✰ ninjago oneshots ✰

trauma (lloyd g.)

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"Grab my hand, I'm drowning
I feel my heart pounding
Why haven't you found me yet?
I hold you so proudly
Traumas, they surround me"

tw: fear of sound, panic attack, blood and injury, guns

[ takes place in between crystallized and dragons rising ]

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oneshot synopsis: Lloyd has heightened instincts, hearing, taste, sight, and sense. he develops a phobia for sound after an incident leaves him in the hospital.

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The ninja were in a rooftop pursuit of a group of burglars, who had just stolen some of the newest Borg Technology from Borg Tower. It was snowing hard and visibility was virtually nonexistent.

"Come on!" Jay called after the burglars, as he and the other ninja continued to chase them.
Lloyd jumped onto the next rooftop, catching up as the burglars had started slipping on the tiles. He made a fatal error by losing his footing in the process and falling backwards off of the building.

The fall was quicker than expected, with the hard landing on his back causing him to clench his eyes shut and groan in pain.

Lloyd was in complete agony the moment he hit the ground, but even more so due to the intense ringing in his ears. He laid there, helpless and alone, with the snow roaring all around him like a storm and the sound in his ears so loud that he felt like his head would explode. It felt as if the world around him was crashing down, and he couldn't do anything.

As he laid there in complete silence and the deafening ringing in his ears, he suddenly felt a trickle of warm liquid down the side of his face. At first, he didn't pay much attention to it, assuming it was just his sweat or the snow melted down his skin. But as time went on, he slowly started to realize that the liquid was warm like blood.
He tried to get up but felt too dizzy to do so, causing him to panic in his confusion.

Kai and the other members of the team rushed towards Lloyd as soon as they saw him on the ground. He caught a few glimpses of their faces as they yelled at him and tried to get his attention.

He could see their mouths moving and knew that they were trying to get to him, but he couldn't hear anything over the deafening sound. The yelling started to hurt his ears so much that he wanted to rip out his hair, but he couldn't seem to control his own body.
The last thing Lloyd remembered was the ringing, pounding, and the yelling of his teammates, followed by the intense stinging that had engulfed his whole body. But now, everything was so different.

He woke up in the hospital bed, feeling a strong throbbing sensation in his back, accompanied by the incessant beeping of the machines. He laid there, blinking and groaning in pain, feeling completely lost and out of touch with everything that was happening around him.

He looked up and saw Cole and Kai standing next to his bed, looking relieved as they were trying to talk to him.
As they spoke, the sound of their voices became louder, like a sharp needle being pushed into his ears. He tried to block his ears to no avail as his eyes watered at the intensity of the pain that he was experiencing.

"I'm here, Lloyd," Kai whispered, standing close to him. He tried to keep his voice down as he looked at him.

Lloyd tried to answer back but was unable to do so, the pain in his ears and the throbbing sensation in his back becoming too intense. He squeezed his eyes shut against the tears as the beeping of the machines continued. He wanted to answer Kai, but couldn't seem to.
"You fell pretty hard. Bruises all over your back and you've got a nasty concussion, buddy."

"My ears—" Lloyd managed to murmur, his eyes still squeezed shut.

"Oh. We're not really sure. We think with your heightened hearing, it's going to be sensitive for a while." Kai looked at him intently as he waited for him to say more.

"How long? How long am I like this?" He whispered in despair as he felt his world crashing down around him.

The Fire Ninja shrugged. "Not sure. Couple of months maybe, but you've gotta' take it slow."

Lloyd's head fell back on the pillow.

Needless to say, the recovery was fast and his body was as healthy as ever.

"Lloyd—" Nya came on knocking into his room.

"—sup?" He asked as he set down his book on his small desk.

"We've got a gang shooting downtown by the arcade. I know it's gonna' be your first mission back, but— We gotta' hurry. The cops are overwhelmed."

   As they flew the Bounty towards the scene, Lloyd could feel his heart pounding in his chest, the loud noise of the engine adding to the distress and anxiety that was setting in. The sound of gunfire only increased his dread as he picked up on it, despite being so far away.

Though his hearing had recovered, he wasn't confident that it wouldn't bother him the second he came near to the scene. It was a worry he couldn't seem to shake off, his fears growing the closer they got.

    The sound of gunfire got louder as they arrived on scene, causing Lloyd to flinch, his ears starting to ring at a higher pitch.
   He froze in fear as he saw one them set their finger on the trigger. His fear grew exponentially at the thought of the gun going off in such close proximity. For a second he couldn't move, the gun pointing at him, and he could only wait for the bullet to fly towards him and the loud deafening sound to pierce his ears.

"Come on, Green, we need you." Kai called out, his voice muffled through all the noise.

    It took a second for Lloyd to hear the words and process them. He partially snapped out of his trance, still trying to control the loud pounding in his chest, hands trembling.

   Lloyd ran from the person pointing the gun at him and into the alley across from the arcade, trying to escape the fear of the trigger being pulled so close to him.
   He couldn't see anywhere. He stumbled and tripped as he tried to get away from the scene. There was not a thought in his mind as anxiety and panic took over, all he knew was that he had to run away.

Ninja never quit.

  He pushed the thought away. He already knew he was a failure. A coward.

   Lloyd stopped and leaned against the wall, his breathing becoming shaky as he tried to fight off flashbacks of his accident.
   He could feel the pain from the fall, even thinking he still had bruises on his back. It was as if he could still feel the blood running down his temple and ear, causing him to flinch.
    His heart was racing and sweat dropping from his back and forehead, as he began rubbing his eyes aggressively in order not to tear up.

Lloyd laid down on the ground behind the dumpster, staring at the cold concrete helplessly. All sensation disappeared as he simply froze. He no longer felt the cold winter air against his skin or the ground beneath his fingers.

   Nothing was clear to him anymore as he sat still, staring at the ground in a state of blind terror.

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