Disclaimer: I do not own yugioh Zexal, or any of the yugioh series for that matter.

Chapter 2: Rain and Fire

"Morning, Yuma," Kotori greeted when her friend opened the door. "I hope you're not pulling a prank."

"Of course not! Why would I joke about this?" Yuma retorted.

"I don't know. It's strange, though. If Astral could become human, why didn't he do it earlier?" She replied, setting down her umbrella as she entered. She found it rather ironic that Astral had discovered this ability during a rainstorm. If it was an omen, she was unable to faithfully call it a good one.

"We think it was the new Number we won last night," Yuma informed her as he led her into the living room.

"Are you sure it was the card? It might have been a coincidence…" Kotori stopped and stared. There, sitting on the couch watching Merlin, was a boy who looked remarkably like Astral. "Ah…"

"See the pickle we're in, now?" Yuma asked. His voice drew the solidified Astral's attention to them.

"Hi, Astral. How're you taking to being human?" She asked, shocked and awed to see the ghost-like being like this. Kotori couldn't help wondering if she was in a bizarre dream it seemed so impossible.

"It's fascinating. There is so much to experience in this new form," Astral replied elatedly. Standing, he walked over to where they stood.

"I was afraid he would fall down the steps earlier, but his balance has really improved." Yuma told her. His smile quickly fell into a worried frown however. "I don't think he's ready for running, though. Which will be a problem if the Barian find out before he is. Dueling might be a problem now, too."

"I'm sure I'm ready to run, Yuma. And dueling won't be a problem with our telepathy." Astral's eyes squinted at him in irritation. She had thought he was wearing a D-Gear up 'til now because they were two different colors. Even though she found them a bit creepy, she now understood his mismatched eyes were completely natural.

"Yuma has a point for once," Kotori cut in before Yuma had the chance to spit fire at Astral. "And you're separated from the key now, right? Doesn't that mean you can leave Yuma's side and wander around if you wanted to?"

Both boys looked at each other, comprehending the possibility for what appeared to be the first time. Astral was the first to speak. "I can now, can't I?"

"Yeah, I'm sure Kari and Miss. Haru will be delighted to meet you-" Kotori didn't finish her sentence. She suddenly remembered neither of them knew about Astral. "How are we going to explain this to your grandma and sister, Yuma? We can't exactly take him to school. He doesn't have any records."

"We can't leave him here either. They'll eventually get suspicious." Yuma heaved a frustrated sigh. "It's too bad we don't have a secret base or tree house. I could hide Astral there until we figure something out."

Kotori clapped her hands together excitedly as an idea hit her. "That's it! The duel lodge!"

"Duel lodge?" Yuma questioned before realizing what she meant. "You're right! Master Roku is on vacation for the next few weeks. We can hide Astral there until he gets back! If we talk to him, he might even let Astral stay for a while."

"What do you think Astral?" Kotori turned to him. He had been quiet throughout the exchange.

"I believe this is a good plan," Astral replied. An excited gleam suddenly shimmered in his eyes. "And I also like the idea of exploring the lodge with this new form."

"Then it's decided. We're heading to the Duel Lodge!" Yuma cheered, racing towards the door.

"Yuma, wait! It's-" Kotori shouted at his retreating back too late. She grabbed Astral's arm before he could follow him.

The eccentric boy let out a startled shrill. "It's cold!"

"You're such an idiot sometimes." She retorted when he came back in, puddles marking his trail like breadcrumbs. "Before we go, you should probably give Astral a spare coat so we don't have two people sick later."

"You could've warned me." Yuma pouted as he passed her on his way to his bedroom. When he came back, he was in a new, drier set of clothes. In one hand, he had a spare raincoat for Astral.

"I tried but you were obviously in a hurry," sighing, she turned her attention to the otherworldly being. Even though he was new to this form, Astral was proving he had learned a lot from them.

"Do I have it on right?" Astral asked, his heterochromia eyes darting back and forth between their coats and his.

"Yeah, and on your first try, too." Yuma praised as a ringing filled the air. Pulling out his D-Gazer, he checked who was calling. He immediately hung up when he heard who it was. "Uh-oh! Its Kari! We have to move before she comes here and sees Astral!"

"She will now that you hung up on her," Kotori said, following him to the door.

"What is that?" Astral asked when he saw her pick up the umbrella.

"This?" Puzzled, Kotori looked down at it. She smiled as an idea struck her.

Handing him the umbrella, she instructed Astral on how to open it.

Whoosh!

"Oh, my!" Astral gasped when it unfolded, so startled he backed up into the coatrack. Both she and Yuma laughed as he spun the handle in his hand, thoroughly fascinated by it.

"I bet you've seen that look a lot today," Kotori muttered to him while Astral continued playing with the umbrella.

"Ever since he woke up," Yuma agreed. "It's kinda cute how the whole world is new to him all over again-" Yuma's D-Gazer began ringing again. "Maybe I should leave a note so she doesn't hunt us down."

"Considering your sister's quick intuition," both of them turned to Astral. The umbrella was resting on his shoulder, shading him from the hallway light. "She's probably already on her way over to see what's going on."

"That is her nature," recalling all of mission's Kari had sent them on, Kotori had to agree. Kari could almost be called a psychic with the way she picked stuff up so easily.

Yuma nodded. After writing down where they were heading, he carefully locked the door behind him.

Hamartia opened the bedroom window with ease, only slightly surprised when he learned it wasn't locked. Slipping into the room, he looked for any sign of where Yuma had gone. There was no doubt in his mind Astral was with him.

When he didn't find anything, he moved on to the rest of the house. In the hallway by the front door, he found a note from Yuma sitting on a small endtable. Memorizing the name of the place written on there, he took off to find his target.

"Achoo!"

"Whoa. Your first sneeze." Yuma said, obviously amused.

"I've decided I don't like cold rain," Astral admitted. So far he liked being human, except for the rain. Even with the coat Yuma gave him and the cover of the umbrella, his skin was shivering from the wetness that managed to slip past both.

"I don't either but I love the puddles it leaves."

"Why?" Tilting his head, Astral looked at him and patiently waited for an answer.

"Because of this!" Smiling gleefully, Yuma jumped on the nearest puddle. Astral brought his arms up as water scattered all over the place.

"Ah!" Kotori screamed as some landed on her. "Yuma! Splash me again and I will stab you with my umbrella!"

"Relax, I'm just trying to show him how much fun it is." Yuma told her, crossing his arms.

"So you plan on getting us wet in the process!?"

Letting them settle their spat, Astral glanced at the puddle. 'I wonder what Yuma means by this being fun.' Well, there was only one way to find out…

Jumping into it, he felt a strange surge of excitement flow through him as he watched the droplets fly through the air, each sparkling as if they were stars reaching for the sky. Oddly mourning them as they landed, their glittering light made him want to repeat the action just so he could see them again...

"You're going to end up teaching him bad habits, Yuma, and-" Kotori screamed as the splash, bigger than the last one, covered them head-to-toe. Despite his guilt, the look on their faces made Astral smile. "Uh!"

"Awesome! Astral that was best one yet!" Yuma cheered excitedly, pumping a fist into the air as he did. Kotori, on the other hand, didn't look too impressed. In fact, the look on her face made the air around Astral turn frigid..

"Yuma," she said in a very slow, low voice. Her glaring eyes held a light that made Astral shiver.

"Ya?" Yuma asked, looking at her. He swallowed hard when he saw the umbrella in her hand collapse. "Okay. Let's take a deep breath, Kotori. Astral was just curious. There's no need to get violent…"

Kotori poked Yuma in the chest with the tip of her umbrella. "It's not Astral I plan to go after. It's you!"

"Me? Why me? I didn't do anything!"

"You didn't do anything? You were the one who showed him that!"

Yuma chuckled nervously. "Well, um-"

Chime. Chime, chime. Ch-chime.

They all froze as the strange sound filled the air, putting their little debate on hold. Astral tried to locate it with his hearing but it was strangely echoing throughout the area. There was something about it though that made him uncomfortable. "What is that?"

"It sounds like a wind chime." Yuma quietly replied.

"Are you kids alright?" All three of them jumped away from the voice behind them. Turning around, Astral saw a boy wearing a brown cloak standing there with a cheerful, almost sly grin. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

He couldn't see his face, but Astral knew there was something wrong with the boy. The chiming had gone quiet and he could sense a dark air around the stranger as Yuma answered him. "Yeah, you just snuck up on us is all."

"Forgive me. I hadn't meant to." The stranger looked up at the sky. "Shouldn't you three be inside? And out of this dreadful rain."

"We're heading to the duel-" Kotori grabbed Yuma's arm then and jerked him away from the stranger. Not wanting to stay near the dark aura, Astral immediately followed them.

"Sorry, sir, but we really need to get going," she shouted as they moved. To Yuma she muttered, "What the heck were you thinking! We don't know that guy. He could've been a Barian."

"Oh, I hadn't thought of that," Yuma admitted, grinning sheepishly.

"Something was off about him. We should avoid meeting him again if possible." Astral said, glancing back. He gasped when he saw what was coming their way. "Um, Yuma! Kotori!"

"What?" They both questioned, gasping when they saw it too.

A wall of water was about to crash down on them.

Froze to the spot, he almost didn't feel Yuma's hand grabbing his arm. "Astral! Remember the deep breath I take before I dive into the school's pool?!"

"Yes?"

"Do that now!" Astral did as he was instructed before the wave came down on them. He nearly lost it however when his feet were knocked off the cement. Colliding with Yuma, both of them were swept several feet away before the wave finally died out.

"Are you alright, Astral?" Yuma managed to cough out.

Letting out a few coughs of his own, Astral sat up and took inventory. "I feel a little drained and my head hurts. But I'm okay."

"Good," Yuma said, relieved to hear it. "Kotori, how are you? Kotori?"

When there was no reply, Astral looked over his shoulder and discovered they were in another part of the city. The storm had moved on, leaving warm sunlight to reflect off the railroad tracks webbing around them on the ground. Parked trains and cars sat on top of them, waiting to start their day's work. An empty track divided the space between them and the hooded figure. "I'd prefer it if we could try this the easy way, first."

"Where's Kotori!" Yuma challenged, hopping to his feet.

"I didn't want to involve her. Yet. So I left her behind." He told them as Astral shakily got to his own. "I am a Barian Tracker, by the way. Here to capture the Original Number now that he's in a more...'manageable' form."

"What's a Barian Tracker?" Astral asked as Yuma stepped in front of him protectively.

"A Barian trained to track down and capture prey."

"So you're a bounty hunter," Yuma asked.

"To an extent." The Barian raised a hand and made a beckoning gesture. "Come, Original Number. Before I hurt your friend."

"You're crazy if you think I'm going to let you take Astral so easily. You'll have to duel me first!" Yuma dared the Barian before he could answer.

"And me. I won't be leaving without a fight. And I won't allow you to hurt Yuma if I can help it." Astral agreed, feeling the same rebellious fire fill his core. There was a flicker of worry at the back of his mind though. If it did come down to a duel, he had no idea how the Barian's sphere field would affect his new form. He didn't want to leave Yuma to fight alone like he'd had to last time.

"Now that you're human, I should be able to nab the Numbers when I nab you. A duel really isn't necessary." The Barian told them.

"Can he do that?" Yuma muttered without taking his eyes off the tracker.

Gritting his teeth, Astral's mind raced to think of an escape plan. The screaming whistle in the distance wasn't helping much. 'Wait. A whistle…'

"Yuma," he whispered. "Isn't that a train?"

Yuma looked at him and then down the track. He smiled when he saw the blue engine approaching them. "Good idea, Astral. Are you ready for your first sprint?"

"Yes!"

"What are you two whispering about over there?" The Barian demanded.

"Oh, nothing. Just debating if we should give in," fibbed Yuma. They couldn't see his face, but it was clear that the Barian was frowning at the unexpected reply.

'He's not too keen on believing us,' thought Astral as he urged the train to move faster.

"If that is the case, then why are you two so silent?"

"Here it comes," muttered Yuma. "I don't know much of your world, Barian, but I'm willing to bet you don't have trains."

"Trains?" The tracker's question was muffled by a loud whistle as the train arrived.

"Now!" He heard Yuma shout as he turned to run. Astral stumbled through the first few steps as he attempted to dash across the uneven ground. It helped that Yuma grabbed his upper arm so he didn't fall flat on his face. His balance quickly adjusted however, and he was soon running like a pro.

Hiding behind one of the stationary cars, they stopped to catch their breath. "We need to find a way out of here. Fast."

"I agree." Looking off to his right, Astral noticed they were near the train yard's border. "If we climb up that short overhang, maybe we'll lose him in the field."

An explosion erupted behind them, cutting Yuma off from what he was about to say. The car they were hiding behind bounced as parts from the moving train flew into it. What looked like a wheel bounced on the ground in front of them, making Astral's heart skip a beat, and over the next car.

"Whoa! Let's not think about it!" Yuma shouted, shoving him towards their new destination. "Let's run!"

Embers and ash danced in the air as they hastily ran. A haze had filled the entire area by the time they crawled over the overhang, the fence, and into the field. When they finally stopped, Astral's legs ached so badly he had to sit down. Looking back, he could see nothing except fire and smoke.

Turning his gaze to Yuma, Astral noticed he was holding his arm and carefully keeping it out of his view. "Are you hurt, Yuma?"

"I'm fine," he replied, his gaze fixed on the yard. "Do you think he survived that?"

"Unfortunately, I doubt we'll be rid of him that easily."

Yuma was silent for a while. "I wonder how they found out."

"Only the two of us and Kotori knew about my transformation. I can't believe that she betrayed us." Getting to his feet, a thought struck Astral. "Could they have sensed it somehow?"

"Maybe…" Yuma pulled out his D-Gazer. "Hey, Kotori! Are you there?" Nothing but static answered him. "Darn. Guess we're on our own. I hope she's okay."

"We should leave, Yuma." Astral's skin was beginning to shiver. And it wasn't from the warm sunlight.

"Right." Together, they made their way deeper into the field, praying with each step they took that the Tracker didn't pick up their trail.

"Blasted human contraption," Hamartia growled. Taking a look at the destruction around him, he cursed. "Damn. That fireball was too powerful. Durde will have my head if I killed the Original Number before he's had the chance to use him."

Walking around, Hamartia searched for any signs of where the pair had gone. Or for their bodies.

"Ah," he purred sometime later, dipping a finger into the drying drop of blood he found on the ground. Looking at the fence, he smiled. "How nice of them to leave me a trail marker."

-End of chapter two-

And so the hunt begins! Thank you guys for reviewing! I'm glad I have things pretty accurate so far. It's definitely a relief to know. :D Oh, and moonshadow2012, Astral is one of my favs as well. He is such a cute character! 3

On a side note, I wanted to let everyone know I plan on updating this every weekend, or around it at least, if I possibly can. (as long as life doesn't get in the way, of course)

Anyhow, I'm glad you all are enjoying it so far and I hope it continues to do so! :D

Please feel free to review!