7I know it's valentine's day… and this definitely is not a valentine's day story… but meh. I finished editing so why wait?
Also I got hardcore back into Ninjago, welcome back childhood. Enjoy!
Underneath the bustling streets of Ninjago city was the tomb of the Stone Army, opened by the serpentine and connected to the city's sewers by their long tunnels. The snakes dwell here now. Not all of them of course, several groups remain scattered across the continent, some of them using the old tombs as their base of operations. No, the serpentine who live under the city are those who don't mind so much being in close proximity with surface dwellers.
They also happen to be the same serpentine who like a nearby grocery store, but for all the convenience of a quick candybar they still insist:
"...and ssso we mussst keep to our own." Skales, the Hypnobrai General, patted his son's head fondly. "You know better than to asssk that, Skales Junior. Now, I'll ssse you tonight ssson." With that, Skales' golden staff, wrought so it looked as though a cobra coiled around it, tinked on the floor as he and Junior's mother left.
On a date. Junior stomped on the ground frustratedly. The adults could leave the tomb any time they wanted. Not that many of them did, and not very often then, but they still could!
"Skales!" Acidicus, the Venomari General, beckoned. "We're going to have a sssstory night! Come along!"
"Uncle Acid!" Junior whined. "I've heard all of your stories like a million times! Isn't there something else we can do?"
"Now, Skalesss." Acidicus reprimanded. "Undersstanding the hissstory of our culture iss verry important! We mussst-"
"-keep to our own." Skales Jr. finished grumpily. He allowed Acidicus to lead him to the circle of the other serpentine children, most of whom were much younger than Junior and very eager for tonight's story.
"Now, now quiet down!" Acidicus raised his gleaming staff and thunked it into the dirt. The rowdy crowd quieted somewhat, which was an impressive feat if you knew the younger serpentine. All very excitable, very active and always very, very hungry.
Skales Junior remained standing close to the back of the group that encircled a gently crackling fire. Acidicus spit into the flames, and they hissed like a horde of angry snakes and turned green. The children squealed with delight, Acidicus' fire tricks never failed to please. Even Junior had yet to grow bored of them (not that he'd tell you that.) Tonight, though, his attention was focused elsewhere.
The big stone door, the one that kept everyone in, that not even a constrictai could tunnel through, it was cracked.
Just a smidgen. Just enough that, even though he couldn't see it, Junior could feel the possibility radiating through like the sunshine he'd only gotten to see once in a while, when his father Skales took him on walks on the surface. Don't leave the tomb alone, Skales Jr. could hear his father's mantra now. Don't trussst strangerssss. He could even hear the odd lisp every single one of the adult serpents had. We mussst keep to our own.
Just a peek. Junior told himself. Of course, he had already seen just outside the tomb plenty of times. This was a different kind of peek.
Tiptoeing quietly away from Acidicus's eleven-thousandth-or-something rendition if the Ninja Invasion of the Constrictai Tomb, Skales ever-so-casually made his way over to the door.
He made his daring venture successfully, but here was his next obstacle: he couldn't fit through the door, and he was afraid if he opened it someone would notice.
But, if he stayed here too long, someone would definitely notice.
Taking a deep breath, Skales leaned against the door and pushed really hard. He slipped out, and spent another minute pushing it gently in the other direction.
Skales waited one minute. Then two. No one was coming. There wasn't sounds of panic and scolding.
He did it!
Grinning wildly Skales pumped his fists in the air and let out a quiet "Yes!" Then he quickly scurried out of sight.
The serpentine tunnels were long and winding, often looping back and intersecting. It was part of the maze that kept their home safe, and part of the function that came with living in confined quarters underground. The tunnels had seen lots of use and expansion (though they were careful now to not bring the city down on their heads,) and every now and then Skales would pass heaps of dirt of various age left over from excavation.
Skales was pretty sure he knew the way to the surface, he'd been there once or twice, but after about ten minutes of wandering all the turns were starting to look the same.
Don't. He scolded himself quickly. You're not lost! You're a serpentine, you know these tunnels like the back of your hand! It was very difficult to believe himself.
As he walked Skales noticed the walls changing from dirt and rock to stone, brick and eventually solid concrete. The ground leveled out until it was just a flat slab of pavement, and soon enough he came upon the sewers.
Yeek. Skales wrinkled his nose. This place stank. The sewers now shared the waste of both the surface dwellers and the serpentine, and were only smellier for it.
If he was in the sewers, Skales contemplated for a moment, then he must be close to getting out! All he would have to do is find a ladder and he'd be home free, and getting back in would be no problem! There were entrances to the sewers all over the city (he was pretty sure, anyway.) Emboldened by this logic, he pressed forward.
The sewers were as much of a maze as the tunnels, though Skales Junior was definitely not lost! He was just having a hard time finding the exit, that's all. He stared at the graffiti on the walls, and traced one of the pictures with his hand until he found out it was slimy. Gross.
It was getting pretty dark, the lamps were less frequent, but Skales kept on going. He turned down another corridor, thinking he might actually just head back, when he stopped in shock.
The tunnel led to a dead end, a big brick wall with paint sprayed all over it, and some marks he seriously hoped was paint. At the end of the tunnel, floating on the water in a really cool boat, was a surface dweller, and Skales was pretty sure he was a ninja, if the green gi was anything to go by.
The surface dweller had been facing toward him when Skales rounded the corner, and was now looking at him with inquisitive eyes, sipping from a mug held in both his hands. He wasn't wearing his mask, but Skales was still really sure this was a ninja.
Skales Junior didn't know what to do, and the story Acidicus had been telling when he left began to worm its way back into his brain, along with his father's mantras. Don't leave the tomb alone. Because there might be ninja who would beat you up, just like they did in the constrictai tomb. Don't trusst strangersss. Because, again, said strangers might be ninja who would beat you up. We mussst keep to our own. Because if Skales' had just stayed put he wouldn't be face to face with a ninja about to beat him up, and his Dad would be there to protect him along with all the other big snakes and-
"You okay, kid?" The green ninja's voice stopped his runaway train of thought before it could derail. "You look lost."
What should he do, what should he do!? If he ran the ninja would definitely catch him, so he had better be tough, and face his opponent, like in the constrictai tomb.
"Uh-NO! You-you look lost!" Skales squeaked, standing tall and trying to look imposing. The green ninja smiled, gently, but it shook Skales to his bones.
"I suppose you could say that." He said, taking another sip from his mug. "Maybe I felt cooped up, like there's nothing to do, and made a break for it?"
"Um…" How did he know!?
"Been there, kid. You look tired, are your feet hurting you?"
Yes! Skales thought, now that he'd mentioned it. No, he shook his head, this was just a ninja mind game to get him to throw down his guard. He had to be strong!
"Hang on a second!" The ninja looked startled, like he had just recognized something for what it was. "You're Skales' kid! He must be worried sick!"
Oh no, the ninja knew he was the General's son. He wouldn't get beaten up now, he'd get captured and held for ransom and- "What?"
"Your dad must be worried out of his mind!" The ninja repeated. "How'd you get so far without him noticing? If you get hurt and he finds me here, he'll kill me! You're-you're not hurt, are you?" Skales shifted uncomfortably. The ninja sounded genuinely scared, which both made Skales uncomfortable and gave him a rush of pride. Nobody messed with his Dad.
"No, I'm not." Skales Junior answered honestly. Something warm and pleasant pricked his nose, something he'd failed to notice under all the sewer stench, and he gasped in surprise. "Are-why are you drinking-"
"-hot chocolate in the sewer?" The green ninja finished wryly, sipping his mug again. "You're not the only one who's made a break for it, Junior-can I call you Junior? It feels weird to call you by your Dad's name."
"Um-sure, but why?" Junior responded, too distracted to argue against the childish nickname. He unconsciously started to step closer, it was difficult to hold a conversation from the far end of the tunnel.
"My friends are ninja," the green ninja said, "there are very few places in this city where I can find some peace and quiet."
"Oh." That made sense. "Why are you hiding from them?"
"I don't want to go to my doctor's appointment."
"What!?" Junior's jaw dropped, "but you're the green ninja! You can get anything you want just by punching somebody!"
"Ooh." The ninja screwed up his face in a grimace of pain. "Is that what they teach you? Doesn't work like that kid."
"But Green ninj-"
"Call me Lloyd, please."
"Lloyd, doesn't everybody listen to you?"
"Ha!" Lloyd chuckled. "Being a leader doesn't mean everyone listens to you. Not always, anyway." Lloyd's expression turned serious, as if he was thinking hard, but it softened again.
"Here, kid." Lloyd opened a drawer in the bottom of the boat and retrieved another mug. "Have some hot coco, and tell me why you're down here."
Seeing Lloyd heat a mug of hot chocolate using energy summoned from his fingertips definitely blew Acidicus' fire tricks out of the water. Skales Junior watched in awe and couldn't help wishing he could do that.
Lloyd was sitting in a chair fastened to the deck of the small boat while Junior sat across from him on a bench made by pulling one of the storage boxes out from below. He was busy blowing on his hot chocolate, but Junior kept his eyes on Lloyd, who was busy trying to shove the coco powder back into an overcrowded glove box.
"Got it!" He said at last, slamming the lid shut with finality. "Alright Junior, what's your story?" Lloyd asked as he started blowing on a second mug he'd made for himself.
"Well…" Junior started, kicking the planks with his feet. "I just wanted to get out."
"Go on." Lloyd said, sipping.
"All the adults get to go wherever they want!" Junior complained frustratedly. "Most of them don't even make any use of it! But I'm stuck. It's boring there, I've done everything I can do, heard every one of Uncle Acid's stories a million times, it's so… so…" Junior groped for a word, but his vocabulary escaped him.
"Claustrophobic?" Lloyd suggested.
"Yes!" Junior exclaimed. "It's claw… clause… clause…"
"Claus-tro-pho-bic." Lloyd dictated. "Confined, small, the feeling that there's something else out there if you could get out and you really need to get out."
"Exactly! Junior threw his hands up. "How did you know!?"
Lloyd grinned. "I've been there, kid. I made a break for it myself when I was a little older than you."
"Really?" Junior's eyes went wide. "Where'd you go?"
"I grew up at a school called Darkley's." Lloyd said. "One day I escaped, and went on to find your father's tomb, back when Slithraa was general."
"Wait, hold on!" Junior gasped. "Old Slithraa was general?"
LLoyd gave him a weird look. "Yes. Did Acidicus never mention that in your stories?"
"Well," Junior mumbled, "he talks about how we escaped the tombs, and how a crazy old snake called Pythor forced all the tribes to try and end the world. He doesn't mention who was who much."
"Ah." Realization dawned in LLoyd's eyes. "Well, Slithraa was general back when you first escaped, until your father… took over."
"Really? How do you know!?" Junior demanded. Lloyd laughed.
"I just do."
Just then the crackle of a radio broke the atmosphere, and Junior almost spilled his coco in surprise.
"LLOYD! I KNOW WHERE YOU ARE! You come and take your shots RIGHT NOW or I'll put the Destiny's Shadow on autopilot!"
Lloyd gave Skales Junior a wry grin and rolled his eyes. "No respect." He pushed a button and responded, "Okay, Kai, okay. I'm coming, but I've got to run an errand first. Be there in half an hour."
"LLOYD-"
"Trust me, okay? I'll explain when I get there."
"...FINE, but if you don't show up ON THE DOT we're taking you by force!"
LLoyd grinned at a very startled Skales Junior. "Hey Junior, you ever handled a boat before?"
"You losssst him!?" Skales shrieked. Acidicus flinched. Meeting Skales at the entrance to the tunnels had been a bad idea.
"Don't worry ssssir," Acidicus tried to calm him, "we've already sssent ssscouts to look for him!" Neither of them noticed the small boat drifting toward them down the water, but Skales Junior's mother did.
"Ssskaless!" She cried out in joy, as Junior jumped to shore and embraced her. "Don't you ever do that to usss again!
"Don't worry, Mom!" Junior said proudly. "I was fine! I had Lloyd to look after me!"
"Lllloyd!?" Skales Senior looked past his hugging family in astonishment. The green ninja was at the helm of the ship, leaned casually against the back of his chair. "What are youu doing here!?"
"I was just in the neighborhood." Lloyd winked. "You know you can count on me, Skales!"
Skales Senior was not going to dignify that remark with a response, or heaven forbid, a thank you! Instead he turned to his son. "You are in big trouble Skales!" He said sternly. "We were worried sssick!"
Junior looked to Lloyd with pleading eyes, but the green ninja just gave an apologetic shrug and a gentle smile. "You broke the rules kid."
As Skales ushered his family away, Acidicus turned to follow but halted when LLoyd called to him. "Hey, Acidicus!"
"Yesss?" The Venomari General regarded LLoyd with cynical eyes.
"I hear you're still telling stories." Lloyd grinned. "You should tell him the one about that crazy kid who started the Second Serpentine War!"
"Buzzsss off, ninja!" Acidicus growled, but as they left Lloyd heard Junior ask, "What's that one about Uncle Acid?"