The Master of Nature

The Green Ninja

Hope would be lying if she said that she didn't feel uncomfortable living under the same roof as Lord Garmadon. She didn't like watching him eat condensed evil for dinner. She felt nervous when she saw him sunbathing during a thunderstorm. And once when she was doing her business in the bathroom, Garmadon barged in, causing her to scream.

"Hey! I need my privacy!"

Garmadon looked like he wanted to argue, but then his eyes fell on the pad in her hands and decided to retreat, clearly not comfortable with what Hope was doing.

Still, Hope couldn't get too mad at Garmadon. His son was in danger, after all. And from what she knew about him so far, it seemed that Garmadon genuinely cared about Lloyd. Hope still haven't forgotten the pain she had experienced when she was separated from her biological parents.

A few days later, Hope was trying to make a seed grow into a plant using her mind when Nya came inside the room. "Hope, your new gi is here. Sensei wants you to try it on."

"Oh, that's nice," said Hope. She sighed. "I'm not really making progress here."

Nya looked at the seed, which was now a seedling. "Maybe you need a break," she said.

Hope agreed. She was mentally exhausted from trying to make the plant grow. She changed into her new robes.

They were similar to the other ninjas', just lavender in colour. Hope always wore pastel colours, so she thought that it was nice. It felt more comfortable than she had expected.

"Thanks Sensei," she said to Wu. "I like it."

"Actually, there's another matter I would like to discuss with you and Nya," said Wu.

To Hope's surprise, he brought her and Nya to the Golden Weapons. She had never been allowed to touch them before, so she wondered why she was being brought to them now.

"Hope, do you know about the Green Ninja prophecy?" asked Wu.

"I have heard the others discussing it," said Hope. "Apparently one ninja will rise up above the others and potentially be able to defeat the Dark Lord."

"Indeed," said Wu. "It was foolish of me to think that a girl could not be the destined Green Ninja. When the four weapons are laid out before the destined one, the weapons will react, revealing the identity of the Green Ninja."

Hope looked at the Golden Weapons. She was surprised that Wu would consider her as the Green Ninja. But then she shook her head.

No, that was unfathomable. Hope couldn't possibly be the Green Ninja. Besides, she didn't want to be the Green Ninja.

"Sorry Sensei," said Hope. "But I can't see myself as the most powerful ninja in the world."

"And I'm happy being a Samurai," said Nya.

Fortunately, Wu seemed to accept their decisions. To Hope's surprise, she found out that Kai was watching them the entire time. He was relieved when he learnt that neither Hope nor Nya had wanted to be the Green Ninja.

Just then, Jay said, "Kai, you were supposed to be in the bridge. Zane's Falcon spotted them."

"Spotted who?" asked Hope.

~🌷~🌷~🌷~🌷~🌷~🌷~🌷~🌷~🌷~🌷~

"Lloyd is a little boy?" asked Hope.

Zane's falcon had spotted the Serpentine heading towards the Temple of Fire. With them was a small blond boy wearing a black hoodie. He seemed sad.

"Er... Yes," said Jay. "Why are you so shocked?"

"I don't know. I had expected someone close to your age. Or at least a few years younger. I didn't realize that the Serpentine was keeping a helpless small child with them! How old is he, eight?"

"He's ten years old," said Zane. "But circumstances may have stunted his growth."

"I'm sorry, but he must be so terrified! I know how I would feel, if I was a child and was a prisoner of the Serpentine!"

"Hope, it's best if you stay behind," said Cole. "You're not trained yet. It might be dangerous for you."

Hope groaned, but was secretly relieved to be staying behind. The temple terrified her.

She stayed close to Nya, who communicated with the boys using Zane's falcon. "What if they don't make it?" Hope whispered.

"They have to," said Nya. She sounded as terrified as Hope felt.

It felt like ages before there was any sign of the boys. Hope kept fingering with her new robes. She felt so nervous.

Suddenly, she heard Garmadon calling for Lloyd. She saw the ninja practically dragging him to the Bounty. "Where's Kai?" she asked.

As the Bounty started to rise, the volcano exploded. "Kai!" yelled Nya.

"Son," said Garmadon.

Then it happened. A ball of fire appeared and shot out of the volcano. It was revealed to be Kai carrying Lloyd.

"It's Kai! He's found his True Potential!" said Jay.

Later, Lloyd was reunited with his father. "Dad? Is it really you?" he asked.

"It is, son," said Garmadon.

"Dad, why do you have four arms?" asked Lloyd.

"He's gonna be okay," announced Cole.

"Thank you, Kai," said Garmadon.

Lloyd suddenly noticed the female ninja. "Who are you?" he asked in surprise.

"Hi Lloyd," said Hope. "I'm Hope Mason. It's nice to meet you."

Zane asked Kai how he had unlocked his full potential. Kai answered, " I knew when I had to make a choice. I wanted the Fangblade so badly, to prove I was good enough to become the Green Ninja. But then I figured it out. All of my training to become the best ninja wasn't in preparation to become the Green Ninja. It was... to protect him." He looked at Lloyd when he said that. Hope gasped, understanding what he had meant.

Somehow everyone knew. Everyone except for Lloyd. "What? What is everybody looking at me for?"

Without another word, everyone placed the Golden Weapons in front of Lloyd . A green glow surrounded him. This only meant one thing.

"Lloyd is the Green Ninja," said Wu.

Hope gasped. Out of all the people in the world, the Green Ninja was a little boy?

"The battle lines have been drawn, brother," Wu said sadly. "Sadly, our family has only become more divided. Brother versus brother, and now, son versus father."

"Hehe, this is heavy and all, but whatever happened to the Fangblade?" asked Jay.