Chaos: Since this chapter is somewhat serious I'll skip any nonsense and get straight to it. I don't own Beyblade or it's characters, just my OC's and temporarily Chris.

~*Unexpected Companion*~

Tonya's POV

"Sorry that…all o-of us…c-couldn't go…ho-me alive."

That was the last thing I said to my friends before throwing myself and Aio over the cliff. All I could remember was the wind against my face as we broke through the first of the trees. I could hear the snapping of branches, feel some of my bones breaking as both our bodies got tossed and turned about. At one point we were even ripped apart. It wasn't long before I broke through the tall trees and hit the ground hard. I had expected to die on impact against the ground. Quick and painless. But fate decided to be a bitch that day.

Pain radiated throughout my body. I could feel my blood seeping all over my body and into the ground below me. Just like my blood left my body, so did my energy. I could feel it all slowly slipping away. Feeling myself grow colder and colder with each passing second. It's one thing knowing that you're going to die, it's another when you have to lie there and experience everything before you do die. It's a horrible feeling, knowing that you have to face a slow and painful death before finally meeting its sweet embrace. All I wanted was for the process to speed up.

Spitting up blood I turned my eyes towards the sky. Hoping to catch one last glimpse before I go. But the trees were so thick above me that they robbed me of that one little pleasure. I could see a few branches that I'd broken when falling. They were barely hanging on to the tree, just like I was to my life. I wondered where Aio was. Was he suffering like me? Or was he spared this pain and given a quick death? I hoped that he was in just as much pain as me, possibly more. Even though he deserved much more for his crimes against all the innocents he killed, all the families he'd hurt, and how he'd ruined our lives.

I could feel a small smile forming at my lips as I thought back to how much I'd been through with Chris. She'd been the closest thing to a sister, to any type of family that I'd ever known. We'd been together since we were young. Always there for each other from when we were transformed, to when we escaped, and then when all this happened. So much has happened to us since we entered the world championships. We recovered our memories, somehow made friends with the four Russians, took out those that sought to use us, and finally taking down Aio at last. Even if it'd led to this.

As I coughed up more blood I could feel the pain gradually easing. It started first with my toes, spreading to my feet, legs, and up. It was a slow process but finally I could feel nothing anymore. Death had finally come to claim me. As I closed my eyes for the last time, I prayed that my friends would never find me. I didn't want them to see me like this. A broken and bloody mess. I wanted them to remember me as I was before this. They would hurt for a while, but eventually they'd be able to move on. But if they ever found my body as it is now they would be haunted forever. I left the smile upon my face as a dark blanket slowly covered me and took me away.

_._._

Normal POV

Night fell upon the mountains. Moonlight, barely able to penetrate the trees, shined weakly upon the broken body lying on the cold ground. A few animals had come by to see if the girl was still alive or not. They couldn't tell if she was just faking it or was a fresh kill. Most had just wandered away from the broken body to go about their business. But one curious little wolf hung around longer than any of the other animals. He was intrigued by this 'thing' in his home. The curious pup had hidden himself in the bushes, watching as each creature wandered by to check out the 'thing' for themselves. But none were able to get a reaction out of her. With his curiosity growing, the wolf slowly rose from his hiding spot to creep closer.

He never relaxed too much as he examined the girl. The pup would sneak up slowly before darting away, for fear it might be a trap. When he saw that she wasn't moving he dared to venture closer. The wolf approached her legs first. He glanced up at her, then back to her legs and then—he poked them with his paw. Her legs moved a bit but only because of the pup's prodding. The pup continued this gently nudging, slowly moving up her body. When he reached her face the wolf just tilted his head as he stared at her. Some of her bangs had fallen in her face and old trails of blood from her head and mouth covered her face. Other than that she looked peaceful. The wolf leaned over her as he sniffed her body, trying to determine if she was dead or not. As he got within an inch of her face she suddenly took a deep breath. Freaked out by the unexpected noise the wolf slipped at first and then darted away back to its hiding spot to watch once again.

Slowly Tonya's body began to start working once again. As air gathered in her lungs, her heart began to pick up a steady beat. Everything began starting up again as the once dead girl slowly began to make the journey back from death's door step.

'Why am I in so much pain? Death shouldn't feel like this. It's supposed to be peaceful and painless. Am I in hell? Could this be my punishment for all the lives I'd taken over the years? It would be justified if it was the case. Or is it possible that….I'm alive?' she thought to herself once her mind began to function once again. 'Well only one way to find out.'

Struggling to find the energy, she willed her eyelids open. At first they didn't wish to respond. All she felt was more pain rushing to the spot that she was focusing on. Fighting against the pain she once again willed her eyes to open. Her lids fluttered for a bit but after a while they finally opened. It took a couple seconds for her eyes to adjust to the dim light around her. Slowly glancing around she could see that she was still in the same area that she'd crashed to.

'How am I still alive?' She thought to herself as she coughed a bit, her lungs burning slightly from not being used for hours.

'It seems that I just barely made it.' A weak voice sounded within her head.

'Shadow?' Tonya glanced around with her eyes in a desperate attempt to find the dragon. Instead all she found was her busted up blade lying just out of reach of her hand.

'I'm fine. Just too weak to come out.' Shadow wheezed as he glowed dimly from within the blade to prove that he was still with her.

'But how?' She was puzzled as to what was going on.

'When you crashed I could feel your life slipping away. From that moment I slowly added my energy into your body in an attempt to help speed up the healing process without harming you anymore. But you were too weak to hold on. You grew cold and slowly you started to depart from me. As a last effort I poured all of my energy into at once, even though it could've ripped my soul apart and killed me. But somehow it worked. Subconsciously you found the will to fight again and as a result your body restarted itself.' Shadow explained as Tonya lied there.

'I see. Shadow…you risked your life to save mine.' She could feel tears slide down her face as she thought about how much Shadow had just risked to bring her back.

'Your body is already trying to repair itself. You'll be in immense pain if you move, but in time you will be alright. Would you like me to stay with you?' Shadow asked, even though Tonya could tell that he was struggling to keep their mental connection alive.

'No, I'll be fine. Get some rest old friend.' Tonya instructed as she severed the connection.

"Might as well see what still works." She mumbled to herself as she took a deep breath to prepare herself.

Preparing herself for the pain to come, she slowly started to move her limbs. She stared with her toes to make sure that she wasn't paralyzed. Luckily they were still movable. Next she tried her feet and ankles. One was ok, but the other felt as if it was broken. Once she focused on the area she could feel the swollen skin pressed up against her boot. She would have to relieve that as soon as she could move. Next she slowly twitched her legs, flexed her fingers, and moved her arms. She moved her neck around and noted that the total damage wasn't too bad. A broken ankle, a few bent fingers, possibly some broken ribs, and a dislocated shoulder. She was grateful that most of her fall had been through the trees since the branches helped to slow her down before she hit, minimizing the damage.

Fighting against the immense pain racking her body she managed to put her palms flat and weakly push herself up. She had to fight to cry out. Making a noise could attract potential predators. Once she was sitting up she took care of her fingers first. It hurt like hell when she reset her fingers, but once they were in place she regained a little more usage of them. Next task was her shoulder. Taking off her tattered jacket she tore off a piece and wadded it into a ball. She stuck it in her mouth and bit down hard as she placed a hand on her shoulder. With one sharp jerk she managed to pop it back into place as she screamed into the rag in her mouth. Finally she turned to her injured ankle. Unzipping her boot carefully she managed to get it off without jostling it too much. She could tell even in the weak light that her ankle was an ugly black, green, and purple color. It had swollen up to the size of an orange.

"Well that's just fucking great." She sighed as she reached out to grab her blade and put it away.

Still watching from his hiding spot, the pup wondered why the girl didn't move. She just sat there scratching herself with a lost look on her face. Never seeing anything like her before the wolf was curiously observing everything she did. He scooted a little closer to try and get a better look. With every new thing she did, he took a step closer to get a better look at her. But on one of his advances his paw got stuck under a small root. The pup tried to pry himself free but the root just wasn't willing to budge. He tried biting through the root a bit and then tried his chances at pulling himself free again. The wolf pulled harder this time than he had before and managed to free himself. But the sudden release on his paw caused him to lose balance and send him rolling out of the bushes and out into the open. The wolf rolled until he finally stopped a few feet from Tonya.

"Huh?" She looked down at him as the pup yelped in fear and took off to hide behind a tree. He peeked out from behind it to see Tonya still staring in his direction. "Odd to see a pup alone out here. But I can't worry about that. Right now I need to get out of the open."

Tonya scooted slowly across the ground to the nearest tree. Digging her long nails in, she slowly managed to pull herself up despite how much her arms screamed in protest. She'd been given another chance at life and didn't intend on dying again anytime soon. She spotted a fallen branch that was long enough to act as a walking stick. After testing her weight on it she grabbed her boot and tattered jacket and began hobbling off to find somewhere to sleep for the night.

It was slow going, and every step she took sent a fresh shockwave through her body. But she didn't plan on letting it stop her. After hobbling for thirty minutes or so she finally spotted a small overhanging of rock hidden behind brush. She used her stick to clear away some of the brush and to make sure she wasn't disturbing any animal's home. Once she was sure it was clear she began to gather what she hopped wasn't dangerous foliage to make herself a bedding. Then she found some longer brush that she used to hide her small area so that nothing, hopefully, would stumble upon her at night. Making sure to rub dirt and leaves into her skin, despite how much it stung, to hide her scent she double checked her work. Once she was satisfied with it she lowered herself down and crawled into her little den and gradually fell into a slumber.

_._._

"Not the best sleep I've had but it could be worse." Tonya yawned as she slowly stretched.

Her body still hurt like hell, but the pain had lessened a bit since last night. She was able to move a little better and could see that most of her more serious wounds were healing. Moving out of her little den she examined herself in the light. Black and blue all over. But alive. She glanced down to see that her ankle was still swollen and ugly looking. While she looked herself over, another problem presented itself. Her stomach growled loudly as she looked down at it.

"Man I haven't eaten in a while." She sighed to herself as she thought about the difficulties of getting food in her state. But to her surprise she glanced down to see a pile of food already waiting for her. A variety of berries and nuts sitting not too far from her den. "Now who could've—?"

The question died on her lips. A small rustling sound could be heard as she turned to see the same little wolf pup trying to sneak through the woods with more food. He had his back to her and didn't know that she was watching him. Once the wolf added the small amount of food to the pile he looked over his work and seemed to nod his approval. Tonya cleared her throat and once again scared the little wolf. The pup darted off at full speed to once again hide behind a tree. Tonya just laughed at this sight, glad to see that she still saw the lighter side of her situation.

"Did you bring all this for me?" Tonya asked as the pup peeked out around the tree once again. "Thank you little one." She smiled as the wolf hid behind the tree again.

She lowered herself to the ground and began to pick through the berries and nuts. A few tasted awful and left a nasty taste in her mouth. But they filled up her rumbling belly and helped to give her some energy. She looked up once she was done with the meager meal to see if the pup was still there. It seemed he'd left her. She only shook her head and laughed as she retrieved her items before heading out again.

It seemed that her little friend hadn't disappeared after all. Every so often she would hear a rustling in the brush and spot the little pup sneaking along behind her. Tonya just giggled as she kept on her way, pretending that she didn't know the wolf was back there. It was nice to have a traveling companion. After a few breaks along the way she finally found a slow running river.

"Well might as well rinse myself off." Tonya suggested as she moved towards the water.

Only pulling off her other boot, she lowered herself into the water. Since her clothes still held the smell of blood on them she had to clean them as well. After thoroughly cleaning her wounds and clothes she pulled herself out of the water on the other side of the bank, items in hand. She was thankful that it was a warm and sunny day. She trekked a little more that day until finding a place to make camp that night. She managed to get a fire started and stripped down to her under wear and bra to let her clothes dry by the fire. She made a quick mental connection with Shadow to make sure he was ok before she started to drift off in her thoughts.

'To think I've come this far in only a day. I wonder what the others are up to. Are they looking for me? Have they even left this place yet? I hope that they're all alright. As long as I can survive a few more days I know my strength will be back enough for me to make it out of here. But for now— I just have to survive.' Tonya ran her fingers through her long hair as she drew her one leg up to chest to rest her face on.

Once again she heard the rustling. Tonya opened one eye to see the wolf slinking closer to her. She smiled as she whistled lowly to him. The wolf's ears perked up as he looked at her cautiously. She let her hand rest away from her body, palm up. The wolf wondered what game she was playing with him. Tonya only smiled at him as she closed her eyes and let him decide what he wanted to do. The pup moved slowly towards her. Taking long careful steps, ready to spring away at any moment. He stretched his neck out once he was close enough to her palm to sniff it. He would pull his head back when he saw her fingers twitch, but would relax once he was sure she wouldn't hurt him. What surprised Tonya though was when he stuck his tongue out to lick her palm. She opened her eyes to see him now nudging it with his nose. From this close she could see that he was a white color with little bits of grey around his face, neck, tail, and paws.

"Now what's a little pup like you doing all alone out here?" Tonya asked as she slowly lifted her hand to try to pet the wolf.

Instead of running like she'd been expecting, the wolf had gotten brave and snarled at her. She let her hand freeze in the air as she studied the wolf. His snarl hadn't been one of a threat. More like a warning. She moved her hand and again the wolf snarled at her, this time almost playfully as he let his hackles raise while he pawed at it. Tonya giggled as she held her hand still once again. She would let the wolf make the first move this time. The wolf pawed at her hand again and then moved to bite her. She didn't jerk her hand away like most people would've. She let his teeth close around her fingers as she waited to see if he would really bite her. He clamped down a bit, but not enough to hurt her. The pup gradually let her go and sat down to look at her. He pawed at her again and finally got a paw on top of her hand. Tonya slowly turned her hand and moved to cup the wolf's face. This time the wolf was the one trusting her. He felt her fingers touch his fur and move up behind his ear as she began to scratch it. He leaned into her hand, enjoying the way her long nails felt on his skin.

"You like that don't you? You must not have any family if you're following me huh little guy? Do you want to stay with me?" Tonya asked as the wolf looked at her with yellow eyes. He put another paw on her hand as he yelped in reply. "I'll take that as a yes."

She laughed as the wolf started to play with her again. He jumped back and began to growl playfully at her, showing off his fangs. He yelped at her as he playfully chewed on her hand never biting down real hard. The little wolf finally tired out and curled up beside Tonya to rest.

"You sure do like to show your fangs a lot don't you? I know, how about I call you Fang? Is that ok?" She asked as she looked down at the little wolf. In reply the wolf just nuzzled into her, curled up, and fell asleep. "Fang it is then."

Tonya smiled as she rubbed the little wolf sleeping at her side, thinking about another wolf, along with a few others, whom she missed terribly as silent tears fell from her eyes.

Really proud with how this chapter came out. The wolf idea came out of nowhere and he actually played into this chapt. really well. Anyways I'll leave now to start up on the next chapter. Oh but don't forget to check out my profile for updates and tidbits on the stories!