Sokai (Destiny Islands) Before KH1 Prompt
Prompt:
Sometime ago… in my earliest memory… I remember the sound of waves…
Two boys came to the Mayor's house,… it was the first time I met Riku, and Sora.
"There's this island we all hang out on," Sora excitedly stated, as we were walking to the water's edge.
I wasn't afraid… but…
My steps grew shorter… my breathing less deep as the waves sounded off one by one.
Riku must have noticed my hestiancy, and simply replied with, "Don't worry, we've lived here a long time. Sora, you take your boat first, I'll make sure Kairi gets there alright."
"H-huh?" Sora seemed a bit confused, but then nodded with a big smile on his face. "Why don't we craft her own, first?"
It was really sweet… the boys spent two full days helping me make my own small dinghy I can use whenever I wanted to go visit the island.
The island… they called Destiny.
"Why is it called-" before I could ask, a huge wave crashed over and got us all soaking wet.
Apparently, Sora and Riku looked immediately to me to see if I was still scared of the water or not.
But… I wasn't scared.
The water wasn't what kept me so unsure about it…
Something else drew me to be weary… as though… whatever sent me here had been somewhat unexpectant.
I… can't remember. It's like my memory is one big, foggy cloud… perfectly white with some grey spots… and if I try hard enough… those spots turn into darkness… so I try and stay away from thinking about it too much.
I began giggling, then full on laughing as Riku and Sora's faces sprang into grins. They laughed twice as hard, and I think that's when they offered to teach me to row towards the Island, Destiny.
It was beautiful!
I couldn't stop smiling, I wanted to see everything and know everything there was to know with that little, but wonderful island! Coconuts, mushrooms, my very first Seagull Egg… at least, I think it was my first.
It tasted so new, I never knew they could cook.
"It's good, right?" Sora kicked his feet out on the log, always having a smile that spread from ear to ear.
I nodded, "It's the best thing I've ever tasted!"
"Do you even remember what you've tasted?"
Riku's line made me narrow my eyes with a pout, as Sora mimicked the expression.
I always knew he was on my side that way…
"Haha, you two could be twins!" Riku teased, something he was good at.
"Are not..!" Sora went to play-fight with him but Riku easily grabbed his hand and flipped him over his own log he was sitting on.
"He's always egging you on, Sora." I laughed, squinting my eyes as I had come to notice the dynamic of these two, mysterious and kind boys.
Much like this island… they were wonderful.
"Friends…" I looked out towards the sea. "…I wonder… if I had any, back where I was from."
The boys both stopped before Riku gave me his verison of encouragement.
"Why not? We'll set sail and find all sorts of worlds." he seemed to have his heart in the right place.
"Riku's right, I'm sure we'll find your home world, Kairi. And when we do, we'll ask all your friends if they've tried a Seagull Egg before!" he beamed his ironic, sunrise smile.
Sora… he seemed more interested in helping me find my past than even I was at the time.
Riku wanted to explore other worlds… and Sora… just wanted me to have closure, it seemed.
Sora…
"Oh, that's right!" Sora rocked on his bum before getting back up from being flipped over by Riku. "We also spar here with other kids. Kairi… ah… oh, you… probably don't remember if you've fought before, do you?" He put his hands behind his head and tilted a leg up behind the other.
"Heh, her? Fight?" Riku smirked and looked to Sora, then to me. "I'd like to see that. Who knows? Maybe you've got potential under that dainty form of yours."
I narrowed my eyes in determination again. So… it wasn't just Sora who he could get riled up, eh? Interesting…
"Who are you calling dainty? You're on!" I got up, holding my fists out, ready to give anything a try! "I'll show you 'dainty'."
Riku seemed pleased by my response, and got up. "That's good, I thought you might be hestiant at first." He waved a hand out as he spoke, "You know… considering you definitely don't 'look' like you've held a sword before." he put his hands on his hips, egging me on as well.
Maybe… that was Riku's strength? He always found a way to inspire others to go and try something new… he really wasn't afraid of the unknown, was he?
"Hold on, Riku." Sora quickly put a hand to Riku's shoulder, pulling him somewhat back. "We should get Kairi a weapon, first." He looked around, then ran over and pulled out a stick. "This should do, for a test run at first. Just to see what fighting style you got." He handed me the stick, but something… didn't feel right about it.
"That's too flimsy." Riku shook his head, walking over and taking the stick as he shook it around in my hand a second. "It'll break under one hit." he let it go and I found myself still wobbling. Riku… felt very strong!
The stick didn't seem so 'safe' now…
"Huh? Really? Let me see…" Sora walked over and then took my stick, while my hand was also still on it, and shook it around as I continued to be jerked around a bit.
"Enough!" I held the stick firmly and he let go, "I may not know what's out there… nor what my strengths really are… What I've eaten… what kind friends I've made… But I do know one thing." I turned to Riku, swiping the stick up by his nose as he leaned back, a bit shocked–somewhat–at the unexpectant maneuver.
"But I know my name," I stated confidently, and swiped the stick over to Sora's head, "And I know that… I'm about to fight you two!" I jumped back and readied myself the best I could, "Both of you!"
That got Riku and Sora excited.
"Our wooden swords would snap that twig in half." Riku tried to caution, but then easily chose to just 'demonstrate' instead. "But if you insist." He smiled, riled up by my little stunt from before.
"…Even if you don't know where you came from… you still know who you truly are." Sora put a hand to his chest, lowering his head and closing his eyes.
He… was thinking that deeply about it?
I continued to look strong… after all, something told me this was important… my light… my spirit to fight, and not just sit down and wallow in any self-pity.
A few of the grownups said it was odd how calm I was about all this…
I never cried, and I never really showed any fear.
Just uncertainty… but I've never been clearer about these two boys. Not ever!
"Sora!" I called out, as his head shot up in innocent, wide-eyed wonder as I gave him a look like–Believe I can do this.
Maybe Riku already knew that… that I needed something to distract myself from the cloudy vision of my elusive memory… like the sound of waves… I couldn't quite reach what I longed for… but…
The darkness faded with rays of streaming light, and from those clouds… I could see Sora and Riku… and that's all I ever needed.
My destiny… was with these two.
"Em, right!" Sora got into a fighting stance, "I understand!"
"Ready when you are!" Riku also held his sword up over his head in a very stylized manner, making me a little worried about how skilled these boys really were.
I felt my grip on my 'flimsy' stick… and tightened it. 'I'm ready…' I remember telling myself. 'More than anything… I want these two to like me…' But, also,… I knew they already cared. It had only been a few days, and they showed me their secret spot, the cave…
I picked up a stone and started drawing all the fun adventures we could go on, since Riku was already pretty jazzed about discovering that other worlds could be out there, and since I couldn't remember anything… we all made up monsters to fight and mysteries to solve…
When we set sail… to find those other worlds…
Together.
Sora and Riku charged, snapping me out of my comtemplative state as I felt my foot move back, just a bit out of true doubt in myself…
'…But don't be afraid…'
'Huh?' My eyes shook, was that… a voice?
Was it real..? Or… am I … dreaming?
The image of Sora and Riku coming at me slowed and blurred…
My fog… my head…
Their forms turned to silouettes, dark and then blobbing over and moving in strange ways… and a gate behind me…
Then a figure… reaching a large, dark viney hand down towards me…
I gripped my head, shaken up by something I didn't understand.
When I opened my eyes, I looked down to a stainglass window that was also foggy with light… the glass tinked under my feet as I stopped stepping back.
"Where… Where am I..?" I looked up to the large, imposing figure of a vined, dark being with long entanglements of hair and an opened, gapping heart shape in his thinned torso.
'…Your path has been greatly altered…'
That voice…
I looked around, but the sky above me was dark now, too…
The figures that were once Riku and Sora were now small and circular, like dancing imps. They lowered through the ground, flattening themselves and beginning to move towards me.
I didn't mean to, but I let out a small cry or grunt of fear and discomfort.
What was going on?
'…But you hold a light like none other… Weild it… and your path will be made clear…'
I held the stick… and went to swing in my discomfort at their approach… jumping up to spring at me from the ground.
"Auuhhh!" I swung… but I heard a breaking sound.
Reality flashed back to me as I opened my eyes to see a ball had been flung directly into my swinging downward stick.
Riku and Sora jumped back, pausing in their spar to see three other kids.
"You were gonna fight, head-on, without us?" A boy with blonde hair jumped down from above and ran onto the beach, pulling out his own stick or rod, as it were.
"Unfair, two against one?" A girl with brown hair… wait, I recongized her!
She was very kind to me before, too…
She ran up to my side, smiling to me.
"Were these boys picking on you?" she tilted her head down to get a better look at me, curious of the situation.
"O-oh." I shook my head, showing her it was alright.
"Come on, dudes, let's make it fair!" The other boy had a weird way of talking, but he also had long hair that went up and out.
He went to retrieve his ball as I bent down to grab the other half of the stick…
"Ohh…" I wondered if I could even fight now…
That's when Sora came up to me, bundling the two parts of the sticks into one hand. "See? This will make it stronger now. It can't break so easily!"
Sora… I looked up into his eyes and smiled, nodding.
He gave me… confidence… No matter what I'm doing, where I am… that confidence… will always be Sora's strength.
That smile that could reach even the foggest of minds… the cloudest of days… it's like the sun truly shinging out in the sky…
Our sky…
Our Sora.
One sky… we all share in one singular smile.
The three kids began to form a type of 'surrounding circle', and I noticed their attention was on Riku, for the most part.
"You may have taken us three down before, but this time, we're evening out the playing field!" The boy with the blonde hair pointed to Sora and Kairi, "I bet you can't take us all down!"
"Wha? Against Riku?" Sora looked to Riku, thinking they were all being a bit unfair in that regard. "I thought we were all on our own teams?"
"We are." Riku, brimming with confidence, threw his sword to Sora. "To make it fair, I'll use Kairi's broken stick, just to prove a point… once and for all!" That didn't sit right with me…
"N-no, I want to try it." I looked to Sora, still full of my own spirited belief in myself through his fueling smile.
Sora looked to me, then to the two swords in his hands…
He threw back Riku's wooden sword.
"Wha? Hey! What's the big idea?" Riku caught his sword, "Don't you want her to defend herself?"
"She's got me, doesn't she?" Sora got back into fighting stance, "If her sticks break again, that's on me. I foudn the stick, so… I should look out for them. You take care of the other three."
"Heh, look at you, trying to play hero or something." Riku shook his head with his eyes closed, but got ready to take on the three… at once?
"Riku…" I worriedly stated, but Sora looked back behind himself to me, standing guard.
"Don't worry, Riku's got this!" He cheered.
"Em, and I got you two!" I stated, trying to not sound too fake… something about Sora protecting me didn't feel right… I wanted–no–I will protect Sora and Riku!
With these two flimsy sticks… bound in my hand… It was like the strengths of Riku and Sora. Together… they were making me stronger, to take on whatever I needed to… and in this case, to prove I could duke it out with the others.
"I can do this." I told myself, and Sora looked behind his shoulder after hearing that too.
He smiled and nodded, without a second of hestiantion or doubt… he really did believe in me.
"Just don't make me jump in and save Kairi for you, Sora." Riku teased, and then charged, as well as Sora.
"I stick to what I say, don't I?" he grinned, teasing back with another pun as he winked behind himself at me.
That made me feel… special.
I took the two, much smaller sticks now and ran ahead, too. I didn't want to be left behind in the sand bank…
Riku deflected another hit of the ball and went for the boy with the rod, but the boy raced behind Sora and got a hit on him while Riku was pusuing.
As for the brunette girl…
I shifted my eyes to the left and held up my bundled sticks, having her jumprope–acting as a whip–grab and wrap around them.
"Enggh..!" I was pulled forward a bit. She was tough, too..!
"H-hey, give it back!" The girl tugged, but her rope had tied too tightly around my only source of protection I had.
"Kairi!" Sora's voice called out as I looked up, Sora was sparring and pushing back against the blonde haired boy, but Riku had missed a deflection of the ball thrower.
"Look out!" Riku cried out, as the boy spun his fists around to knock Riku back when he turned to warn me.
I saw the ball coming at me… and my vision turned slow and blurry again…
I felt my bundled sticks become longer, stronger… A light grew from inside me.
The ball held no fear for me now… as I took the key-forming blade and pulled the brunette with me.
"Woah!" she scooted up with a lunge forward, and the sticks held together when the ball was deflected by them.
"Ah! My ball!" The boy took off as it was like a home run, falling into a waterfall pool just above the level of the beach.
I rolled the line she was using tightly as she kept coming towards me and then spun it out around her as I circled mulitple times around her, tying her up.
Riku went to help Sora, who then came to help me, but by then, I pointed to the blonde-haired boy, "I've got this one, help Riku!"
He looked a bit astonished, but nodded and turned back around.
I felt… good about that, not so much the fight, though.
Riku did–pretty much–beat the kids singlehandedly, but Sora did pretty well too.
"You did alright managing to stay out of trouble, Kairi. And Sora… always good for a support." Riku 'lightly' boasted.
"Hey! I was more than that! Come on, Riku…" Sora jumped a bit up and down and held out his fists as though wanting more recongition from Riku.
I giggled into my hand.
"Ah, what are you laughing for?" The ball guy put his trusted weapon over his head with both hands, "You didn't even get a hit on anyone."
"Better luck next time, Kairi." Riku gestured to me again, "You'll get'em next time."
"But that's what makes her so impressive!" Sora quickly intervened, looking to me, "Kairi's weapon wasn't really necessary… her true power… came from her kind heart."
"…Ah… My … true weapon?" I vaguely remembered my vision… that bundle of sticks becoming something different… surrounded by light.
"Your true strength." Sora put a hand to his chest… wait… his heart?
"My… strength?" I mimicked his action, then smiled before letting out a laugh.
"Huh? Oh, now you're not making fun of me to, are you, Kairi?" He looked a bit defeated by that, but in a light-hearted way. Riku joined in, rubbing his hand to his head.
"Guess she just needs more practice, I can give you some pointers, Kairi's." Riku waited for my answer… but…
I shook my head.
"That's okay. I think… I think I'm gonna work on my 'true strength' for a bit." I put my hands behind my back and lifted a foot somewhat behind me. "After all… I did prove I'm not so 'dainty', right, Riku?"
He just smirked, "Whatever." he pushed Sora forward and I caught him, helping him up.
The noggie Riku gave him must have been pretty hard… he wasn't upset I didn't want to train in fighting anymore… was he?
Or maybe… that Sora's words meant more to me… was somewhat obvious to him?
Sora's eyes rolled around, before patted his cheeks and made a funny face, smiling in a ridiculously exaggerated way.
I laughed and then looked to the other kids, "I'm Kairi, sorry to have hit your ball so hard, or tangled you up so much." I bowed to them and they politely introduced themselves again and complimented me for basically fighting without fighting.
Sora's words… held true for me. Even after I trained as a Keyblade Weilder… I always felt that the weapon didn't give me my strength.
I knew what my strength was… thanks to those two.
That fateful day…
When I was in Sora's heart, he had lost his Keyblade to Riku… and I could see how truly devasted he felt. How he thought his worth was somehow belittled because of it…
If only my voice could have reached him then… to tell him… the same words he told me.
Sora… your voice can't reach from where you are now… but I hope mine still does, even… just a little bit.
I know where your heart is… I'll keep it safe.
Please… remember where your strength lies… no matter what sky you're under, or what world you're in.
Writing these little notes to you can be somewhat embarrassing, but they also make me feel a lot better too.
I'm glad my destiny was altered… or rather, that I could meet you and Riku.
I'm… not going to cry so much anymore at it having taken you away from me… from us…
Because…
No matter what happens, I'll always be with you. Our hearts are connected, and that means… my strength… is also your strength now too, Sora.
Use it wisely, it's more than a weapon… it's your friend, too.
Wishing you well, wherever your voice had landed this time.
And sail back to us soon.
-Kairi, the sound of the waves… I think it was always you, Sora, the sound of your kind, strong heart meeting mine…
Oh, and Riku's too.