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1st ♥ [Text]

My name is Kairi.

If the worlds are gone, then what is this place?

What happened?

Where are Sora and Riku?

[Kairi has not realized that the book with her name on is more than it seems, so she writes down her thoughts as she wanders from the barracks, across the training yard, past the thermal pools and toward the vegetable garden. She looks in wonder and curiosity at everything around her, but she's more than a little lost. Approach?]

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Heh, okay!

[And glad of something to do, Kairi soon returns with more carrots.]

Now what?

[Why no, she has never peeled a carrot. Why do you ask?]

[Why, neither has Xanth! What a waste of carrot that would be.]

W-Well, uh, are-- are they w-washed, or s-still dirty?

Um... I think I'll wash them.

[And so she sets about finding a basin and water for washing and sets to. While she's at it, she casts about for something to say.]

So, what do you think of the way books talk here?

[Xanth, meanwhile, starts spicing the water. He throws Kairi an unsure look, one eyebrow raised and his lip bitten.]

The... th-the way they... um. Th--they do?

Yes.

[She dries her hands and pulls out her journal again.]

It was in my room when I woke up. It has my name on it and, well, it talks. Didn't you see yours?

[Xanth looks down at the journal. He does seem to remember glimpsing one like it on the end table next to where he woke up...]

U-Um, yeah, b-but I-- I didn't-- p-pick it up. I was, um.

[Too busy panicking.]

K-Kind of... i-in a-- a rush? I-I guess?

Oh...

[Well, no matter. He can always go back for it later, right?]

... Did you get the key to the room?

That, uh, th-that I d--did get!

[He reaches into his pocket and fishes it out. He hadn't intended to grab it - it just sort of happened when he rushed out of the room. But it's a rare stroke of luck!]

Well, then you can go back and get the book.

[No problem!

Meanwhile, the carrots are washed.]

Should I cut these?

Y-Yeah. B-Bite-sized, or-- l-littler? The-- the smaller th-they are, the-- the faster th-they cook.

[Which seemed obvious to him, but Kairi wanted to put chili powder in the soup. Who knows what else she would do?]

S-So... the-- the book... c-can really t--talk? H-How?

[It doesn't take Kairi long to find a knife, and she begins doing as she's told. It's hard. The carrots keep rolling and a lot of the time, she ends up sawing them into uneven and ragged little chunks. She frowns.]

I don't... Um... I don't know... I haven't figured out... How to make it work yet.

[Cooking is hard!]

[Xanth can't help cringing as Kairi cuts the carrots. Her method isn't ineffective, exactly, as she is getting carrots cut - but it's so inefficient! With a smile, Xanth asks,]

D-Do, uh, do-- you-- w-want help? W-With, the, um. Th-the carrots, I-I mean.

[She doesn't want help, not really. She wants to do it herself. But she can't deny that she's struggling and she doesn't really know how to do it properly, so she sets down the knife and steps back.]

Can you show me?

S-Sure.

[Xanth steps up to the cutting board in Kairi's place. He secures one carrot in his hand, firmly holding it down, and then makes a firm cut with the blade near the handle.]

You-- y-you get better, uh, p--power, I-I guess, i-if you cut w-with this part.

Okay.

[She nudges him gently. Nudging someone with a knife doesn't seem like a very good idea, but it's probably better than just reaching for it.]

Let me try.

[If she'd surprised him, that could have been very bad indeed, but as Kairi was standing next to Xanth there was no alarm. He nods to her, handing her the knife, and then steps off to the side.]

I-It's not-- n-not that hard. I-If I can get it, th-then-- then you'll b-be fine.

Mm.

[She tries to mimic his actions and it sort of works. At least she isn't sawing the carrots any more. Conscious that she's being watched, once she has a rhythm going, Kairi tries to pick up the conversation again.]

So, I just started writing in the book. And then it spoke to me. Different people spoke to me, I think. I think we're supposed to write in them.

[Conversation is good! But Xanth can't help being confused by the talking book. What books could talk? How did they do that? They didn't have mouths, did they?

That thought is too creepy.

Unsure, he twiddles his fingers and chews on his lip.]

Wh-- what if... w-we... c-can't write?

[Kairi began to answer without thinking. It probably wouldn't matter if he just wrote in his own language, right? Even if he couldn't read hers. But she stopped cutting the carrots as what he'd said really dawned on her.]

Do you mean can't write... At all?

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