"I see the exit," Sora told the others.
"Good," Donald quacked frustrated, "cause I'm getting really cramped in here."
Sora crawled out of the hole from the dirt wall, and past a metal door that was built into the rock cliff. They all left the small caverns, and looked around at the unfamiliar land. There was much greenery everywhere, tall trees and shrubbery. Metal plates stuck out of the ground and he assumed them as steps. Below them was a cliff that dropped off into a lake below.
"Pretty," Aleisa said, admiring the tropical forests.
"Kinda reminds me of Destiny Island," Sora told her. "The trees and waters and such remind me of it."
"Then there's bound to be a shore."
Sure enough, fifty yards from them, there was. They cleared the large leaves that blocked the path and had obviously grown over it. It appeared that no one had visited the beach in a while.
"Purdy," Goofy said, looking at the sparkling waters across the horizon. He looked beyond them to some broken-down ruins that appeared to be at a far off distance. The sun reflected off both of the metalic cities in the distance and the ocean as the sun glew a bright orange, engulfed in flaming clouds, as the sun sunk lower towards the great waters.
"It'll be dark soon," Sora said. "We'd better find somewhere to sleep."
"But where?" Donald asked. "It looks like someone hasn't been here for a while."
"Well, maybe if we continue up the path from the caverns, we'll find somewhere to go."
So they backtracked. They climbed the stairs of machines that was embedded into the earth and walked a long path under lushious trees that hung over the cliff sides. Waterfalls tumbled over the cliffs and supplied the nearby lake with water. Bridges were built across the rocky shoals.
"Well, there are bridges," Aleisa exclaimed, "so there's bound to be civilization!"
So they continued further. A large machine was built into the path, and trees and shrubbery had grown over it. They could easily walk under it, it stood so high, but they wondered why it stood there in the first place. Past the machinery, there was a ruined statue that stood atop a hill. A view of the beach could be seen past it.
They raced down the steep hill, fencing on each side of the red clay path. Eventually, they led themselves into a small town with five homes and a large temple.
"Told you someone would be here," Aleisa said proudly.
"You're new here, ya?"
Sora spun around quickly, and looked up to a tall man in yellow overalls and flipflops, his hair styled oddly, bright orange. "Yeah. Do you mind if we stay the night here?"
"No problem at all, brudda," the man said cheerily. "Stay as long as you want at no charge. You guys look like you've been roughin' it for a few days, ya?"
Sora stroked his chin. "You look familiar."
"That so? Name's Wakka. I'm former captain of the Besaid Aurouchs, and you?"
Sora blinked. "Weird. You look familiar, sound familiar, and have the exact same name.."
"Something wrong?" Wakka asked.
"No, no," Sora said. "Just thinking."
"Well, go pay your respects to the temple. Yuna will show you how to perform the prayer." Wakka left in a hurry to the large tent-home, and Sora walked for the temple without asking questions.
Inside, there was silence. No one stood in the temples, which used to be filled with people, anymore. Sora ascended the stairs at the front and pressed through the door. Inside, there was a small room with strange statues lined around the room. An odd door sealed off the entry to the next room. Sora listened through the other side of it.
"Please, young Fayth, I need to know if there is any way.." He heard a young woman whisper. She repeated it several times before there was silence. He heard her stand and exit the room, and she was a bit startled when she bumped into Sora. "Oh! I'm sorry!"
"It's okay. I didn't know if you were coming out so soon," Sora said, smiling.
She smiled. "My name is Yuna. What are you doing here?"
"Wakka asked us to come here. We're.. uh.. new."
"Are you planning on staying?" Yuna asked.
"I don't know. Probably not for long. I just came to figure out something."
"What would that be?"
"There was a girl named Yuffie from another world--"
"Another world?!"
"Er.. I'll explain later--but she told me that I would meet another girl, Aeris, on the Lifestream, but she also called it the Farplane. Do you know of such a place?"
Yuna frowned. "Yes, but why would you want to go there?"
"Well, I want to see Aeris, of course."
"Well," Yuna started, "I can take you there, but.. you may be surprised."
"I don't see why she was so worked up about telling me about Aeris."
"She had a reason to be."
"What reason?"
Yuna didn't respond. "I'll take you to the Farplane."
She left the temple, and they all followed after her. Yuna entered the town square to speak with Wakka, and he nodded in approval. She spoke into a mic clipped to her ear, and a large ship arrived in the town square within a few minutes. Aleisa, Donald, and Goofy departed from them to the inn to catch up on some rest. Yuna and Sora entered the ship.
"Got a hitchhiker, eh?" Said the man at the control front who was tall, muscular, and bald.
"Father!" Shrieked a girl in blonde braids at the right-hand seat of him. "Don't be so rude!" The girl ran for Sora, and stood within inches of him. She and he were the same height. "Heya! My name's Rikku. Welcome aboard the Celcius!"
Sora scratched his head. "I'm Sora. Nice to meet you."
Rikku smiled, and looked into his blue eyes. "How old are ya?"
Sora blinked. "Fifteen."
"Oh well, I'll still be fifteen for two more days," she said as she turned away from him and resumed her place at the front. "Where to, Yunie?"
"Take us to the Farplane."
Rikku looked back, doubtingly. "Farplane?"
"Just do it. We wants to meet a friend of his."
Rikku shrugged, and pulled the airship into the sky, and set the course for Guadosalam.