The Tejina Chronicles: Remembrance

By: Kioko the pirate

Chapter 2: More Memories

"You know it's funny that you say your glad… when in the beginning you refused to be my partner." Said Angel in a solemn voice.

The smile faded from Kioko's face as he looked down at his fuzzy pink companion. "I had a good reason not to be your partner… but you managed to talk me into it anyway. Heck that was the same day that you decided to reveal what you really were to me."

FLASHBACK

It had been two weeks since Kioko had brought the small creature into his home. Her ankle had healed after a few days, but she continued to stay with him. In some ways you could say that Kioko had unofficially adopted her. The whole time though, Kioko kept wondering what exactly she was and why she never let that black book of hers out of her sight. But he would not have to wonder much longer, for all of his questions were about to be answered.

Kioko was in the back yard of his home doing some yard work. The warm Hawaiian sun sat high in the sky, with just a few clouds drifting over head. There couldn't have been a more perfect day for the creature to reveal her secrets. She was standing just inside the sliding glass doors, watching Kioko do his work. Her black book was clasped tightly in her paws as she nervously bit her lower lip.

'You can do this; he's not like the others. He's kind, caring and he'll understand. I just hope I don't freak him out when I tell him' thought the small creature as she glanced down at her book. 'Come on, lets just get this over with.'

The creature gave a deep sigh as she slowly slid the door open. She slowly made her way across the back yard after quietly shutting the door behind her. Her heart began to race from excitement as she neared the boy. A small shiver went down her spine as she came to a stop behind the boy, who was working on the engine of a lawn mower. He didn't seem to notice her as she worked up the courage to finally speak to him.

"I uh… need to tell you something… Kioko." Said the creature after finally working up the courage.

"So, you finally decided to speak up huh?" said Kioko as he continued to work on the engine.

A confused look came over the creatures face. "How did… you know I could talk?"

The boy gave a small laugh as he grabbed a nearby wrench. "I've known for a while now. Sometimes you talk in your sleep." Kioko did not see the creature begin to blush slightly and tap her fingers on the book. "But since you're talking to me now I guess my first question would be what your name… is? If you have one."

"My… my name is Angel."

"Really? It suits you very well." Said Kioko as he glanced over his shoulder at her with a smile.

Angel's cheeks brightened as she looked away with a smile of her own on her face. After a moment Kioko went back to his work and Angel looked back at him. "I know your also wondering what I am. But I suggest we go inside first, it's a rather long story."

Kioko looked over at her with a curious expression on his face. "A long story huh? I can't wait to hear this." Said Kioko as he got to his feet.

The two of them made their way inside and into the living room. Angel began to explain, covering the basics of the tournament and the reason for it. After about an hour Kioko was left with an interested look on his face.

"Ok… so let me get this straight. Your one of a hundred different experiments sent here to battle for the position of top experiment. And you use spell books to cast your spells and do battle with each other. Right?" asked Kioko as he looked at Angel who was sitting at the other end of the couch.

"That's right. I'm surprised though… your taking this a lot better then I thought you would."

"Now… that's what's most interesting to me. Why were you so nervous about all of this?"

"What wasn't there to be nervous about? I was worried that after I told you what I was and all that you would think I was a freak and kick me out. You're the only one who's ever treated me so well; you gave me a warm place to sleep and you gave me comfort when I was scared. I just didn't want to lose all of that." Said Angel as she lowered her ears and looked away.

Kioko gave a small sigh and slowly scooted closer to her. He leaned forward slightly so that he could see at least the side of her face. "Now how could you ever think that? After all of this time do you really think that something like that would go and change how I treated you?"

Angel looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "Well… yeah. Everybody else judges me because of what I am… I thought you would too."

"Well your wrong…" Kioko reached up and began to gently stroke her head. An almost unnoticeable smile formed on her lips as she gently pressed her head against his hand. "I would never judge you."

After a moment Angel looked towards him and her smile faded slightly. "But aren't you a little freaked out about this?"

Kioko pulled his hand back and placed it under his chin in a thoughtful manner. "Actually… not really. Especially after Luki said something strange was going to happen. And he's usually right."

"Who's Luki?" asked Angel as she cocked her head slightly to the side.

"He's kind of a friend of mine. He owns an ice cream shop in town. Matter of fact I was coming out of his store when I rescued you. Maybe I'll take you there someday."

Angel smiled slightly and looked down at her black book. Kioko noticed this and stared at the book as well. There was a moment of utter silence as the two of them looked at the book.

"Kioko, there's… something else that was making me nervous. Something that I wanted to ask you."

Angel had a definite tone of uncertainty in her voice as she looked up at him. "What is it?"

There was another pause as Angel took a deep breathe and ran her paw over the dark books cover. "Kioko… I was wondering if… you would… be my partner?"

Kioko's eyes widened slightly as Angel held her book out to him. A million things began to run through his mind as he looked at the book. Every synapse in his mind was telling him to take the book, but a single memory held him back. The memory, the image of the young woman plummeting into the cold, churning sea and disappearing forever.

The memory's quickly faded back into the depths of his mind as he was brought back to the moment at hand. His fists tightened and his eyes narrowed slightly. In an instant he sprung to his feet and walked to the other side of the room. He came to a stop in front of the nearby window and stared out of it.

"I can't be your partner." Blurted Kioko as he folded his arms over his chest.

A confused/sad look appeared on Angel's face. "But… why not?"

"Because… I'm just not suited for it. I'm not very reliable. So if you want to win this tournament or whatever… I suggest that you find some one else."

Angel's grip on her book tightened and a small growl escaped her lips. "But there is no one else! You're the only one I want to be my partner. No one has ever treated me as well as you… you're the only who cared."

"And that's exactly why I can't be your partner. I would only end up letting you down."

Angel's ears drooped down to her shoulders and a slight smirk formed on her face. "You wouldn't let me down, I know it. If you just believe in your self you won't let me down." Angel got off the couch and walked over to Kioko. She came to a stop next to him and once again extended her book towards him. "I know you can do it, so please… would you be my partner?"

Kioko continued to look out the window for a few moments before looking down at Angel, who had a soft, hopeful smile on her face. 'Another chance huh? I don't think I deserve it but… there's just something about her.'

Kioko came out of his thoughts with a warm smile. "Sure… I'll be your partner."

Angel's smile widened as she let out an excited cheer. "Really? You mean it?"

"I sure do." Kioko knelt down in front of Angel and took her Black book in his hands. The moment he pulled it away Angel leapt forward and wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight hug. Kioko was nearly knocked over, but soon hugged her back.

PAUSE FLASHBACK

"That was probably the most excited I have ever seen you." Said Kioko as he looked up at his partner, who was a few feet ahead of him.

"That wasn't the only time I've gotten excited…" said Angel as she continued to stare straight ahead. "I started to get really excited once we begun to use our spells."

Kioko gave a small chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head. "I must say that I got rather excited about that as well."

UNPAUSE FLASHBACK

Kioko and Angel were standing out side the house. Kioko had the black book in his hands and was flipping through it. He stops on a page with glowing purple symbols.

"I found it… but I can't read it."

"Don't worry, you'll be able to read it in a minute." Assured Angel as she looked up at her new partner. "Just focus your emotions into the book."

"Focus my emotions?"

"It's not as hard as it sounds… go ahead try it."

Kioko just shrugged and closed his eyes, a moment later the book began to glow with an eerie light. Kioko slowly opened his eyes and looked back down at the page. The symbols were glowing brighter then before, the light seemed to sink into his mind.

His eyes widened slightly. 'I can read it… I can read the spell. But how?' thought Kioko.

Angel looked up and noticed her partners' expression. "Just read the spell… I know you can."

Kioko looked up from the book and nodded. "Right then… here it goes… Darko!"

Something seemed to flicker in Angel's eyes as she raised her paw towards the nearby cliff face. An orb of dark energy began to form in front of her paw. Sparks of purple shot across the orbs surface as it grew to the size of a baseball. A second later the orb blasted towards the cliff, slamming in to it with a large explosion of dirt and rock.

A blast of air and dust caused Kioko to close his eyes and cover his face with his arm. After a second the gust died down and Kioko lowered his arm, what he saw made his eyes widen. There was a massive crater in the side of the cliff where the small orb had hit. A small amount of rock sat below the blast point.

"Well… that was… cool." Said Kioko in disbelief.

"The more we use this spell the stronger it will get and eventually we will unlock the next spell." Blurted Angel as she looked back at her partner.

"You mean… that will get stronger?" Asked Kioko as he stared at the crater in the cliff. "But it's so powerful already."

Angel folded her arms over her chest and nodded in disagreement. "No, trust me that was a very weak spell. Other experiments will have spells a lot more powerful then that one."

Kioko seemed to think about this for a moment as he looked down at the book. A moment later he looked up from the book and down at Angel. A smile formed on his face followed by a small chuckle. "Then I guess… we just have to start training huh? After all, we don't know when our first battle will be."

Angel smiled and gave a nod. "Right, it's always best to be prepared."

"Exactly."

PAUSE FLASHBACK

"After that we got stronger very quickly." Said Kioko.

Suddenly Kioko stumbled over something and nearly fell on his face. "Ow! Hey watch it!" growled Angel as she rubbed her back.

"Well don't stop without telling me! Why did you stop?" asked Kioko as he looked back at his partner.

Angel gave a slightly irritated sigh. "I was going to say that I've picked up their scent."

"Their scent? What are you a blood hound?"

"Yes their scent, cause if you didn't notice their foot prints stopped about half a mile back. And since my nose is better then your human nose I can follow their scent. And I can tell that their close by."

"Good, that means that they think they lost us or they are growing too tired. Either way is fine." Said Kioko as he continued onward.

"Yes, everything is fine. Another weak experiment will be out of the way and I will be closer to being the top experiment." Said Angel as she followed her partner.

"You know… we haven't had that many tough battles now that I think of it." Blurted Kioko. "So far Lilo and Stitch have been our toughest opponents in terms of strength."

Angel gave a small huff as she caught up to her partner. "Have you forgotten our first battle? That was our toughest."

UNPAUSE FLASHBACK

Another week had passed; Kioko and Angel had spent every moment they could find practicing their spell. It had already become a lot stronger then it had been. But it was proving useless against their first opponents. It was early evening and the sun was beginning to set. Stitch and Angel were standing on the beach, they had scrapes, bruises all over their bodies and they were breathing heavily.

A couple yards from them stood their opponents. One was a tall man dressed in baggy pants and combat boots, he had a black sleeveless t-shirt on and a flat top hair cut. In his hands was a dull blue spell book. Standing next to him was what appeared to be a giant, blue and white porcupine.

"Look at them Spike… their already tired." Said the man with an evil smirk.

"Yes, we should finish them off now… and end their suffering. What do you think Hiroshi?"

"Sounds fair enough… lets just see what they come up with."

Meanwhile Kioko and Angel were trying to come up with an idea. "What are we going to do… we haven't even scratched them yet." Asked Angel in between breathes.

Kioko seemed to think for a moment before looking down at his partner. "Let's try another direct hit, maybe their defenses are weakening."

Angel gave a tired nod and turned to face their opponents. "It's as good a plan as any."

"Right… so here we go." Said Kioko as the black spell book began to glow.

"You're going to try that pathetic spell again? Haven't you learned your lesson yet?" mocked Spike.

"We'll show you who's pathetic… Darko!" yelled Kioko.

Angel raised her paw and fired another sphere of black and purple energy towards Spike and Hiroshi. As the spell neared them the pale blue book began to glow and a smile formed on Hiroshi's face.

"Armuron!" yelled Hiroshi.

Spike stood up on his hind legs and extended his arms out to his side. There was a small flash of light as a suit of armor began to materialize around Spike's body. A moment later Kioko and Angel's spell slammed into Spikes chest. A large explosion engulfed the experiment and his partner, kicking up a large cloud of sand that covered a good area of the beach.

"Do you think we got them?" asked Angel as her and Kioko stared into the cloud.

At that moment the cloud of sand and dust settled revealing Spike, his armor now gone, and Hiroshi. Neither of them had a scratch on them. "Apparently not." Stated Kioko.

"How disappointing…" said Hiroshi with a small laugh. "It looks like you two are starting to run out of energy… that spell was weaker then the others. We however are still going strong."

Spike dropped down on all fours as their book began to glow. "Emparon!" yelled Hiroshi. Spike lifted his forward right paw and slammed it to the ground. A circle of light appeared below his paw and the ground began to rumble. A second later massive stone spikes shot out of the ground below Kioko and Angel.

Both of them let out screams of pain as the spikes tore away at their skin. The force of the spell knocked the two of them a few feet into the air and sent them crashing to the ground a few feet away. Kioko's cloths were now even more shredded and he was now covered in bleeding wounds. Angel wasn't much better; the spikes had ripped spots of her fur away. She too was covered in bleeding cuts.

Through clenched teeth the two of them quickly managed to get to their feet. The black book was still firmly grasped in Kioko's hand. The spikes disintegrated in front of them allowing the two groups to see each other more clearly.

"You two still aren't down yet?" asked Spike with a slight amount of surprise in his voice.

"They will be after this next spell." Said Hiroshi as he flipped a few pages in the spell book. He finally stopped and the book began to glow. "Let's see you get up after this… Regoruk!"

Spikes face drained of all emotion as the spines on his back and tail bristled. The spikes on his tail began to glow with the same color as the spell book. Spike lowered his body closer to the ground and pointed the tip of his tail towards Kioko and Angel. In the next instant a storm of glowing spikes shot from Spikes tail towards Kioko and Angel. Angel's eyes widened as she watched the spell speed towards them, her whole body was frozen, she could not move.

The spikes grew closer and closer until they were only a few feet in front of them. Suddenly Angel is hit from the side and is knocked through the air, landing just a few feet away. What she heard next made her blood run cold. It was the sound of ripping cloth and then a painful scream. For a moment she just laid there in the sand, she was afraid to look towards where the sound came from.

But a moment later she managed to roll onto her back and look towards where she had been standing. She gave a terrified gasp at what she saw; Kioko was laying flat on the sand, his body was surrounded by large spikes. Angel's fear grew when she saw a single spike embedded in Kioko's left shoulder. In a flash she scrambled over to her partner and knelt down beside him.

He gave a painful groan as he slowly opened his eyes and looked over towards Angel. "Are… are you all right?" asked Kioko in a very concerned tone.

Angel just shook her head as tears began to well up in her eyes. "Don't worry about me. We've got to get out of here… your hurt badly."

To her amazement Kioko gave a small laugh. "This…" Kioko started as he pointed to the spike in his shoulder. "This is nothing."

"It is something; these guys are too tough for us. We need to get out of here, we need to get you to a…a… hospital."

"No…" Blurted Kioko, causing Angel to give a small gasp. "We're not going anywhere until we defeat them. You've given me a second chance Angel… and I'm not about to waste it."

"It's not wasting it if we just run. There will be other battles." Pleaded Angel as she took his hand in her paws, which made Kioko give a curious look. "Please… let's just get out of here."

Kioko gave a sigh as he gently pulled his hand away. "We're not going anywhere, we're going to stay and fight."

"But…"

"No, no buts…" interrupted Kioko. "If you want to win this tournament, we are going to have to stand our ground. We must never run away from our enemies… no matter how tough they may be. Cowards never make it far… and I know your not a coward."

Angel looked away as she carefully folded her arms across her chest. For a minute neither of them said a word, until finally Kioko broke the silence. "So… what is it going to be?"

Angel gave a small sigh before turning to face her partner. The look of fear and sadness that had been on her face was replaced by a look of total seriousness. It was as if all of her fear had been swept away in the wind.

"Let's fight."

A small smile formed on Kioko's face but it quickly faded as he began to push himself up. He gave painful groans as he forced his beaten body to stand. His legs wobbled under his own weight but he managed to stand and face his opponents. Both Hiroshi and Spike gave small gasps of surprise.

"How can he still stand? That spell hit him head on." Said Spike.

Hiroshi opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by Kioko's laugh. Both of them looked up towards the boy with curious looks. "You don't know me that well then do you?" said Kioko as he reached up towards the spike in his shoulder. In one quick motion he yanked the spike out.

"It doesn't matter… your still going to lose." Blurted Hiroshi.

"That's what you think." Started Kioko as he began to tighten his grip on the spike that was still in his hand. "You will not beat us; no one will ever beat us. We will not run… and we will not give up." At that moment Kioko crushed the spike in his hand. Both Hiroshi and Spike gave frightened gasps as the saw the shattered spike fall to the ground. "We are going to win this tournament and no one is going to stop us!" yelled Kioko.

At that moment the black book began to glow brighter then it ever had before. Without much thought Kioko opened up the book to the now glowing page. His eyes fell upon the symbols just below the first spell. The new spell instantly appeared in his mind as if he had known it all along. He looked up towards his opponents and smiled wickedly.

"Now, lets see you stop this one." Growled Kioko as Angel stepped up beside him. "The second spell… Darkoten!"

Without hesitation Angel raised her paw towards Spike and Hiroshi. The familiar black and purple orb appeared in front of her paw, but this time it kept growing larger and larger. The sand beneath the orb began to swirl around. The orb continued to grow until it was nearly as large as Angel herself. The orb then blasted towards Spike and Hiroshi, kicking up a cloud of sand as it went.

In a flash Hiroshi called out the Armuron spell, Spike got to his feet and formed the defensive armor around him. A second later the massive black and purple orb slammed into his chest, causing him to slide backwards slightly. Spike gave a small smirk as it appeared that his armor would hold against the spell. But suddenly he heard the sound of cracking metal. He looked down to see his armor beginning to crack into pieces, his eyes widened as he watched the spell shatter his armor. In the next instant both Spike and Hiroshi were engulfed in a massive explosion that sent a dust cloud in every direction.

Both Kioko and Angel had to look away to keep from getting blasted by sand, but when they looked back they saw Spike and Hiroshi lying unconscious on the sand. Their book was a few feet away, engulfed in a grey flame.

PAUSE FLASHBACK

"Your right… that was probably our toughest." Blurted Kioko.

"Even the battle with Lilo and Stitch was nothing compared to that battle." Said Angel with a solemn look on her face.

"Well at least we know these two won't put up much of a fight."

"Yes, this should be our easiest victory yet."

Well that's the end of this chapter. There will be one more chapter after this. Anyway, sorry it took so long to update… I've been a little distracted lately. Well, I'll update as soon as I can. Merry Christmas and I'll see you later.