Chapter 23: Stay Gold

Y/N's POV:

"Blue, Snowbird?" Blue and I sat up straight at the sound of Ninja's voice. I turned my head and stood up, looking into his deep blue eyes. "Reaper has something good to tell you." He turned with a sparkle in his eyes as he walked back into the cabin. 
I turned back and shared a puzzled glance with Blue. We walked back into the cabin, holding our breathe. We walked around the corner, seeing that the red lotus weren't alone this time. Beside them and mixed in with them were bright pink cherry blossoms. I still don't understand this, I thought, narrowing my eyes. But as I saw the bigger picture, Reaper had a device in his hand- no. On his hand! I stared at the device, feeling lightheaded. He turned to me and I finally saw the truth. 
"Status's show..." The sentence echoed in my ears as I remembered what he had said when we were about to attack the facility. "I know, kinda a shocker," he said. I swallowed back the repulsive anger that was about to flood out of my mouth at him. Why hadn't you told us? This could have really helped some shit that had happened with us! But I had to remain calm. 
"Nah, it's good. What's the news?" I changed the subject walking up to Reaper. He showed me the device, which was kinda like a McFistPad. A monitor was up and had a dark green background. Waves of light green would occasionally pass over and a small beeping sound followed after it quickly. "What?" I eyed Reaper questioningly. He rolled his eyes at me. 
"Don't you get it! The flowers are alive," he said, nudging me with his shoulder. I just stood there and stared at him. Crrrraaazy robot here..., I thought. 
"Yeeeaaaahh, Reaper," I said, nodding my head slowly, "Flowers live like you and me. Do you understand?" I snickered a little at Reaper's narrowed eyes.
"You're not getting it," he sighed. "The flowers are alive. The red lotus's are the remains of Kai's body and blood, right?"
I nodded. 
"And the cherry blossom's are Sakira's remains. And the flowers are alive. That means-"
"They're still alive! But... why aren't they here? Was this Sakira's work?" Blue finished. Her eyes beamed with both questions and excitement. Reaper shook his head. 
"I don't believe that Sakira, as strong as she was, could have done something like this. And if she did, I'll allow her to tell me I was wrong. But she had never met Kai. In fact, non of us have! So it had to be something with you, Snowbird." Everyone stared at me. I swallowed hard on the feeling of me being the center of attention. 
"What did you do?" Blue was the first to ask. I slowly turned my head to her and felt the color of my face turn white and cold. 
"I... I really don't know... I just knew him. That was it," I said softly. Everyone was quiet as the sun soared high in the sky and the clouds raced each other across the sky and covered the land in shadows, just like in the cabin filled with cherry blossoms and red lotus's.

- A Few Hours Later -

The sun was beginning to set again. In the few hours, we had devised a plan. The question of how Sakira had died, how she had been poisoned, had risen fast after me being confronted about saving Kai and Sakira's lives. It was Myst who had the food, and I doubted that she really would have put poison in Sakira's ration. They were so close when Sakira was... yeah.
Ninja: "Ok, well. Then how did this happen?"
No answer.
Ninja: "Come on, guys! Is there any guess's?"
Reaper: "If Sakira was still alive, then I would have scanned her for the virus, then I could have classified it and helped. But, that was in the past. And there's nothing I can do now."
In the setting sun, I seemed to forget the outbursts and the questions and start to relax again. The warmth of the sun melted away some of the troubles and pushed them into the back of my mind. I wondered how Randy was. If he was feeling as wary as I was. I missed him. With all that had been happening, I would give almost anything for him to be here, to see the beauty of nature.
But. He wouldn't understand. He wouldn't understand what I was going through. And I doubted that he really would. "Hey." I jumped and turned my head to see Ninja. He stared at me. I could imagine a small smile on his face as he walked up and stared into the bright sunset, too. 
"Rough day?" he asked. I nodded and sat down on the wooden porch. He did the same, not taking his eyes off the yellow and orange flare in the blue sky that would soon turn to a mirror of dark blue and black with specks of white and light blue stars. The clouds had retreated to beyond the mountain's faces. "I'm really sorry about Kai. And Sakira," Ninja sighed heavily. He hung his head a little then looked me in the eyes. 
"Yeah," I choked out, trying to douse the burning feeling in my throat. "Kai and Sakira will be missed. But... But you heard what Reaper said. They're alive... somehow. I really hope I get to see them again." The burning feeling left when I felt the heaviness with tears that slipped to my eyelids. I reached up t wipe them away, but ended up letting them slide down my face. Ninja reached forward and wrapped his arms around me in a hug. I pushed the feeling of betrayal away, letting my heart hurt inside my ribcage. I could feel it pound against my ribs, and I felt the air in my lungs burn up and hiss out in sobs. 

-Another Few Hours Later- 

The night sky had fallen fast on the land and the moon shone brightly outside the cabin. It reached into the cabin through the windows and created spotlights for the wooden floors. I had tried to sleep, but couldn't. My mind was clouded by the thoughts and stress of what happened today. I sat up on the couch, and just breathed and blinked. Why was I so tired, but couldn't sleep? 
Then, I smiled at the dangerous thought that flashed in my head. I was going to go see Randy, tell him I was ok. But... didn't I just see him, like, two days ago? I shook my head. No way..., I thought. I crept through the house to where Ninja slept. I tapped his shoulder. 
He just mumbled something and turned to the right again. I rolled my eyes at him shook his shoulder. "Sttoooppp..." he groaned, batting my hands away. 
"Ninja!" I whisper-shouted in his ear. Ninja sat up immediately, blinking in surprise. 
"What!? What is- mhfmhffmf!" I covered his mouth quickly and pressed my finger to my lips. 
"Shhh! Quiet! Listen, I need to tell you something," I hissed quietly. "I'm going to go see a friend of mine. He lives in Norriseville. I'll be back by day break. Got it?" 
"What's his name?" Ninja asked, standing up. I looked up at him and, surprisingly, I felt my face grow in warmth. Thank God he could only see my eyes! 
"R-Randy," I stuttered, trying to push away my lovestruck feeling. He nodded and lead me to the door. 
"Day break. Got it." His eyes sparkled and lit up with silver light from the moon. 
"Thank you," I whispered back, and leapt off, into the starry night. The dark spruce trees glittered in the moonlight, the grass was dappled in white and dark shadows. I stopped on the top of a tall spruce and saw before me, a sparkling town with yellow, blue, and white lights. Norriseville. My heart pounded and leaped with excitement. I couldn't jump, flip, or run faster as I came into town. It was quiet. It was at peace. 
I ran down Randy's street and found his house. I was on the verge of tears as I crept up to the window. I stared inside and saw it was dark. I tapped on the window. Suddenly, someone jumped down to the floor and opened the window. "Snowbird?" 
"Randy! It's me! Y/N," I whispered excitedly and just bolted inside. Randy ran over and turned on a small light, showing him in his normal red and white t-shirt and some black sweat pants. I slipped off my mask, and after I let the bands of black and white flash back into the mask, I ran to Randy and hugged him. I was so happy to see him again. After about a minute of hugging, I pushed him away. "Quick question, were you in the forest two days ago?" Randy looked at me with a questioning stare. 
"Noooo..." he said quietly. "Where have you been?! I'm sorry that I was the way I was when you left. I-" 
"You shoob! It's fine. I was just kinda... surprised that you had reacted that way," I said with a smile. He nodded, looking at his feet for a moment. 
"Hey, it's fine... I have to tell you something. Actually many things. You ready for a long night?" I asked, sitting down on the couch. He nodded and sat next to me, wrapping his arms around me.

It was 6:38 am when I woke up. My eyes were heavy and I was on Randy's couch still. I blinked and smiled when I saw Randy's messy purple hair. "Randy," I whispered. He blinked open his eyes and stared at me. 
"You have to go, don't you?" he asked, sadly. I nodded, sitting up. I grabbed my mask and the book, pulling the mask over my face and letting the bands of black and white tighten around me. I looked back at Randy, a few tears shining in his eyes. 
"Hey. I'll come back. Ok? I promise," I said, walking up to him and hugging him before leaving again. I felt cold as I stared at the sky as it lightened with the sun's arrival. 

The trees were a blur as I leapt over the trees. The sun was still climbing up into the sky. The cold dew that rested on the pine needled drizzled down onto the ground as I flew past. I hope not everyone is awake..., I thought. That would be really awkward! I was suddenly thrown to the forest floor, with the wind knocked out of my lungs. I leapt up and got into battle stance, ready for whoever to come at me. But to my surprise, I didn't have to. 
"Where have you been!?" It was Blue and she didn't look to happy to see me. I rested from my stance and walked over to her. 
"I went to go see a friend," I said, meeting her glare without flinching. 
"Ugh! We don't have time for that," she snapped back. 
"What happened?" I had a strange cold feeling spiral down my spine. 
"Nothing... except Ninja and you both left us hanging this morning! We don't have time to go searching for you two when we have work to do!" 
"Wait! What? I told him where I was going last night!" I flipped my scarf on a thick branch, bringing myself off the ground. Blue followed me. We headed back to the cabin, where we met Reaper and Flare outside. 
"He's back," Reaper said, glancing coldly my way. What!? I was only gone for a few hours... I glared at him and walked by, anger rising. 
I walked in and saw Ninja sitting on the couch. "Did you follow me or something?" I demanded, stepping in front of him. Again, I blushed hard when I saw him glance up at me and glare playfully. 
"Nope. No spying, honest," he said, holding up his hands. 
"Then where were you?!" 
"Calm down, Snowbird! It's fine." A sudden snap of anger bit back at me and stopped me in my tracks. My raging fire had simmered down to nothing but glowing coals by his significant glare. I nodded and looked to my feet. I walked away and sat down in a window sill, not looking at anyone. "What's the plan?" I asked quietly, but still forcefully.
"Well, we're going to go to the burnt facility. Clues could be found there," Ninja said, his tone turning soft again. I nodded and stared out the window, crossing my arms. 

-At The Facility-

The rummage that littered the ground was sickening to me. White pieces of drywall, metal, bricks, etc. were thrown around with black marks that told us that the white had been charred during the fire. There was only one part left of the facility; and that was the basement. "Look at this mess," Flare hissed. I glanced back at her, following her angered glare to the ground where trees had been charred as well. "Fire was never meant to make this much destruction." 
No one said anything. We just leapt down to the ground, searching. "Spread out. It'll help us find clues," Ninja commanded. I watched as everyone split up and walked away. I glanced back at Ninja as he looked around. 
"Hey, Ninja... I, umm...," I sighed. He didn't turn to me, but he tilted his head downwards to the ground. "I'm really sorry that I was accusing you of following me... It was just something that I-"
"I understand. I too have something I want to protect," Ninja said, turning to me. He took a step towards me and I felt my legs feel like I was about to give out. At this moment, he looked so strong, so tall, so much of a leader. He stared at me with friendly eyes. 
I could just imagine the smile he had on his face. "It's fine." I glanced down at my feet before I looked back up at him. 
"Ok," I whispered, before Ninja pulled me into a hug. I was stunned for a moment before I realized I needed this so much. Then I hugged him back. But it was shortly lived. "Hey, guys! I've got- Oh, you two having a moment?" Blue yelled. I turned to her and felt my face grow hot. 
"Y-y-yeah, uh... Let's go," I said, pulling away from Ninja with an awkward smile, even though it was hidden. He nodded back and walked past me and Blue. 
"Nice going, Snowy." Blue whispered. I let out an embarrassed sigh and glanced up at Blue. She giggled a little and patted my shoulder friendly. "Let's go." I walked up with her and the others, where a mysterious black door stood. 


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