Summary: A few days after the World Championships, Tala isn't doing very well as Boris rages over his defeat. But this isn't the end of the terror, for Borris, revenge is sweet and he's willing to do whatever it takes to get it. (TaKa)
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"Starlit"
Chapter 1
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Tala Ivanov stared up at the grimy, gray ceiling of the prison he lay in, a simple eight by eight square box with moldy bricks placed in a way that screamed 'no escape.'
The red haired blader sighed, his sky blue eyes glazed over by passing clouds of thought. Thinking always helped numb the pain, the pain that pumped through every vein in his body. His pain was a constant reminder of that day. The championships. He'd come so very close to beating Tyson, and surprisingly enough, when he lost, he was more awed over the fact that the bit beast had talked than that it had beat him.
It didn't matter now. He was getting beatings dished out to him daily, all worse than any damage Tyson could ever inflict. Boris was pissed and he was taking it out on Tala.
'And why shouldn't he?' Tala whispered in his head, his fingers twitching involuntarily. 'I failed him...I had tons of bit beasts at my fingertips...Now I truly know what they mean by "quality over quantity."'
He sighed again, a wistful one. A sigh that carried away another strand of hope inside him where it would be choked and killed by the suffocating air of his cell. The dank, sickly rankness.
'I'll die here...I can't...I have to tell Kai that I'm sorry.' He mumbled in the silence of his mind, his eyes clenched shut. 'I have to tell him that he was the best thing that ever happened to me...I have to escape.'
His eyes opened, no longer clouded by thoughts, but shining with a new determination. He would find a way to live through Boris's beatings. He would survive so he could tell Kai.
'Why am I so determined to tell him these things all of the sudden?' He asked in confusion.
His conscience seemed to answer immediately, strangely echoing in his mind. 'Because you don't want to die alone...'
'Yes...if I can...I want to die in Kai's arms.' He told himself. He opened his eyes, rolling them. 'How melo-dramatic did that just sound?'
'If just one person cares, you can die in peace.' His mind echoed once more.
'...I can die in peace...' He couldn't help the burning in his cheeks, his nose, his eyes. But that's all it was. Just burning. No tears came, he wouldn't let them. '...I can die without being afraid.'
I built my life like my bike on a rigid frame
So nothing bends it only breaks into pieces and pieces
"Every time I see you the bile rises in my throat, Tala! How could you lose!" Boris raged, his foot lifting and crashing down into the red head's side, sending the boy rolling across the stony cage. "How could you lose?"
I waited for hope to arrive but it never came
Leaving me with only pain inside
Tala raised his head feebly, his body shaking from the effort. "..You have to lose some time." He said with a callous smirk.
Boris's masked eyes widened in disbelief, then narrowed in anger. "...You've become foolish, Tala. You were one of my best...you served me faithfully. Now look at you. Those Bladebreakers have corrupted you, just like they corrupted Kai!"
Tala dropped his head wearily, still smiling wryly. "..give it up, Boris. We're just not your dumb little puppets anymore. We know what's right. And what you've been doing is wrong...I feel sick knowing I was so loyal to you for so long...you were all I ever knew, Boris...you ruined my life...and I hate you for it." He glared at the raging man that stood over him. "...when I die, may my damned soul chase you for eternity...may you suffer like the others have suffered-ugh!"
Tala was promptly quieted by the bone crushing kick to his ribs, sending him crashing into the wall.
"IMPUDENT BOY!" The man above him shouted. "Indeed you will die!" He growled.
And suddenly a sick smile snaked its way across his face. Tala's blue eyes widened in fear. He couldn't explain what he feared so much, but it had something to do with the disturbing look on Boris's face.
"You're insane." Tala rasped, arms covering his aching chest.
I'm going off the deep end...
"...You don't know what you speak of, Tala." Boris chuckled. "...what a beautiful plan that has just sprouted inside of me." Turning on his heel he marched from the room. He stopped just outside the door, looking at Tala in pure amusement. "And so ends the Bladebreaker's story. All thanks to you, Tala."
The door to his cell closed with some queasy finality. What was Boris talking about? What was he planning?
"...Kai.." He whispered with worry.
Holding on is harder than it seems
When you're reaching for so much more
Kai was a bladebreaker. Kai had changed. He'd seen it from the smirk on his face when Tyson had won. And Kai got such a better chance to choose the right way.
But Tala supposed a guy like Kai needed a better chance. He couldn't have a half-ass one or he'd never stop being Kai the cold asshole. With the people he was surrounded by now, he was being pushed and pushed to be a better person. And it was working. Kai had a chance at a better life now.
Seems so much easier to just give in
When you're reaching for so much more
Tala winced as a rib seemed to be poking into his lungs. He wouldn't doubt that he had possibly broken a few. He wasn't going to find out. The key was to remain still.
'It's so hard...' He thought depressedly. 'It's so hard to hang on, Kai.'
He choked out a sigh. 'Why do I keep thinking about you now? Why do I talk to you when you're not even here?'
'...because he was my friend once.' He answered for himself. 'I haven't forgotten when we were children...that's all the good in my life. Kai is all I have...the only one I can turn to for redemption.'
Another wasted Saturday so here I stay
Where nothing seems to ever change anyway hey
All this hype about life bein' great
Where's the love for me these days
I'm goin off the deep end
As the door to his cell opened, he knew it was time for another round.
Scrunching into himself, he thought back on hazy days of old, he ignored the pain.
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TBC...
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"The Deep End" by Crossfade