My legs were on fire, I had a stitch on my side, and my brother suddenly weighed a ton. I wanted to stop, take a break, but that just wasn't possible. Not when they were right behind me. At least, I think they are. I couldn't hear much else over my own ragged breathing, and I was too terrified to turn around and check. Just keep going, I told myself. If I wasn't running (more like moving) for my life, I would've reasoned that if they were still behind me I'd be dead by now.

Robby screamed, and somehow I was sprawled in an alleyway. My brain was still stuck on running from the others, so it took me a minute to realize I'd tripped. Robby's small hands, which had been clasped around my neck, choked me for a second before he was thrown from the piggy-back ride I'd been giving him for the past... How long had I been doing that? Doesn't matter now, I thought, Must've lost them. I didn't bother to sit up, heck, I wasn't sure if I could. A headache started to form just from blinking at the bright reds, yellows, and oranges in the sky. Sunrise. Great. I had just closed my eyes when I heard my name. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt it was Robby, but he sounded far off, like he wasn't right next to me.

"Oh, gosh!"

I'd have walked right by them if Kai hadn't shouted. A little dark-haired boy was shaking a blonde only a few years younger than us. He stopped and looked up when Kai yelled, and I saw his face. Something was different about him, but I couldn't tell what exactly.

"Who's there?!" he shouted, jumping to his feet and putting up his tiny fists. I didn't get it. We were in broad daylight; why couldn't he see us? When it finally hit me, I felt stupid. Real stupid.

"What happened?" Cole asked, pointing at the girl.

"I can't talk to strangers." (I almost laughed.)

"What about ninja?"

The boy paled. "N-ninja?" he stammered, taking a step back and tripping over the girl, "It's the truth? You can't scare me!"

Of all the reactions I would've expected, fear was definitely not one of them. I mean, we've met fans, we've met haters, but never someone who was afraid of us.

The blonde slowly sat up. The kid's legs were on top of her own legs, so she reached over and pulled him up so he was now sitting in her lap.

I didn't know whether I should go or stay. Except for a bruise on her cheek, she seemed fine. The others weren't going anywhere, though, so I stayed put.

"What happened to you guys?" Cole repeated, only this time to the girl.

"Casey said it was monsters!" The boy volunteered, but we didn't take him seriously. I mean, little kids have imaginations, and he couldn't be any older than 6.

"I only said that so you'd actually go," the girl (Casey, I guess) said, finally starting to notice us. She seemed shocked, but not the excited kind of shocked we usually see in fangirls. She looked angry, actually. And when her eyes landed on me... From the look on her face, I'd swear she hated me.

"Why are you glaring at Lloyd?"

Casey shook her head and her face turned impassive, impossible to read. She didn't answer Jay's question, but I wish she had.

"I hate to ask" -funny how she really means it- "but do you have any, uh, band-aids?"

Somehow I'd missed the cut on the boy's face. I guess I'd been more focused on his pale grey eyes.

"We might have some back on the Bounty."

"Robbie, get off me," she muttered to the kid, who immediately stood up. She stood up as well, steadying Robbie, who nearly lost his footing, and wincing a bit in the process.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Cole... Yeah, I know your name. Amazing, huh? Watch this: Kai, Cole, Jay, Zane, and..." she pointed to me, but scowled and looked away when it came to saying my name.

"Lloyd."

"I know," she mumbled.

"What's the deal with you and Lloyd? Do you know each other?"

Instead of directly answering, she looked me right in the eye and said very seriously, "Golden ninja, when you were busy saving the world did you ever stop to think you might've hurt someone in the process?"

I started racking my brain. Besides villains, I don't think I've hurt anyone. Not since I became a ninja. Or did she mean before then? And was she talking about herself or someone else?

"What're you talking about? I've never even seen you two before," I finally said.

"Casey, he doesn't know!" Robbie said, grinning like this was exciting news, "So you can't blame him, I told you so!"

"Oh, I'll find a way," she whispered in his ear. Don't ask me how I heard it, I just did.

"Look, my brother is bleeding. Are you 'heroes' gonna help or would if be faster for me to walk back home in Ignacia?"

"That's pretty far."

"No dip, Sherlock."

"Keep digging, Watson," the fire ninja smirked.

"Hear that, Casey? He said the same thing Sandy says!"

"Don't say her name ever again!" she snapped. "Besides, Sandy used to say f... you, Watson."

"How come you get to say that word?" Robbie whined.

"I'm 17, dumbbell, I'll say what I want."

[a/n: Just wanna know if this is as dumb as I think it is.]