the other side | ninjago

left behind

Sadie was now fully living on the bounty. She now had her own room, and she was constantly upgrading their tech and fixing anything she could to help the team. She felt like an important member of the team now, but she was nervous because she didn't have the same abilities as the others. She had a feeling Nya didn't like her, and she knew there was nothing she could do about it.

She was working on the screens in the bounty's upper section when she heard a knock at the door. Kai walked through the door to speak with her.

"Hey Sadie, I know she can come off a little harsh, but I just want you to know not to take it personally because she does care," Kai said, hoping to lend some support to his sister.

"I understand; bringing a new member to the team isn't always easy, and I'm not like you guys in some ways, so I understand. It's not easy not knowing your real names, either" she replied.

This helped him in lightening up because he did not want a team feud. The bounty's alarms went off just as they finished their conversation. The team gathered and began to strategize their next steps. There was a bank robbery in Ninjago, not all of them were required to leave. 

Lloyd had a strategy.

"All right, us guys are going, you two girls stay here and learn to get along." He was aware that they were having some difficulties, so he thought that some time alone together might be beneficial. Sadie's eyes widened with nerves, whereas Nya's reaction was quite different. They couldn't tell if she frowned because she had to stay back or because she had to stay with Sadie.

"Fine," said Nya in the quietest tone they had ever heard from her. 

The boys left, while the two remained on opposing sides of the ship. Sensei stayed as well, but he was in a separate room. Sadie just wanted Nya to trust her, even though she knew it would be hard to prove. She and Lloyd were also growing closer, and she was just as eager to discover his true identity as he was. She didn't want to push it, but she wanted him to trust her too, and she thought maybe Nya could be the starting point.

The bounty was deafeningly quiet. Sadie decided to take the initiative. She went over to the room where Zane was kept and found Nya trying to figure out how to turn him back on.

"Hey," she said softly.

"Hello," Nya responded, although very bluntly.

"I was hoping we could talk. I just do not want whatever this is to continue," she said back.

"I am sorry, but I just do not know if I can trust you," Nya said, not even looking at Sadie.

"I just—" But before Sadie could get out her next words, Zane began to twitch.

"Um, did you just see that?" Sadie looked a bit frightened.

"Uh yeah, I did," said Nya back.

The two backed up slowly, but not quickly enough before Zane shot up from where he sat. His eyes were still a bright green. He focused his attention on the two girls who dashed for the door. He fired a large ice pulse at the doorknob, freezing it shut before they could get out. 

The two were now stuck in the room, which they had not desired in the first place, but they know they were in grave danger. Zane leaped from his bed, his gaze fixed on Sadie, who feared for her life in the very corner where she now stood. He dashed over to her and tried to put her in a headlock. She jumped around him, grabbing his feet and knocking him over. He stood up again, his gaze still fixed on her.

He threw a couple of punches at her, but she deflected or blocked them all. Nya was completely taken aback by this. Who knew she could fight? Nya decided it was now her turn to bite the bullet. The two fought in unison and defeated Zane once more. Nya landed the final blow, knocking Zane to the ground. The two leaned over him, watching to see if he would get up again.

No, he was finished. Completely shut down again, as if by flipping a switch. Nya knew she hadn't hit him hard enough to knock him out. She had hit him harder in the past, but she had never knocked him out. What was the cause of this? It almost seemed like someone was controlling even this at will. 

Sadie kicked down the door so that they could escape only to find Sensei outside waiting.

"Were you planning on helping Sensei?" asked Nya.

"I know you had it covered, but I also wanted to see what Sadie would do in the face of danger," said Wu.

"So you heard us in danger and just left us in there." Sadie had possible second thoughts about this team.

"Well, I couldn't get through the door," said Wu, shrugging and then walking back up the bounty stairs.

The girls made their way upstairs now to recap what just had happened to them. 

"I didn't know you could fight like that?" said Nya.

"There's a lot you don't know about me," said Sadie laughing.

"I guess you're alright," said Nya laughing back.

The two appeared to be friends now, but something was holding Nya back from fully trusting her. She assumed it was just something inside her, possibly jealousy. She had no idea. When the boys returned, they found the two girls talking on the main deck. They were all taken aback because they hadn't expected to see this, especially so soon.

"So you two?" said Jay as he walked closer.

"Yeah I guess you could say that," said Nya laughing.

For a while, the group sat on the deck talking, completely forgetting about the foe at hand. In retrospect, this may have been the best thing for them because they were previously too tense. Lloyd was overjoyed that she had finally been accepted into the group. He knew it would only be a matter of time before he could be himself around her without having to wear this mask.