A/N: So begins Roxas's tale of mystery, adventure, and romance. Thanks to my partner-in-crime for editing for me.
Disclaimer about not owning Kingdom Hearts.
Chapter 1: Meet the Protagonist
The salty air stung his lungs, each sharp exhale of cold breath burning with a small sharp pain. He pushed his unhappy body forward, ignoring the discomfort as he raced through the crowd. It was not easy to flee from pursuers without alerting the people around you, but the sea worn fisherman and sailors at the wharf were eager to ignore unusual behavior. The small boy darting about was most likely just an errand boy, and they had a precious limited time frame to enjoy on land before they had to return to their boats.
Gruff voices and the busy sounds of cargo being shifted masked the voices calling for him. The sound of trailing feet thudded against the wet pier, too loud to his searching ears. He blinked through the darkness, desperately trying to find a route to safety, a path that only he could take without his potential captors being allowed to follow.
He flittered between bodies, ducked under crates being carried and jumping over stacks of wares so he could break out of their sight line. He had to duck away, or find another tactic to elude them. He doubled back, hoping he hadn't drawn unwanted attention from the workers. They showed zero interest, despite his concern. His eyes found a darker area, less populated. His heart sped up as he found it was a dead end area. He went to leave immediately, but found himself hesitating as an idea presented itself.
He quickly looked to make sure that no one was paying him any mind, and then he rapidly searched in a dark corner filled with cargo. The boxes were mostly food and other provisions, but he was lucky to find a few with blankets and other clothes. He redistributed them to make room, adrenaline making his hands clumsy as he stole looks over his shoulders for anyone discovering his activities. Luck was on his side as he quickly crawled inside the box he'd mostly cleared, replacing the lid gingerly. His heart was so loud in the small space, he'd give anything to quiet it to its normal, unnoticed rhythm.
He hadn't felt how cold his skin was before. His cloak was soaked, and had almost been more a burden than help. He was tired too, exhausted from the pursuit. He knew he wasn't in the clear. The people chasing him would search around where they last saw him. He should keep his wits, be ready to react if found. His breathing slowed though, and no sounds but the wind breached the box. Despite his effort, he couldn't help but drift off. The weight of his day was too much, and the comfort and dark of the small area lulled him away.
His eyes snapped open as his body was suddenly in motion. He rolled on the ground, trying to use his hands to push himself up, but a booted foot connected violently with his stomach. He grunted in pain as he was knocked on his back, the same foot placing itself on his chest, holding him in place. His sleep weary brain cleared as the cool night air and adrenaline washed over him. He looked up at his assaulter, hands automatically grabbing the offending appendage.
"And here is the last stowaway," the man pressed harder on his chest for emphasis, forcing a grunt of pain. "That makes three."
He stole a glance at the guffawing crowd that the man was addressing. Two of the men were on their knees with their hands bound, his fellow stowaways. They both looked angry to have been caught, not that he couldn't sympathize. Had he managed to sleep through his box being loaded onto a boat?
"What do you want to do with them Captain?" His capture asked the crowd. He smiled down at him, "the usual?"
He glared up, annoyed at the amusement of the man with his long spiky red hair.
"Yes," a formidable looking person, with long blue hair and an X-shaped scar, answered him. "If they want to receive any food on this voyage, our uninvited guest had best learn to love their new lives as slaves. Let the boy up Axel, I don't think he's going to cause any trouble. We're a little far out for them to decide to swim for it at this point."
The red haired man named Axel removed his offending foot from his chest, backing away to watch him quickly stand. He took a moment to get his bearings. He was on the deck of a ship, as he'd deduced. The crew was gathered around in a semi-circle to stare at him and the other two men, who for varying reasons had ended up on a ship actively sailing away from dry land.
"You have a choice to make," the scarred man, apparently the Captain, addressed them. "Swear loyalty to me, and you may yet survive this excursion. Or, if you prefer, you can refuse, and immediately vacate my ship."
Decisions, decisions he thought to himself, wrapping his cloak tighter around his body. This could turn out to be a blessing though. The people who had chased him were miles away, on a continent he was speedily heading away from. There was almost no way they'd find him on a random vessel floating the seas of the world. It was a perfect hiding place. If the captain was talking about enslaving them, then chances were this ship wasn't up to anything good too, and therefor would be even harder to track.
"Slavery sounds good to me," he offered. Hard work he could deal with, especially if it meant a place to sleep and food.
The man that had been called Axel smirked. The other two men hesitated more, but predictably came around, nodding their agreement. The Captain didn't seem surprised they'd quickly agreed to slavery, "your names?"
The two other stowaways exchanged glances. "Hayner," offered one with dirty blond hair. "Seifer," the other bit off.
He shifted his feet. "I'm… Roxas."
Axel led them down into the belly of the ship, his gainful step pissing Roxas off. The guy had to be pushing the other side of six feet, but it was hard to tell because he was so damn thin it might have skewed his perception. Either way he towered over the three fugitives, Roxas most of all.
The ship was mostly dark, sparse lighting giving just enough to them so they didn't trip over each other. Axel almost floated into a side room, and Roxas suspected his familiarity with the ship was what made it easy for him to navigate, or at least that's what he told himself as the man glided with cat-like grace about the halls.
He led them to a long room packed with hammocks, makeshift futons, and carved out beds. They were all stuffed along the walls with bags filled with the crew's personal belongings. "Here's where the crew sleeps," Axel offered gaily, "the two rooms across the hall are just like this, so you'll have to carve out your own niche if you want a place to sleep at night. Seeing as we're on a boat there's not much point to nicking each other's belongings, and if you're caught doing it I don't imagine anyone will save you from a dagger in your belly."
Roxas wasn't concerned with that, seeing as he owned the clothes on his back and nothing else. He doubted that even that fact would cause him to desire the belongings of this crew though.
He stole a glance at his fellow slaves, wondering what their purpose was for having stowed away. Probably wasn't an accident like his. They both looked like they were fuming, probably having not planned on getting caught and enslaved. For him, this was a happy accident. Being enslaved did not mean the same thing for him as it did for them he supposed.
Axel looked them over with satisfaction, "We've got a couple hours yet before dawn, so I suggest you take advantage of it and get some sleep. They'll be plenty to keep you occupied in the morning." He winked at Roxas, who rolled his eyes in response. It didn't erase the satisfied smirk from the man's face as he slunk out of the room.
Roxas sighed, rooting about for a minute as he looked for a spot to sleep. It wasn't quite as dense as it had looked at first, and there was spare floor space for him that was out of the way enough that he wouldn't be stepped on by anyone not trying to. He sat with his back to the wall, wondering if it would be too uncomfortable to sleep sitting up. Now the young man was glad now he'd lugged around his cloak. The ship was very cold.
"What the hell are you doing?"
He looked up. The two blondes were staring at him confused. Well… the one called Seifer was angrier, or maybe indignant? "Sleeping?" He offered, hoping he didn't want Roxas's spot. He was pretty attached to it now.
The one with more honey colored hair and brown eyes looked slightly amazed at him. "How can you think about sleeping?"
Roxas cocked his head, trying to remember what this boy had called himself. "I've had a long couple days."
Seifer growled. "You're okay with following their orders?"
"Well, in their defense I did stow away on their ship, albeit accidently," Roxas scrambled to his feet as Seifer took a threatening step towards him. He was not interested in being the target of this guy's misplaced anger. "What?"
"Guys like you piss me right the fuck off," he snapped. His friend placed a hesitant hand on his shoulder. "Seifer chill, being a slave works just as well as being a stowaway. At least they didn't kill us."
"Shut up!" He jerked away from the other boy's touch. "You think being someone else's property is better!?"
"No!" Was his automatic response. "I was just thinking it wouldn't be as bad as hiding ourselves for who knows how long."
So they didn't know how long the ship was meant to be at sea. Roxas hoped it was headed far away from where it started.
Still, he hoped these two settled down soon so he could sleep.
"You and your brilliant plans Hayner," Seifer rolled his arm in a habitual way. "Damn it!"
Hayner crossed his arms while Roxas did his best to memorize his face and name. "It's too late to raise protest now Seifer."
He got a death glare in response, before the taller boy turned and swept out of the room. Hayner scoffed. "I didn't hear him come up with any ideas." He turned to the other blond, extending a hand. "Anyways, fellow stowaway, I'm Hayner. It was Roxas?"
Roxas was taken aback for a moment, before reaching up to grab the extended appendage, "Yeah."
For some reason touching Hayner's hand felt like a jolt of electricity to his skin. He appreciated the sudden show of solidarity though. The slightly taller boy made a small wave of goodbye and headed towards the door where his friend had disappeared. "See you in the morning for our extensive manual labor."
"Looking forward to it," he muttered back, returning the gesture.
When the two had been gone for a good minute Roxas exhaled, relieved, sliding down into his spot again. He wondered idly when the rest of the crew usually went to sleep, but he didn't want to stay awake and find out. Once again he allowed himself to rest.
