New Member Special, written by Kittie Reviewer

Warnings, hints of Child Abuse

Chapter 19
A Silenty Cry

The open world of The Land of Scots on a farm a couple miles away from Inveranoch, lived two girls. The older of the two was Colombia, a very spirited fifteen year old girl whose mouth was a little bit too big for her head. The younger one was Carrie, an eight year old girl who was much shyer then her older sister. They lived with there drunken father, who spent more time beating on them then loving them. Colombia took most of there fathers whippings then Carrie, mostly because the older girl took much care to make sure her younger sister got the least amount of trips to the barn as possible. It didn't take much to piss there father off, and Colombia's mouth often made it worse…

"Ouch," Colombia cried out with a groan as her father, smelling thickly of alcohol tossed her into there barn where she landed hard against a crate. She jumped up brushing off her dress and glared at her father.

"Sa ur ye gonna ta me why de' eggs ur spoiled!" he bellowed.

"Da, I tol ye, I dinna know," she replied rudely.

"I willna be takin back talk from ye!"

"Oh ya, why don ye just get de damn eggs yaself next time."

The mans face reddened with anger, and he grabbed a belt that was hanging on a wall, "Ye jus canna keep ya mouth shut," he started walking toward her.

Colombia backed up against a wall, "Nae, nae Da please," she fell to her knees cowering before him. You could hear the tortured screams from miles away, but no one saw the blood shed that came from within the wooden structure. The only living thing that went to investigate was a black creature with yellow eyes.

"Um… Axel it's a dress," Roxas commented while looking the clothes they were supposed to wear on there next mission to find the new member.

"No there called kilts," Axel corrected.

Roxas held up a green plaid skirt, and gave Axel a look, "It's a dress."

"Well get used to it, besides that's what males wear in The Land of Scots so we'll blend right in."

"Do we have any idea who we're looking for?"

"No clue, we don't have description or anything, all we really have is that the new member's a female."

"That narrows it down," Roxas mumbled as he slipped into the foreign clothes. "I feel like an idiot."

"Don't worry, as soon as we're in the world then you won't feel so bad because everyone will be wearing them," Axel reassured then created a portal.

They both walked through and reappeared in a back alley, where no one was around. When then walked out of the alleyway and into public, every eye looked at them. They where both literally the only people wearing a kilt; Roxas glared daggers at the older nobody, "I'm going to kill you Axel."

"Not me, kill the Superior, he's the one that said we needed to wear these," Axel replied in a whisper.

Axel just put on a fake smile and strolled down the street, while Roxas followed reluctantly. Slowly everyone turned there attention away from the two Nobody's and back to their own business. They both walked along the sidewalk next to a huge mansion surrounded by a black fence. "Are ye lads puttin on a show here," a little boy with red hair and holding a cardboard box asked them as they passed by.

"Geordie leave 'em alone, tis none of ya business," an older boy with an equal amount of red hair scolded lightly.

"No its ok, we're actually trying to find someone," Axel replied

"Ye hae a strange accent, whaur ye from," the tallest boy with black hair asked curiously.

"We're from a land… far, far away," Roxas replied bitterly still upset with the clothes.

"S'ho are ye lookin fer," the older red head asked.

"Well…" Roxas started but trailed off not sure what to say.

"We're not exactly sure; all we know is that she's a female," Axel finished.

"Well Ah canna help ye there lad," the older red head replied.

"Ye coods go ask th' witch up in th' glen, she has powers an' might know," the oldest boy suggested.

Roxas and Axel looked at each other both having the same thought, a woman that has powers. Sounds like who there looking for, "We might do that, after we change clothes though. Could you tell us where she is?" Axel asked.

"We'rea go'in tharu right now, tae take his sick frog to be cured," the oldest boy pointed at Geordie. "Ye coods com wi' us."

Once Axel and Roxas got into more natural clothes, they follow Geordie and the two other boys who they learned were named Hughie and Jamie, to where the witch lived. They trudged through the forest until they came up to the glen where they saw a cottage house filled with animals of all creatures around it. The witch was singing to herself loudly while banging on a drum. There was some debate on who should take the frog between the three boys, which Axel and Roxas stayed out of the debate.

Finally they made Geordie go take the box into the field and ring a bell that hung on a tree, and ran back. They all hid in the bushes while the witch came out and looked at the box.

After a few minutes she looked directly at the place they were hiding and asked loud enough for them to hear, "Has somebody come to see th' mad witch in th' glen?" She then raised an arm over the box and looked up, "I of newt and hail dou, gimmie th' power to cure the th' frog."

Jamie, the older red head looked at Hughie and asked, "Ya hear 'at?"

"Magic," Hughie replie

But Axel wasn't buying it, even if she did do magic it wasn't the kind of magic they were looking for. The new member had to be someone else. "Aff tae mah caldrin, where's mah broom?" the witch continued and walked over to her house set the box down and picked up a broom. She then started chanting word that couldn't be understood before jumping on the broom but before they could see her fly off the three boys ran away.

Not sure what to do next Roxas and Axel ran after them. The three boys were way ahead of them and Axel was a few paces ahead of Roxas. Roxas was running so fast that he wasn't looking where he was going and stumbled down a rocky cliff, getting bumped and scratched all the way down. By the time he reached the bottom he was unconscious.

Axel continued to follow the three boys, not noticing his little blonde friend wasn't following anymore. The boy's didn't slow down until they reached town, "Wow dat was close," Hughie commented breathlessly.

"Aye," Jamie agreed.

Axel still thinking that Roxas was behind them, continued following as they walked by the large mansion again. There was a small blonde girl about Geordie's age crawling around the bushes on the inside of this fence now, "Thomasina! Thomasina come bak!" she yelled.

Hughie jumped onto the edge of the fence, "Have ye lost somthin Mary?" he asked.

The girl sat up and looked around at them, "Shhh! We'rea huntin lions," she whispered to them.

"Lions! Here?" asked the younger red head who jumped onto the fence next to Hughie.

The young blonde who's name was Mary jumped up excitedly when she saw him, "Geordie wara's ya frog? Did daddy cure 'im?" she asked.

"Nae he wooldnae try," the boy replied sadly.

"We took im tae th' witch up in th' glen," Jamie offered.

Mary looked very impressed, "Ya saw 'er is shea real witch?"

"Aye, we saw 'er chump magic with de frog," Jamie explained.

But Mary's attention had strayed from the three boys and was now on Axel, "Whoose ya new friend?" she asked.

"Oh dis is Axel, an th' younger lad tis Roxas-" Hughie was introducing when they suddenly realized that Roxas was no longer with them.

Axel looked around frantically, "Where did Roxas go?"

Roxas could feel soft grass beneath him, along with a pounding headache. It took him a few more second before the sores the rest of his body had started to ache. It was a few more seconds later, that he noticed voices talking. But they seemed to be in a foreign language, "A bheil thu a 'smaoineachadh gu bheil e marbh?"

That sounded like a young girl, much younger than him. An older female's voice replied in the same language, "Chan eil mi 'ga fhaicinn a' tarraing anail."

The two voices continued to jabber on in the unknown language. After what felt like hours, he opened his eyes. The people that owned the voices most have noticed because they stopped talking instantly. The voices belonged to two girls, which were obviously sisters. The older girl looked around his age maybe older; she had long waist length blonde hair, and sad ocean blue colored eyes. She was wearing a blue calico dress that went several inches past her knees, and a matching bonnet hanging around her neck.

The younger girl looked to be around Neox's age, give or take a year. She pretty much looked like a mini version of the older girl. She was wearing a similar looking pink dress that went just past her knees, and her blonde hair was just barely noticed over the yellow bonnet she wore over her head.

Both girls looked weak and frail, each sustaining several burses on various parts of there body. The older girl looked like she had the last remains of a healing black eye, she was the one that spoke first, "A bheil sibh a 'bruidhinn Gàidhlig?" at his confused look she abruptly switched to a thickly accented English much like the three boys he met earlier sounded like. "Ye speak Inglis?"

"Oh yeah," Roxas said relieved that they spoke English.

"Ye mus nae be fram around here," the younger girl said her voice just as thickly accented as her sisters.

Roxas nodded while sitting up with a grown, "Ye allrite, ye took a nasta fall thaur," the older girl asked in concern.

The boy nodded mutely, while stretching his aching limbs to make sure nothing was broken. "Thanks um…"

"Colombia," the older girl introduced then pointed to the younger blonde, "Tis mi sista Carrie."

"Ola!" she replied enthusiastically waving.

"I'm Roxas," the blonde male introduced while standing up.

"Tis nice tae meet ye," Colombia said pleasantly. "Sorra we canna stay an chat but we reala need tae go."

"That's all right, but before you go I need to find my friend Axel, and I'm kinda lost. Could you tell me where the nearest town is?" Roxas asked.

"Th' nearest toon tis Inveranoch, bout a thee mile walk from ear," Colombia explained. "But if ye donna know thes area, than you'lla neva find it by yerself."

"Yah we shoods take im thaur ourselves," Carrie suggested.

"Carrie, ya know we canna do that, Da's waitin on us," Colombia reminded.

"But we canna leave 'im to fine his way an get lost," Carry objected. "He's nota from heir."

"But Da's gonna skelp us if we donna gie back suin."

Roxas was having a hard time understanding them; he sometimes had to think a few moments to figure out what they said. But he was getting the idea of what they were talking about, "Look, I don't want to get you girls in trouble. Just give me some simple directions and I'll find my way," he told them.

Both blonde girls looked at each other hesitating. There was a long silence where they both seemed to be having an inner batter on what was the better choice. Colombia finally sighed, "I'll take 'im tae town an make shor 'e finds 'is friend, ye go bak ta Da an tell 'im I'll be bak lata."

"Colombia, Da will beat ye for shor-"

"An not ye, betta for 'im to skelp me than ye," the older blonde cut her sister off.

"But las time 'e almos killed ye!"

Roxas inwardly gasped, he just added together the marks all over there body's and what they were talking about. He assumed that they were talking about there dad spanking them for being late and not doing what they were told, but going by the conclusion he made their dad was doing a lot more. "'E didn't though, don worra bout me, jist worra abit yeself."

"Bu I do worra bout ya Bia, sometimes I wonda if 'e did kill ya, an ye is a gost," Carrie replied. "I swar I hav'at heard ya hartbeat since."

"Don be daft Carrie," the older girl scolded, "I canna be livin without a hartbeat."

Roxas couldn't believe his ears; this was the girl they were looking for. For some reason he was expecting someone… different. "Well ye must be pullin it off somhow cause ye harts not beatin now," the younger girl reached over and place a hand on her sister chest as it to prove that there was no beat.

Colombia pushed the hand away, "Enaw of dis, Carrie go bak haem befor ya get a woopin also," she ordered firmly pointing in the direction of a log cabin some yards away.

"Aye," she replied with a sigh and obediently headed that way.

"Okay lets hurra," Colombia said after a short silence and started to walk in the opposite direction her sister went.

Roxas couldn't believe how perfect this was working out. He had her alone, and he was sure she didn't want to return to her home only to get another beating. So all he had to do was explain it all to her without freaking her out, and she'd go with them in a flash. He even had a perfect slot to start the conversation, "So um… about what your sister said-"

"Don listen tae 'er, she's jus imagining things," the girl replied offhandedly.

Roxas made sure he had a serious face on then looked at her, "No she isn't. You notice it also, and it's really scaring you." He really hoped that, that prediction was right, and going by the look on her face it must have been pretty close.

She gapped at him for several moments, as if trying to decide the best way to curse at him. Finally the only words that came out were, "Wats it ta ye?"

Roxas opened his hands wide as if silently offering a hug, then said praying it didn't sound perverted, "Feel my heartbeat."

The blonde female looked taken aback for a moment, then hesitantly reached a hand over and placed it where Roxas's heart should be. A few seconds went by before she announced, "Thaur isnae on'."

"Exactly," Roxas replied with a smile, "Its something me and you have in common, we don't have any hearts."

"But hoo can we be livin without a hart?"

"Because they were stolen from us, we're no longer human. We're Nobody's," the last time Roxas said that to a new member they completely flipped on him, coughcalixacough. He was thankful that she didn't react the same. She seemed to understand what he meant by it.

While they continued walking toward the city, Roxas explained the whole story about how a Nobody is born. Colombia's face got more and more sorrowful as the story went on, when he finished there was a very long uncomfortable silence. Finally she broke the silence with a shaky voice, "So… mi Da, he realla did kill me…"

"Um… yeah," Roxas replied uncomfortably.

"An I didna die cause…"

"Because a heartless stole your heart," Roxas finished. The girl looked as if she was about to burst into sobs, soft tears were already leaking from her aqua eyes. So he continued quickly, "But if it makes you feel any better, you could always think of it as the heartless saving your life."

"…Aye," she agreed slowly.

Roxas scratched the back of his head uncomfortably, "So… I'm part of an organization of Nobody's, we're all sharing the same goal of getting our hearts back," he explained wishing it didn't sound so awkward. "So my friend and I have been sent to find you, and recruit you. So um… I'm sure you don't want to go back home and take another beating, so we can find Axel and just go."

"Nae," Colombia replied instantly.

"What?" Roxas asked sure he had heard her wrong.

"I don wanna com with ye."

Roxas stared at her with his mouth agape, "In Kingdom Hearts name why?" It makes absolutely no sense for her to say no to this deal. A nice comfy castle with a hundred rooms, next to an old log cabin where you get beaten next to death by your own father. What gives?

"I canna leave mi sista be'ind," that explained a lot. "I'll join ye if we can take me sista with us."

The blonde boy stared at her sorrowfully, "I-I don't think that's allowed, only Nobody's are allowed in the organization. And she's not a nobody."

"Than I canna go," Colombia replied in a voice that officially closed the matter with no argument. "I'll help ya find ye friend, then ya two may go."

Axel and the other three Scottish boys had been running around trying to find Roxas. Axel was getting pretty worried; he couldn't imagine the trouble he'd get in going back to tell everyone that he'd lost the younger member. And also the fact that Roxas was his best friend made him worried also. "Axel isn't dat 'im dare," Jamie announced pointing in a direction.

Axel turned in that direction and thank it was Roxas. He was walking with a frail looking blonde girl in a pink dress. "Oh no, 'e's with one of de Crombail girls," Hughie said.

"What's wrong with that?" Axel asked, the blond looked like a perfectly respectable girl.

"Thaur bad news, dat one an 'er sista," Jamie explained.

"Day liv with dare druken fatha, an ardly eva com inta town," Hughie added.

"Our motha says we're nota loud ta play with dem," Geordie said.

Before anymore was said, Roxas caught sight of Axel and pointed at him. "Axel!" he called and the two walked over to them. The three boys took off in another direction, making Roxas look at them with confusion. "What's with them?"

"Tis cause of me," the girl replied.

"Axel, this is Colombia," Roxas introduced the girl. "She's the one we're looking for."

"Well great job Roxas," Axel praised giving him a friendly slap on the back. "Mission accomplished I guess."

"Not so fast we got a problem," Roxas mumbled under his breath just as Colombia said.

"Okay, now dat ye found ya friend, dan ye lads can leave now," she said this rather coolly.

"She won't come with us."

Axel gapped, "Did you explain it all to her?" Roxas nodded. "And she still won't come?" Roxas nodded again. Axel looked at her like she was crazy, "Why not, you're a nobody, you have no life here." Axel realized in the back of his mind that, that probably wasn't the friendliest way to put it.

"I'm sorra I canna help ye lads but I willna leave me sista here," Colombia explained and her eyes started to mist over. "Ye don understan, I'm de reason she's still alive, all de beatin's I took for 'er. If I leave she willna stan a chance."

The girl wiped her eyes and started walking away from them. Axel turned to Roxas with a slight tint of fear in his eyes, "If we come back with out her, we'll be turned into dusk's."

"What do we do?" Roxas asked.

"Maybe we should take her by force?" Axel suggested.

"No we can't do that, she'll just run away once she figures out how to use portals," Roxas said and the two started after her.

"Wait, hold on," Axel ran in front of her making her stop. "I don't think you realize what you're passing up, you'll have a weapon and powers."

"Look," Colombia said starting to sound annoyed, "Let me bring mi sista with me and I'll go wit ye."

Before Axel could reply, car drove up and called out to a police officer standing around. "Officer, I'll be needin ye help, dares a big ol mess down at de Crombail farm," the man in the car announced.

"Aye, wat 'as dat drunkard don dis time?" the police officer asked.

"I'll tell ya wat, 'e's gon an killed dem poor girls of 'is," the man replied.

Colombia gasped as they continued to listen, "Wat!" the policeman asked in shock, "Both of dem?"

"We know for sure dat de younger one tis dead, no sign of de older girl. But she's mos likely don in also, den he shot 'imself."

Colombia didn't want to hear anymore, "Carrie," she whispered and took off running not even hearing the rest of the conversation.

"Ya di not fin de older girls body?" the police officer asked.

"Aye, we actually dinna fine either body. Damn retch, probely buried dem before killin 'imself."

Axel and Roxas chased the sobbing girl as she ran through the open fields of Scotland. They finally caught her just as her home was in sight. You could see there were many cars and people standing around there. Axel wrapped his strong arms around her body and picked her up. "Let me go! Let me go!" she demanded angrily.

"No!" Axel replied, "Listen to me, there's nothing you can do about it, she's dead. You don't want to remember you sister like that, you want to remember her alive."

The girl finally stopped struggling and collapsed to the ground crying. "Carson a tha mi a chur air an dachaigh aice, bu chòir dhomh a dhol fhìn. Bu chòir dhi fuireach còmhla rium, bheir mi riamh maitheanas fhìn, cha robh mi a 'dìon a h-!" she screamed through her sobs.

Roxas fell to his knees and started rubbing her back as if it would help comfort her, Axel remained on his feet. After awhile her sobs slowed to the occasional sniffle with tears still falling freely from her cheeks. "Tha m 'athair marbh, agus mar sin tha a' Mhuillidh, chan eil càil air fhàgail airson dhomh an so" she mumbled softly under her breath. Then switched abruptly to English, "Tis tha offer ta join ya still valid?"

"Um… yeah," Axel replied.

"Willa get a new name?" Both Roxas and Axel nodded silently, and she continued, "Ah will go wit ya, on one condition."

"What's that?" Axel asked suspiciously.

"You willna tell no one of what ya've learned or seen here. If anyone asks ye just tell 'em dat ya cam here, got me an left. No one is ta kno wat mi life was like, dis was Colombia's life, and Colombia is dead."

Axel and Roxas looked at each other and nodded in agreement, they might get a verbal dress down for not giving details but its better that getting turned into a dusk. They opened a portal and motioned for her to go through. Colombia walked toward the portal hesitantly, and then with one last look at her old home, she held her head high and walked through, with Roxas and Axel following behind her.

The end

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