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Kai had been so cold without his powers.
He remembered when they were ripped from his body, sprouting from each finger-tip, his legs, his face, every part of him being stripped of something that had been a part of him for so long. His fire wasn't just his element, it was part of him, he had an emotional and physical connection to it.
So when he screamed, kicking the air to no avail, hoping Aspheera would let go, he felt empty.
And it hurt, it burned, he felt like he would explode, his body would collapse and his bones would turn to mush when that serpentine was done with him. He never realised just how much it would hurt to get your powers taken from you, they'd been ripped from his body, like she'd dug her claws into his chest and ripped his heart out.
So he quickly passed out, he was too exhausted to even scream or try to escape her clutches.
But he remembered thinking that as soon as he stopped fighting, he was getting colder.
His body had its ups and downs while adjusting to having no powers. During the battle in Ninjago City and at the Monastery, he felt hotter than usual, clammy after a few seconds of running.
Some sad way to remind him of what he didn't have anymore, the natural warmth, the softness in his chest and veins, knowing that his fire rested inside of him.
Things got way more complicated when they reached the Never-Realm; where he was uncomfortably hot at home one second, he'd suddenly been plunged into the coldest pits of…cold hell that he could imagine.
Whenever he complained about the cold of winter, he knew whatever cold he experienced was a casual spring day to the others, but that didn't stop him from complaining. Others might assume this meant he would melt in a heatwave, but his body was quite fine - it was the cold that bothered him, he hated the cold, and right now, he hated it more than anything in the world.
With Zane gone, he wished he was there to release his icy wave, maybe then he would finally have admitted he was unable to handle the heat, and let him shove him on bed-rest.
But if Zane even blasted ice in a 100 foot radius of him right now, he'd convinced he would turn blue right that second.
The group tried to find somewhere to hide out since the Land Bounty was a mess at the bottom of a cliff. They'd been walking for around an hour now, or was it two, three, and he was seriously considering asking the others to turn back and pray they find it again, at least they knew there was guaranteed shelter around that cliff, it would just take them a while to find it.
But surely people lived in this realm. There must be some villagers, a single shed?
Everyone else was cold, but only he lingered behind the rest, so he was taking it worse than the others, they wouldn't go back just for one person who can't handle a little cold, even while they had their winter-gis on.
The insulated coats, huge fluffy hoods and gloves weren't doing much for him at all, except he realised that if he wasn't in this, he might have died as soon as he stepped outside. Though, the others would have handled it a little better with how well they seemed to still be handling the cold.
They'd reach a forest a while ago, scared off a wolf, then…
A village appeared through the trees.
"I see…" Lloyd squinted, breathing out a sigh of relief, "There's houses, a- a village!"
The others stopped, enamoured by such a beautiful sight, but…
Where was that village? His ears were ringing, he couldn't make out whatever Jay said as she ran to the front of the group and jumped in the air like a cartoon character jumping in glee.
After that, their multi-coloured GIs were blending together, the white snow that had been shrouded in grey with how many clouds were in the sky was now blinding, it rushed from a calm white to the glow of a blinding sun, especially when some orange coloured specks appeared above the rest of the ninja.
Two of them, to be precise, high in the air, getting a little closer, then getting faster, faster, then…?
"Oh, there's people, I've never seen something more beautiful!" Cole rejoiced, he could finally make out his voice, and where he was amongst the group. Above that, he had to get to them, he was waddled behind, he worried the others would forget him, or the dense forest would whisk him away to die buried in some snow that would fall off a branch, but he just lingered a foot behind them.
Except that foot was a lake to Kai, as each time he tried to move, his legs felt like they would crack, like trying to bend an icicle - it wouldn't go do what you wanted, it would break under the pressure with any force.
Shivering was the only way his body knew to move right now.
His lungs would soon turn to ice too, they crackled, grew so cold that it started to resemble heat. It felt like the back of his throat had a deadly layer of ice not letting any air in, or maybe the air got frozen before it ever reached him in particular, because it seemed like the others were breathing just fine with how Lloyd ran to the two…orbs of glowing orange?
"You have no idea how…"
Voices faded away, down into the mountain of snow beneath them that touched his boots, the boots he assumed didn't work at all, because the cold shot pain through his legs, and he was stumbling over.
Breathing hurt, but he'd kept breathing the whole way here, in and out, he kept telling himself. Carrying a body would be difficult in this weather.
Don't think about that.
People got closer, more people that were there when they got to this place.
Oh, those glowing sticks were closer now, right above him, in fact. Faces finally came into view, but he couldn't keep hold of them for long enough to decipher who they were, just that they were really close.
"Kai? Someone said his name, but he couldn't even turn his head, nor move his arms, his fingers, maybe not even his eyes.
Back at home, his bed was warm and fuzzy, it took a lot of willpower to get up from there each morning, because, wow, had Master Wu got some of the most relaxing matresess in all of Ninjago. The ground below him was…fluffy? He could sleep right now, take anything that resembled a nice warm bed, the more he relaxed into it, the easier it was to forget about his body fumbling every breath.
So he closed his eyes and drifted into a warm dream.
—
"I am Uthaug, this is Boma, we will help you." two men had found them, and right after, that was when Kai had suddenly fallen to the ground, cold beyond reason.
Lloyd followed them with the others, while Nya carried Kai, she put a hand to his cheek and shuddered away. He already knew he was way too cold, taking the effects of the Never-Realm harder than anyone.
Maybe he should have paid more attention to his team, then they could have noticed how much Kai was struggling? He would have offered his jacket, layered him up with even more clothes, sacrificing his own fluffy jacket to get him warm. He was suspecting that it had to do with his loss of powers, Kai was always warm, even when he complained of being cold, he was still like a beacon of heat.
Right now, he was not at all.
The blue tips of his fingers as they got him onto a cot by a fire showed that.
An old woman sat calmy by the fire shot up and rushed to Kai, who to her, was a complete stranger, but just like these two villagers, she was quick to help. Lloyd had little time to appreciate the immediate warmth that room brought them, way too focused on Kai, who was still unconscious.
Some kids peaked their head inside, "Kids, kids, close the door, if you wish to come inside, please help these travellers." the old woman rushed them inside. She worked efficiently, she pointed for the kids to get some soup for the "travellers", as they called the ninja, and then asked for the two men that had found them to get blankets.
"Thank you, thank you!" Cole expressed while blowing on the soup, it was quickly in their hands, and he didn't care what it was, it was food in his stomach and heat on his bare hands.
Boma guided Lloyd down to a cushion around the fire and handed him a blanket, then soup like the others had. It came straight from the pot already burning on the fire in the middle of the hut, fresh and piping. He reluctantly took it, but the woman was removing the gloves from Kai very calmly, then gave a smile back at him, so he let himself relax enough to take some sips.
"It is hypothermia." the lady turned to them, feeling Kai's hands. The group had been quickly shuffled into this room while this mysterious elder of a village had handeled their unconscious friend, but…they were desperate, and she seemed trustworthy enough. She hadn't said much until now, giving a diagnosis to the freezing Kai.
"Is he okay?" Jay put his soup down, having already gulped down half of it.
Lloyd respectfully used his spoon to take sips, but he wanted to do the same.
"Yes, yes, he'll be fine, I've dealt with a case of hypothermia a few times in my years, especially now, when the cold is growing too thick."
Lloyd raised an eyebrow, and stood closer to take a look at Kai. "Oh, okay…" he mumbled, he still had the blanket wrapped around his shoulders, the soup still warmed his hands, it was nice, but…Kai was clearly still so cold. He knelt down, and she continued working when the man came in with more blankets.
"My name is Sorla, of the people of Great Lake." she blurted out, Lloyd stepped back and continued looking at Kai. "And you are?" she looked to the others while the men got more blankets onto him.
"We're…um, ninja, from another realm, called Ninjago. We're here to save a friend." Nya explained, sipping on her soup. You could see their rosy, cold cheeks dimming already around the fire.
"I see, well, first you must worry about this friend."
Lloyd jumped up, "Worry?" the blanket fell off his back.
Sorla flailed her hand around, then looked back at Kai, she grabbed a warm cloth and placed it on his head, "Oh no, don't worry too much, this fire and some warm soup will heal him." she chuckled, and Lloyd looked back to the other ninja with raised eyebrows.
"How long until he wakes up?" he calmed, kneeling back down. Kai's breathing was ragged, a slight scratch to it, but it was still at a rhythm, not too fast. But then there were his fingers, the tips blue, extremely cold to the touch, so he grabbed them and tucked them inside the blanket. He sighed and looked back at the others.
"Soon, but please, sit by the fire and warm yourself up." Sorla urged, then Lloyd hesitantly itched closer to the fire, then finally taking his seat beside Nya. "Oh, he is waking up." she exclaimed, Boma grabbed another bowl immediately and whisked it to them.
"Oh!" Cole jumped up, stretching over to look at him, the others did the same, but Lloyd was right up, rushing to Kai, who may still be very out of it from…passing out from such cold.
Kai groaned, his head squirmed side to side but his body stayed still, whether that was from the mountain of blankets above him, or being frozen from the cold, Lloyd couldn't tell. But the moment his eyes were open, he was opening his mouth to speak, it just pained him more when all that came out was one weak cough, a way to rack in more cold air.
Sorla patted the cloth over his head again, then smiled at him. "Here, what is your name?" she asked while she held the soup in-front of him.
When he didn't answer, Lloyd inputted instead, "His name is Kai."
Suddenly, Sorla was holding Kai upright and had a spoon by his mouth like a kid being lured to eat his veggies with an airplane. "Well, hello Kai." she grinned, "Care for some soup?"
He pulled back, but maybe he saw the smoke lifting from the food, sensed its warmth, since he suddenly leaned into it. Nya had joined him, smiling at Kai who was reduced to whatever this was from the cold. She giggled as he ate, but when he paused to take a shaking breath, awareness seeped back into his face, so she stopped.
"What happened?" he looked around. "I'm so…cold."
Cole joined them too now, he came to his side and put an arm on his shoulder, the jumble of blankets made it a little harder to decipher where any of his body was, though. "You got hypothermia, buddy, and passed out." he explained, Kai sheepishly turned to watch him.
"I did?" he shuddered, then with his hand under the blankets, pulled one further into himself, "Man, I don't remember much."
Jay was by his side next.
He looked to the bowl again, his hands reached for it but didn't go very far when they hit the cold air. It was still warm where his bed was, but not as comfortable as the fire, Lloyd assumed he couldn't be put so close to boiling fire after being so cold. Kai accepted the spoon-feeding, his eyes were half-lidded and empty as he took sips of warm soup.
"The people of this village are helping us, this is Sorla." Nya added.
"My fingers are blue." he observed while shoving them back inside the blanket.
Jay pouted his lips, "That's what Hypothermia does to 'ya."
His voice was sluggish and monotone, and still haunted by the cold air that had grasped at his throat out there, "But…" he got fed another sip, perhaps he had given up on dignity in the cold, because the usual Kai would not take that. "But none of you…you're all fine."
He snuggled his head into the pillow again, but didn't close his eyes, they stayed staring at the ceiling, turned slightly away from the rest of them.
While Kai never took cold well, that was just his own personal preference and annoyance to everyone else. His body still ran warm, he just was so used to heat that a mere 20 degrees was like an ice plunge. Things were different when the thing that warmed you was stripped from your body.
His body had never known true cold, it could always protect him in the cold. But now, every protection he had was gone, and combined with also hating the cold, he couldn't handle it like the others. With time, his body would adjust, but Kai clearly didn't want that time, he wanted his powers back soon enough that he would never have to think about the cold again.
"Well…" Lloyd rubbed his head, "Since your powers were stolen, we think it might have to do with that. Your body's not very used to being cold."
Kai, while still half-aware, still frowned, "Oh, right."
Everyone exchanged looks, the silence remained for a moment, but at least they had the comfort of the crackling fire. He hoped that to Kai, it wasn't just a reminder of what he didn't have anymore.
"Well, get better, keep warm." he finished, then shot up again, his hands on his hips. "Sorla, we can watch over him."
Cole scooted around, "Yep, thank you for helping us."
Sorla nodded slowly, but opted to stay in the room, the ninja were still practically strangers after all. "Though, is there anything we need to…watch out for?" he rubbed his head again and looked to the corners of his vision, where Kai still was jumbled inside blankets and cushions, and now Jay was feeding him the soup as he grumbled, his head turning away.
There was clearly something more to his face than that.
"Yes, but just keep him warm, I will get some treats for him too, to get some sugar in his body." Sorla explained, then leaped up into a crate with some old looking bars of food, he couldn't tell what they were, but he assumed farming was tough in this snow, "Please, you all must eat, the cold can easily drain your energy away."
"Thank you!" he grabbed the bar, nibbled on it, to find himself pleasantly surprised at the taste.
The others went back to their seats but himself and Jay, Nya had quickly brought the warm cloth over again after heating it over the fire for a few seconds, and plopped it onto Kai's head. Jay continued to spoon-feed, Kai stayed quiet, but mumbled a few words of reluctance either way.
At least he was okay.
Lloyd was unsure how he would continue to fare in this realm, and how much more his loss of powers will affect him, both his mind and body. He leaned closer and watched intently, "Jay, stop annoying him, and Kai, let him feed you, you can't take your hands out the blankets, okay?" he ordered, but tried keeping softness in his voice.
"And, Kai, get better, okay?" he smiled, "Your powers will be back in no time."