All's Fair in War and Unrequited Love
Click here for "Indemnify" Extras
A blazing red sun cast a golden glow upon the land, leaving a dazzling, scintillating impression upon the small lake in the area through which a white and blue bus drove. The ponderous vehicle rumbled down the dirt road, sporting a logo of capital letters that read, “BBA.” Although it was large in size, its occupants were few to the number. Only a group of seven children and two elderly men accompanied the driver.Near the front in one of the mock leather seats sat a hyper young boy wearing a bright red jacket over a yellow shirt, summery blue jean shorts, and a dirty baseball cap with the rim turned to the back. His eyes were alive with a wondrous fire and his mouth moved a mile for a minute, leaving his friends with little peace to themselves. The bus was nearly empty, yet it was louder than a packed stadium on opening night.
“That was so awesome the way we won that match, wasn’t it?” He shouted to all sitting near him.
“It was great, Tyson, but please, keep it down a bit. We’re right here. You don’t have to yell.” Kenny, a small, brown-haired boy with thick glasses replied as he rubbed his ears.
“We ought to have a big celebration when we get to our cabin.”
“I second that idea.” Said Aqua, a brunette girl in the seat adjacent.
“How are we all going to fit in one cabin?” Asked a blonde boy in orange overalls.
“We can’t.” Tyson stated simply, his voice lower with a hint of disappointment. “Half will have to stay in one cabin and the rest in another.”
“How are we going to decide who stays where?”
Kenny looked up from his laptop. “I’m going to stay in the cabin where Mr. Dickinson is. He and I are going to review some strategies and things.”
“That’s no fun, Chief.” Whined Tyson. “You’re going to be all by yourself in a cabin with Mr. D and Grandpa. Come to think of it, that should be rather interesting. Just don’t sleep in the same room as the old timer. He snores really bad.”
“That’s wacked, Little Dude.” Tyson’s grandfather shouted from the middle of the bus.
“It is not! You snore louder than Kai! And it’s even worse sleeping in a room with you after you’ve eaten refried beans.”
Kenny fell back against his bus seat. “Perhaps I’ll set up a tent and sleep outside.”
The bus continued to roll down the road past a wide range of cabins. Most were the standard size with a wood grain exterior. The only exceptions were those that boasted two or more stories with a hot tub and swimming pool in the yard, but there were very few of them.
“I hope we get to our cabin soon!” Tyson cheered. “I can’t wait. Maybe we should sing a song on the way.”
Rei, an adolescent boy with sable hair and catlike eyes curled his lip at the idea. “Please don’t sing, Tyson. The last time you did that you gave everyone a headache.”
“Well this time I’ll try to only give Kai a headache.”
Kai, who had seated himself at the back of the bus, opened his eyes at the sound of his name. The dark, ruddy-brown oculars narrowed to ireful slits as he glared at Tyson, keeping all base thoughts to himself.
“Kai!” Bantered Tyson. “You’re my best friend.”
Sneering, Kai flashed his middle finger at Tyson and turned away.
“Oh, you’re so scary.”
“Leave Kai alone!” Protested a girl, who had not spoken until that moment.
Tyson looked over at her, hurt by her somber expression, but too interested in defending his own ideals to acknowledge. “Why are you taking his side?”
“He’s a person, too, and he deserves to be treated kindly.”
“A person? Do you call that evil, hideous, blood-sucking monster back there a person?”
“He isn’t a monster!”
Tyson scoffed. “You could’ve fooled me.”
A few gears choked and grated across each other as the bus wheezed and came to a stop in front of a line of evergreens. The driver opened the folding door and called to the passengers. Tyson was the first up and out of his seat.
“Yes! We’re finally here!” He announced, as if no one had heard the previous calling.
“Don’t forget your stuff,” Rei reminded him. “I have enough trouble carrying my own. I’m not going to haul yours around.”
“Are you going to stay in my cabin?”
“Sure, as long as I’m promised an ample supply of food.”
“Don’t count on it,” Aqua broke in. “You know how Tyson is about food.”
Bouncy blonde Max skipped happily down the steps and scuffed his feet along the dirt and gravel ground. He kicked a few stones into the deadened grass closest to the road and waited for his friends to step out of the vehicle. Their process was hindered, however.
“Tyson! Keep moving!” Rei complained, shoving his friend forward from behind.
“I can’t! My bag won’t fit through the door.”
“I’ll help.” Max said valiantly.
He took hold of one of the handles and pulled, but to no avail. The flimsy material began to tear under his grip and he relented, not wanting it to snap. As he stepped backward to give his friend more room, a sudden push from behind charged forth and forced Tyson and his oversized bag through the doorway.
His knees scraped across the rough gravel ground, catching several of the tiny, sharp pebbles in his skin. Their edges stung and left behind a red wrath even after Tyson had brushed them away. Angrily, he stood and looked up to find the soul responsible for his fall; and that soul came out smiling with his arms crossed and his eyes closed, as if nothing in the world could touch him.
“What’d you do that for, Kai?” Tyson growled, standing up with his fists clenched.
“Someone had to move you.”
“Why you-“
“All right, boys. That’s enough.” A short and pudgy Mr. Dickinson replied, forcing himself into their line of vision. “We’re all off now so let’s just forget it.”
Tyson’s grandfather slung his bag over his shoulder and added, “We gotta pick our crib and get to it, home boys. Ya dig what I’m puttin’ down?”
“I can dig it, Grandpa.” Tyson said. “How about me, Rei, and Max in one cabin, and then you, Kenny, and Mr. D in another.”
“What about K-man and the chicks, Little Dude?”
“Oh yeah. Well, Aqua and Juri can stay with us and Kai can go for a swim in the lake.”
Max laughed at Tyson’s comment, but immediately stopped when he noticed Juri glaring at him.
“Now hold on,” Said Mr. Dickinson, trying to calm the seven noisy teenagers around him. “We have to make this fair for everyone. Who will be staying with Tyson and who will be staying with myself?”
“Let’s flip a coin.” Max suggested, pulling a shiny penny out from the linty depths of his pocket. “If it’s heads, I’ll stay with Tyson. If it’s tails, then I’ll stay with Kenny.”
He tossed the penny into the air lightly, flipping his thumb upon it to give it a spin. It landed monument side up. Max dropped his shoulders with a sigh.
“Guess I get to spend the night with Chief and his crazy computer.”
“I heard that.” Mumbled Dizzi, the small black and gray laptop Kenny had plastered against his side.
“You get to stay with Tyson, Kai.”
Kai rolled his eyes at Max. “I’m so lucky.”
Turning sharply on his heels, Kai started down the road toward the cabin. His black duffel bag reflected his mood, dark and sagging, as it lay slumped over his shoulder. It jumped slightly as he walked and the others stared after him, wishing to know why he chose to act as he did.
Tyson snorted and began to follow. “I just hope he doesn’t ruin our fun.”
“And speaking of fun,” Mr. Dickinson noted sternly. “If you and Rei are going to be staying in a cabin with Aqua and Juri I don’t want there to be any trouble, and you know what I mean by that. Do you hear me, young man?”
“Yes, Mr. D.”
“Did you hear me, Rei?”
“Yes, sir.” Rei replied, blushing slightly.
“Good. We don’t need to get ourselves into that mess.”
Max giggled childishly and pointed. “You guys got in trouble.”
“They got told.” Grandpa joined in. “Stan the Man is layin’ the smack down.”
“We didn’t get in trouble,” Tyson said in a low tone, staring at the ground.
“But you will if you act like a fool. No hanky-panky, my man. You dig?”
“I dig.”
“Then it’s settled.” Mr. Dickinson replied as he lifted his brown leather suitcase off the ground. “Let’s be off and get to our cabins then. If you boys and girls need anything, just call.”
“See you guys later.” Smiled Max as he waved in his typical jocund manner.
“Yeah, see ya.” Tyson answered downheartedly, sad to see his friend head down the road in the opposite direction.
Although the sky was gray, dull, and lifeless, the forest was teeming with abundant noise, Tyson’s voice being the most clamorous. Birds chirruped and squirrels chattered, watching cautiously from the trees and power lines above the muddy road.
Kai had fifty feet on his roommates and intended to keep it that way, attaining more distance between them whenever he could. His dark eyes shifted to the side and his head turned to glance behind. The others had their belongings, carrying them either over their shoulders or upon their back. Their conversations carried far, much as he wished they would not, and tormented his love of quietness. He turned right sharply once he reached the point where the row of pines ended and the cabin property began. Making a sudden dash for the front door, he attempted to force his way inside until he remembered he did not have the entrance key. Growling, he turned again and shouted at his companions, “Hurry up!”
“What’s his problem?” Tyson asked, looking at the others. “Any other time he doesn’t want to do anything. Now all of a sudden he’s in a hurry.”
“Maybe he’s got something to get done,” Rei suggested.
“Like what? Sit in the corner and watch the paint peel? He never does anything.”
The four tramped across the moist grass up to the quaint cabin, trying to look upon it while avoiding Kai’s fatal stare. Tyson was the first to set foot upon the steps, doing so with little fear, and advanced to the threshold. His eyes shifted towards Kai then quickly back at the door. With a cautious hand he slipped the key inside the lock and turned it, stopping in mid-turn to glance again at the cold figure glaring at him.
“Today!” Kai snarled, and Tyson finished twisting the key.
Abruptly he was shoved aside, staring back at his friends as if they had an answer. They only shrugged their shoulders nonchalantly and filed up the steps. By that time Kai had already chosen his room and shut himself inside. At this, Tyson was pleased.
“I hope he never comes out.” He announced bitterly.
His arm swung around as he dropped his bag to the floor and stretched his back out. Unsure of what to do, Juri stood beside Aqua. Strands of hair fell across her fair-skinned face as she quickly scrutinized Tyson, then averted to her feet. Her aura of timidity was a tangible emotion in the air around. The others caught onto it instantly, but only a couple short-lived sidelong glances were made. Tyson, however, was dissatisfied with the sheet of discomfort that had been spread about the room and he reached out his arm in offering of solace to Juri, but she refused it. Turning swiftly she rushed off to another room and hid herself among the pillows and blankets of the bed.
Tyson felt his heart sink like the burning sphere in the sky. Never once that day nor later on that evening did he hear a heartfelt apology. Never once did he catch soft words in the net of his ear from a soul he wished to comfort. His only gifts were the quiet and the privacy gained as Aqua and Rei took to their own activities in another chamber, and Juri’s emergence from her hidden grotto of secrets.
As if she had wings that allowed her to soar, she alighted onto the sofa in the living room and positioned herself in a corner. Her eyes abruptly glued themselves to the pages of the book she toted and pondered for what seemed like hours over each one. From his small, meaningless position in the room, Tyson could see her face and hear her breathing. He longed to touch, though he knew Juri would not allow it. Dwelling upon the thought nearly brought tears to the gates of his eyes, but the barriers were strong and held them back, not wanting for her to see how much he loved and how deeply he felt it. He remained clear of rejection, yet fell victim to that lonely, empty void of unspoken truths; and she would never know it.
“So,” He began, breaking the late evening silence in the cabin. “Is it any good?”
Juri lowered her book and looked over at Tyson, her face giving the answer she did not feel the need to put into words.
“The book, I mean. Is it good?”
“Certainly.” She replied in all sincerity. “I wouldn’t be reading it if it wasn’t.”
“Right.” Tyson scratched his head and fidgeted nervously. “So who is sleeping where? You know, I figured we could all share the bedrooms but Kai took one all for himself, the hog.”
“Someone will have to sleep on the couch, I guess.”
Tyson frowned as she turned back to her reading. His angry blue oculars lowered themselves to the level of the floor then rose suddenly to stare at the closed wooden door. Fists of an unspoken rage clenched themselves tightly and turned to stones of ire with a passion, no less than that which dwelt in his mind, for fighting. His vindictive spirit quelled all other emotions he had previously known and saw him to the shadows of what was nothing other than Hell’s fatal gate of fire; but in his heart he knew no fear. There was none in his soul to show, only his hand, turned to stone, as it rattled the door and its chrome hinges.
A voice deep and low growled from the darkest bowels of the room, “Go away!”
“Get out here, Kai!” Tyson demanded.
With the abruptness of his sentence ending, the door opened. From within the nefarious umbra of the darkness a cold figure stood and glared out at he who had made the fatal mistake of coming upon the boundary line.
“What?” Kai snapped caustically, his eyes flashing like fire.
“We need to talk. Now get out here!”
Kai refrained from moving out of his position. His ominous gaze fell like a sheet of ice upon every object and every soul he stared into. Bewildered by such, Aqua and Rei remained in the doorway of their room, making just enough headway into the other to be able to see the commotion in rise.
“I’m tired of you always saying, ‘leave me alone.’ You’re the team captain, so why don’t you act like it? Get out of your little pit and help us decide where we’re sleeping.”
“That has been establish,” Kai replied abruptly. “This is my room. The other room and the couch go to the rest of you. I think that’s fair enough.”
With his statement of the obvious left to mull in Tyson’s mind, he turned and stepped back into the dank, murky atmosphere of his newfound living space. His hand only lightly grazed the knob on the door, leaving it ajar and vulnerable; and as the nighttime fog rolled in through the trees of the forest, so did the apprehensive feeling of a ruddy endeavor tangible in the air around. Nothing was quite as heavy, quite as palpable, as such a weight that took the empty, unsuspecting heads that evening. Only truth held the answer; the tempest was in abeyance.
“There you have it!” Tyson snorted with frustration. “Why do I even bother?”
“You weren’t exactly nice to him.” Juri stated simply and without emotion, looking up from her book in hand.
“Nice? That guy doesn’t even know the meaning of the word! He wouldn’t care, anyway. He’s just doing this to be annoying!”
“Well then I’ll talk to him. It can’t be that hard.”
Tyson felt the skin around his mouth fall as his jaw dropped, watching Juri leave the warmth of her place on the sofa and tiptoe quietly to the edge of Kai’s darkened sable world of emptiness.
“Knock yourself out,” He said, scratching the underside of his nose. “I got a twenty in my pocket. If you can convince him, I’ll give it to ya.”
His words were hushed as she slipped frail digits of five around the brass knob and pushed the door open farther to accommodate her slender frame. Into a black and silent room she wandered, looking at objects in all directions though her eyes could see nothing. She gave a polite “hello” upon her entrance, but only the calm of the ebony shadows answered her; and so she tried again, speaking with more of an inquiring tone to her faltering voice. Then Juri felt her body touch against a stiff and cold apparition, and when she glanced upward she found the eyes bore the fires of the hostile underworld.
“Oh, there you are, Kai.” She stammered.
“What are you doing here? What do you want?”
Her courage and determination sank like a lead balloon. “I just wanted to-“
“Haven’t I made it perfectly clear that I am not accepting visitors?”
“I know you don’t really like being around other people, but I thought maybe we could all discuss the problem and try to work something out. Don’t you think that would be good?”
Kai turned from her, his white scarf glissading across her fear-stricken face. He kept his gaze pointed toward the dense carpet on the floor until he heard her soft whimpers and turned, hiding the pleasure he found in her trepidation.
“Get out.”
“B-but, Kai. I-“
“Get out!” He snarled deafeningly, striking her across the face with such ire as to cause her cheek to swell and bleed.
Abashed, Juri raised her quavering hand to wipe away the scarlet streams, staring wide-eyed at her assailant. His scrutiny over her elaborated, as his muscles grew taut and his wicked, gnarled fingers curled in upon their stone bed. Fear forbade Juri any movement, and Kai once more incited his fist to strike her again, but his was a reprobate mission dismantled as Tyson—valiant, if somewhat temerarious, as he was—stepped in through the gateway of thoughts so vile in disarray.
“What’s going on?” Demanded the boy, seeing Juri bleeding against the wall behind him. “What did you do, Kai?”
“I just showed your friend how much a mistake can hurt.”
Tyson growled, clenching his teeth and fists. “How could you do that? She never hurt you!”
“She came into my room uninvited, just as you have. That’s two times now. I suggest you both take your leave.”
As always was his cold and silent way, Kai turned on his heels and walked through the umbra to his bed. Tyson, however, was not finished and forcibly received tenure of the white scarf trailing off his inciter’s neck.
“This isn’t over yet, Kai!” He said and yanked on the cloth. “Get back here and apologize!”
“Why should I? She is the one who should apologize for breaking into my room.”
“Breaking in? Come on! Just get over yourself and say you’re sorry.”
Kai ripped his scarf out from Tyson’s firm grip, glaring in his direction. “No.”
“You’re so impossible! It isn’t going to kill you to be nice to someone. Just apologize already."
“No, Tyson.” Juri breathed quietly. “Let it go.”
Her trembling body felt along the wall towards the door and slipped a hand across its frame. Inside, her heart was relieved to have found the exiting way out of such a foreboding and dark world; but just as she had come upon the dim patch of light awaiting her outside, the room was flooded with a similar luminescence from a hero’s hand that had grazed the switch on the wall.
Howling in excruciating pain, Kai dashed his eyes away from the burning light. His palm smothered his face as he reached out blindly with the other until its fingers met the upraised structure and downed it, dismissing all light from the room again.
“You fool!” He rumbled, unveiling his nefarious scarlet eyes.
Enraged, he shot forward and took hold of Tyson by his collar, alarming the boy to the point of perspiration. At the violent action Juri yelped fearfully and slunk behind the wooden shield that was the door. Her sweating palms groped at its edge as her innocent eyes watched Kai run his fist sharply across Tyson’s face, sending him to the floor in a shower of blood.
“This is your last warning!” He snarled at him. “Get out!”
With a small cry of great fear and disbelief, Juri peered up at the oppressive force in the shadow-enshrouded room. He instantly sensed the weight of her glance upon him and returned it with a gaze so inauspicious it shuddered even her deadened emotions.
“Hear me now, for this is the only time I will say it,” Kai began, pointing an accusing finger in her direction. “If you so much as look at me I shall make you pay. I will pursue you in the fatal black of night with a sharp reckoning that will terrify you to the very depths of your pitiful soul. There shall be some ruddy business done, and I will make you wish you never saw the sun go down!”
His caustic words could be heard reverberating off the walls and down the hallway, the force of them sending two eavesdroppers back to the world in their own room and Juri to the safety of her corner on the couch. A frigid wave of shivers fell down her spine as she looked toward the hellish chamber, its door still ajar and its occupants silent, but only for a short-lived moment.
After nearly a minute’s passing, talons and claws intertwined in a red-blooded display which left the victor confident and little flaw of skin. But upon the loser remained more in relevance with the blood and the wounds. The knives had cut much deeper than what his out layer had shown. Within his very heart and soul was a fresh puncture in his pride, and it bled out his eyes and mouth in trails of tears and unspoken words.
Rising to his feet, he could feel the watchfulness of his enemy upon him. All hopes were suddenly dashed away, as if to render his thoughts useless and true nature unapparent, but faith had its ways of rejuvenation despite how silently it worked them. The battle’s victor, however, was oblivious.
“This is it!” Kai warned, his eyes locked onto Tyson. “I see nothing left in you to make you worthy of my time. But if you bother me again, be assured you shall regret it!”
Open windows throughout the quaint place of lodging set forth the sunlight and sounds of the outside world to the interior regions. A patch of warm, golden glow covered the curious boy fully. Its light agitated his eyes and he had to blink several times to throw off the blinding sensation. He leaned over the edge of the sill, looking outward at his companions bathing themselves in the splendor of the soft green grass and warm sunlight.
Rei and Aqua sat beneath the shadow of a tall tree, admiring each other’s features. Aqua, keeping her back to the ground and her head turned toward her affection, breathed deeply and languidly the surrounding air as if to announce she wished to forever ignore everything but who was before her. Rei returned the piece of silent fondness with his customary fanged smile that always seemed to have some magic about it, causing Aqua to laugh at the sight.
Tyson could see them, happy in the world they had created around themselves, but nothing they did ever fazed him. Even after Rei took a headlong dive onto the awaiting body spread over the grass, he still found no need for words or a blush to reveal his uneasiness. There was none. He simply stared out around the wet morning world and wondered where all the beauty in it was, and then his eye caught sight of a fair and slender figure.
She sat beneath her own tree with her back plastered against its trunk. A stocky book with fine print and flamboyant illustrations rested in her hands. Her eyes kept glued to it, just as Tyson’s eyes remained adhered to her. All the rest of the wide and wonderful world may as well have been the most rotten, abhorrent pit in hell, for everything next to her, in his mind, was nothing more than that. In a field of deadened plants and trees, she was the lustrous rose in bloom. Down a long aisle furnished with a crimson carpet she was there, in his dreams, enshrouded in a silky lace with the most resplendent bouquet of the entire congregation; and he was at her side in his dapper ebony uniform, repeating the lines of a solemn, lifelong promise.
Still in his daze, Tyson sauntered out into the daylight and approached the beautiful frame. His feet tramped all over each other in his befuddled and confusing step. The awkward act he subconsciously displayed attracted the attention of the busy couple and made the single, shining one roll her gaze upward to see who cared to step toward her.
“Tyson?” She stated questioningly.
“I do.” Relied he in monotone.
“What?”
Tyson blinked down at her, realizing the splendor of the lace, the aisle, and the moment was all a fantasia.
“Oh! I’m sorry, Juri.” He said with a shake of his head. “I must’ve still been asleep.”
“I didn’t think you’d be walking around in your pajamas for no reason.”
He grinned sheepishly at her comment, hiding the deepening blush in his face. Slowly his head turned to see if the other two were watching. They were not.
“You slept a long time,” She started again. “It’s nearly noon.”
“Oh.” Tyson could think of no other words on the matter. “I guess I should go get dressed.”
“That might help.”
Without much in her reply, Juri turned back to her beloved piece of literature and resumed reading. All at once, Tyson felt a painful tug at his heartstrings, causing the organ to sink like a weight in his chest. An unloving strike across the face would have been more soothing than Juri’s indifference.
In a haste meant to distract him from the apparent disheartenment, Tyson rushed back inside the cabin. He passed through the sitting area and stumbled, nearly falling, into his unkempt sleep room. The blankets on the floor wound themselves tightly around his ankles and he had to hop back and kick his legs several times to shake them off.
His clothes sat in a disheveled lump in the corner with wrinkles adorning their every fold. Tyson swiftly pulled the red jacket over his head and the navy blue shorts up his bottom. The cap on the floor was placed atop his head and his gloves and shoes found their place on his hands and feet. A short rummage through the nightstand drawer found him his makeshift slingshot he had constructed of old twigs and some leather shoelaces. This he tucked away in his right rear pocket, saving the one in front for his switchblade.
Out again into the familiar gold and green. The warmth of the day was upon his face, embracing it tightly, and his eyes were abruptly glued to his angel beside the elm. A few long strides and he was there. His shadow fell over her, though she did not notice, and his heart drummed upon his ribs. A mass of words overflowed in his mouth and tied his tongue in knots so he could no longer speak; and when his lips eventually parted to make some sense of his emotions, all that came to the surface was a long sentence of jumbled babbling.
It was after this that Juri realized she was no longer alone. Her large, sparkling eyes looked up at Tyson with questions inside them.
“Are you feeling all right?”
“Crackers.” Said Tyson with a droll tone as his uneasy pause faded and sense returned. “I mean, sure. I’m fine. I just have something to do.”
“Sorry to disturb you.”
Juri shifted to the side, feeling as if she had somehow hindered his progress. Tyson could only smile at her and move on past the tree and into the bushes. Their texture was soft, yet thick, and they clung to him heavily. Frail, silken spider webs broke and sent their architects scattering in the wake created by the strange, new creature forcing his way through their home. Their pent-up feelings seemed to have no significance whatsoever. They were not even seen.
Presently, Juri watched Tyson’s leave from behind her shield of literature. It was the first time since their meeting that she had ever paid him the attention he desired. A great flock of gentle butterflies took flight deep inside her stomach, and then she heard something behind her. Aqua and Rei had ceased their playful actions long enough to carry themselves over to stare at the one who was already out of sight. Instantly, Juri suppressed her rising emotion.
“Where did Tyson go?” Aqua asked, though she expected no response.
“I don’t know.” Said Juri quietly.
“Do you think he’s plotting revenge?” Rei suggested.
“He can’t be! Why would he?”
“After what Kai did last night I don’t think there’s anything he’d rather be doing, and I doubt he went off into the woods to look for food.”
“We can’t just let him go off plotting how he’s going to beat Kai! Didn’t you hear what Kai said? If Tyson bothers him again, Kai is going to kill him!”
“Everyone says that to Tyson,” Aqua pointed out with a sigh. “It’s not surprising Kai would say that to him. Tyson seems to like pestering him the most.”
“I don’t think Kai is one to joke about this!”
“Well we wouldn’t know if he’s serious or not. Just forget about it. If we hear a scream then we’ll know something is up.”
“If we hear a scream it’ll probably be Tyson’s!”
“We should get cool spy equipment to watch him with.” Rei interjected with a laugh.
“It isn’t funny,” Juri shifted her gaze down to her book as her heart sank. “Why can’t he just do me a favor and give it up?”
“If it means that much to you, maybe we should just go find him and bring him back. I’m sure we’ll find him doing something stupid like picking berries.”
“There’s a chance he might not be, though.” Feeling almost too depressed to move, Juri stood up slowly, leaving her book on the grass. “Let’s go.”
Tyson stumbled out from the clump of bushes he had been traveling through. Bits and pieces of the foliage stuck to his clothing as a reminder of the path he took, much of it falling off as he made his way to the nearest and thickest tree. He looked up to the branches, visually testing their strength. Many of them were twice as big around as his arm and several times heavier, but their position left him no way to reach them from where he stood. A couple attempts at clawing his way up the trunk proved he was getting nowhere. Soon after, he heard an approaching uproar of voices, their sudden advancement frightening him behind the tree.
Curious, though the move was undoubtedly foolish, he peered out around the corrugated surface to see his three followers tramping through the underbrush as they called out his name. Tyson swiftly stole behind the wooden column and pressed himself tightly against its rough outer shell. His mind began to swell with thoughts and emotions after having seen Juri walking through the woods to find him and he began to prey upon the idea that she might have some deep-seated feeling for him. At that moment he felt like rushing out to embrace her just to show his thankfulness for her concern, but his eye caught something more intriguing and more real.
Not far from where he stood, some bushes rustled and tree branches rattled. A disturbance so abrupt could certainly not have been anything less than what Tyson expected. As slow and quiet as he could bear to be, he crept down the trunk to the damp earth floor and snaked his way through the labyrinth of undergrowth. Within moments he was beside another body. He could feel the watchfulness of the eyes upon him, like a cold rain, but he felt only warmth inside for he was sure of whom he had come upon. Without a thought in his head he fell upon the feet of the adjacent and wrapped his arms around two legs that may as well have been the roots of a heartless being, for the body most certainly was.
Tyson could scarcely contain his excitement. He had a sense of triumph about him that seemed to sparkle up until the moment when he saw the pair of vicious eyes looking down at him with foreboding. They narrowed quickly and he felt himself fall back mechanically and stand to full height with as much disbelief as whom he had touched.
“Kai,” He stated, swallowing the lump of fear in his throat. “There you are. I need to talk to you!”
Kai only grumbled and looked away with his arms folded. Tyson did not relent at the indifference in his enemy’s subtle reply and drew the acuminate blade from his pocket, letting his thumb slip across the handle to unleash it from its hold.
“You’re going to be sorry for what you did!”
Though Tyson’s words were harsh, Kai found no solid foundation in them. Vilely he sneered at the feeble attempt of vengeance and tilted his head slightly to catch the sounds of voices approaching. A victorious smirk spread across his face as he heard swift feet becoming faster. Then, he sidled off toward a tree to bathe himself in its shadows and watch.
“Tyson!” Exclaimed an exasperated Juri as she came to a panting halt in front of the boy. “What are you doing? And why do you have that blade?”
Tyson averted his gaze, searching for the right reply. His mind drew only a blank, and then he remembered the trees around him.
“I was chopping up firewood.”
Juri stared at him in complete disbelief. “With a pocketknife? Tyson, don’t tell me you’ve been after Kai.”
“He acted like a total jerk to you! It just isn’t fair!”
“Just because he was a jerk doesn’t mean you can go off and stab him.”
“Then can I shoot him?”
“Tyson!”
“Sorry, but I just can’t stand it! What gave him the right to do that to you?”
Juri recoiled from his response, looking into his eyes with a pained expression as she lifted her tiny hand to the spot on her face where Kai had struck her the night before. The wound stung viciously when she touched it and bits of dried blood encrusted on its surface fell off into her hand. Their crimson-brown appeal sent horrid reminders into her head, nearly killing off all traces of sanity before she could retrieve them.
“Well,” Tyson began again, returning the same cold indifference Juri had paid to him. “Sorry to disturb you.”
Turning away to hide his dejected heart, he slipped his weapon back to the confines of his pocket and trudged on through the dirt of wriggling grubs and shoots. Juri let her arm go outstretched, wishing to call him back though her mouth seemed glued shut. Discouraged, she sighed and glanced over her shoulder at her friends, who had hung back for fear of becoming the customary cluster of confusion.
“I can’t stop him.” Juri stated simply and retraced her steps.
“Don’t let it bother you. He’ll never find Kai anyway,” Aqua said with a reassuring smile, but Juri’s reply was the same as it always had been. Not a word was spoken.
Outside their bodies nothing could be heard, save the sounds of nature. All else was locked away and kept within the closed iron gates of their souls, the deepest parts that felt the most. Exactly what force kept him quiet, as he had never dared to be before, Tyson was not sure of, but he could feel its strain and took a slight liking to its false securities.
A spreading of leaves and dirt fell around his feet. The forest, for once, was simply reality’s mirage. Colors may as well have been shades of gray. Distant, though, the clouds were, he felt he might be walking among them for his heart was light and empty. His head, however, was full of misguidance and it weighed him down, as it always had, and kept him glued to the harsh reality with no love to spare and nothing but the sight of green and brown ahead and a dark, muscle-bound shape sliding away amongst the tree trunks.
Tyson watched for a moment, almost unable to believe he had caught his enemy in retreat, and then he followed. His pace was slow but his eyes were watchful, silently observing the flowing end of Kai’s creamy scarf as it trailed out behind his neck. The dorsal fin blades jutting out from his elbow peaks screamed a deadly terror and brought more horror to the body that was already a powerful force none dared to challenge, but Tyson was not part of the cowardly many.
Eyes of deep blue steel saw the darkness rush himself across a wide, rectangular clearing of infinite masses of unkempt weeds and grasses. Tyson followed then, the deadened undergrowth snapping beneath his weight and signaling the enemy to his position. From the shade, Kai smirked and waited until the boy finally arrived before him, panting like a dog.
“I’ve come to put a stop to you, Kai!” He declared boldly.
Kai rolled his eyes, letting his head fall to the side as he turned away. His smile never once faded as he did so, though his glance shifted often. He nudged the left side of his face with the heel of his hand and looked back at the firebrand with an infallible aura growing with every blink of his eyes.
“You are powerless.” Replied he with a malign smile. “Your lack in knowledge leaves you helpless, and your friend vulnerable.”
“Says you, Kai! She walked off somewhere.”
“Yes, to be alone. The others didn’t tail her. The only difference between you and I is I know where she went and you don’t.”
With the ominous ending grace to his sentence, Kai darted off through the tall grass with only a milky white blur left behind. Tyson nearly fell over himself in pursuit. He was nowhere near as fast.
Fibrous and flaccid chased though the wood, making themselves silent wonders, save Tyson’s labored panting. Kai leapt swiftly over each obstacle marring his path and left his lacking follower to rupture flesh across each uneven stump. Valiantly the fight was never lost. Tyson strove to catch up in time though blood pounded in his temples and every quick movement in front of him was becoming harder to trace. Immediately, Kai leapt aside and the nuisance behind fell head first through a wall of green and rolled across black pavement.
Inside his head he heard a ringing. Tyson fought to pull himself upright as sweat glazed his face. Beside him a shadow fell and touched his body and the smell of burnt rubber dove up his nostrils. Turning, he fell back in terror and screamed into the polished chrome of a front-end bumper as a pompous horn throttled his inner ear.
He was ashamed and stood again. The driver edged out his window and cursed the boy, who had no intent to stay and listen. He took off again, following what he sensed would lead him where he needed to be.
“Hello Juri,” Kai smiled, his evanescent shape becoming visible as he stepped out the shadows.
“Kai?” Juri was at a loss. “What’s going on?”
“Just thanking you for the kindness you showed me earlier.”
With a sneer he pulled a shining, unused blade from his pocket and held it against his side. Juri felt herself falter at the sight of it. She pulled herself up and watched with caution as he closed the gap between them.
“Is this a joke? I have a bit of a fear of sharp things.” Her face paled and bled a mass of sweat as his shadow touched her.
“This is no joke.”
An unforgiving talon found its way around her reedy neck and sought a path for the edge held between itself up across her drumming chest. Kai’s unoccupied hand slipped upward and cupped around her chin, tilting it back to expose her rippled throat. He let the knife play across it and incite the skin to tremble as waves in an ocean.
Ragged and torn, Tyson came stumbling out from the overgrowth with leaves and pine needles clinging to his skin and clothes. His panting grew heavier as he perspired and approached the two in his sight. Juri threw him an anxious glance.
“Let her go, Kai!” The boy rumbled as fiercely as he could through his exhausted lungs.
“I would, but unfortunately you have bought her a ticket to hell.”
“What’re you talking about?”
Kai sneered and tightened his lock around Juri’s windpipe. “What the hell do you think, smart one?”
“She didn’t do anything to you! Let her go and we’ll settle this on our own.”
“I believe killing the both of you would settle everything nicely, don’t you?”
He exhaled, satisfied with himself as he ran the acuminate edge across a layer of thin flesh. Juri gasped at the sensation and pulled to one side, afraid of where Kai held his knife hand. A small trial of blood pushed out of the cut and fell like a red tear down her cheek. Tyson looked on in disbelief.
“You jerk… I can’t believe you did that!”
“The wound is there, isn’t it? Oh, I’m sorry. You don’t like that do you? Blood is rather messy. Let me clean it up for you.”
With a wicked smile Kai lowered his grip, leaning himself down across Juri’s shoulder. He glanced once in the direction of Tyson to be sure he had the attention he desired. Slowly, sickeningly, he put his face to hers and pulled the dripping blood away with his tongue.
“Kai…” Tyson’s eyes widened and his jaw fell.
“It’s gone now, isn’t it?”
“Jerk! How can you live with yourself?”
“I can live with myself just fine. It’s you I have a problem with.”
“Then set Juri free and we’ll settle this. We’ll do it any way you want and see who the winner is.”
“Your overconfidence sickens me,” Kai scoffed. “I think I’d much rather enjoy killing her and letting you live, just to see the pain and the sadness in you.”
“But she didn’t do anything to you! She doesn’t deserve to be in this.”
“She does! How many times have I made it clear I hate being bothered? I don’t want anyone coming near me or talking to me. Ever!”
“But in the stadium, during our bey-battles, we’re always together. We’re part of a team.”
Tyson glanced around at the trees and vegetation, and at the falling midday sun. “We’re in the middle of nowhere.”
“Exactly! It’ll be some time before we’re to be in the stadium again, and until then, I don’t have to pretend I spin on a team with a bunch of freaks!”
“Freaks? Look who’s talkin’!”
“I’m not a freak.” Stated Kai simply as his lips spread into a caustically wretched smile. “I’m more insane.”
Inside his burning desire grew and welled up throughout his body. His hand fell across Juri’s chest again, the side of the knife stroking her shirt as it moved over to her arm and grazed through the thin hairs standing on end. Swiftly he pulled it back and widened his grin as she cried under pain and scarlet paths formed rivers on her skin.
“Don’t you have any compassion?” Tyson shouted, irately rushing out toward Kai who nonchalantly stepped aside.
“I think it’s fair to say I have as much compassion as you have sense in your head.” Kai replied as he dropped his chin on Juri’s shoulder to watch his adversary fall into the dirt. “I guess, then, I have none.”
“You can’t do this! Just let her go and take it out on me!”
“I will, make no mistake of that, but that comes later. How rude of you to forget. Don’t you know, it’s ‘ladies first.’”
“Then you should be killing yourself, Kai.”
Kai frowned. “You’re an ass, plain and simple. I was considering letting you live after taking care of this wretch, but I doubt I could put up with you for longer than a day. Just stand by and wait your turn. I’ll go slowly so you can say goodbye. The only question left is how should she die? Shall I slit her throat, her wrists? How shall she be doomed?”
“Don’t do this! You don’t have to. We can forget it.”
“No! It’s been started and now all that is left is to finish it.”
“But what about the others? They’ll know! And Mr. Dickinson will find out. How’re you going to get out of that?”
“I know how to kill and make it look like an accident. They won’t find the knife, they won’t find any evidence, and they won’t find me until all risks have been blown aside.”
Tyson sat up and stared into the vicious red eyes, knowing inside that Kai was truthful in his words. He wished so deeply to have the strength to lash out and recapture what had so suddenly come to shine in his life, but the light was shaking in fear and fading fast. Slowly, a crystalline tear leaked out and created a small stream from him to the ground. Kai laughed to himself as he watched it fall, pulling Juri up closer and dropping the razor edge against one pulsing side of her neck.
“Neither of you are going anywhere until I make sure you have witnessed her slow, painful death.”
“Please, Kai.” Tyson begged. “Don’t do this. It doesn’t have to be this way. We can pretend it never happened.”
“Unfortunately, we can’t. And your begging won’t work with me so give it up.”
“Then please take it out on me and let her go. I won’t even put up a fight.”
“Any physical pain I could inflict on you isn’t enough and it’s far too easy to do. It’d be more enjoyable to watch the expression on your face as I kill your friend. I could get more from that.”
Tyson stood, his head still bowed and his eyes still wet.
“It isn’t going to be this way.” He said, stepping backward once.
“Where are you going?” Kai asked with a light tone as he again tightened his grip on the fidgeting Juri. “I’ve only started slicing her to pieces.”
Silence reigned for several moments. A faint wind rustled the leaves and then kept them quiet. Juri wanted to scream but had barely enough air to keep herself up. She searched around herself for any means of escaping. One desperate attempt would have been enough for her, so long as freedom was guaranteed. Kai’s deathly grip was far too strong, though.
The last she saw of anything around before feeling herself on the warmed earth was a blur charging in her direction. Her eyes drew up blackness and her ears caught the sounds of Kai shouting. Tyson’s audacious voice picked up where the shadowy threat left off.
“You leave her alone and take this up with me!” He declared, triumphant as if he had already won.
“No, this isn’t done! I intend to finish.”
Kai rolled to his side and stood slowly, cursing all the while. He locked his eyes on Juri and smiled as she looked over and paled at what she saw. She recoiled, groping around helplessly for help to stand when he grabbed at her arm and took her up like bait on a thick piece of twine. He thrust his knife up at her throat, just enough to dye the skin around it a deep scarlet. Instantly, Tyson’s heart fell.
“Try it again, you little son of a bitch!” Kai beleaguered. “Go ahead. You’ll get a close-up view of this blade going in her neck.”
Wetness stained the hero’s face once more. “Juri, I’m sorry.”
“Just go, Tyson.” She gasped, inhaling as much air as she could.
“I can’t, I…”
His legs turned limp then, melting like butter, and he dropped to the dirt again. He caught himself on his hands and shook, a war of pity and ire waging in his heart. Tears wiped along his mouth and chin and across the bridge of his nose again. He wanted to admit everything he had for Juri there, but all his words remained locked behind doors without a key and Kai’s persistent laughter was of no solace.
“You fool,” He claimed, his diatribe scarifying the dissipating courage in Tyson’s soul. “Now that you have nothing left, you finally realize your fate. Too bad your sense came in too late.”
An indelicate smile crossed him, but washed off as familiar human voices drew nearer to his position. He frowned and loosened his hold.
“They’re coming this way, those idiots. Damn it all to hell!” Kai shouted and then looked to Juri. “No matter, I can always leave a reminder.”
Within the span of time an eye could blink, Kai slid his blade across the front of Juri’s throat and took off with only the milky trail of his scarf showing his path. His victim screamed and grabbed at her neck as blood poured out the wound and collected in her throat. She fell, and Tyson caught her. He could scarcely stand to look upon her drenched in sweat and fatal red. With one arm he held her, and with the other he tore a strip from his shirt and wrapped it over her wound. The yellow cloth quickly absorbed the deadly color, turning ruddy as Tyson wept over the trembling body in his grasp.
Much unlike the preceding night, the morning was fresh and placid. Faint traces of sweet, wet dew kissed the blades of grass as they condensed. Blankets and pillows adorned the cabin floor, whereupon Tyson found himself to be lying in some salivary fluid similar to the one hanging off his mandible in strings. With a dazed look in his half-open eyes he stared blankly around the room, wondering why he did not feel the soft mattress beneath his body. His leaden head thudded against the wall as he attempted to bring his posture to a sit. Abruptly following, he was awake and on his feet, though his steps were poorly judged and clumsy.
“It’s business!” Kai spat at him. “I fake team player to win, but I’m still in it for me. Anything said in the stadium is kept there. It has nothing to do with what goes on before or after. So where are we now?”