Is it Boris? Is it Leon? Is it someone else? Find out in the next exciting instalment of Crossing the bridge! Thanks for all the reviews, nearly at 700! Wahoo! So keep reviewing, I wanna get to the 1000 mark before I finish this story, so please please please review! I'm glad you liked the last chapter, and the poem, I know most of my poems are depressing and angsty, but they are the kind I write. To a question, my tattoo is of a dragon with outstretched wings with a stone effect pattern behind it on my lower back! Tadashi's cheese thing will be explained later as well, so keep reading!
Kai wandered self consciously among the rails of clothes. He guessed it was like in the other shop, just pick up what you liked, maybe try it on, and then buy what you wanted. He looked around to see what the others were doing, and could barely see them as they spread themselves out and followed the twisting trails between lines of clothes. Kai gave one last look around; still not free of the feeling someone was watching him. he swore under his breath in Russian before walking onward, his confident mask back on, it would do no good for the others to see him worried, especially Tad, she needed to enjoy herself. He wandered around, trying to find something he liked.
Tadashi laughed at startled faces as she was pulled along by the two girls that had a hold on her arms. They dragged her over to the girls section before letting her now pink tinged skin go and diving into rails and shelves. Tadashi smiled and took a more subdued approach, looking through the items separately before moving onto the next. It wasn't long before Hilary had arms full of skirts and cropped tops and Mariah had piles of anything pink and white.
"have you got anything Tad?" asked Hilary from somewhere under her pile.
"not yet" replied the braided teen with a shake of her head.
"ok, we'll try stuff on over there, join us when you do find something!" Mariah said, pointing to the changing rooms to emphasise their whereabouts. Tadashi nodded in return.
The other two girls staggered off in their chosen direction and left Tadashi to browse. She continued to search, subconsciously looking for blues, blacks, and whites. The three colours she loved the most. It took a while, but she settled on a black knee length pleated skirt with silver buckles down the sides, and a black fitted long sleeved top to go with it. A pair of red and black striped tights she chose to go under the skirt. A pair of bootleg dark blue jeans and a black velvety fitted top, a pair of baggy black jeans that covered her feet, and another dark blue pair with chains hanging down one side, a white and pale red lace up flowing top that had red roses and thorns patterned into the long sleeves, a small number of strappy tops in different colours and some with humorous sayings or pictures she liked, a long skirt that had a split up one leg to the top of her thigh in blue, and a fitted leather jacket. She looked around till she found the shoe section and chose a pair of large black boots with metal fixtures added, a pair of blue trainers, and a pair of heeled knee length boots. She added jewellery to the pile as well, liking the chokers and chains they had. She smiled as she walked along; she had decided shopping was fun! She moved into another section and caught herself blushing. Maybe she would need the girls help here, underwear wasn't something she was comfortable choosing.
Kai really didn't feel right choosing something he wasn't paying for. But the need for clothes outweighed any morals he had on the subject, just do it and let it be over with. He didn't want anything fancy, just something practical, something comfortable. He would never admit to anyone, even himself, how much his scars pulled and ached some days. But then the discomfort was small compared to the making of them. he was lucky his tolerance was so high. He chose baggy trousers in black and blue, even a dark grey pair. A couple of long sleeved tops in similar colours, and a black t-shirt with a white long sleeved one underneath it, a pair of baggy ripped jeans, some t-shirts, one with Linkin Park on it and one with The Rasmus logos, a long black coat with a deep hood, and a couple of hoodies, one plain and one with a phoenix rising from a fiery pit emblazoned on the back. All that was left was shoes and underwear. He sighed and went to get another pair of red and black trainers and a big pair of black boots. At least underwear was ok, all he needed was boxers. There he spotted Tadashi, looking very pink in her face.
"Tad?" he asked softly.
She turned and blushed deeper, "hey Kai".
"you ok?"
"no, this all confuses me", she looked around her; "I don't know what half of these things are!"
Kai froze, what would he know? His experience in girl's underwear was seriously lacking, it wasn't something Biovolt went out of their way to teach him. he glanced round quickly at the array of small clothes and stared back at Tadashi. Then he sighed in relief as he spotted a female sales assistant. He placed his things next to Tadashi's pile on a cushioned bench and went to talk with the lady.
He came back with her in tow.
"what did you say to her?" asked Tadashi in Russian.
"I told her this was the first time you have been underwear shopping, and that you are foreign student. Your accent will help that and you don't need to answer anything you don't want to, she'll just help, ok?"
Tadashi nodded and followed the woman. Kai sat down and waited, he wasn't sure how long this would take. He tried to not watch as the shop lady pulled bras and knickers off shelves to show Tadashi before pushing her into a changing room. It didn't take long before Kai had to move away from the lace and annoying music. He walked slowly around, not really watching where he was going. He stopped when something caught his eye. He turned and reached out to get it. Opening his hand, he looked at what lay in his palm. It was a silver necklace of a winged serpent. The creature appeared like a snake with a more elongated head and outstretched, bat-like wings. A small blue gem glittered in the light as the creature's eye, its tail ending in a last wave. He smiled, it was perfect. He didn't have much anymore, but he still had some money. He took it to a cashier and paid for it. Holding the small box it now resided in, he thought about the times when he would watch Tadashi in the huge libraries reading the dusty books on myths and legends. She seemed to never get enough of them. Ask her anything from griffins to fallen angels and she knew about them. A passion of hers that needed to be revived. He sat back down and waited.
to be completely honest with herself, Tadashi had to admit the woman was scary. She handed Tadashi item upon item of underwear. Tadashi had to say she had never worn a bra before and didn't know how to put one on. The lady just stood there showing her, muttering under her breath about under developed foreign countries. It was a while before Tadashi could escape the woman with a pile of new under garments, saying she had enough. She dumped her new things on her pile and smiled when Kai produced two large baskets to put the piles into. She thanked the lady and they walked away with hurried strides before the woman insisted that Tadashi also needed another bra and French knicker set.
They walked around the huge place, looking for the others since the two hours were nearly over.
"Tad?"
"hmm" was the reply as she looked around her intently.
"uh, this is for you" he said as he placed the box against her hand. Her fingers closed round it and she looked at it in mild surprise. Kai looked away when she opened it, he shouldn't feel embarrassed, but he did. He almost choked when she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him.
"ack Tad! cough!"
"sorry, but thank you!" she said as she released him and beamed. They didn't say anything else as they approached a small group that looked very familiar. Tadashi tried to keep her smiling to a minimum. The others in the group had smaller piles of clothes, but there was still a good deal there.
"hey you two! We were waiting, just leave your stuff here and I'll get it taken to the minibus, you can have a final look around, but stay together! I wont be that long!" said Tyson's dad as they approached.
Tadashi shrugged and handed over her basket while Kai remained expressionless as he did the same. They walked over to the group. Tadashi excused herself to go to the bathroom and Kai suddenly felt very worried. He watched as she disappeared amongst the crowds. Something wasn't right, but a tug n his arm brought him back to his immediate surroundings.
It was Hilary, "Kai? Can I ask you something?"
Kai looked around him again before grunting a reply which Hilary took for a yes.
"well, we were wondering about Tadashi and the cheese thing, we didn't want to upset her and now we are curious as to what its all about."
Kai sighed, "its not my story to tell."
"please, we only want to know, we wont say anything!"
Kai looked at them, they were sincere, "Tad always loved dairy, just as Leon always loved meat, it was a thing from the genetics involved in making them. Tad did something worth punishment and they gave her a very nasty toxin in cheese coz they knew she would eat it. She was very ill, and almost died, and when she recovered she could only drink milk, anything else dairy made her violently sick."
Kai suddenly looked very haunted, the memories only brought more.
"ok, thanks Kai" said Hilary very quietly. They knew it would've been bad, but the story made them feel chills.
Kai shrunk into himself. The story made him think of all the things Biovolt had done with him and food. The amount of times he had been on his knees, vomiting all he had left in his stomach as they tried every poison and toxin they could. Make him stronger, they said, find out his tolerances. He had slowly developed to function on little food and water without depleting his skills. It had been that or die. Even Tadashi, and Tori hadn't known this was why he never ate much. The thought of eating used to make him ill, now he could only just handle eating, but never much.
He looked up when he noticed Tadashi coming back, she looked pale and her lips were tightly drawn together, turning her normally poutable lips thin.
"there's someone here Kai, I've seen him! its them, Boris and Leon." She whispered in Russian, panic only just visible as a trace in her slightly quivering voice.
Before Kai could answer Samantha appeared and got them to follow her out of the mall to the now packed up minibus. Kai followed behind Tadashi, watching her back as they threaded through the now bustling crowds. It was just before the large doorways out of the mall that Kai heard it, and it made the blood in his veins freeze.
A cold Russian voice seemed to whisper right in his ear, "we will get you Kai, watch yourself......"
Turning round in one smooth motion, his scarf trailing in a floating circle, he saw a purple haired man and a black and red spiky haired head disappear into the masses crammed into the building. He turned and ran out the glass doors, almost stumbling on the rough pavement outside. Regaining his composure he walked calmly to the minibus, though he was anything but calm.
Sands of time
To walk a path in the sands of time
Is to leave everything behind you
Your present, your past, your future is gone
There is no lie, nothing is true
There is no life, there is no death
A balance with nothing to weigh
Yet you walk here, all alone
Even to the God's you cannot pray
The horizon stretches all around you
Your thoughts are all you own
Silent storms clash in the sky above
The energies dark and moody in tone
Winds howl with no voice from every direction
Even your beating heart makes no sound
The sensation is the eye of the storm
The un-lasting freedom before forever bound
The slow anticipation before the knife hits
The plunge before the rope comes up short
Your life feels in the balance
An answer is all that is sought
A secret never meant to be found
A thing of life that Death cannot claim
A shadowed thought hidden amongst your own
A wild creature that no-one can tame
Hunting what you seek in a timeless land
You may never know the answer
But still you carry on blindly
Till you find a cure for this cancer