Bad Dream - Ruelle
The world tilted around me as I screamed. Screamed for my life and the lives of everyone else on the Bounty. The flames licked up the planks, swallowing the rest of the deck.
I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist, pulling me backwards, away from everyone else. Tears streamed down my face. I couldn't control it...I couldn't do anything about it. That's what scared me the most. My entire life I've been independent, done things on my own and never asked for help. But right now, I need all the help I can get.
I'm too proud to admit it, though. I can do this. I can control myself. My emotions are getting in the way, like they always do, but I needed to control them. Right at this moment, as much as I hated to admit it, Lloyd was correct.
I need to focus. To calm down and relax. I could hear the Ninja's muffled voices, just barely. They were muffled by the power flowing through my veins.
I took in a deep breath, tears of fear still flooding down my face. Control yourself, I whispered. Control it.
My ears began to ring as everyone's screams grew louder and the green energy emerging from my hands was vanishing. I was doing it! I was controlling it.
The power drained me, though. Everything seemed to reverse, go back in time even though it wasn't. Maybe it was because I was...falling. Collapsing to the ground and hitting my head on the now blackened planks.
My vision blurred over, but I could make out a few colors. Like green, and blue, maybe some red, a little bit of black, a smudge of white...
I was so tired...so tired...
My ears were still ringing, but there was one thing in particular I could hear. "Stay with me!"
Someone was saying it over and over again...over and over again...
I wanted to stay awake, but I couldn't. I was so tired...Just one minute of sleep...one minute...
<><><>
My eyes slowly peeled open. The sky was still cloudy as ever, the sun nowhere to be found. My vision was finally clear, and I could see the Ninja were in my room. I sat up, the bed springs creaking under my weight.
I headache pounded at my temples, but the pain of that was nothing compared to the pain in my back. I squinted at the boys, and noticed that Nya was there, too.
She smiled softly at me. I tried to smile back, but it hurt my face. I looked over at Lloyd, who was sitting at the foot of the bed. His expression told me that he was worried and concerned about me, but also somewhat angry. Why would he be angry?
Oh, 'cause I don't know what the fuck is wrong with me? Is that why he's angry?
My eyes flickered over to the rest of the boys. Jay leaned forwards. "Are you related to Skylor Chen?" Jay asked.
"What?" I gasped.
Lloyd stood up and put a hand on Jay's arm. "Hey, dude, chill. Remember what just happened."
"Yes! And how can we know we can ever trust her? Huh?" Jay protested.
"I...what?" I tried to comprehend what they were saying. Skylor...my cousin Skylor?
"Tell us!" Jay pressed, glaring at me.
Lloyd snarled at Jay. "Jay, chill out. She's been through a lot."
"She's my cousin..." I said.
The Ninja all looked at me. It was now I realized Wu was in the room. He stood in the left corner, staff in hand. Cole looked back at me.
"Your cousin?" He asked.
I nodded. "Skylor and I were really close growing up, but then...the incident happened with my..uh, parents...and we just stopped talking." I scratched the back of my head.
Kai sighed. "So were we right, then?"
"Right about what?" I asked, worry rushing through me.
Lloyd looked at me. "Y/n, listen..."
He explained all the shit about how elemental masters pass on their elements to their children, or how it can skip a generation and the powers get passed on to the next.
He said that sometimes the elements can be passed on to two generations at the same time, and how that probably happened with me and Skylor, although the power doesn't duplicate as well as the other. Skylor's mother was my mom's sister, so my mom obviously had the genes of an elemental master, and passed it down to me, although her portion of the element wasn't as powerful or effective as her sister's.
...If that makes any sense...
It was complicated, but I understood it. Skylor can duplicate another's power and have that element for however long she wants, whereas I can only use the power once, and then I have to duplicate it again.
"So, everytime I touched Lloyd, I copied his power by accident?" I asked.
"That's what we...suspect." Cole rasped.
"We already proved it, dummy." Jay slapped the back of his teammates head.
"Don't worry, Y/n, we promise we'll help you." Lloyd reassured me.
"That's a promise." I said.
"Promise..." he repeated.
<><><>
I didn't have dinner that night. I was too afraid to even look anyone in the eye, let alone look at the mess I made. I almost destroyed the Bounty.
I had my knees curled up to my chest, somekind of comfort. If I didn't have anyone to hold me, I held myself, there is nothing wrong with being independent.
I jumped at the sound of my door creaking open. It was Lloyd. Little fucker. I don't mean to be mean to him, I just intend to be a little fucker as well.
Lloyd entered with a bowl of fresh dumplings and a pair of chopsticks. "I got you, um, dinner."
I slumped down in my bed. "Thanks," I stated, taking the steaming bowl from his hands. I curled up in my blanket. "Thanks."
"You already said that," he chuckled, sitting down on the side of my bed.
"No, I mean...thanks for not freaking out about earlier..." I said that as lightly as I could, with no emotion. I wanted to express I was happy, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.
"Oh, yeah that," he smiled, his green eyes brightening and seemingly lighting up the stars that whizzed by us from outside my tiny window. "No worries."
I grinned back at him. This time, I felt my smile was actually real. I wanted him to know that. "I'm sorry if I was...cold to you."
Lloyd glanced at me and smiled. "Don't worry about that. Trust me, a lot of people hate me. You're not the worst of them."
"I don't hate you, I just..." Should I tell him?
"You just what?" He cocked his head to the side, his sweet smile fading.
Can I tell him?
"I...uh," I didn't know what to say. I feel like he deserved to know, like he should know everything I feel. How I feel about my family, how I feel about him, whether those feelings are good or bad.
"Listen," I sat up and placed the bowl of dumplings on the nightstand and sat up so I could meet Lloyd's gaze. "There's something you should...know."
His friendly gaze turned to concerned within a nanosecond. "What is it?" He asked.
It stung me to tell him how I felt, but I needed to tell him the truth. Lloyd was a sweet guy, who would never do anything to intentionally hurt anyone. It hurt like hell, but I had to tell him. He deserved to know everything.