Ninjago - Heart of Stone

Chapter Seven: Royal Blacksmiths

He glanced down at the scar on his wrist. But hadn't he always been a slave? At his father's beck and call, obeying the king and queen when he married their daughter, controlled by the Oni, controlled by chaos... he'd never really held much power over anything.

And yet-- he was powerful.

That's the spirit, Garmadon.

The voice grew louder still, encouraging him as he marched on, keeping in perfect time with the soldiers. His brothers. His comrades in arms.

Garmadon need not be a lord, or a tyrant, or even a king. Garmadon need only be powerful enough to fight, and he could be satisfied. He would be satisfied when he bathed Ninjago in blood, and when he saw Wu dead at his feet.

The army marched on into the rising sun, making for the ocean. They did not stop their march, for stone does not tire, nor does it crave sustenance. It needed only the call of it's master on the other side to beckon it home, across the glistening waves, to the Dark Island.

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The next morning, Wu decided, with Misako's guidance, that they would have a day to prepare-- make all the necessary repairs to the Bounty, stock up on food and water, say goodbye to loved ones-- before they set sail for the Dark Island. Anyone could enter it, Misako explained, when Kai asked how they would get into a new realm, but no one but the Oni themselves could leave.

"So we'll be sitting ducks if the Overlord escapes," Jay said nervously. No one had made a comment; they all knew the stakes, and none were willing to dwell on them.

That day was one of the longest Lexi had ever experienced. She spent most of the time avoiding her mother, and by extension, Lloyd and Wu. Jay, Nya, and Zane were fixing the Bounty (they only had to make sure it was sea-worthy, and being a ship, this wasn't too difficult), and Kai was hanging around them making bad jokes and trying to get between his sister and Jay. Nya eventually told him that if he didn't stop dicking around, she was going to stab him with a power drill, and he quickly made himself scarce.

This left Lexi and Cole to wander the Bounty alone. Cole hung around the training course, doing half-hearted push-ups and lifting the lightest weights with one hand, and Lexi shut herself up in the room that she shared with Nya, trying to write. It was her little secret, that she liked writing. Poetry was her personal favourite, but she didn't want anyone to know about her little hobby.

Even this eventually grew tiresome (not to mention, the sound of drilling and welding were rather distracting), and so Lexi decided to go see if she could strike up a conversation with Cole. He was really the only ninja who she didn't know very well-- Zane had always been kind to her, Nya acted as her big sister, Kai and Jay were like annoying older brothers, and of course, Lloyd was her real one. Cole had always been distant, and they had never actually spoken to each other.

She found him shirtless, sitting on the bench in the training room, staring at his reflection in the mirror sullenly. Lexi pursed her lips, inhaling sharply. She hadn't counted on finding him in the midst of a crisis. Or shirtless.

Her first instinct was to just leave him alone, but something about his eyes made her stop. He looked so sad, so... lost, almost. How many times has she seen that same look in her own eyes? And how few times had someone tried to help?

"Hey," she said, coming up behind him. Cole jumped a little, his cheeks flushing pink as he realized who it was. "Oh-- h-hey," he stammered, fumbling for his shirt, which was folded up underneath the bench. He pulled it over his head hastily, wrapping himself in it and staring at his feet with wide eyes. Lexi smiled slightly at his embarrassment-- it was almost cute.