A/N: "Kolmas kerta toden sanoo" - "The third attempt speaks the truth out". Or something like that.
Here we are again.
It seems this story won't let me alone until I have written it out of my systems, and this time I'll begin right away where the adventure starts, without introductions. I hope all the flashbacks won't make it too confusing.
It was difficult to decide the genres for this fic. An adventure, of course, but besides that, there will be humor and friendship, some drama and supernatural, maybe hurt and romance, etc...
The story is situated between Metal Masters and Metal Fury. I'm not going to mess with the canon, just stretching the timeline between them. ;)
And I beg thousands of pardons for all the mistakes there will be in my English. I just love to play with words and mix languages, so please, please, tell me when I'm totally at he sea!
Thanks to all of you who did read the first version(s), please forget it. I really do hope this will be a better one!
"But dad, it... it's a wolf, isn't it?", Gingka gasped.
They stared at the picture of a greyish-blue bey on the screen.
Kyoya growled deep in his throat. The others looked at him astonished. Why, the boy was crouched like an animal, ready to attack. They could almost see the hair in his neck stand thick. Ryo was the only one who didn't pay any attention to him, he looked the blurry picture with glowing enthusiasm.
"Yes, it is, Gingka. The blue one. One of the three oldest beys named after the Lupus constellation. I was just about to leave my office tonight when I got a message it was found. The last three hours I've been searching for more information about it, but it's almost impossible to find anything. It seems that..."
Gingka found it hard to concentrate. The atmosphere of the evening had changed a little too quickly and too often. Why, only half an hour ago they all – himself, Madoka, Tsubasa, Kyoya, Benkei, Yuu and Kenta – had been spending a cozy Friday evening at Kiti's apartment, eating and chatting. Then several things had happened.
The first was the howling.
It had been a mere joke: Kiti had done it to tease Kyoya who had said something rude about operasingers when Madoka had asked if the boys wanted to come with her and Kiti to see Madama Butterfly.
"I'd rather listen the wolves in the canyon!", the Lion had put it.
And then, without any warning but a mischevious glint in her eyes, Kiti had taken a deep breath, lifted her face – and howled with such an authentic gloominess it made the blood freeze in their veins.
The effect had been shocking.
Gingka still felt his hair come up when he thought how the terrifying sound had echoed in the small room. Madoka had screamed and dropped her laptop, a thing she almost never did. He had snatched it just in time, and without thinking wrapped his other arm round her shoulders. The remembrance made him blush, and he looked shyly at the auburn-haired girl just in front of him. He took one step closer, just in case if she needed some more protection when seeing so soon a picture of that dreaded animal. They had had no time to recover and find their happy mood again because one minute later Ryo had called and asked them to come to his office immediately. He hadn't said anything else on the phone, and now they were here, staring the screen and listening to the story about a bey no-one of them had ever heard before. What would it be to battle against such a relic, Gingka thought. His curiosity arose as Ryo's narration continued.
"Once upon a time the three beys of Wolf constellation were made to maintain the balance between three kingdoms. The most powerful of them, Silverwolf, disappeared several hundreds of years ago and is today known only by legends. The second one, Dark Wolf, remained longer. The last time we saw it, it belonged to Doji, and it disappeared with him. It is said that very few of its masters have been able to use its full power, so it's likely even we didn't see the whole truth of it."
Kyoya tried to suppress the growing wrath inside him. Once again he remembered the time he had been challenged by Dark Wolf and the humiliation burned in his veins. He had lost, lost like a child and although the things that had followed were the reason to the power he got today, his Lion pride still demanded for rematch. As for real wolves, he had seen enough of them in the Wolf Canyon.
That darned girl with her extraordinary howling-skills!
Kyoya felt his anger arise when he thought about his reaction to her trick. He had jumped on his feet, ready to launch Leone before anybody else had been able to move a toe. He could only hope nobody had been able to see what he had really felt that moment. The memories the sound had woken up had been buried in the deepest parts in his mind, and he wanted to keep them there. For good. The only person who knew anything about these memories was Nile, and sometimes he felt even that was one person too much.
Ryo continued. He still didn't notice the sidelong glances that were thrown towards Kiti.
"This bluenette was almost forgotten, nobody had seen it for ages until today. During its history it has rather stayed in the background, shadow-like. In spite of that, its influence in certain incidents mustn't be underestimated. For some reason the masters of Bluewolf have never wanted to be in the spotlight."
He turned and watched the young faces before him. From their wide-opened eyes he could guess the thoughts this new information had caused, although the seriousness of them surprised him: Gingka, already burning with enthusiasm when thinking of the possibility to battle against a new and powerful opponent. Kyoya, also burning, but in a very different way and probably for different reasons. Madoka, interested and eager to learn more about the qualities of a new bey. Tsubasa, calm and reliable as always, ready for taking orders. Yuu, listening, but seemingly wondering what did they have to do with all this. Kenta, with his mouth open, looking the picture of the ancient bey with a respectful and a little worried look on his round face. And Kiti, the newest link of the chain, her green eyes full of curiosity and wonder. Ryo let his eyes stop on her for a moment.
How she reminded her father! With her copper hair and angular face she was a living picture of Jonathan – or Joonatan, as his name was originally spelled. An old friend, of whom he hadn't seen for decades.
His gaze moved forward. Except for Kiti, they all had been through thick and thin together, facing much harder tasks than the one he was going to ask some of them to do this time. So why did he suddenly hesitate, like he was afraid? He couched slightly and shook his head to drop off the gnawing feeling.
"The reason I wanted you to come for is this: somebody has to go and get the bey safe immediately. I have several reasons to believe that Dark Wolf is not destroyed. With these two beys, somebody could be able to find out Silverwolf's whereabouts, and I don't want even to think what would happen if the powers of all these three were combined on evil purposes."
Tsubasa had listened attentively. He had already guessed what the director was after.
"So, where is the bey?" he asked in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Over there." Ryo pointed a tiny spot on the map he had clicked on the screen. "A group of scientists was making some measurements on the mountains, concerning the global warming. They had their camp in a deserted village, or hamlet. The bey was found some kilometres above it. It was buried on ice, and they didn't have time to dig it up, so they sent me only the picture of it and the location. The problem is, there is no road to the village, only a footpath, and it will soon be blocked by snow. If we want to get there before spring we must start immediately."
"We? Are we all going?" Madoka gasped. In her mind she saw a several days journey on snowy mountains. The picture didn't make her too happy.
"No, a group of two or three is faster and draws less attention. I thought..."
"Please, Ryo-san, may I go?" Kiti had jumped forward and was bouncing in front of him, her eyes glowing. "This sounds just the trip I've been longing for weeks!"
He hesitated.
"Um... what do you think your parents...", he asked uncertainly.
When Jonathan had suddenly contacted him after years and years of silence, and asked him to look after his daughter a bit, he had been only too happy to assent. An exchange student, studying passionately classical music and harp playing just couldn't cause any troubles, he had thought, at least compared to the youngsters he already had in his charge.
He should have known better.
Even their first meeting had been loaded with surprises.
He couldn't say what kind of person he had been waiting for, but this tomboy in her ragged jeans, olive green hoodie and an enormous sack-like cap that hid her whole head wasn't exactly what he had thought a classical harpist would be. Well, maybe he was just a little old-fashioned, but at first he had thought her a member of Kyoya's old gang Face Hunters, when he found her sleeping on a couch in front of his office. Her face had soon revealed her to Jonathan's daughter, and after that he had noticed there were many other things she had inherited as well. Like the readiness to throw herself into a new adventure, totally ignoring the hardships.
Kiti waved the question about the parents aside with an expressive gesture.
"Who cares? I'd be in the woods this very moment if I wasn't here."
"Well... your father did tell me you are quite at home in those kind of conditions..."
He looked at Tsubasa who nodded.
"I'm ready to go. It's been a while since I was outside the city and civilization."
"I'll go too." Kyoya blurted unexpectedly. Once again he felt annoyed of the way Ryo had put Tsubasa ahead of the others, just like the day when Kti's unexpected potential as a blader was discovered and Ryo had ordered the Eagle to coach her. Besides, getting the bey before the possible owner of Dark Wolf had already became a matter of honor to him.
Gingka had lifted his hand.
"And I! Gosh, this is going to..."
"No, Gingka." Ryo shook his head. "A group of three is enough. Yes, I know you got your Pegasos in kind of similar location, but this case is different. As far as I know, Bluewolf doesn't belong to anybody, it won't guide or help you in any way. Moreover, you are not as used to wilderness as these three, you'd slow them down."
Benkei had opened his mouth but shut it again and looked sheepishly at Kyoya.
"But... but... Kyoya-pal..."
"You heard what he said." the Lion answered without turning his eyes from the map.
"Now go home and get some sleep. You three come here tomorrow morning, we'll check the details of the itinerary and equipments then. I'll ask Hikaru to acquire what you will need." Ryo switched the screen off.
Tsubasa walked slowly down the corridor, listening absent-mindedly Yuu's endless chatting about Doji's Dark Wolf, what the little boy knew about it, what he thought about it and what he thought he knew about it. The older blader was not particularly interested in the subject himself but understood Yuu's need to tattle after being quiet so long.
He watched his new team-mates walking ahead of him, Kiti dancing like a calf on a hayfield, Kyoya with his hand deep in his pockets, looking even more sullen than usually. The Eagle shook his head. Teamwork with these two might become interesting!
A/N: There is a reference to JuniperGentle's "Stories from the bunk bed" (which is my prime favorite of all Beyblade fanfics) in this chapter. I consider some of her and Malluchan's works as good as canon, so there will be more that kind of references here and there.
BTW: I won't ask for reviews (except those of too ugly language-bugs) because I don't want to make you feel you have to write something if you don't feel like it. But I really do appreciate it if you want to share your thoughts with me, and I promise to answer every single review I get!