Notes:
Hi everyone, sorry for the long wait. Again the mandatory warning, I am not a native English speaker so there are bound to be mistakes, feel free to point them out. I hope you enjoy the chapter. :)

Chapter 2

Quinn of the Fabray's lay awake at night contemplating today's events. She was not a person to just sit idly and waste time in thinking and overanalyzing situations, solutions came easy to her, always! The one thing she prided herself was her intellect, even though she considered pride to be a futile emotion. But this time around her intellect was clearly failing her. She didn't know what to make out of today's events. At first she thought she had found the source and that was a good lead! But now analyzing things over, she could see herself heading towards a dead end. There was something weird going on in this town but even after one month of thorough investigation she couldn't figure it out. Now she at least had a lead! But again it was so baffling she could hardly believe it.

She could still remember the day she left the 'Fabray Clan'. It was raining cats and dogs and neither her grandmother nor her mother was very happy with her decision. But she had already made her mind and nothing they could do to stop her. Suffice to say the 'good bye' was not amicable. But she should not dwell in past for she knew as a witch she must search for her own magic and gather experience through her travels. Since then she had been travelling through the eastern continent until she came to this town one month ago. She had no intentions of staying more than one night. But something strange happened that night that made her stay. So she rented a cheap motel room and opened a magic shop down in the market to sell 'enchantments'. If she was going to stay here for a while she might as well earn some money. But nothing extra ordinary happened since then until today. Now that finally she had a lead she had to see things through.

She knew underground tourney was a good place to scout for source. She had used the 'dark anima' spell to insert her consciousness inside a raven to spy on the competition, since witches weren't welcome in this sort of tourneys, so she couldn't go there in person. At first everything seemed normal, even the fights were boring except for the fire elementalist, Quinn never thought she would ever encounter an elementalist in this cow town. Then Kurt Hummel entered the arena and everything changed. At first he was using some routine illusion and Quinn was getting frustrated but suddenly the illusion was broken and he started using….no it can't be, she chastised herself but the proof was present in her face. But whatever it was, one thing was certain that Kurt Hummel was the source.

Quinn didn't know much about Kurt except that he lived with his parents Burt and Carole and that he had an eye for colorful clothes. Actually she knew Carole who was a frequent customer at her shop. Oh yes, Kurt also has a sibling she remembered Carole mentioning to her at some point. That was the extent of her knowledge about Kurt. Oh and she also recalled to have seen Kurt getting harassed by some of the boys his age. Noah was among his tormentors. Today's fight must have been a sweet revenge for Kurt. But it was not only Kurt and his new powers that troubled Quinn; there was something weird happening at the tourney this morning. Something she couldn't put her finger on, but something strange that she missed. Oh well, perhaps she needed a closer look.

Quinn decided she needed to keep Kurt on watch. Come morning she would station some of her Ravens near Kurt's house.

Quinn was getting increasingly frustrated with every passing minute. She had been spying Kurt the whole morning, in her raven form. So far nothing was out of ordinary. Apparently today was a free day at the tourney, no fights and Kurt it seemed had decided to roam all over the town doing absolutely nothing for better part of the morning. Thank god Quinn could control these ravens otherwise it would have been a pain to spy on Kurt. Quinn hadn't noticed that Kurt had led her to a field at the outskirts of the town. There was a lone tree standing tall in the middle of the field and a person stood beneath it waving his hands at Kurt. Kurt approached the person with a smile. Quinn recognized the man, the fire elementalist Blaine.

…...

24 hours ago,

Blaine was sitting in the coffee shop sipping what the waiter called a specialty brew of this town and tasted weird. He had noticed Kurt Hummel sitting at a table beside the window and every now and then glancing his way when he thought Blaine was not looking. Blaine smirked; I have won the game before it even started. Blaine sauntered over to Kurt's table.

"Hey there gorgeous, mind if I sit here?" Blaine said gesturing at the empty chair across from Kurt.

"You can sit anywhere you want. I don't own this place" Kurt dead-panned.

Playing hard to get, are we? "Feisty! I like that about a man" Blaine drawled while occupying the vacant chair.

"Do you speak to every man you meet this way? You must get punched a lot!"

"No I only speak this way with the people who I know plays for my team." Blaine smiled.

"And which team is that?" Kurt said innocently.

"The same team you play for"

"What makes you so sure?"

"Your astonishing fashion sense for one.."

"So you live in 'I love Stereotypes' street?"

"No and there's more"

"Do tell"

"The fact that you have been checking me out for last half an hour makes it pretty obvious."

"I was not" Kurt fumbled as his rosy cheeks turned tomato red. Aww! So cute! Blaine mused.

"Look you don't need to be embarrassed. I don't mind. Frankly the attention from an attractive man like you is quite flattering"

Kurt's cheeks turned redder if that was possible. He started fiddling with his coffee mug with eyes downcast.

Awkward! Blaine decided he needed to change the conversation. "So, you had some really fancy moves there in the tourney today..I am impressed"

"Thank you" Kurt mumbled softly licking his lower lips sinfully. Blaine almost wanted to grab him and kiss him senseless. God! What is wrong with me? Restrain Blaine, restrain! With some struggle Blaine somewhat regained his composure. "What is it called?" he asked.

"What?" Now those blue green orbs of crystals were staring right at him inquisitively. Control yourself! Blaine reminded himself. "Your charm, haven't seen anything like it?"

"Oh! I don't know what it is called…I just do it"

"It seemed like you were dancing. It was amazing"

"Yep, I use dance to influence my surrounding environment. It's difficult than it seems and not very suitable for competitive fights"

"It looked more than okay to me"

"Well it is nice to see someone appreciate my charm. Most people in this town treat me like a joke" Kurt couldn't hide the bitterness in his voice.

"Well then they are idiots"

Kurt smiled at him genuinely and Blaine thought that thousand galaxies lit up at once. This is definitely weird.

"So what an elementalist like you doing in this cow town? We don't see elites like you here often or, at all."

"So, I am elite?" Blaine was amused.

"Are you not? You must be some kind of noble or something."

"What makes you think that?"

"Aren't all elementalists rich noblemen?"

Blaine couldn't contain his laughter any more. I mean how clue less a person can be! Yes it is a small provincial town! But this is beyond hilarious.

"You are laughing at me?" Kurt asked incredulously.

"I'm sorry" Blaine replied quickly. "I didn't mean to offend you."

"No no! Pardon me for my ignorance. I am just a dumb country boy. I shouldn't have opened my mouth" Kurt said bitterly.

Blaine reached across the table and grasped Kurt's hand softly."I am really sorry Kurt. I shouldn't have laughed and no I am no elite. My father is rich though, but we didn't get along and there were some matters, so I left home. I have been travelling ever since. So if you are a dumb country boy then I am a penniless vagabond." Blaine said sincerely, then added with a smirk" We make quite a pair. Don't you think?"

"You are such a flirt!" Kurt couldn't resist a small smile.

"And I am beginning to think that you like it."

"I have to go now Blaine. My parents don't know I have participated in this illegal tourney and it's getting late" Kurt said getting up from his chair.

"Wait." Blaine said hurriedly "We should meet up again…like tomorrow, I mean I know we don't have any matches tomorrow…and if you are free then.." Blaine trailed off.

"Are you asking me on a date?" Kurt seemed utterly bemused.

"I am actually"

"Deal" Kurt answered after pondering for a few seconds. They exchanged there mailing address and decided to fix the venue later that night.

Kurt was almost out of the gate when he turned around and called out" It's really nice meeting you Blaine. See you tomorrow"

"Me too sweetheart"

As Kurt exited the shop Blaine threw a triumphant feast up in the air.

Noah Puckerman was standing in a field of black feathers. He looked up to see the sky and was greeted with a grim grey membrane of cloud. The field stretched ahead and merged with the woods, a humongous shapeless mass of black and grey. A woman in a black cloak was standing at the edge of the forest. Noah couldn't see her face but he knew it was a woman. The woman approached him slowly gliding through the carpet of black feather. A sense of all consuming dread ran down his spine but he stood there transfixed. It was as if his feet were glued to the feathery ground. The woman stopped few feet away from her. Her face covered in a dark veil. She slowly extended her right hand, a bony pale claw like appendage clutching a black rose with a thorny stem. Again Noah's body betrayed him. He took a slow step towards her. Suddenly the ground underneath him gave away. He started to fall."Noah, Noah!" someone is calling for him, someone familiar. Someone is shaking him violently. Noah opened his eyes and was immediately blinded by the bright light. He brought his hands to cover them. "Finally you are awake" said the familiar voice. Where was he? He was lying in some kind of bed. He looked around. This was not his room, but looked familiar. "Noah, look at me." Again that familiar voice! Noah Glanced over to his left to look for the source. There was a man hovering over him. He squinted his eyes to focus on his face. Jake! His step brother! Then this must be Jake's room. But what was he doing here? As if reading his mind another voice called out "what's happened to him?" Noah glanced over Jake's shoulder to find Finn's tall figure standing near the door. "He got beat up in underground tourney" Jake replied. Oh! Now he remembered. He got bested by that pesky lady boy Kurt Hummel.

"What? Are you kidding with me?" Finn sounded utterly baffled. Well, he should be. Noah Puckerman , the' speed star', undisputed king of battle arena was defeated. Not only defeated, destroyed by the local flower queen Kurt Hummel. It's an utter disgrace.

"Who defeated him?" Finn directed his next question to Jake.

"Some fighter from outside, you wouldn't know him." Noah answered before Jake could open his mouth. Though Noah wanted nothing more than to rearrange Kurt's face in the most excruciating way possible, he wasn't going to rat Kurt out to Finn, Kurt's brother. After all Kurt was now a fellow fighter and Noah was sure papa Hummel didn't know his son's secret shenanigan's in this illegal and highly dangerous tournament. Noah knew how protective Finn was to Kurt. He would waste no time to involve his parents if he so much as gets a whiff of the situation.

"Must be real tough guy, huh…but what are you doing in Jake's place?" Finn asked again.

"Well, he was passed out after the game, so the game coordinator contacted me. We couldn't possibly take him to his own place..so I brought him here." Jake replied.

"Oh, yeah, you are right." Finn muttered in an understanding voice.

"Why are you here, Finn?" Noah asked.

"Well I came here to give you a verbal beat down. But seeing you like this I am not so sure"

"About what?"

"You need to back off Kurt. It's not cool."

"What the hell are you talking about dude?"

"Don't play dumb. You know what I am talking about. You roughed up Kurt in the market the other day. Everyone saw it."

"I was just talking to him!"

"I know how you talk to him."

"When did you become such loving brother? If I remember correctly not long ago you himself…"

"Those days are behind me Puck and yeah he is my brother." Finn said forcefully "….. And I consider you a friend, so as a friend I beg you, please leave Kurt alone" With that Finn exited the room.

"That was a little dramatic! If he only knew what his precious brother did to you he would have a blast." Jake commented absent mindedly. Puck shot him a death glare.

"Wait what exactly did he do to you? You weren't exactly passed out. It was more like, you were…. sleeping" Jake asked.

What did Kurt did to him?"I wish I knew" He murmured. But he needed to know. There was something very uncanny about this whole situation. But what, he wasn't sure.

Blaine was glad they chose this place for their rendezvous. It was the same field at the outskirts of the city, where he encountered Noah and his sister. It was a quaint little stretch of land covered in soft green grass, extending to the north from where arose the mighty hill in a step wise fashion. In the east it was bordered by the long stretch of fence that separated it from the neighboring farm houses. A rivulet came cascading down from the hill and hugged the meadow like a serpentine ribbon from west to south before entering the town. A single mighty tree was standing tall in the middle of all this. A gentle breeze started blowing through its leaves stirring them from their slumber and creating a whispery rustling noise, as if the tree was trying to say something.

"Where did you get this mattress and basket?" Kurt enquired. They were sitting underneath the tree on a mattress. Blaine had decided on a picnic for their second date. Wait, does that mean their first meeting was a date?

"Actually these articles belong to the wonderful lady who owns my motel." Blaine replied.

"And she just gave these to you, a guy she barely knows, like that?" Kurt couldn't hide his amazement.

"What can I say darling? My charm is irresistible." Blaine smirked earning an eye roll from Kurt.

"So, tell me more about your charm gorgeous?" Blaine asked.

"There's not much to tell. What do you want to know?"

"Like, is it familial? I mean does it run in family? You know most of the elemental charms are inherited from parent to child. So there are even instances of inter marriage to keep the blood line pure."

"Well my father is a mechanic, his charm deals with tinkering with mechanical objects. My mother….well you can say my charm comes from my mother"

"Your father is a mechanic? Huh, then he might look into my motorrad. It is having some problems."

"Well, If you like I can look into it….for free"

"You can repair machines? I never pegged you to be a mechanic."

"I help out my dad at the garage from time to time; I might have picked a thing or two." Kurt laughed.

"Wow Kurt! Just wow! Just when I thought you could not be any more impressive, you prove me wrong again." Blaine gushed, and meant every word of it. Kurt is so out there! He is fashionable even in this provincial town, can dance himself to victory but still knows his way around machines. "But something tells me Kurt Hummel wants more from life than being a mechanic."

"And what makes you think that?" Kurt raised his left brow inquisitively.

"Just a hunch"

"Your hunch is correct. I want to write stories. Not a very realistic job option in this looserville, I am afraid"

"What kind of stories do you want to write? Short stories? Novels?...or Plays perhaps?"

"The kind that never ends."

"What?"

"Sorry, I meant something that doesn't end quickly like a short story, but continues for a long time."

"So have you written anything yet?"

"Actually I am working on one currently." Kurt answered sheepishly. "It's a work in progress."

"Wonderful! I call dibs on the first finished draft."

"What about you? What do you want to do in life? I figure being a vagabond is not something one would want" Kurt asked.

Blaine hadn't told this to anyone in a long time. Even when by himself he tried to not think about it. It's a part of his life he desperately wanted to forget. It was a promise of a life he could never have. A hope that died long ago and the ghost of a faded dream that would haunt him till this day.

"Hey, if you don't want, you don't have to tell." Kurt said with a concern etched voice and as an afterthought he reached across to grab Blaine's hand in a soft grasp. Blaine hadn't even realized his body had become so tensed, but under Kurt's soft touch all the tensions seem to go away and a soothing feeling crept through his hand, up his arm and reached straight to his heart. "Your hand is really soft" Blaine said throatily.

Kurt's rosy cheeks turned a bright shade of crimson as he quickly withdrew his hand. Blaine let out a throaty chortle and said "I wanted to be a concert pianist."

"Wow Blaine! That's amazing! But why…"

"Please don't ask why I'm not pursuing that dream because it is a complicated story, one I don't feel in indulging now" That effectively silenced Kurt. Blaine actually felt quite good admitting it to Kurt. Of course he couldn't share the whole thing with Kurt but saying only this much, he felt a lot more relaxed.

Kurt lied down on the mattress staring at the small windows of sky seen through the crisscross mesh of leaves and branches."Do you know there's a fascinating story about this ancient tree?" Kurt muttered wistfully.

"There is?"

"Yes. It is about two friends who lived here a long time ago and about the woman they both loved. They both knew each other's feelings, so none of them proposed to the girl fearing it would hurt the other. One day this region was thrown into an idiotic war. Many of the young men were forced to join the army; among them was one of the two friends. The friend that remained home, his relationship with the woman grew strong. One day the woman confessed her love him. He at first didn't want to betray his friend but after much persuasion relented." Kurt stopped to catch a breath, then continued "The two lovers decided to marry each other but on the day of their wedding news from battle field came. Their friend had died. The man soon called off the wedding. He spiraled into deep depression. He wouldn't talk to anyone, stopped working, and wouldn't eat. Only thing he did was to come here every day and sit under this tree, a place where he and his friend used to hang out. No one could convince him to do otherwise, not even the woman he was supposed to marry. One day he disappeared from under the tree. The women said she had seen the man turn into an angel and disappear in the clouds. The tree that day burst in full bloom. It is said no one ever seen the tree in bloom since. There's a name this tree is known by, Aikō-ka no ki. It roughly means 'The tree of lovers' "

"It's such a sad story." Blaine said after a long pause. He quietly lied down beside Kurt. "It is" Kurt affirmed. Blaine closed his eyes.

Blaine didn't know how long he laid there with his eyes closed; he was starting to doze off a bit but was awakened by Kurt's voice. "Blaine, thank you."

"What for?" Blaine was baffled.

"For taking down Karofsky. He and his cronies had made my life a living hell for quite some times."

"I'm sorry to hear about that. It's only a silly competition though and I hardly think it'll change his behavior."

"Still it felt good to see him got beat up like that" Kurt said in a steely voice then added with a chuckle "You must think I am a horrible person for thinking like that."

"No, you are not. They are ones who are horrible, for making you feel that way" Blaine slowly engulfed Kurt's hand in his. Kurt didn't pull away.

"There are an awful lot of ravens in this town, don't you think?" Kurt asked suddenly.

"What?"

"Haven't you noticed, this town is raven infested? Look over there." Kurt said pointing at one of the lower branches of the tree. Yes, there indeed was a queer looking raven sitting there.

"You don't like ravens?"

"No, I hate them."

"Then it'll have to go" Blaine threw a flame bullet which effectively scared the raven. It let out a caw and flew away.

"Aww! Aren't you my knight in shining armor" Kurt laughed.

"I could be if you'll have me." Blaine said solemnly.

Kurt remained silent for few minutes. Then he shifted towards Blaine placing his head against Blaine's shoulder, he said softly "I will"

"Then as long as I am here, you don't have to be afraid of the ravens or Karofsky or any of the bullies that torment you…I'll protect you."

Kurt just smiled and closed his eyes.

Dave Karofsky was lying in the hospital bed sulking. He had suffered a humiliating defeat to that fancy pants flame thrower. He had sustained quite the burn but thanks to his muscle mass none of them are deep. Doctors said he should get released by tomorrow. Karofsky looked through the window; the sun was about to se and the sky is turning a beautiful shade of crimson. Suddenly his vision froze and cold shiver ran down his spine. There's a shadow of a man lurking outside the window, whose face was shrouded in darkness. The man lifted his left hand and Karofsky was momentarily blinded by a silvery flash of light. A scythe! Glowing menacingly in the last rays of sun, like some sort of sinister grin.

Karofsky wanted to shout but couldn't find his voice.

He closed his eyes and braced himself.

There was a creaking sound of a door opening.

Karofsky opened his eyes to find the nurse standing with his medicine.

He quickly looked at the window. The man was gone.

Notes:
So, what do you think? Good, bad, average? Let me know. Again all constructive criticisms and reviews are highly appreciated. Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon. :)