"And why should I help you?"
Axel glared at the wolf across from him impatiently, idly scratching at his hips when he became a little too aware of several dozen eyes watching him with a hunter's focus.
"You are a healer. I presumed that you know how to heal things."
Zexion rolled his eyes. Often very reserved and cool, he was one of the few wolves Axel knew that would let that gesture speak for itself. It was refreshing, and certainly much less annoying.
"Hmph. While I am flattered by your faith in my skills, as I'm sure you have discerned, human anatomy is different than our own. It might be so even when we are in man form." He snorted. "It is not so simple, though I am sure you think so, Omega. Simple is as simple does."
Even in his human form, the redhead bared his teeth and growled.
Zexion just looked at him, thoroughly unimpressed.
"So quick to wound with your words, Axel. You act like a sturdy stone wall, but how funny that you crumble to pieces at the slightest mention of who you really are."
Demyx trotted forward slightly, still looking a bit timid whenever he met Axel's gaze. He nuzzled the smaller, dark grey wolf beseechingly.
"You should help him, Zexy..." Demyx met the redhead's eyes again, and began muttering softly. Axel only caught the last bit, "...the poor little guy is cold and hurting. He can't be all that bad anyway, right?"
Inwardly, the redhead grinned a bit. 'I should have trusted tender-hearted little Demyx to get this job done from the beginning.' For reasons he did not know, and typically did not care to ponder, Zexion was very fond of the other wolf.
"Perhaps not...but I'm curious," he said, turning his attention back to the redhead. His tone was no longer so frigid and hollow. "Why does the Alpha want to keep him alive?"
"Alpha pities him?" Demyx offered helpfully.
"That's what I assume," Axel replied, shrugging slightly. "The boy is pretty clearly stupid and harmless."
Zexion nodded. "It still seems a trivial thing to antagonize the council over. Strangely soft-hearted, even for Terra."
Axel snorted. "Says the wolf with the most...sentimental mate in the whole pack." Stronger words were at the tip of his tongue, but he caught Zexion's eyes narrowing just in time and concluded that now was not the time for a petty fight...well, another, bigger petty fight.
Demyx looked a bit upset, but unwilling to speak up further.
"As I was saying," the redhead pressed forward, somewhat hurriedly, "The boy claims that he was wandering alone in the woods when the storm broke. He was carrying no weapons, food, or any of the usual things that human campers and hunters carry, so he's either a liar with a death wish, or, more likely, a complete idiot."
"Very well then. Where did you leave your little pet human?"
Axel growled slightly to himself, too low for either of his companions to hear.
"Kairi's watching him..."
...
Axel led the two wolves to a cavern deeper in the rock. Terra had granted them use of it, if only for tonight, to keep from greatly upsetting and unsettling the rest of the pack with Roxas's presence. Many had not taken the Alpha's news very well, but they were also not in a position to argue it. The council was tentatively supporting Terra, and they all assured the people that the human would be monitored at all times, and punished should he needlessly pester or harm anyone.
As they drew closer, they heard voices from within.
"So in our years, you'd be about my age!" said the young, friendly, downright over-eager voice that Axel instantly recognized as Sora's.
"I suppose so," the blonde replied, his own voice sounding a little more awkward and soft.
"So what's it like being a human? You never answered me!"
Kairi gave an amused snort, just as Roxas began to stutter slightly. "And how would he compare that exactly, Sora? Do you know how you'd respond if a squirrel asked you, 'What's it like being a wolf?'"
"Why would a squirrel ask that?" he replied, a touch indignantly. "Squirrels are stupid! They can't speak more than one word at a time!"
"Her point is that you should think about the question before you spit it out like that," came a fourth voice that Axel knew slightly less well, but figured by process of elimination that it had to be Riku's. "It's awkward and hard to qualify."
"Who's side are you on?"
"There are no sides," Kairi replied with strained patience.
Axel cleared his throat, and Sora, Roxas, and Kairi all jumped slightly, looking quickly in his direction. Riku just gave a nod in greeting.
To his surprise, the redhead saw his sister and her friends in human form, and they had found scraps of fur to cover themselves with. He wondered where those had come from, but not so much why they had gotten them. Roxas looked much more at ease talking with them than he had with Axel or Terra and his council, and almost as soon as he had spotted Axel, the boy blushed faintly and looked at the floor at his feet.
"This is Zexion," the redhead firmly, more to the blonde than anyone else. Instantly, the grey wolf shifted into a pale young man with ice-blue eyes, his hair completely obscuring one of them. "He will assess your arm and any other pains that you have."
Roxas clasped his coat tightly in both hands, looking very hesitant, but looked up when Kairi placed a hand on his shoulder. Axel snorted slightly. Was his own assurance not good enough?
"You'll feel better once he's looked at it," Kairi said. "And we'll stay here with you. We're friends now, right?"
The blonde gave her a small smile, and nodded.
"Okay."
Demyx transformed as well, and took the cold, wet, heavy coat when Roxas removed it. Beneath, he wore a shirt that was black around his torso, but had long grey sleeves for his arms. The shirt might have been thick and warm at some point, but if possible, it was even colder and wetter than the outer coat. Zexion didn't even look at the boy's arm before he spoke.
"Take everything off."
The boy's eyes bugged. "E-Excuse me?"
The healer narrowed his one visible eye in response.
"Now is not the time to be proud, boy. You are damp and cold all over, and those clothes are doing you no good anymore. If our kind can die of the cold, then yours is even more vulnerable to it."
"But I don't feel-"
"Exactly," Zexion cut in. "You're growing numb to it, aren't you?" When the human didn't respond, he snorted. "The cold will either make you sick or kill you outright. Neither option is desirable, but the former at least offers you a chance at survival."
The blonde looked down at his chest, blushing faintly again.
"E-Everything?"
"Everything." Zexion said firmly.
"We won't judge you!" Demyx chimed in helpfully. "We're not shy here, and hey, we've got all of the same bits that you do in this form!"
"Except for Kairi," Sora said with a chuckle, earning a violent shove from the girl.
Without waiting for his approval, Axel grabbed the hem of Roxas's shirt and began tugging it up and over his head.
"H-Hey!" The blonde tried to take his shirt back, but wasn't quick enough. When the redhead moved out of range, he whimpered and wrapped his arms around his chest, finally shivering again.
"Axel!" Kairi snapped, smacking him across the bicep. "That was mean!" He rolled his eyes, tossing the wet cloth aside.
"It was not. We can't afford to hesitate because of petty-"
"'Petty?!' It's not petty to be nervous in a new place with total strangers! Did you ever think of that?"
"And I thought you were all becoming such good friends," Axel mocked back. The younger redhead glared at him.
"That's not the point, Axel! You can't just go around ripping-!"
"Enough!" Zexion snapped, glowering at the siblings. "The two of you are giving me a headache!"
"Would it help if some of us left?" Riku asked immediately, looking at Roxas. "I don't entirely understand what you're worried about, but we shouldn't dawdle. Would having some of us leave make you more comfortable?"
Roxas looked around at each of them in turn, then shook his head. Axel took a moment to look down at his arms and torso and saw pale, almost blue skin.
"Are you trying to hide something?" Sora asked curiously. "Do you have a cool scar or something?"
The blonde shook his head again. "I'm just embarrassed...Sorry."
Kairi and Sora stepped up and hugged him, and Axel saw the boy jolt slightly, then relax into it.
"You guys are so warm," he murmured, his shock fading away as he cuddled back into them.
"Yep!" the brunette replied cheerfully. "Feels nice, right?"
"Mmmmhmmmm..."
With some more coaxing, the human shed the rest of his clothes. To help with the awkwardness, Kairi, Sora, and Riku transformed back into wolves and, despite his initial protests, curled themselves around him to make a sort of living blanket. Axel was the last to join them, creating a place for Roxas to rest his head while Zexion and Demyx cleaned his arm. The boy winced frequently, and fully recoiled once, but finally, the wound was clean and set on the path to healing.
"Don't strain it too much, or it may bleed again," The healer said simply, transforming back into a small, grey wolf. "If it does, one of you should try to clean it again and someone else should come find me. As for the cold, press close together. The body heat of several wolves is more than enough to reverse the frostbite. It is still in its infancy."
"W-What do I d-do in the morning?" Roxas asked, shuddering slightly when he shifted and felt a violent chill.
"We can find more furs for you," Kairi said, raising her auburn head and nuzzling under his chin. The blonde laughed shakily, and Axel rolled his eyes.
He supposed that it made sense, since human flesh was more vulnerable to the cold. But the human would stick out like a sore thumb in the pack, and he had been at least partially hoping that most would just close their eyes and pretend Roxas was one of them, choosing to stay long in human form.
'Too optimistic, it seems.'
Zexion and Demyx left, and the rest of the room settled down to sleep. As Axel curled himself tighter, he felt the odd sensation of being watched, and he looked down to find bright blue eyes staring up at him nervously.
"What?" he growled faintly.
"I-I...wanted to thank you again," he whispered, glancing around to make sure he hadn't woken anyone else. "I wasn't meaning to be ungrateful back there."
Axel nodded. "And I apologize for taking your shirt by force."
"It's alright. I was just being silly, and that's not worth dying over." The blonde rolled his head to the side slightly, and sighed. "Humans just aren't used to being naked in front of each other."
The red wolf snorted. "But you bathe, don't you?"
"Y-Yeah, but most people try to do it alone. And for kids, it's no big deal...I don't know."
"You don't know what?"
For a moment, there was only silence. The only sound was the very faint howl of the wind outside, and the dripping of tiny droplets of water on the cavern floor.
"It's nothing. Like he said, in human form, you all look like me anyway."
The wolf nodded again. "As long as you are alive, it does not matter."
Roxas looked back up at him, and he was startled to see so much warmth in those deep blue eyes.
"Thank you...I may not have meant to come here, but maybe this will be good, you know?" When Axel just blinked at him, he ducked his head and blushed yet again.
"I-I'll do my best to fit in and not burden you."