Harumi's POV

Hands trembling, I reached for the hilt of the sword and lifted it up closer to eye level to examine it. There was definitely more to it than I'd originally thought. I recalled that night at the cemetery when the woman had given it to me. What had she said? But my memory was already a blur and I couldn't remember anything. So much had happened. I sighed and ran my fingers along the blade.

Though I had yet to discover what it was capable of, I knew this was a powerful sword. Maybe it would stand a chance against several Shadow Riders. As long as they didn't come as a flock or something. But then, the Shadow Knight probably wouldn't send a hundred of his minions after what they should assume was a poor, defenseless girl, even if she was supposedly their biggest threat. Right?

I felt my eyelids grow heavy. It was still twilight, but my body was exhausted and I wanted nothing more than to take a nap. The only thing preventing me from doing so was the fear of being carried away by Shadow Riders in my sleep. If that happened I wouldn't be able to face the others.

All of a sudden my head burst into pain as if a volcano had erupted inside. I rolled onto the ground, clutching handfuls of my hair as if it was going to make the pain stop. My teeth sank into my bottom lip until it bled. Drawing blood wasn't even that hard anymore, since they had been chapped and bloody since I last drank water. Which was the night before I stupidly walked into the gulf.

Then the pain ceased almost as quickly as it had come. I soon found my body trying to fall asleep again.

Minutes passed like hours as I struggled to keep myself awake. I rocked back and forth, mumbling to myself like a psychopath. Maybe I was going insane. Part of me hoped I would, so I wouldn't have to face the Shadow Knight.

However no amount of worry could prevent me going into a slumber every now and then. Occasionally I would jerk awake and use my fingers to pry open my eyelids. Somehow I would fall asleep again. And wake up once more. This went on for a while until I was too tired. I didn't even know one could be so exhausted that they couldn't even sleep.

My head lolled back and forth on my neck while one hand gripped the hilt of the sword and the other dug into the sand. I felt my left eye jumping in its eye socket. Even without a mirror, I knew what I looked like. An insane girl with large, bulging, bloodshot eyes, staring off into blank space. Her straggly hair stuck up at all angles on her head, and the amount of dirt and sand in it was so prominent it was almost impossible to imagine that it had once been white.

I shut my eyes tightly then opened them again, trying to eliminate the sleepiness temporarily, only to have it return in a fleeting two seconds. Maybe I really was going crazy. If that was the case, maybe the Shadow Riders would realize I couldn't help them anymore... the result would be the same as if I'd died. And I couldn't let it happen. But what if there was even the slimmest chance that they'd leave me? As these thoughts raced once again through my head, I found my arms no longer able to keep my body in a sitting position, and I fell face forward into the sand. Then I used up the last bits of energy in my body to turn my head so I could breathe. I fell asleep soon after.

When I woke up, dusk seemed to have fallen.

I stood up shakily, paying no attention to the ache in my legs, and headed to the shore. My body seemed to know what it was doing without telling my brain. The latter didn't seem to want to function to its normal extent and just let meat and flesh do its job for once. Holding the sword in front of me, I ran straight for the water, expecting to get thrown back and losing the only thing I had. But desperate people took desperate measures, and honestly, at this point, sword or no sword, my downfall would be the same. I was hungry, thirsty, and tired, so what was there to lose?

Bracing myself for the impact, I shut my eyes.

The crash never came. With my entire body now submerged in water, I tried to stay afloat but couldn't. The only thing I could do was keep a firm grip on the sword. I felt like I was falling, and soon, the world vanished from view.

Not that I could really see it in the first place.

Lloyd's POV

After several hours of swimming around the underwater city, we ultimately concluded that Rumi was definitely not here. Morro pointed out that strangely, we hadn't seen a single underwater creature other than a few dozen schools of fish. By this point we were at a loss for what to do. Everyone, especially Nya, were sore and experiencing cramps. She was on the verge of collapsing and was barely able to extend one arm in front of the other. We started to take turns carrying her, and normally she would've protested.

"Hang on Nya," Jay begged, stroking her hair, "We're almost there." Then turning to us, he said, "Guys, can we find somewhere to rest? I don't think any of us can do this any longer. Please."

"I do not know if there are any islands around here," Zane said, wringing his hands. "I no longer have the map."

An air of almost tangible hopelessness shrouded our party.

"We have to try nevertheless," Morro sighed, "But I agree that we should look for land. I don't think Harumi is in danger, so she can wait."

Nobody argued as we changed direction and headed up. My stomach grumbled audibly.

"Sorry," I groaned, "Ignore me."

Cole placed a hand on my shoulder. "It's okay, we'll get food as soon as we reach land."

His dark brown eyes had already dulled and lost their shine. I squeezed his hand and he smiled weakly.

"Just hold on a little longer," Morro said, "Just a little longer."

At this point Jay was dragging Nya through the water. Cole rushed over and grabbed the hand that Jay wasn't holding and together, they pulled her upward.

"We have to hurry!" Ruby cried, "How much longer will it be until we reach the surface?"

"It's still dark, so I can't tell," Zane said helplessly. "But I believe that it's twilight, so that would make sense. Nya, hold on!"

The Water Ninja's head lolled back and forth on her neck. Jay kept mumbling what I assumed was a prayer. For the next ten to fifteen minutes, we continued swimming up at the fastest speed our abilities allowed us to go. Morro swapped places with Cole when he started getting tired. Jay, however, refused to let go of Nya's hand.

After who knows how long, we burst through the surface of the water, and sure enough, the sky was getting dark. Morro squinted into the distance.

"Guys, there's land!" he shouted excitedly.

I don't even know how we were able to swim there but somehow we managed to. The seven of us collapsed on the island and Nya soon began to regain consciousness. Morro stood up and looked around at our surroundings.

He stiffened, and I could tell that something had caught his attention. I followed his gaze to find a crumpled figure about a hundred feet away. Even in the dim light, I could see the person's long, messy, hair, which looked like it was once white.

"Is that..." I started, getting to my feet, all pain and exhaustion forgotten.

Morro looked at me and I knew he was thinking the same thing. I watched as the figure shakily stood up and ran for the ocean. Without thinking, the two of us took off after her. I could feel eyes on me, but the others were too tired to speak.

As if it was in slow motion, we watched as she ran and vanished into the water. Morro and I jumped in after her, and though we were barely able to see anything, we somehow managed to catch onto her arms and drag her to shore. I felt a sharp blade scrape against my knee, and after we pulled her to shore I saw that she was tightly holding a sword in her hand. Morro noticed as well.

"Where'd she get that?" he wondered aloud.

Then, right before our eyes, the sword faded, getting paler and paler until it disappeared. I blinked.

"Did... did you see that?" Morro asked skeptically.

"See what?" I said, deciding that I didn't want to discuss it right now. "Maybe you're seeing things. We should probably get back to the others."

"I'll carry her then," he said, and before I could protest, he continued, "I'm sure you're very tired."

Morro was right and I didn't argue. He picked her up and we headed back to the others. They had fallen asleep by the time we got there.

"Oh my god, is that Rumi?" Ruby jumped to her feet and hurried over.

"She's unconscious," Morro said, setting her down on the sand. "You guys can go to sleep, I'll keep watch."

Ruby knelt down and stroked her sister's cheek. "I can do it, I'm feeling restless."

Morro frowned. "Well, I guess two pairs of eyes are better than one." He turned to me. "You should get some shut-eye Lloyd. Don't worry about me."

I nodded and curled up on the sand, and soon sleep took over.

Harumi's POV

An ear-splitting scream jerked me awake. My hands flailed, desperate to grasp onto something, when I realized that somehow, I was on land.

Someone said something but I couldn't hear what they said through the shrieks.

I opened my eyes and pushed myself into a sitting position. It was the same beach, except the Ninja were somehow here as well. Had they found me? However, before I could rejoice at the fact that we were all back together, we needed to take care of whatever was happening. I figured that they were coming from Ruby. I jumped up and looked around, but she was gone.

"Up here!" my sister cried, "Help!"

We looked up in unison. Several cloaked figures were dangling her up in the air, and from what I could see in the pale moonlight, more were coming.

"I thought you were keeping watch!" Lloyd shouted above all the chaos.

"Okay sorry!" Morro yelled back, then muttered something under his breath that I didn't quite catch. Judging by the sour look on his face, I had a feeling I didn't want to know.

By this point all the Ninja were all awake and alert. We stood in a circle, weapons ready. Out of the corner of my eye I saw how everyone was shaking. Nya looked as if she could barely stand up. My body was just as tired. I had a premonition that we would not get out of this unscathed.

"What are they here for?" Lloyd whispered.

"Harumi," Morro said quietly. He turned to me. "Try to stay out of the fight."

"Can't you blow them away?" I asked, watching as the figures swooped down to be only a few feet higher from us.

"Sadly, no," Cole answered for him, "We've been swimming for the past few hours and we're all kinda weak." I noticed the tiredness in his voice. He quickly glanced at Nya, whose legs were trembling. From the corner of my eye I saw how Jay kept shooting his girlfriend looks of concern and had an arm around her.

"Good luck everyone," Zane said grimly, and seconds later, the Shadow Riders were upon us.

It was chaos. Instead of listening to what Morro said, I jumped at the nearest figure and threw a kick in their stomach, knocking them to the ground. All fatigue was forgotten. My kick was almost immediately avenged when someone else slammed their foot into the back of my head. Oh the curse of being short. I spat blood and hair out of my mouth and bright lights flashed in my eyes. Ignoring the throbbing pain starting to spread, I staggered back, cursing under my breath. The hilt of a sword made contact with the side of my stomach and I almost doubled down, wheezing.

Vaguely aware of what everyone else was doing, I slammed my elbow into the person next to me, my other hand feeling for where the sword had just struck. A knife flew past, barely avoiding my neck. I felt it scrape against my shoulder, drawing blood. Someone shouted something and another person yelped.

My hair was yanked back, dragging me with it. Unable to break free of the grip, I frantically felt around my pockets for any knives but they were all lost. As I got dragged along, more punches and kicks came from every direction. I gritted my teeth and heard my ankle crack, wishing for a weapon and wondering where the sword I had been holding earlier was.

Suddenly the person pulling on my hair let go, and I almost lost my balance but quickly recovered. Even though I was still half blind and bright sparks flashed in my eyes, I saw the gleaming hilt of a sword right where someone's hand would have been if they were dragging my hair. Without thinking, I wrenched the sword out of the sand and slashed through the air, almost forgetting about my sprained ankle. The blade made contact with something and I heard a yelp of pain.

Grinning to myself, I leaped forward with the sword in front, almost as if it had granted me invincibility. Pain seared through my right leg but I ignored it, refusing to let any of the Shadow Riders see me wince. A blade clashed against mine. I pushed as hard as I could, but my ankle refused to cooperate. Every time I put the slightest bit of pressure on it, it would feel as if knives were slicing me apart from the inside out.

Someone grabbed my hair again. Since trying to fight a fight where people attacked from more than one side would only result in failure, I dropped to the ground. The two Shadow Riders crashed into each other, and I crawled out from under them.

I knew that I would be an easy target on the ground and hurried to stand up. My ankle silently screamed with agony. I grimaced. My head throbbed as well from the kick I'd received earlier, and I stuck my sword in the ground and leaned on it to catch my breath. A battle cry from behind brought me back into the fight, and I spun around on my left foot, pulling the sword out as I did so. A scream broke out somewhere not far from where I stood, and it temporarily paralyzed the Shadow Rider in front of me, giving me the chance I needed to escape.

What was even the point of this fight, though? We were weak and vastly outnumbered, and the Shadow Riders were going to get what they wanted anyway... A sense of dread began building up inside me. We were wasting our energy with this battle, and someone was going to end up hurt for sure...

"Cole―" Jay shrieked, jerking me out of my thoughts.

I ran over, broken ankle forgotten, and used my sword to knock over anyone getting in my way. Several times I almost tripped over a fallen body and all I could do was pray that it wasn't one of us. I ran to the source of the scream and Jay's cry, still unable to see clearly. Several flashes of bright blue lightning temporarily lit up the whole beach, leaving blinding white lights in my eyes even after I closed them.

The sound of metal clashing told me that someone was still fighting. Sobs could be heard between each blow. The battle was a frenzy of noises, and it was mostly people shouting over each other. I still couldn't see Cole, but somewhere, deep down, I didn't want to, either.

My ankle couldn't take it anymore and gave way. I found myself sitting on the ground and gingerly reached down to touch it. It had swollen at least 50 percent bigger than its usual size. I pushed myself back up into a standing position, my entire body shaking.

Then a pair of strong hands grabbed my left arm, and before I could turn and fend them away with the sword, my attacker sliced a cut in my wrist. A stream of blood that even I could see shot out from the wound, glinting in the pale moonlight. I felt a searing pain shoot through my arm as if someone had shoved a knife up it.

I met their glowing eyes and my jaw dropped. Deep green. With a flash of red. And a maniac glint. Then I blinked and they disappeared.

Before I had a chance to say anything, I suddenly felt lightheaded and collapsed on the ground. The sword was taken from me and as much as I tried to protest, no sound came out. Although I couldn't see them, the coolness of the ocean air on my skin told me that cloaked figures had scattered.

Someone rushed to my side, lifted my arm up, and started wrapping bandages extremely tightly. They were probably shouting something but I couldn't hear what they were saying. Another person started pressing a spot slightly above my elbow with as much force as they could muster. The voices became fainter and fainter, and my eyes could no longer stay open.

I blacked out.

A/N: Okay, I was wrong. The first pov of this chapter was mostly written by eighth grade me. From here on out, no more eighth grade me's writing. 

Also, battle scenes are hard to write. 

Also school is getting hectic and all my teachers are piling stuff for me to do so I haven't written anything in like a week. I dunno how this'll affect updates, but if I suddenly decide that I will post a chapter every two weeks, then that's the reason. 

It's funny, why do I feel so unproductive even though I've been watching less YouTube?

Thoughts/predictions?

Please consider giving a vote if you liked this (or not) and thanks for reading!