Ninjago: The Tribes AU

"Tainted"

"Clousey!!!" Whined Chen. "Why can't I go outside and see my tribe..?!" The snake was slumped over a rock looking incredibly bored and irritated.

Clouse signed. "Because to them, you're long dead. It's best if you just lay low for now. Besides, we can leave the palace once I finish perfecting the Anacondrai virus." The sorcerer stood in front of a cauldron filled with glowing, bubbling amber liquid. He lit his hand on fire and shot it at the logs below to increase the heat for the concoction.

The Anacondrai's eyes glistened. "That was elemental power! I felt it! How did you-?"

Clouse smirked. He explained that when he had fought Kai, he used a spell that drained his elemental essence. In turn, also draining his life-force to an extent. Every time the boy used his powers, they would slowly leave him and soak into Clouse. And by the amount of power he was already feeling, Kai was doing exactly what he wanted.

At Hiroshi’s Labyrinth, Kai and Nya rushed at each other in training. Garmadon had instructed her to test his limits, but the Fire Tribe leader wasn't as strong as she thought. Either that or she was getting stronger? As they fought back and forth, Kai jumped in the air and used his hands to shoot fire, propelling him upwards like a rocket. But about eight feet off the ground, his power cut out and he came crashing down with a curse. Nya asked if he was alright and reached out to help him up.

"I'M FINE!" He snapped. "Don't you dare touch me! I don't know if this cursed jungle or one of you maggots- but something's messing with my powers." He dusted himself off and stood back up; igniting his hand once more. " That's better. Now, where were we?"

Alright- that was weird. But Nya shrugged it off and ran in again with a water punch. Kai dodged it and retaliated with a blast of fire. The master of water blocked it with a tidal wave wall and shot an aqua jet at him. Before he could dodge, a sharp pang of pain shot through him; freezing him in place. The blast connected, sending him flying back into a tree. Nya smirked.
"You all good there, dude." She said and almost a joking matter. But the master of fire didn't get up from where he was laying. He didn't even move- he just.... stayed there. The girl tilted her head in confusion. "Um.. Kai? Are you alright?"
She bent down and started to help the boy sit up. His eyes were wide with shock. Something was very wrong.

"I'm sorry," Nya spoke. "I didn't think I hit you that hard."

Kai growled. "You didn't! Your feeble water blast was like a tickle!... This is something else. I... I can't feel my powers." The sea creature noticed his face becoming slightly more pale, and a dark crack was on his neck, reaching for his cheek. With much resistance from him, she managed to drag him back to the village where Garmadon was mediating. By that point, the boy had fallen into even worse condition. And he was doing the one thing the master fire should never be able to do- shiver. Garmadon quickly took note of this and had him sit down so he could examine him. Every part of Kai, even his eyes were faded. It was like someone had turned down his saturation. The dark crack crept up and branched out even further; now trailing up his left cheek and reaching towards his eye. The color drained from Garmadon's face as his eyes followed the crack down. Carefully, he removed the boy's front armor and pulled back his shirt layers. A dark mark stained the flesh over his heart like a splotch of ink. It branched out from that point in formations that resembled lightning bolts or cluttered tree branches. They gripped around his ribcage and traveled around his shoulder then down his arm. Unfortunately, the markings were all too familiar to the Jade leader.

"Clouse. He hexed you." The leader stared down at the boy with sympathy. "I... I can't fix this."

Kai shivered again, igniting his hand and holding it to his chest, hoping to ease the pain, but to his shock, it made it worse. His fire extinguished and he'd never felt more cold. His core stung with an icy sensation as he took each breath. He was desperate to warm up, so, almost like he didn't learn his lesson, tried to use his powers again. However, Garmadon stopped him. Unfortunately, that didn't stop the cracks on him from spreading. As they slithered around his other shoulder and back the fire leader let out a cry of pain.