Oh geez, today has been chaotic. I just barely remembered to get this in. But I did it!
Starwindtheninja - Welcome! I hope you keep enjoying!
LightWolf - Right? I have a motto, that all fictional characters need therapy. Especially the Ninjago boys and girls. Wow that bird was rude. Zane was probably more okay with Xavier stealing his food than you were with the bird stealing your ice cream. And you got it! It's definitely the Monastery. I felt like I needed a few more familiar places.
Jay hadn't moved from his sitting position when the rest arrived a half hour later.
"Jay!" Nya shouted as Flame landed. "Where is he?"
She stopped short when she saw his bloodied face. He had managed to stop the flow but he hadn't bothered to wipe off the dried blood.
"What happened?" Nya exclaimed.
"Did Cole do that to you?" Kai asked, incredulous.
"Who else could've?" Jay replied with a roll of his eye.
"I dunno, Lordings? Just spill the beans already." Kai said.
"Nah, let's wait til everyone is here so I don't have to repeat myself twenty times."
Right on cue, Pixal landed next to Flame. She narrowed her eyes.
"You let him escape."
"Geez that sounds like he was a prisoner or something." Jay muttered.
It took Zane and Xavier another ten minutes to arrive, during which Nya had fussed over Jay and his apparently broken nose. Jay wasn't going to lie and say he didn't enjoy the attention. Kai, on the other hand, was not pleased. He kept scowling at the two of them.
Zane jumped from Shard and looked around.
"Jay?" He asked. "Your face- Cole- What has happened?"
Xavier looked panicked as he noticed Cole wasn't there. Jay shrugged.
"He didn't want to come back so I challenged him to a fight. If I won he'd come back. If he won he could leave."
"How long has it been since since he defeated you?" Zane asked.
He looked ready to leap back on Shard and start scouring the area.
"Hold on, let me explain." Jay said.
He told them what had happened and Cole's plan. He omitted the part where Cole was still nearby, lest Xavier hijack a dragon and go on a man hunt.
"I really think this is what he needs." Jay finished.
Zane still had his brow furrowed.
"I hesitate to bring this forth, but you have never held Cole in high esteem."
"You hate him." Kai interjected bluntly.
"You may not have Cole's best interest at heart." Zane finished with a sharp look at Kai.
"You would have been right an hour ago but I have since warmed up to him." Jay told them.
"He broke your nose!" Kai said.
"Apparently male bonding involves violence. Who knew?"
"I think Jay's right." Nya interrupted. "Cole wasn't getting any better with us and he was a danger. I'm really hesitant to let him be out there by himself but-"
She trailed off. Zane looked over the impressive view from the top of the mountain.
"When the first five days are up, we will leave him a message. He must leave us a sign every three days." He said. "I would be more comfortable if the intervals were shorter."
Jay beamed at him. If the nindroid was convinced, the others were convinced. Kai was nodding and Nya's face relaxed.
Jay made the mistake of looking at Xavier.
The boy's round face was twisted with anger and fear. Once he noticed Jay looking at him he began signing.
"No." Xavier signed. "This is bad. No."
"Xay, it'll be okay-" Jay started.
He didn't think it was possible to interrupt someone speaking with sign language but Xavier was a special kid.
"Lordings are out there!" Xavier signed with a jab off the mountain. "The Fallen! He is in danger! We need him back!"
He was getting more and more animated.
"He wasn't getting better-" Jay tried again.
"Shut up!" Xavier signed in a snarl. "You don't understand! None of you understand! You don't care about him!"
"Xavier." Zane's voice was sterner than Jay had ever heard it. "It is understandable that the idea of Cole leaving is upsetting to you. I myself am hesitant. However you cannot make these baseless accusations. You know we care about Cole."
Xavier wouldn't look at Zane. His shoulders were hunched and his arms knotted together.
Zane knelt next to Xavier.
"I know this is frightening. We must remain calm and trust in Cole."
He put a hand on Xavier's shoulder. Xavier threw it off.
Zane blinked.
"Xavier?"
The boy stomped away.
"We should go." Kai said with a sidelong glance at Xavier. "I think he'll need a minute."
Nya closed her eyes against the wind and let out a long breath. Her brother was the one actually doing the flying. He had insisted despite not having much, if any, experience with the dragons. Kai's months in the wilderness had ironed out most of his fears and doubts. He was confident, much more so than the others when she had met them. He still held a form of their old bravado and cockiness.
Nya squinted as she heard a faint voice on the wind. It sounded like someone calling her name. She looked up to see Kai jabbing a finger down at the ground. She followed his motion to see a smallish swarm of Lordings up ahead.
She gave Kai a thumbs up and raised her hand to signal the others. Jay and Zane signalled back and Pixal simply diverted her path away from the pack. Zane and Jay followed. Nya expected to be close behind but Kai was urging Flame downwards. Nya grabbed his shoulder.
"What are you doing?" She yelled over the wind.
"Taking care of these guys!" He yelled back.
"No!" Nya shouted. "Turn away, now!"
He didn't listen. Flame still rocketed towards the Lordings. Nya tried to dissuade the dragon but Kai kept urging him down. The Lordings had seen them now. They had no choice.
Flame landed in a cloud of dust. Kai leapt off and jumped into the swarm.
Nya couldn't follow. These were people! And unlike previous times she had been forced to kill the corrupted humans, these were in no way endangering her or her people.
The pack was small and Kai's fervor was enough to eradicate them within minutes.
He tore through the last one and sheathed his swords with an air of grim satisfaction.
"What, I don't get any help?" He asked as he approached her.
His voice was almost jovial.
"I told you to not engage." Nya said quietly.
Kai shrugged.
"Isn't our job to kill these things?" Kai said. "Besides them making me feel like crap, there's no reason not to."
"They're-" Nya choked out.
She couldn't tell Kai what they were. How many had he killed? Whatever else Kai was, he was not a killer. Knowing that he had unwittingly killed dozens of people could destroy him. Like it had nearly destroyed her.
"Our job is to protect. What were you protecting by needlessly slaughtering this group?" Nya snapped.
"I don't get why this is such a big deal!" Kai protested.
"You disobeyed orders!" She said.
Kai scoffed.
"So that's it!" He said. "You're just bitter I didn't decide to follow your orders."
Nya slapped him.
He froze and blinked back at her.
"You listen to me." Nya said in a low voice. "I don't care how long you were alone. I don't care about your overinflated ego."
Kai narrowed his eyes.
"I am in charge here. I have kept people alive for four years. When I say don't engage, you do not engage."
Silence hung in the air like fog. Kai finally turned to Flame.
"Whatever you say, captain." He said in a voice dripping with contempt.
"What happened?" Zane asked, worried.
Nya and Kai had found the others waiting for them outside the base.
"Er-" Nya said as she watched Kai stomp away. "They saw us before we could get away."
Jay and Zane shared a look but thankfully didn't press her. Jay especially looked unnerved. He alone knew the secret of the Lordings.
Xavier haunted the shadows near the entrance with a scowl.
"He worries me." Zane fretted. "I have never seen him so angry."
"I didn't think he got angry." Jay added.
"I know this has been the answer to everyone's issues lately, but give him time. It's been a hard day." Nya said with forced encouragement.
Xavier gave them a glare and descended into the base with an air of defiance.
Zane winced.
"Can everyone stay normal for five minutes?" Jay grumbled.
Nya shuffled through the paperwork she had abandoned at her desk when there was a soft knock.
"Come in." She called.
Dareth gave Nya a look while jerking his head at her papers. She scowled back at him.
Garmadon entered. The old man looked tired as usual.
"Nya." He said. "I take it Cole is gone?"
Nya started.
"The others told you?"
Garmadon shook his head.
"It's what he needed to do."
Nya chewed the inside of her cheek.
"I'm worried about him." She confessed.
Garmadon sighed and sat down.
"Yes. But what else could we do?" He said. "Idleness would not serve him. Work forced him into confrontation with the others. Isolation will have to serve him in a way we cannot."
Garmadon stared into the air before leaning forward on his elbows and pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Poor Cole. He didn't deserve this." He muttered.
"None of us did." Nya said.
They fell silent. Nya knew Garmadon was thinking of Lloyd too. She couldn't imagine the pain of having his son ripped away from him again. The man seemed destined to never be with his family.
The next morning had cooled Kai off at least. He greeted Nya in his usual manner of a nod and casual 'Hey.' Xavier was less openly hostile but still sullen and resentful.
"What's on the agenda for today?" Jay asked with false cheeriness.
"Let me guess, training." Kai grumbled.
"You'll need it. I have a bad feeling that the celestial clock is ticking and that we don't have much time until Xavier has to face the Overlord." Nya said.
The feeling around them sobered. Nya was relieved to see Zane looking resigned rather than mutinous. Jay slung an arm around Xavier. The boy had stiffened and was staring into space. Kai raised an eyebrow.
"We're sending the kid against the ultimate evil?" He asked.
"Did no one tell you?" Nya asked with a pointed look at Jay and Zane.
"It never came up!" Jay protested. "Why didn't you?"
"That's besides the point." Nya said with a sigh. "Yes, Xavier's the one who has to face the Overlord."
Kai opened his mouth to respond but Pixal approached them, cutting him off.
"Nya." She said. "Are you ready?"
The android was dressed in a purple tank top instead of her normal jumpsuit. Nya glanced at Zane. His face had flushed and he was staring at the ground. Pixal was sporting a faint silvery blush.
"Give me a minute." Nya told her. "Go ahead and head for the training hall."
Pixal nodded and jogged off.
"Pixal is training with us?" Zane burst out as soon as she was out of sight.
"No, she's training with me." Nya said. "You and the others will be training with Xavier."
"You could not handle training with her." Jay said with a smirk. "You can't even handle being in the same room as her!"
"I can handle being in the same room." Zane snapped. "It is just that I become very uncomfortable."
"That's exactly what I mean, Brain-freeze."
Nya left them to squabbling. She moved to Xavier. He had been apart and watching them with a dark expression.
"Do you wanna talk?" She asked him.
He glanced at her and shrugged.
"I know it's scary to have him out there. But we-"
Xavier's eyes were filling with tears. He rubbed them away with his palm. A light clicked on for Nya.
She took Xavier's hand and towed him away. The others were too busy bickering to notice.
"Is this about your mother?" Nya asked.
Xavier stared at the floor. Then he nodded almost imperceptibly and his hands began to slowly weave his story.
Mommy and Daddy gave the boy who would be known as Xavier three rules. One, he had to listen to them and never ever disobey. Two, never ever go anywhere by himself. Three, when mommy and daddy talked in quiet voices after he'd gone to bed, he wasn't supposed to listen.
Xavier broke rule number three a lot.
Like tonight, when the stars shone like pinpricks of flame. Xavier shivered. They didn't risk a fire tonight in this wide open plain.
"I'm worried, Sel. He hasn't even tried to speak after his illness." Mommy fretted.
"There's nothing we can do." Daddy said with a sigh. "It's a miracle he pulled through. "
Xavier opened his mouth again and tried to force a noise, any noise. Not even a squeak came from his throat. He closed his mouth again. He barely remembered the last couple of weeks. Everytime he swallowed it felt like jabbing needles. He had been hot and cold and ached all over. He listened closer to what his parents were saying. He shifted a little too much.
"Helia. He's still awake." Daddy said in a whisper.
Mommy sighed and got up. Xavier felt a twinge of guilt.
"Baby, you're supposed to be asleep." Mommy chided as she settled down next to Xavier.
Xavier shrugged in response. She smoothed his hair.
"It's hard, isn't it?" She murmured to him. "Living out here and running all the time?"
He shrugged again. It was how things were. Being scared and hungry were normal. The life before was nothing more than a dream to him. A pretty dream that almost wasn't real.
Daddy had come over and joined Mommy. He picked Xavier up and held him in his arms.
"One day it'll be back to normal." Daddy said. "My aunt would talk about the end of the world. She'd say even in the end, light would eventually win."
Daddy seemed to say it mostly to himself. Xavier just snuggled up to him.
A world where he wasn't scared? A world where his family didn't have to run and avoid dark monsters from his nightmares every day? A world where there were other people and his belly was full? Xavier had a hard time imagining it.
"It would be nice, though" He thought drowsily.
The next thing he knew the sun was peeking over the horizon and his parents were packing up their meager belongings.
"Come, sweetheart." Mommy said. "It's time to get up."
Xavier stumbled to his feet. He looked out over the plains. His heart dropped when he noticed the dark smudge on the horizon. He scrambled over to Daddy and tugged at his ragged sleeve.
"Hm?" Daddy said as he looked up.
He froze. Was the smudge bigger now?
"Helia, we need to go. Now." Daddy said.
"We're ready." Mommy said.
So they ran. It didn't matter how far away the monsters were; if they were in sight, they had to run. Run and run and run, til Xavier had to be carried by Daddy.
That night they had even less than usual to eat.
"We'll have to stop at a town soon." Mommy said quietly.
She was scared. Xavier knew that monsters were almost always in 'towns.' He had lived in a 'town' once, but now the places with strange things called buildings frightened him.
Daddy sighed but an odd look got in his eyes.
"Helia, I once heard of a language that you could speak with your hands. There must be books-" He said.
"It's bad enough we have to risk ourselves for the necessities. I won't have you risk your neck for something we don't need." Mommy said.
"But-" Daddy started.
Mommy shook her head.
"He doesn't need it. I want him to be able to communicate as much as you do, but we can survive without it."
Xavier looked from one to the other. His chest was tight with disappointment and he looked down. Mommy was probably right. It was scary to think of Daddy in more danger.
But to be able to talk again would be wonderful.
They spent the day traveling across the plains and forests until they came across a town on the edge of a dusty wasteland.
"I'll be back soon." Daddy said.
He pulled Xavier into a hug and gave Mommy a kiss. Xavier stuck out his tongue.
"Be safe." Mommy said.
She sounded like she wanted to cry. She always sounded like that whenever one of them had to leave.
She took Xavier's hand and they watched Daddy go into the town.
A bit of Xavier's backstory. Officially, he can't speak because he had an untreated infection in his larynx, or something like that. And Kai is getting into trouble. Though, isn't he always? I thought it would be interesting to kind of see how Nya and Kai would interact without their sibling bond, at least on one side. I think Nya would really grate against Kai if he didn't have that bond.
Anyway, wear your masks, remember to review, and have a great week!