The Chronicles of Kyle

Chapter 1

Kyle sank into his bed with a sigh. Another day, another battle. Another chance to prove himself; another embarrassing failure accompanied by a mindless barrage of "blame Kyle!"

His eyes wandered up to the bunk above his. The bed frame shuddered as its inhabitant rolled over, and Kyle's heart lurched. When it was obvious the bed was still standing, he relaxed again and tried to clear his mind of the memories of the cruel "prank" his room mates had pulled a few months ago when he slept on the top bunk. They had rigged it to come crashing down as soon as he put weight on it. He was pulling splinters out of weird places for days. Needless to say, he preferred to sleep on the bottom bunk from that day forward. Kyle rolled his eyes and pulled the thin, scratchy blanket over his body.

"Hey, Kyle!" a voice from above whispered.

Kyle paused, "...yeah?"

"How'd that battle with the princesses go?"

"Um... It was okay, I guess," Kyle mumbled.

"Really?" the voice replied mockingly, "you know, I'm surprised you're still alive based on how many times you got eliminated in training yesterday!"

With a sigh, Kyle pressed his head onto his pillow and didn't respond.

"Too bad," the voice continued, "it would've saved us all a lot of trouble if you didn't make it."

Kyle's heart sank. What had he ever done to anyone? He ran his hand through his messy blond hair and blinked hard to keep his tears from overflowing. As much as he tried to hide it, it hurt. The constant belittling words. The neverending kicks and shoves. The ever-present whispers and stolen glances in his direction.

"Am I just a punching bag for the Horde?" Kyle thought to himself, "they don't think I can do anything, so why do they even bring me along to fight the princesses? Maybe... Maybe they hope I won't come back. Maybe everyone's right. Maybe it'd be better if I didn't."

Hiding his face beneath his blanket, Kyle tried to keep his mind on something, anything else, but the thoughts kept creeping up in the back of his mind. Minute after minute, "I can't stay here where everyone hates me..." Hour after hour, "but I have nowhere to go!"

He didn't know how long he'd been lying there, but sleep was completely evading him. After another futile attempt to clear his head and drift off into dreams of a world more pleasant than his own, he rolled over and let his eyes wander. In the darkness he could just barely make out the shape of a clawed up mattress. Adora. She used to sleep there before she left. Before she escaped from the Horde and found a new home. A little spark of excitement flourished in Kyle's chest. "Maybe I could leave too! Maybe I can just run away and no one will notice! Maybe-" His body jolted upright as he suddenly remembered falling for what felt like miles and crashing down onto a pile of his peers. He instinctively rubbed his back as he felt his short-lived hope fade away. How come the Rebellion welcomed Adora with open arms, but they threw Kyle off a cliff? Because she's powerful. She has something to offer, and Kyle had nothing. Kyle wrapped his arms around his knees. Is that what the Rebellion was? Something that claimed to be good but only accepted people who were beneficial to them leaving the weak ones to die? Was the Rebellion any different from the Horde?

Kyle looked up at the one, tiny window in the room and flinched when he saw faint traces of pink and orange beginning to streak across the sky. Soon the shrill ring of the morning alarm would pierce the silence, and the peaceful calm of the night would devolve into the overwhelming clamor of the morning. He couldn't bear to stay here another day. Before he knew what he was doing, he was on his feet and walking towards the door swiftly but silently. He didn't even bother packing his few belongings. He didn't want to remember this place.

Maybe he did have something to offer. Adora left the Horde over a month ago, so Kyle had more up to date information on their plans! Well, what they bothered to tell him that is... And maybe Adora would understand him more than Bow had. She had left the Horde too. Maybe she could see some value in him and give him a chance. After all, they used to be friends.

With his somewhat deluded hopes, Kyle reached the door and turned sharply to the left. He crouched down on his hands and knees and started carefully removing the cover to the ventilation shaft. In his years with the Horde, at least he'd learned one thing: how to get around without being seen. It helped after particularly embarrassing training sessions when people would be lying in wait to tease him. The grate came off of the wall with a subtle scrape, and Kyle scurried inside. He replaced the metal sheet as well as he could from inside the small corridor and began to crawl into the darkness.