fire in the dark

nightmares from the past

kai drifted off to sleep in his nice comfy bed in his room, his thoughts turned to dreams which lead to nightmares.

kai had had this dream many times in the past, always the same, he hated them. hated how they reminded him of his childhood, hated the feelings they brought, hated not being able to stop them, hated how numb he felt after waking up every morning.

next thing Kai knew it had started, the darkness of his childhood room, consumed him, his toys lay a mess on the ground, drawings too. when suddenly a light appeared, it looked to come from his door that was starting to open.

"Kai honey, are you awake" Maya called out to him, kai sat up in his bed at looked at her, "good morning sweetheart, how was your sleep? are you hungry?" she said picking him up in her arms, she gave him a kiss on the forehead before continuing, "your father is making breakfast downstairs, would you like to help me wake up your sister?", she took him down the hallway to his sister's room. Maya quietly opened the door to the room in front of them, in the corner of the room was Nya's cot where she slept.

they both walked in and baby Nya started to cry out, Maya picked her up in her arms and cradled her till she quieten down, "shhh Nya, it's ok, mummy is here, and so is your big brother", Maya walked over to little Kai and knelt down to show Nya it was kai when Nya saw Kai's face she smiled and grabbed out for him.

all together they walked downstairs to eat breakfast when Kai was ambushed by his dad with hugs and kisses, he picked him up and threw him in the air only to catch him before hitting the floor "there's my boy!" Ray, Ray put kai down before walking over to his wife and daughter, "hello beautiful" he said kissing Nya on the forehead, she giggled at that and Maya put her down to go play with kai, "hello gorgeous" Ray said before kissing his wife.

"hope you're all hungry, I made bacon and egg-" Ray said still holding onto Maya, it looked like they had all stopped or glitched. it all went dark again, but kai knew all too well what was about to happen. suddenly a new memory appeared a not-so-happy one.

kai was outside playing with Nya while their parents were talking with some people kai didn't recognize, Nya kicked the ball really hard and Kai went running and get it, "wow what a kick Nya! I'll go grab it real quick" Kai at the time didn't know but those would be the last words he would say to his baby sister for a long time.

when kai got the ball and ran back there was no one to be found, he looked all over the house, but to no luck, Nya and his parents were not there. Kai thought to check the little Blacksmith shop that wasn't far from their house. but again no one, he tried to ask the villagers but they didn't know either, he waited for someone to find him, to bring back his parents, to end his nightmare, but no one did.

Kai opened his eye's to see his room at the hideout and was glad it was over, as he got dressed he started to go back and remember how he got there in the first place.

flashback

shortly after his family disappeared he had to find a way to live, for a while he tried to earn money from doing what his dad did, but even though his work was very well made he didn't earn much. he tried to get so many other jobs but none stuck, he was running out of money, the only choice he had left was to steal it. I started with pickpocketing the travelers that would stop by his small yet big village, but it was not enough, he started to steal from the shops around there.

the thrill he got from this pushed him to do more, it started with minor offenses like stealing and trespassing and eventually made his way up to major crimes. by age 12 he had gone to prison and broken out 4 times, but the last would be his final stay.

Kai was alone in his cold dark cell, he was having trouble sleeping but when he turned over there was a shadowy figure in the corner of the cell, "who the heck are you?!" kai whisper-shouted, "I have been watching over you, Kai-" it stated. "how do you know my name" kai said getting his fist ready to fight, "I see great potential in you if you join me I can get you the revenge you deserve" it said moving over to the small barred window. Kai had to think long and hard and ultimately decided to join this mysterious figure, "ok fine ill go with you, mister..." he said standing up, "oh where are my manners" the figure said slowly revealing himself, "you may call me, Garmadon"

End of flashback

Kai stood up after putting his dark gi on, he just stood there admiring himself, he looked at the corner of the mirror at the small photo he took from his old home, "don't worry Mum and Dad, revenge is coming soon" he said staring at it, then it looked at the drawing he took that Nya drew, "you too sis, I love you." 

With the ninja

that morning the monastery was quiet, they all felt at fault for what happened, especially Cole who was trying to figure out what Kai was trying to do by flirting with him. when master wu had come back from his short journey, they all told him what had happened, and he did not look pleased. "so you have found Kai and he has joined my brother, looks to be a long battle ahead" he said as he walked off to his room to meditate.

 there was a knock on the door, the ninja were hesitant to open it but did anyway. there was a girl on the other side, "I'm sorry to ask you, but may I be able to borrow some food, I haven't eaten in 3 days and I don't have any money" she spoke in a croaky voice. they all welcomed her and gave her food, "so little lady do you have a name?" Cole asked, "oh sorry I should have introduced myself, my name is Nya," she said taking a bite.