Chapter 9: A Close Call
After a few days I was up and better. I was enjoying what I was doing while I still could. I was waiting for the man or woman to come see me that was going to do what I wrote in the letter. "Hey River and Rush. What are you up to?" "Oh we were just arm wrestling with this crowd. Want to join?" Said Rush. "Yeah I could try." So I sat down and tried to arm wrestle with Rush. River was the referee. "Ok get in position On your mark…. Get set…..Go!" It was a close one but I won. "Damn man. Your strong." Said Rush. "This is kind of fun. Hey can I wrestle the strongest one here? I want to see how far I can go." The guy came out of the crowd and it was no other than my uncle Aiden. "No way. Uncle? You're the strongest arm wrestler here?" "Yes I am. Ready kid." "First I am not a kid. I just turned 17. Second of all yes." "Ok River we are ready." "Ok get into position. On your mark…. Get set….Go!" This one was harder than Rivers. I was an inch to the barrel, then memories started coming back and I used my will to push his hand back into starting position until finally I won. "Woah kid. Where did you get that strength. I need to make a new announcement. Hey Everyone in the crowd. There is a new strongest arm wrestler in town. My nephew Kai." Then Everyone cheered for me.
After I beat one more person in arm wrestling, my arm was tired. I started moving it around to help it feel better. My Aunt Chris saw me moving my arm and came over to me. "You arm wrestled, didn't you?" "Yeah and I beat Aiden." "So I heard. No one has been able to beat Aiden in Arm wrestling since your mother Kaia." "Wait Kaia can beat uncle? I have to arm wrestle her when I get back." "Here Kai. Give me your arm for a minute." I gave my arm to Aunt Chris and she started Massaging it. It hurt at first, then the pain started going away. "Thanks Aunt Chris. That feels much better. I bet you had to do this to Aiden a lot and mom huh?" "Hehe. Yeah that's right. We had a younger brother too. He died when people from an enemy ship came on our ship. I was so close in jumping in to protect him, but I was a second to late." "I'm sorry Aunt Chris. Is that why you are doing this experiment to help people?" "Yeah. He is the one who brought it on." Then I heard Rush and River call me. "Thanks Aunt Chris. Gotta go. Cousin's are calling." "Hehe. See you later."
"Hey guys what's up?" I said. "How's your arm now." Said River. "Oh its fine. Aunt Chris massaged my arm. Its good now." "Yeah she has to do that to dad all the time. Us too." "So what did you need me for? Just to ask if I was ok?" I asked curiously. "Actually no. Dad is asking for you in his office. He wants you to meet someone." "Oh ok thanks guys." Assuming it's the guy that Captain sent I was a little nervous.
"Hey Captain. What's up?" "I'd like you to meet a new crew member. Her name is Kairi." "Kairi Huh?" I know I haven't seen her before but she looks just like Sea. "Hey uncle? Mind if I talk to Kairi alone?" "What you do in your free time is your time I don't care." "Ok thanks uncle. Come with me Kairi." I took her to my room and we talked.
"Who are you really Kairi? You look exactly like Sea." "Yeah I hope so. I am his twin sister. Kairi is my real name. Thankfully I didn't have to use a fake one since no one here knew me including you. My brother send word for me. I know you didn't want anyone else to read the letter and it was only for the captain, but the Captain trusts Sea. Don't worry though Sea and I are he only ones who know the situation besides the captain. I used to be a ship doctor myself. Under certain circumstances, I decided it just wasn't for me anymore. At least I was still able to stay with the crew though thankfully. They said they wouldn't turn me down just because I wouldn't be a doctor anymore. So until we found another doctor, I told them I would continue. We have had a new one for 1 year now." "Did you know of Sea and my meeting when I was 5 years old?" "Yeah I did. That stubborn brother of mine. What was he thinking? So what is the plan? How do you want me to do this?" "I'm sure Uncle has figured out who you really are by now right?" "Well I'm sure something of the sort, because he wasn't surprised to see me." "Dammit. I'm sure he knew what I really sent in that letter then after he looked at me like that." "HeHe. He must be a really observant man." "I hate him for that. Anyway did uncle say anything to you?" "No he just asked me questions more like and interview at a job. I went with the script Sea gave me. I'm sure your uncle knew the truth then said welcome aboard Kairi." "Haha. This is interesting. I know why he decided to bring you now. He did it to annoy me. Moms name is Kaia and your name is Kairi. All of us have the name Kai in it somewhere and he knows what it does to me. He's like an annoying big brother." "Hehe. You got that right. I have a lot of stories when we get the change to meet up after all this. From when we were growing up. He doesn't like the stories I tell that's why I tell them." "Haha. You remind me of Rin. She likes to annoy her brother Elias. I always had a feeling they weren't blood, but the were still family. Before we left I told Rin my feelings for her." " Yeah I'm sure you did. My brother told me about her too. She is on the ship as of right now because of the situation as of now." "Yeah. I have a feeling something else is really going on. They were set up to believe a certain something. I still want to do this experiment. Even if I get my memories back I still have something to figure out. Tell dad and the others after you escape ok? That I have things to do. Tell them I'm ok and that I'll try not to die."
"Hehe. Alright. Oh you never told me how you wanted to do this thing you want me to do." "Oh yeah right. Since uncle I am assuming is the only one who knows and eventually the kids and Aunt Chris will figure it out. I want to make it a Duel to the death. I don't want it to look like you're a traitor so I am going to tell uncle what I want. Sea told me what type of fighter you are. Luckily I don't know much about that type of style fighting so I don't need to hold back. Since you were a ship doctor, you know where all my vital points are and places that can make me bleed out. I think is another reason he sent you. He could have sent the old man, but the old man is old he probably would not have been able to handle it." "Well in the letter it said that after Sea had read the letter, he immediately said he knew a person who would be good for the job. After that he sent word for me. I haven't been to the ship yet. He told me to come straight here so I did." "Sea you idiot. Yeah that is him all right." "Hehe. Yeah it sure is. So when do you want this to happen so I can prepare." "Lets see. In 2 days should be a good day." "All right I'll be ready. By the way happy late birthday. Here I made you a little something. After he wrote the letter he told me when your birthday was so I went ahead and made you something." "You didn't need to do that but thanks." I opened it up and it was a wood carving of a turtle surfing on the ocean. "Haha. Thanks Kairi. When did you take up carving?" "Well after I gave up being a doctor, I knew I liked using knives. So I got a piece of spare wood one day and started carving. I knew I liked it." "Well I'm more into training and hanging out with my brother Elias when I could. Now that I have Rin, I will be spending more time with her. Well lets go. We should join everyone. I have to tell my uncle the news." "Ok then. I will go hang with the other crew." So we headed out.
I walked around looking for my uncle and finally spotted him. "Hey uncle. I have something to tell you. I need to talk in your office privately. There are some people who would want to talk me out of it. I don't want anyone knowing until the day it happens." "All right. Follow me."
When we got to his office, he and I sat down. "Ok I am assuming you know who Kairi is. I have noticed you are observant. I had to. So the deal is, I want to do a duel to the death in the next 2 days. I already talked to Kairi about it. I know you knew who she was, because I am sure you met Sea before." "Well Kai. As you know, you are right. I have met Sea. I figured she was related to him somehow because of her looks. I assumed you wrote something in your letter for the captain to send her for something related to the experiment." "So Uncle. Can you arrange it?" "Well its at sea, and we are on a ship, It will be hard, but I will see what I can do." "Thanks uncle. Oh and remember don't tell anyone. I don't want anyone to bug me about it until the day when it will be too late talk me out of it." "All right Kai. Just make sure its not to serious ok?" "That is something that is not up to me. Its up to Kairi what she thinks would be the best way." "OK Kai. Go join your cousins and I will see what I can do." So I ran out to join the others.
"Hey guys. It took awhile meeting them her." "Ah so it's a girl you met." Said Rush. "I have a girlfriend. Plus she's not my type. Ok so anyone want to spar?" "You really think nothing of training and fighting do you?" Said River. "Haha. Not really. I am getting bits and pieces of my memory back when I do. Last thing I remember is being on a boat and floating in the river swimming to shore and meeting Rin and Elias. I am starting to remember there may be something more going on then meets the eye as well. I think once I figure that out, I will have all my memories back and I can head home to my girlfriend and family. It has been 6 months now since I have seen her. I am sure she is back home by now or close." "Ok well. I better head to bed. Its getting late. See you guys later." "Yeah see ya Kai." Said River.
Two days later, everyone heard about what was going to happen that afternoon. My cousins and Aunt were trying to talk me out of it just like I thought they would. All 3 of them were following me so I said, "Guys I already told you. I won't die! I will be fine. I am doing this for the sake of the experiment so I can get home to my family since I was forced here against my will!" They all sighed and gave up trying. Then we finally went to where the duel was taking place.
"Ok Kai. I will be giving the announcement then went I say go or start then you can go ahead. Go get in your position while your waiting." Said Uncle Aiden. His sons were standing next to him with my Aunt Chris. "Yes uncle."
When I got over there, Kairi was already waiting for me. "Hey Kairi. Thanks for doing this for me. Once you do this, you should go back to the ship and tell them I will live. You don't want to see what's going to happen in the experiment." "That was what my brother wanted. He told me when it was done to head home once I knew someone had taken you." "Ok then. Are we ready Kairi?" "Yeah we are ready." I looked at my Uncle and he Knew it was the signal. "Ok ladies and gentleman. Today we are going to have a duel to the death. First we have Kai as we all know. Then we have a new recruit Kairi. There will be no rules. Now Get ready….and Go!" That was the signal so I went first. Then we started fighting. We fought with swords. She also had a gun just in case the sword doesn't work.
I had a navy blue tank top on. With black pants. *Cling Clang Clash.* I thought I had the better of her. I thought I saw an opening but she got me. She stabbed me with the sword then shot me. I couldn't get up anymore. People came running over to me and I nodded for her to go to her brother sea. Then she left. "Argh! Cough Cough." I was coughing up blood, and the bullet was still inside me. She shot me in a dangerous place that if I didn't get help now I would die. I was loosing consciousness fast. The last thing I saw was Kairi jumping off the ship.
"Hang on Kai! Hang on. You will make it! Are the things ready Aiden?!" said Chris. "Yeah I hope so. I told him to get the things ready for every situation." "Ok good." "She must be a doctor. She shot him in one of the most dangerous spots to hit." They rushed him to the experiment room.
They laid Kai on the bed, then gave him some drugs to try to help with the pain in the actual experiment. Just by giving him the medicine, the bleeding had subsided quite a bit. He had lost quite a bit they hoped that it would be enough. Then the experiment started.
It had been almost 4 months and Kai hasn't woken up. Everyone was waiting for the day he would.