Chapter Text
"You promised me." Arin's eyes glimmer with tears. "You promised!"
There's an expanse of a desert in the boy's field of vision. The green light of Lloyd's eyes reflecting the moonlight. The Realm of Lee was a harrowing place, one that the ninja had trekked over the following weeks to find their friend after he had enthusiastically ran to join their greatest enemy. Arin's words sting in Lloyd's mind, a gentle reminder, or not so gentle one of Morro's memories he was forced to watch all those years ago.
The blonde has his arms outstretched, to deescalate the vital situation.
However, Arin is not enthusiastic to Lloyd's efforts. He turns away, staring at his gloves, a half mask shielding his expression.
"Ras is using you, Arin." Lloyd finally says, "He only wants to destroy, to gain control of the Source Dragons."
Arin laughs a unsure laugh. 'Have you ever thought about there being two sides to every battle?" Arin's tone is malignant, lined with anger. "Have you ever considered that Ras want's something that we all want?"
Lloyd shakes his head, "His team murdered the Matriarch--"
But Arin finally cuts him off. "He wants to reverse the merge!"
There's a silence that fills the sand-filled land. A pause, while Lloyd blinks, taking it all in, before stepping forward.
"We can't." He breathes harsh. "We can't do that, Arin-- You know we can't."
Lloyd's attempt to put his hand on Arin's shoulders is rejected, as Arin steps back, the tears even more reflected in his eyes. "I lost my parents in the merge! Reversing the effects of it will bring them back."
Lloyd still walks forward, attempting to reason with his former student. "We all lost people in the merge. But you know that we can't change what--"
“No!” Arin yells. “You can’t even admit to the fact your own Master is the reason my parents are gone, that you did nothing to help me find them, that you promised they were still out there- after the mission, and the next, you made”
The blonde shakes his head. ”Arin, please.”
“-Empty promises you never were going to keep.They weren't important enough to you. Ras showed me that.”
“And you trust him?” says Lloyd.
Arin finally turns, from his residual desire to not face his master. It is obvious that Arin is struggling, whether through the dehydration present on his frame, the tears falling down his mask.
Arin pauses. "I don't like Ras, Lloyd; but he's the only one who I believe can help me." He points around him. "Not you! Not the Ninja."
Lloyd is lost for words, unaware of how much seething anger that his student could harbor for him.
“Replacing me with Frak? My childhood friend, my friend who now has elemental powers?”
Lloyd immediately counters. “That’s not the reason he’s with us. He’s not replacing anyone.”
“Then why—“
“You’re not the only person who lost their family in the merge, Arin.” says Lloyd with a solemn expression.
Arin laughs at the statement, much to Lloyd’s surprise.
“Who are you to say?”
Lloyd opens his mouth the counter, but silences. Hurt visibly painting his expression.
“Thought so.” Arin pauses, “You see? Ras thought I was capable enough to put me on a very important mission. You guys have something that can bring back my parents.”
The confusion grazes Lloyd's face while Arin immediately answers his own inference.
"A dragon icon."
Lloyd turns his gaze away from his student. Pulling his half mask over his mouth.
"I don't have one."
Arin sighs. “He said you'd say that.”
There's some forbidding anger lulling around at the surface, one that mirrors through emerald, glowing eyes. "How can you side with him?" Lloyd genuinely asks with frustration. "Ras captured the Source Dragon below Imperium, directly causing the merge?"
Arin circles Lloyd slowly. "And your teacher BROKE the BALANCE!" He yells. "Not everyone is going to be as perfect as the, Legendary, Green Ninja, right?"
"I never said I was perfect!"
"You insulted my Spinjitzu!" Yells Arin, exasperatingly.
"I never did. I've always told you that you could become one the best ninja out of any of us, and I meant that, Arin. You have so much potential..."
He shakes his head. "No.. Only Sora has potential to you.. and Wildfyre, and Riyu and --"
"Sora feels awful." Lloyd adjusts his half mask once more to show his face. "She really misses you, we all do; there hasn't been a single day where we've been able to rest since the Tournament of Sources."
"If she cared, she wouldn’t have lied to me." says Arin, shielding his Lloyd's area of vision, his silhouette against the night sky; somewhat poetic but dark. "Ras had to tell me, Lloyd. Ras! That she faked my object Spinjitzu. Do you have any idea how that feels--"
"Arin."
"--No, let me guess; because the Green Ninja has never lost a fight."
Lloyd blinks. "I have, you saw it happen."
Arin faces Lloyd, several feet away. "You were disqualified! You didn't lose. The entire tournament being rigged by Blekt was the reason, don't pity me to make me feel better-- Because, Now i know Lloyd. I know so much more than you ever let me know. I don't like Ras, but he was right about you."
Lloyd attempts to approach. "Arin, please listen to me."
Arin swipes his hand. "He was right about you then when he beat me in the Wyldness. He was right when he let me go, after I snuck into the Wolf Clan's quarters during the tournament, because the thing is?"" He pauses. "You never taught me anything. You didn't care enough to. At leasts with the tips Ras has let me know, I've been able to finally learn Spinjitzu, I've been able to get farther in my training than I've ever been able to with the Ninja."
"It's not right, Arin."
Arin steps forward, "If you're not going to give me the icon.. then I will take it."
The swirl of orange and golden hits Lloyd before he has a chance to blink, red clearing his vision in small specks. The impact of the technique hits him with a force like that of a rubber band. It's a feeling he knows from when he fought Cinder, the very first time in the Cloud Kingdom. How could he had been so Stupid? How could he had not realized. He's felt Spinjitzu before, but this.. this is not it.
Lloyd is on his knees, keening. He brings his weight up, leaning against a rock for balance. He breathes harsh.
"It's not.." He winces. "It's not Spinjitzu...." says Lloyd realizing. "Arin, what you're doing, it's a shortcut, forcing the balance is--"
Arin's short victory is underwhelmed. "Ras was right. He said you would never believe that I could ever perfect my Spinjitzu, that something would always be wrong with me, that you wouldn't believe that I was capable."
"It's Shatterspin!" Lloyd says, finally catching his breath. "Can't you feel it, Arin? Can't you feel the difference."
Arin is like a small child, arguing. "It's not shatterspin!"
"It's the start of it!"
Arin looks around, trying to field the area for other potential threats. "But I-- I don't have the mallet of Shattering.."
Lloyd looks Arin in the eyes. "Neither do the Forbidden Five."
The blonde watches the anger build in his students eyes. Lloyd bracing for impact, backs up.
"Don't you dare compare me to--" Arin shakes his head. "Why weren't you able to teach me, Lloyd. All those excercises, those early morning trainings."
Lloyd finds the bravery to step forward, slowed. "You know what I have been--"
"No." Arin counters. "Why did Ras have to be the one. Ras who we all demonized to fit our boxes. He's not, he's not a good person; but he's far more capable than you would ever be to help find my parents."
Lloyd is at a loss for words.
"No wonder you guys lost Jay. You never looked? You didn't care.."
"Arin, we came here to find you." Lloyd says, stuttering
"It was very stupid to."