Book One | Hidden Prophecy | Ninjago

Chapter Seven - Grand Sensei Dareth's Mojo Dojo

    So the Ninja began training the twins in actual hand-to-hand combat. Wu had given Llara her own ninja gi, which was quite similar to Lloyd's except that it was mostly black with purple designs. It was really baggy on her as well, so like Lloyd, she had to roll it up around the ankles and sleeves. She had her super long hair packed up in a ponytail so that it wouldn't get in the way when they started.

   That day they started off with Lloyd, and gave him the simple task of trying to land a punch on Kai's mitten-clad hands. Lloyd, who was feeling himself, thought that it would be very simple and bragged about how he was going to punch Kai so hard that he would see stars.

    Kai reminded him that he should try and just punch the mittens, so Lloyd readied himself. He aimed a sloppy, overconfident punch at Kai, but the red ninja simply stepped out of the way and Lloyd tumbled down to the floor face-first due to the force he had used.

    "Hey, noffair!" Lloyd whined from where he was on the floor as he robbed his head in pain. "You didn't say anything about moving out of the way!"

    "In a real fight your opponent won't just be standing there waiting for you," Kai smirked. He helped the young boy up and ruffled his hair. "Don't be too full of yourself. It can be used against you on the battlefield."

    "But I'm sure you'll know all about that, won't you, Kai?" Jay laughed, but shut up when Kai shot him a murderous glare.

    "Anyway," Kai rolled his amber eyes, "try again, Lloyd. This time, don't be so sloppy. Be calculated."

    Lloyd didn't know what Kai meant by 'calculated', but he wasn't going to miss this time again. He was the Green Ninja, after all! A punch shouldn't be too hard for him. Lloyd let out a yell and aimed another punch at Kai, but Kai grabbed him by the arms and flung him down to the ground once more. Lloyd groaned in frustration.

    "I'm the Green Ninja! No one dares to throw me like that!" Lloyd puffed, then he leaped up and aimed another punch at Kai, but the red ninja evaded his punch again. Luckily this time Lloyd kept his balance. Lloyd kept on trying to land a punch on the damn mittens, but Kai kept moving out of the way!

    Finally, when Lloyd had tired himself out, Kai decided to take pity on the poor boy. He said that they would continue trying, but now it was Llara's turn.

    Kai honestly wasn't sure about Llara at all. She was quiet and shy, so he didn't think she'd be any good at fighting. At least Lloyd had the fire and zeal for training, but Llara was kind of timid and... fragile-looking, to be honest. He was going to go easy on her, then. Try his best to not hurt her. And try not to do anything that might potentially trigger another... incident.

    "Try and land a punch on the mittens," Kai repeated when she stepped in front of him. She looked so small and innocent in her baggy ninja gi that Kai couldn't help but feel a sort of brotherly instinct to protect her and go easy on her, but he hadn't gone easy on Lloyd so he wasn't about to go easy on her.

    He was surprised, however, when Llara had taken her stance with the most grim expression on her face. She didn't look timid at all, like he had expected her to look. Unlike Lloyd's over-cockiness, she looked focused and ready. When she aimed her punch at Kai, of course the red ninja was able to move out of the way, but just barely. She had aimed with such precision that it appeared that she knew what she was doing, almost. It was nothing like the sloppy punch Lloyd had performed earlier.

    "That's quite good," Kai said, slightly impressed. She hadn't managed to hit him yet, but he was really just impressed that she had tried so well in the first place. He had expected her to be scared or something. "Keep on trying."