Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

     Does it count as being lonely if I was surrounded by people all the time? Always. Not a second of peace. The school was packed with kids, and all of them were horrible. I mean, that's kinda the whole point of this place. Darkleys school for bad kids or whatever. Pretty ridiculous in hindsight.
     I wanted to be a ‘model student’, though that thinking is exactly the opposite of bad. Which is really confusing. We are told to strive to be the best, but if you try too hard in classes you’re being a good student, which is bad. But not the good, bad. Ugh, so dumb.
     None of the other kids even knew my real name. My mom told me it was just a precaution, which was stupid. I mean why send me to a villain school if I can’t make a name for myself here? Feels like backwards thinking. What did that scroll even say?
     Brad is nice though, well as nice as an evil kid can be I guess. He put fire ants in my pillow on the first day, but explained he was teaching me how this place worked. Which is the Darkley equivalent of taking someone under your wing. I talked to him sometimes, but he had a lot more friends than I did.
     Oh yeah, we aren’t supposed to call them friends, it’s either allies or minions. Feels a little stiff but I don’t want him to not like me anymore. He said it's possible, if I don’t keep up. So I work hard while also not trying too much. A delicate balance indeed.
     …Well, it had been. I left early this morning. Around 5 am? There is a village nearby, or I thought there was. I hadn’t taken a map since I didn’t have one. I guess I could have taken someone else’s. But I didn’t want to get caught. I probably made a wrong turn somewhere.
     They shouldn’t notice I left for a few more hours, if they even cared to look. I know they are supposed to contact my mom if I leave but they never have before. I’ve heard of another kid running and no one heard or saw her again. I really wish I had listened to that story a little more carefully.
     “I shouldn’t be out in the cold on my own. I’m gonna die.” True, I couldn’t last very long in the snow. Even with my dark hoodie. I pull the hood onto my head, covering my near-white hair.
     No friends allies, No town, No directions, No idea what to do. I really was bad at planning. I wondered if my mom would find me out here… Would she come look for me if she heard I ran away? Or would she shrug her shoulders and continue her ‘super dangerous’ research? Find me just to apologize for my birth?
     “This isn’t helping, think positive Lloyd.” My breath turns white in the cold air and I watch it disappear. The only sound around is the crunching of snow beneath my feet. The snow that is starting to make my socks wet.
     I’m really tired. I have been walking since the sun rose and it's already in the center of the sky. I sit on the ground, defeated. I lay back and the cold fills my entire body. If I knew anything about snow, it’s that eventually the feeling will stop and I will go numb. I hope that happens fast.
     “First Master, If you actually listen to me, could you help me out? I’m getting really tired of this.” I hadn’t actually prayed to him in a while. I would have been bullied if anyone at Darkleys heard me do that. He made Ninjago, which technically made him god right? Mom talked about him that way, so did Dad.
     “Even just a bird would count, one I could follow to the village. I won’t even torment them, I promise!” I won’t, I don’t think I ever really could. Pranking was fun, I did that all the time, but actually hurting people? Or stealing from them? That sounded like going way too far.
     I stared at the clouded sky, watching as snowflakes fell softly around me. It wasn’t snowing very hard, yet, but I would be buried after a while. Would that really be that bad?
     A bird screeched at me. I sat up so fast I toppled forward. I push myself back onto my feet and turn around rapidly. Where was the bird?! There aren’t a lot of trees so I spot it almost immediately.
     It was a dark brown falcon, and it was flying above my head. It was looking at me with piercing yellow eyes. They were too intelligent to be any normal bird. A slightly hysterical laugh erupts from my mouth.
     “Holy shit!” Is it wrong to swear after god helps you? “I can’t believe that worked! Are you here to help me, huh birdie? Did the First Master actually send you for me?”
     The bird didn’t respond to me, which made sense. It’s head twitched to the side a little, and started flying in that direction. I stood shocked for a moment, before running after it. It was flying really fast.
     “Hey! Wait!” My words shook a little as I ran, trying not to slip on the snow, “Slow down!” The falcon did not listen at all. It kept flying ahead. Not even fazed by my yelling. I ran as fast I could, and was actually making some pretty good distance.
     Ice seems to magically appear beneath my feet and I slipped onto stone. It hurt, and I felt rock tear into my skin. Swears tumble out of my mouth, and the cold air stung my watery eyes. I stood shakily, and looked beneath me. I was standing on some sort of platform. It kinda looked like a face, a weird face but a face nonetheless.
     “Dumb face stone thing.” I look back up, and notice I had lost the Falcon. Panic envelopes me. That was from the Fsm! I had lost his help! Of course, leave it to Lloyd dumbass Garmadon to still fail even when god starts helping out.
     I fall back onto the ground, and the tears start to fall. Alone again. Sure the Falcon wasn’t the most conversational partner but he was still company. It’s starting to snow harder, and there isn’t a doubt in my mind that I’ll actually die this time. A sob escapes my lips and I curl in on myself.
     I notice a small lever to my right, and I’m so surprised I actually stop crying, almost. I wipe the tears off my cheeks. I put my hand onto the lever. I pull it, which was a stupid thing to do. If I had learned anything at Darkleys it was that levers usually led to booby traps.
     Sure enough, the stone platform underneath me started to move. The ‘mouth’ of the weird face opened up, and mist billowed out of the seam. I had run back to the edge of the circle, and was now looking at a large hole in the ground.
     The hole opens up into a cave. It was covered completely with ice, and seemed to be empty. A staircase made of earth leads into it, and it doesn’t really look like normal stone stairs. More like someone pulled the stone from the ground up. I remember my mom telling stories of snakes trapped in caves by warriors with magic powers. Though that is a ridiculous thought. Those were stories, snakes aren’t all evil and people didn’t have magic powers.
     I walk down the steps, and into the cave. For a place covered in ice, it was surprisingly warm. I noticed lights coming from the opposite wall. Small fires sat on ice that wouldn’t melt positioned a few feet above the ground. I wondered how that worked. I must be dreaming, or hallucinating from the cold.
     I see a few ice weapons thrown haphazardly around in the snow. I don’t touch any, not sure if they were safe. I get closer to the fire, and it feels so right. It’s warm like home, making me feel safe. Which was a silly thing to feel in an ice cave in the middle of nowhere.
     “Well hello, friend. I can’t thank you enough for freeing us.”

Chapter Text

      It was the largest snake I had ever seen in my life. Taller and wider than me, covered in dark blue scales, and some gray scales. It had a hood similar to a cobra, and its eyes were red and disorienting to look at. He held a gold staff shaped like a snake (how fitting) and two blue stones were embedded into the top of it. Where the snake's eyes might have been.

     “Uh, you're welcome?” My voice squeaks a little, and I flush in embarrassment. The snake looks me up and down, twisting its lips into something akin to a smile. It sends cold shivers down my spine.

     “What is the name of our savior?” The snake is asking for my name. I shrug softly, and answer honestly. Another decision that was probably stupid.

     “Lloyd, Lloyd Garmadon. What’s your name?” His eyes light up, and the uneasy feeling returns. Why is he so excited?

     “Lloyd Garmadon, eh? Does your father happen to be the Lord Garmadon?” ah, the reaction is starting to make more sense. The giant snake thing knows my dad, lord of evil, go figure. This isn’t going how I’d like it to.

     “Yeah, heh. I wouldn’t say I got his evil gene though. Maybe it skips a generation.” I laugh awkwardly, and begin fidgeting with the sleeve of my hoodie. Then the snake laughs, a big, strong laugh. As if I just said the funniest thing he’d ever heard in his life.

     “Indeed. You haven’t heard the prophecy, have you?” He says it in a way that makes me feel dumb. Like I was the silliest little kid ever. My face grows warm as I shake my head. 

     “Hmm, well that's alright. We’ll help you out Lloyd Garmadon. As long as you promise to help us out too.” 

     “Why do you want to help me?”

     “You set us free, young Garmadon, and besides, that's what friends do. Help each other.” Friends… But I don’t have anything to ask for. Besides a place to stay.

     “Um, yeah ok. I can do that. I really just wanted to find the village, so I wasn’t trapped in the snow but, I mean the cave works just fine. I’ll help you guys first then, until I think of something.” 

     “Marvelous. Why, Lloyd Garmadon, you truly have a heart of gold .” He smiles like he just said something funny. He gestures to the cave walls, and suddenly tons of blue and gray snake people are pouring into the cave. First Master, this has to be a dream. Or a nightmare

     “Now then, let's go free our other friends. Now that we have Lloyd Garmadon we can do it with ease!” The snake I had been talking to speaks to the crowd with authority; he must be the leader. I wonder why they can’t open the caves without my help; can only humans open it? Can snakes not pull levers?

     “Come, Lloyd Garmadon, we have work to do. After all, what’s the point of being free if we don’t have a little fun ?” My stomach squirms uncomfortably. Something about the way he talks makes everything sound sinister.

     “Yeah… totally.” My smile probably looks more like a grimace but the snake doesn’t care. I really need to learn his name. I can’t call all of them ‘the snake’.

     “Is something bothering you?” It’s like he can read my mind, and it’s starting to freak me out.

     “Oh uh, I just don’t know your name.” He laughs to himself a little. 

     “I am Slithraa, nice to meet you, Golden Savior.”

…

     The snakes are surprisingly nice to me, besides Slithraa’s second in command. His name is Scales and seems to hate me. I try to avoid him, but as the second in command he’s always around. 

     So far, the snakes have just done some exploring outside of the cave. We got out of the snowy area, and now we are surrounded by trees. We’re sitting–or whatever snakes do instead of sitting–on the grass. Jamanakai Village is in sight, and just looking at the food stalls is making me hungry.

     We had stayed the night in the cave, and I hadn’t eaten at all. I could smell the Jianbing from here. I used to get it from the street vendors in Cūnzi with my mom all the time. I try to ignore Slithraa’s eyes burning into the side of my head.

     “Lloyd, you seem upset. What is wrong? Tell me the truth,” His voice slithers into my ears and his eyes make my vision swim. The words tumble out of my mouth, but they feel awkward.

     “I’m really hungry, I can smell the food in the village. I want some, but I don’t have any money.” I can almost hear Scales scoff across the clearing. The snake's stand... Or lift up? I don’t really understand how snake bodies work but that's not important.

     “I don’t see why that is an issue. Let's go get you some food.” A large group of the Hypnobrai start going towards Jamanakai Village. I follow them, but my stomach knots in uncertainty.

     “How will we pay them?” The snakes ignore my question. This is probably going to end badly, but I said I’d help them. I can’t leave just because I don’t agree with everything they do. Plus, this is still better than how I was treated at Darkleys.

     “I will take care of it, Lloyd.” We enter the village, and people are looking at us strangely. Some of the older people run into their houses, while the younger adults stay outside. We approach one of the food stands.

     The vendor is watching us and seems shocked. Which made sense, what with the snake people and all. She seems about 20-21 years old, and her dark hair was tied back into a loose ponytail. She cleared her throat.

     “Uh, hi! Would you like anything?” Her smile is tight, and she fidgets with her apron. I feel bad, I don’t want to scare her.

     “I just wanted some of the Jianbing?” I ask, and I glance down. I mess with my hoodie sleeves. 

     “Of course!” Her voice is strained as she starts working, “That will be 5 yuan.” I search my pockets in vain, not even slightly surprised to find nothing. The girl turns towards us. Suddenly she goes stiff as a soft hissing sound fills the air. Slithraa is staring intently at her.

     “I think we’ll take that for free, thanks.” My stomach drops to my shoes. The girl hands it over without a fight. The Hypnobrai start walking to grab the rest of the snakes, and hand me my Jianbing.

     “Thanks… but we really should have paid for it.” Scales scoffs, and my face heats up a little.

     “You are the Golden Saviour; she owes you a free snack.” The way Slithraa says it is so matter of fact it makes me sick. It doesn’t make any sense, I’m not some magical ‘golden saviour’ and no one owes me anything! I eat my Jianbing, but I can’t even enjoy the savory pancake. Everything tastes disgusting and I feel nauseous. I hear Scales and Slithraa arguing nearby. 

     “Why are we doing this? We are wasting too much time on that kid.” Scales hissed.

     “That kid is the prophesied Green Ninja. The boy who is supposed to reunite the Lost Serpentine Tribes.” My skin crawls at the title.

     “He doesn’t have to like us to do that.”

     “But it will make him a lot easier to deal with. Don’t forget who's in charge here, Scales. Learn your place, and fast.” I tune out the rest of their conversation and try to focus on eating my snack. 

     What is the Green Ninja? What does it mean? And how am I supposed to find tribes I’ve never even heard of?! My mind was spinning. The Hypnobrai had started getting more food and even jewelry from the village using their mind tricks. This is going really badly.

     “Someone get the ninja! Like, now !” People were screaming all around me, while others were under the snakes' complete control. I try to back away, wondering if it was time to run. Scales grips my arm and gets in my face.

     “Uh-uh. I refuse to let you get away, Lloyd Garmadon. You promised you’d help us, are you going to break that promise, Green Ninja?” I shiver and try to pull away. This is bad, why did I trust them?! The snakes were taking control of Jamanakai Village, and I had let them out.

     “This is all your fault.” Scales confirmed my fears, and I felt tears spring into my eyes. My throat constricted and my breaths were strangled and shaky. This isn’t what was supposed to happen. I told the First Spinjitzu Master I’d leave the village alone. He was trying to help me. Why can’t I do anything right?

     “I don’t want to be the Green Ninja if everything I do ends like this!” A sob sneaks out with my words, and I hear Slithraa yell at Scales. I can’t tell what they're doing, the fighting is getting more aggressive. I back into a wall and fall to the ground.

     I messed up, a lot. I don’t think I’ve stopped messing up since I arrived at that stupid school. For the first time in years, I find myself wishing for my mom. For her to come and hug me and assure me everything would be ok. 

     More screams, and more snakes. Most of the villagers were under the Hypnobrai’s control, which was my fault. Slithraa was shouting again but it didn’t seem to be pointed at Scales. I glanced up from my position on the ground and was shocked to find five people dressed in full ninja uniforms fighting the snakes. 

     “I could have sworn the serpentine were bedtime stories!” The blue one yelled, his voice was pitched high. He was either scared or playing it up for comedic effect. Or maybe trying to trick the enemy into underestimating him.

     “They sure aren’t acting like bedtime stories, that would be much easier.” This time the black one spoke. His voice was much deeper. I started pulling myself back onto my feet. Every fiber of my being was screaming at me to run run run .

     “The boy, where's the boy?!” Slithraa was yelling again. I ran. Down the first alley until I was able to hide among old crates behind a restaurant. I can’t let them find me; I can’t trust them again. 

     It was far from quiet, I had my hands over my ears, and I could still hear the sounds of battle clear as day. Tears were streaming down my face, and I felt my body shaking. How pathetic. I was 10 years old, not a baby. I should be braver than this. I should be punching those stupid snakes in their dumb faces. Instead, I’m cowering behind a crate in an alley.

     Despite my thoughts I stayed perfectly still. Forcing myself to breathe slowly and quietly. A few times snakes slithered past my hiding spot, but they never saw me. 

     “Hey, kid, are you alright?” I flinch at the voice and try to push myself into the walls. I frantically turn towards the sound and see one of the ninja. This one wore red, the only part of his face that I could see were amber eyes and creased brows.

     “Kid? Do you need help? Where are your parents?” He was trying to help me, but the words still felt like a smack to the face. My breathing was still erratic. He placed a hand on my shoulder.

     “You're ok now. I’m going to help you. My friends and I are getting the snakes under control. And we will succeed.” My voice answers without my consent. Speaking the concerns that made me seem weak.

     “You don’t know that for sure.” My voice is small, and I can’t meet the ninja’s eyes. I hear him take a deep breath before continuing.

     “I do. You know why?” I look up at him. His eyes are crinkled, he must be smiling, “Because Ninja never quit.” He stretches out his hand, silently asking me to trust him. Hesitantly, I grab his hand.

     “There we go, let's find your family now. Yeah?” Guilt claws at my stomach. This ninja was helping me instead of fighting snakes because I had worried him . He was helping me; he was helping the person who caused the problem in the first place!

     “They aren’t here.” He stops walking and looks at me. He pulls his mask off, revealing a face filled with worry. That just makes me feel worse. I notice distantly how many small burn scars are on his face.

     “What do you mean?” His words are tight, and I wonder if I said something wrong. I hadn’t even gotten to the bad part yet.

     “I ran away, and it’s my fault. All of this is my fault, I’m so sorry ,” I try to fight off another sob. He seems confused but crouches down to meet my face. My breathing picks back up. He’s going to hate me. He’s going to hate me and tell everyone what I did, and they’ll take me away and lock me up and it will be horrible, but I’ll deserve and–

     “Hey! Kid breathe! It’s ok. I’m sure this wasn’t your fault, and even if it was, I’m still going to help you because I’m sure you didn’t mean to. But before anything can get better I need you to breathe.” My ears are ringing, but I do my best to follow his lead. Deep breathe in, deep breathe out.

     “That’s it. I’m going to help you. I promise.” In and out. in and out. It’s ok, he’s going to help me. Which means I will have more people to repay. I don’t deserve his help. He taps my shoulder, and points to his face. He breathes in and out dramatically.

     I find myself laughing a little. He smiles, seemingly satisfied with the reaction. We’re still in the alleys, and he doesn’t seem to be in a hurry. His hands go back to my shoulders, and he looks me in the eyes.

     “Good job, err. What’s your name again?” He says it in a light tone, but the sentence makes my stomach drop. My face must have betrayed that because he immediately started back tracking.

     “You don’t have to tell me! I’ll just keep calling you kid, heh. You can call me Kai, though. I’ll introduce you to the other ninja too. They're annoying but pretty nice, once you get to know them.” He goes back to leading me into the open. 

     We stop suddenly, right at the edge of the alley. Kai turns back to smile at me, before looking into the street while flipping his mask over his head. We’re about to keep going forward when I’m pulled into the air. A scream is torn from my lungs as I keep rising.

     “Pathetic child, trying to get away I see. This means we get to do things my way .” I recognize the familiar sound of Scales’ hissing. I fight against his hold on my waist and fail to even move.

     “Kid! Hey! Leave him alone!” Kai is calling after us. I twist so I can see him chasing after me. Tears make my vision blurry, but the full red suit is hard to miss. I reach a hand out to him, hoping in vain he could grab it.

     “Kai! Help me!” It's pathetic, and it's stupid. I don’t even deserve his help at all. This is all my fault. If I hadn’t opened the tomb and then led them straight to Jamanakai village none of this would have happened. I didn’t even let Kai know my name . 

     “I’ve got you! I promised I would help you and I swear on the FSM I will!” A dumb thing to do, since it was impossible. I was clearly beyond help at this point, yet his words still filled me with hope. Like a voice in my head saying yep, it's true. Kai will protect us.

     “Help me, Kai! Please ” I’m crying, and I can’t stop. Scales is jumping off the last roof and escapes with the rest of the Hypnobrai. I can hear Kai yelling still, but his words are lost to the wind. Someone puts their hand over my mouth to muffle the screams. Everything is going wrong, as usual. Everything that just happened was my fault, also as usual. The only thing I had managed to do was make a ninja worry about me for no reason. Kai shouldn't have to deal with me, why can't I just leave people alone?! maybe I was better at being evil than I thought

     “Someone shut the boy up!” Red eyes swirl in my vision before darkness crowds it. Everything hurts. It’s all my fault. 

     “You failed the tribe Slithraa, I think it’s time we had a new general.” Snakes chanting is the last thing I hear before I pass out. I don't even fight the darkness encroaching my vision.

Chapter Text

     “The ninja are bound to come looking for us, so don’t get too attached to this place.” The snakes were building a tree house of sorts, which felt ridiculous. Well, I mean the tree house idea was really fun. I had always wanted one, but this isn’t the best way for that wish to come true.

     It was tall, like three stories worth of tree house, plus it was already about 13 feet off the ground. It was wide enough to be connected to four large trees, which was stabilizing the whole thing.

     My back is pressing up against one of the trees, in the middle level. I am tied up, since I had refused to help them. I seriously don’t know what they want me to do about their situation. I’m a kid who only knows about the snakes because my mom told me bedtime stories about them years ago.

     I’m getting really hungry, I’m used to having small meals, but it's been a while since I've eaten anything at all. I tilt my head forward, and the cool wind of the forest pushes my hair to the side. My eyes are dry and stingy, I had been crying for an embarrassing amount of time after the whole thing with Kai.

     “Good morning, Lloyd. Are you going to cooperate today?” I don’t look up, making sure to keep my eyes on the wooden floor beneath me. The guard hisses, clearly mad that I’m ignoring him. A shooting pain sparks in the back of my head. 

     “Worthless brat,” He mutters under his breath, but I hear him just fine. He unties me from the tree, before binding my hands behind my back. I was going to be dragged back to Scales, who is apparently the general now. He had competed with Slithraa for the title. I wasn’t told what happened to Slithraa, which worries me.

     We arrive, and I get ready to listen to the same old lecture Scales has been reciting for days at this point. Scales sits atop a large wooden chair, made to be comfortable for his long snake body. He looks at me, and sneers.

     “Ah, Lloyd Garmadon. Nice to see you could join us this morning.” His tone shares just how “nice” it is. Which is not very nice at all. I roll my eyes. The guard pushes me so that I’m literally kneeling at Scales’ feet, nice to see the power has gone straight to his head.

     “Do you have anything you’d like to share with me?” I look up, putting on my best thinking face. I even make a little ‘hmm’ sound.

     “Uuuuuh. No, I don’t think so. Sorry for the inconvenience or whatever.” I watch as Scales’ mask of calm cracks a little. He breathes in sharply, then replasters the smug smile on his snake face.

     “I see you think you're funny. You interact with the ninja one time and  mess up everything for them at the same time, and you think you are so superior. Is that it?” My stomach knots up, I fight to keep my discomfort off my face.

     “Kinda, yeah.” Lying lying lying

     “Tie him back up, I don’t have time for his insolence. We will force the answers out of him later if necessary.” 

     “Looking forward to it, General!” The guard drags me back towards my tree. He starts grabbing the ropes again, right when the alarm blares through the tree house. It is just a horn, but it's pretty effective, and really loud. The guard curses and I take this as my chance to run.

     Before I know it three guards are chasing me down the halls, I focus on the sound of my feet hitting the wooden floor. My arms are still tied behind my back, so my movement is a little limited. I manage to slide into the elevator thing and use my face to slam the down button.

     “Don’t let Lloyd get away!” I can’t tell who says it, all I know is that I refuse to go back to being tied to that tree. Hypnobrai are starting to climb down the vines and sides of the trees. Towards the elevator. Where I am. Shit.

     As soon as the doors open, I run. I run as fast as I can into the forest. There's shouting and fighting and hissing behind me, but I just keep running. I don’t have time to glance over my shoulder. I wasn’t sure if I could run faster than the snakes could slither. 

     I was getting farther away from the snakes, hopefully for good. I didn’t know where to go, but ‘far away from Scales’ seemed like a good enough place to me. My legs are starting to burn, and I can’t take a full breath in. I slow down and climb the nearest tree. 

     I sit on a large branch, making sure it holds my weight. After I confirm it does, I rest my head onto the trunk of the tree and try to steady my breathing. I need to stay quiet, if the Hypnobrai caught me again after this it might become a habit.

     I hear the crunching of rocks and leaves under feet to my right. I freeze, making sure I don’t move or make a sound. Two of the Hypnobrai are walking past. They don’t seem to be looking for me, which felt a little odd. That's all they seemed to do when I’m around.

     “Why exactly do we have to do it?” One speaks up, their voice drawn out and tired. As if they were given the worst mission of all time. The other grunts, offering nothing more than a shrug. 

     I admit I’m curious, so I cautiously slide down the back of the tree. I’m careful not to step too heavily, keeping the forest silent. The snakes continue with their complaints as I follow them. I stay a few feet behind.

     I can’t hear what they're saying anymore, which makes it hard to keep myself so far behind. I notice the ground starts to incline, and the trees slowly get less and less dense. I stiffen a little, less trees means less places to hide. 

     We approach a large mountain, so large I have to tilt my head all the way back to even get a glimpse at the top. There are stone steps carved into the side we face, and you can just barely see a building resting on the peak. One of the snakes pulls out something small and shiny.

     “Ready to burn this old place to the ground?” I feel the blood drain from my face. What were they burning down exactly? 

     “Hell yeah, I still can’t believe that ninja carried a lighter around with him.” They start climbing the steps, and I can’t help but wonder how long it would take them to even get there. I hear more rustling behind me, more snakes no doubt. I take off running.

     I don’t know where I’m going, but I feel a pull keeping me on a path. Like I’m following a path I was taught years ago but didn’t quite have a memory to pair with. Just gotta make it there. Then I’ll be safe.

Chapter Text

      The sun was starting to go down, but I couldn’t stop walking. The same pull that had given me a direction kept me on my feet. Like my body knew if I stopped walking something would get me. The thought sent shivers down my spine, and I glanced suspiciously at the dark forest around me.

      Nothing but small animals and some birds were around, but the fear still ate at my guts. I tried to force my gaze to stay in front of me, but the sounds of the forest kept fighting for my attention.

      “It's fine, Lloyd. You’re just walking through the forest, at night, with no idea where this magical pull is leading you. But it will be totally, super duper, fine.” That doesn’t reassure me in the slightest. So much for the power of positive thinking.

      Exhaustion sinks into my bones, and I have to fight to keep my eyelids from drooping. I need sleep, but the thought of laying down out here is enough to keep me awake. I notice the dirt path starts fading into a stone one. I can’t help but be grateful for the swap.

      It leads me into some sort of graveyard, and I grimace. Of course, what else does this night need? Maybe a few ghosts, or a creepy snake stalker, or another Serpentine Tomb! Wouldn’t that be just amazing?! 

      I sit down with my back against a gravestone. It was definitely creepy in here butI preferred it to the creepy dark woods. Besides, the pull in my gut had vanished, leaving me stranded in the middle of nowhere. I blink tiredly at the gnarled trees. Some of them look eerily like snakes.

      I glance at the one closest to me, pushing my hand onto the largest knot. It was funny looking, and I just wanted to. Which was another blunder on my part. That is the moment I notice the small circle near my feet, decorated with a two headed snake. I have just enough time to curse my bad luck before it swings open like a trap door.

      A large red and white snake with two heads crawls from the tomb. It had a long tail like Scales did, and Slithraa once had. It must be a leader thing, since this snake held a similar Snake Staff. Though this one's gemstones were red rather than blue.

     “Ah, I had a feeling you would be here, Green Ninja.” 

     “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

…

     Once again, I found myself tied up, though this time it was to a stick that they were carrying me on. It was really uncomfortable, pieces of bark kept stabbing into my back. But what can you do?

     “We’ll get to the other tribes, and soon, but first I want to get some vehicles. I don’t feel like walking to every tomb.” One of the snake's heads said. The general (generals? Did each head count as a new person?) was always arguing. Over-analyzing everything they did. Maybe two heads aren’t better than one.

     “And you're sure this place isn’t guarded? What do we do if we’re defeated before we can even begin?” The other head countered, playing its role as the pessimist head.

     “Of course I’m sure it isn’t guarded. It’s a scrapyard! Why would someone need to guard a scrapyard?!” They make a solid point there. 

     “What if they hold important metals? Scrapyards don’t usually hold electrically advanced vehicles.” Another solid point. Maybe it would be too risky.

     “Either way, we have an army, what do they have? A few men with guns?” And yet, this guy is making sense.

     … Man, I've really hit rock bottom. Entertaining myself with a Serpentine Generals argument about scrapyards. We pause, and I am able to see the scrapyard. A huge mostly lit-up sign says, ‘Ed n’ Edna’s Scrapyard’. It’s honestly kind of cute. It’s also completely covered in metal scraps. I can see the piles already.

     “Let's get going, anyone that gets in our way is getting bit.” I shiver at the thought, were they venomous? I honestly hadn’t thought about that. They could be, nothing about being half person kept them from being even more dangerous.

     We storm into the scrapyard, and, to my horror, it is completely unguarded. The snakes take control of it in seconds. The owners were tied up and bit, slowly transforming into snakes in front of my eyes. It was a horrible sight. They were screaming and spasming in pain.

     “Is Lloyd Garmadon scared?” The general's breath tickled my ears, and I fought to back away. They propped me up against a wall and started corrupting perfectly good old cars. 

… 

     The sun starts to rise; the Snakes are becoming familiar with handling the cars. Apparently, they weren’t used to them. I was stiff and tired and watching the owners be turned then tied up made me nauseous. Who were now sitting next to me.

     “Why are you with thessse horrible sssnakes, hun?” The woman asks, she was a little on the older side. She sported graying brown hair and wore rickety glasses. She had a slight accent and seemed genuinely worried about me. Like Kai had been 

     “Not my choice, I just have rotten luck. Always have I guess, hehe.” I chuckle weakly, but my voice is still mostly devoid of emotion. The woman frowns and I notice the man lean forward. If I had to guess, I’d say they were married. The man's hair was whiter, and his hair was a much lighter shade of brown. 

     “Now that ain’t no good. Your parentsss oughta’ been watching you better.” He said, and he seemed upset. I paused, I guess he had a point there.

     “I guess,” Suddenly crashing could be heard throughout the scrapyard. I went stiff, waiting for the snakes to return. Instead, a blue-clad ninja came running at us. I flinch back as he approaches.

     “Ma! Pa! What happened!” He was yelling, while pulling his mask off. It revealed messy chestnut hair. It seemed like it had been straightened to me. His pale face was dusted with poorly covered freckles, and his eyes were an electric blue. Something started sparking in my veins. Similar to the unnatural heat seeing Kai had brought.

     “Sssome pesky ssnakessss broke on in here!” The man said, and I couldn’t help but notice how they didn’t really look very similar to their ‘son’.

     “Did they–Why are you all green and snakey?!” I flinch at his bluntness. The woman shifts uncomfortably next to me.

     “That wasss them sssssnakes fault too!” The blue nina’s hands tear through his hair. He mutters under his breath so fast I couldn’t follow at all.

     “Alright, sure, who’s the kid?” The question was innocent, but I felt sick to my stomach anyways. He turns to me, and I laugh awkwardly.

     “I’m practically a snake pet at this point. They keep finding ways to drag me along with them.” I try to keep my voice light; joking was the easiest way to hide emotions at Darkley. Why wouldn’t it work just as well here? The ninja squints at me a little. Sweat drips down the back of my neck.

     “I see, well we’ll just have to help you, too.” He seems to fall for it, but his eyes tell a different story. He’s looking at me with a little too much familiarity. As if he knows exactly what I’m doing and why. It’s slightly unnerving.

     “Let’s just start with getting the ropes off,” I say, making sure I still seem calm. As if I didn’t want to run and cry and throw up all at once. The ninja unties us, and I shake my arms to get the blood flowing.

     “Kid!? What are you doing here?!” I recognize the voice instantly, I spin around. Trying to find his spiky hair and red ninja uniform.

     “Kai!” I yell, and he drops a few feet ahead. I run at him with all the strength I have left and jump into his arms. His arms snake around my back and he’s petting my hair and why can’t I stop crying–

     “It’s ok, kid. I got you, for real this time. I swear on Jay’s mom.” I giggle as the blue ninja, who must be Jay, squawks loudly. 

     “You better, or I’m gonna beat your face.” I say, voice wobbling with tears. He laughs and the sound shakes through my body. It’s warm and my hands tingle with heat. Release release release.

     “Deal.” I push the thrumming of heat to the corner of my mind. Not the time for that. I let Kai pull me to my feet and notice that Jay disappeared. Probably to go protect his family from the snakes. Shame burns in my stomach in tandem with the unusual heat.

     Kai leads me to an old man wearing a large straw hat. He had a beard that went almost to his waist. It was almost impressive. He turned towards me and my head screamed at me. My vision shone with gold light for a split second. 

     “Lloyd? What are you doing here?” He knows my name, why does he know my name? How does he know my name? His eyes are kind but calculating. His brow crinkles and I can’t help but feel suspicious. He looks familiar.

     “How… do you know me?” I ask, fighting off the urge to fidget with my hoodie sleeves. The man flinches, Kai glances between us before going off to help his team. I step back a step.

     “Sorry, when we met you were very young. Not much later your mother stopped speaking to me. I… I am your uncle Wu. Garmadon’s brother.” The words hit me like a train. My breath escapes in one dramatic exhale. I avoid the man’s, my uncle’s, eyes. 

     “Oh.” I say dumbly, it's the only shape my mouth is willing to make, and beggars can’t be choosers.

     “I am sorry you must bear this responsibility, but the ninja will soon need your help.” Well, he certainly moved on fast. Also, what help would I be?

     “I don’t know if they’ll need my help. I’m just a kid, I can’t fight.” He looks a little sad and doesn’t argue with me. Something shivers in me, like this part of me I don’t understand disagrees with me. 

     The ninja are starting to get the snakes to back off, using fricking magic powers that I somehow didn’t notice before. Fire and ice and lightning and earth and water. My head spins as I watch the Fangpyre retreat, not without a large majority of the scrapyard's vehicles.

     “What the actual fuck.” I mumble, and as the ninja approach me everything stings. Too many sensations at once. It’s warm but cold and zappy and heavy and the air feels sticky like it had just rained for three hours. I try to take a step back but only manage to fall.

     “Kid!” Kai yelps at the same time Wu yells my name. My vision blurs but I can see Wu keeping the ninja away. I think they're yelling but I can’t tell. why won’t everything stop spinning?

Perfect, our Destiny is starting to come together.

Chapter Text

     I wake up somewhere I don’t recognize. I’m sitting in a bed that isn’t mine. So that rules Darkleys… and my the house, I guess. I’m still wearing my old hoodie and jeans, and my hair still feels greasy. I push off the gray bed.  

     I stumble over to the window and glance outside. It’s dark and I can clearly see the stars. I look out into the sky and see the ground hundreds of feet below. Hm, that's odd, we’re in the sky.

     “HOLY FSM WHAT THE HELL?!” The scream is torn from my throat completely against my will. I swear. It's not scary like, pshh, come on, heh… I’m only in the middle of the sky with no memory of getting here. What's so scary about that?

     “Where’s the danger?!” Kai sprints into the room, holding a shining gold sword. He’s wearing red striped pajamas and his hair isn’t stuck up in spikes. He still seems half asleep. Which isn’t dangerous at all.

     “Other than the danger that is flying? No where, I just have no idea what's happening." My voice shakes with barely concealed frustration. Kai blinks and his mouth makes a ‘o’ shape.

     “Yeah, okay that makes sense. Sorry about that, you were unconscious, and the snakes were chasing us and Jay’s been working on this with Nya and… that doesn’t matter, the point is that this is totally safe. I swear.” He smiles, and I find myself relaxing. I lean further from his sword though, it's really hot.

     “Do you swear on Jay's mom?” I try to keep my face flat, but a smirk breaks through. Kai starts laughing and it feels like a major win. Especially when Jay’s voice screams through the hall saying, “I HEARD THAT!”

     “Don’t mind Jay, he’s just jealous he’s not the funniest guy here anymore.” Kai ruffles my hair, and I can’t keep the laugh from bubbling out of me. He smiles like he’s won something. 

     He leads me into the kitchen where a tall boy with white hair sticking up is making breakfast. He is methodic and precise, and his cooking fills the room with the delicious smell of bacon and eggs. The boy turns towards me.

     “Good morning, Lloyd, would you like some breakfast?” His voice is level and his smile is sweet. His eyes are so blue it's almost alarming. I glance at the plate in his hand, filled to the brim with bacon, eggs, and toast. My stomach rumbles.

     “Yes please.” The boy smiles and sets the plate on the counter in front of me. I sit down as he turns back around.

     “Nothing for me? Zane, this is favoritism!” Kai whines while I shovel bacon into my mouth. It is literally the best I’ve ever had ever. I make a little sound of happiness even as the food burns my tongue.

     “You would just eat everything, plus, I don’t know when Lloyd has last eaten. I don’t really believe the snakes were feeding him.” Zane answers quickly but not unkindly. Like he was just stating facts, even though Kai was just teasing him.

     “Alright, alright, you win.” Kai puts his hands up in surrender, a small smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. 

     “Yay, I won.” Zane agrees but looks a little sheepish. Maybe he just barely realized that Kai was joking around?

     “Do I smell breakfast?” A boy dressed in pyjamas like Kai’s, but black, walks in. He has dark eyes and black hair. He was the largest and clearly the strongest of the group. I would have been intimidated if he wasn’t carrying Jay with him like he was a teddy bear.

     “Cole, let me goooo,” Jay was whining, but without his usual volume… or at least I think it's his usual volume. Every time I’ve seen him, he’s been yelling.

     “I see the smell of Zane’s cooking has awoken the beast.” Kai smirks at the boys, though Jay doesn’t even look up. He just starts giggling.

     “Oh, shut up, I’m hungry! The kids got some, why can’t I?” I giggle along with Jay, who flashes me a wide smile. Cole sees this happen and drops Jay onto the floor. A full laugh bursts out of me and Kai at the same time.

     “And to think, I was about to say we were bonding!” Jay whines, his voice going back up to that familiar screeching. Cole comes up and snatches one of my pieces of bacon.

     “Hey! That's mine!” I try to get it back, but he just shoves it into his mouth. Zane comes over and smacks his hand. Getting mad at him for taking my food. My head pounds as I glance towards the door. We need to gather the tribes, it's in the prophecy.

     I finish eating and leave the boys arguing in the kitchen. I wander the halls and end up in a control center of sorts. It's where the steering wheel is so I assume it's important. This room holds the last ninja, who was steering the ship.

     “Good morning, glad to see you're doing ok.” She says, and I startle a bit. I hadn’t expected her to notice me so quickly. I walk up and get to see her properly. She is the only girl on the ship, and she looks startlingly similar to Kai.

     Her hair was short and sharp like Kai’s, but a much darker brown, nearly black. Her eyes were piercing and mostly the same golden brown as Kai. Though there were rings of blues on the outside. She had a few moles and her smile seemed sharp. That same shark-like grin, making her resemblance to Kai uncanny.

     “Good morning… Are you related to Kai?” Her smile disappears with the question, and she scowls a bit. I want to backtrack but it’s too late.

     “Yep, he’s great but I would rather be known as my own ninja then just Kai’s sister,” She says, her voice going from comforting to unsettling in seconds. “No one should have to live in their family's shadows.” 

     “I get that, I was only curious since you look so alike.” My mind unhelpfully reminds me of my father, and how his name alone has given me more trouble than anything I’ve done at Darkleys.

     “Yeah, it's ok. You didn’t know.” She sighs, “Kai says I need to stop being so dramatic but–”

     “If it hurts your feelings I don’t think it's dramatic.” I say quickly, “It was my bad anyways, sorry.” Her smile returns, which makes me smile too.

     “You're a pretty smart kid, I’m Nya, by the way.” She sticks a hand towards me, keeping her other one on the wheel. I shake it, and I can’t help but notice how calloused her hands are.

     “Thanks, I’m Lloyd, though I guess you probably already know that, huh?” I try to keep the bitterness out of my voice, but Nya’s face tells me I’ve done a bad job.

     “Yeah, which isn’t really fair, is it? You didn’t get told my name, did the boys tell you theirs?” 

     “No, well Kai did but I met him before all this. Before he knew I was Lloyd Garmadon… Which is proving to be really inconvenient.” Nya laughs, then gets back to steering. She points me towards some paper and pens. I get to doodling. It’s pretty fun, sitting with Nya and drawing. 

     We talk a little, mostly about how awesome it is that her and Jay got the ship to fly. Apparently, they had been working on it for a while, and the way she lit up when describing technical things I could never even hope to understand made me smile.

     The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I glance towards the door, and my headache starts coming back. It still feels like someone's watching me, but I focus on my doodle. It starts looking like a snake… I crumple the paper.

…

     “Why are we here again?” Cole is talking to Wu. We’re visiting some desert and it's starting to get boring. What with the fact that the only thing around is sand, sand, and even more sand.

     I feel that magnetic pull at my stomach, and it makes me feel nauseous in the heat. I stumble towards it, hoping the feeling will get less intense. It kinda works. My headache cools and I no longer feel seconds from throwing up.

     “Lloyd? Where are you going?” The voice feels like someone's talking to me through cotton, and I keep stumbling along. It starts feeling better and better. The tug loosens the farther I walk.

     Someone is yelling after me, and I only just notice how far I’d walked. The ninja have become tiny pinpricks in the distance. When did that happen? Ahead of me there is a giant fang shaped building. Maybe I could get out of the heat.

     I push the door open, the pressure in my brain suddenly spiking. I fall onto my knees and throw up. My body feels like it's rejecting my existence. Something is coming towards me, but my vision has started to blur.

     “You must be the little Garmadon, I knew this day would come.” The figure hisses softly, great. I’ve released yet another snake. I try to crawl towards the door, but the snake grips my wrist.

     “Stop,” My voice rasps, “I don’t want to keep doing this.” The snake laughs and pats my head softly. It doesn’t help my headache at all.

     “Poor child, I see the others haven’t been treating you with respect. I wish to correct this mistake.” His voice is smooth, and I’m so so tired. “I just need a map, then I’ll let you go.” 

     “A map to where? I don’t have any maps.” He pats my head again, then I’m being carried somewhere. We’re soon in the back of the building, and he passes me some paper. I squint down at the page; it's a rough map of Ninjago.

     “Just put down all the places that feel important.” He says, and I glance back to the map. My fingers tingle as I pick up the quill. I’ve never written with a quill before. Something in me forces my hand to carry it gracefully. 

     I mark a few places, anywhere that made my stomach clench with anticipation. My head pounds, making it hard to think. It feels like something outside of me is moving my arms like a puppet. It feels like someone is moving my body from under my skin

     I hear my name being called in the distance. The person sounds desperate, and it pushes through the cotton in my mind. I turn towards the door at the same time the snake disappears with the map. What I just did catches up to me. 

     “Shit!” I try to stumble to my feet but fall. My whole-body tingles and my brain still moves much too slow. I feel too tall and heavy, like I was walking in someone else's body. Something was holding me back; I couldn’t quite control what I was doing.

     I breathe in and out a few times, and my head starts to clear. My body stops tingling and I feel normal again. Well, not normal, but good enough. I stumble to my feet and manage to get back out into the sun. 

     The ninja are running towards me, Nya and Kai getting to me first. They grip me tight and are asking so many questions that go in one ear out the other. Wu eventually drags them off of me, he looks in my eyes for a second. 

     “Uncle Wu?” My voice shocks him out of his thoughts and he smiles at me tightly. They get me back onto the destiny's bounty, and my head feels a little fuzzy. I know what happened, but it all feels vague and weird. Like a dream.

     “Don’t worry Nephew,” Which isn’t an ominous thing to say at all. He leads me onto the Destiny’s Bounty and tells me to go to my room. To “relax” and “recover”. Which is adult code for “I want to talk to the older kids without you around”. 

     I sit on the spare bed, which I guess is my bed now, and try not to cry. I don’t feel as sick anymore, just off kilter. Like something in me was shifted over a little bit. I force myself to go clean up in the bathroom. There's still sand stuck in my borrowed clothes. (I couldn’t exactly run around the desert in a black hoodie)

     I see my face in the mirror and almost gasp out loud. My features were strange, like I was in between ages. My hair was more gold-blonde than white-blonde but I could see the color fading. My eyes were brighter, suddenly a green rather than the muddled gray I had gotten used to.

     “Lloyd will have to harness his powers much sooner than I would like. Especially now that we know the Green Ninja is fighting for control.” My Uncle’s voice feels a million years away, and I watch in morbid fascination as my features continue to melt and twist and reform. Until my reflection matches what it had been yesterday.

     I touch my face and can’t even force myself to feel surprised when the skin is warm and soft to the touch. Somehow it feels alien and natural at the same time. Energy stings my nerves, and I can’t help but feel like someone else has taken residence under my skin