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kaiadensworks · 7 months ago

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Chapter 1 of Pull Me To Safety Has Been Rewritten

Oof my bad gang didn’t mean to leave this work untouched so I rewrote chapter 1 and am aiming to rewrite chapter 2 lmfao

Link to read the new version on AO3:

Word count difference:

Old:

New:

Orginal:

Kai had been traveling to the Monastery for a few weeks now and he couldn’t wait to arrive at the monastery, he traveled through all kinds of new places on his way. A pang of grief and loneliness went through him as he missed the others.

He could remember the storm like it was yesterday. It had been Lloyd’s eighteenth birthday and the ninjas had wanted to celebrate it like any other day, as per Lloyd’s request. Unfortunately, it never happened as cracks in the sky had caused them to drop everything.

—

The Merge was pure madness towards those final moments, there were no chances to stay still, everyone had to be on their toes unless they wanted to risk the lives of both themselves and the civilians.

At first, Jay was violently pulled and yanked into the middle of the storm with a scream as his mech was unable to withstand the pull of the storm. Kai remembered how Nya had let out a guttural cry as she watched her Yin disappear into who knows what and who knows where.

Zane had pulled a civilian on board before he was hit by some kind of strange tech that didn’t look like it was from Ninjago, and was sucked into the center. Not even a scream was heard as they watched him disappear into the unforgiving storm.

Cole had tried his best to fight the pull of the storm, but he was too close to it, and before anyone could reach him, he was sucked in with a scream. “I’ll find you!” He had cried, and Kai could only spare a few moments before he heard Lloyd scream as he too was pulled towards the storm.

Nya thankfully grabbed his hand, and Kai ran over, right when Nya was pulled off of the bounty. Kai quickly grabbed Nya’s other hand, and latched his only other hand onto the railing of the Bounty. Kai felt dread run through him as the Bounty was getting sucked in slowly but surely.

The pull was stronger now and Kai held onto the ledge of the Bounty’s railing. Kai tried his best to hold onto Nya, who was also trying her best to hold onto Lloyd. “Don’t let go!” Kai had screamed, his voice was filled with pure emotion.

“I’m slipping!” Lloyd shouted, at the end of their small link, trying to hold onto his sister and brother. Out of desperation, Lloyd tried grabbing onto Nya’s arm with both hands, his claws digging into her arm.

“Lloyd!” Nya yelled, trying to fight through the burning feeling in her arm, was left desperately trying to pull their younger brother up with her arm. Just a bit more and Nya could pull Lloyd to safety. Just a bit more and then Kai could pull all of them to safety.

Lloyd fought tears as Kai tried to pull the two up, but the pull was too strong, his grip was loosening as he grew more and more tired. “Please! Don’t let go! Don’t let go!” Kai begged his siblings, tears flowed out of his eyes as he tried not to sob at what was likely their impending doom.

Lloyd looked up and met the others' eyes, and Kai and Nya saw the anguish and fear in his eyes, tears were flowing down his face. Kai grunted as he dug his nails into the wood of the railing.

“Please don’t let—“ Kai was cut off when Lloyd was suddenly yanked into the middle of the storm with a scream. “No!” Kai and Nya had screamed out in anguish.

Kai’s grip finally snapped, and Nya let out a scream as she was also pulled in, and Kai could only watch as his baby sister and brother, both whom he basically raised, were pulled into the middle of the storm, not knowing what was going to happen to them.

Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and Kai screamed as his world broke down around him, and faded into darkness.

—

Kai still didn’t know what to feel about the Merge. Emotions never were his forte, he always struggled to figure out what exactly he was feeling, much less know how to deal with it.

Unfortunately, Kai had yet to find any of his teammates. He made sure to look around while he traveled, but to no avail. He was growing tired of everything. It was like the universe itself hated him. Kai let out a shaky breath. That was fine by him, he hated himself too.

Kai could barely think straight as he finally approached the Monastery. Finally, after all this time, he was home. He felt tears pool in his eyes as he tried to process all of his emotions. He never was good at emotions, he had only just begun to get a grasp of them when the Merge had occurred. The thing that disturbed him the most, was that the place looked eerily still.

The Bounty rumbled as it finally came to a stop, and Kai walked out onto the deck. Hee glanced around, waiting for someone to just jump on board and ask him who he was. As Kai got off of the Bounty, he looked at the Monastery. Surely someone would have run to see who was here? Right? Unease and fear pooled in his gut as he walked, every step felt heavy as he walked past the red wooden doors.

Kai entered the Monastery and to his dismay, he found nothing but dust. The controllers that Kai and Jay had left behind in their rush were still in the same spot. Zane’s pot of stew was still on the stove, and likely went bad from just sitting there for weeks on end. Cole's punching bag was still on the floor from him breaking the hook on the ceiling. Nya’s small project sat on her and Jay’s shared desk, unfinished, her tools had remained untouched with a light layer of dust on them. Finally, Lloyd’s new favorite stuffed dragon was on the floor, its stitched smile left a sick feeling in Kai’s gut, it was almost as if the smile was mocking the tragedy.

Kai picked the plush up and brushed some of the dust off of it. It was weighted, along with the pastel green hoodie that Lloyd had also gotten for his 18th birthday. Kai clutched the green plush as close to his chest as he could bring it, and fell to the floor in misery. If only he could’ve pulled them up.

Maybe he wouldn’t be all alone.

–

Kai walked out to the training area, when he felt the world underneath him begin to shake and he stumbled as he tried to keep his balance. He yelped as he finally fell over. Kai picked himself up off of the ground and dusted himself off. He ran out of the monastery as fast as could and spotted it.

A large magenta crack in the sky was the first of its kind that Kai had seen since the Merge. Kai shivered at it, the catastrophic event had completely ruined the color magenta for him. Kai froze as something tried to crawl out of the cracks. Kai stared for a bit before throwing his fire up into the air at the weird creature, trying to figure out its weaknesses and its strengths. Despite what Jay might say about him, he is a very good battle strategist, he knew how to analyze a battle just from a single swing of his swords.

The weird creature let out a sharp screech when Kai felt a pull on him as the strange cracks grew larger. He knew this pull, he could never forget it. It was the last thing he felt when his baby brother and sister were yanked in the middle of that horrible storm.

Kai kept on blasting his fire at the monster until one of his flames hit the one of crack in the sky. He watched as the crack seemed to close, and he got an idea. Kai powered up his flames until he felt confident enough to finally launch it into the crack, he continued until the crack was completely sealed, cutting off the monster from leaving through the crack.

Kai panted as he felt the lashing effects of over using his powers. He felt so exhausted, but he also felt a bit of fear strike through him. What had the Merge done to the world? Everything was so unstable. He wished that he had everyone else, he didn’t think he could ever live without his family.

Kai never really liked to be alone at all. Ever since his parents had left him and Nya, he always had abandonment issues. If Nya strayed too far, Kai would cry until he found her. Even now, he has grown used to living with multiple people, so the loneliness shoots through him worse than a burning hot blade. Kai truly hoped that he’ll be able to see his family once more.

NEWEST VERSION:

The storm was pure madness. Nothing was making sense and there was no chance to stay still, everyone had to be on their toes unless they wanted to risk the lives of both themselves and the civilians.

Kai swung his swords down to cut a rope that was trapping a young boy. The brown haired boy clung to Kai, who gently set him down onto the ground below. He waved to Cole, who nodded. It can’t get any worse than this, Kai thought as his limbs started to lock up with exhaustion.

“Kai, get back to the Bounty! There's still people in the middle of the storm,” Lloyd called out to him from atop the Bounty.

“I’ll be right there! Then we can do all the things Jay planned out for you, it’ll be a doozy!” Kai said with a smile.

Lloyd huffed, a false look of annoyance on his face as he dramatically shook his head. “Just get up here and help out,” he said, letting out an amused chuckle.

Kai leapt onto floating pieces of concrete, making his way up to Lloyd, who grabbed onto his arm, pulling him onto the wooden deck of the Bounty. He watched Pixal grab the wheel and began turning the ship towards the heart of this whole mess.

He heard a thump next to him as Cole leapt onto the Bounty next to him. “Anything good, Cole?” Kai asked, bumping elbows with his best friend.

Cole shook his head, looking a bit distant. “No, I saved a kid whose dad got crushed in the rubble,” he said dejectedly.

Kai gave him a sympathetic look. These times were the hardest, when they couldn’t save someone. It was always a constant memory loop of ‘what if’s’.

Kai put a reassuring hand on Cole’s shoulder and the other gave him a sad smile. The Bounty suddenly began to violently shake, which caught them off guard. Kai and Cole held onto each other, trying not to fall over.

Jay flew in close with his bright blue mech, looking a bit nervous. “Uh, I think the storm is pulling us in!” He cried out, turning around and using the mech’s jets in an attempt to fly out of the storm.

“This energy, it’s too unstable! I can see it all around, it’s going to suck us in!” Lloyd cried out, looking around in fear. Kai and the others couldn’t see what he was seeing, but they knew it couldn’t be good based on Lloyd’s strong reaction.

“Jay, land on the Bounty and get out of that mech!” Kai heard Nya call out from a piece of rubble, jumping down onto the deck to stand beside Lloyd, who looked worried, fear evident in his green and red eyes.

Jay nodded, but a pull from the storm violently pulled and yanked him into the middle of the storm with a scream. His mech was unable to withstand the pull of the storm that was getting stronger by the minute.

Kai stood there, stunned. It had all happened so fast. Grief flooded through him and he flinched when Nya let out a guttural cry as she watched her Yin disappear into who knows what and who knows where.

“Jay!” Zane cried out as he had pulled a civilian on board. Zane ran towards where Jay used to be and he was suddenly hit by some kind of strange tech that didn’t look like it was from Ninjago.

Cole and Lloyd cried out for him as Zane was sucked into the center just like Jay was. Not even a scream was heard as they watched him disappear into the eye of the unforgiving storm. Kai felt useless, two of his brothers were gone and he hadn’t even moved an inch out of shock.

“Cole, Kai, get away from there!” Lloyd called out, snapping Kai out of it.

Cole nodded, trying to fight the pull. Unfortunately, he and Kai were both at the bow of the ship, which meant they were the closest to the storm which also made it extremely difficult to get towards the others, who were up at the wheel.

Cole, who had been closer to the storm than Kai, tried his best to fight the pull of the storm. Kai finally grabbed onto the ladder that led to the control room, reaching out a hand to Cole, but he was too far away from Kai. Before anyone could reach him, another strong pull came and Cole was sucked in with a scream, hitting one of the dragon heads with a loud thunk.

Kai could only spare a few moments to try and attempt to process that 3 of his brothers were gone just like that. He let out an involuntary whimper before having to climb up the ladder.

As soon as Kai was up and with the others, he looked at Pixal. She met his gaze and she nodded, grabbing Kai’s hand in support. She and Zane both had an understanding that Kai was the least emotionally stable of the bunch. Even after all of Wu’s teachings after Nya sacrificed herself, he was still a lose cannon.

Pixal let go of Kai’s hand and used the steering wheel to try and turn the ship. It only managed to turn to the left side before the pull strained the ship’s steering. “The Bounty is moving as fast and as hard as it can go, we’re going to be sucked in,” Pixal said dejectedly. Nya, Lloyd, Kai, and Pixal all shared a sad silent moment. “We can get out if we use the pieces of Ninjago city, but it is extremely risky,” Pixal suggested, but Lloyd shook his head.

“It’s way to dangerous, it’s better if we stick together,” Lloyd told them. His face was full of uncertainty and grief.

Another violent pull yanked the Bounty closer, shaking the ship and causing them all to fall over. Kai fell and hit his head on the wheel. The work was dizzy and He heard Lloyd scream, Kai got up and looked down to see that Nya, Lloyd, and Pixal had been thrown onto the deck.

When Lloyd fell, he hit his left shoulder on the railing. He was knocked off the ship and was gripping the railing for dear life as he was being pulled towards the storm.

Kai climbed down the ladder, trying to fight the pull of the storm. He watched in horror as the rail broke off. Time seemed to slow down as Lloyd was about to be sucked as well, but Nya thankfully grabbed Lloyd’s hand just in time.

Kai ran over just as Nya was also pulled off of the Bounty. Kai quickly jumped off of the Bounty, grabbing Nya’s other hand, quickly latching his other hand onto the still intact railing of the Bounty. Kai felt dread run through him as the Bounty was still getting sucked further into the storm slowly but surely.

He looked around, looking for Pixal, but he couldn’t find her. He knew what had happened the second he couldn’t find her. She’d been sucked into the storm, and Kai wasn’t fast enough to help her.

The pull was straining his grip on the railing and Kai gritted his teeth. His head was ringing with a possible concussion and he felt blood dripping down his forehead.

Kai tried his best to hold onto Nya, who was also trying her best to hold onto Lloyd. “Don’t let go!” Kai screamed, his voice was filled with pure emotion. He felt tears burn his eyes, knowing that this was likely the end.

“I’m slipping!” Lloyd suddenly shouted, panic laced in his voice. He was unfortunately at the end of their small link, trying to hold onto his sister. Out of pure desperation, Lloyd tried grabbing onto Nya’s arm with both hands, his claws instinctively digging into her arm. Kai winced, seeing the blood start to flow down her arm.

“Lloyd!” Nya yelled, trying to fight through the burning feeling in her arm, trying to pull their younger brother up with her arm.

Just a bit more and Nya could pull Lloyd to safety.

Just a bit more and then Kai could pull all of them to safety.

Lloyd fought tears as Kai tried to pull the two up, but the pull was too strong, his grip was loosening as he grew more and more tired. The pull of the storm was growing too strong for him to keep up.

“Please! Don’t let go! Don’t let go!” Kai begged his siblings, tears freely flowing out of his eyes as he tried not to sob at their impending doom.

Lloyd looked up and met the others' eyes, and Kai and Nya saw the anguish and fear in his eyes, tears were flowing down his face. Kai grunted as he dug his nails into the wood of the railing.

“Don’t let—“ Kai was cut off as Lloyd was suddenly yanked into the middle of the storm with a scream.

“No!” Kai and Nya had screamed out in anguish.

Kai’s grip finally on his sister’s hand snapped and Nya let out a scream as she was also pulled in. Kai could only watch as his baby sister and brother, both whom he basically raised, were pulled into the middle of the storm. Not knowing what was going to happen to them.

He watched knowing that he was all alone. That all of his brothers and his sisters were gone.

Suddenly, there was a flash of white light, and Kai could only sob as his world broke down around him, fading into darkness.

—

It was still dark out as he made his way through foreign lands. Kai had been traveling to the Monastery for weeks by now and he was itching to arrive at the monastery. He had searched far and wide, looking for his home.

Unfamiliarity was all around him and it left a sting of frustration flowing through him. He glared at the broken railing and the claw marks etched into the wood in front of it. It was a glaring reminder of his failures.

At first, it all seemed like a cruel joke on Kai, like the others were going to pop out and tell him that everything was fine. That he didn’t just randomly wake up on the Bounty, alone, bruised, and bloody.

He could remember all of the horrifying details of that horrifying storm like it was happening in the present.

It had even been Lloyd’s eighteenth birthday and the ninjas had wanted to celebrate it like any other day, as per Lloyd’s request. Jay had a list of activities he’d planned out, excitedly chatting about it only an hour before the storm started while he and Kai were playing video games.

Unfortunately, none of it ever happened as cracks in the sky had caused them to drop everything to once again save people.

Kai flinched as he recalled the screams. Families ripped to pieces, homes shattered, blood splattered in a barrage of debris and rubble.

Kai himself still didn’t know what to feel about the Merge. Emotions never were his forte, he had always struggled to figure out what exactly he was feeling, much less know how to deal with it.

Kai still had yet to find any of his teammates. He had made sure to look around while he traveled, but to no avail. He was growing tired of everything. All of the loss, all of the pain, the loneliness.

It was like the universe itself hated him. Kai let out a shaky breath. That was fine by him, he hated himself too.

—

Kai could barely think straight as he finally approached the Monastery, the familiar red and gold doors seemed to welcome him as he flew in closer.

Finally, after all this time, he was finally home. He felt tears pool in his eyes as he tried to process all of his emotions. The thing that disturbed him the most, was that the place looked eerily still, something that was never a thing with him and the others.

The Bounty rumbled as it finally came to a stop, and Kai walked out onto the deck. He glanced around, waiting for someone to just jump on board and ask him who he was. Waiting for a flash of anything, even that stupid chicken Master Wu had loved so much.

As Kai got off of the Bounty, he looked at the Monastery. Surely someone would have run to see who was here? Right? It was something they were all trained to do.

He pushed the doors open, cringing as they loudly creaked. Unease and fear pooled in his gut as he stepped past the heavy wooden doors. Kai frowned as he walked, every step felt heavy and his hands fidgeted with his gi anxiously.

Kai made his way through the courtyard, and eventually got to the Monastery. He rushed in, but to his dismay, he found nothing but dust.

He walked into the game room, looking at it all. The controllers that Kai and Jay had left behind in their rush were still in the same spot.

He glanced at the kitchen. Zane’s pot of stew was still on the stove, likely moldy from just sitting there for weeks on end.

He walked down the hallway, looking into each room. Cole's punching bag was still on the floor from him breaking the hook on the ceiling, sawdust was still littered all over the floor around it.

Nya’s small project sat on her and Jay’s shared desk, unfinished. Her tools remained untouched with a light layer of dust on them.

Finally, Lloyd’s new favorite stuffed dragon was on the floor. Its hand stitched smile left a sick feeling in Kai’s gut, it was almost as if the smile was mocking the tragedy.

Kai walked into the room and picked the plush up and brushed some of the dust off of it. It was weighted, along with the pastel green hoodie that Lloyd had also gotten for his 18th birthday. Jay had made the plushy for him, and Zane made the hoodie.

Kai clutched the green plush as close to his chest as he could bring it, and fell to the floor in misery. If only he could’ve pulled them up.

Maybe he wouldn’t be all alone.

—

Kai walked out to the courtyard when he felt the ground underneath him begin to shake and he stumbled as he tried to keep his balance, but he eventually yelped as he finally fell over.

Kai picked himself up off of the ground and dusted himself off. He ran out of the monastery as fast as could and spotted it.

A large and bright magenta crack in the sky was the first of its kind that Kai had seen since the storm.

Kai shivered just looking at it, the catastrophic event had completely ruined the color magenta for him.

Kai froze as something tried to crawl out of the cracks. Kai stared for a bit before throwing his fire up into the air at the weird creature, trying to figure out its weaknesses and its strengths.

Despite what Jay might say about him, he is a very good battle strategist, he knew how to analyze a battle just from a single swing of his swords. Years of battles and wars left him with sharpened senses and tactics.

The weird tentacle creature let out a sharp ear piercing screech as it’s slimy skin began to char at the heat of Kai’s flames.

He felt a familiar pull on him as the strange cracks in the sky grew larger. Kai knew this pull, he could never forget it. It was the last thing he felt when his brother and sister were yanked in the middle of that horrible storm that tore his entire family apart in a mere 2 hours.

Kai kept blasting his fire at the monster until one of his flames missed and hit one of the cracks in the sky. He watched in wonder as the crack seemed to slightly close, and he got an idea.

He powered up his flames until he felt confident enough to finally launch it into the crack. Kai continued firing until the crack was completely sealed shut, cutting off the strange monster from leaving through the crack.

He panted as he felt the lashing effects of over using his powers. He felt so exhausted, but he also felt a bit of fear strike through him. What had that storm done to the world, to Ninjago? Everything was so unstable. He wished that he had everyone else.

Zane would tell him what everything was, what was wrong with the world. Pixal would plan and articulate everything. Nya and Jay would get to work coming up with some kind of gadget. Cole would be hyping everyone up. Lloyd, well, he would already be in battle, guiding them through the fight and offering his support.

Kai felt so alone, so useless without his team. They were together through thick and thin. It was strange, being alone for so long. When his parents had to leave him and Nya, he always had abandonment issues. If Nya strayed too far, Kai would cry until he found her.

He had grown used to living with multiple people. They’d been by each other's side for over a decade now. The loneliness shoots through him worse than a burning hot blade. He could only sink down to the brick floor of the monastery’s courtyard and sulk. Kai could only hope that he’d be able to see his family once more.

He could only hope to fix his mistakes. To correct what he couldn’t do. Pull them to safety.

#lego ninjago #ninjago #ninjago dragons rising #dragons rising #kai ninjago #ninjago kai #kai jiang #kai #kai smith #ao3fic #ao3 #ao3 fanfic #ao3 writer

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