Author's Note: Thank you girly-girl 12345, and GurrenLagann. Just knowing that the two of you love my story makes it worthwhile and gives me the will to keep writing. But I don't want everyone else getting lazy, I still want to see more reviews. So please R&R.
They all sat on some rocks near the stream to eat their meal of boiled fish, courtesy of Axel and his new powers.
Axel made a face before biting into his fish, and Roxas giggled. Axel raised an eyebrow and exchanged a look with Demyx. Demyx smiled and Axel gave him a wink, before making another face as he bit into his fish again.
Roxas giggled again and soon was in a full on laughing fit as Axel kept making crazy faces at his fish. It didn't take long for Demyx to join in the laughter and even Xaldin chuckled softly.
Xigbar finally got fed up after ten minutes and yelled at them, only to get shoved off his rock by Xaldin. This sent the other three into another fit of laughter and even Xigbar laughed this time.
They all felt more relaxed as they finished their meal and set out on their way again. Before they left, Xaldin speared a few of the uneaten fish on a branch to take with them.
As they walked Xaldin, Xigbar and Demyx talked about where they could go that wouldn't be overrun by Saix' soldiers. Axel and Roxas walked in the back of the group and talked about Axel's new powers.
"Your emotions are the base of your power. The stronger the emotion, the stronger the spell."
"So if I wanted to throw a fireball at someone I would have to be feeling a strong emotion?"
Roxas laughed and Axel grinned at him. That laugh is so adorable. I just want to make him happy so he can laugh forever. I am so going to reduce Saix to ashes, and give Roxas his head on a silver platter. Wait that's just gross. Flowers! I'll give him flowers and we can dance on Saix' grave, and he'll kiss me and tell me he loves me and I'll say it back and we'll get a big house and live happy forever and I'll make him laugh everyday and….
Axel grimaced and rubbed his arm where Roxas had just punched him.
"Stop spacing out and pay attention Axel. If you don't learn control you'll just end up hurting people or embarrassing yourself."
Axel mumbled an apology and Roxas rolled his eyes before going on.
"Anyway back to your question. The fireball could be different sizes depending on the strength of your emotions at the time. The stronger the emotion the bigger the flame."
Axel had a thoughtful look on his face when Roxas finished and then his eyes lit up and he grinned. Roxas rolled his eyes and lightly hit his arm again.
"You can't throw any fireballs at the others." Axel pouted and Roxas had to fight not to giggle at the sight.
"Why don't you just work on making a small flame in your hand at first and then changing its shape? It will help you learn control."
Axel shrugged and agreed to give it a try. He worked on it for the rest of the day.
When they settled down to sleep and eat some of the fish, Axel was exhausted but proud of himself. He had managed to not only create a small ball of flame in his hand, but also had made it into different shapes that had kept Roxas entertained and laughing all day.
He flopped down onto his back and glanced around at the others. Xigbar had just flopped down without a care, while Xaldin and Demyx spent quite a bit of time finding the perfect spots to sleep. Roxas sat near Axel but didn't lie down right away.
Axel grimaced as he watched the boy pull a few splinters out of the bottoms of his feet. Axel also noticed that those feet were covered in bruises that began healing as he watched.
"I can carry you if you like, at least until we can get you some shoes."
Roxas blinked at him and lay down with a shrug. "I'll be fine." He stared at the stars above them for a few moments before turning his head to look at Axel.
"About what happened earlier… you know by the stream... I…" Roxas was interrupted by a soft snore and chuckled softly at the now fast asleep red-head.
"Good night Axel."
Axel was the first to wake up the next morning, and he quietly slipped out of their little camp to practice his powers a little before the others woke up. He wanted to impress Roxas mostly, but he also wanted to get good enough to protect the blond.
Even Xaldin is more of a help in a fight. I'm just a useless waste of space. But not anymore, I'm going to get better at this and next time Roxy won't have to use his powers to save us, cause I'll be doing the saving.
Easy there hot stuff, he may not appreciate being treated like some damsel in distress.
Axel snorted and a flash of red nearby caught his eye.
I don't treat him like that, I just don't want to see him get hurt anymore. He's been through enough.
So you are going to fight against Saix and V'pyr then?
If it will make Roxy happy I'll turn the whole castle into a pile of ash, V'pyr included.
P'rexen remained silent after that and Axel headed back to camp to make breakfast. Everyone was still asleep so he kept as quiet as he could.
Xaldin and Xigbar woke up first with Roxas following soon after. Axel was sitting cross legged in front of a medium sized flat rock. Sitting on the rock were ten red apples. The red-head was completely focused on his task and didn't notice them getting up.
The smell of toasted apples was becoming mouth watering when Demyx woke up.
"Oh wow! That smells great when do we eep?"
Demyx' yell startled Axel and about half of his apples exploded. Sending a hail of apples chunks into the air. Picking chunks out of his hair, Axel gave Demyx a murderous glare. Roxas bit his lip so he wouldn't laugh and walked over to grab a couple of apples.
"Thank you for breakfast Axel, these smell delicious."
Roxas tossed one to the other blond before taking a bite of his own. Axel gave Demyx one last glare before tossing an apple each to Xaldin and Xigbar and eating his.
They finished eating while they kept walking, and when he finished Axel went back to practicing with his flame. He was walking ahead of everyone, with Roxas and Demyx behind him. Xaldin and Xigbar took up the rear. Axel shaped a small fireball into a horse and made it prance around him. Roxas laughed at it before turning to talk to Demyx.
"So Demy why were you in the dungeons?"
Demyx sighed and threw his hands up.
"Well I'm a gypsy singer, so I was singing for money and the guards accused me of stealing and locked me up."
"They enjoy abusing power." Xaldin grumbled, "I was minding my own business, when one of them knocked into me. He accused me of trying to kill him and I was arrested."
Xigbar snorted and laced his fingers together behind his head. "One of 'em demanded all my money, so I shot him in the face."
He mimed firing a crossbow and pointed at Axel. "And this one got caught stealing from the barracks."
Axel waved an arm at them. "That was actually on purpose just so you know. I never get caught unless I want to be."
"Why would you get caught on purpose?" Roxas asked, and Axel turned around to grin at them.
"To steal from the castle of course!" He struck a dramatic pose as he said this and made large flame wings spread out behind him.
The others burst into laughter and Axel let the flames fizzle out. "You just don't appreciate my genius." He turned around again and kept walking.
They had only been walking for few hours when Xaldin made them stop.
"This could be a problem." Axel was about to ask him what he meant when he noticed the pained look in Roxas' eyes and the blood that was staining the ground under his right foot.
Before they could say anything Roxas waved them off. "I just cut my foot on a sharp stone I'll be fine, promise."
Xaldin shook his head, "Healing your feet all the time is a drain on your energy isn't it?"
Roxas nodded slowly, and before he could say anything more Xaldin scooped him up onto his back.
"Then we'll take turns carrying you until we get some shoes."
Roxas sighed and Axel was happy that he didn't argue. Just after sunset they came across a small town at the base of the Asheren Mountains.
A brief argument broke out when they caught sight of the town. Xigbar and Demyx wanted to go into town and sleep in an inn. Xaldin and Axel wanted to avoid the town altogether and just go through the mountains to Sheras Valley.
"Um… can I point out something you're all overlooking?" The fighting stopped and they all looked at Roxas.
"We don't have any money to use for an inn, and we don't have any supplies to get us through the mountains."
Axel threw an arm over the blonde's shoulders.
"Roxy is right, plus this town is still close to Saix' castle so there could be soldiers here looking for us. How about a compromise? Xiggy and I will sneak into town and steal what we need, and then we go through the mountains. Is that ok with everyone?"
"Why do I have to sneak into town with you? Why not Xaldin, or Demyx, or even Roxas for that matter?"
Axel sighed, "Because Demy spooks far too easily. If something goes wrong we don't want Roxy getting caught. Xally is more of a fighter than the rest of us so if something happens he can protect everyone waiting here. And I can't carry everything we need on my own so you have to help Xiggy."
Xigbar grumbled but agreed to go and Axel gave Roxas a quick grin before they slipped off into the dark.
In town Axel left Xigbar hiding behind an empty stable, with the orders to wait there quietly while he gathered things. The few soldiers he saw patrolling the town were easy enough to avoid and he was able to get all the supplies they needed fairly quickly.
However Xigbar nearly got them caught when Axel came back leading a pony. Axel was fast enough to clamp a hand over the other man's mouth before more than the first two letters of his surprised shout were uttered.
"Don't yell like that or we'll get caught. We are going to need a lot of stuff to make to the valley and we can't carry all of it so the pony is necessary."
Xigbar nodded and they snuck back out of town to where the others were waiting. When the group was back together Axel proudly showed off his haul.
There were extra clothes for all of them, including hooded cloaks. Of course a pair of boots for Roxas, that he happily dug out first. He had also gotten them enough supplies to last for a week at least and some cooking implements so they could have actual meals. There were thick blankets and bedrolls and a weapon for each of them.
He handed a spear off to Xaldin, a crossbow for Xigbar, a rapier for Demyx, a short sword for Roxas, and a pair of daggers for himself.
He also showed them the large bag of money he had decided they needed, so next time they could get an inn and sleep in actual beds.
"I hope the townspeople will be okay without this stuff." Roxas said giving the town a sad glance as they started making their way around it to the mountains.
"Hey no worries Roxy, I stole it all from the soldier's barracks." They all stared at the grinning red-head, and began their trek through the mountains with laughter and light hearts.
- 2 Days Later -
Axel practiced steadily during their travels and he was proud to say that he no longer blew things up when startled. Even P'rexen had been impressed with his progress.
Deciding that he wanted to take a break from his self training for the day, he had been keeping the group laughing with some anecdotes from his years of thieving. They were so distracted by their own mirth that they didn't notice the danger they had just walked into.
"And what do we have here?"
Author's Note 2: And so we end on a cliff hanger. I know everyone hates them, please don't shoot me. BUT the next chapter will have Axel using his powers in a fight, and some nice fluff between our guys so look forward to it. And review please! I need some constructive criticism here!