Another bright, clear day on Destiny Islands. Hopping up onto the docks, Sora was greeted with the sight of Tidus, Selphie, and Wakka already there. Tidus was practicing his swordplay, Wakka was heavily focused on a familiar series of bushes covering a rock formation at the center of the island, and Selphie, as usual, was daydreaming on the docks as usual.
But of course, Sora and Riku had their own assigned tasks from Kairi. The new batch of supplies for the raft. But first, Sora went to the other side of the island to find Riku and Kairi. The first thing Riku greeted him with was, "Hey Sora. The raft still needs a name. How about Highwind?" Sora crossed his arms, thinking about the name. It had a pretty cool ring to it, though...it wasn't quite what he had in mind. Riku could tell that was what Sora was thinking just from the loook in his eyes, so he asked, "What would you call it?"
Sora blinked, wracking his brain for a moment, trying to think of a name he liked. Eventually his his face brightened up as one came to hi. "Me? Hm...How about...Excalibur!"
Riku thought about the names they both presented. He liked the ring Sora's had, but he also favored his. So..."Hey. How about..."
Sora smirked realizing what Riku was getting at. "The usual?"
Seeing his friend pick up on it right away made Riku smirk. Sora wasn't one to typically use his brain, but when he did, it was often about stuff to do with their competitions. What better way to decide the Raft's name than a race on their favorite obstacle course? "Let's do it!"
Their little challenge was picked up on by Kairi who called out to the boys. "You guys at it again? Alright I'll be the judge." They certainly weren't wasting time on wasting time, but boys will be boys. So she drew their attention to their surprisingly well home made obstacle course they'd set up for their particularly serious races. "The usual rules apply. Take any route you want. The first one to tag that tree and make it back here wins." she called out, pointing to the star tipped tree on the cliff around the corner.
Sora and Riku took position at the starting point. The former had his face forward, focused on the literal goal. While Sora was far more excited and less focused as he added a condition on top of what they already bet. Sweetening the deal, so to speak. "If I win? Uh... I'm Captain. And if you win-"
Riku decided to add his own little condition on top of it all when he responded in a frank tone, "I get the share a paopu with Kairi."
Taken aback, Sora was wide eyed and wondered if he heard his friend correctly. "Huh?!"
Sora didn't realize that such a gobsmacked reaction was just what his best friend was counting on. "Deal?" Riku asked with a cheeky smile. No way he was going to miss the opportunity to get under Sora's skin before the race. "The winner gets to share a paopu with Kairi."
And it was working wonders on the now flustered Sora. "Wa-Wait a minute." This was too sudden. It was one thing to decide the name of the raft and who would name it but Kairi had nothing to do with it. Especially with something like that. The legend of the paopu fruit, whether it was true or not, wasn't something Sora was certain if he should bet on. Kairi didn't even have a say in something that involved her.
"Okay. On my count," Kairi called out as she raised her arm, not hearing the sudden bet they made without her consent. "3... 2... 1... GO!"
Riku took off right away, causing Sora to stagger before mustering just enough speed to catch up to Riku. They hopped over one of the older bridges since parts of it were broken off. Around the middle Sora felt one of the edges break. He almost fell in the water below and grabbed the edge, clinging to it as if for dear life. Riku had jumped the moment he set foot and was at the other edge. "Giving up already? Come on Sora. I thought you were stronger than that."
Sora looked up with annoyance as Riku maintained his lead. With a burst of frustration empowered strength, Sora ran full tilt to the ladder Riku was climbing. At first he thought of climbing after him, but he suddenly noticed something that gave him another idea. Instead of climbing, Sora went around the edge and rushed along the shore. Rocks jutted from the side almost like steps right to the tree. Sora managed to touch it and to Riku's surprise he arrived right after Sora put his hands on it. Against all expectations Sora had taken the lead.
Riku was couldn't deny he was impressed by Sora's burst of ingenuity. Perhaps that Paopu bet motivated him more than expected, espeially since Sora managed to reach the checkpoint just a second before Riku.
Now they were neck and neck, jumping atop trees to round back to where Kairi was waiting for them. Sora felt himself getting a bit sore from trying to keep ahead of Riku, but he kept pushing through it, determined to beat Riku. And eventually, as they jumped over the segmented bridge, both boys, neck and neck, reached the finish line.
"Good job you guys. From what I saw though, Sora managed to win by a hair." Kairi said in congratulations to them both before walking off. "I'm gonna go get more supplies for the raft. You guys better do the same."
Sora and Riku were panting heavily, trying to regain themselves and shared a silent between each other with Sora saying, "Looks like the score is 4 to 3. And as a bonus, we're going with 'Excalibur' after all."
Riku let out a sigh and a shrug at Sora's rampant enthusiasm. "Man, lighten up. It's just a name. Also, when did you get fast enough to catch up to me like that?" he added with a pant, quite impressed with Sora's motivated turnaround.
Sora chuckled and gave his own cheeky response with a flick of his nose. "Since you gave me the motivation to win this one. So thanks."
At first, Riku didn't know what he was talking about, but a second later, he remembered. "Oh. The paopu thing? That was just a joke." Riku admitted as his breathing evened out. Though his breath certainly felt tempted to leave him at Sora's hilarious expression and even more hilarious reaction.
"Wait, what?! You weren't serious about-?!"
At that point, Riku couldn't help chuckling at the way Sora floundered while he walked away. "I wish you could see yourself right now." he teased, ever so amused by how easy it was to throw his best friend off his game.
Sora watched in flabbergasted realization before scowling with embarrassment. He couldn't believe Riku would pull such a nasty trick. He decided it was probably forget it and went to another part of the island to gather food that would be used for their voyage of the raft. Sora was gathering mushrooms and worked hard to search every nook and cranny of the island.
The area Wakka had been looking at earlier caught Sora's attention. It was the only spot he hadn't gone to yet for mushrooms. In fact he hadn't been in this particular place for a long time. Before he knew it, he walked through the entrance of the small rocky tunnel. Deep within there was light from a large crack of the stone ceiling which let the sunlight in. It was a small cave, though with a great oddity at the farthest end. An oval shaped door made of wood that seemed built into the stone wall. There was no knob, window, or even a keyhole attached to it. It was just a neat looking, out of place door as far as Sora was concerned.
There were also scribbles on the walls. The sort of silly little scribbles one would expect a child to create. Sora managed to find one set of edible mushrooms in front of a particular drawing. He set the food aside and looked at it. The drawing was a picture of his head as a child facing another child. Kairi.
Placing a hand to the image, he stared at it with a fond smile. He remembered the days he and Kairi came to this secret spot to draw all the time. He drew her face while she drew his. A faint blush crossed him as he remembered Riku's teasing from today as well as yesterday. And yet, what embarrassment would have been there seemed to fade away as he stared at the image. Perhaps he did care for Kairi deeper than he thought. 'Before we leave...' he thought, picking up a nearby flint rock.
Sora wasn't sure how much time had passed, as he was focused on the addition he was making to the image. When it was finished, he pulled back to look at the new part. His cheeks were ever aflush as he looked upon it. He added a hand extending from himself holding the familiar star shape of a paopu fruit, offering it to Kairi. They had been together all the time as children and Sora was sure of it now after practically a decade. If there was anyone he'd want to share the fruit with...
The sound of movement made him perk up as he frantically covered the new part of the image with his hands and looked behind. His face ever flustered grew panicked at the thought of being caught by someone. ESPECIALLY Kairi. "Who's there?!"
The source of the sound behind him was a...brown, featureless robe clad figure skulking in the corner by the door. "I've come to see the door to this world." The figure spike with a deep, rich, masculine voice.
The words he said left Sora relieved that he didn't see the drawing, but confused by everything else. "This world has been connected."
Confusion that just grew more and more by the second. What're you talking about?" The figure either ignored his question or just didn't care to answer it as he continued. "Tied to the darkness. Soon to be completely eclipsed."
The cryptic things the guy was saying were starting to make Sora uneasy. "Whoever you are, stop freaking me out like that." Sora demanded, trying to banish the pit of worry forming in his gut. Then he realized, he didn't know who this guy was. He'd never seen him on the islands in his whole life. "Where did you come from?"
The hooded figure seemed to barely consider Sora's presence as he dismissively said, "You do not yet know what lies beyond the door."
Beyond the door? Did he mean... "So you're from another world!" Sora exclaimed with awe. He never actually expected someone to confirm that other worlds exist like this. But what was this guy talking about?
"There is so very much to learn...You understand so little." the hooded man said with that same tone of monotonous condescension.
Sora was getting annoyed. Did this guy think just because he was a kid, he couldn't understand anything? He wasn't too bright, but he wasn't stupid. "Oh yeah? Well you'll see. I'm gonna get out and LEARN what's out there!" he said defiantly, not about to be put down by some hooded weirdo.
One who once again cared little for Sora's display of confidence. "A meaningless effort. One who knows nothing can understand...nothing." Sora went silent from annoyance before looking at the door in question. He couldn't help but wonder. Just what was behind it? And why did this guy want to see it? Before he could even ask, the robed guy was gone. As if never there to begin with.
"Sora?" the voice of Kairi called out from beyond the tunnel, snapping the confused boy out of his reverie. Regaining himself, Sora turned to the entryway at the sound of her footsteps. He was already worried enough, but as Kairi's voice come closer, he was downright panicked. If she saw the addition he made to the drawing... "I swear, if you're playing around instead of working or if you're sleeping-"
As she called out to him, Sora gathered the bulk of mushrooms into one of his arms and met Kairi halfway "Hey, no, don't worry Kairi. I was finding us some food for tomorrow! Don't worry. See? I've got us all the mushrooms we could eat. So there's no reason to worry. Let's get going. We still need to prepare since the day isn't over yet." His answer was nothing short of a flurry, and it made Kairi raise her brow in confusion. But fortunately, she just brushed it off with a giggle. With a sigh of relief, Sora followed her back to the beach.
Coconuts, seagull eggs, fish, fresh water and now mushrooms. These were their provisions for their voyage, such as it was. There was no way their parents would approve of this, but they had no intention of telling them. They needed to do this.
They had been working so hard that the day had shifted to late afternoon. The sun would set before long. Riku whittled away for the final parts of the raft as Sora looked out on the ocean. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kairi fiddling with something and asked, "What's that?"
"Oh, this?" Kairi said when showing what she was holding. They looked like seashells strung together by some sort of thread. "I'm making a necklace out of Thalassa shells. Long ago, sailors wore them and pray for a safe trip. So that no matter where they went, they'd come back one day. I'm hoping we'll have a safe journey when we see more of the worlds out there."
Hearing their little exchange, Riku smiled before looking out at the ocean. He said nothing as he stood up and put everything else aside. "I'm gonna turn in early. You guys do what you like. Just make sure you're prepared for tomorrow."
Sora and Kairi looked to him in surprise then to each other. This had to be the first time Riku decided not to join them in watching the sunset. Instead of watching it from the islet like they normally did. So instead, Sora and Kairi sat at the end of the main dock to the playground island.
It didn't feel the same without Riku. Watching the sunset with just each other felt...different. It was hardly the first time Sora and Kairi had been together of course, but now it was...different. "You know, Riku's changed." Kairi said, finally breaking the silence.
Though the way she did it left Sora feeling...odd. "What do you mean?" he asked, trying not focus on the strange pang in his chest he felt from her bringing up Riku.
"Well..." Kairi wasn't sure what it was, but it was...something. Whether it was a good or bad change, she just didn't know.
"You okay?" Sora asked gently as Kairi went silent again. Was she really thinking about Riku that deeply? Why though? And why did that thought...bother him so much?
"Sora! Let's take the raft and go! Just the two of us!"
Kairi's sudden proclamation made Sora's eyes nearly bugged out with surprise and a blush flashed across his cheeks. "Wha!?" Did she just say...Really? Just him and Kairi? Together?
"Hmhm. Just kidding." Kairi said with a playful giggle.
Sora blinked with surprise, recovering from his little spazz with a chuckle. He should have expected this from her. "What's gotten into you? You're the one who's changed, Kairi." he retorted cheerfully.
"Maybe." Kairi couldn't help but agree with him. Back when they were little, she barely said a word before they became friends. In the end, it was Sora and his gentle, easygoing personality that helped her come out of her shell and become who she is now. "You know, I was a little afraid at first, but now I'm ready. No matter where I go or what I see, I know I can always come back here...right?" Kairi asked, looking right at the very first person she had the joy to consider her friend ever since she first came to the Islands.
Sora immediately turned to her with an encouraging smile. "Yeah." and an equally encouraging response.
And there it was. The biggest reason she treasured Sora so deeply. He was lazy and silly, rarely took things seriously, yet he always managed to bring a smile to her face. He was what made this place home for her. "That's good..." And if there was anything she would have ever wanted to keep, no matter what, it was the happiness of her dearest friend. "Sora...Don't ever change."
"Huh?" Her request surprised Sora as he turned to watch her stand up. What did she mean by that? He could barely keep up with all the philosophical talk that Riku put out yesterday, and now Kairi was doing it too.
Regardless of what she meant, Kairi was looking forward to tomorrow even more than ever now. "I just can't wait once we set sail. It'll be great." Off to brand new worlds with the people she wouldn't trade for anything. A sentiment Sora shared as he and Kairi looked out at the Island sunset for what might just be the very last time. Together.
