Axel's Girl (On Hold For KH3)

Hiders And Runaways

              Laxh fell on her face and gnashed her teeth to hold back screams. It was dark, like everything in the worlds was angry at her. Nothing could make her feel safe. Nothing. Laxh's vision blurred as tears burned down her cheeks. "K.. c... n... mm... w-why?" Her lips shiverred as she tried to form audible words. She rose to her feet and stumbled into a dark hooded figure. "Na- esk- im- I'm so- s-sorry."

              The figure stared in wonder at Laxh. After sevral moments the man spoke. "I know you didn't mean to." The man placed his hand on her shoulder. "I have been looking for one such as yourself."

              "Huh?" Laxh yanked away from him as a flash of purple lightning showed her his shadowed face. He had two scars in the shape of an x and deep yellow eyes. "Oc- uj- l-lies. Y-you aren't looking for me. No one ever finds me, even though I'm not hidden."

              "I know. No human will ever understand the life we Nobodies live." The man waved his hand in front of Laxh and large golden letters appeared in mid-air. "Your name is long, it will have to be cut." The man made a slashing movement with his hand.

               "Agh!" Laxh yelled as the pain from losing more than half of her name reached down into her sub-concious. "Stop! I need my name."

               "Why?" The man asked with a twinge of anger. "Because it's given you so much? Because it's helped people find you? Lose what isn't yours and become someone new." The man continued holding his hand out, crushing the golden letters.

                Laxh's scream was drowned out by the thunder of the raging storm.

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                "Agh!!!" Laxh bolted up out of bed as the nightmare faded to black. Her memory of dreaming it disappeared and she couldn't figure out why she felt like crying.

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                 Axel looked up from the floor long enough to notice Laxh walking into the grey area with her neck wet with tears. What's wrong with her? He thought. Is Demyx picking on her or something? Must be a girl thing. Girls cry over the weirdest stuff.

                 Saix glared at Laxh as she took a seat in an arm-chair. "Axel, today you and Laxh will be doing recon in a new world that just opened up. Prepare accordingly." Saix turned his back on the room and stared out the window.

                 "Me and squirt will have it done in no time." Axel glanced at Laxh to see her reaction to being called Squirt. Laxh didn't speak, or move. She just sat there with her eyes fixed on an invisible spot on the back wall. "Okay then." It's gonna be a long day.

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                Twin suns shone brightly as Axel and Laxh scanned the new world for signs of life. The dirty sand that covered this world was even in the air.

                Laxh pulled a scarf out of one of her coat pockets and tucked it over her mouth and nose. "That's against the Organization's dress code, Lashie. Besides a little sand in the face never hurt anyone." Axel's remark didn't seem to have been heard, so he tried something else. "Has Luxord noticed his earring is missing yet?" Laxh grabbed a handful of sand and poured it into a vile while Axel continued talking. "I noticed his poker face wasn't as un-readable as normal."

                Laxh rolled her eyes and pointed to a small fort in the sand. "That looks to be a hide-out of some kind. Shouldn't we investigate it?"

                Axel looked at Laxh for a minute, searching her face. "Okay. Sound's like a plan."

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                The two of them strode to the house in-planted in the sand and Axel knocked on the door. "We're supposed to avoid interaction with the locals, Sparkler." Laxh chided him.

                "Hey, 1. The Organization's rules are more like guide-lines for you rookies. 2. Sparkler? A heartless could come up with a better insult by merely existing 3. What's with you today? All of the sudden you're Miss Workaholic. 4. Shut up and let me lead."

                The door to the fort opened and the man looked at the two strangers clad in black leather. "May I help you?" The elderly man asked cautiously.

                "Yes, actually." Axel said, glad that he and Laxh had pulled their hoods over their heads before knocking. "Could you tell us where we are?"

                The man stared at both of them and spoke slowly. "Don't you know where you are? This is Tatween. Why did you two wander so far away from the village? Are you runaway slaves? If so I can't shelter you here. Go away." The man moved to close the door.

                 "Wait," Laxh pleaded and put her hand on the door to stop it from closing. "Please, if they catch us we'll be destroyed. Just let us stay one night, and we'll repay you in any way we can."

                 Axel shot Laxh a surprised look. What is she doing? Has she lost it? All we need is information, and we got enough to please Saix.

                 "I'm sorry, miss. Knowing Jaba he probably has bounty hunters after you two. You'll need to find some other place to stay, and fast. There's another sand storm coming soon." The man said.

                 Hold on, he's spelling out everything about this world's economy. Axel's mind processed each piece of information as Laxh continued to 'interrogate' the local.

                "But, sir. Please? I promise we'll leave at dawn. You won't even notice that we were here." Laxh surprised Axel by slipping her arm around his. "Please?" She batted her eyelashes even though the local couldn't see them.

                The man looked left and right before glancing back at them. "Okay. One night. Be quiet about this if the bounty hunters catch you."

                Laxh breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you so much, you won't regret this. My name's Laxh and this is,"

               "Lea," Axel interrupted her. "We owe you one, sir."

               "Just don't draw attention to yourselves and we'll call it even." The man welcomed them inside the house and smiled at them. "That'll be quite enough about this 'sir' business too. The name's Owen."