Chapter Two

"So you're the girl everyone's been talking about."

I whirled around to find the owner of the voice and it belongs to a girl who looked about my age. Her brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail, letting her unusually pointy ears show. Her golden eyes sparkled as she smiled, showing off her unusually sharp canines. Well, unusual to anyone else anyway. It didn't surprise me to see her with those attributes, I had them myself. It was weird not to see someone else carrying those traits. Like everyone else she was dressed in traditional Chinese clothing: a silky purple short top, dark purple shorts, black slippers, and black wrist bands that had the yin yang symbol on it.

"I'm surprised you're actually talking to my face," I commented as I dropped my bag on the empty bed of the small round hut.

"I don't have a reason not to," she commented as she walked in and held out her hand. "Hi, I'm Mei."

"Crystal," I responded. I glanced at her hand for a moment before finally grasping it and gave it a few shakes. "So, I guess I'm going to be staying with you here."

"I guess." She paused and asked, "How come I've never seen you around here before?"

"I was born here," I replied slowly. I concentrated hard to keep my mind on the conversation and continued after clearing my throat. "But I was banned and wasn't allowed back here." Shrugging at her reaction (raised eyebrows) I still pressed on. "But there is a beyblade tournament that is coming up that I can't miss. The catch was that you had to blade with the team from your district. That's why I'm back."

"I see," was all Mei said before she moved over to a trunk and lifted the lid. She went through piles of clothes before she tossed shoes, pants, a shirt, and gloves at me. "The Elder said I had to give you clothes to wear while you were here. You're not allowed to wear those."

I looked down at the street clothes I was wearing. I didn't see anything wrong with them, they've become a sort of comfort for me once I left. I couldn't just get rid of them. We went back and forth about it for a while, each arguing our case until she threatened to get the Elder. At that point I knew that I had lost an had better comply with her, with all of them. I didn't want him on my back so I changed clothes, but I continued to wear my brown cargo shorts. My other clothes were replaced with a silky sleeveless blue top, those black slipper shoes, a black fingerless glove and a blue fingerless glove, both with yin-yang symbols on the backs. ("I couldn't find the match to either of those," Mei explained.) While letting out another heavy sigh as pulled my scrunchie out of my hair and replaced with with a cloth tied a cloth. 'You're doing this for Dricen. Don't forget that, you're doing all of this for Dricen.'

The rest of the day was spent doing task after task after task just to please the group. First I had to carry wood from the woods to huts in the villages, then I had to help some of the women sew as I listened to some of the older women tell stories about their old days, after that I had to cook dinner for practically everyone in the village, after that I had to wash dishes, and to top it all off I had to wash a bunch of clothes in the nearby river. Once I got into the bed I was extremely pissed off at everyone (and sorer than I ever have been in a while) I'm sure they knew it too, but I kept my mouth shut. No need to give them a reason to look even more smug.

The sharp, crisp sound of birds chirping the next morning roused me from my dreamless sleep. Making a face at the noise, I yawned before slipping on my shoes and leaving the hut as quietly as possible. I walked down the dirt path into the woods, looked around, and then took off into a sprint. I liked the sound that the wind made as it whistled in my ear. While weaving in and out of trees that were in my way I pulled out y beyblade and my launcher. I ripped my blade and allowed it to spin next to me as I continued running. I didn't know where my feet were taking me, but I knew I had to get away from the village for a while.

And that's when I found it.

The old waterfall.

The roaring of the rushing water immediately calmed my nerves once I stopped running and stood to stare at it. I've been here too many times in the past that a part of me wanted to just leave and leave the bad memories behind with it, but the pull was too strong. It was always too strong. Moving closer to the clear water I paused after a few steps to remove my shoes and again after a few more to rid myself of my shirt. Looking down I checked to make sure my bandages were still tight around my chest and nodded once I knew it was secure.

The water was still as cold as I remember. It made goosebumps jump onto my skin and a shiver roll down my spine in only the best of ways. It seemed to wake up my senses. I wiggled my toes into the soft, squishy mud at the bottom and took in and released a few deep breathes. I waded into the water before swimming over to where the falls hit the pond. Once I got close enough I took a breath and stood beneath it. The shock from being hit with that much water made me let my breath go, but I was expecting it. It took a couple of minutes for me to get used to the water beating on my head, down my shoulders and my back, but eventually it felt like rhythmic beating.

I smiled a little when I heard Dricen spinning somewhere near me. I knew he was feeling what I was feeling, Dricen and I were connected like that. Few could understand how strong my bond with him is, it's like he's a part of me, like I'm the solid part of him. I see what he sees and I breathe his breaths. After a while I opened my eyes and let out a cleansing breath before swimming back out of the pool and climbing out of it. Dricen spun over to me and landed in my outstretched palm. I set hm down and began to squeeze out of my ponytail when my muscles tensed.

Someone was here.

"Dricen, go!" I commanded. He suddenly shot towards the bushes that were surrounding the waterfall. I heard a faint metal clinking sound and smiled as I pulled my Chinese shirt back over my head. Dricen flew back at me and spun at my feet as a gray blade followed. "I should've known you'd follow me."

"I have to make sure I know where any member of the team is at all times," Ray commented as he stepped out of the bushes.

"Good to know," I responded as I rolled my eyes. "You sure you weren't just waiting to get a peek?"

He pulled a face but didn't say a word. I had to turn away from him, I didn't like the way he was looking at me. My fingers had barely brushed Dricen to pick him up when he spoke again. "Battle me," he said suddenly.

"Excuse me?" I questioned as I turned to look at him. Was he crazy?

"I have to see if you deserve your place on the team or if the Elder is making a mistake," Ray responded. "Driger, go!"

How dare he say such a thing! "You're going to regret underestimating me!" I growled as I glared at him. "Dricen, attack!" I watched intently as our blades started attacking each other. In the back of my head I could hear Dricen growling in pain on several occasions. 'C'mon Drice', hang in there. You can do it.' I clenched my hands into fists when Driger started to push Dricen back. 'C'mon Drice', try to get away. Try to fight back.' "Dricen, Mecca Claw!" I smiled in satisfaction as my blade started to glow the familiar blue color as Dricen's roar echoed in my head. "Huh?"

His blade was gone!

"Above the battle zone is a battle zone too," Ray commented as I looked up and into his determined face. I let his words sink in and looked up to see Driger starting to fall back into the dish.

"No!" I gasped as he plummeted faster. There was no way that Dricen would be able to get out of the way of that attack.

"All right Driger, Gatling Claw!" Ray commanded as his beyblade started to glow green.

"Dricen, meet that attack with Mecca Claw!" I commanded as my beyblade glowed blue once more. The two blades clashes and electricity was sent flying out everywhere. I covered my face with my arms and I could hear Dricen's battle roar in the back of my head. I slowly lowered my arms and looked into the dish. Our blades were still spinning, but they were barley hanging on. "Go Dricen, Frozen Tundra!"

"Driger, Gatling Claw again!"

'He can't be serious! Driger will loose too much spin if he tries to go for that attack, especially with Dricen's Frozen Tundra attack covering the ground' I thought as I watched in satisfaction as the ground started to get encased in ice. Driger tried to spin away from the ice that was chasing it, but it got hit from behind and started to wobble dangerously close to the point of falling over.

"Driger…jump…" Ray said calmly as he watched his blade. I raised my eyebrows but my unasked question was answered when he slammed onto the ice, causing it to crack. Dricen ran over a crack and the crack split the ice, causing shards to fly in the air. Dricen was bombarded by shards and was knocked off of the frozen ground and landed on its side. I smiled a little in satisfaction when I noticed that Driger had suffered the same fate.

I closed my eyes and a soft growl escaped my throat. Blood began to pump through my veins and I turned to kick at a rock. How was he able to do that? There was just no way…no one was ever able to use that attack against me…no one. I opened my eyes to find Ray standing in front of me and holding my beyblade in his outstretched palm. I looked at him, as if it was a trap, but I reached out my hand and took it from him.

"Thanks," I muttered as I tucked a strand of my jet black hair behind my ear as I inspected my blade.

"You're welcome," he responded as he put his blade back in its pocket. "You're a strong opponent…you just have a lot to learn about battle tactics. And your defense is very weak."

"Hm," I grunted. Once I was satisfied that nothing happened to Dricen I put him back into my pocket. "And I'm guessing that you're going to be the one teaching me?" I questioned as I crossed my arms and gave him a pointed look. His from in my vision cut in half when I squinted at him.

"Training begins in an hour," was all he responded before he turned his back and walked back down the path.

I hated it when he did that.