Chapter 12
Fatality

.:Jay:.

Jay sighed as he entered his and Kai's dorm. Although the boy was disappointed he couldn't find Nya for the rest of the night, he couldn't help but think of her. He couldn't help but feel himself falling deeper for his roommate's sister despite not exchanging that many words with her. True, she wasn't as gorgeous as Skylor but she was still beautiful in her own way. Hair as black as raven, amber eyes so hauntingly captivating, her face a combination between sharpness and angelic.

… But at the same time, while Jay was admiring over her, he was also finding himself worrying over her and Kai. Jay never knew why he didn't assume something horrible happened to Kai when the nightmares occurred or when he had revealed the reason he didn't want to take off his clothes was because of scars. It had to be something somewhat recent… Like within the last year. In that photo, he and Nya looked so happy but now, both siblings are just… melancholy.

Jay's blue eyes wondered over to his roommate through the darkness of the room, just being able to see the boy's outline from underneath the blankets, his back facing Jay. Some sort of sixth sense told Jay that Kai wasn't asleep so he turned on the lights – just so he wouldn't trip over something.

"Feeling any better?" Jay asked as he walked over to his belongings and pulled out a pair of pyjamas.

"I guess…" Kai muttered, still not rolling over to acknowledge him. Not that Jay expected him to do so anyway.

"Well, Skylor looked great – not that I'm hitting on your girlfriend but I just thought you wanted to know considering you weren't there. She didn't really hang out with other guys, but she did dance with Lloyd once – but don't kill him when you see him-"

"Jay, your voice is giving me a headache. Shut up."

The boy sighed as he looked over to Kai. It wasn't the first time that Kai had said that to him; yet, this time it actually bothered Jay… Maybe it was because of the realisation he had earlier or because he just wanted to impress Nya's brother…

I'm gonna go for the former.

Nevertheless, Jay stayed quiet, not wanting to agitate his roommate further and went to the bathroom to change out of his suit, to shower and then to change into his pyjamas. When he exited the bathroom, he saw that Kai didn't even move a muscle – he was exactly in the same position as before.

"Well… I met your sister," Jay sighed, just wanting to draw a conversation out of Kai and maybe start to investigate into his roomie's past… however, he was surprised to see Kai tense.

"You did?" Kai asked, voice a little interested but he still didn't turn over.

"You don't sound mad that I'm talking about her."

"You rather I be?"

"Errr… No. She seems great."

Silence fell after that and Jay momentarily wondered if he said the wrong thing. He didn't want Kai to immediately assume that he was crushing on his younger sister (even though that was the truth) otherwise things would be tense considering how protective Kai seemed to be over Nya. However, the silence just seemed to stretch on.

"Can I ask you something?" Jay asked, sitting on the edge on his bed and staring Kai's back.

"Do you have to?"

"Yes," Jay firmly stated as oppose to the usual 'not really'. "Did something happen to your sister?"

If Jay were to ask if something happened to Kai, the boy would immediately close up… hopefully, asking about Nya wouldn't end up with the end same result. Hopefully.

"Why would you ask?"

"Well, she was probably the only person in that room that wasn't smiling… I mean she did once but she mainly frowned or looked distressed. Then I think she left the ballroom early."

Jay waited a few seconds for Kai's reply… which actually felt like minutes to him.

"She doesn't like dresses or dressing up. She doesn't like formal functions. That's all."

Lies.

Jay couldn't take this anymore.

"Kai… Stop lying to me. I've kept quiet about this long enough."

Again, his words weren't met with an immediate response… But after a couple seconds, Kai rolled over and Jay was a little stunned to see that the boy looked like… well, that he looked like he had been crying. His eyes were bloodshot, his face was puffy and his eyes swollen. There were no tears but it was enough to concern Jay greatly.

"What happened to you?" Jay urged, leaning forward. "I know that something must had happened in your past to make you like this. I saw that photo of you and Nya – you two looked happy but now you both are just so melancholy. You're my friend and I just want to understand so I can… I don't know, I guess help or at least know what to avoid around you. I don't want any more lies or vague answers. I don't want conversations to not-so-subtly change just because you obviously don't want me to find out about something. You can trust me."

Silence.

Jay had always disliked silence. He disliked how empty it was. How eerie it was… But Jay had never hated it as much as he had in this moment. Why? Because this silence was suffocating. He didn't know whether or not if something sinister was around the corner. That was why he always talked, why he always told bad jokes or poor stories – because they could keep away the silence; keep away the depravity of reality.

"… Our parents are dead. Happy?" Kai answered with a mutter, his amber eyes downcast and looking anywhere but Jay… who could only stare at his friend in shocked.

His parents were… dead? Upon hearing those words pour from Kai's mouth, Jay wanted nothing more than to slap himself and immediately take it all back. Of all things to ask… this was one of the stupidest questions… And of all responses he had imagine Kai to possibly reply with, this was probably one of the worst. No… not the worst but… One of them.

Jay dearly loved his parents. As embarrassing as they could be, he wouldn't want anything to befall them – hence why the nightmare of them burning up in the trailer had always been a haunting nightmare Jay could never erase. Without his parents, he probably wouldn't be the man he was today… They supported him no matter what and try so hard to get him into the academy he had dreamt of joining.

To imagine them dead…

Scratch that. Jay didn't want to imagine them dead. That was a whole world of hurt he wasn't ready to imagine the possibility of. So… To hear that Kai's parents were dead made Jay feel utterly crushed.

"It sucks to close someone close. Although… I never had the friend that I've lost become my rival, losing someone still makes you miss the good old time when things were just normal and easy, huh?"

That was what Kai had said to him a couple weeks back. Jay could vividly remember how Kai's demeanour suddenly changed to one that… that probably resembled grief. No doubt, it was for his parents.

"Kai… I'm so sorry," Jay gently whispered, his chest feeling uncomfortably tight as a wave of sadness hit him hard.

"… It's in the past. Now will you leave me alone about it?"

And with that, he rolled over… Kai's way of end of discussion.

.:Nya:.
A Week Later

The day was postcard perfect; picturesque. The early morning ray of light gently shone onto Jamanakai Village, illuminating everything in its wake. The sky was a perfect baby blue – not the psychedelic candy-blue nor the washed out grey which always promised of rain to come. No, the sky was baby blue with a blanket of clouds rolling in from the east.

Jamanakai Village, itself, was like a labyrinth with roads at a moderate to thin width and tall buildings bordering up the sides – leaving some roads in darkness unless the midday sun wasn't hidden away behind some clouds.

"I still don't think it's safe for us to be here," Nya quietly urged as she stayed close to Kai's side as they made their way down one of Jamanakai's most busy road where market stalls were set up and villagers shouting for buyers to come over. "It's too close to Ignacia."

"We'll be fine," Kai reassured her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulled her away from a buyer who intended to grab her just to get their attention. "It'd been two months. I'm sure Aidan had stopped looking for us, or if he is, he would be in Ninjago City by now. He wouldn't expect us to come close to Ignacia."

"Still, it's a risk," she whispered, allowing her brother to weave them through the crowd of people.

"Like I said, I got a friend here who's willing to let us stay for a couple days. It'll allow us to rest up and restock for our trip to Birchwood Forest."

"… I just have a bad feeling about this, that's all," Nya murmured as they exited the busy street.

"You worry too much. You're going to get so many wrinkles and grey hairs at this rate," Kai softly teased, only resulting her to glare at him.

"All these so called wrinkles and grey hairs would be entirely your fault."

"My fault?" Kai gasped. "Your words wound me, little sister."

"But I speak of the truth. Here I thought we would be safe and wound-free on the run; yet, you still manage to find different ways to injure yourself."

"I-It's not my fault that there's rocks in the ground or there's evil animals in the trees who believes it's funny to land on MY good looking face and make it look horrible."

"Pfft, it wasn't that good looking to begin with."

"Nya!" Kai cried out but the girl couldn't help but chuckle at her brother whose expression softened from being offended to smiling as well. "Well, at least I have you to patch me up, Doc."

"Why do you keep calling me that?" Nya asked, evidently annoyed as she pulled a face at her brother.

"Call you what?"

"Doc?"

"Because that's what you are to me other than my sister, my doctor."

It didn't take long until they reached their destination. The house stood on a slight rise on the edge of the village. It stood on its own and looked over the majority of Jamanakai Village. The house, itself, wasn't a remarkable house by any means - it was about thirty years old. It was, squarish, made of brick, and had four windows set in the front with a size and proportion which -more or less- exactly failed to please.

"… Which friend is this again?" Nya asked with a slight tilt of her head, looking over the house again.

"Ronin," Kai replied as he walked towards the front door.

"Didn't Ronin move to Stiix a couple years back?"

"Well, he moved to Jamanakai last year. I mean would YOU want to stay in Stiix for long?"

"Yeah, I wouldn't," Nya slightly mused as she quickly went to Kai's side as he raised a closed fist and knocked against the wooden door.

For what seemed like an eternity, the door finally opened.

Nya could remember Ronin a couple years ago; the clean shaven square jaw, light brown hair and brown eyes man who was half a decade older than Kai. However, the man in front of the looked… different. Really different. Like more worn out. His hair was still light but long and looked like it could use a wash. Underneath his brown eyes were deep bags, probably from the lack of sleep and his lower face looked like it haven't been shaved in a few days.

"Kai! Nya! So good to see you two," the man greeted, his dry lips pulling into a… forced smile? Then again, even when Ronin lived in Ignacia, he seemed a little sketchy to Nya.

"Hey Ronin. Thank you so much for this-"

"It's not a problem, Kai. You guys stuck your necks out for me in Ignacia as well, the least I can do is let you stay a couple of night," Ronin simply shrugged as he opened the thick wooden door wider to allow them in.

Kai and Nya immediately stepped into the house, not wanting to be caught out on the streets anymore. Nya slightly coughed in the damp air of the house while hearing Ronin shut the door behind them. Immediately, they were engulfed in darkness. Not the pitch black darkness since there was little rays of light penetrating from above the curtains but all the lights were shut and all curtains were drawn close. Nya could only just make out the outlines of obvious furniture.

"How come all the curtains are closed and the lights are off?" Nya curiously asked as she stayed still, next to Kai's side, not wanting to trip over anything.

"I don't have a great deal of money to keep paying for the electricity bills and I don't like neighbours peering in."

"So what, you use candle lights?" Kai questioned.

"Something like that," Ronin replied, his footsteps echoing deeper into the house.

Nya heard Kai take a step forward, immediately making her frown and grab his wrist before he could go any further.

"Nya?"

"Let's go. I don't like this," Nya whispered as she tried to move him back towards the front door.

"I know you're not the biggest fan of the dark but-"

"No. I just can't shake off this bad feeling," the girl continued to say quietly, effectively cutting off Kai.

"Nya, Ronin is our friend-"

But suddenly, the lights turned on. It caused Nya's mind to give a sharp cry of pain at the sudden brightness but she kept her eyes closes for a couple seconds before opening them. The sight that befell before her and Kai made her gasp loudly and for her blood to run cold.

Standing before them, was a man who was easily the tallest out of everyone in the room. He stood tall and proud, but his muscular stance radiated with intimidation and rage… Rage that Nya knew was for her and Kai. She could feel his dark eyes narrowing into snake-like slits and his jaw clenched tightly. His arms were crossed over his chest where one hand held the handle of a danger that glimmered in the light.

But, Nya's view was blocked off when she felt Kai grab her arm and push her behind him.

"Kai. Nya. So good to see you," their uncle curtly stated, his voice flat and shimmering with anger.

"I can't say the same about you," Kai hissed, making the girl tug on her brother's sleeve.

"Don't agitate him," Nya whispered but her words fell on deaf ears.

"How could you do this to us, Ronin?"

"I-I… I had no choice. I'm really sorry-"

"You. Shut up. This no longer concerns you," Aidan snapped into Ronin's direction.

"My debt-"

"Is now paid off. Now get lost. We got some… family business to attend to."

Nya looked over her shoulder and saw the front door was only a couple metres behind her. She looked around Kai and saw that Aidan's hand started to twirl the dagger, signalling its anticipation to throw it into its target. This wasn't good at all.

But she saw Ronin quickly leave the house through the back door, leaving the siblings and the uncle.

"Come on, time to head back home," their uncle gruffly muttered.

"No, we're not going back with you," Kai defiantly snapped, stepping backwards which caused Nya to take one back as well.

"Stupid boy, you better come with me otherwise I can plan worse things to bestow you and your sister-"

"Over my dead body!"

And everything else that happened became a blur. One moment, they were having a stand-off and the next, Kai had thrown a nearby painting on the wall at Aidan before grabbing her by the wrist and dragging her through the front door and away from their uncle.

"Run run run!" Kai shouted at her, shoving her in front of him so he continued to be a firm barrier between her and Aidan.

Adrenaline suddenly flooded into Nya's body like it was on an intravenous drip – right into her blood at full pelt. It caused her to push and shove people out of the way on the markets street. She was screaming and shouting for them to move – Kai doing the same.

Nya immediately rounded the corner of the street, right to the exit of the massive wall that surrounded Jamanakai Village. She felt her feet slip a little outwards but she managed to maintain her balance. But all that left for Nya was an excruciating pound within her chest. She breathed deeper, faster and harder, allowing the cold air of the breeze to shock her lungs and urge her to run faster.

She quickly looked over her shoulder and saw Kai was right on her heels, panic and worry on his face but passed him, she couldn't see Aidan but she could hear him yelling at people to move out of the way.

"Don't look back! Just keep running into the forest!" Kai shouted at her, making the girl whip her head back forward.

"T-The forest?"

"The forest! We'll lose him in there!"

Nya obeyed her brother, fully trusting his judgement because what else was she supposed to do? It wasn't like she had any better idea.

However, with each footfall, a jarring pain would shoot to her ankles and knee as she ran into the uneven terrain of the forest. Every step was either on a rock, on an upturned root that dipped with her weight or into a slight ditch. In the forest, there wasn't a straight line so Nya was forced to constantly weave from the trees and the thick foliage, leaping over roots and rocks while ducking under low hanging branches. She didn't need to look over her shoulder to know that Kai was directly behind her.

"Get back here!" She could hear Aidan's voice roar, immediately causing nearby flocks to rush from their perched positions in the trees.

"Keep running!" Kai panted from behind her.

"You ungrateful children! I will kill you both!"

Suddenly, it was like the adrenaline was replaced with cold-blooded fear. It pumped through her bloodstream, making the heat she was feeling seconds ago be replaced with a coldness – a coldness that shocked her system and making it harder for her lungs to expand. She couldn't breathe properly, it felt as if someone was choking her. Her heart was racing and Nya found the thought of curling up into a ball more attractive.

"Don't slow down! Keep going!" Kai insisted from behind her, a hand nudging her in the middle of her upper back, momentarily causing her to stumble but not make her fall to the ground.

"I-I can't!"

"Yes you can- ah!"

Nya managed to stop her body within a few strides and when she turned around, she gasped to see Kai trying to get himself back off the ground while the dagger their uncle had was planted into his back, just beneath his right shoulder and missing Kai's backpack.

"Kai!"

"Keep running! I'll be right behind you!" Her brother yelled, voice strained and barely escaping through his clenched teeth as a hiss before he forced himself onto his feet. "Run!"

"But Kai-"

"I'm right behind you! Just run!"

So, she ran. But as she continued to run through the forest, she kept checking over her shoulder to assure herself that her brother was indeed right behind her. His pace wasn't as fast as it was before, causing Nya to slow down – not ever allowing herself to run off without her brother. But her concern was skyrocketing, reaching towards the sky.

Kai had his left arm across his chest and over his shoulder to somewhat apply measure near the wound while keeping his right arm tucked against his chest to prevent further damage to his shoulder. His face was slowly -ever so slowly!- draining of colour as sweat poured from his messy hair.

"Stop looking at me! Just keep running!" Kai had all but yelled at her as they much deeper into the forest but keeping careful as to their right was a dangerously steep slope – too steep to run down and not fall down.

"Get back here!"

"Just keep running, Nya-!"

Suddenly, Kai was cut off again and Nya turned around just in time to catch her brother's falling body. She gasped loudly to no longer see a single dagger in his back but one in the back of his leg too, and deeply. However, another gasp tore through her throat as her brother's weight caused her to be knocked off balance, tumbling down the steep slope.

Nya cried out, feeling her brother's body being ripped out of her arms but to also feel branches, thorns and rocks scratch, bit and dig into her skin while her limbs tried to brace her fall… but in reality, they only got crushed underneath her body in odd angles as she continued to roll down.

Once her body came to a stop, Nya blinked back the stars and frantically looked around for her brother, to see him groaning on the ground and struggling to get up a few metres away. The sight itself made Nya's body sick with fear and worry.

"Kai!"

She immediately pushed herself onto her feet and stumbled over to her brother's side, to see that the fall had only caused the daggers to stab deeper into his body and twist into his flesh. Thick crimson blood stained his clothes, making Nya feel ill to her stomach.

"Y-You have to go!" Kai hissed, his strained voice full of agony, erupting fear like no other to explode within Nya.

"N-No! I'm not leaving you!" She urged as she immediately pulled him up onto his feet, his left arm around her shoulders.

"I'm dead weight-!"

"I'm not leaving you!" Nya shouted this time, her stinging eyes staring into her brother's eyes. "We stick together!"

"Not if it means Aidan will kill you! Just go! I promise to catch up!" And with that, Kai pulled from her and shoved her forward. "Go!"

"I won't!" She cried, tears falling down her cheeks as she turned to face Kai. "Don't make me go, Kai. Don't. We have to stick together-"

"Nya," Kai murmured, limping forward to place his warm hands onto her shoulders but drawing them near her neck so his thumbs could softly brush the skin above her jawline. "You have to go. I won't go down with a fight."

"K-Kai," Nya brokenly whispered.

"I love you, more than anything," he promised before hastily pulling himself forward and plant a quick kiss to her forehead. "Now go. I'll catch up."

"N-No. You promised… Y-You promised!" The girl sobbed, tear after tear pouring from her eyes as little hiccups hitched into her ever-so-tight throat.

She could feel her heart breaking past beyond repair. This definitely hurt way more than the news of their parents' death. Why? Because Nya knew her brother was going to sacrifice himself for her… That if he was gone or she was forced to leave and he miraculously catches up in who knew how long, she was going to be alone. Kai had always been by her side and for him to be suddenly gone?

"P-Please, you promised. I-I can't… Not without y-you."

"I'm sorry, Nya... Just remember that I love you."

Before she could protest even more, Kai's hands harshly turned her around and pushed her forward, making her fall down into the thick foliage of a bush… where her head struck down on a rock and everything went dark…

So sorry about the wait everyone so extremely sorry if this chapter seemed rushed. I had eighteen hours' worth of work this week and next week, I got twenty-three T.T And I got four assignments and an exam so again, next update will take two weeks. So sorry everyone!

But massive thanks and shout outs to RebelutionaryWrites, Jaell, Natalie Singe, unknown, RandomDragon2.0, AuroraRain18, 1Difurench1, Guest, hydroelectricjaya, JSNI, MortalNinja, EchoIsACutie, Cerenda and all my silent readers!

EchoIsACutie: THANK YOU SO MUCH! Right after I read your review, I've went back to change the blond/blonde and read over for grammatical errors. This chapter would probably have it since I did it in a rush and I still need to finish off an assignment tonight.

Cerenda: I don't know much about panic attacks either. I wrote what I thought would be a panic attack based on what I've read in other fanfictions and seen in movies. It does sound quite terrifying, doesn't it?

Sorry for not replying back to everyone's review. I still got an assignment to finish off tonight (It's currently 9:50pm in Australia) so I've just trying to do this week. BUT, is Kai going to die? Or will he get Aidan away from Nya and miraculously appear later on in the story? Until then, I'll see you all in two weeks. Xoxo – ZaneLoverFan88