Standard disclaimer applies.
Takes place a few days after the end of As the Ice Breaks.
As the Fire Burns
Part 1: Prologue - Awaiting
The sun was shining brightly in the sky, birds were chirping from the branches which they perched as a gently breeze ruffled the leaves in the large oak tree. A figure lay sprawled among the roots of the tree, his hands resting behind his head. His peaceful face did nothing to betray the array of emotions and trouble running through his mind.
It had just been one day since they've been back in Japan. Mr. Dickenson didn't think that it was such a good idea for them to extend their stay any longer, what with everything that's been happening. He booked a flight two days after the incident of the burnt down Abbey (the flight had been full the day after because everyone who had attended the World Championships were now heading back home.)
Rei sighed loudly and slowly pushed himself up to a sitting position. He leaned against the tree and eyes casting a woeful look up at the sky.
'There are some days, that I just envy the clouds,' he thought to himself as he studied the fluffy clouds. 'I bet they don't have a care in the world. They just float by, day by day…never having to worry about anything,' he looked away. 'Look at me…talking about clouds. The guys would think that I had gone mad or something.'
Rei's keen ears perked up as they picked up the presence of someone coming closer to him. He held back a smile when he recognized the familiar footsteps. "Hello to you too, Mariah."
Mariah's pink hair came into view. "Glad to know you're still as perceiving as ever, Rei," she smiled as she seated herself beside him, smoothing out her pink garments and brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "What are you doing out here by yourself?"
"Just thinking," the raven haired teen looked away, expression somber.
"Do you want to talk about it? It'll do you good."
The appeal of the invitation nipping at his mind, it took Rei a full minute to consider her offer. He was never one in need of someone to listen, more often than not, he was the one doing the listening.
Exhaling silently, he looked away from Mariah, sharp cat eyes falling on the swarm of bees hovering around their hive just a few trees away from where they were. "I was like a dream come true at first. There we were, in Moscow, the beyblade capital of the world, and better yet, we were set to go against the number one team in the world. It was a thrill like I've never experienced before," a small smile played at his lips, "But then suddenly, it was like a derailing train, everything went crashing into the ground. First Kai betrayed us, stole your and the All Starz's bit-beasts, something I never thought he was capable of. Then when we finally make up, when he first comes to kind off consider us as friends, he almost dies. Tyson and Max were...I've never even seen them so depressed...then the whole thing with the Demolition Boys and Tala, whom I suspect has feelings for Kai--"
"What do you mean?--Ooh...How do you figure that?"
"Call it feline intuition if you want. And the little things I've seen between the both of them. I don't know about Kai, though. Anyway, then as if everything's not completely screwed up already, we find out that the evil and demented Boris Balkov, the mastermind behind all of this, is actually Tala's father. His father for heaven's sakes, Mariah. They look nothing alike! But during all of this fiasco, we discover that the Demolition Boys aren't such a bad bunch after all," running a hand though his hair, Rei concluded with a small sigh, "Now because of Boris, Kai's forgotten who we are, and the only person he does remember is dead...and the worst thing about it is...we don't know how to break the news to Kai."
Mariah reached over and massaged him gently on the shoulders. "No one's counting on you to keep a brave face, Rei. We're all friends, and we will get though this together."
"I suppose...By the way, how's Galux doing?" he inquired suddenly without turning to face her. His eyes remained closed in a peaceful manner.
"She's fine," Mariah said happily, "still a little cold and catty, but fine."
"That's good," he allowed a smile to surface.
That stayed like that for longer, neither one getting the nipping feel of obligation to resume the conversation. For the moment, they felt enough comfort in the presence of each other to keep silent, instead, focusing their attention on two butterflies dancing in the wind until the stern voice of Lees' called them back for supper. It didn't seem like a long time, but in truth it was past sunset already and everyone had gathered in the living room for a friendly get together.
- - - - -
"Max?" Tyson poked his head through one of the open doors in search for his blonde friend. After being sure that there was no place the blonde could possibly be hiding, he moved on to the next destination. It took him a full seven minutes of searching before coming across his friend sitting quietly on a rock by the side of the pond. His bare feet dipped into the cool waters and still form illuminated by the bright glow of the full moon.
"Hey, Max," Tyson called out happily upon the discovery, "I've been looking everywhere for you," he walked over and took a seat next to his best friend.
He turned to look at the navy haired teen jogging up to his spot and replied with a grin of his own, "Hey, Tyson. What's up?"
"Nothing much...Just wondering where my best buddy in the world was hiding," swatting the boy on the arm in a playful manner, he lowered himself to a seat beside the Draciel master. Legs crossed and elbows propped up on his knees.
"Here, as you can see. I actually was wondering how it felt like to be bait," he muttered, staring at the fishes that had gathered around his toes, as if wondering what those strange creatures were and if they were edible.
"So...how does it?"
"Quite ticklish, really," he replied with a giggle when a fish nibbled at his toe.
A moment of silence went by, Tyson had cupped his chin in his palm was sat staring at the rippled in the water made by Max's moving legs, while the blonde half sat with his arms propped up behind him, eyes casting a look at the stars, "Hey, look," he pointed upwards suddenly, "It's the Big Dipper."
"Huh? Where?"
"Over there, don't you see? The dots, if you connect them."
"Isn't the Big Dipper located in the North?" he squinted his eyes, trying to make out the shape Max was drawing out in the air with his finger.
"Maybe...aren't we in the North?"
"I don't know...looks more like a bowl of mashed potatoes from where I'm sitting--no, wait...that's a roasted lamb with gravy on the side."
"Tyson," Max said in an exasperated tone, but at the same time, attempted to muffle the laughter in his voice, "You once thought Rei looked like a bowl of mashed potatoes with gravy. I don't know why I try," he punched his playfully in the shoulder before turning his attention back to the sky. "Do you think Tala's up there?"
Tyson's smile dropped slightly at the subject, "I don't know...maybe. But man, I can just imagine if one of the constellations was named after him. The Tala, leading all lost sailors further into misery before ending up a casualty of the edge of the world," he laughed at the image of Tala's constellation doubling over in laughter after having sent another sailor to his doom, a wicked gleam in the star that had taken shape of his infamous blue eyes.
"Oh, that's so true," Max joined in the laugh.
"But..." Tyson slowly coughed his laughter away until it was merely a sad chuckle, "What do you do you think would have happened if Mr. Dickenson had managed to prevent Tala from going back to the abbey?"
"Don't think about that, Tyson."
"Can't help it...it's just...Kai deserves to know."
Max didn't have anything to reply to that. The once playful glow that had momentarily returned to his eyes disappeared as quickly as it appeared. He didn't know what to say, even as he felt Tyson's body stir beside him before taking to his feet and walking away in the direction of the house. He stayed silent, dull eyes glued to the moon's reflection on the surface of the pond, and the rippled made by the fishes as they surfaced to catch what unsuspecting bug that fell into the water, seemingly having lost interest in his feet.
- - - - -
Kai sat against the windowsill in the room he was currently sharing with the others. One leg bent over the ledge while the other dangled on the side, the tips of his toes brushing against the floor. His left arms was folded and rested comfortably between his stomach and thigh as the other was propped against his knee.
The rest of the teams that had returned with them to Japan--partially to make sure that Kai was alright. They may not like him, but it didn't mean that they did not respect him; it was also due to Mr. Dickenson's request that they discuss their next move. Boris was out of control, having disappeared after setting fire to the abbey. The official reports may have stated that the fire was started by faulty wiring, but anyone who had ever crossed Boris' path knew otherwise.
At the moment, the members of all three teams, Mr. Dickenson and Max's parents had been relocated to a nearby hotel. Mr. Dickenson thought it was best for them to give Kai his space, for him to get re-familiarised with his teammates better and for the sake of his state of mind.
"Kai?" Tyson stuck his head on, eyes looking around for the object of his search. Having spotted the slate haired teen sitting at the window sill, his still form casting a tapering shadow into the empty training room, he walked in, and was still half surprised to discover that Kai seemed unaware to his presence. "Kai," he called out again, this time a little louder.
The familiar voice reaching his ear, Kai turned around to look at the person who had broken his concentration, and eyes came to rest on Tyson standing awkwardly near the door. Nodding his head in an offhanded greeting, he returned his gaze to the lawn.
Taking it as a sign that it was safe to precede, Tyson walked over to where his captain sat, trying hard to make as little sound as possible. "Are you all right, Kai?" he clasped his arms behind his back and looked towards wherever Kai was so transfixed by. "What are you looking at?"
Kai just shrugged his shoulders, seemingly uninterested in indulging in a conversation.
Tyson just smiled weakly, "Seems that old habits die hard, eh?"
Kai turned his blood-red orbs to him to the silent boy, "What do you mean?"
"Well...you were always like this, before. If you didn't want to talk with anyone, you'll just brush us off and walk away, scarf billowing. It would have been cool if it wasn't just so darn annoying."
"Was I such a bad person before?" he asked suddenly, eyes not lingering over Tyson.
Tyson, stunned by this unexpected question, just shook his head fervently, "No, I didn't mean it that way," he assured him. "You were a good person...just...distant."
"Why?"
"I don't know. Your past is a very mysterious one. I think the only people who really know are the De--err--nothing," he quickly changed his answer. No point bringing them into the subject if he didn't have to. "We never really knew very much about you."
Kai just nodded his head in understanding. "It's weird. It's like...there are some things that I know should remember, but I can't. Like there's this big wall standing in my path keeping me away from whatever is behind it and everything keeps on blurring in and out of sight, like some broken television set. The only thing that stays clear and distinguishable though out all this is the image of Tala. It's like his smirking face has forever been carved into my mind."
Tyson studied his silent captain for a long minute, mouth unable to say the words that are currently weighing down on his mind, he turned his eyes away, his heart heavy as to the issue he was about to break to his lost captain. "Kai--"
"When is he coming?"
"Who?"
"Tala...he said he'd be back," Kai looked away, recalling the conversation he had with the redhead just a few days ago.
Tyson stared sadly at Kai, unable to answer the question, or just afraid to see how Kai would react to the awful news.
"Tyson?" Kai looked inquiringly at the boy when he didn't receive a reply.
The Dragoon master looked into Kai's innocent red-eyes, which seemed to have lost the dangerous glow it had previously and seemed to be more crimson, than blood-red. His heart dropped into his stomach and he gulped before forcing a smile onto face. "I'm sure he'll be here soon," he smiled reassuringly at Kai.
A smile tugged at Kai's lips as he nodded.
At Kai's answer, Tyson felt even guiltier. He wanted to tell Kai that Tala would not be coming back, but he just didn't have the heart to. It would destroy Kai, and Tyson couldn't stand to see that. Tala meant a lot to Kai, it was obvious, if even Tyson noticed it.
To be continued.I fixed a few grammar faults and redid most of the parts. It's nothing that contributes to the overall plot, it just seemed...better.
Concerning what Ellen said...yes, chapter twenty-six's title was for two reasons. One; what she mentioned, the end of Tala's being a fiery one, and two; because Tyson was fighting Tala (represents fire) in the final match that would end the tournament, and the story. The title of this sequel also has a meaning, as did the last story.
Review.