Cold.
That was the first thought that crossed Twinkle's mind as she fell out of the sky and landed face-first in a great heap of icy, powdery snow. Struggling to her feet, she tried to survey her surroundings.
All she could see for miles on end, though, was whiteness—an almost head-spinning whiteness that whipped and whirled ferociously around the young Golden Lab pup as she stood knee-deep in fallen snow.
Good thing she had her fur coat and the tingling warmth of her Mighty Powers coursing through her veins to keep her from being affected by the raging blizzard.
Her mind raced with a bazillion questions as she just stood there, trying to figure out what to do.
How did I end up here?
Where are the other Ninja Pups?
And how do I find them again?
More importantly—how can traveling all the way to the beginning of it all—to the moment when the Ninja first met Lloyd—restore my memories of Ninjago's past?
I really, really wish that Andrew had never run across that hidden chamber. If he hadn't released Chen's heir from that place, I would never have—
What am I saying?! It's not Andrew's fault. It was an accident. Not purposeful. My brother would never do anything to deliberately put me in harm's way.
Suddenly, the wind rushed past so quickly that Twinkle found herself sailing through the air, her Power Wings catching the swooshing air like a parachute and ripping her out of the snow she'd been standing in.
Her legs flailed this way and that, as she struggled to slow her fall. But the wind showed her no mercy, and she suddenly found herself, once again, plunging face-first into a pile of snow.
Cold!
The thought sprang to her mind again as she got a face-full of cold powder whose chill seemed to seep into her veins, creeping through every fiber in her being. Fear suddenly gripped her mind as she realized that something was wrong.
Her powers were somehow getting weaker, and her defense against the freeze of the snowstorm was fading away. As were her Power Wings. They seemed to be flickering in and out of focus, like a dying lightbulb, and then, without warning, they vanished all together.
Her inner warmth seemed to be seeping out of her—the cold of the snowstorm ebbing into her core and twisting taut, making her body wobble and her paws tremble convulsively and her canine teeth chatter.
If only Marshal were here! His Fire Powers would surely do the trick. The thought of the somewhat-clumsy-but-truly-big-hearted Fire Ninja Pup made Twinkle smile slightly, despite her shaking, and her strength slowly began to return with warmth and vigor. Her teeth stopped gritting, and her frame stopped shaking so hard in the deep, deep snowy banks of the blizzard-stricken plain.
But what was causing this? Could it have something to do with the past? Or had something changed?
Change anything, change everything.
But how have things changed?
And that's when she saw it.
A small black lump, half-buried by rapidly piling snow.
As she struggled to her feet once again, there was a sudden strange surge of power—a tingling ten times stronger than before—and a mind-boggling sense of being connected to someone.
And that's when she realized who the figure was.
"Lloyd." she breathed in shock and dismay. Rushing over to him, she tore the snow away from him with her paws, digging at his half-buried body, pushing the snow away as fast as she could. She struggled to roll him over—and gasped in horror at what she saw.
His face was pale and numb. His lips were sealed shut. His cheeks were flushing blue and growing bluer by the second. His eyes were frosted over, his eyebrows caked with snow and tiny icicles. His icy-blue fingers were flaky and wrinkled from frostbite, and for all she could tell, his toes were the same way.
She put a paw under his chin. His pulse was faint.
She bent her head down and listened to his heartbeat. It was slow and sluggish, as if on the verge of giving out at any second.
She could already feel warmth ebbing out of his body, his life beginning to leave him.
She knew she had to help him—knew that she might be his only hope of surviving the blizzard.
Yet she hesitated. Though she may not have held specific memories of the Ninja's past, she could recall fragments of memory that told her that Lloyd wasn't always on the right side.
That he'd once hated the Ninja and everything they stood for.
That he, power-hungry and seeking to be as villainous as possible, had scorned the light and embraced darkness.
But something had changed in him—something she didn't remember clearly, but had to have happened. In her present—his future—he was her friend—her connectee—practically a brother to her.
And she was in the past.
Change anything, change everything.
What if things are changing for the worst?
And then she made a decision. She didn't know what was going to happen next, but she did know one thing.
If she didn't help him, he was going to die.
She stood up, gathered her wits, collected her courage, and sank her teeth into the top of his hood before dragging him like a dogsled through the snow. The wind, fierce and wild and vicious, drove snow into her exposed face, blurring her vision and causing her hearing to grow dim. Her paws were beginning to freeze—tiny shards of cold like that of corrupted ice were twisting into her paw pads, sending chills swirling through her veins and seeping into her nerves. Numbness slowly crept into her joints, and a dull ache was wracking her little canine body like the biting fangs of a wolfhound.
But she kept going. She had to save him. She had to rescue him from a cold and icy death.
Finally, when she thought she could go on no longer, she lifted her eyes, squinted through the storm, and saw what she thought was the best sight she could see in that very moment.
A cave. A warm, dry, snowless cave.
Fueled by determination and hope, she dug her paws into the snow and ran, her paws flying fast over freshly packed snow as she bounded and charged headlong for the cave's entrance, Lloyd bouncing along behind her like a sled jolting over a bumpy hill. The cave was partially shielded from the howling wind and flying snow by a partial wall of ice, and she gritted her teeth fiercely as she half-yanked, half-dragged the unconscious, hypothermic Lloyd into the cave's shelter and safety, ducking down into a small hole near the bottom of the wall.
Once inside, she saw that the cave was lit up by some kind of radiant glow that danced off of clear icicles and cast colorful beams of light on the wall, making it seem as if the whole cave held within it its own pulsing source of bioluminescence. The cave was also filled with a tingling warmth, driving back the cold of the blizzard and filling Twinkle's body with a cozy, fuzzy feeling of sheer warmness and comfort.
Task number one was complete. She'd gotten Lloyd out of the raging storm. Now came task number two—getting him toasty and warmed-up. The cave was warm, but its natural (or supernatural—she couldn't tell which) warmth might not be enough to get the blood stirring through his veins or to invigorate his sluggish heartbeat before it was too late.
Scouting around, letting her gaze dart towards all corners, nooks, and crannies of the natural shelter, she saw a pile of what appeared to be firewood in all sizes and lengths. Scrambling for every second, she scurried over and gathered the biggest logs that she could safely drag over without hurting herself, as well as a handful of twigs for kindling. Pushing with her snout, she shoved the whole pile towards what appeared to be the center of the cave—before piling the kindling in a small heap and building a basic campfire with some of the smallest logs.
Now came the tricky part—lighting the fire. Ninja Pups didn't carry matches, so she would have to use her powers to spark a flame. And she had to hurry—for she could feel her power diminishing rapidly, more and more of her inner energy fading away by the moment.
Being connected to Lloyd through the two's shared power had its advantages, but it also had its disadvantages—one of them being that Twinkle's own powers waxed and waned with Lloyd's. He had power, but it lay still and quiet within him, dormant within his veins. And her powers were going dormant as well.
At this point in history, at this moment in Ninjago's timeline, no one but Twinkle knew that Lloyd was destined to become the Green Ninja.
No one but Twinkle even knew that Lloyd was the Green Ninja.
And if how the pup had come across the boy was any indication, neither did he.
But maybe, just maybe, she had enough of her own power left to spark a flame before her inner energy faded altogether.
She sucked in a breath, lit up her Super Paws, and called on her plasmabolts, once, twice, three times.
A tiny flame appeared.
She tried again—four, five, six.
The flame grew larger and warmer.
She felt her power leaving her faster now—she was running out of time.
Three more times—seven, eight, nine.
The flame was almost bright enough and warm enough…
Just once more—one more plasmabolt would do it, she was sure. She harnessed every last drop of Mighty Power within her body…
Success!
The flame leaped so high and so mighty that it caught on the other twigs, sparking brother and sister flames so quickly that Twinkle blinked in surprise, all but blinded by the light. But soon her eyes adjusted, and she breathed a sigh of relief as warmth from the fire began to intertwine and interweave with the warmth already present in the cave.
She had stoked the fire and kindled the flame just in time.
Her powers were fading away now—not to reawaken until the time was right.
She let out a low, slow, steady sigh of relief. Task two was complete now.
She had done it. She had saved Lloyd's life.
She had preserved the future of the Green Ninja.
Now it was up to her to ensure that he would be safe as he recovered and healed from his exposure to the cold outside.
His life was in her paws now, and she was the only thing standing between him and a dark, dismal death.
Enemy or not, he was her connectee, and she was going to care for him until his strength came back and he was ready to head on his way.
Exhausted, she lay down beside him, snuggling her warm body against his gently rising and falling chest, letting him know that she was there, that she would be here for him for as long as he needed her.
And even if she found herself rejected by him in the days to come, she was ready and willing to help him in any way she could.
Whether he thought he needed her help or not.
Lloyd groggily pried his eyes open. His head spun, and his hands ached. His vision swam. His ears burned. His comprehension was severely skewed.
His hearing was foggy. His forehead ached. His whole body felt drained of all strength.
And then he felt a heartbeat that was not his own—a pulse coming from someone or something outside of himself.
There was a strange fluffy, furry creature nestling against him. He could sense its heartbeat and faintly hear it breathe in and out, in and out, in and out as it slept beside him, keeping him warm.
Warm. That one word suddenly rang out in his mind and vibrated in his heart. He was warm.
Not cold, not freezing from the inside out.
Warm.
Not a burning warmth, not a stifling, suffocating hotness, but a tender, tingling, pulsing warmth that sent comfort radiating through his nerves and seeping soothingly into his skin. Like he'd just chowed down on a whole bag of peach rings and drunk a whole mug of minty hot chocolate.
That's when he realized three things.
One, this creature was a pup.
Two, the pup appeared to be female.
And three, the pup had rescued him.
She had saved him.
She had saved him.
Tears bubbled up behind Lloyd's eyelashes and threatened to trickle down his face, but he pushed them away with a mental snarl.
Warlords didn't cry.
Crying made you weak.
And he was NOT WEAK.
He was the son of Lord Garmadon! He didn't need help! He didn't need anyone!
Wait…why did he feel so…oh, no. Oh-no-oh-no-oh-no-oh-no! This wasn't happening! This wasn't happening! THIS WASN'T HAPPENING!
He was weak.
He couldn't move.
Couldn't speak.
He was breathing, but his hands would not obey him. His legs were limp and lifeless. Numbness washed through every ounce of his fiber, every bone in his body. Weakness gripped his chest and squeezed, and he let out a ragged cough of despair.
He was stuck here.
Stuck here with a stupid pup who had saved his sorry hide.
Confusion, relief, fear, and wonder flooded into his mind in a sea of emotion. This pup had saved him, but he knew for sure that she was going to abandon him when she woke up and saw that he was not freezing, that he did not need her help anymore.
And then she'd kick him out, just like those sorry teachers at Darkley's.
Well, he'd show her. He wouldn't let her kick him out of this warm, cozy cave…
Why did his mind feel all slushy and slurry all of a sudden?
And why was the whole cave spinning around?
Letting out a yawn, he sank back into a deep, gripping, healing slumber, the shadows of sleep gently drawing him out of the waking world and into the land of dreams.
"I'm not weak." A voice gently pierced Twinkle's warm, peaceful dream-cocoon, and she opened her eyes to find that her charge was asleep—well, sort of.
He wasn't fully asleep—or fully awake. He was caught in the middle—trapped in some sort of in-between, hovering unsteadily between dreams and waking.
"I'm not weak." Lloyd slurred more urgently, his eyes still tightly closed. He was drooling a bit, and his heartbeat was slow but not sluggish. His chest rose and fell in an even rhythm as he slept and dreamed.
He was definitely semiconscious, if not fully unconscious.
He didn't look feverish, but he was definitely still recovering from the effects of the blizzard.
"Warlords don't cry." Lloyd whisper-breathed, clearly unaware that Twinkle could hear him. Twinkle couldn't help but smile. That was Lloyd for you—always determined, never backing down from a challenge. And he definitely sounded adorable—NOT that she'd admit it to his face if he were fully awake and alert right now. She had the sneaking suspicion that he would take it as an insult to his evilness and despicability.
If he'd had any of that in him, that is.
Not that she'd admit that to his face either.
Right—she needed to get him something filling to eat and drink. He must be starving right about now. As if Lloyd's stomach sensed Twinkle's thoughts, it let out a rather rude growling noise—not unlike that of a starving, rib-bare wolf.
"Pack…in blizzard." Lloyd crooned under his breath.
Okay, he was so cute when he said that.
(Kid-cute, not romantic-cute.)
But at least she had an idea of where to get him some sustenance without having to resort to drastic measures. Without a moment to lose, she raced out into the snow almost as quickly as if she'd retained her super speed. Her highly trained sniffer found the black backpack in a flash. It was being blown about by the wind, and then it crash-landed in a snow drift not more than a few feet from the cave.
She scrabbled through the snow and snatched the pack in her teeth before it could blow away again. Then she dragged the whole hunk of black fabric and zippers into the cave, figured out how to open the pack with her teeth, and began nosing through it to see what she had to work with.
Peach rings, chocolate bars, lollipops, gummy bears, fruit snacks, jerky, honey-BBQ corn chips, corn nuts, mixed nuts, a slightly smushed package of Twinkies, and fruit roll-ups.
Ohhhhhhh….kayyyyyyy.
Not what she was hoping to see, but at least it was something.
Lloyd—the future Lloyd—hadn't been kidding when he'd confessed that he'd once been a sucker for junk food, candy in particular.
There was also a small-ish hoard of Starfarer comics and what appeared to be two textbooks—Villainy 101 and History of Ninjago's Greatest Masterminds and Evildoers. The second one intrigued her ever-so-slightly, not because she agreed with what it taught, but because she had vague memories of the villains that the Ninja had faced, with and without the pups at their side. She yanked the book out with her teeth, flipped it open, and browsed the table of contents. Not surprisingly, Samukai was there—as was Arcturus, the famous Anacondrai general from the Serpentine War, and a whole barrage of names she didn't recognize. Morro wasn't there, and neither were Pythor or Chen. Perhaps because at this time, there was so little known about them and they hadn't really become too much of a threat yet.
(Besides, Twinkle recalled grimly that Skye with her Wind Powers was bound to be connected to Morro, and she definitely didn't want to start thinking about that grisly, haunting mess yet.)
But the chapter title that really drew her attention was "Garmadon: The Dark Lord." That chapter title was double-underlined with a sickly crimson highlighter streak. She could tell just by looking at the strokes of red that Lloyd held this chapter at a level of importance greater than any of the others.
Made sense, considering this was his father the chapter was talking about.
Suddenly, Lloyd stirred slightly and rolled onto his stomach. Panicked, Twinkle slapped the book shut and shoved it back into the pack as carefully and quickly as she could manage. (Some of the corn nuts might have gotten smashed in the process, but she didn't notice if they were.)
Then Lloyd yawned and cracked open his eyes just a tad. His gaze was glassy and unfocused, and his eyelids were twitching and blinking uncontrollably.
"Who are you?" he murmured wispily, his words little more than a slurry mumble.
"My name's Twinkle." the pup replied. "What's yours?"
"La-Lloyd." the future Green Ninja whispered. Twinkle couldn't help but crack a smile. Oh, she was never going to let him live this down—not once he had fully come to his senses, that is. But she decided that calling him by his real name was probably best right now. No sense in boggling his mind even more than it was already.
"Where am I?" Lloyd murmured, his voice weak and wistfully drowsy.
"That's not important right now." Twinkle replied, her voice grave and lined with seriousness. Lloyd looked like he was about to answer, but then his eyes closed again and he fell fully asleep this time.
Twinkle smiled. Classic Lloyd—zonking off when he needed sleep more than anything, even when in the middle of a conversation.
She slowly trotted over to him, lay down beside him again, and began crooning a lullaby softly under her breath—a beautiful melody about a river full of memory where the North-wind met the sea. And as she sang so softly no one but her could hear it, she found herself nodding off again as well. She curled into a tight little ball, tucking her tail between her back legs and letting her head rest on her front paws as she fell asleep and began to dream.
Several days later
"I don't need you, pup." Lloyd spat in Twinkle's direction. He'd regained his full strength within a matter of days—as well as his full childish aggressiveness.
"You're wrong, Lloyd." Twinkle protested. "You don't have to do this! You can change!"
"No! I'm the evil Lloyd Garmadon, son of the super-evil Lord Garmadon. Soon all of Ninjago will tremble in fear at the sound of my approach! MWA-HA-HA-HA!"
If he'd been a little less scrawny and chipmunk-voiced, he would have been a lot more intimidating, but Twinkle kept her mouth shut. It was obvious he wasn't going to listen to her pleas. Even if he didn't have a single truly villainous bone in his body.
"And I don't need an evil sidekick with me!" Lloyd finished, crossing his arms in disdain, as if trying to signify the conversation was over.
"Sidekick?!" Twinkle barked before she could stop herself. "Who in his right mind would wanna be your sidekick?"
Apparently, she had struck a nerve without realizing it. His face twitched in indignation and a twinge of bitter grief, and then Twinkle had no time to blink before smack—Lloyd's fist shot out at lightning speed and he socked her in the snout. She went down immediately, crumpling to the ground in a heap of legs and paws. Then she grunted in shock and pain as Lloyd kicked her into the side of the cave wall, sending a few teensy icicles raining down on her unprotected head and shoulders.
Lloyd, satisfied with himself, then turned on his heel and stormed out of the cave. He stopped when Twinkle wheezed, "You forgot your pack!"
"I…I knew that!" the wannabe-evil-mastermind griped as he trudged back in, snatched his half-empty backpack, and took off into the bright morning sun, the blizzard long having passed since Twinkle had rescued him.
Twinkle's side ached and her snout throbbed from the blows Lloyd had dealt her in his blind rage. But as far as she could tell, he hadn't inflicted any lasting damage to her. However, she knew that she wasn't about to give up on him now. In the days that had passed, her memory of a much older, much more traumatized Lloyd had faded with her power, but she recalled one very important thing—there was something special about him, and she needed to find out what.
Staggering to her feet, she steeled herself and began trudging out of the cave behind him. He'd had a headstart and had left her far behind now, but she wasn't going to be deterred so easily.
"No, you're not getting away from me that easily, Lloyd Garmadon. You are my connectee, and someday you'll be my friend—I know it. But until that day, as long as we are connected, and as long as I have breath in my body, I'm going to keep trying. I'm going to fight on. Because a Ninja never quits—and neither will I."
In that moment, as she stood there under the sun and beneath the sky, snow surrounding her on all sides, a memory—a distant yet crystal-clear memory—came to her. A memory of Lloyd talking to her just before they'd parted ways—way off in a faraway future—and telling her something very, very important and heartwarming.
"Twinkle, you and I know better than anyone that our character is not defined by the battles we win or lose…"
"But by the battles we dare to fight." she whispered to herself. Taking off at a run, she began to follow her young, misguided connectee with a new vigor and determination.
This battle wasn't over.
And no matter when the battle would return, she was ready to fight.