The Imperial Battle II: The Emperor of Ninjago

Chapter 27. The Art of Swimming

"Kai, wake up."

Kai kept his eyes strictly closed despite having already awoken to the beaming sunlight that crept in through a hole in the tent. He didn't want to wake up and leave the warmth of his sleeping bag yet.

"Kai."

Kai ignored Lloyd and wiggled deeper into his sleeping bag. For a moment he got some peace and quiet as Lloyd appeared to leave the tent. But too soon, he returned and Kai felt droplets of ice cold water landing on his face.

"Ugh, can you stop water torturing me?" Kai groaned, wiping his face rather aggressively.

"No," Lloyd said, dropping just a bit more water on Kai.

"Cruel," the brunet grumbled and sat up, rubbing the sleepiness out of his eyes. He then finally opened his eyes to find Lloyd standing close to him, fully clothed and fresh. The sight of him with a streak of sunlight illuminating his face was indescribable. It made Kai gulp back his bubbling feelings.

He actually opted to sit there for a while and just watch Lloyd do stuff. Not only did he get to stay in his sleeping bag for a bit longer, but he also got to reminisce the previous evening he'd spent with Lloyd. Their little date, them almost getting caught— and of course what happened after they'd returned to their tent. It all made Kai smile and experience some of the same joy all over again.

Lloyd turned around and gave him a questioning look, though smiling already from the fact that he was being stared at.

"What?" He asked.

Kai shrugged. "Nothing."

Frowning, Lloyd stood up from his previous position on the ground, clearly with the intention of following up with something. However, his and Kai's focus was soon shifted to his leg that almost gave in when weight was put on it. Lloyd staggered a little, but quickly straightened his posture and pretended like nothing of great significance had occured.

Kai, however, looked at him with worry in his eyes.

"What? I just stumbled," Lloyd said quickly.

Kai didn't drop the concern from his expression, but nodded. "Okay."

"There's nothing wrong with my leg. I just slept in a bad position," Lloyd insisted. "It's not hurting."

Kai nodded once more and watched as Lloyd, now irritated, went back to gathering his stuff and shoving them all into his bag. No matter how he tried to convince Kai he and his leg were alright, the brunet couldn't shake off his concern. Lloyd, whether he liked it or not, was in a very weakened state.

However, right now, it was no use starting to panic. Kai didn't want a grumpy Lloyd on the journey, so he went ahead and kissed his prince's neck as a bit of an apology. And soon after, Lloyd was entirely mollified.

The couple emerged from their tent, ready to have some breakfast. Zane had already taken it upon himself to warm up whatever bits of food they had brought with them. Meanwhile, Wu was studying their map very closely, muttering something to himself.

"So, what exactly is today's plan?" Cole asked as he too exited the tent he'd shared with their master and white ninja. He stretched a little before laying his eyes on Wu.

"Well, that is exactly what I have been working on all morning." Wu spread the map on the ground. "Today's plan differs from yesterday quite a bit. We'll unfortunately have to cross a mountain region called the Fatal Falls, which is, very predictably, dangerous. There are lots of steep falls to a certain death, and to make matters even worse, there are many waterfalls that make the ground slippery."