Black with a Hint of Silver [ 1 ] | Lloyd Garmadon

01 | ONE

1 | DANCE LESSONS

IN A CERTAIN HOME IN JAMANAKAI VILLAGE, A YOUNG SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD GIRL WAS EXPLOITING HER SKILLS HSE HAD PERFECTED MONTHS AGO AT A PRESTIGIOUS SCHOOL OF DANCE - ONE THAT HER BROTHER HAD DROPPED OUT OF YEARS PRIOR. It had been three months since she graduated and became a true performer, and following in the steps her father wished for her, she was becoming a dance coach, hoping to claim a title for herself.

As she watched a seven-year-old try to turn with the help of the barre, the girl reminisced back to when she was fifteen and her brother had come home from where he was supposedly studying. She remembered the days quite well because, in those forty-eight hours, she had discovered her brother had truly and honestly become a ninja and not a dancer. He had lied for two years, making her and her father think that Cole Brookstone was a seventeen-year-old preparing for graduation. But he was really that of an earth ninja. Now his sister had taken his place and was the same age, yet according to her father, following down a safe path that would set her future in stone.

She wasn't sure how she felt about it, yet. She was still trying to figure out who she was, and she didn't see herself as a dance instructor, her father did.

Disrupting her thoughts, the small child let go of the barre and stared at the clock, "I think our lesson is done," she told the brunette who snapped back to reality and smiled. "I think you may be right. I'll see you next week, yeah?" she asked, opening the screen door and allowing the girl to fetch her belongings. The small black-haired girl nodded frantically before sprinting outside to run along home.

The teenager let out a sigh before wandering into the kitchen where a note lay open on the counter, strange font scribbled on the paper. The girl picked up the note for the seventh time of the afternoon and read over the script, her eyes narrowing in confusion. She had received the note four days earlier, and she couldn't find a way to mention it to her dad. It wasn't something you bring into a casual conversation.

The letter, or whatever you can honestly call it, seemed like a threat. The girl wasn't sure what to make of it, and she needed help. But more specifically, she needed her brother's help, because whatever this was, she couldn't go it alone. It was similar to that of a declaration.

There was no signature but the note was evidently clear that someone or something was coming to brand Ninjago. She wasn't sure why such a letter would be delivered to her doorstep with her name addressed on the front, and the fact that it was written in scrappy handwriting and basically explained that a new motion was coming into Ninjago and nothing would be able to halt it, scared the girl even more.

•••

The phone was ringing inside the tea shop that the ninja had recently proclaimed as their new base, and no one made the effort to answer it. It continued to blare in the early dawn of the morning and before Kai threw a pillow at Cole to get up and answer it, no one moved. "Cole, you're the leader, you answer the phone!" Jay shouted from the bottom bunk.

Shuffling was heard around the bed beside Jay's and Cole swung his legs over the side, making it his mission to snag Jay's blanket off of him before he left the room. "Hey!" Jay called as Cole left the room, the blanket in hand.

The lightning ninja made no move to get up and instead curled into a ball to keep warm while Cole stepped into the kitchen to grab the phone. With the blanket in hand, Cole opened the window in the kitchen and tossed the blanket outside, then finally pressing the answer button to see who was calling at five in the morning on their day off.

"This is Sensei Wu's tea shop, how may I be of assistance?" he grumbled into the speaker, a yawn interrupting his sentence. "That's no way to greet your father, Cole," the person on the other end said.

Cole sighed and sat down at the picnic table, "Hey, dad, how've you been?"

"Very well, thank you. But I didn't call for me, I called for your sister," he replied quickly, his voice hushed as if Cole's sister was to enter the room at that very moment. Cole perked up and was ready to rise to his feet if his father told him something horrible and worrisome. "What happened? Is she alright?"

"Now, I don't know. She seems fine, physically, but mentally, something is on her mind. I figured since you two are close, maybe you can get it out of her."

"Dad, she won't answer my calls. I haven't talked to her in almost two years."

"That isn't my problem, now is it? You two are siblings, and I expect you both to act like it. Maybe it's your relationship that's got her down, I don't know, son. But I love you both, and whatever is going on needs to be put behind to focus on the real problem. Something is very wrong with your sister. She isn't smiling as much, she's always looking over her shoulder, and she won't leave to go get groceries anymore."

"Maybe it's something with work. Who knows, maybe she just doesn't want to be a dance teacher."

"Well, that's just absurd."

Cole rolled his eyes and looked at the clock that sat on the wall, seeing as he had only been talking to his dad for five minutes the ninja of earth stood up to begin making coffee for his teammates. "I'll come down in a few days. Sensei has us on a strict tea shop cleaning regimen. Besides, the team will want to tag along."

As the words left his mouth, Cole could practically hear his father clapping on the other end of the phone. "Fantastic! Oh, I better go, do you know how early it is?" he chuckled. Cole let out a deep breath and glared at the wall, "Yes, dad. I do know what time it is. In fact, my brothers knew what time it was as well, yet I am the only one up."

"Early bird gets the worm!"

"I guess so, dad. I guess so."

author's note
guess who's in the process of rewriting?