Author's Note: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.
Ch.2
The next day I found myself in an argument with Sora and Riku as to what the raft should be called. Rikku wanted to call it Highwind, Sora wanted Excalibur, and I wanted to call it Wayward Wind. The argument began to heat up, and I yelled "That's it! Call it what you two want! I'm out!" and went to go lean against the wall. Sora frowned before turning back to Riku, and said "Guess there's only one way to solve this." At first Riku looked confused, until he smiled and nodded. "Yeah." "You two at it again?" Kairi asked. "All right; I'll be the judge. Usual rules apply…"
She pointed towards the other end of the island, where I knew the star-shaped tree was. "Take any route you want… First one to tag that tree and make it back wins," she instructed. "If I win, I'm captain. And you if win-" Sora began, before Riku said "I get to share the papou with Kairi." I looked up, and Sora said "What?!" "Deal? The winner gets to share a papou with Kairi," he suggested. Sora looked uncertain, but once he said "Wait a minute!" Kairi called "Okay you two!" He hastily shook his head and looked forward, and Kairi called "Go!" Both of them ran forward, and Sora made a beeline for the zip-wire while Riku ran down the steps to the beach.
Sora grabbed the zip-line and slid down, gaining a good lead over Riku from the speed. Then he jumped off and hopped from the top of tree to tree, trying to get to the star-shaped one first. But he slipped on the edge of one tree, and fell down to land face-first in the sand. I winced, and as Riku passed by him he laughed. At that Sora hurriedly stood up and chased after him, and they both touched the tree at the same time. They both began hopping back across the trees, and while Kairi called "Go Sora!" I yelled "Come on, Riku!" at the mention of his name Riku looked up, and in that lapse of concentration he did the same as Sora and slipped off the tree.
I sighed at the landing while Sora kept going, but Riku hurriedly stood and kept going. He jumped over the edge of the road while Sora began running back across the bridge, the two of them neck-and-neck. "Come on!" we both yelled, and Sora put on a last burst of speed, just passing Riku as they crossed the finish line. "Whoo-hoo! Sora!" Kairi cheered, and I smiled. While Kairi kept cheering he said "What were you so worried about? It's just a raft after all." Sora's eyes widened and he glared at him, while I said "Now Riku…" "Okay guys, fun's over. We need to finish getting things ready," Kairi said, interrupting me.
Riku nodded and turned away, walking off. I rolled my eyes, and asked "Okay, what is that Sora and I need to do?" "We need provisions so we can eat while we're on the raft. I want you two to grab the following: Three fish, three mushrooms, one seagull egg, and fill this bottle with water. But not from the ocean!" she added. I took the bottle and said "Okay Sora, I'll grab the three fish and the water. In the meantime, you grab the mushrooms and seagull egg." He nodded and bounded off, in search of mushrooms and a seagull's nest. I knew that no fish swam on this side of the island, so I walked to the other end and walked through the little side shack that led to the front.
Indeed a lone seagull was gliding through the air, and when I followed its trail I saw an egg sitting on top of a tree. I smiled and shook my head; there was no way Sora was going to find that. Wondering how long he would spend trying to find it, I passed by Tidus, who said "Hey Dexal! You know that Selphie and it tried to take on Sora at once time, and even with Wakka's help we didn't stand a chance! Think you can do the same thing?" he challenged. I smiled, drawing my wooden sword and saying "Bring it on." He smiled, running towards the beach and yelling "Hey Selphie! Wakka! Dexal wants to fight all three of us at the same time!"
The two of them ran forward, Selphie saying "Are you sure about that, Dexal? We won't go easy on you!" My smile grew, and I let them form a circle around me. "Let's go!" I called, and ran forward towards her. She spun her jump rope over her head, but I held my sword out it and wrapped around the blade. Rather than pull back I kept running, and jabbed her in the side before yanking my sword back, pulling her rope out of her hands. "Take this!" Wakka called, jumping up and throwing his ball at me with both hands. I rolled to the side to avoid it, and just as Selphie ran at me to get her rope back I swung and wrapped it around her. I pulled back and she spun like a top, knocking into Tidus and sending them both to the ground.
I smiled and threw Selphie her rope, before it turned to Wakka and ran forward. He threw his ball and I swung my sword like a baseball bat, hitting it and sending the ball flying across the island. Now that he didn't have a weapon Wakka was defenseless, and I slammed the flat of my blade against his chest. The blow knocked the wind out of him and he doubled over, giving me the perfect chance to hit him with a spinning kick to the head. Wakka fell to the ground just as Tidus stood, and he yelled before flipping over in the air and trying to deal an overhead blow. I blocked it, but he hit hard enough that my wooden sword snapped.
Tidus smiled and said "Gotcha now!" before running forward. I raised an eyebrow and said "Oh, no?" and catapulted myself towards him. Not expecting an attack, Tidus stopped and took a step back, just as I flipped the stump of my sword in my hand and attacked with the unbroken handle and cross guard. The sound of wood hitting wood ringed through the air, and I hit again and again. Tidus could only defend as I kept pushing him, until he reached the edge of the water a stomped down on his foot. His eyes bulged in pain and he faltered, and I took the chance to knock the sword out his hands and point the stump of mine at his throat. "Done," I said simply.
He frowned and nodded, walking over to his weapon and muttering, "Unreal…" I smiled and helped Wakka and Selphie up, thanking them for the fight before I began wading into the ocean. Several fish swam around in the shallow end, and I knew that the chances of grabbing one with my bare hands were near impossible. So I held my hand below the water, and concentrated. I seldom used magic now; to do so would mean possibly revealing my true identity as a Keyblade wielder to the others. And unless this world happened to be consumed by darkness, I had to keep that fact as secret.
I muttered "Slow," and felt the energy pulse through the waves, hitting a trio of nearby fish. Instantly their movements slowed, as if they were wading in syrup rather than water. I walked forward and plucked them from the ocean, the spell fading and letting them regain their former vigor. Now that I had my catch in hand, I walked back onto the beach and looked around for a place to put them. There was a large waterfall nearby, and I could both keep the fish in there and fill that bottle full of water while I was at it. Doing so, I placed the fish in the water and unscrewed the cap of the bottle… just as I felt an intruder emerge.
My senses went off like a series of alarms, and I bolted up before looking around. There was a presence of darkness here, one that no right to be in a place as full of light as this. I closed my eyes and tilted my head back, breathing through my nostrils deeply. Every entity of darkness, every living thing, had a signature scent. By recognizing that scent I could tell who or what it was, and this scent belonged to- My eyes snapped open, old memories filling me with shock and horror. I looked at the small cave by the fall, feeling the scent coming from that area.
Hastily I cast the spell Vanish, turning myself invisible before I ran into the cave. No, this couldn't be his scent. Why would he be here, of all places? Worse still, I detected the scent of Sora coming from the cave as well. If Sora was in their alone with him, then the danger he was in was unimaginable. I ran inside, instantly seeing Sora and hiding behind a rock, despite the fact I was invisible. Sora was on his knees with a hand pressed against an old drawing on the wall, one that seemed to be of him handing a papou fruit to Kairi. He smiled at his handiwork, but then suddenly he looked around, saying "Wh- Who's there?"
I turned and saw a figure, their face concealed by a brown coat while their back hunched over. Then it spoke, in the voice that haunted my nightmares for almost a decade. "I've come to see the door to this world," the man said, and Sora replied "What?" "This world has been connected. Tied to the darkness… soon to be completely eclipsed," he announced, and I gasped. "Well whoever you are, stop freaking my out like this! Huh? Wh-Where did you come from?" Sora asked, finally seeing the stranger. "You do not yet know what lies beyond the door," he told him.
"So you're from another world!" Sora exclaimed. "There is so very much to learn. You understand so little," he told Sora. Sora frowned. "Oh yeah? Well you'll see! I'm gonna get out and learn what's out there!" he said confidently. "A meaningless effort. One who knows nothing can understand nothing," the stranger replied. There was a strange sound, and I turned to see a door at the back of the cave. I recoiled; that had never been here before! Hastily I looked back at the hooded figure, only to find him gone. Sora grabbed a mushroom from the ground and walked out, and I let the Vanish spell disappear.
I walked towards the door and placed my hand on it. This had to be the door the heart of Destiny Islands. But how had that man gotten here? The scent he had, the darkness around him, and that voice, I had been right. Xehanort. But if that was him, why would he have darkness around him. Xehanort had removed his own heart, making himself a Nobody; he shouldn't have a detectable presence at all. So how could he unless- I gasped. Unless he became a Heartless. The possibilities were dire. If Xehanort had become a Heartless and had opened a dark corridor to Destiny Islands, then it stood to reason that other Heartless would as well. Without even meaning to I summoned Stormfall, and hastily I dismissed it.
No, even if Heartless arrived in this world, I would still protect Sora, Riku, and Kairi. It would mean revealing my true identity and possibly even the existence of other worlds, but that was a small price to pay for saving the hearts of three youths, three of my friends. My hand tightened into a fist. Protecting my friends- I would not fail to do so again. I walked out the cave and picked up the bottle from the falls, filling it up before grabbing the fish and going around the island, seeing Sora trying to climb a tree and get the seagull egg. If I hadn't been in such damp spirits I would have laughed; every time he tried to get the egg the seagull would come down and peck at his hand.
"Need some help, Sora?" I asked. He nodded and I told him to jump down. Once he did I laid down the bottle and fish, before taking a few steps back and charging at the tree. My shoulder connected in a collision that would have broken the shoulder of a normal person, and the egg fell down from the tree. Sora shouted and caught it, and without a word I grabbed the water and fish before walking to the cove. As we both walked towards Kairi, who was leaning against the raft's mast. Curiously I saw she was making a necklace, and I asked "What are you making Kairi?"
"This? I'm making a necklace of thalassa shells. In old days, sailors always wore thalassa shells. They were supposed to ensure a safe voyage," she explained. I smiled; knowing that my Wayfinder was in the same shape as her necklace. I still had it, but merely kept it in my pocket where no one could see it. "Well, we get all the food," Sora said, holding up the egg. She broke into a smile, and said "Thanks guys! Here, I found something today. Take them, they're yours." She handed us each a Hi-Potion. After that we called it a day, and while Riku automatically left Sora and Kairi sat at the edge of the dock together. I smiled; the two of them had no clue how much they like each other. Soon enough though they left as well, and I settled down in the tree house, intent on getting a good night's sleep.
But then everything went hell.
xxx
And next chapter, the adventure begins! Where will Dexal go when the islands are destroyed? How will he be able to withstand the flood of Heartless that comes with it? And can he find Sora once they're separated? Find out next chapter!
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