Beyblade Fan Fiction ❯ Ookami ❯ The Engagement ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: I do not own BB, just the OCs.

Summary: The war between two empires has gone on long enough. Now the Emperors pass down their grudge to their grandchildren. But what happens when they find themselves escaping their worlds, and finding love between one another? Pairings

Key:

"Talking"

`Thoughts'

{Communicating with Sacred Animals}

~~~~~~~~ Changing Scene ~~~~~~~

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Chapter 2

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"No," stated Mika. "No. No. NO!" Hiromi was starting to worry as she put the last gown back into the closet. She sighed and turned to Mika, who was lying down on her bed again, dismissing ever attire that was coming her way.

"My Lady. You must choose a gown for this evening's festivities," pleaded Hiromi. Brooklyn sat in the corner of the room, his eyes closed and twitching in annoyance.

"Just pick one, Your Highness, or I will be forced to choose one for you," he stated, opening his eyes to glare at her. Mika frown back at her cousin and shot him a dirty eye. "Maybe I shall have one of the servants run to down and buy you a frilly pink dress with plenty of bows and ribbons. There can be dragon stitching all around. What do you say? Well, you heard me servant. Go to the market square!" Hiromi shook a bit, and nodded as she headed for the door.

"Don't you listen to a word he says, Hiromi!" shouted Mika, rising on to her elbows. "Brooklyn does not know of what he speaks!"

"I don't-"

"And he is so rude to interrupted me!" snapped Mika. She eyed her red headed cousin, and he found himself struggling to let himself argue, but the fact of the matter was she was the Ookami princess. And he was not. He did not hold such a high status as she. The best part was, Mika knew this, and knew how to work it against her male cousin. She might have been female, but she was powerful.

"What do you wish me to do?" asked Hiromi, more meekly that she normally would have asked since the presence of Brooklyn worried her. Mika placed her index finger gingerly to her lips as she proceeded to think of more ways of procrastinating this night. But then another one of the servants entered the room and bowed down to them.

"Your Highness, the Emperor wishes me to tell you that your prince has arrived," he said. Mika's eyes shot open, and the red head guard almost fell off of his chair. Hiromi gulped and quickly looked over at Mika.

"Th-thank you. You are dismissed," she stated in a shaky voice. Mika started to chew on her nails, exposing her nervous habit. `What am I going to do? I don't know! Oh man, this is not going right at all!'

"Hurry up and give her a gown, servant!" exclaimed Brooklyn. "And be quick. I shall leave you, but get as ready as quickly as you possibly can." Hiromi nodded and took out one of Mika's elegant dresses. It was long enough to trail a good five feet behind her. The dress was made up of the finest satin that anyone within the Ookamikei and Torazobu could weave. It was a soft off-white color, and was slit up her centerline, ending just below her knees. There was another lining of satin beneath that, falling to her feet, and was a soft blue color. Brooklyn left the room and shut the doors, leaving to two girls. Mika got off her bed and dreaded putting on the attire.

"Please, Lady Mika. Please move a bit quicker- I am sorry, that was bold of me," she quickly retracted her voice. Mika sighed and walked quicker over towards her servant.

"No, no Hiromi. I must go down. I might not want it, but he has been so good to me over the years. I must go," she said. As quickly as she could, Mika stepped into the gown and then the doors opened with the onslaught of servants. They dressed her hair, pulling it up into a tight bun. They left a few strands of her long bangs hang down and curl aside of her face, and rested her jeweled headpiece so that it fit correctly with her hair in its new position. Others decorated her face with make-up and sparkles. Another started to place on her other jewelries and a few others were helping Hiromi with the dress. Two of them slipped on her sandals, and the others were fixing her up every way they possibly could.

One of them pulled back the sleeves slightly, exposing her right wrist. On the bottom of it was the symbol of her people, the ink mark drawing of a wolf. She had gotten the tattoo after her birth, and it's always been something Mika felt connected her with her lands.

It did not take too much more time until Mika was dressed properly, and then she heard the calling of a dragon outside her window. Mika quickly turned to her personal dragon, Shintou. She smiled at the red and orange reptile. She walked over and placed a hand on his head.

"I know, Shintou. I know that I must do this," she whispered to him. The dragon nudged her slightly and brought out a smile on Mika's face. "I guess that means you are supportive of me. As always." The winged serpent snorted and Mika turned to see the doors being opened.

"It is time, cousin!" stated Brooklyn, entering, now adding a maroon cloak to his armor. The servants scattered and Hiromi quickly placed on a formal vest over top of her servant's clothes. She was Mika's personal servant after all. She had to dress a little higher than the others. Mika sighed and planted a kiss of Shintou's nose before patting it and walking off towards her cousin. Hiromi ran over towards Mika, bearing the Aphroselene stone.

It was a very precious gem, also known as the Moonstone. It was rumored to help its bearer to predict the future, and granted good luck to whoever wore it. It was Mika's mother's gift to her. It had originated from her other ojisan and his wife. Both had been assassinated due to the war, because of the closeness they shared with the Ookami Emperor. It was Mika's mother her have her the necklace with this precious gem. Mika wore it almost all the time, and she felt that she would need her good luck to show itself to get her out of this wedding.

"Thank you for trusting me that I wouldn't avoid this, cousin," she sneered, as the servants placed on her maroon cloak. Brooklyn eyed her and rolled his eyes, stiffening a snort.

"Please, cousin. If I didn't know any better, that dragon of yours was ready to sweep you away on his back and take you out of the Palace," commented Brooklyn as he ushered the way. Mika groaned and walked out, Hiromi following behind the two of them.

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"Now, please. Don't argue with the Emperor. He's happy for that information you got from that prisoner-"

"Bryan, his name's Bryan. Please don't call him a prisoner, you'll sound like one of those Houous," replied Mika.

"Fine, Bryan's information is holding true," stated Brooklyn. Mika eyed him.

"How so?"

"We tested those arrows on one of the dying animals that we have in our possession. They bled until they died," he said.

"Why must you men resort to such medieval ways of war?" she questioned. Brooklyn opened up his mouth to reply, but Mika stepped up her pace and avoided the response. Her cousin might have messed around with her a lot, but he was the only one in the Palace, besides Hiromi, who treated her like a human. Everyone else either feared her status, or looked down upon her because of her gender.

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They walked into the main way in the entrance to the Palace. There were musicians strumming their soft melodies, and servants with platters of hors d'oeuvres. There were at least a good hundred people down below Brooklyn, Mika, and Hiromi as they stopped at the top of the long staircase. They scanned the crowd to recognize many of the Ookamikei high generals were present. But then again, many were also missing due to the war. They also noticed the Torazobu warriors and personal guards conversing between one another like long lost friends. A few were cracking jokes, some making fun of the Houous, and others had said nothing to do with the war.

There were many Ookamikei women and Torazobu women having extremely quiet conversations between one another, not so loud that they would drone out the voices of the men. They were dressed in elegant attire from their jewelry, their clothing, and their accessories.

Then Mika's eyes noticed her ojisan's long maroon and black and white spotted cloak in the middle of the room. He was dressed his best, and was even baring his old battle sword. Ojisan took pride in that sword, seeing as he had personally slayed the Houou Emperor's son with it. His highest general, Robert Jurgen, a few other high-leveled warriors that Mika couldn't personally name, Kevin, the Torazobu high general, a large white tiger, and then three others surrounded Ojisan. They were dressed in white and green attire, the symbolist colors of the Torazobu. There was an elder man, who could pass off the age of Ojisan's son, his slightly younger wife, and son who was equal in age to Mika. Well, maybe he was a year or two older, what did it matter?

Mika couldn't take her eyes off of them. The elder man was dressed in his best clothes, and his long green cloak, with a white under lining. It was snapped together by a silver hook and stitch. His black hair was combed back, and he was holding a staff on his right side. On the other side of him was his wife. She was equally dressed as her husband, and her long pink hair was wrapped up into a headpiece that had to weight a bit. She had a long satin dress on, but it was more fitting around her feet, it didn't flow out as much as Mika's. The woman's eye caught a hold of the sight of Mika, and she let out a smile. She turned to the boy, and started to speak to him.

The boy next to her, dressed in his royal armor and cloak, looked up at Mika's direction and gave her the same sympathetic look he always gave her when it came to this situation. Mika couldn't help but want to hold onto him and cry. Not in love, but in friendship. His amber eyes were locking onto hers, and Mika started to shake and her eyes started to dampen. Brooklyn took notice to this and signaled the trumpeters to announce Mika's presence.

The melody signaled throughout the large room, and everyone's conversations drew quiet as the song hit their eardrums. Every single face in the room joined the prince's direction and they all looked upon the Ookami princess. Mika took a breath and started to walk down the long staircase. Brooklyn walked on Mika's left side and Hiromi followed behind, head down and a few steps behind them. It took them a bit to get down the stairs because Mika was stalling this as much as she could. It took all of Brooklyn's energy to not push her on, not with everyone watching him.

When they made it down to the bottom, the crowd cleared a pathway towards the Ookami Emperor, Tora Emperor, his wife, the sacred white tiger, and the Tora prince. Robert, Kevin, and the other soldiers backed away, leaving the three high officials open for view of the Ookami princess. The prince mouthed, "I know", and Mika couldn't help but hold back her smile.

Mika, Brooklyn, and Hiromi made it over towards the group. Ojisan was grinning ear to ear at the elegance that Mika was showing off. The Tora Emperor and his wife were grinning as well. Mika bowed towards them all when she stopped in front of the crowd. She turned to the white tiger, and bowed it him as well. The tiger nodded his head at her, and then Mika finally turned towards the Tora prince. She bowed down to the neko-jin, and he bowed to her as well. He grasped her hand in his, and gently kissed it.

"Well, it is good to see you're arrival, Isshi," said the Ookami Emperor. Mika took her hand back, as Rei let it go, and nodded towards her ojisan.

"I am just terribly sorry that I did not arrive sooner," she politely said right back. Lee and Mao nodded towards her, and Rei remained silent. Brooklyn and Hiromi bowed down to the others, and then the entire crowd parted, as they headed in to the main dining area.

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There were three rows of tables set up for the dining. Two were long and sat majority of the guests. Servants were lined up along the wall by the tables, waiting to serve the food. The third table was long enough to seat the Ookami Emperor, the Tora Emperor, Empress, and Prince, Mika, Brooklyn, Robert, Kevin, and a few other select guards. The white tiger sat just behind Rei and Mika, keeping an eye on the boy and girl. It was he who wished not for a place at the table that had been offered.

The food came in the pounds, as it was controlled chaos to get all the guests and royalty their food. In the center of the room were two court jesters entertaining the crowd. There were occasional roars of laugher from the people, but most of the time, their faces were being properly stuffed.

Mika and Rei in silence, as they continued to give occasional looks towards each other. The white tiger behind them ate his share of the roasted pork but kept glancing between Rei, Mika, and his food.

{Rei, does lady Mika know your position on this engagement?} questioned the mighty tiger.

{I am almost positive. I could see it in her eyes how much she despises this.}

{Yes, but I've known Mika since she was a babe. And I know she's going to try and find a way out of this.}

{Are you sure, Driger? I mean, we both did mischievous activities as children, but we have both grown up.}

{Rei, look at Mika, and tell me she isn't devising a plan as we speak.} Rei's glance fell onto Mika, who was very much so concentrated in her food. It was difficult, but Rei could sort of read her face. His mother and father, and Mika's ojisan were probably oblivious to this planning. Maybe Brooklyn could figure it out, but he was busy conversing with Robert and the Ookami Emperor about war materials.

{I guess you're right, Driger. I wonder what she's planning.}

{Certainly, you'll know it will go off with a bang,} smirked the tiger.

{As long as no one loses a finger, like last time,} Rei laughed. The tiger joined him in the laughter.

{Oh, and Rei. I am always right.}

{How could I ever forget that?}

Mika glanced over at Rei, and watched as his eyes flash with their cat-like slit. She knew what that meant. He was talking with Driger. Everyone in the Torazobu thought Driger was just a pet of Rei's, even the Emperor and Empress, but Rei had told Mika, and only Mika, that Driger was actually the Sacred Spirit that guarded over his people. That was one of the reasons of his successes in battles. Driger was always there to protect him from any harm.

Mika wished she had her Sacred Guardian, Beo the Gray Wolf, next to her to help guide her through these tough times. But Rei had said the reason Driger came to him was because he almost died when they were younger. He had some how come down with a deadly case pneumonia when he fell into a lake in the wintertime. It was a tiger cub that got Rei to his Palace and ultimately saved his life. The tiger revealed himself to Rei as Driger, the Torazobu Kami. Ever since then, Driger and Rei weren't separated. Mika too had grown up with Driger around, and always loved to get rides on his back, when they were little enough to do that.

But now she was planning something. She had to get out of this wedding. Or at least post pone it. But how. If she skipped the wedding, ojisan would look down upon her. She did not want him to dishonor him, but she did not want to support this decision. She had agreed to everything else in life he had said. This would be the first time she went against his word.

`That is it! I know how I can do this! I just need to inform Rei, so he doesn't think I'm dead or running away. He could ease Ojisan after the "ceremony" about possibility of my absence! But I must be alone with him. Hmm.'

Mika looked over towards Rei and then back at her food. She finished up her large meal, and then ate the desert that the servants brought out. With the desert finished, the minstrels were singing and playing folk music, and many of the couples started to dance. Mika looked at them interested, and hoped Rei would ask her, so she could get him to go out to the gardens with her.

Brooklyn's glance casually wandered over to Mika, and he moaned to himself. `Dear, Kami. What has she planned now?'

Rei noticed the look on Mika's face, and knew she wanted to speak with him. It probably had something to do with plan that she was deriving. He stood up in his seat, pushing it back, and caught the attention of Mika, Ojisan, and the Tora Emperor and Empress.

"Would you mind joining me in a dance, my Lady?" questioned Rei, offering his hand out to her. Mika grinned a mile wide.

`We've been around each other too much. He can read my mind!'

`This is going great. I knew she would warm up to the marriage,' beamed Ojisan.

"I would be honored." Mika took his hand and he helped her up, and escorted her to the dance floor. Driger raised his head.

{You better tell me all that you find out.}

{You know I will Driger, you know I will.}

Mika and Rei started to join in with the others dancing on the floor, doing the custom dances of the Ookamikei and the Torazobu. But whenever Mika got close enough to Rei, she tried to talk to him.

"Please." They moved away. "See me." Mika and Rei switched partners with their neighbors and continued the traditional dance. It took a good two minutes until they were back as partners again. "In the." But Mika was cut off again, as they split up into two groups, one of women and the other of men. Mika wanted to groan, and Rei was interested in this. They came close to one another. "Garden," she hissed softly. Rei nodded and they continued the dance. Finally when the long ten-minute dance was over, the crowd set up for the new song that the minstrels were playing. Rei grabbed Mika's hand, and took her out of the room, into the garden.

"I think those two have finally found love," stated Lee towards Ojisan and Mao. He placed his hand on top of Mao's and rubbed it with his palm. She smiled back at her husband, her demonic fangs exposed slightly.

"Yes, it is good to see more true love in the room," she stated.

"This wedding will be successful," stated Ojisan. "And tomorrow, our lands will officially unite and we shall eliminate the Houou Emperor."

"Yes, that man has caused too much trouble in his time of ruling. Many of my people were taken to his lands, and haven't returned alive," stated Lee. "Our latest shipment of Torazobu warriors via Houou has been mutilated beyond recognition." Mao cringed at the thought.

"Well, that bastard's death is dawning upon him. Pardon my language, my Lady," quickly retracted the Ookami Emperor. Mao nodded her head. "But his grandson must be eliminated as well. From what I've heard, he is just as bad if not worse that the Emperor. I have also heard rumors that he is not anything like his ojisan. But we must not take that chance." Lee nodded.

"I agree. All the high leaders of the Houou must be eliminated. Or else they might come back into power and this war will never end."

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Please Read and Review. I would like to know what I could do better to for this story! I'm sorry I'm leaving a slight cliffy. But I think that leaves me with more to add to the next chapter!

-frozeNcoke

Jap Dictionary:

Ookami = wolf

Kami = God

Tora = tiger

Ojisan = Grandfather

Isshi = beloved child