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“NO! Let me go !!” Lloyd fought against the larger and much stronger figure holding him firmly against his chest. He hadn’t bothered to pick up any of the ninja’s names, but the blue one had given the job of handling him to the black one the second he had started thrashing. Arms pinned down to his sides, Lloyd still tossed and kicked occasionally getting a good hit into his captive’s shin.
Once they boarded, he had see the girl poke her head out of one of the other rooms at the ruckus but his uncle told her to go back as they took him into another room in the lower level of the Bounty. “I don’t want to be here!! LET ME GO!”
“Get me a chair, Kai.”
The red ninja pulled over a chair from the table and Wu, taking Lloyd from the other’s arms, dumped him into it. Lloyd continued to screech, flailing in protest. “STOP IT. STOP. I SAID I DIDN’T WANT TO BE HERE.”
“Sit.” Wu held the small boy by his shoulders forcefully. Pressing him down into the chair Wu forced him to sit up and look forward. The back of the seat pressed into him. “Calm down.”
Lloyd still tried to fight off his uncle as the others in the room looked on uneasily. He growled, tipping the chair backwards. He tried to kick at the man holding him screaming and punching uselessly at his chest.
“NO. YOU KILLED HIM!!!! YOU KILLED MY-”
The sound of the slap rung through the room. Everything fell silent and still as the stinging spread through Lloyd’s cheek.
“Master Wu, I do not believe-”
“Everyone leave.”
Lloyd squirmed uncomfortably under the group’s gaze. He sniffed as tears welled up and rolled down his cheeks, hot and heavy. The onlookers stood still, looking at one another as a stale strained feeling moved between them.
“Zane’s right Master Wu, this is a bit much.” The red one said stepped forward and trying to place a hand on his teacher’s shoulder.
“I don’t remember asking for an opinion. I said leave .” Wu smacked the boy’s hand away, not bothering to face anyone while giving his command. Another look was shared between the ninja before they reluctantly left the two alone.
Large tears continued to work their way down Lloyd’s face, seeping down onto his neck as he gripped at the sides of the chair. He didn’t want to be crying but couldn’t stop himself as a sob broke out from his throat.
“Stop crying before I give you something to cry about.”
Lloyd sniffed in response to his uncle’s command, quickly wiping away at his face with the soaked collar of his shirt. “I’m so-orry.” His voice wavered and he bit his tongue to stop the oncoming sobs, something he had learned a while back at Darkley’s. He hated crying.
“Why are you even crying? My father would of beat me or slapped me so hard I couldn’t see if I were you.” Lloyd stayed quiet not having anyway to respond. He couldn’t even look at Wu. Sure the slap had hurt, but he wasn’t even sure that was the only reason he was crying. He was shocked and filled with embarrassment. His mother had never laid a hand on him, no one that he looked up to or was taken in by had for that matter.
“Wh-why...why did you-” Another sob bubbled up, breaking through with its following tears.
“I’m not speaking to you until you stop crying.”
He mashed his tongue between his molars as he pressed the ball of his hands to his eyes, rubbing the tears into his skin as he took deep breaths. “Why did you kill him.”
“You are too young to be able to understand.”
Rage pulsed through the young boy’s veins. At this point he was only here to be tortured like this, he had no other ideas as to why Wu wouldn’t just let him leave. “Too young for WHAT. I already know , I’ve been able to understand that .”
Wu sighed taking his hands from Lloyd’s shoulders. “It was the only way, Lloyd. Your father and I were battling because he was trying to steal the golden weapons. I was given a chance and if I didn’t take it, it would of been my life that was taken that day.”
Lloyd shook in response to his answer. It made sense but -
“You. Didn’t. Have. To. KILL. Him.” He punctuated each word with another frail punch to his uncle’s chest. Wu roughly grabbed both his arms and twisted them away from himself. Lloyd looked down weakly. “There could of been another way…”
“No.” Wu pulled Lloyd up by both his arms. “You have had a long day today Lloyd, let's read a story. We can continue this later.”
Lloyd wanted to fight, he didn’t want to listen to a story, he didn’t want to be around his uncle anymore, but...he was already so tired.