Chapter 1: The Encounter

The moon was full on the night Kubo had the dream.

It had been months since Kubo defeated the dreaded Moon King and saved the survivors of the burned down village. Those months had been filled with hard work helping the villagers rebuild and repair what they had lost in the fire. When Kubo wasn't busy helping the villagers he was helping his Grandfather, cooking and cleaning for him and telling him carefully edited versions of stories he needed to hear to fill in the holes in his memory.

Every night Kubo came home to the cave exhausted. He barely had time to play his shamisen and make origami puppets nowadays. Everyone seemed to need his help, and he was too kind to ever say no. The only time he had to himself anymore was bedtime, and he would typically fall into a deep, dreamless slumber until the sun rose.

But on this night as Kubo and Grandfather slept, the moon was full. And for the first time in many days, Kubo dreamed.

In the dream, he found himself alone in a dark, empty void. As he looked around he saw no sign of anyone or anything else. There was no light, no sound, no anything. It was just inky black nothingness as far as his eye could see. Then he noticed something odd dangling from his right hand. He held it up to find a thin, flimsy-looking red string tied around his little finger.

Curious, he tugged at the knot to loosen it. Instead it grew tighter, painfully squeezing his finger. He pulled on the end dangling off his hand, but the same thing happened. The seemingly delicate string was as strong as steel. And it there was more of it trailing on the ground in front of him. The rest of the string was on the ground at his feet, stretching far off to somewhere in the distant darkness.

With his curiosity growing and his not wanting to stay in this empty place all alone, Kubo decided to follow the red string and see where it led him. After walking for some time he saw a dim light in the distance that grew brighter as he got closer. It was as though he were walking through a long tunnel. Soon he had to squint his single eye against the light. When his sight adjusted, he found he had exited the dark tunnel and was standing in a strange new place.

Kubo was standing in a sunny orchard full of cherry trees in bloom. But that couldn't be right, he thought to himself. It was supposed to be late autumn, almost winter. It was the wrong season for cherry trees to be in bloom. Yet here they were, scattering their tiny petals on his head and shoulders like pale pink snowflakes.

As Kubo watched the petals dance and twirl to the ground, he saw the red string again. It was in the dirt at his feet making a straight line through the row of trees. It led him out of the orchard and to a winding path on a steep, rocky hillside. He paused to look down at the scenery below him. There was an odd-looking house down there. And it seemed the red string was trying to lead him down toward that house.

Kubo followed the winding path down the hillside and wondered what kind of people would live in such a place. It was unlike any house Kubo had ever seen. It was taller than the cottages in the village back home, but smaller than his father's old fortress. It was painted a garish shade of pink several times pinker than the cherry blossoms. And there was a garden outside of it, filled with colorful plants he couldn't recognize from a distance.

The red string led Kubo straight to the stone wall surrounding the garden and swept up and over it. Whatever it was leading him to was on the other side. So he climbed the stones and pulled himself up to the top of the wall. From here he could see everything in the garden.

There was an old iron gate at the opposite wall, and every space of soil within the walls was filled with strange red flowers Kubo didn't recognize. But strangest of all was the person he saw kneeling among the flowers. They looked to be a child about his age and size, but he couldn't guess their gender from their looks. Their hair was cut to chin length and an unnatural shade of blue, and they wore a pink short-sleeved tunic with long pants. Back home only boys dressed in pants and wore their hair so short, but the boys back home never wore pink. Could this child be a girl? Were they some other gender he didn't know about yet? And why did they have blue hair?

The blue-haired child didn't seem to notice Kubo. They were busy digging amongst the red flowers and pulling up weeds, and they sang a song as they worked. "Oh, my twitchy witchy girl, I think you are so nice; I give you bowls of porridge and I give you bowls of ice…cream!"

Kubo tilted his head and listened, amused by the blue-haired child's off-key singing. Twitchy witchy girl? Perhaps that was the answer to the gender question.

The blue-haired girl continued singing, unaware of his presence. "I give you lots of kisses, and I give you lots of hugs, but I never give you sandwiches with greasy worms and bugs…in!"

Kubo let out a chuckle at the funny song lyrics. Unfortunately it gave his presence away.

Suddenly the girl looked up and stared straight at him with shocked brown eyes. "Hey!" she shouted, standing up straight and jabbing a dirty garden trowel at him. "Get down from there!"

Kubo was so surprised that he lost his balance on top of the wall and fell into the garden with a startled "AAAH!" He landed on his back in a flowerbed with a THUMP.

Groaning in pain from the fall, he opened his one eye to see the girl standing over him with one hand on her hip and brandishing a handheld gardening tool in the other. He didn't recognize what it was, but it had two short, pointed blades at the tips.

"You better start talking, kid," the girl said, frowning down at him. "What are you doing spying in other people's gardens?"

Kubo held his hands in front of him defensively, afraid that she might hurt him with the bladed gardening tool. "I wasn't spying! I swear! I was just looking for… for…"

He trailed off, not sure how to explain what he was doing in a way that didn't sound ridiculous. Then he noticed the red string he'd been following. It was coming out of the dirty glove on the girl's right hand.

"Looking for what?" the girl demanded. "Spit it out, kid!"

"That!" Kubo cried, pointing at the string.

The girl looked at her gloved hand and saw the red string peeking out. Confused, she removed the glove and gaped at the red string tied to her little finger as if she had no idea it was there until now. "Huh? What is this?"

"It's okay," Kubo said, sitting up to show her his hand with the string on it. "I have it, too. I think we're both tied with the same string."

"Well, it's coming untied right now!" the girl said as she started fumbling with the knot on her finger.

"Wait!" Kubo began. "I don't think you should–"

"Ow!" the girl cried, shaking her hand now throbbing with pain. With a growl, she tried using her garden tool to cut the string. She squeezed the handles together with all her might, groaning from the effort. "Ugh! What's this thing made of? I can't get it off!"

Kubo sighed. "That's what I was trying to tell you. I tried to get it off, but it just got tighter. So this must be a magic string."

"Magic string?" the girl echoed, thin eyebrows twisted in confusion. Then she sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose between her fingers. "Right, of course it is," she muttered. She folded her arms and frowned at Kubo. "Okay, so it's magic string. Why is it tying us together?"

Kubo rubbed his chin, thinking hard. He was finally remembering something about what the red string meant. "My mother told me a story about this once. She said that people who are destined to meet each other are connected by the Red String of Fate." He held up his hand and looked at the string on his finger, idly rubbing the knot. "It means that no matter who, where or when you are, you're meant to be with that person. You can stretch or tangle the string, but the bond can't be broken. Ever."

"So you're saying we're stuck like this?" the girl asked. "Why? Why is it so important for us to be together?"

"Umm…" Kubo said, scratching the back of his head and looking away. "I don't know. Maybe we're supposed to help each other somehow? My mother said the god of marriage uses the string to bring lovers together, but…"

"What?! Ewww!" the girl cried in horror. She cringed away from him and made a gagging noise. "Oh my god, that's disgusting! I'm too young to get married! I don't even know you!"

"Hey!" Kubo retorted, offended that this weird girl would find the mere thought of marriage to him so revolting. He stood up and clenched his fists at his sides, not bothering to brush off the dirt that was sticking to his clothes and hair. "This wasn't my idea, you know! I don't want to marry you, either!"

"But you were following the string!" the girl snapped, jabbing an accusing finger at him. "You came here looking for me! Why else would you be here?"

"I didn't know the string was leading me to you!" Kubo protested. "I don't even know who you are, or where I am, or–" He paused, realization sinking in. "Where am I?"

"Huh?" the girl replied. She stepped back and looked him up and down, as if truly seeing him for the first time. Her expression shifted from disgusted anger to curiosity. "Huh. Now that you mention it, you don't look like you're from around here. Who are you, anyway?"

Kubo realized then that he had never introduced himself to her. In fact, he had been incredibly rude all this time. He placed his hands together in front of him and bowed deeply, formally greeting his hostess and showing remorse for his behavior. "My name is Kubo," he said humbly. "I'm very sorry for trespassing into your garden and upsetting you. It's just… This has never happened before and I'm really confused."

The girl seemed puzzled by his bowing, but she seemed to accept his apology because she smiled. "Hey, don't worry about it, kid." She copied his bow out of courtesy, more stiffly and clumsily than he had done it. "Nice to meet you, Kubo. My name's Coraline."

"Co-ra-line…" Kubo repeated, pronouncing each syllable slowly. He snickered at her weird name. It sounded foreign, like it came from a far-off land. He decided not comment on that. It would be rude, and he didn't want to offend the girl any further. "Um, I liked your singing earlier. And your garden is nice. Did you plant all these flowers?"

Coraline put her hands on her hips and puffed out her small chest with pride. "Yep! It was a team effort. I planted them with my parents, and our neighbors helped, too." She swept an arm out at the garden. "All of these red flowers are tulips, except for those down there under the bridge. That's Mr. B's beet patch."

"Tu-lips…" Kubo echoed, testing the unfamiliar word slowly. "Beets… I've never heard of those."

Coraline arched an eyebrow at him, "Wow. You're really not from around here. How did you get here?"

"I… I'm not sure," Kubo said, looking down at his feet. "One moment I was at home fast asleep, then suddenly I was in a dark empty place, and now I'm here talking to you." He scratched his head as he studied the strange flowers called tulips. "Maybe none of this is real. I could be dreaming all of this."

"Dreaming…" Coraline murmured, pouting in though. "You know what? I think I'm dreaming, too. I remember falling asleep in my room, and then suddenly I was out here in the garden, and then you showed up."

"So we're both dreaming?" Kubo wondered aloud. "But… This can't be my dream. This is your garden, and that's your house."

Coraline nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah, so this must be my dream. That means… you're inside my head right now? How is that possible?"

"My magic must be doing it," Kubo said simply. "Grandfather says my powers are still developing, so anything is possible. This is new, though. I didn't know I could go into other people's dreams."

Coraline blinked in surprise, eyes growing wider. "Wait, you have magic powers? So you're, like, a wizard or something?"

"Not exactly," Kubo replied. "I'm... Well, I guess I'm a demigod. My mother was the Moon King's daughter and my father was a human samurai." He shuffled his feet and peered at her through his long bangs. "So...Yeah. That's what I am."

Coraline's eyes were as big and round as saucers as he explained all this. From the look on her face it was clear she was stunned by everything she just heard. "Oh," she said at last. "Okay. I guess that makes sense." Then she chuckled awkwardly. "Wow. There's a samurai moon boy in my head right now, and we're tied together with some unbreakable magic destiny string."

Kubo chuckled as well and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I guess that's pretty weird."

"Heh. And it isn't even the weirdest thing that's happened to me." She fiddled with her garden clippers. "So… What happens when I wake up?"

Kubo shrugged. "I don't know. If you wake up then your dream ends. And I guess everything goes back to the way it was before."

Coraline frowned. This time she almost looked disappointed, like she didn't want him to leave yet. "Well, I'm still dreaming now. Why don't you tell me the rest of your story? I bet samurai moon boys have some really cool adventures."

Kubo brightened up immediately. He loved telling stories, and he had been so busy working lately that he'd had no time for it. Now here was someone who wanted to hear his story, someone new who had never heard it before. Coraline was a fresh audience he could dazzle with his tales.

"Sure, I-! Oh, wait…" His face fell. "I need my paper and my shamisen… I can't tell my stories without them."

She gave him a friendly nudge with her elbow. "Come on, you're magic and this is all a dream. You can do anything you want!"

Kubo smiled slightly. "Good point. Maybe if I just think about it, it'll come true."

He closed his eye, picturing his shamisen clearly in his mind. When he opened it again, it was there in his hands, looking exactly as it did in real life. He grinned, and closed his eye again. Once again the thing he was thinking of appeared; the plectrum he needed to strum the strings, and a stack of colorful origami paper on the ground.

Coraline cheered and clapped her hands, already impressed. "Awesome! See? I knew you could do it!"

Kubo grinned at her praise. Then he composed himself, face turning serious as he raised the plectrum over his head. He was about to begin the story.

"If you must blink," he said in his most powerful, dramatic voice. "Do it now!"

He brought the plectrum down, striking a powerful chord on the shamisen's three strings.

"Pay careful attention to everything you see and hear," Kubo went on, continuing his long memorized opening speech. "No matter how unusual it may seem. And please be warned; if you fidget, if you look away, if you forget any part of what I tell you, even for an instant..." He paused, building suspense. "Then our hero will surely perish."

By now Coraline's eyes were big and bright with excitement. Her hands were balled into fists and she was bouncing slightly in place, waiting eagerly for something magical to happen.

So Kubo began to play, and the paper on top of the stack came to life. It was story time.

To be continued…

Author's Note: Kubo has easily become my favorite Laika movie next to Coraline, so of course I had to write a fanfic where they could meet each other. Please tell me what you think! I'm planning to write more chapters, but I'm not sure how long this story will be before I run out of steam. So if you like this story, please leave me a review! There's no greater motivation than hearing that somebody likes your work, even if it's just a few small words.