Objective: Fire

Chapter two

It took about a day until the bounty arrived at the mountain village with all the supplies needed. And to Lloyd's surprise, the storm had also slowed down through the night, which were good news the villagers who now could finally get out of their houses.
The kids were especially happy about this. They had gotten up early to play outside in the snow, building all kinds of different creatures and having snowball fights.
" you guys took your time" Lloyd grins as he watches Kai, Nya, Damon and Cole walk out from the ship, approaching them.
" heyyy Lloyd! You here!? I had no idea!" Kai acts surprised as he was pretending to not know what was going on. Cole quickly joined in.
" yeah! We were told to pic up a lost kid around here" Cole replies, almost not being able to hold back a smile.
" according to my mom, I'm of age" Lloyd grins back at them, turning his attention to Nya, who he knew wasn't joining in on this joke.
" we got the supplies that you requested. Are the people alright...? Anyone who needs healing?" She looked up at him, seeming very worried.
" no need to worry Nya, they're all fine. Just a bit cold. The snowstorm has stopped so it's easier for the people to recover."
Nya seemed relieved by that and smiled down at the children that were gathering around them.
" is there anything I can do to help Lloyd?" Damon finally approached Lloyd, hoping there was anything he could do. Wu has sent him here with the others to help him not get bored at home.
" for now, we should just unload the supplies and try to help as many as possible." Lloyd told him, pulling out his communicator to report back to sensei Wu.
" yes sir" Damon chuckled as he left him to help out with caring off the needed supplies.

To Lloyd's disappointment, sensei Wu didn't answer the call. He had been thinking of discussing the matters with him, but that had to be done later.
" hey Kai, follow me. I need you to help me out with something." Lloyd called out to him. Kai looked over at him a bit confused, but he put down the box he was carrying and followed Lloyd patiently.
They both walked over the one of the houses that were left totally dark and empty.
" what are we doing here? This place looks like a haunted house!" Kai mumbled as he followed Lloyd inside. As he predicted, the place had been left dead for weeks. No sign of any human being living there for at least two weeks. The dust had already begun to settle.
" I believe the kid that disappeared had been living here." Lloyd mumbled as he pulled out a scanner.
" what kid?" Kai was confused.
" well he's not exactly a kid, according to the leader around here, he's about your age Kai."
" you just called me a kid! Didn't you!" Kai groans angrily.
" I'm joking Kai, no need to lose your head. But please look for anything that can inform us about what had truly happened. Anything that may explain his sudden sickness or his powers." Lloyd replies, begging to search right away.
" powers? I'm sorry Lloyd but I'm very confused right now."
Lloyd looked up at Kai confused.
" didn't you get my report?" He asked, and by the look of it, Kai had no idea what he was talking about.
" I sent you guys a report yesterday about what had happened along side the request of supplies to the people." Lloyd answered. What was going on?
" we only received the help signal. No report followed it" Kai looked up at Lloyd, both now starting to get suspicious.
" you probably just forgot to send it. Check the communicator just to be sure..." Kai told him. Crossing his arms, hoping that would be the case.
Lloyd picked up the communicator once again and turned it on. He looked through all the files and couldn't find anything. Nothing at all! No report had been written in the memory file at all!
" it has been deleted..." Lloyd whispers, not understanding how this was possible at all.
" a...are you sure? Like a 100% sure that you even wrote the report at all? You could have just dreamt about it. It happens to me often that I work hard and accomplish lots of stuff in my dreams, but when I wake up, it's all just fake" Kai told him, trying to come up with a good excuse.
" I sent it. I'm 100% sure. I sent it along side the request for help. You guys received the request but not the report... something is off..."

Kai had to agree. This was out of the ordinary. This couldn't be randomly done. Someone had hacked Lloyd and was holding back information about whoever this guy was. And they didn't want anyone to know about his existence. That was for sure.

It took some time. But after delivering all the supplies they had brought, it was time for the team to return back to base. Lloyd had been gone for almost a week, trying hard to get to this mountain alone on his own. Sensei Wu has thought this would be a good way of training as it wasn't always that there would be aircraft or any ground help to help them at all times.
All the kids gathered around the ship, waving goodbye as the ship took off into the air.
Lloyd smiled down at them waving back. He was happy to see those kids happy. The storm had truly driven the whole town to their knees, but luckily, the Shimana fruit trees were alright through it all. But they didn't have any fruit left to use until next year tho...
Lloyd looked down one last time and got eye contact with their leader who he had talked to earlier. He was to far up into the air to tell what he seemed like, but it was almost like he was grinning up at them... but he couldn't be sure and he didn't badger to care. He was finally going home!
" hey Damon!" Lloyd called out as he saw him pass by in the hallways down stairs.
" yes? Anything I can do to help?" Damon looked up at him curiously.
" it's nothing special... I was just wondering if..."
" you were wondering if 47 was back... don't you?...well... she hasn't said anything... bro... I haven't heard from her in over two years.... I don't know what to say Lloyd." He felt bad for him. Lloyd had been asking him this exact same question every time he returned from a mission that lasted longer than 2 days. He always held his hopes up.
The rest of the team had given up on her ever returning. She hadn't contacted them in over two years! Nothing at all. Lloyd was the only one still holding onto her and Damon felt bad for him. He truly wanted to see her again. He was even sure that they must have feelings for each other. This had to be true love, if Lloyd haven't given up yet. It was charming, but also heartbreaking to watch his face expression saden every time when he received the bad news.
But he stood strong, and that was something Damon admired about him. Lloyd quietly nods in response. He was expecting this answer, but it was hard to face reality every time. Still, she had promised to return one day, and he believed her.
He quietly joined Cole under deck where he found him working on a new machine of some kind.
" when did you get so... mechanical? I thought Jey and Zane were the Meck types" Lloyd jokes as he takes a seat right next to Cole who had just ignored him. He wasn't in a good mood, that Lloyd had noticed now. But what happened? He was alright earlier today.
" what's up bro? Something is badgering you. You can't hide that from me"
Cole slowly looks up at him, not sure if he should tell him or not.
" it's stupid really... sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable... it's just that.... she's so talented... and creative... I .. I'm not good enough for her..." he quietly confessed.
" you know... you should tell her. Try to .. you know... get to know each other. It's not like she knows you at all. You have barley met and you're overthinking it bro. Ask her out...?" Lloyd couldn't help but grin at him. Cole was definitely not a man of romance, but he sure did have a big heart. Especially for cake.
" yeah... that's what I probably should do! But... you know... I'm a chicken alright? I get so... fuzzy around her... I start talking weird! It's like my tongue gets sticky in my mouth" Cole bursts out in frustration, pushing his small project away from himself.
" love is weird...." Lloyd mumbled as he laid a hand on his shoulder.
" and annoying...." Cole replies, allowing Lloyd's touch. At least he was great full for his support. If Kai knew, then he would just have made fun out of him. That guy had it in for stuff like that. He truly needed a good kick to his sorry ass.
" Lloyd! Your father is on the line. Wants to speak with you" Nya suddenly called out to him. Lloyd gave Cole one last look before standing up to leave the room so he could talk to his father.
" Lloyd, you there?" Lloyd hear his father call out as he enters the communication room where Nya stood by the screen.
" I'm here father, is there anything going on?" Lloyd asked. He had heard the worry in his voice and knew something was up.
" it's (your/name)"