Chapter by: LillaSmolBean
~~~~~~~~~~~
Any minute, the pup's eyes were locked on the figures on the other side of the window. What would be the right move? To tuck her head tight on the doggy bed? No, there were several flaws to that, being in the resistance had taught the Pomeranian a lot. She knew more than regular dogs and she was proud of there.
Therefore, Cloud lifted her head and jumped out of bed, growling and barking in alert as an attempt to wake up her owner. This was bad, she couldn't allow these shady individuals getting anywhere near Harumi nor the team itself. They would be harmed and Cloud would pay for it, seeing as she was the silenced witness.
Now, hearing a fit of growls and barks through the night certainly didn't leave Harumi drifting off to sleep any longer.
She woke up, rubbed her eyes and worriedly glanced at her puppy, wondering what could possibly be the cause to such an alert. "What's the matter, Cloud? What's wrong?" She cooed.
The puppy didn't stop, only keeping her ears upright and tail in a perfectly straight line to show her uneasy nature in the presence of those stalkers, disgraceful creatures watching them sleep. It caught Harumi's attention as well and she instantly recognized the creatures lurking outside. She pulled one of her spare daggers, hung on the wall of her room.
"Oni." She mumbled, holding one dagger and quickly making over to her bedroom's window where she mercilessly opened it and shoved the hilt of the dagger onto the dark creatures' noses. Using her raw strength, she knew that it would have been a power struggle. But, Harumi surprised herself noticing the onis falling off the bounty. She huffed.
No, she cannot let her guard down at a mere attack, it may have been a coincidence that she
"I've gotten stronger, I think.." Cursing under her breath due to the temporary scare of being ambushed, she retreated back to her bed after making sure that she closed the windows tightly. Sighing and taking a second to just calm down from the potential high of striking of an enemy away, she glanced at her ceiling.
"No, I don't think we should go back to sleep. Knowing them, they've probably got some backup."
She told the puppy as she noticed that the dog was making her way back to her bed to take a nap. But upon hearing her master's command, Cloud nodded and stayed on high alert. So, they waited for a couple of minutes, Harumi grabbed the rest of her set of daggers, a good fifteen stack before returning back to the window.
She saw she was right, the onis by her window were simply an decoy. They weren't meant to be taken seriously. If they were taken out, they'd be the signal to bring in more troops. "Here they come Cloud!" Harumi called at the dog before stepping a foot down at the frame of the now reopened window and swung the two daggers in her hands back.
Three onis ran up from the side of the bounty and immediately leaped out at her where Harumi initially ducked for cover and allowed one of the monsters inside. For the two onis, she got back up and used the dagger's blade to slash at her enemies' chest without much effort, sending them back down to Ninjago city.
She huffed and narrowed as more onis came in.
"Cloud! Take care of that guy, I'll handle the rest!" She gave a simple order to the puppy before bringing her second foot down onto the frame, awaiting her enemies' arrival. Nodding at her owner's order, Cloud barked and ran around the room, trying to earn the oni's attention before finding something quite valuable to them. She noticed a cape hanging loosely on their back, Cloud smiled.
Without much of a warning, the Pomeranian lunged out at the oni and bit into their cape, pulling it off of the creature and earned a light squirm from them. The oni ended up ripping apart their cape much to their anger. However, trying to get back to Cloud for doing that to their cape, the puppy stretched it out with the it fangs and the oni ended up tripping over the fabric.
They landed face-first onto the ground before their head got squashed to the side
by the opening bedroom door. Behold, the dark lord had arrived into the room without much concern nor panic shown on his face. He looked around and held the door with one arm, holding it in place so that the semi-conscious oni didn't try to escape.
Hearing the front door open, Harumi lightly gasped and turned her attention from Garmadon to the window, a signal that she needed some form of help. "Garmadon? How did you know I was in trouble?" She wondered, watching the man approach her quietly after making sure the Oni trapped between the wall and the door was out cold.
"Oni, I sensed them." The four-armed man replied, pushing away from the room's door and observed the situation they were currently in. It wasn't looking too good, for soon, the window burst open for a second and Cloud had two onis surrounding her as Harumi struggled to close the window again.
The puppy growled and threatened to bite the two onis but they just kept getting even closer. Garmadon knew at this point that he would have to step in and give out his assistance to the two girls. It already wasn't fair that the oni were growing in numbers as the three of them fought helplessly without back-up of their own.
He sighed and summoned two of his purple daggers from thin air before plunging them deep into the backs of the two onis' heads near Cloud and strolled over to Harumi. "Move from the window, you're not strong enough to hold them on your own." He told her coldly and strictly.
He made his way over to the window himself where he felt his strength piling up as the desire to crush these creatures remained among his thoughts.
Harumi nodded and was ready to step down from the frame until she heard a small whimper by Cloud's direction followed by a growl. She whipped her head to the side and her eyes widened when she saw that one of the onis that Garmadon attacked earlier managed to survive the attack and was now grabbing her puppy by the tail, causing her a massive amount of distress and pain.
"Cloud!" She gasped.
As an owner, Harumi instantly stood up from the frame and proceeded to jump down to save her puppy. That is, she tried to. Squirming her leg in the process of getting down, Harumi stumbled and ended up on the ground, the landing stunned her very much and she immediately recognized the pain of twisting of her ankle.
About to take over Harumi's post as the "window guard", Garmadon worriedly glanced over at her. He couldn't exactly run over to her, since the oni would just get in that way. Cloud rushed over to her owner and licked the girl's hand, whimpering as she wanted a sign from her owner if she was alright or not. It was a pretty bad fall, she landed on her knees.
"Harumi, are you alright?" Garmadon called in a bit of a struggle, summoning two more daggers from his two other hands. Without hesitation, the man sunk the weapons into the pushing creatures' chests and slashed them off, almost dislocating their shoulders in the process.
Naturally, the oni fell off the bounty and Garmadon sensed no other creatures lurking around. He sighed.
Harumi simply nodded and tried to stand back up again, relieved as ever that the fight was now over. Perhaps it was luck smiling down on her for getting injured at the end of the battle. Practically limping back to her bed with the help of Cloud, Harumi took a seat and sighed, this whole fight was a big scare for her. If it wasn't for Cloud's alert, she might have been captured again. She didn't want that.
Garmadon tightly shut the windows, making sure that no source from outside could leave a dent on it before making over to Harumi's bed and joining her to take a seat. "Don't be so worried about that ankle of yours, it'll heal if you rest." He didn't exactly look at her, only at the wall in front of them. Hearing his small amount of reassurance though, Harumi sighed at her turn. "I know, I know..." she whispered.
However, the man didn't buy that. He shook his head and crossed his arms."You don't seem too convinced. Still scared of the oni?" He raised a brow, deciding to ask one of the reasons he observed within the girl. To his luck, he was correct right off the bat. He noticed how Harumi slightly flinched upon being found out and lowered her shoulders. "Yeah..." she was pretty disappointed that she was still quite paranoid about the onis interfering her dreams.
Looking at the clock, it had turned midnight and Garmadon shut his eyes briefly to decide. "Don't worry about that either, after seeing the power we hold, they won't try to attack us again for the night." He stood up from the bed, no smiles nor frowns were on his lips, a regular and unphased look on his tired bloodshot red eyes. With that simple piece of advice, he didn't wait for Harumi's reply and left the room himself.
Closing the door normally, Harumi barely registered the retreating footsteps in the hallway. She shook her head and looked down at her leg for a second, will she be able to get into a laying position without feeling the pain swivel up? It was worth a shot and the princess bit her lips. Laying down to make it a bit easier for her, Harumi then started to slowly lift her inured leg onto the mattress then her free one.
Pain entered her mind for a second but it wasn't as bad as howling out a scream of agony. She did shut her eyes to undergo the sudden sting but most importantly, she was now laying down on her bed, her legs weren't dangling from it and it was way more comfortable this way. Glancing up at the ceiling, "Oni...they're amazing yet scary beings." She mumbled before shutting her pupils for good and falling asleep.
~~~~~~~~~
The next morning, no one was possibly seen on the bounty's deck. It was a lovely spot to stroll around to in the morning or even watch the clouds. But for now, there were only two people present on the deck. It was none other than the green ninja, Lloyd Garmadon. As well as Ultra Violet, who was making her way over to him.
Lloyd was deep in thought, using the sky as an excuse of something to look at instead of pondering inside of his room. He might earn a few looks from the other ninjas and it isn't exactly peacefully quiet in there either. Being out into the deck and the clouds over his head, he felt a sense of liberty that one could not quite comprehend. Even if he was outside of all places, Lloyd felt safe under a passionate blue sky.
His train of thoughts vanished when he heard the former SOG general call out for him by behind. He luckily wasn't too focused therefore he was able to hear her calls. Lloyd turned around to face the grey-skinned girl and lightly waved with no smile. "Hey Ultra Violet, you're up early." He remarked, not really knowing what time it was exactly. To that, Ultra gave a brief chuckle and clicked her teeth.
"Early? You are kidding, 6' in the morning isn't early, not for me anyways." She replied with a bit of a friendly snarl. Lloyd merely shrugged and didn't seem too bothered to give a fully-fleshed out answer. "I guess it isn't. I would wake up at this hour to train with the guys and Nya. We don't really do that anymore, huh?" He shared a bitter laugh upon reminiscing about the past.
Ultra smiled a little and stood beside him by the railings of the ship. "Wanna chat? Like no one's up at this hour. Not even Killow, haha!" She laughed, a little bit raspy and childish. The green ninja didn't really mind in all honesty. But Ultra would never really talk to him, she was with Harumi's side after all. The two of them knew each other for a long time and Lloyd would rather not be associated with someone like Harumi for the meantime.
"Sure thing." He agreed, however.
The grey-skinned snickered and patted the boy on his right shoulder, happy that he accepted to come around. "Cool cool." She started before narrowing her eyes a bit subtlety as for what she was about to ask next. There was still one thing that she needed to convince him to do. "But first of all, I wanted to ask you, why are you so biased into Harumi actually doing nothing wrong. She did nothing wrong." She defended her best friend's rights and supposed 'crime' to the entire family.
Of course, through the days of her return back to the bounty and Garmadon crashing in by their place, everyone aside from Lloyd has grown to trust the princess again and treat her like someone that belonged. Back to the conversation though,
Lloyd couldn't help but instantly shake his head, he flinched right at the very start though. "Harumi is a liar, a traitor. You wouldn't understand the impact of what's she done since things with you and Killow didn't develop that fa-" he clenched his teeth and stopped himself.
Without even any proper words from her yet, He could feel her glare slowly creeping in and ready to shout back at him for making such a sulked retort. But, Ultra Violet only huffed and in fact glared at the boy. "What's that, blonde boy?" She questioned at a normal volume, no screaming nor flusters whatsoever. No death threats too, which was a first for Ultra Violet. Lloyd sighed and shook his head, changing the subject back to the lying princess.
"Point is, Harumi definitely did something wrong. She puts up this nice and friendly facade then she noticed you are vulnerable and has completely fallen for 'pretty princess' looks, she strikes!" He exasperatedly raised his hands to give out the full effect of how serious her betrayal was in his eyes, it was the same feeling of the adrenaline rush he felt back at the Oni temple, when it was just the two of them and then...
"I've known Harumi all my life, she has a soft side even if she can be scary from time to time-" Ultra Violet growled, defending her best friend rather automatically. But Lloyd saw no reason to whimper and cower out, again, he moved a little bit away from Ultra, hinting at his uneasiness. "Exactly! You shouldn't trust someone like her!" He growled and hollered back.
"Listen Lloyd, she was my boss, I had to respect her, submit to what she wanted all while having my own fun." The girl he was speaking to has seemed to have calmed down for now, she even gave her nails a good inspection while replying to Lloyd's little outburst. It made the green ninja a little bit guilty for yelling in the first place. That's what he believed until Harumi was brought up again.
Ultra Violet looked at the green ninja, her eyes relentlessly throwing tiny scythes at him. "But your reasoning here is ridiculous, consider giving Harumi another chance, your decisions are so uncool and they're making me sick." She admitted, hissing a bit and even ruining a portion of the bottom part of her lipstick.
At this point, Lloyd has had enough. No more conversations, no more Harumi, no more opinion changing. The green ninja pushed the girl away and covered his ears, beginning to retreat away from her.
"If that's the case then you can just go! Go talk to the traitor yourself, you insensitive makeup freak." He bitterly spat and ignored all possible comebacks to his denial to continue on.
Obviously offended by his insult, "Lousy cold jerk! Harumi doesn't deserve someone like you!" Ultra bashed out one last time before turning her heels and equally distanced herself from Lloyd as well, making her way back to the sleeping quarters.
Seeing her leaving, Lloyd turned back around and frowned in Ultra's direction. He didn't want to admit it but he honestly considered her last statement. Did...he really not deserve someone like the traitorous princess? His heart hurt just by thinking about, he was confused on what to believe at this point. "She doesn't deserve me either. I-I'm too good for traitors." He muttered to himself, in a form of comfort.
~~~~~~~~~~
Spending most of her morning awake in her room, Harumi was observing the ruined city from her window. There were some aspects about it on some days that strengthens her beliefs in ending this whole commotion with the oni. Her ankle felt much better from what had happened yesterday night and Harumi couldn't be happier that it healed so quickly.
What she wasn't happy about, however, was the bedroom door suddenly bursting open. Rage was displayed in whoever came by for a quick second as Harumi noticed that one hand clawed the wall for support as she pushed the door open. It was Ultra Violet though, surely, the girl meant her no harm. "Hey Rumi, get out of this tacky room and let's go hit the town for a little while." She suggested a bit casually as usual.
Only having a few seconds to react from after the initial shock of her door opening without a knock, Harumi hummed. "Huh, why? Are we even allowed to leave so early in the morning?" she asked a bit logically. She didn't want to get in trouble, surely, not even wanting to put herself and her best friend in trouble included.
Ultra rolled her eyes. "What, you believe it's early too? They won't notice a thing and besides, we won't spend too much time there." She sneered, giving Harumi the impression that the girl wasn't so fond about that particular comment. But it didn't put a frown on her face, instead, Rumi giggled. "Do you have some secret shopping in mind?" She raised a brow teasingly.
This conversation would be going nowhere it seems. Already seeing Harumi dressed in clothing worn in the day, Ultra took a big step forward then another before grasping the white haired girl's hand a little tightly. "That's none of your business, now come on!" She encourages the Jade princess even more.
~~~~~~~~~~~
So shopping it was that brought the two of them together for the day. The two girls enjoyed walking through the still unbuilt Ninjago city. It may not have been much in terms of environmental improvements, but Rumi and surprisingly Ultra Violet were glad to see their hole somewhat alive.
The shops weren't exactly empty, that's the surprising and relieving bit. While walking around for the early morning and afternoon, they have ran into several crowds and heard many pleasant chimes from children filling up the parks slowly.
There were a few cars driving around, stopping at the traffic-lights and greeted one another by the intersections.
Even if she felt like she never deserved the title of "Princess of Ninjago", it made Harumi smile to see her people happy during the war. The war with the oni, that is. They had thought that the real enemy would be Garmadon and him alone, no, they had thought that she'd be apart of his schemes. Garmadon was just a decoy for the real enemy to appear.
With shopping bags in their hands, they crossed the street and Ultra Violet chimed, swinging her bag out at front of her. "Doesn't the air feel nice? We've all been clogged up in that ship, we don't go out often, don't you agree?" The grey-skinned ex-general mentioned. It was true, she felt ethereal, just walking around Ninjago city along the brisk air. It felt...comforting, nice even.
She couldn't help but nod and glance up at the sky watching over them. The sun was bright as ever, too dazzling to match with the gold patterns of a royal's dress.
"Yeah...I agree.." she replied almost in a whisper, as if she didn't want to be heard. She was having fun though, all the stress and panic from yesterday night had seemed to have vanished. Or so, she thought.
Even if it's song physically change before her very eyes, Harumi sensed something wrong with the atmosphere enveloping them in. Her eyes widened and she glanced around, her eyes meeting with happy children with their parents. No...were her senses lying to her? Everyone is fine...everything is fine, the skies hasn't changed....so why...?
She was snapped out of her concerns upon hearing the booming voice of her best friend.
Ultra Violet ran ahead of her, cheerful and fierce as always. She pointed at a small parlour a street away. "Hey hey, we could go get some milkshakes, what do you say?" It was a proposition for even more fun...how could she say no to that? Even with this unsettled feeling in her heart, perhaps it was nothing. She should just relax and don't mind it. They were here to loosen up a little from the stress of war, after all?
She should take it easy anyways, she is Ninjago's princess. She should be lucky that she wasn't locked in a castle, sitting on a throne and prayed upon countless visitors that visited the shrine. Like a prized locked bird, she had been feeling. But now, her life has been completely at the very edge of a cliff. Her association with the Resistance and wielding a blade, receiving cuts—a sign that she was unable to protect herself or someone she held dear, that was her life now.
But she didn't regret it one single bit, she loved her family, and someone still loved her....she could always be wrong on the latter, anyways. Not voicing out her fears, Rumi simply nodded at Ultra's overexcited tone and nodded as a sign of encouragement. "That sounds great, let's go!" She chimed equally with forced energy.
Settling their plans for the next half hour, the two girls raced off towards the milkshake parlour. Of course, they were careful to watch for any cars and cross the roads when the traffic-lights said so.
Even with an euphoria all bubbling her in, the same weird feeling got to her head again. The smile she had on her lips fell and her eyes darted to the skies. There, she gasped and let go of Ultra's hand.
"I knew it!!!" She cried out in full rage at the sight of the culprits who caused her to feel uneasy for when a second.
~~~~~~~~
Hearing her cry of fury, Ultra Violet turned around and followed her gaze. "Rumi, Rumi, what's wrong?" She mumbled, a bit surprised by her sudden decision to scream. Was something the matter? Quickly, the ex-general took out her two small scythes and slashed them above them. She had seen it too, the enemies that Harumi was so angry at.
A sign of disgust was now displayed on Ultra's lips as she mumbled a curse under her breath. "Oni were watching us." She spat out in mere venom.
A group of ten oni dropped down from the rooftop where they had been stationed at for the meantime. That is, until their orders changed from an ordinary attack to an ambush. It's as ruined, however, when Harumi noticed two of them jumping down and leaping over their heads. The princess moved away from the enemy's land spot and beckoned Ultra to get ready to fight.
The deadly creatures landed pretty quickly, their goal didn't change though. Ultra Violet and Harumi looked at each other before the princess pulled out her spare daggers hidden away into her pockets. They both backed away and the oni approached them, this wasn't looking too good. "So," Ultra gave a breathy laugh.
"What's the next course of action, they're just ten, we can take them." She proposed for a little fight to happen between the twelve of them. Again, subtly rolling her eyes, Harumi knew that she'd react in such a way. She was always the fierce one, let's face it, reckless and a little bit twisted in the head, Ultra Violet. But, she knew the oni far more than her friend and she knew she couldn't put her in danger like that. So, shaking her head,
Harumi lowered her daggers and instead glanced at her friend instead of watching out for the enemy in front of her. It honestly angered her companion, that she'd let her guard down so easily like that. Clenching her teeth, Ultra snapped.
"What's the big idea? Don't take your eyes off of them! They can come at us anytime!" She warned the impulsive Jade princess. Once more, Harumi shook her head.
"They're not planning to hurt us, it only seems that way but really, they want to capture us. Best method to do that is yo surround us and corner us." She explained in all one breath. It was a mere observation of hers, just by watching how passive they seemed and allowing the two girls to even prepare and take out their weapons. She blinked, "They never wanted to fight in the first place."
Unbelievable story, even if Rumi was her friend, Ultra couldn't bring down her weapon just like she did. She was still pretty skeptical and wouldn't hesitate to throw even more gasoline into the terrain.
"How are you so sure that they won't attack us?" She questioned impatiently. The two girls stood in one place and allowed the ten onis to corner them, by now, no harm has been done to them.
"Me, Cloud and Garmadon were attacked yesterday night," she mentioned casually in more of an answer to the girl's question.
It was true and it was a fright for even a fighter like her. "Judging by that, I know the look they give when wanting to attack, Violet." Narrowing her eyes, she huffed and looked over to the oni. Their conversation has ended and a new one will be born in any moment now.
Harumi left Ultra behind her and raised one arm to show the enemy that they're ere still armed. Her dagger never left her hands as she approached the creatures warily. Then, gathering all of her courage to her throat, she spoke almost too peacefully. "We are surrounded, but you will not get away with this. Why were you sent after us?" She questioned, trying her luck a little.
Receiving no response from the supposedly deadly creatures irritated the two girls more than it should. Only difference was their personalities, one was more explosive than the other and the white haired girl learned to wear several masks to protect her emotions and desires. "FSM, people like you really annoy me, you know? If you aren't gonna talk, then allow me to cut those useless lips of yours!" Ultra raged, taking a step forward just like Harumi had done.
It seemed like the ex-general's threat was a pathetic joke to the powerful beings however, for once more, even if being told impolitely you step aside, they didn't speak. They only approached the two girls, all in sync. Noticing that the space they've had all to themselves was being closed off slowly, Harumi and Ultra backed away from the oni.
Awkwardly laughing, the white haired girl shook her hands and turned her head to face her friend. "Ahaha....I don't think you should have said that." She remarked rather teasingly and a bit on the mockery side. Ultra crossed her arms and sulked, "Bunch of chickens, not fighting us head-on." She muttered, loud enough for only Harumi to hear, in which the princess had to suppress laughter at that.
Emotionless creatures that were pressured into becoming soldiers by the King, being cornered by an enemy stronger than you was truly incredible.
As each second passed by, the two girls lost more space to back away into. It would be a lost cause, they'd be captured. Harumi wasn't even surprised at this point when her bumped into an oni guard behind her.
Shutting her eyes and laughing, Harumi placed a hand over her eyes. One could have thought that delirium consumed her at this point, if it weren't for the genuinely friendly smile on her lips. "Well, this is rather pleasant.." that same laugh turned into a nervous chuckle.
"I don't really think it is."
~~~~~~~~
In a flash, the oni in front of the two girls vanished into thin smoke. No, what was left of them were their bleeding corpses. A mysterious single blow took them out that easily? Harumi couldn't help but widen her eyes and place her hand on her mouth instead to prevent a terrified gasp from slipping out.
The culprit of this whole mess was revealed to her, standing by the rooftop and not when affected with the puddles of blood on the ground....stood Lloyd Garmadon with an energy ball in his hands. He looked down on the two girls with a displeased glare.
"Lloyd, what are you doing here?!" Obviously, the first to react would be the white haired princess. She sheathed her daggers and instantly ran up to be in view of the green ninja. She had mixed emotions go through her mind, seething anger, genuine fear and most importantly, confusion and perhaps even relief that they've been out of such a situation?
Pushing a strand of his hair away from his face, Lloyd rolled his eyes and jumped down to meet the two girls. "Why wouldn't I be here? You were being cornered by the oni!" He asked them. Really, it's as rhetorical at this point. Why would they ask about their rescue? It was only natural that they'd be recognized as missing by the resistance members. But still....why send Lloyd out of all people?
Huffing and moving away from Lloyd, Harumi crossed her arms and growled at the green ninja. "We could handle them on our own, thank you." She paused to look away out of spite and annoyance. But there was one thing she wanted to ask him. The fact that he saved them just proved her question otherwise. "Why..." she started, clenching her fists. The green ninja raised an eyebrow, not seeming to understand what she wanted to say with that simple word.
"Why what?" He prompted, genuinely interested to know what she was thinking about. Or perhaps it seemed that way because the question was directed to him. Could it be that he still had his morals and wanted to know what she thought of him?
No! Why should he care? He hates her and she very much all the rights to hate him in return. Lloyd found himself repeating that word of hers in his mind....why? Why talk to him?
Taking a deep breath to just control herself, Harumi sighed and shook her head. There was still anger within her but she couldn't possibly lash out in the middle of the city like this. Glaring at Lloyd, she knew she had to ask him just one question before shutting up for good.
"Why do you underestimate us so much? You can't even trust us to handle onis." Her voice was quiet—showing no anger whatsoever even if her mind was full of it.
The question caught him off guard and even Lloyd's pupils had time to dilate. He coughed, trying to cover the fact that he was surprised and didn't seem to want to answer the question. So ignored the question, he did. "I'd like to hear the rest of the team agree with you when we get back, come on." He replied in deception and walked forward, expecting the two girls to follow him back to the bounty.
Her eyes widened as she only looked at him in full shock. She wanted her question answered, this wasn't fair, this wasn't enough. Her nails dug into her skin, any deeper and blood could flow out, guaranteed. But, she was left perplexed more than ever. Really, what did he think? What did he believe and did he believe in her? "L-Lloyd?" The motivation to pursue him and ask him the same question again died on her tongue.
Shutting his eyes and bringing his hands to his pockets, the green ninja walked alone. The colour of the world changed for him ever since Harumi asked him that one question, he didn't even acknowledge Ultra's silk behind him. No, he was too preoccupied on organizing the words to answer that question. Of course, she won't know the answer herself, he'll just keep it in his mind, like he had always done for others.
"Stalking bastard." Ultra crosses her arms, cursing quietly in company to that insult. But Harumi really didn't know what to think, she too, ignored Ultra Violet and instead focused on her opinions and goals. What did she want? Did it involve Lloyd or not? Silently admitting defeat for now, Harumi intended to follow Lloyd and Ultra back.
~~~~~~~~~
It was very dull, the three didn't speak to one another the entire way back to the Bounty. Not even Ultra Violet, who seemed to be a massive blabbermouth and 'elemental master of baloney'. Harumi couldn't help but feel bad a little. If anyone thought about it by now, Lloyd risked his own life to save theirs. How pathetic has she felt lately?
It was always the oni, pinning them down on the spot and overwhelming them. It had been a reoccurring thought though, she has been attacked by the oni so many times this past week. Why? Were they interested in her for some unknown reason? Surely, it can't be, she didn't have any elemental powers. So why?
Being accompanied back by Lloyd to her own room, she shut the door, not even considering to tell him thanks after the rescue. Her whole body failed her, as all of the enemy she gathered form the morning and afternoon had been washed away jay by seeing his face again. She shut her curtains, not wanting to see the starry night and buried her head onto her pillow.
"It's not fair, why can't I be strong enough to defend my friends and myself?" She lamented. Tears of frustration had swept away her eyelashes and soon, the pillow was covered by little tear drops. Harumi grasped onto the pillow and almost didn't notice when Cloud jumped onto the bed and whimpered. The puppy tilted her head in confusion, noticing that something may be wrong with the white haired princess.
So she pushed her muzzle against the girl's ear.
The princess shook her head, appreciating the comfort but not thinking that it would be enough. She was tired out of the blue, being spotted by the oni and almost being captured by them...she was a damsel in distress like she said that she wouldn't be. Until Lloyd came in to save them, she remembered the determination and desire to hurt those creatures flash for even a second in his green eyes.
Shutting her own eyes, she allowed her exhaustion to take over and drifted off to bed at such an early hour. "I'm sorry that the fun got ruined at the end, Ultra." She sincerely apologized in her sleep. Someway, somehow, she knew she had to be connected to these dark-loving creatures. It had to be.
What she didn't know was the presence of a red-eyed creature watching from the barely opened bedroom door. Red eyes watched the girl through the night before stepping inside quietly and....their hand grasped her lightly by the arm. The creature huffed and without another doubt, slipped her off the bed and carried her out of her room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The princess soon awoke due to something nudging her gently on the cheek. She briefly opened her eyes, shutting them close a second later after having the light break her dark and peaceful dreamland. 'Bright, too bright..' she thought in her mind before moving her head away and trying to get up.
But she didn't recognize where she was, she was on....a rooftop? Yes, she recognized that bit. There was stone under them and the fading dark blue skies were instantly registered. Harumi moved her arms, feeling the rough ground and soon managed to sit up only to take in the sight....and who she was with. The creature that brought her out here.
Sighing and making sure she was fully awake and not dreaming, Harumi yawned.
"Garmadon, where are we?" She questioned, a bit sluggishly. She didn't know what time it was but judging by the still dark blue skies, it must be the middle of the night. What, had the oni attacked again and she simply wasn't awake for it?
She honestly wished that was not the case.
She watched him, dangling his legs from the edge of the rooftop and watched the skies with an unreadable expression. He was sitting at the edge like that...it reminded her of that day with Collin—her eyes widened and shook her eyes. Ah, Collin. She hasn't seen him at all today, that was off. Garmadon sighed at his turn before looking over to Harumi, not too surprised that she had woken up so soon.
"Directly under their bounty, on a rooftop." He answered quickly.
Blinking in slight confusion, the princess was glad that she wasn't too far away from her family and friends. From Lloyd too...or else he might underestimate her again and assume she's been captured. Just the mere thought made her roll her eyes and yawn. She stood up from the ground and walked over to join him.
"Why did you bring me here?" She questioned without much thought.
The oni lord pointed at the skies, his fingers tracing a circle for Harumi to look at before bringing his finger down and allowed it to rest on the railings. "The sunrise is coming pretty soon and I wanted to watch it—" he clarified a bit quietly, as if not wanting to kill off the silence the morning had to bring them.
"Okay?" She chuckled a little unexpectedly. But it was true! Who would have thought that Garmadon would be interested in something like sunrises, he is an oni, he shouldn't be bothered with such a thing. What he said afterwards though, initially shocked the princess.
"—with you."
He finished his sentence, not minding that he was interrupted like that. He could have thought that he was mocked back there for a second, he was laughed at. Did the girl find the idea weird? He is an oni, after all. They shouldn't be showing interest in a human's activity. So, he quickly changed the subject to put him less on the spot.
"You never saw one before, haven't you?" The man raised a brow and spoke, not really reacting too much when she gasped. "No, I haven't...how did you know?" She shook her head, not understanding right off the bat how he knew such a thing. Could it have been a wild guess?
However, a wild guess, it wasn't. The oni lord shook his head and leaned back a little. "Journal said so. You would always wake up late for your services weren't needed in the morning." He explained in precise detail, causing the white haired warrior to blush slightly from embarrassment. It wasn't the first time that he's brought up her journal. Did he seriously read the whole thing and was currently waiting for the day where all of her weaknesses would be used to counter anything she said?
Could it be that this day was a set-up by him as well? Just for him to bring up this topic and watch her in amusement as she tried to protest back to whatever he claimed. Sighing in defeat, Harumi's blush sunk away into the unknown and it didn't return for the rest of the morning ever since. "That is true.." she quietly admitted.
Nodding at her honesty and seeing no protests to fight back or even holler out at him for reading her precious private journal, Garmadon wanted to tell her something. "Well the sunrise is a pretty beautiful sight, I liked looking at it with Lloyd's mother." He intrusted her with a secret of his. But unlike her, he didn't blush or stutter, he was being frankly honest. No shame whatsoever.
"Must be a pretty special moment, why didn't you ask Misako to come join you instead of me?" Now, she couldn't prevent from reacting to that. A part of her heart warmed up and she smiled little by little. An awkward smile, in all honesty. She felt like she ruined the moment for him. He didn't even bring Misako nor Lloyd, his own biological son, along but if he insisted to bring her instead....
"Because sharing it with a daughter is equally as special." He formed a tiny smile when seeing the speechless look on her face. He watched her as she looked away from him, widened eyes and stutters coming out from her mind. "I..." she twirled her fingers around her hair, as a last ditch effort to find something productive to say.
Smiling even more, the oni lord shushed her and pulled her close. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and Harumi's head laid on his own shoulder. "Shhh, the sun is rising." He shushed and instantly brought his red eyes to watch the skies.
Harumi's eyes widened as she brought her head to the side, breaking eye contact with Garmadon to only spot the first rays of the sun reach her eyes. The sky they had been talking under was a dark blue. But in an instant, greeting the sovereign—the sun, into the world for another day, the skies blended into a pinkish-orange.
The princess' eyes sparkled in interest, her lips even forming a big smile as she watched the sun rise for the very first time in her life. It was beautiful.
~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Hi hi! Lilla here and thank you for reading chapter 95 of Reconciled Hearts! Things are heating up as more characters and struggles are introduced into the story! I uh...also noticed I may have gone a bit far with the battle descriptions. You know, with the bloodied forms of the oni and the attacks Garmadon used in the beginning to eliminate the introducers, yeah whoops.
ImeanIdontregretitthisbookisalresdydarktobeginwith.
I mean what. I think someone watched wayyyyy too much anime lately-