6Darkest Days of the Fallen
Chapter 6 – The next step.
Kai looked across the broken bey dish at a smiling Tyson. The dragon blader's excited smile plastered across his dirtied face as he dusted off his favorite hat. Kai felt the swell of excitement of finishing this battle, numbly hearing Mr. Dickenson's speech about letting them continue the destructive beybattle.
He had waited a long time to battle Tyson like this, and from what he could tell, Tyson felt the same way. Even if Mr. Dickenson had canceled the battle, Kai was sure he and Tyson would have continued anyways, with out the chairman's approval.
The crowded stands cheered the customary count down with Daichi's loud shouts. Blader D.J.'s microphone echoed the call across the stadium. "Three! Two! One! LET IT RIP!"
Kai abruptly awoke as the sound of clanging and whirring noises drifted to his ears. He sleepily sat up, taking a moment to realize that he wasn't dreaming anymore. Looking around their camp, his gaze traveled across his sleeping friends and the dying campfire, noticing that one member was missing.
"Ray," he mumbled, standing to make his way to the familiar sound.
The Chinese blader hadn't gone far from their campsite, and Kai was able to find him easily. Ray stared at the broken concrete ground, focused on his spinning beyblade. He was so focused on his Drigger that he didn't hear Kai approach him.
"What are you doing up so late?" Kai asked, startling Ray.
"Oh, Kai. I'm sorry, did I wake you?" he apologized, calling his blade to him, catching it with ease.
"No," Kai mumbled. "But why are you out here blading? You should be asleep."
"Sorry. I've got a lot on my mind," Ray said, looking down at the beyblade gripped in his hand. "I thought a simple spin might help take my mind off some things."
"Hn."
"Its been quite awhile since I took Drigger out," Ray laughed a bit, smiling a little. "It felt good, you know? When was the last time you launched Dranzer?"
"I haven't even looked at Dranzer since we left the hospital," Kai said simply, looking away from Ray.
"Oh? Sorry, I guess it is a little hard to want to beyblade without Tyson around," Ray said, pocketing Drigger. "Um, how's your arm? Does it still hurt?" he asked, trying to change the subject.
"It's fine, I'll survive," Kai mumbled, still not looking at Ray.
"Then if it's fine, why are you holding it like it hurts?" Ray asked sharply, sounding more harsh then he intended.
"Fine, then. Next time we'll let Tyson try to rip your arm out. How's that?" Kai snapped back.
"Sorry," Ray mumbled, embarrassed.
"And why do you keep apologizing for everything?" Kai continued. "It's getting annoying."
"I...um," Ray trailed off, not looking at Kai.
"Ugh, if you're going to be this way the least you could do is just spit out what's bothering you. We're all torn up about what has happened, but why do you get to have the pleasure of spending time being depressed about it?"
"Kai!" Ray gasped, surprised at Kai's forwardness. Usually Kai wouldn't bother butting in someone else's problems. Tyson would usually do that.
"Well? I'm waiting," Kai growled out, crossing his arms and giving Ray a hard stare.
"Well," Ray looked back down, avoiding Kai's angry stare. "Do you think he blames me?"
"What?" that took Kai off guard. He wasn't expecting a question like that from Ray. "Who blames you?"
"Tyson."
"Why would you think that?" Kai was curious now.
As far as Kai was concerned, Tyson did die and his body is being controlled by that witch. But the others firmly believed that there was a way to turn Tyson back to normal. And Kai didn't want to shatter that dream for it's the only thing that was keeping the others going. For Kai personally, he just wanted to foil Saiyo's plans and put Tyson back to rest.
"If Saiyo had this planned all along then, its my fault since I introduced her to him. Got him close enough to...," Ray trailed off, trying not to let the raw emotion of guilt take over.
"Stop being stupid," Kai snapped, causing Ray to look at him in abrupt surprise. "Its not like you knew her intentions, so how could any one blame you?"
"But..."
"Enough, I don't want to hear it. Ray, you didn't do anything wrong. Also we don't even know if Saiyo caused Tyson's death to begin with. All we know right now is that she's using him just as she used us to help her." Kai stopped his heated lecture to give Ray a good stare, from the look on the Chinese blader's face Kai could guess that what he said was sinking in.
"I'm sorry," Ray said softly, though smiling a little.
"Just stop with the apologizing already," Kai grumbled, turned back towards the camp. "And go back to bed."
Without a word, Ray followed Kai back to the campsite. The two teens could see Max had woken up, standing by the low fire as he watched his teammates return.
"Since we're already up, should we get going again?" called the blonde, a quiet smile on his face.
"The sun's not even up yet," Kai replied starkly. "We should get as much rest as possible before moving on. I don't plan on stopping again until the next sun set."
"There has to be an encampment around here somewhere, I'm sure if we move now we wont have to worry about camping out again," Max explained, while not really wanting to go back to sleep.
"Why is everybody talking?" Hillary grumbled as she began to sat up. She managed to give the boys a nasty glare while trying to rub sleep out of her eyes.
"Sorry Hillary," Ray said, laughing a bit at her disheveled look. "We were just discussing if we should get an early start today."
"Meh," Hillary grumbled, giving a slightly disgusted look. "We've been walking for HOURS and you want to 'start early'? My vote is no, go back to bed!" she shouted as she rolled back over in her blanket.
"See?" Kai sighed out, looking at Max and Ray, each with a slightly exasperated face. But before he made a move to sit back down, Hillary sat back up. She looked around, a confused look on her face. "Something wrong?" Kai asked, curious of her strange behavior.
"Is the ground, shaking?" she queered, looking back up to Kai.
"Shaking?" Ray asked, looking down at his feet, trying to feel any vibrations in the earth.
There was a slight tremor, a small rumbling could be felt but didn't pack enough force to cause a loss in balance.
"Great, just what we need," Kai mumbled, feeling the rumbling. "One of Japan's many earth quakes."
"That's not funny Kai!" Hillary shouted, trying to stand up. She looked down to Kenny, who was still sleeping trough everything.
"Guys, I don't think its an earth quake," Ray said sternly, looking off into the distance. His face had gone a little pale.
"What do you mean?" Max queered, as he looked Northward, the same direction Ray was facing. A large plume of smoke could be seen, it was riding low to the ground and heading in the teens' direction.
"Stampede," Ray simply said as he started to gather their supplies.
"What?" shrieked Hillary, now too looking into the distance.
"Don't ask, just hurry and gather everything," snapped Kai as he joined Ray in gathering the supplies. He took a moment to kick Kenny awake, jostling the smaller boy from his deep sleep.
The rumbling became stronger as the large dust cloud came closer. Max squinted his eyes and could see a herd of monsters under the large dust cloud, their bodies messed together in a crowded run.
"The monsters from the fountains," Max said, as he relayed the information to the others. "I bet they're traveling to the last light pillar in the south."
"But I bet they are more likely heading this way cause we have their water," sneered Kai as he slung a water jug over his shoulder. "Let's get going or they'll run us over."
The group started into a dead run, with Kai in the lead.
8888888888
Mariah looked back over her shoulder as she stood patiently waiting for the others to catch up. They left the encampment at sunrise, and had only made a small distance. If she looked hard enough, squinting her golden eyes against the sun, Mariah could still make out the encampment.
"You know you don't have to run," gasped Emily as she came to stand by Mariah. The small brunette breathed heavily as she took a moment to clean her glasses. "We've only walked for two hours, so there's no need to rush."
"It's the fact that its been two hours, everyone's out of breath, and that I can still see our starting point, is what's making me want to rush," chided Mariah.
"Then if you had so much energy you should have carried a pack too," Emily sneered, adjusting the backpack's strap as if to make a point.
The two girls glared at each other, neither really making a move or pressing any issues. They were never good friends, usually bickering like this anyways. But Mariah felt more stressed around Emily then usual.
"Will you two just quite arguing," growled a voice. "I'm sick of hearing it."
The girls turned to see Brian, who kept walking past them, tugging along a heavy pack. He wasn't too thrilled about the idea of walking across the span of a destroyed city, but he wasn't willing to stay put at the encampment either.
Though Brian wouldn't say it, he was worried about Tala. The last he saw of his teammate was after the battle against Garland. He knew that the red-head had been severely injured, and had been in the hospital that had collapsed.
Trudging behind him was Spencer, carrying most of the weighted baggage. The large teen kept moving forward silently, almost like an oxen pulling a cart. Miguel and Michael followed shortly after, Michael gave Emily a warning look as he passed her.
"Come on, Lee!" Mariah called down the hill. "Or I'm going to leave you here."
"No need to shout," Lee snipped back, meeting her at the top of the hill. "I'm keeping my pace slow to match Mathilda." The two looked further down the hill as the small girl in question slowly climbed up to meet them.
"I'm sorry," she apologized as she breathed heavily. "I'm not use to this, but I'll be okay."
"Don't worry about it," Lee encouraged her. "We need to take our time anyways, don't want to wear ourselves out too much." He gave Mariah a stern look, as if he were talking to her rather then the smaller girl.
8888888888
Saiyo dusted off her floral kimono and straightened her hair as she awaited in the main office lobby. Two men in black suits stood by the door, neither giving her any attention as she clicked her tongue in impatience.
"Are you sure he is on his way?" she scoffed rudely at the two.
"Yes, Miss Saiyo," the one on the left end of the door responded. "Sir Reeves, your father, is currently heading this way. You'll have to be patient for his office is on the top floor."
"Fine, fine," she snapped, waving her hand to cut the man off. "I have better things to do then to wait around for that old man."
"Ah, and to think I'd be more loved by my only daughter," called a rough voice. Saiyo turned behind her to see a middle aged man. His suit was white with a red tie, and he leaned against a black cane with his right hand. His once black hair was speckled with grey lines, making him seem older then he really was.
"You forget," she sneered. "You may be my biological father, but I don't consider you much of one."
"Yes, yes," he sighed, almost laughing. "So, where is this wraith that you've made?"
"It's over there," Saiyo said simply as she pointed to the lobby chair behind her. There, Tyson was propped up into a sitting position, though back straight his head was slightly lowered.
"Hmm, he doesn't look like much," her father grumbled.
"I can have him punch you in the gut if you like," she responded cheerfully. As if to toy with the elder, Saiyo had Tyson's arm twitch, causing her father to jump back suddenly.
"That is quite alright," Reeves grumbled, straightening his tie.
"Well, I kept my end of the bargain, you've got the key?" Saiyo asked curtly.
"Yes, it is in the safe here," he responded, moving to a large picture. Taking the picture down revealed a metal safe with a simple spin wheel lock. Quickly turning the wheel, the elder opened it easily. "Though you should have been much more specific about what the key was. My agents were kind of taken aback when they retrieved it."
"Oh, so sorry that I surprised you peons," she said sarcastically.
Reeves pulled out a long, wrapped object from the safe. He took the time to unwrap it, revealing an old looking sword handle. He tossed it to Saiyo, who caught it easily.
"There is your key. Though it wont budge from its sheath, so I don't know how good it'll be for you," her father explained grumpily, closing the now empty safe.
"Of course you can't budge it from its sheath," she scowled. "If you could, then what would we have needed the kyonshi for? The ryushin blade can only be wielded by its chosen family, which are the Kinomiya's."
She took a minute to study the uncovered sword. Age tinted it a bluish green, though its ornate hilt gleamed brightly. There was a round insert in the center, designed as if it should have held an emblem.
"Though why did you make a wraith again?" her father asked, coming back over to the still Tyson. "Couldn't you just have had him wield it alive? Or at least his elder brother?"
"Cause the successor title went to Tyson, not his older brother. And I've already said that it was kind of an accident that he died, but then he shouldn't have told me no."
She tossed the sword towards Tyson. Standing quickly the wraith caught the blade, pulling it easily from its sheath. Reeves let out an impressed whistle, glad to see his daughter's magic in working order.
"And with that you can unlock the final seal, right?"
"Yes, but he needs to be completed first," she replied sternly. "Other wise, the last seal wont take our sacrifice."
8888888888
A dream gripped him. Holding him in darkness. Can't see, can't hear, can't breathe...
Shears of pain raced through his body, as if he were alight in flames. A painful numbness wrecked through his limbs, almost as though his bones were frozen.
The only thing that kept him company was the racing thoughts. Brightly lit images twirled behind his unseeing eyes. Were these memories? Or were they events to come? He couldn't tell.
Seeing faces that he thought he could recognize. Smiling, laughing, making him jealous and angry to watch others so happy. A boiling rage would fill his heart making him struggle against his bonds as the hot pain filled him.
But then there were the faces that were shouting, crying, crumbling into tears that he didn't understand. The freezing numbness made him ache, was this the feeling of yearning? Who did they cry for? For him? Or for another?
The flashing images fell like blocks, stacking up unevenly. The blocks didn't fit right, there were gaps and holes that left a void of empty emotion. He wanted to cry out in frustration. But the darkness swallowed up his cries and pulled the air from his lungs.
A voice called to him. Softly, sweetly, pulling him, tugging him.
"Come find me."
8888888888
Helen's Notes –
Okay, yeah. Its been a long while. I had the urge. Well enough of one to finish the chapter.
I had recently found out about the new fourth season of Beyblade that will be released next year. And so I couldn't help but get a taste for it.
Though I'm not sure whether or not to continue this story. Not many people seem to like it, or at least that's how my stats show for reviews and such. So all my readers, that are actually still reading this, please oh, please tell me whether or not to continue this story. Otherwise… I'll probably put it back in file and wont touch it again. Or worse, delete it.
I'd like to continue with it. But with out any of the readers' input the enthusiasm is kinda lost.
More notes – ryushin (basically means dragon sword) don't know if that's the official name of the sword, but it seems to work for it.