We Hope Your Rules And Wisdom Choke You

Chapter 12: Sing us a song

A figure walked to stand beside him, casting the boy in shadow. They don't stand too close, maybe an arm's reach apart, but close enough to call it a bonding moment. An awfully silent bonding moment, at that- the only noises being Lloyds laboured breaths and the sound of rustling forestry hundreds of feet below them- but a bonding moment nonetheless.

The latter appreciated the silence, too. It gave him time to catch his breath.

If I had used my powers, I wouldn't be so out of breath. He pushes the thought down.

Lloyd stared down at the view below them. The Dark Island really didn't seem so dark from up there.

After a moment, his lungs stopped aching, and his breath returned to normal- as normal as it could be this high up. His heartbeat steadied shortly after.

Something bumped his shoulder, and he looked to his left to see his father. He stood tall, arms folded behind his back, glancing down at Lloyd as if asking to speak. Lloyd raises his eyebrows a little.

"How long do you think they will take?" Garmadon questioned. His gaze was scrutinising, like a judge in court, or a college professor.

Lloyd huffed. "I don't know, you tell me." How was he supposed to know? He wasn't exactly around to hear the plan.

"I meant-" Garmadon pinched his nose with a sigh. "In the past, how long did it take to retrieve someone?"

Lloyd smirked at that. "Last time it took them a week." It had been when Lloyd's amazing disguise didn't work, and he had been imprisoned by Harumi and her little gang. He'd been in chains, cages, and chains again by the time he was rescued, and heck, if he hadn't escaped first they probably would never have found him.

Garmadon made a face like he was holding back a remark.

Lloyd continued.

"The others told me about when Samukai captured Nya... I think they said it took a couple weeks." Yeah, a couple weeks. Kai had to train, then they had to get the golden weapons. Poor Nya had been tied up all that time.

Garmadon makes another face.

"When I got captured by Pythor- also probably around a week, and when Zane got captured by Chen... a few months. To be fair we thought he was dead." He remembers seeing Zane alive and well (and silver) after all that time thinking he was dead. It was shocking, to say the least. Benefits of being a nindroid, he supposes.

Another thought pops into his head. "Oh, and when I got possessed... yeah, maybe another week or two." Oh, Lloyd remembers that like it was yesterday. Trapped behind his eyes, watching his body move without him- it was something he wouldn't wish on anyone.

Garmadon opens his mouth for a second, looking like he wants to say something, before snapping it shut. It opens again, and this time he speaks. "Have you ever saved someone within a few days?"

Flaxen hair swishes as Lloyd nods, slowly. "I think it only took a couple hours to save Jays mom the last time she was kidnapped. And we broke out of prison pretty quickly. Maybe..." Lloyd counts the days. A frown stretches across his face. "...Okay so maybe it wasn't that quick."

His father sighs. His arms swing forward to fold across his chest neatly, still somehow a terrifying figure despite his relaxed appearance. He guesses it came with the creepily inhuman face. Maybe the red eyes as well. The height, too. In fact, everything about his father was oddly frightening no matter the situation. Even now, with the sun in the sky, and hardly a cloud in sight, he still assumed the aura of a warlord.

Lloyd sighs as well. His hands flex beside him and Lloyd glances down at them. Tanned skin meets his eyes, short nails caked in dirt, mystery blisters adorning pale palms, some spotted in red from his recent escapades. Lloyd couldn't imagine how he looked next to his father: Torn Gi covered in plentiful holes, blood staining his front, mud staining his legs. His hair was greasy by now, sticking unpleasantly to his forehead, and his face felt unclean. It wasn't his first time being this messed up, he was more than used to surviving- but he'd never felt this humiliated. Something about standing next to such an untouched figure made him feel weak.