Kaze: Rebels

A Late-Night Conversation

Kaze POV

"So Kage...?" I asked.

"Sleep." He replied.

"What do you think of this new world? I miss the stars."

"They're on the side of the road, genius, now go to bed."

"Well, yeah." I said, flipping on my side. "But what's the fun in that? We can't stargaze anymore! Do you remember? We'd sleep out under the stars and try to count them all? And we'd wonder if one of them was our parents looking down at us?"

"Yes. I remember. I also remember sleeping when we were done."

"We said that the North Star was their little lantern." I said, turning onto my back.

He sighed, temporarily giving up on sleep. "I know."

I was silent for a beat. "How do you think he's doing? Dad, I mean. Do you think he...?" I trailed off. "Do you think he misses us?" He was silent. "Kage?"

"I heard you." Kage was silent once again. "I really don't know. I guess it's possible, but I can't think of a good way to find out."

"Yeah." I gazed at the ceiling. Kage had called dibs on bottom bunk so that if there was an emergency, he could roll out of bed and land on his feet better. "Do you think the people from your Earth miss you?"

"No."

"Do you miss them?"

He hesitated. "No."

"Really?" I asked.

"There's nobody left to return to. All of them either hated me or didn't even know me. Well, none of them really knew me. Kaze was just that guy who ruined everything. Then he changed into me and I was that random person found near the house of the guy who ruined everything."

"That's really depressing, you know that?"

"Hey, if I had the power to grant myself a better life, I would." He said.

"Becoming you wasn't worth all of the awesome things you saw because you became you?" I asked. "My brain hurts..." I groaned.

"And almost die in a very uncomfortable fashion due to the disaster of a possibly-not-human being that was Marlor? No thanks. If I could just forget that whole encounter entirely, that'd be great."

"Even if you got to meet Princess Cherry? How did you even get sucked into this world? Did you mean to? Or did you just wake up here?" I asked.

"I don't know. All I know is that, apparently, my worldview got too dark and I corrupted myself. I could feel everyone's hatred. I was walking along down the road and POOF!" He made a gesture that I couldn't see very well from where I was laying. "I was near the castle. Becoming corrupted was bad for my heart. Something like that. It's late. I can only answer question at a time. Or better yet, how about no questions at all? Is that okay?" He went on without letting me answer. "Great! You're a fantastic pal. Not really, but thanks. Good night."

"Do you think Kasumi got corrupted?" I asked. "With her being imprisoned and her stone being shattered and all?"

"Don't know. Hope not. Go to bed." Kage said no more.

"What do you want to get out of this, Kage? What's your goal?" I asked.

"This seems like a stable time period, so some time to relax, get stronger, and learn new things would be nice. You know what else would be nice? Sleep. Good night."

I sat there and suddenly opened my mouth. "Awww. I was just going to ask you about what you and Marlor did in the wizard tower. I could be wrong, but I think you did several kinds of magic."

"Kaze, I will harm you, and you know I don't normally bluff. Now go. To. Sleep."

"I'm just saying, you aren't as innocent as you probably looked to Ariel and company. I saw you looking at her. Does she know that you've almost batted for the other team before?"

"It was against my will, and this is your last warning. Shut your hole, or I will shove this sword through your body."

"Ohhhhh. If I knew there was going to be some swordplay going on, I would've taken off my pants." I heard the sound of ripping fabric and looked over to see that Kage had shoved his sword through the mattress in an attempt to stab me. I chuckled quietly into the darkness. "Alright. Good night, Kage."

"I hate you."