Desert Kings

Whiplash

Nya clutched the throbbing bridge of her, now broken, nose. Blood poured steadily out of the appendage.

She could taste the blood in her throat and on her tongue as it flowed down her face and through her pharynx.

Lloyd was huddled by her side, back had been forcefully thrown against the wall. Through blurry eyes she could see Zane pushing the screaming Cole out of the room while he struggled and fought.

Lloyd was talking to her but she couldn't really hear him.

She tried to stand up but the fact that the entire mountain the monastery was on was shaking wasn't helping her vertigo. She threw her arm out ready to fall, Lloyd hurrying up and wrapping it around his shoulders to keep her steady.

Slowly they managed to hobble into the bathroom and shove some toilet paper up her nose. Lloyd almost stabbed her in the eye with a wad through all of the shaking.

Cole was definitely not taking this well. Yeah big shock there, her mistake was telling him on top of a very unstable mountain.

Eventually Pixal walked into the bathroom and took over for Lloyd who quickly scrambled out to go find Zane and Cole.

"So, what happened? You weren't gone for long and I take it the news was bad considering," she reached out and caught the glass that had just rattled it's way off of the counter, "this. Head forward please."

Nya obeyed tilting slightly forward and down, wasn't her first nosebleed, wouldn't be her last. But the the fact that it has come from Cole...

"YOU PROMISED! YOU PROMISED HE'D BE SAFE! YOU, LIAR!"

"Longer than you know actually. But yeah, no, not good news."

"Kai and Jay?"

"Kai's choosing to stay in the other realm for reasons I am not getting into right now, and Jay is-"

She flinched at a loud scream from outside, from a voice much deeper than Lloyd's and to human to be Zane (don't get her wrong he is definitely a human her eyes, but it didn't have his signature metallic tinge to it).

"...gone."

Pixal stopped digging through the med kit for a moment with her back turned. She took a deep breath in (which by all means she didn't need) before going back to her search.

"Cole didn't take it well?"

A loud crash punctuated her question.

"What do you think?"

"You- you promised me! You gave me hope! You let me believe!"

Pixal just hummed. "Bleeding stopped?"

"Yeah"

"You lied to me!"

Pixal held up the basket and Nya started pulling out the bloodied paper from her nose.

"You are aware it isn't fault correct?"

"LIAR!"

Nya didn't answer.

Pixal let out a frustrated sigh. "Correct?"

"Well-! I mean-"

Pixal cut her off, harshly shoving new gauze up her nostrils. Splitting pain crawled up her face in bursts and Nya bit her lip to muffle the noise that nearly escaped her.

"There is no plausible way it could be your fault."

"Well, technically, you don't know the whole story so- OW!" Pixal smacked her upside the head.