Chapter Text
Kai's eyes bore straight lines into the darkness surrounding him. His breathing was deep as he attempted to inhale as much fresh oxygen as he could. Although his gaze was trained to watch for creatures lurking in the shadows, his mind drifted back to that cursed land where the air was putrid, rotting, and full of large bits of what Kai hoped was ash. He was not certain about the slurry he had lived in—a place where the land was colourless and devoid of hope and life, reduced to cruel survival.
His mind wandered far into hell as his breathing quickened and his eyes became more erratic, searching for lurking beasts formed from the shadows cast by the early sun barely beginning to rise and city lights. Slowly, he reached for his katana, which lay unsheathed beside him, His grip tightened around the jagged steel, the pressure forcing a thick, dark crimson to well up between his knuckles and begin to trickle down his wrist in a steady, rhythmic flow. The quick, burning sensation allowed him to refocus and bring himself back to the present as the faint metallic smell drifted around his head, making him feel nauseous.
He brought his hand to his face, lighting gentle fires on each of his fingers and moving them around carefully, enveloping the room in an orange hue making the shadows shrink back. Now, with a more illuminated view of his injuries, he could see that the damage wasn’t deep enough for stitching or major concern; it would most likely scab over within the hour. But stanching the bleeding would be beneficial.
The flames danced across the walls, revealing the dusty floorboards and wooden paneling that his room was made from. In hindsight, it seemed foolish to put an elemental master of fire in a flammable box. But Kai didn’t mind. He wasn’t prone to accidentally spontaneously combusting, and after the land of monsters, he was more cautious when using his flames. After all, he hadn’t wanted any unwanted attention from the mass of mutated creatures, the room itself was bare, aside from a window, a clock, and a bed with a bathroom attached for his personal use. He sighed before moving to the floor. Being careful with his injured hand, he leaned down and reached for the first aid kit he had stashed under his cot. It wasn’t long before the wound was tightly packed and bandaged, and the kit was tucked away back under his bed.
By now, the sun was streaming in with a gentle golden light. Evidence that it was early morning, as he checked the clock attached to the wall next to his door. The hands read around quarter to six. Perfect. The others would be getting up soon, and the monastery would be alive with several ninjas and ninjas in training.
He moved toward his en-suite and looked himself up and down in the mirror. His eye bags were noticeable, but on the plus side, his frame was beginning to fill out again. Where he was previously just bone and muscle, his ribs looked less like they were going to burst out from under his skin. Before Kai considered himself to look similar to a sulkin, so he was glad he was beginning to put some weight back on. Kai considered it a miracle. He had been struggling with eating since coming back, first finding food repulsive and closely linking it to the grime he had consumed in the land of monsters, and then finding that he couldn’t keep down most solid foods, often throwing up the contents of his meals into the toilet that he was unironically standing beside.
Turning away from himself, he decided to take a shower, hoping the water would soothe his tired muscles and calm his nerves. It did not such as its fast beat brought him back to the heavy rainfall when he and Daidon had travelled over the mountains, trying to find a way back home.
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Kai had told Daidon about the previous fire master, through the downpour, when he recounted his tale of Rusty and how they met—how the land claimed even those with the most compassionate hearts. After recounting how he woke within the egg, Daidon let out a noise of unease. “How long ago was this, ninja?” she hissed. The rain falling heavy and soaking his clothes. “Tell me, how do you feel?” Although her gaze remained steady, he could feel her shoulders tensing beneath him.
With the water running of the edges of his straw hat and the fast wind pushing the fat droplets that fell off into his eyes. Kai answered as honestly as he could to ease the dragon.“I was traveling with Rusty for around a month. Give or take; it’s hard to measure time here,” he replied, giving an educated guess. Daidon had been silent for a while, with only her sturdy wingbeat and the rushing wind filling the space. “I will take us down at the next outcropping. I must confirm something.” Her voice was gentle among the winds but firm; Kai dared not think about what had unnerved the great dragon, who cared for no one but herself.
The cave that had first appeared within the mountains was spacious enough for Daidon to enter, but it wasn’t very deep, meaning the dragon found it a bit cramped. “Now tell me, have you experienced back pains, headaches, or gum pains?” she asked, looking pitifully down at him. It made his head spin; Daidon was assessing whether he was already lost, claimed, or swallowed whole by the land.
“I—I felt a back pain after I broke free from the egg! But not for long; only a day’s worth of traveling, and I couldn’t feel it anymore.”
Daidon huffed curiously, and the area where Kai imagined her eyebrows would have been raised as if to question the authenticity of his story. “Curious indeed,” she hummed. “Show me your back, ninja.”
Kai removed his cape and the top half of his gi, flexing his back toward her. He knew he was a sight for sore eyes, with multiple scars and his skin hanging tightly around what was left of his starving, malnourished body. “You are perhaps the luckiest thing alive in the land of monsters,” she marveled, and the fight-or-flight instinct that had previously swallowed her frame disappeared.
“I sure don’t feel all that lucky,” he replied, trying to redress himself.
“That creature you encountered conceives by biting its victims with a poison. It can choose whether the poison is reproductive or venomous, and then it covers them in a silk-like substance that hardens upon contact with the air. The egg is just designed for the hatchling's comfort; it plays no role in the transformation. The poison alters their bones down to their DNA. What should have hatched from that cocoon was a Kester hatchling, certainly not human.”
Kai struggled to comprehend what he had been told. Why was he an exception? Was he already a monster? Daidon was right all along: “One cannot survive the land of monsters without becoming a monster themselves.” “Why?” His voice came out as barely a whisper.
“I can only assume that the transformation required a lot of energy from your own body, which clearly you do not have,” she said, making a claw gesture pointing at him. He hadn’t transformed because he was so malnourished? It made sense in his head, but Daidon just added more news as he winced at her claw.
“I looked at your back just then to see if you had any abnormal growths. Your spine has more noticeable spikes along the top, and I can see where an extra appendage might grow in. I’m no expert, but I fear the Kester’s poison could still be within your body. I am uncertain of when it becomes ineffective, but I would recommend that you don’t absorb a vast amount of energy, as it could trigger the poison’s growth.”
He puffed talking under his breath “definitely won’t be doing that anytime soon.”
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despite the memories, Kai found that the shower did wonders for his fatigued body and helped loosen his muscles a bit. It made him feel more alert and awake than he had before; the eye bags that had sunken into his face even looked less hollow. He chose to change within the safety of the locked bathroom door, as Wyldefire was prone to entering without knocking. He toweled his hair dry as best he could before putting on a fresh gi that Zane had washed for him. He bundled the dirty clothes into the crook of his arm and unlocked the bathroom door, heading through his room and into the corridor that connected most of the ninjas' rooms. Most of the doors were still closed, indicating that the residents had yet to awaken. However, Zane and Lloyd’s doors stood adjacent.
Kai walked past them all, past the living space with its sofa that certainly didn’t fit everyone, and the wide-screen TV. He walked into the kitchen, where he found Zane hovering over the stove, searing what smelled like fish. He sucked in a breath through his mouth, finding the smell familiar, but not in a good way. “Good morning, Zane. Whatcha cooking up?” He tried to keep his voice even and steady.
“Good morning, Kai. I am making smoked salmon and scrambled eggs garnished with dill. There is some sriracha on the table for extra flavor. I’m also making rice porridge for anyone who would like it,” Zane replied, smiling as he turned to face him. To Kai’s amusement, Zane still chose to wear a pink apron while cooking.
“Alright, bud, sounds delicious,” Kai replied. “Do you know why Lloyd is up so early?”
“I assume it is because of Arin, Sorra, and Wyldefire’s training. Although, you’d do better asking him.” Zane turned back to scrambling the eggs. “Could I interest you in some oolong tea? It’s rich in polyphenol antioxidants.”
Kai chuckled, looking back down at last night's laundry tucked under his arm. “I will, thanks, but I better go put this in the laundry room.”
“Very well.”
He walked through the kitchen into a moderate room that the team was using as a laundromat. With all the extra washing, having an additional room was only fitting. It had two washing machines and two dryers, and there was a clothes horse that was already bending under the weight of the clean laundry. Kai dropped his slightly bloody kit in an empty washing machine and turned back into the kitchen, where Zane had served three fresh cups of tea on the table, all still steaming lightly. He sat down in front of one cup and reached for it with his uninjured hand. Kai knew how observant Zane was and didn’t want to cause any unnecessary stress for the team; this was his problem and his alone…
The next thing Kai heard was yelling and screaming as Wyldefire burst through the monastery doors, her hands smoking. She whooped and hollered, giggling maniacally. She was chased in by Lloyd, whose face was covered in soot and looked like parts of his eyebrows were missing. “This is not funny! That was today’s training, Wyldefire!” Lloyd moaned, running his hands through his dirty hair. Wyldefire ran into the kitchen and jumped onto the table. Kai made a grab for his cup of tea and the unclaimed cup, clutching them in each of his hands.
“I don’t need any training; I’m already the best of the best,” she retorted smugly, flashing her teeth. Lloyd glanced at Kai, giving him his best ‘please control her’ look. “Get off the table, kid; otherwise, you won’t get breakfast.”
“Awww, man, you’re no fun!” she exclaimed, jumping off the table and finding her seat beside him as Zane slid a plate of salmon and eggs her way. “Nice!” she grinned, tearing into the eggs with her fingers and pushing handfuls of food into her face. It made him feel slightly uneasy to witness her animalistic appetite—the clawing and tearing—so he turned to look at Lloyd.
“Well, I guess that woke everyone up. And you look like you work in a mine!” Lloyd scoffed as Kai slid him the cup of tea.
“I don’t know what we’re gonna do about her.”
“Oi, right here, ya know!” Egg flew from her mouth in sprays. Lloyd looked mortified, but Kai chose to ignore it, thinking he might throw up. Thankfully, Zane came around and cleaned up the mess.
“Wyldefire, if you speak while you’re eating, you’re gonna waste food. You can’t eat it anymore,” he gestured to where the food had been. She frowned, thinking hard. One thing Kai understood about Wyldefire was her connection to food. Being raised by a dragon meant hunting for food, and that should never be wasted.
“You really shouldn’t speak like she’s an abandoned stray.” He knocked their shoulders together. Wyldefire was unruly, but she was a sensitive kid, especially about how she was raised. That upset her the most.
“What was the training gonna be? And what are you planning to do now?” Kai questioned Lloyd as Zane passed over a bowl of rice porridge and a scrambled egg. Kai grabbed the porridge and stirred it around with his spoon.
“Today’s training was going to be an obstacle course. I hoped it would teach Wyldefire and the others patience, but I was trying out the course when the spinning dummy I was fighting exploded.”
Wyldefire snorted. “You should have seen it! He was all like, ‘Huh? Aah!’” She burst out giggling. “T-the l-l-look on your face! Bahahaha!” She keeled over, laughing hard, her shoulders shaking as if the bolts that held them together were undone.
“Yeah, yeah.” Lloyd rolled his eyes, tucking into his breakfast.
As predicted, after Wyldefire's stunt, the table began to fill up as the more energetic Arin and Sorra joined them, followed by Cole, who was still wearing his teddy bear pajamas. However, Even he didn’t compare to Nay and Jay, who walked out practically still asleep. They both had etched dark circles under their eyes, probably from staying up late tinkering. Jay had drool running down the side of his face and Nya’s bed hair looked like a hurricane had swept through.
Kai made an effort to eat as much porridge as he could, trying not to focus too much on its slimy consistency or gloopy texture. It was better than eggs, Kai imagined he would never eat an egg again. The table was filled with friendly chatter, which made him relax as he eased into their company. But it was the calm before the storm. The monastery shook; plates began to rattle, and a few teacups fell over, smashing onto the floor. The ninjas moved with trained ease, escaping from their chairs into the courtyards.
“Mergequake...” Arin’s voice was tiny compared to the sound of the sky splitting. Kai wouldn’t have heard him if he hadn’t been right next to him. “Alright, team, sounds like a big one. Let’s split up, try to contain the damage, and prevent civilian casualties.” Lloyd’s voice was calm and automatic as he tried to assess the situation, “looks like we weren’t doing that training drill anyway.” Kai mused Lloyd almost sounded upset that he wouldn’t have to be ‘sensei’ today. There was a chorus of agreement as the others boarded the bounty. Kai and Wyldefire jumped on their bikes, making an unspoken agreement that this was definitely a race.
The two were coming up under the rift when Kai’s head started to spiral. The other realm’s sky was so clear, from his view through the rift, it was almost as if he were still there. The land of monsters had found him…