Chapter Text
Kai was going to throw up.
Seriously, it felt like he'd gone one round too many at the Slither Pit. Rounds he definitely hadn't come out on top of.
Struggling to get to his feet, Kai made it halfway before his arms decided to give out. He settled for sitting up.
Small wins.
Never mind, bad idea.
Now he was going to throw up.
Maybe he could just lie here. Bask in the harsh, beating sun. Feel the uneven path and sharp grains of rock jutting into his back. Enjoy the stench of sweat, dirt, and other less than clean things attacking him in waves. The ideal sunbathing spot, he surmised.
All things considered, he'd woken up in worse places.
His stomach disagreed.
One barf later, Kai’s eyes finally opened.
Like a baby turtle, he thought.
A ninja turtle.
Yeah, that sounded good.
He was expecting a jungle. Pathways carved into aged stone. Not… nothing.
Really, there was nothing. If he squinted, he could see a rock over there. He thought it was a rock, at least.
Nope.
Not his problem.
He was not dealing with this.
...
Ugh.
Heaving himself to his feet, Kai paused to get his bearings. And to gloat at the jagged edge that had, until a few seconds before, been located in his back. Towering above it, he glared at it for at least a minute.
Stupid rock.
Annoyingly, the rock didn't tell him where he was. Neither did the road, if you could even call it one.
The tracks on the road, however, told him exactly where he'd be going.
~
The tracks did not, however, say how long it would take.
Kai decided he hated following tracks.
The journey wasn’t helped by his body fighting his every move.
His legs held, only barely. It was like wading through the Venomari Swamps, the thought immediately heralding bad memories.
He still freaked whenever he saw a gingerbread man.
His ribs protested, his head throbbed, and every muscle in his body felt like it had been torn apart, wrung out, then left in the sun to dry.
Still, nothing broken.
…..Probably.
Kai had worked with worse odds.
With a barely audible grumble, he cursed paths, wheels, wagons, and everything else he could think of.
~
After thanking the man at his stop, Kai hopped off the wagon and decided that they weren't nearly as bad as he thought. Never judge a scroll by its parchment, a familiar voice niggled at the back of his head.
Nope, not now.
There was no way Kai was going to think about Sensei right-
Focus, Kai.
He’s the Elemental Master of Fire, for FSM’s sake!
Once those feelings were shoved way, way down with the others, Kai finally paid attention to the area around him.
It was like going back in time, he supposed. Like someone had taken a freeze-frame of Ninjago before Borg got his hands on the place and started bolting fancy tech to everything.
Not that the tech meant anything to him, anyway. He was a blacksmith, not an engineer.
Wooden stalls lined the street, patched awnings sagging under the sun.
Kai could recognise the salty, sweet scent of smoked salmon anywhere. And from the rows of vegetables in the stall to his left, his money was on it being a farmer’s market.
It was like what he remembered of Ignacia, the furthest reaches of his mind told him. He lived in a town just like this. Worked in it. Fought to make sure that he, but most importantly his sist-
And no, nope, that’s a thought for Future Kai. He’s taking everything in his stride beautifully right now, thanks.
Everyone kept looking at him weird.
Sure, Kai knew he was a catch, but First Spinjitzu Master, could these people stop staring?!
If that guy didn’t pick his jaw up off the ground within the next second, he was going to get a real jaw dropp—
“You seem far from home, my friend.” crap, crap, crap, CRAP. FSM, how did this guy know? Is he working with Chen? Is he gonna try something? There’s not enough time to clear civilians, he-
“I mean no harm, merely an offer.” An offer?
“Yes, of tea. Perhaps even Pai Sho.” Oh, he said that out loud. Of course he did.
Finally, Kai turned, cursing the fact that his Tournament gi does nothing to hide his identity. Never mind that there’s nobody to recognise him.
Not for the first time, Kai silently cursed the day's events.
Before the stranger had even finished, Kai was about to let a biting retort roll off his tongue. But catching sight of the man, he froze.
The beard, the voice, the tea- its all too much. Unbidden, the memories ram through his mind, derailing his train of thought. Flashes of his Sensei, much too similar to this man, left him rooted to the ground, unable to move apart from harsh breaths. Everything is too much. The town, the people, the water-
FSM, why did he have to be near docks-
During his panic, Kai was vaguely aware of the old man guiding him to the side of the street, and away from the crowd. A few breaths later, and everything was almost returned to normal. Looking around, Kai noted how similar the alley was to the twisting paths of his childhood home. Apart from the strange man who laid out a mat, a teapot, and two cups, that is.
“I hope you will forgive me.” With a slight uptick at the corner of his mouth, the man continued on gently, “But the marketplace can be loud and unsettling for one who doesn’t know where he is going.”
Oh, no.
“Now that you are already here, would you be so kind as to try an old man’s brew? My own nephew refused and now I am left with only myself to drink the pot.”
Oh, double no. It could be poisoned. He could be a kidnapper! Sure, Kai could beat a lousy, old kidnapper any day of the week, but still! No. No, there’s too many unknowns and….but his eyes, oh FSM he looks so sad and it’s like Wu all over again and-
“Sure,” Kai responded, flourishing one of his best grins; the kind that had gotten him out of trouble, and into Ninjago hearts, “I mean, who am I to leave an old man all alone?”
Adding a wink for good measure, Kai knelt on the mat with all the grace of his elemental dragon, stubbornly ignoring the loud part of his brain calling him an idiot.