In Another Reality: A Ninjago Parody

Chapter Two

It had only been three days since the strange man entered the shop, and business was booming. The generous sum of money he left had been immediately stored away to save. With how much they had, Kai could find a cheap wagon to buy which would hold all their essentials. Add that to the two horses the elderly couple was giving away for free (since they were getting too old to take care of them) his luck seemed unnatural. Part of him had been tempted to take the money and split as soon as the opportunity presented itself. This kind of luck would never hold out. Something was definitely about to happen.

Still, the business the next couple of days had been enough to convince the siblings to stay, if only for a little while longer. Garmadon's army had been moving closer to the town more recently. The Royal Army's forces were being pushed farther and farther back, until not even one of their soldiers had been seen in Ignacia for several days. People were getting restless, and, all of the sudden, seemed ready to arm themselves. It was almost amazing the amount of comfort these weapons gave them, as if a sword was going to help any of them when the Skulkin Army charged into the city.

Kai was still pretty on edge from that stranger's visit. It wasn't the stranger that had scared him so much–rather, the fact that he'd been able to find out Kai's secret so easily. If he could figure it out within the brief interaction they'd had, how easy would it be for the Skeleton army, or even the royal army to figure out his secret? Either would be bad. Garmadon's forces would kill him, and the royal army would try to use him.

Anxiously, Kai drummed his fingers on the counter as he waited for another customer. Business was finally slowing down back to the point where they barely made more money selling weapons than they spent buying material for them.

Tomorrow, he promised himself. Nya and I are getting out of this town tomorrow.

He glanced around the shop. They'd already packed as many of the best quality objects as they could, so the walls were a lot more barren than usual. They could find a major city to sell those in and make enough money to buy a new forge, then a new house. He could finally enroll Nya in a highschool and maybe invest in a few college courses himself once he turned eighteen. Still, their departure would be a little bit bittersweet.

As much as he hated this town, these people, this forge had always been here for him. All the tools, the worktable, that one dent in the wall from when he was twelve and threw a baseball at it (it was a spur of the moment decision his mom had flipped out over), he'd miss the familiarity of it. He'd always carry the memories of his sister and his parents, and the time they'd spent here, with him.

Scowling hard, Kai shook his head, then readjusted his apron. Since when had he been this sentimental?

Speaking of Nya–

She ran through the door in a frenzy. Though she'd gone to the market to pick up food for their journey, but her hands were empty. Her dark eyes were wide and panicked as she scanned the area around them.

"The-the skeleton army," she panted. "They came and took Joey."

The chair clattered to the ground as Kai shot up. Joey, like him, had been avoiding the draft for years. If anything he was better at it than Kai, since he didn't run a business everyone knew about. If they'd finally found Joey, then it couldn't be long before they came to collect Kai too. No. He wouldn't let them take him. He couldn't leave Nya alone.

"Were they–?" He couldn't even finish his sentence. The fear coursing through his body made him feel pathetic.

"They weren't coming in this direction," Nya assured him, as if reading his mind. "Still, there's no telling whether they know about you or not."