RATS - Ninjago AU

Chapter 1

"Uh... I don't think we should come here..." Zane said nervously as he stayed behind his friends, Jay and Cole. They just left school and they were heading home and Cole decided to take a detour.

"Stop being such a pussy, Zane. It's just a stinky tunnel. Sure, maybe there'll be a few rats but nothing more," Jay replied, smirking a little. 

"Are you coming or not?" Cole asked, turning to Zane and crossing his arms.

Zane hesitated before answering. "Fine..." He followed Cole and Jay into the tunnel with a canal - so contaminated that the water became an ugly shade of green - running through it at what seemed to be a strong current. Zane fiddled with his fingers nervously with a bad gut feeling that he shouldn't be there. He kept a solid distance from the water and continued walking. Jay and Cole slowed down and investigated a bit to let Zane walk in front of them.

Cole and Jay looked at each other with a smirk and caught up to Zane. "Hey, Zane!" Cole called for him which made Zane turn around. Within a few seconds, Jay nudged him once on his right shoulder and Cole pushed both of Zane's shoulders, causing him to lose balance and fall backwards into the water with a yelp.

Jay and Cole laughed and ran out the other side of the tunnel, leaving Zane yelling for help as his heavy backpack continued dragging him down.

"HELP!" Zane's head occasionally submerged into the water, causing him to panic and flap his arms around. He knew how to swim but he couldn't focus because of the current.

From the side of the tunnel they came from, a set of running footsteps echoed, followed by a little girl's voice. "Kai! Kai! Look what I-" the girl gasped as she noticed a boy in the water. Assuming it was Kai, the girl dropped her plastic bag and ran over to help. She grabbed the boy's backpack and with loads of effort, dragged him out of the water.

The girl's pupils, which hid behind her greasy raven hair, dilated as she looked closer at Zane, who was coughing out the contaminated water and gasping for air.

"Y-You're not Kai..." The girl ran back out of the tunnel, snatching the bag in the process. 

"W-Wait!!" Zane shouted as he stood up on his feet. He wiped off the excess water from his face and muttered, "Assholes..." He sighed and as he was about to go after the girl, he felt someone push him face first into the water. Zane shut his eyes tightly, waiting for impact but instead felt a force pulling the top carry handle of his backpack. Zane's toes were just over the edge and he was leaning towards the water.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't drop you into the water right now!" screamed a voice of a young boy.

"Who are you?? I didn't do anything!"

"Where is my sister??"

"Sister? The girl who saved me from the water just now?"

"Where is she?!" the boy repeated, abruptly lowering Zane closer to the water.

"WOAH! She left the tunnel! She left the tunnel! I didn't do anything, I swear! Pull me up! Please!!" Zane screamed in panic.

The young boy heard multiple footsteps echo through the blue brick walls of the round tunnel. He turned his head to where the girl recently ran off to. He saw an even younger boy with greasy blonde hair and bright green eyes, who was wearing a stained sage green long sleeve top, with the ravenette with hazel eyes, who wore a light grey, oversized, long sleeve top with maroon shorts.

"Nya! Lloyd!" the boy yelled excitedly as he pulled Zane up. He ran over to the other kids and hugged them. Zane shook his head as he tried to understand what just happened to him. The older boy stood in front of the other two kids and stretched his arms out, guiding the kids to stand behind him.

"Who are you?" Kai asked with a threatening look in his hazel eyes. The brunette - who looked about Zane's age - wore a light brown sweater over a grey-and-white top with horizontal stripes. He wore a newsboy cap which matched the sweater and dark blue jean shorts. He had a small scar under his right eye and a plaster over his left cheek. He was carrying some sort of brown bag full of newspapers. The three children looked extremely scrawny.

"I-I'm Zane... Uh, thank you. You saved my life," Zane said, looking at the young girl, Nya. The older boy, Kai, raised his eyebrow, slightly confused. 

Nya tugged gently on Kai's top and whispered, "I pulled him out of the water. He was going to drown..."

"I don't think I got your names..." Zane said.

Kai thought for a moment before introducing himself and his siblings. "I'm Kai. This is Lloyd and Nya." Kai sighed and looked at Zane who was still drenched from the contaminated water. "Don't call the police."

"Hm?"

"Don't. Call. The police..."

"I won't."

"Promise me, that you won't call the police. Promise me!" Kai pleaded while raising his voice.

"I-I promise! I won't call the police," Zane took his hand out for Kai to shake.

Kai was about to step towards Zane when Lloyd tugged on his sleeve. Kai sighed and knelt down to Lloyd's level. "What is it?"

"How do you know we can trust him?"

Kai let out a small chuckle. "You heard him stutter. He's scared of me. Don't you worry, green bean," Kai said, ruffling little Lloyd's greasy hair. He stood up and walked over to Zane, who still had his hand out, and shook it.

"How can I repay you?" Zane asked. "I want to help. Y-You're orphans, r-right?"

Kai furrowed his eyebrows and nodded.

"D-Do you need anything? F-Food? Water?"

"We're doing fine without your filthy money," Kai snapped.

"No, we're not!" Nya shouted. "Does this look like enough food to you?" she asked, dropping the plastic bag with two boxes filled with a handful of leftovers. "For the three of us?"

Kai sighed in defeat and looked at Zane again. "Fine. We could use a bit of food and water."

With that, Zane headed out of the tunnel and was welcomed by his concerned father. "What is that smell?" he asked as he left the kitchen to see his son who was walking through the front door, still slightly drenched from the contaminated water, "Oh dear, what happened to you?" He stepped over to Zane and pulled a bit of rubbish out of Zane's hair.

"My so-called friends pushed me into the canal... I'm okay, though, really."

Dr Julien sighed, "Well, make sure you stay away from them in that case. And the canal. The current could've pulled you away..." Zane nodded, "Now, sort yourself out and come down for dinner when you're ready, okay?"