circus4apsycho8

[circus4apsycho8]

knife to meet you. | cole x reader | chapter iii

A/N: I don't know what's wrong with me, but I've been CONSISTENTLY WRITING???? And I'm already starting the fourth chapter for this fic??? What is happening!!

Anyways, chapter 3 is here! I hope you all enjoy. Thank for all of your support so far!

Masterlist for this Fic

Wind batters the ancient walls of the monastery, silence creeping through the hallways as you down the remnants of your morning beverage. Nya and the ninja are nowhere to be found, and you’ve yet to see Wu today. On any other day, the silence wouldn’t have bothered you, but something is…off, somehow. You can’t put your finger on it, but something in the atmosphere is suffocating.

After you finish cleaning up, you decide you need some fresh air. You’d been meaning to explore other parts of the mountain anyway. Tucked underneath your arm is a blanket, your medical bag in your other hand as you proceed to the exit. You’ve probably just been cooped up too long.

Just before you’re about to exit the monastery, your peripheral vision catches motion from one of the open rooms. Halting, you glance at the source.

Sensei Wu is kneeled in his meditation room, thumbing through a photo album. Next to him rests his tea kettle, steaming with his latest brew as he gazes at the people in the photographs. The elderly man senses that you’ve stopped, eyes lifting from the photo album as he snaps it shut.

Realizing that you might be intruding, your eyes widen. “I’m sorry, Sensei. I hope I didn’t interrupt.”

Wu shakes his head, closing the album and pushing it to the side. “Oh, you’re not interrupting. I was about to check on the dragons anyway.”

As Wu reaches for his teacup, you can’t help but glance back at the album. Printed on its worn, muted gold cover is the symbol for Creation - you remember seeing the same symbol in one of Mystake’s books. Underneath that symbol is another one - this one stands for remembrance.

Interesting.

Sensei rises from his position, accompanying you down the hall. In one hand, he carries his bamboo staff while his tea kettle hangs from his other arm. “Have you been settling in well?”

“Yeah! Everything’s been going great,” you answer as the two of you approach the sliding doors.

“I am glad to hear it. Change is neutral and carries no regard for those it affects. Adjusting can be difficult, so I’m glad everything is working out so far,” he muses as you pull the doors open with your free hand.

Not to your surprise, the ninja are nowhere in the courtyard; in their absence lies an empty, eerily silent training course. “Where’d the guys go? I haven’t seen them all morning.”

Sensei Wu pushes a button on one of the monastery support beams. In response, the obstacle course retreats into the ground. “They went out earlier, to investigate something Zane found last night. I’m not sure when they’ll return.”

“I see. Well, I’m going to go look for ingredients for potions. Everything I need should be on the mountain, so I won’t be far in case they need patching up after.”

“Ah, ingredients, you say? You’re welcome to use some of the herbs from my tea garden, if you like,” he says.

“You have a tea garden?” you say, grinning at Wu.

“Certainly. Mystake’s tea blends are the best in Ninjago, and her brand is the only one I drink. However, I’ve yearned to create my own brand of tea for some time now. So, I learned how to grow my own herbs and have been trying to craft the perfect tea recipe ever since.”

“I see,” you reply, tilting your head in thought. “You know…part of my work at Mystake’s shop involved me helping out with her tea blends. So, if you need help, I’d be willing to lend a hand.”

Wu considers your offer, a thoughtful expression on his face as he nods. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you.”

…

It only takes you about fifteen minutes to find Wu’s garden, and an additional half hour for the ingredients you need. The fresh air helps clear your head, ridding you of that strange, oppressive atmosphere you’d felt earlier.

Why do I feel so weird today? you wonder as you pull open the massive courtyard gates. I’ve probably just been cooped up in here too long. Maybe I can go out with Nya later.

An herbal scent draws you back into the present, beckoning your gaze towards the source. Sensei Wu sits in front of a stand filled with incense sticks, pale smoke ascending to the sky. Deciding not to disturb him, you return to your room.

A flurry of motion flinches when you push the door open. You jump in response, realizing Nya is back. She must have been hard at work over her desk, if the series of writing utensils and blueprints on her desk say anything.

“Nya,” you realize, chuckling at the scare. “You’re back.”

“You scared me!” she exclaims, settling a hand over her chest as she laughs. “Yeah, sorry. I went to check on the dragons this morning, and you were still sleeping. I didn’t want to wake you.”

“I see,” you say, setting your bag next to your bed and coming to sit next to her. “What are you working on?”

The black-haired girl grins, rotating the pencil in her grip so that she can tap the eraser on the page of schematics. “Well, a few different things. First of all, the last mission made me realize that we need some form of long-distance communication. I’m thinking maybe earpieces? That way, the ninja can wear them underneath their hoods, and they wouldn’t be super bulky,” she frowns, tracing the outline of her sketches. “For me, I’m going to rig my bracelet into a communicator. We’ll have to figure out something for you. But we can wait to decide on that until I’m further in the design process.”

You nod in acknowledgement, scanning her notes and sketches. You don’t really understand any of it, but it’s still cool to look at. “Wow…this looks complex. Having a way to communicate over long distances would be helpful, though.”

She flicks the pencil back onto the paper, swiveling towards you as she shakes her writing wrist out. “I hope they’ll help. The designs are going to be a bitch to make, but I think Jay and I can swing it.” She punctuates her sentence with a sigh. “How about you? What have you been up to? I know it’s kind of a slow day until they get back.”

“I just gathered some herbs from that small section of forest up here,” you reply, shrugging. “I’m going to try and mix some medicines later on.”

Nya nods, swiveling back towards her work. “Got it. Maybe when they return, and you’ve patched them up, we can go out. There’s something I want to show that I’ve been working on, but it’s kind of far-”

“Nya?” interrupts Sensei’s muffled voice from the hallway. You and Nya glance at each other, the urgency in Sensei Wu’s tone alarming you. The two of you hop out of your chairs, rushing over to the door.

Before Nya even gets the door all the way open, she starts responding. “Sensei, what is it?!”

“The ninja are in trouble,” Wu answers, clutching an aged flute in one hand. “I had a smoke vision of them. We must go help them.”

“Got it,” Nya turns to you. “We’ll be back as fast as we can!”

“Okay. Be careful!” you call as the two rush down the hallway.

An overwhelming sense of helplessness overcomes you as you pace around the monastery. All of your potions are already prepared, so there’s not much you can do in terms of prep. It’s a matter of waiting now, which is the worst part.

Biting your lip, you pace around the monastery, your medical bag slung over your shoulder and at the ready. It probably hasn’t even been ten minutes since Nya and Wu left, yet it feels like it’s been hours. Nya was right about the team needing communication devices - not knowing what’s going on is eating at you.

Maybe I’ll just wait outside so I can see when they get back, you think, heading for the front sliding door.

Pushing your bag out of the way, you move to open the door. To your surprise, it doesn’t budge.

“What the hell?” you mumble, hands drifting to the lock. Just as you thought, it isn’t latched. So why isn’t it opening?

Uneasiness creeps throughout your tummy as you tug on the door one more time, frowning at its refusal to open. Something deep inside your gut tells you that the chill of the draft isn’t the reason why the hairs on your skin are standing.

“Something is coming. Be careful,” whispers an unfamiliar, feminine voice. You jump, gasping at the nearness of her words. When you swivel your head, however, it reveals no one else in the hallway with you. Words freeze in your throat as you shake your head, trying to get ahold of yourself.

“What’s coming? Who are you? Are you the lady I saw outside?” you wonder, voice cracking a little as you try the door again. It’s still not opening.

“Yes. Snakes. I cannot hold this form for long. Please prepare.” With that, the atmosphere lightens as the presence evaporates. You swallow at the lady’s warning, questions buzzing about your mind.

Man…what would Mystake say if she were in your position? She’d tell me to listen to my body and instinct. She always said that if you feel as if something is wrong, then you’re probably right, and to never doubt your intuition.

You don’t feel threatened by…whoever that was, and you wouldn’t put it past the serpentine to try and steal their staff back. You decide to heed her warning; you can always try to figure out who she is later. But how are you supposed to prepare for an attack? The only thing you can think to do is lock the gate. Not to mention that you’re still learning the monastery’s layout.

Your mentor’s words echo in your mind: Don’t freeze. Make a decision. Doing something is better than doing nothing.

Swallowing your fear, you try the door again. This time, it swings open. You dash towards the gate, holding your medical bag steady against your side. With a grunt, you swing the swiveling wooden latch into place.

Autopilot kicks in when you realize that the snakes will probably ransack the place looking for their staff. It’s too bad you didn’t see where Sensei Wu hid it, otherwise you could take it with you.

Running through the memories of items you recall everyone using, you decide to collect sentimental items that can fit in your bag. You manage to grab Jay and Nya’s blueprints, the siblings’ twin, custom-made knives, a container of Kai’s hair gel, Cole’s art supplies, Jay’s handheld gaming console and invention journal, a few of Zane’s books, and Sensei Wu’s photo album.

Mental note to thank Mystake for making this bag so big, you think when the zipper closes your packed bag with ease.

As soon as you finish, the ground shakes in response to something booming outside. You gasp as shouts emanate from the direction of the courtyard, eyes widening when you realize you’ll be the first thing the serpentine see if they get inside.

So much for the gate.

At the thought, you dash through the monastery, ducking inside the guys’ room and locking the door. Thankfully, your memory was right - they do have a window, and outside of it, there’s just enough room for you to walk around the perimeter.

“Find the staff!” commands a voice - this time, a familiar one. Maybe one of the snakes you and Nya eavesdropped on at Jamanakai? “Burn this pathetic place to the ground! Ensure the ninja have no home to return to!”

As soon as the leader stops talking, chaos ensues: the snakes cry out, immediately tearing the building apart. Glass shatters, footsteps thunder through the halls, furniture is torn and ripped apart.

With no time to waste, you slide the windowpane up. Shrugging your bag off your shoulder, you push it through the window first. After giving yourself a boost on the bunk beds’ nightstand, you manage to haul yourself through.

Your landing is ungraceful, but it works. A grunt escapes you as you pick yourself back up, grabbing your bag again before looking around. You’re on the back portion of the mountain now, and there’s not much room for you to walk on. There are only a few feet between the monastery walls and the edge of the mountain, so you follow the walls.

Fear tightens your throat, wind whipping against your skin as you work your way along the side of the monastery. You force your gaze to remain on the path, paying no heed to the mountain’s looming height. As you walk, a smoky scent starts drifting about the air as the chaos inside rages on. Even so, you continue forward.

To your dismay, once you round the corner, your pathway ends. It’s blocked by a windowed wall of the monastery, meaning that you’re going to have to cut through inside. Cursing underneath your breath, you crouch down underneath the kitchen window. You need a plan.

Okay…where should you go, first of all? Everyone else is gone, so you’re on your own, and you sure as hell don’t stand a chance against the snakes. You wrack your mind for a solution before recalling something that Nya and Wu said earlier.

“The dragons!” you realize. Sensei Wu said he had wanted to check on them earlier, meaning that the ninja hadn’t taken them on their mission. If you can make it there, you could hunker down with them. Unless the serpentine thought to light the keep on fire too…

You shake that thought away, deciding to tackle one problem at a time.

Decision made, you peek through the kitchen window. From what you can see, it’s clear for the moment, but thick plumes of dark smoke have gathered above. Flames have consumed the left hallway, meaning that you’ll have to make a break for the keep from one of the windows facing the courtyard.

First Spinjitzu Master, help me. Here goes nothing.

You’re not so lucky with this window - it’s locked. You reach down into the pockets of your bag, pulling out a knife you’d taken from the ninja’s room. The hilt seems hefty enough to shatter the glass. With a grunt, you slam the butt of the blade down onto the glass, flinching as it shatters. Glass pools at your feet, the noise drowned out by the chaos emanating from the main side of the monastery.

Tucking the knife back in your bag, you start climbing into the monastery. Remnants of glass nick your hands as you hoist yourself inside, leaving your palms stinging and bloody. Heat singes your skin as you rush towards the other window, smoke ravaging your lungs and throat. Through coughing fits, you make it to the window and manage to unlock it.

Once you push it up, you spot a group of snakes huddled near the front of the monastery. The path past the gate seems clear otherwise; you just have to make it. Hopefully the dragons can bail you out if the snakes chase you.

Okay. Here you go.

Initially, the snakes don’t notice you clambering through the window, too focused on watching the monastery burn. You immediately break into a sprint, bag jostling against your torso as you pass the gate despite your efforts to keep it steady. Voices shout from behind you, but you don’t stop to look back. Instead, you run faster, lungs burning as you resist the urge to cough again.

When you make it to the stretch leading to the keep, you force yourself to keep your eyes ahead. You don’t focus on the fact that you could tumble to your death with a single misstep.

Your heart breaks when you realize the serpentine had lit the dragon cave on fire. Roars pierce the air, prompting you to scramble for the lever embedded in the wall.

“Fuck!” you yell when the lever turns out to be harder to pull than you anticipated. The blood on your hands isn’t helping either; your grip keeps slipping. Frustrated, you fish a medical towel from one of your bag’s many pockets, using it to secure your grip. Adrenaline rushes your muscles when you hear the serpentine approaching. “Come on!”

With a strangled cry, you finally manage to pull it all the way down. Gears screech from within the cave, the wooden gates retreating into the earth moments later. Shard and Wisp stomp out of the cave, immediately taking flight while Rocky lingers behind, stepping out of the fiery portion. He growls at something behind you, prompting you to turn around.

You gasp when you see a snake closing in on you. He wields a twin set of katanas, zeroing in on you. What he fails to notice is Shard hovering in the air across from you, the dragon’s powerful wings pumping gusts of wind in your direction. Icy blue breath erupts from his jaws, freezing the snake solid against the mountain.

“Thank you, Shard!” you yell, voice hoarse. He roars in response, ascending to the top of the mountain and leaving you with the remaining dragon. “Rocky! Are you okay?!”

The dragon whines, nuzzling your hand when you pet him. He crouches, lowering his wing to the ground. You waste no time climbing atop the dragon, sitting in Cole’s usual spot. Thankfully, Rocky doesn’t wait for you to take the reins. Once you’ve got a secure grip on him, he rushes out of the flame-filled cave, wings taking it from there.

Tears gather in your eyes when you spot the monastery completely ablaze. Rocky hangs back so that you’re not exposed to the whelm of smoke rising above the mountain, letting Wisp and Shard take turns blasting ice or sparks at the remaining serpentine. The bastards finally seem to be retreating, but the damage is done; what remains of the monastery is nothing more than a pile of flaming rubble and debris.

“I can’t believe it…” you mumble, watching as Shard begins spraying the remaining flames with his icy breath. “It’s…it’s gone.”

Rocky responds with a mournful growl, coasting on the air as he circles the mountain. You blink a few times, your surroundings not feeling real anymore. Dizziness sways your vision as the events replay, mind having trouble processing everything.

Rocky deems the mountain safe enough for you to land a few minutes later, gently descending to the ground. When you slide off his back, he nuzzles his snout into your shoulder.

“Thank you,” you whisper, petting his scales a few times. Rocky merely leans into your touch, sorrow lacing his eyes.

You collapse to your knees, pulling the strap of your bag off your body as Rocky lays down next to you. With the adrenaline wearing off, your skin is starting to sting with the mild burns you probably got inside the monastery. Even so, you elect to hold off on using any supplies until the ninja have been treated.

With the back of your hand, you pet Rocky. He closes his eyes at your touch, adjusting his head so that he’s resting on his forelegs. Another soft dragon groan from your other side catches your attention, a draconic shadow looming over you. Turning, you spot Shard slinking up to you.

“What is it?” you wonder. You swear these dragons can understand you.

Shard sidles up next to you, enveloping you with his wing from behind. The chill from his freezing body temperature numbs the burns on your skin, making you sigh in relief.

“That’s…that’s better. Thank you, Shard.”

Wisp wanders in front of you, growling softly as he lowers his snout to you. Not wanting to leave him out, you give him a few reassuring pets.

For a while, you simply process the event alongside three dragons as you wait for the others. Your thoughts zigzag to miscellaneous questions: what would the others say when they returned? Where are they? Are they hurt? Who (or what) warned you about the serpentine? Was there anything you could have done to stop the serpentine from burning the monastery down?

Your thoughts are interrupted when Shard retracts his wing, standing at attention. Rocky gently bumps your shoulder with his snout, urging you to stand. Obliging, you study the dragons’ reactions. It takes you a minute or so, but finally you hear the distant roar of Flame approaching.

To your relief, everyone is aboard the dragon. Okay, that’s good at least: no one seems critically injured. You and the dragons step to the side when Flame hovers overhead, sailing down once he has a clear area to land.

The ninja are the first to descend, surveying the area as they flip their hoods off. Jay, Cole, and Zane make their way to their respective dragons, making sure they’re okay.

“Our home…” Kai mumbles, trailing off as he processes the damage. Nya rushes out from his side, making her way over to you.

“Are you okay?!” Nya questions, gesturing to the mild burns on your skin. “Oh, god, one of us should have stayed with you.”

“I’m fine. You couldn’t have known. Is everyone else okay?”

“Just a few bumps. But this…” Nya trails off as everyone gathers together. Grief and shock bubble in the atmosphere, merging into a tension that has you fidgeting.

“The training equipment, gone…” Zane murmurs, petting Shard as he looks around.

“Our video games! Gone!” Jay cries.

“They stole their staff back,” Sensei Wu realizes. You remember what he told you about the monastery; it had been standing for thousands of years, and had been his childhood home. You can’t even begin to imagine the loss he’s experiencing.

“What do we do now?” Cole wonders, returning Rocky’s nuzzle with an embrace of his own.

The tension snaps when Kai crushes a piece of charred wood in his grasp, expression darkening as he swivels towards Zane. “If you hadn't followed that silly bird, none of this would've happened!”

“Kai…” Wu warns.

Fed up, Jay shakes his head. “No, Sensei, he's right! Because of you, my high score has been deleted!”

Zane’s expression falters as his teammates begin accusing him of something he couldn’t control. “This is a teaching moment. We must learn from this!”

Cole throws his hands up in the air, defeat scrawled on his expression. “A ‘teaching moment’? What's wrong with you? Don't you get it?! Everything is gone!”

You step in front of Zane, expression hardening. It’s not fair that they’re blaming all of this on him; Zane couldn’t have known the serpentine were going to attack.

Coming to the white ninja’s defense, you argue: “Not everything is gone. I managed to save a few sentimental items before they ransacked the building. And if you’re going to blame anybody, blame me. I was here, but I couldn’t stop them. Maybe there was something I could have done to prevent this from happening. Zane couldn’t have known they were going to burn the place down!”

Nya joins you, hands on her hips as she scowls at the guys. “Without Zane, you guys wouldn’t have found Lloyd’s hideout.” She steps up to her older brother, meeting his accusatory glare with one just as stubborn. “We could have planned this out better, but we didn’t. We’re all at fault here, and we’re going to learn from this.”

Sensei Wu steps in, gesturing for everyone to separate. You all do so, lining up together. “Yes, we are all at fault. Ninja, Zane is your brother. Apologize at once.”

Silence overcomes the groups, anger dissipating.. Kai turns first, regret lacing his eyes as he starts: “I’m sorry, Zane. I-”

When Kai trails off, everyone turns to look for the mentioned ninja. To your surprise, Zane is nowhere to be found. Neither is Shard.

“Zane?” Jay wonders, confusion lacing his tone.

“There,” Nya says, pointing to the sky. Off in the distance, you see Zane and Shard sailing through the air.

Sensei Wu sighs, rubbing his temples. “He will come back when he is ready, and you three will apologize to him. We may have lost our home, but we have not and will not lose each other. No matter how dire the circumstances are, we will never turn on each other. Disagreements are bound to happen, but we must learn to address them in a more productive manner. Let us take this experience to reflect on what we have lost and how to prevent something like this from happening again.”

“Yes, Sensei,” everyone replies in unison.

Sensei Wu nods, making his way towards the path to the dragon keep. “Good. I would like to have a few minutes alone here. Please head for the Mountains of Impossible Height; I will catch up shortly.”

“Yes, Sensei.”

As the guys head for the staircase, you gesture for Nya to stay with you. She quirks an eyebrow, wondering what you need.

“Can you grab the photo album out of my bag? My hands are still kind of bloody,” you request, glancing at the dried bits of blood sticking to your skin.

“Oh, yeah,” she says, unzipping your bag and fishing the book out.

“Sensei, before we go, I wanted to give you your photo album. I was able to grab it before I had to escape,” you say, watching as your friend hands the mentioned item to Wu.

“Ah…you saved our pictures,” he says, voice low as he accepts the album. “Many of us had irreplaceable photos in here. Thank you for bringing these to me.”

“You’re welcome, Sensei.”

Nya smiles softly, tugging on your bicep as she bids Wu goodbye: “Take your time, Sensei.”

…

An hour or so later, the six of you make the hike up to Sensei’s specified location. The dragons fly your group up the steeper bits. Eventually, you all find a spot big enough to sport everyone and the dragons.

Silence overcomes the group after Cole gives everyone a task to focus on. He and Kai are setting up a makeshift tent together while Jay and Nya search for firewood. You’re tasked with finding edible plants in a nearby forest.

To avoid smearing your blood on everything, you pull on a pair of blue medical grade gloves when picking the plants. You leave your bag back at camp, grateful for the chance to give your sore shoulders a break from its weight.

Finding edible plants doesn’t take long considering how small the patch of forest is. Nearly fifteen minutes later, you return with an armful of potion ingredients, edible plants, and supplies. Kai and Cole have finished with the tent, and Jay and Nya appear to be finishing up with the firewood. As you bump into the others, you hand out the items you saved in hopes it would bring up the mood a bit.

Kai and Nya are first: for the siblings, you were able to grab some of Nya’s blueprints as well as a twin pair of custom-made daggers: one for Kai, and the other for Nya. The engravings and color on the blades differ, but they’re the same shape. You wonder if they came from the siblings’ blacksmith shop. Kai is also relieved to see that you managed to save one container of his hair gel, replying: “At least my hair won’t suffer!”

For Jay, you were able to save some of his blueprints, a journal filled to the brim with invention idea sketches, and a handheld gaming console that was in its travel case when you’d grabbed it. Jay thanks you with glassy eyes when you hand him his belongings, telling you that the journal and console were gifts from his parents.

Of Zane’s possessions, you were able to save three old books. Despite their age, they appear to be well cared for. You hope he’ll be back soon.

Lastly, you have a sketchbook and a set of art supplies that you suspect are Cole’s. You spot the black ninja shuffling the firewood that Jay and Nya collected over to the finished tent.

“Hey,” you greet, keeping your voice low as you approach him. “How are you holding up?”

Once he finishes tying a knot, Cole looks over to you. “Hey. I’m…okay, considering the circumstances.” He sighs, running a hand through his hair as he surveys the tent. “How about you?”

You shrug, gently tracing the line of your gloved palm with a finger. “I’m okay. I wanted to give you this,” you reply, taking his sketchbook and art supplies from your bag. “I was able to save it before they fully ransacked the place.”

Cole’s fingertips brush yours as he accepts his belongings, a ghost of a smile twitching over his lips. “My sketchbook…thank you.”

“Not a problem,” you reply, withdrawing your hand. No longer under the cover of the items, your gloves are now visible. Some of your bloodstains have darkened the blue fabric from underneath, making Cole frown.

The black ninja tucks his sketchbook and case of supplies underneath his arm. “Your hands… Did they hurt you?”

“Oh, no. This was just from me having to climb through a busted window. Some of the glass shards were still on the frame when I grabbed it.”

Cole cringes at the story, stare still not averting. “Here, guide me through your method of bandaging. Where are your supplies?”

You chuckle, shaking your head. “No, Cole, don’t worry about it. I can do it.”

The raven-haired male shoots you a funny look, shaking his head in response. “Come on, you’ve done it for me like…eighty times already, and you haven’t even been here for a month yet. At least teach me how to do it in case we have to administer first aid if we’re on the field.”

“Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of my job?” you wonder.

“Not if you’re far away,” he counters, spotting your bag a few feet away. You follow him, realizing that the Golden Weapons (minus Zane’s shurikens) were placed next to it while you were in the forest, all resting on the ground but not touching. The metal twinkles in the evening light, pulsing with a hint of energy.

“Good point. Maybe we should have a basic first aid class, then,” you muse, deciding you’d ask Sensei Wu about it later. “Okay, fine. Let’s sit down.”

He nods, snatching your bag from the ground while you make your way underneath the tent. Sidestepping the pile of sticks, you have a seat on the dirt. Cole settles in across from you as you peel the gloves off, letting them fall to the side.

“Okay, what first?” he asks.

“First, our priority is to stop the bleeding,” you instruct, peering at your cuts. Thankfully, the bleeding is coming to a halt. “It looks like my bleeding is slowing down, though. But, in the case that it wasn’t, you would use a bandage or cloth to stop it.”

“Got it,” Cole replies.

You nod, tipping your head in the direction of the bag. “Okay. Now, it’s time to clean the wound. I have a bottle of cleaning solution in there somewhere. It’s a little bottle with a teal-colored liquid. There should also be a pink cloth in there too.”

“Okay…” Cole mumbles, rummaging through your bag before pulling out the items. “These?”

“Yep. Pour a little bit of the liquid onto the cloth, then just dab on the cuts. I usually like to clean off the excess blood if the cut isn’t much of a worry at this point, but that’s more of personal preference.”

Cole nods, dampening the cloth with the antiseptic. Once that’s done, he gingerly takes your hand, making your heart bash itself against your ribcage. After he dabs at the blood for a moment, he glances up at you.

“What is it?” you wonder.

“I was hoping that you’d be cringing or hissing at the stinging,” he admits as he continues.

You frown incredulously at him, huffing a laugh. “Why?”

“Because I wanted to make fun of you for making fun of me when I cringed at the stinging sensation. Unfortunately for me, you’re not even reacting to it, which makes me look like a wuss.”

Not expecting his response, you can’t help but laugh. “Are you kidding me?”

“Nope,” he replies, moving to your other hand. You wonder if the others had been teasing him about it, hoping that they hadn’t been doing it too much. After all, you’re still getting to know everyone and their senses of humor. You don’t want to go overboard, so you elect to tone it down a bit just in case.

“You’re not a wuss,” you say after a few moments. “I mean, I’m not the one throwing myself into dangerous situations for the greater good.”

Cole doesn’t answer, instead focusing on cleaning the remainder of your hand. When he’s done, he glances back up to you. “Is that good?”

“Yep, perfect. Now, it’s time to bandage. See the gauze roll, tape, and scissors I have tucked in one of the inner pockets?”

“Uh…here,” Cole mumbles, fishing the items out.

You nod. “Go ahead and wrap my hands up. I’ll tell you when to stop.”

For some reason, you don’t focus as he wraps your hands. Instead, your eyes sneak peeks at his biceps, exposed underneath his rolled-up gi sleeves. When you catch yourself, you squeeze your eyes shut and admonish yourself. To keep yourself on task, you restart the conversation:

 “Are you feeling any different today? It looks like your symptoms are gone.”

“About that, I realized why I looked sick,” he replies, frowning when the gauze comes loose. He starts again, this time making sure to keep the gauze pulled tighter. “You know how that one snake almost hypnotized me in Jamanakai? Well, it turns out that the snake still had some kind of hold over me. It was able to hypnotize me while we were on the mission today. Thankfully, Nya and Sensei Wu arrived with his ancient flute that apparently cures snake hypnosis.”

“That’s…weird,” you answer, face scrunching in confusion as you process his explanation. “A flute that cures snake hypnosis?”

Cole shakes his head as he finishes up with your first hand. “I don’t even know. I’ve learned not to question Wu anymore.”

“Mystake was the same way,” you say, grinning at his reaction. “Just had the wackiest solutions to the most random problems. Must be an old-timer thing.”

Your heart stumbles when Cole smiles again; this time, you can see dimples dotting his cheeks. “Must be.”

With that, the two of you fall silent. As Cole works on wrapping gauze around your other hand, you look out towards the others. Everyone seems to be in their own little bubble for the moment. Kai and Nya are sitting together, facing away from everyone else and observing the sunset as they chat amongst themselves. Flame lays next to the siblings, accepting pets from Kai as Nya twirls her dagger mindlessly.

On the other side of the mountain is Jay, leaning against Wisp’s body. The blue ninja studies a page in his journal, expression taught as he does so. Last is Sensei Wu, meditating off to the side. Somehow, he still has his blue tea kettle; the item is in front of him, steaming with yet another batch of tea.

Did he take the kettle with him when they left…?

“Are you really doing okay?” you wonder, not quite thinking about your words as you speak.

Cole sighs as he snips off the unneeded gauze with your scissors. “Yeah. It’s just…being leader has turned out to be a lot harder than I thought it would be. I keep wondering if there was something I could have done differently to prevent this from happening.”

“You’re a leader, not a psychic. Your job is to lead the team and adjust your actions to the circumstances. You can’t blame something like the fire on yourself. There’s no way you could have known the serpentine were going to do that,” you say, nodding as he tapes the gauze in place.

The raven-haired ninja contemplates your words, tucking your supplies back into the bag.  “You’re right. I just…I don’t know, I can’t help but feel guilty still.”

“You have to give yourself some grace, Cole,” you add, recalling what Sensei Wu told you back at the tea shop. “You guys just got out of training, right? So, you guys are still learning. Not just as individuals, but as a team, too. Leading a team is no easy feat, but I think you’ve been doing a great job of it, if the battle in Jamanakai showed me anything.”

As Cole contemplates your words, he shifts so that his elbow is resting atop his knee. “How is it that your advice is on par with Wu’s?”

You shrug, wiggling your fingers to test out the gauze. It holds well, and while his handiwork is on the messier side, it still gets the job done. “Probably because I’ve lived with a crazy old woman for a while. By the way, nice job on these.”

“Thanks. Hopefully I’ll get better with practice,” he replies, admiring his work for a moment before zipping your bag shut with a sigh. “How about your burns? Don’t those hurt?”

You wave his concerns off. “Eh, I’ve had worse. I’ll get to them later. Thanks for your help, though. It would have been a bitch to try and bandage my hands on my own.”

“Yeah, thanks for teaching me.” Cole leans forward, arranging the sticks into a neater pile. Beside the tent, you spot a pile of hefty rocks, probably to help keep the sticks contained. Without a word, you start lining the rocks up around the pile while Cole works across from you.

“Do you think Zane will come back?” he speaks up suddenly, making you glance up at him.

“I know he will,” you reply. “He might just need some time.”

 “I wish I hadn’t been so hard on him,” Cold admits, shifting his attention to the rocks. “I wasn’t thinking straight, and I should have just walked away to let myself cool off.”

“Well, we’re all bound to have those kinds of moments. The important thing is that we learn from our mistakes. Like Sensei said, we need to take this time to reflect and improve.”

“Yeah. I’ve been thinking about it, and I might see if Jay and Nya can spruce up defenses wherever we end up next,” Cole agrees as the two of you complete the makeshift fire pit. All that’s needed now is a spark.

You nod in agreement, remembering Nya’s blueprints. “Nya was talking about getting earpieces made for you guys too. Hopefully having better communication will make things run more smoothly.”

“Yeah, I saw Jay working on schematics for those the other night,” Cole recalls before frowning. “By the way…I just remembered. You’re staying, right? I know Sensei said your trial period was up, but I never heard an answer from him,” he questions, leaning back on his free hand. It’s all you can do to maintain eye contact and not ogle his arms.

“Oh, yeah, I am,” you reply. “Why?”

He shrugs, averting his gaze to the horizon. “Well, it’s just…you know you’re part of the team now, right? You keep speaking like we’re something…separate, I guess.”

Do you? You hadn’t even noticed. Taking a moment to reflect on his words, you shift your position a little bit. “I…guess I do know, but it’s more of me not wanting to disturb your dynamic. You guys already have your own routine, your own way of life, and I just…I don’t know, I don’t want to intrude.”

“Well…” he trails off, rubbing the back of his neck. “I don’t want you to feel like an outsider. You’re a part of us now, so…um, I just want to make sure you don’t feel excluded or anything, I guess.”

“Oh, no, I don’t feel excluded. I guess it’ll just take me some time to get adjusted,” you assure, grinning when Rocky bumps Cole’s shoulder.

“Oh, shut up,” Cole grumbles, playfully whacking Rocky’s snout. The dragon growls, laying down next to Cole with a huff. Cole shakes his head at the dragon while you shuffle to the other side of Rocky, petting his head.

“Thank you for your help today, Rocky,” you mumble, giggling when the dragon nuzzles into your hand.

“He helped you?” Cole wonders, returning to a cross-legged position.

“Yeah, he flew me out of the monastery while the other two fought the remaining snakes off,” you answer. “Sweet dragon.”

“You’re unbelievable,” Cole retorts when Rocky flashes a smug expression to the black ninja. “But I’m glad he was of some use. He might have just earned himself another T-O-A-D,” he spells out, making you laugh.

Over the course of the next few minutes, the others start to join the two of you underneath the tent. Flame uses his breath to ignite the pile of sticks before the dragons retreat off to a more open area, all opting to rest. You’re positioned in between Cole and Nya as everyone snacks on the plants and berries you were able to gather.

Defeated chatter emanates from the group, and you find yourself zoning out as exhaustion overcomes you. For a few minutes, you find yourself on the verge of dozing off as the heat of the fire wards off the evening’s incoming chill. You don’t join in on the conversation, instead reflecting on the events of the day as you stare at the fire.

Just as your eyelids are about to drop, a commotion snaps you out of your groggy state. You jerk when you feel the others rushing out from the tent, stumbling to your feet and making your way over to Nya. To your relief, Zane stands in front of the others, Shard nearby. Thankfully, he doesn’t seem upset in spite of the apologies the guys are throwing.

The white ninja offers his signature, soft smile. “You don’t need to apologize to me.”

Kai frowns at the response. “But what about all those awful things we said? Isn't that why you left?”

“Of course not. I saw the falcon again,” answers the white-haired ninja, turning as he gestures to the sky. Sure enough, a falcon soars overhead, chirping along with Zane’s words. “And I followed him.”

Cole chuckles, shaking his head as he claps Zane’s shoulder a few times. “That’s our Zane.”

You can’t help but smile as everyone pulls Zane in for a hug, relaxing when the overwhelming sense of relief in the air floods you.

Nya pulls back first, settling her hands on her hips. “We’re happy to have you back.”

At her remark, Zane frowns as everyone steps back from him. “Why? Is it my turn to make dinner?”

The group laughs at Zane’s question while Sensei Wu steps beside the white ninja. “Yes, Zane. We would love for you to make dinner.”

“But I already made it. Come,” Zane responds, gesturing for you all to follow him as he turns around. “I want to show you what I've found. I think you will all be pleased.”

After you all shoot each other confused glances, you shrug it off and follow the white-haired ninja towards the path leading off the mountain. Just before your group rounds the corner, he pauses, turning back to you all.

“I can't explain it, but I feel a strange connection with the falcon. I think he's trying to help show us the path we need to take.”

Zane doesn’t wait for anyone to reply, instead gesturing for everyone to proceed. Turning the corner reveals…

…a ship?

It’s nothing like any ship you’ve ever seen, though – this one is a deep red, accented with gold in places and complete with a carved dragon on the bow. For a moment, you find yourself stunned at the sight – you take a moment to appreciate the design.

“Our new home,” Zane says, smiling at the team’s reaction.

After you all take a moment to process the sight, Kai immediately breaks out into a sprint, shortly followed by Cole and Jay. Nya full on growls, snatching your wrist and pulling you in the direction of the ship. “Come on, we can’t let those idiots nab the best room!”

A/N: I think my consistency with this fic is due to me getting to the juicy classes of my Creative Writing degree. I had my first writing class last month and I feel like I learned a lot. Got some great feedback. I'm going to try and apply what I learn here to practice!

Would love to hear what you all think of this fic!

Masterlist for this Fic

Rules for Requesting

[circus4apsycho8]

knife to meet you masterlist. | cole x reader

You're an apprentice medic training underneath the guidance of Mystake. One night, you're forced to put your skills to the ultimate test when two ninja arrive at Mystake's tea shop with a stabbed teammate. This lands you a job as the ninja's medic!

Warnings: mentions of blood and gore, cussing, possibly will add more warnings in the future

chapter i | It's a regular night at the tea shop until you're forced to treat a dying man's stab wound!

chapter ii | During your first week with the ninja, you meet Nya and get used to their way of life. Chaos strikes during your first impromptu mission with the team!

chapter iii | You're left alone at the monastery, not knowing that the Serpentine plan to steal their staff back.

chapter iv (coming soon!) | Everyone works to get the Bounty set up; Jay has a request for you when his parents come to visit.

Also available on AO3:

[circus4apsycho8]

knife to meet you. | cole x reader | chapter ii

A/N: Hello??? An update for a series that took me less than six months to write???? Let's go!

So, we've got girl bonding this chapter as well as our first impromptu job with the ninja :) Also I think this story is going to be longer than 3 parts.

Anyways, please enjoy!

Masterlist for this Fic

Word Count: 8.6k

“Alright,” Cole says, offering his hand out to you. “May I?” 

You send him a questioning glance, but place your hand in his anyway. His palms are warm, knuckles sprinkled with callouses. Similar to but fainter than the dragons, you feel a weak energy thrumming underneath his skin.

He secures a grip around your hand, turning you towards the saddle. With his free hand, he jerks on a thick loop of leather hanging off of the side. “You can step on this little loop right here. Once you’re up, use the grips on the front to haul yourself up. Don’t worry about falling; I’ll be here to spot you. Use my shoulder if you need to.”

“Alright...” you mumble, glancing towards the loop he mentioned. Your free hand moves to latch onto one of the spare grips on the side, your grip on his hand tightening as you pull yourself onto the side of the dragon. Once you’re steady, you release his hand and locate the grips he’d mentioned. You hoist yourself over, muscles straining as you pull yourself up. Finally, you’re high enough to swing a leg around to mount the dragon.

“Woah,” you mumble, gasping when Rocky stirs underneath you. “Okay, I’m good...I think.” 

“I know, it’s a weird adjustment,” Cole sympathizes, skillfully mounting the dragon in one clean step. For a moment, you find your cheeks warming as he settles in front of you, closer than you’d expected.

He reaches for the reins in front of him, causing Rocky to stand at attention. Your hands immediately fall to the scales of the dragon, searching for somewhere to hold onto. 

“Okay. You’ll have to hold on to me. If the wind gets to be too much, then you’re welcome to use my back as a shield.” 

“Oh...alright,” you mumble, arms hesitating as you wonder how you should hold him. After a moment of debating, you awkwardly circle your arms around the middle of his torso, doing your best to avoid his healing wound. “Is this okay?” 

“Yeah, you’re fine,” he confirms, glancing over at the others. Everyone else seems to be ready to go; the ninjas all have their hoods flipped up. The dragons growl in anticipation, with Wisp being the most antsy. Upon checking the others, Cole raises his voice so the others can hear: “Alright, guys, let’s go!”

“Last one there is the worst ninja!” Jay yells just before Wisp darts into action, his wings flapping chilly gusts of wind in your direction. A shiver wracks your spine as your grip around Cole’s waist tightens.

Cole’s shoulders shake with a chuckle as the other two follow Jay, dragons roaring once they’re airborne.

“We’re going to take it slow,” Cole says. “Alright, Rocky. To the monastery.”

 Rocky’s wings start to flap, and true to Cole’s word, he starts elevating slowly. Suddenly feeling off-balance, you lean further into Cole without thinking about it. 

“Whoa!” you say, heart racing as the dragons ascend. The shop grows smaller with every beat of Rocky’s wings, and the crowd around the store stares up at the beasts with the same awe you had earlier. 

“You okay?” Cole calls back as the dragon starts cruising forward, gradually building up speed. You notice that the others are drifting far ahead, hollering at each other.  

“Yeah, just nervous. And a little unsteady,” you admit, looping your fingers together. You scoot up a little farther, finally feeling a little steadier even though you’re basically pressed against Cole. He doesn’t seem to mind, much to your relief. 

“We’ll take it slow until you feel more comfortable with it.” 

You peer over the edge of the dragon, stomach lurching at the height you’re at. The sight makes your grip on the ninja tighten. You elect not to look down anymore, instead peeking over Cole’s shoulder.

The skyline of Ninjago City is splayed before you, your heart stuttering at the view. The windows of the taller buildings seem to sparkle in the morning light, while your mind envisions what it might be like to live there someday. What would it be like waking up to such a view every morning?

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” comes Cole’s voice, eyes staring in the same direction. “I hope we can start taking missions there too one day.” 

Despite the longing to visit the city, Cole passes it and continues straight ahead. You feel a little bit steadier now, loosening your grip on Cole as you stare ahead. 

“Where do you take missions, then?” you wonder. 

“Well, we just got out of training, so we haven’t had much time to complete anything yet. We went on a quest to find the Golden Weapons, which took us all across Ninjago. We’ve had a few run-ins with Lord Garmadon’s skeleton army, but we haven’t seen much of them since we left the Underworld.” 

“Wait, wait, wait!” You shake your head, unable to believe what you’d just heard. “You went to the Underworld?!” 

Cole nods. “Yep. Turns out, dragons can ferry between realms. We had to go in order to find Sensei Wu; he vanished after helping Kai and Nya escape Garmadon.” 

You pause in order to process what you’ve been told. The Underworld. What did you get yourself into? 

The black ninja chuckles. “Yeah, I know. It’s unbelievable. But we made it through, somehow. And now we’ve just been taking jobs for petty criminals in the meantime.” 

“I see,” you say, spotting a group of mountains in the distance. Atop the tallest one is... 

“There’s the monastery,” Cole confirms. “We’re going to land at the back so we can let the dragons rest. Just wait for me to dismount first so I can help you down.” 

“Got it,” you acknowledge, spying a set of stairs cascading down from the door. Are they supposed to climb that many steps every time?! “Why’s it on the tallest mountain? Do you guys always climb all those stairs?” 

“We usually travel with our dragons, but sometimes, yeah. It’s a great rock-climbing mountain, though.” 

Great! First, ninjas throwing themselves in the face of danger for fun, and now a ninja who also enjoys rock climbing. You certainly have your work cut out for you. “Of course you rock climb. As if one dangerous hobby isn’t enough. Tell me that you at least use...I don’t know, a harness or something, right?” 

"Why would I do that?” 

“Because there’s not much I can do for you if you fall and your body splatters across the earth like a water balloon!” you retort.

“Stars, that’s graphic. But you make a convincing point. I’ll look into it.”

The conversation comes to a stop as he approaches the monastery, guiding Rocky towards a gated cavern embedded within the mountain. The ninja steer their dragons into the cave, jumping off one by one. 

Cole follows suit, allowing Rocky to land on the edge and carry you both into the shade underneath the cave. The sudden absence of sunlight beckons goosebumps from your skin. Rocky hobbles in next to the other dragons, letting Cole reattach the reins to the front of the saddle.

You withdraw your hands from his torso, watching as he swivels his right leg over, jumping off skillfully and leaving you shivering without his body heat. With his back turned to you, he stretches his arms out.

It’s all you can do to glance away, cheeks warming at the sight of his muscles. That sleeveless gi suits him a little too well. 

“Ugh...I’m gonna be sore tomorrow,” he mumbles, spinning back around. “Okay, ready?” 

“I guess...” You swing your right leg back over the dragon, noting how Rocky crouches to help close the height gap. Still, it’s a decent height to jump down from. 

“I got you,” Cole assures, holding his arm out. “Just brace yourself and go for it!” 

“Okay...” you take a deep breath before sliding off. Your legs suddenly feel numb, causing you to stumble when you hit the ground.

Cole manages to catch you before you go tumbling to the ground, thankfully. “Woah! You okay?” 

“Yeah, sorry...I came down faster than I thought,” you admit with a nervous chuckle. You brace yourself on his arms, the blush on your cheeks eroding the wind-stained numbness on your skin as you hold onto him to balance yourself. “Also, my legs are shaking.” 

He laughs, letting you hang onto him while you steady yourself. “I know how you feel. I used to be scared of dragons, and my first ride was, well...rough, to say the least. The adrenaline you get from your first ride takes everything out of you.”

“You were scared of dragons?” you wonder, willing your knees not to wobble and give out. Your heart continues to race, skin still stinging from the wind.

“Yeah, before we met these guys, I couldn’t stand them. I also just don’t like being in the air – unless I’m rock climbing. But clearly, I had a change of heart,” he mumbles, smiling softly at Rocky before shifting his attention to the items strapped to the dragon. “Alright, we’ll go ahead and get this unloaded for you.”

You watch as he and Kai start unbuckling the cords, frowning as they begin unloaded. You don’t think his cut will reopen, but you’d rather him hold off on heavy lifting for a few days. “Hey, don’t strain yourself with the lifting. I’m going to be pissed if I have to waste a dose of Mystake’s special solution on closing your wound again.”

Your comment makes the two laugh, their voices bouncing off of the cavern walls. Cole snickers, shaking his head as he turns back to you.

“You are so mean,” he says, frowning in mock offense and gesturing towards the pile of luggage. “This isn’t even heavy for me!”

Zane steps around Rocky with Sensei Wu, offering a polite smile to you. “We will ensure he does not strain his injury.”

“Come,” Sensei Wu says, gesturing for you to follow him. “I will have Nya show you around the monastery while the ninja unload and set the dragons up for the night. Please, follow me.”

The elderly man pivots, staff gently crunching on the dirt as he makes his way to a staircase carved in the mountain. When you step out of the cavern’s protective walls, the wind returns to your face, stinging your skin once more.

A breath dies in your throat when you see just how high up you are; the fact that there’s no railing on the sides of the mountain makes you queasy. Regardless, you follow Sensei Wu, making sure to stick as close to the mountain as you can.

”This monastery has been home to me ever since I was a boy,” Sensei Wu explains, voice cutting through the wind. “It’s been standing for thousands of years and has seen generations of elemental masters.”

“So much history…” you mutter, tracing the side of the mountain with your hand. How many people have walked this path before you?

Thankfully, the path veers to the left and away from the edge, vertigo fading from your body. Now, you’re positioned at the top of the mountain, just before the monastery doors.

What startles you most is just how quiet it is up here; there are no merchants advertising their products, no bikers running about, no customers running to and fro. All you can hear are the distant yells of the ninja and the wind blowing through the trees.

“It’s so quiet up here,” you note, watching as Wu uses the steel bar welded on the gate to knock.

The old man chuckles, standing back and leaning on his staff. “Yes, and for good reason. Though, I understand it must be an adjustment after being a village for some time.”

”Yeah, it’s definitely going to take some getting used to,” you note, turning around as the two of you wait. “But I don’t hate it. It’s a nice break.”

To the left of the entrance lies a small patch of forest, its leaf canopy rustling with the wind. The trees sway, offering you a view deeper within.

To your surprise, a woman stands amidst the overgrowth. She stares at you with a blank expression, unmoving as her dress fails to react to the breeze. Her dark hair is pinned up loosely, also seemingly too still for the weather. You frown, wondering if you should call out to her. Did Wu not see her? Why didn’t she greet him?

Metallic groaning snaps you out of your trance, making you spin towards the gate. The doors are swinging open, revealing a new girl.

Her dark hair is cut into a bob, framing a pair of eyes that remind you of Kai’s. The girl lights up when she sees Wu. Behind her is a courtyard that precedes the interior part of the monastery.

“Sensei, you’re back!” she cries, pushing the gates all the way open. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes, Nya, everything is fine. The ninja are in the dragon keep, unloading. We’ll update you in just a moment.”

So this is Nya. You frown, eyes darting back to where the woman was, finding that she’s gone now.

Shivers erupt across your skin as Sensei continues talking with Nya. You shake it off, deciding to just ignore…whatever that was.

“We have a new addition to the team,” Sensei Wu says, catching your attention once again as he tells Nya your name. “She is our new medic. She was an apprentice of Mystake before she agreed to come work with us.”

Nya grins, breathing what sounds to be a sigh of relief as she waves at you. “A medic, huh? That’s a relief. Those idiots are gonna need one if they keep being as reckless as they have been. Regardless, it’s great to meet you! I’m really excited that I won’t be the only girl around here. The testosterone gets to be suffocating at points!”

Returning her friendly little wave, you grin. “It’s good to meet you too! And I’ve been around them long enough to know that I have my work cut out for me.”

”Would you please show her around?” Sensei Wu questions, shifting the staff between hands. “I need to take care of a few matters before the day ends.”

Nya nods, gesturing for you to follow her. “You got it, Sensei.”

“Thank you. The ninja should be up shortly with her belongings.” He glances at you for the next part. “Please, make yourself at home.”

You nod, smiling gratefully. “Thank you, Sensei.”

“I leave the rest to you, Nya,” Sensei says before making his way out of the gate.

You follow Nya through the clearing, listening as she tells you about the monastery. “Alright, so this is obviously the courtyard! There’s a little switch around here that reveals an obstacle course that we use for training…”

The courtyard is first. Nya shows you the obstacle course, noting that they mostly train in the courtyard. Next are the basic utility rooms - the kitchen, living room, et cetera. She shows you the ninja’s shared room, the bathrooms, and finally, her room.

“Last but not least, here’s my room. Though, I guess it’ll be our room now,” she muses, pushing the door open. You step inside, greeted by lovely red and blue themed decor with light accents of gold in places.

”Sorry that it’s kind of messy,” she mutters, kicking a piece of scrap metal to the side. “There’s not much space for us to tinker in. Sensei is still looking into getting me, Jay, and Zane a place for us to tinker, but we haven’t had much luck with that yet.”

You wave off her worry, instead curious about the contents of her room. “Don’t worry about it. You weren’t expecting anyone. But you build things?” you inquire, entering the space. A warm cinnamon scent drifts through the air, strong but not overpowering. One part of her room sports a desk with trinkets, mechanical bits, tools, and circuit boards scattered about.

She nods, passion glittering behind her amber eyes as she points towards the components on her desk. “Yeah! I like making new tech, whether they’re weapons, armor, robots…anything I can think of, really. Jay’s kind of the same, to be honest. Zane’s also handy with tools, so we’ve been collaborating on some blueprints lately. I hope we can get the time to work on some bigger projects soon,” she explains, pointing to a pile of blueprints stashed in the corner.

“That’s so cool,” you respond. “I don’t know anything about that stuff. It’s cool you guys can work on it together.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty fun,” she says, pausing in front of her bed. Her hands come to her hips as she surveys the area with a frown. “I guess we’ll have to figure out sleeping arrangements tonight. But we can deal with that later. Hopefully later on we can go shopping to find you some furniture. Then, we can change up the room format and split it evenly.”

You nod, wondering if she’s upset about having to share her already cramped space. “Yeah…um, I hope I’m not intruding or anything.”

Nya swivels to you with a grin. “Oh, no, not at all! Like I said, I’m really glad you’re here. We’re just going to have to do a little reorganizing. I can probably make an area outside for my stuff. But, please, don’t worry about that. You’re not intruding at all.”

You nod, knowing you’re probably just overthinking things. “Okay, I hope not. But that does remind me…does anyone else live here?”

”Nope, just the guys, me, and Sensei. And now you,” she answers.

Hm…no mention of that lady from earlier. Strange. You shake that thought off, about to ask her something else when the slamming of a distant door catches your attention.

“The guys are back,” she notes, tipping her head towards the door. “Come on, let’s go see what they’re up to.”

…

The first few days go by without a hitch; Nya sets up a spot for you in her room, the two of you agreeing to work on reorganizing over the next few weeks. That gives the two of you a good chunk of time to plan it out.

You check on Cole’s wound two more times, pleased with its progress. On day three of your stay with the ninja, you dryly advise him not to get stabbed again and officially “discharge” him from your care. For now, at least.

Other than that, work in terms of your job is slow. The ninja seem to be cutting back on training with the lack of missions. You’d hoped to watch them spar a bit more, but to no avail.

That is, except for Jay - you notice that he sneaks out to the courtyard at night sometimes to practice sparring by himself. You wonder if it has something to do with the night you met the ninja.

Your first five days end without a hitch. Over breakfast on the sixth and current day of your stay, Nya agrees with your initial observation about their lack of training: “Yeah, I think they’re kind of getting complacent. Jobs are dry right now, and they’re getting bored. So they’ve been turning to video games a lot.”

You frown over your beverage, tearing your gaze from the window. The small dining room in the monastery glows with morning light, wind rattling the ancient building. Still, quiet surrounds you. You’ve yet to grow used to it. “Didn’t they get a call this morning, though?”

“They did. There was a Lord Garmadon sighting,” she answers, shaking her head with a roll of her eyes. “They’re going to learn, one way or another. They’ve got to keep in top shape if they’re going to be heroes.”

Your fingers freeze in their tracks, wondering if what Nya says is true. “Lord Garmadon? He’s back?”

Nya shrugs, taking another sip of her coffee. “Honestly? I doubt it. A lot of these people jump to conclusions when they get spooked. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was something stupid. But, telling the guys that it was Lord Garmadon certainly got them off their asses in a pinch. You should have seen the way they tripped over themselves trying to get ready.”

You chuckle, liking her point. “Smart. Hopefully this will get them back into the groove.”

Nya rubs her forehead, sighing. “Stars, I hope so. They’re driving me insane. Anyways, what are you doing today?”

“Um…I haven’t actually thought that far. I guess I need to stay close in case they get hurt, though.”

“Want to come to the courtyard with me? I try to get my daily exercise in when they’re not using the equipment. I’m also determined to beat Kai’s record, even if it kills me!”

…

Nya wasn’t lying when she said she’d beat her brother’s record, even if it meant death.

No matter how many times she was knocked down, no matter how many times she finished above his time…she picked herself back up and tried again. The passion you’d seen in her eyes about her craft hardened into something fiery and stubborn when it came to competition.

Perhaps Kai isn’t the only one with a temper around here.

Even so, the first few times she stumbles, you can’t help but check on her. She shakes the cuts and bruises off without issue, promising to let you have a look at them later. It amazes you how well she brushes off the pain; some of her landings looked rough. In fact, you find her toughness inspirational, in a way.

Despite this, you had kindly declined joining her, instead electing to watch her from the stairs while brainstorming some potential recipes for new potions. You’d have to get some special ingredients, but it would be worth experimenting with new ingredients.

Not to mention that you’re itching to explore the area around your new home, curious to find what other places are nearby.

Thankfully, Nya seems to be on the same page as you. After she picks herself up from her latest fall, she takes a moment to stretch and catch her breath, groaning when she sees the timer again.

“I’m so close!” she groans, shaking her arms. “But I’m getting frustrated. And hungry. Tell you what…let me do one last round for my cooldown, then we’ll go grab lunch at Jamanakai Village. Does that sound okay?”

“Yeah, that’s fine!” you reply, shutting your notebook.

“Great. Shouldn’t take but a minute,” she says, returning to the rotating course with dummies on it.

As she’s running, voices emanate from the front of the courtyard. You turn, watching as the ninja pour in from the gate. To your relief, they look fine. No visible injuries, no grimaces or pained expressions. So that’s a good sign.

Instead, a renewed vigor emanates within the four as they approach the two of you. Cole catches your gaze, answering your unspoken question:

”We’re fine. It was a false alarm.”

Whew. “Okay, good. I’m glad.”

Upon hearing their voices, Nya gets distracted and tumbles to the ground yet again, grunting when she lands. Kai laughs at her while Jay pulls up his hood, hovering over her with a shy smile. “Hey, Nya. Closer to beating your brother’s speed record?”

“I’m getting there,” she mumbles with a grunt, thanking Jay softy when he helps her up. “So, just a false alarm?”

Kai steps up this time. “Yeah. Uh, but we’re gonna need the space. Sorry, sis. Wanna stay and watch me mop the floor with them?”

She rolls her eyes, coming to join your side. “No thanks. We’re heading to Jamanakai Village for a couple of hours. Knock yourselves out.”

“No stab wounds, please,” you encourage, offering the guys a thumbs-up.

Kai punches Cole in the shoulder with a wicked grin. “No promises, doc. We’re in it to win it today.”

“Well, whatever it is, I’m glad you guys are actually training again,” Nya responds. “Anyways, let’s get going.”

…

The walk to Jamanakai isn’t terribly long, if you take out the immense number of stairs you have to descend before that. Other than that, it’s not horrible. You’re just not looking forward to going back up.

Nya brings you to a cute, cozy local restaurant that isn’t too busy. The two of you talk about your respective interests for a little while, eventually shifting into how you met the ninja.

Lunch ends up being great, and she insists on paying for the meal as a way to celebrate your arrival. Once you’re done eating, the two of you end up looking around the market together, pointing out potential furniture you could get in the future or discussing ideas for splitting the room.

You’re also able to find a few ingredients. You buy them with the money you made while working at the shop, excited to try out your ideas. Satisfied with your haul, you tuck them away within a satchel secured by your waist.

A breeze flutters past the two of you, rustling your clothes. When it hits Nya’s dark hair, it tousles, but she doesn’t seem to mind. Instead, she swipes it out of her face with a small but content grin.

“It’s so good to get out,” Nya comments as the two of you approach a produce stand. “I think I was going a little stir-crazy at the monastery. It’ll be nice to have company now, when they’re off on missions or whatever.”

You’re about to ask her a follow up question when you hear someone screaming in the distance. Alarmed, you and Nya whip around to see what the commotion is about.

Nya scoffs, eyes narrowing as she scans the area. “What now?!”

From a nearby building, you spot a child pushing a cart filled with candy into the streets. His small figure is enveloped within a dark cloak as he snickers, yelling: “Take the candy! Take it all! Muahahaha!”

That in itself isn’t what’s threatening; it’s the uncannily large anthropomorphic snake people that follow the boy that make your heart skip a beat. More and more snakes emerge from the other side of the village.

Nya snatches your wrist, pulling both of you behind the produce stand. The spaces between the bins offer a view to what’s happening beyond, with you and Nya straining to see what’s going on.

“Serpentine?!” Nya whispers harshly, both of you watching as a larger snake appears, staring at one of the villagers. “How did they escape their tombs?”

The largest snake hisses at a small group of villagers. Its scales are dark blue, lined with yellow accents on their heads. His bright red eyes pierce the villagers’ collective gazes, and you find yourself having to glance away. Dizziness overcomes you as you shake yourself out of your trance.

What was that?

“They’re controlling the villagers,” Nya realizes as the villagers scatter, walking and groaning like zombies. “Wait…they’re coming close. Stay still!”

You and Nya press yourselves against the stand, trying to be as still and quiet as possible when two new voices emerge:

“This makes no sense, General. Raiding an entire town for sweets?!”

“You will do as I command, because I hold the staff!” the other one demands. Sure enough, in his grasp is a golden staff carved into the shape of a Serpentine. In the center rests a blue…gem? You’re not quite sure what it is.

Thankfully, the two pass the spot where you’re hiding with Nya, instead electing to terrorize some other poor villager.

“Dammit,” Nya mumbles. “They’re everywhere. There are too many to take on at once. We have to wait for the ninja to arrive.”

“Do you think they’ve been contacted yet?” you wonder, heart pounding as you hear people screaming nearby.

“I’m sure someone in the village managed to get word out. Come on, let’s see if there’s something we can do. Maybe we can get to higher ground for a better vantage point.”

She pauses, stepping out from beyond the cover of the produce stand. After a few seconds, she nods in your direction and darts out into the clearing.

You follow her, heart thumping as your legs burn and shake with adrenaline. The screaming grows quieter by the second, instead replaced with the eerie groans of the hypnotized villagers. Everywhere you look, people with blood red eyes are wandering.

“This way,” Nya directs, causing you to snap your head towards her. She points towards a ladder, gesturing for you to go first. “Go!”

You waste no time in ascending, muscles burning as you pull yourself up, hands starting to sweat when you manage to pull yourself over the roof. A grunt escapes you when you land less than ideally.

A concerning thunk from below catches your attention, making you peer over the edge. Your eyes widen when you realize Nya is now on the ground, a snake man looming above her.

“Nya!” you cry.

Your voice snatches the attention of her attacker, though. Like something primal overcomes her, you watch as something in Nya’s eyes snaps. She rolls onto her side, sweeping her leg out and knocking the Serpentine over.

The attack catches the attention of two other snakes, to your dismay. Nya yells as she launches a powerful front kick at one of them, driving her weight into the blow. He staggers back, clutching his abdomen as his friend advances on her.

“Look into my eyes,” it says, hissing. “I control you!”

Tearing your eyes from the scene, you spot a vase filled with dirt on the roof. You snatch it before hurling it down onto the Serpentine with a cry.

It smashes against the snake’s head, breaking the hypnotic stare. Ceramic chunks and dirt debris flutter to the ground as he clutches his head. Nya jerks herself back into the moment, scrambling to climb the ladder as the two snake men retreat in favor of the other villagers.

You help Nya onto the roof, struggling to catch your breath. “N-Nya!”

“I’m okay,” she breathes, sighing shakily. “Thanks for the assist back there.”

“What happened? One second you were below me…”

“...then one of them pulled me off the ladder,” she finishes, shaking her head. She swivels her head before beckoning you to follow her across the rooftop. “I’ve had worse. Come on, let’s see if we can help the villagers while we wait for the ninja. Do you have any thoughts on how to break their hypnosis?”

You trail off as she looks around, conflict etched onto both of your faces. Magic snake men that could hypnotize people were not included in your training.

“Well…it depends,” you say, glancing towards the chaos again. “I’m not really sure how those snakes are doing it. But if it’s some sort of chemical reaction, we could potentially reverse the effects if we had anti-venom. But I have no idea how we could get that. Maybe if I could get a sample of their blood, I could figure something out. That would take days, though.”

Nya trails off, contemplating your words as the two of you crouch down, out of view from below. “Anti-venom, you say? Hm…you know, when we were little, Kai and I had a babysitter that would tell us the story of the Serpentine. Or, at least the kid-friendly version. She mentioned that the snakes’ leader would bear a staff containing the anti-venom. The hero in the story did…something, with the staff. Something with water,” she frowns, wracking her memory with a frown. “And you heard those snakes, when we were hiding - the one with the long tail is the General. And he was carrying a staff.”

“A staff…and with water… ” a realization dawns on you as you trail off, remembering a potion that you made with Mystake years ago. “Wait, there’s a fountain in the village, right?”

“Yeah. It channels throughout the village-”

“We need to get that staff in the fountain,” you realize, eyes widening. “It’ll-”

The roar of a dragon interrupts you, snapping both of your attentions to the center of the village.

“The ninja!” Nya says, grabbing your wrist and pulling you into a run. “Come on, we have to regroup and tell them!”

You nod, stomach growing queasy when she releases you. She leaps across one of the rooftops, crossing the gap with ease. It’s not too long of a gap, but the fall would still be gnarly. Thankfully, the adrenaline in your system and fear for the villagers’ wellbeing does wonders in shoving your fear to the side. Your running start gives you enough momentum to jump, managing the landing to the other rooftop.

Unlike the previous one, this roof is not flat. The shingles curve upwards at a decorative angle, converging into a triangular shape. Your foot lands at an awkward angle, making you tumble to the side. You gasp, desperately clawing at shingles as you start sliding.

Nya catches your bicep, stopping your fall. You sigh in relief, accepting her help when she pulls you to your feet.

“The guys are over there, taking cover,” she says, maintaining her hold on you. “Here, come on. Just one more jump down. You’re doing fine. Just follow me down after I go, okay?” She guides your hand to the elevated portion of the roof, waiting until you’re balanced to let go.

“Got it,” you say, watching as she skillfully leaps to the ground. Okay, you’re pretty sure you can’t do all that. Maybe there’s another way down?

Once you’re steady again, you manage to look over the edge. Nya is there, now surrounded by the ninja. They’re all masked, glancing back towards the Serpentine nervously.

“I can’t do this, Nya!” you say, heart skipping a beat when a shingle chips off and clatters to the ground. “That’s too high of a jump for me!”

Cole steps forward, raising his arms and beckoning you down. “Just step off. We’ll catch you.”

“Oh, man…” you mumble, gearing yourself up. You should probably take advantage of the adrenaline while it’s still here. “Okay, here I go. Just gonna do it.”

Thankfully, you commit to the fall, breath catching in your throat as you sail through the air. True to his word, Cole is there to break your fall, catching you by your waist. He staggers a bit, but regains his balance fairly quickly.

A secret shudder flutters across your skin when you realize he’s holding you by your waist, his eyes cast in worry as he studies you. Exhaling, you brace yourself on his shoulders, hands sliding down as he lowers you. Cole’s hands move to your elbows as you balance yourself.

“Are you okay?” he questions, letting you hang onto him for a second.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Just too many adrenaline rushes for one week,” you mumble, finally feeling steady enough without his help. “Thank you.”

“You two are okay. Good,” Jay confirms, turning to Nya for an update.

“Barely. They’ve hypnotized everyone in town!” she says, rubbing a spot on her arm. You frown upon seeing the fresh bruise forming there, making a note to have a look at it later.

“Mind control. How is this possible?” Jay wonders as Kai peeks around the corner, ensuring that the coast is still clear for the moment.

“I think it’s some kind of chemical reaction. One that may or may not come from their eyes,” you chime in.

Nya nods in agreement, coming to stand next to you as she says: “When you hear them rattle their tails, don't look them in the eyes. That's how they get you.”

“We need to get that staff, the one that the biggest snake has,” you say. “We think it might hold the anti-venom. When you get it, stick it into the fountain. If we’re right, then the anti-venom and staff should react with the water to form a steam that will cure the villagers.”

“What if we’re wrong? We should go ahead and make a Plan B, just to be safe,” Nya points out.

“If that fails, try to cut one of the snakes and get a sample of their blood. I can probably make an anti-venom, but it’s going to take longer,” you instruct. “There’s a merchant selling glass jars nearby that you can use. Those should work if Plan A fails.”

“And if that fails, we have Plan Z,” Jay quips, eyes lighting up. “Which is way better, ‘cause it’s lemon scented.”

Nya shoots Jay a funny look as everyone else ignores him.

“I believe our plan is doable. But our weapons are unstable, and it will be difficult to retrieve the staff while dodging their attempts at hypnosis,” Zane says. “We must be careful.”

“Don’t overthink it,” Cole instructs. “Okay, here’s what we’re gonna do. Kai, Jay. You two draw the goons away. Once they’re gone, circle back discreetly if you can to help with the staff. Zane, I want you to deal with Lloyd. We might be able to…persuade him to call a retreat if we scare him into it. Nya and I will work on getting the staff. And as for you,” he turns to you, trailing off as he thinks. “Hang back and watch for anyone that might be injured once the fight is over.”

“Okay,” you agree, followed by everyone else’s voices confirming the plan.

“Good. Remember, no weapons. Spinjitzu should still be fine. I know that we’re rusty, guys, but we’ve got to get this done.”

Kai is the next to speak up, body jittery with the anticipation of a fight. “He’s right. Look, guys. Forget about the whole Green Ninja thing. Let's make Sensei proud, the four of us. We're a team!”

“Now you’re talking,” Cole replies. “Alright, guys. Let’s go!”

Nya hangs back momentarily as the guys spring into action on the roofs overhead. “Are you okay to stay behind?”

“I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me, just focus on getting that staff,” you reply, not wanting to interfere with their work. She nods, darting off to follow the ninja.

It takes Kai and Jay a few minutes to lead the majority of the snakes away. Which ends up working out well, since it gives you a second to catch your breath. Look at you, riding on dragons and jumping across rooftops. A humorless laugh escapes you when you wonder how much wackier your life will get if you choose to stay with the ninja.

Ah, but no time to think about that now. The fighting seems to have moved to another part of the village, so you take the opportunity to move towards it. Slowly but surely, you make your way towards the action.

Eventually, you stumble upon the cart that the little boy had been pushing. It’s tipped onto its front, seemingly caused by the frozen front wheels. Its saccharine contents have been spilled onto the streets, and the boy is behind it, desperately trying to get it unstuck.

Zane, who had been standing nearby, darts away to help the others, leaving you alone with the child. Your heart breaks a little when you hear him sniffle, finally managing to break the cart out of the ice. What’s a kid doing out with these snakes anyway?

The boy turns the cart in your direction, freezing when he locks eyes with you. You frown, wondering if the snakes have hurt him.

“Are you okay?” you ask quietly, crouching down to his level.

His green eyes widen, filling with conflict as he stares at you. You wonder if the snakes had roped him into their plan somehow, desperately hoping they haven’t hurt the boy. For a handful of moments, he’s completely frozen.

“Please, let me help you,” you encourage, hoping you’re not scaring him.

Just when you think you might be getting through to him, something dark clouds his eyes as he darts towards one of the bigger snakes, shouting out for the army to retreat.

“Wait!” you cry, watching as the child slips behind one of the buildings. You attempt to follow, gasping when the army of hypnotized villagers lines up to block off part of the village.

Breath hitching in your throat, you glance through the sea of red eyes. To your left, Jay and Zane are fighting off some of the few remaining snakes. Leaping across the rooftops are Kai and Nya, both trying to circumvent the army of hypnotized people.

This…is chaos. Why doesn’t anything feel real right now?

Your adrenaline sputters out, weakness flooding you as voices emanate from behind you. Dizzy, you spin to find Cole sailing down in the air, delivering two swift kicks to the snake general’s staff. It bounces out of his grip, clattering to the ground as Cole flips into a smooth landing.

“Go ahead. Give me a reason,” Cole remarks, stepping towards the fallen staff and swiping it off of the ground. The lead snake flees in response to Cole’s advance.

The second-in-command is not so easily scared off; he catches Cole’s stare, trying to hypnotize him.

“Cole!” you yell, grateful to see Nya darting up from behind him. She jumps, jamming her foot into the snake’s face. The blow snaps Cole of his trance, making him shake his head as he staggers, staff still in hand.

Nya steadies him before directing him to the fountain, where he props it up in the water. Thankfully, the anti-venom reacts with the water and starts steaming as you’d hoped. One by one, the villagers are cured and the red eyes recede, mindless groans replaced by cheering.

…

Even though no one got hurt majorly, you still insist on getting the ninja patched up.

Kai and Jay are fine, save for a few scratches, cuts, and bruises. Jay accepts a pack of ice for a hit he took on his shoulder, which Nya applies as the two rest in the living room. Her left ankle is propped up on another chair, wrapped up in gauze.

She’d sprained it after getting jerked off that ladder. You couldn’t even tell anything was wrong until you noticed the swelling when she sat down.

Zane emerged the best out of all them, with only one minor cut to show for the battle. Though, you’d noticed something odd with his blood - you couldn’t quite put your finger on it, but the color seemed off somehow. With his permission, you took a sample of his blood to examine later.

Finally, Cole enters the medical room, which isn’t much at the moment -  just a spare room in the monastery with a bed and your medical bag. You have a weird feeling you need to wait a few days to unpack it fully, so you’ve just been taking things out as you need them and repacking them. Mystake always did stress the importance of listening to your gut, after all, and you’re not one to doubt her wisdom. It hasn’t failed you so far.

Cole grunts as he lowers himself on the table, hissing in pain. Again, the top of his gi is torn in places. You can already see a little bit of blood staining the fabric.

You sigh, shaking your head. “I had a feeling you were going to be the one who got it the worst. What hurts the most?” you inquire, pulling on a pair of examination gloves.

Cole fumbles with the ties on his gi. “This cut right here…that asshole slashed me, then drew his katana back and rammed the hilt into my ribs.”

“Ouch…” you sympathize, observing his fingers. Something seems off about his motions. You notice how he misses the knot a few times. He gets it a few seconds later, though, unraveling the belt and pulling his top off.

Curse these biological hormones! You don’t think you’re ever going to get used to seeing his torso. He’s just the right amount of muscle. Your mind flashes back to the night where you’d accidentally left your hand on his sternum, the very tips of your fingers brushing against the side of his pec as you’d withdrawn.

Focus! Injured man! Job to do! Shut up, goblin brain.

Sure enough, when you focus past the gorgeous torso, you realize there’s a lengthy, diagonal cut in his skin.

“Yeah, that’s pretty gnarly,” you agree, immediately reaching for a clean cloth. Thankfully, it’s not terribly deep. What probably hurts more is that ugly, purple bruise underneath.

The two of you fall into a silence as you dab at the dried blood, hoping you’re not pressing too hard. Cole watches your hands as you work.

“Oh, um…I meant to tell you…” he trails off, expression conflicted momentarily. “You did really well, you know. That was your first time working with us in the field, and you handled yourself well. Didn’t panic, just acted.”

You chuckle, finally done with cleaning up the blood. “I’m glad I didn’t get in the way. I was scared, and my adrenaline kicked in initially, but when I faded, I just…it felt like nothing was real, you know? It was almost like I was going into shock or something.”

“The chaos gets to you when you’re not used to it,” he agrees, wincing as you apply an antiseptic to the cut. “There’s so much going on, and it’s difficult to keep up when you’re not trained for it. But you and Nya came up with a solution, and we got the job done.”

“If I was that overwhelmed just watching you guys fight, I can’t imagine what it’s like actually being in the action,” you say, pausing when he hisses at the dab of antiseptic. “I’m sorry, I know it stings, but we’ve got to get this sterilized. Can’t have it getting infected and creating more work for me.”

He chuckles, the two of you watching as the solution sizzles on the opened skin. When he looks up, you catch his stare, immediately frowning.

Cole’s eyes are their normal shade of green, but his sclera are tinged slightly red. You frown, free hand unconsciously coming to the side of his face. 

“Are you feeling okay?” you wonder, studying his eyes as he stares at you. First, his off hand coordination. Now, the bloodshot eyes…

“Yeah, why?” he questions as you return your stare to the task at hand.

“I don’t know yet. Did you hit your head at any point?”

“Not that I remember.”

“Do you feel like you might be getting sick?”

“No, I’m just tired. But other than that I feel fine.”

“Okay,” you say, unconvinced as you press your wrist against his forehead. No fever. Maybe you’d just have the others keep an eye on him throughout the night to see if any other symptoms arise. “Doesn’t feel like you have a fever. Just try to get some good sleep tonight, okay? You look a little peaked.”

“I do? Weird…I feel fine.”

“I believe you. Just make sure you rest tonight. I’m going to check on you in the morning to see if you develop any other symptoms. But for now, what else hurts?”

Cole has a few other cuts for you to sterilize and bandage along with a handful of new bruises. You prepare an ice pack for the bigger, uglier bruises.

You sigh, mind shifting back to that little boy you’d seen with the serpentine. The fact he’s out there alone with them bothers you. “Do you know who that little kid was, by the way? The boy with the cloak?”

“Hm? Oh, you mean Lloyd?”

“Lloyd,” you repeat, frowning. “So you know him?”

“Not officially, just that he’s Sensei Wu’s nephew. He used to go to Darkley’s, but he escaped somehow. He’s Lord Garmadon’s son.”

“Whoa, really? I never would have guessed,” you mumble, putting the finishing touches on his wound dressings. “I hope those snakes aren’t hurting him. He seemed scared.”

Cole groans in relief when he presses the ice pack against the bruise. “Scared? He’s the one who released them.”

Lloyd set the snakes free? “Wait, really?”

“He’s trying to be like his dad. The only thing is, Lloyd’s idea of evil is stealing candy and pulling pranks on people. He doesn’t understand what the snakes really want.”

Poor kid...you wonder if Wu would take him in if given the chance. That’s no way for a child to live. Those snakes are going to manipulate him the first chance they get.

“Do you think they’re hurting him?” Cole questions when you don’t answer.

“I don’t know…I just - there was something in his eyes. I think he’s scared, and it breaks my heart knowing he’s out there with them,” you sigh, shaking your head as you clean up the counter. Cole slips off from the bed, keeping the ice on his chest.

“Well, I’ll see if we can get him to Sensei, then. Makes me wonder if we should have been gentler with him when we dealt with him the first time.”

Satisfied with his answer, you smile in thanks before remembering Cole’s mystery ailment. “But, as far as you go, I want you to go to bed early. Sleep in if you need to. If you’re not up by the time training starts, I’ll let Sensei Wu know. And tell me if you start feeling sick, okay?”

“Will do. Anything else?”

“No. You’re free to go.”

…

“Stars, what a day!” Nya cries as she collapses on her bed.

You shut the door, chuckling at her as you set your journal down next to your temporary mattress. “Man, if this is what my first week with you guys looks like, I can’t even begin to imagine what else is going to happen!”

Silence overcomes the two of you as the black-haired girl rolls over to her stomach, hands drifting to her nightstand. Resting on top is a dagger, which she picks up and twirls around her fingers.

“Seems like they guys have found their fire again,” she mumbles, gaze absent as she watches her blade spin in her hand. “I’m glad.”

You study her downcast gaze for a moment, sensing her shift in mood. “Why don’t you join them? You’re clearly talented enough to fight with them. Why not?”

”I’m not technically a ninja. Not yet, anyway,” she answers, shrugging. “I mean, I train with them when I can, but since they’re out so much, it’s hard to find the time. It was getting boring as hell, just staying here while they were gone.” She shakes her head, sighing.

You struggle to process what she’s saying. “You mean…someone as talented as you…they just leave you behind?”

“Yeah, to watch over the monastery. But I can’t say I’m fond of being left out of the action.”

“But you don’t have to stay put,” you reply as you gather an armful of pajamas from one of your bags. “Can’t you help out in your own way? You don’t need anyone’s permission to do what you want to do. If you want to be out there, fighting crime and doing good, then you should damn well be doing that. Ninja or not.”

Nya doesn’t answer for a few moments, taking a moment to sort her thoughts. When she looks back at you, the blade is still in her hands.

“You’re right,” she says, sitting up. She uses her bed post as a support, bringing herself to a single foot.

“What are you doing?” you question as she hops to her desk.

“I have an idea. Do you mind if I stay up and sketch for a little while?”

Always happy to read fresh requests. Please read my guidelines before submitting.

Let me know what you think of this chapter :)))

[circus4apsycho8]

Hello! Just wanted to ask for a headcannon of Ninjago characters (the one you usually do) x unnaffectionate reader? It's not like they're mean it's just that affection isn't a big part in their life and they usually forget about it. And then one day reader is like 'oh shit maybe this makes my idiot feel bad' so they try to make up for it by being super affectionate for a day and beginning to show subtle signs of affection more regularly?

Love this! Here you go!

Includes: Kai, Jay, Cole, Zane, Lloyd, Nya, Morro, & Garmadon in that order

ninja, morro, & garmadon x unaffectionate!reader headcanons

kai

he’s very affectionate, so he’ll eventually start getting hurt that you don’t return his advances as much

he understands not wanting to do it in public, but in private is where it hurts him

one day, he stops trying and doesn’t seem quite like himself

this is what makes you realize that he’s hurt

after taking some time to think about it, you make it a point to show even a little bit of affection

so, one day when he gets home from a mission, you shyly take his hand in yours before asking him about his mission

he understands how much it means coming from you, and he appreciates the sentiment

he asks you what changed, and you quietly admit that you should have compromised more with him, seeing as how he respects your wish for no pda and apologize

then, you press a soft kiss to his lips and vow to gradually increase the affectionate as you grow more comfortable

jay

jay would be a little more understanding; he gets not wanting to be touched as he experiences this himself sometimes

so he’s certainly more patient with you

but there are times when he starts feeling especially sensitive about it, and it makes him start overthinking

over the course of a few days, he starts gradually acting different

at first, it’s him wondering if he’s just overreacting

but as it progresses, he starts hurting and worrying - did he do something to make you mad? is he just misreading the situation?

eventually, he goes to cole about this; cole suggests that he just ask you

so, jay works up to the courage to and does

this leads to a productive conversation, and you agree to start showing more affection as you feel comfortable with it

cole

he hides it well, but this man is touch starved

desperately wants to show his affection, but quickly gets that it isn’t your thing

initially pushes his hurt away, thinking that maybe you just need time

quietly tries to figure out why you’re not keen on affection, but doesn’t get too far

he tries to ignore it; he’ll take his frustrations out on the punching bag or on enemies

but there comes a point one night where it all comes bubbling up

the two of you are alone after a mission one night, and you’re patching up some of his injuries

cole is exhausted and in pain

he can’t help it - he tears up

he just wants a hug, or for you to hold his hand and stay with him a little longer. he just needs something

but all he gets is a distant expression - one that opens an old wound in his heart. and he can’t hide it any longer, so he breaks down

alarmed, you immediately sit down with him and ask him what’s wrong

so, he softly professes his hurt to you

once he’s done, you apologize and give him a hug, promising that you’ll try to do better for him

you end up staying with him for the rest of the night, holding him until he falls asleep <3

zane

he doesn’t really mind initially - he doesn’t know much about relationships anyway, so for a while it works

but as the relationship progresses, he observes that other couples - both in real life and in pop culture - are more touchy than the two of you are.

he asks you why this is - he’s not necessarily hurt, but he wants to understand why you two aren’t affectionate. it makes him think he might be doing something wrong

after explaining that all couples are different, and that you’re just not a very affectionate person, he understands

the two of you continue to talk about it, and after a while, you decide to try small things together - like holding hands or light hugging as you both feel comfortable

lloyd

he is so shy when it comes to affection at first

he’s never been in a serious relationship before, so it takes him some time to warm up to the idea

when he realizes you aren’t very affectionate, he has to rethink the situation

he’s stuck between wanting to respect your boundaries but also wanting to show/receive affection

will 100% go to the smith siblings for advice

once he does, he asks you about it one night

after talking about it for a bit, you agree to try some small gestures of affection out together :)

nya

she’s not one for pda, but does want to hold your hand or give you small, chaste kisses when you’re alone or around the others

might go to her brother or cole for advice

usually, she waits for you to initiate contact, and will follow your lead or ask you if you’re comfortable doing/receiving something

after observing your reactions, she’ll ask you about it

morro

not really sure what to do initially; might not even realize that he wants affection

stays silent for a while. probably sulks a lot but shakes it off well most days

he ends up thinking he’s making a big deal out of nothing, so he doesn’t say anything about how he’s feeling

you notice that something’s off with him when starts becoming more distant

after trying a few different things, you end up just sitting beside him one day and taking his hand, quietly asking him if it was something you did

he admits he isn’t sure why he’s upset, but admits your touch is comforting

a hug ensues <3

garmadon (crystallized)

initially understands

as the relationship continues, though, he wonders if it’s something he’s doing

panics and convinces himself it was something he did

terrified that he hurt one of the few people who isn’t afraid of him

vinny ends up calming him down and advises him to open a conversation with you

once the talk does happen, he understands and feels much better when the two of you strike a compromise

[circus4apsycho8]

Hi, I hope you are doing well!! I was wondering if you could write a ninjago Cole x reader where the reader is the teams medic. Cole, being the muscle of the team, usually gets hurt a lot and the medic has to patch him a lot on and off the field. They grow closer and close and eventually become an established relationship. Angst, smut, fluff, whatever, full creative freedom! Love your writing!!

Hey, thank you very much! Love this request! I will be making this a 2-3 part series. One of the next chapters will feature a second related request, I believe. Originally I was going to publish it all at once, but then I decided to break it up a little bit. Also, not sure how accurate the wounds and whatnot are, but I tried :v Hope you enjoy!

Warnings: stab wounds, cussing, mild gore descriptions

Word Count: 11.9k

Masterlist for this Fic

knife to meet you. | cole x reader | chapter i

The clock is going to drive you insane. 

Tick after tick, the hands click on, your sanity diminishing with each passing second. For the millionth time tonight, you rip your gaze from the dragging hands of the clock. Not even three minutes had passed since you’d last checked the time. A frustrated sigh tumbles from your lips, eyes venturing down to stare at the tea supplies scattered about the table before you.   

“Stop looking at it,” you grumble to yourself, returning your hands to your task - bagging tea leaves and ingredients to assemble Mystake’s latest recipe. Her new tea is set to launch tomorrow, and she could be a stickler for keeping fully stocked shelves. The thought makes you sigh, knowing you’ll certainly be busy in the morning. Perhaps the promotion would make the day go by faster. 

The repetitive motions of your hands eventually allow your mind to shift into autopilot mode, hands running on muscle memory as you wonder how much longer you would be here for - you’d come a long way since training as her apprentice, and by helping her with the shop, she allowed you to live with her rent free.

And while you’re forever grateful for Mystake’s kindness, you know this isn’t what destiny has planned for you. Running a tea shop was her dream, not yours. Deep within your heart, you feel yourself growing antsy. You wouldn’t thrive here, and a part of you wonders if you’ll end up stuck here. 

The bell above the door chimes, snapping your body out of autopilot and into customer service mode. The smile plastered on your face masks the annoyance at having to serve someone so late. Who even thinks to buy tea this late at night? 

You hop off of the stool. “Good evening! How can I-”   

The sight before you jerks your body out of autopilot, a horrified expression overcoming you as your eyes process the scene in front of you:   

Three men dressed in gis stand before you, two of them supporting a man in a black gi - his head is drooped, and he’s limp. His arms are strung around the necks and shoulders of two men on either side - one dressed in red and the other blue.   

“Please,” grunts the one in blue. “We need help!”   

“He’s been stabbed, and we didn’t know where else to go,” adds the red one, both looking at you with desperate faces. “You can treat wounds, right?”   

For a moment, you freeze. Mystake isn’t here, and she always takes care of these things. You’ve only ever observed or helped with guidance. She certainly wouldn’t make it back in time to help.   

What would she say right now?   

...She’d tell me not to freeze. Just work and do what you were trained to do. Make a decision. 

You snap out of your stupor, realizing that you’re on your own. This man needs help now, and you know you’ll never become a healer if you don’t start doing things on your own.   

So, you force yourself to swallow your fear. “Okay. Take him in the back; take a right, then enter the second doorway on the left. I’ll be right there.” 

The two oblige without question, immediately making their way to the back of the store. After making your way to the front, you lock the door and flip the sign to ‘closed’. Next, you jog behind the counter, swiping the emergency medical kit you always had stocked. On your way to the room, you swipe a certain tea you know you’ll need later.   

With almost everything you need in hand, you hurry through the maze of tea shelves and doors until you arrive in the medical room.   

The two men have lowered their friend on top of the bed, with the red one pressing down on his abdomen. Blood cakes the lower parts of his arms, eyes wide with fear as he holds the pressure.   

“The blood…it’s not stopping,” the brunet drawls, tensing as he stares at the wound.   

“Here, let me,” you state, immediately coming to take over. He relents, stepping off to the side. “I need you guys to grab me a few towels. They’re in the cabinet to the right.”   

They nod, rushing to gather what you need. You’re quick to start applying pressure to the wound, face twisting in determination as you hold the fabric in place. The stabbed man grunts, hissing as he tosses his head back in pain. Normally a reaction like this would scare you, but you’re too hopped up on adrenaline to care at the moment.   

“I’m sorry. I know this hurts like hell, but I have to get the bleeding to stop,” you sympathize, eyes still trained on his wound. Out of the corner of your eye, you can see the blue one frozen at the side. Looks like he could use something else to focus on. “Hey, blue guy. Can you start steeping that tea bag over there? I know it’s an odd request at such a time, but just trust me.”   

“Tea bag? Y-Yeah, I’m on it.” Thankfully, this snaps him out his stupor and gets his hands busy.   

You note that the red one looks antsy too. A glance at the injured man’s tattered top gives you an idea for another task.   

“And could you get his top off, please? I need to make sure he wasn’t hit anywhere else this badly.”   

“Yeah. Yeah…okay. I can do that,” he replies, eyes lingering over the blood momentarily before he snaps himself out of his stupor. His hands fumble to his belt, where he slips out a small, silver shuriken.   

You shuffle out of his way as best you can without hindering your progress on the wound, watching as the shuriken slices through the fabric. Mr. Red Guy gently pulls the sides off and out of your way, allowing it to drape over the sides of the table.   

After thanking him, you quickly scan the rest of the stabbed man’s torso. There are a few bruises and cuts, but the stab wound seems to be the brunt of the damage.   

From there, the room falls quiet save for his pained grunts.   

“Fuck,” he curses, voice taut. “How...how’s it looking?”   

“You’re gonna pull through, man,” replies the red one, his voice coming out stronger than he looks. “She’s got the blood loss slowing down.”   

The blue one, on the other hand, doesn’t sound as put together. His voice is shaky and his eyes are glassy, but you can tell he’s trying to sound optimistic. “Yeah, Cole, you’re going to be just fine.”   

“How’s the tea looking?” you inquire, trying to distract him from whatever’s making him upset. You need everyone to remain calm until the bleeding has stopped.   

“I think it’s ready. Do you need it?”   

“Yes, please,” you reply. “Have him drink as much as he can, even if it’s only a few sips. It should ease the pain a little bit and help prevent infection.”   

The redhead nods, going to prop his friend’s head up while the other holds the teacup for him. You listen as they speak softly to him, words too quiet for you to hear.   

It takes you a minute, but thankfully you’re able to get the bleeding to stop. Soon enough, the wound is sterilized and bandaged properly with the man now unconscious on the table.   

You find yourself absentmindedly cleaning the last bits of blood off of his torso, realizing that the three of you are all quietly processing the night together.   

“Are you two okay?” you speak suddenly, shifting your gaze to them. “You’re not wounded, are you?”   

“No, we’re okay. Just a little cut up and bruised, but nothing we can’t handle,” the spiky-haired brunet assures. “Thank you. I don’t know what we would have done if you hadn’t helped us.”   

“It’s what we do. I’m glad I was able to help him,” you dismiss, smiling softly as you return your gaze to the task at hand. “Oh, and by the way…” You take a moment to introduce yourself. “I’m Mystake’s apprentice.”   

“Only an apprentice?” the redhead wonders.   

“I thought you were a master medic, what with the way you handled that. But yeah, I’m Kai, that’s Jay, and he’s Cole.”   

You nod in acknowledgement, attempting to commit their names to memory. “Thank you. Well, I wish it was under better circumstances, but nonetheless it’s nice to meet you all.”   

“Likewise,” Kai replies.   

You debate your next question momentarily, but decide to just ask anyway. “And do you mind if I ask what happened? Stabbings are rare around here.”   

“Well, I’d say you’ve more than earned an explanation for us barging in here with a dying man in the middle of the night, then handling it like a pro,” Jay interjects. “We were on a mission to investigate an incident of serial burglaries that had been occurring around a town close to this one.”  

“Long story short, we find the guys, confront them, then things start to get heated,” Kai continues, staring off into the distance. “So, we start fighting, trying to apprehend and whatnot. Cole doesn’t draw his weapon yet because he’s pretty well-versed with hand-to-hand combat.”   

“It was my fault,” Jay interrupts, eyes turning glassy again as he averts his gaze. “One of them tripped me up, and I caught sight of the knife they had. And I…I just froze. I don’t know why. But he pushed me out of the way just in time, and he took the hit in my place.”   

“It’s not your fault, Jay,” Kai assures. “This was a rough job for us all. And it doesn’t help that Zane wasn’t here to help.”   

“The important thing is that you’re all alive and healing,” you say, dumping another bloodied towel into a nearby bin. “And he’s going to be just fine.” 

“I still can’t help but feel bad,” mumbles the redhead, your heart dropping slightly at the sight of his guilt-laced stare. “He shouldn’t have to look out for us when he already takes the brunt of the damage.”   

Their words pique your interest, causing you to glance up with a puzzled expression. “So you guys do this a lot, then? Are you vigilantes or something?”   

“We’re ninja,” Kai responds, gesturing to the symbols on both of their gis. “We recently finished our training with our master, and have been fighting to make Ninjago a safer place ever since.”   

“Oh, I see!” you reply. That certainly explains the strange outfits and weapons. The conversation reminds you of a rumor you had heard from a few customers one day a few weeks ago. “You know, now that we’re talking about it, I had heard rumors about ninjas surfacing somewhere and taking out bad guys. I just didn’t think much of it considering nothing major has happened in our town since.”   

Kai grins slightly at this, eyeing Jay with a small smirk. “Hey, sounds like we’re starting to make waves.”   

“Waves? I think you’re giving us too much credit,” Jay notes, stifling a yawn.   

“But it’s a start,” Kai adds, also yawning. The action makes you realize how late it is, knowing the two must be exhausted from the night’s events.   

“Alright. It’s late, and he’s about as cleaned up as I can get him right now,” you comment. “If you two will just help me move him onto a stretcher, I can get him hooked up to an IV and then he’ll be set for the night. Mystake will want him to stay so we can monitor his vitals and ensure that the wound doesn’t become infected. You both are welcome to stay here while he’s recovering; we’ve got a spare room and extra clothes for times like these. Please, follow me.”   

…   

With Kai and Jay now settled in for the night, you find yourself preparing the IV for Cole in the recovery ward of the shop.   

As your fingers work, you find your gaze drifting to the man before you. Now that he’s stable and your adrenaline rush has passed, you have time to observe him.   

His gi had been black - that much you remember. Your eyes drift across his bare torso, noting that he has a few scars across his chest. His stature is muscular - seemingly more so than the other two.   

You tear your gaze from him, double checking that everything is ready before taking his arm in your hands, flipping it over to find the right vein. Once you do, you insert the IV. 

The action makes him stir, eyes opening slightly. Immediately, he tries to sit up, but your muscle memory kicks in just in time to push him back down.   

“Hey, hey, take it easy,” you say, holding him down gently. “You’re okay, but you need to rest.”   

Thankfully, he settles, eyes relaxing slightly at your touch. Jaded green eyes study your figure as you gaze at him, watching to see if he’s going to try and get up again.   

“Where am I?” he wonders, voice hoarse. “I barely remember what happened. Everything’s patchy for me...I remember that room, Kai and Jay were there...then I couldn’t stay awake anymore.”   

“You’re at Mystake’s tea shop. This is our recovery ward. You were stabbed in a fight, and your friends brought you here. You’re all patched up now, but you need to rest so you can heal properly. Your friends are just in the other room.”   

“Stabbed? Oh…it’s coming back to me now.” He groans, shutting his eyes and letting his head drop onto the pillow again. “Are they okay?”   

“They’re fine, just sleeping now,” you assure.  

It’s then you realize that you still have a hand on his chest. Your cheeks heat up as you snatch your hand away. “Oh stars, I’m sorry! It’s just been, well…a long night. I guess I’m just a bit distracted now that the action has passed.”  

Cole chuckles, averting his gaze. He winces a bit, making his smile fade slightly. “You’re okay. I hadn’t even noticed.”  

“Your name is Cole, right?”   

“Yeah,” he mumbles.   

You tell him your name, words stumbling out in a mix of your default introductory statement and the mush that is your mind at the moment. “I’m Mystake’s apprentice. It’s knife to meet you.”   

Upon processing the phrase you’d added through your post-adrenaline exhaustion, your eyes widen. “Oh my god. I’m sorry, I-I did not mean to say that out loud! That was so inappropriate of me-”   

“Wow,” Cole responds, shaking his head at you with a small grin. “You can’t just cut down the stab victim like that, doc.”   

“I’m sorry!” you squeak before realizing that he, too, made a pun concerning his injury. “Wait...you’re not upset?”   

“Of course not. You saved my life,” he replies, glancing back down at his wound. “And I appreciate your humor. I know the guys have been pretty down about the whole ordeal, so it’s nice to know that you can at least make light of it.”   

“Oh,” you reply, not expecting that response at all. “Well...I’m glad that you’re okay with it. I see so much gore these days that I...” you trail off, realizing you shouldn’t be spilling your innermost thoughts to a patient.    

You shake your head, nervously chuckling as you take a step back. “I’m rambling, sorry. Are you hurting right now? I can get you a bit more of our pain-killing tea. It might help you sleep, too.”   

“That sounds great,” he replies. “Thank you.”   

You nod, standing up. “I’ll be right back, then.”   

With that, you make your way towards the kitchen. You get another cup of tea steeping, taking the down time to drink a bit of water and get a snack.   

A few seconds after you finish, you hear the door to the tea shop opening. You peek your head out from the back, relief coursing through you when you see Mystake behind the counter.   

“Thank the stars, you’re back!” you say, sighing as she turns to you.   

“I am. You closed the shop early?” she inquires, hanging her hat up on its usual spot.   

“Yes. Two people brought in a man who had been stabbed, and I had to treat it and I-” you trail off, the stress of the situation finally catching up to you as tears pool in your eyes.   

Mystake sets her hands on your shoulders, guiding you to sit down. “A stabbing? Oh dearie…I know it’s scary, but you did the right thing. He’s stabilized now, yes?”   

You nod as she takes your hands in hers, sniffling a bit. “Yeah. I was going to give him some of that pain-killing tea so he could sleep.”   

“Very good, very good. Here, finish what you’re doing while I have a look.”   

Your stomach twists, hands coming to fidget as you nod in response. “Okay, yeah. Thank you.”   

With that, you’re left alone once more. Anxiety meshes with your post-adrenaline rush, leaving you lightheaded and nauseous. You can’t help but zone out for a bit, only jerked away from your thoughts when the water starts squealing.   

The tea doesn’t take you long to prepare, and soon enough, you find yourself approaching the recovery ward once more.   

The lights have been dimmed, causing you to wonder if he’s suffering a headache. You can still see well enough to notice that he’s still awake, though. Mystake is nowhere to be seen, meaning she must have finished her exam.   

“Here, this should help,” you say, setting the tray on the table next to the bed. “It should be cooled enough to drink. Try to drink as much as you can.”   

You hand him the cup, keeping an eye on his hands to make sure he doesn’t spill it.   

“Thanks,” he mumbles, hands seemingly steady enough for the time being. He takes a sip, face melting at the relief it must be bringing. “God, this stuff is magic. How does it kick in so fast?”   

You shrug, smiling softly as he takes another sip. “I’m not sure. Mystake’s teas are incredible. She’s a master at her craft, that’s for sure.” 

“Makes me wonder what else she can do with her teas,” he mumbles. 

“You’d be surprised. She’s like a tea witch,” you reply with a chuckle. “Do you need anything else? Extra blankets, another pillow, snacks, water...?” 

“I think I’m good for now,” he mumbles, sighing in relief. “This is already working wonders.” 

“Okay. If you need anything at all, just push the button on the side of the nightstand. We’ll try to check on you shortly after sunrise. Try to get some sleep for now.” 

“Being unconscious sounds great about now,” he mumbles. “Thank you.” 

You nod in response, smiling softly as you take the tray back into your hands, leaving the mug for him. 

Just before you exit the recovery ward, though, his voice sounds once more: 

"For the record, it was knife to meet you too.” 

...   

Mystake lets you sleep through the new tea launch, much to your relief. You don’t think you would have had nearly enough energy to deal with the rush today – not after all of last night’s excitement.   

Once you rise, you stumble through your morning routine. Yawns rake your body as you attempt to wake up, brain foggy as you emerge from your room.   

You can already hear customers chattering in the front, causing you to redirect to the kitchen. Through streams of unfamiliar voices, you can faintly hear Mystake’s voice vividly describing her newest creation. Looks like she’s doing just fine by herself so far. Which is great, considering you need a hot drink before you can even think about the public.   

Upon arriving to your destination, muscle memory kicks in and you start working on your drink without thinking much about what you’re doing. Your hands work in quiet tandem, voice humming a tune while you listen to the distant voices of consumers and employees alike.   

Once you’ve finished, you lean against the counter and take a sip.   

Soft footsteps catch your attention, eyes drifting towards the entrance. Moments later, two groggy and disheveled ninja catch your attention.   

“Morning,” greets Kai, hair frizzy and wild. Jay is in no better shape, eyes lined with circles as he offers a tired nod.   

“Morning, guys,” you reply, setting your drink to the side. “Doing okay?”   

“Yeah,” Kai responds. You gesture for the two to have a seat, and they do. “Thanks. Is it okay if our Sensei drops by with our other teammate today?”   

“Of course,” you assure. “What time will they be here?”   

“Probably about an hour or so,” Kai answers.   

Jay raises a notched eyebrow at this. “An hour? That’s...unusually quick for him, don’t you think?”   

The brunet nods in agreement. “Now that you mention it, you’re right. Although he did say something about a smoke vision and needing to see something for himself.” Kai shrugs, running his fingers through his hair. “You know how he is. Cryptic and old.”   

“A smoke vision?” Jay wonders. “Every time he has one of those, something big happens. What could it be this time?”   

“I don’t know. He didn’t say much about it, just that he needed to come see something in person. Who knows?”   

“I just don’t get why a near-death experience would be something that triggers a vision,” Jay mumbles. “Oh well. His wisdom works in mysterious ways, I guess. It hasn’t failed us yet.”   

Kai shrugs, not seeming too concerned about the ordeal. “Whatever it is, it’ll work out. Anyways, I’m starving. How about we make a breakfast run, huh? Let’s make it a race so we can get some blood pumping on our way there!”   

You raise an eyebrow, chuckling nervously as the two start thrumming with an energy that wasn’t present last night. Maybe resting and seeing their patched-up teammate has brought it back? Then again, you don’t really know what’s normal for these guys either.   

“You’re on!” Jay stands, a playful determination glinting in his eyes as he turns towards you. “Hey, what’s good around here?”   

“There’s a small diner around the block that’s always good,” you note. “But you guys don’t have to-”   

Jay makes an ‘ah-ah’ noise, shaking his head. “Nope. You saved our brother’s life, and for that you’re at least getting free breakfast.”   

“And more upon request,” Kai adds with a flirty smirk and wink combo. You roll your eyes as he dodges a hit from Jay.  

“Kai, you can’t just flirt with the doctor!” Jay admonishes, the two already zipping out of the kitchen. You try to follow them, but they’re flying out the door while yelling at each other.  

All while going the wrong direction.  

You sigh, chuckling to yourself as you shake your head. Oh well; they’ll figure it out. It certainly seems like they’ve got more than enough energy to spare today.  

“What in the world are they so riled up about this morning?” Mystake wonders, staring at the entrance. It seems as if the initial customer rush is over for the morning, but there are still a few milling about and browsing.  

“Breakfast, apparently,” you mumble, shaking your head. “I don’t know. I’m going to go check on Cole. I’ll be right back out to help.”  

“Actually, I’ll need you for something else today. Pack your bags, dearie – I’ve got a job for you that requires traveling.”  

“Traveling?” you wonder, turning towards your mentor. She merely flashes you an innocent smile – even though you’re sure it’s anything but.  

“Yes. You’ve proven to me that you’re ready to start taking jobs on your own. So, we’re going to start trying them out if you’re okay with it.”  

“Do you…do you really think I’m ready?” you wonder. “I know I was able to handle last night, but…”  

“I do not think it is the disease, nor the injuries that scare you. It is the threat of change. You’ve been cooped up in my store too long, and now it’s time for you to work on your own more often.”  

Her words strike you speechless momentarily. A change was what you’d wanted, right? More independence? More time to work on your own? But…this isn’t just any old job. It’s healing, and people’s lives are on the line. People’s lives are in your hands. Is that a responsibility you’re truly ready to take on?  

A part of you wants to say no – to stay within the comfort of your routine, despite its repetitiveness. That way, you would always have help when you needed it. That way, you wouldn’t have to confront the daunting question of:  

What comes next for me?  

Mystake places her hand over yours, sensing your debate. “The leap into the unknown is always the hardest part, but it is one we all must conquer at some point. I know you’re scared – of making mistakes and determining what your next steps are. But that’s life. Mistakes are how we learn, my dear. Heck, that’s why I’m called Mystake!”  

“But mistakes can get people killed,” you reply.  

“They can. But you’re not trusting in yourself or your training enough. What happened yesterday is rare – in my lifetime, I’ve only treated a handful of stabbings. And most of the time, they weren’t as life-threatening as Cole’s was. You’re not giving yourself enough credit – you took action, followed your training, and saved a man’s life as a result. Look at it that way.”  

You nod, watching as her steely eyes twinkle in a knowing fashion. “And truthfully…I don’t know what more I have to teach you. I truly think you’re at the point where experience will be your greatest teacher. Everything will work out for you; you just have to let it all fall into place. Before you know it, you’ll settle into your new normal without batting an eyelash over it. Because by then, it will feel right. And you’ll have been forever grateful that you took the leap.” 

“Okay,” you reply, letting her words steep. “Okay, I understand.”  

She smiles, setting a hand on your shoulder. “How about you take the day off from the store to think about it? Just tend to your patient and make sure his bandages stay clean. We can talk more about it later.”  

“Alright,” you say, nodding in response. “Thank you, Mystake.”  

With her words in mind, you set off to check on Cole.  

…  

Upon arriving, you note that Cole is already awake. Mystake must have dropped by this morning, because he’s reading a book you recognize from her prized collection. You take a moment to observe the way the strands of his dark hair fall around his face as he concentrates, eyes scouring the pages. It doesn’t help that he’s still shirtless, too – you’d been too exhausted last night to notice, but he’s nicely toned. To think you’d had your hand on his sternum, too…  

You shake your head, reassuming your professional demeanor. No checking out the hot ninja patient!  

“Good morning,” you greet, offering a demure smile as you gently shut the door. “How are you feeling, Cole?”  

“Good morning. Definitely better today,” he answers, gingerly shutting the book and setting it to the side.  

“I’m glad to hear it!” you chirp, noting that he’s also got a fresh mug of tea. “I’m going to have to check your wound quickly to make sure it’s not getting infected. I’ll get you some fresh bandages too. Our hope is that you’ll be back on your feet within the next two days or so.”  

“Sounds great,” Cole replies. As you make your way towards the supply chest to the left of the room, he calls: “Going to make fun of me again?”  

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you want me to make fun of you,” you retort, grinning as you pull out a set of clean gauze as well as a special type of antiseptic cleanser.  

“It’s better than being tiptoed around, that’s for sure,” he says as you pull a rolling stool up next to him. You set your supplies on the nightstand next to him, pulling on a pair of gloves. The bands snap against your skin as you wiggle your fingers until they fit snugly inside.  

“Your friends were just worried about you. Really worried,” you reply. “But they seem better today. Way more energetic, that’s for sure.”  

Cole simpers, shaking his head lightly. “That’s good to hear. Speaking of which…where’d they run off to?”  

“They’re grabbing breakfast,” you answer. It’s then notice that his wound is covered by the blankets, so you push them aside. Cole ends up bunching up the sheets, letting them rest over his middle. With the fabric now out of your way, you start peeling the gauze away.  

“Alright, let’s see here…” you trail off, inspecting the wound. Everything looks okay so far – no signs of infection or reopening. Good. “Not infected. Seems to be on its way to healing. That’s good. We’re just going to clean it with an antiseptic and magic-infused solution. Its purpose is twofold: to prevent infection and speed up the healing process. It should help the cut fully close within a day or so.”  

“Great,” Cole acknowledges, watching as you pour a bit onto a clean rag. The solution fizzes, emitting a faint, white light.  

“Fair warning, it’s going to sting,” you advise, waiting for the glow to simmer down a bit.  

“Then I may not be able to handle this.”  

You roll your eyes, unable to help but smile as you look up at him. Grassy green eyes glimmer back at you playfully as you respond: “Now you’re just being a baby.”  

“Do you call all of your patients babies?” he questions, grin faltering to a grimace as you start cleaning the wound. The liquid sizzles angrily against the wound, working its magic.  

After letting it soak for a few seconds, you start wiping the excess off. “Well, considering you’re the first and only patient that I’ve fully tended to, yes.”  

“I’m your first patient? That can’t be true,” he remarks, studying your hands as they rebandage his abdomen with fresh gauze.  

“From start to end, you are. Mystake has let me practice on others before, but only on certain phases of their injury or illness. You’re the first person that I’ve both patched up and tended to during recovery. And all by myself, too.”  

“Huh. I never would have guessed that from watching you work. You’re a natural.”  

His words leave you speechless for a moment, cheeks warming as you finish rebandaging him. “Thank you; that’s sweet of you to say. I’ve still got a lot to learn, though.”  

“But I’d be dead if it weren’t for you. Give yourself some credit.”  

Unsure of what to say, you smile at him in response. Cole returns your grin, pulling the blanket back over his torso. Somehow, the quiet between you two feels…fine. You know he doesn’t mind your lack of response. It’s comfortable; not forced.  

You like that.  

A moment later, you avert your gaze, fingers slipping underneath the bands of your gloves before pulling them off. “Well…I guess I’ll be back with something for you to eat soon. I imagine they won’t be much longer.”  

“Sounds good. Thanks, doc.”  

The nickname makes your heart stumble, but you’re able to play it off. “Absolutely.”  

…  

The ninja return soon enough – not only with breakfast, but with two unfamiliar people in tow. One appears to be around their age, dressed in a white gi while the other is an elderly man donning a bamboo staff and straw hat.  

“Sorry we’re late!” Jay says as they file into the store. “We ran into our master and teammate on the way back and had to catch up.”  

“That’s okay,” you assure, noticing that the two newcomers linger at the front. Kai and Jay, on the other hand, rush to the back. Knowing Mystake will greet them, you elect to follow Kai and Jay to the dining table.  

“We realized halfway through ordering that we didn’t ask you what you wanted,” Kai admits, sheepishly grinning. “So…we just got a bunch of different stuff. Whatever you don’t want, Cole will eat. I assure you.”  

“No worries,” you reply, watching as they unload the to-go bags. A mouthwatering scent floods the air, comprised of all kinds of breakfast foods. You note that they bought many more containers than you would have initially guessed, but factoring in the realization that ninjas probably eat more solves that puzzle. Just how much do these guys eat? “Have you two checked on him yet, by the way?”  

“Yeah, we talked to him this shortly after we woke up,” Jay answers, spreading out a mound of wrapped, plastic to-go cutlery sets. Hungry hands are quick to snatch them up. 

“Good. I just changed his bandages; I think he should be up and walking within the next day or so. We’ve just got to make sure the wound stays clean for now.” 

“Do you think he could come sit with us if we help him?” Kai wonders. “Kinda sucks that he’s stuck by himself.” 

You don’t answer immediately, taking a moment to ponder the decision. “Yes, he can. But we’ll need to use a wheelchair so we don’t risk reopening the wound. I’ll help too.”  

Sure enough, a few minutes later, Cole is successfully relocated to the dining room. Kai makes you pick a container of food before shuffling the rest to Cole. Everyone settles in – including the two newcomers. Mystake remains in the front for the time being. 

Kai starts off the conversation by introducing you, then the other two: “...this is Sensei Wu, and that’s Zane.”  

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” you greet, flashing the two a smile. 

“Likewise,” returns the snowy-haired ninja. He seems far calmer than his teammates, and sports a more sophisticated personality. “We are most grateful for your aid.”  

“Why? All she did was stick a band aid on me and call me a baby,” Cole replies as everyone starts passing around food. 

Kai and Jay snicker, both accepting their to-go containers of food with ravenous eyes. Zane’s eyes scrunch in confusion while their Sensei chuckles. 

“Only a band aid?” the icy-eyed ninja wonders. “Perhaps I heard the details of your injury incorrectly-“ 

“It’s a joke, Zane,” Jay explains as he unwraps his to-go plasticware. “The injury was really bad, but she got it under control.” 

“Did you actually call him a baby, though?” Kai wonders, eyeing you expectantly. 

You find your cheeks warming again, with expectant eyes on you. “Uh…I did, yeah. But only because he said he wouldn’t be able to handle the sting of the antiseptic when he’d just survived a stabbing-“ 

At your explanation, Kai and Jay break down in a fit of laughter. Cole shakes his head with a grin, but the mood remains light. It’s such a stark contrast to last night’s atmosphere that you can’t help but giggle too. 

You can see it in Kai and Jay’s eyes, too - Jay’s striking blue eyes are twinkling with mischief, making the bags under his eyes seem less prominent. Kai’s warm brown ones are tired too, but seeing his teammate recovered enough to make light of the situation seems to have alleviated the worry he’d been experiencing throughout the night. 

And, when you look at him, you can see it in Cole’s, too – the way his vibrant, green eyes have almost brightened since you studied them last night. They had been faded and dull yesterday, but thankfully that’s no longer the case. 

You avert your gaze before he can catch you staring, though, electing to focus on your food instead. 

“Regardless of whether or not my pupil was acting like a baby, I’d still like to thank you,” interrupts the elderly man. You note how the ninja quiet down upon hearing him speak, glancing at each to see that they’ve given him their attention. “You saved my student’s life, and for that, we’re all eternally grateful.” 

A chorus of agreements emanate from the ninja as the reality of the situation settles over the group. “Of course. We’re healers; it’s what we do. I’m glad I was able to help.” 

For a moment, it’s silent until Kai speaks up: “Oh, did you guys catch the last suspect? I know I managed to get two before the third slipped away.” 

“Yes, we located him before we came here,” Zane answers. “He’s in custody now.” 

Cole nods, apparently satisfied with the answer. “Good. I’m glad.” 

The conversation turns towards the ninja’s training. While you don’t understand much of what they’re talking about, you’re able to chime in on occasion. They still manage to include you in the chat – namely when Jay suggests you could become a “ninja doctor”. 

Which somehow turns into a debate about the conflicting nature of such a title – a ninja who could heal and hurt. It stuns you how the ninja are able to get so philosophical about something so silly. 

“No, no, Kai, you’re missing the point. It’s like what Master Splinter said in the twenty-twelve version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” Jay argues before quoting: “’Do no harm, unless you need to do harm. Then do lots of harm!’” 

Kai narrows his eyes, pondering Jay’s claim momentarily. “So, by that logic, are we all healers, then? Because we don’t do harm unless we need to?” 

“Kai’s right,” Cole agrees, starting on what must be his third box of food. “That’s too general to go by. But it is a fantastic quote, though. Sounds like something Master Wu would say.” 

“It does, doesn’t it?” Jay frowns, trailing off. “But she could be like Donatello, though. He fights but also kind of serves as the team medic.” 

“No, no, Donnie’s way smarter than I am,” you counter. “I can’t invent or do anything as scientific as he can.” 

Jay shrugs. “But you don’t have to. You’d just heal one of us and then go smack someone up with a bo staff.” 

This makes you all chuckle, and leads you to another thought: “Hey, do you guys realize how similar you are to the ninja turtles?” 

A collective epiphany dawns on Kai, Jay, and Cole as they stare at each other, eyes widening. 

“Woah,” Jay mumbles. “Wait, wait, guys she’s onto something!” 

The redhead points at Sensei Wu, then trails his finger across the table. “Sensei…you’re basically Master Splinter. Cole’s our leader, so he’s Leo. Kai’s the hothead, which makes him Raph. I’m the funny and cute one, so naturally I’m Mikey. And Zane’s the brainiac, so he’s Donnie. And Nya’s kind of like April!” 

A sound of awe emanates from three of the ninja, nodding their heads at Jay’s analysis. Poor Zane just seems lost. 

“Are you comparing me to a giant, mutated rat man?” Sensei Wu questions, amusement laced in his gaze. 

“So, you do watch modern TV!” Kai cries, pointing an accusatory finger at Wu. “See! I told you he was lying to us!” 

From there, they start to laugh about Wu before comparing the villains they’ve fought to the ones that appear in the show. That’s when you’re not able to keep up as well. 

Regardless, you roll with the flow of the discussion, surprised at how much you’re enjoying it. A few times, you catch Cole’s stare. 

He never averts his gaze, or makes you feel embarrassed. Instead, he smiles. 

You’re not sure that your heart is supposed to be beating so hard every time it happens, but you can’t help it. Even so, you ignore it. 

… 

Shortly after breakfast, the ninja wheel Cole back into the recovery ward. Zane remains momentarily to help you clean up before joining them. 

“I hope they haven’t been too rowdy,” comes the voice of Sensei Wu. 

You shake your head. “No, they’ve been great. They’re…fun, actually. I’ve enjoyed having them around.” 

“That’s good to hear. I’ve been training them for a good while, but even now they can be a handful.” 

The old man quiets momentarily, free hand stroking his beard thoughtfully. “Mystake tells me you’re considering new opportunities to practice your craft. Is this true?” 

“Oh, um…yeah, it is. I’m still not sure what I’m going to do, but…yeah, definitely thinking about it.” 

Sensei Wu nods in acknowledgement, eyes contemplative as he selects his next words: “I see. Well, I heard about how you handled Cole’s injury from Kai and Jay. If you’re interested, I’d like to offer you a position as our team’s medic.” 

Your eyes widen as your jaw goes slack, the unexpectedness of the proposition making your mind whirl. He wants you to become their official medic? 

“What? Really?” you wonder. “But I don’t have any field experience yet! Cole is the first patient I’ve tended to from start to finish.” 

“That’s all right. We’ve all got to start somewhere. The ninja themselves have only just finished their training and are now fighting together on their own. You’re similar to them in that regard. For all of you, experience will be your greatest teacher from now on.” 

That sentence reminds you of what Mystake said earlier – about experience. It dawns on you that they’re absolutely right – you’re never going to get better by letting your fear win. You have to break the confines of comfortability and get out there. 

Then, a question occurs to you: did Mystake know about this? Is this the job that she was talking about earlier – the one you were supposed to pack for? You’d have to ask her later. 

“And if you like, we could even try out, say…a trial. You could come work with us for a few weeks and see how you like it. If it’s not what you’re looking for, then you won’t have to commit.” 

“I…like the sound of that, actually,” you admit. “So…how would that work?” 

“You’d stay at my monastery. Depending on the circumstances, you might travel with the ninja for missions that are riskier or farther away. Of course, you won’t ever get close enough to be in danger. If you like, we could even have you trained to help design our missions. Kai’s sister handles a decent portion of the mission planning, but a fresh set of eyes always helps.” 

You like the sound of that. Traveling? Learning new skills? Working alongside the ninja? Just imagining the variety presented by the job gets you excited! 

“Sounds dynamic and fun – which is exactly what I’m looking for. Let’s try it out,” you reply, offering your hand. 

The old man grins, shaking your hand. “We’re looking forward to working with you.” 

… 

A few hours pass, with the ninja and Wu slinking back to the recovery ward. You take an hour or so for yourself, hanging out in your room while thinking about what you’d take for your trial run with the ninja. After much debate, you manage to get what you need packed while leaving out enough items for the day or so it’d take Cole to get back on his feet. Mystake’s healing antiseptic works wonders, so you know it’s simply a matter of time. 

You wind up feeling too antsy to settle down, so you insist on taking over for Mystake while she takes a lunch break. 

Thankfully, the main rush is over for the day. Once the last few customers pour out of the store, you decide to start restocking. A soft hum sounds from your lips as you climb a stepstool, a box of tea tucked underneath your arm as you make sure to maintain your balance. 

While you work, a soft whistling tune drifts from the hallway, accompanied by heavy footsteps. When they approach the entrance to the shop, you turn your head. 

Kai stands there, checking the shelves with scrutinizing eyes. You huff a silent laugh, wondering what’s he looking for. 

“Need something?” you wonder, stepping down from the ladder. 

“Oh, hey. Didn’t see you,” Kai notes, pivoting around to face you. “Yeah, Mystake was asking for me to grab some kind of tea. Reme-tea, I think she said?” 

You nod, gesturing for him to follow you towards the back. “I know what you’re talking about. Follow me.” 

“Are all of her teas named with puns?” he inquires. 

“A lot of them are. She thinks she’s funny,” you mumble, rolling your eyes affectionately. “But she names others a little more artistically.” 

“That explains a lot of what Master Wu drinks. He must shop here a lot.” 

“I can’t remember if I’ve seen him here before,” you admit, stopping when you reach the correct shelf. You rummage through the tea, frowning upon realizing the shelf needs to be reorganized. “I’ve served so many customers that their faces might as well be a blur to me – especially since a lot of them come during the early hours.” 

“I get that. I used to work at my parent’s blacksmith shop with my sister. Can’t say I miss the work; it got way too repetitive and bland for our taste. I can’t smith to save my life. It was a miracle that we made enough to scrape by.” 

“Blacksmithing, huh? Sounds hard,” you sympathize, glad that someone else understands the pains of customer service. Even so, you wonder why his parents wouldn’t help them out. Knowing that might be a sensitive topic, you elect not to pry. 

“Yeah, suffice to say it…wasn’t for us. I’m glad Sensei Wu found us when he did.” He pauses momentarily as you move your search to a different shelf, wondering where in the hell Mystake moved the Reme-tea. “But that reminds me…Sensei said you’d be staying with us to test out a work opportunity.” 

You nod. “Yeah. I’ve been dying to get out of here, honestly. I’m just kind of scared to get out in the field, but…you know. I won’t find out until I do it.” 

The brunet nods, turning to glance over the other shelves in an effort to help your search. “I know the feeling.” 

“You were nervous to become a ninja?” you respond. 

“Yeah, I was scared, but…I didn’t really have a choice. My sister was kidnapped by a group of Garmadon’s goons who’d come to our village. If Sensei hadn’t saved me, I would have been a goner…but they still got away with her. I had to change because she needed my help. So…I swallowed my fear and just worked. I didn’t give myself a chance to think about it. I went with Wu and didn’t look back.” 

You gasp at the story, frowning. “I’m so sorry…that must have been horrific. I can’t imagine…” 

Kai shrugs, smiling softly. You finally find the tea you’re looking for, reaching to grab it. 

“It was scary at the time. But Nya’s tough, and she ended up being just fine. We saved her, introduced her to the team, and…well, we’ve all stuck together since. I dunno, I guess things just kind of…fell into place for us.” 

You nod, curious at the mention of his sister. “I’m glad to hear that’s she okay. How do you guys like being ninja?” 

“Honestly…” Kai trails off, seemingly searching for words as the two of you linger in the back. “At first, I was only doing it so I could rescue her. But…after we got her back, the thought of returning to the shop just…filled me with dread. I knew I couldn’t go back to the way I was living. Being a ninja is way more fulfilling for me. We get to travel, meet new people from all over Ninjago, fly on our dragons, fight for the greater good…and that’s all I need.” 

“Wow. That sounds…perfect,” you mumble, mulling over his words. 

He nods in agreement. “It really is. I think you’ll like working with us. My sister’s going to love you; as well as we all get along, I think she gets sick of us sometimes. But you’ll know for sure after a week or so. Though, you never know – you might get sick of us.” 

You snicker at this, shaking your head. “I won’t get sick of you. Honestly…it’s been nice having you guys around, even for such a short time. I’ve never felt so…” 

“Engaged? Not in a haze of repetition?” he finishes with a knowing smirk. 

“Yeah,” you say. 

“That’s how I felt too, working with the guys for the first time. It’s safe to say that’s a good sign.” 

You nod, the two of you walking back towards the hallway. Once you’re there, you hand him the tea box. “I think so too.” 

Kai smirks, thanking you before starting back towards the recovery ward. On his way back, he calls: 

“Besides…how else are you going to keep making fun of Cole?” 

… 

The day passes with you dining alongside the ninja again – this time with Mystake. You notice that she’s uncharacteristically quiet through the event, causing you to make a mental note to ask her about it later. 

Cole’s injury is healing faster than you’d thought it would. Mystake’s antiseptic solution combined with a new tea made for a speedy recovery. At this rate, he’d be up and walking come tomorrow. 

As such, the team is preparing to leave. Watching them restlessly discuss what they’d do when they return made you realize your time in the tea shop is drawing to a close. 

And it simultaneously excites and terrifies you. 

While you lay in bed that night, you wonder if this is how Kai felt when he left to become a ninja. He had said he’d been scared. Somehow, that comforts you. Even someone as confident as him got scared too. 

Late into the night, though, your mind gets tired of worrying. Instead, you decide to get excited about trying something new. 

That thought makes you smile as you drift off into a dreamless sleep. 

… 

It seems like you’d only been asleep for minutes when you jolt awake to the vibration of…something. It rocks the building, making your eyes widen. Was that an earthquake?! 

Another one shakes the shop, this time accompanied by…a roar? Your heart races at the noise, wondering what it could be. Especially at this hour – a glance outside tells you that it’s either very late or extremely early. 

Chills erupt across your skin as you exit your room, eyes searching for potential source as you make your way towards the front. It must have come from outside. 

Even before you open the door, you can hear voices outside. They don’t sound panicked at all, which makes you feel somewhat better as you push the door open. 

Immediately, you’re met with the crisp, morning breeze. It makes you shiver, wishing you’d thought to bring a jacket out beforehand. The sky is still dark and riddled with stars, leaving you to wonder what time it is. Regardless, you press on, looking up to see Kai, who is facing the alley and speaking lowly to something. A strange, red glow illuminates his figure. 

Cole, Jay, and Zane are towards the left side of the shop, all speaking quietly amongst themselves. Cole is back on his feet and seems to be doing okay. Even though it’s early, a sense of restlessness courses about the four. They must be ready to get back into action. 

Deciding that you’ve stared enough, you make your presence known. “Guys? Is everything okay?” 

The brunet is the only one to hear you, holding one of his arms out towards the alleyway. “Hey, morning. Sorry, did we wake you?” 

You shake your head, stepping a bit closer. “No, I just...heard something.” 

“Yeah...about that,” Kai lowers the hand that he’d held to the alleyway. “Those noises were our dragons. Sorry, we probably should have warned you guys beforehand. It just didn’t cross our mind.” 

“Dragons?” you repeat, glancing into the alley. “You guys have-” 

A pair of vibrant, neon orange eyes stare at you from the darkness, making you freeze. Out from the alley creeps a dragon. 

A growl rolls from its throat as it studies you, its red head flecked with streaks of orange. Unfurling from its sides are a pair of brilliant red wings that exude a warm, red light. Its underbelly is protected by many rows of thick, orange bands that contrast against the darkened red scales of its body. Beneath the bands, you can see red patches swirling with energy. 

You take a step back, seeing Kai’s arm swing out in front of you when the dragon steps towards you. It snarls again, giving you a mean glare. 

“Stop being an asshole,” Kai scolds, stepping up to the beast while glaring at it. It lowers its snout, allowing Kai to pet it. “It’s okay, boy. She’s a friend.” 

“You...have a dragon?” you question incredulously, heart racing as you study the creature. Its – his? - eyes flutter shut at Kai’s touch, wings furling in so that he doesn’t appear as massive. 

 “Yep. We all do,” Kai replies, gesturing behind you. You spin tentatively, breath hitching as you see three more accompanying each of the ninja. 

“Holy shit,” you breathe, anxiety snowballing into excitement as you take your time studying each of them. “They’re...they’re beautiful. I never thought that I’d get to see one in person...” 

“Wanna pet him?” Kai offers, hand lingering on his dragon’s neck. “Though, fair warning, everyone else except me says that he’s hot to the touch. Not hot enough to burn yourself, but hotter than you’d expect.” 

You nod in acknowledgement, cautiously lifting your hand. The dragon doesn’t flinch, trusting in his master as you gently place your hand flat against his snout. A grumble rumbles throughout his body, seemingly okay with your touch. Through your legs, you can feel the vibrations of the growl. This has to be what woke you up. 

“Wow...” you say, noting that Kai was right – the scales are burning up. It’s almost like they’re containing a full-on wildfire underneath. “Why’s he so hot?” 

“He’s a fire dragon. He was guarding the Sword of Fire when we found him,” Kai explains, smiling softly as he strokes the side of the dragon’s snout. “Same story with the others and their weapons. We realized we needed to fight alongside them, not against them.” 

“Did you guys name them?” you wonder, glancing back at Kai. 

“Yeah. Flame.” 

“Hi, Flame,” you mumble, smiling at the dragon. He huffs softly in response, small columns of smoke puffing from his nostrils. You feel like you’re standing in front of a bonfire; you don’t have to be terribly close to experience the warmth emanating from his body. “It’s nice to meet you.” 

Kai chuckles, taking his hand off of Flame. “He likes you.” 

“I...I’m at a loss for words. This is the coolest thing ever...” you trail off, slowly taking your hand off of Flame as well. The fire dragon shifts so that he’s laying down, snout dropping to rest on the grass. You're reminded of a sleepy puppy. 

Jay’s is the next dragon you greet. 

“Meet Wisp!” Jay introduces, telling your name to the dragon even though he can’t talk. Wisp tilts his head, curiosity flashing in his electric eyes. This dragon is a gorgeous shade of blue, built similarly to Flame with one exception. If you had to guess, you’d say that Wisp is sleeker – made for speed. Wisp also appears to be friendlier than Flame. 

“Wisp. That’s an adorable name,” you compliment, smiling as you approach the dragon. “Hello, Wisp!” 

You tentatively reach your hand out, giggling when Wisp bumps his forehead against the palm of your hand, eager to be pet. Jay grins at the interaction. 

Unlike Flame, you swear Wisp’s scales are tingling with underlying magic. Electricity tickles your skin, making you pull away from the dragon with a giggle. 

“He’s tickly, isn’t he? Poor guy can’t help it; he’s always emitting a low amount of electricity,” Jay explains, gently scratching Wisp in a specific spot under his chin. Wisp hums in content, leaning into Jay’s touch. 

“That’s amazing,” you reply, smiling at Wisp before turning to the next dragon. 

This one is Rocky – Cole's dragon. This guy is certainly the bulkiest of the four, with scales that feel like rock underneath your fingertips. He seems to be made to take and deliver hits. 

“Hi,” you say softly, carefully scratching the area above his nose. Rocky nuzzles his snout against your palm, eager to receive more pets. 

“Oh, you’re a sweetheart, aren’t you?” you coo, watching as the dragon closes his eyes. 

Cole pushes himself off against the wall he’d been leaning on, adorning a disbelieving expression. “Are you kidding me?” 

“What?” you wonder. 

“He’s usually a jerk,” Cole grumbles, glaring at Rocky. You’re not fluent in dragon expressions, but you have a feeling that Rocky is taunting Cole somehow. “He’s always pushing us around, not...cuddling us! What’s your deal, man?!” 

“I think it’s because you’re mean to him,” you retort, laughing when Rocky bumps his snout against your arm. You realize he wants more pets, so you oblige without complaint. 

“Or because he’s a baby!” Jay calls, earning a laugh from Kai. 

Cole rolls his eyes, stepping beside you to pet the dragon as well. You take note of how Cole’s eyes soften upon seeing his dragon. The sight makes you wonder what kind of bond they have, and how it came to be. 

“And now they’re never going to let me live that down. See what you’ve done?” Cole says, turning to you with a smirk. 

“I don’t feel too bad,” you retaliate before moving to the last dragon. 

“Who’s this?” you ask, directing your question to Zane. He’d been sitting quietly alongside the icy blue and white dragon, which is laying down behind him. 

“His name is Shard,” Zane answers, tone soft as he glances up at you. “And I must apologize...he does not like being touched by people he doesn’t know very well. I imagine he will come around in a few weeks.” 

“Oh, that’s okay. I understand.” You smile, studying the dragon a bit longer. You decide to leave him alone for the time being, instead swiveling around to face the other ninja. 

The other two dragons have settled for the morning too, all laying down. Kai and Jay are near the front of the shop now, the two speaking quietly. Zane joins them a few moments later. 

Cole steps beside you, watching the three before answering your unasked question: “I think they’re going to try to get a quick sparring session in before we go. They need to loosen up and let some energy out.” 

“You’re sitting out, right?” you inquire, eyes narrowing in concern. 

“Yeah. I know the cut finally closed all the way, but it still hurts,” he comments. 

“Good. I know that stuff healed your wound pretty well, but Mystake is still putting the finishing touches on that particular formula. So just...take it easy for a few more days, then you can go back to crimefighting and whatnot.” 

“Are you saying you used me as a test subject?” Cole replies, crossing his arms as Jay gestures towards a small clearing across the shop. It’s grassy and spacious – perfect for a spar. You and Cole follow the three there, standing towards the side as Kai and Zane get into position. 

“We try our new teas and potions on ourselves before anyone else,” you say. Just from observing their stances, you can already see how differently these guys fight from each other – Kai's stance is loose, and he’s staying mobile while remaining focused on Zane. The white ninja, on the other hand, adopts a more formal version of Kai’s. He’s not as jittery as Kai, but he’s studying Kai. Watching, and waiting. 

“And then you just...perfect them as time goes on?” Cole wonders, the two of you watching as Kai launches an attack. 

“Pretty much. Once you understand the base recipes, and how different ingredients affect the base, it’s easy to come up with what you need. So, there’s not much risk in involved.” 

“I see,” Cole trails off, cringing when Zane exploits an opening Kai failed to notice. The white ninja lands a kick on Kai’s torso, eliciting a curse from the red ninja. 

“Ouch,” you hiss, your ribs hurting just from watching them. “How do you guys do this? And enjoy it?” 

“It pays off in its own way,” Cole replies with a shrug. “The risk is part of the thrill for us.” 

“I think you guys are just crazy,” you mumble, eyeing the fight. 

Your statement makes Cole laugh, the ninja unfolding his arms as he turns towards you. “You know, most people just call us noble. Or brave. Heroic, even.” 

“I’m sure; I’m just not much of an ass-kisser.” 

“And that’s exactly why she needs to be our medic,” Kai calls, he and Jay laughing at the exchange. 

“I am not familiar with the act of ass-kissing,” Zane says, he and Kai stopping their match. “Is it in a literal or figurative sense? And why is imperative that our medic does not kiss ass?” 

The white ninja’s remark cracks Kai and Jay up. Zane’s expression leaves you feeling a little bad for him, though. 

You lean over to Cole again, making sure they aren’t listening as you ask your next question. “Is he always that dense?” 

“Yep. Don’t get me wrong...he’s really smart, but stuff like this always flies over his head,” he answers before walking towards the others and answering Zane’s query.  

“Figuratively, Zane. An ass-kisser or kiss-ass is someone who sucks up to someone else. It’s usually to win approval or favors; it depends on the context. And it’s not a required quality of a medic, but personally, I think it’s more fun that way.” 

“She’ll be able to see right through our bullshit,” Kai adds. “She’ll do her job, but won’t baby us.” 

Jay pulls himself up from his previous sitting position, stepping over to the group and adding: “Although, she’s not opposed to calling people babies.” 

"Ah. I see now,” Zane says. “Thank you for the explanation.” 

A silence sweeps over the five of you, partnered with a sudden chilly breeze. You turn around to have another glance at the dragons, watching as they all nap peacefully. A few onlookers have gathered towards the end of the street, ogling the dragons with hushed murmurs. 

“We should probably get going soon,” Kai notes upon seeing the crowd. “Wouldn’t want to affect Mystake’s customer flow with our dragons.” 

“Yeah,” Cole agrees. “We can strap your stuff to Rocky. He’s probably the best suited to carry extra weight.” 

You nod in response, realizing that this is the last morning you’ll spend here for at least two weeks – more if the job goes as well as you think it will. A pit funnels into your stomach, hands twiddling with the hem of your shirt. 

“Okay,” you finally say, turning back towards the ninja. “I’m gonna go talk to Mystake, then.” 

Cole nods, bits of understanding flickering in his eyes. “Take your time.” 

You smile appreciatively, leaving the group and passing by the snoozing dragons. The bell chimes as you enter the shop, seeing Mystake at the register. 

A glance at the clock tells you that the shop has roughly forty-five minutes until opening, giving you a bit of time to say your goodbyes. 

The elderly woman looks up at you once you approach, smiling as you greet her. 

“Good morning,” you say. 

“Good morning, dearie,” Mystake says, expression softening as she glances out the window to look at the ninja. “I suppose today’s the day, isn’t it?” 

You nod. “Yeah...it is.” 

She steps around the counter, hand coming to clasp around yours. “Come with me. I need to give you something.” 

Your mentor guides you towards your room, where your packed belongings lay. On top of your bed is a canvas bag. You note that’s it is your favorite color, complete with a crossbody strap, several pockets, and metal clasps. It looks to be built for durability and function – the straps are thicker than you’d expect to find on a regular bag. 

“I’ve prepared this for you,” she starts, sitting on the edge of your bed. You do the same, settling in across from her. “I’m glad you’ll be working with Wu. I always give him a hard time, but he’s a good man. And, since I’ve known him for so long, I had an idea of what you should bring.” 

With that, Mystake tugs the bag into her lap, snapping the clasps open. “This bag contains everything you’ll need to get started.” 

The first object she pulls out is a wooden box – it's handcrafted and painted your favorite color, decorated with floral engravings along the sides. “This box is filled with your basic teas and potions. There should be enough for two weeks. Should you decide to stay with them, I’ve made something else for you.” 

Mystake sets the box aside, hands delving back into the bag to reveal a handcrafted leather journal. The cover is black, painted with pink and purple symbols that seem familiar somehow. The pages are thick and gray, like a stormy sky. 

“This is a copy of my recipe book. Every potion and tea you’ve ever crafted under my guidance can be found here – with the exception of my secret ones, of course. There are also a few blank pages in the back so you can create your own, too.” 

Then, Mystake tilts the bag towards you. You peer inside, seeing various basic medical supplies – bandages, gauze, simple over-the-counter medicines. It looks like enough for two weeks as well. “And, lastly, traditional medical supplies. Enough for the duration of your stay." 

With that, Mystake repacks the bag and sets it aside. 

Your eyes are watering slightly as you stare at the bag, watching as she snaps the clasps shut. “Mystake...I don’t know what to say. I...” 

She chuckles, taking your hands in hers. Wrinkled, steely gray eyes peer at you from underneath her straw hat, just as glassy as yours.  

“It’s okay, because I already understand how you feel. I know what you want to say. I was in your position once, after all. I was standing before my family in my homeland, about to travel into this world so I could fulfill my duty. But I never could have imagined what awaited me in a Ninjago – a land where I could live a mundane life, set up a silly old tea shop. A land where I had the blessing to train one of the brightest pupils that I’ve ever mentored.” She pauses, squeezing your hands. “I’m so proud of you.” 

That does it. You sniffle, letting yourself cry. “You are?” 

“Of course I am,” she mumbles. “You’ve come such a long way since the day I found you. And now you’re preparing to work on your own…” 

“Mystake…” You’re unable to finish your sentence as you envelope her in a hug – the woman who’d taken you in, mentored you. “You…you have no idea how much that means to me. Thank you.” 

Her arms coil tighter still around your figure, and against your arms you can feel the scratchy wool of her handknitted sweater. An herbal scent floods your senses as you soak it in, knowing this will be the last time you smell it in a while. 

It would forever remind you of her. 

“I’m honored I got the chance to mentor you, and get to know you as a young lady. You’re going to do incredible things. The world is yours, dearie; grab it by the neck and throttle it!” 

You giggle, already knowing that you’re going to miss her eccentric self. “I won’t ever be able to repay you for everything that you’ve done for me. All I can say is: thank you, Mystake. I’m going to do all I can to make you proud. I’m forever grateful for your hospitality and mentorship.” 

“You’ve already made me proud. I know you’re going to be amazing. You’ll be the best damned medic in Ninjago, you hear me? Now get out there and make it happen. They’re waiting for you.” 

With those parting words, Mystake stands, pulling the bag she’d prepared into her arms. “Ready?” 

You make sure you have your bags before nodding, glancing around your room one last time. Without your belongings scattered about the room, it seems far too empty. Your eyes soften as you study the area, heart aching when you realize you won’t be coming back to sleep here again for a while. 

Despite your reluctance, you smile, mumbling a soft “thank you” to the room that had sheltered you for all of those years. 

A sigh escapes you as you turn, following Mystake out of the shop. 

The sun is higher in the sky now, and the dragons seem to be reenergized. Jay and Wisp are play fighting where Kai and Zane had been sparring earlier; Cole is fussing over Rocky while Kai is adjusting a saddle on Flame. Zane and Shard are still sitting together, watching the others struggle. 

“You rapscallions better treat my pupil well,” Mystake grumbles, eyeing the crowd still ogling the dragons. “We can hurt just as well as we can heal-” 

“Mystake,” you interrupt, chuckling as Jay’s eyes widen. “It’s going to be just fine.” 

“Here, let me take those for you,” Cole replies, reaching for your bags. You oblige, grinning softly at him as you hand them to him. 

“Thank you,” you reply, watching as he sets them on Rocky’s back. Kai approaches once he’s done, holding a mix of ropes and bungee cords. 

The two set about strapping your luggage to the dragon, making sure that they’re secure before asking Rocky to move around a little. After a few adjustments have been made, Cole nods in approval. 

“Alright, I think we’re about set,” Cole notes, glancing around at the others. “Who’s gonna take Wu back?” 

“I can,” Kai answers, the four grouping together as Sensei Wu emerges from the store. 

“Alright. Then I guess we’re headed back to the monastery, then,” Cole replies. The others nod in agreement, preparing to board their dragons. The black ninja takes a moment to double check the bags before turning to you. 

His green eyes sparkle in the morning light, lips quirking into a soft smile. “Anything else you need to do before we take off?” 

You don’t answer immediately, instead turning towards Mystake again. Wordlessly, you loop your arms around her neck. 

She returns your embrace, voice soft in your ear as she says: “I’m going to miss you, but I’m glad you’re pursuing your dream. Remember what I said. Take care, dear. I’m always here if you need me.” 

“Thank you. I’m going to miss you too.” 

She pulls away from you, lips pressed together tightly as she releases you. “Now go.” 

For a moment, your throat tightens with the things you want to say to her. Despite this, you hesitate, realizing that she already knows what you want to say. 

With that, you turn back towards the ninja before you, glancing up at him through glassy eyes. 

“Okay,” you murmur, nodding briskly. “I’m ready.” 

Always happy to read fresh requests. Read my guidelines before submitting, please!

Masterlist for this Fic

[circus4apsycho8]

hey how's it going, it's been a while (like, a few years) since ive checked your blog, im glad to see that you're doing okay!

feel free to ignore this, but i just wanted to ask, are you ever gonna continue happy meals & mixed feels, that one gaster x reader fic? it's one of my favorites, and if not then that's completely okay too and i understand.

have a great day!

Hi! I’m really glad to hear that you enjoyed it! Unfortunately, I’m not really into Undertale anymore so I doubt I’ll return to it. Regardless, thanks so much for checking on it after all this time! :) I’m super glad you liked it!

Thanks for the ask, and have a great day too!

[circus4apsycho8]

Hii! I hope you are doing well! I was wondering if you are still currently taking ninjago requests? If not then I totally understand!

Hope you have a good day/night!!

Hi! I hope you are too!

Yes, my requests are always open; just be sure to read these guidelines before submitting! I’ve been having bad writer’s block lately, so I haven’t made much progress lately, but once I break through it I should have more stuff coming out. I’m always looking for fresh prompts!

Thank you and have a good day/night as well!

[circus4apsycho8]

U FED US WITH THE VALENTINE'S DAY POSTTTT

Yesss I'm glad!!! >:)

[circus4apsycho8]

[ninjago headcanons] how they handle valentine's day with you

𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚍𝚎𝚜: 𝚔𝚊𝚒, 𝚓𝚊𝚢, 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚎, 𝚣𝚊𝚗𝚎, 𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚢𝚍, 𝚗𝚢𝚊, 𝚐𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚘𝚗, & 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚘

𝚔𝚊𝚒

of course, he’s very smooth about it

will come up to you wearing that dumb smirk of his holding a heart-shaped box of chocolates, flowers, and a card

asks you in one go. doesn’t stutter or trip over his words

even so, he’s still a little bit nervous deep down - he’s just good at hiding it

will take you out for a fancy dinner and a motorcycle ride; at the end of the night, the two of you go somewhere secluded to watch the sunset together

𝚓𝚊𝚢

he’s not as confident

stutters, blushes, has to practice a few times before he can work up the nerve to ask you

once he does, though, he’s super relieved and gets excited!!

he takes you out to lunch, and then the two of you spend the day at an arcade museum :)

at first, he’s a little bit tense and afraid he’s going to embarrass himself, but he eventually lightens up

the two of you have a blast!

the date ends with cups of ice cream and a walk around a park at sunset

𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚎

asks through a romantic, heartfelt letter that he delivers to your doorstep before you emerge for the day

the letter is sealed in a pretty, light pink envelope and stamped with a flower. accompanying it is a bouquet of your favorite flower along with a box of chocolates

your name is written on the front of the envelope in a unique, calligraphy-esque font that appears messy but also…strangely composed and beautiful, in a way

the letter asks you to meet the secret someone out on the deck of the bounty after breakfast

sure enough, cole is there, fidgeting as he waits for you

once you approach him, he asks to be your valentine!

you answer him with a hug and a “yes!”

the date takes place in a forest initially - he had set up a special spot beforehand. it’s a picnic!

of course, he had to get a little bit of help from zane for the cooking portion :)

afterwards, the two of you take a short hike through the woods until you reach the theater where the ninja performed

it’s empty, but cole knows a certain spot inside

it turns out to be a mirrored studio room, where he teaches you how to dance :)

(or just dances with you, if you already know how!)

𝚣𝚊𝚗𝚎

does it simply and elegantly; after listening to the advice of his teammates, he decides to just ask you while you’re alone on the deck

he averts his gaze when he asks, unsure if he had done it correctly or if he misunderstood the tradition somehow

but when you grin and accept, his nerves ease

the two of you have a quiet, peaceful walk throughout the birchwood forest

(zane makes sure that you’re dressed warm enough beforehand)

eventually, the two of you come across a frozen pond

after determining that the ice is thick enough, zane pulls you onto the ice, the two of you slipping and sliding around

he’s far more graceful, and he doesn’t let you fall

takes the two of you back via a dragon ride, letting you cling to him while you enjoy the sunset

𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚢𝚍

asks you by dropping off a cheesy starfarer-themed valentine’s day card at your door

takes you to a family entertainment venue (think like chuck e cheese, with added games for adults)

he admits that he came here quite a bit whenever it was jay or kai’s turn to watch him when a kid, and he knows all of the tricks to get a lot of tickets

(at one point, he tells you a story about how he would steal tickets from machines and other patrons in order to get better prizes)

the two of you play for hours, saving up as many tickets as you can before heading to the counter to pick out your prizes!

you end up getting two of the same dragon stuffed animals, but in different colors

once that’s done, the two of you enjoy some of the venue's snacks before calling it a day

𝚗𝚢𝚊

she, like her brother, will simply come up and ask you

the only difference is that she lacks his cockiness and is more nervous about it

she keeps it simple - the day starts with a coffee shop date and ends with the two of you wandering the city together

there’s not much of a plan - the two of you just go with the flow

by the time the day is done, you have shopped at a farmer’s market, listened to a talented street performer, tried a bunch of pastries from a local baker, and more!

𝚐𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚘𝚗 - 𝚌𝚛𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚣𝚎𝚍 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗

initially goes to vinny for date ideas and how he should go about asking

when the time does roll around, you notice that he’s stiff and clearly uncomfortable, but also determined

he’s blunt and to the point about it

you can tell he’s doing his best to sound gentle

“i would…very much like it if you were to be my valentine.”

ends up taking you out for a few drinks at laughy’s (either alcoholic or not, whatever you prefer)

either way, he eventually accompanies you on a night walk on the perimater of the city, away from the crowd so that no one can ruin your night together

𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚘

doesn’t even bother asking. it would embarrass him too much.

very coarse about the ordeal, but even so, it’s really sweet in his own way

probably won’t make a whole lot of eye contact with you. if you squint, you might catch him blushing at some points.

drags you to a nice picnic that he set up (all by himself!) in the ruins of the monastery

it’s a quiet night, but the two of you still enjoy yourselves despite not speaking much

the wind is gentle and content, as is morro

once the two of you are done eating, you’ll shimmy over to him and curl up beside him

he’ll accept your embrace, holding you as you watch the skies together <3

(𝚊/𝚗): 𝚑𝚒 𝚊𝚕𝚕! 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚊 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚒'𝚟𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚟𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚎'𝚜 𝚍𝚊𝚢! :)

𝚒'𝚖 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚊 𝚋𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚝𝚜, 𝚛𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚜, 𝚜𝚘 𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚊 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚖𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗. 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚢!

𝚛𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗; 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚖𝚢 𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚘.

[circus4apsycho8]

hi circus:) i hope ur doing well!!!!!

Hey!! I've been doing well and I hope you are too! :)

[circus4apsycho8]

There’s not enough love for Renelm Rowan on this app

[circus4apsycho8]

My Light, My Shadow.

[circus4apsycho8]

Want to learn something new in 2022??

Absolute beginner adult ballet series (fabulous beginning teacher)

40 piano lessons for beginners (some of the best explanations for piano I’ve ever seen)

Excellent basic crochet video series

Basic knitting (probably the best how to knit video out there)

Pre-Free Figure Skate Levels A-D guides and practice activities (each video builds up with exercises to the actual moves!)

How to draw character faces video (very funny, surprisingly instructive?)

Another drawing character faces video

Literally my favorite art pose hack

Tutorial of how to make a whole ass Stardew Valley esque farming game in Gamemaker Studios 2??

Introduction to flying small aircrafts

French/Dutch/Fishtail braiding

Playing the guitar for beginners (well paced and excellent instructor)

Playing the violin for beginners (really good practical tips mixed in)

Color theory in digital art (not of the children’s hospital variety)

Retake classes you hated but now there’s zero stakes:

Calculus 1 (full semester class)

Learn basic statistics (free textbook)

Introduction to college physics (free textbook)

Introduction to accounting (free textbook)

Learn a language:

Ancient Greek

Latin

Spanish

German

Japanese (grammar guide) (for dummies)

French

Russian (pretty good cyrillic guide!)

[circus4apsycho8]

Hi all! Just wanted to wish a Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it!

I’ll be working on the next part of the Ninjago Mistletoe Mastermind throughout the day today, but I’m not sure if it’ll be up by the end of the day. This year’s focus character is Cole. I’ll keep at it though!

Anyways, I hope everyone has a safe and restful holiday season no matter what you celebrate! ❤️💚

[circus4apsycho8]

Six years later and I am still annoyed that The Evil Within 2 game set Stefano up to be the main antagonise to the game, showing off with all the trailers of his Art Gallery, and he was such wasted potential.

He had the potential to be such a fascinating villain -which he already is- but his section feels so rushed that it's almost insulting to the man.

Yes, I am ranting. Yes, I am back in my Evil Within phase. This man deserved better!

[circus4apsycho8]

𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚘𝚗, 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚕. | 𝚊𝚌𝚗𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚒𝚊 𝚡 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛 | 𝚌𝚑. 𝚟𝚒

𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢'𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚢, 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚜, 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎.

“Hey kid. Come on in.”

You step aside, allowing Romeo to enter your home. Acnologia is out attending his classes for the day, leaving the house to yourself.

“Thanks,” he replies, stepping inside. You notice he’s tenser then normal, which doesn’t surprise you.

You gesture for him to have a seat at your dining room table. “Can I get you any snacks or drinks?”

“I think I’m okay for now, but thank you.”

You nod, sitting down across from him. “All right. So I know you heard Alexander’s real name.”

“Yeah…I’ve been thinking on it for a while.”

“I know you have. I’m here to tell you the facts, not change your mind about him,” you say. “I met him when we battled, as you know. Ever since we traveled together, I started noticing improvements in his character. Which…I understand why you’re hesitant to trust him. I was too at first, but as I got to know him, I realized that he’s just been too enveloped in his magic to see the good in Dragon Slayers.”

“I heard Natsu and Lucy talking to Makarov about his attack on Tenrou,” he notes, sighing heavily. “It’s just…hard for me to know that he’s the reason our guild mates went missing for seven years. And now he’s here. With you.”

“I understand that,” you say softly. “He’s proving to me that he’s getting better. He retained control while we were fighting the dragons, and he’s been working hard to improve his healing and character.”

“I see that now,” Romeo says, shifting his gaze to your face. “And I really think it’s just going to take me a little while to get over it.”

“It’s okay,” you say, smiling. “He knows what he did was wrong, and he’s trying to atone for it as best he can now.”

“I’ll try to give him a break. What do you mean by him trying to maintain control, by the way?”

“He has these…blackouts,” you answer, frowning as you recall that conversation. “He loses control of his magic and conscience self, and his inner dragon controls him while he’s passed out.”

“Oh,” he replies. “I see.”

“Yeah. Doesn’t excuse what he did, because he had to kill a lot of dragons to get to that point, but it does explain.”

“His magic is so powerful….” Romeo comments. “But he’s doing a lot of good now. He saved you, he’s been working on himself, he acknowledges he needs to change and has been getting better. So… ”

“He also joined Crime Sorcière,” you add. “They’re going on their first mission with him this weekend, I believe.”

“Okay,” Romeo replies, smiling. You see his shoulders relax a little bit. “I still don’t think I can forgive him just yet, but…I’ll give him a chance.”

“And that’s all I ask,” you say with a smile.

“I feel a lot better about this now,” he confesses, standing up. You follow his motion, grinning as you ruffle his hair.

“I’m glad,” you state. “Are you doing okay, though? Not just physically…I know what you saw is hard to cope with.”

“Oh…yeah…” His smiles fades as he sighs. “I don’t know. I’ve been having nightmares ever since. But my dad is looking into therapy, so…”

“Good. It’ll help.”

“I hope so. It’s been hard for me to sleep lately.”

“I bet. But let me just say that you’re doing well. Just make sure you get the help you need, all right? And I’m always here if you want to talk.”

“Thank you,” he says, smiling as he comes to hug you. “I should get back to the guild now. But thanks for this, I needed it.”

“Anytime. Be safe, you hear?”

“Got it. See you later!”

With that, Romeo exits your home, leaving you with your thoughts.

Hmm. Maybe you should take a job? It’s not like you have much to do right now. Maybe you should wait for Acnologia to get home first and ask if he would want to come with you.

You look around, realizing that your house is a bit of a mess. Well, maybe some tidying wouldn’t hurt in the meantime. Mind set, you start straightening your house up.

After a while, you’re interrupted by a knock on your door. Hm, not Acnologia. So who?

Upon opening it, you find Jellal standing there.

“Hey,” you greet.

“Hello,” he replies. “Is Acnologia here?”

“Not yet, he’s still at his lecture for the day.”

“Ah, I see. Well, I have a question for you as well.”

“All right, come on in then.”

You step aside, gesturing for him to enter. He does so quickly and with elegance. Once more, you have a seat across from your guest.

“So, as you know, our first mission featuring Acnologia is coming up this weekend,” he starts. “We were wondering if you’d like to come with us?”

“What’s the mission?”

“We’ve caught wind of one of Zeref’s demons lurking in a small village near the northern coast. According to Ultear’s research, we think they’re planning to cause a large-scale massacre on the full moon occurring this Sunday.”

“Demons, huh? Why wait for a full moon?”

“There’s something different about this type,” Jellal replies, frowning. “I don’t know what, though. That’s why we thought we’d offer you to come with.”

“I’ll talk to Acnologia first before I decide. I wouldn’t mind joining, but I want to make sure he’s okay with it too. He’ll be home shortly.”

“Excellent. There is one more matter I wish to discuss…” he sighs, expression growing serious. “We are looking at defeating Zeref in the next year or so. We’re going to need all of the help we can get, and if we could enlist your help…”

“Of course,” you reply, straightening your posture. “Zeref has done enough damage. I’ll be glad to help stop his sorry ass.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” the bluenette replies.

The two of you talk for a bit longer before the sound of the doorknob rattling catches your attention. Moments later, Acnologia walks in.

“Hey!” you greet with a smile as you go to hug him. He grins, returning your embrace and pecking your cheek. “How was your day?”

“It went well enough. And yours?”

“Good,” you reply. “We have a visitor!”

“Ah, Jellal,” Acnologia releases you (much to your dismay) and walks over to the table, where you both sit down.

“Hello. How are you doing?”

“Well, thank you. How about yourself?”

“I’m fine, thank you. I have some matters to discuss with you about our upcoming mission.”

“I’m clear to go,” Acnologia answers, leaning back. “We’re leaving Friday, right?”

“Correct. We’re leaving early Friday morning. I’ll send you the details later on, but as of right now, that’s our plan.”

“Acno, do you mind if I tag along with you guys?”

“Of course not, love,” he replies with a small smile.

“Okay, I just wanted to ask.”

“Perfect. I’ll tell Ultear that you’ll be accompanying us as well.”

You nod, leaning back. “Sounds good.”

...

“This one?”

Acnologia frowns, studying the flash card in your hand. You giggle slightly upon seeing that the tip of his tongue is poking out between his lips, a confused expression on his face.

“Don’t make fun of me,” he growls playfully. “It’ll come to me in a second.”

After Jellal left, you decided to help Acnologia study for another exam. It’s been kind of successful, but you’re in the mood to mess with him for some reason.

“You can do it,” you encourage, a teasing smile on your lips. “...I think.”

“Shut up.”

“Make me.”

He goes silent for a moment, gazing piercing through you in the way that sends excited chills down your spine. Moments later, he lunges forward to grab your cheeks, pulling your face to his. He kisses you roughly, causing you to drop the flashcards so you can wrap your arms around his neck and deepen the kiss.

Seconds later, he pulls away with a smirk. “That seemed to work.”

“Whatever,” you reply with a grin. “Okay, back to studying!”

“I don’t feel like studying anymore.”

“Oh?”

“I want to do something else.”

“Like what?”

“You.”

You laugh, going to sit on his lap. He encircles you within his arms as he pulls you towards him. “That was bad.”

“Maybe so, but it’s true,” he mumbles, a soft smile on his lips as he gazes up to you. The two of you quietly stare at each other for a few heartbeats. “You’re so beautiful, you know that?”

“Acno...”  you mumble, smiling as your heart melts. “Thank you. You are too, though.”

“I could never compare to you,” he mumbles, raising one hand to brush against your cheek.

“Acno!” you whine, drawing out the last syllable of his name as you wiggle in his grasp. He only holds you tighter, grinning against the skin of your neck.

“What? Everything I’m saying is true.”

“Stars, you’re so sweet...” you mumble, resting your head against his shoulder. Mmm. You could stay like this forever.

“Not as sweet as you.”

“Dude!”

He chuckles. “It’s the truth.”

“Give yourself some credit too!”

“I don’t need that,” he says, smiling softly.

“You do need it, you’re just edgy,” you tease, booping his nose.

He scrunches his face. “Hmph.”

Another giggle escapes you as press a kiss to his cheek. “Are you excited about the job?”

“I am. It’s going to be my first official mission.”

“I think it’s going to be fun. Plus, we get to go with Crime Sorcière! I’ve heard such great things about their group!”

“Really?”

You nod. “They have such powerful wizards, like Jellal and Ultear. We can learn a lot from them!”

“That’s true. Do you know if the whole guild is coming?”

“I don’t think so. Angel and Meredy are in Crocus visiting Sabertooth, I think, and Racer and Hoteye are working on another mission.”

“So, it’ll be us, Jellal, Ultear, and…who else?”

“Cobra and Midnight,” you finish.

“And you haven’t met any of them besides Jellal?”

“Nope.”

“I see. Well, how about we get to bed, love? We have an early morning ahead of us.”

…

“Is this the spot?”

“Yes. We’re a bit early, so we still have a few minutes,” Acnologia answers as you glance around.

The early morning sky looms above the two of you, a soft breeze raising goosebumps on your skin. Despite the hour, you can’t help but feel like something is off about the town. You know you’re being watched.

By the looks of it, though, the demonic infestation haunting this town would not be a problem for much longer. Jellal’s letter had instructed the two of you to meet them at Hargeon Town at the listed time. From there, you all would initiate the search for the possessed townspeople. Hopefully that wouldn’t be a problem considering the nature of your magic.

After a few hours of traveling, the two of you managed to make it to Hargeon just in time. Beginning to grow anxious to hunt down Zeref’s demons, you step underneath a nearby streetlight in order to read the job description:

Location: Hargeon Town Task: eliminate demonic activity located near the 8-Island restaurant. Lethal force unauthorized unless facing life-or-death situation. Goal: eradicate all evil from villagers, who have been possessed by Zeref’s lower-level threats. I have a confirmed record of about a dozen, but that’s only the ones that have been seen. We need to exorcise the entities out without harming the villagers. If Erik and Acnologia cannot pick up their scent, we will have to find another way to figure out where they are hiding. Reward: up to 100k Jewel if done correctly. Additional Note: Stay aware in this area. This town is home to Yajima-san. We will need to work quickly as to not cross paths with him.

“How does Jellal get this kind of money?” you wonder, stowing the paper in a safe place.

“From what I heard, he and Ultear managed to negotiate a grant contract with an organization that specializes in criminal reformation,” answers your boyfriend as he runs a hand through his hair.

“Wow, that’s both impressive and clever,” you note, stepping closer towards him. It’s a little bit chilly out, and he seems to sense that as he slings an arm around your shoulders. The warmth from his body helps you stop shivering for the time being.

“Thanks,” you mumble, laying your head on his shoulder.

“Anything for you,” he says, pressing a kiss to your forehead. “Are you doing okay? You seem a bit restless.”

“I love hunting demons,” you admit, jitteriness overcoming you. “It’s my favorite type of job. Their presence here is overwhelming. I can tell they’re going to put up a decent fight considering they stem from Zeref’s magic.”

Acnologia nods. “I understand that.”

A few seconds later, Acnologia suddenly turns in the direction of the road, where you spot Jellal and the others walking towards you. The heavenly body magic is with a tall, dark-haired woman and two men – one, however, seems to be asleep on a floating carpet. Interesting.

You offer a brief wave in greeting as the two of you approach them.

“Good morning,” Jellal greets. “It looks like we’re all here. Excellent. First things first – this is Ultear, Midnight, and Cobra. This is Acnologia and…” he introduces you. “Acnologia is our new recruit and she is a Devil Slayer who agreed to help us fight Zeref.”

“A Devil Slayer? That’ll simplify this mission tenfold,” Cobra notes as he shakes hands with Acnologia. “Regardless, it’s nice to meet you both.”

“The pleasure is ours,” Acnologia replies as you shake Cobra’s hand.

“It is an honor to be working with you both,” Ultear adds with a small smile.

“Same here. I’ve heard amazing things about your magic,” you state.

Cobra lazily points a thumb towards Midnight. “That’s Midnight, but he’s always asleep. If he wakes up soon, I’ll force him to properly introduce himself.”

“Anyways, we should get started in the interest of time,” Jellal interjects.

You nod in agreement. “They already know we’re here.”

“How can you tell?” Cobra questions.

“They’re watching us. They cannot understand our words but they can sense our intention. They aren’t going down without a fight.”

“In that case, what’s our plan?” Jellal wonders.

“Leave the exorcism up to me. There are lots of them here, but we’ll need to subdue all of them if we’re to complete the job without harming the people. Exorcisms are dangerous for the vessel, so we need to get the demons as weakened as we possibly can.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Cobra states. “Where are we headed?”

“This way,” you answer, leading the group towards a clearing in the town. “A large portion of them are gathered just beyond the forest line.”

“Acnologia and Cobra. Can you guys smell them?” you question, spotting Midnight merely peeking one eye open.

“I’m picking up a weak trail,” Acnologia notes.

“Me too. It’s coming from the forest. I can hear them, too. They think they’re being sneaky.”

A twisted grin settles on your face as you ready yourself for battle. “Void Ray!”

Your furrowed stare spies figures emerging from the forest. A ball of dark magic gathers in the tips of your fingers before you send it spiraling out towards the group. The others leap into action, joining in on the attack.

“Dokuryū no Hōkō!” Cobra yells, sending a blast of poison towards their group.

“Invisible Scythe!” Midnight adds, causing ethereal blades to slice towards the demons.

As the demons fall from the first few attacks, Acnologia backs up. “Eternal Flare!”

Magic stars barrel down onto the fallen foes, eliciting the possessed humans to screech inhumanely before they rush towards your group. You can tell they’re all injured and suffering from Cobra’s poison, but the pain doesn’t seem to affect them.

Midnight suddenly steps in front of you and sweeps his right arm out to the side, causing an unseen force of magic to make the group fall.

You snap your fingers while chanting underneath your breath, causing a symbol in the shape of a pentagram to appear on the ground underneath the fallen bodies. There are five symbols in each space between the points of the star-like figure inside.

“Damn you,” one of the demons spits. “Our Emperor will kill you all!”

“Yeah, he’ll get them. There’s no need for us to worry,” another adds.

“Banish Demon,” you mumble, causing the magic circle to light up a dim purple as all of the demons inside the circle start writhing in an attempt to resist the powerful spell. Within moments, all the demons have been exorcised as the humans scream out in agony.

And then, the evil within them dissipates entirely. The pentagram fades and you smile, left with a bunch of confused humans.

“I thought you said they were gonna put up a fight,” Cobra jokes, glancing at you with a smirk.

You chuckle, shrugging. “It appears I was wrong.”

A wave of hushed murmurs catches your attention. You turn to see the townspeople nervously studying you and the others.

“Don’t worry, we’re not going to hurt you. The demons are gone. Are you all okay?” you ask, leaning down to help them each up.

“I feel weak...what happened?” one person asks. This one is a young woman of about twenty years or so. You’re glad this exorcism went well – the results of a bleaker outcome would have been horrific to say the least.

“You were possessed by some of Zeref’s lower-level demons,” Midnight answers, “but they should be gone for good now. If you’ll let us put an anti-possession symbol on you, then you shouldn’t get possessed ever again.”

“You’re feeling weak because of the poison I used. It’s a weaker one that just tires you out. It won’t actually hurt you, it just takes a bit of time to wear off.” Cobra explains next.

“Is anyone hurt?” you ask.

Acnologia goes around healing anyone who has an injury before you and the other five set about stamping anti-possession tattoos on their bodies.

“Um...aren’t they fugitives?” asks a man who is clearly shaken. “I feel like I’ve seen them on the Council’s most-wanted list.”

“They are, yes, but they’re trying to make up for their sins. They’re good people, trust me.”

“How do you know that?” a nearby woman asks you.

“Tell me something,” you say, catching Acnologia’s gaze as you step in front of the crowd. “My old mentor once asked me: ‘What is better: to be born good, or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?’ What do you all think?”

That question always gets people. The group falls silent.

“Well, in any case, we recommend that you keep a hefty supply of salt, iron, silver, and holy water handy just in case of a supernatural attack. In that case, your best bets are wizards from legal guilds,” Jellal adds. “We tend to drift about, so it’ll be quicker to alert the legal guilds.”

Ultear nods in response. “Additionally, we would greatly appreciate it if you all keep quiet about our involvement here.”

“Or just say that I was here,” you suggest.

After getting the rest of the villagers secured, you rejoin the group at the road.

“That took way less time and effort than I expected,” Cobra admits once you arrive. “We normally have such a hard time hunting those assholes down. But you knew exactly where they were and how to get rid of them. Did you even read an exorcism?”

You shake your head. “I created a spell that implanted the exorcism’s language into the magic in order to expedite exorcisms.”

“That’s clever,” Jellal notes as Acnologia steps beside you, looping an arm around your waist.

“I mean…if you guys are really set on fighting Zeref, I wouldn’t mind teaching you how to cast it,” you offer.

“We would greatly appreciate that,” Ultear says, smiling at you. “Though…we have another matter we’d like to discuss with you.”

“What’s up?”

“Well…as you were finishing up, Ultear and I decided to make you an offer. We’d like to formally offer you dual guildship with our guild.”

“Dual guildship? That exists?” you wonder.

Ultear nods in response. “It’s rare because it’s hard work, but has been done before. Your primary focus would still lie in Fairy Tail, of course, but you would still be considered a full member of Crime Sorcière at the same time.”

Your eyes widen slightly as you turn towards Acnologia. He chuckles softly, nodding at you. “Are you kidding? Of course, I’d love to be a part of this guild!”

“We are delighted to hear it!” Jellal says as a slight tingling sensation emanates from your skin. You realize it must be your new guild mark.

Cobra grins, patting your back a few times. “Hey, welcome to the team. Both of you.”

…

Two days pass, and you and Acnologia make it home without trouble. Jellal promised to keep in contact, and you’re hoping to hear back from him soon.

With Acnologia out taking his exam, you’re left home alone with a bit of time to pass. Laxus had invited you on a mission with the Thunder Legion, which you’d accepted since you didn’t have much else to do.

You quietly hum as you change into a fresh outfit, checking your appearance over in the mirror. Hopefully Acnologia would do well on his exam – he had been studying hard for it but still struggled with some of the material.

Once you’re ready, you dart to the living room, gathering the rest of your belongings before making your way to the guildhall.

Upon arrival, you’re greeted with the typical ruckus you’d grown used to. Laxus and the Thunder Legion are seated at the bar, speaking with Mirajane.

After weaving your way through your guildmates, you have a seat next to Evergreen, greeting the group.

“Hey guys,” you say, smiling at Mirajane.

“There you are,” Laxus replies. “Ready to head out?”

“Yeah,” you affirm, noting that the commotion has seemingly increased for some reason. Hm, someone must be unconscious now. You’re about to ask the white-haired bartender something, but the question dies in your throat as you see her expression.

She’s frowning, staring at something behind you. “Mira? What is i-?”

You’re cut off as someone harshly grabs the back of your neck, slamming your head down onto the counter. A grunt escapes you as the person snatches your wrists, yelling your name as your guildmates start shouting at whoever’s grabbing you.

“By order of the Magic Council, you are under arrest!”

[circus4apsycho8]

𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚘𝚗, 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚕. | 𝚊𝚌𝚗𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚒𝚊 𝚡 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛 | 𝚌𝚑. 𝚟

𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢'𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚢, 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚜, 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎.

They’re everywhere. 

You’re already exhausted but they just keep coming. You had lost Acnologia some time ago, so you’re on your own. Frosch had flown away to find Rogue, and you hadn’t seen him since.  

In other words, things aren’t looking too good right now.  

Currently, you’re facing a dragon with earth-based magic. Although you had followed  Acnologia’s  advice to the best of your ability, you still are having trouble – after all, your magic is tailored towards demons, not dragons. 

Even so, you have an idea that should do a bit of damage if you execute it correctly. It’s still quite the risk to take, but you have no choice at this point. Decision made, you start running towards a thick stretch of woods, hoping the dragon will take the bait.  

“Puny human,” it spits. “Running is the best choice you’ve made so far. However, I am not quite finished with you just yet.”  

A smirk crosses your face as you hear its pounding footsteps behind you.  

You extend both your hands and whisper:  

“Guardian.”  

As soon as the last syllable escapes your lips, a dark cloud forms in the back of your mind as you feel cool hands grasping yours, even though you’re supposedly alone. She’s there, whispering in your mind as your dark tattoo patterns envelope your face, arms, torso, legs...  

Your movements are no longer yours. Now, you are numb to your own body, your own existence.  

“It’s a been a while...” she says, speaking in your voice.  

Guardian, you think, knowing that’s the only way you can be heard. Summon your physical form and wreak havoc on that son of a bitch.  

“Of course.”  

She makes you run into the woods. You can still hear, but everything is a little muffled now since you can’t control your senses. She picks up the pace a bit before she runs out into an open field and waves her hand slowly. As she turns your vessel around, you notice that a large, rectangular mirror has appeared in the middle of the grass. She gently walks towards it and raises her hand to it, pressing her palm on the glass. A cool feeling emanates throughout your phantom limbs as she takes a step into the mirror and turns, looking outward.  

The dragon is cautiously approaching the mirror, you note. As soon as it gets close, a warm sensation hazes your mind as a shattering noise is heard and followed by a series of inhumane and maniacal laughter. It rings throughout your ghastly ears, in your voice but so foreign to your usual nature.  

You can’t keep track of what’s happening. The laughter dominates your hearing as you further lose what’s left of your control. She’s fighting, you can tell that much, but you can’t see anymore. Soon enough, a ringing accompanies your ears as the fight progresses.  

You have no idea how much time passes.  

...  

Your limbs are heavy.  

Slowly, your eyes flutter open as feeling returns to your limbs.  

“Ugh...” you mumble, slowly and unsteadily rising to your feet. It’s been a while since you had willingly let your demon possess you like that. As you go to run your fingers through your hair, you note that your arms are spattered with blood. You look down at the rest of your body to find it in a similar state.  

As long as  that’s not human blood...  you think, grimacing a bit.  

What happened to that dragon? Did your demon manage to get any hits in on it? You don’t remember anything that had happened.  

Shaking your thoughts to the side, you stand and look around. You’ll have to figure all of that out later on.  

The sky seems darker than you remembered, and there are no civilians around. Some of the buildings have been severely damaged or downright demolished.  

“Where are the others?” you mutter.  

A few seconds later, you start walking. It’s more like limping, though, because a pain in your left ankle has you wincing.  

I need to find someone else and see if I can figure out what’s going on.  

With that, you continue limping along the ruined streets of Crocus, forcing yourself to go on despite your heavy limbs. The smell of smoke fills yours nose and you aimlessly wander among the streets for a few minutes. You think you can hear distant sounds of battle somewhere ahead, but you can tell it’s going to be a while before you reach it.  

Before you can take another step, though, a familiar voice calls your name. Pausing in your tracks, you turn to see none other than little Romeo standing there, a worried expression on his face as he runs to you. Moments later, he collides into you, face buried in your stomach and arms wound tightly around your torso. You return the hug as a surge of motherly worry overwhelms you for the boy you had grown so close to.  

“You’re okay...” he says, voice muffled. You run your fingers through his hair.  

“I am. Why are you out here? You should be with someone else at least.”  

“I was helping the evacuation process. I think everyone’s up ahead, at least that’s where they were when I was last there. I bet the dragons have scattered by now...”  

“Okay. Well, you’re staying with me until we figure out what’s going on and how to stop it, alright? Come on, let’s see if we can find our guildmates. Or Alexander.”  

You move your hands to Romeo’s shoulders before looking around briefly and continuing the direction you were headed.  

“Do you have any idea what’s going  on or  are you just as clueless as I am?” you ask.  

“I’m not sure. Lucy and Yukino closed the Eclipse Gate, but I don’t really know what it had to do with all this. I also saw some guy – he had long black hair that was partially white, and he was riding a dragon, and then I think Natsu went to fight him.”  

“...I have faith in Natsu,” you mumble. As rowdy as the pink-haired boy could get, he’d proved himself to be relatively reliable when he needed to be during the Games.  

“I do too,” he says. “Okay, let’s go.”  

With that, the two of you set off in the direction of Natsu and hopefully the others. You both are quiet as you jog through the ruined city together. You don’t allow yourself to think as you press on, knowing your thoughts will only get in the way of what’s important right now.  

A few moments later, you hear something collide into the remains of a nearby building. You and Romeo pause, glancing at each other. You’re about to investigate when something comes crashing out of the wall.  

It’s a dragon. This one is smaller than the one you fought earlier, but it’s still ferocious. It roars in pain as its attacker emerges from the other side.  

It’s Acnologia. His hair is  messy  and his clothes are ripped in places. Cuts litter his  skin  but he doesn’t seem to mind them. A bit of blood is trickling out of a gash located on his right temple. Your heart skips as a beat as you grab Romeo’s wrist and dart around the dragon.  

Acnologia’s expression softens when his eyes land on you.  

“Alexander,” you breathe.  

With wide eyes, he says your name lowly before he reaches his arm out towards you and pushes you behind his back. The dragon in front of you all struggles to its feet before releasing a roar that makes the ground tremble. Romeo gasps, and you clench your teeth, pushing him behind you.  

Then, with an ear-splitting roar, the dragon raises it foot above the three of you. You push Romeo out of the way, and Acnologia pushes you. The ground quakes in response to the stomp.  

“Dammit,” Acnologia mutters before facing the beast once again. He swings his left arm out to the side, neon blue magic gathering up in the air before it slices down into the dragon. It cries out in pain, staggering backwards.  

You don’t hesitate in running forward, arms splayed out to the side as waves of dark magic pulsate from your body. The spears of magic shoot into the dragon’s exposed belly. From there, it shrieks and collapses.  

“Come on,” Acnologia urges. “There are more of them around. We need to leave.”  

“But where do we go? We have no idea what’s causing this, or how we can stop it!”  

“I don’t know. We can’t go back, though. Especially not with him.” He nods his head towards Romeo.  

“Hey! I’ll be okay!” Romeo demands.  

You ignore him, too worried  at the moment  to argue. You’re about to speak when Acnologia’s eyes widen and he jerks over, clutching his stomach.  

“Acnologia?!” you say, immediately going to his side. “What’s wrong?!”  

His breathing sounds labored, but he manages to respond: “My...dragon...”  

Your eyes widen. No. ..you  can’t have that happen. Not now. You have been weakened from the possession, and if he turned...you wouldn't be able to stop him. You would have to be at full strength. Not to mention the fact that you would have to deal with other dragons too, and having to protect Romeo throughout all of it.

“There’s a building over there we can use for cover!” Romeo says, pointing to an empty house that’s still standing.  

You nod, pulling Acnologia to his feet and swinging his arm around your neck. “Come on, Romeo.”  

You do your best to support your man as the three of you make your way over to the house. Romeo opens the door and holds it open for you and Acnologia, closing it once you’re both in.  

You spot a couch scooted up against one wall, so you help Acnologia sit down on it. His eyes are closed, and his breathing is irregular.  

“Babe,” you call, putting your hands on his cheeks. “Sweetie, please look at me.”  

“What should I do?” Romeo asks.  

“See if you can find some water, or...anything. A snack, something. Don’t stray too far though,” you instruct. He nods before running to the kitchen.  

“It...It’s working...” Acnologia mutters.  

“What’s working?”  

“The...tattoo...”  

You smile smally, pressing your forehead to his. “See, didn’t I tell you it would help?”  

He chuckles lightly, his hand weakly coming to hang on your wrist. “I’m...I’m trying, love...”  

“I know you are, and you’re doing an amazing job, baby,” you reply, pressing a quick kiss to his nose.  

A few seconds later, footsteps run back to you. You turn, seeing Romeo there holding a snack of some kind.  

“Thank you, Romeo,” you say, smiling as you take the wrapped snack.

He nods. “Is he okay?”  

You nod. “He needs a minute.”  

“Okay, good.”  

You separate from Acnologia and unwrap the food, handing it to him. “Just put all your focus into eating that, okay?”  

He nods, following your instructions. You gesture for Romeo to sit next to Acnologia before you go to the window and peek out of it.  

The coast is still clear for the time being, though you’re not sure how long that’s going to last. You know that you three will have to get moving again soon.  

With a frown embedded on your lips, you turn to see Acnologia nearly done with his snack. He looks a bit better now.  

“Better?” you ask.  

He tosses the wrapper to the side and nods. “Yes. We need to get moving.”  

You nod, and Romeo stands up. The three of you exit the house together, waiting to see what awaits you.  

…  

“I still haven’t seen anyone...” Romeo says, sighing. “Do you think maybe we’re going the wrong way?”  

“No, I smell people a few miles ahead,” Acnologia replies. “It’s just going to take a while to get there.”  

“Oh, okay,” Romeo says. “But...what happens if we run into another dragon?”  

“Leave that to us and go hide,” you say, your tone leaving no room for argument. Romeo picks up on this and sighs.  

“I can help...”  

“I know you want to, Romeo,” you say, looking at him and holding his hand. “But I cannot risk you getting hurt...or...worse. These dragons are much more dangerous than anything that we’ve taken on, and I won’t risk losing you, okay?”  

“But-”  

“Romeo...please. You’re like a little brother to me. I would be devastated if anything happened to you, and so would your dad, and everyone else in the guild.”  

He looks like he’s about to argue, but then he sighs and nods. “Okay. I’m sorry.”  

“It’s okay sweetie,” you say, ruffling his hair.  

When you turn back to face Acnologia, he’s staring at the woods, eerily quiet. Chills run over your body as you follow your gaze, sensing that something is wrong.

“What is it?” you ask, voice low.  

“We’re being watched.”  

The hairs on your skin rise as you frown, trying to see what he sees. He’s right; something is lurking in the woods.  

And it’s watching. Waiting.  

Acnologia lowers his voice and says your name. “On the count of three, I want you to go phantom and take the kid with you.”  

You whisper an acknowledgment, slowly bending down to grab Romeo by the shoulders. The poor boy is frozen in fear. He nervously glances at you, but you only nod once.

“One...”  

…  

“Two...”  

…  

“Three!”  

You waste no time is transitioning into your shadow figure, casting a spell on Romeo so that it temporarily affects him too. You fly away from where you were standing, and as it turns out, Acnologia had a good reason for doing that.  

Another dragon is standing on the exact spot where you three had just been.  

How...did it get there so fast...?  

A few moments later, you get your answer. Sparks are crackling from the dragon’s body, cascading down to the ground in golden yellow bursts. Upon impacting the ground, the sparks pop and die out.

A lightning dragon...  

You drop down to the ground behind a fallen slab of concrete, returning both you and Romeo back to your normal forms.  

“Stay here,” you say. “We’ll take care of this fucker.”  

He nods as you walk out from behind the concrete to see that Acnologia is already at work. He starts the battle off by jumping by the beast and spreading his arms out, causing several rows of neon blue knives to appear midair. In an instant, he throws them all at the dragon, darting behind it after he does so. You take advantage of the dragon’s distraction in order to snap your fingers, summoning several tiny balls of dark magic. You cross your arms, causing the balls to vanish from air before reappearing underneath the dragon’s scales. It hisses in pain, then it begins flapping its wings.  

When it becomes airborne, it’s clear that it’s going to be much more difficult to fight like this. This issue isn’t helped by the fact that you’re dealing with a lightning dragon; because of this, its speed is only multiplied. There’s no way you’ll be able to hit it easily while it's flying around.

“We need to try and guess where it’s going to go next,” Acnologia yells. You nod, understanding what he’s saying.  

You watch the dragon zipping around at incredible speeds, dodging the lightning bolts raining down on you. Then, when you see an opening, you summon a solid wall of magic in front of the beast, but it dodges it. This goes on for about a minute or so until Acnologia finally manages to hit the damn thing. It cries out, falling to the ground.  

Once it stands up again, Acnologia appears in front of it, taking the opportunity to run in front of it before he summons another large knife, aiming it upwards and slicing it through the dragon’s skull. With a dying shriek, it collapses.  

“Fuck,” you curse before going to check on Romeo. Acnologia jogs over to the two of you.   

“There are more around,” Acnologia says. “I sense...two.”  

“Dammit!” you say. “Where? How long do we have?”  

“A minute or so. They know I’m here.”

You nod. “Okay. What should we do?”  

“Hide somewhere else. I’ll engage them first, then you can ambush them when you get a chance. Wait until the second one arrives to attack; I’ll take care of the first one.”  

You nod, immediately sprinting towards another fallen pile of concrete across from where Romeo is hiding. You see a small, triangular opening that looks big enough for you to crawl into, so you do. When you’re situated, you scoot back as much as you can before observing the scene in front of you.  

Acnologia is in the middle of the field, next to the dead dragon. His shirt is now soaked with blood, but that can’t really be helped. You hold your breath, waiting for your foes to arrive.  

About half a minute later, you hear a roar emanating from the dark clouds before you spot a dragon diving down towards Acnologia.  

“Eternal Flare!” Acnologia shouts as magical stars being raining down on the battlefield.  

A few of the stars hit the dragon, and it screeches in response. Acnologia sends a roar up towards the dragons, and it hits, causing the dragon to crash into the ground, dirt flying everywhere. You hear a cracking noise before the beast falls silent.  

Holy hell. I should just let him do this.  

You’re not exactly, surprised, though. After all, he's been doing this for a while.  

Acnologia doesn’t get a chance to recover, though, because another screechy roar sounds from the forest this time. An icy blue dragon lurches out towards Acnologia, swiping at him. He dodges, summoning a neon blue ball of magic before throwing it towards the ground. It explodes into a mist, effectively blinding the dragon. You take the chance to scramble out of your hiding spot, going to sneak in an ambush attack, but are stopped when you hear Romeo shouting for help.  

Your heart begins pounding in fear for the boy as you turn to see yet another giant dragon  close  to the spot where Romeo is. You decide to leave the ice dragon to Acnologia, rushing over to where Romeo is.  

Concerned for the boy, you run to where he was hiding. He’s not there, which only multiplies your worry.  

The new dragon growls, causing you to snarl in return. You immediately transform into your shadow form; your first priority is finding Romeo, and this will be the fastest way to do it.  

You zoom out, and over the battlefield. You spot Acnologia going against the ice dragon. The other one is now prowling towards your boyfriend. A few moments later, you spot Romeo peeking out from behind a tree.  

He’s safe. Good. Good.  

You sigh in relief, before an idea occurs to you. You’re not sure if it will work, because you’re going to need Acnologia’s help, but...you trust him.  

It will work. I trust him.

Then, you dive towards him, sticking your shadow hand out and solidifying it. Acnologia senses you behind  him, and  turns while bringing his hand up to grab onto yours. Then, you turn yourself back to normal while using your momentum to propel you sideways. Grabbing onto Acnologia’s hand allows you to get the rotation you need. As you’re rolling midair, you summon three magical spears with dark enchantments on then when you’re facing the ground. Once the momentum rolls you so that you’re facing the dragon, you swing your arm out violently and hurl the spears at the new dragon. They pierce its side, and the effects of the dark enchantment begin seeping into the scales of the dragon. It collapses, making horrible screeching noises.  

With that dragon down, you decide to let Acnologia finish it off before you check on Romeo. He’s no longer by the trees.  

“Romeo?!” you call, looking around frantically. Where could he have gone?!  

You’re so caught up in your search for him that you don’t notice the dragon behind you shifting.  

A few seconds later, you spot Romeo again – this time, he’s running towards you. He’s shouting at you, waving his hands and pointing behind you frantically.  

“What are yo-”  

You don’t have a chance to finish your sentence, because a sharp pain floods your stomach.  

Your eyes widen, and you stumble a few times before you collapse to your knees. Your eyes shift down to your abdomen, where you have been impaled by a sharp piece of metal. You fall to your side.  

Romeo shouts out your name, running to your side. You try to gesture for him to stay back, but he doesn’t oblige this time.  

A few seconds later, you feel the ground shaking as the metal dragon approaches you again. You feel the pressure in your abdomen being relieved when the metal is...pulled back out. Blood starts spilling out of the wound. Romeo shrieks and calls for help, his hands instantly going to put pressure on your wound.  

“R...Romeo...”  

“No...no...no!” he cries, tears running down his face. “Alexander!  Alexander!”  

Your heart breaks as you try to speak, but you’re having trouble. Your vision is going blurry as you try to move, try to sit up, but you feel paralyzed. That dragon must have added an enchantment to the debris.  

Your hearing is starting to fail you, as a ringing noise fills your ears. You can only feel the vibrations on the ground.  

How...I never slip up like this...  

Please...no...not like this...  

Your vision begins going blurry before it completely fades away.  

…  

“Please...please...please...”  

“Dammit...fuck! Come on!”  

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no!”  

“Hold on, I think I almost have it.”  

You groggily open your eyes, a warm, fuzzy feeling emanating from your abdomen. It's familiar, but it’s also making you very sleepy.  

“A...Acno?” you mumble.  

“Oh thank fuck,” you hear him mumble. Romeo gasps.  

Acnologia is hovering over you, his hands covering your wound. Romeo is on your other side, holding your hand.  

“Guys...?” you ask, opening your eyes fully. “What...?”  

“You’re okay. It...I did it,” Acnologia mumbles. “Oh my stars. You scared the ever-loving fuck out of us.”  

“Don’t ever do that again!” Romeo yells, immediately flopping on top of you. You expect it to hurt, but...  

...it doesn’t.  

You frown, hugging Romeo back.  

“You’re okay,” he says, sobbing. “You’re...you’re...”  

“Shhh,” you say. “I’m okay.”  

Your eyes shift to Acnologia, who is looking down at you with a worried glance. You sit up, Romeo still hugging you. You extend an arm out to your lover, and he joins the hug by going behind you and snaking his arms around your waist.  

“I’m sorry,” you admit, your voice cracking a bit.  

“Don’t with that,” he replies. You turn your head so that you can kiss him. He captures your lips in a needy kiss.  

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Romeo replies. “I...I...”  

You shush him once more, hugging his head to your chest. “I’m okay, sweetie. Are you okay?”  

“Yeah,” he replies.  

“Good.”  

You all stay like that for a few moments before you all separate. You look at your belly, only to find that the lower half of your shirt is ripped and bloodied. Even so, you don’t see your wound anymore. All that remains is a scar.

“Wait...I was impaled. Did...did you...?”  

Acnologia smiles smally and nods.  

You grin, tears pricking the sides of your eyes. You go to press a kiss to his lips once more.  

“Thank you,” you say, grinning.   

“Anything for you,” he says, extending his hand out to you. You take it and stand, viewing your surroundings.  

“What happened?” you ask. “Where are the dragons?” The corpses are still present, but judging from how many dragons were coming at the three of you, you thought there would have been more to fight.

“I’m...not sure, exactly. After you fell unconscious, I finished off both dragons and then came to heal you. A few minutes after, all of  the dragons just...vanished. We’re not sure what happened with that.”  

“We think the others resolved whatever was happening,” Romeo adds, gaze downcast. “The sky’s back to normal now, and Ac-Alexander hasn’t sensed any other dragons.”  

You nod, noting Romeo’s slip up. That’s right...you accidentally said Acnologia’s real name in front of him. You’d have to talk to him about that later.  

Acnologia pauses for a moment. “I smell people. I need to go, because my scent isn’t masked.”  

“Wait,  Acno , I can-”  

You don’t get to finish your sentence because he teleports away. You’re a bit taken aback, and...hurt, but your attention is grabbed by voices up ahead. You sigh, taking a moment to close your eyes to perform a quick scent-masking spell on you, Romeo, and your surroundings.

You turn to Romeo. "I know what you're thinking, but I'll explain everything soon, okay?"

He nods in response. "Okay. I trust your judgement."

"Thanks, kid." You turn to the crowd ahead. “Oi!” you call, walking over with Romeo. “Does anyone know what the hell just happened?”  

…  

You’re out of your element.  

Extremely out of your element.  

You sigh, viewing yourself in the mirror. You’re in a fancy dress, standing with the other girls of your guild plus Yukino.

“This is so dumb,” you say, groaning. “I want to go back my cabin.”  

Erza bops you on the head with a hairbrush. “Silence! We have overcome a great challenge. It would be foolish not to celebrate.”  

“Yeah, plus the king invited us himself!” Lucy adds, grinning brightly. "This is really rare opportunity!"

“Okay yeah, but do I really have to wear this stupid thing?”  

“Yes, you do!” Mirajane replies, a stern expression on her face as she plants her hands on her hips. “We’re all going!”  

You groan in response. Hey, at least this time, you have a good reason not to go. Several, actually. One, you haven't seen Acnologia since the whole fiasco ended, and you have yet to speak with Romeo.

“Come on,” Cana says your name, “It’ll be fine!”  

“Are we all ready?” Erza questions, looking around. When all the girls nod, she leads the way out. You follow them reluctantly.  

After everything that had happened, you’re  really not  in the mood for all this. Especially after the way you and Acnologia had parted. You’re worried that you made him mad. And oh...poor Romeo. You know he’s scarred by what happened, but you hadn’t seen him since. Hopefully he'll be able to get some help.

You again sigh in annoyance, gritting your teeth. There are more important matters to be taken care of, and yet you’re getting dragged to a ball. What a waste of time.  

Soon enough, you’re pulled out onto the floor. Immediately, you’re self-conscious, causing you to cross your arms and scowl.  

At least the food looks good.  

You form a plan to grab some snacks (you hadn’t eaten in a while) and rush to an empty table to eat and sulk, but unfortunately, that doesn’t go according to plan. As soon as you get your food, you manage to find an empty seat, but alas, a blond jackass is blocking your path to it.  

“Laxus, move,” you say, frowning.  

“No.”  

“Please?”  

The lightning mage chuckles, plucking your food out of your hands and setting the plate on the table before he takes your hands in his. “Nah. Let’s dance.”  

“Dance?!” you spit, appalled. “I will kick your ass.”  

“I’m sure. But I’m tipsy and wanna dance.”  

“Freed sure looked like he wanted to dance with you! Go dance with him!”  

“But I wanna dance with you .”  

“I want to eat my snacks and sulk in the corner!”  

“Jeez, someone’s touchy tonight,” Laxus replies, smirking as he pulls you to the dance floor. You sigh, ready to slap him but also not wanting to draw more attention to yourself.  

“Fuck off.”  

He ignores you. “But, in all seriousness, I do need to talk to you.”  

You frown, swaying with him as he pulls you towards a spot that’s less crowded. “What is it?”  

“When you and Romeo came back, people started getting suspicious about your wounds, and how they were healed. Not to mention that you came from an area with dead dragons.”  

“Why is that suspicious?”  

“Because neither you nor Romeo can heal. Romeo wouldn’t say who was with you. I ended up covering for you.”  

You sigh, frowning. “Thanks. I wish I could have taken some time to sort everything out, but everyone just-”  

“I get it,” he says. “But yeah. That, and I heard a rumor that the Council has their eye on you. And not in the good way.”  

“I thought so. I caught Lahar glaring at me during the Games. I’ll cross that bridge when I need to.”  

He nods. “I got your back too.”  

You sigh. “Anything else, or can I go eat?”  

“You don’t want to finish the dance?”  

“Damn, you are somehow even more annoying drunk.”  

“Aww,” he responds before letting you go. “Go relax.”  

“Thanks.”  

You walk back to your spot, grateful to find that no one has taken it or touched your food. Good.  

You sit down and start snacking, putting on your best resting bitch face so that people will get a hint. A few minutes later, you finally finish eating, feeling a bit better. Now, for a way to escape...  

Your scheming is put on hold when someone approaches you. You sigh, looking up to find Rufus.  

“Hey,” you say, smiling.  

“Good evening,” he replies, extending his hand. “May I have this dance?”  

You shake your head, but are smiling. “Sure.”  

You take Rufus’ hand, letting him guide you to the dance floor.  

“Sorry if I’m not in a great mood tonight,” you say.  

“Do not worry. That’s quite understandable, after, well...everything. We can just dance if you like. No speaking. Just swaying.”  

You nod. “I’d like that.” 

This dance is nice. Rufus follows through with his promise and doesn’t say a single word. The silence is relaxing, too. You don’t feel awkward or pressured to say anything either. It gives your mind a chance to wander back to Acnologia. Man...you really wish he was here right now. You’d love to dance with him, and see him in a nice suit.  

You miss him. It feels...wrong, him not being here. Not to mention the feeling that he’s probably upset with you.  

You hate feeling like he’s not on your side.  

Not only that, but he saved your life. You want a chance to properly thank him.

Rufus seems to notice your shift in mood but doesn’t pry, thankfully. Soon enough, the song changes.  

“Mind if I have a turn?”  

You roll your eyes, knowing that your period of silence is about to come to an end. Sting takes Rufus’ place, the latter shooting you an apologetic glance before he walks off.

“Hi Sting,” you greet, sighing mentally.  

“Hey!” he chirps, grinning that idiotic grin of his. “I have a question! Also, you look absolutely stunning!”  

“Uh...thank you. What’s your question?”  

“Do you have a map? Because I’m lost in your eyes!”  

“Oh, hush, you,” you say, rolling your eyes but grinning. “I’m taken.”  

“I know, I know,” he replies, chuckling. “I just  wanna  make you smile. You seem kinda down.”  

“I’m okay,” you say. “I appreciate it, though.”  

Sting doesn’t say anything for a moment; he only studies your gaze.  

“Did he do something?”  

“No,” you say, sighing. “I think I just upset him.”  

“I highly doubt that.”  

You bite your lip, staring off into space for a minute. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen him in a while.”  

“It’ll be okay. Just talk it out with him when you see him again.”  

“I have no idea when that’s gonna be at this rate.”  

“I can help you escape later,” Sting says. “I’ll cause a distraction so you can slip out!”  

“Really?” you ask, smiling.  

“Of course! I’m great at being the distraction!”  

“I bet you are.”  

He laughs. “Just give me the signal!”  

“Which is...?”  

He trails off for a moment, thinking. “Raise a fist in my direction when no one’s looking!”  

You giggle. “Okay then. Thank you!”  

“No problem! Now, I need to go talk to Yukino, but I’ll talk to you later.”  

With that, he waves at you before running off into the crowd. You shake your head at him, smiling, but glad that he’s doing better.  

“I hope he didn’t give you much trouble.”  

You turn to see Rogue standing there with Frosch in his arms. It looks like Frosch is holding something, but you can’t quite see what it is.  

“No, he was actually being kind of sweet,” you reply, smiling.  

“That’s good. It seems as if the changes in the guild are doing him some good.”  

“Yeah, looks like it. Hey, have you seen Minerva?”  

Rogue sighs, gaze dropping down to the floor. “No, not since...”  

“Yeah. Sorry. I’ll see if I can search for her after all this blows over,” you reply, frowning. You’re worried for her.  

“Thank you. We appreciate that.”  

“Rogue! Rogue! Tell her about what Fro has!” Frosch urges. You smile, booping his nose just because you can. The exceed squeals happily in response, causing you to smile.

“Oh yeah! Frosch has a message for you from a secret someone.”  

With that, Frosch hands you a small piece of paper. On it is a handwritten message written in familiar handwriting:  

Meet me on the balcony. - A  

Your eyes widen, as you look up at Rogue and Frosch, who are both smiling slyly at you.  

“Go,” Rogue instructs, gesturing to the wide doors that lead to the balcony of the castle. You thank the pair before you make your way outside.  

Thankfully, no one interrupts you this time, so you’re able to push the balcony doors open. A chilly breeze rushes over you as you quickly close the doors behind you.  

The night is cold as you walk outside, looking around. Is he actually here...?  

You wander around the balcony for a moment. Maybe he’s not here yet.  

After exploring a bit more, you find that the balcony wraps around part of the castle - a part with no windows. You decide to look over there.  

And sure enough, after a minute or so, you feel a familiar pair of strong arms curling around your waist.  

“Acno?” you ask, turning to look at him with a worried gaze.  

“Hey,” he replies, burying his face into the crook of your neck. You sigh in relief, your hand settling over his where it resides on your waist.  

“I’m sorry,” you apologize, biting your lip as you try to prevent your voice from cracking. “I...”  

“No, no, don’t apologize, love. I just needed some time. I should have told you rather than just leaving. So for that, I’m sorry.”  

“It’s all right. Things were rough.”  

He nuzzles your neck, pressing a small kiss there as well. You giggle, going to turn around so that you can hug him properly.  

“I missed you so much,” you admit, pressing your face into his chest as you cling to him.  

“I missed you too,” he mutters, threading his fingers through your hair. “Hm...”  

“What?” you question, pulling back to look up at him. His lips are twisted into a pout.  

“You smell like other Dragon Slayers.”  

Your lips curl into a smile at his confession. “Oh...yeah, I just danced with some of my friends. I was wishing that I could just come home and cuddle with you, though, but the others were insistent I stay.”  

“I  wanna  dance...” he mumbles, his voice uncharacteristically soft. He looks downs, pouting even more.  

“Aw, are you jealous?” you ask, wrapping your arms around his neck. He holds you by your waist, and the two of you begin swaying to an invisible beat.  

“Hmph,” he grunts, pressing a kiss to your forehead.  

“Cute!” you giggle, poking his cheek. “Well, for the record, I wouldn’t ever leave your precious ass.”  

He responds by silencing you with a kiss. Once he separates, he says:  

“I trust you.”  

“I trust you too.”  

  He smiles, twirling you around. You giggle, before realizing that he’s actually wearing a tuxedo. 

“You got all dressed up for me!” you say, running your hands over his chest.  

He hums in response, taking in your dress as well. “Frosch told me that you were going to be at the ball, so I decided to dress up too.”  

“It suits you well.”  

He chuckles. “You look absolutely stunning, love.”  

“Hey, don’t turn this around,” you respond, giggling. “But thank you.”  

He falls silent for a moment. “I can’t believe I found someone as breathtaking as you.”  

“Acno!”  

“It’s the truth,” he says. “And I was thinking. About...all of the thoughts that were running through my head when I was holding you and trying to heal you. I was so scared...I was thinking about all the things we wouldn’t be able to if I couldn’t save you.”  

“Like what?”  

“I want to marry you one day.”  

“Acnologia...”  

“And...I want to raise a family one day, if you do. I want to stay with you, and I want life to become normal. And whatever we end up doing, no matter what...I want to stay with you.”  

“I want that too,” you say, smiling as tears prick your eyes. “I love you so much.”  

“I love you too.”  

You have so much you need to say to him, so much you need to clear up...but instead, you press a firm kiss to your lover’s lips, the cold drowned away by his touch.