Chapter One- A New Reality
Warm sun pressed against shaky eyelids, probing at the consciousness of the boy below. A gentle welcome into the new day.
Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon opened his mouth to welcome a yawn. He stretched and flinched at the soreness of his muscles. Training never stopped- neither did the pain.
Little by little, Lloyd's brain whirred back to life. The green ninja opened his eyes and stared at the sky above. A soft breeze blew past, cool enough to raise bumps over his skin. Leaves peeked in and out of his vision.
Lloyd blinked. Once. Twice. He forced his eyes shut and held them there, but when he opened them again the world didn't change.
He tracked his memory. Training. Dinner. Conversations he'd never remember. Staying up too late. Sleeping far too little. Lloyd looked at his memories through every angle, but nothing, nothing explained why he'd woken up in the middle of the forest.
A prank?
Maybe. A little elaborate but-
"Ah! Sleeping beauty awake at last!"
Lloyd jolted up. His hands slid forward on the mud beneath him. HIs eyes flitted around, desperate to land on the familiar voice.
"Jay." Lloyd said the name with a sigh of relief. At least he wasn't alone.
But- There was something odd about Jay. The man looked like himself- same goofy, somewhat crooked grin, same bad haircut, and of course the sprinkle of unmistakable freckles over his sunburnt skin.
Yet, Jay's clothes weren't anything that Lloyd had ever seen before. They were made out of brown leather, and both the coat and the pants were covered with a ludicrous number of pockets.
Not to mention-
Lloyd gaped. He couldn't help himself. Strapped to the side of Jay's waist, were the nunchucks of lightning. As beautiful as Lloyd remembered, with careful golden carvings that seemed to bring them to life.
Except it couldn't be. It simply couldn't. The nunchucks had been gone for a long time now, and nothing had ever hinted at their return.
He could feel the pulse of power behind the metal. Now more than he ever had when he'd been a kid. It called to him, and he had to force his eyes away.
"Jay?" Jay echoed. His grin faltered for a moment, and his eyes flitted left and right. "And you know my name- because?"
"Because-" Lloyd shook his head. "Because I know you."
"I doubt that. But- you do owe me. You owe me your life in fact. It's only thanks to me and my heroic antics that you still have that muddled head on your shoulders."
"What?" Lloyd's hand shot up to his neck. "What are you talking about?"
"King Pythor's order, of course." Jay laughed. He rolled his eyes. He pulled a paper out of one of the pockets of his jacket and tossed it in Lloyd's direction. "Maybe this'll refresh your mind? Those guards would have taken you in if I hadn't dragged you into the forest with me."
Lloyd took the paper. He unfolded it slow and tried to keep his hands from shaking. Pythor. That was another name he hadn't heard in a while. A name from a different lifetime, a name from a different Lloyd.
A crude drawing of his face stared back up at him from the yellowed surface. Below it, written in imposing black letters, were the words 'Wanted: Treason, Murder, Theft. Bounty: 100,000 coins.'
"With that bounty on your head, I wouldn't be surprised if there's anyone not looking for you." Jay said. A chill ran up Lloyd's spine. "But me? Well, I don't really need the money. It wouldn't fit in my pockets, you know?"
Lloyd fought the hysterical urge to laugh. He looked at Jay's outfit and thought that maybe it would.
"Besides, us outlaws have to stick together, yeah? Though … I'm not a fan of the whole murder part."
"I'm not a murderer." Lloyd said. "I don't- I don't even know where I am. And Pythor? King? That's not- and those things on your waist- they aren't-"
"You're in the forest." Jay sighed. A pained, exasperated sound. "I must have bumped your head when I dragged you in here. Pythor's been king for years. And these nunchucks well- you don't worry about those."
"I meant-"
"It's fine if you killed someone." Jay continued, as if Lloyd had never protested. "Just as long as you don't kill me. And as long as it was one person. Well, I guess I could live with two. Who was it, anyway?"
"I said I didn't kill anyone!" Lloyd snapped. His head throbbed, and he felt the sharp bite of frustration in his chest. This was so much, too much, and none of it made sense. "I'm- I'm a hero. You're a hero. We're-"
Lloyd's words were cut short as Jay slapped his dirty hand against his half open mouth. Lloyd's flare of protest died as the sound of heavy steps crackled around them.
"Crap." Jay hissed. "A guard."
A guard, yes, Lloyd agreed as the figure stepped out from behind the trees, clad in shining armor. A guard, and a familiar face.
"Cole." Lloyd said as Jay's hand dropped from his mouth.
"Sir Cole." Cole correct in a tone of such superiority Lloyd had to fight against the urge to laugh."I didn't devote my life to the crown so people could call me Cole."
Jay snickered. Cole flashed him a look, and Jay ducked behind Lloyd's frame.
Some things, at least, stayed the same.
"Now let's see-" Cole continued. "We've got a petty thief whose bounty wouldn't buy me dinner, and the kingdom's most wanted man. Quite a curious pair."
"Petty thief?" Jay scowled. His hand snapped to his side, to the pair of nunchucks that still cooed against the back of Lloyd's mind. "I'll show you petty you-"
A wave of clicks resounded through the forest as a group of men stepped into place behind Cole, each with a crossbow aimed in their direction.
Jay froze. He lifted his hands up in surrender. Lloyd did the same. Better to play along- for now.
Cole strode forward and snatched the weapon from Jay's waistband. As he stepped back, Lloyd felt a pang of loss.
"Where did you get this?" Cole gaped.
"Stole it." Jay smirked. "Right from under King Pythor's scaly little nose."
"I guess you're worth a little more than I thought." Cole's eyebrows rose in surprise, and he gave Jay a slight nod of respect. He then signaled to the soldiers behind him. Within seconds, Lloyd and Jay had been bound by cuffs of iron.
Questions. Questions, and even more questions. Lloyd trudged through the forest, with one of the crossbows pressed against his back. They marched through a medieval looking village, and through a parade of faces that were both familiar and not.
A castle formed in the distance. A thing out of a story, with bright flags depicting a snake digging its sharp claws into the back of an unsuspecting bird. Towers probed at the sky, and windows three times Lloyd's size looked down at him with a mocking tilt.
Cole and his men forced Lloyd into a dirty cell. "You will remain here, until King Pythor gives his orders. If I were you though, I'd start saying goodbye to your heads."
The green ninja stared at Cole as he walked away. Jay rambled on- words that Lloyd couldn't discern through the pounding in his head. He felt sick. Nothing around him made sense, nothing around him felt real.
Oh- but real it was. Real enough for his handcuffed wrists to bleed. Real enough for the smells of the prison to swirl in his stomach. Real enough for him to lose his head.
Lloyd forced his eyes shut. Then, open.
His new reality remained the same.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
October 20th, 2013. Over ten years ago, I sat at the park outside my apartments scribbling like crazy to get this new idea out of my head. As soon as it was out, I rushed home to type it all up and publish it as soon as possible.
Back then, sharing my work felt ecstatic. I remember sitting at school, the bus, home- anywhere and to refresh my email in my desperate need to know if I'd gotten any new reviews.
Now, things are different. I've made and lost friends, and changed paths and goals more times than I can count. I'm a little lost, and close to giving up on writing altogether.
But part of me, the part that used to zone out in class to think of the next chapter, the part of me that woke up in the middle of the night with a new idea- doesn't want to give up. I feel that bit of me somewhere inside still, resenting my decision to pull the plug on world's we've yet to create.
So here I am. Writing this story again, trying to rediscover the excitement that story writing used to bring. I don't follow Ninjago like I used to, so I'm going to try to leave things about the original world as open ended as possible, so that it could potentially fit anywhere in the series. Originally though, I wrote this to take place after season two.
If you read all this- wow. Thank you! I'm a little bit insane and a lot-of-bits rambly. I hope you have a good day. And I hope you enjoy! The basic story will remain the same, although a few things here and there will change for things to be a tad more cohesive.