This chapter is a little bit cute and fluffy, but... kinda scary too, I suppose!

Before I begin, I have to thank X Shadow Wolf X2 – thankyou for your lovely review, it made my day! I hope you like the rest of the story!

Chapter Two- Into the Fire

Coincidently, the next day brought her big chance. Sitting against the Abbey's gates, she suddenly heard the doors slam open and a young boy shot out, kicking up snow as he ran. He had roughly cut hair, similar to hers, light grey in colour. Before she could inspect him more closely, shouts rang through the crisp air, followed by a troop of hooded men, chasing after the boy- in their haste, the door and gate were left open, Excitedly, she lifted herself and scurried towards the door and quick as a flash, slipped into the internal shadows of the Abbey. She hadn't planned this far ahead, but nothing could have prepared her for what met her eyes.

Around a hundred boys, her age and older were gathered at doorways, obviously looking for what all the commotion was about- but now staring at her. To her disappointment, she couldn't see any red hair. She felt petrified under their accusing stares, yet defiant at the same time. She wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of an explanation. Suddenly the silence shattered as the booming voices of men- teachers? -ripped down the stony hallway. Albina hurried between the stonewalls and through one of the archways that she'd seen boys looking through, only to be stopped dead in her tracks by a large, hooded figure blocking her way.

"Are you one of the new deliveries then?" Without waiting for an answer, he continued as if talking to himself- "Rather skinny and small- albino- scruffy little runt... Fine then- Bryan, take him to get his uniform and be back in five minutes if you know what's good for you." A pale boy with grey hair arose slowly, then looked over his shoulder when he heard a sharp intake of breath from one of the other boys.
"I- I'll take him, sir." Albina's eyes lit up with delight- it was her boy, her angel, he must've recognized her!

The tall man nodded and turned back to the group, apparently doing push-ups. The pair walked out of the room and started down the corridor, their footsteps echoing through the stone. They walked in shy silence for a while, then as soon as they turned the corner-
"This is a bad place. You shouldn't have come here." Albina was startled, but most of all pleased that she was with him again.
"Why?"
"They beat us- force us to train day and night, with punishment if we can't do it. Me and Bryan- We were brought here from the orphanage, selected for our build and intelligence. All they care about is our strength- how good we are at beyblading." His voice was nothing but a whisper now, and beginning to shake. Albina was more shocked by this than the words he was saying - he looked so brave and fierce on the outside, yet inside he was young and afraid. All she could utter was:
"Beyblading?"
He dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out a spinning top, just like the one she had! So this was a beyblade...
"I have one of them!" She cried excitedly, digging into her own pocket. "I found it in the street- I guess someone lost it..."

They rounded another corner and the boy looked around nervously for anyone else, but it was dusty, dark and deserted like nearly everywhere else. The building seemed even larger inside than it looked on the outside. She realized she still didn't know his name, and asked.
"Tala." He said simply.
"No last name?"
"No, it's just the one they gave me here... You're... Albina, right?"
"You remembered!" Albina felt so happy she felt like she could burst. That stuff he'd said about torture- she didn't care, as long as he- Tala -was there. She could hardly believe this conversation she was having- all those words she'd listened to hundreds of times a day in the street, learnt the meanings to- she finally had a chance to use them herself, and there was only him willing to listen. They stepped into a small room in which Tala pulled on the light switch, illuminating the cave-like room with a dull glow. All around the walls hung outfits, all exactly the same- a dull green, with no decoration other than a tag identifying them as belonging to Biovolt.

"Better choose one to wear. I'd assume you were a small..." Without a word, he selected a uniform and handed it to her, causing the clump of hair hanging over her scar and left eye to flutter. "Whoa- how did you do that?"
"Haircut." She said quickly, pulling it back over. However, Tala, with his innocent, young curiosity plunged forward and ran his finger across the bumpy surface, causing Albina's cheeks to burn- why was that?
"Wow, Wish I had a scar like that. Might make me look more tough."
"Why would you want to do that?"
"Here, only the tough, and ruthless survive. It's a never-ending competition. They beat you and beat you until you stop crying, stop registering the pain. To become cold and uncaring is everyone's goal- and it should be yours too." Albina thought about this. She'd already stopped crying and caring about pain years ago- but she felt this boy could open her up and warm her frosted heart.

"But not towards each other."
Tala stared at her with wide eyes, then smiled. "Alright. However hard I become, I'll never be like that to you." For a while they just stood there, smiling at each other- as if they'd been saving all their smiles, all their life for this moment- the gross uniform still clutched in Albina's arms.

Pounding, shouting.
Tala's eyes grew wide again and he hurried back through the door, closing Albina in the cave. Pressing her ear against the ornate wood, she heard the man from earlier yelling at Tala, then a thump and a thud. Peering through the door, she saw Tala being dragged away, bruised and barely able to walk. Horrified, she shut the door again and began to remove her rags, then pull on her uniform, the harsh green threads grazing her thin white skin. So, it was true... this was her life now.