GaBz:Well, try not to explode with happiness my precious reviewer, I need you to write!
Boys On Boysenberry-hime: Thanks for your review and let your curiosity be satisfied!
HimekoSukie: Thanks for reviewing!
A/N: The placement of this story is a few days after the World Championships. Kai and the others are still in Russia for like another week as a break.
This story is basically centered around Tala and Kai's forming relationship, and Boris's new little scheme to thwart the Bladebreakers. Sit back and enjoy!
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"Starlit"
Chapter 3
Tala shifted, moaning. Something was covering him, something soft. Soft...he never thought he'd feel anything soft since the day he was thrown in his prison.
His prison!
His eyes snapped open, sky blue orbs roving around a square room of white washed walls, the air heavy with the smell of bleach, a smell that burned his nose. Was he in a hospital?
Looking down, he frowned. An IV was present in his arm. His skin, which had been wrapped in dried blood was now wrapped in white guaze.
He tensed as voices sounded outside his door. His eyes locked on the white, wooden rectangle, his mind trying to bring faces to the voices.
"...We should be careful, Kai. I don't like the feeling of this." Said a slightly high, but deep ringing voice.
Kai's voice rumbled softly through the door. "What is he going to do, Ray? Have you seen him? He's a bloody mess..."
"...I know, but..."
There seemed to be a moment of silence and Tala guessed there was some sort of head shaking going on.
"...we shouldn't assume anything until he wakes..." Kai said in a way that told Ray to 'drop it.' "If he lies...I'll know."
Tala smirked. Kai was so grave. Shaking his head slightly, he lifted his right arm, bending it and rolling his wrist. Pain came, but it was only short spurts of needle like pinches. He could feel the bandages tight around his chest and waist, it was heavy on his legs.
He looked up when the door opened. Kai stood there, his crimson eyes staring at him in a lost sort of way.
Tala smirked. "Hey, pal."
Kai's brows raised. "...Judy thought you'd wake up soon...you haven't eaten in a while, I can guess..." He turned around. "Ray...go get some soup or something...tell Judy he's awake."
Tala could imagine Ray's nod before footsteps faded off.
Kai turned back to him and closed the door, his eyes narrowed immediately. "How'd you get out, Tala?"
Tala smirked in a nearly sad way. "I don't know. One minute they're beating me senseless, the next I'm waking up in a park.."
Kai stared at him intently. He inclined his head. "What happened after the Championships?"
Tala let his eyes wander to the ceiling. "I can safely say it's most likely what you imagined. You know Boris, Kai. He wasn't exactly jumping for joy." He said, blue orbs back to Kai's face. "So, who's Judy?"
Kai frowned. "Max's mom, she's paying for your hospital bills, you should be grateful. Do you know what Boris is planning?" Kai asked, getting right back on the previous subject.
Tala remained quiet for a long moment. "...He's said things, things that didn't make sense...I don't know what he's planning, but he's planning something. He wants to get rid of your little team, Kai. I'd watch your backs."
Kai continued to stare at him like an interrogator, but the door opened soon enough and he had to break his eyes away.
A woman with blue eyes and short blonde hair entered, Ray following with a tray of water and soup.
"Hello, Tala." She said politely.
Tala smiled, his eyes watching her with amusement. "Hello."
Judy came around, checking the few machines at his bedside. "Everything seems to be going well." She turned, looking back at him. "You should eat and rest. Liquids are the only things you should be having for a while and eat slow. Okay?" She said gently, pressing a button, which raised the head of his bed slowly.
Tala nodded his head, trying not to wince as his waist bent, looking over at Ray, who came on the other side of the bed and placed the tray he held in his lap. "Got it?" He asked.
Tala held the tray steady with his IV arm. "Yeah." He murmured. "Thanks." He watched as the raven haired blader quickly nodded and stepped away. And again a wry smile was on his face. Smiling seemed like the only thing to do with the air being so tense as it was. He was sure Judy, being Max's mom, wasn't very happy with him for what he did at the finals, not to mention, Tala was part of the team that thrashed Ray.
Well...at least Ray had the benefit of his irony. Ian and Bryan, his own team members, had come through that cell door, and thrashed him, putting him in a hospital as well.
He took a deep breath. "I just want to get this out into the air...I'm sor-" He stopped dead in the middle of his words as sudden pain blasted through his skull.
As he let out an angry cry, Ray rushed forward, swiftly lifting the tray away and stepping back as Judy spoke to Tala urgently, who was now clutching his head.
"Tala, what's wrong?"
"Aghhh! Dammit! Make it go away! Make it-uhn..." Just as fast as the pain had come, it went away and Tala's head flopped back on his pillow limply, darkness taking over once again.
Judy, Ray, and Kai all silently stared.
Red eyes flashed slowly in the dark of a control room, TV's that read statistics and camera views the only light. "Soon, Tala.…" Said the raspy voice, white teeth flashing in a wicked grin.
The soft hum of an air conditioner coming on brought Tala from his deep sleep. He groaned, his hand coming up to run through his matted hair, but fingers wrapped around his wrist, bringing it back down.
Opening his eyes, he turned his head, looking at the culprit. "Kai? What are you doing man?"
Kai's crimson eyes flashed in the dark of the room, the only light from the moon coming in through the open window. He removed his hand from Tala's wrist. "You were about to pull your IV out."
Tala looked at him in mild surprise, his blue eyes looking down and indeed, the IV was still there. "Oh…well, thanks."
Kai remained silent, the only noise being the air filtering through the vent in the ceiling.
A staring match was in place. It wasn't a tense one, more like curious, exploring.
"You've changed, Tala." Kai said, his voice like a rumble of thunder.
Tala smirked, eyes drooping wearily. "I don't think I agree with you. The only thing that's changed is my allegiance to Boris." He growled. "That bastard….he'll pay." And suddenly that pain in his head was back. He grunted. "No." He hissed, leaning forward.
"Tala? What's happening?" Kai asked stoically, a hidden tone to his voice.
"…I….this pain…in my head!" He seethed, doing his best to avoid pulling out the IV, but he had to do something, anything to make the pain stop.
Suddenly, Kai stood, his hand reaching out behind Tala's head, index finger and thumb wrapping around the base of his skull.
The pain slowly subsided. Tala ran a hand over his face. "….how'd you do that?" He asked, staring down at the covers of his bed since he couldn't move his head with Kai's hand where it was.
"It's just something I picked up…" He mumbled, slowly taking away his hand.
The pain didn't return. Tala sighed, laying back on the bed. "Dammit, do you think I have some kind of head trauma?" He asked, turning his head to look at Kai who had sat back down in his chair by the bed.
Kai crossed his arms, shrugging lightly. "The doctor would've found something that indicated a trauma to the head. Looking the way you are, I wouldn't doubt the occasional headache."
Tala shook his head. "…but geez, it hurts to the point of passing out…..like earlier…" He sighed, closing his eyes as he remembered Ray and Judy. "They hate me, Kai."
"They should."
Tala winced. "…...I really am sorry." He murmured. "…it's the power, Kai…" He said, smiling softly at the other boy. "Sure I can't blame it on just that….but we all want to be the best…..I just went a little overboard…we both did….I regret it." He whispered.
"….so do I…" Kai muttered quietly.
Tala looked away with a sigh, eyes back on the ceiling. "…I feel like I was ten times as bad as you, Kai." He chuckled.
"…being beaten will make you think anything, Tala. You search for reasons when there are none….and the reasons thatyou think are the problem are intensified. We're really on the same page…"
Tala watched him gloomily as he spoke. Kai was a guy of few words and many emotions. Yes, emotions, but it took skill to find all the hidden meanings. How the body sags just a tiny bit or a muscle twitches. What emotion Kai lacked in words, he filled the gap with his body language. "It feels good to be away….not under any obligations.."
Kai didn't speak, but after a minute of silence he pulled out something that caught the moon's light. "Catch." And he tossed it to the red head.
Tala quickly used his IV free hand to snatch the object, immediately feeling a familiar presence. "Wolfborg." He looked up at Kai in question. "But how?"
Kai leaned back in his chair. "It was on you. In the pocket of your jacket."
Tala looked at him in confusion. "….I never had Wolfborg with me before….did I steal him back somehow?" He asked himself more than the boy that sat at his bedside.
Tala stared at his blade, feeling strangely calmed and comforted. He closed his eyes with a slow exhale of breath, fingers clenching around the beyblade. "…When I'm better I'm shutting Boris down….." He growled.
"Well, you're not better. Go back to sleep." Kai pretty much commanded.
Tala smirked mischievously at the slate haired blader. "Sweet dreams to you, too." Grinning, he put his free arm behind his head, closing his eyes. Wolfborg glinted atop the covers by his waist.
"HOW COULD YOU MAAXX!"
Tala jolted up in bed, eyes wide with terror. He'd just been in the middle of a nightmare when the shout split through his mind. Without even a second to gather his wits, the door to his room burst open.
Alarmed, Tala ripped the IV from his arm, grabbed his blade, and launcher which now sat on the bedside table and jumped out of bed, ready to attack the person standing in the door when he realized just who that person was.
"Tyson?" He said quizzically.
The blue haired world champ stared at him in complete shock, about to say something before his eyes caught something else. "Whoa, dude!" Tyson blurted, finger pointing at Tala.
A/N: (Kai, Max, Ray, and Kenny didn't tell Tyson about Tala until now, which is why Tyson said that to Max. Tyson is upset the others kept it from him. So he rushes to Tala's room to see for himself.)
Tala blinked and looked down. Blood pooled on the ground where his left elbow was. Looking back up at Tyson, he frowned before falling forward.
He never reached the floor as arms swiftly encircled his waist, catching him. He could hear a deep throaty growl rumble through the chest his head rested on.
"…..TYSON!"
"Eep…um, listen Kai, I was just-"
"GET..OUT!"
"Yahh!" Tyson cried, dashing from the room for fear of his life.
Tala smiled weakly as Kai spit out curse after curse, hurriedly putting him back in his bed, marching over to a cabinet and pulling out gauze and other materials.
Hurrying back over, Kai quickly set to fixing up the bleeding incision.
Tala watched him, feeling nauseous. "Where'd you come from?"
"I was in the chair sleeping when that idiot bust in here." Looking up, Tala was surprised by the small, playful smirk on Kai's face. "I've never seen an injured guy move that fast."
Tala cracked a grin. "Yeah, well.." He murmured, blowing on his finger nails and brushing them over his shirt in a haughty way.
Kai rolled his eyes, finishing with the bandage. Just then, Ray skidded into the room.
"We've sedated the grizzly bear. Is everything okay in here?" The neko-jin asked, brows raising at Tala's bandaged arm. "Ah.."
Tala could've swore he saw a spark of amusement in those gold eyes.
Kai stood up and marched to the door, motioning Ray to come with him. He stopped at the door. "Someone will bring you breakfast…don't go anywhere, Casanova."
Tala raised one brow, smirking at the implied joke. Ray seemed puzzled, his eyes flashing. Tala locked gazes with him, blinking at the competitive expression. Then they were both gone.
Motionlessly listening to the quiet of the room, Tala looked down at his bandaged arm, surprised when he noticed that his hand still clutched his launcher, the blade nestled in it and ready to be freed.
His eyes narrowed as something caught his attention. Detaching his blade from the launcher, he looked at it closely. "It's bigger…" He muttered. "…I know it's bigger."
Scoping out the attack ring, he could see a thin gray line below that was never there before. "Hm…."
He was broken from his intense scrutiny as a nurse entered with a tray similar to yesterday's. Water and soup.
"Do you want me to help you eat?" She asked politely.
He smiled at her charmingly. "That's alright, but thanks."
She giggled softly as she set the tray in his lap, then left the room.
Feeling famished, he picked up the bowl, about to down the whole thing when he remembered what Judy said. With no one here to help him to the bathroom, he'd be puking all over himself if he ended up eating too fast.
Sighing in frustration, he took the meal in slow spoonfuls.
Five minutes after he'd finished and set the tray on his bedside table, Judy and a doctor entered the room.
The doctor walked over, checking the IV bag that hung above his bed. "…He'll be fine, he was pretty much finished with the bag."
Judy sighed, nodding her head.
Tala watched both persons, his eyes mostly on Judy wondering if she was really perplexed about the recent events.
The doctor turned to him after finishing checking over everything. "Your friend did a good job bandaging your arm." She turned to Judy with a nice smile. "You should ask him to consider a medical career."
Judy laughed softly. "Sure thing, Dr. Kitana."
The doctor smirked before leaving the room. Judy went to follow her.
"Uhm..Judy?" Tala asked, stopping her in her tracks. She turned slightly, looking over her shoulder.
"Yes? What is it?"
He looked down, fiddling with Wolfborg. "I just…my blade looks odd….I was wondering if you could check it out?"
Judy stood there for a second before walking over to him and holding out her hand. "Sure."
He looked up at her, a little stunned at the motherly smile. "…thanks." He mumbled, putting the blade in her hand.
She nodded. "Rest up."
He watched her leave with a curious gaze.
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TBC...
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