2Happy birthday Lloyd! Found out today that it was the green boys b-day and I just had to post this one-shot that's been sitting in my drafts for a while now.
Haha, anyways, ever notice how the qualities of the elements all resound in Lloyd? Well, here's my little take on that. So in other words, Lloyd uses the elements before he uses the elements.
Lightning
In the Ninjago city, you have to be quick if you wanna snag a few bucks from someone's wallet without them noticing.
Lloyd easily glides through the crowded sidewalks, his small frame weaving through the crowd. His eyes shifting through the crowd, looking out for anyone who isn't paying as much attention as they should be. He spots an older man wearing a navy blue polo, talking into a phone as he bristly walks towards a small shop.
Lloyd smirks, speeding up as he walks by the man. He slips his hand into the man's pocket, swiftly pulling out a leather wallet. The blond turns around, now trailing behind the man. Close enough to still see him but far enough so it's not suspicious.
He shifts through the wallet, eyeing the man's ID card. Nathan Reed. Lloyd shoves the ID car back into the wallet and instead takes out two five dollar bills. That much should last him at least a week if he rations it.
Lloyd speeds up, stuffing the money in his pocket and looping around a few people until he's in front of the man again. Then he turns and braces himself as he picks up into a jog, running full force at the man. Polo Guy yelps, stumbling briefly as Lloyd trips, falling backwards and sneakily slipping the wallet onto the ground.
"Woah, uh, you okay there, kid?" The man asks, his eyes widen as he stares into Lloyd's scarlet eyes, but he shakes his head and extends a hand towards Lloyd.
"I'm fine." He says, pushing himself off the ground and dusting off his clothes. A few people glance at them as they pass, but Lloyd ignores them.
"You sure, that was a pretty hard fall." Lloyd glares at the man. Why is he asking so many questions?
"I said I was fine." Lloyd snaps, the man pulls back, holding up his hands playacting. The blond sighs, taking a deep, calming breath. "Is - is that yours?" He says, guesting towards the wallet on the sidewalk.
The man looks down, surprised as he scopes up the wallet. "Yeah, thanks, kid." He says, smiling. Lloyd flashes him a closed mouth grin. The two stand silently for a beat, before Polo Guy's phone rings, he fumbles to answer it, and the faint voice of an exasperated woman filters through.
"Okay - okay...I'm coming, I'm a few blocks away -" A sigh. "Alright - yes - love you too, bye." The man hangs up the phone, slipping his phone and wallet into his pocket. He smiles at Lloyd again before continuing down the street, disappearing into a small shop.
Lloyd grins, fingering the money in his pocket as he turns and continues down the sidewalk, already looking for another person to pickpocket.
That evening, as he carefully climbed up a tree in Ninjago Park, he had twenty-three dollars stuffed away in his pocket.
Fire.
Lloyd rubs his hands together, bringing them up to his face and cupping them around his mouth, blowing into his hands before wrapping his arms around himself. Despite the thick snow and the fridge wind, he keeps moving. The hypnobrai tomb shouldn't be that far away.
Right?
Whatever, it doesn't matter how far away the tomb is. Lloyd is going to find the tomb, release the serpentine, and then he can get back at those ninjas and prove just how evil he can be!
...and maybe his father will finally come for him once he sees how evil Lloyd is.
He pushes the thought aside as he trudges through the snow, instead thinking about all the ways he can use the serpentine to help him get back at the ninja. Maybe he can hang them from a roof for a few hours and see how they like it.
Lloyd yelps as his right foot sinks into the snow. Grumbling, he planets his left foot firmly on the top layer of snow and yanks his other foot out of the snow, only for his left foot to sink down. He stumbles back, plunging into the cold snow.
"Ugh!" He groans, trying to push himself up and out of the snow. When he finally does manage to get himself upright, he runs a hand through his hair, wiping the snow off his clothes. A shiver runs through him, Lloyd tugs his hood back over his head, hands shoved deeply into his pockets.
Slowly, the chill of the snow melts away. Replaced by a gentle warmth.
Lloyd keeps walking, his scarlet eyes burning with passion and determination in every step.
Ice
Lloyd glares at the wall of the room uncle Wu gave him, pulling at a loose string in the blanket his uncle also gave him.
So far, he's just been ignoring the ninja. Lloyd would very much like to pretend that they're even here, and he's pretty sure that the ninja are doing the same thing.
The door opens, and Lloyd looks up to see his uncle step inside, his staff clinking softly on the wooden floors. The ninja poke their heads into the room, but Wu shoots them a stern look and they walk away.
"Hello, nephew." Wu says, warmly.
"Hi." Lloyd says, tightly, still glaring at the wall.
Undeterred by Lloyd's cold greeting, Wu continues. "Dinner is ready, I would like for you-"
"No thanks." Lloyd interrupts.
"Lloyd." Wu says, his voice taking on a hint of sternness. "Please join us for dinner, you cannot sit in your room all evening."
The blond boy turns to look at his uncle, frowning at his choice of words. Your room. This isn't Lloyd's room, he's been on this flying boat for what? An hour or two? This is just a spare room that they happened to have. It's not Lloyd's, and since he wants nothing to do with the ninja, it never will be.
But...his uncle is offering him food and a place to stay, for now at least. So Lloyd might as well take advantage of this opportunity before his uncle inevitably gets tired of him and kicks him out.
"...fine." Lloyd mutters. Wu smiles, placing a hand on Lloyd's shoulders as he leads them out of the room and towards the dining room. The ninja, and a girl with short black hair, all sit around a large, rectangular table. Plates decorate the table, and Lloyd's stomach growls loudly.
The sound cuts through the soft conversation that the ninja had been having with each other, and their smiles immediately shift into deep frowns and pursed lips. A fiery glare from the red ninja catches Lloyd's eye, and the blond shoots back an icy glare of his own. The two stay like that for a beat before Wu gently eases him towards the table.
Lloyd sits down to the left of his uncle, and the earth ninja scoots down the bench, leaving enough room between Lloyd and himself to where they could both have their elbows on the table and still wouldn't touch each other.
The ice ninja comes out of the kitchen wearing a pink apron, his eyes stop on Lloyd for a split second before his small smile eases its way onto his face. The ice ninja sets the plates of food down on the table, and immediately, everyone starts piling food onto their plates.
Dining is silent, and Lloyd doesn't miss the wearily glances passed his way. He focuses on his own food, it smells just as good as it tastes, and he wolfs it down quickly in case the ninja decided that they didn't want him on board their ship after all and kicked him off. He finished before anyone else did, and the earth ninja let out an amused chuckle.
Lloyd pushes turns, swinging his legs over the bench and beginning to stand when the ice ninja holds another plate out for him. The blond eyes widen as he stares at it.
"...you seem hungry." He says. "You are welcome to have seconds, if you'd like." Lloyd hesitantly takes the plate, he's not about to turn down free food.
The blond sits back down, staring on his second plate of food. He doesn't miss the slightly curious glances cast his way, either.
"Careful, kid, you're gonna lose a finger." The blue ninja laughs, sipping at a cup of water.
Lloyd narrows his eyes, glaring at the blue ninja before going back to his food.
When he finishes the second plate too, the ice ninja - he had heard the short haired girl call him Zane - suggests to make more food, but Lloyd shakes his head. He's spent enough time eating with the ninja and he just wants to be alone until he can leave.
That's if they don't kick him out first.
Earth
Lloyd silently shuffled behind Pythor and Scales, his hands tied behind his back, the ropes held by a red scaled fangpyre behind him as he walked through a stone passage.
In hindsight, sneaking into the snake infested city of Ouroboros was a terrible idea, but apparently, terrible ideas have been Lloyd's specialty as of late. At least he's not stuck at that boring arcade Kai dumped him at, Lloyd thinks, halfheartedly. At the very least, now he won't be bored.
It's a dumb justification for sneaking into Ouroboros and getting himself captured, and Lloyd can practically see Kai rolling his eyes.
He winces at the thought of the fire ninja, him and the ninja, along with the Samurai, almost got themselves captured trying to rescue him of all people. And Lloyd's ninety-nine percent sure that the ninja don't even like him.
Maybe uncle Wu put them up to it.
Pythor slithers to a stop in front of Lloyd, holding out a scaly hand to halt the rest of the serpentine trailing behind him and Scales. "Why have we ssstoped?" Scales asks, irritably.
Pythor rolls his vivid purple eyes, slamming his golden staff down. The cavern shakes, and then the stone in front of the anacondrai crumbles away. Leaving a large, gaping chasm in front of them. "What good isss unlocking the Great Devourer with the four sssilver fang bladesss if we aren't around to sssee it?" He snaps. "Get the boy!"
"Bring the boy!" Scales echoes, the fangpyre holding Lloyd shoves the blond forwards, he turns to shoot a brief glare at the snake. The fangpyre unties the rope around his hands before leaving him with Pythor and Scales.
"You're - you're letting me go?" Lloyd asks, raising an eyebrow.
Pythor huffs out a laugh. "Only to fetch, my dear boy" He says, gesturing Lloyd towards the edge of the wall where a few stones are still intact. "Uh, but, do ssstep lightly."
Lloyd eyes the chasm again, shaking his head. "No way." He says, firmly.
"I'm sssorry, could you repeat that?" Pythor says, his voice taking on the edge of a threat. "Becaussse it soundsss to me like you sssaid no…"
"That's because I did." Lloyd snaps, crossing his arms.
Pythor narrows his eyes, glaring at him. "You ssseem to think I am asssking you to fetch the fang blade." Pythor hisses, he slithers up to Lloyd, grabbing him by the collar of his hoodie. "I am not. I am ordering you to get the fang blade."
"And you seem to think I'll actually listen to those orders."
Pythor scowls, shoving Lloyd to the floor. The blond grunts, glaring up at the anacondrai as he slithers towards Scales, whispering something to the blue hypnobrai. Lloyd looks between them, Scales nods, gliding towards Lloyd.
The snake's scarlet eyes begin to blur and swirl. "Look into my eyesss." He hisses, softly. "I control you…"
Lloyd's eyes widen, his head lolling to the side before he blinks hard, shaking his head and snapping his eyes shut. "No!" He shouts, firmly covering his eyes with his hands.
Scaly hands grip his wrists, Lloyd kicks, but he doesn't take his hands away from his eyes. Scales yanks his arms away, only to see the blonds eyes are still squeezed shut.
The snake growls, shaking Lloyd roughly. He keeps his eyes shut, despite everything in him screaming to open his eyes and fight back, he doesn't. He holds firm, his breathing calm and steady.
After a few moments, Scales tosses him to the floor, hissing in frustration. Lloyd keeps his eyes shut as he listens.
"...Try again, it's not like the ninja are coming anytime sssoon." Scales says in a low tone. Pythor growls, Lloyd can practically feel his eyes burning into his back.
"I've waited thisss long...what'sss a few more hoursss." Pythor finally says. Lloyd breaths out a quiet sigh of relief as another pair of arms pulls him up off the floor, roughly tying the rope around his wrists again. He winces as the ropes dig into his skin.
Lloyd hesitantly opens his eyes as the fangpyre from earlier leads him down the stone corridor and away from Pythor and Scales, a smirk on his lips.
Water
He was the Green Ninja.
How? How is Lloyd of all people the Green Ninja!?
Out of every other person in this city, destiny just had to choose Lloyd to be the one to defeat his father. Forget the four highly trained, hand selected ninja or the awesome samurai warrior, pick the kid with absolutely no training, and who is just barely tolerated by said highly trained ninja and awesome samurai, to be the Green freaking Ninja!
He doesn't want this! Lloyd doesn't want to fight his father! He just got him back!
Lloyd takes a deep breath, pulling his knees up to his chest as the bounty glides through the air. Stars dotting the dark sky and small wisps of clouds floating below them. The moon shines down on the deck, providing Lloyd with enough light to see Nya approaching him.
"Hey," She says, casually sitting down next to Lloyd.
Lloyd mumbles a barely audible "hi" as he shifts away from her.
"Crazy day, huh." Nya continues, unphased by Lloyd's dismissive attitude. The blond silently nods in agreement. He can still feel the heat of the volcano engulfing him. He shivers, although he's not cold at all. "I was really worried about you back there…you and Kai." Lloyd glances at Nya, her eyes dark with memory.
The older girl shakes her head, fixing Lloyd with a stern look. "Don't you ever sneak off to attend snake meetings ever again." She grins, bumping her shoulder with Lloyd's.
"I'll ask for permission first next time, then." Lloyd retorts, Nya swats his shoulder.
"And the answer will be no." Nya says, shaking her head. "But hopefully there won't be a next time."
Lloyd nods in agreement, his head resting on her shoulder. Nya cards a hand through his messy hair, faint voices echo from Wu's room, and Lloyd tenses when he hears his name thrown into the mix of hushed shouting.
"Still going at it?" Lloyd asks, looking up at Nya.
"Yeah…" She says, softly. "How do you feel about it?"
Lloyd sighs, he doesn't know how he feels about it. He feels anger, but it's not just that. He feels oddly...excited. He wants to prove himself, but he doesn't want to at the same time. He wants to make a name for himself, doesn't want to be known as just Garmadon's son anymore. And maybe this is how he steps out of his father's shadow.
But...
"I'm scared." Lloyd mutters, tightly. Half expecting Nya to burst out laughing and tell him how dumb he's being. Ninjas don't get scared.
Nya wraps an arm around him, comfortingly. "Trust me, you're not the only one." She says.
"You're scared?" Lloyd asks, incredulous. "But you're the samurai! You're awesome! What do you have to be scared of?"
Nya forces a lighthearted laugh, looking down at Lloyd. "I'm scared of you going out there and doing what the guys do." Lloyd stares at her, wide eyed. "I'm scared you'll get hurt."
Lloyd looks down at that, biting his lip. Nya was worried...about him? After all the trouble he's caused for her and the ninja? Taking this in, Lloyd leans his head back on Nya's shoulder, and the two sit in silence. A few minutes later, and the door to Wu's room opens, and his uncle and father step out.
The blond boy wiggles out of Nya's hold and runs over to his father. Garmadon bends down, and Lloyd jumps into his four - he still can't get over it - arms. Garmadon picks Lloyd up, carrying the blond back to the spare room uncle Wu had given him. His room.
Lloyd buries his head into the crook of his father's neck, his eyelids heavy with exhaustion.
This is just one more thing to adapt too, Lloyd thinks. He's good at adapting to stuff, rolling with the nonstop punches destiny throws at him.
Garmadon toes open the door, gently placing Lloyd down on the cot. The blond blinks sleepily up at his father, a smile on his face as he turns. "Night, dad." Lloyd mumbles.
Garmadon's smile widens, his fiery eyes bright as he pulls the blankets over Lloyd with his two lower arms. "Goodnight, son." He whispers, fondly. Stepping out of the room and closing the door quietly behind him.
A small smile pulls at Lloyd's lips as he welcomes the gentle embrace of sleep.