Chapter Text
Prologue — Chapter Zero
Introduction to: The Guide
The white stars, spread in the endless night sky, shine brightly upon a dark figure, alone in the desolated streets at the outsides of Ninjago City.
Lloyd—
Wait.. No.
Morro walks with ease, his black hair dancing alongside the wind, fluidly moving back and forth.
The ghost admires the view above him, a sight he as long since last seen with such careful eyes.
He shakes his head sharply, now's not the time to be lost in memories, he reminds himself. After all, he has a mission to accomplish.
With a low growl, the Elemental Master of Wind resumes his path.
STOP!!
His legs complies, almost getting him to fall face front and have a meeting with the rocky, dirty ground.
“First Master.. He's a stubborn one, isn't he?” Morro mutters for no one to hear.
Except for that stupid brat and himself, that is.
Im not a brat!! And this is my body, not yours! So give it back!
The ghost tunes out the kid's voice almost immediately. Years of experience possessing bodys could never properly prepare him for this guy and his useless mindset of never give up.
Pathetic.
Sometimes, Morro would see in the back of his mind memories that once belonged to the former Green Ninja.
Most of them contains the same people on it, colorful nobodys that plagued the brat's mind.
But one seems to shine brighter than the others. That red man. What was his name again?
Kai.
The answer came flouting to his mind on it's own, almost automatically, by nature.
Right, Kai.
He stands out from everyone in Brat's memories, loud and steady, full of himself.
He already hates him, and he hasn't meet him.
Yet.
A smug inevitability grows from the corner of his mouth.
They had no idea of what was coming on their way.
Morro felt Brat complain once again, reclaiming and shouting the same bullshit over and over, like a broken disc on repeat.
But now he paid no mind. He has another business — much more important, that requires his full attention.
The sole image of the expression those pesky Ninja will wear — of the emotions that will be reflected on their faces when their time has come to an end, sends a shiver of excitement through his newly acquired body.
The look on Red's eyes, the pure fear, rage, sadness. The spiral of feelings he'll have to encounter, the sight of his supposedly strong, unbreakable attitude begin reduced to an emotional mess..
Morro laughs, one hand flying to cover his mouth to muffle what little sound he made.
This will be fun.
Lloyd screams, but no one hears. Not even himself.
A loud tud echoed troughout the tea shop.
“Shit.”
Cole reaches down to grab the broom with one hand, his mind anywhere but in the present.
“What's the matter?” asks Jay, tilting his head to the side so he could face his friend.
The Black Ninja doesn't answer immediately, silently staring daggers to what's ahead of him.
The Steep Wisdom's entrance.
He sighs, tiredness heavy on his shoulders. “I don't know, I just—”
His brows furrows deeply.
“— I have a bad feeling, that's all.”
Jay follows his line of vision, an expression of confusion written all over his freckled face.
He glances briefly to Cole. “Maybe it's just your imagination. It's been a while since we had a big mission, after all.” the lightning elemental points out, shrugging it off.
He hums under his breath. “Maybe you're right.” he walks over to stand beside the ginger, letting the broom rest on the wall.
“I'm always right!”
The sound of footsteps coming from their backs gradually reaches their ears, slow and confident.
“You? Right?? ” Kai remarks, wearing his usual crooked smile. “In what world are you living in?”
The boy in blue turns around sharply, one finger pointed at the brunette, who stops a few centimeters away.
“Excuse me?? That's just a fact!!”
“More like a lie.”
The boys shout loudly. Behind them, Zane makes himself known, not even bothering to hide the playfulness in his eyes.
“Dude!” Jay shrieks. “You're supposed to be on my side!” he pouts, opting to ignore his previous scare.
“Oh, was I?” he laughs without remorse, the freckled boy looks at him as if he's been betrayed in battle.
The four continue to chat together, teasing and making fun of each other. But despite the comfortable moment, Cole can't help but keep glancing at the front doors.
Why do I feel like this night isn't gonna end well?
Their shift has finally come to an end.
The four ninja —plus Nya— are all done with their work, and neither of them wants to be the one in charge of washing dishes ever again.
“I swear! That lady keept drinking tea just so I had to wash all of her sh—”
“Jay, language!!” Master Wu scolds, eyes closed, brows furrowed ever so slightly, more noticeable due to age. “We are still at the tea shop, show more respect.”
The Blue Ninja rushes to apologize. The last thing he wants right now is more work to do.
All of a sudden, a strong rush of wind hits the Steep Wisdom's walls, making everything tremble with force.
Kai rushes to the counter, catching the tea pot he —purposely— forgot to put away just in time before it hit the ground.
He exhales loudly, bumping his forehead on the wooden floor.
“Uhh.. Did anyone checked the weather?” asks the lightning elemental, a drop of sweat making it's way down his cheek.
“I did. And it didn't say anything about strong wind for today, nor within the next weekend.” Zane responds with his dominant hand scratching his jaw.
Master Wu hums, stroking his large barbe, deep in thought.
Cole felt as if he's strongly hold in place, his old feeling coming back to hunt him at full force.
“Well, you guys know how the contamination has the Earth. The weather's all crazy now days!!” the Black Ninja rapidly shouts, eager to try and brush it off.
Even when he's the most worried one out of them.
“Cole's right,” Nya seconds, heading straight for the exit. “And even if he isn't, it's not our problem.”
Just as she opened the cristal door with one hand, a second blow of cold wind just so happened to shot, resulting in her stumbling backwards, caught off guard.
Exactly five seconds later, she huffs, exasperated and a tiny little embarrassed, Cole notice. “Okay, that was not normal.”
“See!?” Jay, on edge as usual, can't help but squirt, hands flying around with dramatic postures.
A minute pass in silence, they wait. Still, not a single wisp of whatever that was forms outside.
“That wind..” Wu murmurs, but his talk is left unfinished when a familiar shadow appears at a considerable distance.
walking to stand before the glass, Kai recognizes it in no time.
“Hey, it's Lloyd!!”
“First Master, what took him so long!? He's lucky if we don't make him take all of our shifts after this!” the ginger quickly exclaims, rushing to take the space beside the brunette.
“That wouldn't be recommended.” Zane comments, voice neutral with a touch of amusement.
“But it's what he deserves for skipping his!!”
“I mean, he's been pretty busy. He's the Green Ninja, after all.” Nya adds, indifferent at the look the ginger send her way.
“But we're Ninja too!!!”
“Not me.”
As the group starts an argument in the background, Master Wu locks his eyes straight at the moving body of his nephew.
Cole rises an eyebrow at this, and follows his line of vision.
It's dark outside, with grayish clouds blocking the nocturnal sky. Lloyd makes his way to them, but his face stands out of reach.
Wait...
He didn't had that clothes on before, right? His gi is still there, but what is that black cape-like thing above it??
He's thrown out of his mind as another unpredictable, invisible force hits the shop. Nya and the other Ninja stop abruptly arguing.
Lloyd kept on walking, apparently unaffected by this. His faces remains unseen.
“Lloyd should hurry if he doesn't want to learn how to fly!” Jay squirts, half joking half serious; glueing himself to Cole's left arm as another blow crashes.
The earth elemental pushes his airbrum friend easily aside with his free hand.
“He doesn't seems to mind though.” he rumbles, suspicion aching in his muscles, anticipation keeping his posture midly rigid.
What for, exactly?
Silence installs itself in the room, so thick you could cut it with your own teeth if you really want to.
And then—
WOOSH!!
The doors of Steep Wisdom shot open with the same fierce force that has been locking them inside.
Everyone's arms fly to cover their faces in autopilot.
“Students, go to the back of the tea shop and get out!” Master Wu shouts above the rush of wind.
And, for obvious reasons, said students don't lose time in complaining loudly against it.
“What!? No!! ”
“What're you talking about, Wu!?”
“No offence, but ARE YOU NUTS!?”
“But Lloyd's still out there!!”
“I don't think that's a good idea, Master!”
“SILENCE!!”
Stunned, the young adults silence themselves in the blink of an eye. It's not everyday Wu loses his patience, after all.
As the powerful blow scratches aggressively their figures, Lloyd's pace never falters. Not for one second.
“You have to listen to me! That is not—” before he gets to end his sentence, however, the furious wind suddenly dissipates.
Everyone in the room, not expecting the abrupt disappearance, almost go crushing downwards with the weight of their own bodys.
Cole pants loudly, breaths coming in uneven tries to get the oxygen in, arms placed over his jelly-like knees as a support.
No one says anything for a moment.
But there was no need, as the air head Cole has for a teammate rapidly rushes towards the outside without bothering to inform his friends beforehand.
Because of course not!!!
Almost like a second nature, the raven-haired boy fled behind him, the lack of air in his lungs long forgotten.
His instincts didn't gave him nearly enough time to acknowledge if the others were following their tray or not, tough.
“Lloyd!! Are you okay, bud?” the brunette is quick to close the distance between them, placing a hand on the blond's shoulder.
No response.
Cole's legs come to a stop with unsure, slow steps at a considerable distance. The back of his neck itches, his stomach feels hollow in a way that's heavy and painfully present.
The blonde appears to not notice their presence at all, which is weird enough already.
“.. Lloyd?” Kai's voice falters, noticeable enough even himself could hear the uncertainty grow in him.
The earth elemental is getting anxious about the whole situation —what even is the situation??—, nonetheless, he makes no move to approach and find out.
“Kai..” Lloyd managed at last.
But his voice sounds a little off. Raspy. Is he getting sick?
“You sound weird. Did you catch a cold on your way here?” the hair gel-obsessed boy envelops the younger one in what Cole can tell is a pretty warm side hug.
He's not about to dwell into that last thought. It's pretty obvious, after all.
Kai searches for Lloyd's face. But as soon as he inches closer, the Green Ninja forcefully grasps him by his right forearm and slams him painfully on the floor, as if the brunette weights no more than a single feather.
And Cole can't believe his eyes.
When did Lloyd dye his hair black!?
But most importantly.. Why did he react like that?
I mean, yeah, Kai can get a little irritating at times, but what did he do right now to deserve that? That was.. Too much.
“Kai!” the Black Ninja bolts with the intention of getting closer to the duo, only to get pushed away with a sudden rush of wind.
He's getting really sick of this stupid wind.
Cole crashes on his back, more dumbfounded for begin hit —does it even count if it was air?— than for the hit itself.
The remaining Ninja and Nya are standing by his side now, all with the same emotion clearly painted in their faces. Shock.
“.. Lloyd? ” Kai carefully managed to say from where he's begin hold, voice impossibly small, faltering.
Kai never, never, falters.
Not when it's about family.
For the love of The First Spinjitzu Master, can someone explain me what the fuck is going on??