Chapter 9
The Past hurts

(Nya's POV)

I breathed in and out heavily. I stared down at my burned arm. It ugly...frightening…and this was only just a warning of what he could do to me. Half my arm was burnt. Half! It went from my wrist to my elbow. Tears cascaded down my face as I thought about what he said to me earlier….

(Flashback)

"Please Nya, it is pointless to say useless threats. What can you do? Your tied up, you have no powers, you are useless. The only reason I wasted my precious time to kidnap you is to get to the ninjas. That is all you are good for.."

(End of Flashback)

I gulped. He's right.

(Jay's POV)

Damn it Nya. Where are you? Where could you be? Please, please be alright Nya. I don't know what I'd do if you were hurt, and I wasn't there to protect you. I looked ahead, as Cole, and that strange girl, Kiara was walking ahead. Without any words, or sound.

Now talk about awkward…..

"SO uh," I went, breaking the awkward silence. "Hey Kiara…" I said rubbing the back of my neck sheepishly not knowing what to say.

She turned around and gave me a blank expression. "Hm?" she went.

"Uh…" My eyes traveled down to her Red Crescent moon necklace. "So, where did ya get that necklace?"

She put the tips of her fingers over the necklace. "It was given from my aunt when I was ten…I never took it off since then."

I raised an eyebrow at her. Wah? "Why not?" I asked.

Her eyes looked up at the sky in wonder. Cole just looked down at the ground, and I couldn't see his face since his raven locks covered his eyes.

"I..." Kiara whispered softly. "I don't know...my aunt just told me not to. Before she passed…she made me promise her that I will not take off the necklace…but she never told me the reason why…"

I was shocked by this answer. I looked down ashamed. "I'm sorry about your loss, Kiara. I guess I shouldn't have brought it up."

She was silent for a few seconds. "Kay…" she said.

I looked up at her. "Huh? What?"

"You can call me Kay," she said, giving me a warm smile. I got a glimpse of Cole secretly glancing at her.

"Kay.. I like that nickname!" I said with a grin. She laughed slightly.

"Thank you…well, we better get going. If your friend is where I believe she would be…" her eyes suddenly became hard. "Then she doesn't have enough time."

My eyes widened a whole lot, and a breath got caught up in my throat.

"What are you talking about!?" demanded Cole.

She gave an angry glare at Cole. "I think you would know what that would mean Ninja."

Cole kept his glare at her. From my perspective, it looked like they were having a glaring contest.

"WHO TOOK NYA!?" he yelled.

She growled and snapped her head away from him. "I can't be 100% sure, but if my hunch IS correct, then she was taken by…Fire blaze."

"Who is that?" I asked in a serious tone. I clenched my hands into a fist, when I get my hands on that guy I'll….I smirked at the evil things I could do to him. Which is really not like me, but when someone touches MY girl and harm her, they'll pay.

"He's certainly not someone you guys would want to mess with. Fireblaze.. He's dangerous...probably one of the most…or is the most dangerous villain you'll ever face. I should know… I have encountered him…once."

Huh?

Kiara… err, Kay reached the hem of her shirt and rolled it up to just above her stomach for us to see a huge burnt scar.

Cole and I both were utterly shocked by that. The scar, was in a shape of a huge flame. From the bottom of her belly button, and covered most of her stomach, and it reached to her back.

She rolled down her shirt, and rolled down her collar, to show that the scar reached to her neck to. It wasn't much, just thin streaks showed, but it was still really noticeable.

She rolled her collar back up till it covered her whole neck, and looked down sadly.

"I'm lucky I survived," she whispered so softly that we could barely hear her. She shook with fear. "He wouldn't hesitate to kill. I know all he searches for is power. He won't stop until he has those golden weapons in his grasp. That's probably why he kidnapped your friend. So he can get you, and the weapons. After that…who knows." I could see her tremble, and both of her hands clutched her arms, and she collapsed on her knees.

I quickly bent down next to her, and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, you ok?" I asked.

"Jay," I heard Cole say. I looked up at him. "Give her time," he ordered.

I looked at her as she was still trembling, and her eyes squeezed shut, and her lips quivered.

I nodded. "I guess we can rest here."

He nodded. He just sat on the forest floor, as he crossed his legs, and leaned up against a tree, as he shut his eyes.

I looked down at Kiara with a concerned face. I guess she needs time.

"I'll go look for something to eat I guess," I said to them, just to get no response. I walked away.

(Nya's POV)

Jay….Cole….Kai….Zane…where are you? Please be alright. I hung my head low, and my hair fell all over my face, which just stuck there due to my sweat.

"Tch, some friends you have Nya," he said.

I gritted my teeth at the sound of his voice. What does he want now? To torture me some more? I wouldn't be surprised.

"What is it," I growled.

"Personally, I would have thought that your friends would have tried to rescue you by now, could they have…you know, abandoned you?"

I did not even look up. "Shut up, they would never do that to me, you know NOTHING about my friends or my brother."

"Really now? Come on Nya, open your eyes, why would they rescue you anyway? Are you any use to them? Are you?"

"SHUT UP!" I roared. I can't let him get to me. I could almost feel him smirking above me.

"Admit it Nya," he chuckled darkly. "Your worthless, weak, helpless, just admit it, so why would they rescue you?"

He kicked my chair that I was tied to, which made it slide across the room. I was on my side, on the arm that was burned. I bit my bottom lip hard to prevent me from screaming out in pain. What will screaming do? My arm throbbed in pain as it was burned. I looked up to meet his hard, angry amber eyes. If only...I wasn't so weak.

Tears cascaded down my face, as my hands balled into fists, my body curled up. He did it, he got to me, he broke me, and I know he is not done yet.

(Jay's POV)

I looked up at the sky that was covered with stars. The moon is full. Such a pretty sight. Though, the night sky didn't make me feel any better.

Nya…hang on please….we are going to find you…I promise. My tired eyes then shut into a deep slumber.