Ninjago: Yin and Yang

The Traitor

Being below deck while flying on the Bounty never quite agreed with Kai. He held onto the walls for dear life, trying not to get sick.  Although he knew they were up in the air, it had always felt like they were in water. Just the thought of that sent Kai into a panic.

"Master Kai? Are you alright?" A soft voice came from behind him. Kai turned around as quickly as he could while keeping his back against the wall. He plastered a grin on his face.

"Ah ha ha... Princess!" Harumi gave him a concerned look. "En-enjoying the ride? I k-know I am!" Kai gave a nervous laugh.

Harumi gave him a bemused smile and offered her arm.

"Here. I'll keep you steady." Kai took it gratefully. He just hoped he wasn't cutting off her blood circulation.

"I just came down here looking for something to eat, I hope you don't mind." She continued.

"Oh, not at all. You're our guest, so feel free to take anything." He pointed left. "The kitchen is that way, Princess." Harumi turned.

"Would it be too much if I asked you to join me? If you'd rather go above..." Kai blushed. This was too embarrassing already.

"No, no. I'll stay down here." He stood up straighter. "I can do it." Harumi smiled kindly as they entered the kitchen.

Kai sat down at a seat, grabbing the table. Harumi walked over to the cabinets, then turned to Kai.

"Tea, Kai? It might help your nerves." Kai put his head on his arms.

"Sure."

A couple minutes later, Harumi came back with two warm cups of green tea. Kai took a long sip. It did calm him a bit. Harumi sat across from him, indulging in her own cup.

"When I was a little girl, I thought you ninja weren't afraid of anything." She laughed lightly. "I guess I still believed it a bit."

Kai stared intently into his tea.

"Surprising for you I guess?" Kai mumbled.

"A little bit, I'll admit it." Harumi took another sip. "Talking about surprises, I had always thought it would have been you to be the green ninja and fight Garmadon."

"You did?" Kai looked up, slightly intrigued. Harumi nodded.

"I mean, we didn't know much about the ninja at that point. We had only heard about you four, taking on the skeleton army. It was quite brave of you."

Kai gave her a smile.

"All in a day's work princess." This conversation made him feel a bit better. Maybe it was the tea, or maybe it was just simply a distraction from the boat. Whatever it was, Kai didn't mind it.

"I had heard about the prophecy of the green ninja from my father. He was a historian who had been lucky enough to get his hands on it. He knew how much I had looked up to the ninja, and told me." Harumi finished her tea. She lowered her voice to a whisper when she spoke again.

"I still think you would have made a better green nina."

At that moment, something inside Kai wanted to believe Harumi.

"You were a clear choice from the start..."

But no. Lloyd was the green ninja and his friend. He was the fire elemental and he was happy where he was. End of story.

"A powerful elemental..."

She did have that right. He was powerful. He could feel the temptation growing stronger. He just wanted so desperately to believe her.

"A strong leader..."

No, he had to listen to reason. He wasn't the green ninja.

Harumi's demeanor changed. It was almost like she could see Kai's internal struggle.

"I think you know this Kai." Harumi's tone was darker. "I think that deep down, you still want that power."

Kai's heart was racing. She wasn't wrong. He had come to terms that he wasn't the green ninja when he rescued Lloyd, but that had never gotten rid of his thirst for power. It was just so much easier to ignore it when someone wasn't directly talking to him about it.

"It was supposed to be you, wasn't it?" Harumi was barely audible.

Kai couldn't help but nod a tiny bit.

"I can get you that power." Harumi smirked. Kai could feel his brain getting foggy. It was like someone had switched off the reasonable voice in his head.

"How?" He knew he shouldn't have said it. But he put those feelings away.  His thirst for power was being quenched. He trusted Harumi, and he trusted his gut. His gut was telling him that this was the way.

Harumi leaned back, smiling.

"Join me, Kai. Join the Sons of Garmadon."

There may have been a point in time where Kai jumped across the room and captured Harumi, but now was not that time.

"You're... You're the Quiet One?" Harumi laughed.

"Took you long enough." She stared intently at Kai. "But yes, I am."

"When we raise Garmadon from the dead, he can give you all the power your little heart desires." Harumi promised. "All you have to do is keep our little secret, and join. We could use a powerful elemental like yourself."

Kai was sold. He stood up alongside Harumi. She stuck out her hand.

"What do you say, Fireball?"

Kai firmly shook her hand.

"Of course."

"Good, good. Your task right now is to stay "loyal" to those ninja. When I give the command, leave them."

"I will do what I must, Harumi."

Harumi smiled.

Kai woke up shaking. The sky outside the cave still dark. Ari was sleeping peacefully a couple feet away from him. Kai put his face in his hands, trying to clear away the bad memory.

He stood up, grabbing his nin-jō. He made his way outside to the fresh air. He began walking along the dunes, watching his feet sink into the sand. A light breeze picked up the grains, making them fly away.

Once Kai felt like he had walked far enough, he sat on top of a large sand dune. The sky was purple, and the stars still twinkled brightly. The breeze cooled him down, making everything seem calm again.

His mind returned to Ari. He couldn't do this. Not to this kid. He knew that the Oni were unstoppable, he couldn't take them alone. But he couldn't expect this kid, this child to stop or even fight them either. It wasn't right to put all this pressure on her shoulders.

Kai looked down. He couldn't exactly walk up to the other elemental master and be like: "Hey! Remember me? The tratorious elemental who helped cause tons of death and destruction? Well, a bunch of Onis are on their way here and we don't have any more time, so whatta say gang? One last big fight all together?" In fact, he'd probably get arrested.

Kai looked back at the anacondrai tomb he had called his home. He had to do something. He could feel the presence of the Oni drawing closer daily, and there wasn't enough time to fully train the kid. Shit, she hadn't even reached her full potential, how was she expected to fight Oni?

Kai leaned back and closed his eyes. He knew what he had to do. He had to stop with the bullshit and tell her. He knew he couldn't keep his secret for long, not with the clock running out.

He had to tell her.