Okay, so in honor of Thanksgiving break almost being over, I decided to make another update! Also, this is kind of in celebration of me getting more reviews. :)
Char: You're such a freak. You get TWENTY and you're happy as... as... something happy.
Me: (snigger) WOW.
Char: What? I'm not good with those expressions!
Me: Well, if you consider how it's been neglected...
Char: Eh, true.
Me: Anyways, this is the chapter where Char proves what a man she can be xD
Char: Tch.
Disclaimer- I'll own Kingdom Hearts when Roxas and Sora decide it's safe to live in my house. ...Which will never happen... (tearsniffle)
Char and Sora stepped into the camp. Sora poked her in the shoulder and pointed toward the line of men standing in front of them. "C'mon, I bet that's the signup line."
"Signup?" Char muttered.
"Oh, like you could think of another name for it."
"Sora, people don't sign up to throw themselves into battle and subject themselves to the harsh conditions of war."
"Then what do they do?" Sora grinned smugly when Char had no reply. "Now let's just go."
The redhead nodded, taking a deep breath to prepare herself for what would happen when she stepped into the line. Donald and Goofy were already moving to take their places; Mulan was heading rather awkwardly toward the line, and Char stifled a snigger at the other woman's obvious attempt to walk like a man.
Char and Sora stepped behind the last armor-clad man in line. The brunette had just taken his place when he suddenly felt a strong force shove him aside – a force that was garbed in leather.
"'Bout time we got some grub," the red-armored man who had just pushed Sora aside grumbled.
Char glared at the short, stout man. "Hey! What the hell's your problem?"
"Get to the back of the line!" Donald yelled, stopping in his tracks.
"No cutting," Sora shouted, leaping up. The short man turned to Sora and, without preamble, drew back his fist to punch the Keybearer down again.
Char had leaped in front of him, though, and was glaring daggers at the other. The stout one laughed, lowering his fist and cowering in mock fear. "Oh, no, I'm so scared of a girl."
"Yeah! A girl that can kick your ass!" Char snarled back, fully ready to draw her swords if she had to.
Donald glared at the man, muttered something about doing it himself, and threw himself at him.
Another man, wearing yellow this time, stepped up. "Hey, look, a place in line!"
"I wonder what they're serving for lunch today," his larger, blue-clad companion murmured, rubbing his stomach in anticipation.
"Knuckle sandwiches," the short one snarled, wriggling out from underneath Donald and lunging toward Sora. The duck brandished his fists and leaped after him.
"That does it!" Sora yelled.
"Fine by me," snarled Char, charging into the fray to punch the red-armored man.
Mulan and Goofy looked on, eyes wide, trying to convince their companions that this wasn't worth it. Finally Mulan cried, "Please!"
The five of them froze – the red man pulling on Char's hair, Sora's foot in the yellow man's stomach, and Donald's fist pulled back for another blow.
"'Please'?" The yellow-armored one snorted.
"What a girl," laughed the red one.
Char glared at him. "What did you just say?"
"I mean, uh, knock it off," Mulan quickly amended, voice deepening abruptly.
"Knock what off?"
"You punched me!" Sora cried, his voice high-pitched with indignation.
"And stop touching my hair!" This was Char, who managed to pull herself away after a few attempts.
"What, you wanna make something of it?"
"Cutting in line!" Donald snarled.
"What a shrimp," the yellow-clad man sniggered.
"Hey!" Mushu shouted, causing Mulan to jump slightly in surprise; clearly she'd forgotten about the "dragon" in the fuss. "Who you callin' shrimp, panda lips? I'm a bona fide guardian dragon!"
Mulan quickly shoved him back into her pack, praying fervently that he wouldn't blow her cover.
"Look," she said in what she hoped was a commanding voice, "let's just get back in line, okay?"
"Whose side are you on?" cried Sora, rubbing his sore shoulder. "I just almost got slugged!"
"Want some more?" growled the red one, raising a fist threateningly.
"Soldiers!" This was a sudden new voice that rose above the chatter. "Get back in line!"
Out of one of the tents stepped a new man, one who was clad in red and black armor. He came forward, giving them all an expectant look.
"The captain!" hissed the yellow one.
Sora, Donald and Goofy instantly straightened and took their places in line; Donald peered around all the people to get a better look at the captain, but quickly returned to attention when he passed him.
Char remained standing where she was, wiping a finger across the blood trailing from the wound on her cheek. The general stopped in his tracks next to her, and spoke without looking over. "What is this?"
Char didn't give him the dignity of a response, just gave him a sidelong glance and raised an eyebrow.
"Do you think you're going to degrade my troops, you impudent woman?" A few moments of tense silence ticked by.
Losing his temper, the captain whirled, one fist clenched at his side and the other curled around the hilt of his sword. "Answer me!" he snarled.
Char shrugged; but before she could formulate a snarky response, Sora let out a cry. In swirls of dark light, a circle of Heartless had formed around them.
"What are they?" Mulan asked fearfully, drawing her sword and stepping back near Sora.
"Heartless," the brunette replied, summoning the Star Seeker. Donald and Goofy quickly rushed over, and they all got into their battle positions.
"Ping, I hope you're ready," Char murmured, drawing her own blades.
Ignoring the red and yellow-armored men, who had decided to join the battle even though their fists could do nothing, Char leaped forward and slashed out with one of her swords. To her surprise – and suspicion – the Heartless faded from existence almost immediately. Hm… this world's supposed to be stronger than Hollow Bastion. So why are these Heartless so weak?
Nearby, Sora was covering Mulan, who was looking around in confusion and fear. "Come on, Ping," he grunted, each word followed by a slice with his Keyblade.
"But there are so many of them," Mulan cried.
"Just fight!" Char shouted. "Just… slash in random directions, but don't hit anybody!" The last part was added rather hastily on her part, as one of the Heartless had just gotten dangerously close to impaling her side.
Mulan nodded determinedly and raised her blade.
The battle ended abruptly when Char realized that the small mass of black had disappeared, and turned to see that Goofy had just caught his shield. She felt a tiny prick of disappointment that she hadn't been the one to deal the final blow, but pushed it aside. She still had to win over the captain.
Said captain was currently pacing in front of them. "Hm… you four seem to be tough fighters," he mused.
Char smirked in triumph. "Four, he said. Huh."
"Don't get me wrong; you're still a woman," the captain answered, moving to stand in front of the five of them. He addressed his next words to Sora, Donald and Goofy. "You three are strong, capable men. You may join my troops."
"Oh, so it doesn't matter how strong and capable a woman is; she's still a woman, and therefore inferior." Char folded her arms across her chest. "Yeah. That's fair."
The captain glared at her. "It's the rule. Women cannot join the army."
Mulan cringed a little at the last words.
"But I can still come along, right?" Char pointed out. "The rules only say that women can't join the army. Is there a law that says I can't accompany you?"
Because personally, I have no clue what the hell I'm supposed to do while I wait for Mulan and the others to finish their business, she added mentally.
The captain hesitated, then sighed. "I suppose you're right. Yes, you will not be an army man, but you can still come along, just as long as you do your share of fighting."
Char shrugged. "No problem."
Mulan cleared her throat. "Uh, sir, what about me?"
At this the captain sighed. "You should return home."
Mulan's eyes widened. "But, Captain…"
"That'll dishonor her – er, his family," Sora interjected hastily.
"You would rather dishonor my troops?" The captain didn't seem to have noticed Sora's slip-up, Char noted with a small burst of relief; she didn't know what she and the others were going to do to clear this world of Heartless if they didn't have a guide.
"Please give Ping a chance," Sora said, looking pleadingly at the captain. "He's really strong – he just needs a chance to prove himself."
The captain hesitated, and Char saw a flicker of uncertainty pass across his eyes. Then he sighed again. "I suppose a simple assignment can't hurt." He looked at Sora, Donald and Goofy, who shot to attention. "Our orders are to ambush Shan-Yu's army on their way here – they should be coming through the mountain pass."
"Who –" Donald's question was instantly muffled by a glove-clad hand – not Char's, but Sora's.
"Understood, sir," Mulan said, looking relieved.
The captain nodded brusquely. "For future reference, I'm Captain Shang. These men are Yao, Ling and Chien-Po." Shang gestured briefly to the red-armored, yellow-armored and blue-armored men, respectively. "They'll accompany you up the pass."
Char couldn't hold back an irritable groan, putting one hand to the side of her head to run through her bangs. "We have to work with these numbskulls…?"
"Ya want me to pull your hair again?" Yao asked, glaring at her.
Ice-blue eyes stared hotly into dark black. "Try that again and you'll be coming away with a stump for an arm."
"Okay, okay, guys," Goofy said quickly, stepping between the girl and the stout man. "We still need t'get up the pass, remember?"
"Pfft, whatever," Char grumbled.
Shang sighed. "Either way, you seven –" His gaze shifted to Char, and he corrected himself. "I mean, eight, have a mission to accomplish. Now get to work."
"Yes, sir!" the males all said, giving a salute; Char just nodded.
As they all walked off, Sora let out the breath he'd been holding in relief. "That was way too close."
"If someone hadn't almost blown our cover…" Donald looked pointedly at the redhead.
Char sniffed. "I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about."
Mulan sighed. "Guys, stop. Hopefully we're going to get through this all without –"
"Hey!" The belligerent growl came from Yao.
Char glared. "What?"
"What do you mean by 'cover'?" Ling asked, crossing his arms.
"Uh, nothing," Sora said, grinning somewhat nervously. "But, erm, I do have a question." He hesitated. "Who's Shan-Yu?"
At this, the three older men gasped.
"You don't know?" asked Ling, his condescending tone replaced by shock.
"We're kind of… not from around here," Char murmured, staring at the thinning foliage as they walked along.
"He's the leader of the Hun army – he's been trying to take over China for a while now," Chien-Po, who alone seemed to be calm, explained. "There's actually a rumor going around that he's going to try and kill the emperor."
Everyone's jaw dropped, and the blue-armored man blinked. "What?"
"Chien-Po, ya can't just go around keeping stuff like that from us army men," Yao growled.
Char glared at him.
"And 'woman'," Mulan reminded the stout man.
Yao snorted. "Whatever."
"Hey, I almost kicked your ass earlier. Give me a little credit – you saw I can fight when I have to!" the redhead growled.
Sora sighed. "And there they go again…"
"Guys, we still have a mission…" Goofy reminded tentatively.
"Right…" Char sighed. "Sorry, just let my temper get away from me for a minute there…"
Yao grunted and looked away.
"This ought to be fun," Donald muttered sarcastically.
Sora looked incredulously at him. "You'd better be kidding."
As the eight of them headed up the pass, several Heartless kept impeding their path. This time around, there were some floating Heartless that faintly resembled the "zombies" Char had sometimes seen Braig doodling in his notebook. (1) Odd, bat-like ones were in the way as well; and these were even more aggravating because they always swooped down from behind the group.
Since Yao, Ling and Chien-Po had virtually no weapons to work with, Sora and his companions always had to cover them so they wouldn't get hurt. As Goofy finished off a shadow-Heartless, he groaned in obvious exhaustion and leaned against a boulder.
"Yeah, this is tiring," Sora murmured, wiping his forehead even though it was getting gradually colder. "When are we going to reach the top?"
"We'll get there when we get there," Char grumbled with her teeth clenched. She felt even more wound-up than she had at the summit, partly because this was taking too long, and partly because it was getting gradually colder. She hadn't realized her jacket fabric was so damnably thin…
Mulan, amazingly, had kept up very well; her determination to prove herself to Shang – which, in Char's opinion, was just a bit more than a desire to get into the army – had kept the young woman-in-disguise going this far.
Now Mulan spoke. "Oh, come on, guys. We haven't encountered any Huns so far, and we're almost at the top." She pointed to the smoke coming from not too far away.
"Now, how are we supposed to let the others know we've secured the path?" asked Char, putting a thoughtful hand up to her chin.
Donald growled. "I can use fire, you know…"
Sora blinked at the mage. "What's your point?"
There was a moment of awkward silence, broken only by the duck's sudden squawk of indignation. Raising his staff, a stream of flame was shot up into the air, surprisingly far above the mountaintop. The only thing that indicated Donald's effort was his scrunched-up face, as though he were concentrating hard to summon the fire.
"Oh, heh, right…" Sora rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
"I suppose… now we wait?" Char sighed.
"Now we wait," agreed Mulan, sitting down with a grunt.
Great, the redhead couldn't help but think – a couple of hours stuck here, with the belligerent soldiers, the gluttons, the goofball Keybearer, an angry mage, and a soldier wannabe. This was going to be fun.
"So…" Sora began.
A swift glare from Char cut off his question.
The brunette snarled irritably under her breath as, yet again, she swiped her rain-soaked bangs out of her eyes. What happened to 'stay in this world for as little time as possible'? she thought dryly. She'd had to spend the night here, under the shelter of one of the awnings in the Dark City's marketplace, because her clothes had gotten too waterlogged for her to go on. (2) Thankfully, her clothes had dried this morning, and she'd been able to continue toward her destination.
Right now she was standing at the gate of the Castle That Never Was, letting the memories sweep over her in a tidal wave that, hard as it was to believe, felt even more powerful than the perpetual storm. The girl closed her emerald eyes, just letting the wind sweep against the back of her jacket and lift her cape slightly into the air. When was the last time she'd ever sat and just remembered the good old days?
"Back again, are we?" The sudden voice, heavy with sarcasm and bitterness, jolted the girl out of her reverie, and she instantly whirled around, her Keyblade appearing in her hand.
"Relax," the person said. As he spoke, he stepped out of the shadows in a swish of dark leather, holding his hands up for emphasis. "I'm not going to hurt you."
"Oh, please, Axel," the brunette spat, readying her sword into her battle position. "Wasn't it you who said, 'You can't turn on the Organization! They'll kill you!'?" Her voice turned high-pitched and mocking on the last part.
Axel sighed in feigned self-pity, folding his arms across his chest. "Oh, no, Anxclof. I'm so hurt."
Anxclof lowered her weapon and narrowed her eyes. "You know what? You should be."
"If you're looking for Roxas," the spiky-haired redhead said, smirking when he noticed how Anxclof perked up at Roxas' name, "he's long gone. He left not long after you did."
The brunette's dark green eyes widened. "What?" She turned away slightly, the Keyblade vanishing from her hand; the now-free hand clenched into a fist. "I didn't think he'd actually go through with it…"
"Yeah, well, he did," Axel muttered, and this time more than just a tinge of bitterness was audible in his voice.
Anxclof turned back to the redhead, her angry expression faltering. "Did… did you see him before he left?"
"Yeah," was all she got in reply; she noted how Axel shifted so that his legs were crossed and he was leaning against the wall with his eyes down – a pose typical of one who is uncomfortable with the current situation.
"Did he say anything about me?" Now the anger had been replaced by a look of hope, a look reminiscent of a girl who is worried about the boy she has a crush on.
Axel chuckled.
Anxclof glared over at him, a flush of red lighting her cheeks. "And just what is so damn funny?!"
"Oh, nothing," Axel replied loftily.
"If you've got something to say, come out and say it."
"Hm, nothing." The redhead smirked. "Just that, you seem awfully concerned for someone who doesn't have a heart."
Anxclof's breath caught audibly; clearly she wasn't prepared for that. After a moment, she finally managed to answer. "I guess… I'm worried for the same reason you are. Roxas is my friend too, y'know."
"Touché," Axel muttered. "But yeah, Roxas is gone. He left a long time ago."
"And I didn't even get to apologize…" the brunette murmured.
"Oh-ho-ho!" the other Nobody crowed, leaning back against the wall again with a smug grin. "The plot thickens! Apologies?"
"Stop being such a stupid drama queen, Axel," Anxclof snapped, but the tinge of red had returned to her face. "It was nothing, okay? I just… I told Roxas I was leaving a little earlier than he was, that I wanted to do this by myself. And, well…"
"He didn't like the idea at all, did he?"
Anxclof heaved a sigh. "How'd you know?"
Axel shrugged. "Lucky guess."
"A Nobody's intuition, I suppose?"
"Heh. That's one way to put it."
"So…" The smirk faded from Anxclof's face, replaced by her former look of anxiety. "Well… I guess the reason I came here in the first place is –"
"Can we get on with this?" Axel interrupted, lifting one arm and pulling back the sleeve of his coat, as if checking a watch. "I have somewhere to be."
One of Anxclof's eyebrows disappeared into tousled dark brown bangs. "Like hell you do. Anyway, I just have one question," she went on. Her voice faltered slightly as she spoke, and she stepped so that she and Axel were practically chest to chest, tilting her head up to meet his gaze.
"What happened to Roxas after he left? Do you know?"
For a long, bleak moment, the redhead's pale green eyes stared vacantly into hers, an unnamable emotion lurking behind the orbs.
Anxclof's black-and-gold-clad hands clenched into fists. "Damn you, answer me!"
"He's gone," Axel growled, his words out almost as soon as Anxclof had finished.
"Well, yeah, we've already established that," the brunette snarled.
"I mean, he's gone." The other Nobody put a particular, bitter emphasis on the last word. He turned away, so quickly that Anxclof nearly fell forward with the force of it, and stared up at the cloud-covered sky.
"Roxas already merged with Sora," he went on, without looking at her. "He's gone to us unless Sora gets killed by a random Heartless. And of course the Organization doesn't care, because they don't want Sora dead!" He whirled back around, his green eyes blazing. "Don't you get it? We can't bring Roxas back."
Anxclof's own emerald eyes were wide. "So…" The reality of Axel's words finally seemed to sink in, and she had to put one palm against the wall to keep her knees from buckling. "Oh, my…" Her words trailed off, and she could only shake her head.
"So, yeah, basically you came here for nothing," Axel spat out. Suddenly seeming exhausted from the force of his anger, he took a few deep breaths to calm himself. Both pairs of green eyes were now focused on the ground.
Anxclof spoke first. "Damn it… I came too late," she murmured, putting her free hand to her forehead in resignation.
"Yeah," Axel muttered. "You did."
The silence rolled thick and tense between them, broken only by a loud thunderclap and a wicked white line against the clouds.
Anxclof threw up her hands, letting them fall hard against her pants. "Well, that was pointless."
Axel couldn't help but laugh. "We've just lost a friend, and all you can say is that it was pointless? Geez. No wonder Roxas was pissed at you when you left."
The brunette rounded on him. "Oh, like you could've done better, pyro-boy? Look, because we didn't do anything to stop him, Roxas is gone. Over. Dead. Merged with his Other." Her voice shook, and she looked like she was ready to summon her Keyblade at any moment.
"Wow, we've been here this long, and you've managed to glean that much from me." Axel shrugged in a bitterly nonchalant gesture. "What a smart little Nobody."
For a moment, there was no sound but Anxclof's angry, hitched breathing; even the storm seemed to have come to a brief halt.
Then she snarled and put out a hand; after a moment a dark portal coalesced nearby. "I'm leaving," she spat. "And, unlike you, I'm actually going to do something about him. I'm going to bring him back. I will be the one to save Roxas. Got it memorized?"
Without another word, she had tossed her hair back and headed through the portal, which promptly vanished upon the contact with its creator.
Axel chuckled; the chuckle turned into a loud laugh, a sound that rose above the downpour. "Oh, dear little Anxy," he muttered at last, his voice still high-pitched with amusement. "If only you knew that I was already working on that…"
(1) Sorry, but I can't stop laughing at the mental image of Xigbar drawing zombies all over his notes when he's supposed to be listening.
(2) Well, WHAT? I had to think of SOME excuse for Anxclof to still be there the next day!
So, woot. I love writing witty banter between Axel and my characters... writing him comes naturally to me, for some reason.
What will Anxclof do to get Roxas back? Is Axel going to sit back and wait for the opportune moment like he does in the game? What's going to happen at the village? Why am I asking YOU all these questions and ripping off of SpongeBob with that?
Char: (eyeroll) Jesus.
Me: Let's find out later! (huggles Sora) I LOVE YOU BABY!
Sora: o.O