Finally! I hear you say x.x

Argh it's taken me forever to updatel, damnit. I promise the next one will be quicker. Winter's Salvation and Lost should be updated soon too - as well as Never Alone.

Yes, and Skills of a Blader if you want it although the response to the most recent chapter is pretty pitiful T.T

Anyway! On with the story!

Chapter Four

Tala tugged off his shirt and threw it aside. He tensed a little and gave a little yelp as strong arms slid around his waist and cold hands caressed his bare stomach.

“Hey! Calm down, it’s just me.”

“Bry, don’t do that.”

“I’m sorry.” A kiss was placed behind the redhead’s ear. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Tala let out a soft moan as Bryan continued kissing down his neck. “Keep doing that and I might forgive you.”

Bryan smirked against Tala’s skin and turned his lover around. He pulled the redhead up and kissed him gently, tongue flicking lightly around Tala’s mouth. When he pulled away Bryan let Tala go and sat on top of the covers in his boxers. He yawned and flopped back on the bed, hand running through his short silver hair. “Tal?”

“Hmm?” The answer came from the bathroom and his boyfriend padded out, toothbrush in his mouth.

“I think I’m worried.”

Tala sat down on the bed and sighed through the toothbrush. “Still having trouble deciphering emotions, huh?”

Bryan nodded and the bed sprung up again as Tala went into the bathroom to rinse out his mouth. Tala tugged the covers out from underneath Bryan and slid under them. “Duvets, Bryan, are for sleeping under,” he sighed.

Bryan leant over and nibbled Tala’s earlobe. “Or having sex on.”

Tala sighed. “Not now, Bry.”

“I know. I’m not in the mood either.” Tala lifted up the covers for Bryan to slid under and the redhead grimaced.

“Your feet are cold!” he said in a pained voice.

“Really? Then I’ll just have to warm them up on you,” Bryan said, raising his legs and putting his cold feet against Tala’s legs. He smirked as Tala yelped. “Since you’re so hot and all.”

Tala scowled and turned over, snuggling backwards into the curve of Bryan’s body. “We will find him, won’t we?” Tala asked quietly. “Takao, I mean.”

Bryan kissed the nape of Tala’s neck. “Of course we will. Then Kai can finally get laid.”

Tala sighed. “Is that all you ever think about?” he asked exasperatedly.

Bryan smirked again. “Maybe. You’re the one who jumped me after all, so it is your fault.”

Tala huffed moodily. “At least I don’t talk about it all the time. Can we shut up now and go to sleep?”

Bryan reached over and turned off the light, wrapping his arms around Tala. Tala laid his arms over Bryan’s a linked their fingers, listening to Bryan’s breathing as it eventually slowed and became deep and even.

Sighing, Tala looked at the almost full moon in the clear sky out of the bedroom window with icy blue eyes. His brow was still creased with worry as he slipped into a restless slumber but kept control of his movements, determined not to wake Bryan.

xxxxx

In the next bedroom installed into the warehouse, Kai wasn’t having so much luck.

He’d finished pacing a long time ago and settled for sitting on the bed in his pajamas, plucking at the duvet cover absent mindedly.

He picked up the sound of Tala’s and Bryan’s voices next door and sighed with a small smile. He couldn’t quite believe it when those two hooked up – and they’d been so nervous when it came to breaking the news. Or rather… Tala had been nervous and Bryan just glared at Ian the entire time since it was the loud mouthed nosy Russian that walked in on them making out and had shouted it around the whole house.

Kai sighed and flopped back against the covers. They left for the Amazon jungle tomorrow and he needed to rest, but somehow he couldn’t sleep. He turned on his side and watched the eerie green lights of the digital clock flick as time rolled slowly by.

Have you ever had the feeling that you’re the only one awake in the world? It isn’t true, but it’s still a void of inexplicable loneliness. This was how Kai was feeling right now.

The clock flash 23:04 at him as his eyes finally drooped close.

xxxxx

Tala’s eyes snapped open from his dozing as his ears registered a soft noise from… somewhere.

He scowled, ears straining for the noise again. Curiosity got the better of him and he slipped carefully out of his falcon’s arms and left the room. He tiptoed to the room next door and frowned at the source of the pained whimper.

Kai tossed sideways on his bed, mumbling under his breath and sheets tangled between his legs. Tala sat by his side and gave him a gentle shake. “Kai. Kai! Wake up!” he said.

Kai’s eyes shot open and he sat bolt upright, breathing heavy. Tala regarded him with worried eyes and sighed. “Easy, it was just a nightmare…” he murmured, brushing Kai’s hair back from his face.

Kai let out a whispered sob and locked his arms around the redhead’s waist, silent tears running in streams. Tala sighed and rested his head on his friend’s, rubbing his back soothingly.

“Easy, Kai, rest now,” Tala murmured, laying Kai back on the bed. He tugged the covers up around the younger blader and tucked him in. Kai gave him a wobbly smile.

“Yes mother,” he teased. Tala gave him a gentle smack and blinked in surprise when Kai grabbed his hand.

“Thank you,” he said quietly. Tala gave a soft smile in return.

“No problem. The Abbey, was it?”

Kai shook his head, and Tala frowned in surprise, but asked no more. He patted Kai’s shoulder before leaving, shutting the door behind him.

Kai sighed and ran his fingers through out of control hair. Various things plagued his dreams – his battles with Brooklyn, what could have happened if Tyson wasn’t there for him… and one incident on an icy lake in Russia where he just fell, no one there to save him, to forgive him.

Kai sighed and let his eyes close again, this time his sleep completely devoid of dreams.

xxxxx

Tala slipped back into his room and shut the door behind him. He was just tiptoeing around the bed when…

“Where’ve you been?”

Tala yelped and started, shying away from the bed edge. Bryan raised an eyebrow at him while surveying him with sleepy green eyes.

Tala let out a sigh. “Oh, you’re awake.”

Bryan raised the other eyebrow. “Well done Tala. Excellent observation. Now where have you been?”

Tala scowled. “Sheesh, no need to get cranky. Kai was having a nightmare.”

Bryan looked worried now, but it wasn’t for Kai. “Weren’t you sleeping?”

Tala slid under the covers and shook his head. “Not properly.”

Bryan slid his arms around Tala’s waist and rolled the redhead on top off him, gently stroking his back and hair. “He’ll be fine. We can do this, it’ll be fine.”

“I hope so, Bry,” Tala sighed. “I sure hope so.”

xxxxx

Bryan watched the sea skim past as they fly over it silently, his silver hair falling in his face. Tala dozed next to him, head resting on his shoulder. Behind them were Rei and Kai – Kai was staring out of the window too, a moody expression on his face while Rei was flicking through some magazine. Kai sighed and gave a dejected huff, resting his head right on the window.

“Tired?” Bryan asked, tilting his head to look at Kai through the gap in the seats.

Kai sat backwards out of Bryan’s sight and said nothing. Bryan rolled his eyes at the rejection of conversation and contented himself with watching Tala sleep.

Rei shut his magazine quietly and looked at Kai. “They’re only worried about you, you know,” he said in Chinese.

Kai glanced up at him and sighed. “I know,” he replied in the same language. “I know. I’m just… anxious.”

“He’ll be fine, Kai. He’s grown up a lot.”

“I know. That’s what I’m worried about.” Rei blinked, slightly taken aback at Kai’s answer. Kai began to explain. “Always, when we were younger, he’d be immature, act stupid. He was carefree… innocent almost yet didn’t give a damn about what anyone thought or said about him. Well… that’s not entirely true. He cared about what his friends thought… about… about what I thought.” Kai sat back and huffed. “Damn it, he’s lost it all in less than two years, he’s not the same. He’s conformed to society, grown up and I guess… for all I complained about it I didn’t really want him to have to change.”

“You didn’t want him to feel real pain like you,” Rei supplied.

Kai blinked and his eyes widened at Rei’s wise insight. His head snapped around in shock and Rei gave a small shrug.

“I understand Kai – you’ve been through some tough shit, barely even had a childhood – no don’t interrupt. It’s true. Takao’s never had to deal with that, nor really the loss of a loved one or friend – not in memory. His mother died when he was too young to remember. Gramps’ death was so unbelievably hard on him.” Rei sighed. “I didn’t want him to feel that either.”

“I didn’t know his mother had died… I guess I never thought about it…” Kai frowned slightly. “You didn’t want him to feel what?”

“Grief. Loss.” Rei gave a small smile at Kai’s questioning glance. “My parents died in a forest fire when I was eleven years old. Old enough to remember.”

Kai felt his throat tighten. “My gods… Rei, I…”

“Leave it.” Rei’s voice was colder than before. “You didn’t do anything, it was just an accident – a stupid accident. But let’s move on – and I’m putting this bluntly.” Golden eyes met crimson in a slight glare. “You’ve done nothing wrong, Kai, it was bound to happen some day. We will find him and you guys are going to sort things out – I know it. Now quit making everyone’s lives a misery, it’s like a blasted virus.”

Kai snorted. “Alright. You win. I’ll stop moping.”

“Thank the gods for that,” said another voice in Chinese. “Sense at last.”

Kai and Rei froze and stared at the back of one of the seats in front.

“Wh… what?” Kai stuttered.

Bryan grinned at him over the seat. “Boris shut me in the library for two weeks when I pissed him off, Kai, I learnt some there then finished it off online.”

“You… heard everything?”

“Yep. Sorry, Rei, didn’t mean to eavesdrop like that… hey, what’s so funny?”

Rei tossed his head back and let his laughter ring out. “Oh gods,” he said. “Kai your face!”

Kai scowled and folded his arms, trying to ignore Bryan and Rei’s snickers.

There was a yawn and Tala opened one bleary eye. “Did I miss something?” he asked drowsily.

“No, love,” Bryan murmured. “Go back to sleep.”

Tala nodded and nuzzled Bryan’s chest before slipping back to sleep. Kai frowned slightly.

“I don’t know why he’s so tired.”

“He couldn’t sleep last night,” Bryan answered, running fingers through red bangs. “He’s too worried.”

“Then why’s he sleeping now?” Rei asked.

Bryan gave a semi-evil smirk. “Gave him tea instead of coffee and some sleeping pills. He’ll be out until we get there.”

“That’s a bit mean,” Rei said, but Kai disagreed.

“Tala’s used to being persuaded with sleeping pills – if he doesn’t sleep properly he gets unbelievably wound up and he can’t think straight. Then he’ll get one of the worst migraines in history as the cyber chip tries to kick in but it can’t then he’ll sleep for about three days.”

“And it’s not nice sleep either,” Bryan said quietly. “He has his nightmares all over again.”

“How do you know all this?” Rei asked.

“It’s happened three times – once when Bryan went out of range on our communication systems when he was in Siberia spying on some ex-BIOVOLT workers, another when Ian got stabbed by some burglar in Moscow and then when he thought I was on the plane that crashed on the way to Japan.” Kai snorted and shook his head. “He just over-reacts.”

Bryan smirked. “Twit.”

Rei blinked thought about it. “That’s not the Tala I know.”

“He’s changed a lot, that’s for sure. Although he’s always looked out for his team.” Kai nodded to emphasise his point. “Always.”

Bryan sighed. “Come on, chatterbox. Get some rest – we’ve got a long trek in the jungle soon.”

Kai nodded and settled back against his seat. Rei sighed, staring out of the window for a while until he finally closed his eyes. Somehow Tala always seemed to have sense and calmness in difficult situations… but then, Rei guessed that the Neoborgs were probably his family – Kai included – much the same as the White Tigers were Rei’s family.

‘Seems like the Neoborgs are more human than I first thought…’

xxxxx

They landed some hours later on the outskirts of the Amazon forest after changing from plane to helicopter in Rio de Janeiro. The pilot gave a thumbs up as he rose into the air and flew away.

Kai pushed his way ahead into the jungle and looked around. The telltale signs of fierce beyblading were visible – along with evidence of a forest fire. This was where Takao had saved the forest – him and Dragoon.

“No footprints though,” Bryan sighed.

“No, the grounds too hard. And too well covered.” Kai frowned and walked further in.

Rei looked around and jumped suddenly up into the trees. Tala started and blinked, watching the black and white blur streak through the canopy.

“That’s one way of doing it,” Bryan remarked.

“I’ll say.” Tala followed Kai through a gap in the trees, each of them glancing up at the fast moving streak in the trees.

Tala glanced up and couldn’t see Rei anywhere. He paused, Bryan bumping into him.

“Hey! Warn a guy!” the Falcon snapped.

“Where’s Rei?” Tala asked suddenly.

Kai stopped suddenly and his head shot upwards towards the trees. “I don’t see him,” he said.

Bryan glanced up too, frowning.

“Boo.”

Although the Russian should have known better and stayed alert, he hadn’t. Consequently, when Rei spoke softly behind his ear he jumped out of his skin and fell over.

“Holy shit Rei!” he yelled, adding many other obscenities in Russian.

Rei’s grin turned to puzzlement. “Didn’t understand most of that,” he said.

Tala gave an exasperated sigh. “You don’t want to. C’mon Bry.” He helped his lover from the leaf covered floor and Kai moved around them to Rei.

“Anything?”

“There’s a village about two hundred yards that way,” Rei said, pointing down through some trees. “And I’ve seen some evidence of Beyblading.”

Kai nodded in acknowledgement and set off through where Rei had pointed. Rei followed on foot rather than through the trees. Bryan was still grumbling about his little “surprise” – Tala was having difficulty suppressing his amusement.

Rei froze, twigs snapping behind nearby trees. Native tribesmen appeared between the trees, each holding a spear. Rei swallowed and glanced at Kai. Kai in turn glanced at Tala and Bryan, the latter glaring viciously at a nearby Amazonian.

“Easy Bryan,” Rei said. “They mean no harm.”

“I’ll believe that when they put their spears down.”

One of the men – obviously the leader – approached them and looked the travellers up and down. He snapped orders at his subordinates and one scrambled away. The leader viciously glared at Kai who just stared blankly back.

There was rustling in the trees and the messenger came back, saying something quickly. The leader nodded and poked Rei savagely in the small of his back, propelling him forward. Kai, Tala and Bryan followed and they were led into a riverside village. A wizened old man hobbled out of one of the mud daub huts to meet them.

“You west wanderers, yes?” he said in heavily accented English.

Rei sank to his knees and bowed his head respectfully – the Russians raised an eyebrow at the behaviour but said nothing. The village elder rested a hand on the crown of Rei’s head and smiled.

“Beautiful family you have,” he said. “I see them. They well are.”

Rei let out a sigh of relief and the elder smiled at him again. It faded slightly at his next words.

“Why come you to our village?”

“We are looking for someone,” Rei said. “A friend.”

“Hmm…” the elder pondered. “What he look like?”

Kai pulled out a photograph and handed it to the elder. Tyson smiled broadly, the World Championship trophy under his arm.

The elder squinted at it and let out a gasp. He called a young man to him and showed him the picture. The man gabbled excitedly and his face lit up.

“Your friend our friend is,” the elder said. “He help children learn.”

As if on cue a small child ran to one of the other men that led the foreigners to the village. He carried a wooden disc that looked suspiciously like…

“An attack ring,” Tala breathed softly, smiling. “Would’ve thought it? Takao teaching kids.”

The elder smiled and handed Kai his photo. “Three days left Taka,” he said disjointedly. “To the cities, Sao Paulo go he.”

“Sao Paulo…” Kai breathed. “Thank you,” he added, bowing slightly.

The elder reached up to rest a hand on Kai’s forehead. “You in many of Taka’s dreams. Love you he does.”

Kai swallowed. “And I love him back.”

The elder smiled. “Strange people westerns are,” he said. “Go! You can Sao Paulo in two sunsets make.”

Kai nodded and shot off into the forest again, the tribesman splitting to form an aisle for them. Tala and Bryan quickly followed him into the tree. Rei hesitated, bowing to the elder again before dashing into the forest.

“Kai?” he said.

“Over here,” came a muffled answer.

Rei scurried towards the source of the noise and caught up with the three Russians. “Why did you kneel in front of that old man, Rei?” Bryan asked.

“He was the village Elder,” Rei said. “A traveller, shaman and leader – a respected member of the tribe society.”

“Oh.”

Rei smiled slightly. “ You didn’t understand much of that did you?”

“Not really.”

“Don’t worry about. He’s an important person, that’s all.”

“Whatever.”

They reached the Amazonian city of Menaus shortly after noon – they stopped and brought food while they waited for the next ferry down the Amazon river. Kai watched the water ripple by as he leant on the boat rails. Two sunsets, the elder had said – so tonight and tomorrow.

The longest wait of his life.