-STARS ON FIRE-

burnittotheground

(It all started when Axel burned down a supposedly abandoned house.)

He called himself a fire-dancer: one who played with the element most feared. It was a difficult task, managing to tame the leaping fire between his hands, expand it, shrink it, and altogether just dance with it, a form of beauty and elegance not many people actually knew existed. Those who were aware, though… they paid a lot to see a show.

The money gained from fire-dancing went towards paying off the student loans from college, as well as the barely-used apartment. By day, Axel hung around the college whether he had classes or not, and if one couldn't find him there, he was likely hanging out at the nearby fire station, talking with the men about what they do best.

The funniest thing about those situations was that Axel was practically their arch-nemesis, and the firefighters didn't know it.

The redhead had burned down houses before. Never on purpose; he never had that much lack of control over the flames. Most of the time it was a request from someone who had a lot of cash and wanted something gone.

No one died in those fires. Axel made sure of that; he wasn't a murderer.

It was a group of four men, at least two of which probably attended the same college Axel did. They introduced themselves as Xigbar, Marluxia, Demyx, and Zexion, and all of them besides the last were drunk.

They pooled their money together—which was a lot—and paid him in full the moment he told them what he could do, so he'd be damned if he didn't give one helluva good show.

The five left the bar, four with happy grins and the fifth with a scowl. Marluxia had mentioned a place outside of town near an abandoned building where Axel could fire-dance freely without any restriction laws, so they hailed a couple cabs and headed out.

The building was a two-story, tall and narrow, like the ones often shown on ghost shows. The peeling paint had been white once, and old curtains still hung in a few of the windows.

Paying the house no mind, the group gathered to the right of it, probably too close to the wooden wall but not caring.

Demyx voiced his concern that Axel 'forgot his materials'. When Axel asked what he meant, it was soon made clear that the four thought he was a regular circus fire-eater.

He was going to prove them wrong.

"I've got all I need right here," he said, flipping open a zippo lighter and letting the small glow reach their faces.

Xigbar's confusion was obvious. "Wha' the 'ell're you gonna do with that tiny flame?"

Axel grinned the kind of grin that said, 'God' busy, can I help you?' and made smart people—much like that shorty Zexion—back up a few steps. "I can make it bloom."

On the last word, the flame from the zippo grew and twisted into a fist-sized fiery flower, and the crowd's eyes widened. Axel created a stem, the fire flower getting father from its source but never dimming.

Axel clicked the zippo shut, and all light faded from the world.

The four customers were forced to step back as Axel opened the lighter again, but instead of a tiny flame, a dragon emerged, swaying in the wind. It was large enough to spiral around Axel's body lithely…

And Axel began to dance.

There were so many shapes and pictures that blended into one another that the four watching would never be able to explain the show to the T, and Zexion just COULDN'T figure out how he managed to shape the flames at all. Axel's favourite shapes appeared to be circles and diamonds, and symmetry was present now and again. The dance was wild and intoxicating, the light show drawing in those watching.

The final motion that ended the dance a few minutes later was a large, sweeping move. Axel's arms spread to either side, and fire in the shape of devilish wings burst from his back. He was panting, and tired, but the applause and amazed grins from three of four was kind of worth it.

Oh, and the money. Don't forget the money.

When Axel put the fire away, leering at his crowd he noticed that even the quietest one seemed amazed, though he wasn't smiling. The light from the fire quietly reflected in the short guy's eyes…

Hang on a sec.

There shouldn't even be any light to see from—the dramatic effect usually adds to how amazing the show is—and his back was beginning to feel very warm…

Eyes narrowed and grin now missing, the facial expression alone was enough to let the strangers know that something was wrong as the redhead turned around and took in the sight of half the abandoned building burning down.

The group retreated, wide-eyed in surprise and a little fear of the law, wondering what was going to happen next. Should they call the fire department?

"I-it's just an abandoned building right? No one lives there, right?" Demyx stuttered.

Shit! People! What if there WERE people in there?! Even if there wasn't anyone who owned it, teens still liked to romp through 'forbidden' areas for a cheap thrill or a place to have sex. What if what if?

Axel sprang forward, doing his best to control the flames and keep them away from the door. Shouts of alarm erupted behind him as he entered the glowing building, but they were ignored as he covered his mouth and nose with a hand and kept his eyes open, searching for any sign of people. His ears caught a faint scream and a crack as a part of the building collapsed.

His heart raced in the fear. No one had ever died in his house fires before, and he wasn't going to blacken that record now. Whoever was in here, for there was certainly someone, he was going to get them out. No question.

It took another cry for Axel to pinpoint where the person was, and called out, "stay where you are! Breathe shallow! I know where you are, I'm coming to get you!"

Turns out, those stories he stuck around the fire station for ended up doing some good.

There was another answering scream and Axel moved, weaving about and calming the flames—but it wasn't the fire that he had to worry about. The building itself was caving in and toppling over, one rotten piece at a time, and even as the building collapsed on itself Axel could tell that it wasn't in great shape in the first place. It wasn't the kind of place adventurous kids would frequent at all.

So why was this person there?

A small, huddled form was curled up in the corner of an empty room with a narrow window that would barely fit a child through. Having ruled out one of the possible exits, Axel decided that the best way to go was back the way he came.

He climbed his way around a fallen chunk of ceiling—which was what probably made the boy in the corner scream—and calmed the flames around himself and the other, pulling the boy up and into his arms.

God, the kid was light. Lucky for that, because it made it easier to cradle the boy and manoeuvre his way about the burning house safely.

Well, about as safe is it could get.

The room crumbled inwards as Axel left, and the flames parted like the red sea as he hiked it out of there, the boy burying his head into the fire-dancer's chest to avoid breathing in the smoke or ash.

The outside air was heavenly to both as they hacked out the putrid air settled in their lungs. A safe distance away from the house, Axel placed the boy on the ground before falling over himself and letting Marluxia and Demyx fret over both himself and the boy he saved as Zexion gave orders for a cab to be called and water to be given.

Axel had charged through a burning building, thrown fire on its ass, and saved the life of a kid. He felt amazing, the most powerful thing in the world as he hacked up a lung, and there was no way the grin on his face was going to leave.

The boy's blond hair was riddled with ash, even as Demyx ran his fingers through to get the worst of it out. The entire group smelled like smoke, but that was no surprise.

"Wait a sec, where's the tall one?" Axel asked, finally taking note of the pirate's absence.

"He works at that bar we met in," Demyx explained, handing a bottle of water to each of the guys on the ground. "He had to leave early if he wanted to be there on time."

Axel nodded and drank.

Then spewed out half the water as the blond stood up and pointed at him accusingly.

"You burnt down my house."

"WHAT? No one lived there!"

"Well apparently I did," the blond made an angry gesture, "so either find me a new place to stay or give me the money to find one myself!"

"Wait—no. You are not my responsibility. I saved your life, so you should owe me!"

"How am I supposed to do that if I'm a homeless bum on the street?!"

"Well what am I supposed to do, let you stay at my apartment?!"

"YEAH, that'll do!" Suddenly, the blond deflated, and Axel realized that the blond really had no other place to go.

The abandoned house was all the boy had, probably. "Fine."

The kid looked up in surprise. "Huh?"

"I'm not usually at my apartment anyways; hardly sleep. You can even take the bedroom."

"Wait, I was just planning to crash on your couch, not—,"

"Listen, kid, take it or leave it. I'm just giving you what you asked for." Axel frowned, trying to figure out the boy before him.

"…Thanks…" the kid mumbled.

"Huh?"

"Roxas," he said, louder this time. "M'name's Roxas."

"Well I'm Axel. Got it memorized?"

"I'm Demyx, and this is Marly and Zex!" Chimed in the excess person on the sidelines.

"Marluxia," corrected one.

"Zexion," blandly stated the other.

Axel's grin was back.

A/N: This is a test. I don't plan on getting any reviews or anything for this, but thank you so much if you do. I'm just testing this story, so I'm looking more for constructive criticism and suggestions on where this story could be going.

Thanks!

-HW-