Chapter Three
"Ok, from what I've heard this tournament has battles that are a tag-team one on one," Ray said as he paced in front of us, his arms held behind his back. His slippers made a soft scuffing sound every time he took a step. One could set a watch by him. "So, today we're going to practice blading with a partner so you can learn to help each other if we get in trouble in a battle." He fell silent and looked off into the distance. I rolled my neck and pushed an impatient sound out of my mouth. His gaze swept across us before he continued, "I want Gary and Kevin to pair up. Lee, you're with me, and Mariah you're with Crystal."
Oh come on! I crossed my arms and scowled as Mariah glared over at me. Even when I lived here before Mariah and I couldn't stand each other. I couldn't understand why she hated me when I never did anything to her, though. Whatever it was the feeling was mutual. But, I had to thank her a little bit. If it weren't for her I would've never discovered how great I was at beyblading whenever I had something driving me, like anger for example.
"All right, Gary, Kevin, I want you to watch Lee and I battle Mariah and Crystal before you do anything."
The pink one nodded at Ray and then the angelic expression on her face dropped when she looked over in my direction. "You better not mess up!" Mariah hissed as she joined me on my side of the beydish.
"As long as you stay out of my way, we won't have to worry about loosing," I responded as I pulled my beyblade out of my pocket. The bit chip flashed as I felt a slightly numbing feeling in my finger tips which prompted me to smile.
"Whatever." She rolled her eyes before she pulled her beyblade out of her hair, somehow. But she is a girl after all and we do have strange places of hiding things. But even then that was a bit weird. I never saw a pouch or anything in her hair. "Give it all you've got, Lee."
"I won't hold back, Mariah," he responded with a smile as he got his blade ready. "Kevin, give us the count."
"All right, this is a two-on-two battle. The first team to be knocked out completely loses," Kevin said as we held out beyblades over the dish. "3! 2! 1!"
"LET IT RIP!" We called in unison as we launched our beyblades. Ray's and Lee's blades stayed close together as mine circled the dish along with Mariah's. 'So they like to keep it close. That's an easier way for me to take them both out. Oh well, that's their loss.' "Dricen, take 'em out!"
"Oh, no way!" Mariah spat at me. "I'm not going to let you take all of the credit for beating them! Galux, go!"
My blade charged at theirs from one side and hers from another. Of course they ended up running into each other when Ray and Lee pulled out of the way. Mariah growled on my right side and her fingers curled in frustration. Well what else did she expect when she got in my way? Shaking my head I ordered for Dricen to attack again.
"Sheesh, this'll be too easy," Lee said with a chuckle as he shook his head. "Can't we just finish them now?"
"No Lee!" Ray told him. "We have to wait until they start battling together as a team." He turned and looked down at the beyblades that were in the dish. "Driger, evade!"
I growled in frustration as Driger moved out of the way. Before I knew it, Galux was coming from the other way and our blades smashed together again! They went reeling back a couple of inches but stayed in the dish. "Mariah, watch where I'm going!"
"Why don't you watch where I'm going?" She shot back. "You're in my way!"
"You're in my way!" I snapped. "Mariah, why don't you do yourself a favor and get knocked out of the dish so I can take care of these two myself?"
"Because I can beat them and I don't need your help!" Mariah shot back.
"You see?" Lee asked as he turned to Ray. I looked up at the two. He was shaking his head, an amused smile making his cat-like features stand out even more. "This is why girls shouldn't be allowed to beyblade."
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?" Mariah and I demanded as we turned to glare at them. Lee flinched under our gaze as Ray laughed nervously.
"Girls can beyblade just as good as boys can!" I said through clenched teeth. Talk about living in the past.
"And better!" Mariah added. I nodded in agreement. I felt her eyes on me for a few moments. She looked at the ground, then up at me and her lips seemed to twitch before she finally asked, "Look, are you willing to…have a truce to teach these guys a lesson?"
"I was hoping you'd ask that," I responded as I gave a little smile. "Let's take them down! Dricen, go!"
"Galux, attack!" Mariah commanded.
The pink beyblade and the metallic blue beyblade spun near each other as they chased after Galeon and Driger. They sped up a little bit and smashed into the other blades, causing a grinding sound to fill the air. I kept my eyes locked on the blades as I tried to think of a plan of attack to make sure we won. But it was hard because it seemed like Driger and Galeon knew what we were going to do. Without looking at her I could tell that Mariah was getting frustrated.
"Let's finish this!" Lee said as his beyblade started to glow. "GALEON, SPIRAL LIGHTNING!"
"DRIGER, GATLING CLAW!" Ray commanded.
"GALUX, CAT BITES!" Mariah shouted.
"Dricen, MECCA CLAW!" I called out.
Galux and Dricen spun closer together as they started to glow. I watched as the pink mountain cat rose out of her blade and let out a yowl of attack. A smile came to my face as I watched Dricen rise out of his blade: the white tiger had three tails, hiss tail was tipped with a very light blue, his paws were black, and he had a shackle-like ring on his front two paws that controlled his powers. He let out a mighty roar as he charged towards the black lion and the white tiger that was running at them. All four blades collided and there was a low booming noise as bright light shot out of the dish. I covered my face with my arms and I could feel air rushing past me and whistling in my eras. I felt my feet slide back a couple of inches before I was sent flying off my feet. I landed on my side and I heard the familiar sound of beyblades hitting the dirt.
"Wow guys, that was a great battle," Kevin said with admiration shining in his eyes. "Except for you, Mariah, you could've at least helped Crystal a little bit."
"Watch it!" Mariah shot back as he stuck out his tongue. I hadn't been here that long, but so far Kevin was my favorite out of all of them. He was barely a baby when I left and I had no grudge against him. He didn't have one against me either, it seemed. He only followed Lee's and Mariah's orders. There were a few times I caught him following me as I worked around the village. Whenever I looked in his direction he could scurry off. I guess I showed him that I wasn't up to anything when I helped around the village without any complaints. Now if only the others could grasp that as well but, as they say, habits die hard. He turned his attention to the dish where the beyblades hit the ground.
"Hey…everyone's blades fell out of the dish," he pointed out as we walked over. Wait, what? He was right, all of our blades were on the ground. I stared, amazed, at the blades that lay motionless, one of them even began to smoke a little bit.
"That was some battle," Lee said as he picked up Galeon.
"What about that crappy 'girls shouldn't be allowed to beyblade' comment?" Mariah demanded as she glared at her brother. "You know very well that I deserve this spot on this team!"
"Aww c'mon Mariah, you know I didn't mean it," Lee said nervously as he backed away from her. "I knew that you hated it when guys say that girls couldn't blade so I knew it had to be a girl thing. I knew by saying that it would help you two learn to blade as a team."
Mariah and I looked at each other as I let the words sink in. How could I be so stupid? I should've seen this coming! I should've taken them out on my own and shown them that I didn't need anyone's help! I tore my gaze away from her as I bent down to pick up my beyblade and look it over. The attack ring was slightly scorched, probably from the explosion, but all in all it was ok. I stood and gripped my beyblade in my fist as I turned back to Mariah and stated, "I have to admit, you are a good beyblader. I respect your way of blading…but this doesn't mean we're friends."
"The feeling's mutual," Mariah responded with an understanding nod. I put my beyblade in my pocket and sat down on the ground as I watched Gary and Kevin take on Lee. So this was just a test to see if I could blade with someone else on the team? He knows I don't blade with anyone else…no matter how well that battle turned out. But still, I can't help but wonder if I've earned my spot on this team. Or ever will. If they get thier way they'd probably cast me out again. They haven't exactly been the friendly sort.
Then again neither have I.
With a sigh I got to my feet and walked off. I could feel eyes watching me walk away but I never acknowledged the person as I continued down the path. I ignored everything around me as I took my time walking down the path. The only thing that snapped me out of my thoughts was the sound of a frustrated sigh. Curious, I followed the sounds until I spotted a little boy beyblading near some rocks.
"Why won't it stay up?" He asked with a whine as he reached for his beyblade.
"It's because you're not launching with a steady hand," I responded as I shoved my hands into my pockets. "Your arm is shaky. You need a steady hand for a proper launch."
"Can you teach me?" He asked as he looked up at me with big green eyes. I looked down at him: his eyes were wide with anticipation and curiosity. "Please? Please? Please?" He begged as he grabbed my arm and shook it. Man, kids are easily excitable these days.
"Alright, alright," I said with a small laugh. He smiled and began cheering as he jumped up and down. "Okay, okay settle down," I said and waved my hands at him. He immediately stopped jumping and, if it were possible, his eyes got wider as he waited. "Hold out your beyblade like you're going to launch it," I ordered as I pulled my hands out of my pockets and crossed them over my chest. He picked up his beyblade and reattached it to his launcher. He held them both out in front of him like he was going to rip it. I looked him over and saw that his arm was swaying slightly, but enough to make the blade mess up once it hit the dish or the ground. "Kid, you have to relax for one thing," I told him as he dropped his arm to look up at me.
"Relax?" He repeated.
"Yes," I responded with a nod following soon after. "You're too anxious for one thing. In a beybattle you have to focus on what's happening at that specific time. The second thing you have to do is trust your ability."
He lowered his arm as if he wilted. "But what if I'm not that good?" He asked as his eyes widened in fear.
Humming I slowly crouched until I was kneeling by him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Believe in yourself anyway. You can learn from your battles, remember that too. That is really important. No matter how old you are or your experience you always have room to learn. Got it?" He nodded rapidly. I stood and backed away, groaning at the ache in my knees. "Ok, raise your arm again," I told him as I walked behind him. He did so and stood there as I gazed as his posture. "Now relax your arm a little." He did as he was told. "Turn it to the right slightly." Once again he did as he was told. "Ok, concentrate, and let it rip," I told him as I backed up. He glanced over at me before taking a deep breath and launching his beyblade. The blade bounced on the ground once, wobbled a little, but regained it's balance and spun on the spot. He started laughing with joy as his green eyes sparkled happily. I let out a little gasp when he wrapped his arms around my waist in a hug.
I haven't been hugged in so long...
"I don't know why the other villagers don't like you," he said once he pulled away. "You're really nice."
Geeze, do they all have to be so frank? "Kid…it's going to take them a while to trust me again," I said with a sigh as I sat down on a rock so I was eye level with him.
"Why? Did you do something bad?" He asked innocently as he looked up at me in curiosity.
"No," I responded with a chuckle, despite the conversation. "To make a long story short I was framed. Something happened to this village and everyone blamed me. So I was banished from the White Tiger Village. I'm back so I can participate in the next beyblade tournament that's coming up."
"A tournament?" he asked in excitement. "That's so cool! I want to be in a beyblade tournament one day."
"If you put your mind to it you can be in any tournament that you want," I said as I mussed his soft white-blond hair. He laughed a little as he smiled up at me. A feeling of…something filled me and I couldn't help but smile fully back at him. He was just so cute and…innocent. "Hey Kid, it's getting late. You better go back to the village."
"What about you?" He asked.
"I'll be fine. I need to train a little bit longer," I responded as I stood and stretched.
"Ok, I'll go…but will you teach me how to blade again?"
"Tell you what, Kid," I said gently. "I'll teach you right up to me leaving for the tournament. Deal?"
"Deal!" He responded as we high fived before he ran off. I launched my blade and watched as it spun on the solitary spot.
"How did it feel to see your twin, Dricen?"