Kingdom Hearts: Voided Birth

Chapter 2: What Lies Beyond

The sun was high in the sky, and was shining brightly and stongly, which clearly indicated it was only a it past noon. The sounds of seagulls and ocean waves rung in Zero's ears. He slowly and hesitantly opened his eyes, in fear of what he might be engulfed in. But he was in his room, and he was staring up at his roof. "Th...There's no way..." He muttered quietly. "That wasn't a dream. No. It definitely wasn't. Wait. Did I even dream? What was that?! AHHHHH!!' Zero yelled angrily. He was confused and conflicted, and his paranoia was acting up. From downstairs a woman's voice yelled back in response "ZERO. WHAT ARE YOU YELLING ABOUT?!" Asked the feminine voice. "Oh. Uh. Nothin' ma!" Zero said nervously, but in response there was a man's voice, and he said "Your friend, Kairi, came by earlier. You should go see them. I'm sure they're waiting!" He said in a nonchalant tone. Zero shot up and with a panicked yet hushed voice said "I'm late...". Zero sprung out of bed and looked for his clothes. He put on his dark blue T-Shirt with the heart crest on the right breast pocket. he looked for his black hoodie and put it on, not othering to zip it up just yet. He put on his navy blue pants, then his white socks and his black and blue sneakers. He quickly ran into the bathroom and stared into the mirror. His skin was still somewhat pale, despite living a considerable amount of years on Destiny Island, but his hair was shimmering and a fiery bright red. He picked up his tooth brush and started brushing his teeth. Zero ran out the house while simutaneously zipping up his hoodie, however despite his parent's warnings, he had eaten nothing, so he'd have to spend the whole day hungry. He shrugged it off and hopped in his wooden rowboat. He looked far into the distance at the island where his friends were.

                                                                                  Destiny Islands 

Zero docked his boat and wiped the sweat off his face. It was a substantially large distance between where everyone lived and the main islands, and it could be worse, but Zero felt it was still a hastle. Zero got off his boat and saw Sora running across the beach. He appeared to be searching for something. Riku was chilling on the paopu fruit tree, and Kairi was sitting by the shack. He sighed, for he had a feeling he knew what they were up to, and he didn't like it. He walked over to Kairi nervously. "Zero! Did you sleep in lazy bones?" she asked him playfully. "I didn't sleep in on purpose. I had this weird.....stupid.....dream thing where--" but Zero was cut off as Kairi resumed speaking "Oh, you're just as bad as Sora! Sleeping when yoou should be working!" She exclaimed. Zero raised an eyebrow an eyebrow nervously "W-Working on what?" He stuttered. "The raft of course!" She told him happily. Zero shook his head and sighed heavily. He knew it. The raft. The bane of his existence. He didn't even know why they wanted to leave so badly. Zero was fine on the nice, safe island where they knew everything and everyone and they didn't have to worry. "Sora is gathering materials for the raft. YOU were supposed to do that, but you came so late. So now you get to gather food stuff for us!" Kairi teased him. Zero laughed nervously and replied with "How...nice.". Kairi then told him everything he needed to gather "We need one seagull egg, three mushrooms, two coconuts, three fish, and a bottle of drinkable water." She says handing him an empty bottle. Zero looks up at her and makes a face, but she just hands him a bag to put the materials in and shoo's him away happily. Zero goes to the little watering hole, filled with fresh water and a small cascading waterfall. He decides to kill two birds with one stone, considering an abundance of edible mushrooms grow around the watering hole. He fills up the bottle with fresh water and grabs three mushrooms, and puts both items in the bag. Zero made his way to the tree with a nest on it. It was a seagull's nest with three eggs in it! Just what he needed! But then a seagull landed in the nest, and sat there defensively. Zero's smile turned to a frown, but little after the seagull's return Sora passed by. "What's up Zero?" Sora asked him. "The seagull." He said quietly. "What about it?" Sora asked tilting his head in confusion. "I need one of her eggs." He said anxiously. "Hmm. I'll just climb up and get one for ya!" Sora said as he made his way up the tree. "Sora! You shouldn't! Birds can get pretty territorial when it comes to their young!" Zero said in a worried tone. "Don't worry!" Sora yelled back, but little after Sora said that he fell back, an empty nest in his hand. The eggs! They were falling! Zero dived for one of the falling eggs as the other two and Sora hit the ground. "Perfect!" Zero smiled, putting the egg carefully in the bag. "Thanks Sora!" Zero said happily as he walked off. Next up was the coconuts, which were scattered everywhere on the trees, and much to his luck, Wakka was chilling right under one of the trees. "Wakka!" Zero exclaimed happily. "Hey! What's happening, man?" He greeted. "Wakka. Do me a favor and shoot down some of them coconuts?" Zero asked in a pleading voice. "You got it, man! I'll certainly try." Wakka said as he threw his ball. It hit one of the coconuts and both the ball and the coconut fell to the ground. Zero ran over and picked up both items, throwing the ball back to Wakka. This process was repeated two more times until Zero got all the coconuts he needed. "Thanks Wakka!" Zero exclaimed excitedly as he walked off. "No problem, man!" He said picking up his ball once again. "And now the fish." Zero sighed. Zero gently put down the bag full of supplies and began rolling up his pants legs. But then Riku appeared and greeted Zero "Hey Zero. Whattya up to?" Riku asked him. "Gathering provisions for the raft." Zero told him in response. "Sounds fun." Riku teased, and Zero cracked a nervous smile. "I'll help you." Riku said simply before starting again "It's getting late, and you take forever to fish." Riku said bluntly. "Gee, thanks." Zero laughed. The duo then stepped in the water and searched for fish. Later that evening, the sun was setting and the four kids sat around watching the sunset. Kairi and Sora sat together on top the paopu fruit tree, Riku leaned against it, and Zero sat on the ground, sat in criss-cross formation. "We still gotta name the boat." Kairi told everyone. "How about Excalibur?" Riku offered. "Nah. I'm thinkin...the SkywardBound." Sora rebudled. "Whattya think Kairi?" Riku asked her. "Nuh uh. I'm not picking a side. How about you Zero? You got a vote? Maybe a name?" She asked him, avoiding the question herself. Zero sat quietly, then finally casted his vote, saying "Excalibur." Sora groaned and everyone cheered and laughed. When everything settled, a question was proposed "So....Zero and Kairi's homes are out there somewhere, right?" Sora asked the group curiously. "Could be." Riku stated, then continued with "We'll never know by staying here.", but Zero abrutly interrupted "My home is here. On these islands." he said in a stern but shaky voice. "Yes. This is where we live, but this isn't where we're from!" Kairi told him. "I know that! But..." Zero trailed off. "It'll be fine." Riku assured him. "But how far will a raft take us?" Sora asked proposed to the group. "Who knows? If we have to we'll think of something else." Riku answered. But then Kairi started "So...suppose you get to another world. What would you do there?" She asked happily. "Hm...well. I haven't really thought about that. I've just. Always wondered why we're here. On this island. If there are any other worlds out there, why'd we end up on this one? And suppose there are other worlds. That means ours is just a little piece of something greater! So. We could've of just as easily ended up somewhere else. Right?" Riku admitted. "I dunno." Sora answered. "What does it matter?! Why don't we just stay here. On our nice islands. Who cares about other worlds? I like it here. Why do we need to go out to other worlds? There's a high chance those other worlds don't even exist!" Zero said frightfully. "Come on Zero, there's nothing to be scared of. Have a sense of adventure! Don't you want to discover what lies beyond our islands?" Riku asked, looking down at him. "No." Zero stated bluntly. "C'mon Zero! It'll be fine! We'll be with you every step of the way." Kairi assured him. Zero looked up at Kairi and made a face, and she finally said "We promise." With a smile. Zero sighed and looked off to the setting sun. Riku got off the tree and took a few steps forwards. "Sitting around won't change anything. It's the same old, same old. So let's go." Riku said philosophically. They all looked at him, and Kairi finally said "You've been thinking allot lately, haven't you?", and Riku turned tot he group "Thanks to you two." He admitted. "Heh?" Me?" Zero said with confused face. "If Kairi and Zero hadn't had come here, I probably would've never thought of any of this. So...thanks you two." Riku admitted gratefully. "You're welcome." Kairi and Zero responded in unison. The group was walking off, heading for home, when Riku stopped Sora. Riku threw him a paopu fruit and said "You wanted one didn't you?" and Sora stared at it. "A paopu fruit...?" He said curiously. "If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They'll remain a part of each other's lives no matter what. C'mon, I know you wanna try it." Riku stated as he walked past a paused Sora. Sora turned around and looked at him "Whattya talkin about?" He asked him. Riku laughed and began to run away. Sora threw the paopu fruit and ran to catch up with him. On the beach Zero and Kairi were walking towards the docks. Zero was whittling something and Kairi stared at it. She smiled and moved closer "Whatcha got there~?" She asked him curiously. "It's....nothing." Zero stated shyly. "C'mooooon. What is it?" She asked him one more time. "It's... a good luck charm. I'm making one for all three of you. If we're really gonna do this...I'd say a lucky charm will issue valid protection." Zero admitted quietly. "D'aw. That's really sweet." Kairi smiled. Zero blushed and put the unfinished charm in his pocket. Riku and Sora had finally caught up, and all four of them went home and to call it a night.