She was lying there under the cover of the temple's ceiling. She had tried to make it the rest of the way. She wished to find the guardian. The one who was supposed to be found in the Mountain of Mist, or, the Mountain of No Return. She was so close! She made it through the maze. She had made it through the tunnels and found ways to pass through the troubling puzzles to get to the next step of finding this "guardian." How could she have failed when she was so close? Never had she disgraced herself the way she had done today. She had lost to Johannes and his cronies; Bao and Aguma. By now, she knew, that they had reached the guardian. They had done what she had failed so miserably to do herself. Rubble began to fall around her as a battle was taking place just above her. She heard the yells of the bladers and the clashes of their beys but…. She couldn't get up. She had an extremely sore body. Her ribs were hurting her with every breath she took. Her shoulders were sore as was her back from when she had been thrown against the hard rock wall.

She was lying on her stomach which increased the pain in her ribs. Her scratched, chipped, and broken bey, Crimson Fireblaze, lay in front of her. She reached out in pain to grab hold of her bey. She took it in her hand and drew it closer to her, as close as she could. More rubble began to fall now. She knew she was in danger from the falling rocks, but she was far too weak to even attempt to stand, or move for that matter. Then, she felt a sharp pain in her temple. Her vision blurred and went dark.

~later

She woke up in a dark-lit room. A few torches were burning on the walls surrounding her. She sat up and looked around her. She was lying –or now, sitting- in a soft whitish-grey bed. She felt her temple and lightly ran her fingers over the gash in her skin. On the floor beside her she noticed a pile of bloodied bandages and cloths. Had those been hers?

She looked around her once more and noticed a silhouette of a person leaning against the wall with his arms folded against his chest. "Hello?" She asked warily.

The figure stood for a moment as though he were unsure of what he was about to do. Then, he stepped out of the shadows and into the light of the nearest torch. There stood a boy about the same age as her. Striking blue eyes and light lavender-colored hair. "Hello." He said softly in response.

"Where… Where am I?" She asked.

"You are in my bed in the center of this mountain's temple. I found you lying in the hallway on the floor below us. Terrible shape you were in. I brought you up to my place." He shrugged and let his arms fall limp at his side. "What kind of guy would I be if I let a girl die?"

They both were silent for a moment. "Who are you?" She asked.

"I," he said, "am Dunamis. Guardian of Misutomaunten or, better known as, Noritan no maunten. And who are you?"

"Me?" She said. "I'm Kaori. Kaori Tottori. I'm a treasure hunter and blader who came in search of the Guardian. I was sent to find information about the guardian and to accompany the legendary bladers on their quest to defeat Nemesis."

"You? I've read things with your name on them… Well. You've got what you were looking for."

"I did?"

"Yes." He said and pointed to himself with his thumb. "You've found the guardian."

"Oh, right." She said and swung, or at least tried to, swing her legs over the side of the bed. She gasped in pain and clutched the right side of her ribs. She lifted her shirt slightly to see a slightly blood-stained bandage wrapped around her mid-section. Dunamis did this? Her face began to heat up at the fact of him doing this. He really was a good looking boy. She looked down at the pile of bandages again. "Were those mine?" She asked.

He nodded. "Yes. Johannes and the others really did quite a bit of damage on you."

She stood up slowly and painfully. "Thank you," she said and picked up her bag. She began to walk towards the doorway when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around and was looking straight into Dunamis's eyes.

"You shouldn't strain yourself. You've got broken ribs and a sprained wrist. There's no way you'd make it down the mountain like this."

"I've still got to go… I should find somewhere-" she was cut off by him placing a finger over her lips.

"You're not going anywhere, Kaori. Besides, you did say you were sent to accompany the Legend Bladers, weren't you?" She nodded. "Then it's settled. You'll stay here, right?"

She thought about her options. "Well… I suppose I will…" She finally said.

"Alright." He said and took her bag from her. He set it carefully on the table next to them and sat on his bed looking at her.

"What?" She asked. "What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all." He said.

/I hope you enjoy this… The ending was boring, honestly… But it was important to throw in there. If you're reading this author's note, that means you didn't give up on me ^~^ Yay

Misutomaunten means Mist Mountain

Noritan no maunten means Mountain of No Return.

If you like it, please review Thanks to all who read my stuff. Special thanks to:

Fallenbey

Kingdom's Oathkeeper

Blue Butterfly Kisses

Mysterious Abyss

BlackCatNeko999

Zineb1996

dreamlily

For reading and reviewing the majority of my stories ^~^ Thanks so much~