Harumi's POV

After a while I decided to trot alongside Morro (mostly so that my gaze wouldn't have to be drawn to Kai), glancing around just to make sure there was nothing dangerous following us, since by now I had gotten sick of saying "I hate myself", even though of course, I still did.

Feeling a bit restless, I fiddled with my thumbs and the hem of my shirt. My eyes followed my feet as they carried me deeper and deeper into the trees. For a long time, there were no sounds other than the occasional bird and the crunching of leaves under our feet. I felt eyes on me and looked up to see Morro's dark green ones. He then coughed and rumpled his hair with his free hand. I looked back down.

"So, you and Lloyd are a... thing now?" Morro asked awkwardly. "He told me."

Even in the chilly forest air, I felt my face burn. In the last hour or so, I'd barely thought about it. But then, it would've been selfish of me to. Then I remembered the fact that Morro was mean to my sister.

"Why do you hate her so much? My sister, I mean," I asked abruptly. I didn't mean to sound so accusing, but the question just came out of my mouth of its own accord.

He didn't answer at first, apparently thinking about how he should answer.

"I just don't like her..." his voice trailed off.

"That's not really an excuse," I said, hoping he wouldn't start treating me like filth again. But considering the situation we were in, I doubted he would do anything serious.

"I get that she's the princess. And that she's your sister. Sue me if you want, but I'm going to say this: she's an idiot." His voice was growing colder by the minute.

The sudden harshness in his words hit me like a brick. Seemed like though his attitude towards me might've changed, he still hated Ruby. And then I realized that she was somewhere in the forest, but we didn't know where. I froze where I stood. How could I have forgotten about her? I ran my fingers through my hair and pulled the strands. Morro, sensing something wrong, stopped in his tracks.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, concerned. "Or was it because I said—"

"No, it wasn't anything you said," I murmured, cutting him off. "But yeah, something is wrong."

Morro blinked, confused.

"I don't know where she is." I said. Our eyes met.

"Then we'll find her. But we'll do it after we've taken care of the tree problem." His voice was firm and steady, or as firm as steady as it could be, and there was no point in arguing. "Don't worry. I'm sure she'll be fine. Positive."

I closed my eyes and took several deep breaths. He had agreed. But I was still bothered. What if we were too late? What if she got attacked? What if the fall was too painful to tolerate? What if she needed me right now? What if the Shadow Knight got her? What if she... she... I couldn't bring myself to think about it anymore. The worry turned to fright, and fright turned to anger. I felt something boiling in my chest, like it was a volcano ready to explode at any minute. Lashing out at a time like this wouldn't be wise, but I couldn't hold it in.

"You don't care, do you?" I said quietly, "You don't care because you hate her. You wish she were dead, don't you?"

He hesitated.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," I scoffed, my voice soft and low. It was the same voice I used to threaten the Sons of Garmadon with, and it would scare them into doing whatever I wanted.

His hand twitched a little, as if he wanted to reach out to something. I knew I was being a brat, even if Morro really needed a lesson on how to treat girls that weren't exactly the warrior type. My heart pounded in my chest with rage, and I took several deep and very audible breaths. I could feel my face growing hotter by the minute, but then I saw Kai's limp figure and caught myself before I lost my temper again.

"I don't," Morro said, and then he was silent once more. I could see the coldness spreading from his eyes.

And so we walked in silence again. Except this time, it was a much colder, much more uneasy silence, not like the one we'd had earlier. Stupid theories entered my head and I pondered the possibility of Shadow Knight possessing him. But still, I had to admit that I was the one being insensitive when I began picking a fight right after he'd just lost someone he cared about.

"I won't mention her again," I said. 

He didn't say anything. After a few minutes in which I spent staring at the sky, Morro finally spoke.

"We're here," he said softly.

"Okay," I said.

"This is the source of the magic," he mumbled, "I can feel it."

Morro pulled out his sword, which had been strapped to his back. He started circling a large tree which seemed like the source of magic, eyes narrowed in concentration. He stopped and ran his right index finger along the bark, then stepped back.

"Harumi," he said, "Brace yourself."

I stepped back and shut my eyes. Then I heard a shout.

"Rumi! Morro!" Ruby cried, running out from the trees. Her brown hair was messy and had twigs and leaves stuck in it. She had multiple scratches on her face and arms, and her clothes were torn in several places. Other than that, she looked fine.

Ruby threw her arms around me and proceeded to do the same with Morro. He backed away from her, at the same time protectively shielding Kai. She gasped, her hazel eyes widening.

"Oh no, what happened?" She reached out to touch him. Morro pulled back.

"If you know what's good for you," he snapped, "You wouldn't come within ten feet of me."

Ruby stepped back, alarmed. I sighed. Whether it was out of exasperation or annoyance, I wasn't sure.

"For goodness' sake," I threw my arms up, "Would you two just get along?"

"Look who's talking," Morro said in a non-sarcastic manner. Though I hated to admit it, he had a point.

I rolled my eyes. "Let's just get back to business."

"Oooh!" Ruby exclaimed, "Can I help? Please?"

"Don't even think about it," Morro glared at her. "Like I said, don't come within eleven feet of me."

I frowned. This kid.

Morro had already turned his attention back to the tree. His finger traced along a thin pattern on the trunk, then he stepped back. "There," Morro whispered, as Ruby regarded him curiously.

He turned back to me with his eyebrows raised. "Whoa, that actually worked."

Where Morro's fingers had touched, a golden line formed. Then the tree started shaking.

I noticed his forehead slightly creasing as he stepped closer to the trunk.

"Take Kai and keep your distance," he said to me, still ignoring my sister. "I have a feeling what's coming up next ain't good."

He gently pulled the Fire Ninja off his shoulder and I held out my arms to take him. Kai was much heavier than I thought. I backed away and threw my head back to signal for Ruby to do the same.

We watched as Morro stood a foot from the tree and placed his right palm on the golden thread. The light grew brighter and brighter until it blinded me. I shut my eyes tightly and waited for it all to be over.

Light was supposed to represent warmth. This light, however, gave me nothing but chills. I held on tightly to Kai's body and shivered a bit. There was also wind. Harsh, strong wind that would normally knock me off my feet. My hair slapped my face. I flinched, and reminded myself to tie it back once we got to the others. The wind felt like knives against my legs. Coldness spread through my entire body. My arms tightened around the Fire Ninja, hoping we could give each other warmth, but his body was cold and lifeless, and mine couldn't produce much heat any longer. I was sure of it.

Then, as suddenly as it started, it was over. I turned around, hair whipping my face, and saw Morro crouched on the ground, shaking. With Kai's weight still on me, I extended a hand towards him only to collapse to the ground. Morro laughed shakily and pulled himself into a sitting position. I did so as well.

After blinking several times to get rid of all the blinding flashes that remained in my eyes, I helped Morro lift Kai back up onto his shoulders. Ruby offered to help but shrunk back at his glare. I didn't say anything, deciding that my silence was for the better.

Without another word, Morro stood up and began heading back the way we came. Ruby slipped her hand into mine and we followed. Even though my sister was with me now, the silence was still almost suffocating in a way as neither of us wanted to further aggravate the black-haired boy walking in front of us. He visibly trembled with every step. I wanted to help him in any way I could, but after thinking for a bit, I realized that I wouldn't be able to do much.

Then Morro suddenly stopped in his tracks, and I, having been staring at my feet the entire time, walked straight into him. He slowly turned on the spot and dropped Kai to the ground, almost giving me a heart attack. Before I could get a closer look at how much bigger the Fire Ninja's wound had gotten, Morro slammed me against a tree, his hand on my neck. Ruby screamed as I winced in pain and looked up into his eyes.

They were still dark green, but with a faint red glow to them. It must be the forest magic's doing. Ruby ran over to help, but Morro threw a blast of wind at her with his free hand, sending her crashing into a tree. I would've shouted, but his hand was so firmly clasped around my throat that it would definitely be a terrible idea.

My heart rate sped up at once as Morro's face inched closer to mine, his lips twisting into a snarl. He pulled out a dagger and pressed the sharper edge against the bottom of my jaw. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ruby grimacing as she rubbed the back of her head and struggled to get up.

A rush of adrenaline surged through me, and I kneed the spot in between his legs. Morro yelped in pain, temporarily distracted, allowing me to grab his wrist and twist his arm away from my neck. I sent another kick at his midsection, but this time he was ready, grabbing my ankle and throwing me against the same tree. The right side of my stomach collided with it, but before I could register with the pain I rolled over and prepared for another blow. Surprise attacks were the worst.

Then, as quickly as his sudden violence had come, he blinked and put his fingers up to his temples. It took less than a second for Morro to realize what he'd done. At least now we knew what the price of taking the forest magic was. I could only hope it didn't happen too often.

"Did I do that?" he said as he hurried over to my side, genuinely looking worried.

I rubbed the back of my head as I got to my feet, glaring at him. "Oh no, of course not, why would you ever hurl me towards a tree?"

"Quit it with the sarcasm, it ain't funny."

"Last time I checked, you attacked me, so you have no right to complain right now," I hissed shoving away his outstretched arm, "If anything, you should check on my sister."

Morro looked over at Ruby, his face immediately scrunching up in distaste, although he seemed to try to hide it. I delivered a punch in his shoulder.

"Ow, what was that for?" he snapped.

"For having the audacity to be a jerk after this," I said, rolling my eyes, "Let's just hurry up and get back before the others wake up." My eyes traveled back to the brown-haired boy laying in an awkward position on the ground, and I suddenly felt as if I'd been the one punched instead. Morro followed my line of sight and his scowl disappeared. I bet he was thinking the same thing I was: how we had the nerve to argue with each other after what had happened.

"Yeah," was the last thing he said before gently picking Kai up and holding him in his arms instead of draping the Fire Ninja over his shoulder. I helped Ruby into a standing position and threw one of her arms around me so that she could walk better.

Maybe it was just me, but the total walk back to the others was a lot longer than the one we'd had earlier. I assumed it was because the silence was even more unbearable than earlier, and the fact that I was helping carry some of Ruby's weight made it a lot more tiring. But after a while, we finally came into the clearing.

I looked at the Ninja's faces. It seemed the healing tea was already working, as their bruises and scratches had looked a lot worse before. I wondered just how powerful these teas could be. When I'd been a princess, I hated tea because the emperor and empress made me drink it all the time, when really I would rather have water. After all, wasn't tea just water tainted with bitter leaves?

Morro sat cross-legged a little away from Ruby and me, staring off into the distance. Kai lay in front of him, but the latter seemed to be avoiding looking down at all costs. I could see why, and began wondering how the others would react.

At this point, it still hadn't really set in. A part of me still wanted to think that this was all some elaborate prank, that Kai would suddenly sit up and complain about how lying down would mess up his hair. Maybe something would happen later on, and he would come back and say something like "Stop flirting with my sister, Jay." After all, resurrection happened many times in those fantasy novels that the emperor and empress didn't let me read (since it "tainted" my mind) and not to mention I'd resurrected someone myself.

Either way, my stubborn side still refused to believe that he was really gone. Or maybe it was just because I was empty inside.

Then Cole stirred.

A/N: Well, it looks like now the Ninja are awake... 😬

Also, I just finished listening to 1984 (which we were actually gonna read last semester but weren't able to because of quarantine), and I gotta say, it scares me.

I won't say much more because anything I have to say feels inappropriate in this context.

Any thoughts/predictions?

Thanks for reading (and thank you guys so much for 500 reads I can't believe it).