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❝ 𝙁𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙞𝙣 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙝. ❞
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It was dark, you couldn't see a single thing at all. Letting out a heavy sigh, you bent down and started to feel your way on the ground, this wasn't the first time something like this had happened. Ever since you found out about your Elemental Abilities, you've always been having weird dreams every other night. You were starting to wonder if you should see a doctor, or maybe a therapist, about these strange occurrences.
The floor felt glossy and smooth, resulting in you knocking the floor with your knuckles, humming at the light sound it made. If the sound was light, you knew you were standing on marble, as the material lighter than that of concrete, making a lighter knocking sound. If anyone where able to see you right now, they'd find you crazy, but you just simply knew what you were doing. As you knew previously, this wasn't your first awkward dream where you were conscious.
Standing back up, you slowly picked your feet up and started to walk forward, trying your hardest to not drag your feet on the marbled floor. If there was one thing you knew about marbled floors, it was that they were slippery more often than not, even if they were dry. You've tested it many times and ended up on the floor every time, so you decided to be precautions this time around. After all, you weren't quite sure where you were at the time.
Eventually, you knocked yourself into a wall, a small, pained noise leaving your throat as you rubbed the center of your forehead. Reaching your other hand forward, you let it graze the wall in front of you, taking in the feeling of the material. Though you weren't quite sure what it was, you felt a few ridges and bumps, signaling to you that the wall was painted over. Now you for certain knew you were inside a house, who's house or what's house, you weren't sure on that yet.
Dragging your hand across the surface of the wall, you eventually reached a corner, your body turning with the corner as you kept walking. Eventually, you reached a light switch, and next to that was a door handle, sighing in slight relief that you were able to find something. A few nights ago, you found yourself in a room with no light switch nor door, you had to climb your way out of a hole in the roof. You did not enjoy a single thing about that night, no matter how much you tried to convince yourself.
Flicking the light switch on, you squinted your eyes as you tried to adjust to the lighting, grunting when you finally did. You felt your blood slightly run cold at the sight of the area you were in, recognizing it as one of the rooms in your old house. This was most definitely your old basement, the flooring being dirtier than what you remembered it as. Shaking your head, you let out a shaky sigh as you turned back around to the door, you just hoped this wasn't what you thought it was.
Reaching out towards the door handle, you pushed it down and listened to the small click that resonated through the room. Pulling the door open, you were now face to face with the pile of stairs that led upstairs. Dropping your hand from the handle, you walked forward and let your opposite then graze the wooden railing. You flinched backwards when you felt something prick your skin, finding that the wood on the railing was shredded upwards. Guess you won't be using that, splinters suck.
Ascending the stairs, you eventually made it to the top, the door in front of you being slightly adjacent to it's shut position. You put your hand on the beaten material and slowly pushed it forward, listening to the hinges whine in response. You sucked in a deep breath when a wave of cold air brushed against your skin. The house was dark, but you could still make out faint silhouettes of certain objects.
Moving forward and leaving your basement door open, you slowly started to traverse through your old house. Many windows in the house were open, letting in the light of the moon through and a draft wind. You bit your lip as you continued to glance around, the smell of iron lacing the smooth air lines that passed through. You didn't know why you were having a vision here, but you didn't want to be here any longer than you already where.
Taking a few more steps forward, you eventually reached the living room, all the windows open and the curtains flying violently with the wind. You paused your walking when you felt yourself step into something wet, a small splash coming from the impact. You froze slightly and looked down, tilting your foot upwards. Taking one of your fingers, you swiped at the bottom of your shoe and collected the liquid, taking in a small sniff. Blood.
Bringing your shaky finger down and away from your face, you wiped the blood on your pants before stepping backwards. You stepped over to the side of the room and let your hands roam around on the wall, searching for a light switch. Once you found one, your breath hitched as you flicked it upwards, ready to see the room in full. However, the light did not turn on.
You held your breath as you kept flicking it up and down, hoping and praying that it would work for you. The light switched worked in the basement, why wouldn't it work in here as well? Huffing to yourself, you looked dejectedly to the ground, your hands roaming around the wall for a little longer before you gave up on the light switch. That was obviously not going to come on any time soon, so you decided to not waste your time with it anymore.
Turning around, your eyes scanned what little of the area you could, making out many silhouettes of different objects. If your memory serves you correctly, you and your father always kept a flashlight underneath the couch just in case of a blackout. Seeing the couch not to far from the wall you were at, you slowly started to walk over to the plush object. You ignored the small splashes that came with every step and continued to walk forward, one goal in your mind.
You and your father lived in the suburbs of Ninjago City, so power outages weren't uncommon around here. This part of the suburbs was one of the more secluded and was surround by dense and high rising mountains. You lived in a tight knit community, everyone knew everyone and where always willing and ready to help out one another. No one knew why anyone would hate anyone, and no one knew why someone got murdered.
Finally reaching the couch, you carefully crouched and made sure your knees didn't touch the flooring, scared of the blood on there. However, you soon found yourself on your hands and knees, reaching underneath the couch in search of the flashlight. You grunted as your hand kept patting around the area, finding and reaching nothing. You were starting to get frustrated at yourself, thinking that all this time away from the house made you brain dead.
Scooting over to the other side of the couch, you body froze when your hand collided with a skin like object. It was cold and there was no pulse to the skin, you recognizing it to that of a hand, probably pale with blood loss. Now more desperate to find the flashlight, you dug around under the couch with tears brimming your eyes, hoping that you wouldn't see the image you thought of. You were begging you wouldn't see that god awful image.
You gasped in relief when you felt the cold metal of the flashlights handle, ripping it out from it housing underneath the couch. You sat up on you knees and fumbled with the light, dropping it once before hastily picking it back up. You continued to turn the light around until you found the button of the object, clicking it on in desperation.
You let out a strangled cry when the light flickered on the ceiling, the green light fighting to stay on. You hit the bulb a few times, watching as the light flickered on and off a few times before settling on off. Letting out a frustrated cry, you slammed the flashlight upon your palm, making the bulb breathe a new life as it turned on. You gasped in relief as you swiped the light over the ceiling, testing out the light and its brightness.
Slowly, you swallowed your pride and dignity as you started to bring the light down from the ceiling and trail down the wall in front of you. Your hands started to shake more and more the closer you got to the cold object you had felt earlier, using both hands to support the light. You paused when the light barley graced the head of the person laying there, the color standing out to you. It was H/C.
With one quick motion you flicked the flashlight onto the body and stared at it for a good few seconds, your body not rendering your shock. When it did, you let out a loud and mangled scream, dropping the flash light as you fell onto your ass. You kicked your feet as you managed to scoot back and away from the body, your hands slipping on the blood coating the floor. Tears welded in your eyes as your screams turned into sobs, into begs.
You knew it was going to come, you had a stinking suspicion that when you found yourself in your house that you face this scene. However, it just felt too surreal, you weren't ready to face this yet, you thought you were healing. And you where, you had seen a therapist and you had talked things out with you childhood friend and his dad. Now, everything came crumbling down, seeing your fathers dead body being brutally mauled to death was not something you desired or wanted to see.
You sat there crying and screaming as the flashlight flickered on the face of your father, his skin paler than what its normal color was. His eyes were drained and the color was almost that of a deep and brooding grey, all the life sucked out of it. His hair was tussled and knotted, some parts of it looked like it had been torn out or purposefully cut. His whole body looked terrible, as if he had tried to fight in his final moments, hoping for a better ending than this.
You always see dead people, and you've always seen their dead bodies, some more brutally mangled than others. This is what your dreams where about, finding the dead body, observing how they died and what life they lived before they did die. Sometimes they would be peacefully resting in their bed, passing away in their sleep. Other times the scene would be brutal, blood coating every square inch of the area you were in, the body in a state where you could barley tell if it was a person anymore. You were used to it, but seeing your father like this was just straight up sickening.
You sat there crying and sobbing your fathers name like it was the only word you knew before you saw a green light admit from his chest. Your cries grew longer when you slowly watched your fathers soul float upwards and eventually take form of the man himself. He stretched his limbs as if he hadn't been dead for well over five years by now. He still held that ridiculous smile that you remember his always wearing, no matter the weather. How and why did someone hate him so much to kill him?
Your father eventually heard your sobs and turned around, his smile brightening at the sight of you on the floor. "N/n! There you are, I was just looking for you before I... hm what was I doing?" Your father pondered, rubbing the underside of his jaw as you slowly started to stand up, tears still falling. "Bah, anyways that's besides the point! Where were you hiding this time? Wait, no let me guess... you were over at the Brookestones house!" Your father snapped his fingers, watching as you sniffled and nodded your head.
Your father cheered a little to himself, making you smile and let out a sob of laughter, your father still not catching onto your tears. "Yeah, I was over at Lou's. I was hanging out with Cole, you remember him right?" You father hummed and pondered once more, shrugging his shoulders in a dramatic way, making you chuckle and rub your tears away. "He's that one boy that rock climbs the mountains outside of town. I met him when he fell too hard and had to get bandaged up. He has the black hair and brown eyes?" You continued to question, watching as your father continued to think.
It took him no time to snap his fingers and open his mouth, a light bulb going off inside his head with realization. "Oh, Lou and Lily's kid, that's right! Man, I need to keep track on that boy, he's growing really fast, and you are too. Say, are you both still attached at the hip? Couldn't seem to get the two of you separated." Your father chuckled, crossing his arms and patting them down, as if he was trying to warm himself up. You bet he was freezing cold, his body has been laying here for a while.
Sniffing you sighed out a little, watching as your father was still stuck in a daze as he kept rubbing his arms. "Yup, that's the one." You mumbled, you dad just missing the comment as your head drooped downwards. It was true, you were with Cole when the incident happened, and you didn't get word till tomorrow morning after the sleep over. Lou was devastated to even mutter a single word about your fathers death, he didn't even say it was a murder. He was absolutely heart broken to see you in a messed state after breaking the news.
With a hearty sigh, your dad eventually looked back over to you and took a few cautious steps, your not moving from your area. "Nonetheless, I know how hard this can be, N/n. I'm sorry things ended the way they did, but at least you still have your mother. Somewhere in this corner of the world, she is constantly worrying for you." He slowly started to speak, his words slurring as his green light slowly fading in and out of the room. "Just stay close with that Cole boy, he seems like someone who really cares about you." He muttered, reaching his ghastly hand upwards to try and rub your tears away.
You sniffled when his hand simply phased through your skin, his face turning into one of deject as he realized he couldn't do much to comfort you. Reaching your hand upwards, you grabbed your fathers in your own palm, your father gasping a little at the contact. Forcing your powers into your hand, it suddenly went weightless and shifted into a murky green color. With you hand as the same substance as your ghostly father, you simply held his hand in comfort.
The two of you stayed there for a while until your father let a few tears strip from his eyes, his light slowly fading. "I'm so cold Y/n, so, so cold. And I can't... I can't warm myself up." He spoke softly, his words cracking as his light kept on fading, tears reaching your eyes as well. "I miss you, every day and night. You're all I think about. I'm sorry for not being strong enough to protect myself. You'll always be my little girl, you know that right?" You lip trembled as your father gave you one last parting smile before his light faded completely, your hand dropping and taking form of your skin and bone once again.
A part of you couldn't help but smile at the fact that your father was now gone, it meant that he had finally found peace with himself. Who knew that all he needed to finally pass on was a small and meaningless conversation with you. His soul must've been waiting a long five years for you, and you couldn't help but wonder what he felt in those moments. If only you knew of your powers a little earlier, maybe you could've given him a better resting place.
❈
Blinking your eyes open, you sniffled and sat up as you rubbed your eyes, feeling the warmth of the morning sun shine on your skin. Peaking over, you saw a small crack in your curtains, revealing the morning of New Ninjago City. Cars honked and people spoke around the street, their days simply carrying on without a care int eh world. In some ways they were lucky, not having to deal with heavy burdens like you do.
Kicking your feet over the side of your bed, you tossed your covers to a diagonal so that they would be ready for you to crawl right back into. Your feet shuffled on the floor for a second before they found your slippers, slipping them on your chilly feet. After you did that, you kind of just sat there staring at the floor, not able to comprehend your latest dream.
You knew what you saw wasn't a dream, and you knew that what you did impacted the real world and people living in it. You've seen it multiple times, you dream, you help a soul rest and then you find the family later doing something odd. More often than not they are mourning the loss of the person, but almost all of them say that they felt at ease that day, unaware that you had set their loved ones soul free.
Was this your job as an Elemental Master? You, again, weren't sure if it was, as it seemed pretty dull in comparison to everyone else's jobs. Take Cole for example, you childhood best friend since the two of you were one, he is now a Ninja and is saving the world. Their was also that girl named Skylor that ran that noodle shop, instead of using her powers, she just decided to lay low and run a family business. So, you couldn't help but wonder if what you were doing with your powers was right.
Sighing and shaking your head, you eventually pushed yourself up into a stand and grabbed your phone off your nightstand. Whatever you were supposed to do with your abilities, you didn't really want to know, as you kind of sucked at using them. They don't cooperate unless you're asleep and in a dream like state, you've never been able to do anything in the real world. The only time you have was when you were in danger, but you knew that wasn't good enough.
Walking outside of your bedroom, you instantly went to the kitchen and grabbed a mug, filling it with water. You were too lazy to start up a kettle, so you threw the cup of water into the microwave for a minute, waiting for it to heat up. While it did that, you dug through drawer of teas, finding that you were running low on a few pairs. Grabbing your second favorite kind, you drank all of your favorite, you opened the microwave when it beeped at you.
After putting the bag into the cup to steam and dissolve, you shuffled over to your TV and turned it on. Flipping to the news channel, you let it run as you started to open up the blinds in your apartment, pulling them back and letting fresh light flood in. You people watched for a few seconds, laughing at a few people that had an embarrassing moment, before walking back to your tea.
You added in your favorite things before tossing out the old tea bag, now sipping on the warm liquid with a delighted hum. You never started to like tea until you realized how warm it made you feel, you hated and dreaded feeling cold. After feeling how cold the dead was, you learned to hate the temperature, going so far as to avoid winter as a whole. You never stepped outside your apartment during the winter and just had people door dash you food the whole season.
It was silly and stupid, but you were just simply paranoid of the feeling the dead felt, thinking it as something distasteful. No one wants to die, and if they do they simply just fear the fact of what lies behind the shut doors. Was there a heaven or hell, or was there some kind of paradise awaiting them, or perhaps nothing at all? You knew what happened when someone died, you saw it all and you wished you never had. That was something you were going to take to your grave.
After you finished your cup of tea, you felt your phone buzz in your pocket, resulting in you taking it out to check. You glanced over the message a coworker had sent you, asking to fill in for their hours as they would be absent. Your fingers hovered over the keyboard for a moment, deciding on whether or not you should accept this offer. True, you would get paid more, but after what you had gone through last night, you'd rather not do anything too stressful.
After apologizing and declining, you turned over to your kitchen once more and put your mug in the sink. Stepping over and roaming through the fridge you sighed when you saw that there was pretty much nothing in there. You checked your pantry and also came up empty handed, your stomach growling in pain and annoyance. Shaking your head and slamming the drawers shut, you pat your stomach while debating your next course of action.
Glancing at the time, you figured that it wasn't too late to go out to the store and get some supplies. It wasn't exactly rush hour for grocery shopping, but it sure was edging it, you would have to be fast if you wanted a decent lunch for the day. Weighing your options with a tempting offer, that being just ordering take out and staying home, you decided to be productive today. God you wish you never did that.
Walking over, you turned your TV off and closed your blinds, making sure that you had turned everything off so you electricity bill wouldn't sky rocket. You could not be affording that right now, especially with how many days you had taken off work recently. Grabbing you wallet from the counter, you snagged anything else you needed before booking out of your apartment.
Making sure your fort was locked down, you made your way over to the elevator shaft, pressing the button and waiting patiently. It didn't take long for the elevator to lift your way, opening and showing a few ordinary people wanting to go on their way. You slipped in and stoop awkwardly in the middle of everyone, the elevator closing and starting to descend.
As the more stops came, the more uncomfortable you got with everyone in the space, it almost felt suffocating. You didn't hate people and you didn't hate being around others, it's just that you felt a sort of disconnect with everyone else. You were special, and they weren't, you were an Elemental Master and they weren't so they wouldn't understand you. You did have 'normal' friends, but they didn't know about your abilities, and you planned on keeping it that was for as long as you could.
Once the elevator reached the ground floor, you were one of the first to step out of the small area and out into the lobby. You briefly checked your mail box and found a handful of letters and packages from Cole, a small and soft smile etching on your lips. You closed your mail box and locked it up, you figured you would get them when you came back. Right now, you were focused on getting your groceries and eating a lunch and dinner for the day. As tempting as it was, Cole's gifts and letters would have to wait.
Stepping out of the sliding glass doors, you were welcomed with the warm air of fall, the smell of leaves thick in the sky. You sighed and smiled as you turned and started to walk down the streets of New Ninjago City. You never thought you would move out into a place so modern, you thought you'd stay out in the suburbs your whole life. Oh how one event can change so much in ones life, it's almost too stressful to think about.
There was not much comotion going on as you walked, everyone seemed to be minding their business and was doing their own things. You only really noticed a change in people behaviors when you reached the plaza of the city, a small round about placed in the road as well. People were crowded around many different areas and all cheering in their own special ways. You raised an eyebrow at this but tried to push past it.
However, you ended up bumping into one of these groups, as they were on the pathway you needed to take to get to your local market. Pausing in your walk, you found no way around these people, so you just sighed and decided to stay while. If you can't beat them, you might as well join them, there will always be food in the grocery store anyways. What's the rush?
In the center of the crowd was a man with spiked brown hair that definitely had too much product in it, the shape reminded you of that of a flame. He had a bandage on his left eyebrow that was peeling off, showing no scar underneath it what so ever. However, on his right eyebrow there was a notch in his eyebrow that showed a small and faint scar, extending down to the bottom of his eyes. Speaking of eyes, the color of them was a creamy shade of brown, almost reminding you of a fresh bag of coffee grounds.
Though the attire he wore made him look goofy, he was nothing short from attractive, which made you wonder what he was doing out here at a time like this. Spotting the fire on the ground, your eyebrows rose upwards as you realized what he was doing. Perhaps he was performing a street trick with fire to promote something, what it was you weren't sure but you could only guess it was a tea shop.
While everyone's eyes drifted elsewhere, probably to other performers around the area, your gaze remained fixated on the male. He seemed familiar, way too familiar somehow, in fact the more you look at him, the more you start to connect dots. He looked like someone Cole writes about frequently, always complaining about how cocky and up in his head the man was. It made you wonder if this was the same exact guy, because you sure hope it wasn't.
You were blinked out of your state of daydreaming when you felt something fall and hit your ankles. Looking downwards, you were greeted with a thick pile of flyer, on the verge of flying away if not thanks to your legs. Deciding to be nice, you bent downwards and grabbed the pile of papers, making sure to organize them into a neat manner.
It didn't take you long to figure that these were the brown haired males flyers, as he seemed to be searching around the area frantically. He was too busy turning around and looking at the ground that he didn't notice your approach. He only turned around and met your eye to eye when your finger tips graced his shoulder, putting him on high alert. The second he turned around, though, he relaxed as his eyes met yours, his brown eyes seeming to get softer.
You two stared at each other for a moment before you cleared your throat and adjusted the papers in your hands. "Are these yours by any chance?" You asked the man, holding out the stack so that he was able to see them. "They kind of just flew my way, be careful next time." You muttered as the man kept blinking at you, watching as you avoided his tempting gaze.
Eventually he let a sly smirk fall on his face as he reached upwards and grabbed the flyers, his hands purposefully touching yours. "Why thank you, indeed these are mine." He spoke out, watching you flinch and look up in surprise at the tone of his voice. "Say, I haven't seen you around here before. What part of New Ninjago City do you live in?" He he continued to speak, tucking his flyers into the space of his armpit and arm, crossing them over one another.
You hummed and thought for a second wondering how you should word and address the area you lived in to this man. "I live relatively close to Borg Tower, if that's of any help. What about you? I don't think I've seen you around here either." You smiled at the man, taking a small step backwards when you saw the distance between the two of you. Though he visibly deflated at the fact you stepped away, the expression was quickly ridden as he put a smile back on his face.
Clearing his throat, he opened his mouth to speak, only for a small draft of wind to pass through, a chill running down your spine. You blinked and looked in the direction the draft came from, noting of it be from the Museum. You squinted your eyes at this and held your hand tightly together, not liking the uneasy feeling that ran through you.
Looking over, you noticed that the fiery male was no longer fueled with passion anymore, instead he looked almost dreadful. "My powers..." He mumbled, though it was loud enough for you to hear, as he snapped his fingers a few times. "They're not working..!" He spoke a little louder this time, looking around desperately as the people around the plaza started to disperse. You stood there watching with a blank expression, the man in front of you slowly starting to get ticked off.
Taking a step backwards, you gave the man one more glance before brushing past him, leaving him alone. While you walked off to the grocery store, you missed how the brown haired man looked back to where you were previously. He blinked in shock when he didn't see you standing there anymore, whipping his head around to try and catch even the smallest glance of you. He found nothing.
Reaching a hand up to your chest, you furrowed your brows as you searched deep within yourself, sighing thankfully when you still felt a strong pulse there. You still had your elemental powers, which was a relief to you for the first time in a long time. Though you don't use them often, you knew you'd be in a rough spot if you didn't have them. Guess whatever that was either didn't care about you or just didn't know about your abilities.
Walking into the grocery store, you were pleasantly surprised to find it almost barren and empty allowing you time to grab a few things. You grabbed enough to fill you stomach for a few weeks before turning over to the cash register. You quickly paid for everything and then started your journey back towards your home, unaware of the falcon watching your movements closely.
The walk home was quiet and wasn't out of the ordinary, something you thoroughly enjoyed until you reached your apartment complex. Reaching the lobby, you quickly grabbed Coles mail and stuffed into a safe bag before adventuring to the elevator. You hummed to yourself when you saw no one in the elevator, granting you a nice and quiet ride up to you home.
Once on your floor, you put your mind into finding your keys, not aware of the person standing outside your apartments door. Once you had found your keys, you took the cool and solid metal out of your pocket. Turning it the right way, you finally looked up to insert it into the door way, taking a mental and physical pause when you saw the man standing at your doorway.
There stood Cole with his arms crossed and a distant look on his face, it looked as if he was stressed out of his mind. "Cole..?" You spoke out, catching the attention of the brown eyed male. The moment his eyes met yours, you felt your heart lighten up as a smile placed itself on your face, Cole feeling the same way. "Hey, it's been forever! How's being a Ninja going?" You instantly started to conversate as Cole sped walked over to you.
You held up no complaints when the black haired individual went up to you and snagged some of your grocery bags. "It's been going as well as it could, though I would stop by since I was in the city!" He spoke back to you, standing by your side as you fiddled and unlocked your apartment door, gesturing for him to walk in. "It's also been a good long while, I wanted to make sure you didn't forget my face." He teased you slightly, watching as you rolled your eyes with an amused expression, shutting your apartment door.
Flicking a light on, Cole set down your groceries onto your counter tops and got to digging, wanting to help you out. "It's alright Cole, I know how busy you can be now a days. You never know when the next big threat is going to attack." You hummed, placing down your bags as well and digging through them with Cole. "And there's no possible way for me to forget your face when you mail me a polaroid of yourself over other letter." You laughed out, storing some cereal boxes into one of your cabinets, Cole just sighing out a laugh as well.
From then on, the two of you stuffed your kitchen full of food and even went through some of Cole's mail that he had sent you. "Wow... that's um..." You blinked a little as you held the jar in your hand, full of a substance you weren't sure of. "What is this again..? And why did you, I don't know, touch it?" You asked the man with concern, Cole just laughing as he shoved his shoulder into yours, grabbing the bottle.
Cole shook the object up and down and you watched in awe as it slowly started to glow a brighter color. "I'm not quiet sure what it is, but I had my buddy Zane scoop this up for me. He's the Nindroid, remember?" You hummed and nodded, taking the jar from Cole and setting it up on the table, along with all the other piles of junk he had gotten you. It took you a moment of silence before you sighed and relaxed into the couch, Cole slowly doing the same.
Though you would like to say that the silence that fell over the two of you was pleasant, you knew something was on Coles mind. "This is not the main reason I'm here to see you, though." Cole eventually spoke, confirming your suspicions as you turned to look over to him, his brows furrowed in thought. "My Master, Sensei Wu, he sent me down here to retrieve you. He said that you were an Elemental Master, is that true?" Cole asked you, though he never received a verbal answer from you, just a small, guilty look shining in your eyes.
Cole only sighed and shook his head, a smile forming on his face as he reached over to you and grabbed your hand in a reassuring matter. "It's okay that you hid it from me, that's a pretty big thing to have to break to someone. I'm sure Sensei Wu can help you with training, and I'll be there as well!" Cole encouraged you, watching as you smiled, though the gesture didn't seem to reach your face.
It took a little bit of bribing from Cole, him just assuring you that this would just be a short adventure, but you soon found yourself in the passengers seat of Coles car. You didn't know if you wanted to be a Ninja, or even try and get a deeper understanding of your Elemental Abilities. Cole could sense this of you and kept on giving you reassuring words, most of them being in terms of stories he had over the years. However, something he often came back to was how you would both be able to see each other daily now. You guess that was a bonus, wasn't it?
Now pulling up to a field, you blinked at the building that was standing in the center of the area, it was small. Now that you're really looking at the area, this whole place didn't seem like a Ninja hide out at all, more like a small and sad tea shop. Giving Cole an odd look, he just simply let out a dry chuckle before pulling into a parking spot, turning the car off.
You sat still for a good, long while, Cole noticing as he got ready to get out, you didn't know if you were ready for this. "Hey." Cole said simply, reaching his hand out to grasp your upper arm, thus pulling you out of your thoughts. "It's going to be okay. If you listen to Wu and learn that this isn't the life for you, I'm sure he will hear you out. There's nothing to afraid of, plus the other Ninja are pretty cool." He attempted to soothe you, watching as the muscles in your body slowly started to relax one by one.
Eventually, you sighed and reached a hand up, slapping the top of Cole's head lightly as he gasped and bent down with the hit. "You worry about me too much." You muttered to him, watching as the male chuckled and rubbed the top of his head. "And before you say, 'I have too!', when where you one to ever listen to your dad?" You smiled a little, remember how Lou would lecture Cole day in and day out about how he needed to worry about you. It was a sweet gesture, but sometimes you thought of it as ridiculous and silly.
After a few more back and forth banter between the two of you, most of the jokes being childhood ones, you finally stepped out of the car. You breathed in the air of the area you were in and noticed that there was nothing out of the ordinary, just the smell of fall. You turned over and saw Cole giving you a small wave, gesturing you over to where he was, you stepping over and following him reluctantly. You didn't know why you were so nervous; you knew that these people held no ill will from the letters Cole wrote to you.
Stepping up to the tea shop, Cole pushed open the door for you and waved his hand forward, letting you walk in first. You paused when you saw an older woman, probably in her fifties, packaging and handing out some material. Upon further squints, you realized that she was handing out some tea leaves to the people at the counter. So you were indeed right, this was a tea shop.
You heard the door behind you click shut and you turned over your shoulder, watching as Cole stepped up to stand right next to you. "That's Misako, Lloyd's mom. I'm sure you know who Lloyd is, The Green Ninja?" You let the cogs in your head turn for a second before you hummed and nodded your head, Cole laughing at your delayed reaction. "It's fine if you don't know everyone too well, we mostly try and stay away from any media we can. Exposer is nice, but too much of it could be troublesome." You simply hummed and looked back over to Misako, watching as she gently handled everything with carrying hands.
Cole started to walk forward, and you soon followed him, as you didn't want to hang around in the back awkwardly. "Sensei Wu? Where are the others?" Coke asked as he stepped into a back area, you noticing it to be a storage room for the tea blends. You blinked as you looked around, your eyes eventually falling onto a pair of two figures, one being an old man and the other being a young female.
The two turned around and flashed Cole a small smile before turning over to you, watching as you slightly stiffened at the attention placed upon you. "Welcome back Cole. No, I'm afraid the Ninja have yet to return." Cole hummed and stuck his hands into his pockets, rolling on the backs of his feet as he awaited instructions. "Your new Gi's came in, please go try yours on while I have a conversation with your friend." The old man asked of Cole, gesturing to the back door that led to who knows where. Cole's face lit up at the sound of new clothes and gave you a reassuring pat before running out the door.
Once he was out the door, you felt the air get a little stiff, but maybe that was just you because the man and girl didn't seem to falter. "Good evening, you must be Cole's childhood best friend. He never knows when to be quiet about you." The old man snickered, the girl besides him rolling her eyes as she set a box down onto the ground. "I'm Wu, you can call me Sensei or Master if you please. And this here is Nya." You looked over to the girl and waved shyly, the girl repeating the same action towards you before whipping her head around.
Watching as the girl got back to work, you stepped more into the storage area and closer to Wu, who was just smiling gently. "Yeah, I um... don't really know why I'm here." You muttered, watching as Nya stepped out from the storage room and over into the main area. "Cole just told me that you requested to see me. You are going to ask me to become a Ninja... aren't you?" You questioned the man, not waiting for him to even try to explain anything.
Wu raised his eyebrows in surprise but eventually just laughed off your question, walking towards you with his staff in hand. "That indeed would be correct. Just know I won't really like 'no' as your answer, making Gi's are expensive." Your brows furrowed as Wu started to walk outside of the area, gesturing for you to follow him. "Cole remembered some of your clothing sizes, so I put in an order with the other Ninja's Gi. I do hope you will join us." You blinked and paused when you were in the main area, the customers from earlier walking outside of the shop, only to be replaced by a new pair.
Scooting up closer to Wu, the man simply smiled at your curious look, already knowing what you were going to ask, but remained quiet. "You ordered a Gi for me even though you didn't know if I would join you...?" You questioned him, watching as Wu simply nodded and chuckled, the back door opening and closing quietly. "That's... bold of you." You muttered, turning over and seeing Cole with his new Gi on, a secondary one in hand.
Cole walked up to you and held out the fabric to you, watching as you hesitantly grabbed it and examined its color. "There are few colors to pick from, believe it or not. I hope you don't mind a muted green?" Wu questioned, using his staff to tap the colors that were on your Gi, watching as you stood there awkwardly. "It's alright, I'm sure Lloyd wouldn't mind sharing a color; besides, I made sure the colors were distinguishable enough." The look of discomfort still didn't wash off your face, it wasn't the color you were worried about, it was more of the fact that Wu had this already.
He already planned on you becoming a Ninja, and even ordered a Gi with the others, meaning he had expected you for a while now. "How long have you been wanting me to join you and the Ninja?" You suddenly asked, Wu blinking in quiet surprise at the question. Cole shifted awkwardly as he crossed his arms, nodding his head at your question, he too was curious.
Wu smiled at both of your reactions, now knowing where Cole got some of his mannerisms, and pointed his staff towards your hair. "You're the Elemental Master of Spirits, something as bold as that wouldn't fly under my nose so easily." Wu explained, watching as your eyes drifted back down to the Gi in your hand. "If you're still unsure, then how about a test run?" Wu asked you, the front doors slamming open in perfect time with his question.
A group of men flooded the area, screaming out their worries while looking around the area, relived when they saw their Master. "Sensei! We were getting word out..." A familiar boy came up and started to speak, his eyes briefly meeting yours before returning to Wu's. "And then there was this wind..." He continued to press onwards, Wu furrowing his brows and whipping the underside of his chin.
A man made of solid titanium stepped forward, his vibrant blue eyes tilted downwards in worry. "And our powers disappeared!" He finished the brunettes sentence, the boy nodding his head frantically while trying to pay attention. However, his gaze kept on faltering and looking over towards you, trying to examine you further. You were well away of his stares and focused your attention elsewhere, like the floor for example.
Wu blinked in astonishment and asked the group of men why they were using their powers, a man with curly hair and freckles stepping forward. "Yeah, I know, we're terrible students, but what happened to our powers!?" He screamed out to master in a begging way, completely ignoring the fact that you were standing off in the corner. In fact, the only few that knew and acknowledge your presence was Cole and that familiar brunette.
The whole shop went silent when there was a rush of wind subtly blowing through the wood of the area. The windmill outside of the shop slowly started to creak and rotate in the direction the draft was coming, clouds moving to block out the sun. You brought your Gi up closer to your chest and hugged it just the ever bit more tighter at these things. It didn't take a genius or a Ninja to figure out that something was coming your way.
Wu looked outside and at the wind, furrowing his brows before turning to the group of boys once more. "If your powers are gone, then something must've happened to..." The old man went quiet with realization, the others seeming to pale in realization as well. Another gust of wind came with Wu's words, this time dragging up leaves and other small debris on it's way.
You squinted your eyes as you looked out of the open doors, Wu reaching up to grab his hat that was falling off his head. A figure stood in the distance, it's silhouette being blacked out by the distance it wast at. You all stood their anxiously as the figure approached, slowly watching as it's features came more into frame.
The man stopped at the gateway of the area, flipping hid hood down to reveal Lloyd, something a customer cheered at. "I know that wind." Wu stated simply, tilting his head more downwards as he glared at the image in front of him. "That's not Lloyd!" Wu told the Ninja as they bolted outside to go and see their friend, unaware of the danger that was awaiting them.
You stood inside the shop, watching the Ninja with squinted eyes and furrowed brows, unable to hear 'Lloyd'. "Lloyd, what's wrong with you?" The man with curly hair asked forward, the wind howling loud and cover up the others answer. "Woah, Lloyd's gone through puberty." The same man spoke out, turning over to his friends to look for a response out of them.
The four of them just turned towards each other and asked what they thought was wrong with The Green Ninja. "I sense some kind of foreign entity has taken over his body." The man made of titanium stated, walking up closer to the group of Ninja. "So the question isn't what, but who's gotten into him?" The man finished his sentence from earlier, everyone's blood slowly running colder at the though of possession.
The brunette man from earlier turned forward and faced the possessed boy, his brows furrowed deeply in anger. "Whoever you are, whatever beef you have with Sensei, you have with us!" He opened his arms outwards to gesture to the group, everyone of them holding a determined look. "Give us back out friend." The brunette stated firmly, not giving up or giving in with his attitude.
The man in front of them simply laughed and cracked his neck, the Ninja hesitating as they didn't want to fight or hurt their friend. Within a few quick seconds, the man ran forward with an intent to hurt the Ninja in front of him. Your eyes widen when he jumped into the air and pointed his palm towards the ground, a violent wind shooting out of it and throwing the Ninja upwards.
You flinched backwards and took a step further into the shop as the Ninja screamed in distress when they were tossed. "Great!" The man with curly hair shouted, slowly pulling himself back up into a standing position. "We don't have powers, but he does!?" He pouted before he and the other Ninja ran forward to try and attack the ghost head on, hoping for a better outcome.
All four of them ran up and tried their hand at landing a hit on the ghost, all of them getting punched and kicked away before they got the chance. The ghost stopped it's punching and kicking when the Ninja where down and on the ground, now turning to face forward. You stiffened in your spot when the man looked around the shop before his eyes settled on yours. He examined you for a good, long while before a small smile reached his face, one that you didn't appreciate.
Cole grunted as he slowly pushed himself upwards, his eyes darting back and fourth before landing on the ghost. "We may not have powers, but we still know a little thing called Spinjitzu!" He announced happily, the other Ninja stumbling up to their feet when they saw Cole perform the move. However, before Cole could get even a few feet in front of the ghost, he was shot back and into the tea shops wall.
You wanted to step outwards and help out your friend, but Wu pushed a hand out in front of you, preventing you from doing so. "So not only does he have powers, but he can control the wind too!?" The man with curly hair complained as Wu pushed himself out and into the courtyard, gesturing for the customers to follow him. While he did that, you scooted farther inside the shop, seeking the protection of it, you weren't used to this kind of action.
Wu ran back inside and you turned around to watch his movements as he spoke out to Nya, saying they needed to leave as well. "But this is our place!" The girl complained, walking over and watching her master slowly pack things up. "Tell me, Sensei, what's happened to Lloyd?" She asked the old man with a worried look, Wu pausing his movements as he slowly started to think about how to word everything.
Turning his head over, Wu made eye contact with you, watching as your eyes shook in spot as you refused to believe in it. "There's no time." Wu eventually said, pushing himself upwards and rushing out of the back door, Nya not moving from her spot. You swallowed a lump in your throat as you walked behind the counter to stand next to Nya, who held a frustrated look on her face the whole time.
There was a loud growl of wind that pulled you and Nya closer to the counter top before it suddenly stopped, slamming the door shut. "Are you okay!?" Nya asked, turning over to face you, instantly noticing the petrified look on your face. "I'm so sorry this had to end up on your first day, I swear we normally aren't this unprepared!" She briefly apologized, watching as you let out a shaky sigh and nodded your head, unsure how to react.
Suddenly, the front doors slammed open as you and Nya turned to face the entrance, watching as the ghost stomped forwards. "Get out!" Nya shouted with a brave tone in her voice, slamming her palms on the counter in an attempt to threaten the ghost. Your eyes met briefly with his, watching as his gaze flickered from yours to the Gi in your hand, he obviously recognized the color.
His brows twitched as he let out a low growl, now turning over to face Nya, leaving you in his blind spot. "Go stalk some shelves before you get hurt." He threatened Nya, watching as the girl didn't back down, but instead challenged the ghost. However, before Nya could engage in any sort of battle, Wu came rushing forward, pulling the girl back into reality.
"Stay back Nya, it's me that he wants." Wu briefly explained, turning over to look at the ghost, who was growing irritable by the second. "Y/n, run out the backdoor and stick with the Ninja. You're not ready for this kind of fight." Wu said simply, looking over and noticing your sickly and feared face. You couldn't help but internally agree with the man as you turned over, like hell you were ready for this!
There was some wind resistance as you pushed towards the back door, but you eventually made it and slammed it open. Letting out a gasp of relief, you looked side to side before running to the right, reaching the side of the shop. With your luck, Cole was one of the first faces you saw, running over to him and gasping his name.
Once he saw you, Cole stood up quickly and grabbed you by the shoulders pulling you close to his body. "Y/n, are you okay!?" He asked you, watching as you blinked a little before nodding your head, still seeming out of it. "It's alright, we'll get you some training and you'll be okay. For now, just stick to my side, okay?" He gently reassured you, watching as you breathed in and sighed, trying to slowly relax yourself.
While Cole did that, the other Ninja stood up and watched you and Cole, wonder in their eyes as to who you were. "To the barn!" Nya suddenly shouted as she burst through the front door, dragging everyone's attention towards her. Cole grabbed your arm and dragged you with him and the group, over to a secluded barn in the back.
Turning your head back as you ran, you met the eyes of the burnette and watched him simply stand in the courtyard. You gave him an odd look, but turned away from him as Cole kept on tugging you forward, closer to the building. The moment the doors where shoved open, you couldn't help the choked gasp that came out of you as you stared at the ship in front of you.
You barley had time to process anything as Cole dragged your forward, jumping up onto the ship before reaching his hand down towards you. You reached your hand upwards to grasp his, but just fell a little short, the Gi in your hand starting to slip from your hold as well. Biting your lip with embarrassment, you were stopped when you felt a cold hand grasp your shoulder.
Whipping your head around, your eyes met a pair of light blue ones, a small and reassuring smile on the mans face. "Would you like some help, miss?" The robotic Ninja asked you, watching as you lowered your head in shame and nodded. "Alright, please hand my your Gi and step onto my shoulder." You did as instructed, handing the Ninja your Gi and watched as he squatted down lower for your height.
You put your right foot on the Ninja's shoulder and held onto the side of the ship, now staring upwards at Cole's extended hand. Suddenly, the Ninja started to rise quickly, granting you enough momentum to jump off his shoulder and reach for Cole's hand. You both gasped in relief when you felt the warmth of each others palms, a small smile resting on Cole's face.
With nothing but a singular grunt, Cole tugged you upwards and to the ships railing, holding your lower back as he helped you over. "We are definitely going to have to work on your climbing skills." Cole joked around, watching as your rolled your eyes at his gestures, slipping your legs up and over the railing. The moment your feet collided with the boards of the ship, you felt it slightly jerk, the sound of an engine starting up was soon heard.
Looking around, your eyes met with the Ninja that had helped you early, watching as he slowly approached you. "I believe we have not met before, at least, not physically." He spoke outwards, holding your Gi out for you to take, you did so slowly. "I'm Zane, and I'm to assume you're Y/n? Cole talks about you a lot." Zane laughed a little, watching as Cole's face flooded with a color of embarrasment.
You smiled gently and nodded your head, given no time to recuperate the welcome gesture when the ship jerked upwards. Slowly, the ship ascended upwards into the hair, your hair flapping around your face with the sudden and new wind. Turning over, you looked off the edge of the railing, seeing the same brunette down on the ground, looking upwards to the ship.
Soon enough, the Ninja with curly hair rushed over to where you and the others where, leaning over the railing. "Oh, is he crazy!?" He shouted over the high winds, only to have you and the others furrow your brows. You watched as the doors where blown off their hinges and into the face of the male, making you wince lightly at the scene.
While you watched the scene, all of you obviously seeing who was winning, Nya came rushing over, asking where her brother was. "He's fighting The Green Ninja. Alone." The man with curly hair stated dramatically, gesturing to the ground below. You scooted over and gave Nya room to observe, nearly missing the thankful look that she shot your way.
You watched as the Ninja down on the ground turned the ghost over and held him in a choke hold, Nya shouting in distress. Nya suddenly ran away from the railing and up a flight of stairs, probably to the control room of the ship. Just as quickly as she was gone, there was a jerk of the ship, sending you into Coles side with the aggression of it.
You watched as an anchor fell from the side of the ship and slowly inched its way over towards the Ninja on the ground. After a few moments of dragging, the hook grabbed the man by his red belt and started to pull him upwards. "A perfect wedgie!" Cole laughed out as the man slowly started to get closer and closer to the surface of the ship. With a small snicker you elbowed Cole, who merely laughed once more and nudged you back.
Placing your Gi carefully down onto the ground, you ran over with Cole and helped him out with puling the man off the anchor. Once he was finally up and on the ship, you turned over and watched as Wu grabbed your Gi, giving you a knowing look. You swallowed a lump in your throat before sighing and turning away, it was still too early to decide on an answer yet.
You were all thrown for a loop when the sails of the ship started to jerk, looking upwards to see a strong gust of wind pulling at them. You fought to stay balanced, but your feet eventually tripped each other and sent you down to the floor. Turning on your stomach, you reached your hand upwards and grabbed the bottom of Cole's pants, watching as he turned over and gave you a worried look.
He reached his hand downwards to try and grab you, but before he could the ship jerked into an upright motion. You slowly stood up and dusted your clothes off, Cole instantly rushing to your side to make sure you were okay. Once he was positive you didn't have a single scratch, he grabbed your arm and pulled you up to the control room of the bounty.
As you arrived up to the control center, you heard everyone breath a sigh of relief as they watched the ghosts silhouette slowly disappear. "Spill it Sensei, what just happened back there, and what have they done to my friend?" The man with curly hair asked, turning over to face Wu, who had just now joined you all.
Everyone gave out hums of confirmation, wanting to know just as badly who the ghost they were dealing with was. "You four were not my first pupils, there was one before you." Wu slowly started to explain with a deep sigh, the group of Ninja giving out noises and words of confusion. "Morro, The Master of Wind." Wu finished, giving none of you time to react to the new information as the control panel started to beep.
"Okay, now those lights scare me." Nya said with a shaky voice as she pointed upwards to the blue screen, showing what was beeping. You furrowed your brows as you saw a red, pulsing dot slowly drift closer to the ship you were on. "We got something on our six. Looks like your Master of Wind just caught his second wind!" She exclaimed, the screen slowly starting to beep louder and louder with each pulse that got closer to the ship.
The ship then took a deep dive into a huddle of storm clouds, the red dot and beeping slowly fading. "I've reached us some cover, but I'm not sure how long it'll last before Morro finds us." Nya explained, turning over to Wu who was pondering for a good long while. "If there's anything we need to do, we should do it right now, Sensei." She continued to speak, pulling the old man out of his trance.
Standing up straighter and tapping his staff onto the panneling of the ship, he faced the group of Ninja. "I have given you each a new set of Gi's, please put them on quickly and return up here." He spoke suddenly, but the Ninja wasted no time to rush downstairs, leaving you and Cole to stand around. "Y/n, please, put yours on. I know you're still on the fence, but maybe this could help you get a feel?" Wu pleaded as he held out the black and muted green fabric, watching as your face slightly contorted.
You grabbed the Gi once more and dusted parts of it off, Cole stepping over and grasping your shoulder. "Hey, I'll come with you. That way I can help calm you down and teach you how to put it on properly." You hummed and nodded your head, letting Cole take the lead as he hurried down the stairs. You didn't run as fast as he did, but you moved with much more haste than what you used to.
Brushing past the Ninjas room, Cole pulled you below deck and into a blank room, turning around and facing a corner. You blinked and slowly unfolded the fabrics in hand, unsure of what goes where first. Turning over, you asked your friend for assistance, watching as he laughed and teased you but eventually helped you.
He turned around and let your slip on the pants by yourself, only turning around to help you tie them before assisting you in folding the top half. After that was done, Cole helped you attach your hood and tied your belt around your waste. You watched him with careful eyes, trying to memorize just what he was doing.
Eventually, he gave you a firm pat on your shoulders and a bright smile, stating that he was done. "Hey, you don't look half bad!" He joked around, now pulling you out of the room and pushing you back up to the deck. "Who knew you'd be a Ninja? Not me nor you that's for sure." He kept on teasing as you walked back up to the control center, everyone already done being dressed.
All of the Ninja turned to look at you and Cole upon the arrival, their eyes more trained on you than Cole. "Students, I would like you to embrace your new team member with open arms." Wu stepped forward, tapping your back with his staff and thus pushing you forward slightly. "This is Y/n, Elemental Master of Spirits. She will aid and help us, hopefully joining us and our team at the end of this all." He introduced you, watching as his students eyed you up and down before smiling.
The first person to step forward was the brunette that you found familiar, now realizing who it was when he got closer. "Hey I know you..." He joked around, earning the smallest chuckle from you that you could manage, but he simply ignored it. "Names Kai, but you can call me what ever you want." He nudged your shoulder, watching as your face slightly blanked at his poor attempt to flirt.
You simply gave Kai a small smile before turning over to the Ninja in blue, who was bouncing back and fourth on his feet. "I'm Jay, it's nice to meet you!" He said with an uplifted tone of voice, extending his gloved hand out for you to take. You reached your own out and shook his hand, your smile slowly growing with the introductions being put in place. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.
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