I hate piano lessons, thought Cole sulkily as he kicked a stray stud down the street of the suburb he lived in.
A great forest loomed to the right of him. The little offshoot of Ninjago City lay to his left, and like everywhere round about, it was safe for a nine year old to walk about by himself to where his dad worked to get piano lessons from a stranger. There was no crime anywhere near Ninjago. It was the safest city on earth. Cole knew this, but he sure did not think of it as the happiest place on earth.
The sun may have been shining brightly, the autumn leaves may have been the most brilliant crimson red, and the scent of the sea invigorating, but it sure was not Cole's home.
They had moved here less than a year ago, and Cole hated everything about it, but he especially hated piano lessons. This may not have been an unusual thing to dislike in itself for other children who had no interest in such things, but only a few years before Cole would have said it was his favorite thing to do when he surpassed recorder lessons. He had gotten pretty good at both for his age. He had been quite proud of himself and eager to move on to trying more challenging instruments like a fighter moving from a bokken to a sword, but these days it was all just a pain, like everything his father wanted him to do.
As he was trudging along with a roll of his eyes and deep childish grimace he heard music playing. For a split second he almost thought it was a recorder, but he soon knew it was some sort of flute. He knew his instruments well. Spinning around he lifted his head of black-mop hair up towards the deep forest, but it was not coming from there. He winced and cocked his head. After a moment, he turned and saw that a weird old man had just come out of a sandwich shop at the top of the hill Cole had just been in the process of descending from.
His sandwich the old man had just plopped into a sack over his shoulder, but everything after that was not at all like a normal person. He had a very well-kept and yet very old looking bamboo flute, and although it was not too unusual to see a bamboo hat in a place called Ninjago City, Cole had never seen anyone with a beard like that that was not fake. His clothes were impressively ancient in style; though he was sure they were not nearly as old as the flute or the man, and although he was walking straight across the road into the ragged rocky ground inside the entrance of the forest, he was only wearing sandals on his feet.
Cole stared dumbfounded as though the whole world had stopped. As the old man crossed the street playing his flute, a car that suddenly had slipped out of nowhere on the other side of the hill honked at him. It did nothing to disturb the old man, nor did it penetrate Cole's mind in the least.
Now, if Cole had known anything about the tale of the Pied Piper he might have been a bit more hesitant to follow a weird musician trouncing about hauntingly, but Cole was not much for those kinds of fairy tales. On the other hand he had heard of the mysterious old ninja master who lived by himself in the mountains in the forest. The legends about him were as many as they were fantastic, and as the man disappeared into the thick of the red trees and yellow brush, Cole wasted less time chasing after him than he would have a mythical animal.
It was almost as if at that moment he was struck with an epiphany that since he found no joy in his home life, he could become a rebel, a fighter, a vigilante, a hero, a Zorro— in a word, a student of the great and legendary Master Wu, the only person on earth who knew the secrets of spinjitsu, the rarest form of ninjitsu on the planet.
Sprinting after him as fast as he could, Cole called out to him.
"Hey, wait! Wait, wait, wait!"
At first he thought he had not been quick enough, but suddenly the old man was right as his side.
"What do you want?" he demanded quietly.
"Wah!" cried Cole and fell over into the brush.
"Are you lost?"
"No," said Cole feeling somewhat annoyed as he pulled himself up out of the yellowed greenery. "I just live up the street on the other side of the hill." He shrugged.
"Oh, well, I was worried that maybe you needed help because you were lost," said the old man with a shrug of his own, and with that he began to simply walk away again playing his flute.
"No, wait! You're Master Wu!" cried Cole jogging up beside him surprised how fast the old man could just walk like that.
"Yes," muttered Master Wu in between playing. "I haven't been a hermit so long that I've forgotten."
"You're the greatest ninja of all time, and the most famous legend of Ninjago! You slayed monsters, led armies, went to the center of the earth and back, and flew to the moon with your laser vision!"
"I what?" winced Master Wu stopping not only playing this time, but in mid step too.
"To kick the butt of the evil alien queen Bovinia!" gasped Cole.
The wince deepened and a brow slowly raised, but without looking once back at Cole, Wu shook his head and began playing yet again. This time he did not stop.
"Master Wu! Wait! I want to be a ninja too. Can't you be my sen—san—son— my master!? I'll be a great fighter! I promise I'll train well and hard! I'll do whatever you say! You're the best! You know every skill and every weapon! They say you can see the future in the stars and can read the past in people's faces! They say you're the greatest Master Builder of all time besides, and that you can fight whole armies of oni one-handed while calmly drinking a cup of... uh, some kind of ninja tea! C'mon, Master Wu, please?"
But Wu did not make any indication that he had heard Cole this time, and he certainly looked as if he wished to end the conversation right now. Even Cole knew that the great master was annoyed and wanted to be rid of him. His pace was quickening, though so gracefully that at first Cole did not notice. When he did, it only compelled him the more.
The wood became deep and thick.
Not a stud or brick could be found this deep in the forest. It was wild here. Anything was possible. It might as well have been another world from the civilization Cole was readily leaving behind.
Wu played on as he took stepping stones delicately across a horrid-looking swamp. Cole tried to imitate him, but he slipped in at the second stone.
"Argh!" cried Cole as he fell under the green surface, but he quickly jumped out again, not even bothering to shoo away the insects. He was very soon running too fast again for them to catch up anyway; though there was a frog on his head for some time before he noticed it and chased it away.
He was afraid he had lost Wu. Wu had actually stopped playing, but he soon caught sight of the white of his clothes. Breathless though he was, Cole did not stop. His chest burned but it was worth it. If Wu was trying to get rid of Cole, Cole would show him his determination, and surely he would change his mind, but maybe it this was only a test. Maybe he was just testing his worth. Well, Wu did not know the determination of Cole. Once Cole set his mind on something, he did it. It's the way he always had been.
Entangling himself in vines and tripping over roots and stones did not stop Cole for long.
They started to climb. Up, up, up. The rocks became more numerous and larger, but the trees, though they thinned a little, were just as large if not larger also. Their crimson leaves were brighter than any Cole had seen before as though here was autumn incarnate. He almost lost himself in the sight of the gentle swoops as the leaves drifted to the ground like slow motion confetti. Even the dirt smelled different here. It was strong and sweet. The stones were sharp and smooth and, in a way, as vibrant as the autumn leaves save where they were as starkly ebony as the trunks of the trees. Birds twittered. Busy squirrels scampered. A bubbling brook as blue as a blue bird's wing when the colored stones did not shine through or the crimson leaves did not cover it performed acrobatics down winding falls along the sharp and dangerous cliffs. Monkeys peeked treacherously close to Cole at times causing him to jump, and mice and grasshoppers scurried out of the way of his square, clumsy feet.
Cole was so preoccupied with all the nature surrounding him that he almost did not notice the mossy gate subdued behind the brightness of autumn. He might have run right into it as he was backing up away from what he did not know was a harmless snake before bumping into Wu instead.
"Ah!" gasped Cole as he spun around.
"So," said Wu. "You think you have what it takes to be a ninja, eh?"
Although he had only looked at Cole mildly when he looked at him at all during the entire trek here, Master Wu glared severely now from under his hat rather frighteningly, and Cole could not help his cringe. Somehow, being alone with this master in the wood made the reality of the fact that he could probably squish him like a bug with the flex of a brow all the more real. He felt only now a brush of second thoughts, but it passed like the passing of a small cloud.
"Yes, I do, Master!" Cole insisted. "I want to be numbered among the legendary ninjas that fought the forces of darkness for centuries in these woods."
"To be a ninja it takes dedication!"
"I can do that!" Cole insisted.
"It takes patience beyond normal strength of endurance!"
"I'm ready for anything!"
"And brutal self-discipline where you have to face the darkest corners of you very soul!"
"Wow!" whispered Cole in awe, and he smiled. "I promise! I can do all those things, Master Wu."
"It also takes appreciating the fact that there is no grammatical distinction between the singular and the plural of the word 'ninja'," Wu sniffed.
"What?" Cole raised a brow.
"It's just 'ninja'," clarified the ninja master. "Never more. Never less. When there are many ninja you still just say 'ninja'. And the word you were looking for earlier if you wanted to address me as a student to his teacher would be 'sensei.'"
Cole blinked. "Right. I want to be one of the great ninja." He bowed his head a little. "Sensei?"
"Yes." Wu closed his eyes.
"Please!" begged Cole.
"Well..." said Wu darkly as he studied Cole directly in the eyes.
He was very uncomfortably close, and Cole could smell the olive relish on his breath from his sandwich that he must have already eaten sometime in between here and when they started into the forest.
Cole held up his hands in what would have been fists, had he had any, and he clenched his teeth.
"You were the boy I saw two months ago when I went to my favorite sandwich shop last time," Wu spoke as though scolding, "and I was just about to leave when I saw you screaming like a little baby back the way you had come away from the direction of Ninjago City that there was an earthquake even though the ground did not appear to be shaking, and the guy who owned the sandwich shop told me after looking at his computer laptop that there was an earthquake but it was only a seismic level of 1.1 on the Richter Scale."
Wincing with embarrassment, Cole was not sure he had the words to respond to that. All that came out when he opened his mouth was "Uh..."
"Okay," Wu shrugged carelessly.
He opened the gate.
"Really?" asked Cole trying to catch up with the sudden change of mood.
In fact after opening the gate, Wu began to glide along light as feather with his flute again playing some ancient childish tea leaf picking song from his youth that naturally Cole did not recognize. He was too busy chasing after Wu to care anyway.
They passed through a small but beautiful garden in which one had to cross one of those brilliant reddish-orange arched bridges. They climbed the steps to the veranda; though before Wu allowed Cole inside he held up his hand.
"What?" Cole demanded.
Still playing his flute, Wu pointed down at Cole's feet. Then he pointed to a pair of extra but pretty worn out slipper sandals that he had to wear inside instead of dirty old sneakers. They were soggy and grimy now anyway. Wu had already slipped off his sandals for a similar pair.
"Oh, right," said Cole.
Wu opened the sliding paneled door.
Despite the décor being rather plain, it was still very cool inside. Even the creakiness in the old wood floorboards pleased Cole as it somehow made what was happening more authentic. He could see through a doorway further on a kitchen and further than that some other mysterious rooms that seemed to be filled to the brim with ninja-styled knickknacks and ancient memorabilia mixed with some books and papers and other interesting things, but he was interrupted by Wu yet again.
"The irori," said Master Wu.
"Huh?" Cole gasped.
Wu pointed his flute down at the square hearth in the middle of the floor. Sand-filled, it blocked the wooden edges from the sunken coals still partly burning. A tea kettle hung above it on a gently swaying, long metal hook with a lever for lowering and raising the kettle shaped like a fish.
"Sit," said Master Wu.
Cole obeyed after Wu's exampled as he knelt before the hearth himself. He then watched with deep care and interest as Wu poured him a cup of tea, but he suddenly made a face when he realized that, of course, he was meant to drink it.
"You've come from a long journey. Drink. All ninja love thick, strong, green tea ground into powder and whisked delicately into a lively, earthy drink."
The brightness of the green inside the earthen teacup alarmed Cole as it did not look at all like something a person should consume. It looked more like the surface of the swamp he had fallen into. Flecks of these algae particles were still stuck to his hair and his heather-gray hoodie.
"Of course," Cole said taking it. "I love tea."
He honestly had never ever had a sip of Lipton iced tea from a plastic bottle much less this authentic stuff. His dad sometimes had an earl grey but just the scent of that stuff had always chased Cole away. At least earl grey wasn't green, though.
"Of course you do," muttered Wu. "All ninja appreciate a good cup of tea, and we will not begin any training until you finish every last drop and are replenished from your trek. There's no use training a dehydrated student."
There was a pause as Cole looked down at his cup like a cup of poison. He licked his lips, trying to prepare himself. Then as quickly as he could, he took a big gulp. He hardly could taste what he was swallowing before he felt the sudden striking pain on his head. He coughed and sputtered.
"Ow!" cried Cole once his throat was clear enough to speak.
Had Wu just smacked him with his flute?
With eyes closed, Wu muttered very slowly and with care, "I said a ninja appreciates a good cup of tea. It is the lifeblood of any good fighter, and a true ninja drinks his cup of tea slowly and with the utmost relish. He lets every muscle in his body relax in the warmth of the tea. He allows the steam of it to seep into the pores of his face and rise up through his nostrils to steam into his sinuses. Then he takes a sip. He lets that sip slowly wash into his mouth. He takes note in every hint of flavor before he lets it glide like a gentle stream down his throat to soak like a warm spa bath for the inside of his body. Then..."
Cole winced.
"He takes anooooooooother sip and repeats the sipping process until the tea is finished. He sets his cup down, and if he still feels thirsty...he gets second cup."
#
Cole knew that they had to take this with finesse. They had long lost sight of the monkeys carrying Lloyd, but with enough ninja skills, they tracked down other monkeys congregating at the same place. There was no time to be impatient. He and Kai saw the ancient walls. Monkeys were climbing over it in great numbers. The sound of hundreds and hundreds of monkeys echoed from over that ruinous, vine-covered barrier. Ancient mossy towers poked their jagged ends out from within the walls.
So it's The Jungle Book, after all, Cole thought wryly.
Kai raised a brow to Cole as he took note in his slow smile.
"So you think this is Monkey Butt's ancestral home right here in the woods and no one knew it?" asked Kai.
Master Wu and Garmadon probably did, thought Cole, but he said only, "Come on."
A few spinjitsu leaps from tree to tree had them at the wall. Kai landed first and ducked where a tree leaned over the side of it. Cole swung on a branch that led right into the same shelter.
"Lloyd!" hissed Kai, his anger flared.
Cole could already see the flames in his eyes, but his own focus went downwards too now and he felt a little rumbling inside of himself. There were a lot of monkeys eating a lot of fruit and pulling a lot of stupid pranks on each other in and around the ancient ruins, but a few were waving leafy fans on either side of their leader who sat upon a lowered palanquin.
Grinning from ear to ear, Kinkomi leered at the chained form of Lloyd green as ever, though his hair piece was beginning to look a little funny. A gorilla stood on either side of him, holding his arms.
"So!" said Kinkomi. "I bet you're wondering what will be the end result of your fate, young Mr. Garmadon!"
Cole glowered.
"It did cross my mind," grumbled Lloyd back undaunted.
"How are we gunna get him back now?" hissed Kai. "He's surrounded."
"Shhh..."
"How big is your earth tremor range?" asked Kai.
"About ten feet to do any good," replied Cole.
"Then sneak down and—"
"Wait," said Cole. "We should hear this."
Kai blinked.
Looking down again, Cole listened.
"Well, since I never actually tried the 'greenery powder' before, it's difficult to say for sure," said Kinkomi, "but I've wanted a new banana tree to spruce up this ancient place."
The monkeys laughed.
"But we can get down there easily while they're all listening to him gloat like an idiot," protested Kai.
Cole ignored him.
"Of course," said Kai quietly to himself, "maybe it would be better to see if we can't find out where he keeps the cure-all..."
"So! Let's see if you grow roots if we water you," said Kinkomi.
He had not said this loudly, but the words made even Kai stop thinking out loud.
Lloyd visibly stiffened. It was difficult to see his face, but all three boys felt the sentiment and understood completely what Kinkomi was saying.
"You mean... this isn't just about turning me green?" demanded Lloyd.
Kinkomi chuckled. "What better way for the Green Ninja to 'go green' than growing into the biggest banana tree this side of Ninjago City!"
"Are you kidding me?!" Lloyd cried; his cool slipped— panic and rage overtook him as he ground his teeth and flashed his wild green eyes.
Cole felt sick for Lloyd, but the rage was not too far behind as a few monkeys appeared with some watering cans.
Well, that was enough of that sip of tea! Now it was time for the next just like Master Wu taught them.
"Now?" hissed Kai; Cole could almost see the steam coming out from the sides of his neck.
"Now," said Cole.
But even as they jumped a voice in the back of Cole's mind reminded him that rescuing Lloyd from gorilla arms would not save him nearly as much as finding the cure-all.
Too late.
Monkeys screamed at their entrance.
"Ah! Look who's come to join us," said Kinkomi standing up from his palanquin seat; he wrapped his arms around his back.
"Let him go, or there won't be anything left of this place!" snapped Cole.
"Better yet, tell us where the cure-all is!" said Kai with fire on his fingertips.
Kinkomi bristled and then let out a cringe-inducing, monkey shriek.
"You want it, Dairy Queen Boy?" he demanded of Kai, and he straitened his own hair piece. "Come and make me!"
Cole threw down his hammer into the earth with a powerful swing. Monkeys back at least twelve feet fell over. Lloyd even had to steady himself along with the pair of gorillas. Kai was already running straight for the monkey king.
"Bring it on, Monkey Butt!" he challenged.
"Kai! Don't!" snarled Lloyd at the top of his lungs.