Back to the Beginning - A Ninjago Lavashipping Fanfiction [COMPLETED]

Chapter 15

Lloyd

If you read the last chapter and got confused, please reread it. The end got deleted somehow and I fixed it so yay

    Lloyd's heart fluttered as he walked closer and closer to Catori's tent. Gosh she was amazing: her eyes that sparkled in the sunlight, her soft, wavy, brown hair...
Stop that Lloyd! You don't know if she's like... Harumi.
He was in such deep thought, he wasn't aware of the person walking in front of him. They collided, and he dropped all the ninjas' clothes, as well as the fruits the girl was carrying.
    "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry I-" he stopped and stared when he realized it was Catori. She stared back, both unable to pull away from each other's gaze. Lloyd looked down at the fruits that were scattered on the floor.
    "Uhm, sorry I didn't see you Princess." he started to put the fruits in a pile. All the sudden he felt more exposed, especially since he wasn't wearing his normal clothes.
    "Oh! No need to worry. And please, you don't have to call me princess, just Catori." she smiled sweetly. Her voice sounded calm but proud at the same time, silky like a dress in the breeze.
    "Oh, okay."
    They gathered their things before entering her tent.
    "Where should I put these?" Lloyd held out the pile of clothes.
    Catori carefully placed the fruits in a wooden basket, one by one. "Just over there in that brown basket. I'll take it to the cleaning." the princess stood up once she was done.
    "It's fine. I can take it. You'll just have to tell me where to go." Lloyd was pretty sure he sounded stupid. Volunteering to do something but not knowing where to go. She smiled again, releasing the butterflies in his stomach. He picked the basket up and she held the leaves aside for him. He thanked her and they walked to the right, towards the entrance of the camp.
    "So how long has your tribe been living here?" Lloyd tried to act casual, thinking back to when Nya told him to be himself all those years ago.
    "Since the beginning of time. No one has discovered us, for they never dare to look in this jungle."
    Lloyd nodded as they crossed a bridge. He peered into the murky water, chunky and unclean, looking as if oil was dumped in the river.
    "Yes, the nature has been very strange ever since the Dark One was defeated. Rivers polluted, shadow figures, black rain."
    Lloyd knitted his eyebrows in confusion and set the basket down.
    "The Dark One?"
    "Yes," she looked at him like he was supposed to know. "the one that possessed, what was his name? Garmadon?"
    "Oh, you mean the Overlord." Lloyd's heart sank when he heard his father's name, knowing he'd never be the same even if he was brought back from the Departed Realm.
    She waved her hand off. "Yes, whatever you call him. I saw you and your team fight the Overlord when I was only nine, you did quite well."
    Lloyd blushed. "Uh, yeah. Thanks."
    Catori smiled before continuing. "Ever since, the spirts of the dark have been released, and now, they have been worse than ever. We have discovered the spirits perish under the touch of titanium, so that is why we carry titanium arrows," she patted her quiver, metal sticks gleaming in the sunlight. "luckily, they don't come around our camp. It is too loud and noisy for their taste." Lloyd picked the basket up again and they continued to walk across the bridge.
    "I have a feeling this could all be connected to the prophecy."
    Catori put her hand on Lloyd's bare shoulder, making his cheeks flush in a light pink.
    "What prophecy?"
    "Wait, you know it too?"
    "I don't know, that's why I'm asking you."
    Lloyd took a deep breath and recited the lines. She stared intently into his eyes, sparkling with curiosity. He could almost sense the gears turning in her head, trying to connect the prophecy with the current events.
    "I heard those lines in a dream." she said half mumbling to herself as her eyes glazed the ground. Lloyd dared himself to push the curly strands of hair from her face.
    "You did too?"
    Catori locked eyes with the green ninja, specks of yellow and green shifting with the sunlight. "Yes.Why? Has anyone else encountered the same?"
    "Yeah, Cole, the black ninja and Zane, the white one that's a robot."
    "You have a robot? As a friend?"
    "Uh yeah, it's a long story," Lloyd quickly brushed her question away. "we should tell the others about this. Does your father know?"
    She nodded.
    "Ok, good. We need as much help as we can to break the meaning."