Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/1969620.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Underage
  Category:
      M/M
  Fandom:
      Kingdom_Hearts
  Relationship:
      Axel/Roxas, Demyx/Xigbar
  Character:
      Axel_(Kingdom_Hearts), Roxas_(Kingdom_Hearts), Kairi_(Kingdom_Hearts),
      Sora_(Kingdom_Hearts), Cloud_(Kingdom_Hearts), Leon_(Kingdom_Hearts),
      Namine, Riku_(Kingdom_Hearts), Xemnas, Vexen, Lea_(Kingdom_Hearts), Reno,
      Zack_(Kingdom_Hearts), Ventus, Rikku, Zexion, Demyx, Xigbar, Larxene,
      Marluxia, Luxord, Lexaeus, pretty_much_everyone_-_Character
  Additional Tags:
      Alternate_Universe_-_Fantasy, Mating_Cycles/In_Heat, Wolves, Nymphs_-
      Freeform, Forests, woods, Kidnapping, Abandoned_Work_-_Unfinished_and
      Discontinued, Being_Rewritten
  Stats:
      Published: 2014-07-17 Completed: 2015-10-10 Chapters: 20/20 Words: 52374
****** Abandoned ******
by Leven_the_Valkyrie
Summary
     Stay out of the forest. That's all Roxas was supposed to do.
***** Prologue *****
Once upon a time, there was a young boy named Roxas Jecht. He was the third
child out of four. He had an older brother named Cloud, an older twin named
Sora, and a little sister, Naminé. Roxas lived in a small house with his
siblings, parents, and uncle.
The blond's parents' names were Tidus and Yuna. The two were high school sweet-
hearts. At the age of sixteen, Yuna found out she was pregnant with Cloud. Both
of them dropped out of school to support the baby. Yuna became a full time stay
at home mom and Tidus took on odd jobs. A couple of years later, when Yuna and
Tidus were eighteen, they got married and soon after the twins were born.
With three little babies and not enough income, Tidus went to his wife's father
for help. Braska's idea was to send his longtime friend, Auron, to go live with
them. The older man was retired so he offered an extra hand to Yuna with taking
care of the babies and offered them his pension to the family every month to
help pay bills.
Being the youngest, Roxas had been picked on by his brother. When, on his
eighth birthday, his mother announced that she was going to have another baby
soon, he excited not to be the baby of the family. And five months later baby,
Naminé was born. The little girl was doted on by all three of her brothers and
they became over protective of her.
Years passed and Roxas led a very simple life. The young blond, sixteen, was in
his second year of high school. He made C average in all of his classes and
didn't do any sports, the complete opposite of his twin. Sora, while making B's
in class, was on the soccer and swim team. But there was no rivalry between the
two. Roxas was content with doing the minimum and Sora was pleased with doing
the best he could.
The youngest twin was lying on his back outside and watching the clouds. It was
warm outside for being mid fall; all that was needed was a light sweater to
keep the chill at bay. It was Saturday so Roxas didn't have to worry about
finishing up his homework till tomorrow. He was just enjoying the slightly warm
day.
"Roxas!" A high pitched yell came from near the house. The blond rolled over to
see his sister running towards him. When the little girl was a few inches away,
she stopped and lay down beside her brother. "Tell me a story, please?"
Not able to resist her big blue eyes, Roxas sighed as he thought of a good
story for the girl. "Once upon a time, there was a girl. The girl had a
favorite coat that was a deep red. Now she wore this coat everywhere and got
the nickname-"
"-Little Red Riding Hood," Naminé finished. "If you're going to tell me a fairy
tale then at least make it more interesting than a girl's grandmother getting
eaten by a wolf," The blond girl huffed.
Something more interesting...? Roxas lay back down and ran his fingers through
his sister's long golden hair as he thought of how to change the story.
"So, one day Little Red had to take a basket of food and medicine to her sick
grandmother, who lived on the other side of town. When she left her house, she
came to a fork in the rode. She could go to the right, which was the long way
and went through the whole town. Or she could go left and cut a good hour out
of her trip. But the left went through the woods, and Little Red's mother
always told her never to go there."
"Like our forest?" Naminé questioned. She moved so she was using her brother as
a makeshift pillow.
"Yes, like our forest. Now are you going to let me tell the story or not?"
Roxas took her silence as an answer and continued. "Thinking the faster she got
to her grandmother's place the better, Little Red took the short cut. While she
was walking on the overgrown path, a big scary-"
"If you say wolf I'm going to leave and bug Cloud for a story."
The older blond groaned. "Fine, it wasn't a wolf. It was a man. He was big and
scary. Little Red tried to run away from the man but he was faster than her and
caught her. She didn't even stand a chance..." Roxas paused as he thought of
what would happen next.
The pause annoyed Naminé. "That's it? That's how you're going to end it? Little
Red dies?" Her brother just nodded his head. Naminé started to laugh so hard
that she started to cry a bit. "You're a horrible story teller, Roxas!" And in
a blink of an eye she ran into the house, most likely to bug a story out of
Cloud.
The blond sighed and looked back up at the sky. "How should it end?"
                                   ~X~x~X~x~
"You know what we need? Sea-salt ice cream!" Roxas's best friend, Hayner,
yelled as soon as the group of friends managed to get out of their school. The
other three agreed. "Let's make this interesting; last one there has to pay!"
And before anyone could register what the dirty blond had said, he took off.
Olette pulled her hair into a ponytail so it wouldn't get in her way. "I think
he forgot his wallet again." Once her hair was secure, she took off after the
boy with the other two close behind her.
Roxas quickly passed Olette and was close to Hayner when something caught his
eye. Well, it was more like a someone. He was tall with vibrant red hair that
stuck up in weird directions. His back was facing the blond. The man must have
felt Roxas's eyes because he turned to stare back at him. Once they made eye
contact, the man took Roxas's breath away. The stranger had bright green eyes
and there was something different about them that Roxas just couldn't put his
finger on. Under his eyes, there were dark purple triangles tattooed under
both. The sexy grin the exotic looking man wore just completed his look.
The grin parted as the man tried to say something but Roxas didn't catch it
since Pence had successfully passed him. And as much as Roxas wanted to stay
and stare at the man, he didn't have enough cash on him to pay for four ice
creams. So, as quickly as he could, the blond took off after his friends. He
quickly passed his chubby friend with a cry of "Hey, no fair!" from the other
boy. By the time he got to the parlor, Hayner and Olette were already there.
"Hey man, what happened? I thought you were right behind me," The dirty blond
said with a smile.
"He...he stopped to stare at someone like a creeper," Pence panted out. He just
got into the shop, was sweating heavily, and was having a hard time catching
his breath. "I didn't get a good look at her but by the look on Roxas's face I
bet she was pretty."
A blush formed across Roxas's face and he was so embarrassed he felt like he
could explode. The only good thing in this whole situation was that his friends
thought he was checking out a girl but, in reality, the blond was gay. He was
only out to his siblings; well, he only told Cloud and Sora, Naminé figured it
out.
Three sets of eyes were on the blond and he had to think of something to say.
"She...was really pretty. I've never seen anyone who looked like her before."
His mind drifted as he thought about those green eyes and wild red hair.
"I wonder if she's new around here." Olette said as the group made their way
from the entrance to the counter so they could get their ice cream.
                                   ~X~x~X~x~
It was dinner time and Yuna had made homemade spaghetti with fresh sauce, which
was Roxas's favorite. Between Cloud and Sora's bickering, Tidus and Auron
talking about work, and Yuna banging pots around as she set the table, the
table wasn't close to being quiet.
"So, Roxas," Tidus addressed his youngest son once the food was served, "Have
you decided to join any sport yet?" The older blond had been the captain of the
blitzball team when he was in school and ever since his boys were little he
pushed how important sports were on them. Cloud did wrestling and archery and
Sora did his thing, but Roxas never showed the same interest as his brothers.
Roxas took a big bite of his meal to stall for time. "I haven't." His blue eyes
moved from his plate to look at his father but quickly darted back when he saw
Tidus's disproving look. "I'm sorry I'm not athletic. I just don't see the big
deal."
A loud clank from Tidus banging his silverware on his plate echoed throughout
the room. "And what's more important? School? You can barely make a passing
grade!"
"Tidus, that's enough!" Yuna yelled at her husband. She was getting tired of
this. This would happen at least once a week. She knew Tidus was only doing
this because he wanted his kids to have the life that he couldn't.
Roxas had had enough of it and dismissed himself to his room, which he shared
with his brothers, down in the basement. The blond grabbed his homework out of
his bag and started to work on it. The class was working on quadratic
functions. And Roxas didn't understand any of it.
Identify the vertex. Y= x² + 18x +64. What the hell is the vertex? Blue eyes
crossed as Roxas scanned over the worksheet. They just went over this today in
class and he couldn't recall any of it. Math wasn't really his strong point. He
was better in English and art class.
After staring at the problem for a few more minutes, Roxas gave up and pulled
out his notebook. He flipped to the page that had his Red Riding Hood story and
he tapped his pen against the page impatiently. There still wasn't an ending
and it was driving the blond crazy. Little Red couldn't die. It was a fairy
tale and she was the heroin. Maybe the man can be the hero and not Little Red.
Roxas thought. Naminé did say she wanted something different.
 
***** Talking to Strangers *****
It was late at night and Cloud, Sora, and Roxas were in their room getting
ready for bed. Cloud was taking a shower in the conjoined bathroom and, as soon
as he came out of it, Sora jumped up and ran in before the oldest brother was
even out of the door.
The older blond looked a bit shocked but since he was used to that treatment
from Sora he just shrugged it off and went to sit on the large queen bed that
the twins shared. "You seem distracted." Cloud addressed his younger brother.
Roxas was busy scribbling in his notebook so he didn't hear his older brother.
"Hey Roxas!" Cloud yelled as he snatched the notebook from Roxas. "What's
eating you?"
Roxas pouted. "Nothing. I'm just drawing something."
Cloud knew his brother wasn't telling him the whole truth. Roxas wouldn't meet
his gaze and his voice was barely audible; signs that the younger blond was
keeping something hidden. Blue eyes scanned the notebook that Roxas was drawing
in.
Drawn in it was a man with a pointed face in black ink. He had wild hair with a
defined widow's peak. Narrow eyes pierced up from the page with inverted
triangles underlining them. There was almostsome strange power behind him.
Cloud couldn't explain it but theman didn't seem to be a part of their world.
"Who's this?" Cloud looked from the book towards his brother.
A dark blush spread across Roxas's cheeks. "I'm writing a Red Riding Hood story
for Naminé. He's supposed to be the wolf." He didn't want Cloud to know that he
was also the man that Roxas saw in town a few days before. And since then,
every time he left the house, he would always keep an eye open for that wild
hair. He didn't know why he felt drawn to the man; he only saw him once and it
was only for a few seconds.
"I don't remember a man being in that story." Cloud flipped through the book
trying to find any other profiles for the characters but came up empty handed.
He sighed in defeat and handed the book back to his brother.
Roxas hugged the notebook to his chest. "She doesn't want the original story so
I'm remaking it. The man is a creature who lives in the forest. At the
beginning, Little Red thinks he's the bad guy but he's not."
"So then who's the antagonist?" Cloud added in his head.
The youngest blond let out a defeated sigh. "I haven't figured that out yet.
And I know Nami will hate this story the way it is."
Cloud chuckled and ruffled his brother's hair. "It's only a bed time story so
don't stress too much over it. And I bet Naminé will love it no matter what."
As soon as he said that, the bathroom door banged open. A dripping wet Sora ran
into the room and jumped on his shared bed to crawlunder the blankets.
X~x~X~x~
It was another boring day in Mr. Vexen's chemistry class. Roxas was sitting way
in the back with Sora and, instead of listening to the teacher's lecture, was
working on the fairy tale for his sister. He was dead set on finishing it.
"Roxas Jecht," A cold voice said. Roxas almost jumped out of his seat. His big
blue eyes looked up to the front of the room in shock. "Would you please tell
the class what a mole is?" Mr. Vexen had a smile on his face that made him look
like he was mocking the poor blond.
"Umm..." Roxas tapped his pencil on his notebook while he thought of an answer.
"A mole is an animal that lives underground and is blind."
The whole class fell silent at his remark. No one would ever dream of being a
smart ass towards Mr. Vexen. The old man, while usually calm, could become
fierce when pissed off. There were rumors about what he did to misbehaving
students. Like one time, someone back talked him and during a lab experiment
their sleeve got caught on the Bunsen burner and was set on fire.
There was no proof that the old science teacher did it but he sure as hell
didn't help put the boy out. And ever since then, no one messed with Mr. Vexen.
The scientist's cold green eyes narrowed in on Roxas. "Would you like to repeat
that?"
Roxas was about to open his mouth but was stopped when Sora covered his mouth
with his hand and shook his head. "Are you fucking crazy!?" He whispered to his
twin.
Mr. Vexen seemed happy with that and continued on with his lecture. Roxas went
back to his notebook, not really caring what a mole was. When was he going to
use this anyway? And he could always go over Sora's notes before a test so
there was really no need for him to pay attention.
~X~x~X~x~
At lunch, the twins were sitting at their usual table with Roxas'sfriends.
Sora, while exceeding in classes and sports, didn't have much of a social life.
The small group couldn't stop talking about what had happened in the twins'
science class. Everyone at the table sat wide-eyed withtheir jaws dropped. "You
did what!?" Hayner yelled. "Dude! No one ever talks back to him! What would
make you do that?"
"If I were you, I'd play hooky on any of the lab days." Olette offered, which
shocked everyone since she was so strict about attending class. If anyone in
their little group would ditch or play sick for a day and she found out, they'd
have to sit through one of her long winded lectures about the importance of
school and how it would affect their future.
"You guys should have seen Mr. Vexen's face!" Sora added a little too happily.
"I'm surprised Roxas made it out alive! I mean if looks could kill."
Roxas's dark blue eyes glared at his twin. "Thanks for that Sora. Glad to know
that the most evil man at this school wants me me feel so much better." He
scooped up some mashed potatoes with his plastic spoon and flung it at the
unsuspecting brunet. "If looks could kill then Cloud would have done you in
long ago."
A cute pout graced Sora's face as he picked bits of white mush out of his brown
spikes. "That was really uncalled for! Ow! Not so hard!" He whined when Pence,
who was sitting next to him, started to help Sora take out the mashed potatoes.
"Sorry, just thought I'd be helpful." The tubby boy stopped what he was doing
and went back to his lunch.
Roxas decided it was time to change topics. "Have you seen a guy around town
lately? His hair's an obnoxious shade of red and he has weird tattoos on his
face. I saw him a little less than a week ago and he hasn't been around since."
"That's kind of creepy, Roxas. You sound like a stalker or something." Hayner
elbowed his best friend in the ribs. "Why do you care about some strange guy?"
"Maybe Roxas thinks he's attractive or something and wants to ask him out on a
date." Sora flashed his twin a wide smile and mouthedthe words 'pay backs a
bitch', and pointed at the food that was still stuck in his hair. He ignored
the glare the blond gave him and continued eating his lunch like he said
nothing.
All three of his friends stared at Roxas.
"You're gay?"
"What's he talking about?"
"Are you gonna finish that?"
They all spoke at the same time. Roxas slid his untouched lunch over to Pence
and left the cafeteria with the excuse that he needed to go to the library to
finish some forgotten homework.
~X~x~X~x~
Roxas was wondering around town alone afterschool. He was mad at Sora for
blowing his secret about his sexuality to his friends and he was too
embarrassed to confront the three about it. He sat all alone at a park bench,
working on his fairy tale.
The park was deserted even though the sun was still up. Mostparents wouldn't
let their kids play here because it was so close to the forest. The young blond
didn't understand the superstition that went with the place but all the adults
feared the woods. They said things lived in there, like monsters that would
snatch you up and spirit you away into a world of terror. Roxas didn't believe
a word of it.
His grandfather, Braska, pretty much ran the town and knew everything there was
to know about the forest. He used to tell Roxas and his sibling stories about
the monsters that would roam in the dark. When he was younger, Roxas believed
him but over time he started to realize they were just stories.
"Hey there." A smooth voice brought Roxas out of his thoughts. The blond turned
his head and he couldn't believe his eyes. The mysterious redhead from before
was standing right there! The strange man waited for Roxas to say something
but, when the small blond didn't say a word, he just flashed a grin. "The
name's Axel." Roxas couldn't say anything. A sexy as fuck man was talking to
him! Axel's grin was replaced with a slight frown. "You okay kid?"
Axel reached towards Roxas and brushed blond bangs away. As soon as they
touched, both guys felt a shock. The redhead pulled back and his bright green
eyes grew brighter as a huge smile graced his face. Roxas, on the other hand,
shrugged it off like it was static electricity. "Are you-?" The redhead's
sentence got quieter so Roxas couldn't hear the rest of it.
"So, like I said, the name's Axel. Got it memorized?" And with that the
redheaded stranger disappeared into the forest. Roxas felt the urge to follow.
***** Off to Grandfather's house *****
The sun was just setting. As soon as Roxas had walked into the house, he was
pounced on by Sora.
"I'm sorry! Roxas, quit ignoring me! Please!" Sora was on his knees, begging
his twin to forgive him.
Roxas walked down the stairs that led to the basement with his twin hot on his
heels. "You know, I covered for you. I told them it was a joke and I was trying
to get under your skin." The brunet pouted. "If you keep ignoring me, I'm going
to tell them the truth." The blond stiffened at that, which made Sora give a
triumphant smile; he had Roxas's attention now. "Say you forgive me."
Roxas sighed in defeat. "I guess I forgive you, for now." He sat on his bed and
fixed his twin with a curious look. "What do you think's in the forest? Like a
smaller town or maybe a forgotten road?" He lied back on the bed and put his
hands behind his head.
Sora mimicked Roxas and lay next to him. "You remember what Granddad said about
the monsters, right? Like the scary kind with sharp teeth that will rip flesh
off your bones and eat your soul!"
"You don't really believe that, do you?" Roxas raised an eyebrow.
"You don't?" Sora rolled onto his side and gave his brother a shocked look.
Roxas just shook his head. "Why the hell not?"
"Because they're just stories."
"They are not! Remember Old Lady Vanille? She went into the forest and came
back pregnant. Now explain that!"
Roxas rolled his dark blue eyes at his twin. "Vanille is an insane old lady. I
bet she just went off to another city or something and meet a nice man and did
the deed with him then left. And didn't her baby get kidnapped when mom and dad
were little kids? Why are there still rumors going around about that kid? Well,
I guess kid is the wrong word for it. It'd be at least in its early if not mid-
twenties."
"Okay, that may have been a bad example. But what about Granddad's childhood
friend, Aerith? She was picking flowers by the forest and just disappeared!"
Sora waved his hands in his brother's face.
Roxas was starting to get irritated and pushed the hyper boy away from him.
"She obviously got lost and because of all the bullshit superstition no one
went looking for her." Then the blond remembered something. "Hey remember that
guy I mentioned at lunch?" Roxas told Sora about the sexy redhead that talked
to him at the park, though he left out the part about the strange man going
into the forest.
"So, did you get a name for Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Mysterious?" Sora asked with a
mischievous smirk on his cheery face.
Roxas's face turned blank. Remembering names was one of his weak points. "I
think it started with an A, maybe, or E. It defiantly started with a vowel. Or
K." Roxas ran his hand through his golden spikes as he tried to remember.
"Seriously bro, get your head checked or something. This forgetting names thing
is getting a little ridiculous," Sora said as he got up from the bed and
started to head up stairs with Roxas.
Roxas rolled his eyes when they reached the door. "I may be bad with names but
you're horrible with faces." He was about to reach for the doorknob but, before
he could touch it, Cloud opened the door from the other side.
"Mom sent me down to get you two bozos for dinner but it seems you are on your
way already." With that, he turned on his heel and walked towards the kitchen
where the smell of backed chicken was coming from.
As the twins were following their older brother, a yell came from the living
room. Roxas and Sora exchanged a glance before turning around and running.
Inside was Tidus sitting on the edge of the couch with a PS2 controller in his
hand. He was glaring at the TV and mumbling curses under his breath. Beside him
was Naminé who, oblivious to her father's shouts, busying herself with braiding
Auron's ponytail. The older man was sitting on the floor with this back on the
couch.
"Umm..Dad?" Sora called to the blond man who just grunted in reply without
taking his eyes off of the screen. "What are you doing?"
"Dodging lightning. What does it look like?" The man grumbled as the screen
light up and he jabbed at the X button to make his avatar jump out of the way.
"How the hell do they expect me to dodge two-hundred fucking bolts?"
Just as he said that, Yuna walked in the room with her hands on her hips.
"Watch your language in front of the kids! And dinner's ready so get your butts
in the kitchen." Tidus let out a whine and clutched onto the controller like
his life depended on it. "Fine. You can stay in here and starve but the kids
are coming to eat."
The three kids in the room left while grumbling about how unfair it was to not
be able to watch their father get his ass kicked at a simple mini game. So Yuna
and all four of her kids sat down for dinner. About five minutes later, Auron
joined them, his hair back to his usual style.
"Roxas, you need to go see your grandfather tomorrow after school." Yuna said
while cutting up Naminé's chicken into bite sized pieces. "His yard is starting
to get overgrown and he wanted you to clean it up. It's going to be the weekend
so if you stay late just call and say you're going to be staying the night. I
don't want you wondering around outside in the middle of the night." A loud
yell came from the living room. Yuna slammed her silverware on the table.
"Tidus Jecht! Stop playing that stupid game and come eat!"
A whine came from the room but soon Tidus walked into the kitchen and plopped
himself down next to his wife. "I was so close to winning! I had like two more
bolts to dodge and then I just lost!" The blond man pouted and started to dish
food onto his plate.
"What's so important about that mini game?" Cloud asked around a mouth full of
chicken.
"You get the Venus Sigil and you can use that to get the Black Mage's ultimate
weapon. And I was this fuc-freaking close!" Tidus censored himself when he
remembered that his little girl was in the room.
"Can I try later, Daddy?" Naminé asked with wide blue eyes glued on her dad.
"Only if you finish all of your veggies."
~X~x~X~x~
"How did you do that?" Tidus asked as Naminé opened a treasure chest containing
the Venus Sigil. It had taken the little girl less than an hour to do while it
took Tidus almost all day with nothing to show for it.
The little girl giggled and moved the avatar so it was standing in between two
craters. "It's timed in this area." As soon as she stopped moving, a bolt came
at her and she easily dodged. "1..2..3." The screen lit up and Naminé pushed
the X button. "1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9." Again she dodged it. Tidus's
eyes were wide as he watched his daughter. Naminé giggled at her old man.
"This proves it; Dad should never play video games. Those are just for nerds,"
Cloud mumbled as he left the room towards the basement with the twins in tow.
"Then what about Nami? I don't think she's a nerd," Sora said with a tilt of
his head as he dug around in his dresser for some pajamas. Once he found a
pair, he grabbed the towel he used the other day off his desk and ran into the
bathroom before anyone else could get in first.
Cloud sighed and put his hands on his hips. "Why does he ask questions if he
just leaves right after?" His bright blue eyes landed on his younger brother's
darker ones. "Well? You're his twin; you should know."
Roxas just shrugged, sat at the small desk and pulled out his homework. If he
was going to be working all day for the next two days, he didn't want to spend
all of Sunday trapped in his room doing the school work.
"Hey Roxas, did you ever solve that antagonist problem you were having with
your story?" Cloud asked as he walked over to the smaller blond so he could
look over his shoulder. He smirked when he saw that Roxas was using the wrong
formula for his math problems.
"I did. And before you ask, it's a surprise ending so you'll just have to
wait." Roxas smiled up at his older brother before turning back to his homework
and scratching his head in confusion. "So did I do this one right?"
Cloud just chuckled and grabbed the other boy's pencil so he could show Roxas
how to properly do his math homework.
~X~x~X~x~
The final school bell rang. Roxas gathered his things; he needed to get to
Braska's house as soon as possible.
"Hey! Roxas!"
Or not...
Hayner sprinted up to his best friend with a big grin on his face. "Me and the
gang are going for ice cream. Come on!" The dirty blond threw his arm around
Roxas's shoulders and started to pull him in the direction of their small
group.
"I really can't today. I need to go to my grandfather's place and help him with
some things." Roxas tried to twist his way out of Hayner's grasp but the other
boy just tightened his grip. "I really shouldn't be late or else he might get
worried and call mom, and you know how she tends to overreact." Hayner ignored
his best friend's pleas and continued to drag him towards their groups usual
spot.
~X~x~X~x~
"Stupid fucking Hayner!" Roxas yelled as he bolted down the streets of the
small town that was slowly closing down. He had lost track of time while
hanging out with his friends and now night was quickly approaching. Roxas
blamed it all on his stupid best friend. When they finished their ice cream,
Hayner challenged Roxas to a struggle match. And since the two were equally
matched, the fight took a bit longer than it should have.
As the blond ran though the town, he couldn't help but worry about how much his
mom was going to flip out if he was late. Then he came to a fork in the road.
One path went through the town but Roxas wouldn't get to Braska's home until
after the sun set. The other way would take Roxas through the woods and help
him save time. Either way, he would have to stay the night and start working
early in the morning.
Not wanting to upset his mother, Roxas decided to take the shortcut. It was
darker in the forest than Roxas thought it would be. It seemed like whatever
little sunlight was left was blocked by the thick trees.
Something rustled behind a bush not far from the blond making him jump; his
heart raced as he remembered every story Braska and Auron had told him as a
child. His fight or flight instincts kicked in and Roxas turned to run when his
eyes caught a bright shade of red.
"I knew I'd find you here." A cool and familiar voice said. Roxas's dark blue
eyes widened as he saw the redheaded stranger came out from behind the thick
trees. Roxas just stared at him with a blank, and slightly frightened, look.
"Hey, it's me. You know, Axel." His bright green eyes were fixed on Roxas as he
tried to help jog the blond's memory from yesterday.
"Axel..." Roxas slowly said. He liked the way it sounded; it fit the taller
man.
Axel smiled at the sound of how Roxas said his name. "You know, I knew you'd be
here. I could smell you from a mile away." Roxas cocked his head to the side.
How the hell could Axel smell that far? But Roxas quickly decided that the tall
redhead was joking. "And before you doubt my amazing sense of smell, I can
smell you. Where ever you are as a matter of fact!" Axel leaned closer. "And I
can give you the same talent, and many more. But you need to come with me. Run
away from this mundane life."
"You want me to run away with you? And that I can get a better nose? That
doesn't make any fucking sense, you know that right?" Roxas placed his hands on
his hips and looked Axel over. Besides his hair, the man didn't seem crazy
"Where are you from? Why are you in here?"
"One question at a time, Roxas." Axel took a few more steps closer until he was
close enough to wrap his arms around the blond and pull their bodies closer.
"If you chose to come with me, I'll be willing to tell you anything and
everything you'd want to know."
"My name." Roxas slid out of Axel's hold on him and took a few steps back. "I
never told you it. How did you know?" The small blond was starting to get
freaked out. A part of him was regretting taking the shortcut but the other
half wasn't worried. In fact, he felt safe with Axel. He was tempted to take
him up on his offer
For every step back Roxas took, Axel would take a step forward. This kept going
on until Roxas's back hit a tree. There was hardly any space between the two
now and Axel placed his hands on both sides of Roxas's head, trapping the
blond.
"I'll give you that information for free. You live in a small town, Roxas. I
could get your name by asking anyone on the street. And since the day I caught
you staring at me, I've wanted to know who you were. And when we touched
yesterday, I wanted nothing more than to be with you." The forest around them
grew darker as night came closer. Roxas swore that Axel's eyes grew brighter
the longer they were in the dark.
Axel looked up at the rising moon and swore to himself. "Look kid, we don't
have a lot of time for this. Do you want to come with me or not?" Roxas didn't
know what to do. He couldn't believe that this very attractive man wanted him
but Axel also wanted him to leave his whole life behind. Could he do it? The
long silence seemed to irritate the redhead and he leaned down so his face was
closer to Roxas. "Maybe this will help you decide." And without hesitation,
Axel captured Roxas's lips with his.
This wasn't helping Roxas with his decision. In fact, all the blond could think
about was how good the other man's lips felt on his. Roxas wrapped his arms
around Axel's neck and loved the feeling of how warm the man's body was.
When Axel finally pulled away, he looked Roxas in the eyes. "So, will you run
away with me?"
Would he really be missed? He had a strained relationship with his father and
Cloud and Sora were too busy with sports. Only his mother and Naminé might
care. Could he really do this? Could he just drop his life and leave with Axel,
a man he just met?
"Yes."
***** Strange New World *****
Axel's green eyes widened in surprise but he replaced it with his normal cool
look. "You sure about that, love?" And the redhead leaned down and kissed Roxas
on the lips. He traced the blond's cheek and down his neck till he reached
where Roxas's neck met his shoulder. A wolfish grin spread across his face as
he nuzzled the pale flesh. He could feel the smaller boy's fast pulse.
"Y-yes…" Roxas squeaked out. He was having a hard time keeping his thoughts
straight. He had already decided that there was nothing left for him in his
small town; he had already told the redhead hat he would go with him but that
didn't mean that he wasn't terrified about leaving his old life behind.
"Good."
It all happened so fast. A sharp pain shot up and down his spine. Axel bit me!
The blond pulled away from the taller man and smacked the back of his head on
the tree that was behind him. Black spots danced around Roxas's vision as blood
dripped down his neck. A sickening feeling made its way throughout his body.
Scared blue eyes looked up at bright green. Roxas could feel his body going
numb. He slid to the ground and curled into himself. The pain was so intense
that he couldn't breathe.
"A-axel? What's go-going on?" Roxas gasped out. It was starting to feel like
his bones were shifting.
Roxas flinched when he felt a warm hand rub his back. "Shhh...Calm down. It's
gonna be over soon. Just breathe." Axel cooed into the smaller boy's ear.
"What's almost ov-" Roxas cut off with a howl of pain. Roxas blacked out.
When he was able to get his bearings back, he noticed that the dark forest
seemed to be clearer. It still looked dark out but Roxas see the outlines of
the trees better than before.
"Don't bite me, okay?" Axel laughed as he helped Roxas sit up straight. His
hands went straight for the hem of the blond's shirt and, in a fluid motion,
removed it. He moved onto Roxas's pants. Those came off easily along with his
boxers.
Roxas gave out a weak squeak of protest and tried to cover himself up.
"What..what are you doing!?" A sharp pain went through him and he let out a
loud scream.
"Shh...Don't do that. Here." Axel helped move Roxas so he was on his hands and
knees. "This should make it easier."
Roxas forgot he was naked and vulnerable when he felt like something start to
grow out of all the pores on his body.
It felt like it lasted hours but, once the pain had subsided, Roxas was able to
fully take in what just happened. He looked at once had been his hands. They
had transformed into paws that were covered in blond fur. Something in the same
colored fur caught Roxas's eye behind him; there was a tail and it was
connected to him.
"What? I'm dreaming! I'm dreaming!" Roxas yelled as he shook his head. This
couldn't be real. Axel must have drugged him. He must be hallucinating. Or
maybe he got attacked by something in the forest and he was lying in a hospital
bed; this was a dream brought on from morphine. It had to be.
Large hands grabbed the sides of his face and Roxas was forced to look at Axel.
"Look, you're not dreaming and I need you to be quiet before the Heartless
hears you." The redhead's voice was calm and even. The small boy, now wolf,
whimpered. His parents told him stories about the creatures. That they would
attack children and steal away their hearts, leaving empty shells that would
lure in more children. Over the years, Roxas stopped believing those stories
but if this wasn't a dream then the stories were true; the thought made Roxas
shiver. It didn't go unnoticed by Axel. "Don't worry, I'll protect you. In
fact-" Axel cut himself off as he stripped down.
"Wha-" Roxas covered his face with his paw. "What are you doing!?"
Axel didn't answer. Roxas was starting to get a bit worried but, before he
could check, something cold and wet touched the side of his face. The blond
wolf flinched away from touch and removed his paw from his eyes. Beside Roxas
was a large red wolf with bright green eyes.
"Axel?"
The bigger wolf nodded and lay down next to Roxas. "We can't go anywhere till
morning and I can protect you better in this form." Axel gently grabbed Roxas
by his scruff and pulled him down. "Rest for now. I'll tell you everything on
the way home in the morning."
Home? Will I ever be able to go back? Roxas thought as he tried to fall asleep.
~X~x~X~x~
Axel didn't sleep. He needed to keep watch. He would have to explain all of
this to Roxas in the morning. He almost felt sorry for the young boy but he
knew he wouldn't be able to go home without Roxas.
The sun rose quickly and Axel knew he should wake the other up soon. The red
wolf started to lick all over Roxas's face till the boy finally woke up. "Mom?
What time is it? I had the weirdest dream last night. I changed into a wolf
and-" Roxas's words were cut when he finally opened his eyes and saw that it in
fact wasn't a dream.
"Sorry, you weren't dreaming." Axel licked the blond one more time before he
got up. "Come on now, we need to get home soon or else."
Roxas didn't move as he watched Axel walk away from the town. Then he thought
of something. Axel had a human form as well as a wolf one. Did that mean that
he could as well? "Wait!" The blond called after the redhead. "Can I change
back into my real self?" Axel inclined his head in a silent 'yes'. Roxas
carefully stood up since he didn't feel balanced with for legs. After standing
for a moment, Roxas shyly turned to Axel. "Umm...how do I do it?"
Axel gave a little sigh before answering. "You just have to remember what being
human feels like."
Roxas nodded and closed his eyes to help him concentrate. He tried to remember
what it felt like to walk on two feet. What it felt like to have the wind hit
his face and go through his hair. What it felt like to talk instead of howl and
bark. He felt his bones shifting back into their original places and his fur
retract into his skin. It wasn't as painful as the first transformation but
still uncomfortable.
Once Roxas was back to being human, he hurried up and put his clothes back on
because Axel's emerald eyes wouldn't stop looking at him. When he was fully
cloth, the blond turned back the wolf. "So, shall we go?" The boy started to
walk back towards town. He walked a few steps before he felt something pull on
the back of his shirt.
"Not that way. We're going home." Axel growled around the fabric in his mouth.
"This way's home though." Roxas said as he pulled his shirt out of Axel's jaws.
Axel gave a warning growl and bared his fangs. "That's not your home anymore.
You promised to come with me, remember? You said you would come with me."
"Yeah, but town's still this way." Roxas mumbled and pointed towards said town.
"I'll go with you, but we still need to go so I can get my stuff."
The wolf shook his head. "You can't. We're not welcomed there." Roxas gave Axel
a confused look that asked 'why'. "Mystics aren't allowed in the Outerlands.
And you, my cutie, just happen to be one now." Axel smiled at the blond before
turning and walking deeper into the woods. "This way."
~X~x~X~x~
It felt like they had been walking all day and Roxas was getting tired. He was
starting to regret agreeing going with Axel. The redhead didn't tell him this
would happen. Roxas only wanted to go because he thought he would be able to go
home if things didn't work out. The blond whimpered to himself at the thought
of never seeing his family again.
Axel heard the boy and nudged his leg with his head. "Everything's going to be
okay, Roxas."
"So is there anything else you 'forgot' to tell me?" Roxas made quotation marks
around the word forgot. He glared down at Axel, who was still in wolf form.
"You are a Lycanthrope now." Axel said simply. "In basic terms, you're
technically a wolf but have a human form." Roxas mumbled 'no shit' and rolled
his eyes, still annoyed at Axel ignored the comment and continued. "Mystics are
the creatures who live in this forest, and you are now one of them."
"Is there any way I can become fully human again?" Roxas quietly asked. He bit
his thumbnail out of nervous habit. He was really starting to regret this.
Axel didn't like Roxas's thinking and growled at the boy again. "You promised
yourself to me. Even if there was a way for you to change back, you still
wouldn't be allowed to leave." The wolf turned away from Roxas and continued
towards his home with the boy following behind him.
The rest of the day was spent in silence. They never stopped to rest during the
trek. In a few short hours, Axel stopped on the outskirts of a clearing that
had a den on the far end. The wolf tilted his head back and let out a long howl
that made Roxas jump.
A high pitched giggle came from inside the den. A little girl came running out
and, in the blink of an eye, had her tiny arms wrapped around the wolf's neck.
"Big Brother, you're finally home! Riku was being mean to me again! He called
me a mutt." The girl pouted
Roxas widened his eyes at the sight of the girl. She looked so much like
Naminé! This girl's hair was a dark shade of red and it only reached to her
shoulders, unlike Naminé's whose went down mid-back. But everything from the
shade and shape of her eyes to her build was just like Roxas's little sister's.
"It's because you are!" Another voice said. Roxas managed to take his eyes away
from his sister's doppelganger and saw a boy around his age with long silver
hair that fell into his aquamarine eyes. Roxas thought he was almost as
handsome as Axel.
Speaking of Axel, the wolf glared at the silveret. "Riku, stop calling her a
mutt or I'll won't let you come visit anymore." The wolf growled.
Riku just shrugged and walked towards them. His aqua eyes roamed the intruder
till they landed on dark blue. "And who might you be?" He glanced over at the
wolf and back at Roxas
"I'm Roxas Jecht." The blond said and stuck his hand out.
The silveret accepted the hand and grinned at the other boy. "Riku."
While the two exchanged pleasantries, neither of them noticed the two redheads
sneak off towards the den. The little girl had a hard time containing her
giggles as she followed Axel inside the darkness. Way in the back behind a
large boulder, there was a trap door that was open.
The two walked down a flight of rough stone stairs in silence. There were no
lights underground but the two didn't seem to need it as they navigated passed
a couple of doors and turns till they ended up at Axel's bedroom.
The redhead shifted back to his human from before he started to shift through
his dresser for clothes. Finally the little girl couldn't hold it in anymore
and loudly asked. "Why is there a stranger here?" Her large sky blue eyes held
an uncomfortable look.
Axel chuckled at his baby sister as he knelt in front of her and pulled her
into a hug. "It's a surprise, but trust me, you'll love it."
The little girl nodded her head and grabbed Axel's hand to lead him back
outside.
When they emerged, the first thing Axel noticed was that Riku was nowhere to be
seen but a large black wolf with a white stripe going down the length of its
back and one of his eyes was missing was circling Roxas. The poor blond looked
petrified as the beast eyed him; he didn't even notice the siblings return.
Axel growled low in his throat and went into a fighting stance while pushing
Kairi behind him. "Xigbar."
The wolf's ear twitched at the sound of his name and slowly turned his head.
"What did you do, Axel?" Xigbar barked. His ears were back and the fur on his
back was sticking up. "Does he even know what you did to him?"
"Axel..."
The redhead's attention was pulled away from Xigbar and landed on the scared
blond. "Stay away from my mate!" Axel shouted, not thinking.
Everyone froze at that. Roxas's eyes doubled in size, Kairi's hands flew up to
her mouth to hide the giant grin, and Axel felt his face heat up; he didn't
mean to break the news like that. Xigbar wasn't the least bit pleased and
attacked the redhead.
All the air in Axel's lungs was pushed out with a grunt when he landed on his
back with the big wolf on top of him. "I get sent out to find Riku because he
just up and disappeared one day only to find you ruining some poor kid's life!"
Kairi didn't like that her big brother was in harm, jumped on the black wolf's
back and started to pull on his scruff. "Get off Big Brother!" She grabbed
fistfuls of black and white fur and pulled as hard as she could.
Xigbar howled in pain and moved off of Axel so the little girl would let go of
him. With one last look at Roxas, Xigbar took off into the woods.
Roxas was still frozen in place trying to piece together what just happened in
the span of 3 minutes. He was Axel's mate? The blond didn't know what that
meant and, by the way Xigbar acted, he wasn't sure he wanted to find out.
***** Learning About the Birds and the Bees *****
Roxas sat on the ground with his back against a tree. Xigbar had left a few
moments ago and the small blond was trying to process what Axel had said to the
other Lycanthrope.
"Stay away from my mate!"
Dark blue eyes looked over at his 'mate' as the taller man was reprimanding
Kairi for attacking Xigbar. Apparently the redhead didn't think it was a good
idea. The smaller redhead tried to argue her point but Axel wouldn't have any
of that. The scene made Roxas question where they're parents were; Kairi seemed
to be around Naminé's age, and Axel looked maybe a few years older then Roxas
so the blond knew that he couldn't be the father.
Then Roxas started to think about his own family. He wanted to know if they
noticed he was gone yet. It had only been a day and it was the weekend so they
all probably thought he was at a friend's house or ended up staying the night
at his grandfather's.
"Hey, Axel?" Roxas said to get the other's attention. Axel stopped what he was
doing and turned towards the blond to give him all of his attention, "What
exactly is a mate? Is it like being married?" Roxas looked away from Axel when
he felt his face heat up in embarrassment.
A light blush also appeared on Axel's face and he rubbed the back of his head
as he thought of what to tell the blond, "Well...ummm...kinda? But, there's
something different," The redhead kept stumbling over his words.
"You and Big Brother can make me adorable nieces and nephews!" Kairi yelled as
she jumped in Roxas's lap. Her big blue eyes sparkled as she gushed over Roxas,
"They'll have your eyes and Big Brother's hair! They'll look just like Daddy!
Oh, and they have to listen to me whenever we play because I'm older," The girl
gave a firm nod of her head as she decided the fates of Roxas and Axel's unborn
children.
Roxas gave the girl in his lap a confused look before he turned his gaze
towards Axel, "She does know about human anatomy right?" The redhead gave a
slight nod, "And she knows about the birds and the bees?" Another nod, "So, you
can bare kids?" A shake, "ME!?" Nod,
In a blink of an eye Roxas had gently moved Kairi off of him, stood up, and
made his way away from the clearing and close to the trees. Axel was just as
quick and caught up to him and grabbed Roxas by his forearm, "Where are you
going?" He didn't get an answer, instead the small blond struggled to get out
of the other's grip,"Roxas!"
"I didn't know," Roxas quietly whispered so quietly that Axel could barely hear
him, "I thought 'Hey he's good looking and wants me. Maybe going on a small
adventure for a bit would make my mundane life a bit more excitable. And when I
was done with you, I'd be able to go back home'. But noooo," Roxas turned
around to face Axel with tears in the corners of his eyes, "You had to keep
secrets and ruin my whole fucking life! I don't even feel human anymore!"
Axel was stating to feel bad for the small blond and tried to pull Roxas in a
hug only to be pushed away. Green eyes gave blue a sadden, sympathetic look,
"Calm down Roxas, everything is going to be all right. You leaving won't stop
you from going into Heat and it defiantly won't stop other Lycanthropes from
coming and forcefully taking you," Axel's expression and tone never changed as
he talk; trying to sooth the boy, "I'll protect you if you stay here,"
That didn't seem to be the right thing to say.
Roxas violently shoved Axel so they were a good two feet away from each other,
"Heat? What the hell!?"
"Listen Roxas, calm down and I can explain,"
"Calm down!? Fuck you, Axel!" And with that Roxas turned away and continued his
way into the forest.
Kairi was frozen in the same place Roxas had placed her in as she watched the
blond and her brother fight. Her big blue eyes seemed to get bigger as Roxas
started to leave again. She started to panic when Axel didn't do anything to
stop him. Why was he leaving? Kairi didn't want him to leave. He was suppose to
give her a family again. A quiet whimper came from her as she said, "Please
don't go,"
That got Roxas's attention. He quickly glanced back at the small girl and felt
his heart drop. Kairi was practically in tears and Roxas couldn't help but
think of Naminé, and he hated it when his sister was upset.
Axel darted away from Roxas and towards his sister as large tears started to
fall down her cheeks. He wiped them away and pulled the sniffling girl in his
arms. Kairi's arms wrapped around the redhead's neck as she continued to cry,
"Shhh...it's okay, Kairi?" The older redhead started to rock the younger in a
vain hope that it would calm her but it didn't seem to work.
Roxas felt like he was frozen in place. He wanted to go comfort Naminé's
doppelganger but he felt like he would be intruding on the small family moment.
The blond didn't move till he heard Kairi started to softly whimper out his
name. He knew the reason the girl was crying was his fault but the fact that
she was saying his name made it all the more real. He tried to continue on his
way but when he looked back he made eye contact with Kairi, who was looking
over Axel's shoulder.
"Rox-roxas, please don't...don't-" Kairi cut herself off as another sob come
from her. She buried her face in her brother's neck and kept wailing. Roxas
couldn't help himself as he walked towards the tow and knelt behind Axel and
petted the girl's head. Kairi's face shot out of Axel's neck and squeaked in
surprise when she saw Roxas. The small girl practically climbed over Axel to
get to the smaller man. She didn't stop squirming until she was in Roxas lap
and had him locked in her arms, "Roxas. Roxas. Roxas,"
Axel and Roxas locked eyes and held the other's gaze till Kairi calmed down and
started to snuggle into the blond's chest. Blue left green as Roxas gazed down
at the small girl; he came to the conclusion that as long as his sister's
lookalike he would try his best to cope since he didn't want to see the girl
cry again.
"I'm sorry, Kairi. I'm really sorry," Roxas whispered into her brown-red hair.
~X~x~X~x~
The sun was slowly making its decent down the sky and the trio were currently
discussing what they were going to do with Roxas. Said blond was currently
holding Kairi while Axel paced in front of them. The current issue was Roxas's
Heat.
"I don't want kids,"
Axel stopped his pacing and gave his mate a confused look, "Why not?
"When I came to terms that I was gay I also accepted the fact that I wouldn't
have kids. And now you're telling me that I can?"
Kairi looked up at the blond with curious eyes, "Why wouldn't you be able to
have kids?" She moved around in Roxas's lap until she was facing him, "Are you
broken?" She placed her hands on Roxas's stomach and started to feel around
with a concatenated look on her face. A ruble came from the blond's stomach
making his face flush. So much had happened that day that he forgot to eat.
Kairi giggled and looked over her shoulder towards Axel, "I think he's hungry,"
Axel smiled down at the two and nodded his head in agreement, "It has been a
long day," He said as he started to take his shirt off, getting ready to shift,
"I'll be back soon. Kairi why don't you show him around?' And with that the
redhead made his way out of the clearing.
The girl's attention seemed to move from babies to playing host. She quickly
jumped to her feet and dragged Roxas by his wrist, "That's the den," She
pointed towards the mouth of the cave. She quickly dragged the blond towards
it. Deep within the cave there was a huge boulder that looked like it could
crush both Roxas and Kairi if it were to fall over. Behind it was a trap door
that looked like it weighted a ton but Kairi easily opened it.
It was pitch black, but Roxas could make out the stair. Not long after the door
was opened Kairi started to drag Roxas down into the darkness. The blond
noticed that the farther they went into the darkness the more his eyes adjusted
to it and he could see almost all the details surrounding him. He could easily
count the twelve steps down and how narrow the hall was, even the fact that the
ceiling had to only be a couple of inches higher then Axel. Was it getting hard
to breath?
"This is my room," Kairi almost yelled as she pushed open the first door they
came to. It looked like a cliched kid's room. There were toys all over the
floor, the twin sized bed was unmade, the dresser looked like the clothes were
carelessly thrown into it, and everything seemed to be some shade of pink. Were
the walls closing in?
Kairi grabbed Roxas again and pulled him out of her room and farther down the
hallway and around a corner and opened the next door. This room was a bit
larger then Kairi's room and the bed was a queen sized bed with silver silk
sheets on it; Roxas bet that if there was any lighting the sheets would look
like water and everything was put neatly into place, "This is Big Brother's
room, and I guess it's your room now too," Roxas didn't get to go in and look
around because Kairi was pulling him back into the hall and opened the door
across from Axel's room. If a cave in the middle of nowhere collapsed would the
screams be heard?
There was nothing in there. It looked like the room was built then forgotten,
"Big Brother told me this was going to be the pup's room. He didn't want to
start setting it up till he got a mate," Kairi's big blue eyes looked up at
Roxas, "And you're here now,"
It suddenly hit Roxas. He was standing at the bottom of a cave that could
collapse on them at any given moment and no one would probably ever find them.
Roxas started having a hard time catching his breath and his vision was getting
blurry, "I need to get out of here," He yanked his hand out of Kairi's grasp
and quickly made his way back towards the entrance.
Once he was finally at the mouth of the den he collapsed on his knees gasping
for air with tears running down his face. Everything was changing and Roxas
didn't feel like he could handle it. His growling stomach went unnoticed by him
as he curled into himself and tried to will himself away and back home; wising
this was all just a dream and he was really in his and Sora's shared bed.
Small arms wrapped around Roxas' waist and a warm pressure was on his back
telling him that Kairi was hugging him. They stayed like that until Axel came
back.
The redhead at first didn't see them. He was carrying two small dead rabbits in
his jaws and carefully set them down under a tree. Once the food was out of his
mouth, Axel went back to the edge of the clearing where he left his clothes and
shifted back to his human form, "Roxas! Kairi! Dinner!" He yelled. The only
response he got was a quiet sob coming from the den, "Roxas? Kairi?"
"Big Brother," Kairi picked her head off of Roxas' back and looked up at Axel,
"I don't know what happened. I was showing him around and he freaked out," The
girl scooted away from the blond so her brother could get closer.
Axel carefully sat next to Roxas and pulled the smaller boy in his lap. Roxas
instantly clung to the redhead and buried his head in Axel's chest, "I can't do
this. I want to go home," Axel couldn't do anything but rub the boy's back and
whisper calming words in his ear.
***** Axel Shouldn't Tell Bedtime Stories *****
It took Axel a long time to calm Roxas down. When the redhead first saw his
mate crying, he didn't know what to do. He thought Roxas he had understood that
he couldn't go home.
So he did the first thing that came to mind. He pulled the younger boy into his
lap and sent Kairi to finish preparing their dinner. Once the two were alone,
Axel pried Roxas away from his chest to look into his blue eyes.
"Listen, Roxas, you need to stop breaking down like this." Axel's heart
clenched at how harsh he sounded but he needed to get through to Roxas somehow.
"I'm sorry that you feel this way, I really am, but you have to try and cope.
The more you dwell on everything, the harder it's going to be to accept it, you
know?"
Roxas pushed himself away with a seething look pointed at the redhead. "Who the
fuck do you think you are? First you kidnap me, then you force me to live
underground, which by the way I can't stand small spaces, and now you're
telling me what to do!?" Can't a guy get a little sympathy?
But before he could continue his rant, Kairi came back. Roxas noticed the blood
that stained her hands. "Dinner's done, Big Brother!" She flashed both boys a
huge smile. "Let's eat!" She grabbed Axel's and Roxas's hand, pulling them
toward the edge of the clearing where the rabbits waited for them.
Roxas's stomach bubbled with bile. Two medium sized, skinned rabbits where
sitting under a tree. The two redheads walked up to the dead animals, and to
Roxas's dismay, started to eat them raw. Axel saw his mate's distress, put his
food down, grabbed the blond by his wrist and pulled him to sit beside him.
"This may look gross to you but trust me, you'll like it." With that said, Axel
pulled a piece of meat off of the rabbit and handed it to Roxas. He then
grabbed another piece for himself and placed it in his mouth. When he was done,
he looked at Roxas and made a 'go ahead' gesture with his hands.
Roxas gave a skeptical look towards the redhead but nonetheless mimicked Axel.
He was surprised when he found that he liked it. Axel laughed at the small
blond and pulled more meat off the animal, which was snatched up by said blond.
Soon both rabbits were gone and the three sat under the canopy of trees, all
too tired and full to do much.
"Your senses will become stronger than before." Axel broke the silence, having
the sudden need to explain the other changes happening to the young boy.
"You'll be able to see in the dark, hear things far away, and smell even stale
scents. As for going into Heat, it happens when your body feels like it's ready
for pups. I can't really tell you much more then that since I've never gone
through it," Axel finished with a small awkward laugh.
Roxas looked up at his mate and then looked down at his own body. Was he really
going through so many changes? How could one little bite mess him up so bad?
Would be able to do the same to other people? As all these questions rushed
through his mind, one slipped past his lips.
"Am I still human?"
The small question seemed to catch both of the siblings off guard. They looked
at each other before turning their attention back to the blond. Kairi scooted
closer to Roxas and wrapped her tiny arms around the boy. "It doesn't matter.
You're you, and we love you." She let go of Roxas and looked over her shoulder
towards her brother who just smiled at the two of them. He was grateful that
most of his mother's personality shone through his little sister.
It was getting late and the sun started to go down. Axel cleared his throat.
"We need to go inside now or the Heartless will come." He stood up and started
walking back to the den with Kairi close behind. But Roxas stayed under the
tree. He didn't want to go underground. Images of the cave walls collapsing
kept playing in his head.
Axel noticed his mate's absence when he made it to the mouth of the den. "Come
on, Roxas, we need to hurry." Roxas just huffed and turned his head away from
the older man. Axel told Kairi to go to her room and made his way back towards
Roxas. "You know, if you let the Heartless get you, you'll never see your
family again. Not to mention it would break both mine and Kairi's hearts."
"See my family again?"
The taller nodded. "If you behave and stop throwing tantrums then yes, I'll let
you go home tomorrow. But you can't let them see you; it'll make leaving harder
and we'll end up at square one."
Roxas shook off the fact that Axel was using a voice similar to when he would
talk to Naminé himself. "How long can I stay?"
Axel stuck his hand out for the still sitting blond to take. Once Roxas was on
his feet, Axel wrapped his arm around the smaller boy's shoulders and guided
him towards the den. "For the day? We can't really stay out when it's dark."
"We?" Roxas asked. He wasn't sure if he wanted the redhead to go with him.
The two had made their way into the den and Axel had to release his hold on
Roxas so they could walk down the stairs. "Yes, we. What if something happens
to you? Or you run away?"
"I'm not some little kid, Axel! I can take care of myself!" Why would Axel
think he'd run away? True, he had voiced how much he hated being there, but he
didn't really have anywhere else to live. Roxas didn't even notice when the
trap door shut but, when he turned around to yell at his mate, he noticed that
Axel's acid green eyes glowed in the dark space.
Axel grabbed Roxas's hand and led him towards their room; the redhead had to
hide his surprise when the other didn't pull out of the hold. Once they were in
the room, Axel walked over to the dresser and dug through it. "Here, try these
on." The redhead tossed a pair of loose fitting pants behind him without
looking.
Roxas pushed his own pants off his hips and pulled the new pair on. They were
too baggy even with the draw string tied. Damn Axel's hips, was the only thing
Roxas could think of as his blue eyes traveled to the redhead. He couldn't help
the blush that spread through his face; there was no denying that Axel was hot.
Roxas shook his head to get rid of the thoughts.
"Big Brother?" A quiet voice said from the doorway, getting Axel's attention.
"Bed time story?"
"In a minute, Kai. Let me get Roxas set up first." Axel flashed a smile before
turning back to the dresser, looking for a shirt for the blond.
"I want Roxas to tell me a story with you. Please?" She sent the blond a pout.
"Pretty please?"
Roxas walked passed Axel towards the little girl's room with Axel following
close behind. Kairi giggled and crawled under her blanket. Roxas and Axel sat
on opposite sides of the bed.
"Let's see," Roxas started. "Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess
named Kairi. She was the most beautiful girl in the whole kingdom." That put a
huge smile on the girl's face. "Everyone loved her except for an evil witch."
"On the Princess's sixteenth birthday, the evil witch placed a curse on the
girl. Kairi fell into a deep sleep and nothing could wake her up except for a
kiss," Axel continued. "She stayed in the deep sleep for many years until one
day a handsome prince braved the castle that Princess Kairi was kept in."
The small blond picked up the story with. "From dragons to zombies, he fought
anything the evil witch put in his path. He wanted to find the princess and
free her from the curse. When he finally found her, he walked up to her
sleeping form and gave her the curse breaking kiss."
"But it didn't work. The kiss needed to be the princess's first kiss which she
had lost years before to some jerk prince. And that, Kairi, is why you have to
be very careful around other boys." Axel grinned. "Goodnight. Sweet dreams,"
The redhead said as he got off the bed and started to walk back to his room,
leaving a bewildered Roxas behind.
After saying a quick goodnight, Roxas followed Axel back to their room. He
closed the door behind him and glared at the redhead. "What the fuck was that?"
"What was what?" Axel faked innocence.
Roxas marched up to the taller man. "That's not how you tell bedtime stories."
He growled. "It's supposed to have a happy ending not some bull shit like
that."
The redhead shrugged at his mate. "I always tell them like that."
Roxas didn't know how to respond to that. It really wasn't his place to tell
Axel how he should and shouldn't raise his baby sister even though he didn't
agree. "Whatever. So how are we sleeping? Like one on the bed and the other on
the floor? Or are you going to crash with Kairi?"
Axel gave Roxas a confused look. "The bed's big enough for both of us. I was
thinking, what you need is a good old cuddle session." The redhead walked up to
Roxas, picked him up bridle style and brought him over to the bed.
"Wh-what are you doing!? Put me down now!" Roxas yelled as he tried to squirm
out of Axel's arms
"Whatever you say, Love," Axel chirped as he threw Roxas onto the bed and
jumped on top of him. The blond fought to get out from under the larger man.
"Calm down Roxas. I won't bite." Axel couldn't help but laugh.
"Get off of me asshole! You're not funny!" Roxas growled back. It had been a
long exhausting day and he wanted nothing more than to sleep.
Axel rolled off of his mate and sent him a warning glare. "Be careful what you
say or I won't take you to see your family tomorrow."
Roxas sat up and looked down at the other man with a hateful glare. "You
wouldn't."
The redhead tilted his head to the side in thought. "How about if you give me a
nice loving kiss?" He puckered his lips, making kissing noises that made Roxas
cringe.
"Alright already. Quit doing that! It's disgusting," Roxas grumbled as he
leaned down and placed his lips on Axel's. It was only meant to last a second
but a large hand tangled itself in his golden strands. A tongue slipped into
his mouth to explore the depths.
Roxas almost let himself get carried away as he felt his body heat up, but he
fought for control and pushed himself away from Axel, rolling over so his back
was facing the other man. "Goodnight, Asshole," He mumbled.
Axel leaned over and pecked Roxas's cheek. "Goodnight, Love."
***** Breaking and Entering *****
"So, where are we going?" Roxas asked Axel as the redhead helped Kairi onto his
shoulders. Axel had woken Roxas as the sun was coming up, saying he would take
him to the Outerlands today. Roxas woke up Kairi while Axel went to hunt for
breakfast. Surprisingly, when the younger man had to eat a raw deer, he again
didn't find himself gagging at the taste.
"We have to make a quick pit-stop before we leave the forest."
After being quiet for an hour or so, Roxas couldn't handle it anymore. "Really,
where are we going? I don't recognize anything."
"We're going to go see Aunty Fran!" Kairi yelled in excitement from her perch
atop her brother.
Roxas could only imagine who Aunty Fran was. Probably another Lycanthrope. Just
the thought of that made a shiver go down the blond's spine. He didn't like
knowing such creatures roamed so close to home, which was pretty funny seeing
as he was one of them now.
The trio walked in silence for a good hour or so until they came to a small
clearing that was surrounded in aster flowers of different colors. It was a
beautiful sight and the fragrance it gave off had to be one of the sweetest
things Roxas had ever smelt.
And, of course, Axel had to ruin the blond's moment with a loud as hell howl.
Roxas had to cover his ears from the offensive noise but, as the sound faded
away, Roxas was in awe at the fact that he knew what that howl meant.
We're here so come and greet us!
There was a jingle and something flew above them. It was about the size of a
large fist with a long yellow looking straw hat for a head. In the middle of
its green chest was a heart emblem.
"H-heartless!" Roxas squeaked in fear at the creature floating above him. He
ducked behind Axel in a small hope that his mate would protect him from the
monster. Instead he just got laughed at by both redheads. "What the hell is so
funny!? That thing is going to kill us!" He yelled at the two.
"Who's going to kill you now?" A strange voice said. The green Heartless made a
chirping noise before it flew over to the stranger. Roxas peered around his
mate to see who was talking to him and saw a tall woman with tan skin, long
sliver hair, and… bunny ears?
Before Roxas could question the rather large appendages, Kairi jumped off of
her brother's shoulders and ran towards the woman. "Aunty Fran!" Fran bent down
and scooped the little girl up. Kairi moved around a bit, trying to get
comfortable in the woman's arms before she started talking about everything
that had happened in the past day; the whole time Fran's dark eyes never left
Roxas.
When the little girl was done speaking, Fran's eyes finally left Roxas and
settled on Axel. "So he's your mate?" The redhead nodded. "He looks a bit
young. How old are you, hun?" The Viera asked Roxas.
"S-sixteen," Roxas stuttered. He hated to admit it but the tall woman
intimidated him.
This didn't seem to impress Fran as she shot a glare towards Axel, causing the
man's posture to shrink as he tried to make himself smaller. "That's a bit
young don't you think?" Once the Viera decided the redhead had enough, she
shifted a softer gaze towards Roxas. "Come here, I need to ask you something in
private." Without another word, Fran turned on her heel and walked towards the
other side of the clearing.
Roxas was a bit nervous about leaving Axel's side but he didn't sense that the
woman wanted to harm him so he followed her. When they were alone, the blond
swallowed the lump in his throat before he started to talk. "Umm…Why did we
have to leave Axel, ma'am?" Roxas shuffled from foot to foot.
"I just wanted to get some things cleared up," The tall woman said with a
smile. "Axel didn't force you into this, did he?" Fran's voice went from sweet
and nice to scary and harsh. The small blond flinched.
"H-he didn't force m-me, but he was-wasn't truthful either," Roxas choked out;
he was trying not to make his mate sound like the bad guy but deep down Roxas
felt like he was. "He was more vague than anything."
The Viera's already cold eyes grew colder. "I'll be right back." And with that
Fran walked away from Roxas and towards Axel and Kairi.
The blond couldn't hear what Fran was saying but, by the look on her and Axel's
faces, it wasn't good; Fran's face was turning red with anger as she yelled at
the redhead who was turning ghost white. Then in a flash the Viera had grabbed
Axel by his ear and dragged him over towards the now petrified blond.
"Apologize now," Fran said in a venomous voice to Axel.
The redhead looked just as scared as Roxas felt. "I'm sorry Roxas." The way he
said it almost made Roxas laugh. Axel sounded just like Cloud when he would
apologize to Sora after he got yelled at by Yuna. An irritated grunt from the
Viera made Axel jump. "I didn't mean to trick you in anyway. It's just…didn't
you feel it?"
"Feel it?" Roxas echoed.
"The Connection," Fran said in her monotone voice. "It's how Lycanthropes
determine who to mate with. I heard it feels like you're being shocked when you
touch for the first time. But we Viera don't have The Connection so I don't
know firsthand."
Roxas tried to think back to when he first encountered Axel. He remembered
feeling something like static electricity. Could that have been it?
With a wave of her hand, Fran dismissed Axel while muttering something about
not being done with him. Once the redhead was out of sight, the Viera gave the
other boy her attention. "Has Axel told you about his family yet?" Roxas shook
his head causing the woman to sigh. "I don't think he'll like me telling you
any of this but I know that boy. He'll probably never tell you or at least he
won't tell you everything and end up confusing you.
His parents are dead. The current pack leader killed them because Axel's father
was the alpha at the time. I don't know why he would kill Aerith though. Such a
nice woman." Fran seemed to get lost in her thoughts for a moment before she
shook herself out of it. "Since Axel was still considered a pup, the new alpha
couldn't do anything to him or Kairi. They came here until Axel had matured and
he left with Kairi. That was about two years ago…"
Roxas looked down at the ground as he tried to process what Fran had told him.
He couldn't help but feel bad for the redhead. Roxas couldn't imagine one of
his parents dying let alone both of them. And he had to take care of his baby
sister all by himself on top of it.
Without even realizing it, the blond started to cry. His heart was filled with
pity for his mate and he felt a bit guilty for being such an ass to him. The
poor guy just couldn't catch a break. Roxas felt warm arms wrap around him as
he was pulled into a hug that Roxas returned. "What did you do?" Axel hissed at
the Viera.
"I just told him things I know you wouldn't." Fran was quite frank. She knew
that it didn't matter how pissed Axel got towards her, he wouldn't do any harm
towards her.
The jingle noise was back which snapped Roxas out of his funk as he pushed
himself away from Axel and looked around the immediate area. The green
Heartless from earlier was back and flying above the trio. The blond wanted to
run from it but was held in place by Axel.
"It's okay. That's not a bad Heartless. He's one of Fran's helpers. It's called
a Green Requiem but we just call him Emerald." The Heartless jingled again and
flew away. A small smile crept on the blond's face as he thought about how
wrong he was about Heartless. He thought all of them were bad.
Axel rubbed the back of his neck. "Well we really need to get going before it
gets too late. Are you sure it's fine to keep Kairi here? I mean if it's too
inconvenient I can always try to get ahold of Riku."
Fran put her hands on her hips and glared at the redhead. "And why would it be
inconvenient?" Before Kairi, taking care of your mate should be your first
priority."
And with that Axel and Roxas were off to the Outerlands.
It was a quiet walk towards Roxas's old home. Roxas had so many questions he
wanted to ask but he just couldn't bring himself to since he was terrified of
the answers. Like when would he go into Heat? And when he did and if he got
pregnant, then what? He didn't have experience with babies any than the very
few times he watched Naminé. How was any of this even possible?
The walk to the Outerlands was eerily quiet but neither Axel nor Roxas knew how
to break the silence. It wasn't until they reached the forest border that Roxas
spoke. "Let's go get something to eat."
With Roxas's guidance, the two found a cozy little diner that was located
towards the back of town that the blond knew none of his family or friends
would go.
Axel glanced over the menu and with a confused look. It didn't take Roxas long
to realize what the problem was. Axel couldn't read. The blond slowly slid out
of his side of the booth and moved so he was next to his mate.
"What do you like to eat?" Roxas asked as quietly as he could so no one would
think anything suspicious; maybe they would think the two were on a date.
Axel leaned down so his cheek was resting on top of Roxas's head and his eyes
were still on the menu. "I don't know. Something bloody?" That made Roxas
shudder a bit. He couldn't get used to the sight of blood dripping off of his
food.
"Okay, so how about we get you a raw steak? I think I'm going to get a grilled
cheese." Roxas decided with a firm nod. He wanted to stay away from anything
meat at the moment. The waitress came and left with their orders.
The diner started to fill up and it made Roxas feel a bit anxious. What if
someone recognized him? Axel seemed to sense this and wrapped his arm around
his mate's shoulder. "Everything is going to be okay. I won't let anything
happen to you."
Their food quickly came and while Axel wolfed down his plate. Roxas was having
a hard time swallowing down his cheese sandwich; even the fries tasted a bit
bland to him. He couldn't put his finger on what was wrong.
"Here, I'm full." Axel said as he slid his plate over to the blond. Roxas
looked up at Axel to see if it was okay. "I don't want anymore. Besides you
look like death trying to gulp down that shit." The redhead pointed at Roxas's
plate.
Roxas nodded. "Okay. Thanks." Before he could process what he was doing, he
leaned up and gave the redhead a kiss on the cheek. He took a bite of the
bloody steak and was surprised to find it to be a million times better than his
grilled cheese.
When the younger finished his meal, they paid with what little cash Roxas had
on him when he was turned into a Lycanthrope. Axel grabbed his mates hand as
they left the diner.
"I don't want you to get lost." He smiled down at Roxas making the boy pout.
"I've lived here my whole life. I'm not going to get lost."
Axel bent down so he could peck his blond on the lips. "Well, indulge me then."
And Roxas didn't fight it. The two walked towards Roxas's home both lost in
their own thoughts. Axel was nervous about what would happen if his mate saw
his family. Would they keep him and Roxas wouldn't be able to come back to him?
Or worse, what if Roxas decided himself to leave the redhead? Would Axel be
able to drag his little blond away from what makes him happy?
Roxas was excited about going home. He knew he wouldn't see his family around
this time and, even if he did, he knew it would be a bad idea for them to see
him. As much as he missed them, he had a feeling that Axel and Kairi needed
him.
Soon they found themselves in front of the house. Axel let go of Roxas's hand
and slowly backed away. At the blond's confused look Axel explained. "I need to
go do something. I'll meet you by the park when you're done." And with that the
redhead was gone.
Roxas turned back to his home and tried to open the front door only to find it
locked. That was a good sign, it meant no one was home. The blond located the
spare key under a rock in his mother's garden. Once inside, he locked the door
so if anyone came back they wouldn't be suspicious then went straight towards
his room. The small room hadn't changed which put a smile on the boy's face. He
walked over to the closet, pulled out an old gym bag and packed it with his
clothes, being careful of not taking too many since he didn't want anyone to
know he had been there. After stuffing the bag with clothes and a few other
things he felt he would need, Roxas started to head back up the stairs.
Half way up, Roxas remembered something and went back down to grab his
notebook.
Maybe I have enough time…
Roxas sat down at his desk and scribbled the end of the story he had promised
Naminé. After about an hour and a half, he was satisfied with his work. A
glance at the alarm clock told the blond that he didn't have that much time.
He had to be quick if he didn't want anyone to see him. So he ran back up the
stairs as quick as he could, dropped the gym bag off in the living room, dashed
up to the second story and down the hall till he was in his little sister's
room. Glowing blue eyes scanned the room for a moment as he tried to figure out
where to stash the notebook so that his sister would find it but still be out
of sight so no one else would see it.
There! Roxas found the spot. He went up to the toy box that Naminé used to keep
her art supplies in. He moved some paints around till he found the small stack
of coloring books. The notebook as placed under the first book and the paint
was put back in its place.
Then there was a click followed by voices.
"Shit!" Roxas quietly muttered. He took too long.
"I'm hungry, Mommy." Roxas could pick up on his baby sister's voice.
"What do you want?" Yuna.
"Waffles! Can I come help?"
Roxas could feel himself relax when he didn't hear anyone come up the stairs.
That meant if he was quick enough he could make it to the living room to grab
his things and bolt out of there.
He had to take a few deep breaths to calm his nerves before he opened the
bedroom door. A glance over the banister showed that there was no one in the
living room and there was a lot of noises coming from the archway that lead to
the kitchen.
Roxas sprinted down the stairs, being mindful of the ones that squeaked, and
dashed towards the bag he left by the sofa. So far so good.
Then the doorknob to Roxas's exit started to turn. The blond had to make a dive
behind the sofa to hide himself.
"Honey, I'm home!" Tidus yelled as he kicked his shows off. Roxas could hear
Naminé scrambling out of the kitchen and bolting into the living room to greet
her father. "Hey, Princess! How was your day?" The blond man said as he scooped
his daughter up and carried her back to the kitchen.
Roxas let out an inaudible sigh of relief and with his bag in hand, sprinted
towards the door. As he yanked the door open and closed it behind him he could
hear his mother talking through the thick slab of wood as she walked out of the
kitchen with Naminé close on her heels.
"Fuck that was close," The blond mumbled to himself as he turned away from his
home and ran towards the park.
Axel was sitting on a rusty swing that looked like it was on the verge of
collapsing. Axel was looking at something that he was tossing from hand to hand
but once he sensed his mate's presence he looked up.
"Hey. Took you long enough," The taller boy said as he got up from his seat and
started to walk towards Roxas while pocketing whatever he was holding. "Did you
get everything?"
Roxas nodded. "Yup. And I almost got caught leaving, but no one saw me. Did you
get whatever you needed?"
Axel didn't seem to like the fact that his mate almost got caught but had no
choice to shrug it off. "I did." He flashed Roxas a small pack of hair clips
and ties. "It's going to be Kairi's birthday soon so I needed to get her a
present. That's why I was out here when we met. And this is for you." The
redhead pulled out a switch blade out his pocket and handed it to the blond.
Roxas took the offered knife and played with the button, making the blade come
out before pushing it back in only to hit the button again as he tried to get
used to holding the weapon. "Thanks, but why?"
The redhead shrugged. "I noticed you don't like tearing meat apart when you eat
so I thought it would help. Not to mention it would help with self-defense if
anything were to happen."
A small smile tugged at Roxas lips. He couldn't help but feel happy that Axel
would notice something as small as that. Before he lost the nerve, Roxas stood
on his tippy-toes and kissed his mate. Axel tried to pry the blond's lips apart
with his tongue but was denied as Roxas pulled away.
"Thank you, really," Roxas said as he grabbed Axel's hand and started to walk
farther back into the woods. "Now let's go back and get Kairi before it gets
too late."
***** 72 Hours *****
Seventy-two hours. That's how long Yuna had to wait before the cops would
announce her youngest son missing and it had only been forty hours. The
brunette woman had called all over town asking if anyone had seen Roxas. Her
father said that the boy never showed and had assumed he ran into some friends
and simply forgot. Hayner said he hadn't seen Roxas since they went out for ice
cream the day before. Olette and Pence mentioned something about a new girl in
town that Roxas might have gone to see.
This 'new girl' was the best lead. Except, no one in the small town knew of a
new girl.
Yuna sighed as she rested her head on the kitchen table. She didn't know what
to do and she was worried about her child. What if someone had kidnapped him?
By the time the cops got involved, he could far away and out of their reach. Or
maybe he was lying somewhere, bleeding to death? The young mother pulled at her
hair in frustration, letting out a low growl.
A warm comforting hand was placed on Yuna's shoulder. Her head shot up and her
mismatched eyes landed on Tidus, who gave her a sad smile. "It's going to be
okay, Hun," The man said as he took the empty seat next to his wife. "Roxas is
smart. He'll come back."
Yuna moaned as she placed her head on her husband's shoulder. "I just don't
know what to do. It's not like him to wonder off and not tell anyone where he's
going. And I know Naminé's going start asking about him soon. How do I tell her
we don't know where her big brother is?"
"Don't worry, Auron's out looking for him and you know he won't stop until
Roxas is found." The blond tried to comfort Yuna. The brunette nodded as a loud
yawn escaped. "You haven't been sleeping huh? Come on, let's hit the hay,"
Tidus said as he stood up and walked up to his room with Yuna's hand grasped in
his.
Two sets of sapphire blue eyes watched their parents go up the dark flight
steps. Sora and Cloud had been eavesdropping, trying to figure out what was
going on. They weren't as naïve as Naminé. They knew something wrong was going
on with Roxas. Both Cloud and Sora even noticed that some of Roxas's things had
gone missing too.
"We should go find him," The brunet pleaded, his large eyes looking at his
older brother. Sora was having a hard time doing nothing while his twin was
missing.
"Uncle Auron is already out looking for him and the cops will be out in a day
or so. We shouldn't worry Mom by going out on our own." Cloud tried to be
logical but it just wasn't right for someone to go missing in their little
town. In fact no one had disappeared or gone missing for longer than a few
hours. That Roxas was the first gave Cloud a bad feeling and he wanted to keep
Sora away from any danger for a long as possible.
Sora on the other hand didn't care about any meaning behind the disappearance.
His twin brother was missing. He glared at his older brother before standing
up. "He was here though," The brunet whispered to his older brother. "A lot of
his clothes are missing and so is his notebook." He stormed off towards their
basement bedroom.
"And what if he just went to a friend's house and didn't tell anyone? You're
just freaking out over nothing." Cloud followed after him.
"None of his friends have seen him! I know he's not in town. I am his twin
after all." Sora said the last part of his statement with pride.
Cloud rolled his eyes. "You know what, fine, let's head down to Hayner's and
see what's up. If he's not there, then we'll go look for him." The tall blond
stuck his hand out. "Deal?"
"Deal!"
~x~X~x~X~
A sharp pain shot up Roxas's spine, causing the boy to cry out in pain and hang
onto the nearest tree. He had been walking all night with Axel to get back to
Fran's burrow.
"Roxas? You okay?" Axel stopped walking once he realized the boy wasn't
following him anymore. The taller man knew that the boy was probably tired and
needed a break but, when he turned around and saw the pained expression on
Roxas's face, worry flooded his mind. "Shit, what's wrong?" The redhead was at
the boy's side in a heartbeat, fretting over his young his mate.
"I'm fine. Just a bit of back pain." Roxas grunted around the pain. "I don't
know what happened though," He quickly added. He really didn't know what was
going on. It wasn't like he was carrying anything or slept on it wrong. So why
was it hurting so bad?
Axel bit his lower lip in thought. "Maybe your body wants to change?" This
never happened to him. Maybe because Roxas wasn't a born Lycanthrope, his body
might be reacting to the change differently. Being marked Submissive probably
didn't help either.
Roxas didn't like that idea and shook his head. "We should keep going and ask
Fran about it. I think that would be better."
"Only if you think you can make it there. Or do you need me to carry you?" Axel
didn't like seeing the boy in such discomfort but, with him already carrying
Roxas's things, carrying the boy would be difficult.
"It's not that much farther; I think I can make it." He pushed himself off the
tree and continued walking with Axel quick to follow. Once the redhead caught
up to Roxas, he grabbed his hand.
Soon the two found themselves in the clearing that their Viera friend lived in.
It was a bit too quiet and neither Roxas nor Axel could spot Fran or Kairi.
"Maybe they're underground," Axel suggested. "If not, you can at least go lay
down and I'll go look for them." A warm hand gently stroked Roxas's back as
Axel added the last part in. The blond agreed. Once inside the dark little
cove, Axel concluded that no one was home and guided his mate around twisting
hallways until they ended up at a door. "This used to be my old room. I don't
think Fran will have a problem if you stay here."
Roxas fidgeted from one foot to the next. He didn't like the thought of being
left alone in a place he didn't know very well. He wanted to ask Axel to stay
with him, to wait for the girls to come back, yet he didn't want to get too
comfortable with the other man; after all Axel was the reason Roxas had to
leave his whole life behind. Roxas wasn't ready to forgive him for that.
Green eyes zeroed in on Roxas. "Do you want me to stay?" The redhead's voice
was quiet, as though he would scare the younger boy if he spoke any louder.
When Roxas never looked up or even acknowledged the fact that Axel said
anything, the redhead reached out and stroked the boy's spikey hair. "You don't
have to stay by yourself if you don't want to. I'm only going so I can find
Fran so she can take a look at you faster. But I have no problem being with
you."
Roxas chewed at his bottom lip. He wasn't sure about what he wanted. After a
tense minute, the blond gently pushed Axel out of the doorway. "I think it'd be
better if you just went and found them. I have some things I need to work out
on my own."
Axel nodded in understanding. As he tried to give his mate a kiss goodbye, he
was shoved away and a door was slammed in his face. "The fuck?" The redhead
mumbled to himself while he rubbed the back of his head in confusion as he
turned to find his little sister and her babysitter.
Roxas slid down the door he was leaning against. He didn't know what to do with
Axel. They got along so well and, even though Roxas felt like the redhead
fucked up his life, Roxas couldn't hate the man. It just felt to right to be
with him. He couldn't get enough of how warm the redhead's touches were, his
vibrant eye color that always held what looked like love and admiration in them
when he looked down on Roxas, hell, Roxas even found Axel's light snores
comforting when he slept and they had only shared a bed for one night.
It seemed like hours passed by before Roxas's back protested enough to make him
move from his spot on the door.
The small room consisted of a wooden dresser with only two drawers, a twin
sized bed that was covered with black silk sheets, and a small chest with a
lock on it at the foot of the bed.
Roxas flopped onto the soft bed with a sigh of relief. He crawled under the
blankets and fell asleep with a small thought of how the bed smelled of his
mate.
~X~x~X~x~
"No, haven't seen him," Pence said. He was standing out on his porch with Sora
and Cloud in nothing but a pair of boxers and a wife beater. The two Jecht kids
had woken him up by banging on his bedroom window in the middle of the night.
Sora sent his older brother a look. "See, I told you that he wasn't at anyone's
house." The brunet stuck his tongue out at the taller boy only to get smacked
in the face. The brunet not being one to back out of a fight leapt at Cloud and
the two started a small fight in the front yard.
Pence rocked from one foot to the next as he stood there awkwardly,
"Well…umm…since he's not here and all, I'm just going to go back inside now.
I'll see you two tomorrow or something." And with that the boy stepped back
into his home and closed the large oak door.
As the porch light turned off, Cloud climbed off of Sora and since neither of
them could come up with a reason to hang around they made their way down the
deserted streets. A violent shiver went up Sora's body as a winter wind blew
by. A small voice in the back of his head predicted it as a bad omen but the
optimistic boy quickly pushed that thought aside.
"So are we gonna go look for him now?" Sora asked in an annoyed voice. He
placed both hands on his hips and he glared up at his older brother.
After a few moments of thought, Cloud spoke up. "We're not," He said but,
before Sora could say anything in protest, the blond added. "But I am."
***** Heartless and Anxiety Attacks *****
"Will you hurry up?" An angry wolf growled behind him, causing the smaller,
silver wolf to flinch at his tone. Xigbar was not in a good mood. It was a good
half-day's walk from his pack's dens to Axel's and the older wolf did not like
being away from his mate and pups for long. It didn't help that they had to
stop for the night on the way back when night fell.
Riku trailed behind the older Lycanthrope with his silver ears tucked back. He
had to listen to Xigbar's moaning the moment they left Axel's den and he hoped
the old man would just shut up.
"You're lucky your mother sent me out to find you before Xemnas could catch
wind of you being gone. She can cover it up like we went out for some bonding
time or something. Maybe hunting." The older wolf mumbled. "Be sure to thank
her when we get back."
Riku nodded his head. "Yes, sir." The smaller wolf didn't need to be told to
thank his mother; he would have done as much. If the leader of their little
pack found out he wondered away to see a certain redhead, he knew he could face
banishment, maybe even death if Xemnas saw fit.
The black and white stripped wolf stopped walking for a moment to give Riku a
bit of time to catch up to him before he started to talk again. "And when
you're done with that, I want you to spend some time with your aunts and uncle.
They miss you." Xigbar let out a weak chuckle.
A smile spread across Riku's face at the thought. He enjoyed hanging out with
his extended family a bit more than spending time with his closer family. "In
other words, you want me to babysit for you?"
"Don't complain. You owe me for picking your sorry ass up." Xigbar growled at
the boy before he sped up his pace. The sooner he made it home the better.
~x~X~x~X~
In the large forest outside of Twilight Town, there were rocky hills that lead
to a small crater. And, once upon a time, a group of Lycanthropes had once
called it home.
It only took Xigbar and Riku a couple of hours to reach said hill and climb it.
At the very top stood an anxious blond with electric blue eyes. She was
nibbling on the tip of her thumb, lost in thought as she paced.
"Yo! Princess!" Xigbar called up to the woman, making her stop in her tracks
and take note of the pair. "Did you miss us?"
Larxene relaxed and she ran over to the two wolves. Once she was close enough,
she dropped to her knees and pulled the small silver one into her. "What the
hell were you thinking Riku? Don't you know what Xemnas could do if he found
out where you went?" The blond pulled away and leaned over to hug Xigbar.
"Thanks Pops. I think Mom's in your den and I'm pretty sure he's getting
antsy."
Xigbar gave the woman a lick to her cheek before making a quick exit. Larxene
turned her blue eyes towards Riku. "And you, what the hell were you thinking,
Riku? You think just because you're a pup Xemnas will let you off easily?" A
growl rose from her throat.
The silver haired wolf let out a small whine as he ears flattened. "I'm sorry,
Mom. I'll make sure to tell you or Marluxia next time I leave."
Larxene rubbed the spot between Riku's ears with a grin on her face. "You
better, you little shit. Now come on, let's go before anyone notices us
missing." The blond stood from her spot among the sharp rocks and made her way
down the crater to her den with her son. As an afterthought, she threw over her
shoulder. "And quit calling your father by his first name."
A boy smaller than Riku sat at the entrance of their den reading a rather large
book that looked like it could snap his arms off if he tried to lift it. He had
choppy steel colored hair with bangs that fell to one side of his face to show
only one of his blue eyes.
"I see you finally decided to come back." The boy said as Riku passed him to go
inside earning a low growl from the silver wolf.
"Be nice, Zexion. I don't need the two of you fighting today. And you too,
Riku." Larxene said as she motioned with her hand for the boy to follow her
into the den.
The setting sun filled the room with light, illuminating the rather large
opening that housed four Lycanthropes. There were no elaborate halls or trap
doors in the den; only three well sized beds and two dressers filled with the
necessities. It was no different from any other den, though some families had
more or fewer beds.
Zexion went straight for his bed and spread across it on his stomach, his blue
eyes glowing in the dim room. Riku walked over to the pink-headed man who sat
at the edge of the largest bed near the entrance of the den.
"I'm sorry, Dad." Riku sighed out. His teal eyes gazed at Marluxia's shoes
instead of his face. "I should have said I was leaving and not worry you and
Mom."
Marluxia let out a low growl before he stood up and stormed past Riku with a
slight shove, causing the boy to lose his balance for a moment, and left the
cave. Larxene stood by the entrance but stayed quiet until her mate was a good
distance away from the den before she approached her oldest son.
"Riku, you know he loves you, right?" She stroked the boy's silver hair with
one hand while the other held his face up so he'd look her in the eye.
The boy shook his face out of Larxene's grasp so the woman wasn't touching him
anymore. "No he doesn't and he never will. Now if you'll excuse me, Xigbar
asked me to babysit for him." And with that he pushed past his mother and
stormed out of the den.
He just wanted to see how his friend was doing. Why was everyone giving him so
much trouble for caring about the wellbeing of two old pack members?
X~x~X~x
Axel was getting worried. He had been walking the perimeter of Fran's property
for a good hour and hadn't seen the Viera or his baby sister. Roxas being in
pain wasn't helping the redhead's anxiety.
The sun was disappearing behind the horizon, making Axel bite his lower lip. He
had a choice to make, either keep searching and hope no Heartless found him or
retreat back to the burrow and wait for the girls to return unharmed.
Or maybe he could go hunting and for himself and Roxas and find Fran on the
way? Taking a hard turn away from the burrow, Axel traveled into the woods
while stripping his clothes off to make shifting easier.
Once he was in his wolf form, Axel sprinted off to where he thought he would
find a deer or at least a rabbit.
Axel traveled the quiet forest for some time without running into a single
creature or hearing anything. The silence was deafening and the setting sun was
creating large shadows that were setting the red wolf on edge.
Then a large figure fell from the trees.
The figure stood at the same height as Axel in his wolf form. It was covered
with blue fur of different shades. The heart emblem across its chest didn't
help ease Axel's worries anymore. The Powerwild's ears twitched in attention
and its tail swished back and forth as it eyed down its prey.
In the blink of an eye, it charged Axel with a loud yell.
~X~x~X~x~
Roxas startled awake from his deep sleep. A sick, crawling feeling went down
his spine and the blond knew something was wrong. Roxas wanted to do nothing
more than to jump out of bed and look for his mate. Maybe if he could get his
hands on the redhead, could grab something solid and tangible, it would calm
his nerves.
The small boy climbed out of the bed, made his way out of the room and down the
dark halls. He found himself at a couple of dead-ends and got turned around
more times than he would like to admit but Roxas found himself above ground
where the cold wind brushed his face and the setting sun gave everything a
golden hue.
A silhouette made its way out of the brush. Blue eyes squinted. Roxas let out
the breath he didn't know he was holding when he saw the large rabbit ears and
the figure of a little girl planted on the woman's shoulders.
When Kairi saw Roxas, she squirmed around, signaling to Fran that she wanted
down. The Viera bent down low enough for the little girl to climb down and
rushed to the blond. Kairi sent them both to the ground in her excitement,
causing Roxas's back to spasm in pain.
"Roxy! I missed you! Did you and Big Brother have fun? Where is Big Brother?"
Kairi rambled as she looked around the clearing for the familiar face. When she
didn't see Axel, the girl slid off of her brother's mate and walked in a small
circle, trying to see if he was just hiding. "Big Brother?" Kairi's wide blue
eyes scanned everything around her to find the one person that had always been
there for her.
Tears welled up in her eyes and little hiccups sounded from her throat. In a
heartbeat, Kairi was wrapped in warm arms and a comforting hand rubbing up and
down her back.
"It's okay. Axel will be back. He went out not too long ago to find you. He'll
be back before it gets too dark." Roxas cooed to the small girl. Naminé didn't
throw many tantrums or cry over many things but, the few times that she did,
Roxas was always there to calm her down; he wasn't going to treat Kairi any
differently.
Small hands grabbed onto the front of his shirt as the redheaded girl's sobs
turned into quiet whimpers as Kairi tried to calm down.
Once her breathing evened out, the girl peeped out from Roxas's chest. Tears
were drying on her flushed cheeks and the hands that were grabbing at Roxas's
back shook.
"Big Brother." Kairi started, as if she was choosing her words carefully for
her own sake. "He…he's coming back soon, right?" The misty look the tears had
left in Kairi's blue eyes seemed to lift.
Roxas chuckled and played with the girl's shoulder length hair. "Of course he
is. He wouldn't want to stay away from you for too long."
The redhead nodded in agreement and turned towards the Viera. "Auntie Fran, can
I play in my room until Big Brother comes back?" When the older woman nodded in
approval, Kairi wasted no time in running out of Roxas's arms and into the dark
abyss of the burrow.
When Kairi was out of earshot, Roxas sat back up only to hiss in pain. His
hands went to his lower back. Fran knelt beside the young man.
"Are you alright?" Fran's healer instincts kicked in and she helped stand the
boy up, inspecting Roxas's body.
"I've been having some back pain. It just started when we got back." Roxas
hissed out between clenched teeth.
A warm hand slipped under his shirt and rubbed the length of his back searching
for any cuts or bumps. When she found none, Fran removed her hand and smiled
down at the boy. "Your body's structures are changing so you can bare pups."
Roxas's eyes grew in shock and he struggled to get away from the Viera's hands.
"No!" He pushed her away. "I..I can't. It's not possible!"
Fran's smile disappeared. "Did you not know? I swear to God if Axel didn't tell
you this would happen…"
Fran's tangent was cut off. "No, I knew. I just…well I guess a part of me hoped
they were just joking around." His hand went to his lower back as another spasm
wracked his body.
"I can make you some herbal tea that'll help with that." Fran dismissed herself
to a small herb garden in the clearing to gather what she needed for the tea.
A sudden crash sounded from the forest, startling them both.
Axel stumbled into view with caked and dried blood dotting his red hair with
black. He dragged his left leg behind him.
"Axel!" Roxas yelled as he ran towards his mate's side. The blond reached out
to touch Axel but sharp teeth nipped at him with a low growl. His once vibrant
green eyes were hazed over. Roxas pulled away just in time for no teeth to find
flesh.
Warm hands grasped his shoulders and pulled him farther from Axel. "Go find
Kairi and make sure she doesn't come back up here." Fran said as she pushed
Roxas towards the entrance to the burrow. Once the boy had left, she brought
two fingers up to her mouth and whistled. A familiar Green Rhapsody flew out of
the trees and towards the Viera. "Looks like we have a long night ahead of us,
Emerald."
Fran went about gathering everything necessary to fix up Axel while the
Heartless flew above the redhead to help relieve pain and calm him. The Viera
came back with a basket of supplies on one hip and a bucket of water on the
other. She dunked a rag in the water and cleaned the dry blood out of red fur
with gentle strokes.
At least ten pairs of eyes gazed out from the shadows of the forest at the lost
meal they wouldn't give up on.
***** Squall *****
Cloud shifted uncomfortably as he walked through the dark woods, the moon as
his only source of light. During the entire journey, he felt eyes boring into
his skin, but there wasn't a soul in sight. There was no breeze to rustle the
leaves or birds chirping. Everything was silent.
All the stories his grandfather told him ran through his head. Cloud tried hard
to keep his nerves from sending him screaming through the trees. He wouldn't
want anyone to see him like that.
Off in the distance, a wolf howled. Cloud pulled out a hunting knife hidden in
his boot in an instant. If the beast came after him, Cloud needed to be ready.
But the sound died as quickly as it had come, calming the blond's nerves.
He needed to find Roxas so they could leave. And soon.
~X~x~X~x~
Roxas paced the room as Kairi watched him from the bed. It kept him from
thinking of Axel and from feeling embarrassed. When he had first gone into the
underground home, he couldn't find the little girl so he followed her scent. He
had sniffed her out. Like a dog.
"Roxy?" A small hand grabbed his shirt causing him to stop in his tracks.
"What's wrong? Is it Big Brother?" Her big blue eyes filled with tears. "I-is
something wrong with him? I'm a big girl; I can handle the truth," The little
girl pleaded.
The blond gave the girl a worried look. "Don't worry, Kairi. Everything is
going to be okay." Roxas's eyes dropped from Kairi's face and towards her feet.
"Everything's going to be alright," He whispered more for himself than for the
young child.
Kairi jumped off the bed and hugged the scared boy. "I don't know what's going
on Roxy, but I'll always be here for you and Big Brother." As Roxas wrapped his
arms around her shoulders, he had to remind himself that she was still just a
child.
Both pairs of blue eyes weld up with tears as Roxas pulled Kairi into a tighter
hug and whispered comforting words. They stayed that way until Kairi's arms
fell away. She had fallen asleep.
Roxas picked up the girl and placed her under the covers of the bed. Once he
was sure Kairi wasn't going to wake up, he bolted for the door and made his way
back to the surface as fast as his short legs could take him.
Only faint figures marked where Fran and Axel were in the clearing. The wolf
had either calmed down or passed out from the pain.
The little, tame green Heartless floated above Roxas's head and jingled before
it flew back over to its owner, jingling again as if telling Roxas to follow
it. The blond approached the Viera and his mate.
Axel was asleep with his head rested on Fran's lap. Axel was still in his wolf
form which hindered Roxas from seeing the extent of the man's injuries but
since he didn't seem to be in pain it reassured Roxas that he was fine.
Fran noticed Roxas coming as she let her gaze leave her patient to the young
boy. "He's lost a lot of blood but the lacerations weren't deep enough to need
stiches. His back left leg is fractured so he can't go hunting and must
restrict his movements. But other than that he seems fine."
Roxas opened his mouth to reply but a loud screech stopped him. Blue eyes
darted in the direction of the sound and in the faint light Roxas could just
make out a monkey-like creature jumping from tree to tree.
"Heartless. We need to go back inside." Roxas was having a hard time getting
his voice out but Fran understood.
"They can't come here," The woman said as she pulled Roxas to sit next to her
and pointed to the rows of flowers at the border of the clearing. "See those
flowers?" They were the same ones Roxas was admiring when he first came to the
burrow. "They have magic properties that keep the Heartless away," Fran
explained.
Roxas looked over at the flowers and then towards the Heartless that now looked
angry and hungry. "So we're safe here?"
"Yes."
"But how does it work? I mean, they're just flowers. Couldn't the Heartless
just jump over them or something?" Roxas scrunched up his face in confusion. It
was ridiculous. But then again so was everything else in his life now.
Fran sighed and moved her hand from Axel's fur to brush Roxas's blond bangs out
of his eyes. "Magic cannot be explained. Some of it can be. Like how you became
what you now are. But other things, they just are and you have to take it for
what it is."
"I don't-" Roxas was interrupted when Axel growled in his sleep before opening
his jade eyes and letting out a fierce snarl. "Axel!" Roxas yelped.
The redhead tried to get up but stumbled under his weight and lay back down.
"What happened?" He whined.
"You were attacked by a Heartless and got pretty beat up," Roxas said as he
reached out and rubbed a spot behind Axel's ear. "How are you feeling?"
"Like shit. Where's Kairi?" Axel's voice was weak, looked like he was about to
go back into his dreamland but the wolf was stubborn and refused his body what
it needed. He needed his mate.
"She's in her room." Roxas turned his attention towards the Viera who only
heard grunts from the wolf. "Can you go and check on her for me? And if she's
up, tell her Axel's fine and to stop worrying." Fran nodded and did as she was
bid, giving the mated pair their privacy.
Once the Viera was gone, Roxas let out a low sigh that caught Axel's attention.
"Something wrong?" Axel asked as he placed his head in his mate's lap.
"I was just so scared. I feel kind of stupid and lame for it now."
"But…"
"But, you were just so out of your mind. I mean, you snapped at me, Axel! You
tried to bite me," Roxas finished with a weak voice.
Axel whined and rubbed the blond's side with his face in an attempt to comfort
the boy. "And I'm very sorry for that, love. But let's see how you handle being
blind with pain and in a panic." The red wolf let out a weak chuckle. "I'm
sorry I've worried you so much."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." Axel nudged Roxas to lie down. "Now it's sleepy time. We have to go
back to the den in the morning."
"But you've hurt your leg. Shouldn't we stay for another day?" Roxas asked as
he curled himself around Axel, being mindful not to touch any wounds.
"I'll be fine. It's not too far of a journey." Axel yawned and pressed his wet
nose into Roxas's neck making the boy shiver. "Besides, I'd rather have you
than Fran fretting over me."
Roxas let out a forced laugh at the redhead's crappy flirting attempts.
"Whatever."
~x~X~x~X~
Okay. I know I've seen that tree before. Cloud thought to himself as he
wandered the woods. The oldest blond found himself walking in circles. The
night seemed to be never ending and the quick glimpses of shadows following him
made Cloud wish he never stepped foot into the forest.
The blade Cloud had hidden in his boot never found its way back into his boot.
Instead, he kept it in his hand in case he needed to defend himself or hunt.
Cloud made a rash decision on which route to next take, hoping his baby brother
was somewhere along the path.
"You shouldn't be here," A low voice said behind Cloud.
The blond almost screamed as he turned with his knife at the ready.
Blue eyes widened at the man standing there. He was an inch or so taller than
Cloud. His hair was short with random strands framing his face and his stormy
grey eyes. He was clad in dark clothes that helped him blend in with the night.
"I'm looking for someone, my brother. Maybe you've seen him? He's looks a lot
like me but a hell of lot shorter. Goes by the name Roxas." The blade stayed
raised.
The man shook his head. "Never heard of him. It's rare for humans to wander in
here and for good reasons too. Go home."
The man went to turn and go back to where he had come from but Cloud grabbed
his arm and held him in place. "If you haven't seen him then can you help me
find him? You seem to know your way around. Please."
The man paused before turning to Cloud. "Squall."
"What?" Cloud was confused and freaked out by this person. Maybe he was insane
and that's why he was talking about humans like he wasn't one. The blond was
starting to regret asking this man anything.
"My name is Squall. And I guess I'll help you. The faster we find your brother,
the sooner the two of you will be out of here. Come on, my tree isn't far from
here." Squall pulled his arm from Cloud's grasp and continued walking with the
blond not too far behind. "You got a name, human?" He threw over his shoulder
at the blond.
"Cloud."
***** A New Dawn *****
"You live in a tree?" Cloud looked up at Squall's home, his eye twitching. This
man had to be playing with him; there was no way in hell someone could live in
a tree. "How the fuck can you live in a tree?" Blue eyes scanned the lump of
bark. It had seen better days as its leaves were wilted and its branches dull.
"It's dead anyway."
The brunet growled deep in his throat. "It's not dead!" Squall's stormy eyes
were narrowed in Cloud's direction. "And if you're so displeased with it, why
don't you just go look for your brother on your own and let the Heartless have
at you?"
Cloud put his hands up in mock surrender. "Sorry, didn't mean any offence. So
how do you live here anyway? I mean, it's just a tree. No house." Cloud mused
as he looked at the surroundings.
Squall gave the blond a cocky little grin. "Like this." He placed a palm on the
rough bark of the tree. A green light wrapped around the brunet's wrist, made
its way up his arm and kept moving till Squall was swallowed by the light. Then
the man sank into the tree.
The blond let out a loud yell and scrambled away, watching in horror as Squall
disappeared.
"This is insane. What…? Squall!" Cloud ran towards the tree and ran his hands
over the bark. It was solid and no weird light was coming out of it threatening
to drag him in.
"Don't panic. I'm right here." The voice seemed to come from the tree. A hand
shot out of the bark and pushed Cloud back a few steps. "And would you stop
crowding me?"
Cloud yelped as he was pushed back. Blue eyes wide with shock. "What the fuck!"
Cloud felt like he was going to have a heart attack. Apparently this man wasn't
just a weird human like the blond had originally thought. He must have been one
of the creatures from his grandfather's legends.
Squall shot Cloud a confused look as he fused out of the tree. "What's wrong?
Never seen a Nymph before?" The brunet placed his hands on his hips.
"A what?" It took all of Cloud's power to not stutter. His heart was still
beating a million miles a second and he couldn't seem to calm it down.
"Nymph. You know, like a Tree Nymph." Squall shrugged his shoulders. "But don't
worry. There are deadlier creatures lurking in the forest than me so don't look
at me like I'm a monster."
Cloud swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. "Okay, so you're a Tree
Nymph. What of it? You're still going to help me find Roxas, right?" The blond
tried his hardest not sound frightened. From what Braska had told him as a
child, Nymphs were harmless unless you threatened their life source. And in
this case it looked like the almost dead tree was Squall's.
Squall looked up at the sky to judge the time. "It's too late now. Let's get
some rest and we'll start in the morning. And don't give me that look. We won't
get far before the Heartless attack us anyway."
With that, the Tree Nymph fused back with his tree, leaving Cloud all alone.
The blonde shivered from the cold night air and looked around him. Squall had
said something about Heartless and that thought scared Cloud. He needed to find
somewhere safe to sleep.
"The Heartless won't come near this tree. You should be safe in the branches."
A voice came from the tree.
Cloud looked up at the dying hunk of wood. Just how safe would he be up there?
A growl sounded behind him causing the boy to scramble up the tree till he was
at a branch that was thick enough to hold his weight. It would be a long night.
~x~X~x~X~
The sun had been up for only an hour but Roxas was roaming around the forest in
his wolf form with Kairi close behind him. Axel's injuries were too severe for
him to hunt, leaving the job to the two inexperienced Lycanthrope.
Roxas's golden ears perked up when he heard a twig snap. He crept towards the
noise and saw a fluffy little bunny nibbling on flower petals a few yards away.
Roxas looked back at the wine colored wolf. "You want this one?"
Kairi perked up, her fluffy tail wagging in happiness. "Really? Can I Roxy?"
The blond nodded in approval and watched as the young girl crept past him. Once
she was at a decent distance, Kairi pounced at the rabbit. A squeak sounded as
the wind was knocked out of the prey and Kairi sank her fangs into its neck,
just like Axel had taught her, and snapped its neck. The youngest wolf trotted
back to Roxas with the dead animal hanging from her jaws.
"Good job." Roxas praised the girl. But in reality, he felt a queasy from the
sight of the blood dripping from the animal's fur. The metallic smell didn't
help. "But…umm…I think that's enough hunting for today. Don't you agree?"
Kairi nodded her head and made her way back to Fran's burrow where Axel was
waiting for them under a large pine tree. The girl never noticed that her blond
companion wasn't following her.
Meanwhile, Axel had shifted back to his human form and was wrapped up so he
couldn't move much. Fran was busy fussing over making medicine to help take
away some discomfort from the redhead and help him heal faster on the other
side of the green clearing.
The wine colored wolf sat down next to her brother and dropped the bloody
rabbit on his lap. Axel poked at the once snow white animal. "Clean kill. You
did a good job Kairi." Axel reached over and scratched his little sister behind
the ear. The young wolf's tongue lulled out of her mouth to show her happiness
as her brother praised her. Red stained Axel's chin and cheeks as he took a few
big bites from his meal; eating in his human form made it much harder to keep
the gore off of him but that didn't seem to bother the redheaded male.
Once he had eaten his fill, Axel placed the half eaten rabbit in front of his
sister. "I'm full so you can have the rest. Oh, and have you seen Roxas?" Axel
hadn't seen his little blond since he went off hunting. It was starting to
worry him.
The young wolf stopped eating for a minute to answer. "He was with me when
hunting. I thought he was right behind me. Maybe he saw something that
distracted him?"
Axel hummed as he reclined back into a more comfortable position. He didn't
like that Roxas wasn't with Kairi. He made a quiet decision that if his little
mate wasn't back in ten minutes, he'd make it his mission to bring him back.
~X~x~X~x~
After Roxas witnessed Kairi kill the poor rabbit, he didn't think he'd be able
to face Axel or Kairi as they ate it. The blond's stomach twisted. The smell of
blood still hung in air, making it hard for him to breathe. Sure he was proud
that Kairi was able to catch the creature and quickly kill it, hoping it
didn't' feel too much pain, but she was only a little girl; she shouldn't have
to kill anything!
Roxas looked over his shoulder, towards Fran's home. He didn't really want to
go back. He knew Axel would figure out something was wrong with him but he just
didn't want to deal with that at the moment. Maybe a short walk would help make
the nauseous feeling go away.
~X~x~X~x~
Cloud was up as soon as the sun was. He couldn't waste any more time; he needed
to find Roxas soon or risk his parents getting even more upset over him going
missing as well. The blond jumped off of the decaying branch. Once he managed
to brush all the loose brown leaves off of himself, Cloud banged on the side of
pine.
"Oi! Wake up!"
A groan came from the dying wood and a green light shimmered around the tree as
Squall emerged from its core. The brunet Nymph laced his fingers together and
stretched them above his head, popping his joints into place. A loud yawn
passed Squall's lips before he was able to talk. "What's your problem?" His
stormy grey eyes glared daggers at the blond human.
Cloud bounced on the balls of his feet in anxiety. They needed to leave soon.
"Roxas. You promised you would help me look for him." The blond wasn't in the
mood for any small talk. He really didn't want to deal with this 'man' anymore.
"Can I eat something first?"
"No."
Squall glare at the blond intensified and the two men found themselves staring,
neither wanting to back down. Finally Cloud let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine!
You can eat on the way. Deal?"
"Whatever gets you out of my forest faster," Squall mumbled, hoping the blond
didn't hear him. Cloud did hear him. "Well, let's go. I think we should go this
way." Squall pointed west. "The only water source is over there. That's our
best bet." He didn't wait for Cloud's response or even so much as looked at him
as he headed in the decided direction.
"Who the fuck does he think he is?" Cloud muttered to himself as he followed
the Nymph deeper into the forest.
~X~x~X~x~
Axel's hand tapped on the ground. He predicted that the allotted time he was
giving Roxas was over. The redhead glanced over at Kairi who was gnawing on a
bone, too absorbed in her meaningless task to take notice of her older brother.
Fran's back was turned, still mixing her potions.
Axel took his chances, stood without putting too much pressure on his bad leg
and made his way out of the clearing, trying not to draw any attention to
himself.
Once he made it to the woods, Axel snapped a branch for a make-shift cane so he
wouldn't damage his bad leg. He picked up Kairi and Roxas's scent from when
they went hunting. He followed the fading smell until Kairi's wasn't there
anymore. He was certain he was hot on Roxas's trail. The farther he went the
more worried Axel became. The forest was getting more and more dense.
A flash of gold made Axel halt in his search. Axel sighed in relief when he saw
his mate laying down half under a tree; he had somehow managed to squeeze his
lower half under some large roots. Large blue eyes were drooped down and gold
ears were unresponsive to Axel's movements, showing Roxas had not heard Axel
approach him.
"Roxas…" Axel's voice was low so he wouldn't startle his mate.
The blond wolf jolted at the noise. He smacked his head of a root that was
hanging above him. A whine came from the base of Roxas's throat. Large, warm
hands grabbed Roxas by the chin and Axel kissed the bump on Roxas's head.
"Better?"
"A little." Roxas nudged his head harder into Axel's hand, enjoying the warmth
that spread through his body. "I'm sorry. I should've come back, but I just
wasn't feeling good and wanted some time to myself."
Axel chuckled at his meek mate and sat next to him so Roxas could rest his head
in the redhead's lap. Axel looked down at Roxas with a worried look. "What's
wrong?" A large hand cupped Roxas's face so the young wolf was forced to look
up at him.
Roxas sighed and shook his head free from the redhead. "I...I don't know. I
just couldn't handle all the blood. I don't think I can do this Axel."
"What do you mean?"
"I can't handle the smell of blood; it just makes me feel so sick, so I can't
help you with hunting. And Fran told me my back pain is my body getting ready
for my first Heat. And it scares me. I'm not ready for any of this! I just want
to go home!" Tears collected in Roxas's dark blue eyes.
Axel hushed the boy with some comforting words. "Everything will be okay, I
promise you that. If you don't want to hunt then fine. Just go with Kairi to
make sure nothing happens to her; I'll be back in action before you know it and
you won't have to deal with it anymore. As for your Heat? There's pretty much
no getting around that. I can try to hold back till you're ready but if another
Lycanthrope smells you and I'm not there to protect you then there's nothing I
can do at all; it'll be better for you if you just submit to it as soon as it
happens." Axel knew he sounded harsh and probably sounded like he would take
advantage of the boy, but he felt nothing but worry for his mate.
"That's not what I'm worried about though. I don't want any pups." Roxas's
voice was low as he told Axel about his fears. It wasn't easy for him to talk
about these kind of things to a man he only met a few days ago, but Roxas felt
a certain closeness to Axel that he just couldn't explain. It just felt right.
And he knew Axel would do everything in his power to make everything better.
"Heat leads to pups, love. It's just the way things are. We can try things to
prevent it but just like with humans, it's not one hundred percent." Axel's
eyes were filled with sympathy towards Roxas. He could only imagine the things
the blond was going through.
"How about condoms?" Roxas piped up. But at the look of confusion he got from
Axel, he looked back down at the ground. "Or not," He mumbled.
Axel hummed in contentment as he thought about the future pups he would have
with his adorable mate. It may not happen anytime soon but that didn't stop the
redhead from fantasizing about it. "Well let's leave that for when the time
comes. For now, let's work on you feeling better so we can get back home. How
does that sound?"
Roxas nuzzled his face into Axel stomach. He could feel his nausea calming
down. He'd be ready to leave now but didn't want to leave the man he'd have to
call his mate. Axel was just so warm and comforting.
"Give me ten minutes and we can go."
Hands threaded through golden fur and Axel leaned back against the tree as he
made himself more comfortable. A small break would do some good for his bum leg
anyway. The two sat in silence. The only noise came from the river only a few
feet away from their resting place.
Sorry if this was a bit short. But guess what's gonna happen in the next
chapter? That's right, Cloud and Roxas will be reunited! That was meant to be
in this chapter but that would've made this chapter come out a lot later.
***** Reunion *****
Jade eyes slowly opened and swept across the landscape. A yawn escaped Axel's
mouth as he stretched to pop his joints back into place. Axel looked up at the
sky and saw that the sun was at its highest peak. When did I fall asleep? He
mused as he ruffled his hair in a sad attempt to get leaves and twigs out of
it. A grunt came from the half asleep blond wolf who was laying his head on
Axel's thighs.
"Will you stop?" Roxas growled as he was awakened by his mate. Roxas stood up
and let out a quiet moan at the feeling of all the tension leaving his legs. He
pressed his cold, wet nose to Axel's cheek, gave the redhead a small lick
before pulling away and meandered towards the stream that wasn't too far away.
Axel's eyes widened at his suddenly affectionate mate before he followed the
blond's lead. The water was clear blue and untainted by the human town that was
close by. Roxas lapped at the water, trying to get the stale taste out of his
dry mouth, his golden tail swinging behind him in contentment.
Once done, Roxas turned to look back at Axel. "Can you lend me your shirt?" The
abrupt question made Axel stop in his tracks and give the blond a questioning
look. "I don't want to be like this anymore," Roxas explained. He had been in
his wolf form for almost half a day and that didn't sit well with him.
"You sure you want my shirt and not my pants?" Axel said in a husky voice with
a perverted grin plastered on his face.
Roxas looked back with a semi-shocked expression on his face. It hadn't
occurred to him that his lower half of his body would be exposed to the
predator near him. He shifted and looked down at his reflection. He didn't want
to walk back to the burrow like he was but changing would mean being half
naked. With one look at Axel's condition, Roxas knew it would be a lot better
for the redhead if Roxas was in his human form to help him better.
"Are you wearing underwear?" The blond said in a meek voice.
A perverted grin spread across the injured man's face as he leered down at the
wolf. "Aw and why does my little Roxy want to know that?" Axel taunted the boy
with a couple shallow pelvic thrust. But that seemed to be a bit too much
movement for the redhead. He hissed in pain and had to lean against the tree to
take some pressure off of his throbbing leg.
In a blink of an eye, Roxas was next to Axel his big blue eyes filled with
worry. "Axel! Are you alright?" Roxas nudged his mate's hip with his nose to
get the redhead's attention.
Axel nodded his head and took a couple deep breaths through his nose like he
could exhale the pain out. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. And I also have underwear on.
Why does it matter?"
"I was trying to figure out how I could shift without flashing you and every
other creature here," Roxas huffed; he would've crossed his arms if they
weren't supporting half his weight.
Axel chuckled and leaned against the tree so he wouldn't put too much of his
weight on his bad leg as he undid the button and zipper of his pants and slid
the fabric off. Roxas looked away and he knew there'd be a blush across his
face if he was in his human form. Once the pants were free from Axel's legs,
the redhead tossed them towards the shy wolf at his side.
"Umm...Can you…" Roxas trailed off and nodded his head off to the side trying
to get his point across.
A bark of laughter left Axel. "Hey I'm injured! Plus I had to walk all the way
out here to find you. Can't you give a guy a break and give him a nice little
show?" Axel gave Roxas the best puppy-dog look he could muster. Roxas felt his
heart rate pick up at the look. Axel's narrow, stern face softened and the
blond could only imagine that's what the man had looked like when he was a
young boy trying to get away with something.
Roxas looked into Axel's bright green eyes for a moment before sighing in
defeat. The man had already seen him in all his glory once; how would this one
little moment change anything?
An uneven breath left the blond wolf as he readied himself. He felt adrenalin
pump through his veins as the fur disappeared and his spine straighten out.
Soon Roxas's fingers lengthened out of his newly formed hands just as his toes
and feet reformed. It didn't take long for Roxas to shift back into his human
form.
The whole time Axel's eyes didn't leave Roxas's changing form. He gave
catcalled once Roxas was back in his human form; small hands quickly went down
to cover himself from green prying eyes.
Roxas looked down at the discarded pants and back towards Axel with pleading
eyes. "Okay, I changed in front of you. Can you look away now?" Roxas's voice
was just as tense as his posture.
Axel winced at his frigid mate's tone. His sensitive nose told him that the boy
would be coming into his first Heat soon but, with how shy and prudish he was,
the redhead feared that when the time came Roxas would be too uncomfortable to
do anything, raising the risk of another Lycanthrope finding the innocent blond
before Axel could claim him as his own.
Axel reached his hand out, beckoning Roxas towards him. "Can I try something to
make you more comfortable with me?"
Roxas took a tentative step closer to the redhead. His mind was racing with
thoughts about the injured man in front of him. Could he really trust him? He
still felt like Axel had tricked him into becoming his mate. Though, he did
feel a connection towards him, like something was pulling them together.
Once Roxas was in reach, Axel grabbed the boy by his wrist and pulled the nude
blond towards him. Roxas squawked in protest as he slammed into Axel's chest.
Long arms wrapped around Roxas's waist, trapping the blond.
"A-axel!" Roxas yelped. He thrashed his body weight back and forth. "Let me
go!"
The arms around his waist tightened, making Roxas still and look up into fiery
green eyes. "Calm down. I'm trying to help." Axel's voice was quiet and steady
as he tried to calm his mate down. He rested his head on Roxas's shoulder and
just breathed in the blond's scent. "Just breathe."
Roxas closed his eyes and did. His face nuzzled into wild red spikes and his
senses were filled with Axel. Some part of him wanted to pull away and slap the
redhead for taking advantage of him in his naked state; the other part of him,
the new side of him that he was still trying to figure out, liked the contact
and didn't want Axel to stop.
"This okay?" Axel whispered into Roxas's ear, his hot breath tickling the hair
on the back of Roxas's neck.
The blond bit the inside of his cheek, still fighting with himself over if this
was wrong or not. After fighting with himself for a few moments before he gave
into his instincts and relaxed in Axel's hold, soaking up everything about the
man. From his spicy scent to his warm body that was lulling the young boy to
sleep.
A snap in the distance startled Roxas and he pushed himself away from Axel. He
reached for the pants and shimmied his legs and thin hips in them. A deep blush
dusted his cheeks as he looked up at the redhead who was trying to hold in a
laugh.
"You okay there Roxas?" He grinned down at the smaller male. "You looked like
you were about to have a heart attack. It's probably just a small animal. I
doubt they'll care that much if you're naked. I know I don't," Axel growled the
last part as he grabbed his mate once again.
"I think I heard something!"
Roxas squeaked as he heard a voice not too far from their location. He wiggled
out of Axel's grasp just as two men stepped out of the thickest part of the
forest.
"Cloud?" Roxas's voice was quiet as he took in the sight of his older brother
storming through the greenery followed by a pissed off looking brunet. The
blond's head perked up at the sound of his name.
Cloud's shoulders dropped in relief and a strange noise that sounded like a cry
of happiness erupted from his throat as he ran up to Roxas and the boy was
pulled into a hug.
"Holy shit! Roxas! Why the hell are you here?" Cloud asked as he pulled away
from his younger brother to look him over. "Umm…those aren't your pants. And
where the hell is your shirt?"
A cough brought Cloud's attention to the forgotten redhead leaning against a
tree. "Hello!" He greeted with a tilt of his head. "Name's Axel. Those are my
pants by the way." Axel flashed the taller blond a blinding smile.
"And why the fuck are you here?" Cloud glared over Roxas's shoulder at the
redhead. He took in Axel's appearance and his lack of pants. He slowly
connected the dots. A naked Roxas was wearing a strangers pants.
"You fucking bastard!" The blond lunged past his brother and towards the
injured man. He was inches away when someone grabbed him by the wrist and he
was pulled back and into a strong, sturdy chest.
Roxas ran past the brunet holding his brother and wedged himself between the
two and his mate; his arms spread out like it would help him defend Axel from
his pissed off brother. "Cloud, you're jumping to conclusions. Let me explain!"
Squall's grasp on Cloud loosened when he felt the blond's tense muscles relax.
Cloud studied his brother; he couldn't put his figure on it but over the past
couple of days something changed about Roxas. He had a wild look in his eye
that Cloud knew was never there before.
Cloud squared his shoulders, trying to give himself more authority over Roxas.
"Well, explain."
"Can I cut in for just a moment?" Axel asked. "We really need to go pick up my
sister and go home, so if you don't mind, we'll be leaving." Axel pushed off
the tree he was leaning on and started to limp away from the small group.
"Roxas, I need a bit of help." Axel turned his head so he could pout at his
mate.
An irritated sigh left Roxas as he rolled his eyes in Axel's direction before
trotting over to his mate and pulling the man's arm around his shoulders to
help take some weight off Axel's busted leg.
"Roxas, where do you think you're going?" Cloud growled when he caught up to
the couple, his eyes glaring daggers at Axel. "And you never answered my
question. Why are you in the middle of nowhere with my brother…and not wearing
your pants for that matter?"
"Umm…Cloud, really, I'll explain when we get home." Roxas said from under
Axel's arm. The height difference between them was a bit too much for Roxas's
small frame and he was struggling to help keep Axel up. The weight was suddenly
lifted from his shoulders as the stranger took on the job of helping Axel.
"Thank you. Sorry I don't know you're name."
"Squall. I live in a tree near the edge of the forest."
"Oh." Roxas didn't know what to make of the man but chose to brush it off.
There were a lot of weird things in these woods; he couldn't let every little
thing freak him out.
"Roxas." Cloud grabbed Roxas by his upper arm and pulled the smaller boy
towards him. "What the fuck aren't you telling me?" The oldest Jecht son was
getting irritated about his questions getting dodged.
Roxas looked over towards Axel as the man was dragged away by Squall. He
worried his bottom lip for a few moments, trying to think of how to tell his
brother about everything that's happened and try to get him out of the
dangerous forest. "Axel… Axel's someone special to me. I can't leave him and
come back home." He looked away from his mate and up at his brother. "There's
more to it, and it's really complicated, but Cloud, I can never come home. I'm
sorry."
After that, Roxas refused to talk to his brother till they made it to the
outskirts of Fran's home. Squall set Axel down on a fallen down, moldy log
without hurting the redhead before sitting next to him. Both were tired from
the long journey from the river.
A howl was heard by the group. Axel and Roxas both perked up and turned their
attention towards the noise while Squall and Cloud looked startled. They sent
each other worried glances, ready to run. Axel tried to stand and go greet the
howling wolf but was pushed down by Roxas, who walked towards the howl with
Cloud hot on his heels.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Cloud grabbed his brother to stop
him from going towards the noise. "That was a wolf! A fucking wolf, Roxas! Are
you out of your mind?"
Roxas pulled out of his brother's grasp and sent his brother a nervous look.
"Promise not to freak out?"
"Promise not to freak out? Roxas, you didn't turn into some save-the-animals
hippie that thinks they can connect with the wild or something did you?" Behind
Cloud's joking manner, Roxas could tell the older blond was really worried
about him and he couldn't help the dull ache in his chest when he thought about
what he was doing to his family.
"Roxy!" A little girl called out to the blond. Roxas turned just in time to
catch Kairi in his arms and hold the redhead close.
"Hey Kairi! I have someone I want you to meet. This is Cloud, he's my brother."
Kairi looked at the taller blond and hid her face in Roxas's chest. Cloud
looked down at the duo in awe. Why was there a little girl in the middle of
nowhere? "Hey Kairi, nice to meet you." The man's tone softened to almost a
whisper as he tried to coax the girl out Roxas's chest.
Roxas stroked the girl's shoulder length wine colored hair as she looked up at
the taller blond. Her wide blue eyes studied the man, judging him like he was a
piece of meat. Cloud never thought he would feel so intimidated by his sister's
doppelganger.
Once Roxas was sure the girl was comfortable around his brother, he handed
Kairi over to Cloud. "Can you take her to Axel for me? I'll be right back,
okay?" Roxas took in one last glance at his uncomfortable brother, fighting
back a laugh at Cloud's disheveled state, before turning and running back to
Fran's burrow.
The moment Roxas reached the burrow, he sprinted to where he'd left his clothes
and shed Axel's pants in favor of his own boxers and jeans then pulled his
shirt over his head. Once dressed, Roxas wandered around looking for the Viera
tell her they were leaving. But no matter where he looked, he couldn't find
her; then he heard voices coming from the forest on the other side of the
clearing.
Roxas crept towards the voices till he was able to peek around a tree and
spotted the Viera talking to a man. Blue eyes widened as he took in the man's
appearance. He knew him.
The man suddenly closed his eyes and took in a deep breath like he was sniffing
something out before his sharp green eyes moved off of Fran and landed on
Roxas.
"And what do you think you're doing here, Roxas Jecht?"
***** Plans *****
Roxas froze in his spot as his science teacher greeted him. Mr. Vexen, the
coldest hearted man in all of Twilight Town was standing at the edge of Fran's
clearing talking to the woman. He wasn't dressed in his normal white doctor
coat and plain black outfit; instead he wore a loose pair of ratty blue jeans
and a dirty white shirt. He had one of his fake smiles that didn't quite reach
his eyes as he looked over his former student.
"I could ask you the same thing." The smaller blond snarled at the old man. He
sent a panicked look to the Viera, wanting to ask her what the man was doing
there. He took a few steps back to put some distance between him and his
teacher
Fran placed a hand on Vexen's chest to stop him from pursuing the young wolf.
"Vexen was just here to pick up some potions and elixirs for the pack," The
woman explained. She gave a curious glance around the clearing before confusion
struck her. "Kairi was playing around here somewhere. And Axel was out looking
for you."
"Axel and Kairi? You know those mutts?" The older man growled at Roxas. His
hands scrunched up into fists as he glared at Roxas.
The young wolf backed up more but ignored Vexen, his attention going back to
Fran. "Axel has Kairi. I just came to tell you we're going to get going. Sorry
for intruding on anything." Roxas bolted back to the small group waiting on
him.
To make sure Vexen wasn't fallowing him, Roxas kept looking over his shoulder
and made a few false turns here and there. It took him ten minutes longer than
it should have to get back to the group. He was out of breath and was shaking a
bit from the shock. His mind was racing with questions. Why was Vexen there?
How did he know Axel and Kairi?
"Roxas? What's wrong?" Axel asked as his mate came back into view. The blond
was pale and looked spooked; it didn't sit well with the dominate redhead. He
stood up, hobbled his way over to Roxas and draped himself across the short
boy's figure. Axel could tell something wasn't right. He tilted his head up and
took a giant whiff.
The hairs on the back of Axel's neck stood up and a growl left the man's lips.
Cloud jolted at the noise and pulled his brother out from under Axel. The
taller man would have fallen flat on his face if Squall hadn't caught him.
"What the hell was that?" Cloud seethed as he glared at Axel. His strong arms
wrapped around his baby brother.
Kairi trotted towards the burrow and smelled the air a bit. Her reaction was
similar to Axel's, startling the eldest Jecht child again.
"We have to leave. Now." Axel ordered as he pushed himself away from Squall and
leaned against a tree. He snapped a thick branch to make it into a cane. He
started to make his way away from the group with Kairi close by. When he
noticed no one else was following him, he barked back at them. "Vexen cannot
find us. Now let's get moving!"
"Axel," Roxas called out to his mate making the redhead freeze mid-step. He
looked over his shoulder to show Roxas he was listening. "How do you know
Vexen?" The boy pulled out of Cloud's grasp and walked over to Axel, placing a
hand on the man's arm. "He mentioned you and Kairi when he saw me."
Axel looked a bit stunned for a moment, ready to say something when he shook
his head. "He was in the pack Kairi and I were cast out of. He's a loyal
follower of Xemnas and will do anything to please him. Now we need to move
now!" He barked back at Cloud and Squall.
The Nymph heeded the red Lycanthrope's word, grabbed Cloud by his arm and
dragged the blond away from Fran's burrow. The human tried to shake Squall's
grip off of him but the brunet was too strong.
"Hey asshole, let go!" Cloud yelped as he was dragged behind the ragtag group.
He was just here to take Roxas home; it shouldn't have been this difficult. He
had a nifty Tree Nymph for a guide and a good amount of knives on him in case
anything attacked. But he didn't put into account his brother not wanting to
come home, or the odd redheads he was acquainted with. Nothing was adding up
for Cloud and he felt like he was getting dragged into something he should stay
far away from.
Roxas bit his lower lip as he looked up at his mate. Axel was walking at a
moderate pace but he was wobbly and his gate was uneven. The blond was worried
that Axel would trip and end up hurting himself more. Plus everyone else looked
tired. Kairi had climbed up Squall's broad shoulders and was taking a nap on
his back. By this point, Roxas had decided they power walked a good mile tugged
on the taller male's shirt till he stopped. "I think we can take a break here."
Axel looked like he was about to protest but after taking a look around he
noticed everyone was either tired, pissed, or a combination of both. Now that
he stopped, the redhead also took note that his leg was screaming in pain.
Maybe he did push them a bit too far and over reacted a tad bit. He sighed and
leaned against a tree to take some weight off his leg. "Yeah, good idea," Axel
chuckled and pulled the small teen into his chest. "What would I do without
you?"
"Probably wind up in a ditch or hanging over someone's mantel," Roxas joked
back.
"Now wait a goddam minute!" Cloud yelled as he ripped his arm out of Squall's
hand and stormed over to the couple and yanked Roxas away. "You are going to
tell me what's going on right now. Everyone at home is running around sick
looking for you, and here you are playing around with some freaks!" Cloud spun
around so he could pin his brother to a tree, ignoring the growl that came from
Axel. "Now you're going to tell me what the hell's going on and you're going to
tell me now."
The smaller blond looked past his brother and towards his mate. Axel was
glaring daggers into Cloud's back and his teeth were bared at the older blond.
With a defeated sigh, Roxas looked back to his brother. "It's a long story, and
I promise I'll tell you everything. But can we get back to the den first?"
Roxas pushed his brother away so he had enough room and walked back to Axel.
"How much longer till we get home?"
Axel felt his heart skip a beat. That was the first time Roxas referred to the
den as his home. The red Lycanthrope hoped this meant his mate was warming up
to him and the idea of not being human anymore. With a large, toothy smile Axel
leaned down and kissed Roxas full on the lips, making sure Clod saw everything.
When he pulled away, Axel couldn't help but feel pride from the blush that
spread across the smaller man's face and the dumbstruck look from his brother.
"Soon. If we start moving now we can get there before noon."
When Axel went to push off the tree, a grunt of pain passed his lips. A sharp
pain pulsed up and down the man's leg as he moved. Maybe he pushed himself just
a bit too much earlier. Roxas placed his hands on Axel's sides in a feeble
attempt to steady him, but the boy was too weak to support Axel's weight. Both
of them would have fallen on their asses if Squall wasn't quick in handing the
still sleeping Kairi to Cloud and rushing over to the couple to help Roxas grab
onto Axel.
Without a word, the Nymph turned around and knelt down in front of Axel. "Get
on." His tone left no room for argument. Axel looked embarrassed. It was
emasculating, having to resort to being carried, but did as he was bided.
Cloud manhandled the girl in his arms as gently as possible so she wouldn't
wake up, and got her on his back so he could walk without jostling her too
much. Once everyone was comfortable, the group started moving again towards
Axel and Roxas's den.
~X~x~X~x~
Once Vexen was done doing his business with the forest healer, he changed into
his wolf form, slung the bag of potions and clothing over his neck, and
sprinted back up towards his pack's dens. By the time he got there he was out
of breath, a man his age shouldn't be running so much. The sun was high in the
sky by this point
"My Alpha!" Vexen panted as he approached a large silver wolf with glowing
amber eyes that was lying across a large rock. The white-blond wolf bowed and
flashed his throat in submission at once. "I have news. I went to get the
supplies you requested and I found out something strange that can help you with
your… pest problem."
That piqued the alpha's interest as he rose from his spot and paced over to the
older male. "It better be important." Xemnas growled as he led Vexen towards a
more secluded area. Once the pack leader was sure there was no one in sight, he
gave the other Lycanthrope his full attention. "What did you find out?"
Vexen gulped the lump that had formed in his throat. "Well sir, it has come to
my attention that Axel has taken a mate. And not just any wolf, he took someone
from the Outerlands, a student of mine."
"How do you know he has a mate? Did you see them mark each other? Or at least
saw them together?" Xemnas asked. His patience was wearing thin. He needed to
do something to Reno's son before the menace could get strong enough to
overthrow him from his rightful place, or start a pack of his own and start a
civil war over the forest. Vexen needed to have his facts straight so they
wouldn't misjudge their next move.
The meek wolf shriveled up under the alpha's intense stare. "Well no, I didn't
see them together. But Axel's scent was everywhere and the little beast ran
towards Roxas when he came near." Vexen explained with a nervous look. "The
boy's parents have also been on a frenzy looking for him. Don't you think it's
odd that he goes missing only to turn up with a connection to Kairi?"
"Perhaps. But what if it was all just a large misunderstanding? What then?"
"We can send someone to go check. We know where the bastard has made his den."
Vexen said, his voice wavering under the pressure of Xemnas's eyes. "If what I
say does prove true, than I have a plan I'd like to go over with you." The
white-blonde wolf leaned in closer to the pack leader and whispered his plans.
~X~x~X~x~
Not far from Xemnas and Vexen sat Riku. The young Lycanthrope had been close to
the two as he was walking back from Xigbar's den to his own. He was tired and
felt sticky; babysitting is a very messy business. He ended up staying
overnight when Xigbar and Demyx never came back home. Riku didn't want to think
about why they never came back.
Riku perked up when herd the older wolves talking and crept over so he was
hidden behind a large boulder. He listened to the plan with intense interest.
Once Vexen was done talking, Riku took that as his cue to leave. He left,
making sure to not disturb any lose rocks or step on any twigs. He didn't need
to be caught now. He knew Xemnas couldn't kill him since he was still viewed as
a pup to the pack, but that wouldn't stop him from being punished. And he knew
the alpha wouldn't hesitate to punish his parents as well.
The silver haired boy walked into his family's den with his head hung low.
Zexion and Marluxia were nowhere in sight. Riku's only guess was that they were
out hunting. Larxene was sitting on her large bed thumbing through an old book
that she probably picked up off of Zexion's bookshelf. Her head snapped up when
her son entered and her electric green eyes zeroed in on his downcast face.
"What's wrong sweetie?" She asked in her sickly sweet baby voice. "Were the
puppies too much of a handful this time? You know you could have come to me if
you needed help." The mother wolf chided. She placed the book down and walked
towards her son. Larxene lifted his face so she could look at him. Larxene
frowned at the upset look in Riku's aquamarine eyes. "Riku, what happened?" Her
voice turned cold as she demanded an answer from him.
Riku swallowed and looked at his mother dead in the eye. "Xemnas is making
plans to kill Axel and his new mate," The young boy said in a quiet rush hoping
no one else but Larxene had heard him.
Larxene's eyes widened as she took in what her son had said. "Are you sure?"
Riku nodded. The woman huffed and looked around the room like the answer to the
problem was hidden somewhere in the stone walls. "We have to warn him. Go tell
Luxord, he'll help."
"But Mom, Axel's my friend. I should tell him," Riku countered. The redhead
could be a hot head when it came to people from the pack, and Riku guessed that
Axel either wouldn't listen or attack anyone else who came close to his den.
Larxene glared down at her son with a look that sent chills up and down Riku's
spine. The woman could be scary as hell when she wanted to be. "Riku, this is
an order. Go tell Luxord to warn Axel. Now!" The last part was barked out, and
if Riku was in his wolf form, his ears would be folded back and his tail would
be in between his legs.
"Yes ma'am," Riku mumbled before taking leave to find the requested man. He
just hoped Axel would listen and protect Roxas with his whole being.
***** Calm Before the Storm *****
"Sit. Stay. Good boy!" Roxas cooed as he patted red spikes. The ragtag group
was in Kairi's room putting the tired girl to bed. Roxas wanted to talk to his
brother in private, hoping the eldest Jecht wouldn't freak out as much if it
was just the two of them, but every time he tried to leave the room Axel would
follow them out. After the third time this happened, the young blond sighed as
he pushed his mate to sit on his sister's bed and gave him the gentle command.
The room was filled with mixed reactions from the couple's actions. Cloud just
glared at two with angry confusion, and Squall just scoffed at Axel as he held
the taller man down by placing his hand on the redhead's shoulder.
Axel pouted as he swiped away the hand in his hair and shrugged off the Tree
Nymph. The man rolled his green eyes. "Yes, master. I will obey like the good
doggy I am."
Roxas sighed and patted the man's cheek before turning to address the Nymph.
"Can you make sure he doesn't leave?" He asked like Axel wasn't even in the
room, earning him a glare from his mate. When the brunette nodded in
understanding Roxas grabbed his brother by the hand and lead him out of Kairi's
room and into his and Axel's.
Once the wood door closed behind them Cloud rounded on Roxas. "Okay, spill it.
What the fuck is going on?" He cornered the smaller boy up against the wall,
using his height and strength to intimidate his brother. His bright blue eyes
bore into Roxas's darker ones.
Roxas gave a hard shove to gain some room so he could walk around his brother
and sat on the bed. "I met Axel on the edge of the forest a couple of days ago.
And we just, I don't know, clicked or something. He asked me to come with him
and so I did," The blond panted as he finished spewing his explanation out in
one breath. He looked up at his brother and tried to gage his reaction.
Cloud's glare intensified as he looked down at his brother. "So you're telling
me you left your friends and family for some guy you just met? Roxas, what the
fuck is wrong with you!?" The eldest Jecht son scolded. His hands were fisted
on his hips and his whole body just screamed his fury.
"It's not like that Cloud!" Roxas cried back. Tears were starting to form in
the younger blond's eyes as the guilt of leaving everyone without a second
thought weighed down his heart. Did he really cause that much of a disturbance
in his family's life by leaving? He wasn't anything special there; he was a
screw up. The brother that couldn't accomplish anything. The brother that
always came out second or third, never first. "He just promised me things I
wanted."
Cloud perked a blond eyebrow. "And what is it that you want?"
"Somewhere to belong," Roxas whispered, his eyes downcast.
Cloud's posture stiffened. "Somewhere to belong? For god's sake Roxas, you knew
the man for a moment. You've known us your whole life. You belong with us!" The
older blond could feel his anger boiling. His mother was on the verge of a
break down, Sora was worried out of his mind, and Naminé was trapped in an
ignorant bliss, all because Roxas left them for some random man. "You belong at
home, with warm meals and a roof over your head. Not whatever you can catch and
an underground lair out here!" Cloud waved his hand around to prove his point.
"And who are you to tell me what to do?" Roxas demanded. His glare was just as
stubborn and venomous as his brother's. "I may not have known Axel that long,
but I know we just click and he likes me way more than anyone in Twilight Town.
I'm not going home and there's nothing you can say or do that will change my
mind!" The young blond's mind was set. He may have been upset and confused
about the change when it first happened, but the more time he spent with Axel,
the more Roxas knew he wanted to be with the man.
A loud slap echoed throughout the room as Cloud pulled his hand back from
Roxas's cheek. A bright red and painful mark was glowing on Roxas's face. An
angry face glowered down as a shocked Roxas cupped his aching jaw.
~X~x~X~x~
Axel's downcast head perked up when he heard the sound of skin on skin. With
quick reflexes, the redhead evaded Squall's grabbing hands and ran out of his
little sister's room. With a loud bang, Axel slammed his bedroom door open to
see tear well up in his mate's eyes and Cloud tense with his right arm held
post-strike.
Without a second thought, Axel lunged at Cloud. The blond dodged the attack and
swung his fist around and was just about to land the hit when a blond blur ran
in front of him. The momentum was too strong and Cloud couldn't stop his hit,
all he could do was close his eyes and hope his brother would get out of the
way.
Cloud's fist stopped mid-air by a harsh pull, sending the man to the ground.
Angry blue eyes turned towards the person who had pulled him and saw stormy
grey glaring down at him. "What the fuck do you think you're doing, you stupid
flower?" Cloud growled up at Squall. He was relieved that his punch didn't hit
Roxas, but at the same time he wished it did. Why would he protect the redhead?
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" The Tree Nymph echoed back with
venom in his voice. "First you hit Roxas then go after an injured man. Will you
calm down and listen for one minute?" The brunette growled out. Tree Nymphs
were known as peaceful creatures who didn't get involved in fights, but Squall
refused to sit back and watch this.
Roxas turned his back on his brother to face Axel. "Are you okay? What were you
thinking? I told you to stay in Kairi's room!" The blond huffed his annoyance
and crossed his arms. "I had this. Now go away and let me finish talking to
him. Besides, you're hurt. What the hell were you thinking when you attacked my
brother?" Roxas growled.
"He hit you! I heard it from the other room. And I'm not going to sit around
and listen to my mate get abused!" Axel growled back with his acid green eyes
were glued on Cloud. He smirked to himself as he saw the other man on the
ground with Squall towering over him. A smug smile overcame the redhead from
the sight.
"His what now?" Cloud barked over to the couple. He was trying to push himself
back to his feet only to be held back by the Tree Nymph who had an iron grip on
his upper arm. He didn't know what the two were talking about, but he knew what
a mate was and he hoped with all his being he was wrong.
Roxas turned away from Axel so he was facing his brother once again. His big,
blue eyes filled with regret and sadness. "Cloud, I'm really sorry, but this is
what I wanted to tell you in private." The smaller blond took a calming breath
before speaking again. "Axel marked me. I'm his mate now, which means I can't
go home. I'm a part of the forest just like him and Kairi. I'm just like them,"
Roxas explained in a calm voice, hoping it would keep his brother from freaking
out.
Cloud looked confused and angry. "Marked you? How did he do that? And you
consented to it?" Squall let go of him as he watched the blond's shoulders sag
but didn't move away. Cloud stood up and approached his brother, ignored the
warning growl that came from Axel, and placed his hands on both of Roxas's
shoulders. With quick movements, he pulled down one side of her collar and saw
the big purple mark on his little brother's neck. A quiet gasp escaped from in
between his lips as he ran his thumb up and down the bruise.
"He was vague about it, but yes I agreed. And I know if I didn't he wouldn't
force me. So, I can't come home. I'm sorry, but that's just the way it's going
to be." Roxas explained as he grabbed his brother's wrist and pulled his hand
away from his neck. "But just remember I love you, Sora, Naminé, Mom and Dad,
and everyone else. Can you tell them that? But leave out some things." The boy
added on the part with a small laugh. "Tell them I'm safe and I love them. And
I know Mom's freaking out right now so can you calm her down and reassure her?"
"Rox-?" Cloud was looking down at his brother with a shock expression. He
didn't know what to say. Taking Roxas away from his proclaimed mate didn't
sound like an option, but maybe there was another way. "Can't you come back?
I'm not saying leave Axel or Kairi since you've already proven that's not going
to happen, but maybe they can come to Twilight Town?"
Axel shook his head at the idea in an instant. "We can't. We belong here.
Besides, my father tried making peace with the mayor of your town a long time
ago, but the head of the town turned him down and threatened war against us if
he ever caught us in his territory again."
"My grandfather is the head of the town," Roxas said with a confused tone as he
turned to look at Axel. "He would never do that."
Before anyone could add any more to the subject, a loud, long howl came from
above ground. The hair on the back of Roxas's neck stood on end. He didn't want
to find out who was up there. From what he gathered so far he could tell Axel
wasn't a very well liked Lycanthrope. Roxas hoped with all his being that
whoever was up there was a friend and not a foe.
"Roxas, you and Cloud stay down here and keep an eye on Kairi. Squall, do you
mind coming with me to see who's here?" Axel commanded the group as he opened
his bedroom door. The Nymph agreed and started to follow the redhead out, but
Roxas didn't seem so keen on his orders. He tried to walk past Axel but was
pulled back by his belt loops. "And where do you think you're going?"
"I want to go and-"
"No. You'll sit and stay like the good doggy you are," Axel said in a tone that
told Roxas he was being serious and to not fight him on the matter. Roxas
backed up with his head bowed in submission, making a cocky grin spread across
Axel's face. "Good boy." Axel and Squall walked out of the room, closing the
door behind them.
For a few minutes, Cloud and Roxas stood around in an awkward silence.
"Do you love Axel?"
Roxas looked his brother up and down as he tried to see if the man had been
replaced with a clone or something in the few short minutes of them being
alone. "It's too soon to say. But I know I feel something for him. When I first
laid eyes on Axel, I knew he meant something to me and that he'd be involved in
my life somehow. I just never thought it'd be like this."
When Roxas was done speaking, Cloud hummed low in his throat. "That's all I
needed to know."
And then the brothers were shrouded in silence once again. Roxas sat down on
the large bed and leaned back on the palms of his hands so he was looking up at
the celling. He hoped if he was quiet enough he would be able to hear Axel and
whoever was up there. But there was too much dense earth between them that he
couldn't hear a thing.
With a frustrated sigh, Roxas jumped up from his bed and stormed over to the
door. He had enough of not knowing what was going on. He was going to go see
who was there. Cloud didn't try to stop him. In fact the eldest Jecht was hot
on his heels as they climbed up the stairs.
The two hid behind a large boulder that Axel had kept to hide the trap door
into the den and peeked around to see Axel and Squall standing at the mouth of
the cave and a large, golden wolf. The stranger was sitting down and looking at
Axel with is tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. He yipped a few times
while looking at Axel as if the two were in the middle of a conversation.
"We used to be hunting partners. You know you can trust me." Roxas heard the
man say.
Axel looked unsure of himself as he gnawed at his lower lip in thought. "I know
we were, but what does that have to do with now? If you're lying, I could be
running blind into a trap." The redhead tried to reason his side. He took a few
breaths to calm his nerves and his poster stiffened. Green eyes looked to the
side as Axel turned his head to see behind him. "I thought I told you to not
leave the room." His voice came out with a slight growl as he eyed the boulder
Roxas and Cloud were squatting behind.
Roxas stepped out first with a guilty look. "I'm sorry. I just couldn't sit
around. I needed to see what was up." The blond eyed the stranger up and down
before speaking again. "An old friend of yours?"
"You can say that." The stranger barked. "I'm Luxord. Pleasure to meet you. Can
I presume you're Axel's mate?"
Before Roxas could answer Luxord, Cloud appeared out of his hiding spot and
glared at the wolf. "What the fuck is this? Why is there a wolf here?" He
crossed his arms over his chest as he eyed the wild animal like it would attack
him at a drop of a hat.
"Why is there a human here? This isn't a good idea Axel. What were you thinking
bringing one of that kind into our territory? It's dangerous," Luxord stated
with an irritated tone. The golden wolf got up and walked closer to the mouth
of the cave, making Axel spread his arms out like a barricade.
"Don't you get any fucking closer or I swear to god I won't hesitate to kill
you." The redhead said with a sneer.''
With defeated sigh, the wolf took a step back with his ears back. "My
apologies. I just wanted to check the human out. I didn't mean to push any
boundaries. I just came to relay Riku's message and to see an old comrade."
"Riku?" Roxas spoke up. He stepped forward so he was in between Axel and
Squall. "You know Riku?"
"Wait, wait, wait." Cloud said. "You can understand him? How the fuck can you
do that?" The tall blond pulled his brother back, wanting answers.
"I-I can." Roxas stuttered. "I already told you, I'm like them. So I can
understand them in that form."
"That form?"
"The man doesn't even know what's going on? Seriously Axel. What the hell?"
Luxord spoke up. "Maybe you should show him? I know it's not my place, but
maybe it'll help him understand." He pointed his black nose at Roxas. "He's
your brother, is he not? So Riku wasn't lying to me when he said you were
spirited away. And your brother came looking for you?"
"Ah yes, you're right about all of that. But do you think it'll work? I mean he
isn't being that cooperative so I'm afraid he'll have a heart attack," Roxas
said while scratching the back of his neck as he thought about it. Maybe
showing Cloud he wasn't human anymore would help get his point across. But then
again, Roxas wasn't too fond of changing forms or even admitting to himself
that he was a Lycanthrope.
"What is he right about? And are you talking about me?" Cloud asked. He was
starting to get pissed off from only knowing half of the conversation. He was
on the verge of punching something to get his frustrations out.
Squall finally spoke up. "If it makes you feel any better, I can't understand
the Lycanthrope either." The Nymph took a step to the side so he wasn't
blocking the entrance anymore and could lean against the wall of the cave. "But
I don't think he means any harm. If he meant to hurt us, he would have done it
by now." Cloud just glared at Squall like he was a moron before sighing and
letting go of his brother to lean next to the brunette.
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
Axel's eyes shifted from Luxord to Cloud and Squall for a moment before turning
to face Roxas. "So, what do you think? Should you show Cloud?"
"I guess. I mean it won't hurt anything." Roxas sounded defeated. With a forced
stance, the blond marched towards the back of the cave so he was hidden in the
shadows and slipped behind the boulder. He was quick to shed his clothing and
prepare his body for the transformation. As he felt his body contort to his
wolf form, Roxas couldn't help but note how it was getting less and less
painful to shift. Like his body was accepting either forms or something.
Once he was done, Roxas padded his way back towards the mouth of the cave. All
eyes were on him as he approached them. Three out of the four didn't seem too
fazed by it, but Cloud's eyes were wide in shock and his arms fell to is sides.
"Roxas?" He asked in disbelief. The blond pushed off the wall and walked
towards Roxas. He circled the wolf a couple of times before walking towards the
back of the cave just to see if it was some sick trick. When he found nothing
but the pile of his brother's discarded clothes, Cloud went back to the wolf
and knelt down in front of it. "So you really can't come home?" The wolf shook
its head with its eyes downcast in sadness.
"Roxas," Axel spoke up. "Luxord came to tell us that Vexen knows your family.
He and Xemnas are going to go after your twin. But he's also a part of that
pack so I don't know how much we can trust him." The redhead sat down on the
ground to take weight off of his injured leg. His green eyes looked over at his
mate. "He's your brother so what do you want to do?"
The wolf looked from Axel to his brother, nudged his hand and cocked his head
to the side, like he was trying to tell him something with his body language.
Cloud seemed to understand and stood up. "I'll go back and make sure nothing
happens to Sora. If it is a trap than they hopefully won't do anything to me
since they would be going after you, right?" The eldest Jecht didn't sound as
sure of his plan as he kept talking.
"Maybe you need someone who knows the forest and the creatures so you won't do
anything stupid and end up dead." Squall said with a raised eyebrow.
"He's right you know. Can you ask Squall to keep an eye on my family, or do you
think it would be too much of a bother?" Roxas asked Axel with a whine. He was
worried about his family and how his selfishness had put them in danger. If
anything were to happen to them, Roxas didn't know if he could live with
himself.
Axel relayed the message to Squall and Cloud as delicately as possible. He
didn't need the oldest blond freaking out over something minor again. When he
finished Cloud didn't look so sure, but Squall just shrugged his shoulders.
"Sure. If it means a human not dying in here again I'll do it." And before the
human could say anymore on the matter, the Tree Nymph started to walk out of
the den and towards the edge of the clearing where he waited for Cloud to
finish up his goodbyes with his brother.
Cloud didn't know how to interact with his brother while he was in his wolf
form. So instead of doing a proper goodbye like he wanted to, he just rubbed
the boy's head like one would do to an ordinary house dog and walked away as
fast as he could so he wouldn't snatch his brother up and run away like he
wanted to.
Once the two were out of sight, Roxas let out a breath he had been holding in
and laid down with his head in between his paws. He was relieved to know Cloud
wasn't fighting him on staying anymore and that he could stay with Axel. At the
same time, he knew he would still be on edge till he knew what was going on
with his family.
"Hey Rox." Axel called. "This may sound way out of place, but how's your back
feeling?"
Roxas cocked his head to the side as he thought about the question. "It hasn't
been bothering me at all. Why?"
"I think he means to tell you that your body is done developing. You are
starting to get a bit of a smell on you, boy." Luxord cut in as he paced the
clearing. It was faint but he could smell the Heat and was trying to control
himself.
Axel growled at the golden wolf's comment. He didn't like the reaction Luxord
was having to his mate's scent. "Maybe you should go." The redhead said in a
low, threatening tone. He even puffed his chest out a bit to make himself look
more intimidating.
"Right, right. I get it." Luxord huffed as he turned tail and fled the area,
not wanting to be near when the young boy went into his Heat. He needed to get
back to the pack before Xemnas noticed him missing and questioned his
whereabouts.
Once Luxord was gone, Axel stood up and hobbled over to the den's hidden door.
"Come on, Roxas. I need to tell you something." The redhead called as he
descended down the stairs with his mate close behind.
***** Heat *****
When they got back to their room, Roxas changed back to his human form and
quickly dressed in lose fitting pants and an overly large shirt while Axel
changed into clothes to sleep in as well. Roxas went to give a quick check to
see if Kairi was still asleep Roxas went into his room where Axel was patiently
waiting. Roxas quietly closed the door behind him and shuffled up to Axel with
his head bowed and posture slacked. Axel frowned at how upset his mate looked
and held out his arms so he could wrap them around the blond and protect him
from whatever was bothering him. Roxas didn't make a move to go into the
redhead's embrace, so Axel took it upon himself to grab the boy by his wrists
and pull him onto the bed and into his chest. Roxas squirmed around for a
moment before relaxing and placing his head against Axel's chest so he could
hear the man's heartbeat.
"What's the matter?" Axel quietly asked in hopes of not startling Roxas. His
hands ran up and down Roxas's back, trying to comfort the blond, "Is it because
of Vexen? Or do you miss Cloud?"
Roxas tilted his head so he was looking up at Axel, his big, blue eyes filled
with worry, "It's none of that; though I wish I could go home and make sure
everyone is okay. But I was just thinking about what you and Luxord were
talking about, how I was starting me Heat. I just don't feel any different
besides my back pains going away. And-" Roxas faltered he didn't know how to
finish his thought. How could he tell Axel that he didn't want to mate with him
yet? They've only known each other for a couple of days. Even if Roxas felt
like he's always known the redhead, it was just too soon.
"You're worried about your Heat aren't you?" Axel asked as one of his hands
traveled up to brush some stray hairs out of Roxas's face, "I'm sorry Roxas,
but if we don't get it taken care of others will come and I'm afraid of what
would happen if to you if I wasn't around. And if I was around I don't think
I'd be able to hold myself back." Roxas's blue eyes widened at Axel's
confession. Axel sensed his mate's distress and pulled his face down so he
could meet soft lips in a gentle kiss, "I promise, when the time comes I'll be
a gentle, and I'll only do whatever you're comfortable with."
Roxas numbly nodded his head as he processed Axel's words. He mused with the
idea that if he did go into his Heat soon that it would be better with Axel
rather than with someone else. With a defeated sigh Roxas came to the
conclusion that Axel was right and when the time did come he would have to
submit to the redhead. Roxas looked up at hi mate with a more relaxed look and
kissed the male on the cheek, "Thank you for being so patient and understanding
my feelings." Roxas pulled away from Axel and traced the man's face with a soft
caress. Roxas's brow frowned as he traced the dark purple marks on Axel's cheek
bones, "What are these?"
Axel laughed as he took Roxas's hands off of him and laid down on the bed,
dragging his mate down with him, "Well," He said once the two were in a
comfortable position, "They're tattoos I got done after my parents died. When
Kairi and I were driven out of the pack from Xemnas's fear we stayed with Fran.
I was still a pup at the time and I was being stupid and rebellious so I went
to a witch and had her mark me with these. One for my mother and the other for
my father." Axel explained as he reached up to grabbed Roxas's hand off of his
face. He brought the small limb down to his lips and kissed each knuckle.
"Do you regret them?" Roxas whispered. A faint blush spread across his face
from the intimate atmosphere.
"Hmm…not really. Now common, it's been a long day. Let's get some sleep. I'll
wake up early and catch a nice sized buck since you'll probably be hungry."
Roxas's blush intensified at that. He hadn't eaten all day, but he just
couldn't get is appetite back.
Instead of worrying about it Roxas just nodded his head in agreement and let
his eyes close. He felt Axel wrap an arm around him and shift around a bit till
they were laying at the head of the bed instead of awkwardly laying off the
side. Blankets were kicked up from under them and snuggly wrapped around Roxas.
"Goodnight Roxas." Axel mumbled as he buried his face in blond locks and
smelled his mate's intoxicating scent. He could smell the beginnings of Roxas's
Heat and he tried to keep certain body parts under control so he wouldn't scare
and upset the teen. He hoped the blond wouldn't push him away when the time
came.
"G'night Axel."
~X~x~X~x~
It was hot. Roxas laid on his back and stared up at the dark ceiling. His face
was flush and his eyes were slightly glassy. He'd been up for a good hour but
the stupid heat had been keeping him up. A thin layer of sweat was over his
body, and he was panting. Axel slept on his side, his back facing Roxas. The
redhead was blissfully unaware or effected by the blistering temperature.
With a frustrated huff Roxas flung his shirt off his torso and pulled his pants
off so he was laying around in just his boxers. A frustrated whine left the
boy's lips as he curled up in a ball and held his legs to his chest. He took
some deep, calming breaths but they didn't help at all.
A tingling sensation started to spread throughout the young boy's body, setting
his nerves on fire and his nether regions to stir. Without much thought Roxas
slowly uncurled himself and slid one hand around his torso, making sure to give
each nub on his chest a bit of attention. White teeth bared down on pink lips
as Roxas tried to quiet a moan that threatened to tear from his throat. The
hand slowly crept farther down until it reached the hem of Roxas's boxers.
Roxas played with the elastic and looked over his shoulder to see if Axel was
still asleep. Blue eyes couldn't seem to pull away from the strong, muscular
back and fire red hair. The man smelt like spice and something Roxas couldn't
put his finger on. Melon maybe? The two scents should have clashed but Roxas
couldn't help but be drawn to it.
A deft hand dove behind the thin cloth and Roxas loudly gasped at the contact.
His free hand quickly grabbed onto the sheet under him and his legs jerked.
Roxas was so caught up in his own pleasure that he didn't notice his leg knock
into his sleeping mate. His hand had a mind of its own and Roxas couldn't stop.
Even when he heard Axel grunt from being hit.
Axel groaned as he was stirred from his slumber. He leaned up on an elbow while
rubbing one of his eyes. With a yawn he asked in a drowsy voice, "Roxas, what's
wrong?" When he got no answer, he figured the blond was just an active sleeper.
That was until he took a whiff of the arousing aroma in the air, "Roxas are
you-" His question was interrupted but a lustful moan, "Roxas?" The groggy man
asked again as he rolled over and got an eye full of his panting mate.
The sight and smell of Roxas set Axel off, but before he could reach for the
blond, Roxas grabbed Axel by his bicep and tugged the older man close enough to
attack his mouth with his. Without parting Roxas managed to roll Axel onto his
back so he could straddle his slightly wide hips and started to rut his hips
against the redhead's.
"Rox-Roxas! Slow down!" Axel managed to choke out around his moans. His hands
grabbed Roxas's moving hips to still the boy which helped him gain some sense
back. When his head cleared a bit he rolled Roxas off of him and pinned the
frustrated boy under him, "Roxas, you need to snap out of this before we both
lose control and something you don't want happens!"
Clouded blue eyes cleared a bit as Roxas gazed up at Axel, "I feel strange."
Roxas mumbled. He squirmed around in Axel's grasp and tried to rub his legs
together to add friction to his aching lower half but the relief wasn't enough,
"Help me. Make it go away."
That's all Axel needed to hear and with a feral growl the dominate male
attacked the submissive's throat, making sure to mark the blond as his and
paying special attention to the permanent bruise he had already left from the
other day. Each nip brought another moan from Roxas as he tilted his head to
the side as far as he could to give Axel more room to work. Axel took advantage
of Roxas's naked torso and tweaked his pink nipples with nimble fingers. That
seemed to be too much for the blond and Roxas started to buck his hips up,
rubbing his clothed length against Axel's clothed stomach. With a startled yelp
Roxas tensed up for a moment as blinding spots danced in front of his eyes. An
uncomfortable wet feeling filled Roxas's underwear, snapping him out of his
blind lust.
Roxas stilled for a moment to catch his breath. His eyes seemed to focus a bit
more as he caught his breath, "Axel," He managed to huff out, "M scared." Tears
started to prickle at the corners of blue eyes, "I don't know what to do."
Axel leaned down and kissed the tears away and released the boy's hands,
"Shh…Its okay. Everything will be fine. I'll take care of you." He stroked
Roxas's bangs out of his face so he could look down at the boy with nothing in
the way.
"No pups. Please. I'm not ready." Roxas shook his head as he thought about
pregnancy and all the stories his mother had told him about how hard hers was
when she was carrying him and Sora. That and how he wasn't used to his new life
yet. How could he deal with another major change like pups as well?
Axel looked down on his mate with sympathy. He could feel his heart split in
two, half of him was hoping to start a family as soon as he could with his
beautiful mate, but he knew he couldn't go against Roxas's wishes, especially
on something as important as this if he ever wanted to win the boy's love and
trust, "No pups. I promise you no pups. I'll make sure not to finish in you so
nothing will happen. I promise." Axel leaned down so his forehead was touching
Roxas's and he gently rubbed their noses together in an affectionate gesture.
Roxas whimpered at the thought of what was about to happen but he could feel
his cock start to harden again. He needed skin on skin, but Axel was still
fully dressed. Small hands grabbed at Axel's back as Roxas tried to lift the
fabric off of the redhead. Axel chuckled at Roxas's antics. He lifted off of
the blond –earning a disappointed whine from Roxas- so he could strip off his
shirt and start to undo the tie that was holding his pants up.
"No, I want to." Roxas shyly mumbled as he sat up and reached for Axel's
crotch. He hesitated for a moment and looked up at Axel. He couldn't believe
this was happening. His palms were sweating and he didn't know if it was his
nerves or if the heat swelling throughout his body. A quick swipe to the
blanket fixed that problem and Roxas went back to his task of helping Axel
undress. Timid hands went back to Axel's pants. He had a hard time with untying
the tight knot Axel had made.
Once Roxas was successful with taking the knot apart he pushed down Axel's
pants and boxers freeing the man's erection. Roxas felt his mouth go dry as he
looked at the member that was at least two times the size as his. The faint
thought of it fitting or hurting him was clouded but a new burst of lust over
powered him and those problems didn't seem to matter to him anymore. With no
hesitation Roxas gave the length a light tug making Axel gasp and grab onto
Roxas's shoulders.
"Calm down and lay back down for me." Roxas nodded his head and did as he was
told. Axel looked down at his mate and could tell the boy was nervous. He
smiled down at Roxas and caressed his face and left his hand on his cheek to
keep his head in place, "Hey, I love you." Axel said in a confident tone to get
his point across to Roxas's hazy mind. He knew the blond was going crazy with
lust and the pheromones he was letting off was driving the redhead mad. But
Axel knew he'd have to keep his head clear so he wouldn't lose Roxas's trust
after.
Large hands trailed down Roxas's body making sure to tweak perk nipples for a
moment before continuing their way down to the boy's soiled boxers and tossing
them to a corner of the room. Roxas gasped as his lower regains were freed to
the cold air. He threw his head back and whimpered in need, "Please?" He moaned
under his breath.
"Fuck." Axel growled as he looked down at his needy mate. He could tell Roxas
didn't want to pussyfoot around anymore. After giving his cock a few pumps Axel
lined it up to Roxas's twitching entrance. The Heat meant penetration would be
easy since it made Roxas's body was already stretched and lubed to accept his
mate's length.
Axel didn't stop until he was all the way in. Roxas gasped at first, but the
farther Axel sank into him the needier and more high pitched his moans got.
Blunt fingernails dug into Axel's back as Roxas tried to adjust to the
throbbing length inside of him. It didn't hurt but it felt strange and new.
Axel was having a hard time not moving. The way Roxas was squeezing around him
and how warm he was made it hard for Axel to not move. His neck gave out and
Axel had to rest his head on Roxas's clavicle. He bit around the blond's neck
and chest leaving little love marks.
Roxas moaned and bucked his hips up into Axel's trying to get him to move. His
hands moved till they were tangled in thick, red strands. He tugged on them
till Axel lifted his head and they could look at each other in the eye. They
could both tell that the other wanted more. Very slowly Axel started to rock
back and forth. He tried to keep the pacing slow but Roxas's cries got louder
and he started to beg for more. Not needing anymore encouragement Axel started
to quicken his pace. He grabbed Roxas by the back of his thighs and pushed them
up so the blond was practically folded in half.
The new possession made it easier for Axel to move faster and by the noises
Roxas was making he could tell he was hitting his prostate. Roxas's eyes rolled
to the back of his head and hand trailed down till he grasped his leaking dick.
The sight was mouthwatering to Axel and the man had to check himself to make
sure he wasn't drooling. He knew Roxas was going to cum soon from how he seemed
to be getting tighter and tighter around Axel's member.
"Ah…Axel! Axel!" Roxas screamed at the top of his lungs as white streams shot
out and covered his chest and stomach. His body turned into jelly and the blond
seemed to just melt into the bed.
Axel was overwhelmed. From the sight of his mate relaxing in the afterglow of
his orgasm, the pheromones he was still emitting, and the tight head that kept
squeezing. It took only a few moth thrusts from Axel till he reached his end.
After the first stream of cum left him did Axel come to his senses and
remembered to pull out of his mate, leaving a white trail all over Roxas's
lower body.
Axel slumped down so he was laying on Roxas. The blond didn't seem to mind the
extra weight on him and just wrapped his arms around the other's waist in a
tight hug. The two stayed in their awkward cuddle for a few moments just
basking in the afterglow and trying to catch their breaths. Roxas was the first
to recover. He pushed Axel off of him till the redhead was lying next to him.
"Did we just…?" Roxas couldn't finish his question, even if it was rhetorical.
He could feel his face heat up with embarrassment at the thought of the act he
just committed, "And…and you. You said you loved me. Do you really feel that
way?"
Roxas expected Axel to blush but the redhead sat up and stared at Roxas's face,
his green eyes unwavering, "Roxas Jecht, I am in love with you. I have been
since the moment I saw you in the Outerlands when you were talking to your
friends. I knew you were my soul mate and I will stop at nothing till you see
we are meant to be. I'll do anything for you." As he talked, Axel framed
Roxas's face with his hands and gave the speechless boy a peck on the lips.
The sounds of birds chirping overhead told the two that the sun was up and a
new day had begun. Kairi would be up and wanting her breakfast soon, much to
Roxas's fatigue demise. The blond slumped back in bed and groaned. He didn't
want to get up. He'd struggled with the unbearable Heat for a good amount of
the night and after his and Axel's activities he was even more tired and his
backside was starting to ache.
"If you'd do anything for me, can I just lay in bed all day and recover?" Roxas
half joked. He threw an arm over his eyes like he was blocking out the sun as
if it was streaming from some imaginary window and onto his face. He groaned at
the sticky feeling of sweat drying on his forehead and made a mental note to
take a shower some point soon.
Axel just chuckled and pecked Roxas's lips one more time, "As you wish." When
he pulled away, Axel got off the bed and gathered things for a quick shower so
he wouldn't reek of sex for the rest of the day. Then he'd go catch a feast for
his sister and mate. A large smile graced the man's face as he looked over his
shoulder and saw Roxas had fallen asleep.
***** Afterglow *****
A low rumble woke Roxas up. Groggy blue eyes looked up at the rock ceiling as
thoughts of that night and early morning rushed back to Roxas. Then something
hit him. It was so small and insignificant that Roxas shouldn't have remembered
it. The teen sat up so fast that he got light headed for a moment, but after
shaking the dizzy feeling off the blond was able to get off the bed (with only
a little bit of pain in his lower back), grabbed Axel's pair of lose fitting
pants off the floor, and trotted to the bathroom. Axel and Kairi must have been
above ground since there was no one in the halls or any sound coming from any
of the rooms.
Once in the bathroom Roxas shimmied out of his pants and hopped into the
shower. It surprised him a bit when hot water came out of the shower head
instead of cold, Roxas made a mental note to ask Axel about how there was hot
water, or how there was proper running water and a flushable toilet down here
in general. Pushing the thoughts aside Roxas grabbed a red scrubbing poof that
was on the shower ledge and a bottle of flower scented liquid soap and began to
lather himself up, making sure to put some extra work into getting all of the
dried up perspiration and other fluids.
A deep blush spread across Roxas's face when he reached his sore behind. He
could feel the dried leftovers of Axel's cum slip out of his ass. It wasn't
much but Roxas couldn't help but remember that one time in health class the
teacher was going over the basics of safe sex. She had gone in explicit detail
about how if the male didn't have a condom and the girl wasn't on the pill or
have a diaphragm, you should just forget about getting it on. Pulling out had
just as much chance of impregnation than just cumming inside. But Axel did
promise that nothing would come from their little activities from last night.
With a heavy sigh Roxas quickly finished his shower and dressed. He needed to
go talk to Axel as quickly as he could, eager to find Axel and get his
questions answered. It surprised Roxas when he made his way above ground and
saw the sun setting. He couldn't have possible been asleep all day could he?
"Roxy!" Kairi yelled as she ran towards Roxas and wrapped her little arms
around his waist she looked up at Roxas with her big blue eyes, "Big Brother
told me not to bother you today since you're probably not feeling well. But
you're up! I was getting worried. Are you hungry? Big Brother just caught a
fox. He said we had to wait for you a'cus you deserve the first bite since you
didn't eat yesterday." The little girl was bouncing on the balls of her feet
with excitement. She had been worried all day that something bad had happened
to her new brother.
Roxas chuckled and leaned down to give Kairi a small peck on the cheek, "Well I
feel honored that you were worried over my sake. Where's Axel? I need to talk
to him." The blond poked Kairi in between the eyes, making the girl giggle and
flinch away.
"He's over there." Kairi pointed towards a small oleander tree that was just
starting to bloom pink flowers and was surrounded by green pine trees and other
trees that were starting to lose their green leaves from the changing season.
Axel stood a bit behind it and was just pulling up his pants from transforming
back into his human form. When electric green eyes landed on Roxas they seemed
to light up even more and the half-naked man couldn't help but smile at his
mate.
Roxas felt his heart speed up as flashes from the night before flashed through
his head. A familiar tingle went down his spine as Roxas felt himself get
turned on. But he shouldn't since what they did last night should have cleared
up any signs of his Heat. But he pushed aside his feelings of lust and
approached Axel.
"Hey lazy bum. Finally decided to join the world of the living?" The redhead
laughed as he pulled Roxas into a hug, smothering the teen's face into his bare
chest. When he pulled the blond away from him he leaned down and pulled Roxas
into a passionate kiss, "How do you feel?"
Roxas felt a blush creep across his face but he tried to ignore it and hope it
wasn't noticeable to Axel, "I'm a bit sore." The blond's voice came out in a
breathless whisper like Axel had quite literally stolen his breath away.
"Yeah? Well I'll have to be more careful next time." The redhead said with a
wink that made Roxas's even more flustered.
"And who says there's going to be a next time?" Roxas countered with a huff and
hands on his hips. He wished he could be mad at that comment but instead he
found himself feeling excited.
Axel just chuckled and pulled Roxas back to him while taking a few steps away
from the clearing, "Hey Kai!" He called out. When the girl called back the
redhead replied, "I need you to do me a favor. Can you go find a toy or
something and play by yourself for a few minutes? I need to show Roxas
something I found by the river!" Kairi yelled back an okay but Axel waited a
moment to make sure she wasn't near them before dragging Roxas farther into the
woods till they found a tree with a hallow in it.
The taller Lycanthrope slid into the small space and pulled Roxas in with him
so the blond's back was pressed against his chest. Roxas struggled against his
mate's hold for a moment, scared about what was happening and why Axel would
drag him away so unexpectedly.
"It's okay, calm down." Axel cooed into Roxas's ear as he rubbed the teen's
sides in a comforting manner. Once Roxas settled down and relaxed into Axel's
chest the redhead explained what was going on, "Your pheromones are still going
crazy. I'm sorry I just need to touch you a bit." After apologizing Axel
started to nip and suck at Roxas's neck turning the blond into a blob of goo in
his lap. Once Roxas was nice and sedated and making cute mewing noises, Axel
moved his hands downward to kneed at a bulge in the blonds pants that was
slowly getting bigger.
Roxas turned his head so he was nuzzling Axel's neck, "More." He managed to
choke out. One of his hands came up to grab onto Axel's shirt but when he only
found bare skin he whined and pawed at Axel's chest.
Axel just chuckled as he worked on opening up Roxas's pants. It was taking
longer than Roxas would have liked and he started thrusting his hips into
Axel's working hands, making the redhead's job of getting Roxas's pants off
harder. But one Roxas's pants were open Axel wasted no time in pulling the
blond's pants and underwear down to mid-thigh.
Roxas's hard erection sprang up and the teen couldn't help but moan into Axel's
neck. The redhead grabbed the stiff member and started to pump it up and down.
A steady stream of precum leaked out of the head and Axel used that to help his
hand move faster. It took all of Axel's resistance to not jump the boy right
there. From the smells that flooded the little hallow to how Roxas was moaning
and clinging to him was making everything so much harder for Axel.
"Axel…I cahhn't." Roxas bit at Axel's neck in a moment of passion as he
released all over Axel's hand. The redhead kept pumping Roxas till everything
was out. With hazed over blue eyes watching his every move, Axel brought his
hand up to his mouth and made a show of cleaning the white mess off of his hand
and fingers. Roxas groaned at the sight as he rested his head on Axel's
shoulder, "Stop that. We need to get back to Kairi before she finds us." Roxas
said as he pulled his clothes back into place.
"Yeah I guess you're right. Don't want her to catch you with your pants around
your ankles and start asking questions. She's way too young for the birds and
bees talk." Axel laughed as he pushed passed Roxas out of the hole so he could
help pull the blond to his feet.
While the two walked back to Kari Axel laced his fingers with Roxas's and
playfully swung their joined hands back and forth, a large smile plastered on
his face as he watched their hands. This didn't go unnoticed to Roxas. The
blond squeezed the other's fingers and participated in swinging their hands.
"So I was wondering, how is it you have indoor plumbing here? And a heater for
hot water?" Roxas asked as they made it to the edge of the clearing and by
their meal, which Kairi decided to take a couple of bites out of.
"It was like this when I got here along with a journal but I have no idea what
it says." Axel said with a shrug, "The rooms and everything were all carved in.
It was a lucky find on my part, only had to chase out a couple of rodents." He
sat down next to the nibbled on fox and pulled Roxas down with him, "I didn't
really understand plumbing or any of that beforehand so it took some adjusting
to. You like it right?"
"I do." Roxas said with a large smile. Then he took in Axel's appearance for
the first time that day and just realized that his mate wasn't limping and he
had shifted earlier to catch their food, "Hey Axel, how are you walking
normally?"
Axel looked himself up and down like Roxas had pointed out he had grown a third
leg or something, "I took something Fran gave me back when I left her burrow
with Kairi. It's meant to jolt your body to help make recovery speed up. But
it's rare to find and taken too much can kill you instead of heal. But I needed
to hunt for you and Kairi, so…" The redhead let his sentence hang as he guided
Roxas over to his kill.
Roxas looked down at the torn up fox and felt bile rise up in the back of his
throat but the growl of his stomach made the food look more appetizing. He
remembered back at the diner how his grilled cheese didn't have the same taste
anymore but a bloody steak tasted like heaven. Maybe all he needed to do was
get used to the fact that he just had to eat dead animals.
Axel grabbed something from his pocket which gleamed in the sunlight. Roxas
quickly noted it was the switchblade he would usually eat with. The redhead cut
some meat away before handing the food and knife to Roxas. Roxas gratefully
took the offerings and carefully placed the meat in his mouth hoping he was
right about his body adjusting to the new food. He could feel the slimy meat
slide down his throat. There was the metallic taste of blood mixed with the
rich taste of fox flesh and muscle. It was actually pretty good.
Roxas's stomach let out a fierce growl as it got its first taste of food in two
days and the blond let himself go and indulge. Yes he found the thought of
eating raw fox right off the bone gross, but the taste was just too good that
it made up for it. Axel chuckled at Roxas before standing up and saying
something about how Roxas could have it and he was going to catch something for
him and Kairi. From the corner of his eye Roxas saw Axel go back to the
oleander tree where he had let his shirt, and stripped off his remaining
clothes before changing into a wolf and running off to find his next kill. He
could hear Kairi laughing in the background, he glanced over and saw her
chasing a couple of butterflies around the field.
By the time Roxas had eaten his fill the fox was practically gone. But just in
time for Axel to come back with two decent sized hares. He hadn't changed back
into his human form and curled up behind Roxas turning himself into the blond's
makeshift backrest. Roxas gladly snuggled up to the warmth. Between the soft,
cuddly wolf and his full stomach Roxas felt himself slowly drift off to sleep
completely brushing off the fact he had only recently woken up.
Axel peered over his shoulder to gaze at his sleeping mate and the sight of the
teen cuddling up to his side. He gave the sleeping Lycanthrope an affectionate
lick before turning back to his meal. Kairi had wondered over and grabbed one
of the hares and started to pick the tuffs of fur off of it, her eyes set on
Roxas.
"Big Brother?"
"Hmm?" Axel asked around a mouthful of food.
"Do you think he's gonna stay with us forever?" The girl's voice was filled
with melancholy as she pulled some meat off her meal and plopped it in her
mouth.
Axel finished the food in his mouth as he thought of his answer, "I hope so
Kairi. I really do."
***** What's Wrong Little Red? *****
Cloud sighed as he stared at Squall. The Tree Nymph had come into the blond's
life about two weeks ago and Cloud had decided the brunette was the most boring
thing he had ever had the displeasure of meeting. Sure he wasn't all that fun
himself per say, but he could at least keep a conversation going and he would
pull the occasional prank or two. Squall on the other hand just sat around and
took in nature. Not to mention the big threat Roxas was scared of didn't seem
to be happening.
The eldest Jecht sighed as he leaned back into the grass. His hands pillowed
under his head as he looked up at the sky. He was currently waiting for Sora to
come home from school and quiz him on Vexen's behavior just like he's done
every day since he got back from his little adventure in the woods. Sora was a
bit wary of his brother's questioning at first but Sora being Sora just
shrugged it off and indulged Cloud.
Squall was introduced to the family as a friend that had just moved to town and
worked with Cloud. He would come over when Sora came home from school to help
with the 'interrogation' and was always invited to stay for dinner. Cloud was
getting the sickening feeing that his mother was using Squall to fill the void
Roxas had left.
Speaking of Roxas, the cops had waited the required three days to find him.
They searched all over town, even the ocean that was a few miles away, but they
wouldn't go in the surrounding woods, not even close in fact. All because of
some rumors, granted Cloud now knew that they weren't just legends and were in
fact all true. But still, the police force should be looking anywhere and
everywhere for his little brother.
"If you keep making that face it's going to stick like that." The Nymph said as
he tapped Cloud's side with his toe. Over the weeks Squall had adapted his
clothing from his earthy colored outfit made from natural fabrics to something
more 80's style complete with leather jacket and pants, he even bought boots
but he didn't wear them unless he had to.
Cloud grumbled as he rolled away from the assaulting foot, "What's it to you?
Leave me alone and hug a tree or something." Blue eyes pierced into grey as if
Cloud was daring Squall to keep annoying him. Apparently the Nymph took the
challenge to a personal level and he poked Cloud with his bare toes again,
forcing the blond to roll away from him again. The two continued to play their
little game of kick the Cloud till a new person showed up.
"Hey Cloud. Hi-ya Squall! Um…What are you two doing" Sora asked with his head
cocked to the side. By this point Cloud was half way in Yuna's small flower
garden with Squall's big toe in his grasp.
Cloud tossed the foot away from him and sat up, "Nothing. How was school
today?" The eldest Jecht asked. His blue eyes sending a weary glance towards
Squall like he was expecting the Nymph to kick him again.
"Boring as usual. Mr. Vexen wasn't in today which was weird, but the sub was
pretty cool and just put a movie on for us to watch." Sora explained with a
nonchalant shrug, he knew all Cloud cared about was his old science teacher for
some reason. Ever since his twin's disappearance, Sora hadn't been his happy-
go-lucky self. He became some watered down, knockoff brand of Sora. Cloud
wanted to tell the brunet all about Roxas and the mess he had gotten himself
into, but he knew the time wasn't right. Maybe it would never be the right time
and a part of Cloud's heart broke at the thought of his little brother never
acting the same again.
Naminé had been affected by the whole ordeal too. The blond eight year old had
taken to spending more time in her room and keeping to herself. She stopped
laughing as much too, which left a sour taste in Cloud's mouth.
"He wasn't in? Isn't that odd?" Squall said as he backed away from the blond.
He took to leaning against the side of the house with one foot pressed on the
wall and his arms across his chest. His eyes were closed as he thought of where
the old Lycanthrope could have gone off too. Maybe back to his den? But that
didn't answer why.
Cloud seemed to be caught off guard by Sora's answer too and had a look on his
face like someone had slapped him. He slowly stood back up and started to walk
in the house as he scratched the back of his head as he tried to think of a
reason. Vexen had never called in sick or taken a vacation ever since he had
gone to the school. Something was definitely wrong.
Sora on the other hand, didn't seem to mind the fact that his science teacher
wasn't in that day, "So Squall, are you staying over for dinner again?"
"If your mother says it's okay. I don't want to impose or anything." The Nymph
said.
Cloud rolled his blue eyes and grabbed the taller brunet by the elbow and
started to walk towards the house, "Of course she won't mind. Now come on, Mom
should be done cooking soon." The blond said with an irritated growl, "You're
practically family to her now." He opened the back door and walked into the
kitchen with both brunets close behind him.
"Oh, Sora! How was school today?" Yuna asked as she stirred whatever she was
cooking on the stove. Her mismatched eyes zeroed in on the three boys with a
large smile on her face that Cloud knew was a façade.
Sora grabbed a soda out of the fridge before sitting down and retelling his day
to Yuna. Cloud, not really caring about Sora's school day, went to look for his
baby sister.
Naminé was sitting in her room with her back facing Cloud. Her shoulders were
hunched and her blond hair hung in her face so Cloud couldn't see.
"Hey, what did you get into?" Cloud asked as he tried to look over the small
girl's shoulder.
Naminé didn't seem to notice Cloud's entrance and jumped when he spoke. Spooked
blue eyes looked over at the older blond. With her quick, small hands Naminé
closed a book that was on her lap and stuffed it under her sketch pad, "Cl-
Cloud! What are you doing here?"
Cloud just chuckled as he took a seat next to his sister, "I just wanted to
check up on you. What were you looking at?" He asked as he reached for the not
so well hidden notebook.
A small hand clamped around a large wrist, "No wait!" Naminé cried as she
pulled Cloud away from the book. She grabbed the book and held it to her chest
in a protective manner, "It's private. I can't show you."
Cloud noticed that the notebook was Roxas's old notebook for his English class.
How did Naminé get ahold of it? The eldest Jecht suspected that the little one
had snuck down into the basement and grabbed it out of Roxas's things. He
wasn't mad at Naminé for doing that, he completely understood the girl was
missing her brother and wanted something to make her feel closer to the lost
Jecht.
With a light sigh Cloud go up and rubbed the girl's head, "Well just be good.
Dinner should be done soon." And with that said, Cloud got up and left the room
leaving Naminé to herself.
Blue eyes followed Cloud's retreating figure with a bated breath. Once the boy
was out of sight, the girl opened the book and let her eyes fly over the page
to find where she had left off.
Once upon a time there was a young boy named Little Red. One day Little Red's
mother asked him to deliver some food to his grandmother. Little Red was warned
not to wander off the path that lead through the forest to his grandmother's
home.
Naminé rolled her eyes at the clichéd story she asked Roxas not to write. So
far the story had been like any other retelling of the fairy tale, the only
difference was that Little Red went from being a girl to a boy. But the young
girl wouldn't let that stop her from reading from the notebook that had found
its way into her box of art supplies. She didn't know why but Naminé felt like
Roxas had come back just to give it to her. And maybe, just maybe, it was his
way of telling her what happened.
While Little Red walked down the same old path he wandered down every week. He
couldn't help but feel bored. Every week was the same thing. Go to school, go
home, and go deliver groceries to his grandmother. Little Red wasn't even half
way down the path when a stranger stepped in his way. He was a tall man, with
wild red hair, and a wicked grin. His eyes screamed danger and Little Red
couldn't help but be drawn towards them.
"Why hello little one." The man said as he approached Red, "I know a shortcut
to where you're going. Come with me." He held out a hand and waited for the boy
to take it.
Red looked from the stranger then towards the dirt road that he was accustomed
to. A stone felt like it had settled in the pit of his stomach. Should he take
a chance and go with the stranger, or take the safe path that he knew would
safely take him to his grandmother's home?
"Naminé! Dinner!" Auron yelled up the stairs making the girl jump. She heard
the sound of footsteps coming up to come get her. Not wanting anyone to find
the book with her special story, Naminé quickly ran towards her art chest and
placed the book under her paints and crayons.
Just then the door opened and her dad poked his head through the doorway, "Hey
Nami, dinner's done. Common sweetie." Tidus held out his hand for the girl to
grab and led her down to the kitchen so the family could enjoy a nice hot meal
together.
~X~x~X~x~
"Three…Two…One! Ready or not here I come!" Roxas cried as he pushed off the
tree and looked across the abandoned clearing. Both redheads were absent but
the teen knew they were close by. He tapped his toe in thought as he tried to
think of where the two were hiding at.
Roxas had to quickly raise his hand to his mouth to cover a yawn. Over the past
couple of days the blond had found himself getting tired easily, but that may
have something to do with Axel trying and failing at teaching him how to hunt.
A giggle to the far left caught Roxas's ear and he quickly turned to see a
short girl run from one tree to the next and try to climb it. Roxas pretended
he didn't see Kairi as she scrambled up the tree. When she lost her footing and
fell down from the lower branch, a wail of pain echoed throughout the forest as
Kairi landed. Roxas bolted towards the girl and scooped her up in his arms.
"Shh...It's okay." Roxas cooed as he combed his fingers through the girl's
shoulder length hair. With his free hand he quickly patted Kairi down looking
for any scrap or bruise she may have gotten. He found a small blemish was on
the girl's knee, but other than that, she seemed to have survived the fall
without any broken bones, which Roxas was grateful for.
"What happened?" Axel asked as he sat down next to Roxas and took his sister
into his lap. He did a double check and breathed out a sigh of relief when he
didn't see anything life threatening, "Are you okay Kai?" Axel asked as he
brushed tears off of the small girl's cheeks.
Kairi nodded her head as she tried to stop her tears. Tiny hands clung onto
Axel as she tried to calm herself down, "My leg hurts Big Brother." The girl
muttered as she buried her face in the man's shirt.
"Aww, I'm sorry Kai. Let me see." Axel moved the girl around so he had better
access to her injury and place a kiss on it, "There all better. I think you'll
live." Axel stood up with Kairi still in his arms, "Roxas can you bandage her
up for me so I can go grab us some lunch?"
"Yes. Of course." Roxas said as he sprung up from the ground and grabbed the
girl from his mate and balanced her on his hip. As he brought Kairi down to the
den, he saw Axel starting to strip from the corner of his eye. He could feel
his body heat up from every inch of pale skin that was revealed to him. Roxas
quickly squished the feeling down, he had to fix up Kairi's knee and didn't
need any more personal time with his mate. Roxas's face flushed as he thought
about how over the week long course of his heat, he had done some unspeakable
things with Axel. They had been more careful than their first time and both had
been more conscious about preventing any unexpected pregnancies.
Roxas went straight for the bathroom and sat the girl down on the toilet. He
then rummaged through a cabinet, hoping the creatures of the forest knew how to
make peroxide or something. All he found were some jars with names he had never
heard of before.
The first one called Elixer. It had a calming yellow color to it. Mako was an
unearthly shade of blue and Roxas could have sworn it was radiating pure
energy. It was also half full showing it had recently been used. Either and
Remedy looked close to the same thing and if they weren't labeled correctly,
one might get them mixed up. What were these? "Umm…Kairi, do you know what any
of these do?" Roxas meekly asked as he rubbed the back of his neck.
The redhead girl looked over at the mixes and shrugged. She had never learned
how to use herbs and medicines. Fran had promised to show her when she got
older in hopes that she would become the next forest healer; but her training
hadn't started yet.
"Hmm…maybe just patching it up would work. I mean it's not deep so I don't
think it'll get an infection." Roxas dug through the cabinet until he found a
pack of gauze and a roll of medical tape. He then grabbed a rag and put it
under the warm water. "Okay, come here kiddo." Roxas said as he knelt in front
of Kairi and scrubbed her knee to take out any dirt that may have gotten in the
cut. Once he was satisfied with his work, he quickly taped on some gauze,
"There. All done. Feel better?"
Kairi nodded her head as she kicked her leg around to see if her leg still
hurt. It stung but she could deal with it, "A lot. Thanks Roxy." She held her
arms out signaling for Roxas to pick her up, "Can we take a nap before Big
Brother comes back?"
Fatigue hit Roxas like a pile of rocks. He yawned and nodded his head. Roxas
picked up the small girl and carried her to his room. The two laid down and
embraced in an innocent cuddle. Roxas wound his arms around Kairi and puller
her close. Kairi clung to the blond's shirt and used his bicep as a pillow. It
didn't take long for the two to fall into a deep sleep.
~X~x~X~x~
"Roxas wake up." Axel gently said as he shook Roxas by the shoulder. He had
recently gotten back from his hunt, and had gotten Kairi up and fed. All there
was to do was wake up his mate and get some lunch in his stomach too.
Roxas groaned as he rolled over in an attempt to move away from the annoying
hands on him. Axel would have none of that; he knew Roxas needed to get some
food in his stomach. With a sigh he sat down next the sleeping teen and rubbed
his back, "C'mon wake up. If you sleep any longer you won't go to bed tonight."
Axel pleaded. When that didn't work the redhead leaned over his mate so he was
looking at Roxas from a sideways angle, "Wake up sleepy head." And he assaulted
the blond's face with kisses.
Roxas grunted as he pushed Axel's face away from him, "Fuck off." He muttered
as he rolled onto his stomach so Axel couldn't reach his face anymore.
Axel wasn't going to give up. He rearranged himself so he was laying on top of
Roxas as he started to nip and nibble on the blond's earlobe, "Get. Up. Now."
The man said in between bites. His hands wandered down to Roxas's sides,
digging his fingers into the yielding flesh.
Roxas didn't seem to like that and in a flash he had flipped over and pushed
Axel so hard the redhead fell off the bed with an 'oof'. He glowered down at
the man with dangerous looking eyes and bared teeth, "Never fucking touch me
again. Do you hear me? If you ever come near me again, I will tear your face
off so fast you won't even know what happened." Small hands grabbed the edge of
the bed so tight they turned white, "I don't even love you."
Something broke inside Axel as the last words were said. True Roxas had never
said anything about having feelings of love towards him, but the man had hoped
that after all that had happened, Roxas would have loved him.
Axel went to get up to leave Roxas alone and give him some time to calm down,
but before he could push himself up, a body crashed into him and pushed him
back to the ground. Tears stained his shirt as blond spikes rubbed against his
cheek.
"I'm sorry Axel." Roxas cried in a watery voice. He sucked back some snot, "I
don't not love you." The blond wrapped his legs so they were locked together
under Axel's back, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." He kept muttering into Axel's chest.
Axel was, at loss for better words, confused. He had woken Roxas up from naps
plenty of times and this was a first. He patted Roxas on the back, whispering
calming words into the teen's ear. He carefully sat up and after making sure
Roxas was clamped firmly around him, stood up so he could place Roxas on the
bed. Axel pulled Roxas away from him so he could look down at teary blue eyes,
"Hey now, calm down. Take a deep breath in." Roxas did as told, "And out." The
whole time Axel kept his hands on Roxas's shoulders to keep the blond in place.
Once Roxas had calmed down a bit, Axel pulled him back to his feet, dragged the
teen out of the room, and started up the stairs, "Okay its lunch time now."
Roxas didn't fight Axel as he was lead outside and towards a pile of de-furred
squirrels. Bile started to rise in the back of Roxas's throat when the smell of
the bloody meat hit his nostrils. Blunt fingernails dug into Axel's wrist as
the blond tried to escape the man's grip so he could go relive himself from the
acid that was starting to bubble on his tongue. Out of relax Axel let go at the
bite in his wrist and had enough time to turn around and watch as Roxas ran
away with his hand over his mouth.
Axel wanted to go run after his mate but the sounds of him retching hindered
the redhead. As much as he wanted to make sure Roxas was okay, Axel didn't want
to go near any vomit. Once Roxas was done he walked back to Axel. His
complexion was pale and his eyes were lidded. He held his arms were held out in
a silent plea for Axel to hold him. Not wanting to have another episode like
the one in the bedroom, Axel quickly gathered the teen in his arms and held him
close.
"Big Brother, is Roxy okay?" Kairi asked as she tugged on Axel's pants. The
worried look on her face didn't seem to ease Axel's anxiety any less. He had a
feeling he knew what was wrong. Maybe he should make a trip to see Fran.
"He is. Hey Kairi, how would you feel about going to see Aunty Fran? I think
she should check out Roxas." Axel explained as he rubbed Roxas's back, "Do you
think you're up for walking or do you want me to carry you?" He asked Roxas. He
felt the blond nod against his chest and without a second's hesitation Axel
scooped his mate up so he was holding him like a mother would carry her child,
"Come on Kairi let's go."
***** Too Young for This *****
"Fran!" Axel called as he carried Roxas into the clearing where the Viera
lived. The sun was starting to set behind him, but the redhead didn't care
since his family was surrounded by aster flowers; the magical plant that was
the bane of Heartless. Roxas was still curled up in Axel's chest. He had long
ago stopped crying and had just stared blankly off into space, which worried
Axel a bit. Kairi clung to Axel's pant leg and had closely followed her brother
from their den to Fran's burrow.
The sliver haired woman came up from her burrow. One of her ears was cocked to
the side in confusion, "Axel? What's wrong?" She asked as she took in the blond
in Axel's arms and the shell shocked Kairi. She approached the family
cautiously. Once close she reached out to touch Roxas, but Axel pulled him away
and growled at the woman. Fran just frowned at Axel, "You know I won't hurt
him. Now calm down and let me see what's wrong." Her voice was sharp and firm
as she commanded the Lycanthrope.
Axel flinched from the Viera's tone, "Yes ma'am. Where should I put him?" The
redhead asked as he shuffled the upset boy in his arms.
"Down in your old room would be good. He doesn't look so well, I want to give
him a full work-up." The woman placed her hand on Axel's shoulder and led the
small family down her burrow.
Axel shifted the blond in his arms so it would be easier for him to walk down
the steep stairs. Roxas moaned as he buried his face in the crook of Axel's
neck. His stomach tossed and turned with every step. He finally sighed in
relief as Axel gently placed him down on a soft bed.
"I think I know what's wrong with him." Axel said as he gently rubbed his hand
over Roxas's flat stomach.
"Wha-?" Roxas asked as he tried to sit up, only to be pushed back down by
Axel's strong hand. He tried to push the hand off of him, but Axel was stronger
and managed to hold the blond in place.
Fran seemed to understand what Axel meant as she replaced the redhead's hands
with hers. She lightly rubbed around Roxas's stomach and chest area all while
gauging Roxas's reactions. The blond withered from the touch, his sensitive
skin tingled from the simple touches.
Fran hummed as she gently pressed down on Roxas's abdomen making Roxas cry out
in pain. That got Axel's attention. The redhead grabbed the Viera by her hand
and pulled her away from his mate, "What are you doing?" He growled so low that
it scared everyone, including Kairi who was cowering on the other side of the
bed; one hand desperately clutching to one of Roxas's hands.
"I'm just checked for, umm, pregnancy." Fran carefully said as her hands moved
around Roxas's midsection a bit more.
The blond froze at the woman's words. His eyes widened in fear as he gaped up
at Axel and Fran, "What?" He quietly whispered, "But you promised nothing would
happen Axel." Tears started to spill from his crystal blue eyes, "Axel I can't
do this!"
"Hey, hey, calm down." Axel cooed as he sat down next to Roxas, his hand
replaced Fran's as he felt the hardening abdomen, "I know I promised and I'm
sorry. I didn't intend for this to happen. But you can't tell me you're not a
bit happy?" The redhead questioned as he petted his mate.
"Roxy is going to have a litter?" Kairi innocently asked as she climbed on the
bed as well and felt the blond's stomach, with a joyful laughter, "I get to
have a family again!" She cheered.
"N-no!" Roxas yelled as he pushed the two off of him so he could sit up, "I
don't want this. I'm too young for this." Roxas pulled his knees up to his
chest.
Fran grabbed Kairi and pulled her off of the bed and carried her towards the
door, "It's still uncertain if you are or not. I'll go prepare a test for you
so we'll be one-hundred percent sure." With that said the woman closed the door
behind her, leaving Roxas and Axel alone to discuss their little problem.
Roxas scooted away from his mate, "I don't want this." Axel tried to hold the
blond, but was violently pushed away, "No. Don't touch me." Watery blue eyes
glared daggers at Axel, "I told you I don't want this. I'm a man for fucks
sake! I shouldn't be able to have kids. This is too fucked up!" Roxas buried
his head between his legs, "I want to go home."
"We don't even know for sure yet." Axel muttered with a slight bitterness in
his tone. He knew Roxas was still adjusting to his new life and he shouldn't
take everything his mate says personally, but Roxas sounded like he resented
the idea of having Axel's puppies. And the redhead didn't like that at all.
Roxas snapped his head up so he could glare at Axel, "Oh come on. We both know
I…I'm-" A broken sob cut the blond off. He covered his mouth with his hand as
he openly cried. He wanted to get away. He wanted more than anything to get
back home, climb into bed, and pretend this was all just a vivid dream.
Axel knew what Roxas said was true. He had morning sickness, food made him
violently sick, His mood swings were nothing to joke with, and he had admitted
Axel a couple of times that he felt funny and couldn't figure out what it was.
Fran took that moment to come back into the room with a vile filled with clear
liquid and Kairi on her heels, "Okay so this test is pretty straight forward.
All you have to do is prick your finger and let the blood fall in. If the
liquid turns blue you're expecting. If it turns red then you're not." The Viera
produced a sharp pin, "This will hurt for only a moment." She said as she
grabbed Roxas's hand and jabbed his finger.
Roxas bit his lip at the prick, but didn't let up until he brought his hand
over to the vile and flipped his hand over so the blood would drip down into
it. It was a tense minute between the four in the room as the test turned
different colors, trying to decide Roxas's fate. The blond held his breath and
didn't notice Axel slipping their hands together and giving him a reassuring
squeeze. No matter what happened he would stand beside his mate and try to
support him thought everything.
Then the array of colors stopped at a solid blue.
A low whimper came from Roxas but was covered up by the loud cheer that from
Kairi as she latched herself to the blond, "I can't wait to be an aunty!" She
cried as she buried her face in Roxas's stomach, a large smile on her face.
Tears started to flow freely from Roxas's eyes but he couldn't be bothered
about it. He felt like his life was over. Only sixteen and was already well on
his way to having a cozy little family. This wasn't what he was expecting out
of life. Have a family, yes. But when he was much older and done with college
and working a steady, well-paying job. Not to mention it wouldn't be his kid
since he and his partner would have to adopt.
"Roxy? What's wrong?" Kairi asked as her face got wet from the blond's tears,
"Those are happy tears right?" She pulled on Roxas's shirt sleeve to grab his
attention.
Axel pried his sister off of his mate and placed the girl on his lap, "Kai, I
don't think right now is the right time. Why don't you go outside and play?"
The redhead placed Kairi on the ground and nudged her towards the door.
But Kairi wouldn't have any of that. She stood her ground and looked at the
weeping blond, "Why are you so upset Roxy?" She demanded, "Mama taught me that
babies are a good thing! Don't you want to start a new family with me and Big
Brother?" The nine year olds voice sound so hurt and broken, but Roxas was too
wrapped up in his own misery that he couldn't be bothered to care, "Roxy?"
Kairi demanded as she grabbed onto the blond's arm wanting an answer.
"Kairi. Go outside now." Axel said in a low tone making his little sister
flinch away from Roxas. The girl looked up at her brother with big teary eyes,
"Now. I'll come get you soon." The redhead demanded with a growl.
With a defeated pout the youngest Lycanthrope quietly left the room. Fran
looked at the couple with sad eyes. She knelt by the bed and took Roxas by the
hands. Her dark eyes looked into sky blue, "Roxas, I know this is hard, but
what's done is done. The only thing you can do is hope the pups are healthy.
And there's one more thing you need to decide."
"What would that be?" Roxas asked in a less than pleasant voice. His hands
slinked out of Fran's grip and he gingerly felt his midsection as he tried to
feel any movement or something to confirm to himself that there was indeed a
being (or beings) growing inside of him. He frowned more when he didn't feel
anything, but then the thought of how it's only been a couple of weeks so
whatever was inside him was probably too small to feel.
"You have two choices. Since you're pregnancy is still early on it's not a big
factor, but in a week or so you won't be able to change without hurting the
little ones. You can either have a quick pregnancy by staying in your wolf
form, or you can have a normal human pregnancy that lasts a good amount
longer." The Viera explained as she stood up, "I'll leave you and Axel to talk
about it." And with that said the woman left the room to go find Kairi and calm
the upset girl down.
The two mates sat in silence for a while, just thinking about what would happen
between them. Axel was afraid that after all that has happened and all of his
trying to win Roxas over had completely gone down the drain. His eyes studied
the ground as his fist clenched at his pants. Maybe if Roxas's heat didn't come
so soon they wouldn't have this problem now.
Roxas on the other hand knew his anger was rightfully placed on Axel. It was
the redhead's fault he was in this predicament. First because he gave Roxas
false information when he agreed to go with him, and then breaking his promise
about not knocking the teen up.
The room filled with an awkward silence before Roxas finally broke it, "Why."
Was all that was said. His eyes moved from his stomach and towards Axel, "Why
me? Was I just something you saw out in town and you just decided you needed to
have me?"
"Because you're my mate."
"How did you know? Just from that shock? Because that could have very well been
static electricity." Roxas defended with a huff. He didn't want to be here if
it was just some stupid fluke. He had his own life to live and a family that
was probably going crazy looking for him.
Axel sighed as he leaned back on his hands, he didn't know how to explain it to
Roxas, "Come here." Axel said as he tugged Roxas closer to him. Once the blond
was by Axel's side the redhead took Roxas's hand and placed it on his chest,
"This is how I know." Roxas felt the soft thumping of Axel's heart under his
hand, "It beats only for you." The redhead whispered.
Roxas blushed at that. He wanted to be pulled into his mate's embrace and be
lulled to sleep by the beating of Axel's heart, but a part of him knew he
couldn't do that for one simple reason, "But you didn't even know me. Hell you
still don't know me." Roxas pulled his hands away from Axel. The blond then
stood up and paced towards the door, "I can just go home. I can just run away
and pretend this never happened." It was said mostly to himself, but Axel heard
him.
"No you can't." The older Lycanthrope said with his arms crossed. Green eyes
dug into the door like if he stared hard enough it would combust and keep Roxas
from leaving, "You have a litter inside you. What will you do when you start to
get bigger and bigger, and have to give birth?" Axel stood up and grabbed Roxas
by the shoulders so the blond had to look at him, "This is what you chose. Now
suck it up."
A low whimper escaped from the back of Roxas's throat as he clamped onto the
front of Axel's shirt. Hot tears spilt from his eyes and soaked the man's
shirt, "I'm scared."
Axel wrapped his arms around Roxas's shoulders and pulled the crying boy into a
tight hug. He placed his head on top of blond spikes and breathed in the scent
of his mate, "I know you are. So am I. But we really do need to figure out what
you want to do about what form you want to stay in."
~x~X~x~X~
Sora sighed in relief as the school bell rang. Science class was done for the
day. It was also the last class of the day. As the brunet started to gather his
things the old man standing at the front of the room studied the boy with cold
eyes, a smirk on his face as he plotted what he was going to do.
Sora swung his backpack over one shoulder and started walking towards the door,
completely unaware of the eyes on him. He made it half way down the hall before
he caught something from the corner of his eye, "Squall? Is that you?" He asked
in disbelief. This was the first time he had seen the man not by his brother's
side, "Why are you here?"
The Nymph didn't seem so shocked to see Sora. In fact he came with the
intentions of coming to escort the boy home since Cloud was being paranoid but
had to work, "I'm trying to get a job and Cloud said the school was looking for
a janitor or something." The man said as Sora walked closer to him.
"Well the office is the other way. Come on I'll bring you." The by smiled as he
grabbed Squall by the elbow and dragged him off in the right direction.
What the two brunets didn't notice was the science teacher standing outside of
this door watching them. He snarled as the scent of Squall caught his nose.
Foliage and dirt. The man frowned as he realized that his mission had been
compromised by that blasted Nymph. He would have to take care of him if he
wanted to get to his pray before Xemnas lost his patients.
***** Tall Tail Pt1 *****
Roxas stared blankly at the wall in front of him. It had been three days the
big announcement and he still didn't know how he felt. He still wouldn't let
Axel touch him and if the redhead was anywhere near him, Roxas would make sure
to glare at him in hopes that the man would leave him alone. At night Roxas
would go to bed early just to escape the siblings and Kairi's questions on why
he hated them so much. He wasn't sure if Axel came into the room at night and
left early, or if he just slept in Kairi's room, and quite frankly he didn't
care; he liked not having to see Axel first thing in the morning.
The blond reached under his shirt and gently felt his still flat stomach. Fran
had said he could lose the babies if he changed mid-pregnancy. But could he do
it? Roxas was very prochoice and felt it was the woman (or in this case,
Roxas's) choice to do what she wished with her (his) body. He wouldn't feel bad
if he did it. But could he do it? And would his body suffer from any side
effects? He should have asked Fran before he had left her home.
The sound of heavy footfalls sounded as someone waked down the stairs. Roxas
didn't want to be disturbed, so he quickly hid himself under the blankets to
give the illusion of sleep just as the bedroom door squeaked open.
"See I told you. This is all he does. I'm getting worried." That was defiantly
Axel.
"He's totally faking. Can't you tell from the breathin' pattern?" A different
voice said. The gruff and confident tone sounded familiar to Roxas but he
couldn't quite place it.
Roxas felt the bed dip as someone sat next to him. A warm hand rested against
his forehead making the blond flinch away, "Come one Roxas, we know you're up."
Axel said in annoyed tone as he pulled the blanket off of Roxas revealing a
very pissed off looking blond.
Roxas just glared at his mate before his eyes drifted to the other man in the
room. At first Roxas didn't recognize him, but that smell definitely belonged
to Xigbar. The man had the same black with white stripes hair style like his
fur. His missing eye had been covered up by an eye patch. And his one golden
eye was filled with a mix of pity, sympathy, and a hint of humor like Roxas was
something to laugh at. Bitter memories of the first and only encounter flooded
the blond's mind. Xigbar had attacked Axel and was the one who got the redhead
to admit that he had bound himself to the blond.
"What are you doing here?" Roxas all but growled in a sad attempt to scare the
older man away. He bent his legs up and drew them close to his chest, trying to
put as much in between his belly and the threating looking man.
Xigbar held up his hands in defense to show he meant no harm, "Calm down. I'm
sorry about how I acted a few weeks ago, but I swear I'm a good guy." He
nervously glanced over at Axel like silently asking the redhead if he would
intervene if Roxas decided to attack him. When Axel nodded Xigbar continued, "I
heard about your problem and I thought I'd come over talk to you."
Roxas glared over at Axel. He felt himself get even angrier at the man. Why
would he tell anyone about the pregnancy? Roxas didn't want to keep it. He
wanted to get up and leave. What could Xigbar tell him? The man was a seasoned
Lycanthrope. There was no way he had ever been through something like this.
But before he could leave Axel clamped down on his forearm, "Please, just hear
him out. After you heard the story you can do whatever you want. I want you to
have the pups because of my own selfish desire to have a family, but if it's
not what you want, then I won't make you. I don't want to see you this upset
for the rest of your life. It'll hurt me just as much as it does you." The
redhead's voice was sincere making Roxas relax and look over at Xigbar.
"Fine. But after I get to choose what happens next. This is my life and I'll be
damned if I stick around here." The blond crossed his arms and scooted away
from Axel till his back his the headboard of the bed.
Axel sighed before getting up, "I better go help Demyx with the kids. I still
can't believe Xemans believed that you two were taking them out hunting." The
redhead mused to himself as he left the room and ascended the stairs to go help
his blond friend keep an eye on the pups as well as his little sister.
Once Axel was gone Xigbar took his spot on the bed. He put his hands behind him
and leaned back. A long sigh left the man as he looked up at the ceiling and
not Roxas, "Where to start?" He said more to himself than Roxas, "Well if you
couldn't tell from my age, I was changed. Just like you."
~X~x~X~x~FLASH~BACK~X~x~X~x~
"Xigbar!" A feminine voice called from the kitchen of the small home. The woman
had long black hair that was wrapped up in a loose bun and wide brown eyes. One
hand was placed on a wide hip while the other held a wooden spoon that was dyed
with red sauce, "Dinner's almost done. Put your guns away." The woman called
like the man was a child. She turned on her heel and walked back into the
kitchen to finish preparing their meal.
Xigbar sighed as he finished polishing his favorite rifle and placed it back on
the rack. His face was rid of scars and his missing eye still intact. After the
guns had been put away the man walked into the kitchen where he saw his wife
finishing up the food. Xigbar wrapped his arms around her waist, "Smells good
Tifa." He kissed Tifa on the cheek to grab a plate and start scooping food onto
it.
"How was the hunt today?" The woman asked as they sat at the table.
Xigbar cut up his meat before answering, "It was alright. There wasn't much
game out since the season's getting colder, but Tseng managed to shoot a buck.
He said once it's cleaned and cut up he'd give us some." Tifa hummed as she
took a bite of her food. Her body language was tense and she wouldn't make eye
contact with Xigbar which worried the man, "Did something happen today?" He
carefully asked.
The woman quickly looked up at her husband before looking back at her food. A
light blush crossed her face as she quickly said, "I'm pregnant." Her face
turned red as she look away and fiddled with her hands.
Xigbar looked up at his wife in shock. He felt his pulse pick up and a smile
spread across his face, "Honey that's amazing!" He yelled as he got up from his
seat and pulled Tifa into a tight hug, "I can't believe I get to finally be a
father." He said as he pulled away from the woman.
Tifa had tears in her eyes as she looked up at her husband, "Good. I was
worried for a moment." She confessed as she ran her fingers through Xigbar's
shoulder length hair, "I thought you'd be mad since it meant you would have to
stop playing with guns in the house. And you'll have to provide more. And I'm
going to get really hormonal and flip out on you a lot. And-" Tifa's ranting
got cut off as Xigbar kissed her.
When they parted Xigbar placed his hand on his wife's stomach, "So there's
something in there? That's so weird." He said with an amazed tone. It felt so
surreal for him. He and Tifa had been trying to have a baby for a few years now
only for their efforts to be proved fruitless. They had all but given up hope.
Tifa giggled as she put her hand on top of Xigbar's, "Yes there's a little
bitty baby in there. Now let's finish eating. I'm starved." The woman said as
she pushed Xigbar down in his seat so they could finish their dinner.
The couple sat around the table long after they had finished eating. Just
talking about the future and what they would name their baby and what the
gender would be. It wasn't till long after the lanterns and candles dimmed that
they decided to go to sleep. But when the made it their shared bed neither went
to sleep right away as they were too excited to show their love for one
another.
~X~x~X~x~
"So you're going to be a dad? Congrats." Said a man with long black hair that
was tied back in a ponytail and a birthmark on his forehead that was the in the
shape of a perfect circle. Over his shoulder he held his rifle. He and Xigbar
were walking through the woods looking for something to kill. It had been a
couple of weeks since Xigbar had found out about Tifa's pregnancy but he never
had a chance to tell his best friend.
"Yeah, kinda hard to believe." Xigbar agreed as he stopped to pour powder into
his own gun, "We've been trying for so long that I can't even believe it. But
her temper and cravings have gotten so bad that I know she isn't joking." The
golden eyed man cocked his gun and pointed it towards a rabbit, "Games getting
thin. Maybe we should gather as much as we can before everything leaves before
the first winter hits." He shot at the animal and it went down in an instant.
He bagged the rabbit, "There may be more if we go deeper."
Tseng agreed and followed his friend's lead and ventured farther into the
woods. The deeper they went the darker and thicker the trees got. I wasn't
until they got to a part they have never ventured before that one of them
spoke.
"Maybe we should get out of here. I've heard bad things about people who go too
far into these parts." Tseng said as he slowly walked behind Xigbar with wide
eyes. He felt himself flinch at any little noise, even if it was just him or
the other man stepping on a twig. Something didn't feel right, "Can we turn
back?"
Golden eyes looked over his shoulder, "We only caught one animal. Just one more
then we can go."
The two walked in silence until the sun started to sink in the sky. When the
shadows grew too dark and the noises started to intensify did Tseng say
something, "We need to go back. There's no animals here and probably for a good
reason." The man desperately grabbed onto Xigbar's coat sleeve, "What if the
legends are true. We can't be this far in this close to dusk."
Xigbar yanked his arm away from his friend and glared at him, "Those are just
tails to tell your kids so they behave and don't wonder off. Wait don't tell me
you actually believe in 'em?" The older man scoffed as he shook his head and
continued walking, "You can go home if you want. I want to find something more
than a rabbit for supper." With that said Xigbar walked away from Tseng.
"I won't come back to collect your bloody corps in the morning!" Tseng called
as he watched his friend walk away from him. The last thing he heard was a
laugh coming from Xigbar as the man was swallowed up by the trees.
Xigbar made sure he stayed close to the tree trunks as he walked so he wouldn't
be in plain view for whatever wildlife he came across would see him. It wasn't
until the man found himself close to a river that he knew flowed back into
town, so he wasn't lost. And there drinking from the crystal clear water was a
doe. Her brown fur practically glowed in the setting sun.
Xigbar quickly readied his rifle and pointed it at the deer. His finger ready
on the trigger and he was about to pull it but a large black beast pounced on
it. Golden eyes watched in mild horror and fascination as the monster dug its
claws into the doe's back as it clamped its powerful jaws in her throat. The
way the red blood splattered over the beast's fur coat was almost mesmerizing,
and Xigbar couldn't take his eyes off of it.
The great beast had finished its kill and began to feast upon it. A fleeting
thought of shooting the monster crossed Xigbar's mind, but it was too late. He
stumbled while trying to take aim and snapped a twig, alerting the black
monster.
Its blue eyes zeroed in on the poor man and lunged just as the shot of a gun
went off.
Xigbar cried out in agony as he felt the hot sensation of his body getting torn
open. He felt the beast bite into his neck, and at that moment he knew he was
as good as dead. He could feel his body go numb as his body was crushed and
torn apart. Before he completely blacked out, Xigbar felt his eye get spired on
a large tooth and yanked out.
~X~x~X~x~
"Wha-! Oh no! Papa! Reno! Help!" A loud voice yelled as they knelt beside the
mangled body, "You'll be alright. I promise you." The boy wept as he gingerly
touched Xigbar's marked neck. He yelped and pulled his hand away as a shock ran
through his fingers and up his arm till it reached his heart and making pound
in his chest. Sea green eyes widened as they looked down at the unconscious
man, his mouth hanging open in shock. "N...no. This can't be." He muttered to
himself as he franticly looked around to see if the help he had called for had
come yet.
Two wolves, once black and one red, came running towards the sitting blond to
see what the commotion was. The black one bumped the boy's chin with its muzzle
as it tried to calm him down, "Shh…It's okay. We'll fix him up. Reno does he
look like anyone?"
The red wolf sniffed the unconscious body, "No. He doesn't smell like any of
the Lycanthropes I've come across. Maybe a new pack decided to settle in the
woods." Blue eyes looked over to the boy, "Demyx, what's wrong? He'll live. He
just needs medical attention now. Can you help move him to my back so I can
carry him?" Demyx numbly nodded his head as he gently moved the broken body
onto the now laying down wolf's back. Once Xigbar was safely secured Reno stood
up and looked back at the other two, "I'll go head and make sure he gets help.
You two finish finding food. See you back at the dens Noctis!" And with that
said the red wolf ran away, being careful not to jostle the man too much.
When he was out of sight Noctis looked over at Demyx, "Why are you crying?
He'll be fine, you heard Reno." The wolf went back to nuzzling his child,
"What's wrong?"
Watery eyes looked into dry blue eyes, "He shocked me." Demyx wailed again, "I
don't want my mate to die." He clung onto the thick fur and buried his face in
it, inhaling the familiar scent of his father.
Noctis's eyes widened at what his son had said, "Are you sure? And just because
there was something there doesn't mean that he'll accept you. Don't get your
hopes up just for a stranger." The black wolf nudged Demyx till he finally
stood up, "Now let's go hunt. Hurry up and change." The alpha ordered.
~X~x~X~x~
Xigbar groaned as he tried to move his arm but found it hurt too much. His
whole body felt like lead. He tried to open his eyes but everything just came
out blurry. Then there was this weird feeling in the pit of his stomach. It
told him there was more people in the room, but they smelt funny; which was
weird to Xigbar since he's never noticed the smell of other people or if their
smell was even off. But some part of him screamed 'That person isn't human! Get
away!' Xigbar tried to listen to that little voice in his head, but his aching
and broken body wouldn't listen to him and move.
"H-hey don't do…do that." The not-person said as they gently pressed down on
his chest to stop him from moving too much, "There. I should go tell Papa
you're awake." And with that Xigbar heard a bit of shuffling and then silence.
Xigbar opened his eye and wanted to shut it just from the strain. Everything
was blurry to the point that he couldn't make out what he was looking at. He
also noted that everything seemed to be a bit off like on eye was covered.
Ignoring his body's protests, the man lifted his arm and reached up and felt
his face with almost numb fingertips. There was cloth. Lots and lots of cloth.
It covered most of his face and only his one right eye and mouth were exposed.
What the fuck had happened?
Just then he smelt more than heard three people enter wherever he was. The
smell of the original person was back but it seemed to be dwarfed to the other
ones. Xigbar tried to sit up and see who they were but only saw a hand reach
over and push him back down, "I wouldn't move if I were you. You were pretty
beat up when we found you. I'm actually surprised you made it through the past
couple of days, seeing as how you were out with the Heartless for the first
night."
"Reno!" A new voice scolded, "Can you not talk like that? We have other issues
to discuss." The man leaned over so he was in Xigbar's line of vision. He had
shaggy black hair that fell in his dark blue eyes and seemed to fly everywhere.
He seemed to look down at Xigbar like he was some science experiment gone
wrong, "Who are you and why were you in our territory?" He demanded with a
scowl.
Xigbar frowned right back, "What do you mean your territory? I was only out
hunting to get food for my wife and friend when a monster attacked me!" He
tried to sit up again but was again pushed back down by the blond.
"Wife?" The blond, who looked to be about nineteen to Xigbar, asked. He had
tears in his eyes as he looked down at the ground, "I thought that…" His voice
trailed off and his hands balled into fists. He looked so upset and disturbed,
but Xigbar couldn't understand why.
"Yes…that's what people do when they reach a certain age, they get married and
have kids. You're probably too young to understand though." Xigbar explained as
he looked at the blond. Why did the boy seem so turn up about him having a
wife? It made no sense.
"I'm not old!" The boy interjected, "I'm almost fully grown! I won't be a pup
by the end of the year." His eyes left the ground and looked straight into
Xigbar's. The man felt his breath catch at the intense color. There were such a
strange shade of blue. They had specks of green in them and on top of it they
seemed to be glowing. Now that he took a closer look, all three sets of eyes
seemed to glow.
"Where the fuck am I?" Xigbar demanded as he forced himself to sit up. The bond
gasped at the sudden movement. He reached out and tried to put the older man
back on his back, but Xigbar just pushed him away, "What happened to me? Where
am I? And who the fuck are you?" He quickly asked as he felt his head get light
headed. He looked down and saw bandages wrapped around his chest start to turn
red.
"You need to calm down." The redhead said, "Lets start with introductions! I'm
Reno. That's our leader Noctis," He pointed at the raven haired man, "And
that's his son Demyx. Now who are you?" the redhead crossed his arms and leered
at Xigbar, showing his distrust.
Xigbar glared back at the man, "I don't give a fuck about who the hell you are.
Just tell me how to get home." He growled out.
"You're in my territory and I can't help you with how to get back home. We're
the only Lycanthrope pack on this side of the woods, and I've already asked my
mate and he said you're not from his old pack." Noctis explained.
"Wait, back up. What's a Lycanthrope?" The injured man asked as he leaned back
against the wall to give his back a rest. What this man was saying made no
sense. Pack? Lycanthrope? These people were obviously insane.
Demyx looked between his father and Xigbar a few times before saying, "That's
what you are. Does your pack call them something else?"
"I'm not in a pack like some wild animal." Xigbar lowly said, "I'm from a town
with normal people. Now I want to go back and see my wife, so if you'll so
kindly point me in the right direction."
"Oh dear." Reno shook his head, "I feared this would happen. It seems our
friend here wondered too far from home and that stupid stray marked him." Light
blue eyes looked at Xigbar with a bit of humor, "You can't go home now."
***** Tall Tail Pt2 *****
Chapter Notes
     Sorry this is the last of Abandoned. Be on the look out for the
     rewrite that should be out as soon as I'm done outlining. I'm very
     sorry for the inconvenience. I feel really bad about this
"Then what happened?" Roxas asked with wide eyes. During Xigbar's tale Roxas
had found himself wanting to know more and more. The older man had such a sad
story behind his scars and gruffness. It made Roxas realize how lucky he was
that Axel had approached him with such tenderness and actually asked him
permission, even though Roxas was still mad that his mate hadn't told him
everything.
Xigbar laughed through his nose, "What more is there to tell? I was forced into
this life and leave my family and friends behind." The older man moved off the
bed and sat of the floor so he could lean his head back on the mattress. His
one gold eye looked up at Roxas, "I envy you kid."
Roxas felt himself blush from the man's intense gaze, "Th-thanks." He mumbled
before saying, "What happened to Tifa and your baby? How did Demyx become your
mate? And what of the stray that changed you?" As he spoke, the blond he moved
from his spot on top of the bed till he was sitting on the edge of the bed with
his legs crossed in front of him.
"Ah fine I'll continue, but you have to agree to be nicer to Axel. I had to
help raise that little bastard and I'd hate to see him cry."
Roxas was taken aback by that. He knew Axel was around thirty, so how old did
that make Xigbar? His curiosity finally got the best of him. The blond agreed
to Xigbar's terms and said he would try harder to get along with Axel. Once the
older man was satisfied he continued his story.
~X~x~X~x~FLASH~BACK~X~x~X~x~
Xigbar was well taken care of and was told everything of what happened and
slowly accepted the fact that the legends that where whispered around town were
true. He longed to go home but it seemed the men he was staying with seemed to
sense that and took turns taking watch over him.
And it seemed that blasted blond with the freaky mohawk had taken it upon
himself to take on the bulk of the responsibility. He would stay in Xigbar's
room and talk to the man about what life was like in the woods, and ask him
questions about his old life, mostly what his wife was like. It annoyed the
fuck out of Xigbar, but he was too weak with the depression knowing he would
never go home and see his wife and the child they had tried so hard to make to
tell Demyx off. It just wasn't fair!
Within a week Xigbar got to know everyone in the small pack. There was the
leader, Noctis. He was mated to a man named Prompto, a blond with nurturing
skills like no other but quick to anger. They had two children together
(something Xigbar couldn't wrap his mind around but at the same time he really
didn't care). Lexaeus, a strongly built man with cropped, copper hair and
dangerous blue eyes. And Demyx. Then there was Noctis's second in command,
Reno.
And now there was Xigbar.
The man couldn't even leave the tiny room until two weeks had gone by. By that
point the large gashes on his torso had healed to the point where they didn't
rip open anytime he moved, the laceration on his face was starting to heal over
into a scar; and Xigbar soon found out that the bandage over his eye wasn't to
heal it, but to cover an empty socket.
When he was finally able to lift himself out of bed and get his legs working
enough to walk, Xigbar found that the room he had been staying was embodied in
the side of a cave. As he left the dark room, he noticed that he was in the
middle of rocky slopes which looked as if they would be a nuisance to climb
when he was ready to escape whatever hell hole he got himself into.
"Xiiiigbaaar!" Someone yelled as they tackled his back, almost making the weak
man fall over, "Mama said you're healed enough to change. Want to walk around
the forest a bit with me?" It was explained in full to Xigbar what had happened
to him. He was attacked by a monster known as a Lycanthrope, and by some
miracle he didn't die. No instead he was forced to live all eternity with the
curse of being a wolf hybrid and never being able to go back to his family. At
first Xigbar didn't want to accept it as truth and lashed out at Demyx
screaming threats, only to be pinned down by Noctis and Reno while Lexaeus
blacked his brother from Xigbar's wrath.
The weight on his back was taken off with a cry of displeasure from Demyx.
Xigbar turned around and saw that the brick wall known as Lexaeus was holding
his blond brother by the back of his shirt, "You're not going anywhere alone
with him." The giant lowly growled. Ever since the older man had come to live
with the pack Lexaeus was the most hostile towards him.
"But Lexy!" Demyx whined as he tried to rip his shirt out of his brother's
grasp, "Mama said I could! He needs to shift and learn the layout of the woods
anyway!" The smaller boy's sea green eyes started to tear up as he looked at
his capturer, "Pretty please? Nothing will happen promise!"
Xigbar just glared at the two. He didn't want to go out with Demyx. He hated
the hyperactive blond. And he had no interest in changing into a wolf anyway.
If anything he'd return to town and pretend none of this had happened. That
sounded like a good plan.
"Lexaeus put your brother down right now." A blond wolf whose fur was a shade
or two lighter than Demyx's said as he walked up to his pups, "Really he's
almost fully grown, I think Demyx can take care of himself." Prompto chided as
he nudged the larger of his pups in his side with his nose till Lexaeus let go
of Demyx, "Now are you going to show Xigbar around the woods?"
"No." Xigbar deadpanned before Demyx could say anything. The young blond pouted
and whimpered. Xigbar's golden eye caught Lexaeus's in a stare, "What? I
thought you didn't want us being alone. Think I'm gonna fuck the lil' bitch
up." He growled out making Demyx whimper more, "And what's your problem? I
don't like you! And I sure as hell don't wanna spend any more time than I have
to with you!" As he yelled Xigbar could feel his body get tenser like he would
literally snap and bite at the watery eyed blond at any second.
The wolf glared at Xigbar, "That's no way to talk to the person who found you
and saved your life. Demyx has stuck by your side through all of this. What
exactly has he done to deserve your hate?" Prompto bared his teeth in a
threatening manner as he growled at Xigbar.
"It's not like I asked for him to follow me around!" Xigbar yelled as he threw
his arms up in the air. He was sick and tired of being in the dens. He missed
home and he missed Tifa. All the man wanted was to go back and be with his
family that he just managed to finally start.
With a dejected noise Demyx pushed pasted his brother and went to sulk back in
the cave opening that Xigbar guessed was the blond's den. Once the young one
was out of sight Prompto growled as he pounced and knocked Xigbar down on his
back making the raven haired man grunt in pain. Xigbar tried to fight back, but
with his weakened state the wolf was able to easily hold him to the ground.
Prompto snapped at the man's face before saying, "Don't fuck with my pup. He
may be young but he knows more things than you will ever hope of learning. And
he did everything he could to make sure you were fine even when you would snap
at him and try to cause him harm."
Xigbar grunted in pain as he felt Prompto's claws dig into his chest, "'N why
should I care 'bout any of that? I didn't ask for any of this!" The man started
to push more on the wolf until eventually Prompto got off. Xigbar sat up and
took a few shaky breaths as he felt around his chest for anymore wounds. His
one golden eye scanned the two in front of him, "As far as I'm concerned all of
you are keeping me hostage here."
"Then why don't you leave?" Lexaeus grunted out with his arms crossed.
Xigbar glared at the large man before spitting out, "Fine." And with that said
the man started to climb up the rocky slopes with only a bit of difficultly.
~X~x~X~x~
Xigbar halted his story for a moment. His eye glued to the floor and his hands
bunched the sheets like he was trying to hold back his rage. Roxas found
himself slowly backing away from the man. He didn't know if retelling his story
had triggered something negative in Xigbar, and he was afraid of what would
happen to him if he said or did anything to draw attention to himself.
The older man seemed to catch himself and sent Roxas an apologetic smile,
"Sorry kiddo. The next part of the story isn't all sunshine and rainbows, and I
never talk about it. You sure you're up for it?"
Roxas looked away from Xigbar and towards the open door. His mind spinning with
thoughts about how even though he didn't feel like he deserved to be in the
position he was in, Xigbar had had it ten times worse. Could he handle the rest
of the man's story? What else did he have to go through that was worse than
what Roxas had already heard?
"How bad is it?" The blond cautiously asked.
Xigbar shrugged, "Well what I already told you is pretty tame compared to what
happens next."
Roxas swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat. Did he really want to
hear this? "What happens next?"
~X~x~X~x~FLASH~BACK~X~x~X~x~
The sun had gone down about an hour ago and the only light Xigbar had was
provided by the moon, but his newly founded night vision helped him not bump
into any trees or trip over anything. He had been aimlessly wondering around
for a few hours now and was just getting himself more and more lost.
"What did I get myself into?" Xigbar asked himself. If he had just listened to
Tseng he would be at home right now, holding his slowly growing wife in his
arms. Maybe a nice slab of meat over the fire. The ashy raven haired man got so
wrapped up in his own fantasies he didn't hear the sound of a branch snapping
behind him.
Suddenly a sharp pain like claws surged up Xigbar's back. The man yelled in
pain as flashbacks of his last attack flashed before his eyes. Had the
Lycanthrope that attacked him before come to finish the job? Xigbar collapsed
under the weight of his attacker, ready to just give up.
But something wasn't right. The claws were still there, but there were more
than one set raking over his body. And at times it just felt like he was
getting beaten with a closed fist. This couldn't be the beast that tried to
kill him earlier.
Xigbar tried to turn to face his attacker but the fist knotted in his long hair
yanked his head up and made him face the monster anyway. Xigbar gasped in
fright as he came face to face with a beast with dead yellow eyes surrounded in
what seemed to feel like a black void held in place by a pointy helmet.
Looking into the monster's eyes felt like an eternity to Xigbar, but the next
thing he knew his face was getting thrown into the ground. A disgusting
crunching noise told Xigbar that he either broken his nose or snapped a large
amount of sticks. And judging by the pain in his face, he'd guess it was the
former.
The man thought he was done for, but a threatening growl made the monsters
attacking him freeze, giving Xigbar just enough time to roll out of the way and
sit up. Black spots danced in front of his one good eye as Xigbar tried to gain
focus, but his head pounded from the beating it took, and he could feel blood
drip down his nose. It was then that Xigbar knew he was in no shape to fight or
run.
When the spots started to clear the raven haired man saw a small wolf grab one
of the monsters by its neck and through it into a hoard of its friends,
knocking them all down. Xigbar got a better look at the creators and saw that
they were lanky little things. They had large hands and their fingers were
long, red, and sharp. On their chests there was a strange heart looking shape.
And their feet look big and too awkward to run on.
Once one of the monsters was dead the rest ran off in fright; their overly
large hands swaying above their heads. In a matter of moments they were gone.
The small wolf walked over to Xigbar and started to nudge the man around with
its nose to check for any injuries.
"What are you doing?" Xigbar growled as he shoved the wet nose away from his
ribs. He sat up fully with a groan as he felt all of his muscle pull and
tighten. The blood coming out of his nose had slowed to a trickle, leaving a
trail of dried blood from his nose and leaving his face feeling irritated and
itchy, "How many times do I have to tell you to leave me the fuck alone Demyx!"
The wolf's ears instantly went down and his bushy tail went between his legs,
"I'm sorry. I smelt blood and got worried." Demyx took a couple of steps back
with his head dropped down, "Is…is it possible for you to come back to the
dens?"
A golden eye glared at the timid wolf, "Fuck you." Xigbar deadpanned as he used
the tree behind him to help him stand up. He felt the new wounds in his back
pull and rip open a bit as he stood, but he ignored it in favor of getting away
from the Lycanthrope. He turned his back on Demyx and started to limp away with
whatever dignity he had left.
"No wait!" The wolf bolted up to Xigbar, "It's late and you're hurt. I won't
force you to go back," Demyx's voice was laced with hurt but he tried his best
to cover it up, "Let me at least walk back to the village with you. I don't
want another Heartless to attack you." Sea green eyes looked everywhere but
Xigbar, "Please. Let me protect you."
Instead of answering Xigbar just walked away from Demyx, but before he got out
of ear shot he called back, "What the fuck is a Heartless?"
Demyx seemed to perk up at that and he trotted over to the graying haired man,
"Those creatures that attacked you, they're called Heartless, but those ones
specifically are called Solders." The wolf walked beside Xigbar through the
dark woods. The farther away they walked from the dens the more and more
awkward and unwanted Demyx felt.
"Why are you doing this?" Xigbar asked once the silence got to him. He had been
nothing but an ass to the boy.
Demyx groaned and rolled his pretty green eyes, "I smelt blood and felt like
something was wrong. Sorry that I care about you." The wolf looked anywhere but
at Xigbar, "I can leave if I make you uncomfortable you know."
Xigbar reached up and gingerly touched the red stain under his nose, "But I
didn't start bleeding till after you came."
Demyx tilted his head to the side in thought. He was following the scent until
he came across Xigbar getting attacked by the Solders, he had just assumed they
scratched him bad enough. And since then the air smelt too much like Xigbar,
Demyx had thought he was right, "Maybe the Heartless killed an animal close to
the Outerlands or something."
Xigbar didn't need to ask what Demyx meant. He picked up from the pack that
Outerlands was their word for Twilight Town. It worried the man that the
monsters would get so close to his home. What if one of them caught one of his
friends or Tifa?
An eerie silence washed over the two as they got lost in their own thoughts and
keeping their eyes and ears open for anymore threats that might come their way.
Xigbar silently worried about his loved ones back home and was secretly jumping
with joy that he would finally be able to get home and see Tifa. He wondered
how much bigger her stomach had gotten. She should be showing by now.
Demyx on the other hand felt like his world was falling apart. He found his
soul mate, but he already belonged to someone else. Besides Xigbar made it
obvious that he didn't like any of the Lycanthrope; thought they were all
monsters, and out of the whole pack he hated Demyx the most. Who could ever
love a beast like him?
Suddenly both of them froze as the metallic scent of blood hit both of their
noses. Xigbar immediately covered his nose and mouth with his hands to block
out the offending smell. On the other hand, Demyx smelled the air and his ears
perked up, "Hey this is what I smelt before." He looked over at Xigbar, "I
don't want to go any farther. What if it's more Heartless? Just come back to
the dens. We can go to your home tomorrow."
"I never asked for you to follow me!"
The outburst made Demyx falter in his steps till he was a couple of paces
behind Xigbar, "But I don't want anything bad to happen to you." He whined as
he stared at the man's retreating back. Yes he knew he was nothing but an
annoying nuisance to Xigbar, but his need to protect the man outweighed how
annoying he was being.
Xigbar just scoffed as he snapped a branch off a tree so he had a makeshift
walking stick, "I don't need a pipsqueak like you. I can take care of myself."
He adjusted the stick under his arm so he could lean his full weight on it to
help his aching back. And just like that he started walking away from Demyx
again, towards the strong scent of blood.
"But you don't even know what's over there!" Demyx cried as he raced after the
injured man, "Please just wait till its morning and leave. Come with me so I
can look over your wounds." The blond pleaded as he blocked Xigbar's path,
"There can't be anything good down there."
Gold glared down into sea green. It was an intense moment of dominance between
the two. Neither wanted to give up. Xigbar wanted to go home and pretend like
none of this had ever happened. That he wasn't a monster and trapped in a world
he'll never understand. While Demyx tried to understand and sympathize, he just
couldn't bear anything bad happening to Xigbar.
"Move."
"No."
Xigbar sighed as he leaned more on his crutch as he glared down at the wolf.
With a growl the man tried to walk around Demyx only to feel something pull at
his pant leg. He looked down to see Demyx with a mouthful of his pants, "Kid
let go." He sighed as he tried to pull away, but he wasn't strong enough.
Demyx just growled deep in his throat as he pulled the fabric making Xigbar
walk away from the metallic smell. His jaw tightened as he yanked back more
trying to drag Xigbar back to the dens.
"Will you stop it?" Xigbar yelled as he tried to kick Demyx in the face. He was
starting to hate the blond wolf more and more. As his anger started to bubble
throughout him. In a fit of anger the man lifted up his stick and brought it
down on the wolf with a loud whack!
Demyx instantly let go with a yelp and backed away with his head hung low. He
walked a few paces away before turning back to Xigbar with a sad look in his
eyes, "Fine. If you want to walk into your death so bad I'll leave you alone."
And with that the wolf turned and walked away, leaving Xigbar alone in the dark
woods.
Once Demyx was out of site Xigbar continued on the path towards Twilight Town.
The thickening smell of blood was getting stronger, making the man gag a bit
and have to cover his nose. He kept his eye peeled for anything that might pose
as a threat towards him, hoping Demyx was wrong and there weren't any more
Heartless around, or even worse. The Lycanthrope who attacked him.
But then it hit him. He knew this smell. Under the metallic, he could faintly
smell something he had grown accustomed to over the last few years of his life.
He smelt it every time he walked into his home. Every time he woke up in the
morning. Whenever he embraced his wife.
The smell was Tifa.
All the pain Xigbar felt vanished as adrenalin rushed through his veins. He ran
through the wood, dodging trees and loose sticks as he quickly made his way
towards his wife. He knew he was close when the only thing that filled his nose
was Tifa and blood.
Then he saw her. She was lying in a pool of blood. Her long hair covered her
face, obscuring Xigbar from seeing it. A chocked noise escaped Xigbar's throat
as he quickly made his way towards her. He landed on his knees hard, but he
ignored that in favor of scooping his wife in his arms and brushing her hair
out of her face.
Tifa coughed a few times, blood speckled out and painted her chin and Xigbar's
shirt. Her brown, doe eyes opened, void of life. They didn't seem to want to
focus on anything for a few seconds. When they did, she looked up at Xigbar
with a pained smile, "I knew you were alive." She weakly smiled as she tried to
lift her hand and touch her husband's face, but a pained yelp left her lips.
Xigbar held her arm down and threaded his fingers through hers, "Shh…don't
talk." A golden eye looked over Tifa's mangled body. She was covered in
scratches, bite marks, and a large gash on her right hip. Most of them were
almost deeper than that, making her bleed immensely. The ones that concerned
Xigbar were the chunk of her calf missing, and the hole in her stomach. There
were also some bites in her arms and her thighs, but they looked like they had
already stopped bleeding and were starting to bruise, "What happened?" Xigbar
asked, completely forgetting he didn't want Tifa to talk.
"A…a man came to, to me." Her eyes closed and her breathing faltered for a
moment before she was able to speak again, "He looked dirty," Every few words
she had to stop to take a deep and painful breath, "And his clothes were all
ripped up, he even had dreadlocks. Said he knew where you were so I followed."
She turned her head and weakly tried to get closer to Xigbar's warmth, "But he
suddenly disappeared and a black wolf attacked me. I tried…I tried to fight him
off," Tears started leaking from her closed eyes, "But I guess I wasn't strong
enough." Tifa coughed a few more times, spilling more blood on Xigbar, "I…I
don't think I have much longer. I love you."
Tifa chocked on some more blood before her body went limp in Xigbar's arms.
Everything in the forest seemed to suddenly go quiet to Xigbar as he tears
started to leak. Soon the man doubled over and was crying into the still warm
corpse of his wife.
~X~x~X~x~
Xigbar grew quiet. His hands balled into his pant legs and his golden eye
glared at the floor as he tried to stop himself from crying. Roxas back at the
head of the bed, cuddling a pillow and his feet tangled in the blankets. The
poor boy looked like he was on the verge of tears as well, but he wanted to
hear the end of the story.
"Then what happened? How did Demyx become your mate? And you were bitten so
that makes you a submissive like me too. What happened during your first heat?"
Roxas fired off his questions in one breath like his eagerness would continue
the tale.
Xigbar just sighed and shook his head, "Do you really wanna know what
happened?" The older man fixed his eye on Roxas with a slight glare making the
blond retreat into his blankets a bit more, "Demyx found me and brought me back
to the dens. We fell in love and have five wonderful children together. And now
I'm trying to tell a knocked up crybaby a fucking story so he'll get out of his
god awful pity party and go make up with his dumbass of a mate." Xigbar snapped
making Roxas cover his face with his pillow like it would help protect him from
the older man's rage.
"I'm sorry." The blond said in a muffled voice.
"Are you going to go apologize to Axel?"
The tuff of blond hair sticking out from the pillow nodded showing Xigbar that
Roxas was nodding, "Good. Now get up and go find him."
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