Strength of Heart
The next morning, Kairi, Kenai, and Koda left the icy cavern and began their journey to the mountain where the lights touch the earth. The sun was shining brightly and a cool, welcoming breeze gently flowed over the grassy meadow as they walked on. Koda, being the playful cub that his is, constantly ran around field just a few feet in front of Kenai and Kairi. He would also sing some random song, tell stories, and blew dandelion puffs whenever they came across any.
While Kenai found the little bear's antics to be annoying, Kairi smiled and giggled at Koda's carefree spirit and innocence.
"So," Kenai said gruffly, "how far is it to this….what do you call it…Salmon Run?"
"Oh," Koda shrugged, "about a day or two. My mom used to take me there all the time."
"Your mom?" Kairi asked.
Koda's expression then turned to dismal and he stopped running around.
"Yeah," he said. "See, she and I got separated a few days ago. I was hoping that she would be at the Salmon Run since she always told me that if I ever got lost, I would meet up with her there."
"Oh," the human girl frowned. "I'm sorry to hear that."
Kairi then walked over to Koda, knelt down to his level, and lovingly rubbed his head.
"I'm sure we'll find her," she said. "And who knows: she might be waiting for you there already."
"You think so?" Koda looked up hopefully.
Kairi gave a small nod.
Meanwhile, Kenai looked at Kairi with a subtle expression of suspicion. Ever since she showed up out of the blue and said she was here to help him reach the mountain, his curiosity of her began to slowly climb. Why was she sent to help him? And just where did she come from? He had never seen a human like her before. And he certainly had seen anyone with powers like hers.
Oddly enough, as much as Kenai was suspicious about Kairi, and while every other instinct in his body was telling him not to trust her, he couldn't help but feel a sense of trust towards her. After all, she did save his life the other day. She also had a sense of honesty about her.
"Well, c'mon." Kairi then stood up. "We should keep moving."
The group prepared to set out again. However, they were immediately stopped when several black shadows appeared in the ground and more of those creatures that had attacked them yesterday sprung out of them. Only now, some of them had the appearance of deranged wolves.
"Heartless!" Kairi shouted.
The human girl then summoned her Keyblade. Just as the Heartless began to close in, she sprung from her spot and struck three of them with just one swipe.
"Kairi, behind you!" Koda shouted.
Kairi turned around in time to see a large, wolf-like Heartless leap into the air and sail towards her, it's jaws open and ready to bite. However, before Kairi could strike, Kenai rushed forward and swiped at it with his large, bear paws. The Heartless disappeared in a swirl of dark purple mist.
"Whoa!" Kairi exclaimed. "Thanks, Kenai!"
"Don't thank me yet!" the bear growled. "We've got to take the rest of them out first!"
Kairi gave a sharp nod and prepared herself for an attack. Beside her, Kenai arched his back and snarled at the surrounding Heartless. Frightened, Koda ran past the Heartless to join his friends. Regardless of his fear, he crouched down low, preparing himself to attack.
"Get ready, guys!" Kairi commanded.
"I-I'll do my best!" Koda stuttered.
For the next few minutes, Kairi, Kenai, and Koda fought their way through what seemed to be an endless assault of Heartless. Kairi, using her agility, speed and magic, took out several medium-sized Heartless at once. Kenai, using his strength and power, went after the larger ones, slicing them down with lethal paw swipes or fatal jaw bits. Even little Koda managed to take out some of the smaller Heartless.
To help her team, Kairi used her magic to heal both herself and the two bears, and create wind barriers around them for stronger defense. She also used her light attacks pretty frequently, as they were the strongest attack she had in her arsenal.
Pretty soon, after the human girl wiped out two more Heartless, she looked over her shoulder to see a bunch more beginning to overwhelm Kenai. The large bear fought back with much ferocity, but the number of Heartless closing in of him were increasing by the second. In just a second, some managed to pin him to the ground. He roared and slashed at them with all the strength he had, but it was no use.
"Kenai!" Kairi cried.
Upon seeing this, Kairi immediately rushed over to Kenai and slashed at them with her Keyblade. With all that weight pinning him down gone, Kenai quickly stood up. However, the Heartless were closing in on them once again.
"Kairi, there's too many of them!" Kenai shouted.
"We need some help!" Koda yelled.
Kairi glanced down at her Keyblade. There had to be some way for them to defeat the Heartless all at once. As she stared at her Keyblade, a small memory of something Sora told her quickly flashed in her mind.
Watching the sunset on Destiny Island, one of Kairi's best friends, Sora, was sharing the details of his adventures to her.
"So you could do team attacks with others from various worlds?" Kairi asked.
"Yeah," Sora nodded, "if they have a strong heart, the Keyblade allowed us to combine our strengths together and we could both take out a large number of Heartless."
"So, as long as they have a strong heart, the Keyblade would let you combine your powers together?"
"Exactly. And it really comes in handy when you're in a pinch."
"That's it!" Kairi thought to herself. "I just hope this works!"
Kairi then looked up and turned toward Kenai and Koda.
"Kenai!" she shouted. "Koda! I've got an idea! Gather around me!"
"What?!" Kenai glanced at the human girl.
"Just trust me! I know what I'm doing!"
Although they were confused, the two bears gathered around Kairi. Taking a deep breath, the Keyblade wielder focused her powers, making a white aura shine around her, and expanded her energy out to the rest of her friends. At the same time, Kenai and Koda felt a strange and mysterious power course through them. A white aura began to glow around both of them. They suddenly knew what they had to do.
"NOW!" Kairi ordered.
On the command, the three fighters charged forward, striking Heartless left and right like they were just flies. They all struck with such force and speed that the Heartless couldn't calculate their moves.
After about ten consecutive moves from each of them, the team leapt back together. Kairi stood in the middle of them and raised her Keyblade to the sky. At the same time, Kenai and Koda both roared. While Koda roar didn't sound very threatening, Kenai's roar thundered loud and clear, echoing across the meadow. Kairi then unleashed a way of light, and the roars of the two bears amplified it. It swept across the meadow like wind, wiping out any remaining Heartless.
When the attack ended, there was no sign of any Heartless left. Everything was it had been at the start of their journey.
"Ha!" Kairi smiled. "It worked!"
"That was AWESOME!" Koda gleefully shouted. "Those things didn't stand a chance against us! And Kairi, how did you do all that attack?! That was amazing!"
"Well," Kairi laughed, "you guys partially helped with that. In order for the team attack to work, all members have to have strong hearts. And you two certainly have strong hearts. That was more powerful than even I was intending."
"Huh." Kenai grinned. "I got to admit, that was pretty cool. Thanks, Kairi."
Kairi smiled and nodded.
"And thank you, Kenai," she said. "You really pack quite a punch."
"Yeah," the adult bear mumbled, "even I didn't know I could do that."
Kairi then turned to the Koda.
"I guess you weren't kidding when you said you could be fierce in a fight," she complimented. "Those were some pretty cool moves."
Koda beamed with pride.
"I told you I had some moves!" he grinned.
Seeing the little bear so proud and cheerful, Kenai couldn't help but chuckle.
"Hey!" Koda pointed his paw at Kenai. "You actually smiled! I saw it!"
Kenai stepped back and blinked in surprise. He then gave a small, irritated frown.
"What?!" he grimaced. "You've never seen a bear smile before?!"
"Not on your face, that's for sure!" Koda said in a playfully mocking tone.
The little cub then burst out laughing and fell over on his back. Kenai just have a strained groan and looked away sourly. Kairi giggled at the scene before her.
"You guys behave like two brothers, you know that?" she said.
Upon hearing what Kairi said, Kenai glanced at the human girl and back at the laughing Koda. He then looked down with a neutral expression. He eyes darted aimlessly across the ground. Kairi watched him, curious as to what was going on in his head.
Finally, Kenai took a deep breath and looked back up.
"Well," he said, "we better keep moving. Just in case those creatures decide to come back."
"Good idea." Kairi nodded. "Besides, we should probably get to the Salmon Run as soon as possible."
"Oh, okay." Koda said, getting to his feet. "Just follow me."
Without a moment of hesitation, the small group set out through the wilderness once again. As they journeyed onward, Kairi looked at her Keyblade and smiled. She then held the hilt of it close to her heart.
"Thanks, Sora," she whispered. "I couldn't have done it without you."
Indeed, if Sora hadn't told her about his adventures, she probably wouldn't have known what to do in the first place. Once again, he was there for her when she needed him. Even if he wasn't beside her in the fight, he was right beside her in her heart. All the memories of him that she carried with her made her strong. And she knew that as long as she remembered Sora, and all he did for her, he would continue to make her strong.
And when they met again, she would show him that all he told her, all he did for her was worth something.
She was going to become the greatest Keyblade wielder that she could be.