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Chapter 4: "Red Phoenix and Yellow Dog"

We're in Amarillo, Texas. As we fly over green pastures, crowded woods, flowing creeks, and mooing herds of cattle, we find a huge house overlooking all this beautiful scenery. Next to it, a barn full of sleeping pigs, horses, and some dogs here and there sat looking as if to say, "Come on, wake up so you can these smelly animals out!" You may think this is some rich person's house and barn, a person who owns a lot of land and animals to sell for profit, and if you think that, you are correct. This is the home of Kai and Gala Hiwatari. Not only did they use this ranch, named "Phoenix Heartland", to make money, but they also used it to raise their twin children, Dakota Nathaniel "Red Feather" (Cherokee name) Reece Hiwatari and Kaia Danielle "Yellow Fang" (also Cherokee name) Ayame Hiwatari.

At this point we come into the house, and here we find that the only person in the house right now is Gala, who is talking on the phone. The reason she is the only one in the house is because Kai had taken the twins hunting (yes, deer hunting). Let's check in with Gala.
"…no he hasn't come back yet, Tala….I know you need to talk to him….No, I cannot call him on his cell-phone….Because he's hunting. And besides, he doesn't take his cell-phone with him….All right, I tell him to call you when he gets back. Good-bye." She hung up the phone. As she sat down, she heard the rumble of four-wheelers outside in the backyard. Kai and the twins were back. She had been worrying about them since they left yesterday.

"And did you see his rack? It was huge!" Kaia was saying.

"Did we get anything?" Gala asked as the three of them came in, a smell of doe reaching her nose.

"Yeah, Dakota arrowed a 12-pointer. Might be good enough to hang. I'll take it down to the shop tomorrow and see what I can do," Kai said. "Miss me?"

"As always," she kissed him on the cheek. "You guys go take off your suits and get ready for lunch." This she said to the twins.

"Okay," Kaia said and bounded off to her room. Like his father, Dakota never said much, and so with a "Yes, ma'am," he went to change in his room.
"Anything happen while I was gone?" Kai asked.

"Yes, actually. Tala called. He said it was important that he talk to you. I told him you would call when you got home."

"What did he want to talk about?"

"I don't know. He said it was a secret. And that I needn't worry about it," Gala looked worried. "Is everything okay?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out." Kai walked off to their room, and Gala was alone in the kitchen.

When she thought about it, she realized that it had been a long time since that day, the day she came to Japan, the day she came to a big manor on a rainy afternoon, the day she had met Kai she hadn't noticed how long it had been, but now she did,and she wondered where the time had gone.

Well, she and Kai had two children to take care of, both twins. Dakota, soon to be 16 (Sept. 4, 2009), looked very much like his father. He had gray-purple eyes, gray hair with a tinge of brown, but instead of having 2 blue marks on each side of his face, he had one on each, and they were red. His shoes, the inherited Nike(r) brand, were pure black, with no dirt marks, showing that they weren't used much. Most of the time he wore his steel-toed Mossy Oak boots. Today, his shirt, after being changed from a hunting camo suit, was a Big Dogs shirt, and on the back it said, "Lead, follow, or get out of the freaking way!". He wore regular jeans.

There were several things that Dakota had in common with his dad, other than looks. Both had a burning desire to be the best, both were excellent bladers, both had similar attitudes, and both had a rival, a Granger rival. Dakota's was Twilight. We all know who Kai competes with the most. The only difference in the rivalry of Dakota vs. Twilight was that Dakota actually got in fights with Tyson's son. And it only made it worse that Twilight liked his sister, so that made Dakota more protective of Kaia, so much to the point that sometimes Dakota would not even let her talk to Twilight. Gala knew there would still be that old rivalry between Tyson and Kai, but she hadn't realized that it would have carried on to their sons!

Kaia, also soon to be 16, was "younger" than Dakota, but only by three minutes. She and her brother were what you call "fraternal" twins, twins that were born at the same time, but did not look exactly alike. Kaia had blue-auburn eyes, her hair, which was brown and shoulder-length, was almost exactly like her mother's. She was more out-going than her brother, less prone to snide remarks, and she was sensible. On regular days, days when she didn't have as much work to do, she wore a Happy Bunny ("When life gives you lemons, squirt it in your enemy's eyes" wink hoodie over a Dixie sweethearts shirt. Her shoes, which were also Nikes, were pink, black, and white. Most of the time she wore jeans. All right, enough descriptions, time to move on.

After a lunch of chicken, mashed potatoes, and butter beans, they moved into the living room, where Kai and Dakota were watching a NASCAR race coming from Daytona. Ryan Newman was in the lead, but Dale Jr. was coming up behind him, and coming fast.

"Go, Newman! Keep going!" Dakota was rooting for the #12 car.

"C'mon, Jr. let's go!" Kai's was the #8 Budweiser.

"How long are they going to be like this?" Kaia asked her mother.

"Not for long." She got up and turned the TV off.

"Wha-why did you do that!" Dakota asked.

"I have to talk to your father. Come, Kai." She started to walk toward their bedroom.

"But-they were in 399th lap out of 400! Couldn't you have waited?" Kai questioned.

"No. Go." She pointed to their bedroom.

"Yes, ma'am." He got up and walked into their room. Gala closed the door behind him.
For a moment, the twins were silent. Then Kaia said, "What was that all about?"

"I don't know. But we'll see in a minute. Kaia, remember when we went to that GA Bulldogs game?" (I know we're in Texas, but I'm a GA Bulldawgs fan ) Kaia nodded. "Remember those plastic megaphones we got? Do you still have one?"

She got up, went into her bedroom, and was only gone 30 seconds when she came back with 2 of them. She handed one to her twin, and they both put the big end to the door and the small end to their ears. When they listened, their father was talking.

"He's back, Gala. That's what Tala said."

"But I thought they put him jail 20 years ago?" Gala sounded worried.

"I know, but maybe they put him on parole. I don't know how these Russian jails work these days."

"What's he looking for?"

"New recruits apparently. I think he's trying the whole "new Beyblade company" routine again. He'll probably be looking for a whole new generation of bladers, ones that don't know what he did before."

"So you think he might come after the twins?" At this the twins listened harder, trying not to miss a word.

"He might try and do that. He might also use the whole power thing on Dakota."

"But you put that blade away, right? Destroyed it?" There was hope in Gala's voice.

"I destroyed the blade, but not the bit. It wouldn't melt, break, or anything. Whoever made it must have wanted it to be around a long time." The twins didn't know what they were talking about. What was this bit? What bit could be so powerful it couldn't be destroyed?

"Well, maybe if we waited, and see what happens, maybe he has changed after all." There was pleading her voice.

"Gala, we can't wait. We have to stop this before it gets started," Kai sounded angry.

"But, Kai-"

They heard a slam. Kai had apparently pounded his fist on the table.

"Dammit, Gala, Dakota is not going through the hell I went through! He is not going to be stuck alone somewhere where his father abandoned him and left him to die! He is not going anywhere where he can get killed! I will die before that b*****d gets his hands on my son! We are going to stop him, no matter what it takes!"

"I didn't say Dakota was going anywhere," Gala said, as calm as Kai was angry. "All I was saying was that maybe if we find out what he's doing instead of charging in there, not knowing what kind of people or power he's got, then we'll have a better chance of beating him."

There was silence, and then, "Okay, we'll try it your way, but if he comes anywhere near Dakota or Kaia, he's going to have to deal with me." They heard footsteps coming toward the door, and Dakota and Kaia hightailed it to their rooms.

They were in there about 5 minutes when there mother called them. They left their rooms and walked into the dining room, where their parents were waiting for them. Gala was still a bit red in the face, and Kai had bruise coming up from the bottom of his right fist. He must've been angry, Dakota thought.

"Y'all need to pack, we're going to Orlando for the weekend," Gala replied calmly.
"Are we going to see Nyra and Jenna and them?" Kaia asked excitedly.

"Yes, and there is a special ceremony we must attend, so pack something decent." She turned to look at Kai. "Is that all?"

"Yep," was the reply.

"Go to bed now. You have to wake up extra early to feed the farm before we go."

Both she and Kai got up to leave, but Kai turned them.

"Next time y'all want to eavesdrop, make sure we can't here you." They both left to their room. The twins went to theirs.

"What do you think they were talking about?" Kaia asked him when they had congregated to his room, a phrase which here means "Went to Dakota's room to discuss was their parents had been saying".

"Some powerful blade I guess, or person or something. If it makes Dad that angry, it must be pretty bad." He stopped for a moment, looking thoughtful. "What do you think he meant by 'somewhere where his father abandoned him'?"

"Well, maybe it's the reason why we don't see our grandfather very much." She left the room, walked into hers, closed the door, and Dakota saw the light click off.

So Dakota sat in his room, pondering. What was this blade his mother and father were talking about? Why was it so powerful it couldn't be destroyed or lost? And most of all, what did it have to do with him?