Chapter Text
Kai was really sick and tired of hurting.
Ever since he had gotten hurt on that bounty a month ago, there had been a constant ache through his whole body. His fingers hurt where he had broken them. His chest hurt where the oni they were hunting had clawed him. They hadn’t even fucking caught the thing. Even his old scars hurt. To put it bluntly, it sucked.
He must’ve made a noise, because Zane, who was walking beside him, turned their concerned gaze to him. “Kai? Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I’m great,” Kai replied through gritted teeth as a particularly bad wave of pain throbbed through his hand. He was fine. If there was anyone Zane should be worried about, it was Cole. His injuries had been a lot worse than Kai’s, and there were almost too many of them to count. Even now, he could barely walk without some form of support. He was doing much better than before, but he still wasn’t back to his full strength yet.
The last bounty had been rough, to say the least.
Ever since Cole and Kai had gotten hurt, the group had been pretty much out of luck. The bounties they took were pretty much their only source of income, and with two of their members, and arguably two of their best fighters, out of commission, they couldn’t really take bigger bounties. Kai was sure that Zane, Jay, and Nya were perfectly capable of taking on bigger bounties by themselves, but they didn’t want to leave Kai and Cole alone when they were vulnerable.
Kai hated being vulnerable. He was the one who was supposed to protect everyone. He was supposed to be the leader! And here he was, slowing the whole group down just because of a couple of broken fingers.
He’d be fine. He could deal with it until they had time to stay somewhere, rest, and give their injuries proper attention. For now, they had to keep moving and find enough bounties to keep them going.
His foot caught on a pipe and he tripped, cursing as he caught himself with his injured hand. Zane looked back at him, their glowing blue eyes cutting through the haze of the city. The others slowed their pace so he could catch up.
“You know, when I joined your group, I kind of figured the leader would be able to walk,” Nya remarked as Kai caught up to her, Cole, and Jay. Kai glared at her, and she just smiled sweetly back at him.
“Oh, go fuck yourself, Nya. I’ll burn your eyebrows off,” Kai threatened, sparking a flame on his thumb like a lighter. Nya made a face at him, and he brought his fire a little closer to their face as a warning.
“Kai, no fire near people’s faces,” Zane scolded. “Remember what happened last time.”
Jay winced, instinctively touching his eyebrow, which hadn’t quite grown back yet.
“Yeah, Kai,” Cole said. “No fire near people’s faces.”
“Shut it, Dirt Clod,” Kai muttered. He knew he was an instigator, but he also knew better than to threaten Cole. Even though he was too nice to actually do anything, Kai knew that Cole could totally kick his ass.
They lapsed back into silence as they walked, each person lost in their own thoughts. Kai looked over his crew. He could tell that Jay was anxious; there were tiny bolts of lightning zipping around his hands and in his hair. If he got close enough, he could hear the electricity crackling around Jay’s body.
Jay was always anxious, though. Ever since Cole had gotten hurt, Jay was always around his boyfriend, not willing to leave his side even for a second. Nya had tried to calm him down, but after a few weeks even she had given up.
The group had been wandering from base to base ever since it had formed. They had settled into a kind of routine; they’d find a new base, check for any new bounties that they could take, stay for a day or two, and then leave. It wasn’t relaxing by any means, but it provided some semblance of normalcy in their crazy lives.
If Kai was being completely honest, he was sick of it.
He missed the way things used to be. He missed his life with Nya and their parents. He missed not having to worry about an entire team. He missed not having to fight for his life around every corner. He missed being protected, and not being the one to protect everybody.
He missed feeling safe.
Kai jumped at the feeling of a shock to his arm. He turned to yell at Jay-- because who else would have shocked him?-- but stopped himself. He had seen how the guy flinched whenever he raised his voice. His voice still came out angry, but he wasn’t yelling. “What do you want?”
“Cole is pretty sure there’s a base ahead. We were going to stop and check the bounties,” Jay told him. “It should be in just a couple blocks.”
He let out a breath. “Okay. Yeah, we need to rest soon anyway. No offense, but you guys look like shit. We all need to get some sleep.”
Nya gasped in mock offense. “How dare you. I look better than you ever will.”
Kai laughed. “Hey, I never said I was exempt from looking like shit. I’m just saying, we all look like we haven’t slept in days. Let’s go.”
The base was set up in an old warehouse on a street corner. Honestly, Kai had to give the hunters who ran the place props—it was really well-hidden. It was a good thing that Cole knew the city so well, otherwise they would’ve missed the base entirely. Kai led the way in, almost tripping over the uneven floor and earning a snicker from Nya.
“Holy shit,” Kai breathed as he walked inside. The rest of his team filed in behind him, all staring at the wall opposite them. The base was huge, with high ceilings, and the wall across from them was covered floor-to-ceiling in wanted posters.
Kai saw all sorts of monsters on the posters, from dragons to oni to Serpentine. Out of the thousands of posters, of them close to the ground caught his eye. A photo of a blond teenager stared back at him, its eyes reflecting the light of the camera. The kid’s teeth were bared in a fanged grin. A pair of dark, sharp horns protruded from his head, and what looked like a spiked tail dragged on the ground behind him. The poster was massive, nearly twice the size of the other ones. In bold block capitals, it read:
SON OF GARMADON
PART ONI
WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE
“Nya, holy fuck,” Kai hissed, elbowing his sister in the ribs. “Look at that big one. Son of Garmadon.”
“Shit,” she whispered back. “A Garmadon. He must be worth a lot.”
“Hey, what happened to Garmadon? Is he still alive?” Kai asked. “Hey, Zane, is Lord Garmadon still alive?”
“Yes. According to the internet, his whereabouts are currently unknown, but he is confirmed to be alive by multiple sources,” the nindroid replied.
“Hopefully he and his kid don’t have some weird oni psychic link or some shit. Wouldn’t want him coming after us when we’re trying to go after his son.” Kai continued examining the poster, ignoring the looks he was getting from the rest of his team.
“Kai, you cannot be serious,” Jay said, gesturing to Cole. “Look at Cole! He can barely walk, let alone chase down some weird oni kid!”
“I can walk perfectly fine,” Cole replied indignantly. “But Jay’s right. Look at us. We’re in no shape to take a bounty like this.”
“Hey, don’t worry,” Kai reassured them, flashing a grin. “We’re professionals, right?”
“No! We’re not!” Nya cut in. “But, I agree with you, bro. We need money. Let’s go after Garmadon’s kid.”
“I agree with Nya,” Zane said. “We are extremely low on funds. If it turns out that this was too big of a bounty to handle, we can back out and try somewhere else.”
The three looked at Jay and Cole expectantly. Jay cast a worried look at his boyfriend, who was leaning heavily on him and clearly in pain, although he was hiding it well. Cole smiled at him and cupped his face in his hand.
“Hey, Bluejay, I’ll be okay. Plus, Nya’s right, we’re almost out of money. I’ll be alright, I promise.”
Jay let out a loud sigh. “I guess if everyone else is on board…fine. I’m in. Let’s go get this kid.”
“Well,” Kai said, lips curling into a smile. “Looks like we found our next bounty.”
Notes:
COLE CALLS JAY BLUEJAY THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT
how are we feeling? this is my first multi-chapter fic with like an actual plot and all that jazz. i am not kidding when i tell you i had to look up lore for my own fic in my own notes app. lord
hopefully the next chapter will be out somewhat soon i am still working on morrotober so there’s that as well. i am warning you right now this fic will not have any sort of consistent upload schedule whatsoever it will literally just be me writing whenever this bullshit comes to me
ASKSJJAJSJSE im really excited about this ive been working on it for literally forever ive made drawings of the characters
Chapter Text
Lloyd was so tired.
Tired of running. Tired of hiding. Tired of fear.
Tired of being hunted.
It seemed like every week, there was a new bounty on his head. As soon as he shook the last person chasing him, there was someone else hell-bent on capturing him. Lloyd didn’t make a habit of wandering into hunter bases, for obvious reasons, but they could assume that there was a damn good reward for bringing them in, if people were so obsessed with capturing them.
Of course, this wasn’t anything new. Ever since he was a kid, he learned that no matter how hard he tried, people would only see him one way. So he embraced it. All the stories and rumors spread by people hunting them, that they were a demon, that they had magic powers, they used it to their advantage, sticking to the shadows and making sure they were only seen when they wanted to be. Darkley’s had taught them a lot about sneaking around in the shadows.
Speaking of Darkley’s, he was supposed to be meeting up with one of his old classmates. Brad Tudabone. He wouldn’t say they were friends; allies was a better term. They were close back at school, but everyone trying to hunt Lloyd down had kind of put a damper on their relationship.
They peered out of the alley that they were hiding in, scanning for potential threats before darting across the street and into the open window of an abandoned building. There he waited, sliding down to sit against the wall. He didn’t own any tech, too easy to track, so he braided and unbraided his hair while he waited for Brad to arrive.
Lloyd’s head snapped up at the sound of wood creaking. He slowly looked over at the open window, and let out a breath of relief when he saw Brad struggling to climb in.
“First Master, Lloyd, stop staring and help me out,” he grumbled, trying and failing to swing his leg inside. Lloyd let out a quiet laugh and moved over to help him. They grabbed one of his hands and pulled while he pushed with his legs.
“Okay, this is not working,” Lloyd huffed after their third failed attempt. “I’m going to count down from three, and you’re going to jump and I’m going to pull you through. Okay?” Brad nodded. “One…two… three!”
Lloyd yanked on Brad’s arms as hard as he could. Maybe too hard, because the momentum from his jump combined with Lloyd pulling him sent him sailing through the window and landing hard. Directly on top of Lloyd.
“Holy shit, Lloyd!” Brad exclaimed. “Are you okay?”
“Oh, yeah,” Lloyd wheezed, trying and failing to extricate himself from under Brad. Their tail, the only free part of them, lashed back and forth across the floor. “Just peachy.”
“I’m so sorry!” Brad scrambled off of Lloyd and extended a hand to help them up. They accepted it gratefully, letting Brad haul them to their feet.
“First Master, Brad, are you trying to kill me?” Lloyd joked. “Shit, I might have to worry about you more than the hunters.”
Brad’s grin morphed to a look of confusion. “Hunters? What are you talking about?”
“You know, the massive population of monster hunters in Ninjago City? Ever since the realms merged, like, a while ago, there’ve been people getting paid to kill the dragons and oni and shit. Did you not know that?”
Brad shook his head. “No, I knew that, but…why would you have to worry about that? You’re not a monster.”
Lloyd let out a disbelieving laugh. “Brad, I’m, like, the most wanted monster in the city. Have you seen my wanted posters around? They’re fucking massive. I can’t go a day without some new fucker trying to kill me. They tell stories about me, did you know that? The hunters. They say I’m a demon, and I have magic powers and bullshit. Isn’t that stupid?”
“Holy shit,” Brad whispered. “So you’re, like, probably being hunted right now?”
Lloyd shrugged. “Yeah, probably. It’s no big deal. If you want to leave, or cut off contact, or whatever, I get it. I’m used to being alone, I’ll be fine.”
“Dude. Why would I leave you?”
Lloyd blinked. “What?”
“You’re being fucking hunted like some monster. That’s gotta take some toll on you, man. Like, no offense, but there’s no way you’re not at least a little fucked up. And you’ve had to deal with all that, alone? That’s fucked up. No way I’m letting you deal with that bullshit by yourself.”
“Brad. You really don’t have to, I’ll be fine, I’ve been fine for this long-”
“Lloyd, with absolutely the most respect, shut the hell up. I don’t know if we’re friends anymore, but I sure as hell know that there’s no way I’m letting you deal with all this by yourself. You deserve to have some support, don’t you think?”
No, I don’t. Lloyd shouldn’t have brought it up. They were fine on their own. Less people to care about, less people to lose. That was the motto he had taught himself after he lost his dad and almost died because he was too much of a wreck to think straight.
“I didn’t want to meet up so you could feel sorry for me.” Lloyd’s tone was cold. “I wanted to ask you something.”
“Oh. Okay.” Brad looked hurt, and Lloyd tried to ignore it. They had other things they needed to focus on, not whether they had hurt Brad’s feelings. “Shoot.”
“Could you get some information for me? I’ve been hearing rumors that there’s a new hunter gang. They call themselves the Sons of Garmadon. I don’t know what they want or how they know my father, but I don’t like it.” He had overheard a couple of Serpentine talking about the Sons, and immediately it had set off alarm bells in his head. “Even with a disguise, I obviously can’t go waltzing into any hunter bases and ask about them. But you can. They don’t know you, and they don’t know that you’re connected to me, so you should be safe. Can you do that?”
Brad considered it for a moment. “Yeah, I can. Sons of Garmadon. Weird. Your dad didn’t have any other kids, did he?”
“Not that I know of, and definitely not enough to form a gang. No, I think they’re just creeps who are obsessed with him.”
“Hm.”
“But thank you so much, Brad. I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”
“Of course.” He smiled at Lloyd. “Anything for an old friend.”
Lloyd hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to say. Brad broke the tension by pulling them into a hug. He stiffened for a moment, surprised by the contact, but after a few seconds he relaxed and returned the hug.
“There’s a base close to here, it’s in a massive abandoned building. There’s a guy, Ronin, he’s a big name in the hunter community. He’s taken down some of the biggest bounties in recent years. He likes to hang out there,” Lloyd said once they broke apart. “He’s probably your best bet on information about the Sons.”
“Alright. Thank you.” Brad started for the window, but turned around once he got there. “And Lloyd?”
“Yeah?”
“Be safe, okay?”
Lloyd was so surprised at that that he barely managed to respond with a quick “Yeah, you too.”
Just like that, Brad slipped out the window and was gone.
Now that Brad was gone, the exhaustion from the past days weighed heavily on Lloyd. They were so tired, and they didn’t have the energy to find a place to sleep. They’d probably have to fight for one anyways, and they definitely didn’t have the energy for that.
“It’ll be fine if I sleep in here tonight,” he muttered to himself. “Just find someplace out of view of the windows.”
They found the darkest, most out-of-the-way corner that they could find and sunk down until they were sitting cross-legged on the floor. Their horns scraped against the wall and made them wince as they leaned their head back against the wall.
You’re not a monster. Brad’s words rattled around in Lloyd’s head. He looked down at his clawed hands and the spiked tail resting in his lap.
If only Brad knew how wrong he was.
Notes:
lloyd my love <3 i missed them
y’all do not even KNOW how tempted i was to just have greenflower right off the bat. you might get greenflower you might not i haven’t decided yet. not now though, lloyd’s got a couple issues he needs to work on <3 just a couple
also NO brad did not know about the bounty on lloyd. poor kid just thought lloyd was out there living his best life. no babe, they’re actually being hunted for sport by like the whole city <3 peace and love
we find out how ninjago got like this !! lmao i was WAITING for a chance to sneak that lore in there. basically, the merge from dragons rising happened like a LOT earlier, like a couple years before lloyd was born. almost immediately, people were getting pissed at the new monsters running around and BAM. monster hunter gangs.
AND MERRY CHRISTMAS LOSERS (if you celebrate!) i love all of you so much you’re the best 🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶 muah muah
Chapter Text
“Kai.”
“Mom?” he asked, following the voice that was so foreign, but yet so familiar. He knew that voice. “Where are you?”
“I’m right here, baby.” He turned around and there she was. He should be angry, he knew that, but he didn’t know why. His mom was here. Why was he angry at her?
“Mom!”
He ran to her, hugging her tight like he’d never let her go. “I think I’m supposed to be mad at you,” he whispered in her ear, “but I don’t know why.”
“It’s okay, Kai,” she replied. She smelled good, and it made him feel safe. “It’ll make sense one day. You’re a strong boy, you’ll be okay.”
“What are you talking about?” He was so confused. What would make sense? Why was she talking like that? She was supposed to be there for him forever.
“Take care of your sister, okay?” She smiled softly at him and pulled away from the hug, holding him by the shoulders.
“Mom, wait!” His eyes stung. He was angry at her. She was leaving. He didn’t want her to leave.
“I’m sorry. I love you, Kai.”
She walked away. He tried to chase after her, to convince her to stay with him, but he couldn’t get to her.
Why was he angry at her?
“Kai.”
“Mom?” he mumbled, still half-asleep.
“What? No, weirdo, it’s Nya. You gotta get up, man.” She shook his shoulder roughly. “Kai!”
“Yeah, yeah.” He sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He’d been dreaming again. His eyes stung. He knew why he was angry at her. He’d known for years. “Is everyone else up?”
“Yeah, we’ve all been up,” Cole replied. “You must’ve had a hell of a dream, man.”
Kai frowned. “What?”
“You were like, rolling around and muttering shit. Dunno what you were saying. Are you good?”
“Fucking phenomenal,” he yawned, standing up and stretching. His spine popped in three different places, making Jay wince. “What’s the plan?”
“We talk to Ronin,” Nya said, leaning against the wall next to their brother. “If you’re really serious about going after Garmadon, we can’t just run blindly into it. He’s been at this for years, he’d kick our collective asses.”
“Yeah, true,” Kai muttered. He began to crack his knuckles, one by one.
“Dude,” Jay burst out. “Does that not hurt?”
Kai gave him a look. “No? Does it hurt when you do it?”
“Yeah, man, I have some fucked-up fingers.” He wiggled his scarred fingers to emphasize his point. “I fell a lot as a kid and broke…I’m pretty sure all of them except for a couple at some point.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t fuck them up more by cracking them, Bluejay,” Cole suggested with a grin. “Common sense?”
“Oh, we all know he doesn’t have any of that,” Nya grinned. Jay gasped indignantly, making her laugh. “Listen, as much as I’d love to rag on Jay all day, we actually have to do things today. Let’s go talk to Ronin, okay, Jaybird? We can talk about your fucked-up fingers later.”
“Okay,” he said, leaning his head on her shoulder.
“Sir, yes, sir!” Cole saluted, making everyone laugh and Nya punch him lightly on the arm.
The group made their way over to Ronin, who was leaned back in a plastic chair, cleaning his fingernails with a pocketknife. He looked up at their approach, one beady eye scanning them. He snapped his knife shut.
“You’re Ronin, right?” Kai asked, eyeing the knife.
“Who’s askin’?”
“We want to take a bounty. We were told you were the one to talk to,” Kai said, ignoring the question.
“You were told right. Come with me.” Ronin led them over to the bounty wall, gesturing grandly to the posters. “Which one d’you want?”
“The son of Garmadon,” Kai replied confidently. Ronin gave him an incredulous look. He stared the hunter down, until finally Ronin sighed and relented.
“You sure you can handle this? It’s a pretty big one.” Ronin looked over the ragtag group, eyes lingering on Cole, who was leaning heavily against Nya. “He’s extremely dangerous and I wouldn’t advise going up against him if you’re not at full strength.”
“Don’t worry.” Kai flashed Ronin a grin. “We’re professionals.”
“Sure you are, hotshot,” the hunter said. “Knock yourself out.” He gestured for Kai to take the poster.
He plucked the poster off the wall and studied it more closely for a moment. Son of Garmadon. Part Oni. Wanted dead or alive. That was good. If he put up too much of a fight, it’d be easier to bring him in dead than risk trying to capture him.
“This says ‘wanted dead or alive’,” Kai said. “Is there a difference in the reward money depending on that?”
“Nah,” Ronin replied. “He’s been avoiding us for so long, the fuckers in charge’ll be happy just to get him.”
“In charge?” Nya interrupted. “You’re not in charge? From what I heard, you were pretty high up in the hunter community.”
Ronin laughed. “Sweetheart, I just handle sending people off, and collecting the monsters when the hunters return. If they return. The higher-ups handle the rewards. They don’t trust me with the money, think I’ll skim off the top or try to undersell people. Shockingly, they think I’m a scammer.”
“Are you?” she asked.
He flashed a sharklike grin. “Yes.”
“Alright!” Kai clapped his hands together. “Ronin’s a scammer, we might not make it back, blah blah blah. Moving on! Do we just go? Like, you know we’re going after Garmadon, we’re prepared…do we just leave?”
“Yeah. There’s not really a set procedure. You just talk to me, or some people don’t, even, and just show up weeks later with whatever they were hunting. And then you go.” Ronin made a shooing motion with his hands. “Go! Don’t die! Bring back Garmadon! Bring me back something nice!”
“So inspirational,” Nya muttered. They turned to walk away, fully intending to start packing up their stuff and leave, and the others started to follow, but they were cut off by someone. A black-haired guy in a denim jacket with flower pins on it. There were big, chunky flower earrings in his ears.
“So sorry to interrupt, but I heard you were talking about Garmadon?” the guy asked. He pointed to Ronin. “You’re Ronin, right? Do you know anything about the Sons of Garmadon?”
The hunter stiffened. “How do you know about them?”
“A friend asked me to ask you about it. They heard about the Sons and wanted more information.” He stuck his hand out. “I’m Brad.”
Ronin begrudgingly shook it. “You already know me, it seems. I can tell you about the Sons, but that information ain’t cheap.”
“I have money,” Brad replied calmly. “Name your price.”
“Come with me. Let’s discuss this privately.” Ronin shot a furtive glance at Kai’s crew. “Good luck, you all. Don’t die.”
Kai nodded, and Nya gave a sarcastic salute. The rest of the group muttered thank yous and we won’ts. They made their way back to the corner with all their stuff, with no mysterious guys in the way this time. Nya helped ease Cole down to sit on the floor, and the rest of them sat in a circle around him.
“So,” Jay began. “Ronin, huh? What a weirdo.”
This earned him chuckles from Nya and Cole. Zane smiled fondly. A smile tugged at the corners of Kai’s mouth.
“He was certainly interesting,” Zane agreed.
“He definitely looked like he’d be at the top of a monster hunting community,” Kai added. “Dude’s got more scars than skin.”
“But did you see his mechanical eye? Oh, I’d love to take that thing apart and see how it works!” Jay exclaimed, gesturing widely and almost hitting Nya in the face. “Whoops. Sorry, Nya.”
“It’s okay, Jaybird.” She took his hand to prevent any further mishaps, and Cole took his other one. “So, are we thinking we leave tomorrow?”
“Early tomorrow, yeah,” Kai agreed. “So we can get a head start, and hopefully avoid the majority of the people who live in the city. We don’t want to have to get any civilians involved in this.”
Jay groaned. “Early? C’mon, Kai, why’d it have to be early? I hate waking up early.”
“Suck it up, Zaptrap,” the fire master replied. “That’s gonna be the best time to hunt and not die. Hopefully.”
“That makes me feel so much better.”
“Tomorrow morning. Early,” Kai said, ignoring Jay. “Everyone got that?”
They all nodded and split off to do their respective activities. Zane sat cross-legged next to Jay, listening to him ramble about all the things he could make with Ronin’s mechanical eye. Kai, Nya, and Cole sat in a circle, playing cards with the deck Nya had brought. They were relaxed. They figured they’d earned it.
They took all the relaxation they could get. They wouldn’t be getting much of it once they started the hunt.
Notes:
woohoo the plot gets going!! and brad!! i love him sm he’s like a little bug
completely off-topic, i finished reading crooked kingdom yesterday and writing the beginning of this just made me think of “matthias was dreaming again. dreaming of her.” and now im sad. thanks leigh
also ive been on the stardew valley GRIND which is why i haven’t updated in a bit. haley my beloved she’s my wife now
kai the human glowstick istg. babygirl can crack joints that even zane doesn’t know about
Chapter Text
Lloyd woke to the sound of voices.
He immediately scrambled as far back from the window as he could. Their back brushed against concrete, and they stayed there, pressed against the wall, barely daring to breathe.
“This is the worst, Kai,” he heard a voice complain. “It’s so early. No one should ever have to be awake this early.”
“Shut up, Jay,” a different voice hissed. “You’re gonna give away our position.”
“What does that even mean? There’s no position to give away. We’re not even doing anything.”
“We’re scouting, Jay. We have to actually find Garmadon before we can capture him. And that’s not going to happen if you don’t shut up!”
Lloyd frowned. Garmadon? That was his dad. Why were these people talking about finding his dad? He was missing. He’d been missing for…Lloyd had to think about it. Ten years. The last time Lloyd remembered seeing their dad was seeing him on the news during their time at Darkley’s.
Then it hit them. These people weren’t talking about Lloyd’s dad.
They were talking about him.
He slapped a hand to his mouth to muffle the instinctive sound of shock that threatened to escape. No matter how many times they found themself in this exact situation, no matter how many times they had told Brad they were used to it, it was still a visceral shock whenever they realized someone new was hunting them.
“Lay off him, Kai,” a new voice said. “He’s right, we’re not doing anything. We have a vague tip from that Serpentine about a kid with a tail somewhere around here, and nothing else. We don’t even know if they were talking about Garmadon.”
The owner of the previous voice —Kai— huffed.
That Serpentine. Lloyd racked his brains thinking of what Serpentine these people could be talking about. One that had seen him recently, one that chose to live aboveground instead of in the sewers with the others.
It clicked. Pythor. That fucker, they thought. The Anacondrai was the only Serpentine they had interacted with recently. That motherfucker, he sold me out.
Then, Lloyd heard a voice he recognized. Brad.
“Oh, it’s you guys! What’re you doing here?” Brad asked, trying desperately to sound casual. Lloyd rolled their eyes. Brad couldn’t act to save his life.
“We’re on the Garmadon bounty,” the guy who was probably Kai replied. Lloyd decided that he was the leader. He seemed like the type. “Brad, right?”
“Yeah.” A pause. “Why’re you standing outside this abandoned house?”
“We got a tip that Garmadon was seen near here. We’re staking it out, seeing if it’s true.”
“Why would Ll- Garmadon be hiding so close to a hunter base? You’d think he’d be somewhere a little more secure.” Lloyd held their breath as Brad jiggled the boards on the window. “You could easily get in here.”
The hunters murmured in agreement. Lloyd dared to peek out the window, hoping with all his heart that none of the hunters were looking this way. He caught Brad’s eye, who shot him an apologetic look.
“Brad’s right,” Probably Kai announced. “We should keep moving. That Serpentine dude probably lied, Garmadon’s too smart to hide somewhere so close to a base. Let’s go.”
“I got you, Cole,” he heard a new voice murmur. They stayed in the same position, perfectly still, flat against the wall, until all the sounds of the hunters had faded into the distance.
“Dude, I am so sorry!” Brad cried, climbing through the window. Lloyd led out the breath they had been holding. “I meant to warn you, I really did, but I guess they beat me here. I got the info on the Sons of Garmadon, though, if that makes up for you almost getting captured.”
“Almost slipped up and said my name, too,” Lloyd added. “Probably wouldn’t have been able to talk your way out of that one. Oh, Brad, who’s Lloyd? Surely you’re not in cahoots with that evil monster, Garmadon, who will sneak into our room at night and steal our souls?” He pitched his voice up in a ridiculous imitation of one of the voices he had heard.
Brad laughed. “Cahoots? Is that what we are? We’re in cahoots?”
Lloyd crossed their arms. “Yes, cahoots. It’s a great word.”
“Do you want to hear my info on the Sons, or are you busy with your cahoots?”
“If this wasn’t so important, I’d say cahoots,” Lloyd grinned. “What’ve you got?”
“Okay, Ronin said they’re a new, like, biker hunter gang that popped up recently, and they’ve been taking a lot of bounties lately. He said he can tell which ones are Sons, ’cause they all have jackets with a logo of your dad’s face on the back, and some of them have tattoos of it.”
Lloyd wrinkled his nose. “A biker gang?”
“Yeah, a biker gang. It’s…interesting. Apparently, it’s kind of a cult and the leader is, like, younger than you.” Brad paused. “Wait. How old are you?”
Lloyd considered that for a moment. “Hmm. Like, sixteen, seventeen? I honestly don’t know. Oni age weird.”
“Okay, bypassing that slightly concerning statement, the Sons are freaky and even Ronin doesn’t know that much about them. That’s all I got. Biker gang, kinda a cult, leader is like fifteen. Obsessed with your dad.”
“So, what you’re saying is I need to watch out for them.”
“What?”
“Freaky monster hunting cult, obsessed with my dad? Sounds to me like they’re going to come after me for some ritual and I need to watch out.” Lloyd raised an eyebrow. “Right?”
“Let’s not dwell on possible future cults hunting you, okay? One day at a time. You should probably focus on the current people hunting you and try to stay alive.”
“Wow. Uplifting.”
“I have a gift.”
Lloyd laughed. Brad grinned at them. Their eyes met.
Lloyd looked away first.
——
“Have you heard anything about the son of Lord Garmadon?” Kai asked. “We heard he used to hang around here a lot?”
“Ah, little Lloyd!” the old woman at the door exclaimed. “Yes, he used to visit the village all the time with his classmates from that school. Such a sweet little boy. I wonder what happened to him.”
Kai and Nya shared a glance. He could tell they were both thinking the same thing. Sweet little boy?
Lloyd?
The group had traveled to Jamanakai Village, the nearby village, to try and gather information about Garmadon. Lloyd Garmadon, apparently. Zane, Jay, and Cole had split off to talk to more people. Kai and Nya hadn’t had much luck either, until this lady.
“You said Lloyd came here with his classmates?” Nya asked. “Do you know what school he attended?”
“If I remember correctly, it was called…Darkley’s Boarding School for Bad Boys?” the woman said. “I always thought it was odd that such a nice little boy was at that school with those… other children. I remember they were never very nice, not as nice as Lloyd.”
“Is the school still around?” Kai asked.
“Hm. I don’t believe so. I believe it was shut down a few years ago.”
“Alright. Well, thank you for your time, ma’am.”
“Of course! I’m happy to help.” The woman smiled and waved goodbye as Kai and Nya walked away.
They met up with Zane, Jay, and Cole at a nearby cafe. They probably made quite a sight, a group of obvious outsiders in such a small village. They had already gotten several strange looks from patrons of the cafe.
“So,” Kai began. “Nya and I found out that Garmadon used to go to Darkley’s Boarding School for Bad Boys, which apparently used to be around here? And he used to visit this village with his classmates. We didn’t find out much else. Apparently, people weren’t too fond of the kid. Wonder why.”
“His name is Lloyd,” Nya added.
“We also found out that Lloyd attended Darkley’s Boarding School for Bad Boys,” Zane said. “According to the townspeople, one day he stopped showing up when the students visited the village, and started hanging around the village during the day when he should have been in school.”
“Yeah, maybe he got kicked out or something,” Jay added.
“How do you get kicked out of a school for bad kids?” Nya asked.
“Be too nice?” Cole suggested.
“He’s the most wanted monster in Ninjago City,” Kai said dryly. “How nice can he possibly be?”
“Maybe he’s just misunderstood.”
“Misunderstood, my ass. No way he’s this infamous from being ‘misunderstood’. He probably fucked some shit up that he wasn’t supposed to, or pissed off the wrong person. Or maybe they just didn’t want a monster in their school.”
“Kai, that old lady did say he was a sweet kid. Maybe he is misunderstood.”
“Are we getting paid to take him to therapy and work out all the issues that come from being misunderstood?” Kai asked. Wisely, no one responded and let him talk. “No. We’re getting paid to hunt him. So if you want to track him down yourself and talk to him, go right ahead, but you’re on your own when he fucks you up.”
The group was silent until Jay decided to speak up.
“Dude, maybe you should go to therapy for your issues.”
Nya’s stare flicked between her boyfriend and her brother, unsure if she would have to defuse the situation. They could hear Kai grinding his teeth. That was never a good sign. She saw Cole grip Jay’s hand even tighter. The air was thick with tension as the group waited for Kai’s reaction.
“Maybe when we catch Garmadon, I’ll have enough money for it,” Kai finally retorted. “Jay, are you done making dumbass comments so we can focus on the bounty?”
“For now,” Jay muttered. Nya gave him a look, silently trying to keep him from antagonizing Kai any further.
“Perhaps we should gather more information on this boarding school that Lloyd attended,” Zane suggested. “That might be the most logical next step. Depending on what he learned there, he may have been utilizing his prior knowledge to evade his hunters.”
“Good idea, Zane,” Nya said, grateful to them for changing the topic. “How do we do that?”
“According to the school records, the principal prior to the school shutting down was Dr. Ezra Noble, who currently resides in Ninjago City. He would be the most likely to know what was taught while Darkley’s was open.”
“I guess we’re going back to Ninjago City to question that principal,” Kai announced, standing up and pushing back his chair, attracting several strange looks from the cafe’s patrons. “Let’s go, guys.”
Nya helped Cole up and followed her brother out the door. She silently willed Jay to not make any more comments about Kai, or the two of them bickering would make for a long ride back to the city.
Notes:
pythor! truly that motherfucker, lloyd’s reaction was so valid. so true king
im gonna be real i wasn’t even going to put him in here but then cole said that line abt “that serpentine” and it clicked. who’s the fucker who would gladly sell lloyd out for a crumb of stale bread? pythor. do you see my vision
and lloyd eavesdropping on the ninja :(( not him hearing “garmadon” and instinctively thinking of his dad 😭😭 tbf no one knows their name, everyone knows them as garmadon but STILL. no one talk to me
kai maybe chill a bit. the kid really is misunderstood, and going to therapy for his issues would probably help a lot 💀💀 leave the poor guy alone bro has been through ENOUGH (i say as if i didn’t PUT him through all that 💀💀)
Chapter Text
“Sunrise Apartments, unit twenty-seven,” Zane announced, stopping in front of the door. “This is the last recorded residence of Ezra Noble.”
“Should we just knock?” Jay asked nervously.
Nya reached past him and knocked on the door. On the ride back to Ninjago City, it had been unanimously agreed that she would be doing the talking. Kai, the usual talker, was still pissed from Jay’s comments earlier. Nya was the next best choice.
She couldn’t suppress a twinge of annoyance as she waited for Noble to answer the door. He was taking forever.
Finally, the door opened and a woman stuck her head out. “Hello?”
“Hi, ma’am. We were hoping to speak with an Ezra Noble?” Nya asked politely.
“Oh, yeah. Him. He doesn’t live here anymore. Used to, but he got kicked out because he couldn’t pay his rent after that school he ran got shut down.”
“Oh. Do you know where he lives now?”
“Hell no. Good riddance to him, he was an asshole. Thought he was tough because he ran a school for ‘bad kids’.” She made air quotes with her fingers. “I was moving all my shit in while he was still moving out, and he would not leave me alone. He sucked.”
“Okay. Well, thank you anyway, ma’am.” Nya tried not to let her annoyance bleed into her tone. Now they had to track down that Noble fucker again. “Have a good day.”
“Yeah, you too.”
The group walked out of the building and sat down at a picnic table a few feet away. Nya groaned and put their head down on the table.
“Well, that was a bust,” Kai announced. “What’re we doing now?”
“You’re the leader. Think of something,” Nya said, her voice muffled by the table.
“I guess we track down Noble and pray that it’s the right house this time?” Jay suggested. “Anything else we can do?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Kai replied. “Jay’s right. We’re just going to have to track him down again.”
“Is this dude really that important?” Cole asked. “Like, is there any information he might have that we couldn’t get from an easier source?”
“Well, Cole, we won’t know that until we find him,” Kai grinned. Nya groaned again. They considered banging their head against the table.
“Why did we make you leader again?” she asked.
“Because I convinced you with my bad boy charm and captivating personality,” he replied, completely straight-faced. Jay snickered.
“Let’s do some more research before we go running off after this guy again,” Nya said, raising her head. “If we have to go on another wild goose chase, I’m going to lose my shit.”
“Fine, a little bit of research would probably be good. Maybe,” Kai admitted. “For this one specific instance.”
“Oh, just admit that I’m right, you fucker,” Nya grinned, punching him in the arm.
“Never!”
——
Lloyd shivered and moved closer to the fire. Having a fire, even a small one, was a huge risk, considering he was being actively hunted, but the temperature was dropping fast now that the sun had set and he really didn’t want to freeze. He also didn’t want to hide in another building, considering he had almost gotten caught last time, so this was his only option.
“I wish Dad was here,” they whispered.
The shadows cast by the flames danced on the walls of the alley, swirling together and forming shapes and patterns. Lloyd swore they saw a face in the shadows, but it disappeared before they could get a good look.
“I’m seeing things,” he muttered to himself. His tail curled around his legs. “Great, I’m going crazy on top of everything else.”
“You’re not crazy, son,” said a voice from nowhere.
“First Master!” Lloyd jumped about a foot in the air, landing on their feet. Their claws were bared as they looked around for the source of the voice. “Hello?”
“I’m sorry, son,” said the voice. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I only wanted to talk.” If Lloyd squinted, he could make out a face in the shadow. No way. He had to be going crazy.
“Dad?” they hissed, brushing their fingers over the shadow. “First Master, you scared the shit out of me!”
“Language,” the voice—his dad— scolded automatically. “Hello, Lloyd.”
“Hi, Dad,” they breathed, sitting back on their heels, hardly daring to believe it. He hadn’t seen his dad in forever. “Wow. Um.”
Now that Lloyd knew that there was actually someone in the shadow, it was easier for him to pick out his dad’s features. A pair of horns, bigger than Lloyd’s own. A tail, the shadow flicking back and forth on the wall. An extra pair of arms, folded neatly in his lap.
“Where are you, son?” Garmadon asked, his shadowy head swiveling around. “This doesn’t look like anywhere at Darkley’s. Are you in an alley?”
“So, funny story,” Lloyd began. “I kind of got kicked out. A couple years ago. Like, five. I’m kind of homeless, a little bit. On the run, if you will.”
“On the run from what?”
“Hunters?”
“Hunters?” Garmadon demanded. “What? Lloyd, what is going on? You’re being hunted?”
“Long story, Dad. How long can you keep this up?” Lloyd gestured to the shadow, trying to change the subject.
“Not long, I’m afraid. It takes quite a bit of effort to appear in this realm for long periods of time, even as a shadow. I’m sorry, my son. I truly wish that I could be here with you.”
“Where are you?”
Garmadon sighed. “I…am not sure. I was deposited here after the Coalescence. It looks like the Realm of Madness, but that has since combined with all of the other realms. I don’t know where I am, and I don’t know how to get back to Ninjago. If I did, I would be there.”
“Oh.” Lloyd sat and processed that for a minute. Their dad was alive. He hadn’t abandoned them like all the students at Darkley’s had said. He was stuck in a different realm.
His head snapped up at the sound of voices. Voices he knew. Fuck, it was that same group of hunters again. Either they were freakishly good at their job, or they were just impossibly lucky.
“Kai, I swear to FSM, do you even know where you’re going?”
“I’m following my instincts, Nya.”
“So no?”
Definitely the latter. Lloyd almost laughed.
“Lloyd, you seem to know those voices,” Garmadon whispered. “Are these the hunters you mentioned earlier?”
“Yeah, and they must be really lucky, because this is the second time they’ve found me, and their leader isn’t the most intelligent.” Lloyd scanned the alley for anything they could use to put out their fire. “I really wish I could talk longer, but I have to put out this fire before they find me. Sorry, Dad.”
“I would rather have our conversation cut short than have you captured, son.”
Lloyd smiled sadly. “Thanks.”
“I love you, Lloyd. We will talk again soon,” Garmadon murmured. A tiny breeze brushed past Lloyd’s cheek, and they closed their eyes for a moment, imagining their dad was there with them.
“I love you too, Dad. Bye.”
Garmadon’s shadow disappeared, leaving Lloyd alone in the firelight.
“Wait, guys, there’s light coming from that alley!”
“No way he’s that exposed, right?”
“We should still check it out.”
Well, not totally alone.
He didn’t have time to hide or escape. He tensed up, ready for a fight.
“Hey! It’s Garmadon!”
The leader of the hunters—Kai, if Lloyd remembered right—stepped into the alley. Lloyd let out a low growl, baring their fangs and stepping into a fighting stance. They couldn’t take down all of the hunters alone, but they sure as hell weren’t going down without a fight.
Another guy stepped into the alley behind Kai, holding his hands out in a placating gesture. “Calm down, Lloyd. We don’t want to hurt you.”
“Liar,” they growled. A purple flame sparked in their hand. He didn’t use his elemental power much, but he figured this was as good a time as any.
Kai took a step back, surprise evident on his face. “He’s got elemental powers. Stay back, guys.”
“Get out of my way,” Lloyd snarled, brandishing their fire. “Don’t make me hurt you.”
“Don’t make me hurt you,” Kai retaliated, drawing his sword. “Come quietly and nobody has to get hurt.”
“Yeah, you’ve really been selling the whole ‘friendship’ thing,” Lloyd deadpanned. “Move.”
“No.”
Lloyd growled. He was backed into a corner, and he knew it. Kai knew it, too. He had a stupid, cocky smirk on his face.
He never saw it coming.
Lloyd rushed him, knocking him out of the way with their shoulder. The several hunters behind him made weak grabs for them, but they knocked their hands away and ran.
He didn’t stop running until he smacked into something solid and fell to the ground.
“First Master, man, watch where you’re fucking going!” the person he’d hit exclaimed.
“Sorry,” Lloyd muttered, brushing his bangs out of his eyes and squinting up at the person.
“Hey, don’t worry about it,” the guy said, offering Lloyd a hand and hauling them to their feet. “Just watch your shit next time, yeah?”
“Yeah. Thanks.” Lloyd gave a small wave and took off running again.
The guy waved back and tucked a strand of dark hair behind his ear. He turned the other way and walked down the sidewalk like he owned it.
The wind seemed to follow him down the street.
Notes:
oop i wonder who that could be
GARM!!! love him sm y’all don’t even know. he’ll be back dw. the shadow garm conversation thingy was inspired by “on the outside” by sunfloweraro, it’s so good you should all read it
sorry this chapter took so long ive been trying to fix my sleep schedule which means my normal writing time of 1 am has been unavailable. i say as i post this at 1 am. i am actually trying to fix my sleep schedule though
i saw beetlejuice the musical live today!! it was so cool and the guy playing beetlejuice was absolutely fucking hysterical mr juice sir your sex jokes were hilarious. and the girl who played lydia was 18 ???? WHAT ?? she did so good it was sick
Chapter Text
Lloyd considered his options. None of them were great.
On one hand, they could keep moving around the city and risk running into those hunters again. If they were going to stay alive and free, this was a pretty bad option, especially considering that the hunters seemed to find him wherever he went.
On the other, they could leave the city entirely, go live out their days in some tiny village on the outskirts. There was no guarantee that he wouldn’t be found anyway, though, and if he was being completely honest with himself, he didn’t really want to do that. They kind of liked Ninjago City, even if they were usually fighting for their life.
He stood up and decided to wander the streets until he could make up his mind. Maybe he’d get into a fight or something, clear his head. Or maybe they’d run into Brad. Unlikely, but Lloyd found themself hoping that it’d happen.
No. Stop it, he chided himself. Less people to care about, less people to lose. You know that.
You should know that by now.
“Dammit, Lloyd, stop it,” he said aloud. “Quit.”
Their heart continued to hope. Stupid heart.
He started walking, shoving his hands into his pockets and ducking his head. No one else was out on the streets this early in the morning, but it couldn’t hurt to be cautious.
They spotted a manhole cover slightly ajar on the ground. They crouched down to get a closer look, using their tail for balance. Using all of his strength, he barely managed to move the cover to the side. His momentum knocked him over, sending him to the ground.
“Son of a bitch,” they muttered, pushing themself back up. They crept back over to the manhole, now open. If he really strained his ears, he swore he could hear voices coming from deep within the sewer.
“Oh, what the hell,” he muttered to himself. This was quite possibly one of the dumbest things they’d ever done, jumping into a sewer with no idea what was in there. Honestly, at this point, he had done so many dumb things that he couldn’t bring himself to care.
He jumped.
It wasn’t too far of a fall. Lloyd hit the ground and rolled to absorb the impact. They brushed themself off and started walking deeper into the sewer. As they walked, the sound of voices grew louder. The voices had a weird raspy quality to them, one that he couldn’t quite place. It almost sounded like a snake learned how to talk.
He turned the corner and quickly figured out that that was exactly what it was.
Several human-sized snakes stood facing each other, clearly in the middle of a heated discussion. Each of them held a spear that was probably as tall as Lloyd. He froze, debating what to do. Just their luck, one of the snakes looked over right at that moment and made eye contact with them.
“Hey! Ssstop!” the snake exclaimed, leveling their spear at Lloyd’s chest. He raised both of his hands, not wanting to be impaled today. The other three snakes pointed their spears at him, and the fourth poked him in the chest with their spear. “What are you doing here?”
“Would you believe me if I said I was just out for a walk?” Lloyd asked.
“No.”
“Well. Can’t really defend myself. I don’t mean any harm, though. I was just looking for a place to lie low for a while.”
“Lie low from who?” The snake’s eyes narrowed accusingly. “Who have you led to our doorssstep?”
“‘No one, I swear! I’m just looking for a place to chill and not fear for my life for a little while. I’m kind of on the run right now, so.” They shrugged as best they could with their hands still in the air. “I’ll take what I can get. Even if it’s with snake people in a sewer. Anytime I’m not being actively hunted is a good time in my book.”
The snakes turned away from him and held a conversation in urgent whispers. All Lloyd caught was “strange child” and “take him to scales?” They didn’t know what that meant, or whose scales they were being taken to, but at least they weren’t being attacked. Currently.
The same snake from before circled around behind Lloyd and jabbed their spear into his back. “Let’sss go. We’re taking you to sssee our generalsss. They’ll decide what to do with you.”
“Okay. Sick,” Lloyd muttered, starting to walk in the direction that the snake pushed them. “Going into a sewer with snake people. Fabulous.”
He tried to keep track of where he was going, just in case something happened and he needed to escape, but after a few turns he lost track. Something splashed under his shoe, and he stared resolutely ahead. Nothing happened if I never look down.
After what seemed like an eternity of winding through sewer tunnels, the snake people stopped in front of a massive, mossy stone gate. One of them stepped forward and banged the butt of their spear on the gate twice. Lloyd held their breath. After a few tension-filled moments, the doors swung open with a loud grinding noise.
“Welcome to the Ssserpentine sssettlement,” the snake announced. “Our generalsss will decide what to do with you.”
As the snakes marched Lloyd through the settlement, he looked around at all of the Serpentine there. There were several distinct species, as far as they could tell. All of them gave him strange looks as he passed.
The Serpentine—soldiers, he assumed—were marching him towards a large building in the center of the settlement. A small Serpentine child ran out of the building and past Lloyd, stopping only for a moment to look at them. The kid gave a small wave and scampered away.
The doors banged open as the soldiers pushed Lloyd inside the building. Four Serpentine, all different species, all looked up from where they were poring over a map of some sort on a table in front of them.
The soldier in front of Lloyd bowed. “Generalsss, we found this ssstrange child at the entrance of the sewer. He doesss not appear to be armed, but we thought you would want to ssspeak to him.”
“Hm.” The Serpentine at the center of the table looked down at Lloyd. His blue scales glinted and shimmered hypnotically. His eyes bored into theirs. Red spirals undulated in their vision, and they fought the urge to obey him. “Bring him forth.”
Lloyd was shoved forward in front of the table. The four Serpentine glared at him. He glared back.
“Ssso, you’ve managed to make your way here,” the blue Serpentine said. “Interesssting. I am Ssskales, the head Ssserpentine General. What isss your name, child?”
“Lloyd. Garmadon.” They added their last name as an afterthought. These people might know his dad, he thought. Maybe.
“Garmadon? You are Lord Garmadon’sss ssson?” one of the generals rumbled. He had black scales with patches of orange on his chest and head. Gray spikes protruded from his head and spine. A massive pair of fangs poked out of his mouth. Overall, he gave the impression of being made of stone. Solid.
“Yeah, I am,” Lloyd replied.
“Isss he alive?” the black-scaled Serpentine demanded.
“Calm yourssself, Ssskalidor,” Skales hissed, placing a hand on Skalidor’s shoulder. “Isss your father alive, young Garmadon?”
“Yeah, he is. I talked to him a couple days ago, actually. Did you know him?”
“Yesss, we did,” another general hissed. This one had red scales and, interestingly, two heads. The head on the left was the one who had spoken. “He wasss a good man,” the right head added.
“Indeed he wasss, Fangtom,” the fourth general rasped. He had white spikes on his head, tusk-like fangs protruding from his mouth, and four yellow eyes. His scales were dark green with black, red, and lime green markings. “Indeed he wasss.”
“Fangtom, Acidicusss, pleassse,” Skales said, trying to rein the other generals back in. The two Serpentine stopped talking, but still stared at Lloyd with interest. “What bringsss you here, young Garmadon?”
“Honestly, I’m just looking for a place to lay low for a while. Do you guys know about the bounty boards on the surface?”
“Ah, yesss,” Fangtom’s right head hissed. “The bounty board.” The left head continued, “Unfortunately, we have lossst many of our people to the huntersss.”
“Yeah, I’m like, the most wanted monster in the city. I just wanted a place to chill for a little while and not fear for my life. There’s this gang of hunters that keeps finding me, no matter what I do. It’s really, really annoying.”
“I sssee.” Skales nodded. “Allow usss one sssecond to confer, young Garmadon.”
“Knock yourself out,” Lloyd replied, louder than he meant to. They winced. They should really stop saying whatever came to their mind.
The generals whispered amongst themselves, long enough that Lloyd started getting nervous. Finally, Skales stepped away from the other generals.
“We have decided to let you ssstay for the time being,” Skales announced. “We will provide you with a place to ssstay and do our very bessst to keep you sssafe here.”
“Thank you, Generals,” Lloyd replied. He wasn’t a fan of authority figures, but the Serpentine generals set him at ease. They’d have to tell their dad about meeting the generals next time they talked to him.
“Ssskalidor, would you pleassse ssshow our guessst to where he will be ssstaying?” Skales asked.
Skalidor nodded. He slithered over to Lloyd, motioning for them to follow him with his hand. He led them to a house a few blocks away. He knocked on the door, and a pink-scaled Serpentine opened the door. The child who had run past Lloyd earlier peeked out from behind them.
“Ssskalesss and hisss family have volunteered to houssse you for the time you are here,” Skalidor explained. “Thisss isss hisss wife, Ssselma.”
“Hello, child,” Selma greeted. “I underssstand that you will be ssstaying with my family for the time being.”
“So I’ve been told,” Lloyd replied. “I’m Lloyd Garmadon.”
“Welcome, Lloyd.” Selma motioned for him to enter the house. “Thank you for ssshowing him here, Ssskalidor.”
Skalidor nodded at Selma and then at Lloyd before leaving, closing the door behind him.
“Thank you so much for letting me stay. You really didn’t have to,” Lloyd said, following her as she led him through the house.
“Nonsssense. You ssshould not be alone. It’sss not good for you.”
“I guess.”
Selma led Lloyd to the kitchen, where she resumed making dinner and struck up a conversation with him. Maybe it was because he had never really had a mother figure, but he found her comforting.
For the first time in a while, Lloyd found themself at ease. How long had it been since they’d been able to sit down at a real table, in a real house?
He didn’t know. Far too long.
Notes:
i love the serpentine i think they’re so cool, but y’all i had to consult the ninjago wiki and make a LIST of all the serpentine because some of these mfs have some batshit names
we love selma! i really wish we got more of her in the show. skales jr too, he’s just a silly little guy
also my birthday’s in 2 days!! i’ll be 16! that’s crazy bro omg
AND I MADE IT TO STATE SOLO & ENSEMBLE FOR MY FLUTE QUARTET!! HELL YEAH
Chapter 7: Alike
Notes:
WE’VE REACHED 10K!!!! YIPPEE!!! when i was planning this i did NOT think it would ever get this far. thank you all i love you all so much
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Lloyd woke up the next morning to a pair of huge red eyes staring into his.
He yelped and scrambled back, hitting his head on the wall. “Ow! Damn,” he muttered, rubbing the back of his head.
“My mom saysss that’sss a bad word,” the Serpentine kid said. It was the same kid that Lloyd had seen hiding behind Selma yesterday.
“Yeah, it is,” Lloyd replied, sitting up. “What are you doing?”
The kid shrugged. “Watching.”
“Okay. You got a name, kid?”
“Ssskalesss Junior.”
“Oh, you’re Skales’ kid! Yeah, your mom told me about you. What’s up?”
“Mom says breakfast is ready.”
“Oh, sick!” Lloyd hopped out of bed and followed Skales Jr. to the kitchen. They were greeted with a barrage of delicious smells that made them realize just how hungry they were.
“Good morning,” Selma said brightly, placing plates of food on the table. “Did you sssleep well?”
“Yeah, a lot better than I have in a while,” Lloyd replied. Skales Jr. sat down at the table, so Lloyd followed suit, sitting next to him.
“That’sss good.” Selma put empty plates in front of Skales Jr., Lloyd, and herself. “I made omeletsss with vegetablesss from our garden and some traditional Ssserpentine ingredients. It doesss have Venomari venom in it, will you be okay eating that?”
Lloyd shrugged. “Not sure. I have a pretty solid venom tolerance, so probably? Venomari venom’s not deadly, is it?” He scooped an omelet onto his plate.
“No, it isssn’t. It causssesss hallucinationsss when it comesss into contact with the eyesss.”
“Oh, I’ll be fine.” He took a big bite of omelet to demonstrate his point. It was…really good, actually. It was perfectly seasoned, tangy and slightly spicy and sour. The vegetables were fresh and crunchy, and the bite of the venom cut through the other flavors in a way that he’d never tasted before. Beside him, Skales Jr. was devouring his own food at a speed that Lloyd had only seen from…himself, really. “Oh. Shit. Sorry, but that’s really good.”
“I’m glad you like it, Lloyd,” Selma smiled, sitting down next to them. “Mossst humansss are…averssse to Ssserpentine food, to sssay the leassst.”
Lloyd swallowed a bite of his omelet before replying. “I mean, if you hadn’t noticed, I’m not exactly human. And this is really good, Selma. Thank you.”
“Of courssse, dear. You’re very welcome.”
Skales Jr. tugged on Lloyd’s sleeve. They swallowed their last bite of food and looked down at him. “Yeah? What’s up, kid?”
“Lloyd, can you take me to the park?” the kid asked, jumping up and down, almost buzzing with energy. “Pleassseeee?”
“Yeah, sure, if it’s okay with your mom.” Lloyd looked at Selma. “Selma?”
“Yesss, of courssse,” she replied. “Be careful, Junior.”
He nodded and grabbed Lloyd’s hand, nearly knocking them off their feet as he shot out the door. They stumbled, trying to regain their balance as the kid ran as fast as his little legs would carry him. He seemed to know exactly where he was going, so Lloyd just let him lead them.
After a few minutes, Skales Jr. had to stop and catch his breath. Lloyd still held onto his hand, letting him lead. He noticed another Serpentine guy across the street shooting the kid nasty looks.
“Who’s that guy glaring at you?” Lloyd muttered.
“That’sss Ssslithraa,” Skales Jr. whispered back. “He wasss the general before Dad. He’sss got a grudge againssst our whole family.”
Lloyd shot a glare back at Slithraa. The Serpentine held his gaze. He bared his teeth in a snarl, sending a clear message to Slithraa. He didn’t want to have to confront this guy, but he would if he had to.
The Serpentine got the message and slithered away. Sufficiently rested, Skales Jr. took off again, running the rest of the way to the park with Lloyd in tow. Once they arrived, the kid made a beeline for the swings, and beckoned Lloyd over to join him. They obliged, sitting on the swing next to him and swinging alongside him. It was surprisingly fun.
Before they knew it, at least an hour had passed, and Lloyd figured that Selma would be wanting them home soon. He pried Skales Jr. away from another kid he’d made friends with, with minimal tears, and started the journey home.
Thankfully, no Serpentine ex-generals glared at them on the way back to the house. Skales Jr. decided that the most efficient method of travel on the way back was skipping, which he forced Lloyd to do alongside him. It was only mildly mortifying.
Once they arrived at home, Skales Jr. shot into his room, something about playing with the new toy he had just gotten. Lloyd was still restless, so he decided to go for a walk.
“I’m gonna go for a walk, if that’s okay?” Lloyd asked Selma. “Explore the town?”
“Oh, yesss, feel free,” Selma replied. “The town’sss not big, ssso you ssshouldn’t get lossst. Jussst be back in time for lunch.”
“Cool. I will.” Lloyd waved. Skales Jr. waved back. “See you later.”
He set off at a brisk pace, not really knowing where he was going. Eventually, he reached a tunnel on what he thought was the opposite side of the settlement from where he had entered. There was no gate. They leaned against the wall, lost in thought.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t young Garmadon,” a voice hissed. Lloyd jumped, startled out of their thoughts. “What could an Oni child possibly be doing in the Ssserpentine sssettlement?”
“Pythor,” Lloyd replied. He’d know that voice anywhere. “You sold me out to those hunters.”
“Cutting ssstraight to the chassse, are we? What, no ‘hello’? And here I thought we were friendsss.”
“I’ll say it again: you sold me out to those hunters.”
“Tch. That’s nothing, boy. You’re lucky nobody elssse led them right to you. Do you know how much money you’re worth?”
“Eat shit.”
“My, my, how vulgar! Didn’t your parentsss ever teach you to be more polite with your wordsss?”
“Fuck off,” Lloyd growled.
“You heard him, Pythor,” a new voice said. Lloyd recognized it, and turned to confirm that it was who they thought it was. It was the guy he had run into a few days ago, with the green hair. “Fuck off.”
“Ah, Morro,” Pythor drawled. “How…pleasssant to sssee you again.”
“Why don’t you go eat shit, Pythor?” Morro snarled. “He doesn’t want you here. Go away.”
Pythor slithered away, muttering under his breath. Lloyd let out a breath.
“Thanks, man,” Lloyd sighed.
“No problem. Hate that fucker,” Morro muttered. “He’s always slithering around, looking for trouble to stick his nose in.”
“Yeah, I’ve run into him before. Fucking snitch. He told this gang of hunters where to find me while I was hiding out.”
“Ugh.” Morro wrinkled his nose. “We don’t have…the best of relationships. I’ve been living down here pretty much since the Merge, and I’ve run into him quite a few times. He’s still bitter about being banished. He hates me, and the feeling’s mutual.”
“What’d he get banished for?” Lloyd asked, suddenly curious.
“He was a traitor during the Serpentine War. He disappeared for a few years and everyone thought he was dead, but then he showed back up and wanted to pretend like nothing happened. The generals weren’t too happy about that, so they banished him. He’s not even supposed to be down here.”
Lloyd let out a low breath. “Shit.”
“Yeah.”
After a few minutes of silence, Lloyd turned to Morro. “Hey, man, I should probably be going. Selma’ll be worried if I don’t get home soon. Nice to finally talk to you.”
“Yeah, you too.” Morro reached out to shake Lloyd’s hand. His grip was strong, almost uncomfortably so. “If he ever gives you trouble again, I’ll be around, alright?”
“Yeah. Thanks.” Morro nodded. “See you.”
“See you.”
Lloyd gave a small wave and started the walk back to Selma’s house. He only got lost a few times, but he managed to make it home in the end, which he considered a victory.
“Hey, guys. I’m back,” they called, pushing the door open.
“Hello, Lloyd,” Selma replied from the couch. “How wasss your walk?”
“It was good.” He stood in the doorway, fidgeting with his hands. “Can I talk to you about something?”
“Yesss, of courssse, dear. Come sssit down.”
“Cool, cool.” Lloyd sat down in a chair next to Selma. “So, you guys have been amazing, and so nice to me, and if I could stay here longer, I would, but…”
“You have to leave sssoon, don’t you?”
“Yeah. I do. I’m really sorry, but I have unfinished business on the surface.”
“That’sss completely fine. When do you need to leave?”
“I was thinking tomorrow morning?”
“Alright. Jussst let me make you breakfassst before you leave, okay? And wake up Junior before you go. He’ll want to sssay goodbye.”
“Okay, I will. Thank you, Selma. And thank you for being so kind to me. I’ll come back and visit, I promise.”
“Good. Junior and I will misss you, my dear.” She leaned over and hugged him. “Why don’t you go lie down for a bit? I heard you lassst night, you didn’t ssseem to get a lot of sssleep. You’ll be needing it. A growing boy needsss hisss ressst.”
“Yeah. See you in a bit,” they replied, suddenly emotional. “And thank you again.”
“Of courssse. Sssweet dreamsss.”
“You too.” He stood up and made his way to his room. He’d miss this place. “I’ll miss you,” he said to himself.
Notes:
HELL YEAH MORRO !!! i was debating whether or not to put him in here but i decided yknow what, he deserves it. so here he is. i love stories with pythor and morro beef its so funny
we’ll get back to the ninja next chapter dw. i love them too i promise im not giving lloyd unfair screentime. they’ll be back soon
Chapter 8: The Quiet One
Notes:
hey gang, im so sorry for not including these warnings with the original posting of the chapter, it completely slipped my mind.
warnings:
drugging (sedation)
kidnapping
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The next morning, Lloyd strongly considered going back to sleep and just staying in the Serpentine town forever. Unfortunately, he had business to attend to on the surface, so he forced himself out of bed and to his feet.
Selma was already awake when he wandered into the kitchen. She smiled at him. “Good morning, love. Care for sssome breakfassst? Sssomething quick for the road?”
“Sure,” they replied. “Thank you.”
“Of courssse.”
He sat down at the table, propped his head up with his fist, and watched Selma prepare the food. First Master, they were going to miss her. His heart clenched. Skales Jr. was going to be crushed when they left.
“Selma?” they asked.
“Yesss, dear?”
“I’ll miss you.”
“Oh, we’ll miss you too, Lloyd. You’ve been wonderful. I’m sssorry that Skalesss hasn’t been around much, but he wouldn’t have welcomed you into his home if he didn’t think ssso as well. And of courssse Junior will misss you. He’sss alwaysss wanted a big brother, you know.”
Against his will, Lloyd began to tear up. They covered their mouth with their hand to try to be as quiet as possible. Selma noticed and wrapped him in a hug, her voice soft. “Oh, don’t cry, love. We’ll sssee each other again sssome day, I know it.”
That just made Lloyd cry harder, burying his face in Selma’s shoulder. She held them as they cried, comforting them.
After a few minutes, Lloyd let go, collapsing back into his chair and letting out a loud sniffle. They scrubbed at their eyes with the back of their hand. “Sorry.”
“There’sss nothing to be sssorry for, Lloyd. Here, your breakfast.” She set a mini version of the omelets she had made the day before in front of him, wrapped in a cloth.
“Thank you so much.” They slipped the food into their pocket and sighed. “I should probably go say bye to Junior.”
Selma patted him on the shoulder as he stood up and made his way to Skales Jr.’s room.
They opened the door and sat down on the edge of Skales Jr.’s bed. They gently shook him by the shoulder until his eyes blearily blinked open.
“Lloyd?” he muttered. “What’sss going on?”
“Hey, kid,” Lloyd whispered. “I’m sorry, but I have to leave. I have business on the surface, but I wanted to say goodbye before I left.”
“You’re leaving?”
“I have to. Believe me, if I could stay with you guys forever, I would.”
“I wish you could stay.”
“Me too, bud. I’ll miss you.”
Skales Jr. reached forward and hugged Lloyd tightly. They hugged him back, letting themself think for a moment about what could have been. If they didn’t have to leave, if they could just stay with Selma forever. He could’ve had a family. He’s always wanted a big brother, you know.
Finally, he forced himself to let go. “I’m sorry, but I have to go. I’ll come visit you, I promise.”
“Pinky promise?” Skales Jr. asked, holding up his pinky.
Lloyd grinned. “Pinky promise. Bye, Junior.”
“Bye, Lloyd.”
He walked back out to the living room and gave Selma one final hug before he left.
He made a promise to himself that he was going to remember this for the rest of his life. A small pocket of peace in a life short of it.
He had tried and failed not to care, once again. Kind of funny, how he tried to delude himself into thinking that he’d be able not to care. They cared so much, even when they tried to convince themself otherwise.
They opened the door and looked back through the house one last time.
All good things must come to an end, right?
——
“If this guy isn’t here, I’m going to lose my shit, actually,” Jay muttered, dragging behind the rest of the group. Cole gently urged him forward. Ahead of them, at the front of the pack, Kai prepared to knock on the door of Noble’s apartment. After the last time, they had wanted to be one hundred percent sure that this was the guy’s current, correct residence. Kai really didn’t want to continue on this wild goose chase, he just wanted to get the information on Garmadon and be done with it.
He knocked on the door again, more aggressively. “Ezra Noble? We just want to talk.”
He heard shuffling behind the door before it opened a sliver. One dark, beady eye peered out at him. “What do you want?”
“Ezra Noble?” Kai asked again.
“Yes, yes, that’s me. What do you want?”
“Could you open the door, Mr. Noble? We’d like to ask you a few questions.”
“Who do you work for?”
“Nobody, Mr. Noble. We’re monster hunters, and we heard you might have some information about our current bounty, Lloyd Garmadon? He used to attend the school you ran?”
“Ah, yes, yes. Young Garmadon. He had such potential, what with his father and all that. Such a shame he turned out like he did.”
“Like what?” Nya interrupted.
“Soft, young lady! Weak. He was never cut out for a life of evil. Nothing like his father. Disappointing. So I kicked him out. No use wasting my time on a lost cause.”
Kai and Nya shared a look. He really had gotten kicked out for being too nice. “Okay. Do you have any information about his current whereabouts?”
“Oh, First Master, no. He could be anywhere in the world for all I know.”
“Great. That’s great,” Kai muttered. Jay poked him in the back. “Alright. Anything else you’d like us to know about Garmadon?”
“No, nothing. Good luck on your bounty.”
“Great. Thanks. Goodbye, Mr. Noble.” The group left the building, Kai making sure to wave at the kind woman at the front desk. She’d been really helpful in their search for Noble.
“Alright, gang,” Jay began once they were outside, sliding down to sit against the wall. “Can we all agree that that was a waste of time?”
“Dammit,” Kai groaned. “That was such a fucking waste of time. We could be catching up to Garmadon by now.”
“What did I just say?” Jay muttered. Kai ignored him.
“So what are we doing now?” Cole asked.
“Man, I don’t know. We have no leads, no clues, nothing. It’s like he just disappeared into the ground or something.” Kai rubbed his eyes. “Damn. It.”
“Maybe he got captured by somebody else,” Nya suggested. “I know we’re trying to stay positive, but there’s no way we’re the only ones looking for him. It’s entirely possible that someone else got him before we did.”
“Maybe he went down into the Serpentine tunnels to live with them!” Jay piped up.
“Jay, that’s stupid. We’re trying to actually figure something out here,” Kai grumbled.
“It was an actual suggestion,” Jay muttered. Nya laced her fingers with his.
“It was a good suggestion, Jay. Kai’s just being a douche,” Nya reassured. Kai glared at her and she flipped him off.
“Kai’s just being a douche,” Kai mocked. “I’m going to strangle you in your sleep.”
“I’m going to slit your throat,” Nya replied cheerfully.
“Kai, Nya, focus, please,” Zane chided. “We need a plan. Where are we going next?”
“Fuck, I don’t know,” Kai muttered. “I’m out of ideas. I’m pretty sure we’ve only found him so far by getting lucky.”
“We can’t give up! Come on, guys. We gotta think of something,” Jay declared. “Hunters never quit!”
“Shut up, Jay,” Kai growled. “Unless you have any good ideas, shut your mouth and keep it that way.”
“We could go back to that base and see if anyone knows anything?” Cole suggested.
“Yeah, like that’s worked out so well so far,” Nya replied. “Any other ideas?”
“Nope,” Kai said, popping the ‘p’. “We’re so fucked.”
“Quit being a pessimistic loser, bro,” Nya told him, smacking him in the arm. “Not necessarily. Jay’s right, we don’t quit. So we’re gonna keep looking, yeah? We’re not gonna give up. Even if some other gang did get him before us, we’re not gonna give up until we’re positive that there’s absolutely no chance that we’ll capture him. Yeah?”
“Yeah,” the others repeated, with varying degrees of enthusiasm.
“Alright! Hell yeah! C’mon, let’s go get this guy.”
——
Lloyd pushed the manhole cover up, pulling himself back up to the surface. They took a deep breath of fresh air. That was the one thing he’d missed during his time underground. Even so, he’d gladly trade it to stay down there with Selma a little longer.
They wandered into a nearby alley, wanting to find some peace and quiet, maybe a place to sit for a few hours. Instead, he was greeted with the sight of somebody in a dark cloak and hood hunched over in the back corner of the alley.
“Uh. Hey. Are you okay?” Lloyd asked tentatively, taking another step towards the person.
The person’s head whipped around, glaring at Lloyd with a piercing, amber-colored gaze. He was taken aback by the ferocity of their stare.
Despite their gut feeling that something was wrong, they took another step forward. “Seriously. Are you okay, man?”
The person stood up and approached Lloyd. “Poor Lloyd,” they sneered. “Such a bleeding heart. It’s amazing how gullible you are.”
“How do you know my name?” Lloyd asked, ignoring the rest of their statement. They didn’t answer, instead lashing out at him and striking at his neck. He blocked them easily, but then felt a prick on the other side of his neck. They grinned at him and held up a dart that he recognized as a tranquilizer. “Did you fucking tranq me? What the fuck are you doing?”
He tried to strike at them, but his movements were becoming sluggish and slow. It felt like his brain was getting fuzzy, and he was starting to get drowsy. There was starting to be a weird tingling sensation in their arms and legs, and when they tried to swing at the person again, they seemed to be moving in slow motion. They sidestepped easily.
The person’s hood slipped back, revealing pure white hair and red makeup smeared over the top half of their face. “Nighty-night, Lloyd.”
Notes:
WOOP WOOP THANK YALL FOR WISHING LLOYD POOKIE LUCK HES GONNA NEED IT
and the gang!! they’re back!! my pookie bears i missed them. poor jay no one will ever believe you
lloyd having to leave the serpentine :(( poor dude’s having a good time for once in their life and then has to leave. rip
Chapter 9: More Than It Hurts You
Summary:
woooahhh look at that a fast update!! yooo!
Notes:
hey all! some warnings for this chapter:
kidnapping
mentioned blood
mentioned torture/torture aftermath
mentions/descriptions of injuries
violence
ritualistic/cult-y things
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Welcome back, son of Garmadon.”
Lloyd cracked his eyes open, swearing as bright sunlight poured in. Their head was pounding. “Ugh. What…Where am I? Who are you?” He tried to stand up from the chair he was in, before realizing that he was tied to it.
“Uh-uh. We can’t be having you run away, now can we?” the person who had tranq’d him asked. “Hold on, I haven’t introduced myself. How rude of me. My name is Harumi.”
“I’m assuming you already know who I am,” Lloyd grumbled.
“Oh, yes. We know everything about you, Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon. We’ve been watching you for a long, long time.”
“You don’t know anything about me,” he hissed.
“But I do know you, Lloyd. Deep down, I know there's a darkness in you. You fight it, you try to push it away, but it's there.” She reached forward to stroke his hair.
They jerked back, as much as they could. “Don’t touch me.”
“Tsk. You’re no fun.”
“And what do you mean, ‘we’? Who’s we? And where am I?”
“Ah, yes. So curious. You’re in our headquarters. We are the Sons of Garmadon, and you’re going to help us.”
Lloyd’s blood ran cold. The Sons of Garmadon. He had fucking known that this would happen. “I’d rather die than help you with anything. Leave my father out of this.”
“Oh, but I think you will help us. It would certainly be a shame if something happened to that little friend of yours because of you. What was his name? Brad Tudabone?”
“You won’t.”
“Won’t I?” Harumi turned and yelled through the open door behind her. “Killow! Where is Brad Tudabone right now?”
After a few moments, a deep, gravelly voice called back. “Two blocks from Borg Tower, and moving fast. He seems to be on a mission.”
“Do we have people near him?”
“We have people everywhere.”
“Good. If Lloyd doesn’t cooperate, send them out and kill him.”
“Got it, boss.”
Boss? Lloyd looked Harumi over. She didn’t seem to be more than fifteen or sixteen, but she had the energy of someone who was in charge. She had an air about her that said, if I talk, you listen. It scared him, honestly.
“Now, you wouldn’t want anything to happen to your Brad, would you?” she asked.
“Fine, I’ll help you. Just don’t hurt him. Please.”
She grinned, flashing sharp fangs. “That’s what I thought. Get comfy, Lloyd. We’re going to be here for a while.”
Lloyd groaned loudly. “Make it quick, please. I’d like to at least get in a good nap while I’m tied up here.”
Harumi glared at him. “You are going to be much more trouble than you’re worth, aren’t you?”
“Oh, yeah, for sure. That’s the goal.”
“Whatever. We only need a few ingredients from you to complete the ritual and then I can do whatever I want with you. I’ll probably hand you over to Killow and let him deal with you. Less work for me.”
“What the fuck are you talking about? Ingredients? What, are you making some evil cake or something?”
She laughed. “You’re funny. I almost don’t want to kill you.”
“You really don’t have to. You could just let me go right now and we don’t ever have to talk about this again.”
“Oh, but we need you for the ritual, and after that, you’re just too much of a liability. Loose ends and all that. You understand.”
“I really don’t. What ritual, are you summoning some bullshit? Because I want no part in that. Get your ingredients somewhere else.”
“I’m afraid they need to come from you. After all, the ritual does involve your father. Family is a powerful thing. We need one of your hairs and a drop of your blood to summon him here. I suppose we are ‘summoning some bullshit,’ as you so eloquently put it. If you consider your own father to be ‘some bullshit.’”
“What—my dad? What do you want with him?”
“We’re called the Sons of Garmadon, Lloyd. Take a wild guess. I am going to be the child he never had, one worthy of the Garmadon name. Once you’re dead, I will be his heir, and I will prove myself worthy to continue the Garmadon name.”
“You’re crazy. If you kill me, my dad’s going to flip out, and then you’re going to have a pissed-off Oni on your hands.” Lloyd tossed their head back and laughed, a slightly unhinged cackle. “Good fucking luck with that.”
“You don’t know anything.”
“I don’t know anything? This is my dad we’re talking about, man! I know him a hell of a lot better than you ever will. And if you kill me? Holy shit, he’ll lose his fucking mind.”
He could tell that she was getting angry at his comments. Good. If he pissed her off enough, maybe she’d let him go. Poking holes in her master plan was quite fun, too. Maybe he was just really good at being annoying.
“FSM give me strength,” she muttered. Lloyd grinned. She reached forward and yanked out a strand of his hair.
“Ow!” they yelped. “What was that for?”
“I told you already, we need your hair and your blood for this ritual. If you weren’t so busy talking all the time, you might have heard me.” Harumi started searching around the room for something, rifling through drawers and checking shelves.
“What’re you looking for?” Lloyd asked. She ignored him. They started humming a song they’d heard earlier that week, back to being annoying. When she continued ignoring him and searching, he began singing aloud. “They say, go slow…and everything just stands so still…we say, go, go…you’re gonna see us rip into it!”
Harumi shot him a glare and left the room, presumably continuing her search. Lloyd raised their voice, belting out the song so loud that the whole building could probably hear them. “Jump up, kick back, whip around and spin, and then we jump back, do it again! Ninja, go! Ninja, go! Come on, come on, and do the weekend whip!”
“Could you shut up?!” Harumi screeched from another room, making Lloyd laugh.
“No!” he yelled back cheerfully, then launched into another rendition of the song. “Ninja, go! Ninja—”
“Shut up!” Harumi roared as she stomped back into the room. “First fucking Spinjitzu Master, you are the most annoying person I have ever had the misfortune of meeting!”
“Aww!” Lloyd cooed. “I’m flattered. Did you find what you were looking for, Rumi?”
“Don’t call me that,” she growled, fidgeting with the object in her hands. Lloyd couldn’t quite see what it was from where he was sitting.
They grinned, taking a deep breath. “Jump up, kick back, whip around and spin—”
He instantly shut up as Harumi pressed a knife, which was what she’d had in her hands, to his throat. She flashed a cruel smile. “That’s what I thought. Not so fun now, is it?”
“You don’t want to do this, Harumi. Please. Just put the knife down.”
“Oh, but I think I do. I need your blood for my ritual, don’t you remember?” She dug the knife into his neck, making a shallow cut. They felt a thin stream of blood trickle down their neck.
“There’s your blood. Come on, Harumi.”
“Where’s the fun in that, Lloyd? I can think of many more things I can do to get your blood.” She moved the knife up and ran the tip of it over his face, making him shiver. “You don’t have anyone coming to save you. You’re going to be here for a long time.”
——
The sound of someone running up to their campsite had the entire group up on their feet, preparing for a fight. Nya was the one to approach whoever was running at them, her knife at the ready.
Brad rounded the corner, skidding to a stop at the sight of Nya brandishing her knife.
“Holy shit,” he panted, doubling over. “I just ran all the way here.”
“Brad?” she demanded. “What are you doing here? How did you find us?”
“I need your help. Lloyd, he’s been captured, I fucking knew this would happen! FSM, I’m so stupid, I should have never let him go off on his own—”
“Whoa, whoa, slow down,” she said, patting Brad carefully on the back. “Who captured Lloyd? What happened?”
“He’s been captured, the Sons of Garmadon fucking got him, I tried to warn him about them, First Master—”
“Who’s the Sons of Garmadon? What happened?”
“They’re, like, a gang, a hunter gang, they’re obsessed with Lloyd’s dad, and I tried to warn him about them but he didn’t listen and now they got him and I don’t know what to do!”
Kai swore, putting his sword away. “Dammit. Fine. We’ll help you.”
“Really?” Brad asked, lighting up.
“Really?” Nya asked, skeptical.
“Yeah, don’t look so surprised. I’m not a monster, I don’t want anything to happen to this kid at the hands of some cult. Let’s go get him,” Kai sighed. “No one captures our monster except us.”
The group gathered their weapons and followed Brad, who was leading them and seemed to know where he was going.
“Brad, would I be correct in assuming that you know where you’re going?” Zane asked as they hurried down the street. “Or do you require directions?”
“I know where I’m going. Thank you, though,” Brad replied.
They weren’t exactly running, but Brad was basically speedwalking, trying to get to the Sons of Garmadon’s base as soon as possible. After a few minutes and many blocks, they reached a seemingly innocuous building, made of brick and a few stories high. Brad led them around the back to a secret entrance that he somehow knew about, which Kai found kind of suspicious.
They snuck through the base, blindly trusting Brad to know where he was going. Luckily for them, there didn’t seem to be many guards or Sons of Garmadon members patrolling the halls. He led them to a small room, signaling for the group to wait around the corner while he checked the room. After he checked the room, he motioned for them to follow him inside.
The room was really small, with no windows and only the one door. In the back of the room, Lloyd Garmadon was tied to a chair, his head slumped forward, seemingly unconscious. His hair was matted with blood. His face was hidden from where Kai could see, but there were gashes and small cuts all over his arms and dried blood caked on his skin. Kai slowly ventured forward, just in case he woke up and attacked, and lifted Lloyd’s head.
He involuntarily sucked in a breath at what he saw. There was a massive, jagged cut down the side of his face, just missing his eye, and several smaller, shallower cuts on his neck. His hair and skin were absolutely caked with dried blood. From this close up, it was strikingly obvious how young Lloyd was.
Holy shit, Kai thought. These people are actually crazy. Who would do this to a kid?
“Nya,” Kai hissed. “Come here, untie him. Quick.”
She nodded and hurried over, slashing the ropes with her knife and freeing Lloyd from the chair. Kai looked back at the doorway, making sure that the others didn’t see anyone coming.
When he turned back around, Lloyd’s eyes were open, and he was staring directly at him. His fangs were bared, his face screwed up in a snarl.
“Whoa,” Kai tried to reassure him, holding up his hands in a placating gesture. “It’s okay, Lloyd. We’re here to help you.”
The kid snarled at him, jerking his hands out of the cut rope. His hands started glowing with a weird, purple energy. Kai took a step back.
Lloyd lunged at him, swiping at his chest with his claws. They dug in and ripped, doing more damage than they should have and sending a white-hot spike of pain through Kai’s chest. He stumbled, looking down at the five gashes in his chest. The edges of them sizzled, like the kid’s claws had been coated in acid or something. Kai fell to the ground, taken aback by the sheer amount of pain. He’d been injured a lot in his life, but it had never been as painful as this.
Lloyd leapt over him and ran out the door, dodging the rest of the group. They all rushed forward to check on Kai, save Brad, who took off after Lloyd.
“Kai!” Nya cried. “Holy shit, he really got you. Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Kai tried to reassure her, ignoring the burning of his wounds. “I’m great.”
Black tinged the corners of his vision as he realized he was, in fact, not great, and he was, in fact, about to pass out. Lovely.
He slumped forward onto Nya, her shout muffled in his ears. He had a vague thought of a few small gashes shouldn’t make me pass out, something is very wrong here, before he drifted away.
Notes:
lloyd i love you so much. being the most incredibly annoying prisoner ever. love that for them frfr
kaiiiiii i can see right through you pookie. you’re just a big softy. progress, i guess? he doesn’t want lloyd to die anymore?
and, um. sorry gang? i sure hope our boy kai’s gonna be okay! i feel kinda bad for y’all lmao, last chapter was a cliffhanger and then this! ill start working on the next chapter so y’all don’t have to wait too long <3
Chapter 10: Shadow of a Doubt
Notes:
warnings: uhh descriptions of injuries? that’s pretty much it but i go pretty in detail describing kai’s injuries. and mentioned blood
this chapter is sponsored by jim bogart by the front bottoms because it’s the song i was listening to while i wrote this note. im feeling a little silly so im going to start doing this at the start of every chapter. peaceabd love
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Fuck, fuck, shit,” Nya swore, peeling back Kai’s bandages to examine his injuries. Since he passed out yesterday, he’d only had fleeting moments of consciousness, usually complaining about the pain before drifting off again. The five deep claw marks that Lloyd had left in his chest seemed to have a life of their own, seemingly eating away at the surrounding flesh. The skin around the wounds was red and irritated, like it had been burned, and the gashes themselves were ragged and much deeper than Nya had originally thought. The more she looked at them, the more they seemed to glow with a strange purple energy, the same energy she had seen Lloyd wield. She had seen many, many injuries in her life, and she knew that this injury was much more severe, and much stranger, than any others she’d dealt with before.
“What is it?” Cole asked, leaning in to examine the wounds. He winced at the sight, his hand hovering above the bandages like he didn’t know whether or not to cover the gashes back up. “Oh, shit.”
“Yeah,” Nya agreed. “We definitely don’t have the supplies to deal with this. Whatever’s going on with him, we need to find an actual healer fast. If it’s gotten this much worse overnight…” She hesitated.
“He doesn’t have much time,” Cole finished. She nodded grimly.
Zane gently pushed past Cole to examine Kai. They leaned down, examining his wounds closely. “As you might have already guessed, these are not normal injuries,” they announced. “There has been significant deterioration overnight. According to my analysis, with every day he is not taken to a healer, his chances of survival drastically decrease. If he is not taken to a proficient healer within the next three days, his chances of survival will drop to near zero. There seems to be some sort of dark magic or destructive power involved. The healer that we take him to needs to be knowledgeable in this area, otherwise they will not be able to help us.”
Jay nodded knowingly. “So what you’re saying is, we need to get our asses in gear, like, right now.”
Zane nodded. “Precisely.”
Nya hissed air through her teeth, trying to keep her composure. We have to find someone. “Okay. Does anyone have any ideas of where we could go? Kai knows a ton of people in the city, so he’d probably be helpful, but he’s kind of…unavailable right now.”
“I might know a place,” Jay piped up. “When I was sick or hurt as a kid, which was pretty much all the time, my parents would bring me to this weird tea shop in the city. The lady who runs the place would always look me over and be able to tell what kind of tea would help. I could probably find the shop from here.”
“Great idea, Jaybird,” Nya smiled. Jay grinned back at her. “That’s probably going to be our best chance. If nothing else, the owner will probably be able to direct us to a healer.”
“I can carry Kai,” Cole volunteered as the group packed up their meager possessions. “Considering he can’t really walk at the moment.”
“Thanks, Dirt Clod,” Jay said.
“You’re welcome, Zaptrap,” Cole shot back. Jay smiled at him.
With their possessions packed and Cole carrying Kai, Jay led the way to this tea shop. The knot in Nya’s chest loosened slightly as they walked. Jay seemed to know where he was going.
After a few more minutes, Jay stopped outside a small, old-looking building. A flickering neon sign of a steaming teacup was balanced on the roof. “We’re here,” he announced. “C’mon.”
He pushed open the door, accompanied by the tired jingle of a bell.
“Welcome to Mystake’s Teas,” the old woman sitting behind the counter announced. Her voice was scratchy and rough, like she’d inhaled too much smoke. “I am Mystake. How can I help you?”
“Yeah, hi,” Jay said. “Um, our friend is hurt pretty bad. I used to come here whenever I was sick or hurt as a kid, and you could always tell what would help? We were wondering if you could take a look at him.”
“Hm,” Mystake huffed, peering over the counter at Kai, who was slung over Cole’s shoulders. “I suppose I could examine him. Bring him back.”
The group shuffled awkwardly behind the counter, following Mystake to the back room of the shop. She gestured for Cole to lay Kai on a large table, which reminded Nya uncomfortably of an autopsy table. Stop it. He’s gonna be fine.
Mystake removed Kai’s shirt and peeled back his bandages. Nya inhaled sharply. His injuries had gotten worse even over the course of just an hour. Mystake kept relatively stoic, but her eyes widened ever so slightly. She examined the wounds, her gentle prods making Kai stir in his sleep. She turned and grabbed a jar of tea leaves from the shelf behind her, crushing them up into a poultice and packing it into the wounds. She then dressed the gashes in fresh bandages and looked back at Nya, her eyes grave.
“I have applied a healing poultice to the wounds, which should slow the decaying process, but it cannot stop it completely. These wounds were caused by Oni magic. I am not an expert in this field, but I do know someone who is. Seek out Master Wu. He is the sole Oni who has actively sought out the path of light and creation. He can tell you what to do, better than I can. He lives at the monastery on the peak of the nearest mountain. Find him as quickly as you can, to give your friend the best chance of survival. Wounds caused by Oni magic are degenerative, so he will only continue to deteriorate.”
“Okay, we will.” Nya shook Mystake’s hand. “Thank you so much. He’s my brother, and…for a long time, he was all I had. I don’t think I could handle losing him. You don’t know how much this means to me.”
“Of course, dear. Now, time is of the essence. Go, and good luck!”
——
Lloyd ran.
They ran, and ran, as if getting far enough away could erase what they’d done. As he turned a corner, his foot hit a puddle of water and he skidded, going down hard on the concrete. The side of their leg burned and stung and they limped over to lean against a building. They buried their head in their knees, breathing hard. He scrubbed at his eyes with his hand, hot tears threatening to spill. In their head, over and over like a mantra, What did I do? repeated over and over.
A hand landed on their shoulder. Softly, gently, but it didn’t matter. He lashed out, grabbing the person’s wrist and yanking them close to his face, baring his fangs. He let out a low hiss, wanting to make this person regret ever coming near him.
“Hey, hey, Lloyd, it’s okay, calm down, please,” Brad soothed. Brad. “It’s okay, I promise.”
Lloyd sobbed, lunging forward and yanking Brad into a hug. They pulled away after a minute, cupping his face in their hand. Their hand left a red smear on his face. Lloyd jumped back, snatching his hands away and finally looking at them. They were caked with blood, leaving red streaks on everything he touched, including Brad. He didn’t seem fazed, reaching back out for Lloyd.
“Stop, stop, I’m gonna get blood all over you, I’m gonna ruin you just like I do with everything else.”
“Lloyd, look at me.” Brad took his hands. “You’re not going to ruin anything. This is all my fault, I should’ve known the Sons of Garmadon would go after you, I should have never left you alone. Seeing you like that, what Harumi did to you, it was awful. I never want anything like that to happen to you ever again.”
“Yeah, imagine how I fucking feel,” Lloyd muttered, swiping at his eyes. “That sick fuck cut me up like she—”
They stopped. Brad looked at them, concerned. “Are you okay?”
Lloyd yanked his hands away from Brad. “How did you know that?”
“Know what?”
“All that shit about the Sons and Harumi. I never told you that. I sure as shit didn’t tell you about Harumi. So how did you know?”
“I was there with that group of hunters, to help rescue you—”
“No, that doesn’t make sense. She was long gone by then, so how did you know her name?” Brad was quiet. “Answer me, Brad.”
Nothing.
“I can’t believe you. I trusted you with my life and you were one of them this whole fucking time?” Lloyd tried to stand up, but their knees buckled and they fell back onto the ground.
“I’m not, I swear!”
“I don’t believe you. How the fuck am I supposed to trust a single word you say?”
“Lloyd, if you would just listen to me—”
Lloyd didn’t, in fact, listen to him. He tried again to get to his feet, praying that his legs wouldn’t give out as he ran. They took off as fast as they could, away from Brad, away from the one person they thought they could trust. He had no one now.
Notes:
and on that delightful note, we’re halfway through!! hell yeah! also i deleted a chapter because i only had like one thing happen in it and i don’t think i could force myself to write 1500 words about one thing happening. so i just combined it with a couple other chapters. y’all probably wouldn’t have known that but i felt the need to tell you anyway.
oh yeah fun fact i was originally gonna have the second half of this chapter be a sweet little greenflower hurt/comfort moment but where’s the fun in that? enjoy this instead and think about what could have been. i have all the power here
Chapter 11: Intertwined
Notes:
today’s sponsor is so much better from legally blonde the musical. laura bell bundy loml
it’s been a hot minute hasnt it. haha don’t kill me. ive had a ton of stuff going on. im out of school now though so ill have more time to write woop!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Garmadon looked down at his son, wanting nothing more than to reach out and touch them, and tell them that he was there and everything would be okay. Shadows can’t do that, unfortunately, so he had to settle for watching over Lloyd from whatever wretched corner of Ninjago he’d ended up in.
Lloyd sat with his legs pulled up to his chest and his tail wrapped around them, staring into the flames of a small fire. They were obviously lost in thought, eyes blank, seemingly staring through the fire, not at it. The shadows cast by the fire allowed Garmadon to be there, at least partially. He was grateful for that.
Something clattered down the alley from Lloyd, and he started, turning and staring at the source of the noise. A stray cat scurried out of the darkness and darted past them. He sighed and went back to staring at the fire.
Oh, damn it all. “I am sorry, son,” he said, as quietly as possible, but still making Lloyd jump. His child scanned the shadows before settling his gaze on the shadowy form of Garmadon. “This is my fault.”
Lloyd wrinkled his brow. “How? You’re not even here.”
“Exactly! If I had been there, I could have protected you! Instead, I am stuck in this wretched place!” Garmadon gripped his hair at the roots, claws digging into his scalp.
“Dad!” Lloyd sounded surprised, and a little hurt. “None of this is your fault. You couldn’t have predicted that some crazy girl would form her own cult around you. That’s insane. I just happen to be the unluckiest person on the planet.”
“It’s your First Master genetics, son. They seem to come with a great deal of bad luck. My brother and I were both dealt terrible hands in life, and so, it seems, were you.”
Lloyd’s forehead crinkled. “My what now?”
Garmadon wanted to slap himself. Of course Lloyd didn’t know, they hadn’t spoken for ten years. And of course the people at Darkley’s wouldn’t have told him, they had no way of knowing either. Damn it, damn it.
“Lloyd, my father is the First Spinjitzu Master,” Garmadon said, as gently as possible. “I assumed you knew, but now that I think about it, that was foolish of me. You had no way of knowing. I wish I could have told you under different circumstances, but you should have been told a long time ago. This is where your elemental power comes from. You inherited it from me, and I from my father.”
Lloyd’s back hit the brick wall with a thud. He looked like someone had just dropped a building on him, and his eyes were huge. His various injuries and look of shell-shock made him look as if he had just come from battle.
“The FSM is your dad?” Lloyd demanded. He let out a humorless laugh. “Holy hell, that’s insane. Are the Garmadons just like, genetically predisposed to have shit luck or something?”
Garmadon chuckled. “It seems so, yes. You have your grandfather to thank for that.”
“Wow.” Lloyd muttered something to himself that Garmadon didn’t quite catch. He decided that his son was more than entitled to his crazed ramblings after everything he’d been through. He didn’t know the details, but he’d heard enough through the shadows to know the gist of it. Just the bare-bones information he’d gathered had made him bristle with fury, so maybe that was for the best.
“I know you are feeling alone right now, Lloyd, but you aren’t. You never are. I am always with you, remember that. I love you, son.”
A ghost of a smile flitted across Lloyd’s face. “I love you too, Dad. Even if you did give me your shit luck.”
——
“The peak of the nearest mountain,” Nya muttered. She cast a glance at Kai, who was knocked out and limp on Cole’s back. He’d been asleep or out of it for most of the day since they’d talked to Mystake. She was grateful for that, since she could only imagine how much pain he would be in if he was conscious. She craned her neck to stare up at the mountain in front of her. There were stairs carved into the rock, which at least meant they wouldn’t have to scale the actual mountain. “We’re in the right place, right?”
“Correct. These are the Mountains of Impossible Height, which are just outside of the city,” Zane said, text flashing across their eyes. “Hm. Aptly named, it seems. According to this, there is a monastery at the peak of the tallest mountain. I would assume that is this one.”
“Why couldn’t it be the Small Hill of Average Height?” Jay muttered under his breath. Cole snorted.
“Jay, that was dumb, even for you.”
“You laughed, though.”
“No I didn’t. You’re hallucinating.”
“You’re stupid.”
“Ooh, burn.”
“Focus, y’all,” Nya interrupted. “The sooner we start climbing, the sooner we get there, and the sooner we get Kai back. Yeah?”
“Yeah,” Cole and Jay agreed.
They began to climb the stairs. Nya normally thought of herself as a fairly athletic person, but these stairs nearly sent her to the afterlife and beyond. Their legs were burning before they even reached the halfway point. Cole didn’t complain at all, and he was better than Nya for that. If she was in his situation, the others would have never heard the end of it.
After what seemed like an eternity, they finally reached the top. Jay threw himself over the final step and collapsed onto the group, making the rest of the group step over him. Nya had to stifle the urge to gently kick him. Not the time.
She gasped at the sight of the monastery. It was huge, clearly meant to train a ton of students. Stumbling for the door, they barely made it, and ended up sitting down hard on the wooden porch.
She reached up to knock on one of the many doors of the monastery, but before they could, the door slid open. There stood the oldest man Nya had ever seen, with a long white beard. She felt a little bad about that being her gut reaction, but she stood by it. The guy was ancient. He was wearing a long white robe with gold embroidery, and a large, conical straw hat. She would have laughed if she wasn’t so freaked out.
There was something about him that unnerved her. She couldn’t put her finger on it. Maybe his eyes were a little too deep. Maybe his teeth were a little too sharp. Maybe the angles of his body were a little off. She wasn’t sure, but something was definitely strange. They decided they didn’t want to look him in the eye any more than they had to.
“I am Master Wu. I’ve been expecting you,” he said, after staring at the group for a beat. “You got here quickly. Good. Follow me.”
He turned and walked back into the monastery. Nya cast a concerned glance at their friends. “Is this a good idea?” she hissed. “This dude is giving me the creeps.”
“Yeah, he’s really weird,” Jay agreed. “Should we follow him?”
“We don’t have much of a choice, do we?” Cole asked, shifting Kai’s weight on his back. “Mystake said we had, what, three days? It’s already been one. Who else can we talk to in time?”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Nya sighed. “I don’t like it, though.”
“We are doing this for Kai,” Zane reminded her. “You do not have to like it. If this strange man can save him, it will have been worth it.”
She nodded. “Right.”
Nya led the charge into the monastery. It was massive, with a maze of twisting corridors that she would have easily gotten lost in without the strange old man guiding her. He wasn’t much of a guide, walking fast and not saying anything to them. The group had to rush to keep up with him.
After what seemed like ages, but couldn’t have been more than five minutes, the narrow hallway opened up into a high-ceilinged room that absolutely reeked of herbs and tea leaves. Nya almost coughed at the smell, but managed to stifle it.
Wu stood by a tall wooden table, reminiscent of an exam table. He beckoned them over. Cole laid Kai gently on the table, and the others gathered around as the old man examined their brother. Nya watched them, hardly daring to breathe.
“So,” she blurted out, “you’re a doctor?”
“No,” Wu replied, focused on Kai.
“A male nurse,” they guessed.
“A magic hitman,” Jay added.
“No,” he sighed.
“Then what exactly qualifies you to figure out what’s wrong with my brother?” Nya demanded. She was sick of all these people promising things they couldn’t deliver. She just wanted her brother back.
“Your brother’s wounds were caused by Oni magic, and as I am the only sane Oni in this realm who knows anything about said magic, I would say that I am plenty qualified,” Wu snapped, shooting her a look. With a soft pop, a thick, golden tail materialized behind him, lashing back and forth in annoyance. “Now please, if you could let me work, that would be much appreciated.”
She shut her mouth and let him work.
Wu paused his examination, hands hovering over Kai. “These are…how did he get these?”
“He got them from Lloyd Garmadon,” Nya replied. “We were trying to capture him for a bounty. We’re monster hunters, and we needed money.”
Wu took a step back. “Lloyd Garmadon…” he repeated faintly.
“Is there an issue, sir?” Zane asked. “Do you require assistance?”
“I suspected…but no…didn’t want to believe it…” Wu muttered. “Couldn’t be…”
“Is something wrong?” Nya frowned.
“No, you must have made a mistake,” he told her. “Lloyd could not have done this. The magic is wrong. There is no possibility.”
“No, it was definitely him,” Jay said. “We’re sure. Why are you acting so weird?”
“This cannot be. Lloyd is…Lloyd is my brother’s son. My nephew.”
Notes:
nya saying y’all my beloved. she’s so me
hey nerds it’s been a while. i’m feeling a little silly today so life updates!
i applied to be drum major for my band and i got it!!
i started dating one of my best friends, huge win for me since i’ve been in love with said friend for months lmao. if any of y’all read my last story that i posted, the morro one, this is the very same boyfriend whose ear i have been talking off.
i finished my junior year of high school hell yeah. only one year left until i am OUT of my hellhole of a small town
that’s it mostly. i should be updating more regularly now. love you all
Chapter 12: Homebound
Notes:
hey divas this is sponsored by the lighthouse by stevie nicks
i start school soon boooo. on the bright side though i get my laptop back so i can write on that instead of my phone yaya
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Your nephew?” Nya demanded. “We thought you were good!”
Wu shot her a severe look. “It will do you good to learn, young one, that the lines between good and evil are never as clear as you imagine. My family may be evil in the eyes of the world, but are they really? Am I, simply from my relation to them? These answers, we may never know.”
Nya and Jay shared a confused glance. Vague bastard. This should be fun.
“Yeah, sure,” she replied, attempting to control the annoyance bleeding into her tone. They already wanted to leave, but no. She had to stay. This strange, cryptic old man could heal Kai. She repeated that in her mind, trying to convince herself that it was worth it.
Wu turned his attention back to Kai, examining his wounds more closely and spinning what looked like thin, golden threads between his fingers. “If you would, I would prefer to be left alone. Magic is a complicated thing which requires my utmost focus, especially when another’s life is on the line.”
Nya wanted to scream. As if sensing her frustration, Zane stepped forward, ever the diplomat. “That makes sense, of course. Magic is an incredibly finicky component,” they said, tone even. “Do you have any place we could wait while you work on him?”
“Hm.” Wu considered for a moment. “There is training equipment out in the courtyard, if any of you have any interest in ninja training. It has not been used in a while, so it may not be completely functional, but the space is available if you so wish.”
Cole nodded. “I’d be down to check that out if you guys would.”
“Sure,” Jay agreed.
“Yeah, why the h—” Nya cut themself off, sensing that it might not be best to curse in front of Wu. He had a teacher vibe to him that made her feel weird. You know, in addition to literally everything else about him that made her feel weird. “Ahem. Why not.”
“Follow the hallway back the way you came, turn left at the first fork, and then continue straight until you reach the outdoors. There is a central courtyard where all of the equipment is stored,” Wu explained. Nya did her best to commit his directions to memory.
“Thank you.”
He made a noncommittal noise and waved a hand at the group, waving them away. Cole, being the closest to the exit, led the way to the courtyard, which they reached without incident. They may have made a wrong turn or two, but that was hardly their fault. The monastery was like a fucking maze.
Nya gasped when they stepped out into the circular yard, spinning slowly to take it all in. The courtyard was massive, and filled with training equipment. Punching bags, racks of weapons, an entire obstacle course with moving obstacles. She didn’t know what she wanted to do first.
Cole made a beeline for one of the weapon racks, picking up an oversized scythe and taking a few swings with it. A grin spread across his face as he began to spin it. “Oh, yeah. That’s cool.”
Jay and Zane followed him, narrowly avoiding being whacked with his scythe. Jay’s eyes lit up at the sight of a pair of nunchaku, while Zane reached for a set of shurikens.
They wandered over to a row of targets, each standing about fifteen feet in front of one. Zane took a few practice throws with his shurikens. Jay channeled his lightning through the nunchaku, cracking into the target and sending wood slivers flying through the air, leaving it slightly singed. Cole had drifted over to a punching bag and was slashing at it with his scythe, sand spilling from the rips in the bag.
Nya watched them, chest tight. Kai would absolutely love this. There was a sword on that rack that they knew he would love. He’d always favored longer swords over her preferred daggers.
Surprisingly, the rack had no daggers, only full-sized swords, a couple spears, and a wooden staff. She grabbed a spear, but threw it aside after a few practice jabs. It felt unwieldy and unbalanced, and its weight was throwing them off. She joined Cole at the punching bags, taking the one across from him. Her muscles relaxed, however incrementally, as she pummeled the sandbag. Her time in the ring came back to her as she visualized an opponent facing her, ducking and weaving as she threw punches and jabs at it.
By the time she finally wore herself out, the boys were all sitting, watching her. Sweat poured down her face and into her eyes as she slammed one last hit into the bag. They took a step away, shaking out their hands. Their knuckles were stinging and irritated, and they kind of wished they’d wrapped their hands. Rookie mistake; she should’ve known better.
Nya walked over and slumped down beside Jay, resting their head on his shoulder. He slung an arm around her, rubbing soothing circles into her aching shoulder.
She closed her eyes, exhausted from the workout, and let her thoughts drift away. They wished Kai was here, but when did they not? They missed their brother.
Wu will take care of him, Nya tried to assure herself. He has to.
She didn’t know what she’d do if he couldn’t.
——
Lloyd tilted his head, trying to read the sign above him. The flickering neon was messing with their eyes, but they could make out something about tea? Maybe?
He patted his pockets. He still had a few coins left from scrounging around; maybe it would be enough to buy some tea. They were really thirsty.
Before he could second-guess himself, Lloyd was pushing the door open. A bell tinkled cheerfully as they entered, and a voice called out “Be there in a moment!” from the back of the shop.
He squinted at the labels on the various jars of tea leaves behind the counter. His eyes were pretty good, usually, but the font on these labels was fucking tiny. He saw Traveler’s Tea, Two Moon Tea, and Tomorrow’s Tea. Lots of “T” names. Ha. They didn’t know what any of that stuff was, but it was intriguing. He was particularly interested in Tomorrow’s Tea. It sounded interesting, and Lloyd was nothing if not curious.
His examination was interrupted by a very old, short woman emerging from the back and peering over the counter at him. Her white hair was pulled back in a tight bun. She seemed normal at a glance, but the longer he looked at her, the more he got the feeling that something wasn’t quite right. Nothing was obviously wrong, but something about her just made their skin crawl.
Lloyd and the old woman stared at each other for a long moment, and then something very strange happened. Lloyd blinked, and when he opened his eyes, reality seemed to warp and bend. They blinked a few more times, disoriented, and when they looked at the woman again, they had to stifle a yelp of surprise. She now had a pair of large, beetle-like horns curling up from her skull. Weirdly, they kind of reminded Lloyd of his dad. A purple-black spiked tail coiled lazily behind her.
“Welcome to Mystake’s Teas, youngling,” she said finally. Her voice was dry and crackly, like dead leaves. “I am Mystake, and you are a Garmadon.”
Not a question. She said it as a statement, leaving no room for Lloyd to argue.
“How do you know that?” they asked, incredibly freaked out now. In a city where you’re hunted for sport, notoriety is a very bad thing. You don’t want people knowing who you are. “Who are you?”
“As I said, I am Mystake. We Oni know each other well, youngling,” she told him. “With so few of us left, you would do well to recognize your own. I could sense your magic before you walked in the door. Garmadon magic is very unique. Of course I know who you are.”
Lloyd bristled. Magic? He had elemental powers, sure, but that hardly counted as magic. “Do you have any tea?”
“Of course, youngling. What would you like? We carry any tea you can think of.”
They pointed at the Tomorrow’s Tea. “What does that do?”
“That one is very dangerous, Lloyd. It moves you forward in time. Very, very powerful magic. I would advise against it. I have heard many a story of children whose childhoods were stolen from them by fooling around with Tomorrow’s Tea.”
“Oh. Do you have anything that isn’t weird and magic?”
“Certainly. Do you have any blend you prefer?”
“Do you have jasmine?”
“Of course, young one. Give me just a moment.” Mystake disappeared into the back again. He heard her rattling around, presumably making a cup of jasmine tea. Lloyd wasn’t sure where that came from, he’d never had jasmine tea that he could remember, but it felt right.
She re-emerged minutes later, handing Lloyd a steaming mug of tea. “Interesting choice,” she remarked. “Your uncle drinks the same blend.”
They froze mid-sip. “My what?”
“Your uncle, dear. Master Wu? He’s rather famous around these parts. Surely you’ve heard of him somewhere.”
Well, that was new. “No, can’t say that I have.”
“Oh, you must go see him, he is an excellent teacher. He lives in his monastery at the peak of the nearest mountain.”
Lloyd drained his mug, burning his tongue in the process. He coughed. Well, shit. “I mean, if you say so. Thanks for the tea. How much?”
“It’s on the house, young one. Send Wu my regards, would you?”
“Sure, lady. Thank you.”
They left the shop, shaking out their residual shivers once they were outside. FSM, that lady freaked him out bad.
Time to scale a mountain, he supposed. Oh, well. Wouldn’t be the craziest thing he’d done.
Despite himself, Lloyd was a little excited to meet his uncle. Maybe Wu would be a cool ninja sensei who could teach Lloyd all sorts of dope ninja shit. They hoped so. They hoped he was cool like their dad, and not weird like Mystake.
Lloyd set off to find a place to rest for the night. He’d need his energy if he was going to be climbing a mountain in the morning.
Notes:
i really like the idea of the dragoni ppl being really unsettling. just absolutely strange creatures
is it obvious that i know nothing about weapons or weapon training? i wish i did it’s super cool but unfortunately i am a teenager in a small town where nothjng cool happens and no way to get to a bigger town where cool things do happen
Pages Navigation
Coliestra-Olciz (Guest) on Chapter 1 Sun 24 Dec 2023 08:10AM UTC
Comment Actions
platomityy on Chapter 1 Sun 24 Dec 2023 02:49PM UTC
Comment Actions
platomityy on Chapter 1 Sun 24 Dec 2023 02:50PM UTC
Comment Actions
LiquificationOfTheHumanbody on Chapter 1 Sat 13 Apr 2024 03:11PM UTC
Comment Actions
platomityy on Chapter 1 Sat 13 Apr 2024 03:47PM UTC
Comment Actions
DeVullz on Chapter 1 Thu 04 Jul 2024 02:56PM UTC
Comment Actions
platomityy on Chapter 1 Fri 05 Jul 2024 07:46PM UTC
Comment Actions
..Lloyd..my son (Guest) on Chapter 1 Sun 11 May 2025 09:58PM UTC
Comment Actions
lakes_liver on Chapter 2 Tue 26 Dec 2023 01:19AM UTC
Comment Actions
platomityy on Chapter 2 Tue 26 Dec 2023 02:32AM UTC
Comment Actions
Pop_r0cks22 on Chapter 2 Mon 16 Dec 2024 01:48PM UTC
Comment Actions
platomityy on Chapter 2 Mon 16 Dec 2024 01:57PM UTC
Comment Actions
Astronomical_Rat on Chapter 2 Fri 05 Jul 2024 11:54PM UTC
Comment Actions
platomityy on Chapter 2 Sat 06 Jul 2024 04:06AM UTC
Comment Actions
Pop_r0cks22 on Chapter 2 Fri 25 Oct 2024 04:05PM UTC
Comment Actions
root (Guest) on Chapter 2 Sun 11 May 2025 10:08PM UTC
Comment Actions
lakes_liver on Chapter 3 Fri 05 Jan 2024 07:50AM UTC
Comment Actions
platomityy on Chapter 3 Fri 05 Jan 2024 01:08PM UTC
Comment Actions
..Lloyd..my son (Guest) on Chapter 3 Sun 11 May 2025 10:19PM UTC
Comment Actions
platomityy on Chapter 3 Tue 13 May 2025 02:19AM UTC
Comment Actions
lakes_liver on Chapter 4 Mon 15 Jan 2024 09:44PM UTC
Comment Actions
platomityy on Chapter 4 Tue 16 Jan 2024 06:37AM UTC
Comment Actions
Cittycatplay on Chapter 5 Sun 04 Feb 2024 09:04AM UTC
Comment Actions
platomityy on Chapter 5 Sun 04 Feb 2024 01:33PM UTC
Comment Actions
Star_Innit_Child on Chapter 5 Sun 04 Feb 2024 12:09PM UTC
Comment Actions
platomityy on Chapter 5 Sun 04 Feb 2024 01:34PM UTC
Comment Actions
Andalanite on Chapter 5 Mon 12 Feb 2024 03:02PM UTC
Comment Actions
platomityy on Chapter 5 Tue 13 Feb 2024 02:16PM UTC
Comment Actions
lakes_liver on Chapter 5 Wed 14 Feb 2024 03:21AM UTC
Comment Actions
platomityy on Chapter 5 Wed 14 Feb 2024 03:33AM UTC
Comment Actions
So uhhhh... (Guest) on Chapter 5 Tue 01 Apr 2025 12:11AM UTC
Comment Actions
..Lloyd..my son (Guest) on Chapter 5 Sun 11 May 2025 10:37PM UTC
Comment Actions
Aldara_WingsIt on Chapter 6 Sun 10 Mar 2024 03:31AM UTC
Comment Actions
platomityy on Chapter 6 Sun 10 Mar 2024 06:43PM UTC
Comment Actions
Aldara_WingsIt on Chapter 6 Sun 10 Mar 2024 08:19PM UTC
Comment Actions
platomityy on Chapter 6 Sun 10 Mar 2024 09:11PM UTC
Comment Actions
StarDusk_ThatOneADHDkid on Chapter 6 Mon 11 Mar 2024 11:03PM UTC
Comment Actions
Metztli_Wolf on Chapter 6 Thu 21 Mar 2024 02:26AM UTC
Comment Actions
platomityy on Chapter 6 Thu 21 Mar 2024 02:29AM UTC
Comment Actions
Gakriel_Lvs on Chapter 6 Mon 01 Apr 2024 02:57AM UTC
Comment Actions
platomityy on Chapter 6 Mon 01 Apr 2024 03:01AM UTC
Comment Actions
Pages Navigation