Monday
"Lloyd! Lloyd, wake up!"
Lloyd felt a hand on his shoulder, shaking him awake. He recognized Wu's voice, and he blinked open his eyes, staring at him groggily. "What…?"
"You have to get up to go to school," Wu said.
Lloyd groaned. "Ugh…" He reluctantly got up.
When he arrived at the kitchen, Garmadon, Wu, and Misako were already there. On the table was breakfast, which consisted of raspberries, blueberries, and some plants that tasted kind of like kale. Lloyd sat down at the table, taking some.
Garmadon started to stand up, but Misako immediately said, "Oh no, you don't! Sit down!"
He sat down grumpily. "I was only going to get a drink…" he muttered.
"Your ankle is sprained. You're not getting up while I'm around." Misako glared at him, trying to get her point across.
"Fine, fine…"
Misako stood up, getting Garmadon's drink for him.
Lloyd quickly stuffed the rest of his breakfast in his mouth, and stood up.
When Lloyd arrived at school, he immediately went in to his classroom. He was still limping from his stab wound, but he tried not to let it show. It would probably be bad if someone noticed.
At lunch, he was immediately invited over to Kai, Cole, Jay, Zane, and Nya's table. He walked over and sat down next to Kai. Cole was at the other side of Kai, and across from them sat Zane, Jay, and Nya.
"Are you limping?" Kai asked, sounding concerned.
"No," Lloyd immediately protested—probably a little too quickly.
Kai gave him a suspicious look, narrowing his eyes at him. "You are too."
"No, I'm not. I'm fine." Lloyd took out his scant lunch. Today, he had some wild carrots, an apple (again), and some wild peas.
"Did you sprang your ankle?" Jay asked.
"Nope. I'm fine," Lloyd repeated.
They all exchanged looks, clearly not believing him. Lloyd felt fear clench in his stomach, but he tried to relax. He hoped that they wouldn't take advantage of his weakness, but if need be, Lloyd was completely capable of defending himself.
"Your lunches don't consist of much," Zane observed.
Lloyd glanced up at him in surprise; he hadn't expected him say that. Although now that Zane had mentioned it, the rest of them seemed to have much more food than him. Not knowing what to say, Lloyd went back to eating.
Everyone else was now staring at him curiously.
"Do you get enough to eat?" Zane asked, frowning in worry.
"Yup," Lloyd replied, not sparing him a glance. He was feeling a little defensive now.
Zane nodded, seeming to accept his answer, and went back to his own food.
An awkward silence followed.
"Oh! Hey, uh, we're going over to the park later," Jay suddenly said. "Wanna come?"
Lloyd looked at him, about to say no, and then hesitated. He wanted to go, but these were humans. He couldn't trust them. And besides, he had to get back home to check on his parents. Lloyd shook his head slowly, frowning regretfully. "I'm sorry, but I have to be home by 4:30." He also couldn't have his parents worrying about him if he didn't come home in time. They would think that something bad had happened to him.
Jay sighed, but accepted his answer. "Okay. Well, see you tomorrow?" The bell had just rung, signaling that lunch was over.
Lloyd nodded, feeling a smile form. For some reason, he felt excited to see these people tomorrow. He realized with a jolt that he was happy to see these people everyday. It felt nice talking to people his age, instead of just to his parents and uncle. Not that talking to them was bad or anything…
That night, Lloyd lay on the gray blanket on the floor of an empty room—a spare room. Garmadon and Misako were sleeping in the room with the two beds, and Wu would sleep on the couch. Beside Lloyd lay his backpack. Which, was technically his father's backpack.
He lay awake, thinking. Today he had trained again to become a ninja. He had been showing exceptional progress. Lloyd felt excited, knowing that soon he would be defending the city from oni and other half breeds.
He looked to his left, seeing his backpack, and then sat up. Opening it, he pulled out the small bag of candy he had stashed in it. He had made sure to bury it extra well, fearing that Wu or his parents might find it. He took one of the candies, and ate it slowly, savoring the flavor. Every night, he had eaten one, and he had loved the sweet flavor of the candy every time.
As he ate it, Lloyd wondered how long they would stay in the monastery. He knew that sooner or later, someone would find them. The sooner they got back to the Outcast, the better. Training here was probably fine, as long as they were careful, but being here 24/7 was a bad idea. The threat of getting caught loomed over all of their heads, and with this being their only base at the moment… who knew what would happen if they were suddenly chased out. All of their belongings were here. They couldn't risk losing any of it. Well, maybe some things… like his uncle's tea.
Tuesday
Lloyd entered the kitchen the next morning for breakfast. Misako, Garmadon, and Wu were already at the table eating fruit. There were also some sunny-side-up eggs on a plate.
Lloyd stood in the doorway, hesitating. He had already thought out what he was going to say, but was very reluctant. He wasn't sure how they would react.
His mother saw him lingering in the doorway. "Lloyd, come and eat. You have to get to school."
Lloyd gulped, taking a nervous breath and trying to calm his nerves. He went to the table and sat down, taking a handful of blueberries from the white bowl in the middle of the table. He waited a few minutes, trying to get his thoughts together. Finally, he said, "Um. Would it be okay if I stayed a little later today?"
They all looked at him in confusion.
"What do you mean?" Garmadon asked.
Lloyd averted his gaze before looking at his father. "Can I stay in Ninjago City a little longer today?"
Garmadon gave him a confused look and Misako said, "Absolutely not! Why would you want to stay longer? The longer you stay, the more chance you have of being found out!"
Lloyd flinched, having expected this. "I just want to explore the city a bit, that's all. I'll only be gone until about six or so."
"No," Misako said firmly.
"What about your ninja training?" Wu asked.
"I'll still train!" Lloyd assured him. "I'll just do part of it in the mornings, and the other half in the afternoons."
"So you plan to do this often?"
Lloyd nodded. He looked at his mother, who was frowning in worry. "I'll be fine, mom. It's just an hour and a half later."
She shook her head slowly. "I don't know, Lloyd. It sounds dangerous."
"I'll bring a dagger with me. Okay? So even if I run into trouble, I can defend myself."
"Lloyd, a dagger alone won't stop a mob," Garmadon told him.
Lloyd sighed. This was not going well. "I'll be fine. Besides, it'll broaden my horizons."
The three of them glanced at each other, Lloyd looking from one face to another, trying to gauge what they were thinking. Wu and Garmadon finally looked to Misako; Lloyd did too.
She sighed. "Alright. But—" she looked at Lloyd sternly—"be home by at least six."
Lloyd grinned, nodding excitedly. Now, if Kai, Cole, Jay, Zane, or Nya invited him out again, he could say yes. He knew that his parents and Wu had warned him to not make friends, but it's not like Lloyd had tried to. He enjoyed having friends. He wondered if they viewed him as a friend.
Finishing up his breakfast, Lloyd stood up, grabbing his backpack. He felt bad for lying to his parents and uncle, but he knew that they would never let him have friends, much less go places with them.
At school, he met Jay, Kai, Cole, Zane, and Nya by his locker. It looked as if they had been waiting for him.
"Hey Lloyd, you wanna come to Kai and Nya's house after school?" Jay immediately asked. "We're gonna do homework together, and then we're just gonna hang out for a bit."
Lloyd paused, thinking. Now that the opportunity had arose, and he could actually say yes this time, he was feeling uncertain. But, excitement won out. He gave Jay a smile, still feeling anxious, and replied, "Sure."
Jay's eyes widened in surprise, but then he lit up, grinning. "Great! We'll meet after school outside, okay?"
Lloyd nodded, feeling a thrill of excitement.
After school, Lloyd met them outside, as promised.
"So, Lloyd, ever been to Ignacia before?" Kai asked, looking at him curiously. Frankly, Kai and the others knew hardly anything about Lloyd, except that he didn't know what a lot of common things were, and that he only seemed to eat fruit for lunch.
"No," Lloyd replied, looking excited. "Where is it?"
"It's further west, more," Nya answered.
"Oh," Lloyd said, lighting up. He had never been farther west than the monastery. "How far is it?"
"About an hour," Nya replied. "I hope you don't mind walking."
"Not at all. I walk all the time anyway, to and from school."
"Well, glad you're prepared," Jay huffed jokingly. "I always ride the bus."
Cole lightly smacked Jay on the back of the head.
"Ow!" Jay complained, rubbing his head.
"You always go on nature walks with me," Cole told him.
"Hmph!" Jay said, pretending to be offended.
Lloyd watched them curiously. He still didn't quite understand some things, like sarcasm and such.
Halfway along, Lloyd's stab wound was starting to hurt. He knew that he probably shouldn't be walking so much, but he wanted to explore, and what better way to do that than to go out with his friends?
Lloyd was still limping, but no one had mentioned it today. Lloyd was thankful for that, as he didn't want to reveal too much about it. Especially since it was a stab wound, and they all might question him on where in the world he had gotten a stab wound.
An hour later, as Nya had said, they reached a small blacksmith shop. It was an open front shop, with no doors, and Lloyd could see the 'forge' that Kai had explained to him on the way there. To the left was a counter, and behind it some shelves with different types of tools stacked on it. On the wall on the right side weapons were hung up, ready to be sold.
"Our father made those," Nya explained. "Before he disappeared."
"Oh…" Lloyd said, not knowing what to say. He turned to her. "He disappeared?"
"Yeah," Kai said, coming up on his other side. "Our parents just… vanished… one day. We don't know where they went, or where they are now…" Kai frowned, looking lost in thought.
Lloyd wasn't sure how he would cope if his parents just vanished one day without a trace. It would be terrible, he knew that. Not knowing what to say, he awkwardly said, "I'm sorry…"
Nya shook her head, looking at him sadly. "It's okay. They disappeared years ago, when I was three and Kai five. I hardly even remember them…"
Kai too shook his head, blinking. He coughed awkwardly, then said, "Anyway, this is where Nya and I live." He pointed up. "Upstairs is our room, and the kitchen and bathroom."
The moment having passed, they all gathered in the forge. Kai pointed to a metal thing. "That's the anvil."
Lloyd looked at it in interest. "Ooh."
"Yup, and that's—" Kai and Nya continued pointing things out, showing Lloyd around.
A little while later, they all worked on homework together upstairs. Most of the time they were just chatting, but they did manage to finish their schoolwork.
"Hey, Lloyd, have you played Uno before?" Cole asked him.
Lloyd shook his head. "No."
Cole took some cards out of his backpack wrapped in a rubber band. They were very colorful, and looked worn and a little faded. "I'll show you how to play," Cole said. He started handing out cards, and Lloyd was given seven cards. He held them in his hand, studying them. They were varied in color, some yellow, some green, some blue, and some red. They all had numbers on them. Cole started explaining the rules to him, and after Lloyd understood the game, they all played a round of Uno. After a couple rounds, Lloyd was starting to get the hang of it. Zane had won both times, and Jay said that Zane usually won.
After Uno, they played a few other games. Lloyd was having a lot of fun, having never realized what he had been missing out on.
Suddenly, Lloyd remembered that he had to be back by six.Oh no, Lloyd thought in panic. He looked up from the board, which was currently Sorry. "What time is it?" He tried to keep the growing panic out of his voice.
"Uh, dunno," Kai said.
"It is 5:33," Zane answered.
"Shoot," Lloyd said, standing up. "I gotta go. I'm supposed to be home by six."
"Oof," Cole said sympathetically. "It'll take an hour to get back to Ninjago City. Er, unless you live somewhere else, that is."
Lloyd shook his head in dismay. The Monastery was at least forty minutes from here if Ninjago City was an hour. Guess I'll have to run, Lloyd decided.
"Well, um, bye," Lloyd said, grabbing his backpack. He had made sure to keep his backpack close to him, not wanting anything to be stolen. He wasn't sure if any of them would steal anything, but better be safe than sorry. He knew that humans could not be trusted, but… something told him that these people were different. Perhaps not all humans were cruel.
They all said goodbye to him, and then he hurried off.
Lloyd panted, climbing the monastery steps two at a time. Looking up at the sun, he could tell that it was roughly six o' clock. Hopefully, it wasn't later than he thought.
When he arrived at the monastery, he went straight to the kitchen for supper. Supper was usually at six, and was probably why his mom had wanted him to be home by six. That, and it got dark after seven. Arriving at the kitchen, he saw his mom pacing the floor and Garmadon stirring a soup. Wu was sipping some tea at the table.
Misako immediately looked up at him, and she sighed in relief. "Oh, thank goodness you're alright!"
"Told you he'd be fine," Garmadon said.
Misako gave Lloyd a hug. "How was it?" she asked worriedly.
"Great," Lloyd said, smiling. Ithadbeen great, it was just he hadn't actually been in the city. He had been at Ignacia. He looked at his father. "He's not actually cooking that, is he?" Lloyd asked. He knew that his father didn't know how to cook, and so if he was cooking, it was bound to be disastrous.
"No," Misako replied, smiling in amusement. "He's just stirring."
"And thank goodness for that!" Wu said.
Garmadon mock-glared at him. "Ha, ha. Not like you do any better. All of your stuff has tea in it, one way or another!"
Lloyd smirked, knowing that that was very true.
"Hmph!" Wu huffed. "Tea is good for you. You should have some more often."
Garmadon shook his head at him in exasperation.
Lloyd thought that it was actually pretty funny watching his uncle and father spar with each other.
After supper, Lloyd trained as promised. He was getting better, and now that Misako was back, she could pick up his ninja outfit. He couldn't wait and see what it looked like.
After he trained, Lloyd went to bed. He planned on getting up an hour earlier so that he had time to train.
Before he fell asleep, Lloyd had another piece of candy. Looking at his bag, Lloyd realized that he only had a few pieces left. He sighed in disappointment. When they were gone, he had no idea when he would be able to get more, if ever.
