Vixen: Hey, I'm back!
Sora: What took you so long?
Kairi: Yeah, I was geting tired of making out with Sora.
Sora: What do you mean by that!
Kairi: Nothing! It's just that even good things get boring after a while.
Riku: Just shut-up and say the disclaimer. Tora, it's your turn.
Tora: Right, nobody in this story belongs to Flame Vixen. That honer goes to Disney and Square. But her twisted imagination did come up with me.
Vixen: Hey! What do you mean twisted?
Tora: You know it's true.
Riku: Just shut-up and get the show rolling.
I stared down Sora and Riku. The duel was coming to a close; sweat was pouring of the boys, and my arms and back were aching, including my wrist were Sora had slapped it. Sora's skills really had come a long way. I knew that unless I landed a finishing blow, and soon, I would have to forfeit, because I was running out of strength.
Seeing an opening, Sora charged at me. I waited until the last second and then jumped; he passed by harmlessly. I turned around and gave him a solid thunk on the head. "Yow!" Yami cried, saying that Sora was out.
"Good luck, Tora!" he shouted, as he went to sit by my cat. My heart skipped a beat.
I turned to face Riku. Time to see how far I've come, I thought. Riku was the best fighter on the Islands, with Sora right after him. This was the first time that I managed to beat Sora in a three-on-three fight. If Lady Luck stayed with me, I just might be able to beat Riku.
Turns out I was wrong. Riku came at me with his sword, attacking my leg; I blocked it easily. But it was just a ruse. He instantly went for my sword hand and knocked it flying into the water, where I had no hope of retrieving it in time. He pointed his blade at me and said, "Do you yield?"
Knowing that the fight was finished, I said, simply, "Yes."
Smiling, he gave me his hand and helped me to my feet, saying, "I think that you might have beat me that time if you weren't so tired. Maybe next time?" he said, cocking his head in that irresistibly cute way of his.
"Maybe." I said, dancing on air. Riku had said that I might have beaten him? That is the best compliment on my fighting skills he could have possibly given me.
"Come on you guys," I said, "we have a raft to finish."
Later on, we were on the paupo island, just talking.
"So, Kairi's home is out there somewhere, right?" Sora asked out of thin air.
"Could be; we'll never know by staying here," Riku replied.
"Besides, why would you want to stay here?" I asked him. Sora just grinned.
"But still, how far could a raft take us?" Sora persisted.
"Who knows? If we have to, we'll think of something else," Riku and I said almost in unision. I looked at him and shouted, "Jinx!"
"So, suppose you get to another world. What would you do there?" Kairi asked. I knew what Riku was thinking, so I answered for him; seeing how he couldn't talk because of the jinx.
"Well, we haven't really thought about it. It's just...I've always wondered why we're here, on this island. If there are any other worlds out there, why'd we end up here? And what if there are other worlds...Then ours is just a small piece of something much bigger. I mean, we could have just as easily ended up someplace else...right?" I asked.
Sora flopped down on the branch. "I don't know; what about you Riku?" he said, grinning as he broke my jinx.
"Exactly, that's why we need to go out there and find out. Just sitting here won't change a thing." He said, with a faraway look in his eye.
"Yeah, it's just the same old routine everyday. Let's just get out of here." I replied, adding onto Riku's thought.
"You've been thinking alot, haven't you?" Kairi directed at me and Riku.
We both nodded. "Thanks to you. If you hadn't come here, we probably never would've thought of any of this." Then, seeing as how he wouldn't finish, I continued. "Thanks Kairi."
"You're welcome."
Kairi and I had gotten down past the shed when I heard Riku call to Sora. I turned and saw him toss to Sora a star shaped object.
"A paupo fruit?" he asked Riku. I had to laugh, knowing why he had given it to Sora. Riku was always teasing him about his crush on Kairi, even though neither one of them knew about it quite yet.
"If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They'll stay a part of each other's lives...no matter what." Riku laughed over his shoulder. "C'mon, I know you want to try it," he tossed back.
Sora just tossed the fruit over the side of the walkway.
I caught up to where Kairi was on the dock. "Ready to go tomorrow?" Kiari asked. I shook my head yes. We had everything we needed for the trip, including supplies and water. "Yeah, I can't wait." I said.
I saw Riku walking up to us. "Hello ladies; can you tell me where the boats are this fine evening?" He asked, cracking a smile, watching as Kairi and I started laughing.
"Why yes, sir, they're right here," I said, almost crying. Riku might be reserved, but he could be funny when he wanted to.
"Thank you. By the way, did you two leave your backpacks on the observation deck?" Riku said as we quieted down.
"Oh yea, we did. Come on Kai'," I said. I grabbed her hand and pulled her up to the deck.
As I was about to descend the ladder, Kairi stopped me. "Tora, can I ask you something?" she said; I could see confusion etched all over her face.
"Sure." I could tell that it had been eating away at her for awhile, because she had been very distant with everyone for a few hours.
"I heard Sora and Riku talking about the paupo fruit. Do you think one of them has a crush on me?" She asked, a blush creeping up her pretty face; it was so obvious that she liked one of the two, and I was betting that it was Sora.
"Maybe Riku was just teasing Sora?" I said. I saw her face visibly relax when I finished speaking. "One way to find out. Sora is on the dock by himself right now. Why don't you go down and ask him?" I said, needling her playfully.
"F-fine; I will," Kairi said, slightly nervous, and swung herself down the ladder.
I stayed up on the deck and just watched for two reasons: one, I didn't want to embarrass Kairi while she was talking with Sora; and two, I had amazingly good hearing, better than anybody else on the Destiny Islands.
I listened to those two talk for half an hour, but Kairi never brought up the question of Sora liking her. Finally Kairi stood up. "Sora, don't ever change," she said, and without another word, she hopped into her boat and started for home.
Sora watched her disappear into the gathering darkness, and it was a long time before he got up to leave too.
I was staring at the waves, but not really seeing them. What I saw was my friends, but something was wrong. Kairi was standing there. Her eyes, usually so bright and full of laughter, were listless and dead looking. Even though I called to her, she didn't seem to hear me; all she did was stare off into the distance. Sora seemed to be different too. He had some sort of sword, and he seemed to be fighting something.
Riku alone looked normal. Completely scared by now, I ran up to him, hoping that he might know what was wrong. But as I got close to him, I stopped dead in my tracks. Something didn't feel right. Riku's eyes weren't the color of the sea anymore; but a firey red, as red as the hottest flames. But when he spoke, his voice was completely devoid of emotion."I have your friend's heart, Princess. Now I need yours," he hissed, reaching his hand out towards me.
I tried to run, but I found that I couldn't. So I screamed. I could feel someone shaking me as Riku came closer; they were calling my name, saying, "Tora, wake up Tora!"
With a start, I realized it was Riku that was shaking me. Then, even more surprised, I discovered that I was tangled in my bed sheets; it had all been a dream.
"Why were you screaming?" He asked. I shook my head, because I didn't want him to know the dream I'd had. "Just a nightmare," I said, trying to sound non-chalent.
"Get dressed then. We're leaving," he said. When I didn't get up, he turned back around. Seeing the look of terror on my face, he said, "What's wrong?"
I tried to explain as I got a pair of jeans and a tee shirt on. "Have you seen what's going on outside? That raft won't be able to handle the winds of this hurricane."
But Riku was too excited. "It's not a hurricane, Tora. It's a portal to another world, I just know it. If we don't go now, we'll never be able to. I'm going weather or not you guys are coming. There's no turning back. But this may be our only chance. We can't let fear stop us! I'm not afraid of the Darkness!" He looked straight into my eyes, and I knew he wanted an answer.
"Fine, I'm coming. And I'm not afraid, either." We ran outside, but I was worried. Riku had always been a rebel, but it sounded to me from his earlier comment that he'd even give up his friends to get out of here.
Turns out that I was right about that bad feeling. I saw him fighting with Sora later, and I heard him say what he'd told me,"We can't let fear stop us! I'm not afraid of the Darkness!"
What happened next I'll never forget. Riku disappeared, and Sora got that sword from my dreams. But it looked almost like a key.
What it was, I never found out. Because then I saw a black creature with blank yellow eyes. It stared at me for a moment, then it attacked me.
I managed to get it to go away, but it was no use. Because a thousand more attacked me. The last thing I remember was an extremely bright light, and then darkness.
Stormy skies,
Terror filling the heart.
The truth finally in your eyes,
You are too reckless;
To escape, you might go too far.
Our home is crumbling,
We're standing on shaky ground.
Evil is beckoning,
It's trying to call to you;
Please, please, turn back around!
The Light is fading,
Darkness has you now.
It's too late to stop it,
Our friend, she has been taken;
But I will try to stop it, this is my vow.
Vixen: Well, sounds like fun? Riku doing a complete deranged loonatic on you?
Riku: What do you mean by that?
Vixen: Well umm, you see... you know what, forget this; I do NOT want to get your Souleater jammed through my head. So, I'll just say, ummm... GOODBYE!
P.S. You see the little button that says "REVEIW?" It doesn't bite, I've tested it myself. So just do a little clickie on it and leave a message on if you loved, liked or compeltly despised the story. Bye-bye!
