how disappointing....it seems no one's reading this ficcy no more...oh well! my fault for bein lazy! but if someone IS actually reading this...it wouldn't hurt to give a sign ya know

CHAPTER 15:
TRAINING

"Has anyone seen Meia?" Ron asked.

"The bus will pick us up in 10 minutes..." Kai informed him. "Ray and Mariah know where to get Tyson and Max...They'll be back soon. We'll ask them to stall some time,"

Ron nodded in agreement. "I'll go on ahead."

"Don't bother," Kai spoke.

"What?"

"KAI!! RON!!!" Meia called running towards them. "There you are!"

"There YOU are!" Ron corrected. "Where were you? You just disappeared after watching Voltaire's team!"

"Gomen!" Meia apologized. "I needed to use a bathroom badly. And you guys were gone when I got back..."

Later...back at Max's cabin.........

"There's something I've been meaning to show you guys..." Ron said to Kai and Meia.

"What is it?" Meia asked him.

He showed them the book given to them at the White Tiger Tribe, "I've read this book from cover to cover and it's mostly about the history of the phoenixes but there are also 3 moves described here."

"Moves? As in attacks?" Meia asked again.

"Yeah," Ron replied. "Individual attacks...but we've discovered those ourselves...Dual attacks and the most powerful imaginable...The Tri attack."

"Mind explaining how they work?" Kai asked him.

He nodded. "The dual attack requires a certain formation but I can see it would be effective. It's the tri attack that I need to discuss with you."

"We're listening..." Meia answered.

"There's some...difficulty to it...." Ron started.

"What are you trying to say?" Kai asked.

"The attack only requires the PRESENCE of the 3 blades...the 3 don't necessarily need to be battling. But it takes deep concentration of the mind and a considerable amount of strength because when the attack is delivered...heavy damage is to be expected," Ron continued.

"What are we supposed to do then?" Meia asked.

"It says the power the phoenixes will use will be our own...therefore we need to focus all our energy into that attack. It's gonna take a lot of our stamina so we have to build that up." He finished.

"I think we can do it..." Meia shared.

"But we need to train for it...that's the move that'll beat Voltaire and his boys for us." Kai said.

"Yeah..." Meia agreed. "We'll beat his boys alright......" she finished her voice trailing away all of a sudden.

"Shall we commence training?" Ron asked.

"You won't leave me with a choice will you?" Meia sighed.

The three spent the whole day training and polishing their moves for the semi-finals the next day...

But a foe was watching them all the while...

Ron and Meia stepped on the ice to practice a dual move they perfected earlier. The battle was progressing well and producing the results they hoped for when a small explosion interrupted.

Something near Ron exploded and the ice under his feet began to crack. He sunk into the freezing water before he could escape.

"Ron!" Meia screeched. "She began approaching the place where he fell.

"Stay where you are!" Kai commanded. "I'll get him."

Without another word, he plunged in the ice pool.

Meia stood there waiting for them to emerge...but seconds passed slowly with nothing happening.

She stood there frozen on the spot when someone pushed her. She caught a glimpse of a red bandana before she fell. She prepare for impact but it didn't come. Someone had grabbed her.

She opened her eyes to meet a red-haired boy. "Who-?" she began meekly.

"The name's Tala." he muttered quickly. He immediately set her down on a safe place and began chasing the boy with a red bandana.

When he finally caught him, Kai emerged as well carrying Ron who looks like he fainted.

Kai removed his jacket and covered Ron with it. Meia approached and did the same. She spoke to Kai. "Look over there." she said pointing to where Tala had been trying to restrain the boy with a red bandana.

"That's Tala –and Carlos!" he exclaimed. "Why are they here?" he said standing up.

"The one with the red bandana tried to push me...but the red-haired one saved me." Meia replied.

Kai walked towards them and grabbed Carlos by his collar. "Talk Carlos."

"I'm doin what I'm paid to do...and takin my anger on you at the same time." he replied boldly.

Kai dropped him painfully. "Voltaire..."

Carlos ran away quickly.

Kai controlled his anger and turned to Tala and muttered a quick thanks to him.

"Just doing what I was told to do." Tala replied.

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that's it for this chappie...it's summer now here so can expect more frequent updates...provided that you review of course!