A/N: You're still *reading* this?! *jaw drops* Kudos to you! Speaking of which, what the hell does that term mean, anyway? It's always confused me...kudos bars? Lol, or not. I need a life. Why do you think I spend so much time writing this angstfluff fanfiction? (for more information, see my other written works, lol). Yeah, so, I'm shutting up now.
Once again,
are for thoughts
* * are for italics
Get it? Got it? Good! Part three, here we go!
Chapter 3
Eagle was vexed, and growing more and more tense by the minute. He had shown Lantis around almost the whole school, and there had been a *lot* of conversation...the majority of which came from Eagle himself. He sighed, blowing a gust of air upwards to send his silver-blond hair flying. he thought, without much hope.
"And this is the gym," Eagle said, attempting to put on a cheerful voice as he led Lantis inside. "This is where we have gym class and where many of the sports teams practice." He turned around and saw Lantis looking at some photos on the wall. They were of the fencing team.
"Oh yeah, the fencing team practices here." he added, as an afterthought. Lantis straightened up.
"I'm going to be on the fencing team." he said softly. Eagle looked at him.
"Really? *I'm* on the team!" Lantis seemed to ignore the second part of what Eagle said.
"Yes," he continued. "And I intend to become captain." Eagle stared at Lantis for a moment before laughing.
"That might be a *little* problem," he chuckled. Lantis turned to look at him, blue eyes seeming to bore right through Eagle's head.
"Oh? Why?" he asked nonchalantly. Eagle stared at him.
"Because *I'M* the captain!" he said, not realizing at first how loud his voice was until he heard it echo back at him from each corner of the empty gym. Lantis simply stared at him, his eyes hardening and his face taking on an angry mask. He raised his eyebrows at Eagle.
"You are *now*," he began.
"No," Eagle cut in, "I'm the captain, and I fully intend to *stay* the captain. And I'd like to see you or anyone else take that position away. You can't be the captain unless you're the best on the team, you know! I dare you to try and beat me!" He stopped, breathless and shocked by what he was saying, but still angry. Lantis glared right back at him.
"Don't think I can't do it, either!" he responded, raising his voice as well. "I could fence you out of that fencing square any day!"
"No way!" Eagle cried.
"Well, you just wait until practice starts!" Lantis shouted back. Eagle glared furiously at the taller boy.
"This tour is over!" He turned his back on Lantis. "See you in class, *unfortunately*!" With that last comment, he turned to go, leaving Lantis smirking after him.
~@~
Eagle stormed into study hall, dropping his bag and throwing himself angrily into his seat. Geo and Zazu stopped their game of battlenet immediately.
"What's up, Eagle?" Geo asked, concern on his face.
"That stupid transfer student!" Eagle fumed.
"What happened?" Zazu pushed. Within a few minutes, the whole story had been told. The three friends sat in silence.
"Whoa, Eagle." Geo said. "You really blew up at that guy, huh?"
"Hey, leave him alone!" Zazu piped up. "It was that guy's fault! Thinking he can take away Eagle's spot as captain!"
Eagle smiled. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Zaz. I just...arg!" He made throttling motions with his hands. "I don't know what happened! I just lost my head, completely!"
Geo patted his friend's silver-blond hair sympathetically. "We know, you're not all there." Eagle swiped at his hand.
"Shut up!"
~@~
Later that night, Eagle had all but forgotten the incident. He was on his way home, pedaling swiftly along on his bike. As he reached his house, he saw a moving van parked in the driveway next door. Peddling into his driveway, he pulled his bike up short and climbed off, wheeling it into the garage. On his way back out, he noticed a box being carried inside.
The box had markings on the side: Darkhorse. Even as Eagle watched the box being carried inside, he noticed the shadowy figure leaning against his fence.
"So we meet again, Eagle Vision."
Eagle glared at the source of the voice. "Leave me alone, Darkhorse!" he retorted. "I've got better things to do with my time than talk to *you*!" With that, Eagle turned his back on Lantis and stormed inside, slamming the door behind him. He left too soon to see the smile on Lantis' face fade away, replaced by a look of infinite sadness.
~@~
"I'm home!" Eagle hollered, dropping his bag on the floor and kicking off his shoes. His books tumbled out of his bag, making a mess on the floor, and his shoes went flying, one of them knocking the chandelier askew, the other tipping over the candles on the table. "Whoops." Striding forwards, Eagle tripped on his books, loosing his balance and falling down, landing hard on his ass. "Ow!" His older sister came strolling in, grinning at him broadly.
"Nice job, space case." she laughed. He glared good-naturedly up at her.
"Oh, you hush!" he retorted. Laughing, she helped him up.
"Why so late, little bro?"
"Oh, just problems." he said quickly. He didn't really feel like going into it. She arched an eyebrow at him in response.
"Oh..." she began, mimicking him, "what kind of `problems'?" He scowled.
"To-RI!" he whined, "I really didn't want to get into this!"
"Well, Ea-GLE!" she mimicked again, laughing, "that's just too bad!" Eagle couldn't help but laugh at that. She could imitate him perfectly. "C'mon...sit down and tell me all about it."
Eagle soon found himself sitting on the couch with Tori, telling her the whole story.
"He's planning on taking my spot as captain of the fencing team!" He moaned, leaning back on the couch and propping his feet up in his sister's lap, which earned him another raised eyebrow. "And to make matters *worse*, he's moving in right_next_door!" At this, Tori turned quickly to look at him. "You mean Lantis?" Eagle snapped up again.
"How do *you* know him?"
"I was talking to him earlier...he doesn't seem too bad-" Eagle got up, scowling. "Oh, come *on* Eagle! I wasn't taking his side over yours! I was just *saying* that he seemed nice! That's all!" Eagle refused to look at her. "Eagle!" She got up and stood right behind him. "Am I going to have to tickle you?" she whispered evilly, her fingers digging into his sides. Eagle let out a yelp and jumped nearly a foot in the air, leaping out of her reach. Laughing, Tori threw her arms around him, squishing him in a hug.
"Don't worry about it, Eagle. You're class president. You're the smartest kid in school, and you have so many extracurricular activities...you're helf *insane* with all the after-school crap you do. You're the most popular kid in school......everyone *loves* you. You're the best fencer they've ever had- I mean, you won the state championships! You've got nothing to worry about. He won't beat you. Just calm down."
Eagle sighed, tightening his hold on his older, but much smaller sister. I only wish I *could*...
~@~
Next door, emotions were also running high, but in a much different way. Lantis sat in the dark with a single candle lit. All around him on the floor were boxes, some of them still full, others half unpacked. Lantis didn't move; he simply stared down at a picture frame sitting in his hand. The picture showed an older boy who looked just like Lantis, but with longer hair, which was pulled back in a ponytail, and brilliant violet eyes. He had his strong arms wrapped tightly around the waist of a much smaller girl with luxuriant blond waves of hair that hung down to her waist and large green eyes. Both were dressed casually; the girl was giving the peace sign.
Lantis simply stared at the picture. Hanging out of the box next to him were newspapers, the titles jumping out of the page: "Local Teens Die In Tragic Car Accident" "Terrible Tragedy For High School Students" "Deceased Teens Leave Behind Grieving Brothers"
he thought. He could remember it vividly. It had only been two weeks ago, when it happened...the day his life changed forever...when Zagato and Emeraude had died. His older brother had been out on a date with his girlfriend, Emeraude. He remembered the way his brother had looked when he left: young, full of life, his hair pulled back in it's usual ponytail, baseball cap on backwards, dressed in his usual khakis and his varsity jacket. Lantis had stood in the doorway as Zagato ran out to his car, turning to wave.
"See you later, Lantis! Don't wait up for me! You know you've got to be in bed early, little bro!" Lantis had flipped his brother off.
"Ah, get out of here!" The last words he ever said to his brother. Zagato had merely laughed.
"Yeah, I love you too!" And that was it. The last words he ever heard his brother say. The last words he ever heard from him. I love you too. Lantis had never gotten to say goodbye to his brother. He had never even thought of the possibility that when Zagato walked out the door that night, he might not return. They were on their way home when a car came out of nowhere, driven by a completely drunk driver. The man hit them head on, killing them both instantly.
He could remember the day after it happened. He had paced through school in utter shock. Third period, his best friend, Ferio, had cornered him. Ferio was Emeraude's younger brother. He glared at Lantis, his eyes red-rimmed and suspiciously misty,
"What is it, Ferio?" Lantis asked dully.
"It's all his fault!" Ferio cried, fists angrily scrubbing at the tears on his cheeks. "It's your stupid brother's fault that my sister died!"
"Ferio!" Lantis gasped, shocked, but Ferio interrupted him.
"I've lost my sister, Lantis! And it's all his fault!" Ferio glared. "I don't ever want to see you again!"
"Ferio-" he began weakly, but Ferio turned and walked away.
That's why Lantis had left. He immediately began searching for a new house, closer to Autozam High School and farther from Cephiro High. He found one, and it was cheap enough for him to buy. He had transferred shortly after. And here he was. Living next door to a boy who hated him, sitting in the dark with nothing but memories...memories of things that he'd rather forget.
Miserable, Lantis blew out the candle and stretched out on the floor to sleep; there seemed to be no point in unpacking tonight. He felt like crying, but no tears would come. He was long past the point of tears now. He had used up every tear he had, leaving him empty of everything...everything except the tiny shards of his shattered heart.
~end of part three~
A/N: Aww....poor little Lantis! So morose and angsty! Aww....heh, but it was fun making Eagle whine. Notice his sister's name? "Tori" means bird in Japanese...once again, thank you Marcy! I thought it'd be cute to have Eagle's sister named "bird"...or maybe I'm just messed up...or both. Okay, I'm shutting up now. Tell me if this sucks and I should stop writing it...not that I'll necessarily listen, but hey, we love feedback! *cute little Eagle smile (you know the one I mean!)*
Once again,
are for thoughts
* * are for italics
Get it? Got it? Good! Part three, here we go!
Chapter 3
Eagle was vexed, and growing more and more tense by the minute. He had shown Lantis around almost the whole school, and there had been a *lot* of conversation...the majority of which came from Eagle himself. He sighed, blowing a gust of air upwards to send his silver-blond hair flying. he thought, without much hope.
"And this is the gym," Eagle said, attempting to put on a cheerful voice as he led Lantis inside. "This is where we have gym class and where many of the sports teams practice." He turned around and saw Lantis looking at some photos on the wall. They were of the fencing team.
"Oh yeah, the fencing team practices here." he added, as an afterthought. Lantis straightened up.
"I'm going to be on the fencing team." he said softly. Eagle looked at him.
"Really? *I'm* on the team!" Lantis seemed to ignore the second part of what Eagle said.
"Yes," he continued. "And I intend to become captain." Eagle stared at Lantis for a moment before laughing.
"That might be a *little* problem," he chuckled. Lantis turned to look at him, blue eyes seeming to bore right through Eagle's head.
"Oh? Why?" he asked nonchalantly. Eagle stared at him.
"Because *I'M* the captain!" he said, not realizing at first how loud his voice was until he heard it echo back at him from each corner of the empty gym. Lantis simply stared at him, his eyes hardening and his face taking on an angry mask. He raised his eyebrows at Eagle.
"You are *now*," he began.
"No," Eagle cut in, "I'm the captain, and I fully intend to *stay* the captain. And I'd like to see you or anyone else take that position away. You can't be the captain unless you're the best on the team, you know! I dare you to try and beat me!" He stopped, breathless and shocked by what he was saying, but still angry. Lantis glared right back at him.
"Don't think I can't do it, either!" he responded, raising his voice as well. "I could fence you out of that fencing square any day!"
"No way!" Eagle cried.
"Well, you just wait until practice starts!" Lantis shouted back. Eagle glared furiously at the taller boy.
"This tour is over!" He turned his back on Lantis. "See you in class, *unfortunately*!" With that last comment, he turned to go, leaving Lantis smirking after him.
~@~
Eagle stormed into study hall, dropping his bag and throwing himself angrily into his seat. Geo and Zazu stopped their game of battlenet immediately.
"What's up, Eagle?" Geo asked, concern on his face.
"That stupid transfer student!" Eagle fumed.
"What happened?" Zazu pushed. Within a few minutes, the whole story had been told. The three friends sat in silence.
"Whoa, Eagle." Geo said. "You really blew up at that guy, huh?"
"Hey, leave him alone!" Zazu piped up. "It was that guy's fault! Thinking he can take away Eagle's spot as captain!"
Eagle smiled. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Zaz. I just...arg!" He made throttling motions with his hands. "I don't know what happened! I just lost my head, completely!"
Geo patted his friend's silver-blond hair sympathetically. "We know, you're not all there." Eagle swiped at his hand.
"Shut up!"
~@~
Later that night, Eagle had all but forgotten the incident. He was on his way home, pedaling swiftly along on his bike. As he reached his house, he saw a moving van parked in the driveway next door. Peddling into his driveway, he pulled his bike up short and climbed off, wheeling it into the garage. On his way back out, he noticed a box being carried inside.
The box had markings on the side: Darkhorse. Even as Eagle watched the box being carried inside, he noticed the shadowy figure leaning against his fence.
"So we meet again, Eagle Vision."
Eagle glared at the source of the voice. "Leave me alone, Darkhorse!" he retorted. "I've got better things to do with my time than talk to *you*!" With that, Eagle turned his back on Lantis and stormed inside, slamming the door behind him. He left too soon to see the smile on Lantis' face fade away, replaced by a look of infinite sadness.
~@~
"I'm home!" Eagle hollered, dropping his bag on the floor and kicking off his shoes. His books tumbled out of his bag, making a mess on the floor, and his shoes went flying, one of them knocking the chandelier askew, the other tipping over the candles on the table. "Whoops." Striding forwards, Eagle tripped on his books, loosing his balance and falling down, landing hard on his ass. "Ow!" His older sister came strolling in, grinning at him broadly.
"Nice job, space case." she laughed. He glared good-naturedly up at her.
"Oh, you hush!" he retorted. Laughing, she helped him up.
"Why so late, little bro?"
"Oh, just problems." he said quickly. He didn't really feel like going into it. She arched an eyebrow at him in response.
"Oh..." she began, mimicking him, "what kind of `problems'?" He scowled.
"To-RI!" he whined, "I really didn't want to get into this!"
"Well, Ea-GLE!" she mimicked again, laughing, "that's just too bad!" Eagle couldn't help but laugh at that. She could imitate him perfectly. "C'mon...sit down and tell me all about it."
Eagle soon found himself sitting on the couch with Tori, telling her the whole story.
"He's planning on taking my spot as captain of the fencing team!" He moaned, leaning back on the couch and propping his feet up in his sister's lap, which earned him another raised eyebrow. "And to make matters *worse*, he's moving in right_next_door!" At this, Tori turned quickly to look at him. "You mean Lantis?" Eagle snapped up again.
"How do *you* know him?"
"I was talking to him earlier...he doesn't seem too bad-" Eagle got up, scowling. "Oh, come *on* Eagle! I wasn't taking his side over yours! I was just *saying* that he seemed nice! That's all!" Eagle refused to look at her. "Eagle!" She got up and stood right behind him. "Am I going to have to tickle you?" she whispered evilly, her fingers digging into his sides. Eagle let out a yelp and jumped nearly a foot in the air, leaping out of her reach. Laughing, Tori threw her arms around him, squishing him in a hug.
"Don't worry about it, Eagle. You're class president. You're the smartest kid in school, and you have so many extracurricular activities...you're helf *insane* with all the after-school crap you do. You're the most popular kid in school......everyone *loves* you. You're the best fencer they've ever had- I mean, you won the state championships! You've got nothing to worry about. He won't beat you. Just calm down."
Eagle sighed, tightening his hold on his older, but much smaller sister. I only wish I *could*...
~@~
Next door, emotions were also running high, but in a much different way. Lantis sat in the dark with a single candle lit. All around him on the floor were boxes, some of them still full, others half unpacked. Lantis didn't move; he simply stared down at a picture frame sitting in his hand. The picture showed an older boy who looked just like Lantis, but with longer hair, which was pulled back in a ponytail, and brilliant violet eyes. He had his strong arms wrapped tightly around the waist of a much smaller girl with luxuriant blond waves of hair that hung down to her waist and large green eyes. Both were dressed casually; the girl was giving the peace sign.
Lantis simply stared at the picture. Hanging out of the box next to him were newspapers, the titles jumping out of the page: "Local Teens Die In Tragic Car Accident" "Terrible Tragedy For High School Students" "Deceased Teens Leave Behind Grieving Brothers"
he thought. He could remember it vividly. It had only been two weeks ago, when it happened...the day his life changed forever...when Zagato and Emeraude had died. His older brother had been out on a date with his girlfriend, Emeraude. He remembered the way his brother had looked when he left: young, full of life, his hair pulled back in it's usual ponytail, baseball cap on backwards, dressed in his usual khakis and his varsity jacket. Lantis had stood in the doorway as Zagato ran out to his car, turning to wave.
"See you later, Lantis! Don't wait up for me! You know you've got to be in bed early, little bro!" Lantis had flipped his brother off.
"Ah, get out of here!" The last words he ever said to his brother. Zagato had merely laughed.
"Yeah, I love you too!" And that was it. The last words he ever heard his brother say. The last words he ever heard from him. I love you too. Lantis had never gotten to say goodbye to his brother. He had never even thought of the possibility that when Zagato walked out the door that night, he might not return. They were on their way home when a car came out of nowhere, driven by a completely drunk driver. The man hit them head on, killing them both instantly.
He could remember the day after it happened. He had paced through school in utter shock. Third period, his best friend, Ferio, had cornered him. Ferio was Emeraude's younger brother. He glared at Lantis, his eyes red-rimmed and suspiciously misty,
"What is it, Ferio?" Lantis asked dully.
"It's all his fault!" Ferio cried, fists angrily scrubbing at the tears on his cheeks. "It's your stupid brother's fault that my sister died!"
"Ferio!" Lantis gasped, shocked, but Ferio interrupted him.
"I've lost my sister, Lantis! And it's all his fault!" Ferio glared. "I don't ever want to see you again!"
"Ferio-" he began weakly, but Ferio turned and walked away.
That's why Lantis had left. He immediately began searching for a new house, closer to Autozam High School and farther from Cephiro High. He found one, and it was cheap enough for him to buy. He had transferred shortly after. And here he was. Living next door to a boy who hated him, sitting in the dark with nothing but memories...memories of things that he'd rather forget.
Miserable, Lantis blew out the candle and stretched out on the floor to sleep; there seemed to be no point in unpacking tonight. He felt like crying, but no tears would come. He was long past the point of tears now. He had used up every tear he had, leaving him empty of everything...everything except the tiny shards of his shattered heart.
~end of part three~
A/N: Aww....poor little Lantis! So morose and angsty! Aww....heh, but it was fun making Eagle whine. Notice his sister's name? "Tori" means bird in Japanese...once again, thank you Marcy! I thought it'd be cute to have Eagle's sister named "bird"...or maybe I'm just messed up...or both. Okay, I'm shutting up now. Tell me if this sucks and I should stop writing it...not that I'll necessarily listen, but hey, we love feedback! *cute little Eagle smile (you know the one I mean!)*