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 Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2013 7:24 pm
Dirt-drenched, matted-up, soot-blackened blond hair shook stiffly in the soft breeze that blew through the rich east end of the city. Beads of sweat from the sweltering, unrelenting heat rolled down dirty cheeks and were wiped away with a matching tanned arm, covered in dust and soot. The blue-eyed orphan had been working in the mines today, and it was a hard day indeed. He knew he was going to probably die early thanks to soot and dust in his lungs, but someone had to do it, and he couldn't find any other job. No one wanted to hire an orphan with no skills.
The under-average-height blond snatched the beat-up sweater off of his shoulder and wiped his face off with it. All it really accomplished was to smear some of the grime around a bit and make him looked bruised. Tossing the top back over his shoulder, the blond male began humming a tune that had stuck with him over a few years. A song he had written himself, actually. He had never had an instrument to play it on, for he had never had money to get one or lessons, but he sure wished he could. A violin or lute, he supposed, would be a perfect fit. Perhaps even a piano. Roxas knew a lot about different types of instruments from spending some free time hiding in the upper-class gardens and listening to their hired workers play. A man he knew--the music shoppe owner--let him come in and look at instruments as well, never touch them, but look at them. He would explain the beautiful music they could make and the theory behind making songs. He would even play a few instruments for him. Roxas liked that young man who owned the music shoppe. He was always so happy and talkative, though protective over his pieces of art he called instruments. He made them by hand and seemed so skilled for being so young. Roxas wished he had a skill like him.
Roxas began singing some lyrics that he wrote with the music.
"Lord, oh, Lord, if you could see,
How your children treat those around them,
You would despise what we have become,
You'd revoke the life you have given.
The way of the world has not gone as planned,
Instead, it is blind and cruel,
We lie, we cheat, we hurt our kin,
Our peace is a false existence.
Why do we not love one another equal?
Why must there be pain and sorrow?
Why must we lose ones who we hold dear?
Oh, Lord, your Earth is dead."
A solomn expression masked his face as he continued down the road. He reached down and wiped one sweaty hand on the leg of his thin breeches, suspenders tugging at his shoulders as the fabric shifted. Bare feet padded rough, gravel-filled dirt without a hint of pain from the callouses built.
As he walked, he wondered...should he chance it? Should he chance possibly not seeing her if he looked, just for a moment? His mind made itself up before he could really think it through and glanced up at a particularly large house he was passing. Two floors up, bay window...yes. She was there. He smiled despite himself and paused his movements for a moment before lifting his hand in a tiny wave. The petite redheaded girl caught his eye with her own and smiled back, giving him a large, outlandish wave in return which made him laugh. This girl...this beautiful redheaded girl with blue eyes like his own made his day seem worth it. Just to see her, not exchanging words, just glances and waves, every day on his walk home made it worth it. His heart swelled with joy when she blew him a kiss. That was the first time anything like that had happened. Playing along, he reached up, seeming to catch the kiss in his fist. He held his hand against his heart, closing his eyes as he did so to let her know he cherished it. Then he slid it in his pocket for later. He peeked open an eye to see her giggle at him. She seemed to go stiff then look over her shoulder. Roxas pulled a face when it looked like she was speaking to someone. She quickly turned around and waved at him before shutting her window. Seconds later, a man's face appeared where hers was. A pale, slender face surrounded by a great red mane of hair and piercing, acidic green eyes. Roxas's own eyes widened as he scurried off, running down the road away from the house he never once feared passing until then. That family was rich, and he was as poor as they come. Her family could do much more harm to him and get away with it than he could to them.
Upon reaching home--or what he called home--he curled up in the corner of a small alleyway in the nest of old cloth he kept there and sighed softly, heart still racing. A smile suddenly reached his lips when he remembered the kiss. He reached into his pocket, balled up his fist, then took it out and held it to his chest as he closed his eyes. He would see her tomorrow. Definitely.
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Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 8:00 pm
Down the street from where the blonde had laid down, a commotion had started over a pickpocket. “Get that boy, He stole bread from me!” An angry, fat baker yelled out his door as the small figured ran away as fast as he could. He completely cover by a long black cloak with a hood to hide his face. He could hear the police that were probably strolling the street starting to yell after him too. “Hey, come back here!” “You won’t get way with stealing in our city!” The police didn’t understand that he needed that food to live, if he didn’t eat soon he was going to starve. He could feel his body barely wanting to carry him as he tried to lose them through the alleyways. Three turns later, he was heaving air in and out as he felt the heat starting to add to the factors against him. He stumbled into the four alley ripping the coat off him as fast as he could before falling down near the blonde.
Thinking fast, he took his coat and wrapped the bread in it before shoving it into a trash crate nearby. He then crawled over to the blonde. He laid down next to him with his finger pressed to his lips, signaling for the blonde to not say anything before he pretended to be asleep. He had to forcibly will his breathing down, but moments later when the police officers came barreling into the alley, he seemed like he was dead asleep. He had beads of sweat across his face that made his blue-gray hair stick to his face, but no one would question that in this heat. “Hey! Did either of you bums see where the thief went?” One officer yelled. The pickpocket played it off perfectly. “No, you are the first person to come down here, officers.” He timidly spoke. It was meek enough to seem like he was respecting their authority, but his voice didn’t have the fear that came with someone who was lying. It was obvious that the small, blunette had done this many times. “Useless trash!” One angrily yelled before kicking Zexion and then running out of the alley and continuing on down the street in search of the clever thief.
The newcomer coughed a little as he felt his body tinge with sharp pain. “Thanks for covering for me. My name is Zexion.” He said glancing over to the blonde he drug into his ordeal. “Wants some bread?” He asked after a moment as he weakly got up and rescued the much earned substances. When you lived on the street, friends were hard to come by so Zexion always welcomed the chance to gain an ally.
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Green eyes pierced down into the face of the small redheaded girl. He didn’t have to say a single word for the girl to know she was in trouble. He didn’t even need to tell her why she was in trouble. She knew that it was not acceptable for her to even talk with someone as low as a coal miner, let alone flirt with one. “I can’t believe you. You would disgrace your family’s good name for a piece of trash miner? Have you no dignity? You obviously have too much time on your stupid little hands if you want to associate with such filth. I’ll be sure to tell mother and father of your foolishness.” The tall redhead spoke down to her as if the glare of pure anger wasn’t enough to bring the girl to tears. Her eyes now filled with tears looked up at him with worry and panic. The young girl began to beg and plead with him. Their parents could never know about the boy she fancied. They send her off to some private school where she would have to make all new friends.
“Stop your crying, it is beneath your stature. Unlike you, I don’t keep things from our beloved parents, and I know my place. It is high time you learn yours.” The tall redhead said spitefully as he pushed her away and turned on his heel. He had no time for such foolish behavior. His hand reached for her door as he moved to leave the room. Rage was starting to boil inside him as he thought about how he was shown no mercy just a few years ago when he was in her place. He was younger, even, and yet, as his father caught him, he was scarred with the memory forever. Honestly he was doing the girl by saving her from the father finding her like he had been found. Flashes of the beating and screams made his fists clench. At least if he told their parents, he could be the buffer and dampen the blow she would receive. She had no idea the mercy he was placing upon her.
“Axel, you would honestly allow them to send me away? How is that fair?” She questioned back in a last ditch attempt at guilt tripping him into staying quiet. Her hand reaching out for his hardened fist. Being the children of royalty was never an easy life, but she always believe that if anything they had each other. She was only twelve years old, she didn’t remember the years that Axel spent at the military school. She didn’t remember a time in which Axel’s beautiful face was without the upside down, tear marks. By the time Axel became a real part of her life, all she knew what the reformed Axel. The Axel that would never deify their parents. The broken Axel. She had not the slightest clue the burden and pain that Axel carried around. She was too sheltered.
“You stupid, stupid child. You couldn’t begin to even understand just how fair I’m being with you. I hope that boy that you stared down longingly at was worth it.” Axel hissed back. His angry wasn’t with her though, it was with the situation. She was just silly enough to put herself in the line of fire. With his final words, he shook her hand off his and forced himself out of the room. The door quickly followed behind him with a bang, leaving the girl with only her tears to comfort her.
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UnDeadReaper95 Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 9:24 pm
Roxas startled awake from his mid-sleep as another body curled up next to his own. He blinked his eyes open, coming inches away from another dirty face with a finger pressed to his lips and pleading eyes begging for him to be quiet. Roxas just looked at him for a moment before closing his eyes once more, pretending to sleep. His face scrunched up a little when he heard the officers begin to yell and slowly looked up at them as Zexion got kicked in the stomach. The poor guy looked like he could have broken in half. Then again, he didn't look much better himself.
When the officers were gone, Roxas sat up fully and gazed over at this "Zexion" fellow after he introduced himself. "Bread sounds wonderful," the blond responded, a smile sliding onto his lips. "My name's Roxas. I work down in the mines," he introduced himself, scooting closer to the smaller male. he wouldn't mind making a friend. After all, he had none. He found it was easier to roam the streets alone rather than with someone else in case he did something illegal to survive and someone else wanted to rat him out for profit. That unfortunately happened a lot...
However, this Zexion guy seemed fairly trustworthy, and he technically owed him one. Those officers would have beaten him within an inch of his life if Roxas had ratted on him. The guy already looked pretty close to keeling over any second. "Just rip me off a little piece. I don't need much. You need it much more than I do, and you're the one that acquired it anyhow," Roxas told his new companion with a small shrug. He was a fairly selfless person, but he knew when he needed food to survive, such as right now. "Now if only we could find some clean-ish water to drink. We'd be set," he told Zexion with a small huff of a laugh, blue eyes practically dancing with happiness that he had just found someone to spend his free time with. Then again, Roxas never knew if his new companions would end up dead in an alleyway the next day or not, so he tended to make the most of what he could.
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 4:28 am
"Roxas, that is a nice name," Zexion stated with a soft smile as he split the bread into two pieces. He was pretty hungry, but from where he couldn't get a lot of food, he normally couldn't eat a lot. His metabolism was set really to run on the bare minimum. As he passed the other piece off, the small male began to bite into his bread. He had managed to snatch a bread that had just finished cooling a few minutes before, so it was probably the best food he had eaten in months. When you stole for food, it was really just a gamble what you can get. Some days, he had to snatch stuff out the garbage... Other days he made off decently.
"No, no, you work, you need the food, trust me, this is the best meal I have had in a month," Zexion told him unwilling to take even a scrap of the food back. "Knowing that I am able to help someone else eat today will make me feel a whole lot better about stealing it anyway," the small slate-haired male admitted carefully. It was hard being forced into the life of a petty thief, but it wasn't like he really had the means to do anything about it. He couldn't get a job even in the mines, because of his appearance. No one wants to hire the kid that looks like he is about to die.
At the mention of water, Zexion looked up at his new friend. "Well, now that you mention it, there is one place I know we can get clean water. It isn't too far from here either. Because I don't have much means I just wander most of time, and a while back I stumbled upon a private well off near the edge of town. I don't know who it belongs to, but I have never seen anyone around it before and it has helped me a lot in past years... Especially during the heat of summer. Ha, you know it probably is the sole reason I haven't died in this city."Zexion told the blonde in confidence. It was a private well, which made it technically illegal to take water from since they didn't own it, but as Zexion had said, he had been going there for years for water and never once had he seen someone else by it.
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UnDeadReaper95 Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2014 8:48 pm
Roxas took the bread hesitantly. He could see that it was a larger piece than Zexion's, but as soon as he tried to give it back, Zexion shot him down. He looked at the bread in his hands briefly then nodded and ripped off a small piece to put into his mouth. "Well, thank you," he said with an appreciative smile on his lips. This guy was genuine and kind. He would make for a really good friend as long as he stuck around. "I'll make you a deal," he told Zexion softly. "If you stick around and keep me company, I'll try to take care of us both with whatever money I earn, which will keep you out of some trouble you seem to get yourself into. Does that sound good?" he asked him happily, nibbling on the bread some more.
The blond's ears perked up when Zexion told him about a private well. "Really? Maybe the owner of it died, so technically it isn't illegal to use it?" he suggested, eyes brightening. "Look!" he said softly, digging around the pallet that he called his home and procuring two empty water canteens. "I found them thrown out a while ago, and I use them to fill up on water whenever I can. Here, you can have one," he offered, holding one of them out to Zexion. They were roughly the same size, so it really didn't matter who got which one. "And they actually have a water barrel at the mines that we're allowed to fill up containers with to bring them inside the mines with us. I usually bring them both every day and fill them up for when I'm not there. It's not exactly the cleanest water ever, but it's cleaner than you'd find in the gutters, for sure," he told him with a bright smile. Today was turning out a lot better than he had expected.
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Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2015 10:56 pm
Zexion laughed a little at Roxas. "Okay, but I can't make you any promises that I can stay out of trouble. I kind of have a knack for getting myself into trouble and then barely escaping it. It is basically all I have to do for fun." Zexion stated with a bright smile as he looked over at the dirty blonde next to him. "Plus, I wouldn't want you to be the only one working for the both of us. I mean I know that being a coal miner, can't exactly be the easiest job out there. I mean the shopkeepers are so dumb in this town that they never recognize my face as long as I remember to cycle through the ones I steal from, not to mention they only half of them even realize they have been robbed." Zexion explained with an off-handed grin. It was apparent that he had been living on the streets for a long time now.
"Yeah basically, and you know if you think about it, it is kind of one of those things where, no one is there to stop us, and they wouldn't call the guards all the way out there just for some kids who stole some water. They would probably just chase us off, and that was if they weren't lazy, fat aristocrats." Zexion mumbled with a chuckle at the end, before seeing the water canteens. "Oh, cool!" Zexion cheered, seeing as he had never been able to score one of those. "This is great, now we can get some clean water for them." Zexion confirmed as he stood up from the ground and held the water canteen. "Come on, if we go right now, I bet we can make it before the sun even sets and then we won't have to walk back in the dark." Zexion told his new friend as he offered him a hand to help him to his feet.
The well was about a twenty minute walk, but the water was definitely worth the walk, even in the heat.
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UnDeadReaper95 Vice Captain
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