Sorry for the wait and the earlier mistake
Slugterra Fanfic
Chapt 35: Remorse
-
Footsteps echoed across the vast metal expanse as the pair walked along the hanging catwalks.
Kaiya was drinking a smoothie they had retrieved from the Forges' cafeteria as Smelter rambled on about designs and techniques as he finished up the tour.
"And that's why we add lumino ore to the metal mixture." he concluded, grinning madly as they stopped at a projected metal platform.
"Never would've guessed." Kaiya rolled her eyes and grinned, glad she could finally hang with her uncle.
Smelter nudged her gently with a giant blue elbow, "But you'dve already found another way to do dat, aye?"
Kaiya laughed and sat down, swinging her legs over the side, "No, hadn't thought of it. Besides, I keep most of my ideas to myself."
Smelter sat down beside her, stroking Jets head as she smooched up next to him and waiting in anticipated silence.
Kaiya slumped forward, her face doubtful "You know..the whole working for Blakk thing..it's kinda become..normal?"
Her words echoed in the quiet forge and she nervously fiddled with her straw as Smelter watched her with care.
"You..you don't mind that I'm working for Blakk..do you?" She asked hesitantly, unsure whether she wanted an answer or not.
Smelter opened his mouth to say something but Kaiya interrupted.
"I mean, like, he destroyed your workplace, your second home. And he's out to destroy all of Slugterra! Sometimes I don't know if I'm doing the right thing.." She trailed off with a giggle as Jet burrowed her head underneath her arm and licked her face.
"I think, as long as you know what your doing, and you're happy with your job, you should stay where you are. But ask yourself this Kaiya; what would you do if you stopped working for Blakk?"
Kaiya snorted and rolled her eyes, "That's easy, I would..." She trailed off as she realized what Smelter was saying.
He simply looked at her with apologetic eyes.
"I-I...Nothing. I wouldn't be able to do anything."
Smelter sighed. It hurt to tell the truth to his foster daughter, "People wouldn't trust ya, Kaiya. I know it's da hurtful truth but after everything yah've done, I think I'm the only person in the whole of Slugterra that trusts ya."
The words hurt. They'd always existed in the back of her mind but now someone finally said them out loud, the viciousness of them had reached the near maximum, though since it was Smelter talking, the edge was taken off slightly.
Kaiya simply shrugged, trying to brush the words off, "So? I know no-one trusts me. Which means I don't have to trust anyone else! So I'm fine with that!"
Smelter sighed and leaned forward, placing a large hand on her shoulder, "Are ya sure you're fine with that?"
Kaiya looked away, uncomfortable with the personal question. She stayed silent to avoid an answer.
Smelter took his hand off and rocked back and forth before finally standing up.
"Come on," He he held his hand out to her, his eyes had the familiar twinkle in themagain, "I've got a gift for ya'"
Kaiya allowed a small smile and grabbed his hand, making no effort to stand up as he pulled her to her feet. Jet had disappeared.
"That's the spirit!" He laughed as Kaiya stuck her tongue out at him.
As the two walked away from the view of the huge bubbling smelting pots, Smelter gave Kaiya a hearty slap on the back, making her stumble forward.
Pain shot up her back and into her head, causing her to gasp from the sudden feeling and fall over, scraping her knees and palm on the meshed metal floor.
Smelter stopped instantly, surprised and slightly shocked.
Quickly bending down next to her, he gently asked her with a concerned face, "Kaiya! Are you alright?! I didn't mean to hit you that hard."
She winced as she pushed herself up with her good arm, pain distracting her from answering.
Standing once again she leaned against the railing, catching her breath she so suddenly lost.
"Mm..i'm fine." Rolling her shoulder sh grimaced. Her shoulder may have stopped bleeding but she was certain there was a giant hole left.
Smelter narrowed his eyes, scanning her down to the tiny details. The frown on his face deepened and Kaiya found herself to be uncomfortable under the glare of scrutiny.
She looked away, distracting herself with the frothing metal cauldrons.
His verdict came at last.
"You've hurt yourself."
She shot him a scornful look, "Ya don't say."
Smelter ignored the sarcasm and approached her, 'You're coming with me."
His face portrayed kindness but his tone said he'd drag her screaming with him if she didn't agree.
She sagged her shoulders in a huff, quickly straightening them when the pain rocketed up again.
Smelter started walking, ushering her along and off the walkways, into a dull metal corridor light with Lumino Ore lights.
"Kaiya.." He sighed. He sounded like he always had when she'd caused trouble. Slightly saddened by what she'd done and also slightly impatient. But like a true Uncle, he was always patient and understanding, he always listened, agreed with her when others wouldn't.
In short, he was guilt tripping her.
She hung her head in burning shame as he walked her to the Medic Bay.
Swiping a clearance card, the doors open to reveal a pristine and well maintained room.
Numerous First-Aid kits hung from the walls and gleaming white cabinets stockpiled containers of liquids and capsules.
She walked over to the large, troll-sized bed in one corner of the room, carefully easing herself up onto the edge and sitting with her legs hanging over the edge.
Her hands left smears of soot and grease on the snow white sheets and she wondered about who was the unlucky troll who had to get the stains out.
Clinking sounds echoed in the awkward silence as Smelter rifled through the many glass bottles to find what he was after.
After a while he brought out a dark brown glass bottle and placed it on a steel tray along with a needle, bandages, anti-septic cream a suture set and numerous other things.
Kaiya eyed the equipment, "It's not that bad." She lied.
Smelter simply snorted, "that's what you always say."
Eventually he stopped and shut the cabinet before picking up the tray and setting it down beside her.
Standing back he crossed his arms, " Right. Take off your jacket." He ordered.
Kaiya was in no mood to argue so she grumbled quietly as she unzipped her jacket and pulled her good arm out of its sleeve, fully aware the meager remains of her singlet was in full view of her protective uncle.
A glance at the tattered singlet remains covering her bra, Smelter simply pursed his lips and raised an eyebrow before returning his gaze to her face, waiting for the rest of the jacket to come off.
The scratching from the dried blood in her sleeve was irritating her but Kaiya didn't want to show Smelter what she'd done. she held the jacket corner over the right hand part of her singlet, where the blood stain had blossomed along the strap.
"Kaiya." Smelter was getting impatient and he shifted his arms restlessly.
His response was a guilty glance before she returned her eyes to the floor.
"Kaiya, please. I'm just trying to help. You know that this isn't helping. I can go on all day if you want to be stubbo-" He started.
"FINE!"
The word echoed in the small room as Kaiya, cheeks burning, pulled off the rest of her jacket with a shower of blood flakes.
Bits of dry blood freckled her arm, the same russet colour as the large stain on her singlet strap.
Smelters eyes widened as he took in the amount of blood that could be seen, almost wishing he had never asked.
Almost.
"What...what did you do?" he breathed as he picked up a damp cloth and started to wipe the blood off her shoulder.
She didn't answer, giving a short gasp from the cold shock but otherwise avoiding his eyes clearly sulking from a hurt pride.
Smelter simply sighed and patiently wiped her arms free of red, careful to stop when she tensed or winced from the cold.
There was no need for words between the two, they understood each other easily in the tense silence.
Smelter stood back as Kaiya glanced up before slowly and painfully pulling her legs up and turning around.
"Don't say anything." She asked shakily as her head turned away, exposing her back and the makeshift bandage looped over her shoulder.
Smelter almost didn't want to take off the bandage, to see what she'd done to herself this time.
With gentle yet nimble hands he quickly cut the bandage off with a pair of surgical scissors, tossing the bloody rag aside and finally revealing the grievous wound deep in her shoulder.
"Godammit Kaiya! This...this is- ugh! Don't you ever care about yourself?!"
His voice was brimming with anger to what she'd done and fear that she was being to reckless, she could tell.
Unable to rip his eyes away from the gaping wound he continued his lament.
"WHY? Kaiya, why do you do this? To Me?!" He had stopped working and was now walking around the room throwing his hands up in the air.
"Do you know how hard it is for me to see you do this constantly to yourself, day after day. First it was all those Mecha races a couple years back, then it was Healer Springs and Sasha..." His voice trailed off to a whisper as her name was mentioned.
The wound for him was still more raw than Kaiyas', who had healed via the time working for Blakk. The two had basically become her parents.
Smelter took a shaky breath and continued, " And that was before you started working for Blakk. Kaiya, I understand that you are you and only you can understand why you're staying with Blakk but he is changing you. Skies never looked how he is now when I first saw him. When I first saw him, he was built for racing and slight protection. Now he's a war machine used to take down others, to KILL! Blakk's a bad influence on you, Kaiya. And now he's putting you at risk. That train crash...that made headlines for WEEKS!" He was pacing up and down the room, clearly distressed.
Kaiya sighed, "Smelter, can we discuss this late-?"
"NO! I need you to listen to me! RedHook told me that you managed to get Skies to go HAYWIRE! Then there was the stunt at the Slugball game."
"Hey! I saved peoples lives!" She protested.
Smelter stopped walking and stood still, "Who are you, Kaiya Skye?"
She had no answer that would fully answer the question so she just slouched forward as silence filled the small room again and Smelter started to sew the wound together, after a quick session of washing it out.
20 minutes of silence passed, minus the small clinks of metal against metal, until Smelter finally stepped back.
"It's not perfect and you'll have a heck of a scar but I doubt it'll trouble you again...I do have one question though, how'd you heal it earlier?"
Kaiya slipped off the bed, rolling her shoulder experimentally. She found she was pleased with the job.
"What do you mean?" She asked, slightly distracted with her fingers running over the stitches. They felt cold and metallic.
Smelter was busy tidying up the utensils, "I mean, the wound looked like it should've been bigger or deeper, but the wound was nearly closed. Did you get hit by a Boon Doc or something?"
"Not that I know of. All I know is that I blacked out from blood-loss, I think. Then I woke up on Skies and my shoulder wasn't hurting as much. I didn't think too much of it then."
The words 'Blacked out from Blood loss' earned her another stern glare from over his shoulder before he returned to pondering.
"Well, I'm stumped." He shrugged, done with the rest of the medical supplies and the row earlier behind him.
Kaiya, too, was over their little spat, "Hey, Smee, what type of stitches are these? They feel like wire."
Smelter ushered her out of the small room just after she grabbed her jacket.
"Oh,the stitches are for mechanics and tough troll skin. Titanium thread with Arachnet extract. Speaking of Arachnets, started slinging yet?"
Kaiya snorted, "I don't sling. Too mainstream."
Smelter just laughed softly, "Practice never hurts."
"You're kidding."
"Why would I? From what I've heard, you need a long range weapon."
Kaiya grudgingly nodded. She'd thought over the fact she needed a long range weapon plenty of times but had never acted.
Smelter stopped outside a metal door. Too busy talking, Kaiya hadn't even noticed the journey.
"When did we get here?"
Smelter ignored her and unlocked the door, holding it open for her to enter first.
She eyed him suspiciously, walking in but resting a hand on the knife behind her, the eerie electric blue laser charges creating a faint blue shine.
Smelter shut the door behind her, she had frozen in place as her sispicion rose.
Why were they here?
What is going to happen?
Her blade slipped partially out of the sheath and she shifted her feet to a balanced position.
Keen eyes watched the light sillouttes, watching for any sudden movement.
A light flicked on causing a momentary blindness.
"Happy Birthday! Or birthdays. I'm not sure how many I've missed."
Hurriedly sheathing the knife, the birthday faced Smelter, "Birthdays?"
Smelter wore a jolly smile as he strode over to the pile of wrapped presents, "You know. The day you celebrate when you were born? You're at least 16 now, Kaiya."
Confusion still held her, "Uh..I'm lost. I mean, I know what a birthday is but what do you mean it's mine?"
Smelters smile dropped, "Are you being serious?"
Silence.
"Look, everything you've done has been over a year and a half. Theze are the presents I made you for the three birthdays I missed." He waved at the pile.
Kaiyas mind finally clicked, "Oh! Wait does that mean I made Skies, won loads of races, joined Blakk, went total psycho, built a war machine, saved Blakk from Deep Caverns, saved a town, crashed a train, gained a boyfriend, defeated the war machine, discovered a secret tunnel and legendary artifact, saved slugball players and got really badly wounded over the course of a year?"
"Uh..a year and a half actually...could you repeat number...um..six and twelve on your list?"
"Yeesh, I've been busy." She muttered, running a hand through her hair, "Anyway...presents!"
She scooped up the closest gift, a long narrow present, and eagerly shredded the gift wrap.
She squealed in uncontrollable delight when she caught sight of the content.
A gleaming black and green hoverboardboard slashed with blue neon lights. The tip was dipped in a chrome slashed green while the side pieces were gleaming black dotted with the lights reflections.
"OHMYGODOHMYGOD!" She grabbed the board, hugging it close to her and ignoring the cold metal sting on her bare stomach.
"Thank you so much!"
Smelter grinned widely, pleased with her reaction.
"I thought you might like my old slugball hoverboard, you can pimp it up if ya like. But, that's not all, Kaiya. Take a peek at the other two." He handed her a smaller package, more awkwardly wrapped.
Her eager hands grabbed the gift and tore the paper off.
A look of confusion appeared on her face as she drew out a blaster.
She held it up questioningly at Smelter, "I don't sling."
"I know. But I thought you could do something with it. You need a long range weapon. It shoots darts instead of slugs"
Kaiya hung the blaster on her belt, happily ignoring it.
"Darts, huh? I already have a blaster too but, hey, thanks."
Smelter simply rolled his eyes and tossed her the last present, a red-wrapped disk.
Kaiya caught it deftly, curiosity building.
Carefully taking off the wrapping paper layer she pulled out a dull blue disk. A holographic drawing pad.
Smelter raised his hands in defense, "You're last gift isn't ready yet but these are the designs for it. Have a look."
Raising an eyebrow she opened the folder, sifting through the many pictures until she found one folder labelled 'K-Skye Mecha Design'
Stifling a snort of amusement, she swiped open the file and watched as multiple 3D holograms hovered in front of her.
"You're building me another Mecha? Why? I already have one."
Smelter walked over and stood beside her, "Because you'll need it if you change. Skies isn't exactly a friendly face."
Kaiya scowled at his use of words, but silently agreed with the simple point.
Observing the holograms again, she took in the simple curves of the hindquarters and the sharpness of the horns.
"It's not bad but I think you could work on it."
Smelter nodded approvingly, "Sure, send me the rest of the things you'd like changed. And the recipe for Skies armour. I hope to make the armour the same, considering what you get up too."
Another small skim over the floating robots and Kaiya turned the pad off and handed it back, reaching for the hoverboard, eager to test it out.
"Uh-uh-uh!" Smelter tutted and slapped her hand away, grinning at the confused look on her face.
"Hey!-"
"You won't get to use these, until you've changed. I'm not arming a dangerous person with even more weapons."
One fluid movement and the blaster was in his huge hands,
Kaiya glared at him but agreed, "You're treading on thin ice, pal."
Smelter simply gave a thunderous laugh and ushered her towards the exit, "That's ma girl! Now, you go have fun, and remember those special prizes you got left here in case you have a change of heart and mind."
With a large wave and a smile, Kaiya ducked out the door and quickly mounted Skies, who already had Jet seated on him.
She could and would never be able to find the correct words to thank him for all the wonderful gifts he had spent time on, even if she'd never get them. She didn't plan on changing but the gifts weren't just important of what they were. It was the thought that counted.
High up on the stony ridge, Kaiya watched through her glasses as the Forge was re-opened in a bizarre of bright colours and sounds from the score of Slugterreans that visited the Forge.
It was slightly saddening to see everyone mingling and jostling, all in a light-hearted mood while she was cold and lonely up on the ridge.
Smelters words echoed around in her head.
'Would it be that bad if she changed?'