I woke up and stretched, sighing a little in satisfaction as I did, before hopping out of bed. I wasn't too sure what to do to try and get inside the ninja group, they're a small group of close-knit people, so it would be hard to barge in and demand to be a part of their group, definitely would seems like suspicious activity.
I stared into the mirror and changed my appearance, knowing If I looked like how I usually decided to, people would think I'm part of some sort of thing. Once I chose a look I liked, I put of some civilian-looking clothes and found an empty notebook lying around in my room and pen.
I left the base through a back entrance and walked down the street unseen, the ninja were always doing something in Ninjago, whether it be doing something simple like rescuing an old lady's cat stuck in the tree, or fighting off some villains. It's just an everyday occurrence for everybody.
I tapped the pen against my lip as I stared at the empty page in front of me as I walked before finding a bench and sitting down. I ended up staring at the road in front of me, wondering how to find out about the ninja's next moves and letting my thoughts wander.
Walking, aimlessly walking. I had accidentally fell out of the realm I had came from, the realm of Dragon and Oni, and now I didn't know where I was. I knew I had to keep moving in this alien place. I passed many people, often asking where I was, but they stares at me with faces of shock, horror and fear. One little boy ran away crying. I was a bit confused until I caught my reflection in a window. There, staring at me was a jet black beast with purple, white, and gold markings, glowing magenta eyes, fangs and horns coming out of its head. I stared at it bitterly, loathing my appearance, I didn't care about my appearance back home but here it felt...wrong. I was so weary and tired that I collapsed outside someone's door in a small village, not noticing the door opening.
I awoke in a bed in a small room, dazed I got out and studied my reflection in the window. Still like I was, horns, the markings and all that. I heard a creak and turned to where I had heard it, an elderly woman was standing in the doorway with a tea tray in her hands. She didn't say anything but inclined her head at a small table in the room. We sat down and she poured some tea for the both of us, I was confused, how come she wasn't terrified at my appearance? She cleared her throat before speaking.
"What's your name?" She asked calmly.
I stared at her blankly, in our realm we didn't have names, we just referred each other as Oni. "Um, (Y/N)?" I say unsure. "Yeah, (Y/N)." I say finally, the name I chose sounding right.
"How did you escape?"
"Escape what?" I ask, pretending not to know what she was talking about.
"You know very well what I'm talking about." She said, raising the brim of the cup to her lips.
"What is it?" I ask, still pretending not to know.
"The realm of the Dragon and Oni." She replied calmly.
I almost had dropped my tea cup. "You know about it?" I ask, dropping the act.
She nodded. "Yes, but I left there a long time ago."
"Y-you lived there?" I asked, confused.
She nodded before her shaped wavered, she grew taller and horns were coming out of her head. I stared at her when she looked back up, bone patterns were across her chest with a dark purple belt with two gold tags hanging off it, she had white and gold markings on her face and legs with two horns and glowing pink eyes.
"Y-you're a-an Oni?" I stuttered.
She let out a grunt before changing back into her elderly woman form.
"How did you do that?" I ask in awe.
"Shapeshifting, I could teach you if you want and help you control your powers." She said calmly as she took a sip of tea.
I was bouncing in my seat. "Yes please." I exclaim happily.
And that's how it started. The woman, Mistaké, taught me how to shapeshift into many different people and how to disguise my voice, even how to control my powers.
But once the training was done and I could control my power and shapeshift, she sent me out to explore and I found the city of Ninjago.
I walked around for a while before accidentally bumping into someone with heavy black and white makeup, black, purple, and pink clothes, their black hair in a ponytail and a purple and pink half-mask, they threatened me into an alley, but I let my powers loose and transformed right in front of their eyes. I thought they would've run away screaming at my appearance but instead they smirked and said,
"Looks like boss is going to like you." The person said, slowly getting up from the position I threw them in.
They took me to their base where I had to participate in an 'initiation race' and won. That started my life of crime and gangs that I was close to being a fourth general in their group.
I awoke from my thoughts and looked down at the notebook in my lap, a messy drawing of the Mask of Hatred facing me.
'Huh?' I thought, looking from the pen to the drawing before flipping through the pages to see the Mask of Vengeance and Deception also drawn.
Weird.
I stood up, staring at the drawing of the Mask of Vengeance as I walked, wondering how I was able to draw it without thinking it.
I made contact with someone and fell to the ground, notebook falling out of my hand as I hit the hard ground with an oof.
"I'm sorry!" Someone apologised above me as I saw a hand move into my vision to help me up.
I grabbed the hand and stood up before seeing the person.
"No it's my fault, I wasn't looking where I was going." I said with a grin, looking at the person who I bumped into.
The first things I noticed about him was that he had a ton of freckles and a notch in his eyebrow, before noticing his ginger hair.
He rubbed the back of his neck. "I wasn't really looking where I was going either so I guess it was a small mistake on both our parts."
I nodded with a 'yeah' before we went quiet, unsure what to say.
"Oh hey, is this yours?" He asked, bending down to grab my notebook that had the mask drawings in it.
"Oh...uhhhhh yes it is." I said as he picked it up, flipping it over and looking at the book as he stood up.
"You drew these?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at me.
"Yyyyeeeeeeessssss.......??" I said slowly, unsure where this was leading.
"Do you, by chance, know anything about the Oni masks?" He asked.
I paused, thinking for a second before my mouth moved on it's own.
"Yeah! I'm doing some study on the masks for research on Ninjago's history, why?" I asked in an enthusiastic way.
"Really? Cool!" Ginger said before handing my notebook back and rubbing his neck. "Um, some friends and I are working on a project about the Oni.....but we're not too sure where to start or find any sources. Would you be able to help us?"
"Sure. Is there a specific time or place I can meet you?" I replied automatically.
"Well I'll have to talk to my friends to see, maybe we could swap numbers?"
'Smooth, real smooth.' I thought, about to pull my phone out my remembered that my contacts for Ultra Violet, Mr E, and the Quiet One were all on there. "Well could you write your number in here? I left my phone at home."
We exchanged numbers before bidding our goodbyes and went our seperate ways. I had the idea to make myself seem like someone who studies the Oni and Ninjago's history before the first Spinjitzu master.
'This could get the Ninja's attention, they probably are wondering about the mask that E stole.' I thought. 'But still I'll have to be careful not to reveal anything.' But I'll just have to wait.
I put the person's number into my phone and facepalmed, forgetting to ask about his name, so I just put his contact name as 'Ginger'.
'Still what a coincidence he identified the Oni masks, not many people really know about the Oni anymore.' I thought before something made me falter. 'What if he's part of the ninja force??? I'd be meeting his friends which probably are the other ninja....'
I shook my head with a chuckle. "As if." And went on my way.
——
Later as I was chilling in my room, I got a text from Ginger, asking if he and his friends could meet me at the local library around 3:30ish today. I checked the time, it now being around 1, giving me enough time to write some bullshit about the Oni, their masks and the history I knew about Ninjago before they were probably born. I sent back a reply and grabbed my notebook and the pen again, writing everything I knew.
As I did, an idea formed in my head to see if I could prove to myself if they were the ninja. I grinned as I finished the last note before standing up to look for Violet and E to ask if they could help me with my plan.
Word count: 1648 words