Legends of Ninjago: Book 3: The Four Fangs

Chapter 4: Visions

It was still dark outside when Wu got up. Still cold and damp. He put on his warmest robe and cloak then grabbed his satchel, bulging with the weight of its cargo. It would be a short journey, but an extremely emotionally taxing one. He'd better get started.
He exited his new room and turned down the hall only to find Ann sitting on the stairs to the deck, head hanging low. She snapped to attention the moment Wu's door shut, her eyelids sagging under the weight of sleep. He would have scolded her were it not for the look of concern on her face.
"You're up late," he said quietly.
She stood as he passed her. "I wanted to see you off."
They stepped onto the top deck and he turned to her, smiling. "Feeling nostalgic?"
Her eyes fell. "Not quite... Sensei... I don't want to sound like I don't trust you, but..."
"Why am I leaving so suddenly?"
She nodded.
Wu sighed and took a step closer to her. "As I said last night, I caught a glimpse of something while I was meditating. Something dark and deeply unsettling." He paused, remembering the way Lloyd had looked in the vision, half deformed into a Serpentine minion, huddled against a cave wall. "My nephew... I fear for his life now more than I ever have before. Perhaps I am being hasty... but perhaps, over the course of this past month, I have been too much the opposite. I just hope that in the end I really can save him." He sensed rather than saw Ann stiffen, and he knew full well why. Even before Lloyd had caused mass mayhem, they had never gotten along, always fighting like a dog and a cat.
"I understand," she said quietly, and she stood there for a while longer, staring hard at the ground.
"Was there something else?" Wu asked.
She seemed to hesitate. "Sensei... these visions you get... how do they work? Are they... glimpses of the future?"
He looked her over carefully, taking in a potentially hidden meaning behind the question. "No," he said carefully. "It is a technique—a skill—that allows one's mind to peer into the happenings of the here and now, however distant they may be. It cannot prophesy."
Ann nodded her understanding and took a half-hearted step backward. "Well then, I won't keep you any longer. I'm sure you're eager to find this friend of yours." She turned and began to leave, almost curtly, as if she had suddenly changed her mind about meeting him.
"Ann Jing." Wu's words were soft but they caught the girl off guard. She turned to look at him, a hint if surprise just visible in her brow. "I love you. You do know that, don't you?"
"Yes, Sensei," she said, letting her eyes fall again.
He laid his hand atop her head, the way he always used to when she was little, stroking her silky black hair. "You are like a daughter to me, Ann. Nothing will ever change that."
She merely closed her eyes and nodded. He knew words were not enough. They would never be enough, not for this. With a sad reluctance, he withdrew from her and said his final goodbye, disappearing down the cave tunnel.

* * *

In the morning, Wu was gone, and a blanket of snow covered the outside world. Their master had left them with enough food to last two days, but after that, they would need to go hunting, something which only Ann and Keaton seemed to be familiar with.
The six ninja had gathered on the shore beside the ship where Cole had made a clearing by levelling the rough stone. Kai lit a handful of fireballs which floated at each corner of the training area giving the dark cove a warm yet eerie tone. Ann had suggested that they work on their elemental training today, and had cautioned Kai to simply work with the pre-existing fireballs rather than try to do something more dangerous, like accidentally setting the ship on fire. Kai had not taken the comment well.
Everyone found a space to practise and then was lost in their own world, Zane especially. He began to let his power out slowly—creating snowflakes had been his intention—but a shard of ice shot out of his hand instead and he had to physically pull himself back.
Right, of course. It was winter now. Winter was the most dangerous time of the year for him.
He straightened and took a breath, imagining a calm ocean. Preferably a warm one. The mental picture did help, but only just, as the rest of the training exercise he was still wrestling with his powers and trying not to let it hurt any of his friends. His movements were jagged and stiff, something Wu always chided him for, but most days he found that he couldn't help it. The power inside of him just wanted to move that way.
After a while, Zane came to the final move in his routine, and held his breath. The goal was to freeze a target—in this case, the target being a nearby rock—so he took his stance and let the ice fly, but he instantly winced when he felt more power slip out than he had intended. The rock was frozen, but so were about ten other rocks beside it.
He made a face and sighed. Winter was always so frustratingly difficult.
"Zane? Zane."
He turned around.
"Are you having trouble?" Ann asked.
"A bit," he admitted, looking back to the splatter of ice, "but it's nothing I can't handle."
"Sheesh," said Jay, who was still holding a lightning bolt and looking over at the rocks. "Remind me not to get on your bad side." Suddenly there was a loud CRACK and a flash of light. "Ahh! Sorry! My bad!"
Half the ninja looked like they'd just had a heart attack, but otherwise they and the cave were fine.
"Focus!" Ann cried with a noticeable hitch in her voice. She seemed the most rattled, but carried on with her training with stark determination.
The only one not training, of course, was Nya. She was sitting on the top deck of the ship watching her brother and teammates from a safe distance. She was often on the sidelines.
As she watched her brother manipulate the balls of fire floating through the air, she couldn't help but feel a little jealous. If she had powers too then she'd be able to protect herself just as easily as Kai and then nobody would pressure her to learn ninjitsu. Fate, however, seemed to pick favourites, and in this case Nya had not been so lucky. Still, she couldn't help but wonder—given the fact that they were brother and sister after all—if maybe fate hadn't snubbed her entirely.
While nobody was looking, she went to the middle of the deck and sat down, the way that Kai was sitting down on the ground. It was much darker here without Kai's fire, but she could see well enough. She remembered much of what Wu had taught her brother and tried to feel "connected" to the warmth around her. Something which was incredibly difficult considering the fact that she was sitting in a cave in the middle of winter, but she did her best.
Once she felt that she was sufficiently "connected" she tried to make a fireball just like Kai. She could picture it in her head "poofing" into existence, but every time she opened her eyes, nothing had happened.
"Come on..." she mumbled. "Please?" Still nothing. She closed her eyes again and concentrated even harder, despite the little voice at the back of her head saying that she was just wasting her time. "Do something."
PLOP.
She felt the top of her head, right where something wet had fallen. Instantly she looked up to try and figure out what substance exactly it had been, and any fears she had stirred up evaporated when she saw a cluster of wet, shiny stalactites. Water. It had only been a drop of water. She rubbed her head dry and went back to her little experiment.
She tried to bring the fireball to life using every odd mental method she could think of, and after a while—
PLOP.
She snapped her eyes open and felt the top of her head again. More water. With a huff, she scooted away from that particular spot and tried one more time to—
PLOP.
Right in the exact same spot, another drop had fallen. She moved again, this time as far away from the center of the deck as she could, and leaned against the railing on one side. She gave a sigh, but then right as she closed her eyes—
PLOP.
She growled and clenched her fists, glaring up at the stalactites. Could she not be left alone to concentrate for two seconds?
PLOP.
That was it. She was going below deck.
Back on the ground, Ann was doing her best to direct everyone.
"Jay, don't get cocky—focus! Cole, good work, nice control! Keaton, don't strain yourself! Kai—Ahh! Watch it!"
Kai smirked as he watched her narrowly avoid one of his fireballs which he might have sent flying in her direction.
"I will not hesitate to throw you into the cove," she said dryly.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," said Kai, closing his eyes again as if he hadn't heard a thing.
All of a sudden, there was a loud crashing sound and everyone looked over to see Zane bent over a large chunk of ice that nearly touched the cave ceiling.
"Zane, what on earth—?" Ann gasped.
"I'm sorry," he said quickly. "It was an accident."
Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared. They were lucky that the ice hadn't grown any larger or it might have caused some serious harm to the structural integrity of the cave.
"Maybe we should take a break," Ann suggested, and she sat down near the dark water's edge. Everyone seemed to agree that a short rest was in order and they all took a seat in an uneven circle. Without Wu there to guide them, the group really did feel sort of aimless.
Kai was watching one of his fireballs intently, and one could practically see deep thoughts moving behind his eyes. Or perhaps, not so deep. He brought the fire closer to him and began to play with it; moulding it, stretching it, letting it dance among his fingers, and generally just experimenting with it. He could never quite put into words the strange and yet wonderful sensation he felt, being able to touch and play with fire. It was surreal in one way, and completely natural in another. He couldn't really remember a time when he wasn't an elemental, or at least hadn't known the fact.
"What are you doing?" Ann suddenly asked, eyeing his fire.
"Well, you see, it's this incredibly rare and foreign activity called: fun," said Kai with a smirk. Now it was Ann's turn not to be amused. "You know? F-u-n, fun? It's something teenagers tend to do?"
"She's no teenager, look at that face, she's clearly a goblin," Jay joined in, matching Kai's sarcastic tone. Ann's scowl deepened. "An ugly goblin, at that." He and Kai got a few snickers out of it, but nothing more.
"Guys, knock it off," said Cole in an authoritative voice. "She's in charge, remember?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," was all that Kai said as he flicked a small flame in Cole's direction, who deflected the tiny burst of heat and then quickly shot a pebble which landed right between Kai's eyes. "Hey!"
"I'm sorry, it's called fun remember?" Cole teased. Kai rolled his eyes.
Just then, Keaton looked up and saw Zane fiddling with a thin bracelet, his brow furrowed, deep in thought.
"Hey, Zane?" He didn't look up. "Zane?" She said again.
"Hmm? Yes?" He finally answered.
"You told me something once before about your powers... do you know why they're so difficult to control?" It was an earnest question, but one that seemed to catch the ice ninja off guard.
"Um, no. No I don't. It was never something I could readily talk about with anyone until I met all of you. It's just the way it's always been."
"Maybe it's an age thing?" Cole guessed. "How old are you, anyway?"
"I..." Zane's eyes turned foggy. "I don't know."
"What do you mean, 'you don't know?'" Jay repeated.
Zane sighed. "I mean, I don't know. Sakana Village is my home, and it has been for a number of years now, but... prior to waking up there, I have no memory of my past."
"You were living alone? All that time?" Ann asked quietly.
He nodded, his face expressionless. "My only clues were my mysterious powers, and the accounts of the villagers who said that I appeared after a snowstorm, bloody and bruised. And that was it. Until..." he let his words hang in the air, as if trying to find the courage to finish. "Until I met Sensei Wu. Through some form of chance, he had known who my father was. A man named Dr. Julien. Unfortunately, I can't seem to recall anything about him, and I haven't had the chance to research who he was." He looked up and only then did he realise that the others were staring at him peculiarly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ramble," he said awkwardly.
"No, you're fine, it's just... I guess I'm just surprised," said Cole, trying to reassure him.
"You really don't remember anything from before?" Keaton asked, looking almost sorry for him.
"Not a single thing. Although," he said abruptly, and his face turned thoughtful. "Now that you mention it, I have been having strange dreams these past few months that... well, this may sound somewhat silly out loud, but they feel like they could be... glimpses, I suppose. Vague impressions of what might have happened the night the villagers found me. Of course that's ridiculous, but—"
"The dreams about the snowy mountain?" Kai asked.
"...yes." Zane stared at him, his eyes growing wide.
"With the soldiers chasing you?" Jay added, suddenly a lot more sober.
"And the dead end by the cliff above the ocean?" Said Cole.
"How... how?" Zane stammered, looking from one boy to the next. "How do you know that?"
"I thought it was just a random dream," said Kai, slowly. "Ever since coming to the monastery, my dreams have gotten really weird. Sometimes I see this long, dark blue hallway with people talking somewhere near the end that I can't see." He looked at Jay as he spoke and understanding passed between them.
"Sometimes," said Jay, "I see this woman laying in a hospital bed." He swallowed and looked at Cole who had turned pale.
"And sometimes I see this old blacksmith forge." He locked eyes with Kai. "Even though I've never seen it before in my life."
"So that means..." Zane breathed.
"For the past few months..." said Kai.
"Have we been...?"
"Sharing dreams?" They all said at once.
"Why is that weird?" Ann suddenly asked, and every eye turned on her. "Why are all of you acting like this is completely unheard of?"
"Umm, maybe because it is?" Jay offered.
"Most normal people don't tend to have the same dreams every night," said Kai, throwing her a confused look.
"Are you sure?" She asked, frowning.
"Yes!" They said in unison.
She sighed, exasperated. "Well, Keaton and I have been dealing with this for as long as we can remember, so..." and she threw up her hands as if to accentuate her point.
"Wait, really?" Cole asked. "You two have been sharing the same dreams your whole lives?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact. Actually, until now I had assumed that's just how dreams worked," she said, her cheeks turning a slight red. "That's certainly how your dreams work."
Jay's jaw gaped slightly. "You've been seeing them too?!"
"Not by choice," she said defensively.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait," Cole interrupted. "Why? Why does this even happen? What's causing it?" 'And how do we make it stop,' he added in his head.
"How should I know?" Said Ann.
"Maybe it's just an elemental thing?" Keaton piped up.
"Yeah, but how does that have anything to do with our powers?" Jay asked, rightfully confused.
"Maybe you should ask Wu when he gets back," said Ann, seeming to come to the end of her patience. "Because all I know is that it just happens, alright?"
Everyone seemed to take a moment to think, as if pouring over all those muddied images they'd been seeing each night and finally making sense of them. Then Jay looked up.
"Can Wu see them too?" He looked absolutely mortified at the idea, and gradually, so did everyone else.
"Well, to be fair, they've been dialling down the last couple of weeks," Ann said, trying to be reassuring. "At least they're not so vivid now." When the boys kept on staring at the ground, looking as though they might never want to sleep again, she added, "Oh, come on, it's not the worst thing in the world."
"Oh yeah, sure, it's just my privacy being invaded every night," Jay mocked. "Man, I really hope Ny—ah, no one else has, uh, been seeing these dreams." Kai glanced at him suspiciously and Jay avoided eye contact.

* * *