Stranded

Disclaimers: All Kingdom Hearts characters are owned by Disney and square Enix and are all copied without permission. I have made this story for fun and not profit.

Writer's Note: This story actually came to me while working on a few other stories.. This takes place between KH2 and KHIII, which may seem a bit broad but I will leave it up to everyone's interpretations on what I mean.. For those who may be interested, may continue reading.. I hope you enjoy my story. (Rated for bloodshed and suspense)

Prologue

Axel let out a weak groan as he slowly regained consciousness. At first, he wasn't sure if he had gone blind. All he saw was darkness. Axel forced his open and immediately regretted it as he felt a sharp pain rush from his head, all the way throughout his body.

"Ugh…."

All he could remember was being in a battle against Marluxia.. Or was it Xigbar? Why couldn't he remember? It was when he tried to move that he felt another sharp pain going through him, which caused him to double over in agony. Not only did his head ache, it was also becoming too painful to breathe, let alone move. Axel took in a pained breath and slowly rolled over onto his side, realizing he had been lying on his back. Axel's vision swam in and out of focus as he took in his surroundings.

There was nothing but rough, ragged stone and dry, loose dirt, as far as the eye could see. However, as he continued to survey his surroundings, his bright emerald eyes grew wide as he saw a figure lying only a few feet from his position. Suddenly, images flashed through his mind.. rose petals.. A sharp scythe.. Himself jumping in to protect his friends from being injured.. Pain.. A horrible and immense pain. There was a blast of darkness and shadow that encompassed them.. Followed, by the sensation of falling from a very far height. As the world seemed to dissolve into nothingness, he could feel the sensation of wind rushing past him. He couldn't remember anything else after that, which caused a wave of horror to wash over him.

Axel opened his eyes, having realized he had had them clenched shut, his tightly clenched fists pressed against his temples as the images slowly faded away. After finally gathering his resolve, Axel slowly turned his attention back to the figure lying upon the ground. Axel tried to stand but fell to the unforgiving ground as a wave of pain and nausea hit him. His entire body hurt, it felt as though he had been hit by a bus. Regardless of his pain, Axel knew he had to make sure his friend was alright.

Taking a moment to gather himself, Axel rolled onto his belly, cringing in agony as he practically dragged his body along the rocky terrain. He fought his way toward the still form of Sora who lay motionless on the ground.

"Sora? Sora!" he urged, grabbing his friend's arm. "Hey, c'mon Buddy!"

As Axel shook him, Sora's head turned to the side, revealing a rather large gash that ran down his right temple.

"Ah man.." Axel muttered in horror.

Axel gazed upon him, a feeling of fear of deep regret overcoming him. He should have tried harder.. He should have gone to fight alone. If he had just been quicker.. Axel snapped out of his thoughts as he turned toward his friend again.

"Sora.. I'm.. I'm sorry."

When Sora didn't respond, Axel sighed.

"C'mon.. We should find a way out of here.."

With that said, Axel knelt beside him on the ground. Trying his best to fight through the pain, Axel staggered to his feet and carefully lifted Sora up from the ground, immediately dropping to his knees with an agonized scream. However, the cries of pain did not seem to disturb his friend. In fact, Sora hadn't even stirred from the movements of being lifted off the ground.

Axel clenched his eyes shut as he fought back tears of agony that threatened to slip down his cheeks. After a few moments, he opened his eyes and he glanced down at his injured friend, a new feeling of determination washing over him. Axel forced himself up on his feet once again, gritting his teeth at the agony in his legs and back. He nearly dropped his friend, but held fast as he fought through the pain. Axel let out agonized gasps of air as he forced his legs to move. Doggedly, he put one leg in front of the other, slowly making his way through the unusual terrain. As he took in his surroundings, he could not see any living creature for miles around. Axel sighed soon turning toward his still unconscious friend in his arms.

"Guess it's just you and me.." he muttered softly.

Sora said nothing and Axel soon sighed and turned toward the horizon, a look of awe crossing his face as he took in the sight of the large moon striped with blue and purple which hung just over the horizon.

Axel soon turned back to his unconscious friend again.

"Don't worry.. We'll find a way out of this.." he assured. Under his breath he muttered. "Somehow.."

Author's Note: I've had this idea on my mind for a while now.. I will try to get more up soon..