Go, Axis.

…

Fly freely to the wilds.

…

To where you should be.

…

To find where you are meant to be.

…

To find a place where you belong.

…

Take Over: Dragon Soul

Part One:

A Place to Call Home

Page 1:

Axis, pronounced "Axi"

Year: X778

"Stop right there, thief!"

"You're not getting away this time!"

The small, unnamed town's peace was suddenly disturbed by the shouts. Two men adorned in guard uniforms ran down the street, two spears at the ready. They were giving chase to a small boy, who had a large bag slung across his shoulder as he made a mad dash to escape his pursuers.

The boy looked back at the two men, azure eyes glowing with immature joy. He cracked a grin.

"You wanna bet? Cuz that hasn't happened the last few times!"

The guards frowned at the kid's cockiness. He may be smaller and more agile, but they were still slowly gaining. They wouldn't allow him to get away. One guard nodded to the other, sending him down one alleyway.

The kid giggled as he slightly pulled ahead of the guards. He pulled a good haul this time. Maybe it'll last him a few days, perhaps a few weeks. Now he just had to make a grand escape.

As he approached a crossroad in the cobbled street, he looked back just in time to see the remaining guard chuck his spear.

"Whoa there!" He ducked to the left, avoiding the soaring object as it impacted the ground to his right. He took off down the left turn in response. "Are you trying to kill me now?"

"Just you wait, kid!" The guard picked his spear back up and continued the chase. He had a certain smirk on his lips that the kid didn't understand. He looked back ahead of him-

"Oof!"

The kid lurched to a halt as he slammed into something solid. He tumbled to the ground, his overfilled bag spilling some of its contents onto the street. He quickly closed it back up and looked up at the obstacle, only to see the spear of the second guard pointing right at his face.

"Nowhere to go, kid. Now turn yourself in before things get ugly."

The kid nervously eyed the sharp point of the weapon as it closed in slowly. The first guard caught up, also rearing his spear close to the kid's back. He curiously eyed the spilled contents on the street.

"Food? Figures. You don't have parents, do you?"

The kid growled. "Yeah, and?"

The second guard chortled. "Nothing much. Just orphanhood doesn't reduce a sentence, you know?"

The two guards didn't notice a magic circle appear under the kid's left foot. The kid's growl turned to a grin. "What would I even need parents for, anyway? I'm just fine on my own."

"A normal kid would usually be pretty sad about that." The two adopted a more advantageous position against the kid, a little redundant from an outsider's point of view.

The kid felt some sweat collect on his brow. "Yeah, well, I'm not really sure what a 'normal kid' is." He quipped, gripping his left leg with fervor. Come on, please, please, please!

"Last chance, kid." The two were very close now. When the kid didn't respond to the warning, the guards leaped toward him with arms extended. "You're gonna serve some time!"

Bam!

The two guards only caught air and slammed into each other, hitting the ground hard. The kid had somehow disappeared, leaving only a cold, dead floor and a small dust cloud.

"Serve time? No way that's ever gonna happen!"

The kid's voice rang true above the downed men. The two guards looked up in wonder as they saw the kid surprisingly fifteen feet into the air. His left leg had malformed, turning into a midnight blue, scaly leg with large talons.

"Because I'm free!"

The guards were shocked at what they saw as the kid landed on top of a building and out of their reach. "That little demon can use magic?!"

The kid laughed as he ran across the rooftops. It wasn't at the guard's demise, however. It was a joyous, light, carefree type of laugh one would normally hear while kids were playing with their friends. It was as if the chase was just a game to him.

He ran a while longer until his legs started to burn. It was then he decided he should stop, especially now that he was free from the chase. He set his bag of food down and plopped himself against a railing. He gasped and regained his breath as he looked at the endless blue sky above him. He felt his left leg, now back in human flesh and bone, with his slightly calloused hand.

"Thanks for working this time, I owe you one." As a leg does, it didn't talk back. But the feeling was there. At least that's what the kid figured.

He squirmed as his stomach started rumbling. He left his normal leg alone for now and rummaged through his bag, pulling out an apple, and taking a big bite out of its juicy inside. He yipped as the flavor hit his mouth. It's been a few days since he had something, let alone something this good.

"Oh, that hits the spot!" The kid sighed after he gulped down the rest of the fruit. He wiped his hands on his baggy tan pants and stood up. A cold wind blew through the town, but even without any shirt it didn't bother him. It was just another part of nature, of freedom.

"I should probably get out of here soon." He leaned against the railing overlooking the town. "Though I think I'm gonna miss this place."

He looked over the pseudo-home of his for the past three months that was the small town. Unremarkable to some, but to the kid's degree it was just perfect. The small farms for fresh food, the just-dumb-enough guards that he could easily escape from, it was perfect for an orphan thief like him. But those guards were getting a little smarter every time they gave chase. He was almost even caught today.

"Oh, well." He picked his bag back up after pushing off of the railing. "I'm sure the next town will be just as fun." He outstretched his arms into the sky. "Off to find a new home!"

Whoosh!

A bolt of lightning just barely shot past his arms and whizzed into the sky. The hairs on his arms stood up on ends and his eyes grew wide. He ducked as another bolt fired by, this time near his chest. His messy, midnight blue hair stuck to his sweaty face.

"What the hell was that!" the kid exclaimed with danger now present.

He looked across the roofs until he spotted a lone man a few dozen feet away. The man had a long garb that reached his feet with a large, pointy hat. It felt a little cliche, but that was the clear get-up of a...

"Wizard…" the kid's chest now thumped with turmoil. Normal guards without magic were easy to escape from, but he'd never faced a wizard before. He had to go, and that wasn't just because of the third lightning bolt now shooting towards him.

The kid jumped to the side with his bag in hand. He quickly slung it over his shoulder and continued his past path of running across the rooftops. The problem was that the wizard seemed much quicker than his previous adversaries. Which was surprising given his apparent age. While many wizards neglect their bodies to train their minds and magic, that was obviously not the case for this old man.

"Oh man, grandpa, you can really move!" the kid gasped as he rolled away from another bolt.

"Do not make light of me, youngster!" The wizard waved his wand, and a lightning bolt emerged. The kid noticed the wand seemed to act as the catalyst for the spell.

"I wasn't!" The kid ducked the bolt. "So you're a holder type, huh? Is that the only wand you got?"

The wizard frowned. "The only one I need to subdue a runaway kid like you!"

Runaway…?

The kid stopped suddenly and threw his hands up in a mockingly cute gesture. "What about an innocent little kid?" He yelped as he jumped over another bolt that soared right under his legs. "Ha! At least try and hit a shot!"

The wizard flicked the point of his wand in an upward motion. "Plasmic Wall!"

The kid blinked in confusion at the phrase. That was until he heard a cracking sound coming from behind him. The bolt that he had jumped over landed behind him and erected into a massive electric wall. He had just been blocked in.

"Really?!" the kid shouted incredulously. "Well, if I can't outrun you…" The wizard reared back suddenly as the kid quickly launched towards him, fist at the ready. "I'll just beat you!"

The wizard gasped and threw his hands up to cover his face and guard himself from the sudden blow. A blow that never really came. He lowered his arms to see that the kid had ripped the wand from his hands while he was distracted.

"Too ea- sesesesesesesesy!" The kid's triumphant shout was cut off when the wand started to discharge electricity into his body. He fought through the stinging sensation and tossed the wand to the wayside. He clutched the arm that had held the wand- it was now fairly damaged.

"Damn, that hurt!" the kid grunted.

The wizard casually went to retrieve his lost item. "I told you not to underestimate me, young man. You think I wouldn't be prepared for such an occurrence?"

The kid flinched when he tried to flex his arm. "Yeah, well, I don't really tussle with wizards on the regular. So what guild are you from?"

The wizard stroked his long, gray beard. "Not all wizards come from guilds."

That piqued the kid's interest. "Then who put you up to this? And why can't you just leave me alone?"

"Tiger pays too much for me to do that, sorry." The wizard twisted the point of his wand, supposedly switching it to a different spell. "Whatever they do with you, I don't care."

What the hell is Tiger?

"I don't want to find out, either!" The kid made a leap for the wizard's legs, knocking the older man down.

The two struggled for dominance on the floor. The kid managed to get on top of the wizard and threw punches at the man's face. The wizard caught both of the kid's fists with his own. The kid tried to get them loose, but the wizard then proceeded to headbutt him. Hard.

The kid was dazed long enough for the wizard to roll out from under the younger boy. He scrambled for his wand which had rolled a few feet away from the confrontation. The boy recovered from the blow and used the wizard's distracted state to get to his feet.

I can't beat him… I need to run.

The kid made a dash for it while the wizard was still readying his wand, but not without forgetting his bag of stolen food. He had grabbed it with his damaged hand, but he moved through the pain. He approached a larger gap in the buildings- much further than the gaps thus far.

"Alright, leg. Now would be a pretty good time to activate!"

The kid readied himself as the gap came closer. He felt an energy surge from within, giving him the confidence to take the jump…

…only for nothing to happen. No transformation took place, and the kid leaped on his own. It felt like everything was in slow motion. Looking behind him in midair at his opponent all he could see was a ball of fire coming towards him.

"Are you kidding me!" He quickly focused on his leg again, willing his magic to take hold so he could bat the fire away. "Come on! Listen to me!"

Alas, the leg that helped him earlier had seemed to change its mind. The kid's eyes widened in fear. With nowhere to dodge or deflect mid-jump, the ball of fire struck his right leg.

"Argh!" he grunted in pain as his leg seared in the sudden heat. He balled up and cradled his leg as his trajectory was thrown off and he tumbled down into an alley.

His back struck the opposing building wall and he fell down onto the cobbled ground in a painful heap. His body ached and his leg was burned. The bag of food followed him, opening and once again spilling more items onto the street. The kid looked up to see the wizard duck back onto the roof, likely trying to find a safe way down.

"This isn't…good. I have to get…out of here." The kid grunted out painfully. He put some weight on his injured leg and the pain flared up. He fought against yelling out and struggled with his bag in his hand.

He slammed against the corner of the alley, peeking into the street. It was filled with people, but he could barely make out the pointy hat slowly coming towards him through the crowd. He couldn't leave the alley that way or risk being seen. He turned around only to see the other exit to the alley was instead a dead end.

The wizard was growing closer every second. He couldn't leave the alley, but he couldn't hide in it either. He was trapped.

…

The wizard turned the corner into the alley the kid fell down. He slowly examined the space, noticing the multitude of food items that lay abandoned on the ground. The kid couldn't have left the alley, else he would have seen him. So that means he had entered the building from the now-open window.

He approached the opening and peered through the gap. The place looked run-down and full of dust, which meant it was abandoned. Which also meant he could easily break in without any major repercussions.

"Pardon the intrusion," he said politely to really no one but himself as he vaulted through the window. He stalked through the hallway of the building. His weight made the old floorboards creek.

"Come on out, kid. I know you're in here. Let's not make this harder than it needs to be."

The place was only one story, so he couldn't be hiding in an upstairs room. The building was also tiny. It only had this one hallway connected to two rooms on one side. There weren't many places to hide.

"C'mon. I know you're at least going to need some treatment for that fall."

The wizard examined the first room. A few old pieces of furniture and nothing more. He upturned his head as he heard something coming from the other room. He smirked at his caught prey.

"Make this easy on me, here. I'm getting too old for a chase like this." He entered the second room. It was similar to the other room with a few pieces of old furniture, like a couch and a bed, but no kid in sight. He walked towards the bed. That was probably the most likely spot the kid could hide. He was about to crouch down to check until…

Clunk!

…until he heard something come from inside the closet door on the opposite end of the room.

"Heh. Really?" He mocked. "Just come out before I embarrass you further." No response came. The wizard sighed and walked casually up to the door. "One more chance, kid." Again, no response.

After a few seconds, the wizard readied his wand and placed his other palm over the doorknob. He counted down. Three…two…one!

He swung the door open, about to shoot a fireball. But he stopped when he noticed the kid wasn't there.

Instead, three different kids were bunched up in that closet, one in a black cloak. A small girl was huddled with the cloaked one, and a slightly older boy stood in front of them protectively.

"Y-y-you better n-not hurt my sister!" the boy said, obviously quite fearful.

The wizard looked over the white-haired boy, clearly uninterested. He brushed over the rest of the room with his eyes, but couldn't find the thing he was seeking. He directed his attention back to the trembling boy.

"Squatters, huh? You wouldn't happen to see a blue-haired boy around here, would you? I need to know."

The little white-haired girl spoke next. "No, sir!"

The boy backed the girl up. "We haven't s-seen anything, sir!"

The wizard narrowed his eyes. He gave their composure a short few moments but they did not break or change in any way. Still scared, still shaking.

"Damn…" the wizard turned away. "I thought for sure…"

The boy visibly started to relax before the wizard suddenly lifted him up by his shirt.

"Do you think I'm stupid? Tell me where that kid went!" He sternly commanded.

"Elf!" The little girl shouted in concern, not leaving the cloaked one's side.

The poor boy started shaking at the intensity of the man. "I-i really d-don't k-know!"

The man narrowed his eyes. He glanced at the other two kids for a second, deciding something. The kids all grew fearful as soon as the wizard brought up his wand and pointed it at the girl. She gasped and held onto the cloaked one even tighter.

"Tell me or I'll burn that little one to ash." The man escalated the situation with his threatening action.

The boy started to struggle in the wizard's grasp. "No! Don't hurt her, please! Hurt me instead!"

The wizard shook the struggling boy back and forth. "I won't have to hurt her if you just tell me what I want to know!"

The boy now had tears in his eyes. "We j-just went into the c-closet when we heard s-something, that's all!"

"I need more!"

"That's all I know! Please!" The boy was now openly crying.

While the trauma-inducing interrogation was going on, the cloaked child noticed something out of the corner of her eye. A kid, no older than she, was shuffling out from under the bed. He had dark blue hair, no shirt, and carried a small bag in his arms.

The kid felt lucky. He had no idea that those other children were in there, but he could use this opportunity to escape. He felt sorry for them, but in the end, he was sure they wouldn't be hurt. At least, he hoped. He quietly stepped over to the doorway, which wasn't too hard given the other boy's commotion.

"Fine!" The wizard shouted. "I guess you need some more convincing!"

Just ignore it.

"N-no, please stop!"

Keep going.

The little girl screamed.

Don't look back, and I'm free.

The boy reached the open window, the exit point.

Free.

The boy looked back. The wizard had his wand primed, a simple flick and the girl would burn. The other boy struggled and flailed and cried but he couldn't do anything. The girl was wailing into the shoulder of the cloaked one.

And he could feel it. The cloaked one had dark blue eyes that bore holes into his azure ones. Those eyes felt like they were judging him for all his worth, and he was failing. They tore at his ego and his thoughts of freedom until they were nothing more than scraps of his psyche. Those eyes seem to tell him something, that if his freedom came from something like this…

…would it be freedom at all?

No.

"Hey, old guy!"

The wizard halted his attack and immediately turned around to see a bag of stolen food come hurtling through the air and sacking him in the face.

"Ah! You damned brat!"

The kid sprinted back into the room. "You wanted me? Here I am!"

The wizard threw the boy down and paid full attention to the kid. He shot a fireball, which the kid narrowly dodged. The kid dove for the legs again, but the wizard was prepared this time. He twisted his stance and kicked the kid square in the jaw, causing the kid to stumble backward.

"So you wanted to be a hero, huh? You could have left whenever you wanted!" the wizard mocked, shooting another fireball.

The kid's eyes widened. He rolled to his left and the fire made contact with the old, dry wood of the floor. Anyone would expect what happened next. And it wouldn't be too long before the whole building was up in flames. The wizard kicked the kid again, this time in the stomach, which launched him into the wall. The kid gasped for air, the day's injuries really catching up with him.

The wizard had full attention on the kid, so he didn't notice when the other three had quickly gotten up and left the room, probably to escape the now-burning building. The kid was grateful, even though they cost him his freedom. He watched the cloaked one follow the other two. Their eyes were still on him, but this time a mixture of both gratefulness and worry. They left the room.

"Playtime's over, kid. Now let's get outta here before this fire kicks up." The wizard approached the kid and made to grab him, but the kid had other plans.

He kicked off the wall and headbutted the wizard in the gut. The wizard recoiled- but not nearly as much as the kid would have wanted. The wizard snarled and wrapped his bony hand around the kid's neck.

"Still making this difficult?"

He smashed the back of the kid's head against the wall. The kid couldn't scream in pain as he was choking. In his choked breaths, the kid sputtered something out. The wizard put his ear close to hear.

"...freed…om."

"Heh." the wizard chortled. "You're probably not seeing that anymore once I get you to Tiger, kid. I hope you enjoyed it."

The kid's legs stopped kicking, his arms stopped struggling, and his vision was getting blurry. He was sure the wizard wouldn't kill him, but for all he knew the place he was going could be much worse. Especially if he couldn't be free.

…

To find a place where you belong…

…

"AH!" the wizard shouted in pain, causing him to drop the kid.

The kid gasped for breath, the sweet oxygen coming back into his lungs and energizing his system.

"Get the hell off me!"

The kid stared in amazement at what he saw. A gross, purplish arm had wrapped itself around the wizard's wrinkly neck. Another human arm had covered his eyes. The one who the arms belonged to stared back at him. Those blue eyes that had captured him previously now goaded him on.

"Come on!" the uncloaked girl shouted, her long, white hair swaying as she was rocked by the blinded old man.

The kid stood, his amazement turned to a smile. He wasn't one to waste an opportunity, especially one that felt this… satisfying. He felt something in his chest.

"I'm not going to jail…"

He clenched his fist.

"I'm not being taken to this 'Tiger' thing…"

His fist glowed with power, covering itself with dark blue scales and muscle.

"I'm not doing anything I don't wanna do…"

He blasted off the old floorboards with his powerful fist reared back. The girl, at the last moment, jumped off of her captive and ducked down. The wizard angrily got his bearings only to see the kid already on top of him.

"Because I'm FREE!"

The scaled fist sunk deep into the wizard's gut. The power of the blow was like a blast to the old man, catapulting him back and shooting him into the unoccupied closet, defeated.

The kid fell to his knees, completely drained of energy. His arm reverted back to its original state. He sighed in relief.

"Thanks for coming back, miss."

The girl had already thrown her cloak back on, but her eyes peeked through the hood. "Call it even. Now let's go."

"Wait."

The girl frustratingly urged him to continue.

"I'm not leaving him here."

"What?"

The kid went over to the unconscious wizard and put his arm over his own shoulder. He tried lifting, but he wasn't strong enough on his own. The girl was stupefied.

"Why?"

The kid managed to get the wizard on his back. Every step was difficult with the added weight slowing him down.

"If we leave him here, the fire'll kill him. I'm not letting that happen."

"Why?"

He didn't answer. She watched as he went ahead of her and to the window. He swore as he couldn't stretch up far enough to dump him through the window. He lifted a few more times, but it was in vain.

That was until the girl finally decided to help. She lifted the legs up, and they both managed to roll the unconscious slump out of the window. The wizard went through, and they heard a lump when the body hit the ground.

"You're an idiot." The girl said. She climbed out after the wizard.

"Yeah," the kid said, looking down before following her. "I guess I am."

"Mira! Why'd you go back in? That was dangerous!" The little girl from earlier hugged the older girl, tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry," Mira said with a genuinely apologetic frown.

"What about him?" the other boy said, referring to the wizard.

"He'll be fine here." The kid said, joining the conversation. "Listen, I'm sorry I got you guys involved in my business. I wouldn't have gone in there if I knew you guys were there."

"It's fine." Mira simply said. "We're even."

"Right," the kid smiled. "Even."

The little girl stayed by Mira's side. "Thanks for saving my brother, mister. I'm Lisanna. Nice to meet you."

The boy came to him next. He rubbed the back of his head in shame. "I wasn't strong enough to protect my sisters… so thank you so much." he bowed his head.

"Elfman…" Mira sighed from under the cloak.

The kid felt a little awkward. "Oh, uh, I-"

"Hey, you four!"

The group turned at the sudden voice to see a man at the entrance to the alleyway pointing to them. He examined the situation, with four kids standing over an unconscious old man, and the kid realized the situation probably did not look the best. It really showed when the man's eyes widened.

"What did you do to that man! Hey!"

"Time to go!" the kid grabbed Mira's wrist, who grabbed Lisanna, who in turn grabbed Elfman. The small line of children ran past the man as he went to check on the wizard. The four exited the alley and sprinted down the street together.

"Axis?" Mira rhetorically asked beside the kid, who looked at her curiously.

"Huh?"

"Your pants!" Lisanna responded in place of her sister. "Is that your name?"

The kid looked down at his tan pants, noticing faded black marks that he couldn't understand.

"Is that what that says? Huh." The kid suddenly had a flash in his mind. A pale woman smiled at him, the joy from it washing over him.

Go, Axis.

The memory left as soon as it came, leaving the kid wondering for more. But for now, he had what he needed. Freedom, and new friends.

"Close, but it's pronounced 'Axi'."

Thanks for reading the first chapter! I really appreciate giving it a chance! This is my first Fairy Tail fic, and I'm excited to be trying out a new story in a new universe! I hope some of you are interested in continuing to read about Axis, and if not that's okay, too! More is on the way!