Disclaimer---Gah, these things are SO boring. -sigh- I don't own any of this, if u wanna sue, I have a nice collection of TY beanie babies....that's about all u'll have. But if u take them, I'll cry, I swear it! ;.;

CHAPTER 2:

Sora was up and ready within minutes, trying to puzzle out Riku's new plot for opening that door. Every effort they'd made so far proved ineffectual: prying it open, lifting it out, searching for a knob or keyhole, the door didn't even have hinges! They'd even tried setting it on fire once, but it didn't burn. Back when Sora believed there was a monster in the cave, he was convinced that the great hero of the Islands had sealed the monster behind that door with magic, and thus, they weren't able to open it. Once, the prospect of a solid wall was all that stood behidn the door had crossed their minds, but they immediately dismissed it, who would go through the effort of putting a door on a stone wall? Especially one so finely made? There were much better uses for such a door.

/You can trust me Sora/

Sora spun all the way around, looking out his window. The wind? A breeze passed Sora's face, he felt it ruffle his clothes, comb through his hair gently, but no air caressed his skin. Instead, a voice whispered in his ear, /Nothing here will hurt you. We NEED you. I can protect you./

"W-who ARE you and what am I supposed to do?!"

Only another tangible breeze answered him, Sora shuddered and left the house rather quickly. 'My friends would never hurt me,' he thought to himself before hopping into his little boat and proceeding to the Island where Riku and Kairi would be waiting for him.

When he arrived, Sora stumbled out of his boat and stayed long enough to tie it securely, and then he was off running to the secret place only he, Riku, and Kairi knew about. Most thought it only a solid wall with vines draped across it. Sora and Riku had found it when they were wrestling and fell through the opening completely by accident. Lumbering through the opening, making sure he wasn't seen by anyone else, Sora heard Kairi complaining about something.

"It's a small miracle my father didn't see me! This stupid thing almost sunk my boat, it's too heavy." Kairi was dragging something across the floor of the small cave that opened up at the end of the short passageway. Riku snatched it up almost effortlessly and held it in his hand, looking at is skeptically.

"A sledge hammer?! That's ur idea?!" Sora's laughter was redoubled when he saw Kairi leap around and face him, her face a perfect picture of shock.

Riku faced him and shrugged, "Why not, nothing else's worked. Simple things usually work best, so I decided to think like you." Sora scowled, which turned out to be a pout, Riku shook his head and chuckled, he had to turn back to the door before someone caught the sparkle he knew was in his eyes. It was getting harder and harder to hide now, which meant soon he'd have to say something or else it'd eat him alive.

"Well, regardless, that thing is heavy so be careful." Kairi warned to Riku's back before turning to Sora, "He had me carry that thing all the way from my father's garage. Either way, I hope this works." She clutched the bottom of her shirt and twisted it nervously.

"Stand back guys." Riku swung the hammer at the door, letting out a grunt of exertion. Kairi gripped her shirt so tight, the bottom would be permanently stretched out. Sora was leaning against the far wall, eyes wide in anticipation.

The hammer struck the door, made a hideously loud noise, and bounced off, leaving no mark on the door whatsoever. Riku was almost thrown backwards by the momentum, he struggled to get ahold of himself and cursed silently, "There's not even a mark! What is wrong with this door?!" He sighed heavily and dropped the hammer to his side, still holding onto it.

Sora walked over and slowly ran his hand over the spot where the hammer impacted it, "Maybe it's made out of titanium. They can make anything look like wood now."

"Why would someone go through all that. Can you even GET titanium, let alone, make it into a door? And why put it here?" Kairi's face screwed up in thought about how ridiculous such a prospect would be.

"It was just a suggestion." Sora couldn't help but feel a little put out, it COULD happen!

Suddenly, something caught the corner of Sora's eye, he turned just in time to see a large chunk of metal flying at him. Pain exploded through his head when it collided with him and he fell to the ground, his last vision before falling into unconsciousness was someone standing over him, red eyes burning hatred into his soul. Everything went black.

----------

"Welcome back Sora. I had faith that you'd return."

Sora blinked and rubbed his head, "Wha-what happened?" Beneath him, white sand glittered dully in the bright yellow sunlight. Wait, yellow? Sora looked up, color had returned to the sky, a bright vibrant blue with a glittering sun.

"It's your doing Sora, you've done wonders for this world." Sora looked up and saw that same mysterious man with the glistening emerald green eyes.

"What? I didn't do anything." He stood up, still rubbing his head, for some reason, he thought it should hurt.

"You've opened to the light, just as I knew you would. Your presence is banishing the darkness that once fed upon this world." Suddenly, the man was before him, holding Sora in a gentle embrace, which he found himself returning. This person was warm and inviting, Sora found himself never wanting to leave. "But, but how did I get here?" His voice belied his desire to keep silent and enjoy the moment.

The man sighed and pulled Sora away, holding him at arm's length, looking sadly upon the boy. "I tried to warn you Sora, your friends wish only to harm you. They have sunk their hearts into darkness and now wish to obliterate you for your own pure heart. They hurt you Sora, try and remember what happened."

Sora closed his eyes and tried to think. He remembered something flying toward him, pain in his head, and those red eyes..."It couldn't have been them, they're my friends!"

"Who else could it have been? You three were the only ones in that cave, and certainly you wouldn't have hurt yourself."

Sora stepped away shaking his head, trying to push away all this cloudiness and confusion plaguing his mind. He looked up at the sky, not a cloud passing.

"Please trust me." The man stepped toward Sora, his arm outstretched, almost begging for him to take it. Sora turned toward him and watched the man's glistening white hair catch a breeze and billow easily behind him.

Sora looked at it, then the man, "I don't know if I can. I don't even know your name!"

"You wish my name, then you shall recieve it. Traid is the name given me." The name entranced him, Sora reached out his hand, ready to take that of Traid when suddenly, the world flickered out.

------

Sora woke up and looked around quickly, paying little heed of his two friends voicing their concerns about his sudden bout of unconsciousness. Sora jumped to his feet and examined his surroundings, finding himself back within the walls of the secret cave. "Wh-what happened? Where am I?"

"Sora, you're here, on the Islands, with Riku and I." Tears had left stains on Kairi's face, and she did little to cover the concern.

"You passed out cold for no reason at all. We were going to take you home but we were afraid to move you." Riku also did nothing to wipe the intense worry off of his face.

Sora looked at them, his mouth hanging open trying to process what they'd said. He knew something had hit him, it was a wonder he was still alive! His gaze traveled slowly over to the sledge hammer and something clicked. But it couldn't be true! 'My friends would never hurt me!' Suddely, Sora sprinted out of the cave.

"Sora, where are you goin?!" Kairi's worried call stopped him at the mouth of the cave.

"I-I've gotta think about something..." With that, he took off again.

/They're lying and you know it Sora./

Traid, how could he so suddenly trust that man. But, what else could have happened? Sora didn't stop running until well after sunset.

A/N: Well, there's the second installment. Wow, two chapters in two nights, I don't think I've done that before. . . Special thanks to diamondprincess2006 for such a speedy review. Tankies muchly, glad u like it! Well, it's time for me to retire for the moment. TTFN!!!

Also, if anyone out there would has nuthin to do, would anyone like to be my beta reader for this fanfic? Help would be much appreciated. If interested, my email's in my profile. .

PS: Oh, just in case u were wondering, pronounciation of Traid is Ter-eye-id