Ninjago: The Tribes AU

"Now we have a problem"

The sun shown down on the grassy fields as Lloyd and Jay ventured to the far south to meet the Desert Tribe. It was going to be a long journey, but it needed to be done. The tribes had to unite if they stood any chance against the Fire Tribe. As they passed through a rocky canyon, Lloyd jumped from rock to rock like a wild animal. Jay watched from his slow pace a little way behind. He glared at the blonde boy as he jumped onto a ledge and perched on it to get a higher view of the path ahead. The blue leader sighed. “I still stand by my Tarzan comment from earlier you know. Is your entire village like this?”

Lloyd looked down from his cliff-side perch. “What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean. The way you act! You act like a wild animal. You’re fidgety, consistently listening to your surroundings like your expecting a predator to jump out and you, and seem to instinctively jump onto any boulder you spot. You behave like a dragon hatchling…”

Lloyd was about to say something, but stopped and looked down at his stance. He was quite literally perching on the rock ledge like an animal. He almost looked like Spiderman in the way he was crouched down. Lloyd slid down; embarrassed. He had never been mocked for that behavior in the jungle; in fact, most of his village did the same. Maybe not as far as he tends to take it, but still. Lloyd hung back for a moment while watching Jay walk past him. He studied the way the master of lightning walked. It wasn’t very different from how he did it, but Jay did seem to stand straighter when he moved compared to Lloyd, who tends to hunch forward a bit. Mostly because it was his stealth mode position, and being in a new environment triggered that instinct to be overly cautious. He stood up tall and tried to walk exactly like his new partner. After a few minutes, Jay took notice. He didn’t know if he should be honored to be setting an example for the wild boy, or weirded out that he was being copied. Regardless, he chose to try to ignore it. As they continued, Lloyd suddenly snapped back to his stealth mode position and froze. Jay immediately took notice from his slow pace behind the green ninja. He began to question what was wrong, but Lloyd shushed him. The two stood still until the sound of a twig snapping could be heard from not too far away. Lloyd turned and tackled Jay down to the ground forcing him out of the way of a flaming arrow. A masked figure covered in red clothing and golden armor stood above them on the canyons edge. They jumped down, gliding down the cliff-side. A wave of terror washed over Jay as he approached the two teens who were still on the ground. The Fire Tribe emblem on his shoulder stung to look at. Jay was only 1 and a half years old last time they attacked, but he still somehow remembered some aspects of it. Like, he remembered the fire soldier walking towards him, unsheathing with his sword. But the only thing that he was focused on was the shimmering emblem on their left shoulder. His heart raced seeing the glistening insignia once again. The mysterious person put his bow away and instead pulled out his sword. They aimed it at the two kids and exhaled in a deep, raspy voice, almost like growing. Lloyd jumped up in front of Jay and very clearly growled like an animal. The person backed up a couple steps, then pulled down the mask and hood. He had a weirded-out expression plastered on his messy, stubbled face. The right side of his face was horribly scarred and he wore a black eyepatch over the right eye. His hair was a dirty orange that was tied into a ponytail. If he let it down, it would be a little longer than shoulder length. He stared at Lloyd, who was still snarling at him like a savage. “What the hell is wrong with you?!”

Jay shook his head as he stood up. “I’ve been wondering the same thing. Also, I’d like to reassure you that he doesn’t bite, but I’m fairly confident that would be a lie. So you better back off!!!”

The assassin spoke not a word more, then lunged at Lloyd with his sword. The boy jumped out of the way and retaliated by punching the man in the back. A loud clang rang out followed by the green ninja stumbling back; holding his hand. “OW!!” The armor the fire warrior was wearing protected him from the attack, and damaged Lloyd’s hand. In his defense, he’d never seen armor like that before. Jay rolled his eyes at the blonde boys stupid attack attempt, then shot a blast of lightning at the foe. But he dodged and the attack accidentally landed on Lloyd instead. Jay called out an apology as the enemy swung at him again and again. It was rapid fire mode between the two for a while, then the attacker landed a kick to Jay’s chest. He went flying back into the ravine wall. His blue eyes looked up just in time to see a sword come down towards him. A flash of green light exploded in front of him, and before he could process what just happened, the enemy was on the ground unconscious. Lloyd was on his knee panting not very far away, fists ablaze with green energy, but still sparking from the wayward thunderbolt. Still shaking slightly, Jay made his way over to Lloyd and helped him to his feet. “Why did you save me? I’m your enemy.” Jay questioned.

“Because it was the right thing to do.” He started. “And as for the enemy part- why? You never did anything to me.”

Wow. Jay never thought about it like that. Yes, the tribes didn’t like each other, but with the exception of the Fire Tribe, the hate mostly led to isolation, not conflict. The groups have their territory and stick with it. Lloyd had never left the jungle, and he had never left the grasslands. It was likely that whoever was in charge of the desert region had only stayed there as well. So, with that in mind, why SHOULD they be violent towards one another? They’ve never actually done anything to cause the distrust. At least, not in hundreds of years.  Everyone who was around when and if anything did happen, was long gone. So, in theory, there shouldn’t be anything to worry about… maybe.

Jay cautiously walked over to the unconscious warrior then picked up his dropped Fire Tribe emblem. He held it firmly in hand, examining it with worry. “I can’t believe that just happened… The Fire Tribe never comes out here. Especially not this far. I hate to admit it, but I think you might really be telling the truth about these guys attacking.”

Lloyd groaned. “Of course I was telling the truth! I told ya that you could trust me.”

“Well, duh. Of course you SAID THAT- But that didn’t mean squat to me until just now.”

Lloyd looked offended in a way, but chose to shake it off and continue on the path. Well, Jay knew Lloyd was telling the truth now, so there’s that. The two nodded at each other; signaling that it was time to get going. If the Fire Tribe was already sending scouts to the different territories, then there wasn’t a moment to waist. They had to get to the others; and fast.

About 10 minutes passed, and the Fire Soldier woke up. He looked around at the grasslands he was surrounded by then picked up his dropped sword. “Those two… they… beat me.?..” He got up and rushed into the distance; almost on a frantic panic.

Later at the volcano where the Fire Tribe lived-

The royal throne room glowed with the light of the small lava channels that ran through it on either side. Purple and red tapestries were hung from the ceilings, and a golden Fire Tribe emblem was decorating each one. It looked like an upside-down V with a small triangle nestled inside. The throne sat high atop the floor incased in a rocky pedestal in the far back center of the room. Like a thick stalagmite. A flight of carved stairs ran up it right to the throne itself. Massive metal doors sat on the opposite side, where a guard entered cautiously. “Um… Sir? One of your scouts is here to see you. They said it's urgent.”

A figure stat on the throne, covered in armor and red clothing. Their golden headband wrapped around their forehead with a small diamond shaped ruby in the center. It was undoubtedly a crown. They nodded; signaling for the scout to be let in. The humongous doors opened slightly, and the warriors that fought Jay and Lloyd raced in and immediately bowed before the leader. “Your highness, I come bringing troubling news.”

The leader sat forward, lighting his face and torso with the light from the torches near them. It was a boy only about 18. He had a scar across his eye, but it appeared to still be mostly functional. He had tall, thick spiky brown hair, shaped like fire; which blew slightly in the wind that blew through the open door. His eyes narrowed as he spoke up. “What do you mean… troubling? Ronin, you’re the captain of the royal guards. There shouldn’t be anything troubling to you. As far as I am aware, you earned the title from killing an Elemental Master. Am I correct?”

“Well, yes. But he was just-…”

“There shouldn’t be a BUT!” The leader struck the ground with his scepter. “What is the oh so urgent problem that you dare interrupt me for!”

The soldier flinched at the king raising his voice at him. “I ran across two people while I was on my mission. One was Lloyd, son of Garmadon. The other boy was Jay, elemental master of lightning; leader of the Lightning Tribe. They were both making their way to the Desert Tribe’s territory. They spoke of uniting the tribes to stand against your planned attack.”

The king froze. “WHAT!?!” He shouted so loud that Ronin almost fell backwards in shock and terror. “Tell me that you killed them!”

“I couldn’t. The son of Garmadon is powerful. He has an elemental power unlike anything I’ve even heard about! It’s like pure energy!”

The Fire Tribe leader roared out in anger. “WE CAN NOT LET THEM SUCCEED! Find them! I need them stopped! I don’t care what you do to accomplish that- be it sword through the throat or drowning! I. Want. Those. Maggots. DEAD!!!” As he yelled an eruption of fire engulfed him. Ronin nodded and raced out of the room in fear of being turned into charcoal. The boy plopped down on his throne once more, with the look of barley contained rage on his face.

He couldn’t let the two ninja ruin his plans.

He just- couldn’t.