I sit on the fence, staring out over the empty field. My hand is wrapped around my bey, and I can feel it's power. Midnight Mare, her round fusion wheel cold against my palm. I sigh, and I know my hand has lit up with a dark blue light, the same colour as Mare's bey spirit.
"Anika?" I lose my balance as Maddie pokes me from behind.
"Maddie! Whoa!" I tumble off the fence, and Mare falls out of my hand and lands at Maddie's feet. My friend glances down at it with a smile. "Oh no, have I gotten dear Mare dirty?" She asks in mock horror.
"Shut up. There's a big tournament coming up, and I want to be in top shape."
"Anika, there's always a big tournament of some kind somewhere. You're not still bummed out that we missed the world Championship finals?"
"Don't bother." I grunt as I lift myself off the ground. I pick Mare up and rub my sleeve across her blue facebolt, the once with crisscrossing lines that depict the head of a horse and the letter M. A mare is a female horse, and so I've always referred to Mare as a she. Unlike all those other bladers, who have always referred to their beys as it. I glance back longingly at the field, and Maddie follows my gaze to the grazing pinto gelding.
"Apache can wait." She pats my shoulder. I've always admired Maddie for being so careless. She has that friendly smile and the big blue eyes of a child, and her blond locks are to die for. Her attitude is even displayed in her bey, Wing Apus, the bird of paradise constellation. She's always trying to cheer everyone up, and it usually works. Except on Ty, the hard-core, sullen blader of Cyclone Crane. Truth is, if Maddie wants to complain about me being too focused on Beyblade, she can go complain to Ty, too.
"Poor Apache." I sigh. Apache is the best horse in Fusion Stables. The stables are famed for their unique ways; we ride horses and Beyblade, all day, and well, sleep all night, like normal people. Beyblade strengthens the arms, and riding strengthens our legs, providing a unique balance. Apache's been really nervous since that guy showed up. The one I so desperately wanted to battle. Maddie and André held me back, though.
He wore his coat around his shoulders, and a golden headpiece around his head. His hair was white, streaked with red. He walked right into Fusion, scaring the horses into a frenzied panic. That's when my darling got hurt.
"So, is there anyone worth battling here? I have a new power, and I'd like to test it out. Before my real battle." He's asked as if he owned the place. He glowed with a red aura that made everyone back up. I would have stepped forward, but Maddie grabbed my arms and held me back.
"Anika, do you realise who that is?" She had had whispered.
"A dick who just scared the shit out of our horses?" I replied, struggling.
"That's Ryuga! The guy who nearly destroyed the world and was finally defeated by Gingka Hagane?" Maddie hissed.
"Well, great, he needs to be taught a lesson." I pulled free, but he had turned his back and left, coat flapping behind him like a demented bat's wings. Then the World Beyblade Championships came around, and I was sure he'd be there. So I had entered, and of course, become team leader for Team Ultimate Freeze, the Canadian representatives. That's when I had met Ty, the representative from Nunavut, and André, the kind Quebec blader. Maddie, becoming the sub, made it on too. We beat Australia in two hits, and Mexico went down easily, though André lost his big battle. Then we met up with the Dominican Republic, who gave us some trouble, but I busted through easily enough, creating a new special move for my Mare, Iron Defense Hoof Strike. Then, the States came around. Aiming for two wins in a row, we got too cocky. Instead of going last, I went first, taking down their member Zeo and his Flame Byxis. Then Jack came around, and we were lost. Let's just keep it at that. Ty is still mad at Maddie and André.
I guess it came as a relief when I found out that Ryuga guy had never joined the World Tournament after all.
"Anika?" Maddie taps me on the shoulder and waves a hand in front of my face. I back up.
"Yeah, sorry."
"Still mad about never being able to face off with Ryuga?" Maddie knows me too well.
"I guess."
"C'mon, let's go back to the house. Andrés cooking again!" Maddie encourages.
"Oooh! Yay!" I skip up the stone path that leads from the fields to Maddie's house. From the right, I can hear Beyblattle's coming from the barn. From the left, I see a girl on a horse, her instructor taking her though her paces. I bound through the door and into the kitchen, where André is cooking on an old stove. He's wearing his fluffy black jacket, and his spiky black hair seems messier than usual. He turns too us holding two bowls of spaghetti, and, as usual, his eyes give me a sudden jolt. I never got used to them, for the months I've known him. They are two different colours: One a dark red, and the other a sea green, the same colour as his Storm Hydra's' bey spirit.
"So, you finally finished daydreaming, eh Last?" He grins at me and hands me a bowl.
He has a funny Quebec accent that I mimic with perfection: "Finally finished annoying me, DeLamour?" His grin spreads and he nods.
"To the dining room, Last. Is Temper coming to dinner?"
"Ty's out being a dick once again." I sigh, and smile broadly. Ty's last name always makes me laugh, as it fits him perfectly. Ty Temper and Cyclone Crane. The bird with an attitude. I grab my bowl of spaghetti and head into the rickety old dining room, only to be surprised by a teenager that I`ve never seen before, sitting on one of the dangerous table chairs.
He has long silver hair that he holds low with a golden band, and he's wearing a brown and purple sleeveless shirt that would soon make him freeze his arms off, had it been winter. He has beige pants and two belts, both holding bey equipment, and a bey holder strapped around his arm. He looks up from a bowl of spaghetti, and my heart does a tap-dance. His eyes a gold, with the sharpness of an eagle's gaze.
"And you are?" I sit across from him, and my heart slowly returns to normal. He looks vaguely familiar, but I can't place him.
"Tsubasa Otori." He holds out his gloved hand and I grasp it for a moment.
"Anika Last." I answer casually. "Now, what brings a stranger to poor little countryside?" I dig my fork into my spaghetti.
"WBBA business." He answers shortly, and this, for some reason, annoys me.
"Oh, how quaint!" I exclaim with sarcasm. "Cause we get WBBA peeps here every day!" I continue, and the teenager glares at me with those eagle eyes, then sighs.
"I'm looking for the Legendary Bladers." He lays his fork down and gets up.
"Is that it?" I complain.
"Yes." He answers shortly.
"Well, how long are you staying?" I try again.
"A day." He answers shortly again.
"Well, why don't you tell me this in a bey battle?" I challenge him, blocking his path. He sighs and eyes me warily.
"Guess it couldn't hurt. You seem like you could put up a fight." He takes out his bey from the bey holder strapped to his arm.
"This here is Earth Eagle, of the eagle constellation." He says. I roll my eyes and take out Mare from my pocket.
"Feast your eyes, for this shall be your doom. Midnight Mare. Of the Pegasus minus the wings constellation." I joke. I see the light glint off her metal fusion wheel and Mare begins to feel warm in my hand, ready for a battle.
"You know I've fought along Gingka Hagane. Team GanGan Galaxy?" He says as I guide him out the house, towards the nearest beystadium.
"Good for you. All you Japanese bladers, calling yourselves number one." I groan dramatically. "We would have faced off eventually in the world championships, then. I was on Ultimate Freeze, but I don't brag about it." We enter the barn, or bey barn as we call it. Two large stadiums are in it, ringed with bales of hay for the horses. A boy is in the middle, facing off with…..
Ty Temper.
I knew he'd try to ruin my night.
