Bleeding Edge ► Ninjago [REWRITING]

| VI | A Different Approach

*Lloyd's POV*

Scarlett, my dad, and I climbed the mountain. It was getting really high, and we've been climbing for a while now.

Whatever to get away from the Overlord, I guess.

I looked down for a few seconds to see Scarlett losing grip on the mountain. My father was able to grab her hand before she fell, and I smiled.

"Wish you still had four hands? It would've come in handy."

"Your potential is great... not your sense of humor." He shook his head.

"For the record, climbing is tough." Scarlett frowned. "Especially when we've been doing this for a while."

I chuckled. "Still won't let me use a golden dragon?"

"Still won't." My dad caught up to me. "If you want to harness the power of the First Spinjitzu Master, you must focus on your balance. And find your center!" He began climbing ahead.

I waited for Scarlett to finally catch up. When she did, I swear I could've heard her heartbeat. I gave her a strange look.

"Okay, I don't wanna fall. Is it so weird for a ninja to be scared at this altitude?" she asked.

"Mm... maybe if someone would let me use my golden dragon, we could get to the top so much quicker and without any casualties." I smirked.

"Very funny." My father rolled his eyes, already at the top of the mountain. Scarlett and I climbed to catch up, but something caught my eye.

It was a bird in its nest. I climbed toward it, smiling at how cute it was. "Hey, dad... Scarlett..."

"A Ravture youngling... don't touch him! It needs to learn how to fly on its own..." my father told me. "Keep climbing... slowly."

"I dunno, it's kinda cute..." Scarlett cocked her head a bit, looking at it.

I was going to keep climbing until I saw it fall out of its nest. I jumped down and grabbed its ankles and held it in my arms.

"What have you done? It's going to know someone has touched its young!" My father said.

"It? Who?" I asked.

A loud caw gave me my answer.

"Daddy."

"He was gonna fall... I was just trying to help!" I told him.

"Unless you speak Ravture, there's no use trying to explain!" He jumped down to meet me. "Hurry, we need to climb to shelter!"

Scarlett made it to the nest, standing next to me. She watched as my father tried to make an escape.

He immediately started climbing away from the nest, the bird swooping past Scarlett and I. The bird in my hands fell, but I picked it right back up.

"You're not falling on my watch."

"Your compassion is not helping!" My father shouted. The large bird hit the rock, him falling down.

"Dad!" I cried.

"Sensei, no!" Scarlett started climbing down, me not far behind.

"I take it back... I do want my four hands!" He stopped me from using my energy. "No, do not use your powers as a crutch... it will only weaken you." Scarlett and I looked to our left to see the bird coming back. "He's circling back..."