Disclaimer:
I don’t own Beyblade.
I’m using the original-version names:
Yuri =
Tala Giancarlo = Enrique
Takao =
Tyson Mao = Mariah
Sergey =
Spencer Ivan = Ian
Boris =
For All Who Gave Their Lives
Chapter 12:
Friends Will Be Friends
It's not
easy love but you've got friends you can trust
Friends
will be friends
When you're
in need of love they give you care and attention
Friends
will be friends
When you're
through with life and all hope is lost
Hold out
your hands because friends will be friends right till the end
(‘Friends Will Be Friends’ Queen)
Kitsune are magical creatures native to the islands of
(‘Physiologius’
Myrddin ap Taliesin)
Ivan was looking at the adventurers, clearly
deep in thought. Finally he made such a face that it was sure he made up his
mind.
-
Girly,
you are that magic-casting mage-thingy, right? – he asked.
-
You
could be nicer, you know. – Lucrezia chided. – You’re the one, who looks like a
little kid, not me. But yes, I am a mage.
-
Ever
heard of the kitsune?
-
I
heard about them! – piped up Takao. – They look like foxes with nine tails,
either silver or red, but they’re intelligent and magical, hai?
-
How
cute. – mumbled the puck. – Somebody knows what I’m talking about. Anyway,
there’s one cub loitering about here, so if you want it, you can have it – if you get rid of Helga that is.
-
You
have a deal! – giggled the mage.
-
I
am going to die young. – sighed Giancarlo.
The forest spirit grinned mischievously and
disappeared, making the six adventures blink in surprise. Yuri was first to
plop down on his sleeping-bag and the others sat down as well. The redhead
looked serious.
-
Listen,
I don’t like the whole idea. – he started. – But if we want to get to Schloss
Feuerweg we need to kill Helga and to do that we need a plan. We know Boris is
going to kill her…
-
I
don’t remember agreeing to that. – mumbled the thief. The half-elf ignored him
and continued.
-
We
need to distract as much people as possible. But how?.. – he bit his lip. They
looked at each other, none of them knowing what to do. Suddenly, Lucrezia’s
face brightened.
-
We
could dress up as a troupe! – she chipped happily. The others looked at her incredulously.
-
Ye
be jokin’, lass! – Sergey was first to react.
-
I’m
serious. How do you say that?.. Dead serious? – the mage shook her head, her
long pigtails flipping and bouncing around. – If we dress up as actors, we will
attract a lot of attention.
-
She
has a point. – Boris nodded.
-
Ye
be sayin’ that, ‘cause ye nay gonna be the one dressin’ up. – growled the
sailor. – So stop tryin’ to sound smart, ye sticky-‘ands.
-
Actually,
it’s not a bad plan. – Yuri chimed in. – But I think only Giancarlo and Lucrezia
could perform something…
-
You
and Little Sister could do something. – the minstrel smirked. The wolf barked
and stood up on her hind paws.
-
Traitor.
– mumbled the redhead, while Little Sister started licking his face. – Okay,
okay! I forgive you!.. I already have a clean face!
-
Well,
that leaves me and Sergey-san. – said Takao. – And I honestly don’t know what I could perform.
-
You
aren’t going to perform. – the redhead stated. – You’re going with Boris.
-
Was?!
I’m supposed to have him on my head!? – the Schaflander snarled. – You’re
kidding!
-
As
Lucrezia said before: I’m dead serious. – the half-elf answered. – Takao’s
going with you and will keep an eye on you.
-
Don’t
you trust me?
-
No.
-
Es
tut mir so leid. – the pale-haired human said, sarcasm dripping from his words.
Yuri gave him a baffled look.
-
How
many times do I have to repeat, I don’t know your language? – he sighed.
-
Till
your death, I recon. – the thief answered with a shrug.
-
‘scuse
me ye land-rats, but if I be gettin’ it right I be takin’ part in that
monkey-theatre as well. – Sergey loudly interrupted the two others.
-
Yeah,
as the announcer. – Yuri said seriously.
-
Another
joker. – mumbled the ugly human. – Ye better be watchin’ out, pretty-boy or ye
might be loosin’ a few teeth some day.
-
Right.
And cows fly. – the northerner answered stoically.
-
If
ye be throwin’ them, they be.
-
Anyway,
I still don’t remember agreeing to kill Helga! – snarled Boris.
Yuri closed his eyes and bit his lip, looking
troubled.
-
And
how are we going to get out? – inquired Lucrezia.
-
We’ll
turn back. Einfach. – snorted the thief.
-
You
can turn back. – Yuri whispered. – I can’t. I have to avenge… - he opened his
eyes again. – Who am I trying to fool? Balkov is a damn lich! And I thought I
may stand a chance, even though we have problems with killing a stupid noble! –
he hung his head, while his hair fell down obscuring his features. – Yeah, we
should go back… I should go back. The world has enough idiots.
-
Yuri-kun?
– Takao seemed concerned. – You aren’t serious? So what, where not strong
enough now? It means we have to become stronger in the future.
-
You
are not giving up before I manage to write at least one song! – Giancarlo
crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the redhead.
-
Si!
We keep together and we’ll win! – Lucrezia’s chirpy voice gained a somewhat
sharper angle, as she glared at Boris and Sergey.
-
Oy!
I be merely tryin’ to annoy ye, pretty-boy. I nay gonna be leavin’ ye
land-rats, ‘cause without me you cannae do anythin’ properly. – he snorted.
-
I
didn’t say, I’m not going to kill Helga, either. – grumpily added the thief. –
Sheesh, talk about over-reacting.
The redhead
raised his head, looking at them surprisedly.
-
We’re
friends, right? – Takao took Yuri’s hand, quickly followed by Lucrezia’s tiny one.
Giancarlo covered his cousin’s hand and soon Sergey joined. They all looked up
at Boris, who rolled his eyes and shrugged.
-
Call
it allays in my case. – he stated, but put his hand on the others’.
A chuckle, that was both roaring and hissing,
filled the chamber. It may have been impossible for a humanoid to do something
like that, but a dragon could easily produce such sounds. And there was one in
this chamber – a large majestic creature with pale silvery blue scales and
piercing electric blue eyes. Its snake-like tale was coiled around its paws. It
was looking at a small pond filled with a strange grayish liquid.
The chamber was extremely large – big enough
for a village to fir in. There were gems and gold scattered under the wall and
other precious things lay on shelves which covered the walls to the ceiling. A
blue-haired beautiful woman sat at the other side of the pond, apparently deep
in thought.
The dragon was no ordinary fire-breathing
lizard – it was Varlanreva, the Eternal Emperor of Var himself.
-
That
Takao is a life-saver. – the dragon boomed. – For a moment I thought the little
half-elf will give up and I would
have to deal with that lich.
He glanced at the pond again.
-
It’s
good my little sailor decided to join. It’s so much easier to trace them. – he
added gleefully. – Don’t you have anything to say Miriam?
The woman remained silent.
Mao was sitting in a chair, little Amuro
peacefully asleep in her arms. She smiled gently at the baby and then looked at
Gerda, who was sitting on another chair neat and proper as ever. They were in
Mao’s and Rei’s sleeping chamber.
It was a nice cozy room – its walls decorated
with tapestries picturing scenes of ancient legendary battles and the floor
covered with a matching carpet. Fortunately, the Hiwatari’s had been a rich
family and so the Guard Captain could have such luxuries in his room. A merry
fire was burning in the fireplace, successfully keeping the usual dampness from
the chamber.
-
He
has Rei’s nose. – observed Gerda.
-
You
sound like an old aunt. – the pink-haired woman giggled. The mage rolled her
eyes.
-
Well,
he does have Rei’s nose. – she
answered defensively.
Mao kissed the babies forehead softly, not to
wake him up. The little boy smiled in his sleep.
Rei yawned in a very cat-like way displaying
his fangs and wrinkling his nose. He and Kai had been trying to re-arrange the
patrols so that the üpas had little chance of getting through them and actually
killing anyone. There were only two deaths – some elder woman, wandering at
night (what she was doing out at that time was a mystery to the cat-man) and a
young boy, who went to collect wood in the forest. Kai said that those were two
deaths too many.
-
Hn.
– Kai tapped his nose with one finger thoughtfully.
-
It’s
impossible the make the patrols impenetrable, but I think we lowered the
chances. – Rei said, feeling very proud that he didn’t yawn once, while saying
that. He felt so very sleepy. His lord grunted in reply.
-
Get
some sleep. – he added a bit later.
-
I’d
do the same, if I were you, m’Lord. – the raven-haired guard answered in a
slightly joking fashion.
-
Good
Gerda’s not here. You two could drive a saint mad. – snorted Kai. – I like you
anyway. – he added fainter.
Translations:
Kitsune (Japanese) – fox
Was? (German) – what?
Es tut mir so leid. (German) – I’m so sorry.
Einfach. (German) – easy
A/N
Kinda fluffy chapter, but they needed some
bonding time I guess. Anyway, medieval castles were pretty cold and damp places
no matter the season, hence the burning fire and all the tapestry stuff.
The nine-tailed foxes are a part of Japanese
mythology as well the differing between silver and red ones. The silver foxes
were said to be servants of the goddess of the Moon (or was it fertility?) and
were treated with great respect. The red ones, however, were the tricky
fellows. Guess which colour will Lucrezia get?
Go to
chapter 13
Back to chapter
11