Which of the Ninja Would Be Most Likely to Kill Someone?
The thing about the ninja is that I don't think any of them would willingly kill someone. And no, this isn't me saying they're incapable of violence.
They fight constantly.
They're warriors. They've spent years battling threats that range from local criminals to literal world-ending entities. Their lives are defined by conflict, by training, by missions where failure often means catastrophe on a global scale.
Violence is a reality of their lives. Yet despite that reality, one of the most consistent aspects of their characterization is the value they place on preserving life.
There is a difference between being accustomed to violence and being willing to treat it as an end goal. The ninja exist firmly in the former category. They are not defined by destruction, even when destruction is what surrounds them.
Kai is probably one of the clearest examples of this. People often focus on his temper, but I think that's because anger is easier to notice than compassion. Kai's defining trait has never been aggression. It's protectiveness.
His story begins with protecting Nya. That is not a minor detail, it is foundational to his character. Even before he fully understood his role as a ninja, his instincts were already oriented toward shielding someone else from harm. His ambitions are tied to protecting others. Even many of his mistakes stem from an overwhelming desire to keep the people he loves safe, even when he goes about it the wrong way.
When Kai rushes into danger, it isn't because he wants to hurt someone. It's because he wants to stop someone from getting hurt. He is reactive, yes, but the direction of that reaction matters. There is a meaningful difference between a character motivated by destruction and a character motivated by protection. Kai has always been the latter.
The same principle applies to Lloyd. Lloyd's worldview is built around redemption. Not abstractly. Personally.
He knows people can change because his entire life has been shaped by that reality. He was not raised with stability or certainty about morality. He grew into it through experience, through loss, and through witnessing change in others firsthand. He consistently extends mercy where others might choose punishment, even when it would be easier not to. He believes that there is value in reaching out to people who seem unreachable. That there is always another path forward, even when it is difficult to see.
For Lloyd, taking a life would represent the failure of one of the ideals he values most. Not just a tactical failure, but a philosophical one. A collapse of the belief that people are not fixed, that they are not defined solely by their worst actions.
Cole approaches the issue differently. What stands out about Cole is how deeply he cares about the people around him. He is dependable. Grounded. Patient.
Cole is often the stabilizing presence within the team. When others spiral emotionally, he is the one who keeps things anchored. When others act impulsively, he is the one who slows the situation down. When members of the team struggle, Cole is often the person helping them stand back up, not through force, but through reassurance. He doesn't define strength through dominance. He defines it through support.
Because of that, it's difficult to imagine him treating another person's death as an acceptable outcome unless there was absolutely no alternative left in existence. Even then, it would not be something he could compartmentalize easily. It would stay with him.
Zane is perhaps the strongest example of all. Again and again, Zane demonstrates extraordinary empathy. He seeks understanding before judgment. Compassion before condemnation.
Some of the most memorable moments in his story revolve around his ability to recognize humanity where others fail to see it. He is consistently written as someone who tries to understand even those who are actively harming others, not to excuse their actions, but to comprehend them. That distinction matters. For someone whose defining characteristic is empathy and reflection, intentionally ending a life feels fundamentally incompatible with who he is.
Jay presents a similar problem. Jay is emotional in a way that is often overlooked.
He cares deeply. He worries deeply. He feels deeply. He is reactive in a very human way, where emotion is not something he filters out but something he experiences fully.
That emotional depth is one of his greatest strengths, but it also means the emotional consequences of something like that would not fade. They would accumulate. Even in situations where violence might appear justified in a cold strategic sense, it is difficult to imagine Jay walking away unchanged or unburdened. He is not someone who can easily detach himself from outcomes.
And then there's Nya. Nya is practical. She understands responsibility. She understands consequences. She understands that difficult situations sometimes require difficult decisions.
But understanding the weight of a decision is not the same thing as being eager to make it. Nya values life just as much as the others do. She simply approaches those values from a more pragmatic perspective, where emotions do not override necessity, but also do not disappear in the process.
She is willing to face realities that others might avoid thinking about, but that willingness does not translate into a lack of compassion. It translates into clarity under pressure.
Ultimately, that's the common thread connecting all six of them.
They're heroes because they consistently choose compassion. Because they repeatedly prioritize saving people. Because they believe life has value. And because, at their core, they would rather protect than destroy.
Anyways… from most likely to least (Yes, Rogue and Jay are the same character, but they're placed differently):
Sat around the dining table, the ninja had been sharing ideas about how to keep Pythor from uniting the Tribes, having spent the past few days since his last attempt disrupting the gatherings of the Serpentine. When Lloyd eventually joined them the conversation turned to his plot of revenge on the Serpentine, much to the group's amusement.
“First, I’ll stomp on his tail. Then when he turns, a thunderclap to his ears. And when he’s stunned, I’ll disarm him!” Lloyd declared, slapping his hands on the table. Wu gave the boy a warning look, but it was the flick to his ear from [M/n] that had him apologizing. “Sorry, Uncle.”
“Too late, hypnotized and under his control.”
“Or he’s already put you in a squeeze.”
“Or spit on you with his hallucinatory venom. Trust me, bad stuff.” Kai dramatically shuddered, making Lloyd snicker.
“So then what is the best way to defeat a Serpentine if you don’t know what Tribe they’re from? Uncle?”
“Without identifying them? It would have been the Sacred Flute you five so carelessly lost.”
[M/n] scoffed, “If you learn to identify the tribe then you can find the best way to defeat them. Scale color, head shape, there are multiple ways to tell them apart. It is not difficult once you learn.”
“We didn’t lose the flute anyways. Pythor stole it! What were we supposed to do?! Fight off an army of Venomari!”
Nya snickered, leaning over to whisper to [M/n], “Not much of an army.”
Wu sighed, “Whatever the case, without it I fear there is no true way to defeat them all at once. It seems you will have to rely on [M/n] to identify the tribe so you may fight them off. I fear Pythor will only continue trying to unite the Tribes, and they will only continue to grow stronger the longer they have.”
“Don’t worry Sensei, I’ve almost reached my full potential, and when I become the Green Ninja, we’re not gonna need any magic flute,” Cole said, flexing.
[M/n] let out a long sigh, pressing his first two fingers to his forehead as yet another argument started. Lloyd tugged on the bottom of [M/n]’s shirt, “What’s the Green Ninja?”
The older stared down at Lloyd, expression inscrutable. “Nothing you need to worry about.” Dropping a hand on Lloyd’s head he easily pushed it down, making him laugh. “The only thing you need to worry about is not growing up to be an idiot like the rest of them.”
“I’m gonna be way cooler than any of them!”
“Good.”
Lloyd playfully tried to swat [M/n]’s hand away, leaning away from the older, which let him realize that Wu was carrying a box of something. “Oooh! What’s in the box?!”
“The ninja’s new uniforms,” Wu answered, opening the box to pass out five smaller boxes. This had the ninja abandoning their argument, reaching to snatch the packages from Wu.
[M/n] took his with care, chuckling at Lloyd’s excitement. “You can open it.”
“Yes!” Lloyd tore into the package, gasping when he pulled the armor pieces free. “Woah!”
The piece that had gotten such an excited exclamation was a raven head pauldron made from iron that was perfectly molded to fit over his arm and bicep. When [M/n] investigated it, he found that the head itself was on hinges, which would allow for the movement he was used too. Beneath the other armor pieces - a leather cuirass, matching leather cuisse, and leather belt with holsters - was the GI itself. It was a grey-purple, silky and breathable, with a silver crown on the hood.
“Whoa! They've got, like, armor!” Jay whooped, showing off an armored sleeve.
“Mine’s got golden highlights,” Kai said, holding up his hood with the golden ‘crown’.
“Guanti corazzati!” Cole cheered, pulling on the gloves that had iron plates on the backs. (Armored gloves)
“The material is really light and breathable," Zane murmured, running his hand over the fabric.
“They truly are beautiful, Sensei."
After pulling out the rest of [M/n]’s GI, Lloyd looked back to Wu expectantly. “What’d you get for me?”
Wu paused, eyes flicking around in panic, “Uh, well-” He blustered, earning an eye roll from [M/n]. “You can have the box?”
Lloyd frowned.
The elder was absolutely relieved when the alarm began blaring. “Quickly, to the bridge.”
Everyone hurried up to the Bridge, Nya hurried ahead of the group to pull up the map of Ninjago and the location of the snakes. Alongside the map she pulled up an article, published within the last five minutes. Well, it honestly wasn’t an article, barely a paragraph long but it was information pertaining to the Serpentine.
“Someone posted this article on their blog just a few minutes ago. It’s a warning about the location of the Serpentine. Apparently a small faction of Serpentine are stirring up trouble at Mega Monster Amusement Park,” Nya explained, reading through the article. Her eyes went wide with alarm. “They could cause a lot of trouble there! Hurt a lot of people.”
Lloyd didn’t seem to hear that part, “Amusement park?! Can I go?! Please?! There’s nothing to do here! And I’ve been so bored! Please, please, please! I’ve been good!” He clung to [M/n]’s arm.
“No. I am sorry, nephew, but it is far too dangerous for you to go. You will stay here, on the Bounty, where it is safe.”
[M/n] quietly moved up to step beside Wu, easily breaking from Lloyd’s grip, lowering his voice, “Let him come with me.”
“[M/n]-”
“I can take care of him. Protect him. That article doesn’t seem very urgent. He is a young boy, Sensei, a child. He needs to stretch his legs, not be stuck here on the Bounty every day.”
Wu hesitated, searching his students' gaze, “Very well. Lloyd you may go with the ninja, but you will stay with [M/n] at all times.”
“I understand!” Lloyd cheered, lighting up. He threw himself into a hug, wrapping his arms around [M/n]’s waist, cheering all the way. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
“Είστε ευπρόσδεκτοι,” [M/n] brushed a hand down white-blonde hair. (You are welcome.)
“Well,” Jay began, holding up his new GI. “Whaddya say about testing out the new merchandise?”
“Let’s do it!” Cole cheered, leading the group up to the deck. Using Spinjitzu the five changed into their new GI’s, Lloyd oohing and aahing over [M/n]’s, seeming especially enamoured by the pauldron and embroidered leather chest guard. “All right! This stuff feels like it will actually protect us really well.”
“It feels more flexible,” Zane noted, messing with the fabric around his bicep.
Jay rolled his eyes, “You wanna strut yourself on the catwalk? Or do’ya wanna get down to the amusement park and kick some butt?”
Kai scoffed, rolling his eyes, “Nothing like fallin’ through the sky to beat a rollercoaster!” With a smirk, he hopped over the railing with the others, [M/n] easily scooping Lloyd up to do the same.
Unprepared, Lloyd yelped, clinging tightly to his neck. With the ease of practice, [M/n] summoned his Nethercopter, keeping Lloyd in his lap since they’d only be in the vehicle for a minute. At the last second he dismissed the vehicle, landing on the cement wall.
Once he hopped down to the ground, [M/n] set Lloyd back down on the ground, rolling his eyes at the other ninja’s cheering.
“Whoo!! Check that out! Not a scratch,” Cole announced, smugly dusting off his shoulders.
[M/n] looked around, quickly noticing the cheering coming from just ahead. For a place that was supposedly being terrorized by Serpentine the people were oddly happy.
Lloyd tugged on [M/n]’s GI, “What’s going on?”
“I am not sure. Stay behind me.”
Jay, mistaking the cheering for them, held up his hands as they approached, “Hahaha, ladies, relax, relax, we have arrived.” Pushing their way through the crowd, they found a small group of Serpentine tied up, the women swooning over the Samurai, not the ninja, as the men complimented him.
“Uh, what just happened?”
“Oh, you totally missed it. There were like icky snakes, and then this mysterious Samurai came in and saved everyone.” [M/n]’s brow pinched together, struggling to understand her accent to hear what she was saying. A glance to Cole showed he had a similar look.
“He was, like, gorgeous,” a second woman added, fanning herself with her hand.
Kai perked up, “You saw his face?”
“No, but we could totally tell.” Nya appeared behind the two ladies, carrying sticks of cotton candy, cheeks flushed and hair a little mussed.
“Nya? Wha-what are you doing down here?” Jay asked, reaching up to fiddle with his hair.
“Hmm, oh, uh, you guys were slow, so I came down here myself. You guys missed all the action though, I mean that Samurai guy just flew in, took care of business, then flew off. It was skella cool, honestly,” Nya said, handing over the two cotton candies. When she saw the look [M/n] gave her, her cheeks darkened.
People around them continued to talk about the Samurai, easily dismissing the five ninja much to their disconcertion. [M/n] didn’t care, he knew his abilities, and he was proud of the recognition of Nya’s skills as the Samurai. At his side, Lloyd was bouncing on his toes, looking around at the different rides and games and food stalls, already mapping out which ones he wanted to try.
“Ugh, who the fuck is this guy?!” Kai demanded, throwing his hands up.
“Whoever he is, he’s stealing out thunder,” Cole complained.
Lloyd, the precious little mischief maker he was, happily interjected, “What thunder? [M/n]’s got all the thunder, not you guys.”
“He’s a thunderstorm,” Nya added, grinning.
[M/n] sighed, head tilting back in exasperation. “Skellions.”
With ease, [M/n] led Lloyd away from the ninja, offering Nya a wave as she headed in the opposite direction.
“Alright, λιακάδα, where are we starting?”
“I wanna start with that one!” Lloyd declared, pointing to the second largest ride in the park. He then dragged [M/n] towards the line, much to the olders amusement.
[M/n] was content to allow himself to be led across the theme park, stopping at different stands to play games or grab food, easily winning Lloyd a swamp monster plush that had the boy laughing, an actual laugh this time. The last ride Lloyd chose was the Ferris Wheel, and since it was getting late, [M/n] figured a few rounds on it wouldn’t hurt.
Lloyd had eventually noticed the way [M/n]’s hands constantly dropped to rest on the handles of the strange weapons in his hips, an unconscious motion of reassurance. Sitting in the passenger car, Lloyd finally found the opportunity to ask.
“Hey, [M/n]?”
“Yes?”
“Where did you get your fan thingies?”
“My fan thi-? Oh, the Golden Tessens. I retrieved them from the Temple of Death, from under the protection of Ara, the Nether Dragon.”
“You saw a dragon?!”
“I had a dragon,” [M/n] corrected.
“YOU HAD A DRAGON!!!!”
[M/n] couldn’t help but laugh. “I did. He’s molting in the Spirit Coves, but I know he’ll return once he’s finished.”
“Awesome! Tell me more!”
“As you wish. Do you want to hear the full story or just a short-”
“Full story!”
Leaning back, [M/n] got comfy, eyes slipping closed. He searched his mind for the memory, trying to find the words to articulate exactly what he was thinking, exactly what had happened.
“Well, it was only a few weeks after I’d woken up when I went after the Golden Tessens. Wu had this old map in the main room of the Monastery, and one day I found myself just staring at it, at this one location up across from the City of Domu, this unexplored area. For some reason I couldn’t bring my attention away from that location. So, one day, I left. Packed a bag, marked the location on the map and left.”
“I made it to the forest surrounding the Temple after a solid 9 days of travel.”
Bare trees arched upwards, fingers creaking as the wind wove through the old graveyard, sliding across headstones and plaques before curling around the intruder that stood on the edge of the cemetery. At the time the Intruder had no knowledge of the Wind’s role in protecting the temple. They had no way of knowing that it had chased away explorers for years with hisses, screams, and whispers, resorting to more volatile actions when they refused to be scared.
“Γεια σου φίλε μου,” [M/n] murmured, understanding on an intrinsic level that the Wind would not hurt him. It curled around his limbs, bringing with it dead leaves as it swirled around his legs, eventually curling back around his hand. In a strange mimicry of tugging, the Wind led him along, guiding him through the cemetery. (Hello, my friend)
Curiously [M/n] followed along, ducking beneath the bare branches that threatened to snag in his hair, stepping over the patches of dead leaves. Ahead the Temple loomed, made of bare granite, two statues guarding the main entrance. It was obvious the Temple was old, the statues themselves weathered, with round edges and holes where there hadn’t been before. The four swords in the left guard's hands were oblong sticks filled with holes, giving the stone blades a far more ominous look.
[M/n] stilled at the steps that led up to the doors, staring up at the stone guards warily. Even from here he could feel the power, the pull that had led him here, and that is what led him to walking up the stairs. It was only once he’d made it to the entrance that he realized the Wind had dropped his hand.
“Δεν μπορείς να με συνοδεύσεις, μπορείς?” [M/n] couldn’t help the longing in his voice. (You cannot accompany me, can you?)
It sang, retreating back a ways, but not without curling across his shoulder
“Πολύ καλά.” (Very well.)
Stepping into the Temple he was startled by the sudden surge of power beneath his feet, the ominous sensation of Death hanging over his shoulder having the opposite reaction that he should have. Instead of flinching back, [M/n] felt oddly settled. The power retreated, allowing him entry.
It occurred to him that that was why the Wind couldn’t accompany him. Not because it didn’t want to, but because it physically couldn’t.
Even the understanding that he wasn’t going to be killed or thrown from the Temple couldn’t relax him. A mantra repeated through his head, ‘To relax is to be vulnerable. To be vulnerable is to open your arms for death.’
He didn’t know where the saying had come from, seeing as it wasn’t something Wu would say, but he felt a heavy urge to follow it, to heed it.
The inner sanctum had multiple sets of stairs, some leading upwards, some leading downwards. Halls branched off, leading deeper into the Temple. It was meant to throw people off. A Temple in a Cemetery guarding the Golden Weapons of Death. Most would assume the Weapons would be down below, so [M/n] did the exact opposite.
Quietly making his way up the stairs, he peered around the corner, feeling his heart violently jump up into his throat. The stairs he had taken had led up to a glass observatory with a raised platform in the center of the room. On the platform was a podium which held the Golden Tessens. That wasn’t the problem though.
It was the wyvern curled around the base.
It was beautiful. Partially ‘feathered’ with a long serpentine neck and tail, sharp claws and teeth, and purple scales. A crown of feather-like structures stretched back instead of horns, colored different shades of purple, running sparsely down its neck. The strange tail fin was made of the same feather-like structures, similar structures running down the tail like spines.
After a long minute spent observing the wyvern, he saw the tail twitch, ‘feathers’ brushing against the marble ground.
It was a shock that he hadn’t heard the audible breathing coming from the dragon, especially with his heightened hearing. But he couldn’t leave the Golden Tessens behind. He knew they were important. He couldn’t leave them behind.
A slow steady breath escaped [M/n]. Calming himself, he began slowly crossing the room. [M/n] kept his muscles tense, ready to move, and making sure his steps were carefully placed, making sure he didn’t step on anything.
Circling the wyvern, [M/n] slowly tried to approach from behind, only to come to a stop when the Temple’s power surged again, retreating after a long moment. It was followed by shouting and the click of bone. Skulkin. He backed off as the wyvern began to wake.
As it climbed up to its full height [M/n] was able to see it in its full glory. Full height it was easily 18ft tall, easily twice that in length, even though it held itself lower on sprawled wings, using the razor sharp claw tips on its wings to crawl. A row of the same feather-like structures ran down its chest in a row, and down its back in two rows. Its body was mainly purple, splotches of blue across its snout, neck, and back, its wing tips and tail fin being grey in color.
A small group of Skulkin appeared at the top of the stairs, earning a terrible snarl from the wyvern. Some of the feathers began to slide together, creating this strange hissing sound that sent shudders down [M/n]’s spine. The Skulkin seemed to have a similar reaction, reeling back in surprise, but they weren’t exactly smart.
The first charged forward with a yell, only to be snapped up in the dragon's maw, purple fog-like smoke pouring out around the Skulkin. It was then tossed to the side, bones separating and crashing down onto the marble floor loudly. Several moments passed, the other Skulkin waiting impatiently but they never reformed.
[M/n], who could see the curls of Nether around the Skulkins bones, was able to tell that the wyvern had been able to kill the Skulkin. Completely. The others began to tremble, bones rattling nervously. Taking the opportunity presented, [M/n] began slowly creeping closer to the podium.
Head whipping, the wyvern snapped up the other Skulkin, bones cracking under the pressure. Picking up the pace, the ninja was quick to cross the room, abandoning stealth for speed. Once on the platform he took the Tessens from the podium, finding himself completely enamoured by them, leaving him completely open.
Curling his hands around the ring, [M/n] couldn’t take his eyes off the Tessens, the golden glint hypnotizing him to the point that he didn’t even notice the wyvern approaching from behind.
A slow huff of hot breath from its nostrils ruffled [h/c] hair. Muscles freezing, [M/n] felt his heart begin to pick up its pace, thundering in his chest. His eyes closed for a second, waiting for those bone breaking jaws to close around him and break him.
Nothing happened, so after several long minutes, [M/n] turned around, moving slowly, meeting the narrowed silver gaze of the dragon. It held his gaze, searching for something before it pulled away, long neck allowing it to peer down at him with ease.
Khēlai slowly formed by his feet, taking the form of some kind of house cat, calmly peering up at the wyvern, unbothered and unthreatened. Head tilting like an owl, the wyvern lowered its snout to investigate the shapeshifter, breathing ruffling their fur much to Khēlai’s amusement. Slowly its expression seemed to soften, backing off to give them room.
“Are you-are you letting me go?”
It nodded, so [M/n] slowly stepped off the platform, Khēlai following. Keeping his back away from the wyvern, [M/n] made his way down the stairs, turning to hurry away once the wyvern couldn’t see him anymore.
“. . . Eventually I went back. It was a couple of months later that I made it back and managed to climb up onto his back and ride him. We needed his help to make it to the Underworld to face off against your father the first time.”
“Really? I can’t believe you rode a dragon!”
“Technically I still do. Ara will return one day, and when he does I will take to the skies again.”
“When he comes back will you take me on a ride?!”
“As many as you wish, λιακάδα.”
Lloyd brightened, happily asking more and more questions that [M/n] struggled to answer. Eventually, luckily, he wore himself out as they returned to the Bounty, parked nearby to wait for them. Settled in the futon, Lloyd tried to force himself to stay awake, but [M/n] simply began playing with his hair, easily coaxing him to sleep before settling down himself.
It was easy to fall asleep after the day they’d had, only to be woken early in the morning when the alarm blared.
“Wha-!”
“Go back to sleep,” [M/n] ordered, dressing quickly using. “I’ll be back, keep yourself occupied, Nya will likely be busy. Try not to annoy, Sensei.”
“Okay.”
[M/n] rushed out the door, racing up the stairs to the Bridge, the others only a few steps behind though they were only half dressed. Nya, still in her pjs, was typing away, pulling up the map of Ninjago, seeing where the dots had congregated.
“Multiple snake sightings! They're everywhere!”
Wu frowned, “Split up. Take them one by one. Nya and I will update your coordinates as needed. Go. Quickly.”
As told, they took off from the Bounty heading in different directions to handle their assigned location. Each location had between 5 and 8 Serpentine wreaking as much havoc as they could, which on its own wasn’t a lot but stacked up on top of each other it was. Whether killing or tying up the Serpentine, the numbers began to wrack up and more often than not, those that were tied up managed to escape.
Days passed, with each ninja having to take up to 5 different villages a day, and that was on a good day. The Samurai helped, handling cases closer to the Bounty’s location, which irritated the other ninja but left them free to handle things further out. Each day, they returned to the Bounty completely exhausted, nearly collapsing into their beds. It got to the point that in order to keep Lloyd from getting into things, each Ninja began dropping him off in nearby Villages to entertain himself with a little bit of pocket money.
[M/n] came back after visiting 9 villages, having killed at least 45 Serpentine, and crashed onto the futon before the sun set. All throughout the night, he reached for Lloyd but never found him, chest burning. He stayed asleep though, body completely exhausted. It wasn’t until the sun had risen, nearly 12 hours later that [M/n] woke up, groggily looking around the room. Tired [e/c] looked around, brow furrowing when he realized Lloyd wasn’t in the room and the futon remained undisturbed. Like Lloyd hadn’t slept there. At all.
On alert, the purple ninja climbed up to his feet, forcing himself to stay steady. Swaying on his feet, he took only a moment to breathe in deeply, clearing away the sleep from his mind. Once his mind was cleared, he set off.
Instead of heading straight up, [M/n] headed to the ninja’s room first, glancing inside to see if maybe the boy had been herded into the extra bunk for the night but it was untouched. The room itself was empty as well, so he moved on, hurrying to the game room, then to the kitchen, and the Bridge, all of which were empty. From there he went to the dining room, hoping that Lloyd was just eating breakfast.
But it wasn’t to be, and he heard Wu asking, “Where is my nephew? I thought you were looking after him.”
[M/n] pushed open the shoji door, hard enough that it rattled violently. “He’s not here.”
Everyone in the dining room seemed to hold their breath, hearts pounding beneath his sharp gaze.
“Cole was supposed to pick him up,” Kai declared, throwing the blame away from himself.
“I went to the arcade, but he wasn’t there. Jay was–”
“Don’t bring me into this! I babysat yesterday. I had nothing to do with this, I didn’t lose him.”
“Did no one bring him home last night?” Zane questioned, looking around in alarm. The other three dropped their heads in regret.
“Then we must find him, immediately,” Wu declared, blue eyes flashing golden. [M/n] turned to leave, but Wu caught him by the arm, seeing the emotions burning in his eyes. “I believe it would be best if you stayed behind. To go out and fight now with your emotions as they are–”
“My emotions are perfectly in check,” [M/n] hissed. “I will not stay here, not when Lloyd is in danger.”
He ripped his arm from his Sensei’s hold, stalking back down to his own room to dig through his oaken chest of weapons, stocking up. The other four dressed, eerily silent under the solemn pressure [M/n] exuded.
Blades were slipped into every sheath he could attach to himself, tucking away his true Tessens into secondary holsters behind the Golden Tessens. Star-shaped shuriken were tucked into an additional pouch on the small of his back. Steadying his pounding heart, [M/n] led them back to the top deck, throwing himself off without wasting another moment.
It took him a moment longer than usual to summon the Nethercopter, mind twisting and turning, making it difficult for him to think straight. And through it all, his chest burned.
Kai took the lead on his Blade Cycle, leading them towards the town he had chosen to leave Lloyd in for the day. The town he had chosen was one located in the Sea of Sand, only a few miles away from Darkly’s, known as Tene which was one of the more technologically advanced towns. It had an arcade, a movie theatre, and a few different cheap restaurants for Lloyd to have been entertained with.
He pulled up alongside the arcade, Blade Cycle disappearing as he hurried along inside, leaving the other four to wait outside impatiently. “This is where I left him,” Kai said, coming back out. “But no one saw him enter or play. He could have gone down to the movie theatre, gotten something to eat, anything. Lloyd’s a smart kid.”
“Smart, yes. But a kid, nonetheless,” [M/n] retorted, looking around. Zane rested a comforting hand on his shoulder.
“We could look around, see if anyone else has seen him. The movie theatre is like-”
“Hey, check this out!” Jay called, pointing up to a camera attached to the side of the building. “Hold on, lemme see if I can find a way to get in, and look over the footage.” Jay ducked inside the arcade, having a quick rushed conversation with the cashier to borrow the tablet located behind the counter. It took him a good long minute to argue with the young man, but he didn’t seem to be putting up much of a fight.
He came jogging back out, “Got it! Now, let’s see . . .” He found the box attached to the wall that the camera was attached to, attaching the cable he’d also borrowed to the box and the tablet to search through the files. “Today’s date is-”
“Wednesday, 17th of Etsu, 8043.”
“Which means yesterday was the 16th, so here we go,” Jay mumbled, pulling up the video. The four gathered around him, peering over his shoulder to watch the footage.
They watched as Kai dropped Lloyd off, pulling away before the boy could walk into the arcade, which he turned to do. Then he stopped, looking in the direction of the alley. Side to side he looked around, slowly creeping closer to the corner to peer around the brick. Whatever Lloyd seemed to see had him ducking back behind the wall, hesitating.
He then crossed the alleyway, rushing into the shop just out of sight of the camera.
“Uh, that’s the costume shop, right next door,” Kai realized, gesturing to the door. “We passed it on the way in. I . . . I think there was a snake costume in the window.”
“Ok, that’s where he’s going but what is he doing? I mean, why a costume? And for what? Who did he see in the alley?”
Lloyd came back onto the screen, wearing the snake costume Kai had been talking about. Once more he looked both ways, ducking into the alley and out of sight of the camera. They continued to watch for a few minutes, waiting to see if he came back and when he didn’t [M/n] stopped watching, heading into the alley himself.
In the still wet mud were child footprints, converse specifically, like the ones Lloyd wore.
“I believe these are Lloyd’s footprints. He wears converse, yes?”
“Yes,” [M/n] agreed tersely.
Zane nodded, “They end where these tracks begin. A vehicle of some kind I believe. But why would he board an unknown vehicle, especially not one driven by one of us?”
“The Serpentine.” [M/n] rose from a kneel. “He must have overheard something he thought was important, then followed them to see.”
“Why would he do that?” Cole asked.
“Because he wants to make things right.”
“Then it looks like we’re going for a ride. Let’s get a move on, boys,” Kai ordered, summoning the Blade Cycle. Following after him, Jay and [M/n] took to the skies, keeping low to the ground.
Following the tracks took them deeper and deeper into the Sea of Sand, a city beginning to appear on the distant horizon.
“What is that?”
“Uh, that wasn’t there before. Right? Like, I haven’t just missed a whole city on the map, right?”
[M/n] recognized the city from an old map, “Ourouborous. The Ancient City of the Serpentine.” No one commented on the odd distortion, too afraid to bring it up.
“We need a closer look at this. Quietly.”
All five dismissed their vehicles, continuing the trek across the sand on foot. Two massive Serpentine statues, a Constrictai and Venomari, made from limestone, sat in front of the main gateway dressed in the Royal armor of the General’s Guard. Jay, Kai, Cole, and Zane all slowed when they approached the statues, shocked and awed by the grandeur. [M/n] ignored it all, slipping into the massive shadow to continue through the city on his own, easily following the chants of excitement coming from the center of the city.
It took all of his willpower to keep himself patient, to keep his steps slow and steady, carefully rolling his feet to minimize tracks. Instead of wearing the traditional jika-tabi he favored, [M/n] had traded them out for his heavier combat boots, better made for the fighting he planned to do, but that meant focusing more on his stealth rather than allowing the jika-tabi to pick up his slack. Creeping through a side tunnel that led straight into the arena, [M/n] sent a bō-shuriken into the eye of the Fangpyre on guard, catching them before they could hit the ground.
Peering out, [M/n] watched as the ninja rushed into the arena, a foolish endeavor, only to be caught in a trap. Their Golden Weapons clattered to the ground, the four letting out loud shouts of alarm.
But loudest of all was Lloyd’s cry of fear. “No!”
Pythor cackled, slithering out from his hiding place, “Looks like we’ve caught the main event!” This reinvigorated the crowd in the stands, only for their excitement to be interrupted by a shrill panicked scream. It was brutally cut short.
The Serpentine in the Arena all turned to find the sound, freezing when they spotted the headless body of a Hypnobrai, head only a few steps away. Blood pooled from the stump of a neck, sand clumping together and darkening to a rusty red. None of them noticed the darkly clothed ninja in the shadows, slowly circling.
Jay’s hands flew to his mouth, trying to hide the sound of his gagging. Cole and Kai were silent, eyes wide and mouths pulled into tense lines. Zane remained eerily blankfaced, only a furrow in his brows to be seen. Lloyd stared out at the body, not afraid like he thought he would be, but rather expectant. He trusted [M/n]. And he would be rescued.
Another bō-shuriken was sent flying, piercing the eye of a Venomari. They collapsed, the solidified Nether quickly subliming into its gas form, eating away at the surrounding bone, brain, and skin, quickly enough that they were dead near immediately.
[M/n] finally stepped out from the shadows, Golden Tessen hanging by his side, hood up and mask down. Only his glowing [e/c] eyes were visible in the shadow of the hood. “Let them go. All of them.” His voice was oddly sweet, almost amused. Like a hornet's honey. He offered no threats, only silence.
He continued to move however, every step taken with grace and surety. But he never quite left the coverage of the shadows, bobbing in and out of them.
Pythor laughed, ignoring the way the wound on his shoulder throbbed. Skales, on the other hand, backed away ready to flee at any moment. “Now, why would I do that? I promised a show to my fellow Serp-”
In a flash of movement another bō-shuriken was sent flying, finding a home in a Constrictai’s eye with enough force for it to poke out the other side. This time he offered a threat, delivered calmly, “Let them all go. If you do not, I will kill as many of your Serpentine as I can. I will drag them down to the Underworld alongside me with my bare hands if I must.”
“Hahaha! Do you truly believe that a threat?! We are the Ssserpentine! We have fought in many battles! A single Elemental Master does not scare us!” Skalidor laughed, earning a cruel twist of [M/n]’s lips.
Nether poured from the exposed skin of his hands, slowly taking the form of a large, muscular tiger. Claws digging into the ground, Khēlai snarled. He and the shapeshifter shared a look, eyes narrowed.
They were out of time.
They leapt as one, Khēlai’s massive paws smacking into the skull of a Fangpyre and [M/n]’s Tessens slicing through the neck of a Hypnobrai. A snarl contorted [M/n]’s face, beginning a dance of death as Khēlai followed at his heels, leaving behind bodies, heads, and limbs in a path of carnage.
Blood splattered across his face, eyes perpetually widened to take everything in. Every sword swung his way was dodged, every axe dogging his steps was kicked away, and every polearm was ripped from their grasp.
Up in the stands the Serpentine fled en masse into the city, many of them hatchlings or minders, not warriors. Their screams were filtered out, those in the arena ignoring their cries.
Unfortunately, even with his deadliness, his prowess, [M/n] was not infallible. Some of the more experienced Serpentine were able to match him, blow for blow, eventually being taken down with Khēlai’s help. But eventually the shapeshifters time went out, the energy used to keep him on this plane and not within the mental too taxing to hold up in a situation like this.
A single slice across his heel, through the leather of his boot, was the beginning of the end. For the Constrictai’s trouble he earned a four-pointed shuriken to the eye. A heavy blow to the back of his skull from a club made him stumble, [M/n] whirling around with a stumble in his step to leave a slice across their face.
The butt of a polearm into his temple. The blade of an axe across his shoulder. Another club slammed into his knee. A sword dragged across his hip, narrowly missing his gut.
Lloyd yelled in fear at every hit, heart lurching.
A second hit across the back of his skull nearly knocked him to his knees, but even in the pain he managed to sink his Tessens into the Hypnobrai’s stomach. Kneeling, [M/n] took great heaving breaths, blood from a cut on his temple dripping into his eye.
Pythor slithered forward, throwing his arms out with a laugh, “‘Drag usss all into the Underworld’, isn’t that what you said? Kill asss many of usss asss you could, was it? Look at you now, the mighty Purple Ninja brought to his knees!”
The remaining Serpentine hesitantly laughed. It seemed to fuel [M/n], even as his eyes began to struggle to stay open, and he summoned one last bō-shuriken to send flying through the air. It found its mark in Pythor’s arm, where his previous bō-shuriken had left behind thinned, blackened scales. Sinking past the skin beneath, it only made it an inch or two into the muscle itself, but that was enough. Subliming, it ate away at the muscle but thin as it had been it only managed to leave a wound three inches wide and several more deep.
Pythor screamed, hand nearly flying to the wound before Acidicus grabbed him by the wrist, quickly leading him away.
With a wet snarl, [M/n] collapsed into the sand, gaze finding Lloyd’s. “Lloyd-”
Lloyd sobbed, clinging to the bars as his protector lost consciousness, four soldiers warily approaching him. With a hesitant look, one by one they grabbed onto his limbs, lifting him.
“Put him in a cage! Let him bleed out!” Pythor screeched, tail twisting and coiling in his anger.
The ninja were silent, horror clouding the air around them as they stared out at their teammate, their brother. His [h/c] hair was matted with blood and sand, the white of bone peeking through the blood, GI ripped and stained, leg twisted slightly, dragging awkwardly across the sand. The Serpentine roughly tossed him into a second cage, Lloyd yelling out.
“No!!”
“Shut it!!” The Serpentine guard in front of Lloyd’s cage banged his blade against his own cage. Lloyd scrambled away from the bars, freaking out.
Kai snarled, “Don’t fucking touch him!” Nearby the Golden Sword heated up, the golden blade beginning to shimmer with heat.
The Golden Scythe seemed to tremble in place, Golden Nunchucks sparking violently, and the Golden Shurikens had frost slowly creeping across the sand around, all three mimicking their holders' reactions.
-----------
[M/n] woke slowly, which he hadn’t done since he’d woken from his coma, rapidly blinking away the sudden light in his eyes. It took a long minute for his brain to catch up with what was happening. One moment he had been in the sands of the arena at Ouroubourus and now he was . . . in the courtyard at the Monastery. Except that wasn’t possible. The Hypnobrai had burned it down, leaving the ancient building a burnt out husk of itself. But here?
It was beautiful, whole again. The Lóng statue gleamed in the light, sunbaked tiles a welcome sight. In its beauty he was so lost, he didn’t even notice the stranger leaning against the post on the engawa only a few meters away.
“Wonder where you learned all those tricks?” It was a taunt.
Climbing the rest of the way to his feet, [M/n]’s hands flew to his waist where his Tessens should have been. But they weren’t there. Instead of panicking, he quickly allowed his body to fall into the familiar first stance of the Imperial Leopard.
[E/c] eyes scanned over him, quickly taking in everything about this stranger - from his green streaked hair, to cat-like jade green eyes, to the strange markings across his skin, oddly reminiscent of the Hypnobrai.
A smirk played across thin lips, jade eyes watching him in turn, “You don’t remember me, do you?”
“Should I?”
That smirk fell, only for a moment, before returning, “We only spent nearly my entire life together. Stuck together at the hip. Got worse when we got together.”
“Got together?” [M/n] repeated slowly. “As in . . .”
“Dating? Yeah.”
[M/n] slowly dropped his stance, “If we were . . . dating, then why weren’t you there when I woke up? Why have you not been with me?”
“‘Cause I can’t be. I died, [M/n], a long time ago, even if you can’t remember it.”
“I don’t . . .” [M/n] fell silent, observing the man closely. Everything about him was . . . familiar when he really thought about it. The way his hair fell into his face, nearly obscuring his eyes with a tilt of his head was so familiar that he knew when the other was going to do so. His face, his eyes, his hands, everything was familiar, like he’d seen it before.
It hit him then. He had seen him before. In his dreams, or rather, his memories.
“I do know you,” [M/n] admitted, slowly approaching. “I don’t remember your name but I know you. You were the one who taught me how to pick pockets, the one who trained with me in the Golden Leopard. I know you used to keep your hair up during training and you used to own a kite you could fly on your own. I know you made me a bracelet from river stones and the leather of a rabbit you caught. But I can’t. Remember. Your name.”
He took a shuddering breath, jade eyes searching for something before his expression softened, “Morro. My name. It’s Morro.” Scarred palms carefully cupped his face, cradling him with surprising tenderness.
“Morro,” [M/n] repeated softly, feeling the name slot into place with ease. Like a puzzle piece. Morro couldn’t help the shudder that ran through his entire body, eyes closing for a moment as he pulled [M/n] closer, foreheads pressing together.
“Fuck.” Morro let out a trembling breath. “I forgot what you sounded like, it’s been so long . . .” A hand dropped down to his waist, tugging him even closer, until their bodies were slotted together. For several minutes they just stood there, in each other's embrace.
“What is this place?”
“A border. 糞, there’s a word for it–Liminal. It’s a liminal space.” (Shit)
“I’m . . . dead?”
Morro’s jaw tightened, “No. Not dead. At least not yet. The longer you stay in a place like this, the closer to death you get. Which means you need to make a choice. Stay or leave. Live or die.” [M/n] was quiet. “I’m . . . I’m sorry.”
“For what? You’re not the reason I’m here.”
“You’ll understand one day. But you need to leave. For that boy. He needs you.”
“Lloyd? You-you know Lloyd?”
That had Morro frowning, brow drawing down tightly, “I-I do, I don’t know how but I do. It’s weird. I’ve been aware of some things that happen to you, like . . . like I’m there.” Morro snorted, “Like a ghost.” That seemed to be quite the source of amusement for him.
“And I can’t feel you because?”
“I’m too dead?”
“That’s not funny.”
Morro shrugged, “Whatever you say. But I am serious. You need to leave.”
[M/n] looked away, closing his eyes for a moment. “Why are you sorry?”
“I can’t. You need to go, otherwise you die and I’m not letting that happen. Go.” [M/n] didn’t move, [e/c] eyes searching. “Go!”
“Where do I go?”
“Just out those doors, 虹彩. Just walk out those doors.” It was almost begging. (Iris)
“Ok, ok,” [M/n] soothed, slowly backing off. His heart ached, the words falling free without thought, “I love you.”
Morro’s voice shuddered, “I love you too.”
Step by step [M/n] backed away, that heat in his chest slowly growing, tugging at his rib bones, urging him to the doors even as he delayed himself, unable to take his eyes off his partner. He knew he had to leave, knew he needed to complete his destiny, but that didn’t make it any easier. He would never get this opportunity again, never get to see Morro again.
[M/n] looked to the doors, barely a few seconds of his eyes not being on Morro, but when he turned back the man was gone. Breath hitching with grief, he closed his eyes. Pushing open the door, [M/n] stepped out and sank into his subconscious.
Simultaneously
The room was eerily silent. Everyone was sitting around [M/n]’s bedside, staring down at the teen in the makeshift sick bay Nya had fixed up. Zane had set himself on a stool directly at his side, carefully holding [M/n]’s hand.
It had been several hours since their rescue from the arena, since they had been picked up by the Bounty. Zane and Wu had spent over two hours after that cleaning, stitching, and setting all of [M/n]’s wounds, carefully bandaging him up and changing his clothes. His wounds had been worse off once they made it to the Bounty, filled with sand and bits of rock from the crash landing after their impromptu rescue by the Samurai.
No one knew what to say. How to break the oppressive silence.
[M/n] had always seemed indestructible, infallible, untouchable. Better than the other ninja, faster, with better battle sense than any of them. Now he was laying limp on a cot, nearly his entire body covered in bandages with nothing to show for it. All of that fighting, and Lloyd was still in the grasps of the Serpentine.
Nya couldn’t stand it any longer. The sight of, who she considered, her best friend laying limp on a cot looking far too small had her storming away in anger, storming off to her own room, bitter tears in her blue eyes.
“How do we tell him?” Cole asked, breaking the silence, door swinging. His accent was thicker than ever, slurring his words. “How do we tell him we failed?! That he nearly died and they still have Lloyd?! That we couldn’t–?!” He cut himself off, accent coloring his words to the point that the others had an even harder time understanding him. Taking ragged breaths, he managed to calm himself down. “We left Lloyd. We have all seen how much he cares. This . . .”
“It’s going to devastate him. Or make him angry,” Jay finished the thought, wringing his hands and ripping at the skin around his fingernails. Kai looked away, hands closing into fists and nails digging into his skin.
“I will tell him,” Wu decided, head lowered, looking older than he ever had sitting in that chair. There was a terrible grief in his gaze. “Lloyd is my nephew, he is my responsibility. I should not have delegated the task of watching him to any of you, I should have watched over him myself. That makes it my responsibility to tell him what happened.”
Jay’s eyes misted over slightly but he left soon enough, Cole and Kai right behind him, leaving behind Zane and Wu. Eventually Wu moved himself to the floor, meditating but Zane kept himself still, refusing to move from the stool.
The ninja were enjoying breakfast together, discussing the Serpentine Tribes and Pythors efforts to reunite them. Lloyd had joined in, after finally waking up, and the conversation turned to facing the different Tribes.
"First, I'll stomp on his tail. Then when he turns, a thunder clap to his ears. Then when he's stunned, I'll disarm him," Lloyd demonstrated, jumping around the small dining area. He looked to [M/n], seeking approval but the others were quick to shoot him down.
"Too late, he's already hypnotized you and now you're under his control," Cole said.
"Or he's already put you in a squeeze," Zane offered, hand dropping to his ribs in remembrance of the Constrictai Generals grip.
"Or spit on you with his hallucinatory venom. Trust me, bad stuff," Kai grimaced.
"Uncle, what's the best way to stun a Serpentine if you don't know what kind they are?" Lloyd asked, sitting back down beside [M/n].
"Sadly, it was the Sacred Flute you five carelessly lost," Wu stated, sending a sharp look towards the ninja.
[M/n], ignoring him, leaned down a bit to whisper, "I'll teach you how to identify which tribe they're from, don't worry."
"Hey, no, no, no, we didn't lose it. Pythor stole it," Jay argued, ignoring [M/n] in turn.
"Whatever the case, without it I fear we have nothing to combat their powers. We may have prevented them from uniting in the past, but they will try again, and one day they will be stronger."
"Don't worry. I've almost reached my Full Potential, and when I become the Green Ninja, we're not gonna need any magic flute," Cole stated, flexing his muscles.
[M/n] sighed, pressing his pointer and middle finger to his forehead as an argument started up. Again.
"You're gonna be the Green Ninja? Hahaha, don't make me laugh."
"I thought it was decided that I was destined to become the Green Ninja."
Lloyd looked around in confusion, having never actually heard of the Green Ninja until now. He looked up, tried too, when a hand dropped on his head and ruffled his blond locks. "Please don't grow up to be idiots like them."
"No way. I'll be way cooler."
"Oh! The only thing decided about you, Zane, is that you're weird."
Lloyd's attention was caught when Wu stood and retrieved a box from the Postman, quietly sitting back down. Realizing the ninja were all too focused on their arguement, he raised his voice, "Yeah, yeah, yeah! What's in the box?"
"Your new uniforms," Wu said, passing out the GI's.
The four tore open the clear packaging around them, admiring their GI's. [M/n] was more meticilous, removing his and carefully scrutinizing it as Lloyd looked it over in awe.
Seperate from the GI was a silver pauldron, sculpted into the shape of a fox. Surprised by the extravagent piece, he ran his fingers over it, admiring the detail and metal work.
"Whoa! They've got, like, armor," Jay realized, holding up the fully armoured sleeve.
"I love the gold highlights," Kai added, referring to the golden pieces of armor.
"Battle claws!" Cole cheered.
"The material is really light and breathable," Zane murmured, running his hand over the fabric.
"They are beautiful, Sensei."
Lloyd looked disappointed when he realized he wasn't getting anything. "Oh, nothing for me?" [M/n]'s gaze instantly flicked to Wu, who gave him an awkward, unsure look in return.
"Um, you get, uh, the box." The man looked absolutely relieved when the alarm went off, distracting everybody.
Gathering in the Bridge, they patiently waited to be debriefed as Nya had taken to calling it.
"A small faction of our slithering friends are stirring up trouble at Mega Monster Amusement Park," Cole stated, reading the article Nya pulled up.
"Amusement park? Can I go? Can I go with you, please? Let me make things up. I can help," Lloyd practically begged, looking between his Uncle and [M/n].
"I'm sorry, nephew. You will stay here, where it's safe," Wu refused. Before Lloyd could try and argue, [M/n] stepped in.
"I'll take him." Wu still looked hesitant, so [M/n] elaborated. "I can protect him, besides it is unhealthy for a young boy to be cooped up for too long."
Wu relented, nodding. "You are not to leave [M/n]'s side, am I understood, Lloyd?"
"Yes, Uncle! I won't!" Lloyd agreed, bouncing in place with barely restrained excitement.
"What do you say, guys? Time to try out the new merchandise?" Jay asked, holding up his GI.
Up on deck, they all used Spinjitzu to change into their new GI's.
Lloyd oohed and aahed appropriately over [M/n]'s GI, especially enamoured with the fox pauldron and black leather chest guard.
"All right. This new stuff feels like it'll really protect us," Cole said, flexing his bicep.
"Yet, provides more mobility," Zane agreed.
"You wanna strut your stuff on the catwalk, or get down to that amusement park so we can go on some rides?" Jay sassed.
"I love a good old fashioned roller coaster, but nothing beats this," Kai stated, throwing himself off the ship with the other three.
[M/n] carried Lloyd, unwilling to risk him not being caught in his NetherCopter. Summoning his Copter to slow their decent, he kept Lloyd in his lap.
At the last second all of their vehicles disappeared and they landed on the large cement wall surrounding the entire amusement park.
"Haha! Check that out. And not a scratch on me," Cole announced smugly, brushing off his sleeve.
Hopping down, they all noticed the cheering crowd that had gathered and the four mistook it as excitement to see them.
"Haha, ladies, relax, relax, we have arrived," Jay said, pushing his way through the crowd to get to the center.
Which is where they found a small group of Serpentine tied up as a group of ladies swooned over their mysterious savior.
"Uh, what just happened?"
"Oh, you totally missed it. There were like, icky snakes, and then this mysterious Samurai came in and saved everyone," Woman #1 stated. [M/n]'s brows pinched together as he struggled to understand her accent and what she was actually saying.
Glancing to the side, he saw Cole with a similar look.
"He was, like, gorgeous," Woman #2 added.
Kai perked up. "You saw his face?"
"No, but we could totally tell." Nya appeared behind the ladies, carrying two sticks of cotton candy with cheeks a little flushed, and hair a little messier than normal.
"Nya, you're here," Jay realized.
"Yeah, you boys just missed the action. That samurai you were talkin' about? He just flew in and took care of business, and then flew off. It was pretty cool," Nya admitted, cheeks darkening when she saw the look of amusement [M/n] was giving her.
People around them began talking about the Samurai, dismissing the ninja which upset the four. Lloyd, who was growing bored, bounced beside [M/n], looking around trying to decide which ride he wanted to go on first.
"Ugh, who is this guy?" Kai grumbled.
"Whoever he is, he's stealing our thunder," Cole complained. Lloyd, the precious little thing he is, happily interjected.
"What thunder?" He glanced up to [M/n] with a cheeky grin. "[M/n]'s got all the thunder."
Nya grinned and added, "He's a thunderstorm."
Sighing, he tilted his head back. "Skellions."
He led Lloyd away from the ninja as they began devising a competition of sorts against the Samurai.
"I wanna ride that one first!" Lloyd announced, pointing to one of the larger rides. [M/n] was perfectly content to be led to ride after ride and forced to try several different fair foods.
They ended up saving the Ferris Wheel for last, so [M/n] paid for multiple go arounds. Lloyd couldn't help but notice how the older teens hands constantly rested on the handles of his Tessens. He vividly remembered the striking golden fans with their black iron blades.
"Hey, [M/n]?"
"Hmmm?"
"Where did you get your fan thingies?"
"My fan thi- Oh, my Tessens. I retrieved them from The Temple of Death where Ara, my dragon, was guarding them."
Lloyd's head snapped around to look at the older, jaw dropping. "Tell me more! You have a dragon?!"
"Yes. He's molting in the Spirit Coves but he'll return. I know he will. Do you wish to hear the full story or the shortened-"
"The full story!"
[M/n] chuckled, leaning back against the seat and getting comfy.
Closing his eyes he brought the memory to the forefront of his mind, trying to find a good place to start. He was aware of the boys gaze on him, but assumed he was impatiently waiting for him to begin.
He couldn't see how the moonlight reflected off his features, giving him an ethereal look and highlighting the features that made him seem so menacing.
Bare trees arched upwards, fingers creaking as the wind wove through the old cemetary, sliding across headstones and plaques before curling around its mysterious intruder in welcome.
The intruder didn't know it at the time but the Wind had been a fierce protector of the Temple and the surrounding cemetery and forest, chasing others away with whispers, hisses, and screams.
"Γεια σου φίλε μου," [M/n] murmured, understanding the wind wasn't out to harm him. Even without memories he knew the Wind was a friend and ally, not an enemy. (Hello, my friend.)
Whispering, it curled around his hand and lifted it in an odd mimicry of tugging. Smiling curiously, he followed along, dodging low hanging branches that threatened to get caught in his hair and carefully placing his feet to dodge the patches of dead leaves that always crunched obnoxiously.
The Temple of Death loomed ahead, made of dark stone with two, weathered, stone statues guarding the doors to the temple. Having stood there for so long, through sunshine, rain, and snow, the statues had long since lost the more intricate details. The four swords it held had been filed down and know looked like oblong sticks with holes, giving it a far creepier and ominous look.
[M/n] rolled his shoulders as he passed the two, looming statues, feeling like he was being watched. Picking up the pace, he paused in the archway, pressing a hand against the doorway as the Wind released him and retreated back towards the cemetary and forest.
He wished the wind could accompany him inside but the Temple would not take well to intruders. Other Elements would be chased out if they dared intrude.
Pushing at the doors had them slowly opening without a sound and he slowly crossed the threshold, pausing. Even when he wasn't chased away or killed immediately, he still didn't relax.
'To relax too soon is to leave yourself vulnerable. And vulnerability is death.'
He didn't know where the saying had come from or where he had learned it, but he knew he needed to abide by it.
The sanctum had multiple sets of stairs, leading both up and down, but he walked directly to the stairs tucked away in the corner and took them to the floor above. Most people, if they could even make it inside the Temple, would assume the Weapons would be underground and take the stairs downward.
On the top floor was an observatory, which was surprising, with a raised platform in the center holding the Tessens of Nether. Curled around the platform was a marble wyvern that looked eerily lifelike.
When it moved, [M/n] wasted no time in retreating back down the stairs, pausing halfway down and listening carefully. The Temple was silent but now he could pick out the slow, even breaths of the dragon that he had, wrongfully, ignored. Hesitating, he knew he had to continue.
Leaving meant the Tessens would fall into the Skulkins bony hands and be brought to Lord Garmadon, who would then have the power he needed.
A silent sigh escaped him as he prepared himself. Every step was chosen and placed carefully, muscles held tense as he readied himself for the need of quick movement. His first step onto the painted marble floor of the observatory did not wake the dragon but he still paused, taking in its beauty.
Imperial blue scales with an almost purple undertone resembled the night sky, especially with the silver scales dotted around its flank. Iris colored feathers lined its long, slender neck and face forming a crown of sorts. More ran down its spine, stopping halfway.
Large grey-blue wings with silver veins were tucked beneath its sharp, angular jaw and its tail was loosely curled around the base of the platform. He wouldn't be able to get close without waking the, admittedly beautiful, dragon.
Circling around the dragon, since it had a pretty good view of the stairs from where its head was positioned, he stayed behind it as he tried to think of a solution. Shouting from below, accompanied by the clicking of bone on marble, had the wyvern stirring.
Feathers shifted as it slowly began to wake, lifting its head up to look towards the stairs with silver. Hissing, its feathers began to move together creating a strange sound beneath its own voice that had shivers running up and down [M/n]'s spine. Standing, it shook itself off, having likely been asleep for a very long time.
Khêlai, the strange shifter that somehow resided wirhin him, his soul/mindspace apparently, surged beneath his skin. Curious and wary, he really wanted to face this dragon but [M/n] kept a tight hold, focusing on the fight to come.
Skulkin, a small group luckily, rushed up the stairs pausing at the landing when they came face to face with a dragon. None of them moved for a moment before one lifted its sword and shouted. Roaring, the wyvern crossed the space in a few long strides and snatched up the Skulkin in its maw as grey-purple fog poured out.
Flinging it to the side, the Skulkin did not reform scaring the others. How could you kill something that was already dead?
Taking the opppotunity, [M/n] ran for the platform and the Tessens. Grabbing them, he was completely enamoured by the coldess the Tessens gave off. Staring at the twin fans, he didn't even notice the wyvern slowly approaching until Khêlai reacted, snarling visciously.
Spinning around, he came face to face with it.
The Temple was silent as silver met [e/c]. For several minutes nothing happened, until [M/n] felt the slightest touch on the edge of his mind. Curiosity, not his own or Khêlai's, bloomed at the edge of his mind.
He knew the curiosity came from it, him, and then he felt the impression of flying. The dragon wanted to fly with him.
And so, [M/n] returned to the Monastery atop the Guardian of the Golden Tessens.
Lloyd was so amazed he was bouncing in place, spitting out so many questions that [M/n] was struggling to answer them all.
The entire way back to the Bounty was like that, with Lloyd genuinly curious about the Temple, the Wind, Ara, and everything else that had caught his attention in the story. Once he was tucked into his futon, with [M/n] stretched out beside him, he passed out, completely exhausted from his excitement filled day. Both slept through the night.
The alarm went off early that morning and [M/n] was quick to wake and get to the Bridge where Nya was. Still dressed in their pj's, the ninja gathered around as she pulled up locations on their map of Ninjago. "Multiple snake sightings! There everywhere!"
With so many, they were forced to take 4 to 5 each. And that was just from that night.
At each location there were only a few, never more than five Serpentine, that were terrorizing the people. While this made it easy to take care of them, whether by knocking them out or killing them, it was still exhausting. For everyone.
Even with the Samurai's help, they returned to the Bounty exhausted day after day. With them all so busy, the ninja had taken to dropping Lloyd off within the nearby villages so he could entertain himself, rotating days.
[M/n] returned one night, after visiting nearly 9 villages, and passed out as soon as he laid down, no blankets or pillow. His sleep was uneasy, as he reached out for Lloyd but never found him. After only 5 short hours of sleep, he completely woke and searched the ship for Lloyd.
The sun had risen sometime during his search, so he headed towards the dining room where the rest of the ninja were. He came up just as Wu asked, "Where is my nephew? I thought you were looking after him."
[M/n] slammed the shoji door open, nearly breaking it, "He's not here."
Everyone in the dining room went still beneath his piercing gaze.
"Cole was supposed to pick him up," Kai declared, throwing the blame away from himself.
"I went to the arcade, but he wasn't there. Jay was—"
Jay violently shook his head, leaning back, "Don't bring me into this. I babysat yesterday. I had nothing to do with this, I didn't lose him."
"We have not seen him," Zane stated.
"We must find him," Wu ordered, blue eyes flashing with something. When [M/n] turned to leave, Wu reached out and grabbed him by the arm, stopping him. "It would be best if you stayed here, [M/n]. Your emotions-"
"I am in perfect control of my emotions, Wu. I know exactly what I'm gonna do who took him."
[M/n] pulled away, stalking up to the deck with the others close behind. He jumped off, summoning his NetherCopter as Kai took the lead on his Blace Cycle, taking them to the arcade he'd left Lloyd at.
"Lloyd? Lloyd? He was right here. Someone must have seen him," Kai said, ducking back out from the shop.
Cole had a gentle hand on [M/n]'s shoulder as the ninja stared off into the distance, worried, as Zane gently pressed against his other side. Jay was looking around, a little worried as well, and spotted the camera positioned above them. "Hey, guys. Check this out."
Popping inside the arcade, Jay asked to borrow a tablet from someone. Surprisingly, someone let him and he rushed back out to connect the tablet to the camera and pull up the footage.
The tablet was given to [M/n] after Jay had found when Kai had dropped Lloyd off. Everyone crowded around him to watch the footage.
"What is he up to?" Jay asked, leaning over [M/n]'s shoulder to get a better look. After Kai left Lloyd went down the alley before ducking into the costume shop next door and dressing up like a Serpentine before going back down the alley.
When he didn't come back, [M/n] shoved the tablet into Jay's hands and went straight to the alley. They found footprints leading towards a back road, hidden behind the buildings.
"I sense these are Lloyd's footprints, but they come to an end here. Why?" Zane asked, leading them to the tire tracks. [M/n] growled, a low rumbling sound that had them all on edge.
"Something tells me we're going for a ride. Come on, boys," Kai said, summoning his vehicle. [M/n] hadn't even let him finish his sentence, the NetherCopter moving faster than normal.
As they followed the track deeper into the desert, a city that had not been there a few days before appeared on the horizon.
"What is that place?" Cole asked.
"Looks like snake city," Jay offered, shrugging.
"Ourobourus," [M/n] rasped, voice distorting unnaturaly over the comms. No one commented on it, deciding not to bring it up to the pissed off purple ninja.
"Let's get a closer look," Kai decided, releasing their vehicles so they could sneak closer.
Slipping into the shadows of the large Serpent statues, [M/n] left the ninja behind to move quicker on his own. None of them noticed him slip away.
A Venomari guarding one of the entrances fell to [M/n] blades, head barely hanging on by a thread. He slipped to the edges of the arena as the ninja rushed in and were caught in the trap that Pythor had set up.
Their Golden Weapons clattered to the ground as the Serpentine cheered. "Ninja!" Lloyd cried, uncurling from the ball he'd been in.
"Looks like we've caught the main event," Pythor announced, reinvigorating the Serpentines cheers until a shrill scream echoed the arena before it was brutally cut off. Just like their head.
The decapitated head of a Hypnobrai was visciously kicked into the arena and multiple Serpentine scrambled away from the ominous shadows that hid the purple ninja.
The four ninja watched in horror as blood pooled around the head, while Lloyd went still, a feeling of protection settling over him.
Nothing would touch him. [M/n] was coming. Death was coming.
"Let them all go," [M/n] ordered, voice soft and calm. Sweet and honeyed like a hornets honey. "And I don't kill every Serpentine in this arena."
Pythor laughed, taking it as a bluff even as the wound on his arm throbbed painfully. Skales backed away, fully ready to flee the moment the ninja moved. "Now, why would I do that? I promised a show to my fellow Serp-"
A bo shuriken sank into the eye of a nearby Constrictai, sinking so deep the sharp end stuck through the other side. When he spoke, a growl tinged the edges of his words, "Let. Them. All. Go. Or I kill you all."
"You think you can kill ussss all? We are the SSSSSSerpentine!" Skalidor shouted angrily. Khêlai lunged from the shadows, a massive tiger that ripped out the spine of another Venomari, roaring in triumph.
[E/c] eyes turned purple, glowing in a way that casted a purple light across his cheekbones and highlighted the blood splattered across his bare face.
They were out of time.
[M/n] lunged, a fox pouncing on the vipers around him, and sliced through a Constrictai's head, exposing the squishy brain inside. Grinning ferally, he began his Dance of Death with Khêlai leaving behind a path of decapitated bodies, heads, and assorted appendages along the battlefield.
Blood was streaked across his face and GI, as he dodged a swipe of a sword. Khêlai's entire maw was drenched in blood as were his massive paws and the pair proved a fearsome sight, sending many of the Serpentine fleeing deeper into the city.
Unfortunately, the two were not infallible and lucky shots began to pile up. Forced to conserve energy, Khêlai retreated back into the Chóropsych leaving [M/n] alone on the battlefield.
A slice across the back of heel, cutting through his boot, had him spinning to dig his blades into the offenders eye only for another to slam a club into the back of his skull. Gasping, he lashed out slicing through the Constrictai's throat as he dropped to his knee, panting to work through the pain.
Lloyd screamed as a second blow to the head had [M/n] nearly collapsing forward. Turning, he cut through the skin of the Hypnobrai's stomach and their guts poured forth, landing on the ground with a heavy splat.
Pythor, finally gaining an ounce of courage, slowly slithered forward, throwing out his arms in display, "What did you say? You'd kill us all?" He couldn't help but taunt the slowly collapsing ninja.
Snarling and using the last bit of his focus, even as black began to creep into his vision, he sent a Bo Shuriken into Pythor's shoulder, only a few inches away from where his artery was. Though, even if it had hit, it likely wouldn't have sunk deep enough to do any damage.
Shrieking, Pythor retreated as he held a hand to the wound, waiting until the ninja finally collapsed. The ninja watched in horror as blood poured from the back of his skull, where they could see pieces of bone from his skull peeking through. One of his legs was twisted slightly, with more blood pooling from the numerous cuts along his body.
Lloyd clung to the bars, tears streaming down his face as he saw his protector slowly bleeding out in front of him. He whimpered, and a Hypnobrai slammed their sword on the bars making him stumble back in fear.
Kai, who saw, shouted in rage as his sword began to heat up. "Don't fucking touch him!"
Cole was trembling with barely restrained fury as Jay sparked in fear. Zane gave no outward reaction but the air around him was unnaturally cold.
In the Inbetween
[M/n]'s eyes sprang open, and he was forced to rapidly blink away the bright influx of colors and light. One moment he was blacking out, after injuring Pythor, and now he was standing just before the large red doors of the Monastery. Except . . . the Monastery was a burnt husk after the fire, but this Monastery was whole and beautiful with nothing out of place.
He was so lost in thought, he did not even notice the stranger leaning against the railing of the engawa until he spoke, "Wonder where you learned all those little tricks?"
Spinning, [M/n] found a young man watching him and his hands dropped down to where his Tessens sat, but they were not there. Instead of panicking, he simply slipped into the first stance of the Imperial Leopard.
The man wore his black, green streaked hair loose allowing it to fall into cat-like jade eyes that watched him closely. Standing out the most were the strange markings along his skin, like a Hypnobrai's markings.
Jade eyes flicked over his body, reading him with ease. Keeping his body relaxed, he mused out loud, "You don't remember me? Do you?"
"Should I?"
The slight smirk that had been playing across lips, fell for just a moment. "We grew up together. Spent damn near every waking moment together. Got worse when we got together."
"Got together? We were . . ."
"Star-crossed lovers? Soulmates? Partners? Take your pick."
[M/n] lowered his hands, dropping his stance. "I don't understand. If you are my partner why were you not-"
"I died. A long time ago. So . . ."
His arms crossed as he began to close off and shut down, obviously disliking the topic they were heading towards. Narrowing his eyes, [M/n] slowly crossed the courtyard until he stood barely a foot of space between them. "I don't remember your name. It sits on the tip of my tongue in every memory I recieve but I can't remember it whenever it ends. But I remember I loved you. I remember mourning you. I know you used to use Kanzashi to hold your hair up. You made me a bracelet of river stones. You used to fly a kite. And I know the Wind is yours. But I don't. Remember. Your name."
Breath shuddering, the man reached forward and gently cupped his face with calloused and scarred palms, looking at him so gently. "Morro, 私の愛." (My love.)
"Morro," [M/n] repeated softly, smiling slightly. The name fit perfectly, like a puzzle piece clicking into place. Morro shuddered, shoulders trembling as he leaned forward to press their foreheads together, eyes closing to savor this moment.
"Fuck. I forgot what your voice sounded like." Morro tugged him close until their entire bodies were pressed together, fitting together easily with [M/n]'s head tilted back slightly so he could look at Morro. "I'm so sorry."
Desperation tinged the edges of his apology, and [M/n] pulled away a bit in confusion and worry. "What? What are you sorry for? Morro?"
"I can't. Its almost time for you to go home. Get that boy back. Take care of him."
"I will. But-"
"No. If you stay much longer you will die. You have to go."
"Where do I go?"
"Just walk out those doors, 虹彩." Morro nearly begged, eyes squeezing. (Iris)
"Okay. Okay," [M/n] soothed, pulling away. "I- I love you, Morro."
"I love you too. Now, go. Before its too late."
Nodding, [M/n] went for the doors hesitating for only a second to look back but Morro was already gone, likely returning to the Departed Realm.
He pushed open the doors and everything went black.
Real World
The room was entirely silent as everyone sat around [M/n]'s bedside in the temporary Medbay Wu and Nya had set up. Zane sat on a stool at [M/n]'s side, holding one of his hands in his own as he bowed his head.
It had taken hours for him to finish stitching [M/n] up, and it was a miracle he hadn't bled out before the Samurai had rescued them. Of course their crash landing had nearly made his open wounds worse, filling them with sand and putting him further at risk for infection.
No one knew what to say. The ninja, a teenager now that they thought about it, had always seemed untouchable, invincible always coming out of fights with ease. Now, he was laying limp on a cot with bandages wrapped around his too small form, and making him so small and pale.
Nya couldn't take it, the silence or seeing her friend like this, and fled back to her own room, trying to hide frustrated tears in anger.
"How do we tell him?" Cole asked, breaking the silence as the door violently swung from Nya's abrupt departure. His accent was more noticable than ever, slurring his words. "How do we tell him we failed? That he nearly died and they still have Lloyd?! That we couldn't—?!"
He cut himself off, cursing to himself in Italian as he looked at the teenager in the cot. "We left Lloyd. We've all— we've all seen how much he cares for him. This is . . ."
"It's going to devestate him," Jay mumbled, wringing his hands and tearing at the skin around his fingers.
Kai looked away, fists curling.
"I will tell him," Wu decided, looking older than ever in his own chair as he watched over his oldest student gravely. "Lloyd was my responsibility. I should have watched over him myself. As such, it is my responsibility to tell him of our failure."
Jay curled in on himself, eyes misting over a bit as he looked to the purple ninja before he left. Kai followed, heading to the training room. Zane and Cole both stayed, keeping vigile as Wu meditated.
Kai is very touchy feely with his loved ones. It’s a Maste of Fire thing, Ray was the same and his mother too.
Kai remembers his parents being very affectionate towards each other and him and Nya. Nya associates that affection with Kai more than their parents.
Kai has little to no problem showering the guys in the same affection. They’re not used to it. Zane doesn’t remember having someone being this affectionate with him, not that Dr Julien was as affectionate as Kai. Cole is not used to it anymore because of his strained relationship with Lou. Jays parents showered him in affection but having another guy be that affectionate is new to him.
When Lloyd joins and gets to affection he adores it. Lloyd is severely touch starved and Kai showers him in love. Every time he does something worthy of a praise, Lloyd looks at Kai expecting affection. Kai ruffling his hair, a hug or the jackpot itself a kiss on the cheek!
Pixal enters the picture and she’s over analyzing Kai’s affection at first. Even when she’s stuck in Zane’s head she observes and doesn’t quite get why all of them adore Kai for it. Until she’s back to having a physical body and Kai starts to shower her in affection too. Kai’s been wanting to do that for years! Can’t hug someone who doesn’t have a body! She slowly understand what the fuss is about and enjoys it.
Fast forward to Dragons Rising and the kids getting showered in love. Wyldfyre thinks is weird but likes it anyway. Arin is reminded of his parents and while he cries a little the first time, loves Kai for all the hugs he gives them. Sora is not used to it. She’s touch starved, especially from parental affection. Kai easily fills that spot. She looks for praise from him just like Lloyd did when he was a kid. Frak loves the warmth that comes with Kai’s hugs. He’s a serpentine, he likes basking in the sun, hugging Kai is love hugging the sun itself. He loves it.
Before Jay gets his memories back he gets a weird sense of Déjà vu whenever Kai tries to hug him. He cries when Kai hugs him after he gets his memories back because he missed that.
kai comes back from the land of monsters (bug kai au specifically) and he is TERRIFIED of what his kids are gonna think of him when he finally finds cole again. he hasn't seen his twins since they were babies and now he looks scary and they might not even recognize him. anyway he gets to the land of lost things and ren and ash think he's the coolest thing they've ever seen
