Taiy-Chan: You know what? I should really update my stories more often. Please don't be mad, I DO have a life, you know. Shut up Jose.(glares) Anyways, yeah, I changed the title for this fic, because this will fit it more. I didn't change it very much though. From Never Knew to Never Forget. YAY! Ray/Pauline mush in this chap! Everybody cheer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just to remind you, this is NOT a yaoi fic. Though I am a yaoi fan myself, I don't write it(yet). So, Kai and Tala are just good friends. BROTHERS. Got that? B.R.O.T.H.E.R.S. And plus, Kai already has a girlfriend.
Disclaimer: Taiy-Chan doesn't own Beyblade and never will, sadly. She also doesn't own the Matrix, which is mentioned in this chapter.
Chapter 7 Meeting The Wolf
The plane ride to Moscow was long and uneventful. At first, the Bladebreakers were chatting excitedly to their neighbors and looking out the window, but after half and hour, they found it hard to entertain themselves.
They weren't showing any movies at the moment, only documentaries about Russia. The Bladebreakers slowly ran out of things to say and fell quiet, the long ride to Moscow finally taking its toll.
So, what do you do to pass time on a plane? You sleep. For some, sleeping on the plane was easy, but for others, it was way beyond frustrating.
Pauline sighed and opened her eyes, sleep was eluding her once again. She glanced beside her. Ray was asleep. Pauline slumped in her seat and glanced at her other friends. Tyson, obviously, was lost in dream land, the same was with Kenny and Sara. Pauline looked to Sara's right. Kai was sitting there with his arms crossed, eyes closed. Typical. But Pauline didn't dare say anything to him, because if he WAS asleep..... Well, let's just say that Pauline feared for her life.
Pauline sighed again and looked out the window. All she could see was big, white, fluffy clouds. Nothing very interesting. Pauline turned back to Ray when she heard him stir. He opened his eyes and sat up straighter, looking around.
Ray yawned. "How many more hours?" he asked, rubbing his eyes. Pauline glanced at her watch.
"Three more hours until we are scheduled to land." she said. Ray shook his head.
"This plane ride seems like it lasts forever." he muttered.
"At least you were able to get to sleep." Pauline said.
"Why couldn't you sleep?" Ray asked, wrapping an arm over Pauline's shoulders. Pauline leaned on him and closed her eyes.
"You know why." she said.
"Cause you can only sleep in a real bed, right?"
"I get that from my mom."
"Oh Pauline."
Ray hugged his girlfriend closer and looked up at the TV screens, they were STILL playing biographies. When were they going to play something interesting?
"I miss...." Ray turned back to Pauline.
"What do you miss?" he asked, nuzzling her hair. Pauline smiled contently and snuggled closer to Ray.
"I miss," she continued in a slow, tired manner. "I miss riding. It's been so long since I've been on a horse."
Ray nodded. "The last time I rode was the day before you left." he said.
"When I left the village," Pauline said. "I went to Canada. I've always wanted to go there when I was little. Canada is beautiful, I loved it there. I took riding lessons at this farm in a town called Brooklyn. The teacher, Tiffany, was really nice. I loved being with the horses. When I'm grooming them, I tend to talk without knowing it. I'd just brush them and talk. About nothing really, just whatever came into my mind. I bet everyone there thought I was crazy."
Ray chuckled. He was tempted to say that they were right, but he thought better of it.
"Horses are one of the only things that calms you." he said. Pauline nodded.
"Water too." Ray added. "Especially showers." Pauline scowled at him when he laughed.
"I remember when we went to Hong-Kong. You stayed in the shower for HOURS." Ray said, laughing again at the memory.
"Well, we didn't have any showers in the village." Pauline said, defending herself. "It was relaxing."
"So relaxing that you fell asleep?" Ray teased. Pauline hit him on the shoulder.
"I was tired that day." she muttered. Ray patted her back.
"It's okay, Pauline. I believe you."
"Humph."
"Anyways, maybe they'll have some stables outside of Moscow. You never know. Mind you, we might not have time for playing around, right?" When no answer came, Ray looked down at his girlfriend. Her deep, steady breathing told him she was asleep. Ray shook his head.
"And she said she was a bad sleeper." he muttered.
Finally, after what seemed like ages, the Bladebreakers reached Moscow. There was a limo waiting for them, apparently Tala sent it.
"Wow, Tala sure likes to live in style." Tyson muttered as he and the other Bladebreakers got into the car. Kai sighed.
"He's just showing off." he said as he sat down on one of the leather seats.
"Well then, he's doing a damn good job of it." Tyson said.
"It's just a limo Tyson." Kenny reminded him, adjusting his glasses..
"Just a limo? Just a limo?!" Tyson waved an arm around the interior of the black car. "This is a stretched limo. I've never been in a stretched limo before, have you?" Tyson demanded.
"Uhhh...no." Kenny answered, looking sheepish.
"Well, there you go." Tyson said.
"Can we stop putting stresses on every other word?" Pauline snapped, glaring at Tyson. Tyson just pouted and looked out the window, choosing to ignore that comment.
Max shook his head and smiled. Some things just never change. He took out Dracil and fingred the green blade. He frowned. Dracil was uneasy. Did he know something that they didn't?
::Hey, Dracil?:: Max called to his bit-beast
::Yes Max?::
::You okay, bud? You seem a bit....nervous.::
::I just have a bad feeling...about all of this....::
Max sighed.
::I think we all do.I know I shouldn't think this way...but....Something's going to go wrong......::
Within fifteen minutes, the limo stopped in front of a large house. It wasn't big enough to be called a mansion, but it was big. And it was one of the most beautiful houses that the Bladebreakers had ever seen. They stood there, rooted to the spot, gaping at the house.
Large, glass doors stood at the end of a magnificent garden. Plants of all kinds grew around the stone pathway. Pinks and purples, blues and yellows, every colour could be found in this mass of greenery. There were two stories, some with balconies and some with big, expensive looking windows. Three large steps rose up to the front doors.
It was peaceful. The plants looked a bit overgrown, their colourful flowers hanging over the pathway. But it didn't make it look unorganized, it just added to the house's beauty. Long, thick vines grew over the house's deep, red bricks and wove around the two Roman columns.
Our heroes and heroines stared in awe at the majestic house. It wasn't until Tala spoke did they notice him.
He had came out of the house when he saw them arrive. The limo's driver had unpacked their bags from the trunk and was gone, bidding the Bladebreakers good-bye, by the time Tala approached them.
He stood a few feet away from them, noting that they still, probably, didn't trust him that much. Tala sighed. This was going to be a long day.
They stood in front of one another, an uneasy silence draping over them like a thick, quill blanket. It wasn't until Kai stepped forward was the silence broken.
"Tala," he said, walking over to his friend. "Long time no see." Tala grinned, and gave Kai a friendly hug, which Kai, for once, returned.
"Missed ya buddy." he said as he released the bluenett. Kai smiled and turned to his friends.
"I don't really have to introduce you guys, do I?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. The other Bladebreakers shook their heads. There was a long pause until Sara spoke.
She walked over to the two boys and stood beside Kai. Sara held out a hand to Tala and said
"It's very nice of you to invite us here." she said. Tala flashed her a million dollar smiled and shook her outstretched hand.
"My pleasure." he turned to Kai, letting go of Sara's hand. "So..." he began. "Is this your girlfriend you've been telling me oh so much about?" Tala asked. Kai resisted the urge to punch his friend and tried not to blush as he introduced Sara to Tala.
"Well, I know Tyson, Kenny, Kitten and Max." Tala said, nodding to each of them, grinning a little wider to the shocked look on Ray's face. "But I don't seem to recall meeting you." Tala walked over to Pauline and shook her hand.
"I'm Pauline." she said. Tala turned to Ray and put a hand on his shoulder. "Nice to see you up and about Kitten."
"Kitten?" Ray asked, looking at Tala as if he were mental. Tala just grinned wider, if that was humanly possible.
Ray smiled back a little unsure whether or not he liked the nick-name, but oh well. At least everything was going alright, at the moment. Tala wasn't as bad as they all thought he'd be. Mind you, if Kai trusted him, then he must be a good guy. Start over, right?
"Same to you." Ray finally said. Tala nodded again and went over to greet the others. All of them were surprised with the change in Tala. Something must have gone really wrong in the first Beyblading Championships to make Tala act so cold.
After saying hello to everyone, Tala called for the butlers to take their luggage inside. As they walked up the pathway to the house's big French doors, Kai fell into step beside Ray.
"Don't worry about Tala's nick-name for you." he said to the neko-jin. Ray looked at Kai. Kai sighed. "That's just Tala for you. You'll get used to him in about one thousand years." Ray smiled. Kai was being way more open now that he was back in Russia, or maybe it was just Tala's attitude towards everything. Accentuate the positive.
As the Bladebreakers followed Tala into his house, they were back to staring.
The floor was covered with a rich, red carpet. Gold designs of flowers and vines weaving through the different shades of red. In the middle of the room were two leather couches that had a glass coffee table set in between them. To their right was a large, winding staircase, another red carpet lain over it that just didn't reach the edges of the golden stairs. The stairs curved around and led to the second level, which was decorated much the same as downstairs. Two hallways were on either sides of them, wooden doors appearing every couple of meters. At the end of the large room were the kitchen doors, maids bustling in and out of them.
Tala turned to them and bowed.
"Welcome!" he said, standing up straight again and gesturing to the house around him, "To my humble domain!" Kai shook his head and the Bladebreakers smiled. Maybe this won't be so bad after all. Already, they found themselves liking this new Tala. Or was this his old self?
Tala walked over to the couches and sat down on one, beckoning the others over.
"Before we start with Kai's story, I want to let you all know that I might have seen Morgaine being taken into the Abby." Tala said seriously. "If Boris is going to use her for anything, he won't hurt her, at least not yet." The others nodded. "So don't worry yourselves too much. Anyways, I think Kai has one hell of a long story to tell us." Tala looked at Kai, who nodded and sat down beside him. The other Bladebreakers followed suit, eyes glued on Kai. Because of this, nobody noticed Tala take out a light purple beyblade from his pocket and look at it, worry evident in his eyes, the red dragon bit-beast flashing, trying to reasure him. Tala shook his head and quickly put the blade back into his pocket.
Once everyone was seated, Kai began telling them about the book.
He had taken it out of his bag when they got in the house and he now set it on top of the table. The others stared curiously at it. Tala turned to Kai.
"So, it seems like you were the one who took it." he said.
"What do you mean?" Kai asked.
"A little after you left, Boris went into a fit about loosing his book. He made us search the Abby from top to bottom. In the end, we came to the conclusion that somebody must have taken it." Tala explained. He laughed. "Never expected it to be you."
Kai frowned.
"I didn't take it on purpose. Actually, I just realized I had possession of it a couple of days ago." he said.
"Coincidence?" Kai shook his head.
"Don't think so."
Tala sighed and flopped back onto the couch, putting his arms behind his head.
"Well then," he said. "Before we get into the heavy stuff, tell us what you learnt from this book." Kai nodded and opened the book.
"This book is called Spirit Legend. It's by one of the Sacred Spirits. It's all in their language, so Dranzer had to read it to me."
"Wait a sec, if Dranzer could read it, then this means this is about bit-beasts, right?" Max asked.
"Yes, this book is about how bit-beasts came to our world. It's a long story, so get comfy...."
While all this had happened and was happening, Morgaine was starting to understand the hell that Kai had went through. At one moment, she was standing behind her friends, laughing at their faces, and then the next thing she knew, she was in a large car, tied up and gagged.
The journey to Russia had been even worse than the car drive to the airport. The two men that escorted her were big and muscular, and wore black suits and sunglasses. Morgaine instantly thought of the Agents from the Matrix.
They had taken Boris's private jet, but Morgaine didn't have time to enjoy it. Once the plane had taken off, the two "Agents" had tranquilized her, putting Morgaine into a deep, dreamless sleep.
When she woke up, they had landed. The Agents shoved her into another car and drove off. Morgaine knew where they were going. Thirty minutes later, in the heart of Moscow, they stopped at the Abby. Morgaine could've sworn that there was a permanent thunder cloud over the dark place.
By that time, the last effects of the tranquilizer had finally worn off of her. When the Agents yanked her out of the car and started to drag her to the doors of the dark building, Morgaine fought with all of her strength. She struggled so much that one of the Agents lost his grip on her arm, with one arm free, Morgaine used it to punch the other guy in the face, successfully breaking his nose. She whipped around as the other Agent lunged at her, her leg quickly striking out and hitting the man in the stomach. He fell to the ground with a thud.
"Guess karate does come in handy." Morgaine muttered. She turned to the Agent with the broken nose, who was just getting up. She growled and ran at him, pulling her fist back.
"This is what you get for being rude to a lady!" she shouted as she punched him in the face as hard as she could. The man was immediately unconscious.
Morgaine looked around her and ran for the gate, she had to get out of here. But the tall, spiked gates that promised her freedom, started closing. Morgaine ran as hard as she could, only to get there a second too late and slam into the metal poles. Morgaine grabbed the gates, ready to climb them, but she stopped when she felt a cold point of a needle hit her in the back of her neck. She quickly pulled it out and turned around. More of the Biovolt thugs had came.
Morgaine desperately tried to climb up again, but the tranquilizer was taking effect. Her strength was slowly decreasing. Morgaine fell to her knees. She was about to give up and just fall asleep when she saw a figure kneel in front of her, on the other side of the gate. Morgaine looked up and saw none other than Tala. He was looking around him, trying to find a way to get her out of there.
"Don't worry about it." Morgaine said quietly. Tala turned back to her and shook his head.
"I've gotta get you outta there. No one wants to get stuck with these guys." he said. Morgaine let out a small laugh.
"J-just...." So weak, her mind was fading. "Just take this......Keep it safe..." Morgaine reached into her pocket and held out her blade to him. Tala looked down at it.
"You trust-" Morgaine interrupted him when she heard the Agents approaching.
"You're the only one I can trust at the moment." she said. Tala nodded and took her blade.
"Get out of here." Morgaine said. Tala got up, she could see his regret in his eyes.
"The only thing I can give you now is a promise. I'll call your team and get them over here. You won't be in there for long." Tala looked back one more time, pitying the strong willed girl, and left.
Morgaine smiled slightly. Her last thought, before she let darkness overcome her was...
Well, would you look at that. Tala is nice after all. I hope they don't worry too much....Tyson...
Morgaine woke in a small room. It was pitch black, but Morgaine could feel the cold stone under her fingers. She sat up.
I wonder what they'll do with me....This has got to have something to do with Boris's maniac plan to take over the world....again. Man, when will that guy get it through his head that it's impossible? At least, it is when I'm living. He can take over the world when he has my dead.....Actually, let's not think about that.
Morgaine sighed and got to her feet when she heard footsteps echoing off the stone walls. In a couple of seconds, the door opened and a light was shone in her face.
"Would you mind?" Morgaine snapped, shielding her eyes.
Blind me why don't cha!
"So, this is the all mighty Morgaine who took out two of my best men." a cold voice said. The light was shone on the ground and Morgaine could see again. She glared at Boris.
"The one and only." she said, crossing her arms over her chest. Boris laughed.
"You won't be so confident after we get your friends to." he said. Morgaine snorted.
"You think you're all that." she said, rolling her eyes. "Well, you're not."
Boris growled.
"Don't push it, girl." he said, walking over to her and grapping the collar of her shirt.
"You don't scare me you hentai old man." Morgaine snarled, slapping Boris's arm away.
"You say that now. But later on, you'll be begging for your life." he said in an evil voice. Morgaine fought the urge to shiver. Boris turned to the two "Agents" standing beside him. "Get her." he said. Before Morgaine could react, the two men grabbed her and secured her arms behind her back.
Boris smiled. "Let's see how long you can keep up that attitude."
Morgaine frowned as she was dragged out the door, mentally sighing.
This just keeps on getting better and better.
Taiy-chan: And there you have it! The plot thickens......... I hope you guys liked Tala. If I made him too......energetic? please tell me and I'll fix it in the next chapter. Don't worry, this will not be a Morgaine/Tala fic. Tala just wants to help. I mean, he does know what kind of a hell the Abby can be. Anyways, hope you enjoyed it! I liked writing it! Please R&R!!!!!