the butterfly effect | l. garmadon

eight

  "That's a sensei secret," he said, before shifting my weight into one arm and closing his hand over my eyes. I stiffened. "Just in case the others are unmasked. Can you see?"

  He was holding me with one arm and not even struggling. "N- no." And he was shirtless. The Green Ninja may not have been struggling, but I certainly was.

  "Good," he said, before turning his back and pushing open the large doors of the entrance. Warmth careened over me and the sound of the downpour outside was subdued when the doors shut behind us. "I'm taking you straight to the medbay, okay?"

  I sniffled again. "Okay."

  "How's the leg?"

  As if on cue, a sharp ache of pain flared the width of my ankle. I winced with a hiss of my teeth. "Sore."

  His hand squeezed around my thighs in sympathy. My heart jumped. "I'll get you some painkillers soon."

  I nodded without a word. He walked in silence for a brief pass before I spoke up again.

  "Thank you," I said quietly, despite how awkward it felt to be this genuine when his hand was over my eyes. "Thank you for... always being in the right spot when I need you. I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't shown up."

  "Hey, it's what I'm here for," he said nonchalantly. "Though you in particular are definitely keeping me on my toes."

  I smiled softly before feeling the faint pull of sleep tease the edge of my conscious once more. I clenched my eyes tighter in an effort to stave it off. Don't fall asleep, don't fall asleep, don't fall asleep. He'd never let me live it down.

  The sting of bleach cleaner pierced through my blocked nose. The Green Ninja faltered.

  "Ice?" the Green Ninja said in surprise as he came to a stop. I tensed. There was another ninja with us? "How'd you know to come here?"

  "Sensei heard your arrival from the forest," a calculated yet kind voice replied. "I assumed I was needed."

  "You assumed correctly, pal," Greenie said. I was  lowered onto a soft surface and then his blissful, sauna-like body heat parted and he lifted his hand from my eyes. I blinked against the brightness and sneezed. I began to shiver again without his warmth.

  Beside Greenie (who was still shirtless, with his makeshift mask lopsided and giving me a peek of the edge of his pale, clean-shaven jaw) stood a spry, tall man wearing dark sacks, a button up and a white ninja mask. It was an equally strange sight to see him in civvy clothes as it was to see the Green Ninja with a shirt tied around his face.

  I stilled as much as I could while shivering beneath his kind stare. I wasn't prepared to meet another ninja - I'd already been emotionally drained that day.

  "Greetings, Y/n," the Ice Ninja said politely. "Where are you injured?"

  "How did you..?" I was too tired to ask how he knew my name. "My ankle. I slipped on a rock." 

  While the Ice Ninja bent to assess the damage, Greenie took a step closer. 

  "You have to take that jacket off," he said. "It's only keeping you cold."