Chapter 3: Direction
~Lloyd~
Most people wake up from crows, or maybe a very loud alarm clock.
Nope. Lloyd woke up from his unconsciousness by Kai snoring like an uncivilized gorilla.
As said, it was the noise that brought him back. He could hear it faintly at first, as his mind slowly was returning to earth, then it got louder and louder and it was so annoying.
Then it was the sunlight that tickled his eyelids, goading the boy to open those emerald orbs again. He didn't want to; he was cozy, comfortable, and content. Lloyd grumbled and turned around, suddenly gasping as pain shot up his knee like an electrical shock.
The blonde boy shook his head to try and ignore it, nuzzling his face into what he thought was a pillow. Lloyd recoiled when it felt scratchy and irritating. He huffed and slowly opened his eyes, feeling unsteady and lightheaded.
Grass was flattened under his small form like an outline of a body in the middle of a crime scene. Straight ahead were nothing but large trees, and as Lloyd blinked hard and looked in the distance, there was a small spike of a volcano, smoke slowly curling from its mouth.
Lloyd shook his head to clear the dizziness, turning from his side to sit upright. He was rudely interrupted by the same shock of pain flaring up and down his right leg. His fists clenched the grass as the pain began to dull and turn back into soreness.
His eyes rested on the source of his pain, and his heart nearly stopped.
The kneecap was covered with a bruise, and it looked off, like it had popped. A large gash stretched across from about an inch to the right, curving downwards to the left to just under the cap. It was red and sticky, but no longer bleeding. His black pants were covered with dry blood.
For a while, he just stared in disbelief. He had broken bones before, cut himself, gotten bruised, but this was an entirely different situation altogether. The sight of the blood, his own, and this much of it made the young boy turn slightly green, as the dizziness set back in.
The blonde's gaze rested on a long-since dead campfire as he tried to distract himself, and happened to notice a large indent on the trunk of a tree. Kai was curled up on the opposite side of the ashes, his spikes flattened on the ground. It struck Lloyd as hysterically funny, and ended up laughing despite himself.
Kai suddenly snorted and sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes while grumbling. "Wha…?"
Lloyd abruptly stopped and turned hopeful. "Kai, I'm up."
The fire ninja jumped and turned towards his companion. His amber colored eyes widened, and a large sigh of relief escaped his lips. "God, you had me worried."
Lloyd raised an eyebrow. "How come?"
"Do you even see yourself?"
The blonde frowned in defeat, his gaze once again resting on his injury. He let out a small whimper. "How did it…" he wondered, half to himself.
Kai grimaced and looked to his shoes, closing his eyes. "I'm sorry kid. It was my fault."
"No it wasn't, it was mine." Lloyd retorted, feeling guilty and uncomfortable. It was weird to him, seeing Kai depressed. "If I hadn't opened the first tomb, none of this would've happened."
There was a moment of silence, neither of them objecting to their statements anymore. Wind shot through the trees, making them both shiver and for ash to scatter across the grass. It didn't help the mood.
Finally, Lloyd spoke up. "Why do I feel like my Uncle would be saying something cryptic right about now?"
It lightened Lloyd's spirit to see Kai fall over laughing.
0o0o0
Later in the afternoon, the younger of the two still hadn't moved from his spot. To say he was getting antsy would be putting it mildly.
He was so bored. His small hands were itching to grab a game controller or a comic book. Being outside was so boring. It made him wonder why his uncle wanted him to get out more.
The thought of his uncle made his chest pang with regret. Wu didn't even know where he was and most likely thought he was dead and what was Lloyd doing in return? Sitting around complaining as Kai did all the work. It didn't matter if he was injured, it didn't mean he couldn't help.
A loud crash ripped through his thoughts. Kai had returned with some more firewood to prepare for the evening. There was a small bulge in his pocket that Lloyd hoped was filled with food. He didn't recall the last time he was this hungry.
Lloyd voiced his question. "What's in your pocket?"
"Berries," Kai answered simply as he sat down next to his companion. "Found a decent sized bush a short walk away as I was heading back."
"Oh."
The fire ninja smiled a little at Lloyd's childish answer, turning to look at him. As his gaze rested on Lloyd's knee, his lightly tanned skin turned pale around his cheeks. His eyes turned cloudy with pain.
"What's wrong?" Lloyd asked, tilting his head in confusion.
Kai sighed slowly, quickly looking away. "It's my fault you're hurt."
"No it's not Kai!" Lloyd retorted. He may not remember much of what happened, but he did know that Kai tended to beat himself up over his mistakes. This looked no different.
"Yes, it is, and don't deny it kiddo." He twisted back towards Lloyd's knee and began to rip part of his gi to bandage it. The younger bit his lip, knowing better than to protest.
"Look Lloyd, if we're going to get through this, then we're gonna need a plan, an idea of what to do, and an understanding."
The blonde hesitated, and then nodded in agreement.
"I don't like our situation any more than you do, believe me," Kai continued, and he wrapped the cloth completely around his leg and began to tie it. "But if you promise me that you'll cooperate, and pitch any ideas that you have to me, then we'll get out of this much faster."
Lloyd winced a little as Kai lifted him slowly, ever so slowly, off the ground and on his feet. A small cry escaped his lips as he rested both feet on the ground. Kai wrapped an arm around his waist as support, and turned to look him in the eye. "Deal?"
There wasn't an ounce of hesitation as Lloyd answered.
"Deal."
0o0o0
After about an hour of constant stop and go walking, the pair found themselves in a small clearing closer to the mountain as the sun sank into the ground. Stars twinkled above their heads, as if beckoning them in various directions, goading them to follow the way they pointed.
Kai eased Lloyd to the ground and ungracefully collapsed next to him, just as exhausted as Lloyd himself was. Sweat trickled down their faces and down their backs while mosquitoes buzzed aimlessly around their heads.
The red ninja worked on starting a fire while the younger took in his surroundings. There wasn't much to see, besides large oaks and maples rising into the clouds, some bushes clustered to his right, and a soon-to-be roaring campfire in front of him.
A loud gurgling noise was made in the pit of Lloyd's stomach. Kai turned around and grinned good-naturedly at him and tossed a small handful of berries in his direction. Lloyd caught them before he could even fully process it.
The berries were a startling midnight blue, as black as the night sky. They smelled okay, and didn't look threatening, but an uneasy feeling was still resting in Lloyd's abdomen besides hunger.
"They're not poisonous, don't worry. Growing up in a remote village, I guess I would know. But I'm surprised there's food around here besides burnt fish and fire sticks."
Lloyd jumped as Kai answered his unspoken question before he could even ask it.
As the small campfire roared in front of them moments later, there was a peaceful silence between them as Kai controlled the flames from getting to big, occasionally playing with them to vent out his frustration.
Meanwhile, the blond was staring into the sky above them, looking at a particularly striking constellation.
"Hey Kai, what's that group of stars called?"
Kai broke away from the fire and followed Lloyd's gaze until his eyes rested on the cluster. On such a clear night, it was hard not to notice it.
"Oh, that. That's the Big Dipper. The star at the end of it is the North Star." His tone turned wistful. "Nya and I's mother always told us that if we ever got lost, to follow the North Star."
"How come?"
"Because it never moves, and will always lead you to where you want to go, supposedly."
Lloyd paused before continuing. "So, why can't we follow it?"
Kai chortled. "It doesn't really work like that kiddo. There's a reason I said 'supposedly'".
The blonde stared at the grass, thinking. "Well…what's north of the Fire Temple?"
Kai exhaled and thought for a moment. "I think it's Kanto village, but it's a pretty long walk to get there through the Forest of Tranquility. Why?"
"If the star is always going to be north, then why not follow it to get there? Besides, you said it yourself, it never moves."
The spikey ninja turned apprehensive, shaking his head. "I dunno kid, Kanto isn't exactly north from here, it could be north-west from here or north-east, or I could be wrong."
Lloyd raised an eyebrow. "Did I just hear you admit you could be wrong?"
Kai turned exasperated. "That's not the point! I'm just saying that it's risky!"
"You always take risks."
A groan of frustration erupted from Lloyd's companion. "I might as well be arguing with a brick wall, huh?"
"I…guess so?"
"Alright," Kai surrendered. "We'll try it, but if we run into anyone we're asking for directions instead of following stars, okay?"
Lloyd nodded in reply, wondering if he just made the worst mistake of his life.
A.N: Ugh. This chapter seemed so much easier to write in my head. It took me forever to get both of them in character, and I'm still not sure if they are. :P
Besides that, did you guys like the chapter? I apologize for the wait, but honestly I'm just glad it's up.
Oh, and did any LOTR fans catch one of Lloyd's lines of dialog and what it referenced? *winks*
Review please! Thanks for reading.