The Jade City

Chapter 10: The Forest, Part II

Harumi's POV

After a while I decided to trot alongside Morro (mostly so that my gaze wouldn't have to be drawn to Kai), glancing around just to make sure there was nothing dangerous following us, since by now I had gotten sick of saying "I hate myself", even though of course, I still did.

Feeling a bit restless, I fiddled with my thumbs and the hem of my shirt. My eyes followed my feet as they carried me deeper and deeper into the trees. For a long time, there were no sounds other than the occasional bird and the crunching of leaves under our feet. I felt eyes on me and looked up to see Morro's dark green ones. He then coughed and rumpled his hair with his free hand. I looked back down.

"So, you and Lloyd are a... thing now?" Morro asked awkwardly. "He told me."

Even in the chilly forest air, I felt my face burn. In the last hour or so, I'd barely thought about it. But then, it would've been selfish of me to. Then I remembered the fact that Morro was mean to my sister.

"Why do you hate her so much? My sister, I mean," I asked abruptly. I didn't mean to sound so accusing, but the question just came out of my mouth of its own accord.

He didn't answer at first, apparently thinking about how he should answer.

"I just don't like her..." his voice trailed off.

"That's not really an excuse," I said, hoping he wouldn't start treating me like filth again. But considering the situation we were in, I doubted he would do anything serious.

"I get that she's the princess. And that she's your sister. Sue me if you want, but I'm going to say this: she's an idiot." His voice was growing colder by the minute.

The sudden harshness in his words hit me like a brick. Seemed like though his attitude towards me might've changed, he still hated Ruby. And then I realized that she was somewhere in the forest, but we didn't know where. I froze where I stood. How could I have forgotten about her? I ran my fingers through my hair and pulled the strands. Morro, sensing something wrong, stopped in his tracks.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, concerned. "Or was it because I said—"

"No, it wasn't anything you said," I murmured, cutting him off. "But yeah, something is wrong."

Morro blinked, confused.

"I don't know where she is." I said. Our eyes met.

"Then we'll find her. But we'll do it after we've taken care of the tree problem." His voice was firm and steady, or as firm as steady as it could be, and there was no point in arguing. "Don't worry. I'm sure she'll be fine. Positive."

I closed my eyes and took several deep breaths. He had agreed. But I was still bothered. What if we were too late? What if she got attacked? What if the fall was too painful to tolerate? What if she needed me right now? What if the Shadow Knight got her? What if she... she... I couldn't bring myself to think about it anymore. The worry turned to fright, and fright turned to anger. I felt something boiling in my chest, like it was a volcano ready to explode at any minute. Lashing out at a time like this wouldn't be wise, but I couldn't hold it in.

"You don't care, do you?" I said quietly, "You don't care because you hate her. You wish she were dead, don't you?"

He hesitated.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," I scoffed, my voice soft and low. It was the same voice I used to threaten the Sons of Garmadon with, and it would scare them into doing whatever I wanted.

His hand twitched a little, as if he wanted to reach out to something. I knew I was being a brat, even if Morro really needed a lesson on how to treat girls that weren't exactly the warrior type. My heart pounded in my chest with rage, and I took several deep and very audible breaths. I could feel my face growing hotter by the minute, but then I saw Kai's limp figure and caught myself before I lost my temper again.