Return of Doom (Ninjago in the future)

Part 11: Accident?

We landed on the coast at sunset. On the horizon, I saw a few small islands, one with smoke rising form it. Zane insisted that we wait for just before dawn to move out and find Lloyd, and the suspense was killing me.

We trained together for the remaining daylight hours, and I tried my best to focus, but it was difficult.

We sparred in pairs, rotating partners to practice with different fighting styles. Zane showed us a room full of training equipment, including wooden weapons. We each tested out different weapons until we found the ones we liked the best — Summer with nunchucks, Ben with a hammer, Sparky with a scimitar, Umber with a spear, and myself with a naginata. We used these weapons to fight each other, testing how they felt and how to use them.

To start, Summer sparred with Ben, Sparky with Umber, and myself with Zane. Since he used shurikens, instead of fighting with weapons we fought hand-to-hand. I noticed that the nindroid fought similarly to Lloyd, and I was able to fend off most of his attacks.

As I began to tire, Zane noticed my skill and commented on it. I felt self-conscious as he congratulated me, and we rotated partners. This time, Ben battled Zane, I went against Umber, and Sparky fought Summer.

I slashed the naginata at Umber and she rolled out of the way, thrusting her spear at me in the process. I knocked the tip out of the way with the hilt, then jabbed at Umber. The wood grazed her shoulder and she glared at me.

After that, Umber fought with renewed strength. I yelped as she thrust her spear at my shoulder hard enough to knock me backwards. My shoulder stung from the impact and I stood dumbfounded, wondering what had overcome my friend.

"Umber, what are you doing?" I asked, completely confused. "We're only training."

She crouched in a fighting stance, spear gripped tightly in one hand. Was it the incoming night, or was the hand of the spear black instead of brown?

Umber saw my confused gaze and she closed her eyes, scrunching her face in concentration. When she opened them, she stood tall, lowering her weapon.

"Sorry," she replied, but it didn't sound like she meant it. "I guess I'm just tired."

Seems like more than fatigue, I thought, but shrugged it off. I believed her. I had to — she was my friend. Why would she lie?

I smiled. "Okay, let's go again. But not so hard," I added with a smirk.

Umber forced a smile and ran at me. I grinned and my blade landed between the prongs of her spear. I met her eyes and for a moment, they stared coldly at me. Then she blinked and the look was replaced with determination.

Again, I brushed it aside, and we continued sparring. She gave me quite a challenge, and by the time we switched partners, neither of us won the fight.

Umber went to train with Summer, Ban joined me, and Sparky went to Zane. My energy was rapidly fading by then, and I struggled to keep up with Ben's hammer. I glanced sideways at my sister as she fought Umber, but both seemed content.

"What's up with Umber recently?" I wondered aloud, deflecting Ben's hammer.

He stood, leaving his fighting stance. "You've noticed it too, then?" He gazed at Umber as she rolled out of the way from Summer's nunchucks. "She seems angrier than usual."

"Yeah," I agreed. "She was never like this before."

Summer whacked her weapon into Umber's side, but not strong enough to hurt the shintarian. Despite this, Umber's face suddenly twisted with hate and she lunged for the unsuspecting Summer, stabbing her spear into my sister's shoulder.