Thanks for the reviews! ^-^ You made my day!
I don't own Beyblade.
^^^^^
Twisted Fate
Chapter 2: Awake
Kai slowly opened his eyes. He blinked, adjusting to the light, although the only light was from the bright stars in the clear sky. It was welcoming, from his dark nightmares.
"Kai!" Rei exclaimed. Tyson abruptly opened his eyes; he had nearly fallen asleep. He saw Kai's greyish eyes were open.
"Hey! Buddy! You're awake!" Kai heard Tyson say. Yes, that loud, obnoxious voice was definitely Tyson.
Kai just glanced at Tyson, nodded, and turned away. Rei just shrugged his shoulders; they were used to it.
"Good to see you're back to your normal self," Tyson muttered under his breath.
"So, Kai. you okay?" Rei asked, carefully. He knew perfectly well that Kai didn't like it when others fussed over him. On the other hand, he had seen Kai's pained face during his feverish sleep.
"Yeah," was all Kai said, not bothering to turn around. He sat up, with his back against the cool wall of snow, in his usual relaxed manner, his eyes looking up at the vast black sky.
Kai was exhausted. He was freezing cold and weary from his encounter with the icy water. He was flushed and hot from the fever, but shivering and frozen at the same time. He looked over at his teammates. They were asleep. Kai had lost track of time, staring at the dark sky, but he figured he had been up for a few hours. Rei was sleeping in an awkward position against the snowy wall, and Tyson was sleeping on his stomach, snoring. Max was curled into a little ball, as was Kenny; and Hilary was sleeping gently on her side.
Seeing the relaxed faces of his team, he drifted off into a deep sleep knowing they were okay. He looked out for them, even if he didn't show it. He slept with strange, but comforting, dreams of stars, the sky, and Dranzer, who was safely in his pocket.
^^^^^
Hilary woke up to the faint stream of light coming from the rising sun. She was the first one to wake. She carefully crept over to where Kenny was sleeping. She silently looked at his wristwatch. '6:00,' she thought to herself. She climbed over the wall of the snow fort, and decided to go for a short walk around, since the others weren't up yet.
As soon as she climbed over the tall wall of snow, she realized just how cold it was. She was freezing in her normal attire, wishing she had brought a jacket, and some pants instead of her short skirt. She shivered, and continued to walk through the fallen snow.
The sky was a pale blue, crystal clear with no trace of clouds. The sun was slowly rising; it was just above the horizon. Shimmering snow with highlights from the glowing sun stretched beyond eyesight. Hilary stared in awe of the powerful beauty the empty land possessed.
After walking around, leaving footprints in the untouched snow, Hilary came back to the snow fort. She climbed back in, and checked Kenny's watch. 6:30. He was still asleep, as was Tyson, Max and Rei. 'Oh?' she thought to herself, as she looked at an imprint in the snow, where Kai had been. She decided to follow the footprints.
^^^^^
Kai had woken. He hadn't slept much; he didn't usually. He was still under the effects of the fever, but he still had decided to go for a walk. As if in a trance, he walked through the blanket of bright snow, not knowing where he was going but that didn't matter. He was tired, even though he had slept. His eyes were closed, and he walked slowly with his hands in his pockets, as usual.
"Hey! Kai!" A cheery, high-pitched voice was heard, Kai's eyes opened at the sudden noise. "Kai!" Hilary was now running towards him.
Running to catch up with him, Hilary was now walking alongside Kai. He didn't show any sign of awareness that she was there, and he kept walking. His eyes remained open, but continued to stare straight-ahead, not making eye contact with Hilary.
"So, what's up?" Hilary asked, attempting to make conversation. She knew Kai was definitely not one for conversation, but she didn't give up easily. In fact, she never gave up. After an awkward silence, she continued, "you feeling any better?" This got her a look from Kai. Not a glare, not a smile. just a look.
"Yeah," he said. 'Why does she care?' he thought to himself, but then shook off the thought. He wasn't one to wallow in self-pity.
"That's great!" she replied, enthusiastically. She instinctively put her hand to his forehead to check for signs of fever. She saw he looked rather uncomfortable as she touched his face, but he didn't flinch. She felt he was still hot, but didn't say anything. They continued walking.
Kai found himself wondering once again why Hilary had just done that, why she seemed to genuinely care. He found the silence not awkward, but comforting, as he could drift into the realm of his thoughts.
Hilary looked at Kai. She thought he was definitely cute; she had even admitted that to Tyson and Kenny when she first saw a picture of the Bladebreakers. When she first met him, she thought he was a jerk. Over the past year, though, she was starting to see he wasn't as cold and heartless as he looked.
They continued to walk through the vast emptiness. There were tall evergreen trees scattered throughout the land. There was a peaceful silence.
Suddenly, there was a loud noise that broke the silence. Kai quickly turned around to see a tree falling, and Hilary was right in the path between the tree and the ground. She screamed as she watched the tall evergreen fall, glued to the spot from sheer terror.
She was just seconds from her death, when Kai dove and shoved her, away from the falling tree. She rolled, and gasped as she saw the tree fall right beside her, with a sickening thud. She stared, wide-eyed, at Kai, who had just saved her life. again.
"Thank. you." she managed to whisper, still stunned from her close encounter with death.
"Are you okay?" Kai asked, in his calm, expressionless tone.
She nodded, and allowed him to help her up. He turned around, and started to walk back to the snow fort. Hilary followed.
Kai and Hilary walked towards the fort, and heard Tyson whining from inside. "I'm HUNGRY!!" he moaned. The rest of them had to agree; they hadn't eaten for a whole day now. "Hey, where'd you guys go?" Tyson asked as he saw Kai and Hilary enter the fort.
Hilary's large brown eyes met Kai's grey eyes. "Out for a walk," Hilary mumbled, quietly.
"Oh, okay. I'm HUNGRY!" Tyson continued to ramble on about his hunger. Hilary just smiled. She was glad, in a way, that Tyson hadn't noticed her trembling voice. She normally spoke very sure of herself, with a lot of confidence. Rei, however, looked at her, his eyes showing concern.
"Are you alright?" Rei asked quietly.
"Yes, why do you ask?" She answered as confidently as she could.
"Well, you seem sort of. shaken. What happened?" His brown eyes looked directly into hers, she felt her eyes dart away.
"Oh, nothing." she replied. Her voice was definitely shaky.
"Okay," Rei said, assuming that she didn't want to talk about it at the moment. A nod from Kai reassured his assumption. Hilary smiled at Rei, thankful that he didn't push it.
"We better move on. We have to find a way back," Kenny stated.
"Yeah, you're right Chief," Max agreed. As they set off, Max smiled at the snow fort he had helped build.
The Bladebreakers walked through the frozen land. There was no wind now, they were thankful for that. They were still extremely cold, however, as they were in the snow. They had been walking for hours.
"Hey! Look at that!" Max pointed ahead, eagerly. They all looked, and saw food and a blanket. They started running towards it; they were starved.
Kai looked at it, something was wrong. There were no footprints, like when they had first arrived. He eyed it suspiciously, before running towards the others.
Hilary divided the food amongst them. There was not a lot at all, and they would save some for later. After a quick meal, they found they were no longer hungry.
"Dibs on the blanket!" Tyson called out.
"Hey, no fair! I want the blanket!" Max cried.
"Oh yeah, too bad because it's mine!" Kenny shouted, uncharacteristically.
"That's not fair!" Hilary started running for the blanket. The others followed close behind.
"Wait, guys," Rei said, causing them to stop. "Let Kai have the blanket, he needs it more than any of you."
There was a slight pause as they registered what Rei had just said. "Yeah, you're right," Tyson said, and brought it over to Kai.
Kai took the blanket, nodding as his way of thanks. Normally he would have refused, but this time he needed it, and was grateful towards Rei. It felt good to have the warmth of the blanket comforting him, and he soon fell asleep.
Hilary sighed, then smiled. She was a little annoyed that she didn't get the blanket, but then saw Kai was sleeping peacefully, and was immediately glad that he had gotten it instead. She settled into a resting position on the ground, and drifted off.
Tyson was annoyed. Why weren't whomever it was out there considerate enough to leave blankets for all of them? He sighed, and fell asleep in the soft snow.
Rei glanced over at Kai, and saw he was in a deep slumber. He wondered who could have sent the blanket and food, but was grateful towards whoever it was. As if it could show him some answers, he stared up at the night sky. He felt his eyes close and soon fell asleep.
Kenny was exhausted. They had walked for hours, only taking short breaks in between. Dizzi was still broken, and he had been carrying the laptop the whole time. He curled into a little ball, and fell asleep.
Max smiled at his sleeping friends. He shivered in his T-shirt and shorts, but figured he could stand it, and fell asleep, thinking of what they would accomplish the next day. He would push and support his team to make it even further than they had today.
^^^^^
Kai could feel his strength giving out. He had still not yet recovered from the fever, and hadn't had enough time to rest. They had been walking for hours now.
Kai started to feel dizzy and lightheaded. He was freezing cold, but boiling hot on the inside. He found he was shivering, although the weather was not enough to make him flinch. He was trying hard not to show any signs of stopping; he didn't want to delay them. He tried hard to maintain a steady pace, but it was nearly impossible. He couldn't continue; Kai collapsed into the snow.
"Kai!" The Bladebreakers turned around and saw that Kai had collapsed. Max felt responsible; he had urged them to keep going. He had completely forgotten about Kai's state, and now that he thought about it was surprised he had made it that far.
Max was silent as they set up camp. He was upset with himself for allowing it to happen. "Hey, Max," Rei's voice interrupted his thoughts. "It's not your fault, none of us knew."
"Yeah," Tyson chimed in. "We didn't think that Kai--"
"Ssh!" Hilary put her index finger to her lips. "Kai's resting," she whispered. "Max, you were just doing what was best for the team," she added, quietly.
"Don't beat yourself up, Max," Kenny finally spoke up; he was still trying to fix Dizzi, but without success. "At any rate, Kai would never let us stop because of him."
^^^^^
"You are pathetic," Voltaire spat at Kai. Kai was being beaten, with several kicks and punches. "Useless weakling," he said, as another blow was aimed, breaking a rib. "You are a disgrace to the family," Voltaire said as he landed another kick to the face. "You don't deserve to live," he hissed, as a blade ran across his skin, drawing blood.
Kai watched as the memory faded away. As the memories of torment faded in and out of his restless sleep, Kai was forced to remember it all. The dark past he had tried to hide and forget about was back to haunt him.
The fractures of torture continued, repeating over and over again. Weak, disgrace, unworthy, useless. the words kept repeating themselves over and over again. They stung as much as the injuries themselves, and while a bruise heals, the words stick forever.
Only recently had Kai started to realize these things were not true. He began to feel happiness, and feelings other than pain, depression and anger. He had finally started to understand what friendship and trust truly was. All because of his friends, the Bladebreakers.
Through his nightmares, Kai smiled. Although images of him being beaten and abused, neglected and rejected were constantly flashing and the memories were there, he reminded himself that it was all in the past. He wanted to wake up and live.
Kai's eyes fluttered open, as a slight, determined smile appeared across his face.
^^^^^
That's the end of chapter 2! Review please! Thanks! ^-^
~ Penguin Pop
I don't own Beyblade.
^^^^^
Twisted Fate
Chapter 2: Awake
Kai slowly opened his eyes. He blinked, adjusting to the light, although the only light was from the bright stars in the clear sky. It was welcoming, from his dark nightmares.
"Kai!" Rei exclaimed. Tyson abruptly opened his eyes; he had nearly fallen asleep. He saw Kai's greyish eyes were open.
"Hey! Buddy! You're awake!" Kai heard Tyson say. Yes, that loud, obnoxious voice was definitely Tyson.
Kai just glanced at Tyson, nodded, and turned away. Rei just shrugged his shoulders; they were used to it.
"Good to see you're back to your normal self," Tyson muttered under his breath.
"So, Kai. you okay?" Rei asked, carefully. He knew perfectly well that Kai didn't like it when others fussed over him. On the other hand, he had seen Kai's pained face during his feverish sleep.
"Yeah," was all Kai said, not bothering to turn around. He sat up, with his back against the cool wall of snow, in his usual relaxed manner, his eyes looking up at the vast black sky.
Kai was exhausted. He was freezing cold and weary from his encounter with the icy water. He was flushed and hot from the fever, but shivering and frozen at the same time. He looked over at his teammates. They were asleep. Kai had lost track of time, staring at the dark sky, but he figured he had been up for a few hours. Rei was sleeping in an awkward position against the snowy wall, and Tyson was sleeping on his stomach, snoring. Max was curled into a little ball, as was Kenny; and Hilary was sleeping gently on her side.
Seeing the relaxed faces of his team, he drifted off into a deep sleep knowing they were okay. He looked out for them, even if he didn't show it. He slept with strange, but comforting, dreams of stars, the sky, and Dranzer, who was safely in his pocket.
^^^^^
Hilary woke up to the faint stream of light coming from the rising sun. She was the first one to wake. She carefully crept over to where Kenny was sleeping. She silently looked at his wristwatch. '6:00,' she thought to herself. She climbed over the wall of the snow fort, and decided to go for a short walk around, since the others weren't up yet.
As soon as she climbed over the tall wall of snow, she realized just how cold it was. She was freezing in her normal attire, wishing she had brought a jacket, and some pants instead of her short skirt. She shivered, and continued to walk through the fallen snow.
The sky was a pale blue, crystal clear with no trace of clouds. The sun was slowly rising; it was just above the horizon. Shimmering snow with highlights from the glowing sun stretched beyond eyesight. Hilary stared in awe of the powerful beauty the empty land possessed.
After walking around, leaving footprints in the untouched snow, Hilary came back to the snow fort. She climbed back in, and checked Kenny's watch. 6:30. He was still asleep, as was Tyson, Max and Rei. 'Oh?' she thought to herself, as she looked at an imprint in the snow, where Kai had been. She decided to follow the footprints.
^^^^^
Kai had woken. He hadn't slept much; he didn't usually. He was still under the effects of the fever, but he still had decided to go for a walk. As if in a trance, he walked through the blanket of bright snow, not knowing where he was going but that didn't matter. He was tired, even though he had slept. His eyes were closed, and he walked slowly with his hands in his pockets, as usual.
"Hey! Kai!" A cheery, high-pitched voice was heard, Kai's eyes opened at the sudden noise. "Kai!" Hilary was now running towards him.
Running to catch up with him, Hilary was now walking alongside Kai. He didn't show any sign of awareness that she was there, and he kept walking. His eyes remained open, but continued to stare straight-ahead, not making eye contact with Hilary.
"So, what's up?" Hilary asked, attempting to make conversation. She knew Kai was definitely not one for conversation, but she didn't give up easily. In fact, she never gave up. After an awkward silence, she continued, "you feeling any better?" This got her a look from Kai. Not a glare, not a smile. just a look.
"Yeah," he said. 'Why does she care?' he thought to himself, but then shook off the thought. He wasn't one to wallow in self-pity.
"That's great!" she replied, enthusiastically. She instinctively put her hand to his forehead to check for signs of fever. She saw he looked rather uncomfortable as she touched his face, but he didn't flinch. She felt he was still hot, but didn't say anything. They continued walking.
Kai found himself wondering once again why Hilary had just done that, why she seemed to genuinely care. He found the silence not awkward, but comforting, as he could drift into the realm of his thoughts.
Hilary looked at Kai. She thought he was definitely cute; she had even admitted that to Tyson and Kenny when she first saw a picture of the Bladebreakers. When she first met him, she thought he was a jerk. Over the past year, though, she was starting to see he wasn't as cold and heartless as he looked.
They continued to walk through the vast emptiness. There were tall evergreen trees scattered throughout the land. There was a peaceful silence.
Suddenly, there was a loud noise that broke the silence. Kai quickly turned around to see a tree falling, and Hilary was right in the path between the tree and the ground. She screamed as she watched the tall evergreen fall, glued to the spot from sheer terror.
She was just seconds from her death, when Kai dove and shoved her, away from the falling tree. She rolled, and gasped as she saw the tree fall right beside her, with a sickening thud. She stared, wide-eyed, at Kai, who had just saved her life. again.
"Thank. you." she managed to whisper, still stunned from her close encounter with death.
"Are you okay?" Kai asked, in his calm, expressionless tone.
She nodded, and allowed him to help her up. He turned around, and started to walk back to the snow fort. Hilary followed.
Kai and Hilary walked towards the fort, and heard Tyson whining from inside. "I'm HUNGRY!!" he moaned. The rest of them had to agree; they hadn't eaten for a whole day now. "Hey, where'd you guys go?" Tyson asked as he saw Kai and Hilary enter the fort.
Hilary's large brown eyes met Kai's grey eyes. "Out for a walk," Hilary mumbled, quietly.
"Oh, okay. I'm HUNGRY!" Tyson continued to ramble on about his hunger. Hilary just smiled. She was glad, in a way, that Tyson hadn't noticed her trembling voice. She normally spoke very sure of herself, with a lot of confidence. Rei, however, looked at her, his eyes showing concern.
"Are you alright?" Rei asked quietly.
"Yes, why do you ask?" She answered as confidently as she could.
"Well, you seem sort of. shaken. What happened?" His brown eyes looked directly into hers, she felt her eyes dart away.
"Oh, nothing." she replied. Her voice was definitely shaky.
"Okay," Rei said, assuming that she didn't want to talk about it at the moment. A nod from Kai reassured his assumption. Hilary smiled at Rei, thankful that he didn't push it.
"We better move on. We have to find a way back," Kenny stated.
"Yeah, you're right Chief," Max agreed. As they set off, Max smiled at the snow fort he had helped build.
The Bladebreakers walked through the frozen land. There was no wind now, they were thankful for that. They were still extremely cold, however, as they were in the snow. They had been walking for hours.
"Hey! Look at that!" Max pointed ahead, eagerly. They all looked, and saw food and a blanket. They started running towards it; they were starved.
Kai looked at it, something was wrong. There were no footprints, like when they had first arrived. He eyed it suspiciously, before running towards the others.
Hilary divided the food amongst them. There was not a lot at all, and they would save some for later. After a quick meal, they found they were no longer hungry.
"Dibs on the blanket!" Tyson called out.
"Hey, no fair! I want the blanket!" Max cried.
"Oh yeah, too bad because it's mine!" Kenny shouted, uncharacteristically.
"That's not fair!" Hilary started running for the blanket. The others followed close behind.
"Wait, guys," Rei said, causing them to stop. "Let Kai have the blanket, he needs it more than any of you."
There was a slight pause as they registered what Rei had just said. "Yeah, you're right," Tyson said, and brought it over to Kai.
Kai took the blanket, nodding as his way of thanks. Normally he would have refused, but this time he needed it, and was grateful towards Rei. It felt good to have the warmth of the blanket comforting him, and he soon fell asleep.
Hilary sighed, then smiled. She was a little annoyed that she didn't get the blanket, but then saw Kai was sleeping peacefully, and was immediately glad that he had gotten it instead. She settled into a resting position on the ground, and drifted off.
Tyson was annoyed. Why weren't whomever it was out there considerate enough to leave blankets for all of them? He sighed, and fell asleep in the soft snow.
Rei glanced over at Kai, and saw he was in a deep slumber. He wondered who could have sent the blanket and food, but was grateful towards whoever it was. As if it could show him some answers, he stared up at the night sky. He felt his eyes close and soon fell asleep.
Kenny was exhausted. They had walked for hours, only taking short breaks in between. Dizzi was still broken, and he had been carrying the laptop the whole time. He curled into a little ball, and fell asleep.
Max smiled at his sleeping friends. He shivered in his T-shirt and shorts, but figured he could stand it, and fell asleep, thinking of what they would accomplish the next day. He would push and support his team to make it even further than they had today.
^^^^^
Kai could feel his strength giving out. He had still not yet recovered from the fever, and hadn't had enough time to rest. They had been walking for hours now.
Kai started to feel dizzy and lightheaded. He was freezing cold, but boiling hot on the inside. He found he was shivering, although the weather was not enough to make him flinch. He was trying hard not to show any signs of stopping; he didn't want to delay them. He tried hard to maintain a steady pace, but it was nearly impossible. He couldn't continue; Kai collapsed into the snow.
"Kai!" The Bladebreakers turned around and saw that Kai had collapsed. Max felt responsible; he had urged them to keep going. He had completely forgotten about Kai's state, and now that he thought about it was surprised he had made it that far.
Max was silent as they set up camp. He was upset with himself for allowing it to happen. "Hey, Max," Rei's voice interrupted his thoughts. "It's not your fault, none of us knew."
"Yeah," Tyson chimed in. "We didn't think that Kai--"
"Ssh!" Hilary put her index finger to her lips. "Kai's resting," she whispered. "Max, you were just doing what was best for the team," she added, quietly.
"Don't beat yourself up, Max," Kenny finally spoke up; he was still trying to fix Dizzi, but without success. "At any rate, Kai would never let us stop because of him."
^^^^^
"You are pathetic," Voltaire spat at Kai. Kai was being beaten, with several kicks and punches. "Useless weakling," he said, as another blow was aimed, breaking a rib. "You are a disgrace to the family," Voltaire said as he landed another kick to the face. "You don't deserve to live," he hissed, as a blade ran across his skin, drawing blood.
Kai watched as the memory faded away. As the memories of torment faded in and out of his restless sleep, Kai was forced to remember it all. The dark past he had tried to hide and forget about was back to haunt him.
The fractures of torture continued, repeating over and over again. Weak, disgrace, unworthy, useless. the words kept repeating themselves over and over again. They stung as much as the injuries themselves, and while a bruise heals, the words stick forever.
Only recently had Kai started to realize these things were not true. He began to feel happiness, and feelings other than pain, depression and anger. He had finally started to understand what friendship and trust truly was. All because of his friends, the Bladebreakers.
Through his nightmares, Kai smiled. Although images of him being beaten and abused, neglected and rejected were constantly flashing and the memories were there, he reminded himself that it was all in the past. He wanted to wake up and live.
Kai's eyes fluttered open, as a slight, determined smile appeared across his face.
^^^^^
That's the end of chapter 2! Review please! Thanks! ^-^
~ Penguin Pop