Kaged

Chapter 3

Luna sat calmly in the hospital waiting room, watching with interest as her son paced back and forth. He had never been this concerned about anyone. Especially not any human. What was different about this one? She had seemed pretty normal when Luna had
looked at her.
Her attention was snapped back into reality as the hospital doors slid open and two young girls walked in. A tall fourteen-year-old with choppy black hair and numerous facial piercings, followed by a shy-looking eleven-year-old with pale-gold curls. The receptionist looked up at them "May I help you?"
Luna stood. "They're with me, they're my nieces."
Scott was standing still now, but he had started mumbling to himself.
The receptionist stared at him for a moment before returning to her work. Luna walked towards the girls, wrapping the younger one in her arms. "Valkyrie, Aislen, how was your guys' day?"
Valkyrie, the dark-haired one, shrugged and plopped down in the nearest seat. "I don't know, how about you tell me why I had to come here when I could be at home."
Luna stood, resting her hand on Aislen's shoulder. "Scott found a young girl on the street, she was half-dead and seemingly homeless so we brought her here and we're waiting to see if she'll be okay."
Valkyrie sighed and pulled her I-pod and earbuds out of her pocket. "So, what does that have to do with me?"
Luna glared at her. "Valkyrie Tenzin, show some sympathy, there is a little girl dying here and you're concerned about yourself? How selfish can you be?"
Valkyrie rolled her eyes, placing her earbuds in and turning Royal Blood up to maximum volume.
Luna returned to her seat, Aislen sitting silently next to her.
Scott had managed to settle down and was now standing in the corner, rapidly texting his girlfriend. They sat there for several hours, leaving the waiting room only to visit the vending machine and use the bathroom. People came and went.
Finally after what seemed like forever a doctor appeared in the hallway and called out "Luna Tenzin."

The doctor flipped through pages on his clipboard, mumbling to himself. He finally spoke. "Her name is Kage."
"Excuse me?" Luna asked.
The doctor looked straight at her. They were the exact same height. "The girl's name is Kage Okami. She's nine years old. A runaway. Filed last year as a missing person in Ithica. How she got all the way to Brooklyn by herself without being killed is a mystery."
"She looks pretty dead to me."
Luna turned around to see Valkyrie leaning against the wall  behind her.
"Valkyrie."
The doctor simply chuckled. "Oh, she's quite alright. Just resting. Being out alone on the streets for a year can be tiring, especially for someone as young as she is."
Luna let out a sigh of relief.
"Oh, good."
Valkyrie walked up next to her aunt and looked down at the doctor. Despite the fact that she was only fourteen, she was already two-inches taller than him.
"Where are her parents?"
Luna glared at her niece.
"Valkyrie, that's really none of our business."
The doctor gave Luna a look of sympathy before stating, "Actually, I'm afraid it is your business."
Luna looked back at him surprise.
"What?"
The doctor flipped nervously through a couple papers on his clipboard before answering.
"You see....Kage Okami is an orphan...her biological father, Dallas Jameson, lives all the way in England and has cut off all ties to his daughter. Her adoptive mother, Kori Okami, committed suicide last year on the day that Kage went missing."
Luna gasped in horror. "What, why?"
The doctor frowned. "Kori Okami was a heavy drug and alcohol user and had lost her sanity in the process of abusing those substances."
"What about her biological mother?", Asked Luna. "Where's she?"
"Merrari Jameson died due to child-birth complications."

Aislen knew it was rude to stare , but she couldn't help herself. The way Scott was looking at the girl was so...intriguing. She could feel the emotions he had for her. But she couldn't understand them. For the first time in her life she couldn't understand what someone was feeling. It bothered her. It wasn't like the love he felt for his girlfriend, or the anger he felt towards his mother. It was different from all of those. It was new. Normally his emotions felt violent, angry, impatient and dramatic. But around this girl they were....calm.

I wonder what color her eyes are.....
Those were the words going through Scott's mind when Aislen whispered his name.
"Scott."
He turned towards her in surprise. It was very unlike Aislen to speak out loud. She was more of an inner monologue kind of girl.
"Scott, I can't...I mean....I don't understand...."
He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion "Understand what?"
She took a deep breath, and stared down at the floor. He knew this was difficult for her but he was an impatient guy.
"What, Aislen?"

"Your emotions...", She whispered. "For the girl...they're strange. I don't understand them. Scott...."
She looked up at him, her face hidden by a mess of golden locks. "Are you....in love with her?"
Scott almost fell backwards in shock. "WHAT?"
Aislen's face flushed pink "I just thought...I wouldn't know because I've never...."
The look on his face was incredulous.
"Of course you haven't, you're only eleven. Listen, that's not how it works. This girl is way too young for me, she's like nine and I'm sixteen."
Aislen whispered so quietly  that Scott could barely hear her when she said. "Love knows no age."
Scott shrugged. "Yeah, maybe not, but it does know loyalty and I'm already in love with Alex."
Aislen looked away in shame.
"Sorry."
He turned his attention back towards the girl. "I don't care, I was just telling you."
Aislen nodded. "Yeah, but, if you haven't fallen in love with her, then what are these emotions you're feeling for her? I don't understand them and it's really screwing with my mind."
Scott sighed. "I wish I could understand them too. But I don't. I just feel this connection to her. I feel like I have to protect her but at the same time I feel like she has to protect me as well. Isn't that weird?"
He let out a slight laugh. "Protection...from a human...how ridiculous."