Roots of Earth ~ A Ninjago Fanfiction

Chapter 65: Meeting the World of Pawreles and Skylor on the Loose

Finally! Another hour in that bed, and I would've lost my mind!

After about two long, wretchedly-boring days spent lying in the bed of the bare little guest room, Kai was more than happy when Nama finally relented to his continuous requests to be allowed up the morning of the third day. He felt restless and bedsore in three different spots, and all he had to do during the day was to sleep off his strange weariness and watch the dust collect.

Of course, he also had had plenty of time to reflect on what had happened to him the night he had met Skylor for their date. Obviously, those strange cat creatures were some sort of shape-shifters, and they were the ones who had tricked him that night. He guessed the "Skylor" he'd met for their date was one of them. He didn't know who or what these things were, but Black Blood had made it clear that night that Kai's and his friends' parents had done something that the cat-creatures wanted revenge for, and they were more than happy to torture Skylor in front of Kai. It was as if seeing his pain at the sight of her wounds brought them pleasure—sick, sick pleasure.

Had Black Blood and the other cat-things attacked the rest of the ninja? Kai's stomach clenched every time he considered that option. They'd have no idea what's coming. And if it had been two weeks since he'd been kidnapped and thrown into this— this strange realm of Pawreles, then... He couldn't imagine all the events that must have occurred in his absence. His blood boiled at the thought that there was a battle going on, and he wasn't there to fight alongside his friends.

After he'd awakened and met Jukeni and Kaeden, Nama continued to bring food and water to Kai in bed, and to help him to the lavatory every few hours. Occasionally he'd catch sight of the little girl—Beenthina—peeking at him from behind the doorway, but Nama would always shoo away her daughter and shut the door. It sort of made Kai feel like a new bug they'd found outside and put in a jar for them to look at. It made him all the more restless and irritable.

The day he'd met Jukeni and Kaden, he tried to get up on his own. Nama had told him he needed to rest yet, but when she left after bringing him dinner, he'd thrown off the bedsheets and proceeded to stand up. As soon as he took a step, however, his knees had buckled, he swayed, and Kai fell to the floor like a wet noodle. He flushed irritably under Nama's gentle reprimands as she'd helped him up and back into bed, but he relented to her demand to stay until she told him he could go.

Now Nama was walking beside him down the hall, having come into his room that morning and announced that he could try walking today. Kai fairly wriggled with eagerness to get out of the wretched bed. He assured her that he felt much better, and indeed he did. However, Nama insisted he take her arm as she led him down the hallway to the dining room. She helped him out of the bedroom and down the hall, clucking like a hen and murmuring gentle encouragement—which only made Kai feel more determined to prove he was completely healed more than anything else.

It was a small cottage he was in, he realized, as Nama led him out of the hall and into a spacious room. There was a living area to one side consisting of large chairs, a cobblestone fireplace, and things such as rugs, baskets tucked into wooden shelves, and wall decorations. At the other side was a kitchen area, with a counter, a tin washing basin set on a spindly table, cabinets and baskets hooked on the walls and tucked into available corners, and several wooden poles that hung horizontally from the ceiling. Dangling from these poles were a few pots and pans, cooking utensils, and wraps of dried herbs and spices.

Along one wall was something that looked to be a short, stout stone shelf or table. The entire room was nicely lit by late morning light that filtered in through the three windows.

Nearby the kitchen area was the dining table. Beenthina sat in one chair with a bowl of bonig stew. She gaped at Kai with big brown eyes. The white apron she'd been wearing when he'd first seen her was gone; now she only wore the sleeveless brown dress, with a tie-on belt and bare feet.