Kai slowly etched his way across the burning fields, cursing the stars as he sidestepped pools of lava. Each step careful not to disturb the delicate ground. His once pristine Gi was now ripped and ruined, he was missing a glove and the upper part of his hood was ripped off.

He grimaced as straps dug into his shoulders, his back ached, and his feet hurt. On his back he carried a makeshift backpack from the remains of the Bounty, it held the trinkets, pictures, and important information that were irreplaceable. He lifted a hand to cover his face, the sun had been beaming in his eyes the entire day. His body was weary and his mind was slowly losing focus.

"Stupid lava fields! Stupid broken bounty!" he growled under his breath, fire shooting out of his mouth.

"Don't tell me," said a voice behind him. "The "great" fire ninja is being beaten by a little exertion? Perhaps you should rest, I'll be happy to help," whispered the voice.

"I'm not talking to you," he said bluntly to the conniving voice.

Kai continued walking ignoring the voice whispering in his ear. In the distance, he saw a cave. Slowly trudging his way over he settled into the cave, the darkness soothing his aching eyes.

"Look at you pathetic," said the voice. "Nothing but a shell of smoke now, you're wasting precious time."

He sighed covering his eyes and resting his head against the cool stone attempting to block out the ramblings of whispers in his ear. The voice continued to try and get under his skin using his weakness against him only stopping when it realized it would get no more reactions from the ninja for today in the physical world. He tossed in turn in his sleep the voice reaching into his dreams trying to manipulate it into its sweet manipulation, his arm burning as if someone had shoved tiny rods into his veins.

He stood in the blackened void of his brain. Standing across from him was a darker version of himself, a crooked smile on his face. In his hand was the staff of elements

He woke up in a cold sweat, his body aching from days of nonstop walking to leave this accursed land. He rubbed his face staring out, it was night now.

Grumbling, he reluctantly left the cave, continuing in the same direction, with the same scenery, lava pools, and tall peaks here and there; he couldn't wait to see anything else. He stopped in his tracks, dragon marks.

Leaning down he rubbed his hand along the edges, the ground was wet. The tracks were narrow, the dragon appeared to be medium-sized in build, and it was a fire dragon too, which complicates things.

"Perhaps if we heal it… we could subjugate it," the voice whispered coyly in his ears.

"Enough! We are not doing that," He rubbed his fingers together. "It lost a lot of blood. I don't think it will last long."

"Jeez, touchy." The voice disappeared, finally leaving him alone.

Standing up he wiped his hands free of the dirt before continuing. He followed the tracks, each indentation showed signs that the dragon was having trouble standing. It was getting worse the tracks turned into sweeping motions until finally, he came across the beast. The dragon was heavily injured and as he assumed didn't have long left to live. Its breathing was shallow. But that was far from the worst of it.

A young girl was crying near the dragon, sorrow painted her face as tears streamed down it. Kai knew the look too well by now, he had seen it after so many battles in Ninjago City.

"Stay away!" she growled once she noticed him.

He stepped back, lowering down so that he was at her level giving her a soft smile, perhaps this would work to calm her down. "Don't worry I won't hurt you." he used the tongues of dragons.

All those lessons with Master Wu were paying off, the girl visibly softened, and while her tears were still flowing she had stopped growling. She had been using the same language so he knew she at least understood him.

"Is this your patriarch?" he rumbled pointing to the pained dragon. "I'm a dragon too." he ignited his fist, it was a little white lie but it worked wonders.

The girl nodded, "Help him please."

He stepped closer inspecting the wound. It was a deep gash, and the blood he had lost was physically taking a toll on the dragon. He got closer to the dragon's head, its yellow eyes boring into him.

"Tell me what happened, who did this to you?"

"Hunters." wheezed the dragon. "Killed them."

Kai grabbed a geode and placed it on the dragon's wound he motioned for Wyldfyre to grab them for him. "What are your names?" the dragon hissed as he placed another. The girl followed suit haphazardly placing geodes on the wounds. Her flames were a bright blue and ended in orange.

"She has my power!" he sat awestruck before shaking it out of his system.

"The child's name is Wyldfyre, mine is not important right now."

He nodded. "This is only delaying the inevitable you know," he whispered so only the dragon would hear. "Have you explained it to her?"

The dragon shook its head, Wyldfyre looked concerned before continuing to grab geodes for Kai. When she was far away he spoke, "She holds false illusions, and this is only fueling them."

"That's what she needs right now," he snapped. "I don't know what relationship you two have but she's about to lose someone she cares about." he softened his tone and finished the last geode.

"Stranger, will you look after her?" his rumbles came out wheezy. "She is special like you."

"I- Of course, you have my word."

He motioned for her to come over while stepping back to give her time to speak to the dragon one last time. There was immediate wailing, and Wyldfyre clung to the dragon, time seemed to pass by slowly it could have been hours or even seconds, but the dragon's embers eventually gave out.

Kai placed a hand on Wyldfyre's shoulder, she immediately latched onto him, her tears soaking through his Gi. He held her close letting her stay as long as she needed. A new flame awakened inside him, one he had long thought dormant, he would protect her with everything he had.