Ninjago: Purpose and Meaning

3. Leader of the Elemental Masters

A month ago, Nadine would have been furious at the sight of the pirate ship. She and the other Elemental Masters had worked on taking down the pirates for years, but to their surprise, the pirates put up more resistance than expected.

Nadine had dismissed them as a small threat that wouldn't take longer than a week to take care of, but it proved more difficult than expected. The pirates wielded sabers and fought with them furiously. 

Even though Nadine and her friends had elemental powers to aid them, they couldn't stop the pirates. They struck quickly at villages along the coasts of Ninjago, never staying long enough for the Elemental Masters to get there in time to stop them. And even if they managed to confront the pirates, all they had to do was flee back to their ship and there was nothing the Elemental Masters could do to stop them from getting away.

Nadine and Arashi could try to stop the ship from sailing since they could control both the water and the wind, but the problem was that all the pirates had to do was aim their cannons at the two Elemental Masters and suddenly, they could escape.

Not today, Nadine thought as she hurried down the street, quickly coming closer to the pirates coming up the road.

At the sight of their swords, Nadine hesitated. She wasn't wielding any weapon of her own and she never had to rely entirely on her powers before. She always had some weapon with which she could defend herself.

At that moment, she missed the Sword of Sanctuary and its ability to see the future more than ever before. But the First Spinjitzu Master had been determined to return it to its owners.

I'll have to make due, Nadine sighed as she stopped before the first pirate.

The one-eyed man wielded a saber just like the other pirates and ran at Nadine with it raised above the head. He let out a battle roar in a thick dialect that Nadine didn't understand a word of.

The pirate swung the sword from above and Nadine easily slid to the side, putting out her foot as the pirate passed by her, still having a lot of speed since he never stopped running, and tripped over her foot, face-planting on the ground and his hat flew off at the sudden stop.

Nadine quickly bent down and jerked the saber from his loose grip before kicking him in the side for good measure and turning to the next pirate.

She quickly blocked his attack with her newly acquired saber, hitting away the other pirate's sword so that she could step at him and hit him in the head with the saber's handle.

The pirate's eyes rolled back in his head before he fell to the ground unconscious beside his companion who groaned heavily in pain from falling flat on the ground.

Nadine didn't give the fallen men another thought but moved on to the next, and the next, and the next. She blocked attacks and countered just as quickly. She swung her left fist and dropped pirate after pirate to the ground, amazed by herself.

Nadine had not felt this good since before Arashi's death. She felt more alive than she had in a month. Despite the dangerous situation she was caught in, she loved every second of it. The danger, the excitement...the memories. It felt like better times.

If she closed her eyes, she could almost see her friends fight beside her, just like they had for a decade. It felt familiar and right to do something she was good at, one of the few things she ever was good at.

But most importantly, she didn't think about Arashi or his death. She didn't think about the oni and how much her life changed over the past month. She for once felt free. Free of the burden she had carried since Arashi died. Her mind was empty and she had not felt this light in a long time.