Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

'I will take your fire!' The Hypnobrai sorceress flicked her tail, fangs gleaming as she grinned at the ninja. The serpentine gleam in her eyes brightened as she stared Kai down.

'Go on, try me,' he replied. His hands went up in a blaze, his confidence- always his weakness, in the end. Fire danced in a complicated tango round his fingers, circling his wrists. 

And yet he still missed the blast, as quick as lightning.

'Kai! Look out!'

A feminine voice. FSM, who else could it possibly be- his sister, or course, but why was she-

He hit the floor, stunned, confused, remembering faintly the feeling of hands on his gi, then looked back.

Nya had shoved him out of the way, taking the hit. Her eyebrows were knitted together, teeth clenched as she began to levitate into the air. There were echoes of pain muttering round the edge of her fingers and flickering in her chest, but it didn't feel so bad...

(If only she knew how much she would regret that thought later.)

Aspheera looked confused, but by hell she'd go with it. One source of power is better than none, and although she would have preferred the fire ninja she would work, no certainly could, work with this.

A shockwave forced them away from him as the Serpentine began to steal her element. The feelings kicked in a second later, and it was like nothing Nya had ever felt before. Helplessness overwhelmed her along with the horrible, uncomfortable, excruciating pain. Her very being, her soul felt as if it was being ripped away.

A steady blue vortex of energy was already flowing towards the snake, pink forked tongue flickering between her teeth, a slightly confused smile on her face. Water felt strange to her, the way a master of ice could fear one of fire.

There was a quiet instinct that told her to stop, to stay away but the rest of her wanted more. It was power that was so very intoxicating to her. It felt delicious and foreign, and it thrummed through her veins. She could feel herself changing ever so slightly at the molecular level, her Pyro Viper self altering. 

Sweet whispers of energy was all she could hear, the sound of her strength.

The screaming was all Kai could hear, the sound of his sister's agonised cries of pain. 

He was frozen, he was moving, he was still, he was rushing towards Aspheera with his only thoughts being to protect, to kill, to defend, to murder. He could barely hear Jay's yells.

'She's stealing her elemental powers!' Kai answered, not even sure what they were talking about, it had better be about Nya, because it was so obvious, and he had to protect Nya, why was Jay the only one moving, hands crackling with lightning, blue mixed with a dangerous violet balling around his fists. No, the other ninja had to help. Maybe they were already. He was already guiding himself through the familiar Spinjitzu moves.

(Maybe 'guiding' was the wrong word. He was just doing it automatically, launching himself at the sorceress.)

(She can't die, but she can die.)

The cavern temperature was violent, changing from negative to boiling to dry in seconds. The maelstrom of constrasting elemental powers does tend to do that.

In the back of his mind, as Kai launched into a tornado of fire, he wondered. He had lost his powers before, but he couldn't imagine what it would be like to have them be drawn out of you, slowly but surely, excruciatingly. Whirls of watery slivers and cyan light was lighting up the cavern, as Nya thrashed, trying to remove herself from it all, screaming, screaming all the while. So much screaming, and he wanted it all to stop.

He was so close to her neck, and then-

Well, as it turned out, the snake knew spinjitzu too.

It seemed like nothing to her, child's play, a storm to a gentle wind as she smashed them out of the way with a bright, larger, far more powerful tornado of her own. Lloyd, Cole and Zane, Jay no matter how furiously they fought. Kai's was a small breeze compared to hers.

The 'fight' wrapped up, with the winded ninja strewn around the place like so much rubbish.

The vortex swirled in on itself and vanished. Nya fell to the ground, fluttering between and barely breathing. Her face looked pale and barely human. But her eyes. Her eyes, always so filled with love and personality and her element, seas swirling in these brown eyes.

As she looked over to Kai, turning her head ever so slightly from the rocky ceiling, he saw nothing in them. 

(Her powers are well and truly gone.)

Her eyes shut, and Kai knew he could get or read no more else out of her.

It was nothing for Aspheera to capture them, as much as they attempted to fight. She moved them away with her staff, using balls of light to drag them out. Jay and Kai just so happened to be the most annoying out of all of them, frequently trying to wrench themselves out of the prison to get to Nya, so she quickly conjured a small, watery blue sphere that hit Jay in the face and sent him to Dreamland. 

It was also the last thing Kai saw as well.

The ninja had been attempting to fight Aspheera with the Scroll of Forbidden Spinjitzu, but it was no use. Her magical range, fighting range, physical capabilities, her Spinjitzu felt far out of their league. But they've defeated worse. You know, such as Evil himself, twice.

(Correction: It was mostly Lloyd and Zane. But… okay, well they have, as a team, defeated tons of other people! Formalities.)

He steeled himself for another brawl. Ninja never quit.

Any moment now, the Staff would come rolling. He could hear it, whispering to him, even as Lloyd wielded it, fire and flame and power wrapped up in a scroll.

(He’d only held it once.)

FSM, this was taking a while.

Kai hadn't really paid attention to Zane or Jay when these two were muttering on about physics and tech or whatever. Something vaguely science-y. But he had remembered something about two equals canceling each other out. Or maybe it was something about two equals in perpetual combat, as Zane had put it. Forever doomed to fight until another factor takes one out. 

Kai had left then to check on Lloyd, finding him playing videogames in the common room and himself sliding down next to him to join in.

Now he almost wished he had stayed with the two. Almost. There really was only so much Jay nerd talk he could've put up with before he needed out. Normally, it was bad. But then was worse.

Well, he knew the equals here were the Staffs. But what factor would be the one to take one out? The ninjas, or...

Lloyd was knocked out of the battle, wincing, the scroll flying into Jay's hands. It wasn't there for long, and although the lightning ninja gave his all it hadn't been enough. Surely the snake would have been tired out by now... but no. Cole tried as well, but as Zane ran over to him to make sure he was okay it had rolled over to Nya; although she picked it up, swinging it around the same way the others had, nothing happened. No giant waves, no cyan light. 

‘It needs elemental powers to feed on,' yelled Zane, holding Cole, his robotic overtones taking Nya out of her annoyed reverie. With a glance, the nindroid took over, and with a blast of pure ice-

'No one hurts my friends!'

-froze all the Hypnobrai. He smiled ever so slightly for a moment, then a hand went up to his head, evidently in some pain. Flinging the staff away, it rolled towards Kai, and he reached to pick it up slowly, glancing at the frozen form of Aspheera. He wanted to hurt her more than Zane had, far more than that. 

(Should he, though?...)

'Wow..' Cole looked awed, smiling. 'How did you do that, Frosty?'

'I- I do not know, Cole. My senses however feel a strange disturbance. The nindroid equivalence of a headache. Yet at the same time I feel a yearning to hold it again.' Zane glanced at the staff, right near Kai's hands. 'Kai?'

Wu looked stern. 'The Scroll is not to be messed with. Although it is powerful, it corrupts. Kai, give it to me- I must deal with it.'

Kai allowed himself to pick it up. His hair immediately flared into bright crimson, brilliant red sparks fizzing from where his hand held it. He hesitated. The scroll seemed to be talking to him. Whispers of power. 

Do you not want to enhance your flames, Master of Fire? Wield me, and receive power beyond your wildest dreams?

Once, you would have wished to be the Green Ninja.

That time may have passed, as close as you might have been, but I can help you be the strongest of all. Stronger than your friends. Stronger than your sensei.

There's no need to listen to this old man. Why don't you hold on for longer?

He immediately understood why Zane had threw it away. The more this stick talked, the more it hurt.

And yet...

(No. He can't.)

Walking over to Wu, he was about to hand it over when Lloyd yelled. 

'Look out!' Kai whipped around, just noticing a searing blast of pink energy headed towards his sensei. Somehow the snake had gotten a hand loose, grinning evilly even as she was trapped in the ice, as the shot hurtled towards Wu.

Without thinking, and with the scroll still clutched in his hand, he shoved Wu out of the way, getting a mild feeling of deja vu. 

(Is this how Nya felt, as she saved me?)

He never even got to take a look at his certain death, disappearing into the wind before anyone else could even move.

The Staff clattered to the ground from frozen Serpentine fingers, the ninja shocked into stillness.

Kai was gone.

Chapter Text

It was cold. So bitterly cold.

Or at least it was before Kai used his element, but the snow whipped at his hair and eyes, putting out the fire almost as fast as he could summon it. No matter how long he summoned it for, the fire flickered out seconds after- maybe it was the fault of wherever he was now. Was he even still in Ninjago?

He hated to admit it, but he might- no, may have to rely on that cursed staff. 

Should he even, though? He remembered the stern talkings the rest of his team, from Wu had each received. The Staff was dangerous. It would corrupt you. It may seem good, but it never will be.

As soon as he thought this, a massive wave of cold shook the fire ninja and most of his worries evaporated. Besides, after he found a safe place to stay for a bit,

(If he ever could anyways...)

he'd be able to put it down, right?

Reaching for the staff around him, he realised he had dropped it in the panic after he had gotten here.

(Said panic was mostly a 'bit' of denial and an awful lot of terror, as much as he hated to admit it.)

It felt like an eternity digging through the snow, but probably realistically was only a few seconds.

This damn wintry hellscape. His hands shaking ever so slightly, he felt around again through the white- if he lost it, he would die for sure- and this time pulled it out by the Scroll, his hair immediately catching fire. The inferno surrounding his head was so hot, snowflakes evaporated mere seconds after making contact. No, actually scratch that, they never even got the chance to make contact- a small area around him was totally untouched by snowflakes and ice, his own little bubble of heat.

Hands aflame, clutching the staff for support, he could see around for the first time. Not that he could see too much at all. It was still a whirlwind of snow on all sides, but far less than before- he must have been too disoriented to realise. The ferocious snowstorm was already dying down, and his foot was already burning holes into the snow. He could feel dirt and earth under his feet, and looking down he could just see burns engraved into the ground.

His powers were extremely useful in this strange world, bright sparks flickering from the Scroll allowing him to see, albeit not by too much. He then realised that he was probably announcing his presence and arrival to just about every single creature or person in the vicinity, and toned the flames down ever so slightly.

Seriously, with his luck he'd probably end up getting attacked by an army of undead icy Serpentine, or revived skeletons, or both. He doubted he'd ever get a rest. Ah, the way of the Ninja. How peaceful and calm. All these legends about people dressed in black, creeping through the night with dark gi and light footsteps? Eh, no. Jay's fallen through roof tiles quite a bit. And Cole, as lighthearted as he could be, had a connection with the Earth that didn't exactly make him the lightest guy in the room. On the other hand, he was really good in hand-to-hand combat.

It was at this moment, when he was contemplating all the possible ways he could die and how his friends were, that the Staff began to speak.

Oh, Ninja of Fire.

You see how formidable you are now? With me? Far more powerful than the Green Ninja, strength to rival. 

Keep holding on, boy. And it is all yours.

Kai banished all treacherous thoughts from his mind.

'Nope. Not even doing it. I should not even be talking to this thing! Seriously, it would be so much better if I talked to a rock. Might as well settle with a log. There isn’t, like, a 100% chance of going insane-o.'

Shaking the staff hard for good measure, the conflagration on his head had rose several inches. Again, he toned it down. 

(It was probably super hypocritical of him to keep on using the staff while he ranted on about not using the staff. But it was that or die, and besides, he was very sure he could handle it. Very, extremely sure.)

Sighing, he masterfully dodged an open crack in the ground, wondering what would have happened if he’d fallen in, before tripping over a fairly large, ice-melted rock, because of course Kai, the legendary Fire Ninja could be taken down by a small piece of cliff. Well, he really hoped no-one saw that . Not only because it was kind of embarrassing, but because he wasn't sure what would happen if anyone approached. Would he scare them, or would they fight him? Would they bother with friendliness or straight up try to kill him?

Best to lie low. Or try to, with his bonfire head.

(It did not matter- whatever he tried to do, it would just not stop. Wasn’t anything else he could do.)

He walked on through the steadily dying snows. Looking out for stray rocks, of course. His newest, deadliest enemy. 

(Well known for conquering egos and silencing the proud.)

Vex had been wandering around in the cold for far too long. He was foolish, assuming he could find a rabbit or bird for tonight's dinner instead of more sad, wilted greens dug from the icy ground with his frozen fingers.

(Life alone is not all it’s cracked up to be, especially here.)

Instead, a blizzard whipped itself up the moment he'd stepped outside his cave, and like an idiot he thought he could navigate through the snow. He'd done it before. Unfortunately, not in a storm like this.

Just because he'd lived in the Never-Realm all his life did not mean he had any wayfinding expertise, apparently. Now he had lost his fire, his source of heat along with his meagre food and belongings. He had tried to find it again, but he might as well have been walking in circles for all the good it was doing.

Not for the first time, he cursed his lack of Formling ability. If he could transform into a wolf, a bear, a bird, living the storm out and finding where he came from would be easy as anything. But no, Vex just had to be the only one without. There were quite a few things he missed about the village, but the jeering and teasing was not on the list.

It had been then, when he had nearly given up that he saw a small, sputtering fire in the distance. Another human?

Maybe, if he was lucky enough he could catch up. With the last of his energy, he ran towards it, hoping to count on the goodwill of its creator. Something Vex hated, but maybe he could twist their kindness to his advantage later. He would never run up to someone so weakly, but he was desperate.

Vex had not run far however when the fire tripled in size. He could just feel it from here, even from this far away- the blaze was powerful. Wary, but marginally warmer, he backed away slightly. Perhaps the halfwit who had set it was dead. Burned alive, perhaps? Maybe he could make use of it instead.

But with the somewhat increased light, he could see that the fire was not on the ground, it was- it was emanating from someone. It was part of them, he realised in shock. Flames dancing on their head. 

A demon?

Almost certain he would die, he nearly ran away, but then he stopped. And looked closer.

It did not seem to be a demon, no. It looked like.. a boy. Not older than 20, by the looks of it, and he seemed to be holding a staff, with a piece of paper tied to it and whipping around in the breeze. Only his hair was aflame, not his whole body.

As the boy tripped and fell on his face, he doubted there was any dark forces at play. Walking closer, enough to see the boy but not for the boy to see Vex himself he noted his eyes. In these blazing red eyes, he saw kindness. Fire, and warmth.

(Kind people were the easiest to break, he knew.)

The blaze had died down a little, with the fading blizzard. He could barely hear anything the boy was saying. Something about embarrassment, maybe? Moving to the back of him, counting on the snow to muffle his steps, he thought. Mulling it over, pausing. He had lost his vital campfire, and Vex knew what death by hypothermia looked like, before all this, before, in the village. And the occasional body he found. Blue. And so brittle that you could snap their fingers off, as he had so unfortunately discovered. 

(How was he to know it was a dead woman, and not ice in the dusky light?)

Better to die to heat than cold, he reasoned and followed the light before it was lost.

The boy looked behind him, and Vex stood dead still, hoping he wouldn't notice. Turning round, the boy walked on and he followed.

(And perhaps I could... use him.)

Kai trudged on, exhaustion weighing heavily on him. No matter how powerful the Staff made him feel, even that couldn't make him keep going forever. His fires fluttered, noticeably slower than hours ago although the storm had passed. The snow itself had not, still falling in flakes.

Looking at the clear trail his footprints had left in the snow, he realised that again, he was broadcasting his general location, or direction, for anyone to see. But it had been hours. Surely no-one was out here, in this decrepit, frozen wasteland.

(There was the occasional movement, but he chalked it down to trees. He'd seen a few, but he couldn't use them as protection, as dead as they were.)

Looking at the footprints just behind him again, he was suddenly reminded of... cheese.

Could you really blame him? His stomach growled slightly.

'What I wouldn't give for Zane's cooking right now!' More than food though, he craved company. It was lonely here. 

Oh, but you are not alone, ninja. You have me, don't you?

He'd been trying his best to block the staff's commentary out of his mind. It was the only thing he had going on. And yet he began to feel a strange reliance on it now... at this point, any voice, even an evil one worming its way into your head was better than nothing. 

(Until he goes crazy. Then he'd probably have a better time, honestly. Party in the head!)

He decided to continue thinking of his friends. They helped distract him a bit. 

Zane- let's be honest here, Zane wouldn't notice anything different. The cold to him was like an old friend, wrapping him in its cool arms. He'd probably just make a whole lot of snow angels. Either literal ones sticking out of the snow, hands over eyes or by their sides, he wouldn't mind.

He made small fiery figures of his friends as he walked, waving them away with each new thought of a companion.

Cole- yeah, probably crave food just like him. Try to encourage the ninja with some speech, cheering up and the occasional call for cake.

Jay would attempt to light up the place. Figuratively, and very literally, with absolutely terrible jokes and bursts of lightning. Oh, now he misses the chatter. Yep, Kai's definitely going insane.

Nya... Was she okay? Hopefully they were taking care of her. Then again, probably not, as independent as she was. He missed her so much, imagining her comfortable presence next to her.

And Lloyd. That little guy. To Kai, his voice would still be the boyish pitch of the troublemaking Darkley student he had met all these years ago. He looked at him, and he saw not an older teen, but a younger boy- the Tomorrow's Tea forcing years on him, but the way he acted. You know, before the whole prophecy. He grinned as he remembered his thirst for candy and comic books, so long ago.

'Oh, so long ago, Kai, you sound like Master Wu.

Speaking of him, he'd probably do either of three things: drink tea, give me wise proverbs that seemingly have nothing to do with the situation or gatekeep information.'

Oops. Wasn't talking to yourself the first signs of insanity? He wasn't even sure if the voice in his head was the staff or him anymore.

He growled, annoyed. It soon gave way to fury. At Aspheera for blasting him here, at himself for getting distracted in the cave, at the stupid stick for still whispering in his head. Goodbye consent, goodbye privacy.

Yelling in anger, he blasted the ice out of his way. He expected about five metres of clearance. Instead, a good fifty metres of fire showed the way.

(Honestly, not even fifty- a full on football field.)

The blast showed a faintly outlined cluster of caves. He ran towards it, the full hundred too, far too hopeful to see where he was going. Heat waves streamed off him, melting the ice and snow in front and behind him. Snow turned to water, which slowly refroze.

Pretty good thing too.

Just in time, he stopped as the snow right in front of him melted and crumbled away, revealing a large crevasse. It was about thirty metres deep and seemed to have holes in the side. 

Watching the snow crash against the ground, he felt relieved and quite thankful that his powers had helped him.

(The Staff did though, didn't it...?)

Well, more caves. He kinda wanted to go in, but he shouldn't really be risking it. For all he knew it could 'snow', more like storm, in the middle of the night and he'd wake up under an avalanche. 

As he was thinking, his flames slowly diminished. They had been doing that for some while anyways. Good thing too, otherwise someone could have found him by now.

For all his confidence in his not being found, Kai never noticed the figure behind until it was far too late.

(It always is.)

A gentle slosh of melt and a slight crunch was his only warning, and yet it didn't help him in the end.

Kai whipped around, ready to blast them away, but the hands on his back unsettled him, catching him off guard. He imagined his sister's hands. Nya, Wu, it had happened far too many times for him today and in the end, the push forced him down.

His head smashed against a straying, smaller cliff. The pain that hit was unimaginable. Slamming into the snow,

(Oh, his head-)

knocking the wind out of him. The world was a haze of bloody red. Had he really left that much blood dripping down the walls. Surely not. That was a lot of blood for little old him. 

Hmm, there were people talking to him. His head was cradled in Nya's hands. Hands. There was a lot of hands today. Lots of pushing. Cole and Zane's voices blended together into a confusingly soft harmony, Jay's voice soothing for once. He wanted his friends. Who were his friends? It hurt. He wanted to step away from the pain. Someone green next to him, hand on his shoulder. Blond locks falling into his eyes. Both of their eyes.

He wanted to touch them and tuck them behind pointy ears, but when he attempted to, only the lightest caress of snowflakes against skin was waiting for him.

The green looked so familiar.

But for the life of him, he couldn't remember who it was.

A particularly sharp stab of pain washed his head free of any rational thinking, and Kai's last thoughts were a jumble of confusion, hurt and wishing for people whose faces were now blurs in his fading memories. 

They were colours, now.

And then they were nothing, and then there was nothing.

Chapter Text

Vex crept up behind the boy. He seemed to be thinking, peering into the strangely dotted crevasse. 

Well, no hard feelings. There must be some supplies in that clothing of his, anyways. And the staff could maybe serve as firewood. He would most likely keep it though- that blade would be useful for hunting and fighting. He'd changed his mind, deciding that for now he'd stop with the kindness and be…

Well, direct is certainly one way to put it.

A treacherous little sloshing noise however alerted the boy to his presence. The murderous, fiery glare Vex was shot as flame began creeping up his hands immediately made it much easier to shove the boy in.

It wasn't even that hard. He didn't even think the boy really saw him, Vex being a shadowy figure against darkness. But there was so much heat- his hands still burned slightly, the boy smoking against the ground. And then all Vex had to do was watch him fall, and- oh, he'd just hit his head on a rock, leaving a bloody smear-

(What a shame. What a terrible shame.) 

A faint thump as he hit the ground. Eyes darting around, in panic perhaps? His hand was outstretched, as if he was grasping or tucking something. Likely some semblance of solid land. 

Soon, he fell unconscious. Not a single yell. Pride and relief turned to panic as he watched the flames go out. 

(No! It wasn't supposed to go this way! I thought- I really thought he would continue burning !)

It may have been a stupid assumption to make, in hindsight.

(Desperation makes the man.)

Looking around for a way to get down, he leaped and crawled from ledge to ledge, trying not to fall. There was a certain cluster of rocks that made it easier for him to get down, as ungraceful as he was forced to be. Landing on the floor, he ran over to the boy. There was a pulse, and the staff in his hand. Thankfully, there was some fire in his hair. By far not as much as before, but enough for warmth.

He picked the staff up, but wasn't sure what it was supposed to do. It seemed to him like nothing more than a scroll attached to a staff-blade. Well, it may not hurt to keep it. Perhaps he could use it as firewood for when the boy woke up. If he ever.

At least the body was still fairly warm, he mused. The fire was a nice bonus. He saw that the boy was wearing some sort of elaborate outfit with what looked like several layers; attempting to take one off, it turned out that it was all one artfully arranged piece. However, he had around his neck a removable mask-like cloth. Cutting it with the blade, he used half to wipe off the blood, and the other to bandage, treating the wound with clean enough snow, then dragged the boy into a cave. The body heat and fire should reflect off the walls and keep them both warm enough.

Putting the staff next to the boy, he wondered what he could do with him. When he woke up, he would see Vex- and what then? He would have to tell him that he had treated his wounds, when he fell into the crevasse, and that all Vex needed was company and warmth. Surely that was the least he could do, if there was any gratefulness. It would be easy to convince him that he'd seen his body at the bottom here, and nursed him to health.

Maybe he could say he was a lord or something, an important figure that was searching for his home village. Vex himself, obviously.

Falling into a dreamless sleep, he prayed that they would both survive the night. And that Vex would survive the day after.

He did not know who he was.

Waking up to a pounding in his head, the young man sat up, struggling to do so due to the pain. His head was throbbing, and as he put his hand to the back of it he noticed some fabric and wetness. Bringing his hand back to his face, he noticed smears of blood.

(I must have been injured.)

He looked around and noticed an interesting staff around where he was sleeping. Picking it up, he studied it- a simple wooden stick with an old, tattered scroll on it.

(His hair felt kind of warm.)

He tried to read it, but the pain prevented him from doing so; the words were swirling around on the page. Just as he was about to put it down- and he didn't have any other words for what would happen next, honestly- the staff spoke to him.

Ninj- Hmm. I see something has tampered with your memories. 

Wielder of the Element of Fire then.

His hair burst into flames. Strangely, he didn't mind- it felt rather pleasant actually, with a leaching effect that was drawing the pain out of the cut.

That nasty blow must have messed with your mind quite a bit, didn't it. My, you don't even know who you are!

He held tighter. 'How can you talk to me? Aren't you just a stick?'

I am not just a stick, boy.

'Then what are you? And- do you know who I am?'

I am the Scroll of Forbidden Spinjitzu. I am a powerful object with immense potential. And as for your identity, you will find out in time, won't you? Your spirit is powerful. You will last.

That voice, that way of speaking gave him a strange feeling of deja vu. He could almost picture a face: old, bearded, a conical hat and... It slipped away. 

(At least he could remember the general idea of the man he was thinking of, but what help could it really be without a face?)

He did his best to put it out of his memory, as much as he could without actually forgetting it. Thinking of the cooling effect the flames had on his head, and the leaching pain, he had an idea. Probably impossible, but why not try?

'If you have ‘immense potential’, would you be able to heal me?'

A pause. Very literal silence. And then-

A huge fire, metres tall, shooting up from his feet to halfway up the top of the cave, immolating him in massive flames. He yelled in shock and terror.

(For the love of everything that is, I've become a TORCH- a blazing TORCH- is this how I go out?!)

Just as suddenly as it began, it stopped. He gingerly felt the cut again- or at least, what was left of it. Pulling off the red-soaked bandages and throwing them away, he assessed the state of the injury. Except there was none- just some bumpy scarring, from what he could feel for himself and a mass of congealed blood. Nothing else of note. Well, technically this was a huge note, if the staff could heal him like this. Or was it ‘Staff’?

Using snow to clean the mess off, he turned around and for the first time noticed the figure sleeping in the back of the cave.

A bearded man with a conical hat. Yes, another one this time. But this person was fundamentally different from the first he imagined- for one, he was much younger, perhaps in his middle age, at least. His hair was brown from what he could see of it under the hat, not white like the other and he was wearing pale blue garments.

The wizened person he had so briefly imagined somehow didn’t strike him as the type of person to wear blue.

Slowly, he walked over and tapped him with his stick. He wasn’t sure how else to do so. Something about this man screamed danger, and yet he had surely been the one to help him with his injury- he doubted he could have tended to himself, judging by his state when he woke up. Could he have an idea as to who he was, maybe?

He was his only hope.

The boy started tapping slightly harder.

Vex woke up to a poking sensation in the small of his back. 

(What was it-)

Sitting up, he noticed the boy was the source of the insistent tapping, an interesting and complex expression on his face. It was both hope, worry and distrust. And yet there was gratitude on his features for the wound. 

(The healing, mind you- if he knew who had pushed him in, Vex most likely would not be awake.)

Vex gathered himself into a standing position, and watched the boy again.

He was holding the staff again, the other, rather more primary source of the tapping. The flickering flames on his head were smaller, but somewhat more ferocious in a way that was not so last night in the cold. 

It was almost like he was a different person altogether.

Vex paused for a moment, gathering his words. Remembering his plan, to frame himself as a lord who needed help. He could think of excuses for his clothes.

That was the plan. Instead, he screwed up again. 

'My Lord.'

Immediately noticing the fail in his words, Vex mentally berated himself furiously, knowing that sooner or later, most likely sooner he would pay for it.

But the boy, young man, however he could put it, looked happy in a way that wasn’t mad, simply curiously glad. He cocked his head. 'I'm a Lord?' He looked fairly excited, something sparkling in his eyes. 'You know who I am? Tell me!'

Vex paused, internally and externally, trying to understand.

‘Did you just say ‘You know who I am?’’

‘Well, unless that hit affected more of my memory… yes, I’m sure I did.’

'Have you.. lost your memories?'

(Oh, this could work out in my favour, now.)

'Well, unless my entire life has consisted of the last few minutes, which I doubt, yes, I think I have; there’s nothing concrete, mostly just pain and a few colours.’

Vex smiled in the shadows. An interesting idea sprung to mind, most likely the best way to salvage this situation, and gain something in the process.

(I do hope these memory issues are permanent.)

'You are the ruler of this land. The Fire Lord.' 

(Well, why not? Embellishing may help.)

'If I am the, well, Fire Lord, or something, why is this place so cold? Wouldn’t it be pretty warm round here?' The boy seemed to readily accept Vex’s answer, most likely grasping on to the one thing he thought he could trust.

(What a fool.)

The man in front of the boy set off distant alarm bells in his head. He couldn’t trust him yet, but he wondered if the person in front of him already did.

(What a fool.)

Although he was truly curious, and glad he had managed to find a some sort of a link to his past life. Glad, that someone from that past life had found him so soon, and cared for him. 

And yet…

'Were you the one who tended to my injury? Eh… well, of course you were, there was no way I could have done it myself…'

‘Well, of course. After all, your loyal advisor will aid his ruler whenever he needs to.’

He paused, thinking it over and crafting a fictional history from what he knew of the realm.

‘The land… The Never-Realm is a peaceful place. However, evil creatures known as Formlings and Yetis populate the place, infecting the land with their dark magics. Formlings have the ability to transform from animal to man at will, and ostracise all that do not have this ability. I was once a Formling, but when the time came for me to develop my form it never arrived and I was at once shunted from life, my father hating me for it. That was when I saw our culture for what it was. Wrong. 

As for the Yetis, they are as evil as the Formlings, killing with discrimination. Your family wanted to stop them.’

He hadn’t truly meant to tell the boy this. His past had slipped out, but emotion might help sway him.

‘I joined the courts instead and rose through the ranks of your family’s empires until I received the role of adviser, helping you deal with your royal duties. That is, until an usurper by the name of Grimfax arrived, transforming the lands of the Never-Realm into a cold and wintry land as he did so.’

Pausing, Vex gathered his wits, both for dramatic effect and to hit his audience where it would hurt most. He seemed the kind of person to mourn the lost.

‘He then slaughtered your family brutally with that army of his, then moved on to the gentry; I tried to protect you, disguising you in red clothing and myself in these rags, but everyone else unlucky enough to be inside was killed. As we were escaping from his army you fell into a crevasse and suffered… injuries.

They left us for dead, but I will not abandon the rightful heir to the throne.'

(A truly believable story, in my opinion. If you were ever a fool enough to accept it as your ‘reality’.)

He glanced up, studying the emotions on his face. There was far too many, fury mixing with grief. For a family that didn't even exist. Feelings would have no place in this, not in an empire, and he would have to figure out how to stamp them out.

(Meanwhile, the boy was thinking about the massive trauma dump the man had just inflicted on him. But there were other things for him to worry about.)

'And this Grimfax- he killed my family?' The voice interrupted his thoughts, rough.

'Yes.'

The flames on his head grew higher, fury fuelling the flames. It flickered red light throughout the cave, alarmingly raising the temperature.

The boy (his ‘Lord’?) grinned, teeth looking sharp and gleaming. Framed by the pale light streaming through the entrance to their resting place, he seemed a being of darkness itself if not for the bonfire crackling away on his head, highlighting scars on his face that Vex hadn’t noticed before, and tanned skin. 

‘He killed them all, right?’

Brilliant green eyes danced. For the first time, Vex thought, taking in the full power of the young man in front of him, he may not know where this decision would take him next. He might just be ever so slightly out of his depth.

(Be confident, Vex. You may still work with him yet. Arrogance is easy to control.)

Sighing, the ‘Lord’ turned around and cockily swung out of the cave.

'Then I suppose we will have to do something about that.'

It is a while away from the cave, and hours from when they started moving when they settled down to rest. For the first time ever that he can remember, he sleeps.

He dreams of colours.

They soon morph into faces, but no matter how hard he tries they are always just out of reach, leaping away in a tango.  

Despair overwhelms him before a veil of determination drapes itself around him, giving him the energy he needs. It causes him to leap forward, closing his hands around two swirls, bright cyan and illuminated green. A last sprig of amber, far from the others, dissipates in an imaginary wind as he stares into the prizes in his palms, willing them into being. 

Cyan explodes out of his hands.

A feminine face. Messy fringed ponytail, deep brown eyes, a small smile on her mouth and an elegantly designed outfit with streaks of layered cloth, silver and blue. She looks so familiar, and he knows that if he ever compared his own face to hers there would be a similarity between them that would be hard not to recognise. 

He felt.. a kinship towards her. A feeling of protection. As if she was a sister to him. 

(Surely she is, the way I feel?)

It tugged at his heart. Whirls of water floated around her hands.

She grinned at him before moving aside and fading back into the swirl she came from. 

No, don’t leave me, he cries, but she doesn’t listen. Maybe she can’t. The cyan zooms away, too far for him to see, realms away by the time he comes back to his senses and watches the forest-tinged show in front of him.

The green has already taken her spot, leaping and twirling through the air before solidifying.

A boyish, masculine face. Tangled blonde hair in a chaotic side part. He is reminded of hands combing through the boy's hair before he takes in the rest of him- striking leafy eyes and a similar outfit to the girl beside him, but green and gold. Bright green energy surrounded him before fading. Then he smiles softly. He’s probably speaking, but the Fire Lord can’t concentrate enough to hear him.

It hurt him, not like the pain once in his head, but in his heart, and curls tight, constricting in his chest until he could barely breathe with heartache.

He would hide the boy away, and the girl, and do anything to shield them from the dangers the world presents.

This feeling of breaking inside forces him to wake up, and the look of despair on the boy’s face is the last thing he sees; he tries desperately to keep them in his head, but in the end the dream locks itself in a small chest at the back of his head, sealing it away.

It’s only the colours he remembers, cyan and green. They must be part of his family. He didn’t feel like romantic attachments right now.

If he saw them again, in life rather than dreams, then maybe, just maybe…

He would protect them at all costs, he knows. No matter what. They would be safe, with him and everything he had after he took back the throne.

Waking Vex up, the Fire Lord walks on towards the fortress. He won’t rest until he reaches his goal- both of them.

Chapter Text

The hike to Grimfax's fortress was made much easier during the day. The Never-Realm was a dangerous place, but was made less so with adequate light; you could see what was coming before it was too late. 

Personally, Vex wanted to avoid villages. There were many clustered around the fortress, but Vex steered the boy away, telling him that they’d turn him in immediately if he even tried. It wasn’t just that, though- they were uncomfortably close to his own home, and more than anything he wouldn’t even want to see it again- unless it burned. Which was a future much more than likely to occur, the way this journey was going.

Vex was sure that if they had left at night, some sort of animal or natural disaster would befall them. Or Grimfax’s army, and although that would have been so very nice, he would rather save the battle for a darkened throne room (with adequate hiding spots) if this latest venture failed; ending up with a sword to his throat and a death sentence was not appealing.

Meanwhile, the boy-

(or was it the Fire Lord, now? Might as well get used to it.)

- was messing around with his staff, either practicing or showing off with tricks ranging from small hovering balls of fire to large blasts that obliterated everything directly in front of him in a hundred-metre radius. Glad he hadn't led the way, Vex called praise while sneering internally.

Once they arrived, should he introduce the boy, or stand aside and watch the destruction unfold?

In the end, he decided to reveal the 'Fire Lord's' presence in a grand gesture that would aim to confuse the enemy with his- really, both their existences, and make it a moment to remember. 

(Besides, introducing him as so would help cement his position as a ‘loyal follower’.)

Not that any of them would ever really ‘remember’. Vex intended to make sure no one lived to tell the tale. 

They hiked through several forests, an interesting duo, the boy clad in strange red (a colour not unheard of, but rare in this land) and the Formless (not that any would have said it to his face). Little did the boy know, but they were a stone’s throw away from some familiar villages. 

(Later, he would revisit them with his new companion.)

They would pause every now and then for meals, where the young man would simply approach a tree full of birds quietly roosting and engulf it in flame, moving aside as the branches crumbled, steam flew and the barbecued flock fell at his feet. Vex would collect some edible plants to spice it up a little, and they would sit down, but never for long as the Fire Lord wanted to hurry to their destination, eager to lay waste to the 'murderers'.

Always, he would be encouraged.

And always, he would secretly be scorned for his gullible nature.

The 'Fire Lord' was both excited, and almost enraged. Mostly excited, though. 

Excited at his newfound abilities, and the fact that he now had two links to his former life- Vex, and the staff. Both were encouraging him, motivating him to go, leave and exact justice to those who had wronged him so horribly.

Somewhat enraged at the fact that his family had been killed. The very idea felt wrong, evil to him. The ‘somewhat’ was based on the fact that he didn’t feel wholly furious. Sure, part of him was totally fine with screaming and destroying until relief came. The other part of him, however, felt quieter in a darker way. A ‘happy to let the world burn, if I could have them back’ way. Because even though he had someone walking with him, he felt more alone than ever. A stranger in this land.

There was still that quiet voice in his head telling him to stop. But it grew fainter the more he marched on, and the more the Staff talked to him.

The Staff seemed to be glad that it was welcomed. It had told him about the times it had been rejected by others, for no other reason than the things it offered.

They were weak. They couldn't handle the Scroll. But you are the first I have had in a long while to hold on to the influx of power and use it well. 

We will achieve greatness together, Fire Lord.

It really helped, the monologues sometimes. Inspiring words, helping him truly become who he was before. Reshaping this broken person into something new. 

( But was he really a person willing to murder? )

Every once in a while, bits and pieces floated around in his head, memories he was sure once belonged to him but were now locked away in some hidden box. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get anything to resurface. Just.. colours. 

Blue, white, black, cyan and green.

Sometimes, a flicker of amber. It was always occasional, and never stayed with the others.

These last two were important to him, he knew, the cyan and green, slightly more important than the others and yet equal just the same, but just when he managed to grasp them they slid away, back where they came from. 

Too far away for him to grab onto until much later.

(There were other things to focus on though, weren't there?)

Even if he couldn't remember a thing about his former life or his parents, brother, or even lovers, he still felt the unfairness weighing on him. But his fury channeled itself into a sadistic feeling of glee, knowing that he would be able to take revenge, and that was what sustained him.

Vex kept on telling him- conscience was a heavy thing to wield. It was something pointless, not even needed if he wished to rule this land well. These words sunk into his bones and weighed him down, and yet shouldn’t it free him too? Freed, from the chains of empathy? 

It was a confusing mix. He tried to listen to both voices, the moral and the new, but with every step Vex gained more and more until the quiet, moral voice became nothing more than an annoying soundtrack muttering on worriedly in the back of his head.

His only outlet was his powers of fire. He would practice endlessly, gripping onto the staff and letting the power flow through him; the tickling blaze on his head, the glowing eyes were nothing compared to his mastery. He felt truly in his element, every so often walking ahead to pause and try out a few more combinations of fighting styles and flame.

He could surround himself in inferno, something which Vex had described as 'Truly imposing, my Lord. Indeed, it would strike fear into those who would dare to oppose you.' 

Smiling at that statement, he continued on, blasting and slicing row after row of trees down, melting rocks down into slush and obliterating snowfalls. Trying his best to push down the conflicting voice of morality in his head. It would get him nowhere in a fight.

At last, after hours of walking, they spotted the roof of a massive pagoda-like structure. Climbing up yet another mountain, Vex recognised it at once. After all, it was one of the only places in the entire realm that looked anything like this.

'We have arrived, my Lord.'

Another dangerously sharp smile. 

(Finally, I can put that training to use.)

‘Well, let’s go then. What are we waiting for, Advisor ?’

Not failing to notice the thickly layered scorn emphasised on the last word, Vex inhaled slowly and hoped again that he would not regret this.

Grimfax had just returned from overlooking a training session with some new recruits to his army, settling down into his throne when the doors of his fortress burst open- no, they didn’t simply burst, they melted in a brilliant explosion of fire.

Two figures stepped through. From the top of his throne, he could make out some basic details. Lean and muscled, his spiky mahogany hair an inferno of scarlet, and a strange, red ninja-like outfit. A bladed staff was slung across both shoulders, hands draped across. The staff had what looked like a scroll tied around it and the tip ablaze with a powerful flame. He could feel the heat from here, all this way away. From the looks of it, the guards stationed near the door could too, leaning away slightly and wincing.

'What the- Who are you? What is the meaning of this?' he spluttered, caught still off guard.

(What sort of juvenile fool would enter my court looking like that?)

The other figure stepped into the light, grinning. Oh, he would recognise that face anywhere. Even from here.

'Have you forgotten me so soon?'

'Vex . What do you want?' The Formless, again? He had heard rumours, but with a stranger?

'Only to see justice done, and my lord returned to his rightful throne.'

Vex gestured towards the Fire Lord, a smile on his face. The Fire Lord could only look straight into the dark blue eyes of the usurper, seeing red, and spots dancing before his eyes. A grin split his face open again, and the staff slid off his shoulders, coming to the floor with a neat clack.

'What lord? You have bought a boy into this room! This throne is mine!'

A pause, and then the stranger slid easily into a loose stance, staff pointed down, blade first. He looked harmless, almost slouching, but someone trained in the arts could tell strained tendons from muscle and the danger coiled in his limbs. He didn’t even look like he knew what he was doing, completely unbothered. The sparks in his green eyes, however, said otherwise. A wild panther, about to strike.

For the first time in a long time, Grimfax felt… almost afraid. Ridiculous, but still… the previous bravery he had felt slowly began to slip, like a mask falling to reveal the terrified animal underneath.

Two words, from that twisted young mouth.

'Not anymore.'

…It was pathetically easy, really, in the end, when the boy had time to muse. 

(He would have all the time he needed, honestly. He had it already.)

The Fire Lord simply killed those who dared to approach him, scorching them with searing tongues of fire.

They screamed as they burned, charring on the floor and dissipating. Some were instantly charred into coal-like statues, mockeries of their former selves before the Fire Lord whirled through them and reduced them to dust. 

‘Come on! Don’t you just know when to quit? ’

Blood mixed with ashes as he fought those who were lucky, or unlucky enough to touch him using martial arts moves he hadn't known he knew. Subconsciously lashing out at anyone unlucky enough to move closer, fists and limbs, even the occasional headbutt if he really had to.

‘You can do better than that!’ Laughing, he thrust his staff through- well, someone, but watching them slump and slide off the end was more than enough time for him to slam a pointed hand and a lashing foot against another’s neck. 

(He wanted to spin around in glee.)

After about half of the army were killed, a path began to slowly form, although still fairly obstructed by the forms of the soldiers, loyal to their king.

‘You’re signing yourselves up for death. Just surrender!’

(How stupid. They might as well be begging to be killed. Why even bother?)

He blasted a pathway of fire down towards the throne, conveniently directly in front of him, with a huge snake of flame. The sides of the stairs ignited, turning into rails of smoke and fire. Grimfax leaped off, crashing onto the ground. 

'Kill them! Kill the intruders!' He still bothered to call out, after this massacre.

‘Huh, I’m surprised you can still talk, old man.’ A sword, coming a little too close to his hair was promptly slashed away, along with the attacker’s hand.

Looking at the remaining forces, some unarmed and terrified, literally in some cases, he decided not to slaughter them all. Even though they deserved it. For killing his family, of course. Why else?

After all, he himself still needed an army.

During the aftermath of the battle, he would think on what he had done to them, looking down on his new army because even he wasn't really sure.

The Staff- Scroll- or whatever whispered to him, giving him instructions which he followed to the letter, ancient magics coursing through his bloodstream as he fired at them indiscriminately. Any would work. The Scroll could fix anything. They were all hit in the end, so did it really matter?

When they finally stopped screaming and stood to attention, the veins were first and foremost, most prominent, now glowing with lava. Weapons and armour were infused with heat, flames dancing on helmets, similar to his own.

Honestly, he wasn’t even sure if they were alive anymore. Then again, that was for the better.

As one, they stood. And as one, they moved to stand beside him, a solid yet mindless force ready to destroy anything in their path. They would stop for nothing, spare far nothing just the way Vex told him it should be.

His Infernal Samurai. 

(Nice name. He liked it quite a bit.)

Well, again, yes, saying it again, pathetically easy. He had expected much more of a challenge- that would have made it so much more fun, in the end. 

(Not that the battle wasn’t, but it was over so fast.)

Grimfax glared, shivered as the Fire Lord kicked away the annoyingly dusty, crumbly cremated remains in his way. 

The former ruler looked absolutely terrified.

(Just the way it should be!)

'What demon are you?' 

Vex sauntered up, glaring at the man. 'He is the Fire Lord, and you will obey or perish!'

(Internally, Vex was celebrating, but he had always been good at poker faces. Save the emotional outburst for later- and when he said later, he meant never, really. He got the feeling that it would not be tolerated around here.)

Smiling now, the Fire Lord came closer to the shaking figure in front of him. 'You will not die.' Looking slightly relieved, Grimfax was just about to say his thanks and run hell for leather out the door, thankfully with his life.

(Unfortunately not.)

'You will burn.' 

A rope of fire wrapped around the man, absorbing itself into his skin. And he screamed.

(Oh, he loved this part. It was so very satisfying, wasn’t it. For once, the senseless moral voice in his head was quiet. Perhaps in horror, perhaps in defeat. He didn’t care which.)

The agony on his face as Grimfax slowly turned into something inhuman, something other was simply delicious. The flames deprived him of everything that made him an individual, stripping his mind down to the bare bones and twisting it into something else entirely. Fitting for someone who had murdered in cold blood, or so he thought. He allowed some remnants of personality to shine through, however.

Finally, the transformation was complete. Looking up, Grimfax- or what was left of him- stared out of dead orange eyes, his armour now charged with red energy. And his veins, a mix of crimson and obsidian, alternating between blaze and coal. 

Eternal pain. 

'Stand up, dog. From now on, you will obey me and me only. Understand?'

'Yes, my Lord.' And with that, General Grimfax walked over to his command, where he stayed in silence. Soul warped to only ever follow the commands of his Lord, and forced never to talk again, unless he followed commands just how he should.

The Fire Lord strode up the stairs, changing as he did so. The formerly grand metal banisters, he picked up and recast into a broadsword, elaborate armour and circlet, donning them as he approached the top. 

(It felt so familiar, smithing these weapons and tools… although he wasn’t sure if anyone forged with bare hands.)

As he arrived at the throne, his last creation was a fanged skull mask, placing it on his face while still red-hot.

His only sign of suffering being black tear tracks silently pouring down his face. He did not bother wiping them off. 

As he sat down, the staff in his hand ignited entirely, becoming a thing of pure fire. 

And a circular blaze shot out, bypassing the doors, the walls, the people: changing and destroying everything in the realm. 

The villages surrounding the fortress were terrified when a wall of flame approached. When it simply passed through them though, relief formed but soon turned to horror as they realised that everything they knew and loved- somewhat, it was their way of life after all- had changed in such a short period of time.

The snow had completely melted, leaving behind pitted and smoking ground, wood had been blackened and charred; useless as firewood, not that they would have needed fire anyways. The rivers were gone- evaporated, along with all water sources.

Not that the man sitting in the fortress cared. He had exacted justice, and that was all that mattered, head resting on his jaw, cocked to the side.

(Of course it would be. He wanted for… almost, nothing more. 

He still felt incomplete without them by his side.)

Vex walked up towards him, smiling.

‘This is your new age.’

Oh, his plan could not have been any more well executed. Stifling a chuckle, he took his place at the new ruler's side just as the staff spoke to the Lord.

Congratulations, my Fire Lord. Indeed, you have left your mark upon this land and avenged the fallen.

You need not age, for you must ensure no new despots attempt to overthrow your reign.

Now you will rule the realm and dominate for generations to come. 

‘Vex, we didn’t really get to see anyone else, did we? I want to see my new army in battle. Grimfax, round them up. Where’s the nearest village, advisor? Let’s see how they hold up in battle. And since half the army is… missing, I would like to add a few new recruits.’

‘There are a few populous villages near and in some forests; they are quite close to here.’

‘Excellent.’

Yes, this felt good. Right, like something he had yearned for all his life had finally come to pass. The power he had surely craved this whole time, now in his hands.

A new age, indeed.

Chapter Text

'KAI!'

The water ninja looked horrified, her brother gone, disappeared in a blast of energy. Wu was rooted to the ground. As if he hadn't realised what had happened.

Lloyd was.. was panicking even the right word? Blood running cold, he felt like he was drowning in fear, he couldn't imagine a world without the brotherly fire ninja. Was he dead? Surely- no, why was he thinking this way, Kai could not have died, wouldn’t there be remains?

Memories randomly flashed through his head. Always with a familiar hand slang around his shoulder. It hurt, like a phantom stab. Heartache-? Break? Already.

He could only run over to the scorch burned on the ground, thoughts whirling in a chaotic spell.

Calm was a foreign concept, now.

'You have killed one of my ninja, Aspheera.' Wu turned away, eyes full of simmering fury. Like a pot about to boil over.

He was just about to leave in disgust, and sadness, mourning his mentee and former Serpentine friendship when the snake hissed suddenly, in surprise instead of triumph.

'Killed, do you say? Your fire elemental is not dead, Wu.

I did not intend to do so, not to you. To your ninja however, I couldn’t care less, but it would not be a fitting end for a friend who has betrayed me so wrongly and shattered my hopes of victory. A quick death is something you do not deserve. No, I would rather you die cold and alone.

I sent him to the Never-Realm.'

His heart seized.

'Quickly. I cannot hold onto this for long. It feels- strange. Pixal's eyes were lit up with white light, hands barely touching the staff. 

Zane hugged his best friend goodbye before linking his fingers with Cole.

The ninja held hands, supplies on their backs and determination in their faces.

Traveler's Tea? Check.

Food? Canned, dried, whatever more. Check.

Water? Lloyd glanced at Nya, unknowingly before whipping his head away. They already had water. Bottles of it, anyways. They would be fine . Check.

Map? Dug from the very insides of the library, it was an old scroll that depicted the Never-Realm, from villages to geographical outlines. Ever so slightly crumbly, but extremely useful considering the circumstances. And it was in his pocket. Check.

And everything else- well, he wasn't sure about the others, but Lloyd was sure he'd got most, all he needed.

'Whenever you're ready, Pix.'

A look of concentration. A blast of pink energy.

And they were gone.

Wu heard the blast from his confinement of ropes, and his hopes that maybe, just maybe, the ninja would somehow change their minds shattered.

It had been unbearably hot when they'd first arrived, but thank god they'd had Zane. If the ice ninja hadn't been here, not even water could have saved them from this dry hell- it could only keep one cool for so long. 

They had also had the foresight to carry backpacks with essential items, but most had been all for rushing in headfirst- the white ninja had been the voice of reason. However it was more of a hindrance now, weighing on them as they trudged on over former mountains and dried lakes.

Lloyd’s map had been dug out of his pocket as they started the trip, and judging from the huge mountains they had started in the ninja supposed they were in a, well, mountain range. They were however close enough to a few villages and a yeti cave, which they all decided to avoid.

Naturally, unanimously, they set off for the villages.

The ninja thought it was sort of okay, what with the cooling air and the tiny snow flurries whipping around their group. The scorching atmosphere and baking sun was however a disadvantage, melting some of the ice fairly quickly. Zane didn't seem taxed at all, although every now and then would open up his insides and wave his hand around to cool down his systems. Cole tried to help his boyfriend with cooling down, trying to force the earth to create a roof of sorts, but exhaustion got the better of him and it was all he could do to force it to fall onto the ground, and not on his nindroid.

As they'd first landed here, the ninja were stymied by confusion- where on earth was the snow? All scrolls referring to the Never-Realm had described it as 'a wintry land with constant snowfall and little respite from the freezing temperatures' or something along these lines. This place however was its polar opposite, and the ground was dry and cracked.

Something had happened, but they weren't sure what.

Lloyd had a sneaking, almost traitorous feeling in the back of his head, but it felt so outlandish he didn't bother sharing it with the others. He didn’t want to anyway. Kai had to be alive and well.

They kept walking on, continuing onto the trail and hoping to find some semblance of shelter that Kai had stopped by before nightfall. Dead and crooked trees did nothing to help, and no matter how many mountains or hills they passed by they were all completely solid rock, and Cole’s exhaustion, no matter how much he tried to hide it, made it so that any cave he attempted to make was by far too small for all five to fit inside.

(He wanted to help, he really did, but he just couldn’t, and that hurt him more than anything else.)

After hours of trudging, even Jay couldn't find anything funny about the situation anymore. Jokes had long since petered out as their sole focus now was on finding a large reprise from the baking sun.

Zane and Nya were both struggling, but the nindroid especially, now that it had been hours. Heat in general to him was tolerated, but he disliked it. In this sort of weather, Lloyd had no idea how he was faring, especially with before. Now, smoke would occasionally rise up in wisps. He had attempted to cover himself and his overheated parts in a thin layer of ice, but it melted off fairly quickly, nearly compromising his system (again.) Cole kept trying to help, of course, but his help was dismissed out of kindness- the earth ninja looked like he was about to fall over.

He still didn't know how Zane was shielding them from the heat. 

Cole kept shooting glances at him, but the general expression on all their faces were varying degrees of depressed.

They couldn't camp on bare ground, not that anyone really wanted to anyway. The morning would be extremely uncomfortable, not to mention the lack of concealment. If any enemies approached, they would be fair game. Nobody wanted more heat at any rate. Someone did attempt to crack an egg joke (most likely Jay, he thought, but he couldn’t remember) but it soon fell short. 

Even if someone had been crazy enough to want a fire, every tree no matter which it was they came across were dry and blackened, falling apart the moment someone attempted to touch them. Lloyd would occasionally turn around to talk to Kai, wanting some support, only to remember he wasn’t there and hadn’t been for a while.

The fire ninja was like an older brother to him, always another shoulder to lean on (not that Lloyd would, independent as he was… until his father ended up getting resurrected again or Ninjago got destroyed again ). But there was no-one there, and wouldn't be until they succeeded.

And what if they didn't? 

He tried not to think about it, or otherwise the green ninja's thoughts would eventually spiral into a desolate train of death and negativity. 

(They already had been, he supposed. But yes, more negative than usual.)

It seemed like years until finally, something rose from the ground in front of them- a collection of caves, outside a large crevasse. The map indicated it as well-

(apparently it was called Wojira’s Lairs) 

-and that they were close to a copse of forests, a few villages in the forests themselves, and to the other side a larger one.

Deciding to avoid the crevasse for now, the ninja crossed over quickly using an ice/earth bridge, none of them wanting to look down.

‘We should stop here,’ said Zane, scanning the ground on this side of the crack. ‘Catch your breath. We’ll most likely be using this cave system as a shelter. And if anything, we must analyse it to see if Kai has somehow stopped here, even if he’s left clues or trails.’

Lloyd was about to find a suitable cave for them all to sleep in (they shouldn’t split up) when his emotional adrenaline ran out and exhaustion fell on him like a heavy pile of bricks. He sagged suddenly. Zane ran over and supported him.

'Lloyd, you seem tired. How about I help you over to the nearest good shelter? I will stand guard tonight- there is no need for me to rest for now, and we all know you need sleep- you especially Cole, don’t think I didn’t see you sleepwalking.’ 

Rolling his eyes, the black ninja sighed before pulling Zane into a hug, and a small peck on the cheek.

Lloyd swore he saw a blush. Zane specifically, a cute shade of blue. 

‘Good night, Cole.’

‘Night, Frosty.’

The white ninja was cooler now as Lloyd began to lean on him. Together, they headed over into a spacious cave, the rest of the ninja already setting up. Nya and Jay chose a separate, connected cave to theirs, accessed through a small tunnel. Zane coated the far side of the walls with ice, acting as a makeshift air conditioner.

‘I’ll refreeze this every once in a while.’

The nindroid left the area to visit the lightning and water ninja to do the same to theirs.

Lloyd lay down, thoughts coursing like a river until they came to the end of their flow.

(Maybe. Maybe I should sleep for a little bit. 

And then, I'll find Kai.)

And he entered his dreams.

Chapter Text

It’s for the first time in decades that the Fire Lord wants to sleep. He had been gliding through the ballrooms of his fortress and conjuring the occasional fiery image of… well, some people. They look heartachingly familiar to him, but, of course. He can’t remember, he almost never does. It’s hard to keep fire moulded into one shape, as it always wants to be free. And yet, the Lord has felt so much more shackled as the years pass, forced to keep his throne.

He could do his best to tell you what they look like, but they never last.

Isn’t it everything you’ve ever dreamed of? And yet, and yet.

A sudden headache stabbed through his eyes, eradicating all ‘statues’ around him. Whorls of flame swirl around and remain for a few seconds, before fading into smoke.

He rips off his mask and uses the Staff as a stand, still-somehow-tanned skin seeing the light for the first time in a long time, pressing a palm to his forehead, kneading the skin.

It hurts.

It hasn’t hurt like this since that dream, so long ago now. The Fire Lord didn’t really want to sleep, really couldn’t sleep these first few years, what with stopping all the random pathetic ‘invasions’ on his fortress the people thought they were entitled to.

The Staff whispers in his mind to calm down.

After he wiped out the Yeti, the Formlings began to riot furiously with attacks daily. He was forced to go into the local villages and create even more Infernal Samurai, as they kept returning damaged, parts missing.

After he wiped out the majority of the Formlings (these creatures, he had never been able to eradicate them completely), blissful silence was the only thing heard in these parts for miles around, deserted and burning villages some of the only things seen for miles around.

That, and quiet terror, horrified expressions, but that he can live with. He didn’t have to see them everyday, but it had been so long since he had seen a truly kind smile that it felt.. odd.

The Staff whispers in his mind to calm down, again.

(Alright. I’ll rest.)

Sliding the mask back on, wincing slightly as the teeth pierce his lip, he strides out of the room.

He walks to the throne room again to sleep. The softly crackling fires are familiar and safe to him, his element the only place where he feels he belongs.

Lounging on his throne in a relaxed position, he falls down, slipping easily into quiet.

He dreams of them again.

It’s a quiet boat ride on a large wooden ship, a deep red airship with winged sails and a dragon’s helm for a head. He knows it, and he doesn’t. From his former life, but Vex never mentioned anything about this.

All of these concerns melt away as he notices, next to him, the girl and the boy from his forgotten dreams, and it’s hard to believe they were ever forgotten in the first place. All three leaning over the side, hands dangling and legs relaxed.

He’s dressed the way he was before, in the cave, with the red and gold robes. It feels familiar and strange seeing it in different shades on his companions, and on himself. He’s become so used to his new royal robes, found in the closets of the abandoned bedrooms and given a new burnished glow and burn. 

(He still keeps his original red clothes under all of it, a reminder of his family and the past that broke saved this realm.)

Thoughts tug at the edge of his mind. He wants to shield them both. To keep them away from everything harmful and dangerous. To protect them.

He would kill millions if that would mean keeping the girl and boy safe. Destroy worlds, slaughter all. It was overwhelming. He could feel pricking in the corners of his eyes. But he would not wipe them away.

He will not submit to... this weakness.

But it was as if he was conflicted within himself, a voice in his head insisting that he was the Fire Lord.

(This voice did sound suspiciously like Vex, to be fair. But he was, wasn’t he? It had been his life and persona for decades, now. He wasn’t sure if he had even been anything else, not that he could remember anyways. It felt right. But here, in his dreams, it felt so, so wrong.)

There was another, of course, always, calling him the Ninja of Fire. 

(What even is a ninja, he wonders. Some pretentious fool prancing around in a robe. Ridiculous fabric masks. 

It was odd, that little voice. Back again, never able to be stamped out, he supposed. And here he was thinking it was gone when he’d finished with Grimfax. Still, it popped up every few years. He wondered if it was him from his old life. But that was over, wasn’t it?)

He won’t think about it for now, and looks back to the figures right next to him, surrounding him, and they approach, moving closer in a comforting gesture.

Strangely, he does not feel threatened, or furious as he would normally for any that would dare to attempt to be so close to him. Not that most could physically stand it.

(Fury seems to be the only thing I run on, these days… and hope, but there’s so little of it in this land, it feels as if I am the only one who remembers what it is anymore.)

It is only warmth and acceptance, in these dreams of his. Pleasantries he’s barely heard of, let along experienced.

And they... they hug him. The warmth grows and spreads throughout his whole body, right and kind.

The warmth doesn’t stop though. It keeps growing, exponentially, becoming hotter, and hotter, and..

He wakes up on a throne. Eyes snapping open.

A singular tear trickling down his face, and an ache in his heart.

He forces himself to remember them both. Forces them into his memory and burns their image into his thoughts until, for once, he has a scrap of something from his former life. He’s always forgotten before he could, and how, he has them. 

(He wants all of them, though.)

Soothing himself with thoughts of them, he lounges across the throne again, calling for Vex.

The man appears in an instant, sleazily making his way up. His new, gleaming red eyes study the room from up near the throne. For a moment, pain flickers across his eyes before fading away. He bows.

‘My Lord.’

(Vex had insisted on longer life, coming to the end of his days so soon, and wanted to become an Infernal. The Fire Lord granted this request, but the process just so happened to hurt a teeny bit more, for a teeny bit more. He was asking too many questions, anyways.

Maybe he’s mad, or annoyed, or simply trying to make his way through life with the constant burn. It wasn’t exactly the Lord’s problem, anyways. He had deserved it, and besides, Vex was getting on his nerves, so annoyingly untrustworthy. He thought he hid it well.

Well, at least he’s much more quiet now.)

‘You have the Mirror I gave you.’

It isn’t a question.

‘Of course, my Lord.’

‘Look into it. Is there anything wrong with my land? Strangers, anything… different.’ He asks this question every now and then, spilling out without ado, seemingly unexpected.

Vex is in the process of using the Mirror, a sheet of black metal crafted from part of the throne and melted, blasted until it shone, with scrying fire hiding inside, when a small intake of breath catches the Lord’s attention.

‘My Lord, I think you should see this.’

The Mirror is turned to him, and it is snatched from Vex’s hand. He does not flinch.

‘The caves,’ he whispers, seeing the footprints- and the place where he woke up so many decades ago- with a melting ice bridge covering half of the crevasse that he hated so much. He looks inside the other caves across the bridge, the five sets of footsteps leading him to the largest cave, and what he sees first nearly stops his heart short. 

(A stranger.)

He chalks him up to a man. Or is he? Because he has metal skin, a cold white and blue robe draped over his standing, rigid form, absentmindedly creating small ice sculptures with his hands. He seems to be generating it out of nowhere, crafting tiny images of his friends. He is interesting, but a threat. That metallic shell of his would be a problem, but it could crack. Must have been the one to make the bridge.

As if he has heard the Fire Lord’s thoughts, the man looks directly up into the Mirror’s window in confusion. 

(Can he sense it?)

Moving away quickly, he scopes out the cave he is guarding, looking for the others.

They are sleeping as he moves in. They aren’t of this realm. That is obvious enough.

One is tall, visibly strong with a muscular frame. Messy black hair frames his extremely tanned, brown face. Eyes closed, he looks asleep, with a black and orange robe. Cracks trail their way up his hands in a softly glowing amber. A scythe rests against a- is that ice?- wall.

Near him is, well, him .

The boy in green. He smiles as his dreams come true before his very eyes.

It’s him.

His heart stops, in shock, then starts to beat again in anticipation. 

‘It’s him!’

Not meaning to say that out loud, he sighs to himself, but grins. 

(It’s. him.) Words cannot describe how much happiness and want he feels, simplified, extreme, however. He himself cannot place it.

He looks exactly as he was in his dreams. But at the same time, so different, with so much stress so clearly visible on his lightly lined face. He looks so young, and yet so old. Are those tears on his face? Why would there be?

He can’t stop looking, but surely, if he is here, the other must be too. Reluctantly, he pulls himself away from the scene and moves on, to an adjacent cave.

Another young man is dressed in deep blue, with silvery elements to his outfit, wild brown hair atop a freckled face. He seems the mischievous type, he muses. The faintest of scarred lightning traces adorn both hands. He leans against a cool blue wall- certainly ice, he thinks- but how- with hands fluttering faintly even in sleep. He holds a girl, curled on her side, folding into herself. 

He is not as important as her, as the moment the Fire Lord’s eyes land on her face, he wants to run and find them himself with an army a thousand strong.

She’s like the green one - older, most likely due to stress, but possibly also actually older, with years on her face and a wrinkled gi. And yet her face looks soft and kind, framed with dark hair, so familiar. 

(I don’t have to rule alone, anymore.)

He imagines a hand in his, two hands in his and turns to Vex.

‘Summon the Samurai, and General Grimfax. I think there are a few battalions still out in the realm, so I’ll call them back soon. Use the Mirror to track these strangers down. I want you to capture them. Kill the others, but spare the girl in blue and the boy in green. I want them alive and unharmed. Careful, as the metal man seems to have ice elemental powers.’

‘Yes, my Lord.’

Giving the Mirror back to Vex, the Fire Lord sighs and settles down on his throne again, lying across it, legs on the handrails. He twirls the Staff around, conjuring images of them all. The others, he knows, are most likely important to them. They might get mad at him, and the girl seems to be in a romantic relationship with her other blue counterpart the way they were arranged. She wouldn’t be happy, and if he wants to have them, he’s got to keep them wanting somehow. 

She’ll have fun with a pet.

‘Vex? On second thoughts, don’t kill them. Harm them, preferably just before death, and keep them alive enough. I’d hate for them to die in the dungeons. And I have a feeling they will be… useful, in the end.’

(He’ll see them soon.)

Sighing, he knew he had to let out a little emotion before he went to see his new friends. There was a Formling or two in the underground cells, captured by the Samurai but not killed, spoils of war. One had actually been found fairly recently, thinking he was hiding so well from his forces. 

(Well, they’re probably healed now, at any rate.)

He vaults off the throne and heads towards the stairs.

He dreams of him.

'Ha! I guess even the Green Ninja needs a break sometimes. Guess all that saving the world stuff wasn't your thing, huh?'

Lloyd stops leaning on the railing of the Bounty and turns around, watching him get closer. Smiles on both their faces, one gentle and the other a wide grin.

'It's a little cool today. I wanted to chill and enjoy the wind. It's nice having some time to yourself, you know.'

'Who needs cool when you've got-' 

he lit up his hands- 

‘-fi-yah!'

'Was that supposed to be cool, Kai?'

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m always cool. And flaming hot!’

Waving his finger in a circle, he conjures small fiery images. One is of Lloyd, which tickles his fingers and makes him laugh. Another is of Nya and Jay, and the last few of Cole and Zane. 

Reaching over, Lloyd musses Kai’s hair, the sharp gelled spikes sadly falling down in a way that reminds Lloyd oddly enough of dying trees.

The fire ninja yells out in surprise, touching his (now) imperfect hair. 

‘Hey! Lloyd! Do you have any idea how long this took me?’

He laughs and enjoys the sun for a bit longer. 

And they stay there for a while, enjoying each other's company.

But the Green Ninja never gets a rest.

The Bounty begins to shake. Gradually at first, but soon faster and more violently. Surprise turns to shock, rocking from side to side, they both yell in surprise as they tumble off. Lloyd hadn't noticed it before, he could swear they were above land, but there was no ground beneath them. Just a desolate void.

At the last second, he grabs onto an oversized plank.

But the Fire Ninja tumbles into the black.

'Kai!'

'LLOYD!'

He has Jay's voice. 

And that was when he woke up. The blue ninja was shaking him, calling his name. 

'Lloyd, seriously? I've been shaking you for so long , get up, the others are all awake!'

A stray spark caught him in the shoulder and he flinched in surprise, automatically jumping up into a fighting stance.

'Whoa! My bad!' Jay quickly backs up, accidentally hitting the wall. 'Damn, I can't ever catch a break- I stayed up for a while playing therapist to Nya.' He rubs his back and walks out, glancing back. 

'And by the way, hurry or you're going to miss breakfast- Cole's a vacuum at the moment, he'll snatch up your food before you stand up. Zane’s been a little out of it, but that’s probably the heat.'

An annoyed, defensive and rather hurt yell from close by more or less confirmed his statement.

Watching Jay leave, Lloyd held his head in his hands, squeezing his eyes shut.

He dreamt of Kai. He knew that much, but he desperately wanted to keep the memory in his head.

He didn't want to lose anything else.

But it was already slipping away, and as he leaves he can only remember sunlight and laughter.

Chapter Text

Zane had been on guard for most of the night, and although his time was occupied with small, melting statues of his friends, something felt off. About five hours in, and the strangest sensation came over him, like cold eyes were picking him apart. It seemed to be coming from above, near Lloyd’s cave, and although he hadn’t seen anything with his own eyes his sixth sense had been screaming danger the whole time. It had deeply unsettled him, and he had been on edge for quite a while.

Cole was his rock. It was not a pun he had meant to make, but when it had slipped out in the early morning the earth ninja had just laughed and futilely attempted to mess up his hair, a goal he had been working towards for the past few days.

‘Don’t worry about it, Zane. We’ll find Kai soon and you’ll be able to see Pixal again.’

‘Cole, you know she’s a friend.’

‘Hard to believe it, honestly. I mean, seriously? You and her, two metal peas in a pod. You’re still mine, of course, but well… I suppose we can share you. There’s never too much nindroid going around.’

‘Cole!’

‘Always so worked up over the tiniest things. Come on, Frosty. You haven’t been able to rest in a while. Sit down already!’

Quiet, in the mornings, with Cole, just how Zane liked it. 

Until the rest woke up, but in the end he’d had his quiet moments and that was more than enough to keep a nindroid like him running.

It had been a stressful few days for Jay, to say the least. 

First, a snake sorceress is freed from her underground prison, steals his girlfriend’s powers, and then ‘kidnaps’ (is it kidnapping if they aren’t coming with them?)... Okay, maybe not kidnapping, but certainly something along these lines, but yes, she took Kai and then got turned into an ice cube. Not in that specific order. 

(The snake, not his girlfriend.)

It had been stressful for all of them, but Nya especially, barely being able to deal with the whole ‘oh, yeah we’re in another realm where it’s dry as a bone and no, you can’t use your powers to help! Have you forgotten? You don’t have any!’ This entire place kept reminding her of her current state, and as a consequence her mood was seriously deteriorating. Add to that the fact that Kai was currently missing, and. Well, the others thought it best to stay away.

Jay was trying. 

No matter how many times he would be pushed away, he knew that Nya wanted someone there. Her personality however was a fortress of protection, the line in the sand, protecting herself from the pain, because the reality of the situation was far too much to handle.

Personally, Jay thought she was doing a really good job of pretending she was fine.

When she curled in his arms and cried, though, he’d hug her harder. They didn’t need to talk to each other about it, other than the occasional whisper of okays. There was no need to bother with small talk, no matter how mouthy Jay could be sometimes. Yes, he knew how to shut up, no, don’t act all surprised.

When they both woke up, Nya would ‘go back to normal’, albeit quite a bit pricklier than usual, but last night had helped her and they both knew it.

(None of them knew, but Zane was trying his very best to not interfere while guarding outside, due to his whole programming being ‘protect those that cannot protect themselves’. It is, however, hard to protect someone from themselves , so he made it a point to sneak Nya some extra breakfast and give her a break.)

Water and lightning- who knew they could mix?

They left the cave system after breakfast- a whole lot of protein bars, water and jerky. Nya was eager to leave, and Lloyd didn't admit it, but he was relieved they had left. Now that they could continue searching, they’d be able to find him faster, surely. They were rapidly approaching the place where the forest should be, so that wouldn’t take long.

This eagerness to leave soon faded to complete and utter boredom; he had completely forgotten just how boring it was hiking through a whole lot of nothing, seeing the same dead and dusty things over and over again. It was clear this place had once been a sort of mountain range, but all that was left were hills clustered with sparse, brown foliage. It was exciting just seeing a tree, no matter how blackened it was. ‘I Spy’ was soon eliminated from Jay’s list of ‘ways to pass the time’.

They soon approached a dead forest surrounded by massive dry mountains, the one shown on the map with the supposed villages inside… and yet they still had yet to see any sign of life. 

The trees were dead, withered, full of char. Black forms lay against trees and on the ground, none of the ninja really noticing them, assuming they were large rocks or smaller dead trees. Their surroundings were full of crunching noises as the ninja stepped on wayward sticks, unable to go anywhere else- the entirety of the floor was a blackish brown, almost woven carpet of twigs. Ash left a trail leading deeper into the ‘forest’.

Jay looked around, a faint hum of electricity giving away his nervousness. Lloyd imagined the static electricity radiating off this guy. He unconsciously found himself drifting just a little away, focusing on the other’s conversations as he did so.

'You know, I tried talking to a dying plant once. It wasn't much for branching out though.'

The lightning ninja laughed nervously as the black limbs above him grew closer and tighter together, becoming an almost perfect ceiling if not for the cracks of light. Darkness had been surrounding them slowly but surely the moment they had entered, but it hadn’t been as absolute as now- it was surely impossible, but then again, wasn’t this a different realm? Nature probably worked differently here.

(On the bright side, it was much cooler.)

Cole shrugged. 'Just darkness, guys. A little black never hurt a ninja-' 

CRACK .

The earth ninja glanced down, noticing the strange assortment of whitish sticks his boots were currently entangled in. Groaning, he bent down to rip it off his feet.

Reaching for the largest one, thinking, just like the rest of them was a twig-

(Nya was frowning at the collection, thinking something was a bit off- what was with that curve?)

-Cole picked up a rib bone, instead.

The ninja froze as the unique shape and truth of the ‘stick’ slapped them in the face. 

(Zane literally did so, the faintest layer of ice gradually creeping its way up his arms.) 

Panicking, the earth ninja yelled as he threw it away, frantically rubbing his hands. 

‘FIRST SPINJITZU MASTER!”

'Zane! Light!' Like a beacon, the nindroid lit up, properly illuminating the space for the first time in a while and revealing-

Bodies. Blackened, completely torched and crumbling as the ninja attempted to make sense of this nightmarish scenario. The original forms they had thought were weird rocks were not in fact. They had all been living once, but, well, clearly they weren’t anymore, as torched as they were.

(The place also looked old . 

Lloyd bit his tongue desperately as he looked around, realising that they had been casually walking through a former battle site this entire time, noting the slash marks and burnt, simple weapons in some of these hands. 

It had been an absolute massacre.

Most seemed too shocked for words. Nya looked horrified, Jay was muttering under his breath and trying to calm down his element so he could comfort her.

Looking at their faces, Lloyd could tell what they were thinking.

Fire had caused this. 

Zane walked around the quiet couple, placing a cool hand on their shoulders briefly, then helped Cole up from the ribcage and with mechanical precision used a shard of ice to turn the nearest stone- no, not stone, body around, and yet it seemed to be a struggle. The figure in question was wrapped tightly around something else, and using small slips Zane gently prised open their hold.

Thinking it was a possession or a fetal position, Lloyd unwittingly stepped forward.

Zane’s face immediately shut down the moment he registered the object, eyes going blank in horror. He looked up and tried to shield it from the other, but it was too late.

A child sized figure, burned beyond recognition, their size being the only thing informing others of their identity.

That had been it for the green ninja.

Stumbling away, Lloyd leaned against a tree and soon voided the remains of breakfast.

Zane did his best to shield the rest of the bodies from decay, using ice slips and screens to dig holes so they could finally be put to rest like they deserved. Nya and Jay helped with the gritty work, whilst Cole helped relax Lloyd, helping him breathe.

It was far too easy to forget nowaday that the boy was still so young, trapped inside a teenager’s body.  

When their work was done, the three grimly stood up and collected the others before silently walking off.

It had been an hour since the grisly scene, and there had still been a few littered bodies tracked around. They had to pause to lay them to rest, and then they continued, but there hadn’t been anything else troubling the ninja, other than the whole trauma thing. 

Although the group had been trying to forget it, there was still that lingering little thought in their head. 

(Where had the fire come from?...)

‘We should be close, guys. Plishelterr (the village) should be round here somewhere…’

‘What kind of name is ‘Plishelterr’?’

‘No idea. Hold up, I see smoke through the trees… probably chimneys… okay.’

They walked through the last few trees, seeing straw huts and small buildings form in front of their eyes, and arrived just in time to see a fiery figure put a hole through a farmer's chest.

Chapter Text

For a moment, all the ninja could do was stare, even as the man entered his death throes.

The hand wielding the sword was a fiery outline of a samurai, with dead red eyes and flames licking his coal-black armour. Lava veins traced its face, limp strands of hair poking out of the bottom of the helmet.

Growling, it twisted the blade, and the man could only shiver once before shutting his eyes, dead to the world. The sword seemed to glow with otherworldly heat.

The wound soon cauterised, but the body went limp and slid off the end of the sword. The samurai marched away, in the direction of a motley group of villagers doing their best to fend off more enemies. He locked eyes with a young woman clashing with a taller, broader enemy, her own wild with fear and hope.

His hand was on his weapon before he knew it, and familiar life energy was already wrapping itself around his hands.

‘NINJA-GO!’

Jay launched himself into the battle, fast as anything, switching from one guard to another and knocking them out of the fight as quickly as possible. 

Nunchucks were slammed on heads, flat edges whacked onto limbs. Lightning crackled around him as he spun into a stormy tornado, samurai around him whirling into buildings. Wild battle cries echoed around the dusty streets, the samurai looking annoyed as this little pinprick of a fighter beat their forces back again and again. Confident, Jay strode on. A particularly short one got too close and was flung far into the bushes, said bush immediately crumbling away, hissing.

Nya prioritised the village fighters, keeping them away from the samurai. She had the feeling a fight would be risky without elemental powers, and cursed the lack of her own considering water’s power over fire. 

(But besides, when did a little risk ever stop her?...)

She wanted more than anything to have them back, concentrating as hard as possible to feel the seas and oceans locked somewhere inside. The faintest edge of… something in her mind creaked open just the tiniest glance, but everytime she got close to the door she was whipped away by distracting fiery enemies and… something else, working against her, actively trying to force her away. Glaring, she knocked a few swords away before moving the villagers into a safe building. A few however wanted to help her friends… but she forced them back inside. They would only get injured otherwise. 

The doubts in her mind didn’t stop her from jumping back in, though, using her power of Spinjitzu to keep the fiery swordsmen at bay.

Cole moved mountains, somewhat literally, using his power over the earth to force his enemies into holes in the ground. 

His hammer forced more cracks into the already dry ground, swallowing a few under and keeping them safe and sound in their own little airy pockets. Dirt was flung into eyes, and as soon as the almost-unsuspecting samurai burned the obstructions away a smack on the head was all it would take to keep them down. 

A particularly annoying, bulkier samurai kept getting up however, crawling its way out of the mud with crooked, broken fingers and doing its best to shrug off injuries.

‘You can never just keep down, can you?!’

His orange-cracked hands glowed as the hammer swung into the samurai’s midsection, smashing him away, landing heavily upon the roof of a house.

Zane was having a bit of a hard time. 

His ice powers made him into a target, being the one ninja that could actually defeat them (water was their weakness, and ice melts). But the samurai knew this too, rushing in in droves that certainly would have overpowered him, desperate to destroy the ice maker had the other ninja not jumped in to help their friend. Bursts of white and blue dotted little melting popsicles around the street. A couple were grafted to wooden doors and walls, slowly melting and burning their way out.

Focusing on a fiery enemy in front of him, he barely noticed the one at the back until-

Heated metal grazed his gear, but was slammed away by a massive hammer. Quickly dispatching the first, Zane turned around to smile at Cole. ‘Thanks-’

‘Leave the praise for later, Frosty. There’s a battle happening, in case you haven’t heard.’ A quiet heh from the nindroid as the earth ninja grinned, both soon delving back in.

Lloyd saw Nya ushering the villagers away and fell back into the battle himself, trying to keep them contained. He would keep them stuck in energy balls until Cole or Zane turned up to force them into ice cubes or the floor. 

Mostly he just fired blasts at them until they stopped fighting, using his weapons to fight them off. He shouted warnings and made sure the ninjas weren’t in too much of a pickle, although it depended, changing depending on which one. 

Zane in particular was getting mobbed, a fact that all of them took to heart as they defended him. The samurai were strewn in little piles that the green ninja likened to hay bales. One got far too close to a whirling Nya for his liking, and his sword hit the samurai away, knocking it into another like a really fiery, kind-of-undead bowling ball.

It didn’t take long before they managed to defeat the majority, the rest too scattered to be too much of a threat. Quickly retreating into the forest, the samurai disappeared.

‘Don’t follow them yet. They should leave a bit of a trail anyways. And you guys need a rest.’

Zane nodded slowly as he began to open his front plating. Cole glanced around to find a suitable place, then ushered the ice ninja into a fairly-unburnt house.

‘Jay, we might need you later!’

Jay nodded, and Lloyd slowly began to strap his weapons back on. ‘We’ll be leaving soon, guys. Let’s see if we can find where these samurai came from.’

‘Following them is suicide, strangers.’ A villager piped up, his grim face a stark contrast to the rest of his relieved friends. Most were grinning to themselves, others quietly shocked. After all, it’s not everyday a group of colourful people appear out of nowhere to drive away their enemies.

Walking over, Lloyd questioned him. ‘Who are they? Why were they attacking you?’

‘They are the Infernal Samurai, and they have plagued our land for decades. They are led by the General, the traitor Vex and the Fire Lord, the ruler of our realm.’

Lloyd glanced back at his friends, at least the ones that were still out here, confused. They shrugged, as if to say No clue either.  

Sighing, he looked back.

‘Our research said the land was ruled by a Grimfax.’ Said research had been annoying to find- the ninja should have started to organise the library more often. But all the scrolls relating to the Never-Realm were consistent.

‘Grimfax? The now-General? He is gone.’

‘Byunei, he is not gone, he is under a spell.’ Another villager, her long hair half over her face frowned. She had been the one Lloyd had seen earlier. Her fingers tapped in a rhythm on her hip, drumming up and down a crude pair of knives.

‘What kind of spell leaves you dead, burned and incinerated? Runiyeo, he is forced to carry out the wishes of the Fire Lord. He is gone. His soul no longer remains.’ Byunei shook his head in annoyance, wondering how many times they were going to have this conversation. She, like some of the others, believed there was a way to help the former ruler. 

Byunei understood that they wanted to save him, but hope can only go so long. They, unlike him, had not seen Grimfax’s current state from up close; the ‘man’ when storming villages was truly vicious, a countenance unlike anything he had been before. Runiyeo and the young ones were almost always sent away before true battle, but as they matured he was forced to bring them along.

Runiyeo’s frown deepened. ‘He is in there. Have you not heard the rumours?’

‘...This is not important. We must head back to our village.’ Glancing around to make completely sure the samurai were gone, Byunei motioned for the ninja to follow the villagers.

‘Zane? Cole?’

The pair quickly left the house, Cole’s hair slightly more tousled than it had been earlier, his face a little red. Zane's gi was a little messier.

Nya smirked.

‘We are leaving?’ Zane looked somewhat disappointed, but also confused. ‘Is this not your village?’ He asked the question even as he began to walk along, watching Cole sling his hammer back over his shoulder.

‘No, it is not. It was abandoned by the people who lived here before. We come routinely to this place to see if anyone has returned. Some call it a fool’s errand. I call it hope.’

‘Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up guys. Go back to the starting line. Point number one-’

‘Jay, stop it.’ Nya half grinned, half frowned.

‘Okay, fine, but can we just have some context here? Who is this Fire Lord dude? Uh, also, have you heard of a brown haired guy traveling around here? Taller than me, probably with a big sharp stick and red clothes like ours? Kind of annoying?’

The former water ninja spun him around. ‘You’re lucky I still don’t have my powers, Jay.’

Before anything else could happen, Byunei interrupted.

‘I know not of this stranger. I am quite sure some news would have travelled of one. But I can tell you about the Fire Lord.’

Letting out an audible sigh of relief, Jay asked him to continue.

As they all entered the trees, Runiyeo making sure they weren’t following in the footsteps of the samurai, Byunei told them the stories.

The Never-Realm was peaceful. A quiet, snowy place. The younger ones don’t remember it, as they were only small children, but I was in my early adulthood, and I can tell you clearly.

You look confused. I believe you are from another realm, yes? Time seems to flow differently in places, although I cannot tell you as much as you may like.

I mean, that wasn’t what I was thinking about. Snow?

Oh, yes, that may be confusing. The obvious, of course, is that this land is not snowy. Quiet, yes, but only because most of the life has been incinerated. Barely enough was left in farmland for us to survive. 

A wall of fire started this new age. It was taller than the mountains, wider than our seas. It encompassed the entirety of the horizons. Anything that passed through it blackened and ashed. 

When it entered our village, it was already too late to scream.

Thankfully, it didn’t hurt us, although it changed everything. Of course, our winter clothing was not suitable for this sudden new weather. The wall ensured that we would not struggle. We now had strange light clothing unlike anything else seen or used, as it would have been useless before. Not now.

Our houses remained much the same. Almost all the trees and wood burned, but miraculously the villages were fine. I think our ruler knew he couldn’t destroy everything.

The rivers, on the other hand, only arrive once a year, and even then it is a fraction of what it was before. The wall evaporated most aboveground water. We rely on underground springs, as few and far as they are. There is a good one in our village that has been keeping us alive for the decades.

Decades? How long has this Fire Lord been ruling?

My count is six decades. 

I must apologise, I was kept up in tales of our home, it was one of our central worries for a long time. Although stories trickled down to us after a while. 

You see, the Fire Lord- we do not know much about him truly. Common knowledge about him has been altered since. We do know however that he appeared sixty years ago, unknown and found his… advisor along the way. 

Advisor?

Vex.

Who is Vex?

A traitor. I do not wish to speak of him.

Why?

He betrayed us.

…alright. (Probably going to probe for more later.) Tell us more, I suppose.

The Fire Lord stormed Grimfax’s fortress, a sole man taking on the entirety of the army. 

He won.

The army was transformed along with Grimfax. He created the Wall. Rumour says he has a staff of power that gives him strength.

…

Strange, I know, that expression on your face says it all. I did not even know our history had such a record of an object.

Well, those were the basics of our knowledge. Most everything else does not have much credit to it. Oh, Runiyeo, we’re nearly here. Run up ahead a bit, tell the others we have newcomers. I believe Sorla will introduce them to the rest of the village, and give them more information. She knows more than I do.

As the large group crossed what had once been a lake, now a pitted, shallow valley, a looming dark village appeared, villagers bustling about, but most now stopping and staring at the colourfully dressed people. It was a stark contrast to their own wardrobe, flowing, lightly coloured and layered shifts.

An aged woman appeared in a doorway, hair tied up in a loose braided bun. Runiyeo appeared after her, her having already run up to tell the elder the news.

‘Ah, I almost thought young Runi was joking. I haven’t seen strangers in years.’

Cole smiled. ‘That’s us.’

Lloyd walked up. ‘I’m guessing you’re Sorla?’

‘Indeed. Of the Great Lake, or at least, what has become of it. Well, come in, come in! I’m sure you would all like to rest. Byunei, collect stock from our storage. I feel these people may be hungry.’

Quietly walking into Sorla’s home, the first thing they noticed was the enormous fire in the middle of the room. It roared and sparked, and yet, curiously did not emit any heat at all.

‘The Hearth-Fire. When the Wall arrived, if anything, it was only amplified. I believe however that the spirits knew the heat could not stay. Sit, why don’t you? Food should come soon.’

The ninja quietly arranged themselves around the fire, relaxing. Zane conjured up some little ice packs for each one.

‘Oh, how fascinating! An ice-maker? Is that why you all are here?’

‘To cool the realm down?’

‘Well, that would be nice, hmm?’

‘I am sorry. My powers, I do not think they are powerful enough. And we are not here to help, I apologise.’ Zane looked awkward and apologetic. Sorla simply nodded, turning to Lloyd.

‘May you tell me why you are truly here?’

‘We arrived to find a friend, and brother. His name is Kai.’

‘Ah, Kai, you say? And where does he- where do you all come from?’ She picked up a pot next to her, bubbling quietly, then turned again. 

‘The realm we come from is called Ninjago.’

‘Is this past the forest?’

‘Yes.’

‘Oh my. Past the mountains?’

‘...yes.’

She sighed. ‘You and your lost friend have come a long way.’

A knock on the door, and Byunei along with another man came in. Byunei held two large platters of dried fish and steamed bird, along with wild grains and plants. The other man held a plate of square, crumbled cake. Settling them down on the floor near the ninja, both nodded to Sorla and left.

Cole’s stomach audibly grumbled.

‘Oh, they weren’t taking too long this time. Probably in a bit of a rush. Well, eat, eat!’

Turning red, the earth ninja reached for the cake first.

‘Don’t eat all of it, Cole.’ Zane grinned. ‘Sorla, you asked for Kai’s name. Do you have a way of finding him?’

‘Of course. The Hearth-Fire does many things.’ Leaving the sentence on that cryptic note, she whispered a few words into the pot. Lloyd caught a few names and terms, but most were foreign to him. He glanced at his friends, who were all in various stages of paused snacking.

With a flourish, Sorla finished her ritual and threw the pot’s contents into the fire, directly across from Nya. She yelped in surprise, but instead of passing straight through the flames and landing in her face, the potion was absorbed by the fire.

The flames instantly tripled in size, an image appearing in the now-green hearth.

Cole dropped his cake.

The image was of a massive fiery fortress. Fire licked at all parts and edges of the blackened stone, fierce spikes on every surface.

Sorla gasped.

All at once, the image disappeared, the flames receded and the fire morphed back to an orange, cheerily cracking hearth.

A pause.

‘I am sorry for your loss.’

‘What the hell was that?’ Jay looked panicked.

‘Our loss?’ Lloyd got straight to the point. Kai was not dying on him.

‘That was the fortress of the Fire Lord. Your friend must have been captured by him. It will be madness to attempt to save him. 

I am sorry, but your Kai is dead.’

Chapter Text

A while after the Fire Lord had sent his forces, Grimfax and Vex after the strangers, something told him it would not be enough. In particular, the something had been what had been left of the battalion that had left weeks ago to confirm that no villagers had been left in the forest. Most had already fled or been assimilated into the fighting force, but instead, what came back was not a legion, but a handful of Samurai, a quarter of the force, only some unscathed. 

Only from asking did he find out it was the strangers' doing. Interesting. Able to defeat that many Samurai? Underestimating them would be fatal.

From what he had seen of the group then, they were resourceful, managing to survive the harsh climate of the realm and now being able to take down about fifty Samurai. Outnumbered by a force fifteen times them? He had also heard of the destruction of some of his returning battalions and guessed it was their doing, as His primary goal was to find companionship, and maybe a link, however small or large, to his past. The strangers, he knew for certain, were those links, but he couldn’t have cared less about the others, water blue and forest green his paramount wants. He would, again, leave them alive so as to not depress his soon-to-be guests, but their lives were not as important.

But if they managed to defeat the Samurai so easily, then he would need even more reinforcements. 

He had not ever attempted to create something so large and drastic before, but if the Staff could transform entire realms this surely was not out of its grasp.

The Fire Lord envisioned a vast winged creature, with flaming claws and coal-black eyes. Red-gold scaled skin and fiery breath, but with the ability to track and capture harmlessly, quickly transporting its prisoners back to where it came. Curled horns, the faintest blazing glow from inside. A ferocious face able to strike fear into anything, to petrify its foes.

Silently, he walked outside, his vision of the dragon strengthening as he did so. The guards parted for him, leaving a blank field. Perfect.

The Staff whispered in his mind, stoking his ideals. 

A tracker and destroyer, then. 

As you wish, my Lord.

He slammed the staff down onto the stony ground. For a moment, only the tiniest conflagration appeared from the base of the staff, but soon grew in size, moving from tile to tile, then settling in the middle of the clearing. The light blossomed into a vaguely spiky shape, one that refined itself with every passing second. Its features defining, a crackling sound emanating from its heart.

All at once, the light dissolved; settling into the dragon shape the Fire Lord had envisioned.

He smiled.

‘I will call you Scathe. You will destroy my enemies, but…’ 

Ironically, he thought, its true purpose would be the opposite of that.

‘Bring them back unharmed. This is your main mission, and you will carry it out in due course, aiding the battalions if needed. However, prioritise capture at all costs, and only when that is finished will you go to battle with the rest.’ 

He didn’t mention who they were, because his only audience were mindless soldiers, and the dragon- Scathe- instinctively knew what her master desired, and would follow through, without any acknowledgement of others. Whatever the Fire Lord needed, she would too. There was a connection between the two, bought on by her creation.

(It’s a she, isn’t it? He knew he shouldn’t have been too surprised at this considering the powers the Staff wielded, but the Fire Lord had just created life. No small feat. )

The fiery creature bent her head down as a mark of respect for her creator, small flames erupting from her nose. The Fire Lord felt, for a fleeting moment, companionship; he would keep her, when this was over, when he had everything he needed.

Slowly, he nodded. ‘Go.’

With an erupting roar, Scathe beat her wings and flew in the direction of the horizon. 

(The villages?)

He would have no problem with this mission, then. The villagers were easy prey, although the strangers maybe not so- but as Scathe appeared, the issue would be resolved. 

The guards reassembled formation around him, closing into their structure once again. Alone, he walked into the throne room, once again. But he knew he would not be by himself for long.

Sorla was attempting to comfort the group, although none of her words were truly hitting their intended marks. Their mindset was entombed in stone: Kai wasn’t dead. They would all make sure he wouldn’t be, and if he was, they’d kill him again. Lloyd, although Sorla was being honest about her beliefs, didn’t feel like his brother was dead. It was a tingling in the back of his head, a nudging at his thoughts.

He lightly shook his head, but decided to acknowledge what he’d seen in the fire first. ‘Kai is trapped in there? The Fire Lord’s fortress?’

‘The Smoldering Fortress. I have yet to see anyone, whether stupid or captured, leave alive, and even if one attempted to, it would not be long before they were captured again for daring to refuse his ‘hospitalities’.’ She shivered to herself, then sighed. ‘It would be complete suicide. I cannot allow you to go! No one but the Fire Lord and his inhuman Samurai may stay there without threat of death. Only the foolish would choose to go. Kai, your friend, is dead.’

‘No.’

Lloyd’s answer surprised even himself, every head in the room turned to look, although his friends were grim with determination. Nya in particular looked almost eager to go, startling him- then again, he was her brother.

‘Kai wouldn’t just die like that. He’s strong. If anything, he’d live in there- although maybe it might not be to his taste, but First Spinjitzu Master, his elemental power is fire! Something must be keeping him down, but I have every belief he is alive. He wouldn’t just give up on his friends or hope, and for that reason we won’t either.’

Cole grinned, standing up. ‘We might be foolish, but we’re foolish people who’ll do anything to save Kai. No matter how hotheaded-’ A swift pinch from Nya shut that thread of conversation up, the action soon followed with steadily growing encouragements and grins. 

‘You are right, Cole, Lloyd, all of you. I too believe our brother will not give up in there.’

‘Definitely up for some adventure!’

‘Powers or not, I’m going in. This Fire Lord person will have no idea what hit him.’

‘Ninja never quit.’

Sorla, whose back had been turned away, slowly looked back.

‘You all speak as one for your brother? You will risk the dangers to save your Kai, no matter how deadly the journey shall be?’

The resounding yes answered her question. The woman sighed, more in resignation and admitted respect, then smiled. ‘Your friend, or brother, however you choose, is extremely fortunate to have a family like you. If you are truly willing to brave the gauntlet, then I and the Hearth, along with the village, will bless you for your courage. But I must warn you of his forces. The Samurai are not the only ‘people’ he has on his side.’

‘Let me get this straight. Not only does the Fire Lord have a massive army of evil samurai with fire powers that are totally willing to kill people, but there are others too? What’s next? A supermassive dragon? A magic genie? An enchanted spell book?’ Jay’s eyes were wide with ideas.

‘Nothing as farfetched as three wishes, dear. But the magic and enchantments- well, I am sure Byunei mentioned Vex?’

‘Danced around the subject. He’s a traitor, from what I could gather.’

‘Indeed. A Formling without form, cast from his village, disappearing into the snows. We could not find him, and after a while none of us were sure whether or not he was dead, so we let him rest. But the moment the Fire Lord appeared, Vex did too, seemingly out of nowhere. He sees all. He knows all. None of us know how exactly, but his powers of sight extend across the whole realm. There are rumours that the Fire Lord also has this ability, but he tends to leave it to his advisor.’ Frowning, she glanced at the ninja. ‘We have yet to figure out how he is doing this, and it is more than likely he will spy on you as you travel.’

‘Oh, that’s just great. So it doesn’t matter what we do, we’re getting screwed over anyways. We plan something out, it’s more than likely this Vex person will hear?’ 

‘If it helps, Nya, I think I understand what Sorla is describing- more adequately, how it feels. Five hours into my watch last night I felt the strangest, most unnerving sensation overcome me. It felt like cold eyes peeling me apart.’ The ice ninja shivered as he described the feeling, an interesting sight to behold considering his mastery over cold. ‘I believe Vex has been spying on us, ever since then, and if the advisor has noticed our presence it is extremely likely the Fire Lord knows we are here.’

‘What are you implying, Zane?’ asked Lloyd, although he had a feeling already. Nothing good was going to happen, he was absolutely sure of it.

‘Well, if I were a ruler of this land and noticed strangers arriving, coming to a place where I would expect very little new things to arrive, I would not trust them. The Fire Lord will have sent forces after us, I am sure of it.’ 

‘We’re ninja, aren’t we? We’ve beat them before, we can do it again!’

‘Jay-’ Nya sighed, unwilling to mention it, but knowing he had to anyway. The Fire Lord probably already knows we’ve won over them before, and the ones we beat last time have for sure told him about our fighting skills. Okay, don’t look all smug, because he’s going to send even more after us this time.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘This is an incredibly convenient time to lose my water powers . Especially when we’re fighting against fire. At least ice melts.’

‘But they’ll just go after Zane, won’t they? Like last time, but worse with the amounts of Samurai coming after us.’ Cole looked defensive, imagining ways to protect his nindroid, and Lloyd would bet it involved quite a few hammers. ‘And we can’t kill them anyways!’

Sorla, who had been listening to their conversation for a while, interrupted. ‘If you speak of the Samurai, they are undead. We only discovered this after one of the villagers put a pitchfork through its head- one would think it impossible, but it stood up, wrenched the tool out of its body and continued to fight, even though there was a gaping trench in its face. However, if you hit them through the heart, they should die. Except no one has been able to get that far without dying in the process. Some would call it a noble sacrifice, but it is a loss to me.’

‘So just- stake them?’ Lloyd was surprised, likening the tale to stories of old vampires the boys at Darkley had told him about. They hadn’t been that scary, but now that it was slowly likening more to real life, it was getting a little worrying. ‘Are they allergic to garlic too?’

‘As they are undead, they never eat, never sleep, never rest, always fighting until they are recalled. Although the too damaged, when they return to the Smouldering Fortress, are not seen again. I believe they are useless to the Fire Lord, and so he… decommissions them.’ Sorla did not mention the fact that was swirling through everyone’s heads- the Samurai had, once, been human. 

Although not anymore. 

They had also, once, been alive. 

Although not anymore. 

It was just their bodies fighting, and the ninja’s task would have to be to put them to rest.

Byunei and the man who the ninja had seen earlier (his name, as they would learn later, was Keopine) had both left the village to gather more food resources. Both were hunters- a spear slung over a shoulder, a sturdy cloth sack on the other and a sharp flint knife. The other, a bow and a sling of arrows. They would be gathering birds for their families and friends, and if they were lucky, they could come across a few wild chickens to split between them and save the rest of their spoils for the village. Lucky. Fortune came so rarely these days as the endless summer continued. 

‘Byunei, what did you hear of the strangers?’ asked Keopine, glancing from side to side for any movement. His weapon twitched in his hand.

Besides the soft crunching of dried sticks under their boots though, there was nothing indicating life. The blackened trees hanging over them helped add to the strange atmosphere.

‘I believe they come from a distant realm- I overheard snippets of conversation. You know my family lives next door. There was quite a ruckus a few minutes later about going to save their lost friend; I commend them for their bravery.’

‘Commend them while you can, I doubt they will return to tell us the tale.’ 

Byunei shook his head. ‘You did not see them in action at the ruins of the destroyed forest village. They easily defeated four dozen.’

‘By themselves? Five against fifty?’

‘Indeed.’

Keopine let out a long low whistle. 

The musical note was soon followed with a rhythmic thumping, a marching growing steadily louder. The men stopped.

‘Byunei, which part of the forest are we in?’

‘I assumed we were traveling in the general direction of the bird nests?’

‘Which ones?’

‘The blackbirds and white-winged hoppers.’

‘Is that not the direction of the Smouldering Fortress?’

‘...’ 

The silence spoke words Byunei did not have, his worry soon overcoming his ability to speak. Both men turned to listen to the source of the marching, with another crackling sound soon overlaying the hard drum beats. 

No one needed to say anything. They knew what was coming, the familiar noises having been drilled into them by a life of running, fighting and injury. But they were so loud- amplified by the sheer amounts of soldiers approaching. This was no fifty. This was at least a hundred, almost certainly more, judging by the sound. 

The whole army?

Infernal Samurai battalions came into faint view, headed in the direction of the village. Without a second thought, both men quickly and quietly ran back to where they came, warnings hanging on their tongue. The army had come for them.

Prayers ran through Byunei’s head, rusty words sparking to life, unused for years, even when the Samurai attacked relentlessly- but now, they cycled in his thoughts, a marathon in the mind.

He prayed for the safety of his home, everyone’s home, the safety of the people living there and the safety of the strangers, who were almost certainly the cause of this attack. There was however no blame, only reluctant acceptance and numbness. He was used to it, but still…

They ran on.

The pair burst out of the dead forest, heads turning as the villagers stared at the panicked, exhausted faces of the two men. 

‘They are coming. The Samurai are coming.’ yelled Keopine, hands on trees, gear falling to the floor around him.

Sorla, flanked by the strangers, ran out the door and looked at the men. 

‘How many?’

‘At least one hundred strong. Possibly even double. We may have to evacuate- I understand the strangers are powerful fighters, but it is impossible to defeat such an army, surely?’ Byunei looked blankly desperate, albeit tired as he stared at them.

'We cannot evacuate. This is the only source of water for miles, not to mention the Hearth-Fire resides here.' Sorla frowned, wrinkles deepening.

'Then don't leave. We won’t let you fight them alone. You would be slaughtered if you attempted to fight them either way, and we'll do our best to prevent both losses.’ Lloyd shook his head again. ‘We’ve done fifty. Worst case scenario, well, I suppose we can do two hundred. Although we would need people to help us fight them.’

At least three dozen men raised their hands, Byunei and Keopine amongst them- a handful of women, Runiyeo included- of course, muttered Sorla- but the rest were fathers, mothers and children, all intent on protecting one another. If the Samurai managed to get through their to-be defences- 

Lloyd decided not to entertain that thought-

there would have to be someone to defend the families, for as long as they could.

‘Is there an underground area where you may hide your families? I have a feeling houses and cabins might suffer during the battle; Cole and Zane will help reinforce the area or make a pocket for you all if needed.’

A young girl with braided hair spoke. ‘The water spring is huge!’

‘Then we’ll bring you there. Some provisions maybe, Jay can flash-fry them if needed-’

‘We’ve got dried food in stock,’ interjected Keopine.

‘In that case, stick with that. Cole, if you don’t mind, once you’re finished with the spring I’ll need your help to create some defensive walls- ice walls won’t work either way as it is hot and ice does melt, besides we’ll need Zane’s energy at any rate to allow us to fight the Samurai. Nya and Jay, can you help the villagers make stone walls? Jay specifically, would it be possible for you to lay a few electrical traps?’

The lightning ninja winked, already beginning to drag his yang away. ‘You bet, Lloyd! It’ll be a shocker. ’

Lloyd grinned a little as he heard the ensuing conversation heading around the corner.

‘-what was that for- don’t touch the hair!’

‘Jay, after you reuse jokes for the hundredth time, it stops being funny-’

‘What, so I can’t take a crack at a pun, Nya?’

‘...that was just being dirty.’

The green ninja was somewhat relieved when their voices faded away. Turning around, he noted the men and women in front of him, his own fighting force, he supposed, an army of fifty against what could be two hundred. But ninja never quit, and if he did now it would mean giving up on Kai.

He would not do that.

‘Everyone! Do any of you have experience with making weapons…’

Vex was just now approaching the village. His face was twisted in a smirk as he spied the bustling amounts of people behind the rudimentary walls, ready with their primitive weapons- nothing compared to the bristling fiery tools he and the army had at their disposal.

The smirk slowly morphed into a frown as he noted the multicoloured strangers up top quickly constructed stone towers. That black-robed one in particular looked quite menacing. Was that dark blue one actually playing with lightning bolts?

He would stay clear of those ones for now- at least they weren’t needed for the Fire Lord. Vex rolled his eyes- if the people his puppet- well, not really anymore, he muttered- were injured in any way, the Lord would almost certainly take it out on him. No, he had to attempt to capture them at least, but there was another driving force hiding behind their main objectives.

Vex turned to Grimfax. ‘You do remember our plan?’

‘Of course.’

Vex wasn’t too surprised. It would be hard, even for a reasonably mind controlled, slightly undead man to forget their mission to sneak past that guard.

‘Fair point, General. Do remember to bring some soldiers with you. The disposable ones. They should help quite a bit- I don’t think our wonderful ruler would like you to die just yet. None of the army is up to par just yet with your command.’

‘As you say.’

The general turned away and looked towards his army, who were awaiting his orders in perfect formation, ready to mindlessly swarm towards their goal. He marched towards the front, a flank behind him.

In mark, he raised his battleaxe and let out a sharp fighting cry.

Almost silently, the army rushed towards the village, eerily signalling the beginning of the battle.