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It’s cold. It’s worse than cold. Kai has been cold before, but this is something else. It feels like it’s inside him, this time, seeped into his bones. The hollow of his chest feels filled with ice, freezing him from the inside out. Without his fire, the snow is that much more biting.
He can’t say anything about it, though, can’t complain, because when he brought it up last, Jay shouted at him. Something about how they’re all cold and he needs to stop thinking about himself. So Kai is keeping his mouth shut. Afterall, he can’t know for certain whether the cold is really getting to him more than the others, or if he’s just not used to it. He remembers Nya telling him a few years ago that his body temperature is naturally higher than average, resting at one hundred, what would typically constitute a fever in someone else. So maybe that’s it. Maybe he feels colder because he’s normally warmer.
Regardless, he doesn’t like it. His fingers are turning blue where they’re tucked into his armpits, and whenever he attempts to do anything with them, he’s unable to grip anything properly. This is hard to explain away, when the others get mad at him for dropping supplies or messing something up. He doesn’t want to say he’s cold, as they’ve already decided that’s not a valid excuse.
Thankfully, they really don’t ask much of him. He’s not sure why, but he thinks it has something to do with his missing elemental power. He’s useless the way he is.
He’s also weaker. Whether that’s from the cold or his power being stolen he doesn’t know, but it’s becoming a real annoyance to him. Waking up is harder, and falling asleep is easier, sometimes even unintentional. He hasn’t been one for naps in years, and suddenly he finds himself nodding off almost any time he sits down. It’s like all of his energy was sucked out of him along with his element.
All this to say, he is not having a very good time.
He huddles now beside an unlit fire pit, desperately trying to keep his teeth from chattering. The other ninja are gathered a little ways away, discussing some plan or another, leaving him completely out of it. Maybe that’s for the best, as even now his thoughts are slipping through his mind like sand through an hourglass. He’s starting to forget how they even ended up here. Or why. But he won’t admit that either. Last thing he needs is to be berated even more.
“Hey, mister, are you ok?” One of the children of the village asks him, holding out a bowl of something. “My mama said you didn’t look good so I should give you something to eat.”
“Thanks, kid,” Kai replies, mustering a smile even as his lips tremble and his tongue fights movement. “I’m ok. I’ll take the food, though.” He does, pulling his shaking hands out of his armpits. They struggle to hold the soup, so he moves the bowl to his lap.
“Your lips are blue,” the child says. They’re staring at him with their eyes squinted, studying him closely.
“I’m cold,” Kai shrugs. “It’s cold out.”
“Yeah, but, like, my lips aren’t blue,” they tell him. “And most people’s aren’t.”
“I don’t know what to tell you,” Kai huffs. “I’m fine.” They give him one last sideways glance and thankfully leave him alone.
It gets worse through the next day. There’s a bit of a storm, which turns the wind near freezing. Even tucked away in their shared little shack, the walls cannot keep out the frigid air. The other ninja are gathered together, but Kai, stubborn to a fault, does not join them. He’s tired of being simultaneously berated and ignored. Besides, he’s too hot to huddle with them, and he doesn’t know if he could even get out there if he wanted.
His body thrums with heat, melting his muscles away into jelly. It’s worse than that one time he got heat stroke, worse even than when he uses his fire. The blankets are the first to go, as their the easiest, then his uniform, leaving him in just his underclothes.
His fingers are still blue, still staunchly refusing to cooperate with him, but they don’t shake. Instead they’re stiff, and it’s as though the connection between them and his brain has been severed.
He can hear through the door his brothers’ voices, but he can’t for the life of him understand what they’re saying, even though they’re plenty loud enough to be made out. It seems the disconnect between his hands and brain has similarly reached his ears. He can hear his own heartbeat, though, and while he cannot count it, he knows for certain it is far too slow. He can’t remember what that means, he can’t remember much of anything, but he sure knows it.
Everything in his view is growing fuzzy, like ice on a window, and he can feel himself falling asleep. That’s good, he likes to sleep. Sleep isn’t cold or warm. Sleep has no expectations, cannot be mad at him for not meeting them. Sleep can never be disappointed.
He only just barely sees his door open before he’s gone.
None of the ninja are worried about Kai. Him missing his element is frustrating, for them and for him, but it isn’t life threatening. Never has been in the past. Thus none of the ninja are concerned, aside from Lloyd.
Something just seems off about Kai, and he can’t help thinking about it. Kai’s been slow and sluggish, and his lips are blue. Jay and Cole don’t seem to see what he sees, and when he’d asked their opinions they’d both told him Kai was likely being dramatic, since they all know he’s used to being constantly warm. But physical symptoms aren’t easy to fake.
When Kai does not join them in the common room during the blizzard, he really becomes worried. They’re all huddled together, except for Kai, beneath a blanket, attempting to stave off the cold. This seems like the sort of thing a freezing Kai might like to partake in. So his absence is more than a little worrying.
There’s no answer when Lloyd eventually breaks away from Jay and Cole to knock on Kai’s door. He warns Kai that he’s going to open the door, and when he still stays quiet, Lloyd pushes it open.
Kai is nearly naked on his bed, his head turned towards the door and his chest barely moving. Lloyd feels his own heart rate spike when Kai’s eyes slide shut just moments later, and he runs to his brother as though he weren’t a matter of feet away.
“Kai!” he shouts, ripping off his glove to press his fingers to Kai’s freezing throat. His pulse is slow and thready, weak, and his skin is about as cold as the air. Or so it feels. “Guys! Get in here!” Jay and Cole are already moving after his first exclamation, rushing in behind him. “He’s really, really cold.” Lloyd frets. Cole removes his own glove and puts his palm on Kai’s forehead.
“That’s bad,” he whispers. “Like, really bad.” Jay’s behind them chewing on his fingers, staring anxiously at their unconscious brother.
“What do we do?” Lloyd asks, gathering Kai’s discarded clothes.
“I think we have to bring him to their medic. They have to know how to deal with something like this.” Cole decides. Lloyd and Jay agree, so together they replace Kai’s uniform and drag him up so his arms are around their shoulders.
They drag him to what they know to be the medical hut, and the resident doctor there takes one look at Kai and starts barking orders at them.
Together they gather rags, water, and blankets. They’re instructed on how to place the water soaked rags, once it’s been warmed, then cover Kai in blankets. All that’s left after that is to wait.
“His body is made to be hotter,” Jay eventually mumbles, uncomfortable. “I remember hearing Nya talking about it. Because of his element, his body temp is usually higher than ours, and more sensitive to external temperature.”
“So the cold really is harder on him,” Cole surmises. Jay gives him a very ashamed nod. They will have to apologize when Kai wakes.Whenever that may be.