The Tale of Seven

[Reno]

Roxas blinked as silence fell over him, and his mind calmed enough for him to realize what he had just said. Oh... shit. His hand fell to the table limply, his heart twisting hard as he looked at the red-head, seeing tears in his eyes. Oh no... "A-Axel..." He started to say.

Scccreeech! Went the chair as the red-head suddenly shoved it back and left the cafe. Roxas blankly stared at the place the other had vacated, before his elbow hit the table and he curled his hand in his hair. "Fuck... good going Roxas... just destroy any hope he has." He hissed to himself shutting his eyes tightly. Why did he SAY that? Was he really so fucking attention-needy that he had to keep the red-head from thinking of his long lost brother as well?!

He groaned softly before standing up quickly, his chair falling behind him in his hurry. He didn't stop to fix it as he turned and ran out of the cafe. "AXEL!"

He looked around trying to spot the telltale red-hair before running for the nearest corner, looking down those streets as well.


Sora's eyes narrowed a little as he felt the anger, like a blinding hot flash, run over his body. It's been awhile since he'd ever felt the blonde quiet that mad before. But then... there was pain and panic that followed right over, spilling over him like a bucket of ice water. He shivered, and blew out slowly, hearing riku calling for him.

"He's... I dunno..." He hesitated. "It's alright Ri, I'm okay... but I don't think Roxas is."


Terra's eyes wandered boredly as Ven started to list the things they need, but at the sudden halt he looked over curiously, wondering what had caught the other's attention. His eyes widened though as the other clutched at his pendant - the one that was like a heart with a cross at the tip. At the utterance of the other twin;s name though he grew worried. "Ven?"

Aqua merely rolled her eyes, having gotten used to displays like these. "what did blondie freak our about this time?"

[Rikugurl]

"Raaaalts!" A pokemon cried before shuffling out of the way of the redhead as he raced by. The trainer blinked and looked back, seeing him head off to the harbor.
Minutes later:
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAALTS!" The Pokemon cried again as blonde raced by, quicker than the redhead.
The trainer pulled her Pokemon close before frowning.
"H-Hey, are you looking for that tall, redhead?"

The blonde whipped around and looked at her, making her blush a little at his cute face... but he looked really worried and it seemed like she was right. "He umm... ran down towards the harbor." She pointed down the way that Axel had run off to, seeing the blonde quickly go without a word.


Riku frowned but nodded as he heard that Sora was ok. That was good. However when he heard about Roxas, he grew a bit more concern. Being able to communicate with Pokemon, he could only imagine that the triplets could...
"Your feelings are connected?" He asked with some interest behind it.


Ven swallowed as he felt so much anger, so much heat with frustration, jealousy and just plain...rage. No wonder THEY were the identical twins... they shared the same sort of anger build up.
That wasn't a good thing though, huh?
He frowned though and looked down, feeling a sudden pain of guilt that shadowed over his own.
Something big was going on...

Did another team show up, pissing him off and then caught one of his Pokemon....?
No, that wasn't right... it wouldn't feel so...jealousy...
"Axel..."

[Reno]

Roxas cursed and just blindly picked a way, running down the street that looked more chaotic - more likely that someone or something had just cut in between people. "Axel!!!" He called again, wishing he'd get an answer. Not like he deserved one. The red head had ever right, EVERY right to hate him...

He was just running past a teen girl and her Ralts when her shaky voice caught his ear. He halted instantly, spinning to face her, his eyes panicked and imploring. He couldn't even find his voice to say 'Yes' or even 'thank you' as she told him exactly what he wanted to know.

He turned and ran even faster now knowing where his aim was. The harbor? But Axel hated water... why would he go there?

He picked up his speed as he sped past more people, breathing hard as he finally broke free of the sidewalk and into the street and he saw the red-head. There was a loud honk in his ear and a screech of tires but he disregarded it, even as the man in the driver's seat screamed 'YOU IDIOT KID GET OUTTA THE ROAD!'

He jumped from the street onto the sandy bar of land, his eyes focused only on that speck of red that just stood out against all the blue and brown. "Axel!!"


Sora was looking towards the ribbons in front of him, his eyes slowly gravitating towards the red ones once more as if he had been searching for it all along -

He blinked, breaking out of his twin-epilepsy trance at Riku's question. Or more... at his tone. He had never... heard Riku so... curious before.

He slowly turned his head, looking in the shadows of the other's hood and smiled faintly. "Yeah... we can. I mean well, the feelings have to be a certain magnitude before they register, and sometimes when an emotion is really powerful it can be hard to disentangle my own from theirs... like this morning. I didn't even really feel all that angry until Ven and Roxas were." He looked down at the tiles, blushing some. "But for the most part its just... there to let us know how we are. Like if we're okay or not."

He shut his eyes, concentrating for a few moments, slowly piecing at the emotions that were running from his youngest brother. Why did Axel spur such strong ones out of him? "My guess is... Roxas and Axel got into a fight and now he's trying to make amends. And... failing. Badly." He sighed this time a little irritably and he grinned at Riku, his voice teasing. "It would be nice if for just once I could feel, I dunno, extreme HAPPINESS from one of my brothers!"


Terra's eyebrows furrowed as he didn't get an answer, Ven seeming to be in his own little world. He looked at Aqua imploringly, demanding, "What the hell is wrong with him?"

"Hm?" Aqua asked, inclining her head. she didn't seem a bit bothered by not getting an answer either - after traveling with Ven for as long as she had, it was hard NOT to learn about this little quirk of his. "Oh, nothing. Little Venny here is just feeling what Roxas is right now."
"...Feeling?"
"Mmmhmm, you see every once and awhile Ven can feel the emotions of one of his twins. It's really kind of creepy."
Terra rose an eyebrow, thinking about that. Like... selective empathy. Huh... it appeared he had a lot to learn about twins and triplets. Too bad there wasn't a library nearby.

[Rikugurl]

The waters of the ocean liked the legs of the pier and reflected that of fire red.
Not far away, a concerned Pokemon was looking down, his jaw hinged so he couldn't close his mouth. A soft whimper came from him as he lowered his head to take a better look at the teen who was sitting at the edge, looking down at the water.
Something was bothering him.

A soft noise came from the Pokemon as he heard a call and looked up, seeing a familiar blonde come running down towards them.

However, the redheaded teen didn't shift as he continued to look down at his reflections, some tears falling from his face and becoming one with the waters of the ocean.


Riku shifted as he listened and nodded everyone once in awhile. It was very strange how they could feel the same. That would explain reasons why twins were so close. However, he chuckled when he heard Sora. "Haha...maybe when they get married~" He teased back and reached out, taking a sparkling yellow bow. "She would look nice with this..."


Ven sighed as he shook his head and looked back at the others, especially Terra. "What? We have shit to do." He frowned as he pushed through them and walked to a pink sleeping bag. He grabbed it and smirked at the blue haired girl. "Looks like I found Aqua's favorite color!"

[Reno]

Roxas' feet hit the pier making a loud sound, but he noticed Axel hardly even flinched or acknowledged his presence. His shoulders slumped and he slowly walked down to the end where Gyarados was hovering nearby.

"Axel..." He said softly hesitating behind the other, hearing the other sniffling. He heard the large sea dragon make a hissing whine of worry. The blonde frowned some - even the aggressive Pokemon was being sympathetic... he was worse than a Gyarados! Ugh, what a confidence booster that was.

He stepped up beside Axel sitting down on the pier and reached over tentatively, cupping his hand against the other's cheek, brushing away at the falling tears. "Axel... I'm sorry. I didn't mean it."


Sora smiled fondly when he heard Riku's comment and chuckled himself. Yeah, that would be the day. Maybe when they were fifty and Ven finally calmed down and Roxas stopped being such a priss.

His eyes lit up at the subject changed back to their original topic and he grinned. He wondered, idly, if it was cruel to have the silverette actually bow shopping with him - it really wasn't helping him become any more socially bond. Ah well~

"Really?" He said reaching out to touch the other side of the fabric, their fingers barely brushing. The fabric was somewhat rough but it sparkled really brightly. It was perfect - and orange and yellow were complementary anyways. She'd be as pretty as a bouquet~ "Hey Riku, what's your favorite color?" He asked randomly.


Ven seemed to suddenly snap out of his trance, not even noticing at ALL how Aqua and Terra had been talking about him right over his head. Terra rose an eyebrow though when he grabbed the pink sleeping bag and smirked, looking towards Aqua who looked utterly disgusted. "Whoa Miss Bitch you're actually a girl?"

"Oh fuck off!" Aqua growled, blushing some as she walked next to the blonde and grabbed the sleeping bag, knocking it over Ven's head. "And you know pink is the spawn of the devil~"

Terra chuckled watching the two, feeling fond of them both. Which was strange, he hadn't realized he had grown attached to Aqua at all or even remotely felt like he had wanted her companionship... but now, just as he had seen Venita transform into Ven, that he was seeing her from this angle - an angle of normalcy under all the fucking craziness... it really wasn't hard. They could of been friends.

Maybe they still could be.

[Rikugurl]

Axel inhaled as Roxas sat down next to him and exhaled shakily, blinking away the tears. Before he could get rid of them himself though, someone else was.
He swallowed, his green eyes slowly looking up.
"I...I'm sorry too... I didn't mean to sound hypocritical and... I'll work on weening myself off this caffeine thing..." He said softly, his eyes slowly lowering before he looked back at the water.

"I just...wish I knew where my brother was... It's been...almost thirteen years since he left Lavaridge... and... that was the last my aunt and I have saw of him... That's more than half my life. I don't even know...what he looks like..."


Riku chuckled some more before looking down, feeling their fingers touching before Sora took the bow. He smiled as he saw that his choice please the other.

He looked over at Sora when he heard his name but shifted uncomfortably before looking down.
His favorite color...? He never really... thought about that before. Ever since he was allergic to the sun, color hadn't been a big part of his life. Sure he saw it but he couldn't feel free until the night fell...and color had gone to sleep.

He slowly looked down at Umbreon who looked up at him. He smiled happily though, wagging his tail as his master started to pet him. "Well...I kinda always liked the color yellow..."


"WAAA!" Ven yelped as he was knocked over as the sleeping bag hit him, catching himself on some shelves. He spat out his tongue before bouncing back and hopping after her. "Oh yea?? Maybe you should dress in ALL pink! It suits you!"

[Reno]

"Axel..." Roxas hesitated looking at the water, unsure of where to begin. He sighed slowly than looked up, studying the other.

"I bet... he looks like you. Same sharp face... narrow eyes... bet you even loves coffee like you do." He said, looking towards the other. He reached out, placing his hand over Axel's, squeezing his fingers. "We'll find him, even if we have to search the whole damn world three times. And then you'll see."

He looked away towards the horizon. "You're brothers, and more importantly your family. You'll connect. It doesn't matter if you don't know anything now, cause soon enough you're going to know everything about him. I promise."


Sora spun to face Riku with wide eyes, the fabric for the bow following him. "Really?!" He burst out, an excited grin on his face, surprising them both. He blushed a little and laughed. "Sorry... It's just I remember when I was little... and all the kids would ask that question, 'Whats your favorite color?' except then it was like only two colors existed. Red or blue. Even my brothers fell for that. Roxas liked red and Ven liked blue. But I didn't... I liked yellow. And I didn't care what the other kids said yellow was and always has been... my favorite color." He blushed more and chuckled.

"Sorry that was silly." He turned back to the fabric, fiddling with it.


"I have BLUE hair! It could NEVER suit me!" Aqua cried in indignation.

Terra laughed following after them. "Then why are you still holding onto that?" He pointed to the sleeping bag.

Aqua blinked than looked down at the offending object, grimacing and throwing it at the taller man. "It's for you and Ven!" She smiled sweetly. "Doesn't get much gayer for you two than that."

[Rikugurl]

Axel looked down at their hands slowly and smiled before looking up at Roxas. The edges of his eyes were still a bit red from the tear but he still gave the blonde a soft smile. "Thanks Roxas..." He slowly looked up at the Gyarados, feeling the ocean breeze in his face. "I'm glad you made it here safely..."

They sat there for a few minutes, hearing the ocean and the gull above calling out before Axel slowly stood. "Well, we don't have much time until noon and we still need to get lots of supplies. Come on, I'll race you~" Axel grinned as his normal self started to surface once more.


Riku stepped back a bit, making Umbreon tip as Sora burst into a happy cheer. He chuckled as he heard the other apologize and then started to tell him a story. Only blue and red? He shook his head and smiled under his hood.
"I always liked yellow because it was the color of the sun. I remember when I was on the island, I would always look up at it because I thought it was so beautiful and warm. My mom use to yell at me to stop staring because it would hurt my 'pretty' eyes but I never believed her on that account either. I didn't think something so beautiful could hurt me..."

He drifted off before laughing in an ironic way. "I guess I was very wrong."


Ven's eyes narrowed as he smirked, liking how Terra cornered Aqua... but of course Aqua got out of it and blinked when he saw Terra carrying it.
That was kinda.... funny looking.
"HEY!" He grabbed the sleeping bag and hit her with it, making her fumble now. "You can always dye your hair and it's YOURS now! You dressed me up in all that cute crap, well it's your turn bitch!"

[Reno]

Roxas stood as well, surprised but glad that Axel was already acting like himself again. He smiled fondly, glad the other was easily appeased, but he blinked in shock at the challenge. "As if that's very fair Mr. Long Legs." He teased his eyes turning mischievous, a rare but playful grin on his face. "But I suppose I... CAN!" He burst into a run suddenly, looking over his shoulder. "And win too!!"


Sora looked up and smiled some at Riku's explanation, but as it last bit he pouted. "Kinda like the rose and the thorn eh?" He took the bow from it's dispenser before whirling around to face Riku's his eyes excited and determined. "You know what Riku? I dunno how or when... but as your friend I'm gonna make sure you can see the beauty of the sun again, somehow." He grinned. "Promise!"

He reached over and grabbed the other wrist, tugging him along again. "Hey let's go check out the toy section!!"


Terra blinked down at the bag he was holding - only to get it taken from him. He laughed as Aqua was hit over the head with it this time.

"Ah!" She stumbled. She growled. "I eat dirt before that! There is no way, absolutely NO way I am buying a PINK sleeping bag."


An hour later.

"I hate you all." Aqua was grumbling as the seven lounged on the pier, loaded down with new gear and on top of it all... a pink sleeping bag.
"Ahh next time well get you a skirt to go with it~" Terra laughed when she twitched.

"Now isn't that just perfect!" Sora chirped as he fixed the new, yellow bow carefully around a rounded ear, liking how it glittered under the sunlight. He was never one able to wait to give gifts.
"Ar!" Barked the tiger dog, her tongue lolling out and giving the other an affectionate lick. She loved her bows - and most of all the attention they brought.
Sora laughed, petting her. "You gotta thank Ri too! He found it."
The tiger dog blinked but looked towards the hooded man barked at him happily. She stood and walked over, nuzzling him.

Standing beside Axel at the end of the pier, Roxas glanced away from the ocean towards the five, rolling his eyes. "Come on your guys focus we gotta get moving!"

[Rikugurl]

Ven grinned as he watched Aqua. "Maybe we can steal back my cute outfit and have it tailored just for you~~" He poked the other and grinned, getting slapped but spat right back. "Pfft, you're just jealous that I make a prettier girl than you."
Another smack.
"OW! DO YOU FUCKING THINK I GET SENSE KNOCKED INTO ME WHEN YOU DO THAT!?"

Riku looked up as he saw the large dog walk over to him and smiled as she nuzzled him. "Haha, good girl." He said as he reached up and rubbed the back of her ear.
He pulled away though when he heard Roxas and slowly walked over to the two, frowning as he saw Vaporeon and Buizel ready for the swim.

"I think it would be wise if we found another form of transportation for you two."
"Huh?" Axel questioned as he looked back at Riku. Luckily, no one asked then what had happened a hour ago, especially who won the race.
"I know for sure that there are a lot of Sharpedo in these waters...especially around the cities due to food. It wouldn't be safe to have you completely in the water or you might lose a leg..." He said in warning.

Axel sighed and Ven frowned. "Great, NOW what the fuck are we going to do!?"

Everyone stood there and though. Axel thought that they could maybe ask another trainer but he didn't want to repeat what happened yesterday. Then there was the chances of catching something at the Safari Zone close by... but they didn't have that kind of time.
That was when Riku slowly started to walked towards the end of the pier and looked out over the ocean. The wind blew at his hood but it didn't give as his eyes started to glow blue once more...and in a matter of minutes, some water blew up from the ocean.

"WHOA!" Ven cried as a large mass slowly started to swim towards them and then emerged from the waters.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIL!"
The whale cried happily as he looked up at the group, ready to be of service.

[Reno]

"I only could HOPE so!!" Aqua yelled back.
"Ladies, ladies." Terra jumped in, grinning. "Calm down now." He glanced at Aqua. "Don't damage him too much. I do need to date him."

The blue-haired woman smirked. "Trust me Terra you only need one head, and I'm pretty sure the one I'm hitting isn't the one you want."
Terra blinked slowly, than his cheeks flushed at the obvious implication.

Aracanine growled softly, her tail wagging behind her happy at the rubbing.

Everything sort of came to a close as Roxas interrupted their antics... and everyone turned to Riku when he spoke up. At the idea of losing a leg, Roxas flinched. That would be painful...

There was a pause over them all as they thought hard about this new problem that no one was sure what to do about. They could ATTEMPT to make Flygon make the trip seeing as he was the only flying type they had that could carry two people but the insect dragon would, most likely, not make it.

Sora frowned, tilting his head. was there a way around it? Maybe they could rent a boat or find someone who would be willing to give them a lift? He looked up though when Riku started to move, watching the other curiosly. "Ri...?" He asked softly, but got no answer.

Well... not an answer he expected at least. His jaw dropped as a HUGE form suddenly burst from the water. Was that a... POKEMON?!
"Wow that was totally cool Ri!"

"Well.... that's one way to do it." Roxas said slowly, looking at the large whale. They could all fit on him at least... maybe this would be better.

[Rikugurl]

Some people around the area quickly flocked over to see the biggest pokemon EVER.
Axel looked around, seeing how excited and stunned some of the people look, making his eyebrow raise. For people to be next to the ocean, didn't they ever see a Wailord before?

"Alright, Sora and I can ride on Gyarados while the rest of you can ride on Wailord." Riku instructed before his eyes turned blue again, the Gyarados understand and lower it's head.

Ven blinked as he looked down at the huge whale. What was wrong with his Empoleon!? He sighed, knowing that it was probably safer this way. If those fucking sharks dared bother them, they could send out their water types to beat them off. "Alright! All aboard, going aboard!" They heard a call from a cheery redhead as he walked over the the whale was was about to get on when he looked at the water below them...

A gap.

"Uh...Riku....could you us....ask him to move closer?"
"YOU BIG BABY!" A familiar blonde called and PUSHED Axel, making him fall over onto the Pokemon.
"ACK!"
"HEY! BE FUCKING CAREFUL! OUCH!" Axel could hear a smack and some mean words coming from another blonde with the same voice before Ven jumped down as well, landing more gracefully than Axel.

[Reno]

There was a rounding agreement at that as trainers recalled their water types and walked towards the large whale while Riku and Sora easily got on the sea dragon. Roxas scoffed, annoyed at Ven's mean words, shoving the blonde towards the edge of the pier and hitting him over the head. "Shut the hell up and leave him alone."

After Ven had jumped on Roxas did the same, wheeling his arms a little to catch his balance, but the red-head was quick to grab his wrist and yank him closer. The blonde blushed and smiled gratefully. "Thanks~"

"Ugh, you guys seriously make me sick." Aqua commented as she jumped on the whale as easily as Ven had. She walked carefully along the water Pokemon before sitting down and running her hands along the large creatures rubbery skin.

Terra edged towards the pier, looking down mistrustfully seeing what Axel had. The gap between the pier and the whale... it looked small to those unafraid of water, but for him and Axel it seemed like a mile. "Uh... you sure he can't move closer?"

He didn't miss the smug looks Axel and Roxas both sent Ven's way.


"Gaaaaa!" Cried Gyarados as they moved through the water. His body low in the water to stay level with the large whale Pokemon and the five trainers traveling upon it.
Sora yawned loudly before snuggling his head into Riku's shoulder his grip loose.

"Ugggh... we should of ate more." Roxas complained as he sprawled out on top of the large Pokemon, his arms crossed over his stomach. "Think Wailord would mind if we built a campfire here?"

The large whale made an angry growl shaking his whole body, making everyone give a cry. That was definitely a yes.
"He didn't mean it." Aqua soothingly said, petting the creature tenderly with one had, black binoculars in her other.

"Stop making him mad or I fucking swear I'll throw you into the ocean!" Terra growled furiously, despite looking quite comical as he held onto Ven like he was some sort of big teddy bear.
"Tch like you'd ACTUALLY get close enough to it to throw me in." Roxas shot back with a smirk.
"Shut up, all of ya!" Aqua snapped before raising her binoculars back to her eyes, searching the horizons for land. they'd been traveling for hours there HAD to be something close by.

[Rikugurl]

"YOU BIG BABY!"
The blonde called up.


Now he could really feel it. Terra's shaking and tight squeezes every time the whale hit a larger wave. He rolled his eyes but Terra was more focused at making sure the water didn't get any closer to pay attention.

Axel was pretty much on the same boat, no pun intended.
He had his knees on his chest as he sat very still and hand his arms out to make sure he didn't fall over. He rather be IN the water than fall into it.
Especially now, the ocean being MUCH deeper and almost impossible to swim in... seeing that he wasn't a great swimmer to begin with. When you grow up next to a volcano, there was no need to learn how to swim!

Ven frowned as he heard his stomach start to growl and he moaned in compliant. "Aquaaaaaa, do you see anything yeeeeeet?"
If his geography was right, they would see Mossdeep City next or totally miss it and see an inactive volcano instead. However, knowing that Mossdeep was a place that Riku knew rather well, he was sure the silverette would lead them there for the night.

However, his stomach was turning for a whole other reason too. Mossdeep would be the last city they would stop in before reaching the Sky Pillar. The only city after Mossdeep was Sootopolis City... and the only way you could get there was from snorkeling or flying...in which they could do neither. Things were going to start getting tough...

[Reno]

"Stop yer bitching. I'm looking." Aqua snapped back, turning her head slowly this way and that.

"HEY!" Roxas suddenly burst out and he sat up. Terra and Axel both jumped at his abrupt movement, then glared at him slightly for it. "Oh Stop freaking out." The blonde said, rolling his eyes before glancing at Aqua and then Ven. "Now that I think about it, you guys never really told us what we would be facing... I mean shouldn't we of been making battle plans and stuff?"

"Uh... well..." Aqua hesitated. She supposed that probably would of been smart but...