CHAPTER TWO
Hallie lived with her friends on Destiny Islands. Sora, Riku, and Kairi knew and loved this place ever since they were kids, and they made the place into their home. Although her real home was Radiant Garden, Hallie once learned that anywhere her heart wanted to be, the people she wanted to be with, would be home to her. Home, to her, was with Sora, the brown-haired, blue-eyed Keyblade wielder who unlocked her heart from the darkness and mystery threatening to destroy her. Their journey together led them through many roadblocks, including Sora almost becoming one of Xehanort's vessels of darkness, the deadly connections Hallie had to many evil people, including most members of Organization XIII, a group of Nobodies that desired to create their own Kingdom Hearts but fell underneath Sora and Hallie's Keyblades, and Master Xehanort himself.
Although the Keyblade group faced many dangerous battles ahead of them, they still found comfort and fun within each other. They spent their days exploring Destiny Islands and spending time with each other. As the promised day of war approached, Hallie grew more nervous and anxious. Her friends did their best to distract her and keep her happy, but only Riku knew the reality of what was to come. Riku and Sora were summoned by a powerful wizard named Yen Sid to test to become Keyblade Masters, and shortly after, Hallie found herself plunged into the test. However, things took a turn for the worse, and Sora was sucked into darkness by Xehanort and his Seekers of Darkness. Riku and Hallie dove back into the realm of sleep to rescue their friend, where Riku and many others close to the two learned about Hallie's lineage. They rescued Sora with the help of Donald, Goofy, and a man named Lea, the Somebody whose Nobody was once a member of Organization XIII, and Riku and Hallie received the title of Keyblade Master.
What adventure awaited this young Keyblade wielder? Where... and when... would fate lead her to this time?
As consciousness slowly gripped me, my senses were filled with the morning sun's rays. I squinted my eyes open and yawned, inhaling a deep breath of fresh island air. I sat up and swung my legs over the edge and planted them on the wooden floor. I grunted as I stretched my arms out as far as I could. My back arched until I heard some satisfying cracks before I dropped my arms to my sides and sighed. I stood up and pinched the long, leaf-green curtains draped over the window. I pulled them up and pinned them back, letting the crack grow until the light filled my entire room. I walked to the mirror that hung on the wall and worked to tame my armpit-length, brown hair. I shook my head and laughed at my fake mane before I smoothed it out and wove strands together around my head. Once I was finished, I ran my hand along the waterfall braid that curved over the back of my head. Looking at myself in the mirror, a calm smile spread across my lips.
"Morning!" a voice called, followed by a pair of hands rapping against the outside wall of my room. I saw a blurred face poke his head through the door frame and appear in the background of my mirror, yet his ocean blue eyes were as clear as day.
"Good morning, Sora." I said, reaching up to tuck in a loose hair into my braid.
The male brunette smiled as he stepped into the room. "Ready for another day?"
"Yeah, just give me a few moments." I straightened my red, sleeveless, Victorian Steampunk tailcoat and ran my fingers through my hair.
Sora rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. He leaned against the door frame and watched me as I removed the sleep from myself. I turned around and walked towards him.
"Now are you ready?" Sora said.
"Um... just one more thing." I said.
Sora raised his eyebrow and I leaned over and kissed him. He melted into the kiss and rested his hand against the small of my back. The warmth of his body spread in shivers across my body and made my heart flutter. I pulled away and smiled shyly. We walked outside into the crisp ocean air, and I paused a moment to take a deep breath. I've lived here a few months and the beauty of the area still amazed me. I grabbed the wooden railing and swung my legs over the ledge. I kicked myself down to the main ground, crouching when I landed so I didn't break my knees.
"Good morning, Riku!" I said, cupping my hand over my mouth and waving.
Riku, Sora's best friend and newly branded Keyblade Master, alongside myself, glanced over from the mini island right next to the main island. He nodded a greeting, jumped down from the island, and walked towards me and Sora.
"Where's Kairi?" Sora said.
"She has training today with Yen Sid." Riku said. "You should've figured that out by now."
I nodded when I remembered that Yen Sid volunteered to train Kairi in wielding her Keyblade, since she was very new and very inexperienced with it. Yet I found myself bummed out each time, for it cut into the time she could be here with us.
"I say we do the same and get some training done ourselves." Riku said.
"Yeah, sounds great." I said.
"Okay, then. Sora, Hallie, you spar first." Riku said.
"What, and you'll supervise?" Sora said, crossing his arms.
"Yup." Riku turned around and walked towards the dock.
Sora and I rolled our eyes and walked to the opposite ends of the island's sandy shore. We turned to each other and summoned our Keyblades. In Sora's hand, he clutched his signature Keyblade, Kingdom Key, which was a simple weapon with a bright gold guard, blue rainguard, and a silver blade and teeth. Dangling from the Keyblade was a keychain shaped like Mickey's head. I summoned my Keyblade, Ultima Weapon. It had an assortment of blue, white, and gold, decorated with filigree that reminded me of fish bones, with hidden shapes of crowns and hearts on it. The keychain consisted of three crowns, and at the end was a token combined of a crown and a heart.
"Don't hurt him too badly." Riku called from the dock. Sora glared at Riku and pouted, but Riku casually shrugged it off.
"Okay, Ms. Keyblade Master. Let's see what you've got." Sora said.
I gave him a sly smile and struck my battle pose, my feet shoulder width apart, heels together, with my right leg and torso facing diagonally to the right, my Keyblade resting at my side, and my left hand clenched over my heart.
"I promise to go easy on you." I grinned.
Sora chuckled and was the first to lunge. He thrust Kingdom Key forward, but I immediately blocked and slashed it up and away. Sora spun and slashed, but I jumped back and our Keyblades connected. We pushed away at the same time, and I swung my leg up in a roundhouse kick. Sora cried out and sprang out of the way.
"Hey, you almost hit me!" Sora said, feigning offense.
"But I didn't!" I said.
I lunged, but Sora parried. He pushed me back and slammed down his Keyblade, but I rolled out of the way. I swung up hard, and the sharp pangs of our weapons clattering together made adrenaline continually flow in my body. Sora lunged again, followed by several consecutive swings, but I dodged them, landing in a flip from the last miss. I swung my Keyblade up, and it seemed like slow motion when we both watched my Keyblade swipe right in front of Sora's face. He stumbled back and caught himself. He shook his head to refocus and charged towards me. He lunged once more, but I managed to slink the teeth of my Keyblade into his guard. I gave my Keyblade a hard swirl to the right, and Kingdom Key flew out of Sora's hand. I jumped up, caught the handle, and pointed both Keyblades at Sora's chest. He stood with his hands up in a sign of surrender, his ocean blue eyes on me.
"I thought you said you'd go easy on me." Sora said.
"I did." I smirked.
Sora quickly glanced down at the ground, and I didn't have enough time to react before he swiped his foot against my legs. I gasped as my legs flew up and I fell into the sand. Sora lunged and sat on my stomach. I flailed my arms to try and push him off, but Sora grabbed my wrists and pinned my arms against the ground. Sora's face hovered over mine, and I stared up at him in surprise.
"First rule of fighting: you never go easy on your opponent." Sora smirked.
I panted to try and restore some of the air that was knocked out of me from crashing into the ground. I heard a single, slow clap resonate in the air as Riku approached the two of us.
"Nice work. I'm gonna give the win to Sora." Riku said. "Next time, Hallie, don't be afraid to mess up his hair."
I scowled and shoved Sora off. We both stood up and dusted the sand from out clothes.
"I get to take on the winner." Riku said, and he summoned his Keyblade, Way to the Dawn. "I doubt you could defeat two Keyblade Masters."
Sora rolled his eyes. "It was easy the first time."
I scoffed and gave him a hard shove. He lost his balance and tumbled into the water. Riku and I doubled over in laughter as Sora glanced up at us through the starfish fanned out over his brown spikes.
"Be careful, Spike. I can really make you regret those words." I said.
Kairi didn't return until the sun began to set in the sky. The four of us rested on one of the trees on the miniature island, whose trunk stretched out vertically into the ocean, acting like a bench. Kairi, Sora, and I sat on the tree while Riku leaned against is with his arms crossed.
"Yen Sid is still having me learn the basics of fighting. He's teaching me about battle stances and holding the Keyblade correctly so I don't give my opponent the chance to turn it against me." Kairi said. "I'm exhausted, and I haven't even done anything yet!"
"It's important to know what you're doing before you actually do it." I said. "You don't want to mess up in battle."
"Yeah, because messing up would be super embarrassing." Sora teased, and I roughly rustled his hair.
"Hallie's right. Learning about battling is just as important as the battling itself." Riku said.
Kairi nodded. "Right. Thanks, guys."
"You might as well learn as much as you can now." I said, and my tone suddenly turned brooding. "You'll have to apply it all soon."
Sora rested his hand over mine. "Come on, we've told you this a thousand times. When everything happens, we'll be ready to take on Xehanort."
"But gathering up the other guardians of light? How in the world are we possibly going to track them all down? One's stuck in the Realm of Darkness, another is trapped in a comatose in a secret room heaven-knows-where, and the third is possessed by Xehanort himself!"
"Geez, when you put it like that, it's a walk in the park." Riku muttered.
I sighed. "I'm sorry, guys, but... I just can't help but worry. Aren't you guys scared?"
"Well, yeah." Kairi said. She rested her hand against her heart. "But not so much when I know that when I do fight, I'll have my friends with me."
I nodded and looked ahead. "Those three helped shape me into the person I've become, and I'd hate to never have the opportunity to thank them."
"You'll have your chance." Sora squeezed my hand. "I promise."
I looked at each of my friends, and their contagious smiles made way to my own. We all looked ahead at the sunset in silence.
If only I had known that Sora's promise would come true. Just... nowhere near the way I'd expect.
