Darkness from Within #5: Uneasy Trust (A Ninjago Fanfiction)

Prologue

No. It couldn't be true. It couldn't be! Not there... not then. How could it happen? It couldn't happen. Could it? It didn't make sense. So soon? So sudden?

The boy stood frozen still, his senses half-clogged from the shock of the news. He didn't know how to take it. He didn't understand. One moment, everything was perfect, and the next, his whole world had been crushed. It can't be true, he thought, heart thumping in his chest. It can't be.

A tug at his sleeve only brought him back to reality partway. "K-Kai?" came the whimpering voice of his sister. "Kai, what is he talking about?"

Kai dragged his gaze down to her, seeing her eyes brimming with tears.

"Wh-where's Daddy?" Her voice came almost like a wail. "Where's Mommy?"

Kai's lips trembled and he drew in a shaky breath, feeling tears start to swell in his own eyes. Before he could reply, he felt a large hand rest on his shoulder and he looked up to see the old, mustached man; Dr. Saunders was what their parents called him.

Kai's throat tightened as he stared up at him. "I-I don't... I don't understand," he squeaked.

The man returned his gaze sympathetically. "I didn't think you would," he said. "You're young."

Kai tugged his gaze away and back into the distance. As much as he didn't want to believe it, he knew it was true. They were gone. His parents were gone. People he loved were gone. He'd never see them again.

A tear streamed down his cheek. It had happened too quickly. He and his sister had been perfectly happy, playing in the garden that morning. They didn't know that when they returned home they'd receive terrible news. Their parents had been with them that day, but now...

Now everything had changed. Now they were alone, just him and his sister. Alone. With no one to take care of them, no one to love them. No one but each other.

The sound of sobbing broke Kai back into the present and he looked down to see his sister's face buried in her hands, tears flowing down her cheeks. Kai choked back his own sob as he grasped her hand in his. Crying uncontrollably, the girl inched closer to her brother and burrowed her face into his shoulder.

"I want Mommy, Kai," she sobbed. "I want Mommy!"

Kai wrapped his arms around her, feeling her hair soak with his tears. "Sh-she's not here, Nya," he whimpered. "She's... she's not ever gonna be here again."

This only made Nya's crying intensify and Kai hugged her tighter, knowing she had to hear the truth.

Then Nya was suddenly yanked away from him and Kai gasped as she let out an alarmed squeal. Blinking water from his eyes, the boy looked up to see Dr. Saunders' hand firmly clutching Nya's wrist as he tugged her away from her brother. Kai's eyes rounded and horror shot through him to see his sister, face red with tears, struggling in the man's grasp.

"Alright, no need to make such a big deal over it," Dr. Saunders growled. "There's a place I'll give you to that takes good care of orphans like you."

Orphan? The word hit Kai like a blow to his chest. He didn't exactly know what it meant, but he didn't like the tone in which Dr. Saunders had said it.

The boy's breath quickened. The panic inside of him grew as he watched his sister struggle to rejoin him, tears still streaming from her cheeks. "No!" she choked out. "Don't leave me, Kai!"

That was what made Kai stiffen in realization. Dr. Saunders wasn't there to help them. He was just another danger trying to take Nya away from him just as his parents were taken from him. "No!" the boy shrieked. "Let my sister go!"

In a desperate attempt to save his sister, Kai raced forward and jumped up, stomping all his weight onto Dr. Saunders' foot. The man jerked backward in alarm and, in the second of distraction, Kai grabbed Nya's arm and tugged her away from the danger. The girl fell into her brother's arms, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly. Heart racing, Kai scooped her up and darted toward the house, gasping for breath.

"Children, wait!" Dr. Saunders' voice shouted back from the garden.

But Kai didn't stop until he burst through the front door. He then whipped around and slammed the door behind them, locking it in place to shield them from the danger outside. Choking out the sob he had been holding in, Kai backed up against the door and slid to the floor, cradling his sister in his lap.

Nya buried her face in her brother's shoulder, her tears soaking his clothes. Kai tightened his grip around her and sank his head into her shoulder, closing his eyes as tears dripped down his own cheeks.

He didn't dare release Nya from his safety until there was a long while of silence outside and he was finally able to admit that Dr. Saunders must've left them. But he still held her close.

"Kai?" the girl sniffled after a time of crying. "Wh-what are we going to do? Th-they're gonna send us away!"

"No," Kai told her firmly. "I won't let them." He placed his hands on her shoulders and stared into his sister's eyes intensely. "It's just you and me now, sis. We're on our own now. But it's okay, because I'll take care of you."

Nya wiped her hand across her nose. "B-but we're only kids, Kai," she choked out.

"It doesn't matter." Determination hardened Kai's voice and he rose to his feet. "We'll work it out, Nya. Don't worry." He began walking around the room, shutting all the windows to protect them from the dangers of the outside world that had taken his parents and nearly taken Nya. "I'll learn to be a blacksmith!" he went on, forcing his voice not to tremble. "I-I watched Dad a lot in the shop, I-I can do it. I know I can."

Nya's eyes widened in horror as he began heading to the back door. "No!" she screeched. "Stay with me, Kai. Stay with me!"

Heart breaking to see his usual cheerful sister like this, Kai turned around again and rushed back over to her, sitting down beside her. He took her in his arms again and laid his head on her shoulder as she sank into his warmth. "Don't worry, Nya," he breathed in her ear. "I won't leave you. I'll stay with you forever. No matter what happens to us, I'll always be beside you. Because we're all each other has left now, and I'll make sure nothing ever takes you away from me."