Currently a one-shot. Unsure if I will ever make it more than that. It's slightly ooc but I think it works well. I don't own Kamen Rider Dragon Knight, I just like to play with the characters. This takes place after Kit, Maya, and the Advent Master bring Adam back to base and Len takes off.
_
'Did I do the right thing?' I ask myself as I make my way through the halls—no destination in mind, just away from everyone else.
'I don't trust him, and it makes me want to cringe and scream at the unfairness of the situation. I mean, after everything I had to go through? First, I had to convince Len and Kase that I wasn't like Adam. Now I have to convince the rest of the riders, and I have already disappointed the Advent Master! Not to mention that my mirror twin is within the building.'
That last thought made me pause and inhale a shaky breath before I growled as I punched the wall hard. I bang my head against it softly before turning to lean my back against it and letting my head hang for a moment as I'm lost in thought. 'Why does he affect me so badly?' I ask myself before I hear a door close nearby, and my head snaps up in its direction when I hear someone approaching.
'Should I hide or wait?' I ask myself with a frown. 'No point, and since when do I hide from the problem?' I sigh internally and wait for whomever it is to come around the corner.
"Kase?! What are you doing out of bed?" I move to help her as soon as possible. My hands hover, unsure where to grab without hurting her, only to pause.
"I'm okay, for now anyway...Kit, what's wrong?" She says, still slightly out of breath from the pain, but I ignore it. I know her well enough to back off until she lets me help her.
Her question threw me though, and by the look on her face, I didn't manage to hide my wince when she asked. Sigh. Before I can even open my mouth to try and avoid it, she's moving.
"Come on. I think I smell food. Let's get something to eat, hmm?" She says, moving past me, and just by her tone of voice, I know I have no option in the matter.
I follow quietly, but I stop my mind from wandering. I'm watching her like a hawk. 'I'm not letting her get hurt again. Not on my watch. Len might kill me with how pissed off he is right now.'
Sure enough, not two halls down, there's an opening leading to a break room/cafeteria, and Kase reaches back and tugs on my jacket sleeve as she moves towards it.
"Go find something for us to eat. I'll fix us coffee and find us a place to sit." She states softly and not unkindly.
I move and look through the selections. 'Not much to work with.' I sigh internally and grab a little bit of everything to take back to the table and notice a tray on my left. I start a small mountain of food in the center, ensuring that it's separated enough to be called choices. Then turn my head and find Kase in a corner booth sitting diagonally from the door and smile softly as I shake my head and move towards her.
She looks up and catches my fleeting smile, "what?" She asks with a small smile of her own.
I set down the tray and watched her look over everything before replying. "Nothing, just admiring your table choice. If there's trouble, we are close enough to the door yet far enough to have a private conversation. Plus, it's the only table with both seats with a good view of the only entrance and exit." I smile slightly bigger in amusement even as I explain.
She laughs and then shakes her head, "I guess old habits die hard. I like knowing what's going on around me and being prepared for anything. I figured you would appreciate a view of the door, just in case someone decides to pop in on us." She raises her brow in silent question of whether or not she made the right move.
I duck my head and smile quickly before waving one hand over the food and pushing the tray slightly towards her. "Choose what you will. I'm not very hungry myself."
I pull a coffee mug towards me and take a sip. I don't know why I'm surprised that she knows how I take it. I smile softly at her once more in thanks when I notice she's waiting for a reaction. She smiles and grabs some of the food, making a burrito with the contents.
"So? What seems to be the problem?" She says with a tilt of her head before taking a bite.
I shrink into myself and accidentally sigh aloud, even as I unknowingly squeeze my mug a bit too tight.
"...Adam is here...he has the Dragon deck. Len took off, he's angry the Advent Master and I brought him here...I almost vented him. I still don't know if I made the right choice...I don't trust him, Kase. I've seen it in the mirror before...the look in his eye. It's the look I get when I'm going to do something I don't want to, but I feel cornered into..skittish almost. But then again, it could just be wishful thinking. I'm not exactly thrilled he's here...not after-" I cut myself off and shake my head.
I don't look up. I haven't since I started speaking. I just stare at my coffee, but that makes things almost worse—the reflection in my coffee. 'Gah, everything was going fine! We were starting to work together! To trust each other...' I feel myself deflate as I think to myself. 'What if we weren't? What if I was deluding myself into thinking that everything was okay even as it was falling apart.'
I can't stomach the thought and move to stand when I feel Kase grab my wrist. I look into her eyes unwillingly. "Kit...I'm not happy Adam's here. Len was even less likely to be. The Advent Master brought him here, not you. The Advent Master stopped you from venting him and took the choice out of your hands. As for trust? None of us trust him right now. We would be foolish to do so. If you think he's hiding something, I won't contradict you. I've learned to trust your judgment. I'll watch him carefully and make sure he's never left alone just to be sure. But what is bothering you, aside from all that? What is it that you don't want to tell me but is strong enough to make you want to run and hide? I like to think I know you, Kit. You don't run away from a fight, not deliberately. You only fall back when you fear what you will do or say if you stay. Talk to me."
'She won't let go, and I'm not stupid enough to pull away. I won't risk hurting her in the process. But what she wants to know is my deepest fear. I don't want to be proven correct.' I squeeze the hand that's holding my wrist hostage. She squeezes back but doesn't budge.
I open my mouth and then close it before taking a deep breath and letting it out noisily. I close my eyes, "I worry that I've misjudged my position on this team...I worry that despite the amount of progress I thought we had made, I was only deluding myself. I worry that I was just a stand-in. A placeholder for when Adam came back...until the other riders came back. But now that they are and he is, I'm expected just to stop. To take a backseat and become a benchwarmer, if that..." I say softly. I feel as if the raw pain I'm in is evident in the sound of my voice.
Kase was losing her grip the more I said. So I took the opportunity to remove my hand and stand. I'm back to looking everywhere but at her.
"I'm glad you're okay, Kase. For whatever it's worth. I'll tell Len that you are on the mend if I see him before you do..." I speak quietly. 'Goodness, but I sound despondent.'
I move towards the door, keeping my head down. I think I hear her call my name, but my shame is too great for me to stick around.
As soon as I'm out the entrance, I take off at a jog down the hall and zigzag until I see a door leading out. I'm blinking back tears, and I know it, but I can't bring myself to care. Undoubtedly, the guard I just ran passed will sound the alarm and let the others know I've left. With that thought, I full-on sprint until I feel I'm far enough away.
Right there on the spot, I make a decision. I know I'll come to regret this later, but I grab the onyx deck out of my jacket pocket and stare at it for just a moment. Then I place it on the ground. Just as I stand, I hear footsteps. I move around the corner and focus on the deck long enough to get into a mirror. I see Ventara on the other side, except I don't go that way this time. I close my eyes and will myself lost in the mirrors. I feel myself passing out from overuse of the power without my deck, all the while thinking to myself...
'It's the least that I deserve.'
(Kase POV)
(Alarms blaring)
I'm brought out of my head just in time to pale in horror. Kit is gone. I know it.
'It's all my fault.'
I stand and push through the lingering pain even as I move towards the exit closest to me. It's the only way he could have gotten out that quickly.
I hear many footsteps and pause, waiting for them to arrive even though I'm terrified at the state of mind Kit must be in.
I note the majority of the riders show but no Len and no Advent Master. Adam is here as well, damn.
"Kit is gone. He's not in his right mind. He's upset. We need to find him quickly. Hunt, I want you to go with Adam. Find Len and the Advent Master. Do not let Adam out of your sight. The rest of you are with me. Let's move!" I order before any of them have time to question the situation.
After asking the guard on duty which way Kit went, I moved out the door. I use my sensing ability and follow it down a bit before closing my eyes, pained. Even as I hear small gasps of shock and horror behind me...Kit's deck is on the ground. He left it there by the looks of it, deliberately knowing we would find it.
"Kase...how will we find him? We can't track him without his deck." I hear Chase ask.
I pick up the deck and push my sensing ability to the limit even as I hear footsteps approaching.
'There! Oh, goodness. Kit, I'm so sorry!'
I shudder and answer faintly, "he's gone through the mirror...but he didn't go to Ventara."
"No! Please tell me it's not true!" Len screams, and my heart breaks a bit more at the raw pain in his voice that resembles the pain I heard earlier in Kit's voice.
"He's in the mirrors...but I don't know where. His signature is fading, and even if it wasn't, it's bouncing around as if he is lost and moving from mirror to mirror but not getting through." I speak urgently and turn to the Advent Master.
"That's as much as I can gather. I've stretched my ability as far as I can. We need to find him quickly."
"Riders...return to base. Xaviax is not going to waste an opportunity like this one. Keep an eye on Adam. Len, Kase, and I will find Kit." He orders without batting an eye.
Len is pacing, but I take a steeling breath and approach him. "I'm sorry, Len. This is partly my fault. I was talking to him, or trying to anyway before he ran." I tell him earnestly.
He looks at me, and his brow is furrowed. "Your fault? This isn't your fault Kase. If anything, it's mine. We need to find him, fast." He says, and I can tell he truly believes it. Before I can argue my point, the Advent Master interrupts.
"We are all at fault. For now, we must find him before he parishes. Kase, hand me his deck." He extends his hand expectantly, and I hand it over quickly. The deck glows blue, then red before glowing white and lifting into the air.
"Good. He's still alive, but only just. If we can't find him the conventional way, the deck itself will find its master. Since he's the only one to have ever used this deck, it will find him." He explains.
"Our decks have never worked like that before as far as I know. What makes his different?" Len asks curiously even as we all move into the mirror and follow the floating deck that will hopefully lead us to its master quickly.
"Correct. This particular deck was an experiment of mine. I was going to improve all of the decks, but I wanted to test on a deck that didn't belong to anyone first. To say that the majority of my tests went well is an understatement. Kit's deck is powerful. Made even more so with the strength of his willpower. He would have been dead already if this had been the Dragon deck. No, this deck has bonded to him further than any of your decks have yet. It feels him, it learns with him, and it keeps him alive until he can get help or be vented so he can heal. It's a fail-safe that is an alternative to Survive Mode. It can also track him, as it is doing now. I didn't get far enough in my experiments to make the tracking faster. But we should find him soon enough. I'm also trying to make it so that each deck can track the other decks but only as an emergency feature. There, I feel him close by."
Len and I break into a run as soon as we spot him. I gasp in horror when I feel his skin. It's cold as ice and yet with hints of a fever underneath. I grab the deck presented to me and press it into his hand. The transformation is immediate, and I hear Kit take a sharp breath in and watch him start to shake even as he is still lying on the ground.
"Don't try to move, Kit. Your body's too weak at the moment. Just tap once for no and twice for yes on your leg for the moment, okay? You're a mess, kid." Len says sadly, holding him steady.
"Do you know where you are? (Two taps, followed by one tap) Okay, do you recognize everyone here? (Two taps) Do you think you can stand on your own? (One tap) That's okay. I'll help you. Just tap twice when you are ready to move, okay?" Len's voice is strained, and the pain and worry are still reflected in his eyes as he watches Kit's every move. He's not going to leave him on his own any time soon. 'Granted, neither am I.'
Kit taps his leg twice and then grips Len's arm as tight as he can, which from here isn't very tight at all.
Len slowly moves his arms to Kit's waist and pulls him into a standing position before maneuvering himself to better hold him up. As soon as he finishes, he stops moving. Waiting for Kit to let him know he's okay to proceed.
We don't have to wait long. Half a minute later, he taps Len on the shoulder twice, signaling he's ready.
I look towards the Advent Master and wait for him to create a short path to the only mirror on base. Once he has, I go over to Kit's other side and squeeze his hand affectionately before grabbing his arm to help guide him, and we start moving slowly towards the mirror with the Advent Master trailing behind us, guarding our backs.
Once we exit the mirror, Len yelps and barely manages to catch Kit as he collapses as soon as his armor disappears. His breath is short and thin. I nearly lose my lunch when he stops moving altogether.
The Advent Master is already in front of him and putting him in a trance. "Come. We must help him quickly. He is fading fast, and I can't send him into the void. Never mind the fact that I can't get any of you out at the moment until I fix my deck, considering it was the mirror world that we found him and how similarly the void works to it. It would kill him."
He helps Len place Kit on the table and grabs my arm and Len's before pulling us closer.
"I need you to focus. You need to want him to heal. It has to be the thing you want the most. He's connected to his deck, and that deck responds to intent. His intent. But if you both, as people who know him and care for him, will for him to heal? He will heal, whether he wants to or not."
"Why wouldn't he?!" Len exclaims angrily at the implication.
"It's the reason he ran...his sense of self-worth is near nonexistent. He thinks we will just drop him, ignore him and push him away now that everyone else is back." I explained, my voice strained from emotion and not a small bit of pain. I move away from a frozen Len and towards Kit, place one hand on his cheek and the other over his heart, and just focus on him and how I want him to heal right this instant.
Len is frozen in shock. How could he have failed his friend so badly that he thought I would brush him off? Oh, he remembers what he said to him earlier. How could he forget? He didn't mean it! He thought Kit knew him better than to believe he would ever mean that! He was just blowing off steam. Now Kit was dying because he had let him down after he had sworn not to. No! He wasn't going to lose him again! He broke out of his thoughts and mirrored Kase placing one hand in Kit's hair and the other on his stomach and focused for all he was worth on willing his friend, no his brother, better.
