Ryuga: DragonFang2011 does not own Metal Fight Beyblade. Otherwise, we'd all be insane. And she's gonna pay for writing this chapter.
Kyoya: It's a funny chapter!
Kenta: Ryuga almost dying is not funny!
Kyoya: Shut up.
Ryuga: *growl*
She was catching up to him.
Tolly had escaped into the forest, along with Genevieve. Like cowards.
But the leader, Demitria—she was chasing him.
He had no weapons on him.
His knife had fallen into a shrub, somewhere.
His bow was broken in two when he had tried to shoot an arrow at an oncoming Hunter, who'd tackled him to the ground and crushed it, right before Ryuga had stabbed her with an arrow. That bow was special. His father had made it for him—four, five years ago, in the forest, on that boulder near the river they used to sit on. Now it was gone, and so was a piece of him.
He could only run for his life.
Ryuga had been running for a long time, but he was only starting to tire. The trees were dark blurs as he whipped past them, his feet light. Fear and adrenaline pumped through his veins, encouraging his legs to run faster.
But she continued to gain on him, even though he'd gotten a several meters' head start. She was fast—she was faster than him.
Apparently, she also seemed to hate him. She wrapped her arms around his legs as she tackled him to the ground, hissing like the wild animal she was. They struggled to beat the other. She was stronger. She was far more agile.
I think that we weigh the same! Huh. Twenty-seven pounds, too?
Soon, she was sitting on his hips, her cold hands wrapped around his neck, claws just touching the fragile skin. Her long, red, muddy hair hung in dark clumps of mud and blood, entangled with tiny bones and feathers. Her icy-blue eyes were cold.
"I smelled your mother's scent," she growled. "It's all over you." Disgusted scowl. "S' been stale for years, but I can still smell it."
"You knew my mother." It wasn't a question.
"I killed her."
He frowned. "You're lying. She died in childbirth."
"She died delivering a child to Calor," Demitria spat.
Ryuga smirked in grim amusement. "And why would she do that?"
"How am I supposed to know?" She was lying.
"She stole Hatori from me," she said bitterly. "It was our first hunt and he was lost in the mountains and he was mine and she stole him from me and helped him escape and she bore his children." She slightly tightened her grip on his throat. "You and your brother, Ryuto."
He could barely speak. "Ryuto's dead."
"Oh, that I know. I killed him too."
She. Did. Not. Just...
"What are you talking about? I'm telling you, my mother died in childbirth, and Ryuto died soon after."
Demitria gave him a smirk that indicated that she wasn't very sane. "Your mother was one of us. Her father was a Hunter from Vienedour. Her mother was born here, in these mountains. And since she's half Vienedour, she was free of the curse and was able to leave this place. It's not the first time a half-Hunter was born."
No.
No.
No.
Impossible. He was full human, and the last time he'd checked, he didn't have fur, pointed ears, a tail, claws, extremely angled features, and an amazing singing voice—he was a horrible singer. The last time he sang, it was when his father was still alive.
Hatori laughed good-naturedly and ruffled his pouting twelve-year-old son's spiked hair. "Rye, I'll be honest with you. You'll never get a girl through a serenade. Just stick with that Kishatu charm and good looks of yours, 'kay?"
"Dad!"
But it did explain why he had inhuman reflexes, enhanced senses, could run faster and longer than an average human, and could jump pretty damn high.
Oh, and his sixth sense. Can't forget that.
And that time when he fell from that snake's jaws and did not die.
So I'm half human and half Shadow Hunter... Don't do that, Ryuga. Just keep denying it!
"That's bullshit. You're crazy, woman. There's no way I'm one of you."
"Oh, but you are, darling."
"Don't call me that," Ryuga snarled.
"You will never escape your heritage, half-blood," she purred into his ear. "Your mother was a traitor, and she died. Now you shall die as well." Her bloody-lipped smirk widened, and a wild light danced in those pale blue eyes. "Traitors always die."
Her cold, tattooed hands snaked around his neck and squeezed, keeping her claws well away from his skin. It was suddenly much harder to breathe... His hands fumbled for something—anything—to use as a weapon. He came up with only soil and leaves.
Soil.
He quickly swept a spray of dirt into Demitria's eyes. She howled in agony, and he got to his feet. He stumbled around the clearing, senses muddled as he tried to figure out how to breathe properly again. Nothing seemed to be clear to him.
Claws sank into his shoulder and hand into neck as she pushed him down against a tree. She sat on his legs and pinned one hand to the ground with her tail, and another with her own fingers. "If you ever try that again..." she crooned, caressing his face. She left the threat hanging.
Fresh air flowed into his lungs as she took her palm off his throat.
She neatly sliced the front of his tunic open, leaving four long, shallow cuts scored down his chest. He bit back a scream.
"How shall I start?" she whispered, running a hand down his abdomen, over the smooth muscle, and circling the rim of his belly button. "Maybe with your eyes—they're lovely eyes, by the way. Like your father's. You look almost exactly like him." Her wistful smile turned into a scowl once again. "Too bad you have to be her son."
Silence met her words.
"She was my sister, you know."
Ryuga's eyes widened in shock. This perverted woman's my aunt? Not awesome.
"Yes, that's right. And that makes you my nephew. Such a shame I have to kill you—you're a handsome young man. But I'll take your head when I'm done with you—how does that sound?" Thus confirming it—she was not sane.
"Great," he scoffed.
"I could have left here, too, but I had to care for my pack—I was leader. Until you came. You killed off half of my pack. We are the last Hunters on this mountain, and you killed off half of us. You shall wish you've never done that."
"I don't regret anything."
"You are a traitor to your kind," Demitria snarled.
She leaned forward and dug a needle-sharp claw into the delicate skin that covered the upper left side of his cheekbone. Her claw hit bone as she continued to carve a design into his flesh. He yelped, unable to take the pain, and she slapped her hand over his mouth. "Hush, you!" Squeezed his neck in a grip ten times stronger than her previous ones.
The lightheaded feeling that he experienced was intense.
But both of her hands were busy strangling him.
Now's my chance.
He took the opportunity to rake his now-free hand over the forest floor and picked up a large, rough stone. Everything was hazy. Everything was moving—everything was so much brighter. He was seeing double. Black spots hovered on the edge of his vision, unsure about whether to overwhelm him or not.
Confused.
There were two of her.
Blurry, wavering.
Which one? He clumsily slammed the stone against both of their temples. They crumpled to the ground, blood trickling from the identical narrow gashes on their brows. Gradually, his vision cleared and the two Demitrias merged into one.
Ryuga knew that she wasn't dead yet. He pushed himself into a sitting position, panting with the effort. His wounds from the battle throbbed with pain. The cut under his eye stung like hell, and blood poured from it rapidly, like a waterfall.
They twitched, and then groaned. "Half-blood..." they growled. The words echoed. They held an indescribable loathing.
Ryuga's heart pounded as she stood, raising her hands for the final blow. She was not going to be holding back this time.
So this is how prey feels, he thought dryly.
A tall shape brought down a sword on her neck, cutting through bone and artery and throat. Her head fell to the ground, the mad light from her eyes vanished; it was replaced with the lifelessness known as death—a lifelessness that Ryuga had seen hundreds of times before on prey.
"You okay there, Ryuga?" Yu's face popped into view,
"Ryuga..." That was Kenta's voice.
The figure with the sword—Reiki—sheathed his weapon and sent a hesitant glance to the decapitated Shadow Hunter, then to Ryuga. "We gotta get you back to camp," he said. Then, he looked around worriedly. "Where are Kyoya and Dan?"
"And Benkei?" Yu demanded. "Have you seen Benkei? We were out looking for you—you guys were gone too long!"
"I haven't seen Benkei," Ryuga rasped.
"Don't make him talk!" Kenta snapped at Yu. "Can't you see he's injured?"
The blond raised his hands. "Sorry!"
A sigh. "That's okay. I was just worried." Kenta still didn't look forgiving.
Suddenly, Kyoya stumbled into the clearing, followed by Benkei and Dan. One of Benkei's brown eyes was in the middle of a patch of black and purple, and a long cut ran down his left arm, but he was supporting Kyoya, whose face and hands were streaked with blood. Dan's already-scarred face had a claw scratch on the right side, and his tunic was torn and bloody.
Reiki rushed towards his brother to hug him. "Thank the gods you're safe, bro!" He was quiet for a second. "Is that lipstick?"
"Right before the ledge crumbled into the abyss..." Benkei began in a serious tone. "... a Shadow Hunter kissed him!" he finished teasingly.
Dan's face turned red. "Never speak of it!"
"Dude!" Reiki snickered.
"He pushed her off the cliff, though," Benkei said.
Reiki's mouth fell open in shock. "You just threw your first kiss off a cliff. Not cool, man!"
"My 'first kiss' is a sick, twisted demon who wanted to kill me! What else was I supposed to do—give her flowers?" Dan looked completely repulsed. "I don't know about you, bro, but I like my girlfriends completely and utterly human. Shadow Hunters are just... ugh..." He shuddered.
Ryuga winced. Burn.
Kyoya met Ryuga's gaze with a concerned blue one and limped towards him. "You alright?"
He barely managed to nod. If "alright" means scarred for life because of what I've just been told by my "sick, twisted demon" auntie, then yes, I'm alright.
No one needs to know.
What are you talking about? She was bluffing.
Was she?
"Hikaru's gonna have a fit when she sees you like this," Kyoya joked, trying to shake off the tense, nervous silence that had settled over the two teens. "Some Prince Charming you are."
Ryuga noticed that two of his companion's fingernails have been torn off; his fingers were skinned and bleeding. "Tch," he muttered. "You've looked better." A smirk graced his features, but it turned into a wince as he shifted uncomfortably.
Benkei gently lifted him off the ground and into his arms. Ryuga hissed as the wounds on his chest gushed out more blood. He covered the wounds reflexively. "Hurts..." he mumbled weakly, and then silently cursed at himself for sounding so pathetic and Gingka-like.
"It's nothing I haven't noticed before, Ryuga, but I'll just go right out and say it now—you're really light, ya know that?" Benkei quipped. He shifted his grip and furrowed his eyebrows in mock thought. "Hm... How much do you weigh—twenty-seven pounds?" Everyone else laughed at his comment.
The response was a growl.
Gingka: Pathetic and Gingka-like? What am I—a punching bag?
Kyoya: Maybe.
Ryuga: You have no idea how much I hate you right now.
Me: Zero percent?
Ryuga: ...
Kyoya: Your aunt is messed up.
Benkei: And so is your weight!
Ryuga: Aw, shut up!
Gingka: And your race.
Ryuga: It's just a freaking story!
Me: Try to guess which pairings I'll be putting into the story! They could be about characters who haven't showed up yet! They don't have to only be members of the main group!
Gingka: *grinning* I'll put in a guess!
Me: Did I say that I'll be putting GalaxyShipping in here?
Gingka: *puppy-dog face* But... but...
Me: But, yeah, I am. You're just so cute together!
Gingka: YAY! *skips off into the sunset*
Ryuga: Great. You've gone off and made him happy.