By UltimatePalmTree
Chapter III
Traverse from Twilight
A muscle in Axel's cheek twitched, almost on instinct. "What do you mean by 'staying'?" he managed to growl out. When Demyx was silent and shuffled his feet uncomfortably, Axel yelled, "You tryin' to tell me that you have nowhere for us to stay!" Axel had officially reached his breaking point; all the pent-up rage about being a wolf, dancing around for the last three hours with unwanted jewelry on him, being pushed around by Demyx, and not being able to have ice cream was finally surfacing. He growled, bristling and starting to drool as he summoned his chakrams.
The red and silver weapons appeared on the ground next to his paws. Axel growled in frustration, glared at Demyx, and started to try and get the freaking chakrams onto his paws. Only problem is, they didn't seem to want to obey him.
Demyx finally piped up.
"No opposable thumbs,"
Axel glared at Demyx (probably not for the last time) and the chakrams disappeared in a fiery blaze. "No matter. Even if I can't hold my chakrams, I can still burn you! Burn, baby!" And thus, Axel willed the flames to rush forth at Demyx.
Except… nothing happened.
"What the heck!" Axel yelled angrily. He willed the fires of his rage to scorch the musician once more, but they still wouldn't obey him. Demyx, now seeing there was nothing to fear, started towards the wolf and crouched down in front of him, looking him right in the eyes.
"Looks like the potion blocks your magic," was his comment. "I don't think you can use it…"
"Brilliant deduction, Sherlock Demyx!" Axel yelled. "Now what!"
"I don't know…"
Axel sighed. "Must I make all the decisions? Am I the only one here who possesses half of a brainstem? We will find somewhere to stay for the night!" Axel said all this like he was speaking to a two-year-old. At this, he stormed off towards the nearest path away from the tram common. Demyx, thoroughly confused (after all, he just had a wolf yell at him), started after him. "Alright… Need a hotel… Where would there be a hotel?"
Demyx shrugged. "Dunno,"
"Wasn't asking you…" Axel said.
"Besides… I don't think any hotels here will accept us… Or, rather, you. You are, after all, a dog…"
Axel stopped and turned back to Demyx. A steady stream of foamy saliva was coming from his mouth. "Well, look on the bright side!" Demyx said happily. "At least it's a clear night… Doesn't look like…"
Right on cue, a massive clap of thunder split the night and rain fell all over Demyx's Happy Parade.
"Um…"
"Don't even go there…"
"And I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad… The dreams in which I'm dyin' are the best I've ever had. And I find it hard to tell you; I find it hard to take. When people run in circles, it's a very, very mad world…"
Demyx strummed slowly on his sitar, singing to himself and Axel. There was no one else around, since it was two things. (A) It was raining and; (B) it was night. Draw your own conclusions. The two of them had managed to make a massive—I mean massive—cardboard box into a makeshift home, placed a few blankets on the 'floor' (Demyx had some in his satchel) and were now lying around doing nothing. Unless you count Demyx singing, which Axel didn't really count as doing anything helpful.
So, there they were: waiting for the train for Traverse Town to come the next morning. Only one problem: it was the middle of the freaking night. Morning didn't even look close. Ah, yes. 'Twas going to be a long journey with Demyx. A long, long journey…
"Will you quit strumming? I'm going to bite off the neck of that stupid instrument and feed it to you!" Axel growled.
Demyx finally stopped the music and looked at Axel, who was lying down in a crescent shape on the blanket. "There's nothing else to do,"
"Well, maybe if we had gotten to the station earlier, we wouldn't have been so screwed! We would've gotten our tickets and we would be in Traverse Town right now! What is wrong with you, Demyx!" Axel tried kicking the musician's rear end (in the literal sense) and rolled onto his stomach. Only he didn't want his tummy rubbed.
Demyx looked at Axel's chest before placing his left hand on it and petting Axel slightly. "Get your hand off me,"
The human retracted his hand and placed it back on the sitar. "You let Xigbar pet you, so why can't—"
"When did I ever let Xigbar pet me! Holy crap, Demyx! Are you a fricking stalker or something?"
"No, but I'm just saying…"
"Demyx." Pause. "Enough is enough. I don't want and-or need a pet. Alright? Good boy, Demyx. Donut for you tomorrow," Axel rolled over onto his side and huffed.
Demyx shrugged. A moment of sheer, blissful silence…
"Memmm-reeees! All aloooone innnnn the moooonliiiight! I can smiiiiiile at the ooooold daaaaysssss; I was beauuuuuuutiful then!"
"Hey! Shut up!" Something fairly heavy landed on the 'roof' of the 'house'. It wouldn't have been funny, except for the fact whatever it was landed right above Demyx's head and caused the roof to cave in slightly so whatever it was smashed Demyx on the head.
A long pause. "You know what, Axel?"
"Mm?"
"I think I'm gonna go to bed now,"
"Good boy. Another donut for you,"
Morning finally came.
Axel was unceremoniously woken up by Demyx prodding the area around his eyes with a long and particularly pointed stick, causing the wolf to snap at it, snapping the branch in half neatly. "You up yet, Axel?" he asked in his annoyingly cheerful voice. It has to be illegal in some worlds for somebody to be that much of a morning person this early…
Axel sighed and said, "Yes,"
"Good! 'Cause I woke up early and got the tickets and we're all set!"
Axel rolled over onto his back to look at Demyx. "You bought a ticket for a wolf,"
"Well, yeah… I don't think they'd let you on without one…"
"Don't think they'd let me on period," Axel growled.
"They might," Demyx shrugged. "Alright… sitar… blanket… satchel… Yup, I think we're all set!"
Joy. I can barely stop myself from jumping up and down with glee… I do not know how I am containing myself… Axel pulled himself slowly onto his feet. The ground—albeit with a cardboard box on it—wasn't the best surface to lie down on. Axel guessed it was because he had spent most of his life as a human and was used to using a bed. Whoa, that did not come out right…
"So, what's on our agenda for today?" Axel asked as the two of them walked, retracing their steps from last night. Being a wolf had its definite advantages. One was that he could smell just about everything. The musty scent of the rain clung to the ground and buildings, and the scents of someone's breakfast wafted through the air, reminding him of his hunger.
"Well, we're definitely going to Traverse Town. These tickets cost a lot,"
"How much?" Axel—for some odd, unexplainable reason—didn't believe him.
Demyx thought. "A hundred munnies. Each."
Axel nodded. "Right, Demyx. Riiiight…"
"And we have leftover munny!"
"I would assume so,"
"So, we could probably get a decent hotel room, a few potions and elixirs and stuff like that along the way, and food. You'd like that, wouldn't you, Axel?"
Axel couldn't answer at that moment, as his mouth had just filled with drool.
"And then we can juggle some of the concert stuff with searching for Zexion! Maybe they did go there… They didn't say anything on the note, did they?"
Axel shook his head.
Demyx continued gibbering like this until they got to the train station, where they found the train—T9—and boarded it. Surprisingly, there were few people on it except himself and Axel. If you could call Axel a person… Then Demyx was strangely silent.
Axel took a look at the people he was quarantined with. A man was sitting at the other end of the car, holding a little kid with odd black claws for hands and saying, "I wanna pet the puppy doggie!" in his annoying little voice. Axel shuddered inwardly; those claws looked painful. He turned his head to the other people on the train with him and Demyx: an old man reading a newspaper, a woman eating an apple or some such fruit, and a boy with a satchel and a package next to him. For the most part, he guessed that everyone except for the kid with the claws would be quiet, and settled down at Demyx's feet.
"Mommy, I wanna pet the puppy doggie!"
Axel was jolted awake by the train hitting a sudden bump. It was considerably darker outside, and the evening star was in the horizon. He looked around the train and saw that all except for the kid with the claws had gone. Mommy? MOMMY! Axel took one look at the man who was holding the kid. That guy's a freaking fully-grown man! What the heck! He shook his head and looked up at his 'master'. Demyx, the lazy little frigg, was lying on the hard plastic seat and drooling onto his hoodie-sleeved arm.
"Hey," Axel said, sitting up so he could lick Demyx's exposed hand. "Wake up,"
Demyx snorted slightly before rolling onto his back and muttering, "But I don't want to hold the kitty, Xigbar… I don't wanna…"
Axel rolled his eyes and nudged Demyx's hand once again. "You don't have to hold the freaking kitty!" he hissed. "Just get up!"
Demyx shirked his responsibilities. "Demyx!" Axel barked, and raised himself up on his hind legs before pressing them down on Demyx's face.
"Oww!" The ninth Organization member reached out blindly and shoved Axel off him by pushing at his chest. "I'm awake! I'm awake…" At this, Demyx slowly sat up, righting himself and stroking the cuts inflicted by Axel's claws. "That wasn't necessary, you know…"
"What? The other option was pissing on your face, but I didn't think you'd quite appreciate that one,"
Demyx shot Axel a glare as the kid came over. "Doggie!" He threw himself around Axel's neck and said, "Can I pet the doggie?" Demyx looked like he was going to say 'no' at first, and then his features twisted into a pleasant grin … with some very sadistic overtones.
"Sure!" he said after a few seconds. "Pet the doggie all you want! He loves being pet on the head, especially behind the ears and on the neck!"
The kid laughed happily into Axel's hear, making the wolf believe that he had succeeded in shattering his eardrum and making his other ear ring incessantly. "Puppy doggie!" he cried.
Awww… And Demyx was almost off the hit list, too…
They had, after fifteen minutes of being poked and prodded by the kid (leaving no less than five hundred scratches all over the wolf's face), finally reached Traverse Town. The kid had walked back to his 'mother' and the two of them left before Demyx attempted to gather everything up off the seat. "Did you notice something awry right there!" Axel hissed at Demyx. "The kid called the guy Mommy!"
"I'm sure it was just a slip of the tongue," Demyx assured him, although he didn't sound too positive.
"Demyx! Are you sure of that! I mean, if that's possible… Then…"
"Are you getting all freaked out about that time I found Marluxia and you in the bedroom? 'Cause I don't think it can happen…"
Demyx finally gathered everything and they stepped off of the train and near the gate of Traverse Town. "And so, our journey begins!"
"Poetic," Axel said sarcastically. "Did you get it off the milk carton?"
Demyx glared at Axel and started walking towards the gate. It was massive, and behind it was Demyx's supposed 'world of adventure'. Axel, however, wasn't so sure of it. It looked like a fairly boring place to be, what with it being night and all. Either way, there probably wasn't a lot to be done anyways…
The doors opened, and their adventure truly begun…
Or, at least, until Demyx abruptly yelled, "Dammit! I've got gum on my shoe!"
Author's Notes
I have a lot to say this chapter!
First off, a disclaimer. As usual, I don't own anything except for OCs, and there was an OC in here. It was the kid, Donovan (also one of my muses, though he's eighteen in actuality) and the man holding him actually was his mother… It's a joke between KuroNekoNya and me 'bout Dorchette (Donovan's mother) and Greed from FMA… If you wanna know, PM me sometime. I don't own the two songs featured here: Mad World by Gary Jules (anyone hear of it?) and Memories from Cats.
Second off, did anyone catch the Ghost in the Shell reference? I doubt it, since it's kind of obscure, but it is there! Free cookies for anyone who can find it!
Third (and probably final), review responses. Once again, I thank you all for your continuing support. 'Cause, without y'all, this chapter wouldn't be up! Trust me; I would've taken the story down a long time ago… But, since people seem to love the adventures of Axel and Demyx, I guess I shall continue.
Neassa: Axel deserves ice cream! Even if he is a wolf, he deserves at least a lick or two! Maybe I'll give him a bit of mine… Yeah, Demyx is a blonde! XD I'm blonde, too, but I don't take any offense. In fact, I agree with ya one hundred percent!
ShadowShapeshifterAndHerCat: 'Course I'm gonna do more soon! Axel's too cute to be left for long. Besides, I think if they don't find Zex and the antidote, Axel will try and rip my face off… Nice doggie…
Nadia: I almost feel sorry for him, too. Keyword right there? Almost. Axel may be a freak wolf, but he's still kinda cute as a freak wolf! Hopefully Demyx doesn't sell him to a side show…
Litwolf689: I love wolves, too! They're so cute and fuzzy and awesome… But enough fangirlish ranting on my part; I will be writing lots more!
Miss Zen: I hoped I was getting their personalities right. I was sure about Axel, but I wasn't so sure about Demyx. Well, I seem to be doing a very good job with them… Yay! I tried to choose song lyrics that I could picture Demyx singing… Especially in certain situations.
Sahxyel: Yup. Axel had to really restrain himself. Didn't do a good job in this chappie, but turns out he can't use magic! Poor Axel wolf… I just made it five times worse for him.
Koi: Wow! Someone agrees with me 'bout Axel sounding like a wolf! I didn't think anyone would! Anyway, Axel says thank you for your condolences, and he got Demyx back real good… (points to Demyx curled up in the corner, shaking)
Kingdom Alchemist: Yup! Demyx can stay on one thing for a really long time, can't he? Well, as a wolfy, what can you really do? XD I've always wanted to include a scene with Wolf!Axel begging for food, so this is the result! Initially, Axel was gonna succeed, but he didn't in the final draft… Poor Axel-kins…
Not a GeishaGurl: I like fire, too, actually! But doesn't look like Axel's gonna be able to use it unless he figures out how to hold two sticks in his paws. But, to quote the ever-loveable Demyx: "No opposable thumbs."
rikaori: Thanks a bunch! Makes me happy to see people enjoying this fic… I agree, anything dealing with Wolf!Axel is love.
So, that's it, friends. If ya wanna see more of Axel and Demyx (not necessarily in that order, mind you), just leave a review for your friend! If I forgot someone, I am sorry, but I thank you as well! Until chapter four, which should be up sooner than you think!