Chapter 11 Discovery
Everyone had run outside when they heard Whiteblaze roar. They could all tell that something was seriously wrong with Ryo. When they tried to use the bond to reach him there was a void where his mind should have been. Then when Whiteblaze roared they felt extreme pain coming from Ryo. Everyone knew what cold and water could do to Ryo after last year but no one was prepared for the pain. They all raced towards the forest trail where they could clearly hear Whiteblaze roaring.
They hadn't run very far when they saw Whiteblaze. He was standing over a lifeless form on the ground trying to protect the form from the rain. As they got closer Whiteblaze moved away and let them begin to tend to Ryo.
"Sage is he going to be ok?" asked Cye. Sage had dropped to his knees and was trying to determine what shape Ryo was in.
"We need to get him inside. He's… He's freezing. I can't tell if he has any other injuries in the dark like this." Sage's voice was beginning to crack. When he had touched Ryo the skin was colder than Ryo's had ever been. It was even colder than what it had been after the accident the year before. He wasn't sure if Ryo was going to survive this time and if he didn't he knew that it was going to be their fault.
Kento came forward and gently picked Ryo up. He glanced up in surprise when he realized how light Ryo was. He felt like he was carrying one of his younger siblings when they were sick. He treated Ryo like he was a fragile doll that was going to fall apart at any moment, but despite his special care Ryo still whimpered every time Kento took a step.
"What's wrong with him? I'm not hurting him am I?" Kento was very afraid that he was making Ryo worse in some way. He didn't want to hurt Ryo anymore than he already had.
"No Kento. I think its just the cold. We have to get him to the house as quickly as possible." Kento nodded to Sage and picked up the pace. Ryo still whimpered every once and a while, but it wasn't as often as before. Kento suspected that it was because of the heat his body was putting off. As soon as he had started to move faster, Ryo had latched onto Kento's shirt and was trying to get as close as possible to this new found heat. When they reached the house, Kento headed up stairs to Ryo's room. He knew that was going to be the best place for Ryo to be right now.
Ryo's POV
Ryo felt himself being lowered and tried to call out. The mysterious heat that had found him was leaving. He heard voices around him and felt someone prodding at the burns on his hand. Someone else was putting a warm washcloth on his forehead. The voices and the people touching him were starting to scare his already confused mind. He began to fight back as best he could.
"Ryo please hold still. It's just us. We're not going to hurt you." Rowen was trying to calm Ryo down. He was thrashing about on the bed trying to get away from all of them. At first it had hurt them slightly that Ryo was trying to get away from them but then they realized that he wasn't doing it to hurt them. They weren't even sure if Ryo knew they were there.
Ryo calm down. You're with your friends. They aren't going to hurt you.
"Whiteblaze?" mumbled Ryo
Everyone looked at the Tiger in amazement. He had walked in and Ryo had immediately calmed down. He was no longer fighting them. It actually appeared that he was beginning to sleep.
"Cye you were right he did get burned." Sage was holding one of Ryo's hands. It was red and was forming blisters. It was when he moved Ryo's arm that he saw something he would never forget. The part of Ryo's arm that wasn't covered by his shirt lacked the muscle he knew should be there. It was just like what he had seen in the video of Ryo when he was abused…
"Guys, I think you should take a look at this." Everyone looked at what Sage was pointing out. He could literally see the blood leaving everyone's faces.
"You don't think he was…again?" Asked Rowen
No one answered but everyone reached out to lift Ryo's shirt at the same time. When they touched Ryo's shirt, Ryo screamed and they were all enveloped in a white light.