Chapter Text
“Lloyd!”
Green Ninja's head turned towards the sound. Cole was surrounded by black smoke unable to free himself. Long tentacles were slowly but surely trapping him.
“Lloyd!” He called once more now starting to turn blue from the cold.
He didn't hesitate. The Green Ninja started running towards his friend. But he was too far away and wasn't quick enough.
Cole's body started to freeze. Lloyd felt his throat tighten as he realized he wouldn't make it.
Cole opened his mouth to yell once more but no sound came out. His hand was reaching towards his brother who couldn't save him.
The black smoke abandoned its previous victim, finding it useless. Now it shifted its focus towards Lloyd.
The Green Ninja didn't run away from it. He just stood there, looking into his brother's eyes that were filled with fear. He failed. And now Cole was gone.
The black smoke surrounded him.
—
Lloyd's head snapped up.
It took him a second to realize where he was.
The Monastery didn't have an enormous kitchen so they always made sure to keep it clean. The six ninja took shifts on doing dishes so there was nothing lying around.
Now the whole counter was covered in water.
Lloyd stared at it for a second trying to understand. Like if it would explain itself. When that didn't happen he shook his head to wake up a little.
On the counter there was a glass of water and an almost empty jug. The person that put them there obviously forgot when to stop pouring and flooded the kitchen.
Lloyd just sighed and went to grab a towel. Then he stopped. Why was he there? Did he need something and fell asleep with his head on the counter? He looked back. The water was on the floor too slowly covering the wooden planks.
The Green Ninja shrugged and continued on his way for the towel. When he returned he started with the counter. Slowly he let it absorb as much water as it could before he wrung the cloth.
He was the only one in the kitchen. He looked at the clock. It was 24 minutes after three. Did he fall asleep in the middle of the day? He looked around. No, it was late. He looked out of the window to see the moon. It was definitely night.
Why was he in the kitchen so late? Or early? Lloyd looked at the spilled water again.
He must've gone to drink some water and fell asleep while he was pouring. Lloyd looked around again to make sure no one saw him. When he was sure he quickly but quietly got rid of all the water and returned back to his room.
The ninja will not know about this. There was no need to worry about him. He was just fine.
Lloyd for the fourth time that week was laying in bed trying to fall back into his fitful sleep.
They will not know about this.
—
Lloyd shot up from his bed, breathing hard. Another nightmare.
When he realized where he was he hugged himself tightly and started winging forward and back. He slowed his breathing and came back to the present.
And after that he realized that he can hear his friends talking in the living room. He heard the clanking of the dishes and his friend's laughter.
The Green Ninja got up and slipped into the bathroom. There he washed his face and quickly did the basic hygiene.
Lloyd braced himself and went into the living room. Zane was just walking in from the kitchen, carrying bowls with breakfast. The four basins were dangerously balancing on his arms.
“Good morning, Lloyd. Would you help me with these?”
Lloyd put on a smile. “Good morning, Zane. Of course I'll help.” He walked to the ninja and took two bowls from the nindroid and then carefully placed them on the table.
“Good morning Lloyd!” Jay yelled from behind the couch.
Lloyd chuckled. “What are you doing, Jay?”
Kai answered instead. “He is paying for his sins.” And then a loud thud was heard.
“Kai, I swear I didn't mean to touch your hair. It was a mistake!” Jay half yelled and half laughed.
Lloyd shook his head with a smile on his face. Those two always found a reason to fight.
“Where is my coffee?” The Green Ninja turned after Nya who was standing in the doorway into the living room.
Zane kept his calm even after seeing the danger in Nya’s eyes.
“Good morning, Nya. It's on the counter.”
Without a word she walked around them into the kitchen for her coffee.
Lloyd's attention shifted back to Zane.
“Where is Cole?” He asked.
“I'm not sure. I haven't seen him yet. He's probably asleep. But I don't think that waking him up is a good idea. You know how he is when someone ruins his sleep.”
“Yeah. I do.” Lloyd's smile faded a bit. It would be nice to have a long deep sleep like his brother. He hasn't had that since… He couldn't remember. When was the last time he slept well?
“Im gonna go check the mail.” Lloyd announced. He needed an excuse for skipping breakfast. Just thinking about food made him nauseous and he didn't feel like overcoming that now. The food could wait.
His two friends fighting behind the couch didn't notice. Zane did.
“What about breakfast?”
“I'm gonna eat it later.” Lloyd said on his way out.
Lloyd did not eat it later.
Until noon he was going around the Monastery trying to find anything he could do. He tried training with the ninja but he couldn't focus.
When it was time for lunch Lloyd disappeared into his room again. He didn't do almost anything but he felt exhausted. The Green Ninja fell onto his bed and soon he fell asleep.
—
“Jay! Watch out!”
Lloyd, startled by the shout, quickly got out of his bed and grabbed his sword.
“I'm gonna rip you in half, you blue monkey!” Lloyd heard Cole's voice.
“You're too big for that, Mr. My body is a temple!” Yelled Jay back provocatively. He probably regretted it soon judging by his scream followed by a loud thud.
Lloyd relaxed a bit. Only his friends. Everything was okay. No monsters. Just his friends.
He took a deep breath and calmed his body. He was fine. He was just fine.
After a second of thinking he decided to join his brothers. He needed to move a bit. He went out into the training field.
Kai was fighting with Zane. It looked like it was pretty heated up judging by a burned dummy and remains of something that looked like a shield.
Behind them Cole was sitting on top of Jay trying to strangle him with the handle of his scythe.
In the meantime Nya was training on a punching bag and Lloyd took a second to admire the strength of her attacks.
Overall it was a normal day in the Monastery.
Zane noticed him first.
“Lloyd!” He yelled while dodging Kai's attack with a sword.
The Green Ninja smiled and came to them.
“Do you want to join?” The nindroid asked.
“Sure.” Lloyd answered. “Well if you have a second to spare for me. I'd like to have a train fight.”
Zane nodded while blocking Kai's attack with a pole of ice he created. “Alright. Just give me a second.” He said and gave his full attention to Kai.
The Fire Ninja was just preparing to attack again when a shot of ice froze his legs on the spot. Kai was startled by that and almost fell over. Zane took advantage of that and quickly disarmed him.
Kai cursed. “That's not fair!”
Zane shrugged. “Life is not fair.” He replied and turned to Lloyd. “Wanna spar?”
Lloyd smiled looking at the Fire Ninja trying to melt the ice without burning his clothes. “You bet.”
—
After they rescued almost unconscious Jay from Cole's grip they made room for their fight.
Both of the brothers decided to fight with their signature weapons. Zane with shurikens and Lloyd with his sword. Both of the weapons were blunted so it wouldn't seriously harm anyone. It still wasn't comfortable to get hit so they still had motivation to dodge the attack.
Lloyd took up a combat stance. Zane prepared before him the same way. The Green Ninja shook his head and blinked a few times to shrug off his weariness.
Zane looked at him cautiously.
“Are you okay, Lloyd?”
Lloyd quickly straightened up. “Yeah. I'm fine. Let's do this.”
Zane didn't look convinced but he still got into a fighting position. “Okay. Let's go.”
Zane attacked first. His shurikens missed Lloyd's torso by millimeters. The Green Ninja threw himself on the side and swung his sword at the Ice Ninja. Zane dodged that attack and tried to attack Lloyd up close with his shuriken. The Green Ninja blocked the attack with his sword and with his other hand led a punch aiming on Zane's ribs. The other ninja took it but repaid him with his own punch into his shoulder. Lloyd's arm went numb so he took a few steps back to put himself together.
Their fight lasted another ten minutes. Both of them took some hits but were equally good.
The difference was that Lloyd was tired and couldn't focus anymore. Zane was calm and could fight for much longer than the younger ninja. It was just a question of time until one of them makes a mistake.
That moment came sooner than they both expected.
Lloyd made a sword lunge aiming for Zane's torso. He almost made it but at the last second the Ice Ninja dodged the attack and threw a shuriken into his unprotected stomach.
Lloyd broke in half gasping for air. That thing and power.
Zane immediately stopped fighting and knelt down next to him. “Are you okay, Lloyd? Sorry I didn't mean to be so hard on you.”
“Yeah.” Lloyd said, still gasping for air. “I'm fine. I just need a second to catch my breath.”
The other ninja that were curiously watching the sparring match before exchanged worried looks. Lloyd was probably the most capable of them all. He should be able to predict an attack like this. It was one of the most basic techniques to use against it.
After a second Lloyd got up to get back into his room. Kai yelled after him. “Are you sure you're okay?”
“Yep.” Said the Green Ninja. “Totally fine.”
—
Lloyd closed the door behind him. Slowly he took off his gi to reveal his stomach.
There was a big red bruise that would probably soon turn purple but it looked like nothing worse.
Lloyd let out a sigh. He should've predicted that happening. Usually he wouldn't let something so basic take him down.
He carefully put his gi back on.
He's fine.
Everything's fine.
—
After a night of restless sleep Lloyd finally gave up on trying and aimed for the kitchen.
It was six in the morning and the other ninja were already up getting breakfast from Zane. It was his week to cook afterall.
“Good morning, Lloyd. Come here, I made you some food.”
Lloyd looked at the plate, trying to hide his disgust. The food looked nice but he couldn't help himself but to feel like throwing up when he saw it.
“Sure…”
Lloyd slowly went to the table.
Then the door suddenly opened.
“Students! Come quick. There's something you have to take care of.”
They all rushed downstairs and saw PIXAL standing in front of the monitors. Lloyd realized he hadn't seen her for some time. She must've been busy repairing and got lost in the work again.
Now she was presenting them another mission.
“There has been a reported occurrence of Serpentines by the people from the Jamanakai village.”
“What's wrong with that? I thought we are on good terms with them now.” Kai said the thoughts of his teammates.
“Not all of them. It's a rebel gang that doesn't agree with living as equals to the people. They want to rule mankind.” PIXAL explained.
“They never learn…” Jay stated.
“I suppose not.” Cole stepped in. “Don't worry, PIXAL. We're on it.” He told his friend.
Lloyd nodded. “Let's take them out. PIXAL, do you have anything we can use?” He turned to her.
PIXAL smiled. “What do you think I've been working on this whole time?” She said and the floor opened. The ninja were flabbergasted by the vehicles.
Kai laughed. “PIXAL, you outdid yourself.”
“You're awesome, Pix.” Jay said, running to his interceptor.
PIXAL just smiled. “Be careful out there.”
“We will be.” Zane assured her.
“What about me?” Nya complained.
“We will take care of it quickly. There is no need for you to come.” Lloyd pointed out.
Nya sighed. “They always have the most fun…” She mumbled.