Chapter 15

Lloyd

If you read the last chapter and got confused, please reread it. The end got deleted somehow and I fixed it so yay

    Lloyd's heart fluttered as he walked closer and closer to Catori's tent. Gosh she was amazing: her eyes that sparkled in the sunlight, her soft, wavy, brown hair... Stop that Lloyd! You don't know if she's like... Harumi. He was in such deep thought, he wasn't aware of the person walking in front of him. They collided, and he dropped all the ninjas' clothes, as well as the fruits the girl was carrying.     "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry I-" he stopped and stared when he realized it was Catori. She stared back, both unable to pull away from each other's gaze. Lloyd looked down at the fruits that were scattered on the floor.     "Uhm, sorry I didn't see you Princess." he started to put the fruits in a pile. All the sudden he felt more exposed, especially since he wasn't wearing his normal clothes.    "Oh! No need to worry. And please, you don't have to call me princess, just Catori." she smiled sweetly. Her voice sounded calm but proud at the same time, silky like a dress in the breeze.    "Oh, okay."     They gathered their things before entering her tent.     "Where should I put these?" Lloyd held out the pile of clothes.     Catori carefully placed the fruits in a wooden basket, one by one. "Just over there in that brown basket. I'll take it to the cleaning." the princess stood up once she was done.     "It's fine. I can take it. You'll just have to tell me where to go." Lloyd was pretty sure he sounded stupid. Volunteering to do something but not knowing where to go. She smiled again, releasing the butterflies in his stomach. He picked the basket up and she held the leaves aside for him. He thanked her and they walked to the right, towards the entrance of the camp.     "So how long has your tribe been living here?" Lloyd tried to act casual, thinking back to when Nya told him to be himself all those years ago.    "Since the beginning of time. No one has discovered us, for they never dare to look in this jungle."    Lloyd nodded as they crossed a bridge. He peered into the murky water, chunky and unclean, looking as if oil was dumped in the river.    "Yes, the nature has been very strange ever since the Dark One was defeated. Rivers polluted, shadow figures, black rain."    Lloyd knitted his eyebrows in confusion and set the basket down.    "The Dark One?"    "Yes," she looked at him like he was supposed to know. "the one that possessed, what was his name? Garmadon?"    "Oh, you mean the Overlord." Lloyd's heart sank when he heard his father's name, knowing he'd never be the same even if he was brought back from the Departed Realm.    She waved her hand off. "Yes, whatever you call him. I saw you and your team fight the Overlord when I was only nine, you did quite well."     Lloyd blushed. "Uh, yeah. Thanks."    Catori smiled before continuing. "Ever since, the spirts of the dark have been released, and now, they have been worse than ever. We have discovered the spirits perish under the touch of titanium, so that is why we carry titanium arrows," she patted her quiver, metal sticks gleaming in the sunlight. "luckily, they don't come around our camp. It is too loud and noisy for their taste." Lloyd picked the basket up again and they continued to walk across the bridge.     "I have a feeling this could all be connected to the prophecy."    Catori put her hand on Lloyd's bare shoulder, making his cheeks flush in a light pink.     "What prophecy?"     "Wait, you know it too?"     "I don't know, that's why I'm asking you."     Lloyd took a deep breath and recited the lines. She stared intently into his eyes, sparkling with curiosity. He could almost sense the gears turning in her head, trying to connect the prophecy with the current events.     "I heard those lines in a dream." she said half mumbling to herself as her eyes glazed the ground. Lloyd dared himself to push the curly strands of hair from her face.    "You did too?"    Catori locked eyes with the green ninja, specks of yellow and green shifting with the sunlight. "Yes.Why? Has anyone else encountered the same?"    "Yeah, Cole, the black ninja and Zane, the white one that's a robot."    "You have a robot? As a friend?"     "Uh yeah, it's a long story," Lloyd quickly brushed her question away. "we should tell the others about this. Does your father know?"     She nodded.    "Ok, good. We need as much help as we can to break the meaning."

    The two dropped the clothes off at the cleaning center, and walked back, taking among themselves about their life and various other subjects.     "I must teach you to use a bow. It will come very handy in your adventure," Catori jumped in the air with excitement and landed gracefully as an idea crossed her mind. "all your teammates should learn. C'mon, let's gather them by the shooting range and my brother can help." she grabbed Lloyd's hand and sped off towards one of the tents, that looked like all the other ones, except, this one didn't have a door and it was open like a shop.     "Is this where you keep your weapons?" Lloyd peered around the room. Spears and bows leaned against the walls, along with materials and arrows stacked in neat piles.     Catori dug out eight bows and walked over to the arrows that were already in their pouches.     "Yes. Would you help me carry the arrows?"     "Y-yeah, yeah, sure." Lloyd mentally smacked himself as he scrambled over to the pouches.    "Now, we shall find your friends." she flashed him a smile that made Lloyd's heart do a gymnastics routine.     Turns out, the ninja were lounging at the dining clearing, where they indulged in all sorts to fruits they'd never find in Ninjago. Looking at the fruit made Lloyd's stomach growl.     "You don't mind if I eat for a little bit? We didn't really get a breakfast."    "Of course."    Lloyd sat next to Kai on a log who happily chewed a banana. "Lloyd! Try these! They're so good!"     Cole rolled his eyes with a playful smirk while Lloyd took the yellow fruit from Kai's hands. Catori went to sit next to her brother who ate a white, jelly like fruit called lychee.     "So I have decided it would be best to teach you all the ways of the bow and arrow. Lloyd and I talked about it, and he agrees it will be very helpful in your journey."    The others concurred and stood up, each taking a bow and a quiver of arrows. Zane seemed excited, even if he already knew how to use bows, but he stated it never hurt to get a little extra practice. The group followed Catori to the shooting range, each taking a target made of wood. Lloyd felt confident. I mean, how hard can it be?

    It was hard. His aim was spot on, but the small minor details affected the outcome. The arrow would either fall off the string, or his stance would be wrong, or the wind would blow the arrow slightly to the left or right. Not to mention how sore his arms and fingers started feeling, constantly pulling the arrow back and fourth and the inside of his elbow rubbing against the string. He did have a guard, but after a while, it hurt. "Good. Feet shoulder width apart, chest up. You're elbow should be straight." Catori adjusted and educated Nya who was next to Lloyd. He peered at Zane who's arrows were in a cluster straight smack in the middle of the target. Even if Pixal never used a bow, she seemed just as good as Zane, probably because she's a nindroid. "You guys have spears right? I think imma' stick to that." Nya said as she lowered her bow to give her arms a rest. Catori shrugged. "Suit yourself. But I think it is wise to learn all different kinds of weapons. That is why I am glad you are trying this." Nya smiled and continued to shoot arrows. "Now, how is your target practice coming along?" Lloyd blinked to focus. "Uh harder than it seems." he sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. "That's okay. Let me see your stance." Lloyd stood with his feet a good shoulder width apart and chest backwards. His elbow was straight, like Catori said to do, but as he released the arrow, it flew to the left and he missed the target. "Oops. I'll get that." "No, it's alright. We'll clean up later. Get into your stance again." Lloyd did as he was told. He grabbed an arrow from the pouch and loaded it onto the string. She shifted from the left of Lloyd to his right and put her hands on his that was holding the arrow back. He hoped she couldn't see the blush visible on his pale skin. "I understand now why you cannot shoot right," she adjusted his fingers so that they held the arrow in between his pointer and middle. "you were using all three of your fingers before. Try this now." she stepped back, her soft skin instantly being replaced by the humid, hot air. Lloyd took a deep breath and released.      Thud. He hit the middle of the red. "Yes! You did it!" Catori cheered. His teammates glanced over and clapped. "Yeah. Thanks." he smiled kindly at Catori. "Of course. Keep practicing."

Luckily, by the time dinner rolled around, the ninjas' gis were washed and dried. It felt good to be in their clothes again, and this time Lloyd didn't feel so exposed. Dinner mostly consisted of fruits, vegetables, and insects, but Lloyd wanted to pass on that one. Only Jay seemed brave enough to try, and he liked it. Typical. (I looked up what people ate in the jungle and bugs were their only source of protein which makes sense but it's pretty... unusual 😂) Using his energy element for light, he climbed a tall tree and sat on a branch, looking out into the jungle biome. His teammates decided to get sleep early after dinner, but he was wide awake. Plus, it was nice to get some peace and quiet, staring out into the horizon, the bright moon and the stars against the midnight black sky. He wondered how Ninjago was coming along. Hopefully, nothing too big happened while they were gone. "Hi." Lloyd almost jumped out of his skin. "Oh phew. You scared me." Catori hoisted herself on his branch and sat next to Lloyd. She chuckled. "Sorry. I didn't mean to."      "It's ok." Catori drew circles on the wood with her pointer finger. "How did you find me?" Lloyd asked randomly. Catori shrugged. "I saw a green light in the tree and wanted to figure out what it was. And this is also my favorite tree to climb." she patted branch. Lloyd smiled. "That's cool." They went without talking for a while, listening to the crickets in the background and the sound of campfire songs in the distance. "How long have you been using the bow?" Lloyd asked hoping to break the awkward silence. "Since I was young, probably three years old. My father was very skilled at it, and he hoped I would be too." "Which you are." She smiled. "Thank you. How long have you been a ninja?" Lloyd thought about it. It was hard to judge, given he drank the potion and all that. "Well it's hard to say. I was in the great prophecy that I would defeat my father. We found out when I was about maybe eight and then I drank this potion which is a long story." "I feel like everything's a long story for you." Lloyd let a breath out. "Yeah, tell me about it," he stared out into the sea of trees. "anyway, that boosted me another few years, so that made me about thirteen. And ever since then I've been a ninja." Catori was silent for a moment. "So that makes you eighteen?" "Yeah, basically. How old are you?" "Eighteen as well." Lloyd blinked and smiled. "Really? When's your birthday?" "You mean when I was born?" "Uh yeah, sure." "May 23, 2001." the moon made her eyes look like they glowed in the dark. "Oh I'm only three days older than you, well technically you're five years older than me if I hadn't drank the potion."      Catori's smile faded. "When you said 'father', did you mean Garmadon?"      Lloyd looked down on his fingers and fiddled with them.      "Yeah. When I first found out, my father was devastated; I was too. But that was destiny, and I couldn't do anything about it. It didn't help that it was also part of the prophecy, and Sensei Wu said you cannot twist the line the prophecy is to fulfill."      "But you defeated the Overlord. What happened to your father then?"       "He wasn't destroyed. We didn't know how, but it was probably because I sucked all the evil out from him when I won the Final Battle," Lloyd could feel the tears starting to form in his eyes. "then everything was great after that," Lloyd's heart fluttered when he remembered the times he spent with his father during free days. Fishing, meditating, sometimes watching the sunset. "t-then he sacrificed h-himself for Ninjago when we..." he couldn't help it. The tears started to flow down his cheeks, into the dark abyss of trees below them.      "Oh I'm so sorry." Catori shushed him and wrapped her arms around Lloyd's shoulders. The green ninja wiped his eyes with the palm of his hand.       "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be crying like this."       "Oh Lloyd, it is okay to cry. You just stayed strong for too long," she rubbed his back. "I too lost my mother, when I was young."       Lloyd looked up from his lap and stared at Catori.       "Oh... I m sorry."       She sighed. "No need to be sorry. She died with honor, in a battle." she shifted her weight so that she wasn't touching Lloyd anymore. He didn't want to push it; she seemed like she was already grieving enough.      "I'm sorry I brought this idea to your mind. I had no idea."      Lloyd sniffled. "It's fine, I've been through a lot." Catori gave him a half smile that he returned. She dangled her legs that hung below the branch.      "We should go to bed now, it's getting late." Catori started to get up, but as she placed her heels on the bark, it slipped underneath her and she fell backwards.      "Catori!" Lloyd screamed. Unbelievably quick, he flipped over and balanced himself on the branch with his stomach, grabbing hold of her hand before she was out of reach. They both panted from relief and fear. A smile danced across Lloyd's lips.      "Gotcha'."       She smiled back as he pulled her up onto the branch.       "Thank you." they both looked down at their hands. Lloyd blushed as they hastily pulled their hands apart.       "Sorry." they both said at the same time.       "Uh, let's get down... before something else happens."       "Yes. Good idea." Catori agreed.       After climbing down the tree, Catori stopped in front of Lloyd's tent, where his other teammates slept. He could hear Cole snoring through the leaves and Jay sleep-talking about the bugs he ate for dinner.       "It was nice talking to you." Catori whispered, looking at the ground and swaying her arms a little.      "Yeah. Cya' tomorrow?"       Catori smiled and nodded. "Yes, tomorrow. Good night Lloyd." she finally made eye contact.       "G'night." Catori smiled one last time and turned to walk gently to her tent. Lloyd sighed dreamily.       Pushing the banana leaves to the side, he tip toed around his sleeping teammates and found a spot next to Kai. Cole's feet were draped on top of the fire ninja's stomach, while Kai's hands spread out in all directions. Jay and Nya huddled together in one corner of the tent and Zane and Pixal slept peacefully in one place, without their legs and arms flying in all sorts of directions. Ethan hugged Mr. Cuddlywump and snored quietly, unlike his brother. Lloyd yawned and laid down, placing both his hands underneath his head and drifting to sleep.

    The next morning the ninja packed up for their journey and met in the chief's tent. Catori volunteered to come along and guide the ninja, but Chief Akecheta felt uneasy. Lloyd really wanted Catori to come, it would give him a nice chance to get to know her better and hopefully get closer.      It took a lot of persuasive words and promises until finally he agreed.      Lloyd's heart did a leap in the air. He tried to hide the growing smile on his face, but Nya noticed and smirked. Lloyd gave her a warning glare but she just giggled. The chief ordered Chaska to help them pack and eat breakfast before leaving, but held Catori back as she began to follow. Her brother noticed and quickly bowed before leaving the tent, the ninja following behind. Lloyd glanced backwards confused and turned as the leaves fell back to hide the two family members. Lloyd clearly understood the conversation was to be spoken in private.      Entering the next tent, the ninja were greeted with multiple people who handed them their bags, filled with new supplies and food for the road. The villagers spoke to Chaska in mandarin, pointing in the direction of the weapon tent.      "They said your weapons are sharpened and ready in the tent." he translated. The group said their thanks and headed across the camp to gather their weapons. Lloyd took a quiver of titanium arrows and a bow, his teammates following in return. They walked to the dining clearing to eat breakfast. It had been a good ten minuets, but Catori still hadn't returned. "Guys, can you get me a banana or something like that? I'll be back." Kai gave him a thumbs up. Lloyd sprinted to Catori's tent, slowing to a stop and debating on whether it was safe to go in. "Catori? Are you in there?" No response. Lloyd ran across to the other side, looking for Chaska and asking him instead when he heard the soft, silky voice of Catori protesting in Chief Akecheta's tent. Lloyd quietly padded to the back, hidden by the thick banana leaves. He deliberately stood underneath a tree, so that if he needed to hide, he could easily jump upwards.     It felt wrong to eavesdrop, but he had to know what was taking her so long.      "So you're saying that Shén Yù decided to speak to you recently? As in last night? The night before I leave?"      "Please Catori, calm down. We don't understand what it could mean."      She sighed.      "Just be careful on your mission, qǐng？wǒ ài nǐ。" (please? I love you.)    "wǒ ài nǐ。" (I love you.) The leaves parted and Catori walked out. Lloyd quietly hid behind the tent, waiting before her steps faded to silence. Sighing, he jumped upwards into the tree and decided to go back that way, swinging from vine to vine. Lloyd got there before Catori, and reached for the extra banana Kai for for him. "Where'd you go?" Nya asked. "Forgot something in the tent," Lloyd lied and shrugged his shoulders. "turns out I had it the entire time." Nya huffed in amusement and continued eating a plate of greens. The group ate in silence before Misako and Sensei Wu peacefully walked in front to address the ninja, Chief Akecheta following behind. "Students, are we ready to leave?" Everyone nodded. "Let's continue. We don't have much time left." The ninja stood from their logs and grabbed their belongings. The village gathered around them at the entrance, saying their good lucks and goodbyes. "wǒ zhù nǐ hǎo yùn。qǐng xiǎo xīn。" (I wish you good luck. Please be careful.) Chaska pleaded and hugged his sister. She giggled. "hǎo。" (sure.) Lloyd walked up to Chief Akecheta and bowed. "Thank you for allowing Catori to come." the old man smiled. "Treat her well." "Of course." Zane came from behind Lloyd and placed a hand on his shoulder. "It is time to leave." Zane nodded to the Chief and he nodded in return. "Good luck Ninja. You will need it." They turned and set off deeper into the jungle, the early sun shining through the canopy of leaves. The crowd of villagers waved, small children running at their parents's feet. Lloyd turned and faced the future road ahead. They only had five days before the deadline, and whatever it was, can't be good.