Royalty

Chapter 23

3rd POV

When Kai woke up that morning, he gingerly swung his legs over the edge of his bed. As he stood up, pain shot through both legs. With a groan, he sat back down and rubbed them, hoping to get rid of the pain.

'Mustve been from when I jumped  out the window back in Kean...' he thought.

Shaking the thought off, he limped out of his room in search of food. As he passed Skylor's temporary room, he took a peak and saw her sleeping frame, making her look as Beautiful, if not more, as Sleeping Beauty. Not wanting to be a bother, even though she was asleep, he continued on his search; stumbling and limping to the kitchen.

He must admit; not having the lion ears on his head made him feel weird and, by missing his lion tail, his sense of balance was a bit off. He eventually made it to the empty kitchen with sounds coming from outside. Grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl on the bench, he bit into it and watched the others train outside.

He felt his face cast down as the thought of them having to help defeat Aspiksar when he couldn't even do the same thing. He didn't even realise someone had wandered in until he turned and got the scare of his life upon seeing Master Wu and Pixal behind him.

"Fuck...!" Kai gasped as his heart skipped a beat.

"Sorry to frighten you, Kai." Pixla apologised. "But we guess you're feeling better."

"Yeah... Just a bit sore in the legs and... everywhere really..."

"Fair enough."

"How are you feeling, Kai?" Master Wu questioned. "Apart from feeling sore."

"A little strange, not gonna lie." Kai sighed as he sat down in a chair at the kitchen table. "I guess I'm just so used to having the extra weight on my head and back that, by not having my lion ears and tail, it just doesn't feel right. I'm a bit off balance and feel like I'm going deaf."

"Hm... Will you join the team outside?"

"I... Don't know..." Kai turned his gaze towards the window. "They all seem to be fairing quite well without me... Just by the looks of it, Jay and Nya have become swifter, Zane and Morro seem to be meditating which is a good sign for what they gotta train for and Lloyd and Cole are practicing their defensive moves."

"Yes but they still haven't managed to find animal form." Pixal informed. "And that's because they need your help."

"I wish I could but... Look at me..."

"I see nohing wrong with you, Kai." Wu replied. "You seem just the way you were when you left."

"But... Ive got more... Trauma... More scars... Both mentally and Physically..."

"Scars are there for a purpose." Wu wandered over and olaced a hand on the brunette's shoulder. "Our scars remind us that there is more to life than simply surviving. Our scars remind us there is another side to our pain. Our scars remind us that our pain has the power to separate and unite us. Our pain can lead us to discover our purpose and our people."

"To show that we can't be knocked down so easily." Pixal added. "They allow us to get back up; stronger than before."

"... I guess..."

Kai stared out the window as the groups laughter rang through his ears. He could've help but imagine himself with the group; laughing and joking about everything and anything. Kai looked down at his gloved hands and clenched and unclenched his fists as tears pricled his eyes. Standing up, chair scraping against the wooden floor, he retreated back to his room. Pixal went to go after him but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.