TODAY is January 29th! Kingdom Hearts 3 has been released worldwide!

And so we have finally finished up this chapter! And now TheDeadGirlRisen (my co author in this) has made a cool cover art for this!

So sorry for the wait, but let's get to it!

Chapter 16

The following morning Sora woke up and got ready to head out to the island. He prepared what he needed to bring and then headed out to the docks area of the mainland. Soon he got to the docks and got into his small boat. On the way to the island Sora started to think things over for the day.

"So after I gather up the items we need for today, what do you guys think we should do first?" Sora asked with his thoughts. He always found it easier than verbally saying it, and plus he had gotten use to it over the years.

'We should train some more…' Vanitas said in a slightly worried sounding tone.

Ventus being perceptive asked, 'What is it?'

'I don't know… something feels different though.'

"What do you mean? Different how?" Sora thought-asked.

There was a pause for a moment before Vanitas responded. 'I'm not sure… be careful… whatever this is… it reminds me of pain, and destruction.'

'Hmm…' Ventus hummed as he thought things over. What Vanitas had to say did concern him, but he couldn't think of anything to say or ask back.

"Well… if you say so," Sora responded as they approached the island.

When Sora docked his boat he saw that Riku and Kairi were already there, as well as Selphie, Tidus and Wakka. He looked around to see them hanging out at different spots of the island. Thoughts from yesterday's conversation came back. He started to feel a little bad that he didn't train with any of them. Even though he wasn't as close with them, he still enjoyed the times when he did train with them. Sora started to feel conflicted again over the whole situation, and his feelings were obvious to sense. Sora started to walk by them as he first had to meet up with Kairi and Riku on the other side of the island.

Vanitas sighed. He felt as though Sora should just get over it, that it was no big deal, but he knew that Sora also somehow cared for other people's feelings. 'Just go fight with them today.'

"Huh? Really?" Sora asked, surprised at Vanitas's words. He was sure Vanitas would just tell him to forget about them again. But this really did surprise him.

Vanitas huffed in annoyance.

'Wow Vani said that without giving some rude remark about them. Sora, I think he's growing up,' Ventus said, as he had a hard time containing his laughter.

Vanitas growled at Ventus. 'Between the three of us you're the most stupidest one here.'

'But what does that make you then?' Ventus asked.

'It makes me smarter than you,' Vanitas retorted.

Sora chuckled as he listened to the small banter between Vanitas and Ventus. He remembered their banters use to be much harsher at one another for some reason, but over the years they both had lighten up about. Sora never figured out why that was, but didn't think he needed to ask about it.

Moments later Sora entered onto the other side of the island where Kairi and Riku were waiting. Riku was sitting off to the side after Sora came through the door that divided the sections of the island.

Sora walked over to him and sat down. "Hey Riku, what's up?"

"I'm thinking about the raft," Riku replied. "It still needs a name. I was thinking Highwind. What would you want to call it though?"

"Hmm…Let's see..." Sora hummed as he thought about the idea. "You guys have any ideas?"

'How about… Hm…' Ventus started to say as he thought the idea over. Suddenly a single word came to his mind, though he had no idea why. 'Wayfinder.'

"Wayfinder?" Sora asked.

'Yeah… I feel it means something… but I can't remember what,' Ventus replied with a sigh. It still bothered him that there was so much from his past he still couldn't remember.

'Well for me personally, I think giving a name to pieces of wood that are tied together is stupid and pointless,' Vanitas grumbled.

"It's the spirit of it though, all mighty sea vessels have to have a cool name!" Sora protested.

'This isn't a 'mighty sea vessel' it is just a small dinky looking raft that will probably fall apart as soon as a wave hits it and then you will end up drowning.'

Sora tensed up, but he did his best to keep a normal expression. He didn't want to worry or concern Riku over the situation. But he did start to worry on the inside. The imagery from his nightmare the other night came flooding back. The nightmare of losing Riku and Kairi at sea. He never did tell Vanitas and Ventus about the specifics of the nightmare… now he wish he had… because he knew Vanitas wouldn't be as harsh then about the situation.

Sora decided to push away Vanitas's thoughts and get back to the main conversation. "Well Ven says Wayfinder and Vanitas doesn't care. I like Ven's idea for Wayfinder."

"Hey, how about-"

"The usual?" Sora completed Riku's sentence with a grin.

"Let's do it!" Riku agreed with a nod.

The boys jumped to their feet as Riku and started to quickly prepare for their upcoming race. Kairi walked over closer to them as she giggled enthusiastically.

"You guys going to have another race? All right then! I'll be the judge. You guys know the usual, racing from here to the tree over there and then back again," Kairi instructed as she pointed to the large tree across half of the island.

Sora was excited as he enjoyed the competition against Riku, but he knew that Riku was still more agile than him. Sora stretched though as he still was ready for the race.

'You can do it Sora!'

'Remember the route we picked out last time, it should shave off a second or to which can help you win.'

Sora nodded in agreement as he and Riku took their places for where they would start the race. Just before they were going to start, Sora had one small idea he wanted to say to Riku.

"How about if I win, not only do we name the raft what I want, but also I get to be captain?"

Riku smiled. "All right, but that means you gotta beat me."

Sora smiled back, with confidence flowing across his face. "Yeah I will!"

Both boys then looked over to Kairi, who was ready to start the race. They took into their starting positions as Kairi started the countdown for the race to begin. As soon as she shouted 'go' boh Riku and Sora took off running as fast as they could across the bridge. At the start they were keeping good pace with each other, but slowly Riku started to pull ahead.

Sora took in a deep breath as he pushed himself to run a bit faster, though after a few seconds, his legs really started to feel it. Thankfully though he had made it past the bridge and decided to take the path that lead up a ladder to the mini zip line. This was the quicker way to the goal, but it was far tricker as Sora would have to jump across tree tops to make it there. He grabbed hold of the zipline handle and flew down to the platform at the other end of the island.

'Get ready to jump!'

Sora nodded as he prepared to make the jump across the treetops. He pushed all his energy and strength into jumping and pushed off the treetop. He landed easily onto the next treetop and steadied himself until he felt ready to jump to the next part. While the trees were different heights, Sora knew he could manage getting to each one as long as he jumped at the right time and edge of the tree.

Soon enough Sora found himself right before the rocky edge with the star check point. He quickly turned around and saw that Riku was closing in behind him. He jumped forward onto the platform and touched the star before jumping back towards the ground. He only had to make it back to Kairi now and he would be the winner. But he still had to keep ahead of Riku.

'Focus Sora. You can do this.' Vanitas commanded.

"Yeah I got this," Sora replied back quickly as he focused on running across the bridge.

He could hear the fast-paced footsteps of Riku behind him, but he didn't once look back. He kept going until he reached back where Kairi was.

"And Sora is the winner!" Kairi announced cheerfully.

Sora smiled as he pumped his fists into the air. "Yes! I did it!"

"You won this race like it's the biggest thing ever. It's not the first time you've done that," Riku said with a brief huff of air.

"Yeah, but I hardly ever win against you in races," Sora commented.

"Yeah I know…" Riku said as he glanced out to the ocean, not wanting to say anything else.

'Oh boo hoo Riku lost its the end of the world, you should tell your friend there to lighten up. He should be more happy for you.' Vanitas muttered with a snort.

"Oh quit your complaining." Ventus commented. "You know Riku truly is happy for Sora."

'Sure, sure… and that's why I feel negative emotions from him' vanitas replied before going quite.

"Don't be so harsh Vanitas. Riku just may be a bit sad that I still hold the winning streak right now." Sora said as he stretched a little, watching Riku walk off elsewhere on the island.

'Hmm' Vanitas hummed in agreement.

With nothing more from Vanitas or Ventus, Sora decided to make his way to where Kairi was, who was now standing on the raft that was resting on the shore. Once he was there Kairi smiled at him and spoke up. She told him about the food items that he would have to get for their trip, all of the items though would be things he could easily get from the island.

Sora made his way around the island, picking up the various items he needed. On his way through gathering things he ended up having brief talks with Selphie, Tidus and then Wakka. It didn't take long before Sora had gotten everything he needed for the day, so he headed back to drop off the items with Kairi. When he got back to her he saw that she was making something. A small object was in her hands as she was making small ties and knots in it.

"Whatcha got there Kairi?" Sora asked as he placed his items down.

Kairi look up at him. "This thing? 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. See this?"

Kairi held up the object for Sora to see. It wasn't complete, but Sora could see it was forming the shape of a star, but it was made up of seashells. "It's a charm to help us find each other if we ever get separated. The three of us will always be together."

"It looks familiar… kinda like… like a wayfinder." Ventus said softly and distantly.

Something about seeing the star-shaped object was pulling his attention to far off memories. Memories that were still blurry, but he knew whatever they were that they were important to him. Suddenly a faint voice from those memories seemed to be slightly clearer than before. The voice was hard to make out, but Ven was able to hear just a few small words. "...an unbreakable connection…nothing can ever drive you apart…. always find your way back to each other…"

Ventus gasped quietly. That voice. He knew that voice. But… who was it? Ventus recalled the time he had seen a flash of imaged through Sora's eyes. The blue haired woman was the first thought that came to mind. 'Was...that something… she said?'

"What are you talking about Ven?" Sora asked, snapping Ventus back to reality.

'I'm… not sure, I thought I remembered something. A lady with blue hair… and… I don't know… she seemed familiar.'

"What brought that about though? Did you remember anything about your home or anything else?" Sora asked, curious to see what it was that Ventus had remembered.

'The wayfinder Kairi showed you, the words she said, it just sparked something I guess.'

'A blue haired woman… that does seem familiar to me… along with a feeling of… spite… and hatred.' Suddenly Van growled. 'She… she had something… took something? That was mine. It was mine and she had no right to it.'

'What do you mean? What did she take?' Ventus asked, rather confused by what Vanitas had said.

'I don't know… what was it?' Vanitas huffed in anger. 'I don't know just that it was important to me. It belonged to me. It was mine.' He said posessively.

'You can't even remember what it is? How do I know you aren't just making this up or something?'

Vanitas growled, 'Oh like you remember everything clearly huh?! I'm trying to remember, but I'm not remembering what it is.'

Sora frowned, "Guys, please don't argue. I'm sure Van will remember in time. You two seem to be remembering things a lot more recently! Maybe you guys are finally getting your memories back!" He suggested excitedly.

'I really hope so… It would be nice to finally remember everything. The wayfinder was at least a bit helpful,' Ventus commented with a sigh.

Not knowing what else to really say to Ventus, Sora continued on his way to find things to do around the island. After a bit of wandering Sora decided to go to the secret hideout for a bit. Not just to look around, but also just relax. Sora entered the tunnel of the dark and shadowy cave like he always did. Nothing felt out of the ordinary, but for some reason Sora felt a quick chill down his spine. He tried to not pay any attention to it and continued on.

And that ends that for now. More to come when we get the chance and all.

BIG thanks to everyone who has been reading this. We never expected it to get so popular. So thank you so much!