Roots of Earth ~ A Ninjago Fanfiction

Chapter 60: The Ninjas' First Lesson

"Now, let's see... how to do this..." Matilda muttered to herself, then gesticulated gruffly at the teenagers. "All right, you lot. Stand in a circle, around me... Yes, like that. Zane, help Cole get in place. That's it."

Cole, Zane, Lloyd, Nya, and Liana quickly stepped into place, forming a loose ring around Matilda. The older woman placed her hands on her hips and inspected her new students. "Hm. Congratulations. You can make a circle. Heh."

Matilda grinned—increasing Lloyd's unease—and cracked her knuckles. "Right, then. First thing we're going to do is I'm going to let you feel what it's like to have someone in your head."

"We already know what that feels like," Nya interjected.

"You, Cole, Liana and Zane do, Miss Sleeping Beauty," Matilda retorted snidely. "But I don't think young Lloyd here has of yet had the privilege. That's why I'm going to start with him."

Lloyd swallowed.

"Now," She turned to Lloyd. "This may feel like someone is tickling your cranium with a feather duster, or even poking it with a stick. Don't try to fight me, because that's just going to make it hurt. If you start feeling dizzy or your vision gets fuzzy, tell me. If you can't talk, wave your hand at me. If you can't wave your hand, well... by that time it'll too late."

Lloyd's stomach lurched. "Wait, why wouldn't I able able to—?"

"Are you ready to begin?"

"No!"

"Too bad." Matilda stared at him intensely, abruptly switching from her lazy gaze. Lloyd blinked, wondering why she was looking at him like that.

Then something in his head twitched. Instinctively he reached his hand up to his head, then he frowned. The tickling continued, then increased into a squeezing sensation. He felt as if a bowling ball were rolling gently on his head, or if someone were pressing his head in with a paper-presser. He shook his head, as if he could jostle the weird sensation out.

Ta-da. Easy as that, Matilda chanted—but her mouth didn't open.

Oh, man... Lloyd inhaled sharply. You're in my head!

No duh. The witch gave him a sly smile. Not so bad, now, is it?

Lloyd didn't reply. She could read his mind, anyway—although he wondered if she could hear him if he didn't think anything directly toward her. Sure enough, as soon as the thought crossed his mind, Matilda replied loftily, I can hear what you're thinking, although abstract thoughts and emotions are harder to keep track off. That's like trying to catch the tide with your fingers. But goodness, anyone would think I were one of the enemy sorcerers instead of your teacher! No need to feel so antagonistic, boy.

This is just weird, Lloyd thought before he could stop himself. He really didn't like how there was someone in his head, and they could read his thoughts and emotions like a book.

Don't worry. Matilda chuckled out loud. It gets weirder.

The squeezing feeling suddenly ceased. Lloyd breathed a sigh of relief as he felt Matilda's presence melt away, and he allowed himself to relax.

"No need to look so scared," she snapped, seeing the anxious expressions on the faces of everyone else. "The boy's fine, as you can obviously see. I'll let you know when you need to be worried. Now. Your turn."

The witch was brief in letting the others feel her mind. Matilda seemed to have trouble with Zane, but he claimed to feel something in his mental programming system when she'd turned to him. When Matilda told him she would work on it with him later, seeing that he was a rather special case, Liana commented mildly, "I didn't know you could do this, Matilda."