Onyx and Lloyd were alone in the apartment, staring at each other. "So... training. I guess we should start with the course," Onyx said. Lloyd shrugged. "Okay," he said. Onyx picked up the remote and pushed the buttons, trying to find the one that would turn the course on. She finally found it in the middle of the remote. The course started moving. Onyx did a practice run on it to see how well it worked.
It took her a few tries to get used to it. Once she had though, it was easy. It was with a small burst of pride that she flipped off of the last pole and landed back at the start next to Lloyd. "It's pretty similar to the one back at the monastery, but it hits a bit harder and is a little faster," she said. Lloyd didn't do anything. Onyx pointed at the course. "Give it a try," she said.
Lloyd cracked his knuckles and ran at it, only to promptly get hit in the face by one of the rotating wooden silhouettes. Onyx flinched. "Try again," she said. Lloyd did. And he tried again after that. And again. And again. Onyx could see that he was getting frustrated, and his efficiency was suffering. "Heyheyhey," she said quickly, running over to him and grabbing his hand before he could punch a training dummy. "What?" He said aggressively. "You're frustrated. Let's take a break," she said.
Lloyd didn't say anything; he just scowled. "Take a few breaths," Onyx told him. He did so, albeit grumpily. After a moment, his face relaxed a bit. "There. I think we've done enough of the course. Let's try something else," Onyx said. She looked around the room for a prompt. She noticed some punching bags. "Let's work on these. I'll show you how to punch," she said.
Onyx and Lloyd worked for another hour. "There. That should be enough," Onyx said, unwrapping her hands, walking into the kitchen, and getting a drink of water. "Aww, but I wanna train more," Lloyd said. Onyx shook her head at his tenacity. "You've gotta pace yourself. And besides, I can't teach you everything. I have to pace myself, too. The guys said they'd train you when they got-" Onyx was cut off by the door opening and the other ninja stumbling in and collapsing on the sofa.
Cole groaned. "Unnnnh... I need a container of ice water," he said. Onyx filled a plastic box and a bunch of cups with cold water and brought them over. The boys looked like they'd had a rough day. Cole and Kai were flopped out on the sofa, Jay was lying on the floor, and Zane was pumping oil into his joints. "My feet... I can't feel my feet," Cole moaned, shoving them into the bucket. "There were so many of them.... And they wouldn't stop," Kai mumbled. Onyx noticed the scrapes, bruises, and scuffs all over him and winced internally. Zane flexed his elbow. "My gears locked up several times. I didn't even know my gears COULD lock up!" He cried. Jay tried to reach for the video game console, but he flopped onto his face. "I don't even have enough energy to play video games," he sighed.
Lloyd walked into the room. "Oh.... But I thought that you were going to train me when you got home," he said. "Sorry, champ, but we can't until we make rent," Cole said. "How close are we, Jay?" He added. Jay raised his head and looked at the money jar. "Huh?? Is this jar getting bigger? We're not even close!" He cried. Zane frowned as he squirted more oil into his arm. "And our rent is due tomorrow," he said. Onyx rubbed her temples. It was killing her to not be able to contribute to the rent money.
Cole stared at the ceiling. "I can pull a double shift," he said finally. "I can do overtime," Zane said. Jay pulled himself to his feet. "Maybe.... I can sling a few extra pizzas," he said. Kai groaned. "And maybe I can make a little extra if I do the human piñata," he said reluctantly. Onyx and the others stared. "What-?" Kai cut her off. "Don't ask," he said. Cole nodded. "Great, then our priorities are set. Tomorrow, we make rent!" He said determinedly.
Onyx sat down on the chair in the corner and started fidgeting with the small cherry tree there. "What about me?" Lloyd asked. "Um... how about you fetch me some more ice?" Cole said. "Don't worry, I'll help train with you," Onyx said. Lloyd sighed. "Is it gonna be more of the course?" He asked, a slight whining note in his voice. "I'll shake it up a little," Onyx promised. Lloyd looked a little less upset as he dumped another tray of ice into Cole's bucket.
The next day, when the ninja left for work, Onyx and Lloyd headed into the training room. Onyx had spent the night before planning out what they would work on. First, they'd start with basic warmups, then head into swordsmanship. After their warmups, Onyx opened a closet and found a training sword. "Here. We're going to work on your sword skills. I saw that you had trouble using mine when we battled the Serpentine," she said. "Alright!" Onyx said, turning to face Lloyd with a training sword of her own. "Swordsmanship is a warrior's art. It teaches how to move with the swiftness of the wind, strike with the force of lightning, and to face death unflinchingly. Today I'll teach you some basics," she said, reciting a paragraph from a swordsman manual Wu had given her. Lloyd swallowed hard and nodded.
Lloyd prepared himself for whatever she was going to do. The air suddenly charged with tension, and before he could move, Onyx swung her sword at him. Lloyd slammed his eyes shut and braced for impact. When none came, he opened them again. Onyx had stopped her swing so that her blade was hovering just above his shoulder. "If you had been my enemy, your arm would be gone. Never underestimate the power a sword can do, and most importantly, never let your guard down," Onyx said. Lloyd focused on the lesson after that.
Onyx watched Lloyd practice his newly-learned sword skills. She nodded to herself. About ten minutes later, he set the wooden sword down and wiped the sweat off his face. "You've done excellent. Why don't we take a break for a bit?" She said.
After lunch, which consisted of a few eggs Onyx had fried, the two of them were sitting on the sofa playing a video game together. They'd started with 'Ninja Kart Deluxe' before moving on to 'Dozen Dragon.' "Woah!" Lloyd cried as he swerved his dragon around a giant rock. Onyx prepared to make her dragon shoot a fireball at a huge bat when she noticed something odd about the reflection on the screen. In the window, there seemed to be... "Wha!?" Lloyd gasped as he saw the same thing. The two whipped around at the same time. Sure enough, Skales was there in the window. He tapped menacingly on the glass. "Hello, little onesssss," he said.
Onyx grabbed Lloyd's hand and ran for the door. She looked at the control panel and realized that she had no clue how it worked. She started hitting buttons, praying that it would open. She heard the window shatter and spun around. Skales was slithering towards them. Lloyd began banging on the panel. "Door is locked," it said in a robotic male voice. "I know! I want it open!" Lloyd cried frantically. He spun around as Skales stopped right in front of them. "What do you want with us!?" He shouted.
"There'ssss no need to yell. It'sss just that you're the one thing your father sssseemsss to care about. But with you asss my hosstage, he'll have no choice but to let me lead the Ssserpentine! I have no need for your friend. Ssshe can die. Let'sss train!" Skales lunged at Lloyd, but Onyx blocked him with her body. She and the snake fell to the ground. They wrestled with each other, each trying to get the upper hand. Skales snapped at her face, and she just barely managed to dodge it.
"Lloyd, get out!" She gasped. "I'm trying! I can't get this door open!" Lloyd yelled. Skales's hands wrapped around her throat. Onyx choked as he squeezed. She bucked, desperately trying to free herself. There was the sound of small feet running. "Hyaaaahhhh!" Lloyd cried. Skales suddenly shrieked as there was a loud thud. His grip loosened, and Onyx scrambled away from him. Lloyd was standing on the end of his tail. Skales lashed it, sending Lloyd flying through the air. Onyx just barely managed to catch him, his weight knocking her back into the door. There was a sudden knocking. "Hello? What's going on in there?" Wu shouted. "Help!" Lloyd cried. "Hurry!" Onyx added.
"Get away from the door!" Nya's voice yelled. Onyx and Lloyd lunged to get out of the way, and just in time. As they were landing a few feet away, it suddenly burst open when Nya kicked it. She and Wu rushed into the apartment. The two of them rushed Skales and started fighting. "Onyx, get Lloyd out of here!" Wu ordered. "Come on!" Onyx said, pulling Lloyd to his feet and taking off.
Onyx's eyes were wide open, searching for a place to hide. Her eyes alighted on a broom closet. There. She flung it open, and she and Lloyd dove inside, slamming the door shut. The two of them waited in complete darkness with bated breath. "Do you think Nya and Uncle won?" Lloyd whispered once he'd caught his breath. "He's a stubborn old man. Skales will regret that he ever came after us," Onyx whispered back.
The two went dead silent when they heard footsteps. Onyx and Lloyd scooted farther back into the shadows, clinging onto each other for comfort. The closet opened, and Nya poked her head in. "I found them!" She yelled down the hallway. A moment later, Wu ran up. "Are you okay?" He asked the two urgently as they clambered out of the closet. "Yeah, since you showed up so fast," Lloyd answered. Onyx nodded. "He's right. If you hadn't shown up when you did, I don't know what would've happened," she said.
They returned to the apartment to find that the others had returned. They heard Cole speak. "What were we thinking!? Losing Lloyd and Onyx are by far our greatest losses," he said.
Wu, Nya, Onyx, and Lloyd entered the apartment. "But it could be your greatest lesson," Wu said. The others whipped around. "Lloyd! Onyx!" They all exclaimed. "You're okay!" Kai cried. "We weren't going to be, until Nya and Sensei showed up at the last second," Lloyd said. Onyx nodded. "It was a close call," she agreed. Nya threw her hands up in the air. "I leave for a day, and everything falls apart," she sighed.
Kai rubbed the back of his head. "I guess you could say we learned that we don't need all the fancy stuff. We just need each other," he said. Wu blinked dryly at him. "You want us to help you clean up," he said. It wasn't a question. "Well, we are a team," Kai said smoothly. Wu turned to Nya. "Nya, I think it's time for another road trip," he said. "Hold on, I've got a better idea," Cole said.
A few hours later, the eight of them were moving their stuff into the tiny apartment that smelled like mothballs. "It's not much, but this one bedroom, one half-bath, is a cozy dream. Who needs extras when everything is within arm's reach?" Onyx grabbed a chair from Lloyd when he accidentally smacked Jay with it, causing him to drop a box on Kai. "Ha, it feels like home to me. At least we get to stay in Ninjago City for a little while," Jay said. "And now, without the distractions, we can put all of our energy into training Lloyd," Zane said. "Who's there?" Lloyd called, struggling to see over a box he had picked up.
"I know the Serpentine Generals got away, but what happened to Skales?" Kai asked. "Oh, he found home too, though not as roomy as this one," Wu said. Onyx smirked as she realized the sneaky reptile had gone to prison. The ninja settled into their new home, happy to be back together. Unbeknownst to them, something in the balance of creation and destruction had shifted.
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Against all odds, comedy improvisation is my thing, apparently. Also, I am having issues with my low empathy again. And my paternal grandparents are visiting. Yay!