A/N: Hey so I'm going to do some review replies,
Pinksugarrush: Haha thanks! I was trying to put in a bit of older style language but also we call people charmers quite a bit here in Ireland :) The other zodiacs won't be appearing just yet but trust me she be seeing them all real soon.
Fantasyanimegirl283: Thanks! I appreciate the review and knowing that you are excited by this story gets me excited to write it!
Black Wolf Lady: Sorry about the wait :P but I hope you survived the curiosity up till now. I love your name by the way.
So without further ado I present you with chapter four, please follow or favourite if you like it and please, please, please review!
Seriously, your reviews make me feel guilty for not updating so they really motivate me to write :)
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The image of the uncertain young girl began to swirl in front of Kyo's eyes. He looked at Kaida with confusion and she just shrugged.
"Not a whole lot left to see there. After my mother told my grandparents what happened they agreed to move with us. I think my grandfather was afraid that the Sohmas would get wind of us and come looking for me. He didn't know they had always been keeping an eye on us."
Kaida's eyes flashed red again and the pool presented a new picture. Kyo recognised that some time must have passed as the new scene portrayed Kaida as somewhere around nine.
She was lying on the grass, her eyes closed against the sun that was warming her pale skin. Her fire like hair spilled out behind her on the ground. It had gotten pretty long now.
"You were kind of gangly." Kyo noted and the ghost Kaida chuckled.
"Shut it cat. Just watch my greatest hits."She instructed.
"Kaida-chan!" A voice from the water called, taking back Kyo's attention. He raised his eyebrows in surprise as a young boy the same age as Kaida came running towards her. He had brown shaggy hair and black eyes. He grinned widely at Kaida and she opened one eye at him.
"Oh, hi Ryuu-kun." She said, sitting up and stretching.
"What is it?" She asked.
Ryuu smiled at her goofily. "All the guys are going to go down to the river and swim. You wanna come?"
Kaida blinked in surprise. She gave him a small smirk. "The others don't want me to there. They think I'm a freak."
Ryuu ran a hand through his hair. He knew that was probably true. Kaida and her family had arrived here about a year ago or so and they rarely ever interacted with other people. There was a lot of rumours going around about them. Like they were on the run from the law or something.
"Don't worry, I'll make sure they're nice to you." He offered.
Kaida frowned and bit her lip. "I don't know Ryuu-kun." She said slowly.
Ryuu sighed and put his finger to his lips in contemplation. After a moment a grin broke out on his face.
"Then we won't invite them. Come on, we can go to the other side of the river." He held out his hand to help her up but she flinched away from it. He took it back slowly, remembering how Kaida didn't like to be touched.
She smiled apologetically and jumped up. "Okay, let's go!" She started running and he followed, struggling to keep up with her pace.
"Hey wait up! You don't even know where we are going!" He called after her.
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Kaida dived into the water happily. Her hair plastered itself to her face and Ryuu started laughing at her. She scowled and splashed at him. He chuckled, swiftly retaliating.
Kaida smirked at him and spun quickly causing a small wave to bear down on him. He spluttered against the water and prepared to strike back when he realised Kaida had left the water. He saw her sitting on the bank, her clothes soaked through.
"Why are you my friend Ryuu-kun?" She asked suddenly.
He furrowed his brow at the unexpected question.
"What do you mean? I like you, that's why I'm your friend." He said dismissively.
But Kaida did not seem satisfied to allow the topic to drop. "But no one else likes me. They're all afraid of me. And my family."
Ryuu bit his lip and got out of the river to sit beside her. He didn't want to lie to her by denying it.
"Well... I think maybe...it's just cause you are all so secretive." He shifted uncomfortably.
"I mean, what is it you guys are hiding?" He asked jokingly.
It did not have the desired effect as Kaida's eyes darkened and she stared into the murky water with a fierce concentration.
"Hiding. We're not hiding anything." She said robotically after a moment. She straightened and stood suddenly.
"I should go home. My parents worry if I don't get back on time." She turned away and made to leave hastily.
"Hey, wait! Kaida!" Ryuu called to her, jumping rapidly to his feet. His hand outstretched and clasped hers. She screeched and pulled away, which only caused Ryuu to stumble forward and fall on top of her in a strange puff of smoke. He felt something knock him backwards and he landed with a thump on his back.
Ryuu coughed and groaned as he rubbed the hand he had put out to break his fall.
"Sorry Kaida, I didn't mean to knock you over...Kaida?" He trailed off as he realised that the girl was nowhere to be seen. There was a pile of clothes which he recognised as hers although they looked as though they had been ripped a little in the moments that had just passed.
"Kaida? Kaida!" He called, searching for her. Suddenly his eyes caught sight of something in the bushes. Two large gold orbs.
His heart leaped into his throat. Those lights look so similar to Kaida's eyes. He bit his lip and went down on his hands and knees and slowly crawled towards them.
"Is that you?" he whispered only for them to widen and quickly hide in the protection of the undergrowth.
"Come on, Kaida, please don't leave." He said, a pleading note in his voice.
"Go away Ryuu." She ordered, although she was still out of sight.
"No, Kaida, please come out, what's going on? Why did you run away?" He pressed.
"I, I, I can't tell you! Please Ryuu...just go." Her voice ended in a whisper and Ryuu frowned. She was afraid, of him no less, and he would be damned if he didn't find out why.
"Kaida I'm not leaving. Come out, I promise whatever it is I won't be mad." He reasoned.
There was a long pause as Kaida's common sense fought against her desire for someone other than her family to know what she was.
Ryuu waited for what seemed like a lifetime when a meek voice came to his ears.
"I'll frighten you."
Ryuu smirked and shook his head. "I promise I'll try not to be scared."
The golden orbs reappeared and they looked into his eyes.
"You swear you won't scream?" She demanded.
"I swear."
"Okay." She heaved.
Slowly, with wide eyes, Ryuu watched something impossible come from that bush. He saw the red scaled face that the eyes belonged too, the sleek leathery black wings that stemmed from a muscular back and body, the five long talons on each of the feet.
He stared into the eyes of a dragon and it looked back beseechingly.
"You promised you wouldn't scream" She reminded him, her voice somehow coming from the dragon's mouth.
And Ryuu didn't, if only because he was in shock of the sight in front of him.
In the cave Kyo raised an eyebrow in surprise, this boy didn't seem to be taking this as badly as he had anticipated.
He watched as Ryuu turned on his heel and sprinted away in horror, ignoring Kaida's calls for him to wait and let her explain.
On second thoughts, maybe he was.
The young Kaida flapped her wings and took to the air so as to find her fleeing friend. However she quickly fell back to the ground as she spotted people nearby who may spot her.
A puff of smoke revealed a now human Kaida who reached out for a towel and wrapped it around herself. Immediately she ran after Ryuu.
"Please Ryuu-kun! Don't leave!" She said when she saw him.
He turned to look at her with fear in his eyes. "Get away from me! You're a monster!" He screamed although his eyes instantly looked regretful.
Kaida froze, her lip quivering, her head turned to her feet. "You're right..."
Ryuu watched with a different sense of horror as tears fell to the ground. She was crying, he had made her cry. Shame violently coursed through him.
"Kaida...I, I'm sorry. It's just...what are you?"
"A freak." She whispered in response.
Ryuu chewed his lip. He was confused and frightened but she looked so...sad.
Tentatively he reached out and slowly stepped towards her. His hand was out in front of him, he gingerly placed it on his friend's shaking shoulder.
"Kaida-chan, what's going on?" He asked, his eyes pleading for an answer.
She shook her head.
He took a firm breath and before he could change his mind pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly. That same strange smoke filled the air and he found himself holding a dragon wrapped in a towel.
"Please don't cry, Kaida." He begged.
Her big beautiful golden eyes stared up at him, still shining with her tears. He stroked her rough head gently and awkwardly. She buried her snout in his chest and they remained like that until she became a human again.
Kyo listened as the young Kaida told her new confidant about the curse, what she was, how it was triggered. When she finished her friend seemed less confused but far more surprised.
"So... there are others like you?" He asked, his head tilted to the side.
"Yes, although I hope never to meet any of them. Grandfather says that if they ever found me they'd never let me go. I don't want to have to leave my family. That's why you can't tell anyone about me!" She finished desperately.
"Okay, I won't" Ryuu agreed easily.
Kaida shook her head and put her face very close to his.
"No. You need to understand. You can never tell anyone. I need you to promise." She stuck her finger out and he smirked as he hooked his with hers.
"I promise Kaida-chan."
Kyo turned to the spectre Kaida in the cave.
"Why does this matter?"
"Because it was the first time someone saw what I was who wasn't in my family. And they accepted me. You can let people in if you want Kyo, not everyone, most people are frightened idiots. But sometimes there is someone special who will take your secret to the grave. Ryuu was that for me. My oldest friend." She said the last part with a fond smile.
Kyo leaped up angrily. "Well I don't have anyone like that! And I think it was pretty stupid for you to trust someone so easily! Even if you were a kid!" He turned to the exit.
"What are you doing?" Kaida sked.
"Leaving! There's no reason for me to be here, this isn't helping me at all. That guy is obviously not part of the zodiac so how does this relate to me?" He barked and walked to the mouth of the cave.
Suddenly Kaida was in front of him. Her irises were red again, as was her hair, like someone had decided to colour in very specific parts of a black and white photo.
"Sit kitty. I'm not done."
"Make me." He said, attempting to walk through her only to find she was relatively solid.
She smirked and grabbed his shirt.
"I am the soul of the Dragon of the Zodiac. The last Sohma to ever bear the full brunt of this curse. I may be dead love but that doesn't mean I can't touch you. Now, are you going to sit down and let me finish what I started or are you going to make this difficult?"
"Why should I stay?" Kyo growled, his cat ears perked and canines barred.
"Besides hearing my fabulous life story? You'll get to see me hit the rat of my time."
Kyo stopped snarling and raised his eyebrows.
"Well why didn't you say so? Let's get on with the story." He sat down in his spot by the pool causing Kaida to chuckle as she followed.
