A Hero's Protection

Risks

Over the next couple of days, the ninja prepared for phase one of the plan. Wu needed to gather ingredients for the tea so Kai, Zane, and Jay went with him. That left Caroline, Lloyd, Cole, and Nya to try and find a way to contain the Oni magic.

Caroline closed the book she was reading, rubbing her eyes. There wasn't much on Oni or how to defeat them. Cole noticed Caroline taking a break and closed his book as well.

"Why don't we continue figuring out a nickname for you," Cole suggested.

"Continue?" Caroline said, confused.

"We were already trying to figure something out, but nothing really stuck," Lloyd explained. "I would have guessed Jay would bring that back up, but I guess I was wrong."

"Well, Jay isn't here," Cole said, rummaging around the library and finding a blank parchment. "Let's start writing down some names."

Caroline was surprised at how many names the boys were able to come up with. Nya even gave up searching for the books and came over to help. Finally, they seemed to decide on a name they thought fit.

"Cali," Cole repeated again, looking into Caroline's face. "I like it."

"I guess that's my nickname now." Caroline smiled. "It combines the letters of my name to create something new."

"Like how our powers combine to make light," Cole mumbled, seeming to come to a conclusion. "The oni are made of darkness and only the tornado of creation could defeat them. What if we make creation in another way?"

"You lost me," Lloyd looked at Cole with scrunched eyebrows. "You want to do what?"

"If we can somehow contain the four elements of creation, fire, ice, earth, and lightning, we can create the same sort of effect as the tornado of creation."

"But how can we contain the elements?" Nya wondered, looking towards Caroline. She had a thoughtful look on her face. "Could Caroline's powers contain your powers?"

"Cali," Cole reminded her. Nya rolled her eyes, and Caroline suddenly knew what she needed to do.

"Let's go to the courtyard," Caroline decided. "I don't even know if this is going to work."

Caroline was regretting her decision a few minutes later when she stood in the middle of the courtyard, the three ninjas facing her. She needed to know if she would be able to access her powers in order for this to even work. They had decided that Nya should blast water at her since it would be the least harmful.

"You have to rely on your instincts," Nya instructed, starting to walk in a circle. The boys backed up as Nya continued to circle. The point of this was to get Caroline off guard, not knowing when she might strike. "You didn't even have to think about your powers. Last time you were able to control your powers for a bit before having them slip away again."

Caroline slowly turned on the spot, following Nya's movements. Her heart pounded, why did she think this was a good idea? She tried to calm herself down, telling herself that the worst that could happen would be getting sprayed with water.

"I don't know about this," Caroline voiced her thoughts, following Nya cautiously. "I don't think I can do it."

"We've seen you do it, so believe us," Nya coached, still walking.

"I think she was more eager before because she had done it before," Cole thought out loud. "She had done it without thinking and knew that it was possible. She has never seen proof, so she is less confident."

Caroline looked over at Cole, understanding his logic. But, if she really had done it before, couldn't she do it again? Caught off guard Caroline saw water coming at her out of the corner of her eye. Knowing it wouldn't help she put her hands up in defense, protecting her face from getting splashed.

Instead, a light blue thing appeared, blocking the water and making it tumble to the ground. Caroline gasped as everyone else cheered. Before Caroline could get a better look at it, the barrier disappeared.

"This time try catching the water in a sphere or something," Nya said, excited. Wasn't it enough to know she could do it? Nya didn't circle her this time, but stood still, moving a ball of water around. She formed a sphere of water and held it between them, waiting.

"Make a barrier around the water, catch it," Nya instructed.

"But I don't know how to," Caroline complained, looking at the water. "I think I have what I need." Caroline was about to walk away when she caught Cole's expression.

"Are you giving up?" Cole asked, his eyebrows raising. Caroline looked at him, getting defensive all of a sudden.

"No," She responded. With determination she turned back to the floating water and lifted her hands. A flat wall appeared, blocking the water from coming closer to Caroline. Going off of a theory she took her flat hands and started to cup them into a ball.

At once the small square started to form around the water, making an exact replica of the floating orb. Nya put her hands down and Caroline realized she was holding the water together.

Everyone started cheering, but Caroline concentrated on the ball, afraid of losing it. Moving her hands she found she could move the sphere around. Something tingled at the back of her mind, like she had done this exact thing before. She moved the ball over Lloyd's head and before Lloyd could figure out what was happening, she let the ball go.

Splash! The water rained down on Lloyd, soaking him. Sputtering, Lloyd looked at Caroline, shocked. Cole started to laugh, which Carloine had never heard before. This makes Caroline laugh and after a moment even Lloyd is laughing.

"Okay, I think I understand how it works now," Caroline said once she caught her breath. "But we need it to hold powers beside water, right?"

"You could catch Lloyd's powers instead," Nya pondered, looking at Lloyd. "Maybe you just need to shoot at the wall then she can catch it with her powers or something."

"Um, that seems tricky," Caroline looked at the three of them. "Can I just practice for a while, you know, Until the others get back?"

"Do you think you can do it while thinking about it?" Cole asked. Caroline shrugged.

"I just did, didn't I? Anyway, I'm still not sure about it. It just doesn't seem right to me." Caroline looked at the sky to see that the sun was close to setting. It will be dinner time soon.

"Just try it," Cole stepped forward, locking eyes with Caroline. "Make a barrier between us."

"Okay, I guess I'll try," Caroline said. Honestly, she knew she could do it. For some reason, she felt like if she kept doing it, something bad would happen. She wanted to shrug it off, but they seemed too excited to stop.

Caroline did as she was told, putting up her hands and making a barrier between them. It shimmered blue as the sun shone down on them. Caroline felt that tingling sensation at the back of her mind again, but once again she couldn't quite pinpoint the memory.