Chapter Twenty Five: I forgot to breathe
A.N~ so I drew a quick picture of Kiara ^

I kept my focus on flying to the city, I never took my eyes off of the starry sky in front of me. I now knew that the master's mood affected the dragons because mine was flying rather aggressively, as if it was pissed like I was. It was a rough ride the whole way there, but being so pissed I didn't really care about that, I only cared about getting there and finding Kai like his usual self. It was good that all of the shadows left the city, but that didn't necessarily mean that Kiara was gone. I found an open area to land and jumped off my dragon, immediately looking around "Kai!" I called out in hopes of getting a response, but everything was silent.

The others landed about a minute after I did and they ran next to me. "We need to find him and make sure he's okay," Lloyd told us, adding "This time we're sticking together so nothing else bad happens," the rest of us nodded in agreement. It'd be better this way, at least all five of us would be there this time. We were all determined to find him, to make sure that he was okay and not possessed by one of the shadows like Zane and Jay were.

"I hope he's okay," I heard Nya say behind us. I felt bad for her because her own brother was missing and we had no clue what was going to happen to him whatsoever. For all we knew he was already possessed by one of the shadows and Kiara was one step closer to bringing back Alvah. For her sake, I hoped that we got him back.

"Don't worry, Nya," I turned to face her, and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "We're going to find him and he's going to be fine," I took my hand off of her and was thanked for the support "No problem," I wasn't going to let her down, I always lived up to my promise, just like my sister did. I guess that it just ran in the family, since my mom did that as well (from what I heard). She would even fulfill promises that meant Life and Death, and I'd even do that if it came to it. I knew that some people might find that stupid, but that's what I've grown to know: You can't call yourself a hero unless you're willing to fight to the death if it means good will come out of it.

"Let's keep moving, we should find him and get out of here. I'd rather do it sooner than later, if you know what I mean," Shadow spoke up. I got where she was coming from, I wanted that too but we couldn't rush things, because we weren't sure what could happen. It was better to take our time and not rush so things didn't end up going south. I've been in a few situations like that in the past where I've rushed and things ended badly, and regret it in the future. I didn't want to relive any moments like that, to be honest.

"Kai!" the five of us started calling out, but still nothing. I got a better look around the city but there was no signs of him anywhere. "I'm going to get an aerial view of the city, you guys keep searching," I told the other four while summoning by dragon again. They all nodded and I flew off to eventually lose sight of them. I scanned the city below but Kai was still no where to be found. Where the hell was he? It's not like he had the big of a head start so he couldn't have gotten that far ahead of us, right?

I started to fear that he did end up possessed like Zane and Jay were. He could be, not that fast. I would hate if he did especially for Nya's sake, I couldn't imagine losing my sibling like that, even if they weren't hurt or dead. At this point I wasn't sure what to expect out of this, as in how things were going to turn out for the three. I just hoped that it didn't come to that, and if it did then Kiara would have a boatload of trouble coming her way. I wouldn't let her live without seeing revenge for anything she does to them, even what she's done already, let her shadows possess them.

My heart sunk when I saw another cloud of shadow appear in a small part of the city. "Crap," I whispered to myself and flew down to the spot it was coming from. Now on the ground I yelled out "Kai! Yell to me if you're not dead!" instead of hearing Kai I heard Lloyd yelling out to someone... to Shadow? I ran after his voice and turned a corner to see him frantically looking around. "Lloyd! What happened?"

"Cass!" he ran over to me, out of breathe. I wasn't sure what was going on with them but I knew it wasn't good. "We got separated, I got away with Shadow but one of the shadows took her! I can't find her anywhere!" he was still freaking out about it and I attempted to calm him down.

"Lloyd, calm down!" I grabbed his arms and stopped him, looking him in the eyes. "We'll find her, but tell me, why are you freaking out like this? It's like you've seen a ghost or something."

Like I was trying to get him to do he calmed down and looked me in the eyes, fear clearly in his. "No, she's gone like the others are! Why'd I let that happen? She was right there, then she wasn't," I got that she was a teammate and a friend but why was he freaking out so much?

I thought back to the conversation Shadow and I had right before we left, and then thought maybe? "Wait, you care a lot about her, like with how Shadow was saying-" I stopped my sentence and corrected myself "Forget about that. I know what's the problem, it's so clear. You weren't like this with Zane or Jay, or even Kai now. Tell me, Lloyd, do you like her?" That was the only simple explanation.

He gave me a weak nod. "Yeah I do, and I let them take her. It's my fault, I should have protected her. Now she's in the hands of those damn shadows, and Kiara is one person closer to completing her goal. She needs one more. My uncle told me that she can't use me, she needs one of the masters with only one element."

"Then that means," I let my hands fall from his arms. "That means it's either Cole or me," I couldn't let that happen, I could protect myself but what about Cole? From what I could tell he wasn't aware of this and he didn't know how essential it was for him to stay away from the shadows. "I need to go find Cole. Stay here and find Shadow, there's still a slight chance that they haven't taken over her yet, you can still make things right. But for me, I need to find Cole and make sure neither of us come into contact with a shadow."

I didn't think twice about running off to search for Cole now. Things have gotten crazy in such a small period of time. This morning we were all fine, then Kiara attacks Ninjago City, gaining control of Zane and Jay. Then Kai and possibly Shadow. "Cole!" I called out to him. "Cole!" I tried again. I just hoped that he was alright, I'd hate for him to be possessed too. First, Kiara could finally compete her goal of resurrecting Alvah. Second, Cole would be possessed and possibly hurt. If that was true then I'd have an even bigger bone to pick with Kiara, he'd better watch her ass because I'm coming for her if it's the last thing I do.

I ran down the streets of the city until I ran into someone, literally. I fell backwards before looking back up to see Cole. "Cole!" I piped. I stood up, same with Cole. "Thank god you're in one piece!"

"What's wrong?" he questioned. I quickly informed him about Lloyd and how he was looking for Shadow, along with what he told me. "Are you serious?" his eyes widened. I could tell that he was both shocked and concerned. Who wouldn't be after hearing what I told him? "Then we need to stay together. Maybe if we do then nothing will happen."

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah. But what we really need to do is get the hell out of here before they can find us," he returned the nod and grabbed my wrist, starting to drag me along with him. I wasn't planning on leaving his side because it would just lead to a higher risk of a shadow finding one of us and possessing them, I couldn't let that happen. I knew that he was on the same page considering that he wouldn't let go of my wrist. His grip was tight around it, I could tell that he wasn't even letting go or he wouldn't have been holding on too tight. My eyes shifted to his face, he looked determined to get us out, same with me. I smiled at his determination, admiring it. I shook my head to forget about what I just thought, this was some serious business and it was no time for that.

I started to question why I was so concerned with it, it's not like it was a big deal. I was just thankful that he was so determined. He would too if we switched shoes, but that wasn't the case here. It was more than that, I cared too much for it to be plain and simple like I wanted it to be. I looked back over him and thought about the conversation Shadow and I had again, wondering if it really meant something, if any of it was true. I knew it did, there was no questioning it. We were great friends, we've gained a bond that no one else on the team has (Besides Lloyd and Shadow, I don't really know at this point, since I don't know much about the bond between them). I'm overthinking this whole situation. I'm caring too much about him. It was possible...

Still lost in my thoughts, I felt something grab my foot and yank me a good dozen yards away from where I was. "Ah!" I wailed as the back of my head hit a building behind me. I looked up to see Cole being punched by a shadow, and Kiara walking over to him.

I smirk formed on her face as she stood over Cole who was punched to the ground. "It's good to do the last one on my own," she formed a ball of shadow around her arm and brought it close to Cole. I knew what she was about to do, force it into him so that it'd possess him like with the others. I couldn't let her do that, not while I was there!

"No!" I barked and got up, immediately dashing at her. I tackled her to the ground before she could do anything to Cole. As I did that he was grabbed by a shadow and thrown into a wall a little ways from us. Kiara ended up on top of me which made the situation worse than before. Instead of it being Cole, she started to bring her shadow covered hand up to my chest but I grabbed her wrist to stop her. "I'm not going to let you win! I won't let you use me, or Cole! and I swear to God if you hurt him in the process, I will personally take you down!"