Tournament of Elements

A cold night

Kai shivered as he hugged his cape closer to his body. He silently cursed his father's obsession with the 29th of February.

What did he even see in the day? It's just a day!

It comes once every four years, yes, but it's still a day! And a cold one, too! And he hated the cold!

He glanced at Clouse from the distance, silently sipping his hot chocolate. People had started gathering already. He could see Griffin, Travis, Jacob, Tox, and Chamille...

He heard the sound of metal hitting against metal. He looked up, smiling and nodding at Karlof, as the bigger man passed by. Bolobo followed. The flowery scent that followed the man was enjoyable. Reminded him of childhood.

He did, essentially, grow up around these people.

Ash and Shade joined him, Ash ordering them three shots.

"It's cold as fuck." The bartender offered him the shots. Ash downed his.

"It's February. What did you expect?" Shade asked. Kai emptied his shot in his cup, before downing the rest of his chocolate.

"You're dressed appropriately, for once." Ash commented. Shade downed their shot.

Ash set a few coins on the counter. It covered both the shots and the chocolate. Kai nodded to him as a thanks.

"I get cold easily. Contrary to what people think." The youngest shrugged.

"So I've heard." Shade shoved their hands in their pockets, before walking away. Ash rolled his eyes, before following.

Neuro and Gravis soon joined.

Kai started counting heads as he walked closer to the crowd. 10... 11, all here, right? No, Skylor said something about-

A group running towards them caught his attention. Six people; five younger, one older. Kai bit back a smile as he glanced at Clouse. The man's expression visibly soured when he spotted the older man. He turned around again to look at the group. He wondered what their elements were. The green one must've been the guy Skylor mentioned some days ago.

They looked so out of place... Kai thought it was funny.

He passed by Clouse, smirking at him. Clouse could only glare a non-mean glare. Skylor may have been Chen's favorite, but he was Clouse's. That had to count as something, right?

He could feel strange eyes on his back the whole time. So he opted to stay in a corner.

Okay, so maybe Travis had a point. He was an introvert. Sue him! He spent his whole life on an island with Chen, Skylor, Clouse, and some hundred guards.

It was a small society. If you can call that society. (You could, he guessed. They had laws and everything.)

From his corner, Kai watched the people interact. Clouse bickered with the old man, before reluctantly allowing him to board.

Griffin, Tox, Neuro, and Bolobo were talking about something - probably planning a movie night before the tournament. The first afternoon was always free.

Jacob was sitting in a different corner, playing his music. Travis wasn't sitting far. Kai could only imagine he was staring at the musician with heart eyes.

Chamille, Ash, and Shade were talking, too. He always wondered what they spoke about. Such an unlikely trio...

Gravis was sitting on the roof of the ship, looking around. Because of course he was. Kai had learned that, if you can't see the master of gravity around, you must look up.

The group of six was just walking around. Their mentor - or he assumed he was their mentor. The older one, either way! - was talking to them.

He sighed, before turning to look at the water. He shivered as he watched his reflection, for a different reason than the cold weather that sadly fell upon Ninjago. He hated the water.

He still remembered how he almost drowned when he was a child. When he still had his biological parents with him. When his pregnant mom had insisted they go to the beach. When he swam so far off the shore, he could no longer touch the bottom. When he got a bad cramp, and could no longer swim. When he started drowning. And his dad managed to save him.

When he met his family at the docks. When he almost fell into the sea.

He shivered as he felt someone tug on his cape. He tugged back, before looking up.

"Dude! Back off!" He hissed, hugging the cape closer.

"Karlof cold. Cape big enough for two." Karlof mumbled. If there was anyone who hated the cold more than Kai (impossible), it would be Karlof (would, because again: impossible!)

"I warned you!" Kai said, feeling a little bad as Karlof tugged again. Maybe they could-

"Hey, man! Back off." Kai turned around, seeing the new guys. One of them was having a stare-down with Karlof. The taller one. A black-haired guy, close to his age - although probably closer to Skylor's - with honey eyes.

Their mentor tried to hold him back, but the guy just stepped closer to Karlof.

Kai sighed. It would be a long journey back...

Karlof tried to explain himself, and Kai felt proud. He had come a long way from the irritable, 'punch first, ask later' master of Metal he had first met.

Sadly, the other guy wouldn't listen. He must've really wanted to fight someone. And a fight he got.

Kai walked away while he could, refusing to get in a fight. He'd rather save powers for the actual fighting in the tournament.

He just quietly walked to the rest of the insomniacs.

"Is Karlof fighting the new guys?" Tox asked.

"Just one of them." Kai shivered again. Neuro hummed.

"We were talking about a movie night." Bolobo stated.

"Figured as much." Kai mumbled, trying to hold himself tighter, in hopes of feeling warmer. They must still be pretty far away from the island.

"Any movie suggestion?" The noise of something breaking made everyone stop in their tracks and look to the source.

Clouse got between the two men, trying to break their fight before they broke the ship. Kai felt thankful. Ending up in the water would make things worse for him.

"Why were they even fighting?" Bolobo wondered.

"Karlof was cold. And you know how irritable Karlof gets when he's cold." Neuro shrugged.

"He asked me to share the cape but I was cold too. The new guy thought he was harassing me, I guess." Tox smirked.

"Sounds like he likes you~" She teased. Kai stammered.

"Fuck off!" He settled for, blushing. Tox chuckled, messing his hair. Kai sighed.

A long trip indeed...