The Jade City

Chapter 11: Loss

Harumi's POV

"Wh-what happened?" the Earth Ninja mumbled groggily to no one in particular. He sat up and brushed his shaggy black bangs out of his unfocused eyes, blinking hard several times before they settled on Ruby and me. Cole seemed to notice something in his mouth, chewed it, and swallowed.

"Oh hey," Cole said, his voice raspy.

I plastered on a smile. "Hey, glad you're awake." Not wanting him to turn around and see something he definitely did not want to see, I tried to keep his attention focused on me. "Are you feeling a bit better? After the trees attacked we went to find the source of the magic and we destroyed it, so the forest is safe to pass." I conveniently left out the "Morro attacked me" part so that Cole wouldn't turn to him. "Anyway, we gave you some healing teas."

He beamed. "Thanks." Cole began to turn around, but I quickly ran over.

"No, you shouldn't move too much, in case you open any wounds." That was a lie. He didn't have any, since Morro and I had checked any exposed skin thoroughly before heading off. I felt my heart thundering in my chest. Cole seemed to buy it though, and nodded. For the moment he was probably too confused to actually be checking the validity of my implied statement.

I racked my thoughts for anything to say, for Cole's attention seemed to shift focus again. He glanced at Jay lying next to him.

"Everyone's okay, right? Even Kai?" The Earth Ninja looked back up at me, his dark brown eyes full of concern.

"Why do you ask?" I said somewhat jokingly, my conscience forbidding me from lying.

His eyebrows were slightly creased. "Well, earlier, I think he was bleeding pretty badly. I got thrown in the air soon after so I'm not sure, but someone was definitely losing blood fast. Maybe I remembered wrong?" Cole asked the last part like a question, and from his tone of voice I could tell he wanted me to confirm it badly. I opened my mouth to say something, but was saved from having to answer when another voice joined in the conversation.

"Whowhatwherewhenwhy am I?" Jay said, still lying on the ground.

Cole laughed. "We're outside the cursed forest. It should be safe to pass through now."

"How long was I out?" Jay asked, "Is anyone else awake?"

"Just me, you, Harumi, and Ruby," he answered.

Jay sat up, and to my dismay, he was facing the opposite direction of which Cole was facing. "Oh, Morro's awake too. Hey, Windbag!"

I noticed Morro tense a bit. My expression didn't change, but inside I was panicking.

"Oh, really?" Cole asked, "Also, didn't I come up with the name Windbag for you?"

"Suits him better," Jay said and jumped up before I could protest. Then he ran over to the Master of Wind. My heart plummeted.

"Hey, did you not hear me?" the Lightning Ninja asked, sending a punch in Morro's backside. "Ha! Kai looks so stupid!" I assumed he was referring to my blue sweatshirt tied around his chest.

The Master of Wind remained hunched over, his body shaking. The knot in my stomach twisted even tighter as Cole stood up and made his way over.

"Why does he look so pale?" the Earth Ninja whispered after a moment.

Ruby squeezed my hand, but I could barely feel it since my entire body was numbing. I saw Cole crouch beside the Fire Ninja and Morro burying his face in his hands.

"He's not breathing," Cole said, mostly to himself, though he was still loud enough for me to hear him.

"Okay, Kai, we know you're awake, now please stop scaring us," Jay said, crossing his arms around his chest.