Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade; it belongs to Aoki Takao.

Watching Him In His Field Of Memories

3

Ian's POV

Tala just strolled into the apartment our team is sharing, looking lost in his thoughts. Bryan asked him how Kai is, and he just nodded, wandering off to his room.

"He seems…distant. More than usual," Bryan says, watching the space where Tala had just been.

Spencer and I nod in agreement. I wonder what could have happened to make him be so thoughtful this afternoon.

"Think we should do something for him?" I question.

"Like what?" Bryan directed the question at me.

"I don't know," I shrug.

Bryan snorts. "Well, I wanna know why he's in his head more all of a sudden."

"Don't say it like that," Spencer abruptly says. All of us are anxious about Kai being in the institution, except perhaps Bryan; if he's truly that concerned about the mental health of our childhood friend, he's not doing a very good job of showing it. Then again, he never was one to express care. Well, he did occasionally when we were smaller, but those days are long gone.

"Fine…I'll rephrase." Bryan rolls his eyes. "I want to know why Tala's being all thoughtful and quiet and ignoring us. More than usual, anyway."

Once again, Spencer and I nod.

"Should we talk to him?" I ask.

"I'm not," Bryan says automatically. "If his mind is going the way of Kai's, then I don't want to be the one to find out."

"Bryan…," I mutter heatedly, glaring at my lilac-haired friend.

Spencer turns his attention to his hands resting in his lap. He usually tries to avoid confrontations with the rest of the team; just the opposite of Bryan, who seems to enjoy instigating conflicts.

"Why don't you go talk to him? It was your idea," Bryan says to me.

"Fine," I give in.

I stand, shooting another glare--the onesthat our team is so known for--toward Bryan. He disregards it and watches me head toward Tala's room.

The door to Tala's room is open, and Tala is inside, sitting on his bed, staring at the wall in front of him. He's absently stroking Kai's beyblade, which was Kai's only possession, other than his launcher, that he had with him when admitted to the institution. The doctors gave it to his friends, and Tala gets to have it until Kai recovers.

Tala gazes at me when I enter. I blurt out, "What's up with you?"

"What?" He seems a bit taken aback by the question.

"You seem…lost in thought. Something happen to you at the institution?"

He hesitates, staring at me emotionlessly. "Yes," he finally confesses.

"What happened?"

Again, he hesitates, giving me that stare with his icy eyes. "Kai…reacted…to me touching him."

My eyes widen involuntarily. "What? And you didn't tell us this right away? That's brilliant news!"

Surprisingly, a smile curves Tala's lips. "Sorry…it is good. I think…I'm just a little shocked that it happened. And it wasn't a good reaction on his part anyway."

The smile drops, and Tala goes back to staring at the wall.

"What do you mean?"

"Well…he flinched, shut his eyes…basically, looked like he was in pain."

I mulled this over. "In pain? What did you do to him?"

"I touched his shoulder is all."

We are both silent, each in our own thoughts. Bryan breaks into the stillness. "So, you weren't harassing him or something?"

We look over toward the door to see Spencer and Bryan gazing at us.

"No," Tala responds with some harshness.

Bryan just shrugs.

"There's more," Tala switches the subject.

Our eyes turn to him, waiting for him to speak.

"Kai was mumbling stuff, remember?"

We nod.

"I heard some of what he was mumbling today. It didn't make any sense." Tala grows silent, and he averts his gaze back to the wall. "It sounded as if…he was narrating his actions."

None of us say anything for a moment, but wouldn't you know who decided to put in a comment.

"What the hell? 'Narrating his actions'? That sounds mental, but what actions? He's in his mind," Bryan mutters.

Tala quickly turns to him and glares. "Shut up," he mumbles brusquely. Bryan complies. "And something must be going on in his mind. It's not like he's unconscious or anything that would put him in eternal blackness."

The three of us nod in agreement.

"At least he reacted, though," I say after a few moments, trying to lighten the mood. Some tension dies away, but Tala seems to be really stuck on Kai's reactions and mumblings. But that's understandable: they were always close friends.

As I stand here in this snowy field, and diminutive bumps raise up on my skin from the cold, I can see nothing threatening.

I plop down on the snow, my fear locked back in its cage, and the peaceful contentment I felt before breaking free of its strangled bonds.

I lay back, and all of the freezing water crystals sting my skin with piercing cold.

It begins to tint pink, but I just ignore it, and focus on this passive feeling.

I gape at the stars, and I push everything back in my mind: all of the memories, the thoughts of Dranzer, the sound of that familiar voice.

As a gentle breeze blows by, and I involuntarily shiver, the stars start to move.

I stare in amazement as they rearrange themselves.

But I guess I shouldn't be that amazed, what with all the other shit that's been going on here.

The stars form a giant square against the navy blue backdrop.

Everything is silent and unmoving, until another breeze blows through.

At that moment, an image flashes in the sky, inside the square of stars.

The stars are acting as a movie screen to whatever is playing in the sky.

It is me, from a memory that I recall viewing before.

The memory is playing out like a video, and I find myself absorbed in it.

All of my senses diminish to nothing, except for the sight and hearing required to view this memory.

FLASH

I, as a little boy, sat in the middle of one of those dimly lit rooms.

Blood caked the side of my face.

Tears mingled with the crimson liquid.

The red haired boy was kneeling in front of me, peering into my eyes.

"Are you all right, Kai?" he said to me.

I whimpered in response.

"What did he do?"

"B-Boris," was all that came from my lips.

"I know, but what did he do?"

I whimpered again.

"I'll help you clean up," he offered, and scurried off somewhere.

He came back a few moments later, dabbing the blood from my face.

He was dabbing, I was crying…

And slam!

I'm back.

Back feeling the chilling winds and freezing snow, smelling the snow and feeling the cold sweep into my nostrils with every breath.

The blood, cooler than before, is dribbling down my face again, staining the snow garnet.

My peacefulness is disrupted, as I think of the voice of that little redheaded boy.

He has the same voice as the one that echoed incomprehensibly before through the blackness I so despise.

I wrack my brain, trying tostir up the memories now rather than push them back, because I must know who he is.

Frustrated, I sit up, and I scream, "Who are you? Who the fuck are you?"

I stare wildly up at the sky, only to see that the stars are back to their random pattern.

I breathe heavily, focusing on the vapory wisps that came with my breath.

And then, something happens.

Dranzer happens, to be precise.

It comes flying steadily, screeching a mighty cry, over the horizon.

I watch it approach with some happiness and relief crackling through the undesirable anger and frustration.

"Dranzer…" I murmur as it alights next to me, a smile dancing in its black eyes.

Dranzer nuzzles its beak against my face, and the icy temperature of my body hits me hard.

Automatically, I stand and cling to Dranzer, hoping to feel some of its body heat.

Dranzer purrs melodically, and wraps its wings around me.

I'm swallowed up once again, but not by some feared or hated darkness.

I am encased in Dranzer's silky, red feathers, and warmth starts to tingle in my limbs.

For what seems an eternity, I am nestled into Dranzer's wings, and I forget about all the harsh feelings in my heart.

The great beast eventually lifts its wings from me, and lets out another screech.

Dranzer flaps a wing gently, and a feather drifts from it.

I gawk coldly at the feather, knowing this one, too, probably holds a memory like the others.

Scowling, I kick blood-stained snow over the feather, and its tip protrudes from the tiny pile of frozen water and crimson liquid mixed with my blue face paint.

Dranzer growls in its throat, and with the talons of its feet scrapes the feather, now ramshackle and soggy, from the snow.

A wind blows past, sweeping up the feather and causing it to flutter directly into my palm.

I glare harshly, but that doesn't stop the memory from flooding my mind.

FLASH

Damn these dimly lit rooms.

Must they be in all of my memories?

It casts an eerie shadow on my forgotten past.

The redhead, still a small child, was sitting on a bed, in this dim room.

I was sitting on the one opposite him.

"Don't do it, Kai," he said.

Damn!

Damn that voice!

Who does it belong to?

"I want to. That Black Dranzer looked so cool. You saw its power," I responded, with my eyes shimmering in excitement.

"But Kai, you don't know if you can handle the strength. Only someone special can do that, Boris said so, remember?"

"Boris can shove his words up his ass. I'm gonna take that Black Dranzer for a test run, no matter what you say, Tala."…

Tala?

Tala?

Everything hits me so fast, I don't know what is going on.

That name resounds in my brain, with a deluge of memories of him.

There are too many for me to focus on any of them.

It is frazzling, flustering.

I don't want all that floating around my head in one huge rush.

I squeeze my eyes shut, and I throw the feather down.

I hear Dranzer scream, but it seems so distant.

Fear wells up inside me that Dranzer is leaving, but I don't open my eyes…fucking memories.

Something soft touches my bare arm amidst my mental turmoil.

It feels so soothing and comforting.

It's slowly massaging my arm, and I like the feeling.

I hear a purring noise, far off.

That's consoling too.

Just the serenity of those outward motions seems comforting right now.

I put all of my effort into shoving these memories of this redhead boy, this 'Tala', away.

So ironic, isn't it?

I have found the answer I've been seeking, and yet now I wish I had never come across it.

But now I try to push it all into darkness, and I feel a craving for that field of flowers with clouds hovering in the blue skies.

I manage to open my eyes, and this plane of reality cracks through the merciless torrent of memories.

I realize I am kneeling on the ground as if I am about to vomit.

Tears mingle with the remains of the blue paint of my cheeks.

I notice the soft feeling was Dranzer's wing, as it stays by my side, purring soothingly.

I glance up at the darkened sky, desiring a peaceful realm where I can rest.

But I don't think that'll come soon.


And there's chapter three. :) Longest chapter yet:)

Blood of the Wolf: Greetings, my dedicated reviewer! How are you doing, dudette? Thanks for the review, but disobeying your mother AGAIN! sighs Oh well, try harder next time, eh?

Seminai: Heya, first-time reviewer! What's up? Yeah, his mind is scary. :) Thank you for reviewing.

Please review :)

have a nice day

CyborgRockStar