On a String

Chapter 14

That couldn't be right...

Kai turned back to look at the bird.

But it would be exactly what you would expect of The Puppeteers... underhand, shadowy, deceptive, manipulative...

Should he warn the others?

But what if he wasn't right?

Would they doubt him? Would he make a fool of himself?

No. Their safety was worth far more than his ego.

He just hoped he wouldn't lose their trust.

(Trust... Ha.)

The bird left its perch and flew around the ship once, before coming to rest back on top of the sail.

It looked like it was scanning the deck.

(Looking for targets?)

Targeted.

Move.

Survive.

"Look out!" Kai cried, running to push Cole and Zane away from under the main sail. "Get away from the bird!" he yelled across the deck to everyone else. "Get off the ship!"

"Kai-" Sensei Wu began.

Kai shook his head. "NOW!" he ordered, running across the deck and leaping off the edge to the sand below.

Thank goodness the ship wasn't hovering, but resting on the sand tonight, or he would've been in trouble. At least something was going right... and about time, too. Kai just had time to fling himself face down on the sand before the explosion rocked the air and sent pieces of wood flying in all directions.

He spat out the grit that had made its way into his mouth and looked around wildly while wiping his mouth with one hand. Where were... where were they?

Cole?

Zane? Lloyd? Sensei Wu? Nya? Jay?

Cole?

Kai dragged himself off the warm sand and stood. The explosion didn't appear to be as bad as he thought it would.

Why? Had The Puppeteers miscalculated the size of the blast needed to destroy everything?

Kai didn't have time to worry about that.

The mast had been destroyed and fallen across the prow, but no damage had been done to the part of the deck where he'd last seen everyone else. The damage would be easily repaired- none of the crucial parts of the ship had been harmed as the engines and control room were still intact.

It wasn't like The Puppeteers to fail at something like this (Why hadn't everyone died?)... but Kai didn't have time to worry about that. Just had to be grateful that it appeared no one had been killed or hurt.

They must have been very lucky.

As he watched, a fireball engulfed what was left of the main sail, rising up and scattering glittery orange light against the dusky sky. But now Kai could make out six colourful figures silhouetted against the ball of flame.

Everyone was okay.

Kai let out a small sigh of relief, but the feeling rapidly disappeared (like nightfall at the end of the day) as he watched his home burn.

(Home? What was-?)

He felt so cold.

(Nowhere was safe. They had come back.)

No. Coming back implies leaving... and they hadn't left.

They'd being playing everyone like Puppets... sitting back knowing that they had the power to detonate the bomb and kill all along- whenever they wanted, a press of finger would send the Ninja team to their graves.