CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The Guardian Comes Out

Part 2

"Hurry and climb on," The cheetah continued, staring right down at Koto, who had started to pave back and forth, as if he was stalking them. "We don't have much time."

"You-You're," Kendall tried to get the words out but they didn't come. The cheetah turned around and bowed his head in a very respectful manner. When it stood back straight again, his green eyes bore into Kendall's.

"I'm Kadin." The cheetah replied, and it seemed to Kendall and Katie at that moment, that he smiled. But it was impossible as cheetahs didn't have the ability to smile. So why did Kendall feel completely safe with him. "I'm your guardian and as long as you live and as I live, I'm going to help protect you and your sister."

"Kendall," Katie's eyes were still wide. Hearing his name, Kendall immediately snapped to focus and practically dumped Katie onto Kadin's back.

"Just make sure that she's safe, I can handle everything else." Kendall commanded and Kadin nodded in agreement, letting Kendall know that he would follow anything that Kendall would say.

"Yes, Master Kendall." He replied and jumped a safe distance away.

Kendall quickly turned back and crossed his arms over his face as Koto had leapt into the air and was now aiming a punch for his face. Unfortunately, that was what Koto wanted, as he quickly turned in the air and slammed a foot into Kendall's stomach. The wind was instantly knocked out of him and Kendall stumbled back a few steps before falling to his knees, clutching his stomach and gasping for air.

"Kendall!" Katie cried and tried to wiggle off of Kadin's back. "Let me go."

"That would be against Master's wishes," Kadin replied smoothly, making sure that he kept Katie in place. "Don't worry, I believe in Master Kendall and I know that he can do whatever he puts his mind to."

"But he's getting hurt, badly hurt." Katie replied, not liking that she was watching her brother get beaten up. She winced when Koto kicked him across the face as Kendall continued trying to catch his breath. "Kendall!"

"Just stop and watch," Kadin instructed calmly. "He's in his element here and if his practicing has paid off, now is the time for us to see how much it has." He bent down towards the ground, as if he was getting ready to let Katie off of his back, but he pushed off against the ground, hard, and jumped to the ground of the pier. "Kendall!" he called, trying to get his attention.

"What?" Kendall gasped, finally getting his breath back. He wiped blood off of his cheek and charged Koto again, knocking him to the ground and punching him across the face before kicking him in the stomach. He didn't want to hurt Koto, but one of Sydney's many pieces of advice was ringing in his head, nonstop.

"Don't wait for Koto or anyone else to stop and apologize, because they won't. Don't give them the opportunity for them to hurt you, you have to hurt them as much as you can and then they'll get the hint that you're stronger that you appear and they'll leave you alone for a while. Trust me."

Kendall was breathing heavily as he finished kicking Koto and backed away from him, gathering his spit together and spitting on the ground. He made a face when he saw that it was tinged pink with blood and he panicked a little bit.

'If he can make me bleed when I'm able to withstand more pain, I don't want to know what he can do to Katie' Kendall thought frantically. 'I have to get him away from her'. He looked over at the railing of the pier and immediately got an idea.

He jumped up onto the railing and swung around, just in time for Koto to flip back to his feet and swing an arm at Kendall again. Kendall leaned back out of the way, but he knew that it would make Koto think that he had hit him. Kendall felt himself falling and didn't feel afraid as he felt headfirst into the ocean water below. The water instantly filled the pores of his clothes and he started to sink. It wasn't until he was sure, he could sense, Koto standing on the railing above him that he made his move.

He opened his eyes and concentrated hard and soon he felt water pushing against his feet, raising him up and out of the water, on top of a geyser. Kendall leapt off of the top of the geyser and started to fall towards the cotton candy stand, with no way to brace himself. Suddenly, Kadin appeared out of nowhere and he landed on his guardian's back. Kadin let out a growl and turned around, running towards Koto.

"Water Whirlpool!" Kendall waved his arms around and Katie gasped as she leaned over on Kadin's side, looking down at the ocean water. It started to swirl around until a whirlpool appeared in the water below the pier. Before her eyes, it rose up into a giant pillar, much like the geyser, but it was still a whirlpool and it was still spinning and crashed into Koto, sending him flying back into a metal streetlight. "Kadin, turn around!" Kendall commanded and smiled when his guardian did so. "Harden" He held his hands up, which were now glowing blue, and closed his hands into fists. Koto cried out in pain as the water that was on his clothes and still hitting him started to harden and turn into a block of ice.
C'mon, let's get out of here."

"As you wish, Master Kendall." Kadin replied and started running back to the Palm Woods. When he arrived Kendall and Katie slid from Kadin's back and Kadin turned to his master. "Don't worry Master Kendall," he stated, a soft purr rumbling in his throat. "Whenever you need help I'll be around to protect you."

"Thank you" Kendall smiled in reply. Kadin nodded and disappeared in a film of blue light that hovered over Kendall and went back into him, causing his hair and eye color to turn back to normal. He turned toward Katie and noticed that she was looking at him curiously. "What is it?" he asked, ready for the questions.

"How…did you do that?" Katie questioned in a whisper of awe. "You…could jump really high, your eye and hair color changed; you were able to control water."

"It's all really complicated to explain," Kendall replied as he rubbed his forehead.

"So this is what you've been keeping from me?" Katie asked, looking a little hurt.

"For good reason," Kendall replied, looking concerned. "I didn't want you or mom to get into trouble for what I've become and that's already started to happen."

"How long has this been going on?" Katie asked and Kendall was confused. These weren't the kinds of questions that he was expecting from her. He was expecting something that would get her money from what she had just discovered.

"A couple of weeks," Kendall replied as he scratched the back of his neck, looking around. "We haven't really gotten full control of our powers yet, so I was lucky that nothing bad had happened."

"We?" Katie repeated. "So the guys have powers too?" her eyes lit up. "So the whole time that you've been sneaking off and everything, it's because of this?"

"Yes, and you can't tell anyone," Kendall replied and looked at his hand as he turned them back and forth. "We don't know how this is happening but we have an idea why." He sighed. "And I can't have you getting in trouble all of the time. So you can't tell anyone."

"I promise," Katie looked excited as she mimed locking a door and throwing away the key. "Just, one more thing?"

"What's that?"

"Can we have another ride on Kadin? That was so cool!"

A/N: Sorry this is short too, I'm getting back into the swing of updating while I get adjusted to college life, but I hope you guys still liked it. Next chapter should be up soon and from now on their going to be longer.

-Riley