Written by: dxganronpa
Bursting the door open, Nya threw her double-bladed scythe out and hit the shadow square in the center, watching it disintegrate. Scarlett was quick to run after her, seeing Mia on the ground. "Th- That... doesn't look good..."
She got on her knees, her eyes wide as she grabbed ahold of the redhead, blood seeping onto her hands from the stab wounds on her shoulder and side. Feeling something wet on her leg, Scarlett looked down to see Mia's ankle bleeding, the wound obviously deep and she began hyperventilating.
"Scarlett, are you—?" Nya let out a small shriek when she finally realized Mia's state. "H- Hold on, that's a lot of blood!"
She ran inside the Bounty, calling for the boys who weren't too far behind. "Guys, Mia's hurt!"
Scarlett didn't know what to do, so the best thing she could think of was to stand up, bringing the unconscious girl with her. With tears in her eyes, she kicked the door just a bit more open so she could walk in, not waiting for the others.
But fortunately, they were already there. Once seeing them, she couldn't say anything, but didn't need to.
"H- Here, I'll take her!" Lloyd's eyes were wide as he ran over to Scarlett, taking Mia in his arms, the blood already dry and not getting onto him. "Oh god, Mia..."
"What the hell happened?" Kai asked, running over to Scarlett and holding the trembling girl in his arms.
"That thing outside... I think it was a shadow," Nya told her brother, panting slightly from the adrenaline in her body. "When Scarlett and I ran out there, Mia was already in that condition. If we had gone out any later—"
"Or if she hadn't screamed..." Cole cut in.
"It would've been too late," Scarlett finished, closing her eyes. "That shadow would've killed her on the spot."
"Why are they chasing after them? Or... why are they chasing Mia?" Jay asked, crossing his arms.
"We can talk about this when she's awake and healing," Lloyd told the group, holding the small redhead in one arm while the other went to grab Zane's wrist. "Come on, I need you, Doc."
Zane didn't hesitate to follow Lloyd into the bathroom, where Mia was placed on the counter. The others followed, and the two ninja immediately got to work.
Lloyd pulled out many supplies to clean wounds, handing them to Zane as he was the expert. He only stuck to handing him the things he needed.
"G... Guys?" Mia tried speaking, although her eyes were still shut and she felt like she couldn't move. Her body hurt everywhere, and she didn't know if the shadow was still in range. "Are you...?"
"It's okay." Lloyd grabbed her hand in reassurance, squeezing it gently. "It's gone. There's nothing to worry about anymore."
Mia felt a bit relieved at his words and let him hold her hand. She tried staying conscious as Zane went to work on her wounds, starting with the one on her ankle.
"Lloyd, give me the—Lloyd, I see why you would want to hold her hand for support, but please, I need you to pass me the supplies," Zane scolded.
"R- Right, sorry." Lloyd hesitantly let go of Mia's hand, handing Zane what he had asked for after his scolding.
Nya peeked inside the bathroom every few seconds, turning back to the other ninja. "She looks terrible."
"You didn't get hurt, did you?" Kai looked down at Scarlett, still confused at the amount of blood on her.
She shook her head. "Her blood got on me..."
"Are you okay?" Jay asked with a small frown.
"That... looked like it hurt." Scarlett frowned, fiddling with her fingers. "Her ankle looked bad, and so did everything else..."
"You've never seen so much before, have you?" Cole pat her on the back, one of the places on her body where there wasn't blood.
"I've had no reason to... I'm not very clumsy, and I've never come across anyone who has gotten stabbed in three different places..." Scarlett answered, shivering. "She's a real survivor. I'm not cut out for this..."
"Don't say that," Kai told her. "Just because you were afraid of a little blood, doesn't mean you're afraid of everything. You are cut out for this."
"My brother's right," Nya cut in, putting a hand on her shoulder. She smiled softly as she spoke, "We don't have everything in common—you're not as confident in being a ninja. But that's okay, because you'll get there."
"I'm weak..." Scarlett shook her head. "You're all so strong, one way or another. I can't get up to your level."
"That's how we all started." Jay walked up next to Nya, a small smile on his face. "We were all weak in the beginning, but we grew to be stronger."
"But... but not everyone has the same fate. Maybe I'll..."
"I was a strong guy back before Sensei found me," Cole cut her off, standing by her other side. "But since I found my elemental power, I've gotten stronger. I realized there was much more to me than I ever knew. You can do the same."
Hearing their words, Scarlett dropped her gaze to the ground, her fiddling moving to the ends of her hair. "I... are you sure about this?"
"We've never been more sure," Kai answered, smiling softly. "Don't doubt yourself when you've never even tried yet."
Scarlett looked at her friends around her and sighed. "You know, you guys are a whole bunch of bums." But she smiled.
"Probably the best ones you'll ever meet." Jay winked at her.
"Mia's wounds have been cleaned up," Zane informed the others as Lloyd walked out, holding the redhead in his arms. "She is unconscious, but once she wakes up she can tell us what happened."
"Oh, it's clear what happened." Nya clenched her fists, angered. "It was those damned shadows, wasn't it?"
"It's the only logical choice," Cole answered, sighing. "So they're not safe, even here."
"I- I'm safe, right? What reason would they need to come after me?" Scarlett asked, shrugging her shoulders with a nervous tone in her voice. "I'm just—"
"We just talked about this, dear." Nya pat her shoulder.
"Right..."
"Come on, let's take her to her room." Lloyd began walking to the shared room, the others following behind.
"You guys go on ahead," Scarlett told them. "I have to clean myself off..."
"Try and come back quick, alright? Everyone's gotta hear this," Cole said.
"Yeah, don't worry. I'll just grab my clothes and jump in the shower." Scarlett rushed into her room before Lloyd made it, opening her drawer and pulling out tights and a grey tank top. She then went back into the bathroom and turned on the showerhead, closing the door behind her with her foot.
Scarlett pulled the sticky gi off of her body after unclasping it, tossing it in the shower. "Might as well wash that, too..."
Avoiding her gi, she stepped into the shower and let the water run over her. She sighed, closing her eyes and letting her thoughts take over.
* * *
Mia groggily opened her eyes, rubbing them before lifting her head off the pillow. "Guys...?"
"Oh, you're back!" Nya smiled, clapping her hands together.
Lloyd still wasn't going to expose them, but he was glad she was alright. He gave her a quick hug, helping her to sit up and released her after a few seconds. "I'm glad you're okay!"
"What—?" As she was going to ask what happened, the memory hit her like a bullet. Her head began to hurt as she remembered the shadow coming on board and attacking her in three different spots on her body. "Th- The shadow!"
"Hey, don't worry," Cole assured her. "The shadow's gone. Nya got rid of it."
"Thank me later." Nya winked at her.
Mia looked around the room, seeing one person missing. Her eyes widened in alarm and she would've jumped out of the bed despite all her injuries. "Scarlett! She's not here!"
"She's—" Kai began, but Mia cut him off.
"N- No, they took her!" Mia grabbed onto Lloyd's arm for support, trying to stand up. "I have to go, they took Scarlett away!"
"Hey, what's going on here?" Scarlett entered the room in her tank top and leggings, drying out her hair with a towel. "Mia, you're okay!"
"I... I thought they took you away..." The redhead let go of Lloyd's arm, calming down only a bit at seeing her.
"She was in the shower," Kai told her. "If you didn't cut me off, I would've told you."
"Sorry..." Mia apologized, sighing. "I just... got scared, is all." She then noticed a bit of blood on her friend's arm and alarm struck her once more. "Y- You're hurt!"
"Would you stop freaking out, Mia?" Cole stood up, going over to Scarlett and looking at her arm. "It's just a little blood. You were much worse off, this is just a cut."
But Mia didn't listen. "Did they get to you? You aren't weak! I knew you could put up a fight—but where did he go?"
"M..." Scarlett frowned at her. "Lay down, please. If you're talking about the shadows, none came after me. I just scratched myself while coming out of the shower. I haven't seen one except for the one hurt you. I'll just go and clean this off really quick."
"If you go alone, he'll find you! Let me go—"
"Okay, relax... I'll go with her, since I'm standing." Cole led Scarlett out of the room, leaning down to whisper in her ear, "You didn't miss much."
"But did I miss anything?" Scarlett frowned at him. "She said... she said that I wasn't weak and I could put up a fight? What's going on, Cole?"
"To be fair, I could as you the same thing—I have no clue what the hell happened between her and the shadow." He sighed, opening the door and letting her walk in first.
Scarlett opened the cabinets, finding a small first aid kit inside. She pulled the container out and grabbed a gauze, ointment, and a bandaid.
"Even if it's a small cut, still put alcohol on it. You don't want that getting infected," Cole warned, holding out the rubbing alcohol.
"But doesn't that burn?" Scarlett asked with a small wince. "I don't wanna feel burn."
"You'll hear it from me later when that gets infected," he hummed.
"Okay, fine." She poured just a bit on the gauze, swiping it over the cut. She bit her lower lip and put it down, grabbing the ointment. "Can you...?"
"Yeah, I got it." Cole took a bit of the ointment and applied it to the cut, putting it back down and closing the cap.
"Thank you." Scarlett grabbed the bandaid and put it over the cut. She looked to Cole, sighing softly. "Did you see any shadows?"
"Not a single one." He shook his head, washing his hands. "What the hell is she babbling about?"
"Well..." After putting the supplies away, Scarlett put her hands on Cole's back and pushed him out of the room. "It'll do us good to find out."
Once they returned, Mia was sitting up and holding her side. "And then he said, Dragonfire is already weak as it is, which is why I was..."
"You were afraid they got to me," Scarlett finished with a sigh. "Got it."
"Listen, just because our enemy thinks you're weak, doesn't mean you are," Jay said.
"And I don't think you are either," Mia added. "That shadow knew nothing about you—he thinks you're weak, but that's where he's wrong. We can prove him wrong—"
"You mean I can prove him wrong, right?" Scarlett shook her head. "Can you repeat what he said to you again?"
Mia thought of playing dumb for a few seconds, but she couldn't do that to her friend. This was serious, and so she said, "You see, I was ordered to take out one of you girls, since both of you are required to destroy us, but you won't be able to if one of you are out of the picture. Dragonfire is already weak as it is but taking out you, that will make it easier for us shadows!"
"Thought so." Scarlett crossed her arms, although she wasn't mad. "If they take out Mia, then they wouldn't have to worry about me because, well, what experience with fighting do I have?"
"It's not about experience with fighting, Scarlett," Lloyd told her, a frown making its way onto his face. "Whether you're skilled or not, we can train you to be better. That's what we're going to do."
"You're all... you're all great. I mean it." Scarlett turned her back to the group, her arms still crossed. But this time, she frowned. "But Lloyd, I think it does matter, just a little bit. Imagine how much easier it'll be to train someone who's had experience holding a weapon."
"But—"
"It's so much easier training a soon-to-be ninja if she can handle that much pain—my pain tolerance is lower than zero, mind you, Zane," she cut the nindroid off before he could even speak.
"Scarlett, you—"
"Jay, it's so much easier training someone who has a fighting spirit, someone who can actually complete what's asked of them without much fault." Her crossed arms then loosened and her hands were now at her elbows.
"That doesn't mean..." Nya wasn't cut off, but she lost her words.
Scarlett faced the group once more, her eyes fallen to the floor. "Yeah, she was a journalist. But you know what else she did? Archery. She was good at her job and her hobbies, and her hobby even helped her in the future. I was just some mechanic girl who fixed cars to make a living."
"Is that really what you make of all this?" Mia asked, stunned. She didn't know whether to feel offended and pitied or grateful and pitiful. "I'm... I'm not perfect..."
"No one is, Mia." Scarlett shook her head, chuckling to herself. "I'd love this life a lot more if we all were, trust me. And I don't mean to insult you in any way, I promise. There's just... no reason for me to be hunted. You're not perfect, but you're just much better than me."
The group was left speechless once she stopped speaking. She felt uneasiness take over, and to cover it up, she sighed. "If you're all gonna look at me like that... then I'm taking a walk. Fill me in on anything important..."
Just as she was at the door, Kai jumped up and grabbed her wrist. "Scarlett... no one has a higher reputation on this ship. We're all equals, no matter what our element is and no matter who we are."
"Oh, Kai..." Scarlett slipped her wrist free, shaking her head at him. "If only you knew." She then walked out of the room without another word.
She quietly made her way to the deck, resting her elbows on the rail. She looked at the watch she created out of their alarm clock and read the digits inside her head. 1:34.
"Too early in the morning... but they're all in my room." Scarlett then stuck to looking at the dark sky in front of her. She wasn't scared, because she knew she wouldn't be hunted.
Everyone inside the room was still slightly stunned from Scarlett's words, including Mia. She felt bad now, saying what the shadow had told her.
"If I hadn't said that, maybe she..."
"It's not your fault." Lloyd put a hand on her shoulder, looking to the door in hopes she'd come back, but there was no one. "Some people harbor feelings. She just expressed them."
"Is it bad that I feel guilty?" Cole asked, frowning. "I know none of us said anything wrong, but... I can't help but feel like..."
"We could have said something she wanted to hear," Zane finished, having the same glum look. "I agree."
"But what did she want to hear?" Nya fiddled with her fingers, sighing. "Does she really believe herself to be that weak or does she just want more encouragement?"
"We're not giving her enough of that," Kai told them, shaking his head.
"But how much encouragement does a girl need? We've told her a bunch of times that she's stronger than she believes." Jay ran a hand through his hair, letting out a sigh. "She understands and then... once something like this happens, she goes back to believing she's weak."
Mia looked down at her hands, frowning deeply. "But she's not... god, why does she think I'm so powerful?"
"You need to rest up. Those injuries of yours aren't healing overnight." Lloyd gently pushed Mia back on her bed, much to her revolts.
"No, I'm going with you guys." Mia tried fighting against him, but he was stronger and managed to keep her down.
"Who says we're leaving?" Lloyd smiled down at her, his hand moving to stroke her hair. She stopped moving and found herself looking into his eyes.
She wanted to pull him down on her and kiss him, but the others were watching with confused looks—well, the only three that don't know.
"We'll be around if you need us." With that, Lloyd got off of her bed and stood up with the others. Kai, Jay, and Cole were completely lost with his actions, although Zane and Nya knew exactly what was going on.
"Feel better, Mia!" they all called as they walked out of the room.
"Hmm... thanks, guys..." Mia let out a yawn before resting her head back on the pillow, closing her eyes.
The one-sided conversation Scarlett had still stuck in her mind. Just because they think you're weak, Scar... doesn't mean they still won't go after you.