Legends of Ninjago: Book 3: The Four Fangs

Chapter 23: Trust in me

    Sleep was impossible. Cole found himself uncomfortably close to Garmadon's hammock and all night long the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, his skin crawled, and his eye twitched. It wasn't even that he was worried for his and his team's well being, there was just something about being this close to him that made him wish he could throw him into the ocean.
    If that wasn't enough, his brain was refusing to shut up about his sudden promotion. It just seemed so out of nowhere, and completely unfair to Ann. He almost felt guilty being the new team leader, as though he'd stolen something from her. Even when the rest of them were slacking off or not listening, she was still there, following protocol, doing her job, being mature. Or, at least, he thought so.
    So why had Wu done this? Thinking back, Cole remembered what he had said. "It seems to me that I've been putting too much weight on your shoulders as of late."
    "Too much weight." Did he think she wasn't strong enough? That recent events had become too stressful? She had the most training out of everyone else on the team; she was always on top of every situation. Was there something else here that he simply wasn't seeing?
    Beyond all of that, he wondered if she would hate him for taking her position.
    He shook his head. Worrying about that would only make him feel miserable. Instead, he decided that he would just ask her about it tomorrow, if he got the chance.
    Garmadon stirred next to him.
    Cole's brow furrowed. Garmadon... this sudden change in rank had come after Wu had gone and rescued Garmadon... was this somehow his doing? Had Garmadon tricked Wu into helping him? Was he using him? Manipulating him? Playing him like a marionette? He looked over the side of his own hammock at the Dark Lord and thought that it wouldn't surprise him one bit to find out that Wu wasn't of sound mind at the moment.
    Well, there was no point in rushing to hasty conclusions, but he would absolutely investigate this further in the morning. No one messed with his Sensei or his teammates. Least of all Garmadon.
    What felt like only a short time later, Cole was blinking heavy eyelids at the misty, pale sunlight of early morning. He lazily thought about his objectives for the day, and how he would go about them in a few more hours.
    "Rise and shine, ninja!"
    Cole scrunched up his face as Wu rang a small gong.
    "What time is it?" Someone muttered.
    There was a rather loud "thud!" as Jay rolled over and fell out of his hammock, face fist.
    "Quickly now!" Wu went on. "The early bird catches the worm!"
    "What kind of cruel punishment is this?" Kai moaned, dragging his frazzled head of hair off of his pillow and stumbling over Jay's lifeless body on the floor.
    Cole sat up with a reserved sigh and watched Garmadon in his hammock as he placed his pillow over his head. He hoped that Wu wasn't about to just let him stay in here unsupervised while the rest of them were upstairs.
    "Come on, guys, it's not that early," Zane was saying as he grabbed Jay and Kai by their shirt collars and started dragging them along.
    "Up to the top deck," said Wu, smiling.
    Then Cole turned around and noticed something. "What about Nya?"
    "I believe he said, 'rise and shine ninja,'" Nya said from her hammock, still half asleep.
    "She is correct. Let us—"
    "No, I mean," Cole stopped and stared at Garmadon's hammock again. "You know..."
    Wu gave him this look just then, one that he couldn't exactly read. "She will be fine. Won't she, Garmadon?" With a very pointed look in his brother's direction, and a groan from Garmadon, Wu considered the matter settled and proceeded out the door. However, the rest of them remained unconvinced.
    "What?" Kai said, suddenly more alert. "That's it? There is no way—"
    "Kai, relax." Nya was pulling herself out of her bed and rubbing her eyes. "I'll come with you."
    She scuttled across the room toward them until she was by her brother's side. Cole noticed that he wasn't the only one glancing at the heap of black still snoring in its hammock, and those eyes didn't stop watching him until he was completely out sight.
    Up on the deck, it was positively frigid. Everything was wet and dewy, the air was humid and misty, and somehow, it was a though the dim light of early dawn itself were sending chills down Cole's skin. Above them, the new sail was flapping gently, pushing their ship along the gentles waves.
    Wu started them off with their usual warm up drills (although they were limited due to the lack of space on the ship) and then they begun their real training. Nya had brought a blanket with her and was now sitting by the mast, nodding off. Meanwhile, Wu oversaw everything from the steering wheel.
    More than once, Cole's thoughts drifted down toward Garmadon in the barracks. He wondered what he was doing, if he was doing anything at all, and judging by the hardened looks of his companions, he wasn't the only one.
    Sometime during mid morning, they switched gears and focused on elemental training. Cole inwardly grimaced. There was no earth nearby, which meant that he would need to create some of his own. For whatever reason, that particular skill had never come easily to Cole. Kai and Jay could just snap their fingers and make energy appear. Ann and Zane just flicked their wrists and suddenly, BOOM, instant element. Keaton didn't even need to create her own air, since it all always abundantly available. Cole on the other hand? His element was the most solid out of everyone else's. The most tangible. Even ice, though it was solid, could be created by freezing any available water in the air.
    For the majority of his time on the team, he'd always had access to natural soil or rock or concrete or something. Even down in the Underworld he had something. Although he wasn't entirely sure what it was called, the ground their still listened to him. Somewhat, at least.
    There had been times, here and there, when he'd tried to create soil from scratch like the others, but it was always odd. Sometimes it kinda worked, other times, he'd start shooting dust or sand. But today, there was nothing for it but to try and see what happened.
    His feet went through the motions and his hands rose into the air. He closed his eyes and remembered the advice he'd given Jay when he'd first unlocked his powers. "There's a connection you have to make. You can't just tell it what to do, you have to listen to it."
    Well, there wasn't exactly a whole lot to "listen to" at the moment. Land was so far away, separated by so much water. A wave rocked the boat suddenly and he had to stop moving for a moment to just watch the horizon and breathe.
    "Cole, are you alright?" Wu asked from the wheel.
    "Fine!" He replied, his voice cracking somewhat. He figured that good ol' exposure therapy was helping him out a little, but he doubted that he would ever not got at least a little nauseous on the water.
    With a few more breaths, he stood up straight again and went back to focusing. If he couldn't connect to any earth properly, then maybe there was something int he air?
    The air was full of water.
    Maybe there was something beneath the water?
    It was too deep.
    He sighed. It felt like there was nothing he could really grab onto. Nothing he could do to steady himself. 'Just forget it,' he relented.
    Out went his fist, punching the air, and a small spattering of pebbles went flying.
    "Nice move, man," said Kai sarcastically.
    Cole grunted and turned around to return a similar comment when Jay suddenly said,
    "Yeah, yeah, yeah, why don't you focus on your own powers, hot head?"
    He blinked as he realised that the comment had not been directed at him. So then was something up with Jay? Or were the two of them just being their regular old selves?
    Jay stiffened as he tried to create some lightning, but it came out all spluttery and sparky. That's when he also noticed Zane, who had not so much as tried to create a single snowflake.
    "What's going on down there?" Wu asked, locking the wheel in place and coming down to them.
    "Nothing, Sensei," said Cole. "Just a little... trouble getting started."
    Wu seemed thoughtful. "Trouble with your powers?"
    He nodded.
    "Hmm. I've seen this before. Often, the trigger is high stress."
    "Gee, I wonder what could be stressing us out," Kai mumbled.
    Wu was on him faster than a viper on a mouse. "Would you care to say that again? A little louder so that we can all hear?"
    He could see Kai's jaw set and he looked away. "Sensei," he sighed. "How can you trust him? I mean, he's literally Lord Garmadon!"
    "But he is also my brother," Wu said evenly. "I understand your apprehension, I truly do, but—"
    "He stabbed me!" Kai erupted, one hand on his chest.
    Wu closed his eyes and a small vein started pulsing on his forehead.
    "Not to beat it into the ground or anything," said Jay, a bit more carefully than his brother. "But I agree. He gives me the creeps."
    "If nothing else, he needs to atone for his war crimes," Zane joined in.
    They waited for Wu's reply, but he just stood there as the ship bobbed up and down and the wind tussled his hair. Finally, Wu looked up.
    "Come. Let me tell you a story." He sat down, and the others joined him in a circle. The old man was keeping his breathing decisively even, and he seemed to be thoroughly mulling over what he was about to say. "The man downstairs... the man you know as Lord Garmadon... is not the same man I grew up with. Many years ago... many, many years ago... he and I were not only brothers, but the closest of friends."
    "Seriously?" Jay blurted. "The King of Shadows? Lord of Destruction? And you two were... friends?"
    "Please, no interruptions," Wu said, eyeing him. "In those days, I knew him simply... as Monty.
    "We grew up not far from where the Monastery sits today, and the two of us were as thick as thieves. We would go exploring in the woods together, searching for buried treasure and magical artefacts. Sometimes we would go fishing by the river, though we usually just ended up going for a swim and would return home for dinner soaking wet. Most often, we would train together, under our father's watchful eye. Anyone who knew Garmadon then would have said he was as kind a boy as you could ever hope to meet, often looking out for the other children in the nearby village, and me, his younger brother.
    "Then, one day... I had suggested... that is to say, it was my idea... We took our training katanas and went out into the woods, looking for imaginary beasts to slay. Lost in our play, I foolishly mislaid my katana in the brush. We had wandered far from home at that point. The weeds were thick and there were strange creatures roaming about.
    "Garmadon... Monty... he told me that I should retrieve my weapon, as any respectable warrior should, and if I did not return home with it, father would be angry. I refused. I was young and afraid. He scolded me, saying that I shouldn't put off until tomorrow what can be done today. When I refused again, he made up his mind to find the blade himself. I waited, rooted to the spot, and when he did not return, I ran home to my father.
    "When he was found, Monty was very weak. My father took him into his room and began treating him... for a venomous snake bite.
    "For days he remained by my brother's bedside, and his condition only worsened. He was in so much pain... and little by little, he seemed to be changing on the inside. It wasn't until long after my brother had recovered that we found the snake which had bitten him. Much to our dismay, it was... her. Anguis. That was the day my father swore to see her locked away, though he would not be able to capture her for many years.
    "Do you remember what I told you all last night? Anguis' venom has special properties. When bitten, a living thing will slowly start to devolve into its most wicked self, infected with an incurable evil.
    "So... you see... it is I who is at fault." He looked up at each of them sternly. "If you wish to be upset with someone... be upset with me. I am the reason my brother is who he is."
    Silence followed. A heavy, thick silence.
    "That still doesn't mean he isn't dangerous," Zane pointed out quietly.
    Neither he nor his teacher met each other's gaze.
    The boat creaked and groaned as it moved in the open water.
    "You leave Garmadon to me. He's my responsibility while he is here," said Wu.
    "And how long is he staying for?" Kai asked.
    "Until we find his son."
    Cole didn't need to be a mind reader to know what everyone else was thinking. 'Oh, great. We're saving that little punk. I'm so glad to know that TWO Garmadons are going to be bunking with us soon.'
    "He is my nephew, and he is in trouble," Wu said sternly. "He's lost in a very serious way. If I do nothing to help him, I will never be able to forgive myself." He unfolded his legs and stood, holding tight to his staff. "Now back to training. I do not want to hear anymore ill will on this ship."
    "Yes, Sensei," the four boys mumbled.