The next morning the sun rose in the sky, blinding the brunet as he stood in front of the mirror hanging in the hallways leading back into the living quarters. His blue eyes darted between his reflection and the clock above it, noting that it was barely seven thirty. At this rate they weren't going to reach the outpost before nightfall. They were running out of time. There was only one way to go now; forward.
With another sigh he headed outside. The others were scattered around the deck. Most were staring into the distance; some of them were arguing amongst themselves - mostly with one another. Others were looking out into the woods, seemingly waiting for something. Sora tried hard not to stare at the stranger sitting cross legged in the center of the group, leaning on his staff. He kept his gaze fixed firmly ahead of him as he walked toward Kairi, not wanting to catch the stranger's eye. Or anyone's attention. But it proved impossible. Once he was close enough to her, Kairi grabbed his arm and dragged him over to join the circle.
"Look," she told him urgently, "They're back!" She gestured toward the horizon, where two ships were visible on the horizon. Both of them were moving in different directions, one closer to shore while the other was heading in the opposite direction. They must have arrived in less than twenty minutes.
"So… Which one's ours?" Sora questioned as he glanced up at the clock. Their arrival time had been set at four o'clock, which meant that they had at least ten minutes until the ship arrived.
"The one furthest from shore." Replied Tifa. "It looks like our ride has arrived."
Kairi's lips pressed into a thin line as her eyes darted between the ships. She was obviously unhappy with the outcome, especially since they' re stranded on an island. It made her uneasy. What could possibly go wrong? A frown creased her brow as she clenched her fist tightly. It was a small gesture, almost imperceptible, but Sora saw it nonetheless. He sighed heavily and looked over at the stranger seated on the log near the edge of the forest. He watched as he stood up, picking his staff up before walking toward them.
Sora watched the stranger as he approached. For some reason he didn' t get any more nervous. There was a kind of peace surrounding this person that was comforting and calming. Maybe because of the fact that he was the one they were looking for.
Whatever the reason, he wasn' t afraid anymore. He was calm. Still, even as he watched the stranger approach, Sora couldn't help but be a little nervous. This stranger was dangerous, and he felt like he shouldn' t know anything about him. The stranger came to a stop a few feet away and offered Sora a slight smile. "You can call me Isa." Sora tilted his head curiously.
Isa, huh? That was interesting. He had heard about people named Isa, but none of them were particularly common names. Besides his friend's and brother's names, that was all he really remembered about these guys. He couldn' t imagine this Isa person being any different. It's not like he could remember many names anyways. He just couldn' t picture how anyone could possibly have such a unique name. And yet here he was: a stranger standing just a few feet away from him, offering his name. He felt strange talking to him without knowing what his name actually was, despite having seen him once before. Perhaps there was something about him that reminded him of the strangers that followed Megumi Saito. Whatever the case, he felt more comfortable talking to Isa than the rest of them. Especially considering Isa' s eyes seemed to look right through him. Like he wasn't even really there. Yet somehow, there seemed to be something familiar about him .
"Hey! We brought the new girl! Let's take her to the infirmary, okay?!" Riku called out suddenly. Sora glanced over toward the blonde, noticing that his voice had come from farther away than usual. He shook his head slightly and looked at Isa for permission.
For the briefest of seconds, Isa hesitated. "Sure," he said finally after a moment. "That's fine. You should probably take care of the cut. I'll take over from here."
"What?!" Yuffie shrieked suddenly. "Are you seriously going to make Sora do this?!"
"What?" The man frowned slightly as his eyes snapped to Yuffie. He opened his mouth as if to reply to her accusation, then seemed to think better of it and closed it again. Instead he addressed Sora instead. "Come on," he said. "We should probably start heading toward the settlement."
As Sora nodded and began making his way past Riku and Yuffie, he couldn' t help but glance back. Just for a second, anyway. He quickly tore his eyes away though and focused on getting to the infirmary without tripping or falling over (or dying, depending on who you asked). It didn' t take long to get there, and he paused when he saw Kairi already inside, tending to the cuts on her forehead. He watched as he entered and watched her face fall slightly, and then watched him carefully. He watched her expression closely, wondering why she did. Wasn' t she mad at him too? Why else would she be watching him so carefully? But she seemed fine after he stepped inside, and so he decided to continue towards the desk.
Yup, he really shouldn' t want to stick around and make small talk with someone he knew nothing about. Especially someone that looked exactly like his sister. He had never met her, but he'd seen pictures of her plenty of times. He supposed that explained a lot about his relationship with her.
He glanced down at the papers and files strewn about the desk, picking one up as he approached the desk. "Uhh… Excuse me," he muttered quietly, his voice coming out much louder than he thought it would, "What are these?" He held the paper up as proof. The blond girl glanced up at him with an annoyed expression.
She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Those are official forms signed by Captain Hoagland, explaining what' s happening and telling us what we' re supposed to do in the event that anything goes wrong. They're also the rules governing what we can do here."
Oh yeah. That makes sense. Sora blinked. He glanced down again, glancing at the papers again before setting them aside. "So… What' s happening? Do they know where the hell I am?"
"No, they don' t." Her tone made it obvious that she was irritated. "But they will soon, I' m sure."
Sora frowned slightly and let his arms drop. "Why? How long does this take?"
"Well She shrugged.
"A few hours. Maybe more if everything goes well."
"And if it doesn' t?" He raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn' t we tell them? We' re their friends, aren' we?"
"You're the captain of the ship, Sora." She pointed out. "If your orders don't come from Captain Hoagland or anyone else then you must follow them to the letter."
Sora grumbled under his breath and crossed his arms behind his back. "This is ridiculous. What if I don't wanna listen?"
"You might not have any choice."
"What the hell do you mean? Don' t those captains have powers? Can't they send messages to my friends and family and ask them to pick me up or somethin'? Even if I don' t wanna leave, I can stay here for now until we figure out what to do next."
"You're not leaving." She stated firmly. "I' ll keep watch, okay?" Sora sighed. She was right. As irritating as it was, he wouldn' t be able to convince her otherwise. After all, she probably didn't have anywhere else to go. Not that she could really complain, since it looked like everyone else in the group had nowhere to go either. So they were stuck together for at least another day or two. At least until they figured things out and got ready to find a way off this island, although he was pretty sure that was far off in the future.
Suddenly Sora noticed the sound of footsteps approaching and turned around slowly. Everyone else had stopped and was looking at him expectantly. He frowned, wondering what was happening.
Riku took a few steps forward, his hand resting against the hilt of his blade. His gaze wandered toward Isa as he spoke. "How did you end up joining the expedition?"
"I volunteered." He answered immediately.
~