Lloyd shakenly knelt down to the body of his brother, his fingers pressed into the neck searching for any response. It was a fruitless endeavor. The rib cage was fractured and the cavity beneath oozed a dark, rancid smelling fluid.

"K-Kai?" His voice was soft - pleading, "What did you-?... Don't go."

Fragments of Lloyd's memories had returned, though he was still grasping for information. They formed an archipelago in his mind, each distinct and vivid, yet separated by some vast abyss - like evidence on a quark board without the red string to connect it into a cohesive narrative. They were there, but out of order, jumbled.

His head swarmed with questions as the shock of what had happened rammed through him.

Still cradling his brother, Lloyd stared at Wu in disbelief, "Why did you kill him? We could have restrained him!" Lloyd could feel the odd black liquid which drained from his brother seeping through his fingers. It certainly wasn't normal blood.

Kai? What happened to you...

The elder man's sharp features eased slightly upon his nephew, "I know you have many questions, but time is leaving us, we do not know when the others will return. Should they see this", he gestured to the limp carcass of the red ninja "matters will only complicate further".

The scaffolding of Lloyd's mind was still struggling to reform, but he had always been quick to associate images to memories, a visual thinker of sorts.

As his eyes latched onto the elder, hundreds of memories of the man in front of him swarmed his head: talking, arguing, laughing, fighting, smiling- his loving uncle, his sensei Wu.

He could never forget someone he cared for so deeply. Except for that he apparently had, And now the person that he loved to death had caused the death of someone he loved.

There were far too many questions, so he took a shaky breath and settled for simply responding, "I- I need to know what happened. How did you... And Kai.. I-?"

"The thing," Wu's voice interjected, "I killed was not Kai, not the real Kai."

The body in his arms looked so much like his brother, sounded like his brother. To say it was someone else entirely was a scary thought. Was this some trick? A ploy by the serpentine? Or by someone else. The only one he could recall with powers to shift appearance was the master of form and surely she would have shifted back by now if it was her.

His mind sorely ached, did he meet the master of form before or after fighting the serpentine? Wait, wasn't the serpentine good now? Lloyd bit his lip as he tried to rearrange the memories into a proper timeline. Yes… the serpentine reformed later so it had to be sometime after. A visage of a strange serpent lady formed in his head, chilling him. Lloyd hated snakes - he felt uncomfortable with them ever since the Great Devourer, but this was like a nagging pinch at the back of his mind that something was coming. He felt trapped, feeling a flashed memory where he stared into the eyes of the cryptid lady - 'Yidhra', it had told him it's name. But was the serpent lady from the distant past or recent memory?

Though his brain tried he couldn't quite recount how he ended up here. His brother would never purposefully harm him, but the pit in Lloyd's stomach had not lifted. His memory only latched onto the desperate terrified stare his brother gave him as he departed. If anything, it brought more questions than answers.

Wu continued: "We ought to leave, now."

Things were certainly not right today and that was a strong understatement. There was no memory to explain why his uncle emerged from a stone, No memory to explain why the people were so strange in the town. A new idea had emerged from within.

Perhaps… this wasn't even Wu.

It seemed absurd, but to just suddenly appear and harm Kai… He looked so much like his sensei but Kai also looked so much like his brother. Who was to say Kai wasn't the real one of the two? He trembled at the thought that his real family might be in danger. He had hundreds of events in his head swarming with images where they were in peril. For their sake he hoped that those were memories of a long time past.

"No, are you insane! I just saw you kill someone and you're expecting me to be willing to put that aside? Just by saying it's not Kai? What explanation?! If that's not Kai how do I know that you're you?" Emotions swelled in his tone, "You can't expect me to just walk that off. You claimed to have an explanation, then tell me."

In a subtle tone shift Lloyd's words were breathed threateningly, "And if you are messing with me… if you're lying, you shouldn't be worried about the others finding you. There's no way I'm not going to let the person who killed Kai go free. So If you really are Wu then I expect answers".

Lloyd was often emotional, but the pure vitriol dripping from his tongue was acidic.

It took Wu a subtle breath before he was ready to reply. "I understand. You have a right to know, but I don't have time to mince words. In regards to my unusual form, it's a result of my taking liberty of the deeply weakened state of your realm. Here things are limited by your own understanding - that's why it's so imperative you remember - and I had hoped it would allow me to go undetected." He took a deep sigh and reverted his attention to the red ninja on the floor, "due to certain events it did not".

"My realm?" Lloyd questioned, defensively glaring at the other.

"This is not our world Lloyd. It's a cage, a prison. I need you to remember again." Lloyd merely raised his eyebrow; sensing his approach wasn't working, Wu shifted, his arms held behind his back with his focus lifted towards the invisible horizon, "Tell me Lloyd, what do you remember from yesterday?"

It was a fair idea, recalling things starting with recent events. Lloyd complied, but in reaching into his thoughts the boy was at a loss, his mind failed to sift the piles of information just given to him. Start simply, Just answer the question and work to understand from there.

"Well I woke up, Had breakfast, went out… and nothing much really I just went back to bed." He shook his head in small motions to dispel the confusion, "You better have a point with this."

"I understand why you're cautious, but I need you to trust me. I implore you to think with more detail."

Though doubtful of Wu's motivations, the sincerity in the voice urged Lloyd. He strained his mind, for some reason it was unnecessarily difficult. It was as if he was trying to recall intricate details from a dream. Like a vast ocean, each individual creature and crustacean was drowned out by the compressing blue. "I'm afraid I can't really recall much more". It was strange, had Wu known this would strain him so deeply?

"Then tell me, what is the last thing you remember clearly?"

He tunneled through his memories, recovering one from the many which ignited in his head upon Wu's arrival.

"I was running from something, I was caught. And then I fell asleep…" a wave of dreadful understanding fell over him, as the figurative red string started to connect the events The last thing I remember… "And I woke up somewhere strange and I saw a snake lady - she said her name was Yidhra. And then I- blacked out". Panic had steeped into his tone. The timeline shifted into place. Gently removing his hands from his brother, he stood up, running his thin fingers - still dyed with the fluid draining from his brother's corpse - through his hair, staining the blond tassels in black clumps.

It was a flutter, a gentle brush of a memory against his head and the timeline had settled into a fine readable script. Lloyd recalled the room, the faces, the serpent.

'Yidhra - the witch of dreams.'

He had brought his head down as he clutched his fingers tightly in his gold tresses only to slowly whimper:

"It's all a dream?"

And with that, the blond's head snapped upwards, his pupils dilated as his breath quickened. He was overcome by a force plunging into his gut ripping out his sensations, tearing his consciousness from the flesh. He felt painfully alive, Like there was something about to burst inside of him.

"Lloyd! Stay with me Lloyd, you'll be ripped from me if you go now.", Wu yelled, "Your body is trying to wake you, fight it! or we'll all be thrown back again, we can't let that happen!

With this, the elder brought a palm to Lloyd's shoulder, bringing the other to the boy's head, straining his vision as to bind with the other's irises.

"You're battling your own mind Lloyd, only you can harness it! Root yourself. If we lose now we may never get another opportunity!"

Wu's words reverberated within Lloyd. Fear coursing through axon to nerve ending as he took in his mentor's strength, visions of his brothers and friends flashing in his mind. He felt as if he was being torn from his body. And it hurt.

"I-I don't think I can", He cried, "it's too much!"

'What do you mean you can't?,' Kai's voice sounded in his ears, 'I know you're far too stubborn to be a quitter! If it's more than you can chew, then just bite harder!'

'The only one limiting you is yourself," Nya shouted, 'fight it! You're the strongest kid I've ever met Lloyd. You can't leave Ninjago in danger, I know you never would!'

'Come on Lloyd! You saved my backside a bunch of times,' Jay yelled, 'I know you'll never give up on us, and I'll never give up on you, so don't give up on yourself!'

"It hurts so much!," Tears swelled in Lloyd's eyes as he cried, "I can't!"

'That is not true Lloyd,' Zane spoke, 'You have overcome insurmountable odds before. I am certain you can conquer this. We will not leave you Lloyd!"'

'You're strong! Far stronger than you think,' it was Cole, 'dig your heels in, don't bend! Hold on to us and we won't let go!'

Lloyd allowed the words to seep into his very center, feeding his strength. He tethered himself to them, feeling them as an embrace against his body. "Y-you're… right…".

With a mix of a painful grimace and a shriek, he charged all of his body forward into a war cry: "I will not lose!!!"

Plunging within himself Lloyd latched onto his very conscience, clawing it back into his weary frame.

His throat burned from screaming, his eyes damp and red. It had hurt, it had hurt so much, but he had thrust it back in.

Suddenly he trembled, his irises constricted and his knees collapsed in a numb tingling sensation, forcing Wu to stand back in the process. He felt exhausted and his skin boiled from the rushing blood.

Panting, the boy looked to his mentor figure.

"D-did I do it?" Lloyd questioned. Wu flew down, pulling his nephew up to support his weight, the blond wobbled between his feet.

Lloyd figured his appearance looked about as good as he felt, which was terrible. He tried his best to politely shrug off the others' assistance, but - as the elder usually did - he saw right through the gesture and only shifted to bear more of the younger's weight. "I-I'm sorry… I didn't trust you, I-"

"Shhh, You're okay now. It's far wiser to be wary, Lloyd, I could never blame you for that," Wu started off tentatively, "but we need to get you somewhere safe, you're exhausted!"

Wu shouldered Lloyd, bracing his weight as he shambled towards the door.

"I'm… fine, but are they okay? The others, Kai, Jay… all of them?"

"They are," there was a subtle hint of uncertainty to Wu's words but the pure exhaustion kept Lloyd from picking up on it, "and we will find them, but for now we must leave and you must rest".

"W-where are we g-going?"

"...I have some connections."

"Who?"

"You'll see"

The green ninja simply nodded - far too exhausted to press his uncle. He spared a final look to the clone of his brother. The carcass stained the floor a dark black shade with its internal fluids, It's eyes had been clamped tightly shut, it still hurt to see. Even if he knew it couldn't be his real brother, seeing such a lookalike in that position tore at his core. Mere seconds before he attacked he seemed so lifelike, just like his sibling, desperate to ensure his safety. And then he devolved into an animal. But he was so 'human' before...

So lost. So confused. So many. questions…

But there was one thing poking at his mind that he was certain was no fictional dream, the visions of the horrid contortions he saw in the sludge when he was once awake.

'they do not feel it'

He begged that the serpent woman had been honest.

As they slid through the back exit neither noticed the solid creak of the front door.

Kai had always hated tight places. He had mentioned it off hand once - a long time ago. Wu always presumed it was because he hated being trapped and funneled, being without his own range of movement.

The dark alleys which they entered were insufferably constricting, Wu was certain that if Kai - the real Kai - would have been with them, he would have hated it. Of course he'd never complain though, not about anything that could hurt his pride.

The elder's mind lingered on the bloody end of the staff he carried and the face of the being he had thrust it towards. He frowned slightly.

It was a long and arduous walk. The distance burned at their muscles as they meandered about the backstreets of the city; Wu took lead and Lloyd silently hung in tow. He had debated whether to walk through the main streets. It would be faster and more direct, Lloyd was hobbling in his movements already and a shorter walk would do him well. He had eventually discounted the idea though, instead choosing 'coverage over comfort', the dark shadows of the alleys did well to conceal those who ventured within and the maze-like structure would help to lose any stragglers with a curious eye.

Still, the 'connection' of his wasn't entirely certain, but Wu couldn't stand to give his weary nephew any more cause for concern. Theoretically if Lloyd had become lucid then his other companion ought to as well.

At least I hope.

Weaving through the lattice of walkways the two approached the backside of a familiar building with dim lights streaking out of the thin paneling.

Wu taped at the door frame with the wood of his staff and was answered by a clatter of metal, followed by a silent pause. He was certain he caught the glint of an eye peeking through the wooden cracks of the foundation. Then came a subtle shuffling of feet and a creak of the opening door.

Lloyd's frail body stiffened as his retina's latched onto the figure.

"Wu!" The newcomer yelled in a whispered tone. He leaped at the other in an embrace taking the elderly man aback. Following the shock of the constraint, Wu lightly placed his palm to the back of the other and breathed a faint side of relief, glad his partner was back to his normal self.

"Dareth?" Lloyd stared at the two in disbelief.

Parting his eyes, the man then caught sight of the stunned Lloyd. The exhausted ninja's mouth was split ajar.

"Green beans!" The self proclaimed 'brown ninja' jumped off of a relieved Wu, focusing his affection onto Lloyd. "I knew you could do it little buddy!" He chuckled richly as his fingers connected around the other, "I was starting to go crazy there."

If he wasn't so stunned Lloyd would have frowned at the new 'green beans' nickname. Instead he was mostly busy fending off Dareth's hug attack.

"Augh, Dareth." Lloyd pushed out of the other's hold, surprised at how strong the man's grip actually was "How?! You knew Wu was here the whole time?"

The brown haired man looked at him with childlike embarrassment.

Lloyd continued: "And then you didn't tell me?"

"Yeah, well I knew… but technically - I also didn't." The brown ninja brought his hand to the back of his head grinning sheepishly.

Lloyd raised his brow. "What does that mean exactly?"

"I kind of uh, forgot…"

"Excuse me?!"

Lloyd flung into a slew of less-than-positive comments. And despite himself Wu couldn't help but smile slightly at the badgering. Lloyd took his responsibilities seriously and didn't take kindly to things that jeopardized his duty. Simply seeing him with any energy relieved the old man and there was an odd sense of humor in the way Dareth responded.

It reminded him of the way Jay would snicker silently at Kai giving him a lecture.

He missed them…

Wu stiffened determinably. There was no use in worrying. He had a job to do and they would not suffer, he would find them. Of course.

Turning to Dareth he interrupted the tirade. "Let's not discuss this in the open''. The brown haired man's face shifted from amused to serious in an instant. He nodded, pulling in the miffed green ninja firmly into the dojo, locking the door in place as they shuffled in.

Lloyd shifted his eyes in confusion but before Wu could explain Dareth spoke. "We never know who's listening, not everyone here is our friends."

"With how bad your memory apparently is, I don't see why you're worried. It's not like you're going to say anything important, You definitely didn't tell me anything about Wu or what was happening..."

Dareth's feature shifted back into his amused state, "Yes Lloyd, I specifically chose to forget just so I didn't have to tell you. It was all part of my evil plan to take over your mind and hijack your body". Sarcasm dripped from his tongue - maintaining the fake smile was all Dareth could do to prevent from giving in to complete laughter.

They spoke as the cohort trawled through the wooden floorboards - on the way to the rather sparse living area. It housed little more than a couch, side chair, and a table - with a desk near the back of the room. It wasn't really the decoration style Lloyd expected of Dareth, he tended to be attracted to gaudy shades of color and attention grabbing pieces, yet oddly this room was the antithesis of everything Lloyd knew to be 'Dareth'. Plain, empty, and economical.

Having sat down to finally give his aching legs a rest, Lloyd apologized. "I'm sorry, it's just- I'm just… really tired.", he sighed, "My head feels like I got hit with one of Kai's fireballs and I'm just really confused. Everyone knows what's going on and I'm still mostly lost." He paused, "And I guess you did try to warn me about the time earlier today, so thank you."

Dareth took on a more serious tone, "I would have done better if I could, really." He looked up towards Lloyd's forehead and grimaced "If my headache is anything to go by I'm certain you must feel like trash. I'll try to pick on you a bit less for now but don't get used to it."

"You got a headache too?"

"Thanks to you, bucko. Really appreciate it". By the tone of his voice It was obvious Dareth meant no malice in his words.

Wu could see Lloyd's confusion at Dareth's comment. He decided to join the conversation: "If you want to understand, we have to start at the beginning."

"This place where we are currently is your realm, Lloyd. A world formed in your subconscious." Wu caught his nephew's eyes directly, "However, it is not the only one in existence. It is possible that there are hundreds of others."

"Thousands," Lloyd corrected, to Wu's surprise, "I mean I think, I believe it's all of Ninjago. Yidhra brought the whole city here, from what I could tell."

The name was foreign to Wu, but he recalled his nephew mentioning it before, at the dojo. He rolled the name of his tongue questioningly "Yidhra?"

"I think I woke up earlier," Lloyd appeared to be recalling a specific memory, "I woke up and I saw the thing that brought us here, she said her name was Yidhra, the 'witch of dreams'. And there were people too. Around me everywhere, frozen sort of." The boy's face grew pale.

The old man marked the name down in his mind, It wasn't much but it was more than he had known, information was a resource and it was dangerously scarce. Anything he could gather was valuable.

"Tell us about this 'witch', Yidhra, have you seen her before you were taken here?" With very little knowledge on the state of the outside world, Wu was desperate for any news. He had fallen asleep long before anyone even knew of the consequences and Dareth seemed to have entered around the same time as himself. Between the two of them there wasn't much they could gather outside of their field of knowledge.

Luckily it seemed his nephew knew far more, he recounted the events following the first days in Ninjago: the sleeping curse, disappearance of people, and the invisible monster that attacked them. He told him about the room he woke up in and seeing the other ninja trapped with them. Wu's blood ran cold at the thought of his surrogate children's agonized faces in the substance. It was painful to hear.

"I see, if she was willing to reveal herself she's either foolish or confident".

"When I find that snake woman I'm gonna punch her," Dareth stood flexing his muscles, "give her a bit of the righty then a sweet hook on the left. No one messes with the brown ninja."

Lloyd and Wu unanimously decided to ignore Dareth's comment. "I know it's not much but hopefully it's somewhat helpful" Lloyd spoke.

"Thank you Lloyd, it will certainly help," He spared a kind smile, "but it's rather unfair of me to pressure you for answers when the whole point of this conversation was to inform you."

"Yeah, well a bit of an explanation for how you both showed up would definitely be nice"

Wu nodded, complying with the request "Just like yourself I was trapped in my own realm and escaped. I have spent many years in meditation, my mind is sharp and well attuned to itself - such practice breeds a deep understanding of oneself. I am attuned to being lucid. In entering my realm subconsciously my brain was aware of the danger. It was an endless expanse of white - entirely empty."

"You can just... Do that?

Wu chuckled, enjoying the awe his nephew's face gave him, though it was most certainly an unconscious gesture. There was always something special about the way his nephew looked up to him.

"With decades of tedious practice and meditation. I've been training my mind since I was far younger than you, Lloyd, and I still struggle at times."

"I don't get why you'd actively practice to be lucid," Dareth interjected, "Half the fun of dreams is the adventure. Having control takes all the excitement out of it." Dareth brought his hand to his chin in contemplation, "Unless that's some sensei thing. Like to achieve enlightenment or whatever. "

Wu rolled his eyes, "That's Buddhism Dareth." The brown ninja made a silent 'oooh' shape with his lips.

Wu continued: "Besides, I'm not always lucid, I'm simply practiced in recognizing when things are… off. Being lucid doesn't make the mind empty, it simply gives you control over it. If I wasn't versed in it you'd probably still be trapped as well Dareth."

The brown ninja backed off slightly, "Yeah, and I do appreciate it, but it's still probably the only time that meditation was actually ever useful."

"Meditation is a test of patience, mental fortitude,

and perseverance. It has been practiced for centuries. It is not some 'useless' skill. It is meant to help train the mind."

"You're no fun Wu."

The elder shook his head and looked over to Lloyd, giving him a 'You see what I have to deal with?' look. Lloyd couldn't help it as he lightly chuckled; Dareth feigned offense at the act, bringing his hand to his chest and gaping at the others.

The Older Man continued his story: "I was able to reach lucidity and escape my realm. I found myself in some interconnecting web between thousands of different lights. I approached the nearest one, and found myself in Death's realm," He gestured towards the man. Strangely the chipper expression he often wore had disappeared, and a strangely solemn appearance graced his features as his eyes grew foggy.

"So what was your realm like?"

Wu pondered whether he should answer or not, but ultimately it was Dareth's mind and what happened there was solely his business.

The brown ninja's face was uncharacteristically solemn, yet he donned an almost paradoxical weary smile. "It wasn't so terrible..."

He didn't offer any more information and Wu assumed Lloyd decided it wasn't his place to prod.

"We both left his realm and were deciding where to go next. That's when we heard some shattering explosion from one of the lights in between the realms, and Dareth, being the genius he is, decided to approach without a plan."

The brown ninja pushed the elder to the side to add on: "Actuuuuuually, it wasn't entirely my fault, I sort of lost balance when the explosion hit and fell into it accidentally." The man defended. "Anyway I can't remember much from when I was first there but things were definitely out of whack. I was trying to find you, And then I felt like something punched me in the gut." He gestured with his fist towards his abdomen as a visual example.

"Guess when your realm got reset after 'snake lady' sent you back I got reset with it. Luckily you got your own head situated or else I probably would have still been stuck". He made a disgusted face, "And let me tell you, your mind is probably the worst. Out of all the things you can dream of, you think of a boring world without any fun."

Lloyd frowned at the last comment but seemingly decided it was better to skip over, "You were reset in my own head? How does that even work?"

Dareth shrugged, "I mean that's probably the best way I can explain it, it was like I was in somebody else's head, figuratively" Is squinted his eyes as he thought, "although I guess it was also literally too, now that I think about it. Knew something was off but didn't really know what."

Lloyd looked up something sparking in his eye "Wait, so you got reset into my mind?"

"Yep, I'm fairly sure."

"And you knew that when I got here?"

"Yeppers"

"And you didn't tell me when I directly asked you how you forgot what happened?"

"Bingo"

"...Do I even bother asking why?"

Dareth smiled like a little kid, "Honestly you're kind of funny when you're angry. It's probably why Jay likes to pick on you"

"I really don't remember you being this annoying"

Dareth smiled.

Following the death stare he sent the other, Lloyd continued his questions. "And when I had that realization, you had some huge epiphany?"

"Yeah, I mean basically, and next time can you have your big epiphanies when I'm not working with sharp metal?" He pulled the sleeve back on his left arm revealing a quickly wrapped bandage with red hues seeping beneath it, "shook me half off the ground and slammed me down hard. Trust me, it was not pretty."

Wu could tell Lloyd was fairly surprised Dareth hadn't brought up the wound before. Perhaps even more surprised that he actually knew how to patch it up.

Not knowing exactly how to respond Lloyd backed off his antagonism to the other and joked, "Sorry next time I'll send a message".

Dareth quickly quipped back with a smile, "You better".

"And how about the gem thing?" The blond looked towards his uncle

"After Dareth jumped in I could tell that something was going on. When I approached I could sense how weak the realm felt, fragilely taped together. It was weak enough that I could take advantage of my own lucidity. The goal was to become 'unrecognizable' sort of like the faces in the background of most dreams that are hardly seen. not everyone here is trustworthy Lloyd, You saw how Kai attacked you, It seems to be some sort of defense system for keeping these dreams together - they get violent when things go too far away from the 'script'. I wanted to be unnoticed by them and I had hoped I could use the weakness of the realm to help with that…"

"Turns out that I didn't have as much control as I thought and I took a less conspicuous form, a rather unhelpful form."

Wu sighed, "I believe 'Kai' could sense what I was, his hostility broke your dream state enough that I was able to - thankfully - break out".

Wu ran his fingers over his knuckles. It was suffocating, the shimmering prison. He feared what would happen if he had not broken free. Would he remain a periodical presence to Lloyd? Would Lloyd become lucid without him? His nephew slouched in his seat, he was as frail as a dried leaf, eyes half lidded and visibly biting back his discomfort. How long had the night been for him? There was no true way to tell with the time inconsistencies, but it was certainly far too long.

Wu brought himself to his feet and draped his hand across his nephew's shoulder. "It's late and you're tired, save your worries for the morning."

Lloyd looked up in protest, he was exhausted, but every second away from the other ninja suffocated him in his worries. He couldn't shrug off his responsibilities for later.

Wu merely sent him an icy stare predicting his unspoken retort. The uncle was not negotiating.

And with that Dareth took himself up to his feet brushing off his calloused knuckles as he moved around the corner.

"There's a room down the hall you can use. You guys look dead, so get some sleep for once. If you need me I'll be out here".

He reached behind a desk pulling out a pile of metal scraps Lloyd recognized from their earlier encounter. Sitting himself to the hardwood, Dareth expertly ran his fingers across the metallic items, quickly distracted in his work.

Wu helped his nephew up and proceeded down the hall.

The wind outside was lethargic but consistent, sending a subtle 'woosh' across the thinly glassed window as the two inhabitants settled into the room. Lloyd sat at the end of the bed absent-mindedly kicking the floor with his aching feet.

The amber hues of the lights faded into the dark as Wu took a seat beside his nephew. Lloyd said nothing, but Wu fully understood his troubles, he always did.

"Nothing bad will happen to them" he pulled the blond into his arms like he would a child, like he had many years ago before the tomorrow's tea took his youth, before he was burdened with the responsibilities of a city, before he lost his father, before Hifumi broke his heart and the world has stolen everything from him...

The Lloyd in his arms was the first Lloyd he ever met, a scared young boy in desperate need of guidance.

The boy looked up at his uncle, and for the first time that day, for the first time in what must have been years he completely broke. Sobbing into the fabric of his uncle's shirt, weeping and sniffling like the child he still was inside. The boy's mind kept flashing to the corpse of what looked just like his brother, his sore and tired body far too weary to bite back the emotion.

Lloyd's hair was still crusted with the dried 'blood' of his false brother. The memory of it all made him tremble.

Wu hummed gently, leaning into his surrogate son. They stayed like that for what felt like hours before the green ninja had finally exhausted himself to sleep.

"I promise they'll be okay" Wu whispered to the sleeping boy.

I promise.