Archive of Our Own ^beta

Okay, look. Kai will be the first to admit that he’s not the most approachable of his friends. And that’s not because he looks mean. It’s because he’s cocky, self-absorbed, and prone to anger. Or, at least, that’s the persona he likes to put on in public. Ask any of his friends, and they’ll tell you that he’s protective, sometimes insecure, and willing to fight for them. But still, the point is he isn’t approachable. Especially not to children.

But, for some reason, that doesn’t apply to what Ninjago City government officials call the foundlings, but who most people just call the street rats. The kids who have no one, who live on the streets, they love Kai for reasons he can’t figure out for the life of him. He asked Morro about it once, and he said it had something to do with the protective air he had - street kids seemed to sense that he was the type of person to fight for the “little guy.”

That’s how he met the fiery little girl who called herself “Wyldfyre.”

Kai spent a lot of his time out on the streets of Ninjago City. 

It’s a fairly normal thing for him. Kai used to work as a fence for the many gangs that run in the city, so he spent a lot of time on the streets among his clients. That was forever ago though – he had a home now, friends and family, and he settled with his clients so he didn’t have to worry about anyone coming back for him. But Kai still found himself out walking the streets. It’s a habit, at this point.

Call it a protective instinct, call it paranoia, call it whatever you want. Every night, Kai took a couple laps around the city before he could even think about going to sleep.

That brought us to right now, at about three in the morning. Kai hadn’t been able to sleep – Lloyd and Sora were having friendship issues with Arin right now, and Kai has been trying to keep them distracted and busy so they don't think about it. They’ve finally chilled out a little, but now Kai’s paranoia and protective instincts have been dialed up to eleven, and he needed an outlet. Hence the walking the streets at three in the morning. 

“Kai!” A familiar child’s voice called. Kai looked in the direction it came from, where a little boy was waving eagerly at him.

“Hey Martin! What’s up, kid?” Kai said, letting an easy smile drop onto his face. “Haven’t seen you around for a while, you been alright?”

“Aw, don’t worry about me, hedgehog.” Martin said, grinning sharply. Kai scoffed, slinging an arm around Martin’s neck and ruffling his hair. “I tried out one of those shelters you’re always talkin’ ‘bout.”

“Oh yeah? How’d you like it?”

“It’s a’ight, I guess. It’s keeping me off the streets for the winter, so it’s pretty good in my book. And no one tries to steal my food.” Kai had to work really hard to keep the heartbroken look off his face. He learned pretty quickly that these kids don’t respond well to pity, but sometimes he just can’t help it. 

Then his brain caught up a little. “Wait, if it’s supposed to be keeping you off the streets, then what are you doing out right now? At three in the morning.”

Martin perked up, then looked around subtly. “Okay, so I’ve been hearing word on the street of a new girl.” Kai nodded, crouching down so he was closer to Martin’s level. Word on the street is the equivalent of law to these kids. If he heard something from street kids, then nine times out of ten it was true. “People are saying she’s new to our streets, but not new to the streets in general. She’s feisty and fights dirty. Jasper says she’s holed herself up in that abandoned arcade on seventh street.”

Kai hummed, scratching his chin absently. There had been a lot of evacuees moving into Ninjago City from outer countries because of extensive wildfires and storms. That’s most likely how the girl got here, but if she’s living on the streets it’s probably not likely that she leaves with the rest of the evacuees when the worst of the hazardous weather is done. “Okay. Thank you Martin. Do you want me to walk you back to the shelter?”

Martin puffed up his chest. “I’m a big man, I got it.”

“Alright. I’ll see around.”

Kai watched Martin until he turned a corner out of his sight, and then he turned on his heel and began the long trek towards seventh street.

Sure enough, there was a light flickering in the boarded up windows of the abandoned arcade. The bottom board of one of the front windows had been pulled off and the glass smashed – smoke was curling out of the ruined pane. Kai could hear a voice, just barely, coming from the building. 

It didn’t take much force to get the front door open. It took a lot more work not to trip over the boxes meticulously laid out around the front door. Traps weren’t new, but they were usually only used by the kids who’ve been on the streets for a while . Kai stepped carefully over the boxes, and met the gaze of a little red-headed young girl. She looked like she was Arin and Sora’s age, and surprisingly she looked pretty healthy. The only things that gave her away as a street kid were her greasy hair, tattering clothing, and the unpleasant smell. A large dog – a shepherd of some kind – was sitting at her side, staring intently at Kai. 

“Uh…..hello.” Kai said, frozen to the spot. The dog didn’t seem aggressive, but Kai wasn’t going to risk it. 

“Who are you?” The girl growled. She didn’t move, but the look on her face said plenty. Kai was intruding, and she didn’t look like she was going to play nice. 

“My name is Kai. What’s yours?”

“None of your business.” The girl shifted, and the dog at her side tensed up. “Get out.”

“I just wanted to–”

“Get. Out.” This was getting dangerous, very quickly. The dog was growling now, and the girl looked ready to spring to her feet. Kai just now noticed that a stick was in her hand, the end of it flaming. 

“Okay!” Kai put his hands up placatingly, stepping back over the boxes. “Look, I’m leaving. Just remember, my name is Kai. You can find me at Wu’s Dojo, okay?”

The girl snarled. Kai quickly backtracked, closing the door before she decided to send her dog after him. 

No problem, Kai , he thought to himself. Let’s try again another day.

Two nights later, Kai was out on the streets again. He had gone by the arcade earlier in the day, but the girl was smart. Now that someone knew where her hidey-hole was, she had packed up and moved. The only thing left of her there were the burned remains of her fire. Kai was walking the streets now, keeping an eye out for the girl and her dog as he went. The dog treats he brought were burning a hole in his pocket. 

The sun was just coming up over the horizon when Kai finally gave up and started dejectedly making his way home. He was two blocks away from his and Nya’s apartment when there was a sharp yelp from the alley ahead of him. Kai froze, listening intently. Sure enough, another sound echoed out of the alley – a snarl this time. Someone laughed and there was the sharp sound of glass shattering. 

There was a fight.

Kai moved forward slowly, walking on the outside of his feet to silence his steps. As he reached the mouth of the alley, a brick came flying out, smashing into the opposite wall and crumbling into pieces. Kai winced – at least one of the people fighting was an adult, if the strength of that throw was at all telling. He peeked around the edge of the wall and immediately his blood started boiling.

The little girl from the arcade was at the far end of the alley, back to the wall, and facing off against two grown men. Her dog was laid out on the ground behind her, and Kai could just barely see what looked like blood staining the fur on his side. One of the men had a jagged piece of bloodied glass in his hand, and the other was wielding a chunk of brick. “I’m going to kill that damn dog!” The one with the glass snarled, waving it dangerously – Kai caught a glimpse of blood on his wrist and streaming down onto his hand. The girl snarled back waving the stick she was clutching in one hand. 

“What the fuck is going on here?” Kai growled, stepping around the corner. He knew the men wouldn’t be able to see him, thanks to the streetlight at his back. He was hoping his stature would do the work for him – you don’t become a martial arts champion without some muscle. Maybe he wasn’t as big as Cole, but he was definitely bigger than these guys. The two men whirled around, brandishing their weapons. 

“None of your business.” Glass Man said. His buddy shifted, rocking back on his heels.

“It is my business when you're on my streets.” Kai said. “Do you go around beating up on kids and their dogs in your spare time?”

“The ones who deserve it.” Glass Man said. The girl scoffed.

“Heatwave bit you cause you tried to steal from me!” She said indignantly. “You started it and now he’s probably going to die!” Her voice wavered near the end, and sympathy clenched Kai’s heart. He knew how hard it was to lose a pet – he missed Flame everyday. “If he does die, then you’re going to regret it.” The girl’s voice had gone deadly and cold, but the threat was undermined by the small stick that was her weapon. 

Glass Man laughed. “Are you going to give me a splinter? I’m so scared.”

“Hey!” Kai snapped, drawing the attention back to him. “Didn’t your momma ever teach you any manners?

Glass man scowled at Kai. “These ain’t your streets, big man, and the brat and her dog are getting taught a very valuable lesson, so back off .” The guy was swaying back and forth on his feet. He was definitely high on something, but Kai really didn’t want to test his reaction time. 

“I’ve got friends in high places,” Kai said. “Friends you really don’t want to mess with. There’s my buddies in the Ghosts – an Onryō and the General, to be specific.” Kai hated throwing Morro and Cole’s pasts out into the open (anonymous or not), but the reaction was a little worth it. Brick Man lurched back like he’d been struck, eyes going comically wide. “Ronin, of course. Not to mention my girlfriend, who runs the Anacondrai Warriors.” The guys were looking sufficiently spooked now. Glass Man kept glancing from the girl to the alley entrance, like he couldn’t decide if he should run or keep trying to beat her. “So yes, these are my streets. Unless you want to be on the list of every gang in Ninjago City, I suggest you scram.”

The girl laughed ferally, brandishing her stick. “Yeah fuckers! Scram !” She said it with so much vehemence and venom that it made Kai snicker. After a moment – where Kai thought he was definitely going to have to fight these guys – Brick Man dropped the chunk of crumbling brick and slipped carefully past Kai. 

“Where the fuck are you going?” Glass Man snarled.

“You want to play around with an Onryō?” Brick Man snapped back, walking backwards towards the street. “Be my guest. But I’m a little smarter than that.” He looked past his buddy at the girl. “For what it’s worth, Wyldfyre, hurting the dog wasn’t part of my plan. That was all him.”

The girl, Wyldfyre – and that’s definitely a strange name, but Kai has heard stranger – was still snarling, but it seemed a little softer than before. Brick Man threw a salute at Kai, and then ducked out of the alley. “Now then.” Kai said, turning his attention to Glass Man. “What’s it going to be? Either you scram, or I beat you to a pulp and give your description to every gang in Ninjago City. That’s sure to put you on a hitlist.”

Glass Man flinched away, letting his shard of glass clatter to the asphalt. “Alright man, relax.” He sniffed haughty, but the effect was ruined by his trembling hands. “I’m leaving, a’ight. I’m going.”

Kai waited just long enough for the man to disappear around the corner, and then he turned on Wyldfyre. “What the hell were you thinking, starting a fight with two grown men. Are you insane?”

Wyldfyre sputtered indignantly, gesturing to Heatwave, then in the direction the two men had left and then finally throwing up her hands. “What was I supposed to do, let them kill Heatwave? He’s the only thing I have left. I would rather die .” Kai faltered at the distress and sorrow in her voice. He took a few breaths, reminding himself that her dog was hurt and she was just trying to protect him. “And he’s probably going to die anyway cause those fuckers thought it was cool to stab him!”

Kai took a few cautious steps towards them. “I can help him, but you have to let me,” he said slowly. “I’m not going near your dog unless you tell me I can, but I want to help.” 

For a moment, Kai thought Wyldfyre was going to say no. She shifted her weight, bit her lip, and glanced at Heatwave. Finally, she backed away a step and nodded her head. With a quiet sigh of relief, Kai kneeled down by Heatwave and put a gentle hand on his fur. The dog whimpered quietly but otherwise made no moves against him. Slowly, Kai pushed the fur away to get a look at the wound. 

It was rather small, and not very deep. There was just enough blood to stain the fur, but not enough to really be worried. “You got lucky, kid,” Kai said, shooting Wyldfyre a small smile. “A little flesh wound. It’ll leave a scar, but nothing fatal.” Wyldfyre’s face dropped into relief, tears pooled at the corners of her eyes. She rubbed harshly at her face to get rid of them.

“What do I do?” She asked, crouching carefully by her dog. “I can’t take him to a vet. I don’t have the money.”

Kai hesitated. Now would be the time to try and get her to go to Wu’s, but that felt a little underhanded. “Well….I can clean him here with what I have,” he murmured, leaning over. Heatwave was looking at him with large eyes, whites clearly visible. He was scared. “But it’s not a lot and I can’t guarantee it won’t get infected.” Wyldfyre’s head shot up to look at Kai, and he was quick to finish his thought. “But! But, if you want, I can take him back to my apartment and clean him up there.”

Again, Wyldfyre hesitated, looking at her dog. Kai sat still and silent, letting her think it through. Finally, she bit her lip and said, “okay, we can go to your apartment. But just for the night.”

“Just for the night,” Kai said quietly, gathering Heatwave up into his arms and thanking whatever god would listen that the dog didn’t bite him.

Kai managed to get Wyldfyre and Heatwave back to his apartment without much incident. He treated Heatwave’s injury easily, wrapping it with pristine white bandages and letting the shepherd lay on the couch. It took a lot of convincing, but he managed to get Wyldfyre to take a  shower, too. Then, once he knew that she was settled, he collapsed on his bed and was asleep in seconds. 

Kai was expecting Wyldfyre and her dog to be gone when he woke up the next morning. She wasn’t.

He found her sitting at the kitchen table, kicking her legs idly. Nya was dancing around the kitchen, cooking what looked like– “Pancakes!” Kai cried indignantly. “You never cook pancakes!”

“I don’t cook pancakes for you.” Nya laughed, pointing the spatula at him. “But we have guests.”

“If I knew you’d cook pancakes, I would’ve brought home every kid I found on the streets,” Kai said, winking at Wyldfyre. He glanced in the living room. Heatwave was snoring softly on the couch, his bandages still pristine white. Satisfied, Kai took a seat at the table.

“You better not. We can’t afford that.”

Wyldfyre grinned. “If you guys cook pancakes, maybe I’ll stay!”

Kai and Nya froze, glancing at each other. Wyldfyre hummed happily, still kicking her feet. “How about you stay, and I’ll make sure you eat every meal. I can’t promise pancakes, but I can promise food.” Nya tapped the spatula against the stove and then flipped a few of the pancakes, smiling at Wyldfyre.

Wyldfyre cackled. “Deal!”

Kai resisted the urge to groan. He had a feeling his life just got ten times more chaotic.