Disclaimer: don't own Kingdom Hearts or Wicked... yet.
Trees flashed by me as I sprinted by, nimbly jumping over tangled roots and ducking around gnarled branches. I could feel unwanted tears rushing down my face, but I ignored them and kept running. I could hear shouts and jeers from behind me, and when I glanced back, I could see torches far behind me, slowly catching up. I looked forward again in time to smack into a low hanging branch, and tumbled onto the hard ground, scuffing up my bear arms. I pushed myself back up and started sprinting again, knowing that if I stopped I would be killed.
Why me? What had I done to deserve all of this? Curse Naminè, curse Xion, curse everyone! I felt a surge of anger rush through me as I thought of the real reason I was running; the supposed 'Wizard' of Oƶ, DiZ. That fraud was the reason a mob was after me; he was why everyone was calling me 'un-whole', 'wicked', and even 'witch'.
A bolt of light suddenly shot past my head, embedding itself into a tree before letting out a small explosion that nearly knocked me off my feet. I glanced back in time to see none other than Naminè at the head of the mob, hands filled with light, already taking aim again. Not her to; I swept my hand up and the earth in front of her suddenly smashed up, creating a makeshift wall between us. I turned back around and kept running, knowing that wouldn't stop Naminè for long. I had to get out of here; but how? I had the Keyblade, but what good would that do me now? There were too many innocent people out there, and as much as I would love to send some of them to oblivion, after the day I had had, I just couldn't do anymore.
Another bolt of light narrowly missed me, and I dived down into a ditch, before heading upstream. I could hear the voices getting louder and louder, and pushed myself harder. My chest started hurting, my lungs burning for more air, and my legs screaming at me to stop. I glanced left and right and felt a surge of hope as I saw Axel's cornfield. I jumped out of the ditch and ran towards it, desperately hoping he was there, not out in town flirting with plastic mannequins again.
I was nearly there, when something slammed into me from behind, burning my back and sending me hurtling forward. I held back a scream as I slammed into the ground, and groaned into the earth, a numb burning sensation slowly crawling its way across my back. Naminè had definitely been getting her sharpshooting down; she had landed a bull's eye on my spine, and it hurt like hell. I slowly pushed myself up, and looked towards Naminè, who was approaching with a grim expression on her face, and tears streaming from her eyes. I stood up as she drew closer, and flexed my hands, ready for a fight. I might have been exhausted from everything I had done today, but if I had to, I would win this fight; I would defeat her. But I wouldn't kill her; I couldn't kill my one of my two real only friends.
"Whatever DiZ has told you it's a lie. He's a fake Nami." I said, watching as she slowly came to a stop. She studied me for a moment, before wiping the tears from her face.
"Why couldn't you have stayed calm for once? Instead of flying off the handle! I hope your happy Roxas. I hope you're really happy now."
I clenched my fist, feeling anger surge through me. She believed DiZ; after everything they had been through, she believed whatever lies DiZ was telling her.
"No. I'm sorry for you Naminè; I'm sorry that I've been calling you a genius all this time and lying to you. If you believe that crap DiZ has been spewing, you're a moron."
Anger flashed behind Naminè's porcelain features, and she was opening her mouth to say something when the rest of the mob broke out of the woods, running towards us.
"There he is; get him!"
I glanced longingly back at Axel's cornfield, before extending my hand. The Keyblade flashed into existence, filling me with strength and determination. If they wanted a fight they would get one. I took a stance, ready to finish this or at least go down fight. My mind flashed back to the question I had asked myself earlier; why me? What had I done to deserve this? My thoughts were instantly zapped back to the beginning, back to when all of this would have seemed like some kind of cruel joke. Back to when I was just Roxas Lockhart.
x-X-x
Life in the world of Oƶ for Tifa Lockhart had always been simple; fight, ignore the multitude of boys who were drooling over her, flirt with her boyfriend Cloud Strife, and look pretty. She had always been a simple person, and had no idea how totally not simple her future would be. It had all started when a vicious storm had ravaged Quadling Country where she lived.
She had been blocking all the windows when she had seen a man collapsed on the road. She had rushed out and brought the man inside, warming him up and helping him to wake up. He quickly got on her good side with his jokes and charisma, and had revealed himself to be a traveling salesman. The man had offered Tifa one of his wares as a thank you for helping him, and gave her his only vial of 'Heartless Emotion'; an elixir that would make the user beyond beautiful. Tifa had been delighted, as she hadn't been getting much attention from Cloud lately, and had quickly tried it out. The last thing she saw was the man smiling darkly at her as her vision went black.
When she awoke, the house was empty; everything had been stolen, her virginity being one of the things taken. When Cloud had found her later that day, she was curled in a ball in the corner, next to the shattered remains of the 'Heartless Emotion'. After comforting her, and helping her move into his house, he asked her to marry him so that he could love and protect her forever, which she had gladly accepted. They had married the next day, and had spent the next few months in perfect bliss. But nine months after the incident and marriage, Roxas was born. Tifa had been both thrilled and horrified, not knowing whether it was Cloud's son, or the salesman. Either way, after a few seconds of the baby being born, she stopped caring, everything turning into horror; Roxas was born with no heart.
His blood still went through his veins, his brain still worked (too well at times), and his body worked perfectly fine; he just had no heart. Tifa and Cloud had wandered around Oƶ for the first few years of Roxas' life searching for a heart he could have, something that would make him normal, but to no avail. After realizing there was no way to fix it, they had tried to keep it a secret, but it was no use. News of the 'heartless' baby had already spread, causing people to stare and point, to make parents tell their kids to stay away from that 'monster'; they didn't want anyone to have anything to do with that nobody of a boy. Roxas grew used to being alone, to being shunned, and finally made friends with an unfortunate teenager named Riku.
Riku had been fifteen when he had been brutally beaten by Munchkinlanders, actually ripping off his legs and arms. He had been brought to the great and powerful Wizard, who had replaced Riku's missing blood, bones, and skin, with oil, stone, and metal. Riku had been sent back to his family made up mostly of metal, and quickly earned the nickname 'Tin man'. Riku was in the same boat as Roxas; the attack had left him without a real heart, only a metal contraction that pumped the oil through his body. The two had bonded over there trauma, and were starting to become good friends when Tifa had gotten pregnant again. Despite Cloud's warning, Tifa constantly ate heart fruit, determined to not make the same mistake again. Tifa ended up giving birth to Xion Strife, who had been born with a heart; but due to excess amounts of heart fruit juice in her system, she was born blind and mute.
Tired of failure, and feeling like she was weighing Cloud down, Tifa took the kids and ran away, moving to Gillikin, just north of the Emerald City. Roxas slowly started bonding with his sister, despite feeling great jealousy over the fact that Xion was Tifa's favorite. Life for Roxas Lockhart was simple; learn everything there was to know, get stronger, ignore the comments from everyone, and figure out why he could make strange things happen, like moving things without touching them, or turning bullies into sheep, and constantly having strange dreams about something called a 'Keyblade'. Yes, life for Roxas was simple; until his mother sent him off to Shiz University. And then, everything changed.
x-X-x
The train whistle blew painfully loud as I stepped out of the railroad car, the sun shining down painfully bright on me, roasting me in my thick coat. Any sane person would have abandoned the coat in this kind of weather, but for me, that wasn't exactly an option. I may have been invited here to attend school, but I had a sneaky suspicion that if people recognized me, I wouldn't be so welcome anymore; no one wanted to be around someone with no heart, someone who was incomplete.
I glanced around the deserted station, thankful that there wasn't a soul in sight. I walked towards one of the stations exits, nodding curtly to a lone engineer, before hurrying off. After a few minutes of walking, I emerged onto a huge, yet strangely deserted, street. I glanced around again, getting paranoid; this wasn't going to be eighth grade again was it? I shuddered unintentionally as I remembered that horrendous day when I had started school again.
The school had been completely deserted, and it wasn't until I had finally gone to the gym, a place where I couldn't escape, the entire school had ambushed me. They had beaten me black and blue, screaming that my kind wasn't welcome there, before throwing me into a dumpster. I took a deep breath, wondering if anyone would notice if I just got back on the train, before walking down the street. I was older now, and what happened back there wouldn't happen now. I wandered down another street, sweating buckets as I tried to remember the directions Mom had given me before I had left. I spotted a sign reading 'Lady Luck' and quickly turned down it. Just a few more streets now and then…
I froze as I heard voices shouting from an alley up ahead. Cautiously, I took a few hesitant steps forward towards the alley, and started listening to the conversation.
"You moron; thought you could just waltz up into our town after what you've done? You think we just forgot about the crops you've burned to a crisp?"
I stepped into the alley's entrance, and was taken back at what I saw; three men stood in the alley, two holding something between them, while the other punched it viciously in the stomach. The thing suddenly groaned, and I jumped, before looking more closely. It was a scarecrow, dressed in blacks, reds, yellows, and oranges, with red colored hay sticking out of the top of its head, looking like some kind of demented porcupine. It was extremely skinny, and stood at least a foot and a half taller than me. To add to the already odd look, two teardrop shaped marks had been burned right under its bright emerald green eyes, which were currently scrunched up in pain. I bit my lip as I felt my fist clench; I could never stand people getting hurt. Yeah it might have been a scarecrow, but it was obviously alive. I took a deep breath, putting my bag down, before saying "Hey."
The man stopped mid-punch, turning to scowl at me. "What do you want?" he said gruffly. I felt my breath catch in my throat, suddenly taking in all three of the men's appearances. They were all huge and brawny, and looked as if they could snap someone like me in half like a toothpick if they wanted to. After a few seconds of silence, I managed to say "Let the scarecrow go."
The man glanced at the scarecrow, before looking back to me, a perplexed look on his face. "You want us to let him go; after what he's done to our city? Do we need to beat what he did into you to?" I flinched as the man's voice got louder, and my mind raced before an idea hit me. I reached into my coat pocket, fishing out a few silver coins, and holding them out. "Let him go."I said again quietly. The man studied my face for a second, before snatching the coins out of my hand.
He examined them for a long minute, counting then recounting them several times before looking back at me. "No thanks." He smiled at my startled expression while his friends laughed. He pockets the money, smiling contently at me as my fingers curled into fists. "Give it back." I demanded. The man put a finger to his chin, looking like he was thinking, before saying "No. Tell you what though, how about I give you something better?"
Before I could answer, his fist suddenly collided with the side of my face, sending me stumbling back. I tried to regain my footing, but the man was on me again, socking me in the gut.
He lifted me off the ground, pulling his fist back, and I threw up my arm to defend my face. I felt a painful tug in my stomach, and the next thing I knew, the man was lying on the ground ten feet away; the only noise in the alley now the scarecrows pained breathing, and the tinkle of my coins that had fallen at my feet. I felt a surge of relief, glad for once that my strange uncontrollable gift was good for something, before realizing that the men were staring at me in awe. I raised my hands threateningly, acting like I knew how to do what I had done again; saying "Let him go."
The men eagerly dropped the scarecrow, before sprinting down the alley, not bothering to check on their fallen comrade. After a few seconds, the man sat up, looking at me in horror. "Get out of my sight." was all I could think to say. The man got unsteadily up to his feet, before quickly backing down the alley, careful to keep me in his sights. When the man was gone, I reached down, grabbing my money, before walking over to the scarecrow. I knelt down beside it, and gently pushed its head up saying "Hey, you okay?"
After a few long seconds, the emerald eyes fluttered open, and the scarecrow pushed itself up. "Yeah, thanks to you." I smiled shyly, not used to people thanking me, before offering it my hand. "I'm Roxas." The scarecrow stared at my hand wearily at my hand for a second, before grabbing it and pulling itself to its feet. "Name's Axel; A-x-e-l. Got it memorized?" I smiled at the question saying "Definitely."
I turned back to the alley's entrance, and grabbed my discarded bag. I was about to start looking for Shiz again, when Axel called out "Hey, where you going?" I glanced back as Axel walked over to me; his long legs making him strut like some kind of oversized bird. "I'm heading to Shiz." Axel stopped next to me, nodding his head towards a wall, before saying "So that's why you helped me out."
I gave him a questioning look, and after a few seconds he explained. "I'm not exactly someone you want to know around here. I caused a few… accidents, and people around here absolutely hate me. Almost nobody around here actually goes there, which is why you don't know about me."
"What did you do?"
Axel stretched his arms, before looking up at the sky. "I might have accidently gotten drunk a few too many times and set fire to a couple of corn fields I was supposed to be protecting. And I may have accidently burned down a couple of buildings." I chuckled, startling Axel.
"Something funny?"
"A scarecrow playing with fire. That's definitely a new one."
Axel grinned, shrugging his shoulders. "I can't help it, it's cool." I laughed, feeling a real smile cross my lips. How long had it been since I had smiled? Come to think of it, when was I laughing with someone, not having someone laugh at me? "Funny coincidence though, you're not the only one going to Shiz today. I happen to have been 'cordially' invited to attend due to my extreme genius."
"Extreme genius?"
Axel scowled. "Oh hush up. So, where you from Rocks-ass?" I chuckled at the nickname, but my humor quickly turned into worry as I remembered who I was, or more specifically what I was. "I'm from Gillikin." I said carefully, trying to think of other questions he would ask, and how to answer them without giving anything away. Axel nodded, obviously sensing my hesitation, before saying "Hey, come on. We better get you set up at Shiz before you roast in that thing; I could fill a pool with all that sweat." I rolled my eyes, but followed him down the street, slowly sinking back into my own thoughts. I was so absorbed in my head, that I barely noticed that Axel had stopped.
After a few seconds, I stopped and looked back, only to find Axel staring into a shop window, smiling cheesily. I walked back to him, and glanced in to see what he was looking at; the only problem was that the shop was deserted. The only thing in sight was a plastic mannequin.
"Well hello Ms. Gorgeous." Axel said, smoothing back his spikey hair. After looking between the two of them for a few seconds, I couldn't help a small laugh escaping my lips. Axel looked at me in surprise saying "What? You expect me to resist someone with that kind of body?" I smiled, glancing back in the window; all I saw was a boy with sapphire blue eyes and spikey golden blonde hair. Instinctively my hand went to my hair, trying hopelessly to smooth them down; it was a habit my mom had forced into me, attempting to make sure I didn't draw attention to myself.
"Tell you what, after we get settled in, we'll come back and I'll set you two up. Sound good?" Axel whirled around to me, eyes wider than dinner plates. "Seriously? You're not pulling my straw are you?" I shook my head and Axel quickly said "Cross your heart."
I froze, staring into the window. Cross my heart? What was that supposed to mean? "If only I could." I muttered.
I bit my lip at my slip up, and a spark of recognition suddenly flashed in his eyes. I stopped breathing for a second, knowing that he had somehow figured out who I was. Well there went that friendship. Seriously, in a world like this where trees and animals talked, scarecrows could be people; you would think they would get over small things like not having a heart. But, just like everyone else, he would instantly call me a heartless scum, laugh cruelly at me, and walk away. The only exception ever to that rule had been Riku, and even he hadn't really been my friend; we had just been two people with similar pains.
"You're Roxas Strife aren't you?" I sighed sadly, before nodding. Silence settled on us for a few long seconds, before Axel spoke.
"And I thought I was famous. Wonder what my friends will say when I tell 'em I'm friends with you." I stopped breathing for a second, looking up at him with shock.
"We're friends?"
Axel smiled curiously at me before saying "Well yeah." I smiled, not knowing how to put into words how grateful and excited I was. I had a friend. A real friend.
Yeah, horrible i know so sorry, this is my first fan fict. Hope it someone out there liked it, and please remember to give me at least one more chance, i swear chapter 2 will be much better. Please review, i'll gladly take criticism, anything to help me get better. Hope you read the next chapter when it gets out!
