Author's Note: So, I lied when I said I would post this closer to Ninjago: Dragons Rising Part 2's release date because I finished this sooner than I thought I would.

Anyways, I'm sure you guys have noticed that this an Alternate Universe. I've been conjuring up this AU for a long while and only recently finally put some of its info down officially. Most of that info is on my Ninjago Tumblr, ninjakitten1699. Original name, I know.

I also know this is an iffy, maybe even an ambitious move considering how long it's been with the show still continuing its run with its sequel series, but I really have been looking forward to this for a long time and I do hope you guys get to see this the same way I do. A masterpiece.

Chapter 1

The first thing he felt was warmth. His eyes opened up and he looked around. He noted that he was laying back in a field. He turned his head, catching something fluttering past him in the corner of his eye. A bright yellow butterfly gently flapped its wings, floating past him and almost disappearing into the grass.

For some reason he felt a need to follow after it. He got up, careful to not disturb anything. The tall grass went up to his waist.. Was it actually tall or was he shorter? He looked to his hands. He was... smaller.. younger. That detail slipped away when he saw the yellow butterfly again. He continued on following it through the grass and eventually it came to a stop in a field.

His eyes found it fluttering around towards a garden in someone's backyard. He reached for the latch and opened the wooden gate. It oddly felt warm inside the yard and the surroundings were familiar. The butterfly he went after finally landed on a flower. The bright red, almost scarlet petals made the yellow wings on the butterfly stand out so much. The flower looked like a buttercup, except for its red coloration and bright lime green leaves. It resembled those of anemones as well.

The boy suddenly heard the backdoor open but felt no fear. No apprehension. In fact, he felt himself smile on his face and watched another person come into view. Someone with short hair. A girl? She turned to look at him and most of the details were faded. All except for the bright turquoise eyes squinting a bit, showing signs of a smile.

The ebony haired boy didn't get much else. There was a sudden rise of heat. Everything became too blinding. The air went darker with clouds of dark gray. The once quiet atmosphere blared with sounds of struggle and even some town bell ringing so loudly as an alarm.

The events became nothing but a blur. The girl was getting pulled away by something and he tried to follow but he suddenly felt a pain in the back of his head. The town bell still continued ringing as he went into the darkness.

He awoke with a gasp, panting softly while his eyes flicked about. It was still dark. His eyes adjusted to the dark enough for him to grab the clock and check the time. '4:36 a.m.' He concluded and ran his left hand through his dark hair. He set the clock back to the side and wanted to close his eyes for a bit longer but he just couldn't get himself to. He let out a sigh, going to kick off his covers, only to find them already crumbled up to the side. Sheesh. What was he dreaming about? He wondered.

The ebony-haired man could barely remember bits and pieces. All he got was.. turquoise? 'Really? That doesn't make the least bit of sense.' He thought, groaning a little louder than he intended. 'No one heard that, right?' As if karma had something against him, someone answered. "Cole?" He heard the unmistakable tone of his brother in arms. 'Of course it had to be Zane. Who else?'

"What are you doing up?" Zane asked in a hush. Cole supposed at this time Zane would've been meditating for a bit before being up for the day. Of course, this could also be because he was a Nindroid, albeit a recently discovered Nindroid, and he might not need as much sleep. He didn't know. If anyone knew, Jay definitely did considering he was the mechanic alongside Nya. The Earth Ninja realized that Zane was still awaiting an answer and finally provided him one. "It's nothing. Just a.. weird dream." Weird couldn't even describe it. He still didn't even remember the majority of it aside from the color.

"Would you like to talk about it?" Zane raised an eyebrow at the leader. "Uhh, maybe another time when and if I can remember more details." He insisted, laying back and pulling an arm over his head, burying his face into the crook of his arm. Cole could hear some bedding shift and feet gently setting down on the ground. "Where you going?" Cole hummed above a whisper. "It'll take a short while before the others awaken. I want to take the extra time to make them breakfast." Zane replied, getting himself ready for the day.

The earth ninja shook his head a bit. Zane always did seem like the "mother" of the group, despite being a guy. Feeding them and tending to their injuries, as long as those wounds were manageable, and all those other things. Of course, it probably played into him being a Nindroid built to protect others and Cole didn't know the extent of Zane's protection. Honestly, he'd rather not find out. The white ninja of ice was in his shozoku without the golden pauldrons on his shoulders. The hood of it laid back between his shoulder blades while the lower half of the mask was beneath his chin. The Nindroid looked over to the ebony-haired human on the bed. He can sense something off coming from within his brother-in-arms. He could try to pry for anything out of him, but Cole was already shown to be stubborn enough to hide who he was to both his team and own father. What was stopping him from hiding more? He pushed the thought aside. "Would you like to help, Cole?" He asked.

"Hmm?" Cole finally looked up from underneath his arm. "In the kitchen I mean." Zane clarified. Cole would have answered had it not been for a certain blue bird. He watched the lightning master slowly rise from his bed, pushing himself up and turning his head over to the nindroid at the same slow pace with big mantis-green eyes and messy brown hair. "Don't you dare put him in the kitchen, Zane... It spells disaster."

"Of all the things to wake you up, it's the threat of me being in the kitchen." Cole chuckled. Jay just looked over to him and squinted his eyes at him before slowly laying his head right back down while he stared. Cole fought back to chuckle louder at his face. "I suppose that's a no, then?" Zane raised an eyebrow. "Maybe later, Zane. When Jay doesn't think he'll die of food poisoning or something." Cole rolled over. "I'll be out in a while."

Zane still felt like something was going on inside Cole. Try as he might, he wouldn't know what it was precisely. Not even his database could pull up anything. Perhaps he could try asking again later when he's collected his thoughts. Cole watched as the white shinobi left the room, gently shutting the door behind him. He didn't move until he was certain Zane was halfway to the kitchen. "This is going to be a long day," Cole mumbled. It definitely felt that way and the day just barely even started.

It took a bit to get the other two ninja up. Despite Jay having protested Cole being in the kitchen earlier, he was very persistent in wanting to stay in bed. Kai didn't have much trouble getting up. More than likely, he wanted to get to training as soon as possible. And now here they were. After Zane made them breakfast and waiting a bit, they were here. The red ninja was in stance, ready to draw his bokken up. Cole had insisted that the Golden Weapons remained put away until there was a mission needing them. He didn't want to cause unwanted destruction to the Bounty while being thousands of feet in the air.

He took a stance, holding a bō across his front diagonally while he kept his eyes on the red ninja. They both were waiting for the other to make a move. Kai gently and subtlety slid his foot a few inches before planting it down harder. The fire master's eyes narrowed at the target and he charged ahead. 'Still impatient even after all this time?' Cole thought, jumping out of the way when Kai swung his wooden sword down. The brunet spun on his foot and swings his bokken to Cole who blocks it in time with his staff. He lets it slide across the staff and quickly turned, smacking Kai in the side with it. He heard it make contact and Kai yelped out of shock, growling at the strike before swiping his sword all over. "Done with your temper tantrum, Kai?" Cole taunted. Kai forced his mouth shut, glaring at him.

The two kept at it for a bit. That was until Cole suddenly felt heat from the fire ninja. Usually, it wouldn't be so jarring to feel that from him but it got him to stop. The heated atmosphere gave an opposite effect to Cole, freezing him on the spot. He felt this... from his dream. "Cole!" Jay's voice called, snapping him out of it. However, he was a bit late to block Kai's bokken swinging at him. He felt it connect to his midsection pushing up against his stomach a little too hard. He was glad that the wooden sword didn't strike below the belt. He almost doubled over, holding himself and dropping the staff. "Kuso. Cole, you alright?!" Kai dropped his bokken when he realized he might've struck too hard out of his fit in frustration.

The Earth Ninja waved his red adorned brother off and stood back up, still feeling the sting of the smack. "It's alright. Just got me off guard. That's all." He pulled his mask off, hissing in a breath. Kai pulled off his own mask. "You're usually the one telling us to concentrate. What's going on?" Kai prodded at the leader of the group. Cole caught Zane about to answer but he shook his head. "It's nothing. Just got things on my mind." That technically wasn't a lie. Zane could admit that much.

So the day hasn't been as eventful as he thought. Though weirdly enough, it hadn't been eventful for quite a bit after his true potential was achieved. He can still remember the feeling of his power coursing through him. How his father screamed when two Constrictai caused the stage lights and other debris to fall. How he ran to him with everything he had and covered him. He still feels the sting of one of those stage lights jabbing into his back the wrong way before it happened. His power ascended like no other and he felt like nothing could stop him. He vaguely remembered lifting the stage lights up and pulling his father out. His eyes glanced all over his body while he was bathed in a celestial type of light like no other.

And then it stopped. He was back to normal. Exhausted, but normal. After that, the relationship with his dad recovered, if not grew further. That was the obstacle that inhibited his newfound power. He should feel pride in it and more. Then... why didn't he? Why did he not feel proud of his accomplishment? Why does it feel like there's something off? Something missing from the picture when he knew there wasn't anything? He didn't know.

"Cole! It's boiling over!" The Earth Ninja suddenly snapped back into reality and his hand got a hold of the knob on the stove, dialing it back to zero. "Merda." He let out a curse when hot liquid spat at his hand. "Whoa, you alright?" Jay asked. He looked over to the talkative bluebird. "Yeah. I'm fine." He answered. 'Everyone seems to be asking that a lot today.' He thought. Jay however didn't look so convinced. "Alright that's it." Cole raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"What do you mean 'what'? You've been acting off all day!" Jay blurted to him. "Just what is up with you today?" He placed his hands on his hips and kept a stern stare. Well, as stern as Jay could get with that squishy baby face of his. Cole rolled his eyes. "It's nothing. Just a weird dream I had." He admitted, moving his bangs aside and crossing his arms, leaning back against the counter. "Really? First Zane, now you?" Jay's voice rang in his ear. "Man, when is it my turn to get a weird dream? What was it about?"

"I don't know. It's not like I can recall it like the back of my hand, Jay." Cole watched Jay groan theatrically. "Oh come on! Anything at all? Surely you're not that much of a dirt for brains." The shorter blue adorned ninja once more put his hands on his hips and decided to tap his foot in an impatient manner. "Chill, Sonic the Hedgehog." Jay gasped dramatically in a 'how dare you' sort of way. "I am not all dirt for brains. I just.." Jay stopped his theatrics when he watched Cole look down to the floor at his feet. "I don't know, Jay. I really don't know what to tell ya. It's all jumbled up and hazy. I don't even know what happened or how or even why. I sure as heck would love to know." The Earth Ninja went on.

"Alright.. alright." Jay let up. "Now I know how you guys feel when you say I talk a lot. Well, if anything does come to you, you know you can talk to all of us right?" Cole took a moment, looking at the pot that was barely bubbling now. "Yeah, I know." He could already hear Jay dialing a number. "Alright. Also don't worry about dinner tonight. I'll just pick up something while I'm out while you get your head on straight, alright?" Jay worried. Cole nearly wanted to let out a playful scoff. Usually he was the one constantly worrying about his team. "Yeah, that's fine. Not like I didn't try my hardest with this dish, but yeah. That'll be fine." Jay chuckled softly at his antics. "See? You're feeling a bit better already. I'll see you in a bit. Gotta fly!" The shorter reddish-brown haired guy ran out of there after he fanned the air out of the kitchen. Cole rolled his eyes at him and watched the blue ninja fly right out.

The ebony-haired man ruffled his hair a bit and sighed, almost slumping down against the edge of the counter and decided to just be safe and dump the contents of the pot. 'Not like anyone was going to even look at it anyways.' He figured, finishing on throwing it out and left the pot soaking in hot water and soap. He'll be back for it if he even remembers to. Cole left the kitchen and just decided to head to their shared room, sitting at a desk that he fit into the room. He gave a look around, remembering how barren the room looked aside from their bunks long before they began adding things to it. One of these days they might consider their own rooms, if that's even possible.

He sat in the chair. His grey eyes darted to the box he pulled out from underneath his bed. His hands the lid and he pulled it open, showing the contents inside. His sketchbook. Cole never really pulled it out that often, not with that bluebird fluttering about. It was a relief that he left for now really.

Jay would peek over his shoulder every other chance he got to see what he was sketching. Honestly, he was glad it was never anything.. explicit. Gods, he would never live it down. He would hear it from Jay for the rest of his life and maybe even in the afterlife. That's if he didn't come back as a ghost and haunt him about it to the end. Cole shook his head at the idea. 'As if ghosts were real...' He thought, picking up his utensil and began absentmindedly dragging it across the open page.

Speaking of his mind, for some reason it pulled him back to his thoughts of the dream he had. The yellow butterfly fluttering to the red buttercup, no wait it was a pheasant's eye. There was an intense heat and a person with blurred features, almost like he was going blind, but there were striking turquoise eyes.. turquoise.. turquoise.. did he know that from somewhere? He wondered. He was pulled from his thoughts when he heard the bedroom door open and he turned to see Nya, looking in. "Hey Cole. Jay's back. You wouldn't believe how fast his jet went this time. I was sure he was intending on breaking the sound barrier." Cole chuckled halfheartedly at that. "Of course he would. I'll be there in a minute." Nya nodded and left to where the others were.

He turned back to see the page. He apparently must've sketched some eyes. A pair of bright turquoise eyes. 'When did I bring out the colors?' He thought. The earth master stared at the page for a few moments longer than he'd like to admit, feeling a little bothered by the sight of them, before he finally shook his head and closed the book, putting it and other supplies back into the box and slipping that box underneath the bed. He scoffed at his earlier feelings of being bothered.

'Yeah, no way a dream is going to bother me. Not a chance. Not like it's something that actually happened and he forgot or anything like that.' He stood back up and let himself out the room.

'..right?'

Author's Note: I can admit it when I say this chapter felt a little boring, maybe even a little more monotonous than I liked, but well, typical days tend to feel like that too.

Don't worry though. I'm just getting started and I'm excited for the other chapters. I already have some of them figured out.

Okay, for added context, I originally was hoping to make this fourteen chapters (sixteen parts if you include the Prologue and Epilogue), but then I written down what I wanted for each chapter and I realized it's too short so it's extended to about eighteen chapters/twenty parts until further notice. Anyways, when I was writing down what I wanted for this chapter, it was literally just one sentence. "Cole has weird dream and everyone notices he's acting off." That was it. I suppose that's why it felt like it dragged on but hopefully I did send the point across.

Now, I hope you guys enjoyed, or at least tolerated, this chapter and if you did, please leave a review/comment and let me know how it was. I will accept just about anything to gain a sort of attention that I admit I'm missing a lot right now. (Seriously I miss you guys to the point where it's nuts.)

Anyways, you guys go ahead and do all that I typed above, if you want to, and I'll just be working on chapter two and hopefully pump it out soon.

See ya then.