slam into his head and everything went black…