Roxas had been wandering for hours and hours on end. Even now, with Xion's weightless figure on his back, Roxas shivered at having traveled so long. All of it seemed to be pointless. The storm surrounding them was endless. His muscles were exhausted, screaming at him to stop. How could he stop? Xion needed help!

"It's okay... X-Xion..." he panted, which actually relieved him somewhat, "I'll f... find shelter... and someone that can... help..."

It'd occured to him a while ago to try healing her. But, even Curaga, the most powerful healing spell he could cast, proved to be groundless. He would've tried using a Hi-potion; he wasn't wearing his coat and therefore didn't have pockets.

The legs beneath Roxas started to slow down. They shook, begging for rest. Without Roxas's consent, they gave way and Roxas was lying down with Xion on his back. He wanted to get up but they refused to move. Xion moaned from behind him.

"X-Xion..." tears welled up in his eyes, "I'm so sorry, Xion... It's all my fault! I shouldn't have let you come... If it weren't for me, you wouldn't be like this..."

Now the system was reveresed, he noticed. Xion was shielding him from the wind. It couldn't be like that; Roxas removed her from his back. It took a lot more effort than he thought to move himself to be on top of her. He pressed deep onto her back, hoping his warmth would have at least some affect on her.

"I'm so sorry..." Roxas buried his face in her neck, her soft black fur soaking up his sobs.

A howl made Roxas's head whip up. It was the first sound he'd heard since Xion fell, besides the chorus of the wind. Where had that come from? Was it a friend?

Roxas sniffed and blinked. He brought up his snout to howl. That howl, filled with all his might and power, had to signal their position, right? Another cry, one louder than the last, did bring some dark shape near them.

From the sillouette that came into focus, Roxas saw it was a wolf a little big bigger than he and Xion. It had big spiky fur on its shoulders. Roxas recalled spiky hair...

"Axel?" he shouted. The figure's glowing yellow eyes focused in on Roxas, "Axel, is that you?"

The wolf walked closer enough so that Roxas could see him. Whatever that was, it wasn't Axel. This wolf, actually a husky with black fur, white socks, a white belly whose white extended to the tip of his tail, and white fur on its nose and eyes, didn't even come close to resembling Axel. It's bulky form with lots of chest fur betrayed Axek's slim and lithe figure. That, and its square-shaped head just didn't fit right on Axel's shoulders.

"Who are you puppies?" the sled-dog scoffed, clearly in a bad mood.

"We're not puppies!" Roxas's ears had drawn back. He didn't trust this dog, "And we need your help!"

"You want my help? Brush my fur and then we'll talk!" he laughed at his own joke.

Roxas had begun growling.

"You have got to be one of the biggest losers I've ever met."

"That's not very nice."

"Like I'd try to be nice to someone this pathetic."

"We're the pathetic ones? What about you? You're the one stranded alone in this storm!"

Roxas wasn't persceptive at all; it was a wild guess that proved true. This dog was speperated from, more rather abandoned by, his sled team.

The dog's cocky demeanor thinned to turn into rage. His ears drew back, his lips opening to reveal an impressive set of white fangs, "You know what I think?"

It was retorical, but dimwit Roxas didn't know and answered with his own smack-talk, "No, but I think you should leave us alone."

That did it. The husky lunged forward and grabbed Roxas by the neck. He bit down hard enough on his scruff to draw blood. He threw Roxas off of Xion, the blood on his teeth making him look like a demon. Roxas found vigor in the battle and got to his feet to attack. His opponent was about to strike again when someone called from behind them, "Steele!"

The dog turned at the sound of his name. A team of sled dogs all attatched to a sled by harnesses came into their view. At the lead of the team, Roxas saw, was a dog that looked different from the others. He had brown fur with a lighter-tinted belly, and dark chesnut ears. The lead dog was scruffy-looking, kind of like a wolf.

"I should've known." Steele kept snarling, "You just had to come here, didn't you? You just had to follow me and save me, just had to be the hero?"

The lead wolf-dog unhooked himself from his harness and left the team to rest. He approached Steele with some caution, "Steele-"

"I was supposed to be the hero! It was MY job to deliver the medicine! All that glory, all that fame! And you STOLE it from me!"

The wolf-dog tried to explain, "Steele, I didn't take it from you."

"YES YOU DID!"

Dark flames came out of thin air and started gathering on Steele. It sunk into his skin, his greed absorbing the shadow. His fur grew longer, spikes shot out from his back, his tail turned into that of a serpent. Horns protruded out of his forhead; his claws became large talons. His eyes literally glowed yellow. The Heartless emblem faded into his chest fur.

"Steele?" Wolf-dog sounded nervous.

"Get away from him!" Roxas screamed to the wolf-dog, "He's become a Heartless!"

He had just enough time to dodge before Steele slashed at him with his claws. Had the husky gotten bigger? He was at least four times Roxas's size!

Roxas pushed himself to his paws, summoning Kingdom Key in his mouth. He tried to take a step farther, but all his paws could manage was standing. The boy stood there, not knowing what to do.

"Hey!" the wolf-dog called to Roxas, "I don't know what that thing is, but can it shoot?"

Shoot? Roxas never tried that. He tried forcing light through the Keyblade's tip. Spears of light, similar to Xigbar's bullets, shot out of the Key. They honed in on the Heartless symbol, hitting dead-on, causing major damage. Steele yowled in pain, a noise unlike one that belonged to a dog.

That was all Roxas could do. An attack powered by his light drained all his stamina. Somehow the wolf-dog saw this and ran straight into Steele's range of attack. Roxas was about to yell at him but he saw the wolf-dog leap to grab the Heartless's throat fur. His claws dug into the furry footholds, allowing him to ascend, though not without difficulty. Steele swung his head side to side to try and get the mini wolf-dog off.

The wolf-dog made it to the top of Steele's head. He'd grabbed on to one of his horns. His teeth hung on for dear life as the Heartless tried to release his hold. To Roxas's astonishment, he didn't lose his grip. In the millisecond Steele stopped shaking, the wolf-dog let go and bit into Steele's eye. Blood shot out of the wolf-dog's mouth as Steele let out an ear-piercing cry. It shook Roxas and jarred his bones.

Steele got his enemy off, bringing his paw up to rub his empty eyesocket. The wolf-dog landed on his feet a little distance from Roxas. He stared in awe at the bravery of this lead dog.

"Get his other eye!" the wolf-dog didn't even sound tired, and Roxas was stunned that his eyes looked determined, but calm, "We'd have a better advantage if he can't see!"

Roxas nodded, still trying to find his strength. He decided to go with a simple fire spell. A fire ball shot out of the tip of the Key, zipping upward to singe Steele's remaining eye.

Steele staggered backward, blood flying out of his sockets like crimson streamers. The wolf-dog took this chance to run up Steele's front paw, leaping to his chest to grasp the Heartless mark in his fangs. He bit down hard, hard enough to make the symbol flicker. Roxas watched in amazement as the wolf-dog bit him one last time, and then was batted away by a blind strike from Steele. A gargantuan paw smacked the wolf-dog away; Roxas could heard the snap of his ribs. The lead dog didn't get up.

In a moment of fury, Steele went charging in a random direction. Figures that random direction was aimed at Xion, whom hadn't moved this entire time. Roxas watched in horror as he drew closer. Adreniline shot through him, allowing him to spring up and hit Steele on the side. It redirected him to run away from everyone. There was no way Roxas could let such a monstrosity live. It could hurt Xion! His legs ran faster than he ever thought they could. Tail flapping in his tailwind, Roxas raced after Steele.