Author's Notes: For some reason I don't like the shortness of this chapter but really there's nothing else to say so, I shrug. Read and review please!

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Kingdom Hearts. It belongs to Square Enix and the Walt Disney Company. I'm simply borrowing the characters for a little bit of fun.

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A Clash of Metal

01. A Pirate

n. a person who robs or commits illegal violence at sea or on the shores of the sea

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“Axel!” he heard his name being screamed, but Axel, being the lazy bastard he was, continued to lie in his makeshift hammock, thoughts wandering to what he would get to burn today.

“Axel!” It called again, louder, and again Axel ignored it. He couldn’t be bothered. Being a pirate was sometimes ridiculously tiresome. Besides he had a clue as to who was calling him and he really had not desire to go talk to him just about now. So he bathed in the sunlight from above, listening to the seagulls squawking overhead, tricorn hat resting on his face to block out the sun.

“Axel, you son-of-a-fucking-bitch, get the fuck up!” Axel nearly jumped up as he heard the words screamed into his ear and next thing he knew he had fallen out of his hammock after whoever had screamed in his ear had shoved it downwards.

“Fuck!” Axel snarled as he got to his feet, picking his hat up on the way. He glared up at Saïx, whom he had known was calling him. Shoving him out of the way, Axel walked past him toward the Captain’s Cabin. Xemnas probably wanted a ‘word’.

“Watch it,” Saïx hissed, his brown eyes turning into slits. Axel ignored him for the third time and stalked down the deck of the ship, shoving aside anyone who walked in his path. A nasty scowl had settled on his face and he felt the distinct urge to set Saïx’s hair on fire. Of course Captain Xemnas wouldn’t appreciate that but really, Xigbar ran the ship, Xemnas just claimed the loot. Selfish bastard.

He kicked the door open, much too ticked off to care what Xemnas would say or do. Glaring in the direction of his Captain’s desk, Axel saw no one seated in the Captain’s chair. He turned to glance around the office and noticed someone new. He’d never seen the boy (or was he older?) before, at least not on the ship, and Axel didn’t forget a face. He was standing behind the navigation table, which was clustered with maps, compasses, quills and bottles of ink. He seemed focused on one map, his one visible blue eye completely absorbed. The right side of his face was covered with his odd coloured hair, a blend of blue and purple, almost slate blue but a bit ligher.

“Axel, you bloody bastard, took you long enough!” Xemnas spat, and Axel felt something collide with the back of his head.

“Fuck you,” Axel snarled, placing his hat back on his head. The blue-eyed boy had looked up from his map and his gaze met Axel’s. Axel, not to be out-stared, held the expressionless boy’s eyes in his own and scowled.

“You need to show our new Navigator around.”

“Why the fuck should I?” Axel retorted, folding his arms across his chest.

“All you ever do is sit around on your fucking ass, you lazy bastard! Go!” Xemnas snarled, glaring at Axel. He stalked over to his chair and fell into it. Axel got the distinct feeling that Xemnas wasn’t properly pleased by his ‘first mate’.

“Whatever,” Axel mumbled, already making for the door. He hadn’t realised they needed a new Navigator. Maybe the last one, what was his name, Ed?, died in the last raid. “You coming?” Axel questioned, eyebrow raised since the blue-purple haired boy hadn’t followed.

He gave the map he was looking at one final glance and stepped out from behind the table. Axel saw that the boy was lean, hardly any body fat on him, and Axel found himself thinking the boy had a very feminine body shape. I could screw him nuts...

He felt a grin form on his lips as he left the Captain’s Cabin. “Next time, come the first time, jackass!” Xemnas hollered after him and Axel rolled his eyes, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his breeches.

“I’m Axel. That’s A-x-e-l. Got it memorized?” Axel smirked in the boy’s direction, setting off in the direction of the kitchen. He wanted a glass of rum. He didn’t get a reply and Axel didn’t quite care.

“What’s your name?”

“Zexion.”

“Well Zexion, we’re heading toward the kitchen, after that I’ll show you where you’ll be sleepin’ and then I could care less what the fuck you do,” Axel explained, wanting to go back to lying in his hammock.

He lumbered down the steps that took him to the first lower deck, upon where he twisted through a hallway of sorts and made his way down a second set of stairs to the sleeping and eating area of the ship; the second lower deck.

“Demyx!” Axel hollered calling out to the only other member of the ship that was his age and had been on the ship with him since as long as he could remember.

“Over here Axel!” his oldest friend hollered back, a loud thud heard from the same direction his voice had come from.

“Axel!” Axel’s head twisted around to find Marluxia attempting to walk toward him. He was obviously drunk.

“You have rum?” Axel asked, hoping that Marluxia hadn’t drunk whatever was in his mug.

“It’s all about the rum eh?” Marluxia slurred, wrapping an arm around Axel’s shoulders. Axel grinned, grabbing the mug out of his friend’s arm and taking a swig. “Hey, hey, get your own!” Marluxia garbled, frowning as Axel shoved an empty mug into his chest. “Bastard.”

“I’ll get us some more,” Axel grinned, slipping out from underneath Marluxia’s arm. “Oh, and this here, is the new Navigator. What happened to the last one?”

Marluxia looked over at Zexion, eyes rising up in surprise. “Pretty little thing ain’t he?”

“Hopefully Xemnas won’t get drunk and rape him,” Axel laughed, heading toward an arch that led to the kitchen, forgetting about his own question. “Or you for that matter.”

“Heeeey, I don’t rape! I take with force,” Marluxia said, a devious grin on his lips. Axel looked back at Zexion who was glaring daggers at Marluxia. He followed after Axel, hands turned into fists. Axel couldn’t help but laugh at how tense he had become.

“You’re going to have to get comfortable with the idea of rape, happens a lot when you’re a pirate. It’s part of the whole leaving everything in havoc thing. And what with you being such a ‘pretty little thing’, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone did, or already has,” Axel remarked, entering the somewhat foggy kitchen. He quickly looked over every corner of the kitchen, eyes spotting the mullet of his best friend.

“Demyx!” he smiled as he strode over to his friend who was currently trying to pry out a bag of flour without toppling over the stacks of other food on top of it. He was covered, head to toe, in food stains and his apron looked like someone had taken paint cans and splashed them on it.

“Hey Axel, give me a hand. Hold back the spices so I can get this flour out,” Demyx asked, and Axel obliged, hands holding back the brown sacks filled with an assortment of spices. Demyx gave the flour a yank and it landed in his lap. “Thanks!” He smiled and Axel smiled back, not matching Demyx’s utterly blinding smile in the least.

“So what brings you away from you mid-day nap?” Demyx asked, getting up. He huffed as he pulled the flour up with him, throwing it onto the counter which was already cluttered with a plethora of food and dishes.

“Zexion,” Axel replied, reaching for an apple that was sitting on top of a plate of fruits. He rubbed it against his coat in the means of getting it clean although his coat was probably dirtier. Biting into the apple, Axel pointed a finger toward Zexion who was standing, with a grimace on his features, at the front of the kitchen. He had folded his arms over his chest and was glancing about.

Axel turned his attention back to Demyx, who had furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “When did he join us?”

“I’m assuming last night, as we set out to sea this morning,” Axel replied, taking another bite of his apple. Juice dribbled down his chin and he saw Demyx twitch at the sight.

“Why can’t you eat properly?” he cried, grabbing a grimy looking dish rag and wiping off the juice, which was trailing down his neck.

“Because I love to see you fuss over it,” Axel replied, grinning at his friend. Demyx pouted, throwing the rag back where he had got it from.

“Anyways, Zexion welcome aboard the Oblivion! Are you going to replace Ed as the new Navigator?” Demyx smiled, reaching around Axel for a knife, which he then used to rip open the sack of flour. He didn’t get a reply so Axel decided he would answer, “Yeah. Mansex is having me show him around.”

“Shh!” Demyx cried, jumping into the air and looking around the room wildly. “Don’t use his nickname!”

“Then what’s the point of giving him a nickname?” Axel retorted, throwing the core of his apple into a bucket near by. He hadn’t realized he was so hungry. “Anyways, I’ll see you in an hour or so for lunch. I have to go show Zexion where he sleeps. And we got more rum right?”

“Yeah, over there,” Demyx said, pointing to a corner in the room. He hurried over to a giant pot sitting on a metal stove, grabbing a jar of spices of the way. Dumping in a fistful of ground up brown dust, Demyx stirred the pot. Axel watched this for a few more seconds before going over to the rum in the corner.

--

Demyx looked up from his pot, toward Zexion, having not clearly seen the new recruit yet. What he had already seen was his slate blue hair, and his clothing. Which consisted of a tight black shirt and loose breeches with knee high, black boots. Now that Demyx could see him more clearly he suddenly couldn’t look away. The soup he had been making forgotten as he saw, clearly for the first time just how beautiful the man was.

His skin looked soft, and it contrasted with his blue-purple hair, almost glowing white. The single eye Demyx could see was a breath-taking blue, like the oceans up north. He felt something flutter up from his stomach to his heart and found himself caught in the blue eye.

Zexion arched an eyebrow and Demyx snapped out of his daze, feeling a blush rise to his cheeks. Fumbling with the handle of the ladle he was using to stir the soup, Demyx’s eyes widened in embarrassment as he dropped it to the ground.

Some chef I am! Demyx screamed inside his head, quickly picking up the ladle and dipping it in some water. He dried it off with his apron and placed it back in the pot of soup. Making sure to keep his gaze away from Zexion, Demyx turned around only to find Axel standing with a glass full of rum and a knowing smirk plastered on his face.

Shit!

--

Axel couldn’t help but let Demyx know that he knew what Demyx thought of Zexion. It was obvious from the flustered expression that was crossing his face now as he brushed past him, pretending to do something of importance.

“I’ll be seeing you then, Demyx,” Axel drawled out his name, smirking as he saw Demyx’s face brighten in colour. “Want some?” Axel asked Zexion, offering him a sip of his rum. He wasn’t being generous, just trying to get Demyx jealous. Demyx knew he didn’t share his rum. With. Anyone.

Axel chuckled as he heard something clatter on the wooden boards of the ship and Zexion gave him an annoyed look. “Your loss,” Axel retorted, when he got no reply from Zexion. Not that he wanted Zexion to say yes to his offer. He took a mouthful of the rum, starting toward the sleeping area of the ship. No one other than the Captain actually had a room. Well, him and Saïx but that was only because Saïx shared his bed. Everyone else settled with the hammocks, hay and bug infested beds at the back of the second lower deck. Axel himself had declared that the hammock by the window was his. And Demyx’s. He only ever shared with Demyx. Marluxia forced himself on it sometimes. Axel usually kicked him off.

“Here’s where you sleep, along with the rest of us,” Axel said in a bored tone. He waved a hand in the direction of the sleeping area and took another swig of his rum. “The storage and dungeons are on the deck below this.” Axel added, nodding his head downwards.

Zexion just nodded his head in understanding, “Anything else?”

“Like I said before, after this I don’t care what you want to do. But a few words of advice, watch your back,” Axel said, walking past Zexion.

“I know,” Zexion hissed and Axel stopped in his steps, turning around to face Zexion.

“Glad to know you can speak, may help when you have to scream for help or something,” Axel smirked, starting his walk back up to the top deck so he could continue to lounge in his hammock.

--

Dinner was about to be served and Axel had heard from one of the cabin boys that the Captain had an announcement to make. Axel knew the man only ever joined the rest of the crew for dinner for two reasons, a, he had found a new ship to loot and wanted to tell everyone of the plan he (Xigbar) had made to loot them or b, Saïx had ticked him off so he needed to do a bit of screaming.

Axel wasn’t sure which one it was today, since he had seen pretty riled up at mid-day but they hadn’t looted anything for the last few days, so it was a possibility that he had plans. Axel hoped he did, he was getting quite bored. Bored enough to spend time helping Demyx cook in the kitchen and everyone knew how good of a cook he was.

“Axel put the chicken in the center,” Demyx ordered, placing two plates of bread at either end of the long table. Axel yawned as he placed the chicken down, feeling a bit tipsy from his earlier rum intake.

“Demyx, the object of your affections has come down the stairs,” Axel teased, flopping down in his usual seat at the table, between Demyx and Marluxia.

“He’s not the, the object of my affections!” Demyx retorted, turning a bright shade of red that matched Axel’s hair. Axel only smirked.

“Want me to hit the bell?” Axel asked, picking at the chicken that sat before him.

“That would be helpful,” Demyx yelled, running back into the kitchen to get whatever else he had cooked. Axel had stopped paying attention to what he was doing fifteen minutes in, when he had decided that he would play Chef Axel for the rest of the day. Of course he only really set some things on fire since he really couldn’t get past the ‘having fire in his hands and not using it to destroy’ problem he had.

“G’evening Zexion,” Axel smirked, slamming a shoulder into the smaller man as he walked past. He had this urge to rile the boy up since he had spent the entire day calm and in control of his emotions. Axel somehow got annoyed by this. He wasn’t sure why.

Zexion gave him a grunt and Axel walked up to the top deck, grabbing the rope that swung the bell. He tugged down hard and a loud ding dong sort of noise echoed over the ship and practically everyman on the ship dropped what they were doing and rushed over to the stairs that led downstairs. Dinner on the first night after docking at a city was usually the best and biggest. Everyone would be at the dinner tonight, even Vexen who demanded his dinner be brought to him in his small little room on the first lower deck. Axel didn’t quite like the guy. He was a self-absorbed jackass, who more often than not came off as crazy to Axel.

Axel rushed down the stairs, not wanting to be trampled by the pirates coming down after him. He quickly slipped into his seat and found that Demyx was in his, with Zexion sitting across from him. Axel raised any eyebrow at Demyx who blushed furiously. Before Axel could tease Demyx about the blush, Captain Xemnas walked in, Saïx trailing behind him like some lap dog.

He seated himself at the front of the table, grabbing Saïx by the wrist and pulling him down beside him. Saïx glared at Xemnas who ignored the look and rolled back the sleeves of his coat. Axel watched as the rest of the crew came and sat down at their respective seats, howling with laughter and barking with insults. This was one thing Axel liked about pirates and pirate ships. They were a loud bunch.

“Silence!” Xemnas roared over top of all of them and the room immediately fell quiet as all eyes landed on their Captain. Axel felt a hand creep around his waist and he elbowed Marluxia as hard as could. Marluxia grunted in pain and Xemnas glared at him. Axel had to suppress a chuckle.

“Now, in six days time we will pass Barbados and fall behind a merchant’s ship carrying gold and a vast amount of spices. As all of you know, currently we have a very empty storage deck. I’d like to fix that. Take everything and anything you can. I want it all and whatever remains, Axel,” here Xemnas fixed Axel with a hard gaze, “burn it.”

Axel grinned, “Eye, eye Cap’in!” He even gave a small salute to show his pleasure in burning own the ship.

“However,” now it was Saïx who was speaking, “this ship is being closely followed by Captain Leonhart’s ship, the Twilight.” There was an outcry of angry shouts and demands to know why they were going to loot a ship that was being trailed by one of the best Army men in existence.

“There is a method to our madness,” Saïx hissed, and the room went quiet again. “Leonhart is carrying a chest of golden doubloons given to him by Spaniards to give to the British King. That chest, we want it, right men?”

There was a roar of approval and pounding on the table and Saïx smiled, which was a very unsettling thing in Axel’s opinion, and sat down. Axel smirked as he saw the excited glint in Demyx’s eyes and heard the cheer of happiness from Marluxia behind him. It seemed that only he, Zexion, Laxaeus, the Captain and the first mate weren’t cheering with utter joy. The only reason Axel was quiet was because the leaping sensation in his stomach was overpowering him and he thought he would throw up. Burning down ships was a favourite pastime of his.

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Next Time: A Sub-Lieutenant; we see Roxas's view on life, the universe and everything.