Legends of Ninjago: Book 3: The Four Fangs: Chapter 28 — Beneath the Surface

Chapter

“I still think—AGH!” Kai cried as Cole grabbed him in a headlock. “We should check on him—Hya!” He reached around, grabbing Cole by the shoulder and leg, using his own body weight against him to flip him over.

“Aw, are you worried about him?” Cole asked sarcastically, still gripping Kai’s head quite tightly.

Kai frowned. With a huff, he applied pressure to Cole’s arm just right, allowing him to break out of his grip and stand on his feet again. Cole was up in two seconds, but Kai was already swinging his leg around at him, forcing him to dodge.

“Sha! Worried he might try to steal something! Ngh!!” Kai grumbled, right as he threw a punch.

Cole deflected it, grabbing his arm and pulling him forward. With a simple trip of his leg, Kai lost balance, and fell forward. But he grabbed onto Cole, kept himself from tumbling, and jumped onto his back, hooking his legs around Cole’s torso.

“Ah! Hey! Kai, that’s not a real fighting form!” Cole cried, trying to throw him off.

“Well maybe it should be!” He smiled as Cole did everything he could think of to get him to let go. “You’re gonna have to try harder than tha—OOF!!”

Cole fell backward, letting his entire body weight land on top of him with a SPLAT.

“Ha ha!” Jay laughed, right before getting socked in the face by Zane. “ACK!!”

Cole stood, getting back into a fighting stance while Kai clutched his side, rising slowly. “If you aren’t gonna follow the rules, then what’s the point of training?” Cole asked.

Kai just scoffed and straightened. “I dunno. Seeing Jay get sucker-punched?”

Cole came charging in, striking powerful blow after powerful blow, but Kai was on full defence, moving out of the way every time. Each flying kick, each punch and hook—all Cole was doing was wearing himself out.

“Come on! Quit dodging and fight!” Cole challenged him, taking a step back.

“You do remember what happened the last time we fought, right?” Kai asked, raising a fist.

“Uh, I kicked your butt?” Cole raised an eyebrow, readying himself for anything.

“Huh. The way I remember it—” He finally ran at him, while Cole made to block whatever move he had coming his way. But then, Kai suddenly shot out a burst of flame, and Cole covered his face, backing away. It was all too easy for Kai to take out his knees while he was distracted, and he fell onto the deck of the ship. “—you fell on your butt.” He had his fist pointed at Cole, claiming victory of the match.

Cole just glared at him. “This is hand-to-hand combat—no powers, Kai.”

“Feel free to fight back with some rock,” said Kai, still standing over him. “Whenever you’re ready.”

“You know I can’t create rock from nothing,” Cole growled, and he smacked Kai’s hand aside as he got up.

“Pfft,” Kai puffed, creating a fireball and tossing it easily from one hand to another. “Are you sure you’re even an elemental master?”

Cole quickly spun around, his fist stopping just half an inch away from Kai’s face. The small gust of wind it created snuffed out his flame with a quiet puff. “Don’t get cocky, Kai. You can’t beat me with strength alone.”

Kai reluctantly narrowed his eyes. He was right, of course, Cole was several inches taller than him and had way more body mass, but that was why he hated getting paired with him for training sessions. It was just unfair! How was he expected to win against someone like Cole in hand-to-hand combat? In a real fight, he would have won by thinking outside the box, not by sticking to nonsense rules.

“But you wouldn’t be able to beat me in elemental combat,” he said cooly.

“You really think so?” Cole asked, clearly not believing him. “You wanna have a rematch? Earth vs fire and you think you’d come out on top?”

He suddenly shot another fire blast past Cole’s head. “Only one way to find out.”

He wasn’t entirely sure why he felt like going after him like this, he just sorta had an itch to do something fire-based. They’d been training for hours now, up on the deck, while Wu and Garmadon were talking near the stern of the ship. Lloyd was likely still below deck, doing who-knows-what. The whole situation just felt so… stuck. Go out and do something, come back to the ship—go out and do something, come back to the ship. At least when they were at the cove, they were specifically focussing on training. Right now, everything felt so… disjointed. Not to mention, he was getting real sick of being cold and surrounded by water all the time.

Cole shot him a warning look, but Kai wouldn’t be stopped. He let loose another fire attack, forcing him to react and defend himself, though not with any earth. Kai was holding back—he didn’t want to accidentally hurt his friend—but he wasn’t exactly going easy on him either.

They jumped all over the deck, running into Jay and Zane twice and disrupting their training, but they were too caught up in their fight to really notice. Kai kept on shooting fire blasts and Cole kept on defending himself, jumping out of the way, and occasionally trying to throw a punch or a kick of his own.

“Seriously, what’s up with you?” Cole asked after a while, his back up against the mast of the ship. “What, are you getting cabin fever or something?”

Kai shot at him, forcing him to jump up into the rigging. By now, Jay and Zane were watching and debating with themselves whether or not to step in.

“Maybe I am,” Kai responded, following him up and hanging on to the ropes for support. “The Serpentine are loose, they’re trying to unleash an ancient evil onto the world, meanwhile we’re stuck here bunking with two of the most evil people Ninjago has ever known, and somehow—“ he threw an arm out wide, gesturing to them all, “—we’re the nation’s last defence?”

Cole sighed, catching his breath. “I see what you mean… but Sensei Wu has a plan.”

“Oh, yeah, right, Sensei Wu has a plan.”

“Kai, not this again,” Cole groaned.

Kai jumped over to him with another fire kick, forcing them both down onto the deck again. The wood beams groaned under the weight of their landing. “Maybe he used to be something, but he’s done nothing but run us around in circles since we met him.”

“That’s not true.”

“Oh yeah?” Kai fired back. “Then how come we haven’t started Spinjitsu yet? Huh? Wasn’t that one of the first things he said he’d train us in?”

“Training in a martial art takes years of work and discipline,” Zane pointed out plainly. “You can’t expect him to make exceptions for us just because we have powers.”

“I’m not talking about making exceptions, I’m talking about just teaching us the basics! All we’ve been doing are drills, drills, and more drills when we could be doing so much more!” Kai jumped into the air and, using both feet, created a small whirlwind of fire around him. The other boys had to back up not to get burned. “See? I taught myself that!”

“Yeah, but could you use that in an actual fight?” Jay grumbled, patting his singed shoulder.

“And then there’s Garmadweeb and Garmadweeb Jr.,” Kai went on. “Like, are we really going to pretend like that man didn’t invade and enslave half of Ninjago? For years?!” The others went silent. Then he added sarcastically, “But Sensei Wu has a plan.”

“Well, what would you suggest we do?” Cole prodded, getting closer again. “Give up? Go home?”

Kai frowned. No, he still needed to find his parents. Plus, he was pretty keen on Ninjago not getting eaten by a giant snake. But then a new thought came to him. “We could always go it alone. Come on, it’s not like we weren’t able to take care of ourselves before. Sensei Wu trusted us with that much.”

“He trusted us to stay in the cave,” Cole reminded him. “Which we failed at by the way. No offence,” he added, looking in Zane’s direction.

“No, that was my fault,” he admitted casually.

“So then why’s Ann the one who got punished?” Kai asked, folding his arms.

“Because she was the one left in charge,” said Jay.

Kai sighed. “Okay, moot point. Either way, we were still fine. We were the ones who got this ship out on the water, we were the ones who started looking for the Fang Blades, and we were more than capable of taking care of ourselves.”

“Yeah, except for the fact that for a large chunk of that time we were staying at my dad’s house, and when we weren’t having our meals made for us, we were catching and eating fish over a fire, getting sick and hardly doing our training.” Cole had his arms folded now too.

“And how is that much worse than what we’ve got going on right now?” Kai pressed. “Wu’s old. He’s getting older. What if…” He wasn’t sure about voicing this opinion, but he was gonna go for it anyway. Better to have it out in the open than just sitting, stewing in his brain. “What if that prophecy about the Green Ninja was about more than just becoming a great warrior? What if, whichever one of us it ends up being, is meant to be the next ‘Sensei Wu?’ You know, the next leader of the team?”

“Technically, that puts Cole in the lead, since he actually is the team leader,” Jay pointed out.

“You’re still thinking about all that, huh?” Cole asked.

“You’re not?” Kai was astounded. “It’s only a prophecy that states that one of us is going to become a legendary warrior.”

“Well, technically it didn’t exactly say that…” Zane muttered under his breath as the ship rolled over a particularly large wave for a calm day at sea.

“We kinda have bigger things to worry about,” said Cole calmly. “Not that I’m not curious… but how about we wait until after the potential apocalypse to think about which one of us is going to be the Green Ninja destiny child?”

“How do you know that name?”

The boys suddenly turned around with a start, shocked to see Keaton out of bed and watching them, her expression unusually serious.

“Where did you hear that?” She pressed, her eyebrows knitted tightly together.

Kai cleared his throat. “How do you know about it?” he asked.

She glanced back at the stern, where Wu and Garmadon were still talking, and she urged them all toward the bow, as far away from their Sensei as possible. “We’re not really supposed to talk about it,” she whispered tensely. “You guys weren’t even supposed to know.”

“Oh, look who was right about Wu keeping secrets,” Kai said, sending a look in Cole’s direction.

“That’s Sensei Wu to you, mister,” Keaton bit out, and making him frown just the tiniest bit.

“But, so then, how come you know?” Jay asked. “Is it, like, some sort of secret in-the-know club thing?”

Keaton looked uneasy and glanced back at the stern one last time. “It was a long time ago… Sensei Wu used to tell us stories… but that one? The one about the Green Ninja? We promised we wouldn’t mention again.”

“Why?” Asked Cole, his expression soft.

Keaton sighed and wrung her hands. “I don’t know if I should even really be telling you guys this, but… the last time… someone got all worked up about wanting to be the Green Ninja… it kinda got them… killed.” Everyone took a turn to glance at each other. “Sensei Wu says that we can’t make prophecies come to fruition before their time. Least of all, prophecies about potential messiahs.”

“Wait, what?” This was news to Kai.

“How much exactly do you know?” Keaton asked, raising an eyebrow at the group.

“Honestly… not very much,” Zane answered.

“Okay, well, history time: the Green Ninja is said to be one of the most powerful warriors in all of Ninjagian history. His powers will be unmatched by man or beast, and he will defeat the Darkness, bringing about a new age for all of mankind. It’s said that he will be a brother of the Golden Warriors—” she seemed to stop, as if catching herself doing something she wasn’t supposed to.

“You wanna run that one by me again?” Jay asked, looking just as surprised as the rest of them.

Keaton bit her lip. “It’s one of the names the ancient scrolls use to describe… you.”

Kai took a moment to mull that name over. “Golden Warriors.” Sounded dramatic. But… kinda cool.

“Us?” He asked, not quite seeing how it really suited them. “You sure you were reading the right scroll?”

She rolled her eyes and frowned at him. “Yes, I’m sure! Sensei Wu said it himself! The four warriors who are destined to wield the Golden Weapons and help defeat the Darkness. Lighting, Fire, Earth, and Ice. That’s you.”

Now it was Cole’s turn to frown. “I mean… superficially, sure, but… I mean, isn’t it possible that… it’s referring to another group of people? People who are actually warriors?”

She shook her head rather firmly. “Wu said that it meant you.”

The silence that hung about them seemed to speak volumes as to what they were thinking. Them? Destined to be these “Golden Warriors?” It sounded made-up. Like Keaton had just invented it herself.

“So why did he not tell us?” Zane asked. Certainly something that important would be made known to them.

Keaton pulled in her lips tightly. “Because you weren’t supposed to know.”

“But why not?” Kai couldn’t see any reason to keep that information from them.

“To keep it from going to your heads.”

This time, it was not Keaton who had snuck up behind them, but Sensei Wu. They all jumped back, hands behind their backs innocently, while Keaton’s shoulders went up to her ears. How had he snuck up on them? They didn’t hear so much as a creak or a footstep! Wu didn’t exactly look angry… but he didn’t exactly look happy either.

“Keaton. Back to your room, please.”

She did as she was told, looking over her shoulder at the boys sheepishly.

Then Wu set his steely eyes on them. “Put all of that out of your heads. Now.”

“But Sensei—” Kai started.

“No!”

Everyone seemed to suck in a breath. Very seldom did Wu raise his voice like that. “These are things greater than you or I. Things best left untampered with. Put it out of your mind and let it go.”

“So we’re just supposed to forget about the fact that we’re the Chosen Golden Warriors, or whatever?”

“Kai—” Cole urged him.

“That prophecy is already set into motion. You needn't concern yourselves with the future,” said Wu delicately.

“And how about the Green Ninja?”

Wu frowned at Kai.

The boat went far too silent for a few long seconds.

Wu seemed to be thinking.

Then his moustache twitched.

“Very well. You want to know so badly, do you?” Wu turned and walked off, going below deck and leaving the boys to anxiously glance at one another. They each hoped he meant for them to wait there, otherwise they’d need to awkwardly follow him down.

Shortly, he returned, carrying four bundles of various size. They already knew what was inside. He stopped in the middle of the deck, the wind blowing coldly, and he waited for the boys to come closer. One by one, he carefully unwrapped them, laying them out in a semi-circle. The Sword of Fire, the Scythe of Quakes, the Nunchucks of Lighting, and the Daggers of Ice.

“According to legend,” Wu said firmly, “The Green Ninja will be recognised by the Golden Weapons. For the same power which flows within their metal, flows within his veins. Approach.”

The boys glanced back at one another again, thinking the same thing. Who’s gonna go first? It wasn’t just the weapons on the deck that made them hesitate, but Wu’s harsh stare and the possibility of knowing one of their destinies which suddenly made them rethink all those times they had so casually discussed this.

Eventually, Jay stepped forward. He could hear the quick whispers of the Nunchucks—feel its power tingling from a distance—but the other weapons were silent to him. Nothing happened.

Wu nodded, and Jay stepped back.

It was not Jay.

Next, Zane came, eyeing the Daggers first and foremost. He did not hear its voice, though he did still feel its pull. He felt colder already, barely being this close. They all waited, but once again, nothing happened.

It was not Zane.

So then, Cole walked into the semi-circle, and of course, he at once heard the whispers of the Scythe and fought to concentrate on the other weapons instead. It was difficult. Almost as though the Sword and Nunchucks and Daggers didn’t exist at all while the Scythe was there, calling to him. Once again, nothing happened.

It was also not Cole.

Kai stared at the weapons, but didn’t move toward them.

Could this mean…? Was he…?

“Approach, Master of Fire,” said Wu in a commanding voice.

Kai tried not to swallow nervously as he stepped forth, expecting something magical to happen… but…

“I don’t understand,” he said, looking around at the weapons, which were still just sitting there. “Isn’t something supposed to happen?” His lip twitched as he fought to tune out the Sword’s incessant, pushy aura.

“It would seem not,” said Wu as he began to roll the Scythe back up.

“What? But I thought—”

“That it would be one of you who would be the Green Ninja?” Wu asked, scrutinising him. “The prophecy states that he will be a brother. It does not, however, state that it will be you.”

“But… none of us have brothers,” said Cole, confused.

“That was a matter of contention among the old scholars,” Wu admitted slowly as he picked up the Sword in its wrapping. “It was thought that, yes, while it could potentially mean a biological brother, it was just as possible for it to be referring to a brother-in-arms. A spiritual brother.”

Kai looked back at the others. He certainly didn’t know anyone like that—he’d never had many friends growing up. As Cole and Jay and Zane all shrugged, it seemed as though neither did they.

“But—”

“Butts are for rams, Kai,” said Wu, wrapping up the last of the weapons. “Not for ninja.” Kai frowned again. Then Wu paused and looked at them long and hard. “You see, it is not meant to be. Accept it. Move on. Be who you are in the here and now, and let that be enough.” He breathed in through his nose as he looked them over one last time. “Your training waits for you. I expect you all to finish your sets before dinner.”

With that, he disappeared downstairs again, taking the Golden Weapons with him.

“Well, great. Glad we got that cleared up,” Cole said dryly as he moved back to where they had been training. Jay and Zane joined him.

“So, where do you think we’re sailing to next?” Jay absentmindedly asked as they resumed their exercises.

“Seriously?” Kai asked, turning around. “You guys are just… letting it go?”

“I believe that is what Sensei Wu said to do, yes?” Zane asked with a pointed eyebrow.

“Kai—stop.” Cole was standing at his full height again, an arm outstretched in calm warning. “Every time you get like this, it winds up causing trouble. Remember the night you stole the Golden Weapons and gave them to Garmadon? From what I heard, you ended up getting stabbed. Or when you snuck into Sensei Wu’s office? We got kidnapped. Or how about when you ran off to that village all by yourself? I had to come get you out of there.”

“Remember the night I saved your life?” He shot back.

Cole’s eyebrows got low.

Both Jay and Zane were giving Kai a similar look, making it clear where they stood.

“Dude, it just doesn’t really matter that much,” said Jay.

“Doesn’t matter?” Kai repeated.

“Yes,” Cole said firmly. “Not anymore.”

“Not since Master Wu told you it didn’t?”

“You got some sort of authority issue?” Cole squinted at him. Then he sighed, his shoulders drooping. “Kai, I don’t want to argue. I just… this one time, could you please just not cause trouble?”

Kai felt a nasty feeling poking around inside of him. They all thought he was some sort of problem child, didn’t they? A nuisance. A pest. Just because he didn’t like to follow orders. Sure, whenever he went off and did his own thing, other people kept getting hurt, but… he wasn’t particularly concerned about the logic of the argument just then.

They all resumed their training… all except Kai, that is. He went to the only place where he could be somewhat alone—the top of the mast—and sat there brooding for a long while.

He really was stuck here with these people, wasn’t he? Some great decision this had turned out to be. Way to go, past Kai. This was spectacular.

*

That night, everyone gathered in the barracks—or bunk house, as it was also being referred to—and feasted upon instant noodles. (Wu helped them spice things up a little by creating some bowls and a few spices and extra ingredients.) Keaton joined them as well, as she was feeling cleansed of her sickness save for a few lingering sniffles. Lloyd… he was still laying in his hammock, not talking to anyone or even looking in their direction. Everyone instinctively tried not to make eye contact with the corner of the room he was hold up in, and when they did happen to catch a glimpse of his dark figure, the internal dialogue was generally not that friendly.

The ship was starting to feel a little more like home now, what with all the lanterns that had been hung up and the pillows and mats set on the floor for each of them to sit on. The only thing dampening that feeling of coziness was the towering form of Lord Garmadon sitting next to them, sullenly slurping his noodles from a comically small cup. No one dared speak to him, or even sit near him, except for Wu. Not even Keaton seemed to trust her teacher enough to bridge that gap.

Once a sufficient amount of noodles had been consumed, Wu strategically cleared his throat.

“I know that these past few days have been difficult for all of us… but now is the time for perseverance. Dark days lie ahead. The Serpentine must be stopped and returned to their tombs. As far I have been able to gather, they currently possess two Fang Blades, while the third may have been lost in the volcano. It is that uncertainty which worries me. I am not willing to gamble on a simple ‘may have’ when millions of lives are hanging in the balance. So we will sail to Serpent’s Bay and retrieve the final Fang Blade.”

The boys shifted uncomfortably. One more fetch-quest. But at least then, maybe this whole mess would be over.

However, there was one last thing on everyone’s minds.

“I know what you’re thinking,” said Wu, putting down his bowl. Kai doubted that statement. “…and we have come to the conclusion that my brother and nephew will be continuing their stay with us.” No one said anything… but they didn’t need to. You could feel the discomfort in the air, practically radiating around them like a bad smell. “It will simply be until Lloyd has recovered his strength.”

Keaton glanced over to the boy in the hammock. He hadn’t eaten anything, or said anything, or looked at anyone. She hoped he was alright. Emotionally speaking, that is. Physically speaking, he still looked rather weak.

And that was it. Wu didn’t say anything more.

Kai would have said something, if he hadn’t been silenced every other time he’d tried to contest their living arrangements. Yet another reason he was keen to get out of here somehow. Garmadon had to be playing mind tricks, or something. No one just forgets something awful someone else did to them overnight. People don’t work like that. Kai certainly didn’t.

But… so… that was their future for the time being. Sailing around the continent, all packed together, on a quest to find the last Fang Blade. Fun.

Mouths were kept shut, opinions left unspoken, and soon, dinner was cleared away, the moon rising steadily over the horizon, peering through a thick layer of fog like a bright, glassy eye.

It was strange being on the water at night. No crickets, no owls, no fire crackling even. For Cole specifically, it never got easier to fall asleep when there was no ground beneath him. The shifting surface of the waves left his feet feeling like they were about to slip at any moment, and the rest of him just felt pure unease. Thankfully, he’d managed to power through his sea-sickness, but only when the seas were calm. How he wished he could be on dry land again.

It wasn’t time for lights out yet, and he’d decided to come out above deck, where Wu was steering the ship. It was cold tonight. So cold you could see your breath.

“Good evening,” said Wu as he watched him climbed the stairs to the little sheltered steering wheel.

Cole nodded to him and then leaned against the nearest railing.

Before them, a whole ocean lay, constantly changing and morphing and reflecting the light of the moon. Somewhere out there in the foggy blackness was Ninjago, tucking itself to sleep for the night.

“We going to weigh anchor soon?” Cole asked.

“Not if we want to reach Serpent’s Bay before the enemy.”

Well, that sounded like a fun time.

The boat rocked back and forth some more, and the salty wind whipped up Cole’s hair.

“Are you alright, Cole?” Wu asked, eyeing him.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” he said quickly, not bothering to think the question through very much. “It’s just… I don’t know… it feels like a lot’s happened recently.”

“A lot has happened.”

Cole watched his Sensei with a mixture of amusement and reserved lament. Yeah… way more than he had the energy to really think about. Especially… everything that had happened… in Brookeside.

“Your mind is troubled. Go ahead. Clear your thoughts,” the old man went on gently.

No, his mind wasn’t that troubled, it was just… well… “I guess… it’s been hard… just…” He took a breath and started again. “I saw my dad again.” Wu turned toward him fully. “We were… investigating the second Fang Blade. It was close to home. Or, at least, we thought it was.” He thought back to his hometown, all lit up for the holidays. He thought of the lights and the festival and all the little moments he and the team had shared there, together. And his time with… with Ann… “You know, to be totally honest, it… wasn’t all bad. I liked being home… at least, more than I thought I would. But then… something happened. My dad found out that we were there to get the Fang Blade… there’s a whole story…”

“Did he find out about your powers?” Wu asked.

“No, no. Just that we were visiting him under false pretences. He doesn’t know I’m a ninja.” At least, he hoped he didn’t know. “But… we had a fight… and then and then and then, we wound up back in Ninjago City, trying to get the real Fang Blade, and everything with Jay happened, and then we went to the volcano…”

“…I understand,” said Wu. “It is hard to ignore the strain one puts themselves through when their duty is to such a… unique cause. War does not care for how tired or homesick you are. The world always moves on, with or without you.” Then he paused again. “Are you afraid?”

“Afraid?”

“Of what lies ahead.”

Cole looked out over the foggy horizon again. “Hard to be afraid of something you can’t see.”

“Ah, but that is what makes it frightening. You do not know what may be lurking around the next bend in the road… or in the fog… there may be smooth seas, or raging storms.”

“Would be nice to be able to see it coming for once…”

“Sometimes we can. But in times when we cannot, we must remain flexible and allow ourselves the patience and grace to live in the here and now, bending and flowing with the river of life.”

“Yeah, see, I don’t know if I’m very good at that,” Cole grimaced, his arms folded awkwardly.

“You’ve come this far, haven’t you?” Wu asked. “And sometimes, when we remain immovable, we must rely on others’ flexibility to pull us through.” Just then, he looked forward, but not at the horizon. When Cole followed his gaze, he found himself staring down at the figure of a girl, sitting alone at the bow of the ship. Her ponytail was flapping gently up and down behind her.

Ann.

“You wish to speak with her?”

His head snapped back to him. “What? Uh—no, no—I’m fine,” Cole lied, but Wu’s expression only softened.

“You are troubled, and she is still on your mind. Go. Speak to her.”

“Really?” He asked.

“Unless you’d rather not. Going to bed is also an acceptable option.”

Cole smiled and looked down at Ann again. He had been meaning to talk to her about his recent promotion…

“What’s she doing out here, anyway?” He asked after a while. He thought she was sick.

“Meditating,” Wu replied. “Being close to her element helps her body heal.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t interrupt, then.”

Suddenly, he felt something hard pressing into his back. Wu had his staff out, urging him forward.

“Never put off to tomorrow what can be done today.”

Cole gave a sigh. He was right. As usual.

With no small amount of dread, he walked down the wooden steps and approached Ann. She had a blanket wrapped around her as she sat, cross-legged, on the deck. What should he say? Where should he start?

He cleared his throat. “Hey, Ann.”

“Cole,” she replied, her nose noticeably still stuffy. She didn’t turn to look at him. “Do you need to talk about something?”

He felt his chest go a little tight. “Well… kinda…”

“By all means, continue,” she said woodenly. “Team leader.”

“That’s… kinda what I wanted to talk to you about.”

She got to her feet, having no difficulty with the shifting surface of the ship at all. Her eyes were only half open as she watched him, but he couldn’t decide if that was because she was in a bad mood or because she was tried. “You don’t need to worry about me. I’m fine,” she replied.

“Really?” He had a hard time believing that. “It’s just—I didn’t mean for it to happen, it—”

“Cole,” she said firmly, holding up a slender hand and making his stomach squirm just a little at the sound of his name. “Sensei Wu made a decision. There’s nothing more to it than that.”

Right then, at the end of her sentence, he thought he could just make out the tiniest hitch in her voice. “Are you sure?” He pressed.

“Yes,” she replied, getting a little tense. “I…” she closed her eyes. “I failed my duty as leader. I failed my assignment. I let Sensei Wu down.”

“No, you didn’t,” he said instantly.

Ann looked up at him, a defensive sharpness in her expression. “Yes I did.”

“Trust me, if Sensei were really disappointed in you, things would be a lot worse.”

She looked at him for a long time. He wished he knew what she was thinking.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He almost laughed. “I don’t, huh? I don’t know what it’s like to have, say, a dad or father figure who expects a certain level of performance from you? And I don’t know how humiliatingly awful it feels when you fail to meet those expectations?”

Ann’s eyes fell. “I’m sorry. I spoke out of turn.”

“You don’t need to act all formal just because I’m the leader now,” he sighed, letting some of that sharp feeling in his chest go. “My point is…” and here, it was like he was saying this as much to himself as to her, “Sensei Wu cares about you a lot. If he were really, really disappointed in you… things would have gone a whole lot worse.”

“But I did still fail, and he was disappointed,” Ann quietly insisted.

Cole sighed, clearly not getting his point across. “Okay, never mind. Forget it, just… I just wanted to know that you were okay.”

“I’m okay,” she said, prompting Cole to frown at her. “What?”

“Nothing, nothing… just…”

Ann turned away, sporting a frown of her own. “Believe me. I’m fine.” She faced the sea again and closed her eyes, holding her blanket tightly around her shoulders.

He watched her stand there, meditating and focusing on her element as the ship bobbed up and down. He wondered if this sort of thing came naturally to her; this elemental stuff. A question suddenly sprang to mind.

“How old were you when you first knew that you had powers?”

Ann opened her eyes. “I… I don’t remember. I was too little.”

“And… is that normal? For them to show up at that age?”

She gave it some thought. “I suppose. Although, Sensei Wu taught all of us about our powers a long time ago.”

“‘All of us?’” He repeated.

“Me and my siblings.” She said that part rather quickly.

“I thought… Keaton was your only…”

“She is now.”

Just then, another conversation like this came to mind. The morning the two of them had talked on the beach, she had mentioned that she had lost someone close to her.

“I’m so sorry,” he said, and old memories began to surface. Difficult memories. Memories of grief. “I… lost my mom.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” she echoed.

After a while of standing there, he asked, “How did it happen?”

“I don’t really like to talk about it.” Her voice sounded thick.

He nodded understandingly. “…She got sick. We had a special doctor come to see her, but… apparently it was some sort of super rare disease. Modern medicine couldn’t save her.”

He caught her eyes becoming glassy as she stared hard over the water. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.” She said stoically. She took a steadying breath as her eyes traced the waves, clearly thinking about more than just its surface. “It must have been hard, then… being back home.”

“…A little.” He thought about how she had looked in his mother’s dress and how they’d danced together… He swallowed. “But it wasn’t all bad. It was nice having new people in the house. Or, people in the house, period.”

“Do you not like the quiet?” She asked.

He thought for a moment. “No. Not really. Guess I’m more used to there being music and voices. But… do you like the quiet?”

“Yes. It makes it easier to think.”

Again, they watched the ocean waves. The fog was becoming thicker now, and the moon could no longer shine down on them as clearly as their dark little ship sailed on.

“You ever wonder about where we came from?” Cole suddenly asked.

Ann turned to him, looking confused.

“Like, as elementals. Do you ever wonder where our powers came from?” He clarified.

“From our parents,” Ann said simply. “It’s a gene you inherit.”

“Really?” Cole thought that maybe he’d had a conversation like this, but he was having trouble remembered the details. For some reason, the idea that this elemental stuff was biological didn’t really phase him. As though he’d heard it before.

“Of course. These things don’t just happen. Both my parents were Elemental Masters. One of yours probably was too.”

He stared into the distance, processing that information. So then that meant… Well, his dad almost certainly couldn’t be the one he inherited the gift from. He was to dirt what oil is to water. So then it had to be… his mom. Figures it would be the one parent he couldn’t ask for advice or guidance.

“But, so then… who were the first Elemental Masters?” Cole went on, trying not to think too much about his mom.

“I’m not sure. Sensei Wu has mentioned my grandparents, and Kai’s grandfather before, but that’s all I know.”

Wow. Whole generations of Elemental Masters… he wondered if his mother’s parents were still alive. He’d never known them. Only his grandmother on his father’s side. Actually, come to think of it, there wasn’t a whole lot he knew about his mother. Not her maiden name, not where she grew up, if she had any siblings, or anything like that. How had he never thought to ask before? Oh boy, he needed to stop this train of thought before he seriously depressed himself.

“Still, it’s crazy to me how there have been people like us in the world this whole time,” Cole went on, digging up some old thoughts. “I for one… I felt so isolated as a kid…” Ann was watching him again, blinking slowly. “…You know, I didn’t really have anyone to talk to about it… I thought I was the only one.” Then he smiled. “I also thought that if I ever told anyone, the government would show up and kidnap me or something.”

Ann breathed a laugh and turned back to the sea. It took her a while, but she did eventually respond with her own story.

“When I was younger… I also felt a certain degree of… separation. But I don’t think it was quite like what you described. I never went to public school, I never watched tv—by all accounts, the outside world… other kids… sometimes it felt like they didn’t exist. So… in some ways it was good… I never felt insecure about who I was, or like I had to hide anything… but… I’d be lying if I said… I never got…”

“Lonely?” Cole hesitantly finished.

Ann’s shoulders were somewhat hunched as she sheepishly nodded. Then, with her eyes still on the foggy water, she said, “Actually… you boys and Nya are some of the only people my age I can remember hanging out with.”

“Ever?”

“Ever.” She huffed a little to herself. “Wow, that… sounded really pathetic out loud.”

“Eh, I’ve heard worse. Lived worse too.”

“Really?” She turned and he could see a hint of concern in the lines on her face.

He just shrugged. “Well, you know, being the only boy in a ballet class for twelve years or so doesn’t exactly win you any popularity contests.”

“What do they know?” Ann suddenly bit out. “You’re a fantastic dancer—only an ignorant pleb would say otherwise. You’ve put in a respectable amount of work into honing your craft. That is something anyone should be proud of.”

Cole’s face suddenly felt a little warmer as he watched her defend him so forcefully. Usually, if he were to ever receive a compliment from a girl regarding his stage performance, it was always something like, “Wow, you’re so amazing!” Or something more like, “Do you think you could teach me?” Thinly-veiled attempts at getting close to him by giggly girls who only liked him because he was tall and muscular. But Ann? As much as it kinda hurt to remember, she had never made any attempted passes at him—ever—so to hear her say all that nice stuff about him, and so defensively… he had to believe that she was telling the honest truth. And that… totally didn’t make his face get warmer.

“Y—uh—you really thi—think so?” He mumbled, all at once a stuttering mess. He had no idea she thought that highly of him… could it mean that… maybe she…?

“Of course I do. Why wouldn’t I?” She asked plainly, looking genuinely confused. “Hard work deserves to be recognised.”

Cole had to keep himself from looking too crushed with disappointment. It only made sense for her to appreciate it from a practical perspective, not too dissimilar from how she viewed her own training. Of course…

“Right,” he coughed.

Then she squinted. “Are you alright?”

“Hm? Oh, fine, fine. Super…”

The conversation drew a long, quiet breath. Then Cole said, “So I guess we’ll be at Serpent’s Bay soon.”

“With any luck, this adventure will all be over once we get that blade.”

“Hm…”

“What?” She asked.

“Just wondering… what exactly are we gonna do after we get it?”

“What do you mean?”

Cole felt a certain type of unease creep up on him just then. “Like… we can’t go back to the monastery… right? The government’s out there looking for us.”

“That’s right,” Ann nodded, as if she’d forgotten.

“So… does that mean we’re gonna be stuck on this boat forever?” The thought of living out at sea for a few years, or even a few months, was enough to give Cole a rash.

“I don’t believe so,” said Ann thoughtfully. “Sensei Wu knows many secret places. Once our mission is complete, I’m sure we’ll dock someplace hidden and remote where you all can finish your training.”

“So we’re just gonna be on the run from now on?” Was he going to have to dodge the IBI for the rest of his life?

“Hopefully not forever. Actually, this isn’t the first time Sensei Wu’s had the government breathing down his neck. I remember this one day, when I was younger, a man in a suit came to the monastery asking questions. I was assured that all was well.”

Cole began to frown. “So… has he… you know…?”

“What? Been engaging in illegal activity?” Asked Ann, raising an eyebrow. “Only in their eyes.”

“What does that mean?”

She took a deep breath that came out of her mouth as a puff of fog. “You know that Sensei Wu’s been around for a long time. He was there during the first Serpentine Wars, hundreds of years ago. He used to be a respected military leader. Alongside his brother. His only goal is protecting Ninjago. Then, Ninjago City was built—a new emperor came to power—things changed. All of a sudden, people like Wu weren’t allowed to act independently of His Majesty’s Imperial Army, so he enlisted and became a general. For a time, at least. But, from what I understand, he was severely limited in regards to what he was allowed to do in the service of the emperor. After trying for many years to work within the rules, he finally decided that the only way to truly help was to work around them, and he retired from being a general so that he could focus on training me and Keaton and… Moro.”

Cole paused, replaying that name again. It could only be her brother. Moro.

“We were… are… still meant to be… his legacy. The original plan was for us to carry on his work after he eventually passes on, but… then you and the other boys came along,” she said, turning to him. “Everything changed the day you arrived and the search for the Golden Weapons began.”

“Yeah…” he murmured, thinking back to what Keaton had told them all about that prophecy. They were supposed to be these “Golden Warriors?” It just sounded made up.

“But anyway, to answer your question in a few words, Sensei Wu is doing what he believes is necessary to protect Ninjago. The Government sees it as child abduction and endangerment.” She finished.

Cole frowned. “Isn’t that kind of what he’s doing, though?”

Now it was Ann’s turn to frown. “He didn’t abduct any of us.” Then she seemed to catch herself. “Okay, except Kai—though technically, we saved him from the Skulkins. Anyway—my point is—he isn’t guilty of kidnapping anyone, and back in his day, it was actually normal for people our age to fight.”

That still didn’t quite feel reassuring, but Cole supposed it was better than nothing?

“And besides,” Ann went on, sounding a little quieter. “Fate forced his hand. He didn’t want to bring children into this, but we were all he had. We’re the only elemental masters left.”

“Wait—what? We’re… the only ones?” That couldn’t be right.

“Well, aside from Kai’s father,” Ann clarified. “But he’s gone missing.”

“What about Zane’s parents?”

“Sensei says his father hasn’t been seen or heard from in years.”

“Okay then, what about Jay’s parents?”

Ann paused. There was this look in her eyes, like she was quietly panicking.

“What? What is it?” Cole pressed, feeling worried all of a sudden. “Are they okay?” Jay had never gone into detail (and Cole hadn’t been present when the group made that impromptu visit to the junkyard after escaping the IBI) but Jay had mentioned his folks a few times over the course of their friendship. He knew that they were both living and accounted for. So what was wrong?

“Is that all you wanted to talk about?” Ann suddenly asked, her tone shifting.

“Uh…” he stammered.

“Alright. Goodnight.” With that, she turned on her heel and started walking way, back toward the captain’s quarters. What on earth had that been about? Why hadn’t she answered? What was up with Jay’s parents? What was she hiding? How important was it?

He thought about going after her and asking again, but… was that really his place? No—no—he was the team leader now, he officially outranked her, so it would be fine. But… he didn’t necessarily like the idea of forcing an answer out of her…

He sighed. That certainly hadn’t been the conversation he had been hoping for.

Doh! No! He hadn’t been hoping for anything!

No more crushing on Ann! He was done with that!

So… why was he still watching her leave…?

*

Ann yawned as she walked back to bed, swiping at her nose once or twice. It felt good to stretch her legs and get some fresh air… and though it was strange to admit, it had been nice talking with Cole. He always seemed to be around these days, and she couldn’t figure out (or rather, didn’t want to guess) why. Maybe it was just his personality. Kai and Jay both had their grievances with her, so they butted heads and argued, but Cole was good-natured and tended to be the first person to talk to individual team members. He’d done so with both Jay and Kai and herself in the past. She supposed he was just nice like that.

She did feel a touch embarrassed though. She hadn’t expected herself to defend his dancing quite so… intensely. It had just sort of slipped out. Perhaps it came from some of her own insecurities. Not very many people understood her ninja training, or gave it the credit she thought it deserved. They had no idea how hard she worked and no appreciation for how much she had sacrificed to pursue it. But it mattered. It mattered to her, and if ballet mattered to Cole, then… it matter to her too.

If only Ann could remember what had happened on the night she was rescued. She’d tried a few times to clear her memory, but it was just too disturbing. The feelings those garbled memories evoked were anything but pleasant, or coherent for that matter.

Plus, there was that one… particular… memory. The one where… well, the one that might be a dream, but… the one where Cole… kissed her.

GAH!!! Even thinking about it made her feel all kinds of weird ways!

Nope! Nope! Nope! She was determined to burn that image from her mind forever! Any time it popped up, it made her chest feel tight and her heart beat fast and her stomach squirm and—she just really didn’t like feeling that way.

Anyway… She would continue to do what she had been doing all along: supporting her team, being there for her sister, and… letting Nya be there for her too. She still didn’t like it, but for whatever absurd reason, Keaton liked Nya and liked spending time with her, so she choked back her pride and let her sister enjoy herself. Someone around here might as well.

Ann was stepping inside the captain’s quarters now—Keaton and Nya laying in their hammocks—when something… weird happened. It started the moment she entered the room and her head began to feel dizzy. But that was nothing new, she’d been feeling dizzy all week. Now, though, the feeling had swelled so much that when she took her next step, it was as though she’d lost her sea legs completely. Her balance deserted her and sent her wobbling around the room, desperately grabbing at anything her hands could reach before she fell.

Then it got worse.

At first, it appeared as a small dot of white light in the center of her vision, but then, the image grew. Before long, all she could see was this vivid daydream—a vision of a sandy, ruined city. The ground was cracking beneath her feet, revealing a pair of giant red eyes from the darkness below. Whenever she looked at it, a chill ran through her body.

“Ann? Please, wake up!”

She blinked over and over again as the image cleared away.

Where was she? Who was calling her name?

Little by little, the wooden interior of the Destiny’s Bounty became clear, as did the three terrified faces looking down at her. First, there was Keaton, looking pale as she tried to talk to her again.

“Ann-Ji! Say something!”

“Ngh… I’m fine,” she answered, a little shaky.

Then there was Nya, sighing with relief.

Finally, there was Cole, who was holding her head up.

“What happened?” Ann asked, feeling her heart-rate going up a bit. “Why’s everyone in here?” And why was Cole holding her?

“You passed out,” he answered. She could feel his large hand cupping the back of her head and suddenly that horrible, horrible, horrible memory came back to her. She’d felt his hand touching the side of her head then, too.

“AHEM,” she cleared her throat as she sat up, not looking in Cole’s direction.

“You were really freaking my out,” said Keaton, trying to calm herself down. “Your eyes were open and you were breathing, but you just fell over and you wouldn’t say anything, and—and—“

“Shh—Keaton—Keaton,” Ann moved over and held her little sister close. “I’m fine. I promise, I’m fine. Breathe.”

To her credit, Keaton’s panic did subside the longer Ann hugged her, but that fear never truly left her eyes.

“Have you been drinking enough water? Eating enough food?” Cole suddenly asked.

Ann pulled away just a bit so that she could look at him properly, telling herself to force the memory out of her mind. This was serious. “Yes, always.”

“So, it was just your flu?” Nya asked with a sniff. “I mean, I’ve definitely felt like I was gonna faint a few times—this is some nasty stuff.”

“No…” Ann stared at the floor as she stroked Keaton’s arm, feeling her still-heightened pulse. “This was something else.”

“What?” Cole pressed.

She grimaced. “You’ll think I’m crazy.”

“Not any more than usual,” said Nya. “Tell us.”

Ann thought about what she had seen. Had it been real? Had it been another one of those visions? It had been a while since the last one… but if that was a glimpse of the future, then…

“Do you believe in visions?” She suddenly asked. “Because I think I just had one, and you’re not gonna like what I saw.”