Kai blocked more autumn branches just before they scraped his face and kept running through the dense brush. It was dark and fairly hard to make out the shapes and shadows all around him, but he didn't have time to feel his way through—he needed to get away, no matter how many times he tripped. He only had so long before he was found—oh, who was he kidding? He was probably already toast, but he was willing to risk it all for just one minute of rest.
The woods had been almost completely mapped, but there was one small place he had found not too long ago that seemed untouched and hidden. It was an old, hollow tree that sat surrounded by shrubs, ferns, and other trees, making it the ideal hideaway.
He was getting so close. Just passed this next boulder, over the algae stream, and behind the the berry bushes. There it was! The hideout was right in front of him, and his heart leaped with relief as he dove down, skidding into the tree's cool, wooden interior, slamming his head against the far wall in the process. But it was well worth it. He was finally safe. Now all that was left was for him to relax and let his tired, aching body have a few minutes to—
"AAAHHH!" Kai screamed as someone grabbed and yanked his ankle back out of the tree. In the blink of an eye he was out in the open, covered in leaves, mud and sap, and looming over him was none other than Sensei Wu. He looked especially unhappy and Kai knew he was in for it this time.
"Kai Rayson, you have some explaining to do," the Sensei said. He turned around and started walking away, dragging Kai by his ankle. His body was pulled over stones and branches with no concern for how much it hurt.
'Not again!' Kai moaned internally.
Wu dragged him all the way back to the training grounds outside of the monastery before he finally let go, letting his pupil's legs fall to the ground with a slight thud. Kai sat up to rub his legs and saw Cole, Jay, and Zane standing nearby wearing their training uniforms. They were all staring at him; getting ready to mock him, no doubt. It wouldn't be the first time. But then again, he did sorta have it coming, not that he'd ever admit it out loud.
"Perhaps you can explain to your brothers why you were hiding like a ring-tailed rabbit while you are all running fifty laps around the monastery," said Wu, staring down at him with a frown.
"But Sensei—" Kai blurted.
"Butts are for rams," Wu countered. "Not for ninja. Now hop to it." He smiled and headed toward the monastery entrance, leaving the boys alone.
"Real nice work, Kai. What'd you do this time?" Cole asked, folding his arms. Kai flinched and felt that all-too-familiar, icky feeling take over again. "Smuggle some more cheesecake from the kitchen? Or—judging by your new foliage-inspired outerwear—I'd say you were out sneaking more 'alone time?'"
"Can you blame me?" Kai cried, and he collapsed back on the ground, spreading his arms out like a starfish. "We've been training for months! Uphill, downhill, rain, wind, swimming, running, fighting, and more running—I'm surprised I can still feel my legs!"
"Don't you think we all feel the same?" Zane asked. He was as straight forward as ever, and so annoyingly right.
"Yeah, the other day, Sensei Wu made me carry him up and down the mountain just so he could get some stupid tea flower!" Jay exclaimed, waving his arms around for dramatic effect. "My feet were so blistered it felt like walking on water balloons!"
Everyone took a turn slightly gagging and making faces after that comment.
"Why would your mind even think of that?" Kai cried.
"I have no idea," said Jay somewhat chuckling at his joke.
"Well, on the bright side of the situation, we're all in great shape," Cole pointed out with a grin.
Jay looked down at his very toned, yet somehow still skinny arms and said, "True, but if we have to out-swim one more sea monster, I'm changing my name to Pablo and moving to Cozi Island!"
"Why not just go now while Wu's not looking?" Kai muttered, sitting up.
"I'm not seeing a lot of running down there!" Called a familiar voice from the temple wall. "Perhaps I could offer you all a little motivation?"
"No more dirty laundry!" Everyone shrieked. "We're going! We're going!"
Kai could hear Wu give a satisfied chuckle as he leaped to his feet and started running for the sake of his nose. The last time Wu had offered motivation, they'd been cleaning their sensei's dirty socks and underwear for a week, and Kai had no intention of doing it ever again. He shuddered as he remembered how all the sweaty, filthy socks had stuck to his skin. The stench was so bad that it took him an entire month to wash it off.
He tried to concentrate on his running and breathing, but nothing could distract him from how tired he was. And all because of his new Sensei.
"Why did we agree to this?!" Kai bellowed in misery, feeling his leg muscles scream, his knee caps ache, his feet sting, and his ankles wobble.
"Well maybe... if you hadn't been... running off... you'd have more... energy for training!" Cole suggested, huffing and puffing more than usual.
Kai groaned and rolled his eyes, but he knew Cole was right. He just hoped that the sun would set early today.
The boys had been training from June till late September non-stop. They learned everything from wilderness survival, to hand-to-hand combat, weapons training, stealth, botany, medicine, elemental powers, you name it. If it kept you alive, Wu taught it. And not only did they have to learn it, they had to learn it in every thinkable scenario, from snow storms, to flash floods, kidnappings—even urban household settings. Kai and Jay felt the effects first, while Cole and Zane coasted along for a bit, but sooner or later they were all suffering.
Nya was still helping out where she could with odd jobs, but in an order to maintain some form of education, she and the boys had also been receiving tutoring in academic subjects while they were at the monastery. However, it is worth noting that Nya had far more ordinary homework whereas the boys' subjects revolved more so around survival, history, and other such materials.
During their stay, Kai had also noticed that Nya was feeling a bit out of place. He hadn't talked to her about it since she seemed fine enough, but he could tell that she was struggling to connect with Ann or Keaton and she didn't really hangout with him so much anymore since he was always with the other guys, leaving her alone quite a lot. He knew that she needed more purpose here, he just couldn't figure out what.
Apart from little things here and there, Ninjago was still relishing its victory over Lord Garmadon. Lots of relief efforts were being made to heal the scars left by the war, but they had the last remaining Skulkens on the run in the South. It appeared as though they'd be taking their capitol, the Undead Citadel, very soon, if they didn't surrender first.
All in all, life was going fairly well for Kai; he would just prefer it if there was less running involved.
"And that's fifty," Cole said weakly, passing by the monastery's west wall. Then suddenly he and the others collapsed from exhaustion. They were a sweaty pile of limbs and damp hair groaning in the warm light of the sun.
"I... can't feel... my lungs," Jay whimpered.
"I wish I... couldn't feel... my lungs," said Kai, still out of breath.
"Come on," Zane said, struggling to stand. "We can—oof!" His legs collapsed under his weight, and he only moved about five inches farther than the rest of them. "Perhaps we should wait... just little bit."
The four of them ended up just laying on the ground for several minutes, breathing and falling in and out of sleep.
"There you are," said someone as she approached. Kai looked up and saw Ann's dead expression silhouetted by the sun. "Element training. Come on." She raised her hands and suddenly four amorphous blobs of water appeared, lifting the boys off the ground and steadying them as they made their way into the monastery garden. The boys were set down at their usual training spot by the stream and were relieved to feel the soft, cool grass under their skin.
Earlier in the summer, the boys had told Sensei Wu everything they knew about their powers, but one central theme prevailed in all of their descriptions: they each felt connected to their element in a very certain way, and the more connected they were, the stronger their control. So Wu had them begin each lesson by meditating on their element before moving on to a set of motions to practise. Ann sat next to the stream, Cole sat surrounded by foliage and rocks, Jay and Keaton climbed up to the highest point in the garden (which had been installed especially for them) Zane sat isolated under the shade of a large tree, and Kai was left to absorb the warm rays of the sun in the middle of a grassy opening.
He looked down at the thick candle sitting in front of him before closing his eyes and thinking about the black wick jutting out of the wax. This was a new technique Kai had been practising recently. If he could concentrate very hard on something, he could usually get it to combust, but it wasn't always perfect. Sometimes, if his mind strayed too much, he could accidentally set something else on fire, and that caused a lot of problems. The safer alternative was that he would simply fail to light anything at all. After a few more seconds, however, he set off a command in his head and the smell of smoke rose to his nose. When Kai opened his eyes, the candle was lit and flickering in the gentle breeze. He smiled triumphantly.
Next, he focused on his breathing. When he exhaled, the flame shrunk, but when he inhaled, it grew three times as big. This was his way of getting in touch with the fire, and on a warm day like this, he felt especially super charged.
After a long, relaxing meditation session, (with more than a few power naps here and there) it was time to practise the sets which Sensei Wu had laid out for them. Ann and Keaton had more advanced sets, so they practised by themselves while the boys went to the other side of the garden.
As Kai rose to his feet, he looked up at the sun and squinted with the sting of its brightness, but the warmth was soothing as it fell on him in soft waves. He reached up his right hand and pretended that he was grabbing a part of the sun; conjuring red flames that covered his palm. This simple act had become so natural to him that it was hard to believe there was a time in his life when he didn't know this was even possible. He pulled his arm toward himself, admiring the flames for a moment, then threw the fire back up into the sky, watching to see how far it went. His record was four yards, but the flames lost a lot of punch by the time they reached their limit.
"Wow, you actually managed not to burn anything that time!" Jay quipped.
"Keep talking and I might aim for your head next," said Kai with a sharp glare. Jay noticeably inched a little bit closer to Cole.
The boys took several minutes to stretch and then got into position. They stood parallel to each other in a large square, with enough space in between for them to manipulate the elements without hitting someone.
"Ready?" Zane asked.
"Let's go," said Cole.
At Cole's cue, Kai ignited a large ball of flames between his hands and attempted to make it into a refined beam as he led it through the set's movements, but it didn't look like a beam at all. It kept losing its shape and flaring all over the place, coming dangerously close to hitting the trees and the other boys.
"Kai, remember to breathe. Work with the flame to keep it from flaring," Sensei Wu said from the garden gate. He walked in watching the boys carefully and stood nearby to oversee their training. Kai internally cringed at the sound of his teacher's voice and in that moment his fire ball flared up again, stressing him even further. Did Wu always have to come and oversee them at the most inconvenient times?
In the end, Kai attempted to follow his sensei's instructions, but he shrug off the feeling of enormous pressure when he was carrying open flames. He felt that if he didn't remain completely rigid, a finger or hand could slip and he would lose control. Although, if his current fire was any indication, he never really had a firm hold to begin with.
Jay was doing decidedly better than Kai was at any rate. He always seemed so confident with his lightning, and Kai had noticed that any time Jay was using his powers he always had this goofy grin on his face, as if it were a fun game. He led the bolts of energy this way and that, up and down, back and forth, and it followed his hands wherever they went in perfect synchronisation.
Kai closed his eyes and tried to mentally shake his head. Thinking about stuff like that would only make him feel worse.
Out of the corner of his eye, Kai noticed Zane and his very unique element training. Zane's technique was perfect and his movements were mesmerisingly graceful, but the thing that always caught Kai's attention was the ice he was manipulating. Unlike Cole's rocks, which were steady and unchanging, Zane's ice would elongate in a flash or shrink down to the size of a fist, all while it hovered in midair. One day he hoped to have a closer look at how Zane managed such control.
"Cole, visualise each stone," Wu called.
Cole was controlling about five large rocks, each going in different directions. The goal was for him be conscious and aware of every stone in every situation. He needed to know how to stay connected with the earth before he could mould it. Unfortunately, like Kai, he was struggling. It was easy to throw rocks and make big shields appear, but precision comes with practise, and so Cole kept almost dropping rocks if he wasn't paying close enough attention.
Suddenly, in a snap of motion, one of Cole's rocks flew out of formation and went whizzing through the air, straight at Jay.
"Jay, look out!" Zane cried.
In the blink of an eye, Jay turned around, reached out his hand, caught the stone mid-air, and used its momentum to send it crashing into the ground past him in one fluid motion.
"Cole!" Wu yelled.
"Sorry, Sensei!" said Cole, bowing respectfully as his boulders plopped onto the ground one by one. "It won't happen again."
"Don't move your arms unnecessarily. There's already enough going on around you, and keep your footing. A mountain is only as strong as the stone on which it stands," Sensei Wu explained. "And Jay, excellent reflexes." Jay beamed with pride as Wu went back to watching them thoughtfully. Kai grumbled internally whenever Wu criticised anyone and resented every harsh word he ever spoke, even if the words were not spoken to himself.
Jay had indeed been excelling at reaction time though, almost to a superhuman point. Kai wondered sometimes if it had anything to do with his odd transformation after he grabbed the Nunchucks of Lightning back in the spring. He certainly had gained a lot of strength and height from that experience, so it wouldn't be too much of a stretch.
As Kai suspected, Zane's form was perfect and he didn't receive any scolding from Sensei Wu, but if Kai was to name a flaw in his classmate, it would be that sometimes it was hard to get Zane to pay attention to his surroundings. He could get so lost in his own world during his training that it was getting kind of annoying.
The session lasted an hour, and by the end of it the boys were exhausted both physically and mentally. Another thing they had discovered about their powers: prolonged usage of the elements put a heavy strain on their bodies and minds.
"That is all for today," said Wu as the boys were finishing some stretches. "Enjoy your dinner." As he began to walk away, the dinner bell rang five times, promising a warm meal and time to unwind.
"Food!" Jay cried. "The most wonderful time of day!"
"It'd be a shame if I ate it all first!" Kai called as he started running inside toward the dining room.
"I don't think so!" Jay called back, catching up to him.
"You guys! Save some for us, will you?" said Cole and he and Zane took off after them.
Kai wouldn't be stopped though, even as Jay began to grab his shirt to slow him down. The dinning room was just up ahead, so when Kai rounded the next corner, he tried to shake Jay off by leaping into the air and kicking off from the wall, which kind of worked, but it also slowed him down enough for Cole to jump past them and take the lead.
"Suckers!" He said as he went.
Kai and Jay were both scrambling now. "Get back here!" They cried.
The doorway was getting extremely close—Kai could almost smell the chicken and rice. All of a sudden, Kai felt his feet grow cold and then he lost his footing entirely. He had slipped on something and his legs launched into the air, his torso crashing into the floor a split second later.
Jay and Cole fell down with him, leaving the hallway wide open. The next thing he saw was Zane charging past them, a smug grin on his pale face. However, just before he could reach the doorway, Cole grabbed his ankle and he fell to the floor with the rest of them.
"Ha Ha!" Cole jeered triumphantly, but as he got to his feet, so did Jay, Kai, and Zane.
They all charged for the dining room at once, getting lodged in the doorway as a consequence, and flailing around trying to wrestle the others out of the way.
Eventually, Jay broke through, and they came tumbling down in a heap.
"I win," Jay said, quite out of breath.
"Yeah right," said Kai as he got up.
Ann, Nya, and Keaton were already walking over to their usual table and had seen the whole fight in the doorway.
"Oh look, dinner and a show," Nya said, sitting down at the table.
"That'll be two thousand yen, sis," said Kai as he attempted to get up.
"Two thousand yen? To watch you fall on your face?" She retorted.
"Hey, a face this handsome doesn't perform for free, you know," Kai laughed.
The boys were all walking over to the table, sweaty and out of breath, and sat in their usual spots—Jay, Kai, and Nya on one side, Zane, Cole, and Keaton on the other, with Ann at the head. But it was hard not to notice how tired they all were.
"Remind me never to race again like that after a day like today," said Cole weakly, and he rubbed his arms a little.
Kai suddenly felt the weight of his body pull him down, crashing into his seat and laying his head down on the table. The food smelled so good, but Kai simply didn't have the energy to lift his arm up to grab it. Instead, his head lay limp on the table as he stared at his rice bowl, his mouth watering.
"Oh, come on, you four have never been too tired for food," said Ann, sitting perfectly straight and taking another small bite of beef. "And Jay, don't drool on the table."
Jay straightened up and looked away shyly as he wiped his chin with his sleeve, giving Kai and the others the motivation to do the same. After all, mealtimes were the best time of the day, he couldn't afford to lose this precious moment devoted to food.
He reached for his bowl of beef and rice and began eating, letting the savoury, warm meat soak into his mouth before being unceremoniously swallowed. He smiled. That felt much better. And as they ate, they gradually began to pick up speed, until they were practically inhaling their food.
"Don't eat too fast," Ann warned. "It's not good for your stomach." Kai mentally rolled his eyes, but he also slowed his pace. "Get some rest right after dinner and be prepared to wake up at two in the morning," she finished, taking a sip of tea that she clearly did not like, but must have had some sort of health benefit.
Everyone at the table groaned.
"Not another navigation lesson," Jay whined, letting his head swing back.
Ann's face hardened. "Navigation is—"
"—a vital tool in a ninja's tool belt," Kai finished. "We know."
"Well, I'll be sure to inform Sensei Wu. He'd be very happy to see how much you know," Ann said simply, taking another sip of tea.
"No, please don't!" Cole begged, looking genuinely worried. "I really don't want to spend another night sleeping in a tree."
He was referring to a previous nighttime navigation lesson when Wu decided to let the boys show how much they'd learned by blindfolding them, taking them out into the middle of the forest, and letting them find their way back to the monastery all on their own. Long story short, the only one who managed to get home that night was Zane. Kai still remembered how cold and dirty the mountain caves were.
"Well, maybe you can try asking Wu to let you sleep longer tonight?" Nya suggested. She had been the boys' strongest advocate from the very beginning, jumping in (or at least trying to) whenever she felt like they were being treated unfairly. "I mean, you've been working super hard lately."
"Are you kidding? If we start asking for more 'relax time' Wu will think we're being lazy and make us swim laps in Taiyo Bay again! Or worse, do more laundry!" Jay exclaimed, slamming his head against the table in defeat.
"Well maybe if you didn't try to cut corners all the time, Wu wouldn't give us extra work," said Cole bitterly.
"I cut corners?" Jay cried, sitting up at once. "Kai's the one who keeps trying to get out of work!"
"I do not!" Kai exclaimed, realising how stupid he sounded just a little too late, given that he was literally caught sneaking off two hours ago. "I'm just trying to let my body rest for a few minutes! Is that so wrong?"
"Yes!" said Jay, flinging his arms into the air. "Because you always get caught and end up causing more trouble for the rest of us! What kind of ninja gets caught over and over again?"
"Well, what kind of ninja shaves his legs?" Kai countered.
Jay gasped. "I'll have you know," he started, flushing just a little. "That smooth legs are more aerodynamic for speed swimming, cycling, and running."
"You've been reading Fab-Nation Weekly again, haven't you?" asked Zane with a cocked eyebrow.
"No!" Jay cried indignantly.
"Oh, what's next? Full body wax? Seaweed wrap? Mud mask?" Kai teased.
"Well at least I don't sleep with a stuffed panda bear!" Jay exclaimed.
"Dude! You went through my stuff?!" Kai yelled, feeling his face flush.
"Well I was looking for my E-Boi and you were the last one who had it—"
"This is a violation of my privacy! I'm getting Wu!" Kai began to rise but stopped when Jay said,
"Oh, yes, explain to Wu about the panda bear, I'm sure he'll get a kick out of it!"
"I'm about to get a kick out of this!" Kai yelled, grabbing Jay by the head and giving him the roughest noogie he could muster while Jay cried for help.
"Guys, stop it!" Nya interrupted, looking more than a little bitter. "Can we please just eat our dinner?"
"HE STARTED IT!!" both of them yelled together.
Cole suddenly got up and walked over to their side of the table and promptly bonked them both on the head. "I'm too tired to deal with you two knuckleheads right now," he said, and then sat back down.
Kai and Jay let go of each other and were rubbing their heads in pain as they stared down at their empty plates. No one said anything after that and an uncomfortable silence hung over the table. A little while later, though, Kai felt both fatigue and guilt sweep over him, so he decided to retire early for the night.
It was amazing how familiar the monastery had become to Kai over the last four months, and as he walked to his room, the smell of burning candles, simmering teas, old wood, and various forest scents seemed to calm his nerves a little. It was a beautiful evening, too. The trees had just started to turn orange and the sunset was blazing brighter than ever, but it was difficult to enjoy it with all of the responsibilities now resting on Kai's very sore shoulders.
Later, he changed into his night clothes, brushed his teeth, and closed his window to keep out the last rays of the sun. As he was walking over to his bed, he accidentally kicked something on the floor, but when he reached down he found an old photograph of him, Nya, and his mom and dad. He sighed heavily, running his thumb against the wood of the frame gently, and put it in his closet where he wouldn't have to look at it.
The search for Kai's parents had been a nightmare. Wu sent out several spies and teams of special operatives and who knows how many other people to try and sort through the labour camps and prisons but they always came back empty handed. There also seemed to be no record of them anywhere, and none of the other prisoners had any memory of ever meeting them. It was as if they simply... disappeared. And with the Skulkin army being almost completely purged from Ninjago, it seemed more and more likely every day that he would never see them again. Sometimes it felt like they weren't even trying to get them back. He wanted so badly to be out there leading the searches, but Wu always told him that he needed to be focusing on his training and that with patience comes clarity and a bunch of other nonsense.
Kai laid down and tried not to think about it too much. He... he had other things to worry about. Like the navigation lesson in a few hours, so he'd better shut his thoughts up and get to sleep. He didn't have to try very hard, though, because in matter of minutes, he was completely unconscious—asleep, but not at rest. Ever since their journey to the Underworld, he'd been having horrible nightmares. Most of them involved being drowned, Garmadon stabbing him, Nya getting captured, or sometimes all three and worse. But then there were the times when the dreams would shift and suddenly it didn't feel like the dream belonged to him anymore. He'd see flashes of Cole being burned over and over again—a memory he didn't have—and there were often sharp knives cutting Jay's skin, and screaming—always screaming. He'd see images of places he'd never been to before; old junkyards, fancy villas, fishing boats, and a hundred more strange things. In the end, he would always wake up in a cold sweat, or be completely discombobulated by morning. In fact, he was almost certain that half of his fatigue during the day was a result of his restlessness at night, but there was nothing he could do about it, and so he surrendered himself to whatever horrors were in store for him.