Hey everyone!

Sorry it took me so long to update this story!

As I've probably stated before…I have much of this story already written out…and this happens to be one of the chapters that was needed as a transition into one of them.

Problem is…I kinda got stuck. (nervous laugh) but I did get an idea right in the middle of one of my finals…and here you have it! Another hideous chapter!

Let me just take a moment to warn everyone. I've done a lot of editing for this chapter, to make it more of a decent length, and to get rid of some things that weren't really necessary. As a result, things may happen quickly in this chapter, and some things might not make much sense.

I'm sorry about that…but I tried to actually do a decent job with this…and I probably failed miserably.

I know this story is dragging a bit, but in about two chapters, the action will pick up again, and another action scene will finally show itself in about the tenth or eleventh chapter. So please bear with me until then…

I believe that's all I have to say for now…

Enjoy if possible…

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Chapter 8 – The Book

"Ugh…" The air in Kai's lungs left him for a brief moment as he landed hard on the ground. Taking a long, wheezy breath, he forced himself up on his knees and stood up.

"This is ridiculous…" He growled to himself. Frustration and anger covered his features. All his injuries had healed for the most part, but for some reason, he couldn't get back into the sky! All he had been able to do so far was glide a few feet before his strength gave out, or he got so close to the ground that he had to land. He knew his wings had been damaged from Boris' attack, but was it possible he had placed a spell on them?

With another growl, he brushed himself off and jumped at the tree in Hilary's backyard, sinking his claws into its already damaged bark. He scaled it quickly, climbing to the very top branch and jumping onto the roof.

He stood straight, closing his eyes and lifting his nose into the air, as if sniffing all the scents the wind carried past him. How he longed to fly again! But he only wished he had been able to spend more time with his own kind…since he had been unable to learn about all the important things of his species. It would have certainly helped him now…

The crimson phoenix let out a miserably long sigh as he opened his eyes to gaze blindly into the dark landscape of his world.

Taking a few steps backward to the other side of the roof, he bent his knees, preparing to launch himself into the air. In the blink of an eye, he burst out into a run and took a leap into the sky, spreading his crimson wings to catch the wind under him.

There were a few moments where he was sure he was flying again, and a smile crossed his face. But that smile quickly changed as he felt himself falling at an alarming pace, and soon, a familiar pain he had felt all too many times racked his body as he came into contact with something hard.

He skidded across the grass, tearing the sod from its roots, and came to a stop next to the tree in the center of the yard.

With a groan, he sat up and slumped against the tree, closing his eyes in exhaustion.

"Kai?"

The phoenix's eyes snapped opened as he craned his neck around at the sound of the voice.

The little girl took a step back, seeing the fierce gaze in his eyes.

"Hana…" Kai's face immediately softened as he realized who was calling him. "What are you doing out here?"

"Um…did you and Hiwary have a fight?"

Kai returned his gaze to the scenery in front of him. "Hn…"

Hana walked up slowly behind him and touched his wings gingerly, causing a violent spasm to run through his body.

"Are you not feeling good Kai?" She plopped down beside him.

Before the phoenix could do anything to reply, Hilary's voice called her from inside the house.

"Hana! Your ride is here! Hurry up already!"

"Aww…" The little girl gave a pouty face and stood up. "I'm going to summer camp, so I won't be here. I hope you feel better soon!" With that, she gave Kai as big a hug as she could manage, and disappeared inside the house.

The blue haired teen sat in silence for a while, until he heard the door slide open behind him.

"Any progress?" It was Hilary. She suddenly sighed. "Look at you…you're a mess…"

"Why should it concern you?"

The brunette growled. "Don't start this again Kai! It concerns me because I want it to!"

Kai couldn't understand it. After speaking harshly to her, after rejecting her company for the past few days, and being completely rude, she still was willing to help him.

"Why…why are you so different?"

"Huh?"

"All these years…and I have found no such kindness as the kind you have shown me…why do you continue to care?"

By this time, Hilary had taken a seat next to the phoenix, exactly where her sister had been.

"There is this thing called friendship. Friends care for each other, no matter what. They will always love you, protect you, help and comfort you at any given moment…"

"So we are…friends?" Kai turned his glossy eyes toward the girl, a puzzled look on his face. "Even though…"

Before he could finish, she cut him off with a smile and threw her arms around him. "Of course we are!"

There was along moment of silence before Kai spoke again.

"I…I am sorry…for my behavior the past few days…"

"Oh don't be so formal Kai! It's nothing to worry about! We just want to help you anyway we can!" Hilary moved so she was now sitting in front of the phoenix. "Now…that was a fast make up, wasn't it?"

Kai only shrugged, his gaze still focused on the torn up yard next to him.

"You look exhausted…why don't you take a break from this? I won't stop you…but I don't want you to hurt yourself trying…okay?"

He took a moment, but finally shook his head in agreement.

---

After a few hours, Kai assured Hilary that he was completely fine now, and went back outside, preparing to climb the tree once again onto the roof.

"I'm going to do it this time…I was so close before…I must succeed this time!"

"Hurry up before the neighbors see you up there!" Hilary's voice from the ground interrupted the phoenix's thoughts.

"Here goes…" He started out running, just as he had done many times before. He neared the end of the roof, and soon he felt his legs bending in preparation to leap into the sky.

"Yes!" Kai exclaimed to himself as he felt his crimson feathers spread outward as they were supposed to do, ready and waiting to catch the current of air to send him into the sky.

Hilary held her breath as he jumped off the roof, his large wings stretching out with all their might by his sides. She was expecting him to fall, but he was staying in the air, gliding further from the house.

Time seemed to stand still for her as she watched, fearing that his wings would collapse on him again and send him falling to the earth. Suddenly, Kai began to fall, but he was waiting for it. With a strong flap of his wings, his body jerked upwards and he took to the sky.

The brunette couldn't help but cheer as she jumped up and down in joy.

Kai let out a laugh, feeling the wind toss his hair about him. "Finally!" He took a sharp turn and returned toward Hilary, landing gracefully on the ground in a shower of feathers.

"You did it!" The brunette threw herself at the phoenix, wrapping her arms around his neck in joy.

Kai let out a soft chuckle, a proud smile appearing on his face.

"He's so happy right now…like a bird that has just been let out of its cage. He deserves to be free like that…I wonder if there is a way to free him from this bond…"

"Hey Kai!" Hilary started, pushing her thoughts to the back of her head for a moment. "Why don't we try a change of scenery?"

---

"Where are we going Hilary?" The blue haired phoenix asked as he was being dragged down the street by the arm.

"When I was watching you fly…I couldn't help but thing of this bond deal…"

"What about it?" Kai was confused now.

"You shouldn't have to be bonded to someone! When I saw you in that cave…I knew this is something I wanted to do!"

"Alright…if that is your wish…" The phoenix felt his cheeks grow hot in a slight blush, but it quickly faded. "So what do you plan on doing?"

"I want to see if I can find any books on phoenixes at the library!"

"Library?" What a strange word that was to the blue haired phoenix.

"I'll explain later…"

---

They had come to the local library. Large, white steps lead them up to the main doors, and together the phoenix and the human walked through and into the main lobby.

The stale air caught Kai's nose immediately, causing his face to distort in a funny way.

"It smells horribly in here…"

"Shh!" Hilary covered the phoenix's mouth instantly, hoping no one around them heard what he had said. "You have to be very quiet here!" She whispered softly.

"Hmph." He snorted, shaking his head free of the brunette's hand. "What a pointless place…"

"Just follow me!"

---

The two made their way through all the cases of books. Hilary had collected quite a pile of books related to ancient magical creatures and such, and had asked Kai to help carry them.

"This one looks good…" Hilary grabbed another book and placed it on top of the growing stack in Kai's arms.

"You actually believe that you will learn something about my kind in these…books?"

"I do! You wouldn't believe how many books there are on phoenixes here…" She plopped another thick book into Kai's arms, the weight now making itself evident as he struggled to stay upright.

"I would believe it…" He muttered to himself, gazing off to his left.

Just then, something caught his attention. A glowing, amber colored book stood in the solitary darkness in Kai's eyes. He recognized its glow as magic, and immediately gasped.

"Hilary…"

"What is it?"

"That book…it has some magical power to it…"

She gasped. "This one?" She pointed at a random book on the shelf.

"No…up two rows…to the right…there!"

The brunette pulled the old, leather bound book from the shelf, stirring up a small cloud of dust around them.

The two coughed for a while as they made their way back to a table in the far corner of the library.

Kai let the pile of books he was carrying spill onto the table with a loud clatter, earning a stern glare from the librarian.

"Wow!" Hilary gasped, taking a seat and opening the book. "This is really old Kai…"

"What does it say?"

"I don't know…it's some weird language…"

Suddenly, Kai's hand extended over the text of the book, the tips of his fingers beginning to glow as they ran down the ancient texts.

"These are spells…and there is also some information about phoenixes!" Kai's eyes had gone wide, and he suddenly withdrew his hand. "We should go somewhere more private…"

"Right…" Hilary nodded, closing the book and carrying it over to the librarian's desk.

After a few moment, the girl returned to Kai and took his hand, leading him out of the library.

"Hilary! Is it right to take that book from this place?"

"Of course! I just checked it out! At a library, you can borrow books for a certain amount of time, and return them when you finish reading them!"

"I see…"

"Do you think you can read this to me? I want to know what it says!" Hilary felt like a young child, to be excited about a book like this…but then again, when was the last time she was able to hear something that was written in ancient, magical text?

Kai nodded silently. There was something about this book that was making him uneasy. He had a chance to learn something new, but at what cost? Would that book be the cause of something bad to happen later?

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Yup…I quickly got rid of Hana by sending her to a random camp. I just got bored with her character. She was originally in there to show more of Kai's soft side, and she was originally going to be involved with Kai flying again in this chapter…but I guess I just got lazy and bored with her, so she's out.

I apologize if this chapter was long, dull, and boring. I'm starting to put all the transitions into one chapter, rather than dragging them out…at least that's what I'm attempting to do…and I had to include that crappy scene with Hana and Kai…because when I take a character out of a story…I want there to be a reason…so in this…she went to camp….(cough)

There will be one more transition chapter…I think…and then the action will pick up again! Hopefully you all won't die of boredom though…because I'm getting close to it. I can't wait to get to the action parts! Hehe!

And I know the whole book thing is a bit random…but for some reason I wanted it in there. I'm hoping to find some sort of idea to tie it in with later chapters…so if any of you have any ideas, PLEASE let me know!

Don't forget to review please, especially if you have any ideas about that book! Because I REALLY want it in here!