It was a windy day in the desert, faces getting hit by sand grains as they were carried by the breeze. More soldiers had managed to recover from the weeks' fight, while some mourned for the ones they lost. It was common for people at the camps to bury their own friends, it was morbid, but it wasn't like they had a choice.
The whole camp had gone quiet for a few days, a way to respect those who had sacrificed their lives for Ninjago in the never ending war. There was no celebration for even in victory, they had lost.
After everything that had happened—a week of chaos in the infirmary and more days of fighting the war—it didn't take long for things to go back to normal at the camps. Perhaps that was how things were around the place. Things happen and one way or another, they move on.
Training had resumed the following week despite their instructor's injuries. However, the third week at the camps were rumored to be a test of will and strength, filled with harder tasks than anyone wanted to endure. It also meant that the ranks were to be announced during Monday's morning assembly.
"Hurry up! I wanna see the ranks." The trainee's ushered their friends toward the hologram on the floor, displaying the familiar 100 numbers they had seen during their first time at the camps. There were now names on the red and green lines.
Behind the hologram stood their instructors, hands behind their backs and a steady look on their faces as they watched the initiates crowd in front of the screen to try and find their names. And within that crowd, was a familiar batch of five girls who were playing rock, paper, clamp, to see who would look for their names.
"This is ridiculous! Why can't we all go and check at the same time?"
"Because you could either be on the green or red!"
"It's terrifying!"
"There are only two options, and it's just the first of many. If you fall into the red then you still have time to improve."
"Move! I'll do it."
Princess Harumi walked forward, pushing past the crowd of sweaty teenagers to make her way to the front. Her hair was tied up in two buns on either side of her head today, she had Vania make them before they walked out of the tent.
Of course, it was just an excuse to talk to the girl.
"Did you find anything last night?" She whispered, acting as natural as possible.
"No. There was so much work to do, I couldn't find the time to sneak in."
Harumi didn't believe it.
"You were hanging out with Cole, weren't you?"
Her best friend had gone quiet, her hands coming to a stop in Harumi's hair for a split second. "Who's Cole?" She asked, clearing her throat and resuming her work.
Harumi had a gift of knowing when to take matters into her own hands. This was one of those times. After Vania had told her about her new friend, she made it easy enough to see through her, the Princess had a crush. Once she made it to the front of the hologram, the sight caught her by surprise.
79. Jade
"Are you kidding me?!" She blurted, catching the attention of everyone in the field.
Only one person answered. "Just 21 away from the bottom, Princess." She knew exactly who that annoying voice belonged to. "But I don't think it's something to be proud of."
Kai had walked from his spot behind the hologram to a few feet away from her, his lips forming a proud smirk—perhaps suggesting that he had been up to this, Harumi was quick to think so.
She pointed an accusing finger at him. "You! You did this!"
"I only teach you what you need to know. Everything else was up to you." He shot her a wink before strutting back to his post, Harumi wanted to tackle him to the ground if she only knew how to.
"You mark my words, Smith. No one messes with a Princess." She muttered, pushing past the crowd to make her way to the tents. The girl didn't have to look back to know Vania was following her. "Go away, Vany."
Her fellow princess had managed to catch up to her and cling onto her arm. "Come on, I know how we can get back at Kai." Vania jerked her head to the side and with a slight tug, Harumi was following her lead.
What could she possibly have that's good enough?
Harumi could have done this like how other people did. Using her failure as motivation to strive harder and to earn her title by her own merits. She wasn't like other people. She is the Princess of Ninjago City, and there was no way she was going to let some ranking bring her down.
"What are we doing here?" She asked.
Taking a careful look at her surroundings, she realized she had never been on this side of the camps. They were given a tour during her first day—very brief and useless in her opinion—although it did not include this part of the desert.
In one corner was a certain set of tents, all bearing the symbol of different elements on its fabric, forming a circle at the center where certain types of equipment lay on the ground. It was different from what they were used to back at the open fields of sand and rougher training equipment that Kai and Lloyd had made them suffer on.
In the center of everything, there were different masters training the new batch of elementals. Before their eyes was a display of vibrant colors and things that would seem unnatural.
A soldier floating a few feet above the ground, a blaze of light flew past them and stopped only to reveal itself as another elemental, different plants popping up from the ground around them, and various things that Harumi could no longer comprehend.
"Wow." She couldn't help but gasp at the sight. The Princess had seen many things in her lifetime, but never anything this incredible.
"Ah, Your Majesties." A voice came from their right, turning their heads away from the sights to acknowledge the person. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" It was a boy. A good looking boy, if she might add.
Do all soldiers look hot? It's a shame if they die in the war.
When he reached them, he offered a small bow to which the girls returned with ease—already used to this type of gesture. "Come to see the show?" He smirked, his hand gesturing towards the elementals who didn't hesitate to show off their powers.
Before Harumi could even attempt to flirt back, Vania beat her to it. "Not today, Sir Hiroto. But perhaps when you're free sometime?"
At the mention of the name, Harumi could now remember who he was, Morro Hiroto. The elemental Master of Wind and Kai's well-known rival. Vania's response, however, did not go unexcused.
The boy smiled at Vania and Harumi felt her stomach turn, when did she become so flirty? "I see, Princess. How can I help you then?"
"We were wondering if you had any elementals with a certain power of absorption." Harumi was surprised how straight to the point her fellow princess was being. Was this part of her plan? Or is she just trying to get his attention?
The soldier kept his cool. Perhaps she isn't doing it right. "And what do I get in return for such valuable information?" He gestured to the path that was carved into the sand that went around the tents.
"You want something in return?" Harumi asked, raising an eyebrow at him as they slowly walked around the tents.
"Everybody wants something." Morro pointed out and she couldn't help but agree. Everybody always wanted something in exchange, even her sometimes. "What is it for anyways? Are you planning to hostage one of my trainees?"
She knew he was joking, but Vania didn't have to laugh as hard as she did. Harumi decided to take matters into her own hands before her best friend did or said something she would come to regret.
Harumi knew she could get what she wanted, she just had to play to her strengths.
"Say, about that bet you had with Kai, is it still on?" She knew she piqued his interest when the boy's brows shot up.
"What's it to you, Princess?"
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Kai paced around the tent at least a dozen times before Kataru had to sit him down to make Jay stop puking.
"What is going on with you?" The boy asked, wiping his mouth on his sleeve and taking a seat beside Kataru. He was still in bad shape, a gauze was still wrapped around his chest but the boy seemed better now, nothing he couldn't handle.
Kai was stressed. "I need to talk to my sister, but I don't know how to start. I mean, do I just approach her and get straight to the point? Do I wait for her to talk to me? Do I—"
"Stop." Kataru raised a hand, using the other to rub the bridge of his nose. "We already have Jay, we don't need another."
The boy chuckled from beside him before giving Kataru's arm a good slap and whined, "Hey!" Once he understood the joke.
"Look, Kai. My advice is you go find your sister and be honest with her. If she has questions, you answer with the truth. It is not that complicated."
But the truth is complicated. "And then what happens after that? Do we just go back to ignoring each other? Act like how we have been since she got here?"
Kataru sighed, already feeling tired of this. With most of his friends gone, Kai turned to the only people who were left in the tents. "You can only hope that things will work out, Kai. Perhaps lighten up the mood first."
"The truth can be a heavy thing, and if you're not ready to tell her then wait, I'm sure she'll understand." It was the first input that Jay had given the entire time he had been there and Kai was surprised to find it useful.
"But what am I supposed to say? How do you even start a conversation when she thinks I've been dead for months?!"
"Maybe you can start with that."
All three heads turned to the entrance of the tent. Nya had been standing there, her back towards the sun which made her look like a shadow. Kai gulped and exchanged a look with his friends. Kataru and Jay immediately got up and darted for the door, walking past Nya without another glance.
Cowards!
"So," His sister started, casually walking into the tent. "This is where you superiors stay?"
Kai raised a brow but he decided not to question it. Stalling was definitely better than having to confront her. "What were you expecting?" All the sleeping quarters, whether you were a high rank or a low rank, were the same.
The only difference was the comfort of the beds and the access to the bathrooms.
"I don't know." She confessed. "Maybe something a little more fancy?" It was when Nya sat down on the bed across from him did she realize that there was a difference. "First Spinjitzu Master, it's like I'm sitting on a cloud!"
Kai couldn't help but chuckle at his sister's antics. Some things never change. "Comfort isn't the goal of the war, you know? But it does help after a long day of training."
Nya scoffed. "Long day? I'm sorry, but you're not the one who stands under the sun doing the training for hours!"
"Technically, I'm still under the sun."
"Just not breaking a sweat!"
A pillow flew in his direction, hitting him right on the face. When he looked up, he found Nya—arm still extended—with a smile on her face. It was the first time he saw those pearly whites again after months of being away from home.
Kai had to resist the urge to hug her.
He cleared his throat, setting the pillow aside. "Nya, we need to talk." He was the older brother after all, his parents would appreciate him taking the initiative.
The girl sighed, her posture slumping at the mention. "Go ahead. Tell me your excuses, I'll listen."
"Excuses? What made you think I have any?" Did she really think he could not handle the truth? Or was she afraid of knowing as well?
"I heard you talking with your friends, honestly it wasn't that hard, given you could be heard from miles away, but if you're not ready to tell me what's going on, then don't."
He hated how understanding she was with him. How patient she was willing to be just so she could get some answers. How she made him feel guilty so easily. No. Kai hated himself for holding back in the first place.
"I stopped...I stopped sending letters to you because of something that happened a few nights back." He could feel his hands start to shake just by talking about it. No one ever dared to remind him about that night, how everything that had happened next was his fault. "I—"
Kai couldn't do it. The tears started dropping down onto his robes, slowly creating a dark green stain on the fabric. He went to wipe them, getting rid of all the evidence before his sister noticed.
Nya did notice. She noticed enough to get up and hug him, something Kai couldn't even do himself. She brought his head to her chest, stroking his hair lightly with the soft touch of her fingers. It took him back to how he used to do this for her when they were little.
"Shh, it's okay." He whispered against her hair as she cried onto his chest. "Everything is going to be okay."
"Shh, it's okay." She whispered, bringing her chin to rest on top of his head. "Everything is going to be okay."
Kai nodded, he didn't even bother to hug her back. With a gentle push, he placed enough space between them so he could reach under his bed. Nya watched intently, and with the same curiosity she always had throughout their childhood.
He pulled out a small metal box, it was dusty and covered in rust. Kai blew on the top and brushed his hand against the surface. With a quick snap the makeshift lock opened and Nya was greeted with piles and piles of paper that was marked with a familiar handwriting.
Her letters.
Kai had kept almost every single one of them—maintained their condition, and even stored them in a box. "I kept them." He looked up to get a glimpse of her reaction. "All of them."
There were some nights he couldn't sleep, dreaming of the flames that grew closer and closer to his body. When he woke up, he immediately sought the comfort of his sister's words.
How she had missed him, how life had been back home, how she couldn't wait to see him again. But Kai never visited. Not when he could put their life in danger.
"Why didn't you write back? I thought you were dead, Kai! We all did." It was his sister's turn to cry, the tears flowing down her eyes in little droplets of water and dropped onto the floor of the tent. "Mom insisted you weren't. She kept saying that there was hope you were alive."
Kai felt all the guilt rush back into his system. Not visiting his parents was one thing but it didn't hurt him to write back. But maybe it did, and Kai didn't need another reminder of the people he could hurt.
Cutting them off was the right thing to do. He had told himself many times, if he didn't write back, he wouldn't think about them.
It didn't help that his sister constantly delivered letters.
"I had to protect you." He whispered. "You're my baby sister, Nya. I didn't want to be the cause of your suffering."
"But you were! When you stopped showing up or giving us a sign that you were alive it broke me, Kai!" She was sobbing at this point, harshly wiping her eyes from tears. Perhaps showing her the letters was a bad idea. "I don't need your protection, I'm not a little girl anymore! Whatever you were going through, we could have faced it together."
"You hated me already. I knew you did." Kai bowed his head. "It was easier to let you continue that."
"I never hated you, Kai! Why do you think I made Skylor go after you?"
He had forgotten about that incident. How the girl who got him in trouble was only there in the first place because of his sister. "But at the welcome ceremony—"
"I ignored you because it was too much." Nya clutched the end of her robes, balling the fabric in her fists. "I couldn't bear to see you alive and it doesn't help that I have to see you everyday knowing that you've been alright all this time."
He searched his mind for something to say but there was nothing. Kai had been acting upon the assumption that his sister had hated him when all she was feeling was pain. When Kai opened his mouth to speak, his sister had cut him off.
"I don't need an explanation. I don't care if you have to lie, I just want my brother back." He looked up to meet her eyes, her beautiful ocean blue eyes that were covered in tears. Tears he caused. "The brother who would trust me with all his secrets, who would always have my back, and would always encourage me to stand up for myself. I don't care how long it takes, but one way or another you're going to have to tell me the truth."
He couldn't stand seeing her like this. Not anymore. Kai gathered every bit of courage he had and wrapped his arms around her, enclosing her in an embrace. "I will." He nodded. "I will tell you everything, I promise."
Nya responded quickly, her arms loosely held at his side—given how small she was compared to him. "If you die in the war just to escape this, I will kill you myself, Kai."
For the first time in a long while, a laugh escaped his lips. "But wouldn't I be dead already?"
"Then you'll die again."
He could feel her smile against his chest and he could feel how hard she was trying to fight it. Kai pulled her closer, taking in the warmth he missed from his sister. "I missed you, Nya."
"I missed you too, you jerk!"
Another laugh escaped his lips but this time Nya joined in. Kai couldn't remember why he was so scared of talking to her in the first place. Perhaps it had all been in his head.