Chapter Text
Kai had accepted his place in the team, begrudgingly.
The
human.
They didn't mean it maliciously, they loved him all the same but it still stung. Sure his elemental powers made him more resilient than most but it didn't stop the fretting from his friends and family and boyfriend.
Sometimes he wished Zane would just bite him already so he didn't have to deal with the coddling.
Zane would never, though.
Zane was a vampire but he kept his cravings to animal blood only. A deep fear of biting someone incompatible with vampiracy and dying as a result. Also the whole 'feeding on humans' was distasteful.
Cole was a werebear, not as cute as it sounds.
It pretty much just made him bulkier, hairier and have cute little ears, tail and button nose.
Most times he was half shifted for comfort, only fully shifting into a bear by choice - he didn't need to obey a full moon like werewolves which he'd gloat about now and then.
Jay was a bright blue harpie born of desert dwelling satyrs - or so he claimed, none of the others had the heart to tell him their thoughts.
Lloyd was a dragon, sort of?
The kin of a dragon and a human, a hybrid.
Magical properties or not he could never hide his slitted red eyes or the way his teeth we're always a little
too
sharp. But he's a softie.
But what stung the most was that Nya was a mermaid of sorts, having the ability to shift her form to accommodate land or ocean dwelling.
And! He! Was! Human!
Currently, said human was on the sofa having his wounds tended to by Zane, who hummed disapprovingly everytime Kai flinched or hissed at the disinfectant.
"I wouldn't have to do this if you were more careful," Zane chided.
"Yeah, yeah I know," He mumbled angrily - having of late been more aggressive in fights.
'Of late' being the last two weeks, even he didn't know what was driving him.
Whenever he saw his friends, his sister or specifically his
boyfriend
in trouble, it made him feel something primal.
A swell of protective instincts that take control of him and urged him into the heart of danger like a silver bullet.
The same feeling was wrapping around him now, though it was different somehow.
That protective instinct pushed him to cuddle up to Zane once his injuries were bandaged, nuzzling into the crook of the ice elemental's neck with a hum.
"Sorry for worrying you, snowflake." Kai cooed, coaxing a small smile from Zane who accepted the affection without complaint.
Allowing Kai to rub his face along his shoulder, a peculiar habit Kai had ever since they met but one he'd grown to adore as the brunette did it to things he cared for, be it person or possession.
The rest of the night, and the week for that matter, was rather uneventful. The gang of misfits they'd taken down stayed in prison and no other real threat to Ninjago broke the peace. There was some minor stuff, though the police force could take care of that, easy.
So they simply trained, Kai being forced to take it easy.
Though as the days dragged on Kai found himself feeling… odd.
He wasn't sure why, but he just felt off.
He seemed hungrier than usual, craving mainly meat.
His attention lacked, much to Master Wu's discontentment and he found himself sensitive to smells more so than before. This was discovered when prepping dinner - finding the ginger smelt so strong it gave him a headache.
Kai and the others, after checking that Kai hadn't been bitten by Zane (something Zane out of them all stressed about the most - even though he remembered doing nothing of the sort) concluded that maybe he was just sick, again ordered to have an early night's rest by their teacher and to stop pushing himself.
The next morning hit Kai the hardest, seeming groggy and tired. His body demanded sleep as he dragged himself out of his bed to the kitchen.
Disheveled and scruffy, face unshaven and eyes tired making him look almost akin to the living dead.
"Dude," Cole scolded, raising an eyebrow at the new apparent zombie who simply grunted at him.
"I've heard of beauty rest but I didn't know ugly rest existed," Jay cracked, Cole punching his shoulder but failing to smother a giggle.
Kai soon found slender arms wrapping around him, immediately leaning to the touch with a noise akin to a whine as he nuzzled Zane.
" Firefly, I think you should go back to bed after breakfast. " His boyfriend suggested, pressing a kiss to the elementals temple.
"I can inform Master Wu of your condition."
Zane was thanked with a wordless kiss before Kai shuffled to sit down.
"Bacon," He grumbled, Zane stifling a laugh.
"Dang, Cole did you shed on Kai?" Lloyds voice popped in, the lanky teen now stumbling in. Damn growth spurts.
"Hey!"
There was another round of laughter as Zane placed a plate in front of Kai, bacon eaten in seconds. Zane did have to coax Kai to eat toast and orange juice though.
After a loud breakfast that had Kai's head unmercifully throbbing with the beat of his heart, Kai finally was allowed to crawl back under his covers, letting the warm morning light that filtered through the curtains to lull him back to sleep.
He was woken up a few times during the day, either Lloyd, Nya or Zane making him eat and drink. But otherwise he was left to rest throughout the day.
Though, when dusk came, Kai found himself suddenly restless.
The lethargic weight that kept him in bed seemed to evaporate but leaving him with a throbbing headache. And body ache. Honestly even his teeth seemed to hurt.
Groaning in annoyance, Kai kicked off the blanket - his body slick with sweat and making him extremely uncomfortable.
Yeah, it was shower time.
Stumbling with his eyes practically closed, he gathered up some clean clothes and a towel before shuffling to the thankfully empty bathroom. Quick to dump his load on the floor and slink into the shower.
The hot water seemed to help soothe his body, not even needing to look as he followed his usual rhythm.
It was when he was rinsing out the shampoo in his hair when he noticed something off.
His ears, what were once simple and rounded felt pointed now, flimsy almost.
That's when he looked down at his hands, confusion turning to shock as he noticed the sharp, black claws where his nails usually were - matched with pads on his fingers and palms.
He screamed.
A few things happened in the next minute,
Kai slammed the shower off and stumbled to the mirror, desperately wiping the fog away to see his reflection.
Multiple sets of feet ran to the bathroom, only to uselessly fiddle with the knob.
Then the door was broken open by the master of earth, leaving the master of fire to scramble for his towel to cover himself.
Only causing him to slip on the tile floor and land unceremoniously on his butt with a painfully wet sounding slap, thankfully managing to pull himself together enough to cover himself with the fluffy cloth.
Then simply… shocked silence.
It was a serious moment, a serious revaluation… but Zane couldn't hold back the affectionate coo at Kai's new features.
Where normal human ears should be were furry and pointed wolf ears, folded back against Kai's head in fear.
Fangs jutting out from his top lip and scruffy unkempt hair that was longer and seemed to grow from more than just the expensive head of hair it used to, giving Kai a fluffy appearance.
Not to mention the little wet, black nose that twitched when Kai sniffed or the adorable tail Zane could see on that cute behind.
Werewolves had a reputation of being ferocious but Kai just looked like a scared puppy.
There was some screaming, well… a lot of screaming. Mostly on Kai’s part - telling the sudden audience to ‘Get out I’m naked!’
And after acquiring some boxers (that had a tail hole cut through the back,) a white hoodie and a lot of soothing pets from Zane. Kai was comfortably seated in the vampires lap with a dark flush and ignoring the snickers from his teammates.
“Puppy likes pet’s, uh?” Nya giggled, Kai rolling his eyes and burying his face into Zane’s chest.
“Come now, Nya. He’s having a big day.” Zane chided lightly, trying to hide the joy in his voice as he scratched behind Kai’s ear and earned the steady thump of a wagging tail against his thigh.
A soft giggle spread through the group like a wave that even had Kai suppressing a smile, The sound of tea pouring alerting the ninja of their additional party, Sensei Wu now calmly sipping from his cup.
“Sensei! Did you find anything?” Cole asked as Lloyd gratefully accepted a cup from his uncle.
The cryptic old man nodded, sending the two siblings an apologetic smile.
“There’s something I haven’t told you-”
A snort from Jay cut Sensei off, Kai shushing him angrily. Through the fire elemental
was
smiling himself.
With an entertained roll of his eyes, Sensei Wu revealed a picture from his sleeve, sliding it across the table into view.
An old picture of two young adults - one, a pretty young woman with a clear swimmers body and lean muscle. Her long, dark, reddish hair adorned with decorative shells and her pale skin littered with scales shimmering a gorgeous blue despite how faded the photo was.
Next to her a shorter, tanned man with sharp fangs and pure black, scruffy hair that almost hid his animalistic ears.
“Our parents,” Kai mumbled in awe, one hand reaching up to toy with one of his ears.
“Oh wow,” He laughed, turning to Nya. “I forget how much you look like dad sometimes, y’know… with scales.”
Nya’s smile mirrored her brothers as she compared her brother to their mother. It was funny almost, that Kai looked like he should’ve inherited the element of water and her fire.
“How come we never knew?” She asked, the Smiths turning back to their elder.
“I-...” Sensei Wu started, unable to meet their gaze.
“I have made many mistakes in this life; I still remember what the prophecy of the green ninja did. Both to you, Kai...and to others.”
Wu paused again, fiddling with his cup.
“I was worried, I could see how Kai wished he was more than human. And the last thing I wanted was to promise something that I have no power over.”
Kai nodded slightly in understanding, almost guilty about how he treated his brothers during the early years of their adventures.
“And because of your age, I couldn’t be sure if the lycanthropy was within your blood.”
“He’s a late bloomer,” Jay confirmed, Sensei Wu smiling at how well they were taking it this time, especially glad the siblings weren’t mad at him.
“That’s a blunt way to put it, but yes. Usually lycanthropy presents in early teen years, and the last thing I ever wanted was for Kai to feel like he was inferior because of his race - or assume that I-” He turned back to Kai.
“had ever
expected
you to be something you are not. I could just never find the right time to tell you nor the right way.”
“I think we understand Sensei,” Zane replied in an understanding tone, Kai nodding along with his boyfriend.
“Plus it’d probably have gone to his head,” Cole added.
“
Hey!”