PLAYING WITH FIRE

06

I'm not sure why I bothered to ask him that question. Lloyd is around the age of 5 or 6, so how could he become a ninja like the rest of us? It's not impossible, but why would I want to put a child through that? That would be a bit inhumane of me. Imagine all the things he would witness at this age if we really went through with this– there's just no way. I have to tell him no before it settles in his mind. 

But it was already too late to change my answer.

Lloyd was excited and jumped around the room, there was no way I could tell him no now. I guess we'll go with it. I thought to myself. It's not like I can do anything at this point. "Lloyd, since you are now a ninja in training, we must go over some things."

"Okay! What is it?" He stood in front of me and smiled.

"Rule number one, you are to wake up early every morning for training. Since I will be the one training you, you must be up and ready to train when I do. Rule number two, do not interrupt the ninja's training sessions. You have yours and they have theirs. It will be very tempting to do, but you must stay focused so you can progress. Rule number three, when I say training is done for the day, that means it's done. I don't want to hear any complaining. You are a young child, and if you overwork yourself it'll hurt you in the long run."

It took me some time to explain my expectations and the rules to Lloyd, but thankfully he's a good listener. He sat through the whole thing and nodded whenever I asked if he understood. Lloyd is such a good kid, I thought to myself as Lloyd started helping me clean up the kitchen. I get the others' concern about him being Garmadon's son, but seriously! This cute kid possibly having evil run through his veins? I call that bullshit.

I still haven't gotten over what the ninja said about Lloyd. Maybe it's because they haven't spent much time with him as I have. The only time they spent with him was when we decorated the room, but that's all. Are they really going to base him on a tiny interaction, and by his last name? Who knows if Garmadon himself even raised this kid! I mean hell, Garmadon isn't even around, who knows what the hell he's doing. Would someone as evil as him have time to raise a child?

I took a glance at Lloyd. No, he didn't raise him, I thought to myself. He's too innocent. He doesn't even know the majority of the things that exist in the world. But.. then where was he raised? Who raised him?

Training day.

"Lloyd, let's go buddy," I called as I walked into his room. "Today's your first day of training, you mustn't sleep in."

He rolled around in his bed and whined, clearly still sleepy. I wanted to laugh and say never mind, but I made this decision- the least I could do was stick to it. "Eh? What happened to all that excitement yesterday?"

Lloyd popped up from his bed, his eyes still closed and his hair a complete mess. "What time is it...?" He mumbled softly as he rubbed his eye.

"4 o'clock," I said as I ruffled his hair. "Now c'mon, we gotta get started or else you'll be late."

"But Kai," he whined more. "It's too early! Can't we start later?"

I sat on his bed in front of him and tilted my head. "Lloyd, this is the time you're supposed to be stretching. I already gave you extra time to sleep."

We both sat in silence for a while.

"Alright, now that you've stretched, let's get into some basic moves," one glance at Lloyd and I could tell he was starting to regret this decision. "Let's see, what's easy for you?"