Zane's POV

I yell in pain at the Infectai's bite. I shook my arm desperately, hoping to shake it off, but to no avail. It had locked it's jaw, and is now impossible to remove. I see Kai's face turn paper white as he looked at the wound. I could feel the venom being injected into my body.

"ZANE!" Kai screamed, stabbing the sword into the raging Infectai's vulnerable underbelly. It released my arm with a vengeful howl of fury. It fell, limp and lifeless to the ground.

I crumpled to the dirt floor below me, with searing pain coursing through my body. I lay there, helpless.

"Only a m-m-matter of time, ninja." The Infectai softly cackled. "Twelve hours to go..." Then it shut it;s ancient eyes, and breathed a final time.

I cringe in pain, and let a single tear stream down my cheek. I cradled my arm tenderly, hoping that the invisible knives would cease soon.

"Zane..." Kai murmured, kneeling down beside me.

"I-i'm fine..." I try to answer, but I am cut off by what feels like a volt of electricity blast through the wound.

"No, Zane. You're not. Y-you need treatment," He says, attempting to be calm, but failing when he began to cry.

 "Please don't," I beg. 

Kai straightened and gave me a comforting look. "I'll carry you back," He offers.

"No... I'll walk..." I tell him. I attempt to rise up, but fall back down to the ground. I try again, but I fall that time too. 

"You can't walk, Zane." Kai states. "I'll carry you."

He has a point.

I allow him to lift me into his arms, despite the agony that filled me. I close my eyes and try to move my hand, but my body is too tense to do much. 

"I think that they set up camp south of here," Kai says quietly, changing direction. 

Soon, we hear the sound of a fire crackling and Jay cracking a dumb joke that makes no sense. 

"Why did the monkey fall out of the tree?" Jay asked.

"Why?" Cole answered, annoyed.

"Because he was dead! Why did the chicken fall out of the tree?" He giggled.

"Why?!" Cole and Lloyd chorused, trying to make the joke finish faster.

"Because he was stapled to the monkey!" Jay said, laughing.

"I'll admit," Lloyd says grimly. "That is kind of funny because it makes absolutely no sense."

"Aren't you even a little concerned that Zane and Kai haven't returned yet?" Cole asks.

"Yes, duh. I'm really nervous. I'm trying not to think about it." Jay responds, his smile vanishing. 

"We have returned." Kai says, walking into the clearing.

"Kai! Your're back!" Lloyd exclaims, then notices my limp body in Kai's arms. "What happened?" He asks with a worried expression.

"Zane was bitten by the Infectai," Kai says sadly.

"No..." Cole says, a look of both suprise and horror on his face.

"I...am...fine..." I manage.

"No, you're not." Jay argues.

"I...am...fine..." I protest.

Kai lays me down on the soft grass beneath us. "Just rest, Zane. We'll find a way to fix you. We promise." he says, but there is doubt in his voice.

"S-s-so sweet," A sinister voice snarls. 

Suddenly, three Riproarai leap from the forest and snatch my shirt collar. 

"NO!" All three of my brothers scream in unison.

My vision began to blur and the last thing I remember before passing out was the scraping of grass against my skin as the Riproarai dragged my into the dense forest, and in a flash they bolted away.