When they found Sora he was soaking wet and half submerged in the oasis. Riku hauled him out and proceeded to try to shake him awake. Sora didn't stir. Riku got a devilish look in his eyes. "Maybe he needs CPR?" He said. Kairi nodded and pushed him out of the way.
"Don't worry, Aerith taught me how!" She announced. She then proceeded to blow into Sora's lips. Riku watched in wide-eyed horror.
"I wasn't being serious you know." He stated. Kairi ignored him and continued to blow life giving air into Sora's lips. Riku continued to watch with wide eyes, staring at his friend who was now kissing a self-banished princess. Maybe Riku was going crazy… Finally Sora began to hack and cough before opening his eyes mid-breath, Kairi's lips still firmly planted on his. His eyes grew wide and he thought he was going to pass out again. Riku chose this time to lunge at Sora and pull Kairi off. Sora lay there in shock and Riku waved his hands in front of his face.
"Hey? Sora? Sora?" Kairi asked leaning over their fallen friend. "Sora, it was just CPR! I wasn't making out with you!" Riku clamped two hands over Kairi's mouth. "Hehe. Shutting up now, Kairi." He hissed. Sora sat up slowly.
"Ok… this is by far the weirdest night ever." He said. "But I found water!"
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"Sir!" Leon barged into the king's office. "We've looked everywhere. We can't find your daughter."
The king looked crestfallen. "Its like I've said before." Leon added. "She's probably with Sora and Riku, that means she's probably dead." He said crossing his arms. The king stood up angrily,
"I know that she is not! Speaking of which. How are they doing?"
"How should I know?"
The king looked back at him. "I wonder if he's had enough time."
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"So talked with it? You really talked with it?"
Sora narrowed his eyes. "No, Riku, I didn't. I just randomly had a conversation with the oasis!"
A long silence followed. "Uh… Sora? I'm Kairi. Riku's out getting more cacti."
"Oh." Sora looked up at Kairi. "I guess I'm a little distracted." He said rubbing the back of his head.
"You guess?" Kairi asked. "But hey! Didn't Sir Leon say that once you talked with it we could come home?"
"Yeah, but we can't exactly dial Leon's number and say: Hey! We talked with the Keyblade and I get it now! Can I come home?" Sora said placing his hand to his ear as if he was talking into a phone. "We're kind of stuck here, if you haven't noticed." He said.
"Well we could start walking back." Sora and Kairi looked back at the entrance of their makeshift shelter to see Riku holding a canteen and several hollow cactus shells. "My friends? I bring you… water!" He tossed each of them a cactus and kept the canteen for him self.
"Cacti… is there anything they can't do?" Sora asked tipping one to his lips.
"Nope. Nothing at all." Kairi said doing the same. "Oh, but I wouldn't do for a hot dog." She said holding her stomach. "We need to find a better source of food!"
Riku pulled something out of his pocket. "I found some berries. Although they might be poisonous."
Sora took one and looked at it for a long time. "You know what they say: If it's red, you're probably dead!" He said popping it into his mouth. Riku nodded and looking at the blue berries in his hand. He popped one in the berries into his mouth and passed them one to Kairi.
"Well I don't feel nauseous…" Sora said rubbing his stomach attentively.
"Me neither… where'd you find these?"
"At the oasis. There was practically a whole field of them!"
"Well that's convenient and not at all anticlimactic!" Sora said snapping his fingers. Riku rolled his eyes and kept eating the berries he'd found.
"So how're we going to get home?" Sora asked with his mouth full of cactus and berries.
"You're not. At least, not if we can help it."
All three turned to the entrance of their rock shelter to see a man in a black cloak leaning against the side of the wall casually.
"Who are you?" Sora asked wiping his mouth and grabbing his Keyblade. The man stood up and took down his hood.
"The name's Axel. Got it memorized?" The man said pointing at his temple. The man had big spiky red hair band the most brilliant green eyes any of them had ever seen. Two black upside-down teardrops rested beneath his eyes like tattoos.
"Axel? You're one of those creeps from Villain's Vale!" Kairi said leaping up to point.
"Bingo. See, I'm a part of Organization XIII, Number VIII if you want to get exact." The man said dislodging himself from the wall.
"Organization XIII? What the heck is that?" Riku said lifting his weapon onto his lap, but he didn't stand up.
"A group of Nobodies, if you must know." The man said crossing his arms.
"Nobodies? What are Nobodies?" Sora asked cocking his head to one side.
"Just the empty shell someone leaves behind when they become a Heartless." Axel said shrugging.
"Really?" Riku grunted while standing up. "So those things that attacked us in the canyon… those were Nobodies." He stated picking up his blade off the floor.
"Bingo! You aren't as slow as you look."
Riku snarled. "So what does this 'Organization'--" Riku used his index fingers to accent the word Organization with aerial quotation marks. "--want with us?"
"Your service, of course."
"You want to turn us into Heartless?" Kairi asked.
Axel laughed. "I don't know why they sent me to tell you this stuff! You keep guessing ahead!"
Sora counted on his fingers. "Wait, wait, wait! If you turned us into heartless… then wouldn't it be Organization XVI instead of Organization XIII?"
Axel frowned. "You know… I guess we would, but we don't exactly have our thirteenth member, so it would only be XV. So I guess we'll just turn you two into Dusks-- if you even come out right in the first place." Axel said using his index and middle finger to point at Riku and Kairi. "How's that sound?" He said with a fake smile.
"Umm… not so good." Kairi said smiling and backing up to the wall. Axel smiled devilishly.
"Aww… so sorry." He said raising his hand. "But orders are orders." He snapped his fingers and about one thousand Heartless flooded the desert.
"Hang on!" Sora burst out. Axel froze with confusion. "If you don't have thirteen members, then why is it called Organization XIII?"
Axel blinked. "Because… its cooler sounding than Organization XII."
"Oh… well that's true." Sora said shrugging.
Axel groaned, shook his head and disappeared into a dark portal like they had seen in Villain's Vale. Although he was gone they could still hear his voice.
"I'll be back later to get those Nobodies of yours."
Riku and Sora readied their weapons. "Not if we can help it. Sora? Let's go!"
Sora nodded and looked back at Kairi. "Stay back, and scream if they get to close." Kairi nodded and pressed her self against the wall. With a battle cry both boys flung themselves into battle.
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"You're worried." Aerith said placing a hand on Leon's shoulder. Leon looked back at her and then out past the mountains to where the wasteland was.
"Yeah. They're just kids, Aerith, and the King's daughter is probably with them." He said folding his arms across his chest. "I can't help but wonder if they're still alive."
Aerith smiled warmly. "I understand your concern. After all, you practically raised that boy… remember when you first taught him how to hold that sword of his, when it was way too big for him?"
Leon chuckled. "That boy… he tired to swing it once and ended up letting go. It hit Cid in the face."
Aerith laughed out loud and looked out to the wasteland. "They're just fine Leon. They are just fine."
"I hope you're right. I really do."