Mei:Wow! People really seem to like this story! That's the most reviews I've ever gotten for a single chappie! ::goes all teary–eyed:: You like me! You really like me!!
Destiny: Cut it out with the melodramatics and write the fic already -.-;;
::Disclaimer:: Aouni does not own beyblade, she doesn't even own a beyblade.
--Warning—(see previous chapter)
Mei: Aaaaaaaaahhhhhh!! I hate writing in first person! Tis so confusing!
Tyson: So why did you write it in first person anyway?
Mei: I don't know! It was originally in third person, but then I couldn't get your thoughts in very well, and thoughts are always important, so I had to switch it, and that got your thoughts in nicely, but, now my grammar is even worse than it was before!!
Tyson: O.o Woah…Breathe girl! Breathe.
Mei: It's official – I hate writing first person. -.-;; Anywho – this ficcy is tyka! (might seem a little tyhil-ish, but it's not. I can't stand that pairing -.-;;)
The Middle of Nowhere
--Chapter Two—
(-Kai's POV-)
"The guide's probably on his way," Ray was saying.
"Or is he?"
My teammates nearly jumped out of their skins. I swear, they are way too paranoid. I turned glanced in the general direction of the voice to see a frail old woman, with wispy silver hair, clutching an old walking stick with a thin, knarled hand.
"Ah, such youthful exuberance. It has been a while since I have seen children," she flashed us a creepy smile. It was official – I did not like this woman.
The others were apparently still freaked out by her sudden appearance and mysterious words, but they weren't quite as afraid, seeing as she was just an old lady. I didn't trust her though.
"Uh, do you know where our guide is?" asked Max cautiously.
"Yes, yes, I do. I am your guide," her smile grew wider, sending shivers up my spine.
"Oh," said Ray, "I guess we're supposed to follow you then?"
"Hmm? Yes, yes, my pretties. Follow me, " she turned around and hobbled into the woods.
Kenny shot Ray a terrified look, but Ray just shrugged and followed the old woman. Max chuckled at the Chief's whimpering and dragged him into the forest after Ray. Tyson and Hilary exchanged wide-eyed glances before following the others, whispering softly to each other as they did so. I was hit by a pang of jealousy as I watched them go.
Seeing her with Tyson… hurts. Those two have been spending a lot of time together. It's obvious that they like each other, they're always exchanging whispers and having private conversations and it makes me feel… well, I don't know. I've never been very good with emotions. I don't even know if what I feel for Tyson is actually love, I mean, my grandfather never loved me and I can't remember my parents. I don't know what love is like.
Maybe all I feel for Tyson is just a very strong friendship, I mean, after all, he's been a great friend, more than I deserve – but then, I've never had friends before. How am I supposed to know the difference? Either way, it doesn't matter. Like I said, it is obvious he likes Hilary. Maybe that's best, Hilary is a better match for Tyson. For one thing she's a girl, and for another she's easier to deal with. Tyson doesn't need to be tied down by me. I'm too high-maintenance and I have too many emotional problems – I would just be a burden.
Besides, I'm not sure if it really is love. I don't want to think about it.
We've been following this strange old woman for a few minutes, and Tyson is already complaining. He says his feet hurt. Typical. Kenny is still deathly afraid of her, I bet he's thought up some odd conspiracy theory about how she has Mr. Dickenson locked in a closet somewhere and right now she is leading us to her doom. That kid gives himself nightmares all the time, it's no wonder he never sleeps. Ray and Max are flirting away, completely oblivious to the rest of the world. Yes, they're together – I know because last week I caught them… well, they should lock their door at any rate. Not that it bothered me, I've seen worse.
"Ah, dearies, this is it." Dearies, hn. Maybe she's just senile. She sure seems a little out of it.
"So this is where we set up the tents?" asks Ray. I see him and Max are finally out of la-la land.
She flashes us a crooked smile, "Yes my child. My cabin is right up there," she pauses and gestures to a trail leading up a hill to our north.
"Hey!" whines Tyson, "How come we don't get a cabin?" He always finds something to complain about… it's… cute. Cute? How is that cute? It's supposed to be annoying! I need to get more sleep, the lack of it has addled my brain.
"Ah, if you really want you can sleep with me, child,"(AN: Not like that. -.-;; Hentai.)the old lady replies smiling at Tyson. His eyes widen – making him look even cuter – and he backs away.
"Uh, no, that's fine. I'll take the tent."
"Suit yourself, my dear. The restrooms are to your east," she gestures to another pathway leading to the woods, "Just follow that path," she gives a mysterious smile, causing Kenny to whimper fearfully and duck behind Max.
"Okay…" Ray says slowly, "Well, I'm sure we can set the tents up on our own. Thanks for your time."
The guide gives a small omniscient smile, "No trouble, my children. It was… a pleasure," she turns and walks off to the cabin, leaving the whole team severely creeped out.
"So, uh, why don't we set up the tents?" Max says brightly, after awhile. I think he's trying to lighten the mood. It works, the others all hurry to set up the tents. I suppose they forgot all about the fire and how cold it gets at night. Ah, well, it gives me a reason to wander off… And get away from Tyson and Hilary.
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(-Tyson's POV-)
Man, leave it to Mr. Dickenson to entrust us in the care of a wacked out old lady for a week. That woman gives me the creeps. I think she freaked out the others too. Kai was the only one who seemed unfazed, but then, nothing ever seems to get to Kai. It's one of the many reasons I admire him.
I'm glad she's gone for now, it's made me relax a bit even though it hasn't done the same for Kenny. He's still clinging to Dizzy for dear life. We've set the tents up now – Kai didn't help, he disappeared. Ray thinks he probably went off to get firewood. I wish he didn't go alone, now I'm worried about him. I shouldn't be, Kai can take care of himself… but I still worry. Hilary knows it.
"Hey," she pokes me.
"What?"
"You're not worried that little old lady will jump Kai in the woods are you?" she asks, attempting to cheer me up with some jokes.
I stare at her in disbelief, "No! Of course not, Kai can handle some little old lady," but she's only made me worry even more. What if that creepy old woman does follow Kai? I know the whole prospect is silly, but I can't help myself.
"There's only three tents," Max points out suddenly, distracting me. He's right, that means there'll be two of us to a tent.
Kenny seems to have calmed down a little, "We should probably decide who the tent partners are then," he said softly.
I wondered who I'd end up with. If Hilary's hunch was correct (and I think it is) then Max and Ray will probably snag themselves a tent together, somehow. That leaves me with either Hilary, the Chief or…
"Tyson can share a tent with Kai!"
I nearly jumped out of my skin at Hilary's words. What did she think she was doing? I can't share a tent with Kai! I have a crush on him! Hilary's always coming up with these hair-brained schemes to get me "closer" to our captain, and none of them are very helpful. In fact, this is one of the worst ideas she's ever come up with.
I glared at her, trying to convey that she was not helping, but she didn't get it. So, I took a different approach.
"Well, Hilary can share a tent with Kenny!" I snapped. Her eyes widened, and she shook her head slightly. There, she finally gets it now.
Suddenly Hil's eyes narrowed again, "Fine," she said coolly.
"Fine!" I shouted. We stood there glaring daggers for a good five or ten minutes, aware that the others were staring at us oddly.
After a while Ray said, "I guess that leaves me with Max," he blushed slightly as Max gave an excited grin. I didn't even want to know that those two were going to spend their nights doing.
"Er… right then," said Kenny, casting odd looks between me and Hilary, "I suppose we should move our things into the tent before it starts to rain or something."
"Good idea Chief!" said Max cheerfully.
Hilary and I gave up our glaring competition. I went over and dragged my stuff to our tent… May as well drag Kai's stuff with me too. Oh man, what am I going to do? I can't be so close to him, I'll go nuts! Stupid Hilary. Thinks she knows everything. I unzipped the tent and threw the bags in. Only when they landed with a loud thud, did I think of the possibility that Kai might have something fragile packed.
Well wasn't my day going great? When Kai gets back he's going to kill me. I glanced back at the woods anxiously – he would come back, wouldn't he?
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(-Kai's POV-)
I can't believe I'm lost. I never get lost. I guess it's my own fault for not following the trail, but still… I was always good with directions! I came from that way, I know because it has the same huge tree stump covered in moss. So logically, if I go back that way, I should find the others – but no, it's a labyrinth. Without the stone walls and the minotaur. Or maybe there is a minotaur?
I haven't panicked yet; I was trained not to panic and to focus on my goal… What was my goal again? Oh, right. Getting back to the campsite. I'm even starting to forget things! I don't forget things, especially not simple things like that. What's wrong with me? I seem to be going in circles, I keep passing the same tree stump over and over again, despite the fact that I haven't turned once. It's starting to creep me out.
Maybe if I walk in the opposite direction from where I came I'll get somewhere. It worked before. I turn around leaving the stump far behind me. At least the scenery is changing now – the trees aren't so green anymore. They're red and orange, like in autumn. That's possible; it's near the end of August.
An odd looking tree catches my attention. It casts a bigger shadow than the others… a sort of square shadow. I look up. A treehouse. Figures.
Well, I can't be too far from civilization if there's a treehouse – albeit, a very abandoned looking treehouse. It's quite high up, I wouldn't like to fall from it. A ladder is nailed into the trunk, but most of the nails are so old and worn that I wouldn't trust the ladder anyway. It leads up to a doorway. There's no door, but the rusty hinges that remain suggest there may have been at one point in time. It's overgrown in leaves and the wood is likely rotting away.
I wonder why anyone would build a treehouse in the middle of nowhere.
"Lost, my dear?"
I spin around – it's that crazy old hag again. I'm about to retort rather coldly, that I am not lost. But when I think about it, that might not be such a good idea, considering I have no idea where I am.
When I don't answer the old lady flashes a hideous smile, "That treehouse was built by my grandfather," she says with an air of pride. I see, so it is old then. I wasn't really in the mood for one of those "back in the when I was your age" stories that old people like to tell so much, but it didn't look like I had much of a choice.
"My mother used to come and play in these woods everyday – with her brother, my uncle."
"That's nice," I said coldly.
The old woman ignored me – or maybe she hadn't even heard me, "They always used to climb the trees. My grandfather found it quite amusing, but my grandmother did not. She was always afraid that they might fall from the trees. My grandfather and his children ignored her worries, and they built this treehouse."
I sighed, this was going nowhere, "Does your story have a point?"
She gave me an eerie smile, "Patience, young one."
Young one? Well, I suppose I am a great deal younger than she is but that doesn't give her license to talk to me like I am a toddler. She really is senile.
"My mother and my uncle loved the tree house dearly – and for years they played in it happily. Until, one stormy night, my uncle decided to camp out in the treehouse. Unfortunatley, it was struck by lightning and he was killed."
Great. I could see where this was going, "If this is a silly ghost story, you can forget it, because I'm not interested."
She glared at me, "This is not silly – it is true, and you would do well to respect your elders."
That hit a nerve. My own grandfather had once said something along the same lines. He'd called me other things, worthless, pitiful, spoilt, useless, arrogant and self-centered – they all hurt, but that one had hurt a lot, because I knew it wasn't true. I had respected him, at the time. I wasn't sure if I did anymore… not after everything he'd done.
I was jolted out of my brooding by the realization that the old lady had started talking again – and had been talking for quite some time, "As an adult, my mother returned to the site of their deaths – this treehouse – almost every day."
Their deaths? Someone else had died? I was surprised I even cared that I had missed that part of the story.
"She brought me to see it once, when I was a little girl. I remember that day. It was the first time anyone had cimbed the treehouse since my grandmother and my uncle had died," she glanced at me, "You are still paying attention aren't you, child?"
"Hn." I can't say the story was very interesting, but somehow I was still listening.
"She got to the nineth rung of the ladder and fell. That was the day she died."
I couldn't think of anything to say to that. I've never been very sociable. So I said nothing.
"Since then, no one has climbed this treehouse."
I glanced up at the rusty nails and rotting planks and nearly snorted, I wonder why, I thought sarcastically.
"You and the other children would do well to stay away from it," she suddenly leaned in very close to me – too close for comfort, "You must not go in the treehouse."
I backed away, "Right…"
The woman smiled, "Ah, we must be getting back to the camp, yes child?"
"Yeah…" I replied slowly.
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(-Tyson's POV-)
Kai didn't come back until sometime that evening. After it got dark. Man, I was worried sick about the guy! What did he think he was doing? Currently the two of us were sitting in our tent. I had forgotten feeling uncomfortable and was focused on yelling at him.
"You didn't even tell us where you were going," I complained, trying to ignore the voice in the back of my head that told me I sounded like his mother, "You had me – us worried sick!" I nearly clapped my hand over my mouth at that slip up.
"Hn."
I pouted, "You could at least say you're sorry."
"Go to sleep Tyson."
I sighed, this was going to be one long week.
Mei: Don't worry – it's not a horror story. No ghosts, sorry ;) The treehouse is hardly even in it. I just had to add that part because it's important later... And because I like freaking Kai out MUAHAHAHA!!Anywho - This chapter sucked. I'm not very good at first person -.-;; Next chappie will be better! At least, I hope so…
Reviews: (Thank you for reviewing! You peoples are so kind, =) it's really encouraging)
Kurama&Karasus Daughter – I hope it will be a good ficcy too… but that only works if my lazy muses do their job -.-;;
Yaoi Angel – No, I'm an uke Kai girl =) I love uke Kai and always will love uke Kai. Besides, Tyson is so hot when he's dominant, ne? ;) But uh… they both wear pants… I don't really like to dress either one up as a girl – unless it's for the sake of humour =)
Kiina – Yep, there's more now (= Hope you like this chappie as much as the last one… Doing Kai's POV is hard -.-;;
Genbo – Really? Well, what happens is Tyson- ::muse claps hand over her mouth:: Mmmmphhht!
Destiny: You're not supposed to tell them! You're supposed to update!
Mei: Oh… Yes, me will try to update soon =)
Flamable-Devil – Thank yous! =) Me ish very happy you likes it! Lots of people seem to find this interesting O.o
Tyson: That's a good thing ::says very slowly as if talking to a chibi::
Mei: It is? YAY! Me ish glad you think it's interesting! =)
Techno Ranma – =) Me has continued now! Hope you like this chappie too =) I don't like this chappie -.-;;
Twinsisters of Heaven and Hell – My grammar is not bad? YAY! Me is glad you likes it ::nods:: =) Nah, don't worry… I don't do cliffies much.
Soul Clara – I love Tyson/Kai too! =) …They're the most kawaii couple, ne? Me has updated now! Do you like this chappie? I don't like it… I like the first one better.
Maxie's Cute – Cake! And muffins! Tis yummy…Thank you! Yeah, I don't like fics where they bash Hilary, I mean, what's wrong with Hilary? She's the only female main character… Ah, maybe that's why. But I still like her.
Fireie Gurl – ::blushes:: Thank you! I didn't think it was that good – I'm bad at first person writing. But if you like it, I'm not complaining =)
Glay – ::blushes:: I don't deserve all that praise, really, I'm not that good - ::gets smacked by her muses:: x.x
Destiny: Mei is really really happy that you like her story.
Tyson: Yeah, and she'd like to thank you for saying so many nice things about it =)
Kai: And she is not going to complain again the next time someone complements her. -.-;;
Crimson – No, I didn't change it too long ago (this actually the first story I posted while being called Mei Li) =) I like it better than my last name. I'm glad you like this story! Me is liking writing it… well, except for the third chapter ::strangles third chapter:: Die you stupid chappie that just won't come out right!! -.-;; I updated now! Does that mean you'll update too? Please? =)
Mei: Yay! So many people liked my story! And they all said such nice things. Thank yous! You people are the best! =)
Tyson: That means you're gonna update soon, ne?
Mei: Uh… well… That depends…
Kai: Depends on what?
Mei: ::gets dark look:: The stupid third chapter!! It's driving me nuts! I can't write it the way I want to!! -.-;;
Tyson: Oh boy. -.-U Don't worry – we'll get her to update. Until then – review! And have a cornchip ::holds out bag of cornchips to reviewers::