Jaheira1000: Yet another of my recently started stories! This was an idea that came to me in a dream. I really mean that!

Disclaimer: Not mine!

Warnings: Possible Rape, Language, Possible torture, etc…

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The Legacy:

CHAPTER ONE: Arrival

It was a beautiful sunny day, and the breakers were once again getting ready for a flight to a new place. Ray had invited his team to come and visit his village for a few months. He was excited and eager because his whole team would be coming, even Kai had been 'persuaded' to join them.

Tyson had threatened to move in with Kai if he refused, which pretty much sealed the deal. After taking off, the team relaxed and decided what they wanted to do. Max and Tyson kept jumping around, and changing their minds every five minutes, while Ray sat reading a book, and Kai...Kai was sleeping.

The rest of the White Tiger team was also on the plane with them, since they were heading home from the last blading tournament they had participated. They were amazed to hear a mumble from Kai. He was talking in his sleep. Mariah leaned closer to him making out one word. She walked towards Ray.

"I didn't know Kai could speak Chinese." She said. Ray was startled.

"What do you mean he can speak Chinese?" Mariah shrugged.

"He mumbled the word 'Phoenix' in Chinese, but maybe he only understands that one word. It wouldn't be surprising considering his bit-beast Dranzer." Ray shrugged and turned back to his book, the incident forgotten.

After nine hours, they finally arrived at their destination. Ray ushered everybody off the plane and through customs. After locating their luggage, he ushered them outside, where they awaited their transport. This consisted of three heavy duty jeeps since they would be traveling through the mountains, which arrived five hours after their plane landed.

During this time Kai disappeared, reappearing only minutes before they had to leave. After piling themselves and their luggage aboard, they climbed in and set off.

In the front car was Tyson of course, Max and Gary. The second car contained Kevin, Lee and Kenny. The last car held Mariah, Ray and Kai. The two front cars were lively with the Breakers chattering and the White Tigers showing off, while the final car was very quiet. Mariah and Ray conversed in Chinese, while Kai just leaned back against the side of the vehicle.

"What's up with Kai? He's always so quiet; one would almost think he isn't human. I've never even seen him smile, but he probably shows a different side to you guys since you're on his team?" Ray shook his head sadly.

"No, he's like this around us too. It's like he tries to isolate himself from everyone else. It worries me." At these words, Kai looked up and his eyes met Ray's. Ray shifted uncomfortably. It was almost as if Kai had understood their conversation, but then he would have said something. Shrugging it off, Ray struck up a new conversation with Mariah, sighing with relief when Kai closed his eyes again.

After another two hours, they heard a disturbance up ahead. Without warning, two boulders came crashing down in front of the third jeep. As they watched in horror, another boulder was descending towards them. The occupants of the jeep jumped out, saving one. Mariah had frozen in place, staring in horror at the boulder coming towards her.

As she closed her eyes, thinking it was the end, she felt somebody tackle her from behind, pulling her out of the jeep, and rolling with her into the ditch at the base of the mountain down which the boulder was coming. She was pressed tightly against the ground, somebody's body covering hers. She felt the vibrations as the boulder passed over them. She was jolted badly, so she couldn't imagine what the person on top of her was feeling. They had taken the brunt of the shock.

As she sat up and looked around she was shocked. She stared into a pair of crimson eyes which for the first time showed emotion. She saw a flicker of pain in their depths, just before they became emotionless once more. It was Kai, he had saved her life. And she had thought he didn't care, but he had risked his life for hers. Stumbling to her feet she saw him grit his teeth. She saw his left shoulder and gasped. It was completely dislocated. Her hands went to her mouth in horror. He was hurt quite badly, but as she stepped toward him, he held up one hand to stop her. He stood straight and took a deep breath, raising his hand to his injured shoulder. He braced himself and Mariah realized only at the last moment what he was doing. She heard a sickening crunch as he pushed the joints back into place. What amazed her even more was that he didn't make a sound, even through what must be unbearable pain.

"Why'd you do that?" She yelled at him. He glared back at her.

"I can't fight with my arm like that." Mariah frowned.

"Fight?" Kai scowled.

"Do you really think those boulders fell by accident?" Ray came forward for the first time.

"I think Kai is right Mariah, it might have been THEM." Before any of them could do anything, they saw a beyblade shoot towards them. Ray launched Drigger, and the two blades met in mid-air. Just as Drigger got the upper hand, another blade was launched straight at Ray, who was too busy battling to notice.

Fortunately, Kai was more aware. He managed to launch Dranzer in spite of his shoulder, just in time to save the battling neko-jin. As the two boys battled, someone was watching from the shadows. Finally, Kai got fed up with this and called forth his bit-beast Dranzer. She swept the other blade away and, shouting for Ray to move, Kai made short work of the other blade.

Though he would never admit it, Kai was getting worn out, and he demanded to know how long it would take them to make it to the White Tiger village. The driver took out his phone and told the others to go on ahead; they would have to do some hiking to get to the village. Kai was getting impatient.

"How long will this hike take us?" He growled. Thinking for a moment the driver took one look at Kai's shoulder and his clothes before answering.

"About three to four hours." Kai raised his eyebrows.

"Let's say for example that I can move as fast as Ray and Mariah even with my shoulder, how long would it take then?" The driver looked skeptical, but answered.

"Under an hour." Kai smirked inwardly, this was gonna be interesting. He kept his face emotionless before asking.

"Since you seem to doubt my ability to move quickly, would you let me set the pace?" The driver nodded silently, and Kai made his way to the steepest part of the mountain, his duffel slung across his back. Mariah came towards him. "Wouldn't it be easier on your shoulder if we took the gentler slope?"

"That way is longer."

"Yeah, but..."

"Listen, if you can't handle it then take the long way, but I don't have any problems with it." Mariah huffed, and decided that she would leave him in her dust at first opportunity.

Kai took hold of the first rock and looked over his shoulder, as if to ask them 'You coming?' Imagine their shock when Kai practically ran up the mountain.

When he was half-way to the first ledge, they realized they would have to go flat out just to keep up with him. After another fifteen minutes, Mariah's temper flared. She had wanted to leave him in the dust, but she could barely keep up. The guy was supposed to be injured for goodness sake!

As she scaled the mountain, she wondered if he actually felt pain. As the thought passed her mind, she saw Kai hesitate for just one moment, the flicker of pain visible in his eyes once more. She realized then that he was also human. He had emotions, he felt pain, he could suffer. The only reason nobody knew, was the fact that he masked it too well to be seen.

Finally after about 40 minutes, they reached the village. Kai stopped at the entrance of the village and allowed Mariah, Ray and the driver to enter first. He followed about five meters behind. As they walked, he noticed that everybody was watching their progress through the village. He felt uncomfortable with the attention, but strove to ignore it.

Finally they reached the elders' hut, where the rest of the bladers were waiting for them. Everybody crowded them trying to find out if they were all fine, if they had been hurt, and all those things. Kai had fortunately kept back so he wasn't engulfed by the wave of bladers. Tyson casually threw a, "You OK?" at Kai over his shoulder, and turned away after receiving his customary "hn" in return. For some reason this angered both Mariah and Ray, who were being fussed over. Naturally, Mariah's temper broke free first.

"SHUT UP!" She yelled. There was a silence thick enough to chew. They looked at her questioningly. Her eyes narrowed into slits.

"YOU PEOPLE ARE ALL IDIOTS! You fuss over me and Ray when there is nothing wrong with us, yet you ignore the only one who did get hurt!" They all looked at her in surprise, but Tyson, being Tyson, had to put his foot in it.

"You mean the driver got hurt?" Mariah walked up to him and surprised everyone by slapping him so hard, his head snapped back. Grabbing him by his collar, she yanked him towards her.

"No you dolt, the driver's fine! The person who got hurt was Kai! There was a boulder about to crush the car and I had frozen. I couldn't move. He tackled me out of the jeep and proceeded to drag me into a ditch and cover my body with his. He felt the worst of the shock and his left shoulder was completely dislocated. To make matters even worse, he then proceeded to click his arm back into place. The reason for that became obvious when we were attacked by two blades. Ray was battling the one, and didn't notice the other one heading directly for him. Kai managed to launch his Dranzer through God knows what pain to save Ray. After that he defeated the other two blades with his Dranzer. When that was done, he had to hike for 40 MINUTES through some of the roughest country I know, and you're treating him like a spoilt brat! And all of this was done without a single complaint!" Everybody was shocked by this outburst. The Elders' who had approached at the sound of their voices, stood unknown outside the door. They couldn't believe what they had heard. How could such a person exist? Inside the room, a shocked silence still prevailed. They had known Kai was tough, but not THAT tough.

They all turned to look at Kai, who had resumed his normal pose of crossed arms and closed eyes, while leaning against the wall. He looked exactly the same as always, a little dusty perhaps, but still the same. Opening his eyes he glared at Mariah.

"You talk too much." He growled before closing his eyes once again. While they all stood staring, the Elders' decided to make their presence known. Walking into the room, they greeted their own bladers first in Chinese.

" Welcome back young ones. Did you enjoy yourselves?" After making the proper greeting, they all sat down to tell the Elders' all about it. When they were finished, they proceeded to introduce the breakers. When they finally reached Kai, they were surprised to hear him give the traditional greeting. The Elders' narrowed their eyes, but made no comment. The younger people present, weren't as wise. They asked him where he had learnt it, but he just shrugged and resumed his position against the wall. After a few more unsuccessful minutes of pleading, they decided to drop it. The Elders' proceeded to sort out where everybody would be sleeping, when one of the Elders' interrupted the others.

Everybody but Kai had been assigned a temporary home.

"Why not put him with Mariah and her grandmother? She is the village healer, so she can take care of that young mans obvious injuries." At these words, Kai's head snapped up.

"How?" The Elders' smirked, before the leader said.

"You wear a strong mask young one, but even the strongest mask can crack. You stand there in what I assume is your normal manner to attract attention away from the fact that you are favoring your left side." He was speaking Chinese soRay interrupted here.

"I don't think he speaks Chin..." But before he could finish his sentence, it was his turn to be interrupted.

"I'll have to watch myself here. Take a good look, because this won't happen again. Never again." Everybody was staring at Kai in shock, but nobody so much as Ray and the White Tigers. The others were shocked that he could speak Chinese, but what they didn't know, was that Kai had used the ancient dialect still favored by the White Tiger Clan.

The Elders' caught his meaning, and they smiled among themselves. Their children had brought someone interesting home, and they were determined to explore the possibilities. Kai however, watched their reactions through narrowed eyes before stalking out of the hut. There were a few more moments of silence before the others also made their way outside, to find their new lodgings.

Tyson would be staying with Lee and Ray, while Kenny is staying with Gary and his friend, Max was put with Kevin's' family, and Kai would be with Mariah. The fact that the Elders' had put Kai with Mariah was a shock to them all, because they were generally very old-fashioned about their views when it came to how they treated girls. It was probably because she stayed with her grandmother. The boys all had their own huts, which they shared with each other. The lived this way to make them independent from their parents, while still being close enough to ask advice.

As Mariah made her way home, she wondered where Kai had disappeared to. She still had to show him how to get there. As she made her way to the front door she heard his voice behind her.

"So is this it?" She spun around to see him behind her.

"How do you do that?" She asked, reverting back to English. He shrugged and looked at her expectantly. Sighing, she pulled her shattered nerves together and opened the door.

"Nanna, I'm back! I've brought a guest." As she spoke, she saw her grandmother enter the room from the kitchen and ran to greet her with a hug.

"Now what's all this about a guest?"

"The Elders' said he was to stay here."

"He? Is it a boy then?"

"Yeah, he is."

"Where is he then?"

"Just around the corner here, I accidentally knocked you back when I greeted you."

"My isn't he just adorable, and so handsome!" Mariah flushed bright red at these comments, because she had already noticed the finer points of his oh-so-handsome body.

"He understands our Chinese Nanna." She muttered softly.

"Well! That is a nice surprise! I don't mind really. You know me; I'm never one to hide my opinions. It's a pity his face is so emotionless." Mariah felt her cheeks redden again after her grandmother's final observation. It was a sentiment she also shared, but she would never have dared to say it out loud. Mariah cringed inwardly as the old lady walked towards him. She stopped right in front of him. He felt her presence and opened his eyes. They stared each other in the eye for at least a minute before she cracked a smile.

"Where'd you learn to keep the emotion out of your eyes young one? It is a remarkable talent you have. I have never seen such lovely eyes with so little emotion." Kai narrowed his eyes before answering.

"If you had a choice between survival and emotion which would you choose? Would you choose to die because you showed emotion, or would you keep yourself under control and avoid the death that awaits the weak? Which would you choose?" The old woman narrowed her eyes. Her eyes searched his. He was serious. He was speaking from experience.

"The choice is obvious. Any human would choose survival, but that is a double-edged sword young one. When the threat is subdued, the emotion must be released once more, otherwise they may destroy you from the inside out. You need to know when to let go." Kai closed his eyes for a moment. When they opened once more, there was something else there. His eyes burned brightly as she literally saw flames dance in their depths. She smiled and nodded.

"I'm glad to see you took my words to heart. Come through, I will bring something for your wounds soon." Her reward was the ghost of a smile in his eyes. She knew why the Elders' had sent him to her. He needed help because he had suffered greatly. Smiling softly, she moved towards the kitchen to retrieve her herbs...

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Jaheira1000: Remember to give me your thoughts in a review! Ja ne:P