A/N: Of the last 30 hours I've spent about 12 standing in a church, singing. But now the fourth recording of our choir is over and done (yiii-haa!), at least the singers part of it, and I want to turn my brains to something totally different. That's why I finish this chapter so soon, otherwise I'd have left our sullen friend to hang on for much longer time... (grins)
Kyoya had closed his eyes in preparing to fall. Now he opened them again. Kiti's face above him was winced of exertion but her grip on his arm hold steady. Slowly, slowly she pulled him upwards over the edge of the bank while Aquila made the last assailants fall back. The moment Kyoya got his knee over the edge Tsubasa grasped him on the collar and yanked him up.
"To the trees!" he shouted and helped Kiti on her feet.
The field on the hill wasn't too steep, but bumpy and covered by tall, brown grass. Kiti stumbled and tried to keep up with the boys. Running had always been her weak point, and the heavy backpack didn't make it any easier. After her illness she hadn't even tried to run more than a couple of steps at a time. She felt a familiar wheeze in her lungs while the lead of the boys lengthened.
Tsubasa had almost reached the nearest trees and turned to see if the others had kept up with his flying steps. He saw Kyoya just behind him but Kiti...
"She's in trouble! Come on!", he shouted, rushing back to her and seizing her arm. Kyoya groaned but followed. They all would be in bigger danger if they didn't stick together. Almost lifting the girl from the ground they dragged her through the bushes. When under the trees, they turned to run along the border of the forest. Kiti forced her legs to move. Her muscles felt like burning and she wheezed worse and worse.
At last they stopped by a steep and stony hillside. Kiti dropped on the ground, trying desperately to get some air into her lungs. Tsubasa took quickly her backpack off and turned her on her side.
"Can you breathe?"
She nodded and tried to answer but couldn't make a sound.
"Don't speak." The Eagle folded his jacket under her head and watched worried her reddish-purple face. Kyoya was looking back towards the field, listening.
"Stay here. I'll check if they are still coming." He vanished among the bushes leaving the others to wait.
The autumn day was gray and still. There were no sounds except Kiti's hoarse breathing and the tweeting of some little bird near them.
"We are too near it's nest" Tsubasa thought. He tried to work out what they should do next. If Kiti wasn't able to walk, they must camp right here and maybe turn back without having the bey. Kyoya wouldn't be too happy, but Ryo wouldn't want them risking their health for the task. The attack in itself would have been a good reason to turn back but he knew the Lion's pride wouldn't accept it as one.
The rustle of the bushes revealed Kyoya only seconds before they saw him.
"I think we dropped them", he said. "Most of them are not in such health they could follow, and the others were heading to the eastern part of this forest." He glanced the girl whose face was gradually turning from purple to gray. "She alright?"
"I'm fine." Kiti scrambled to sit up. Tsubasa handed her his water bottle.
"Are you sure?"
She nodded. The horrible choke had slowly eased. She stretched towards her backpack and stood up little unsteady. "Everything's alright. Let's get going."
"Any good ideas?" Kyoya bent over the map Tsubasa had spread on a rock.
"We can't return to the road, nor to the path, we'd run straight into them. Our only possibility is to go through the woods and try to find the village from the opposite direction. The problem is, it takes more time and we can't be absolutely sure of our exact location even now."
"How about that way?" Kyoya pointed the map. Tsubasa nodded.
"It seems passable on the paper. If only..." He looked towards Kiti who made an annoyed gesture.
"I said I'm perfectly fine. Let's get a move on."
The bird still tweeted anxiously when they headed up the hill and through the forest.
When she finally dropped her backpack off her shoulders in the evening Kiti could but wonder how tired she was. They had traveled all day, stopping only to eat some energy bars to ease the gnawing in their stomachs.
Not a word was said about the possible motives or masters of the attackers.
"They hadn't any kind of markings or symbols on their clothing or cars." Tsubasa was thinking aloud when he searched for provisions in his backpack. "Ryo knew we couldn't keep Bluewolf a secret too long, but he didn't expect the information leak so soon. And I can't think of any other reason for them to attack us."
"You think they'll come at us again?" Kyoya had taken off his boots and was bandaging his feet.
"I'm afraid they will. We can't have fire tonight so we'll have to manage without warm food."
Kiti shrugged.
"Being hungry is nothing but a state of mind", she muttered. Right now she was happy just to sit still.
Kyoya snorted. He recalled another trip of his, to another village on the mountains, with another group of people after another bey. He had to admit he liked it better in his current team, even though it couldn't be compared to Team Wild Fang. But why did certain kind of beys always hide somewhere above the snowline, he wondered. Did it have something to do with the powers of those beys? If so, did this Bluewolf have powers equal to Pegasos? The thought made his heart beat faster.
Ryo hadn't said a word who was going to use the bey.
He touched lightly the green and silver bey in its case.
"Leone, don't take me wrong" he thought. "I could never change you to any other bey, be it how powerful. But what if..."
He had never heard about a person who could have mastered two constellations at the same time. But that didn't mean it wouldn't be possible. Besides, doing things the other people called impossible was already growing a habit on him.
Tsubasa had finished his eating and stood up.
"You can go to sleep. I'll take the first watch."
"Wake me up for the next." Kiti said. Tsubasa didn't answer, he was watching the stars above the treetops.
Kiti sighed contented when she crawled into her sleeping bag. The equipments Hikaru had ordered were all first-class quality, better than the ones she had back at home. They'd be warm enough even in a snowdrift.
Nobody cared to say a word about the tent.
The moon was already descending when Tsubasa shook Kyoya awake.
"It's your turn, Lion", he whispered.
Kyoya grunted and tried to make his muscles to move again. The night air was freezing cold.
"Don't wake Kiti" Tsubasa warned him before closing his eyes. "It's only couple of hours to dawn."
Kyoya stared at him.
So Mr Chivalrous had watched more than half the night for his protege. And why? Oh yes, the girl had been pretty tired even though she hadn't want to show it, but Kyoya felt sure she would have something to say about their skipping her like this. Well, that wouldn't be his problem. He walked around the nearest trees, listening, and sat on a rock to wait for the morning.
Kyoya had been right.
Kiti had quite a lot to say when she finally woke up and noticed she had missed her watch.
"I'm not a princess you'd need to carry on a silk cushion!" she raged to Tsubasa who was quietly packing his sleeping bag.
"That's just what I thought. It's easier to watch for you than to carry you" he answered. Kiti's face turned scarlet.
"You don't need to carry me until I'm dead!" she hissed and turned away to pick up her belongings.
The morning was gray and cold, the fog hanging heavily above the ground.
"Feels like we were walking in the clouds, but we can't be that high yet", Kiti thought, sniffing the smells of the forest, both familiar and new at the same time. She felt her usual happy mood returning. Despite the cold and hunger, this was the kind of life she enjoyed most.
"In a strange forest with good company, heading to a destination unknown..." She started to hum happily. "But I must apologize Tsubasa pretty soon... Poor thing, to stay awake half the night and then get yelled at because of it..."
At noon they stopped by a little stream, running from the snowy top of the mountain. Tsubasa looked the misty landscape.
"I think we can as well make a fire. The smoke can't be seen in this fog and I want something warm to eat."
He took off his boots and waded knee deep into the water. Kiti stared her eyes wide.
"What on earth is he doing?"
"Wait and see." Kyoya bumped his backpack to the ground and started to search for wood.
The icy-cold water bite Tsubasa's feet and made them soon numb.
"Let's hope there is some fish", he thought. "I can't stand here long."
He let his gaze wipe the surface of the stream. This was the first time he was fishing in such cold water, and he soon realized he couldn't use all his senses as he was used to: his numb feet didn't feel the movements of the water anymore. He could only hope that the coldness would slow down the fishes as well. The slowly flowing water was crystal clear, with small shreds of the fog drifting over the tiny waves. He focused all his senses under the surface. Then – a splash, a flash in the air – and a silvery sided fish was laying on the bank. Kiti's eyes widened even more.
"Holy... How did you do that?"
Tsubasa smiled, clenching his teeth to prevent them to clatter and turned to look for the next one.
"It's not so difficult as you may think."
"Then won't you teach that to me too, please? I have seen many ways of fishing but never anything like that!" She was already taking her boots off. Tsubasa shook his head.
"Ask again next summer. Now it's too cold."
After couple of minutes they got enough for one meal. Tsubasa sat by the fire Kyoya had made, rubbing his tingling white feet while Kiti cleaned the fishes.
"Didn't take your jack-knife with you this time?" Kyoya asked eying the handsome hunting knife she had carried on her belt. The jack-knife mentioned had drawn his attention some days earlier, when Gingka had suddenly needed tweezers to pick a splinter out of his hand. It had been an awesome tool too, despite the fact she had called it a mere manicure set. But compared to that lethal weapon she was using right now even his own faithful switchblade seemed a toy.
"Of course I did. Only this one is more useful in this job. And easier to clean", she answered and wiped the blade on her trousers.
While the fishes were frying Kiti looked the brook thoughtfully.
"It's cold as hell and I'm shivering already. But the feeling afterwards...", she thought. "And heaven knows when I have the next opportunity..."
She searched something in her backpack and vanished behind a thick bush. When she appeared again she could hear the sound of two dropping jaws.
"Just taking a quick bath before lunch", she said and run to the waterfront. "Wouldn't do any harm to you either", she added winking over her shoulder.
The boys glanced each other. In less than 30 seconds they were standing half-naked in the icy water, looking shivering how Kiti splashed in her bikini.
"She's a moron!" Tsubasa heard Kyoya mutter between his clattering teeth.
"Yeah..." but a gorgeous one, he added in his mind. Kiti wasn't girly like Madoka nor curvy like Sophie, but in her own athletic way she was just... well, stunning. Water-drops glittered in her hair when she waded back to the bank, her eyes dancing.
"Gosh, that hit the point!" she sighed contently and splashed her wet palms on the boys' flat bellies.
"So, you didn't see Madame Butterfly after all."
It was late in the evening. Kyoya was already sleeping when Tsubasa reminded Kiti of her former plans for this week. She smiled dreamily, looking over the moonlight landscape.
"Not a big deal. I think this show beats it."
Tsubasa smiled shortly.
"Traipsing in the frozen wasteland, hunted and next to lost, searching for something which must sound a mere legend in your ears."
Kiti laughed aloud. The way her sensei had put it described the situation minutely.
"Still and all, I wouldn't chance."
She sighed and lifted her eyes towards the starlit sky. The fog was gone and the stars shone bright, promising several degrees of frost for the night.
"Can you name some constellations?" she asked abruptly.
"Some of them. At least those connected to the beys of my friends."
"Could you please tell me something about this bey-constellation-thing? Ryo-san did but mention it."
"All the most powerful beys have a constellation connected to them. The power of the bey is the power of its constellation, of which the blader uses within his own limits."
Kiti listened attentively.
"So that's why the practical bey I've been training with feels so soulless..." she muttered more to herself.
"Is there a constellation for a wolf also?" she asked.
"Yes, there is, but it can't be seen this far north. Ryo knows the exact latitude for it."
Kiti let her eyes wander around the sky.
"Please, sensei, teach me to recognize some constellations, will you? Where is the Eagle?"
It was past midnight when Kiti decided it was Kyoya's turn to continue watching. She had enjoyed her vigil by stretching her muscles while listening the rare sounds of the night. The silence of the wilderness was one of the reasons she must get there again and again, despite all the inconveniences. She crouched to wake up the sleeping Lion.
"It's so funny... Why do some persons grow younger when they are asleep?" She thought. "And how can he still remain so stern-looking? So ab-so-lu-te-ly cute."
Since their first meeting she had felt growing interest towards that handsome sourpuss. More than once her fingers had ached to touch his well-shaped six-pack or rumple the green mass of his hair. Tsubasa was not a bad-looking guy either, but there was something in the sullen Lion which had forced her to expurgate her own thoughts now and then. She let her gaze follow the line of his dark eyelashes on the dirt cheek.
"Those ears and all...He must have been an adorable rascal as a kid. I wonder what is he dreaming of? He is but so..."
She touched lightly the scar on his cheek with her fingertips. The Lion opened his eyes immediately.
"You got a spider on your mug", she whispered. "Besides, it's your turn to watch."
Kyoya saw her crawl into her sleeping bag and tried to get his stumbling thoughts in some order.
A spider.
In this cold?
Somehow he didn't want to believe her. He scrambled on his feet and listened. Deciding of her tranquil breathing she had sacked out immediately. "Like a little animal", he thought, looking the curled up figure. "Lacks only a tail to wrap round her nose."
The girl – or the little part of her face he could see – looked so childish and small in the moonlight, so different from the creature who had danced in her bikini or pulled him up the cliff. "This is not a right place for such", he thought. "Protecting, that's what that kind of a thing needs..." He stopped the thought astonished. From where was this Tsubasism arising? So far he had never cared a trifle about creatures weaker than himself, except his brother long ago. This feeling was new and he wasn't convinced at all if he did like it.
The Lion shook snarkily his head and started his usual round around the camp.
A/N: Yes, there is quite a lot of Kiti in this chapter. And there will be some more in the next ones, sorry! I know the OC's are not too popular (even though I have met some really interesting ones myself), but at least I've tried to make her slightly different from those I have read about. Please, try to put up with her and give the story itself a chance!