Greenflame--The Journey Beyond

Chapter 5

Cole

  The Bounty seemed empty and eerily quiet. Quieter than usual. Cole glanced around and saw Jay pacing around nervously. Kai was sitting in a chair, resting his head on his fist. He looked bored, but his brow was furrowed, and Cole knew very well how concerned he was. He was, too.

  Jay hummed nervously, which frustrated Cole a little. "Jay, would you stop humming? It's getting annoying to listen to!"

  "What? Am I not allowed to feel nervous? You should be the one keeping quiet!" he shot back.

  Both boys glared at each other darkly until Nya came in between them. "Guys, would you stop? What's gotten into your heads? Lloyd should be on his way here with Morro, just wait a bit longer."

  Cole stared at the Lightning Ninja a little longer, then retreated to lean on the counter. He looked away and sighed, his face slightly hot with embarrassment. "Yeah, I guess you're right, Nya. Sorry, Jay."

  Jay looked at his friend. "It's okay. We're probably just surprised at Morro showing up. I mean, now, of all times?" Cole heard a soft crack from one side, and he turned to see one of Kai's fists clenched tightly, his knuckles turning white. "Kai, what's up?" he asked. Kai turned his head to him, eyes empty. He was quiet, then said, "I know Morro handed the Realm Crystal to Sensei, but... I just can't forget what he's done to people. He nearly destroyed Stiix by unleashing all those ghosts from the Cursed Realm." He sighed. "I just don't trust him. Not yet, anyway."

  Zane nodded his head in understanding. "You're right to feel that way, but Morro will also be coming with us on our journey to find Sensei. Perhaps you'll find yourself trusting him eventually." Cole heard Kai grunt. "I highly doubt it," he said.

  Everyone heard footsteps coming from the doorway, and Cole saw Lloyd and Morro arrive. They all rushed toward them, Lloyd looking a bit tired out. "Glad you're back," Nya said. Jay nodded, then asked, "Well? Does it work?"

  "Yeah, it does," Lloyd responded. He lightly huffed. "Sorry, my elemental dragon took up some energy." The team settled down and began talking about what they should do with this problem.

.          .          .

 Time passed since Lloyd and Morro returned to the Bounty. Everyone was talking about what they needed to focus on while training. Cole made a few suggestions, but he wasn't sure they would actually work.

  "I guess we could just ask you to go back and take a quick peek at who we're going to face?" Jay asked, his idea directed at Morro. It wasn't a bad idea, but Cole remembered him saying that he felt uneasy looking at the mirror and seeing Sensei defeated. He wondered if it scared him to the point of not wanting to check again.

  Morro hesitated, much to Kai's dismay. Cole could tell everyone still wasn't used to him being here, but Kai was especially fidgety. He was unusually quiet, too. He couldn't be sure, but Cole could've sworn he heard him mumble, "Coward."

  "Hang on, if this is some kind of form of darkness we're up against, shouldn't we focus more on what we can do against that?" Nya said. "Look at it this way. We're not entirely sure what kind of form it's taken. It could be physical, like Lord Garmadon, or it could be some kind of—I don't know—mist? Probably similar to the how the Overlord used to be before he tried taking over Ninjago."

  "Lord Garmadon was a shadow, too, remember? He created shadow clones at the Fire Temple," Kai mentioned. "Yeah, but that was when he was trapped in the Underworld, and the only way for him to have escaped was by taking the Sword of Fire, and you used it to fight him off while saving me," Nya finished off with a smile. Both siblings noticed Lloyd's somewhat confused face. He was barely a teen at that time, and he had absolutely no clue what the ninja had faced, not to mention his "goal" of becoming the Dark Lord after his father.

  Kai ruffled his hair. "You're obviously confused," he said with a laugh. "Nya and I can explain later. Let's just get planning."

  Zane spoke up this time. "I suppose we could all come together to form our Tornado of Creation?"

  "Zane, you're a genius!" Cole exclaimed, making the nindroid smile triumphantly. "Surely that's gonna work."

  "I wouldn't get ahead of myself if I were you."

  Everyone turned in the direction of Morro's voice, and Cole said, "Why not? It's worked before."

  "If you'd been paying attention, Sensei Wu is defeated! Whoever we're going to go against is clearly much stronger than we anticipate," Morro snapped. Kai stepped up, his eyes blazing dangerously. "Don't even think about mentioning Sensei here," he said with venom in his voice. Cole cringed, and he saw everyone else do the same, Lloyd having it worse than the rest. The topic was still really sensitive.

  Both elemental masters glared at each other, nostrils flared. After long, dreadful seconds, Jay jumped up and tried pushing them away. "Hey, hey, hey, guys! Calm down! No need to get upset here! Break it up—argh, Zane, come help me out, won't you?" Zane shot forward and grabbed a hold of Morro while Jay tried pulling Kai back. Cole, being the strongest of the group, helped Jay drag Kai away. Lloyd rushed over, trying to calm him down. "We're all probably just tired. We should rest for now and talk about this tomorrow," Nya said, making it clear for everyone to leave.

  With a harsh grunt, Kai walked towards his room, his footsteps echoing against the silence. "Heh. Well, good luck to him for sleeping. It won't be easy for him, since he's a hot-headed ninja, am I right?" Jay said, thinking it would light up the mood. Instead, Cole jabbed at him in the ribs, seeing the harsh look on Nya's face. "OW! What the heck was that for?"

  "What do you think?" Cole said sarcastically. He sighed when Jay looked genuinely confused. "Let's just go to sleep, Jay. Today hasn't really been... the best for everyone." They walked to their shared room, entering silently.

Kai

  Kai calmed down, thanking Nya in his mind for breaking everyone up to leave. He made his way to his shared room with Lloyd, only to find the Green ninja enter through the door... crying?

  He quickly rushed over to Lloyd's side. "Lloyd...?" he began tentatively, his voice delicate like glassy ice shards. Lloyd whipped around; eyes wide when he saw his friend watch him. He quickly wiped away his tears, letting out a soft hiss. "Lloyd, what's going on?" Kai asked, his voice stronger, though not unfriendly.

  "I... I'm..."

  "Yeah?"

  Lloyd remained silent, his face red. Kai reckoned he was embarrassed to be crying like this in front of him, but he didn't care. He'd been in his place before, so he understood. He understood it to the point where it hurt him too. His chest churned, and he looked at Lloyd solemnly when he buried his face in his hands. The clock ticked, the ticks of every second thick and hollow. After a moment, Kai draped his arm comfortingly around his friend, leaving it there. He eventually felt Lloyd's breathing even out, and it made him glad.

  "I, um.... Thank you for... for standing up to Morro like that," Lloyd said, his voice a little scratchy.

  "Of course!" Kai said encouragingly. "Besides, he can't just blurt out things like that."
   
  "But... he's right. I'm starting to think we should leave as soon as possible. It's smart to train more, but what if—"

  Kai waited and listened patiently, but Lloyd sighed instead. He was also terrified for their Sensei, but he had to be strong right now. He reached out and placed his hand gently on Lloyd's shoulder. He gave him a shy smile. "Maybe sleep's the best option for now, huh?" he said. Lloyd nodded. "Yeah, so it seems." He yawned, giving Kai small chills. He wanted to stay by his side at this point, remain there until he knew all worries were gone, but he silently got up when his friend laid his head on the pillow, almost immediately falling asleep.

  Kai headed to the bathroom to change into his sleeping clothes, then hopped onto his bed. He quietly gazed across the dim-lit room, suddenly feeling peaceful and calm. He slowly lowered his eyelids and whispered into the stillness.

  "Good night, Lloyd."