Redbird
Cherry Rain: This is the next chapter! Enjoy! =] I'm moving quicker- I want to get this whole tournament over with.
Chapter Fifteen: Tournament Quarterfinals
Ray opened the door quietly; hoping that Kai Hiwatari wasn't awake. If he was. then he would have to explain what was he doing. and the explanation would be lame at best and totally see-through at worst. But nothing would have prepared him for what he saw.
He Lei Feng was in the large double bed with his team leader, both pressed against each other, Lei Feng wrapped in Kai's arms.
'Did they do something." Ray thought. No. They were both fully dressed, and anyway he doubted that the level-headed pair would have done that without some thought.
She stirred, and Ray stiffened involuntarily. Was she going to tell Kai where he'd been? Probably not, but you never knew. But his fears were calmed when she carefully extricated herself from Kai's arms, leaving him still asleep, and headed back towards her own room, taking her blade with her. However, her next words chilled him slightly. "He knows, Ray. You're hopeless at hiding it."
Soon she came back, wearing jeans and a white shirt instead of the top and shorts. "Go wake the others, Ray."
He nodded and moved off. Sitting back down on the bed, she watched Kai, still asleep, contemplating the fact that he looked so much more innocent, so much more vulnerable when he was asleep.
She sorely regretted waking him, but she had to. She shook him lightly.
"Wake up, Kai. I told Ray to go wake the others already."
He nodded and got out of bed. "Today we face off against Fire Helix. The White Tigers are taking the Dark Lions."
"I spent a little time talking to their leader Wendy and another girl called Serena. I figured that from the hints she dropped and her team name, Serena's bitbeast is a fire type. That means you and I are out. Dragoon is wind-water so that's okay. Tyson will take."
"I know there's a wood type in there- Linda. You take," Lei Feng continued. "And Wendy's bitbeast is obviously another fire type. I can't go. I had to tell her about Redbird to get that information. So I think Draciel should go. Earth puts out fire- it's an advantage."
He nodded. "But maybe Draciel shouldn't go. Driger is also part earth. I think Ray should take it. He's more experienced." Kai finished.
"If you say so. Maybe you're right."
"Hey, lovebirds! Wake up!" Max's voice sounded cheerfully from the outside the door.
Lei Feng swung open the door and glared icily at him. "We were working out today's game plan, if you don't mind, Max. And we incidentally decided we were going to bench you for today's match."
"Okay, okay!" Max held up his hands in surrender. "Let's just go!"
"Max," Ray reminded. "You're forgetting Tyson's still asleep. I think I'll demonstrate to Lei Feng the last and final method, number three."
They all walked back to the room. Producing a hot chili pepper, Ray stuck it in Tyson's mouth. The next minute, Tyson was up and screaming, "Hot! Hot! Hot! Hot! Hot! Call the fire brigade! Call the ambulance! I'm going to die! Hot! Hot! Hot!"
Ray jerked his finger in the direction of the bathroom. "I got a pail of water ready."
Tyson dashed madly for it and one minute later a loud hissing sound was heard and Tyson came out sopping wet.
"Dry up, Tyson. We've got to get to the tournament," Kenny said.
***
"First up is Kai of the Bladebreakers! And facing off against him will be Linda of Fire Helix! Her bitbeast Triea is a wood nymph- she may look dainty, but don't underestimate her!"
"And Kai Hiwatari is the leader of the Bladebreakers. His Dranzer is not to be sneezed at, and being a fire type gives him a distinct advantage over Triea. Will this match end in flames for her?"
"Today's dish will be the forest dish- lots of wood and trees. Will Triea have an advantage in her own forest?"
"Players, are you ready? Three. Two. One. LET IT RIP!"
Kai yanked hard on the ripcord, glaring at the petite girl on the other side of the dish, who backed down slightly, intimidated. But she wasn't about to throw in the towel. "Triea! Go! Show him what we're made of!"
The dark green beyblade glowed, and a human figure emerged. It was a nymph all right, dainty and small. Leaping into the trees, the beyblade followed her.
Linda grinned. "Usually I won't be able to do this, but since this dish is so well suited to me, I might as well. Triea! Bind!"
The hanging liana vines began to snake towards Dranzer, who fled, dodging them. Kai gritted his teeth. If he was caught, it would be all over. But Lady Luck obviously didn't like him. One caught him. He wrenched free of its grip and luckily he was still spinning, but weakly.
"Kai!" It was Lei Feng. "Use the dish to your advantage. Why are you so concentrated on escape?"
She was right. "Dranzer! Fire Arrow!" The shot grazed the vine that had held him, causing it to burst into flame. But it also hit the tree. The next minute, half the dish was a raging inferno as the fire leaped from branch to branch, Triea barely escaping the flickering tendrils. With no route of escape left, she jumped back into the blade.
Fire raged around, searing heat rolling over both contestants in barely withstandable waves.
When the flame died down, all that was left was a barren landscape. Only one blade was still spinning. Kai Hiwatari's. The other was half melted and barely, but still recognizable.
"And it's over! Winner- Kai of the Bladebreakers!"
Kai walked back to the dish and poured half a bottle of water down his dried throat. Tyson leapt up, walking towards the dish in anticipation.
"And for the next one, Fire Helix is sending out Serena, with her bitbeast Blaze! And from the other team is Tyson, looking ready for anything!"
"Serena has been known to be ruthless in battle and a lot weighs on this match- how far will she go to win?"
"Tyson has been known to pull stunts that lead to last-minute victories without much planning! Will his instincts and luck allow him to pull another win off?"
"Players, take your positions! Three. Two. One. LET IT RIP!"
Serena was a redhead and her hair curled in long waves. "Blaze! Show him that we aren't gonna lose this one!" she yelled, narrowing her dark red eyes.
"Neither am I!" Tyson shouted back, glaring. However, it just didn't have the same effect Kai did. She just glared right back, tossing her hair over her shoulder.
Blaze finally rose from the blade. It was a large wild stallion. It neighed angrily, pawing at the ground.
"Is that all you've got?" Tyson shouted. "Dragoon! Show her how a pro really gets it done!"
Dragoon rose, extending its claws and roaring. "Phantom Hurricane attack!" Tyson shouted.
The wind started to build, swirling around. Blaze fought hard to keep itself on the ground, but it was obvious to even the most inexperienced eye that it was fighting a losing battle. The battle was Tyson's.
Then suddenly the wind died. "What the-" Tyson shouted, shocked.
Serena seized her chance. "Now, Blaze! Fiery Trample!"
The bitbeast reared up repeatedly and struck the blade, smashing at it with its flaming hooves, allowing the dragon no chance of a comeback. Dragoon couldn't stand against the continued onslaught, and soon, it stopped spinning.
"What an upset! And this round goes to Serena of Fire Helix!"
Tyson walked back to the dish. "Sorry, guys."
Ray started. "How come Dragoon let the wind die down, Tyson? That was the stupidest move I've ever seen you make!"
Lei Feng spoke up, "Wait!" just as Kai said, "It's not his fault this time. Amazingly."
Surprised, the rest of the group turned to them. "Why?"
"Didn't you notice?" Kai asked. "There was another beyblade in the dish, only that it was covered by the storm. It jumped in just long enough to knock Tyson off balance and run."
"Yes, if Tyson lost momentum, then the force would have died down and the wind would have died, that's correct!" Kenny said.
"Ray. I want you to be careful for other blades in the next round. Tell Driger to keep a close eye on his surroundings as well. If we lose this, then it's all over for us," Lei Feng added. "Meanwhile, Kai and I are going to hunt the culprit."
As the Chinese boy nodded, the two left the dugout. Each stayed silent, honing their instincts and readying to search out the culprit. Conversation would only be a distraction at this point. They split up at the cross- junction, taking different directions. Lei Feng hunted the halls outside silently, thanking the gods that her sneakers did not squeak on the polished marble floor.
She knew they still had a shot at winning, but it would have been a lot less tense had Tyson been able to win. Now it was all up to Ray. Lei Feng had enough confidence in his blading skills, but if neither Kai nor she managed to find the culprit, the tournament could easily go up in smoke for them if there was another attempt at sabotage. And she wasn't about to let her team lose the first tournament she'd been in.
The first suspicious name that had come to her mind was Yu of the White Tigers. However, when Lei Feng passed by their stadium she was sitting in the team dugout with the rest of her teammates in the other bey arena, looking serene and absolutely guilt-free as she watched Lee battle the team leader of Dark Lions, Sandra.
How she managed to look so innocent, Lei Feng didn't know, since she should have had a lot on her conscience. But it was obvious that she hadn't done it. Anyway she could ask Ray to confirm with Mariah if Yu had left her seat at all. Having informants was a good thing.
***
Kai went down the left corridor, searching. A light swish of something that sounded like cloth nearby caught his attention. Quietly, he crept forward towards the spot. Peering across the corridor, all he saw was a dark, eerie mist and a vague, seemingly insubstantial figure.
Mind-speaking silently to Dranzer, he told him to call Redbird and Lei Feng down the left corridor. The mist hadn't moved, but the figure in it had. The mist was strange, not quite black, and not quite grey either. But the main thing was that the figure was moving away.
Lei Feng started as Redbird spoke to her. "Dranzer has called us to go to the boy, Lei Feng. He says there is something suspicious."
Leaping to her feet, Lei Feng ran quickly down the corridor that Kai had gone. She didn't think he was in any immediate danger, but she knew from bitter experience that things could and would jump out at you just when you least expected them.
She cocked her head, sending him an unspoken question. "Who is it?"
Kai shrugged slowly. She nodded. As the last of the mist receded, they slowly followed. But as they rounded the corner, all that they could see was a scaled tail resembling that of a snake, whipping around the corridor.
As the thing left, a soft rattling was heard. The strangest, most un-animal like rattling either had ever heard- it wasn't random, for one thing. It seemed almost to have some kind of rhythm, some kind of beat that it followed.
And the sound in itself was terribly uncanny- a hollow, endless sound, which didn't seem to die no matter how much time had passed already. As the rattling stopped, the echoes bouncing off the walls at them, the two were almost certain they heard an unearthly hissing chuckle.
"It was a bitbeast," Redbird said. "But what, I can't tell. Dranzer? What's your opinion?"
"Snake bitbeast. But I have only seen one once before- Wyborg, and I don't know whose or what type of snake it is. They're rare, hiding in dark corners of the world, not revealing themselves very often."
Lei Feng started down the corridor again, taking each careful step with caution, her black eyes keen and on the alert for trouble. Redbird soared out, looking carefully around for trouble, golden eyes glowing even brighter as adrenaline rushed through her at the idea of threat to her charge. Kai was just one step behind.
The corridor led to a stairway and a janitor's closet. Pushing open the door, she stepped in, careful to place a large mop and bucket of water to keep the door open. As she and Kai slipped down the stairs, they didn't notice the long sinuous body slithering in after them, pushing the things out of the way, and neither did they hear the door closing with a soft thud.
***
He waited patiently in the small room below. Lei Feng would come. He shivered in anticipation as her face ran through his mind again. His storm grey eyes glazed over as he imagined all the pleasures he'd love to have.
Her dark flashing eyes, how he would enjoy extinguishing their fire, watching them grow limpid with tears. Her soft skin, how he'd love to have it shudder under his touch. And to claim those rosy red lips as his own, to feel her glossy and luxuriant hair, to wind it around his finger, to run his hands over her svelte form, would be heaven.
Soon, he thought. I will have all the privileges Hiwatari has. Lightning Phoenix, you will be mine.
***
Lei Feng kept close to Kai. It wouldn't do to get separated here.
Soon, they reached the bottom of the stairs. They were in what looked like an old, disused room, first used for storage, then abandoned. Lei Feng looked around in confusion. There was no one here, or so she thought.
Then he stepped out of the shadows, grey eyes glinting hungrily. She took an automatic step back as he stepped forward, watching her, lust evident in the way he watched her every movement, every breath she took. Kai glared, stepping forward, body language issuing by his stance, a blatant challenge to the other male. Kenshin, on the other hand, kept his eyes on Lei Feng, and the way he looked at her made her skin crawl in revulsion.
Mustering her courage, Lei Feng looked him in the eye and asked, "Who are you, and why did you knock at Tyson's blade?"
"That is none of your business, dearest. It was just a ploy to get you to hunt me down- though I wasn't planning on Hiwatari coming along as well; this is but a matter of small consequence. Do you know how long I've watched and waited for you? I'm ready to wager that you've forgotten your back alley days, or you'd still remember me, Lei Feng."
She thought back as best as she could, trying to remember. It couldn't have been anything recent. Was it ten years back? She could vaguely remember when she was six, playing with a little boy, but this was not the same person.
Five years back, then? Yes, she could remember a certain boy who'd had a crush on her eleven-year-old self, who had rejected him. And that storm- eyed boy had pestered her still one day he'd just vanished. She'd presumed he'd died or gone away, then forgotten him in the struggle to survive.
His name was Kenshin.
"Kenshin. It's you. The boy I rejected over and over and over."
"Why?" he asked, hurt crossing his face as her words brought up old memories. "I may be a year younger than you, but that isn't any good reason, you know. I've loved you so long."
Kai butted in angrily. "You're forgetting I'm here."
Kenshin glanced at him, but the casual glance was full of absolute loathing, hatred hotter than the fires of all the eighteen levels of hell combined. "I know you're there, Hiwatari-san. And I hate you for it. I hate you for your very existence," he spat.
"Kenshin, damn it!" Lei Feng shouted irately. "I'd told you a thousand times! I don't like you. You're a little brother to me, but nothing more. Can't you understand that? Get that into your thick skull! Or I'll pound it in for you!"
"Sorry to disappoint you, but that isn't about to happen. I don't care what happens, as long as I can have you. And I will even get rid of Hiwatari over there," and as he spoke, Lei Feng caught the flash of a knife.
"You're crazy!" Lei Feng cried.
"Am I now?" he sneered. "You know I've always carried a knife- what happened to the pair of blades that belonged to your mother?"
"They're right here," she said furiously. "And you know I'll use them if you try anything." One shake of her sleeves, and a pair of gleaming knives fell into her ready hands.
"Ah, Lei Feng, but I won't try anything. I am going to wait. One day you and Hiwatari won't be together and you won't be here to help him, and then I'll carve him a new mouth, right across his throat. And I'll watch him bleed to death, watch his blood stain the floor, watch him gasp for his breath, watch his eyes glaze over, feed him to Akashi, watch his corpse torn limb from limb, so there aren't even any remains for you to weep over. And I'll watch you."
"You're sick, Kenshin," she snarled, "Absolutely sick. But you were a friend to me. And you saved me once. I'll leave you this time. Not the next. My debt is resolved."
He grinned. "I know you won't, Lei Feng. For all that I probably disgust you, you're so bound by your honour you won't kill me immediately. I gave mine up a long time ago, though, so watch out. Akashi!"
The large grey snake bitbeast slithered over, shrouding him in its dark, grim aura. "I'll see you again soon, Phoenix."
***
Kai stared furiously at the retreating figure. How dare he! Lei Feng was his, and no one else's. He wouldn't just give her up without a fight. His grandfather had said love was weak. He was dead wrong. Look at what some people would do for love.
Lei Feng turned to him. "Let's go, Kai."
He nodded.
"God, I hate him!" Lei Feng burst out. "He's back to trouble me again, and there I was thinking I'd finally gotten rid of him."
"Let's talk when we get back to the hotel."
Walking out, they saw Tyson and Max searching for them. "Hey! Where did the two of you go to?" Tyson shouted to them. "Ray won! We're going to the semifinals!"
"It's a long story. I'll tell you when we get back." Lei Feng answered, her mouth grim, a hard edge in her voice warning even the densest of the dense, Tyson, to keep quiet and not ask questions first.
"Okay."
Cherry Rain: Ooh! Long chappie! *Pants* =] So review, folks! It'll start to get interesting from here on. Mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
Cherry Rain: This is the next chapter! Enjoy! =] I'm moving quicker- I want to get this whole tournament over with.
Chapter Fifteen: Tournament Quarterfinals
Ray opened the door quietly; hoping that Kai Hiwatari wasn't awake. If he was. then he would have to explain what was he doing. and the explanation would be lame at best and totally see-through at worst. But nothing would have prepared him for what he saw.
He Lei Feng was in the large double bed with his team leader, both pressed against each other, Lei Feng wrapped in Kai's arms.
'Did they do something." Ray thought. No. They were both fully dressed, and anyway he doubted that the level-headed pair would have done that without some thought.
She stirred, and Ray stiffened involuntarily. Was she going to tell Kai where he'd been? Probably not, but you never knew. But his fears were calmed when she carefully extricated herself from Kai's arms, leaving him still asleep, and headed back towards her own room, taking her blade with her. However, her next words chilled him slightly. "He knows, Ray. You're hopeless at hiding it."
Soon she came back, wearing jeans and a white shirt instead of the top and shorts. "Go wake the others, Ray."
He nodded and moved off. Sitting back down on the bed, she watched Kai, still asleep, contemplating the fact that he looked so much more innocent, so much more vulnerable when he was asleep.
She sorely regretted waking him, but she had to. She shook him lightly.
"Wake up, Kai. I told Ray to go wake the others already."
He nodded and got out of bed. "Today we face off against Fire Helix. The White Tigers are taking the Dark Lions."
"I spent a little time talking to their leader Wendy and another girl called Serena. I figured that from the hints she dropped and her team name, Serena's bitbeast is a fire type. That means you and I are out. Dragoon is wind-water so that's okay. Tyson will take."
"I know there's a wood type in there- Linda. You take," Lei Feng continued. "And Wendy's bitbeast is obviously another fire type. I can't go. I had to tell her about Redbird to get that information. So I think Draciel should go. Earth puts out fire- it's an advantage."
He nodded. "But maybe Draciel shouldn't go. Driger is also part earth. I think Ray should take it. He's more experienced." Kai finished.
"If you say so. Maybe you're right."
"Hey, lovebirds! Wake up!" Max's voice sounded cheerfully from the outside the door.
Lei Feng swung open the door and glared icily at him. "We were working out today's game plan, if you don't mind, Max. And we incidentally decided we were going to bench you for today's match."
"Okay, okay!" Max held up his hands in surrender. "Let's just go!"
"Max," Ray reminded. "You're forgetting Tyson's still asleep. I think I'll demonstrate to Lei Feng the last and final method, number three."
They all walked back to the room. Producing a hot chili pepper, Ray stuck it in Tyson's mouth. The next minute, Tyson was up and screaming, "Hot! Hot! Hot! Hot! Hot! Call the fire brigade! Call the ambulance! I'm going to die! Hot! Hot! Hot!"
Ray jerked his finger in the direction of the bathroom. "I got a pail of water ready."
Tyson dashed madly for it and one minute later a loud hissing sound was heard and Tyson came out sopping wet.
"Dry up, Tyson. We've got to get to the tournament," Kenny said.
***
"First up is Kai of the Bladebreakers! And facing off against him will be Linda of Fire Helix! Her bitbeast Triea is a wood nymph- she may look dainty, but don't underestimate her!"
"And Kai Hiwatari is the leader of the Bladebreakers. His Dranzer is not to be sneezed at, and being a fire type gives him a distinct advantage over Triea. Will this match end in flames for her?"
"Today's dish will be the forest dish- lots of wood and trees. Will Triea have an advantage in her own forest?"
"Players, are you ready? Three. Two. One. LET IT RIP!"
Kai yanked hard on the ripcord, glaring at the petite girl on the other side of the dish, who backed down slightly, intimidated. But she wasn't about to throw in the towel. "Triea! Go! Show him what we're made of!"
The dark green beyblade glowed, and a human figure emerged. It was a nymph all right, dainty and small. Leaping into the trees, the beyblade followed her.
Linda grinned. "Usually I won't be able to do this, but since this dish is so well suited to me, I might as well. Triea! Bind!"
The hanging liana vines began to snake towards Dranzer, who fled, dodging them. Kai gritted his teeth. If he was caught, it would be all over. But Lady Luck obviously didn't like him. One caught him. He wrenched free of its grip and luckily he was still spinning, but weakly.
"Kai!" It was Lei Feng. "Use the dish to your advantage. Why are you so concentrated on escape?"
She was right. "Dranzer! Fire Arrow!" The shot grazed the vine that had held him, causing it to burst into flame. But it also hit the tree. The next minute, half the dish was a raging inferno as the fire leaped from branch to branch, Triea barely escaping the flickering tendrils. With no route of escape left, she jumped back into the blade.
Fire raged around, searing heat rolling over both contestants in barely withstandable waves.
When the flame died down, all that was left was a barren landscape. Only one blade was still spinning. Kai Hiwatari's. The other was half melted and barely, but still recognizable.
"And it's over! Winner- Kai of the Bladebreakers!"
Kai walked back to the dish and poured half a bottle of water down his dried throat. Tyson leapt up, walking towards the dish in anticipation.
"And for the next one, Fire Helix is sending out Serena, with her bitbeast Blaze! And from the other team is Tyson, looking ready for anything!"
"Serena has been known to be ruthless in battle and a lot weighs on this match- how far will she go to win?"
"Tyson has been known to pull stunts that lead to last-minute victories without much planning! Will his instincts and luck allow him to pull another win off?"
"Players, take your positions! Three. Two. One. LET IT RIP!"
Serena was a redhead and her hair curled in long waves. "Blaze! Show him that we aren't gonna lose this one!" she yelled, narrowing her dark red eyes.
"Neither am I!" Tyson shouted back, glaring. However, it just didn't have the same effect Kai did. She just glared right back, tossing her hair over her shoulder.
Blaze finally rose from the blade. It was a large wild stallion. It neighed angrily, pawing at the ground.
"Is that all you've got?" Tyson shouted. "Dragoon! Show her how a pro really gets it done!"
Dragoon rose, extending its claws and roaring. "Phantom Hurricane attack!" Tyson shouted.
The wind started to build, swirling around. Blaze fought hard to keep itself on the ground, but it was obvious to even the most inexperienced eye that it was fighting a losing battle. The battle was Tyson's.
Then suddenly the wind died. "What the-" Tyson shouted, shocked.
Serena seized her chance. "Now, Blaze! Fiery Trample!"
The bitbeast reared up repeatedly and struck the blade, smashing at it with its flaming hooves, allowing the dragon no chance of a comeback. Dragoon couldn't stand against the continued onslaught, and soon, it stopped spinning.
"What an upset! And this round goes to Serena of Fire Helix!"
Tyson walked back to the dish. "Sorry, guys."
Ray started. "How come Dragoon let the wind die down, Tyson? That was the stupidest move I've ever seen you make!"
Lei Feng spoke up, "Wait!" just as Kai said, "It's not his fault this time. Amazingly."
Surprised, the rest of the group turned to them. "Why?"
"Didn't you notice?" Kai asked. "There was another beyblade in the dish, only that it was covered by the storm. It jumped in just long enough to knock Tyson off balance and run."
"Yes, if Tyson lost momentum, then the force would have died down and the wind would have died, that's correct!" Kenny said.
"Ray. I want you to be careful for other blades in the next round. Tell Driger to keep a close eye on his surroundings as well. If we lose this, then it's all over for us," Lei Feng added. "Meanwhile, Kai and I are going to hunt the culprit."
As the Chinese boy nodded, the two left the dugout. Each stayed silent, honing their instincts and readying to search out the culprit. Conversation would only be a distraction at this point. They split up at the cross- junction, taking different directions. Lei Feng hunted the halls outside silently, thanking the gods that her sneakers did not squeak on the polished marble floor.
She knew they still had a shot at winning, but it would have been a lot less tense had Tyson been able to win. Now it was all up to Ray. Lei Feng had enough confidence in his blading skills, but if neither Kai nor she managed to find the culprit, the tournament could easily go up in smoke for them if there was another attempt at sabotage. And she wasn't about to let her team lose the first tournament she'd been in.
The first suspicious name that had come to her mind was Yu of the White Tigers. However, when Lei Feng passed by their stadium she was sitting in the team dugout with the rest of her teammates in the other bey arena, looking serene and absolutely guilt-free as she watched Lee battle the team leader of Dark Lions, Sandra.
How she managed to look so innocent, Lei Feng didn't know, since she should have had a lot on her conscience. But it was obvious that she hadn't done it. Anyway she could ask Ray to confirm with Mariah if Yu had left her seat at all. Having informants was a good thing.
***
Kai went down the left corridor, searching. A light swish of something that sounded like cloth nearby caught his attention. Quietly, he crept forward towards the spot. Peering across the corridor, all he saw was a dark, eerie mist and a vague, seemingly insubstantial figure.
Mind-speaking silently to Dranzer, he told him to call Redbird and Lei Feng down the left corridor. The mist hadn't moved, but the figure in it had. The mist was strange, not quite black, and not quite grey either. But the main thing was that the figure was moving away.
Lei Feng started as Redbird spoke to her. "Dranzer has called us to go to the boy, Lei Feng. He says there is something suspicious."
Leaping to her feet, Lei Feng ran quickly down the corridor that Kai had gone. She didn't think he was in any immediate danger, but she knew from bitter experience that things could and would jump out at you just when you least expected them.
She cocked her head, sending him an unspoken question. "Who is it?"
Kai shrugged slowly. She nodded. As the last of the mist receded, they slowly followed. But as they rounded the corner, all that they could see was a scaled tail resembling that of a snake, whipping around the corridor.
As the thing left, a soft rattling was heard. The strangest, most un-animal like rattling either had ever heard- it wasn't random, for one thing. It seemed almost to have some kind of rhythm, some kind of beat that it followed.
And the sound in itself was terribly uncanny- a hollow, endless sound, which didn't seem to die no matter how much time had passed already. As the rattling stopped, the echoes bouncing off the walls at them, the two were almost certain they heard an unearthly hissing chuckle.
"It was a bitbeast," Redbird said. "But what, I can't tell. Dranzer? What's your opinion?"
"Snake bitbeast. But I have only seen one once before- Wyborg, and I don't know whose or what type of snake it is. They're rare, hiding in dark corners of the world, not revealing themselves very often."
Lei Feng started down the corridor again, taking each careful step with caution, her black eyes keen and on the alert for trouble. Redbird soared out, looking carefully around for trouble, golden eyes glowing even brighter as adrenaline rushed through her at the idea of threat to her charge. Kai was just one step behind.
The corridor led to a stairway and a janitor's closet. Pushing open the door, she stepped in, careful to place a large mop and bucket of water to keep the door open. As she and Kai slipped down the stairs, they didn't notice the long sinuous body slithering in after them, pushing the things out of the way, and neither did they hear the door closing with a soft thud.
***
He waited patiently in the small room below. Lei Feng would come. He shivered in anticipation as her face ran through his mind again. His storm grey eyes glazed over as he imagined all the pleasures he'd love to have.
Her dark flashing eyes, how he would enjoy extinguishing their fire, watching them grow limpid with tears. Her soft skin, how he'd love to have it shudder under his touch. And to claim those rosy red lips as his own, to feel her glossy and luxuriant hair, to wind it around his finger, to run his hands over her svelte form, would be heaven.
Soon, he thought. I will have all the privileges Hiwatari has. Lightning Phoenix, you will be mine.
***
Lei Feng kept close to Kai. It wouldn't do to get separated here.
Soon, they reached the bottom of the stairs. They were in what looked like an old, disused room, first used for storage, then abandoned. Lei Feng looked around in confusion. There was no one here, or so she thought.
Then he stepped out of the shadows, grey eyes glinting hungrily. She took an automatic step back as he stepped forward, watching her, lust evident in the way he watched her every movement, every breath she took. Kai glared, stepping forward, body language issuing by his stance, a blatant challenge to the other male. Kenshin, on the other hand, kept his eyes on Lei Feng, and the way he looked at her made her skin crawl in revulsion.
Mustering her courage, Lei Feng looked him in the eye and asked, "Who are you, and why did you knock at Tyson's blade?"
"That is none of your business, dearest. It was just a ploy to get you to hunt me down- though I wasn't planning on Hiwatari coming along as well; this is but a matter of small consequence. Do you know how long I've watched and waited for you? I'm ready to wager that you've forgotten your back alley days, or you'd still remember me, Lei Feng."
She thought back as best as she could, trying to remember. It couldn't have been anything recent. Was it ten years back? She could vaguely remember when she was six, playing with a little boy, but this was not the same person.
Five years back, then? Yes, she could remember a certain boy who'd had a crush on her eleven-year-old self, who had rejected him. And that storm- eyed boy had pestered her still one day he'd just vanished. She'd presumed he'd died or gone away, then forgotten him in the struggle to survive.
His name was Kenshin.
"Kenshin. It's you. The boy I rejected over and over and over."
"Why?" he asked, hurt crossing his face as her words brought up old memories. "I may be a year younger than you, but that isn't any good reason, you know. I've loved you so long."
Kai butted in angrily. "You're forgetting I'm here."
Kenshin glanced at him, but the casual glance was full of absolute loathing, hatred hotter than the fires of all the eighteen levels of hell combined. "I know you're there, Hiwatari-san. And I hate you for it. I hate you for your very existence," he spat.
"Kenshin, damn it!" Lei Feng shouted irately. "I'd told you a thousand times! I don't like you. You're a little brother to me, but nothing more. Can't you understand that? Get that into your thick skull! Or I'll pound it in for you!"
"Sorry to disappoint you, but that isn't about to happen. I don't care what happens, as long as I can have you. And I will even get rid of Hiwatari over there," and as he spoke, Lei Feng caught the flash of a knife.
"You're crazy!" Lei Feng cried.
"Am I now?" he sneered. "You know I've always carried a knife- what happened to the pair of blades that belonged to your mother?"
"They're right here," she said furiously. "And you know I'll use them if you try anything." One shake of her sleeves, and a pair of gleaming knives fell into her ready hands.
"Ah, Lei Feng, but I won't try anything. I am going to wait. One day you and Hiwatari won't be together and you won't be here to help him, and then I'll carve him a new mouth, right across his throat. And I'll watch him bleed to death, watch his blood stain the floor, watch him gasp for his breath, watch his eyes glaze over, feed him to Akashi, watch his corpse torn limb from limb, so there aren't even any remains for you to weep over. And I'll watch you."
"You're sick, Kenshin," she snarled, "Absolutely sick. But you were a friend to me. And you saved me once. I'll leave you this time. Not the next. My debt is resolved."
He grinned. "I know you won't, Lei Feng. For all that I probably disgust you, you're so bound by your honour you won't kill me immediately. I gave mine up a long time ago, though, so watch out. Akashi!"
The large grey snake bitbeast slithered over, shrouding him in its dark, grim aura. "I'll see you again soon, Phoenix."
***
Kai stared furiously at the retreating figure. How dare he! Lei Feng was his, and no one else's. He wouldn't just give her up without a fight. His grandfather had said love was weak. He was dead wrong. Look at what some people would do for love.
Lei Feng turned to him. "Let's go, Kai."
He nodded.
"God, I hate him!" Lei Feng burst out. "He's back to trouble me again, and there I was thinking I'd finally gotten rid of him."
"Let's talk when we get back to the hotel."
Walking out, they saw Tyson and Max searching for them. "Hey! Where did the two of you go to?" Tyson shouted to them. "Ray won! We're going to the semifinals!"
"It's a long story. I'll tell you when we get back." Lei Feng answered, her mouth grim, a hard edge in her voice warning even the densest of the dense, Tyson, to keep quiet and not ask questions first.
"Okay."
Cherry Rain: Ooh! Long chappie! *Pants* =] So review, folks! It'll start to get interesting from here on. Mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.