ninjago imagines

the cold takes me under her wings | lloyd g.

TW: Hypothermia, ice.

 Lloyd can't handle cold. Trekking in the freezing Never-Realm wasn't fun, but he'd never thought it would come to hypothermia. 

 • • • 

Lloyd had always hated the cold. 

At Darkleys, winter was always bitterly cold, and frigid wind blew under the gaps of doors, making its way around the small rooms. Lighting a heating lamp was considered weak, so he spent most of the coldest days buried under a pile of blankets in his shared room.          

And now he was stuck in a frozen wasteland, without his friends or any hint of warmth available. 

He tugs his gi tighter around him, brushing the snow that somehow blows inside off his hair. His fingers curl tighter around the freezing controls, growing number by the second. 

They flutter to the ground softly, disappearing within the sheet of white. The icy winds bites at his skin, and a shiver runs through him. They should've really come more prepared for the weather, he thinks. 

"Think it's time for a break, Red?" He says to the wolf absentmindedly, eyes searching the horizon for a wedge of ice to duck behind for a while, maybe. It would at least shield the winds from him, right? And he doesn't want to drain the mech's energy, either. Lloyd lowers the mechanical hand to the ground, and switches off the bright green machine, hopping off the frosty metal pads to the frozen over ground. 

She stares at him blankly for a second, but then trots away to a nearby shaft of bedrock, sitting down on her back paws gracefully. Lloyd smiles gratefully, following her over. He flops onto the ground, leaning against the ice cold wall. 

"FSM, it's way too cold." He swears under his breath, and Red tilts her head at him, blinking curiously. The wind howls past them furiously, beating at the edges of his shelter. 

He shuffles closer to the wolf, holding out a hand uncertainly. She leans down to sniff it carelessly, fangs brushing his fingers. "Don't bite me, please." Lloyd says with a short laugh, but she only blinks again in response, glinting yellow eyes trained on him.

"Wanna come over here?" He asks absently, and Red watches for a moment, but stands up to trudge over to him. She settles next him, tall as himself sitting up, and he feels a instant wave of heat spread through him, a sigh of relief escaping him. "Thanks. Conserving body warmth. Very important in a place as cold as this." Lloyd says with a nod, reaching up to pet his hand against the thick, snowy white fur. 

"I've finally lost it, haven't I." He snorts."Talking to a wolf. That could, like, eat me any moment." Red does something like a shrug, leaning her snout on her front paws, and Lloyd takes it as a yes. He wondered how his brothers were doing. Hopefully not as badly as him.

A tingling feeling crawls up his spine, and he clenches his fingers. The cold burns painfully on his skin, and they feel like ice, digging into his palms. 

His breaths are coming out as clouds of white mist, now, dissipating into thin air. The bitter numbness seeps into his bones, and he closes his eyes for a second. The darkness seems more welcoming, a break from the harsh realities, but he forces his eyelids open again.

How long has it been? A minute, or a hour. He isn't sure, really. 

Zane. He has to find Zane, Lloyd thinks faintly. Find his family. 

But there's some kind of warmth settling into him, now, and he thinks a few more minutes can't hurt, right? 

His eyes slip shut, and the dark is relieving, dulling the frigid pain. 

It's not even cold anymore.