A/N: I'm sorry this is taking me so long to write and update… I've been busy lately and my mom doesn't want me on the computer too much.
Urgh.
I don't think I managed to get everything I wanted into the second chapter… It was rather short as well… I need to get better at writing longer chapters… Hmm.
Yay! It's time to bring in the vampires! *Shivers in Terror* Haha.
"Oh ~Roxas." Axel's lilting voice carried itself down the long, ornate hallway, into the ears of the blonde hidden around the bend.
"Roxy…"
The red-head had been searching for his favorite blonde for a few minutes now, it seemed Roxas was either playing hide and seek with him, or just wasn't in the building at all. Little did he know, Roxas was in the building, but he wasn't playing hide and seek. He was in search of Larxene, and for a good reason too. Though he wouldn't tell Axel what it was, else the redhead would take things into his own hands, and that wouldn't end up very well for the poor female blonde.
Finally Axel gave up and turned around, surveying the room he was standing in. It was the living room of the three-story house, or at least one of the many living rooms, and it had a few elegant chairs and tables draped around the room in no organized fashion, and he chose the closest chair and sat down in it, crossing his legs. He placed his hands behind his head and leaned back, smiling. The living room was deserted, save a bird locked in a cage on the far side of the room. There were no electronic devices or lights, but amazingly enough, windows.
"Where could my Roxy be?…" The redhead murmured to himself as he tapped the wooden armchair with his fingers, listening to them create a dull, throbbing rhythm against it. He really had nothing else planned for that day, and what other way could be better than finding Roxas and spending it with him.
It wasn't long before his long silence was broken, and a blonde-haired man came rushing in, eyebrows slightly rising in annoyance. "Axel, it seems there is another problem." Axel didn't look up at the poker-loving vampire, merely raised two fingers from the armchair, as if saluting him. "And…?" The redhead replied, letting his gaze linger close to Luxord's face, but not quite holding his gaze. "Well, unless you want the love of your life ripped too shreds, I suppose you should go, how do I put this… Save him?"
That was all he needed to hear. He was out of his seat the moment Luxord had said "ripped too shreds." As he swept past the blonde he tapped his shoulder, ordering him to follow the redhead, and together they began fast walking through the many long hallways that led to various rooms and places in the building.
"Where?" Axel finally asked after they'd gotten a few paces out the door. "The Ballroom…" Luxord replied, and although Axel couldn't see him, he was sure the blonde had winced. That only made him more worried. What was going on? He picked up his pace, not really caring if Luxord was keeping up any more, and began running. Suddenly, there was a loud cry, and Axel raced around the corner, pushing past two swinging doors, and stopped short.
"Bitch." He hissed as icily as he could, before flinging himself in the two fighting nobodies directions.
Larxene had Roxas in a headlock and her eyes were narrowed. He was clutching her arms tightly, as though he couldn't breathe, and as Axel neared them the male blonde growled and flung her over his shoulders, hissing. It seemed neither had noticed him yet and Roxas squared off, hands out in front of him as though he was playing basketball.
"Larxene, give it up. You know that is not the way." Roxas said quietly, calmed as suddenly as he'd been angry. The female blonde was spun around and lunging at him a second later. That was when Axel intervened, jumping forward as she crashed into his side. He had to smile as she was stopped, his own body barely moving as she bounced off him. It must have been like hitting a brick wall because she looked dazed and was ogling at the two of them.
"Give what up?" Axel asked as he brushed some dirt off his shoulder, glancing down at it to make sure it was gone. As he glanced back up, both blonde's were avoiding his gaze and seemed to be snarling at each other, Roxas' snarl slightly less wild.
"I said, give what up?" Finally Roxas looked up at him. Just as he was about to form an answer, Larxene tackled him, arms wrapping around his waist, bringing him to the ground easily.
"I'll rip your throat out!" She growled as he fought to keep her away from him, either of his hands holding her wrists to the side, her face quite near his, her upper lip curled viciously. Axel growled and leaned down, picking up the blonde easily before he flung her to the side. She landed in a crouch, one leg swung out to the side, both hands on the ground to keep her balance. Her already narrowed eyes flickered from him to Roxas, and as she began to stand, her hands went to her hips.
"Larxene, what is it you're supposed to be giving up?" Though his usual playful tone was still there, his eyes held all seriousness in their depths and he held out a hand for Roxas, standing up straight as the blonde took it and picked himself up. He was amazed to find Larxene glaring at Roxas again instead of looking at him, and he looked down at his partner, tilting his head slightly. The blue eyes that grazed his own green ones were filled with something close to sympathy or pity, and Axel couldn't help but feel completely out of the loop.
"Tell him Roxas." Larxene finally sneered, beginning to walk towards them again. "And I swear I'll do something you'll regret." Axel matched her glare as she walked past him, and the crazed giggle that met his ears as she left the ballroom made him cringe slightly. How could she be so heartless sometimes? Actually, he didn't want to have that answered, he didn't need to know about her past life, he really could care less.
"Roxy… Come on, I know you can tell me…" In fact, he was more or less insinuating that the blonde had to tell him, but for that second he could play sly.
Roxas tilted his head away from the redhead and crossed his arms, staring at something on the floor that probably, wasn't actually there. It was a little while before he answered quietly, shuffling his feet as he did so. "Larxene… Ugh, how to say this… Larxene is having, "relations," with a Shifter."
For some reason, that didn't really surprise Axel. What surprised him more was the fact that he hadn't noticed. Larxene wasn't really one to stick to a man forever like Axel had chosen to do with Roxas; she played the field a lot and was often found at parties hanging off the shoulder of any man available. So, now he wanted to know more.
"Uh-huh… A Shifter, eh? Please tell me its not Vincent, that could go down real badly for us…" Axel crossed his arms like Roxas had done, gazing down at his shorter lover, who still refused to look him straight in the eye, as though he was hiding more. Axel cleared his throat when the blonde still refused to answer, and leaned down close to Roxas' ear.
"Must I threaten you, Roxas?" He asked gently, his breath warm against Roxas' ear, tickling the inside of it. He watched the blonde hold back a shiver by tensing slightly, and when no further reaction came, Axel uncrossed his arms and put a finger on the blonde's shoulder, his other hand by his side.
"Roxy… Which Shifter? I really wanna know…" He let his voice slide into a "begging" tone, still on the playful side, losing most of its seriousness. He began walking around the blonde, his finger sliding with his movements, until he was on the other side of the blonde. The only thing Roxas did to acknowledge him was to dare a glance at the redhead's finger as it passed to his other shoulder where he could see it. He did not move his head, just his eyes. Then he looked up finally into Axel's eyes and sighed. Axel waited for words, the sigh must have meant Roxas was finally giving in, but something about the way Roxas' chin slowly lifted a mere centimeter and the way his eyes were suddenly half-lidded made him think differently. Oh how there were times Roxas was adorable, submissive, and just plain on cute. Then there were times he was a fighter, relentless, and quite sexy. This was one of those times.
"Roxas, come on, I don't have time for this." Axel wasn't blinded by the fact that Roxas was playing coy. He brought his finger up to Roxas' cheek, letting it slide down to his mouth, his eyes following the fingertip as it brushed over the blonde's lips gently and then dropped to his chin. He tilted the blonde's face up; gazing into the fierce blue eyes with an equal ferocity, ready to go to whatever lengths were needed to get this answer. He was, the leader of this Clan. He wasn't about to let a lower member keep a secret from him, he would get it one way or another. Sure said lower member was and had been his lover on and off since they had met, but that didn't mean Axel could just shirk his responsibilities… If something went seriously wrong, he'd have to take a session with high court, and god he really didn't want to have to do that.
Roxas didn't uncross his arms, even as his chin was tilted up. The only evidence he was even listening anymore was the smirk that was gradually growing on his lips and the over-excessive eyelash batting. Axel could feel his resolve melting at those eyelashes, and soon enough he wouldn't be able too keep up this serious conversation; if, in fact, it was ever serious to begin with.
"Must I haul this information out of you Roxas? Can you not give it up easily?" Axel couldn't help but think that the two years Roxas had been a Vampire had given him a sense of immortality. Even if he could bleed, even if it was possible too die, Roxas seemed so sure that Axel would never hurt him.
Axel had to admit, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't bring himself to spill one drop of Roxas' blood.
"I can give up other things easily." Axel almost hadn't heard him speak, had barely seen the blonde's lips move, and soon Axel's smirk matched Roxas'. If that was how Roxas wanted to play, he wasn't about to object. His finger slowly moved back up to Roxas' lips, where he gently pulled down the lower one, opening the blonde's mouth slightly. He eyed the fangs inside, his own chin tilted up now, his own lips parting in anticipation.
"If you wish it to be so." Was all Axel's reply consisted of before he leaned down, one hand in a fist behind his back, the other cupping Roxas' cheek as their lips met. It was brief, and as the blonde pulled back there was a tingle throughout Axel's body that hadn't been there before the interaction.
"Do not think you can blackmail this information out of me, dear Axel, I have more self-will than that." Roxas' tenacity obliterated Axel's determination for the moment, and he was simply speechless for a few seconds before a clever reply could be thought of.
"It's not blackmail Roxas, simply an eye for an eye. I give you what you want, and you give me what I want. Is that really so bad?" Though Axel's hand was gentle against Roxas' skin, he curled up his top lip slightly, giving Roxas a good glimpse of his left fang. The boy's eyes flashed at this silent threat and he cleared his throat, much like Axel had done earlier, and flicked his gaze up to the blazing green eyes above him.
"Axel, you do not scare me. If you haven't forgotten, I am strong enough to fight my way out of any situation, granted I am up to caliber." Axel chuckled, clucking his tongue at the semi-frightened blonde, letting his hand drop from Roxas' face. "Oh, but this isn't about fighting, now is it Roxas? It never was…" Axel moved in then, a hand on either of Roxas' shoulder, his nose nuzzling the side of the boys throat seconds before his tongue did some nuzzling of its own. Soft, raspy licks were planted as he let the boy contemplate his meaning. He opened his mouth then, letting his tongue roam over one of his fangs, and then grazed the fang along the flesh beneath it, creating a soft hum in Roxas' throat, something close to a purr. As the redhead pulled back, gazing into one eye and then the other, Roxas finally put a hand on either of Axel's shoulders and pushed him backwards a few steps, Axel's hands slipping from his counterpart. The blonde's hands went on either hip and he leaned forward slightly, rolling his eyes once.
"Wow, all of that to get an easy answer, dear Axel. It was Xigbar, the pirate-looking one of the Shifters. You should know him quite well, he was almost made your dinner only a few nights ago." Something about the way Roxas said that Axel should know him "quite well," made him think there was more to this than just Larxene and Xigbar being together. Yes, Axel had been seeing a lot of that brute lately, well… More likely hearing about him, and he suddenly realized what he'd been missing. Xigbar had been the one who'd been lurking on the edge of Axel's territory; Xigbar had been the one lone figure Axel had seen leaving the castle late at night.
Xigbar had been the only one lately who'd gone down to visit the slaves, other than those who fed them of course, and that wasn't right at all, seeing as he wasn't a full-blooded Vampire. He wasn't even a vampire at all; he was a mere Shifter, not even a Full Shifter at that. Axel's eyes narrowed and he suddenly brushed past Roxas, leaving the boy wondering if he had some sort of bi-polar problem the way he could go from one mood to the next so easily, and began heading towards the second floor lounge.
"Roxy, come along if you feel the need. I have important business too attend to." Then he was round the corner in the opposite direction.
Reno was the first too enter the forest, running like a madman, laughing. Demyx followed suit, threatening too kill him, and then came Sora at a more leisurely pace, rolling his eyes at the two crazed men. It was like they were still children, and Sora really didn't feel like babysitting right now.
"Reno, you dick, slow down and face me like a man!" There was nothing other than more laughter as a reply to the dirty blonde, who was chasing the redhead with a vengeance.
"I'm not even running that fast!" Reno protested, holding his stomach as he continued stumbling through the forest, his eyes darting around for a place to hide. Demyx wasn't far behind, and he was suddenly smiling. Arms bent at the elbows, he held his hands out in front of him, as though he was preparing to defend himself. Then suddenly he closed his eyes, crouched down, and jumped forward, those arms outstretched still. As soon as he jumped, his transformation began. He could feel his skin growing fur, a tingling feeling as it covered his entire body. As his bones aligned in probably the quickest amount of time he'd ever dared to do, he cried out loudly, but all that was sounded was a loud growl that ripped through him from deep in his chest. His oversized paws hit Reno's back as he began to lose altitude, and the redhead went down face first, hands out to protect himself. The only trouble was, Reno was trying to steady himself by hand standing and flipping over backwards, but Demyx's momentum kept them going and their combined weight collapsed his hands, throwing him roughly onto his back, Demyx skidding to a halt a few feet away after landing on all fours. As the cougar watched the redhead groan and roll over, one hand on the small of his back, he noticed that Sora had caught up to them and he sat up tall, pretending to be innocent. As soon as Sora gazed at Reno, his glare shot back up to Demyx, and the cougar looked away defiantly, eyes half-lidded, yawning once to show his disinterest. Of course Sora immediately disapproved, but he was to tense, never had any fun anymore. Now that little chase there, that had been fun, loads of it. And they did that kind of stuff all the time; seriously, Sora needed to learn how to calm down.
"Reno… Are you alright?" Demyx whipped his head around at Sora's voice, his eyes finding Reno standing form. "Ya." Came the wounded reply before Reno coughed into his free hand, his other hand still rubbing his back. Demyx couldn't help but want to jump on him again, if only the redhead wasn't so fragile in his human form… That didn't help.
Then the redhead whipped around, and this time he didn't look injured. He looked playful, sure, but not injured.
"You are so about to die, punk."
Before Demyx could scrabble away, Reno was running at him, shifting as he ran, something Demyx was unable to do yet. His back legs changed first, propelling him forward, and just as his back began to shorten his front legs came pounding down on earth, paws already finished, last to go was the face. That didn't take long either, and the red and earth brown colored fur flew towards the sandy colored cat, not taking time to let the cat escape. There was a throaty growl from the newly created wolf, and an equally throaty snarl from the cougar as they collided, Demyx on his back legs, Reno head butting the blonde in the stomach. As he did so, Demyx collapsed on top of him, crushing him into the ground before he sprung away a few feet, leaving Reno to pick himself up and spin around. There was no time to rest though because it was apparent Reno meant what he said, to some degree. This training would be intense, each would be tired after from what Demyx could tell, and there would be wounds. Thankfully, Aerith would be back by dinnertime, so they didn't have long to wait before she could heal them.
In their animal forms they could not use human speech; it was impossible to do so. The most Demyx could do to exclaim his feelings was to use body signals and vocal signals, some that Reno would not understand, seeing as they were of different species. As the wolf charged at him again, Demyx ran at him as well. Just before they collided though, the cougar threw himself onto his side, not caring how hard he hit the dirt. His back hit Reno's front paws and he watched as they buckled and the redhead was thrown over him, rolling once. Demyx quickly stood up, sniffing the air for blood. After smelling none, he pounced on Reno, unsuspecting of the kick to the face he received seconds before he was able to land on Reno's body. It was unsuccessful to say the least, and the cougar was sent sprawling head over heels backwards, his neck bending at odd angles that would have seriously injured any regular human. Before he could stand this time, Reno was on him, his eyes ablaze, his lips curled back. The red wolf's jaws slavered around the cougar's neck, and all Demyx could do was curl his back paws back and kick up, right into Reno's stomach, much like he'd been head butted previously. Reno's mouth opened in a loud whimper as he was sent backwards, and this time as he stood there was an obvious loss of breath and a stumble in his step, though his eyes were just as intense as before. Demyx wasn't about to let up either, even if some of Reno's teeth had managed to puncture his throat skin; that little bit of pain wasn't about to stop him. He wasn't that much of a pansy.
As their fight continued on, Sora sat down under a tree to watch. He was usually one to commend how training went, but they seemed to be doing fine, honing in on certain skills. He picked up a blade of grass and began shredding it slowly.
Finally, it was Demyx who messed up. His front paw collapsed, just sort of gave up, and it made him stumble to the side, trying to keep his balance. As he pressed it to the ground gingerly, he was happy to feel no pain; but when he looked up again, Reno was coming in for the kill and this time the cougar was unprepared. Though Reno's muzzle was bleeding from the time Demyx had gotten a hold of it with his sharp fangs, and although Reno was limping on his back leg, he was still able to flip Demyx onto his back and pin him, snarling as loudly as he could, making sure his prey didn't get away. Demyx did nothing more than struggle loosely and growl, mewing as he tried to get away. When he realized it was no use and if he persisted more Reno probably would end up trying to kill him, he began to transform back into his human form. When his flesh was just flesh again and his legs and arms were of the proper size, he pushed against Reno's chest with his hands, amazed at the strength of his friend's creature when he was unable to move him. Reno had stopped snarling, and was now wearing a wolfish grin, his eyes studying Demyx lazily as he yawned, letting slobber drip down onto Demyx's face from his open mouth. As the blonde cried out and pushed Reno's muzzle away from his own maw, Reno stepped off and transformed back as well, standing up and offering his friend a hand.
"Gross…" Demyx whined as he continued wiping the spit of his cheek, taking his friends hand so he could stand properly as well. There was no trace of blood or wounds on his friend's body, and none on Demyx's either. Though, they both knew how badly their animal forms needed to be treated after today's training, it had gone awry from the beginning, with neither of their mentor's there to teach them, and their animal forms had taken a beating from it. Demyx didn't regret it though, he'd really gotten to see not only his own but also Reno's wild side.
"It's not as gross as your face." Reno pointed out with a serious face, eyebrows raised slightly. Demyx shot him a "whatever" type glare and turned to Sora, who had also stood and was wiping off the seat of his pants.
"Good job guys, that was creative. I really liked how Demyx used the trees to his advantage, and how Reno used his back legs. I'm sure Ventus and Vincent would be proud." Then he turned and began walking, not even waiting for the pair. Demyx immediately looked at Reno, eyebrows furrowed, and jabbed his thumb in Sora's direction.
"What's wrong with him? Seriously, kill joy much." Reno looked uncertain, but he forced a smile. "Yah seriously… kill joy." Demyx had turned back and was following after Sora already, and didn't see Reno's glance in the opposite direction, back into the forest. The redhead was thinking about Vampires and seduction, and a shiver rippled through his body before he followed after the two, albeit a little frightened.
A/N: Well… Seems I finally got Chapter Three up! *Yay me!
Just, don't hate me if my grammar is off, because I know it is. I didn't spend a lot of time on my grammar here; I was having a hard enough time getting all of the story done before my mom kicks me off. Review please; I enjoy reading those thingies and getting your ideas.
~Lupae
