Bffimagine: Here I am again.
Kai: Oh joy.
Bffimagine: Hey!
Kai: Fine. I'm sorry. Just get on with the fic!
"Here Rei!" Tyson gasped. He ran to the drugstore and back, so he handed Rei the injection with great triumph.
"This'll hurt, Kai," Rei murmured softly, jabbing the needle into Kai's neck.
Kai's coughing stopped and he was able to breathe.
"Thanks Tyson," he wheezed.
"No problem. I'll get you a bandage for your neck."
"No. It's okay."
"But you're bleeding!"
"It's okay Tyson. Kai knows what's best." Rei gave a reassuring nod in Tyson's direction.
"Hey guys!"
All three boys turned to look in the direction of the voice.
Max and Kenny were standing by Tyson's front door, waving.
"Oh! Hi Max! Hey Kenny!" Tyson greeted them happily.
Kenny and Max went into the backyard to see their teammates/friends.
"KAI! You're bleeding! Aghhhhhhh………" Max's eyes went wide and fainted at the sight of Kai's blood.
"Max! Are you okay?" Kenny and Tyson were observing Max as if he were a lab rat.
Rei shot a glance in Kai's direction. The blood had already painted a red streak down to his shoulder.
"I think we should bandage that Kai," he whispered into Kai's ear.
"No. It's okay."
"Hello boys."
"MR. DICKENSON?"
"Yes. I'm happy to see you too Tyson. There was a change in plans. You're all leaving for Africa today. As you can see, Kenny and Max re already packed." Mr. D. motioned toward the car that held Max and Kenny's bags.
"ALRIGHT! I gonna get packed!" Tyson ran into the house.
"We'll get ready too," Rei grinned and he and Kai went in after Tyson.
In the house, Tyson struggled to pack mostly everything he owned. Rei just repacked his suitcase and Kai tossed his few belongings into his suitcase, which only consisted of his launcher, ripcord, Dranzer and clothes.
'He really doesn't own anything, even though he has enough money to own Australia! I wonder why he's like that…' Rei mused inwardly after he finished packing.
"Let's go," Kai ordered.
Tyson and Rei picked up their suitcases and followed Kai out the door.
It wasn't a long drive to the airport, and soon they were on the plane.
"I CALL WINDOW SEAT!" Tyson yelled.
And so it ended up to be Tyson at the window seat beside Max, Rei at the window seat beside Kai, and Kenny at the window seat beside Mr. Dickenson.
"Wow! It's such a beautiful view from up here Kai!" Rei whispered quietly.
"Not nearly as beautiful as you Rei," Kai whispered back.
Rei grinned. He clasped his hand around Kai's, interlocking his fingers between Kai's long, thin ones.
"You're more beautiful than any view Kai," he breathed into Kai's ear.
Meanwhile…
"Maxie! Look how beautiful it is up here!"
"Calm down Tyson."
Tyson was dissatisfied with Max's reply. He placed his hand on Max's inner thigh and watched him squirm. A grin of pure pleasure cracked across his face.
"Yay! We're in Africa!" Tyson was very excited.
"I booked you boys a special guide to take you through a savannah and describe all of the animals to you. It'll be a great cultural experience," Mr. Dickenson chirped cheerfully.
"Really? Today?" Kenny was curious.
Mr. D. nodded.
"YES!" Max shouted, jumping up with delight.
"The guide should be here any minute. Oh! There she is!"
"Hi! You boys must be the Bladebreakers! I'm Melody. I'm going to be your guide." Melody was a tall teenager that was about eighteen. She had dark blue and slate hair that cascaded down her back in smooth waves. Her hair was blue in the front and slate in the back. She was rosy-cheeked and pale-skinned.
"Wow! Are we going right away?" Tyson was bubbling.
"Yup. And here are your maps just in case there's an emergency. Here are first aid kits, one each, a compass, a flashlight, matches, extra batteries, an army knife, a utility knife just in case, paper, a pen and pencil, and a whistle. You can keep them all, and you can also keep this backpack," she handed them each a black backpack with all of the items listed inside.
"WOW! This is so cool!" Kenny was ecstatic.
"Alright boys. Have fun. Your baggage is going to be taken to the hotel where you'll be staying. See you!" Mr. Dickenson smiled.
"Bye Mr. D!" Tyson, Max and Kenny yelled as they walked away with Melody.
"Alright boys. Stay close now, because we're going into a jungle area. It's very dense here, and the jungle is very big. Stick together and if you get lost, use your maps to meet me at the truck. Clear?" Melody was only six years older (18) than all of the Bladebreakers, but she certainly acted like an adult.
"Okay," the Bladebreakers replied in unison.
"Good. Follow me."
The boys followed Melody through the maze of trees, listening to the facts and stories she told them.
"Cool! Look at this Max!" Tyson whispered.
"Wow. Kenny! Look at this!"
"We should keep up with Melody."
"But look at this snake! It's so big!"
"TYSON! Melody is gone! She didn't know we stopped! Now we're lost!" Kenny was wringing his hands and looking around nervously.
"Uh oh."
"Where are Max and Tyson?" Rei whispered under his breath to Kai.
"Kenny's missing too."
"We should go back for them. Melody can take care of herself and we know what to do."
"I don't know Rei. Melody will panic."
"She's better at finding her way anyways. But Tyson and Max and Kenny could get themselves killed. There are poisonous things in here."
"Okay. Let's go."
"There you guys are!" Rei started scolding his teammates.
"Who cares if we got lost? Look at this cool snake!" Tyson picked up a large snake.
"TYSON! That's a PUFF ADDER!" Kai yelled.
"So? What's that?"
"It's poisonous!"
"Naw. Look how friendly he is!" Max took Tyson's side.
The snake bore it's long fangs and got ready to strike Tyson's leg.
Kai caught the motion of the snake and caught its head before it could sink its fangs in the tender flesh of Tyson's thigh.
The puff adder struggled and in self-defense twisted and buried its long fangs into Kai's muscular forearm.
Kai had the puff adder's fangs stabbed right through his arm, the tips of the fangs poking out of the opposite end of his bone, dripping blood and venom.
Poison seeped into Kai's bloodstream as he tore the puff adder's fangs out of his arm. Tyson and Kenny gasped and Max fainted. Rei ran toward Kai and stared at him worriedly.
Kai snapped the puff adder's spine and twisted its neck, killing it instantly. He threw it back into a tree and he sunk to his knees.
A searing, pain pulsed around the wound. His blood seeped into the ground around him, and he felt faint. The pain was unbearable, but not a sound passed his lips.
"Kai…" Tyson breathed, "Y-you sacrificed yourself f-for m-me… I w-was s-so s-stup-pid…"
"Don't worry about it Tyson," Kai shrugged casually, keeping his cool and staying calm.
Kai ignored their stares and took out his army knife. He cut a circle around his wound and waited as it bled.
"ARE YOU CRAZY?" Kenny shrieked as he fanned Max, who was still unconscious.
Kai winced at the noise. His ears were sensitive now that less blood coursed through them.
"Kenny, be quieter. Kai isn't crazy. He's prolonging his life by bleeding out the poison. Just stay calm. Kai knows what he's doing." Rei was whispering, trying to calm his friends.
"Will he live then?" Tyson asked hopefully.
Kai and Rei exchanged glances.
"Not likely Tyson. I haven't even bled out one thirty-secant of the snake poison, and I've already lost about seven sixteenths of all my blood. One more sixteenth and I'd be dead anyway." Kai's voice was indifferent and emotionless.
Max opened his eyes.
"AGHHH! More blood!" Max passed out again.
"We should set up camp. Rei, pass me some gauze," Kai wiped off his army knife.
Rei dug into his first aid kit and tossed Kai the gauze. Kai caught the gauze with two fingers and wrapped his snakebite with swift grace and efficiency.
"I can build a fire but my arm won't allow me to build a shelter. That requires weaving and I'm not exactly in great shape to do that. Tyson, you gather leaves as big as you can find, and Max will look for vines and thick braches. Kenny, you draw a plan for the shelter and Rei, look for a plant that has three green leaves with yellow edges."
"What's that for?" Rei wondered aloud.
"It'll help stop the bleeding so I can get Max to wake up."
"That works for me."
Kai's teammates dispatched, leaving Kai, Kenny and Max in the small clearing.
Rei ran carefully through the trees and undergrowth, watching out for anything moving. He found the plant very quickly, and grabbed as much as he could and raced back to Kai.
As Rei did this, Kai gathered any twigs and small branches he could find nearby, and cut them down to size with his army knife.
Tyson, meanwhile, was carefully picking his way through the density of the jungle, using his utility knife to cut marks in trees so he wouldn't get lost. He found a number of thick logs that he struggled to carry back to his awaiting leader.
"Ughh. What happened?" Max asked as he woke up.
"You passed out," Kenny answered simply, not looking up from his drawing.
"Max, you go look for big leaves and long, thick vines. We need to make shelter since it will be nightfall soon. If we went looking for the truck today, we'd just get more lost." Kai kept his explanation short.
"Kai! You're bleeding!" Max felt woozy.
"MAX!" Kenny shouted as he slapped the blond boy hard on the cheek.
"Thanks, Chief. I needed that."
Max grinned sheepishly and set of in search of leaves and vines.
"I'm back."
Kai turned to look in the direction of the voice.
"Good work Rei. Pass me a rock please?" Kai took the leaves from Rei and placed them on a leaf, covered in dew from the morning before. He took part of the dew and washed the three-leafed plant, then took the rest and washed the leaf he placed it on.
"Here." Rei tossed Kai a rounded rock.
"Thanks," Kai muttered as he caught the stone with his left hand. (A/N: If any of you are wondering, I made up the plant. I think there is a plant that exists that looks like that but I don't think it does what I have it doing in this fic. And another thing; Kai's good arm is his left. I forgot to put that in before.)
He started to crush the plant with the stone, wiping his blood away when it threatened to drip into the plant paste.
Rei watched as Kai removed the gauze and spread the paste over his wound. He winced slightly when he first applied it, but finished quickly and covered it with fresh gauze.
"Does it sting?" Rei whispered quietly.
"Yes," Kai replied through gritted teeth.
"Yes! I'm done!" Kenny rejoiced as he held up his finished plan.
"Good work Kenny. Go get Tyson and Max and bring them back here. Tyson shouldn't be hard to find because I told him to mark trees so he wouldn't get lost. I saw him mark the first one and it's right there." Kai felt tired and his head was spinning.
Kenny nodded and left.
When Kenny was out of earshot, Rei turned to Kai.
"What exactly are the symptoms for puff adder venom?"
"First it bites its victim. Its victim bleeds internally to death, starting with a searing pain in the wound. Been there, done that, still biting lip because of it. Then a bruise appears. That's happened too," Kai gestured gingerly to the growing black shadow that was already larger than the gauze could cover.
"Then what happens?"
"The victims lips begin to tingle. That hasn't happened yet. And then they just die or they are able to live for a few days before the inevitable. I've lived about three and a half hours by now, so I think I'll live for maybe three days."
Rei's heart seemed to have gotten twenty pounds heavier. He looked into Kai's eyes and almost felt the searing pain he was feeling.
Rei tipped Kai's chin so his eyes became level with his own, and he caught his mouth in a deep kiss, feeling Kai's lips tingle beneath his.
bffimagine: Wow. All the symptoms minus dying have already come into play. Now only one question remains: to kill or not to kill?
Rei: Don't kill Kai!
Kai: FINALLY! Someone who agrees with me!
Bffimagine: Well, let's just see what the reviewers say. I need at least three reviews before I update, as usual. Long chappie though!
