Into The Lion's Den:

Summary: Under the rule of a dictatorship, Naminé does everything in her power to keep her little sister alive, even if that means joining forces with the dictatorship's source: Organization XIII. But maybe things won't be too bad once Naminé meets a certain silent prince dressed in white. That is, if his father, Organization XIII's head, doesn't mind.

Pairings included: NaminéxRoxas, SoraxKairi, OlettexHayner, SerahxSnow, XionxRiku, XemnasxOC, DemyxxYuffie and others…

Chapter 1: The Flyer

"HEY GET BACK HERE GIRL!" Exclaimed a portly red faced man as he chaotically brandished a meat clever in his pudgy hand. Several pedestrians wandering along the sidewalk paused to look at the enraged butcher, but none appeared too concerned or compelled to help catch the escaping thief.

Underneath the hood of her sweatshirt, the girl smirked and waved the freshly stolen meat mockingly to the man. "Only if you can catch me!" She called back tauntingly before quickly slipping into a nearby alleyway. Luckily, the only company she encountered were the local stray cats that wandered the streets and not the vicious gun wielding gangs. A tense moment passed, but, fortunately, it wasn't long before she could hear the angry string of profanities leave the butcher's lips as he grudgingly stomped back inside his store. 'Finally.'

Suddenly feeling out of breath, the girl slid to ground and panted heavily as she appraised her latest prize triumphantly. It wasn't much. A slab of meat not worth more than a few gold coins, but…it was something, especially in a dictatorship like Hollow Bastion. To find this much food normally took days and, even then, there were often times when she didn't come back with anything at all. Today, however, the girl was able to revel in another success.

'If only I could find just a little bit more…' She sighed but quickly shook off the thought as she lifted herself up off the ground. There wasn't time to waste. The others would be wondering where she went if she didn't return now, and besides, if she stayed here too long there could be some very unpleasant consequences. Hollow Bastion, being the way it was, didn't exactly invite the most civilized denizens onto its streets. Normally, when it was getting this close to twilight, people locked themselves into their homes and didn't come out until daybreak. Thus, it was very rare and very dangerous for the young teen to be roaming the streets even at this hour.

'Plus…this is when the heartless start lurking around too and…no one wants to be caught up in that mess.' The girl shook her head and headed towards the end of the alley until there was a fence blocking the rest of her path. Slipping the meat into the satchel hung on her shoulder, she jumped midway onto the fence and climbed until she was finally able to propel herself over and onto the pavement below. Her eyes scanned the surrounding area assiduously for a moment before finally releasing more of the tension coiled in her body and starting towards a small abandoned factory at the edge of the kingdom's borders. Like the meat she carrying, it wasn't much of a home. Most the windows were broken, piles of garbage littered the sides of the building, no electricity, and there were even several panels missing from the roof, but…it was better than most places in the slums. At least they actually had windows and a home, even if it wasn't much. She had seen people starving on the streets before, families with no shelter, children curled up in garbage filled alleyways. No, she didn't have it that bad. She could never have it that bad because that would mean that her little sister would have it that bad—And that was something she had promised herself would never happen even if it meant forfeiting her own life.

The girl clutched the satchel tighter to her body and, closing her eyes, tried drowning out the thought as she sprinted for home.

KHKHKHKH

"Naminé, you're back!" A little girl chirped happily once the blonde had entered through the door. The light that poured through the doorway illuminated the girl's shining blue eyes and cast a small flickering shadow along the walls from the dimly lit candle sitting on the concrete floors.

Naminé smiled and knelt down to pat the girl's strawberry blonde hair affectionately, "I am Sakura-Chan and guess what? I brought home a whole slab of meat for us tonight."

"Yeah! I knew you'd bring home something good!" Sakura beamed happily, "Should I go tell Seifer-Sama, so we can all eat?" Naminé pulled down her hood and nodded.

"That would be good, just tell him I'll be putting my things away in my room," Naminé instructed.

"Okay!" Sakura exclaimed as she skipped off to find their leader. Seifer was the leader of their group and he was the one who had taken Naminé and her sister after their parents had died five years ago and left them homeless. The others; Leon, Riona, Rai, Fuu, and Yuffie were great, but it still was Seifer that initially took them in.

Naminé removed her sweatshirt and folded it neatly so that it could act as a pillow for her makeshift bed of tattered blankets. No one, not even Seifer had a real bed. Beds were a luxury that only those wealthy enough like the 'royal' family could afford. Naminé glowered, 'Of course, as long as they're happy it shouldn't matter that people like my sister and I starve to death or have no real beds to sleep on.' Yet, as much as Naminé despised the dictator and his family, a part of Naminé wished she could be like them and enjoy all of the luxuries of life. It would make taking care of her sister so much easier and Naminé would finally be able to pursue art again. She still had a sketch book from when she was younger, but there were only one or two pictures added that could be regarded as recent. Nostalgia filled the blonde at the thought and she gingerly brought out the worn sketchbook hidden underneath a layer of blankets. Her name was elegantly embossed on the corner of the cover and there was a small water stain near the top of the first page from when she had been caught sketching in an abrupt rainstorm. Fondly, Naminé flickered through the pages, admiring the various images her hands had created until she stopped at a picture of the castle. She had drawn it only a month before her parents had died, when they had taken both Naminé and her little sister to one of the kingdom's festivals. Tall and imposing the dark castle had loomed ominously over the entire kingdom as people milled carelessly through the streets. Most of the citizens hadn't even noticed the castle's presence that night, but Naminé had. The spiraling towers, declaratory balconies, and...the strange boy peering out one of the tall windows. Naminé didn't know who he was, but there something different about him. One of Naminé's hands traced the spot where she had sketched him, her eyes lingering before a familiar voice abruptly tore her from her reverie.

"Sakura told me that you were able to find some meat?"

Startled, Naminé nearly dropped the sketchbook, but relaxed once she recognized the owner of the voice. "Seifer," Naminé stated with a calm smile, "You scared me."

"Sorry about that," Seifer apologized, "but Sakura told me you'd be in your room and I was wondering when we would start up a fire for the meat? Rai's getting impatient."

Naminé laughed, "Isn't Rai always impatient?"

"True," Seifer chuckled as he weaved a hand through his silvery blonde hair, "but…anyway, good work today Naminé. I wasn't able to get out at all myself, so it's good to know I have someone to rely on."

Naminé blushed slightly at the compliment and averted her light blue eyes to ground as she took a second to compose herself. "It's nothing… but, what kept you so busy?"

"This," said Seifer as he pulled a crumpled sheet of yellow paper from his jean pocket and handed it to the flaxen haired girl.

Naminé squinted her eyes at the words boldly embossed onto the sheet before casting Seifer a confused look. "Auditions?"

Seifer nodded, "To find another member for Organization XIII."

"Why? Don't they have enough lackeys already to do their dirty work?"

"Well, apparently," Seifer said with an acid smile, "even dictatorships get short staffed sometimes so they're looking for someone new."

Naminé snorted, "I don't really see why we would—"

"Care?" Seifer finished as his smile broadened. Naminé rolled her eyes but nodded. "We care Naminé because whoever 'wins' these auditions is guaranteed a spot in the castle," Seifer grabbed one of Naminé's hands as he searched her eyes beseechingly, "That could be us Naminé! They said that whoever won was allowed to bring a family member with them and…that could change everything."

Naminé pulled away and crossed her arms across her chest as she spoke softly. "But it couldn't be both of us, Seifer. You know I couldn't leave my sister behind and…if you won, I would rather it be her than me that has a chance at living in the castle."

"I know you wouldn't leave your sister behind Naminé, but even if only one of us one gets in…I'm sure eventually we could convince them to let another person in. It's not like they don't have the money to do it," Seifer replied approaching the blonde girl as he gently laid a hand on her shoulder.

"What about the others? What would happen to them?" Naminé asked turning to face him so that their blue gazes met.

Seifer shrugged, "Does it matter? It's not like they would save your sister if they won like we would and…at the end of the day, isn't that what really matters?"

Naminé clenched her hands and avoided his eyes as she thought about betraying the rest of their friends, but…maybe Seifer was right? If she won…if he won…her sister would have a better future…all three of them would have a better future.

"Well," Seifer asked, "what do you think?"

A small smile flitted across her lips as her suddenly determined gaze fixed onto his, "What do we have to do?"

KHKHKHKHKHKKH

A/N: Okay…so I've had major writer's block for Half Alive, right? And I know it's horrible to post something else, but I've just been stuck and really needed to keep writing something even if it wasn't what I initially meant to update. The good news is that Half Alive chapter 16 is done now so you guys don't have to wait! I'll keep at this story though in between updates if anyone likes it.

On another note, I have no idea what anyone will think of this story. It's a bit depressing since they're in a dictatorship and the area they live in is supposed to be reminiscent of the Hunger Games' District 12 (I want to see the movie SOOOO BADDD!). Also, the family isn't actually royalty just a little tidbit so people don't get confused while reading. They (meaning Superior his family) just assumed the title of royalty when they took everything over. As for Naminé, I know she's a bit OCC but here me out: I made her slightly edgier because I was basing her personality off of her historical context aka the way she lived, where she lived and how she was brought up. She needs to be edgier because she's in a very vicious, kill or be killed society. Also, I know some people might feel a bit 'ew' with Seifer sort of being a love interest, but do not worry NaminéxRoxas fans I hate her with Seifer too so lol that won't last long.

Um…yeah I don't really have much else to say other than ask if you would prefer Roxas to be introduced in the next chapter or just have him appear when Naminé meets him? And…I really want people to tell me what they think about my OCs (like Sakura) as they're introduced into the story, okay?It just tells me how I'm doing with writing my own characters instead of just using the actual game characters.

Also, Please Read and Review if you can! I'd love to know if this story is worth continuing or not:)