I do not own Beyblade, I own Hua/other oc characters mentioned.
Second Chance
-chapter two-
—
The fragrance of burning incense was far more potent to her keen nose, compelling the young feline to awaken. She could already tell by the stillness of the room that she was no longer in vicinity of the forest. She presumed that she must've slept for quite some time, her body felt very warm tucked underneath thick blankets layered on top of her. The aches in her legs weren't as agonizing anymore, and the sharp pains inflicted on her shoulder felt rather numb.
Her eyes begin to flutter open, but her vision remains blurry. She tries to rivet the unfamiliar, foreign scent around her.
"So you're finally awake."
An abrupt voice startles her. Much like the cat in her, her instincts were triggered as she attempts to prop herself up. Her sense of perception quickly returns as she wearily watches the newcomer approach closer, mentally counting the spaces between them.
A chestnut-haired woman dressed in miko attire slides the door behind her shut, she held what looked like a wooden bowl filled with water and a cloth.
"You don't have to fret," the woman apprised, gingerly placing the bowl down by the foot of the futon. "You were exposed to miasma, but I managed to purify it in time and was able to dress your wounds afterwards."
She knits her brows, a lack of ease floods her. "Where am I?"
"You were found in the forest of ages," the woman answers. "Thankfully some of the villagers spotted you and brought you here to my house."
The female neko-jin could sense a great amount of spiritual power emitting from the woman, she presumed that she must be a priestess or some sort. However, it wasn't enough to deposit her judgement just yet.
The supposed 'miko' offers a comforting smile, the apprehension evincing behind those mahogany red eyes was coherent. "Perhaps, you could tell me your name?"
"It's Hua," the teen mutters lowly.
"As in flower? That's a pretty name. Hua, where are your parents?"
"Dead."
The woman's face instantly drops, feeling utterly callous. "I apologize, I-"
"I shouldn't be here," Hua begins to sit up, peeling the blankets off. She surveys the small chamber for her clothes and sword. Her body braces at the chill against her bare skin, the bandages that were bounded around her wounds being the only source of heat.
"You shouldn't move, you're not well enough!"
The latter disregards her pleads and stood up off the futon. A rapid rush of blood travels to the top of her head as soon as her feet touches the cold floors, causing to her feel instant infirmity. But the subsided pain located on her shoulder abruptly immobilizes her disposition once again. She cursed under her breath, her current state had managed to cripple even her feline-like grace.
The miko catches the girl before she fell over. "There's no need to act so reckless, you're in no condition to be up yet."
Her entire being felt very weak and feeble, the entire room felt like it was rotating. Her forehead momentaily accumulates a thin film of sweat as she was carefully laid back down. She glances below where she sees the woman soak the piece of cloth with water, ringing the excess and then gently placing the cold rag over her forehead.
"Priestess, you must evacuate this region. An evil panther demon that goes by the name Ogami is attempting to destroy this world, and send it back to a degenerated and dark age." She did not know what compelled her to confine to this complete stranger, but she also knew that they needn't to die on an account of her own tribulations.
Said priestess scrutinizes the raven-haired adolescent, offering a look of reckoning. "The path I walk is already filled with carnage, I no longer fear for my life."
By their temperament, the teen could only imagine the blood shed and privation this woman must've endured in her life. In the warring age where anything and everything was very possible, she suspects during the times of her prime, the amount of foes and wars she slew were to be expected in this storm of life.
"However, does this Ogami adversary have anything to do with the Hiwatari clan?"
"No," she replies without thinking. 'Wait, Hiwatari?' Hua's eyes widens, did she just say Hiwatari?
While she was too young to remember, she had known a majority of the Hiwatari clan being wiped out by the western lands. Her father being the one of the few remaining survivors of that endless, sanguinary war between their provinces. It was a petty battle initiated by the western domain; challenging the southern domain to determine whose dominance ranked superior of the all the land.
"You speak of the Hiwatari clan as though they still reside in the world of the living. Does that mean Hiwatari Kai... is still alive, too?"
'Said priestess' rose a brow by this sudden question, "Lord Kai is very much still alive."
'Papa is still alive...' she refrains the tears that wanted to overflow, her heart pounds heavily.
It suddenly registered in her. That glaring light blaring from the tree back in the forest and the rainbow corridor that drew her through some sort of portal, she was starting to remember all of it.
It was now making sense to her...
She must've been hurtled back in time.
Solace coaxed her, and sheer veneers of tears coated her big bright eyes. Unable to ingest this discovery, it did not feel real...was this just too good to be true? And if this were really the truth, could it also mean...
Panther demons, who descended from the eastern mountains, chased her; the same yokai who slayed her baba. Her papa managed to shield her from the brunt of their attacks. The chain of events, that took place four years ago during her era, rolled through in her mind; spluttered blood, agonizing breaths, weary deep red eyes. They had barely escaped after he was impaled by their venomous claws, barely making it to a nearby cave where her papa told her to go hide in. There that surrounded the cave was a sacred barrier, baba had erected it for the both of them in times of danger a little before he died.
The very last memory of her father was when she was held protectively in his arms, his body growing colder and colder as death slowly consumed his last breaths. His body had become an empty shell moments later, but she wanted to believe his spirit remained long enough to ensure she hid until the land cleared of demons. Later that night when the rain finally ceased, she went back to retrieve her papa's body and prepared a proper burial.
Many lives were lost in the midst of that never ending war, but were never forgotten. She will never forget what her papa said when they buried those bodies.
"A grave is more than merely a place to bury a body or ashes. It is a place of refuge, of shelter for the hearts of the loved ones left behind."
It was always her papa's wish to be laid next to baba. While she was still only an infant when her baba died, her papa often spoke of him. The love and sorrow in those ruby red eyes and the way his demeanour carried itself when baba was reminded, she felt their hearts connect to each other and would feel the tremendous happiness and sadness all at the same time.
"Lady Priestess... would you happen to know a person of the name Rei as well?"
The chestnut-haired miko was taken by this child's knowledge of 'his' existence. "Yes I knew Master Rei very well, we lived together for a long time."
"Knew?"
She held a vigilant gaze before she responded. "One night, he left the village without a word and never came back."
This lead Hua to a stray once again, her 'mother' being a total mystery.
"I'm not certain if he left on his own accord, or if someone came and took him away. But it's been almost two years without a single trace, so I don't know of his whereabouts now."
Did he stray far from the village? Where would he have gone to? Could he be with papa right now? All these questions that flooded her head, and it was only appending her avidity to seek for the both of them even more. It was incredibly frustrating to her that she was unable to go out and look. They could be close by for all she knew, and yet she couldn't do damn thing with these injuries.
It then hovers over her, "you called him 'master'?"
The miko offers a sincere beam, "Master Rei was my mentor. Although he was born a sorcerer, he used his powers only for the good of the villagers. Being the protector of this village, he warded off specters and demons and battled illness and famine countless times. He was a very gentle and caring soul."
Her father expressed the kind of affect her baba had on others, the way he carried an uplifting sense of comfort and encouragement to all the lives touched by him—even after death. This only brought her to tears that she didn't have the opportunity to meet him before he died.
No... he was murdered, she had to remind herself that.
"Y-you haven't tried looking for him?" Her voice was evident of suppressed tears.
"I tried, but given the circumstances, I now need to fulfill his role for the time being."
Hearing this only fueled Hua's ambition to search for her baba even more. Given the reassurance that her papa was still alive at the very least, she figured oscillating her time to search for her baba should be her priority. She had to warn the both of them about Ogami before history repeats itself.
The life she's always yearned for was basking within the proximity. She has been given this second chance to have both of them live in the future, and she was not going to allow anyone to get in her way of that. The question now is, how long would she be permitted in this world? And would it be enough time... or will her efforts go in vain because of uncertainty or her own whirlwind of self-doubt that will prohibit her from obtaining this second life.
When she was still just a kitten, she recalled all the stories her papa would tell her late at night. It'd always helped her sleep whenever he played with her hair, her long raven tresses being a gift from her baba. Papa never forgot to empathize how much he loved her, and how much baba loved her as well. It was little moments like those that dimmed the darker days.
Her thoughts were interrupted when the miko spoke up again.
"I must ask," her demeanour alters, the contrast of her kinder appearance reversed substantially. "How do you know of Rei and Kai, and what business do you have with those two in particular?"
Hua bit her lower lip. Now that she can confirm the corridor that connected this world and the future was what sent her here, she knew it was in her best interest not to speak of how and where she came from. Much less who she actually is. She could already detect the speculation the other must've harboured for her now.
"I can't say," Hua says firmly.
The latter could plainly see the girl had no intention of revealing anything, so she does not press on. "I see."
"Forgive me, I wish I could tell you..." She did harboured an ounce of guilt towards the one who granted her life salvation, but she wasn't sure what consequences might ensue if she told her.
"To be honest... I was suspecting you had ties with the Hiwatari clan, which is why I asked if this Ogami demon was an ally to them. But now I see that you carry no ill will, I want to apologize for harbouring such accusations. I also don't sense an evil presence from you, so I needn't worry for the safety of the villagers."
"Why would you suspect the Hiwatari family would have anything to do Ogami?"
"The Hiwatari family are a noble clan but only in fortune and stature, they're class of mercenaries. Particularly Lord Kai."
'What?'
"He nearly succeeded in taking Master Rei's life."
'What the hell is going on here, papa never told me any of this.'
"You see, there are four celestial beastly spirits that are housed in their own crystals. They say if a yokai should have possession one of the spirits, its powers will increase by one hundredfold. Depending on the yokai's heart, its true desires will sway the will of the beast; thou shall be for good or for evil, it matters not. Rei had unusual powers, hence the reason he was given the duty of purifying and taming the sacred beasts. But just as specters and demons alike, Kai only wanted to use them for his own malice."
But that still didn't make any sense to her. How could this be? Papa was the one who slew baba? No, that couldn't be true. Papa loved baba more than anything. Every morning and night, papa would visit baba's grave and gaze into the sky as though he was greeting his spirit. How could one who loved someone so much... and yet.
"Did something happen between them?"
"Rei was tricked in believing Kai's far fetch tale of wanting to spend their lives together," she says with sadness than anger.
No, this couldn't be so, surely they had to have loved each other at one point. How far exactly in time was she travelled back?
"I'm suspecting Rei had sought out of retrieving back the celestial beasts."
Hua noted the entire time the way she spoke about baba. "You love him, don't you Lady Priestess?"
"My name is Hiromi," she finally spoke her name. "And no, not the way you're interpreting. I became an orphan after a group of bandits destroyed and burnt my village, I was the only one who survived the fire. Master Rei happened to walk by the rubble the following morning, and took me under his wing after scouting me out of the charred wood and straw. He saved my life and we journeyed together to become sorcerers from then on, I am eternally grateful to him."
The neko-jin gingerly sat back up, "Lady Hiromi, please tell me where might I find the Hiwatari castle."
The fierce look in her eyes looked so familiar. The tenacious fire burning behind those amber eyes surges into the vicinity of her mind, as though that very gaze was telling her to trust in them.
"What do you intend to do once you arrive to the Hiwatari estate?" She asks, although it was fairly obvious what the girl's intentions were.
"I believe that if I go to the Hiwatari castle, it will aid my current predicament."
Hiromi wasn't too certain what the girl meant by what she said, while it was not her place to ask any further questions. Nor was it any of her business to stand in her way of achieving what needed to be done to 'save the world' from this new unknown foe.
"I will not try to stop you," she promises, defeat in her tone. "But at the very least, allow your wounds to heal before you head out into your journey."
—
"My lord, would you like some more sake?"
Said lord nonchalantly slaps the porcelain bottle out of the geisha's hands, allowing the alcohol to spill all over her pink and yellow kimono. He pays no heed to the irksome wailing erupting from the wench, immediately exiting the private chambers and to head out to the balcony into the chilled night air.
His mood hadn't been the most magnanimous as of lately, but his faithful vassal figured he needed a night of whores and liquor to help abet those woes.
"That was uncalled for. I tried my very best to seek for women that resemble him, the least you can do is be more appreciative."
The young lord shoots a venomous look over his shoulder, resenting that bijou attempt to amuse him. That wide shit-eating grin his redheaded vassal bears only compelled him to knock the teeth right out of his sardonic mouth even more. However, that would've been an act he would've chosen if he was still who he used to be.
Sensing that his master did not find the humour in his little joke, he rose his hands up in defence from the death glare bestowed upon him. "Perhaps you should just slaughter your queen-to-be, that way you won't have to marry into the Northern Kingdom," he offers.
The young lord scoffs at the mere thought, "that wouldn't be the worse idea you ever came up with. Although it's also pointless to erupt a needless war, that would only result in a vast amount of unnecessary bloodshed."
His commentary only earned him a wholehearted cackle from the other man.
"And since when was feeding your Dranzer halberd blood become a second thought, Kai?"
Kai could feel her pulsing again. Suzaku, the vermillion bird of the south. He pulls the crimson crystal out of his pocket, the jewel gleamed with a faint reddish light. The phoenix spirit housed inside the jewel was reacting to another, he was almost certain.
There were days when it would react impulsively and other days when it would have slow pulses; like a human heart. 'What disturbs you, Suzaku?'
He pulls the other crystal out from his other pocket. 'Hm, Seiryu is also sensing something. Could that mean something is close by?' He notes the vibrant azure glow that smoldered around the dragon spirit's jewel. It was only his second time ever seeing such a brilliant blue light emit from the jewel, the first being when the dragon spirit reacted to Suzaku being in close range.
The wind begins to shift its course, the evening breeze altering to an aggressive wrestling. He looked out over the lands that surrounded his kingdom from above, his fierce eyes softening for just a moment as images of him plunder into his mind for the nth time that day.
Lately visions of him shrouded his dreams, the two of them alone.
He would recall seeing the other standing in the middle of a field of endless green grass; their ebony long hair, out its white wrap, blowing against the gentle current of the wind. Sunshine eyes gazing at him, their delicate hand held out, they always would whisper "let's go home, Kai." Every opportunity he had to gather his beloved in his arms just one more time, he would awaken again before he could feel the warmth of the other against him.
And yet... he didn't want to believe it were true. Back when he had let go of Rei's hand and allowing him to fall high off the cliff, guilt wretched throughout his entire being, the pitiful weakness that he wasn't strong enough to protect the one he loved the most. And if he does succeed in gathering all four sacred beasts to obtain this great power, could he truly forget about Rei?
"Kai?"
Said man tore from his field of sight, he fists Seiryu and Suzaka back into his pocket.
"Round up the soldiers first thing in the morning, Yuriy. I want them to be ready in the next two days, we're heading to Asano castle."
"So soon?" Yuriy asks, genuinely surprised by the other's decision.
"I will very much like to pay my respects to the family of my future wife." Without another glance at his vassal, he heads back inside. 'I shall claim what is owed to me before I go seek out Byakko.'
It was evident that the younger male did not possess an ounce of fight in his tone, "anything for you, old friend."
—
yes i'm still alive, and my laptop decided to break on me so i ended up losing everything and having to get a new laptop. yay! :D ...hopefully i'll have chapter 3 out sooner than this one, but i can't promise anything. and yassss, everything about this story is strongly inspired by inuyasha/yashahime (half demon princess). classics never die.
well until next time, cheers! 3 ;)