Roots of Earth ~ A Ninjago Fanfiction

Chapter 58: Worlds Away

Kai didn't fully realize he was awake until he was. Slowly, gradually, taking their sweet time about it, some of his senses returned. The blurry images began to focus when he blinked a few times. He felt warm and surrounded by something soft. It was very quiet—but he thought he could hear birds chirping faintly outside.

Outside where, though?

He forced himself to sit up. His head swam, and he stifled a low moan. He had a headache. Not a bad one, but enough to cause him discomfort. Blinking blearily, he scanned his surroundings.

He was in a bed. Covers were pulled up to his torso. He was in a little bedroom, with wood floors and walls, and dark, thick beams running above his head. It was sunny. Golden light was filtering in through a dusty window to the left of the bed. It looked like late afternoon. It was comfortably warm.

He glanced down at himself, and realized that he was wearing an unfamiliar shirt—a simple, long-sleeved white one, with a short V-shaped cut down the collar in the center. The chest and armpit areas were stained. He smelled something funny, like cold sweat.

What in the world had happened to him?

"Hi, Mister."

Kai nearly jumped out of skin at the sound of the voice. He whirled around to his right to see a little girl standing there. She was rather young—perhaps nine to ten years old. Her scraggly, straw-yellow hair fell to her shoulders, and her chocolate-brown eyes glinted inquisitively at him. Freckles dotted her plump, rosy cheeks. She wore a simple brown dress, with a small, patched white apron tied over it. She smiled sweetly at him, cocking her head curiously.

"Why were you sleeping for so long?"

Kai liked his lips—they were dry and chapped. He tried to speak, gurgled, then cleared his throat and repeated, "Sleeping?"

"Beenthina!"

Both Kai and the girl jumped when a woman burst through the door that stood behind the child. It was the same long-haired, middle-aged woman Kai had seen earlier, he realized, now remembering how he had woken up from a feverish sleep. The woman's brown eyes—much like the girl's—flashed as she exclaimed crossly, "I told you not to bother the young man! He's had a very rough night."

"I just wanted to see what he looked like," the girl chirped back. She didn't seem to mind the older woman's sharp rebuke.

"Next time, love, obey me. I don't tell you these things just to listen to the sound of my own voice, you know." Despite her words, she ran a hand over the girl's head affectionately, rumpling it. "Now you go on and check the chickens, Beenthina, like I told you to. Go, now."

Beenthina gave Kai a smile. "Bye, Mister!" She skipped out of the room, leaving Kai alone with the stranger.

The woman bent over the bed and pressed the back of her hand against Kai's forehead. "Mm, you're much better now, dear," She clucked with approval—and some relief. "How are you feeling?"

"Um..." Kai felt as if he hadn't used his voice in years. Meekly he croaked, "Sleepy?"

"Not too bad, then. You certainly look much better." She smoothed the covers of the bed. "Honestly, though, you were very sick for a while there. I thought I'd lose you."

"I was... sick?" he mumbled blankly.

"Poor thing, you need some food." She shook her head at him, then smiled gently. "I'm Nama, by the way. Nama Krogersohn. That was my daughter Beenthina who woke you up—I'm terribly sorry, by the way," she added. "She's not usually very disobedient."