Return of Doom (Ninjago in the future)

Part 9: Training

Someone shook my shoulder. I groaned in protest and rolled away, burying my head in my makeshift blanket pillow.

"Miss Luna," a robotic voice said. "We must continue our journey."

I sighed in defeat and sat up, blinking sleep out of my eyes. Zane stood next to me, his expression hard to read. Around me, my friends had already woken and eaten, and stood listlessly as they waited.

"I'm the last one awake?" I wondered aloud, hastily packing my bag and snatching a granola bar to eat on the go.

Summer nodded. "We couldn't wake you up."

I rubbed the back of my head, my face scrunching as I tried to remember my dreams. I'd trained some more with Lloyd in the Monastery, but he'd seemed distracted. He knew something I didn't, and refused to tell me. Our training must've carried into the morning, and I refused to get up. That would mean ending the practice.

"Finally," Umber growled as she slid off a tree stump. I blinked in surprise at her tone, but she refused to meet my gaze. "Hurry up and let's go."

In single file with Zane leading, we trekked farther south. We walked along the edge of a river for most of the day, stopping every hour to rest. Zane always looked ahead with a neutral expression, his emotions impossible to guess.

We joked and laughed the whole time. Except Umber, I noticed. She kept to herself, constantly pushing ahead before returning to the group to demand we walked faster.

I stretched my arms as we continued, feeling sore from my dream-training. Somehow, whatever happened to my dream body affected my real one. On the bright side, my strength increased from my training. On the not-so-bright side, it left me sore and tired.

Around midday, Zane stopped us in a small clearing. "I will begin your training at this location," he explained.

Umber hissed under her breath, but the only one to notice was me. I frowned at her back, then tried to ignore it and turned to Zane.

He had us line up in a semi-circle with him facing us. "Show me your best backflip," he requested.

On my left at the end of the line, Ben flipped, stumbling as he landed. I managed to do it almost flawlessly, but had to wave my arms around for balance. Summer did it gracefully, Umber completed the task with reluctance, and Sparky made it halfway around before crashing into the ground, his arms and legs flailing.

I burst out laughing, Summer and Ben joining in. Sparky sprang to his feet and brushed himself off with a sheepish expression, his pride damaged by Zane's intense gaze.

The robot nodded once. "Most of you did well. Keep practicing while I assist Sparky."

I rolled my eyes at Sparky's "help me" expression. I flipped again and again, pausing as nausea washed over me.

"So dizzy..." Summer mumbled, staggering into me.

I agreed, panting, my vision spinning.

"Push through it," Zane commanded. "In battle, you have no time to rest."

I groaned and flipped again, but almost fell on my face.

I looked to Sparky. He managed to succeed once, cheering as he did. I smiled at his enthusiasm, then grimaced as I turned back to my space to continue.

I felt a tug in my mind. Frowning, I glanced behind me at Zane. He was not paying attention to me, still keeping his focus on Sparky. I turned to the forest and closed my eyes, digging in my mind to find the tug.

"There must always be a balance," a voice said. It sounded like Lloyd. "Where there is light, there is shadow."

Lloyd? I thought. Are you sending me a message?