AN: Yes, I know, this is a SUPER late update. I have been suffering from writer's block on Sora's next chapter so I decided to go ahead and sort of do a catch-up on Riku and Kairi this chapter. The next few chapters will feature continuations of Riku and Kairi's stories so I hope you enjoy.

Riku was surrounded. Nearly fifty Neoshadows were all around him. Sweat poured down his face as Riku awaited the Heartless to make their move and swarm him. Suddenly, a ball of light began leaping around through the crowd of Neoshadows, destroying some and scattering the others. Once the Heartless were scattered, Riku easily sliced through the stragglers. Riku sliced through the last of the Neoshadows and turned to his partner.

"Thanks," Riku said.

"No problem, Riku," Mickey responded happily.

Riku and Mickey had been traveling through the Realm of Darkness since they left Destiny Islands almost two weeks ago. The two keyblade wielders were no strangers to this realm. After the defeat of Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness, the two had been locked away in it in order to seal the door.

A growling noise caught both of their attention and they both summoned up there Keyblades. From out of the darkness, appeared an immense Heartless. This particular Heartless looked like a giant combination of the Dark Thorn and the Behemoth. Perhaps the most frightening aspect of this creature, however was its glowing red eyes. Mickey blasted the creature with an orb of light and the creature leaped back into the darkness as quickly as it had come.

"Is it gone?" Riku asked.

"Don't count on it!" Mickey responded.

Behind them, in the darkness, two glowing red eyes watched their every move. Riku felt that uncomfortable sensation that you have when you know you're being watched. Riku turned around just in time to see two glowing red eyes disappear into the darkness. Riku stood there petrified, too frightened to speak.

Riku wasn't normally frightened by creatures of the darkness. Normally, they fell within a few easily swings of the keyblade. However, there was something about this particular Heartless that sent shivers down Riku's spine. Riku was still frozen in place until the King's voice pulled him out of the trance.

"Riku! Look out!"

Riku turned around just in time to avoid being turned into a human pancake. He rolled out of the way of the Heartless and summoned up all of the light and strength inside of him. In one masterful lunge, Riku projected himself right through the beast as if he were a human bullet. The creature writhed in agony as the open wound began pouring out darkness. The Heartless leaped back into the darkness whence it came.

"You okay, Riku?" Mickey asked.

Riku nodded. But suddenly, something caught Riku's attention. On a floating piece of stone stood a cloaked figure. Riku began to run towards the figured and leaped from platform to platform after the man. From somewhere behind him, Riku could make out the faint sound of Mickey calling after him but it didn't matter to him. All that mattered was this cloaked man.

Something about this cloaked figured stirred up powerful emotions inside of Riku, even though he had no idea of who this man was. However, whoever he was, the man put off a potent stench of Darkness, so strong that it could be detected even over the dark stench of the very realm. The figured turned to Riku as he landed on the same floating platform.

"Who are you?" Riku asked angrily.

The man laughed.

"You wish to see the face beyond this hood. Then I shall not disappoint."

The man removed his hood and Riku's eyes went wide with surprise.

"Not you! NOT YOU!" Riku called out.

Kairi sat on the Paopu Tree with Pluto. Sitting. Watching. Waiting. She turned to the faithful dog sitting next to her.

"What good am I doing sitting here?" Kairi asked.

She wasn't sure who she was asking, though. Pluto couldn't respond or understand and there was no one around to hear her. She decided that she had been asking herself that question. She began to think harder. She was a keyblade wielder too! There was no reason why she shouldn't be out there too. She had been left behind on the island for too many times. It was time to act!

"C'mon, Pluto," Kairi said to the dog, "We're not just going to wait around."

Pluto looked at her curiously.

"I'm a Princess of Heart, remember," Kairi said more to reassure herself than Pluto, "I'm not sure why but somehow I can feel that I have to power to visit other worlds on the strength of my heart alone. Am I making sense?"

Pluto just kept staring at her.

"No," Kairi thought aloud, "Of course not."

Kairi gripped onto her good luck charm and thought back to when she was younger. In school, they always used to make these good luck charms. They called them Wayfinders and a little rhyme went along with them. Kairi remember and said it out loud.

"Wayfinder. Find me the way. Through bright and dark. Through Night and Day."

Suddenly, Kairi felt as though something were pulling her. Winds began to swirl around her, Pluto's barks became louder and more urgent, and, yet, she was not afraid. She was confident in herself and in her heart. She wasn't going to just sit on the sidelines and wait.

Kairi awoke to Pluto licking her face in some sort of back alley. When she opened her eyes, something in the back of her heart remembered this as if she had been in this exact situation before. Kairi stood up and began to look around this world. Something about this place was extremely familiar.

Pluto began to bark. Kairi whirled her head to see what it was. She gasped at what she saw. There, in a pile of junk was an old and worn out sign with the words Welcome to Traverse Town printed on it.