Green fog swirled around Kai, nearly suffocating him. The red ninja coughed as the fog closed in on him, trapping him in its clutches. As he struggled to get free, something like a bolt of lightning shot through him and he gasped.
He awoke with a jolt and sat up in his bed, panting and seeing it was still light outside. Rubbing his head, his head shot up as he interpreted his dream. It wasn't just a feeling of emotions or a vision telling the future. It was a presence. A dark presence. Lloyd, he thought. Lloyd's here!
Kai threw off his blankets and stopped at the doorframe, glancing down the hall. Where could he be? The red ninja started down the hall, senses alert for anything.
Then he heard a distant clatter.
He turned and headed toward the sound. Rounding a corner, he skidded to a halt, but Lloyd wasn't there. Suspicious, Kai walked forward until he realized this was where they used to hide his elemental sword. His foot suddenly hit something and he looked down to see part of the floorboard was ripped up. Eyes widening, he crouched and found that the hole was uncovered and empty. He was relieved they had switched his sword into a different hiding place only a couple of days ago. Lloyd was here only a few minutes ago, he realized. And he's searching for the sword.
On instinct, Kai raced down the hall toward the place they really hid it. What if Lloyd already found it?
He took a deep breath as he rounded the last corner and stopped abruptly as he found his gaze resting on his former brother, teammate, and friend—Lloyd.
The green ninja froze, hearing the footsteps, and turned around. His gaze gave nothing away as he stared at the red ninja. "Kai," he muttered through gritted teeth. "Always nice to see you."
Kai didn't move, wondering if Lloyd liked him today or not. He had learned that the green ninja was unpredictable—one day he was happy to see Kai, the next he was angry with him.
"What?" Lloyd sneered, coming closer. "Cat got your tongue?"
Kai began to walk backward, deciding Lloyd was his enemy today. He noticed the green ninja didn't have the elemental sword. He didn't find it yet, he realized with a rush of relief. He fought against every instinct to steal a glance over his shoulder to where the sword was hidden behind a painting on the wall. But he sure is close.
"I know your sword is close," Lloyd went on in a growl. "Just hand it over, and no one gets hurt."
Kai gulped as he saw Lloyd's muscles tense. He knew he didn't stand a chance against the green ninja after his days in the hospital room. "Lloyd," he spoke for the first time, "l-let's talk about this!"
"Talking is for wimps!" Lloyd snarled back. He drew out That Sword.
Kai's breath quickened as he saw the weapon, trembling as he recalled everything That Sword had done to him.
Lloyd smirked, clearly noticing his anxiety. "You know, it's a shame to be unarmed in a situation like this," he chuckled. "An elemental sword would be pretty helpful right now."
Kai didn't shift his gaze away from Lloyd. "I know what you're trying to do," he said, trying not to let his voice tremble. "But I won't show you where it's hidden!"
Lloyd stalked closer to him, sword at hand. "You'd really rather be helpless in battle than be able to defend yourself?" he coaxed. "When your sword is right in arm's reach."
Kai backed away as all his instincts told him to grab his sword and defend himself. The painting showed in the corner of his eye; the weapon was, in fact, in arm's reach.
Lloyd ran his hand over That Sword's blade. "You and I both know what sort of injuries this sword can make," he murmured.
Kai's heart pounded in his chest. He knew Lloyd was ready for a fight, but he definitely wasn't. Ever since the Trance, he hated the feeling of being unarmed, and Lloyd knew it too well.
Kai gasped as he found himself backed up against the wall. Lloyd scoffed and readied That Sword for a blow. "Fine," he muttered. "If you won't tell me where it is, I'll find it myself."
Kai gave a gasp of terror and immediately rolled out of the way as Lloyd struck the sword at him. Instinctively, he reached out to grab his elemental sword but drew his hand back one moment too late.
Lloyd furrowed his eyebrows and his eyes followed Kai's hand to the painting on the wall. He smirked. "There she is," he chuckled.
Frozen in fear, Kai watched with round eyes as Lloyd heaved the painting off the wall, revealing Kai's elemental sword. The red ninja shook his head. What am I doing? he scolded himself. The fate of Ninjago depends on you!
Furrowing his eyebrows, Kai bunched his muscles and lunged at Lloyd, barreling him away from the sword. Lloyd gasped as the breath was driven out of him.
Kai hurriedly grabbed the elemental weapon for himself. "I don't want to hurt you," he said, "but I can't let you have this."
A low growl rumbled in Lloyd's throat. "If you want a fight, I'll give you a fight!" he snarled.
Kai gasped as Lloyd lunged at him and he rolled out of the way. The green ninja didn't waste a second before whipping around and coming for him again. Kai blocked the blow with his sword and heaved Lloyd away from him. He flipped backward to try and get as much distance between him and the green ninja as possible before clicking on his communication device.
He didn't have time to see if it was connected as he saw Lloyd rushing toward him again. "Code red!" he shouted into the device. "I repeat, Lloyd is—"
Kai broke off with a gasp as Lloyd barreled into him. The green ninja pinned him to the ground and knocked his communication device off his wrist. Before Kai had time to move, Lloyd stabbed That Sword into the device, shattering it into a million pieces. Kai's eyes widened.
"Your friends can't help you now," Lloyd hissed.
Breath quickening, Kai twisted and kicked Lloyd off of him. "They're your friends, too, Lloyd!" he retorted as he jumped to his feet. "They're better than friends—they're family!"
Lloyd rolled his eyes. "We're really starting this again?" he scowled. "Let me guess, you're going to tell me how much the ninja care about me!" Kai backed away as Lloyd stalked toward him. "Or how sad everyone is that I left!" the green ninja continued scornfully. "Or even better! How distressed my father is... now... that..." His voice suddenly trailed off. His eyes deepened with memories and he looked away.
Kai stared at him, hope beginning to form inside of him. Is Lloyd actually considering what I said?
But, to his surprise, Lloyd's eyes were blazing with fury when he looked back at him. "You!" he snarled. "You are the one who made this happen!"
Kai's eyes widened in alarm. "Made what happen?" he exclaimed, thoughts whirling.
Lloyd panted angrily. "If you never got me curious about what happened here, I never would've gotten hurt again!" he hissed.
"Hurt?" Kai echoed. "Who hurt you?"
Lloyd didn't reply as he readied his sword to fight. "This. Ends. Now," he growled.
* * *
"Almost... there..." Zane pushed his hands against the tree until he at last heard a beep. He panted with relief. "Kai!" he shouted, hoping his voice went through his communication device. "Kai, can you hear me? You have to be ready! Lloyd is coming to the monastery!"
There was no reply.
Zane screwed up his face. "Do you think he heard?" he asked.
Cole grunted as he twiddled with the ropes. "Most likely," he muttered distractedly. He grunted again before letting out a sigh. "Got it!"
The black ninja jumped to his feet as the ropes fell from his hands. He hurriedly untied the other two.
Zane got to his feet, rubbing his wrists. "Thank goodness," he sighed. "That was getting tight!"
"How's Jay?" Cole pushed.
The two ninja turned to find Jay lying on the ground. Zane gasped and he and Cole crouched beside the blue ninja.
Jay's side was bleeding heavily and he curled up, hissing with pain. Zane laid his hand on his arm and looked over him.
"See if you can find some moss," he told Cole. "Maybe we can stop the bleeding."
Cole nodded and disappeared into the trees.
Jay winced and clutched his wound. "I-I really am f-fine," he said, although his lie was followed by a groan.
Zane frowned. "I'm not sure if 'fine' describes the injury you just took," he remarked.
Jay panted. "We need to... need to get to... K-Kai," he made out through gritted teeth. "He's not strong... strong enough to d-defend him... self against... L-Lloyd..."
Zane looked down at the blue ninja in horror as he began to lose consciousness. Where are you, Cole?
As if his thoughts summoned him, the black ninja burst through the bushes and joined the two, dropping a wad of moss at Zane's knees. "This is all I could find," he said.
Zane grabbed the moss. "It'll do." He began pressing the moss into Jay's wound.
The blue ninja groaned as he worked, but Zane didn't stop. He took off his sash and tied it around Jay's waist, holding the makeshift bandage in place. Then he drew back again. "That's all I can do for now," he informed Cole. "But we have to get him some real medical attention."
Cole felt his breath quicken as he saw Jay's head fall back limply. "Will he be okay?" he asked worriedly.
"I don't know," Zane admitted with a sigh. He rose to his feet. "We have to get back to the monastery."
"Agreed." Cole got to his feet as well and looked down at Jay. "It'll take forever to get there if we have to drag him around!"
Zane wrapped Jay's arm around his shoulder. "Then we haven't a minute to lose," he stated. "Help me out."
Cole took Jay's other arm and, together, the two dragged the unconscious ninja between them as they headed for home.
Impatience stirred inside of Cole with every moment that passed. He knew they could be moving much faster if Jay could walk. Every second we're away from home, Kai could get a new wound, he thought. Lloyd would've arrived there by now, and Kai could be battling for his life. Fear rose inside of Cole. He couldn't lose the one person who had stuck out for him, guided him through his strange power. His mentor. Oh, I just hope he can hold off long enough for us to get there!