Chapter 9

It took much work on Gali's part to heal Tahu, but the task was finally complete, and Gali was left to recover her strength. Kopaka stayed a few minutes more to watch Jaden, who could barely move without emitting some grunt or groan of discomfort. Dan had come, but he was of little use. What little he did know of burn treatment wasn't promising enough to chance.

"She needs a hospital," Dan blurted out the moment he saw her bare back, discolored in a vibrant array of hues from the serious burns.

"What do you mean?" Kopaka asked, obviously not entirely familiar with the human body.

"Jaden needs a professional, these look like third degree burns! She may need skin grafts and who knows what else. If she stays here, this could kill her," he explained sternly, glaring at the otherwise mute toa.

"I'm not sure what you want me to do about that, there's no way to get you both off the island safely without revealing where we are to the rest of the world," Kopaka stated before turning to leave, his mind already drifting to his other responsibilities. "For now, do what you can. Gali will heal what Jaden to the best of her ability when she has recovered."

"Your Gali should have treated her injuries first instead of wasting time on him," Dan spat, venom laced in his voice as he pointed to Tahu's prone form.

"He's our brother," Kopaka's eyes narrowed as he coolly dismissed Dan's assertions. "Blood is thicker than water. Besides, his condition was just as serious as hers," Kopaka continued, forcing himself to keep his composure, to rationalize and accept the way things were, and to justify his actions. But even so, the default irritation that seeped into his voice without him noticing was still palpable, judging by the way Dan momentarily shrank back before jumping in again.

"So you admit that you care more about your own kind than mine," Dan accused, teeth gritted in a fine display of pearly whites.

"You know I didn't, so don't go putting words in my mouth. The poison was killing him. Tahu may not have lasted much longer," Kopaka reasoned, breathing deeply though his nose as he strained himself into an icy calm zen. He couldn't afford to step on any toes, not now at least; the human Dan didn't seem strong enough to stand against an angry ice toa.

"She may not last long either! Do you have any idea what injuries like that can do to a person without treatment?" he practically howled, clenching his fists at his sides and glaring balefully at Kopaka.

"There's no need to repeat yourself," Kopaka replied flatly.

"How can you be so unfeeling?" Dan exclaimed. "She tried to help you people, and how is she repaid? With callousness and indifference!"

"She was aware of the risks of her decision." The argument was becoming repetitive, and Kopaka found himself slipping away, bluntly repeating the motions without actually thinking. "I warned her, yet she chose to continue. As I understand it, you did not want to have anything to do with Jaden when she left. Why all the concern now?"

Dan made a fist before answering, breathing shallowly through his nose as though to calm himself. "I thought I could trust her with you, all of you; and this is what happens. I should never have let her go."

Kopaka turned away at the accusation, wincing infinitesimally at the well placed barb. If Dan's intent was to make him feel guilty, he didn't have to try very hard. Kopaka could very well manage without the human's help. "I did all I could to save her," he allowed himself, the words coming out in a half-regretful, half-baleful murmur that seemed all the more sad for the lack of volume that accompanied it.

"No!" Dan cried out. "You've barely tried. Help us leave. You can save her that way!"

"This may be a hard concept for you to understand, but the safety of all comes before the safety of one. There is nothing more I can do," Kopaka replied before finally, finally turning to leave, exiting swiftly and already headed to the next call of duty. He heard Dan yell something, but it didn't register. His mind was already otherwise occupied by thoughts that ranked with more importance than Dan's ranting.

Dan did what he could for Jaden after Kopaka left. Using a knife, he carefully cut away what clothing he could from the burn, asking Yori Yoi to bring another set for her. He took a strip of the burnt material, soaked it in the river, and went about treating the wound as best he could. As he waited, thoughts from earlier flooded Dan's mind.

How could she run off so recklessly like that against one of those things? Couldn't she see the danger, the lethality of her decisions? Did she truly, deep down in her soul, want to die? Did she honestly believe no one cared about her? Yes, she had made it painfully clear that she didn't want or need, a family; but did that mean she also had no such interest in a friend either? She seemed to accept the dragon. He never could understand the bond there, but what was it about having him as a friend that she detested so much?

"Dan," Yori said, bringing Dan out of his thoughts.

"Yes?" he responded, turning to reply.

Yori dropped the bundle of clothes beside him and let Dan continue. He laid it gently across her back to cover the wound. From here on out, there was nothing more that he could do.

"Dan, I'm sorry," Yori apologized fervently.

"Why did you have to let her go?" Dan demanded. "You could have stopped her, but you didn't. Why?"

"No matter what choice I made, one of you would have been angry. And why are you blaming me? You could have stopped her yourself, but you let her go without a fight. How do you justify that?" Yori challenged, eying Dan questioningly.

"I did fight for her! But Jaden made it all too clear what it was she wanted," he said, rubbing his cheek where she had struck him.

"You're a father aren't you? What would you have done if she was your own?" Yori quietly asked, staring at Dan with a quiet intensity that seemed more spearheaded than any of his other questions to date.

"I would have given her a good spanking that's for sure, but she's not mine. And I'm not her father."

"That doesn't mean she doesn't need you to be. Did you ever think of that?"

"Don't patronize me," Dan snapped. "I've already tried. Jaden doesn't want a parent, and I'm tired of trying to force that upon her. She thinks she's ready to be an adult, then so be it. I won't try to stand in her way anymore," he added and stormed off, leaving Yori Yoi staring at his retreating back, more in askance than anything else.

Where was I?

What happened?

Am I dead?

I tried to move but was greeted with the searing heat of pain. Well, definitely not dead. Death wasn't supposed to feel like this. At least, I hoped not.

I could smell what could only be described as green. Trees, plants, flowers, dew, everything natural that I could think of was in the air. Definitely not underground anymore. I opened my eyes to see the familiar trees of the jungle that I had come to know.

I shifted again, and along with pain I could feel that I was lying, not on earth, but on some sort of rock, hard and uncomfortable as ever. That and I wasn't wearing my t-shirt anymore. I groped around blindly, finding the one sitting behind me that had slid from my back.

Pushing through the discomfort I sat up and scrambled into the shirt to the best of my ability. Taking a better look of my surroundings, far away I saw Tahu bound to his own rock, unconscious. Sitting next to him was Lewa who, seeing me, stood up and walked behind several bushes. I didn't understand why he had done that, but I figured I would learn soon enough.

"It's good to see you finally awake," a cool yet familiar voice said from behind me.

"Dan," I said to myself as I looked over my shoulder. There he was, leaning against a tree, arms crossed over his chest, a stern look etched into his features. "What are you doing here? I thought you didn't want to have anything to do with this," I said, almost hopeful that he had changed his mind.

"I didn't have a lot of choice in the matter. I was dragged down here by that dragon you seem so fond of," he replied.

"At least he's supportive."

"Of what?" Dan demanded. "Getting you killed? Pardon me, but that's not exactly something one should get excited about."

"Why is it everyone thinks I'm trying to kill myself? It's not like I have a death wish. What is wrong with trying to help out?"

"You're going about it the wrong way!" Dan snapped, approaching me. "There are other ways. I don't know how, but there's got to be a different way. Jut look at yourself.

The only reason you're still alive is because that dragon came back for you and that Gali person helped heal you. Still, you could have died. What do you have to say to that?" he questioned, looking both frustrated and flustered at once.

I sat still for a moment and thought it over, more or less for Dan's benefit than mine before standing up, wincing as the skin stretched painfully. "I say I'm getting some air. Away from you," I said and hobbled off in the opposite direction, past the unconscious Tahu, and into the deep green of the jungle vegetation.

"Oh no you're not," Dan objected following close behind, having no problem keeping up with my slow jaunt.

"What? Are you going to try to stop me?" I shot back at him. "Because that worked out just so well last time."

"No," he replied, grabbing me by the arm, effectively halting me in my tracks. "This time, I intend to make you stay whether you like it or not. You may not be my kid, you may not even like to hear the simple truth that you're my responsibility, but I'll be damned if I let this go any farther.

You are just sixteen. No one is ready for something like this at your age. You're coming with me, and we are going to find a way off this island before something worse happens," he ordered in a stern, fatherly tone.

"What am I supposed to go back to? Running away? Find your own way off, but I am not leaving," I snapped and ripped my arm from his grasp and continued on, jerking leafy green out of my way a bit harder than strictly necessary.

"You're not going anywhere young lady," Dan growled, reaching for me again.

I jerked away, "No!" I snapped, glaring at him as if to contradict me further.

All of a sudden a loud shrieking growl could be heard as a sharp spiked tail came hurtling through the air. Both Dan and I jumped away, pain searing across my back. Not far behind was the owner of the tail, Ilsa. She bared her teeth and let out a feral growl that reverberated deep from within her throat.

"Dan, run!" I shrieked as I tried to distract the beast. She swung out with her claws, barely missing as her talons came within inches of my painfully prone skin.

"Hold still human, and this won't end so painfully for you," she growled in frustration, swinging back for another go.

"Do I have a sign written on my face that says 'stupid'?" I taunted as I jerked back. She veered out again, this time grabbing me and slamming me into the ground. Absently, I realized my back was in a burning agony, but this didn't register in full, the object of my fascination far more dangerous and urgent than a few burns.

"No, but I can remedy that for you," she said, holding up a claw to my face. "Time to die."

"Hey dragon!" someone yelled, throwing a rock at her face. She snarled as it made contact and looked to the culprit that had thrown the projectile. Dan.

"Dan, run! Get the toa!" I called out, struggling against the oppressive weight of her claws to no avail.

"Come on, dragon," he called.

"Very well. I guess I'll start with an appetizer," she said, dropping me and swinging out with her tail. Dan sidestepped one way, but when he tried to skirt the blows again, I was horrified by the outcome.

Ilsa's tail moved with him before stabbing through his chest with a spike. "No!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, my eyes fixated on Dan with a horrified fascination.

What had I done? Where were the toa? Where was Yori Yoi? Why was no one there to stop this? What had I done?

I could feel the anger and rage build inside me. I wanted to tear her apart for what she had done. I wanted her to feel my pain, feel her heart be ripped out like mine had. In the back of my head I could hear the voice again saying, "Do it."

I felt something deep down, a strength I had never felt before, something that could only be described as raw energy. There was a warmth in my hands that felt unnatural as hot, angry tears streamed down my face. The pain in my back was more of a distant memory as I lashed out.

Fire flew from my hands hitting the ground at her feet. Everything I did, it felt, for lack of a better word, weird. It was all so alien to me, it felt as though it were not me, but something else entirely; something terrible that I knew was supposed to be kept locked inside, something you just know is wrong, something that deep down everyone knows is evil. I didn't have to time to wonder how or why this was happening. All I wanted to do was make her feel my pain, to burn in the fiery inferno that she rightfully deserved.

Isla gaped at me in a combination horror and confusion that would have been funny if not for the circumstances, before lashing out at me with her tail again. I put up a hand instinctually to block it, a tower of rock coming up as I did so, doing what I needed to protect myself.

The look in her eyes was pure fear. Now I was ready to make her feel my pain. Summoning what little control over this power that I had, I hurled a spike of earth and fire into her heart, pinning her to the ground. She let out a scream of pain and terror as she breathed her last and became still.

After the final blow, I fell to my knees, my limb shaking from the rush that was now gone. I felt relieved that he was dead, felt delight at the fact that she had suffered, but at the same time, it was a dirty feeling, a feeling that can never be washed away. Anyone with morals or a conscience knows that killing-even a creature as terrible as Ilsa was-is wrong, that no matter how good the reason or intention, it is still wrong. I knew that, but for some reason, a part of me did not care. Part of me would gladly do it again, if it ould prevent what had happened.

Bringing myself back to the present, I ran from her body over to Dan, hoping that I wasn't too late. "Dan," I said frantically as I kneeled next to him. He coughed a breath, saying something inaudible. "What?" I asked trying to figure out what he was trying to say.

"I'm…sorry," he strained barely above a whisper.

"For what? You did nothing wrong. You're like this because of me," I wept.

"You…were right to stand up…for yourself. Be…careful. Don't…forget…who you are." He coughed again, blood beginning to spill from the corners of his mouth. "Tell my family…if you ever go back…I love them. Promise me," he breathed.

"I promise, Dan," I said as tears flowed even more. "Please, Dan, don't leave me," I wept. "I'm sorry for all the things I said. I never should have said them. You were just doing the best you could. Please, Dan!" I begged, gripping his arm with as much strength as I could muster.

He never answered. He had already closed his eyes and stopped breathing. I doubled over, my body wracking with sobs. I didn't know how long I sat there crying until I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see Lewa and Yori standing with a look of shock, sorrow, and horror. Behind them was Gali, a mirror of the same emotion written across her face. I probably looked pitiful to them now. I knew I felt it. With nothing else left that I could do, I wept again, letting out what was left of my anger and frustration.

AN: Yay for updates! Sorry this took so long. I've been really busy latly with the theater and homework that I haven't been able to devote much time to writing anything lately. There's preobably going to be only two or three more chapters to this. Thoughts and comments are greatly appreciated. And I must thank my most wonderful beta, darkraven0, for with out her help, this story would not have been able to get this far.

Hey guys. Sorry for this, but I'm going on hiatus until January due to school problems and the fact that I want to graduate. I promise I'll come back!!! Don't leave me now!! I want to finish the story already and I know you guys probably want the ending too.