moral of the story | a ninjago highschool fanfiction

[41] mid term finals but it's actually the final chapter holy crap-

listening to skyfall by adele on repeat is recommended for this chapter

jay

"WHY COULDN'T I BE THE MASTER OF FIRE?" Were the first words that tumbled out of his mouth when he finally caught a breath to pause. He regretted teasing Kai for having the power to roast marshmallows as he'd called it and moaned as he chugged his rapidly depleting supply of water.

Of all things that could have happened, someone had started a forest fire in the Woodlands where he and Nya were hiding. It had snuck up on them quickly and they were just plain lucky they weren't burned yet. He hacked out a rough cough and winced at the soreness in his throat. Nya did the same, touching her eyes gently and letting out a pained hiss.

"Are you okay?" He managed to rasp out. Nya nodded and looked behind them fearfully.

"We have to run," She croaked weakly. Jay hated the painful red rimming her eyes and the awful crack in her throat, but he knew she was right. They had to keep running or the very slim chance of them making it out of the Woodlands alive would lessen. The river was their only hope, and even that was the pinprick at the end of the tunnel.

Jay stumbled to his feet and offered her a hand. Nya took it and got up herself, slinging her bag over her shoulder before starting their jog. The crackle of the flames and the smoke and heat nipping at Jay's heels almost made him want to succumb. His lungs were full of heavy smoke - so much of it he kept trying to cough out as if it would do something.

He had to keep running. Keep moving, make it to the river and lie in that stream forever and ever and let the cool water heal him. Jay coughed as he struggled forwards in the red haze, determined to get the end. His feet were moving at a sluggish pace that the football coach would have yelled at him for, but Jay wasn't on the football team. He also wasn't on the track team, so it was pretty hard for him to gauge really when it was a good idea to stop, how to breath through the exhaustion and pain.

There was like this dark monster curled up in his chest, slowly unfurling its wings as the smoke kept filling his lungs. His vision was swimming and blurry as he kept tripping forwards, barely making Nya out through hazy eyes.

God it hurts so bad.

Maybe I can just..stop? Yeah, that's a good idea.

Jay was now fully convinced that stopping and sitting down would be the best course of action and did exactly that. He slumped onto a lump of rock and sucked in shaky breathes punctuated by smoky coughs. I'm like a dragon, he realised deliriously, giggling at the thought of himself turning into a massive blue dragon.

"JAY!" Someone was shouting very loudly, cutting straight through the pounding in his head. "Jay, we're nearly at the river, you can't stop now!"

The voice was full of determination and hope, mixed with a swell of concern. But he was so tired. Maybe if he just closed his eyes for a second to ignore the burning around him, it would go away. Even with his eyes closed he could see a swirl of orange and red around him, teasing and touching him with eerie flames shaped like hands.

He was going to die, wasn't he?

These fire demons would come to get him.

Suddenly he sat upright and backed up against a tree trunk half shriveled with flames.

"NYA!" He bellowed, blinking back the tears as the soreness ripped his throat. "YOU NEED — YOU NEED TO GO. YOU CAN MAKE IT TO THE RIVER. THE DEMONS — THE DEMONS ARE...COMING FOR ME—"