~4~
Night Soaring, White Confusion
Roxas looked around the lighthouse then jumped when he heard some kind of explosion coming from upstairs followed by smoke billowing down into the living room. Aerith shook her head as she opened the front door to let out most of the smoke before going upstairs. Roxas wondered what in the world could have happened and only hoped it wasn't Axel playing some kind of trick just because he was bored. School hadn't been too long, but it was more than obvious that Axel was annoyed at being left alone for such a long period of time. Of course it had been the dragon's idea in the first place so Roxas couldn't understand why he was acting so irritated.
"How many times have I told you father," Aerith's voice said from somewhere above the blonde, "You shouldn't be conducting your magic experiments in the lighthouse, especially when you have been drinking those weird potions!"
"Well someone has to make sure they are good," complained the voice of an old man. "Can't have me selling bad potions to customers, now can I? Merlin's Beard! Where is that Archimedes?"
"Father," Aerith sighed, "Stop saying Merlin's Beard, that is your name silly."
"By Jove you're right. Archimedes!" Merlin yelled coming down the stairs with Aerith following close behind. "Blast that old owl always disappearing when I need him. He always knows where I put my books."
"Father," the brunette smiled, "I'd like you to meet someone. This is Roxas and he will be staying with us. Roxas this is my father."
Roxas and the old man examined each other realizing they have both already met. Merlin scratched his chin as he looked at the boy who had a dragon with him earlier that day. He figured the boy's dragon was probably outside, but the boy had already denied having a dragon so it was doubtful that he would admit it now.
"You know there is a cave under the lighthouse that I sometimes use for my magic." Merlin said hoping the dragon would get the idea and go down there to sleep. It would be bad for a dragon to sleep outside with no protection, and if he guessed correctly it was a fire dragon. It was going to rain tonight and water weakened fire dragon's as well as the night.
"You're that drunk old man I met earlier," Roxas frowned, "What are you mumbling about now?"
"First off young man," the old wizard scolded, "I am not a drunk. That funny smell was from the potions I make thank you very much. And second, I was saying that because it is going to rain tonight and fire and water don't go well together."
"Father, what are you talking about?" Aerith laughed softly. "Did the fumes get to you again?"
"No, no," Merlin said shooing his daughter away, "I'm as fit as a kettle." His eyes connected with the young boy's and they exchanged a certain understanding that Aerith didn't seem to notice.
"Well," Aerith smiled, "I'll start making dinner, you two can chat. I'll call you up when it is ready." The two males watched her disappear upstairs before their eyes met again.
"Take a walk with me," the old wizard suggested as he went outside expecting the blonde to follow. Roxas followed behind wanting to ask Aerith's father some questions and hope that he could convince the old man that Axel was just a figment of his imagination. Though, he doubted that he could pull that off because the man seemed very wise even if he was a little crazy. The two stopped at the edge of the cliff which overlooked the ocean.
"You can trust me boy," Merlin said, "I won't do anything to harm you or your dragon."
"My name isn't boy, it's Roxas." Roxas growled, "And what makes you think that I have a dragon?"
"Don't jest me!" the old wizard shouted, "I was once a dragon rider during the war. I know a dragon when I see one. I know what it sounds like when a dragon lands and takes off. I know how a dragon's wings change the wind. And I can smell the fire coming from your dragon because mine was a fire dragon as well."
Roxas just stood there looking at the old man with his mouth hanging open. He was so shocked from what he just heard that he was at a loss for words. It had never crossed his mind that he would actually meet a person that knew all about dragons besides Marluxia, but the two were different. Where Marluxia was all about killing dragons, the old man had actually fought with them as a dragon rider.
"Roxas," Merlin sighed as he closed his eyes. "You have to know many things to keep your dragon safe. Letting your dragon enter a town like that was very irresponsible of you. You were just lucky that I was the one to see him."
"He was the one that followed me," Roxas pouted as he crossed his arms like a grumpy child.
"You two are connected now," the old dragon rider smiled, "You have to look out for each other. Go for a ride with your dragon, learn to feel the air currents and how he adjusts to it. Learn how he angles his body to turn. This is the first task I give you."
"What are you my tutor now?" the blonde retorted.
"Yes," Merlin said with a stern expression, "because I am going to teach you the way of the dragon riders. I will not allow you to have a dragon and know nothing of how to take care of him. We'll start first thing tomorrow morning, eight hours a day, we'll have six hours for school and two for study period." He summoned the old sword that he used to use back in the days of his dragon rider years. Looking down at the sword brought back memories, some good, some bad.
"What?" Roxas exclaimed.
"Once you become a true dragon rider you will have your own sword." the old wizard smiled sadly ignoring the boy's outrage, "It is the strongest bond between a dragon and human. You can use this one for now. It is just an ordinary sword now that my dragon is gone. Remember to always bring a weapon with you, Roxas, because you never know when you're going to need it." He handed the long medieval looking sword over to the young boy just as a fat brown owl landed on the mailbox next to them.
"Who's the kid?" the owl asked causing Roxas to jump with surprise. Roxas could understand talking mythical creatures, but just an ordinary owl talking scared him more than anything else.
"His name is Roxas," Merlin answered with a grin, "Roxas this is Archimedes. I'm glad you're finally back, Archimedes, because you are going to go flying with him and his dragon. His first task is to learn how fly with his dragon, not just on his dragon."
"What?" Archimedes hooted angrily, "Why do I have to do it? I thought we were done with training!"
"Because I can't fly," the old wizard noted, "Just for a few hours before the sunsets."
"You can too fly you old crack pot!" the owl said puffing up his feathers in anger.
"Ah, but I am not nearly as good as you, a natural flier." Merlin said cheerily.
"No, no, no, no!" Archimedes huffed. "I've had it with helping train dragon riders! I thought we were finally finished after the war ended!"
"Archimedes, I'll turn you into a human," the old wizard threatened, "Then you won't be able to fly at all!"
"Hmph! You wouldn't dare!" the owl argued.
"I will!" Merlin yelled, "So help me I will!"
"All right, All right!" Archimedes hissed at Merlin before turning towards Roxas. "So where is your dragon?"
Before Roxas could answer the question Axel appeared behind him in his human form with a puzzled look on his face. He had never thought it possible for Roxas to be trained as a dragon rider. Granted, he didn't know much about dragon riders to begin with. He only knew what he had heard from his parents, but they had left things out or didn't explain other things. Though there was no denying that he felt connected to Roxas even before he allowed the human to ride him. Maybe they were meant to be dragon and dragon rider and meeting this former dragon rider was that proof.
"Now go on," Merlin encouraged shooing them away. "You will be tested on what you learned tomorrow. Both of you." He smiled at the dragon and his rider before skipping back to the lighthouse. Archimedes rolled his eyes and groaned before taking off into the sky to hover above the dragon and human.
"Well, hurry it up!" the owl shouted, "Haven't got all day now!"
Roxas frowned at having to listen to an owl, but figured there was no getting around it. He strapped the sword to his back as Axel transformed into his dragon form and lowered his neck so Roxas could get on. Once the blonde was settled Axel took off into the sky following the owl, who had taken off ahead of them.
"No, no, no!" Archimedes screamed, "Weren't you listening to a thing boy? You have to feel how the dragon flies! Close your eyes and listen to the slight changes he makes to glide. Feel the strong vibrations of his wings. Come on, give it a whirl!"
Roxas let out a frustrated sigh at being screamed at two seconds into the 'training session' if one could even call it that. Though he did what he was told and closed his eyes to try and listen and feel. Surprisingly, he could slightly hear the difference in the wind as it hit Axel's wings . He felt Axel bank left and automatically felt himself leaning in that direction while lowering himself closer to Axel's body.
"Do you feel and hear it boy?" hooted the owl. "A dragon rider isn't someone who just rides a dragon, but someone who becomes one with a dragon. Eventually you'll learn how to fight while flying as well, but for now focus on just flying."
Roxas nodded as he closed his eyes again to concentrate on every little thing that Axel was doing when he was flying. It took Archimedes about an hour of constant yelling to finally think the blonde was good enough to return back to lighthouse while complaining that he was getting too old for this stuff. Roxas and Axel chose to let him fly ahead a bit so his complaining wouldn't be heard too much.
"Axel are you ok?" the blonde asked wondering why the dragon had been so quiet during the training. "You're awfully quiet."
"I'm fine," Axel chuckled, "I was just thinking that it's amazing we are going to be dragon and dragon rider."
"Why didn't you ever tell me about the dragon riders before?" Roxas asked, "You only told me that a dragon becomes a slave to the human that rides him. But it isn't always that way is it?"
"I wasn't sure if you were my dragon rider," the dragon admitted, "My parents said they could never explain what they felt when they met their dragon riders for the first time so I had no idea what it would be like if I ever met mine. Of course they warned me to never mingle with humans because it was too dangerous now, but I was never good at listening."
"Well I'm glad to be your rider," the blonde smiled as he curled up in Axel's warm feathers.
"Me too," Axel agreed, "I think I finally understand what my parents meant..." He stopped before he could finish because something didn't feel right. They were still over the ocean that was a cold front in the season of fall, the wind shouldn't be this warm especially when they were flying so low. There was only one creature in the world could change the temperature all around it. A phoenix.
"Axel what's wrong?" Roxas asked feeling the sudden rigidness in the dragon's body. Before he could hear all of Axel's answer there was a ear piercing screech from above as a large bird emerged from the clouds above them. He shook his head trying to fix his vision, because it looked as if the bird was made of fire.
"Hold on Roxas!" the dragon shouted over the bird's deafening screech, but Roxas wasn't listening. The bird was just as large as if not bigger than Axel was and it was gaining on them.
"A phoenix!" Archimedes screeched in terror, "Impossible! To Merlin's cave! Hurry!" He took off expecting the dragon behind him to follow and hoped that his old wings could fly fast enough.
Roxas kept his body close to Axel's knowing it would help with speed which was too much for Archimedes, but the phoenix just seemed to pass him as if the owl wasn't even there. He looked back into the glowing amber eyes that seemed to stand out through the fire which made up its body. It was too close to them and in a matter of minutes it would have them. He wouldn't let Axel be hurt again, he couldn't. Without even thinking, he drew the sword that Merlin gave him and got up to fight. He ran along Axel's back to give him enough speed to jump onto the phoenix's face and aim for the firebird's eyes. He made contact, but the flames from the bird's body was burning him and he couldn't hold on.
"Roxas!" Axel roared as he looked back to see the blonde jumping onto the phoenix's face. With a quick loop he turned around just in time to see Roxas falling from the now blind phoenix covered in flames. He pulled his wings together to dive, hoping he was quick enough before either the flames or the sea claimed the human. He was able to grab Roxas with his large clawed 'hand' which immediately snuffed out the flames, but the burns were over most of the boy's body. A loud screech came behind him, but he couldn't react quick enough as the phoenix pushed him the rest of the way into the ocean. Before the firebird could get away from the water, Axel turned his long neck and grabbed the bird's foot dragging it down with them. The only difference was that phoenixes couldn't stand water at all where fire dragons could tolerate it for a short period of time. Once the phoenix hit the water it was game over and Axel sprang out of the water glad to see the lighthouse was near.
Axel looked down at Roxas in his claws and hoped that the boy could hold on just a while longer. When he entered the cave, he put Roxas down before gathering spit and spitting on the boy. Dragon saliva could heal anything from a zit all the way to a 3rd degree burn. The burns started to heal and once healed it looked like nothing ever happened besides most of the clothing being burned off. Once he knew the human was okay, it was then that he felt searing pain go through his own body causing him to collapse.
"Axel!" Roxas screamed when the first thing he saw when he woke up was the large black and red dragon collapsing. He ran over to see what was wrong and noticed the dragon's left wing was bent in an impossible way. "Your wing, what happened?" Tears started to run down his cheeks because he knew Axel probably got hurt because of him.
"Step aside Roxas," Merlin said pushing the boy out of the way. "'tsk 'tsk, flying, even a short distance, with a broken wing and wet feathers. You should know better Axel. But first we have to get you dried off and warmed up before you freeze to death. Roxas, Archimedes, grab the blankets." He waved his staff and said the spell that dried the dragon off in the blink of an eye.
"Here are the blankets." the blonde said holding out the blankets Archimedes pretty much dropped on him.
"Good, good," the old wizard said, "Now cover him up. Then come over here to help me set his wing. Difficult business setting a broken wing."
Roxas did as he was told putting the blankets over Axel with Archimedes' help. He placed the last blanket around the dragon's long neck, then gently stroked the soft feathers.
"I'm sorry Axel." the blonde cried. "It's all my fault that you got hurt."
"It's okay, Roxie." Axel sighed as he opened his large green eyes to look at the human crying next to him. "Dragons heal fast. Are you okay?"
"Yes," Roxas sniffled, "thanks to you." He knew the dragon had done something to heal the burns because he was still covered in what he was positive to be saliva. Gently, he wrapped his small arms around Axel's long thick neck and cried into his black feathers.
"Boy hurry up," Merlin scolded, "We need to get his wing set or else he'll get worse. Come, come."
Roxas did has he was told and walked over to the old man who was standing next to Axel's broken wing. Together they were able to set it back in its proper place and bind it with some wood and old cloth that Merlin summoned. This reminded Roxas that he had lost Merlin's sword in the fight with the phoenix.
"Merlin," the blonde whispered, "I'm sorry I lost your sword. I know it meant a lot to you."
"Don't worry boy," the old dragon rider chuckled, "You forget that I am a wizard and a powerful one at that. The sword is back in my room. Now come up with me to the lighthouse so we can eat and then get you to bed. I'll send Aerith to bring something down for Axel."
"I want to stay here with Axel." Roxas begged as he went back next to the black and red dragon's head. He wrapped his arms around Axel's thick neck stubbornly to show he wasn't going anywhere.
"Let him stay father," Aerith's voice said from the cave entrance. She entered the cave holding a tray of food with a brilliant smile. "You should understand how he feels. I brought down some food for both of them." She walked over to where the blonde was sitting and placed the tray next to him.
"Thank you," the blonde boy said with a small smile.
"You're welcome." the brunette smiled, "I will bring down some blankets for you. Now eat up." She took the larger bowl and set it down in front of Axel before she exited the cave.
"You still have much to learn boy," Merlin sighed shaking his head, "Until Axel recovers books you will be studying."
"We can study here right?" Roxas asked not wanting to leave Axel's side until he recovered.
"Of course boy," the old wizard chuckled as he summoned a blanket around the blonde. "Now eat, then get some rest." He gave the two a smile before leaving the cave himself. The boy and dragon ate in silence not knowing what to say to each other. They had been together for a short time, but had already been through so much. After they were finished Roxas moved the dishes to the other side of the cave by weird bubbling liquids.
"I really am sorry Axel," the blonde sighed as he plopped back down next to Axel wrapping the blanket around him.
"It's okay," Axel smiled with a yawn. He wrapped his long neck around Roxas like a snake to keep the boy warm. "Now go to sleep Roxas."
"Thank you Axel," Roxas yawned, "for everything. You're the best thing that has happened to me." He let out another yawn as he curled up in the dragon's warm feathers and fell asleep.
Axel sleepily smiled at Roxas' words before falling asleep himself glad that his rider was safe.
~0~
Marluxia entered the castle that was hidden in the forest of Nobodies. It was a place that only dragon hunters could enter because there were enchantments placed everywhere to keep anything unwanted out. A terrible cry from a griffin echoed through the castle walls, music to his ears. Although most thought the glory days of hunting dragons was over, there were still other creatures that could make a good profit on the black market. Of course they were never as profitable as a dragon, but in order to hunt a dragon he would need help. No one ever took down a dragon alone which was why he was here at the organization's headquarters.
"Maluxia," said a deep voice from above him, "It has been quite some time."
The pink haired man looked up the banister to see the leader of the organization coming towards him wearing the same long black coat all dragon hunters wore. He still looked the say with his dark skin, contrasting white hair and golden eyes. Just as his former leader, Xemnas, was in front of him the rest of the organization appeared out of nowhere with their hoods drawn so Marluxia couldn't see their faces.
"What brings you back here?" Xemnas asked as he circled his former employee. "I thought you didn't want anything to do with the organization unless it was for hunting dragons. Unless, you have found a dragon and have come to ask for our help."
"I have found a dragon." Marluxia stated, "My daughter has the power to see things others can't. I overheard her telling the young boy I adopted that dragon's aren't extinct, but have learned to turn invisible to the human eyes. That boy is with a dragon now. If we find the boy, we find our first dragon, and from there we learn how to see through their invisibility. The glory days of hunting dragons have returned."
"And Larxene isn't going to participate?" the leader inquired.
"She is taking our daughters to her sisters and will join us shortly." the pink haired man answered.
"You didn't want to bring your daughters?" Xemnas replied with a scolding manner. "You said that one of your daughters knew about the dragons. Why not bring her to help us in the search?"
"She won't listen," Marluxia growled annoyed that his own daughter wouldn't listen to him.
"We have ways of making people talking." the leader chuckled, "I'm surprised Larxene hasn't had any influence on the girl yet. She was always the best at making people do what we want."
Larxene appeared in the doors just then, as if the mention of her name in the glory days could summon her anywhere. She cleared the gap between her and her husband with a confident grace dragging something behind her. Maluxia looked at his wife then behind her to see what she brought only to notice Namine standing there with her eyes to the floor and dried teared cheeks.
"She'll talk," Larxene beamed. "We had a nice mother daughter bonding time." She pulled out a sketchbook from her black dragon hunter robes and handed it to the organization leader with a proud grin.
"Have I forgotten to tell you how amazing you are?" Marluxia grinned at his cunning wife.
"Enough of the love crap." Xemnas hissed, "This is perfect." He looked down at the sketch of a small town with a lighthouse on the cliff. Underneath the lighthouse was a cave and in that cave was the drawing of a dragon. The dragon was small compared to the rest of the picture, but there was no denying it was a dragon. His lips curled into a sinister smile as he could almost see himself killing a dragon once more. Most people knew this small town because of its lighthouse and it would only take a two day ride on griffins to get there.
"Saddle up the griffins," Xemnas grinned, "We got ourselves a dragon to catch."
A/N:
OH NO! MR. BILL! Just kidding. Me and my sister have been watching Mr. Bill for some odd reason, followed by glee...yeah...Oh how my mind wanders.
Anyways, I am just glad to have this out of my head because there was no way I could study otherwise. So enjoy! I am off to study!
*skips away to find the study wizard of oz or merlin!*