I liiiiiiiiive! Boy, that was a whopper of two weeks. Thank you for being so patient. I was so excited to get this chapter out I might have missed some grammar errors, so let me know if there's anything big I have to correct!
Thank you so much to FrozenSoapbubble, TrinityCrystalPrincess89, and Skittybug for dropping a comment!
FrozenSoapbubble: I couldn't agree with you more. I've also read some fanfics where Dr. Julien is a villain, or at least a terrible person in general. And while that can make for an interesting story, I think it's much more likely that Dr. Julien was simply a person doing what he thought was best for his son. I don't know why he left Echo on the island (though it's kind of fun to speculate), but I doubt he had some sort of malicious intent. Dr. Julien was a person just like you and me, he's done things he regrets, but that doesn't mean he's a bad person. Nice to find a kindred spirit:)
Skittybug: Don't cry! I'm so happy you enjoyed the chapter! Hope you enjoy the next one!
TrinityCrystalPrincess89: Yes, the cat is quite literally out of the bag:) And yes, dis poor boi can't catch a break. Nor is he any time soon:) Oh, honey, this is just the beginning.
It seemed like Zane never wanted to get up off that floor, but Yuki stayed with him. He would stay with him for as long as it took. While eventually Zane's head lolled to the side unconsciously as he drifted off, Yuki remained on guard, continuously cutting from checking on his human's quiet little breaths to sitting erect beside him, silently daring anyone or anything to open that door and disturb him.
However, the light sliding under the door from the lit-up hallway beyond grew more pronounced as the sky outside the window darkened, rousing the white ninja
His shaking fingers brought Dr. Julien's now wrinkled note back into view. The terrible handwriting sloped limply down the paper as Zane read it over and over. You were not meant to be alone. You never were.
His jaw set as he hoisted himself up and staggered stiffly into the bathroom. The ice water he splashed on his face helped wake him up as he turned off the faucet and took a towel from the rack.
Yuki followed him to the window and hopped up on the ledge as he unlatched the pane. Zane leaned out on his elbows and closed his eyes, breathing in the cold evening air. The note rustled in his hands, trying to escape its owner. Yuki leaned against his forearm and watched the sun slip behind the mountains. It was beautiful.
Zane dropped his gaze to his hands as if contemplating something. After a moment Yuki watched in fascination as ice gathered at his fingertips, growing like a living thing until a tiny ice butterfly rested in his palm. Zane held it up to eye level, a small fond smile playing on his face as it caught the purple light.
A particularly strong gust of wind sent both the ice and note spiraling out of his open hand and fluttering through the clouds below. Zane watched them disappear as he ran a hand along Yuki's fur, who nuzzled his hand in return.
"I am not alone, father," he whispered.
Zane buried Dr. Julien on the cliff overlooking the ocean, a few miles north of their home. The funeral was modest, just the ninja, Garmadons, and a handful of people from the city who half-knew him. What really surprised him was the great inventor Cyrus Borg watching from his wheelchair at a distance, away from the cluster at the eulogy. He wanted to go over to talk to him, at least to know how he knew his father, but the inventor was gone the next time Zane looked over. Maybe he'd see him again sometime.
When the funeral ended his brothers and teacher stayed behind with him while he gazed down at the engraved stone before him. He was quietly thankful they were there, his heart swelled with how much they seemed to care, though guilt still burned his innards like acid.
He felt a presence next to him and saw Cole place a hand on his shoulder as the rest of the ninja and samurai retreated a little.
"What was best about him?" He asked, almost in a whisper.
Zane turned his head to give him a perplexed look. He hadn't expected to be asked that. He eyed the stone and licked his lips nervously, "he, he loved old music. I remember he built a phonograph from scratch when I was little and taught me his favorite songs. He liked Frank Sinatra, but I liked Ella Fitzgerald better."
Cole chuckled, "You never struck me as the type."
Zane just smiled, looking down at his shoes at the memory. It felt nice, he never really talked about the small things he remembered about his father, the seemingly insignificant things that were now precious to him. It was nice talking with someone about them. He always felt so clumsy talking to strangers until he got his memory back, sometimes it was easier just to stay quiet. Maybe he could ask Cole if he could talk to him again sometime.
"Thank you, Cole."
"Anytime, Frosty."
Barely any time had passed before the new semester was in full swing. Zane reasoned there was no reason for Yuki to stay cooped up on the Bounty anymore since the ninja were rarely called upon for crime intervention, especially since he was getting a little tired of being left alone all day. Master Wu had yet to say anything about Yuki, sensing that perhaps his students (Lloyd) had grown slightly more attached to the cat than he thought. He may not have said anything, but the all-knowing look that he and Garmadon shared made Yuki nervous, so he kept his distance whenever he could.
Zane stowed him away in his knapsack every morning and let him roam Wu's new school. Except for right before school began the hallways were virtually empty, and Yuki was always good about skulking about unseen.
Unfortunately, you can't change a person's character as easily as you can change the plaque on a building. Since the school was redeemed most of the children raised to become future villains were either pulled out of Darkley's or redeemed right along with the school. There were, however, some students laced in the throng who neither wanted to be good nor anyone else to be good. Those few terrorized the others and relished it, prodding other children to follow their ways. Sensei and the ninja did their best to put a stop to it, but Yuki was unfortunate enough to be surrounded by four of them.
Yuki backed up until his back pressed flush against the cold lockers, desperately looking for an opening between uniform pant legs and polished shoes. A flutter of panic tried to force its way up to his throat as he tried to stay calm.
"Hey, would you look at this thing? What dump did it crawl out of?" The oldest and meanest-looking girl loomed over him like a cougar over a mouse. Yuki did his best to look brave, but his courage faltered when the three other boys narrowed the gap between them.
His yelp was cut off when one kid snatched Yuki off his paws and held the kitten up by the scruff of his neck in front of his ugly face.
Yuki hissed and swatted his claws out, narrowly missing his crooked nose. He wondered if Zane would be mad if he scratched him just a little. He probably would, dang it. Where were the ninja when you need them?
"Hey, Sally, cut it out." The children turned to the new voice. Down the hall stood a skinny little red-headed boy that could just as well have been Jay's little brother if Yuki didn't know any better, arms crossed resolutely across his chest and freckled face set in a glare.
"Leave the cat alone. We're already late for Mr. Cole's class." The boy marched up to the older kids and snatched Yuki right out of the bully's grasp, the children all too busy balking at his audacity to keep a grip on the cat.
The boy who'd been holding Yuki recovered first, scowling and shoving against the boy's shoulders, "This doesn't concern you, Nelson. Take a hike."
Nelson stumbled back at the force, bumping against another boy blocking the way. He whipped his head around so he could face both, but anytime he did he was giving his back to someone else. He chuckled nervously, holding Yuki a little tighter.
The girl in charge, Sally, sneered, looking Nelson up and down like he was something entertaining, "Isn't that just you, Nel? All righteous, so much better than the riffraff who were here before the old man bought this dump. You think you're some kind of hero? You really think you'll be like your precious green ninja?"
Nelson faltered at her icy tone, chewing his lip and nervously fingering Yuki's fur, "well, I mean, yeah? Did, Didn't Lloyd go here when it was still a school for villains? If he could be good, why, why can't we?"
Sally paused for a minute, looking at the shorter kid hard before shaking her head, "not everyone can afford to be the hero, Nelson. Someone's gotta be a good villain." She roughly shouldered past him, catching him by the arm just before he took a tumble and hissed, "Better watch your step here, kid. Heros have a bad habit of biting off more than what's good for them." With that, she let him go, backward as she stalked down the hall and out the back entrance, which was supposed to be locked. Nelson yelped and shielded Yuki as he stumbled into the lockers, ignoring the smug smiles from the retreating helpers. Ok, Yuki really wanted to scratch these kids.
After taking a minute to collect himself, Nelson sighed and looked down at the kitten staring back at him in awe, "We little guys gotta stick together, right?" He bopped Yuki on the nose and let him nibble on his finger. After converting to the notion that not all little children might be complete demonic savages, Yuki was willing to retract that statement after spending an afternoon at Darkley's. These kids were bad.
Well, at least he found Nelson.
"Nelson?" Both turned to see Cole coming down the hall with a worried expression. "What are you doing out here? Where's the other kids?"
"Oh-H-hi, Mr. Cole!" Nelson scrambled to his feet and straightened his school uniform, letting Yuki hop down. "I, I was just coming."
Cole knelt down and looked him over, eyebrows knit together, "Nel, did those kids pick on you again? You know all you have to do is tell me, right?"
Nelson swallowed and slapped a smile on his face, "Don't worry about it, Mr. Cole, I can handle them no sweat! Gotta be able to stick up for myself if I'm going to be like you one day."
Cole clicked his tongue when he felt Nelson wince a little when he touched the growing bump on the back of his head and huffed in exasperation, "Just because I'm a ninja doesn't mean I can't let others help me when I need it, and I need their help a lot."
Nelson looked unconvinced, "really?"
"Really. Heck, I got hypnotized by a snake once and nearly shish-kabobbed my friends before Jay knocked some sense into me. And I've got the scar on my noggin to prove it." he flipped the cowlick of his hair to show Nelson, who gaped at it with almost a reverence.
"That is so cool." He breathed.
Cole snorted back a laugh and fixed his hair, "Sure didn't feel cool, but the point is that here, you're not quite a ninja yet. You're my student, so you'll let me handle the bullies from now on, capiche?"
He waited for Nelson to nod before holding a hand out to the kid, "Good. Now c'mon, don't want Sensei Wu to find us playing hooky."
One week later.
The sky was grey.
Yuki didn't know how long he was stuck on the Bounty, but it had to have been days. The ninja had left for school, like any other day, and hadn't come back. No one came, not even Wu or Garmadon. He tried to sleep, play with Jay's mouse, anything to keep him distracted. But his stomach twisted, not just with hunger, but with the terrible feeling that something was very wrong. Where was everyone?
At one point he remembered the room growing suddenly cold, very cold. He shivered in his blanket.
While huddled at the bottom of the closet, he heard the bedroom door opening and soft footsteps padding up to his door. He jumped up and mewed excitedly, pawing at the closet until it slid open. Lloyd's shoes appeared as he was scooped up and hugged tightly. Yuki gladly reciprocated and nipped Lloyd's ear affectionately, infinitely relieved that his humans were safe and home. He looked up as the other ninja trickled into the room. Red, blue, black, green-why did they all have such sad faces? And wait a minute-
-Where was white? Where's Zane?
Yuki looked up at Lloyd questioningly, his stomach twisting with foreboding. The teenager's bright, mischievous eyes were misty like a storm cloud. They weren't angry, but so, so sad. Lloyd's chin quivered, but he took a shaky breath and turned to the rest. Kai shuffled up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder, it was almost frightening how stony his face was despite the rage Yuki could sense scalding just underneath. Lloyd stared blankly at him and sank onto his bed with a shutter.
Cole swallowed behind them, "look, I know there isn't any good way to say this, but-"
Kai stiffened and whipped around to face the master of earth, "Don't. Just don't, Cole," he hissed, venom practically dripping from his words, "if you're gonna say something about carrying on or accepting he's gone, I really don't want to hear it." Anger practically radiated off the red ninja like heat off an ember, ignoring Lloyd's visible recoil. Jay practically withered even if Kai's anger wasn't directed at him, or maybe it was in a way. It hardly mattered.
"Kaiā¦" Nya started in the doorway before Kai stormed out of the room, shouldering past her. She sent a quick glare in her big brother's direction before returning her attention to Lloyd. She instantly crossed the room and wrapped her arms around him, letting her little brother collapse into it with a small sob. Yuki was really starting to panic. What, what was happening? Why were they acting like this? He wanted Zane.
After making sure Lloyd was truly safe and secure with Nya and Cole, who had joined the group, Yuki wriggled out of his grasp. He didn't miss Jay silently slipping away with a pained look on his face when he watched Cole and Nya together.
The cat padded down the hall and past the kitchen where he stopped to stare in puzzlement at master Wu sitting bent over at the dining room table with his head in his hands. Yuki had never seen him look so old and tired. He twitched his whiskers and slinked on out to the deck where he could hear Kai fighting.
The sun was setting over the new city, light reflecting hot off the skyscrapers. It matched the rage flashing off the fire ninja's eyes as he paced up and down the deck like a caged animal, the tense calmness from before having long evaporated. Yuki spotted the training dummies in a smoldering heap in the corner, still hissing and spitting angry sparks.
He knew it was stupid to go near Kai when he was like this, still something in him wanted to stay and make sure he didn't hurt himself or something, maybe even pick up on why everyone was acting so strange. He huddled out of sight in a coil of rope and watched the red ninja pace back and forth, running a hand through his hair again and again in a vain attempt to cool off.
Kai finally stopped and leaned against the rail of the ship, glaring at the view. Yuki was suddenly struck with the familiarity of the scene when Zane's father had died. His heart ached.
Kai stood there for several beats, fingers tapping rapidly on the wood. Then he abruptly straightened and stalked over to the coiled rope where Yuki was hidden. He tensed until he realized he was hunched over a bag slumped beside the rope. He rifled through it for a minute, slipping on the red hoodie he pulled from it before slinging it over his shoulder, strolling over to the rail, and promptly jumping over the side.
For a minute Yuki's heart caught in his throat before he remembered the anchor chain. He struggled out of the coil and rushed over to peer over the side. He was grateful the Bounty was anchored only a hundred feet or so above the outskirts of the city, swaying peacefully in the breeze. His gratefulness evaporated when Kai slid down the chain, landed neatly on the ground, and took off in the direction of the city.
Well, crud.
He couldn't just let Kai run off like this; it was really getting dark, and he still didn't know what was going on. An ugly thought had slithered into his mind, one that whispered Zane was never coming back. No. He pushed that thought down and snuffed it out fast. He turned his attention back to Kai.
After stealing his nerve, he followed suit.
Once safely on the ground, it took a while to single out Kai's scent among the oily backstreet alleys. The smells of leather, charred wood, and smoke led a trail through the maze of neon lights and sewer lids. Yuki followed, sniffing the air until the outline of a familiar red hoodie stained the backdrop of the city skyline.
Yuki had to trot to keep up with Kai's purposeful gait, arm clamped protectively on his duffle bag. Worry wormed its way into his chest as their synchronized turns led to a darker part of town.
Kai finally turned sharply and pounded on a door smeared in graffiti. When a man opened the door the flashing lights and blaring music lashed out at Yuki's senses even from a distance.
"What do you want?" He demanded.
Kai squared his shoulders and looked the stranger straight in the eye. "I want to fight."
The man looked the teen up and down and scoffed, "what are you joking? Go home kid, it's past your bedtime." He started to shut the door when Kai stuck his hand out and blocked him.
"Give me one fight. You won't regret it."
The man, manager from what Yuki could figure, sighed in annoyance and leaned against the doorframe. "What exactly have you got to offer, runt?"
Yuki didn't miss the spark of irritation in Kai's eye as he inclined his head, "You've got five floor men. Two at the back entrance, two at the fight ring, and one behind the door and I can knock them all out before you'd know I was here."
The manager raised his eyebrow but stood aside after a moment of consideration so Kai could enter. "Let's see what you've got then, kid." The door slammed behind them.
No, Kai, please don't do this, Yuki thought as he scanned the building for an open window. He circled around back, careful to avoid the two bouncers lounging at the back door, just like Kai had said. He spotted a knocked-out basement window on the alley side and slipped through, jumping down into a sea of people.
The flashing lights absolutely blinded him. He couldn't breathe through all the cigarette smoke as stumbled over someone's feet. The ground shook with the booming music beneath his paws and he had to fight the urge to crawl into a deep corner and hide. His ears were trying to kill him.
He shook himself and dodged another set of stiletto heels, weaving between legs to a support beam, and shimmied to the rafters where he could get a better view.
His heart dropped when he saw a ring in the center of the room with three people standing in it. An announcer called Kai into the middle of the ring, right across from a fighter so huge he made Cole look like a pipsqueak.
"You can use any means you want to submit your rival, just don't kill each other, got it?" He waited for both fighters to nod before slapping them both on the back, "Ok, now fight!"
A sharp bell rang out as the two dropped into a fighting stance, sizing each other up while circling. The bigger guy scoffed at the smaller boy's spiky hair barely reaching his sternum, seeing an easy win ahead of him.
His solid jab met the side of Kai's face with a sickening thud, sending Kai's head snapping back and the crowd cheering. Then again, and again. Yuki paced the beam in agitation, tail thrashing desperately to get to Kai. Past occurrences be darned, this guy was going to kill Kai.
By now Kai was on the ground, the fighter on top of him and landing blow after blow. And Kai didn't even seem to be really fighting back, blood dripping out of his mouth as he half-heartedly block the punches.
After several agonizing minutes of watching, Yuki saw Kai suddenly catch the bigger guy's fist and not let go. The red ninja glared smugly through two black eyes as the fighter's face contorted in confusion and begin to struggle. He hooked his leg around the other guy's foot and swept it out from underneath him, making the guy tumble with a grunt to the side. Kai lost no time in grabbing the opponent's shirt collar and slipping around his neck until he hooked his arm around his neck and squeezed. Hard.
For a second, the crowd was stunned at how quickly the tables had turned and soon began to cheer on the scrappy kid in red. Yuki watched in horror as the fighter convulsed on the ground in front of all those people, his face turning scarlet as his oxygen supply was cut off. Kai was shaking, pale bloody face ignoring his opponent clawing his arm in desperation.
The crowd cheered louder and louder as the guy's movements slowly grew more and more sluggish until he sagged limply in Kai's grip. The announcer rushed in and separated the two, hastily making sure the other guy still had a pulse before holding Kai's arm high in the air for the ecstatic people crowding them. "We have a winner! What's your name, kid?"
"Kai." The red ninja mumbled, eyes trained on the bloody floor, strangely subdued despite the adrenaline rush everyone just had.
"Kai!" The announcer declared so the crowd could hear. '
Yuki turned and climbed down, he had seen enough. Without anyone noticing, he slipped back out the window and circled back to the front. He was still trembling from what he'd just seen. he wasn't sure what scared him more, the huge man beating Kai up, or the fact that he seemed to enjoy it. The look on the fire master's face as he choked him was what really made him shutter. It was absolutely terrifying.
His thoughts were interrupted by the door swinging open and Kai and the manager stepping outside.
"You put on quite a show tonight, kid," He handed the red ninja a small roll of cash, "feel free to come by sometime for a rematch."
Kai mutely stuffed the money in his bag, nodding before taking off down the street. Yuki scrambled to keep up.
He followed the teen down the seemingly endless maze of murky alleys and backroads. The tarnished moon was high above the telephone wires by now, the stars shrouded in clouds. He was thankful Kai seemed to slow down a little, alarm spiking through the kitten when he stopped completely and braced himself against a brick wall.
As if he just couldn't support himself anymore, Kai sagged against the wall like it was the only thing holding him up, and sank to the ground. Now that the minuscule amount of moonlight could illuminate his face, Yuki winced at his ruined face before Kai buried it in his arms.
Yuki froze when he heard a soft sniffle.
What?
Yuki cautiously crept closer, careful not to startle him. He heard it again. Then he saw Kai's shoulders hitch.
Was Kai crying?
The kitten swallowed his fight or flight instinct and gently bumped his nose against the red ninja's leg. Kai started and jerked back on an instinct of his own, eyes darting until they landed on the cat crouched beside him. Yuki stared up at his tear-stained face smudged with blood and that ferocious sense of protectiveness he usually only felt for Lloyd and the others reared its head at the sight. Yuki didn't care what Kai did to him. He was not going to leave his human.
Kai looked at the cat with a mixture of disbelief, fear, and heartbreak swirling around his bronze eyes. For a minute Yuki braced himself for the inevitable swat or kick out of the way, startled when he felt a shaky hand wrap around his torso and hold him against an unnaturally warm chest. He felt kai close his eyes and slowly bury his wet face into his soft fur, his whole body shuttering violently. After a minute Yuki recovered from his shock and gladly nuzzled his head into the crook of the kid's neck, careful to avoid the ugly bruise blossoming there.
"Wh-why couldn't it ha-have been me? It should-should've been m-me," was all the fire master could hiccup before breaking down completely into sobs.
Though he didn't know what Kai meant at the time, in that backstreet, resolve latched on tight to Yuki and it refused to let him go.
Come hell or high water, he was going to find Zane.
Thank you so so much for reading! and drop a comment if you have a chance:) Now have a lovely day!
