Life - thin as a thread.

[ The communicator's view is shown at the ground, but there's shuddering breaths and a small cry of pain. Blood rolls down the screen and when the screen's view is changed, Kai's clothes, a simple white t-shirt and a pair of sweat pants, are covered in dirt and blood. His hair's messy and riddled with sweat. ]

... E-Everyone... be on the lookout for a s-small, skinny girl...

[ Kai holds down another wince of pain, but he ends up collapsing to his knees, dropping the communicator. When he does so, there's a nice, lovely blood trail from his chest, in the middle, going downwards. Then, on his shoulder, there's blood going down, as well. He forces himself to stand and grab his communicator. ]

S-She... a-aah... she needs t-to be stopped a-at any cost necessary...

[ As the feed continues, Kai's getting worse. His breathing's raspy at best, he can't hold down his cries of pain and ends up falling a few more times until he pushes himself back up. He arrives at Horton, looks up at the building, collapsing to his knees, then falls face first down on the ground, dropping both his beyblade and its' launcher, as well as the communicator. He shudders in pain once more and a single tear rolls down his eye, though it's not visible unless you look really hard. ]

Y-Yuriy... K-Kinomiya... E-Everyone... I'm sorry I w-wasn't--...

[ The feed cuts out after Suzaku sees her beyblader passed out on the ground, flies down and tries to wake Kai up all the while protecting him. ]

( OOC: Okay, so basically, Kai got his ass kicked by Riful, was shanked as a result and stumbled his way back to Horton. He won't be responding to any posts, though you're free to hear Suzaku's cries for help as you comment. Also, novaerog is going to take care of responding to the worried comments. )

--now the apartment has to be around here somewhere...

[ Kai's muttering directions to himself, although he barely is visible from the communicator due to the fog. ]

... Now I'm near the warehouses. Dammit, what the hell is up with this asinine fog?

[ The feed continues for a few more minutes, but Kai's determined to do this on his own. There's a growl and a small cry from Suzaku. ]

We're going to get there soon, Suzaku. Just hold on.

[ There's more grumbling as Kai gets lost again. ]

... the shopping district.

[...]

[ He switches languages from Japanese to Russian. ] Damn it, what the hell is with this rotten city?! I memorized that map like it's the back of my own hand! [ After that, Kai grumbles and exhales a long sigh, switching back to Japanese. ]

... where's the closest way to get from the shopping district back to Horton? [ You can hear the embarrassment in his voice. ]

[there's the sound of a grunt followed by some grumbling]

...Hunh. This is an absolutely amazing place for me to wake up in. Ruins as far as the eye can see... I can't imagine that many people live in this dump, either. If they do, good luck to them.

--So. The note said "use this." Tch, what use will this be to me? Although, on the slim possibility that someone's here... I'd like to know just why and how I was brought to this godforsaken city without my knowledge.

I wonder if Kinomiya and the others were brought here as well. Knowing their luck, they probably weren't. [sound of a sigh escaping]

... I assume that no one would be able to answer this question, either, but it's worth a shot. When I woke up here, I noticed that something was out of the ordinary. ...Something other than the destruction and mess around here, too. Suzaku was out of her blade.

Is there an explanation for this or is it just a natural occurrence in this weird city?

I suppose the myth about a vermilion bird is true. They really do rise up from the ashes...