Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or the characters .

~1~

Escape

It was cold that night in Hollow Bastion, even colder when living inside a rundown barn with nothing but the hay to use as a blanket. The young blond boy shivered as a gust of wind whistled through the cracks causing the cows and horses to stir in complaint. A loud grumble from the boy's stomach joined them in complaint not only from the cold, but lack of food to eat. According to Marluxia he hadn't milked old Bessie correctly and now her utter was swollen needing immediate medical attention. As punishment and to help pay for the veterinary costs the boy was only feed once a day, just enough to keep him working nonstop from daybreak until dusk.

The boy's sapphire blue eyes looked down at his blister swollen hands from tending to fields and chopping wood for the fire Larxene and Marluxia used in the house. He had only been living with the couple and their two daughters, Xion and Namine, for two weeks and he had hated it from day one when they told him they only adopted him so he could do work since their daughters couldn't. They had adopted him from a local orphanage after his parents and twin brother died in a ship wreck only he had survived. After day two he ran back to the orphanage so he didn't have to stay with the family, but the orphanage sent him back because they said that they were already full as it is and didn't need an already adopted child to come back. He didn't run away because the whole family was terrible, in truth, Xion and Namine were very kind to him when their parents were around. They brought him things to help the blisters on his hands or some extra food because they felt bad, but Larxene and Marluxia were another story.

About to shut his tired eyes, he was startled awake again when the doors were slammed open which he assumed from the wind. With a heavy sigh he pushed himself up despite the burning complaints from his muscles to go close the door for the third time that night. However, when he stood up and looked at the door, two black figures had already closed it and were walking over to him with their hoods covering their faces. When they reached him they pulled back their hoods, both the black haired and blonde haired girl giving him smiles.

"Namine, Xion," the boy blinking in confusion. "What are you doing here in the middle of the night?" He winced slightly when he applied too much pressure to his injured left ankle. It happened when he was trying to calm a startled cow only to have the cow knock him over and step on his ankle. He knew it was probably shattered and he tried bind it with some pieces of old wood and ripped clothing, but it didn't help much when he was still forced to work nonstop.

"Here Roxas," Namine said pulling out half a loaf of bread from underneath her hooded sweater. "It isn't much, but it's all we could get without mother noticing."

"I was the one the snatched it Nam," Xion snapped with a frown and crossed arms. "God, you take the credit for everything."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to." the blonde girl apologized as she took one of Roxas' hands and placing the bread in it. Her blue eyes narrowed at the many blisters covering Roxas' hands, but knew that he wouldn't have to suffer much longer. "Don't worry Roxas, you won't have to suffer through this much longer. A dragon..."

"Again with your stupid dreams," the ebony haired girl complained shaking her head. "I swear you read too much fantasy Nam."

"They aren't stupid," Namine pouted slightly, but still having a hint of anger in her voice. "You know every time I have dreams of the future they come true." A frown plagued Xion's face knowing that her sister was right, but those things she predicted were things that most people could see coming....most people.

"So you're just good at judging the way things are going to happen," Xion sighed with the roll of her eyes and throwing her hands in the air only to bring them back down to her thighs. "Big whoop-dee-doo! But seriously Nam? A dragon? A dragon?" She knew that from her father's teaching that dragons indeed once did exist, but went extinct when people started hunting them to cure just about everything. Every part of a dragon could be used to cure basic acne all the way to curing an entire plague. It was no wonder that humans went dragon hunting and it ended in the extinction of dragons themselves.

"Yes a dragon," the blonde girl sighed with slight irritation, "There are still few that remain, the ones that are able to turn invisible at least." She closed her eyes as she focused on finding the last remaining dragons in the world, there were around 100, most living in secluded areas where it was hard for humans to get to. The one that she saw coming to save the boy in front of her was ten miles away, not far for a dragon, but the dragon was in his 'human' form, if one could call it that.

"Dragons can't turn invisible," the younger of the two sister groaned shaking her head back and forth in annoyance. "I think you mixing fantasy with truth now Nam. Wait until father hears of this." Their father was known for tracking dragons down and had killed many in the past before they went extinct which landed him as a farmer since he no longer could be useful as a dragon hunter.

"With the threat of becoming extinct they gained the ability," Namine grinned, "Maybe when Roxas' dragon gets here you'll see...or not." She let out a sweet laugh that seemed to calm even the raging wind outside.

"Whatever," Xion frowned giving up on arguing with her older sister.

"As I was saying," Namine continued shooting her younger sister a silencing glare, "A dragon will find you and help you."

"A dragon?" Roxas asked raising a questioning eyebrow, "I think I'm going to agree with Xion and say you've been reading too many fantasy books. Namine, I don't believe in dr..." He couldn't finish his sentence because Namine put a firm finger to his lips giving him a threatening look with it.

"Don't say that," The older of the two sisters hissed, "Don't ever say that. Every time someone says that a dragon dies. It's how all magical creatures lose their magic and die."

"Like the fairies in Peter Pan Nam?" Xion snickered with a hand over her mouth containing the rest of her laughter. "I swear, if you weren't so damn good at art mother and father would never put up with your nonsense."

"It's not nonsense!" Namine shouted, closing her eyes trying to contain the anger that was building up inside her. She kept telling herself that Xion had a year to go before she would understand everything that remained hidden to the normal eyes. After taking a few deep breaths her anger vanished allowing her to open her eyes and look at Roxas. "Goodnight Roxas." She turned causing her long blonde hair to fan out from the quick turn. Xion watched her sister go to the barn doors with a disapproving frown before waving goodnight to Roxas and following after.

Roxas looked down at the bread in his hand which caused his stomach to grumble loudly, yelling at him to just eat it. It wasn't long before he gave into his angry stomach and started to eat the bread wondering about what Namine said. It couldn't be true that a dragon would save them, if there were really dragons, why would it waste its time on him? His family were simple fishermen and after they died none of his relatives wanted to take him in so they sent him to the orphanage. No one wanted him except to do work like Marluxia and Larxene. He let out a sigh as he finished the last of the bread resting once again in the hay he used for a bed. As he drifted off to sleep he wished Namine was telling the truth when she said a dragon was going to rescue him from this place, though knowing it probably wasn't. He let sleep consume him at last knowing he had a long day ahead of him and should get his rest now.

~0~

"Get up squirt!" Larxene growled dumping ice cold water on the sleeping boy. "You better get up if you want to get all your work done. We added laundry to your work since we can no longer pay old Ninny to do it because of your mistake. Vet bills are very expensive, I suggest you remember that the next time you decide to slack on milking our cows." She yanked him up by his hair with a icy cold glare as he struggled to loosen her grip, "Didn't you hear me squirt? Get your lazy ass up and get to work!" She threw him to the ground before storming out of the barn in a fit of rage.

"Oww," Roxas wince rubbing his tender scalp as he got up to start his long day of work ahead of him. He started off with milking the cows, 'carefully' this time, then mucking out the stalls since he was already in the barn. After finishing his tasks in the barn he made his way to the fields to tend to them as much as possible before the sun came up and made it worse. A frown appeared on the blonde's face as he noticed the soft shades of orange and pink peeking over the horizon threatening the heat of day upon him. A growl escaped from him hoping it would scare the sun away for a little bit, but it only seemed to encourage the sun to come up faster which really irritated him. When the sun had finally come up Namine came out to the fields with some warm oatmeal and a cup of water on a tray.

"Good morning Roxas," the blonde girl smiled a smile that could rival the brightness of the sun. "I brought you breakfast."

"Morning Namine," Roxas replied with a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "Thank you." Namine sat down next to him handing over the tray so he could eat before he had to continue working. She knew that her mother would be beyond livid that she was getting her white nightdress dirty again, but she didn't care because she would wash it out when she got back inside.

"You know Roxas," Namine said looking up at the cloudless sky, "Tonight you will be free from this place."

"Again with the dragon stuff Namine?" the blonde boy frowned as he set his cup of water back on the tray. "You really think that a dragon would waste its time with me?"

"I know you don't believe me now, but it's true." the older sister smiled, "I have seen a month into your future and it looks good. Although, I have yet to understand the choice the dragon makes in the end, but I'll have to wait to see what happens. The future can always be changed." She shrugged knowing that she'll be their to witness it first hand when it happens so all she'll have to do is wait. Not only that, but she couldn't reveal too much about the boy's future without ruining it.

"What is this I hear about a dragon?" asked a deep voice from behind them that they both knew belonged to Marluxia.

"I was just telling him about the book I'm reading, father." Namine smiled brightly hoping it threw her father off guard not knowing how much her father actually heard. She hated that he was so silent when he approached which he learned from his dragon hunting years and always allowed him to eavesdrop on their conversations.

"Well it will have to be at another time," Marluxia said with an emotionless mask. "Roxas needs to hurry and finish his breakfast so he can finish his work." His blue eyes scanned the edge of the forest as if looking for something, but finding nothing. This made Namine uneasy since she knew that he father probably heard most of their conversation and would go looking for the dragon tonight. The pink haired man turned his attention back to the two blondes, "Hurry up, things need to get done." With that said he turned and walked back to the house without even yelling at either of them for slacking off.

"This isn't good." Namine growled softly, mentally slapping herself for not being more cautious. "He knows that the dragon is going to get you tonight. He never doubts my dreams." Her blue eyes turned to face the boy sitting next to her, "You better leave sometime today. The dragon is already in the forest and will find you. Whatever happens, you have to keep the dragon away from my father."

"What are you talking about?" Roxas asked completely confused at the serious expression on the girl's face. "You're acting as if you father is a dragon hunter or something."

"He was," the blonde girl replied, "Until they thought that dragons were extinct and then he became a farmer. He knows my dreams never lie and now knows that dragons aren't extinct. Roxas, my father will stop at nothing to catch and kill the dragon. Let the dragon protect you and in return you have to protect him. Promise me this." Roxas looked into Namine's eyes unable to say no so he gave her a nod agreeing to the promise even though he doubted he'd ever meet a dragon. If he did, then he would keep the promise.

"Only one problem," the blonde boy sighed glancing over at the window with Larxene and Xion in the kitchen. "How the hell am I supposed to get away in broad daylight? Even if I could get away, I can't run because my ankle is probably shattered and hurts when I move it even slightly."

"I'll cause a distraction," Namine whispered and turning around every so often to check that her father wasn't there, "It will give you time to get deep enough into the forest to meet the dragon." She closed her eyes glancing briefly into the future knowing that everything would be okay as long as it went according to her plan. "At noon, say that you're going to feed the horses and cows, go to the barn and exit out the back using the loose board. You know what I'm talking about. Then go as deep into the forest as you can. Call for Axel, for that is the dragon's name. He'll come to you."

"Namine," Roxas said with a heavy sigh, "I would rather wait for my ankle to heal a bit before I try running away again." He knew that if he tried to run away now, he would most likely injure himself further only to get caught and have to work more, possibly even being beaten.

"There is no time," the blonde girl frowned, "Besides, the dragon will heal your ankle for you once you meet up with him. Every part of a dragon can be used to heal just about anything. He'll know what to do, just trust him." Roxas was about to argue, but when he looked into Namine's eyes there was no room for argument. He could tell that she was dead serious about him leaving today whether he liked it or not. With a heavy sigh, he gave her back the tray with the empty bowl and cup.

"Fine," the blonde boy replied closing his eyes as he let out another sigh. "I'll go into the forest, find the dragon and leave. Sound good to you?" He rolled his eyes when she gave him a bright smile knowing that he would probably regret listening to her in the end. Sure Namine and Xion were nice to him, but they were still the children of Larxene and Marluxia making him wonder if this was just an entire setup... he hoped not.

"Noon," Namine said with her slender pointer finger up, "Not a second later, got it. And whatever you do, don't stop even when you find the dragon. Take the dragon far away. You understand?"

"Yes, I understand," Roxas replied placing his chin in the palm of his hand and casting a glance to the side in annoyance. Namine gave him another bright smile before leaving him to do his work out in the fields. He worked continuously, every so often wiping the sweat away from his eyes and glancing up at the sun's position in the sky. When the sun was at its highest position he, made his way to the barn to 'feed' the animals like he had told Marluxia a few minutes before. Slowly he made his way to the back of the barn to find the loose board and wiggled his way through to the forest. Every step he took hurt more in the forest because the ground was uneven and muddy wet from the recent rains.

When he came upon a large tree that had fallen directly in his path he let out a heavy sigh. It would take him longer to walk around so instead he climbed over it using mainly his arms to avoid putting pressure on his left ankle. He managed to climb to the top and was about to lower himself down the other side when the branch he was using snapped causing him to fall. Expecting to hit the hard, muddy ground he tried to position himself at an angle that wouldn't do much harm. Instead, he felt someone catch him making him panic at the thought that Marluxia had found him so he kept his eyes closed.

"I'm sorry I ran away, please don't hurt me." Roxas apologized only to hear a laugh that wasn't Marluxia's.

"I'm not gonna hurt you kid," replied the male voice in a soft chuckle. Roxas took his time to slowly open his eyes to stare up into two bright green eyes that looked more cat like than human. As if the new man's eyes weren't different enough, the man had bright red spiked hair with two golden horns slightly curved at the tips on his forehead, a long black scaly tail with red spikes that swished back and forth and two black and red wings.

"Please don't eat my soul," the younger male begged knowing that he wouldn't be able to get away even if he did fight back. He wondered if Namine had meant to warn him about a demon instead of a dragon.

"I'm not a demon," the redhead frowned as he placed Roxas down on a boulder, "Humans, always stereotyping I swear. Okay, first, I'm a dragon, not a demon. Second, if I was a demon I wouldn't have horns or a tail. Third, not all demons eat human souls, only the lower level ones that don't even have a human form. So quick recap, Dragons have horns and tails in their human form, and demons don't. And only lower demons that don't have human forms eat human souls. Got it memorized kid?" The blonde nodded wondering if the 'dragon' was lying to him, it was possible, but he wasn't in any position to escape so he just sat there. The older male kneeled down to examine Roxas' left ankle making a 'tsk tsk' sound by clicking his tongue. Then he took hold of the young male's blister swollen hands glancing over all the bruises and cuts he also had.

"Who did this to you kid?" the dragon asked with a hint of anger in his voice.

"It's nothing," Roxas frowned as he snatched his hands away and looking off towards where he knew the farm was. "And my name's Roxas, not kid. And I am fifteen years old. Got it memorized dragon?"

"Feisty," the redhead chuckled as he stood up offering the blonde a hand. "I'm Axel. But we better be going Roxas because whoever you ran away from just entered the forest and he is a dragon hunter. Don't feel like fighting one today." Roxas nodded remembering Namine's warning and not wanting to go back to the farm. He got off the rock forgetting about his left ankle causing him to fall over in pain, but Axel caught him with a smile.

"Careful there, I'll heal your ankle once we are a safe distance." Axel smiled helping Roxas find his balance again before backing up to transform into his dragon form. He was a coal black color with red spikes running from the top of his head to the end of his tail were they joined together making it look like hair at the end of a donkey's tail. His wings were the same black and red color that Roxas saw before in his human form only they were much larger. He lowered he head to allow Roxas to ride him, but the blonde just gave him a questioning look.

"I've never been on a dragon before," Roxas said looking down at the ground biting his bottom lip. "What if I fall off?" He knew he would be flatter than a pancake if he did fall off Axel and that was the part that scared him the most.

"I won't let you fall," the dragon laughed spewing small lines of fire as he did. "Now get on before the dragon hunter gets here." Roxas just nodded knowing that Namine would kill him if he didn't keep his promise to keep the dragon safe. When he touched the dragon's scaly skin he expected it to feel like a snake or any other reptile, but it was different. Each scale, he noticed, weren't scales, but feathers.

"Feathers?" the blonde blinked as he ran his hand through them while he sat on Axel's shoulders.

"Hold on Roxie," Axel warned as he jumped into the air, wings moving quickly like a humming bird to lift their weight. Roxas let out a yelp of surprise as he grabbed hold of the red spikes that he thought would be hard, but again, they were feathers. He shut his eyes just as tightly as he was holding onto the red spike. The harsh wind that was lashing at him earlier as they were taking off suddenly calmed causing him to open his eyes slightly. His blue eyes widened as he looked down at the clouds beneath his feet and everything that once looked so big was now so small.

"Amazing," Roxas gasped in amazement. "Do you always see the world like this?"

"Only when we are flying," the dragon laughed, "You humans are always so amused when you fly for the first time."

"You've let others ride you before," The blonde asked having never thought about that before.

"Nope," Axel shook his head, "You're the first, but I've heard stories from the elders. Actually if they knew that I let you ride me they would be shooting fire out their butts. They say humans can't be trusted, but I can tell you're a good person."

"No," Roxas sighed as he leaned down to rest his head on part of the dragon's long neck. "They are right. Humans shouldn't be trusted."

"Sure most humans are greedy," Axel growled softly, "like that dragon hunter." He glanced back meeting the blonde's eyes, "but you're different. I feel like we were meant to meet each other." Roxas gave the dragon a smile feeling the same way and silently thanking Namine for telling him about his savior even if he didn't believe her then.

"You know," Roxas yawned feeling his lack of sleep catching up to him, "Someone who can see the future told me I was going to meet a dragon. I'm glad the future she saw came true." The feathers seemed to wrap around him, holding him in place as he fell asleep.

"Me too Roxie," Axel smiled, "Me too."

A/N: God, I know I shouldn't be starting another story, but I was watching Pete's Dragon and had to.... . Damn Electrical Parade making me want to watch Pete's Dragon which in turn inspired this story.

Until my next installment

~Byes