ninjago imagines

survivor | lloyd g.

Set after S8. 

TW: Mentions of death. 

He is Lloyd Garmadon, the protector of Ninjago. 

He is the Green Ninja, the one that battled monsters from nightmares, the one who was ready to sacrifice everything, the one who was always there to catch the city when it fell and rebuild it from ashes. 

(The people of the city didn't think too hard about how he was always a little too ready to jump into the fight, bury his thoughts under a cover of battle moves and tactical strategies.)

The one with so many shattered pieces he could never be put back together, the one who had lost everything except the never-ending fight. 

(After the final fight, Lloyd looks into the mirror and wonders if the other would be disappointed if he tried to join them. He thinks they'd be a little disappointed, but then again, they'd left him alone here.)

He's the one with walks through the city with too much pain and hurt hidden behind a mask of fierce in green eyes, still bright with determination. 

(Lloyd only goes back to the monastery once, and after he's done trailing round the rooms to collect memories, he burns their gi's with his. One last wisp of heavy smoke curls to the sky, and he hopes they've received them, wherever they are.)

No one says a word when he walks past them, gashes and injuries still dripping blood, and disappears into the dark shadows ahead. What do you say someone who's lost everything, all at once?

Nothing. There's nothing you can say, so the crowds who have finally escaped their homes, part to let the broken hero past. 

(Lloyd doesn't know how long he's gone from the city for, but he finds a place where every street corner doesn't remind him of Cole's laugh, of Zane's reassuring smile or Kai's hugs. Of Nya's bright gaze or Jay's chatter. He finds a place where his memories are dulled in the back of his mind, and he think that's the only reason he's survived.)

But he comes back, because there are people to save and lives to continue, no matter how much he hates it. The gi may be gone, along with his family, but there's still his legacy and the city, which he cannot abandon.  At the very least, Lloyd can make sure what happened to him happens to no one else, and if that's all he can have, it's enough.

He learns that heroes are rare, but monsters are not. Both can die, though, and he takes advantage of that fact. He wears his swords strapped to his back everyday, because he's been caught off guard once, and it cost him too much. 

(Nya's last words were 'it's gonna be okay', and she'd never lied to him until then. Pixal didn't say anything, but he saw one last bright smile. Dareth says he never regretted anything in his last breath. He'll won't get to know Kai's, or Cole's, or Jay's for a long time, and he wonders if it would hurt more to know or not.)

He fights with a new gi, and keeps the green for the memories that spur him on. It's darker, more muted for better blending, but green nevertheless. 

Scars paint remembrances on his skin, permanent reminders, and he both hates and treasures them. 

The stories of the final battles fades to rumors and old tales, but he is still there. Oni and Dragon blood keep him alive, and he's cursed with a painful reminder of his past every time he looks in the mirror. 

He's a legend, the last survivor of all the statues kept in the park, five frozen prideful faces a reminder of their sacrifices. (He wonders if he'll ever get one.)

He is Lloyd Garmadon, and as long as there's one last person to save, he will be there.