Bang, Bang, Bang. Riku's door nearly fell in with the force of the blows on it. It took the silver haired teen a moment to realize this was real. He slipped out of bed and over to the door. "What is it?" he called through the wood.
Kairi's worried sounding voice answered back. "Something happened to Destiny Island! Get dressed and meet me outside."
Riku rushed to find his shirt and pants. While pulling one leg through his jeans he called out, "Is Sora up?"
"Yeah, his mom and the rest of the adults are already going out to take a look."
Riku finished pulling his shirt over his head and managed to get his hair back to normal before rushing out of his room. Kairi was waiting outside of his house. She raised one shaky finger and whispered, "look." Riku turned and gazed out at the ocean. Dimly, he felt the bottom drop out his throat.
Destiny Island was a black stain against a gray sky. Thick, dark clouds swirled and roiled against the overcast gray sky. Near the waterline the clouds were thick enough to be a wall.
"What the hell happened?!" Riku shouted out.
"No one knows Riku." Kairi said softly. "The fishermen were the first ones out there. They said that the water is ice cold around the island. When they tried to get through the clouds, a huge wind gust pushed them back."
"But the fishing boats don't have sails!" Riku said back.
Kairi only looked at the ground. "I know." They were interrupted by a shout from the crowd, and then Sora rushed out to meet them.
"Hey," he said in a dispirited tone.
"Hey," Riku and Kairi echoed.
The three teens stared out at the water for a moment before Sora spoke up. "There's something that I have to tell you guys."
"What is it?" Kairi asked. Sora looked at the crowd of adults standing near the docks.
"Not here. Follow me." He said gesturing toward an ally.
"What's this about Sora." Riku asked.
Sora looked down at his shoes then up at the dreary sky. With a sigh he said, "The fishermen that were blown away from the island…they said that they heard a voice before. It was a harsh voice that was coming from the clouds around the island. I heard the fisherman explain that the voice said, 'Bring me the dancer and the two warriors, the three that released me from the cursed blade.'"
Riku and Kairi looked at each other and back at Sora. Kairi's eyes glazed for a second. "It means us." She said.
Riku turned and looked at her. "How do you know that? You aren't the only dancer on the island, and I'm sure that some of the men could be called warriors."
"But the fortune teller at the fair showed us . . ."
"Who cares what an old fraud says!" Riku shouted. "Besides," he continued more calmly, "I don't seem to remember releasing anything from a sword."
Sora looked up at his two friends and spoke very softly. "Riku, we are the only ones that know about the sword I found."
"Okay, I guess you're right about that." The other two raised their head to look at Riku. "So what are we gonna do?"
"Go to Destiny Island, what else?" Sora said, moving back toward the main street.
Kairi rushed and grabbed his sleeve. "Sora, what do you mean? You can't seriously think about going. I mean, look down there."
Sora followed Kairi's finger to the town dock. The town men that ran the docks had already dragged most of the boats up on the sand. Sora turned to his girlfriend, "Yeah, but since when have we ever used that dock? Come on." He said, motioning to Riku and Kairi.
The three made their way down to the little cove that was known among them as their private dock. Each boarded a little boat, and the three-boat fleet rowed off to fight the enemy, whatever it was.
It only took them half an hour to reach the cloud wall the surrounded the island. By that time the sun was making a feeble attempt to break through the overcast that seemed to blanket the sky.
In each of the three teen's minds lingered a thought. 'Please let the barrier remain closed. Don't let us pass.' When the boats reached the first cloud, it parted easily.
"That settles it then. The voice really wanted us to come here," said Riku. "We really are the warriors and dancer."
"I guess so." Said Kairi, brushing a piece of her hair out of her face.
"Must be." Said Sora. As one, they rowed toward the island. Kairi took a quick look behind her. The clouds had flowed back.
There was a knock on Kairi's bedroom door. "Honey?" her mother called. "I've looked everywhere for you." Slowly opening the door, Kairi's mom was created with an empty bedroom. It was then that the phone rang.
"Hello?" said Kairi's mom, picking the phone up.
"Hi Marie, this is Sandra."
"Hi."
"You haven't seen Sora have you? I checked his room, but he's not there, and I've searched the rest of the island.
"I was going to call you about Kairi. She's gone too."
"Oh no, you don't think they went off to Destiny Island, do you? I know that Sora and Riku like to play hero."
"If that's were they went, I'm sure that Kairi is with them."
"Well do you think we should tell the mayor?"
"I think so. I'll meet you over there in ten minutes. Okay?"
"Alright, bye Marie."
"Bye Sandra."
Marie hung up the phone and started out the door.
Before she turned the knob to go outside, she paused for a moment to look at a photo of Kairi. The background was a gorgeous sunset and Kairi was smiling happily at the camera. Out of nowhere Marie felt a chill run down her spine, and a pit open up in her stomach. Without quite knowing why, Marie placed her hands in prayer and made a prayer to the goddess for her daughter.