Chapter Text
Kai was losing his sanity.
It was inevitable, really. Daidan had warned him, Rusty had warned him, and he sure as hell reminded himself often. This place was never meant for human survival. It was a place for monsters, creatures, and beasts all alike to murder, survive, and hunt.
Kai was not a monster.
He's been telling himself that for as long as he's been there. Soon enough he looked like a muttering mess before some creature attacked him or Daidan smacked him with her tail. She was always detached, but Kai was able to tell that she was getting as attached to him as he was to her.
Currently, Kai was riding on her back as she flew. Flying on her back was one of the only times the fire wielder could let himself relax a little. He still had to be on guard for other flying beasts and giants, but it was still better than being hyper-aware of every single rustle of a bush. Sometimes he even let himself rest a little. Never too long though. Comfort was not something you could acquire for long in a place like this.
His eyelids were heavy. He tried to fight the exhaustion, but it was no use. His body was weary and was telling him to relax while he could. With a small sigh and three pats to the guardian's back (a sign that they created for moments like there), the fire wielder closed his eyes. It only took a moment for sleep to take him.
Of course he couldn't fully rest while asleep either. Kai opened his eyes to find himself in a dream. Another reason why he did not like to rest: the dreams, or rather nightmares, here were ten times worse than back at home. Most usual dreams he got was him getting eaten, torn apart, stomped on, drowning, or something worse. Like his family dying. He would always wake up in cold sweat, anger, guilt, and mourning flooding his senses. Before he forced himself to keep moving.
This was slightly different though. As he looked around it was painfully obvious that he was still in the Land of Monsters. The grays, the tall grass bushes, mountains, cliffs. And creatures of course. He was standing on what seemed to be a edge of a cliff. Kai looked around, trying to understand why this dream was serene instead of horrifying. Not that he was complaining.
"Off you beast!" A voice rang out.
Kai froze, his eyes widening. The voice was human. The fire wielder has heard two other voices throughout his time in this land, Daidan and Rusty, but even theirs could not compare to how utterly human the voice was.
Kai finally dared to turn around. There was a figure, human figure fighting off a small creature. The small beast resembled a bug of some sort. Maybe a beetle. He didn't really care much, since for the first time in what must've been at least a year, he was seeing another human. Or well, alive human. There were plently of corpses around.
The human was wearing some gray robes (or maybe they were a different color, it was hard to tell when everything was shaded gray in these lands) and a blindfold. Kai wondered for a second how they were able to see with their eyes covered. A shriek broke him out of the thought. The human kicked the bug-beast, successfully sending it over the edge.
The robed figured muttered some recognizable profanities under their breath while patting off their clothes. They huffed before looking where Kai was standing. With a new angle, Kai could now see that they has long, messy hair and seemed to be tied at the back. They started walking in Kai's direction, making the fire wielder's heart pump louder. Could they see him? Should he say something?
His thoughts were interrupted by them walking through him. Right, Kai thought, still a dream.
The figure looked over the edge of the cliff, looking around the sky as if expecting something. That gave Kai time to observe them more properly. It was hard to tell what gender they were with all those robes, so he decided to assume they were a woman with how long their hair was. He grimaced at the thought. It was probably bad to assume just by hair, but it wasn't like she would know, right? Besides she had a high-pitched voice when fighting off the bug-beast.
Kai tried to get a closer look, but couldn't seem to move in this dream form. He sighed. It was getting boring, just watching the figure stare somewhere, but he was grateful that this wasn't another dream where he was getting torn apart by millions of sharp teeth or dragged underwater by a large tentacle. That thought made him miss Rusty. Guilt seeped into his mind, telling him that he could've prevented Rusty's death if it wasn't for his own delusion.
Before Kai could spiral further, the human gasped. He turned his attention back to her. She clutched her head, seemingly in sudden pain. Had the bug poisoned her? Kai thought. The figure collapsed, her breathing irregular. The fire wielder wanted to reach out, to help, to at least ask her what was wrong. He could not.
He hated this. Hated being so powerless. This dream was starting to get on his nerves. Why show someone struggling and in pain if he could not help?
A sudden sensation to over him. Before he could spare another look to the figure, his eyes opened and he looking at to see Daidan nudging him awake.
"I have found a cave for us to rest in. I thought you would like to look around for food whist I rest my wings," Daidan stated, her voice echoing around the small cave in. It had enough space for them to hide out for a while, but Kai knew they still had to keep a careful watch around. As far as he could tell so far, the cave was a small part of a mountain, meaning there was less likely that any giants would be roaming around. Unless the mountain itself was part of the giant of course.
"Thank you," he replied, getting up wrong the boulder where Daidan must've set him before waking him up. He jumped off, watching as Daidan settled in a corner. Often the fire wielder felt bad for being such a burden to her. She did so much for him; protected him, let him fly on her, found him food, made sure he didn't go completely insane... He barely could repay her at all. She could be surviving on her own, not having to feed a second mouth and not be in constant danger that seemed to gravitate towards Kai. But she didn't.
Most time he didn't understand it. Attachments were extremely dangerous in this place. Both of them knew that the other could die any day, and that would drive them into grief and danger. Yet they stuck around each other. Perhaps that's how family worked. No matter how much dangerous it is, you will always stick together. And Daidan was certainly family to Kai. He'd like to think that while he could though. He knew that she would not come with him i̶f̶ once he got out of this monstrous lands. As many times as he offered and tried to persuade her that it would be better, she declined.
"As much as I despise this land," Daidan had said, "it is still my homeland. I do not think I could bear to leave it."
Kai had stopped offering after that. He knew the feeling. Hell, he was living it.
With another quick glance towards the grey-green dragon, the fire wielder exited the cave. Perhaps he could try to find some small creature to kill and bring for the both of them to eat. There was yet another small forest by the cave so he trudged forward. Kai made sure to memorize every turn that he took, not wanting to accidentally get lost. Daidan had enough on her plate than worry about him getting lost and killed.
There was a small rustle in a nearby bush. Kai automatically crouched down, quietly unsheathing his sword. Another small rustle, then silence. He didn't dare to move, not wanting for whatever it was to notice him. Staring at the bush, he wondered what it could be. He'd made a mental list of most creatures he met so far. It couldn't be anything big, so that crossed off more than half the list. Perhaps one of those small one eyed chicken-looking things? Those were by far the most delicious. As Kai pondered, two glowing eyes poked out from the bush, staring straight at him.
Before the fire wielder could properly react, it pounced at him. He managed to shield his face in the last second, but it managed to attach to his coat. It looked bug-like and started clawing at his clothes.
Bug-like?
Kai was stunned once the realization that it was the same bug-beast from the dream settled in. Although he regained his composure pretty fast. He elbowed it sharply, making it shriek. It fell off, but immediately attached to his leg again. He huffed, now understanding the frustration the girl from his dream had when fighting off the thing. So he did what she had done, and kicked it sharply. Now the creature had two footprints on its forehead.
Kai's eyes widened. Two? That meant it was literally the exact creature from his dream. That meant that maybe she was still nearby. He had to tell Daidan.
After he actually killed the thing of course. It was still trying to gnaw on his clothes. Despise clearly being a creature of the lands, it was pretty pathetic. It could barely tear the fabric, and kept on making small shrieks. Kai almost felt bad.
Almost.
Gripping his sword, Kai swung it sharply, slicing the creature cleanly in half. It made a pathetic screech before collapsing. After a moment, the friends wielder poked it. Dead. He picked up the two halves, the smell of blood attacking his nose as he started retracing his steps.
By the time he was back in the cave, his hands were fully covered in blood. He hated the feeling of the warm liquid, but he was starting to get used to it. That was kinda of a terrifying thought. Getting used to blood being on him. Kai shuddered, but ignored it. At least he had gloves on, which barely helped, but at least he didn't have to touch the creature with his bare hands.
"Daidan?" Kai called out as he entered the cave, not wanting to spook the dragon into thinking he's danger. "I got food.... I think. Not sure if it's poisonous." He added.
The dragon sat up from the corner and motioned for him to come forth. Kai complied and threw the two halves of the creature on the ground. He already knew the drill, so he went back out to get wood to make a small campfire while the guardian observed the body for any signs of clear poison.
He hated cutting wood down. That was Cole's thing, even if it was back when Zane died. His thing was forging, and he only got to do it whenever he had free time back home and when he was helping Rusty. His hands often ached to feel the familiar tools in his hands. Even if it was a hobby he picked up while trying to provide for Nya and himself, he loved it. It brought a sense of comfort, security, and calm. The image of his father forging a sword while his mother told stories to Nya and him. He would watch as sparks flew each time the hammer went down the sword. Nya always giggled at that, and their mother would laugh softly.
Tears were falling down Kai's cheeks without his permission. He hadn't meant to remember the only part of his life where there was no stress of someone taking over Ninjago, his family dying, or monsters tearing him apart. He longed for it, but he knew that fate would never let his life be that calm again.
As he wiped his eyes, he got to work. Cutting down trees was always a bother, but he managed to do it decently quick, taking his frustration out on the poor twigs and bark. Kai took as much wood into his arms as he could carry and walked back to the cave.
"Not poisonous as far as I am able to tell. I do think it is better for me to try it out first. My stomach will be able to endure it if it actually is." Daidan said when Kai arranged the wood in what he hoped was a decent enough shape for a campfire. Kai nodded, but guilt ate at him as he did. He knew Daidan could endure much more than he could, but it didn't stop him from feeling horrible each time she risked something to ensure that Kai's weak body didn't get messed up.
Kai stabbed the bigger half of the creature on his sword, and ignited the fire using his hand. He sat down criss cross apple sauce and grilled the creature as if he was simply just making some marshmallows. The thought made him miss the soft sweets. The fire wielder sighed, and rotated the body from time to time.
It certainly took some time, but the body finally looked like it was edible. The dragon extended her claw towards the brunet, who carefully set the body on it. He went ahead and stabbed the second half, started to grill it. Even if the creature was poisonous, Daidan's stomach could take it if his refused to.
"It seems safe," The guardian stated after a moment. Kai nodded, staring at the uncooked half. Hunger that he had ignored until now was gnawing on his stomach. It wasn't any normal hunger either. It was the type that ste at your stomach. Starvation wasn't anything that Kai hadn't experienced before, so usually it was more bearable and not hard to ignore. The soulless eyes of the bug-beast seemed to stare right back. The footprints were still visible on its forehead. Right, he almost forgot to tell Daidan about the dream.
"I had a dream," Kai started off, getting the dragon's attention. He never usually shared what happened in his nightmares, but she always suggested he got it off his chest to someone who who didn't care enough about nightmares to judge. Aka her. "I was on a cliff, and there was another human. They were fighting off this bug. Specifically this bug, their footprint is still on it."
"Do you truly believe it?" She asked, before taking another bite of her piece of food.
"Huh?"
"Do you believe what happened in the dream to be true? This land confuses your mind, you know it could simply just be another trap."
"I know. But... It felt too real. The other human... They were too realistic to be another hallucination," The fire wielder insisted. He was sure it was real. Besides, it's not like he would immediately trust the human. It wouldn't be much of a surprise if this place also had shapeshifters. That sent an unpleasant shiver down Kai's spine.
"She kicked the bug down, so we have to go up. Once we're done eating-" Kai started planning, almost burning his half of the bug. Thankfully Daidan's tail nudged his sword away from the fire.
"We shall go after we rest," Daidan disagreed, finishing off her food.
"But what if she leaves? We can't waste hours—"
"It was not a suggestion, fire wielder. Both of us need rest, and besides, if it's truly a human, it will not be able to get far."
"You really underestimate humans sometimes."
"And you really do not know when to rest. Last I checked, you almost passed out last battle."
That shut Kai up. He ate the bug quietly, only refusing to eat the bones and the eyes. The dragon ate those with pleasure. As he finished, Daidan's tail wrapped around him, and she walked to the corner where she had previously been resting in.
"May nightmares avoid you," she said as she laid down, keeping Kai wrapped in her tail as if to assure he wouldn't run away. Which was completely fair, she had a history of the ones she loved dying.
"Same to you," The fire wielder muttered, his eyes starting to feel heavy again. It was always good to no longer be starving and be able to sleep in the same hour.
Hopefully there won't be any torturous nightmares this time.
—
Daidan had been right. As Kai awoke, he felt much better about himself. The guardian was thankfully already awake, so she released him as soon as she noticed that he stirred. He nodded in acknowledgement before stretching. He winced as his limbs popped loudly, even earning a small glance from the dragon. If he was too embarrassed to ever get a massage before, he would kill for one about now.
Once the two of them were fully awake and on guard, they started their venture. First they decided to walk and climb up high enough to see if there were any flying creatures. Climbing came easy to Kai. Maybe Master Wu was right, the long stairs to the Monastery did come in handy. If those didn't exist, he probably would've collapsed from climbing long ago. Daidan didn't seem to mind either. This was another break for her wings after all.
They stopped once they were somewhere above the clouds. Said clouds seemed darker than usual, threatening a storm. Kai had learned to hate any type of storm in these lands. There were different kinds: a normal storm with lightning, acid rain storm, lava (Kai wasn't sure if it was lava or simply flames) storm, and a few others that he had learned to despise with all his heart.
Daidan and Kai briefly separated to scout different points for flying creatures. Minutes (time was unintelligible here, so it was a guess at best) passed, which Kai spent hiding in a bush flying furiously staring at the sky. After what he deemed was enough, the fire wielder stopped hiding and waited for Daidan to come back.
Kai found himself a stick and started drawing on the ground. His artistic skills were rough and out of practice. Cole was always way better at drawing than him, always doodling and sketching in his free time; Zane was a nindroid, so his drawing always came out clean; Lloyd's drawings were a little rough, but he always had a steadier hand than Kai; he'd never really seem Pixal draw anything; the best Nya and Jay could do are sketches on blueprints, and half the time those looked only intelligible to the two of them.
Not wanting to embarrass himself in case Daidan came back sooner than expected, Kai simply started doodling some little flames. A few water droplets and leaves too.
"This is taking forever..." He muttered. Patience was never his virtue. Meditating and doing forms also didn't really seem appealing right now.
"Nothing on my side," a familiar voice sounded as if on cue. Finally, the dragon walked to the fire wielder's side and tilted her head at the drawings. If there was any judgement, she didn't show it.
"Permission to come aboard?" Kai asked, smirking slightly under his mask. As much as this place wanted him six feet under, he couldn't help but joke around from time to time.
Daidan stared at Kai. That must've been at attempt of an unamused looked. He couldn't blame her for it. The guardian let out a huff before motioning for him to get on. He complied without a comment this time.
After ensuring the human was settled, the dragon took off. They slowly ascended, circling the mountain slowly. So far there was nothing but rocks and trees. Kai squinted his eyes as he looked, holding on to his straw hat. He was surprised he hadn't lost it yet, but that was just another small blessing he felt thankful for.
Then he saw it.
The exact cliff he had stood on in his dream-vision-thing. He wasn't sure what to call it.
"Over there!" Kai yelled over the wind, pointing in the direction of the cliff. Daidan spared him only a glance before diving down to where he pointed. He held on for his dear life.
The landing was quiet. Kai jumped off carefully, looking around warily. He knew better than to trust the other human, if it was still around. But he had how another human got here. Did she also get sucked into a portal during that weird storm? Was she another fire descendant (although that should be impossible, but Kai learned that nothing was impossible in these lands)?
"I shall search overhead," Daidan stated quietly. Kai gave her a nod before turning away to look around. It looked exactly as it did in his dream. Except the stranger wasn't there. But there were clear footprints on the ground, indicating the fact that he wasn't insane and that dream had been a vision.
There was a small rustle in the bushes nearby. Kai's thoughts immediately went back to one those bug-beasts. He quietly unsheathed his sword.
Then a head popped out of the bush. Or rather a back of a head. There was a small grunt as the figure seemed to drag something with it out of the bush. A dead creature as far as Kai could tell so far. But it was her. The human from his vision.
Another human. He was actually seeing another human, in flesh, for the first time since the storm. A small huff escaped him.
The figure immediately tensed, dropping whatever she was dragging and bringing a dagger out. She turned Kai, clearly on guard and ready to fight. Unlike in the vision, only one eye had the blindfold secured around it. Perhaps Kai had misremembered his vision.
He could do nothing but stare. An actual human being was standing in front of him, ready to kill him. Just like back home.
Seeing as Kai wasn't moving, the figure looked around. The fire wielder was about to finally speak when she dashed.
"Wait!" Kai called out, immediately going after her. It was probably a horrible idea, but he didn't want to lose the only human he had seen in what felt like decades.
She was pretty fast despise wearing so many layers of robes. The thought must've jinxed her because she tripped right after.
"Fuck!" She cursed, managing to sit up. Kai approached not long after. He extended his sword to be under her chin. The other human glared with the one visible eye.
"Look, I'm not here to hurt you-" he was interrupted as a leg kicked him on the knee. He gasped, losing his balance. He was moe surprised that he got caught off guard than the fact that he was kicked. Humans were surprising creatures after all. Kai blinked as another kick landed, this time right on his stomach, making his stumble back.
Kai's eyes widened as he realized that there was no ground behind him. His foot lost his footing on the edge. The next thing he knew was that he was falling. Gravity dragged him down, forcing him to stare down as the inevitable doom came. He thought about stupid he was. To let some half-blind hobo catch him off guard and kick him off the cliff.
As clouds neared, Kai heard swoosh of wings and a few profanities. He really couldn't tell if he was hallucinating at tht point. Before he could wonder longer, his consciousness started to waver.
His last thoughts were clear though.
I'm sorry for failing all of you.