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Someone was behind her. Nya spun around, hands up, ready to strike. The corridor was empty. But she had heard them. Cautiously, she looked around, before shaking her head and continuing onwards. She had definitely heard footsteps – hadn't she? She blinked rapidly, bringing a hand to rub her eyes.
The corridor was shifting ever so slightly, blurring at the edges. Squinting, she brought it back into focus. She continued down what seemed to be an endless corridor. Before whipping around again, footsteps retreating to her left. But there was no left, no exits of this corridor except the one she had come through and the one she was trying to reach.
Nya wiped her face – why was it so hot in here? - before taking another few steps forward. The hall was tilting again, and she put her hand along the wall to steady herself, hearing the footsteps behind her again and ignoring them. They weren't real, were they?
Whoever it was walked closer, her heart beating wildly in her chest, and lay a hand on her shoulder. Nya reacted, swing round and striking – but hitting nothing but air. She lost her balance, tumbling to the floor, legs shaking. She could still feel the hand on her shoulder, but there was nothing there.
Eyes darting around wildly for her attacker, she saw flickers in the shadows. Maybe they could turn invisible, it wouldn't be the first time. She watched closely, waiting for any trick in the light to give away their position. Using the wall as support, she stumbled upright, leaning heavily on it for support.
Her hands shook, clammy and pale, the corridor seemed to distort, every shadow and flicker in the light moving. Where had they gone. She blinked heavily, chest tight, panting as her head began to pound. Trying to take another step, her legs gave out and she sprawled to the ground, the rough texture of the carpet moving under her cheek.
She heard footsteps again, scrambling back with a gasp as one of the shadows crept up slowly, almost tauntingly. It was a slightly different colour to the rest, blue tinted. Maybe this was who was hunting her – she screamed, holding her hands out, trying desperately to keep them away.
The shadow jumped back, startled by her outburst. Her energy was gone, and she slumped down the wall, eyelid fluttering, colours bursting wildly across her vision. Everything distorted and seemed very far away, before her entire body contracted violently – and everything went black.
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Nya was floating. Her body felt distant and far away. Vaguely, she felt hands on her, heard overlapping voices. She tried to open her eyes, but everything was heavy. She couldn't move.
Someone brushed her face, tapping her cheek. She thought someone called her name, but she faded away again.
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The next time she surfaced, there were shadows again. She still couldn't open her eyes, but she could hear them. Her heartrate climbed wildly and so did a strange beeping she could hear. Nya shifted slightly, trying to move, to get away, but her body was so heavy.
The voices sped up, she caught a few words.
"Nya—"
"Is—conscious?"
"I don't—maybe—"
At least three of them. Her panic climbed higher, but something was familiar. Before she could work out what, her grasp on reality slipped away.
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She was lying on a bed. The rhythmic beeping of a heart monitor was sounding somewhere to her left, but everything else was quiet. Someone had untied her hair, the usually tame locks falling around her shoulders. The pull of an IV in her arm dragged her further into the present, the itch becoming irritating.
Struggling to open her eyes, she forced the heavy lids to comply and stared up at the ceiling. How the hell had she got here? The wooden beams of the Bounty stared back at her. She must be in the med bay. Rolling her head to the side, she saw Kai sitting in the chair next to her.
He was hunched over; she couldn't tell if he was awake. Shifting further, she cleared her throat and croaked "Kai."
He jumped. Awake then, she noted. He rushed over to her, mouth open, talking faster than she could understand.
"Nya?!—awake, how do you—what are—are you okay?"
He helped her sit up against the pillows. Something was wrong, she hadn't seen him this worried since the time she got stabbed, only a few months after joining the ninja team. This worry was normally reserved for Lloyd when he collapsed after hiding some kind of injury as well. But he didn't seem mad – which was odd. Normally he hid his fear, but right now any attempt at that seemed forgotten by sheer relief.
"What—wh" She tried, throat dry and head pounding.
Noticing her struggle, he presented a cup of water, raising it for her to drink from. She did, greedily.
"Whoa, careful," he pulled it back slightly, "Slowly."
He raised it to her lips again, and she drank slower this time. Quenching her thirst, she sank back slightly, and Kai perched on the edge of her bed.
"What happened?"
"Zane said you might not remember," Kai suddenly jumped, "Wait—let me tell him you're awake."
He pulled out his phone and typed a quick message before returning it to his pocket. She blinked slowly, still exhausted. Her body was heavy and she wasn't sure how much she could move even if she wanted to – like Kai would let her anyway.
"Okay—so, basically, you got exposed to some kind of hallucinogenic substance on our mission," Mission? What mission, "And we lost contact with you. Jay found you—you really scared him, he said you didn't even recognise he was there—and then he called over the com a few minutes later saying you were shaking and not answering him."
Kai paused, looking her up and down.
"Zane and I—we got there next." He quieted a bit, "It was real scary, Zane said you had a seizure, but we couldn't do anything except wait for it to stop. You've been unconscious ever since, while we tried to flush whatever it was out of your system."
He gestured to the IV in her arm, before going still. That was a lot. She didn't remember any of it, which was slightly freaking her out. The heart monitor beeping increased slightly, and Nya tried to reach out to Kai, hand only getting halfway before flopping limply back on to the bed, body still unwilling to comply.
Noticing her attempt, Kai shuffled closer and lifted her into a hug. She fell against him, barely able to reciprocate the motion. Zane would be here in a minute; she was sure of it. It was a surprise he wasn't there already, Nya guessed she had been out of it for a while.
She breathed out a long breath, relaxing into her big brother's arms, head falling against his chest. Later, she would talk to Jay and the others, piece together what had happened. But for now, she basked is Kai's natural warmth, certain he was real, and that she was safe.