"Hey Hil," Ray called down, "you OK?" How dumb can you get? thought Hilary, irritated by Ray's constantly cheery voice. I'm so tired I can't see straight and my hands are rubbed black and blue from these stupid rocks! Sure, I'm just fine!
"Yeah, I'm fine Ray." she said wearily, for what had to be the twentieth time. Who's stupid idea had this been anyway? Oh yeah,Kai's, who else's!
"98,99,100!" said Hilary, laying the brush down triumphantly, admiring her shiny brown hair.
"Do you really have to spend that long on your hair?" came an amused voice from the doorway.
"You should know that better than I do, Ray!" Hilary laughed, looking pointedly at the teenage boy's black, knee-length ponytail.
"Hilary, I'm a guy!" Ray protested.
"So?"
"So I don't bother about making sure every single hair's in place, whether it's straight enough, blah, blah,blah!" Hilary raised her eyebrows.
"What's got you into such a stress?" she asked quizzically.
"Oh, nothing much. Kai wants to speak to you, by the way."
"What! When?" Hilary said, flustered, racking her brains for what she could've done wrong.
"About five minutes ago." Ray said, smirking. He was enjoying this!
"RAY! Why didn't you tell me?" Hilary shrieked
"Couldn't get a word in edgeways." he smiled. Seeing this, Hilary relaxed a little.
"Why you-"She shook her head at the irrepressible Ray and smiled back at him. "OK then," she sighed. "Let's go see what his majesty wants to talk about." She strode out of the room, pulling Ray's hair as she passed. Hard. Ray blinked a couple of times to stop his eyes from watering, then grinned ruefully and followed her out. There was never a dull moment with Hilary around!
Suddenly, from the hotel living room, came the sound of breaking glass, followed by someone laughing until they choked. Cautiously, Hilary and Ray pushed the door open and stood in the doorway, stunned into silence. Kai was standing in front of one of the armchairs, muttering furiously in Russian under his breath, while Max was lying on the sofa, red faced and laughing fit to burst.
"Um, Max," asked Hilary, knowing from experience not to talk to Kai until he'd simmered down a bit, "What happened?" Max sat up and tried to get himself back under control.
"Tyson…got Kai…with a…with a …WHOOPIE CUSHION!"he managed to get out before collapsing with laughter again. A whoopie cushion? Hilary thought. Well, why not? And she suddenly found herself laughing as hard as Max and Ray.
"The great Kai!" Ray choked out, "Got with a whoopee cushion! Ha ha ha ha…"
"Well I'm glad you think it's so funny." came a cold voice. They spun round, red-faced and gasping, only to instantly sober up under their captain's icy glare. "I'd suggest you all calm down, unless any of you want to follow that…thing?" he said disdainfully, looking over his shoulder at the small hole in the window. "Oh yes, Hilary, I want to talk to you."
"Yes, Kai?" said Hilary nervously.
"Right, you know that today, Ray and I are going rock-climbing," Kai began.
"Yeah," Hilary answered. Typical Kai! she thought wryly. Everyone else would just say "Me and Ray" but Kai had to say "Ray and I"! But, she supposed she couldn't comment on languages. After all, Kai spoke English like it was his mother-tongue and it was correct. Oh well! she sighed mentally.
"Hilary, are you listening?" Kai's acid voice interrupted her daydreaming.
"Y-Yes Kai!" Hillary stammered. Kai narrowed his eyes slightly, not believing her in the slightest. He'd better repeat himself then. God, this was like talking to Tyson! He smiled grimly, thinking of the tongue-lashing the younger boy would get when he next saw him. "So, as I was saying, Ray and I are going hiking. I was intending this to be a team outing, but…" he shook his head and grimaced. Hilary nodded sympathetically. Tyson and Kenny had gone to Tyson's Grandpa for the day and Max…well Max was out for sure. Around a week ago, his appendix had burst and he had been seriously ill for a couple of days. Although he was more or less recovered now, he was under strict orders "not to overexert himself", and a climb with the two toughest members of the Bladebreakers would definitely count as an over-exertion!
"So," Kai continued, a slight edge in his voice as he noticed Hilary's glazed eyes, "I was wondering, if you would like to come with us?" Hilary blinked slightly, surprised. Then she shrugged.
"Yeah, why not?" she said peaceably. It'll do me good to get out, she thought to herself. I don't want to be alone, today of all days. Just hope we're back in time…
"OK," she repeated. "Just let me get changed…"
Hilary smiled, remembering how Ray had thought it would be funny to scare her out of her wits by showing his prowess at jumping off cliffs! It was amazing, she thought, how he always landed on his feet. As she raised her tired hand for the next rock, she slipped, and suddenly she was falling, screaming, down, down…
Ray launched himself off the cliff, grabbed her in midair and threw her up to Kai, who caught her with one arm and held tight as he watched Ray fall, expertly jumping from rock to rock. "Ray!" Hilary screamed, trying desperately to get free of Kai, accidentally snapping his head back against the rock. Grunting with pain, Kai slammed Hilary back onto the rock face, trying to calm her down.
"Hilary, you stupid girl! Shut up!" he hissed. "Ray's been falling off cliffs half his life! He knows what he's doing!" And when this failed to calm the by now hysterical girl, he drew a deep breath and slapped her hard round the face. Hilary stopped screaming abruptly, and silence reigned for a few seconds.
"S-Sorry Kai." Hilary said in a small voice.
"It's OK, Hilary." the team captain said curtly. He groaned softly, his head pounding like a drum. Hilary suddenly noticed Kai's drawn face and the small trickle of blood coming from the back of his head. Horror-filled, she managed to squeak out,
"Did I do that?" Kai took a breath, wondering how best to phrase this.
"Yes, but don't worry about it, I'm fine." he said tightly. "Now, let's go down to Ray and check that he's alright."
"Okay," said a very subdued Hilary.
First chapter! Short, I know, but I wrote this a long, long time ago, so bear with me!
