Work Text:
It is hot in the volcano, sweat stains the back of his neck. Lloyd is pressed into him, and he's trying not to press against the rapidly warming metal bars.
Pythor is ordering the Serpentine around, making them dig in an unstable volcano for his stupid fangblades. Curse the Anacondrai, and curse Pythor!
"We need to get out of this cage," Pillar states, looking up at the hook their tiny prison is being held with. There's no bottom, and they're sitting on hot rock—as one of the Hypnobrai had accidently dipped it into the lava. Pillar and Lloyd, shackles and following behind, had shared a worried look between themselves—If they managed tilt the hook out of place, their combined strength may be enough to pull it up and crawl out — granted, he isn't sure how much Lloyd would appreciate having burns on his hands.
He looks down at the other boy, spotting the chunks of his tail that have scabbed over, fur singed off. Maybe he wouldn't mind, if it meant not cooking alive. He sure isn't becoming an accident safrifice for whatever deluded nonsense Pythor is trying to achieve. Why are they trying to unlock the Great Devourer? Humans and Serpentine are supposed to get together, not wipe each other off of the face of the planet!
"No duh!" Lloyd counters, "how do we do that when there's guards everywhere. We can't fight in a volcano, and you hurt your leg."
He had almost forgotten about that, the throbbing pain in his foot whenever he moved it. He's just glad he's half— whatever he's half of, thankful it gives him some animalistic features. He's sure having a normal human leg would hurt a lot more. Maybe. Human legs are boring and weird; how do the Ninja spring themselves up so much with such little structure? "I'll be fine."
Lloyd surveys their surroundings. "I'll kick the bars, you keep watch." Pillar stands up, trying his best to balance without his damanged foot as Lloyd gets into position, scooting back, tail curled onto his lap to avoid burning it again. He flexes his paws. Pillar thanks whoever's listening that Lloyd is half whatever Pillar is half of. He knows the strength of his own legs, Lloyd should be able to get enough force to kick the peg out of place, which will knock the hook out of place. Hopefully. He really, really hopes.
He watches the Serpentine, then sees as everybody turns as a loud clank comes from one of the dig sites. "Now," he stage-whispers to Lloyd.
He kicks the bars right next to the hook, wincing as the hot metal touches his paws. He kicks and kicks and kicks and the peg in the ground shifts, turning their closer to the lava. Shit. Whatever. He can work with this. Maybe. Hopefully.
Pythor announces: "the third fangblade!" and Pillar knows this is their chance. They need to do this.
He understands Lloyd isn't the Champion, he understands that Lloyd feels helpless. Pillar can't feel helpless, he has to feel hopeful, or else what is there to do? What else is there to be if not full of hope? He hopes they can do this, he hopes that they can defeat Pythor. He hopes, he hopes, he hopes.
"Come on, we need to get into that little crack, onto that platform, and then up," he explains, pointing to each step of his half baked plan.
"You want us to get closer to the lava?!" Lloyd wonders, incredulously.
Pillar nods. "Trust me."
Lloyd looks between Pillar, the lava, and then Pythor's figure in the background, and then back to Pillar. He nods. "Okay. I trust you. You go first."
He looks back at Lloyd, and then slinks through the small hole, catching his arms on the sides. He grimaces, but drags himself onto the small, lower platform. Just standing so close to the lava stings, and his pawprints feel like they are sizzling under the heat.
There's a commotion from Pythor, and Pillar looks up to see the Ninja coming straight towards the Serpentine.
"The calvary's here," Pillar remarks, although he isn't sure where he gets it from. It feels ancient. What story had he hear it from? He doesn't have time to search through his memories. Pythor's coming towards them now. Damn. Now or never, he supposes.
"And so is Pythor!" Lloyd argues, a panicked lilt rising in his throat.
In an instant, he pushes himself up onto the upper platform, the one that Pythor is currently slithering towards them on. His foot screams in complaint. He slams his shoulder into the peg, Lloyd yelps, but rolls out and right in front of an enraged Pythor.
Well. Things could definitely be better. Pillar is hopeful. He always is.
"You insolent children!" yells Pythor, "when I put you in a cage, I expect you to stay there!"
"Next time you should get a cage that actually works!" declares Lloyd. Pillar stands in front of him, tail whipping protectively. His foot cries out in pain and he bites the inside of his cheek. He's the Champion. He is the Champion.
"Lloyd!" yells a voice that is definitely not from one of the Ninja. Pillar doesn't know who it is. Whoever they are, their voice is striken with something, deep and wanting and almost desperate.
He doesn't have time to figure it out, not with Pythor slowly creeping closer. Pillar rattles his tail, bracing himself to lunge at him.
"You can't beat me!" Pythor points out, "not with your foot. There's no escape, Champion."
"He may not be able to defeat you, but I can," calls the same unknown voice, this time from behind Pythor's looming form, and a sword comes up to his long, scaly neck, nudging harshy against the bottom of his jaw.
Who is that? Not a Ninja, there aren't that competent.
"Dad!" cries Lloyd.
"Son!" comes the response, and Pillar can start to make out the man in front of him.
He looks remarkably like Pillar. Same animalistic feet, same tail, same fangs as Lloyd. Huh. Just how much of his half-human race is there? Wouldn't he know if there was a third Ninjago race? He thought he was human. Maybe he isn't.
"You don't want to kill me," Pythor says, "you wouldn't dare kill me and risk another Serpentine War. And you wouldn't kill me in front of your son."
Lloyd's father looks at him, thick eyebrows furrowed. "No. I don't. He is the only reason I am giving you mercy. Don't think I would have hesitated in any other situation, Pythor." He tilts the knife, cutting slightly into his sensitive underjaw scales. Blood trickles down his neck.
Pythor gasps. Lloyd's father tosses him aside, onto an entirely seperate platform. Just who exactly is Lloyd's dad? He's much better than the Ninja.
Pillar moves to the side, letting Lloyd push past him and rush to his father.
Lloyd presses his face into the crook of his father's neck, exhaling, shoulders falling. "I'm sorry, dad. I thought I could do it."
"Don't be sorry, son," he says, softly.
Pillar feels a little awkward, trapped watching this display of affection. He stiffens as he sees Pythor straighten behind Lloyd's father, shaking his head. Scales around his tail and neck smouldering and burnt.
"As cute as this reunion is, I will be leaving now. Tata, Garmadon." In a flash, Pythor is racing to the exit.
"He's got the fangblade!" exclaims Kai from a separate platform. He slams his fist into a Fangpyre's face, turns quickly and rushes after him.
Garmadon scoops Lloyd into his arms, and his son does not retaliate, nor kick. Pillar has never seen him so subdued before, usually Lloyd hates being treated like a little kid, being even slightly reminded of it. He must miss his father. Garmadon finally turns his attention to Pillar. Something unrecognizable flashes across his expression, quicker than Pillar can even process it. "You protected my son. Come here."
He looks at Garmadon's outstretched arm, an offering. Pillar takes it, and Garmadon pulls him into his arms the same way he did with Lloyd. Pillar slots into place. There's a sheer, soft fur coating his entire body, not entirely unsimilar to the fur on Pillar and Lloyd's tails.
Garmadon springs up, hopping from one raised platform to the next raised platform until he's met up with the Ninja by the exit. He sets them down beside him, his hand lingering on Pillar's back.
Still fighting the Serpentine, is the blurry figure of Kai.
"What is he doing? He knows the volcano is unstable!" cries Jay, tone angry, as Kai pulls his golden weapon out from its sheath and tosses it at the fangblade in Pythor's hand. His golden sword pins it and the fangblade into the hard crust of the wall.
Pythor curses, then calls over his shoulder at Skales and three Constrictai warriors he cannot recognize from this distance, and especially not as they dig into the wall, lava spewing over where their figures once stood.
"They've made the volcano unstable, we need to leave," informs Wu.
"Kai! Leave it! It's not worth your life!" yells Jay, cupping his hands around his mouth.
The next sound Pillar hears is the crunching of stone and the whoosing of air and the crackling of lava all around him as the floor collapses underneath him.
Well, he thinks again, this could have gone better. He tries to shake away the pain. His elbows are scuffed, a line of splattering cuts all over his forearms, crawling up to his fingers. His paw is protesting any movement. He wants to cry. He doesn't, of course, because not all hope is lost. He just needs to figure out how to get out of this situation. As he looks around, studying his surroundings, he realizes Lloyd fell with him too, floating on his own tinier piece of rock.
Okay. He needs to get both of them out. He can do that. He has to try to do that, at least.
"Lloyd!" cries Garmadon, Wu's arm around him, holding him back.
"It's okay, Lloyd. I can get us out of this!" Pillar calls, standing cautiously. His rock dips slightly, but he doesn't fall in. His foot burns, paws smouldering. He's much too close to the lava.
Lloyd hasn't gotten up, frozen in fear. He looks as Pillar feels. "How are you going to get us out?" he asks, voice shaking like he's fighting back tears.
He looks around. "Uhm." Damn. "I dunno yet. Just, stay there."
"I'm not going anywhere!" Lloyd shouts back.
Pillar's heart jumps, leaps, bunny-hops into his throat, beating jack-rabbit fast as the volcano shakes, rumbles. Lava licks up the sides. There's no time to think. There's no time to do anything at all.
Garmadon calls for Lloyd again, this time muffled as rocks fall in front of the entrance. Okay. So. They can't go that way, and they really don't want to go up.
He tunes out the sound of metal scraping, tunes out Lloyd's "Kai! Help us!" and focuses all of his attention on the wall. Could he jump to that? He takes a cursory glance at his paw. It hurts, it really, really hurts, but it will work. He blinks back tears as he leans against it. He needs to try to make that jump.
Lloyd is floating closer to him, looking up at him with terrified eyes. "You better get your plan ready, I think I'm sinking!" he yells, frantic with fear.
Pillar nods, running a hand through his hair, hands shaking. Jump to my rock," he tells him, bracing himself on the opposite edge.
"Are you sure? What if I fall?" Lloyd wonders, standing up on shaky legs.
"You're not going to fall," Pillar tells him, trying to keep the uncertainty out of his voice. They'll be okay. They have to be okay. Being afraid is not being hopeful.
"Okay," Lloyd says, barely audible over the next gush of flames. He trembles slightly, but leans back and leaps.
His paws hit the stone and he wobbles. The rock shifts, sputters into the lava. It's now or never.
The fur all up his legs is singed, his paws sting like they never have before, and his paw aches and burns with every slight movement. "We need to jump!"
"Jump?!" Lloyd repeats, looking between the large gap between their rock and the wall.
"Do you have a better idea?" he questions.
Lloyd looks to the side, and his face falls. "Kai left us here," he says, voice hurt and strained. "He took the fangblade and left us to die!"
Pillar frowns. "We aren't going to die. We're going to be fine. Just, jump, okay?" He feels his voice getting faster and faster, panic rising in his throat just as fast as the lava is outside. He feels like he may choke on his fear.
He grabs Lloyd's hand. "On the count of three, okay?" he says.
"Okay," Lloyd responds, hints of deterimination in his voice.
He steadies himself and counts, "one, two three!" and leaps. He feels slight resistance from Lloyd, but he still flies into the wall, barely catching his footing. His claws dig into the little crevices, his hand slipping from the rock's edge.
"Pillar!" Lloyd cries. He looks down to see Lloyd hanging from his arm, claws scraping helplessly at the wall.
His hand starts to slip. Pillar grits his teeth. He won't let Lloyd die. He said he wouldn't, and he needs to keep his promise.
Pillar is the Champion of the Constrictai tribe. He has fought tooth and nail to get there, and he won't lose his title and his life because of a stupid Anacondrai who believes he's destined for greatness ― or whatever he thinks he's destined for. Pillar thinks he's destined for snake-food, but what does he know? He's just a kid.
He's just a kid. He's been in binds like this (although with consequences of much lesser seriousness) and he has always gotten out of them before. He can do this. What would his guardian do? (They would tell him, Pillar of Hope, there is nothing in this world you cannot do. There is nothing your spirit cannot accomplish. They were right, they were always right.)
His first priority has to be Lloyd. There is no point of being hopeful when he only uses it for himself and his own selfish gain, that is not how it works.
He grips onto the top of the rock again, and then looks back at Lloyd. "Grab onto my tail!" he orders.
Lloyd obliges, and Pillar is rudely reminded that he probably shouldn't have somebody the same weight as him pulling on his tail. Pillar grips onto the rock with his now free hand. This has to work. It has to. He grits his teeth, hopes his claws will keep him in place, and rocks. Lloyd makes a surprised noise, but keeps holding on.
You have to do this, he tells himself, go quickly now. He squeezes his eyes shut and flicks his tail out, lifting Lloyd up and flinging him onto the rock above. His already damaged paw pinches and pain claws up his leg in throbbing, gasping bursts.
He blinks back tears.
Lloyd scrambles above him, grabbing his hands and tugging him up. He falls to the floor, paw limp. "Ouch. Remind me to never do that again," he says, wiping his wet eyes.
"One more wall. I'll try and pull you up," Lloyd explains, and Pillar can see his own desperate hope rubbing off on him. That's good. Pillar has gotten his own hope in many, many different places, from the people he loves, the people he hates, the people he feels indifferent to. He likes to think that he has brought hope to other people too, although he doesn't think he's ever seen it in action before. (He is brought to a different time, when both he and Whip were smaller, tossing each other around and claiming that they would be the Champion. Whip had tugged on his tail, and in return, Pillar had pulled on his crest. They both hissed at each other until his guardian came to break it up. Later, in the isolation of the tiny moss pit they had been training in, Whip had admitted that he was jealous of him, jealous of the fact that he can be so positive with nothing backing his faith. Pillar had turned onto his belly, looking at his friend with an expression so confused Whip had tossed a moss ball at him. Whip had always been a source of hope for him, he had always gotten his determination from his friend, from wanting to protect him. Pillar couldn't see how Whip couldn't find hope from himself.)
"Okay," Pillar says. He nods. He drags himself, to the base of the wall, rock scrapping against his baggy pants, watching as Lloyd attempts to scale the wall.
He shuffles back as Lloyd hits the ground and groans in annoyance. "How do you do this? I can't catch on anything!" He whips his tail in irritation, and Pillar notices the fur tuft on the end has been burnt off. He wonders if Lloyd can smell it, the smoke and ash and smouldering fur.
"Lots and lots of practice," Pillar answers, then bites his tongue as he realizes it won't be helpful, they don't have time for practice. "It's easy, just focus on the grooves of the rock. Your claws will catch onto anything, lean forward and use your tail for balancing."
Lloyd looks at him, and the back at the wall, sizing up his new opponent. He jumps onto the rock, tail flicking in panic before he finally gets his footing and lifts himself onto the base. "I got up!" he cheers. "I did it!"
Pillar pulls himself up, his useless foot crying out. Tears fill his eyes, blurring his vision. He needs to get to a spot where Lloyd can pull him up. It should be easy. He's climbed walls forever; for as long as he can remember. He presses his side into the hot rock. His claws scrap against something he can use, and he catches onto something. Pushing off with one paw, he hops up, grabbing onto another chunk of exposed rock.
"Here! Grab on!" Lloyd calls, dropping his tail down.
Pillar uses his tail as a crutch, still using the wall to scale up. He knows what it's like to have a kid pull on his tail, it's not fun, and he's still feeling the dull throb through its base.
When he finally pulls himself onto the stone floor, he's shaking. The higher the lava goes, the harder it is to breathe. It was fine when all he was doing was standing around and watching Pythor ignore all Constrictai tradition (why they still listen to him, Pillar has no clue), but it's much harder when he's exerting himself on an injured foot.
Lloyd tears at the rock in front of the exit. Their only exit. Shoot. He shudders, tail flicking in anger. He props himself up, using the wall, and hops to the exit, trying to pull the pieces of rock away. It is no use, of course.
"We're so close!" Lloyd says, shaking. His ears are pinned back, eyes wet.
"I―" Pillar's mouth is dry. How does he hope his way out of this one? He doesn't have super strength. All he has is his speed, and even that has failed him. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, steadying himself.
If only one of them had an elemental power or some way to burst out of it. If only he was born a Constrictai, he could tunnel is way out of it. He opens his eyes, and then spots his catch. "Those rocks look small enough to pull away. Do you think we can fit through that hole?" he questions.
Lloyd looks to where he's pointing. He leans down. "Maybe." He looks at Pillar. "We can try."
There we go. We can try. Hope.
Before he can lean down and start to dig, the rocks in front of them rumble, and then collapse into themselves. Lloyd coughs, dust springing free and blurring both of their vison.
"What did I say about not getting into trouble?" asks Whip as his familiar grey and orange face appears beyond the dust. Pillar has never been so glad to see his best friend.
"Whip!" he cheers, balancing himself on the wall and hopping towards him. "I would never get into trouble, I don't know what you're talking about."
Lloyd ducks under Pillar's arm, bracing him against his body. Whip takes the other side, helping Pillar limp to the exit. "Don't listen to him, he got hurt."
Whip rolls his eyes. "Your new friend is much smarter than you, Pills, you should listen to him."
Pillar rolls his eyes, inhaling deeply as they reach the exit, his lungs welcoming the fresh air. "I won't deny that, but I did just escape a volcano, so, I think I'm pretty smart."
Lloyd nods. "Without him I wouldn't have been able to escape." Then, softer, hurt stricken, he says "I can't believe Kai just left us there. He really cared about the fangblade more than me."
"I'm sorry," Pillar says, "I'm sure he had a good reason."
"He wanted the fangblades," Lloyd reminds, "that's it. He didn't care if I died as long as he could get them. Even Cole told him to leave them, he didn't care."
"We care," announces Pillar, and his best friend nods along.
"Yeah, we've got real fangs, we don't need the fake blade replicas. They're from the Great Devourer anyways, probably stink," Whip remarks.
Lloyd smiles softly, eyebrows still pinched.
"There's the Bounty, you can tell him that when we get aboard," Pillar notices, motioning his head to the ship, hovering.
"They must still believe you're alive. I can't believe they're still here," Whip says.
They hit sand. Pillar feels a little like a burden, making them help him all the way here. Especially as Whip ducks under his arm. "I need to go. You know how Skalidor gets when he doesn't have all of his lackeys. He's still wanting you to come back. Oh, by the way, the elders are upset that the Champion isn't helping with the battle. Not that Pythor really lets anybody do anything battle related."
Pillar steadies himself against Lloyd. "The elders always want me to do something. Once Skalidor realizes Pythor is leading us nowhere, I'll come back. Don't worry, you can't lose me that easily."
Whip smiles. He bumps his fist against Pillar's. "Be safe," he says, "and stay out of trouble!"
"I'm always safe, and I never get into trouble. You stay safe, you're the one going back there."
"Somebody's got to make sure that Clayton guy doesn't try and rise up the ranks," he responds.
Pillar rolls his eyes. Clayton really was a mess, he could never make Champion no matter how hard he tried. He wasn't particularly happy when Pillar had made Champion, claiming that he wasn't a true Serpentine. Pillar, of course, is a true Serpentine, if not by blood by spirit. He squeezes Whip's hand for a moment before looking back towards the Bounty. Lloyd helps him get closer.
"Hey! We're down here!" Lloyd calls up, waving his free arm in the air. "Hey! Guys!"
It takes a moment before the Bounty drops her anchor. Pillar grits his teeth in pain as he slides himself onto it, accidentally slapping his paw against the metal. Lloyd looks at him, eyebrows furrowed in concern.
"I'm good," he assures, waving him off. He flicks his tail in a brief show of support, but Lloyd doesn't seem to notice. It's a little embarrassing, he doesn't think anybody has ever failed to reciprocate him before.
The anchor stops with a shudder, and Lloyd hops off. Pillar slips down before he can get any help, wincing and grabbing onto Lloyd's shirt before he can fall to the floor in front of all of the Ninja―although, as he scans all of their faces, some joyful, some worried, all relieved, he does not see Kai amongst them―and Lloyd's dad, and a concerned Nya.
"Lloyd!" cries Garmadon, stepping towards Lloyd and hugging him tightly, lifting him up into his arms like he weighs nothing (although, it must be so much easier lifting somebody up when you have four arms, and not just one tail).
Pillar wobbles back a bit, falling into Nya. "Sorry," he says, reminding himself not to wrap his tail around her in an apology. That would definitely not be okay. Humans don't like when they are grappled by things, and especially not by things that are the tails of the Serpentine.
"Are you okay?" she wonders, worried. "Let me take a look at your foot," she says, then makes a face, looking at Garmadon and Lloyd.
She hands Pillar to Jay, who makes an exclamation but holds him steady.
"Uh, excuse me, can I look at one of your paws, please?" Nya asks, looking a little startled as Garmadon's tail lashes protectively. Pillar understands it, feeling a vague sort of jealousy that happens when he's playing with Whip, or when his guardian would focus on the other Serpentine young that did not like Pillar. He grew out of most of it, and he's mostly able to ignore its lingering ghost when it arises.
"Sure," Lloyd says. Garmadon squeezes him for a moment before letting him drop and walk over to Nya. "What do I need to do?"
"Nothing, Just stick your paw out and try not to giggle," she instructs. Lloyd stands next to Pillar, flexing his paw.
Now that they aren't in a volcano and are safe, the jet engines of the Bounty roaring softly underneath him, he realizes just how dirty they had gotten. Lloyd's white-blond hair is almost dyed an ashy grey, face covered in grime and smoke. The skeleton on his shirt has been replaced by a blackened, dark smear. His paws have become completely black, running up his shins.
Pillar knows he must look just as filthy. His own paws are the same black.
"What's that smell?" asks Cole.
"I believe it is coming from them," informs Zane, nodding towards the two children.
"It's their burnt fur," explains Garmadon. "The heat from the volcano was too great for much of it to handle." He wraps his tail around Lloyd's, showing the differences in fur thickness.
"I won't be able to see all of the burn damage until these two take a bath, but it doesn't look too severe," Nya concludes, crouching in between the two to get a look at their paws. She lightly squeezes the middle of his paw, and he sucks in a breath. Not a good feeling. She squeezes the same part on Lloyd's foot, and he laughs, kicking at her lightly. She hums. "I think something's broken. I'll wrap it up for you."
"It's a good thing you too that first aid class, huh, Nya?" remarks Jay, he lets Pillar lean against the side of the Bounty and sidesteps closer to Cole.
"What first aid class? I'm just helping him because none of you will."
"Thanks, Nya," Pillar says. He bows his head in gratitude.
"Don't worry about it," she says, ruffling his hair. She looks back to the horizion, waiting to see her brother appear from the thickening black smoke rising from the volcano. Then, she rushes off to grab the medkit.
Garmadon steps over to him, his face covered in an expression he doesn't know. It's a little strange, shouldn't he be looking after Lloyd? Instead, Garmadon lifts one of his hands up to his cheek, stroking lightly at the patches of thin fur scattering around his jaw.
"Dad?" inquires Lloyd, confused.
"You're Serpentine," Garmadon declares, thumbing over the thick, white dots underneath his eyes, his Serpentine marks. "And you betrayed your kind to save my son."
Pillar shrugs. "It's wrong of me, but I don't trust Pythor, I think what he's doing is wrong. We shouldn't want to kill all humans to get revenge. I— I don't think we need to get revenge, we just need to move on. Find peace with you— ? Uhm. Not you, I guess, because you're not human. Sorry. I— I think we should be looking ahead, not backwards. My general believes otherwise." He winces as he talks. He needs to learn to keep his mouth shut. Why is he babbling? (A small, unknown part of his brain tells him it's because Garmadon is stroking his face, so, so, so softly. Softer than anybody has before, as if he is terrified Pillar will shatter or disappear under his touch.)
Garmadon looks away, gaze darting towards Lloyd before looking back at Pillar. "I am human, just corrupted by the Great Devourer's bite, the same Great Devourer that Pythor wants to unleash onto the world. You're human too."
Pillar frowns. "I am? But I wasn't bitten by the Great Devourer? And I don't think Lloyd was either." He shares a confused glance to Lloyd, who shrugs his shoulders.
"No, you two were not, but the blood of the Great Devourer runs through your veins." He wraps his tail around Pillar's. It's much thicker and larger than his own's, but it steadies him. "Your features are because of the curse — marking my bloodline as inhuman. You are my son."
"Wait, what? What just happened?!" cries Jay.
"Garmadon has another son," Zane informs, bluntly.
"No, I know that! But— what?!"
Pillar frowns. "I am? Lloyd and me are siblings? Why—?" There's always been inklings in his mind, whispers and wonders about who is birth parents are. He's always been fine with his guardian, and he's never really felt the need to find out who they are. Sure, he's questioned why they put so much trust in the Serpentine, even after the war and all of the propaganda, but he's never cared to seek answers as much he now thinks he should have. He knows who he is, and the fact that Garmadon is his father and Lloyd is his brother does not change this.
He looks at Lloyd, at his ears and tail and feet. Maybe he should have realized this before hand. Why didn't the Ninja realize? Or Wu?
Garmadon sighs, his ears flicking. "I had thought had perished when you were born. If I would have known—"
He shakes his head. "It's okay. I'm not—" He takes a deep breath, trying to collect hjs thoughs. "I'm not unhappy about how I grew up. I'm the Champion of the Constrictai tribe." He smiles, his sharper, Serpentine fangs on full display. Usually, the flashing of fangs is predatory, but the Ninja show their teeth all the time. It's normal human tradition — maybe. He thinks it is, at least.
"That's very impressive, son," he responds, nodding his approval. Pillar doesn't hate being called son by Garmadon. That must mean something. Pillar hasn't been called son in a long time — much to long. His tail flicks happily, and he tightens his grasp on Garmadon's.
Garmadon lifts both Lloyd and Pillar into his arms and hugs them tightly. Pillar winces, pain wriggling up his leg, bursting heavily up and up and up. Is this why he has four arms? To hug his children? Is Pillar going to have four arms when he's older? Will he have black fur all over his body?
Pillar presses his face into his father's shoulder, his fur an unfamiliar—but not unwelcome—feeling against his cheek. His father smells like ash and musk.
"Did I miss something?" Nya wonders, stepping into onto the deck. Garmadon sets Pillar down softly.
"Uh, yeah! Pillar is Lloyd's brother! Garmadon has two kids!" Jay shreeks.
Nya looks both boys up and down. "Yeah. That tracks." She dips down in front of Pillar, carefully lifting his foot up. "I'm going to wrap this. Be still."
"Is nobody else freaking out about this?!" Jay questions, incredulous.
"Not really," Cole says.
Pillar flinches as the first layer of wrapping is put on. His paw is sore and pulsing with hurt every slight breath. He bites town on his tongue, trying to focus on the tiny bit of pain from his mouth instead of the massive pain in his leg.
"Hey! Guys! Let me up!" calls a faint voice from the beach.
Oh. Kai.
Lloyd frowns. Garmadon scowls.
"Kai?!" Nya yells back, she stands up, jostling Pillar's foot.
He slams his tail against the railing in surprise.
"Oh, sorry," she says, settling his leg again. She pulls the next layer of wrap over his paw.
"Somebody pull him up!" Jay orders, looking over the edge.
"On it!" Cole scrambles, turning the manual anchor crank. The anchor rumbles and shudders and drops.
"Okay, he's on! Pull him up!" Jay cries.
Cole obeys, groaning as he pulls the crank back. Zane comes up behind him and helps him pull.
Nya finishes the wrap quickly, and it pinches a little too tight. He winces, but immediately tests it, leaning his weight carefully onto his paw. It hurts, it hurts a lot.
"Let me take a look at that, son," Garmadon says, bringing Pillar's paw up again, tugging slightly at the bandages. "There, is that better?"
He tests it out, his father standing beside him at the ready, arms braced to catch him. He bites his tongue, pain rushing up his shin and beyond once again as his paw presses onto the wooden deck, toes spreading apart. Maybe he really shouldn't be putting any weight on his foot. At least it isn't too tight anymore. "Yeah. Thank you."
Garmadon smiles at him, rubbing his cheek affectionately. He wonders if he will ever get used to feeling fur instead of cool scales.
There's a chorus of gasps from beside him. Pillar whips around. The anchor has returned, and Kai is standing limply on top of it, gripping the side loosely with one hand and white-knuckling the fangbladr in the other. His uniform is burnt, blackened with smoke and ash and smouldered away in chunks around his feet, torso, back and legs, one sleeve torn open and hanging.
"Kai!" Nya cries, rushing over to her brother. She helps him down as he collapses into her. Pillar finally notices what they are all so surprised about — the large burn across the left side of his face, coming up to barely brush his hairline all the way down to his jaw, curled over and through his ear, which is barely a stub, blood sticking to the hair surrounding it. The burn comes out in splatters, red hot and already blistering.
"I can't fix this, he needs to go to the hospital!" she explains, panic springing free from her throat, sizzling in her mouth.
"I got it," Kai announces, strained and exhausted, "I got the fangblade." His arm holding the fangblade moves weakly.
The Bounty starts to move, engines sputtering roughly before moving towards Ninjago City.
"You sacrificed my sons' lives for that?" Garmadon demands, looming over Kai, tail lashing furiously.
"Hey, back off," Jay orders, standing between the two.
"Yeah, let him explain himself after he isn't dying," Cole says.
"He isn't dying!" cries Nya, shrill and quick. She gazes at her brother, eyebrows furrowed. "He isn't dying. Right?"
"Kai will be fine. And we're fine too," Pillar counters. He tugs on his father's lower arm, trying to pull him away from the Ninja. His strength doesn't do much.
Garmadon whips his head back to look at him. His tail flicks. He sighs. Then, he looks back at Nya and Kai. "Your brother better be able to explain himself." He steps back, standing in between the brothers. He crosses his top set of arms, while bringing the other two down to their shoulders, protective. His tail wraps around Pillar's waist, keeping him stable.
The clinic cleans Kai's wounds, takes a skingraph, wraps them, and gives Nya a bag of antibodics. Garmadon stands over the nurse as they check Pillar's foot.
As terrified as she looks, she carely probes along. "You'll be okay." She looks back to his father. "If his foot gets too swollen, put ice on it. He shouldn't be walking on it very much. I'll get you some pain medicine too."
Once they get back onto the Bounty, Pillar and Lloyd sit in the bath while Kai is moved to an isolated room at the quitest part of the ship. The water turns black with dirt and grime.
The next day, Kai is groggy and stiff. He keeps the fangblade close to him, as if he thinks one of them will take his achievement from it. It is impressive Kai managed to grab it and kept it safe. He did what he had to do.
Pillar isn't an Anacondrai, nor a warrior, nor follows any Anacondrai sentiments. He does not believe that one will succeed over others, he does not believe that Kai should have left them to burn alive, to melt down to the same ash that stained his suit.
He understands, though, to a certain extent. He isn't mad at Kai, because he isn't supposed to be mad at Kai. He is supposed to learn from his mistakes and bring human and Serpentine together.
His father is angry, tail knocking anything in it's path over—including Pillar, who hadn't been paying attention—as he stalks through the Bounty, paces back and forth amd back and forth again. Lloyd is upset too, wiping his eyes when he thinks nobody is looking. Kai had betrayed him, left him to die. (He tries to think about how he would feel if Whip had done that to him. Not good, upset and angry and hurt, burning up inside, but ultimately forgiving, he is always forgiving, and he has to be) He had left Lloyd for a fangblade — for something that has three other replicas.
Pillar feels split through the middle. He cannot help Kai because he doesn't feel he needs to; he doesn't feel betrayed. He cannot help Lloyd because he doesn't know how to explain without making him even more upset. He cannot reason with his father at all.
So, he does what he always does, he hunkers down jn a quiet spot, shuts his eyes tight, and thinks. What would his guardian do, caught in this situation?
Well, they wouldn't have been caught in this. They would have gotten everybody to work together, including Kai.
He flicks his tail. That's not helpful.
What would Whip do? Whip would have made his own tunnel, one where he could have gotten Lloyd out. He wouldn't have paid any mind to Kai. Well, Pillar did that, and now he has to wrestle with the consequences. Maybe he should have convinced Kai to save them, or at least come with them. Kai was gone by the time Pillar and Lloyd had escaped. Where did he go?
Focus. Focus, Pillar.
He opens his eyes, rubs his face, and then closes them again.
What would the Champion do? He is the Champion, he is an advocate for strength. He is an advocate for hope and connection within the Serpentine, within his tribe. What would he do if Kai was trying to becomd Champion and put himself in a situation dangerous for himself and for others?
He opens his eyes. He knows what he needs do to.
As Pillar walks through the Bounty's halls, he reflects. On his mission to become Champion, he had never gotten anybody else hurt, or done anything reckless and stupid around anybody but Whip — and Whip always got them out of it — so he cannot exactly relate, but he does know what it feels like to so desperately want to be proven as one of the group. He's always been different. Being Champion didn't change anything, it didn't fill any hole. Is that what Kai feels? That he wants to be somebody? That getting the fangblades will make him a part of the group? He is a part of the Ninja. He doesn't know Kai very well, he doesn't know why he wants to prove himself so much, and maybe he doesn't need to.
He steps into the makeshift infirmary, using the wall as support.
"Kai?" he questions, quietly.
Kai shifts in bed. "Go away."
Pillar hops over to the bed. "Kai," he says, a little firmer now.
Kai whips around to him, sitting up quickly the visable part of his face twisted in irritation. His hair had been buzzed at the hospital, and Pillar hadn't seen him without the shield his jagged, choppy bangs created for him, "I said get out! I don't want to talk to you, I don't want to talk to anybody! Oh, and, tell Garmadon to stop pacing, if he wants to talk to me, he can forget it!"
Pillar frowns. He's the Champion. He's Serpentine. He's a Constrictai. He's also Pillar of Hope. He thinks over his words carefully. "Kai. You need to apologize to Lloyd."
Kai's face contorts again, guiltly and rageful. "Fuck you," he snarls, "I don't have to talk to him."
Pillar flicks his tail, tries not to rattle it in a warning. "You should. He's upset. You're not going to feel any better if you just lay here and do nothing! I should have helped you too, and I'm sorry I didn't. There could have been a way you could have grabbed your fangblade and escaped with us."
Kai's eyebrows furrow. "Don't you think I feel bad enough? Did Garmadon put you up to this?"
He frowns. "He didn't put me up to anything. He's angry. But he isn't Lloyd. You care about Lloyd, why won't you just apologize?"
Kai twitches, and pushes Pillar off of the bed without warning. Pillar yelps. It's okay. He's fine. Maybe he deserved that. Mayhe he isn't a very good mediator— no, he has to be. He has to be.
The door flings open, Garmadon wretching Wu free from his torso and ducking through the doorway. He looms over Kai.
"Brother, no!" Wu cries.
Garmadon snarls, knocking over the paper bag of medication off the table with a subconscious flick of his tail. He scoops Pillar off of the ground, keeping him close to his chest as if were a baby. He isn't. He can walk fine-ish!
"G—father! It's fine. I fell! Kai didn't do anything!" he explains, pushing on his chest.
"Father?" Kai mutters, then "of course."
"Why don't I believe you?" Garmadon asks, although softer.
He curls his tail around his father's arm. "I dunno. I'm really trustworthy." He smiles awkwardly, trying to show his teeth. It still feels odd and malicious. Maybe he shouldn't do that at all.
Garmadon looks at Kai, ears folding back. He growls. Looking at his brother, he tells him "I will be talking with him, and not you or anybody else will be able to stop me" and stalks out of the room.
"You can set me down now," he says, waving his tail.
Garmadon drops him on a nearby crate. "I'm sorry, Pillar," he says, "I don't want you to get hurt. I just found you again, I do not want to lose you."
Pillar smiles at him, closed-mouthed. "You're not gonna lose me. And besides, Kai wouldn't hurt me, he wouldn't hurt anybody." He hopes.
"He would leave you for dead, though," Garmadon spits, bitterly.
His smile lowers, furrowing his eyebrows. He shakes his head, shakes away anything bad and mean and wrong. "It's okay! I'm okay! Lloyd and me are okay!" He swirls his tail, trying to be open. Maybe he can try and rub his hope off on his father. Maybe it's genetic, who can take hope from him.
"Barely," Garmadon reminds, "one of these days, I will be speaking with him, and, as I told my brother, nothing and nobody will be able to stop me."
His smile weakens. He shouldn't meddle in adult buisness, he just doesn't want anybody to get hurt. It is sort of his fault anyways, he should have saved Kai as well, not just Lloyd. It doesn't matter if Kai was higher up than them, and it doesn't matter if he escaped on his own, Pillar should have done something. If he had done something, none of this would have happened. Everybody would be happy — or at least, happier. Maybe if he had done something Kai wouldn't be covered in blistering burns.
He will do something. He has to do something. He just isn't sure what that something is yet.
By the third day, Kai finally pulls himself out of bed. There has been no Serpentine sightings, and all of the other Ninja had been training themselves into brittle bodies of worry and nerves.
Garmadon has the twins sat on each side of him at the table. Kai sits as far away as he can, head down, picking at his plate.
The table is silent, sans for the scraping of utensils. Pillar shifts uncomfortably. He doesn't think he's ever seen the Ninjas this quiet before. Ever.
He and Lloyd share a look.
Nya sits beside her brother, watching his every breath with trembling concern. He has already switched his bandages and changed the antibiotics underneath. There are dark circles under his eyes, black and hopeless.
Pillar frowns.
Suddenly, Kai springs to life, movements janky and sore as if he's a wind-up toy. "We need to get that other fangblade before the Serpentine do. We can't keep waiting around. If we don't get it, they'll get it," he explains.
The other Ninja share glances. "We don't even know what we're working with," Cole counters.
"The Serpentine have been radio silent," reminds Zane.
"Yeah! What if they're planning a full on counter attack? We need to be ready!" Jay exclaims, then, quickly, as if his mouth works faster than his thoughts, "wait, could the Serpetine be tracking us? What if they're on the ship right now?"
Garmadon scoffs, shaking his head.
"There are no Serpentine on the Bounty," Pillar informs. He would be able to sense them: shedding scales, the after smell of snake ― not unpleasent, but would be extremely noticable in the midst the odd smell of the humans ― the slight sound of snake skin on the wooden floor. He is certain he would be able to know if there was another Serpentine on board.
"Really? How do you know?" Jay wonders.
"I'm Serpentine, I can tell when there are others around. Once you know the signs, it's easy."
"There are signs?" questions Nya.
He nods. "Shedded scales, usually. I dunno how well you can hear since we have different ears, but if you're in a silent room you can hear them slithering around."
The room goes quiet. There are no snakes.
"You guys are freaking me out," Cole says.
"Sorry," Pillar apoligses. He looks at his food. Maybe he shouldn't be speaking about Serpentine at the table. It's rude. He never talked about humans while he was eating with his guardian. (He thinks to himself, doesn't that defeat the whole purpose? How can you be a bridge for the species' when you cannot even speak about them? How do you avoid speaking about your home? About your people?)
Kai groans. "We know where the other fangblade is, why don't we grab it before the Serpentine do? Just sitting here isn't doing anything!"
"Well," Cole trails off.
"What?" Kai says, voice raising. He scans his friends' faces, watches their expressions shift, watches as they look away from him, avoid his piercing gaze. "What is it? What are you guys―? I can fight! I can handle myself!"
"Kai," says Cole distantly.
"What? You guys think I can't handle myself? Is that what you think? This is war, we are at war against the Serpentine. People get hurt in war," Kai hisses, "I don't know how to break it to you, but the Serpentine aren't Ninja, they don't have a code of honour. They will kill us for the fangblades. We need to have the upper hand." Kai glares at Pillar.
What did he do? What did he do to make Kai so angry at him? He didn't mean for this, he didn't mean for any of this. If he could have stopped Skalidor from trusting an Anacondrai ― the last Anacondrai, the one that tore the others into pieces ― he would. He should have stopped Pythor when they first got to the ancient city. He should have fought, stood his ground. He's the Champion, why is he such a coward? If he had fought Pythor, none of this would have happened.
"This isn't a war, you don't know what war looks like," Garmadon spits, tail curling around Pillar, his lower arm pulling Lloyd closer to him. "This is all Pythor's doing, the Serpentine tribes are angry that they were locked up, and he's convinced them that the only way to solve their anger is to take it out on Ninjago. People get killed in a war, have you killed anybody yet?" He looks around the table, at the faces of all the Ninja. "No? Tell me when you have."
"I don't have to take this. You want to take the golden weapons, that's all you're doing here. Everything else is just an act. You don't care about us, about the Serpentine, about any of this. You're just here to manipulate us. Everybody keep your weapons close, because we all know what will happen when they go missing." Kai stands up, expression hard and angry and vengeful. This is all his fault. Why didn't he help Kai in the volcano?
He looks down at his hands, at his tail curled in his lap. He doesn't feel so hungry anymore.
Late in the night, Pillar wakes up shaking. He pulls his tail towards him, almost in fear of monsters appearing from the dark to grab him and pull him away. He almost jumps out of his own skin when he sees two red eyes watching him from the shadows.
"I'm sorry," Garmadon whispers, and the light from the moonlight piercing through the window revealing his body as he steps into view, closer to his bed.
"What are you doing?" questions Pillar, shaking sleep from his head.
Garmadon leans down into Lloyd's bed, which, he realizes, is empty. He sets Lloyd's sleeping body down into it, tucking the blanket around his small figure. "Your brother couldn't sleep. I found him sitting outside my door."
Oh. "Oh," he echos.
Garmadon cautiously sits on the edge of Pillar's bed, watching him for any sign of discomfort. Pillar whirls his tail and moves his legs up, giving him more room. The bed creaks under Garmadon's weight, and he curses quietly, looking over at his other son, who is still curled up asleep in the same spot he had left him in.
"I'm sorry if what Kai said upset you. He's young and foolish, he doesn't know what he's saying. There will not be a war, I can promise you that. He rubs Pillar's cheek, comfortingly.
Pillar shifts his tail. It's nice, hoping for no war. He doesn't even want to think about it, and hasn't been. There hasn't been a Serpentine War in years and years and years, more years than Pillar wants to count. He thinks even the general would dislike a war. He had heard stories, of course, all Serpentine children do, but the wars seem so distant when he was younger, like dreams he could not remember anymore, ghosts of memories, ancient history scrawled onto the walls. He does not want there to be a war. He does not want to have to pick between good and evil and his people and what he knows is right. He does not want to see any more death, any more destruction. He wants peace, and he's always wanted peace.
He shifts closer to his father, thinking about how to word his feelings. Kai may be young, yes, but he seems so much older than Pillar. He acts like he knows it all, and he knows a lot. Maybe not as much as his guardian, but confidence and power never work. "Kai said we have no honour," he starts, "but― we do. Us Serpentine have so much honour, maybe more than the Ninja do. Maybe not the Anacondrai, but that's because they are violent and mean, nobody really likes them, even they don't like each other. The rest of us do, though, I do, my guardian did. He has no idea what he's talking about, and then acts like everybody else is dumb. I― I'm being rude. I'm sorry." His cheeks burn in embarrassment.
"No, no," Garmadon says softly. "You're right. Kai is being childish." He looks away, looks at Lloyd, then into the dark. "You're going to hear things about me, Pillar, things that are true. I am not a good person. All I want is what is best for you and your brother, that is it. Kai is right when he says I don't care about Ninjago. I don't. I care about turning it into my own image. You and your brother have so much good in you, much more than I could ever achieve, even before I was bitten by the Great Devourer. You need to remind the Ninja what they are fighting for. They aren't just fighting for the humans, but the Serpentine too." His hand comes up, stroking the back of his head gently, combing his fingers through his hair.
"You don't seem like a bad person. I don't believe anybody is a truly bad person, even Pythor," he confesses, "I think there are a lot of people out there. Serpentine and human alike. I think everybody thinks they are a good person, even when it doesn't seem like it."
"Oh, my child," Garmadon murmurs. He tugs Pillar into his chest, shuddering a breath, resting his chin on his head. He wraps his arms around his father's shoulderblades.
"I know you don't believe that, and the Ninja and Lloyd don't either, but I do. Everybody has good in them, I know it," he explains, muffled by his father's soft fur.
Pillar thinks about the last time he was hugged by his guardian, their scales enveloping him as he shook.
They never saw him become Champion. He hopes they know what he's become, who he is. He's always known who he is, and they knew too. They have to know. Had to. They have always steered him in the right direction, even when he was childish and upset.
Maybe his guardian will see him through his father's eyes. He wants his father to be proud of him. Maybe not in a Serpentine way ―although, his father seems to understand the basics of his culture. Being hugged by a Constrictai is important. Strength is something to be proud of, and being able to control it is even more important. Pillar was never as strong as the others, he never tried to be. His father doesn't hug him as tightly as his guardian use to―but in a human way.
His father makes a noise against the back of his throat, holding him snug. Pillar wonders if he meant to make that sound at all.
A new noise, not one quiet and intimate and soft in all ways that matter, but a loud one, metal clanging once, twice, comes from somewhere down the hall. The Bounty shifts, engines groaning, before they start moving again, westbound.
Garmadon pulls back, frowning. He stands up, Pillar quickly following behind him. He forgets he's supposed to be careful with his paw and stumbles, crashing into the floor.
"Pillar!" Garmadon stage-whispers. He helps him up.
"Sorry," he says sheepishly, flicking his tail in embarrassment.
"You're lucky your brother didn't wake up," he says.
He rubs his skinned arms. "I know. I'm sorry."
"You're not going to listen to me if I tell you to stay put, are you?" he questions.
Pillar shakes his head. "Absolutely not. Sorry."
Garmadon sighs, fondness rising in it. He wraps his tail around Pillar's waist, lifting him up. He sets him carefully onto his back. "Hang on, son," he says. Pillar loops his arms around his father's neck, tightening his good leg to his side.
Garmadon descends down the corridor, and Pillar tries his best to listen. There is a lack of scales swooshing on wood, so there shouldn't be any danger.
There's another sound, the a whispered curse coming from the control room to the left.
Garmadon enters it, reaching his arm back to make sure he doesn't bump his head as he ducks. He frowns, if his father was going to live here, they will need to make bigger doorways for him.
"What are you doing?" demands Garmadon, harsh. Pillar peeks over his shoulder, spotting Kai in his full, new Ninja suit at the controls. There's a panel open, a mess of wires sticking out in yellows and reds and greens and blues.
Kai grunts, clicking one of the buttons in front of him and then looking around to see if it did anything. "None of your business. Go back to sleep, or whatever it is you do."
"I'm not going to let you kill yourself in some childish scheme you think will make you prove yourself," he hisses. Pillar thinks: how can you think you're so bad when you want to do good? If his father was truly bad, a terrible person, rotted and bad, he wouldn't be here, trying to stop Kai from getting hurt. He just wouldn't. His father believes himself to be one-sided, all bad. Pillar thinks that's a little ridiculous. What could he have done that made him think that way? Is it the fault of the Great Devourer's venom? It makes him hate himself, believe he is unworthy of love and trust? Of goodness and compassion and kindness and hope? Pillar wants to fix this, he wants to do good like his father is doing right now, like his guardian did by allowing him to be their son, like what Whip does every day by just being himself. Pillar wants to be a person that inspires others to do good.
Kai pauses, then finally turns to face him. "I don't need to prove myself. You don't know what you're talking about." He spits out his words like they are acid on his tongue, venom leaking from his fangs.
Pillar shifts. He feels like he's back in the Constrictai chambers, watching the other Serpentine young bicker and fight in between training sessions. Except this is different. This is his father and Kai ― both who are angrier than they ever were, much more dangerous and desperate than they ever were. Kai wants to prove himself ― for what, Pillar isn't sure of yet ― and his father is already holding a grudge, which he has been bottling up for days.
Garmadon rolls his eyes, tail lashing. "Don't you? You still haven't unlocked your elemental powers when your peers have excelled it. You want to be the Green Ninja, so bad that you'll let others die for it. What did getting the fangblade really do for you? You're pathetic. You'll never reach your true potential like this. Your desperation will get you nowhere, just as it has been."
Kai growls. "You don't know that! I'm going to get that fourth fangblade! You're going to be sorry when I become the Green Ninja and defeat you!" Pillar can tell he's getting ready to pounce, legs braced, pulling his golden sword out of its sheath on his back.
Kai leaps foreward, and Garmadon slides out of the way, paws seamlessly gliding across the floor. Pillar needs to learn how to do that, he feels like his claws always make him slide where he doesn't want to go. He grips on tightly, pulling himself higher, gazing over his father's head.
He needs to stop this. He doesn't want anybody getting hurt. He doesn't know what the Green Ninja is, but he's sure it isn't worth any of this.
He braces his good foot against his father's back, and before he can say anything or hold him still, Kai attacks again. Garmadon moves to the side, and Pillar leaps for Kai.
They tumble, rolling to the floor. The golden sword clatters loudly beside him. Kai is on top of him, sputtering. "What the fuck? I had him!" he growls, propping himself up and reaching for the golden sword beside them.
Pillar makes a split second desicion. Maybe he should have taken more than just half a second, maybe a full one, maybe a moment. He doesn't. He pulls his legs back and kicks, full forced into his belly.
Pillar feels a familiar pain shoot through his foot, aching and pulsing and throbbing so hard he feels he might cry.
Kai flies a couple of feet into the wall, coughing. Pillar rolls and snatches the sword up off the floor as he staggers to his paws. Shakily, he lifts the heavy sword towards Kai, adrenaline fizziling wildly in his veins like rockets. He feels like an entire explosion went off inside of him.
His heart beats irratically in his chest. His hands tremble.
Kai looks at him, shoulders falling up and down with each ragged breath. He looks at the weapon in his hands, looks back at him. What is he doing? Oh, what is he doing?
He drops the sword, letting it clang at his feet.
His father steps forward, picking him up. He kicks the golden weapon towards Kai. "If a child could defeat you, you are not the Green Ninja."
Kai growls. "He didn't defeat me! He attacked me! I had him! I had both of you!"
Garmadon snarls. "You had nothing. You can't even see out of one eye, and you're bleeding through your bandages. You are going too far to achieve a fantasy."
Pillar wriggles out of his father's grasp, wincing and falling to the ground as soon as he puts the slightest pressure on his paw, knees buckling.
"Pillar, you need to stay off your leg," Garmadon scolds softly, outstretching an arm for him to use as a crutch. He pulls himself to his feet unsteadily.
"I'm okay," he assures. He furrows his eyebrows, concerned, and gazes at Kai. "Are you okay? I didn't mean to hurt you, I'm sorry." He was just trying to stop the fighting. He should have thought harder. Kai is injured, and he hurt him more by opening up his wounds, straining his new skin. What is wrong with him? He should have never done that.
"I'm fine," Kai spits, raising to his feet, leaning against the wall. He has no strengh in him, and it looks like the medication is wearing off, making him sore and struggling.
"What's going on?" orders Wu, appearing silently in the doorway. Pillar is starting to suspect he doesn't sleep.
"Your student never learns his lesson," Garmadon answers.
Kai opens his mouth to respond, and then the Bounty hits something, titling everything left with a crash.
Garmadon swiftly picks Pillar up, claws scraping against the floor. He falls into the wall, back banging against the drywall. His grip on his son tightens. Pillar winces, hurt leg jostling. He really should stay off of it.
"This is your fault!" Kai claims, pain lacing his voice, eyebrows pinched together in hurt.
"My fault? All I did was try and stop you from doing something stupid!" Garmadon reminds. "If it's anybody's fault, it's yours. You hurt my son!"
"He attacked me! And I would have been able to steer if you hadn't showed up and acted like you were surpior. You don't know who the Green Ninja is!"
"Well, I know it isn't you!" he shouts back, "the Green Ninja would never have tried to go without his team! You're acting more like me than the legendary Green Ninja!"
Kai stops, face contorting into shame. He dips his head, jaw set. Pillar doesn't know what this is: the Green Ninja? His father isn't a bad man, and yet Kai is ashamed to be like him?
The Bounty shudders again, tilting right. It rocks back and forth and back and forth and finally sits at correctly.
Kai falls to the floor, Garmadon stumbles but keeps himself upright. Pillar fights against his grasp, but is firmly pushed into his chest.
He wants to help Kai. Kai is hurt, they can't hust leave him there.
"Pillar!" his father scolds, "stay put. Kai will get up."
Footsteps hurry down the hallway, and the Ninja, Nya and Lloyd appear the the doorway, clad in their pjyamas; the latter of which looks much more exhausted than the rest, rubbing his eyes, hair sticking up.
Nya pushes her way into the room, calling her brother's name. She throws his arm over her shoulder and lifts. Kai staggers, coughing.
Cole moves over to Kai's left. He catches his weight. "We got you buddy," he assures, quietly strong. There's something else in his tone, deeper than his assurance, deeper than his strengths, something entirely different. Fear. He's afraid of what Kai is doing to himself, tearing himself apart for the prophecy of the Green Ninja.
Zane slips into the room, staring at the control screen. With the click of a few buttons, a view of outside flickers and flashes to life. "He's brought us to the location of the fourth fangblade."
"We need to get it before Pythor does! I can do it!" Kai claims, he attempts weakly to push Cole off, swaying. Cole's fingers grip even tighter.
"You're going back to bed. We'll handle the fangblade," he states, determination filling his voice. It's Kai's bed, and he's chosen to lay in it. Cole has hope, hope to succeed even without preparation.
Zane and Jay nod. "Don't worry, Kai, you just get some rest. We'll handle the fangblade.
"Good luck!" calls Pillar.
While the Ninja are out, Pillar's father tucks Lloyd back in—although, now he's wide-awake, peeking at his brother over his blankets—and sets Pillar down on his a crate. He kneels down carefully lifting his damaged foot up. "Let's see what you've done this time," he remarks, slowly unwraveling the bandages. As his father's head is down, drops of blood splatter onto his bandages, one and two and three. Garmadon stops.
"Are you bleeding?" asks Pillar.
"What?!" exclaims Lloyd, scrambling out of bed.
Garmadon lifts his head up. The blackened streak of blood coming down from his nose is barely visable in his dark fur. "I'm alright," he assures. He wipes his nose with the back of his hand, blood smearing from his knuckle to wrist. "I'm fine, sons. There is no need to worry."
The twins share a concerned glance.
Garmadon continues to roll the bandages off, one hand places delicately on his ankle. His paw reveals to look much worse than he thought it would.
Garmadon frowns at him. "Have you been putting ice on this?"
"Uhm," he starts, and his father cuts him off, shaking his head fondly.
"I should have known. I will go and get you ice," he stands to his full, looming height, and then turns to Lloyd, "make sure he doesn't go off fighting." He ruffles Lloyd's hair with his tail and exits the room.
Lloyd and Pillar look at each other, and then burst out into giggles.
Pillar is looking for Lloyd. He's on edge, ears strained to hear the world around him. He flicks his tail in warning, hoping Lloyd isn't around to see it, because if he is, Pillar cannot spot him despite his best efforts. How can one be so good at hide and seek?
He is quick on his paws, using the wall to keep himself steady, or hopping on one foot as quietly as he can. He's hoping to get better than the Ninja and being sneaky.
He passes the control room, and he pins his ears back as he realizes they are speaking about what to do with the fangblades. He spots the two they have collected on the table, shimmering in the sunlight coming through in bright bursts of shine through the window. Maybe he shouldn't be eavesdropping. It's rude.
"I can't believe Kai did that," says Nya, shameful and upset and disappointed.
"Yeah, he put all of us in danger!" Jay reminds.
"Not to mention my children," Garmadon remarks, "he is obsessed with proving that he is the Green Ninja. So obsessed that he doesn't care who gets in his way."
Wu nods solemly. "I agree that Kai is starting to go down a dangerous path―"
"Starting to? He went down the path when he left Lloyd and Pillar in the volcano," Garmadon scoffs, his upper arms crossed tightly against his chest.
Wu glares at him before looking back to his Ninja and Nya. "It is up to you all to stop him. He believes that if he continues to do dangerous things that you all will not, he will unlock his powers as the Green Ninja. You all need to remind him that being the Green Ninja is not about power, but about goodness. Whoever the Green Ninja is, they will have to be a light in the darkness."
Pillar thinks that's the most he's ever heard Wu speak, which definitely means he was eavesdropping. Not good. He tucks his tail in shame and scurries off as quickly as he can.
Where could his brother be? He can only hide in the same crevices Pillar can. He bites his lip, thinking.
He needs to track his brother.
How does he do that?
He has learned how to hunt small prey like mice and shrew ― and really, it was just one lesson, a lesson that he was unfortunately not paying attention to. The Championship battles were encroaching, and he wanted to be the best more than he cared for finding little mice and moles within the rocks and dirt ― but he isn't sure how to apply that to now. The wooden boards of the Bounty are much different than the enviorment in the Constrictai chambers.
He pads down the hallway, then down a second one. Then frowns.
Well, that's either Lloyd or somebody broke onto the ship.
There's a swirling, pulsing of green and brown and whites and blues and reds colliding like falling stars coming from inside one of the rooms. The armoury ― maybe. He thinks it is, at least. It is bleeding out of the doorway, floating in place.
He quietly hops over to the doorway, making sure none of the colours are touching him, for he does not know what they would do, and peers cautiously into the room.
There is Lloyd, standing speechless in the middle of the rooms, the golden weapons spinning around him, emitting the colours of their designated elements.
"Pillar!" Lloyd cries as he spots his brother. "What is going on?!"
Pillar shrugs. "I have no idea. Can you duck under it?" Do the golden weapons normally act like this? He has never seen them float before, even while being wielded by their elemental masters. This cannot be a normal occurrence, even if humans are weird and everything else around them is odd.
Lloyd looks at the weapons, then dips his head, rolling out into the hallway. The golden weapons clatter to the ground in a circle.
"This isn't normal, right?" wonders Pillar.
Lloyd shakes his head. "Definitely not. I was going to hide in the closet where they were stored and then they just did that!"
He gazes at the weapons, at their slight gleam in the light. If they aren't supposed to do that, why did they do that? It makes no sense. He flicks his tail. "Should we tell the Ninja their weapons were floating?" That seems right. The Ninja would want to know if their weapons possessed the ability to do that. Right?
"Uh, I dunno. I don't really want to talk to Kai right now," Lloyd admits, his view dropped to the floor.
"Okay. I can tell Kai," he offers. He hopes Kai isn't upset at him. He wasn't thinking right. He should apologize again when he sees him. He hopes he won't be bothering him.
They wander down the hallway. "You're really bad at hide and seek, by the way," he states.
Pillar whips him lightly with his tail. "Come play it with Whip and me at home, I'm better there."
"You're on," he agrees, smiling, and his mouth is full of teeth, minus the black gap in the middle.
They seperate in front of the control room, Lloyd goes in, and Pillar goes straight.
He hops along the boards, trying not to step on the cracks. He gets to the infirmary quickly, and knocks on the door.
"Who is it?" questions Kai.
"Pillar of Hope. May I come in?" he wonders.
"What do you want? Is Garmadon with you?"
"No," Pillar confirms, and he even looks behind him in case Garmadon managed to sneak up on him. He really needs to get better at hearing quiet footsteps. He feels silly studying the surroundings, the light wood and pale walls. It's not a very decorative place. "And I'm sorry for what happened before. All of it."
"Fine. Come in. Be quick," agrees Kai.
He twists the door handle and is greeted with Kai by the back corner, his new gi twisted uncomfortably. "Do you need help?" he wonders, stepping closer. He leans on the wardrobe, ignoring the soreness in his paw.
Kai rolls his eyes. "I don't need help. And you're like 8 anyways, you don't even know how to dress yourself."
He doesn't dignify that with a response. He has learned in his short time with the Ninja, that humans have many, many layers for their clothing. How one moves in so many layers is something he is just figuring out. He misses his traditional attire. He misses having the Constrictai coat of arms on his chest, standing bold and proud. "Okay."
Kai gives him an annoyed look. "What did you need?"
"Oh. Uhm. Your weapon can float. Me and Lloyd aren't sure how yet, but it can happen. I dunno if that's helpful, but I hope we didn't damage your weapons by doing that in any way," he explains, flicking his tail in irritation when he realises he's been babbling again. He doesn't want to ignore Kai anymore, so he takes a couple steps back, wobbling.
"What?" Kai asks, voice dark. "Who made it float?"
"Lloyd did, all of the weapons were circling him," he reports. His eyebrows furrow, wondering why Kai got so serious all of the sudden. He's never thought of Kai as a particularly serious person ― except for after the volcano and the fangblades. Did he turn Kai into a serious person? Does Kai believe he intentionally betrayed him?
"What?!" Kai takes a step forward, Pillar takes another back.
"Why?" he wonders.
"Because that means Lloyd is the Green Ninja!"
Being the Green Ninja really doesn't seem all that good, no matter what Wu says. It seems to be making much more trouble than it's supposed to be.
The door behind Pillar bursts open, his father ducking under the doorway, followed by the Ninja, Wu, Nya and Lloyd.
"Lloyd is the Green Ninja?!" Kai shreeks, looking at Wu, at the other Ninja.
Wu nods. "We made him test it again. He is the chosen one."
Pillar turns to his father. "I don't really understand. What is the Green Ninja? Why does everybody care so much?"
Garmadon is frowning. Pillar has never seen this expression on him before, a deafening sadness. Seriously, why does everybody care about the Green Ninja?
Garmadon leans down, crouching to his level. "Remember how I said I was a bad person?" Yes, he does remember. He remembers that it was a silly thing to say. Nobody is a bad person, and certainly not his father. He's seen him act good, how could he be bad? "The Green Ninja and I are destined to fight for the future of Ninjago."
He frowns. "You and Lloyd have to fight each other? Why would you do that? I― I do not understand. There is no point in fighting over Ninjago, it's just land." Will they be fighting for the Serpentine too?
Garmadon chuckles bitterly. "There's been a lot of wars for land, son. Maybe not in your stories or history, but in ours. You have much to learn about humanity."
He looks into his father's eyes. "I'll learn them."