Lunars of the Caribbean

Yay ... Another Kidnapping (25)

Of all the stupid ideas Kai had ever come up with, sneaking out of his room and onto the docks to stowaway on a ship was in the top five. Right up there with angering Levana and not convincing Cinder to go to his father's birthday celebration with him.

Okay, maybe the last one was an over-exaggeration, but still. It's not like he was carrying a weapon to defend himself with or anything. He hadn't even brought the book on Lunars with him. He'd left it in his room, tucked away in a box under his bed. In case anything happened to him on the way to finding Cinder.

He'd memorized the important bits of the book, after having read it over a dozen times. The information was in his head, so he could pass it on to Cinder once he found her. She needed to know what he found out. She needed to know how to defeat Levana.

He walked down the docks in the dead of night, careful to avoid the guards and keep out of the sight of the locals. Of course, he was an amateur, and not the best at sneaking away.

Yes, Kai got caught. And it was the second time in his life he was held at gunpoint.

A figure in a cloak threw their hand over his mouth and pressed the end of a gun's barrel to his temple. "If you're smart, you'll stay silent and come with me."

Great, Kai thought. Another kidnapping ... woohoo.

Still, he didn't want to be sent back to his father in a casket, so he did as the figure told him. The figure that must have been a man because of his deep voice and large hand over Kai's mouth. After turning down several alleyways and ducking into a handful of corners to avoid guards, the man led Kai into a small house and locked the door behind them.

There was a single lit candle on a table in the center of the room. A fireplace was empty, save a few charred logs.

Kai's captor released him and placed the pistol on the table. He removed his cloak, showing his face. He was tanned, with messy brown hair on his head. With eyes to match, and a nearly sculpted face. Upon seeing just how ... handsome the man looked, Kai took a step back. Towards the door.

"You're Lunar, aren't you?" Kai questioned. Though he was certain of the answer.

The man raised an eyebrow at him. "Hm. They never said you were smart."

"They? Who's they?"

He rolled his eyes and grabbed the candle. He took it closer to the fire and lit the charred wood, setting a dull flame to warm the house. "That's none of your business, Kaito Huang." Seizing the opportunity, Kai snatched the pistol from the table and aimed for his captor. The man, once noticing that the tables had turned, dawned an expression of surprise. He didn't surrender or even hold up his hands. He merely gave Kai a grin of approval. "Interesting," he commented.

Kai rolled his eyes. "You're not as good as the last guy who kidnapped me. He didn't put down his weapon."

"Oh," the guy said. "I guess his weapon was actually loaded too."

Confused, Kai opened the barrel and checked the pistol for ammunition. To his dismay, the gun was empty. The pistol was useless. This guy had kidnapped him with nothing of real danger. As if Kai didn't feel like a big enough idiot already. The man struck two rocks together and created a spark that landed in the fireplace, making a little flame that eventually grew larger.

He tossed the gun back to the table, and of course he missed. The pistol clattered on the wooden floor and Kai cast a nasty glare to his kidnapper. "So you have nothing that can actually keep me here?"

The man shrugged. "If you run, I'll just tackle you and drag you back here." He took up a rod of iron and stoked the fire. He then took a log on the side of the fireplace and tossed it in. "But if you could figure out I was Lunar just by looking at me, I'd hope you're also smart enough to not try to run away."