Lone Wolf

by Writer_of_Fandoms_123

Summary:

No one trusted Kai anymore.
Not after what he pulled on Chen’s Island.
Hell, Kai doesn’t trust himself.

Notes:

I know this isn't Encanto. But give it a shot pls?

Things had changed after Chen.

Kai found himself isolated, both self imposed, and team imposed.

And he didn’t need to ask to know what the issue was: He wasn’t trustworthy. No one had to say it,hell , they didn’t even have to tello him directly he wasn’t welcomed anymore.

It was obvious.

Cole and Jay’s jokes were more forceful, hurtful around him, their glares worse than the tense silence whenever Kia suggested a plan of action, and they outright refused to spar with him, Zane, while he wasn’t present for what happened, had heard, and was the first to step close to him when Kai’s temper flared, a precaution, hurtful, but understandable, Wu and Misako moved flammable and important scrolls from the immediate blast radius if Kai got frustrated, and what hurts the most was Nya and Lloyd, Lloyd wasn’t allowed in the same room as Kai alone anymore, he always had Cole, or Jay with him, even if Kai needed to have a private conversation, they would just shrug “we’re a team aren’t we? No need for secrets.” they would say. 

Nya would flinch if Kai’s voice got too loud.

And that hurt the most, Nya had seen him at his worst, trying to keep the blacksmith shop open, she had seen him downright destructive, not to mention the countless arguments where Kai would practically scream at Nya because he was so stressed. She had always been the first to reach out to him at those moments, Kai didn’t understand how she could forgive him for that, but he could now.

Kai could call Nya names, scream at her until his voice cracked, leave her alone for days on time, but a fake betrayal is where she became afraid of him.

Because she no longer had just Kai, she had Jay, Lloyd, Zane, Cole, hell even Wu and Misako.

She didn’t need him anymore.

Kai began to retreat into himself, he stopped coming to team bonding, he trained in private again, his teammates didn’t want to spar with some hotheaded ball of anger issues, he found solace in returning to the smith shop and taking his anger out on melted metal, he ignored concerned looks he got when he came back with blistering hands, and the smell of singer hair clinging to him, and the occasional burn on his hand from where the molten earth had burned him, he stopped talking around them, stopped speaking out at planning meetings, not like they listened anyways, after all, his plans were frowned upon.

He didn’t leave.

Nor did he want to.

At least, not until he came back from the blacksmith shop one day.

__________________________________

 

His shoulders ached, and the faint smell of iron and sweat clung to him as he landed on the deck of the Destiny’s Bounty, he wanted some food, and then his bed, but as he approached the kitchen area, he heard voices.

“-I’m just saying, Kai is becoming a problem -” Jay’s voice was the loudest, like always.

"Well can you blame him Jay, we haven’t exactly been model teammates or brothe-” Zane’s voice was the voice of reason to Jay’s annoyance.

“He was going to let a snake eat Nya-!” Jay yelled, clearly frustrated that his point was getting across.

“You honestly think he would’ve allowed it?” Misako asked. “Kai would’ve broken his act in a heartbeat, if he knew that Nya had been in danger.”

That was true, Kai didn’t learn about the snake until after the whole ordeal was over, and if he had known, well to hell with his plan, he would’ve gone and saved his sister.

“Perhaps we should all calm down, anger will get us nowhere.” Lloyd seemed to have grown tired of the arguing. “Kai did what he thought was necessary-”

“Oh, so now the great green ninja who can’t even look or be in a room alone with Kai wants to defend him?” Cole grumbled. Kai sighed, of course it was Jay and Cole who were angriest at him. His problem wasn't' that they were angry, it was that they were right to.

Kai had put the team in danger.

Lloyd in danger.

Ninjago in danger.

“Lloyd is right, Kai was trying to defeat Chen, he did what he thought was necessary.” Wu’s voice was stern, as if he too agreed that what was happening had gone on long enough.

“Right, and then he decided to attack Lloyd, are Jay and I the only ones who remember that Kai was under his own power, Chen didn’t make him attack Lloyd.” Cole’s voice was harsh and angry. “I’m with Jay, we never actually heard an apology from Kai for what happened on Chen’s island-”

“Well maybe if you actually let Kai talk to me without acting like he’s out to kill me we would’ve-”

“-Kai needs to clean up his act, start being a team player, or we need to seriously consider his spot on this team.” Cole cut Lloyd off to finish his statement.

Kai sighed, he had heard enough, everyone was at a consensus, he wasn’t welcomed. With a steeling breath, he opened the door to the kitchen, the room immediately became hot and awkward, Jay and Cole both looked a tad shocked as Kai refused to look at them, instead walking to the fridge, grabbing his curry leftovers and walking out, pausing at the door to look back, Nya looked like she wanted to go to him, but had seen enough of his temper to know better, Wu looked ashamed of his students, Misako was very, very busy with the scroll in front of her, Zane seemed to be running the probability of Kai getting angry. Not a single soul in this room trusted him. That was clear, and Kai, his eyes burning  with tears  he didn’t let fall, didn't’ know why he expected any less, where there used to be rage, there was only emptiness and cold harsh sadness, he could’ve yelled, it was within his right, instead he simply said:

“I’m going out for the night.”

“Kai wait-”

He didn’t listen, he just shut the door,grabbed his overnight backpack from his room, took the long route to the deck to avoid the kitchen, and summoned his dragon and took off into the skyline, until he found a sea stack that wasn’t buffered by salt water at the top to land on.

He stood there for a moment, his overnight pack still slung over his shoulders, his container of leftovers clenched in a sweaty palm.

He stared out at the glittering sea that surrounded Ninjago, the stars above, and vast mountains. He could see the shape of the Bounty in the distance, the lights all out, he had only been flying for about thirty minutes, he shouldn’t be that far away.

He picked at his leftovers, his appetite long since gone, until he eventually threw them into the water,the fish would appreciate it more after all. He glared at the stars, pretending the salty water in his mouth was seaspray, and not his own tears, but he was on the driest sea stack for miles, and tired of the lies.

Tired of the ‘I’m fines’

The ‘ Nothing’s wrong Kai ’

The half hidden glares, and the muttered insults.

He was tired of being fake .

Kai didn’t react when a dragon landed behind him or when Lloyd sat beside him. They sat in silence for a while, Kai appreciated that Lloyd recognized that he needed quiet, even when Lloyd hadn’t recognized his downward spiral.

“...you hear us didn’t you?”

“Hard not to.” Kai growled, fists clenching as his fingernails dug into blistering palms “You should go, don’t want me attacking you, you know?”

“Kai, Cole and jay are just being cautious, they didn’t mean what they said-”

“Didn’t they?” Kai sneered, standing up and sending a blast of fire out over the ocean, Lloyd visibly jumped, staring at his brother with wide eyes. “I’m not blind Lloyd, they don’t want me there, Znae doesn’t, Nya doesn’t,Wu, Misako, no one wants me there. Not even you’re sure that you want me there.” 

Lloyd flinched.

“I’m sure we can talk this out-”

“You’re naive.” Kai growled, ignoring the hurt look Lloyd gave him as Kai began his restless pacing, running a hand through his hair, not really caring as it caught painfully on the clumps of gel and tangles. “Or stupid, or purposefully blind. Lloyd, look at how the team acts around me, just for one day. See if you can look me in the eyes and say they treat me like family.”

Lloyd stood up, and while he was still shorter than Kai, but by quite a margin, he still stood tall.

“And how am I supposed to do that, when you’re never around?”

They stared at each other, neither one breaking eye contact, Kai finally exhaled, tired, and unwilling to escalate the argument.

“Go back to your family Lloyd.” Kai finally said, turning back and sitting on the edge of the sea stack. “They wouldn’t want you hanging out with a monster like me.”

“Don’t call yourself that.”

“We both know it’s true.”

“Kai-”

“Go. Home . Lloyd.” Kai spat, feeling his temper arise, he didn’t want to hurt Lloyd, but in order for that to happen, Lloyd needed to leave.

Lloyd stared at him for a second.

“It’s your home too.” he muttered after a second. “And I’m not leaving until you're coming with me.”

Kai looked back at the green ninja, the gold master, the prophesied child, his brother, friend enemy-

“You don’t need me Lloyd, you have the team, you have Zane, Jay, Cole, Nya, Wu and Misako-”

“Kai-” Lloyd tried to break in, standing behind Kai, hand half raised with that stupid look he got whenever he felt bad about something.

“- I’ll be back by midnight, Promise. but just-” his voice broke as he felt the building pressure between his eyes, his eyes burning as his vision blurred again. He cleared his throat. “Just go . Go home , Lloyd, and leave me alone.”

Lloyd hesitated for two more seconds before the woosh of dragon wings signaled his departure, Kai waited until the dragon was no longer casting a golden glow over the sea stack to glance back, he could see the blob disappearing, becoming smaller until it vanished all together on the vague shape of the bounty. Only then, did Kai break down, it was slow, his hands trembled as his teeth grinded together, a back molar cracking, then the silent sobbing started, he curled in on himself, his body violently shaking as he finally yelled, he snarled, and gnashed his teeth, shooting fireballs into the black abyss that surrounded him. He didn’t know how long he yelled, but when he stopped, slumping back against a rock, his throat was raw, and his limbs felt like lead. Kai briefly thought back to his promise to be back on the bounty by midnight, and risked a glance at his watch, and sighed. 

It was nearly one in the morning.

If he didn’t come back, that would be another promise broken. If he did, he risked even more tension.

“They hate me.” he finally whispered to the wind. He stared up at the stars, and a traitorous thought reminded him of the Traveler’s Tea that Wu kept in his personal stash, and how easy it would be to sneak in and take it.

Cole hadn’t been afraid to say it, neither had Jay.

Kai was the problem.

Kai looked up at the sky, and muttered one of his father’s favorite quotes that he had said before his parents had disappeared: “In order to fix the situation, you have to identify, and remove the problem.”

Kai was the problem here, wasn’t he?
So he would remove himself.

_________________________

 

Kai shouldn’t have been surprised that Wu was still chastising the ninja. He walked by the kitchen, Lloyd waved at him slightly, small and uncertain, like before the tomorrow tea when he would go to Kai’s bed when he had a nightmare, and Kai ignored it.

“-Regardless of what you might think, Kai wasn’t under his own power, Chen’s staff was influencing him-” Wu’s chastisement was sharp, and angry. Cole and Jay both shot Kai somewhat guilty, but still angry, looks as he walked past. Kai also ignored them. They would have one less problem in the near future, and they could go back to being the heroes of the story without the blemish on their records.

_________________________________

 

It was laughably easy to take some of Wu’s traveler’s tea leaves, shove them in a tea bag, and plop it into a thermos of boiling water, and then sneak back out of the ship, taking the longer route to avoid walking by the kitchen again, where Wu’s chastisement was still going rather impressively.

His only mistake was to leave Wu’s tea cupboard open, and a leave of Traveler’s tea on the floor.

 

Notes:

Yep, Kai decided to remove what he viewed as the problem, himself. There will be more to this, just let me know if you'd like to see it.

Kudos?
Thoughts?
Comments?

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of The Wyvren