Ello everyone! :D Hawk (Storm?) here with my very first Ninjago fanfic! :3

DietCokeIsLife inspired me with their own amazing fanfics (that you should totally go check out!), and I thought, "Why not do one of my own?"

So here we are... X3

Kai here is also heavily inspired by SkyTalon and their own AU wonderland of a world series named 'Back in my days' that has me completely hooked and I cannotstopreadingit.

So DEFINITELY go check them out as well and I hope you all enjoy! :D

Disclaimer: I own the plot/story. If I owned Ninjago... I don't know, I haven't gotten that far yet... o.o

It was pouring.

Not an innocent little sprinkle, oh no! It was a torrential downpour.

And being the Master of Fire? Yeah, you can tell how this is going to go...

And to think, he had been having such a nice day, too.

A wild shout snapped Kai out of his thoughts, and he snapped up a quick block to his clearly lesser trained opponent's strike, the resounding clang leaving a faint ringing in his ears. A fierce grin made it's way onto the soaked red ninja's face as he quickly disarmed his opponent and then skillfully knocked them out with the hilt of his sword.

Whipping his head around, Kai quickly scanned the impromptu battle field for his 'siblings'. Relief swept through him as he saw that they all had their battles well in hand. Jay and Cole even seemed to be making a game out of it, shouting out numbers to each other, while Zane and Lloyd listened/watched in exasperated amusement.

Shaking his sopping wet hair out of his eyes -which was in vain, apparently, as it simply slid right back after he swept it away for the nth time-, a small movement in the trees caught his amber eye by sheer chance. Whipping his head around, Kai zeroed in on a hidden archer.

Who was aiming at Lloyd.

His brother.

His baby brother.

Everything seemed to slow as his mind's eye worked out just what he was seeing. He quietly pushed away the quickly bubbling rage, for the moment, and instantly realized something.

He wouldn't be able to warn Lloyd in time. No, the archer was already locked and loaded onto his little brother, and by the time he warned him, that accursed arrow would already be skewered through his chest.

So, there was only one acceptable solution. If that arrow was going to hit anyone, it would be him.

As he came to that conclusion, everything rushed back into full motion:

The archer loosed the arrow.

Lloyd turned to see what was flying towards him.

The other ninja yelled out in warning and fright.

And Kai slammed Lloyd -his little brother, his baby brother; that archer would pay for this- out of the way of the arrow, his momentum carrying them both mostly out of the path of the arrow. Mostly.

Kai was never so happy to have a soaking wet red gi than at that moment. It hid injuries quite well.

Hiding a grimace of pain as something just short of agony raced across his lower ribs, Kai quickly checked over Lloyd over for injuries. "Are you okay?! It didn't get you, did it?"

Lloyd shook himself out of his shocked stupor, blinking dazedly. "N-no. I'm fine. Thanks Kai. Your really saved my bacon."

He breathed a sigh of relief, shoulders slumping, before they raised back up rigidly and leapt to his feet in a battle ready stance. "Wait, what about the archer?!"

Zane laid a calming hand on Kai's shoulder. "Not to worry. Jay and Cole are taking care of him. Are you alright, Kai?"

A sharp sting. "Yeah, sure, I'm fine! Do you think you could scan Lloyd and make sure that it really missed him?"

Zane waved him off reassuringly. "Not to worry, I did that as soon as the others took off after the archer. You did good, Kai."

Kai slumped tiredly. "My 'good enough' almost wasn't. We're just lucky that I saw it in time."

Lloyd cuffed him over the head with a huff. "Stop that! You saved me; you made it! I'm right here, safe and sound thanks to you."

"Yeah, what he said," Cole grunted as he waded through the semi-dense brush, the archer that caused all this mess hog-tied and slung over his shoulder.

...And looking much worse for wear, to Kai's immense satisfaction.

Jay bounced out from behind him and slung a arm across Kai's shoulders, unknowingly aggravating Kai's side. "C'mon Kai, cheer up! Everything turned out a-okay. Now, what do ya say we all finish up here and go home, huh?

Kai heartily agreed, and soon they were all back on the Bounty. Excusing himself with the plea of exhaustion, Kai stealthily snagged the advanced first aid kit that they had in one of the bathrooms and fully took in the extent of the damage with a wince.

The less said about the torturous removing of his soaked through clothing, the better.

A long, angry red mark was gouged across his side, right under his rib cage, and a dark, grim looking bruse covered from just above the severe laceration all the way down to the top of his hip.

Biting back the steady stream of foul curses, Kai quickly balled up the cleanest, least bloodiest piece of his gi before biting down on it, effectively blocking any screams that would be sure to somehow slip past the firm barrier he had placed against them.

Taking a deep breath in through his nose, his side protesting fiercely, and gathering up all his courage, Kai applied the large antiseptic patch he had prepared ahead of time.

The world whited out.

Suddenly, in some part of his brain that was untouched by overwhelming agony, he was very, very glad that he had taken the precautions to stop anyone from seeing or hearing him. Locking the door behind him had been simply an after thought, but now he is so very glad that he took the second to do so. After-all, he couldn't have someone walking in on him feeling like he was dying, now could he?

He hated rainy days.

Somehow pulling himself back together out of the sheer force of will, he quickly finished cleaning out his grievous gash and then agonizingly pinched the skin back together with the butterfly thingies that somehow he could never remember the name of. Taking a moment to center himself, Kai then finished up by wrapping some gauze around his middle and over the still sluggishly weeping wound.

Finished. Now he could die in peace. Didn't they say that death was simply eternal rest? Yeah, he could go for an eternal nap right about now.

Sadly, this just wasn't how Kai Smith rolled. Briefly mourning the fact that he couldn't stay seated on the bathroom floor with stray medical supplies strewn about forever, Kai mentally shook himself off and then started quickly cleaning up his small mess, throwing his filthy gi into the washing machine.

That done, and knowing that his brothers would be coming to bed soon, Kai hurried (i.e. slowly walked, as his side firmly rebelled against the thought of anything fast other than sleeping) back to the room and painfully climbed into his top bunk.

Kai didn't regret what he did. He never would. You could scour his soul for eternity, and you would never find even a slightest shade of remorse for doing what he had done to save his little brother. Kai would relieve this entire horrible, no-good rainy day if it meant that Lloyd would survive.

In fact, he would willingly do this for any of his siblings, with absolutely no hesitation at all if one of his brothers' or his little sister's life was on the line.

Hands down, no questions asked.

...I hated this chapter...

And then I ended up loving it... o.o

Welp. That happened. X3

SO, what did you all think about it? Like it? Love it? Hate it? Lemme know! :D

I'll be honest when I say that I kinda lost hope in this chapter. But then I came back, decided to sit down and really LOOK at it, when my fingers betrayed me and decided to matters into their own hands (HA!)...

And then they made this monster... Last time I looked, I could have sworn it was only 800 something words... *stares uncompreheningly for a few moments, before deciding to leave it be...for now...*

~See you all next time!,

Hawkfeather