The journey had been long, tiring, frustrating, frightening, and impactful, but Kai had a one-track-mind, and he wouldn’t be able to sleep right until he finished it. Naturally the thing that was annoying him most of all was how long this trip had taken them. If this was so important, why not just take the train? Or have Army personnel fly them out in a helicopter? And just why did they need to keep their powers secret? Kai didn’t trust Wu, not one bit. He was sure that the old man was keeping far too many secrets from them, and either he was going find out what they were, or he wasn’t going to stick around.
Nya. He needed to focus on Nya. Her safety was the only thing on his mind and it was what kept him going every day. That and Wu’s warning. Which was why he was so anxious right now. He fiddled with the reins as he and the others rode on down another long-forgotten trail through the countryside and tried to keep from exploding about how slow they were going.
They had slowly been heading south, closer and closer to Garmadon’s territory, which began to make Kai wonder if the dark lord had already captured the Sword of Fire. That despicable worm! If it turned out that that cad had indeed gotten his filthy hands on it, Kai would be unleashing his full, unbridled furry down on him and all of the dark creatures in his company. It didn’t matter if he was supposedly the “incarnation of evil itself,” or the wielder of destruction. Nothing was going to stop Kai from getting Nya and his parents back. Nothing.
“Bathroom break!” Jay cried.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Kai yelled. “Again?!”
“What can I say? I think my bladder was just about the only thing that didn’t grow,” Jay replied.
Everyone sighed in frustration as Jay clumsily slid from his and Ann’s horse and ducked behind a few nearby boulders. They were standing next to a large field of wheat on their right, and a steep hill to their left. It was a spot Kai remembered visiting when he was very little, before the war. Now the field was twice as big and being worked twice as hard. Nothing strips land bare quite like war, Kai noted.
“Jay, hurry up! I thought you said your bladder was tiny!” Kai yelled, feeling like the war might be over before Jay was done.
“It is!” Jay yelled back.
“Then how can you possibly pee that much?” Kai retorted.
“Kai, enough,” said Wu, firmly but gently. “If you’re going to have patience with important things you must first learn patience with small things.”
Kai frowned and resisted the urge to make a snarky reply. Wasn’t he already being patient? Hadn’t he willingly let himself get dragged along for weeks to retrieve the three other weapons? He was patient. Wu was probably just annoyed with him and wanted quiet.
After a few seconds they were moving again, but as the day wore on, Kai was beginning to feel as though his suspicions about the weapon being in Garmadon’s territory were correct. By nightfall they were still going, and the boarder was getting dangerously close.
“We camp here for the night,” said Wu firmly as they stood in a large field surrounded by a handful of scattered trees.
“Sensei,” Kai called, jumping off of his horse and running up to the old master while everyone else stretched their sore bodies and began unpacking. Wu turned to look at him with a worried sort of look. “Sensei, how much farther?”
Wu sighed, knowing exactly what kind of conversation lay in wait for him. “The journey will be only one more day. Yes, we will be heading over the boarder,” said Wu, before Kai could even open his mouth. “Yes, I am afraid that the sword may very well be in Garmadon’s hands. But rest assured that I do have a plan.”
“Really?” Kai folded his arms sceptically.
“Do not question your Sensei, young one. Now go and help your brothers and sisters unpack,” Wu said sternly.
“We may all be training under you, Sensei, but they are not my brothers,” Kai said in a low, stern sort of way, then walked away angrily. He kept on walking, past the others and the bags and horses, out into the open field. He didn’t need to unpack right now, he could do that later. Besides, he wanted to be alone.
“Brothers.... pfft,” he muttered, stomping in the grass. “We barely even know each other.” He stopped and looked up at the fading sun and remembered many summer evenings like this, where he and his father would be out on the porch roasting pork on the grill while his mother and Nya were inside preparing fresh watermelon. Afterwards he and Nya would play tag, or tease each other, or both, and then they would all have dinner together outdoors and watch the fireflies. All he wanted was to have his family back—his real family—so that they could continue to make those memories. He had to remain strong for them, and he couldn’t get distracted, even if his heart ached.
Suddenly his eye caught something dark moving among the tall grass and he did a double take, but the moment he blinked it was gone. He began walking over to where he thought he had seen it when he was stopped by a voice.
“Kai,” said Ann somewhere behind him. “You’ve been out here far too long, and dinner’s ready.”
Kai locked his jaw in defiance and refused to acknowledge her existence.
“Kai,” Ann warned. “Back to camp now, or face disciplinary action.”
He turned sharply and glared at her. She glared back. Eventually Kai relented.
“Okay, fine, Snape,” he muttered.
“Excuse me?” Ann replied, clearly more confused than insulted.
“Snape,” Kai replied. Ann stared blankly. “You don’t get out much, do you?” he asked as they started walking.
“No, every elite ninja warrior trained since childhood is exposed to pop culture.” She looked away from him as she said it, bitterly and sarcastically.
Kai didn’t know how to respond, and frankly he didn’t want to, so they were silent until they were back at camp, the moon shining down around them all.
“Ah, Kai, Ann, there you are,” said Wu as the two of them sat down among the others. “We must discuss our plans. Just beyond this field lies the border of our territory, meaning that, should we attempt to retrieve the Sword of Fire, we will be in far greater danger than in previous battles. The squadrons we’ve fought thus far have been small, covert groups which have been ludicrously successful in sneaking over our boarders. From here on in, it will be too dangerous to involve most of you.”
“What?!” The boys all cried.
“Only Zane, Ann, and Kai may accompany me further,” Wu continued.
“But Sensei,” Cole began.
“No ‘buts,’ Cole,” said Wu. “You, Jay and Keaton will begin heading back in the morning to a safe place and await our return. The rest of us will carry on until we reach the Temple of Fire.”
“And what if Garmadon already has the weapon?” Kai asked sullenly.
“Then I am afraid that we may need to think of a new plan.” Wu’s head hung low and he stoked the newborn fire in front of him.
Kai clenched his jaw in defiance. That wasn’t good enough. “Why can’t we just use the other three Golden Weapons?”
“Because they are too powerful,” answered Wu. He looked up at the young boy harshly. “I know what you’re thinking, but it will not work. Patience is the only key to victory.”
“Well what if you miss your chance because you had your eyes shut tight waiting?” Kai challenged, narrowing his eyes.
“A fool has no problems save the ones he brings upon himself.”
Kai didn’t dare say another word, but he looked on indignantly. Once again he could see the wisdom of Sensei Wu’s words, but he didn’t want to hear them. Nor did he hear another word that was spoken that night. He was determined to tune out every word, every sentence, and substituted it for his own inner dialogue which was far more harsh.
Later, when everyone had gone to sleep and then boys were all laying quietly on their sleeping mats, Kai heard Jay tossing and turning violently next to him.
“What do you guys think Lord Garmadon is like?” Jay suddenly asked.
“I don’t know, shut up and go to sleep,” Kai muttered.
Jay sighed. “I can’t! Do you think he’s really as bad as everyone makes him sound? Like, does he really use the bones of his victims as robes?”
“It’s probably just propaganda, Jay,” Cole said groggily. “Go back to sleep.”
“…do you think his skin really is the color of heartlessness?”
“Jay!” Kai whisper cried.
“Sorry, sorry, it’s just that we are literally on the boarder of the territory belonging to the most evil guy on the planet! Doesn’t that make you a little uneasy?” Jay asked.
Kai thought about it for a minute, and for once the weight that Garmadon’s name carried hit him like a wet pillow, but he quickly shrugged it off. No one, not even Lord Garmadon was going to stop him, so there was no use worrying about it.
For a while there was silence.
“…do you think he really has fangs?”
“Oh my gosh, Jay!” Kai nearly cried. He was finally awake now and couldn’t take much more of this endless jabbering, so he scooped up his blanket to protect him from the chilly night air and went for a walk. The yellow-green grass bent and rustled under his feet as he walked and a stiff breeze sprang up around him the farther he went. At one point, he stopped and looked around. This was the place where he had seen the strange silhouette earlier, he realised. There was nothing around nearby except a lone white oak tree that rustled angrily against the wind. Between the noises of the tree and the grass, Kai thought that perhaps he could hear something moving past what he could see. But when the darkness proved too thick, and the moonlight proved too pale, he lifted a hand from under his blanket and attempted to light a small flame. Once the flame, which was surprisingly easy to conjure, began to peel back the blackness Kai received quite the start when part of that blackness still remained in the shape of a man five feet in front of him. Kai took a step back and his flame grew larger and wilder.
“Who are you?” he demanded to know. The cloaked figure only stared at him.
“I am but a humble messenger,” the stranger replied in a raspy whisper. When he breathed in it sounded gravely and sent chills up Kai’s spine despite his warm flame still flapping in the breeze.
“What’s your message?” Kai asked, somewhat intrigued but still very defensive.
“Hold your horses, I’m getting to it!” The figure retorted angrily. He breathed in dramatically again. “Lord Garmadon wishes to meet with you at the Temple of Fire tonight. Bring the Golden Weapons or don’t come at all, and in exchange… he’s willing to give you back your family. Come alone. Be there or be sqaaaaaare…..” And as he spoke, the wind seemed to carry him away like smoke.
Despite the fact that the messenger was clearly a simpleton, Kai was most assuredly shaken after this encounter and he stood there in the field for a long time. He should have been more careful with his words. Was he truly willing to do anything to get his family back? Including betray his friends, his Sensei, and his country? New thoughts started to come to him; thoughts that made him sick and want to forget all about the meeting with the messenger. But now it was too late to forget.
He turned back to the camp and the wind picked up again, hiding his footsteps as he drew closer. Was he seriously considering this?
The Golden Weapons sat where they always did: glued to Jay, Zane, and Cole. They carried them all day and slept with them at night to ensure that they would never lose track of them. The blankets they were wrapped in blocked out all light emanating from the golden masterpieces, but Kai knew they were there; silently taunting him.
He sat down in the grass and quickly sorted through his options. On one hand he could follow Wu into the hands of an enemy who already knew they were here—they were waiting for them—and most likely never get even close to the sword of fire, and on the other hand he could steal the other weapons, give them to Lord Garmadon, and save his own skin while everyone else suffered for his actions. Neither one seemed desirable in the slightest. He could go to Wu and tell him about the messenger and how Garmadon knew they were coming—by all accounts he should—but the offer the King of Darkness was making was so tempting. Realistically, though, he should expect some form of double-cross anyway, but this was potentially the only way he was ever going to get close to the Sword. He finally made up his mind, but he wasn’t going in without a plan.
Covered by the sound of the wind, Kai patiently waited for his companions to fall fast asleep and then, at perhaps one in the morning, he quietly and very carefully lifted the Nunchucks, Daggers, and Scythe away from their owners and strapped them onto his back. Now he needed to consider his horse, Thunder. Jay had attempted this, but what the foolish Master of Lightning did not know was that the sound of Butterscotch taking off in the middle of the night had, in fact, woken up Wu, and they had been on Jay’s tail for most of the night. A horse would greatly enhance his chances of making a clean getaway, but if that night was an indicator of anything, he better not risk waking anyone up.
Kai stepped backward into the darkness, weapons strapped tightly to his back, and watched his friends sleep peacefully in the firelight. This was crazy. This was insane. But this was the only way. He turned and started walking south, toward his home, toward his family, and toward certain catastrophe.
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