Trepidation

Kai looked down at the ground. At his sister, who lay in a pool of blood. His eyes blurred with tears and he shut them tightly, trying to stay strong and brave, though he felt like neither at the moment.

"What do you want with me, you bastard?" he asked venomously. He felt the rope leash around his wrist jerk suddenly, and he was forced to open his eyes again and take a step to keep from falling over.

Sir Cole held the rope in small, sturdy fingers, twirling it tauntingly as he took his time in answering. "You are one of the prophesied knights, are you not?"

Kai raised an eyebrow at his captor in confusion. "I know of no prophesies." His lips moved in tight, controlled movements as he forced himself to not shout.

The Dark Knight chuckled and began walking across the deck toward the door to the downstairs, prisoner in tow. "According to my master, the Overlord, you are one of four prophesied knights who will aid in one day destroying my Lord's kingdom." He opened the door to the staircase and roughly pushed aside an unfortunate stone warrior who happened to have been running up the steps at that moment. "You need to know no more."

Kai carefully walked down the steps, trying hard to keep his balance with no hands as the jerky movements of the ship almost threw him into Cole's back. "No, I suppose I don't," he said bitterly. "But I would like to know more, though."

Cole opened up another door and walked through in short, swinging steps. "Don't we all?" He roughly shoved Kai into the room. "See you later, weakling." His voice was heated and bitter.

Kai fell to the floor and let out an involuntary cry of pain as he landed flat on his face, unable to save himself from the fall because of his bound hands. He rolled over just as Cole slammed the door shut. A faint clicking sound came from the wooden door, and Kai knew that he was locked in.

He slowly and painfully sat up and scooted across the wooden planks, eventually hitting the back wall, where he simply lay with his shoulders and wrists twisted uncomfortably behind him, unable to do anything to better his situation.

Kai growled as he tried to escape the bonds, yielding no success. How hard would it have been to simply untie me, or at least loosen the bonds? He squeezed his eyes shut and forced himself not to shout. He was a man. Shocking, abrupt circumstances where you get kidnapped and your siblings get wounded...that was just another day as Lord Kaytake's son, right? He would be fine. He would get home, and Nya would be fine.

He let out a shaky sigh, knowing fully well that he was not convincing himself. Not by a long shot. He opened his eyes and shook his head slowly, his skull rolling against the wall painfully. "Nya..." He whispered, whatever grief he had left in him gave way to fury. His fingers clenched against the bonds, and he felt a rising heat course through his veins. He quickly tempered it and sighed again, not wanting rage to control him right now. It was his impulsiveness that got his sister hurt in the first place. He could not afford a mistake like that again.

He sat against the wall and tried to put his mind at rest, but was simply unable to. After about an hour, his fingers went numb and his shoulders began to throb. Another hour, and he decided to get onto his feet and start pacing, if only to keep the rest of his body from losing circulation. He eventually started counting his steps, feeling the need to do something besides beat himself up for his stupidity.

"Six hundred and forty three..." Kai's eyes were narrowed and harsh, as if he fully expected to burn holes through the wood floor. He quickly took another step forward. "Six hundred forty four...six hundred forty five..." A faint click alerted him to an intruder. He immediately stopped pacing and whirled around to face whoever it was.

Sir Cole strode into the room with a bowl of some green substance that Kai assumed was food, though he wasn't sure that he wanted it. The smell that assaulted his senses made him feel sick.

"You need a new cook." He stated sourly, wriggling his sweaty, numb fingers behind his back.

Cole glared at him. "That 'cook' you are referring to would be me, prisoner." His voice came slowly, each word popping like an object forced through a tube too narrow for it to come out easily. "Watch your tongue." He bent down and the dish down on the floor. He stood up again and went nose to nose with Kai. "Turn around."

Kai obeyed, and was happy to find that the short man was untying him. "Well," his voice was snarky. "I pity your crew." His arms were freed, and fell useless at his side from the hours of inactivity.

Cole whirled his captive around and punched his face, a loud smack of flesh against flesh. Kai fell to the floor, left in a daze as the Dark Knight grabbed his shirt and lifted him above his head effortlessly. Kai gasped for breath as his body weight fell onto his chest area. His angry captor's head swirled in and out of focus, and his jaw felt like it had split in two.

Cole threw Kai to the ground harshly and glared at him. "You will learn to hold your tongue, boy." He slid the bowl of soup over to Kai's limp form with his foot. "I would stay and make you pay more for your lack of respect, but I have another raid to make. I'll be back in ten minutes." He turned on one heel and stomped out of the room, slamming it so hard Kai was certain that the door must have splintered. He was surprised to see, when he looked up, that the wooden door had remained intact.

He groaned and fell onto his back in a tangle of limp arms and legs, every part of him aching. His jaw felt like it was on fire, his chest felt like a horse was standing on him, and his arms felt like they were getting pricked by millions of dull needles, trying to puncture his skin, bruising the tender flesh as they pushed, but not puncturing.

He closed his eyes and tried to ignore the putrid smell coming from the bowl near his leg, and wondered how on earth Cole could be so strong, so menacing, and so sure of himself. And such a bad cook. He said he had a raid to make, and also that he'd be back in ten minutes. Fast, deadly, efficient. That's how the Dark Knight and his crew worked. In and out before you even knew what was going on, and before Kaytake, Julien, or even the king himself could react.

Click.

He heard the door open again and looked up, realizing that he must have fallen unconscious. He let out a groan and sat up, just in time to see that Cole had brought in another captive. A tall, fair faced man who was clad much like his captor. White shirt, black pants and boots. But this man had on a white cloak and no hat, revealing platinum blond hair that stuck almost straight up, the result of what Kai could only imagine was hours of painstaking grooming. His eyes were a bright, almost greyish blue hue, he had high cheekbones and elongated face. Almost the opposite of Cole's, which was squared, this man almost looked stretched. Every part of him, from his long face and hands to his height, was long. Not irregularly long, just not square. He stood well over five feet, roughly scraping six, while Cole was just over five.

I swear I've seen him before, Kai thought to himself.

Cole shoved the man to the ground with a force harder than was necessary. "That'll teach you, you insolent dog." He hissed, sniffing as a trail of blood ran out of one nostril. He looked over at Kai, then at the bowl near his feet. "You haven't eaten?" The trickle reached his lips, though he seemed to not notice.

Kai realized that he probably should have done so. He felt that this meeting would not go well no matter which way he spun it, so he spat out, "forgive me if the smell makes one sick enough to lose their appetite for life, your majesty."

Cole stepped forward and grabbed Kai's shirt, roughly dragging the man to his feet. He stared at his rebellious captive for one long moment before slapping his cheek so hard that the newer captive on the floor winced as the sound echoed through the room.

Kai forced himself to fight the wave of nausea, and blinked away the sea of stars that flooded his vision as he took a single step back for balance.

Cole didn't even speak. He simply turned and walked out with slow, deliberate steps out of the room, shutting it calmly behind him and locking it before the sound of his heavy boots echoed down the hallway.

Kai eventually looked at the man and smiled grimly. "Well that went better then expected." He shakily dropped to one knee and helped the man to a sitting position before undoing the bonds. "So what's your story, good sir?"

The man rubbed his wrists and sighed. "Thank you, friend." His voice was soft and calm, making Kai wonder if this man thought he was out on a stroll instead of kidnapped by the Dark Knight.

"Are you all right?" Kai asked, cautious of the man's strange demeanor. Is he insane?

The man nodded. "Thank you for your concern." He looked long and hard at Kai's face, as if taking in every detail. He frowned and tentatively touched Kai's growing purple bruise from the slap, and the larger one on his jaw from his punch mere minutes before. Kai felt a strong urge to step back, but decided to wait a moment. The man didn't seem to be threatening him.

"You are not all right, though." He said softly, pulling his hand back and setting it on his lap. "I sense that your jaw wound is fresh, as is the one on your chest. What did he do to you?"

Kai glanced at his chest with a growing feeling of confusion and panic. His chest was covered. How could this man possibly know...

He scooted a few feet away from the man, wondering if insanity was contagious. "I made him mad, nothing new." He hugged his knees to his chest and ignored the feeling of pain as his knees touched the bruised area. "My name is Kai."

The man looked frighteningly nonchalant. "Son of Kaytake?" He asked, his voice unchanging. He struck out a hand. "I am Zane Julien, son of Lord Julien." He smiled. "You may remember, we met once or twice during parties in Ninjago City."

Kai hesitantly reached out and took the hand. So that's how I recognized him... "Yeah, that's me." He said shortly, staring at the man's smile. You would think that this man was on a picnic with his girl, instead of a captive with torture or death before him. It was so casual and out of place.

Zane rolled onto his back and wrapped himself in his white cloak, closing his eyes. "Fascinating. I wonder why the Dark Knight is kidnapping noblemen. A strange sport, even for him." He started breathing deeply, and Kai realized, with some incredulousness, that the man was sleeping.

Kai rubbed his forehead and groaned, scooting over to the far wall once again and closing his own eyes, not blaming Zane for wanting sleep, but a little creeped out by the way he had done it so suddenly. This 'Zane' is a complete madman.

Nya woke up slowly, forcing herself not to open her eyes as she tried to figure out where she was. She twitched her fingers at her sides, and guessed that she had been sleeping on furs, because of the soft texture.

She heard footsteps and tensed, afraid that it was Sir Cole. But whoever it was didn't speak or touch her, so she eventually relaxed and went back to observing without eyes. The person's footsteps echoed faintly, so she decided that they were in a cave of some sort. She also heard crackling, and felt warmth on one side of her face, suggesting a fire. The cave smelled faintly of smoke and damp earth, only fueling her confidence in that theory.

She opened her eyes a crack out of curiosity, and was not surprised to find that she was right. A lone man was sitting with his back turned to her, stoking a small fire. It was dark outside, and the soft moonlight was trying very hard to make itself known through the bright light of the fire.

Not Sir Cole, and not Kai either, she thought despairingly. Distrust hit her full force. She was not safe here. She was injured, her father and brother unable to protect her from whoever this man was. She needed to find her horse and leave.

She tried to sit up and let out an involuntary gasp of pain as her abdomen suddenly felt like fire. Nice move, Nya. She scolded herself. Now he knows you are awake.

The man turned to face her and nodded. "Hey there." He gave a casual salute and stood up. He walked over to where she lay and knelt down on one knee. "How do you feel?" A cheeky smile bunched one cheek.

Nya felt frightened, having this man so close to her. She could smell the tangy scent of new leather from his vest, and a smoky odor clung to his blue cotton shirt. He seemed to sense her trepidation, and shuffled backwards a single step and sat on his legs. "My name is Jay." He smiled warmly and struck out a hand.

Nya took it hesitantly and nodded, his calloused fingers squeezing hers gently. "I'd rather not give away my identity," she paused, but only for a second. "But...just call me Natalie for now."

Jay laughed, trying to relieve the tension. "On the run like me, eh?" He checked himself. "I mean...on the run from bad guys, and don't want people knowing where you are?" He chuckled nervously. He wasn't sure why he had lied. It just felt safer than the truth.

Nya raised an eyebrow. "Actually, no. Not really. All the 'bad guys' probably think I'm dead. I'm safe for a while."

Jay shook his head, hip lips curling upwards in a strange smile. "Sir Cole never lets his prey escape, Natalie. He knows you are alive."

Nya shot him an angry, perturbed look. "How did you know about that?" Is he working for them? The idea filled her with dread. What does he want from me?

Jay stood up and walked over to the fire, putting a good fifteen feet between them. That girl was as dangerous to approach as she was beautiful. He didn't want her to feel like a cornered animal. "I saw his ship pass overhead, saw you on the ground half dead, and I saw a pretty grey mare grazing with a lost look on its face."

Nya was relieved that her horse had been found. With any luck, she could escape and find her way back to her family's mansion.

Jay found no other words to say, so made up something on the fly. He stood up, went to a corner of the room, and grabbed a small sack. He went over to Nya slowly, not wanting her to feel like a caged animal. The poor girl, he thought to himself. What did Cole do to her, to make her so uneasy? "You hungry?" The rough canvas rubbed against his fingers, making them itch.

Nya nodded slowly and tried to sit up. She let out a groan involuntarily as her shoulders left the furs, and then slumped and fell back onto the warm makeshift bed.

Jay set down the sack and took a step forward. "You need some help?" He asked patiently, taking her short nod as a signal that it was safe to approach. A nod accompanied by an averted gaze and trembling lips, He frowned slightly, wondering vaguely if she felt that he was the enemy. He got onto his knees and slowly helped her sit upright, propping her back against the wall.

Nya groaned again as her stomach was forced to move. "How long will I be stuck like this?" She asked, grinding her teeth and ignoring the tremor in her heart as she tried not so lash out at the man who, all things considered, looked about as dangerous as her pet bird, Cheeks. Looks can deceive, she told herself firmly.

Jay laid the blankets on her lap and reached over to grab the sack. "Until you're healed." His blue eyes flashed with good humor as he shuffled around in the bag. "What do you want?" He eventually just handed her the sack, unable to decide what to offer her. "Help yourself, I don't mind."

Nya took the bag and selected an apple. "Thanks," she handed the rough sack back and took a bite of the sweet fruit, all the while not taking her eyes off of Jay. She did not trust him one bit.

Jay snorted at her and shuffled through the bag, tossing a few strips of dried meat on her lap. "If you're not going to help yourself, I'll do it for you." He turned on his heel and tossed the bag back into the corner. He once again sat down next to his fire, back turned from his guest.

Nya let out a gasp and nearly screamed in terror as the reddish brown objects came flying at her. They landed on her lap, and she relaxed slightly when she saw what they were.

Not weapons, Nya, she reassured herself. He's trying to help you. She looked at Jay, who had not noticed her sudden panic, then back down at her lap. When she thought about it, she realize that she wasn't really that hungry at all. She slowly chewed the fruit and ignored the meat.

She watched Jay in silence as he started to doze, his forehead drooping toward his folded knees before shooting up again. This happened several times before he finally got up and started pacing, to get some circulation back into his legs. He's waiting for something, she grew more anxious as she watched him move.

"Why don't you just go to sleep?" She asked, not feeling comfortable with him obviously forcing himself to stay awake. Is he hiding something from me? She wondered if the man was alone, and just how safe she actually was in his presence. Is he waiting for someone?

Jay stopped pacing and looked at her, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Because I need to stay up for you," he said. "I've been awake since I first found you in the woods around dusk, and I didn't want you to wake up in a dark cave, with a sleeping person. Goodness knows what you might have done, if you didn't have someone to give you the lowdown on the situation right off the bat." He ran his fingers through his hair, flattening a few unruly strands. "I know I'd nearly go insane."

Nya wasn't sure whether or not to accept his answer. "Well," she began, "I'm awake now, you should try to get some sleep before dawn." She could tell that the sun would be making its appearance within an hour, and she wanted him to be asleep, so she could make an escape.

Jay looked down at her lap and saw that the meat was untouched. She had not even finished the apple, which she held in subtly shaking fingers. "You need to eat, Natalie," he insisted. "I'm not going to help you lie down until you eat more." His dark blue eyes bore into her with a firmness that told Nya that he was not joking.

She rolled her eyes. "It's much easier to lay down than to get back up." Her voice was terse, with threads of anger running through it. "I'll move myself, thank you." To prove her point, she slid slowly toward the furs again, trying to mask the pain as fire ran through her wound again.

Jay looked ready to burst at the seams with sudden fret. His eyes widened in alarm as he dropped to his knees. "Okay, fine." He held out a hand, ready to catch her body and try to help her lie down.

Nya slapped his hand sharply, a sound that echoed through the cavern for several seconds. The only sound for another long moment thereafter was the crackling flames, as both Nya and Jay simply stared at each other in shock and horror.

Jay slowly drew his hand away, his eyes shaking as they darted to the cavern wall, then back to her face as he got to his feet and backed up several steps before pulling his lips into a thin line and turning his back to her, slowly sinking to his knees next to the fire and stoking it with an iron poker. He laid down on his side, not daring to face her, and pulled a blanket up to his chin.

Nya's heart thumped heavily in her chest as she realized what she had done. "I'm sorry, Jay." She spoke to the still form. She lowered herself onto the furs, the physical pain not comparable to the pain in her heart. "I...I was afraid that you were trying to..."

Jay's body moved slowly with his breathing. He did not answer, appalled by the fact that she would ever fear something like that from him. He watched the flames as the rose and fell, wondering how on earth he would ever gain enough of her trust to even speak to her, let alone carry on a halfway pleasant conversation.

A beautiful thing, he thought to himself as the orange, red and yellow tongues danced together on the bed of charred wood. Wild, untamable, and undeniably beautiful.

"What?" Kaytake jumped from his seat abruptly, his wife, Driniah, following him out of the room with a gasp.

"What do you mean by 'they're gone'?" He demanded, staring the guard down. "Since when? How?"

The guard, a man of muscular build, with closely cropped blond hair and shallow blue eyes, tapped at his leather belt nervously, knowing how his master could get in a fit of temper. Not wild and rude, but certainly fearsome. "I-I'm sorry, sir." He stuttered. "But that's all I know. They ran off on horses, we all assumed they were going to the shore. You know how often they like-"

Lord Kaytake cut him off. "I am well aware of this fact, general." He said shortly, waving his hand. "But that does not explain anything. How long have they been missing?" His boots made a muffled thump as he nearly ran down the hall.

The general paused a moment, walking fast to keep up. "They left shortly after your fencing lesson this afternoon, my lord. One of the horses returned about ten minutes ago, riderless. And the scabbard was empty."

Kaytake paused at the front door and looked at his wife with concern. "I fear the worst, Driniah," he said. He looked back at the general. "Gather a group of ten men, meet me at the front gate in five minutes."

The general bowed at the waist. "Yes sir." He ran out into the courtyard and disappeared.

Kaytake took Driniah's hand and pulled her forward. "Let's go."

Neither of them remembered how they got to the gate. All they knew was that they got there, on horses, where eleven men were waiting for them on their own beasts.

"Find my children, men," he ordered. "Rescue them at all costs."

The soldiers and general all nodded and kicked their horses forward. "Search the beach, surrounding cliffs and forest." The general ordered. "Kill whoever holds them captive."