Title: The Great War of the Clans
Rating: T
Genre: Romance/Action/Adventure
Series: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade
Pairing(s): Kai x Rei
Summary: It's election time for the clans and Rei is overwhelmed with his new position as Leader. Just when things seem like they're starting to fall into place he's kidnapped and the old war with the Phoenix clan flares up for the first time in over 30 years. Is there anything Rei can do to convince the Phoenix Leader their tribes don't have to be enemies?
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the writing itself and any unrecognizable people, places, characters (Xia, the Elders, et al.), etc., none of which are to be reused or reposted without my explicit permission.
Notes/Warnings: Homosexual relationships, Alternate Universe, minor language, violence.
Status: Incomplete

Author Note: This story has gone through a lot. I can't even remember what year I first posted it, but I rewrote it (well, what I had of it) in 2006 and then never touched it again. Here I am in July 2011, and I've decided to work on this sucker for Camp NaNoWriMo this month. :) My writing has improved and so has my work ethic, so hopefully this will move along a lot more smoothly than my fics used to. I have deleted the previous version of this story that I had posted just to make this even more of a fresh start for myself.

My word goal for this month is 25k, or the end of this fic! Whichever comes first. :P I'll be trying to post these chapters weekly, but we'll see how things go. Wish me luck, and I hope you enjoy!

(If there's any poor wording or repetitive language or typos, feel free to let me know. I haven't got a beta or anything like that, and I was lazy rereading. :x )

The Great War of the Clans
Prologue
The Beginning

Hello. What brings you here? Are you a traveller, out to see what there is to be seen? Or have you lost your way? I met someone who lost his way a long time ago, and I'm glad for it, just like I'm glad you're here. My life would have been so much different if he hadn't gotten lost when he did, and so would the lives of everyone I know. That might seem like a tall claim, but I assure you it is true. I could tell you the story, though I have to warn you it is a long tale, and not an entirely happy one. Nonetheless, I would enjoy recounting it for you if you would like to listen. Let me begin with the little lost boy who started it all. But before we go that far, you need to know a little of my history.

I lived in a small village in the heart of China, where I grew up. My life as well as myself were average, for the most part: I had chores, friends, and a family, like a lot of others, though my family wasn't exactly my own; at least, not by blood. The parents that I was born to were killed by tigers in a hunting accident when I was only three years old—too young to remember, so I can't see their faces in my mind. It still makes me sad, but saying that seems like I had a difficult life. I didn't; not until I was older. You see, my best friend's family readily adopted me, only having one other child of their own, and since we were already like brothers from birth it was an easy transition.

My daily life was normal for the time. I was a good boy for my adoptive parents, I respected the Elders and the adults, I did my chores, and I played with my friends. The time things really started to change was when my small group of friends and myself turned ten years old.

We knew from a young age, just like the rest of the tribe, to be cautious of strangers, and we also knew about the Great War, but it wasn't until the day my adopted grandfather gathered us all together that we were taught everything. I can still remember his voice clearly, soft and tremulous like a feather in the breeze, teaching us about the history of our clan: the White Tigers. He spent nearly the entire day telling us those stories, particularly about the Great War of the Clans. Being as old as he was, he had both witnessed and taken part in the war that technically hadn't yet ceased, and his memory was vivid. I remember my adopted mother overhearing some of the more gruesome details and chastising Grandfather for it, but we hung on to every word, morbidly fascinated. Of course, we couldn't truly imagine the things he was telling us; it was too barbaric, too foreign. Too detached from our safe reality. The one thing we didn't have problems imagining was the Phoenix clan, even if our thoughts depicted them comically as ugly, clumsy birds with jagged teeth.

I never truly understood the hostility the Phoenix clan harboured toward our tribe. The only conclusion I could come to was that perhaps it was simply in our nature, being of the "species" we both were; felines and avians are natural enemies, after all. It's odd that the avians were the ones to make the first strike, though, as the White Tiger stories say. Perhaps they thought themselves making a pre-emptive strike. Whatever the reason, the Great War of the Clans took place, leaving both sides devastated. There never was a definitive winner or loser, nor even an official end to the war, but suddenly everything came to a standstill while both sides waited for the other to make the next move. We were left in peace once again, however temporary it may be.

Mine and my friends' parents had been born during the last few years of the war, but they were able to live most of their lives in peace after it halted. They eventually had their own young ones, in a time truly without war. It was relaxing, and peaceful; safe. We hadn't experienced all of the difficulties our grandparents had to face or witnessed the same hardships. It was impossible for us to imagine war, especially at that age. Even so, unbeknownst to us at the time, the years we spent growing up were the same years the Phoenix clan spent planning and training in order to end the abeyance once and for all, intending to finally claim the White Tiger territory for their own.

As I've said, we already knew to be cautious of strangers, but that day my grandfather reminded us again very sternly. If we came across a person we didn't know that also did not possess the physical characteristics that made the White Tiger people unique, we were to run to the closest safety we could find and then tell the Elders what we saw as soon as possible. It was particularly important if the stranger had red-tinged eyes, and especially if they had red triangles painted on their face.¹ Those were markings of a Phoenix.

Even having a Phoenix described to us, the childish images in our heads only morphed so much as to apply paint to the faces of our distorted monster-birds. Being unable to picture an actual human being in place of those imagined creatures coupled with my own curious nature and need to help was what led to my encounter with the lost boy.

Now that you know enough, let me begin the real story, starting with the meeting that set both of our fates in motion and changed both of our lives forever...

.x.

It was a hot afternoon, the sun's heat burning through the tree tops and making the ground warm to the touch. The young boy paid it no mind, his face alight with a smile as he ran, his long black hair streaming behind him. His gold-coloured eyes were wide with delight, taking in the new scenery around him, his mouth open to taste it. The others would catch up with him soon, but for now, in those few seconds, he was alone, the first and only explorer to see this place. None of them had been out this far, and in truth none of them should be now, but it was too tempting, too exciting, too much of a rush to ignore. His senses were flooded with everything brand new and he didn't want to ever go back.

"Wait up, Rei!"

In the second he heard the voice he was tempted to speed up and leave everyone else behind for good. He wanted to get lost here, claim it for his own, be the only one to know where this magical place was. Instead, he came to a stop. He waited for his friends to catch up, staring expectantly over his shoulder. They came into sight a few moments later, scrambling to catch up, one much further behind than the other.

Lai reached his side first and immediately bent double, his grey-black hair tousled from his run, trying to catch his breath. Rei grinned at him and Lai promptly gave him a weak punch to the side, which made him start laughing. He suddenly didn't know what he was thinking before. Why would he want to keep this place from his very best friend? Things were always better when they were shared.

"We shouldn't be this far away from the village!"

Lai straightened up and looked back at their straggling friend. "Stop worrying so much, Mao. We're just doing a little exploring."

"Yeah," Rei agreed. "Maybe no one's ever been here before. Imagine that! We could be the first ones to discover this place."

Mao finally reached their side, some of her pink hair obstructing her eyes, panting from exertion. She quickly brushed it aside and her face contorted with anger as it always did just before she reprimanded them. "Don't be stupid. We're not that far out. I'm sure hundreds of people have been here before. For all we know, this could be one of the battlegrounds from the Great War!" She suddenly cringed and took a step back, raising her feet high off the ground, imagining blood and corpses under her.

It wasn't that long ago that Lai's grandfather had given them their history lesson on the Great War, and ever since it had been on all of their minds, though it seemed to plague Mao's the most. She brought up the same thing frequently, worrying about standing on places where people had been killed. The thought started to infect the rest of them and Rei hoped to escape that in their newly discovered area, but it became tainted within minutes of their arrival. He wished it could have stayed a forbidden, beautiful haven in the middle of the forest.

"Who cares?" Lai huffed, shaking his dark, shaggy hair out of his eyes. "Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. I just want to have fun and forget about that stupid stuff."

Mao glared at him. "Well, excuse me for trying to look out for you two!"

"Look out for us?" Lai laughed. "Where's the danger? Do you think there's some kind of ancient disease in the ground or something from all the dead bodies? Mao, do you realize how long twenty years is?"

Mao was definitely angry. Rei watched hesitantly, expecting her eyes to fill up with tears as they often did when she was made upset enough. She seemed to be holding back for now, but Rei didn't know how much longer she would last. Her arms crossed in front of her defensively.

"You're such a stupid boy," she said heatedly. "We're really far away from the village. There's all kinds of danger. We're not supposed to go this far out for a lot of reasons, and you know it!"

"Then go on back to the village, Mao," Rei said gently, moving to stand between the two of them. "I want to explore. Even if we shouldn't be out here, we'll be careful. It doesn't look dangerous. Me and Lai will be okay."

Rei didn't expect the sharp look she gave him, or the sudden anger she shot in his direction. "What do you know? You're a stupid boy, too! I can't go back without you! I could get in trouble, and you could get yourselves killed."

"Ooh, that's right. Mao's so strong! She'll protect us," Lai said sarcastically, then stuck his tongue out at her. "I'm better at martial arts than you!"

Rei raised his eyebrows seriously. "He's better at martial arts than me."

Lai crossed his arms in an attempt to prove his machismo, beaming under Rei's praise.

Rei started to laugh at him but stopped abruptly when he realized Mao was starting to lose the battle she was having with herself. Her eyes grew watery in the sunlight filtering through the trees and he started to panic. It was always next to impossible to stop her crying once she started.

Just in time they suddenly heard a voice in the distance, startling Mao out of her tears. They all felt the first flickers of fear until the person called again, less distorted this time, and they realized who it was.

"Cubs! Cubs, where are you?"

"Xia's looking for us," Mao stated, even though it was obvious to all of them by then.

"She always ruins our fun," Lai said grumpily, looking longingly at the expansive clearing they hadn't had enough time in.

"She does not!" Mao bristled, always quick to defend Xia. "She stops us from getting hurt!"

"There's not really much that could hurt us," Rei thought aloud.

Mao fixed him with a piercing look. "I bet your parents didn't think that."

For a split second Rei was confused; his parents weren't hurt. Were they? Then he remembered they weren't his real parents. Not by blood. His birth parents had been killed by wild animals. A tight feeling suddenly gripped his chest and made it hard to breathe. It hurt and he didn't like it. Why would Mao say something like that?

Lai sprang toward Mao and she leaped back, tripping and almost losing her balance. "That was mean!" he hissed, the pupils of his tawny eyes contracted to vertical slits out of anger. Mao's own golden eyes slit in response as she tensed her body and they became two circling tigers, the threat of a fight heavy over them both.

"Stop it!" Rei growled at them, angry and worried at the same time.

Mao straightened up and dusted herself off in a show of contempt, refusing to meet Lai's or Rei's eyes. "I'm going back before you get me into trouble," she sniffed haughtily, as if they had personally offended her, and sprinted back the way they'd come.

Lai and Rei exchanged a look, and Lai shook his head. "Forget what she said. She's just angry because she didn't want to be out here."

"We didn't make her come with us," Rei mumbled, more hurt than angry.

"Let's just go back. We can spend the rest of the day at the lake," Lai encouraged. Rei nodded slightly and they began to head back.

Rei stopped and turned back for a moment while Lai went on ahead, unaware that his brother was no longer following. His bright, honey eyes scanned the clearing one more time, longing to explore the unexplored. He looked long and hard, trying to take in every detail and remember it exactly as he was seeing it now. If he was ever going to come back here, and he was determined to try, he had to remember how to get there and how to know it was the same place. Everywhere he looked it seemed quiet and peaceful and still. Just like before, in those few seconds he was completely alone with the beauty in front of him.

Or so he thought.

The bushes directly across from him began to rustle. He tensed and held his breath, suddenly acutely aware of the fact that he was out in the open with very little cover nearby. It was impossible to tell whether he was potentially facing human or animal, and even though his body screamed to run he couldn't get himself to decide whether to listen to it or hide.

The rustling intensified and what Rei thought might be someone's head poked partially out from amongst the green. There was a sudden yelp and it disappeared beneath the foliage again. Imagining someone lost and injured, possibly even someone from his own clan, pushed all of the warnings Rei had been given about strangers out of his mind and he raced across the clearing.

When he reached the other side a few seconds later he discovered it was indeed a person. A boy not much older than himself was crouched awkwardly on the ground examining his leg. His clothes were tattered and torn and slightly bloodied in places. Rei couldn't see his face, but he could see that he had strange blue hair that was dark in the back and pale in the front.

"Are you okay?" Rei asked hesitantly, voice small.

The other boy's head snapped up so fast Rei was startled backward. The stranger got to his feet as quickly as he could with an obviously bad leg, preparing for a fight. At first the only thing Rei noticed was the boy's strange clothing and the way the front of his hair fell into his eyes, but then he flicked his head to clear his sight and Rei got an unobstructed view of his face. His stomach fell with fear as Grandfather's warnings came back to him with full force.

The boy's eyes were a startling shade of dark crimson, almost like a blood-red sunset, and he had two red triangles painted on each cheek that slanted toward the middle of his face.

He was a Phoenix.

Rei's eyes widened and he gasped. The strange boy mirrored his actions, both of them suddenly more shocked than afraid. There they were in front of each other, a Phoenix and a White Tiger, decided enemies from birth, harshly shattering the silly images each had of the other full of fangs and distorted animal features. Both of them were real people—boys nearly the same age. Rei couldn't help imagining an army identical to this youngling fighting against his own people, and he wondered if he was going to be attacked. He knew he should go back to the village but he couldn't get himself to give his body that command when there was an injured person right in front of him. Abandoning someone in need wasn't something he was taught to do, friend or foe.

"Who are you?" the Phoenix boy asked suddenly in a loud voice, trying to make himself seem more intimidating. He looked somewhat proud of himself when Rei jumped at the sound.

"My name's Rei," the long-haired boy responded automatically. "Who are you?"

It was quiet for a moment and Rei wondered if the boy was even going to speak, but then he said softly, "... Kai."

"You're from the Phoenix clan, aren't you?" Rei asked warily, half-hoping his assumption was wrong.

"So what if I am? You're from the White Tiger clan!" Kai shouted back heatedly, back to being loud.

"So what if I am?" Rei repeated cheekily, although he was unnerved by Kai's aggression.

The Phoenix narrowed his eyes in response and the two stared at each other for a long moment, assessing the danger and trying to choose the best course of action. Before either could do or say anything more, Kai suddenly let out a cry of pain and fell back to the forest floor. Rei's fear was automatically replaced with concern and he rushed to the blue-haired stranger's side without a second thought.

"Are you okay?" he said quickly. "Let me have a look."

"Get away from me!" Kai shoved at the black-haired boy but he was in too much pain.

"I'm not gonna hurt you! I just wanna help," Rei complained, ducking to avoid Kai's flailing arm.

"I don't trust you!"

"Ugh, will you stop that?" Rei growled, managing to restrain both of Kai's wrists after a bit of a struggle. Kai locked eyes with him and in less than a second his expression changed from anger to complete shock. He was frozen in place and Rei decided to be grateful for the cooperation, however unintentional it may be. The Tiger cub realized his pupils must have slit in his anger and then found himself wondering if Kai's eyes were different from his, considering his reaction to them.

Rei relaxed his grip when it seemed like Kai wasn't going to struggle anymore and the boy immediately snatched his hands back. Cautiously and slowly, Rei tried again, getting only as close as he needed to in order to inspect the bluenet's injuries. He had many obvious cuts and scrapes, some shallow, some a little deeper, some even still bleeding, but none of them seemed too dangerous or life-threatening. The worst damage Rei could find was what seemed to be a twisted ankle. Without a second thought, he removed the boy's worn shoe and then unravelled the white cloth he had tied around his forearms in order to wrap it around the foot and swollen ankle. He tied it off securely and then sat back, inspecting his handiwork.

Kai scowled at him from behind his long bangs. "What did you do that for?"

"To make it better," Rei said with raised eyebrows, stating the obvious.

"I'm fine," the red-eyed boy mumbled, turning his head away but making no move to flee.

It grew quiet. Rei couldn't help wondering, as he studied Kai out of the corner of his eye, if he had been told the same things about the White Tiger clan that Rei had been told about the Phoenix clan. The more he thought about it, the more Rei was confused. For a moment he actually believed he was mistaken in thinking the boy was a Phoenix, but then he remembered that Kai had admitted it himself. None of the things in his head matched up, and if he was being honest, he didn't want the person in front of him to be his enemy. He fascinated Rei. No one like him had ever visited their tribe before and he wanted to learn about the things that made their people different. Rei wasn't getting answers just from thinking, and he really hated silences.

"So... How old are you?" he asked conversationally.

Kai looked at him with surprise and answered before he could think. "Twelve."

"Hey, you're two years older than me!" Rei said with a grin. He noticed Kai's eyes flicker down to his mouth and he supposed Phoenixes didn't have such sharp canine teeth, either. The grin faded.

"... Are you really a White Tiger?" Kai asked quietly.

Rei made a confused face. "Yes. Are you really a Phoenix?"

Kai nodded, then added, "You're not acting how my grandfather said you would. Have you not started training or something?" He didn't know why he was saying so much to a stranger—and his sworn enemy, at that—but he had to know. Something about the black-haired cub was fascinating to him.

"I started training a few years ago," Rei said indignantly, "and I'm really good, too! Well, not as good as Lai... But my martial arts are still good! The teacher praises me." He looked proud of himself, then seemed to deflate when he realized the other half of what Kai had said. "You don't act how my grandfather said you would, either."

"Rei!"

Rei immediately jumped to his feet, his heart pounding, and Kai attempted to do the same. He ended up falling back to the ground after another shock of pain from his ankle.

"Careful," Rei whispered to the older boy, then cautiously peered through the brush concealing them. He already knew from the voice that it was Xia, but he was scared of being found with a stranger—and a Phoenix, at that. It would make him feel terrible if Kai was captured and brought to their camp because of him. Xia came into the clearing and Rei tried desperately to use the scant seconds he had to weigh his options and decide what to do.

"Who is it?" Kai whispered harshly, scared but trying to cover it up with anger.

"It's Xia," Rei answered distractedly.

"Who's that?" he demanded, deciding he was unable to pronounce the word Rei had just used.

"She takes care of the cubs when our parents are busy."

There were only a few seconds left to decide. Rei watched Xia enter the clearing and begin looking around herself. She didn't know exactly where Rei would be but she would find him eventually, and if he was trying to hide from her when she did then things were going to get even more difficult. Rei decided the best thing to do was trust Xia. He had to believe she would listen to him.

Rei began climbing through the bushes but was halted by a hand gripping his ankle. He looked back with surprise.

"Where are you going?" Kai asked in a panic, his eyes wide.

"To get Xia," Rei replied, looking confused. "It's gonna be okay. She'll help." He hoped.

"No! No more Tigers!"

"Rei?" Xia said again, this time a soft question. She had seen the bushes rustling and maybe even heard hushed conversation. Rei looked again and saw her heading toward them.

"Too late now," he mumbled and tried to pry Kai's grip off of his ankle. The boy wouldn't let go and in the struggle Rei ended up falling through the foliage and halfway to the other side, the top of his head pushed through the leaves. As he expected, Xia saw him.

"Rei, what are you doing?" she asked, caught between amusement and concern. Her pace quickened and she reached Rei in a few strides. The boy looked up at her from his upside down position on the ground and offered a self-conscious half-smile, one of his canines sticking out. Xia laughed. "I know you don't want to go back, but we really have to."

"Uh, Xia? Before that, there's something..." he trailed off and wiggled a bit, trying to get Kai to let go of his foot without exposing him to Xia just yet. Finally he let go, and Rei toppled out of the bushes. Xia chuckled and helped him to his feet, where he attempted to shake the leaves out of his hair before continuing. "Um, there's something I need to tell you."

"Go on," Xia prompted as she pulled a leaf out of the small boy's hair.

"Well, there's... There's a boy in there," Rei gestured. Xia froze and her eyebrows rose up as she looked toward the brush. "He's hurt. And I think he's lost," he said in a small voice, trying to look uncertain and bashful since that always seemed to get the adults on his side.

"What tribe?" Xia asked seriously. That was the first question anyone asked—or should ask—about a stranger.

"I—I dunno," Rei stuttered, deciding belatedly to play dumb. He didn't know how far it was going to get him, though.

Xia's golden gaze scrutinized him for a moment and Rei ducked his head, fairly certain she had seen through his bluff. After a moment she stepped a bit closer to the bushes and carefully tucked her chin-length brown hair behind her ears. Rei, thankful she had stopped staring at him, went ahead and climbed back through the leaves, worried Kai had somehow fled.

Kai was still there when Rei tumbled back through to his side, and he tried to smile comfortingly at the hurt little boy but as soon as he saw Xia he gasped and tried to back himself into a tree trunk. Xia gave a similar gasp as she took in his face.

"Rei, he's a Phoenix," she whispered harshly. "Get back over to this side!"

Rei began to panic. He was worried about Kai, and no matter what he had been told by his elders Kai hadn't been openly aggressive towards him, and he was raised to believe that there was never a reason not to help someone in need.

"But Kai's not mean," Rei pleaded with Xia. "Well, he's a bit rude—but he didn't hurt me!" he added quickly. Xia looked disbelieving and Kai looked like a trapped animal, weakly trying to scrabble to his feet. Rei moved between them like he had moved between Lai and Mao earlier, hoping to instigate peace.

"What are you thinking, Rei? He's still a Phoenix. Didn't you listen to the Elders' warnings at all?" Xia chastised.

Rei tried his best to stay strong where he stood, simply staring back at Xia. She could see the firm determination in his eyes. "I always listen," he said quietly.

Xia shook her head. "You're too friendly for your own good." Her tone wasn't angry, but it wasn't kind, either. A second after she said the words her expression softened and she looked back at the black-haired boy. "No, I'm wrong. You're great the way you are."

Rei smiled widely at the praise, and because he was certain she was going to help him with Kai. Just as he expected, Xia made her way to their side of the shrubs to examine Kai's wounds for herself. The cub stepped aside as she reached them, anticipating her next course of action. Kai looked like he was almost about to pass out from fright so Xia kept as much distance as she could for the moment.

"Take it easy. I'm not going to hurt you," she said soothingly. "Rei, what's this for?"

Noticing she was gesturing to the wrapping around Kai's swollen ankle, Rei answered, "I'm pretty sure he twisted it. It doesn't seem too bad, but I thought it would be best."

Xia smiled at him. "Good work."

Rei flushed, looking pleased with himself. He had been studying medicine with Xia for the last few months after he hurt himself falling out of a tree and she took care of him while the village doctor was away. Once he discovered how extensive her knowledge was he had asked her to teach him, with the explanation that he liked helping people. She couldn't turn him down.

"Could you hurry back to the village and bring me back a bag of medical supplies? Try to be discreet, or not seen at all, if possible."

"I can do that!" Rei answered with enthusiasm. Just before he left, he quickly turned to Kai. "It's okay. Xia won't hurt you. I'll be back really soon, too!"

Kai watched with awe as the boy ran off immediately and was out of his sight within seconds. At least one thing his grandfather had told him was true: White Tigers were fast. Kai had been forced to study all of their distinguishing features as well as their strengths and weaknesses in order to get the upper hand in battle, and the majority of his training involved building strength because, according to his grandfather and his studies, it was impossible to outrun a Tiger; they had to be overpowered.

The strange girl suddenly moved a little closer and Kai's attention snapped back to her. He automatically pulled his leg in closer to himself as she tried to reach for it, which made her shoulders slump and her mouth frown. She looked at his face with a raised eyebrow, nearly on the same level since she had squatted to the ground, carefully tucking her tan-coloured dress under herself. Kai wondered at how similarly startling her eyes were to Rei's and for a second he tried to imagine them slit in anger as Rei's had momentarily been. She seemed young, although she was definitely an adult. The only thing that really stood out about her was the large number of multi-coloured bracelets made of all different kinds of beads on her wrists and partway up her arms. Kai made a strange face and pushed himself back slightly as the girl tucked her hair behind her ears again and he realized they were pointed at the tips. He hadn't noticed if Rei's were like that because the top of his hair was a mess.

It was one thing to read about and imagine the unique physical characteristics of the White Tigers, and an entirely different thing altogether to see it in person. To be honest, Kai was terrified by the strangeness.

Xia reached for one of Kai's arms this time and he flinched, jerking his arm away before her hand even got near it. His eyes narrowed when she sighed.

"Let me see your arm," she said politely, trying another tactic.

"Why?" Kai demanded. He had let that boy tend to him already.

"I would like to look at your cuts. Some could be infected," Xia explained gently.

"I don't trust you."

"You seemed alright with Rei," the brunette countered, lazily resting her chin on her hand.

Kai hesitated, searching for a response. None were explanation enough, but he tried anyway. "He already looked them over. I'm fine."

"Rei called you Kai, right? Well, Kai, I don't know how much you know about medicine, but open wounds can get infected if they're not treated and covered up properly." Xia explained this gently, not trying to make the boy feel unintelligent. He didn't respond, and after several long moments of silence she figured he wasn't going to at all. She sighed softly. "So, you really are a Phoenix child, aren't you? Other tribes usually aren't so distrustful of us. Plus, there's your paint, and your eyes..." she trailed off. "Where are your parents? I don't see how you could get this far on your own."

"My business is my own."

Xia flicked back a piece of hair that had fallen out from behind her ear and said casually, "So you're lost, then?"

Kai glared hard at her and Xia couldn't help chuckling.

Another silent moment, then, "Going to give me your arm yet?" Kai continued staring angrily. Xia frowned and her eyes became sad. "What have they been telling you about us?" she wondered aloud, not really asking the blue-haired boy. "We've always been a very peaceful tribe, and we get along with so many other clans. It's only the Phoenix clan that started painting us as monsters."

Kai looked about to respond but was startled out of speaking as Rei emerged back through the growth, a cloth bag under one arm.

"Got it!" he announced, looking proud of himself. Xia accepted it from him with a smile and told him he had done well.

Kai found himself fixated on Rei as soon as he returned and it was hard to look away. Xia and her White Tiger features scared him; she was so much older than him and it made her unusual features intimidating, but it also made her features more pronounced, somehow. Seeing Rei compared to Xia, Kai suddenly noticed all of the characteristics on him more easily. They were less scary on him, probably because Rei was so friendly toward him and he was also closer to his age.

Rei noticed him staring and grinned at him. He gestured to the bag and said, "The salve might sting a bit, but it'll fix you up really quick!"

Kai was hesitant but allowed the two of them to set to work on his injuries, although he didn't really know why. It was admittedly somewhat nice to have people that seemed to genuinely care about his well-being—even if they were supposed to be bad people. But for all he knew, they were just using it as a cover up to study him and his weaknesses closer.

Once they had finished up with his cuts, Xia spent a few minutes untying the bandage around Kai's ankle, examining it for herself, and then giving Rei some advice as she re-tied it. He listened with rapt fascination and Kai continued to stare at them both.

"It's getting very late," Xia commented after tying Kai's bandage, looking up at the sky.

Kai jumped with surprise and quickly looked up, then toward the west. Panicking, he forced himself to his feet. His grandfather told him he had to be back before sunset or there would be trouble. Now he needed to return before then and hope to be alone just long enough to pretend he'd tended to his own injuries.

Rei tried to stop him as he started limping away in a hurry, but he couldn't think of what to say and Kai didn't look like he was going to stop anyway. He stepped back beside Xia, his eyes on the Phoenix boy's retreating form until he was out of sight. Without so much as a "thank you" or "goodbye," Kai was gone.

Rei didn't feel the sad look on his face until Xia reached over to squeeze his hand.

.x.

I had trouble sleeping for weeks after that encounter. That Phoenix boy haunted my dreams. Even when I was awake I was constantly in thought about him, wondering if he had made it back to his parents safely, worried that he hadn't, and wondering if I'd ever see him again. Xia was the only person I could talk to about him and I sought her out frequently, wanting to talk about the stranger and ask if she thought he was okay. She always comforted me by saying he had definitely made it back. I knew deep down she couldn't be certain of that, but I was too scared to say that out loud and have her confirm it. That stranger was so fascinating to my young mind. I was told to be on my guard because he was my enemy, but how could he be when he was a little boy just like myself? Sometimes, when I managed to get away on my own, I'd go back to that clearing again and hope to find him there, but of course I never did.

The only other people to ever learn about the existence of that boy and my encounter with him were the Elders and the Leader. I was worried about telling them, but I knew it had to happen; there had been a sign of Phoenix activity alarmingly close to our village after twenty-seven years of total silence. Xia helped me as much as she could and gave her own account to the Elders with me. Part of me was afraid they were going to, I don't know, go track him down or something. I still remember being unnerved by the fear in their eyes when we told them. It was hard to feel safe when the people you looked up to as your protectors were scared.

The only thing that really changed in the village was that training intensified for the normal villagers who were capable of it, as well as specialized training for some, and people began being recruited as scouts. No one other than the small circle of myself, Xia, and the Elders knew about the reasons behind those changes. It was hard to keep it a secret sometimes, but I did my best. The rest of the village gossipped about war and wondered with their neighbours if the White Tigers were going to attack the Phoenix clan unprovoked. No one talked about it out in the open, but we all knew it was on everyone's mind.

After those tense weeks our village was as calm and peaceful as it had always been, and it remained that way for another seven years. I stopped thinking about that Phoenix so much, but I never forgot about him. In the eighth year, however, I was forced to think about him much more frequently, and not of my own free will.

- Toadychan (6,382 words)

1: I decided to change Kai's face paint colour, as I've never heard of a blue phoenix. ;3