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Seven:Deep Jungle pt 1

(Kairi's Pov)

"Nothing seems to be broken."

A woman with a heavy accent woke me. A man replied with a similar accent.

"Just how did she get here?" he asked the woman.

"I don't know, Clayton. I was out by the camp doing my research and I found her lying in a tree by the research tables!"

"He should've left her, Jane. She's not our problem." Clayton replies.

I open my eyes slowly, Clayton and Jane were standing above me watching me curiously. Jane wore a yellow dress, she had dark brown hair, and dark green eyes. Clayton was also wearing yellow, a yellow button up shirt with tan colored pants. Clayton had salt and pepper colored hair along with a thin mustache, he also sported a hunting rifle that was strapped behind his back.

"Ahh! You're awake!" Jane cheered, "Are you alright? Here, have some water!"

She handed me a canteen filled with water.

"Don't worry, this is fresh clean water from the springs!" Jane assured me.

"Thank you." I rasp, willingly bringing the canteen to my lips.

I gulped down every drop, not realizing how dehydrated I must be.

"I'm Jane!" Jane introduces herself, "and this is Clayton. We're both researchers!"

I put the canteen down, still processing that trees broke my fall. I got lucky.

"It's nice to meet you both, I'm Kairi. I got separated from my boyfriend and friends."

"Oh dear, how did you get stuck in that tree?" Jane asked.

I was curious about how I got down in the first place. Did Jane or Clayton get me? I couldn't say anything about being from another world. I opened my mouth to come up with a nonsense story, when I was interrupted by a new voice.

"Jane!"

This voice was deeper with no accent. I look over to see a muscular man walking on all fours. He wore only a cloth around his hips and he had long brown hair and piercing green eyes.

"Tarzan!" Jane's face lit up.

I was relieved to see Sora behind Tarzan.

"Sora!"

I hurried off the cot I was currently sitting on to jump in his arms. He catches me willingly, holding me tightly.

"Kairi, I'm so so sorry…I don't know what overcame me back there ...I was so stupid!"

I shake my head and cup his face in my hands.

"Don't be, I would've done the same thing if you hadn't…"

"Puppy love…" Clayton scoffs behind us, this makes Sora and I part instantly.

"Looks like Tarzan has found you both and brought you together!" Jane exclaims, "Are you two here to study the gorillas?"

"Highly doubtful." Clayton mutters.

Just then, Donald and Goofy poked their heads in the tent.

"Goofy! Donald!" Sora and I cry.

"A circus of clowns. Not much for hunting gorillas." Clayton adds.

" We're studying them not hunting them." Jane turns to us and smiles. "The more the merrier! Do make yourselves at home!"

"Thank you, Jane we do ap-" I begin to say until Sora and Donald cut me off.

"I'm staying!" They both declared, crossing their arms.

"Wait, you are?" Sora asks.

"Well, the King could be here so we gotta work together to look for him, for now!" Donald replies.

"Fine, I'll let you tag along…for now!" Sora huffs.

I smile and go over to pick up Donald from under his wings and hug him close to my chest.

"HEEY! PUT ME DOWN!" He shrieks.

I laugh, hugging his feathery body close.

"Oh you two, let's just forgive and move on! We're a team, and teams don't give up on each other!"

Goofy chuckles besides me.

"She's right! One for one and one for all!"

"Exactly!" I nod.

"ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT!" Donald exclaims, "Could you just put me down!?"

I giggle and set him down to his webbed feet and pat his hat affectionately. A series of gorilla noises came from Tarzan.

"Apparently Tarzan was raised by the gorillas, communicating with him isn't easy, but he's learning." Jane chimes in.

"So he was speaking gorilla back there?" Sora turns to me. "Tarzan saved me from a leopard!"

"Ahh that's right, you two are looking for your friends?" Jane replied, she then gestured to a projector behind her. "Why don't you try this? Show these to Tarzan maybe you'll find the words he's been trying to say in the slides-oh what happened to them?"

I look over by the entrance of the tent and notice Clayton is gone.

"They must be lying around the camp somewhere!" Jane sighed.

"Well find them," I assure Jane, "Maybe we'll find our friends on the way!"

"Oh, that would be lovely!" Jane replies, "Also, don't mind Clayton. He is not a bad person, just a bit impetuous."

I haven't known Clayton for an hour but Impetuous is not the word I would use.

(*)

"Well…I think this is all of the slides!"

I say, holding up a slide I just found in a cooking pot. Sora must have read my mind.

"How did a slide get into a cooking pot?" He asks.

I shrug. "Maybe Jane was cooking an-OW!"

I cried, holding the back of my head that was now throbbing. I look down by my shoe to see a banana.

"Falling bananas." I murmur, "Well…we are in a jungle."

Sora shakes his head as his keyblade appears in his hand.

"Nope. It's the heartless, and they're throwing bananas."

I turned to see a group of heartless, they danced in a mocking way and they were….monkey's. The only difference from a REAL monkey was that they didn't have glowing yellow eyes.

"I was wondering when they'd show up!"

I frown at our new company while wielding my keyblade.

"HURRY! LETS GET EM!" Donald shouts as he draws sparks from his staff, zapping a few of the monkey-heartless. Goofy barrels forward taking care of a few. I draw my blade out in front of me just as another banana comes flying my way. I duck and bolt to my right away from the heartless.

"Take that!" I smirk, but my victory was short lived as my foot makes contact with another banana peel. "AHH!"

My feet slip up from under me and I fall hard onto my backside. The munny that I've collected from previous heartless poured out of my pockets. The monkey-heartless chattered as they danced over to me.

"Back off!" Sora yells, racing to my side.

He strikes them with his blade, making them disappear instantly. Goofy hurries over with an outstretched hand, I smile and accept it gratefully as he pulls me up to my feet.

"These fellas sure are pesky!" He states.

"You said it!"

I smile as I bend down to recollect all my munny, plus the bonus that the heartless have dropped.

"Let's bring these slides back to Jane!" Sora says, "Maybe we can understand Tarzan better!"

(*)

"Well, Tarzan?" Jane asks, as she clicks to the next slide on the projector.

"Have you seen Riku? Or Alice?" Sora asks Tarzan.

My eyes shift over to the projection screen. The last slide revealed this beautiful castle, with clean stone, well the first half of it. While the other half was what resembled a distorted factory, dead thorns had grown on the walls of the factory. Surrounding the twisted bastion was a luscious garden with vibrant colors from every flower and encircling the gardens were these beautiful fountains. The more I observed this slide the more familiar this place seemed….

"Thank you" The blue haired lady said to the big mouse beside me, she knelt down in front of us with a smile as bright as the sun. Her eyes were the same color as her hair.

"My name is Aqua. I train under Master Eraqus." She was talking to the big mouse who saved me from those monsters, he helped her fight too!

"I'm Mickey!" The mouse replied, "I used to be Yen Sid's apprentice! I came back to him for some more training! Let's join forces! OH!"

Suddenly, a bright white light surrounded Mickey and took him away in the air, he had then disappeared and we could only hear his voice.

"See ya real soon!" He called out from below as he floated away.

I rub the stems of the flowers I picked, they were ticklish against my fingers. I smile up at Aqua as I push the flowers toward her.

"Oh! Are these for me!?" She looks at me, smiling..

"Yeah!" I nod, "I picked you these flowers for saving me!"

"Kairi!"

"Huh!?"

I look up at Sora, dazed from my current daydream. Sora, Jane, Donald, and Goofy were looking at me with concern.

"Are you okay Kairi?" Sora asks, he rubs my arm gently.

"Uh….yeah….sorry, this place…" I point at the castle on the screen, "It just seems familiar…."

"Familiar!? How?" Donald asks.

How could I explain the sudden daydream I had? Or was it a memory? The mouse ... .and that woman, Aqua. Were they real?

"Uh…I'm not sure…" I say, instinctively placing a hand over my heart. "Just a feeling…"

"Well, about your friends," Clayton says, as he appears inside the tent. "That leaves just one place, we've been in the jungle for some time now. But we have yet to encounter these friends of yours. I'd wager they're with the gorillas, but Tarzan refuses to take us to them."

Jane frowns.

"Really, Mr. Clayton. Tarzan wouldn't hide-"

"Gorillas!" Tarzan nods, "Tarzan go see Kerchaik."

"Tarzan, are you sure? Who's Kerchaik?" Jane asks.

"He must be the leader! Perfect, I'll go along as an escort. After all, the jungle is a dangerous place." Clayton grinned at us. I don't know why but something about it was very unsettling.

"I wish I could go too." Jane sighs, "But the gorillas are wary of strangers, so the smaller the group, the better. Perhaps you'll find them up in the treetops!"

"Excellent." Clayton's grin grew wider.

Something seemed off about him, It just didn't add up. Why would Alice and Riku be hanging around a bunch of gorillas?

(*)

The air seemed to get more humid the deeper we traveled into the forest. Clayton and Tarzan were already climbing up the ivy vines as we reached the swampy area. We haven't hiked very far and I was already drenched with sweat, as the day went on the hotter the temperature got.

There were warm days on Destiny Islands but nothing like this. At least we had the benefit of the ocean's breeze.

"WOW IT'S HOT!" Sora moans, I look over at him to see him kicking off his shoes.

"Hey! Nobody wants to smell your stinky feet!" I giggle, as I pinch my nose shut with my fingers.

Donald and Goofy cringe as they look at Sora's yellow shoes.

"Well, maybe if I soak my feet they wouldn't be so stinky!"

Sora tosses his socks by his shoes and plops to the edge of the lake.

"Well, what about the gorillas?" Goofy asks.

"Hey, we've been working hard! We can take five!" Sora replies, sticking his feet into the water. He tilts his head back and closes his eyes. "Ahhh…."

I giggle as I step over to him.

"That good?"

"Mmmhhmm."

This gave me an idea.

"Well, how about this?"

I nudged his back with my foot, knocking Sora off balance and sending him forwards toward the water. His eyes snap open as he falls into the lake. Droplets of water spray my face and clothes from his splash, the water was refreshing.

"Kairi!" Sora sputters, as he emerges from the surface. His brown spikes damp and covered his entire face. Donald, Goofy, and I begin to laugh.

"I figured you could cool off!" I shrug.

"Yeah…true…"

Sora floats to the edge of the lake where I stood.
"Now it's your turn!"

Before I can react, he grabs my ankle and pulls me into the lake. I squeal as my body plunges into the lake. The water is brisk as I submerge, it washes away all the sweat from my body. I swim up to the surface and sigh, Sora is grinning at me.

"Well? How do you like that?"

I tip on my back, allowing the water to bring me afloat. The sun above peeks from behind the thick leaves of the many different trees that encircle the lake around us.

"Love it! Nothing like a good swim!" I smile, feeling the warm sun as it dries my damp face. "Good call on the five minute break!"

"You know…"

I look over at Sora as he swims over to me, I giggle as he gathers me in his arms. "This world is a lot like home! The fruits, the water, all the climbing trees…"

"Oh Sora? Are you home sick?" I tease.

"Huh? No! No! I was just making a connection!" He sputters, his eyes big behind his damp spikes.

"Oh good! Cause then, I'd have to do this!"

I smack my hand down on the water, creating a big wave that hits Sora right in the face.

"HEY!"

He grabs at my arm, I squeal and kick my legs frantically creating more waves around us.

"I DIDN'T even take my shoes off! They're going to be soaked!"

"Uh…guys?"

"Huh!?"

Sora and I both look up at Donald and Goofy. I felt bad for forgetting they were there. Sora just has that effect on me, when we're together it's like the world around us disappears.

"We should probably get going! Tarzan and Clayton'll be lookin' for us!" Goofy says bashfully, while Donald huffs and taps his webbed foot impatiently.

This makes me flush.

"Sorry guys!"

Sora and I exchange wide grins before we reach up for the edge, only to nearly fall back into the lake as the sound of a gunshot explores through the air.

(Sora's Pov)

The four of us hurried to the treetops. The air was so humid by the time we got to Clayton, Kairi and I were nearly dry. A few gorillas scampered off in a panic, some were hiding behind overgrown plants while Tarzan was trying to confront them. There was one dark gorilla who seemed to be glaring at Tarzan.

"Wait, Kerchaik please!"

"WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA!?" Donald shouts from behind him.

I looked over at Clayton to see him holding his rifle, which was aimed at the gorillas. He looked at Donald then at me with a panicked expression. Like a kid who just got caught stealing candy.

"You don't understand. I was only trying to…..ah…a snake slithered by, you see I saved that poor gorilla's life!"

"I KNEW you were hunting the gorillas!" Kairi cried, she turned on her heel and took off down the grassy path.

(*)

"Now Miss. Porter, as I told you I was not aiming at the gorillas…" Clayton explained quickly to Jane.

Kairi had hurried back to Jane's tent to share the news. She was standing behind Jane with a furrowed brow.

"He was!" Kairi stated, "You could see it written all over his face!"

Jane scowled at Clayton.

"You are not to go near the gorilla's again!"

"All over one mishap?" Clayton chuckles nervously.

Jane ignores him and places a hand on Kairi and I's shoulder. "Let us go." She says, "I cannot bare to look at him."

I looked over at Clayton from behind my shoulder, he sneered at me and gave me a little wave. Could he have kidnapped Alice? Or was he just after the gorilla's?

As we step outside we're greeted by an entire hoard of heartless. They were everywhere, on the tables, tents, and even by the forest entrance blocking our escape. There must have been hundreds.

"HEARTLESS!" Donald cries.

"Oh, this is bad!" Kairi cries.

"The gorilla's!" Jane cries, "We must help them!"

"Sora! I can take Jane to the tree tops!' Kairi says, "I'll protect us on the way! Donald and Goofy cane come with us, you and Tarzan can take the heartless!"

I didn't like the idea of separating but it was the only way for the gorillas to be safe.

"Okay, be careful." I say before turning to Tarzan, "Are you ready?"

Tarzan screeches and holds out his spear in front of him. The two of us hasten toward the heartless, clearing them out one by one. I fight off a smile as I side step a banana peel, it instantly reminds me of Kairi. Tarzan lets out an animal like hollar as he darts at the last few heartless, striking them each with his spear. I hunch over as I catch my breath.

"I think that's all of them…" I say, Tarzan turns to face me his eyes growing wide.

"Sora! Look out!"

I turn to see the leapord who tried attacking me earlier. A low growl grumbled from its throat as it stalked toward us.

"Sabor!" Tarzan cried.

Sabor. That must be its name.

Tarzan inches cautiously toward Sabor to strike it across the face with the edge of his spear. Sabor staggered back, giving us an angry snarl.

I side step around the vicious wild cat warily, but it seemed to have read my ever move. Sabor turned to lunge at me, I managed to dodge but not fast enough to escape its claws. I wince as they graze my calf, I could feel my leg start to sting and moisten with blood.

Tarzan struck it from the side while it had its focus on me. Sabor snapped in his direction and swiped at him, I bolted at Sabor and struck it on the head with the tip of ny blade.

Sabior groans, I watch its eyes roll to the back of its head before it collapses.

"Right…." I gasp, as I fumble in my shorts pockets for a potion to cure my wound. "Let's meet up with Kairi and Jane!"

Tarzan nods and takes off toward the tree tops.

I turn to look over at Sabor but it was gone.

A/N: Soooo yeah, I decided to add some of Kairi's forgotten memories. I had to! Kairi needs more spotlight she has SO much potential, maybe it's a unpopular opinion but I LOVE Kairi, and I really enjoy writing her! Let me know your thoughts! :)