Black with a Hint of Silver [ 1 ] | Lloyd Garmadon

08 | EIGHT

8 | LOOKS ARE DECEIVING

AFTER TWO WEEKS OF TRAINING AND LEARNING THE WAYS OF A NINJA, EMMA BROOKSTONE WAS EXHAUSTED. She knew challenge and dedication as she had been committed to dance and music her whole life. But learning how to play the bassoon and a viola at the same time was different than learning how to perform a drop kick while also learning how to perfect a flying dragon kick. In other words, it wasn't easy and Emma was slightly annoyed that the training began at five in the morning.

Aside from her training struggles, her discussion with the Sensei's about spinjitsu was not a pleasant one. Sensei We had told her when the time is right, she'll discover the key to unlock spinjitsu, and Sensei Garmadon told her that the ninja found spinjitsu during their first battle against Samukai and his skeleton army. And Lloyd had learned spinjitsu over time. So in other words, she was told not to worry about the stress of spinjitsu. And at least she wasn't the only one in the shop that couldn't do it, Nya was a samurai and couldn't perform spinjitsu, so Emma wasn't alone.

Today was Emma's day to pick a weapon. For a reason Emma didn't know, Misako was the person supervising her selection. It was a simple task of picking up a weapon and seeing if it was the best fit for Emma, and so far it was a no to a scythe and a no to a katana. Emma didn't even dare to pick up the shurikens.

"So, a no for nunchucks," Misako chuckled after seeing that not only did Emma have a forming bruise on her thigh but was tangled in the chains of Jay's weapon. "Yeah, this- this is a no," Emma groaned, rolling her eyes and handing the nunchucks to Misako. A laugh escaped the older woman's mouth and she leaned over to search the weapon's crate for any other weapon that could be suitable for Emma.

Meanwhile, the brunette resorted to blowing air into and out of her cheeks as a form of entertainment, not that it did much except make an extremely annoying sound. "Now none of the ninja have used or even picked up this weapon, but that doesn't mean it will never happen," Misako told the girl, her hands holding something special.

Emma turned around and looked at her as she stood straight, a bow in her hands. It was like love at first sight and Emma marveled at the small glimpse of the weapon. Misako grinned and handed her the craft, then one single arrow to shoot. "Do you know how to use it?" Misako wondered, tilting her head and watching in surprise as Emma answered her question by drawing the bow with the arrow locked in.

Pointing to a target, Misako stepped out of the way and watched as the arrow soared through the air and just nearly missed the center. With an impressed look on her face, Misako turned to the girl and smiled, "Emma, I think you've found your weapon."

•••

In a secret room hidden below the dragon's pen, Nya worked diligently on something to improve her Samurai X mech and Emma swayed back and forth in a hammock. This space was a safe space where the two would hang out, and ever since Emma told her dad about her move, it was a place for her to rant to Nya about her worries and concerns. To Nya, it was a smaller version of her Samurai X cave, though none of the ninja knew about it.

So as Emma rocked back and forth, she ranted about the new weapon she discovered that she had a skill with. And Nya listened while hammering a piece of her suit together. It was a long day for everyone, the ninja were sent out to survey Ninjago for any signs of demonic activity, and the Sensei's were busy deciphering the letter to find anything else that would possibly connect point 'a' to point 'b.'

Speaking out of the blue, Nya yanked her welding mask onto her forehead and looked over her progress while talking simultaneously to Emma. "Why don't you go visit your father?" she suggested with a slight shrug of her shoulders.

Emma looked at Nya who still hadn't turned to face her and sighed before plopping back onto the hammock, "I suppose I should, huh?"

"It might ease your stress. I've been here years, and it isn't the injuries that concern me, it's the guy's stress levels. They worry themselves into thinking failure isn't acceptable, and that's when everything falls."

Emma closed her eyes and nodded, "I think my dad would be disappointed."

"That you chose to save the world instead of teaching little kids how to dance? I don't think so, Em," Nya laughed, finally pushing her work onto the counter and wandering over to the couch to lay down.

"It's not like that. He won't be disappointed in my decision, but disappointed in me. My father wanted someone to carry on the Brookstone legacy, you know? That was Cole until he dropped out and left me in charge of it all. I was just a kid, fifteen years old with no say in her own path. But I had already lost my mom and I couldn't let my dad down. So I followed the path he laid out for my brother. And now that once again, another one of his kid's has taken the path of a ninja, there's no one else to pass it to."

"What did you want to do?"

"I don't really know, I guess. I mean, sure, I'm good at dance, but it wasn't something I planned on doing for my entire life. At some point I wanted to be a doctor, I think. But when you have vocal, instrumental, and dancing talent, it shouldn't be wasted, I suppose."

Nya smiled, "Well, I was never supposed to be here. Kai only became a ninja to save me, and I was supposed to stay at our parent's blacksmith shop and carry on their legacy. Especially after Kai was a ninja, he only let me follow him here so he could protect me. If he wasn't so hot-headed, maybe I would be creating a katana."

"Is it destiny, do you think?"

Nya sighed and stared at the ceiling, "I think it's family."