Changing the layout of my writing a little bit...check out the replies to GUEST reviewers at the end of the story.
Thanks a ton for all the reviews and likes on my story! I love you all! We're almost reaching hundred now! If we reach that goal...I'll...post up a super-long chapter that would embed itself in your minds for ages!
IMPORTANT...!
I have two questions...any and everyone of you readers feel free to answer and guide me.
1) I need someone to brief me about ratings. Do I need to change the rating of this story? Please explain the different ratings.
2)If I delete a chapter of any story, would the reviews given on that chapter will be deleted automatically as well?
Moving onwards...
Bakugan Baby Brawlers.
Chapter 10: Pained Solace.
Shun shivered unintentionally. The temperature of his temporary shelter was dropping rapidly. So much of the teen's strength was being consumed by keeping the small girl in his arms, warm that he had driven himself to the point of exhaustion. A new level of pain introduced itself as his pale skin took a blueish gray hue. He was at the brink of sleep when the young girl stirred.
"Sh-un?"
Topaz eyes glanced down at the wild orange hair, "Yeah?"
"Where...we?"
"We stopped for a little detour because the storm wont lift up." Shun tried to keep his tone reassuring.
"I cold..."
The teen sighed, "I know..."
He tightened his jacket around the small frame but how much more could he do when he himself was losing all self control and shivering every now and then.
"You cold too?"
Shun closed his eyes, resting his pounding head against the rocky wall behind him, "A bit."
"Then...you...take it. I don't...want it." Alice decided in the moment of finality without hesitation.
Topaz eyes blinked open at the words, "Huh?"
"I no...I no happy if you...sad." Her eyes were downcast as she spoke, "You...me friend."
"Alice..." His throat felt constricted at the sudden choke-hold of emotions. Being in such a helpless situation, the teen's mind was refusing to think rationally but he forced himself to act, "We have to find a way to get a fire started."
"F-f-fire?" Alice managed through chattering teeth.
"Yeah." Shun stood up, shaking his limbs to get rid of stiffness. Peeking outside the entrance of the stony cavern, all the teen could see was pelting hail and rain. He involuntarily shivered and turned back towards the young girl who was trembling in his jacket and trying to warm herself up.
The sight filled Shun's heart with a pang of sadness and guilt. Not hesitating on his part, he glanced at his young friend, "Stay here Alice, I'll go find some wood."
"No..." Alice's eyes widened, "This place...no light...it be scary..." As if on cue, her auburn eyes filled with unshed tears as she scrambled from her spot to reach over to the teen and latched to his arm as though her life depended on it, which regarding the current situation, probably did.
Shun ran a hand through his raven bangs and sighing, he gingerly separated himself from the little girl, "We could...-"
His phrase was cut short though as the ground suddenly quaked.
"What...ha-ppen-ing...?" Alice grabbed Shun's hand, gulping. Her movements were uncoordinated from the fatigue of the past few days and all the cold weather did was make her state even worse.
Topaz eyes looked around frantically in alarm as small rocks began to fall off the roof of their shelter. Was it a landslide or something?! Getting a bit wary of their position, Shun cautiously scooped Alice up in his arms as she began to cry. Though due to the fact that both of them were on the verge of getting hypothermia, neither of them spoke.
Another rumble pulled them out of their reverie and tightening his jacket wrapped around Alice, Shun made a dash through the opening. Behind them, he could hear the stony roof finally giving in to the onslaught of large, heavy rocks as the boulders slid down from the cliff.
Alice whimpered as her lithe frame was exposed to the wild storm. Glancing down at her, Shun's eyes widened a fraction as they surveyed her blueish gray skin tone.
Shun looked around, desperately trying to figure out what to do. He finally decided to climb up the rough wall of rocky cliff behind the cave in hopes of finding some escape route once he could scan the premises from height.
Reaching the origin where he was going to start climbing from, the teen transferred the girl from his arms to his back, instructing her to hold on tight.
Alice screwed her eyes shut and looped her arms around the ninja's neck in vice grip.
"Not...so...tight..." Shun managed to choke out as he secured her.
"Oh..." Alice loosened her hold a bit.
The teen breathed a sigh of relief and started checking for spots to hold onto as they began to climb up the rocky barrier. Being a ninja, it wouldn't have been much of a quest for him but seeing as he had a young girl with him and swishing winds and rain threatened to sway him off balance, it proved to be a much greater task than he expected.
Unbearably slow, the duo advanced ahead.
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"Okay...so this is where the ventus attributes' signals were supposed to come...but the map I created by those blue prints doesn't match it..." Keith frowned at the screen which currently showed a topographic map to highlight the physical features of the territory they were about to enter.
Behind him, in his seat, Dan was fast asleep, mumbling incoherently.
Raising a brow at the small boy's antics, the teen scowled at the map once again, "What am I missing..."
Dan frowned in his sleep as random snippets flashed through his hazy mind.
...
"Tag! You're it!"
"What?! Again?! And it's only been two minutes! You promised you wont use your ninja speed, Shun!"
"I can't help it Dan! It's like...my second nature now..." The raven haired boy, no more than seven frowned.
The young brunette scoffed, "That's cheating!"
"No it's not..." Shun pondered over the accusation.
"Yes it is!"
"Is not!"
"Is too!"
"Is...-"
The argument would've prolonged had there not echoed the gentle voice, "Dan! Shun! Come inside, you guys! Your cookies and sandwiches are ready!"
"Yay! Food!" The brown haired boy cheered before turning towards his best friend, "Race you there!"
Their pointless bickering already forgotten, the two ran towards the sophisticated house not too far away.
…
"Shun? What's wrong?"
"N-nothing..."
"Then why are you crying? Did I do something?"
"Not your fault Dan..." the raven haired boy mumbled, trailing off.
The brunette was confused now, "Come on...wont you tell your best friend?"
"G-grandpa...he hit me today...while training..."
"He did what?! Why?!"
The pale boy bit his lip, trying to toughen up, "I don't know...he just said I deserved it..."
Dan seethed, fuming at the words, "He'll pay..." He instantly reached for his back pocket and brought out a half-crushed, half-wrinkled packet of m&ms, offering it to his best friend, "Mom gave me this today...cheer up...we'll eat together and watch the sky...just the way you like to do."
And that's exactly what the two best friends did.
…
"Well? Isn't she lovely?"
"Hm...she is...nice."
"What? Oh come on, Shun! That's all you gotta say for your future girlfriend?!"
"My what?!" The raven haired boy choked on his drink of apple juice.
"You know you like her!" Dan poked his best friend teasingly, "Otherwise you wouldn't have been blushing like you are now!"
"I'm not blushing!"
Dan silently steered his friend in the direction of mirror.
"-...-"
"Told you so!"
"Well...I don't know! There's nothing between us, okay?! I helped her in her studies and she repaid me by...-"
"By smooching...-"
"Don't say another word!" The teen warned, "Or I'll steal your secret cookie stash!"
"How do you know my cookie stash is in our attic?!"
Shun gave his best friend a skeptical look that made the said teen realize his mistake.
"Oops! Hehe...right..."
The teen sighed, shaking his head, "You're just like a toddler sometimes..."
…
"Dan..." Topaz eyes were downcast, hidden from view by raven bangs, not letting anyone see the pain swiveling among their depths as they pictured their owner's sufferings, "Dan...my mom...gone..."
The said brunette gasped at the phrase enclosed in quivering voice, full of emotions...yet void of feelings at the same time, "Shun..."
He was biting his lip, trying hard not to show any expression as he finally spilled the heart-wrenching news to his best friend, "That's why...that's why I couldn't attend your party...it happened...today morning..."
Dan looked at his Assassin's Creed themed clock, "Shun...you're telling me this now?!" He glared at the clock hands that were pointing at eight of night as they glistened in the fluorescent light.
The raven haired teen mumbled under his breath, "Didn't want to ruin your day."
Any protests threatening to escape Dan's mouth died down instantly as he saw crystalline drops landing on the teen's collar. His head was bowed, shadowing his eyes from view.
"Shun...man...I'm so sorry..." The brunette trailed off as his best friend's shoulders shook with silent sobs. This was the only place where the ninja would let his heart out. Where he would open up and relax...where he would laugh and cry.
Dan knew full well not to stop his friend. He supported him as he squeezed his shoulder, letting him know he wasn't alone.
Shun silently let all his agony flow freely down his pale cheeks. He wanted to forget...to leave it all behind...yet all he could manage were choking sobs.
…
Dan was falling...down and down...and down...when all of a sudden he began to float in the abyss of darkness, "Wha...-"
He trailed off as he saw parts of his life pass by him. But...he didn't know that had happened. He looked older in the flashes. Yet something told him they were connected to him deeply.
"What's going on?!"
All he could see was a familiar group of kids, all older than he had last seen them...a certain raven haired teen...an older version of himself as he threw card after card, yelling at a very familiar red fire dragon encouragingly...
"Stop it! Help!"
His cry echoed through his mind as he grabbed his head to stop the flow of time.
…
"...Ah!" Dan woke up with a sudden yelp but due to the fact that he was bound to his seat by the leather belt, all he did was bounce a little bit.
"Dan? What's wrong?" Keith glanced back at the boy.
"I...I see dream."
"Of what?" The blonde asked distractedly as he payed attention to the maps again.
"Of..." Dan pondered over his answer for a moment, "Of me...and Shun...and that red dragon...but..."
"But?" Keith was met by a very confused expression on the young boy's face.
"But I be big...and I fight with...cards...and that red dragon has fire...and Runo hit me but she big too..." Dan rambled on.
Keith did a double take, "No way!"
Dan nodded seriously, "Yeah...she can't be big than me..."
"No! That's no what I meant...! what I mean is that..." The teen sighed at the puzzled look on the brunette's face, "Never mind."
"And you there too." Dan suddenly remembered.
"Huh? Me? What was I doing?" Keith raised a brow.
"You tell me you join the 'bawlers' and...and then Shun come in room with me and him talk about..." Dan tilted his head, thinking hard, "About him...him someone who dead."
"His mother?"
"Yeah! Him talk about him mother and I hug him and him cry and we sleep."
"You...that wasn't a dream..." Keith trailed off as his mind processed this new piece of information, "Those were...memories..."
"Huh?" Dan craned his neck to see the blonde.
"Never mind. You wont understand." Keith rubbed his temples. What this another test? Was their any possible way to revert the brawlers back to their present states? Could their young forms remember their original life? Questions flooded his mind like a chain reaction. I've got to keep them all safe until Shun's back...
All of a sudden, the radar bleeped. Startled, Keith turned towards the screen and his mouth hung open as he saw the machine picking up signal of Shun's attribute.
A smile made it's way across the blonde teen's face, "Well...looks like we're not so hopeless after all..."
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Shun hissed as the sharp, jagged edge of a protruding rock cut his wrist roughly...only to add to the already existing numerous amount of scratches on his visible pale skin. The hail had stopped but the rain was still not lifting up the slightest. Wind swayed him dangerously but he managed to catch himself once again.
On his back, clutching his shoulders tightly, Alice was shivering almost constantly now.
"Almost...there..." The teen raised his head to look up at the top of their climbing obstacle. Exhaling through his clenched teeth because of the exertion, he pushed himself upwards hard and the next moment, his feet met solid ground, albeit the fact that he slipped on the wet mud before regaining his composure.
"Now..." Shun looked around himself to assess his position. He wanted nothing more than to be back as their situation worsened. However, he was soon brought out of his self-analysis as the girl on his back coughed and loosened her hold, slumping a bit.
"Alice...?" Shun tried to put her down but she didn't respond, her grip going slack on his shoulders. This worried the ventus brawler and he brought her forward in his lean arms, "Alice?!"
Clenching her fists, the orange haired girl was gritting her teeth as her half-closed, glazed eyes spilled crystalling droplets over the teen's sleeve before losing focus.
"No...Alice!" The teen panicked as the she closed her eyes, breathing rapidly.
All the freezing young girl did was let out a small cough, whispering inaudibly, "Sh-u-n..."
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Um...was that a cliffie?! Whoops...my bad!
Replies to GUEST reviewers...
To TERRAH111: Hehe, well...cliffies are a permanent part of my writings now, mate! Here's yo chapta! XP Hm...I watched a few episodes of Card Fight Venguard when I was a kid...but can't remember why I stopped watching them.
To JAYBIRD2000: Glad to know you liked the chapter. Um...yes...they're still in Wiseman's territory. Enjoy!
To HI: Welcome to my story! Happy to know you find it cute! :) Your suggestions are taken into consideration, thanks a bunch!
To TEEHEE: Um...hey there! I'm glad to know you liked my writing! Well...your review was a bit hard to understand but from what I've gathered, you're talking about my other story. I haven't reread that either...but I killed him only because my readers wanted me to do so. However, worry not, mate! No one dies in this story! XP
And that was all from your very own, Hope Channel!
Stay tuned for the next chapter, dear readers! Enjoy and review!
Hope out!
Until next time! :)