A/N: I do not own YGO or BB. For those who don't watch Beyblade, I'll give a list of the characters that make their first appearance. This chapter: Tala, Kai, Tyson, Hiro, Daichi, and Hilary.

Here are the ages for those in this chapter:

12 (Mokuba)

13 (Daichi)

15 (Tyson, Hilary)

17 (Joey, Tristan, Duke, Tala, Kai, Bakura)

19 (Hiro, Mai)

The sun shone brightly upon the land and the snowy-white clouds gathered in clumps among the blue sky. The wind blew slightly and all was quiet. The birds were not singing their praises this morning, as if they sensed an up and coming battle...

Mokuba, a forest dweller, crouched down beneath a rock, watching a red haired mountain dweller, sitting by the lake. The eleven-year-old boy had no idea why the Zevian warrior was here in Estorian territory. Maybe it was because he had heard the fishing was good. Or maybe it was the other reason, the only reason why a Zevian would be in the territory of their sworn enemies. That reason was simple: capture and kill as many Estorians as you can. Or vice versa. No real killing had occurred since both warriors of each group of people were much too talented and skilled to be caught. There had not been a killing for several years. Mostly capturing someone and keeping them as prisoners, torturing them in order to bring out the prisoner's home warriors so that a battle could take place. But the Zevian people only did that. The Estorians merely kept them imprisoned.

And Mokuba had a pretty good feeling he would be taking this one home. He ducked behind the rock when the Zevian warrior turned his way. 'That was close!' Mokuba thought as he did his best to keep absolutely still and silent. This was the first time the Estorian leader allowed him to go out on his own and he did not want to mess up. Those under the age of twelve were normally not allowed to go out on their own since there was a great chance they would be captured. But Mokuba proved to be quite skillful and quick and so he was allowed to be on his own.

Mokuba wore a dark green tunic and small cloak and hood and light brown leggings with knee-high dark brown boots. A knife was hidden inside his clothing and that was the only weapon he had with him aside from his own body. He had been trained in self-defense and knew what to do if caught without a weapon. He also knew how to climb trees at a very fast pace.

The raven-haired boy waited for a few more moments and then cautiously popped his head up from the rock. He was met with a sight empty of the red-haired Zevian warrior. 'Oh no!' Mokuba mentally cursed himself. 'I lost him! Unless...' Fearing the worst, Mokuba spun around only to be grabbed by his tunic collar and hauled off his two feet. His gray eyes looked into blue ones, staring right back him, cold and frigid with hatred and arrogance.

"Thought you could hide from me, did you?" The warrior spoke coolly. His name was Tala and he had fiery red hair that stood out on either side, with two long bangs hanging down in front. He wore a stone-colored long-sleeved coat with black pants and boots and fingerless gloves. The visible handle of a sword aroused nervousness within Mokuba and the boy struggled to be released from the enemy's grip but to no avail. "Sorry to say this but...you won't be returning to your pitiful home." Tala smirked and shoved the boy to the ground, immediately placing his right foot on top of Mokuba's chest and slightly added pressure.

Mokuba felt the air leave him for a second. "No!" He choked out, struggling to remove the foot but Tala was just too strong, obviously being one of the older more advanced warriors of the Zevian. "Please! Let me go!" He pushed at Tala's leg.

The mountain-dweller gave a short laugh. "You actually think I would listen to you and let you go? Fool." Keeping his foot on Mokuba's chest, he reached inside his cloak, pulling out a bit of rope. He shook his head with mild amusement and then the smirk disappeared, a blank expression on his face once more. "You're coming with me." He stated and prepared to tie Mokuba's feet together and then his hands.

"Oh no you don't!" A familiar lad burst through some bushes into the clearing and hurled himself at Tala with a loud cry. It was Joseph, better known as Joey, of the Estor people. In his fear of Mokuba being harmed or worse, he had tackled Tala to the ground instead of waiting for his comrades to go through with their plan.

The two were now on the ground, struggling to gain the upper hand in the fight. Mokuba sat up to breathe fresh air and then wondered what he was to do. Mokuba was no real fighter but he was training to be one. Perhaps the best choice was to run away but he might be deemed as coward by the Zevian or maybe by his own people.

Joey decided for him. "Mokuba! Go! Run! There's--" Joey grunted as he was punched in the jaw though not quite that hard to seriously damage his well-being. "Just GO!" He commanded and retaliated with a blow to Tala's stomach.

Mokuba nodded curtly and took off in the direction of his village but before he could take another step, another mountain-dweller appeared in front of him. 'This is not my day!' Mokuba froze and silently willed himself to show no fear to this tall warrior.

The Zevian in front of him had long black hair tied in the back with a blood-red headband. Wearing similar clothing, he chuckled as Mokuba tried to run one way but was blocked by him, Duke. "We do not travel alone." He spoke, stepping closer to the frightened boy. "There's always another one around somewhere."

"Same with us!" Mokuba felt his heart fill with joy when someone from his village came up behind Duke and whacked him in the back hard. Duke groaned and fell to his knees while the Estorian warrior with long navy blue hair grinned at Mokuba. "All right, kid?" Tyson asked looking at both Mokuba and the fallen Zevian. "Better get outta here quick. If I know the mountain freaks, they'll probably have one of their great leaders or something with them—and the leader is always stronger than his soldiers." Tyson's proud grin disappeared when Duke tripped him. Tyson tumbled into the dirt but immediately jumped right back up again. "Hurry!"

"I will!" Mokuba assured him and ran through the bushes only to run smack into yet another warrior. 'Please tell me it's not a Zevian!' Mokuba had landed on his rear and cautiously looked up only to find himself face to face with, well, a friendly face. "Hiro?" Mokuba whispered.

Seventeen year old Tristan was right behind Hiro, Tyson's older brother. "Hey Mokuba, are you okay? Where's Joey and Tyson?" Tristan asked with an annoyed expression. "Those two were supposed wait for us!"

"They're back in the clearing!" Mokuba motioned with his head. "They're both fighting people from the mountains."

Tristan ran ahead while Hiro looked down at the boy. "Mokuba...you'll have to come with us. This will give you a chance to see how the Zevian fight but also because there is no one else to protect you if you head back to the village by yourself." Hiro explained calmly, offering a hand. Mokuba grimly accepted it. This was just what he loathed; everyone assuming he was way too young and too weak to take care of himself. "Come on." Nineteen year old Hiro instructed and led the way to where the sound of fighting was heard.

Tala had the upper hand in his battle with Joey, what with holding the blonde warrior in a strong position. Joey's arms were being held behind him and Tala was close to twisting one of his arms completely. "Give it up, Estor filth!" The redhead snapped, no longer in a playing mood. Usually he liked to toy with his opponents, causing them to suffer. Joey was no ordinary opponent so defeating him would be more difficult than what he was used to.

"Ungh! Never!" Joey wheezed out and threw himself forward to the ground, bringing both of them down once more. "I will never surrender to the likes of you!" Joey added, on him in a second, hoping to knock him unconscious.

Tyson was faring about the same as his fellow comrade. He shoved Duke to the forest floor and elbowed him hard in the posterior. "That'll teach ya to trip me!" Tyson hollered as Duke cried out in pain. The raven-haired warrior of the Zevian growled and retaliated with his own elbow to the cheekbone of his enemy. "AW!" Tyson wailed, one hand immediately caressing the cheekbone where a bruise was bound to form. "What did you do THAT for?!" The fifteen-year-old idiotically whined.

"You Estorians really are halfwits!" Duke remarked snidely and tackled the teen to the ground. He was about to deliver a punch to the nose when he felt himself being grabbed roughly and thrown on his back. "What the--?"

Tala looked up at the sound of his fellow warrior's cry and saw that two more Estorians had arrived including the young boy he had almost captured. "Duke! Up! Now!" Tala ordered and stepped away from Joey who reeled in pain from the last blow to his gut.

Duke heeded his demands and scrambled to his feet, narrowly avoiding another hit from Tyson. The young man quickly joined his companion by the rocky cliff. Hiro helped his brother to his feet while Tristan did the same with Joey. Mokuba kept close to Hiro and his gaze steady on the two enemies. All four Estorians were dressed much in the same way like Mokuba except for their hair of course. Hiro had navy-gray hair tied at the back, Tristan had brown hair cropped short, and Joey of course had tousled blonde hair. They lived by a familiar motto: all for one and one for all.

"You're outnumbered." Tristan, stating the obvious, glared at the two Zevian soldiers.

Tala snorted at this fact. "No kidding." He muttered, allowing his lean body to fall back into a defensive stance. Duke followed suit and the two warriors remained close to each other, watching each other's backs.

"I've been waiting for a moment like this!" Joey declared as he and Hiro spread out to cover other possible routes of escape.

Tyson hung back, deciding he was better suited to protect Mokuba since he wasn't as good a fighter as his older brother and friends were. But he would be, someday; he vowed that much.

Mokuba bit his lip, waiting for the battle to commence once more. 'We'll get them this time! For sure!' He thought as the warriors of both clans eyed each other warily, waiting for someone to make the first move.

"Wait." A cold voice, familiar only to the two Zevian soldiers, spoke, drawing attention to his spot atop the small rocky cliff. Mokuba's ash-gray eyes darted to the source of the voice and saw that it was another Zevian, accompanied by yet another. The first one had dark gray hair in the front, and navy, almost black, hair in the back, tied of course. He had strange markings on his pale face...blue triangular shapes and emotionless crimson eyes that drifted from one face to the next. He appeared to be some sort of leader, judging by the different insignia on his dark colored tunic. Duke and Tala had the same symbols on their clothing only with less amount of detail.

'Maybe he's one of the leaders.' Mokuba guessed and his gaze wandered over to the second young man who seemed to more menacing to Mokuba than the first one. He had wild snow-white hair and slanted dark brown eyes with a cruel smirk. He too wore a similar outfit to that of his companion but held his deadly sword out in full view, clearly satisfied by the wide eyed expressions on a few of the forest-dwellers' faces.

Duke held back a sigh of relief and looked to and from his leader, making sure none of the Estorians tried to take advantage of his surprise by attacking. He awaited his leader's order.

The two young men upon the cliff were Kai and Bakura, two of the best warriors in Zevian who were under the command of one of the best...

"I see there are more of your buddies..." Joey snarled, wondering if there were any more hidden from their eyes. They just seemed to appear out of nowhere, like magic.

"We are needed back home." Kai spoke again, his voice sounding harsh. There was silence after this...and then...

Respecting his orders, Duke and Tala nodded curtly and looked back to their opponents.

"I'll take care of them..." Bakura murmured and to the Estorians' astonishment, he jumped down and landed hard on his feet with knees slightly bent. Bakura showed no sign of pain and merely brandished his sword threateningly, all but smirking in satisfaction.

A low growl emitted from Tristan's throat as his hand reached back slowly to where his long knife was hanging. "You won't be getting away!" He declared, drawing the knife out of its sheath.

"No Tristan." Hiro said firmly and held out his right arm slightly, ready to hold back his friend if need be. "Let them go. We cannot win this fight...at least not today." He added, keeping his gaze on the Zevian warriors.

Bakura chuckled softly. "You are right. You wouldn't win this fight if given the chance for it to take place. We do have to leave, unfortunately...because I would have enjoyed a chance to slit your throats..."

Joey and Tristan made irritated noises and Hiro kept calm and expressionless, hoping his brother would do the same. Tyson was...well, kind of. Mokuba was whispering to him urgently to keep his temper in check.

Bakura continued on. "As I was saying, you would not have won now and you won't win here on." He finished ominously and then the three suddenly took off at great speed. Kai was also gone, leaving the angered forest dwellers unnerved.

"This is not good." Hiro muttered as everyone relaxed simultaneously. "They've never threatened murder before...this is just not good..." He repeated gravely.

"Murder?" Mokuba echoed, fear in his eyes.

"Hey no sweat, kid. Nobody is gonna get killed." Tyson assured him with a smile.

Mokuba frowned, willing the fear to vanish from his thoughts and his voice. "I wasn't worried." He replied defiantly, catching the older boy by surprise. "And another thing..." Mokuba went on, remembering something. "I'm a decent fighter; we could've taken them!" He insisted but he knew it was no use. To them, he would always be their little brother, the little kid, and the one who did not know how to fight properly or defend himself.

Hiro sighed and faced Mokuba. "Listen Mokuba..."

The boy shook his head. "Let's go home." He turned abruptly and dashed through the bushes, obviously intent on returning home alone.

Joey shook his head. "That kid...he's got a lot of spirit..."

The group traveled in silence the rest of the way to their village where Mokuba had already arrived. Hiro was quietly pondering over why the enemy had been needed back in the mountains. The Zevian never backed down from a fight.

Joey and Tyson discussed whether lunch would be stew tonight or pemmican. Both were quite good to eat and the two could eat it tons of stew and/or pemmican at once. Their stomachs seemed to be bottomless pits as Tristan affectionately called them whenever he teased the two.

The warriors passed by many healthy trees signifying the greatness of the vast and luscious forest of Estor. Flowers and plants made the forest floor a delightful sight for the eyes to behold. The weather had been good to them and it certainly showed. "I love our home." Joey commented fondly as they entered a wide clearing where their village was located. It was the largest and main village in the forest with several homes both in the trees and a few on the ground. Those who lived below were the Watchers, those who kept an eye on the village's surroundings for any beasts or any enemies.

As for the rest of the population, they dwelled near the treetops in strongly built homes of wood and hide of certain animals and even of the tree itself, depending if it was large and thick enough. All were light enough to remain on the small wooden bridges just wide enough for two people side by side with long rope on each side just in case someone should fall. Of course that hadn't happened in many years. In some cases, the person died but in others, they were terribly injured and that's when they looked to the Anduran people for help.

They had good relations with the people of the sea, as did those of the mountains. Of course, neither forest or mountain dweller knew of it...that their greatest adversaries sought help and healing from the Anduran people.

"HEY!" A loud voice boomed from the above the warriors and all looked upward only to see another redheaded human, a fellow comrade about Mokuba's height—a year older...Daichi. "WHERE DID Y'ALL GO AND WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?!" He yelled, clearly furious that they didn't inform him of their sudden little trip.

"Daichi!" Tyson frowned. The two were friends but they annoyed each other to no end. "SOMEBODY GOT UP ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE BED!" He shouted back.

"HEY! IS LUNCH READY?" Joey called out, his voice tenfold louder than the other two.

"Guys, settle down." Hiro ordered, heading for the wooden stairs leading upward in a spiral. "You're disturbing the entire village."

"Race you!" Tristan suddenly cried out and brushed past the older boy with a grin. He raced up the stairs, gaining a good lead ahead of the other boys.

Tyson and Joey took off as well, eager to eat and Hiro only sighed at their immaturity. 'And they're supposed to be the best we've got...'

Meanwhile, Mokuba sat at one of the small tables inside a massive tree, waiting for lunch. He thought back to the confrontation with the Zevian...and wondered what they were doing right now...

"Hi Mokuba!" A cheery voice interrupted at his side.

The boy turned to see who it was and offered a small smile to the older girl who helped the Cooks. "Hi Hilary." He said softly.

"What's wrong? You look kinda...depressed." Hilary remarked, concern on her normally friendly face. She was Tyson's age and was another person who got on his nerves. Secretly, she fancied him but didn't dare let that out. Hilary wore a knee length skirt made of dark green material and a pale yellow shirt with sleeves that ended at the forearm.

"Oh it's nothing. I'm just...hungry." Mokuba answered, his eyes roaming the polished and smooth wood of the main dining room. The Dining Hall consisted of three thick trees in a row with extra room between them that was built by the Constructors.

Hilary looked unconvinced. "Okay then..." Her voice trailed off as the sound of laughter and jokes reached her ears. She pushed her shoulder-length dark brown hair behind her ears and crossed her arms, waiting for the gluttons. "I wonder where they've been."

"Probably hunting...or something else vile." Another feminine voice sounded in the air. Mai, the most beautiful in the entire village, flipped her long blonde hair back. She wore an outfit that resembled Hillary's only it was much lovelier and was not a two-piece. It was a soft pink sleeveless dress going to just below her knees. Mai was the Village Leader's daughter and the desire of nearly every young man in the village, including Joseph.

Hilary sighed in vexation. "Hunting is not disgusting. Without it, we wouldn't even have half the food we have!" She protested, frowning at the older female.

"Humph. Point taken. Just as long as I don't have to do it." Mai sat down at the chair at the head of the table. "Father won't be attending midday meal. He's gone and met with the other Village Leaders in all of Estor. Something about a threat..."

"A threat?" Mokuba restated. "What kind of threat?" He sat up on his chair from slouching.

"Does it have to do with those stupid mountain people?" Hilary questioned. "If that's the reason, then it's nothing new."

"No I don't think so." Mai responded, sounding friendlier than what she usually let on. "I can't remember what he said."

"FOOD!" Joey had managed to beat his fellow soldiers to the Dining Hall. He stopped short when the long ligneous table was bare. "Where's lunch? I'm starving!" His shoulders sank but immediately perked up when he saw who was sitting at the head of the table. "Oh! Greetings Lady Mai." He bowed his head slightly with a light blush appearing on his youthful features.

"Joseph." Mai nodded her head with a faint smile.

The rest of the warriors gave their respectful greetings. Tyson was the first to notice something wrong. "Hey, where's the chow?" He asked, glancing around.

"It's coming." Hilary replied with a roll of her eyes. "We're having some meat and potatoes with some corn." She added, heading back in the direction of the kitchen which was situated in another large tree about half a kilometer away from the three that made up the Dining Hall.

Everyone began to talk amongst themselves but Mokuba's mind kept drifting back to the mention of a new threat. 'What could it be?' He wondered. A sigh escaped his lips. 'I have to train hard to be ready for it.'

Pemmican—dried lean meat (buffalo/bison or deer) pounded into a paste with melted fat. Sometimes berries were added.