Me: Hey everyone been a while but I'm back.
Kai: Good because something's got to happen with this story
Me: I know I know all the poor little pieces of drama
Kai: Whatever, look what exactly is supposed to happen to me in this chapter?
Me: Happen to you? What makes you so special?
Kai: Well this is a story about me and I am your favorite character…
Me: Right keep telling yourself that. Anyway if you want to know what happens read and find out! Things are about to happen pretty fast in the next few chapters, trust me. It will make or break some characters.
Kai: Well that's encouraging.
Disclaimer: I don't own beyblade because if I did, it wouldn't stop after season three…
"Morning," Spencer spoke walking towards Bryan. The Avian nodded sitting by the window in the kitchen, bags clearly under his eyes from lack of sleep in the night. A glass of warm water sat in front of him steaming in the cool morning but it remained untouched.
"Everyone's starting to stir," the Marine spoke avoiding the tension. Spencer had no idea what could be going through his friend's mind, being one of the last people to talk to a dead man was not something to make light of, so he kept away from the subject. Only if Bryan wanted to talk about it nothing would be said but Spencer wasn't a fool because he knew Bryan didn't talk.
"Move and I'll make some tea."
The new voice opened in the room as Evanescence made her morning entrance. Nodding at her bad mood, Spencer moved out of her way and allowed her to work not bothering to help. She needed this. It was ten times worse for her. Her body made fast jerky movement that the lack of sleep couldn't follow.
"Ah!" the woman dropped the spoon and cup on the counter spilling the water. Her hand was on her wrist pulled back to her. "Damn it!"
"You're wrist," Bryan commented sounding like a question and observation. He was emotionless as the rest of the men emerged quickly from the living room.
"Dragoon," Tyson sighed seeing nothing was wrong. "We thought someone had broken in or something." His shirt was barely on, the last four buttons undone and Max was holding the other shoe in his left hand.
"Are you alright?" Hiro asked concerned ignoring the others.
"I'm fine," the she-wolf snapped. "It's just a bruise."
"Good," Tala finally emerged slowly. He had not followed the others waiting to see what was actually going on before becoming the hero. Didn't anyone but wolves know you're supposed to stalk and then kill?
"If that's all," he continued harshly, "than grow up."
"I am in no mood for a pampered palace kitten this morning so shut up," Evanescence growled. She moved back to making tea rather loudly with her back purposely towards them.
"They we're old," Tala remarked standing near the black wolf refusing to sit like the others. "Humans don't live as long as we do and shit happens sometimes so get over it."
"Tala," Rei started as everyone stared at the scene too shocked at the turn of events to speak. This was no way to deal with the situation.
"Shut Up!" She swung around. "Don't you think I know that?!" Her arm waved wildly and he grabbed it hard making her stop and stare at him.
"You're not a god," his eyes stared deeply into hers as if reading every sting of pain she felt. It was as if he knew and understood how she couldn't believe she had lost them. That she blamed herself for not realizing it soon enough to do anything to prolong death at least for a while.
His hand lightened in its grip but his eyes remained colder than the ice he controlled. "You can't save everyone."
Her face slightly as she searched him for something to cling too, the reality that his words created. No manifestation of a world where she could be forgiven was there and soon anger flew into her. How dare he tell her that! Did he think she was stupid?
"Go to hell," she growled lowly as her features became animal like.
Tala let go, "Gladly." He moved to a chair finally joining the others and ignored them leaning back and closing his eyes. Evanescence's turned finishing the tea.
Less than ten minutes later while Tyson and Bryan were engaging in a staring contest that the avian had no idea he was participating in the women walked into the room and began making breakfast. At the smell of food Tyson began to drool pissing Hilary off.
"Would you please stop doing that?" she snapped loosing it.
"What do you mean?"
"Drooling, your getting the front of your shirt completely wet!"
"I can't help it," Tyson wined. "I'm a growing boy."
"More like a growing gorilla," she mumbled.
"Hey what's that suppose to mean!"
"Apparently he's got the mind of one as well," she voiced as if preoccupied by something else.
"Why you!" Tyson stood. "You can't talk to me like that! I'm the Prince of Dragons."
Hilary turned towards the infuriated boy smirking, "Really? Well than I feel sorry for our race if you're the next in line to take the throne."
"Wha-?" Tyson paused as Max and the others watched trying to control their laughter at the entire scene. The morning it seemed was to be one were everyone was stepping on toes creating little dramas.
"You heard me and before you go off on how important you are and your social status I hate to burst your bubble but under the laws we're the same in that areas until you become King."
"How's that?" Max asked before Tyson could open his mouth.
Too happy to supply her knowledge and enjoying the attention Hilary explained. "I'm the daughter of the head of the Dragoon legion, our army. So we hold the same statues because the only one who's above him is the King not the Prince."
"So you're Kenny's sister?!" Tyson busted remembering his childhood friend who had gone to live with his cousins for the summer.
"Yes," Hilary replied. "Kenneth is my younger brother."
Defeated and suddenly in no mood to fight Tyson fell down in his chair sick Kenny had always talked of his sister as a beautiful and bright girl who was kind to almost anything and he was looking forward to meeting her. Hilary on the other hand was no babe or anyone he could see cooing over anything in the near future. Kenny needed to get his glasses checked.
"You could at least so some gratitude for me risking my life to save you than dragging you all the way here," he mumbled.
Hilary startled. Had he actually done that?! Suddenly she felt ashamed and blushed slightly. Maybe she had been to…well it didn't matter she couldn't apologize. Not here and now especially with her pride in the way.
She never got a chance to anyway as Alexander came out at that exact moment from the room where the dead lied. His clothes were changed into a black long sleeved shirt with even blacker pants and boots. His face was clean shaven making his blue triangles stick out more than usual.
The room was completely silent and somber but he either didn't notice or cared enough to acknowledge it.
"You can rest today but pack. The food and maps are at your disposal," His voice was colder than his eyes as he stared above them. "You will leave tomorrow, take what you need." With that said he moved gracefully outside without waiting for a reply or eating. The sooner they were gone the better.
"I think they were closer than he'd like us to believe," Mariah voiced sure Alexander was out of earshot. Her eyes couldn't help but roam to the door of the room.
"This was his home," Hiro spoke with such assurance that everyone stopped and looked at him. He had their undivided attention. "There's another bedroom under the house hidden from view. It's plain but there are toys, clothes, books and paper. It looked like a child and adults room together so my guess is your hosts where his foster parents."
"Foster?" Ilyana asked.
"Their human and Alexander's clearly not. He was probably orphaned during the war," he picked up his spoon taking a bite.
"Wow," Hilary looked down. "That's sad, I know a lot of that happened but to se the effects of losing two sets of parents…no wonder he's so bitter."
"He was a sourpuss before all this," Tyson started using the words to buffer his emotions.
Lex moved suddenly from the table. Putting her dishes away she put another set on a tray filling a glass of hot tea. She moved out the door without any interference determined not to hear another word.
Bryan sighed at her retreat knowing exactly what events were playing through her head.
Lex found him under a tree at the end of the land far from view. An odd red bird squawked at her coming but Alexander didn't mover or look her direction. Unshaken she sat down near placing the tray with in his reach. Staring at him she couldn't help but feel a great sadness for him and understanding. In her mind she had already forgiven him for the other day. He was like her and had seen too many deaths.
She did nothing more, knowing he wanted peace. She'd ran away the day the news of her fathers death had came and her mothers as well. So she got up to leave when he called.
"Why?" His voice was low but she caught it and stopped turning half round.
"Why do you pity me," he continued spitting out each word. "Deaths apart of life."
Lex frowned confused by his words and the strong emotion he had used to speak them. Pity? Why would she pity him? All she had to offer was sadness and a shoulder to cry on but pity. Trying to make him understand she shook her head and moved back to him. In a motherly gesture she pushed the hair from his eyes.
His hand moved to grab her wrist and he stared up into her eyes keeping her in place. She was shocked by his reaction and the intense gazes that flew from the blood yes shiny with unshed emotion.
"I'm not in any need of you help. You and the rest of them can rot in hell for all I care." He threw her hand away and stood tossing the food over with his foot.
"Don't think you know me," he hissed angry pushing her into a tree. Lex took the blow and fell to the ground wincing quietly as he stood above her.
"You," his breath was ice, "and your fucking brother can die along with every other avian on this planet." It was said with so much force that Alexander's breathing had increased dramatically. Turning tightly he moved away as swift as his legs would let him not bothering to look back.
Lex sat a good five minutes staring at where his retreated figure had disappeared into the woods. The sting of his words had left her numb and immobile. She couldn't think, let alone decipher what he had said for the longest before tears sprung to her eyes. Moving awkwardly she picked up the ruined food and headed for the house.
Her eyes were red and puffy so everyone at the table saw when she came in, but she could care less. Let them think what they wanted she wasn't even sure about what she should be thinking at the moment.
"Lex?" Ilyana questioned moving beside her friend, but the girl tensed. The elf shared a glance with the wolf and the two women sighed mentally.
Bryan stood silently moving beside her, "Lex what happened?"
His sister continued to put the dishes away not bothering to look in his direction. "Did he hurt you?" Bryan asked. Not getting an answer he gripped her shoulder suddenly alarmed, "Lex?"
Her hand shook and she dropped the glass shattering on the floor but breaking unlike Evenescence's that morning. Being the breaker of the moment, Lex left the cup and gripped the counter closing her eyes and sighing. She calmed herself and looked at Bryan pointing to her mouth and shaking her head. Even if he had ment what he said this was no time to blame him for freaking out.
Bryan moved and started to speak when she shook her head and the matter was dropped. She knew now though that her overly protective brother would be watching Alexander now like hawk watching his prey. She laughed inwardly at the joke, it was exactly like Bryan was a hawk and always had been.
"Well that was interesting," Tyson remarked. "So are we doing this or what?" his tone was overly excited and intent on doing whatever it was. Lex looked towards them confused.
"We're going to snoop around the secret room," Ilyana filled her in and watched Lex frown. She didn't feel good about doing that and the elf saw it clearly. Lex had always been one that stuck to honor and a code and she couldn't help but roll her eyes. Honestly Ilyana was sure the girl had never really taken a risk in her entire life. How boring.
"Alright fine, follow me," Hiro got up and walked down the hall stopping after exactly twenty steps. "It's right here."
"No way," Max stated looking at the wall. "How in the world could it be here? It's just a wall."
"Look closer," Tala spoke. "There's a cut in the wood that shouldn't be there."
"Huh?" Tyson whined. "I don't see it!"
"Neither do I," Hilary spoke.
"It's right here," Tala pushed the wall firmly and it swung in slightly. He moved his hand up and pushed more before doing the same thing up the length. It was only than that the door finally swung open to a staircase.
"Wow talk about creepy," Max stated.
"Come on," Hiro urged. "Watch your step it's dark."
"Oh man," Mariah complained and gripped Rei's arm tightly as they were already in the dark. "This is scary."
"Give me a second and we can see," Hilary spoke from the darkness behind her. A few seconds a faint glow came off her skin illuminating the entire starcase and the start of the floor below.
"Cool," Max smiled. "Light's an awesome element!"
"Thank you Prince Max," Hilary smiled arrogantly.
"It's not that great," Tyson muttered.
"What did you say?" Hilary threatened.
"Nothing," Tyson snapped quickly and threw up his hands in a defense pose. "We should get down there." He sighed in relief as they walked down without another skirmish. The girl was just too snobby and self righteous, he thought, MY power is much cooler.
"Well this is plain," Ilyana muttered sounding disappointed and shocked at the same time.
The floor was hard dirt and dust was everywhere along with several candles that had burned nearly down. In the far left corner was a mattress barely off the ground and filled with straw as well as the pillow. Several hunting weapons were mounted on the walls above two small boxes full of toys that hadn't been touched in years. To the right was another box of clothes and beside it a large bookcase full of texts but mainly scrap paper.
"It's so simple," Mariah agreed.
"Are you sure this was his room," Tala asked skeptical.
Smirking slightly Hiro moved and picked up some disguarded clothing, Alexander's shirt from yesterday. "Still any doubts?" he asked. Tala huffed.
"Look at all these books," Ilyana moved towards the book shelves. "There are tons of them."
"You can read?" Mariah asked with a raised eyebrow mockingly. Ilyana may have been an elf but she was a peasant and last time Mariah had checked only one out of every fifty could read or write.
"Yes I can," Iyana shot back quickly. What she really wanted to do was call the pink haired freak a couple of choice words but she let it slide. Mariah wasn't worth her time or effort. "There are bunch here on every kingdom."
"Let me see," Rei moved beside her suddenly interested. "Most of these look like geographic books about every one of them, elf, wolf, dragon, marine…"
"That's wired," Tala moved near them. "Why would someone need to study every land." He picked up a book and flipped through it.
"Look at the detail," Ilyana whispered staring at the drawings. "Who wrote these?"
"The second page said James," Rei informed her. "You don't think it could be the same old man? Do you?"
Bryan moved over and voiced his opinion. "He was well educated." The avian couldn't understand why he felt the need to defend the dead man but than again he could after what had occurred yesterday. Even though he was gone his memory held a certain respect from the avian.
"I like the bows," Evenescence spoke staring at the weapons. "These are well made."
"This is probably the his study," Max voiced.
"No, a child was here," Hilary stated holding a stuffed bear with a missing eye.
"Look it doesn't matter," Tala snapped. "The whole reason we're here is to find out what he is, so look around and find something."
"What's the rush I bet we have all day," Spencer mumbled.
"Why do you say that?" Ilyana asked.
"Because he's going to want to be alone for a while," Spencer muttered looking at the floor. "I wouldn't want to come back to a place were my parents laid in a room dead."
"Whatever," Tala remarked. "Rei could you hand me those blue covered books?"
"Sure," Rei handed him the book full of loose paper.
Lex sighed as she watched them go through Alexander's things. Sure she was curious but going through someone else's belongings was a little ridicules. Everyone deserved some sense of privacy.
"Are we almost to the kingdom," a young man with brown hair asked looking out the carriage to the head guard.
"Not yet," Goki laughed at the princes expression. "It will be a good day before we reach there."
Prince Wyatt of the human race sighed and leaned back in his seat. Another whole day until he would reach his room at the human castle and could finally get some alone time away from the guards. Since Max's abduction and the others rescue mission his parents had increased the guard ten fold hoping to stop anyone from doing the same to him.
"Do I really need this many people though," Wyatt sighed. He felt awful about what had happened to Max. The blond was one of his best friends in the world and he felt useless being unable to do anything. He would give anything to be with Rei and the others looking for Max, at least then he wouldn't be hiding away in a castle.
A short scream was heard out side as the carriage stopped suddenly. "What?" Wyatt voiced trying to pick himself off the bed of the carriage which he had fallen on. "What's going on?!" he yelled as more screams and curses were heard.
The top of the carriage was pulled off and Wyatt looked up wide eyed into the eyes of a large man. He had a red cloak that fell to his ankles matching the scar that ran down his face. The sun light glinted slightly at his bald head as he grinned down at him.
"Looks like I found you Prince," he smirked. "Just hang tight, the battle's almost over."
"Who are you?" Wyatt growled pulling out a sword.
"O Come now Wyatt do we have to spill blood?" A calm voice came through the back ground that had finally quieted down. It was a deafening silence and Wyatt suddenly whished he could hear the sound of metal clashing with metal again.
Throwing open the door Wyatt fell to his feet quickly pulling out the sword at his belt as he surveyed the damage. The skirmish was short barely lasting five minutes as the guards had been completely caught off. Wyatt felt bile come to his throat as he stared at the bloody dirt. He had never been a fighter becoming easily squeamish at the sight of blood.
"Do you still intend to fight?" The soothing voice came again and this time Wyatt caught the face.
"Brooklyn thank goodness you're here, no wonder the battle was over quickly." The human held the avian in high esteem knowing the head of the united army, though young, had never lost a battle or gained a scar.
Brooklyn smirked slightly. "It's good to see you my Prince, you can put away your sword now."
"Oh right," he blushed putting the sword away. Why couldn't he be like him? "Brooklyn do you-" the breath left him as the fist rammed in his gut. Falling to his knees Wyatt felt the world go hazy as he fell unconscious.
"Did you have to do it that way?" Brooklyn asked looking at Garland. The elf nodded. "So be it than. Is Mystel back?"
"Yes I am," the marine fell from the tree with great acrobatic grace. "I've found the others and you're not going to believe where." He smiled behind the golden mask covering the upper half of his face.
"Just spit it out," the large human Crusher jumped off the carriage. He didn't bother to avoid the dead human carcass as he stepped on it.
"They're at the edge of the avian kingdom," Mystel grinned. "I found a thug willing to tell everything. They we're at the waterfall when they came out of the woods to protect a pink haired elf and a brown haired dragon with the power of light. The elf controls earth."
"Mariah and Hilary," Brooklyn spoke smiling slightly. It was so poetic that everything was going exactly as it should in the tragedy of the kingdoms.
"They were with the kidnapper and several others though," Mystel voiced. "But I don't think that we'll be out numbered."
"No," Garland agreed. "Everything's going according to plan. When do you want to go after them?" He looked at Brooklyn.
"We should leave now," Brooklyn looked at peace. Garland nodded and Crusher lifted the unconscious brunette on his shoulder. "Tell the others to met us at the ancient volcano."
Mystel nodded getting his orders and headed off to met with the other group as the rest started towards the falls.
"Brook," Goki stuttered. "lyn, th…this isn't over yet." He was leaning against a large tree away from them pretending to be dead. His left arm was broken and an arrow was lodged in his shoulder but the large man was sure that he wasn't going to die. All he had to do was hold out until the group of priests past by, the Majestics, who were headed towards the castle.
"Then I'll have Kane come after you," Goki promised Wyatt. Brooklyn was a traitor and he was going to die.
"This is getting so stupid," Evenescence muttered. "We've been in here for hours and we've found nothing of importance. She was sitting on the bed with the others holding books filled with information on every existing nation.
"What about this one," Hiro tossed it to her.
Sighing Evenescence looked through it and gasped. "These pictures," she began to flip through it quickly.
"What?" Max asked her interested as everyone stopped. It was about time they found something.
Evenescence put the book down and flipped through it. On the pages were cities and streets but unlike the other books it didn't have information at the bottom. It was just pictures full of people crying, laughing and dying. It was sketches.
"What in the world," Spencer muttered. "These are streets in the west cities of the Marine kingdom."
"That's the slave trade," Ilyana pointed out a harbor in the dragon kingdom were a couple was being pulled apart. The pain in their eyes obvious and clear to everyone in the room.
"These are so real," Mariah muttered.
"Amazing," Rei agreed picking up the picture of three little boys huddled in the middle of the streets trying to keep warm as it snowed around them.
"Depressing really," Ilyana voiced. "All of these pictures surround death and destruction."
"Did he draw these?" Tala asked.
"There's no name," Hiro voiced . "Only the dates they were finished."
"These are good but jeez couldn't he have found a sunnier thing to draw?" Tyson asked. "I mean why all these pictures about people dying in the slave trade and everything."
"Maybe he's trying to say something," Bryan hissed. Tyson was right though these pictures surrounded the poor and the slaves.
Lex pushed past Hiro and grabbed two pictures that vividly showed the truth about what was happening to her people. She couldn't understand, if Alexander didn't like her people, hated them in fact, than why did he have these pictures?
"I'm hungry," Tyson complained as they stared at the pictures. "Nothings here and it's lunchtime."
"Actually we've been here so long that it's probably already six o'clock," Hiro informed him lightly. "It's dinner time."
"You have to be kidding me!" Tyson yelled jumping to his feet. "How could I have missed lunch?!" he rushed to the door not caring as he tripped up the staircase in hysterics.
"Please tell me he's not always like that?" Hilary asked disgusted.
"Well not this bad," Max laughed as he scratched the back of his head in a Tyson like manner.
"We'd better get up there before he destroys the place," Rei spoke as they heard a light crash.
"Alright this was fruitless anyway," Iyana muttered. She was about to put the pictures up but Lex beat her to it. She stared at the avian but the other girl didn't even look up as she stared at each picture before putting it up in the bindings of the book.
Five minutes later the girls were in the kitchen cooking while the guys waited at the table trying to sooth Tyson. Forty minutes later they were eating as Alexander came in.
He said nothing as he walked back and made no eye contact with anyone was he started up the stairs to a different room. The others stared at their food, it being more interesting than the saddened atmosphere in the house.
Finishing first Bryan put his dishes away and stepped out of the house wanting some fresh air. He glared at the sky in wonder at how dark it was. What did Hiro say, it was six o'clock when they got out of the basement? That would mean it had to be almost seven thirty at the latest. The sun didn't set until eight forty so why was it so dark?
The wind pushed past him quickly and Bryan held out a hand testing its speed. It had to be going a good twenty miles an hour. Why did it suddenly change so fast? There was no wind this morning. It didn't make any sense.
Bryan was so wrapped up in the weather that he didn't notice Max come out the door and stand beside him. The young prince immediately frowned as he glanced up at the darkened sky. The moisture in the air quickly caught his attention and the salt.
"Spencer," Max turned back into the house and asked for the giant to come out with him. Weary but obedient the blonde left the food and came behind the smaller framed youth. Looking out he immediately widened his eyes in shock and grasped his hands together.
"What do you sense?" Bryan asked looking at the two. "Some things wrong, the wind shouldn't be this fast."
"There's salt water in the air," Max answered him. "This isn't good."
"A storms coming our way from the ocean," Spencer elaborated. "We've got to move." He turned back inside and the other two quickly followed.
"Hiro where's the maps?" Spencer asked anxiously. Everyone stopped at the anxious man, Spencer never was in a real hurry or rush about anything. The man was like a stone barely moving, never one to get caught up or excited.
"What's wrong?" Hiro asked frowning. He stood quickly from the table as Max went over to a window and opened it. The others were shocked looking at the darkened sky.
"There's a storm system coming, " Max informed him. "A big one and it'll probably be on us in two days. Where's the maps?"
Trusting the sea man Hiro rushed to get them as the others cleared the table quickly throwing everything in the sink. Tyson opened the window slightly and frowned at the wind, his thoughts running along the same line as Bryan. "How bigs this storm Maxie?"
'I don't know," Max answered trying to figure it out himself.
Hiro came back with the maps and they spread it out on the table. "Where are we located anyway?" Max asked. "How close are we to the ocean?"
"The volcano is right here," Hiro pointed to the large mountain. "We're very close to it."
"But not behind it," Max noted. Hiro nodded. The two marines looked at each other in a frowning agreement and sighed. "That's only a good fifty miles from the ocean," Max outlined the water with his finger. "This isn't good."
"What's going on?" Tyson asked. Alexander made his way down stairs and looked at the group without actually seeing them.
"It's a hurricane Tyson or a typhoon as you call them," Max informed him. "And it's going to hit us soon and hard."
Alexander looked at them walking towards the table. The others looked at him in response and Max decided to inform him completely as to what was going on. "This cabin is in the direct path of a huge storm system that's about to leave the ocean and hit mainland. When it hit's this valley is going to get the largest storm it's ever seen with the strongest wind."
"Could this structure hold up?" He asked looking down at the blonde with a serious expression. It was Bryan that answered.
"If the rain doesn't take it out the wind will, we need to hit high ground and fast."
Alexander's expression didn't change as he looked at the map. "How long?"
"It'll hit by tomorrow afternoon though you won't be able to really tell because there'd be no sun."
His brow creased. He had flown around today hard and fast, the sweat was still caked to his shirt and pants. He had noticed that darkness had come faster than it should so he expected a storm but not a hurricane. As much as he hated to admit it they were right. The cabin was going to be blown away.
"Do you have any idea where we could go for shelter to wait it out?" Hiro voiced thinking about their next step. They needed to pack up enough supplies for a few days and wait it out.
"In the side of the volcano there's a cave high above the ground and deep enough to protect you," Alexander spoke calmly but his fist clenched. He looked at the table remembering James' warnings and words. Should he risk it?
"Where?" Hiro pressed as if knowing that Alexander might refuse to tell them at any moment.
"I'll take you there," Kai heard his voice but could barely register the words until a moment to late. He sighed quietly tired. He prayed he knew what he was doing. "Get your things and we'll leave now. We should get there in seven hours if we leave soon."
Max nodded thoughtfully, "That would give us enough time."
"Than do it," Kai voiced. He had a headache and a slight pain in his upper back. The cave was deep, he told himself. As long as he kept an eye on them they wouldn't go to far back and find the doors. He pushed the wall open not caring if they watched him or not and walked into the room. He didn't have much time.
Lifting up the floor boards he pulled out three large sacs and piled his books and weapons in them. He didn't bother with his old toys or most of his clothes. He wasn't coming back to this place anyway. No one was in the kitchen as he walked by with everything he needed on his back.
"What the heck am I going to do?" he looked up at the sky asking his dead parents but the dark clouds just rolled on. No answer, they never gave him one. With a long sigh he walked around and opened the gates to the horse stall and chicken coop in the back. The animals were free now, would they survive he didn't know but right now he couldn't bring himself to care.
At the edge of the clearing he looked back at the cabin and a pain erupted in his stomach. He knew what must be done but it was going to kill apart of him to do it. Opening his wings he lifted the bags and flew off quickly into the dark.
"Where'd he go?!" Tyson screeched.
"He's not in the house," Ilyana frowned coming down stairs. Their guide had been gone for two hours and there was no sign of him coming back. Without him they had no idea where to go.
"We have to leave now," Hiro voiced. His hand clenched around the map in his hands. They'd wasted too much time waiting on Alexander to return. Though he hated to admit it he wasn't completely surprised the male had left them on their own. He always seemed to be anxious around them.
"Let's go," Hiro was commanding. "We should go up the volcano anyway to avoid the water and wind." They nodded eager to follow his commands. As they stepped off the porch he led them towards the dead volcano.
Alexander caught sight of them half an hour later and ducked quickly from their view before anyone decided to look towards the sky. He dived down as fast as he could which had increased without the weight of the full sacs on his back. Crimson wings disappeared into his back as he cursed. That was too close for comfort.
Dranzer who had flown beside him landed on his shoulder and Alexander sighed pinching the brink of his nose. He hadn't really expected them to wait for him but to have almost flown directly over them? This was getting to close and once he led them to safety it was just going to get worse and the stakes higher for losing his identity….and so much more.
"What kind of avian am I," he grumbled. "I thought the Hiwatari's were suppose to be all great so why can't I make a few sacrifices to save what's left of our kingdom." As he mused to himself the answer came. Because the Kingdom of the avians was a figment of his imagination, destroyed long ago, and he wasn't a murderer. He could kill yes but only if he had no other option. And that's what got him into this mess in the first place.
"Follow Dranzer," he voiced as he came out in front of them. The bird on his shoulder chirped loudly and flew off his shoulder.
"Where the heck did you come from?!" Tyson cried. "Where were you?"
Kai frowned. He didn't have to take that from the likes of him.
"You mean follow a BIRD?!" Mariah voiced in shock as she raised an eyebrow. No way that was going to happen.
Kai sighed seeing that the others needed to be convinced to follow Dranzer, he still had business to take care of. As he stood there it started to rain slowly and thundered. "Dranzer knows the path better than I do, follow him and you'll get there safe." It was the truth, in flight Kai would usually just take the shortest route but Dranzer would fly overhead James whenever the man had taken the path. She knew how to get there on foot.
"Where will you be?" Hiro asked.
"I have some things to take care of," Kai answered hostile. "Just follow Dranzer." He didn't give them time to argue as he went back into the woods quickly. The others looked at each other but the bird chirped overhead as it began to slowly fly off, they followed.
At the cabin Kai walked into the room where they laid looking down at them. Both James and Jamie still smelled of the sweet summer that he had grown accustomed to and he felt tears come to his eyes.
"I hope I know what I'm doing," he grasped James hand. "Please finally be at peace." The old man and his wife had been running for all their life constantly looking behind them for danger. Maybe know they were at peace.
He knelt again and kissed both of their cold foreheads before going out into the kitchen. He made a cup of tea and sat quietly as the wind continued to pick up. If Max was right than they would be at the cabin before the bad weather kicked in, and so would he.
The wind outside rocked the house and water began to drip through the roof, a leak that James would curse every time it rained even when he was little. The old man never got around to fixing it. A sorrow hit his heart and it dropped the cup to hold his head. He should have done it. He should have flown on top of the roof and fixed the hole so James wouldn't have to drag bucket after bucket to catch the water.
It would have been so easy to do. Why didn't he do it?! Tears sprung to Kai's eyes as he leaned back and let his body rest. He had not slept last night and that was evident now, his body was weak and would fail him in flight to the cliff he didn't pick back up his strength.
Moving around nosily he grabbed a piece of stale bread left behind and began to chew. The storm could last days, weeks, he knew that. He didn't know how he was going to stop them from finding his secret. During the hike here his back ached to let go of his wings and that was just two days. How long could he torture his body?
He sat in the darkened room for what seemed days but was only five hours. When he glanced at the clock he knew they were already at only two miles from the cave. Dranzer was a merciless slave driver, they would have to keep up a harsh pace not to loose her.
Kai walked outside and stood in front of the cabin. The harsh wind beat up against his back and the water immediately began to soak him. So this was what they called a hurricane? He glanced towards the direction of the volcano no longer visible do to the darkness and sighed. It was going to be a hard flight.
Looking back to the cabin he smiled lightly. The two resting in there were not avains. It was against the avain law to do this, but he didn't care. Both James and Jamie had done more for him than any one else had. Besides, he smirked, technically he was a wifeless King so his word was law. They deserved to go out like winged royalty.
"My Dranzer's fire lead you to the next world," he muttered. "May the phoenix give you rebirth where your family lies, where we will met again." It was a short prayer but it brought tears to his eyes that were once again blocked by the rain. His hands raised he felt the fire surge through him and steam come off his back. Through the tips of his fingers the house began to burn in a fire so blue that the rain could never hope to extinguish it.
Kai watched the blaze until it consumed the house. Not being a normal fire, but something alive, it only took five minutes. A short funeral. He looked up at the sky as it masked his tears and smiled sadly. This was the second time he'd had to say good-bye and the second time the sky had watched over him. Maybe it hadn't abandoned him yet.
The smoke rose from the ruins and his back arched revealing the wings he loved. A blood red like his fathers but gold tipped matching his mothers. This was really the only thing they had ever had the chance to give him and as much as he loved them it was a curse. If anyone looked at him they could brand him easily as their son, the last in what was a long royal line.
Shaking his head allowing his bangs to hit his forehead Kai turned and took off towards the great mountain.
"This is it," Iyana cried happily running inside. The cave was dark but dry.
"Water will still get in here," Mariah mumbled as she sat down, her feet swore. Most of the others followed her example exhausted.
"Is the food alright?" Tala asked.
"It's dry," Bryan and Rei replied at the same time. The elf blushed slightly but the avian glared. Lex pushed past then to put down some lumber she'd been carrying. Tyson behind her did as well.
"What good is wood if it's wet," he mumbled. "We can't light this and I'm shivering."
"Max and Spencer can lift the water out," Hiro sighed telling him the obvious answer. "Your not very smart are you Tyson," he thought not knowing wither to be amused or disappointed.
"Lex can get the water out of our clothes so we won't catch cold," he continued.
The nodded in agreement as they started. It took a good ten minutes but everyone was dry and so was the wood.
"How come it still won't start," Tala yelled frustrated as he threw the fire starter against the wall. He'd been trying for the longest but the wood still wouldn't' light.
"Maybe it's because your ice," Ilyana spoke bored as she watched him.
"Very funny," Tala growled dangerously.
"Look it's simple," Ilyana walked towards him. "You're just not doing it right."
"I don't need your help."
"Stop being a baby," she shot back. "I'm cold and I'm going to get this fire started if you can't."
The bird squeaked as the two began to yell and a burst of fire came from the front of the cave landing in the heart of the wood. It immediately began to light and warm the group as they looked up.
A silhouette Kai looked back at them before walking in. His red eyes and dark bags on his face creating an eerie demon like expression. When he spoke his voice was dark and heavy with a fatigue he couldn't hide.
"Rei, Ilyana, and Mariah I want you to create a barrier between us and the storm. Lift a small wall from the ground up but stop a little over half way to allow air to come through. Than go back and pull a wall from the ceiling down to stop the water from coming in but don't allow it to hit the floor so the air can still come through."
"Okay," Mariah voiced confused but she just did what the others did. As they worked Lex came up to Kai slowly happy that he didn't push her away as she placed a hand on his chest.
Instead he looked down at her curiously as if seeing her for the first time as she pulled the water from his clothes making them dry. He smiled faintly as he glanced over to see Bryan staring at him hard and measuring.
A light chuckle came from in the cave but he didn't register it as his own but it was. He found it amusing how over protective Bryan could be despite his cold out ward appearance. His eyes slid down to Lex as she concentrated hard not meeting his eye. He caught sight of the medallion and reached down to pull it out of her shirt.
She gasped and almost pulled away but his left hand engulfed the hand on his chest keeping it there. He wasn't aware of what he was doing but it suddenly didn't matter. He fingered the steel in his hands and looked in her eyes as she stared up at him confused and unsure. In the back of his mind he heard Bryan move off the wall towards him but that didn't matter, let him come.
A sudden poem came to his mind and he couldn't help but blurt it out, "I to you and you to I, together in flight under the golden sky." He watched her eyes amused as narrowed hers confused but than they suddenly widened in understanding.
He smiled lightly knowing she knew his secret and realizing it didn't matter if she did. She wouldn't tell, he could trust her with that as an apology for that morning. Thinking of the morning he frowned slightly. What was he doing? Was he out of his mind? He couldn't answer himself as the world suddenly grew dark and he fell into unconsciousness.
Lex fell back under the sudden heavy weight but luckily Bryan was there to pull him off of her. She stayed on the ground holding her medallion staring at him. What had he just said? He couldn't be an…avian. Her mind wondered as she watched her brother lift him up growling.
"What the heck is his damn problem?" Spencer came to his aide and they moved him to the fire lying him down.
"Fatigue," Evenescence voiced moving beside him. "He probably didn't sleep all night and used up way to much energy today. He's just very tired."
"Fine he can sleep," Bryan barked. "But when he wakes up he's going to explain what that shit was all about." His eyes fell back to his sister as he helped her up. How dare Alexander do that to her! He didn't care how off the boy was because of James and Jamie's deaths. He had no right to treat her badly like he did this morning. When he woke up he was going to explain that the easy way or with his dagger. It didn't matter to him.
That night Lex couldn't sleep as she sat against the wall watching the fire flicker in the night. It danced across Alexander's sleeping features, the calmest she'd ever seen him and it mesmerized her. He looked so peaceful and it was…she couldn't place the feeling. Her mind repeated the old poem he'd spoken over and over in her head, no one else had heard it thank goodness because she didn't even know what to make out of it. The only thing he could have meant however, and that was what was keeping her up, was that he was just like her, an Avian.
Me: Alright who saw Kai passing out? If you did than you got super powers because I didn't even know about it until I wrote it.
Kai: that makes no sense.
Me: Yes it does. I wrote 21 pages! OMG world freakin record!!!! I feel so proud!
Kai: Riiight. Anyway I won our argument earlier, something did happen to me
Me: -smile sweetly- Okay you get to do my dishes
Kai: what?!
Me: that was the deal, if you won you got dish duty
Kai: there was no deal
Me: yes there was
Kai: no
Me: April says there was….
Kai: -opens and closes mouth- fine if April says so….-grumbles
Me: see isn't it just better to agree? Anyway I introduced Wyatt! Yah! And the plot thickens. Thanks for reading.
Kai: -still grumbling-
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