Kai's eyelids slide open, and he immediately regrets it as pain shoots through his temples like splinters. He lets out a low moan and rolls over, flattening his ears to his head.
"Kai? You okay?" Nya's voice calls up to him. She must have woken up after he fell asleep. He doesn't answer, waiting for her to climb up and check on him. Sure enough, he feels her warmth at his side in a flash. He blinks up at her and isn't surprised to see concern in the way her ears slide back and her fangs nibble at her lip. "You need to eat, Kai. We're gonna be called for training soon."
Great, more time for him to embarrass himself in front of the new gang, for Jay to show off, for Nya to be dragged away from him before they can even share sentences, for pain and fury and tears -
"Are you sick?" Nya murmurs, resting her hand on his forehead. It's cool and comforting, so he leans into it slightly. "You don't have a fever. I bet you just need food. There's chicken, your favorite!"
The thought of food makes his stomach churn, and he shakes his head, curling up in his blankets again. Nya's warmth disappears and he hears her slide down, murmuring quietly to Jay and Cole. Maybe he'll go back to sleep, but there's no way he's going to train again.
Surprisingly, someone else clambers into the bed. His movements are rough, so he guesses it's Cole. Sure enough, the wolf boy's hoarse voice resounds near his ear, "Hey."
Kai growls, hoping to convey the fact that he is not in the mood to talk. Ever.
"Look, I know things aren't great right now, but we need to stick together." Cole shifts quietly. "I know it's hard; those trackers weren't a picnic, but... Life is tough sometimes. We just need to be tougher." Ugh, he sounds just like the infernal voice in Kai's head. "I'll leave you to think about it." Cole leaves his bunk, and strangely, Kai wishes he had stayed. He grits his teeth, shunning the feeling. He only needs one person in his life: Nya. He shouldn't get attached to anyone else.
Finally, he forces himself up and grudgingly eats the roast chicken cubes that have been left for them. They are delicious, and he has to admit it. Jay seems even more cheery than usual from where he's slurping down strange purple fruits at an alarming pace, but Kai decides to put up with it, even joining in their conversation now and again.
Of course, the second he gets a minute to talk with Nya, the door clicks open, revealing Kate and Harumi on the other side. Kai doesn't bother to hide his snarl, but Harumi's smile doesn't change.
"You guys get to have interaction training with the Pearl Cluster!" she tells them excitedly. "I talked to Doctor Cryptor, and he agreed that you guys should have some joint meetings!"
So.
There are more hybrids in the building then.
It shouldn't surprise him; the hunt for hybrids has been going on for years, but... still. Just meeting Jay and Cole was a shock. "How many hybrids are in here?" he asks, trying to sound polite and threatening at the same time.
Harumi opens her mouth, but Kate cuts across her. "You'll only meet some of the Clusters here, but I can assure you there are many more." Nya looks slightly sickened by this information, while Jay's ears droop.
"Have any of them ever tried to escape?" Cole asks, his voice emotionless, but tail flicking side to side.
Harumi and Kate exchange a glance before Harumi answers, "There has never been a successful break out of Cryptor Laboratories." There's a strain of emotion in her voice, but Kai can't decipher it. However, Cole seems satisfied with this answer and receives his blindfold first. The restraints are slipped on and they're walking through the silent halls again. Kai realizes they're going somewhere different, but he loses track of their route when Harumi leans over and whispers in his ear.
"How's the tracker? Still hurting?"
Suspicion curls Kai's lip and he hisses, "Why do you care?"
"Because I'm not supposed to," she responds simply, but it doesn't feel like the whole answer. Kai waits for a minute before asking a new question.
"Where is it? The tracker."
"In your right ear," she replies. There's a cold touch on the edge of the named spot and he shivers involuntarily. But now he can feel it now: a hard rectangular chip that pinches slightly, just underneath the skin. "I guess that means you can't feel it." He can hear emotion again, but it's so layered he can't understand it. There's something strange about Harumi, that much he knows.
"Oh, we're here!" the teen says abruptly, pulling Kai to a stop. He blinks as the blindfold comes away and his breath catches in his throat.
They're in a room, but it looks just like his old home: trees, grass, even the scents are the similar: sweet and piney and sharp. A bright light is glowing above them like the sun, and it warms his skin just like it did before, and oh, how he's missed it. He barely registers the cuffs coming off before he is running, running, running through the grass, feet barely touching the ground, and he can feel fierce, wild joy welling up inside him for the first time since he reached the Laboratories because there's so much space and he feels free. By the time he's run out of breath, the trees are thinning and...
Something soft, golden, and grainy is under his feet. It's warm and shifts under him so that his balance is affected annoyingly. He's about to turn around, but then he hears laughter, real warm golden laughter and for some reason, it draws him forward. He makes his ungainly way down the slope of odd grains before he finds...
A huge expanse of water, glowing blue and green and in it...
A girl. A girl his age. Her wet scarlet hair flows around her like flower petals as she splashes in the shallows, her white T-shirt and shorts soaked with spray. The small brown ears that are poking out of it adorably and the tiny, pointed teeth that show as she laughs make his heart stutter for reasons unknown to him.
"Hybrids," Nya's voice whispers next to him and he jumps about three feet in the air. Of course, he lands strangely, slides down the slippery ground, and rolls right into a crowd of teens.
They stare at him with open mouths as he tries to catch his breath and he realizes: they're all hybrids. Two tanned brunette girls who had to be sisters have strange fern-like protrusions on their faces and tails behind them. A dark-skinned boy with eye-watering blue hair has matching feathery wings spread wide behind him as though he is about to take flight. Another girl with golden-brown skin blinks at him with large tawny eyes, and he spots long fins on the length of the exterior of her arms, a grey tail ending in a divide bobbing in the water.
And then there's the girl wading the shallows, pulling her drenched hair into a ponytail, the one who takes his breath away and makes his heart flutter in his chest.
"Oh, you must be the hybrids that Harumi was talking about!"
She's talking to him with a teasing voice, coming forward, and her hand is outstretched, why's she holding it out to him?
"Are you okay?" There's a laugh in her voice and it somehow sounds even better than before as she pulls him to his feet.
"YeahI'mfine," he babbles, immediately wanting to bury his face in the strange stuff that got him into this mess in the first place as she raises an eyebrow at him, her mouth twitching strangely.
"Kai!" Nya scampers down the slope, somehow keeping her balance. She blinks at the hybrids before breathing, "There are more of you!"
"Of course, sweetheart!" the girl with tawny eyes laughs, and Kai's foggy mind becomes crystal-clear at that 'sweetheart'.
"She's my sister," he tells her, barely hiding the warning growl in his voice. She evidently hears it, but only flashes him a large, white-toothed smile before continuing.
"My name is Nalanie Vania Iokina, but you can call me Vania. I'm a dolphin hybrid." She gestures to the two sisters, pointing first to the one with blue protrusions and then the other with pink. "This is Natasha Gray, who goes by Asha, and her little sister Abigal; they're axolotl hybrids." They wave cheerfully in perfect unison as Vania moves on to the boy. "This is Ryan Yokoi, a kingfisher hybrid." Ryan nodded once before turning back to Asha and Abigal. Huh, he and Cole should get along well, Kai thinks, but his focus immediately changes as Vania pulls the scarlet-haired girl forward. "And last, but certainly not least, Skylor Chen, otter hybrid."
Skylor, his blurry mind repeats a million times as she winks at him. "So, you are?"
"I'm Nya, and this is Kai," his sister says, rolling her eyes at him. "We're fox hybrids." Her expression changes to an eager one as she inspects Vania's fins. "Wow, I can't believe you're really here! I've never seen so many hybrids in one place before!"
"We're the Pearl Cluster," Skylor informs her with a smile. "You must be in the Ivory Cluster. Aren't there supposed to be five of you?"
"Well, there's Jay and Cole," Nya answers, glancing over her shoulder to where their group is probably searching the forest for them. "But there are only four of us in our... Cluster."
"Huh." Skylor's look becomes puzzled. "That's really weird. All the other clusters have five." She shrugs and gestures to the crystal-clear water. "Want to swim?" Nya and the others nod eagerly before sprinting into it, creating huge splashes of white foam. Kai walks forward uncertainly. He's never been this close to a huge body of water before, let alone swimming in it. The largest thing he waded in was a big puddle. Suddenly, his feet slip, and his head goes under.
He immediately decides he hates swimming. There's water in his eyes and ears and nose and it's salty and stinging. He coughs and splutters as he surfaces, backing away as far as possible. Skylor is giggling madly and that does nothing to improve his temper. "I've never been swimming, okay?" he snaps furiously, stamping a wet foot in the sand.
Her eyes widen and she stops laughing, her look changing to something he doesn't understand. "It's not that bad, Kai," she tells him, running her fingers through the water like it's a pet. "C'mon, why don't you try again?" He shoots her a glare and shakes his head firmly. She sighs, but sits down next to him, staring up at the sky. He realizes it must be a projection, but it seems so real.
"How long have you been here?" she asks abruptly, not taking her eyes off the 'clouds' gliding overhead.
"Couple of nights," he answers, and just saying that loosens some of the tightness in his chest, because it means he hasn't been here long. And it's going to stay that way, he promises himself. "How 'bout you?"
"Almost nine years," she murmurs, sliding her feet in the strange grainy ground. He whirls around to stare open-mouthed at her. "I know, you think I missed out on a life, but... I've seen what humans do to us. We're safer here than we'd ever be out there."
Kai doesn't change his expression. "So you're okay with being trapped and tested on your whole life?!"
She shoots him a look and sighs. "Maybe we aren't as free in here, but it's better than dead out there." Skylor's eyes move to the hybrids splashing in the water and soften slightly. "Besides, my family is here. Abigal and Asha still need someone to take care of them, Vania and Ryan would be eternally at odds with each other, and they all look to me for leadership."
Kai thinks about this. He's been looking out for Nya all their lives. He knows what the need to protect feels like. But... Cole and Jay aren't tied to him at all. He can leave them with a clear conscience, and they shouldn't care because they aren't his to look after. Right?
As though his thoughts summoned them, the monkey and wolf hybrid sprint into sight, panting. "There you are!" Cole shouts, tongue lolling out of his mouth. "We've been searching every -" He cuts off abruptly as he spots the other hybrids in the water. "So. There are more of you." His eyes flit over them and soften gently. "Nice to meet you all."
"Oh my gosh!" Jay squeals, splashing into the water without batting an eyelid. "You guys are so cool! Are those external gills?" he asks, inspecting Abigal's protrusions. She nods cheerfully as Vania reintroduces everyone, Jay babbling on and on about some feature they have that he wishes was his.
"Look." Kai starts as Skylor begins talking again. "I get that you've been free your whole life, but... now you and your sister can be safe. For good. Isn't that better than scrounging for every bite of food, all alone, with danger around every corner?"
Kai doesn't respond. It's true; he doesn't have to worry about humans capturing and torturing them anymore. He knows what they've barely escaped. His hand flits to the scar over his right eye and he rubs it gently. But... is safety worth any freedom they'd ever have?
Besides...
Who knows what other dangers there might be here?
An earsplitting siren begins wailing overhead and Skylor sighs, getting to her feet. "It's time to go." She turns to him, and he feels that strange fluttery feeling in her stomach again. "It was nice talking to you, Kai." She holds out her hand and he shakes it.
"Yeah. You too."
They share a toothy grin before Kai sprints back through the forest. Funny, he thinks. I never knew my stomach was part butterflies too.