Ch 15
Alex knew it was wrong to complain, but the cramped space didn't make her sleeping situation any better. The last thing she needed was to prevent the others from getting some sleep with her nightmares. So once the others were asleep, she quietly crept out the door, carrying her pillow and blanket, and headed for the roof.
Outside, the sky was clear, revealing a dark sky filled with glittering stars. Alex could hear the sounds of the city below, ranging from random car horns to brakes squealing against the road. Not very soothing, but she found it better than nothing.
She walked over to plant her stuff near the Ultra Dragon, who was currently resting after an eventful day. Now that it was finally beginning to heal, Alex was excited for when she'd have the chance to fly him again. But for now, she just sat next to the creature and began to pet one of its heads.
The dragon opened a glazed eye to look at her, before lightening up and nuzzling its head into her torso. "Hey there, all better now?" she asked her new friend. The dragon head playfully head butted her in understanding. Alex smiled, "You're... Rocky right? Cole's old dragon?" The head looked even more elated at her question, so she assumed she was correct. During all of this, the other heads awoke and began to show their own sense of adoration to the Green Ninja. Alex couldn't help but laugh as the four heads tickled and nuzzled her, vying for attention, and she returned their sweetness with some smooth caresses and scratching.
"Looks like someone has a true knack for animals." Alex whipped her head around to see Zane observing her. "Yea, who knew?" she responded, knowing where this conversation was headed.
"Why are you out here when you should be sleeping inside with us?" Zane inquired, looking at Alex questioningly. "It's really none of your business," Alex muttered.
"I think it is my business if I know something is not right with my family." Zane sat next to her and began to pet the head of his dragon, Shard.
Alex looked down at her hands, confused about Zane's remark. "You really believe that I'm now a part of your family?"
Zane looked to her, "Of course. You're one of us now. Anything that happened before you knew us is technically irrelevant. We'd still be there for you no matter what." He took Alex's hand, "And as your brother, I need to know what is bothering you so that I may help you." Alex smiled slightly at the word brother; she had never had one before, at least to her current knowledge, and the idea of Zane being her brother made everything easier.
"It's just... lately I've been having these nightmares about my past, but now they seem to show parts of my life I never even knew about. In each dream, I hear this voice trying to tell me something, but by then I usually wake up." Zane nodded for her to proceed. "But the thing is, I think I know who this person is; it's like on the tip of my tongue when I hear it, but by the time I believe I've figured it out, I stumble back into reality. It's confusing, Zane, and a little annoying."
As she finished venting, Alex looked down at the ground, but Zane grabbed her face and lifted it up to level with his. "I know how frustrating it is to feel like you don't know who you are. I experienced that feeling most of my life, until the day I found the lab where I had been built. The emotions I gained from that were too much at first, but I soon realized that I was meant to be a ninja, and have my own family, as well as protect those in need."
He smiled softly, "I know it may seem upsetting now, but I can guarantee that you have about a 57.843% chance of regaining the truth. And though the process to understand may seem unpleasant, we will all be there to help you."
Alex laughed dryly, "So I get exact odds on the probability of regaining my memory, huh? Well, not exactly the worst news I've had. But thanks, Zane. I'm proud to call you my brother."
Zane nodded and gave Alex a brotherly hug, "And I am proud to call you my sister, Alexandra."
"Hey! Don't call me that!" Alex teased. Zane merely shrugged and chuckled, "So are you just going to sleep out here?"
"Yea. The fresh air seems more calming, plus I don't want to wake you guys up." Zane nodded, "And do you need any company?" Alex shook her head, "You've been working at a stupid job all week, go to bed."
Zane rolled his eyes a bit but agreed and retreated downstairs, leaving Alex to the quiet of the night. Once Zane was gone, she grabbed her sleeping items, set them by the dragon, and propped herself up to look out onto the night sky.
It seemed that she would never fall asleep, until Alex found herself falling off of the roof into a string of madness, filled with the horrors of her usual hell.
The dreams went on the same as before, yet this time, she seemed to hear the voice more clearly, and it was calling her name. Alex quickly tried to run towards the direction of the unseen person, but her captors merely dragged her violently away from her intended direction, shoving her into a nearby torture chair where the were ready to probe her with their bladed tools.
Alex screamed herself awake, feeling herself for any signs of blood from the nonexistent cuts. After reassuring herself that there was nothing wrong, she began to lay down again, but before she could close her eyes, she found she had company.
"Figured you were out here, since I woke up to see your bed empty again." Alex rolled her eyes and looked frustratingly to the ninja in front of her.
"You can't just go to bed and leave me alone, can you? Not even after all of the work you've been doing this week?" Alex inquired. Cole just shrugged lightly, "If anything, you're the one who needs more sleep at this rate, not me."
Alex groaned, "You should just go back inside. It's not like I can't handle this myself." Cole shook his head, "You can handle a lot, Alex, but in this case, you need to just let go of what's bothering you. I don't like seeing people close to me struggling like this."
"Then what do you suggest I do?" she asked the ninja. Cole sighed, "With you, I'm not sure. You've had a worst past than all of us combined, so maybe it's just best to try to forget about what's happened."
Alex laughed dryly, "Well half my past is gone already, so mission accomplished there." Cole looked exasperated, "Look, I know you're grumpy and tired, and me being here isn't helping your case apparently, but can't you just accept help for once?"
Alex glared at Cole for a while, but soon found her anger fading away. "Yea, suppose you're right. Well then, since you are obviously as stubborn as me, what shall we do now?"
Cole sat down next to her, "Well for starters, how about we get to know each other more. All I know about you is your troubles."
"True," Alex thought for a moment, "How did you unlock your true potential?"
Cole looked down, "Umm... I... *sigh* well you've seen me dance, right?"
"Yea, and you're pretty good at it, too."
"Well my dad's a big performing artist and all, so he wanted me to follow in his footsteps, and go to this big school and all. But the thing is, I never enjoyed it as much as he wanted me to. I just felt out of place, especially when I failed the Triple Tiger Sashay."
"The what?" Alex inquired.
"It's a really advanced dance move, but anyway, I didn't want to let my dad down and all, but in the end, I ran away. And a little while later, I found Sensei Wu and became a ninja.
"As for my true potential, we found out about a Fang Blade being part of a trophy in a contest, so in order for us to win, we had to go get help from my dad. It was awkward, kind of funny, too, but in the end, my dad found out I lied, and well... him being disappointed in me was the worst feeling.
"So for his sake, we won the Blade Cup fairly, and when I finally realized the importance of not running away from my troubles, I found my true potential."
Alex looked at Cole, "So it really took a lot to finally accept that, didn't it?"
Cole nodded, "You should have seen how we all were before you arrived; all of us were immature, whiny, and oh boy, Kai was the worst." The two laughed at this, since Kai was already pretty hotheaded as it was.
"My turn now though. So what do you like most about your life?" Cole asked Alex.
She pondered for a second, "Well besides being a queen at sarcasm, and being able to learn fast, I guess... I like to explore; see what's beyond the next mountain, or what lies over the ocean. The idea of new places just excites me.
"I also like to read and write; you know, put my ideas down and imagine what can happen. The fact that you can see so much from a book is exciting."
Cole smiled, "Well someone likes an adventurous lifestyle. Good for you though, that's a pretty good trait."
Alex smiled back, "Now my turn: favorite food?"
Cole's eyes widened, "What could be better than cake?! It's better than anything! Chocolate cake, shortcake, cheesecake, you name it!"
Alex laughed at Cole's fascinated expression, "Well to tell you the truth, I've never tried cake. Is it really that good?"
The black ninja looked scandalous, "You've never had cake!? How?! You NEED to try it! Come on, we're going now!"
The Green Ninja laughed even harder at Cole's reaction, to the point where she had to struggle for breath. "Maybe tomorrow, Cole. But for now, I think we should tone it down if we're going to get any sleep tonight."
After some time, Cole finally withered down. "Ok then, but only because you need rest. But I promise you, I will get you to try cake sooner or later!"
Alex giggled a bit before settling down in her blankets, closing her eyes, "So are you going to stay out here or go inside with the others?"
"Well since I'm apparently just as stubborn as you are, I'm probably going to stay out here a bit longer until you fall asleep." Alex sighed softly, but accepted his decision. The black ninja grabbed the blanket and tucked her in a bit more before resting next to Alex with his own blankets. Alex couldn't help but blush at the warmth and stability Cole brought as he lay beside her.
"Goodnight Cole."
"Goodnight Alex."
Yea... was originally going to start the Pirates vs Ninja thing here, but I got a bit side tracked. Hope this was an enjoyable chapter, the pirates and Brown Ninja shall appear in the next update, and thank you all for reading!
Until next time
