A fire's shadow

Blazing rage and broken trust

The noodle shop was hectic as usual, but Lloyd had still managed to find an empty booth. He had quickly said hello to Skylor since she was busy with the customers. When Lloyd sat down he let out a deep breath and thought back on the sudden change in Kai's behavior. The brunette had been too lost in thought to notice anything and yet, he'd stopped by that alley and actually said something. Lloyd had a bad feeling about it, but the green ninja knew all too well that Kai was not happy with all the surveillance he was currently under, and for Lloyd to add more of that just because of a bad feeling, it was not going to go home to the red ninja. But Lloyd couldn't shake the feeling that there was something Kai wasn't telling anyone, or at least not him. The green ninja loved Kai, but he and the red ninja had been fighting a little lately, mostly about Shadow. Lloyd couldn't understand how Kai was so up and ready to forgive Shadow and give him a second chance, even after all the suffering Kai went through because of the dark persona. Lloyd clenched his fists and started to shake slightly in anger when he thought about what Shadow had done to Kai. Lloyd could still remember how dull and frightened Kai's eyes had looked. A tear escaped the green ninja's eyes when he thought about it. And despite all that, Kai was willing to try and forgive Shadow. Lloyd knew he'd never forget the dark persona, no matter what, Shadow was an enemy to the green ninja. Lloyd snapped back to reality when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He jumped in surprise and turned his head and saw Skylor standing next to him. "Are you okay, Lloyd?" The green ninja chuckled, "Yeah, I'm fine. I just have a lot to think about right now." Skylor knew what he meant, but she didn't say anything. She gave him a smile and went back to work. Lloyd now noticed that a few of the elemental masters were in the restaurant, and to be honest, it made him a little worried. Ever since the whole thing with Shadow, none of the masters had talked to, or even seen Kai, so Lloyd was worried about how they were going to react. He didn't have to wonder any longer, because Kai entered through the doors. Kai pretended to be lost in thought, but in reality, he was watching and listening to how the elemental masters reacted with him being there. The brunette saw the angry stares he received from the masters, but it didn't bother him, after all, why would it? He made his way to the booth Lloyd sat in and sat down right across from the blond ninja. "Did you do what you had to do?" Kai lowered his head, "Sort of, I did something that had to do with it, but I'm not done quite yet." Kai could feel the questioning gaze Lloyd was giving him, and the brunette hoped for a distraction before Lloyd started asking any questions, to Kai's luck, a distraction appeared. Shade walked up to the booth where the two ninjas sat, his angry gaze rested on Kai, which Kai noticed even though he didn't see it. "So you show your face here. I don't care what everyone else believes, or says, I don't trust you." This caused Kai to turn to Shade, his gaze telling Shade to 'back off'. But the elemental master didn't care, "Oh, giving me that look are you." "As a matter of fact, I am. Now would you please leave me alone, Shade, or do I have to make you." Shade chuckled, "Your threats don't scare me. The only reason you were able to kidnap me before was that I let my guard down, a mistake I won't repeat." Kai clenched his fists and stood up, getting in Shade's face, "I don't need your opinion on what happened. Unlike you, I can forgive people for things they've done, more so when what they did wasn't their fault." The other masters had by now walked over and watched as to how this was going to go down, most of them sided with Shade. Kai never removed his eyes from Shade who was staring back with the same anger in the eyes. "You should watch your mouth, Kai, you might get into trouble if you don't." Kai's eyes started turning a slight shade of red, which Shade noticed, but didn't care to point out. "I would say the same to you, Shade, you don't want to say the wrong things to the wrong people, now do you? Because I know that even though you don't want to admit it, you're scared. Scared of me, scared that I will hurt you. But trust me on this, I may not have a reason to beat your ass, but I know someone who will, if you're ever unlucky enough to meet him again. And even though he might hate me, he would be happy to beat you down. So I suggest you lay off the snarky comments towards me, otherwise, I won't hesitate to do the same as him." Kai turned around and walked towards the door, but before he had even opened it, Shade spoke up, "The only one who's afraid, is you. Afraid I will reveal your act and show everyone just how twisted you are." The red ninja stopped dead in his tracks, lifting his head, his eyes burning with rage. Shade thought he had gotten the last words and were now laughing at Kai. But before Shade had time to react, Kai charged a punch at him, stopping the fist only millimeters from Shade's face. His eyes widened and when he saw the slight color change in Kai's eyes, as well as the burning rage in them, he actually felt scared of the red ninja. "Don't underestimate me again, Shade, or it will be your biggest mistake yet." Kai then lowered his hand and left through the door. Everyone stared after the red ninja, even Lloyd was surprised about Kai's behavior. Shade turned to Lloyd, "What has gotten into him?" Lloyd stood up and gave Shade a stern look, "I should ask you the same, Shade. Kai is still mentally recovering from what happened, and trust me when I say there are damages back at the bounty to prove that you should not mess with him until he's back to normal." Everyone gave Lloyd shocked expressions. Skylor made her way to the green ninja, "Lloyd, I don't mean to get involved, but can you tell us what happened when you got Kai back." The other elemental masters nodded in agreement and Lloyd let out a sigh, "When we found where Shadow was hiding, we immediately went there. But what happened was not something we expected. Shadow had his own body thanks to all the power he had taken and he had Kai chained up. Kai had been tortured, mentally more than physically, but still. His eyes were so dull and without hope. Shadow defeated all of us, and when we thought everything was lost, Kai was the one to save us. He somehow had broken his chains and thanks to some supporting words, he defeated Shadow. But..." Everyone was staring at Lloyd. "But what?" Skylor asked and Lloyd sighed, "Kai saw something, something me and the others didn't see. When Shadow was defeated, he was lying motionless on the floor, even though he wasn't dead. Kai walked over to him for some unknown reason and according to Kai, Shadow's eyes had turned auburn. Kai says that Shadow acted like a frightened child and said he didn't want to hurt Kai anymore. But then Shadow's eyes turned blood red and he escaped. We haven't seen or heard from Shadow since then. But I know he's out there. Kai wants to try and help Shadow, but the rest of us knows there is no way to help that monster. But what worries me is Kai's mental health. He called himself a monster and thinks it would be better if he left the team." The elemental masters now looked slightly guilty for being angry at Kai, Shade more than anyone. "I-I didn't know.." "It's okay Shade. I'm sure Kai didn't mean any of what he said." Skylor then spoke up again, "But what do you think about what Kai says about Shadow?" "I don't believe for a second that Shadow has any good in him, so in my opinion, Kai was seeing things..." What Lloyd and the other elemental masters didn't know, was that Kai was standing right outside the door, and he had heard every word. He clenched his fists and growled, "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Lloyd." A tear escaped the red ninja's eyes but he wiped it away. "I guess I'm on my own in this." With another growl, Kai disappeared into the night.