shattered | lloyd g., cole b. pt 2
(shorter but more Lloyd feels lol) written very late at night. Not proofread at all.
• • •
Lloyd had always hated the darkness.
The color didn't even seem like a color, more of a nothingness.
It reminded him of his father.
The Oni.
The Serpentine.
What he could've become.
It'd been from childhood, really.
Monsters always lurked in the shadowy black, and he'd kept a small nightlight in his room at Darkley's Boarding School, but it'd never quite kept the room bright enough to stop his imagination from building up images of terrible creatures in his head.
Then it was taken- well, stolen by someone, and he'd resorted to building a fort of blankets around him until he felt safe enough to fall asleep.
Now, suffocating darkness overwhelmed him, no matter how hard he strained his eyes to see, to see anything at all.
Anything besides the engulfing black he couldn't escape from.
That might never go away.
He felt a tear roll down his cheek, fighting to keep the panic building up inside of him from exploding.
It would be fine, Zane would come back with a solution, and they would all laugh about it in a few weeks.
It'd be a faintly remembered adventure, just another memory of their many dangerous escapades.
"Lloyd?" Kai spoke up, shuffling on his feet awkwardly. "Do you want us to all stay or just one of us?"
Attention turned back to to him, currently burrowed back under a pile of blankets like he had done years ago.
Lloyd sniffed, hating how weak he was looking. "Yeah, can- " he started, and Cole started towards the door, automatically expecting him to say Kai.
They had always been close after the events of Morro, bonding faster than anyone ever expected. The fire ninja had become Lloyd's automatic go to after nightmares, or worse missions.
Or maybe Jay. He had become one of Lloyd's best friends after they met each other, each finding similar interests they shared. Their sometimes hyper energies matched, and you could often find them chatting somewhere in the ship or battling in video games at their old tv.
His hand was on the door handle when Lloyd finished his sentence uncertainly. "-can Cole stay?" He stopped in his tracks, turning back to look at them, confused. The other two ninja looked just as bewildered, shrugging.
Cole and Lloyd had never been known to be particularly close, the two not interacting much in their daily life.
Jay whispered 'good luck' at him as he followed Kai, slipping out the door and closing it behind him softly.
"So, kiddo." said Cole, sitting down heavily on his bed awkwardly.
" 'M not a kid, just as old as you," came a muffled voice from under the blankets.
"You're really not."
"Am too."
"Sure." Cole said, small smile on his lips. "How are you- are you okay?"
"What do you think?" he replied, tone sarcastic.
"I mean, really, Lloyd. This is something..." Cole stopped, thinking. "-terrifying, really."
There was a pause filled with thick silence, and the earth ninja hoped he hadn't accidentally said the wrong thing.
"I'm scared." Lloyd admitted quietly. "If I can't see, I can't be a ninja anymore, and I can't protect Ninjago."
Cole almost wanted to laugh, opting for a bitter, humorless smile instead.
Blind and hurt, Lloyd was still only thinking about protecting Ninjago.
Never himself.
They sat in silence for a while, Cole absentmindedly playing with the blanket, fingers weaving loose threads into braids.
"Why did you want me to stay?" he asked, voicing the question that had been swimming about in his head for the past few minutes.
Lloyd shifted uncomfortably, feeling even smaller. "You...you make me feel safer," he said, and Cole couldn't help but feel a small sense of pride spread through him at those words.
Safe. He could do that.
He leant back against the wall, sighing. "It'll be okay, Lloyd."
"How do you know?" he asked, and Cole tried to steady his voice.
"I-" he faltered, thinking. "I don't know, but whatever happens, we'll get through it together."
"Really?"
"I promise. And I always keep my promises."
• • •
"Cole. Cole!" he was awoken by Nya whispering at him, hands on his shoulders. Zane stood behind her in the room, and Jay and Kai were hanging by the doorway, all looking at him.
Oops. He must've accidentally fallen asleep.
"What is it?" he asked, momentarily confused. Then the recollection of the past hour shot back to him, and he sat up, worry returning full force.
"Did the blood test results come back? Will he be oka-"
"Cole." Nya interrupted him, and he only then realized the distraught look on her face. "It's not good news." She said quietly, turning to look at the young teen sleeping next to him.
"What is it?" he asked, a heavy feeling of dread settling into his chest.
"It's-" Zane started, "The test results appears to show that it is permanent."
Cole's jaw dropped, mind reeling in shock.
There was a scramble behind him, and he turned to see Lloyd sitting up, face filled with fear. His heart sank; when did he wake up?
"Lloyd- wait,-" Kai stepped towards him, and the green ninja jerked back, looking wildly in all directions fruitlessly.
"Permanent?" he cried, halfway off the bed. "What do you mean, I'll be blind forever?"
Cole could see him starting to panic again, and wished they could've broken the news better.
Zane started again. "There are many factors to take into account. For example, there may be a cure. It may wear off by itself in a few years-"
"Years?!" he said, features crumpling. There was suddenly a dangerous feeling in the air; and the space around Lloyd begin to glow a pale green, air crackling softly.
"Lloyd- you have to calm down- your powers, they could-" Kai said, shooting a look at Nya. She stepped towards him, trying to subdue the teen.
"It's okay, we'll find a way, Lloyd, listen to me, you could bring the room down-"
The words seemed to have no effect on him, Cole watching helplessly as the green aura only grew bigger, sparks flying into the air. Nya looked pained. "Jay, can you-?"
The earth ninja watched, confused at her words, Jay seemingly understanding something. He walked towards Lloyd, putting a hand on his shoulder softly.
A small white flash sparked from his hand, and Lloyd collapsed sideways onto the bed, knocked out for the second time that day.
Cole spluttered, angry and confused. He let Zane push him out of the room, sitting down in a bench outside. The others joined him, one by one, trailing out of the small room.
"Why did you do that?!" He asked, and Nya came out of the room last, twisting the door handle shut behind her.
"He's stable for now," She said, sitting down next to him. "Cole, you saw how he was. He could've injured himself or one of us, if we didn't do that." She explained quietly, and his anger fizzed out, exchanging itself for sadness.
"He's just a kid, Nya. Doesn't deserve this on top of everything else."
She nodded wordlessly beside him, hums of agreement coming from all around him.
_____________
terrible ending I know
thanks for reading!! __________ other parts: https://thegreenninjafan.tumblr.com/post/669212164580605952/darkness-lloyd-g-cole-b-pt-3 https://thegreenninjafan.tumblr.com/post/669393864613904384/darkness-lloyd-g-cole-b-pt-4 https://thegreenninjafan.tumblr.com/post/669484260623892480/darkness-lloyd-g-cole-b-pt-5