Heyo! Sorry for the delay, people, I'm the worst DX

Hope y'all enjoy this!


It happened so fast. One moment, we were on a casual mission, taking a call from the chief leader of some small village about 10 miles east of Ninjago city. Something about a few suspicious guys hanging around in alley, and with crime rates alarmingly high in the past few months, I suppose I didn't blame him for calling. As a leader, you could never be too careful when it came to protecting your people.

But I should've known. I should've seen it coming. It was too vague of a description, no specifics as to what the actual trouble was, so I should've suspected something was off the moment we got the call.

Maybe this whole mess wouldn't have happened.

"Alright, guys, we're about two minutes out," I said, maneuvering the Tread Assault around the first village. "The chief said to meet at the town hall, then he'll point us in the right direction."

"What exactly are we looking for again?" Kai's voice came across the com-link, sounding mildly pissed. He and I'd been helping ourselves to third and fourth helpings of Zane's famous chocolate cake when we got the call.

"I'm not exactly sure. Some strange guys lurking around an alley, he said. Wanted to make sure they weren't up to anything, ya know, evil."

A high-pitched voice piped up then, "Why couldn't he send men from his own police force? It doesn't seem like a dire threat, yet."

I sighed. "I don't know, Jay. Maybe his nerves are a little taut with the high crime rate, lately."

"Still, I do agree it is a bit odd, Cole. Perhaps we should proceed with caution." Zane commented, keeping up with me on his own vehicle.

I agreed with all of them, at this point. But we couldn't just ignore a cry for help, especially when we had nothing better to do than stuff ourselves full of cake. So as we pulled to a stop in front of the town hall, I tried to shove aside the queasy feeling in my gut that we shouldn't be here.

"Oh, the ninja!" a voice, very similar to Dareth's I might say, spoke up as a pudgy, middle-aged man jogged over to us. "Thank you so much for coming." As soon as I'd deactivated my vehicle, he reached out and grabbed my hand between two of his, shaking violently.

"Of course, sir. You said there was suspicious activity nearby?"

"Yes, yes," he said, placing a hand on my back and surveying the rest of my team with a shifty gaze. I narrowed my own eyes at him. "But first," he continued, "Why don't you join me in the town hall. It must've been a long ride for you to get here, and I'm sure you could use a refreshing beverage, eh?"

I swallowed heavily, glancing back at my team to see if they were all feeling the same way I was. They were. Kai stepped forward, grabbing my arm to pull me away from the guy's touch.

"Uh, I think we're good," the fire ninja said, not so inconspicuously. "It wasn't that long of a drive anyway."

"But I insist!" Waving a grand gesture towards his house, the chief leader grinned, but I got the feeling he wasn't just being friendly.

"Cole," Zane's whisper had a warning tone to it, as he lightly touched my shoulder.

I glanced back at him, barely catching the gentle flick of his eyes as he silently messaged me to look up. I followed his gaze to the roof of the town hall, high above us, and saw immediately what he was so wary about. At least 10 dark human-shaped figures lined the rooftop, and I caught a glimpse of metal glinting in the light of the full moon. Archers. My gut clenched, protectively. I had to get my team out without alerting the chief that we were suspicious. But…

"And we insist on getting right to the job!" Lloyd, who'd been silent most of the night, finally spoke up.

"Oh, that won't be necessary." And that's when all went to hell. A single arrow sliced through the night but didn't seem to hit a target. War cries sounded as figure after figure leapt off the rooftops and from inside the buildings around us. We were surrounded, drastically outnumbered, and...well, we've handled situations 10x worse than this before so I really wasn't worried.

"Looks like we're doing this the hard way, boys," I shouted, as we leapt into action simultaneously.

The battle was a blur. I knocked out or sliced person after person, hardly taking any blows myself minus a few tiny cuts or bruises. Through it all, I tried to keep tabs on my teammates.

Jay was easy. I didn't even have to look for him, I could hear him. Cheering himself on and making stupid comic book sound effects everytime he pulled a sweet move or landed a blow. Lloyd's golden power hummed and shown, so he wasn't hard to spot out of the corner of my eye. Zane was at my back, covering me, and Kai...well, I wasn't sure where he was at the moment, but I wasn't worried. He could handle himself, especially against these guys. Let's just say they weren't the most skilled warriors we'd fought.

But my lack of worry about the outcome of this battle was abruptly and brutally shaken upside down with the sound of a heart-stopping cry splitting through the ranks. In fact, every one of us, ninja and stupid village soldiers alike froze at the sound.

My guy clenched as my leader's intuition kicked in. Kai. Kai, Kai, Kai. That was Kai's scream, but no that couldn't be right because for my fiery brother to have screamed like that…

"Kai!" I turned my head towards the sound of Jay's frantic, but very pissed off voice. The lightning ninja was yards ahead of me, sprinting towards the town hall, electrocuting everyone in his path. And as I looked to the steps of the building, I knew why.

The leader we had first talked to had a sword slammed upto its hilt in the stomach of the person in front of him. With a sickening slurp, he yanked the weapon from his victim's body, smirking wickedly, victoriously.

In slow motion, frozen to my spot, I watched the red-clad teen fall. Crumple to the ground like a wad of paper, landing on his knees first, then keeling to the side.

"I've done it!" The chief bellowed. "I've killed one of the infamous saviors of Ninjago! Warriors fall back and retreat!" With that, every one of our opponents rushed away after their leader, apparently having no interest in sticking around.

It didn't matter. None of us would pursue them and they knew it. Not while…

"Kai!" I heard Jay's distant, frantic voice shout again and as he slid to a stop and fell to his beside our fallen brother. Which got me moving. I shoved my scythe on my back and forced myself forward, Lloyd and Zane quickly on my heels.

Jay's hands were already bloody as he'd flipped Kai on his back and was now frantically putting pressure on the gushing wound. The red ninja was groaning and crying out terribly, writhing under Jay's hand.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Kai," Jay was muttering, tears running freely down his cheeks. Kai cried out again, choked sound dying in his throat, and his hand jutted out to grasp the blue ninja's bicep in a vice grip.

"N-Nya," he whimpered. "I want my s-sister." And it was so small and pitiful, my heart shattered in my chest, as I basically collapsed on the other side of Kai. But I had to put my feelings aside and snap out of it. Kai needed me. Now.

One hand went to help Jay put pressure on the wound, the other reached to grasp Kai's hand tightly.

"You're going to be okay, Kai." His head turned towards me, but his eyes snapped shut as another wave of pain hit him. "Zane, get over here and help us stop the bleeding and examine the damage. Lloyd, call the Bounty immediately and tell them we need immediate evacuation."

"Nya-" Kai whined. I turned back to him, rubbing the back of his hand with my thumb, soothingly.

"I know, I know, Kai. She's coming as soon as possible."

I turned back to the blond boy behind me, who already had a call running. "And Lloyd, get Nya down here as fast as possible!" I barked, heart pounding from my chest.

I went back to my task, looking down at the pitiful sight of my hands. Trembling, clammy, and drenched in my brother's precious blood.


4 nights later

It was the middle of the night. Yet something had woken me up. Something like a whimper, and a rustling sound. My gut told me that those noises were coming from a particular someone trying to get comfortable while still in pain, and I had to go check on him. I swung my legs over the side of the bed, bare feet hitting the cold wood floor, as I pattered out the bunkroom door and down the hall to the next room over.

The door to the med bay was open and inside was a quite restless, sleepless patient. I sighed, knocking on the door frame to alert my red-clad brother of my presence. His head tilted up to see who it was, then promptly plopped back to the pillow. I sank down on the other cot across from him.

"It hurts," he mumbled weakly, somehow answering my unasked question. He squirmed in the bed, kicking the sheets off his body, wincing as he did so. His face glistened with moisture,

"Do you want some painkiller?" I asked, not knowing what else to offer.

"Already took some."

"Y-you what?!" I sputtered. "You got up? You're not supposed to move, you're supposed to call somebody!"

"Relax, Cole, Nya put the bottle right here by the bed." He waved a hand weakly towards the nightstand next to the bed. Oh, right. Still, I sighed heavily.

"Okay. Well, what else can I do to help?"

Kai's brow furrowed. "N-nothing."

I surveyed the room, trying to find a way to help. I noticed the glass of water next to the bed was almost empty. "I'll go refill your water."

I stood up and retrieved the glass from the nightstand, turning to leave. But a tug on my wrist stopped me. I looked back at Kai questioningly.

"What?"

For a moment, Kai didn't speak. First, he looked up at me, a desperate sort of look in his eyes that reminded me of kicked puppy. Then as his gaze flicked away, and he sighed heavily, releasing my wrist.

"Actually, there is something you can do…" It was a near whisper, Kai fiddling nervously with the thick white bandages encircling most of his waist and abdomen.

"Yeah?" I prompted.

"C-could you maybe, ya know...stay?"

"You want me to stay in here?"

"Well, no. I mean, yeah I do but...but it's not because I'm in too much pain. I mean, I am but-"

I could tell he was struggling to voice what he was really feeling, so I decided to step in and help him out a little. "Come on, Kai, just be straight with me. What's up?" It was straightforward, but not demanding or pushy.

My brother sighed, closing his eyes tiredly and massaging his forehead with one hand. "It's just hard to stop seeing it." His voice was weak and slightly hoarse. "The-the sword. In me." His hand slid over the bandages to rest on his abdomen. "I just can't get it out, and I hate the way the thought of it makes me feel like-like I couldn't even protect myself. Like I'm weak."

I wanted to stop him right there, reassure him that he was anything but weak and uplift him, but I couldn't just yet. Kai, like myself and even moreso, was rarely vulnerable with people about how he was feeling. Maybe it was the meds or the lack of sleep that made him willing to talk, but either way I wanted him to get it out while he could.

"And-and maybe I am, ya know," He was saying. "Because I-I always thought I was prepared to die at any moment. That I wouldn't be scared, that I'd accept it and go out with dignity. But in that moment, when I was on the ground bleeding out, I just didn't feel like that. I was scared, and it was stupid. And I begged for Nya, and I just-"

Okay. Enough.

"Kai," I finally interrupted. "Listen. I hope you know by now that I'm one of the most honest people to ever exist, so tell me if I'm lying when I say this." I folded my arms, sinking down on the edge of the bed by his leg. "First off, you're not weak, and you're not stupid. Everyone is afraid to die to some degree, especially when directly faced with it. Heck, I would be scared if it were me, but honestly if we're talking about weakness, take me for the perfect candidate.

When I saw you get hurt, it was like I felt the sword in my own gut. I knew I had to be strong in that moment, but I had never felt so weak. I was so scared, Kai. As cheesy as it sounds, I was scared to lose you. I should've been positive and believed you were gonna be okay, because you are. But in that moment, I doubted and I was terrified."

"That's not weakness, Cole. That's called brotherhood."

I sighed, because he was somewhat right. It wasn't the same as being afraid of my own death. "Shut up," I said jokingly. "I'm trying my best here."

He grinned. "Well, thank you. But I shouldn't have said anything. I'll be fine." The smile faded as he looked down at the hands still resting on his covered wound, fiddling with the bandages.

"I know, dude. But if there's anything else that's bothering you-"

"Okay, fine! I'm just scared that it's gonna happen again! I never wanna be that vulnerable again, that helpless as I watch myself bleed out all because of a stupid, fat mayor guy who isn't even a trained warrior!"

Oh. Oh. That made sense, actually. Kai wasn't merely worried about dying. He was worried about dying in an dishonorable way. Which truthfully, I'd always thought the team and I would go out in a blaze of glory, fighting until our last breath against a formidable enemy.

"I hope it isn't soon, but when you die, Kai, it won't matter how it happens. You'll still die with honor, because of the person you are. You've sacrificed everything to protect the people of Ninjago. You'll still go out in the blaze of glory I know you're hoping for."

I got a small smirk from him at that. "I guess. Wouldn't expect anything less from the Master of Fire, huh?" He raised an eyebrow teasingly as he glanced up at me. There was a spark of happiness and amusement, and I sensed my job was coming to a close.

I also decided to stroke his ego just for a brief moment. He was injured, after all. "You know I wouldn't, bro. But I'll be here as long as possible to make sure that doesn't happen anytime soon, you got that? You know I've got your back." I stretched out a hand to him, and he took it, grasping firmly in a brotherly promise.

"Of course, Cap'n," he said with a teasing lilt. "And I've got yours."


D'awww so cute.

I'm sorry I always torture you, Kai :( Sort of. But I love you the mostest!