I have the first chapter of idea B from this post. Word count is 1910
Lloyd’s finding it more and more common to get dejavu each day that passes. Perched on the porch of the monastery, he sips at tea. Grunts and giggles echo off the walls as Sora and Arin train. The two clash and bounce off each other with kicks and half hearted jabs. A sight eerily similar to the early morning training sessions that his team used to hold.
His heart twists painfully at the thought of his brothers, sister, uncle, and father.
The ceramic cup trembles dangerously in his grip. The bright colors that Arin had painted a week ago catch light. Riyu purrs questioningly from his seat behind Lloyd’s back, nuzzling his nose into Lloyd’s elbow.
He sets the cup down before he can drop it, assuring, “I’m fine.” Arin yelps as Sora lands a jab in his side, soft enough to tickle. “Just thinking about my team. It’s still hard to accept that they’re really gone.” The dragon hums in what Lloyd assumes is sympathy. “I mean, it’s been so long since that day…” He chuckles, “I always find myself half expecting for them to jump out and say ‘suprise’. I mean, how many times has Zane died and come back?”
Sora shrieks as Arin darts away with her headphones, jumping and dodging the obstacle course. Lloyd rubs his two hands together, finding that the trembling has stopped before picking his tea back up.
Riyu trills, laying his head back down, green eyes tracking Arin’s frantic escape. Lloyd falls silent, drinking the green tea. He hisses at the bitter taste. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong? Is the water too hot? Caving, like the day before and the day before that, he grabs a sugar cube and plops it into the water. He can practically hear his uncle’s lecture on the ‘monstrosity of sweetening perfectly good tea’, his chuckle falls flat.
Judging by the even sighs coming from the dragon, Riyu has fallen asleep again. It's becoming easier to soothe the hurt of his missing family. He knows it will never go away, but trusts that one day it won’t hurt so much. That the pain will fade into a dull ache.
Once he’s sure that the two have warmed up enough, and when his tea is gone, he calls the two over. Sora jumps off Arin, headphones in their rightful place. Arin peels himself off the floor with a groan. The two stand in front of him, buzzing with excitement.
It's too bad Lloyd intended to recycle one of Wu’s old training regiments. Their arms would be too sore to grab anything from the higher shelves for two weeks. Unfurling from his meditative pose, Lloyd rose and began to explain the twelve step exercise that combined cardio and weight training.
Bit by bit, Sora’s and Arin’s expressions grew grimmer and grimmer.
Two hours later, Sora and Arin laid sprawled out underneath the shade of the monastery’s wall. Training equipment litters the courtyard, accompanied by a galloping Riyu. Sora whines, “Sensei Lloyd, are you sure that was necessary? I can’t feel my arms.”
Arin agreed, “How am I going to bake pie!”
Crossing his arm, Lloyd chuckles, “If you’re going to be ninjas, you have to be strong enough to protect those who cannot protect themselves. That means putting in hard work. Even if you’d rather stay inside playing video games and eating junk food. Being a ninja means-” Lloyd looks down, startled and cut off by an obnoxious snore. Arin is asleep, mouth hung open and arms wide like a star fish. Sora’s face gives away no emotions, eyes locked with Lloyd. How did he fall asleep so fast?
“...Okay. I get what you mean about needing a room two halls away from his.” Arin snores louder, and Sora scoots away from his head, “You can move into the east wing if you feel up to it.” Sora gives a silent thumbs up. “Well, you guys are free to go get cleaned up. Unless you want to cool down here for a bit.”
Lloyd turns to walk away when the ground shakes. Riyu roars, darting over to the group and hiding behind Lloyd. Static fills the air, thrumming through every fiber of Lloyd’s being. Sora’s up and shaking Arin awake before the tear can manifest. Lloyd’s throat tightens as he comes face to face with the thing that tore his world apart. Flashes of blue tears ripping reality apart to reveal red and pink realms fill his memory. Screams and shouts tickle the back of his mind.
The group forms a circle, Sora’s hands sparking with pink energy, snapping Lloyd back to the present. Summoning green energy, he thrusts it out towards the quake. It’s strong enough to create a gravitational pull, tugging at Lloyd’s bangs. Hopefully he can seal it before it becomes too big. They back away before being stopped. Dang it! It has us trapped against the wall! The brick tauntingly licks at his back, snagging his gi.
Arin pulls his mask over his face before observing the mergequake, “This one’s different!” He points, “Look! This one’s greener and white! It’s more circular than a tear!” Lloyd huffs, arms shaking with effort. No matter how much energy he pours into the portal, it just wont close!
Sora shouts, “So what does that mean? It’s a type of different mergequake!” Lloyd braces himself against the wall, almost being pulled in by the force the tear is making. His vision is obstructed as his mask is tugged off, sucked into the gap.
Arin suggests, “Maybe! Sensei, your powers don't seem to affect this one!” Arin trips forward, and Lloyd’s heart jumps into his throat. He can’t lose another to these quakes. Before he can reach out, Riyu blocks Arin from rolling any further.
Giving more energy, Lloyd yells over the rumbling, “Make your way up and over the wall! We need to put some distance between ourselves and this one!” Lloyd shuffles, putting himself between his students and the mergequake.
He doesn’t need to hear their confirmations to know that they are scaling the wall. Little flakes of white paint flies past him as he turns back to face the issue. Sweat dripped down his neck as he tried to buy time for his students.
Lloyd cranes his neck, gasping as he sees Sora holding onto Arin with one hand. His student floated in the air, caught between the force of the tear and Sora’s faltering grip. Riyu chirps worriedly from his spot on the top of the wall, tail flicking.
Dropping his arms, Lloyd jumps and scales the wall. Forgetting the portal. Joining Sora’s side he stretches out to grab Arin’s other hand. One hand grips the roof tiles, hard enough for Lloyd to feel blood dripping down his fingers, and another holding onto Arin. Loyd sits caught between safety and saving his student.
Arin’s eyes meet with Lloyd’s, tears spill down his cheeks as the boy tries to yell something over the wind. It’s lost and Lloyd refuses to read the words off Arin’s lips. His pupil will tell him when this is over.
“On three!” Sora nods. “One! Two! Three!” They heave, but the quake refuses to let go. I will not lose another person I care about! Lloyd counts down again before letting go. Using both hands to pull Arin. He can feel himself slipping towards the edge as he pulls him back onto the wall. His knees scrape against the stone as he's pulled forward. He manages to snag the orange cloth of Arin’s shirt and pull, yelling in effort. The boy falls into Sora’s embrace and Lloyd shuffles on the wall to make room, only to step out onto air.
Riyu squeaks in surprise, and Arin and Sora cry as they reach and try to catch Lloyd.
As he falls into the light, the last thing he can hear his students calling is his name.
The white and green light is nauseatingly bright and combined with the direction of gravity spinning and changing, Lloyd wishes he hadn’t drunk so much tea. The sense that he’s falling towards the ground proves correct when his back slams into something hard.
Pain shoots down his spine as his head cracks against metal. A scream rips out of his throat as he slides down a wall. His vision dances as thunder twists inside in his ears. It takes a moment for his eyes to adjust to the light but when everything finally comes into focus he sees… aquatic themed soldiers and a few startled looking scientists?
Dragging himself into a corner, Lloyd reaches for his daggers on reflex. Tension coils around the room like a snake. In the center of the room stands a large circular structure with a mergequake in the middle. Arin was right, this isn’t a mergequake. This is something else. The entire room was a white sterile lab. Metal tables were littered with wires and assorted broken down tech. The room smelled heavily of sulfur.
Swallowing around the tightness in his throat, Lloyd hisses, “Anyone mind telling me what’s going on?”
The henchmen(?) drew their weapons, aiming with shaking hands. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one dig the butt of their blaster into the shoulders of a scientist with gray hair and circle glasses. The man raised his hands, a practiced motion.
Lloyd winces and pulls himself up. They all take a step back, eyes glued to him as if he was some dangerous animal. He sighs, “Well, I guess we’re doing things the hard way.” The tension snapped as Lloyd went launching himself at the closest fish styled man with a yell.
Lloyd’s panting by the end of the fight, triumphantly surveying the scene. The room is scattered with henchmen, most unconscious and some on the verge. The group of scientists huddle in a corner behind a table. Dropping an empty blaster, he makes his way over to them. His legs shake, probably from adrenaline and lack of warm up.
Leaning on the cool table, Lloyd chirps, “Soo, let me guess. You guys are a bunch of unwilling scientists who were forced to build some fancy-pancy portal against your will?” His tongue feels heavy like cotton and the world tips. They all nod, some so hard their glasses fall off. “I thought so…One second…” Lloyd leans his head on the edge of the overturned table, breathing harshly through the wave of dizziness that threatens to send him crumpling. Something’s wrong with me.
The gray scientist pipes up, standing up and laying a studying hand on Lloyd’s shoulder, “You need to sit down. We still don’t know what a dimensional jump can do to a body. Accounting for differences in altitude and pressure,” The blood in Lloyd’s ears roared over the scientist's words. Everything seemed to be moving too fast. He lets go of the table and slides down into a crouch, the scientist kicks away a few shards of metal.
Lloyd blinks and suddenly the scientists are swarmed around him like bees. He’s laying flat, head resting on what feels like a folded up coat. The gray scientist hovers in his vision, face wrinkled with worry. His vision flickers again and suddenly a large shadow stands over him, red eyes greet him from the darkness.
Lloyd’s hold on reality slips out of his hand before he knew it was wavering.
