Oh Look. I'm starting another fic. -.-

This is 1 of 2 responses to an Anon request on tumblr

Monday1113 does not own Ninjago.

Chapter One

The night was dark, and clouds blocked out the moonless sky, hiding what little light the stars could have given to illuminate the situation in the tight, secluded alleyway.

A young man struggled against his assailants, hair matted with sweat. Fresh air felt cool against his skin after a day in a suffocatingly small, dank cellar. "What do you want with me?"

They didn't answer him, instead, they threw him against the wall, his spine bashing against the bricks, stunning the blonde long enough for them to grab him again.

Hands held him upright, razor-sharp claws dug into his skin. Blood ran down his arms in thin streams. He thrashed under their grip, a heavy tail wrapping around his waist, pinning his legs close together.

"I believe you pathetic humans have an expression for this…" Skales hissed, grabbing a fistful of soft blonde hair, jerking the young man's head back so he was looking up at the bare sky. His face was highlighted with a sickly green light from the nearby street lamp.

"L-let me go!" He shouted. Red eyes reflected his fear as he squirmed, trying to free himself. The tail around his stomach and legs tightened, and Lloyd had to bite his lips. In the back of his throat, stomach acid and what remained of his last meal sat, burning. Swallowing once the grip loosened, he took a deep breath, coughing and spitting to get rid of the taste.

Arctic blue scales glinted in with a mixture of the pale moon, and the unnatural green glow from the lamp. His claws scraped against the boy's scalp, cutting it as they curled tightly in the mop of hair. Blood welled up in the cuts, sliding down the fine blonde hairs, and down his scalp. His hypnotic eyes seemed to light up at the sight of the pale, beaten child, his skin bruised a mottled purple and blue, tinges of black and yellow mixing in. Cuts of varying depths and lengths slowly bled, showing through his ripped clothes.

The teen in green was like a mouse, pinned down by a cat. Red eyes narrowed, yet exhausted, trained on the blue general as he circled around the young ninja. His body shook in fear as he saw the vial of pale colored powder being mixed with water, before Skales poured the cool fluid over his eyes.

The mixture burned his eyes. He could feel it.

It slid down towards his ears, and into his hair. The burn faded as it continued into his hair, before cooling. It felt dangerously cold. Slowly, the light blue slid down the outline of his nose. Lloyd could practically smell the chill of the hardening liquid.

Lloyd did the only logical thing to do for someone in his situation.

He opened his mouth and screamed.

The shadowy streets echoed his unearthly, near inhuman screeching wails of pain, but did nothing to help him. No one heard him, so no one came to his aid.

No tears slid down his face as the pain continued to burn, causing him pain he had never experienced. This wasn't anything like being tossed across the shore of the Dark Island and breaking his leg, or like trying to walk on the broken bone. The pain that was consuming him was like fire and freezing rain wrapping around him at the same time. Two forces that should never be paired together, forces that should never coexist, attacking every nerve cell. Fire exploded across his brain, Lloyd had never felt so much pain in his life.

The darkness didn't arrive soon enough for Lloyd, but when it did come for him, he embraced it gladly.

Any relief was welcomed, as far as he was concerned.

When he came to once again, the pain was a dull, muted throb.

Everything felt numb. To Lloyd, it wouldn't have surprised him if he was floating, suspended somehow in nothingness. He wouldn't have even been surprised if he was dead.

"Lloyd" A distant voice said, as if they were shouting at him from a great distance. Slowly, his mind tried to clear itself of the fog.

"Hang on…got you…" The same voice kept talking to him, still just as distant and unrecognizable. Something rough and scratchy was pulled off of his face, and Lloyd felt his voice give as he tried screaming again, cutting off into a pitiful, guttural moan of pain. His eyes were burning. They were burning so badly, and he was so weak. Unable to withstand the agony, he went limp, mind cutting off. In seconds, it was like someone had unplugged a television suddenly.

Lloyd wasn't there anymore. His body was, but he was gone.

Out like a light.

Kai was the one who had managed to drive by the right alleyway at the right time. He was the one who saw the long, smeared trail of blood by the pale, emaciated arm that stuck out from under a pile of rubble. Green fabric was stained with the red liquid. Frayed cuts and what appeared to be burn markings decorated the fabric. He had run over to the arm, flipping it over, surprised that it was warm; that the person it was (hopefully) connected to was alive. There was a pulse. It was weak, but it was there, fluttering gently beneath his fingers. He didn't want to hold too tightly, afraid that if he held the too slim, bony wrist the wrong way, it would snap.

Without even moving anything, he could see the person would need immediate help. Pulling out his phone, he dialed 911. Kai didn't have time to let them pick up, or figure out where exactly he was. This person needed help.

Hands bare, he began to slowly sift the pile of rubble away from the body. More blood. Some of it was dry, and some of it was fresh. How this person hadn't died was a mystery. The knees of his old, battered jeans were being stained with the dark liquid that surrounded the body.

His hands slowly moved up, expecting to find hair, or a face, but met a rough sack and thin twine holding it shut. Not wanting to hurt the person further, he gingerly untied the twine, and pulled the body out from under the rubble. His strong arms encircled the weak, definitely male, victim, and that was when Kai saw it.

This was Lloyd. The green gi was unmistakably his.

"Lloyd…" Kai mumbled, hardly able to believe it. He had been gone for a week, and all this time…he was so close. The apartment was only a few blocks away. Guilt ate away at him. How many times had he and the others walked by this exact alley? How many times had others gone by here?

He wrapped his arms around Lloyd, pulling him closer. "Hang on, Lloyd. I've got you." He said, swallowing hard. The pale boy was burning up with a fever; Kai could feel it as Lloyd's forehead, hidden by the sack, pressed against his arm. However, Lloyd's arms and legs felt cold as ice.

With trembling fingers, Kai gently peeled the sack off Lloyd's face. He could see how flushed his face was from the fever, but then he saw the beginning of the almost clear blue…substance that was crossing over his face. Running a finger over the trail that had grown, spreading over Lloyd's cheek, he shivered. It was cold, like ice.

Lloyd groaned softly, and then coughed, his breath shuddery and weak.

He didn't have time to waste. Lloyd needed help now, and Kai needed to know why there was ice on Lloyd's face.

'Did he try using his powers to cool himself down? That doesn't make sense…he could've-should've- been able to free himself from that crap he was under…'Kai shook his head, and began to pull the hood the sack had formed around the green ninja's face away, finding more and more of the cold stuff on Lloyd's face.

It was a nightmare to look at.

The substance had coated his eyes completely, but Kai could swear he saw the red of Lloyd's eyes under it, wide with fear. It trailed down the sides of his face, trickling into his left ear, and into the right side of his hair, freezing the messy locks in place. His mouth was agape, dry, and the liquid had traced down the sides of his nose, curling inwards, going inside slightly.

Quickly, the sun emerged, casting a ray across the reflective surface of the ice, over Lloyd's open eyes.

His breath hitched, and he coughed, twisting weakly as if he wanted to get away from the light. Lloyd moaned in obvious pain, before he went limp.

Panicking, Kai checked desperately for a pulse, relieved at the dull throb of his heart, pumping blood through his body, keeping him alive. Kai held the sack so it covered his eyes, supporting Lloyd's head with the crook of his arm. It was too risky to try moving Lloyd out towards the street to wait for help. 'They'll be here soon…any minute now, they'll be here. They'll help Lloyd, and then we'll help him.' Kai told himself, trying to stay calm, as if doing that would help Lloyd.

A few seconds turned into a few minutes, and sure enough, an ambulance's wailing sirens came closer and closer, paramedics and police officers swarmed around him.

A gurney was wheeled out for Lloyd, and without hesitation, Kai let them take him from his arms. He watched, silent and in shock, like he was a little kid instead of an adult. They gently set Lloyd down, pulling a white sheet up to his waist, belting him to the gurney so he wouldn't fall off during the ride. Against such a crisp, bleached white sheet, Lloyd looked as pale as Zane was, if not even more so.

"Don't uncover his eyes." Kai said once he found his voice, pushing himself off the ground so he was standing. His pants were soaked with the puddle of blood that had been around Lloyd, but he could care less. "There's something really wrong, and when I did, it seemed to hurt him." He explained, getting curious looks from the paramedics, who took a quick look at the ice, and covered Lloyd's eyes again, this time with a soaked wash cloth, laying the damp towel over his eyes.

Kai watched as they moved around Lloyd, assessing all of his easily seen injuries. By the time they closed the door, and started driving away, Lloyd has a drip in his arm, and a breathing mask over his nose and mouth. The words 'critical condition', 'blind', 'infected', 'blood loss', and 'ICU' were tossed out. The paramedics talked fast, moving just as fast as they made sure Lloyd was ready to be transported.

They were making sure he had his best chances of living through the short ride to the hospital.

Never before in his life had he seen an ambulance drive away so fast. Its lights were revolving rapidly, and the sirens blared out their cry as it zoomed down the streets towards the hospital. Kai watched as it disappeared from sight, taking Lloyd away.

'Please be okay, Lloyd…'

Feedback would be nice, so I can make the second chapter better.