Warning: swears, my (at times cursed) humor, my headcanons, my (bad) grammar, 4th wall? never heard of her—

TW:

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Wu was meditating soundly when all of a sudden— "My turn! Uh, it's my turn!" Kai exclaimed. The man sighed, slowly getting up and making his way through the monastery to the game room. Much to his surprise, he found the room completely empty, though it still haven't been fully cleaned. He stroked his beard in thought, then followed his students' sounds outside where he was met with a very pleasant surprise. Cole and [Name] were sparring, training hand to hand (and leg to leg) combat, Jay was using the training course, Kai was practicing his spinjitzu and Zane was meditating a few feet away from everyone. Wu smiled, nodding his head as he finally was proud of the five boys.

Then, Zane decided to cause some chaos. The teen jumped right up, running towards Jay. He jumped over the ginger boy, surprising him and causing him to fall down with a yelp, almost getting smacked by one of the dummies. Zane easily skipped through the course, preforming spinjitzu at the end and leaving a layer of ice in his track, making Kai slip and fall onto his butt. Before anybody could stop him, he slipped in-between the remaining two just when they were jumping at each other in attack, he caught Cole's leg and [Name]'s arm mid-air then pushed them, the two landed on the marble floor, confused as to what the eff has just happened. Zane quickly run off, leaving no time to question his actions.

While the White Ninja went to...continue? his training on the course, the others gathered around. Cole helped the youngest teen up to his feet. "This roof isn't big enough for the five of us" Kai complained, crossing his arms. [Name] gave him a nasty look for the comment.

"Correction: This roof isn't big enough for him" Cole glanced at the White Ninja, the youngest quickly elbowed him. They looked at each other.

"What, bullying a child is not enough for you?" Cole looked away embarrassed at the reminder.

"But it's like he's in his own world" Jay chimed in, trying to salvage the situation before the Lavender Ninja could get angry at them again. But, in his annoyance, he turned to the fair haired teen and screamed, "I BET HE CAN'T EVEN HEAR US!!" There was a short moment where the four just stood there in silence. Zane didn't react at all, Jay's screaming only caused Wu to slowly stroll towards them. "See?"

[Name] scratched his head. "Okay, I can see your point... Then again, I like zoning out too, y'know?"

"But Zane's... weird" Kai said just as the man stopped next to them.

Wu hummed. "What is weird? Someone who is different or someone who is different than you?"

"No, Sensei. He's weird weird" Cole agreed with his teammate, three out of four teens remembered the times Zane was a chaos causing menace.

One time when Cole was in the middle of using the bathroom, Zane walked right in to brush his teeth. "Do you mind?!" The raven haired teen exclaimed, covering his privates.

Jay and Nya were watching a romantic movie that one time, Zane tagged along, curious as to what this was about. When the main character's lover was dying the White Ninja burst out laughing. The two glared at him, tears in their eyes.

In the middle of the night, Kai went out of his room to get a midnight snack. He rubbed his eyes as he opened the fridge. He jumped back with a yelp seeing Zane sitting inside and holding a block of cheese. "Holy shit!"

"I'm sorry. I consumed the last of the deli meat. Cheese?" He offered the Red Ninja the fucking cheese, the boy could do nothing but just stare in disbelief.

[Name] looked up in thought, thinking for a moment before shrugging. "I dunno, he never did anything weird with me"

Cole raised his brows in disbelief. "Really?" [Name] shrugged again.

Jay huffed. "Lucky..."

"We like the guy. He's really smart. He's just..." Kai trailed off, not finding any better words to put this he sighed, "...a little off sometimes"

"Zane is a brother and brothers are often different. I should know..." Wu's aura shifted in sadness, making the youngest boy frown.

A gong sound ringed through the walls of the monastery. Cole, Jay and Kai smiled, quickly sprinting towards the door. "Mail!!" [Name] watched with crossed arms as they opened the door for the panting postman, Wu slowly following them.

"Let's see..." The man started searching through his mail bag. "A letter from Jay's parents" He got out a letter and handed it to the Blue Ninja, the teen walked away opening it. "Kai has a fan letter" The ninja raised his brows in surprise, [Name] covered his mouth to hide his mischievous smile. "Oh, something from Cole's father" Cole took the letter, visibly uninterested in it.

"What, no package? I'm expecting something from Creatures, Beasts and Beyond"

The man scratched his head, looking back into his bag. "No. Nothing from... uh-uh. Here it is!" He handed the teen his package, making him smile.

"Ha! Rocky's gonna love this!" Cole quickly run off towards the stables.

"And here's a letter from [Name]'s parents" The postman said, handing the letter to Wu. Kai raised a brow at that.

"Why are you taking his letter?"

"It's not for me" The boy answered, kicking the air with a scoff. "My parents write to Wu so that he would send me home, believing I'm not the true Master of Soul"

Kai scratched his head, growing more confused. "But you can sense auras"

"Anyone can learn how to sense auras" He answered, quoting basically all of his immediate family.

"But only the true Master of Soul can reach their True Potential" Wu reminded, walking over to the youngest teen and placing a hand on his shoulder.

[Name] looked away, huffing. "Which I haven't done..."

The older teen frowned, feeling bad for asking. "I didn't know..."

"It's fine" [Name] gave him a small smile in assurance.

"Hey, Zane. How come you never hear anything from your parents?" Jay asked the question that have been troubling him for some time now, given how the Red Ninja went out of his way to ask the uncomfortable question, he decided this was the best moment.

The teen glanced at his friend before looking away, the youngest ninja frowned sensing the shift in his aura. "I don't remember my parents. I've been an orphan all my life"

"You never had a home?" [Name] asked, earning a small nod. He looked down in sadness, "Neither have I really..."

Wu squeezed the Lavender Ninja's shoulder and smiled at the two. "The Monastery is your home now"

💙🐍💙

Skales showed one of his 'friends' that he managed to hypnotize Cole. No, not say, show. Somehow he was able to 'project', in a way, a live image of the Black Ninja feeding his dragon. "I can't believe you hypnotized one of the ninja. Doesss the General know?" The Hypnobrai scouts asked making Skales scoff.

"Of courssse not. He's been put under the control of Lloyd. But I plan to use it for my bessst interessst"

"Everyone works while you two ssslack" The General said, suddenly appearing behind them. The two turned around, meeting the harsh glare of their leader. "As my sssecond-in-command, I expect more from you, Skales"

"Yesss, General" He hissed back. The General started slithering off and the scout got to work. Skales followed his superior, "General, you know I am mossst loyal to you, but I must question thisss childish agenda. The ninja have ssstolen our ssstaff yet you instruct your army to make thisss... playhouse for Lloyd? Snakesss don't belong in trees"

Slithraa narrowed his eyes at him. "You know better than to question my judgement, Skales. I'll pretend you didn't asssk"

"Hey!!" The child called out, leaning on some railing as he looked down at the two. "If we plan to rule Ninjago from here, this elevator needs to have a trapped door! I want more booby traps!"

"Asss you wish, young Garmadon" The general bowed to the kid, then glared at his Right Hand.

Skales glared at him. "Asss you wish, General"

❤️🖤💙🤍💜

As the sun set behind the horizon, the ninja gathered in the dining room for dinner. Jay leaned down on the table, having this dreamy look as he took in the delicious smell coming from the kitchen. "Mmmm. Oh, I love it when it's Zane's night to cook"

"Hey! I didn't hear any complains about my duck chowder last night" Cole crossed his arms, giving the teen a betrayed look.

[Name] looked away sheepishly while Kai snort, "That's because it glued our mouths shut! You really thought Jay was speechless all throughout dinner?" The youngest started quietly laughing, quickly covering his mouth with his hand as the Blue Ninja glared at the brunet.

Jay sighed, containing himself from starting an argument. He turned to the Black Ninja, "Yeah. Please don't make that again" Cole huffed, looking away, offended.

"Dinner is served" Everyone turned hearing Zane enter the room, he was wearing a pink apron with flowers on his gi, small patches of different ingredients could be seen in a few places showing just how useful it was in the kitchen.

Much to [Name]'s confusion, all the other teens started laughing, leaving him and Zane confused while Wu didn't seem to be bothered at all. The youngest ninja looked at each of his laughing siblings. "Uh, why're we laughing?"

"Zane," Nya addressed the teen in-between laughter, he looked at her with a confused expression. "You're wearing a— Even I wouldn't wear that!"

"Huh?" [Name] squinted his eyes, not understanding.

"You laugh because I take steps to ensure I'm clean after cooking?" Zane asked, confused as to why that would be the case.

"No! We laugh because you came out wearing that ridiculous outfit!" Kai clarified but the White Ninja remained confused.

[Name]'s eyes widen in realization, he quickly furrowed his brows angrily. "What's wrong with his outfit?"

"Ah, [Name], you can't be serious"

He glared at the Blue Ninja on his right. "No. What's wrong with his outfit?" The laughter slowly died down as everyone became deadly silent. Jay shifted uncomfortably under his lil brother's stare. "Because it's pink?" The teen asked, sounding even more pissed than the day before after he found out his big brothers are bullies. "Well, hate to break it to you, but lavender isn't a typically masculine color either"

"[Name], it's not like that..." Cole started, the Lavender Ninja's head snapped towards him like in horror movies making him jump a little.

"So it's because it has flowers on then?"

"I guess we don't share the same sense of humor..." Kai muttered, covering his mouth with his hand as if it would shield the words from reaching the boy next to him. [Name] turned his glare to him, making him raise his hands in defeat.

Cole's eyes light up as he got an idea to salvage the situation. A mischievous smirk appeared on his face as he picked up a plate. "Well, how about this?" He threw it across the table, straight at Kai's face. The Red Ninja blinked, flabbergasted as to what happened, [Name] on the other hand snort into his hand, watching with amusement how some shrimps stayed in the teen's hair and slid down his face. The table erupted in laughter, the youngest and Kai himself quickly joining in, Wu shook his head with a small smile and slowly started getting up. Zane stared at them, growing confused all over again. "How could you not find that funny?" Cole asked the White Ninja, noticing his expression. Suddenly, a bowl landed on his head, drenching him in some soup or something, making him yelp in surprise. Everyone at the table laughed harder as he looked behind him to see the culprit.

Cole's eyes widened in surprise as he saw Sensei chuckling to himself. "Now you are brothers"

[Name] laughed for a moment before he jumped to his feet and grabbed the plate being the closest to him. "Food fight!!" He exclaimed before throwing the plate across the table. Everyone but Wu and Zane quickly followed his example.

The White Ninja watched as his family threw food at each other, still not understanding.

🤍🤍🤍

After the food fight ended Zane was left alone with the mess. [Name], feeling bad most of the damage was caused by him, offered some help, which the older boy thanked him for but declined the offer as a form of showing his gratitude for the [color] eyed boy sticking up for him during dinner. Thought hesitant, the younger boy let him do his own thing alone.

He sighed, staring at the pink, dirty fabric in his hands, questioning whether or not he should throw it away as well. Before he could decide, a bird's screech caught his attention, making him look up. There, on a nearby tree branch, was sitting a Falcon. It seem so... familiar for some reason, and not only because Zane generally studied different bird species in his spare time.

He raised a hand, giving it a little wave and offering a gentle smile. To Zane's bewildered the Falcon raised one of its wing and waved back. The teen shook his head in surprise, freezing in his spot as the bird copied his reaction. They stared at each other while Zane thought of something to check if the bird really was copying his moves or if he was just imagining things. He did a little dance and, sure enough, the bird repeated it.

Zane let out a short laugh, now observing the Falcon with deep interest. He never heard of a bird copying someone like that. But then it made a soft sound and flew off.

Okay, maybe he was going crazy, but it felt like it wanted him to follow. So, he glanced back, dropped the pink apron on the ground next to the trash bin and started running after the mysterious bird.

A few minutes of running later he found himself in the forest not too far from the mountain the monastery was located on, and soon after that the Falcon stopped. Before Zane could question the bird (or his own logic) he heard a familiar voice exclaim, "If I see one girl in here, I'm gonna go ballistic!" Surprised, Zane peaked out from behind some bushes, an impressive fortress-like treehouse swarmed with snakes and one blond boy appearing in his sight.

He looked up at the bird and it bowed at him, as if to signify this was what it wanted to show him. The White Ninja smiled and bowed back, "Thank you, my mysterious friend" Zane then turned around and quickly made his way back.

Not wanting to disrupt his teammates' sleep, he planned on waiting till morning to tell them about his night adventure. But as he arrived at the walls surrounding the monastery he was met with a sad [Name] sitting on the ground, leaning against the big gate with the dirty apron in his hands. Zane stopped, surprised to see the boy out of bed at this hour. The younger boy looked up, "Where'd you leave?"

Concern. [Name] almost felt the sting of guilt from him.

"I followed a bird" Zane simply answered, his aura shifting even more into guilt as he knew it was a poor excuse for leaving so suddenly without a single word.

The Lavender Ninja drew his brows together in confusion. "You followed a bird?"

"Yes"

They stayed silent for a moment, the younger too stunned to say anything and the older just waiting for his reaction. "...Right..." Sadness – because [Name] didn't believe him and he had no idea how to fix it. Getting a little overwhelmed by all the changes so late at night the [color] haired boy stood up, raising a hand with the dirty apron in it, "Don't throw it out just because they laugh. I know you like it. The others can suck it if they have a problem" He extended his hand, offering the piece of clothing back. Zane took it without a word. The younger boy turned around, "I wouldn't be here if I gave up on my ideals just because someone laughed at me" A brief pause before, "G'night, Zay" And he walked into the courtyard, not giving the other time to answer.

Zane glanced down at the dirty apron.

❤️🖤💙🤍💜

First thing in the morning, just as everyone gathered round the table for breakfast, Zane announced his find. Wu was nice enough to let them eat before sending them off.

Kai grunted, a bit annoyed with running so early in the day. "I don't even think Zane knows where he's going" He whispered to the other three, they all shrugged. He got closer to the White Ninja, reaching out to grab his shoulder and forcing him to stop before addressing him, "Uh, tell us again how you stumbled upon Lloyd's secret headquarters?"

"I followed a bird" Everyone exchanged confused looks and [name] sighed.

Jay scratched his head, "Why did you follow a bird?"

"Because it danced"

Silence.

"Okay... Was it a cuckoo bird?" The Blue Ninja teased, making the others laugh while Zane tilted his head in confusion.

"Of course not. Everyone knows cuckoo birds are not indigenous to these forests" He casually stated before turning around and continuing onward, leaving his stunned teammates behind. [Name] quickly shook his head and followed, the other three shared a look before doing the same.

Not too long after they heard annoyed screaming of one little troublemaker, "Watch it! No, bigger! Come on, we don't have all day! It's not time for a lunch break!" The five peaked from behind the bushes, Jay and [name]'s eyes sparkling at the glorious treehouse.

"Holy cow, Frosty was right!" Cole exclaimed in a whisper.

"We can't let that brat and those snakes get a foothold of Ninjago" Kai said, eyes zeroed on the 'fortress' while the youngest member shot him a glare. "We gotta destroy that thing before it becomes operational"

"You seriously think a kid is actually gonna get any position of power and rule over an entire country?" The Lavender Ninja raised a brow, honestly not understanding how the hedgehog guy came to that conclusion.

"It's not any random kid we're talking about, he's the son of Garmadon"

[Name] crossed his arms, unamused.

"Are you sure? It looks like a pretty cool treehouse" Jay chimed in, turning to look at the treehouse, "There's a ropes course... Ooh, a tree swing!"

The youngest boy gave the Red Ninja a look, "He's clearly still a kid"

"Hey!" Cole interjected, gaining everyone's attention. "Remember who's team you're on, guys" [name] crossed his arms with a huff and looked away, silently showing his disagreement. "Alright, what do we do?"

"It looks like the entire place is being supported by those three trees" Kai pointed out. "Once those ties are severed, the whole is gonna fall like a house of cards"

"But why would one make a house of cards? Such construction would be careless..." Zane mused, mostly to himself. The others, minus [name], sighed.

"Travel in shadows, boys" Cole threw and everyone gave a nod in acknowledgement before they split up.

Kai and [name] used ropes to swing over the whole 'HQ', they landed on the roof and high fived before waiting for the others to join them there. Cole went on his own, sneaking close to the treehouse and grabbing onto the bottom of an elevator (yes, a full on elevator) as it went up, meanwhile Jay and Zane were climbing on a nearby tree, with Jay losing his grip and almost falling down if it wasn't for the white Ninja. The trio ignored the smug looks from the other two as they finally reached the top.

The five silently pointed out the three ropes supporting the whole place, assigning which one of them should take care of which rope. [Name] looked down hearing an 'evil' chuckle, "It's almost finished. Soon, my fortress will be complete. You! Hold up that sign for me!" Directly beneath them, one of the snakes held up a wooden sign prohibiting all girls and ninjas from entering (not that it would actually stop anyone...). Lloyd pretended to ponder over whether or not he was satisfied with the sign, sneakily reaching for a lever to activate a booby trap. He pulled it down and the floor opened, making the snake fall with an audible thud. The boy cackled, "Booby trap!"

Just as [name] was about to peak down there, Jay and Zane used spinjitzu to cut two of the ropes, the whole place shook, sending a couple snakes down and almost sending the youngest ninja flying as he was practically leaning over the edge. "This is child endangerment!!" He complained, turning to glare at his friends who also struggled to keep their balance. (And for the record, he was mostly talking about himself.)

"I said no ninja! Attack!!"

"Everyone! Retreat!!"

Two different commands sounded out at the exact same time, confusing the snakes for a second before they followed the second one, fleeing before it was too late. "They're running away!" [Name] exclaimed before jumping down, barely managing to grab onto some railing. He furrowed his brows sensing an aura full of ill intentions, he looked around climbing in.

"Cole! Wait till we're off the treehouse, then cut the line" Kai ordered and the other three followed their impulsive little brother, barely catching the agreeing nod. The treehouse titled with the additional weight on one of its sides.

[Name] zeroed on the snake that was emanating the suspicious aura, but the force pushed him back. At the same time Skales spotted Cole, "You! You will obey my every command"

The younger boy's eyes widen in realization, the aura of his friend above shifting, folding onto itself as if it was snatched and locked away in some sort of containment. "Shit!" He hurriedly got up and run the other way as his friends went after the snakes, which in turn made them run away faster.

Lloyd grabbed Skales's arm just as he was about to pass him. "Don't go. We have to protect my treehouse fortress"

The snake glared at him, ripping his arm free, "Your treehouse? It's about time we did this!"

The kid furrowed his brows in confusion, "Did what—?" He barely managed to finish his sentence when Skales pulled down a lever opening one of the booby traps and causing him to fall down into a cage. "Hey!!"

"Now, to get the staff!"

"Kidnapper at 12!" Kai exclaimed, pointing at the snake with his sword.

Jay meanwhile noticed they were missing some teammates. "Wait, where's Cole?"

Zane quickly glanced around, "I also fail to see [name] with us" Seeing the boys were distracted Skales promptly made his getaway, tipping the treehouse ever so slightly so that they would lose their balance, just to be safe.

Kai grabbed onto the railing to keep himself up on his feet. "This whole place is coming down!"

"There!" Zane pointed at the youngest ninja, holding onto a branch leading back to the roof tightly so he wouldn't fall.

"What are you doing?" Jay called out, catching the boy's attention.

"I'm going after Cole!" He screamed back before reaching a hand up, grabbing the roof's edge and climbing up. The others looked at each other, not having much of a choice, they followed their little brother.

"No one goes anywhere until you deal with me!" Cole, sounding very out of it, exclaimed, gripping the scythe in front of him while the Lavender Ninja reached our for his Wand.

"What's gotten into him?" Kai asked, arriving on the roof.

"He's under their control. I can get him out with my Wand, but I need to be able to catch him"

The three quickly got away from the edge as it tipped the treehouse closer towards its breaking point. "Yeah, well, he better snap out of it quick, because this whole place looks like it's about to go down!" Jay lamented, touching shoulders with the Red Ninja, who seem annoyed by it.

"Distract him" [name] looked at the three meaningfully before focusing on their hypnotized teammate.

"What're we supposed to do? If I use my Sword, this place will turn up into flames faster than a tinder box!" Kai threw his hands up. Just then the Black Ninja charged at them, the other two noticed just in time to get out of the way but Kai got kicked backwards. He was certain he was going to break a bone but the White Ninja caught him before he could fall off the edge. "Thanks..."

"Of course"

"Okay, now come on. Friends don't hit friends" Jay crossed his arms, giving his friend a 'disappointment mom' look. Cole them proceeded to kick him. The Blue Ninja grabbed his abdomen, grunting in pain, "Ow, okay... I-I-I-I'm gonna ignore that— AHHH!!" Cole then charged at him directly, sending him flying off.

"Jay!!" Everyone screamed at the same time. Knowing the other two wouldn't get to him in time, [name] used his Wand to catch him. He fell onto his butt as the weight pulled him down and towards the edge as well, the others quickly went to help him pull the fallen teen up, tipping the tree house even more, which made it trickier to keep their balance.

"That is a serious safety hazard!!" Jay lamented from his miserable position, also lowkey worried the ribbon would break.

Cole, not giving a single shit since he was brainless at the moment, wobbly walked over to the last rope and raised his scythe, it glistened in the sun, making the trio look. "NO!! No, Cole! Don't!!" He didn't even spare them a look.

"Hey, what's going on up there!?" Jay screamed, now proper panicked.

Suddenly, soft and calming flute sound filled the air, cutting through all the screaming and one squeaky ass treehouse. Everyone paused in confusion, even Cole. He lowered his scythe, gripping the side of his head, [name] smiled a little feeling his aura go back to normal. The Black Ninja slowly looked around, disorientated, "Huh? Where-where am I? What are we doing?"

"We're getting outta here because this whole place is coming down!" Nya announced, her and Wu (holding a familiar instrument, at least to [name]) arriving on Flame's back.

"Pull!!" The youngest ninja exclaimed, doing so himself to finally get the Blue Ninja back up.

"I got this!" Cole rushed over to them, Zane motioned for Kai to move and they both got out of the way. [Name] and Jay shared a moment of panic as the former started slipping towards the edge again, but then Cole picked him up no problem and pulled back, which also meant Jay got pulled up.

Everyone quickly made their way onto the dragon, which was a little (understatement) cramped with all of them there. "That flute! It cancels their powers!" Kai pointed.

"It's as old as the Serpentine themselves. But we must hurry! The Monastery is unguarded! Quickly!" Wu exclaimed and Nya gave a nod, promoting Flame to move.

Jay sighed, trying to calm his heartbeat. "How did you know we needed help?"

"The spirit smoke showed him"

[Name] frowned, "So you saw my epic fail?"

The man looked at him with sympathy, "I saw you being the first one to react. Had the circumstances been different, I know you'd do an excellent job" The Lavender Ninja only huffed, looking away and crossing his arms.

It's the second time his only actual power has proven to be completely useless.

❤️🖤💙🤍💜

When they finally got to the monastery it was in flames, already more than halfway burned down (and I mean, fair, Flame The Dragon had a lot to handle, so we can't blame him for being slow).

"We're too late. Those snakes..." Kai growled as they watched the damage from Flame's back.

The other dragons started roaring, crying for help as the stables were almost completely swallowed by smoke. "Rocky!" Cole exclaimed in panic, making Nya motion the dragon to land so they could get down. The Black Ninja quickly rushed to free the dragons while the others tried to wave the smoke away. Seeing their poor attempt, Flame used his wings to clear the air.

[Name] coughed and gave the dragon a weak smile, "Thanks, buddy" Flame let out a soft roar in acknowledgement. Soon more roars and pairs of wings to clear up the air joined him.

"Shard! Put this out!" Zane commanded, making Shard roll his eyes before doing so.

Everyone regrouped as the flames were extinguished and the smoke cleared up completely.

[Name] stared blankly at the burnt ruins, "Our home..."

"The training equipment's gone" Zane noted with regret.

"Our video games are gone!" Jay exclaimed dramatically, leaning on his shoulder.

Wu took a closer look before sighing, "They stole their staff back"

"What do we do now?" Cole asked, but the man only shook his head, not knowing either.

They were homeless now.

It didn't take long for the thought to sink in, not for [name] at least. Actually, it was his first thought, immediately followed by, 'My parents cannot know about this. Ever.'

If they find out about this—

"If you hadn't followed that silly bird, none of this would've happened!" Kai's angrily screaming in Zane's face summoned the youngest boy back to the present. The normally comfortingly warm aura turning dangerous with the Red Ninja's fury.

"Kai," Wu gave the teen a firm look.

"No, Sensei, he's right!" Jay exclaimed before turning to Zane, his aura also quickly shifting. "Because of you, my high score has been deleted!" At that Cole also turned angry, now the bad energy started to give [name] anxiety.

"It's always about video games with you!"

"The first one was a joke! To light up the mood! And you have no idea how long it took me to get that score!! And don't act like you don't always obsess over cake!!"

Cole gasped, "So what!? Kai's always obsessing over his hair!"

"Hey! You're just jealous I look like me and you look like you!"

The Black Ninja raised a brow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Jay rolled his eyes, "Stop acting like everyone's in love with you already"

"Stop acting like my sister would ever go out with someone like you!!"

"Kai!!" Nya glared at him as the Blue Ninja looked away with a kicked puppy expression.

[Name] squeezed his eyes and covered his ears, hoping this will block the angry auras that started to overwhelm him to the point it hurt.

"What? I'm just saying the—"

His head hurt, he felt dizzy.

"Just because you're my brother doesn't mean you have any right to dictated that!"

His chest hurt, he felt as if he couldn't breathe.

"I'm not dictating any—"

Every single muscle hurt, as if strained from some epic workout.

"Enough!!" Wu screamed, raising his voice over all the teens' making them turn in his direction. "We are all at fault. And arguing will only cause more harm" He walked over to [name] and put a hand on his shoulder. As the whole group set their eyes on the youngest member having something close to a panic attack all their anger immediately disappeared, making their auras shift in sadness and guilt – which were definitely less overwhelming. The boy let out a breath in relief, but felt too awkward to look at any of them. Wu turned to the rest with a stern expression, "Zane is your brother. Apologize at once"

Humbled and feeling most responsible Kai sighed and turned around to where Zane once was, "I'm sorry, Zane, I—" Everyone looked at each other in confusion as the White Ninja was nowhere to be found.

Nya gasped then pointed at the sky, "Look!" They saw Shard flying off, he was too far to see it but they were sure the 'lost' teen was with him. "Zane..."

[Name] stared after the dragon, shaking his head lightly in disbelief. There was no way Zane of all would just get up and leave them like that, he was fucking sure of it.

The problem was, he had no idea why he left then...

💙🐍💙

Having made their escape, the Hypnobrai tribe returned back to their tomb, with Skales at the very front and Lloyd being dragged behind them (for some reason). The boy looked up at the General and whispered, "Do something, General! You're still under my command, right...?"

The snake looked at him without much expression (or maybe I just can't read snake that much), the stopped and exclaimed with annoyance, "Enough!! I am the General! You will return my ssstaff at once!"

The other market narrowed his eyes at him before a stern, "No."

"You dare challenge my command?!" Slithraa slithered over to him and they engaged in a staring contest while the other snakes started chanting. To say Lloyd was lost would be an understatement.

Skales glanced around. "I guessss we'll have to fight for it... in the Slither Pit!" All the Serpentine cheered. Everything was quickly set in place, Skales gave the staff away to some other snake, then he and Slithraa took their spots at the middle of arena while the other snakes made room to watch from a safe distance. Lloyd got tied to some ice away from them, so not much better.

"Winner gets the ssstaff and leads the tribe! You know the rulesss. There are none, but in the Slither Pit, whatever I say goesss. Alright, fight!" At that the two started attacking each other, which wasn't all that... I dunno, intense? as one would imagine. While the snakes proceeded to punching each other in the face, the boy spotted something next to him. He titled his head at the piece of paper with some... drawing on it? Wait, wasn't that a map—?

His eyes widened, there's no way, right? Like, what are the chances one of the Serpentine tribes had the map to all the tombs? "Two weaponsss!" Lloyd glanced at the snake and then the fight. Slithraa wasn't necessary losing, but he wasn't necessary winning either. He took a step towards the map and reached out a hand, struggling a little before eventually managing to grab it. A small smile of victory crept onto his face as he hid the treasure in his hoodie. "Ssside winder!" The snake announced and pulled a level, making the arena tilt.

Slithraa tried hypnotizing Skales but got kicked in the face. The other than did some weird moves, confusing both his opponent and a good part of the crowd before delivering a particularly stylish kick. Yes, of course it was in the face. "...He used Fang-Kwon-Do!" Someone from the crowd exclaimed.

There was a tense moment where everyone held their breath, watching for Slithraa to get up, but he never did. The crowd cheered. "We have a winner!" The snake with the staff announced, making their way over to them. He handed Skales the staff and the snake's legs connected, replacing them with a tail while the loser lost his tail and got a brand new pair of legs. (Wait, I thought this was Ninjago, not Little Mermaid—)

"You will be loyal to me now!" The new general pointed viciously at his predecessor.

Slithraa looked humbled, "I... will do asss you command" Well that's not good...

"You!" Skales turned to the kid, causing him to tense up. "Leave and never return!" Lloyd quickly nodded in understanding.

He was promptly thrown out, and I mean quite literally.

❤️🖤💙🤍💜

The team set a campfire against the side of the mountain. Kai stared at the thing they called dinner with doubt, "Wh-what are we eating again?"

"Mud newt. Not bad for something that lives underground" Cole mumbled almost bored.

"What!?" Jay's eyes widened as he apparently missed the memo. He quickly spat it out, coughing. He then picked a nearby rock and threw it at a can. "Yeah! A new high s-sc-score!" He cheered, and let out an awkward chuckle. The others gave him a pitiful look.

"Remember, we must be thankful for what we still have" Wu said, making [name] cross his arms while Cole huffed.

"What do we have? Our home is gone!"

Kai sighed, "You know, I don't miss our home. What I really miss is Zane..." The other boys hung their heads, quietly agreeing with the statement.

Nya looked away, accidentally catching a familiar figure in the distance, "Zane?" The youngest boy's head immediately shot up, eyes sparkling even before he could actually see who was slowly approaching them.

Jay is apparently blind as he turned to the girl with furrowed brows, "Yeah, Zane. You know. White Ninja. The smart, strange one"

"No, you idiot!" [Name] shot him a look, making Jay frown at him. He pointed at the White Ninja, "Zane!"

Seeing everyone was looking at him, Zane gave a small wave. Everyone immediately jumped to their feet and rushed towards their friend, practically dogpiling him, "Zane!!" The White Ninja chuckled, trying his best to return the big hug.

After a moment, everyone but [name] pulled away. "Zane. We're so sorry for everything we've said. We're a team and that means we're all responsible" Jay said looking down and the other two nodded, Wu smiled at them.

"You don't need to apologize to me" Zane assured and the youngest boy finally pulled away.

The guys exchanged looks, confused. "But what about all those awful things we said? Isn't that why you left?" Kai asked for them all.

Zane lightly shook his head, smiling at them, "Of course not. I saw the Falcon again and I followed him"

There was a second of silence before Cole let out a light-hearted laugh, he threw an arm around the White Ninja, "That's our Zane"

"We're so happy to have you back" Nya smiled at him, everyone nodded to that.

Confused, Zane titled his head, "Why? Is it my turn to make dinner?" Everyone burst out laughing.

Wu placed a hand on his shoulder, "Yes, Zane. We would love for you to make dinner"

The White Ninja smiled at them, "But I already made it. Come. I want to show you what I've found. I think you will all be pleased" Zane started to walk away, everyone else exchanged confused looks before following him. After a good couple of minutes, they entered the Sea of Sands and soon a structure came into their view. [Name] squinted his eyes, letting out an amazed gasp once he identified the shape as a ship. "I can't explain it," Zane picked up as they all stared at the ship in the middle of a fucking desert in shock. "But I feel a strange connection with the Falcon. I think he's trying to help show us the path we need to take"

"...Do I smell pie?" [Name] asked as a certain delicious smell reached him, everyone immediately took a deep breath, delight sparkling in their eyes.

Zane grinned at them, "Cobbler berry. Oh, and I made myrtle berry and apple and—" He got cut off as all the teens sprinted towards the ship, cheering loudly. He chuckled quietly as he watched them race.

A hand was place on his shoulder and he turned to meet his Sensei's warm smile. "I'm proud of you, Zane. One day, I promise. We will find your family"

He shook his head lightly, "But I've already found them"

Wu's eyebrows rose in surprise before the smile returned, "I feel there's more to you than meets the eye. There's something special about you, Zane"

"Isn't there something special about all of us?"

The old man let out a laugh, "I guess you're right. Come now. It would be a shame to let them to eat all that pie" Zane gave a nod and they slowly followed the others.

❤️🖤💙🤍💜

At dinner, while the team was having the time of their life, [Name] felt a familiar, strong aura somewhere in the distance. It shifted from sadness to anger making the boy frown.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Six hundred men!

Yes, I'm listening to Epic while editing this—

I also almost choked on my tea just now, oop——