Chapter 3

986 36 30
                                    

The aggressive whipping of wind continued for a bit, as Lloyd flew us through the air on his elemental dragon.
And, as terrifying as it was at first, I grew to enjoy it. Arms wrapped around Lloyd as I rested my head on his back, I watched the clouds pass by as we soared carelessly through the air.
It was so beautiful, so peaceful.

Until the blonde doofus went and ruined it.
"Hey, uhm- which dorm is yours?" He shouted- and I do mean fucking shouted- above the sound of the aggressive whooshing of wind in my ears.
"The boyles dorm. The tall one!" I shouted back, and the blonde ninja simply nodded in response, understandably already done with having to shout over the wind to talk.
Me too, buddy. Me too.

And, of course, just as I went to enjoy the (now calm) ride again, we landed.
"Dang. Right as you calmed down and let that be relaxing." I said in a mock-angry way, playfully rolling my eyes.
Lloyd laughed a bit, letting the dragon dissipate as he caught me before we fell.
"Glad to know you relaxed. Means you aren't afraid of the dragons like Cole, I'm guessing?"

I gave a small laugh and shoved off of the boy from where he had caught me, walked to the roof entrance of the dorm building.
"Cole, the rough and tough, the big and bad earth ninja,'" I started with a fake infatuated, dreamy-sounding voice, "was afraid of dragons? Oh, please." I scoffed out.

"He was, I swear to it!" Lloyd laughed out, grinning ecstatically at me as we walked inside the building, heading to my dorm room.

I shook my head in mock disbelief.
"Better notify the press! It'll be the biggest story of the century. I can see the headlines now: 'fangirls across ninjago suffer broken hearts, after finding out their beloved earth ninja isn't as big and tough as they were lead to believe!' " I said in my biggest, most dramatic news reporter voice that I could muster.

Lloyd laughed in response.
"Cole acts tough, buts he's a real softy once ya get to know him. You'll see," he said with a smile.

Soon, we had gotten to my dorm room. I tugged my lanyard off of my neck, unlocking the door.
"Pardon the mess. I wasn't expecting visitors," I said carelessly and shrugged, stepping inside and heading for the closet.
"Ah, home shit home," I said dramatically as I flung open the closet door and grabbed my suitcase and duffel bags.

"No time to spare to say goodbye?" Lloyd asked.
"You get to work fast," he said with a small chuckle.

I grinned over at him as I began to messily shove clothes and bedding into the suitcase, then shower essentials, shoes, and all my other garbage into the duffel bag.
"No time to waste, blondie! I've got a new life to get to!" I said ecstatically, finding myself suddenly amazed and excited for this new life.

The idea of college, a job, a family, and an overall cookie-cutter life was so boring. It was to regular, so bland... so expected.
I was ready for excitement; I no longer knew where life could possibly lead me!
And, an added bonus, I very well might be able to learn more about my mother than my father would ever tell me.

Lloyd seemed a bit surprised by that, but understanding.
"I never thought of college, or a job, and stuff like that. For some reason I never wanted that. So this worked out well for me in the end," he said and shrugged, smiling over at me.

I grinned to myself and nodded in agreement.
"Its kinda scary, but also super exciting. I'm ready, I think. No- I know I'm ready." I said confidently.
Then, excited, I quickly derailed and hopped onto another track.
"Come sit on this suitcase so it'll close, hurry up," I said quickly, Lloyd chuckling and plopping down on it.

Grinning, I quickly zipped it up, grabbing it and the duffel bag.
"Let's go fly," I said with a grin.

Lloyd scoffed playfully.
"You planning on holding a suitcase on a dragon? Good luck,"

I was confused, and he could tell apparently,  because he soon clarified.

"The bounty was trailing behind us. We went ahead so you could pack up and be ready by the time the bounty gets here. Saves time," he said and shrugged, as if that should have been totally obvious.

"And you told me I was in a rush. What's with the hurry?" I said jokingly.

The blonde grinned at me
"Well you may wanna sleep tonight. You start training bright and early. Morning fitness is at 6, then breakfast, then the real training begins," he stated with a mischievous glint in his eyes as he smiled.

"Ugh, so soon," I complained as I trudged out of the room and back to the roof. Where I did, indeed, find the bounty waiting.

Lloyd took the suitcase, leaving me with the duffel bag, and began to climb.
"Come on, don't wanna keep everyone waiting on dinner. Sensei Wu said Zane was cooking if you decided to stay, and you don't wanna miss out on his food! Cole was supposed to cook. Be thankful he didn't, it's horrifying. You would leave quicker than you decided to stay!" Lloyd informed me, earning an amused smile from me as I tossed my duffel bag aboard, narrowly missing Lloyd, then hopping up just after.

As soon as I climbed up, the others were waiting with smiles (of their own variations).

"Welcome home, (y/n)." The old man- no, Master Wu- said warmly.

Smiling, I looked around at the warm, mostly welcoming faces. Even Cole, in his own way, looked welcoming and glad to have a new member.

Looking around calmly, at the ship and at the sky as we ascended, I smiled gratefully.

Finally, I was were I belonged. I had finally found the place that felt so warm. So right.

I had found my home.

A/n: thanks for reading, and being patient. I'm trying to update more. But I also just updated "crave: Cole x reader" if you wanna check that out. It's like 8 chapters in so far

Word count (before a/n): 1014

A Rude Awakening: Ninjago Lloyd x ReaderWhere stories live. Discover now