Disclaimer: This Chibi doesn't own Kingdom Hearts or it's characters.
Zexion pulled his cloak over to hide his face some. Years have done him good, changing him from a little thing with a cute face to a handsome young man with weathered features. His hair covered half of his face in a mysterious way and his hands showed to have callouses from hard work. He looked nothing like the prince he once was.
Sora had also aged and grew up with Zexion, the two now referring to each other as brothers, especially around other people. They worked together catching fish and selling them in the market to make a few coins to use on other supplies they needed. Most of their food came from the sea and forest, though. Sora spent his time fishing while Zexion had learned to do that and hunt in the forest for game. At times they even sold the pelts of what he hunted to make more money.
In the long run, Zexion was thankful he was not recognized as the prince and no one knew what Sora was. If anyone were to know the truth, he would find himself dealing with a short drop and a sudden stop or on the chopping block and Sora being used for profit. He felt most sorry for him for what he was and how his kind was hunted down just for what they were; he felt he could understand him, too, with that and his own situation.
Over the years, things have grown worse for the kingdom. As the years went by, people began to lose faith of their prince returning and reclaiming the throne. At the same time, Zexion lost interest and had no desire for the throne, feeling he wasn't even right to be king; he had no teachings or training, he had no guidance, and he sure as hell had no interest to rise up only to get his head chopped off by Sephiroth; he heard rumors of how violent that man was.
"Excuse me, lad," a woman said, "are the fish fresh?"
"Yes ma'am." Zexion said. He motioned for the woman to come over and he opened a container. "Freshly caught, kept alive, and ready for our customers. We cannot risk our goods going bad for kind people like you."
"Oh how wonderful." The woman said. "Um… you handle… ending them, right? Like… removing the heads and ready for profit?"
"Yes, we do that, too." Zexion said. "Are there any you wish to purchase?"
"Yes." The woman pointed to which ones she wanted and Zexion pulled them out, removed their heads, scooping that into a bucket to the side, and then wrapping the fish for the women to take home. He smiled as she paid him the needed coins for the goods she obtained. Zexion put the coins in his bag and smiled before looking to see Sora snatch a fish head from the bucket and eat it behind their stand.
"Sora, must you do that here?" Zexion asked. "What if someone sees you?"
"Sorry, but I'm hungry." Sora said. He smiled then he saw a cat approach him. "You're hungry too, eh kitty?" he asked. He grabbed the second head and put it down for the cat to go after and enjoy.
Zexion sighed and shook his head. "What am I going to do with you?" he asked. "And don't answer that this time. It's a rhetorical question."
"Fine." Sora pouted. He stood up when the cat devoured the head and looked around. "There aren't many people out, huh?" He sniffed the air. "Huh?"
"What is it, Sora?" Zexion asked. He looked around before noticing Riku, Sephiroth's youngest son, walking down the street with his guards and looking about the market. "Great… here comes trouble…" he muttered."
With Riku was his best friend, Axel, who could often be one hell of an arrogant son of a bitch… not to insult his mother or anything. The two walked down the street as if they owned the kingdom… oh wait, in a way Riku did. Riku stopped talking with the lanky redhead and looked to where Sora was leaning against the stand and seemed rather bored. He smirked, tried to slick his hair back a bit, and walked over.
"Greetings, Sora." Riku said. He had gone to the market several times before so as to see the angelic beauty he knew next to nothing about other than his name, he was always with Zexion and they appeared to be siblings, he was great at fishing, and knew plenty about fish. Hey, that was enough for now and he knew he'd have to take little steps to get what he wanted. "How are you this fine morning?"
"Oh, good morning, Prince Riku." Sora said, not even bowing his head. While his father would find that disrespectful, Riku didn't really care since he really liked Sora; he made it painfully obvious, though the siren never seemed to notice… that or care. "I'm doing well. Enjoying the sounds of nature and people going about buying what they need for the day." The siren definitely took pleasure in the simple things in life and Riku found that to be so cute. "And how are you?"
"Oh, same old, same old." Riku said. "Three older brothers to deal with, one who is one hell of a crybaby…"
"I don't know, I kind of like Prince Loz." Sora said, knowing that he was often called that. "He has his moments, but I think his sensitivity is admirable."
Riku mentally kicked himself. He hated it when his eldest brother, a brute of a man with a soft and emotional side, was liked more than he was by the guy he was crushing on. "Well, that's besides the point." Riku said. "Getting my point across, I'm doing as well as I can. You know, it's tough being a prince and all." He smiled. "Hey, you should stay at the palace with me at some time. I'm sure it'll be nice and you can see what it's like living in the lap of luxury."
"Thanks, but no thanks." Sora said with that bright grin.
"Oh, ouch." Axel snickered behind him. "Shot down, Ri."
"Piss off, Ax." Riku looked and snapped at Axel. He then looked back to Sora. "Well, the offer still stands. As does the offer of being my date at the festival celebrating the three-hundredth anniversary of the kingdom."
"A date?" Sora asked. Riku nodded and seemed hopeful. "Well, sorry, that would take too much time and I have things to tend to." And shot down again.
"Why not? It's free to go to since it's for the kingdom, and it'd be nice going on a date with you." Riku commented. "Don't fret if you don't have anything nice to wear, I'll get my personal tailor to take care of that."
"Nothing nice to wear?" Sora asked. Riku cringed. "But… I thought my clothes were good enough anyway."
"Wrong turn, buddy." Axel whispered.
"It's okay, Sora." Zexion said. "Your clothes are just perfect." He then cast a glare at Riku. "Your majesty, if you don't mind, it would be wise for you to move on so you don't make my brother any sadder and so you don't scare away any customers."
"Oh, is that an attitude I hear coming from you, Zexion?" Riku inquired, practically sneering at the slightly older male. Despite Zexion being a year or two older than Riku, Riku was well on his way to being taller than the former prince.
Coming down the street were Vexen and Saïx with their hoods pulled up so as to hide their faces from the world. Leading the way was Vexen's much younger brother, Demyx, who pranced along and looked at the stands. Demyx seemed to be looking for something specific as he glanced about before smiling when he saw the right stand in the market up ahead.
"Vexy, I'm going to go get fish to bring home." Demyx said.
"Very well." Vexen said. He smirked when he saw the center of Demyx's fascination. "Try not to get too distracted and find something good for Larxene. The gods know she'll need it." He smiled a bit and ruffled Demyx's hair; unlike the others, Demyx didn't need to wear a hood and hide his face. "Saïx and I are going to find herbs for medicine."
"Okay." Demyx nodded and carried his basket over to the stand where Zexion and Riku were glaring at each other. He cleared his throat, breaking them from their concentration.
"Oh! Demy!" Sora chirped and ran over to hug the male. Riku looked a little hurt that the new guy was being hugged instead. "Did you come to buy something again?"
"You know it, squirt." Demyx said. He looked past Sora and smiled at Zexion. "Um… you see, my sister is expecting and…"
"Congratulations." Zexion said.
"Thanks. Anyway, I was wondering if there were any specific types of fish that would be good for a pregnant woman." Demyx pondered over the idea.
"Oh!" Sora nodded and went to where they kept the fish and watched for a moment before catching one easily with his bare hands and held onto it with such ease. "This one is especially good and not very bony."
"Oh, how wonderful." Demyx said. "I'll buy that one and…" He looked at the other fish. "Four of those ones and another one of those big ones."
"Very well." Zexion said. He used a net to scoop up the needed fish before removing their heads and then wrapped them. With each head removed, Riku felt himself go pale and find that to be gross and a possible prelude to anyone who hurts Sora. "Will that be all?"
"A few of those salted and dried fish Sora makes would be nice." Demyx said.
Zexion nodded and got some of those out and wrapped them. Demyx smiled and happily paid the needed money for the goods he bought.
"Thanks." Demyx said. "Um… Zexion… I was wondering… since I'm here and we have time to talk…" He watched Zexion clean the board he used to prepare the fish. "I was wondering… if you'd like to go to the festival with me next week."
"Can't." Zexion said.
Heyo, lovelies!
Ah, another chapter up! Hopefully you lovely readers enjoy it and look forward to the next chapters to be uploaded.
Ciao!
~ Chibi