Time for an update. This short chapter is short. Sorry about that. :/
Chapter Six: Cover Ups
Rhea charged forward, her legs shaking slightly. She pushed off of the ground, disappointed in the lack of air she had actually managed to achieve. Her right foot was poised and ready to strike her opponent in the bright orange scales that adorned his chest. Skalidor brought his left arm around, successfully blocking the girl's attack. She grunted in frustration, using the remaining momentum of the attack to push off the serpent and land a few feet away.
Well so far this was not working as Rhea had hoped. The long sections of her light blue hair were beginning to drape over her shoulders and wrap around her neck. Rhea shuddered slightly, quickly shaking her upper body back and forth. The hair fell back behind her and she breathed a sigh of relief. Her eyes drifted to meet Lloyd's. He seemed nervous and Rhea frowned. Honestly, she was going to get him out of the situation. Lloyd just needed to have a little faith.
"You're going to give up already?" the Constrictai General teased. "Where's the fun in that?"
Anger was overwhelming the girl's small body. If there was one thing in the world that she despised more than her "father" it was being underestimated. She twirled the karambit in her right hand around her index finger before fully gripping the hilt once more. This was no longer about Lloyd's safety, it was personal.
Rhea clenched her teeth and sprung forward, the weapon in her left hand almost invisible in the approaching darkness. She feinted a stab that her opponent fell for before quickly bringing the curved blade in her right hand around. It created a small gash along the left side of the serpent's abdomen, seemingly insignificant, but when Rhea yanked the karambit out and backed up she could see it coated in dark, sticky blood. Yes, this was far from over. The angered cries of Skalidor echoed through the alley and the young girl felt pleased with herself. Time to add some insult to the injury.
Transferring the blood coated weapon to her left hand, Rhea quickly pulled the pad of paper and pen from her jacket pocket. She scrawled something quickly across the material and ripped it from the pad. Approaching slowly, Rhea met Skalidor's bright yellow irises, narrowed in both pain and anger. She stopped directly in front of him, both weapons in her left hand and a piece of paper in her right. Skalidor grabbed both of her arms, up towards the shoulder, and lifted her off of the ground.
"Do you think you can win?" he snarled, forked tongue visible. Rhea gave a small smirk and nodded her head. How infuriating! The Constrictai General dropped her to the ground and threw a clumsy punch which Rhea ducked under. She jumped up, poking the paper over one of the small spikes that adorned the serpent's head. He growled, fumbling to tear the note off of his cranium. After successfully procuring the item, Skalidor gripped it in both hands, reading what had been written.
You've got a little blood near your stomach. I'd take care of that if I were you.
The pure hatred and malice that lit up Skalidor's face was utterly priceless. Rhea could feel her ego inflating as she prepared to finish the fight quickly. Jabbing her right index finger through the small hole in the handle of one karambit, she ran towards her opponent once more. Skalidor just stared as Rhea barreled towards him, her right arm held out entirely. Rhea could feel victory within her grasp and brought her weapon around to the side, preparing to slash at Skalidor's abdomen once more. It would hopefully be distracting enough that he would release Lloyd and they could make a hasty exit. She gritted her teeth, planting her feet to the ground as she swiped her karambit across the area in front of her.
Instead of hitting Skalidor she hit the one person she was trying to protect.
Lloyd cried out and Rhea's eyes widened in horror. She quickly pulled her weapon from the green ninja's shoulder and frowned. Using his hostage as a human shield? Wow, this snake fought pretty dirty. Rhea took a few steps backward, slightly disoriented. The pain in Lloyd's voice echoed through her mind. Her vision was swimming, everything becoming blurred. These could not be what Rhea thought they were. Tears.
A hand around her throat snapped the young girl back to reality. Skalidor lifted Rhea off of the ground, his smile communicating triumph. "Not so cocky now, are we?" the Constrictai General laughed. Rhea blinked back the odd sensation building up behind her eyes and used the curved blade in her left hand to slice one of the serpent's arms.
The ground met Rhea's back hard and she coughed, struggling to sit up. She heard Lloyd give a painful grunt and she watched as Skalidor threw him against one of the alley walls. He crumpled to the ground, motionless. A tail wrapped around Rhea's right wrist, twisting it hard to the left. She gritted her teeth and dropped her karambit, slightly relieved when the radiating pain subsided. Strong hands gripped themselves around her throat once more, tight and unforgiving. Rhea was choking and attempted to stab her assailant with her remaining weapon, but realized it was no longer in her left hand. She must have dropped it without knowing when she hit the fading asphalt.
It felt odd, the grip of death closing in around her. The irony was beginning to set in. She had brought death upon so many different individuals in her life and now she was the one who was dying. Everything was beginning to turn black and Rhea feebly attempted to kick out at Skalidor, a last ditch effort to save herself. Unfortunately, she did not have the strength.
A flash of green lit up the alley and Rhea collided with the ground, skidding backwards. She gasped, air finally returning to fill her lungs. The Constrictai General lay near, unconscious. Rhea looked around and saw Lloyd. He was on one knee, gripping his left shoulder with his right hand. Breathing still labored, the young girl unsteadily got to her feet and approached him. Lloyd gave Rhea a weak smile, obviously still in pain. "I got him for you" he tried to smile. "No one hurts my friends."
Rhea felt grateful towards her newly acquired friend. He had helped her when she needed it most. Lloyd honestly did care about her well being. There were those things again, the tears. They were mocking her, threatening to spill at any second. Shakily, she reached down into her jacket pocket and was relieved to find the pen and paper still there. She managed to write something down despite her fingers trembling. Lloyd took the pad from her with his right hand, smearing blood across the paper. I am so sorry I hurt you he read. I didn't mean to, I promise.
The green ninja looked up at his friend, noticing how glassy her eyes looked even in the dark. Was she crying? No, she could not be. Lloyd stood slowly, holding the pad out to Rhea. She took it gingerly from his grasp and followed suit. "I know you didn't mean it" he answered, applying pressure once more to his injured shoulder. "Let's just get your weapons and get out of here, okay?"
She had completely forgotten about her weapons! Rhea ran over to where Skalidor lay on the asphalt, searching for her karambits. One was found easier than the other; the blade coated in blood was able to blend in more with the dark ground. Rhea held both of them in her right hand, refusing to put the blood in her hair. She beckoned for Lloyd to follow her and he did, the two small children traversing the deserted streets of Ninjago City. Judging by the quality of the buildings and neon signs no one visited this part of town too often.
"Oh my goodness, Lloyd!"
Lloyd looked up to see his sister and the others. Laurie had her left arm slung around Kai's neck, supporting most of her body weight. What had happened? "Laurie" the green ninja called out, running to meet the group. Rhea ran behind him, her footsteps quieter than his. He threw his arms around his sister, embracing her tightly. She cringed slightly at his rough touch and he relinquished his hold on her. "What's wrong?" Lloyd asked, his emerald irises wide.
The orange ninja's gaze drifted to a light bloodstain on her gi. That had not been there before. "I'm fine" she answered honestly, taking her arm away from Kai. He eyed her briefly, making sure she could stand on her own. "Lloyd, are you okay? We could hear you screaming, but we had our own problems to take care of. I hurt my back a little bit, but…are you bleeding?" Laurie watched Lloyd shift uncomfortably at those words and she frowned. "You are bleeding! Are you okay? What happened?" Rhea now stood next to Lloyd, placing her left arm on his uninjured shoulder. The red head watched with disdain as the girl touched her brother and she noticed the blood covered karambit in her possession. "You did this, didn't you?" Laurie growled, reaching down to grab the sleeve of Rhea's jacket.
"No, she was trying to help me!" the green ninja protested, his eyes narrowed. He yanked Rhea away from his sister, ignoring the expression of shock on her freckled face. "Rhea came to help me, Laurie. Honestly, if she hadn't shown up who knows where Skalidor would have taken me. The blood isn't mine anyways, it's Skalidor's." Rhea's eyes darted over to Lloyd. Why was he covering for her? It was true, some of the blood probably belonged to the snake, but some of it belonged to him as well. "I don't remember how I injured my shoulder."
Laurie could tell when Lloyd was lying. What he was lying about, she was not sure, but she knew that he was lying about something. There was no reason to analyze it now though. He was safe and that was all that mattered. "Thanks, Rhea" the orange ninja said reluctantly. Rhea just gave a nod and Laurie could see something falling down one of the girl's cheeks. Was she crying? No, she could not cry. She was a killer. "Let's just get back home so we can take care of your shoulder, okay?"
Everyone seemed to be in an agreement. Kai took Laurie's arm and replaced it on his shoulder. It was comforting, being able to help her when she was injured. In fact this was probably the closest he had been to Laurie since the day she had followed him to the park. Kai thought about that day all the time, but not as often as the day Laurie backed away from him, fearful. He sighed, continuing to aid the girl he loved down the street, following his brothers.
Rhea trailed behind Laurie, her gaze on Lloyd. He gave her a small smile and she narrowed her eyes. Why was he trying to protect her? She did not need anyone to protect her because she could take care of herself. Rhea crossed her arms over her chest, careful not to cut herself with her weapons. Lloyd cocked his head to the side slightly, noticing the sudden change in his friend's behavior. "What's wrong, Rhea? You seem upset." She was already busy writing something, the pen flying across the paper. Without making eye contact, she ripped the note out and handed it to Lloyd.
I don't need you to protect me. I can handle myself just fine.
He stared at it, confused by the message Rhea was trying to get across. She was angry that he had protected her from his sister? Laurie already hated and feared Rhea, so he decided to spare her the details she did not need to hear. Was that so bad? Lloyd felt a dull anger settle over him and he crumpled the paper up before throwing it to the ground. "Whatever" he muttered, walking a little faster. Rhea was really weird.
The young girl watched with satisfaction as Lloyd furthered the distance between them. Good, she did not need him or anyone else. She was only here to take care of the red head and then she would take her leave. Thoughts from the skirmish with the snake suddenly came flooding back. Lloyd was her friend and she had been willing to put her life on the line to help him, in fact she almost had. No, Lloyd was nothing more than a pawn. If she could continue to be his "friend" then she could get closer to her target. That was it, nothing more.
There was still a small voice in the back of her mind that was telling her something different. Lloyd obviously cared about her and she obviously cared about him. Why else would she have run to his aid? A sigh escaped Rhea's lips as she trained her dark brown eyes on the boy dressed in green. It was odd, the sensations he was drudging up from deep within her heart. For so long she had felt no compassion, kindness, fear, or sadness. Those last two were the ones that unnerved her the most. When she was caught in Skalidor's grip she felt both. There was the fear of dying obviously, but also sadness. Rhea had been sad, sad that she had not been able to help Lloyd like she had originally intended; sad that she had failed her friend.
What was Lloyd doing to her?
Well, I am about to head to MegaCon now. Three days of anime, sci-fi, comic book, and fantasy craziness. Tara Strong, the Weasley Twins, the cast from "Star Trek: Next Generation", Vic Mignogna, and Joel McDonald are all going to be there. Not as good as last year with the guests, but I'm actually cosplaying this year which will be fun. :3
Hope you guys have just a great a weekend as I know I'm going to have. Thanks for reading, reviewing, and sticking with me. If you happen to be at MegaCon this weekend as well shoot me a PM. It would be super cool to meet up. XD