Dragons Rising: The Merge: The Rewrite

The Three Mountains (I)

Author's Notes:

Lloyd: Ok, Lloyd. You're facing a kid with probably a bunch of problems. Think like this: How did Zane treat you while the Ninja were training you?
Sora: This guy bad. This guy cool. This guy badass.
Riyu: That's not my name... :(
Riyu: We're getting close to home and I will not help you even in danger.

This is all purely platonic(except for skylor and chamille)

~✦ ✧ ✦ ✧~

The stars were breathtaking.

Standing on the deck of Destiny's Shadow in the middle of the night, high up in the air, they had a clear view of the night sky.

Whenever Sora looked at Lloyd, she saw someone's hero and someone's enemy. He might've been Arin's hero, but he wasn't her hero. She held back her tongue because she couldn't imagine wiping that smile off his face, but one way or another, Lloyd would find a way to use Arin as a tool for his gain.

Sora thought she had it all laid out. She would learn how to control Blue's powers, and when Lloyd finally showed his true colors, she would make it shower pink and kick his ass. Then, Arin would see her as a real hero, not some random runaway nerd.

But now, when she looks at Lloyd, the Green Ninja, leader of the protectors of all Ninjago, she sees a man with the excitement of a toddler. Even if she tries to remind herself that she's looking at a corrupted person, her heart keeps telling her to trust him, and she hates it.

Being an inventor, she was taught to follow logic, not myths. She was taught to be rational, not rash. She was told to write down facts, not fiction.

Her mind was telling her the man in front of her was dangerous, but her heart was telling her to put her trust in this man. Maybe it was because her brain still thinks she's a child, but she isn't. She hasn't been a child for some time. Not since she left home Imperium.

The soft wind and the mesmerizing sky kept turning her brain to mush with its beauty.

A beauty she was never able to see because the lights of Imperium were always outshining the stars. She was told not to focus on the brightness of the stars but on the brightness of Imperium. Everything she did now would forever and always affect the later.

Her blood boiled when she thought of the rules of Imperium.

Imperium's laws ensured that everyone was brainwashed into thinking they lived to please the Empress and helped turn Imperium into a city as big as the sky.

What absolute BS.

Having a kingdom as large as the sky would be impossible to rule over because of its sheer size. And don't get her started on the corruption of the Empress.

Sora clenched her fists and glared at the stars as if it would make her feel better.

"Take a few deep breaths," came Lloyd's soft voice. "It makes no difference to take your anger out on something that didn't do anything."

Sora jumped and forced her hands to unclench. "I'm fine," she forced out with a smile.

"You're still mad."

"No, I'm not."

"Shoving your hands in your pockets won't stop me from knowing your hands are still clenched.

"The Claws of Imperium do really bad things," Sora said through a tense jaw.

"I figured," Lloyd said, never taking his eyes off of the stars.