Chapter Text
It was a beautiful morning in Ninjago City, the kind where people are woken up by gentle rays of sunshine, and hear birdsong outside their window. Where the ocean waters are crystalline and blue, and everyone has a smile as they make their way to work or school
And that's just in the city.
High above, overlooking the bustling hub of life, is a mountain. And atop that mountain sits a temple, with a large statue depicting an old man above it. Despite its ancient structure, the monument is ever-so lovingly cared for. You won't find a city missing brick from the walls or spider webs in the corners, or any sign of disrepair. Its floors are clean and the sun's light shines through the many windows, painting the rooms in a most beautiful hue. It stands strong, built to last, as it has done for years, and will do in the years to come.
A true picture of serenity.
"WYLDFYRE!"
For the most part.
The enraged scream came from a young girl, about 15 years old, with pink hair and amber eyes, narrowed in an almost cat-like way as she stormed into the dojo. This was Sora. She was drenched, and most certainly was not happy about it.
"What the HELL?!" She snapped.
But the source of her ire, Wyldfyre, with her wild red hair and green eyes, stared at her in discontent from where she paused in her punching of a training dummy.
"What?! I didn't do nothing!"
The pink-haired girl sputtered in disbelief, gesturing to herself aggressively. "Are you KIDDING?! You're seriously gonna try and tell me you didn't put that bucket of water above my door?!"
"Uh, YEAH! 'CAUSE I DIDN'T!"
"LIAR!"
"Guys, c'mon, let's not fight!"
The new voice joining the girls was softer, though not shyer. Dressed in all orange and rocking coiled black hair, Arin Nived stood between the two girls, smiling awkwardly. By his feet was a small creature, staring up at the girls with curious eyes as its tongue darted out to taste the air. This was Riyu, a young dragon with blue-gray scales.
Yes, dragons are real, this should not come as a surprise.
In response to Arin's desire for peace, the two girls turned to him with eyes blazing.
"MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!"
Riyu jumped, squeaking lightly and darting on top of the railing which had a large white wall behind it. Arin, however, didn't even flinch, staring at his friends with unimpressed brown eyes. Behind him stood two more teenagers, slightly older. 17 year old Euphrasia, with her long black hair twisted into cornrows, and 16 year old Frak Slitherbottom, an orange scaled serpentine hybrid with a green crest at the back of his head.
Euphrasia shook her head as Wyldfyre and Sora continued to argue, Arin doing his absolute best to reason with them, while Frak hid his face behind his hands, looking mortified.
"...you did it, didn't you?" Euphrasia asked gently.
Frak groaned. "Yes. But it wasn't meant for her! I wanted to get back at Arin for replacing my lotion with slime!"
Euphrasia simply shook her head again, chuckling quietly. Pranks were commonplace within the temple. Understandably so with five teenagers living under it's roof. But Frak and Arin were always the main culprits. There wasn't a single person they hadn't managed to prank... except their master, of course.
Frak sighed, preparing to face the music and tell Sora that it was his fault... When the smell of burning met his nose. His eyes shot wide, yelling as he saw the dummy Wyldfyre had been previously punching on fire.
"Wyldfyre, NO!" He cried, and chaos erupted.
The kids ran around frantically, trying to find something to put the fire out. The last time they—and by "they" I mean Wyldfyre—set something on fire, they were forced to run up and down the steps of the mountain 100 times as punishment!
"NOT AGAIN!"
"SOMEONE GET THE FIRE EXTINGUISHER!"
"WHERE DO WE KEEP IT?!"
"I DON'T FREAKING KNOW, IT MOVES EVERY OTHER DAY!"
Riyu watched his humans run around like headless chickens and shook his head, giving a quiet noise of exasperation. He jumped down from the railing and trotted out one of the doors, breaking into a light trot as he moved through the halls, following the gentle scent of incense.
The sounds of chaos faded ever so slightly as he came to a set of sliding doors, open just a crack. Using his nose to open them wider, he squeezed inside, eyes brightening as he took in the sight of his master. The blonde man knelt in front of an altar with burning incense and a weapons rack set upon the wall above it, holding a single gold sword with a green tassel. Riyu's green eyes swept down towards the floor behind the man and crouched low, tail swaying in the air... and pounced!
The little dragon caught his prize with ease, biting at it and shaking his head before rolling onto his back, gnawing at it happily.
"Good morning, Riyu." Came an amused voice, and Riyu looked up, smiling around the end of the long braid he gripped in his jaws.
Glancing over his shoulder at the young dragon, Lloyd Garmadon smiled, raising an eyebrow.
"Didn't we talk about eating my hair? I'm sure you don't want a repeat of last month."
Riyu froze at the mention, remembering the the feeling of hacking up hairballs. Immediately, he spat the end of the braid out, wrinkling his nose and huffing in distaste. Lloyd picked up his now wet braid, grimacing at the dragon slobber.
"That's what I thought."
"MASTER LLOYD!"
Riyu jumped in surprise at the pleading cry, looking back at the door with wide eyes. Lloyd shook his head with a chuckle, getting to his feet and smoothing over the layers of his white kimono, the chain connected between two dragon buckles clinking quietly.
"Yet another day filled with chaos, eh Riyu?" He said lightly, and Riyu nodded eagerly, growling affectionately as Lloyd scratched the top of his head.
He darted out of the room, halting for just a moment to look back at Lloyd and make sure he was following before bounding away. Lloyd followed at a leisurely pace, his braid nearly touching the floor with how long it was.
As he followed Riyu down the hallway, his gaze trailed over the many pictures hanging from the walls or set upon shelves. Some depicted the years of him being a sensei, some showed him with his own teacher, his Uncle Wu. Some weren't even taken at the temple! A night out with his mother and father, the day he adopted his first students, Arin and Sora, and then when he adopted Wyldfyre, Frak and Euphrasia. One even showed the day they met Riyu! A trip to the mountains, where the little guy had snuck into their supplies and just... never left. So many memories.
The screaming grew louder as Lloyd approached the dojo doors, Riyu waiting patiently... or as patiently as a baby dragon could wait, seeing as he was bouncing in place, eager to see his human resolve the issue. But just as Lloyd was about to approach the doors... his gaze caught on something.
His smile fell as he turned toward a shelf facing another length of hallway, on which a single picture frame sat. It was scuffed and old from the years, and the glass was in need of dusting. Within the frame was a picture, as you would expect, that depicted six teens dressed in various colours of Ninja gis. Five boys and one girl, each smiling or smirking at the camera as they wrapped their arms around each other, looking as though they were in the midst of a celebration.
Lloyd trailed his eyes across each face, but his gaze lingered on a specific one. A face with joyous hazel eyes and a smile that could make you swoon, his brown hair styled in a ridiculous flame-like shape. Once upon a time, the sight of that hair would have been endearing. Now, the image make Lloyd's eyes go cold.
A worried noise reached his ears, and he blinked a few times, pulled out of his thoughts as he turned to Riyu, who had trotted over and bumped his leg gently with his head.
Lloyd smile softly. "I'm okay, little one..." he wasn't sure if he himself even believed that.
He looked at the picture again, and calmly picked it up, tucking it into the folds of his kimono, hidden from view. Taking a deep breath and running his fingers across his braid, he sighed, putting a smile back on his face as the exclamations of his students quickly grew into terrified and panicked, and perhaps slightly enraged, screaming.
Pushing open the doors revealed that not only were a few things on fire, but that the dojo was also a mess, covered in water as four teenagers rushed around with buckets in a panic. The only one not panicking was Wyldfyre, who was sitting on the floor, arms crossed and most definitely sulking as she too was now drenched.
At the sight of him, all five froze, staring at him with wide eyes, like deers in headlights. Lloyd said nothing, looking around. Truthfully, it wasn't that bad. The things that were burnt could easily be replaced, and if he was honest he'd never like those banners hanging from the pillars. He didn't care what Uncle Wu said, he didn't see the point in them! All in all, the teens had actually done a good job in dousing most of the fire.
As if on cue, a piece of the ceiling caved in, and they all shot up straight, grimacing.
"... Sorry, Master Lloyd." They said unanimously, bowing their heads in shame.
Unable to help himself, Lloyd burst into laughter, covering his face with one hand as Riyu have a high-pitched groan, covering his face with both of his front paws as if to say Not again.
Once calming himself down, Lloyd clapped his hands together. "Well, students! Seems I don't need to think about what we're doing this morning." Various groans of discontent met his ears, and he grinned. "That's right! Cleaning time! Now, lets hop to it!"
Despite the grumbles that fell from his students lips, they begrudgingly did as he said, quickly dousing the remaining fires and moving to clear the debris. Nodding as they did, Lloyd walked to the double doors at the front of the dojo and pushing them open, letting the cool morning breeze and gorgeous sunshine flood in. He took a deep breath, smiling happily as Riyu ran out, zooming around the courtyard and crying out happily.
It truly was a beautiful morning in Ninjago.