Chapter Text
“I never thought I’d see the day.” Kai gaped at the sight of a young man standing next to Zane. He couldn’t have been any older than the rest of them, but he still never thought he’d see the day that Zane had an apprentice. What would they even be the elemental master of?
“Snow.” The young man answered, getting plenty of confused looks from the Ninja. The young man had long, fluffy pale hair that was shittily cut and that could’ve either been blond or white. Or maybe dirty blond. He had deep, calm green eyes, but something seemed off about them... Almost like they seemed too dark for his face. His pupils were round, but they seemed too thin. His skin was a little pale compared to Kai’s, but he wasn’t as pale as Lloyd. Kai glared at him with a fiery intensity, clearly not trusting the young man. Probably the most peculiar thing about the young man was the fact that he was gripping a cane. Plain and pale blue, but it was still a cane. Though, Zane kept a cane around in case anyone had sudden mobility issues, so Kai guessed it was just.. A long term version of that.
“You all look confused, so I figured the most logical question was what element I’d control.” He mumbled, suddenly seeming a lot more self-conscious after having noticed Lloyd looking at him. The young man eyed Lloyd nervously before ducking behind Zane, gripping the back of Zane’s Gi. Zane raised an eyebrow, looking at his apprentice with a confused expression before sighing a little, ruffling the young man’s hair. The nerves were understandable considering the only ones that weren’t giving the newest member a death glare were Jay and Cole.
Lloyd knew what was happening. He was a Dragon-Oni-Human hybrid, he wasn’t being fooled by a silly glamour. He knew why the young man’s pupils were too thin. He knew why his eyes were the wrong color, and he knew why the man got so nervous when he saw him. And it wasn’t because he was Garmadon’s son. Lloyd scowled, storming off and glaring at the young man before he left the room, slamming the door to the monastery.
“Well then... This is Lóngfēi. You can just call him ‘Fei’, or Flynn.” Zane smiled a little, still letting Flynn cling to him. Flynn didn’t really want to be seen after what had happened with Lloyd because he knew that Lloyd knew what he didn’t want anyone else to know. He glanced around, hiding his face against Zane’s back once again as he tried to hide how his hands were trembling. Within a few seconds, he was getting pulled away and wrapped in an incredibly tight hug by Cole.
Flynn squeaked, staring at the young man who had managed to pick him off the ground. He took a second before cracking a smile, instinctively putting his hands against Cole’s shoulders so that he wasn’t unsteady. Cole set the other down, snickering a little at how short Flynn was compared to him. Cole smiled and ruffled Flynn’s hair before pulling him into a side hug with his arm over Flynn’s shoulders. “I like this kid!”
Flynn smiled a little, leaning against Cole with a little hesitance as he quickly found that he likely already had a safe space. Flynn looked over to the others, jolting a little when he noticed Nya now standing at the front of the group, right next to Kai. There was no doubt those two were siblings. Flynn looked away immediately, staring at the ground and almost looking like a dejected puppy. He glanced over to where Lloyd had gone, quietly excusing himself and ducking into the monastery. Had he ever been in there? No. But that didn’t mean that he couldn’t figure it out.
Flynn walked around, hearing a slam and then cracking that sounded like wood splintering. He opened the door to a room, finding Lloyd’s room and a hole in the wall. And a very.. Irritated Lloyd. With bleeding knuckles. “You, uh... Wanna punch something other than a wall?”
Lloyd turned around, scowling as soon as he saw Flynn standing in the doorway. He stormed up to Flynn, grabbing the collar of the young man’s shirt and pushing him against the wall. It was clear that Lloyd was pissed, and Flynn could understand that. He knew that Lloyd knew what he was. “What are you doing here?!”
“Listen to me-” Flynn yelped as he was tossed to the side. Lloyd stormed back into his room, slamming the doors shut. Flynn sat up, groaning a little as he managed to get up. He could understand Lloyd’s anger. He was once that angry. He knew that it could be hard to deal with change, especially when that change included someone all too similar to you. He got up, leaving the area and heading back to where the other Ninja were. He walked back up to Zane, grabbing the back of Zane’s Gi and clinging to the White Ninja once more. Zane glanced back, barely having noticed that Flynn left the area as he placed his hand on the other’s head.
Kai scowled, walking away as he tried not to think about how the rest of his boyfriends were basically all over Zane’s new apprentice. He knew that realistically, it wasn’t Flynn’s fault. Flynn seemed just as nervous with the extra attention as he did. Kai frowned, walking to the room that he, Cole, Jay, and Zane shared. He sat down on the bed, frowning as he listened to the others. Nya had just seemed unimpressed with the new guy, but he wouldn’t blame her if she also grew endeared to him as well.
After a little while, Zane had finally managed to get the others off Flynn and got him to his own room. Flynn sat down, setting his cane to the side as he stretched his legs. He sighed, looking up at the other with a small smile. “Thanks for helping, Zane. Training, tomorrow morning?”
“If you do not need your cane in the morning, yes.” Zane smiled, ruffling Flynn’s hair as he left the room. Flynn smiled a little as Zane left the room. He grabbed his cane, getting up and walking to his bathroom. He sighed, closing the door and frowning as he looked in the mirror.
All he saw looking back was a creature with long, fluffy pale hair, toxic-green eyes with slit pupils, pale-ish skin dotted with deep blue scales, horns of the same color that went backward that were antler-like, but the tips were rounded out, fin-like ears that were a slightly lighter blue, and a long, sleek, deep blue tail with a large tuft of pale fur at the end of it. Flynn quietly stared at the non-human features before leaning against the wall, sliding down so that he couldn’t see his own person. He hated how he looked, he always had. He tried making himself look different, but apparently he couldn’t change his eye color, or hair color with his shapeshifting abilities. He sighed, running a hand through his hair as he thought about all his achievements thus far.
Despite his name being Chinese (Given by a dear late friend), Spanish was the first human language he had learned after coming to Ninjago from the First Realm, then Chinese, and then English. He had learned how to use a bow, daggers, and a sword. He did his best to learn the few instruments that interested him; Piano, guitar, and the flute. He was decent at Dance, but that one was still iffy. He had learned just about everything he could have to seem normal, yet he still never fit in. He had always failed to understand why almost everything he did was taken as romantic when it was viewed as nothing more than platonic in the First Realm. Why did humans have to be so complicated? Then again, he was half-human... But he had been raised as a dragon.
He had something that humans called insomnia, which was apparently what kept him up at night. He had an auto-immune disorder that ended up with him having mobility issues, though he denied that one constantly since it only showed up once he was in Ninjago. The first time he met Zane it was because he had broken his arm in a fight and didn’t know what to do. He smiled at the memory, running a hand over the scar on his arm as he thought about it. He had never been one to be sentimental because that wasn’t what he was taught to do, but he felt warm and fuzzy whenever he thought about how he met Zane... Or about Zane in general.
He shook his head, standing up and entirely forgetting his cane as he stumbled, bumping into a few items before managing to grab his cane. He sighed, gripping his cane and making his way to his bed, not bothering to try brushing his teeth yet. He hadn’t technically moved in yet and he wasn’t sure he ever would. Not that he had much to move in... He had a blanket, plushie, and a few other.. Childish items. He knew it was childish, but they were the only things he had. They were his and he didn't want to let them go... Flynn sat down on his bed, setting his cane to the side as his tail flopped into a comfy position on the bed. He took off his shirt, careful to not accidentally tear it with his claws, tossing it to the side as he glanced down, frowning at the sight of the top surgery scars. He laid down, pulling his blanket over himself and curling up underneath it.
Flynn let out a small purr, curling into a ball under the blanket as his tail flicked up and down. He closed his eyes, quickly falling asleep curled up in a ball. He had a feeling no one would be going easy on him tomorrow.