Chapter three: Highwind

"Hey, Sora!" Riku yelled. It was the next day. Riku stood beside the entrance to the cove area. Sora was beside the raft, glancing around for Kairi. He ran over at Riku's call.

"Yeah?"

"Our raft still needs a name. Lets see… How about Highwind? What would you call it?" Sora scowled for a second.

"Um… I'd call it Excalibur."

"Hey, how 'bout…?" Riku started, smiling.

"The usual?" Sora challenged.

"Let's do it!" Riku was more then ready. Kairi chose that moment to run over the plank bridge.

"You two at it again? All right; I'll be the judge." Kairi strode over and pointed to their left. "The usual rules apply: taking any route you want… first to tag the star tree and make it back here wins." She explained. She turned to Sora. "State your terms."

"If I win… eh… I'm captain." He said, beating his chest once. Riku knew just what would get under his friends skin.

"And if I win, I get to share the paopu with Kairi." He readied himself, waving at Kairi to begin the countdown.

"Huh? Wai… wait a moment!" Sora sputtered. Kairi rose her hand.

"All right. On my count."

"Wait!"

"Three, two…"

"I said…!"

"One… Go!" Riku charged forward, gaining a ten-step lead on Sora. He headed past the ladder, deciding to run the whole way. Sora started up the ladder as fast as he could. When Sora jumped off, he had managed to gain ground on Riku. They smacked the tree at the same moment and charged off, weaving through palm trees. Once on the plank bridge, Riku jumped over the weak point. Sora forgot this and fell through, into the shallow ocean. Riku laughed as he strolled next to Kairi. Sora leapt up, his face disgruntled.

"Man lighten up. It's just a game after all." Riku said as he placed a hand on Sora's shoulder. Sora shot the silver haired teen a look. "Oh… the paopu thing… Heh, that was just a joke! You should have seen your face! Ha!" Riku laughed and Sora's face brightened. "Kairi is over by the raft now… she is in charge of the food. You should get your orders. I've already finished mine." Sora nodded and left for the raft. Riku slipped off to the secret place again to investigate.

The cave was exactly the same as he had left it. The door was still shut. Remembering the voice from yesterday, he pondered over the words.

"Open my heart… would that get me off this island?"

It could…

"How?"

Open your heart, seek the darkness.

"Show me how."

That night, Riku paced his room. His mind reviewed over everything that had happened earlier. The cloaked figure was strange, but he had escaped from another world. Open his heart? Seek the dark? Riku still didn't understand what the man had said, but he knew he would soon… or so he hoped. A flash of lightning caught Riku's eye.

"A storm?" He whispered, his nose brushing against the glass. "Not a normal one… So that's the darkness I need to seek." He glanced over at his door. His parents didn't care about him anyway, so they wouldn't miss him… Riku was soon out the window, falling into the sea. The paopu tree island seemed like the best place to watch the storm, so Riku swam for it. Once on the island, he gaped at a purple and red sphere above him.

"What is… The door?" The sphere started to give enough light to see perfectly by. Riku looked down as he saw Sora running down the bridge towards him.

"Riku? Where's Kairi?" Sora sounded frightened. "I thought she was with you!"

"The door has opened!" Riku called.

"What?" Sora sounded unnerved now.

"The door has opened Sora." Riku repeated. "Now we can get out."

"What are you talking about! We have to find Kairi!" Sora yelled back over the wind. His blue eyes were frantic.

"Kairi's coming with us. Once we step through, we might never be able to come back." Riku repeated the words of the cloaked figure. "We may never see our parents again. There's no turning back. But this may be out only chance. We can't let fear stop us. I'm not afraid of the dark!" The last phrase Riku bellowed.

"Riku…" Sora said quietly. Riku smiled just as darkness sprang from the ground to engulf the two friends. Sora panicked and struggled. Riku stood, waiting calmly for the darkness to take him. He heard a strange pulsing in his ears.

Keyblade master… fallen darkness… Keyblade…Riku shook his head and was fully engulfed. He was getting out… he was nearly free…

AN: The last part was odd… I know. About Riku's parents, I assumed much when I typed this. We hear nothing about them. So my theory is that Riku never truly was cared for, or else why would he just cast them aside so easily? Also, he seemed so attached to Kairi and Sora, like he was trying to find companionship. Please review for me, I would love to hear feedback.

If the chapters seem short to you, don't worry. They get longer, I think. flips franticly through notebook Err.. at least the next chapter is a little longer, and I'm sure I have a seven-page chapter in there somewhere. (seven in the notebook may be about four pages on word…)

The next chapter goes off the script. I have been so far following it very closely, but the next drifts. Alright? '