The Source!

P2: Meeting

As I slowly drifted into consciousness, the murmur of voices danced around me, mingling with the throbbing pain pulsating through my body. "How did she end up so injured?" A voice whispered, tinged with concern. Another voice chimed in, more urgent this time, "Are we not gonna talk about those weird shadowy things?"

Blinking against the brightness of the room, I struggled to make sense of my surroundings. These voices... they weren't familiar. Panic clawed at the edges of my mind. "She seems to be wanted by those things," someone remarked, their tone grave. "But why?" I managed to croak, my voice barely a whisper against the chaos in my head.

Then, a gentle touch on my shoulder, and I flinched instinctively. "I am Lloyd," a voice introduced, calm and steady. "This is Kai, Cole, Jay, Zane, Sensei Wu, and Nya. You are in the bounty." Each name was punctuated by a gesture, a guiding hand in the darkness that threatened to consume me.

Struggling to push past the haze of pain, I forced myself to focus on their faces, the concern etched into their features. "W-who are you?" I stammered, my voice trembling with uncertainty.

Nya's hand withdrew as if burned, and guilt flooded my veins. "S-sorry, I-i..." I began, but she silenced me with a soft smile. "No, no, don't apologize. It's okay," she reassured me, her voice a soothing balm against the storm raging within me.

Desperate to sit up, to assert some semblance of control over my shattered reality, I pushed against the pain, only to collapse back onto the bed with a strangled cry. "You need to rest, stay okay for now. We will be at the kitchen," Zane's voice floated through the haze, his words a lifeline in the chaos.

Alone once more, I wrestled with my thoughts, my fears consuming me from the inside out. Why were they being so kind? What if they wanted my power, like those shadowy figures? How could I trust them when I didn't even trust myself?

As the minutes stretched into eternity, a desperate thought took root in my mind. Maybe... maybe I should test my power, just a little, to see if I still had enough energy to fight. Fingers trembling, I reached out, willing the flames to obey me, but all I could conjure were feeble flickers of purple light.

Defeated, I lay back, the weight of my uncertainty pressing down on me like a leaden shroud. And then, the door creaked open, and Lloyd stepped inside, his presence a beacon in the darkness that threatened to consume me.

"U-uh, hi," I greeted him, my voice tentative as I watched him approach.

"What's your name?" Lloyd inquired, his tone gentle, his eyes brimming with empathy.

"I'm Violet," I replied, my voice barely above a whisper.

A heavy silence settled between us, pregnant with unspoken questions and untold fears. "So, uh?" I attempted to break the tension, my voice faltering against the weight of the unknown.

"Oh, uh, Sensei wants to talk to you," Lloyd said, his voice tinged with uncertainty as he rose from the bed, leaving me alone once more with my thoughts.

Following him to Sensei Wu's side, I found myself perched on the edge of a precipice, my heart pounding in my chest as I awaited his judgment. "So, young one, what is your name?" Sensei Wu's voice was calm, his eyes probing as they met mine.

"I'm Violet," I replied, my voice trembling with apprehension.

"May I know why you were being chased, dear?" Sensei Wu inquired, his tone gentle yet insistent.

"I, uh... they want my energy or power," I confessed, my words tumbling out in a rush of desperation.

"Why might that be?" Sensei Wu pressed, his gaze unwavering as it bore into mine.

"I'm half Source Dragon, that's why," I confessed, the weight of my secret hanging heavy in the air between us.

"What is a Source Dragon, may I ask?" Sensei Wu's curiosity was palpable, his desire for knowledge burning bright in the depths of his eyes.

"You don't know? Well, dragons are, you know, dragons... and Source is just the type of dragon. But my kind have a lot of power or energy, which can be used for many things like weapons and other stuff," I explained, the words spilling forth in a rush of pent-up emotion. "But since I'm only half, I don't lose the power like full Source dragons."

"How can you keep the power, if I may ask?" Sensei Wu's question hung in the air, a challenge and a plea wrapped into one.

"I don't know, actually," I confessed, the weight of my ignorance bearing down on me like a leaden burden.

"Well, the ninjas and I will protect you from them," Sensei Wu vowed, his voice a beacon of hope in the darkness that threatened to consume me.

"If you don't mind, could you please not tell them that I'm half Source Dragon? It's fine if you tell them why they want me, but I..." I trailed off, the words catching in my throat as fear gripped me in its icy embrace.

"Of course, my dear. Now it's pretty late. You may go rest," Sensei Wu dismissed me with a wave of his hand, his words a gentle reminder of the fragility of the present moment.

Nodding numbly, I stumbled out into the hallway, the weight of my secrets pressing down on me like a burden too heavy to bear.