Remember Twisted Ninjago? The story that I haven't updated since July? Yeah, that one...
Anywho! I have an idea. This story is going to take place literally minutes after Alex walks off with Jay to head to the camp. This one is going to have a male protagonist and run (... run? Is that really what I'm using? Meh...) alongside Twisted Ninjago/ If Only (You guys heard of Outlast? You know how Whistleblower runs alongside Outlast? No? Fine...). But it's also going to have a darker tone and (probably) be rated M for gore and swearing because the protagonist is going to be seeing the REALLY dark side of Ninjago. Off we go!
"Dammit..." I groaned, sitting up and running my fingers through my purple hair, tightening the ponytail it was in after. My brown eyes darted around, taking in my surroundings. I was outside, for starters. It honestly wasn't that big of a deal, I probably got drunk last night or something.
Wouldn't be the first time.
The name's Zander. I'm nineteen and live on the streets of some dump city. These thoughts ran through my head as I looked around, the buildings around me seemingly war-torn. As I looked, one of the buildings collapsed into a pile of rubble, dust spreading across the ground. I grabbed the hood of my jacket, pulling it over my mouth and screwing my eyes shut.
"Fuck!" I yelled between coughs, fanning the air in front of me. After about a minute of this, I opened one of my eyes, able to open them both without them burning like I was in hell. I began to head away from the fallen building, keeping my hood over my mouth and nose. There was no way I was breathing that shit in. "Just keep walking, Z," I muttered to myself.
After about five minutes I deemed the air safe to breathe and adjusted my hood. If it wasn't obvious to me before that I wasn't in my city, it definitely was now. I rubbed a hand over my face, looking around. One of the piles of rubble seemed to have formed a sort of shelter. I walked towards it, leaning down and looking into it. I instantly recoiled, gagging at the smell.
It smelled like death in there.
I hadn't noticed the trail of blood leading towards an opening in the pile.
I hadn't seen the severed hand on the ground.
I hadn't seen the mutilated, dead body.
I turned, wanting to throw up right there, but didn't. The smell didn't seem to leave my nose as I turned down the next street, running. I wanted to put as much distance between myself and the dead bodies as possible. I wanted to leave this damned city. I wanted my city, with Ryan and Jess. If you couldn't tell, being scared wasn't something I was used to. I'm well over six feet tall, so most people don't mess with me. I was unarmed... or was I? I felt in my pockets and, yes! I still had the small black pistol.
I had scared the living shit out of a thug and he had given me his gun and whatever other weapons he had; I think it was a small carving knife that I had traded for food or something like that. Either way, I was thrilled. I wasn't completely unarmed in this hell. But my heart dropped when I realized that I only had six shots, maximum. I needed something else.
"God dammit!" I yelled, shoving the gun back into my pocket. I looked around, trying to find someplace to barricade myself in. It didn't really trust any of the buildings and didn't even think about checking a pile of rubble after my last encounter. So I knew that I had to keep moving, and try to find somewhere safe. Then, thinking back on how dangerous this place seemed, I pulled the gun out. I was walking close to one of the buildings when I felt someone press a knife to my throat.
"Drop your damn gun," He growled quietly. I dropped the gun to the ground with a soft clatter. "Do you have anything else?" I shook my head. "Speak, dammit!"
"No," I said quietly, keeping my voice steady. "I don't have anything else."
"Zak, grab his gun," the man with the knife to my neck ordered. I saw a small boy, probably around twelve, shakily pick up the gun and bring it behind me, probably passing it to the other person. "What's your name?"
"Zander Hunt," I said. I knew when to follow orders and when to fight back. Now was the time to do what I was told.
"You good at fighting?" He asked.
"Decent."
"Good. You're coming with us," he ordered. "Zak, tie him." An itchy twine rope was tied tightly around my wrists, digging into my skin. I looked behind me. The person had pale brown hair, like Zak's, telling me that they were probably brothers. The older one hit the back of my head, forcing me to look forward.
"So, what's your name?" I asked.
"Wess," he said plainly. "Why'd you ask?"
"I just like to know the name of my captors," I said. "I live on the streets. It's not the first time I've been captured."
"Oh yeah?" Wess asked, sounding amused.
"Of course," I said. "One of my street buddies caught me first. Turned out pretty well." Wess snorted quietly.
"Well, that might just happen here, too," Wess said. "Zak's a good kid, so's Blue and Talon."
"Blue?"
"Yeah. Now shut the hell up. We're almost there," Wess said. I fell silent, continuing to walk forward. My wrists hurt like hell by this point and I couldn't feel my fingers anymore, but I kept silent. I quietly walked forward, seeing Zak rush up ahead. He muttered something into the wall, and part of the crumbled stone moved, forming a small door. Zak ducked in and then Wess shoved me through the opening and into a narrow hallway. It went on for a few yards before opening up into a living chamber, probably an old living room. Wess shoved me to my knees and Zak attached something to my ankle, though he didn't untie the twine rope. A heavy duty chain had been attached to the floor, and now to my ankle.
"Hey Blue! Talon!" Wess called. "I brought home a surprise!" A teenage girl was the first to walk into the room, wearing a blue tank-top and jeans with a green zip-up hoodie tied around her waist. She had on black combat boots and various weapons strapped to her back and waist. "Blue, meet Zander." Blue walked over to me, grabbing my chin with her fingers. Her hair, as I saw in the dirty light, was short and brownish-blonde.
And then I realized where the name Blue came from.
Her eyes were the brightest blue I had ever seen. While Wess and Zak's eyes were dull and grayed out, Blue's eyes had somehow retained their striking color. She glared down at me, digging her fingers into my jaw until I blinked. Then she let go.
"It's not nice to stare," Blue said plainly, walking away. Her voice was deep for a girl's. I noticed Zak talking to another boy his age that I instantly knew was Talon. Talon's hair was like Blue's, but his eyes were grayed out. Talon simply nodded in my direction.
Okay! So as you can see, this story is off to a pretty good start. I probably won't end up adding the Ninjago part until later though. CameronNinjaDragons, signing off.