Chapter 10
Hidden Within Shadows

.:Kai:.

Molten amber eyes painfully watched as Violet's retreating figure disappeared into his room. He thought that for a moment, she had forgiven him; seeing how she helped to try and get rid of Skylor quicker and managed to make Jay disappear. But just seeing her leave so quickly when he got near her caused a spike of pain in the brunette's chest, a pain that hasn't left him since he first saw her in a year.

"Hey Romeo, I know this is hard for you and all but please, get me up already!"

"R-Right, sorry Jay," Kai numbly apologised as he leaned over the rails and hauled up the ninja in blue.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

Once Jay was safely on the balcony, they both headed into the room and Kai wasn't surprised to see Cole had already indulged himself into his food while talking to Violet and Lloyd.

"Whoa! Nice room!" Jay exclaimed, taking in the exterior of his room.

"Yeah… It's great," Kai muttered as he discreetly looked towards Violet to only see that she hasn't even spared him a glance.

.:Jay:.

Things between Kai and Violet were definitely not good! Jay thought Cole would be able to change Violet's mind on Kai but it seemed that whatever the food loving ninja have said just made her avoid him at all costs! The blue ninja could only sigh as the others (Kai, Lloyd and Violet) started to formulate a plan.

"I suppose Violet could turn us all invisible."

"Are you kidding me? Do you know how hard that is? I would have to focus on every single one of you and can't be distracted by little minor problems. One person other than myself is complicated enough," the purple kunoichi explained before pacing back and forth. "We just have to hide in the shadows and just dodge the guards."

"But this place is crawling with guards! Some of us may not be as stealthy as we used to be…" Lloyd mentioned but Jay's mind wandered.

I knew it would have been better to talk to Violet myself… but if Kai found out, he would force me to deliver messages that would possibly anger her more! By having Cole, things would be less biased… But he's hopeless! How did I trust him with this task?

Jay pondered with a frown. If there wasn't an elemental master of love, there is now and Jay is more determined than ever to get the two together. All he need to do is to figure out how to stop Kai being stupid and how to snap Violet out of her stubbornness. Come on Jay, think back to those cheesy romance movies you used to watch with Nya. What else did those characters do?

"G-Guys! This b-bed is err-!"

"Cole! We get it! You like my bed!"

"N-No, I think I might have found a way to sneak around!" The ninja in black explained as he quickly got up from the bed and immediately tugged on Lloyd's arm.

"Cole, this is no time for jokes-"

"I'm not joking!"

Jay could only shake his head at the darker skinned man. Reflecting on the past, it was always him – the master of lightning – that was the immature one. The one that apparently made the bad jokes and doesn't take anything serious unless it is a dire situation. Now with this one year split, lots have changed. Kai went back to his arrogant and dumb self. Violet is back to being cold, mistrustful and stubborn towards Kai but really sweet and kind to everyone else. Cole is a food obsessed ninja who now sometimes act immature rather than the serious and fearless leader he used to be. Lloyd remained the same since last time and then there's him, Jay. Judging on himself, Jay believed he no longer was the super childish and immature ninja. Sure he has his moments and he panics a bit… Well a lot but at least he's serious now; right?

"All of you, come here and lie on the bed."

"This is ridiculous!"

"Kai, don't make me get up and drag you here myself!" So reluctantly, they all went to the bed. "Now lie down, all of you!"

"Cole, we aren't going to fit," Violet muttered.

"Are you kidding? It's a freaking huge bed! We will all fit!"

"Can't we just sit or something?"

"No, I was lying down when it happened!"

Jay groaned as he awkwardly lay beside Cole. He would do anything to get the ninja in black to shut up! Is this how everyone felt when he gets chatty? But after seeing him lie down, everyone else did. Kai laid down next to him while Lloyd got on the other side of Cole and Violet laid down next to him.

"T-This is w-weird… and I feel ridiculous!" Lloyd stammered as he shifted. The vibrations easily travelled through the bed.

"How do you think I feel? I'm the only girl on the bed!"

"V-V-Violet! I didn't m-mean it like that!" Lloyd spluttered violently, making Cole snicker. Jay lifted his head and caught sight of the green ninja with a face as red as the pillows. He tried to resist the urge to laugh as well.

"Lloyd, one day you have to learn about it-"

"No! I may be nineteen but that is no reason for me to know birds and bees now!"

.:Kai:.

Turned out, Cole wasn't crazy. After wiggling on the bed and pushing back his pillow, it hit a button and immediately the bed flipped! But who would even design these secret passages?

Originally, Kai thought that between their rooms was just a wall since he could hear his neighbours (especially Violet's) well enough. It seemed that wasn't the case for every single wall unless it's just his room. The corridor between the two walls of what would be to his room and Skylor's was about a meter and half (nearly five feet) wide. The walls were devoted of any colours and there were no lights.

After hearing Jay complaining about the darkness, Kai quickly lit his hand on fire. The flame that engulfed his hand leaped to life and twirled around in a fiery dance. It illuminated the walls and everything around him with a soft orange hue. But, the brunette tore his amber eyes away from the flame and towards Violet.

For a moment, their eyes met. Her mesmerising violet eyes captured the light and the movement of the flickering flame that danced around his hand. Although Kai felt somewhat embarrassed she caught him looking at her, he just couldn't tear his eyes away. Whenever he had looked into Violet's eyes, he was always amazed at the unique colour and pattern her orbs held but this time, it was different. There this new kind of beauty; something more mysterious, beautiful and… sexy. The ninja of fire half pondered if it had something to do with her eyes capturing the light of his element. Or maybe he's appreciating her beauty more now that she wanted nothing to do with him.

Ha, I suppose 'you never realise the value of something until you lose it' is truer than I thought. Kai thought sadly as Violet was the first to break eye contact.

He probably deserved it – her rejection. He caused her nothing but pain, anger and sadness. Maybe Griffin was right; Violet deserves much more.

"Zane probably isn't on the island but in it- wait, do you guys hear that?" Jay whispered.

At first, Kai thought the master of lightning meant that sound of his flame starting to snap until he heard it. It was a grunt, a feminine and low grunt. It didn't take long until he realised it was Skylor since it sounded from her room… but what was she doing? The brunette's curiosity slowly ascended to its peak, like a tiger fixated upon its prey. Was there another round going on right now? Was someone fighting her?

No. Kai quickly and firmly told himself. He shouldn't be caring what was happening right now. There might be a slim chance of getting Violet back – even though that chance was diminishing rapidly.

"It's Skylor. We should hurry and try to find Zane before someone realised we're gone," he informed them as he proceeded to move onwards.

"Kai, stop. What if she's fighting someone? What if the next round has already started?" Lloyd asked before turning his head to the wall. Kai followed his gaze and found a pair of holes. They were positioned to give a view into her room.

"Whoa whoa whoa Lloyd! We can't just invade her privacy! And we must certainly not go peeking into a girl's room without permission!" Jay exclaimed in a harsh whisper.

"It never stopped Kai."

The tamer of fire grimaced guiltily as he barely heard Violet's whisper. He looked back to her but to only see she was whispering to Cole who was frowning deeply at her. Jay and Lloyd on the other hand were climbing up the wall to peer into Skylor's room.

As Kai's molten amber eyes looked over to Violet again, he couldn't help but let them linger on her shoulder. He was sort of surprised to see she wasn't wearing the tournament robes but her ninja gi instead. Probably so it doesn't show the bandages… Kai thought sadly.

The tournament robes that were issued weren't as concealed as their previous ninja gi. These clothes lacked sleeves and a collar; fully exposing their necks, shoulders and arms. As much as he wanted to see Violet in hers, he knew she would want to hide her injury as much as possible.

"Guys, good news. The next round hasn't started. Skylor is just training- What?! Skylor can control fire?!"

"Oh, Kai, Violet and I forgot to mention; Skylor can control absorb any element she touches and use them."

"Wait… she's using my element?" Kai asked with surprise. "Wait, that doesn't matter. Now that we know there isn't another round going on right now, let's keep moving."

They ventured through the many corridors of the secret passageways. It was literally a maze and they were fortunate enough that Cole was unconsciously leaving a trail back to their rooms. Since he had the source of light, he was forced into going first. As the hour past, Kai couldn't help but let his mind drift to Violet.

He wanted her back so bad. He'd missed waking up with her petite yet semi-muscular form in his arms. He missed her scent of strawberries and apples; it was a scent he could no longer smell from her. He missed the way she would speak to him, her voice full of love and passion. Kai definitely missed the way they could just look into each other's eyes and feel like time have frozen in place. He missed her dearly when she was gone but now that she was back, the master of fire realised how much Violet really meant to him and how dependant he was on her. Not seeing her for a year had been tough, but seeing her yet not being able to interact with her the same way they used to was excruciating.

"Kai, stop!"

And within milliseconds, this quiet and lone train of thought was abruptly interrupted as two hands quickly yanked him back. Due to his sudden movement, the brunette lost his balance and fell backwards and ended up landing on someone. Lighting his hand on fire again, he saw he fell on Lloyd.

"S-Sorry Lloyd," Kai stammered before swiftly getting up.

"Lloyd, what's wrong? What's with the sudden stop?" Cole asked immediately.

"There's booby traps. I've noticed a couple on the walls but this is the first one on the ground."

"Booby traps? Ha! That's so cool! Oh, I-I mean, they're kind of cool- Wait, no! They're totally not cool because you know, they're dangerous," Jay stammered as he sheepishly grinned. "Just ignore me."

"For now on, we need to watch where we step and not have our heads in the clouds," Lloyd said sternly. Hearing the last bit, Kai instantly knew Lloyd was referring to him.

.:Violet:.

"Violet, what was that?"

"What do you mean 'what was that'?"

"You whispering how that never stopped Kai. You need to let go of this grudge and just come true with your feelings to him."

"Cole, I told you I don't even know what my own feelings are!"

"Well then give him a chance to express his. Holding grudges is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die, at least that's what Sensei Wu told me. The anger you hold inside will damage you the longer it stays. Don't be a prisoner of yourself Violet."

A few minutes have passed and currently, she was waiting behind a pillar. Her eyes roamed the large cavern with ancient runes engraved onto the brown, crumbling rocks. Many barrels and torches of fire littered around the place and a monument of a large snake was presented. It reminded her slightly of the Great Devourer statue in the lost city of Ouroborus.

The boys managed to silently knock out a couple of Chen's henchmen and steal their clothing. Unfortunately, the henchmen were only males and their uniforms left their chests bare which is something not good for her. So, while Jay, Kai, Cole and Lloyd stand in the crowd of henchmen, she stayed back in her invisible form and watched.

While nothing happened for the time being, Violet allowed her mind to drift back to the words Cole whispered to her. Since… when did he become so wise? Sure he was smart and recently a tad immature and kind but never have she imagined him to be wise. The kunoichi of wind knew he was right though. It would be better if this grudge would cease to an end but she couldn't find it inside herself to forgive Kai. What if they were wrong about him? It has been slightly over a year since they have all seen each other, Kai can surely change drastically in that time.

"Bring out the loser!"

Drawing her attention away from her thoughts, Violet looked back to the cavern and saw that all the henchmen were bowed low to the ground. Chen was dressed in his mighty robes while holding onto a staff that was bigger than him! Hearing grunts, her purple eyes found two other henchmen dragging a struggling Karloff towards the noodle maker.

"Hands off Karloff! Karloff wished he never signed up for this!" The foreign man yelled in his deep voice. The metal man was thrown onto the ground in front of Chen's feet in a harsh manner.

"Like I said, use it or lose it!" The sadistic man sneered before snorting off into his hysterical laugh.

Watching carefully with wide violet eyes, ice blasted out of the glowing crystal that sat in Chen's staff and hit Karloff straight in the chest. Immediately, a pained wail echoed off the walls of the vast cavern. For a tough man like Karloff, Violet was surprised to hear this kind of response. It wasn't like that ice was turning Karloff into a snowman. But it was until his metal skin turned normal and a soft aura glow flowed into the staff's crystal. But… there was no ice. That means…

"W-What happened to my metal?" Karloff whimpered as lifted himself from the ground. His voice was truly miserable and it was the first time she heard Karloff use a first person pronoun.

Chen… Just stole his powers! That's what use it or lose it means! But… what is he doing this these powers? Wait, that ice beforehand; it must be Zane's! It means he is on the island!

Happiness quickly swelled in Violet's chest that their robotic brother was truly here; maybe not in the best conditions with the friendliest people but he was here!

"Intruder!" Chen's ghastly voice yelled out. Violet quickly chastised herself for getting too distracted and quickly looked at the four boys that were running her way. "Get them! They cannot escape!"

Just as the boys got within a couple meters from where she was, she ran into the tunnel.

"What did you guys do this time?" She asked while running ahead of them. She didn't allow herself to break from her invisibility form. If Chen and his men only saw four people, it is likely they won't immediately suspect the five of them -competitors- as the intruders.

"The chocolate markings were melting and they heard us whispering."

"You shouldn't have been whispering!"

"Hey, this is our first undercover mission! You messed up on yours as well don't forget."

"At least I lasted a little longer than you all," Violet ended up chuckling. It was almost like old times. When they could fight against Serpentine with a little bit of humour… just without Zane.

"Well run faster because I don't want to bump into you!" Cole yelled out from behind her. "I can't even tell where you are!"

"Fine but watch out for the-"

"Oof!"

"-booby trap…" Violet cringed as she heard a thud right behind her. She quickly turned around and saw the others had stopped and hurried to help Cole up. Another thud followed quickly and looking back to the cultists, the kunoichi was surprised to only see a wall.

"Ah ha! The booby trap goes into our favour. I told you guys it was cool- Right sorry. Ignore me," Jay sheepishly said with a light chuckle.

"We don't have much time. If Chen finds out that it's us who have been spying on him, he'll march straight to our rooms. We need to go now-!" But the sound of metal being imbedded into rock interrupted Kai.

Looking back again, Violet saw axes swinging out of the walls and onto the ground. They were getting closer.

"Run run run!"

Sorry to end it a little bit shorter than usual. But as always, massive thanks to WowWhatALongUsernameIHave for beta reading this chapter for me and all my reviewers: Kai Lover911, Kai4Ever, KaitheHotHead1, Bl0ndie, CarlyShi208, Sabine123, ElementzGirl7, Guest and all my silent readers!

Bl0ndie: Don't worry, I haven't forgotten Jonah or Nathan. I'll add them in soon, after the tournament ;)

Thanks for reading and I'll be back next week! Xoxo – ZaneLoverFan88