Echo in the Void
"Neither here nor there.
Neither the begining or the end.
Simply, the Departure..."
Departure - i.
It was the day of Laire. An old, traditional holiday celebrating the first day of Summer on Destiny Islands. It would be a day of celebration and togetherness as the kids and teenagers donned tribal face paints and danced and played games around the bonfire while the adults played music or sat and talked about good times and warm memories by the ocean.
However, the smell of the ocean, the gentle crackling of the bonfire and the easy Island music did nothing to calm his anger.
Riku slammed his fist against the wood of the makeshift drink hut that sat otherwise peacefully at the head of the beach. The wood, as tan as the warm sand underfoot, surprisingly held despite being incredibly flimsy.
"Riku, stop that. Are you ok?"
Two noticeably smaller hands rested on Riku's, begging him to stop. Almost reluctantly he lowered his fist and the weak hut, thankfully, was no longer in danger of collapsing under the emotions Riku stored in his fist.
The young man duly acknowledged her request and sighed, running his fingers through his silken hair. Loose grains of sand that were knocked from his hair fell and bounced off of his bare upper body. He then shifted his crystal-clear eyes over to the red haired teenager standing near him.
"I'm always ok, Kairi. But I can't help but be just a little pissed off at the moment…"
From her eyes it was apparent that she wanted to ask why, but refrained from doing so. Instead she retained her look of concern that was clearly visible, even under the decorative face paint she was wearing.
She arched her eyebrows and fixed her tied hair slightly, soon resorting to adjusting her stance somewhat as the sand shifted under her bare feet in the passing wind. The fire illuminated her soft skin beautifully, the orange glow a welcome contrast to the pale moonlight that shone over head on this clear night.
"Sora looks like he's enjoying Laire." She smirked, readily attempting to change the subject at hand. Turning, Kairi nodded her head over to the boy smiling and laughing by the bonfire.
There was another shift in the sand as he turned his attention to the boy roughly a year and a few months younger than Riku himself. He brought up a thumb to scratch at an itch just under his right eye, accidentally smudging the paint that covered his own face.
"Hm." A simple acknowledgement.
Sora did not notice them as he was busy singing some incoherent song in the old Island dialect while dancing comically with his arm around another friend of theirs, Tidus to the music provided by a few Islanders not too far off. Dressed similarly to Riku, they two had donned the tribal paint and had lost their shirts to fully enjoy the warm weather.
Sora soon stopped singing and laughing long enough to open his eyes and notice Riku and Kairi further up on the beach and, in response to seeing them, smiled and made a face that caused Kairi to return the smile and Riku to smirk in spite of himself.
"Good Lord. Those two look like they could raise the dead singing and dancing like that." Kairi chuckled, holding a hand in front of her mouth to conceal the laughter.
Her words made Riku's smile lessen and caused the memory of why he was angry in the first place to resurface in the front of his mind, leaving a sour taste in his mouth, reminiscent of dirt.
"I'll be back." He said evenly, and left without another word.
"Huh?" Kairi was surprised to see Riku leave and attempted to call after him, to no avail. "But… you'll miss the Feast!"
"Kairi!" She abruptly turned to face Sora who had stopped dancing and waved her over. Tidus was next to him, still laughing and busy wiping some sweat and smeared paint out of his eyes. "Come and dance with us!"
She glanced in the direction of where Riku had left, looked conflicted for a moment, but then flashed Sora a smile, and rushed over to join the fun.
---
In the cool Island forest there was no bonfire, no happy faces enjoying the holiday, and no music. Just the moonlight and the wind of peace that washed over Riku as he came to his favorite spot by a small oasis. He sat next to the water and leaned over it, scooping his hand into the cold water and splashing it against his face, washing off the paint the three of them had applied earlier in the day.
Taking a large exhale, the man, now eighteen years of age, shifted backwards and leaned against a boulder wedged in the ground just at the top of the large slope that led back in the general direction of the beach. He moved his body momentarily and reached into his back pocket. A second later Riku had retrieved a glass bottle he had found washed against the shore not half an hour ago, nearly three feet away from Sora who had been busy playing ball with Kairi, Tidus and the other Island kids.
Discreetly he had grasped the bottle in his hands, glad he decided to step away from the game to grab something to drink. Turning the bottle in his hands, he noticed the seal of the King himself, wrapped around a piece of parchment tucked safely inside.
He then took the bottle and walked up to the drink hut where he read the note in private. That's when Kairi showed up.
"Dear Riku," He began, uncurling the note and rereading it to himself.
---
I know it has been a while, and, in a way, perhaps too soon. But this is an urgent matter, important to you, Kairi and Sora, especially.
This is hard news to tell those who can't handle it so I have addressed the note to you, whom I think will be able to handle the news better than either Kairi or Sora could.
The news in question revolves around Sora and something that I have discovered, by accident, while away from the Castle.
I don't want to delve into details, as this note may, and-- possibly will, fall into the wrong hands. All I can say is… I fear the loose ends, thought tied, are coming undone and unraveling at the seams. We must speak, at once. As this is an urgent matter.
Sora must come along as well, as I fear his time may be limited. The meeting spot will be the usual.
Assistance will arrive three days after Laire to aid you in your travels.
Please find a way to allow Sora to know that he is needed, but do not reveal anything to him, he should know before assistance arrives, as this was the reason for sending this to you.
I'm sorry,
K.M.M.
---
"His time may be limited." Riku rolled the parchment and placed it back in the bottle, corking it once more. "What does that mean?"
Riku pounded his fist on the soft soil beneath him. Angry that there was never any rest for them, angry that Sora was always in danger and angry that there would never be any peace as long as they lived, it seemed.
Still, the fact of the matter remained. He had to let Sora know before 'assistance' arrived. But he had no way to let him know. The bottle was set down next to him as he leaned back against the rock, folding his arms behind his head.
"Some Laire." He scoffed, letting his eyes drift close as he began to ponder what to do…
Departure - i.
Continued..
Author's Note: The Departures (as you can tell) are going to be the breaks between the main Roxas parts of the story and are going to center around mostly Sora, Riku and Kairi and other characters, as well. They'll be there to add depth to the story and, also, to advance the plot. As the story moves on, the Departures will lessen as eventually the main characters will cross paths, however they may remain still to provide an alternate point of view to a certain event in the story.
Also, in case your wondering… Laire is a holiday I made up. The name means Summer.
Anyway, thank you again for reading. And I'd like to thank Sugar Waffle and the 'anon' for posting their reviews and a big thanks to Mallory Grier for the much-needed constructive criticism. I hope you guys read this one, and continue to review. nn