Okay if you really want to read the disclaimer then go to the prologue of the story and read it. Though if you do care about the disclaimer that much then you are probably a lawyer and in that case please don't sue me.
Okay this is the first chapter of the actual story so let's get into this. Anyway please read and review because it can only make me get better.
When Heroes Go Missing
Chapter 1
"What does Sora have to do with this swordy thingy?" Selphie asked, glancing over at her friend. Kairi looked like she had been slapped across the face. Her jaw hung slightly in shock and tears glistened in the corners of her eyes. "Kairi is something wrong?"
The young woman slowly crawled forward towards the weapon. She could feel her heart beating in her chest and her breath was ragged as if she had been running for miles. Shaking violently, she reached out and grabbed the hilt of the weapon. When nothing happened she lowered her head and sobs wracked her body.
"Kairi what's wrong?" Selphie rushed over and placed her hands on the shoulders of her friend.
"Sora's dead."
Flashback
A much younger Kairi sat on a bench in the middle of the square in Transverse Town. Her feet swung back and forth just above the ground as she stared upwards, her beautiful eyes taking in the sky above her. As wonderful as the view was tears still slid down the young girls face.
Leon sat down next to Kairi, his eyes joining hers in their celestial search. The young fighter of Transverse Town stayed silent, waiting for Kairi to ask the questions that he knew she wanted to.
"Is Sora going to be alright?" Kairi finally asked, struggling to keep her voice level and steady.
"I'll tell you the truth Kairi. Sora is going against some of the strongest people in all of the worlds, with nothing but his two friends and the keyblade. Who knows what his chances are of survival are." Kairi could feel her heart dropping as Leon uttered those words.
"But I wouldn't worry about Sora too much. He has the strongest heart of anybody that I've ever seen, and that is why the keyblade won't leave him. The only way he could ever lose the keyblade is if he were to die. So as long as the keyblade is with him you'll know he's alive."
Flashback End
"What are you talking about Kairi. Sora can't be dead he is just out looking for Riku and ….." Selphie's voice faded off as she saw the look of certain horror on her friend's face. "It just, well how can you be sure?"
"Sora's weapon is here. He wouldn't get rid of it if he wasn't able to still hold it in his hands." Kairi's voice was strangely emotionless, showing nothing of her inner turmoil that was threatening to rip free from her skin. One of the few things that she ever relied upon in her life to always be there was suddenly ripped from her in the blink of an eye.
"Kairi …." The complete lack of emotion on her friend's face was starting to worry her. She had even lost the little bit of sadness she had in the beginning. A sob, a tear, anything would have at least showed she wasn't breaking under the stress but this steely exterior was worrying Selphie. It was like the sudden news had broken the red head.
"I'm okay Selphie I just need to go and be alone for a bit." Kairi grabbed the hilt of the weapon again and pulled it from the sand. Light flashed and the sword broke into several balls of light that hovered in the air for a few seconds before disappearing. The young teen could still feel the blade on the edge of her consciousness thought and she knew that she could call upon the weapon when she needed it. Not that she ever wanted to even look at it again.
Moving around to the other side of the island, Kairi settled down on the remains of the raft that the three friends had built. It felt like it had been decades ago. The logs were starting to rot in the hot and humid air that made up the island's weather at all times but it still made a nice place to sit and look at the ocean. The red head took off her shoes and socks and let her legs hang off the side. The seawater played around her ankles as waves washed over her feet.
Now that she was away from Selphie she allowed the emotions to break over her like the waves breaking over her feet. Tears wetted her cheeks and her whole body trembled as sobbed racked her thin frame. She had never even thought about Sora ever dieing in his mission, it was just her assumption that he would come back when he had finished and they would pick up on the little romance they had felt before. But he wouldn't come back.
She lifted on hand up in front of her and the ultimate keyblade flashed into existence in her hand, the chain swinging slightly from the blades sudden appearance. Even though it was something that had been made to kill and destroy it did hold a beauty all of its own. The gracefully curling metal bent around the silvery blade and the sun glittered off both of the types of metal, making the keyblade seem like it was on fire. This only made Kairi want to throw the weapon as far into the ocean as it could go, and she had even drawn back the arm to throw when a sense of duty stopped her.
Sora had died to try and wipe out the heartless and now that had seemed to have been passed onto Kairi. It was something that needed to be done for everybody but at the moment Kairi couldn't have cared less about everyone else. Because they had needed protection Sora wasn't around anymore. The people she cared about, Riku and then Sora had suffered because no one else had done anything.
But Kairi could do something. She had trained ever since she had last seen Sora to be able to help him so she wouldn't be left behind. Maybe now she could actually use the training that she had put herself through to good use. Not for the destruction of the heartless or to save the world or any high handed ideal such as that but for revenge. Revenge for Sora's death, plain and simple.
With this new idea firmly in her mind she sent the magnificent blade to wherever it rested in-between battles, collected her shoes and socks, and moved back to her house. She had plenty of things that she had to do before any sort of battle could be waged.
Up on the cliff side that edged the beach Kairi had just left the young woman's only three friends on the island. The three teens had grown up with her and had become truly worried about their friend in the past few years since Sora and Riku had disappeared. The red hared teenager had become practically obsessed with becoming a great fighter and the three had been swept up with her, each of them becoming powerful fighters in their own right.
Selphie had filled the other two in on what had happened at the beach with the keyblade and while none of the three fully understood it they did know where it was leading. Kairi was going after Sora and one way or another she was taking the fight to the enemy. The question wasn't if the three of them would go with her but how long it would take her to admit that she needed the help.
"She be determined, ya." Wakka said, smiling sadly at Kairi's retreating back. He adjusted the heavy ball he had tucked under one arm, his main weapon, and ran his other hand through his styled brown hair.
"You knew she would be. But I don't know what good that is going to do, without whatever ship it is that Sora uses there isn't anyway to move between planets to search." Tidus shook his head as he spoke.
"She just lost the person most important to her. If she has to build her own ship I believe she'll do it." Selphie's legs hung off the edge of the cliff and she swung them back and forth absently.
"How can she be sure that Sora is dead, man. I mean he is a long way away, ya?" Wakka asked.
"You didn't talk to her. She was so sure I don't think that she has any doubt whether she is wrong or not. Sora is dead and she wants …. No she needs to do something about that." The three friends lapsed into silence. They had each known Sora and Riku but while they had been here the friends had really been split up into two groups. Riku, Sora, and Kairi in one group and the three left in the other. They didn't feel the same ravenous grief as Kairi did, only a pang of regret for time not able to be spent strengthening the friendship that had started years ago.
"We better be ready for tomorrow because I have a feeling that we will need to be ready to kick some ass." Tidus turned and Wakka follow him down the cliff.
"I just hope that Kairi will still be the Kairi I'm friends with when this is done." Slephie whispered underneath her breath. She stared out at the sea for several more seconds before she stood and brushed the dirt from her dress as she walked home.
The wind whipped across the island after the sun had fallen that night bending the trees practically in half and blowing up tornados of sand that howled across the beach and crashed into the houses, showering the wood with the particles of grit they carried. Rolling black clouds had moved over the sky, lightening flashing from cloud to cloud. There was no rain yet but the clouds promised it in the near future. Destiny Island was used to violent storms that would sweep off the ocean with no warning but this one seemed to be something different. It seemed to radiate an almost palpable evil.
Underneath the cover of the storm the Heartless had come. They were a type that hadn't been seen before. Vaguely humanoid, they walked on two legs, but there arms were so long the bags dragged along the ground, each hand tipped with five long and curling claws. Two long feelers sprouted from the top of its wide head and moved in every direction. Yellow eyes stared from the insect like face over top of two massive maniples that constantly clicked against each other as the creature walked.
Strangely enough for the Heartless they seemed to be worried about being seen, keeping low to the ground and moving towards cover as soon as they broke the water line. They moved with a purpose, all converging on a single house and an open window. One of the new Heartless stepped up to the window and poked its head inside, feelers moving along the edge of the window sill.
Suddenly one of the Heartless's head jerked upwards and clicked its mandibles in what seemed to be a question. A silken sound filled the air and it head slid slowly from its thin neck and hit the ground with a thump. The now decapitated Heartless slid to the ground before it exploded into a shower of black dust that rolled away. A keyblade was buried point first in the sand. This wasn't the same weapon as Kairi now carried through. The blade and hilt were silver and the blade was shorter, only just two feet long.
A figure landed in the middle of the Heartless, completely swathed in a heavy black cloak that obscured all of his features except that it was obviously male. In his hand he held another blade that was the exact twin of the one now stuck in the sand. The Heartless milled around the figure nervously, antenna twitching as they tried to figure out what to do with this new opponent that they had found. He didn't give them the chance.
The blade he had thrown before shot from his hand and exploded through a Heartless' chest before starting to arc back like an oversized boomerang. The figure hadn't been idle while his weapon continued on its destructive path but jumped at another one and put his sword through a dazzling routine that left his opponent confused up until it burst into smoke.
By now the heartless seemed to have got back a semblance of order and several attacked at once, swinging their long arms like clubs at the cloaked attacker. With a grunt the figure leapt high into the air, over the heads of the Heartless, and aimed his remaining sword down. Fire gathered around the tip of the weapon and the figure thrust it forward, sending a barrage of fireballs into the massed enemies below him. The fire cut through the Heartless, blowing several to the ground before they dissolved into nothing.
Suddenly a hug hand slashed down, batting the figure from the air and crashing into the heartless, spraying sand into the air and destroying several Heartless. The figure managed to sink one hand into the sand and used that to pivot from his spin back onto his feet. The figure glanced up and saw the thing that had attacked him. A Darkheart was climbing out of the sea, water pouring from the hole where its heart should have been.
Lights snapped on in the houses along the beach and the sounds of worried people joined in with the sounds of battle. Kairi sat up in her bed and with a flash of light the keyblade appeared in her hands. It took her a few seconds to even understand why she had woken from her sleep but the sounds of fighting managed to work its way into her sleep fogged brain.
The redhead sprang from her bed and quickly took an inventory of what she had. She was dressed in the clothes she slept in, short black shorts and a red top that was too small for her and came several inches above the top of her shorts. Not much protection in a fight. Of course she had the keyblade and the years of sword practice she had forced on herself.
Kairi moved over to the window, her eyes taking in the chaos on the beach. It was just like that day all those years ago, the evil storm hitting the island while heartless swarmed the island and that monster towering over them all. Just like the day Sora had disappeared. Things were different now though because now Kairi had the power to do something about it.
Kairi placed a hand on the windowsill and pushed herself onto the sand outside. She stabbed the keyblade forward, taking one of the Heartless in the forehead and ripped it out, letting the Heartless burst into black dust. Another Heartless ran in, swinging both heavy arms like clubs. The young redhead managed to get the keyblade between her and one arm but the other clipped the side of her head and set her to the ground.
Black dots swum in front of her vision as she tried desperately waved the keyblade in front of her to keep her opponent back while her vision cleared. As the dots cleared she managed to see the Heartless's arm descended towards her head again. Suddenly the Heartless jerked to the side as a dark blur crashed into its side and threw it to the sand. A blitzball landed at Kairi's feet and rolled beside her free hand.
The red head glanced over and saw her three friends a few yards down the beach and running towards her. Kairi slid her hand underneath the strange weapon that Wakka used and threw it to him. He caught the projectile and threw it at the downed Heartless without ever missing a step. The weapon hit the Heartless in the head and dissolved it into black mist before the ball rebounded back to its owner.
'It's been to long since I really used this, ya. I'm out of practice." Wakka said as they drew up beside Kairi. Kairi accepted Tidus's hand up and looked around the battle torn beach. The smaller Heartless seemed to have been mostly destroyed though the Darkheart was still in battle with the cloaked figure. As she watched White energy gathered around the figure's sword and he jumped into the air. He swung his blade down and a wave of white energy extended out of his weapon, cutting the Darkheart from the top of its head to its feet. The two pieces slide away from each other before they burst into the normal black dust that accompanied the a Heartless's death.
The last few remaining Heartless looked around in confusion now the strongest of them had been destroyed. Making their decision the last of the black creatures faded away into the shadows. The cloaked figure turned back towards the four friends and pulled back his hood. Silver hair glittered in lightening flashes and gray eyes met Kairi's own.
"Riku." Kairi whispered, dropping her keyblade to the sand as she took a shaky step forward.
"Kairi." Riku flashed a brilliant smile and moved to Kairi before catching the young girl in a back breaking hug. The young red head sobbed into his shoulder as her emotions finally caught up with her. She had managed to loose one of her best friends only a day before and now her other friend that she thought was lost had come back.
"Hey, what's wrong Kairi?" Riku pulled back and pushed her chin up so that he could look into her eyes. Suddenly he caught sight of the keyblade laying in the sand and recognized it immediately. "Sora."
Kairi sobbed again as tears streamed down her face. Riku pulled her close and let her cry into his shoulder. "Shhhh its okay Kairi."
End Note: Well that chapter took forever. I hit college and didn't have much time but I got some time this semester and decide to keep writing.