"Vexen isn't really your dad, is he?" Axel asked and watched as the other Roxas shook his head, swallowing some noodles.

"Not really. It's a long story." Axel and his double looked at him expectantly as his mate worked on finishing something that was supposed to be chicken soup. It tasted a bit funny but neither of them were going to complain. New people could eat almost anything untainted by the wild magic. "Okay… my dam was officially mated with Vexen and he should have been my father, but he wasn't. My dam was Terra and my actual father was Ventus. But Vexen helped raise me so I call him that."

"Ugh, Vexen as a father figure. I can't imagine what that would be like!" Axel shivered as Roxas looked a bit thoughtful. He didn't know much about his past either. Could he be related to these people here? And did it matter if he was? "So hey, what's your story?" Axel questioned his double and Roxas was sure the same thing was on his mind. The pregnant Axel blinked, swallowing.

"Me? It's nothing that interesting. I was raised by Orinda and Leeto, with a group down pretty far South. I have a twin brother named Reno but we split up when he wanted to join a group and I wanted to keep going. It felt right to him but not right to me, you know? I found Roxy here right before a Bogart could eat him and we just kept going North 'til we met Sora and Riku. The rest is history." The Nobody Axel tensed a little at the mention of Sora and glanced at Roxas, but he didn't notice.

"Riku? I know someone named Riku." The Nobody Roxas said with a frown. Axel tilted his head.

"He's our leader. Is he your leader here?" Roxas smiled and shook his head. That thought was truly ludicrous. The two Nobodies were both rather disappointed.

"It's too twisted Roxy. There's no clues to our pasts here." Axel said softly to the blonde, who nodded.

"We'll have to see what the Superior wants done with them." They seemed like complete time wasters to him. Interesting, but still time wasters. Axel nodded as his double sighed, sitting back.

"Well, I'm done. So what is there to do around here? Any game to hunt, tasks to do? Or we could tell you stories, like the time I caught a fish that was THIS big!" The pregnant Axel gestured widely as Roxas rubbed his face with one hand.

"It was only this big and he's a horrible liar." Roxas said confidentially as Axel winced, pretending to be hurt. "I – uh?" Vexen had stepped into the room, looking vaguely pissed off. He didn't like being used as a messenger.

"The Superior says to send them somewhere. He doesn't care where." The new Roxas and Axel exchanged a glance, but… that was probably a good thing. Their friends clearly weren't here so going somewhere else would have to be a step in the right direction. Although…

"I don't suppose you have any travel food to spare?" Axel said wistfully. "We didn't really bring much." They hadn't anticipated being away from the longhouse for long. Axel frowned as he thought about that but as long as they got back before spring the place would be fine. Unless other people moved in, unlikely in the fall, their stores of food would be untouched. The two Nobodies glanced at each other and Roxas nodded.

"We can do that." They searched the kitchen for a moment and finally gave their copies each a bag with crackers, cheese whiz in a jar and some cans of spam. It might not be appetizing but it would definitely keep them going and the two travelers accepted it without complaint.

"Thank you. We really appreciate this." Axel gestured, creating a corridor of darkness and blinked as his double recoiled. "Chaos! What are you doing?!? Are you crazy?"

"What?" The two Nobodies were both baffled by their doubles reactions. Roxas was standing in front of his pregnant mate now, clearly intending to shield him with his body and Axel had a hand protectively in front of his stomach. Were they worried about damage to the baby? That might make sense, given the way darkness could corrupt. But that wasn't it.

"If a magic surge came through we would all be ripped to shreds by an open gateway. Those are unsafe." Roxas said definitely and the two Nobodies exchanged surprised glances. "If any kind of ripple comes through when you're traveling one you'll be ripped apart if you're lucky. If not you'll survive as a magic twisted monster." Roxas had seen one once as a child and never wanted to see one again. "Please, can you shut that?" Axel closed the gate, but only because they were bothered.

"Look, we don't have magic surges here. This is totally safe except maybe for the darkness corrupting you if you use them too much." Axel looked dubious, still protective of his child, but Roxas suddenly looked thoughtful.

"Really?" That actually made sense. This place was full of old people so how could it have the twisted magic? "That's safe to do? That would be a really good way to get around then?" If that was the case they could all generate portals, although Roxas knew it would never occur to the others to try. The danger of the corridors was ingrained knowledge to all of them. Roxas hesitated then gestured, opening his own gate. To where, he wasn't sure, but he could feel it was a place with grass and animals. Things they could hunt and eat. "Let's go then!"

"Roxas, are you sure about this?" Axel was worried but Roxas nodded.

"It feels right." Axel looked startled then smiled. He was the one who had encouraged Roxas to follow his feelings. Before they'd met, Roxas hadn't used them at all.

"Okay then." Axel took his mate's hand and the two of them walked into the dark gate, which closed behind them as the two Nobodies watched. There was a heavy silence for a moment before Axel spoke.

"I almost feel sad." He knew he didn't have a heart or real emotions but he felt something. Something that hurt and twisted inside him. "Do you think we could ever have something like that?"

"We're Nobodies, Axel." Roxas said quietly, looking at the place where their doubles. "We can't have feelings like that. Not until we get hearts, anyway." Roxas looked up as he felt warm hands on his shoulders and looked up into bright green, smiling eyes.

"We could pretend." Roxas was about to disagree when Axel's mouth found his, and he found he didn't want to. It might all be pointless but… somehow, it didn't feel that way.

Maybe it was pretend, but they wanted to pretend.

"We're going to miss those leathers and furs when we go home." Axel fretted a bit as they walked down the road and Roxas nodded.

"Better than suffocating at the moment. We can always tailor some blankets." Axel sighed and nodded. That was true. He was feeling worried about things right now and ruefully reflected that it was probably a combination of the unknown and hormones. "At least we still have plenty of food." They'd found a large furry thing that looked vaguely like a horse running loose and had killed and eaten it. It had tasted good although the meat wasn't going to keep much longer. They had brought a large chunk with them and just cut off the outer crust before eating what was beneath, mostly raw.

They were in what Axel had identified as a scrub desert and Roxas was very glad he had come from the far South. Axel was good at finding water here, cutting open cactuses and they both knew the spells to call water to the surface. So far they hadn't needed to use them and it was just as well. The cost in magic was brutal.

They were following a road. Such things were not unknown to the new people, but this road was very well tended and used, nothing like the small paths the new people left. The largest thing Roxas had ever seen going along those paths had been a trader with a donkey. He and Axel had already seen several large carts going down this path filled with items they mostly couldn't identify. Although they'd managed to trade some crackers to a farmer for a few fresh apples out of his cart. That had been nice.

"I hate this heat." Axel mumbled and Roxas frowned. The redhead was scratching at his nose and from the peeling skin he was getting a sunburn.

"Not feeling too hot?" They could get sunstroke although it was rare and Axel was pregnant. He'd be more vulnerable to the stress. But he shook his head.

"Nah, I'm fine. Just sweating in areas I don't want to discuss." Roxas blinked and laughed at that as Axel smiled. They were both down to their underclothes, cotton shifts the group had gotten in trade and Axel's pregnancy was obvious. Roxas reflected that it would probably be easier to just tell people here he was a woman rather than explain their male/female status. Roxas shifted the single fur he was carrying. They were using it as a blanket at night. The nights were surprisingly cold here but Axel had mentioned that, and they had decided to keep just one of the furs. Axel was carrying the meat and idly sliced himself off a chunk, testing it before eating it. New people were capable of eating carrion as long as it wasn't too far gone.

Then they topped a ridge and stopped, staring.

"I think I just widdled myself." Roxas blinked at Axel's faint comment and couldn't help but snort. Although he was feeling much the same way himself.

Below them was something he'd only seen in Zexion's illusion stories and had never really believed had ever existed. A city, built out of light brown bricks and tiles and bustling with activity. Roxas and Axel had to fight against their instincts like Zexion and Demyx had, but in the end they won. A lot of how new people reacted to large groups happened because of the other groups answering, instinctive reaction and they could both tell the city was indifferent to them. It took work, but that helped calm their instinctive urge to flight.

"Well." Roxas swallowed before firming his voice. "We need to see if the others are there." Although he had no idea how they'd find them in this hive. How many people were down there? He didn't want to think about it. Axel frowned at the meat for a moment.

"We better eat this first. I don't think they'd like us just carrying it around, the smell might alarm the animals. And maybe someone would want to take it." It was much safer to just carry the meat inside themselves. That the people below might be disgusted by a huge chunk of rotting camel didn't occur to either of them. Cutting away the worst parts, they quickly ate the rest. Part of their metabolism was the ability to gorge, then not eat for several days, although it wasn't very comfortable.

Feeling slightly sick from the heat and very full stomachs, the two of them entered Agrabah. They were mostly ignored although a few children pointed, probably due to their hair. Red and blonde seemed to be rare here although their shifts fit in fairly well among the poor. Those with more means seemed to be wearing flowing robes or pants and vests. Roxas vaguely considered taking some. These people weren't part of his group and he had no compunctions about theft as long as they weren't caught. But how to go about it?

The two of them were completely ignorant of the dangers of the city. That proved to be a blessing in disguise shortly, as the two of them wandered down dark alleys.

"We'll take that fur boy." Roxas blinked at the strange man holding a sword, then glanced down at the fur in his arms. It was Axel's coat and was fashioned from the fur of a great wolf, a magically twisted monster. He supposed that if this world didn't have creatures like it the fur would be valuable. It was certainly pretty, full of silvery threads and darker whorls. If it was valuable he wasn't about to give it up.

"No." Roxas said pleasantly, dropping the fur and calling in his blades. There were two men behind them but Axel turned to face them, calling in his chakram in a burst of fire. "Give us your clothes."

The fight that happened next was as one-sided as the thieves had expected, but not the way they had wanted. One tried to escape but Roxas easily ran him down. It took a bit of work to find clothes that fit a bit and were less bloodstained, but they were finally outfitted. They were about to depart when a soft voice called to them.

"You should take the belt pouches." They both turned, surprised, to see a bald man in black, flowing robes, wearing a mask over the lower half of his face. They hadn't felt him behind them which was really odd. "Unless you don't like money?"

"Money?" Axel said, confused, as Roxas frowned and stepped back to the bodies trying to spot what the man was pointing out. "Oh… counters for goods?" The man's eyebrows arched a bit at that query.

"I suppose you could say so." He watched as Roxas found the pouches and examined the money dubiously. "You people are very strange but… impressive. Where are you from?"

"Darkvale forest." Roxas straightened then smiled thinly. "On the far side of forever. We accidentally traveled through a magical doorway and we're likely stranded." Axel looked a little depressed at that thought but even if they found their friends how were they supposed to get home?

"Hmm. Well, why don't you come with me? My Mistress might be interested in you and the pay would be good." Axel and Roxas exchanged a thoughtful glance before Axel nodded. It felt right to him.

"So what will this entail? Fighting?" Axel asked as they walked away with the masked man. "Are you good at fighting? And what's your name?"

"I'm Rastin. And I try to avoid fighting."

"Really?" Axel was vaguely surprised. To his instincts, something about Rastin screamed 'deadly!' although he didn't seem to mean them any harm.

"Oh yes. Much better to kill without a fight." There was a brief pause in the conversation as the pair thought about that.

"Hmm. Pity we can't use that idea much." Axel said regretfully. "When you have to put down a great wolf or take on a Bogart there's always a fight." Roxas shook his head.

"I don't think this place has great wolves or Bogarts' Axel. So keep the idea in reserve." Rastin seemed slightly entertained by the way they were regarding his comment as a novel idea. Roxas wasn't sure why. Maybe it was a common concept here. "Depending on why we're killing things here and what they are, killing without a fight would be a good idea. Much less chance of getting hurt and you should be trying to avoid that with the baby on the way." Rastin paused for just a brief moment.

"Baby? I did notice… but I didn't really think… you are pregnant?" He'd been a bit confused with the skill and power Axel had shown killing those men. In Agrabah, pregnant women didn't do that. Axel nodded, resting a hand on his swollen belly.

"I should be due in maybe three moonturns." He said proudly. Rastin frowned before realizing he had to mean months.

"I see. That could be a problem but I'm sure the Mistress will still be interested." Axel just nodded. In their world, a pregnant person looking to join a new group would have a much harder time than most. Although the fact that he had his mate with him was a plus. Roxas would stay useful even when Axel had to spend most of his time tending to his child. And even that would only be for six months, until the child was weaned. Then the group could help tend the child.

Although this group would likely feel differently. Axel and Roxas looked around curiously as Rastin led them through the worst parts of town. They both wrinkled their noses at the stench. They had never experienced anything like it before, but they could pick out notes that were almost appetizing amid the general reek. Finally they reached a place that had more of those appetizing notes and Rastin led them down the stairs into the back.

"Princess." He bowed to a woman stirring a pot of stew. She had long, silky white hair and when she looked up Roxas and Axel noticed that her eyes were jade green. She was beautiful although she looked a bit too feminine for their taste. "I have two possible recruits for you. They were most impressive."

"Really?" She smiled and set aside her spoon as the other people in the room edged over. Axel was pleased to see there were only seven of them. That was small enough that he and Roxas didn't even feel a twinge from their instincts, and the considering way everyone was looking at them was familiar. It was like entering a new group. "What happened?" Rastin quickly gave a description of the battle and Roxas and Axel exchanged a glance, impressed. He must have been there the whole time, watching, but they hadn't picked him up at all. "My word. Well, I'm Princess Zhiresti of Shii. Welcome to my home away from home."

"I'm Roxas and this is Axel." Roxas introduced them. "Uh… doesn't Princess mean the daughter of a ruler? This seems an odd place…" There was a rough laugh from the surrounding ruffians and Zhiresti smiled.

"I should say dispossessed, penniless Princess. Well, it could be worse. I could be dead." She sipped the stew and shook her head. "Needs more salt." She quickly gave it a pinch then continued to stir. "Rastin is my only retainer left. I'm putting together a group of the best people I can find to search for an ancient artifact, the Box of All Things. It's said that the Box can grant any wish as long as you're willing to pay the price. Anyone with me will get a chance to use the box to get their greatest wish… as long as they're willing to pay the cost." She smiled. "You may not be willing to, when push comes to shove, but we're all going to try." They both considered that and Axel tugged on Roxas' shirtsleeve before leaning down and speaking in his ear.

"It could send us home or find all the others!" Roxas frowned.

"But at what cost?" That was the question. Axel shrugged.

"We won't know if we don't go. Besides, this just feels right. The group is the right size and we need help here anyway." Roxas considered it and nodded. Axel had a good point.

"Okay, we're in. Uh… can we contribute this fur to the group?" They didn't really need it anymore and from the way those thieves had acted Axel's old fur coat was valuable here. Zhiresti looked at it in surprise, her eyebrows lifting.

"My, what a marvelous thing! Although the stitching is very crude… put it here." She motioned to a chair. "We're looking for just one more person. Ten is a good number. Then we'll be ready to go." That pleased both Axel and Roxas. Ten was a good number for a group, a little on the small side but nowhere near too big. "Stew is done. Would you like some?"

"No thank you, we ate this morning." She looked a little confused and Roxas hesitated, thinking of how to explain. "We… sort of gorged. We won't be hungry for days." Right now the thought of eating made him feel a bit sick and from the look on his face, Axel felt the same way. Zhiresti shrugged.

"More for the rest of us." And she began ladling out the stew to her companions as Axel and Roxas circulated, getting to know everyone.

They would probably be spending a while here.