A Narrow Escape

The sun was beginning to set as Kairi trudged through the forest. She wasn't exactly used to this kind of wooded terrain, so trying to find her way around proved to be rather tricky. Mostly because she was tripping over roots jutting out of the ground or stepping into small holes that were covered by grass and leafs.

However, her biggest concern was her sense of direction. The trees eventually started to blend in with each other, making the whole landscape look the same. Kairi was now starting to worry if she was going in the right direction, or just going around in circles.

Eventually, she stopped for a moment to catch her breath. She leaned up against a big Sequoya tree and let out a deep sigh.

"Oh," she groaned, "how am I going to find Kenai at this rate? I can't give up, and I won't. But…I could use some help."

Shortly after Kairi said those words, she heard the sound of an eagle call. She looked up and saw a bald eagle sitting on a branch just above her. She also noticed that it was looking directly at her.

Kairi stared at it for a moment, cocking her head with curiosity. She wasn't sure if it was because of her Princess of Heart powers, or if it was because her keyblade abilities had matured, but she could definitely sense that there was a strong light resonating from this eagle.

The eagle then leapt from its place and glided down to Kairi. When it reached her, a golden light swirled around it and it transformed into a ghostly form of a man. He was tall, muscular, and dressed in a brown fur coat with fur pants and black boots. On his hood was a pair of antlers. His black hair went down to his shoulders and had just a touch facial hair on his chin.

He looked at Kairi with a warm smile.

Kairi, on the other hand, stared in amazement.

"Are you…a Spirit?" the girl asked.

The ghostly man nodded.

"Can you help me?" Kairi pleaded. "I must find someone named Kenai. He's being hunted by the Heartless. Please, can you help me find him?"

The Spirit nodded and reached out his hand towards Kairi. The young girl responded by reaching out her own hand and taking his. The moment she did, the Spirit before her started to glow. She shielded her eyes as the light grew brighter. At the same time, she felt a strange sensation rush through her. It was like a small, painless burning in her throat was spreading throughout her body.

At the same time, she heard the sound of a dozen animal noises in her head. Above all of that, she heard a voice:

"I am Sitka. Wielder of the Light; please help my brothers. Save them from the darkness. But do not be afraid. I will be watching over you."

When Kairi opened her eyes, the Spirit that had called himself Sitka was gone.

"Sitka?" she whispered.

Kairi blinked for a few seconds. Once her confusion had subsided, she stood up and looked down the path to her right. It was as if she had suddenly gained a six sense of some kind, and it was telling her to go down this path.

Taking a deep breath, Kairi set out on her journey once more. She hadn't gone more than a couple of yards when she heard two voices. One sounded like a young man and the other sounded like a little boy. They were both shouting in confusion, fear, and frustration.

"HEY, GET OFF ME, YOU FREAKS!"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

At the same time, Kairi began to sense a darkness resonating from where the voices were coming from. She immediately started running to the place where all the commotion was coming from. When she reached the location, she stopped at the top of a hill and was horrified at the sight before her.

Down in a clearing were two bears being attacked strange creatures that resembled oversized, demented squirrels. The biggest bear was caught in a hunter's trap and was dangling upside-down from a tree, swatting at the creatures with a clumsy kind of ferocity. The other, who was a little cub, was cowering over by a rock as the dark creatures closed in on him.

"Heartless!" Kairi cried.

Without a moment of hesitation, Kairi gripped her Keyblade tightly and charged down the hill. When the Heartless sensed the presence of another person, particularly one that was just resonating with light, they all turned around and fixed their attention on the Keyblade wielder rushing towards them.

A few of them jumped into the air and attempted to swipe at Kairi. She responded by leaping to their level and striking three of them with a spin attack. As she did, the hearts they had captured were released and floated away into the sky.

When Kairi landed, she pivoted around on her left foot and rushed toward a Heartless closing in on the bear dangling from the tree, striking it with excellent precision. She then whirled around and saw that more Heartless were starting to advance. There were so many by now that she knew she wouldn't be able to fight them all one by one.

Fortunately, she knew of a spell that could wipe them out.

Taking a deep breath, she held her Keyblade high in the air. A small orb of light began to grow from the tip.

"Light!" she commanded.

In an instant, the orb burst into several small streams of light. They swirled around the area, wiping out the Heartless. In just a matter of seconds, all of the Heartless were gone.

"Whew." Kairi lowered her Keyblade. "That was a close one."

Kairi then turned her attention to the two bears. Both of them were staring at her with bewilderment, but each of them had a different kind of expression. The larger bear dangling from the tree was looking at her with curiosity, while the little bear looked at her with fear.

Kairi noticed the little bear's reaction and looked at him with a gentle smile. She dismissed her Keyblade, and it vanished in a small flash of light. She then knelt down towards the cub. He only cowered back against the rock even more.

"D-Don't come any closer!" it said in a little boy voice.

Kairi gasped. This bear just SPOKE! She certainly didn't see that coming.

She then blinked when she remembered her encounter with Sitka. That's when it all made sense. That sensation. It must have been him giving her the ability to understand and speak to animals.

Kairi quickly recovered from her initial shock and shook her head. She looked back at the bear cub and smiled.

"It's okay," she said with gentleness. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Kairi then reached out her hand, the back of it facing the little bear. He shrunk away from her for a moment. However, when he saw Kairi stop, he began to slowly creep forward, still being very cautious. Finally, he reached Kairi's hand and sniffed it. When he didn't sense any danger, he rubbed his head against it.

Kairi giggled and began to scratch the little bear behind the ears. The cub laughed as she did.

"You're a friendly little guy, aren't you?" Kairi said.

"Uh, hello!" a voice that sounded like young man caught the human girl's attention, "You mind getting me down?!"

Kairi turned back to the older bear, who was looking rather irritated by now.

"Oh, sorry!" Kairi quickly stood up. "Hold on, I'll get you down!"

Kairi carefully examined the trap, tracing to where the rope in the tree met the ground. She found that the rope was tied to a peg that was hammered into the ground. She walked over to it and pulled it out. However, because the mass of the bear was greater than her strength, it slipped out of her hand and the bear flew up into the air.

"WHOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAA!" he shouted.

He then landed back on the ground with a loud "THUD". At the same time, the thick branch that was holding him up snapped off. If fell hard onto his stomach, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to gasp in agony.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Kairi ran over.

The girl knelt down beside the bear as he rolled over onto his front.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

The bear coughed in pain.

"As fine as I can be," he groaned. "Who are you anyway?"

"My name is Kairi," the girl said. "Who are you guys?"

"I'm Koda!" the little cub ran over to Kairi. "Thanks for saving us from those creatures."

Kairi smiled and gently rubbed Koda's head.

"I'm just glad you guys are okay," she said before turning back to the elder bear. "What's your name?"

"It's Kenai," the bear replied somewhat harshly.

"Wait, Kenai?!" Kairi gasped.

"Yeah, Kenai."

"Kenai," Kairi's voice sounded urgent, "I've been looking for you! We have to…"

Kairi didn't get the chance to finish her sentence. At that moment, Koda sniffed the air and gave a terrified shriek.

"RUN!"

Koda then raced off through the forest, disappearing among the trees.

"Koda, wait!" Kairi shouted.

Suddenly, Kairi felt a strange force drawing closer. She knew it was a force of darkness. However, it wasn't like the kind that she had sense before. It wasn't just mindless rage and hatred. It seemed to be…in pain.

At the same time, there was a rustle from behind. Both Kairi and Kenai turned around quickly and saw a figure moving in the shadows closer to them. Kenai squinted as the figure stepped into the red beams of the sunset.

It was a human.

He was dressed in a bluish fur coat with fur pants and boots. He had a single bead dangling from a clump of his short black hair. He carried a satchel over his right shoulder and he carried a long spear with a carving of a bear tied close to the spearhead.

He slowly approached Kairi and Kenai. However, his attention wasn't on Kairi at all.

"Denahi?" Kenai whispered.

He then smiled and got up.

"Denahi, you found me!"

Kairi tensed up when she suddenly remembered what Tanana had said to her.

"Kenai second eldest brother, Denahi, thinks that Kenai was killed by the bear Kenai was pursuing. However, he doesn't know that he is hunting his own brother."

"Oh, no!" the girl whispered.

However, Kenai approached his brother with elation.

"Boy, am I glad to see you!" the bear said. "You wouldn't believe what a nightmare this has been!"

Kairi then noticed Denahi raise his spear as Kenai got closer. Kenai noticed it, too.

"Denahi?" Kenai cautiously backed away.

This time, Denahi lunged forward, his spear ready to kill.

"DENAHI!" Kenai shouted. "IT'S ME! KENAI!"

As Kenai fearfully backed away, he tripped over a large root sticking up out of the ground. He fell backwards and the branch that was still tied to his foot got entangled in the root.

"KENAI!" Kairi cried out.

Denahi then stopped and turned to the girl in utter shock. To him, what came out of her mouth wasn't the sound of any speech he would recognize. Instead, it was the cry of a bear.

Kairi then rushed forward and pushed Denahi away. He stumbled back for a few feet before falling into a bush. Kairi then summoned her Keyblade and cut the rope around Kenai's ankle, releasing him.

"COME ON!" she shouted. "WE GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE!"

Frightened and confused, Kenai sprinted from his place with Kairi racing after him. They both ran down a hill and ended up leaping off of a small ledge. Kenai tumbled into the small stream below while Kairi stumbled for a moment before falling onto Kenai.

They both scrambled up and looked around desperately for a place hide.

"There!" Kairi pointed.

Just a few yards away from them, was an enormous glacier with a narrow opening in its side.

Kairi and Kenai immediately made a mad-dash for crevasse. Kenai, being the fastest, was the first to reach it. He immediately squirmed through and ran into the icy cave. Kairi, being a lot smaller than Kenai, simply ran through the opening and joined her friend. Once they were a good ways into the cavern, they both turned around to check and see if Denahi had followed them.

When they didn't see him. They relaxed for a moment.

However, their moment of rest was short-lived. For at that moment, there came the sound of ice cracking from above. Kairi and Kenai looked up and got a horrible shock when they saw the outline of Denahi stalking on the ice just above them.

They both back up against the icy wall, holding their breaths and hoping that the human would eventually go away.

Suddenly, a small voice whispered:

"Is he gone?!"

Kairi and Kenai jumped and turned around to see Koda peaking from behind a small wall of ice.

"Koda!" Kairi whispered urgently.

At the same time from above, Denahi's silhouette looked around sharply. He must have heard Koda. However, the little cub didn't notice Denahi.

"I think he was going to…"

"SHH!" Kenai hastily grabbed the little cub, pulling him in close and covering his mouth with his large paw.

Koda tried to speak, but his voice was all muffled. He then looked up and noticed the hunter's shape. That was enough to silence him.

There was a horrible moment of tension they group watched Denahi scan the ice, obviously eager to find the large bear he was pursuing.

Suddenly, Denahi's silhouette ran off in the opposite direction and disappeared.

Kenai let out small, almost relieved sigh. However, he wasn't completely relaxed.

"Hello!" Koda strained. "I can't breathe!"

Kenai, shell-shocked and confused, released Koda, who immediately gasped for air the second he was on the ground.

Kairi took several deep breaths and hugged herself.

That was too close for comfort.