Howdy yall!! Here's chapter eleven. I hope yall like it!!!
Nora, Arisa and Joe: Mew Phoenix Wolf doesn't own Beyblade!!! Only us, the horses, and anyone or thing that sure as hell ain't in the series!!!
Wolfeh: Yeah, make me feel better. Don't you know you're supposed to be nice to a sick person?
Nora: You're sick?
Wolfeh: Yes. I've got this weird sinus infection/flu thing. And it sucks royal monkey ass.
Neways, on with the story!!!! sneezes Oops!
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Nora and Mariah laughed as they finished setting up their tent, happily putting their sleeping bags inside with their gym bags stacked up by their pillows. After they got everything set up they crawled out of the tent and Nora pulled out a bag of multiple different vegetables and an airtight bag of chopped chicken. Grinning, she put a pot on a stick-stand and poured some water into it before taking out a few handfuls of the chopped onions, peppers, carrots and other things before dropping them into the water along with a good bit of chicken.
"What are you making Nora?" Nora smirked up at Mariah.
"Chicken gumbo. It's damn good when cooked right." She said, Mariah blinking.
"Chicken gumbo? What's that?" Nora laughed.
"Gumbo is poor mans soup. Basically, all you do is throw everything you got into a pot and cook it 'till it's nice and thick. I swear, once you eat it once you've pretty much tied the knot on never becoming a vegetarian. I could never survive without meat, I need the stuff. 'Specially deer jerky. I swear, that stuff is two thousand times better than normal beef jerky just because it has this really kick ass wild tang to it that you just can't find in cattle." She said, Mariah laughing.
"You were rambling like a meat-love-sick fool!!" She laughed, Nora laughing along with her.
"But that's what I am!! I love meat just about as much as I love Kai!!!" She said, Mariah smiling.
"Well, that's really good then!! Oh, and you might want to pay better attention to the gumbo. I don't want it to be burnt the first time I eat it." Nora laughed and began stirring the gumbo with a ladle.
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Nora yawned widely as she crawled out of the tent and into the fresh morning air, stretching her arms high above her head. Taking a deep breath, she looked up at the sky and smiled as she saw that the sun hadn't risen yet. Walking up to JJ, she quickly put his headstall on and slipped the reigns over his head before pulling herself up onto his back calmly and smiling at Mariah, who was now stretching outside the tent. Smiling, the pink-haired girl picked up her headstall and put it on her horse, a beautiful palomino mare with what looked like white wings stretching from each shoulder to her elbows, before pulling herself up. Nora kicked JJ into a gallop and they tore out of the clearing and towards the lake that was about twenty minutes away when they galloped. They managed to get there just as the sun began to rise, both girls tying their horses to trees before walking over and sitting on the bank of the lakeshore.
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Back at the farm, the guys were just beginning to wake up and get ready for the day, knowing they would be on their own for three days. Shaking the sleep out of their eyes, they all quickly ate breakfast before going off to their own places with their teammates.
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Nora yawned widely as she woke from where she had fallen asleep atop a tall, grassy hill in the warm sunlight, smiling as she saw Mariah waking as well. Both gave a good stretch before relaxing next to each other, staring up at the clouds calmly.
"Wow, that was a good nap eh?"
"Very. I think we should do it every day while we're out here."
"Agreed."
"Maybe even back at home every now and then…?" Nora sighed, shooting a look at Mariah.
"I'll think about it. We can't start falling behind on our work because then it'll make us have to work even faster and harder in just one day! Plus, I'm pretty comfortable with the pace we usually work at."
"Yeah, same here, but we could use some rest every now and again." Nora shook her head.
"Don't I know it." She mumbled, sitting up so that she leaned back on her arms, completely calm. It was silent for a good while until both girls finally fell back asleep, the gentle breeze and warm sun keeping them asleep for a good amount of time.
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"Hey Mariah! Dinners done!"
"About time! I'm starving!"
"Yeah, I know." Nora handed Mariah her food before grabbing her plate and sitting back, staring up at the full moon. "Ya know, I always thought the full moon was the best part of the entire cycle…" She said quietly, eating some of her steak calmly. Mariah nodded.
"Yeah, it always gives off this kind of calming effect, well, for me it does anyways."
"Hm. I can't really explain the feeling for me. It makes me want to just go out into the moonlight and play with Midnight and them but it also makes me just want to howl with them and then it also makes me want to just sit on the roof and stare at it all night… it just seems to keep me in this odd mood. And when I fall asleep it's always the best sleep I ever have. It's so… unusual…" Nora trailed off, her gaze moving back up to the moon overhead.
"Really?"
"Yeah, no joke."
"Maybe you were a wolf in your past life or something?"
"Maybe… But I don't really know. I remember, when I was just a little girl, playing with Midnight and them when they were pups every full moon while my mama and daddy watched. And before I went to sleep every night we, meaning me, Midnight and them, my mama, and my daddy, would howl a long lullaby and by them time it was done I was half-asleep."
"Maybe you should howl before you go to sleep tonight… and maybe Midnight and them ill join in, you never know."
"Yeah… My mama always, and I mean always, said that I was her little wolf and that if ever I couldn't sleep at night, for me to just howl at the top of my lungs and she would come."
"Did you ever do it?"
"Yes. A good few times actually. And every time I howled, she would come in and pick me up out of bed then take m into the living room where her old rocking chair was and she would sing me the lullaby, only not in howls, but in her native tongue."
"Which is?" Nora paused for a moment before speaking.
"…Russian."
"Seriously?"
"Dead serious. She had been born and raised in Moscow Russia but when my daddy had gone there for some trip he met her and they moved out here."
"Wow…"
"Yeah… I still know the lullaby by heart but I haven't sung it in years, ever since the fire… I haven't howled or played in the moonlight like I used to."
"Do you miss it?" Nora froze.
"…dah…" she whispered, Mariah just barely catching it.
"What?"
"I said dah. Yes, I do miss it. I miss all of it."
"Then how about this? You finish eating and call Midnight and Tanya here and you three play around until you're all ready to go to sleep. Then you sing, just like you used to." Suggested Mariah, Nora nodding and smiling, still eating.
"Good idea. I think I just might do that, thanks."
"Not a problem Nora, not a problem." They finished eating quickly and Nora whistled shrilly, the sound being received by eight perked ears a mile or so away. Nora received two familiar howls and had to wait only for a little while before Midnight and Tanya appeared, blinking confusedly. Nora smirked and dropped to all fours before leaping on Midnight, the wolf letting out a yelp as he, Tanya, and Nora all wrestled playfully in the moonlight, all of them perfectly happy. They played for a few hours before finally getting tired and sitting close together, the trio looking to Mariah expectantly. She smiled. "Sorry, can't howl." All three pulled a face before sighing and looking up at the moon, drawing air into their lungs. Slowly, Nora's howl rose into the air, Midnight's with it. The two howls were alone for a few moments before Tanya's rose up with the melody, followed by Ana and Rios' as they all sang at the top of their lungs. The eerie – yet beautiful – song lasted for a few minutes before the howls began to die until only Nora and Midnights' howls were falling, leaving the wind by itself. Nora smiled.
"Thanks Mariah, that felt… good. Really good." Mariah nodded, smiling.
"Can you sing the lullaby in human tongue maybe?" Nora nodded.
"Yeah, which way: Russian or English?"
"I'll go with English. That way I can understand what you're saying." Nora laughed, nodding, and calmed herself before closing her eyes, starting to sing.
"When the sea's are rolling in. When the stars are shining clear. When the ghosts are howling near. When we sing the Russian lullaby." "Lullaby we fall asleep when we hear. Lullaby we fly away when we hear. Lullaby we travel far when we hear. Lullaby when we hear the Russian lullaby…" "In the night, when the seas are rolling in the night. When the stars are shining clear in the night. When the ghosts are howling near in the night. When we sing the Russian lullaby." "When we are going through the night in search of, lets you and me enjoy the mach 5 speed of life." "Lullaby we fall asleep when we hear. Lullaby we fly away when we hear. Lullaby we travel far when we hear. Lullaby when we hear the Russian lullaby…" "In the night, When the seas are rolling in the night. When the stars are shining clear in the night. When the ghosts are howling near in the night. When we sing the Russian lullaby."When she opened her eye, she found Mariah fast asleep, her golden orbs hidden from the world as she turned to the land of dreams. Smiling softly, Nora picked her up and carried her into the tent before putting her in her bright pink sleeping bag and zipping it up. Yawning, Nora said goodnight to Midnight and Tanya, both of which were sleeping outside the tent door, and crawled into her sleeping bag, falling asleep almost instantly.
