Sing a song of six pence
Chapter one
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, honestly, do you think they made them i pirates /i ? Also, this is a yaoi fan fiction, so if ye don't like it, don't be reading it, savvy? KH pairings include AkuRoku, SoraxRiku, MarluxiaxVexen, XemnasxSaïx.
A tall, slender red-head stood leaning against his cot, day dreaming and un-knowing of a younger teen hiding away in a pile of blankets nearby. He was snapped out of his trance by somebody shouting his name.
"Axel!" He tried to ignore it, it was probably something stupid.
"Axe!" Now he knew it was stupid, it was Demyx. He ignored it.
The door burst open, revealing a slightly-flustered blonde, panting to catch his breath.
"Honestly Dem, the ship ain't THAT big. How far did ye run 'till ya found me?" He smirked, slapping the teen on the back. He surveyed his cabin mate, noticing his gun holsters empty, something that wasn't very smart for one, and Demyx almost never did.
"What happened to your-"
"Guns? Somebody had the nerve to steal my stuff! Can you believe it?!" He said, sinking down to he floor.
"Oh, how hard it be to believe, ya know, we're not on a vessel FULL of thieves." He chuckled, getting an eye roll from the mullet-ed blonde. He sighed and kneeled down to Demyx's level.
"So what happened?" He asked in the sing-song voice he used for when this certain crewmate was pouty. The other sighed and took a breath, getting his thoughts in order so that he could tell the story.
"I got up this morning while you were slacking off someplace else above deck, and my guns were gone! But I didn't hear anybody come in, or leave, or i anything. /i Did you? I wonder who it could be though, everybody's pretty well off. The captian-" He was cut off by Axel's hand clamping on his mouth.
"Inhale. Exhale. Talk." He said, removing his hand. The blonde did as he was told before resuming his chattering.
"Have you seen anybody in here other than us?" Demyx asked his friend, who shook his head.
"Not that I know of." He said, looking around. The small cabin rooms held four hammock-like cots, only two actually held blankets, the other two were empty. The room was in it's usual messy state. As part of the main crew, they'd been able to get a good cabin, one that wasn't in the same room with about twenty other pirates, which, for two boys in their late teens, was good. If anybody'd come into their cabin and gone through everything, they'd have no way of knowing, clothes, and blankets as well as whatever else they had was scattered in piles, making it hard to find anything if you needed to.
The spiky red head looked back to his friend and shrugged.
"Not much I can do for ya. Go ask the captain 'bout it." He stood back up and leaned against the wall. His eyes slipped closed as he started humming, only to be shushed.
"What?" He said, looking down at the blonde that was slowly standing up, as if not to make any noise.
"Shh…. Just be quiet for a minute." He whispered. Axel rolled his eyes but obeyed. A couple minutes passed in silence. He finally gave up.
"Dem, what am I supposed to be hearing?" He asked in a bored tone. Demyx sighed and looked back to Axel.
"I heard something. Sort of a growling noise." He said, scanning the room once more before flopping down on his cot. Axel shrugged and stood up straight.
"Dunno. Maybe it was Saïx's puppy. You know he doesn't keep that thing locked up." He said, walking around the cabin. Then, he heard it. It wasn't much of a growl, more like a grumbling noise. He whipped around to Demyx and held his index finger up to his lips, signaling him not to talk. The blonde nodded and ducked down as Axel's fingers wrapped around his gun, pulling it out of the holster. He lightly put his slender index and middle fingers against the trigger, and slowly moved to the other side of the room, where the noise seemed to be coming from. He kicked at a couple of piles until he heard a faint groan come from one that'd come into harsh contact with the toes of his knee-high boots.
He threw the blanket across the room to reveal a silver haired boy, a few years younger than himself, clutching his stomach where he'd been kicked.
"What business do ye have hiding in there?" He said sternly, pointing the gun at the boy, who sat up slowly, brushing the long, messy hair out of his eyes.
"Don't shoot him! He's just a kid!" Demyx said, stepping across the room and knelt down by the intruder.
"Aye, a kid who stole yer weapons." He said, pointing down to the two pistols on the ground. Demyx hurriedly picked them up and slid the back into the holster that he wore on his side, the boy didn't make an effort to stop him and stared right at Axel, as if waiting to see what the red head was going to do. "I'll ask you again. What are ye doin' in here?" He asked giving a skeptical look to the stowaway.
"I want to join you." The boy said curtly, standing up. Axel chuckled loudly, crossing his arms and jutted his hip to the side.
"Ya think ye can handle bein' a pirate? Thief? Always runnin' from the navy? Ain't ya a bit young for that sort of thing? Yer what? Fourteen, i fifteen /i ?" He mused. Demyx nodded in agreement.
"You shouldn't be here, it's not… safe for kids." He said a bit timidly, looking the boy over. He was indeed a few years younger than them, but he looked fairly strong and well muscled. His aqua eyes seemed determined as he and Axel engaged in a staring contest. After a minute or two, Axel spoke up.
"At least 'e got 'imself stuck with us, right? It'd be 'ell if 'e ended up with the Capt'n."
"Of i course /i I'm too young to be a pirate, why do you think I'd hide in i here /i instead of just joining at last port?" He said, rolling his eye. "Do I even need to know what would happen if someone else found me here?"
"No, not really." Axel said bluntly, still staring at the boy. "Ya gotta name, kid?" He asked.
"Are you seriously thinking about this Axel?" Demyx asked in disbelief.
"Riku. And I'm not that much younger than you, you know." He smirked. Axel returned a grin of his own, his eyes had a mischievous tint to them as he thought up a plan.
"Demyx. Go sneak some food an' a pistol, 'e can stay in here fer a while until we make port. I'll take care 'o Xemnas." He said, holding out a hand. "Welcome to the crew, mate."
Riku's smirk tuned into a full-fledged smile, he extended his hand to shake Axel's, but as soon as the red-head had hold of his hand, he pulled his forward and gut-punched him.
"W-what the HELL?!" Riku yelled, doubling over, arms wrapped around his abused stomach. Axel chuckled.
" i That /i was for stealin' Dem's stuff." He said, walking over to his cot, which he promptly laid down on, putting his hands behind his head and closing his eyes. "Chose one of them. Don't matter which one, 's long as it's not Demyx's." He said, nodding towards the two empty cots on the other side of the room.
Riku shrugged and took the one furthest back, sitting on it and fiddling with the hem of his shirt idly.
Demyx burst into the room, a loaf of bread and a couple apples in hand, and a pistol in his mouth. He slammed the door shut and let out a long sigh of relief.
Axel couldn't help but to laugh at the flustered blonde, who in turn shot his a glare.
"What happened to you? Xig try ta shoot you or somthin'?" He chuckled as Demyx regained his composure and walking across the small, dim room so that he was kneeling in front of Riku. He handed the pistol over, and sat the food down on the cot beside the boy.
"Eat this, I don't want you to starve, are you hurt anywhere?" He asked. Riku only shook his head and bit into the apple.
"Demyx, I'm pretty sure the kid came 'ere to get away from his family, I don't think he needs another mother here." Demyx rolled his eyes, completely missing the look of melancholy that'd taken over Riku's face.
"Well, if you don't i need /i me anymore, I'm going to go talk to Zexion for a while." He stated, standing back up.
"Zexion?" Riku asked, tilting his head to the side slightly in a curious manner.
"Aye. He be Demmy here's loooooover." Axel giggled, dodging a shoe thrown at his by the blonde. Riku smirked.
"I see. So anything I need to know about the other crew members?" He asked. Demyx sighed and turned around, sitting on his cot to face Riku, who was patiently awaiting his answer.
"Well now, there be the main crew, such as me and Dem here, and the hired greenies. You've already met me an' Dem, so I won't explain us, but there's the Captain, Xemnas. He's rather… perverted. So stay clear 'o him 'kay?" Riku nodded. "And there's Xigbar, stay on his good side if you don' wanna be pumped full 'o lead. Xaldin mostly keeps to 'imself, just don' make a mess in the kitch'n. Vexen is the nurse so to say. He's always below deck where it's cold, ol' bat. Probably trying to preserve himself." He chuckled.
"Axel, stop saying bad things about people." Demyx gave him a glare.
"Yes mum." He snickered. "Now where was I? Ohh yeah. Lexeus, he's nice enough. Zexion keeps to his charts most of the time. Barely ever talks. Honestly Dem," he turned to the younger blonde. "I don't know what you see in him." Demyx only blushed and looked down at the worn floor boards. "Oh! Saïx, he's pretty much Xemnas's lap dog, you won't see much o' 'im. There's Luxord too. WHATEVER you do, don't play poker with him, I swear that devil cheats his own mother." He scowled. "Marluxia, ohhh boy. I'm not sure words could describe that guy. I only have one. FAG. Poor guy, tryin' ta grow flowers on a pirate ship." Axel shook his head slowly. Riku looked confused, but nodded none the less. He'd get to know everybody eventually.
"So are there any i girls /i here?" Riku asked.
"Axel…" Demyx gave a warning. Lotta good that does.
"Aye, the ONLY wench, would be Larxene." Axel got a devious grin.
"Axel."
"Grumpy one she is. I, personally think it's because she's on a ship FULL of men, but can't get any. I mean, she looks like a bug! And she's wicked violent. You should i see /i her in the mornings. Wooooooah boy."
"Riku, I advise you hide NOW!" Demyx said, panicked. Riku's brows knitted together in confusion.
"Why?" He asked, but got up and followed his orders.
CRASH! The door flung off it's hinges, and landed a few feet away from where Riku was hiding as a FURRIOUS blonde woman stormed in and grabbed Axel by the collar of his baggy shirt.
"WHAT. DID. YOU. SAY?!" She fumed. Riku could swear that he could feel the room get warmer out of pure anger. Not very comforting, really.
After a few more curse words and a punch or two, she left. Demyx picked up the door and sat it back in its original place; it'd have to be fixed later. Riku finally dared to peek out of his hiding place to see Axel laying on the ground, curled into a ball and groaning loudly. Riku couldn't help but smirk.
"You got what was coming to you, Axel. I i tried i to warn you." Demyx sighed and helped Axel back up into his cot.
"Well, now I know not to say things about Larxene, seems Axel should have learned that lesson looong ago."
"I never do learn my lesson, mate. It's a fact of life."
"Yeah, when you die of internal bleeding, we'll see if you've learned you lesson or not." Demyx snapped.
"Ah, but then if I were to die, I'd not have any lessons left to not learn!" Axel smirked. Both teens groaned.
-One and a half weeks later-
Riku was getting used to hiding when other people came around.
A man he learned to be Zexion, or as Axel referred to him "Zexy" had come to fix the door Larxene had broken. The red-head was right though, Zexion didn't say more than two words the whole time he was there.
"LAND!" A lookout yelled as they approached a small island.
"Axel, wake up!" Riku exclaimed, rather excited at the thought of not having to his in the dingy cabin anymore.
"Uhhhhhggggg… what?" Came a sleepy red-head from across the room.
"Go find out where we are! I wanna get OUT of here." Riku half whined, half yelled. Grumbling, the older teen got up and walked out for a moment, before returning and falling back onto his cot.
"Nova damn Scotia. Some little place called Oak Island. 'appy now?" He said, before falling back to sleep. But before he could rest for a few minutes longer, he was awakened by none other than Xemnas himself.
"ALL HANDS ON DECK. WE GOT A JOB TER DO!"
"Fuck. Shit. Why. Can't. I. EVER. Get. To. Sleep?!"
"What job?!" Riku asked, curious.
"We're supposed to kidnap two kids. A year younger than you I think. Twins, sons of the governor. I suppose you could sneak out while the rest of us are gone, and we'll bring you back, okay?" Demyx said, walking in and dragging Axel out of the room, with many complaints and swear words escaping him in the process.
Riku waited for ten minutes, until he could no longer hear the noises of people scurrying around. He quietly stepped out of the dim cabin, instantly shielding his eyes from the unaccustomed light. He began wondering around the ship, looking for a way off when a blue haired man with an X scarred across the bridge of his nose and across his face. He assumed this was a watch out and ducked into the nearest room. Upon entry, he bumped into something squishy, and warm, and… oh Lord. A person?! He looked up to meet gold eyes seeming to stare into his very sole.
"And what can I do ye for?" The man said, a hand firmly on Riku's shoulder so that he couldn't run away.
"I-I uhm. Wanted to join the crew… Sir?" He stuttered
"And how do I know I can trust ya?"
"Don't worry, Xemnas, we sent him here." Said Axel, who was leaning in the doorway. Xemnas glared at Axel.
"And why, pray tell are you not with the others, i Axel /i ?" He asked, slightly angered at the disobedience shown to him.
"They crew seemed ta be doin' pretty well on their own, so I decided ter snag a few new crewbies before we left." He smirked.
"…Crewbies… Wherever ye get that sort 'o talk… Fine. But you're in charge of 'im. I don't want i any /i problems out of this boy, got it?" The Captain stated clearly. Axel nodded and pushed Riku out of the room so that Xemnas and himself could talk about the living arrangements and training that would befall the silver haired teen. A few minutes after the door was closed, and he was waiting, he caught sight of a brunet boy, bound and gagged, being forced onto the ship.
He could swear that his heart stopped.