Winter

Chapter 6: Kai

I sat there in the cockpit. Waiting. And waiting. Waiting for something to happen, anything, to distract me from my boredom.

I'm useless on this ship. I hung my head in disappointment. Everyone here has a purpose, well, almost everyone. Thorne is just the comedian.

Well everyone else...Cinder is a mechanic, she can fix things. Also the rightful heir...not to mention my love interest. Wolf's basically the muscle of the group. He can pick up like a three hundred pound truck without breaking a sweat. And Cress, she's the hacker, she's important to our protection. She kept us hidden for all these weeks, and she's crucial to our mission. Or should I say, their mission.

I'm just the bait. Part of the bargain. And nothing else. I mean sure, Cinder gives me her attention, and maybe Cress too, and when Iko gets fixed up...I just sighed. Maybe if I could just show them-

"Kai? What are you doing here?" Cinder asked, walking in. I could feel my cheeks heating up a little bit. She looks so-

"Kai, are you OK?" Cinder asked again.

"Oh yeah, yeah, I-I-I'm fine," I stuttered. Ugh, I'm making a complete fool of myself!

"Really, it doesn't sound like you are," Cinder interrogated. She walked around my seat and leaned against the controls of the ship, making sure not to change anything.

"Well, what do you think," I said. I didn't want to tell her the entire truth. I didn't want to tell her what's really going on.

"Well I think it's that you still can't believe that you actually agreed to marry Levana," she said with a smug look on her face.

"Hey, I know it isn't really a good idea-"

"You think?"

"-but it's all I could do to protect my country a little longer," I defended. At that her face fell.

"What's wrong?" I questioned.

After a long pause she said, "It's just that, everyone's counting on me to be the hero. Expecting me to barge into her palace and overthrow her. It's just that, I don't know if I can do all of this."

"But you handled the ball just fine. I got your warning," I comforted.

"Yeah? Look how that turned out. You threw me in prison. Just imagine what Levana will do to me. I'll be walking out of there with only like four fingers left!"

"Hey, calm down. You're not alone in this. As soon as we land on Luna, we'll start the revolution," I comforted. She still looks depressed. I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her close. She leaned closer.

I bended down and kissed her. I pulled away, stroking her cheek. "I believe in you." She closed her eyes and smiled.

Then we heard a crackle from the PA system. "Attention everyone, we're coming into the orbit of Luna. Waiting for approval for landing," announced Darla.

"No, no, no, no," said Cinder worriedly. She knotted her hand into her hair. "Oh my stars, we didn't plan ahead. Where are we supposed to land? The Rampion's supposed to stay hidden." She groaned in frustration.

"It's OK," I said, putting my hand on her shoulder, "We pulled through before, we'll do it again."

"No, we won't, not unless we get help," said Wolf, walking in. He was followed by Cress and Thorne.

"What makes you so sure?" Thorne asked.

"You don't know Luna the way I do. I'm basically the only one here who's ever touched it. Levana's got a strong eye on whatever's going on on Luna. We can't hide in the caves, special operatives train there. The only option we have is to go to a warehouse."

"What makes you think that we can sneak the Rampion into a warehouse without getting caught," asked Cinder in desperation.

"Because my parents own one," Wolf said confidently. Everyone paused. Cinder stood there, biting her lip, thinking.

"Fine. But what makes you so sure that your parents will allow us to hide there?"

"Because if there's anything I've learned over all of my training, it's that love can bring us together, or divide us even more," Wolf said. Everyone went silent. Even Thorne didn't have a snarky comment for that one.

"Ok, let's do this," Cinder said, determined.

"Woah, not you," Wolf said, blocking her, "You can put us in danger. Someone might recognize you. Kai too. Me, Cress, and Thorne will go. It's safer."

Cinder gave Wolf a hard look, then finally she said, "Fine. But be careful."

"Quick question, how are we suppose to get onto Luna," interrupted Thorne.

"Cinder, you pilot the Rampion as close as you can as possible to the outskirts of Artemisia, then land. We'll walk the rest of the way there." At that, Cress gave a little groan. She didn't want to relive the desert again, I guess.

"Ok. I'll try my best," said Cinder. Scarlet has been giving Cinder lessons about how to pilot a ship, before she got kidnapped.

Wolf, Cress, and Thorne headed out. We were alone again. Cinder looked out the windshield, looking at Artemisia. I followed her eyes and figured out she was actually looking at the palace hanging over the capital. I put my arm around her shoulders.

"Looks like the revolution has finally started," I announced. She tilted her head upwards to me.

"Yes. It finally has," she agreed.
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What's up y'all? Ok, I have to admit it. Maybe my last post was a little cheesy, but a lot of you replied positively to it, so now I don't know what to think anymore. IT GOT THE MORE VOTES THAN ANY OTHER CHAPTER ON THIS STORY! SO THANK YOU! Apparently, you guys like appreciation. BUT THANK YOU! And I also felt that this chapter was a little boring. But it's not my fault! I mean Kai's sorta like a sophisticated monkey wearing a mohawk. Not to offend any of those fangirls for Kai, it's just that I can't define him in any other way. 😋! But I felt like my style of writing is changing. I don't know, if it's my teachers or the stress of a week of standardized assessments next week. I just feel like I'm growing into one of those authors that always write in riddles. Like whoever wrote the Bible. I DON'T WANT THAT! I WANT TO BE LIKE RICK RIORDAN! So please tell me if you think there's been any change between this chapter and the others because I DON'T KNOW! I also want to make this story as enjoyable as I can, and I'm trying. A lot of people say I'm doing a great job, but now I'm just like 😑. BUT I DON'T KNOW! So if you were to rate this story so far on a scale of one to ten, that would be greatly appreciated. AND DON'T HOLD BACK! I CAN HANDLE CRITICISM! I DID IT BEFORE! That's all I have to say for now so review, comment, vote, and follow me!

See you next time aboard the Rampion,
FanGirlfortheLC

P. S There's a several day gap between this chapter and the previous one.