SO WHAT ABOUT THAT NEW EPISODE EVERYONE HUH

no spoilers for anyone who hasn't seen it (episode 97) except AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

So there's a kinda graphic scene that's supposed to be at the end here, but for the sake of keeping this story at a k+ rating I'm leaving it out.

SPOILERS

Jay needs wounds cauterized

END SPOILERS

But if you want to read it, it'll be up on my tumblr: fabrowrites.

FullMetalPon-3: Yeah, everyone's a bit insane :D Tlnm even acknowledges this: "(Zane) Insane, he's bringing the pain, got ice in his veins". I hope Cole's powers live up to your expectations!

Watcher321: Aww, thank you! Have a cookie (::)

RandomDragon: If you haven't, go read lloydskywalker's "Weathering". It has nothing to do with this at all, except that she spot-on gets each of the ninja's, uh, motivations? personalities? Anyways it's really great and I highly recommend.

Previously on Skyward:

"Farmers are sending in distress calls," said Nya, reading over his shoulder. "Their farms have been raided, by what they're calling a... Batboy?"

"Good. How far away are we?"

"Several hours still."

"Speaking of Lloyd..."

"Yeah? What about him?"

Nya leaned back against the wall. She seemed to hesitate, which was kinda weird, because from what Cole had seen of her she hadn't seemed the type to self-doubt. "He asked Jay and I if he had to fight his father."

Cole sighed. "I'll talk to him in the morning. First thing."

Lloyd dangled his feet off the roof. The new green of his gi was a sharp contrast to the dark shingles- not for the first time, he wondered just why they wore such colorful shirts. He already missed the comforting black of his hoodie. Right now he stuck out like a cucumber in a candy shop, and it was a miracle that the other ninja hadn't found him yet.

Not that they hadn't been looking. Cole and Kai had been calling him through the tele-link ever since he woke up that morning. Lloyd hadn't responded, and he'd been practicing mental shields to hide his mood. Goldie has said it was the best way to keep fire dragons out of your head, after all.

Heh. They'd passed under him like three times. Nobody ever looked up.

Lloyd had a pretty good idea what they wanted to talk about. He'd hit his arm several times already, cursing past him for even bringing it up. Of course they'd want to talk about your issues, Lloyd. When do they not?

'Lloyd, I can see your feet. Come down from there.'

Lloyd drew his feet up quick. Kai. Dang it. His shields must have slipped.

'I know you're still there, Lloyd. Seriously?'

Lloyd got on his knees and peeked over the edge. Kai looked back up at him, brows pulled together. "Come on down," he repeated aloud. "We need to have a talk."

"What if I just stay up here?"

"Lloyd. Now."

"Okay! I'm coming." Lloyd wiggled so his legs once again dangled off the edge, then dropped down with a solid thud. "What do you want?"

'Wait for me,' Cole's voice cut in. 'Zane and I will be up in a couple seconds.'

Lloyd crossed his arms, then uncrossed them and dropped them at his sides. He tried to keep from staring at Kai, who had also crossed his arms and was tapping his foot as well.

"We'll be there in a half-hour," Cole said, coming out of the cabin. He paused. Zane came out a second later, and the three older ninja all looked at each other awkwardly. Now was the time when Jay would usually crack a joke, and Lloyd had never realized until right now how important that had been.

Well, Lloyd wasn't gonna wait for them to sort their issues out. "I think I know why you guys wanna talk, and I just wanna say that we don't need to. Talk, that is."

"Of course we need to talk about it, Lloyd," Cole said. "I don't want you keeping everything inside, okay?" He stopped, worrying his lip. "I didn't know you hadn't heard the prophecy until yesterday. If I had known, I would have told you a lot earlier."

"See- there's the problem." Kai leaned forward, uncrossing his arms. "He didn't need to know about it yet."

Cole exhaled hard. "Why did I ever assume you would tell him, Kai? Idiot! Of course, you would keep it from him."

Kai scowled. "At least that's better than unloading all that stupid prophecy hanky-panky on the literal ten-year-old!"

"I'm eleven-" Lloyd began.

"And what?" said Cole. Lloyd shut his mouth and glared at the ground, blinking back the tears that suddenly sprung into his eyes. "What, Kai? You'd rather me not help him prepare for it? I know he's a child-"

"Well, you expect him to handle it like an adult-"

"Guys, stop!"

Cole and Kai froze. Zane stilled behind them, hands fidgeting with the hem of his gi. It looked like he didn't want to be there. Well mood, thought Lloyd, who also wanted to be doing anything but having this conversation.

"Stop fighting!" he said again. "Please!" The two ninja backed away from each other. Sometime during the shouting match, they'd moved so they were only inches apart. Lloyd took a deep breath. "Tell me the Green Ninja prophecy," he demanded. "All of it."

Kai fidgeted. "You're not gonna like all of it, Lloyd."

"I want to know," Lloyd repeated. "Please."

The three ninja shared a glance. Cole sighed. "We found the scroll in Sensei's bags after the first Serpentine attack. Zane had taken it by accident and it fell out when we were gearing up."

Lloyd knew all this already. He scowled. "You can say 'when I attacked the village', you know. I'm not made of glass."

"You're not," Zane conceded. "The prophecy stated: 'One ninja shall rise above the rest and become the green ninja, who shall possess the power to defeat the dark lord.'"

"And you think the dark lord is my dad."

Cole sighed. "Who else can it be, Lloyd? You didn't see it, but there were pictures on the scroll too. They looked exactly like him."

Lloyd looked at each of their faces: Cole apologetic, Zane uncomfortable, Kai stony. "You could have told me," he said finally. "I would have wanted to know."

"Look, Lloyd. If I'm being honest with you, I didn't think it was that big of a deal."

"Not that big of a deal?" Lloyd said, aware that his own voice sounded strangled. "That's plenty of a big deal, Kai!"

"Your dad's evil, Lloyd. Joining us always meant you'd be fighting against him." Kai made an aborted gesture with his hand. "We were trying to protect you, okay? You don't need to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, Lloyd. You're just a kid."

"I'm not just a kid, though." Lloyd stared at the ground. "Okay? I'm not. I don't think I ever have been." He paused. "I've had to fight my whole life just to stay alive and come out on top- ever since the day my mom left me on the doorstep of Darkley's."

Kai fell silent. So did Cole and Zane, who had looked like they were about to say something.

"I knew that joining you guys meant going against him. I just- I just never assumed, I guess, that I would be fighting him myself."

"You won't be fighting him yourself," Cole said. "That's why we're here. That's why we're a team. Do you get that, Lloyd? There will never be a situation where you'll have to face him alone."

"Okay." Lloyd hated, hated, how small his voice sounded. He cleared his throat. "Thanks, Cole. Thanks, guys."

"The prophecy was unclear on a time frame," Zane said. "It's entirely possible you won't come across him for years."

Was it bad how relieved Lloyd was? Zane had a point. In all of his eleven years, Lloyd only remembered seeing his dad once. If that pattern continued, he could be like, a full-grown adult before he'd come back again.

Kai grumbled something that sounded a lot like: "if he's not gonna see him for years, then why tell him now?" but with a couple more curse words sprinkled in. "I'm not gonna apologize for not telling you," he said. "But I wasn't trying to hurt you either, Lloyd. Promise."

"I believe you," Lloyd said. "Just- please don't keep stuff from me like that? I'm sick and tired of people getting to decide how I live my life."

Some emotion played out across Kai's face. "Okay," he said finally. "Sure. Whatever."

They stood in the weird not-quite circle for a minute more. Cole checked his watch. "Are we done here? Good. Because it looks like we've just arrived."

Zane set his feet on the ground. He gave the rope two pulls and then released it. 'I'm clear.'

The Bounty hovered several hundred feet above him. Its red siding was visible even from where he stood, the boosters small flares of light at its sides. If Zane imagined it, he could almost see his brothers standing at the rails and waiting for his signal.

'Roger that,' came Cole's voice several seconds later. The rope was pulled back up. 'Zane, stay south. If you find anything, contact Kai.'

'Got you.'

Zane started down the mountain. He stuck mostly to the trail, veering off slightly whenever he saw a hole or an overhang Jay might have picked. The terrain was rocky and covered with trees. He picked up a branch and knocked it against a trunk several times. A staff would do him better in these closed conditions than his shurikens.

Cole and Kai were talking in the group tele-link, idle chatter that Zane turned out. They had still been sending each other heated glares when he'd left, and he didn't want to get in the middle of them.

(Zane wasn't sure which of their approaches had right, and having seen how Lloyd reacted, still wasn't sold on either.)

They went silent after several minutes, allowing Zane his peace and quiet back. He methodically worked through his assigned region and was just coming down the other side when Kai's voice broke into his reverie.

'I found him!'

Zane jerked his head up.

'Where, Kai?' Cole demanded.

'He's in this cave or something!'

Cave? Zane started edging his way towards Kai's general area.

'Or something?' Cole pressed. 'Can you see him?'

'I can't see him, but I can feel him. I'm going in.'

'No, don't!' Zane could see the fire ninja now- a red blip on the hillside. 'Wait for us. If he truly is feral, you don't want to face him alone.'

'Too late!'

Kai ducked into the cave. Zane thought several curses and picked his way down the mountain faster. He slid down the cliff side and shoved his way through the undergrowth and brambles. 'Kai, you idiot!' He crossed the gully and slid to a stop at the cave entrance. 'Cole, where are you?'

'I'm on the other side of this hill,' Cole said, frustrated.

Zane pulled on his hood. 'Okay. I'm going in.'

'Keep me updated.'

Zane stepped lightly into the cave. He cast his senses out- it was almost second nature at this point- and proceeded. A half-eaten goat carcass lay to his right and he narrowed his eyes.

There was a bright blue mass further up ahead, and when Zane got closer, he realized it was Kai.

'What were you thinking, running in here like this?' Zane demanded. He stopped beside him. The tunnel took a turn ahead of them, blocking his sight from what might lay ahead.

Kai was trembling. It sent ripples of blue across Zane's vision. 'Well, I wasn't about to waste another second waiting around! Jay needs us.'

'So why are you waiting here?'

Kai hesitated. 'There's something really wrong with him, Zane. He feels scared- no, terrified. It's really strong.' He shuddered again.

Zane closed his eyes. 'Watch my back,' he said. 'I'm going to look ahead.' He stretched out his senses and started to paint a picture of his surroundings. Seeing through walls took much more concentration than spotting traps, and by the time he was done, he felt drained. The cave went on for only 15 more feet. It opened up into a room. And inside-

Zane pulled back with a start. A rush of pain went through his head, and he winced. 'Kai. Are you certain that's Jay?'

'Yeah? All you guys have special ways you feel things. That's definitely Jay.'

Zane breathed in. 'You're right. Something is seriously off about him.'

'What's going on?'

Zane flinched violently. Cole had come up behind him. Now he was standing at their shoulders. Zane hadn't seen him coming, but Kai hadn't jumped, so he figured he'd been too distracted to notice.

'Jay, for lack of a better term, is caught mid-shift. I don't know why, though. Nothing that Ice told me ever suggested anything like this happening.'

'They said we were the first dragon-human hybrids too,' Kai said darkly. 'I don't like this.' He squared his shoulders. 'Screw it. I'm going in.' He vanished around the corner.

'I'm coming too,' Cole said.

'No- Cole.' Zane grabbed his arm. 'What if it escalates your own...'

'Crazy mind loss?' In the darkness, Cole smiled ruefully. 'It's a chance I have to take, Zane. I'll tell you if I feel anything, okay?'

Zane breathed out. It was the best compromise he was going to get. 'Acceptable,' he said.

'Good. Now let's go.'

Zane stepped cautiously around the corner. Immediately his eyes found Kai- his robes bright even in the shadows. He was standing at the mouth of the cave. Zane moved around him to see what he stared at.

Ripples of blue spun through the air. They were all coming off the creature- no, Jay- hiding in the shadows. Zane regarded him, trying and failing to do it objectively. Two large bat-like wings sprouted from Jay's shoulder blades, and a stubbly tail curled around what had to be his knees. A pair of wary eyes regarded him.

'Who are you?'

Kai was trembling again. Cole didn't seem all that better off- he'd frozen in the corridor behind them. Unease spiked through Zane's systems. What had happened to Jay? Was he in pain? Why did he have wings now?

He forced himself to set aside those questions. Zane lifted up his hands. "It's us, Jay," he said carefully. "Zane, Cole, and Kai. We mean you no harm."

'You don't feel like enemies,' Jay said. His eyes narrowed. ''Course, I don't know what enemies feel like.'

Zane shared a look with Cole and Kai that clearly read: 'just go with it'. Zane cleared his throat. Jay's head snapped up to his face, the claws on his wings tensing. Were those horns on his head? Zane had no time to dwell on such matters.

'Jay,' he probed. 'It's us. Your brothers. Zane, Cole, and Kai. Don't you remember?'

Jay cocked his head and stared at Zane. Suddenly, his eyes widened. His claws pulled back and he dropped his wings. 'Zane? What- what are you doing here?'

"We came looking for you, idiot," Kai snapped, stepping forward finally. Jay jerked back. "We'd never leave someone behind."

Jay frowned. He stared at Kai's mouth and mimicked its motions, but no sound came out. "How'd you... find me?" he finally rasped, voice hoarse from what could only be disuse. "Wait. Why'd you come here? It's not safe!"

Zane paused. Was Jay scared for himself or for them? "It's okay," he settled on. "We mean you no harm."

"I know that." Jay curled back in on himself. His wings folded around him like a tent. "It's not you I'm worried about. I'm not safe to be around."

There was movement behind Zane. Cole stepped up beside him, glitching blue in his peripheral. "We're fine, Jay," the earth ninja said. "We're worried for you."

"Cole," Jay said, his wings uncurling a bit. Then they snapped closed again. "You all need to leave."

"Not without you," Cole said.

"We're a team, Jay," Kai said. "That means we stick together no matter what."

"Well, it's stupid to waste your time on a lost cause!" Jay exploded. He snarled, struggling to his feet first in blue and then in reality.

"I'm not coming back, alright? Do you see me?" His voice cracked. "Really. Look at me. I'm a monster. Even if you somehow found a way to reverse the effects of my true potential, I'll never be the same way I was before."

"So? We'll deal with it, Jay." Kai stared him in the eye. "We'll deal with it like we've dealt with everything else thrown our way- the dragons, Zane's robotiness, heck, even our spinjitzu." He took a step forward. Jay tracked his movement with his eyes, but he didn't flinch away this time. His pupils seemed more dilated, which Zane took as a good sign.

"We don't trade lives," Kai finished. He had an air of finality in his words. Zane imagined he could even feel the fire ninja's conviction.

"Kai's right." Cole stepped forward too. "We don't care about how you look, or even that you're carrying baggage. Guess what. We all are."

"But that's why we're here," Zane said. "Because we're brothers. And we deal with things together."

There was a long pause as Jay stared at the floor. Zane watched him, willing himself not to let his own unease show. To his left, Kai sagged over against the wall.

"Do you mean that?" Jay asked.

"That we're family?" Kai said, sounding a little breathless. "Yes."

Jay laughed, a sound that ended with a choked off sob. "Even when I screw up and don't listen to any of your advice."

"Yes. That makes us frustrated," Zane said, "but we could never hate you."

"Never hate me," Jay mumbled. His tail snapped back and forth against his legs. "Never hate me." And something in his face settled, and his eyes grew wide. "You still want me."

Of course we do," Cole said. "We will always want you, Jay. That will never change."

The air around Jay started to glow. He laughed- a breathy, unbelieving cry.

"Get back!" Zane shouted. "It's his true potential!"

The light burst into existence around Jay. A deep, rumbling purr filled the room, spilling over them all like a wave. Zane squeezed his eyes shut. The purr built into a roar. And behind Zane's eyelids, he still saw the outline of a large blue dragon lifting Jay's head up with a lightning-outlined claw.

Then the light faded away, as quickly as it had come on, leaving behind darkness and bright spots. Zane blinked his eyes. Blue flashed across his vision as Kai dove forward, and he closed them again to try and stop his oncoming headache.

"Was that Blue?" Cole asked.

"I don't know," came Jay's voice. Zane cracked open one eye, then the other. The headache was there, but just as a dull throb he could deal with.

"Jay!" gasped Kai. "Your wings are gone!"

Jay's hands flew to his back. "Really?"

"Don't touch it!" Zane caught a glimpse of his back. He winced. "Touching right now would only bring you unnecessary pain."

"Nya's on her way," Cole reported. "Let's get him out of here."

Zane got under his right shoulder, and Kai took his left. Together they half-carried, half-walked Jay out of the cave. As they passed the goat carcass, Jay wrinkled his nose up. Then his face drained of color. "Wait, I didn't-"

"Yep," Kai said shortly. "You did."

Jay looked a bit sick.

The Bounty was waiting for them outside, ropes and a stretcher already tossed down. Cole helped Zane secure Jay to the cot. They watched as he was lifted up.

Kai threw each of them a rope.

"C'mon," he said. "Jay needs us."