Dreams and Desires

Chapter 8

Futility

*I own nothing and any similarities with any other works are purely coincidental.

Kai leaned up against the deck of the Bounty, staring off at the horizon. They had spent nearly the whole day backtracking and trying to find a path to follow that would lead them to Lloyd, but they had literally nothing to go on. There were no clues, no possible threads to follow up on. It was if he had vanished off the face of the Earth, leaving their team empty and divided without him. Kai sighed, scolding himself for what had happened. I said I would look out for him. he thought. I promised Lloyd that I would protect him but I never do! I can't ever help him whenever he needs it the most. he sadly remarked.

Another person walked up and joined Kai on the deck. Looking over he saw his sister Nya, smiling softly at him. "How are you doing?" she asked, concern beginning to slide across her face.

"Fine I guess." he quickly responded, turning his attention back to the night sky. "I don't know, it's just-" he sputtered, unable to fully put his feelings into words. "You feel that you're at fault for his disappearance?" she prodded.

"Well yes!" he answered, frustration mounting in his tone as he began to vent to her. "I promised him all those years ago that I would watch out for him, that I would be there for him. And every time I'm just powerless to protect him! First it was Morro's possession, then it was Harumi's manipulation, and now this. All these people are always after him, attracted by his tremendous power and abilities, and I can't ever stop them." he finished, as the sadness started to overpower his anger.

"Kai, you shouldn't beat yourself up over this." she said worriedly. "All of us are to blame for his abduction, and we all have to do our part to get him back. I've had my own feelings of regret and guilt over the whole situation, and I'm sure the rest of the guys have felt that as well. But right now we need to find him." she stated, with a wave of confidence and surety that put Kai at ease.

"Yeah, you're right." Of course she was. After all, sitting around and moping about Lloyd isn't going to get him back. he thought to himself. "But we don't have anything to go on." he pointed out.

Nya's face lit up, and a knowing smile crossed her face. "Well, that's why I was sent to get you." she cheerfully remarked. "There's a team meeting being held in the Control Room now, so let's go see what everyone else thinks."

Kai smiled, and walked back into the ship. They crossed the hallway, rushing through with such a pace that they nearly ran into Jay walking out of his room. "Hey!" he cried. "Watch it hair gel!" "Well hurry up then motormouth." Kai retorted, before quickly running past towards the door of the Control Room. He pushed it open, finding the rest of the gang waiting patiently for their arrival.

"Welcome back Masters of Fire, Water, and Lightning." remarked Cole in a very tired and grim tone. "Took you long enough." he quietly added.

"Now that everyone is present, we can discuss our plans to find Lloyd." Zane said curtly. Zane, with his logical computing and reasoning, had sort of shifted into the role of the team leader in Lloyd's absence. It was a position none of them really wanted, as they were still hurting over their loss. At this point he was really the only one keeping them on track with their search efforts. "Now, I believe that any further investigation of his disappearance would be futile at this point, as we have found absolutely nothing indicating where Lloyd may have been taken. Instead, we should focus on simply looking for him."

The ninja felt their eyes widen in surprise and uncertainty. "Wait, you mean you want us to search the entire realm of Ninjago?" Jay questioned. "That could take days, if not weeks!" he complained. "By the time we track him down it may already be too late. And what if this Master of Dream just gets up and moves when we get too close, or what if they aren't staying in a fixed location at all?"

"Yeah Zane, I'm not sure that's really as feasible as you think. Ninjago is a vast world, and there are a ton of remote and out of reach locations he could be hidden away. And frankly, for all we know he might not even be in Ninjago any more!" Cole responded.

He nodded, acknowledging their concerns and worries. "Well, that is why we won't be searching for him alone. I strongly advise that we make the general public aware of Lloyd's disappearance, so that people all across the realm can help use look for him."

The group once again reacted with very mixed feelings. It was the logical and smart thing to do, but it of course had its own set of disadvantages and issues.

"Don't you think that's a little risky Zane?" Kai inquired. "I mean, if any other villains hear that Lloyd's gone, we may find ourselves dealing with a lot more problems than one rogue Elemental Master. What better time would there be for our enemies to strike then when our leader is gone?" he posed.

"Why, are you scared of Ninjago's criminals now Kai?" Jay asked jokingly.

"No, it's just something that could quickly bog down our investigation." he sharply retorted. "I'm sure tons of people would be chomping at the bit to go out and commit crimes if they knew that the Green Ninja was out of commission." Seeing looks of hesitance and confusion across his friends, Kai continued with his argument.

"And I'm not saying that we should keep this whole situation totally secret, but maybe we should just be a bit more selective with who we tell. Perhaps we could let the police know, and possibly notify the other Elemental Masters, but I don't think we should alert everyone in Ninjago." Kai suggested.

Zane considered the idea. "There is some validity to your point Kai." he conceded. "Revealing Lloyd's disappearance publicly could have severe unintended consequences. However, I have run simulations of every possible tactic and strategy we could take at this point, and this is the most likely scenario in which we can track Lloyd down the soonest. Since that is our primary goal and objective, I consider any other factors to be negligible." he stated.

"Yeah, getting Lloyd back is all that matters." Cole responded. "So what if we have to beat up some more bad guys than usual?"

"I don't know, personally I've been itching to get back out there." Jay said enthusiastically.

"The decision must be unanimous." Master Wu chimed in. "Whatever you all decide, you must do it together. Keeping your team united will be essential to the success of your mission."

"Well I'm in." chirped Jay.

"As am I." responded Nya.

"Me too." said Cole.

"As it was my proposal, I obviously agree to it." Zane stated.

All eyes turned to Kai. He looked unsure, and his face was marred with concern. But he shook away his fears and he smiled at them. "I'll do it." he said, a creeping level of doubt still present in his voice. "Whatever it takes to get Lloyd back."

"Excellent." Zane said. "With that out of the way, I shall inform the local authorities and news stations at once." He quickly left, and the group soon followed. Kai stood still, rooted to the spot by his developing train of thoughts. What if telling the world only hurts him more? he questioned. If the news reaches Lloyd's captor, they may leave for safer hiding. What if Lloyd isn't even in Ninjago anymore? The dark thoughts were rampant; festering in him like a parasitical virus, and nothing could shake his incessant worries and anxiety.

Lloyd was standing on a surface made of rock, a landing overlooking the vast sea of orange that was slowly rising upwards. To his right he could see a figure moving up a flight of stairs; a red blur darting back and forth through obstacles and traps. It was Kai, blindly running towards the flash of gold and silver up ahead, his ultimate prize and what he thought would be the key to unlock his True Potential.

"Leave it Kai, it's not worth your life!" Jay shouted out from behind the other ninja.

Kai ignored the voice of reason, continuing with his foolhardy mission. "Not without that fangblade!" he called back through gritted teeth. The lava was rising; soon it had consumed nearly all of the structure and rock below them, but he would not stop. The only thing he cared about was getting to that fangblade; he could not think of anything else.

Lloyd looked back up at the group, confused by Kai's defiant and stubborn actions. "But what about Kai?" he questioned. They gave no response, evidently not willing to go after him. Lloyd looked back, seeing him still chasing after the blade. "Kai? Kai!" he called, hoping to get the hothead to come back so they could escape the unstable volcano. He looked down as he felt the rock beneath his feet shifting, and the part he was standing on broke off from the wall. He reached back, desperately trying to grab hold of his father's hand, but it was too late. Lloyd plummeted downwards, his piece of rock landing dead-center in the ocean of lava.

"Dad!" he cried. "I'm sinking!" His safe haven of ground was slowly being drowned by the surrounding liquid sludge, and there was no one to help him. Just then he saw a silver blur knocked out from the wall above, landing near the edge of the volcano. Kai had wrenched his sword from the wall, only for the fangblade to fall down to the lava below. He quickly jumped down, landing on another spare bit of rubble, and reached out for the blade. It was just out of reach, but he had to be quick as the blade was sinking into the lava.

"Kai! Help me!"

This shook him from his task and he looked around, trying to locate the source of the voice. Lloyd was laying on a floating rock, stuck precariously in the middle of the wall of lava. His eyes looked up in sadness, pleading for Kai to save him. Kai looked back to the slipping blade, and then at Lloyd. What was more important? he asked himself. Stopping Pythor from resurrecting the Great Devour? Or saving the bratty kid that had released the Serpentine? He knew what the answer was in his heart.

Kai reached out and grabbed the blade. His body began to glow, exuding a bright shade of white and red. He looked over sadly at Lloyd, before flying upwards in a ball of fire. The volcano shook, erupting out with a spew of lava and molten rock.

"Kai!"

Lloyd woke with a start, shaking himself from his dream. Or was it a memory? He could have sworn that events had gone differently, or had they? He couldn't make sense of the dark vision, unsure of what to think. Sitting up he felt a twinge of pain in his wrist. He looked over, and saw yet another open wound bleeding profusely. He sighed, wishing profoundly that he had left the Sword of Sanctuary behind. But this had become his life now; and he could no longer remember or make sense of anything. Time was all a blur, reality a muddled mess of tortuous dreams. Lloyd guessed that he had probably spent no more than 5 minutes awake each day, that he had been consumed by nightmares and visions for a near eternity. His mouth felt parched, very dried out and pained. The only thing Lloyd had tasted since the start of his confinement was his own blood seeping down from his face, and he could no longer muster the strength to even stand up.

With a tremendous effort he tilted his head upwards, scanning his surroundings once more. Once again he saw more changes and updates, new furnishing and amenities than were not previously visible. The Master of Dreams sat upon a couch, slouching back and staring over at a television. The channel was set to NGTV, and Lloyd was intrigued to find himself plastered all over the screen. He leaned in, straining his ears to try and to listen to the broadcast.

"We are now getting reports that the Green Ninja has disappeared." said the voice of the intrepid reporter Gayle Gossip. Lloyd recoiled at the news, slightly surprised but equally concerned to hear that his absence was now known to the entire world. "According to the ninja, he vanished from the Monastery of Spinjitzu two days ago and has not been seen in the public since." Two days? he thought. Has it really been that short of a time? Jeez.

"However, we have located an eyewitness who says that they saw the Green Ninja several hours after his disappearance. The man, who lives right here in Ninjago City, claims to have spotted Lloyd walking down the streets of Ninjago City in the early hours of the morning." Lloyd panicked at the thought. Had someone spotted him with the sword? Could he now possibly be incriminated with the theft?

The microphone had been turned towards an eldery gentleman."So I happened to wake up pretty early, around 4 in the morning or somethin'." he began. "I went to go walk my dog before heading back to bed, and while I was out I coulda sworn I saw that green ninja guy. He was casually walking down the street, like nothing was wrong or anything. I think he was carrying some sort of fancy golden sword I hadn't ever seen before. Looked pretty expensive and rare, but it didn't look out of place. Those ninja always got all them fancy gadgets and weapons, so I didn't think much of it. But now it turns out I that might be the last person to have ever seen him!" the man laughed, befuddled by his random moment in the spotlight.

"Ah shit." Lloyd muttered under his breath. He was now connected with the theft at Borg Towers, and that was very, very bad. What am I going to say if I have to explain why I stole the Armor and Sword? he asked himself. What, that I stole the Armor so I could try to resurrect my lost love, you know, that crazy princess that took over Ninjago a few months ago? Yeah, her. He shook his head, trying not to imagine just how horribly his friends would react to the truth.

"Oh hello again Lloyd." responded the narcissistic jackass reclining on the sofa. "Real exciting news, right?" they sarcastically asked. "Well, I'm not sure that your ninja friends would take kindly to any of your more questionable actions and ambitions, now would they?"

Lloyd began to panic, but his fears were quickly put to rest. "Oh, don't worry Lloyd, I haven't told them a thing. Why the hell would I do that? It's our little secret." they said, bringing a finger up in front of their mouth. Lloyd relaxed slightly, glad to hear that his true desires regarding Harumi were still hidden. He was quite terrified of how harshly his friends would react, especially if they knew all that he had done to try and make his dreams a reality.

"But what do you say we go and get back at them anyway? C'mon Lloyd, you know in your heart that they deserve to feel the same misery you do." they prodded.

The offer truly tempted Lloyd for the first time. He had begun to better understand and grasp just how poorly his "friends" had treated him over the years, and that pain was eating away at him. All of this suffering, all of this grief, don't they deserve to feel the same way? he wondered. And with my Golden Power it would be so easy…

"NO!" he exploded, silencing his darker thoughts. "I will not harm my friends, no matter how much you torture me."

The Master of Dreams was somewhat disappointed by his reaction, but it was working. There had been a moment there where Lloyd had considered the idea; actually thought about it. This is good. they thought. I will have him soon enough.

"Oh, that's alright Lloyd. Because you don't have any friends, only those who seek to control you!" they bellowed before sending another cyan beam at him. His head fell down, immediately hitting the hard stone below. The Master of Dreams sauntered over to Lloyd, examining his body with surgical precision. The life was gone from him; his skin a pale white, and he felt extremely cold to their touch. If the Elemental Master wasn't careful, they would end up accidentally killing Lloyd, and that would mess up everything. They relented from inflicting any further wounds this time around, but he wasn't getting any water yet. They were going to bring him to within an inch of death before letting him live.

Yeah it looks like Lloyd might be stuck here for a while. Some old villains may be returning to pass the time while Lloyd is getting tortured but I really don't know how this will all play out. I have certain parts of the climax planned but I'm pretty back and forth on how the story will actually end. And I have literally no idea how long it will be before we get there, so just stayed tuned for that I guess.