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School was out and it was summer time meaning the ninjas were allowed to focus on being well ninjas more. After regaining their elemental powers and stopping Meowthra, the group all agreed to expand their help outside of Ninjago City itself, giving them more workload but nothing their team couldn't handle.
During their training session a distress signal came through, their girl in the chair, Pixal, a new addition to the team, called them in to discuss the issue. Pixal's father was already helping the team for a while, being the supplier for their mechs so it wasn't a shock when Pixal herself wanted to join the team. She was already good friends with Zane and no one protested, they all loved her anyway.
From what Pixal gathered from the distress signal, it wasn't anything insane, it seemed a smaller village outside of Ninjago City was requesting help after a group of their folks went missing in the forest. A simple search and rescue, nothing that needed the entire teams support. Cole, already stepping forward to offer assistance was shot a look from Lloyd causing him to back down.
"I know it would be best for you to go Cole, being the master of Earth but you were injured and only recently were allowed to come back into training, you still have to take it slow." Lloyd said causing Cole to grumble and cross his arms.
"Yeah but I'm literally ground support, I know how to move around fast and not only that my element can help detect vibrations in the ground!" Cole exclaimed.
"That is true but you're still recovering, Kai can go in your steed. He too, is ground support." Lloyd said, giving Cole a stern look that clearly said to back down.
"Yeah he's ground support but his element can't help in the forest! It's actually the exact opposite for him." Cole stated, glancing over to Zane for some back up but the Nindroid just gave him a wide smile causing Cole to groan.
"Hey! I think I can help even if I'm fire, or did you forget I'm the second fastest on the team." Kai huffed out, looking at Cole with a raised eyebrow.
"Alright, enough fighting. Cole, I know you want to go on a mission after being down for so long but what if you get hurt again, then what?" Nya asked, her voice filled with authority. She was second in command after Lloyd and she agrees with her little brother.
"The probability of you getting hurt on his mission even if it's just a search and rescue is 10 percent higher then usual!" Zane chirped from the sidelines causing Cole to glance over at him in disbelief.
"I think you should sit this one out Cole, Kai can easily cover the ground with his speed." Jay added and walked over, patting his friend on the shoulder with a small smile. Cole let out a sigh of defeat after realizing everyone was against him, he gave one hopeful glance to Pixal and Wu who were standing off to the side but only got a raised eyebrow and a small smile in response. He groaned and gave in with a small 'fine'.
"Wonderful, so we have Kai going as ground support, his speed can help him traverse the forest with ease. As much as I'd hate to say this but me and Zane wouldn't be that helpful plus Zane needs a reboot, and a sky support mech would be best." Nya said and looked over to Lloyd and Jay.
"Uh, my mech was kinda…destroyed last mission." Jay reminded everyone with a nervous chuckle causing the team to all wince upon the memory of their last outing.
"Hey Zane, you sure they don't have any canons?" Jay asked as he zipped through the air with Cole in the back, Kai was riding with Lloyd.
"I am affirmative and Pixal also stated they do not have canons!" Zane's voice echoed the comms as he froze a path across the ocean, Nya nearby with her water strider mech. They were trying to take down a enemy base that was stationed on the ocean, it was supposed to be a easy in and out. Destroy the base and flee. But for the first time the two nindroids were incorrect with their information and the battle soon turned into something more serious.
"Guys the canon fire is too heavy! Fall back, I repeat, fall back!" Lloyd exclaimed into the comms.
"Seriously kid? We're giving up that easily?" Kai asked.
"We aren't giving up, dad! Its called a tactical retreat!" Lloyd snapped back. Nya rolled her eyes at the two bickering, the team had long ago gotten use to Lloyd calling Kai 'dad', something that threw them off at first but quickly began to make sense when monitoring their relationship. Her thoughts were cut short when she heard a scream echo from Jay.
"INCOMING PROJECTILE! COLE, PREPARE TO LAUNCH!"
Jay's mech was already hit once, taking a projectile that was meant for Lloyd, which was another reason they had to fall back, plus the first hit made it harder for Jay to steer his mech and due to that the second projectile hit dead on. Jay and Cole managed to escape the mech, flying up into the air and deploying their parachutes to which Lloyd caught them but Jay's mech wasn't so lucky. The lightning mech, now without a pilot and extremely injured, crashed into the ocean and sunk.
A small pained whimper echoed the comms from Jay as he watched his mech vanish under the water before a curse came from Cole.
"Cole you good?" Kai asked.
"I think I fucked up my leg when the first projectile hit." Cole responded back, shuffling was heard and a sharp intake came from Kai.
"Yeah, fall back Cole needs medical attention."
Nya cursed as she and Zane created a large ice wall to shield them as they fled.
"Right…" Lloyd said before letting out a grunt as Kai threw his arm over the kids shoulder, leaning into him with a grin.
"Ready for a father and son bonding mission!" he exclaimed, snickering. Lloyd laughed.
"Yeah yeah, we can take my mech for faster travel." He said and pushed Kai's arm off him before walking towards the stationed mechs. "Nya, you're in charge!" he chirped.
"Already knew that but thanks for confirming." she laughed out and looked back at the others. "Alright!" she chirped and clapped her hands together loudly, "Back to training!" she exclaimed and dragged the two boys out and leaving Zane. Nya glanced back shouting a 'Be safe!' to Lloyd and Kai.
"I hope for a smooth mission for you two!" Zane chirped, before leaving to his reboot station with Wu after Kai and Lloyd thanked him.
Kai glanced over at the empty station where Jay's mech would usually rest, he already heard plans that Pixal was working on gathering the materials to rebuild Jay's mech so till then the lightning ninja either did nearby on foot missions and patrols or he'd hitch a ride with someone else. Kai broke away from Lloyd and went to grab his bag, Lloyd joining along.
"Been a while since we did a mission together, huh?" Kai asked as he grabbed his pre-packed bag, something they began doing when they realized packing every time a mission was far off was a bit tedious. Lloyd nodded, a small smile on his lips as his eyes shimmered with excitement.
"It has been. It's always fun going on missions with you, dad. But you do tend to rush into things." He said, giving Kai a look causing the older to let out a nervous chuckle and brush the other off.
"Nothing I can't handle." he said with a grin as they made their way to Lloyd's mech, the dragon shaped vehicle powered up, it's eyes glowing as it lowered it's body down so the two could hop on. After they settled in, the roof of their hide out opened up, Kai gave Pixal a thankful glance before they shot upwards and out of the building, pulling their hoods up to cover themselves while doing so.
"You think we'll be able to finish this mission in a day?" Kai asked, using his comms to communicate to Lloyd instead of having to yell over the rushing winds. Lloyd hummed, eyes focused ahead as he spoke.
"It really just depends if we're able to find the missing folks fast enough. Can't say how long it'll take." He said with a shrug. Kai grumbled and laid down on the dragon mech, staring up at the clouds as they rushed by.
"Hopefully it doesn't take too long." he grumbled.
"Why, got plans?" Lloyd asked.
"Dude, did you forget about the movie we promised to see with Nya that's releasing in three days?"
Lloyd's silence was enough of a answer causing Kai to let out a loud hefty laugh, closing his eyes with the shake of his head.
"Kids these days. I'm older and my memory is better."
"Hey! You aren't even that old." Lloyd exclaimed defensively which made Kai smirk.
"Yet you keep calling me 'old man' and 'unc'."
Lloyd stammered and let out a small 'shut up' causing Kai to snicker, with that the two fell into a comfortable silence. Kai moved up a bit, using his arms to push himself up a tad so he was half laying down but had Lloyd in his view. He would never flat out admit it to the kid but he felt so blessed that Lloyd saw him as his father. Yeah, he was only 17 but just the thought that Lloyd looked to him was enough to accept the idea of having that kid as his unofficial son. He remembered when Lloyd accidentally slipped up and called him dad in school to which some people overheard. It didn't take long for the news to spread around and the students having another thing to bully Lloyd about. But Kai simply scared them off (by throwing hands but whatever.) and it showed a clear message, 'mess with his son and he won't hesitate to break a bone.'
Thankfully the teasing died down, though there were some remarks here and there, it wasn't anything Lloyd couldn't handle. He smiled fondly at his son, though the other couldn't see it and went back to lying down.
"Y'know, you can fall off if you keep laying down like that." Lloyd spoke up, Kai scoffed.
"As if." he said only for a sudden sharp jerk to almost cause him to fall off, thankfully Kai managed to grab onto one of the metal parts and stay on the mech. He shot a glare towards the younger, Lloyd looking back at him with a smug look in his eyes.
"You're a brat." he said fondly causing Lloyd to laugh as Kai moved to sit up instead of laying down, not risking trusting Lloyd after seeing the mischievous look in the youngsters eyes.
Getting to the village didn't take long but since they left late it was already getting dark, Lloyd dropped Kai down in the section of the forest they were told the folks vanished in, with that they began their search, Kai on the ground and Lloyd in the air. It took a while before they were able to find something.
"Hey squirt, I found some footprints. They look a bit old but considering the fact these guys were gone for a couple of days these might be theirs." Kai spoke into the comms, placing a marker on their shared map so Lloyd could fly over, his flashlight washing over the steps.
"How many did they say went missing?" Lloyd asked.
"Five." Kai responded as he began to count the sets of footprints. "But theirs only four sets of footprints here." he grumbled out.
"One might have split off, go try to find the other set and I'll land my mech nearby and follow the other sets." Lloyd ordered.
"Aye aye." Kai chirped, saluting. "I'm saluting by the way."
"Of course you are."
Kai snickered and began following the steps from where they came from, he did spot the tracks from the trees so he'd have to retrace their steps. A couple minutes later Lloyd spoke up,
"Got to the prints, I'll follow wherever they were going." he said, "Looking at the map, these are extremely off course from where the town said they should have been headed."
"Maybe something chased them off their path? I'll see if I can see anything." Kai spoke, Lloyd hummed in confirmation and silence washed over the two, both focused on the mission at hand. Around 10 minutes passed till Kai spoke up again.
"The prints are starting to be more spread out, almost like they were running from something." he said, jogging lightly to make more ground. "No, not almost, they defiantly were running from something." Kai said, his eyes staring down at the large paw prints on the ground, the prints breaking off to the side along with another set of footprints. "And I found where the fifth set of footprints went."
"What are you seeing?" Lloyd asked.
"Some animal, hopefully, was chasing them. The five were running, I guess if I keep following it would lead back to their original path but it looks like one of the five split off from the group, taking the animals attention and letting the four escape. So, hopefully, if you keep following those tracks you'll find at least four of the five missing folks." Kai said as his flashlights followed where the animal and fifth person tracks led.
"Alright, I'll keep following and update you if I find them." Lloyd spoke up, Kai let out a hum and glanced around in the dark forest. "Keep your senses sharp, in case whatever was chasing them decided we're next." he said. Lloyd let out a noise of confirmation and silence washed over them again as Kai followed the new set of tracks.
It didn't take long for him to find what he was looking for, around another ten minutes passed when he stumbled upon a gruesome sight. He gagged as the smell hit his nose through the mask, he hand shooting up to cover it. He stared at the decaying corpse in front of him, the body was ripped to shreds, the creature that killed them definitely enjoyed it's meal. Flies flew around as Kai moved closer, kneeling next to the corpse and fighting back gags as he flashed his light onto the decaying body, looking for any sign that this was indeed one of the missing folks and not just a unfortunate soul.
Upon finally finding a piece of clothing that held the towns sigil, Kai backed away from the corpse, his eyes watering with guilt and the horrific stench before his stomach lunged again and he couldn't hold it back this time. He yanked his mask down and vomited onto the grass, throwing up everything he ate prior to this mission and coughing till he could stop gagging. He let out a gasp, cringing at the mess he made and stepped away, he glanced back at the corpse before quickly looking away. The smell was still hitting him and he had to get away from it before he threw up again, he marked the location on his map and walked back down the path to get to the main set of tracks.
Upon getting far enough away that the smell of the corpse was no longer attacking his nostrils, he yanked a water bottle out of his bag and chugged it, his throat dry from vomiting and dry heaving. As he drank his comms clicked to life.
"Kai? I saw you mark something on the map, you find something?" Lloyd asked. Kai gasped as he finished drinking and wiped his mouth with his sleeve before closing and putting the bottle away. He glanced back down the path where the corpse was, it was clear it's been there for a while, he sighed and clicked on his comms as he closed his bag.
"Yeah…Yeah found something."
"What did you find?" Lloyd asked, concerned. He went quiet, Kai opened and closed his mouth, struggling to find his words. Lloyd was just a child, younger then him, he didn't really want to explain that he found a decaying corpse that looked like it got many large bites taken out of it.
"Kai?" Lloyd asked again, worry clear in his voice. Even though Lloyd was young, he was still their leader and this mission was more serious then they thought.
"Yeah kid, uh, found the fifth guy-"
"That's amazing! You can lead them b-"
"Their dead."
Silence took over the comms, all Kai could hear was his own breathing, the forests ambience and the crackling of the comms. He began to tap his foot, worry sinking into his bones the longer Lloyd stayed quiet, he opened his mouth to speak when the comms came back to life after what felt like ages,
"What?"
Kai let out a shaky sigh at how the kid sounded, confused, scared, hurt…
"Yeah, whatever was chasing them…it…it got them. Not a pretty sight, the bodies pretty decayed too so they've been dead for a couple of days…"
"Are you serious?"
"Dead serious Lloyd, you'd think I'd joke about something like this?!" Kai couldn't help but snap, he heard a sharp intake come from the other end of the comms and he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Look, keep you eyes and ears open because whatever is out there isn't merciful. Do you want to stay where you are and I can run over to catch up and we can find the last four folks together?" Kai asked. Lloyd was silent for a while before speaking up,
"Um, I'll keep going but yeah, come over to me but I won't wait. If what ever k-killed that other guy is out there still…it's best we try to get to the other four as fast as possible and hopefully their still….alive."
Kai stared down at the ground, his flashlight moving across the path, following the foot prints before shining into the darkness ahead.
"Okay…stay safe kid. If you hear anything call for me immediately, I'll start running."
"Yeah, will do dad."
And with that the comms went silent. Kai stared ahead at the darkness before he began to start walking, the corpse of the fifth forever haunting his mind with every step he took. He begs the other four aren't dead too, that his kid wouldn't stumble upon four decaying, half eaten, corpses.
But he could only pray.
He didn't like how quiet it was.
The forest creaked and groaned, the leaves rustled as the wind blew, bugs buzzed and crows cawed. It felt like the forest was breathing, watching, waiting. Kai felt tense, his grip on his flashlight tightened with every noise the forest echoed out. It's been too long since Lloyd last checked in, he checked his watch and frowned, only fifteen minutes since their last call but that was too long for his liking. His hand shook as he turned his comms on.
"Lloyd?"
His voice was surprisingly steady despite the utter fear he was feeling deep down within his bones.
"Lloyd?" he called out again when he got no response, his breathing increased and footsteps quickened as his flashlight shined down at the ground where the tracks were forever etched into the dirt till mother nature deemed their time was up.
He was about to break into a full on sprint when his comms clicked and Lloyd's voice echo through.
"Dad?"
Kai froze.
Lloyd sounded, scared.
"Lloyd? Hey kid, I'm here, what's up?"
Silence.
"Kid?"
"Their dead."
Kai felt his blood run cold, he cursed and began sprinting, the flashlight swaying back and forward violently as he ran, pushing himself to go faster.
"Where are you?!"
Silence.
"Kid! Where are you!?"
"A-A cave. The tracks led to it…I..they tried to hide to fight back…oh their dead!" Lloyd voice echoed when he raised it, clearly indicating he was deep in the cave. He heard a gag from the other.
Shit.
Kai didn't want this. He didn't want Lloyd to see a corpse, let alone multiple. He pushed himself harder.
"Leave the cave, I'll come get you and we can travel back to your mech to-"
Kai skidded to a stop when the sound of a twig snapping echoed the silent forest, his breathing hitched as he turned towards the sound, his flashlight shining into the dark where two large eyes stared back at him. The creature was no normal animal, it was a beast and currently is was low to the ground, slowly inching towards him like a predator stalking it's prey. Kai slowly stepped back, eyes locked onto the beasts, the fur around it's mouth was crusty with dried blood and he felt like he knew exactly where the blood came from.
"Kai!"
Lloyd's voice echoed from the comms, he sounded like he was running.
"Kai the creature-" a grunt broke his sentence before he continued, "It's here! I- fuck its huge- I can't- I need help!"
Kai froze. That's not right, there was only one track of paws and the creature was right in front of him not- he cursed mentally as he heard Lloyd let out another shout for help. Kai narrowed his eyes at the beast in front of him before bolting.
He couldn't risk the time fighting it, not when Lloyd needed him.
"On my way squirt! Another one is with me, seems like there were two!"
"There's TWO?!" Lloyd cried out before a pained grunt and scream was heard which made Kai's blood run cold. He could hear the other creature behind him, chasing, but he didn't care. He only cared about one thing and that was his son.
"Kid! You good?" Kai asked.
"Yeah, it just landed a good hit on me but nothing I can't handle."
"Goo-" Kai was cut off as the beast that was chasing him caught up and tackled him to the ground, he let out a cry as he felt it's teeth sink into his shoulder. Kai yanked his katana out and slashed back, causing the beast to jump off of him and growl. He stood up, clutching his now bleeding shoulder, his flashlight laid on the ground a bit a way, it flickered and died out, enveloping the two in darkness with nothing but the moon as a light source.
"Kai?!"
"All good, I need you to try and hold your creature back I have to deal with mine." Kai said as he took out his other katana, eyes locking onto the beasts own glowing eyes as its black fur hid it fully in the darkness. They only recently got their elemental powers, they were unstable and Kai really didn't feel like burning the forest down. His grip on his katana's tightened as he heard the beast move, the leaves crunching as it stepped on them.
"Can you do that Lloyd?" Kai asked for confirmation.
"I can try!"
"Try is all I need."
Kai rushed forward, slashing but the creature dodged, landing behind him, thankfully Kai dropped down as the creature lunged. He back flipped back onto his feet and blocked a bite with his katana. The two kept it up, Kai fuelled with nothing but determination to get to Lloyd, to get to his kid. The beast slashed it's clawed paw, slicing Kai's mid section causing him to let out a pained grunt before cursing. He can't stay here too long, his shoulder and side are bleeding heavily and he needs to make it to Lloyd. With a curse he lit both katana's on fire, inexperience be damned, the creature stumbled back, clearly not expecting that. The fire flickered and roared, unstable but Kai still pushed as he shot forward and used the creatures shock to his advantage, plunging both katana's into it's body, one in the neck and the other in the gut. The creature let out a loud, pained, roar, it thrashed and scratched at Kai's arms in a attempt to get him to release it but Kai stayed, wincing as it's claws dug into his skin.
With a cry, he boosted the fire on his katana's, lighting the beasts body aflame and yanking his weapons out, blood splattering on him as he watched it drop to the ground, dead and burning. The fire wasn't going out as it began to spread from the body and onto the dead leaves surrounding it. Kai winced and put his katana's away, he didn't have time to attempt to tame the flames, he turned and ran, letting the fire spread as he lit his own fire on his hand, giving him some light so he could properly follow the tracks. His body screamed with protest, blood gushing out of his wounds but he kept pushing.
"I'm on the way, kid! How are you holding up?" he asked, turning his comm on, he hadn't heard Lloyd talk to him during his fight. He was shocked he managed to take the beast down at all, though he was better at fighting on land, he, along with the others, are still relatively new to fighting outside their mechs.
"I-I'm okay!"
Kai felt himself relax a bit before he spoke back.
"Good, are you still in the cave? Is the beast still there?"
"Yeah and yeah, I've been holding it back but- ack- I- shit- I can't- I'm not good at fighting outside my mech especially on the low ground-"
"I know kid, I'm almost there, just hang on." Kai said, ignoring the smell of smoke and the glowing of flames flickering behind him as he ran. He was going to bleed out, he could feel his body growing weak but he just had to get to Lloyd, had to save him even if it meant dying himself.
Kai finally reached the cave entrance and rushed in, the fire in his hand lighting up his surroundings as he made his way deeper into the cave where he could hear the echos of fighting. Soon he reached the scene and winced, Lloyd was fighting in the dark hence his struggle but with Kai's fire now lighting the area up he could see the mess.
Lloyd was doing well but he was also injured, he rushed forward, taking out his weapon and ignoring Lloyd's exclaim of his name as he blocked a clawed swipe with his katana.
"Lloyd, get- get out!" he grunted as he pushed back, lighting his katana on fire so his other hand could put the fire out and grab his other weapon.
"And leave you?! You're- you're barely able to stand!" Lloyd screamed as Kai blocked another hit, the beast crying out when it touched the fire of Kai's katana's.
"My job is to protect you! S-So go, I-I'll be fine!" Kai screamed, but his face was pale and legs shaky. Lloyd stumbled back, gripping his bleeding side, watching in horror as his father and this large beast fought.
"LLOYD GO!!" Kai screamed again, eyes sharp as he slashed back.
"You- YOU'RE GOING TO DIE!" Lloyd cried out as he watched the beast land a hit, causing another wound to open and bleed on his fathers already wounded body.
"I-I know! Just please, go- please Lloyd get out- you can't die too- Nya can't lose both of us. Promise me Lloyd, you'll go see the m-movies with Nya." Kai said as he stumbled back after blocking another hit, growing weak.
Lloyd stepped back and nodded, eyes determined.
"Okay…Okay I promise."
Kai smiled.
"Good. Now RUN!"
Lloyd looked over at Kai one last time, tears gathering as he watched his father fail his block, his body weak from his injuries and getting thrown into the wall. He turned, clutching his side and ran.
They were deep in the cave, the ground uneven, and each step Lloyd took caused him to stumble. His breathing heavy as moving got harder, the creature slashed his side deep, deeper then he realized. The fighting that once echoed the cave long stopped, he remembered tensing, waiting to hear the sound of the beast running towards him but it never came…but neither did the calls of Kai's voice.
He closed his eyes, tears falling as he cried, each sob ripping through his body sent a flare of pain from his side. He ground his teeth as he finally made it to the exit, praying to survive, praying he could fulfill his promise only to freeze as he was greeted to a raging forest fire. A crackle escaped Lloyd's lips, his body failing as he fell to his knees as the pain got worse causing his legs to buckle. His body slowly grew weak as he looked back into the cave where Kai now laid among the other decaying corpses, he mourned his unfulfilled promise.
Kai forgive me…Nya I'm sorry.
He looked at the raging fire that engulfed the forest, blocking any path he had to escape even though he knew he wouldn't have made it far, not with his side wound.
He grunted and pushed himself up despite the pain, eyes locked onto the fire as he dragged his body towards it.
Please.
"Please." Lloyd choked out as he collapsed onto the ground, hand stretched out towards the fire, its warmth enveloping his cold body. His eyes stared at the flames as tears spilled out from his eyes.
"Kai?" he whispered, he felt like his father was hugging him, Kai always ran warmer then the rest of them. He curled up, blood seeping into the ground as the fire slowly engulfed him.
"Remember Lloyd, if you ever miss me. Look to the nearest flame and I'll be there. It's warmth will remind you of me."
Lloyd let out a happy sigh, his breathing slowly coming to a stop as the flames burned hugged him, it's warmth just like his fathers.