Sora met up with Kairi at a door which led to a closed off section of the islands they called home. The group of islands was called Destiny Islands and this was where Sora and Riku had lived all of their lives. Kairi had arrived here some time ago, but she had been born and raised in another world. Since she had come to live on the islands, though, she had become best friends with both Sora and Riku and the adults often commented of how they rarely saw one of these children without the other two far behind.
"So, can you gather the rest of the supplies? Sora, are you listening to me?" Kairi's voice began to take a slightly irritated tone as she could tell her friend was daydreaming again. It seemed more and more these days that Sora was thinking of something else entirely. He was slightly annoyed at her pointed tone and glared back at her.
"Yeah, I heard you," he grumbled. Kairi seemed oblivious to Sora's annoyance and smiled brightly before giving him orders on what he was to gather.
"Okay, here's what you need to go find: two logs, one cloth, and one rope. Bring everything back here. If you need help, just ask. I'm counting on you!" Walking away to look, Sora couldn't quite fight the sense of joy that Kairi was relying on him for something. She very rarely if ever asked Riku to do something important, for what reason Sora didn't know. He began looking for items along the shoreline and was soon rewarded when he spotted a log sitting. As he made his way through the island gathering various things, Sora was up on the wooden walkway he had seen in his dream before. There was the same boy with unruly sandy-coloured hair, swinging a red pole around quite happily. The boy stopped practising with his weapon when he saw Sora approaching.
"Hey Sora, feelin' up to a little competition?" he asked almost tauntingly. He knew how Sora loved to compete and become stronger, and wasn't proved wrong on this occasion.
"You asked for it, Tidus!" Sora replied in a light-hearted manner, wanting to beat his friend soundly.
"Alright, let's go!" Tidus yelled happily. They squared off, with Tidus leaping through the air and trying several times to knock Sora hard on the head. Meanwhile, Sora was swinging his own wooden sword around and trying to hit his friend, but always falling short of the target. Soon, Tidus stopped his attacks and simply started to taunt Sora, saying things like he couldn't catch a cold and so on. This gave Sora the chance he needed, as he leapt into the air and smacked into Tidus a couple of times with his sword. Sprawled out on the beach, Tidus was surprised when he raised his hand to his face and discovered a good nose-bleed which had been given to him by Sora.
"Aw man, you really clobbered me," Tidus groaned. Shrugging his shoulders while not looking in the least bit repentant, Sora walked over to the pier where the girl from his dream was sitting. Her brown hair was sticking out at the bottom and she was wearing the same yellow dress. She was gazing out at the horizon, seeming to be very relaxed with the world.
"Ah, the breeze feels great," she murmured happily, "What're you up to these days? We never see you." Not wanting to share with the girl in case she told his parents, Sora tried to think of a way to distract her instead.
"Wanna duel?" he asked enthusiastically. This seemed to have the desired effect on the girl as she got to her feet and exclaimed "All right! Now you're talking!" They went down onto the beach again where Tidus was nursing his bloody nose with a piece of cloth.
"Are you sure about this, Selphie?" Sora asked gently, giving the much smaller girl a chance to forfeit the duel if she wanted to. Her blue eyes glittered with determination and it was obvious she had no wish to surrender.
"Ok, don't hold back!" she replied stoically. Sora barely dodged her initial attack when Selphie leaped forward with her skipping ropes swinging. Time and time she jumped in on the defensive and then back out, always somehow managing to stay clear of Sora's reach with his sword. He could tell she was growing cocky, as she kept hitting him with her ropes and they were leaving bruises where they couldn't be seen but he felt them. He simply stood and waited for her attack. When she threw her ropes in again, Sora was able to counter them with his sword and sent them back to hit the girl. Dazed and confused from the blow, she staggered around and this gave Sora the opening he needed. He leapt in and smacked her repeatedly with the sword. She began stamping her feet and threw her skipping ropes onto the beach before marching off in a huff.
"Oh, I can't believe I lost!" Selphie's parting words made Sora start laughing hysterically. She always took things too seriously when it came to duelling. As he turned, he spotted the young man from his dream with the quaff of orange hair and the beach ball. The man appeared to be very relaxed and didn't bat an eyelid when Sora approached.
"Hey, what's happening, man?" he asked in a mellow manner. Sora smiled back in response, loving his friend's relaxed approach to life.
"Hey Wakka, I'm just having fun duelling anyone that'll go a round with me," he replied eagerly. Wakka reached behind his back and brought out his beach ball and began to spin it on his index finger of his right hand.
"Yo! You up for a round?" he asked Sora with a hint of fire in his eyes. Sora smiled and nodded, getting his sword out to have a go. "Yeah, let's play!" he said happily.
"Play is for kids, this is serious," Wakka shot back, "show me your stuff." He started to throw his beach ball at Sora, which almost hit the boy every single time. Knowing he couldn't be on the defensive forever, Sora stopped and decided to employ a risky strategy which would easily backfire on him. The first couple of times it did as the ball hit Sora hard on the shoulder and then on his chest. The third time the ball came in, though; it was successfully deflected back with a strike of the wooden sword. Sora's plan worked, as Wakka was dazed from the powerful blow and began to stagger around. Seizing the opportunity, Sora ran in and hit the older man a few times until he held his hands up in submission. He then clutched his head, rubbing the area which had been smacked a number of times with both his beach ball and the wooden sword.
"Aw man, that really hurt," he groaned irritably. Smiling and feeling thoroughly pleased with himself, Sora decided to make his way back to Kairi with the things he'd collected. His body was aching from the battles and blows he'd received, his mind exhausted with everything it had been through. He still felt that what he had apparently dreamt was more than a mere dream. He tried not to dwell on it now, though, as he spoke to Kairi about the things he had gathered.
"Hey Kairi, here's the stuff you asked me to get for you," he said when handing the items over. It was worth it for the boy to see her entire face light up as if he'd handed her the most valuable object in the universe. The joy written on Kairi's face was definitely worth collecting what seemed like pointless items to Sora any time.
"Thanks, Sora! I found something today, too. Here, it's yours," she replied, handing over a bottle of Hi-Potion. Not sure what to do with it, Sora shoved the bottle into one of the pockets in his red shorts. Kairi could apparently read his mind and see how exhausted her good friend was.
"Tired? Want to call it a day?" she asked gently. Sora nodded, feeling the adrenalin which had previously been coursing through his veins start to wear off.
"Yeah, let's go home," he barely stifled a yawn as he said this, feeling terribly drained and wanting nothing more than his soft bed to lie in.
"Okay. It is getting late. We'll finish up tomorrow," Kairi responded gently, taking Sora along the beach by holding one of his hands. They went up and over to a nearby island where their third friend was waiting. All three of them rested against a fallen tree and looked out to watch the sunset on the horizon.
"So, Kairi's home is out there somewhere, right?" Sora asked, turning to look at the older boy whose eyes never left the skyline.
"Could be. We'll never know by staying here," his voice betrayed a tone of impatience and desire. There were things out there he was desperate to see, wanting so eagerly to see for himself.
"But how far could a raft take us?" Sora's question was full of doubt. He couldn't really see where a raft could take them in relation to other worlds that lay beyond Destiny Islands. The other boy merely shrugged and waved his hand dismissively as he replied.
"Who knows? If we have to, we'll think of something else," his words showed he really wasn't going to let anything get between him and the worlds he had yet to discover.
"So, suppose you get to another world. What would you do there?" Kairi enquired.
"Well, I 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 did we end up on this one? And suppose there are other worlds... Then ours is just a little piece of something much greater. So we could have just as easily ended up somewhere else, right?" His deep words took a short time to sink in with Sora and Kairi. Their friend had really been thinking long and hard about all of this. Still feeling the fatigue of his earlier battles, Sora let his body flop down against the tree he had been sitting on.
"I don't know," his only concern at that moment was getting a good night's sleep. Travelling and seeing other worlds could wait until the next day as far as he was concerned.
" Exactly, that's why we need to go out there and find out. Just sitting here won't change a thing. It's the same old stuff. So let's go," the older boy's insistence on going drew Kairi's and Sora's attention more as he continued to press on about it all.
"You've been thinking a lot lately, haven't you?" Kairi's voice was tinted with a slight tone of concern that her friend was getting rather obsessed with leaving.
"Thanks to you. If you hadn't come here, I probably would've never thought of any of this. Kairi, thanks," as he spoke, the boy finally turned away from the skyline to look the girl in the face. She blushed and giggled slightly with all the praise she was getting.
"You're welcome," she said, not really sure what else to say at that point. The three of them began to walk over the bridge to the main island, ready to make their ways back to their homes and parents.
"Sora!" the older boy called out, attracting Sora's attention as he stopped and turned. The boy threw a star-shaped fruit to Sora, and he barely caught it in his hands. He looked back questioningly, wondering why he had been given one of these.
"You wanted one, didn't you?" the older boy asked simply. Sora turned the fruit over and over between his hands, looking at it from all angles curiously.
"A paopu fruit...I don't understand, Riku," Sora replied, unsure of the significance of having a paopu fruit. He had mentioned to his friend that he always wanted one to see what it tasted like, but he had been unable to climb the tree which these fruits grew from. Riku pushed past the smaller boy and explained as he walked.
"If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They'll remain a part of each other's lives no matter what. C'mon, I know you want to try it," his voice had taken on a teasing quality to it, making good fun of what he could see that Sora couldn't yet.
"What are you talking.." Sora muttered, only hearing Riku's laughter in response. He threw the fruit away and ran after the older boy.
While this was all happening on Destiny Islands, in another world far away, there were happenings of a different nature occurring within a very grand castle. With several turrets that stretched high into the sky with cone-shaped roofs on each of them, this residence was very well known and admired by the subjects who lived in the kingdom. Within these walls, a young duck with white feathers, a purple hat with an unusual spiral at the tip and purple tunic was making his way along one of the corridors. He paid no attention to the bucket-bearing brooms who were walking in the opposite direction, his mind was elsewhere with the job at hand. He only stopped walking once he was standing in front of a very large set of purple doors with a black insignia of mouse's ears just over halfway up them. The doors were roughly ten times the height of the duck, but he didn't mind their enormous height. Clearing his throat, he knocked once on one of the doors and was rewarded when a much smaller door which was built into the mammoth one opened for him. He walked into the very large and spacious throne room, starting his usual morning greeting as he walked.
"Good morning, Your Majesty. It's nice to see you this morn-What!" As he had walked along the long red carpet, he was suddenly aware that his king was not sitting in the golden throne at the other end. Instead, a yellow dog with black ears appeared from behind the throne with an envelope between its jaws. The duck called the dog over and took the envelope out before reading the letter. The contents were so alarming, he fled the throne room in a blind panic. He only stopped his insane sprint when he had reached the castle gardens. Sleeping among the flowers, a dog-faced knight was unaware of what was going on around him.
"Wake up, Goofy, wake up! This is serious!" the duck realised his shouting wasn't going to waken his friend, so he pointed up to the sky, muttered under his breath and shot a jolt of thunder at the sleeping knight's stomach. Sitting up abruptly, Goofy looked around while trying to get his bearings. Finally his gaze settled upon the face of his short-tempered friend.
"Hey there, Donald. G'morning," he was cut short in his usual friendliness by Donald's ramblings.
"We've got a problem, Goofy! But don't tell anyone..." he stated firmly, emphasising the need for secrecy on this matter. Goofy appeared to be quite alarmed by this piece of news.
"Queen Minnie?" he enquired. This served to make Donald even more irritated; as he was trying to make it clear to Goofy that something was very wrong.
"Not even the queen," he growled, holding his head high to state his point. Goofy appeared to not notice how flustered his friend was becoming with each passing second.
"Daisy?" he asked and finally, Donald blew his top.
"No! It's top secret!" he screamed back. Goofy looked past Donald and waved politely before saying "G'morning, ladies" This resulted in Donald tensing and turning around slowly, saying "What?". He found himself looking rather sheepishly into the faces of a pretty female mouse and female duck wearing elegant gowns and looking rather angrily at him and wanting some answers.
On Destiny Islands, the group of friends were up and talking about their raft in the section of the island they loved the best. It was sealed off to most of the inhabitants due to it being in a terrible state of disrepair, but the kids liked to come here and hang out. Also, this was where Riku and Sora enjoyed testing each others' strength to the fullest. On this morning, they were discussing the raft and what to call it. Riku wanted to name it Highwind while Sora had opted for the name Seeker. Kairi arrived just as the boys decided on a fair way to choose the raft's name.
"You guys at it again? All right, I'll be the judge. The usual rules apply: take any route you want... first one to tag that tree and make it back here wins," she declared the rules of the race. The boys took their positions and Sora decided to raise the stakes of the race to make it more interesting.
"If I win, I'm captain! And if you win..." he faltered, trying to think of something that Riku could get if he won the race instead. What was said next completely threw him, though, as Riku said "I get to share the paopu with Kairi" He thought at first that he'd heard wrong and decided to double check.
"Huh?" but the look on Riku's face showed that he was deadly serious with his suggestion. Sora could hardly believe what was being said, the thing being put on the line as a wager.
"Deal? The winner gets to share a paopu with Kairi," he was really wanting to bet on their friendship with Kairi, use her like a pawn to prove that he was better than Sora if he won the race and shared that fruit with her.
"Wha... Wait a minute..." he stammered, but it was too late. Kairi had counted down and the race was under way. Although he tried his hardest, Sora was beaten by Riku and it was a bitter blow to his ego. He didn't really care too much if the raft was to be called Highwind, he just wanted to put as much space between himself and Riku as possible at that point. Deciding to go see Kairi and forget about the silly wager, Sora found her standing on the raft which was moored in the small inlet that the cove offered. She looked up and smiled warmly at him, noting how upset he was after losing the race. Saying nothing, she pulled out a familiar-looking star-shaped fruit from behind her back. Before he could object, Sora found a chunk of the fruit being shoved into the palm of his hand and he saw Kairi eat the other portion. After he too ate the paopu, he was relieved when Kairi spoke to him as though nothing had happened out of the ordinary.
"Today we collect provisions for our trip! Let's see, Sora, you're looking for... one seagull egg, three mushrooms, two coconuts, three fish and fill this up with drinking water. But not from the ocean!" she handed him an empty glass bottle, which he kept a tight grip of. After saying he could ask for help if he needed it and to bring everything back to her, Kairi gently gave Sora a shove to send him on his way. Exploring the island and finding the things which Kairi requested eventually saw Sora in the secret place where he, Riku and Kairi often liked to go. They had spent many a happy day in this little cave, doing drawings on the rocks. There was one drawing in particular which he was very fond of. It was a sketch of himself and Kairi together; he slowly drew his fingers over the rock surface as his mind cast back to the day that they drew this scene together. They were a couple of years younger, not friends for very long and had done a picture of one another. Inspired by the events a short time ago, Sora reached around and took one of the chalk rocks he often used to draw pictures in the cave. He then etched a star going from himself to Kairi, symbolising the sharing of the paopu fruit. A chill suddenly crept up his spine, he was no longer alone. Getting to his feet, he turned to face whoever was standing behind him. There was a person wearing a dark brown hooded robe.
"Wh-Who's there?" he asked nervously. The stranger appeared to not have heard the question, for he spoke as if it had not been asked.
"I've come to see the door to this world," his voice was cold and empty of feeling. Everything about his mannerisms gave Sora a very bad feeling.
"Huh?" he couldn't think of anything else to say, as this man was really odd and Sora had never encountered his like before.
"This world has been connected," the stranger kept talking, almost as if Sora wasn't present. He was apparently observing the strange wooden board which had always been present in the secret cave.
"Wh-what are you talking about?" Sora kept asking questions, determined to make sense of what was happening.
"Tied to the darkness...soon to be completely eclipsed," the man's words were very foreboding as if she was speaking of some great doom. Flashbacks went through Sora's mind of the place he was certain he had been in before, with nothing but darkness around him on all sides. It had smothered him, consumed and claimed his body and soul for its own.
"Well, whoever you are, stop freaking me out like this. Huh? Wh-where did you come from?" he pressed on, at first trying to be really brave and shake off the terrible ice-cold fear which was trying to get a grip on his heart. Then, it dawned on him that this stranger could be from another world, the likes of which he, Riku and Kairi were trying so hard to travel to.
"You do not yet know what lies beyond the door," his cold voice had started to take on a bit of a condescending edge as well. Sora didn't pick up on this initially, as he was too excited thinking about this traveller who could be from another world. The first person to come to Destiny Islands since Kairi arrived a short number of years previously.
"So, you're from another world!" his response was perhaps too eager considering he had no way of knowing if this person was friendly or not. His instincts were telling him not to trust the stranger, that he brought terrible danger with him.
"There is so very much to learn. You understand so little," the condescending manner in which the hooded figure spoke now was definitely not missed by Sora this time. He couldn't help the anger rising within his heart. First Riku had humiliated him and now a stranger was talking to him as though he was a little kid.
"Oh, yeah? Well, you'll see. I'm gonna get out and learn what's out there!" he almost shouted back, making it clear to himself and this person who appeared to not think very much of the boy that he was more than what he appeared to be. If only he could meet the gaze of this person, show them who they doubted.
"A meaningless effort. One who knows nothing can understand nothing," seeing that he wasn't going to get anywhere with this stranger, Sora turned to look at the door-shaped board once again before turning to look back. He was shocked to see the hooded man had vanished as suddenly as he had appeared initially. There was definitely something very bizarre happening, Sora was sure of it. But, there was really nothing he could do at that point, so he continued to gather the supplies which Kairi had asked him to get. When he was certain that he had gathered everything, he raced back to the raft where Kairi was waiting for him. She was fidgeting with something between her hands, Sora couldn't quite make out what she was holding.
"Hey, what's that you're doing?" he asked, curiosity getting the better of him. She never took her eyes off the item which she was holding tenderly between her hands.
"This? I'm making a necklace of thalassa shells. In the old days, sailors always wore thalassa shells. They were supposed to ensure a safe voyage," she explained airily. She was only brought out of her reverie when she felt Sora tugging insistently at her elbow. Putting the necklace away safely in her pocket, she stood more upright rather than her previous pose of slouching against the mast of the raft. In his hands, Sora held all of the items his friend had requested. Her face lit up and the smile she shot him made Sora both elated and awkward at the same time. Before he could say anything, however, she spoke up first:
"Thanks, Sora! I found something today, too. Here, it's yours," she thrust a jar full of a strange green liquid Sora had never seen before. Not wanting Kairi to think he was ungrateful, he shoved the container into one of the pockets on the back of his shorts. He barely suppressed a yawn and a stretch as he watched her eyeing him almost warily.
"Tired? Want to call it a day?" she asked sweetly. After his encounter with the hooded stranger, Sora felt almost all of his energy leave his body. Now every muscle was craving a nice, warm bed to lie in for a few hours.
"Yeah, let's go home," he mumbled sleepily. Kairi surprised both of them when she linked arms with Sora and began walking both of them along the beach together away from the raft.
"Okay, tomorrow's the big day. We should rest up!" she agreed happily. Slipping into a comfortable silence, the friends walked along and parted to return to their homes to get dinner. Later on that evening, both of them ended up sitting on the dock facing out to the open ocean. Legs dangling off the edge watching the sun setting, it was like the rest of the inhabitants of Destiny Islands had simply vanished, leaving the friends to enjoy each others' company. Then, the silence was broken between them when Kairi spoke again.
"You know, Riku has changed," she said with a tone of nervousness in her voice. Sora immediately sat up more straight and turned his head to give Kairi his full attention.
"What do you mean?" he asked almost defensively. Although Riku was more like his rival than his friend, Sora couldn't help but be protective of the older boy. He was almost like the big brother he'd always wanted in a way. Kairi dropped her gaze before speaking, unable to meet Sora's eyes. She instead focused her eyes straight ahead to the horizon.
"Well..." she trailed off, not quite sure if she should tell him what she was thinking. Sora never took his gaze from her profile, trying to work out what was going through her head.
"You okay?" he asked more gently this time. It completely shocked him when Kairi suddenly looked round at him, taking her eyes from the setting sun.
"Sora, let's take the raft and go-just the two of us!" she exclaimed. Sora didn't know how to respond to this, he simply sat and tried to get his head around what Kairi had just asked him. It was totally random and he had never been in a situation like it before.
"Huh?" he stammered, cursing himself slightly for not forming a more intelligent response. The giggle Kairi emitted made him feel worse.
"Just kidding," she said hurriedly. Unknown to him, she could sense that her very true and honest question had thrown him completely. So, rather than put her dear friend in an awkward position, she opted for making the whole situation somewhat humorous. Sora for his part was scratching his head, trying to work out what this girl was all about.
"What's gotten into you? You're the one that's changed, Kairi," he said almost laughing as he did so. It was amusing the more he thought about how goofy and slightly dorky his friend was acting all of a sudden. She merely turned her gaze back to the horizon before speaking again.
"Maybe... You know, I was a little afraid at first, but now I'm ready. No matter where I go or what I see, I know I can always come back here. Right?" as she finished this time, she turned and looked Sora straight in the eye again. Her entire face was a strange expression, somewhere between hopeful and fearful.
"Yeah, of course!" he said enthusiastically. He felt a huge feeling of relief when Kairi turned to look back out at the sunset again. Her face was now a complete portrait of tranquillity, reflecting an inner peace which was now manifesting itself for other people to see.
"That's good. Sora, don't ever change," Once she said this, she stood up and maintained her gaze upon the horizon. Sora looked up in disbelief after a split second, not fully understand why she was speaking to him in such a manner. It was as if she would leave and never see him again.
"Huh?" he found himself stammering again. This time, Kairi barely heard his response as her thoughts and feelings were lying elsewhere, wanting other things than to be where she was, talking mindlessly with her close friend.
"I just can't wait. Once we set sail, it'll be great," her voice was very soft and soothed Sora's nerves. Anywhere that Kairi would go, he knew that he wouldn't be far behind. That was good enough for him to know.
Meanwhile, in the large castle far away, Donald, Goofy and the beautiful women were all standing in the library together. Donald was reading out the letter which had caused such an uproar earlier that day.
Donald,
Sorry to rush off without sayin' goodbye, but there's big trouble
brewin'. Not sure why, but the stars have been blinkin' out, one by one.
And that means disaster can't be far behind. I hate to leave you all
but I've gotta go check into it. There's someone with a "key"-the key to
our survival. So I need you and Goofy to find him, and stick with him.
Got it? We need that key or we're doomed! So go to Traverse Town and
find Leon. He'll point you in the right direction.
P.S.
Would ya apologize to Minnie for me? Thanks, pal.
"Oh, dear! What could this mean?" the glamorous female duck exclaimed. She began pacing backwards and forwards frantically, letting her fears get the better of her. The female mouse seemed to take this news better than her friend, for she just stood stock still and there was no change in her facial expressions.
"It means we'll just have to trust the king," she said softly, maintaining an air of dignity and control which was very becoming of a queen.
"Gawrsh, I sure hope he's all right," Goofy pondered out loud, bending his head slightly in concern. Donald on the other hand stepped forwards slightly and folded his arms tightly across his chest stubbornly. There was a lot to be done in a very short space of time, and the king had left him in charge to see that it was taken care of. He couldn't let his dear friend down.
"Your Highness. Don't worry, we'll find the king and this 'key'," he declared proudly. Goofy stepped forward as well at these words, chest puffed out slightly and head held high. The smile which graced the queen's face at the bravery and determination of these men made both of their spirits soar a bit higher.
"Thank you, both of you," the queen said gratefully. Her friend, the female duck had stopped her pacing sometime ago and was now standing at the monarch's side, facing the gallant boys.
"Daisy, can you take care of…" Donald started, but he didn't get to ask the full question before the female duck replied, sensing what it was he was asking of her.
"Of course. You be careful, now, both of you," she said in a manner which was both soft yet firm at the same time. The queen then gestured to the desk which was to her right hand side.
"Oh, and to chronicle your travels, he will accompany you," As she said this, both Donald and Goofy looked over at the desk for their new travelling companion. However, all that could be seen was the wide expanse of desk. Then, Donald suddenly spotted a small creature leaping up and down frantically near the corner closest to him. It was wearing a smart black jacket with tails, a small pair of brown leather trousers, a lilac coloured top hat and very smart shoes which were a mixture of brown and black.
"Over here!" he cried loudly, then stopped his frantic jumping when he knew that Donald could see him. As he stood still, Donald noticed as well as the smart black jacket, the little fellow was also wearing a red waistcoat. He looked very handsome and distinguished indeed.
"Cricket's the name. Jiminy Cricket, at your service," he said by means of an introduction. The little chap even took the courtesy of bowing politely while taking his hat off. There was definitely something very endearing about this little creature.
"We hope for your safe return. Please help the king," the queen pleaded gently, her control threatening to give way to the immense anxiety she was feeling inside. Donald immediately frowned solemnly as he placed his hand across his chest in a salute of loyalty to help his king in any manner he could. Turning to the side, he was shocked when Goody wasn't there doing it with him. Looking back to the ladies, however, he saw that his clumsy comrade was standing beside them, saluting lamely while hoping to be overlooked for the dangerous mission. This was not to be the case for him on this day, as Donald grabbed him by the arm and dragged him through the library doors, screeching:
"You're coming, too!"
As the trio make their way down the darkened, winding stairwell, the king's soldiers are taking some time to become better acquainted with their new companion. Jiminy explains how he came to be in the castle with them after living in an entirely different world altogether.
"Gawrsh, Jiminy, your world disappeared, too?" Goofy exclaimed in shock, the idea of an entire world vanishing in the blink of an eye too horrific for him to imagine. The cricket shuddered from his perch upon Goofy's helmet as he relived that terrible night in his mind.
"It was terrible. We were scattered. And as far as I can see, I'm the only one who made it to this castle," he finished with finally. As they continued walking, Donald cast his eyes back towards Goofy, although he kept his face facing straight ahead.
"Goofy?" he prompted sternly. This jogged a memory with the knight as he once more spoke to Jiminy.
"Oh, right... I gotcha. While we're in the other worlds, we can't let on where we're from. We've gotta protect the world border," he announced, trying to sound very important and proper as he did so. This affect was immediately countered when Donald called back rather irritated.
"Order!"
"Right. World order," Goofy stated before letting out a crazy giggle. They kept on descending the staircase until eventually they were walking along a dark corridor towards a room with a crown-shaped door.
"I guess we'll need new duds when we get there, huh," Goofy enquired with Donald. The duck ignored his ditsy friend and they walked into the room behind the door. This new area was full of cogs and machinery, with turbines turning and engines pumping away furiously. In the centre of the room lay a small spaceship which was rectangular in shape with a triangle-shaped nose and cylindrical engines on either side. The group walked down onto the platform beside the ship and Donald leaned over slightly to should into a yellow pipe.
"Hello up there? Donald Duck to launch crew! Anytime you're ready," at the other end of the pipe, a chipmunk with a black nose saluted to the pipe while his teammate, a chipmunk with a red nose, dashed forward and pulled a lever in the control panel. This caused a large crane with a white glove-covered hand on the end of it to swoop down and pick Goofy and Donald up in its grasp. It carried them one by one to the cockpit of the spaceship and drop them in there. Unseen by either of them, the same yellow dog with black ears which had held the letter from the king earlier that day ran and jumped into the ship behind them. As the mouse-shaped launch doors opened, the queen and her lady-in-waiting, Daisy, watched as the brave trio set off on their precarious journey. Donald, spying his beautiful girlfriend, smiled warmly at her, winked and gave her a thumbs up as the engine started. Pointing ahead, he cried out:
"Blast off!" before the platform beneath their ship gave way and they plummeted into the darkness. Donald's squeals of irritation filtered up through the pipe to the girls waiting above. Dropping out of the bottom of their world, Goofy, Donald and Jiminy blast off into the great unknown of space. Back in Destiny Islands, Sora was resting on his bed, gazing at his ceiling before looking out into the dark night sky. Although physically tired, his mind was too active for sleep to come to him. Tomorrow would be the start of the adventure he, Riku and Kairi had been working towards for some time. Kairi's beautiful voice filtered through his mind, the phrase she had used earlier that night lingering with him.
"I just can't wait. Once we set sail, it'll be great." Casting his restless gaze once more back out of his window, he was stunned to see black thunderclouds above the main island where he and his friends had been playing earlier that day. Bolts of white lightening could be seen from his room striking the ground.
"A storm? Oh, no, the raft!" Wasting no time, Sora climbed out of his window and raced over to where the raft was moored. His mother's voice called up into the room, trying to lure him down for his dinner.
"Sora, dinner's ready. Come on down. Sora?" As she entered the bedroom, she could see her son was nowhere to be found. His bedroom window lay open wide, betraying where he had gone. Over on the other island, Sora stood stock-still in amazement as he looked up into the sky a giant swirling orb of black, blue and red had appeared in the sky, giving off a malevolent aura to anyone close to it.
"What's that?" Sora muttered out loud more to himself than if anyone else was around him to ask. Suddenly, his attention was caught when spied a glimpse of a couple of small boats out of the corner of his eye. They looked very familiar, indeed too familiar for his liking.
"Riku's boat, and Kairi's!" Before he could concentrate on finding his friends on the island, Sora could only stare in amazement as strange creatures began to emerge from the ground. Black with small antennae sprouting from their heads and yellow eyes which held no emotions within them, Sora was shaken deeply as he recognised these monsters from the strange dream he had experienced that morning on the beach. Now, however, it was obvious that this was indeed on dream. Drawing his wooden sword from his long shorts, he charged head-on into the centre of them all and began slashing wildly at them as he had done in his dreams.