Wednesday

Lloyd awoke to a light brown wooden ceiling. "Where am I…?" He asked himself groggily, wondering how he had gotten here. He sat up slowly, wincing when his head throbbed in pain. Lloyd gingerly touched the back of his head, wondering what had happened. He looked around, realizing that he was in the monastery, in the bedroom with the two beds. He was on the gray one.

Lloyd stood up, swaying a bit in dizziness, then walked out, heading to the kitchen.

When he arrived, he saw Wu brewing some tea.

Wu, noticing Lloyd in the doorway, gestured for him to sit down at the small kitchen table in the middle of the kitchen.

Lloyd obeyed.

"What happened?" Lloyd asked. "Why am I here?"

Wu frowned. "You don't remember?"

"Remember what?" Lloyd asked in confusion.

"A bunch of people attacked our home. Your father and mother were taken hostage. I barely managed to get away, you in tow," Wu replied gravely.

Now that Wu had explained it, Lloyd was starting to remember what had happened. He stood up suddenly. "We have to rescue them!"
"Lloyd, we will. Sit down."

Lloyd begrudgingly obeyed.

"How is your head?" Wu asked, looking concerned.

Lloyd shrugged. "It hurts a little, I guess."

Wu raised an eyebrow. "A little?"

"Okay, it hurts quite a bit," Lloyd admitted. "But that's not important! We have to rescue Mom and Dad!"

"I know."

"So? What are we gonna do?" Lloyd asked.

"I will go out and follow clues. You will go to school," Wu replied.

"What?! School?! That's not important right now!" Lloyd barked in irritation.

"If you miss a day, someone will have to explain why, and Misako is the only one who can venture into the city to do that. I'm sorry, Lloyd, but for now I will search on my own."

Lloyd gaped at him, speechless. "But-but-"

"No buts," Wu firmly said. "You need to get going."

Lloyd growled in frustration, but knew that in a way, his uncle was right. Even if he didn't agree with it. "But is school really more important than rescuing my parents?"

"I will find your parents, Lloyd. When you come home from school, you can help me search."

"Fine," Lloyd reluctantly agreed. He got up, and Wu handed him the black backpack he had been using.

"I was able to get a few things after those people left," Wu explained.

Lloyd nodded, taking the backpack, and swung in onto his shoulders. Wu also handed him a banana for breakfast that Lloyd eagerly accepted. He left the monastery, heading to school.

Lloyd had never gone to school heading this direction, and so he would have to try and figure it out.

At the concrete wall, Lloyd easily climbed up and over it, landing softly on his feet. He was in another alleyway, an unfamiliar one, and so he cautiously looked around before he started walking. On either side of him were two worn down brown buildings.

When he exited the alleyway, he saw a busy road and sidewalk. Tons of cars and people were rushing past him. He felt a spike of fear shoot through him, but he took a deep breath and started walking. As he walked, he made sure to look at the street signs to try and figure out where exactly he was. About five minutes later, he came upon a part of the city that had very tall buildings. They were ginormous! He wondered ifthesewere skyscrapers. They were way taller than the tallest trees Lloyd had ever seen, and where he lived, some of the trees could grow as tall as a four story building. Which in Lloyd's opinion, was pretty tall.

About twenty minutes later, he finally found the school. It had taken much longer to get there, since he had been unfamiliar with the surroundings.

That morning, Lloyd had a very hard time paying attention. He distantly heard the teacher prattle on, but his mind was elsewhere. He kept on thinking about his parents, wondering where they were and if they were alright. His attention issues were probably also related to his headache, and he was pretty sure that he had a concussion.

At lunch, Lloyd sat down at his usual deserted table, and began to slowly eat. He didn't get far. Kai came up to him, asking if he wanted to join them at their table.

Lloyd blinked at him for a few seconds, having not been paying attention, when his brain finally registered what he had said.

"Oh, um, I-I, I guess…" Lloyd mumbled.

Kai beamed at him, and then led the way to his table, which was located in a far corner. Cole, Nya, Jay, and Zane were already there. The four of them greeted him enthusiastically. Lloyd nervously said hello back, sitting down next to Cole, who had scooted over for him. Jay was at the other side of Cole, Zane was across from Lloyd, and Kai was in the middle between Zane and Nya.

"You wanna go get pizza after school?" Jay asked. "Since, you've never had it before…"

Lloyd blinked at him uncomprehendingly, before he realized what he'd said. "Uh, I can't. I gotta be home by 4:30."

Jay raised an eyebrow at him. "Again? Why?"

"I… have something planned," Lloyd mumbled, looking down at his lunch. Were his parents alright? Did those people hurt them? Where were they? Was Uncle Wu making any progress? Would… would he ever see them again? And if he didn't… what, what would happen then?

"Lloyd?" Kai asked, sounding concerned.

Lloyd looked up at him. "Hmm?"

"Are you okay?" Kai asked.

Everyone else also looked at him in concern.

"Yeah," Lloyd immediately replied. "I'm fine." He looked back down at his lunch, avoiding their gazes. He also suddenly remembered that these were humans. He couldn't trust them. He couldn't just go and start rambling about his problems. He couldn't risk it.

Kai and the others exchanged a look.

An awkward silence.

"Well, um, I brought some candy for you to try," Jay said, changing the subject.

Lloyd glanced up at him. Jay was holding out a round thing wrapped in plastic.

He scrunched his eyebrows in confusion, taking it. "This is… candy?"

"Yup!" Jay exclaimed. "Try it, you'll love it!"

Lloyd looked at him, then at the candy, then back at Jay.

"You're supposed to eat it," Cole helpfully informed him.

"I… figured," Lloyd replied. He wondered if they were trying to poison him or something. Lloyd remembered his mom telling him not to accept food from strangers. He felt a fresh pain thinking of his mother. He frowned.

"You gonna eat it, or just stare at it?" Cole asked. "Because if you don't want it, then I'll have it."

Lloyd glanced at him. Then back at the candy. Well, if Cole was offering to eat it… then it couldn't be poisoned, right? "So this thing is… edible?" he asked, uncertain.

They all looked at him strangely.

"Uh… I wouldn't have given it to you if it wasn't edible," Jay said, looking confused and a little concerned.

"Okay…" Lloyd said. He could just be saying that, but… Lloyd was desperate. He wanted friends. Sure, he hadn't expected human friends, but he had wanted friends for… a long time. And now, maybe, this was his chance. He knew that trusting humans was a bad idea, but right now, he could care less.

He just… he just wanted his parents back. He hoped that they were alright.

Lloyd opened the wrapper, hesitantly sticking the round white thing into his mouth. His eyes lit up immediately in shock and delight. This was delicious! What had he been missing out on?! This thing tasted… sweet. Like… blueberries. And honey. And strawberries.

"You like it?" Jay asked, grinning.

Lloyd nodded, smiling. "This is the best thing I've ever tasted!"

"Heh, and I have way more where that came from!"

Lloyd perked up in interest. "You do? There's more?"

"Yup!" Jay replied. "Here," Jay said, reaching into his backpack and pulling out a small plastic bag. Inside were more colorful candy's, except that these were different kinds. He handed it to Lloyd, who gladly accepted it.

"Ooh," Lloyd awed, studying the candy inside of it. "Do these taste like this one?"

"Mostly, except that they're different flavors and kinds," Jay replied.

"Thank you," Lloyd sincerely said, looking at Jay in gratitude. No one had ever, well, no one besides his family, had ever given him something before. They usually just stole stuff.

"You're welcome!" Jay said, beaming. "Glad you like it!"

Lloyd put the bag of candy's into his backpack. Well, his father's backpack. His mood soured a bit thinking of his dad. But, at least the candy had made him feel better.

"You sure you don't wanna go out for pizza?" Cole asked. "It could be as good as this. You never know what you'll be missing out on."

Lloyd was about to reply 'no', but paused. He wondered if pizza was as good as candy. He did wonder what he was missing out on. Finally, he sighed. "I'm sorry, but I can't. I gotta be home by-"

"4:30, yup," Kai interrupted him. "But does it matter if you're a little late?"

Lloyd frowned. It kinda did, because otherwise Uncle Wu would think that something bad had happened to him. And besides, he had to look for his parents. "I have something I need to do, and I can't be late."
"Okay, we get it," Nya said. "That's okay. Maybe another time?"

Lloyd nodded, grateful that the issue had been dropped.

"Hey, uh, you gonna eat that?" Cole asked, pointing to his small pile of blueberries and strawberries. Lloyd was in the 'middle' of an apple. He had barely taken two bites of it. Lloyd looked down at his food, having forgotten that it was even there. He shrugged, handing his berries to Cole, who eagerly devoured it.

When Cole had finished, he asked, "How about the apple?"

Lloyd handed him the rest of his apple as well.

Kai and Nya rolled their eyes.

When Lloyd arrived at the monastery, the place was vacant.

"Uncle Wu?" Lloyd called. Silence. He frowned, thinking that he was probably still out searching for his parents.

He went into the bedroom, setting the backpack on the floor, and then wandered to the kitchen. He grabbed an apple from the basket on the table for a quick snack before he went out looking, too. The apple was gone in about six minutes, and Lloyd realized that he had been hungrier than he thought, since he had kinda skipped lunch. He had only eaten about two bites from his apple earlier.

After he finished his apple, he threw the core into the garbage and then grabbed a katana from the living room closet. He then set off down the steps of the monastery.

A couple hours later, and Lloyd had not made much progress. He had been wandering in the Outcast for what seemed like ages. He knew that going into the Outcast alone was a terrible idea, but he was desperate. He needed to find his parents.

He finally sighed, deciding to give up for the day. Lloyd walked back to the monastery.

When he got there, he found Wu in the kitchen drinking tea. Wu, noticing him, demanded, "Where have you been?!"

"Uh, I was looking for Mom and Dad," Lloyd replied.

"By yourself?!"

Lloyd swallowed. "Yes. You weren't home, and so I decided to search by myself."

"You went into the Outcast alone?!"

Lloyd fidgeted nervously. "Yes."

"Lloyd, you know how dangerous the Outcast is!" Wu scolded, setting down his cup of tea on the counter. "I was worried sick when I came back and you weren't here!"

"I'm sorry, but I'm not just gonna stand around doing nothing!" Lloyd yelled, frustrated.

"I know you want to help, but there's nothing you can do."

"Yes, there is! I was just fine!"

"This time," Wu answered darkly. "But what about next time? Those same people might come after you! Or other half breeds!"

"Yeah, but they could come after you, too!"

"I know," Wu replied.

Lloyd huffed, then stormed off to the bedroom that Wu and him now shared.

"I can't believe the guy has never had pizza before! Much less heard of it!" Jay said, smashing the buttons on his game controller.

Jay, Kai, Zane, Nya, and Cole were over at Cole's house playing video games, as Cole's house was the only one that had video games. Zane lived at an orphanage, and so any games they used to have were now broken by the younger kids. Kai and Nya were dirt poor, and didn't have the money for video games. And Jay… well, they had never actually been to Jay's house before. Which, was kinda weird, but whatever.

"I know," Kai agreed. "That is really weird…"

"And I can't believe that he's never heard of video games before! I mean, how has he survived all these years?!" Jay continued. "And he's never had candy before?! Or heard of it?! I mean, what's up with this guy?!"

"Jay, don't be rude!" Nya scolded.

Jay immediately shut his mouth. "Sorry…" he mumbled.

"Does he seem… skittish to any of you?" Cole asked.

"Yes," Zane agreed. "He also seemed sad today."

"I know. I wonder why?"

Jay shrugged. "Maybe he just doesn't like us?"

"No, I do not believe that is it, Jay," Zane said.

"Well, what else could it be?" Jay asked. A pause. "Do you guys think that he's… scared of us?"

Silence.

"I guess, maybe," Kai said. "But why? We're the outcasts of the school, just like him. I mean, Nya and I are because we're poor, which is just plain rude… and Jay and Zane because they're 'nerds'. And Cole… um, because he hangs out with the rest of us. I wonder what made Lloyd an outcast?"

"Maybe because he's new?" Jay suggested.

"No, there's plenty of new students every year," Cole argued. "It's not that. It's something else…"

"Anyone else think it was weird when he asked if the candy was edible, like he thought we had poisoned it or something?" Kai asked.

"Yeah, that was definitely weird," Jay agreed.