Kai truly aspired to be as good a blacksmith as his father. But the rough metal was stubborn, refusing to yield to the boy. Fortunately, the boy was also tenacious, for he strove daily to tame the unruly iron into a more useful tool. So, when the boy began casting metal, workers in the fields began turning to him for help when their tools were in poor condition, and they paid him handsomely for repairs. Later, even the nearby villagers began to turn to him with skepticism. A kitchen knife would chip, a pair of scissors would break, or a ladle's handle would fall off. The young blacksmith took on any job that involved taming iron, and he didn't charge as much for it as if the villagers were buying a new item. The young man took greatest pride in the little things. One day, an elderly woman approached him and showed him an old hairpin. Old, faded, but surprisingly sturdy, with a tailless metal swallow on one side. Kai truly wondered how the old woman had broken it, but decided not to ask, seeing the sadness in the old woman's eyes.
"It's okay if it doesn't work, darling. It's already had its day..."
And she looked. That's the look people have when they come to terms with deep pain. Kai himself had seen a similar look in the mirror after his parents left.
The old woman left, saying she'd be back tomorrow and leaving the young blacksmith behind.
Having spent some time carefully examining the hairpin and how it should look, Kai didn't even notice his sister returning from the market. Nya merely laughed at her focused brother, who merely chuckled at her greeting, and hurried inside. She hid the groceries in the refrigerator, changed clothes, washed her face and hands after the sandy road, and folded the laundry into the basket. By evening, Kai was still hanging out by the stove, intently bent over the anvil, completely oblivious to the heat of the fire or his sister's calls. After Kai began running errands for the villagers, Nya had grown accustomed to her brother often immersing himself in his work, trying to fix something. Soldering a knife that had broken in half or lighting a fire to seal cracks—in reality, all of this was simple work for him. But when he encountered metal that didn't melt easily, or simply didn't like the result, he'd start over.
Nya spent dinner alone, leaving her brother's portion in the refrigerator and going to bed. It was surprisingly quiet for a night when Kai had locked himself in the workshop again.
Returning the next morning, the elderly lady generously paid thirty coins for the master's work. The woman seemed to come alive again when she saw the little swallow with a tail, shining brighter than ever in the morning sun.
"You really are a master, little one. Thank you so much for making the old woman happy."
"Well, repairing metal is my job! Glad I could help you."
The woman left, and Smith returned to work. Sharpening a hoe blade, fixing another battered kitchen knife, patching a hole in a bucket... It seemed the young blacksmith had learned to repair anything with metal. But something nagged at him; his thoughts revolved around that night, when his hands laboriously interlocked the tiny pieces of the broken hairpin. The heat scorched his face from such closeness, when Smith felt like he'd done something wrong. His fingers trembled each time, phantom sensations of pliers and a chisel in his hands.
And then came a young couple. The girl arrived in tears, and the boy handed them some ordinary-looking earrings. Simple studs, the kind Nya had often wanted for herself. But one of them had a broken, blunt end, and the other had an indistinguishable design, carved in bas-relief. Kai didn't need words; he simply smiled and set to work. All his concentration went into verifying the design on one stud and re-doing it on the second exactly. It wasn't particularly complex, a flower or something like that, but after a couple of hours, when the couple had calmed down and seemed engrossed in a conversation with his younger sister, Smith handed them the earrings with a smile.
"You're quite the jeweler, my friend! I never thought we'd actually find a master in this remote place!"
Fifteen coins and the girl's sincere gratitude were a pleasant surprise. The realization hit him a few minutes later, when he turned to his sister with a satisfied expression and caught that same look again. Nya really wanted some pretty earrings, but they never have enough coins for a nice pair.
- What if I make you some?
- What? What are you talking about?
- Earrings. And don't tell me you weren't staring, I saw everything!
The younger one frowned, rolling her eyes, but watched with interest as Kai began pacing the kitchen, searching for something.
- I... I could melt down Dad's old chain. It's gold and should be enough for small ones.
All of their parents' things remained in their room, and the only thing the siblings did was tidy it up, keeping dust and dirt from accumulating in the room. The things were laid out just as they had been that very day, except the bed was unmade because the children often went there at night to cry.
Kai suppressed the memory, carefully taking out his mother's jewelry box. Though it was considered his mother's, there were also his father's things there. A simple-looking gold chain gleamed dully in his hands. It looked as if it had never even been worn, causing Smith to wince. There were a couple more pieces of jewelry in the box that didn't particularly interest him, but he pulled out a photograph from the bottom. It was the very day Nya was born. He, as a small child, held her in his arms, beaming with happiness as his father carefully crouched before him and his mother took the picture. They weren't in the photograph itself, only the black back of his father's head, but Smith clutched the old paper to his chest anyway. Sighing and returning to the forge, the young blacksmith carefully placed the chain in the ladle.
His sister beamed with happiness when he gave her two small gold studs the next day, and that was all that mattered.
After Wu arrived and he became a ninja, Kai had no time for the forge. The Fire Master only wanted to find his sister, and after that, they settled into the monastery, awaiting Garmadon's attack. Perhaps due to nerves before the battle that never quite started, or perhaps due to the lack of his usual tools and work, Smith couldn't stand still. He broke his own mug, causing it to shatter in his hands and develop horrific cracks. He melted the spoon he'd been holding during dinner, giving Jay quite a fright, as the liquid metal nearly spilled onto his lap. He needed something to do with his hands, and everyone knew it. So, instead of using his video game controllers, he wandered out into the yard with a handful of scrap metal and began channeling his power. Holding the sword of fire close to him, he used it as a furnace or fed his hands with the fire, heating them to the required temperature. There was no fear of getting burned. Kai had long since lost that fear when he worked. There was only the desire to make... Something. When the ugly piece of metal that had once been his spoon melted in his hands, Smith belatedly realized that the metal reminded him of that very same old woman's hairpin. It just melted easier, nothing more. Bending over his own hands, the blacksmith, though now a jeweler, carefully smoothed the metal over his hand, and it spread easily like soft butter. Mindlessly crumpling the metal in his hands, Smith finally came up with a shape and began to carefully create it with all his concentration.
The hairpin was simple, the heaviest part of it being a small metal dragon's face. "Flame..." Smiling, the fire master set the decoration aside, letting it cool, as there was no water nearby. Straightening up and stretching, Kai sighed contentedly as he heard his back crack. With nothing to do, Smith quickly stood and headed for the pen. The hairpin rested securely in his hands, and a sparkle gleamed in his eyes. He... could make a few more. The others would definitely appreciate having something to remind them of their beloved friends, right?
It was approaching dinnertime, and the ninja were gathering in the kitchen when everyone noticed the fire master's absence.
"Um... Maybe he's busy with something? When we were at the forge, Kai often skipped dinner and stayed at work until the early hours."
After exchanging glances, the boys decided it was best to at least find out where Smith was and split up, hoping to regroup at the paddock later.
The Fire Master hunched quietly next to Whip, burying his face in his sword of fire, hissing softly and sticking out the tip of his tongue. The ninja exchanged glances, hesitant to distract him, but Jay stepped forward anyway.
"Hey, is the red ninja going to eat dinner?"
The boy didn't even look up at them, and after a moment, he suddenly blinked and seemed to snap back to reality.
"I know Jay's a bit of a girl, but I don't think he looks like your sister."
"Hey! Since when did I look like a girl!?"
"You're working on your cm, Kai."
Zane stepped closer while Cole and Jay stuck their tongues out at each other like children. Smith snorted at them, but straightened up anyway, cracking his back again, causing even Zane to wince with concern.
"Just a couple of trinkets... I thought you might like having something dragon-related in your pocket..."
The Fire Master awkwardly looked away, carefully picking up two different chains with medallions shaped like Rocky and Shard. Cole and Zane carefully took the offered jewelry, examining them with fascination.
"I'm almost done with yours, Jay."
"I'm not sure chains are exactly what you guys would like, but I thought this was the best option. And I don't really have any metal or tools for anything more... interesting. So, chains for now."
The Fire Master awkwardly finished speaking, leaning over the metallic Whip again, still oblivious to the startled looks of the other guys.
"So you're... a jeweler?" "I'm more of a generalist than anything specific. Selling just weapons was problematic, so I took on any job that required metal and... got the hang of it. Not perfect, but..."
Nya smiled tenderly, walking closer to the boys with Sensei Wu. He smiled as he watched his hunched student carefully smooth the metal for the loop on the medallion. Carefully threading a thin thread through the hole in the main chain, the young master connected the medallion to the chain with an unbreakable link.
After a while, smelting became a rare pastime for him. The onslaught of Lloyd and Garmadon, with his army of Serpentine, the Green Ninja, and his training quickly extinguished the young master's desire to smelt anything. Only once, it seemed, during another game with Lloyd, which was supposed to be training, did Smith remember what it was like to sit for hours and meticulously smelt something in his hands. Lloyd found his hairpin, which Smith kept in one of the pockets of his bag. The one with Flame. And he kept asking about it, especially after learning that Kai had made it himself. It was after this that Smith decided the boy would enjoy something made by his own hands.
Smith thought for a long time. He doubted the child would be interested in jewelry. Yes, he was a ninja, but weapons weren't suitable either. That's when the idea for a toy came to him. A metal toy doesn't sound like much, but a cute and, most importantly, safe figurine for a shelf will delight the boy. He already rejoiced every time he looked at his shelf of comics, which Kai bought him.
At breakfast, a sleepy Lloyd quickly woke up, looking in surprise at the handed-over box. Kai merely winked at him, and the others watched with interest as the boy lit up and excitedly opened the box. Pausing, young Garmadon carefully pulled out a small cat figurine, its muzzle raised haughtily, as if sniffing.
- Remember you asked about the hair clip? I thought this wouldn't suit you, so I decided to make a figurine. If you want something else, just let me know.
Lloyd carefully held the figurine in his hands, looking at it with fascination. Turning the cat over in his hands, the boy lowered his head, placing it on the table and suddenly snuggling up to the fire master.
"I'll call her... Meowthra!"
The boy sobbed, smiling happily in his ninja gi. The others only exchanged knowing glances, watching Kai hug the child.
This idea was born from the thoughts of: "Kai in a time loop" "with Morro" "in season 4" "starts joking about marrying Garmadon" "Morro reminds that Kai is a blacksmith and can smelt a ring out of anything" "Kai makes a ring out of gold (Chen's thing) and some lava (lately obsidian)" "Kai is shocked cause it really works??" "The next day, Morro uses a gust of wind to make the master of fire fall right in the middle of the dining room" "Kai barely managed to grab the ring, which for some reason he didn't throw away, but put in his pocket" "Garmadon approaches" "Kai is embarrassed but gets down on one knee and asks to be Lloyd's second father" "Curtain. But in the process of writing the backstory, how Kai generally became a universal blacksmith and more and more likes jewellery, I lost steam for my joke, soooo....
Yes, you can add some angst at the end, when all these trinkets break, get old, and just They're falling apart. Oh, especially on DR!! Lloyd would have such a flashback just looking at Sora's techno ears, it would be incredible! And the boys would feel the most painful sadness for their brother every time they looked at the lockets... Especially when they saw the cracks. Oh, yeah.
Well, I generally don't like angst, so I didn't write it. But yeah, you can make it up yourself.
++++ I wanted to add some magical properties to these jewelry. Maybe Kai, without realizing it, was infusing some of his fiery powers into these pieces, and when the wearer was in danger, the fire would flare up and protect them, or something like that.
But then I thought, "Are we in an anime?? they're a magical girl??" So no, the only thing Kai put into these jewelry was his love for his siblings
Aaand all of it be google translated, so if you see a Mistake pls don't judge;;
