4. Dark Sides: Rise of the Anacondrai

Chapter 14 - Back to Ninjago

Kai was among the first group to ride on the dragon and reach the mainland. He was eager to find Chen right away. Although he and the other Elemental Masters split up to search the city as soon as they arrived, even after hours of searching, there was no sign of him. When they began questioning people, it seemed that none of the civilians had seen or heard anything strange, either. There was no panic, no news, nothing. Despite the fact that Chen had had a head start on the Alliance, it seemed as if he had all but disappeared. But where to, and why?

After a few hours of searching, Cole sent Kai to meet with Zane and the last group at the dock. Somehow Jay ended up tagging along.

"We haven't gotten anywhere with this search," Jay was complaining as they jogged through the city streets. "I feel like we've done nothing but wander in circles all day. I gotta do something or I'll lose my mind."

"I don't know how this is any better," Kai said under his breath. He slowed as they neared the harbor. Tall buildings and concrete paths gave way to warehouses and wooden docks. In the distance, the ocean sparkled in the light of the afternoon sun.

Jay was still rattling on. "The dragon's cool, for one. And maybe the others will have a better idea of how we . . . hey, isn't that your sister?"

"What?" Kai followed his gaze and was surprised to see Nya further down the pier. She was probably there to greet the last group, too. He tried to remember who else would be arriving. Had Skylor come yet? He wasn't sure.

Kai knew that Nya would likely ignore him again, just like she had for most of the tournament. He didn't blame her for it – a part of Kai considered letting Jay go ahead without him, so he could avoid any confrontation with his sister. Every time he saw Nya, he could clearly remember the look on her face when she had realized he had lured her into a trap at the Fire Temple. But another part of him, knowing how much his presence bothered her, thought he might as well go over there just to spite her into talking to him.

So Kai led Jay over to her, determined to get some kind of reaction. "Looks like you had the same idea we did," he called as they approached. Nya turned in surprise. "I guess that makes us the welcoming committee."

Her expression quickly dissolved into a frown, and she turned away without a word.

Kai sighed. "Don't get too excited." He paused next to his sister and looked toward the sun, which was sinking into the horizon. Jay remained back a little ways.

Lately, Kai had been thinking a lot about the past and his relationship with Nya . He felt bad about some of the things he did – betraying Nya to get the fire sword, helping Chen capture Skylor – but he knew he couldn't change the past. Kai wasn't proud of some of the choices he made, but he had never been trying to hurt anyone. He had already decided that he wasn't a bad person, even if he'd made some bad choices. Master Wu had told him before that he was often reckless and failed to consider consequences. Maybe Wu was right, maybe Kai should have listened to him. But Kai knew he could do better going forward.

Kai told himself he didn't care what Nya thought of his motivations or what was in his heart, he knew who he was. He just had to do better, like he had promised Skylor. Stopping Chen would be a good start. If he could prove that he really did care, then someday he'd get the chance to apologize to Nya, and she'd understand.

But probably not while she wasn't talking to him.

Just then she turned back to him, but her gaze was still hostile. "What are you two doing here, anyway?" 

Kai smirked. "As a matter of fact, we're here for Zane. Not everything's about you, you know."

"I never said it was," she snapped.