They had not returned to that world, but Goofy remembered the hours spent in the jungle as clearly as he remembered his first mosquito bite.
It all started with a dispute. Donald had collided with Sora from the very first moment, and after a long and arduous journey through space the tension between them had only grown. In the end, the inevitable confrontation erupted. Sora wanted to land, convinced that he would end up finding some clue to the whereabouts of his friends; Donald was adamantly opposed to lingering a single second on the mission entrusted to them by Queen Minnie.
The struggle for control of the ship had led to a forced landing in a dense forest infested with dangers. The situation in which they were involved when they put their feet on the ground was not worth celebrating. The ship broke down and Sora got lost in the jungle, although this last detail seemed to be the least of the wizard's problems.
"That damn kid!" Donald bellowed as he kicked the gumi blocks to which the ship had been reduced. "Who needs him? We are better without him."
Goofy knew he didn´t mean it. The duck was undoubtedly worried, although he was not so sure if his concern was merely instrumental; after all, they needed the chosen one to restore the balance between the worlds.
While being aware of the scope and responsibility of his mission, Goofy could not avoid stopping on the emotional side of the matter: the physical integrity of a child. If Sora had his head as hollow as he surely would have survived the fall, but the jungle seemed so inhospitable and incomprehensible...Goofy tried to scare away his worries. Being an islander, Sora should know how to peel coconuts and climb palm trees.
"Don´t despair, Donald," he reminded his irate companion. "Remember that the great Yen Sid..."
"I know, I know," Donald croaked.
He was the magician of the court and, therefore, no one had the right to teach him any lessons. He was an expert in magical theory, experimentation, trial and error. He well knew that despair was one of the entry doors into darkness. And yet, he couldn´t help but be indulgent with his outbursts.
At that time, Donald sensed what not too much later King Mickey would know first-hand: that the repression of vice associated with darkness doesn´t necessarily lead to virtue.
After counting to ten to calm down, they resumed their march through the dense vegetation. The air was loaded with moisture, which made the heat unbearable, especially for two creatures with a natural coat.
"At least we're protected from mosquitoes," said Goofy. "Poor Sora".
"He has it well deserved," said Donald. "He has changed our course and has been about to kill us."
"Sora would never do that," Goofy said. "He just wanted to go down for a while to ask about his friends Kairo and Rika. We promised to find them."
"According to our list of priorities, that is not the first issue we must attend."
"But we're also looking for a friend, right?"
Donald's tail feathers bristled.
"Our mission is not reduced to that. We pursue a greater purpose. If the brat is not able to see beyond his own nose, then he will not be a worthy bearer of the key."
Donald always had the last word, but Goofy, in his clumsy and indiscreet way, often managed to break the firm determination of the duck. It was hard to ignore the fact that his mission and his desire to find the king were bordering on the road ahead, while Sora was in a more delicate situation. Donald couldn´t imagine what he would do to be in his same position. He considered himself a very rational duck, but he also had the mentality of a butler willing to do everything to please his lord.
And Mickey had proved to be much more than that to him.
As midday approached and the heat grew to unbearable levels, the magician's anger was tempered in equal measure. When they finally found the boy in one of the camp huts in a clearing, Donald found it hard to hide his enthusiasm. During the time he had been lost, Sora had made friends with a guy in loincloth who claimed to have been raised by the gorillas in the area. Everyone needed urgent help and, of course, Sora had to be the first to dispense it. Donald was about to unleash a second confrontation, but, fortunately, the leader of the pack appeared at the appropriate time and informed them of the seriousness of the situation that his people were going through: it happened that a terrible hunter coming from across the sea had decided to hunt them with an army of dark and violent creatures.
Tying things together, Donald determined that it was an issue that would benefit from their attention.
"Well, the detour has been for good, right? "Goofy said at the end of this episode, after a bloody battle of which they had managed to succeed. "It's what I like about Sora: if he sees an injustice, nothing or nobody will make him look the other way. And his heart is never wrong."
"Yes, he is finally aware of the danger we are facing,"Donald admitted.
He was a worthy bearer of the key. All doubt had been cleared at the moment Donald saw him strike the last blow, the silhouette paralyzed in the air in offensive position, wrapped in the diffuse light of the jungle.
"And what about you, Donald?"
The magician grumbled something unintelligible and headed for the exit from the cockpit, only to run into Sora in the doorway. Donald raised his head with an air of dignity and asked, very seriously, if he discover the whereabout of his friends.
"No luck," said Sora, whose smile vanished in a second.
"Well, we'll find them."
And with that said, Donald left the cabin under the surprised look of Goofy.