Ninjago Dragons Rising - OC Insert

The Merge: Part 1

"You know, I had never imagined that my life would one day come to this," I thought to myself as I stood atop the gate outside my parent's house, practising the poses of the lego ninja alongside my brother Arin, "Sure, I had always dreamed of being like my heroes, the Ninja, practising their moves, learning their poses, my brother Arin and I wanted to be just like them," I thought with a fond smile, "I wanted to defend others, bring about justice and Arin loved the excitement and idea of riding dragons, exploring mystical realms that could only exist in legend." Arin and I both flipped down from the gate of our drive, landing carefully to the cheers of our parents. "But then, without any warning, it came. The Merge. And it was going to take away everything we had ever known," I thought, Arin and I looking up in shock and horror as the skies had turned a horrifying combination of purple and red, tears ripping open in the sky that revealed other realms beyond them as the wind howled, growing in strength. "Our neighbourhood must have been the very centre of 'The Merge',"Arin said, continuing the story, "Back then, we didn't know what to call it," He continued as people screamed in terror, one on a bicycle being dragged away into the sky as birds squawked in fear and vehicles on the streets lost control in the furious gale. "Arin, Tarim, get inside! It's too dangerous out there!" Mom yelled to us from where she and dad stood in the doorway of our home as we turned and struggled to push through the winds towards our parents, only for the porch, and us to be dragged into the air, screaming in terror. "I was certain it was the end again. But then, our heroes, the ninja arrived!" I thought excitedly, remembering how Lloyd had grabbed us on a rope and carried us to the Destiny's Bounty, "We were in so much danger, but we couldn't help but be excited!" "Hey kids, you get lost?" Lloyd asked us jokingly as we looked around, seeing Jay slice through a large crate coming for the ship in his lightning mech, "Jay, the Lightning Ninja!" "Kai, the Fire Ninja!" Arin continued as we watched Kai keep away more debris from smashing into the ship while Cole jumped off the Bounty, using his super strength to lift a metal crate off of two people and picking them up, "Cole, the Earth Ninja!" Cole then tossed the two people he had just saved onto an icy ramp leading back to the Bounty created by the nindroid Zane. "Zane, the Ice Ninja!" Arin thought excitedly as a orb of water stopped the momentum of the two people coming off the ice ramp, created by Nya, "Nya, Water Ninja! And Lloyd, the Legendary Green Ninja." "Hold on, kids," Lloyd recommended as he picked us both up on his back, before sliding down the dropped anchor of the Bounty and placing us on the ground. "Green Ninja, our parents are still in that storm, you've got to save them!" I pleaded desperately. "That's what we're here for," Lloyd replied confidently, earning a smile from Arin. I simply looked helplessly at the ground as the Green Ninja grabbed onto the anchor and the bounty, and Jay's mech flew away towards the many cracks in the sky. "And that's what happened," Arin said as the many cracks folded together into a singular spot before exploding outwards in a shockwave of energy that sent us flying.

When we finally woke up, we were on a small mound of earth, with no sign of our home anywhere, and the Kingdom of Imperium shining in the distance. "As we saw our small neighbourhood disappear and a new city show up on the horizon, I knew we had witnessed 'The Merge' first hand," I thought, "The moment all the mysterious realms we had only heard about merged with Ninjago, for reasons no one's been able to figure out." "We survived. But our parents, and everyone we ever knew, was gone," Arin thought forlornly as the old swinging chair that hung outside our family own crashed into the ground behind us, and we turned and walked over to it forlornly, Arin looking down at it in tears as I placed a hand on his shoulder, struggling to maintain my composure. "Mom! Dad?!" Arin yelled out hopefully, but no voices answered as he fell to his knees in defeat as I hugged him fiercely from behind. Arin's family was the first I had ever had, being abandoned at an orphanage in my old life before I could remember my parents, and I loved them all fiercely. But I couldn't break down, not when I had a duty of care to him. Then, we heard the sound of a bird squawking overhead, and then the Green Ninja's, now dirty, mask fell down from the sky behind it, landing straight in my hands. With a melancholy smile, I gently passed it to Arin, struggling to maintain my composure as I helped him up, and we began to walk away to find shelter.