Onyx paced her room, too tense to read. A schedule had been placed on the cover of the book she'd tossed aside, detailing mealtimes and tournament etiquette. Lunch wasn't until 1:00 P.M., giving her three hours to kill. Finally she walked out into the balcony in the hope that some fresh air would help clear her head. She leaned on the railing with a sigh, watching the ocean, just barely visible over the jungle canopy, catch the light of the sun. Out of curiosity, Onyx leaned over the edge of her balcony, trying to see the one below hers.
As she leaned over, something hit her lightly on the back of the head. Onyx started violently, nearly falling over the edge. She spun around and grabbed the thing. It was an origami crane. "Sorry!" A voice called from above her. Onyx looked up and saw the girl with dyed hair from earlier. "I wanted to get your attention. I didn't mean to scare you!" She called with a wave. Onyx awkwardly waved back, thinking back to what Chen had said. "You're the Master of Origami, right?" She asked. The girl nodded. "Yeah! My name is Ori. Ironic, right?" She answered.
After a moment, Onyx grinned. For whatever reason, she was finding Ori distinctly likable. "What exactly does the element of origami entail?" She asked. Ori paused for a moment, confused. "Entail? Oh! I can make my things move, see?" Onyx watched the crane quiver and begin to flap its wings, lifting itself through the air and flying back up to Ori. Something about it was oddly entrancing. "So you made that?" Onyx asked, impressed. She'd found origami fascinating for a while but had never gotten around to trying it. "Yeah! I can make lots of stuff. If you wanna come up, I can teach you," Ori offered.
Onyx hesitated for a moment before nodding. Ori was small and wouldn't be difficult to fend off, but Onyx didn't think it would come to that. Her words seemed sincere. "Alright, sure," Onyx accepted, hopping up on the railing of her balcony, jumping across to the roof of the one across from her, and from there leaping up to catch the railing of Ori's balcony and pulling herself up onto it. Ori watched her display, impressed. "Wow. You're one of the ninja, right? I've seen you guys before," she said. Onyx tilted her head. "Oh? Do you live in Ninjago?" She asked.
Ori nodded. "Yep! Me and my dad have an apartment in the middle of the city," she said. Onyx's brow furrowed as she looked at the girl with brightly coloured hair and clothes. "How old are you?" She asked. "Thirteen," Ori answered, sliding open the door to her room and leading Onyx in. "Thirt-does your father know you're here?" Onyx asked, raising an eyebrow. Ori faltered as she pulled a drawer open, revealing rows of neatly stacked origami paper. "Well... no. But I'm going to win the tournament, and when I go back, he'll be so happy with the money that he won't be mad!" She said quickly.
Onyx frowned at the girl's answer, concerned for her well-being. "I see," was all she could think to say. Ori looked back at Onyx. "What colour do you want? I have red, green, blue..." she asked. "Green is fine," Onyx answered. "Do you want dark green or leaf green?" Ori asked, holding up two sheets of green paper and narrowing her eyes at them. "Oh, um... leaf, I guess," Onyx said. Ori smiled. "Ooh, like the Green Ninja?" She asked, pulling out a stack of green and orange paper.
Onyx tilted her head curiously as Ori took a seat at a small table. "I guess so," she said. She hadn't realized she'd been drawn to the colour until Ori had mentioned it. "Here, take a sheet," Ori said, pushing the stack of green paper towards Onyx, who took a single sheet and flipped it colour-side down like Ori had. "Okay, first we need our guide folds..."
After about an hour, Onyx was finally able to fold a decent crane. As she and Ori folded bird after bird, Onyx glanced around, noticing paper cranes littering the room. "You've made a lot of these," she remarked, folding her bird's wings down. "Yeah. They say that if you make 1000, you get a wish. One day, I'm going to make so many I have unlimited wishes," Ori said, deftly finishing another crane and adding it to her pile. Onyx couldn't help but smile at the childish goal.
"I look up to you, you know. I've heard about you on the radio," Ori said after a few minutes. "Oh yeah?" Onyx said, intrigued. Ori nodded. "Yeah! I've heard all about the adventures you and the ninjas have. Like the Serpentine! And I remember some of them, too, like the Overlord. I remember both of those times, actually," she said. Onyx's face darkened at the mention of the being. Ori noticed and immediately backtracked. "Sorry, I didn't mean to-." Onyx shook her head. "No, you didn't do anything wrong. I just... I hate that thing for taking Zane from us." She hesitated for a moment before adding, "That's why we're here, actually. Chen promised to return Zane to us if we win."
Ori's eyebrows raised. "The Ice Ninja? You mean he might be alive? Are you going to look for him? Can I help?" Onyx shook her head at the slew of questions. "Yes, Zane's the Ice Ninja, and if Chen wasn't lying, then he might be here somewhere. Me and the others are going to find him, whatever it takes," she answered, taking another moment to contemplate the last question. "Maybe. Come find me and the others at lunch, and we can talk about you helping," she decided finally. Ori wiggled excitedly and bounced on her cushion. "Cool! I might get to help on a real ninja mission," she exclaimed. Onyx shook her head at Ori's tenacity. It had only been an hour and a half, and she was already fond of the girl.
"You mentioned that you live with your father. What does he do?" Onyx asked. "He's an artist. Well, he really works in an office, but he makes art in his spare time. He's busy a lot, though, so it's usually just me and my schoolbooks," Ori answered. Onyx frowned at her crane. "Don't you have-I mean, what happened to your mother?" She asked. Ori's bright face darkened slightly. "She... died. When I was really little. She got sick. I don't remember her very much," she admitted. Onyx hesitated for a moment before scooting around the table to sit next to Ori.
"My parents are gone too. My father died when I was young, and my mother... wasn't exactly... right after that. It basically came down to my brother to raise me. So... I get it. I'm sorry," Onyx said, messily trying to comfort her. Ori looked up at the taller girl. "What happened to them?" She asked.
Onyx's breath caught in her throat for a moment. "Well, I-my dad was a fisherman, and he got caught in a storm. My mom wasn't normal after that. She didn't eat right or even act the same. She was just... sad. It caught up to her eventually. So it was just me and my brother. He wasn't old enough to fish though, and eventually he paid off a sneak thief to get me out of Stiix. I don't know what happened to him." She'd told Zane bits and pieces of what had happened, but this was the first time she'd actually summarized most of what had happened. Onyx tilted her head away, narrowing her eyes to hold back the sting of tears.
"Oh. And the thief gave you to Wu?" Ori asked. Onyx shook her head. "No. He left me at an orphanage, but I was little, scared, and wasn't having it. I ran. I lasted two weeks before finally collapsing in an alleyway. That was when Wu found me," she corrected, leaning her head on her arms and fidgeting with a crane she'd made. Ori poked the crane, making it fly around the table. "I love my dad, you know? That's why I want to get money for him. He doesn't like working in an office. It makes him sad; I can tell. But he does it to make enough money to take care of me, so I want to help. But I think what you want is more important," she said.
Onyx looked at her, caught off-guard at the startling maturity Ori had just displayed. Then she smiled softly. "I think he'll be happy as
long as you're safe," she said. Onyx had no idea if she was correct, but if what she'd picked up from Wu was worth anything, then she was at least close. Ori sighed. "Yeah, You're right. Ohh, my dad's probably freaking out right now!" She gasped, finally realizing what her impulsive decisions would do. Ori wrapped her arms around herself and began to bite her lip. Onyx put a hand up. "I'm going to make sure you get home okay, alright? Don't worry," she said, pulling out her best soothing voice.
Ori took a shaky breath and nodded. "Okay," she said. Onyx looked around and grabbed a crane. "You said 1000 of these would give you a wish, right?" When Ori nodded, she continued. "How about you keep going until you make 1000, and then wish that your father will be okay until you get home?" She suggested. Ori cocked her head, mulling over the idea. Then she nodded. "Okay, that's a good idea!" She said, taking another sheet and getting back to work. Onyx grinned as Ori's bright expression reappeared. She wasn't much younger than herself, but Onyx couldn't stop herself from feeling protective.
She glanced at the clock and winced. "Ori, I've got to get back to my room. Come find me and the other ninja at lunch, okay?" She said. Ori nodded, waving as Onyx stood and made her way to the balcony. "Okay! Here, take some paper," she said, handing Onyx a stack of green paper. "Alright then. I'll see you there," Onyx said, leaping back down onto her own balcony and crossing over to the door to wait for it to unlock.
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I don't know why I'm so fond of Ori, but when her concept first materialized in my mind I immediately decided that she was my favorite background character, which was how she evolved from one-off mention to a fully developed side character. Expect more of her in this season.
Also, I have a few weeks to choose and work on a project for 'The Great Gatsby,' and I have decided to make a five-minute radio show version of one of the scenes in it. I can't wait.
Musical of the Day: Hadestown