The Power of the Wind

Chapter 2- The Daring Rescue (Lloyd)

Lloyd clenched his fists as he tried to break the chains around him. Why would Ronin want to capture us? He wondered. Who is he taking us to? Is there a bigger threat to Ninjago that we don't know about? Lloyd's mind reeled with the possibility. Right now, though, he needed a way to escape. The chains held fast no matter how much Lloyd tugged on them. How will we get away?

He was so focused on asking himself questions that he nearly jumped out of his skin as a few medium-sized rocks fell from the cave ceiling. Lloyd looked around, puzzled. I could have sworn I felt a breeze on my left shoulder, he thought to himself. But why would there be wind in a cave? At first, Lloyd wondered whether there was another way out of the cave but thought against it, realizing that even the strongest breeze from outside couldn't break a rock.

"Is anyone there?" Ronin asked, his back turned from the mouth of the tunnel. Lloyd watched in awe as a girl jumped out of the shadows, her brown braid flowing behind her. Ronin whirled around and dodged the girl's attack a split second before she could hit him. He jumped back and aimed the benchstone gun at her. "Whoever you are, freeze before I hit you," he said warningly.

The girl folded her arms, unfazed. "Do you even have any chains left?" She countered.

Ronin apparently didn't react, either. "Nope," he stated. Then all of a sudden he whipped out an electrified rope. Before the girl could dodge, he had thrown it at her. It wrapped around her body, pressing her arms inward. She gasped, obviously from the electric shock of the rope. Lloyd knew from looking that she was in pain but wasn't showing it.

"Let's play fair, shall we? No more of that elemental stuff," Ronin said to her. Lloyd let out a small gasp. That's why I felt a breeze! She's a master of wind! But how? Lloyd watched as the girl stood half-paralyzed for a second, then narrowed her gaze as she locked eyes with Ronin.

She didn't flinch and wasted no time in jumping at him again. But she was obviously in pain and her attack wasn't nearly as fast as the first one. Ronin dodged and the girl landed in the place Ronin had just been standing. But she wasn't looking at Ronin- her gaze fell on a sharp stalactite hanging from the ceiling.

"No point looking at that. It's too high, even for you. The smartest thing to do would be to call it quits and come with me. I'm sure my new boss wouldn't mind another elemental master on his hands." Ronin smiled smugly, obviously waiting for her to surrender.

"Impressive," the girl murmured. "But Ronin, there's one thing you forgot." The girl paused, wincing from the electric rope, and the looked Ronin right in the eye. "You may think you've taken away my fighting ability, but true power doesn't always come from your hands." No sooner had the words come out of her mouth, a blast of wind flew into the room and hit Ronin full force, knocking him over. It then came back to the girl, as if awaiting command, then suddenly lifted her into the air. The electric rope tied around her waist was cut in half by the stalactite on the cave ceiling. The girl floated back down and awaited Ronin's next move.

Flabberghasted, Ronin fled the tunnel, the girl right on his heels. He obviously didn't have any attacks left that would work in a cave on someone with high pain tolerance. Lloyd tried to comprehend what had just happened- it was all so fast that even he had trouble keeping up.

Lloyd began to hear voices echoing from the front of the cave and closed his eyes, finding it was easier to listen to them that way. He tried to picture what was going on and found himself seeing everything from the Master of Wind's point of view.

"What did you want with them?" The girl asked Ronin as she chased him down the tunnels.

Ronin looked back at her. "None of your business. Why are you after me, anyway?" He asked, turning back and continuing to run.

"Because a true ninja would never stand for this!" She cried out. Then, as if realizing what she had just said, the girl froze. Ronin must have sensed her hesitation because he stopped running and turned back around.

"And what gives you the right to say that?" He inquired.

The girl thought for a few seconds and replied, "The fact that I'm the opposite of you." Lloyd almost felt her satisfaction as he imagined Ronin with a cold gaze.

At this point, the voices were becoming fainter but Lloyd could still make out words. He guessed they had reached the cave entrance. Suddenly Lloyd heard a series of explosions, along with Ronin's cry of outrage. "Rex, that was supposed to be for a ninja!" Ronin was about to climb the ladder up into his airship when the girl caught up to him.

"Where do you think you're going?" She asked, hands on her hips. Lloyd marveled at himself that he could hear this far away, and better yet, picture the scene as if it were right in front of him.

"I'm leaving you alone. But don't worry, I"ll be back," Ronin said as his airship, Rex, rose into the air. The girl wasn't finished with him, though. She let out a clear whistle and Ronin ran to hit what seemed like random buttons on Rex's control panel, but it was too late. Rex began to fly downward in Lydia's direction.

"Hey, that's what I call stealing!" Ronin called, continuing to press buttons.

The girl raised an eyebrow. "Anyone can whistle. If you wanted to keep your ship in order, you should have come up with a better way to control it. And besides, if I remember correctly, you did offer Rex to the ninja as a peace offering, didn't you?"

How does she know that? Lloyd suddenly wondered.

"I gave Rex to them, sure, but what's the point of giving a gift if no one even uses it?" Ronin hit a few more buttons on the control panel and the airship rose once again.

"I enjoyed talking to you, whoever you are, but I have business to attend to!" Ronin pressed a button and the ship started to fly away. "Seeya!" He called.

"My name is Lydia! Remember it!" The girl called back to him, outraged, just before he flew out of earshot.

Her name is Lydia! She's a master of wind! She knows things that happened to us, like two years ago! Lloyd could hardly contain the information. Suddenly he heard Kai calling his name.

"Lloyd! Lloyd! Earth to Lloyd?" Kai said right in his ear.

"Oh, sorry. I was, uh, distracted," Lloyd admitted, a little embarrassed.

Kai sighed. "I was just wondering what to say to the girl if she comes back. I can't believe there's another elemental master we never knew about!"

"If there's another elemental master, then why didn't we see her when we were at the Tournament of Elements?" Nya asked.

"Perhaps Chen didn't want to draw too much attention from Sensei Wu. He might have known that Sensei trained Morro and captured this girl to avoid suspicion. But I think you've all overlooked something- if there is another Master of Wind, is she related to Morro?" Zane asked.

Before anyone could answer, footsteps sounded from a distance and everyone quieted. The girl, who Lloyd thought was Lydia but now wondered whether or not he'd just imagined her whole exchange with Ronin, walked up to the chains and shot a harsh blast of wind at them. They didn't break.

"Vengestone won't react to elemental powers, even if the chains aren't touching you," Zane informed. Then, he added, "and thank you for saving us." The girl made no comment as everyone murmured agreement, only finding a spiked rock and breaking the padlock of the Vengestone.

At once, everyone got to their feet. Lloyd jumped up and lifted his hand. He tested his power just to make sure it was back, then turned to his mysterious rescuer.

"Who are you?" He asked, hoping to hear one answer in particular. He wasn't sure whether to believe he had heard voices; it all felt like a dream to him now. Besides, it wasn't really possible to have heard her from such a long way off, was it?

The girl didn't seem to know how to answer his question, but she met his gaze and finally replied, "I am Lydia."