I'm Fine, Don't Worry

Not the Whole Truth

"How do you know our mom?" 

The ninja froze. They turned to look at Kai and the two dragons. Kai was trembling, his face white with fear. Hope and Fear were shocked and confused, though their claws were clenched, in case Kai was a possible threat. Kai, desperate, asked again, voice louder this time. "Where is Daidan? You know her, where is she?!" 

Hope turned away sharply. She had always been the older, outgoing twin of the two, but she was more impulsive and subject to emotions than Fear, who was quieter. Tears slowly filled her eyes, and a few of them dripped down onto the ground. No one saw but Kai. Kai understood, or rather, sort of. He lowered his eyes. "Is... she dead?"

Fear shrugged. "No one knows. Mom was last seen in the grasp of a giant stone monster, and she yelled for us to get away and get help. I... I don't know if she's still alive..." Fear trembled for the first time the ninja met him. His blue scales suddenly dulled. Cole turned to Kai, demanding, "Kai, how do you know these dragons' mom?" 

Kai lowered his eyes. Then he sharply looked at Cole. "You don't have to worry about that. It's irrelevant right now. We've got to find Daidan." 

Cole's eyes filled with worry. Kai was never sharp like this. Sure, he was a hothead, but this kind of sharpness wasn't in Kai's personality. It was almost like... he had a secret to hide. 

Nya frowned. She knew her brother very well, and Kai was never usually like this. When she broke a plate, he comforted her and checked her for cuts. If she fell down, he would help her up. If she did something wrong, Kai would guide her like the loving brother he was. This wasn't like him. Nya knew for sure, Kai was hiding something deep down. Nya saw through him. His hotheaded, don't-carish defense was falling, and it was just built up again with bandages that can't seem to stick. Nya knew. If this went on, Kai would break, she just knew it. 

Wyldfyre, Sora and Arin looked uneasy. They knew what happened to Kai. They had the secret. But the thing they didn't have was the courage to confront Kai. It's a sensitive topic, and even fiery Wyldfyre knew that. She wasn't mindless, Wyldfyre was growing mature and knew how to control. And she learnt all that from Kai. The very person who was trying to smile while inside he was dying. Wyldfyre wished she could help him. But she couldn't. Because it wasn't her secret to give away. 

Fear nodded. "Alright, red guy. We'll take you to where we last saw mom. But we don't know if she's still there..." He whispered. The red and blue dragons took the lead, heading off in the direction of the creepy forests. 

As they walked, more memories came back to Kai. The same ones he managed to lock up. Being attacked by a tentacled monster in these very forests. Just as he was thinking about it, there was a rustle in the bushes. The group stopped and turned to the bushes. Lloyd gripped his sword, while Cole steadied his posture. Nya got her water ready at the tip of her fingers. Kai? Kai froze. He recognised the sound. The rustling, exactly. It almost sounded familiar... maybe like... 

"Get down!" Kai pushed the people in front of him- namely Nya and Zane- onto the floor. Lloyd spluttered, "Kai! What gives?" Kai yelled back, "Just trust me!" He aimed his fire at the foot of the bush. Sure enough, a tentacle slithered out. Kai immediately shot it, and it withdrew immediately. Then, a beastly, four eyed creature with ten tentacles came out. It started to attack, using its tentacles to sweep the floor and hit Kai. Kai retaliated with a sharp sidestep, and took out his sword. He began slashing it with the sword, and jumped onto a tree nearby to hit it. "Guys! Aim for its underbelly! That's its weak spot!" Cole yelled, "What? How do you know?" Kai groaned. "Cole! Not the time! Trust me!" Cole, seeing the seriousness of the situation, nodded frantically and hit the creature's underbelly with an earth punch. "Take that, tentacle monster!" Arin yelled, only to be hit by the tentacles. 

Lloyd sighed. "Arin, less commentary, more fighting!" He warned. Wyldfyre added unhelpfully, "Yeah! You're not Roby! There's only one Roby in this world!" 

Sora also added unhelpfully, "I had a classmate called Roby." 

Kai rolled his eyes, thankfully for him, was not seen due to the fact he was on a tree. He suddenly leapt down in one swoop and defeated the monster successfully. 

Nya asked, "Kai! How did, what? How did you know what to do?" Zane glanced at the two dragons. Even they seemed taken aback. Riyu growled softly. Kai suddenly tensed. 

"I don't wanna talk about it." 

Wyldfyre growled. She was sick of it. Keeping a terrible secret in was bad for yourself, even she knew that.

"You're gonna talk, because YOU KNOW IT'S BEST FOR YOU IF YOU CONFESS! STOP HIDING, AND JUST FOR FSM'S SAKE TELL US!" Wyldfyre yelled. Her voice was so loud that it shook some leaves off the trees. Everyone turned to look at her. Wyldfyre clenched her fists, and her arms shook. Then everyone looked at Kai. His hands were also clenched and shaking, but not of anger. Of stress and despair. 

"THAT'S BECAUSE I WAS HERE BEFORE, OKAY?! ARE YOU HAPPY? YOU GOT THE TRUTH FROM ME, ISN'T THAT ENOUGH?" Kai shouted. The ninja and dragons looked taken aback. Lloyd stuttered. "Kai... you... you say you've been here before?" Kai nodded. He looked hard at the ninja and muttered, "You know already. Can you just let it go?" 

The ninja were about to answer, when they heard a soft voice. It came from Wyldfyre. And it wa full of knowingness. 

"Something tells me that's not the whole truth." 

———

Got it out! Yey! 

-Aly

3/9/25