The group stood down below the treehouse, preparing their game plan for the day.
"Alright," said Terra. "Aqua, Ventus, and I will head North. Riku and Kairi head South. In three hours, we meet back at camp for lunch and report our findings."
"Sounds fine," said Riku, patting Kairi on the head. "Ready Princess?"
Kairi nodded enthusiastically.
"Please be careful," Aqua urged. "Watch out for Heartless and other wild beasts. There's no shame in running from a fight if it gets too dangerous."
"You underestimate us," Riku smirked. "I'm a master, and Kairi kicks ass in her own right. She'll be a master soon enough."
Kairi's smile wasn't as confident. "I can hold my own if I have to...but I'm glad Riku's got my back. At least I have my healing Magics."
"Never underestimate a good healer." Ventus quoted, like a good noodle.
"Can we go now? We're burning daylight!" Terra reprimanded.
Riku stuck his tongue out and escorted Kairi away, to the south.
They walked for a time, talking about this and that, always on edge and watching for heartless. The jungle was filled with soft noises of insects and animals in the distance. The wind rustled the leaves, and the air was damp with morning mist. "It's quiet," said Kairi. "Enemy wise, at least."
"Yeah," Riku agreed. "I honestly thought we'd encounter a heartless by now. But I haven't even seen a shadow. Unless...they aren't here because there's no humans."
She hesitated and then confessed, "hey...remember when I said I saw something staring at me this morning?"
"Yeah?"
"I...I'm pretty sure it was a person."
"Really? You think it was whoever built the treehouse? What did they look like?"
"I didn't really get a good look. My scream scared him off. But I'm pretty sure I was looking at human eyes."
"Hmm...maybe we'll see them again. Maybe not. Depends on if we find the heart soon."
"Do you think we're safe in the treehouse?"
He shrugged. "Honestly, I don't think anywhere in this world is that safe."
"I guess you're right."
Riku was a man of few words. He and Kairi were often paired up on missions, given that they were the most recent recruits. Terra, Aqua, and Ventus had a dynamic that was almost poetic, and it was hard to get into. So, Kairi and Riku had developed their own kind of rhythm.
Though, they were both very different people. Kairi saw that he cared about her, but he was often lost in his thoughts. Possibly thinking of regrets and the mistakes he made in the darkness. It was a curse that plagued him, and for a year, he lost himself physically and spiritually.
Only by the guidance of another keyblade wielder, King Mickey of Disney Castle, was he able to regain himself. And apparently, even that was a feat.
So, Kairi made it her personal mission to pull him out of his dark thoughts. He always answered her patiently, so she could only assume he appreciated it.
"Riku, can I ask you something?"
"Shoot."
"Why is Ventus only being tested for Master now? He's been training for at least ten years. You only trained for four before your exam."
"Well, I'm not sure, honestly. But I have thought about it. Now, I know that when Master Xehanort brought Ventus to Master Eraqus, he wasn't really himself."
"Wait, who's Master Xehanort?"
"You know, the creepy old bald man? He was there for my exam."
She frowned. "Hmm, I guess I don't remember him...oh! He has a keyblade with an eye in it, right?"
"That's him!"
"Gee, I almost forgot about him. Anyway, Master Xehanort brought Ventus...?"
"Right, when Ven arrived, he was...basically a husk. His heart had been damaged. Unlike you, he wasn't born with a heart of light, someone had stripped the darkness from it. And in the process, broke his heart in half."
"That's awful!" She cried, her heart aching for Ven.
"So he has had to relearn everything. I think Master Eraqus didn't want to burden him with the idea of Master before he was ready."
"That makes sense then. I just...always wondered why he wasn't a Master yet. Hopefully he does well today. What do they look for in the exam?"
"Well, I guess it depends on the fighter. When I was tested, Master Eraqus didn't look at my strength or accuracy, since I had that when I started. He looked at my magic, and to see if I could control the darkness in my heart in dire situations. I had to learn the hard way that relying on darkness for strength had more consequences than benefits. But you would know that already, so you wouldn't be tested on it. Nor would you on healing magic."
Kairi nodded, understanding. "What do you think are my weaknesses then? What should I work on?"
"I think it's important for every keyblade wielder to be able to hold their own in battle, without any magic. Using strength and the environment to their advantage."
"Like Terra?"
"Yeah, he's really good at that. Also knowing when you can't fight or shouldn't fight is wise. Knowing when to run from battle, or to ask for help."
"Got it."
"But Kairi, honestly, you've only been studying for a year, and you're doing awesome. Just keep working hard and you'll get there in no time. I mean it."
She grinned at him. "Thanks Riku, I'll do my best!"
He offered a smirk before turning his attention back to the trees. Then he sighed, "this would be so much easier if I knew what we were looking for. Like, a giant door, or the inside of a big ass tree."
"And there's no one to ask, either."
They reached a grove, separated by roots and rocks. They went different paths, but stayed close enough together to not lose one another.
And then came the chattering.
"Do you hear that?" Kairi asked softly.
"Yeah, sounds like...monkeys."
Kairi's gaze went up along a rock face. "Those aren't monkeys!"
Two dozen heartless, blue in color and resembling monkeys hung on the rock. And all of their attention was on the two below.
"Ready Kai?"
"Mhm!" She nodded, summoning her blade.
The heartless pounced, attacking with flurries of claws, while others volleyed coconuts at them from the sidelines. For every one she killed, two more would take its place. Riku had her back, so she focused her efforts to the front. Kairi just kept on fighting, unwittingly letting the heartless lead her farther and farther away from her partner.
Then she ran out of mana.
Now it was down to just her brute strength.
"There's no shame in asking for help!" She reminded herself. "Riku! Riku I need help!"
But he was no where to be seen, just Heartless as far as the eye could see.
"Can't run away…" she still tried, taking refuge behind a boulder. "At least I can use the environment to my advantage!" The heartless were quickly approaching her, so she dove under a cluster of tree roots, using them as a shield. The coconuts thumped against the hold, and Kairi tried to catch her breath and allow her mana to replenish.
But then she heard the distinct sound of the Heartless being slain. The sound they made when releasing their hearts.
When it was quiet, she poked her head out.
"Riku?"
But Riku was not who she saw. Instead, there was a boy, about her age, crouched not too far from her hiding place.
He turned and looked at her, and all the world froze as they realized what they were seeing.
He was skinny and dirty, his corded muscles visible under his tan skin. He was covered in scars, particularly a large 'X' shape on his chest. His brown hair was spiked in every direction, and a few sticks stuck out of the locks.
And he was only wearing a loin cloth.
Kairi opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but couldn't find the words. Not even a 'thank you'.
"Kairi!" Riku's voice came from somewhere behind her,
Out of reflex, she called back, "Riku! Over here!" But as she turned back around, the stranger was gone without a trace.
"Wait!" She called out, in vain. "Come back!"
Riku climbed over a root to get to her. "There you are! You okay?"
"I—there—he—boy!" She pointed to where the young man had been.
"What?"
"I saw a boy!"
Riku placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, "I think you're hysterical."
"I am not! I really did see him!"
"I believe you! I do! But you're hyperventilating. Let's go back to camp and meet up with everyone. Then you can tell the others about what you saw. 'Kay?"
She nodded, still looking around for some hint of the stranger. There was nothing. "Okay…"
—
Back at camp, Kairi ate without a word as Ventus excitedly recapped their morning.
"...and we figured out that the big fruit was causing the heartless to spawn so rapidly! So once Aqua destroyed it, we poofed the rest of them! Then the gorillas actually came out and studied us! It was really scary at first, but they gave me a banana! It was so cool!"
"That is awesome, Ven!" Riku praised. "How's the test? Are you a master yet?"
"Not quite yet," Terra said, optimism in his voice. "But he did a great job!"
Aqua explained, "One of the things we're supposed to look for was Ven's prioritizing abilities. He can get tunnel vision sometimes, but he made sure to slay any heartless that came anywhere near the gorillas first. I think that's why they gave him a present."
Ventus beamed.
"Well, glad to hear it Ven! I knew you could do it!"
"What about you guys? Any luck?"
Riku grinned. "Well, we didn't find the heart, but Kairi saw something."
At this, the group noticed that Kairi had been quiet up until now.
"Really?" Asked Terra, "What did you see?"
"I saw a person, a boy."
"What?!" The other three gasped, quite loudly.
"Why didn't you say anything sooner?!" Asked Aqua. "What happened?"
"He saved me. Riku and I got ambushed by a lot of heartless, the same kind you saw. And in the fight I got separated from Riku, and then I used up all my magic. I was hiding when...when he came. I only saw him for a little bit before he left."
"Did he say anything?"
"Not a word."
"What did he look like?"
"He...He was—" Now, Kairi was known across the worlds as not only a Princess, but a very smart, mature, level-headed young woman. So it was a little surprising when she automatically responded, "he was cute."
The boys all snickered as Aqua gave her a sympathetic gaze.
Kairi stammered. "N-No! I mean—! He was ripped! No! He—"
"Kairi," Aqua spoke between giggles. "You're going to have to be a little more descriptive than that."
She sighed, her face red. "He was pretty thin, young. He had brown, wild, spiky hair. And he had a lot of scars, a really big 'X' shaped one on his chest. And...he was only wearing a loin cloth."
Terra and Aqua looked at each other, deep in thought.
"Did he have a weapon?"
Now that she thought about it, she hadn't seen anything in his hands, but he had disposed of several heartless. Had he done so with his bare hands?
"Not that I saw," she finally answered.
"Could you see his eye color?"
"No, he was too far away." But she had a hunch they were blue, if it was the same boy from early this morning.
Aqua spoke softly, mostly just to Terra. "What if it's him?"
Terra shook his head. "What if it's not?"
"But Terra, what if it is? What are we going to do? He's been alone out here for ten years! And even if it isn't, this boy should be with people!"
"Who are you talking about, exactly?" Riku asked.
Instead of answering, Terra simply argued back, "Sora died. We saw all the evidence. And that boy sounds like he's doing just fine here. It would be shocking to rip him away from his home."
"We never found his body, Terra!" Aqua grew passionate. "Please let me hope!"
Terra sighed, but said nothing.
"Maybe," began Kairi, "whoever he is, he could give us a hint to finding the heart of the world?"
The group looked to Terra, watching him consider.
"Alright. If we can befriend this guy, we'll see if he'll help us. Just...be careful out there guys."
