Bina Raynd

Chapter Two: First Blood

"N-no!" Sora exclaimed, shaking violently as he sank to the ground. Within seconds, the prince had burst into tears. Roxas, keeping a cool head, slapped the weeping prince.

"Pull yourself together, man. We've got to get away from here, and quick," Roxas explained calmly.

"W-why are y-you helping m-m-me?" Sora cried as he stood up.

"Because you seem to be a decent person. And I could never leave anyone to die, no matter how much I hate them," Roxas replied as he pulled Sora up. Dragging the prince behind him, Roxas raced out of the ally onto Market Way. Most of the shops were engulfed by flames, and some of the buildings had already collapsed. They ran down the street to the harbor, and saw that the pirate ship was still anchored in the harbor. Immediately deciding that fighting the pirates wasn't in his best interest, Roxas changed direction and turned onto a side street. The duo soon reached the city walls, and followed them to the gate. Finally, they were out of the burning city.

They kept on running until they reached the top of a hill about half a mile from the city walls. Gasping, Sora and Roxas lay down on the soft grass and looked back at the city. The flames danced and the smoke rose to the heavens as the city of Radiant Garden was consumed by fire.

Three days later…

Pirate captain Axel the Red sat in his cabin, drinking rum while he twirled one of his chakrams. He was an imposing figure, tall with long, spiky, red hair and piercing green eyes. He wore a black shirt, pants, and boots, with a red cape, decorated with Axel's personal insignia, a stylized gold flame. As he took another swish of rum, a knock sounded on the door. His first mate, Riku Black, entered with two very small teens behind him. Riku grabbed them each by the arm and thrust them in front of him. They were both skinny and dirty, one with spiky, golden blonde hair and startling blue eyes. The other had brown hair, which was also spiky, and the same bright blue eyes.

"Axel, I found these two hiding in a box in the cargo hold. What do you want me to do with them?" Riku asked with an evil grin. Axel got out of his chair and strode over to the two boys. Now, Axel was pretty good at reading people. The brown-haired boy was scared out of his wits. The blonde one, on the other hand, looked totally emotionless.

"Hey, blondie. What's your name?" Axel demanded as he gazed down at the boys.

"I'm Roxas and this is Sora," he pointed at the brown-haired boy, "And you are?"

"Name's Axel, got it memorized?" Axel answered with a smirk, "Now, why did you stow away on my ship?"

"We wanted you to help us escape Ansem the Heartless. He attacked and destroyed our home town of Radiant Garden,"

"Wait, Ansem destroyed Radiant Garden?" Axel asked, completely shocked. Radiant Garden was a virtual fortress. No pirate had ever breached its walls.

"Yes."

"Okay, Roxie."

"It's Roxas."

"Whatever. Anyway, I need some time to think. In the mean time, you can stay in Kairi's room.

"Thank you Captain Axel," Sora said with a bow.

"Call me Axel."

"Okay, Axel."

When Riku stepped back on deck after leaving Sora and Roxas in the girl's room, he saw Axel staring out to sea.

"Hey Axel, what's wrong?" Riku stood.

"Hey Riku, Just thinking."

"Sounds painful,"

"Ha ha, very funny. I'm worried that's all. Ansem's never attacked such a big target before. He's up to something," Axel wondered

"Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. I mean, Radiant Garden was an intimidating fortress. No amount of treasure could be valuable enough for him to risk disgrace. He has to be after something else. But, what?"

"All we can do is hope that he didn't get whatever the hell it is."

"I hope so."

"Anyway, I think I'll let ask those kids to join the crew."

"Why?"

"They must be clever and sneaky to be able to escape Ansem unscathed."

"True. But where would they stay? There are no open rooms."

"They can stay with us because we have the biggest rooms. I'll take blondie and you can take the brunette."

"Fine. Anyway, let's get them some food. They look like they haven't eaten in days."

Riku was right; Sora and Roxas hadn't eaten since they fled Radiant Garden. They practically inhaled the food that the cook, a blonde man named Demyx, brought them.

"Wow, I've never seen anybody eat as fast as you two," Demyx laughed. The two boys just glared at him. Several seconds later, the food was gone. Demyx took their plates to the galley, and when he returned to take the boys to Axel, they were out like a light. Demyx silently laughed and snuck out of the room quietly. He may be a pirate, but even he didn't have the heart to wake such cute little boys. But, on his way back to the deck, he passed Kairi, who looked totally pissed. Demyx knew better than to be near her when she was like this and raced back to the safety of his galley.

While Demyx busied himself with the dishes, Kairi threw open her door and saw Sora and Roxas asleep on her floor. Her angry mood immediately vanished at the sight of the two little angels, as she called them from then on. The red-headed girl slipped out of the room and was in the process of walking back onto the deck when the battle bell rang out. That meant only one thing, a battle was about to begin.

Sora was torn from his sleep by a loud explosion rocking the ship. He screamed so loudly, he woke Roxas, who was no light sleeper. Roxas suddenly screamed and grabbed his leg. Behind him, a hole in the wall could be seen. A shard of cannonball was sticking out of Roxas' leg and blood was squirting out around the wound. The blonde started crying. Sora ripped a piece of his shirt up into a strip and, after pulling the shard out of Roxas' leg, wrapped it tightly around the deep cut. The cloth quickly turned red and Roxas grew lightheaded. Suddenly, everything went deathly silent. The battle was over, but Sora had no idea of the outcome. He didn't want the pirates to lose, but he also didn't want the innocent people on board the other ship to die. Suddenly, the door to the room flew open and Riku walked in. His clothes were bloody, his face was cut, and his hair was messed up from the fighting.

"What the hell happened in here?!" Riku screamed when he saw the vast amount of blood on the floor and walls.

"He got hit in the leg by a shard of cannonball," Sora cried, scared for his friend's life. Suddenly, Roxas fell down face first to the floor. Riku picked him up bridal style and raced to the infirmary with Sora following close behind.

TBC

See, I told you that this chapter would be longer. I'm sorry about the cliffhanger, I do that to keep people interested. Remeber, the more reviews, the faster the updates, so please REVIEW! I will write everyone who reviews responses. The longer the review, the longer the respose. If you hate it, tell me what you hate about it. If you love it, tell me what you love about it. So, please, Review and Review often!