(Ninjago) The Broken Ones

Chapter Eight: And Here's Where It All Changes

"I see," he interrupted me. "That's where a mistake is present." What? How the hell could there be a mistake in the way I wanted to train. That's how I've been doing it this whole time, it's proven to work and I didn't want to change it.

If he was going to go and tell me that I was wrong, then he could, but I wasn't going to let it get to me. I learned not to let people criticize what you do or to let it mess with you. As my dad always told me Only you can chose how you live life, and only you know what you're suppose to do. He never explained to me what it meant, He just told me that once, and never talked about it again. "I know you're trying to be helpful, but I don't agree with that. I've been doing this for a long time, and I think it's working. It's how I train, not everyone has to do it the same."

"I don't mean it doesn't work for you, I think that you've done a fine job training, but there's something that you're missing," He commented. Now I was calming down from getting a little pissed at my training style being criticized. I started to understand that he didn't see a flaw in it per say, but he sees that something is needed. That's a whole different story, I'm not doing things wrong, but something could possibly help me improve. Well, that's what I was seeing things turning out to be at the moment. "You can only get stronger with the aid of others, no one can do it alone."

"Okay, where are you going with this? Who could ever help me with training?" I questioned him. I knew that that could always help, but I didn't have anyone in my life that could help me like my dad did when he was still around. My sister was out because she was never into fighting like i was. And no one else that I knew even know about my powers, so that's out as well. What other options did I have? Even if there was any, I was oblivious to them all, because I couldn't think of anything. "I mean, if you tell me, I'd be open up to the idea of it."

"You know that I've taught and trained the ninja for the past two years, am I right?" He asked me. Of course I do, who doesn't know that? They've been on the news a lot, and being an elemental, it's really hard to miss it. I've hear about them all, especially him. He's even been interviewed once or twice, and has told them that he trained them, he was even proud of it. I'd be proud if I was him, he's trained them well, no doubt about it.

I nodded in confirmation "Yeah," I understood that he did, but what did it have to do with me and my training? If there was a way, I couldn't see it. I thought for a moment about what he could possibly mean, but my mind was still blank. "But, uh, what does it have to do with me and training? I don't see how," I admitted, hoping that he'd just give me an answer already.

Things grew silent for a second, but he finally broke it with "I think that it would help you if you let me train you," I let his words sink in, and it took a few moments for me to realize what he was getting at. Why would he ask me to do that, let him train me? I wasn't against it or anything, but where did he get this idea from? "It would be good for you, I know it will. You're a lot like your mother, and she always showed the most progress when she was working with others."

"Really?" I asked, and got a nod from him. I didn't say anything at first, because I started to wonder if he was right. Could it really help me, for him to help me? "I actually think that's a good idea, but I'm not sure. You've got the others to worry about, and you shouldn't have to deal with someone else. Heck, what would even happen? Would I come here to train or would you come to my house?" dozens of questions started to race through my mind, all with answers that were still left to be answered. I wasn't exactly sure how things would play out, I just hoped that it would all work out.

"I'd have you come here to train, there's everything you could possibly need to train here," He told me. It was true, they had just about any weapon you could think of, and the training area was nice. "I'm not exactly sure how the others would feel about it, but you can train with them. As well as training with others, training with fellow Elemental Masters is great. It's easy to make connections and should be easier."

"That would be nice," I admitted. It actually would be, I could see it really helping me, if what he was true. But what would the others think? Yeah, we were all elementals, but that didn't necessarily meant that they'd agree to it. There was no guarantee that they'd be open up to letting me train with them, so how would things end? "But would they be open up to it? I don't want to come in and not be accepted by them. I'd feel bad for intruding on their territory, their training place, if I wasn't."

He got up, and walked back over to the table with his teapot, and put his cup back down. His back facing me, he said "They might need to get used to it, but I know that they will grow to accept you, I promise you that," I hoped that he was right, because I didn't want to be in the middle of the five, training, and not be accepted by them. He turned to me again, and continued "They were a little on edge about working with each other at first, but look at them now. They're a well bonded team that has grown into a family."

Before he could finish, I interrupted "Yeah, but this is different. They've been doing this for a few years, and I'm just getting here now. If I all of a sudden join in on their training, I'll be the odd one out. Like you just said: They're a well bonded team that has grown into a family. That means they're all in good with each other, while they don't even know me. How do I know that they'll actually take me in as one one their own, whether it be very soon, or a long time from now?" I'm not sure if he was seeing it, but if they were as close as he was making them to be, then it wouldn't be as easy to bond with them as they could at the formation of their team.

"I know that they will," he stopped me, making me raise an eyebrow once again "Lloyd wasn't originally on the team, he started out as their enemy, believe it or not. Then he joined them, and they didn't have that hard of a time taking them in as one of their own. It took a couple months, but they finally cracked. That was when they were still bonding. Think about it now, they're even more close than they were then, so maybe they'll take you in faster than they did with him."

I knew about that whole fiasco, Lloyd used to be on the dark side, I know from his few useless raids of jamanakai Village that my sister had told be about. Then he joined with them and hadn't done anything since. Now they're all friends, and the well bonded team that they were. Maybe he was right, but that didn't mean that I didn't still have nots in my stomach about the situation. "I'll take your word for it, Wu. And I'll take you up on your offer, so no arguments about it. It'll be an honor to train under someone who's fought by my mom's side."

"That's good to know," Wu said as I handed him my tea cup. I watched him out the set away, and turned to me and smiled "I've already thought of a good way to start your training. I picked up on how a wind elemental should train from your mother, some things I think would help you a lot."

As we started back for the others, I smiled "that's good. I can't wait to see what you have in mind." So far, things were looking okay for me, and I was happy about that.