A Hero's Protection

Remember

Caroline woke up to the sound of voices outside her tent. Opening her eyes the sun shone through the tent and filled the space with light. Nya had already left the tent, her sleeping bag looking as perfect as it had last night.

Wondering what time it was, Caroline got dressed and tried to set up her sleeping bag to look like Nya's, without much success. Giving up she made her way outside the tent and found that everyone else was already up.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Caroline asks as she finds everyone gathered around the fire pit. She stops before reaching them, listening to their conversation.

"What do you mean you forgot the food bag?" Jay said, his voice rising. "I was only in charge of dinner!"

"No one told me that!" Cole shot back with the same amount of force.

"We just have to figure it out," Lloyd started, but Kai decided to join in on the action and stepped between the two fighting ninjas.

"Come on, we should all cool down and figure something out," Kai said, looking between the two.

"Oh, like how you forgot to pack extra blankets?" Jay glared at Kai. "Not everyone has their own heating system inside of them!"

Caroline decided she didn't want in on the fight so she turned around and walked into the woods. She made sure to find landmarks that would lead her back to camp as she wandered deep into the green forest, her stomach growling.

It was like she knew this forest. This path was familiar as she wandered it, stopping to look at a bush. She was taken back into the memory, the girl was there, and farther into the forest was the man.

"I have to go," Caroline said, looking back to see the man running past their hiding spot. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to go alone," The girl said, stroking Caroline's hair. Looking up, Caroline studied the girl with her light brown hair and blue eyes. "If you're running away I'm coming with you. But we need some stuff. Hurry back to the house with me, while he's distracted."

Pondering the memory, Caroline looked into the forest, where she knew the house would be. She knew the ninja would be wondering where she went, but she had to keep going. Maybe this was the answer, she felt like she was going to discover something big.

Walking through the trees with caution, it didn't even look like anyone came through here. The green ferns covered the ground while the pine trees swayed above her. Listening to every chirp of the birds and scuffle of the woodland creatures, she saw the trees start to thin and stopped.

There, between the trees ahead of her, was a cabin. Definitely hand-made the wooden logs looked old and worn down. Walking forward to get a better view Caroline noticed the porch area had collapsed, the overhang fell over where the door used to be.

"It can't be," Caroline whispered, remembering the house when it was freshly built, with a large backyard and plenty of wood stacked outside of it. Walking through the overgrown grass she walked around the house, seeing her past as if through a magnifying glass.

Here, where he had trained her to fight. Here, where she stood, ready to catch. Here, where she grew up. Not everything was clear, and many things she still didn't understand. She was only seeing glimpses, moments in time. She made it back to the front of the building, her thoughts swimming in her head like an overfilled pond.

"Caroline!" The call snapped her out of her thoughts. She noticed she had tears in her eyes and quickly wiped them away as she saw two figures coming toward her. She recognized the green and red suits but didn't move. Instead, they quickly ran to her through the grass.