y/n's pov
i got far enough to desert the others that the only audible thing was the tranquil chirping of birds.
i analyzed my surroundings. there wasn't anything or anyone in sight. i felt relieved, but i kept walking stealthily, keeping my vision open to everything around me.
i finally addressed the tingling sensation on my fingers again. then, my mind drifted to what i had just done with kai, the urge to play with my elemental power possessing me.
if i had somehow been capable of blanking with someone else, then there was a bunch of other things i had yet to discover. i grinned at myself; for one, i thought i had exceeded my skill, and two, it gave me a rush of determination to figure out what else i could do.
ramped up with the elements around me, i attempted to open a void portal, like i had done when i fought lloyd on my tryout. the wind became slave to my order; the whistling became a shrill of cries that could only be described as unearthly. rotating my fingers and extending my other hand out in front of me, the black hole was slowly forming. some of the leaves from the trees that hovered above me thrusted violently in my direction and circled the portal. the ground trembled in certain instants and paused, then continuing all over again.
the portal of void in front of me was about the size of four-passenger-seat automobile, which was definitely bigger than the one i made for lloyd. satisfied with my work, i rotated my fingers in the opposite direction to unwind my beloved creation. the howls and movement slowly died down, until there was nothing left.
i sighed with contentment.
as much as i wanted to hang around and explore the full capacity of my elemental power, i knew i had to keep moving. i didn't need to have the possibility of being found. or let kai down.
before i could continue, the cracking of bones from dead leaves on the ground filled the air behind me. spinning on my heel at once, i came face-to-face with the blue ninja. we both gulped, our proximity being a little much for us to process. we retracted simultaneously, before he knitted his eyebrows in an angry appearance.
"oh, it's you," he spat in an aggressive tone. "great."
"no one's forcing you to stick around," i replied nonchalantly as possible. in reality, i was stung with little bits of sorrow that he had reacted the way he did. jay was never one to be unfriendly or make spiteful comments. so, i knew this had to be my own doing.
i sighed in defeat. "look, i'm sorry about that other night."
jay glanced around before his eyes darted back into my own. the slight fury that conquered his pure face dissolved into a painting of despair. his eyes fell to the ground again, his lips drooping in a frown. for a second, he didn't say anything.
"it's fine," he finally croaked. he peered back up into my e/c eyes. "i'm sorry too, y/n. i shouldn't have said what i said. i mean, i love nya. i-i honestly don't know what came over me."
i stared at him with a sincere gleam in my eyes. i smiled timidly, despite him professing the opposite of what he had said.
"hey, it's okay. i get it. it's because of our history, right?"
jay nodded shamefully, averting his gaze. "i-i'm sorry."
his look of trouble and gloom earned me another warm, glowing feeling in my heart. i didn't try to shove it down into the most profound corridors of me; i simply let it linger. i couldn't stand seeing him so upset, and especially being that i was at fault here made it worse on my conscious.
"don't be, jay. please, i'm also sorry for...being so harsh. but we're good now, okay?"
"okay."
we flickered tiny grins at one another, and just like that, the misery in my ex-boyfriend's eyes ignited with their usual shine of buoyancy.
"well, i should get going," i drawled, beginning to slow step away. i hoped he wouldn't do anything to stop me from continuing on the search.
"not so fast, bubble gum," jay chirped, a persistent look on his face. "that does not get you a free pass!"
"find me if you can, then," i smirked with a chuckle, before i disappeared into the second layer of void. i stood directly in front of him, just admiring his lovely smile up close. i backed away to prevent any further unwanted feelings.
"ooo y/n's got tricks," he taunted jokingly. "alrighty then. i got a couple up my sleeve, too!"
jay zapped electric bolts out in front of him, surely striking me right in the arm. i shrieked, stunned for a moment before i made a yet another run deeper into the woods.
tremendous clouds commenced to loom over the great forest, as thunder boomed to announce its arrival. i was only tempted to run faster, in hopes to flee the thunderstorm that was waiting to unleash itself.
it all came down to the command of one certain person.
please don't do it, jay. please don't do it. for pete's sake don't—
"oooohhh y/n! this one's for you!" fear washed over me when i heard jay's voice shout menacingly. surely, shortly after, chaos erupted all around me.
lightning sizzled everywhere, with thunder roaring in companionship. i still remained in the second layer of void, but it didn't necessary protect me from the visible world's dangers. i was just cloaked in the easiest and most simple form of space.
i noticed a creepy-looking cavern as i raced away to my left. i needed to seek shelter from the killer lightning. i threw myself in there when i felt the hairs on my head dance furiously, attracting jay's lightning to target me.
i reappeared into the regular space. my heart was pounding furiously, as i leaned against the rocky wall, trying to restore my breath. i swallowed down the pit of terror that had composed in my throat.
i needed to contemplate my choices quickly, but it was difficult to do so with the bellowing thunder around.
okay, okay, okay. focus, y/n.
obviously, i couldn't just keep running blindly, there was the risk of getting struck by lightning. i thought of two possible answers.
one, i could attempt creating a void portal that could potentially suck the whole storm down inside. i just had to make one that was bigger than the last two i had done, but i needed to concentrate really hard to do that.
or two, go out there and harness as much power that i possibly could, and hope that my element power would come in clutch.
fueled with a dangerous combination of thrill and fright, i wiped the trickles of sweat on my forehead and went back out there.
the lightning and thunder carried on, possibly two times more viciously than it was a minute ago. however, i noticed snowflakes collapse from the sky, one even landing on the tip of nose. i swung my head in the direction it looked like they were coming from, and surely, i saw zane assembling his own storm of ice.
a high-pitched bawl entered my ear canals as nya appeared to his aide, controlling a wave of water that looked like was about to wash over the entire lightning storm. my eyes enlarged at the sight of this dynamic duo.
my mind retreated far back and thought of kai. if nya and zane were here, combating jay's thunderstorm, then where was he?
the earth began to vibrate destructively under me, breaking me from my train of thought. the more it shook, the more crevices formed everywhere, threatening to break my balance. i stood my ground, my eyes on the hunt for any sign of kai. that was when i realized that hot magma seeped from the fissures from beneath. my skin grew to scorching temperatures, even more so when suddenly someone bumped their back into me. i turned around in alarm.
"y/n!" it was kai, drenched in sweat. his dark auburn hair was more disordered than the usual, framing his pair of blazing red eyes, which seemed to be glowing under the flare of the bubbling magma. his face was carved with concern and relief.
i no longer felt the distress that was arising in me for him.
"kai!" i shouted through all the commotion. "what's going on?!"
"cole's after me!" he yelled, still keeping his back pressed my own. i could feel the touch between us burn ferociously, causing the muscles there to relax. "have you found the amulets yet?!"
"no! jay came after me with the storm!"
kai broke the contact between our backs momentarily, the powerful heat there bursting out into the atmosphere. he gripped my face with his two hands, and that made my cheeks inflame with a comforting warmth. the dancing of the enveloped fire that lived in his wondrous red eyes fixed me in a sort of trance, silencing the noise and movement around us.
"you are our best shot at winning this, princess!" he hollered with a persuasive smile. "i need you to use your elemental power and somehow use it to stop the others! i'm gonna take a shot at looking for those amulets! can you do that, y/n?!"
i nodded in accordance, more lost in his extraordinary orbs than his words. my heart was skipping five beats at once, thumping from the red ninja's encouragement. there was something in his mere gaze that attracted me ferociously.
"y-yeah, i'll try!"
"that's my sunshine!"
kai let go of me, giving me one last reassuring smile before he ran off. the radiating lava from beneath followed him with every step he took, taking away the intense heat i was swarming in with his presence.
i refocused and studied the scene around me. nya's massive wave was elevating higher, almost reaching the clouds were jay's lightning was coming from. zane's own snowstorm was flowing through, biting the air rampantly. i caught a glimpse of cole, dashing away in the direction kai had gone. that left me to wonder where the hell lloyd was, but almost as if it were right on cue, he appeared at his team's side.
"i found the missing amulet!" he informed between the unraveling havoc. "it was mine!"
"splendid, lloyd!" zane cheered, facing him for a second. "we can head back then?!"
"yeah, let's go!"
"come on, nya!"
upon those words, my feet unconsciously starting running towards them. as i did so, i became invisible, so they wouldn't see me coming. when i reached lloyd, i patted him down gently, in hopes to find the amulets without him noticing. fortunately for me, i was successful, ripping them away from his pocket.
"what the--" was all i heard before i booked it deeper into the heart of the forest.
"what's wrong, lloyd?!" nya asked, still controlling her wave.
"y/n took the amulets! i'll be right back!" lloyd responded, fully sprinting after the dangling amulets, because that was technically all he could see.
i stopped once i thought i lost him, hiding behind a tree. i panted heavily, heart thumping furiously and all, frantically searching for a spot to hide team c's amulets.
my eyes landed on a pond a small distance forward. i tossed it as precise as i possibly could, grinning when it landed right in there. spinning rapidly on my heel, i bolted back to the commotion where mostly all the ninja were.
i halted suddenly, my shoes skidding with the ground. i inhaled and exhaled a shaky breath, before i slowly closed my eyes.
concentrating on the pulsating shivers my fingertips were dripping in, i tasted the air with my body. i devoured the heat and the cold; i absorbed the water, earth, and electricity. the breeze gusted roughly through the branches of the trees. my entire being was racked with boiling temperatures, to the point it was numb. i opened my eyes to be greeted with an incandescent hand, bringing up my other hand to see the same thing.
i planted my feet to the ground, watching as the luminous ball became bigger and bigger. my eyes squinted from the brightness, but i didn't dare rip my gaze off. i needed to see what i was capable of.
the light began to engulf the forest, or so it seemed. it began to swallow all of the elements whole: nya's tide and jay's clouds were slowly falling in, as was the snow zane created, alongside kai's magma and cole's messy destruction of rocks. everything they had possible utilized was wiped clean, inside this sphere of brightness that was created from the palms of my two hands.
the luminosity had finally reached its capacity, exploding in everyone's sight. we all fell back from the force it projected, blinded by the light before it vanished into space.
silence.
everything was gone.
i laid there, staring straight up into the sky. my vision was faulty, but i really didn't care. i was just basking in my own bubble of glory.
woah.
"y/n!" a rushed voice sounded in the distance.
i peeled myself off the ground, a smile creeping on my lips when i saw kai approach me. i decided to meet him halfway, his already excited face growing more.
"kai!"
"you did it, sunshine!"
we crashed into a hug, becoming a pile of chuckles. his embrace felt so warm, so welcoming, so haven-like. i snuggled my face deep into him, with my ear compressed his hard chest. i could hear the pounding of his heartbeats and his laughter profusely clearer. his muscular arms held me tight, signaling a strong sense of security.
it all felt...right.
i finally let go, seeing that we both had displayed toothy smiles on our joyous faces.
"thank you," i answered after a handful of seconds. "do you have our amulets?"
kai's delighted look dropped, his eyebrows raising. "w-wait, was i suppose to get yours?"
"oh my gosh, kai!" i gasped, my eyes widening. "please tell me you didn't."
"i'm joking, princess," he smirked, as he pulled out both of our amulets out of his pocket. "i couldn't forget about you, even if i tried."
i blushed, the warmth in my cheeks reaching my heart once more. kai shot me his infamous flirtatious grin, seeing how my face reddened. i cleared my throat to regain my sense of presence.
"it isn't over yet," i stated as i traded glances between the amulets and kai. "we gotta get these to sensei wu."
"after you, sunshine," kai cooed, letting me pass first back in the direction we came from.
as we picked up our pace, we zoomed past team c, who were also booking back to where we entered into the woods. darn it. lloyd must have found their amulets. it was then that team a resurfaced from the depths of the forest, too.
it was now a race to the finish line.
kai, lloyd, and cole were taking the lead, with jay and i trailing closely behind. all i needed was to catch up to kai so we could both be the first team with our amulets.
so, bursting out the last bits of energy and stamina that i had, i forced my legs to overwork themselves. i was even more motivated when managed to outrun lloyd. that left cole, who was running side by side with kai. as they both zipped away, the earth and magma underneath broke to the surface, making it much more challenging to run safely. the stiff motion of my arms repeated in faster motions, as my legs started to burn.
lloyd had recovered and was so close to reach me, so much so that shot me a burst of his energy at me. i lunged forward, dangerously close to losing my coordination. but it only gave me a boost, and i had finally gotten to the fire and earth ninja.
sensei, misako, and their tea table was coming into view. my legs no longer felt like they were in my control, the moment i surpassed both cole and kai. i made the effort to grab kai's arm, using the absolute last ounce of strength i had to propel him forward, allowing him to be the first to reach them, with me being the apparent second.
"kai and y/n win!" sensei shouted, accepting the amulets kai handed him.
kai turned back to me, who was trying desperately to catch my breath. "oh shit, y/n, we did it!"
"y...yea...h, awe....some," i puffed between breaths. i was much more excited, don't get me wrong, but i was just so drained that i needed a minute to compose myself.
"come here, princess," was i heard before kai lifted me up effortlessly, smiling so wide. he spun me around a couple times, and i couldn't help but giggle away. he set me down gently, a sincere look in his fiery, red eyes.
"see? what did i say? some real telepathy shit we got going on."