Notes before the actual story, Repliku is called Kurow in this Au for obvious reasons.

"Sora…? Come on, you goofball."

Clear blue eyes blinked opened, squinting in the harsh sunlight. The sound of waves crashing against the shore filled his ears. Looking uphill on the beach, a girl with short red hair smiled at him, laughing.

"Oh! It's just you, Kairi. Sorry. I was lying down and I guess I dozed off." Sora replied, tucking his arms underneath his head and laying on the white sand.

Kairi sat down beside him, smoothing her skirt under her. A playful smile crossed Kairi's face. "I guess it's expected. You ran around the island so much, looking for supplies."

"Yeah, and who's been actually building the raft meanwhile?" a boy with shoulder length white hair walked up to them, sand coating his pants and face. He crossed his arms giving the other two a not to serious look.

Sora let out a laugh. "Come on, Riku! We aren't in any hurry."

Riku settled down on Sora's other side, and let out a sigh. "You're both hopeless." He leaned forward, turning to Kairi. "Have you seen Kurow? I haven't seen him since we got here and he wasn't with Tidus."

Kairi paused for a moment, then replied, "No, actually, I haven't. Sora?"

"Nope. Have you checked the cave?"

Riku sighed. "Of course I have. Now I'm just worried."

Sora thought for a moment. There was no reason Kurow would avoid his twin- at least, not one Sora could think of. The two of them never really fought. Argue, yes, but never to the point they avoided each other.

"Hey, what about the other side of the island? There was someone walking around there when I was gathering stuff." Kairi said.

Riku seemed to ponder that for a moment, then replied, "It can't hurt to look. You mind helping me Sora?"

The invitation surprised Sora, and, after a pause, he replied enthusiastically, "Of course!"

"I'll help too! It'll be quicker with the three of us, won't it?" Kairi stated, standing up and brushing sand off of herself.

"I suppose it would." Riku smiled, a small but genuine one.

"Okay, whether or not one of us find him, we'll meet back here when the sun's at the tree on the inlet. After that, look anywhere else!" Kairi decided.

"Alright. See you both in a bit then." Riku said, turning and giving a wave.

"Kurow! Answer me!" Riku yelled, his voice echoing through the trees. His eyebrows knit together. He hadn't gotten hurt, had he? No, his brother wasn't that much of idiot. Kurow disliked fighting, but he still knew how to defend himself.

Sighing, Riku kept trudging along, straining his ears for any noise. Other than the usual fauna, there was nothing discernible. Riku's eyes scanned the treeline, and, eventually, saw the familiar sheen of silver hair.

"Kurow!" Riku yelled, voice reverberating as he ran up to him.

"Riku? What's up?" Kurow tilted his head as he asked his question, ice blue eyes identical to Riku's piercing in the dark of the forest.

Choosing not to comment on his nonchalant-ness, Riku replied, "I've been looking all over for you. What are you even doing here?"

Sheepishly, Kurow tucked his hands into his pants pocket. "I thought I saw someone around here… And then I lost her charm, and now I can't find it anywhere…" He kicked a rock as if to emphasize the final word.

Her charm…? Oh. "You mean this?" Riku dug in his pocket, producing a small star shaped charm, looped onto a worn ribbon.

Kurow immediately perked up, sighing in relief and gratefully taking it. "Where did you find it?"

"It was on the ground a little ways back. Now, come on. We should probably be getting back." Riku motioned with his hand, and the two started back towards the beach.

"So… how's the raft building going?" Kurow inquired.

"I think we'll be ready to sail soon. Kairi wants us to get a little more supplies, and then we should be good to go." Riku answered.

They broke through the last bit of tree and bush, and the two saw the sun low on the horizon. The sky was already starting to turn dark.

Shielding his eyes in the dying light, Riku scanned the beach. I guess Sora and Kai aren't back yet. "We should probably start heading home. We don't want to row back to the main island in the dark."

"Right."

Soon, the creaking of boards were underneath them, and as Riku untie their boat, Kurow muttered, "Sorry for worrying you, by the way."

"It's fine, Kurow. It's not that big of a deal." Riku replied, not taking his eyes off of the task at hand. The last knot unfurled, and Riku lowered himself into the boat. "Come on." he ordered, reaching out a hand to help his brother down.

"I guess Riku found Kurow without much trouble." Kairi mused, kicking a stray rock off of the pier.

Sora nodded in agreement, then asked, "Hey, what do you think it'll be like when we set sail?"

"Probably a lot like our boat rides here. Though…" Kairi's voice trailed off. She sat down, feet almost hitting the water down below.

Sitting up and looking at his friend, Sora tilted his head. " 'Though' what?"

"...It's Riku. He's… changed. He started getting really serious over little things, like the raft and seeing other worlds." Kairi sighed, resting her chin on her hand. "I just don't know. If there are other worlds, we probably won't reach them in a raft."

"But… isn't your home out there somewhere?"

"I guess. But this place feels more like home, thanks to the three of you." Kairi added, smiling once again.

"Besides, no matter what happens, nothing is ever gonna separate us!" Sora beamed.

Laughing, Kairi nodded. "Yeah, after all, we promised each other, didn't we?"

"Exactly! So no need to worry Kai."

"Hehe. Don't ever change Sora."

The breeze picked up, ruffling the duo's hair as the last of the sun dipped below the horizon.

Kairi clasped her hands behind her back, taking a deep breath, the smell of sea salt filling the air. "I'm still excited though. Once we set sail, it'll be great, just the three of us." The waves lapped against the shore and the pier, crashing and sending up a spray. A breeze picked up, and Kairi couldn't help but think about how she would miss it, if they did end up reaching other words.

Another flash of lightning raced across the sky, and a rumble of thunder sounded soon after. Yet, while the clouds were dark and heavy, there was no sign of rain.

Sora tied off the last of the knots to the rope attaching his boat to the pier. Finished, he stood, wild brown hair becoming even more of a mess with the violent winds. Sora looked up at the sky, noticing the spiral high up, likely because of the storm.

"Kairi's and Riku's boats are here too… Where are they?" Sora looked around, noticing his wooden sword on the beach, Riku's not a far distance away.

As he started towards the shack on the beach, a large number of dark shadows appeared. As a flash of lightning illuminated the sky again, small bug-like creatures rose out of the darkness. Their bodies were pitch black, and the only thing separating it from the ground were a pair of glowing yellow eyes.

They stalked towards Sora, some fading back into the shadows they emerged from. Sora stood frozen for a moment, and when he shook himself out of the shock, he darted towards his sword.

Upon reaching it, Sora immediately turned, and slashed downward at the nearest of the creatures. Sora's eyes widened in disbelief as the sword simply phased through it, leaving him wide open. One on his other side darted forward, raking it's clawed hand into Sora's arm.

A low cry escaped Sora, clutching the gash. He saw a break in the shadows, and he ran as fast as he could towards the shack, slamming the door shut behind him.

Breathing heavily, Sora took a moment to catch his breath and process what had just transpired.

"What were... those things…?" Had they tried to hurt the others too?

Where even are they?

The thought broke the the rapid fire ones Sora currently had, and the worry returned full force as his breathing steadied.

"Okay, priority number one: find Kairi and Riku. And Kurow, too, if Riku brought him." Sora decided.

While it proved useless, Sora tightly gripped the familiar hilt of his sword.

He headed up stairs, noting that none of those things seemed to be able to get in, and then cracked the door open.

A light drizzle had started, slightly obscuring Sora's vision. Still, he could make out the bridge to the inlet. Sora squinted, seeing the familiar shine of silver on the little island.

"Riku…?"

Seeing no sign of the creatures from before, Sora walked out, picking up his pace and closing the distance.

"Riku!" Sora slowed to a stop, yelling to be heard over the roaring winds, "Where's Kairi? And Kurow?"

"This is it for us, Sora. We can finally leave, finally see the outside world!" Riku turned, grinning wildly, eyes wide and something unsettling in them.

"What?"

"The door, it's opened! This world has been connected!"

'Tied to the darkness, to be eclipsed and eradicated.' Sora froze, the hooded man's words flashing through his mind again.

"Riku, who cares about that! We need to find Kairi and Kurow!" Sora exclaimed, utterly confused at his friend.

"They'll be coming with us, too! This may be the last time we see the islands… but this is our only chance! I'm not scared! I'm not afraid of the darkness!" Riku extended a hand towards Sora, completely unaware of the shadowy purple and black pool gathering at his feet.

Sora's eyes widened in alarm, and he started forward, to help him, to do something to stop it, only to be stopped in his tracks by the same thing.

Riku's hand was still reaching out and Sora tried desperately to grasp it. Their fingertips brushed together , and then darkness overcame Sora's vision.

No… No! I won't let it end like this!

A burst of light flashed in Sora's eyes, and he blinked the dots out of his eyes. He wasn't stuck in the darkness anymore, and in his hands Sora held a strange and unfamiliar weapon instead of his wooden sword.

"Keyblade… Keyblade…"

"Keyblade? Is that what this is..?" Sora wondered. There was no blade on it, at least not one Sora could see.

While Sora puzzled over the weapon in his hands, his thoughts raced back. "Riku!" Frantically looking around, the silver haired boy was nowhere to be seen. "Riku! Where are you?!"

That darkness… did it take him?

As Sora scanned the vicinity, his eyes focused on the entrance to the secret place. Instead of the cavern entrance, an ornate door seemed to have taken it's place.

That's one place to start looking for them… at least now, I can fight back!

The door opened easily despite it's looks, and beyond it was the same old secret place Sora had explored with the other three. The drawings scratched on the walls were mostly untouched, thankfully, Sora thought.

"The door… has been opened." Sora stiffened, a chill seeping down his spine.

"Who's there? Show yourself!"

Winds snapped out of nowhere, pushing Sora back, and tumbling him out of the secret place.

Sora fell flat on his back, knocking the breath out of his lungs, leaving him gasping. When he regained himself, Sora stared in disbelief at what he saw.

The island… there was almost nothing left of it. A small fraction of land remained, on which Sora was, with a huge creature similar to the ones that had chased him. After a second, Sora recognized it. He had fought the little ones and the large creature in his dreams.

Looking up, the spiral from before had become a vortex, wildly pulling anything and everything into it.

"Everything's… gone…" Sora balled his fists. "Did you cause this?!"

The creature gave no reply.

However, before either could do anything, the winds picked up once again, much stronger than before. Sora hunkered down near some of the rubble embedded in the sand, as the large creature was pulled into the vortex, giving no sound as it disappeared.

Sora was lifted off of the ground, nearly perpendicular with it, his grip on the wooden boards slowly loosening.

In combination with the wind's force, Sora's grip slackened, and he lost it, sending him straight up into the vortex.

The world seemed to fade out and Sora lost consciousness.

So, uh, first off, thanks for checking out my story! Second, wow, I'm ecstatic to be finally starting this. I've had this idea in my head since before summer, and I finally buckled down and did it! The plot for this will still mainly follow the games but with some major deviations from canon. I hope you enjoy and feel free to leave a comment!

Full cover art can be found here: scorch201-reborn . tumblr post/149912133004 (remove the spaces and you're good!)