Extinguished

Sleepless Nights

The Bounty was not a restful place to sleep. It had only been only two nights since they lost their brothers and not one member found themselves able to sleep through the night.

One tossed and turned, desperate to escape into the darkness to have some solace from the pain of his lost brothers. This one usually gave up halfway through the night and went to tinker on something on the ship or find Nya and try to persuade her to come sit with him on the couch.

Two stared wide-eyed at the ceiling, minds unwilling to let them rest. They both got up to meditate, trying to cope with the guilt that they couldn't save their brothers or students.

And one wouldn't sleep...no, she wouldn't rest until she knew where her brothers were. She was constantly at the helm, searching, searching for anything. She would give up with a frustrated cry, punching the console, then storm to the deck to train until her body was numb.

And the last one had night terrors. Lloyd tossed and turned as the images of his brothers flashed through his mind. Through his sleep, he'd grip the sheets beneath him, watching his brothers fall, fall, falling...he would wake up with a start, screaming, screaming their names and then sob into his pillow. Zane or Wu heard him, and took their turns in comforting him.

This was the third night and still no one wanted to sleep. The Bounty was a ghost ship as the 5 current members floated around the house, sometimes avoiding each other as they tried to ignore the empty space there was without their two lost brothers.

This night, Nya was on the deck, fingers curled around the rail. Her body trembled from lack of sleep and overworked muscles. She scowled at the tears in her eyes as she stared out at the darkness.

[Kai wouldn't cry. He was tougher than that. If she was going to cry, then she needed to find a way to fix it. But how do I fix this? My brother is gone! He's gone down into that mist and I don't KNOW whether he's dead or alive!] That thought finally broke her. She had to admit to herself that her brother, her hotheaded, bright and shining brother [who simultaneously annoyed her to death and was her favorite freaking person] could very well be dead at the bottom of Ninjago City.

The thought took the breath from her lungs. Her legs collapsed beneath her, and she pressed her back against the railing. She bit her sleeve against the sobs that began to rack her body, not wanting to wake anyone to come to her aid. Her scream was muffled, and she continued to sob.

[Kai. Oh, Kai. Why do you have to be so DAMN sacrificial all the time?]

Anger started to well up at her brother for doing this, for leaving her...but then she realized that was ridiculous. If she had been down there on the deck when Cole had fallen...she would've done the same thing. Yes, Kai was her brother and losing him was like losing a limb (worse than), but Cole was a brother too. And Nya would die for any of her brothers.

Resolve built up inside of her. Her tears ceased to fall but her eyes glistened with a hint of something new. Determination, a maybe a hint of revenge. Because ultimately it was Garmadon and the Oni that had caused this to happen to her brothers.

And anyone who messes with her brothers will pay.

She stood to her feet, adrenaline coursing through her with this new course of action in mind. She picked up the katana she had been using to train and strapped it to her back. Her brother might want his weapon back.

Before she could talk herself out of it, she peered over the edge once more. They hadn't moved away from ninjago city yet. She hadn't let them. Far below, she could just make out the faint glow of the purple mist and the outline of a skyscraper. She'd have to make that her target.

Alright, here goes nothing. If I die...nah, not gonna happen. My brothers need me.

She stepped onto the edge, preparing to activate her element. Just as she was about to jump...

"Nya?"

She winced and turned. The sight of her little brother kinda shattered her already broken heart. He'd never looked younger. His blond hair was disheveled, green eyes tired but wide as he stared at her as if he knew what she was doing.

Nya looked down over the edge, realizing this could look bad. She hopped down.

"What's up, kiddo? Couldn't sleep?" She tried to ask in a light tone, but they both knew it was fake.

Lloyd shrugged. "Who can these days? Every time I try, I have these terrible nightmares. This one tonight was the worst." He leaned against the rail with her, looking back into the darkness. "Wanna tell me what you were about to do?"

He met her gaze knowingly. She smiled briefly, knowing he already knew but just wanted to make her say it. Cuz it was crazy.

"I was going after them. Someone has to do something."

Lloyd breathed a tiny laugh. "At one point, I would've said it was stupid and that we should make a plan and figure out what we're dealing with before we go down. But with the dreams I've had...I can't get rid of the feeling that our brothers are down there...Alive. Struggling to stay alive. That they need us..."

The thought made Nya's blood boil, her nails digging into her arms.

"What did you dream about?"

Lloyd sniffed. "The one tonight was about Kai. I don't know how accurate it is or why I'm even having these dreams but...it feels so real. Like I can feel his element tugging at me from down there. It's painful, like a desperate SOS call."

"You can feel his element?" Nya asked.

Lloyd shrugged. "It might just be in my head. But-but in this dream...I saw him laying there on the ground. He was crying, curled in a ball...and we watched a dark figure running away from him. He screamed something, maybe a name but I didn't catch it."

Nya shuddered. "That can't be real. Why would a dark figure be running away from him? Was Cole in the dream?"

Lloyd hugged himself, rubbing his arms anxiously. "That's the thing...I didn't catch the name, but I got this feeling like...like the dark figure was Cole."

Nya shook her head. "Let's not worry about the details. I'm going down there. I hate to leave everyone like this but you know Sensei and Zane would advise otherwise. I have to go now." She stepped up on the ledge again.

"We."

"What?" She looked back at Lloyd as he spun into his ninja suit.

"I'm coming too."

She wasn't going to argue. She could use the company. She reached for her brother's hand.

"Together."

And then they jumped.
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Whoop whoop! I'm on a roll. Okay, so one thing I wanted to point out. It's been a hot minute since I've watched older Ninjago seasons, including March of the Oni. I just rewatched "The Fall" to make sure I'm not straying to far away from some of the details. I forgot the general plot tbh and that Garmadon and Lloyd had been down in the mist shortly before Cole fell. So garmadon would've been on the Bounty too, as well as some people from the news station that they rescued. I want this story to be focused on the ninja and their grief and the journey to getting Cole and Kai back to the ship. I don't know how much I'll go into them defeating the Oni. So for this story, let's pretend that Garmadon is still down with the Oni, and that Cole fell when the ninja were trying to escape from the mist themselves. I'm a bit too lazy to try to fill in the plot holes hehe hope that's okay😁