The woods

The day before the first task is set to begin is spent by everyone else training.

It doesn't take long for Yuki, who's been spending time with Sora and Riku on the way, to catch up to the rest of the group. She joins them in their daily routine. 

“Are we doing that one thing?

"yes". we are. replied sora.

" This is boring, let's do something different today," said Yiku

 with a grin as he grabbed his brother's hand and dragged him along. 

Sora couldn't help but laugh at his little brother's childish behavior and started walking alongside him with Yuki.

“This is great! It has nothing to do with our actual jobs so no need to worry, right?" Said Riku.

Yiku gave a long stare.

They ran to the woods 

 and took turns jumping in a small stream that came out from the bushes and then went back, trying to find their next target.

Yuki was having fun playing tag with Sora. His brother would give chase and when they were close enough, Yuki would dodge him and run around the other side. After a couple of laps through the forest. Yuki tripped over something and fell on top of the smaller boy. 

They laughed while getting up and continued playing.

They made a game out of it:

Yuki jumped on top of Sora and held him down while Riku joined them in laughing.

After a few more runs through the forest, they finally decided to stop. They sat on the ground and looked at their feet to see if they had caught anything. 

Yuki noticed that Sora was looking off into the distance. He followed his gaze and saw something moving around further in the woods.

"Hey, Sora..."

"you seem off, what's wrong? Are you okay?" Asked Riku.

The brunette nodded his head yes and put his head on the grass in front of him.

He didn't want to bother anybody else by telling them that he saw someone move around farther in the woods.

“What did you think about it? You seemed kinda spaced out."

“There's someone out there"

Riku furrowed his eyebrows.

“You can tell us. We won't judge" said Yuki

“I know but. I don't want to trouble anyone"

Sora got up off the ground and faced them. He rubbed his neck nervously and sighed.

He wasn't sure if this was just some crazy thing that happened to him or something that was happening.

"It might be nothing. Maybe the wind picked up and blew the leaves in the forest."

Sora smiled to assure Riku and Yuki that this wouldn't be a problem.

But inside, he didn't feel too convinced.

He turned around and began walking away.

"I'm gonna go look around." He said before leaving.

Yuki and Riku watched him leave until he couldn't be seen anymore.

"Was that normal? Did you guys even notice?"

Yuki shook his head no.

"If he told us what was wrong, maybe we could help... But if not... If he feels like that then he probably needs space. Let him cool down a bit and come back when he's ready."

Riku nodded his head.

"Right you're right... Well... Let's head back before Kairi gets mad at us again."

"Yeah.."

Sora walked aimlessly throughout the forest. He found that it was harder to focus since he had lost track of time again.

Suddenly, after being gone from their sight for a couple of minutes, Sora felt someone grab his arm. He quickly turned around to see a guy with short black hair and a dark blue coat wearing black clothes. He was holding onto Sora's sleeve tightly.

"Whoa! What was that for?!" Exclaimed Sora. The man let go of him immediately.

“Oh god. SORA!" Called Yuki.

He approached Sora and hugged him.

Riku was coming closer.

“Why didn’t you say anything?! We thought something bad happened!!"

Sora was starting to panic. He felt his heart beating faster.

Riku placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Don't get upset. We're here now."

Sora looked at Riku with wide eyes. He hadn't realized how much stress he was under. He slowly relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief.

The others stared at the scene in shock. 

"That was weird." Muttered Riku to himself.

Before anyone else could respond, they heard footsteps running through the forest.

“Guys! We need to hide!”

Sora pushed them behind a tree. Just as he reached for a stick, the person came around the corner. It was the same guy that he saw earlier. He stopped dead in his tracks once he caught sight of the three of them. He backed away slightly.

“What the hell is going on?” Asked Sora.

Before he could answer, another person arrived. 

A man in a red jacket ran towards them, panting heavily. He stopped next to the one who ran away.

“Took you long enough!” He growled.

“Well, sorry I couldn't keep pace with you. You almost ran out of breath!” Replied the guy in the red coat.

Yuki tried to peek around the tree.

“So these are the boys?” He whispered.

“How did you find us? Did you follow us here?” asked Riku.

“No. But your scent led me here.”

“Smell? What do you mean by that? And what exactly are you anyway?” Asked Yuki.

The man rolled his eyes.

“I have magic. Magic allows me to sense your scents. That's all I'll explain. Now shush and stay hidden until we're finished.”

Yuki frowned and glanced behind him, watching the others try to hide from view.

When Sora looked over at him, Yuki smiled weakly and returned to hiding behind the tree.

After hearing a few moments of hushed whispers, the mysterious man spoke up again.

“I'd take this chance, but not today"

He vanished immediately.

Sora and Riku looked at each other.

“That guy has got to be kidding.” Said Sora. “We just wasted time talking to him!”

Riku agreed with him.

“Do you think he was telling the truth, Sora? Or is it a trick?”

“I don't know. Maybe both." He answered with a shrug.

“Well, let's hurry up and get back to town before he comes back".

Riku looked around nervously.

“He could be anywhere now...”

“Yeah, but who cares. Let's just get back."

They headed back to town where they were supposed to meet the others and continue with training.

Yuki, Sora, and Riku ran all the way panting without looking back.

"What just happened"! Yelled Riku out of breath 

“I don't know Riku... I think we got spooked and ended up running away". Said Sora

Yuki and Riku kept running until they eventually reached home. The boys climbed up the stairs to their room and flopped themselves down on their beds.

 Yuki covered his face with the pillow and started screaming while kicking the air.

“What the heck was that!?" 

“Let it go Yuki". Said Riku.

The blond ignored his brother and screamed louder, causing his twin to cover his ears in pain and jump out of bed.

"We're safe and that's all that matters," said sora.