"I got evicted now I'm living on the street
my spirits lifted...oh wait, that wasn't me
too many turns have turned out to be wrong
this time I learned that, I knew it all along"
A month passed by after the abbey was shut down, two months if you lived in Kotan Yochi, the bit beast world. So much of the world has changed in that short span of time. Not that the humans knew what they were doing. They never understood. The day they learned how to mold the world around them, they gave up relying on magic to help them survive day to day. Instead they used their technology, their electricity and computers, their machines and…what else did the humans use? Uri mused.
He had grown very weak over time, even before the death of Raine, so much so that he was constantly bedridden. The lost of the priestesses tipped the balance of the sacred world he once knew. Places he once played in had been utterly destroyed; new terrifying structures have been erected in grounds only the four sovereigns had access to. Bit Beasts began to stop existing; they had no magical energy to sustain themselves. The once peaceful world was now beginning to rot in his eyes. Now bit beast became violent beings, they would devour each other in order to live to see another day.
Uri was hanging in there. There were days he felt that he was fading too. He would lose sight of things that were in front of his eyes, only to wake up from the bed. Lord Dranzer had no choice but to do most of the errands himself. Uri attempted to make bonds with a human child right after Lord Dranzer called a council meeting of the four sovereigns. It didn't end well. Herons like himself were known to be delicate, they were in tune with matters of the heart, and would become sick should their human's heart be filled with negative emotions. He was afraid. Uri knew his life was in the hands of such hateful creatures. It was either he faded away, or be consumed by the pain of having to bear their hatred.
"It's such a shame one as beautiful as you would have to suffer like this," a soft whisper reached his ears. The bird lay still in his bed. He felt something approach him, gently caressing his vulnerable form. He realized it was a humanoid form, but only the most powerful bit beasts were able to achieve that, but the shortage of magic made them stay in their beast form to stay alive. "Please open your eyes?" the voice was so soothing he had to obey. Uri let a pathetic crow emit from his beak. "I want to help you" he saw amethyst eyes of a human, who was thought to be dead long ago.
"You" he muttered fervently" Her chubby pale fingers brushed against his forehead, eventually resting between his eyes. Refreshingly cool energy rushed through his body like being bathed in water. The pain that held down his broken body was soon forgotten. "You're" Uri felt more power flow from her into his body. He was soon up and at it again. Astonished he saw that he too had taken up his human form.
"You're beautiful" The human girl replied looking at him. Uri felt blood rush to his cheeks. He bowed to her.
"My lady" Uri said with respect. "Thank you for healing me" He felt the violet eyed person take hold of his hand, now helping him up.
"I cannot accept that gesture," Raine said sadly. "I have lost my ability to support your world." She eased him back into his bed. "I have felt your pain" she offered a smile. "You herons and I are similar; we can sense emotions of other people. I felt your pain, and I have come here to soothe it" He smiled.
"I can sense that you are in pain as well" He replied smoothly, reverting to his bird shape. "What troubles you?" He noted that there were dark circles underneath her eyes. "You have not rested"
"I can't sleep; I have nightmares- of myself. I am not who I once was. I am a prisoner of my own body." Raine said. "I can not remember my own memories, I had to give them up" she replied seriously. "I cannot remember why, but I know it was to protect those who needed me" she knelt down by the bed. "There is darkness in my heart you must never peer into" she warned him. It hurts me to see it, and for a heron it must be worse" Uri nodded in agreement.
"You need to rest though." He pressed gently. His feathers brushed aside some of her soft pink patches of fur away from her face. "Rest, I will sing for you," he murmured.
"My body in the human world is resting; it is my spirit that is restless." She replied. "And if you used your chi now, won't you feel ill again?" she asked genuinely worried about him. "If you must insist in helping me, let me help you first!" Raine swatted the wings away from her hair. "Please, let us form a pact. I have enough energy to sustain you" Uri frowned, a pact with a human? "Some other time then" Raine shied away when she saw his hesitation. "I'm so sorry; I really wanted to become a pillar of your world." Regret filled her being. "I just wished I knew where things went wrong. Why hasn't Lord Drigger come to my rescue? All the females in my family served him faithfully. Isn't he supposed to look after his priestesses?" Uri looked at her again.
"Rest child" he assured her. "Bit beast and humans used to need one another. I see now we beasts are the ones not needed, but we still need humans." He sang a few notes that were meant to soothe the soul. "I would be honoured if the former priestess were to form a pact with me" he replied sincerely. His aura flashed, it manifested in the form of a card imprinted with his image.
"I am no priestess, I never was" Raine said bitterly "I lost my chance to become one" flapping noises sounded outside the halls of the palace. Raine looked around with a panicked look in her eyes. If she were caught what would happen to her? Uri thought. "I will be devoured, my soul would be enough to fuel the existence of a bit beast for another good ten years in your world- 20 if I was in good health" she explained as if sensing his thoughts.
"Leave then" he urged his friend, pressing the card into her hand.
"I can't, I am restless" A strange calm filled Uri, he realized this is what it felt like to really care for a human. He knew she trusted him, to tell him about how vulnerable she was now. Once again he used the tips of his wings to smooth the oddly colour fur from her head.
"I can fix that. Close your eyes" She obeyed reluctantly. The flapping came closer still, causing her to freeze in fear. Uri opened his mouth, and sang the most beautiful song he had sung in his life. Slowly she began to relax, her spirit faded, no doubt to join her physical body in the human world. The fear in both their hearts went away. The magic he wove with his voice was so powerful; it put the intruders outside to sleep.
"Uri, please keep us a secret. I wasn't supposed to be here" Was the last thing Raine said before she was gone. He swore to keep that promise until the day he faded from this plane of existence.
Kai looked around the hospital room curiously. Two full years had passed since Dranzer stopped talking to him. Here and there he would feel his presence, but it was strained, as if Dranzer himself was feeling weak. He assured himself that it was nothing and continued to live his life- even though every morning he would wake up with an empty feeling in his chest. There was no longer that familiar warmth to greet him every morning. He had tried to give up beyblading because of this sense of loss, but it was a futile attempt. Right now he sat beside the hospital bed, waiting to see how his old comrade was fairing. Kai wanted to join BEGA; he needed this chance to beat Tyson, and to hopefully fill that emptiness inside of him. Unconsciously he gripped Tala's wrist tighter.
"If you keep doing that, we'll have to add a broken wrist to his list of injuries" Brian replied dryly referring to the comatose Tala. Kai let go immediately. Uncomfortable silence filled the room. For some odd reason Kai expected some form of hostility to come from Brian. Kai was going to join the enemy, and for some reason, he could pick up the Blitzkrieg boys blamed him for something. He looked up to see Brian typing away on his laptop. A secret smile lit up the falcon bladder's lips as he gazed at the screen. The furious tapping of his keyboard reached his ears. He peered over Brian's shoulder.
"What has your interest?" He said noting a strange blue screen.
"Friend of mine logged on," Brian grunted as he continued to type at such a rapid pace.
"IamHEAR?" Kai inquired inquisitively. He noted that Brian called himself "PhycoKiller101"
"She likes to play with words" Brian explained, "It sounds like saying I am here all the same anyways." He finally got a reply from the new user
IamHEAR says: it's certainly been a while since I got Internet. You're not going to believe this, but I'm in JAPAN!
PhycoKiller101 says: How in the world did you manage that? Weren't you heading over to Canada?
IamHEAR says: I know right? Hey where are you?
PhycoKiller101 says: …Japan, Shibuya Japan. Maybe we can meet up sometime? You need directions?
IamHEAR says: Hey I'm there right now! Hey hey come find me man
PhycoKiler101: Can't. Tala's in the hospital. I'M there visiting. Here-
Brian clicked some buttons on the program that turned on the Camera on his laptop. A screen popped up with two boxes. One was completely black with the words "camera is not turned on" and the other was loading the image of Brian and Kai. The text conversation continued underneath the videos.
IamHEAR: I'm not turning on video. I don't want you to see me
PhycoKiller101: Didn't expect you to
"Why not" Kai frowned slightly. "She can see us" the thought unsettled him
IamHEAR says: I don't want you to see me. You won't like what you see.
"She's probably ugly." Kai mused. "Or another fan girl"
"I am neither Kai Hiwatari." Kai jumped. That voice that came from the computer was identical to his voice. He looked around paranoid; he was freaked out further when he heard his own voice speak from the computer. "I am of your conscious mind. You have secrets, secrets you don't want anyone to see, not even yourself" Brian chuckled amused at his antics.
"She's good at imitating voices, I had the mic on. So she can hear you speaking.
"Awww you ruined my fun" a low voice came from the other end. Kai felt something wrong with that voice. It was as if the girl on the other side tried to sound more masculine. He would have been fooled had he not known she was a girl. "Brian, I don't have anywhere to stay, I'll be busy for a while" She calmly explained. "Can we meet when I'm settled? You'll take me to see the rest of your team?"
"I dunno… we'll be leaving for the motherland tomorrow."
"You'll leave him behind then? Even though you feel danger looming so close by?"
"We'll try to delay it"
"That's all I ask for Brian. I have to go now"
"Take care" Brian said. A beep came from the program, indicated that the video conversation has ended. He sighed looking at the "offline" status beside his friend. Kai watched as Brian sent a message; she would receive it next time she logged on.
PhychoKiller101: Until next time. I'm kinda lonely so log on soon
Message could not be sent
"Bad news onee Chan" Camryn addressed a hooded figure that was meditating. "Boris is here- he's up to his old tricks again" Camryn unrolled a poster she had torn off of the shop window she was visiting. "What are we going to do?"
"Leave it alone Cam. This is none of our business" Alex snapped. That man disgusted the fox's very being.
"The balance of the bit beasts world hands in the balance. I can't ignore that" Cam beamed in approval at his response. "However, Raine cannot protect their world any longer. She lost that right and disappeared. We can't interfere directly." Anastas opened his violet eyes. "Is there no one who would stand in his way?" He addressed his team mate softly, but without warmth or any sign of emotion in his voice.
"Da BBA Revolutions" Sam piped up. "Inna month de'll host a tournament. If dat man loses, he'll shut it down" Sam was uncomfortable speaking Boris' name, the blue haired kid feared his past, and what Boris has done. Whispering the name would get Sam jittery.
"Captain?" Sid shifted, standing faithfully by Sam's side. "What do we do?"
"First of all, we get shelter, settle down as usual. We need to plant shallow roots and uproot them before we're found gain. We'll do something about the tournament afterwards. This BEGA must not be permitted to win." Anastas spoke softly. "Fortunately, some of us were born in Shibuya" He sent a knowing gaze at the Japanese teenager that accompanied them. She returned that look with a soft smile.
"My parents are dead captain, I have no place here," the girl corrected
"I have been here before, I know of a cabin. It should have the basic necessities," Anastas quickly said. "We just need to supply ourselves with food. Let's make it last a month. We can stay longer if we want to afterward." The group nodded agreeing on something. "I will go with the fair princess" Anastas held his hand out to the girl. "Sam and Sid are together. The rest of you are together, you know what to do," he instructed. The team split up the money they saved and went of their way. After two years of living on the run they had gotten used to the routine. They didn't even need a shopping list to get things done.
"Niki chaaaan!" Cam sang out as Cam held the hand of the older woman. Nichole felt indignant, but years of living with the child gave the knowledge that Camryn would never stop with this behavior. Cam insisted on living the childhood the abbey took away from him, before landing in Japan, they tried to go to Canada to return Camryn to his birthplace, and track down his remaining family. Nichole blinked in realization
"Camryn, isn't your cousin going to compete in part of that contest? He is a bey-bladder after all, and was involved with helping Mr. Dickenson shut down the Abbey" Camryn nodded, his baby blue eyes that usually held a joyous light in them flashed a darker green hue.
"What are the chances of us encountering them though? I mean I want to meet my cousin again, but I can't be that selfish." The small child clenched his fist tightly. "He's well known, encountering him would blow our cover, and that would destroy everything our Onee chan had worked hard for." Nichole gave a soft smile, despite Camryn's looks and personality; he still possessed a mature and intelligent mind. This was why Camryn was the team's tactician.
"Things aren't what they always seem Camryn" Her mysterious voice flowed out like a soft breeze. "It seems that most of us can track down a way to home from here. Just think about it." It was true. Camryn had a cousin here that was right under their nose. Alex, as stubborn as he was, knew someone here close to home as well. The Japanese medic of the team lived in Shibuya for a while before moving. Sam and Sid would head over to a different part of Japan as soon as this whole issue was resolved. Nichole could always just settle anywhere, but she wanted to go work for Mr. Dickenson. The only issue was the captain, Anastas.
"It would be unfair. Anastas worked and sacrificed so much for us to get this far. He doesn't want to be seen." Camryn pointed out. "I intend to find my family one way or another, and I can do it here, it all depends on the timing" Camryn's eyes returned to their normal blue "So please don't do anything rash. I have a plan to get us there, without interrupting Onee Chan's goals. I just need to double check with Sam"
"That about settles it doesn't it Alex-sama?" Anastas's alto voice spoke softly to the silver haired fox. Anastas was of course, carrying the heavy groceries. His companion nodded as they walked into a secluded alley. They made sure no witnesses were around before using their magic to store what they had bought. "I know what you are thinking; we can definitely end our traveling here within this month if we crossed paths with the BBA." Anastas observed Alex carefully, noting the fox tensed for a split second before flicking his immaculate silver hair over his shoulder. "You're nervous" Anastas noted. Alex looked over at Anastas, even though the fox's eyes never opened; Anastas was able to read Alex's emotions. Anastas closed his violet eyes as a small headache washed over him "I can't deny this statement, we can definitely send everyone home, and end our suffering once and for all." A pair of footsteps echoed in the alley, followed by another groups"
"Is 'dat true captin'?" Sam's eyes sparkled as he heard the news.
"Provided we directly cross paths with BBA? Yes, yes we can" Alex spat out bitterly.
"But we can wait until the whole BEGA vs. BBA thing is done!" Camryn cried out. He really wanted to spare the captain from having to confront the others.
"Why wait? Dere's no reason why we can't go now-" Sam was cut off then something caught his eye. "There! It's Tyson from da BBA" he said shocked. It was the oddest stroke of luck. Tyson was yelling out, venting his frustration on Kai, who was casually ignoring him. Alex made a move to stop Sam, but he was already running out onto the busy streets to catch the two celebrities, Sid following close by.
"Those idiots!" Nichole cried out in frustration "They'll get run over if they just run out onto the street" Cam grabbed her hand and they chased the two as well, leaving Anastas there with a stunned Alex.
"This is going to ruin everything" Alex panicked, eyeing Kai carefully. He too, made a move to give chase, but was held back by Anastas' gentle but firm grip.
"You didn't get to hear me finish my statement from earlier." His voice was strained, barely above a whisper. "I'm tired of running too Alex. I want to stop wandering aimlessly around the world. I think we should end it here"
"Ana-" Alex breathed out "You sure about this? This could mean possibly having to deal with-" He gulped "him"
"Thank you for keeping me in your thoughts my friend" Anastas released his hold over Alex's wrist. "Let's catch up to them all shall we?" Anastas offered him a cryptic smile.
"I struggle with forward motion
we all struggle with forward motion
cause forward motion is harder than it sounds"
"I know you can hear me Kai! Stop ignoring me!" Tyson yelled frustrated, he ignored the people looking at him in disapproval. Kai stopped his aimless wandering much to Tyson's delight. "Hey Kai, now that you've stopped ignoring-"
"Quiet Tyson" Kai cut in sharply. His violet eyes scanned the road they were walking on. It was fairly busy, but not overcrowded, yet the alarm bells in his head was still sounding. People passed by in their bright summer outfits, not really caring about Tyson and Kai. Finally he figured out what was wrong with the picture. Further down the road was a group of people who looked completely out of place- long sleeve shirts, dark colours to absorb the bright rays of the sun, and most of them looked as if this was their first trip outside their hose. A cold sweat struck the two when they picked the group out from the crowd. "Otakus" Kai breathed out
"We have to run" Tyson whispered. Before they could run off, a strong gust of wind blew in their faces, cutting off their subtle escape. "Hiro?" Tyson knew his brother favoured to make a dramatic entrance like this one, there Hiro was dressed up in his ninja-esque outfit.
"Well if it isn't the Twilight Brigade" Hiro said addressing the oddly dressed people. They looked up and seemed to recognize him.
"Jin of the Gale" the tallest woman spoke up. Tyson took a better look at the group of four. The one who addressed Hiro s Jin was taller than his brother, towering over 6" at least. Her mocha brown skin gave her an exotic appearance, and the strange accent in her Japanese indicated she wasn't a native who often visited a tanning salon. She has auburn hair that reached her shoulders and flared out at the end. Her bangs fell into her chocolate brown eyes that gave off a mysterious vibe. Holding that girl's hand was a short white girl around Kenny's height. Golden blonde hair was tied up in pigtails, framing her doll like face that was covered in freckles. Her baby blue eyes reminded Tyson of Max's, he got a feeling he could get along with her.
"Dude, what are you doing here? Am I glad to see you!" The man that spoke up had fiery red hair that was gelled up and emerald green eyes. He was another one of the tall pale people. The ginger kid had a crooked nose, and thick Russian accent, despite speaking Japanese fluently.
"I'll say, how's da trainin' goin' on?" That Japanese girl…those pink eyes seemed familiar.
"Kiku?" Tyson cried out immediately recognizing her. "I haven't seen you since you moved to Osaka!" Sam, whose birth name was Kiku Nemuri, beamed at him while playing with her sky blue hair. Tyson noted she added sapphire streaks to it.
"How ya doin' Tyson?" she greeted. "Nice to know you haven't forgotten the little people in your life. You were such a small kid then, didn't know if you'd remember me ya know?"
"Oh heck no, I could never win against you when we beybattled" Tyson said with a cocky grin "But that's all about to change, how about a rematch? I'm going to grind you into the dust"
"Later Tyson" Hiro cut in sharply "Where is your captain?" He asked them giving the group a sharp glare
"How could you expect us to bring Onee Chan out here?" Camryn cried out indignantly. "Onee Chan can't be seen, not now! Nee Chan sacrificed so much to bring us here, the least we could do is-" Camryn angrily wiped her eyes with her sleeve.
"Oh Fu- fudge muffins" Sid corrected himself. "That's right" he said eyeing Kai nervously.
"I knew bringing you two along would be a big burden on out team, nothing but dead-weights who think of nothing but themselves." And acidic voice spat out. "Jin of the Gale, you'd do well to leave the captain out of this issue." A girl approached them with a challenging tone. She has beautiful silver hair tied in steryotypical "Chinese" twin buns. The left over strands brushed her shoulders. It complimented the colour of her sun kissed skin. Tyson being a teenager was automatically drawn to stare at her graced figure. The new girl was at least a C cup with those melons he noted. Her legs were sinfully sexy, more so since her Chinese style dress had the slit in it, and there was something strapped to her thigh, which to Tyson's teenage hormonal delight, she lifter the dress to pull it out.
"Don't you think you're going to far Alexiss?" Sam weakly protested. What Alex pulled out was a bladed metal fan that could do so much damage.
"Is your captain running away from me?" Jin taunted
"You know VERY well why I cannot allow Anastas to come over here" Alex snarled. "Another word from you and I'd happily gouge out your eye."
"Enough hime sama" A gentle voice cut through her threat. The last person stepped in. This person wore a zipped up black jacket that hid their figure as well as faded blue jeans. A dark purple hat covered most of the face. Tyson was able to see the person's violet eyes.
"Take off that hat Anastas, you're not fooling anyone" The new group of people seemed upset with this, but Anastas held out a hand and slipped the cap off. Hiro looked at Tyson and Kai expectantly. "Well you two? What do you see?" Tyson was curious as to why his brother was too eager to see their reactions. Anastas was a plain looking boy; his purple hair matched his eyes and was held in a ponytail. Big deal, lots of boys he knew had long hair, Ray for example was one of them.
"I don't know what you're trying to prove Jin of the gale" the odd boy spoke softly "but I know you shouldn't push others into things when they aren't ready. You knew I didn't want to be seen at all, and I'm afraid I won't be today" Anastas spoke while carefully placing the cap back on.
"An illusion" Hiro bitterly spat out "you tricked us"
"No Hiro san, you deluded yourself into thinking your goals would be so easy to accomplish. I am not obliged to re establish some of my connections to the past. Especially the painful ones" Anastas spoke. Tyson blinked rapidly, something was happening. He barely registered Hiro rushing to tackle Anastas onto the ground; Alex stepped in to defend her captain. The others gasped and stood around looking nervous. What really attracted Tyson's line of vision though was Anastas. For a split second after he was tackled by Hiro, her saw a flash of pink, Alex then got in the way, a flash of red, and then a big blur. He wasn't crazy, everything else seemed fine. Kiku was clutching onto the Russian boy clear as day, but when he looked at Anastas, it was as blurry, like a smudge on a camera lens. The colours shifted, then focused, but changed again. This makes no sense!
"ENOUGH!" Tyson observed as the tallest woman of the group went over to forcibly separate Hiro from the other two. She yanked on his ear, Tyson winced as she did it in the same manner Hillary would have done if she found he didn't finish his homework. Alex was about to leap at his brother again, but was held back by Anastas. "You Granger are the immature and conceited boy I have ever seen. What in the devil's NAME gives you the right to assault teenagers in public? I assure you you're not God, you can't tell young kids to do your bidding, and assault them when they don't. Anastas listened to your request to get rid of the headgear, you should respect the fact that. Yes, maybe he doesn't want anyone knowing what he looks like you prick" She finished off her lecture with a sharp twist of his ear. "Get over your controlling manipulative habits, you're not gaining any friends here"
"I think he learned his lesson Nichole" Anastas cut in. Tyson looked at him one more time and his vision focused to reveal the same Anastas with a black eye. Kai however was not satisfied.
"Did you just get a hair cut?"
"Did I?" Anastas answered cryptically. "I think you have a vague idea what's going on here Hiwatari" Tyson reeled. Instead of the soft spoken and polite tone of voice Anastas first addressed his brother Hiro with, his voice shifted to one filled with anger and hatred. The poison in his icy tone was enough to send shivers down his spine. "I don't want people to see my face, let alone my body. As Hiro mentioned, it's an illusion. One that's hard to keep up if I keep imagining a different form"
"Why the illusion then?" Tyson couldn't help but blurt out. Anastas stopped glaring at Kai and looked at him, visibly calming down
"Because, seeing myself in the mirror makes things hard for me. If I know what I really look like, I can't live my own life; I'll only be a shadow of what was meant to be. I'd like to move forward, forget the past."
"You can't run forever" Hiro pointed out
"You're right, I can't. I know that's the reason that brought my team here. However, one more interference from you and I will curse the world until my final breathe. I will do things my way Mr. Archeologist"
"well every time I gain some ground
I gotta turn myself around again
it's harder than it sounds"
Forward Motion by Relient K