Departed

Chapter 14: Wait

Harumi's POV

     There are many times in life where you know when to keep your mouth shut. Now was one of them. I was flanked by skilled warriors with weapons, and I wasn't about to make them even more irate. I was too busy staring daggers in the back in their heads. Lloyd and Zane led the small group, while the rest of the Ninja surrounded us from other sides. Strangely enough, they were arguing.

      "They don't deserve anything other than a life sentence in Kryptarium." Lloyd hissed. "If I had my way, they'd both be dead before sundown. Especially her." He didn't have to look at me for me to know his luminous green eyes were scathing.

     "Sticking them in Kryptarium will not solve the problem. We all saw Morro die and you saw Harumi fall. The Oni masks are broken, their bodies are buried, and the Rift of Return will not open again until after we are gone. They can't just be here. People don't come back to life randomly, Lloyd." Zane said, his plain voice twisting my gut.

    These were the people who were responsible for my parents deaths. I may have been able to make peace with the fact that my parents were gone, but that didn't stop the bitter hatred from rising in me. It was their struggle for power that almost caused that little boy I saved to turn out like me. How many more had they made like the Quiet One because of their carelessness?

    Lloyd exhaled through gritted teeth. "Who cares how they came back? If they even died. Who's to say they didn't fake their deaths then hide out?"

     "If they did indeed fake their deaths, that doesn't explain the Day of the Departed incident that happened. Not to mention that raises the question about them not revealing themselves until now. Why would they wait then randomly pop out into the open?" Zane's reasonableness was really playing to our side right now.

     "Besides, they actually popped out of thin air according to Ivy," Jay added from behind me. His voice still sounded boyish, but it had gotten deeper.

     "Motormouth's right for once." Cole said. "Ivy said they just appeared."

     "Ivy was freaked out," Lloyd argued, starting to turn around but stopping himself. He didn't even want to look at me. "She could be exaggerating."

     It didn't take long for me to connect the dots. Ivy must have been the woman who saw us.

     "Why don't you just ask them?" Kai pointed to us.

     Lloyd's withering glare answered that question. A strong gust of wind blasted us from the front as Destiny's Bounty slowly descended onto an open field. It looked newer than when I last saw it, but also older, as if it had been through many battles. I let the dust and debris of the warm air hit my face, simply because I had too much pride to cower in front of the Ninja.

     My friends. My enemies.

     "Oh wow." Nya's cold voice echoed from the ship's deck. She was taller and more defined with years of training, looking less like a girl and more like a woman. "I never thought I'd see these two again."

     "Neither did we," Lloyd muttered, rubbing a spot on his chest.

     "Morro." Wu's eyebrows raised as he joined Nya on the deck. The old man had long grown out of the toddler I had last saw him in and had donned grey and white robes that looked way too significant for normal clothes. His stare was even colder than Nya's when he saw me. I refused to shrink away from it, keeping my head high. The peacefulness of the Cloud Kingdom was wearing off with each step I took away from that life. It wouldn't be long before I snapped.

     Morro bowed. "Sensei Wu." He was poked in the back with the handle of a sword.

    "No talking," Kai scolded. The Ninja led us onto the Bounty. Wu met his ninja with a disapproving stare as they continued to flank us on the deck.