Ninjago: New Heros

Chapter 6: The Answers We Seek

[A/N: I'm sry this is probs annoying but I've got my English Lang paper 1 tmrw aka the creative writing one :DD. I'm lowkey using this as revision so if it's really bloody descriptive and in depth that's why. Also obvi wanna give you guys a good story ;))]

ALEX:

We spent hours and hours pouring through the records in the monastery's library, trying to find any accounts that matched our experience. Surely, in the long history of ninjago, our experience could not be the first. Ember's normally lively, viridescent eyes had began to droop as she slumped over a book, content enough to sleep and Sydney was much the same, fighting off the dreary call of sleep desperately. The only one who was as awake and as determined as me was Sofia. She frantically scanned the time-dusted pages of the scratched, tattered leather bound books; she was clearly disturbed enough to not let her mind wander into the ethereal world of dreams and instead spent her time downing old, zero ultra monster energy drinks from the back of the communal fridge. It was clear to see her stress.

"Hey, Sofia...are you okay?" I walked towards her hesitantly.
"Yeah. I'm fine." She deadpanned; an unusual tone for someone so chipper.
"Are you sure? You seem stressed out. I really don't want you stressing yourself out trying to solve our problems-"
"Well it's all my fault that we're in this situation in the first place." Sofia swiftly responded with a slight but evident shake in her voice.
"Sofia.., it's not your fault at all." I placed my hand on her shoulder and sat beside her in sympathy. She turned to look at me and I could see tears welling up in her eyes but she quickly ducked her head and buried herself in her long hair.
"I'm fine. I want to solve this for you. I want to be useful."
I could tell what she was thinking, as if I were a mind-reader. It was her who went into the woods. It was her who found the dragon and was hurt in the woods. She's blaming herself for what happened. Suddenly, she drew a breath in through her teeth as quietly as a whisper, clutching her wound from when Ember burned her earlier. Her sudden hissing intake of breath was enough to alert the others out of their dreary state.
"Sofia, are you okay?" Ember queried.
"Do you need another cold dressing?" Sydney sprung to his feet.
"That would be nice." She said softly, it appeared she would let her newly acquired guard down infront of her brother, those two were always the best of friends.
"Right, I'll go get you one." Sydney said, darting off into the next room.

"Are you sure you're okay? You seem stressed." Ember said, bending down to meet Sofia eye-to-eye, "You know you can tell us if somethings bothering you."
"Ember, I'm fine, I just need another guaze." Sofia retored bluntly; it was clear to see she was lying.
"I still feel awful about that, I don't even know how or why it happened. Tonight's just been confusing..." Ember trailed off. Her attention was drawn to a book, shoved to the back of the bookcase as if it had been discarded or hidden away so that the soft rays of daylight would never caress it's binding again. Gently, Ember took the book off the shelf and cradled it gently in her hands. Her fingertips graced the tanned leather cover, wiping away the mass of ancient dust that had been sat dormant for decades. It revealed a dragon motif taking centre stage of the book, made of the same old leather as the rest of the cover and it had gold leaf embellished scales and a Ruby for its eye. The title of the ornate book read:

"Elemental Powers: The Complete History of the Elements."

We all stood round in awe at this beautiful relic that had been left to rot away at the back of the bookshelf. Sofia's attention was eventually drawn to her brother coming in with a roll of gauze and a wet paper towel to tend to her injuries but mine and Ember's was transfixed on the book. We sat down together at the desk in the corner of the room and began observing the dilapidated, burnt pages full of neat inky handwriting. One particular page piqued our interest:

"The inheritance of Elemental Power:
Normally, Elemental Powers are passed down through genetics, we do not yet know which gene mutation causes the inheritance but what we do know is that Elemental Powers will seek out its next host, usually the offspring of the previous masters, but in some cases it can seek out a completely separate host or even manifest into something of its own. The elements of creation have done this before, manifesting themselves into the ultra-dragon awaiting their next hosts. From the little knowledge we have on this form of inheritance, we can decipher what the effect would be on a new Elemental Master from those who have written accounts (kept in the abundance of scrolls within my collection). One previous Elemental master of Earth wrote of how they experienced a dream-like state where they were confronted with the raw energy of their power (it's 'physical form' if you will) and its consumed them before they woke up disoriented."

The pages began to tremble in Ember's hands as her eyes darted between the page and Sofia's injury. We both looked at eachother in shock.
Surely not. But the evidence was overwhelming. Our entire shared experience was scrawled in the pages of this book, clear as day. Ember's burn on Sofia's shoulder. Ember's dad was the master of fire, it makes so much sense. The dragon was the physical manifestation of our parents Elemental Powers and now it was looking as if we inherited them.
"Sydney...I think we found something." My voice trembled in shock as we walked towards Sydney.
He looked down at the page, scanning the intricately written words.
"No, way." He said with the essence of shock tainting his lips.

Suddenly, the atmosphere was shattered by the opening of a door.
"Hey, uhm, why are you guys all here?" Said the figure standing at the door in a familiar voice. The others didn't know what to do or say since they didn't really know him well, but I had lived with him since the day I was 'born' so we were very familiar.
"Lloyd! I need to ask you something!" I ran over to Lloyd, taking the book from Embers dazed grasp and thrusting it into his hands, "Do you know what this is?" Surely, the legendary green ninja would be able to help us in our plight. He too scanned the dusty pages and when he lifted his eyes from the page they were painted with an expression of shock that darted between the book and us.
"Why are you studying my Uncles old accounts?" He said softly but as if it were a rhetorical question; he already knew the answer.
"Basically, we ended up in the woods with a four headed golden dragon and exactly what is written on that page happened to me, Sydney and Ember." I explained and Lloyd's eyes widened in shock and excitement. 
"This is an account my uncle wrote I'm guessing after studying the origins of Elemental Powers. I can't be 100% certain what this means but if I'm thinking this right then... then this could change everything."
"What do you think it is?" Ember trembled, stepping forward to meet Lloyd.
"I should probably go and speak to the others about this-"
"NO!" We all interrupted with an air of urgency. It was clear we wanted to keep this whole experience as secret from our elders for as long as humanly possible, we had gone out of the monastery and put ourselves into complete danger.
"Okay okay. But I think it would be best to confront your parents about this. They may know more than I do." Lloyd turned around from his attempt to leave to face us all with a look of concern.
"Let's just look for more information before it gets to that point. Do you know of any other research your uncle did into the origins and manifestations of Elemental Power?" Sydney cautiously stepped into the conversation he was already acutely apart of to make this suggestion and cool the rising tension.

We spent the next half an hour intently pouring over the minute details in each of the most hidden scrolls and texts within Lloyd's uncles archives but our efforts were fruitless. This one book seemed our best opportunity to explain the the strange events of earlier that night. None of us had been brave enough to say our thoughts out loud, it was too much of a daunting prospect for any of us to even utter the words we were all sharing.

Finally Sydney had the bravery to do it.

"So, we're the new Elemental Masters?"

"Looks like it." Lloyd said with a face painted with a look of hope and despair.