Chapter Text
It felt weird to not wear his signature color, but at least he wasn't broadcasting his position to his contract. He did, however, wish he didn't have to hike through an unfamiliar jungle at night trying to follow a trail of what he really hopes is just mud. The blonde perched himself on a fallen tree, looking down at the trail below.
A normal human would have trouble with this contract, which might be why they asked for Lloyd specifically. Kai tried to join him, but only Lloyd can see in the dark and the cover the night provided was vital. There was no moonlight to guide his path tonight.
He tried to remember the details of the contract. The only parts that stuck out to him were that the target only struck at night, usually only attacked men but women weren't the immune either, and they were rumored to have some form of magic. With how remote the island is, he's pretty sure the "magic" was only elemental powers, but with the master of mind still being alive, he wasn't sure what element was used in these attacks.
"Control over one's body, would that even be telekinesis? Neuro isn't even that powerful, so I don't think it's some form of that..."
He adjusted his stance and continued his train of thought. It would be easier to figure out what he's up against instead of his normal plan of bull-rushing his contracts.
In his defense, he thought the branch was a lot sturdier than it actually was. He could almost laugh at his situation if he wasn't plummeting towards the river below.
"Hey! Are you awake yet? Did you die? If you're dead can I have your stuff?"
Lloyd groaned, his head was still aching from the fall. He attempted to sit up in the bed before regretting even thinking of moving anything more than eyes. Thankfully for the elemental, he wasn't suffering alone.
He didn't remember much, but he did remember how fast the dark currents were going, and how painful the first three rocks felt before the fourth did him in.
"Where... where am I?"
"Oh, you are alive! See, Amaya, I told you he would be fine!"
"Keep your voice down Daisuke, we have to be gentle with our patient!"
Lloyd decided to finally open his eyes to see whom these voices belonged to, and was greeted by the smiling face of a young child and whom he can only assume is their grandparent.
"What happened? Who are you?"
The older of the pair gave him a gentle smile and walked closer to meet with the boy on his level. Something told him that this one was Amaya. He liked her, her presence made him feel safe.
"Young man, you look very lost."
"You have no idea."
Amaya dismissed the child from the room, only for them to reappear with a tray of food. The green ninja had no idea how long he's been unconscious, all he knew was that the pain from sitting up was nothing compared to how hungry he actually was.
"What's your name stranger?"
Lloyd almost choked on the bread trying to eat it so fast. He stared down at the child, contemplating whether he should prioritize the food or answering the question. For his own health, he figured it would be safer to answer.
"I'm technically not allowed to tell you, but my name is Lloyd."
"My name is Daisuke, I'm the one who found you floating by a few days ago!"
"I don't mean to sound rude, but I doubt you were the one who dragged me out of the water."
"Oh! That wasn't me! I'm not allowed to play in the river and I didn't know why you were in the river until I saw that you weren't moving!"
Ok, Daisuke now had Lloyd's silent declaration of protection for life. He did not want to see this attitude completely diminish when he got older. Amaya waved her hand to capture the child's attention.
"Daisuke, why don't you go outside and play? I'm sure Sho wouldn't mind playing with you again and Iris enjoys playing games just as much as you enjoy making them."
He was already out the door before the elder finished her sentence. Lloyd couldn't help but wish he could've had this when he was younger.
"Oh! I don't think I answered your questions earlier. My name is Amaya, I've been keeping an eye on you for the past few days. You're currently in your rescuer's bed. Hopefully, you will be able to thank him when he returns from his activities in the jungle."
"That doesn't really tell me where I am, like am I in a place with a name, or is this a place that I should mark on my map for later reference?"
"You're in the right place, green ninja, we saw the contract you had on your person when you were pulled out of the water."
Lostwood wasn't somewhere you would typically write home about, but all Lloyd could think of was how lucky he was to get to the village at all. This is where the people kept disappearing, and now that he's here he can catch this killer before they get someone else.
"Wait, did you say a few days? I was only supposed to be here for one day! The others must be worried sick!"
"Surely you didn't expect to find this person in such short notice? You're only one boy trying to find one person, you mean to tell me that you thought you could search this whole Island and find your contract in a day?"
Lloyd opened his mouth to counter the statement but found that nothing had come out of it. He had to admit, Amaya had a good point. Maybe he should have brought someone else with him.
He didn't think he could thank Amaya and Daisuke enough times in one breath, but he couldn't help himself. With their care, he was very quickly back on his feet within a day. He was advised to not wander too far until they found someone who could help him find his way around the island, and considering what happened last time he didn't listen to a warning ended with him almost busting his head open on some rocks, he made sure to stay within a set perimeter.
Lostwood was a small yet large place. There weren't that many buildings, and they were spaced out quite a bit. However, most of them were large, and he could only assume they were made to house multiple people with moderate comfort.
As it turns out, he wasn't in any sort of clinic like he initially thought. The homes truly were huge and the interior was like a maze to him. The ninja hoped that he could learn his way around like the residents soon. He didn't like bothering people just so he could find his way outside.
At least Daisuke's assistance with pretty much everything alleviated quite a bit of Lloyd's anxiety about asking for help. The child would joke that without his help, Lloyd would still be wandering the halls.
Daisuke introduced him to Iris first. The young girl reacted with more excitement than the other children did when he introduced himself. Apparently, he had made a bit of a name for himself in Lostwood before he even arrived on the island. She was begging him to make the golden dragon again.
Braith was next on Daisuke's "List of cool people in Lostwood" that he met with. Apparently, she was further down on this list than Iris was, to the latter's ire. As amusing as it is to watch the twelve-year-old try to justify his rankings to another more angry twelve-year-old, it wasn't exactly needed at the moment. Before Daisuke dragged him away, he managed to at least shake hands with Braith as he introduced himself.
Lloyd was too preoccupied with investigating the new colors on his fingernails to notice that Daisuke was currently tugging on his borrowed top. He finally looked up and apologized for his behavior after meeting eyes with someone who introduced himself as Grant. Not far behind him was another pair, who were currently play-fighting. Daisuke later told the blonde that the pair were Grant's siblings, with the sister being named Lichen and the brother being Theodore.
Xavier and Marzena approached him before Daisuke could even drag him to meet another friend of his. He thinks he talked more with them than anyone else. It did help that they introduced themselves as fellow elemental masters, yet he never found out what their elements were. Lloyd made a mental note to talk to them later in private, with luck he may be able to find out if his target is someone in the village and what element they possess.
Uno, admittedly, unnerved him at first. They looked like they were dressed for an interview with death. However, like most of the goths he met, Uno turned out to be very friendly and welcoming. Uno was also an elemental, but Lloyd kept that information to himself. He could feel the power coursing through his hands when they shook in greeting. Something about this element felt dangerously familiar, but considering the last known user of it has long since passed, Lloyd felt no need to be on guard.
Cirrus had made himself known within minutes, and to the elemental's dismay, it was his least-liked meeting that afternoon. Cirrus was loud in more ways than one, as if his entire being was the living embodiment of "All Eyes On Me" and Lloyd was more than pleased when Cirrus spotted some poor soul and left to talk with them. Lloyd liked his hair, and if he finally got around to starting a conversation with someone he wanted to ask where he could buy that jacket. It looked like something Nya would wear on her days off.
Sho was the last on the list that Daisuke could find, and as children tend to do he was hyping Sho up a LOT. The poor guy looked almost embarrassed when Lloyd jokingly asked if it was true that he fought a large predator for his lunch. Sho very quickly clarified that he just made another lunch, he isn't dumb enough to fight a tiger or whatever it was that snatched his food. Sho looked almost relieved that Daisuke moved on from Lloyd to drag him around next.
Despite being dragged around the village, Lloyd still hasn't figured out who his rescuer was or anything about his contract. He tried to find the elementals from before, but according to Uno, they were already sleeping. Uno himself was ready to go to bed for the day, Lloyd would have to investigate on his own tonight.
He was snapped out of his thoughts by Amaya bringing him some food. She was kind enough to bring him food, and Daisuke hasn't eaten yet, so they split the meal 50/50... or 75/25 in the child's favor.
Lloyd didn't find himself very hungry anyway.