Legends of Ninjago: Book 3: The Four Fangs: Chapter 3 — Rebuilding

In the days that followed the discovery of the pirate ship, Jay had been spearheading its restoration. The first step was, obviously, to clean the disgusting thing, which took far longer than anyone had anticipated or would have liked. Every time they cleaned up one pile of droppings or clump of waste, a new section of mould would be discovered, making the operation last another hour or sometimes a whole day longer. Ann in particular was determined to scrub out every last iota of bacteria from each individual floor board, and if Zane hadn’t reasoned with her on the fifth day of her cleaning spree, she may never have relented.

Once that was finished, there was the matter of repairing the ship, starting with the missing boards and parts that they had to remove due to rot or mould. Cole and Zane were assigned to collect new wood from the nearby forest, while Jay, Nya and Kai figured out the details of how to put it all together again, with a little nautical consultation from Ann. Meanwhile, Keaton had been left with nothing much to do other than periodically search the cavern for signs of pirate treasure, which was looking less and less likely. So she had been placed on sentry duty and would stand watch outside the cave in case those police officers from a few days ago decided to show up again. So far, it would seem that they had searched their old campsite and the woods surrounding it, but nothing more. For now they could assume that they had successfully masked their trail.

That just left Wu.

While all of this had been going on, Wu found himself without any students to train, and so took to sitting alone, meditating for hours on end. Most of the kids assumed this was because he was growing increasingly stressed over the current state of things—what with his nephew still aligned with the Serpentine, bent on destroying all of Ninjago, and him mentoring seven teenagers in a cave. You know, normal stuff.

This change in atmosphere was perhaps an even bigger catalyst for the ship project than anyone realised. Having something relatively fun and engaging to work on instead of just repeating the same training routine day in and day out was a much better distraction from the looming question: what now? And how do we even begin to stop Lloyd when we don’t so much as know where he is or what he’s planning?

They had kept their portable radio from the campsite with them and listened to the news as often as they could, but day after day the only thing they heard were more reports on damage control and petty crimes happening in the local area. There weren’t even any reported sightings of a single Serpentine tail.

As Ann observed the boys hammering away at the hull of the ship one day, she couldn’t help but feel tense. Like they should be doing something more important than this right now. Something that needed their help right away. But there were no reports of any disasters, attacks, or other such calamities, so here she sat, twiddling her thumbs.

“Hey, Cole, can you bring that big board over here? No no, the BIG board. THAT one,” Jay was saying as he pointed emphatically.

“What’s wrong, Kai? Scared of a little water?” Said Nya nearby. She was standing on the thin shoreline and kicked some water in Kai’s direction.

“Knock it off,” he growled.

Ann’s legs were getting sore, so she decided to get up and see how Keaton was doing.

The wind was blowing into the caves that day, making Ann shiver and cross her arms. She could never understand how anyone could like, or even stand the cold, especially Keaton. But then again, Ann supposed that it kind of made sense for her to not mind the wind.

She stepped out of the cave and had to brace herself against the blustery gale charging in from the sea. It was accompanied by a spattering of soggy snowflakes and angry ocean waves. Ann scanned the sky and felt its sleepy, grey mass slowly making its way inland to powder everything in a blanket of white. A part of her hoped that the Serpentine hibernated in the winter.

“Keaton?” She called out, swivelling around. The shoreline was nothing but rocks getting beaten by the salty water, so she looked up at the cliffs and forest. “Keaton? Are you out here?” When no one answered, she suddenly became worried. Were the police back? Was it the Serpentine? Were they already surrounded? What were their options? She could reasonably defend the cave with all this ocean at her disposal, but what if there was another way in that she didn’t know about and all her friends were already getting ambushed and they were all about to die horrible deaths—

“Ann? What’s wrong?”

Ann jolted and looked up at Keaton, squatting high above the cave entrance. Her hair and clothes seemed a little wet, but she was otherwise fine.

“Keaton, there you are—thank goodness,” she said, taking a breath.

“Did something happen?” Keaton’s brow was beginning to furrow.

“No, no,” said Ann, “Everything’s fine, I just wanted to check on you.”

“Oh.” Keaton stood up straight and cast her gaze out across the water.

“So.. are you?”

“Am I what?”

“Okay?” Ann clarified.

“I’m fine.”

“Oh.”

The two girls stood there for a little while longer, neither one entirely sure what to do or say. The snow was beginning to come down harder now, forcing Ann to blink through it.

“Keaton?” She asked hesitantly.

“What is it?”

She had to fight to find the right words, but they were still struggling against her. “I… can’t help but notice… I guess… I wonder…”

“Look, Ann, I told you I’m fine,” Keaton said firmly, “Now go back inside before you freeze.” She turned and started walking away.

“What happened?” The words were out of Ann’s mouth like a flock of birds and it made Keaton stop. “You’ve been avoiding me. Why? What did I do?” Keaton kept her back facing toward her. “Please, Keaton, I need to know. Was it… was it something that happened while I was kidnapped?”

Very slowly, and with a very neutral expression, Keaton turned around and said, “Everything’s fine, Ann. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to my patrol.”

She disappeared beyond Ann’s line of sight, and into the forest.

Part of Ann wanted to believe her sister and carry on as usual, but the other part of her stood there watching the place where Keaton had been standing, replaying what she had said in her mind. The way she had said it… somehow it didn’t sound like Keaton.

Eventually Ann wandered back inside, unable to bear the cold any longer. She rubbed her nose as she came up to their makeshift camp and sat down on her sleeping bag.

This was what she had always wanted, wasn’t it? A more responsible Keaton. So why did it feel like something was wrong?

She rested her head on her knees and closed her eyes, trying to think.

“Hey, have you seen Wu?” Jay asked, coming up beside her.

“He’s—“ Ann stopped when she opened her eyes because when she looked up to face him, there was no one there. She craned her neck around, but Jay simply wasn’t in the room. “Jay?” She asked, feeling herself frown.

“Yes?”

She turned around and saw him coming down the tunnel from the pirate cove.

“Jay, there you are,” she said, relieved.

“Oh, were you looking for me?” He asked.

“No, I thought you… never mind,” she said quickly, and she shook her head. It must have been her imagination. Maybe she had started to drift off to sleep or something.

“Okay,” said Jay casually. “Hey, have you seen Wu?”

Ann stared at him. It was word-for-word, tone-for-tone exactly what she had just heard a moment before. “Um… if he’s not meditating, then he might be in the…”

“‘Restroom?’” Jay finished.

“Yeah.”

He turned around and started for another tunnel, meanwhile Ann frowned at the ground. That was so uncanny. It almost reminded her of another similar incident. The memory was blurry, but she was used to that by now, and in it she had been fighting with Cole. There had been a moment when she was positive that she had made a wrong move and was going to die, only to blink and suddenly have a second chance to course-correct. It had also been an uncanny moment, and certainly one that she hadn’t thought of since its occurrence.

If Jay hadn’t really spoken at first—and she was fairly sure that he hadn’t—then did that mean she hadn’t made an error in the fight with Cole? Had she imagined it like she had imagined Jay speaking? And yet her imaginations had come true, almost as if… almost as if they were glimpses of the future.

* * *

They had entered a deep burrow; one that was far from prying eyes and intrusive machinery. It was unbearably warm and mildly claustrophobic in the dark tunnels. Somewhere far away, voices were laughing and cheering. Here, it was quiet. The only quiet place.

The boy was sitting in a corner, hugging his knees and biting down on his lower lip. He wanted it to stop. He wanted to sleep. He wanted to rest. He wanted to be normal. But it didn’t stop, he could not sleep, nor could he rest, and he certainly could never be normal. His fate had been sealed forever.

Warm tears brimmed his eyes as he began to rock back and forth, as if cradling the pain, trying to lull it to sleep. This hadn’t been the plan. He was supposed to be ruler of Ninjago by now. He was supposed to—to—to… something. He didn’t know anymore. All he did know was the pain. The never ending pain.

Oh, to be held again in loving arms. To have a warm meal and a bed to sleep in and a kiss planted on his forehead before he fell asleep. To be safe again. He craved these things now more than ever. He wanted only some small scrap of love to touch him and break him out of these chains of despairing loneliness. Perhaps if he hadn’t been so rash… perhaps if he’d stayed with his mother…

His mother…

He remembered her kind face and gentle touch. Her weathered hands and soft hair. But then he remembered the neglect and the loneliness and was repulsed by it. There had been no real love there.

Then his thoughts drifted to the only other person in this whole entire world who had ever shown him kindness.

Suddenly, Wu’s face entered his mind clear as crystal. Lloyd tried to look away, but found it rather difficult to do.

“Wu…” he mumbled.

“…Lloyd…” he mumbled back.

“Wu?” Lloyd said again, sitting up, but the image suddenly faded away. “No, don’t leave!” He cried out, trying to find him again.

“Leave? Why, I only just got here.”

Lloyd turned, but he didn’t need to to know who it was. His forked tongue, which often flicked involuntarily, could smell his peculiar stench.

“Pythor,” he said curtly. “What do you want?”

“I brought you your supper, dear boy,” he replied politely, setting a crude plate of roasted mutton beside him. “How are you feeling?”

“Like you care,” Lloyd spat, and he turned himself toward the wall, resting his face against the cool rock.

“Why should I not?” The snake replied. “I have no reason to dislike you.”

“I’m a human,” Lloyd reminded him

“And who told you that?”

Lloyd frowned and gave him a look.

“My dear boy, you are so much more than human,” Pythor went on. “You possess power that no mere human could ever dream of. Besides, your new scales are coming along quite nicely.”

“I’m hideous-s-s!” Lloyd shrieked, and as his tongue caught on the final “s” he shoved his hand over his mouth to smother the horrible sound.

“Only if you believe that you are.” He leaned in close enough for Lloyd to feel his breath on his ear. “With the right attitude… you can be whatever you wish to be…” Just before he left, he turned back and added, “Think about it, my boy.”

Lloyd sat there holding himself for a long time. What was that crazy snake even talking about? Like he could pretend for even a moment that he wasn’t anything less than a monster… right? He was a monster, right? If he went above ground, the people there would call him just that. And maybe… maybe Wu would too. He would. He absolutely would. Even his mother might not recognise him. He couldn’t go back home, it was impossible now. It would never be possible again. This was just the way things were now.

He stared at the mutton and licked his lips. The animal part of him which was slowly growing urged him to eat and maintain what strength he had left. As he took it and ripped off a blackened piece of it, he repeated Pythor’s line in his head.

“I’m hideous only if I believe that I am…”

The words were strangely comforting. Perhaps it was just about perception. After all, Lloyd had been the one wronged. He was no monster, he was the victim. It was those ninja and Ninjago who were truly to blame. They were the villains. Always ruining his plans and coming after him. They were the real monsters.

He kept chomping down on the meat, letting the juices run down his neck.

Those monsters would pay for all the evil they had done, and he would get all that he rightfully deserved. He may even find himself with allies who truly cared about him more than anyone else ever had. One such purple, scaly person came to mind.

* * *

Wu had come to dinner that night looking more distressed than usual, and that was saying something. He already had a permanently wrinkled forehead from all the frowning that he did on a regular basis. Tonight, however, somehow it seemed a thousand times deeper. But, as he hadn’t said anything all evening, it probably wasn’t something to worry about, right?

Jay cleared his throat as the rations were being passed around. “Ahem, so! The ship has been thoroughly cleaned, and the bulk of repairs have been made. I think that we can officially move in tonight.” There were a few nods of approval as well as an, “alright” thrown in, but the atmosphere in the room was still largely being dominated by Wu’s unsettling frown.

“I hope it’s actually warm in the bunk room,” said Nya as she took a bite of food.

“With how small it is, I’d be surprised if it wasn’t,” Kai mused.

Just as Jay’s mind began to wander toward the image of him and Nya sleeping relatively near to each other in the same room, Wu spoke up.

“Young ones,” he began in a very stoic manner, “I have some important news. As you know, I have been meditating heavily these past days… I’ve been deeply troubled by a dark feeling… a feeling that I have sought out and unmasked. I believe that… my nephew may be in greater trouble than I first realised.”

“How do you know?” Nya asked politely.

Wu took a breath. “It is a technique that my father showed me, long ago. Through meditation, there are things which I am able to see… and what I have seen tonight… it requires immediate action.”

“What do we need to do?” Cole asked, a confident expression on his face.

“You and the others will stay here—out of sight.” Wu gave a particularly pointed look at Kai just then. “I will be embarking on a journey to find… an old friend.”

“How long will you be away, Sensei?” Said Zane.

“It is difficult to say. A week, perhaps more.”

“And we’re just supposed to sit here and do nothing while we wait for you to get back with this ‘friend?’” Kai asked.

“Of course not,” said Wu, shaking his head. “You will be going over your training drills every day that I am gone. Ann will supervise you and will report back to me when I return.”

Everyone scowled in Kai’s direction.

“Sensei,” Keaton spoke up. “Are you sure about this?”

“I am. I have faith in each of your abilities. I know that you will keep each other safe.” He looked at each of them in turn and gave them a reassuring smile.

“And what will we do when you come back?” Ann asked.

“When I return, we will go out and search for Lloyd, if he and the Serpentine have not already revealed themselves by then. So again, I urge you: train. Prepare yourselves for the coming battle.”

“But we know all of that stuff already!” Kai blurted, more annoyed than anything else. “Why do we need to keep doing the same exact things over and over again?”

“I advise caution, young Kai. Pride comes before a fall,” said Wu in a more serious tone. “You will continue to master the basics until you can do them in your sleep. Then, and only then will you advance in your training. Do you understand?”

Kai sighed and muttered, “Yes, Sensei.”

Then Wu rose to his feet, gathering his sleeping bag in the process.

“I will turn in early for the night. Jay, is the captain’s quarters fit for habitation again?”

“Uh, yeah, it should be,” he said, barely remembering.

“Alright then. Good-night.”

“Good-night,” they called after him as he walked down the tunnel.

Only after they were sure that he was out of earshot did Kai speak up. “Sooo,” he started.

“Don’t even think about it,” said Cole, flatly.

“Oh, come on! You don’t even know what I was going to say.”

“Hmm, let me think…” Cole pretended to wonder.

“Let’s go sneaking behind Wu’s back for the hundredth time?” Jay offered.

“Let’s almost get ourselves killed for the hundredth time!” Nya said with a false smile.

“Or kidnapped,” said Zane.

“Or—“

“Okay, I get it!” Kai snapped, and he folded his arms in a huff.

“No one is running off on my watch,” said Ann carefully. “We’ve got enough to worry about already, we don’t need another one of your escapades.”

Kai rolled his eyes. “If you all want to just sit around and do nothing, then fine by me!” He threw his hands in the air and he almost looked like he was about to storm off, but to Jay’s surprise, he stayed and glared at the fire pit.

“I wonder who this friend of Wu’s is,” said Nya after a while. “He must be a pretty skilled warrior if Wu thinks he’ll be able to help us. Keaton, do you know who it might be?”

Ann threw Nya an odd look before Keaton said, “I have no idea. He never really had a lot of friends, at least that we knew of.”

In the silence that followed, they could clearly hear the winter wind howling outside, blowing in fresh sheets of snow. It wasn’t long before they were all migrating to their new beds in the pirate ship, tucked safely away in the dark cove. As they were setting down their sleeping bags, though, Keaton spoke up.

“Hey guys,” she said, “You’ve met Lloyd, right?” After a few nods she continued. “What’s he like?”

“Well, for one thing, he’s got a bigger temper than Kai, which is saying something,” Cole quipped, and a second later a pillow flew into his face.

“He’s a class-A punk, that’s what he is,” said Kai, and Jay took note of the scar across his eye which still hadn’t healed. “He wants to be like his dad, or something, I guess.”

“I can’t even imagine what it’s like having Garmadon for a father,” Keaton shivered. “Do you think if things had been different for him—if his dad wasn’t pure evil—do you think that he’d be on our side?”

“I mean, maybe,” said Jay absentmindedly. “But what’s the point in wondering? It’s not like he’s gonna magically change overnight.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Keaton said, pulling up her blanket. “It’s still a shame, though.”

“Alright, we’ve got training in the morning. Go to sleep,” said Ann in her usual bossy tone.

“Yes, mom,” Kai blurted.

“Excuse you?” Said Ann, sitting up.

“Well you’re acting like it.”

“You just can’t stand being told what to do, can you?”

“Well you’ve always got to get the last word in, don’t you?”

“No, you always try to—“

“Go to sleep!” Came a voice from the captain’s quarters. A rather annoyed and tired voice. Immediately the fighting stopped and everyone grumpily shoved themselves into their sleeping bags. This was going to be a long few weeks.