ELEMENTAL SWITCH AU CHAPTER 9: Light and Dark
Sorry for the long wait! I think I'm gonna start answering a few (not all) reviews at the start of each chapter. Here goes!
RandomDragon2.0 - it is a pretty rough way for Kai's cover to be blown, huh? I had o be as mean as possible :)
KrazyKittyKat3 - ooo I love the poem! I hope you'll like when I finally do unveil what happened to Kai (his sickness is no coincidence, that's all I'll say)
SweetHeart114 - you are definitely deserving over your username! I really wasn't sure about the first few chapters, but I'm glad you enjoyed them!
The last thing Kai remembered was darkness. The first time he woke up, Kai was hit with light. Blinding, painful light. In fact, that's all he felt - pain. It bursted from his head and erupted from his stomach. He clenched his burning eyes shut and tried to move, to somehow distract himself from the pain. His attempts to sit up were in vain, as something or someone kept pushing him back down onto the soft…whatever it was he was lying on.
"Wait…didn't I fall asleep in a cave?"
"Hey buddy…" The new voice sounded distant, as though Kai was underwater. "…try not…move, ok? Get…rest." The voice was calming, but drifted in and out of earshot. His brain was to fried to piece together the soft-spoken words, much less pay attention to what they were trying to tell him. He attempted, once again, to sit up. Just then, Kai felt a weight on both of his shoulders, pinning him gently to the comfortable surface beneath him. He debated whether or not to fight back, but his brain was too melted to try anything.
When he had all but given in to the precious idea of warm, snug sleep, everything came whizzing back to hit him - worse than the stabbing agony enclosing every part of Kai's body. The realisation that he was no longer in that cave, or even alone, and possibly in grave danger shook him to the core, and he fought against the force keeping him down with renewed vigour. Granted, the 'vigour' was probably more of a pathetic wiggle, but Kai meant every fiery thought behind it.
However, the weight holding him down increased, and Kai panicked, not being able to properly see his opponent through his tired and hazy vision. Then the voice came back. It was clearer now. "Listen bud, you're ok. Calm down." It was so familiar…yet so strange. It was like a sweet sound he hadn't heard in a long time. Maybe he could trust it. After all, his eyelids were heavy, and even though he wanted to resist, the warmth of the sheets he was wrapped in were just too comfortable. Kai gradually let his eyelids droop, and the darkness of sleep overcame him.
…
The second time he woke, it was dark. While the pain had subsided, Kai felt weaker than ever. He barely had the energy to turn his head. But of course, he forced himself to turn anyways, because what was he supposed to do? Wait for some low-life serpentine to come and drag him back into his old cell in Orobourus? Nope, he was going to figure out where he was, and get the heck outta there.
But when he looked around, he was not met with cold-blooded serpentine, as he'd expected. Instead, he was met with a snoring Cole, who was sitting slumped in a wooden chair that was pulled up beside Kai's bed.
"He must have been watching me sleep," he thought. "He was probably the person who was talking to me too." Suddenly the immense strength that had held him down made perfect sense, as Cole had always been the strongest. Kai began to piece things together to remember all that had happened.
So… he was back on the Bounty. He glanced down at his clothes, seeing that he was in his old, red striped pyjama bottoms, but he was bare-chested. "Thank goodness," Kai thought. "It's boiling in here." His armour was nowhere in sight, so it was safe to assume the ninja knew his identity too. Kai sighed, then turned to peer out the window of what he assumed was the Bounty's infirmary, and trained his eyes on the dazzling full moon. It was casting it's brilliant rays throughout the small room, making the dust dance in the air. It was peaceful.
But right at that moment, Kai didn't want tranquility (though he throughly needed it), he wanted…well, he wasn't sure what he wanted. Alone time? No, he was always alone, and it hadn't fixed anything yet. Did he want company? Maybe. Kai was almost positive that the time he'd spent with Lloyd was some of the best hours of his life. The kid had so much to say, so many emotions and so much innocence. He related with Kai. They'd both had a hard streak recently, and neither of them really wanted to be here with the ninja, but they'd both decided to stick around, for each other. Well, that's what Kai had intended. Then Lloyd had snitched. The ninja had come to get him, probably to convince him to come home, when they had found him sick. He tried to convince himself that it could've been Nya, probably to take the blame off his young friend, but no, it couldn't have been her. Nya knew of his identity, but didn't know where he was sleeping. He'd only told Lloyd. Now that the kid had betrayed him, there wasn't really many other options in terms of company.
Kai closed his eyes and (with great effort), pushed his body up into a sitting position, where he proceeded to pull his knees to his chest, and hugged them tight. This position had become a habit in his weeks of sleeping under trees and in alleyways - it seemed to satisfy his nagging want for warmth and contact. To some extent, anyway. Kai took a few deep breaths, making an effort to come to terms with his situation and planning his next move. Would he stay? Would he run? Would he even be able to run? Would the ninja block his every escape, trapping him like a caged animal?
A loud creak of a door interrupted Kai's train of thought. Kai kept his eyes screwed shut. He was trying to think. He pretended he couldn't hear it. But he did. He heard the gentle click of the door shutting, heard the soft padding of feet making their way towards the bed, heard a hushed conversation and heard Cole stand up and leave. The bed sank. He heard a deep sigh. Then they spoke, "We need to talk."
Wu could not express his utter horror upon seeing his lost student arrive home in Zane's arms. At first, he didn't even recognise the teen he had grown to love. He was so…pale, so fragile. The words tasted off in his mouth. They were not common words used to describe Kai. His hair was unkempt and dishevelled, his eyes sat above dark circles. He was certain the ragged hoodie and torn jeans were the very same ones as the night he had left. Nya held the battered blue armour in her arms. As Zane and the others hurried past him, Wu caught Nya's eye, his mind looking for an explanation.
"We had to take off his armour so he didn't get too hot." She said quickly, glancing past Wu's shoulder and over to the door that the boys had just disappeared into.
"Do you know what's wrong with him?" Wu asked. Nya shrugged.
"Can't be all that serious, whatever it is."
"Zane looked too worried for the sickness to be mild." Wu commented. Nya avoided his eye.
"Yeah, well…" she thought for a moment. "Kai's tough. Should be fine." Wu mentally scanned her. She was acting…off. She didn't look worried, but more on the skittish, nervous side. As if she was hiding something. Wu quickly shook the thought off. This was the first time seeing her brother in a few months, and he looked awful. She probably didn't know what to think. He stepped aside and watched her rush indoors after the others.
It was almost midnight. Kai had not fully woken up yet, save the thirty seconds he started out of nowhere before Cole managed to calm him down. After that little incident, Cole had decided to stay and watch him overnight incase of another episode. Wu didn't disagree with him. However, recent events and frequenting dreams had caused him to stay awake for hours, and so he decided to check on Kai.
As he wandered down the halls of the ship, he peeked through the doors of Nya's bedroom and then the boy's bedroom. Everyone seemed quiet enough, though he was too tired to deduce whether of not they had simply faked sleep when they heard him coming. Nevertheless, he continued through the wooden corridors, finally stopping at the closed door of the infirmary. A loud creak sounded from the door like a horn. Wu flinched as he tried his best not to make anymore noise for fear of waking someone. But as he stuck his head through the door, he saw that Kai was already awake.
The teen's head was buried in his knees, his shoulders and limbs tense. He seemed unaware of Wu's presence, not moving when Wu closed the door behind him, and sat down on the small bed. He looked Kai over. He just looked…awful. Old and new scars ran across what Wu could see of his chest and back. Some of the cuts looked newly wrapped. His hair had been washed, but hung floppy and long, almost to his shoulders. He was worryingly thin. Wu heaved a sigh and looked sadly at the teen.
"We need to talk."
Again, I'm sooo sorry for the long wait! I have more work than oxygen right now, and could never seem to find the time or motivation to write anything. Thing chapter has been sitting unfinished for quite a while. Can't guarantee anything, but ill try to get the next one out quicker! Don't forget to review! Byeee