Spirit's Wrath (Book 2 of Spirit's Calling)

The Spirit of Water

A/n: uhm.... *throws chappy at you and runs*

When they finally arrived at the tea shop, Y/n had composed herself and woken up enough to not make the others worried. She felt Nya's eyes on her, though, but pointedly ignored her friend. She climbed down the ladder and trailed after her mother as they neared the shop.

"Morro and his ghosts may show up to steal the sword," Misako told the team, "so it is your job to defend the shop. At least until we can figure out the last clue. Understand?"

The team nodded, glancing at each other. No one looked ready to fight—injured, tired, and sore. Even on their own turf, they might not last long in a fight.

Not like they did the first time, anyway.

"If water is a ghost's weakness, we should use that," Kai mused as Misako headed inside with Wu and Ronin to puzzle over the last clue and put the Sword hidden in an adjacent shed where it wasn't very obvious.

Y/n caught the fleeting expression of alarm on Cole's face before he hid it. "Yeah, but be careful," she said, and the Ninja-turned-ghost gave her a grateful look. "Not everyone here wants to get wet."

Kai nodded in understanding.

"Ooh!" Jay brightened. "Water balloons!"

Y/n raised a brow and Cole and Nya snickered. Kai just sighed in exasperation while Zane gave their energetic teammate an intrigued glance.

"Perhaps we should also include water guns or a hose on a tripwire," he suggested.

"Dibs on a water gun," Y/n claimed. When Zane blinked at her in surprise, she shrugged. "They look like fun." And the most efficient way to kill a ghost.

Jay pumped his fist in the air. "Yeah! They are so fun. I'll join you!"

Y/n sent him an unamused look. "Maybe not so fun anymore."

While Jay scoffed at her, the others laughed. Y/n crossed her arms with lips pressed tightly together but winked at the Lightning Ninja. After a moment, he joined in the laughter. Nya gave her a fist bump, eyes twinkling with humor.

Y/n couldn't bring herself to join in.

"So water guns, a hose, and balloons," Cole counted. "That seems good enough. Just make sure it doesn't hit me."

"Of course," Zane agreed. "I will work on the hose so it triggers if it senses more than one ghost."

"Then Nya and I can fill the balloons," Kai finished.

The Ninja split ways to complete their defenses. Jay showed Y/n how to refill and shoot a water gun, using two metal pails as their water supply, placed strategically outside where it wasn't easily visible and inside near the counter. They added a 'Closed' sign on top of the door just in case any curious shoppers wandered past.

As Y/n practiced aiming the water gun at different distances and angles, her eye caught a shape making its way up the path, wearing purple and a straw hat. She glanced around to see if anyone else noticed, but they were too engrossed in their own tasks to notice. Nya and Kai were both dripping with water but laughing—Kai less so than his sister—as they flung the liquid at each other from a central hose for filling the balloons. Y/n smiled at them before turning her attention back to the newcomer.

Not knowing who it was, Y/n shouldered her water gun and stuck to the shadows as she snuck closer. Being invisible was something she knew how to do—even before becoming a Ninja.

The person was a man, walking alone with a piece of paper in one hand and wearing a heavy-looking brown backpack. He held a walking stick in his free hand and his hat shadowed his face.