Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade, like everyone else on this site.

This is a fic about a guy, from around the age of eight years old to when he is sixteen, present day, when he is using a certain laptop to type up his thoughts while everyone's asleep. It describes how he feels when everything starts changing, when he starts growing up, when his best friend disappears without saying why, and when … he begins to notice his female cousin a lot more.

The person is obvious by now thanks to the title and the plot points, so …

Please enjoy Thoughts of a Black Lion.

Ever since I can remember, our village was nameless. What do you expect? We were so isolated and cut off from the rest of the world that nearly no one even knew we existed, and I can remember how frustrated my best friend got about it. I never did. I never questioned it. It was just how it had always been, how I had always known it. I didn't want to change that really; it sort of gave my life a weird form of stability, a stability I guess I needed, though I never admitted it.

Who am I? Hmm… a hard question to answer. I don't even know why I'm writing this, on a borrowed laptop that I'll use to print the pages off later, or why you're reading it. I think I'm just trying to get my thoughts together, something to take my mind off what's been happening for the last year or so, especially what's been happening for the last couple of weeks.

Maybe I'll tell you who I am later. After all, we may never meet, and it would be nice to be on first name terms, even though I may never see your face, the person reading my thoughts and dreams and past, page after page of it. You could be anyone. I might be dead and gone while you read this, or you might be one of my friends snooping through my stuff again.

I hope not.

Everyone's sleeping around me at the moment, since it's pretty early and we were having a lot of fun last night. Everyone looks so different when they sleep… peaceful, I guess. Even the leader of his face is relaxed, a young girl resting her head on his shoulder. On the same sofa Ray, the white tiger,slumbers, his arm casually around my cousin's waist, a content smile lightly gracing his face even as he sleeps. I feel my face burn with a rush of jealousy; I haven't slept properly in over a year now, let alone contentedly. And to add insult to injury, I helped them get together. Because she had asked me to.

I'm getting ahead of myself. I didn't start writing this to write about what's happening now. I started writing this to write about what's happened in the past, to try and make sense of it all.

Where should I start… there isn't really a mark on my calendar to tell me where all the changing started. I think it was when I was about ten years old.

Maybe I should explain a few things first.

==========

For all my life, from when I was a little kid toddling around the house to what I am today, I have always been in a little group of five people. There was me, of course, my best friend, two children of friends of my family, and … my cousin. We did everything together, from doing chores around the village to just playing around in our spare time.

One of the main things we had in common though, was we lived to beyblade.

Sad, isn't it? We devoted all our time to playing with little chunks of metal, glorified spinning tops. I didn't really realise how pathetic that was until a friend of an authoress I know pointed it out to me. We got up in the morning, did whatever needed to be done, then walked out to the woods to a smoothed out tree stump that made the perfect beydish, spending hours and hours just trying to get better, perfecting our techniques. It was there, when we were about seven years old, that we made that promise…

I'll start my story from there.

==========

"Come on Mariah! We're gonna be late!!!" I yelled behind me, running back a few paces to grab her around the wrist, dragging her along. I felt excited, like I did every afternoon when I had finished my chores and my mother waved me off to see my friends. I was only eight years old, nine in a few weeks, but no one in the village saw anything wrong with letting us out, even when it was dark and cold. There wasn't any dangers in our hometown, there never had been since the times of tribal warfare. People left their doors open on hot days with no fear of people sneaking in, left their windows open at night without worrying for their children's safety.

It was a place to live that many people would turn green with envy when they thought about it. If they knew about it anyway.

That particular morning was in early January, and overnight the entire village was covered in a thick blanket of snow. It was about as cold as it ever got in the little valley, only just cold enough to make the snow descend on the houses and forests that surrounded us, and even my cousin, a girl who never really got that cold, had untied the jumper that was always at her waist and yanked it over her head.

"You know they won't start without us Lee," Mariah panted, her breath forming ice crystals in the air as she struggled through the snow after me, "They never ever do that." She added with certainty in her six year old voice, her magenta hair trailing out behind her like a flag as we picked up speed, quickly making our way down the hill that lead to our meeting place. Of course, I knew they would never start training without us, but still, I had to be back earlier today to help dig out some of the snow from the street.

While we ran along the buried path towards the meeting place, a loud squeal announced Mariah tripping and flying head first into a pile of snow. I automatically doubled back to drag her out, but she sat up, grinning in spite of the clumps of snow clinging to her hair and the soaking the front of her top and pants had just got.

"What am I going to do with you?" I sighed, dragging her to her feet as she smiled sheepishly.

"Could say the same thing for you."

I turned around quickly to spot my best friend walking down the path towards us, and I smirked. Ray Kon. We had known each other since we were babies, our parents having been friends when they were kids too, and I could say out of the little gang I was in, Ray knew me better than any of them. Well, maybe Mariah knew more, but she was family.

"Hey Ray," my cousin greeted happily, running up to him. Mariah had known him for nearly as long as I had, her mother being my mother's sister, and every time my aunt came to visit, Mariah had been carried along. Some of my earliest memories were of us three crawling around on a mat, Ray with a mop of long black hair already, Mariah sucking her thumb as we played together, games that didn't really make sense then or now.

"Hey Mariah," Ray replied, grinning as the white tail wrapping that was his hair stirred in the wind, and he walked towards me, his hands firmly shoved in his pockets to keep the cold out. His light amber eyes surveyed me and he grinned, "Lee, you're late," he taunted.

"And what are you, walking behind us?" I smiled, not rising to the jab as Mariah giggled at us both as we played another word game.

"Behind schedule," he answered, smirking at me.

"Fair enough," I said, turning to walk along the path again, the sound of snow crunching underfoot telling me that they were following, "Seen Kevin or Gary today?" I asked him as he and Mariah drew level with me.

"Kevin's not allowed out in this weather," Ray scowled. I returned the frown; Kevin was our youngest friend, only six years old, but we hated to leave him out of anything, "His mama said that he'd get a cold."

"Aww – HEY!!!" Mariah yelled out as an avalanche of snow was shaken from the bare winter stripped branches above our heads, effectively covering us all and soaking our hair and clothes. I shook the snow out of my hair and glared upwards, knowing exactly what had happened.

"KEVIN!!!"

A green haired boy appeared grinning among the branches, seeming nearly as ease as he would have been on the ground. He stuck his tongue out at me and quickly climbed down as I bent down to scoop up a handful of snow, landing with a soft thump in the white powder as he slipped and landed on his rear. He quickly got up from the ground, his face flushing scarlet as Ray and me chuckled good-naturedly.

"Hey," he greeted, rubbing his soaked backside, a sheepish grin on his face.

"How'd you get out Kevin?" Mariah frowned; she got very motherly around the height-disadvantaged kid, and the boy nervously brushed his long fringe out of his eyes, the answer obviously going to be something Mariah wasn't going to like one bit.

"Er… I kinda … climbed out of the window." He said slowly, anxiously waiting for the explosion that was sure to come. He wasn't disappointed either.

"WHAT?!" Mariah yelled.

Kevin jumped backwards in panic as Mariah's eyes flashed and dilated in anger, Ray immediately edging backwards as well. I had grown up with Mariah's fits of temper, but even I ended up backing off as she lunged forward at Kevin and grabbed his wrist, deciding that he needed to deal with my cousin's rage on his own.

Kevin tried to pull out of Mariah grip, but she had a vice-like hold on him. He glared up at her, "Okay, very scary Mao, you can let go now."

Mariah waved a finger at him and stuck her tongue out at him, "Sorry, don't think so." And without another word, she carried on down the path, towing him along behind her despite of his loud protests. Ray and me exchanged glances, our faces crumpled up from the effort of staying quiet and burst out laughing in unison.

==========

"Cheater!!" Mariah yelled a few hours later, pointing at me as she danced in her fury, her pink beyblade in the dirt a little way away. I scooped my own up from the 'dish' that we had made out of an old tree stump after a lot of effort and time, smirking at her as I did; she was such a sore loser. "You che-e-e-eated!!"

"Did not," I protested, turning to Kevin, Gary and Ray, who were standing under the trees nearby as they waited their turns, "Did I cheat?"

"You did!!" Mariah butted in, bending to pick up her beyblade before walking right up to me and standing on her tiptoes to get right in my face, "You put that huge dent in the disk so I'd end up losing loads of spin in it!!"

"I did not!! Gary did that last week and you know it!!" I objected loudly, remembering how Gary had slammed Galzzy into the dish with that much force that he nearly shattered the base of the red beyblade the Tuesday before hand.

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Stinky black lion!!"

"Stressy wildcat!!"

"Hey guys, knock it off," Ray said soothingly as he grabbed Mariah around the waist and dragged her backwards, "We're friends, yeah? Friends don't argue, and friends – " he stared pointedly at Mariah " – don't get snippy about losing."

"He's not my friend," she admonished, breaking away and giving me a little poke in the ribs, "He's my freaky older cousin." She grinned up at me to show she was joking, though she didn't need to. Mariah was a lot of things, but she wasn't venomous; she wouldn't try to hurt me, or any of our friends. Ever.

Why did I hurt her then?

I'm sorry, getting ahead of myself again.

"You know though …" Ray said slowly, "I've been thinking a little …"

"Will wonders never cease?" I remarked playfully, settling myself on the edge of the tree stump beydish. Ray rolled his eyes at me and sat as well, ignoring the snow that had began to fall lightly again.

"I've been thinking that we should make a team, you know?"

Mariah grinned at the idea immediately, jumping up and down on the spot, her magenta hair flying around her face and Gary and Kevin shared identical smiles. Ray nodded at the silent agreements and turned to me, climbing off the stump as he did, shaking the snow out of his hair and brushing it off his clothes.

"What about you Lee?" he asked me.

I frowned slightly; sure, it was a great idea, but I could see all these scenarios playing in my head. It would mean leaving the village, going out into the world… the idea thrilled me and scared me halfway to death at the same time.

"I don't know…" I said slowly, playing for more time, "It's a good idea, but –"

Mariah flung herself at me before I could say another word, knocking me backwards into the dish. I tried to shove her off as the others howled with laughter somewhere above my head, but she clung like a limpet.

"Come on Lee, please please please please? We'll even let you be team captain if you do, won't we?" She lifted her head slightly to stare beseechingly at Ray, Kevin and Gary, who stopped laughing as she adopted a look that dared them to say no. I struggled underneath her, but since she had wrapped her arms around my torso, I couldn't even push her off with my arms.

"Lee'd make a great captain," Kevin simpered, obviously trying to suck up to me so I'd agree.

"Yeah, Lee can be team captain," Ray said casually, like it didn't matter. The corners of my mouth twitched, thinking it over again; what would it be to leave the village, in a couple of years time? The elders and my grandfather wouldn't object; after all, they encouraged us to beyblade, and I heard them talk about us all often, trying to assess who would be best for the 'white tiger.' I wasn't really sure about what they were talking about, but I had heard my grandfather say how I would be the best choice a few times. After thinking this a couple of times, I gave in.

"Fine."

"Thank you Lee!" Mariah yelled gratefully, kissing me on the cheek like she always did when she was happy with me before climbing up and jumping off the stump, whooping triumphantly. My entire torso felt like it had gone numb, but after a few prods the feeling began to come back, so I climbed out of the dish as well, water droplets dripping out of my hair and running down my face. Ray looked like he was trying very hard not to smile, so I flicked a lump of snow into his face before shaking the melted snow off my head, little clumps of shrinking white snowflakes clinging to the little wisps of black hair that hung down from my forehead. The snow was falling a lot heavier now, swirling all around us in the clearing as the sky above us began to tinge with red and orange, the little blue that showed through the clouds changing slowly into a light purple. My dark green-grey clothes were soaked, and a quick glance confirmed that everyone else was as drenched as I was, so I sighed, a cloud of ice crystals flying on my breath.

"We'd better go back early. Too cold," I said unnecessarily, not bothering to shake off the snow anymore. There were murmurs of agreement around me, Kevin grumbling about how much trouble he was going to be in when he got back, and we all started to walk back up the path.

"Wait."

I felt someone grab the back of my shirt and turned to see Mariah looking up at me, her amber eyes serious for once, her eyebrows knitting together. Ray, Kevin and Gary stopped as well as she cleared her throat nervously, obviously preparing to say something that had been on her mind for a while.

"Guys … I just wanted to … well … can we promise to always be friends?" She looked quite anxious after this sudden query, and she was wringing her hands, "You know, to stay together through wind and rain, snow and sleet, thunder and lightning and all that stuff?"

I stopped myself from rolling my eyes; I didn't think we needed to promise, now that I thought about it. I guess it made me think about what was going through her head though, to make her feel insecure about our friendship so she had to get a promise out of us. Mariah always made us promise anything she felt was really important to her, because she knew we wouldn't ever break it.

"Yeah." Ray had walked back into the clearing, "I think we should."

"Yeah, who would I put up with if you guys left me all on my lonesome?" Kevin grinned cheekily, making him look even more like a monkey than usual under the long mop of green hair, still not long enough to tie back.

"And a team always needs to stay together, right?" Gary stopped thinking about what he was going to eat when he got home and clapped me on the shoulder, my knees nearly buckling to send me to the ground. He never really did know his own strength.

"Lee?" Mariah looked expectantly at me, "Don't make me jump on you again and force it out of you," she said with an impish smirk. I sighed in exasperation and nodded.

"Okay, so this is it guys," Ray said dramatically, clapping his hands together, "No matter what happens, we're always gonna be friends. Through thick and thin – "

" - through good and bad – " Mariah added on.

" – through sun and rain – " Kevin laughed.

" – through snow and sleet –" Gary tagged on.

" – we'll always be friends." I finished, "And may I remind you we still need a team name."

"Since you're the team captain, I get to pick the name," Ray pointed out, "I think something like the White Tigers would be cool, don't you think?"

I snorted; the White Tigers was the name of the tribe Ray's ancestors had belonged to, "Sounds good to me," I said approvingly in spite of what I thought.

"Now can we PLEASE get out of this snow?" Kevin pleaded, his arms wrapped around his middle, "It's freezing!!!"

"It's your fault you didn't put a coat on," Mariah snapped, glaring at him and grabbing his hand like an angry mother before dragging him off. Ray gave me a look that clearly said 'Okay …' before following behind them, Gary lumbering after them along the dirt path and back through the woods to go back to the village.

I can remember standing there for a few seconds before I followed them, ignoring the snow that was falling all around me. I felt a little … weird I guess. Because when Mariah had beamed at me after we'd finished the promise, I had felt a flush creep into my face, red tingeing the tanned skin, and I felt … I don't know. Happy? It was kind of like happiness, but at the same time, a completely different feeling.

Shaking the thoughts away in confusion, I heard the others yelling for me and I decided that it could wait.

==========

I wish I had taken the time to find out what I was feeling sooner.

People are starting to stir around me, and I don't want to be caught writing this, especially since I didn't ask to use the laptop. Someone has already spotted me, but it was plain from the look on her face that she doesn't care. But then she doesn't really care about anything, from what I've heard. She won't tell. I think.

I'm going to have to continue this another time. But before I go … by now it is obvious who I am. So to be on first name terms with you, whoever you are … my name is Lee.

Authoress notes: I wrote this story under my Saiyan-Chang account, but I had to move due to my own paranoid reasons. I would like to thank, however, JPC (Jedi Princess Clarrisani) and Silver and Yami Sakura (that all being one name) for noticing that I had moved from my old point and freaking out about it. Thankies guys.

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