9
When Kai awakens, he winces at the pain in his neck. Slowly, he runs his fingers over the cuts and has to bite back a snarl, remembering the fight from the previous day, remembering the white-hot fury burning in his heart as he slashed at Morro, remembering the teen's hissed words like poison in his mind.
They aren't monsters. They aren't.
And Lloyd especially isn't, he thinks fiercely, spotting the blond bobbing around Nya's feet, chirruping as she passes him a chicken cube and he sinks his tiny sharp fangs into the meat. Kai pulls himself out of bed, nodding to Jay and Cole who appear to be having a debate about the small fruits the monkey hybrid is munching on.
"Thanks," he yawns to his sister as she slides a plate of food toward him. He winces, spotting the cuts on her fox ears, standing out scarlet against the ginger fur. Nya follows his gaze with her fingers and shrugs.
"You should've seen the other girl."
As he glances around, no one seems to have any lingering feelings from yesterday tugging at their insides. Kai chews his food, but it's tasteless in his mouth. Lloyd glances up at him, long scratches gleaming against the tiny scales freckling his face, and Kai realizes he's wrong. There's a hollow look in the dregon's eyes as he smiles, a shivering reminder of the fear he felt yesterday.
"Harumi popped in while you were asleep," Nya informs him, swallowing a mouthful of chicken. "We're going to visit the medic today to get checked." He can hear the cold rage she's holding back and nods silently. Lloyd chitters from where he's carving drawings into the wall with a claw. Nya opens her mouth to stop him but appears to think better of it and shrugs.
"Morning!" Jay says brightly, bouncing forward. "I've decided: you all have to try these!" He holds out a handful of round navy berries. Kai curls his lip involuntarily.
"Sorry, bud," he says, pushing them away. "Carnivores over here, remember? That stuff isn't really our favorite."
"C'mon, please?" Jay begs, blinking innocently at them. "Cole already tried some!"
"Yup. Thoroughly regretting that choice," Cole puts in, his nose wrinkled with disgust.
Nya sighs. "You're such drama queens," she says, taking a few of the fruits and popping them into her mouth. There's a pause as she chews, blinking quickly. "Well, um... they aren't... that bad." Kai can see her resisting a shudder and laughs.
Lloyd blinks at the food in Jay's hand and his fingers dart out, grabbing them before Kai can blink. As Nya and Cole try to persuade him to set them down, Lloyd inspects the berries carefully before shoving them in his mouth, staining it blue with juice. He chomps for several seconds before swallowing and flapping his wings, warbling excitedly.
"Aha!" Jay crows, pumping his fist in the air. "Lloyd likes them too, and he's a carnivore, so take that!"
"Aw, c'mon!" Nya protests. "We don't even know if he is a carnivore! That doesn't count!"
There's a loud knock on the door and they all go quiet as it swings open. Harumi is there, accompanied by the two new caretakers from the previous day. They don't resist as they are blindfolded and pushed through the halls again. Kai feels the tips of Harumi's hair brush his cheek as she whispers, "How are you holding up?"
"We've been better," he growls back. "Maybe you should have warned us before you stuck us in a group of crazy cat teens!"
Harumi exhales slowly. "Doctor Cryptor is furious with Machia for hurting the dragon hybrid." Kai bites back the instinct to correct her, waiting for more information instead. "But he's more upset with you for wounding Morro."
"He's the one who attacked me!" Kai snarls furiously. "I bet he's feeding Cryptor a whole bunch of lies, that backstabbing, no good-"
"Stop it!" Harumi hisses, shaking him slightly. "Morro has gone through a lot, you've got no idea. Leave him alone!"
They walk the rest of the way in angry silence, Kai resisting the furious retorts he's longing to fling at her. Finally they reach their destination, and the fabric comes away.
They are in a long dark room, lit only by the glowing specks in the ceiling, but it's enough to see the beds lining the walls and the shelves of sparkling bottles between them. It's empty except for a single person, who is drawing closer to them.
Kai isn't sure why he's surprised as the person pulls a hood off their head to reveal unnatural yellow eyes and horns twisting out of the dark hair beneath. It isn't like they haven't seen hybrids working with Cryptor. This one is just... different somehow. Maybe it's cause they're older than any hybrid Kai's ever seen. Not by a whole lot, but... they're definitely an adult, not a teen.
"Hey there. I'm Jasper," the hybrid states, flashing them a surprisingly normal smile; no fangs to speak of. "I'm the medic for Cryptor Laboratories. Whatcha got for me to fix up?"
"Try five hybrids who got in a fight," Harumi sighs, pushing Kai forward. "Call us when they're set to go."
Jasper lets out a low whistle as the caretakers leave. "You certainly made her upset today," he says, evidently holding back a laugh as he examines the cuts on Nya's ears. "I haven't heard Harumi snap like that in ages." He wipes something onto Kai's neck wound and he growls as it stings unpleasantly. "Sorry about that. It should stop right about... now." Immediately, the wound feels almost... gone. Kai reaches up to touch it and finds new skin beneath his fingertips.
"Wow!" Jay gasps, inspecting his healed arm which has no sign of injury at all. "That's some powerful stuff! I mean, medicine's never really been my strong point, but I'm pretty sure that's impressive for a healing cream."
Jasper chuckles. "Yeah, I'm pretty lucky. I've been able to really experiment with all the medicines here, and I've made a lot of progress. Not to brag of course." His smile becomes tenser as he looks over Cole's bite mark and Lloyd's scratches. "Probably should have come to me sooner for these ones."
"Harumi said there wasn't time," Kai says with a hint of a growl.
"Well, I'm not sure why, cause nobody was in here yesterday," Jasper replies thoughtfully, turning around to find a different bottle. "Gonna need something stronger for those. I could be wrong but... they could be infected. How'd you get them?"
"A fight with the Fang Cluster," Nya spits angrily, pacing up and down as her ears heal over before their eyes. Jasper's eyebrows contract, but he nods.
"Yup, I've seen this before. That group tends to be... hostile." Jasper rubs something pale pink on Cole's hand, and he winces visibly, almost jerking it out of Jasper's hold. "Sorry, bud. It'll be over in a minute." Jasper winds new bandages around the bite mark which isn't fading away. "Probably will take another day to heal, but it shouldn't be infected, so that's good." Lloyd, who has been watching the whole procedure with fearful eyes, scrambles away as Jasper turns on him.
"Come on, Lloyd," Nya sighs, fishing him out from under a bed as he struggles in her grasp. "You'll feel better afterward." The dregon hybrid shakes his head vigorously, wriggling harder, but Nya's grip doesn't loosen.
Jasper's eyes widen as he inspects Lloyd's face. "Incredible," he breathes, eyes widening with something like disbelief. "Absolutely astounding."
"What's so fascinating?" Cole asks, distrust in his voice as he crosses his arms.
"Your little friend here is unlike any hybrid I've ever encountered," Jasper murmurs, still staring into Lloyd's multi-colored eyes. "If I didn't know better, I'd say he was part-dragon, but... dragons are mythical creatures, and all hybrids are meant to be real animals."
"Not a dragon!" Lloyd growls fiercely, although his green ears are still limp with fear. "Dreeegon." His wings flutter as though in emphasis and Jasper's attention turns to them. Kai frowns as the medic begins fingering the strange webbing and Jay's tail flicks uncomfortably.
"You can't do that without Lloyd's permission," Nya growls, removing Jasper's hands from the small wings. "He might be fascinating, but he's not something you can prod at. Don't you have a job to do?"
Jasper looks taken aback at being ordered around by a fox teen, and Kai can't fight the smile that rises to his lips. Evidently put out, Jasper grabs a strange blue bottle and drips a couple drops of something onto Lloyd's face. The dregon hybrid bits back a whimper, but doesn't move as the liquid seeps into the cuts. Jasper puts a few tan strips on top and nods with satisfaction. "There, you should be good to go now." His hungry look at Lloyd's horns and tail makes Kai's fur bristle and he quickly stands up.
"Then we'll get going." Cole and Jay nod in unison as Nya scoops Lloyd back into her arms, holding him slightly tighter than before. They head for the door, but Kai can feel Jasper's eyes on them the whole time.
"What a weird guy," Jay whispers quietly, squinting distrustfully behind them as they open the door. "Not sure I want to end up here again."
"Then stay out of trouble," Harumi growls, pulling blindfolds over them again. She sighs quietly, and her grip on Kai's shoulder loosens. "Sorry I've been so cross... It's just..."
What exactly is troubling Harumi, Kai will never know because one of the new caretakers nudges him and they begin walking in silence. What Jasper said about Lloyd begins prickling in the front of his mind. All hybrids are meant to be real animals. Did that mean that someone had created hybrids intentionally? And if so... why? Everyone despises hybrids except other hybrids. They're freaks of nature who are savage and vicious. But it sounds like... they were meant to be, something that was intended to happen.
And as scary and creepy as that sounds...
Kai feels something strangely warm at that thought... that someone had meant for him to be here. He wasn't just some anomaly that occurred randomly. He had been wanted. But by who? He shakes his head with frustration. None of this matters. The only thing that is important was getting as far away from here as possible. Besides...
Answers are just as dangerous as questions. Best to avoid them both.