Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

     Frak has been trying his best as of late to get closer to Sora— they had some good times— reallllly good times when he’d teach her to bake pies, and even though she would get discouraged he thought she was amazing— (she was the smartest, most attractive member of the team, after all) and of course there was also really bad times— likeeee when Frak had almost gotten them killed trying to prove he wasn’t just Ras’s stooge, and that they were on the same team.

     Of course, now that they’d been reunited again after Sora came back from running off with Arin to go with Ras, they’d seen each other nearly every day. (Which was great, because he was starting to lose track of just how much sleep he had lost totally NOT staying up all night worrying about her safety— nope, definitely not him.)

     Frak couldn’t help himself— her smile, her laugh, the way she scrunched her nose and rolled her eyes, he tried to commit everything about her to memory— sure, they bickered from time, but it wasn’t all bad, they had plenty of shared laughs too— neither of them backed down from a challenge quite often (whether that’s on the same team or fighting with one another), so they kept each other on their toes.

     Butttt he loved talking with her regardless so he didn’t really mind too much… He loved to listen to her when she spoke, and when he found out she could sing— he was sooooo excited to find another thing they had in common!

     No, he hadn’t been there when she initially heard the spell song, but he had etched the first time she sang the song to him in his mind perfectly— he was so sure of it. He wanted to prove he was a good listener, and even though Sora didn’t always seem keen on having him help her with things— (she was a strong, beautiful, independent woman of course) he wanted to show her she didn’t have to carry the weight of things on her own, and that they were on the same team.

     But DARN IT ALL, why did she always have to be so— STUBBORN?

     “…I wish she would just let me in sometimes— she makes it like I’m out to get her.” Frak thought to himself, sighing inwardly.

     “No no no, it’s — DA DA DA, you go up with it like DAAA~ like, like DA DAAA~” He coached, clearing his throat and holding his left hand in the air for emphasis as he harmonized with her.

     “Frak, you weren’t even THERE when I heard the spell song—“

     “I know, but I committed your singing to memory and I have perfect pitch—“

     Moments from mere hours ago seemed like eons away to them now—

     The chimes “da da da da da, da da da da, da da~” echoed through the glassy space of the cave in such a way that everything seemed almost…. Too easy.

     Sure, the team had definitely struggled with remembering the spell song in the first place, Frak and Sora had a little bit of a heated disagreement, but they still got though it.

     Honestly, they were both SHOCKED WyldFyre of all people was able to get the spell song right— luck sure was having mercy on them in that moment.

     Had the circumstances been different, the cave would have been beautiful— the crystals reflected any light it caught in a gorgeous array of colors, and mirrored their reflections in such a way it looked as though they were all apart of a scene painted in watercolors.

     Frak and Sora both let out an exasperated sigh, one that felt much heavier than air should feel in somebody’s lungs.

     That was when he saw it— her smile of relief.

     Great Ninjago, She was beautiful—

     “We did it…” She said taking a deep breath, glancing his way for a moment, her soft, warm brown eyes meeting his Jade green ones briefly before suddenly—

     “Is that… KUR?! “

     Oh great. It’s always something—

     The once sparkling and serene crystal cave transformed into a battleground, bathed in a blood-red light and filled with ghostly soldiers right before their eyes.

     The quartet of Frak, Sora, WyldFyre , & Riyu fought off ghosts as well as they could manage for what seemed like an eternity—

     Things couldn’t ever just be easy or simple, could they?

     Figures this was the first time the kids were really ON THEIR OWN— Sure they had to split up to cover more ground, but they didn’t anticipate running into THIS MUCH TROUBLE for trying to play music— (yeah it was a magic spell to wake up half of the source dragon of focus, but that’s neither here nor there.)

     Frak was incredibly skilled in fighting and thanks to Lloyd’s traning, he learned to control his rage and hate and fight with his heart instead— Sora had gotten better at fighting too, but he didn’t realize just how much she had improved—

     Oh shoot.

     Just when Frak was starting to think they would be able to get out of this, it seems like more ghost poured into the cave like hot tea from a kettle before they had even known what had happened.

     He was able to knock several of them out, dodging one, attacking the next, backflipping over the one after that— Can’t a guy catch a break?

     No no no, stay focused. The others need you, Frak—

     Frak had turned over his shoulder to check how the others were doing—-

     Riyu and WyldFyre seemed to be doing alright, they had tag teamed and taken out a couple of the bad guys.

     Another wave came in, Frak handled a batch of them no problem, but then when he turned to check on Sora——

     It was like everything was in slow motion.

     She was using the hammer they used to ring the bells as a make-shift weapon, and was sending ghosts flying left and right.

     He stopped everything he was doing right then and there, removed his muffler for a moment almost in disbelief—- he wasn’t sure which stole his attention more, just how strong she had become in the short time they were apart, or just how breathtaking she truly was….

     He opened his mouth in shock as she knocked another ghost over her shoulder, and smiled as he stared in awe at the warrior queen sharing the same air as him.

     The way she practically sparkled with each step she took, the way her rose pink hair tousled in the breeze, how confident she appeared to everyone even though he knew deep down she had to have been terrified—

     He didn’t really know when it had happened, but it was in that moment he realized…

     This wasn’t just some silly little crush…. He truly had fallen for her.

     Quickly snapping out of it, he shook his head, taking a glance at her once more before looking away.

     He knew their time together had been short— and as much as they all had improved their fighting skills, he also wasn’t sure if they were a match for the enemy they were up against—

     They were outnumbered and underprepared— not to mention, they had been ambushed.

     Frak was an incredible fighter; he had mastered elemental ability of quakes, and was trained heavily in hand to hand combat and stealth— and though the others had come a long way too, he was worried that even with their combined efforts—

     What if they’d fail? What if it wouldn’t be enough…?

     Sure, Ninja never quit ….but… what if this was a fight they wouldn’t come back from…?

     His heart hammered in his chest as he looked at her, bitting his lip he looked away for a moment to reassess the situation, before turning to look at her once more over his shoulder.

     “SORA…!! If…. If we don’t make it out of this, there’s something I’ve got to tell you—-“ He said, reaching a hand her direction and keeping his mask down so she could see the sincerity in his face.

      “What…? What is it…?” She asked, hitting one more ghost with the hammer before turning back around to face him.

     When their eyes met, he froze.

     If we were about to die right now… would telling her even be the right thing to do?

     “I….I…!! I— I ate all the yogurt in the momentary fridge…!” He squeaked, putting back on his muffler.

     WHAT?? WHY DID I JUST SAY THAT…?!

     “You… w-what?” She called back to him in confusion, putting her own mask back on as they fought side by side against the next wave.

     “I confess. All of it. It’s gone.”

     “And… whyyyy was it so important that you tell me this— NOW?”

     “Uhm; W-Well just in case you make it alive out of this and I don’t, when you go back home to the monetary and wonder where all of the yogurt went, you’ll have your definitive answer.”

     “Alright? You’re forgiven…??! …..Weirdo….”

     Sora sighed as she shook her head and tried not to laugh.

     He really was terrible at small talk, wasn’t he?

//////

     After the final battle had gone in their favor, the quartet couldn’t have been more exhausted—

     “Man, I’m EXHAUSTED! Gonna probably sleep for a week.” Grumbled WyldFyre, stifling a yawn.

     “I can’t believe we actually one! And— whoa—“ Sora began , stopping for a moment when she suddenly felt dizzy.

     “Sssora, you okay? Ughh—“ He stumbled, going to try and help her up and feeling whatever it was too.

     Whatever was going on, WyldFyre and Riyu immediately felt it too—

     “Whoa— what was that…? Everyone alright…?” Frak questioned, checking on his friends once they all caught their breath.

     That couldn’t have been mere coincidence or exhaustion— could it…? Something was definitely wrong, and they should head back to the monastery as soon as they can—

     Zanth was asleep?? SERIOUSLY??

     “Uh, Zanth is our ride home—“

     “Well, we could always just take the monastery warp gates home.”

     “Oh right, good idea, Sora!”

     BAD, BAD IDEA—

     “What do you mean the doors are locked…?!” Frak called out over to Sora in panic.

     “What do you MEAN what do I mean, Frak?? THEY’RE LOCKED—“

     The quartet has walked through the momentary gate, stating aloud ‘NINJAGO’ and walking though like that had countless times in the past— but for some reason this time had been different— they ended up in an entirely new land, that none of them recognized. Just as they had noticed the gate made a mistake, the doors slammed shut behind them. Leaving them stranded in unfamiliar territory, completely alone.

     “Watch out, let me try something—“ The orange snake boy replied, stepping in front of his friend, and trying to break the door open by brute force with his elemental abilities.

     The grand wooden doors of the monastery gate stood tall, looking down almost mockingly at him… The white and red framework on this side of the gate looked much older than the monetary gate back home, but still seemed familiar somehow… like the fogged image of a familiar dream that you could never recall the ending of…. And the glowing orb at the top was different too— had it always been that red color…?

     His hands glowed and the ground around them shook, as well as the structure of the door, but it didn’t budge—

     “MY TURN~!” Called WyldFyre from behind them, cracking her knuckles and launching a fire ball before either of them barely had time to react.

     “L-LOOK OUT…!!” Frak called, grabbing Sora by the arm and tripping and falling backwards, accidentally dragging her down with him.

     She blinked when she realized she landed on top of him, their faces a mere breath apart.

     “YOU OKAY??” They both asked each other in unison.

     Which, was a stark difference to their usual bickering under pressure.

     Sora quickly hopped up and reached her hand out to him, helping Frak to his feet.

     “Fire also ineffective. BOR-ING!” Called WyldFyre, sighing and folding her arms across her chest as Riyu used his wings to fan out any small stray fires from her blast.

     “Okay so—- We’re still separated from the group, we don’t know where we are, and have no current way of getting back to the monastery—.” Sora concluded, trying to take mental note of their surroundings.

     “Yep, that about sums it up….” Frak said, taking a deep breath to collect his thoughts.

     “Where are we???” Pouted WyldFyre, looking over to Riyu who lowered his head and groaned sadly.

     “We should gather supplies while it’s still light out, and see what ground we can cover—“ Frak said, looking to Sora for approval.

     “I agree, that isn’t a bad idea.”

     The two looked at each other for a moment and smiled faintly before looking away.

     Weird, were they ACTUALLY getting along for a change?

—-

     “Alright, we’ve got water, firewood, and ironically enough— there’s actually fruit and vegetables we can eat out here…” Sora said, taking note of their supplies.

     “Excellent… is there anything else we should get?”

     “Hmm… I feel like we’re missing something, but I’m just not sure what it could be…..” She yawned, gazing at the glowing embers that raised into the dusk sky from the warmth of the campfire’s flames.

     They were in some kind of a field, the grass around them had been tall and wild, as if either forgotten by time, or undiscovered by society.

     It almost seemed as though it could have been the ancient ruins of a city erased from the world, left behind by the only ones who could have known it existed, likely all long dead by now.

     It didn’t feel eerie though, there was an odd peace about it all… the land was strangely ethereal.

     WyldFyre had already been asleep by this point, snoring loudly and sprawled across the ground lazily and using Riyu’s tail as a makeshift pillow, mumbling in her sleep about how Roby only wanted her to have the finest things in life, like seedless grapes.

     The two left awake snickered quietly when they heard their friend talking in her sleep.

     “She really is something else….” Sora laughed, shaking her head.

     “I know, right…? I’m still shocked that she was able to get the spell song right— thank the first spinjitzu master…” Sighed Frak, shaking his head and stifling a laugh as he put his scaley head in his left hand.

     “Crazy….” She added, looking at him for a moment before looking back at the fire.

     “You know… maybe if we get out of this, when everything clams down, you can uhm… give teaching me how to bake pies another go?” Sora asked, turning her gaze to the sky above them.

     The sky was almost completely clear tonight, stray a few cloudy wisps here and there… the stars above them shone so brightly, it almost seemed like a million dancing fairies putting on a show— it was very… peaceful. Very different from the cluttered and chaotic smog-filled city sky that the merge lands proudly boasted.

     They had been lucky, if they were going to get stranded, it was a good thing it was during the tail end of summer the crisp start of fall— not too hot that it was unbearable, but not too cool just yet that they would freeze out here all night.

     “R-really…?!” Frak shouted excitedly.

     “SHHHHH! You’ll wake her…!” She whisper shouted.

     “Ssssssorry….” The snake replied, his lisp coming out as he rubbed the back of his neck, slightly embarrassed.

     “But… you really want me to give passing on the secrets of pie knowledge another go…?” He whispered, tilting his head as he looked over to her.

     Even in the pale moonlight, she was absolutely beautiful….

     “Yeah, why not? I should probably learn how to cook one of these days, right? It’s a good thing you were here, you managed to make our rations actually edible somehow…” She smiled, taking her cat-ear headphones down for a moment and undoing her hair tie, allowing the pink curls to fall loosely around her shoulders.

     “T-Thanks… glad you enjoyed dinner….” He said, blinking a few times before grinning at her, his fangs showing a little. He hadn’t ever seen her hair down before—- enchanting.

     “I’d be sssssso delighted to ssssshow you how to bake again.” He said, standing up and taking a bow.

     “Why thank you, Sir Frak of the Serpentine~ What a gentleman.” She teased, standing up and bowing back.

     “You are such a weirdo sometimes I swear…~” She scoffed, tucking a loose curl behind her ear.

     “Like— what was up with you telling me about the yogurt?? “ She laughed, looking at him for a moment and blinked when he wasn’t laughing but looked almost… sick?

     “Hey… you good?” She asked, reaching for his arm.

     “U-Uhm, yeah, perfectly good, totally fine…”

     Liar.

     “Ssssso good in fact that uhm, I think you should get some rest and let me take first watch.” He said, taking off the outer layer of his gí and passing it to her.

     “In case you get cold, or want to use it as a pillow or something— because I’m a serpentine, conditions like this don’t usually bother me.” He said, changing the subject.

     Why did I have to tell her about the stupid yogurt…?!!

     “Uhm— you sure…?” She asked, raising an eyebrow and looking into her friend’s eyes, trying to look for answers as to why he was suddenly acting strangely.

     “Yep, totally ssssssure!” He nodded, giving her a thumbs up.

     “Hmm…. Alright…. “ She said, giving him a glance for a moment before looking to the ground and letting herself get comfortable, wrapping his gí around herself like a blanket.

     Why did she have to look so cute in my clothes? UGHHHH

     “Hey Frak?”

     “Yes, Ssora?”

     “Make sure you wake me up if you need anything, alright…?” She whispered to him, smiling softly as he nodded his head.

     “Yes ma’am, will do.” He said, giving her a salute before watching as she drifted off to sleep.

     Serpentine usually didn’t need that much sleep to function, (though admittedly, Frak was lying to himself if he tried to deny that he was tired.) But he knew that she would need sleep more than he did.

     And if he could help the girl he loved, then of course he would.

——

     After the others had eventually woken up, it was a lot brighter in the sky.

     WyldFyre eventually woke up to switch with Frak, but honestly , he didn’t sleep all that much. He had way too much on his mind.

     “Do you think the others are going through something similar? If my theory is correct, I have a very bad feeling our monetary gate isn’t the only one that’s broken…”

     “Pfffft. Kai and the others are probably going to find us easy peasy!” Declared WyldFyre.

     “But…. I hope they are okay too.” She continued , twiddling her thumbs and looking down.

     WyldFyre usually acted like she didn’t care very much, being a hot head and a tough girl was her whole brand, but Sora could definitely tell she was worried deep down.

     “Don’t worry, we’re all going to get through this somehow— we’ll see everyone again before you know it.” Sora smiled, putting a hand on her friend’s shoulder.

     WyldFyre smiled back, blinking when they saw something— smoke…??

     FIRE. There was a fire. And a BIG ONE. It was either civilization or catastrophe, either way, if there was a fire, that meant that they weren’t alone.

     “C’MON! LETS GET BACK TO FRAK AND RIYU…!!” Called Sora, running with WyldFyre back to camp as quick as the girls could.

     Frak, who had always been a light sleeper, had already bolted up the second the smoke billowed into the sky.

     “I-I’M UP. WHATSSS UP?!” He panicked, quickly taking a mental head count and sighing in relief at the sight of Sora and WyldFyre running back towards the camp.

     “Oh thank goodness—“ He began, running towards them.

     “What’s happening? Fire? Trouble? Are we talking ancient curses or natural disasters??” He asked, quickly slipping the top half of his gí back on.

     “There’s a fire out east, I’m not sure yet what the cause is— “

     “Should we investigate? Someone could be in trouble—“

     “Orrrrrr, someone could be causing trouble.”

     “Dually noted. What’s the next move?”

     “Well, I don’t know— what if we are getting ourselves into something we shouldn’t? We aren’t exactly in the best circumstances—“

     “But we can’t stay here either, or else we’re not getting home any time soon.”

     Riyu and WyldFyre watched as Sora and Frak brainstormed plans on what to do next until—-

     “Uhm, guys?”

     “What??” The two called in unison, lost in their conversation.

     “F-FIRE…??!” The red head pointed, her eyes widening as they saw multiple fires break out, the tall grass setting ablaze like fireworks as someone came rappidly approaching.

     “L-LOOK OUT..!!” Sora and Frak said in unison (okay, twice now? This was starting to get a little weird—) quickly ducking out of the way as the tree that was close to their camp came tumbling down faster than they could blink.

     This particular person had on… an orange gí?

     Weird, the only orange gí the others knew about was Arin’s.

     “Let me see if they have any tech on them!” Sora said, smirking slightly when she was able to find some, and levitated them in the air.

     Little did she know, the devices where several sound grenades of sorts, that activated the second her abilities touched them, making them all explode at once.

     The quartet covered their ears and winced as everything around them started ringing and became eerily quiet.

     Riyu groaned, WyldFyre growled, but quickly shook her head and came running at the person full force.

     “HIYAHHHHH!!!!” She roared, launching several fireballs at this stranger which they avoided gracefully— the dragon girl blinked when their adversary flipped her over their shoulder with very little effort—

     That was when suddenly BOTH of the attackers hands filled with Fireballs—

     “Kai…??” WyldFyre squinted , not able to get a good look at the person, but was certain it had to be Kai if—-

     Sora and Frak exchanged a confused look before looking back at the attacker.

     “WyldFyre— stay back—- I don’t think that’s—“ Sora began, blinking when the person seemed to disappear out of NOWHERE, and appeared behind her.

     “SORA….!” Frak called, quickly hitting the ground with his quake abilities, causing Sora to fall forwards closer to him.

     “Thanks…” She said, eyes widening when the person had disappeared again, but then they were surrounded in a ring of fire.

     Not good—

     Sora and Frak went back to back and got into fighting stances, staying on high alert for when the enemy would make their next move.

     It was crazy— you would have thought there were multiple attackers based on how much damage was being caused in this valley they stood—- but it was one singular being.

     Riyu and WyldFyre flew in to grab Sora and Frak out of the fire, and managed to get a few hundred feet before the person’s hands changed from fireballs to a pink glow, and all of Sora’s tech started to malfunction, short circuiting and exploding— not enough to really hurt anyone, but enough to cause them to get distracted and fall to the ground.

     “W-What the…?!!” Sora blinked, quickly trying to regain control of her technology, but ultimately failing.

     “I-Is everyone alright…?!” Frak called, helping Sora to her feet and throwing her tech as far as he could with his quake abilities before they exploded out in the distance.

     “Well, outside of my element turning against me all of a sudden, sure—“

     “I think we need to retreat before things get any w—“

     “FRAK, LOOK OUT…!!!”

     “H-Huh…?”

    The attacker had swiftly grabbed Frak by the arm before he even had time to react, spun him in the air, and threw him in the lake nearby.

     “FRAKKKK!!!” Sora shrieked, running after the direction he was thrown before nearly falling on her face when the ground beneath them shook and started to crack.

     “QUAKES…?!” WyldFyre shouted in confusion.

     “H-HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE…?!!” Sora panicked, stumbling back to her feet to try and find Frak—-

     “RIYU…!!” WyldFyre shouted, eyes widening when there was a net thrown on top of Riyu.

     “STOP IT RIGHT N—-“ Sora began, falling to her knees when some of her technology she hadn’t realized she still had short circuited, causing her to have an electrical current course through her body.

     “SORA!!!!” WyldFyre cried, looking back and forth between Sora and Riyu, hopeless to help either of her friends beside her, let alone, no clue where Frak had landed.

     “STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT…!!!” WyldFyre shouted, her eyes welling up with tears as she ran across the dessert sand for the masked person full force, grabbing them by the shoulders and knocking them off their balance.

     For a moment, it seemed like WyldFyre had the upper hand, that is until they kicked WyldFyre in the air, did spinjitzu, and knocked her out with a finishing blow.

That was when, when—-

Wait….. Why can’t I remember what happened after that…?

Chapter Text

     “GUWAH…!!” Sora bolted up, her heart feeling as though it was going to explode right out of her chest at any moment as she gasped for air in her lungs.

     She blinked multiple times, waiting for her eyes to adjust to her surroundings—-

     She was in….a bed?

     Surprisingly, her injuries were more or less patched up and bandaged as well— and not in a sloppy manner, either; whoever had helped her, had been very meticulous in doing so….

     The room was simple, a color scheme primarily of white and red— there where candles lit on a mahogany countertop in the corner, some scrolls on a small matching wooden end table next to the bed, the walls consisted of a wooden lattice frame with sliding doors and—

     KNOCK KNOCK.

     “U-Uhm… come in…?”

     “….W-WYLDF— “ Sora began, her breath catching in her throat when she saw the same shade of iconic red of her dragon friend, but a face that looked… older?

     A woman in orange with her hair in a ponytail decorated with chopsticks walked in, smelling of noodles and green tea— scratch that, she didn’t just smell of it, she was holding a steaming hot tray of noodles, hot tea, and fortune cookies.

     And she was wearing— THE ORANGE GÍ…!?!?

     “Y-YOU…!! YOU STAY BACK….!!” Sora warned, quickly trying to get out of the bed, stumbling to her feet and using her abilities to manipulate the tech in the room to create a makeshift staff to hold as a weapon.

     “Relax, the only enemy I’m trying to take down is your hunger. You girls must have been starving out there…. It’s hard surviving off of fruit alone.” She stated in a matter of fact tone of voice, walking right up to Sora and placing the tray on the foot of the bed.

     She wanted to be terrified— but the woman’s face and features reminded her so much of WyldFyre that she felt… confused? Calm…? Almost like she could trust this person…?

     SORA, ARE YOU CRAZY?! SHE LITERALLY ATTACKED US—

     “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY FRIENDS…?!”

     “Oh, you mean the red-head and the gray dragon? The dragon is fine, he’s out in the yard with some of the other dragons I care for. As for the red-head— she’s in the room right across from yours. I’ll admit, I was thrown for a loop when I saw fireballs billowing in the air yesterday— at first I thought it was— “ The woman began, shaking her head and laughing slightly, before turning back around, holding out her hand out to Sora.

     “How rude of me; I’m Skylor, the elemental master of Amber. “ She smiled, sighing faintly when Sora just glared at her and refused to shake her hand.

     “I’m sorry for attacking you, I was only trying to knock you out to keep you safe—“

     “THAT LITERALLY DOESN’T EVEN MAKE ANY SENSE—-“

     “I’m sure it probably doesn’t sound that way since you don’t know me, but I promise you that—-“

     “SORA SORA SORA!!! THIS DOJO HAS DRAGONS….!!!” Bursted WyldFyre, excitedly running through the door and stopping short when she saw this ‘Skylor’ person from the back of the head.

     “Oh good, you’re awake too. I’ll go get your noodles and tea; I just took it off the kettle.” The woman smiled, walking away for a moment and then coming back with a second tray.

     WyldFyre looked stunned when the woman returned and their eyes met— could they be related somehow…? Maybe they were sisters or cousins or something…? WyldFyre never knew who her real family was, so it wasn’t impossible—

     “I’m Skylor, and the two of you are?” She said, taking a moment to sip from the cup of tea that she had poured for herself.

     The two girls remained quiet, equally on edge.

     “Seriously, there’s nothing to worry about, quit looking at me like that, would you?” She sighed, not even turning around to look at Sora as she dismantled her tech weapon with a wave of one hand, as well as using fire from her other hand to heat up a cup of tea for herself.

     “You know, you really remind me of someone I used to know— he used to always run head first into danger like that too. Your fighting styles are quite similar…” She said to WyldFyre, before turning to look at Sora.

     “Don’t worry, that Serpentine won’t be able to find you out here in my Dojo. It’s been a refuge for the last decade against many different foes.

     “HEY— THAT SERPENTINE HAS A NAME, AND ITS FRAK…!! He’s our friend…!! He’s smart, funny, kind, and an incredible ninja And— And why are you talking about him like he’s some sort of… monster?!” Glared Sora, grabbing WyldFyre by the wrist before she could eat any of the food.

     “Don’t eat that WyldFyre, that’s probably poisoned.”

     “GASP!! SORA!! WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT TO POISON MY NOODLES?!! THAT’S— THAT’S— TRUE EVIL…!!”

     “Sora and WyldFyre huh? Nice to meet you too.” The woman said, running a hand through her hair.

     “Serpentine are incredibly powerful, not to mention cunning and dangerous. That’s why they were locked away for so long—- many people tried to use them to turn the tides of wars—- they can’t be trusted and— wait, hold on, you said that serpentine was your friend…?” Skylor asked, raising her eyebrows in confusion.

     Skylor knew all too well about how bad a serpentine’s bite could truly be…. Her father Master Chen had been obsessed with them— he had even created an army of anacondri warriors and would have started a second serpentine war had it not been for Kai and the others stepping in—

     “Frak? Yeah! He’s cool! Sure he’s not a dragon like me or Riyu, or a human like Lloyd or Kai— or well, Lloyd is like a dragon and oni or something?? Idk I zoned out during that part of Kai’s bedtime storytelling—“

     “Kai…?” The woman asked, eyes widening as she reached for a pendant she had around her neck, and opening it to reveal a photo of herself— and Kai, probably about 10 years ago…

     “Kai, the elemental master of Fire…? You mean— he’s alive…?” Skylor asked, looking at WyldFyre and pointing to the picture.

     “WHOAAAAAA, KAI LOOKS SO YOUNG!!!” WyldFyre said, before scrunching her face.

     “Wait— weird noodle making and kidnapping us lady, why do you have a photo of Kai in your necklace?

     “Kai is—- was my— it’s complicated—- uhm—- “ She began, laughing awkwardly.

     “I was in love with him, but things with Kai were always… difficult. We were very close….” She said, her voice trailing off slightly before she quickly shook her head.

     “Sorry, we can unpack that later—- if that Serpentine is your friend, then I need to go get him— it’s not safe to stay out there this long.

     “What? Why’s that…??”

     “Sandstorms.”

     “SANDSTORMS?!” The two younger girls screamed in unison.

     “Yeah, they’re pretty bad around here— but luckily, as long as I leave now, we should have plenty of time to get him to safety.” The woman replied, grabbing a staff and walking out the door.

     “Wait—- shouldn’t we go with her…?!” Sora began quickly getting to her feet and blinking when Skylor walked back into the room.

     “You two need to stay here and hold down the fort justttt in case I somehow missed him and if he comes looking for you.  Besides, I’ll be quicker if I go alone, the both of you are still seriously injured…. I might have been able to patch you up, but I think whatever it was you faced before I ran into you had to have been pretty insane— ” She said, walking over to one of the dressers that was in the room and grabbing something she had forgotten.

     Skylor had a point— even though she had basically knocked everyone out and technicallyyyyy kidnapped them— it was obvious to Sora that she had been holding back the entire fight… if she wanted them dead, she easily could have killed them.

     “Here, I’ll give you one of these so you guys can contact me if you run into any trouble.” She stated, tossing a communication device to Sora before putting a similar one in her ear.

     “You do realize you literally attacked us, basically kidnapped us, and now you’re expecting us to just trust you…?” Sora said, folding her arms across her chest and raising an eyebrow.

     “Yeah, I guess trust was never one of my strong suits, I grew up with a villain for a father, so I didn’t exactly have the best role model…. Butttt so did Lloyd GARMADON, The legendary green ninja, and you guys trust him right?” She said with a wink.

     “Besides, it isn’t like you have much of a choice anyway, now do you?” She retorted, whistling with two of her fingers, and calling her dragon to come flying towards the large bay window that stood proudly in the center of the room, its amber curtains tossing lazily in the breeze.

     “Plus, friends of Kai’s are friends of mine. So I promise to treat you as my own…. Starting now.” She said hopping on the dragon’s back and flying off to find Frak.

     Jeez—- just what had they gotten themselves into…?

                           —-

     “…..GUWHAAAAA…!!” Frak choked in a cold sweat, finally waking up from being knocked out after he was thrown in the lake.

     He had been soaked to the bone, exhausted out of his mind, and his memory was foggy at best.

     He took a deep breath and shook his head, placing a clawed hand on his face as he squinted his eyes, trying to recall WHAT THE HECK IN NINJAGO just happened.

     “S-SORA…!!” He called out, quickly hopping to his feet for a moment before hissing slightly in pain.

     Yikes— his injuries had been worse than he thought.

     He had taken a pretty bad hit when Kur was trying shatterspin BEFORE they had even gotten attacked by whoever, or— whatever that was—-

     How could they have had so many elemental abilities…? Could there have been something like the staff from the tournament that had given them those abilities…? Or… could it have been something else…?

     On top of that, the person who had attacked them was definitelyyy skilled in hand to hand combat and—- WAIT DID THEY DO SPINJITZU…?? No, maybe Frak had imagined that part…

     He almost recalled something in the history scrolls Lloyd had showed him about their being a previous tournament before the one he had attended and met Sora and the others for the first time— maybe that had something to do with it….?

     Forcing himself back to his feet, Frak took in the scenery before him.

     The sunlight from midday was fading away and starting to become dusk, casting an orange glow on the water’s glassy surface that rivaled his own scales.

     There hadn’t been a lot of trees around, it had seemed to mostly be sandy areas adorned with dry grass and various weeds…

     “Kind of reminds me of Orroborus, in a way…” He mumbled to himself as he ripped off part of his gí to create a make-shift bandage for the injuries on his left leg and right arm.

     “Definitely not broken…..” He said, going to put pressure back on the leg in question before wincing.

     “P-Probably…” He assured himself, using his teeth to tighten the other bandage on his right arm.

     “I’m a lefty anyway, so it’s fine, I can manage with this….” He shrugged, trying to ignore the panic that was starting to rise in his throat.

     Where was everyone..?

     What the heck had happened…??

     He remembered hearing Sora scream out his name and then—- nothing.

     “SORA….! WYLDFYRE…! RIYU….!!” He called, grabbing a large branch piece he found adrift in the lake and using it as a walking stick to try and ease the pain on his leg.

     “A-ANYBODY….??”

     He called, his head sinking slightly as he looked around.

     How could he had been so helpless…? The others had been counting on him to be the strong one and here he was— cast aside like a child’s unwanted toy.

     “I hope everyone’s okay….” He frowned, taking a deep breath.

     “Feeling sorry for yourself isn’t gonna accomplish anything Frak, you’ve got to find them—- Sora’s probably scared out of her mind right now—-“ He lectured, standing a little taller and quickening his pace.

     “SORA’S PROBABLY SCARED OUT OF HER MIND RIGHT NOW.”

     Sure, she was a quick thinker and didn’t back down that easily from a fight, but underneath that cool girl act, Frak knew that she had been just as scared if not more so than he was at the time. She always had on a brave face for everyone around her, but he remembered things about her others may not have noticed…..  like how she was claustrophobic, or worried that things happening around her were always her fault— orrrrr that she always felt she would never be good enough or strong enough—- and that made him want to always be there for her, to show and reminder her just how incredible she is— and that she was more than enough.

     He remembered just how heart broken she had been blaming herself about Arin, or how lost she looked when she had forgotten the spell song, and a million other moments flashed before his eyes—- he quickly shook his head.

     “I have to find her—-“ He said, a chill running down his spine when he heard a woman’s voice he didn’t recognize from behind his head.

     “Find who, exactly, Serpentine….?” The woman’s voice called.

     Frak had dealt with bullies long before he became an elemental master— and although that may have been the appropriate term for his heritage, he couldn’t help but cringe a little every time somebody called him that.

     It reminded him of the fact that his people had been locked away for generations, forced to live and grow up in the sewers of Ninjago, forced into a life without the sun.

     Oh how he loved the sun—

     Just before the merge, something miraculous happened; the serpentine had been released and slowly but surely, his people were able to integrate themselves into society. Frak had only been a kid at the time; it wasn’t until he was older that he truly understood what that kind of freedom meant for his kind….

     But just because the Serpentine were finally above ground and able to join the surface, that didn’t stop people from constantly looking at them differently, from looking at him differently. People were usually either afraid of him, or hated him—- just because of who he was— what he was.

     While this woman didn’t necessarily sound like she was looking down on him, he didn’t like the way she referred to him as—-

     “Serpentine? Really? I have a name, ya know. It’s Frak.” He deadpanned, turning over his shoulder to see who had called him.

     “WyldFyre….?” He squinted for a moment, almost in disbelief.

     No, definitely not WyldFyre— but he had definitely seen her somewhere before… but just where….??

     The woman who was riding on the back of a dragon wearing an orange gí was almost the spitting image of his friend— and now that he thought about it, if WyldFyre’s voice had less of a gravel to it and if she formed more grammatically correct sentences, there voices sounded a little similar too.

     “WyldFyre? You know her? Do you know a girl named Sora too…?” She began, quickly shaking her head.

     “Sorry, you just told me your name was Frak!  You’re the one I’m looking for! I’m Skylor—” She began, holding her hand out to him.

     Frak kind of just looked at her hand for a moment, not knowing how to proceed.

     “Forgive me, but…. I could swear you were the one who attacked my friends and I earlier….”

     Frak spoke with a voice that appeared respectful, but also dripped venom; quickly kneeling to the ground and causing a quake attack, causing the area around them to come crumbling down, buying Frak time to run away.

     “Why do they always run….?” She sighed, flying after him.

     “Faster, Flame.” She whispered, heading forward and weaving inbetween the crumbling land around them.

     “WHY DID YOU EVEN ATTACK US…?! WE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING TO YOU…!!!” Frak said angrily, throwing another attack her way.

     The woman jumped in the air, backflipping over the debris before landing back on the dragon, continuing her pursuit.

     “IF YOU WEREN’T THE ENEMY THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN TOTALLY COOL—-“ He glared, stopping short and creating several earth quakes, blinking when the wind blew more severe.

     “Uhm…. I don’t think that one was me—-“ He began, squinting when the wind started to pick up, getting faster, and faster, and faster.

     What the….??!

     “Please…! Take my hand….! I need to get you back to the others at my dojo….!” She said looking over to him, pleading at this point.

     “A sandstorm is coming.”

Chapter Text

   “Did you try recalibrating the mainframe?”

     “Yes.”

     “Did you already change the coding using sudo spctl --master-disable in terminal to allow for—“

     “Yes, Zane.”

     “Alright— what about reprogramming the motherboard?”

     “I tried that first.”

     “I see— what about rewiring the—“ The nindroid began, stopping short when the love of his life: P.I.X.A.L. rolled back out from underneath the broken and sparking machinery on a mechanic’s dolly to show a small device in her hands, showcasing that she had already completed the task in question.

     “You already tried that too…” He chuckled, not knowing whether to be embarrassed that he couldn’t be more helpful, or just incredibly enchanted by the fact his other half was so intelligent.

     Sitting upright, P.I.X.A.L. sighed and gazed into his icy blue eyes with her electric green optics.

     “If my calculations are correct, it isn’t just this Monastery gate that is having such malfunctions—- I believe it is a network wide issue.” She said, finally standing up and walking over to her tool box.

     “We were lucky to have been able to arrive at our destination when we did.” Noted Zane, to which P.I.X.A.L. nodded.

     “Indeed.” She agreed, typing rapidly on the system’s main frame keyboard before glancing up at the monitor.

     The two had been inside of one of P.I.X.A.L.’s  Samurai X warehouses… this particular one (of many) was quite larger on the inside than it appeared on the outside… most of the space was silver in color with white or purple accents— there were various machinery and mechs that hummed and whirred wordlessly to themselves around the colder-in-temperature warehouse…. Large monitors adorned with cables were quite popular in the facility, as well as the occasional Samurai X logo decorating some of P.I.X.A.L.’s favorite creations…. Because it was underground there weren’t any windows, but there was an elevator, as well as a large garage-esq stile door that P.I.X.A.L. used to transport the mechs through Ninjago’s tunnel system out of the facility…. This warehouse was one of the ones scattered across the realm of Ninjago (as well as some other realms that she and Zane had discovered on their travels.)

     This particular warehouse was underneath BORG tower— P.I.X.A.L.’s old home and workplace before meeting Zane and the others.

     “Wait—“ Zane warns, placing his metallic hand over hers before she can press the enter key.

     The two exchange a glance before she nods, putting her arm out in front of her in a grand gesture that reads ‘by all means, give it a go, Darling.’

     Zane then begins to undo approximately half the coding P.I.X.A.L. had just created, changing the parameters in the form of using a mutation at first for part of the coding (directly altering the values of passed-in parameters) , then using Parametrization for the latter ones (creating code that was reusable yet generating different variations of the code derived off of the specific parameters present due to the merge.)

     When he finally clicked ‘enter’ and the machinery hummed musically indicating whatever he had just done worked, P.I.X.A.L. smirked faintly, and raised an eyebrow at the elemental master of ice.

     “Zane, my love, it would appear you are a genius. “ She said, holding up her hand, which he then high-fived, before he intertwined their fingers.

     “Perhaps this old-dog can still learn new-tricks…metaphorically speaking of course, I am a nindroid, and not a dog.” He laughs, pulling her closer by the hand, then kissing her on the cheek.

     “How did you know that would work??” She queried, tilting her head slightly, her silver bangs framing her face as she did so.

     “Actually, when I had been working so diligently to find you, Frak and Sora had demonstrated— unintentionally chaotic values I had not accounted for due to the merge— this was demonstrated by Sora’s…. ‘adequate’ baking skills— Frak had been trying to teach her to bake pie recipes from scratch, and somehow her pies had exploded…” He began, talking a million miles a minute and demonstrating the scene by pretending to bake pies, put them in the oven, display small talk in Sora and Frak’s recorded voices, and so on.

     P.I.X.A.L. giggled and shook her head, tucking a loose synthetic silver curl behind her ear.

     “That sounds like it had been quite the baking experience.” She smiled, never getting tired of how goofy Zane could be at times— she found his quirkiness to be charming and incredibly endearing.

     “Indeed it was— “ Zane laughed with her, shaking his head.

     “You want to know something else I found to be interesting? I believe— no… I am certain Frak must have feelings for Sora.” Zane stated, smiling softly as P.I.X.A.L. gave him a look as if to say “I’m listening…”

     “Besides the way that Frak acts whenever he’s around her— being either incredibly nervous or trying way too hard to impress her— he also referred to her as attractive and intelligent whenever they were baking pies together….” He says, putting his right hand to his chin and making a face like he was thinking.

     “Perhaps they will end up in a relationship together down the line..? If Sora likes him back, of course—“ He says, looking to P.I.X.A.L.

     “Perhaps—- seeing the two of them interact king of reminds me of how Jay and Nya used to be before Jay lost his memories….” P.I.X.A.L. began, before stopping for a moment.

     “Does Arin not also like Sora? I have not been around him long enough to tell, I’ve known Frak for a longer amount of time, and based off of the knowledge you have shared with me, I can confirm that Frak does indeed like her— but won’t that complicate things for Arin? Didn’t you tell me Frak and Arin are childhood best friends…? “ P.I.X.A.L. added worriedly.

     “Yes, you are correct. Arin and Frak are childhood best friends, but were separated due to the merge— post merge however, Arin and Sora became friends; Sora as you know is from Imperium— I could be mistaken, but I believe Sora sees Arin as a brother figure; she often refers to him as family.”

     “I see….”

     “You have a look on your face, my dear.”

     “Look? What ever do you mean?” P.I.X.A.L. blinks, folding her arms before sighing when Zane gave her another look in response to her look, as if to say “what is it?”

     “Perhaps then Frak and Sora will fall in love like we have?” She smiled, switching gears when she noticed the cameras that had been changing views in the background pulled up something neither of them where expecting to see—

     “Is that… Ras?” P.I.X.A.L. announces in question, nearly in disbelief as she adjusts the zoom quality to enhance the image.

     “How did he get inside the monastery….?” Zane asks, the two of them exchanging a look of concern.

     “Perhaps that is the reason none of the monastery gates have been responding— Ras has somehow managed to shut them down from the inside—“

     “Indeed, and even if we were to be able to remotely maintain manual control of the monastery gates, using them would be far too much of a liability…” Zane sighs, shaking his head.

     “Zane, are you seeing this—?” P.I.X.A.L. asks, zooming in on a particular item of interest—- something that appeared to be like that of some kind of…. Box?

     Yes, it appeared to be some sort of glowing-box-shaped artifact that was moving on its own; doing so in such a way that it seemed like something or even, someone was trapped on the inside…? Desperately trying to claw its way out.

     “What could Ras be guarding…? What could possibly be trapped inside that cage….?” Zane queered, squinting his optics to try and get a better look at it.

     It was just then that Ras happened to look upwards, his head snapping in the direction of the camera’s field of vision.

     “Hasn’t Master Wu ever taught you it’s impolite to spy on other’s business?” The wildcat sneered, waving one of his source dragon icons and destroying the camera in one fell swoop, causing the screen to become a wave of black and white static— lost in a sea of despair.

      “I would say ‘Zane, we need to alert the others immediately, everyone is in grave danger’  however; I have been trying to contact them all ceaselessly since we’ve first encountered the issue with the gates, and it would appear that the same force that has been interfering with the teleportation, is also interfering with everyone’s communication devices….” She sighed, shaking her head.

     “Perhaps there’s something we’re not thinking of— “ Zane says, taking a look at his own communication device, and grabbing some tools from the rolling metal cart that contained a colorful array of equipment.

     “Perhaps if we adjust things with similar chaotic variables like we did for the system mainframe—-“ He begins, turning a screwdriver for a moment to pop open the main panel of the metal device, and attaching a wire so he can reprogram it manually.

     The two leaned in to listen towards the device momentarily, hearing a mixture of static and incomprehensible conversations until suddenly—-“

     “May Day! May Day! Zane, P.I.X.A.L., Sora—- ANYONE, do you copy…??” Called the feminine voice of a familiar elemental wielder of Water.

     “NYA?!” The two called in unison.

     “ZANE? P.I.X.A.L.?! Oh thank the first spinjitzu master—- is everyone alright…?! Where are you guys…?!?!” She asked in worry.

     “We are in one of the Samurai X warehouses — specifically, the one in Ninjago that was build underneath BORG Tower— where are you? Who is with you?”

      “Pix, you’re not gonna believe this— Kai,Jay, and I are trapped somewhere else—- I’m not even sure where we are—- the Monastery gate malfunctioned and spit us out in a totally different realm!!!”

     “I am sorry to hear that— I’m afraid you aren’t the only one, it would appear that Arin and Lloyd have not returned; nor Sora, Frak, or WyldFyre—- I worry that a similar occurrence happened when they attempted to use the Monastery gates as well…. But whatever you do, if the gates do appear to work— do NOT use them under any circumstances until we are able yo further investigate—- it would appear Ras has compromised The Monastery in its entirety, and is the cause behind the malfunctions.

     “RAS…?!” Kai and Nya said simultaneously in disbelief.

     “No wonder everything stopped working— that stupid Panther man or whatever he is hijacked our home!!!” Glared Kai, looking over at Jay.

     “Man, it’s so weird seeing how calm you are now dude— the Jay we grew up with would have totally crashed out right now and been all like: ‘WHAAAAAT DO YOU MEAN WE ARE ALL TRAPPED IN OTHER REALMS WITH NO WAY OF KNOWING WHERE WE ARE, NO WAY OF GETTING HOME, AND EVEN IF WE WANTED to go home, we CAN’T BECAUSE SOME DUMB EVIL PANTHER PERSON HAS INFILTRATED OUR HOME….?!! HE BETTER NOT MESS WITH MY VIDEO GAME SCORE OR I WILL TOTALLY LOSE MY MIND…!!!’ “ Wailed Kai in the form of his best Jay impression, earning an eyeroll from Nya and a confused look from Jay.

     “First of all, nobody can beat my perfect score— secondly, I do not sound like that.” Jay deadpanned, dismissing what Kai said and focusing on Nya and the others.

     “You’re no fun anymore….” Kai mumbled under his breath with a sigh, shaking his head, and also leaning in to hear what P.I.X.A.L. and Zane had to say.

     “Have you heard from Lloyd and Arin? Or Sora and the others?” P.I.X.A.L. asked into the receiver, pausing for a moment.

     “I haven’t— the guys and I were actually were hoping you had…. no luck I’m guessing?”

     “Truthfully, we have only been able to get ahold of you all—- Zane is trying another frequency on his communicator, please stand by….” The newest Samurai X instructs, looking to the other half of her heart.

     “Lloyd…? Arin…? This is Zane, do you copy….?” The Nindroid called, furrowing his eyebrows slightly when he heard mostly static.

     “Z-Zane….?! Oh thank The First Spinjitzu Master— “ Answered Arin, sighing in relief.

     “WOO-HOO!!!!” Called Kai and Nya in unison, followed by a nod from Jay, and a smile from P.I.X.A.L.

     “Thank goodness you are alright….” Added Zane, stopping short when he heard Arin wince slightly.

     “Ehhhh…. I’m not really sure I would say ‘alright’—- Lloyd looked like he was about to faint earlier after the battle had ended, and now he’s straight up in some kind of — Trance…..?? Like, at first I thought he was having another one of his vision-sleep-spell-things but—— I’ve never seen one last this long before—- he’s not responsive, and he’s kinda pale, and sweating…? He looks like he’s gonna throw up to be honest….” Explained Arin sheepishly.

     “Is that so…? Strange— I too felt light headed earlier out of nowhere—“ Began Zane.

     “Yes, we did too…!! I felt it, so did Kai, and Jay—-“ Agreed Nya.

     “Really…? That’s weird—- I didn’t feel anything…..” Said Arin, taking a moment to think everything over.

     “I did not feel anything either— I attempted to diagnosis the cause for what had occurred with Zane… though my scanners were unable to determine just what—-“ Said P.I.X.A.L. Before connecting the dots.

     “Perhaps— perhaps it was something felt amongst elements…?” P.I.X.A.L. Said, looking at Zane who nodded in agreement.

     “That could be possible—- though you share half of my power source and have used spinjitzu before, you do not possess elemental abilities of your own— perhaps like you, Arin can do spinjitzu but doesn’t possess elemental abilities; and that is why neither of you felt that surge…?” Zane theorized, blinking when Arin’s tone of voice shifted from relief to…sad.

     “Oh—- I guess then…. I won’t ever have an elemental power, huh….” Arin began, quickly shaking his head.

     “Nevermind, that isn’t important right now— have any of you heard from Sora, Frak, WyldFyre or Riyu….?” The boy asked, clinging to the communications device like it was his very lifeline itself—- and in many ways, it was.

     “Negative. Zane and I have tried their communications channel multiple times. We are not even receiving static—- it is as though their communicators have all been damaged— nullifying their usage entirely.” P.I.X.A.L. had spoken, causing the others to become slightly more on edge.

     “Well, that can’t be good—-“ Blurted Kai, sighing deeply.

     “What are we gonna do…? I can’t get through to Lloyd, and the Monestary gate isn’t working and—-“

     “Hate to break it to you Arin, we’re in the same boat as you…. Zane and Pix are working on a method to fix it as we speak, but we’ve got more bad news—- Your least favorite teacher justtttt infiltrated the monastery and is trying to take us down from the inside out.” Sighed Nya, earning a gasp of disbelief from Arin.

     “No no no no no no no, you can’t be serious….?!!”

     “Afraid so….”

     “What are we gonna do…?!! We gotta stop him— we gotta get Lloyd to wake up, we gotta get ahold of the others— this is all my fault I never should have trusted him, I should have let him d—“

     “Whoa whoa whoa— slow down there, Arin….” Cautioned Kai.

     “Look, anytime something bad happens, we’re always going to think ‘I wish I hadn’t done this—‘ or ‘man, if I only did that—-‘ but that’s not gonna get you anywhere, okay? Trust me—- it took me a long time learning the hard way it doesn’t do you any good… you can’t go blaming yourself for everything that’s happened. A lot of things are out of your control—- okay…? The best thing we can do is account for what’s still possible to change, and look forward. If you don’t watch where you’re going you’ll only trip and hurt yourself, or miss out on what’s right in front of you.” Said Kai, earning a small smile from his sister.

     “My brother’s right—- we gotta stay focused so we can handle the things that are still left in our control….” Nya agreed, running a hand through her hair.

     But… what even is there left to control when things look so bleak….? Arin wonders inwardly to himself, instead speaking:

     “Don’t worry guys, I’m sure we’ll get out of this— we’ve been through way worse, right…?” He smiles sadly, in a voice just above a whisper.

     How in Ninjago were they ever getting themselves out of this one….?

Chapter Text

   “Sora, the crazy noodle lady said that we are to stay put…!!” WyldFyre pouted gently grabbing the wrist of her friend.

     “Yeah? And?” Sora rebelled, taking her arm back and packing a small bag.

     “ANDDDD what if Frak comes looking for us and we miss him because you thought it was a good idea to leave….?”

     “Orrrrrr what if Frak NEEDS US and is ALONE, IN TROUBLE because we are STUCK HERE and not OUT THERE, LOOKING FOR HIM….?!” Sora seethes, shaking her head and taking a moment to calm her nerves.

     “S-Sorry… I’m not mad at you, I’m mad at the situation—- I just—- UGH— I feel so helpless—- I didn’t think we were gonna make it out of that battle against Kur alive, ya know…?? And figures, we make it out, totally exhausted and barely alive, but WE MADE IT—- and then ALL OF A SUDDEN I have this STUPID IDEA to take the monetary gates home instead of just waiting for Zanth to wake back up, and I get all of us into another mess and—-“ The pink haired girl began, before stopping short when her red-headed friend put an arm on her shoulder.

     “Sora, not your fault. You can’t blame yourself for the gates choosing to hate us. Beating yourself up won’t make the past change.” The dragon girl spoke, looking into her eyes sympathetically.

     Sora’s eyes widened slightly at WyldFyre’s words— when had her friend become so—- wise…?

     “Y-You’re right…. I’m sorry… thank you, I really needed that….” The pinkette replied softly, running a hand through her own her in attempts to calm herself down.

     “No problem… I don’t like it when my friends get sad… there’s only so many thing Janus melons can fix, and the sads aren’t one of them….” She joked, trying to lighten the mood.

     “Alright, c’mon….” WyldFyre says, haphazardly stuffing a bunch of fortune cookies into Sora’s backpack.

     “H-Huh…?”

     “Well, are we going to go rescue your boyfriend, or not….??” The red-head smirks, using her elemental abilities to hear up the last of her cup of tea before scarfing down the final drop, reuniting the teacup with its saucer on the mahogany dresser.

     “W-What?” The girl chokes, stunned.

     “F-Frak isn’t my….!!”

     WyldFyre gave Sora a knowing smirk, and walked right past her, over to the window sil.

     “RAWRHHHH!!!!” She roared, summing Riyu over to the window.

     “Rrrrru?” Riyu called, the young dragon smiling at the girl as if to say: “Need a lift?”

     “Alright Sora, time to be going now!!” She shouts, moving her right arm in a ‘follow me!’ motion.

     “Right.” Sora nodded, taking one last look around the room to be sure the trio hadn’t forgotten anything, and then they were off.

     ————

     “Wow— I think I might have actually been a goner there if you hadn’t found me….” Frak admitted shyly, looking out at the ranging sandstorm that was slowly dying out from the mouth of the cave the two had taken shelter in.

     Frak, Flame, and Skylor had been inside a small cave that was carved in the side of a mountain that was nearby… it had been a lot cooler inside that it had been out there, but not unbearably so… it had stalagmites that were a sandy orange color, standing proudly like jagged teeth in the mouth of the cave, and stalactites that clung for dear life to the roof of the cave, matching in color.

     “That almost sounded like a thank you.” Skylor smiles, passing him some rice cakes she had brought with her from her bag.

     “T-Thanks— for uhm, saving me and for the rice cakes…”

     “Sure thing… it is the least I can do after all since I kind of started this mess….” She adds, filling up the bowl she had brought for Flame with his food and water that she packed earlier in his saddlebag.

     “I’m…. Sorry. I guess living out here with mostly just my dragons doesn’t make me the best at knowing how to treat guests—“ She adds, looking to Frak.

     “That and—- I’m still getting used to not all Serpentine being heck bent on being bloodthirsty evil creatures that are obsessed with destroying everything in their path….” She sighs, shaking her head.

     “I grew up with a Warlord for a father— Master Chen almost destroyed Ninjago… and everything and everyone I held dear along with it, by creating an army of serpentine warriors— It was wrong of me to judge you without getting to know you, not all serpentine are the same—- I’m… I’m really sorry. I could have gotten you killed….” She frowns, blinking when she felt a scaley hand on her shoulder.

     “Yeah, you might of almost gotten me killed— but… you did almost die trying to save me, right? So that makes us even.” The boy smiles, letting the water be under the bridge.

     “Thank you; I really appreciate that more than you know…” The woman bows, smiling softly.

     “It lookssss like the sandstorm is almost over.” Frak notices, pointing outside the mouth of the cave.

     “That’s a relief. Looks like we should be able to head back to my dojo in the mountains once the dust settles.”

     “Awesome!”

     “By the way, I meant to ask— you said you were originally from Ninjago too?” The snake questioned, tilting his head.

     “Yep, born and raised. Though, I grew up in a secluded area thanks to my father… but after his defeat, I actually moved to Ninjago city and opened up a noodle shop… when we get back, I’m sure you’ll want some actual food and not just rations, so I’ll be sure to cook up something scrumptious for you, Sora, and a WyldFyre— oh, and Riyu too.” She giggles, glancing to Frak’s wrist for a moment.

     “Yours got damaged too, huh?” She sighs, showing off her own broken communication device.

     “When the merge first happened, I tried desperately to try and get ahold of the others—- but I guess my signal wasn’t strong enough to carry across different realms—- just different parts of Ninjago… anyway, I had tried to fix it myself to get some kind of a signal, static, or just — anything that gave me a clue the others were alright…. But I ended up overloading the system and frying the whole thing…” She said, cleaning up Flame’s dinner and putting the bowls back in the bag.

    “Dang…. That really bites.” The snake boy sympathized, shaking his head.

     “Mine got destroyed after being in one too many fights… but I’m sure Sora can probably fix it somehow, being she’s a technopath and all.” He smiles, putting an arm behind his head.

     “You said the others are all doing okay, right…? “ He voices, eyes filled with worry.

     “Relax, Lover-Boy. Your girlfriend and the others are fine…. I patched them up and made sure everybody had plenty of food and refreshments before I left.

     “G-Girlfriend…? Ha, I wish…..” Frak blushed, quickly shaking his head.

     “You two aren’t dating…?? Huh. I could have sworn you two must have been a couple with the way she talks about you…” The woman snickered, shaking her head.

     “S-She talks about me…??” Frak blinked, his heart skipping a beat.

     “Yeppp. She went on and on about qualities that she liked about you, and basically convinced me to go out and look for you.” The woman explains, not giving Frak enough time to react before quickly changing the subject.

     “Okay, hop on. We have about an hour before the next Sandstorm hits…. They usually strike in batches…” The woman explains, holding her arm out to Frak and pulling him aboard.

    ——

     “Whoa—- the sky here sure looks— different…. Sora called to WyldFyre, glancing around the cotton-candy colored clouds that drifted lazily by. The air felt much crisper here than it did in imperium, and it was definitely far clearer as well… imperium always boasted about being a ‘clean and efficient’ utopia, but it always had this smog that lingered no matter what time of day it was— here, wherever they werethe air felt far lighter— it even seemed different compared to Ninjago— or at least, what she knew of Ninjago since the merge…

     “Yeah, it’s much more quiet here—-“ WyldFyre began, blinking when Riyu roared in distress, disturbing the peace.

     “Riyu….? What is it boy…??” Sora asked, the trio bracing for impact as suddenly they had been swept away by a giant gust of sandy wind out of NOWHERE.

     “S-SANDSTORM…!!” The girls shriek in unison, trying their best to regain control of Riyu as they came tumbling down, going way off course and falling into a small body of water just below.

     —

     GASSSSSP!!!

     “W-WyldFyre….?! R-Riyu….?!!” Panicked Sora, swimming around and looking for her friends, coughing a few times to try and get the remainder of water out of her lungs.

     “S-Sora…!! Over here….!!” WyldFyre called back, eyes wide with fear and worry as she held on for dear life to Riyu’s saddle with one hand, and a large rock with the other.

      Riyu had been unconscious, and it looked like his back leg had been scuffed up pretty bad— his right wing and leg both had a really deep gash in them— WyldFyre’s hands had been stained red from his injuries, and some of the water around them had turned a similar vibrant hue.

     He must have hit rocks on the way down trying to shelter Sora and WyldFyre from the fall—

     “No no no no— Riyu….!!” Sora choked, blinking back tears as she swam over to her friends, and tried to process in her mind how in the heck they were going to drag him out of the water— especially since there was no telling when the next sandstorm would strike, let alone— the current was pulling him away.

     “M-Maybe if we can get him out, we can use the med kit we brought to patch him up…!” Sora spoke hopefully, praying that her words would hold true.

     “B-But how do we get him out…? He can’t move and he won’t wake up, and you and I can’t lift him on our own—-“ WyldFyre winces, looking to Sora for answers.

     Think Sora, Think—- The girl strained, looking around for something, anything— THERE…!!

     To their left, it looked as though their had been a large tree that had looked like it had snapped almost in half, but still very much stuck to the ground—

     “That tree—- it must have gotten damaged when we fell from the sky earlier—- WyldFyre, if you and I each link an arm around each other kind of like a human chain, and then grab onto Riyu’s saddle, do you think you could use enough of your element to create kind of a make shift fire-thruster to boost us forward justtt a little to grab that branch over there? Once we reach it, I think we can hook it onto Riyu and pull him out….!!” Sora exclaims, looking over to her friend who gives a nod of approval.

     “Aye, Aye! You can count on WyldFyre to turn up the heat!!” She declares, following Sora’s instructions and then using her abilities to propel them forward justtttt enough to grab the branch.

     “GOT IT…!!” Sora shouts, pulling the branch through Riyu’s fasteners and making sure they were tight enough before she and WyldFyre swam to the shore.

     The two then grabbed the branch as well as they could, being sure to have a proper grip on it to pull Riyu to safety.

     “A-Alright, on three, one, two—“

     “TAKING TOO LONG, LETS GO!!!” Roared WyldFyre, making Sora almost fall on her face when she ran backwards with the branch as quick as she could.

     “W-WAIT I WASN’T R— UGH, W-WYLDFYRE…!!!” Sora stumbled, sucking her pace to try and keep up.

     After a few minutes, the two girls successfully managed to drag poor Riyu out of the drink and onto dry land.

     “WE DID IT….!!” The girls shouted victoriously, both falling to their knees tiredly and sighing in relief.

    “Thank The First Spinjitzu Master….” Sora began, quickly blinking when realization hit her like a ton of (LEGO) bricks.

     “Wait— we can relax later…!! We’ve got to treat Riyu’s wounds…!!” Sora shouts, running up to Riyu with WyldFyre following suit.

     “All dry!! The first aid still looks in tact!!” WyldFyre notes, the duo sighing in relief that noting had been damaged a in the fall.

     After about 20 minutes of cleaning his wounds and patching him back up, the two girls finally got a chance to relax, falling backwards into the sand.

     “I think…. I think we treated him in time…. He won’t be able to fly for awhile but, he’s gonna live….” Sora sighed, putting her face in her hands.

     “T-Thank goodness….” WyldFyre replies, taking a deep breath and glaring at the sky.

     “Stupid beautiful sky!! How dare you send icky sandstorms to take us down…?!” She shouts, sticking her tounge out at the beautiful sunset.

     “We should probably make some type of camp… “ Sora notes, feeling guilt start to claw at her heart.

     If only I had just listened to that Skylor lady and stay put, Riyu wouldn’t have gotten injured, and WyldFyre and I wouldn’t be stranded right now….

     The girl thought to herself, biting her lip and blinking away tears that were threatening to fall down her cheeks when suddenly—-

     “LOOK! DOWN THERE….!!” Calls a familiar male’s voice, snapping her out of her thoughts.

     “F-FRAK….?!!” She calls, quickly rising to her feet and jumping up and down, waving like crazy, and grinning from ear to ear in disbelief.

     His timing couldn’t have been better.

     “FRAK…!!!!! THANK THE FIRST SPINJITZU MASTER YOU’RE OKAY….!!!!!!”

     Frak didn’t even wait for Flame to fully land before he had hopped off of the dragon’s back, running as quick as his scaley orange legs could carry him to Sora’s side before he pulled her into a warm embrace.

     “Gosh— I was so worried about you…!! Oh my gosh, you’re soaked…!!! A-Are you alright…?! What happened…?!! Are you hurt….???!!! What can I do to help….?!?!!??!!?!” He panicked, gently grabbing her face with both of his clawed hands for a moment and turning her head from side to side, before grabbing her hands and checking her arms for injuries.

     “I-I’m okay… WyldFyre and I are okay, we’re gonna be fine— we got caught in a sandstorm and fell into that body of water over there— Riyu got injured trying to shield us from the fall, but we managed to drag him out of the water and we patched him up pretty okay—- but the thing is he probably can’t fly, and he’s still unconscious….” The girl began, her wide smile quickly fading.

     “I’m so sorry—- this is all my fault—- getting trapped in another realm, getting us almost killed, none of this would have happened if I never suggested taking the gates home and—-“

“Sora stop— it’s okay…this isn’t your fault….You can’t blame yourself for the gates not working, how were you supposed to know that would happen…? And everything else was an accident—- sometimes life can be messy and doesn’t go as planned— that doesn’t make it your fault when things happen that are outside of your control….” The boy sympathizes, grabbing both of her delicate hands in his scaley one’s squeezing them gently.

     “You still did your best to try and get us out of every hurdle we’ve faced even though you were just as terrified as any of us were, you never gave up, and always set aside your own feelings for the sake of the team— and I love you for that….” He spoke, looking into her eyes with sincerity, blinking and bushing faintly when he realized the phrasing of his words.

     “Y-You do…?”

     “O-Of course I do…!! We all do….!! Sora, you’re the bravest, strongest, smartest person I’ve ever met, and I’d follow your lead  across all 16 realms….!!” He stated in a matter-of-fact tone of voice, not even realizing he still held her hands in his own.

     Oh shoot— why do I keep saying dumb things…?! Frak, it might be true, but you can’t just SAY things like that to her…!!! Maybe she didn’t think anything of it because I added ‘we all love her’….?

     As if Frak was saved by the bell, WyldFyre ran over, interrupting the moment.

     “FRAK YOU’RE BACK…!!!!” The dragon girl shouted, tackling the two to the ground.

     “Normally, I would complain about getting soaked hugs— but I’m just so happy you two are alright…” The snake voiced, laughing and shaking his head as he sat up, returning the group hug.

     “Okay, seriously though— WyldFyre, you should probably use your abilities to dry you guys off…” He added, shaking his head.

     After finally landing Flame, Skylor walked over to join the others.

     “It’s a good think Frak saw you guys, I almost flew right past you.” Skylor smiled, looking at the others.

     “Okay, so here’s what I’m thinking…. Let’s set up camp for tonight and see how well Riyu can move when he wakes up…. He may not be able to fly for awhile, but maybe he could walk….?” Skylor asked, tilting her head.

     “That’s not a bad idea… and maybe if he can’t walk, maybe we can construct something that can carry him like how Arin did for Ras when he was injured…?”

     “Great idea, Sora! See, what did I tell ya? You’re always the girl with a plan.” Frak smiles, looking to WyldFyre.

     “In that case, FIYAHHHHH!” The girl calls, doing her best impression of Kai and lighting a fire for the crew to start their make-shift camp.

     Thank goodness you showed up when you did…. I was almost starting to miss you….

Chapter Text

  “Sora? What have you done?” Called the voice of Arin, the girl’s very first best friend.

     “What have I done…? W-What do you mean…?”

     “We swore to protect Riyu— and look at him—- you’ve almost gotten him killed.”

     “A-Arin— I… I didn’t mean that….! I wasn’t thinking—- it was an accident….!!”

      “Sure, you weren’t thinking… just like how you weren’t thinking when you lied to me about transferring my spinjitzu, or how you weren’t thinking when you chose Frak over me as your new best friend—- gee, for an Imperium girl who’s infamous for being so smart, you sure don’t think things through all that much, do you…??”

      “Arin— what are you even talking about…?!! Riyu was trying to protect me— that’s what family does…!! I patched him up— I-I’m trying my best….!!! A-And I can have more than one best friend…..!!! “

     “Sure, whatever— but why did you have to chose Frak…?”

     “What….? I thought you wanted us to be friends….!! You were the one who was always talking to me about how cool he was and how close the two of you are— I thought you would be happy he and I are friends….!!”

      “Sure you did—- there you go again, always thinking about everyone else’s feelings, without actually asking them what they are….” The boy sighed, shaking his head in disbelief.

     “Arin…. Why are you saying things like that…??”

     “Sora don’t you get it…? You’re taking both of my best friends away from me— how can you not see that? You’re gonna run off with Frak and both of you are gonna abandon me, and I’ll be all alone again—-“

     “Whoa whoa whoa, hold up—- first of all, you’re never alone—- I know you’re aren’t sure about being on the team again, but we will happily welcome you with open arms…!! Lloyd, Nya, Kai, WyldFyre, Zane, P.I.X.A.L… everyone— they all care about you!!! As for Frak I—-“

     “Do me a favor, would you? Stop thinking about what others want to hear, and be honest with yourself.”

     “What do you mean…?! I AM being honest with myself…!! Arin, you know I love you, right? I don’t understand why—-“

      “You don’t love me the same way you love him.”

    ———

     “G-GUWHAAAAAA….!!!” The cat girl chokes, bolting up out of bed and quickly running away from the camp to a small stream nearby, throwing water on her face in attempts to snap herself out of it.

     “I-It’s only a dream, it’s only a dream….” She mumbles to herself, pulling her knees close to her chest and lowering her head.

    Despite the chaos going on in the girl’s mind, the night itself was actually quite peaceful… the temperature was crisp but not too windy, just the slightest breeze that made the leaves above her head drift lazily. The sky had been clear and the stars twinkled carelessly in the heavens above her— that’s actually why Frak had been out there.

     Growing up in the Ninjago sewers, Frak always loved the sky in all of its forms. Sunny, Cloudy, Rainy, Foggy— he wanted to see it all. Every sunrise and sunset he could possibly have the chance to see in his lifetime; by GARMADON, he was going to make it happen.

     Sure, he had been a little tired, they all were— but Frak also never really felt comfortable not having someone on watch just to be safe, so he opted to stay up anyway… gave him an excuse to gaze at the graceful little dancers in the sky.

     Frak immediately turned his head when he sensed something behind him, but once he realized it was Sora— he waited a minute… he had a bad habit of accidentally sneaking up on her when he didn’t mean it, he wasn’t ever not in ninja mode; and given the fact of his serpentine heritage, stealth and being light on his feet has always been in his blood.

     When he noticed she wasn’t just coming out here for fresh air, or to gaze at the stars, and in fact seemed— like she was really upset, he moved a little closer to her.

     She actually didn’t even realize he was there when she first ran to wash her face, but somehow, today of all days, him being there when she least expected it was actually the least of her worries.

     “Can’t sleep….?” Calls a comforting voice, resting a scaly hand on her shoulder.

     “Hey…. You okay…?” Frak asks, tilting his head slightly, blinking in surprise when the girl not only looked up into his eyes filled with tears, but hugged him.

     Now, if there was anything Frak knew about Sora, was that she wasn’t a crier… but not only that, but she normally tried to put on a brave act 24/7 for everyone around her…. So whatever was going on, must have really spooked her…

     Could this still have been about Riyu and everything that happened with the Sandstorm…?

     “Hey—- it’s okay…” Comforted Frak, gently returning her hug and softly stroking her hair.

     “Do…. Do you want to talk about it…? That helps sometimes— “ The snake boy asked, frowning when she shook her head and just hugged him tighter—- almost as if she was afraid to let go of him.

     “Okay— you don’t have to talk about it…” He whispered, trying to think of what he could do to cheer her up.

     Before he had even realized it, he had absentmindedly begun to hum the spell song, which, for whatever reason, seemed to calm her nerves a little.

     Frak loved to sing— which was never a secret, but ever since Sora sang the spellsong for him, it was like he couldn’t get it out of his mind— her voice was sweeter than any melody he had ever heard before…. so he’s been humming it a lot to himself lately.

     “Wow, are you wearing waterproof makeup? You must be for there to not be a single smudge….Your eyeliner is literally perfect.” Frak noted in attempts to lighten the mood as she finally looked up at him.

     “You even cry pretty; you know that? You should see me cry, I’m such an ugly cryer.” He laughs, using his sleeve to wipe away her tears before she can object, let alone, react.

     “W-What…??” She laughs back, raising an eyebrow at him and shaking her head as she let go of him. For a minute, she had almost forgotten why she had been upset at all…

     Sora secretly loved Frak’s singing voice— whiiiiich is why she gets flustered sometimes when he sings— she finds it incredibly distracting and it makes focusing a little difficult for her— that’s kinda why she forgot part of the spell song in the first place….

     But now that there wasn’t a life or death reason to make sure the song was sung the exact same way it was taught—- she found his singing to be incredibly breathtaking. She hummed it a little to herself after awhile, but Frak pretended not to hear her— he didn’t want to make a big deal out of it in fear she wouldn’t harmonize with him ever again.

     “You know…. Arin was always better than me at this sort of thing… I’m not the best at comforting people—- make them laugh at something dumb I said or cheer them up by baking them pies? Sure, I can do that no problem—- but actually comforting them and putting them at ease…?” He scoffed putting a hand behind his head awkwardly.

     “I really hope he joins the team again, you know…? I mean, how could he not? Literally his two BEST friends are here waiting for him, and now that he found his parents—-“ He began, laughing a little.

     “I guess that’s Arin for ya though, huh? Ever since we were kids, he always had to do things his own way—- learning to be a ninja and teaching himself spinjitzu…. heck, you know when I FIRST tried to teach him to bake pies, he didn’t even listen to me..?? He totally insisted on doing his own thing and learning to bake pies on his own WITHOUT me..?? Of course he later changed his mind when he tasted some of mine, and then begged me to tell him the secret for having a perfectly golden and flakey crust every time and—- I’m rambling again, aren’t I…??” Frak laughed, smiling a little when Sora playfully nudged his arm as if to say ‘Yes, yes you are.’

     “My point is—- I really think it’s a good sign that Arin at least went to help Lloyd, you know…? He tried things on his own for a bit, but now that he’s fighting alongside us again, I’ve got this gut feeling he’s gonna rejoin the team… and how cool will that be?? We’ll be like, the ultimate trio of best buds!!!” Frak smiled, his fangs showing a little as he did so.

     Sora watched him for a moment, forcing a smile (which, Frak could easily tell she forced, but chose not to pry).

     “I hope you’re right… it’s just…. It’s really hard without him, you know? I didn’t realize I could miss a person this much—- up until recently, Arin and I were always there for each other, and while I know we just saw him before the battle it just… it feels like forever ago, you know? Like, each day that passes without him feels like ages….” She sighs, shaking her head.

     “What if… what if things don’t go back to the way they were…?” She asks sadly, not daring to look back at the Serpentine as she stares out at the stream, picking up a rock and skipping it across the way. It skipped twice before eventually sinking.

     “Well….” Frak paused, clicking his forked tongue for a moment as he took a deep breath.

     “Even if Arin doesn’t choose to join the team again for some reason—- that doesn’t mean we have to stop being friends with him, you know? Our memories we share with him— if there’s anything I know about my best friend— he holds the memories just as near and dear to his heart as we do. There’s no way he could ever forget us or leave us behind—- think about it for a minute—- even during the time you guys weren’t on the best of terms, he still cared about you Sora— I could tell by the way he looked at you. That’s never gonna change.” The boy spoke, picking up his own stone and skipping it as well—- it skipped seven times, before it sank.

     Darn it Frak— stop making everything a competition— He mentally scolded himself before opening his mouth.

     “Huh, would you look at that? I guess I had a lucky throw— anyway….! Take me for example, okay? I hadn’t seen Arin in YEARS— LITERALLY since the merge, right? Which, obviously as you know—- BUT even despite the fact that I was being taught by RAS of all people at the time, Arin still stood on the ground that we were best friends, and believed that I would chose to fight for what was right, didn’t he…? Now, if your guys friendship is even HALF of what ours is—- I know for a FACT it doesn’t matter how many realms you are apart, not a day will go by where Arin doesn’t think about you…. He really cares about you Sora, trust me— I know Arin. I know what I’m talking about.” The boy stated in a matter of fact tone of voice.

      “Arin…. He…He really cares about you too, you know?? “ Sora said softly, picking up another stone and flicking it, skipping it eight times.

     “Whoa, nice throw.”

     “Thanks, I watched what you did and figured it out. It’s all in the wrist—- No, but, seriously—- I actually used to almost get jealous when Arin would talk about you— it was always ‘Oh, if Frak was here, he would LOVE this— ‘ or ‘You know Frak taught me how to bake this? Man, you’re missing out, if he was here it would have been SOOO much better, you think I can bake? Just you wait till you try HIS PIES—-‘ Or even ‘Man, I feel like you and Frak would be best buddies!! I wish he was here, then the three of us could hang out all the time! That would be soooo rad!!’ “ The girl rambled, giving her best Arin impression.

      The snake smiled sadly, and chuckled a little.

     “He really said all that?”

      “Dude, he hardly ever shut up about you.  It was like he thought about you with everything he did— you’re like the brother he never had…. For the longest time, I always thought that I couldn’t ever be as close with Arin as you were— whichhhh, was hard for me, because as you know Arin was my first ever best friend and—- well, when we first met at the tournament, I realllllly wanted to make a good first impression, you know…? I felt like he talked about you so much you had become my friend too in a way—- But it was like—- I was also scared that now you were back in Arin’s life, he wouldn’t need me anymore… you know…? Sorry, that probably sounds stupid….. ” She said sadly, forcing a laugh and shaking her head.

     The snake boy blinked multiple times and furrowed his eyebrows, shaking his head and gently grabbing her by both of her shoulders, turning her around so she could see the sincerity in his emerald green eyes.

     “Sora— I could never replace what you and Arin have—- I would never want to do that. Arin can have more than one best friend. And so can you. Just because I’ve know Arin longer than you have doesn’t mean I’m just suddenly gonna take your place in his life.“ The boy says, and in that moment, he could tell—- it had struck a cord with her.

     “You… You really mean that…?”

     “Of course I do. Absolutely. Neither of us could replace each other in Arin’s life. I might be Arin’s ‘always best friend’— but so are you, Sora…. You aren’t replacing me, and I’m not replacing you, either— just like, how if you and I some day become BEST FRIENDS, like how you and Arin already are— I cannot ever replace what the two of you have. And I don’t want to… We’re all special to each other, you know? And I guarantee you that if Arin was here right now, he’d agree with that, without hesitation. My brother’s got that way of thinking, trust me on that….”

     Frak eventually let go of her shoulders after saying all of that and picked up another stone, twirled it around his claws a few times, but instead of throwing it, he kind of just dusted the dirt off of it, before eventually deciding to put it back where he found it.

     Maybe… maybe besides everything going on with Riyu and the what had happened since they’ve been trapped here, she was also worried about Arin…? That could be it—-  She probably had a nightmare about Arin….

     “….You know, Riyu’s looking a lot better already! I bet by tomorrow morning, he’ll be all chipper and ready for whatever challenges come our way! “ Frak suddenly blurted out, changing the subject—- it was good that he said everything he had to Sora, and he could tell that it made her feel a little better, buttttt he also knew Arin was a touchy subject, and didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable or worse in anyway— Sora did say she didn’t want to talk about her nightmare, after all; and Frak was nothing if not a respectable gentleman-snake.

     “You… you really think so…?” Sora asked, tilting her head slightly, sounding hopeful, but also incredibly worried.

     “I know so. And tomorrow when everyone wakes up, we’ll put together something to help bring Riyu back to the Dojo, and then we’ll find a way to contact the others— everything’s kinda crazy right now, but it’s not always going to stay this way— everything has a season, ya know? Things will get better again before you know it! “ He proclaims, reaching for her soft gloved hands with his scaley ones, and squeezing gently in reassurance.

     “Thank you, Frak….” She said in a voice barely above a whisper.

     “Don’t sweat it— that’s what friends are for, don’t ya think?” He smiled back softly.

     “I really needed this, you have no idea…Thank you.” The girl smiled, standing upright and holding her hand out to help him up, which, he could have totally gotten up on his own, but he wasn’t about to pass up getting to hold her hand twice.

     “Oh, uhm— you’re totally welcome. And thanks.” He grins from ear to ear, holding her hand for a moment longer after he already stood to his feet, happy that she was feeling better, but also not wanting the moment to end just yet.

     He knew whatever had been going on still weighed on her shoulders, as well as her mind— but he could also tell that in some way, he was able so share some of the burden’s heaviness— though she may not have healed completely, it was a step in the right direction…

     Sometimes, that was the best thing for him to do… little by little, he would try to be there for her, and in her own time she would open up.

     Until then, he wouldn’t pry— sure, he’d definitely still keep an eye on her and try to do what he could to help, but the goal was to build trust in Sora’s own time— not destroy it by making her feel overwhelmed.

     He could accept the fact that he wasn’t Arin— he knew if this had been Arin she was talking to, she would be more likely to tell him exactly what was wrong, but that’s okay— he knew he was still newer in Sora’s life, and he respected that her trust was something that had to be earned in time… but that wasn’t about to stop him from being there for her in whatever way he could as long as she allowed him to do so.

     And besides, they’ve been making great progress towards their friendship! They’ve been arguing a lot less than usual, which had to count for something, right…??

     PLUS—- if this had been back when they had first met, Sora probably would have run headfirst into fire before ever even telling him she was upset at all— LET ALONE LETTING HIM COMFORT AND HUG HER WHEN SHE CRIED.

     The two were silent for a moment, Frak stared at her with this goofy grin on his face that he’s had basically for the last 10 minutes since she’s cheered up— oh shoot. I probably stared at her longer than I should have—-

     “If you tell anyone about this—“

     “I won’t tell a soul— Serpentine’s Honor..!!” The snake said, grin finally faltering and his face now painted with a serious expression as quickly shook his head, crossing an ‘x’ over his heart and then holding up his right hand.

     “You totally just made that up—“ The girl began, about to roll her eyes until she noticed—

     “OH MY GOSH— what happened to you….??” She asked, noticing the injuries on his right arm— he had a large bandage covering from his wrist almost to his shoulder— she hadn’t noticed it before because he had the long sleeve part of his Gí on when she first saw him arrive yesterday—

     “H-Huh…? Oh I’m okay…! I just got a little more banged up from our fight with Kur than I thought— I’m fine.” He stated in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

     “What? You aren’t fine…!!” The girl said, quickly grabbing his arm and getting a better look at it.

     “Ow….” He mumbled to himself, nearly stumbling over as she pulled him closer by his injured arm.

     “S-Sorry….” The girl apologized, wincing slightly.

     “I really am fine Sora, I swear—“ He said, blinking when he missed his footing a little because of his left leg also being injured, and tripped, basically falling into her arms.

     “Don’t worry, I got you…” The girl replied, the two getting lost in each other’s gaze for a moment before she helped him stand up-right.

     “S-Skylor patched me up, so I’m really fine…! Sss-See..??” The Snake stuttered, trying to change the subject, and then blinking when she wrapped her fingers around his and led him back to camp by his non-injured arm.

     “You haven’t changed your gauze yet since she patched you up, have you? C’mon— last thing we want is for that to get infected…” Sora called to him over her shoulder.

     That was just like Sora, wasn’t it? Always trying to help those around her while she herself was in pain.

     —-

     It really was the perfect night to stargaze despite the fact that a sandstorm was wrecking having havoc just mere hours ago, the night was still so calm and clear as it had been when the two first started, you would think nothing bad had ever happened here at all with the way the stars twinkled carelessly throughout the diamond accented night sky.

     “The night sure is beautiful here, huh…?” Sora says, breaking the silence as she unwraps the bandages from his arm, cleaning up his wounds, and wrapping new bandages around them.

     “Sure are beautiful….. ssssure is beautiful…!!!” The snake corrected, looking up at the sky once more and away from her.

    I really needed to Sssstop doing that…

     “Uhm… if you don’t mind me asking, how did you get to be so good at patching people up like this…?”

     “Well…. I guess after I ran away from home, I kind of had to learn how to fend for myself, ya now…? Sure, growing up on Imperium I sure was taught a lot about just about everything you could think of but… most of my first-aid skills came about from trying them out on myself…. Andddd on Arin. Sometimes it was also because of Arin—-“ The girl laughed, shaking her head.

     Frak joined in on her laughter, shaking his head.

     “Oh Arin—- he usually didn’t get into too much trouble when I was around— or rather, trouble didn’t get to him too much while I was around, it usually had to go though me first….” He laughed, taking a look at his arm.

     “I swear, you just get even cooler every time I see you—- are you sure you’re the elemental master of technology and NOT secretly a doctor? This is even better than when Skylor did it!” He smiled, unrolling his left pants leg, revealing his other injury.

     “WAIT YOU INJURED YOUR LEG TOO…!!? WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY ANYTHING…?!! ARE YOU ALRIGHT….??!!”

     “Sora, I’m fine—- PROMISE… “ The boy smiled, giving her a scaley thumbs up.

     “If…. If you don’t mind— can you teach me how you just did all of that…? I wanna be able to patch someone up if they needed my help and you aren’t there— or if you got hurt and needed my help…!!” He said, before adding:

     “I’ll even teach you how to make ice cream from scratch to go with the other pie lessons I promised you in exchange…!! What do you say… deal….~?”

     “Hmm…. I guess that’s a fair trade… you’ve got it…….deal. ” She smiles back, shaking his non injured hand before moving a little closer so she could examine his left leg.

     “Okay, first things first— you’re gonna wanna unwrap your old bandage.” She began, gently starting to remove some of his bandages before realizing she was supposed to be teaching not just doing—

     “Uhm, here— do you think you’re healed enough to try this part?” She asked, looking up at him.

     “Totally….” He nodded, gently taking his bandages from her, blushing faintly when their hands touched.

     “U-uh okay…. I got the bandage off, now what? I’m supposed to clean it, right…?” He asked, to which she nodded her head, and passed him some sterile napkins and antiseptic.

     “Yep, now this might sting justttt a little bit—“ She winced, blinking when he bit his lip in preparation, already knowing it would hurt.

     “Yeahhhh, kinda figured that one out before when you patched up my arm—“

     “Sorry—- “

     “It’s okay…! The burning means it’s working right?” The snake replies, taking some more napkins to dry the wound.

     “Now, I thinkkkkkk I remember you saying something about it being important to push the skin— or scales in my case, back in the direction they were cut so the wound closes properly, right…?”

     “Yep, that’s especially important when an injury first happens, and sometimes it can prevent scarring from occurring…. In your case, that’s already been done for your injuries, so you can skip that step.”

     “Noted…. Now what?”

     “Now… once the wound is clean and dry, you can go ahead and re-wrap your wound using new gauze—- you want it to be tight so it’s flush with your injury and will be quicker to heal, but not toooooo tight to the point of the bandage cutting off your circulation— because then you’ll have new problems.” She instructed, passing him the gauze.

     “See— thissss is the part I ssstruggle with. You would think because I’m so used to using my claws to bake that I would be able to have a more delicate touch for this sort of thing— but…. It keeps slipping through my fingers—- I’m afraid if I try too hard, I’ll just end up destroying everything all together…”

    “Here… let me help you with that—“

     The two stayed in silence for a moment as Sora tightened the gauze around his leg gently, before reaching for his hands. It was as if the realm itself stood almost perfectly still— the only thing that could be heard between them was the soft and lazy flicker of the campfire that billowed sparkling embers into the darkness of the night.

     The sand beneath their feet almost looked light blue powdered sugar with the way the moonlight shined, ever present in any direction.    

     “Try to tighten the knot like this—” She instructed, helping him complete the last step of the lesson.

     “Like… thissss?”

     He asks, attempting to decipher her teachings, then actually pulling the gauze once he understood what she was saying was the proper way—- (but also trying not to faint because of how close they were)

     “See? You’re a natural! It just takes a minute sometimes to figure out how to tie these things— not to mention, you’ll probably have better dexterity and grip once your right hand heals completely! “ She smiles, stifling a yawn.

     Did she always have to be so adorable…?!

     “C’mon, you should probably head to bed, its getting late—- “

     “Me? You say that like you aren’t going to get sleep too—-“

     “Like I told you, Serpentine don’t need that much rest to function— that, and, I know we’re probably fine— but just in case, I’m staying up to keep watch until WyldFyre or Skylor or someone wakes up— justtttt in case. We might be safe in numbers, but someone should always keep watch, ya know…?” Frak says, standing upright and stretching, going back to where his stuff was and grabbing the long sleeve part of his gí, passing it to Sora like he had done the other night.

     “Here, you look cold— it’s not as warm as it was the other night… maybe it’ll help you get some rest.”

     “You sure…?”

     “Yes, I’m sure. Go get some sleep, Sora.” He smiled, nodding his head.

     “Thanks…. I really appreciate it….”

     “No problem…. G’night, Sora.” The boy began, turning to walk away and then blinking and stopping short when she hugged him from behind.

     Frak was almost 10000% certain that if his heart didn’t jump out of his chest right then and there from beating so rapidly, that it mightttt just stop beating all together.

     Sora NEVER hugged him, like EVER— and now not only had she HUGGED HIM— BUT SHE HUGGED HIM TWICE….?!

     Yep I totally died fighting Kur and went to the departed realm. Or this is a dream. One of the two.

     “Good night….” She said softly, letting go of him and then walking away to go back to sleep without another word.

      Frak didn’t dare turn around as he mumbled a simple “Sweet dreams, Sora.” back to her— for he was afraid that if he did, she would see that his face was justttt about as pink as her hair.

     If only you knew…. The way your very existence tortures my heart….

Chapter Text

     “Oh wow, Riyu’s looking a lot better!!”

     “See? What did I tell ya— I’m kind of a dragon expert.” WyldFyre gloats, proudly smirking as she sure enough, has been right—- Janus melons, though not necessarily in the form of a stew, but rather as an ointment helped to close up many of Riyu’s wounds at a quicker pace.

     “How did you say again you knew that would work…?” Asked none other than the elemental master of amber, who was rather curious on how someone so young could know so much about dragon care.

     “Ah, you see, I was raised by dragons! And uhm, a robot— but not the same kind of robot like Zane or Pixal, mine mostly just did boring stuff like teach me how to read, write, and do math…. So b-o-r- ING!” She explained, rolling her eyes and folding her arms across her chest for a moment before getting back to the point.

     “You see, whenever the other dragons would get sick, I would make them Janus melon stew and they would feel allllll better! I didn’t find out about making it into an ointment until recently tho, that was something that the robot Pixal lady suggested when she heard about its amazing medical properties— I’m kind of a doctor. I saved my boyfriend Roby from dying.” The Dragon-girl proclaims, fanged teeth showing as she did so.

     “My my my, well aren’t you the clever girl.” Smiled Skylor, looking over at Riyu who was finally awake for the first time in days— though still far too groggy and exhausted to be of much help when it came to traveling.

     “Arrreawrrr…” He mumbled sadly, to which the older of the two girls replied with a simple smile as if to say: ‘it’s alright, get some rest.’

     “Have I properly introduced you yet? Have you met my dragon Flame?” Skylor began, looking over to WyldFyre.

     “Oh boy— WOULD I LIKE TO!!!” She grins enthusiastically. Up until today, Skylor and Flame have mostly been leaving camp and coming back to gather supplies, while the younger ninja kind of stayed put; keeping an eye on Riyu in shifts— that didn’t leave much down time outside of sleeping for everyone to get acquainted.

     “Brraaaar…?” Rumbled Flame, tilting his head as he glanced at WyldFyre for a moment before kneeling as if to say: “Wanna Ride?”

     “GASP!!! CAN I?!!!!” Beamed the girl, looking to Skylor for approval.

     “Wow, Flame sure seems to like you— he almost NEVER lets anyone ride him outside of Kai or Me—- even Nya took awhile getting used to—“ The girl mused, laughing a little as she shook her head.

     “Go ahead, knock yourself out.” She shrugged with a smile, blinking when the two took off far quicker than expected.

     “OKAY DON’T LITERALLY KNOCK YOURSELF OUT..!!! BE CAREFUL…!!!” The woman worried, forgetting for a moment that although they may be ninja, they still were younger and had a lot left to learn about the world.

     “It’s okay, she’s wayyyy tougher than she looks.” Sora smiled, walking back to camp alongside Frak with some edible plants as well as water.

     “Is that so…? Noted.” She said, not daring to tear her eyes away from the pair in the sky for a moment as she nodded her head.

     It was a little on the warmer side today, but based off of the current weather patterns, as well as the given location of the current shelter being near the cliffside of a mountain that they could easily take shelter within the cave walls if need-be, Skylor reasoned that everything should be okay.

     The sky was also quite clear— the sun danced happily as it graced the world with its presence— but not in an overbearing way where everyone feels like they should have brought sunscreen.

     “You know, I’m still shocked… Flame originally belonged to Kai, you know…? I took over watching him during the merge and all the events that followed after…. But Flame really seems to like her for some reason.”

     “Wellll, there could be a few reasons for that…. She was raised by dragons, and in a way, lately, she’s being raised by Kai.” The tech-savvy girl shrugged, setting down some of the supplies.

     “Yeah, those two are like peas in a pod— a very fiery, shoot fireballs first ask questions later, kind of pod.” Frak agreed, gathering some of the ingredients they had found and starting on lunch for the team.

     “You know, you two kinda look a little alike.” Frak brought up, nodding towards the girl and dragon in the sky.

     “What? No we do not—“

     “Actuallyyyy, I agree with Frak. I’ve been thinking the same thing since we first saw you— it actually has been freaking me out. You have the same nose, and hair color for sure— your eyebrows are similar too— but your eyes are definitely different…”

     “Yeah, my thoughts exactly! And you kinda have similar face structures, but like not EXACTLY the same, ya know…? Do you have any family you don’t know about…?? Maybe you guys are like, cousins or something! Long lost cousins!!” Frak claps, looking over to Sora who agrees.

     “I mean— it isn’t impossible! Heck, there’s 16 different realms that all merged… after that, I’d say being long lost relatives with someone definitely isn’t the craziest thing I’ve ever heard….” The Pinkette says, sitting crisscrossed on a tree log.

     “Well, as far as I know, my father was an only child— as for my mother, hard to say, she died before I could talk…. Though she definitely didn’t have red hair, that was a trait only my father and I possessed.” She said, finally looking away from the ones in the sky and coming back over towards the campfire with the others.

     “Let’s say we were related for a minute— what would that even change…?”

     “Dunno. That’s up to you two. Not every family stays together— I’m living proof of that, I ran away from home first chance I got… but being with the ninja made me realize… sometimes, you can chose who you consider to be your family, you know? And that’s what everyone is to me, family.

     “I completely agree. The ninja have become that important to me as well— we’re all so close— I couldn’t imagine my life without them… I’d call that family.” Agreed Frak.

     “After we find a way to get back to Ninjago, you’ll have to make that choice… you’ll have to decide where you want to go, and what you want to do… after everything boils over, I’m sure the ninja would welcome you with open arms— in fact, I bet they really missed you! Kai especially, even though he doesn’t always talk about stuff like that… maybe you could even bring your dragons…!!! But— uhm— first… we have to get out of our current predicament, and probably stop whoever or whatever is keeping us from getting back home….”

     “Certainly is a lot to think about….”

     “Hey— did anyone else just hear that…?”

     “Hear… what?” The cat girl asks.

     …Bzzzzt….oes…bzzz….nyone…opy…?…bzzzzt….Rak…?…Sor….YldFyre…?…Bzzzt…

     “Hey, isn’t that your communication device that you were trying to fix the other night..??” Skylor exclaimed, furrowing her eyebrows when it seemed as though the device that had been speechless since they arrived, suddenly had something to say.

     “O-oh my gosh…!” The tech-girl fumbles, nearly tripping over her own two feet as she strains to understand the message, carefully trying to use her abilities to get the sound to receive clearer.

     “Frak, what do you make out of this…?” The girl whispers, motioning for him to come closer as she put the device between both of their heads to try and listen… She knew Serpentine had incredible hearing abilities, that and, although they may not always agree, she did value his input.

    “Let me listen—“

     Skylor also walked a little closer to the device as she strained to hear, the trio exchanging a confused glance.

     ….bzzzzt…. On’t….. trav…onastery….bzzzzt…..

     “Okay that last word was definitely Monastery—- trav could be… maybe travel…?”

     “I think you’re right— travel, monastery—- maybe they’re talking about how the gates are broken…??”

     “No no—- that was definitely Kai’s voice— he’s warning you about something. The first word is don’t— don’t travel to the monastery”

     ….bzzzr….bzzzzzt…Ras…..monast…..Ras….bzzzt….

     “Ras—- I’m not sure what word that part could be… what’s a ‘Ras’…? “

     “It’s not a what— it’s a ‘who’— and he’s bad news—-“

     “Yeah, he’s just about as rotten as they come but—- what did Ras have to do with the monastery…?”

     ….bzzzzzt…..MUWHAHAHAHAHHAH….bzzzzt…..Testing, 123… if you are within the sound of my voice, that means you will not be able to escape from my rein of terror…. Rest well, ninja, for this night may very well be your last…..bzzzzzt….bzzzzt….bzzzzt…..

     The three looked at each other as their blood ran cold, each of them in complete shock.

     It was as if the world itself had stopped spinning, and despite how warm it was they were frozen.

     “Hiya guys~! WHOA. You would not BELIEVE how much fun I just had and— wait. What did I miss…??

     “I think I just found something I fear more than puppets….”