TIGHTROPE | Llorumi fanfiction

Pt 7.2 Ash to Ashes, Dust to Dust

Five snakes were approaching Lloyd and Harumi from the side of the forest, standing in a perfect semicircle. Armed with katanas and staffs, they looked just like the ones the Ninja fought a long time ago. Perhaps except for one thing: they were completely silent. Serpentines were constantly hissing, but they didn't talk. They didn't try to mock their opponents or explain what they want from them. They just slowly moved towards the two lost souls.

Lloyd cleared his mind of all emotions. He shook his head, quickly stretched his wrists and lashed out onto the nearest Serpentine.

Lloyd had always found it funny how despite training to fight with katanas day after day, the ninjas were never taught how to kill. Every time they hit an enemy with the blade, it was either a threat or an attempt at disarming their opponent. Real punches were always landed with their fists or with their swords' handles. And that technique they did master.

Lloyd struck his opponent's staff, then hit him in the face. Dodged a punch from another Serpentine, hit that guy, then hit the first guy again.

Chess is an easy game. You know exactly what your opponent can and cannot do. Combat, however, doesn't offer you such comfort right away. You've got to learn the patterns of attack, take your enemy's craftiness into account, all while enduring pain and perform your own attacks.

Lloyd knew how the Serpentine usually fight, but this time it was almost too easy. The snakes didn't speak, didn't try to be creative or break their patterns. Lloyd dodged every attack, and soon three snakes were down.

A suspicion crawled into Lloyd's mind. He directed his sword at one of the Serpentine and slowly pushed the weapon forward, moving it closer and closer to the enemy's body. Suddenly, he heard a rustle of stones from behind. Someone slipped and fell from the cliff.

One second to turn around, another second to jump forward just in time to catch Harumi's hand, just a second away from falling down on the city. Lloyd was lying on his chest, gripping the girl's hand, unable to move.

***

Harumi always fought with emotions. She used this resource to power her attacks. Hatred and fear made her violent, ruthless. But after all this time in Limbo, she just lost her grip. Which explains why the two remaining Serpentine managed to push her back to the edge of the forest.

Like a bullet, Lloyd rushed to save her.

Of all of her emotions, embarrassment came first. Obviously, she didn't need no saving. From anyone. Being saved by the Green Ninja was practically an insult.

Out of frustration, she looked away from her savior. Which was another mistake. The view from the edge of the forest was really weird. Right before her was a really tall concrete wall that stretched all the way down to the city. Vines were hanging down from the edge, which really messed with the whole big industrial city vibe of Ninjago. Somewhere in the background, she could see the Great Devourer's green skin. It slowly moved through the city, destroying buildings one after the other.

Fear was the second emotion, so she quickly looked up to avoid looking down. And up there Lloyd was holding her hand, struggling to pull her up. It was then when the third emotion appeared: hatred.

"What do you think you're doing?" Harumi screamed.

Lloyd hadn't come to his senses yet. On the opposite, Harumi had already remembered all the ways she could hurt him.

"It's too late to save me, Lloyd. You should have come when the Great Devourer killed my parents. Maybe you'd have a better shot then. Oh, how could I forget that you were too busy minding your own..."

"Harumi, look at the city!" Lloyd screamed, visibly annoyed. "That skyscraper was built just before we defeated Overlord. It's Borg Industries Tower. It couldn't have possibly been there when the Great Devourer destroyed the city."

Harumi was surprised by his logic, but she didn't have time to think about that, because...

"Lloyd, watch out!" For a second there, fear came back, but it was a different kind of fear. Something that she experienced rather rarely. A Serpentine appeared, standing right behind Lloyd. He held an axe above his head, ready to strike.

"It's all just an illusion!" Lloyd said.

Just as the axe landed on Lloyd's back, it disappeared. The Serpentine and his weapon turned into a cloud of fog and dissolved into thin air. The two humans were breathing heavily.

In silence, Lloyd pulled Harumi up. She sat on the edge, while Lloyd laid on the ground to catch his breath. Harumi talked first.

"You really shouldn't have saved me. I don't care if it's not real, just let me die with my parents."

"Why are you saying this, Harumi," Lloyd whispered. "I will never do that."

"I don't understand why I'm here. I have no purpose now..."

The fourth emotion crawled in: desperation. Suddenly, Harumi lost all of her power.

"And what was your purpose?" Lloyd asked.

"Haven't you figured it out? All of my elaborate schemes were just to prove to the world that you and the ninjas are incompetent and stupid. I wanted to dethrone you. And nothing else mattered. All the casualties, the destruction of the city..."

"What did you say?" Lloyd sat up.

"I didn't care about the citizens, about anyone. And the worst part is that I succeeded. I proved that you're worthless even though I never thought I could go that far. I was almost sure that you'd stop me at some point..."

"Hold on," Lloyd said, confused. "Why are you so sure that you won?"

"Because you are here, aren't you? Because you were killed."

"Oh no... You don't know how you died, do you? "

"No, but I assumed that Garmadon must have got you..."

"You died saving a girl's parents. The girl was... Just about your age when your parents were murdered."

Lloyd watched as Harumi's face was changing very quickly.

"And in the end, you lost. We arrested all of the sons of Garmadon, but not you. You sacrificed yourself to save people."

For Harumi, it was like a whole new part of her soul was suddenly discovered. She remembered the pain and disappointment she felt when she understood that she became the monster that she despised. She remembered that girl and her parents, how frightened they were and how at the very last moment, she found the only thing that could still bring meaning to his life. And how she saw Lloyd, across many meters of the city debris behind them...

Lloyd relived that moment with her. But this time, instead of diving into all this pain, he found comfort in knowing that Harumi finally understood one crucial thing about herself.

"You only made yourself believe that none of the people who died because of you mattered. You only pretend that you don't care. You have to stop doing this."

Lloyd stood up and picked up his sword.

"I know that you're lying, I know when you're lying, and I know what you're lying about. But I will never give up on you. So next time you want to talk to me, just cut to the truth."

As Harumi watched Lloyd slowly go into the forest, the fifth emotion came. But what she had just discovered was already too much to process, so she just couldn't pin it down. She quickly stood up and ran to catch up with Lloyd.