Free Bird (Axl Rose Fanfic)

Prologue

May, 1987 - NYC

The crowd cheered as the song ended. She looked into the crowd, having a hard time seeing all of them because of the spotlights that blinded her. She raised her arm to flash a peace sign and smiled brightly at them. This was one of the reasons she actually enjoyed being onstage: she didn't see them as individuals, when people gathered together and looked only like countless heads and bodies. She felt like she was performing somewhere where she cannot be seen or heard by anybody. This was the impression she got while looking at the crowd. And it lowered her stage fright.

"Thank you!" she shouted in the microphone, and the crowd cheered.

Ed hid his face from the crowd as he awkwardly waved, and hurriedly walked to the backstage. Otto jumped down from his drum kit, and threw his arms around Dustin and Jimmie. The crowd was shouting their name while she was walking right after Ed, trying to make it to the backstage without passing out.

The crowd seemed a lot bigger than it actually was. There must have been about 100 people, maybe more. She really didn't know, because she saw them as 10000. She wasn't sure if it was because of the amount of alcohol in her body, or because of how exhausted she was. But either way, she was really happy that the show was over.

She immediately got inside her room in the backstage, closing the door behind her. She could still hear the crowd cheering, applausing and shouting. But she was glad that she was alone, she needed some silence and peace.

Once again, she regretted the bottles of beer she had before going onstage. Otto had told her that it would help, since she seemed so stressed out and afraid without knowing the reason. And yes, it was helpful in a way. But she couldn't stand the feeling of her mind being off at somewhere all the time.

"Aryl!" Someone shouted and knocked on her door violently, disturbing her peaceful moment. She couldn't recognize the voice, and when she opened the door she faced a chubby-looking man. He was a guitar tech, as she remembered. "The new guy arrived. He wants to talk to you."

The new guy was Paul. Paul was the "possible" new manager of the band, since they had fired the previous one, Fred, for being such a narrow-minded asshole as Jimmie said all the time. Paul seemed easier to get along, as well as more intelligent. But he didn't know much about the band, and it was going to be the first time they were going to see him. She got out of the room and followed the guy, still kind of upset that she couldn't spend time alone.

As she entered the main room all the boys rehearsed before the show, the sight was kind of unexpected. All the other members had sat down on the couch, a blonde guy who surprisingly had soft features for a manager sitting on the armchair, certainly waiting for her to arrive. Otto scooted a little to create some space for her. She squeezed between him and Ed, the guy cleared his throat.

"So," he started. "I'm Paul Marshall. First of all, I'm sorry guys. I couldn't watch the show, I'm so sad I missed it." He sounded very genuine, though there was something else she noticed about him. His hair was carefully straightened, there were blue earrings hanging from his ears, he was wearing very stylish clothes. She didn't want to make a statement at first sight, but he looked... Gay.

"We should introduce ourselves then?" she heard Dustin speak. He was buried into the couch, probably high again. Paul nodded, "Please."

Jimmie, being the most initiative as always, went first: "I'm Jimmie Rudd, I play bass. In the band from the beginning." He shot her a look, she looked at her fingers and felt her cheeks heat up. Why was he mocking her now?

"I'm "Dust" and I play guitar." Dustin said briefly, slightly slurring, and Paul nodded. "The name's Otto Leionen, I play drums. I'm Finnish if you wanna ask. And I like Jack Daniels more than girls." Otto said, she couldn't help but smile at his silly confession. "Ed Venzor. Lead guitar." Ed quietly said without making eye-contact. Another thing about Ed was that he never spoke, only when it was crucial.

Realizing that only she was left, she quietly cleared her throat. "I'm Aryl Raine. I sing." Paul smiled at her and nodded, "So, that's where the band's name comes from." he joked. "I heard a lot about you, Aryl." She didn't know how to reply to that, so she said: "Yeah, and together we are Rain."

"I see." he nodded. "Well, now...The thing is, I listened to you guys' demo, and it was absolutely..." He paused for a moment. "You guys fuckin' rock!" he exclaimed, causing all of them to burst out laughing. "It was one of the best things I've heard, since... Led Zep and Queen and stuff. It's so fuckin' hard rock, but kinda progressive at the same time. Sorry for being informal guys, but... Real creative, I loved it."

Dustin sat up straight, "Don't need to be sorry man, no one wants you to be fuckin' formal!" Everyone laughed once again. Paul wiped his face and shook his head, still laughing. "But there's something important I wanna tell you." Everyone suddenly got quiet and waited for the news, including the chubby guitar tech waiting at the door. "You're pretty popular here in New York. You should start working on an album, but before doing that..." They all impatiently stared at him. "You should go play at different venues. I've been in LA for a while, and I know a lot of clubs, bars and hotels you can play at. So, if you want, we can start off from there."

All the members of Rain looked at each other instictively, trying to telephatically decide who is going to say yes first. "That sound great!" she said excitedly, and the boys cheered and repeated what she said. Paul chuckled, "Well then, I guess I'm your new manager?"

They all exclaimed "Yes!" in unison. Otto was jumping up and down from his seat like a little child, while Dustin and Jimmie wrapped their arms around each other and gave each other high fives. "Wait, wait... When do we start?" she asked, causing everyone to got quiet again.

"What about... Next week?" Paul suggested, and they all approved in unison once again. "Then congradulations boys, and Aryl... You're going to California!" he exclaimed, and they all cheered. Jimmie stood up and jumped, Otto shook her from her shoulders while he was screaming in joy, causing her to smile even brighter. She turned to Ed and they exchanged smiles, she was one of the few people that got along well with Ed. Even Jimmie turned to her and shouted "LA baby!", and she giggled.

Then, she turned her head and realized that Dustin was looking at her. His eyes were red from whatever he took before the show, but he sincerely smiled at her and reached his arms out for a hug. She had no choice but to smile back, and she let him hug her, squeezing Otto between them as they wrapped their arms around each other warmly.

She had missed this, that was for sure. She had missed being in his arms and feeling the heat of his body. But she hadn't missed his drug and sex addiction, him going out and coming home either late at night and high, or the next morning after having sex with some chick. But other than that, she had missed his friendship too, and how much time they used to spend together. She knew that they would beccome friends again soon, after they are both over the break-up. But she still couldn't help but wish none of this ever happened, and she stayed as the young girl who was doing her master's degree in Colombia University and wanted to work in the UN.

Anyways, she thought. The past is the past. There was no point in thinking of these kinds of things. She was now somewhere she never guessed she would be. And yes, she was proud of herself. She knew that Rain was going to be successful.

We're going to Los Angeles, she thought. We're going to California.

But Aryl Rea Raine had no idea that someone she would meet in LA would change her life.

...

So, hi everyone. I'm finally back! I used to have another story called "Free Bird" as some of you know, but now that one's called "Blackbird" and is about what happened before all this. If you want you can check it out, it also contains (will contain) more information about the band members. But it's currently on hold, just saying.

Did you guys like this imaginary band? And who do you think Aryl's gonna meet in LA? It's very hard to guess, isn't it? ;)

Hope you liked it!