Author's note: wow, last day of finals was yesterday and tomorrow is all class parties! -throws confetti- it's great that summer's just around the corner. as of today, i have a live that's begging to be lived out. XDD

i watched POTC 3 again. yes, AGAIN. why? why not? i can't get rid of the vibe! it's like...changing my perspective on life...plus, i understood the plot line better! heeheehee and, the music is my life soundtrack right now. to the lunch room: jack sparrow theme. in the art room: davy jones locket theme. up the stairs and into the parking lot: hoist the colors and the...asiany sounding one. XP

Chapter 3: Fools Dice

"Roxas! Guh, hey! Roxas!" Sora called out for his brother, attempting to break into a heroic impulse of his own only to be grabbed back by two more of Axel's crew members. Roxas already had two of his own: a muscular, dark haired man with braided hair was at his left arm and Luxord took his right arm into his own death grip.

Eyes squinted, Roxas let a short growl escape his throat while he stood there in the mud, completely held back by strangers. A dented bullet was logged in the soggy ground, only inches, centimeters away from his foot. His whole body was shaking and his heart was literally begging to be ripped out, it was beating so fast.

He didn't bother to resist, unlike Sora who was being repeatedly kicked in the shin for it.

All Axel could do was stand there, one arm locked around the shooter's neck, one hand turning the sputtering gun toward the ground. He...literally saved his life just now.

The man with the eye patch swallowed and hesitantly gripped the guns handle only to have Axel shake his head almost harmlessly.

"Drop it," he calmly ordered.

He did just that, turning his eyes away, his face twisted in embarrassment. Roxas could tell that he hated to be ordered around...but he really had no other choice. He watched Axel slowly loosen his arm around the man's neck before walking around him with his eyes still gazing down at what Roxas thought was the bullet.

"Orders, sir," Luxord asked, his voice droned and brusque, yet also unusually obedient. He gave Roxas a rough shake as if he were nothing but a toy.

For the first time since Roxas saw him walk into the square, Axel's eyes turned up from the ground, away from Luxord, away from Leon and the townspeople, to him. He didn't think that staring was normally that sensual, but that could've been the end of him, right there. Someone, a killer, a captain, a pirate was looking at him.

Axel even looked interested. His smiled drifted back to his face, curving up a corner of his mouth almost conceitedly. He knew he was in charge now. The dice proved that. He took small, slow steps toward the three, his eyes only concentrating on one of them; the one with the light peach face and noticeably styled, blonde hair. He was stupid.

By the time Axel was a step away from Roxas, Roxas reacted, twitching his legs away. He almost yelled out but it came out more like an unsure whine. That just made him look really heroic...and Axel noticed. He noticed everything in the world probably.

"You," he started, closing in on Roxas while he did, "are some pirate, mate." He intertwined his fingers behind his back and leaned his face in closer to Roxas' face. His smile widened, showing off his pearly whites. For a pirate, it was amazing, almost awkward, that he was clean; Roxas half expected gold teeth or greasy hair. He hadn't even seen a pirate before.

He wondered: did all captains look like Axel did?

Roxas curled his toes impatiently and stubbornly furrowed his eyebrows. "I'm no pirate," he muttered.

"Oh, but you are. You just don't now it yet...well, that's not true. Now you do, seeing as I just mentioned it. Sooo..." He moved in even closer; so close that Roxas' cheeks tingled. Their noses were extremely close to touching. Roxas widened his eyes and confusedly stared down at Axel's face, swallowing hard when he felt two fingers lightly flip one of his spikes. Axel was actually playing with his hair, twirling it in his wiry fingers. Roxas couldn't exactly say that he enjoyed it. He'd never been touched that way before so he didn't know how to react at all. So, he remained standing, his toes near the point of ripping a hole in his boots and his arms feeling even number than before.

"Sir?" Roxas heard Luxord's voice again, this time extremely, extremely confused.

Axel's eyes fluttered and, with an uncaring face, peered up at Luxord. As if nothing very wrong had happened, he slipped his hand away from Roxas' face and straightened up, towering over all of them, with his fingers still locked behind him. Roxas let out a sharp breath that he'd been holding in forever. He could feel cold sweat beginning to form around his neck.

"What?" Axel asked, naively.

Both of the men briefly glanced at each other over Roxas' head. Luxord cleared his throat. "Orders...?"

Axel scoffed at him, obviously having the time of his life with fooling with people, and daintily half turned in Leon's direction. Leon had just been standing there, one hand cupping his chin and both eyes switching glances between the two captive brothers.

"We'll take him."

Roxas gasped but his throat closed up when the other man at his left shook him hard. What was he saying? Take him? What was so important about him? Roxas felt like he had just been auctioned off; nothing but an item, or, in pirate terms, "treasure".

Leon's eyebrows faintly rose. He un-cupped his chin and motioned his hand in the direction of Roxas. "And?" He didn't sound uncaring, just...confused. Everyone was. Who could figure out this guy?

"I'm taking my fair share of the game. If you remember, like you should've, he who wins the game gets the one thing he wishes for at that moment in time."

"Yes...and?"

"What in the bloody hell do you mean 'annnddd'?" Axel waved his hands in front of his face.

"Who else? I'm keeping my part of the deal as well."

Axel clicked his tongue and shook his head pathetically. With one hand raking through his crimson hair, he turned back around to the captive Roxas who had been staring off into space.

He couldn't believe it...him? Why him?

"You can't have much of a crew wi..." Leon was cut short.

"Just him." Axel took his hand away from his head and pointed a finger toward Roxas' chest. Again, again he was staring at Roxas like he'd done something horribly wrong. Was this punishment, maybe? Maybe he'd done something wrong? But what good would being on a pirate crew be? He wouldn't actually learn anything. He was pretty sure that he wouldn't blend in. He couldn't go, and that was fact.

"Roxas? Why? Why would...what're you going on with?! You can't just take only him! No, no, I mean, you can't just take him!" Roxas quickly shot his head to the right to see Sora stupidly attempting to break free from the other two men's' grip. He had his teeth bared and his feet were wildly digging into the ground. One of the men, a scrawny, skinny one, held on with both arms linked around one of Sora's arms. He bit his lower lip and stared at Axel with a look that screamed "HELP ME".

Roxas had a feeling in his gut that this would develop and end badly. He turned back to Axel who maintained his insensible expression. He watched Axel reach behind him and carefully unhook another pistol from a latch on his pants. Soon, he had it raised, sideways, its rusted silver end pointing heartlessly to Sora's head. He reacted the instant he even saw Axel move.

"NO!" he growled, his own feet moving just as violently as his brother's. Both of the men that were holding Sora froze. Sora even paused. His breathing hitched and his dark blue eyes flashed as he stared into the end of that gun. No one in the audience dared to scream again.

It looked like Roxas' reaction was all that Axel needed. He tilted his head, removed his finger from the trigger and held it at his waist. Roxas' breathing was racing at an uncontrollable level. Sora could've been dead. If one more person died...

Sora was still staring at that same spot where the gun had been. Axel's back turned on him and he moved back toward Roxas. He must've hurt the boy pretty badly, seeing as his lips were shaking and his breathing mimicked that of a person running from death.

This time, he stepped behind Roxas and studied him further, eyes traveling over the boy's back and legs. He stopped when he made a full circle around and, with soft eyes, signaled his approval with a nod for both Luxord and the other man; he didn't bother to look away from Roxas.

"Listen here, mate," he started, "since you were such a good sport about me coming here, I'm willing to go easy on you."

"Meaning?" Leon asked, standing his ground.

"Meaning that you get whatever it is you want at this very moment." With a brisk wave of his hand, the remaining group of goons that had been standing beside the fountain turned back around toward the alleyway and quickly shuffled off. Roxas watched their bodies become swallowed by the dark with heavy eyes. He tried his hardest not to look back at Axel. Not only did he hate him, he knew he'd collapse in doing so.

Leon didn't respond, thinking that it was nothing more than a pirate joke.

"No worries. I'll take care of it. You don't even have to mention a thing." Chuckling haughtily, Axel finally looked away from the boy and broke into a stride after the group that had suddenly disappeared. Roxas could hear them all yelling rowdily through the city, toward the docks, he figured.

Just when the two forced Roxas to wake up his legs, Roxas realized that he was actually being taken away; away from home, away from Sora, away from his life. His head spun to the side while the two "escorted" him away from the square. He dug his feet into the mud to slow down, getting a slap upside the head for it.

"Sora! I don't...what'm I supposed to do?!" He was really that scared.

Sora's head lifted and, before he could reply, he was tossed back to the ground by the two other men. They both kicked at his sides before following after the rest of them. Sora coughed once, not bothering to run after his brother. If he did, that risked both of them, possibly the whole town, dying.

"I won't let them hurt you!"

"How?! How do you know that they won't?!"

"Trust me!"

"Get on, you! GO!" With a sharp kick in the back of the leg, Roxas groaned in pain and returned to walking against his will. He felt his head being grabbed and forced to look forward. Why couldn't they just blindfold him? That would make the experience less stressful, less hurtful. As if the world heard that, he turned a corner into the dark alley where his sight literally was stolen away from him. He could tell that Axel was walking ahead of them; that annoying laugh was echoing in his head.

He heard something being latched onto a wall ahead of him. The two men stopped walking. Before he could even take in another strained breath, they forced him to start up walking again.

Axel's laughing grew darker and shadier. Were all pirates like him?

The smell of alcohol and the sound of music began drifting away. Roxas knew that he'd already left the town. The Isles...wasn't worth living for anymore.

xxXXxx

"Do we toss him?"

"We can't act for ourselves; it's captain's orders."

What Roxas didn't understand, was why they couldn'tact for themselves. Why did they have to listen to the captain's orders all the time? If he saw things correctly, these men had all the power in the world...then again, Axel had the perfect aim. He wondered if that was what pirates did for a living: serve. Captains were at a different league than pirates.

With his bangs messily hanging in his face, Roxas hung his head and kept his entire body limp. If the two men had let go, he would've collapsed onto the soggy dock. He wasn't exactly sure as to why he was so exhausted. No, he wasn't tired...just traumatized. That scene of a gun being held to his brother's head wasn't leaving.

He didn't get much time to think about what was going to be the outcome of his own self.

"How long you gonna be standing there?"

Roxas' body lightly swerved when both men turned their heads to the right, dutifully locking eyes with their captain, the one that they absolutely needed to, had to obey. He continued to stare at the dirty planks below his feet, picturing the black water underneath.

"What do we do with the boy, sir?" Luxord asked; his voice collected.

Roxas half expected an order along the lines of "death-by-drowning" or "abandonment on some ghost island". They both sounded like pirate-y things in his mind. When he heard heavy steps coming in their direction, he unintentionally raised his chin and flicked his eyes to the left. Axel was crouched down to his level again, scanning over every little detail in his face. Needless to say that it was too close for comfort...but Axel saw otherwise.

"Boy...hmph. Why do you call him boy if he's got a name?" Axel asked, resting a hand atop Roxas' shoulder.

Luxord stammered a bit. The other man coughed once and replied, "He hasn't bothered to tell us, sir." That was the first time that Roxas heard his voice. It was sleek and deep; another English accent like that of Luxord's.

Roxas felt Axel give him a soft squeeze on his shoulder. He blinked, thinking about thinking before acting, and ended up doing the exact opposite. His eyes quivered and traveled to Axel's face where they stayed, unblinking. Bad move. Can't be reversed.

"Well, then," Axel began, smiling seductively, "every pirate has a name."

"I-I told you: I'm not...a pirate." Roxas kept his voice hushed, attempting to gloss over his shaking tongue with defiance. It wasn't doing much good.

Axel chuckled, matching Roxas' speaking volume, and gently tapped his fingers against the boy's shoulder. Axel knew he could feel that; he was biting his lower lip uncomfortably.

"How do you explain your lying, then? You're very good at it...better than many pirates..." He left his sentence dangling, squinting one eye as a signal for an answer. Sure, Roxas caught it. But...

He drew in a sharp breath of salty air and, with both eyes shut, answered, "Roxas." Strangely, he didn't regret it. He had to shut the man up somehow; his voice was driving him mad.

"Good," Axel chirruped and pushed away from "Roxas". So that was the boy's name. It wasn't common. Perfect for a pirate name. He didn't have to come up with one for him. Brilliant, just brilliant. With a pleased click of his tongue, Axel spun around to face the open water.

"Take Roxas on board and keep him on deck until we're all set for sail again."

"Sir, wouldn't the...brig...?"

Axel waved his hand. "No, no, deck. Decks are good. Weren't you listening? Do you need a repeat? A re-name even? Poop deck. Sound better? Good, take him to the poop deck then!"

Both men waited for a couple of seconds, probably to analyze at least half of the captain's words, before picking Roxas up by the arms again, letting the top of his shoes just barely brush with the ground. He nearly complained about it hurting, but decided against it.

It wasn't until now that he actually spotted the ship. Well, it was no surprise that no one caught immediate sight of it; it blended right in with the other ships parked in the docks. He couldn't imagine how exactly it managed to sail, though; every single canvas had hole in them, big ones and small ones...it made the ship legally useless.

Before Roxas had the chance to scan the entire outside of the ship, he was interrupted by a sudden outburst of cackling heading his way. He straightened his head out and nearly tripped over himself when the two men swept him up and dragged him up an elevated plank that swerved and creaked as they crossed it.

"New crew member, ey?"

"Scrawny looking thing, isn't he?"

"Can you believe the captain chose only one? There's nothin' in 'im!"

"Oy, shut your mouth and get back to your stations!" Luxord bellowed, nearly breaking Roxas' eardrum in the process. The members, who had been yelling sourly, followed that 'order', continuing to spit gossip while they wrapped thick ropes around poles and tied off heavy canons to the sides of the deck. If that had been Axel that made the command, one: someone would be dead, and two: they would all be done with their work by now.

He was a real bastard that way.

As he thought about him, Roxas' eyes began to venture around on their own, completely oblivious to the ocean and the town below. Where could he...? He didn't have the time to finish; the black haired man shook his arm so violently that he thought his arm would pop out of its socket.

"Ow..." he whispered, not expecting the two to hear that, and received a sharp kick to the back of his ankle. He bit his tongue and tried not to twitch.

"Hold your tongue, boy," the other man grumbled, leaning toward Roxas' ear. Roxas almost shot his head away, but figured that walking was an important part of his life. To add to his pain, scattered laughs and words went on floating amongst the crew. Nearing a mental breakdown, Roxas lightly shook his head and shut his eyes. He couldn't imagine himself staying on the ship. A pirate? Not likely. Not...

...why did the talking die down?

"Yo, ho, haul together,

hoist the colors high.

Heave ho,

thieves and beggars,

never shall we die..."

"That song..."

"Think there's a reason behind it?" the other man asked.

"Wait for captain's orders."

With eyes still shut, Roxas slightly raised his head again, hearing the song pass by him again. Did he hear it before?

"Yo, ho, haul together,

hoist the colors high.

Heave ho,

thieves and beggars,

never shall we die..."

"Captain's singing."

The song abruptly ended and was replaced with soft murmuring from the crew. Roxas couldn't put a finger on what they were saying. The sound of Axel singing that one song was still fogging up his head. The way he sang it...eerie. It could've been played at someone's funeral...

Funeral?

"Open your eyes, Roxas."

He knew the one person that would call him by name now. Feeling strangely comfortable, he faintly opened his eyes half way and turned to his right where Axel was half leaning over the railing, staring at him again. An unfamiliar, cold smile was drawn on his face.

"He looks old enough to hold himself up, doesn't he?" Axel asked quietly, raising both eyes to the two men on each of Roxas' arms. It didn't take them long to understand that and immediately release their big hands from Roxas. He nearly fell on his back but he was pulled forward, now with a pair of heavy, metal handcuffs to prison him.

Panting, Roxas stared down at his hands. This was definitely hell.

"It's a nice town you've got, Roxas. You, of course, agree." Axel's voice lowered even further, almost as if all he said was meant for one person alone. Roxas didn't respond and held his cuffs at waist level, still staring at them.

Axel let out a single laugh and turned his body halfway toward the dark city below. It looked so far away, now that Roxas thought about it. Now he knew why pirates had such ego issues; their ships literally towered them over targets. Just the thought of that made Roxas quiver.

"Take a good look at it." He quickly glanced over his shoulder and had the two men leave for some unfinished work. He was actually alone with this guy...a captain.

Realizing that Roxas had raised his head and bothered to look back at his home, Axel raised one hand and rolled his fingers. Roxas watched them tentatively, his eyes widening after each second. This time, he gathered up what little energy he had threw his body against the railing.

"...a pirate's life for me." Roxas' head flung to the side where he momentarily stared at Axel while he began another song. Only the sound of the wind accompanied him. The ship returned to being dead. He stared back to the city again.

"We kindle the char, inflame and ignite,

Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho...

We burn up the city...

We're really a fright..."

"No..." Roxas whispered to himself, adding the lyrics of the song with his thoughts. "No...!" he repeated in a shaking voice.

This was exactly the reason why Axel had Roxas stand on his own, why he had the boy chained and cuffed. He just looked so helpless. With hand still raised, Axel twiddled his fingers and snapped. Child's play to him, mass murder for Roxas.

"SORA!!" Roxas tried throwing his hands over the deck but the chains held him back. Sweat began dripping down his face as he felt a rush of heat against his face. As soon as Axel snapped, an accurately placed chain of fire bombs ignited through every street and alleyway. There was no screaming. Roxas imagined that there wouldn't be much time to scream.

Stunned, he stared out at each mass of flames join together toward the town square, licking and madly hissing when they passed each other. They took everything they touched, killing it, turning it into nothing but black. Roxas didn't want to picture what the burning was doing to the people...

Sora was gone...Sora was all he had. There was a reason to Axel's singing. Pirate songs weren't superstition.

"Drink up, me 'earties...yo, ho."

"Y-You...you..." Roxas stammered, backing away from the edge. His eyelashes stung every time he felt an ash touch his face. He wished they could've burned him...just killed him. His life wasn't worth living. Axel destroyed him.

With that thought, Roxas' head ceased to spin. His knees wobbled and his feet shook, eventually pulling him over to one side. With a useless sob, Roxas swerved and collapsed on the damp deck, blacked out with his knees pulled in close to his body.

All he had was himself.

"To the brig, sir?"

"No. Later."

"We can't leave him there, sir."

"Obviously. Hm...I'll take him. Besides, it's not part of a captain's schedule to sleep. My bed's practically empty."

"Sir, I..."

"That's captain's orders, Xaldin."

"Y-yes, captain."

"Roxas...What a pirate."

He didn't feel guilty about taking him. Pirates never feel guilty about breaking rules. It just so happens that Leon wasn't looking close enough to the pairs of Fool Dice being rolled in the game. Roxas belonged to the ship...

...mostly to the captain.

axel is a cheater, cheater pumpkin eater/rum drinker.

but i love him. XDD -tackleglomp- roxas is getting special treatment? possibly. dungeon's are attractive too, ya know. -nodnod- -passes out from exhaustion- DX 10 reviews? please? and thank you? -sleeps-

ZZZ,
kokoro77