Book One | Hidden Prophecy | Ninjago

Introduction - Dreams

    Flashes of purple light. The cold feeling of dread and terror. Tears streaming down her cheeks. That's how Llara Garmadon woke up most nights. Usually she heard herself crying out and gasping for breath, but as she had no one to calm her down, she learnt how to do it herself.

    She lived in a temple in a very isolated, mountainous part of Ninjago, where it snowed almost all year round. Looked after by the head priest ever since she was a baby. Her only other company was a small gray cat with orange markings and big, soulful red eyes that she called Katsu, who followed her everywhere.

    To put it simply, Llara lived a pretty lonely life. She had never met another child her age, not to talk of having them as friends. The temple was so big that when she woke up crying in the night because of her constant nightmares, the head priest or any of the other priests or apprentices couldn't even hear her. But she was used to it. That was her normal.

    Llara herself was a very small, fragile-looking girl with dark, rich purple-blue eyes and midnight black hair that contrasted heavily against her almost sickly white skin.
     She was generally healthy, but there were times when she'd unexpectedly develop a fever and become very sick and be bedridden for days on end. It had always been like that for as long as she could remember. And it wasn't even just a regular fever. She'd felt as though it was consuming her. Like something was consuming her from the inside. Something powerful.

    Usually when this happened, the head priest, Priest Hideyoshi, would do something with her. Perform all sorts of rituals, make her recite Ancient Sacred Prayers and give her a Holy Artifact, a necklace shaped like a bright purple jewel that he instructed her to wear during any of her "episodes." And she'd always end up feeling so much lighter and better. Almost as if the thing consuming her had been transferred or rather, suppressed. Llara didn't really understand - most of the time she just went along with it. One thing about being raised by a priest was that she learnt how to not ask questions and be patient until an explanation was ready to be given to her.

    Other things she learned from Hideyoshi included the control of her emotions at all times. To suppress them even, if necessary. He taught her many exercises and meditations that would help if she practiced them daily, and how she should be able to switch off her mind from any unsavory thoughts. He also taught her martial arts. According to Hideyoshi, there was more to martial arts than just swinging your fists around and hurting people. Llara was a very fast learner, and despite her undoubtedly frail body, she found a style that would compliment her small nature.

    But Llara was a very lonely girl. Master Hideyoshi was more of a mentor than a father figure to her. She couldn't go running to him every time she woke up in the night crying. Most of the time she wouldn't even be able to explain what she had dreamt about - sometimes they were too abstract and absurd for Llara herself to understand. It's also a curious thing how she always seemed to relapse into her fevers after those kind of dreams. Depending on the severity, it would steadily be getting worse than the last few times.

    Llara often wondered what had happened to her family. All she knew was that her mother has wanted her there in the temple and that her father was unable to look after her. But what about her brother?
  Oh, yes, Llara remembered him. Lloyd. He was her dearest brother whom she had not seen since she was a baby, and strangely she still remembered him flawlessly. When she thought back to her memories as a baby, all she could remember was this familiar presence she was always with. A presence that filled her with such happiness and joy. A connection formed before they were even born. Llara missed Lloyd terribly, and would often stay awake in bed thinking about and missing him. She wonders if he missed her, or whether he even remembered her...