Chapter Text
The sounds of yelling and people banging on the wood of the Bounty echoed.
Word of Lloyd living inside the boat has gotten out, and as the ninja struggle to keep the little eight year old boy away from civilians reach.
They have to struggle with comforting the boy, telling him that nothing was his fault.
That it wasn't his fault that he was 'destined' to become evil and continue in his father's footsteps.
The boy never learned, he oh so deeply wished to believe what the ninja said was true.
But he knew, that if he stayed...
He'd hurt them in the end.
So.
He set off, leaving the bounty and taking plenty of food and extra clothes in case it rains and he gets wet.
With the bounty still land bound at a nice beach near Ninjago City. Lloyd set off to the city to see where he could hide out to lessen the ninjas problems and their stress.
Lloyd sighed as he kept walking, the city was awake even as it struck two in the morning. Lloyd stuck to the shadows, somehow unconsciously using the ninjas stealth trainning into use to look invisible to the very few people walking down the sidewalk and ignoring a young child carrying a small cheeseburger pack filled to the brim with survival materials.
He decided to camp out beside a trash can, he set up a few cardboard pieces as his roof before he grabbed another and used it as his door. Encasing himself in darkness.
The little boy got comfortable, pulling a small blue blanket from his bag and covering himself to prevent freezing.
Lloyd regretted sleeping on the hard concrete ground for the first time since he got a true bed with the ninja.
Now he misses that soft cloud feeling bed, missed the meals he'd eat with the ninja, he misses his old few month long life before he decided that his existence caused too much trouble.
Lloyd realized then that someone his age probably shouldn't be thinking that their life didn't matter enough, and that all they'd bring was dissapointment.
Maybe Lloyd will become like his father.
A horrible monster...
Lloyd opened his mouth and swallowed, his throat had run dry and as he swallowed a bite of a pb&j sandwich, he realized that he forgot to bring any liquids.
As a result, he walked around the bustling city with his hood on, and the early morning rush muffling so much of his senses. Lloyd then discovered dumpster diving at the nearest cafe's and restaurants meant that some liquids would be thrown in.
The boy didn't care when people stared at him as he dug through the bins looking for anything to drink.
His sleeves smelled vile and his hands had grime and disgusting food pieces on them by the time he ended up getting two half filled cups of lemonade and coffee.
He drank the coffee, needing the energy to push through for the rest of the day.
Lloyd ran out of food the third day. Drinks was nonexistent and his food was all gone. It was only a matter of time before he died or he needed to continue dumpster diving not for drinks at this point bit for food too.
He spent the rest of the day digging through dozens of dumpsters searching for any food or even water.
Lloyd went to sleep hungry, cold, and quickly forgetting that he can speak.
The lonely life isn't for the weak.
Lloyd learned that when he left and abandoned everything in his life and lived on the streets for a year or two before the ninja decided that he was important. Now here he is, back in his element and starving to death.
A crash knocking over a trash can rattled Jim back to reality and he froze half way to a trash can that could possibly have food inside.
He stayed silent, swallowing before he decided to call out. "Hello?" He was at the back of some convenience store far between several other buildings that nearly blocked out the light from above.
"Anyone there?" Lloyd whimpered in fear, he took slow tentative steps to where the knocked over trash can was at.
He screamed when something dashed out and hissed at him. Lloyd calmed down when he realized it was simply a little black cat, it's cerulean eyes boring hole into the young child.
"Oh. Hello? Are you without a home too?" Lloyd knelt before sitting and crossing his legs. He stayed put as the cat hissed and crawled closed to him, he watched as the little feral cat stared at him before slowly coming closer and lowering its tail. Lloyd was surprised when the cat jumped into his lap and settled there, staring right up at him and giving him a wide eyed stare.
"Are you hungry?" Lloyd smiled and giggled when the cat meowed loudly, and so he set off on a new mission.
Find food for the cat.
The ninja were panicking. They have lost Lloyd Garmadon and once Wu gets back from his trip, they're never ever going to hear the end of it. Their master had told them that he wasn't sure of their abilities to care for an eight year old son of the evil Lord Garmadon.
"We can let Master Wu be right, we can't!" Kai said as he searched the Ninjago map for the hundredth time in less than an hour. Many of them have taken shifts during the night looking for the young child, in case he popped up in the middle of the night one of them would always be positioned to know if the boy ever appeared.
In the three days he's been missing, they haven't found the kid.
"We can't let anyone know we lost a child either!" Jay said aloud, pulling at his hair with one hand and bitting his nails on the other.
The ninja were scattered across the bounty main control room searching for ways to find Lloyd before Master Wu came back.
"I can just go into the city and check, alone, to not attract attention." Nya piqued as she sipped some coffee.
Everything went silent before Kai groaned.
"Fine! But if you even need us, you call me immediately. Okay?" Nya rolled her eyes and placed her mug down before getting up from her chair and waking over to Kai. "Yeah yeah you big momma bear," Nya hugged Kai before flicking his forehead and she left.
"Pft... mama bear." Kai gave Jay a strained smile.
"Say that again, I dare you." Jay opened his mouth and Cole placed a hand over the lightning masters mouth while holding him.
"I do say, Nya's plan is smart."
Nya went off into the city alone this time. She put on her red helmet and got on hee motorbike, quickly passing by several streets and never truly encountering Lloyd and his blond hair.
She spent a lot of the day roaming the streets on her bike, having stopped for food and restroom breaks.
Nya went back home without Lloyd. The ninja were dissapointed but decides they go out tomorrow as soon as daylight broke.
Lloyd stumbled back, his little panicked footsteps was the only sound besides the cackling of some low level thugs that had stumbled across Lloyd dumpster diving for food.
They chased the boy down, cornering him into an alley and quickly laughing when Lloyd began to sniffle and quiver.
They didn't understand that he was still a little boy.
Lloyd gritted his teeth as he blinked the tears away, they fell down his cheeks, now grimy with dirt and sweat. "What you crying for kid? Worried we'll turn you in!" They all collectively laughed and Lloyd searched for a desperate way out. It was dark, he was up against a wall with no exits beside the one being blocked.
And he had the little black cat inside his jacket, snuggly sleeping away the current dire situation.
"L-leave me alone!" Lloyd hiccuped and he clenched his fist. He stomped on the concrete ground, immediately shrinking back when they all laughed.
It stung.
Lloyd yelped when one of the low level thugs grabbed him by the front of his jacket, pulling him off his feet and forcing him up against the wall. "I bet you're going to be a nasty bad guy when you grow up. Looking all normal and shit, well guess what?" Lloyd whimpered when he saw all the angry glares and side eyes.
He was just a little boy...
"You'll never be normal," With another collective laugh, he was dropped and Lloyd didn't have a chance to run because there was hands on his arms and he was being tied up with rope.
"Stupid freak."
Lloyd was dragged about like a dog with his hands tied together. He was so scared that he didn't scream when he saw a glimpse of the sidewalk and the outside world.
He was placed into a car, the very back of it to prevent him from signaling for help.
It's not like anyone who sees a blond kid with blood red eyes calling for help would actually do it, because everyone knows who Lloyd Garmadon is and looks like.
The car stopped and Lloyd winced when the door opened and he was met with white artificial lights. He was dragged out, his feet barely touching the floor as he was dragged about to a door.
The arm around his arm let go and he fell to his knees, the rope around his arms digging into his skin tightly.
Lloyd knew they'd leave a mark for a while.
"Get in there, freak. Our boss wants to meet you," Lloyd sniffled and got to his feet, his knees were badly scraped now but he couldn't really feel the pain.
The door opened and he was kicked in, falling on his shoulder and screaming out in pain when he felt the skin there peel and burn.
He let himself cry freely now, the pain on his shoulder hurt a lot more than the ones on his knees.
All he wanted was out. He wanted to be back home with the ninja, but he knew they'd get hurt if he stayed, because everyone hated Lord Garmadon.
So it was right to hate Garmadon's eight year old son. Lloyd Garmadon.
Lloyd simply lied there on the floor, his eyes closing as he cried his heart out, he had saved the little cat though; so the pain didn't hurt as much.
The little cat meowed, climbing out from under his jacket and quickly licking at his face and the tears streaming down them. Lloyd sniffled, giving a trembling smile as the little cat went around him and licked at his injured shoulder, he hissed in pain and the little creature seemed to understand not to touch.
The cat jumped onto Lloyd, softly settling on his head and purring right on top of him.
Lloyd began to feel his tears calm, the pain was still there but he relaxed ever so slightly. The rope didn't dug as hard, with all his muscles unclenching and relaxing.
Lloyd flinched at the sound of a huge explosion. He could hear the sounds of fighting and gunshots going off. There was more explosions, and a sudden silence before the fighting went back up.
"Hey, let me get up, come on," The cat jumped off his head and Lloyd sat up, gesturing for the cat to come back to him and it did.
He grabbed onto the black little fur ball as he scoot back until his back pressed against another wall. He was trapped, Lloyd knew the ones outside either wanted him for the police or wanted to simply have him as ransom.
So the sudden explosion and fighting could only mean there was another group trying to get him.
Lloyd dug his dull little nails into his skin, hoping for any distraction from all the chaos outside the door trapping him in this little room.
"Where is he!" Kai grabbed hold of the man's jacket, pulling him closer and staring right into his eyes.
They had found Lloyd's location after video footage of a nearby security camera caught sight of him. They immediately went after the kid and were currently fighting the members that had kidnapped Lloyd.
Kai was lucky to have caught a guy as soon as the fight started.
"You really think I'll tell ya'?" Kai's manic grin fell, he held the man by one hand and as he pulled his right hand to the side of his face he let flames ignite.
The fear in the man's eyes was hilarious.
"It's either your head, or telling me." Kai let the flames near the man's head and he pulled away as much as he could until he couldn't.
Kai wasn't actually going to kill the man, he's a hero, not a killer.
"Okay okay okay! No please stop! I'll tell you, I swear!!" The man was sobbing now. "It's in the safe room waiting for our boss! The only door straight ahead!!" Kai let the man fall to his knees before he took a step back, turned and immediately spun and kicked him in the head.
Kai kicked the dude once before he told the other ninja over the comms that he knew where Lloyd was.
"You get him, we'll distract!" Kai ran off to find Lloyd. More explosions went off and as soon as he found the door the man was talking about he kicked it open.
What he found was something he truly wishes on no little kid.
Lloyd was trembling, crying, had a bloody nose, a slightly bleeding shoulder and knees, and rope tied too tightly around his little limbs.
"Ooh... no kid, it's me, Kai, see?" Kai took his hood off and put his hands out. He gave a soft smile, his heart aching when he realized the kid only seemed to be sobbing harder.
"Let me help you, yeah? We'll take you back to the bounty and we'll leave and land somewhere safer. I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry Lloyd," Lloyd's voice cracked as he spoke.
"I want to go home..."
Kai nodded, walking flward until he was kneeling at Lloyd's side and burning off the rope.
He noticed the little black cat growling at him, being held by Lloyd's grimmy little hands. Kai decided to distract the boy just for a little. "You got a little friend there?" Lloyd blinked before he glanced down at the cat. He sniffled and smiled. "Yeah, he's a little fiesty," Kai chuckled, pulling the ropes away and discarding them behind himself.
Kai sat on his heels as he softly petted the blond hair.
"Let's go home kid," Kai let out an oof as Lloyd jumped into his chest, curling into him and crying again. Kai exhaled before his arms wrapped around Lloyd and he got to his feet. He walked out of the room with a sobbing Lloyd Garmadon ins his arms, injured, but okay enough.
They got Lloyd back to the bounty and immediately went up into the night sky to hell begin fixing the kid up. Nya helped put bandages on with Zane's help, and the kid was given a good meal also by Zane's help. He was put in the gaming room and everyone piled in the little room to accompany the little Garmadon wrapped in a warm blanket.
Lloyd was fast asleep when the blanket was wrapped around him, and his little cat companion was right asleep on his chest. The ninja and Nya decided to sleepover in the room too, to help Lloyd if he ever woke up in the night and needed them.
That night. They all silently made a vow to never let the little boy get hurt so badly again.