Warning: past cutting, minor depression. Morro/Lloyd friendship.
Hated.
Alone.
Unwanted.
The only words that ran through his head. The only words that were true.
Morro groaned as his eyes fluttered open. The first thing he felt was he was wet.
Wait... what?
Pushing himself up on the dock, he examined one hand. Completely human, and soaked to the core. He shivered, he was human now.
"So glad you didn't die along with that beast," a sarcastic voice said. Morro looked up to see Kai glaring at him.
He coughed suddenly, trying to get out the excess water from his system. Kai only glared as his coughing increased to choking, water blocking his new lungs. He heaved out water, gagging as everything started to hurt. "H-help," he cried out weakly.
"No one's going to help you," Jay said, appearing in his line of vision. Morro's head shot up as he choked out more water.
A hand rested on his back gently, and Morro turned to see Sensei staring at him with an expressionless face. Morro waited for it. "What you did was unacceptable. None of my pupils would do such a thing."
Morro's eyes glazed as he threw Sensei's hand off him, getting up and somehow running away.
And this was where he was now. Still skinny enough to see his ribs, but yet he couldn't starve.
There was still water in his system that he'd choke on. A permanent reminder of what he—The Preeminent—did. It was still his enemy, soaking him to the core and making him shiver from the cold.
He was on his own again.
The mere thought set him in another fit of coughs, tears trailing down his cheeks. The Preeminent controlled him. Forced him to do her bidding. If he resisted, she mentally tortured him. It still hurt, and no one wanted to help.
He buried his face in his knees, tears streaming down his face. I'm just a kid, he thought bitterly, why does everyone want to hurt me?
"Hey there." Morro looked up to see crimson eyes and blond hair. Lloyd. He tried to back up, to get away from the green ninja, but no avail. Lloyd dropped to his knees to meet the wind master at eye level. "It's okay, I won't hurt you."
Morro coughed some more, before speaking for the first time in months. "I can't trust you." He realized without the Preeminent straining his voice, (which didn't hurt because he was a ghost) it was soft and airy.
Lloyd gave a small smile. "I know, but I also know I was in your head, as you were mine, and I could sense her controlling you. I also saw your past..." he gripped Morro's hand, rolling up the sleeve to see the little white scars Morro had prayed disappeared, but they were still there and clean as day.
Morro trembled as his ripped his arm out of Lloyd's grasp and pulled the sleeve up. "They hate me for hurting you. I can't go back. Kai would most likely try to kill me again." He started into another coughing fit as water came up, and Lloyd raised an eyebrow.
"I also know choking up the water from nearly a year ago isn't normal. I've been looking for you, come on, I'm sure they'll help," he gestured to where Morro's tattered clothes were hanging off him, "and get you something to eat."
Morro followed him slowly, a half-smile of his own forming on his face. Maybe the ninja would still call him an outcast. Maybe his Sensei wouldn't take him back. Maybe he'd have to earn their trust. But Lloyd trusted him.
So it was a start.