Outside My Comfort Zone (Original/Reuploaded)

Chapter 11: Hidden Layers

Lloyd POV

I only stare at the floor.  "You okay?" The brunet asks me. 

I nod my head, keeping my eyes trained on the floor.  "Yeah," I say. "I'm fine."

But we all know that's a fucking lie.

I've been asleep for First Spinjitzu Master knows how long, while Prince Kai, the man I'm suppose to protect, has had to fend for himself and resort to protecting me.

What the fuck.

How can I stoop this low? I'm the green fucking ninja! I'm suppose to be the protector of people, the one who looks out for them and never backs down. The one who doesn't fuck up this badly. I had one job given to me by my uncle and the King and Queen, and it was to protect the prince. Well, a lot of good I did anyone.

I didn't save him, he saved himself. He saved me. I'm grateful, believe me, but how am I suppose to feel when I've been carrying the weight of the world's expectations on my back for years, only for someone else to prove that I'm just a screwup like everyone use to say! I feel like I just got hit by a fucking train and the endless carts attached to it are just running me over again and again for eternity until there's nothing left to crush.

Because if I'm not the green ninja, the guy who is suppose to be a fierce and noble warrior, the one who stands up for what's right, the one who keeps people safe, then what am I? Who am I? What's even the point of my existence?

"Lloyd!" I'm pulled from my thoughts as the prince grips my shoulders, gaining my attention back.

"Uh, wha—" I say, realizing I must have zoned out.

"Lloyd, are you really okay?" He asks me. I only stare at him.

I don't know what to say, what can I say? 'Sorry for completely failing at my job and getting you into imminent danger' or 'Sorry I was too useless to help you when you needed me most'?

"Um—" I say quietly, still trying to formulate the words in my head.

"Well look who's awake," a new and unfamiliar voice says, startling me. I jump and hop up from the bed, getting into a defensive stance in front of the prince. I can't help it, it's just an instinct. But, as I do so, a searing pain shoots through my head and I get dizzy, my vision growing black spots and my legs feel like jello all of a sudden. I feel like falling to my knees to make it stop, and the prince sees this.

He lunges towards me and tries to grab my arm so he can hold me up but I slap his hand away. He looks at me with a shocked expression as I go into a kneeling position, trying to clear my head from this lightheaded and foggy feeling.  My body is buzzing, my ears are ringing, and I feel like my whole world just became static.

As I hold my head in one of my hands, trying to shake off the new feeling, I can feel a presence come up to stand next to me. My vision clears up enough for me to see a silver haired woman with several wrinkles on her face wearing a bamboo hat and a gray kimono with a purple and white dragon design on it. She looks at me with an unamused expression and extends her hand to me.

In her hand is a frozen ice pack. I look back and forth between her and the ice pack. "Well? Are you going to take it or not? Or do you want to keep that headache?" She says to me, staring into my eyes. I avert my eyes. This woman is unfamiliar and my brain is screaming warnings for me to be careful, but she seems harmless enough so I let my guard down a bit. Carefully, I take the ice pack and hold it to the side of my head that hurts the most.

"Well?" She says.

I look at her. "Well what?"

"Aren't you going to tell me your name? I mean, I did heal you and give you shelter and clothes and also helped you get out of that prison—" she says.