"What is it?"

"Are you retarded? It's a human, idiot."

"I know that! I meant, what is it doing here?"

"That's not what you said."

Sora was vaguely aware of the voices talking over him, but he was too tired to open his eyes. He was too tired to care. He just wanted to sleep. The sand under him felt so good, the sun above him felt so warm…

"I wonder if humans are edible?"

"No. Just no. Don't even think about it."

"But he's not even our species. We eat elves when we can catch them, what's so different about this?"

"Elves are nasty and try to shoot us with poisoned arrows. His people haven't done anything to us and they speak the same language. No! Put that away!"

"But I'm hungry!"

Despite himself, Sora's brain was starting to activate and a large part of it was telling him this conversation over him was seriously worrying. Extremely alarming in fact. Sora muttered uncomfortably as he opened his eyes, gazing up quizzically. The shapes above him slowly resolved themselves into something recognizable.

"Centaurs?" He mumbled, blinking heavily. He'd seen a centaur before, a traveling Bard with his mane braided and ribboned and his hair combed out. That Bard was as unlike these centaurs as he would be to a street brat. They were both scruffy, wearing fringed leather vests and looking like they'd been rooting through a garden. One of them had long silver hair that could have benefited with some time with a comb and the other had short blonde hair in a strange, spiky arrangement. He was holding a knife and Sora sat up, alarmed. "Hey! I'm not for eating!"

"You are if we say you are." The blonde one retorted and Sora swallowed heavily. Some centaurs, he knew, were peaceful vegetarians. Some weren't and they tended to be very nasty indeed. Eating meat wrought physical changes on centaurs and from the pointy fangs in the blonde's mouth, his people thought nothing of it. The silver hair sighed irritably and offered Sora a hand up which he cautiously accepted.

"I say he's not, so there. Go away if you can't take it Roxas." The blonde scowled and slid his knife into its sheathe, then slowly trotted away. Sora couldn't help but gape. Someone had hacked off his tail halfway down! "Don't laugh or he'll hurt you." Sora blinked at the whisper and tilted his head back to look into aquamarine eyes. "My name's Riku. What's yours?"

"I'm Sora." Sora suddenly felt very shy. From the gawky, almost ugly way his horse body looked and the youthfulness of his human half, Sora was sure that Riku was a teenager. Probably only a few years older than himself. Then something occurred to him and he glanced around wide-eyed. "Wh-where's the ship?" He'd been traveling from his home to a distant land. Sora wasn't sure why, just that it had been very important. Riku sighed.

"Sunk by the nereids." He said briefly and Sora went pale. He'd had an escort of his father's soldiers on the trip and he'd known many of them well. They were dead? "They dragged you to shore and told us you were too little to eat and that we should fatten you up for them." Riku rolled his eyes. "Why we would do that is beyond my understanding. Nereids aren't really that bright."

"Oh." Sora said quietly before looking up at Riku. "You're not going to eat me, are you?" Riku seemed nice but he was a carnivorous centaur. Riku shook his head.

"I don't like food that can talk back to me. Hmm, I better take you home. Father will have to decide what to do with you." Riku flicked an ear and Sora suddenly noticed that his ears were big and fuzzy like a horse's. The centaur suddenly knelt down and Sora blinked. "Hop on."

"Uh, okay." Sora got on easily and Riku started off. Sora winced at his gait, which was a fast pace and very uncomfortable to ride. It shifted him from side to side with every step. Riku seemed to notice the problem and broke into a canter. That was a relief.

"You're a good rider." Riku commented, a little surprised. He'd expected Sora to be flopping all over the place and putting weight in uncomfortable spots, but the child was sticking to him like a little burr. Sora nodded, beaming a little.

"All nobles need to know to ride, but papa said I was really good. I rode bareback all the time." Riku glanced back for a moment, flicking his ears in surprise. Sora didn't notice, too busy looking at the landscape.

He'd realized now that he had to be on the Isle of Magic. There was no other explanation for nereids, elves and man eating centaurs. The plants growing everywhere were lush and full of flowers, fruits and nuts. Some of them made him salivate just looking at them and Sora was uncomfortably aware of how hungry he was. It had been a long time since he'd eaten last. Riku avoided some of the plants easily and planted a hoof in a snake that tried to threaten him. Sora had to wince and hang on at that.

"Hmm. It occurs to me that I haven't introduced myself properly. I'm Riku Jenova, firstborn child of Sephiroth." Riku didn't expect Sora to understand what that meant, but the boy might get that his family was prominent. "You?"

"Uh…" Sora hesitated a moment, wondering what he should say. Without any certainties of what lie would be best he opted for the truth. "I'm Sora Bellavue of House Bellavue."

"Of the Kingdom of Bellavue?" Sora swallowed and nodded. Riku didn't sound very surprised. "Interesting. That would make you the heir apparent, wouldn't it? Ten years old?" Sora blinked. How could Riku know that?

"Uh, yes. How did you know?" That was very odd. What did centaurs care about his family? Riku smiled, picking up his pace a bit. Sora's eyes widened as he saw what Riku had spotted… a sprawling little town.

"Oh, well. Royal families keep up to date on other royals, even if they're not the same species. Never know when you might need a trade arrangement or prisoner exchange and it's always good to know who you're dealing with." Riku's tone sharpened. "So why were you on a boat going that close to the Isle? Talk about dangerous!"

"I don't really know." That was troubling Sora too. He had no idea why his father had felt it necessary to send him to Aunt Aeris so swiftly. "I was going to the Kingdom of Natali for the summer and the only way to reach it this time of year involves going near the Isle." Sora knew all about the trade and weather patterns. The only other way to reach Natali was the great ice bridge and it didn't open until midsummer. "Father didn't want to wait."

"He should have." Riku frowned, thinking. "If the Nereids hadn't decided you were too small to eat then dragged you out of the sea, you'd be dead. What could have been so urgent…" Riku fell silent, his expression grim and Sora tilted his head. What did the centaur care about the family of Bellavue? And how old was Riku? He looked like a teenager but he sounded older.

"Riku, how old are you?" Sora asked then blushed and tried to hide against the centaurs back as other centaurs pointed and exclaimed. They clearly weren't at all used to seeing humans.

"Hm? Oh, I'm twelve." A young teenager then. Sora was a little surprised, he thought Riku sounded much older than that. "My father is – ah." Riku stopped and Sora looked up, surprised, to see an impressive stallion standing in front of them. He had silver hair and looked a lot like Riku. The horse part of his body was cremello and almost shining, he was so clean. Sora glanced down and belatedly realized that Riku was probably creme too, under the dirt. It was hard to tell. Roxas had looked like a palomino. "Hello father."

"Riku. What have you been up to? And what is that?" Sora swallowed as he met cool green eyes. Sephiroth looked like he was sizing him up for steaks. Riku didn't seem to mind it at all though.

"I was out finding string roots with Roxas. This is Sora. The nereids dumped him on the beach and told us to raise him up a bit so they could eat him." Riku sounded less than impressed with the idea but Sephiroth's lips twitched into a faint smile. "He's the heir to Bellavue." That generated a bit of interest not just from Sephiroth but from the other centaurs. Sora glanced around uneasily and saw most of the centaurs looking at them were female. If centaurs were like horses, that made sense. With real horses there was usually only one adult male to a herd. There were children too and Sora smiled faintly as he saw plenty of little buckskins. Apparently color genetics were pretty much the same.

"I see." Sephiroth said slowly and seemed to think about it a moment. "Bring him to the manor. He might prove useful." Sora hoped the centaur was thinking about ransoming him back to his family. His father would be glad to pay to have him safely returned. "Axel! Go with him."

"Righty ho." Another teenage centaur trotted out and Sora looked him over curiously. He had the typical awkward appearance of a two year old colt but he was a sorrel chestnut, shining and clean with a coat like new minted copper. It went a bit oddly with his flaming red hair and bright green eyes, but Roxas vaguely supposed it was the closest equivalent horse color. His tail was chopped off exactly the same as Roxas'. "Where's Roxas gotten to?"

"Who knows?" Riku lowered his voice as Sephiroth left. "He got in a huff because I wouldn't let him eat the kid and took off." Axel sighed and shook his head.

"He's going to get in trouble again… hey there kiddo, my name's Axel!" The redhead grinned at him cheerfully and offered him a hand. Sora shook it with a smile, noticing that he was wearing a very simple leather vest. Riku's vest was dirty but far more ornate, beaded with little claws worked in. "I'm boy-king's bonded servant, so you know. That means I make him tea and clean him off and stuff."

"Oh shove it Axel. I brushed you this morning." Riku said mildly as the redhead grinned and Sora looked at them wide eyed. "It's a long story. The short of it is that he and Roxas and several mares were given to father as tribute after Roxas' father died. That's why Roxas is a little ratty sometimes, although it was his own brother who gave him to us."

"He's just got worms." Axel said cheerfully and Riku laughed, punching the redhead playfully on the shoulder. "Ow! Hey, race you back to the manor!" Axel took off galloping and Sora only had time to grab onto Riku's vest before the silver haired centaur took off in hot pursuit. Sora gasped at the feeling of the air flowing over him, the tremendous speed of the run. He'd known centaurs could run much faster than regular horses but he'd never experienced it before. Then he got his balance and laughed. If only he had a horse like this at home! His friends would all envy him.

"Had fun?" Riku said teasingly to Sora as he slowed, reaching the house. Axel had beaten them and was laughing. "Ah, hush long legs! I have extra weight."

"But you're the great heir to the throne where I'm just a chestnut mongrel! You're supposed to be better." Axel chided him teasingly as Riku snorted and looked at Sora. Sora smiled back, sliding down off Riku's back. He was sure he should be walking now.

"It was fun. I wish I had a horse that fast at home." Sora said what he was thinking and winced as Riku looked a little pained and Axel laughed. "Um, sorry."

"I'll take it as a compliment." Riku said with a smile, ruffling his hair. "Come on in kiddo." Sora glanced around the manor and was impressed by the size of it. But then, it was designed to accommodate centaurs. It would have to be bigger.

The manor was furnished in soft, light wood with cheerful oil paintings on the walls. There were little potted trees with huge blossoms that Sora tentatively identified as orange trees. The floor was plush carpet that mimicked grass and was equally kind on hooves and bare feet. The two centaur boys carefully wiped their feet on the welcome mat and Sora took off his shoes, placing them off to the side. Riku frowned as he saw that.

"Actually, Axel, could you grab those?" Axel obligingly picked them up as Riku looked at a surprised Sora. "I just know someone will step on them and ruin them if we leave them here. And while I'm sure our leather workers could eventually figure out human shoes it probably shouldn't be urgent."

"Oh." Sora hesitated then made a suggestion. "Humans use a little rack sometimes so the shoes don't get lost." Riku tilted his head to one side then nodded.

"Not a bad idea if it turns out your going to be here a while. " Riku doubted he would be though and it made him feel rather sad. Sora was a cute little kid with his spiky, chocolate brown hair and sunkissed little face. And the blue eyes were darling. "Come on, you need to meet my mom."

"I do?" Sora frowned, taking Riku's hand and Axel laughed as the silver hair smiled.

"You do. Dad runs the place, theoretically, but if mother decides you don't belong you'll be out of here in a hot minute. The boss mare can always overrule the herd stallion." Sora blinked at that piece of information. Although that did fit in with what he knew of the centaurs on the mainland. There were always far more females than males and while most females were very subservient to the alpha male, the boss mare was a different matter entirely.

They walked into through the mansion and finally into a very wide, feminine room. There were sheer, pink curtains on the walls and little stands holding more flowers. But the main part of the room was taken up with spinning equipment. Two centaur mares were kneeling on cushions in front of spinning wheels, drawing out the cloth with intense concentration. Sora gasped as he saw the beautiful, multi-colored fibres. He knew that kind of thread!

"Shimmerwool! You make shimmerwool?" He blushed as the two females looked up, startled. One was an exquisitely beautiful female with blonde hair and blue eyes. Her horse half was a palomino tobiano, with large patches of white. The girl beside her was almost a copy of her but younger and without the tobiano markings.

"Indeed we do." The elder mare carefully tied off her work and stood, pacing towards him. Sora held his ground although he couldn't help but feel intimidated. She was mature but not old, and had to be Sephiroth's mate and the boss mare of the centaurs. "I'm Elegance. You are?"

"Uh, I'm Sora." She smiled at him and he blushed a little before adding. "That's a pretty name. It suits you." He didn't think he'd ever seen such an elegant centaur in his whole life. Instead of the leather vest Riku and Axel were wearing, she was wearing a pink top decorated around the hem with shimmerwool embroidery. Her daughter was wearing something similar, but instead of flowing it was crimped at the edges and instead of embroidery, she had large mother of pearl buttons.

"Thank you." Elegance smiled again before glancing at the younger mare. She was fighting back her curiosity but clearly it was going to kill her soon. "This is Namine. Riku, what is going on?" She turned her attention away from the tongue-tied little boy to her son. Riku quickly explained the situation and she frowned before nodding. "Well, he's welcome in the home as long as he's useful. Hm… do you know how to garden child?" She asked Sora who blinked.

"Yes. My mother loved to garden." He said confidently. "And so did Aunt Aeris." He'd spent almost a month every year with his aunt, despite the long travel to get there and she'd had him weeding and pruning right beside her.

"Excellent. Riku, get him some gloves and introduce him to Marluxia. I'm sure he'll be a valuable addition to the workforce… what?" She asked her son, who was frowning.

"He's only ten mother. Just a little colt. We shouldn't have him working all the day in the hot sun. Could he join me in my tutor lessons? He might have valuable knowledge of the mainland." Riku asked as he squeezed Sora's hand. He thought the kind of work Elegance was suggesting would be too hard for the child to do all day. His mother thought about it a moment then nodded.

"An excellent suggestion. The time you spend practicing with weapons he can spend on the garden. Now, if you'll excuse us?" Namine was already going back to her wool. Once the process was started it simply couldn't wait. Riku nodded.

"Yes mother, thank you." They all stepped out of the room and Sora looked up as Axel poked him in the shoulder.

"She likes you." The redhead told him with a smile. "She thinks you're cute I bet. Riku sure does." Axel dodged as Riku tried to shove him. "Haha, too slow!"

"Axel!" Riku said, exasperated. "Give me those shoes and… and make us some tea!" The chestnut centaur crowed with laughter and tossed him the shoes before dashing off as Riku sighed. "He has way too much energy for me. I don't know how Roxas can stand it." Roxas was closer to the redhead than he was although Riku liked them both. Although there was always a bit of distance, especially with Roxas. The blonde resented him and Riku couldn't really blame him although it was no one's fault except maybe Roxas' brother.

"So are we going to have tea?" Sora asked innocently and made Riku snort.

"No. That's just code for go do something useful… or wack off, whichever is easier." Sora looked confused at that and Riku decided not to explain. "I don't have any lessons today so let me introduce you to Marly." Riku found him some gloves first then took him outside.

Marluxia turned out to be a beautiful black stallion with white markings. He had many mares working under him and their duties were to tend the gardens in the back of the manor. Sora gaped as he saw it. This place was like a farm! Although there was no grain being grown, just an herb garden and an ornamental flower garden and a whole lot of fruit trees. The orchard was pretty impressive and Sora thought he could spot some nut trees in there as well. It took a bit of work to find Marluxia and Sora was riding Riku again when he trotted up to the other male. Marluxia was looking at a cherry tree and frowning.

"This isn't – oh, Riku. What can I do for you Prince?" Sora blinked at that title. Was Sephiroth King of the centaurs? That didn't seem quite right though.

"I have a helper for you." Marluxia turned to look, curious, and lifted his eyebrows at the little boy on Riku's back. "He says he knows a bit about plants. He's going to be joining me for my tutor lessons but we thought he could help you the rest of the time."

"Oh really?" Marluxia looked Sora over and slowly smiled. "He's small and delicate. I think he'd do well in the herb garden. Too many of the mares aren't careful where they put their feet." A single hoof could do a ton of damage to a growing plant and the herb garden didn't have as much room to move around as the orchard. "Let me show you child." Marluxia abandoned the cherry tree, cantering off and letting Riku follow behind him. Riku started to pace for a moment before breaking into a canter as well.

"Sorry. I just like to walk like that." He apologized and Sora laughed.

"It's okay!" It wasn't easy for him to sit that pacing rhythm, but Riku was a centaur. He normally only worried about his own comfort when he walked. "I'm just glad you're letting me ride." Everything was very spread out, although that wasn't surprising since a pleasant walk for a centaur was a bit of a hike for a human. The centaurs did everything on a bigger scale.

"It's no problem." Soon Riku was watching as Marluxia gave Sora a quick tutorial on how to tend the herb garden. Sora took to it easily and Riku decided to fetch the boy a hat. Sora giggled as he ended up with a large straw hat with a chunk torn out of one side. "Axel stepped on it. He can be clumsy sometimes."

"Oh, thank you." Sora smiled up at him, his blue eyes shining. This felt a lot like the time he'd spent with Aeris and he couldn't help but feel warm and secure. Riku and Axel were both nice, and so was Elegance. Roxas and Sephiroth were a bit worrying but he was sure he was safe.

As he started weeding, Sora wondered how long he would be staying. Surely his father would send someone to get him soon?

Surely.