The Power of the Wind

Chapter One- The Discovery (Lydia)

Lydia sat beneath the shady overhang of leaves at the top of a tree, remembering her meeting with Sensei Wu two years earlier. So many things had changed since then. At the time, she had been living elsewhere, and the forest had simply been a friend to her and not a home. Her mentor, caretaker, and guardian, the only person (or for that matter, soul) she'd ever considered to be a good teacher to her, had been teaching her the art of Windjitzu. Afterwards, he'd revealed his ideas for a sinister plot and asked Lydia to take part in it. And at the time, she thought to herself, he hadn't rejected you for refusing....

No! She wouldn't think of that. To distract her, she reminded herself of other things that had occurred. The ninja had just succeeded in defeating Morro, Sensei Wu's former student who had returned from the Cursed Realm. Two elemental masters of time, Krux and Acronix, had risen from the shadows and battled against Sensei Wu and his students. Also, a few more events in between that Lydia was having trouble remembering. But for the most part, she knew about the ninjas' experiences. Her greatest secret, that no one knew (well, maybe the Sensei) was that she had been following the ninja in secret ever since she had been thrown out of her home to start her own living. Sure, the forest provided all Lydia needed, but the ninja gave her an excuse to challenge herself, to run the extra mile- literally. There was also another reason too, one that she couldn't quite pinpoint, but made her sure that they were unlike any people she'd seen.

That didn't mean for good, though. As far as Lydia was concerned, the human race was evil. Her parents had abandoned her when she was young, way too young to take care of herself. By some miracle, Lydia had found a mentor who cared for her- or so she'd thought. For when she had finally convinced herself that not all people were cruel, the master she'd known for years took a turn for the worst and forced her to leave. The only friend she'd made before then had proven to be just as heartless.The ninja aren't any better than anyone else in Ninjago, Lydia had decided. They are cruel- I just haven't gotten a chance to see that yet, and maybe that's why I feel a connection to them. Especially to the blonde-haired one... but then again, probably not for long.

No sooner had the thought crossed her mind, there was a rustle in the bushes, near the tree Lydia was taking refuge in at the moment. She scooted behind a particularly large branch and waited. She'd known that the ninja would be coming along the route she had followed and had hidden in the tree to get a good look at them.

"Hey, everyone! Check this out!" Lloyd was leading the group, and he had just walked out from the undergrowth. The other five members of the team followed, wearing bulky camping backpacks. Lloyd looked at the spot right under Lydia's tree and stepped away so everyone else could take a look. They all gasped in awe and Jay took a picture with his phone.

Lydia smiled to herself. This also was one of her favorite spots in the forest. There was one, big, bubbling stream behind her that shimmered in the sunlight. It ran all the way to an island of dirt in the middle, where her tree stood. There, the stream divided and became two cascading waterfalls as the water fell over a rock into a calm lake.

The six ninja immediately began to explore around the tree and the lake. Nya discovered a cave nearby for the group to take refuge in. Lydia tensed a little, knowing that way further in, her own home was built inside. But she soon realized no one would explore that deep.

"This place is perfect!" Lloyd declared triumphantly. Lydia clasped her hands together with delight, excited because even if he might not be as good as he seemed, Lloyd could relate to her love of nature, secondary to her love of wind. But to her dismay, Lydia's sudden movement dislodged an acorn, which fell straight down and landed at Lloyd's feet.

Lloyd looked up. Lydia froze. Shocked, she watched as Lloyd squinted and looked in her exact direction- as if he'd known precisely where she was just by one subtle movement. "Is anyone up there?" Lydia heard Lloyd ask the team.