Thanks very much to the following reviewers:
Galux Kitty: Yeah, I would have to agree with you there. I would smack the guy upside the head if he asked me like that. But it's not my decision: it's Mobekai's. And as for Ray and Mariah: Ray won't ask Mariah if he can kiss her; he'll just do it! But not till later (;
neko-neko: The relationship will definitely turn more romantic between Mariah and Mobekai. And Ray will start falling in love with Mariah, but it's not gonna happen just like that. I'm taking my time.
kaz: (bows) I'm so glad you liked it! Thanks for reviewing!
Starwave: (grabs Mobekai and ruffles his hair) Hey, she thinks you're pretty nice! It will definitely be Mariah and Ray! Mobekai will just stew Ray's jealous side…hehehe.
whisper*2*imaginary: Aww…(grabs Tala and squeezes him) "You cute mysteriously handsome person you!" Thanks for sending him to me! Hehehe. (begins to sing over Johnny's wails) Miekkie and Johnny sitting in a tree…K-I-S-S-I-N-G!
Hikari-Tenshi: Yea! You're so wonderful! You've reviewed every chapter and now I'm on your favorite's list! This one will for sure be Mariah/Ray, but it's nice to know you wouldn't mind having it be Mariah/Mobekai.
Cool Quotes:
"That blade eats more than Tyson!"-Dizzi
"That's saying a mouthful, Dizzi."-Ray
Reference to Kai's battle with the White Tigers in 'Losing Kai'.
My Naïve Corner: What type of animal is Draciel? An armadillo?
Authors Note: I can't believe how many people actually fell in love with Mobekai's personality! My little sweetie…Anyway, there'll be more romance between both Mobekai/Mariah and Mariah/Ray. So here's the rest of the beginning! Hehe…
Disclaimer: Any misspellings, confused references or mixed up teammates are purely accidental and are a result of the author's new innocent fascination with the world of beyblading. Kira Ocelet, Mobekai Tart, Danika Woods, Colby Peterson and Trish ?? belong to me.
Italics are thoughts.
Bold Letters are songs.
*Mariah*: What smells?
*Max*: SecretQuill. She just chased after a pick-up truck, fell into the pick-up truck, rummaged around to pick up her garbage-smelling cat and was then dropped off in the middle of an intersection where Seto Kaiba's limo happened to be driving. The driver hit his brakes too hard, Kaiba fell forward and got knocked out on his own dashboard. SecretQuill offered not to tell anyone if Kaiba spent a day here. Poor guy. We'll protect him.
*Ray*: At least she's not cooing over me anymore.
*Tyson*: ^grins wickedly^ I wouldn't be so sure.
*Ray*: (groans) What did you do?
*Tyson*: I told her you like her. I suppose she only likes the hard to get. Kind of like Mariah and you.
*Mariah*: (blushing) And what's that supposed to mean? (grabs a bunch of carrots)
*Tyson*: (dodging carrots) Ahhh! Stop! Please!
*Scarlet*: Meow!
*SecretQuill*: (sighs) I need to get rid of some of my muses. Overloading is way too overrated.
*Tyson*: (points at SecretQuill) You! Get rid of you!
*SecretQuill*: I can't do that!
*Max*: You could try.
*SecretQuill*: You're out! And so are you Tyson. And you Kenny, and that laptop of yours. And you too Mariah with your selfish cooking ways. And you too Scarlet: I don't need to smell like a garbage can. And you too Kai: I don't like your attitude. Kay, who does that leave? Oh yes, an unconscious Seto Kaiba and Ray. Hehe…
*Ray*: (a little desperately) Could you get muses from other teams? You know, more people?
*SecretQuill*: I'm trying to get rid of people here, Ray. You're not helping me. Okay, EVERYONE OUT! 'Cept for you, Ray darling.
WATCH THIS!
Chapter 8: Snow Adventures Part 2
Hey Mariah! Lee thought sarcastically, I'm outside and I feel perfectly fine now. Guess I didn't need all that rest after all.
He walked down to the local BBA office to get some information on how the Beginners would be paired up.
Inside there was only one desk clerk and one girl patiently waiting for the clerk to find something for her.
It was Colby.
Great! He thought, turning around to leave immediately. They still hadn't seen or heard him come in.
He heard the attendant ask,
"What was the name again?"
"Ray Kon. He's a member of the Bladebreakers."
As much as Lee had wanted never to talk to or see Colby again, he couldn't quell the anger that had suddenly rose inside him. He spun around and asked,
"What do you want with Ray?"
She jumped in surprise,
"Lee! I thought you were sick. Mariah said you were supposed to sleep all day."
"I suppose she told you that when she and Mobekai went out?"
"Yes, she did in fact. Why are you outside making yourself sicker?"
"I'm not sick. I had a fever and I'd rather rot and die than sit in a bed with nothing else to do. You still never answered my original question." He had a feeling she was actually trying to avoid it.
"Ma'am?" the desk clerk handed her a bunch of papers, "Here you go."
"She doesn't have any authorization to receive those!" Lee jumped forward. He could bet every one of them had nasty details about Ray and Driger.
"Actually, I do." She held up a pink slip of paper, "Trish got them from an exclusive friend of ours."
"Exclusive?" Lee asked, "That's crap! You can't just walk in and receive information like that."
"It's none of your business what I can and can't do," she brushed past him.
"It darn well is. Ray's my friend, even if we don't exactly see eye to eye. I will tell him what you just did."
She stopped and turned around slowly,
"I'll tell Mariah you were out today if you tell."
"I'm so scared," Lee snapped sarcastically, "Tell Kevin and Gary while you're at it."
"AND…!" She raised her voice, "I can guarantee you Driger if you don't tell."
"Oh, so now you're going to resort to stealing? Even that's a little beneath you, don't you-"
"I won't have to steal anything. I have an exact replica of Driger. It'll be your, bit-beast and everything. Of course, I could always get you the real thing. It is what you've always wanted, isn't it Lee?
He stared,
"How did you know that?"
"Ray isn't the only person we keep tabs on, you know. Even if you do tell, we know stuff you'll only dream about."
"You're exactly right, Colby. I always thought Driger belonged to me. But I would never sell Ray short for it. You can keep your replica."
"Good. I never really wanted to give it to you in the first place."
"You probably don't even have a replica," Lee shook his head.
"Oh, we do," she smirked in satisfaction, "You're team is going down, Lee. And we plan on dragging the All Stars and the Bladebreakers with you."
"I could get you disqualified for all this. It's illegal."
"There's nothing illegal about knowing your competition."
"Yeah, but you're not using it for data. You're using it for blackmail!"
"This is a Beyblade tournament, Lee. No one's ever going to play fair."
She closed the door on his outraged face.
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"It's so beautiful up here!" Danika gazed out upon the landscape. She and Ray were in the lift making their way up again.
"The snow is always beautiful if you're not around it that often." Ray nodded in agreement.
"Are you not around it that often?" She asked, punching him lightly.
"Well, after Russia, I suppose no temperature could faze me."
Danika turned her body so she could face him,
"Why did you leave the White Tigers, Ray?"
Ray looked a little surprised,
"How did you know I used to belong to the White Tigers?"
"We do research, too, you know."
"I was the strongest on my team, but I knew there had to be stronger bit-beasts out there. I set out to find them, and when I did, I decided to not return."
"You mean when you found the Bladebreakers?"
"Well, I found Tyson, Kenny, and Max first. Kai joined later only on the terms of being captain."
"Still, you could have been captain of the White Tigers!"
"I wouldn't have won the World Tournament and I don't think the Bladebreakers would have either. Besides, they are my friends."
"But the White Tigers are your friends too, aren't they?"
"Yeah, and they always will be, but now I'm also friends with the Bladebreakers."
"Why do you always have to be such a sweetheart?"
Ray reached over to smash a snowball in her face. She shrieked and lifted her arms.
"Am I still a sweetheart?" He laughed.
"No! You're the devil!" She tried pushing his muscular arm toward his face but she barely even moved it. Ray laughed and pushed her arm toward her face.
"Where'd you get that?"
"I stashed it before we left," he rolled it in his palms to reshape it, and again tried to smash it in her face.
She stuck her elbow out so he couldn't reach her and laughed as he tried to go around her,
"Stop being so childish!"
"It's just a snowball!"
"I'll only let you do it if I'm armed too."
"Why should I give you a weapon to use on me?"
"Cause that would only be fair."
He tried going under her arm, but she moved her elbow down quickly and hit him over the top of the head.
"Violent child!" He teased, lifting her hair up to two points.
"Are you mocking me?" She pulled his hair up, "I may have devil horns right now, but you still have a ponytail."
"It's tradition. I've never cut my hair," he grinned.
"Why don't the rest of the White Tigers have long hair, then?" She wondered curiously.
"They do. Haven't you seen Kevin and Mariah's hair lately?"
"Yes, but it's not as long as yours."
"Well, I guess I must be special."
He finally shoved the already melting snowball in her hair. She reached out and tickled him under his arms as he did so.
He yanked his hand back instantly.
"HA!" She pointed triumphantly, "You're ticklish! Now I have something to use against you!"
He put his hands up as she began to tickle him in the stomach and on his back,
"No! Stop! Danika, I …swear..haha..stop!"
She had just adjusted her body to a more comfortable position, but the lift suddenly stopped and she slid forward a few inches as she did so.
"Danika, stop!" Ray sat up instantly, "You'll fall-"
"Huh?" She turned around in the seat, but her legs now dangled off the lift and when the lift began to move again, she jerked forward in surprise. Her giggles suddenly turned to a scream.
"Danika!" He grabbed her wrist and she grabbed the edge of the seat instinctively.
Her feet dangled below her, above the heads of a gathering group of people noticing her position. She did not have the arm strength to lift her entire body up.
She could feel her hands sweating and slipping the entire way up. Her arms were so stiff she was afraid she would dismember herself. Ray tried pulling her arms up so she could use her legs to lift her body up with the foot railing, but each time he did so, the lift rocked backwards and he loosened his grip a bit in fear of tumbling the entire lift backwards.
"Just hold on for a minute…" He calmly told her as the lift rocked backward and forward slowly, "It'll stop soon."
He noticed that a bunch of skiers were shouting, "Let her go! We'll catch her!"
Yeah, right! He thought frantically.
The lift eventually stopped. He turned his head a fraction of an inch and saw a bunch of tiny people in the distance making their way up. They must have been informed of the situation.
He lifted his feet up, stuck them under his body and twisted sideways. His arms were pulled up a few inches because of the shift in position, so Danika was pulled upward. She kicked her legs up as far as she could, but she still needed a few more inches to put her feet on the foot railing. He pulled backwards, leaning his body against the side of the lift. She adjusted her position quickly, grabbing at his upper arm. It was just enough. She pulled her left foot onto the foot railing. She grabbed the backboard of the lift to push herself in. Ray locked the restraint back in place. She took deep breaths next to him.
The skiers below were still watching, though some had gone off to tell the operator that they could start the lift again.
Ray watched her quietly until the lift started moving slowly once again,
"Are you all right?"
"I…think so."
There was a few moments of silence I which she rubbed the stress out of her hands. Then she spoke really quietly,
"If you hadn't caught me, I might be down there in a stretcher," she stared at him in wonder, "Thanks, Ray."
He colored a bit, a little embarrassed,
"I don't think I did that much."
"Of course you did! I mean, you could have just let me go and then you wouldn't have had to worry about me in the match, huh?"
"Danika! I would never do that!"
"So…does this mean you're my friend? I mean, I really like hanging around you."
"Yeah, Danika. Of course I'm your friend. You can hang around anytime you want."
He lifted her hair once again into little devil's horns and she laughed.
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"An old lady was getting ready to die. Before she died, she wanted to give her inheritance to her only son, but she had trouble reaching him. She went out to her garden and took down her scarecrow. Soon, a bunch of crows came flocking and she begged the strongest and fastest crow to go fetch her son. He went on his way and she began to clean the house, pay off debts, and sew blankets for her casket. The parishioner stopped by her house one day and asked to write her will. When she told him she wanted all her money and belongings to go to his son, he asked, "Are you sure you want to do that?" "Yes, I am positive." "And if you're son doesn't want it?" "Then I will give it to the church." The crow soon returned, but with no letter in his hand. The old lady hoped he was on his way. She sat patiently in bed and waited and waited. The parishioner came by later that week and asked if she wanted to be buried in the county graveyard. "No," she replied, "I want to be buried next to my husband." He left with her finished will and she continued to wait. She waited and waited some more for her son to return. The parishioner stopped by the following Sunday and found her dead in the rocking chair, still waiting patiently for her son. He sighed to himself, went to her drawer and took out the rest of her money and inheritances, "I should have told her that her son was already dead." He buried her next to her husband like she asked and next to her son, who died of a heart attack." Mobekai finished.
"Oh, that's sad." Mariah clutched her jacket closer to her, "I just love hearing your stories."
"I'll just tell you more, then," he smiled.
"They're fascinating."
Instead of picking her feet up and stepping crunchily in the high deeply packed snow, trudged her foot right through the substance, creating one long straight line.
They'd been walking like this for at least an hour. Mobekai kept her company with his tales and fables. Occasionally, she'd get bored and they would have snowball fights.
"If you could pick one place to go in the world, where would it be?" he asked.
"I don't know."
"How about Stars?"
"Orion's Belt." She replied instantly.
"Papaya?"
"Apples."
"Blue."
"Pink."
"How about weather?"
"Hot."
"Same." He laughed.
She began running forward, jumping quickly so her feet wouldn't stick into the snow,
"C'mon, Mobekai! The rushing blood warms your body."
He jumped forward to catch up with her. He tried to grab her, but she flitted out of the way and it soon became a cat and mouse game, with Mobekai trying to 'tag' her.
He finally grabbed her around the waist and pushed her down in the snow. She turned around, breathing heavily,
"You win! You win!"
"Just like that?"
"Yep."
"All right, then."
"Look, Mobekai!" she suddenly lifted her head, "Look! It's the small village they told us to head to! You can see the stop!"
She got to her feet instantly, knocking Mobekai to the ground,
"C'mon, lets go!"
"Wait…Mariah! What village? We're supposed to head to Bern. They were talking about Bern. It must be south of here. Mariah!"
Mariah began running. She could see a tiny village in the distance. There was someone watching them from the edge of town. She ran excitedly until she could see the man's face. She could hear Mobekai shouting behind her, but as she reached the edge of this town and could see the man, she noticed that he looked remarkably like…Ray?
She stopped in surprise and blinked. The village disappeared.
Mobekai appeared at her side, panting,
"What village?"
"It was my imagination," she whispered, "There was no village, there was no…" she'd been about to say Ray but she stopped.
"I think we're heading the wrong way," he watched her, "I think we need to head south a bit. Bern's huge. We should be able to see it from miles away."
"Are we going to Bern? I thought he said we were just supposed to end at the next village."
"He was talking about a stopping place right outside Bern. I've seen it before. Are you all right, Mariah?"
"I'm going crazy…I must be. Do you think I'm going crazy, Mobekai?"
"No," he put his arm around her shoulders to warm her up, "I just think the chill is getting to you. It's getting late and I know that blizzards tend to set in at night. We should go…this way I think."
He turned her around halfway. He kept her body in front of his at all times so the wind would be more bearable. The warmth from his coat reminded her just how cold she was. She could barely feel her fingers and she was sure her face was blue.
"We'll make it there before night, right, Mobekai?" She asked softly.
"Yeah, we'll try."
"Mobekai?"
He looked up.
"Thank you. I really had fun today."
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Kai pushed heavily off the jump and landed with quite an impact in the untouched snow. He ran quickly through the trees and around some bushes in a heavily secluded area of the ski lift.
Skiing was a great idea as it seemed like the perfect way to let go of nerves and Kai was definitely feeling very nervous about the upcoming tournament. He was having the same dreams again. Dreams about Boris, Voltaire, and for some reason, Tala kept coming to mind. And then there was also the weird dreams where he kept getting trapped and the only way out was a small orange box, but he could never reach it in time.
He'd only had close brush-ins with animals, such as small badgers and bunnys as he tried to see his way deeper into the woods.
He loved the ski jumps especially though as it was a little different from the usual monotony of dodging rocks and trees down the same slope.
Something darted out in front of him and his first thought was that it was a big animal. He turned casually to avoid it, but it scampered in front of his path once again and he began to dig his ski poles into the snow to avoid hitting it. As he got closer, he saw it wasn't a large animal, but a person.
He dug quickly into the snow and turned sharply, piling snow into the air. He barely brushed right past her,
"I could've hit you!"
"I was trying to get your attention." Trish snapped.
"Well, you have it! You don't just walk out in the middle of a ski path!" He dug his poles into the ground and took off his cap, "What do you want?"
"I want to know something and I'm not going to let you leave until you give me an answer."
"Fine. Goodbye," he was about to push off again, but she grabbed his wrist,
"C'mon, Kai! It's been bugging me!"
He stopped and sighed,
"I don't think I know anything you don't already know. But sure, what do you want to know?"
"I want to know why you chose the Bladebreakers over the Demolition Boys?"
"I hate the Demolition Boys. What kind of question is that?"
"Okay, let me rephrase that: Why did you choose to be with Dranzer and the Bladebreakers over Black Dranzer?"
"I didn't."
She stared,
"What?"
"I didn't. I still love Black Dranzer, but I hate it at the same time. And here's the only reason why: My grandfather gave it to me so he could use me to illegally take everyone else's bit-beasts. It made me heartless. But believe me, it felt good to have a lot of power."
"But how could you just give it up like that?" She stared at him.
"Why do you want to know all this so badly? I really don't want to talk about this subject."
"Well I do."
"I don't give a crap what you want to talk about. Can I leave now?"
"No."
"You can't barricade me."
"I can. If you try and get through you'll just have to kill me and then you won't ever have to worry about it again cause you won't be able to Beyblade."
"You're sick," he narrowed his eyes, "All right then, I'll tell you what you want to know."
"Start talking."
"I'll take my time if you don't mind. I gave up Black Dranzer because I decided I didn't like having all that power for the wrong reasons. I was just a pawn in their sick little game. Before I had Black Dranzer, I thought I was just traveling with the Bladebreakers for the sake of being their captain. I thought they were pitiful. But they still believed I was their friend and even after I told Tyson personally that I wanted Dragoon, he never gave up trying to persuade me back to the Bladebreakers. I sought to take away from them the one thing they loved the most. I almost lost my life before I saw what I had resorted to doing. I may not have Black Dranzer, though I can still feel it's power in my head, but I feel a lot more free than I've ever felt before."
Halfway during his little mini-speech, she had turned to stare hard at the ground.
"No sarcastic comment?" he asked.
She shook her head,
"No, that's all I wanted to know."
"Why?"
"I can't tell you."
"Is that why you're not looking up?"
She looked up and he could see her eyes burning with anger. He opened his mouth in surprise.
"What's your problem?"
"Nothing," she stepped aside, "You can go."
"What's wrong, Trish?" He demanded.
"GO!" She shouted a little unnessecarily.
He pushed off after looking at her steely blue eyes. What was she trying to hide? And why had she looked so angry to hear something that pained him so much to say?
Why had she even wanted to know all that in the first place? Not even the Bladebreakers had asked him such intimate details about Black Dranzer and Dranzer.
And was it somehow connected with the particular dreams he'd been having? He was determined to find out.
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"Hey, chief!" Max and Ray walked into the warmer room.
Ray jumped in front of the heater,
"Man, it's cold out there."
"But beautiful…" Max added cheerily.
"Someone came to the room earlier, Ray, and asked for you."
"Really? Did they say who they were?" Ray asked.
"No. He just said he'd be back later. It was an older chinese man."
Ray froze,
"Was he thin? And slightly taller than me?"
"Yes! But how did you…"
"Next time he comes around, Kenny, tell him I'm not here."
"Why would he say that?" Max asked.
"I met him on the train and I don't like him at all. I don't think we should get involved with anything he has to offer."
"Stop, Ray! You're starting to scare me!" Kenny shivered.
"BOOooo!" Dizzi replied in a distant voice.
"Don't do that, Dizzi!" Kenny frowned.
"Oh, lighten up. The most you probably need to worry about this man is that he looks creepy and he's in charge of a competitive team. If you want to see something scary, go check out the Dark Bladers," Dizzi informed.
Tyson suddenly pulled the door open and upon hearing the last bit of conversation, straightened immediately,
"What are we talking about? Cause if it involves creepy weirdo's in masks, then I'm out of here."
"Where in the world have you been?" Kenny turned, "What happened between you and Michael?"
"Nothing. I got bored with skiing and got a snow board instead, but the ski lift kept stopping, so I only went down the slope once."
"We should probably go get something to eat before the battle starts." Max put his coat back on again.
"That's what I need! Food!" Tyson rubbed his hands together excitedly.
"You always need food, Tyson," said Ray.
"Where is Kai?" Kenny yanked frantically on his own hair, "He better show up at the stadium! Mr. Dickinson better be at the stadium! Why does everyone always disappear right before a battle?!"
"Calm down, Kenny. It's just one match. They'll be there, don't worry!" Tyson jumped for the door, "Now, I'm up for a little sushi! Who's coming with me?"
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"Where's Mariah?" Lee looked up as Kevin and Gary entered the room. Gary shrugged,
"Probably still out with Mobekai. I haven't seen her around."
"It's late. She should be back by now."
"Ah, leave her alone. She'll come back," Kevin grabbed his blade and began to make slight adjustments before ripping it in the corner of the room.
"I don't think it's like her to be out this late. And I don't trust Mobekai."
"Well, you can't exactly go looking for them, can you?"
Lee paused and grabbed his jacket and blade before heading for the door.
"Lee? Lee, you can't go out! You're sick! Lee!" Kevin grabbed his spinning blade and tried to run after him, but Gary grabbed his shoulders,
"Let him do it. She is his sister after all."
"Yeah, he still needs to loosen up though."
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Mariah shivered violently under his arms. Mobekai began to worry. He couldn't give her his own jacket because he only had a short sleeve on underneath, but her jacket was no less thicker than a regular shirt and her shoulders were beginning to feel like ice. He'd already begun to worry when she'd started running for the middle of nowhere claiming she could see a village. Hallucinations were never a good sign. He hoped he could provide enough warmth to get them to Bern.
He could see it in the distance…the overwhelmingly large city, but he didn't dare tell Mariah, who could barely stand up straight. He really didn't want her to try running.
She stopped suddenly.
"Mariah?"
He grabbed her by the shoulders to look in her golden eyes,
"Mariah? Are you all right?"
She looked up at him faintly and twisted her head curiously,
"Are we in Bern yet?"
She fell down for lack of energy.
"No! Mariah, you have to get up! We're almost there! C'mon!"
"No!" She tried swapping his hand away, "I want to sleep! I want to rest for a minute, Mobekai."
"Okay, fine! We'll rest, but you can't sleep, Mariah! You can't sleep now! You'll be able to sleep all you want when we get there!"
"I can't walk anymore, Mobekai," she looked up, "My legs hurt so much right now. I'll just wait here. You go and get someone to come back."
"No, I won't leave you. I'll carry you the rest of the way."
"Oh, no, please don't! You're cold and weak too! You could never carry me in your condition. Just come back."
"You'll fall asleep."
"And what's wrong with that?"
"I'm not going to leave you here, Mariah!"
He got down on his knees in front of her,
"Now get on my back!"
"Mobekai-"
"Mariah, get on my back! We're almost there."
She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him around the waist with her legs.
He struggled a bit. She was right: she was a little harder to carry at the moment. He could feel the sweat come down his face even in the wind and could feel his legs burn as he straightened.
"Mobekai? Are you all right? I don't want you to carry me. You'll only strain yourself even further than you need to!"
"No, it's all right, Mariah."
He began to walk forward in the snow, too stubborn to tell her it did hurt. He left the snowmobile helmets behind as he did so. They were just a burden now and he hoped they could reach the city limits before they would've had to use them.
The wind and the snow were a lot colder now, because the sun was setting. The brilliant lights from the city were already on. He began to sing softly under his breath:
"
The wind will blow through the willows, the river will flow
and trees will sway.
Each day the forest grew stronger and the furry inhabitants rejoiced, for nothing could destroy such a beautiful place.
But time began to pass, the owl got a little wiser and the coyote began to howl,
'Where has nature gone? Oh, where has the nature gone?
The trees are now falling, the waters are slowly dying and it's getting hard to breathe,
So tell me now, where has nature gone?'
And the human and his dogs sing into the trees,
'I need it now for my clothes and my things.'
The rabbit begins to burrow for almost all nature is lost,
But once in a while under the glory of the moon, you'll hear the coyote howl again,
'Where has nature gone? Oh, where has the nature gone?'
"
Mariah loosened her grip around his neck and rested her head on his shoulders,
"I'm not too heavy, am I, Mobekai?" She asked. Her breath tickled a bit against his neck.
"No, you're fine, Mariah."
He was almost there. He passed a few farms along the outside edge and continued making his way in until the space between the buildings gradually lessened to nothing. He began to look for a place that said Johnny's Snowmobile. About 2 miles into the most rural part of town he saw it. Behind him, Mariah whispered,
"I see buildings, Mobekai."
"We're here, Mariah. You'll be all right."
He walked up to the shop and a man greeted them instantly,
"Can I get you a snowmobile?"
"Actually, we just came from the shop up on the mountain. Our snowmobile broke down and it's about north of here."
"I'm terribly sorry about that," he saw Mariah on his back, "Do you need help? Is there anything I can get you?"
"Could you get me something hot?" He asked, a little breathlessly.
"Yes, anything!" He disappeared in the back.
Mobekai dropped to his knees. Mariah tried getting off, but she fell off his back instead and hit the ground a little hard,
"Ouch," she rubbed her head
"I'm sorry," he turned around and grabbed her hand apologetically, "I can get you to your hotel room if you want me to."
"That's fine. I'll just walk myself."
"I'm still coming with you. You need to stay warm and drink some water. I think you're sick, Mariah."
"I'm not sick. Lee's sick. I'm just tired, that's all."
"You were hallucinating, Mariah. I think you're sick."
The man returned with some blankets and hot chocolate. As Mobekai drank, he could feel the warmth spread from his mouth to his toes. It was relaxing.
"Here's a refund," the man handed over some money, "Again, I'm terribly sorry about that. Do you need a ride?"
"Could you? To the Alpine Plaza Hotel?"
"Of course, sir. This way…"
Mobekai helped Mariah to her feet,
"Mobekai, I'm okay, really!"
"Just let me help you get to your hotel and if you really don't want me to bug you after that I won't."
"Why do you have to be so sweet?"
"Anything for you," he smiled.
She blushed a bit, if it was even possible to see it under her cold rosy cheeks.
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Final Note: I wonder why I make everyone get sick? Oh, well; it draws sympathy for the characters. The next chapter contains the match against the Tall Boys-I drew it out a bit, so it should be enjoyable. Thanks for reading and please continue to review!
