Chapter 5-Collision Course

It was hot.

The sun beat down on the cobblestones of the training yard like a war drum. And Lloyd grimaced as he felt another trickle of sweat slide down his back, he glanced to his left, seeing Kai, Jay and Zane on one side, all seemingly fine with the heat, with two of them having elemental resistances and the other being raised in trailer in the desert with no air conditioning, it wasn’t that surprising. A glance to his right showed Nya and Cole, who were fairing about as well as him (which is to say, badly). Lloyd shifted in his spot as they waited for… something.

Master Wu gathered them all after breakfast and instructed them to sit there and meditate, that had been around two hours ago.

Now Lloyd was stuck here sweating like a pig. But he wasn’t just sitting there doing nothing.

Lloyd concentrated as his element flowed through his body, it was always moving through him parallel to the blood in his veins, pulsing in time with his heart, but like his heartbeat, he wasn’t aware of it unless he was either focusing or exerting himself.

A tingling warmth overtook his palms as he made his element gather there like he did before he unleashed a bolt of green energy on his foes, but instead of releasing it he held it there, just beneath the skin.

He shot a glance at where his room sat behind the courtyard walls, where Harumi was probably enjoying his air conditioner. He was expecting to feel envious, but instead he was… weirdly happy that Harumi was using his stuff.

Sleeping in his bed, using his air conditioner, wearing his clothes (wearing his scent), it made him feel all warm and gooey inside, like a toasted marshmallow. Lloyd liked this feeling.

It also made him want to start gnawing on everything like a termite. Lloyd was unsure of this part.

“Uh… hey, Lloyd? Can I ask you something?” Cole piped up, his voice hoarse from an undoubtedly dry throat.

Lloyd blinked. “Yeah, Cole?”

“So, what actually happened when you fought your dad on top of Borg tower?”

“Cole!” Nya hissed. “You can’t just ask him like that!”

“Why not? It’s an honest question!”

Lloyd sighed. “Guys…”

“You could at least be a little less blunt!”

“How would you have asked him then?”

“Guys,” Lloyd repeated, louder this time.

“Certainly not like that!”

“What does that even-”

“GUYS!”

Lloyd slammed his fist down on the stone in front of him, the sound reverberating through the courtyard, leaving a silence so absolute you could hear a pin drop. He calmly sat back up.

(He failed to notice the deep cracks spiderwebbing out from where his fist struck the stone.)

“I tried fighting him at first, but it wasn’t working” Lloyd began, his voice tired. “It just made him stronger, the fight, the conflict, it fuelled him, like he was sapping my strength and adding it to his own.”

“So, I didn't fight him, I resisted him. Every time he hit I dodged, every time he baited me, I didn't rise to it. And I just… kept at it until I wore him out.”

“Like Sensei G taught you?” Cole asked tentatively.

“... Yeah, like Sensei G taught me.”

Despite the sombre topic, Lloyd was smiling, the memories of his time with his uncorrupted father were ones he cherished deeply, back then it felt like a glimpse into the life he could have had, had his father not been bitten by the great devourer.

Sometimes, in the quiet moments of the day, Lloyd let himself indulge in the fantasy. In this dream world, his mother would have never felt the need to take him to all those surgeons when he was a baby or leave him at Darkleys a few short years later (well, it felt short to him, back then, it felt like any time he spent with his mother was never enough) to ensure his safety, here he grew up with his mother and father in either the monastery with Uncle Wu or a different family home Lloyd always failed to conceptualize. His father would have opened a dojo like the one he had in the real world, and Lloyd would have been happy.

Not that he wasn’t happy now! He was! But he probably wouldn’t be as- burdened maybe? Less traumatised, that’s for sure.

‘And lonelier’

The thought entered his mind unbidden, its voice was different from the one he had been hearing recently, this one was distinctly less… demanding, but still somehow perfectly natural. Comforting, even.

Lloyd felt the voice slip back into the dark, quiet part of his mind where the other one seemed to reside, before shrugging mentally and going back to his training.

This continued for what had to be at least another thirty minutes.

He perked up when finally, he heard the familiar hollow ‘thunk’ of bamboo on wood. Master Wu emerged from behind one of the many sliding doors leading back inside.

“Apologies for the wait, students, I was caught up with some guests.”

Lloyd’s face broke into a grin as Pixal walked into the courtyard from behind Master Wu, He and the other ninja scrambled to their feet to envelop her in a tight group hug. He squeezed his arms around her tighter from where he was tucked into her side, savouring her presence, it had been entirely too long since they had seen each other.

Pixal and Lloyd weren’t always the closest of friends, sure they were friendly and respected each other as fighters, but there was never really a solid bond between the two of them specifically.

But that all changed after Wu was lost in time, because after that it was just him and Pixal protecting the city for a whole year while the other ninja searched, long nights of patrolling with nothing to do but… hang out.

And hang out they did!

Well, as much as they could, considering Pixal was still keeping her identity as Samurai X, and her physical body a secret, so their hangouts mostly consisted of chatting through the comm link while Lloyd made his rounds, but those long meandering talks were one of the only things that got him through the crushing loneliness he felt while the rest of his family was scattered to the winds.

You don’t spend that much one-on-one time without growing closer, and by the end of that quiet, lonely year, Lloyd viewed the Nindroid as a second sister, their bond only being solidified by those harrowing months being hunted in the resistance.

Pixal was also one of the only people who treated Lloyd like the (young) adult he was. Because they had only really gotten close after the infamous ‘tomorrows tea’ incident. Pixal never had that difficulty reconciling the way he was now with his child self like everyone else did. No, Pixal saw him as a capable fighter and competent leader, something that Lloyd greatly appreciated.

“It is good to see you all again” Her smooth mechanical voice filtered into his ears as he and the others slowly unlatched themselves from around her. “I trust you have all been well?”

“As well as can be expected” Zane replied.

She smiled. “Good, I apologise for my absence, my father and I were preoccupied with repairing Borg tower, as well as all your vehicles"

Jay perked up. “Really, all of them? Even the Bounty? I thought it was smashed into a million pieces!”

“It was, but through my father and I’s efforts, and a generous donation of funding and labor from the mayor as thanks for defending the city, it has been fully repaired and is ready to fly”

“That's great! Thank you, Pixal” Lloyd said gratefully. “I don’t know what we’d do without you”

“Um, hello? What about me and Nya?” Jay asked with faux incredulousness.

“Yeah, Lloyd, what are we? Chopped liver?” Nya added, her grin was large and infectious as she nudged Lloyd's shoulder with her elbow. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly in response.

~🩸~

The group laughed amongst each other as they headed inside, where Cyrus Borg and Wu were sitting in the living room on either side of the coffee table, a pot of tea laid out between the two of them. The air was tense as they both looked over the sheets of parchment laid out on the table, paragraphs written in an unknown language scrawled on their surfaces in ink.

Something about them made Lloyd’s skin itch and the back of his mind buzz.

“And I would like to ask again, are you certain you know nothing of these symbols?” Wu asked Cyrus, his brows furrowed tightly.

Cyrus looked over the parchment, his eyes scanning them for anything he might recognise, but then he shook his head in defeat. “No, I’m afraid not, I've come to know of many strange things since you charged me with safeguarding all the magical items you and the ninja find, but I’ve seen nothing like this”

Master Wu sighed. “Do not apologise, in truth, I suspected that would be the case, but I was hoping that you would have caught something I missed” He slumped his shoulders. “I should have known better than to think this would be so easy”

It was only then that they noticed the others in the room.

Lloyd stepped forward. “Master Wu what is…” He gestured to the papers “all this?”

“I do not know” Wu was looking down at the table, but his gaze was far away. “Recently, my meditation has been plagued by strange visions, ones where I am in a cave, kneeling before a titanic scroll with an unknown script that shifts and writhes across the papyrus as if it were alive. All while someone whispers to me in an unknown tongue”

He sighed again, his shoulders drooping. “I have written down the few sections I can clearly recall in the hopes that I would be able to find some mention of them in the records we have here in the city, but the search has borne no fruit”

Lloyd gulped. “And I’m guessing this has something to do with the mysterious ‘them’ my father mentioned?”

“Yes”

“Is there anything we can do?”

“Fortunately, Nephew, there is”

Master Wu stood up from his spot in front of the coffee table, gathering the papers into a neat stack as he went. “While there was nothing to be found here in Ninjago city, I believe there is more luck to be had in searching the great Library of Domu”

“The Library of Domu?” Jay repeated.

“It is the oldest repository of knowledge on the entire island, if the answers we seek were anywhere, they would be there”

“Sweet, so we all fly over there on the bounty, read some books, and save the world, right?” Kai asked nonchalantly, but Lloyd could tell that it was to cover up his nerves in the way he tensed his shoulders, this was the first ‘big’ threat since Kai and the others came back from the First realm, and it didn’t take a genius to see that he was still rattled by the experience.

Wu shook his head. “No, we do not know when or where this new threat could strike, it is best that only one of us makes the trip, while the rest remain here to guard the city”

“Wha- Master Wu you just said we don’t know where this could kick off, are you sure making someone go off alone to Domu is a good idea?” Kai’s gaze flickered nervously to Lloyd and Nya, his heart clenching at the idea of him not being there to protect his younger siblings, again.

“Your concern is not without merit, Kai, but I have reason to believe that ‘they’ will not concern themselves with Domu”

“And what are those reasons, exactly?”

Lloyd sucked on his teeth as Kai challenged their Master, ever since their time in the first realm, all of them- but particularly Kai and Cole- had been regarding Master Wu far more casually than before, treating him less like an all-knowing wise master and more like just another member of the team, it was weird.

“Not many know this, but Domu is one of the only places left in Ninjago, barring a few monastic groups and cults, where magic is taught and practised, as such the city is heavily warded and fortified, to the point that any siege against it would be an exercise in futility, meanwhile Ninjago City has no such protections.”

“Wait, so you're saying ‘they’ will go for Ninjago city because it’s an easy target?”

“Essentially, yes.”

“Is this also the reason why 90% of all the bad guys we fought before attacked Ninjago City instead of anywhere else?”

“.... most likely.”

“And our city didn’t get any magic protection because…?”

“The Emperor and Empress found implementing such measures to be an unnecessary drain on the royal coffers.”

“Right. Of course.”

Lloyd watched as his brother and his uncle continued their conversation, the gears in his mind turning. He turned to the table where the papers still were, deciding to put his ‘plan’ into motion.

“I’ll go”

“What?”

All eyes turned to the Green Ninja. Lloyd smiled, he needed to act casual for this to work.

“It’s like Master Wu said, Domu is protected, so I won't be in too much danger, besides.” He let his eyebrows crinkle a bit. “I already spent almost a year and a quarter watching the city by myself, I think I've earned some time away, don’t you think?” He teased, his voice taking a light jovial tone, playing off the mood Kai had tried to set earlier while also casually reminding everyone that Lloyd had also spent a whole year (almost) by himself before the SoG took over. And Lloyd could see that it worked by the way everyone’s expression went a tiny bit pained.

Sure, it was a little mean, intentionally tugging their heartstrings, but it was for a good cause! Honest!

The other ninja and Pixal shared a look between them, before Kai clapped a hand on Lloyd’s shoulder.

“Alright”

Lloyd beamed.

“Just make sure you call if anything happens, got it?”

“Got it,” Lloyd replied before turning to Master Wu.

“I’m going to go to my room to start figuring out what I need to pack, Master Wu, is it alright if I bring the symbols you drew with me so I can study them?”

“Of course, Nephew,” The old man replied with a bow of his head.

Lloyd gathered the papers in his arms before dashing quickly to his room, so quickly in fact that he didn’t notice the eyes that lingered on him as he left.

~🩸~

“...so, what do you think?” Lloyd finished as he spread the papers out on the bed, Harumi humming thoughtfully as she looked over them, before plucking one off the blanket so she could scrutinise it more closely.

Lloyd watched her, anxious for a response.

Harumi squinted at the paper like it had wronged her personally. She snorted through her nose. “Well, your right that it’s Oni script.”

Lloyd sensed a ‘but’.

“But I have no idea what it says.”

He threw his hands up. “But you said you were fluent in Oni script!”

“Ancient Oni script, this” she held the offending parchment up. “Is obviously a modern version which only barely resembles the kind I know, which makes sense considering the ancient script was recorded several thousand years ago.”

Lloyd fell back against the pillows. “So, this whole thing was a dead end then, great.”

Harumi smacked the paper down on his face. “I didn’t say that idiot.”

“You just said you couldn’t read it.”

“But that doesn’t mean I can’t learn.”

Harumi laid the papers out again. “it’ll be hard, but I think there’s just enough similarity between this and the ancient version for me to figure it out.”

“Like what?”

Harumi pointed to one of the symbols, it was a diamond shape with a line drawn horizontally inside it. “The inner structure seems to have carried over, in the old version, there was a character that looked very similar to this, but a circle instead of a diamond, the old version roughly translates to ‘A’, and if I’m right this is the modern version of that old symbol.”

“So that’s ‘A’” Lloyd summarised.

“I’m pretty sure it is, but I’d need some time to figure this out.”

“Why? Doesn’t this mean you can just match the inner symbols?”

“No, see, the old version was just made up of circles with different symbols inside to denote a different character, this new script uses a combination of inner AND outer symbols” She drew Lloyd’s eye to another character, this was another diamond, but the bottom half was bracketed by two right-angles. “And I have no idea what those mean at all so I’m going to have to go off of the characters I CAN translate and get context clues, keep trying until I get a page that makes sense.”

“Like hangman?”

“… Sure Lloyd, like hangman.”

Harumi scanned over the unknown words again. “Still, translating a bunch of word spaghetti doesn’t do much, if only we had more info here in the city, then we would get further.”

“Well, good thing we’re going to Domu then, huh?” Lloyd replied casually.

And Harumi stared at him.

Lloyd stared back, grinning impishly.

“Domu” She asked, slowly.

“Yep.”

“The ancient magical fortress-city in the middle of the desert that holds the largest collection of ancient knowledge in the realm, that Domu?” there was an almost imperceptible quiver to her voice.

“You got it.”

“Lloyd, I swear if you’re fucking with me, I’ll smother you with one of these stupid pillows”

“Good thing I’m completely serious then”

“wh-how are we even getting there?! And how am I going with you without getting caught? It’s not exactly like I can sneak around with this” she lifted her cast-ed foot off the pillow it was resting on. “Not to mention these” she then gestured to the wounds on her torso, still covered by thick white bandages.

Lloyd’s smile didn’t fade, but it melted into something calmer, warmer, even. “Well, first off” he began, a light chuckle in his voice. “we’re going on the Bounty, which Pixal just finished fixing, and we won’t have to worry about getting caught because it’s a one-person mission, and I’ll sneak you on the night before take-off”

“And second off, can I see your leg for a second?”

“Ok…” Harumi trailed off, confused, as Lloyd gingerly placed his hands on the outside of her cast. He took a deep breath, and his hands started to glow a faint pine green.

Warmth started to radiate from Lloyd’s palms, passing through the plaster before seeping into the tissue of her leg, down to her bones. The warmth flowed up to the joint in her hip before seeming to double back on itself, leaving behind the tingly itching sensation of a healing wound.

Harumi was silent.

“I’ve been practising” Lloyd spoke as he held her leg in place. “Ever since the night I found you, you probably don’t remember but I did something like this, but it was…different. I couldn’t control it at all, I didn’t even know that was something I could do, it was like all my power was rushing out of me and into you, like a river into the ocean. It kind of scared me, but I’m glad it happened, because you probably would have died if it didn’t.”

“And I did it again a couple times while I was treating your wounds, in smaller bursts like this, but it’s like I was on autopilot, my body was moving on its own while my brain was somewhere else entirely. So, when I tried to do the healing again later, it didn’t work, but now I can kind of do it?” Lloyd continued, focusing entirely on her leg.

“Not as good as I did that first time, but we have at least a few days before we leave, and it’ll take a week for us to reach Domu on the bounty so if we do this once a day with your already accelerated healing I’m pretty sure we’ll be able to take your bandages and cast off by the time we get there!”

It was at this point that Lloyd realised that Harumi hadn’t spoken a word since he put his hands on her cast, his eyes flicked up to her face. It was ashen and bloodless, the corpse-like hue of her skin accentuating the sunken cheeks she had gained from a life spent starved in the name of someone else’s vanity, her expression was frozen in fear, the visceral, animalistic fear felt by a fox as it stared down the barrel of a hunters rifle, or a criminal as the walked to the gallows. Her gaze firmly locked on the entrance to the room.

Slowly, so slowly that he made no sound, Lloyd turned to face the door.

Pixal stood there, her arms crossed, her expression severe.

A pregnant silence fell over the room, eyes shifting in a silent stand-off, everyone waiting for someone else to make the first move.

“I-I can explain” Lloyd choked out, feeling all too much like a kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar. Harumi made a strangled noise beside him.

Pixal’s green lamplight eyes slowly went from Lloyd, to Harumi, and back to Lloyd again. Her brow furrowed, her lips turned further down. She sighed in obvious irritation.

Then she stepped through the door and closed it behind her. The magnetic lock clicked into place.

“You have five minutes.”

End notes