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His grandmother used to say that he was special. That he had to be to have been chosen at such a young age. It was nearly unheard of. It must have been a sign. A gift. Something.
Sickly. That's what Kurotori really was. He was born too early. Too small. He was never really meant to live and yet, he refused to die. He couldn't run as fast as the other children, was never strong, and he tired quickly.
He broke easily.
He'd spent most of his life confined to a healer's side at that point. Isolated from his peers.
But he kept fighting. The spirits must have favored him for that when they chose him, granting him the form of a small corvid. A delicate thing with a sharp mind.
It was the greatest gift he had ever recieved and what ultimately saved his life.
Kuro spent most of his time in the trees around his home, only daring to explore further when he was feeling extra brave. He felt invincible in his bird form, comfortable with the fact that he could easily fly high and fast to escape any dangers that came his way.
What he never expected, was for the danger to come to his village.
He had returned late in the day, just before the sun set and had been surprised that his grandmother hadn't come calling for him sooner. And he quickly found out why.
His village was a wreck of dark ice and fur and blood. People that had tried to run or fight alike had been slaughtered and frozen. Children screamed and cried for mercy and were given none.
And at the center of it all was a monster unlike any he had ever seen or heard of.
He watched, frozen with fear until the monster turned it's glowing eyes on him. His wings flapped and propelled him in the opposite direction. He didn't know where to go, didn't know what to do, he just kept going and going and going until he couldn't anymore.
He crashed to the ground, feathered cloak falling from his shoulders. He felt multiple bones crack and throb painfully, yet he made no move to try and fix it. He just sobbed.
Everyone was gone.
His sobs dwindled into sniffles and hiccups. Energy spent, he fell into a fitfull sleep and when he opened his eyes, he found he was somewhere new. A place he had never seen before, and was unlike anything he had seen at home.
Mountains that were not made of rock towered above him. Red dirt laid below his knees. Metals and scraps and junk. He'd never seen so much stuff in one place. Back at home, every material had use, very little was thrown away. They could last for ages in a place like this.
Not that it mattered anymore.
He tried to push himself up, he buckled under his own weight. He felt his bones shift beneath his skin and irritate his injuries further.
His tears were dry and yet he still cried. He sobbed loudly knowing he was too weak for his people. That he had ran away and couldn't even do them the honor of living because he was too broken to live.
Of course, as the sounds of a struggling animal attracts predators, his own cries attracted something else. Someone else.
He was big, much bigger Kurotori, towering over his broken form and could crush him with ease. His ears were pointed and his skin was purple. And… And…
He had teeth like the monster…
Kurotori cowered, trembling in place for he knew he was going to die. And with that, it'd mark the end of his people and all the formlings would be gone.
But the stranger didn't snarl. Didn't smash him. He seemed to not have a thirst for blood at all, shushing Kurotori until his cries stopped so he could assess the damage.
"You're banged up pretty bad…" he frowned, "I wanna help you kid, but I might have to… move you. Take you home where I got some stuff. Would you be okay with that?"
Kuro thought it over for a moment. To refuse this stranger's help would most likely mean he'd die. No one would look for him and who knew if someone else would come help.
But… can he trust this man? He seemed kind, but what if he only wanted to help someone he could hurt Kurotori himself later?
The pulsing, sharp pain in his limbs ultimately made the decision for him. Kurotori nodded, wincing and whining as the stranger picked him up in his big strong arms, cradling him gently.
And before he could turn and carry him away, Kurotori cried out one last time, reaching out for the cloak of feathers on the ground. The stranger picked it up easily, draping it over Kuro's body and for these few moments, he allowed himself to feel safe.
He learned that the stranger's name was Geo after they made it back to his home. And that he was living with another person. And undead being named Bonzle.
The two worked together to care for his injuries— Bonzle had a vast knowledge about bones— and when Kuro found the strength to speak multiple sentences at once, he'd told them of the healing techniques and tonics often used in his village. For once, he was greatful for all his time spent with the healers and the knowledge that had rubbed off on him.
Once everything began to settle and Kuro was tucked into a ramshackle bed, three out of four limbs bound in splints and his cloak draped over his legs, Geo asked, "Hey, I never learned your name, kid?"
He looked down at the picture book in his lap, Bonzle had read it out loud to him earlier to help him stop crying. He didn't understand the language and was trying to remember the words. The pictures themselves were much more lively and colorful than anything he'd seen back home, but the story was not unlike the ones the elders used to tell.
It was about a man who was far away from home. A man who wasn't afraid of anything. He didn't run from danger, he stared it right in the eye. The kind of man he hoped to grow up to be.
And so, he looked Geo in the eye and said, "Call me Fritz."
Years later, after world's collided and more people arrived at the Land of the Lost, Fritz had grown to love this little hodgepodge family. He felt safe. Yes, they were all technically trapped, but they were together.
But then… They were attacked. Again. By people who wanted Bonzle.
They had to flee, and then Cole and Bonzle had to run, an— and then… Bonzle never came back. His big sister was gone, just like that.
Well, Fritz decided that he had enough running. Someone still had to protect Spitz and if he can't trust his parents to do it and Bonzle's not here anymore, then Fritz would have to be the one to step up. He's older after all, and therefore wiser.
All the older kids that lived here had to learn to fight— Cole said it was because this place is called a monastery and that's what gets taught here, Spitz called it boring. Every morning, the older kids got up early to train with Lloyd and sometimes they used this super cool obstacle course with a bunch of moving parts on it. Fritz asked if he could join to, but his dad said no. And he was still mad at Cole, so he didn't even bother asking. Then Lloyd said he was too young. And Nya said he should ask his dad. And Zane just looked at him weird. It was so unfair.
The older kids weren't helpful either. They didn't want to watch over a little kid like him. If Bonzle was there they would, but they're his sister. That's their job.
There was one person who would let him tag along. Wyldfyre trained the most out of everybody. She'd go all day if she could. Fritz thought she was fun and cool. Plus, she lost someone on the blood moon too, so maybe she just gets it. Whatever it was, when Fritz asked if he could join, she smiled at him, brow furrowing to scrunch her nose, and said, "Only if you can keep up, kid!"
But that's the thing, wasn't it? Fritz was always smaller than the other kids back at his original village. He was weaker and ran out of breath easily.
But the only one who is ever gonna take care of him is himself and he has Spitz to watch over now. He has to do this. He has to get better.
So he nodded intensely. Wyldfyre stood proudly, hands on her hips as she looked him up and down. "Alright! Follow my lead." She flipped the course on and jumped right in. Scaling the pedestals and jumping through rings like a pro— at least from Fritz' perspective.
He climbed up the first pedestal, jostling as it shifted up and down mechanically. He jumped to the next one, arms flying out to keep his balance. Then the next. He looked up just in time to see a ring come flying at him. He tensed and the next thing he new, he was in bird form, flying through it to the next pedestal.
"Woah!" he heard from down below him. He looked down to see Wyldfyre staring back up at him with wide eyes. "You can turn into a bird!?"
Bracing himself on the pedestal, Fritz yelled back, "Uhh… Yeah."
"How can you do that!"
"I don't know…" he answered, "Its just… something my people do!"
"Well, it looked sick!" Wyldfyre grinned wide enough he could see the gap between two crooked teeth.
Behind her, the monastery doors opened and out walked Zane. He ran forward, eyes wide, before Wyldfyre stopped him. She pointed back up at Fritz and talked animatedly, gesturing for him to keep going.
Steeling himself, Fritz made the next jump.
Okay, Cole knows he's not exactly dad of the year, but forgive him if he's taking advantage of this break the First Master has blessed him with. Frohicky and Geo went out for a grocery run and Spitz tagged along. Which was good because it seemed like the kid was close to going stir-crazy
And Fritz… was still not talking to him. And Cole's not going to push him to. They were all handling Bonzle's loss differently and if he wanted space, Cole was going to give it to him. Plus he asked Zane to watch the kid. Isn't that what brothers are for?
So he used his little bit of free time to have a nap, mourn his daughter and brother a little bit more, eat his feelings a bit, before going out to work it off again.
What he did not expect when he walked out into the courtyard was to find his eleven year old son running laps on the obstacle course with Wyldfyre.
All other thoughts were swiftly thrown away as he ran out. "Fritz! Get down from there!" he yelled, "You're gonna get hurt!"
Fritz' eyes snapped down to him, he took a second to glare before jumping over to the next obstacle.
"He's fiiiiiiine!" Wyldfyre insisted unhelpfully.
Cole pulled at his hair, mentally preparing himself to climb up there and physically bring his kid down, when someone spoke up behind him.
"He is doing surprisingly well for one's first time," Zane said as he leaned on the porch railing.
Cole turned sharply to him, voice pitching as he pointed an accusatory finger, "Zane! I asked you to watch him."
"I am watching him," Zane nodded, "I just told you, he is doing well."
"No," Cole groaned, rubbing his eyes, "He's too young for this!"
"Lloyd was his age when he started training. If Fritz is showing an interest in it, then—"
"Lloyd is different and you know it," he glared. Cole huffed, crossing his arms, "Look, Fritz can't do physical stuff for too long. It gets really hard for him. I can tell he's pushing himself and if he gets hurt—"
And he did get hurt. Cole's never been sure if karma exists or if the universe just thinks he's funny, but at that moment, from the corner of his eye, he could see Fritz overestimate a jump. The timing was all wrong and the log would hit him before he could land safely, he shifted into bird form to fly above it, but wasn't fast enough. The log hit him square in the chest, knocking him from his animal form and sending him plummeting to the ground.
Cole had taken off before he had even fully shifted into human form. He dodged and weaved at an absurd speed he didn't normally have, just to jump into a headfirst slide and catch Fritz right before he hit the ground.
There were a tense few moments of silence. No one dared move, he and Fritz just stared at each other.
And then, Fritz' breath hitched and he wailed.
Cole pushed himself onto his knees, laying the boy on the concrete as he sobbed, little hands scrambling for his shirt to keep him close. "—Hurts! It hurts!" he whined.
"I know. I know," he shushed him, "I'll make it better, I just really need you to tell me where—"
Fritz was inconsolable, pressing his face into Cole's side, "Please! Make it stop! Please, dad!"
"I will. I will— I promise," Cole nodded, blinking the wetness from his eyes. "Zane—" he yelled, only to find his brother had already made it to his side.
Zane furrowed his brow as he looked down at the boy. "This is most unusual," he said calmly, most likely completing a scan of some sort, "He has multiple broken ribs, but the training course shouldn't be powerful enough to cause such an injury."
"Yeah, I know," Cole stressed, not at all comforted by how calm Zane was being, "He's got weak bones. We don't know if its just him or a bird thing, but—"
"Ah, that would make sense."
"Zane! Focus!" Cole snapped, "We need to help him! We need to—"
"We need a hospital, Cole," Zane said evenly, placing a cold hand on the back of his neck.
"You've delt with way worse!"
"No, I have not," he said, suddenly sounding exasperated, "Not like this and not on a child. I am not a doctor, Cole."
Cole nodded, getting lost in frenzied thoughts and the sobbing child in his lap. "Right. But— But is there even any hospital's anymore? The Merge kinda fucked everything."
Zane thought for a moment, "I do not know."
Which meant they'd have to find someone who did. Can't be that hard.
It better not be that hard.
"Lloyd!" he yelled up into the air, certain his other brother would hear it.
"I'm here! I'm here!" Lloyd and Nya were already in the courtyard, a rambling Wyldfyre in the latter's ear.
"Hospital. Where? Now!" Cole demanded.
Lloyd stared down at the boy in Cole's lap, looking every bit in over his head as Cole himself felt. "Uh…"
"Where, Lloyd!"
"I don't know!"
"What do you mean you don't know!" he yelled, voice going shrill, "You've lived here for now many years!? What have you been doing this whole time!"
"Not going to the hospital!"
"Brothers, please," Zane pleaded, gesturing to Fritz with his eyes. He had slowly gone quiet, eyes glazed and breath shallow. Zane was icing his ribs, hopefully numbing the pain, but his overall stillness was chilling.
Cole laid him flat on the ground, dislodging his hands from his shirt. "No… No…" Fritz moaned, reaching blindly for Cole again.
"It's okay," Cole reassured him, pressing a kiss into his hair, "You're gonna be okay. I just need to—"
"Dad…"
And fuck, if that doesn't just break all his resolve. But he had to stay strong, keep his head on and get help. He can do that. "I'll be right back. I promise."
Reluctantly, he pushed himself up to his feet. "Go get the stretcher!" he barked at the others with an authority he didn't actually possess anymore. And yet, everyone fell in line like he did.
He was going to get Fritz help. He was going to get him fixed and breathing normally. And anyone who dared slow him down was getting a boulder to the face.
But first, he had to find Arin and Sora.
Hospitals are much different nowadays. Since the Merge was so devastating, so many people were hurt and needed immediate care. But not just anyone could give it.
Luckily, a handful of doctors, healers, and other assorted caregivers from across the realms all came together at the Crossroads. A melting pot of medical knowledge.
Cole didn't care to learn all the details as long as it got Fritz helped. The place was very different from hospitals back in Ninjago City. For that, he was grateful. There were no steril white halls or haunting quiet. This place was as loud and busy as the the rest of the Crossroads. It helped take his mind off of… everything.
Geo was with them now. And Spitz. The two of them came home not long after they'd all left and came rushing in behind them. And while Geo's fusion powers were amazing, they'd never tested it on people before. There's no telling if the bone would set right.
So they all waited. Put trust in a mismatched group of people that called themselves doctors and hoped for the best. Geo still knew Fritz' own medical knowledge— as limited as it was— by heart. If worst came to worst, they still had that to fall back on.
Fritz was going to be there for a while, despite the wonders of magical medicine. While the rest of the ninja were training or running off on missions, Cole was back in the hospital. He always seems to find his way there.
Of course, he still goes home sometimes. Mainly to shower and grab some food. Help out the others when they need it. Otherwise, he's at the hospital with his family. Geo takes his breaks. Spitz is the hard one to get to leave, refusing to leave his brother's side for anything.
Well there's only so long a kid can go without a bath, especially with a shed coming up. Geo took him home to let him work out of his skin comfortably. And while he may have whined about it the whole way out, they all knew he'd whine about it even more when his shed inevitably gets stuck.
Lloyd had come to drop some stuff off, mainly to keep them from dying of boredom while they occupied a hospital room. He sat a well-loved cardboard box on the bed, reaching inside to reveal its contents.
"Alright, these are my first editions," he said, holding up a comic book tenderly. Cole hadn't seen anyone handle something as gently as that before. "So please don't fold them or rip them or anything, okay?"
"Lloyd, relax," Cole snorted, "Fritz is the same age as you when you started collecting this stuff. He knows how to take care of things. Right, buddy?" He turned to face Fritz, who was tucked into the hospital bed. He nodded in lieu of a reply.
"And even if something did happen," Cole continued, "It probably all got cloned in those weird monastery's."
"That's not the same!" Lloyd argued.
"It's exactly the same!" Cole retorted.
Lloyd rolled his eyes, pinching the bringe of his nose, "Just… Be careful please. Even if it is the same, I don't have the time to go and get them."
"Yeah. Yeah," Cole smiled, "Haven't you read these a million times by now. You should have them memorized."
"Whatever! I'm going home…" Lloyd gave half a wave before turning to the door.
"Thank you, little bro," Cole called after him.
"You're welcome," Lloyd called back before closing the door.
And so it was just Cole and Fritz for the first time in a while. He didn't know if the kid was still mad at him or not. They hadn't spoken much, especially not since Fritz got hurt, either too out of it or too embarrassed to really talk.
Still, way to be a shitty parent, Cole.
"So… How you feelin'?" he started, pushing himself out of the wicker chair that sat next to the bed. All the furniture in this building seemed to be pulled from random places.
Fritz shrugged, "Same as I always do when I break my bones."
Cole sighed, "Yeah, well, that's why you gotta be careful, kid. You completely went behind me and Geo's back like that. But you know this already." And he did. Fritz was made well aware of how grounded he was when he got home.
"I'm sorry," he said softly, blinking wet eyes.
"I know you are," Cole ran a hand through Fritz' fringe. The same way his dad would always do to him, he realized. "It's just… you're different. You know you can't play hard like that."
"I wasn't playing!" Fritz insisted.
"Well… Can you tell me what you were doing then?" Cole asked gently.
Fritz looked off, seemingly having some internal debate with himself before mumbling, "'m tir'd of r'nnin' away."
And as simple as the phrase was, Cole knew it went deeper than that. Fritz was at that age where he craved independence. He wanted to take care of himself, to protect himself and his sister's disappearance only made it worse.
But before he could respond, Fritz continued, "I ran away from my village… I left my people to die," his voice cracked with the word, tears falling down his cheeks. "And then we ran away from home and those people took Bonzle. And I… can't do anything! I'm too weak! I'm too sick! I run away!"
"There's no shame in that," Cole reassured him softly, squeezing his shoulder, "Sometimes strength is measured in your ability to survive. That's what's most important."
"What strength?" Fritz pouted, "I'm not like you."
"Maybe not," Cole shrugged, "But that doesn't mean you're weak."
He took a breath and sat on the edge of the bed so Fritz could better look at him. "You know, my mom was the strongest person I ever knew. And she spent the last years of her life in a hospital bed."
Fritz didn't respond, he sunk further into his pillows and turned his head to the side.
"And you know, she was like me. She had super strength and could manipulate the earth however she wanted, but that's not how I knew her," Cole leaned in close and whispered almost conspiratorially, "See, the coolest thing about my mom is that she never stopped fighting. She stayed alive as long as she could. Way longer than anyone expected her too."
Cole sunk down into the pillow next to Fritz, meeting the boy's eyes. He frowned, not the same pouty frown he'd normally give. More confused than anything. "But she still died?"
Cole let out a slow breath through his nose. "She did," he nodded, "But she didn't go down easy. Look, you broke three ribs and you took it like a champ—"
"I cried."
"You— You did, but that—"
"Like a baby."
"No, it's okay to cry," Cole said sternly, "My point is… It's easy to give up. But you didn't. I know you didn't because you're still here. You're still alive. If you're strong enough to keep living, then that's all you need to be."
Cole pressed their foreheads together, "Even if you're too far or think you're too broken to be saved, just hold on a little longer for me. I'll always come for you, I promise. Me and your dad will do whatever it takes for you to get better, okay?"
Fritz nodded, sucking snot up his nose. "Okay."
"And if you really want to get into training, then… we can take it slow, sound good?"
Fritz' eyes lit up, "Really?"
"Don't get it twisted, you're still grounded. But after that, I can talk to Zane and Lloyd about beginner training. Self defense stuff."
Fritz pulled at the sheets wrapped around his chest bashfully, "Sounds cool."
Cole smiled, "Well… I'm not gonna stop you from learning new stuff… or force you to do something you don't want. Just need some boundaries."
Fritz nodded and tucked his head into Cole's chest, staring off into nothing.
They laid there for a while in the quiet. Cole had almost thought Fritz fell asleep before he said, "You don't talk about your mom a lot."
And… Yeah. He didn't. It's not like he didn't want to, it just…
"Yeah, I know…" he sighed, "It still hurts to talk about her sometimes."
"Is that why you don't talk about Bonzle?" Fritz asked.
Cole rubbed his eyes, "I don't know. Probably."
"No one talks about your brother either," Fritz looked askance, "'xcept for Wyldfyre…"
"Look, it's just… It hurts too much right now," Cole explained, "When you're an adult, it's just easier when you don't think about stuff like that all the time."
"You want to forget about them?"
"No! Not like that," Cole amended quickly, "There isn't a day that I don't miss them. But I still have to take care of you and your brother. I can't let myself get lost in grief and forget my other responsibilities. It sucks, but… that's life sometimes."
Cole stared up at the ceiling. For most people, that's life sometimes, but it seems like he's mastered the art of missing people. No matter what, there's always someone missing. Someone who's supposed to be there.
And it's just so much easier to… put it all on the back burner.
and let it simmer until he eventually boils over
"Being an adult sucks," Fritz said, joining him in staring up at the ceiling.
"Yeah, it does," Cole agreed, "But you don't gotta worry about that. Because you're still a kid, right?"
"Right."
"Unless you still wanna be all grown up," Cole watched Fritz from the corner of his eye and saw his face scrunch up.
"Nah, I think I'm over it," he said, "I don't wanna grow up yet."
"You don't have to," Cole smiled, "As someone with six younger siblings, trust me, you don't want any more responsibilities, Fritz."
"That's a lot."
"Yep," he nodded, "Four brothers and two sisters. But you knew that."
"Yeah. I think I'm good with just Spitz and Bonzle."
Cole raised a brow, "You sure? 'Cuz I'm sure me and Geo could find another kid to pick up somewhere."
"Noooooo…" Fritz groaned.
"Maybe a girl this time," Cole teased, poking Fritz under the neck, "Don't think we can deal with another boy."
"No!" Fritz insisted, "I love our family just the way it is. I don't need anyone else."
Cole smiled. "Would you allow my siblings to join?" he asked.
Fritz thought about it for a moment. "Yeah okay. But that's it."
"What about Arin and Sora?"
"No."
"Wyfy?"
"She's… fun. I guess. But she's not family. You're my family." Fritz pressed a fist into Cole's chest.
"You're my family too," Cole replied earnestly, chest feeling the lightest its been in weeks.
Fritz pulled at the sheet again before meeting Cole's eyes and said, "I love you, dad…"
"I love you too, squirt," he replied, pressing a kiss into Fritz' hair.
Fritz made grabby hands towards the box at the foot of the bed. Cole sat up to look through it, retrieving the first comic in the series. (As far as he could tell, at least.)
"It'll be nice to finally read them in order, huh?" he said, handing it over to Fritz to look at.
Fritz shook his head. "I can't read it," he said.
"Right," Cole sighed, "We'll teach you how to read ninjargon soon enough. It'll probably be helpful."
Fritz nodded in agreement, holding up the comic, he asked, "Can you read it to me?"
Cole smiled. "Of course I can."
"But can you also do the voices," the boy added, "Bonzle never did."
Ignoring the little sting in his heart, Cole answered, "Alright, but remember you asked for this."
Fritz smiled cheekily. He always asks for it and while Cole might not actually be good at character voices, he is good at making it fun.
So Cole obliged and began regailing the epic space adventures of Fritz Donnegan.