CHAPTER 2: Alive

"Wake up, please, wake up," a feminine voice whispered in a begged tone. Alice gently put her hands on the person's chest and shook him around. Shun...come on. I need you. I don't know what I would do if-

"Hm...ugh...Alice?" said girl smiled as tears filled her eyes. Shun woke up! Quickly, yet softly, she embraced him with her arms. He just lay there, not being able to move.

Noticing her action and Shun not moving, Alice quickly sat up and blushed a bit. "I'm sorry," she said sweetly. "You must be hurt. Are you okay?" Shun looked at her and shook his head.

"I'm fine," he said, trying to get up. When he was half way up, he fell back down again, back arching due to the contact. He groaned. Alice reacted fast and put her arm underneath his back and gently helped him up. "Thanks," he whispered out.

That's when he noticed it. She wasn't wearing her usual yellow overcoat. Alice was just wearing her tank top and shorts. She had scratches and bruises, but that seemed to be it. Seeing her shiver, he asked, "Where's your coat?"

"Oh!" she said, a smile brightening up her face. "Well, you see. Your shirt was dirty so I took it off and found a river nearby. It's dried by now," she continued on, "but when I came back you seemed a bit cold so I took mine off." Gently, she put her hand to his forehead. "Your fever seemed to die down." With her other hand she gave have him his shirt.

As she took her arm hand away he quickly grabbed her wrist. All time stopped there for Alice. Her heart went wild. He looked at her intently in hey eyes and she looked back. In an instant, she was in his arms, and he stood up, fully clothed, and gave her back her jacket. Gently, he set her on the ground.

"Do we know where we are?" he asked, looking around for any sign of the others. Alice looked down and shook her head.

"And I don't know what happened to the others," she began in a rushed tone. "Did they fall, too, or were they able to make it back out of the storm. Shun, I-," she was cut off by the voice of Skyress.

"Come on," Skyress urged. "We can go look for them from the sky." Shun and Alice looked up to see Skyress fully transformed. Shun picked his orange-headed companion up again, earning a small blush from her, and ran up a tree, jumped off, and onto Skyress's back.

It didn't fully occur to Shun, but it occurred to Alice, that Skyress transformed. "Skyress, if you don't mind my asking, how did you transform?" Alice asked as she sat behind Shun.

"Yeah," Shun added. "We're not even in a Bakugan Battle," he concluded.

This time, it was Skyress's turn to talk. "I, myself, cannot be so sure of what happened and how I transformed. When we fell, I felt this strange power overtake me. I transformed without another thought," she explained. "It was as though we are in Vestroia."

"But we're not," Alice said. "Are we?"

Skyress shook her head. "No, we're still on earth."

"...And this is where we lost them a day ago," Marucho explained to Joe. They had just picked him up from his house, by plane, and brought him to exact spot where Alice, Shun, and Skyress fell out.

"I feel terrible," Golem said out of nowhere.

"We all do," Tigress added.

"Don't worry, guys," started Joe. "We'll find them." We have, too. I won't lose Alice like this. I won't lose her period. "Come on. Let's start searching for them."

"ALRIGHT!" exclaimed Julie.

"Yeah, let's go," added an enthusiastic Runo, who pumped a fist through the air.

"Okay," Dan agreed. "Marucho, ask your butler to land here," he commanded.

"Right."

A few minutes later, the five brawlers and their bakugan went out to look for their two friends.

"They could be anywhere," Pyress whined. "We'll never find them."

"Don't give me that!" spat out Wyvern.

"He's right," Drago agreed. "We have to find them, for the sake of the world. Becuase," Drago began in an eerie voice. "If what Alice saw was true...Masquerade is still out there."

It was night time by now, and Skyress's wings became tired. Seeing this, Shun commanded, "Skyress, that's enough for now," he looked down. "Land in that open area. We can rest there."

"Yes," and with a nod, Skyress descended out of the sky. When they reached land, Shun jumped, expecting to find Alice come off right after him.

"Alice come-," he stopped talking when he looked at her. She tried getting up with her arms, but fell back down on Skyress, who, for some unknown reason, could not go back in her ball-like state.

"Alice?" Skyress questioned. "Are you okay?" she asked sincerity in her voice. Knowing that Shun harbored feelings for the girl, she took upon a mother-like act for the girl. She soon became to think of her as her own master, just like she did Shun.

"I'm fine," Alice answered, trying to get up, but falling back again. Shun, with his ninja-like speed, grabbed her before she fell back down on Skyress. "Shun," she whispered.

"Hang on," he said, picking her up bridal style as he jumped off Skyress and landed on the ground gracefully. "What's wrong?" he asked, and she looked away to hide her blush. His voice was full with compassion.

He grabbed her by the chin and made her face him. "I guess I just sprained something," she answered. "I'll be fine." He nodded hesitantly, as though he didn't believe that was just it, and headed toward a tree, Alice still in his arms.

When he laid her by the tree, Skyress came up and put a wing around her, providing warmth. "Rest, child," she told her in a soothing voice, and that was exactly what Alice did.

"Shun, come rest, too," Skyress commanded.

"I'm fine-," but Alice cut him off.

"Please, Shun," she whimpered out, her eyes closed. "You need it," Alice coughed out. Not able to say no to her, he walked to the same wing that covered Alice, and climbed under, next to Alice.

Well, I told you guys this was going to be a short story. No, it's not over, but I don't see the point in writing long chapters...yet. I think Alice and Shun belong together more than every. Don't you?

Ok, so that's all I have to say. Check out Onyx Waters, which was updated yesterday, and Bloom in Blood, which will be updated on Friday.

Love,

MissSakuraUchiha