Legends of Ninjago Book 1: Brotherhood (Ninjago AU, Cole, Jay, Zane, Kai)

Chapter 7: Preparations

"Fool!!!"
"Take the girl!!!"
"Nya! Noooooooo!"
Kai woke with a jolt. Not only was his nightmare frightening, but the bright sunlight streaming in from the open window made him flinch. He sat up and looked around. Was he still at that weird monastery? He had secretly hoped that it had only been a dream. That he would wake up in his bed and find his sister making breakfast in the kitchen. But there was no smell of cooked rice, or of the smoky forge, or heated metal. There was, however, a smell of green tea wafting through the air. Kai looked around and spotted a table in the corner of the room with a steaming tea pot on top of it accompanied by two small tea cups. He pulled on a red robe which was hanging in the closet and sat down.
Kai wanted to relax, but his sister was constantly on his mind. Was she hurt? Was she scared? Was she in a dungeon somewhere, or perhaps tied up in rough chains? He wondered if maybe she'd called out for him to come and rescue her.
He sipped his tea and thought about his new allies—the Sensei and his students. Would they really help him? After all, weren't they the ones who kidnapped him? Then there was the whole 'powers' thing which Kai might never have believed if he hadn't seen his own hands catch fire; and yet, they hadn't burned. Not even the tiniest bit. He wondered if he could make them do that again.
A sudden sound from out in the hall made him jump and snapped him out of his thoughts, but it was only Jay stubbing his toe on something. Kai turned back to the table and sipped again from his tea.
Master Wu had told him that to rescue his sister, first they had to find the golden weapons.
"Four golden weapons..." he said quietly. "Four separate locations... how long will it be until Nya is safe?" He clenched his jaw, but held back his full fury. What Master Wu had told him that morning repeated in his mind, "and how were you planning on rescuing her? By storming the Undead Citadel and defeating the entire skeleton army singlehandedly?" As much as he hated to admit it, Kai needed Wu's help. And he really, really, didn't want to admit it.
A bell sounded after a while and a servant came to lead Kai to the dining room for breakfast where he half-heartedly enjoyed a plate of rice, salmon, and tofu. After living off of rations in Garmadon's territory for so long, the flavourful food revitalised a part of him and warmed his stomach, but his mind was still with Nya—captured, who knows where, with who knows what to eat.
There was no conversation made at the dining tables, save for a few whispers between friends, and then one by one, everyone dispersed among the monastery.
"Excuse me, young man, but are you Mister Kai Rayson?"
Kai looked up and saw an older gentleman with a bushy white moustache and spectacles peering down at him with a wide grin on his face. Kai nodded in answer to his question.
"Ah, very good. I am Doctor Lee," he explained as Kai got up to greet him properly. "Master Wu called for me to look you over. I understand you've had a very rough last few months." Kai didn't say anything. "If you'll just follow me, then."
Doctor Lee led him to a room on the other side of the property and asked him to sit down in one of his cushioned chairs where he inspected him with every single one of the odd tools hanging up on the walls and sitting on the counters.
After a while he determined that Kai was in mostly good health, in need of more nutrition to be sure, but upon checking his arms and legs and muscles, he began to click his tongue disapprovingly. Kai flinched as the doctor felt his arms and lifted them, then lowered them, and then did the same to inspect his legs.
"Tell me, does it hurt when I do this?" Doctor Lee asked as he lifted Kai's leg. When Kai flinched again, he lowered it. "I see..." he mumbled. "Well, you certainly haven't been doing yourself any favours. You've strained your muscles to the breaking point. Why, I'm surprised you had the strength to come to breakfast this morning."
Kai looked down at his arms and let the doctor's words sink in. He hadn't really been thinking about his muscles—he hadn't for a while now—the forge was always so important that perhaps he just pushed passed the pain. But now, as he replayed all the wrestling, and physical activity of the last few days alone, the full weight of those aches and pains began to settle in on him, and he let out a slight groan.
"You'll need to take it very slowly for the next week. Two weeks would be better, actually. No more fighting, wrestling, blacksmithing, or any other sort of strenuous activity, understood?" Doctor Lee waited for Kai to nod before he continued on about vitamins for him to take, and other medical jargon. Then he sent him off to his room to rest.
Now Kai was back in his bed, silently hating himself for not doing more. Nya needed him, and what was he doing? Lounging in bed! He didn't nap, or feel very relaxed for several hours, until someone came to his door—another servant—bringing him his lunch. Apparently Doctor Lee had already told Wu of Kai's condition and Wu had called for special treatment for him.
Kai sat up and instantly regretted it. The pain seemed to be swelling now, to the point where no one could avoid letting out a gasp from the shock. Kai ate very little this time, and what he did eat, he ate slowly. There was not much else to distract himself with while he was bedridden, so he tried to get some more sleep, but that didn't go so well.
At around six in the evening, after dinner had been brought and mostly eaten, there was a visitor at Kai's door. Master Wu walked in slowly and asked how Kai was doing.
"Well, I'm stuck here instead of saving my sister, so, yeah, I'm peachy," said Kai sarcastically.
"I understand your plight. It's not easy standing by, knowing that someone else suffers while you prosper, but trust me, young Kai. Nya will be safe soon," Wu reassured him. "Now, all the preparations for our journey have been made. I'll expect you bright and early tomorrow morning in the courtyard."
"Shouldn't I be resting?" Kai asked.
"Under any other circumstance, yes. However time is of the essence, and your participation is crucial," Wu explained. "We will have special arrangements, of course, to accommodate your need for rest. Now, there is one more thing which I must discuss with you. Inside these walls you are Kai Rayson, but outside, you are no one. You must let your identity slip into the shadows, for if anyone were to discover who you are, there could be costly consequences. People with elemental powers such as yourself have been shelved with Cinderella, and Robin Hood, and Amaterasu as time has worn on, and we must keep it that way."
Kai looked up at the old man and frowned in confusion. "What are you asking me to do? Become a secret spy?"
"In a way. But the path of a ninja, I would say, is far more noble," Wu continued. "Stealth and combat training will be paramount to all that we wish to accomplish, and so the ninja is most obvious mantle to take up. Will this be a problem?" he asked when he noticed an apprehensive look on Kai's face.
"No," said Kai. In truth, he was just a little unsure about having to learn such a disciplined art as that of combat. Blacksmithing had been his only pastime for so long.... he was slightly afraid that he would be horrible at anything else.
"Very good, then. I will send someone to fetch you in the morning. Rest well," said Wu as he turned to leave. "And Kai... these next few weeks will be challenging, so keep in mind that patients is the only way to victory." Then he was left alone once more.