There's so much that's hinted at what happened pre Ninjago series, but not a lot of concrete facts. Instead there is lots of fodder for one-shot/story ideas. That's kinda where the ninja's origin stories in here have come from and now it's Zane's turn. This one, while not exactly the same, was born out of reading Jeleego's headcanons (on Wattpad) of what happened to the Master of Ice
This one shot does take it a little further violence wise than the flashback in S8 does, though the events are still (somewhat) the same
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His breathing rasped too loudly in the woods around him. Woods so far from his friends and family. A violent shudder wracked his body and he grimaced. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt cold, but now it seemed ice had penetrated his bones. Trembling he forced his legs forward and wrapped his arms tight to his chest.
Another shiver made him stumble. Throwing his arms outward to catch his balance, he winced at the red sheen coating his right hand. When had his side started bleeding again? The cold permeated too deeply to even feel the pain that he knew should be very present.
He took a deep breath. 'Just keep moving.'
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3 Days Earlier
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"You have to see the writing on the wall, Wu. We are at war within our own ranks! If this continues the public will be calling for all our heads, not just those of Krux and Acronix!" Eirwen's words filled the low lit kitchen.
Across the table Wu shook his head but couldn't formulate a response. Mostly because Eirwen was right. And that hurt almost as much as the whole situation. His friends, nay his family, had been splintered apart thanks to Chen and now the Time Twins. So much suspicion and anger, sadly much of it justified. Lines had been crossed and Wu felt the ache of bonds shattered beyond what appeared mendable.
"You know I'm right. This has to be dealt with before we're forced to deal with it by authorities who come with vengestone shackles!"
Wu winced, finally turning to his oldest (and the irony ran deep with that word) friend besides his older brother. "I'm at a loss of what to do." The admission would have shocked any of the other masters but not Eirwen. "I had hoped with the defeat of Krux and Acronix peace would be made within the Alliance."
"Amazing how that didn't spontaneously happen." Eirewen said dryly.
"Maybe I was too optimistic. Shandra and Rowan want nothing to do with the Alliance if Micah is absolved of his involvement with Chen and the Serpentine. I know Gerald would lean toward whatever the two of them do. It's as much a guess to me as you what Dorian will do. He has commented he wants to return to his music so he'll probably look to leave shortly, no matter what the others do. Liber's already gone off with Cliff and the Smith's want to settle down."
"And you want to be with your family."
Wu frowned. "I-I don't know how much longer Garmadon has. With Misako now his wife I'd hoped that at least would soothe the venom, but I still see it lurking in the shadows."
Eirwen grunted in agreement. "You of all people know to be prepared for when the inevitable happens."
That hurt too. Especially since Garmadon's curse was Wu's fault. "He's held off for so long, I almost wanted to believe he could hold it at bay indefinitely."
"This whole mess with Chen and the Twins only shows how much darkness there is in even our own ranks."
Why did it have to be that way? The First Spinjitzu Master, Wu's father, had done so much to make Ninjago a fresh slate from the harshness and cruelty he'd seen and experienced in the First Realm. Now his children and the children of his friends were right there with the worst of them.
"So what will you do?" Wu knew the answer even before he asked.
"The age of the Elemental Alliance is over. It's time for me to continue on my own way."
"Any idea where?"
Eirwen scoffed. "Wherever there's need. Just because the Alliance has dissolved doesn't mean there aren't people who need help."
"No plans to retire?"
"Just because you're older than me but look 30 years younger does not mean you get to rib my about my age."
"You called yourself old, not me."
Some of the tension bled out of Eirwin's shoulders. Laughing quietly Eirwen shook his head. "This is a far cry from three crazy kids making their way in a young world."
"That seems like a lifetime ago."
"It might as well have been." Sighing, Eirwen pushed his chair back and stood. "Wu, you're my brother in everything but blood. I don't make this decision lightly."
"I know." Wu gave a small smile. "Give Sarah and her children my regards."
"You know me too well. I'll pass it on. Until we meet again." Eirwen clasped Wu's shoulders.
"May your blade be ever sharp."
"And may your spinjitzu never falter."
Without any further preamble Eirwen shouldered his pack and exited his most recent home. The sun's rays were just cresting the mountain, bathing everything in a reddish gold light. His breath sent puffs of air in the brisk morning. Whatever chill might have surrounded him, Eirwen didn't notice. Taking a deep breath, Eirwen began his descent. The many stairs almost as much an old friend as the monastery itself. If only this time it didn't feel like a final goodbye.
Compartmentalizing those thoughts, Eirwen turned instead to his other family. It had been too long since he'd seen his sister and her family... and their families. The reports of great-nieces and great-nephews told the same story his snow white hair did. He was getting old.
'Drat those sons of the First Spinjitzu Master.' Though the thought carried no real malice. Eirwen never outright asked how old Wu and Garmadon were, and they never offered that information. But Eirwen wasn't stupid.
Neither Wu or his brother looked like they'd aged more than a year or two in the 50 years he'd known them. That math Eirwen didn't care to attempt.
Sighing, Eirwen conjured an ice crystal. Energy pooled in his chest and flowed to his hand until a white shard popped into existence. It sparkled in the morning light. Beautiful, but deadly. Just like being the master of ice. Most of the time Eirwen considered it a blessing, yet sometimes it could also feel like a curse. Not that he'd ever want Sarah to be in the danger he found himself in over and over, but it had become the sole definer of his life. No time for a wife or kids, very little time for family or friends despite often living with the latter.
But then again cold defined ice. Anyone who got too close could get frostbite. Or maybe it was just him.
Still, Eirwen stared at the shard. Most would never know, but he could see the dullness in the white ice, feel the strain in his arm after holding this small amount for only a couple minutes. Of the other masters he easily had three decades (or more) on them in age. Though elemental masters aged slower than the average Ninjago citizen, Eirwen currently felt every one of his 80 years.
He sighed and let the ice go. It was well past time having some insightful conversations with his sister's family. And that was more of the reason for him leaving than any he gave to Wu.
Without a child of his own who'd already begun showing an affinity for ice, Eirwen had long since looked into what it would take to ensure ice moved to the next generation. The First Spinjitzu Master used ice to create Ninjago. Ice would continue on, whether Eirwen made a choice or not. If he didn't choose though, there was no telling where ice would end up. And that could be worse than if ice ceased to exist.
Eirwen shook his head. He had a responsibility, a task, and he needed to complete it. Simple as that.
Ice encompassed his mind and heart. Not dismissing his thoughts and emotions, but filing them away. Compartmentalizing. He was a man of precision and action. He'd leave contemplation to Wu.
So on he walked.
It would be a three day trip from the monastery to Stiix, taking the slightly longer route through the colder Birchwood Forest. Any excuse to interact with his element. He needed the time to think. To figure out which one of Sarah's grandchildren would best suit the heavy mantle of an elemental master. If he had to be honest with himself, he didn't want to make the choice. So he'd wait. Maybe it would work itself out when he joined his family.
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The second morning saw frost on the grass as Eirwen continued on his way. Eirwen allowed himself a small smile at the way the sun danced like diamonds across the grass. He might be biased but the ice crystals had to be one of the most beautiful sights in the realm.
As the sun rose the frost dissipated but the temperature continued to drop. Soon his feet no longer trod dirt, but a thin layer of snow. Stately white trees surrounded the path, and a gentle hush descended over the forest. The miles fell by in a soothing monotony.
Until midday when thwipping noises came from overhead.
Eirwen looked up to see a helicopter coming straight for him. A black ops helicopter with red and purple accents. Eirwen clenched his jaw and drew himself upright. He had no way of figuring out how Chen's men tracked him but he wasn't going to go quietly.
Wind rocked the trees, sending snow flying in all directions. Eirwen fell into a fighting stance and called to ice. Twin white spheres came readily to his hands. Four men in purple and red jumped out of the helicopter almost before it landed. Each carried a gun.
"This must be our lucky day!" The shout could barely be heard over the helicopter's engines.
If Eirwen didn't consider face palming beneath him he would have done a large one at those words. Punk kids. Lucky him.
"Chen's got a large bounty in your head!" The four guns were aimed directly at his heart.
Okay. Maybe not so much of an innocuous crew of baddies. While Eirwen had already given them a visual dressing down he ran another critical eye over the party. The four men didn't have the dark look in their eyes of a magic user but if they worked for Chen who knew what kind of toys they'd been given. Though it sounded like Chen might have wanted him alive. He could work with that. The helicopter shut off. Suddenly the silence was too loud.
"The boss ain't too happy with being shut up on the island." Thug #1 grinned ferally. "He'd love to get his hands on Wu and Garmadon but knows that going after the other masters of creation will give a bigger blow. Though he's got a bone to pick with that rock head. He, Chen wants alive."
Eirwen's breath caught in his throat. A plan worthy of the evil conniving that Chen embodied. Too bad Eirwen wasn't going to let it come to fruition. He took a slow, steady breath. Then, with the rage of a blizzard, Eirwen launched himself at the men.
Shouts filled the air. Eirwen spun into spinjitzu, knocking down the closest attacker. Whizzing noises came much too close for comfort. With a quick dodge Eirwen sent bolts of ice at two of the men. They yelped when the ice took out their guns. Yells of anger replaced the ones of surprise. The four lunged as one.
Punches and kicks flew. Keeping a flow of spinjitzu, Eirwen dodged while sending his own blows on the men. He managed a kick to one's head that left him lying unconscious on the snow. The remaining three increased their fight with a fervor. Eirwen grit his teeth and shot a bolt of ice at the nearest man.
He dodged and Eirwen spun to avoid the man's foot flying toward his face.
Too bad that caused him to take his eyes off the other men.
A lucky punch struck his chest. Air forced its way out of his lungs. Stumbling back Eirwen only just caught a glimpse of silver before it struck. Fire burst through his abdomen. A sensation he hadn't felt in a very long time. With a cry of pain, ice exploded in all directions.
Panting heavily, Eirwen slumped to his knees. He wrapped his arms around his torso and looked up. Ice encased his four attackers, freezing them (including the unconscious one) to where they were. A loud grating sound came from behind him. Eirwen slowly turned and grimaced. Several large shards had pierced the helicopter which now had smoke wafting darkly into the blue sky.
'Great.' He had to get out of here. Fast. The tiniest amount of tension released from his shoulders... causing an aborted yelp of pain at the movement. Now what? His right hand felt warm and sticky. Pulling it away from his torso Eirwen grimaced at the red sheen. Not good.
Taking a slow breath, Eierwen forced an ice crystal in his hand. He held it to his side, hissing violently at contact. 'This would be the one time to take Ray up on an elemental trade.' Although cauterizing the wound didn't have any more appeal than numbing it, it would stop the external bleeding.
Black spots danced in Eirwen's vision. 'Not. Good.' Okay, prioritize. Nothing but trees around him, no communications. Four incapacitated attackers. One destroyed means of transportation. That left walking with the high risk of bleeding out. Eirwen knew his brain wasn't functioning completely if that was the best he could come up with.
So with slow, shuffling steps Eirwen walked deeper into the woods. Everything spun. The world around blurred in a web of white. White should be comforting, white he knew, but this... this white burned. Eirwin almost wanted to laugh at the comparison. Why did the trees seem to go on... and on... and on?
It should be getting less white. He should be heading south. Wasn't this south? Maybe? More trees. And were those trees... moving? No, the tree was opening.
Something- someone loomed over him (when had he fallen?) and everything went dark.
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Low murmurs drifted into his awareness but Eirwen couldn't quite catch the words. Angry stabs of pain attacked his torso with every breath. An involuntary moan slipped past his lips. The voices broke off. Something cool rested on his forehead, a blessing from the fire burning within him.
Forcing his eyes open Eirwen could make out a blurry white haired man. He started. Every instinct screamed danger.
"Easy, easy friend. You've got an infection." The words sounded like they were spoken from miles away.
'What?' Slowly the blurry memories from... when he'd last been awake... trickled in. Eirwen tried to focus on the man above him.
Concerned blue eyes stared back. The man had to have been older than fifty. He wore an apron and wire rimmed glasses. His appearance wasn't one of Chen's usual cronies, but that snake was crafty.
"What-?" Eirwen broke off with a cough.
"We found you-"
'We?'
"-just outside our home. You passed out so we brought you here. You have a deep penetration wound in your left lower abdomen. I'm not a medical doctor but I've done what I can stitching it up."
It wasn't enough. Even if Eirwen had made it to a hospital he didn't think it'd have been enough. He could feel himself slipping away.
"-ry I'm Julian. My son Zane and I are doing what we can but we don't have communications to reach the city."
Despair, a feeling so unfamiliar to Eirwen, arose within him. He couldn't- it couldn't end like this. Even if Ninjago didn't need him any longer, it needed ice. Eirwen couldn't let ice fly free, choosing a new host at random.
"I have some water for you sir." A new voice joined the older man's. It was stilted, almost robotic. 'Julian. Older man.' His addled brain supplied. 'So this must be Zane.'
Eirwen rolled his gaze over to the newcomer. He was a younger boy, maybe early teens, but had platinum white hair that accented his vibrant blue eyes. Eyes that were almost too blue. 'That doesn't make sense.' How could something be too blue...?
"Here." A straw was held in front of his mouth.
'Oh. Right.' Eirwen's tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. Water sounded like heaven right now. He managed a couple sips before looking back at Zane. The boy stared serenely back at Eirwen, seemingly unconcerned by the bloody bandages surrounding them. Zane didn't blink, and though he definitely still couldn't see straight, Eirwen wasn't entirely sure if he was breathing either. Energy warmed Eirwen's chest the way it did when he called to ice. Yet no ice appeared.
'What?'
Zane tilted his head to the side, almost as if he'd felt something too. Struggling to shove the blanket aside, Eirwen tried to push himself off the bed.
"I don't think that's wise sir." Zane cautioned and two hands were placed, gently but firmly, on his shoulders.
A gasp shot through Eirwen as the feeling rose again in his chest. He couldn't deny the reaction came about because of Zane. Maybe- maybe destiny had a way of working itself out after all. Though it couldn't have picked a better way than impaling him?
Eirwen reached out and grasped one of Zane's hands. It was cool but steady, self assured. "Zane? Zane-?"
"Yes, that is me?"
"I'm sorry." This was going to change Zane's life, without his knowing or consent, but Ice had chosen. Tightening his grip on Zane's hand, Eirwen called to his element. He could feel it leave him, feel whatever small reserves he had left leave with it. He felt cold again, and empty. Eirwen wanted to cry but he didn't have time or energy to.
A light came into Zane's eyes that Eirwen knew wasn't there just a minute ago. "I fail to believe you intended for yourself to be injured and require aid from my father and me. As such you have nothing to apologize for."
He didn't feel it. Zane hadn't felt it. But he would. That Eirwen knew with certainty. Ice was in safe hands, but who knew if Zane was safe. Eirwen had to leave, he couldn't put this family in any more danger... and part of him didn't want Zane to see him die. No child deserved that.
"You should rest. It is late and you need to conserve your strength." Julian's head cut back into Eirwen's line of vision.
Eirwen jumped. Being so intent on Zane had made him forget the older man's presence. "Yes, sleep..." Eirwen let his words drift off and he closed his eyes. However, he felt too empty to sleep.
He heard Julian sigh and Zane asked, "Father?"
"We'll keep him as comfortable as we can. Go power down son, I'll take first watch."
Even in Eirwen's muddled state he wondered about Julian's choice of words. Too late now though. What had been done was done. Footsteps faded away, disappearing into the house. Julian sighed again and rustling sounded near Eirwen's head. Another cold cloth touched his forehead. Julian's presence backed off, out of the room. He'd probably gone to grab something. Now would probably be the best chance Eirwen had to leave unnoticed.
Slowly he opened his eyes. Sure enough no Julian or Zane to be seen. Pulling himself upright took a lot longer than it should have. Black spots colored Eirwen's vision again but he took a deep breath and forced them away. Still the blood rushed to Eirwen's head making everything spin. The next thing he knew he stood outside with no recollection of how he'd gotten there.
Eirwen didn't plan to look a very unhealthy gift horse in the mouth. He started off into the dark woods with no plan other than to put as much distance between him and Julian's house(?) as he could.
The steps, the miles, trickled by in a haze of pain. Gradually Eirwen noticed he could see his surroundings a little better. He'd also stopped shivering at some point. That probably wasn't a good thing, but Eirwen was too tired to care.
In the graying light a small outcropping of rock became visible among the trees. Eirwen slowly walked toward it. The large boulders created a small cave-like space. He could- he needed to rest for a minute. Just for a minute.
A cleft low to the ground offered a spot to sit. Eirwen didn't bother to brush the snow piled up on the rock. Wincing he lowered himself and reclined against the rock wall. Its cold face permeated his body. This time the cold felt good, familiar. Eirwen wanted to call to ice, to see it again, but he had no strength left. Instead he watched the sun quietly rise, sending its warm light spilling onto the snowy ground. Once again sparkling diamonds came out to play.
It was a haunting beauty. A cold, powerful beauty.
Eirwen leaned his head against the wall. His eyes drifted closed. He'd rest just a little longer.
There, surrounded by his element, Eirwen's weary soul slipped away to the Departed Realm.
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A/n: Here's a quick run down on the names mentioned.
Shandra: Shade's mother (Master of shadow)
Rowan: Giving the master who plays a flute in Spellbound element of nature, thus Bolobo's father
Micah is the name I gave Cole's grandfather in "Between a Rock..."
Gerald: Gravis' grandfather
Dorian: Jacob's father
Hope you enjoyed! If you're looking for more content while waiting for the next chapter RebelFanja and I wrote a flffy/angst Pixane piece that's on her page, or there's Shifting Sands (Kailor AU) on my page.