Street Rats (Ninjago fanfic)

Chapter Two-Shortbread Time! And a New Proposition

A/N: The Australian Cattle Dog is Yak, the Samoyed is Ronnie and the Rottweiler is Cheesecake.

"Why?" Wu asked us, after a while of walking in silence.

"If you mean, why do I exist, I don't know," I replied honestly. "I have an existential crisis every other day or so, old man. I can't answer that." Alex rolled her eyes, but kept quiet. She had done enough talking for the day already.

"That's not what he asked," Zane responded. "He meant-"

"Shush, I wanna see how this plays out!" Jay interrupted him. Wu looked gravely at me, one of his old students: we had trained with him, a couple of years ago, before our father had died of cancer. The income had run thin rather quickly, after that: Dad had always been the main money-maker in the family. Our mother had tried to find a job, but couldn't take care of us eventually. She had to feed Alex and me. And that was difficult, since I was constantly starving. We had had to give up our training with Wu in order to survive on the streets. He was so busy with all the bad guys that he completely forgot about us. Far as he knew, until recently, we were still with our family. Of course, there was more tension where we lived on the streets: a couple of the gangs wanted to expand their territory, which led to a rise in border scuffles. Naturally, the Ninja had to come and break them up. Since we were allies with one of the gangs, The Vipers, we got caught in some of those fights. Which meant we had to fight against the Ninja.

"You've lost sight of yourself, Jennifer," he responded sadly. "But that's not what I meant." I internally cringed at the use of my full name, but tried to play it off as casual. I much preferred being called Jenny or Jen.

Of course, I knew what he really meant. I just had a habit of acting stupid. I did it for a reason, so people would underestimate me. Then they would end up getting more than they bargained for. It was one of my favourite survival tactics.

"That's what happens when you've been on the streets too long," I replied quietly. "Desperation conquers all else. And I know."

"Then why do you steal?" Cole spoke up then. I glanced over my shoulder at them, carefully gauging their expressions. Zane, Jay and Cole looked mildly curious. Lloyd seemed a bit wary. Well, I could work with that. Then my eyes slid to Kai's face. He was glaring at me, suspicious and biased. Spicy. I could have a little fun with him.

"We can't help it," Alex protested. "We've got to steal to eat. We've got to eat to live. 'sides, Jen has four stomachs." She wasn't wrong. Wu hummed thoughtfully.

"How would you like to live at the temple again?" he asked then. Kai opened his mouth to speak, and Wu silenced him with a stare. "You wouldn't need to steal. You could train with the Ninja." I exchanged a look with Alex. It sounded brilliant, honestly. A life ring thrown to two strong swimmers who, nevertheless, were drowning. 

But was it too good to be true?

"Oh shit," I exclaimed, stopping quite suddenly. "We left our dogs behind. Who's gonna feed Cheesecake and Ronnie? And Yak?"

"Cheesecake needs a diet anyway," Alex replied. "But agreed. We can't leave them." Zane looked doubtful.

"Will there be enough space for them?" he questioned.

"Ronnie's a Samoyed puppy," I responded calmly. "And she's used to sleeping in small spaces. Cheesecake's a Rottweiler, but he'll be fine."

"And Yak's not big," Alex finished off. "He can sleep on my bed." Wu smiled wryly.

"Very well, then," he allowed. "Nine months. Then you can choose if you want to stay at the temple, or remain on the streets." Of course, he'd noticed our reluctance to accept. He was Sensei Wu, after all.

"Sensei-" Kai began, but was silenced again by a wave of Wu's hand.

"Enough. We'll talk later. Zane and Cole, go and retrieve the dogs." He returned his attention to us, once the Ice and Earth Ninja had left, smiling kindly. "Take all the time you need to settle in." Alex gave him a rare smile in return.

"Thank you, Sensei."

"Great! Now all I need is shortbread and a duck."

"You're not getting a duck." Kai declared firmly. Killjoy. 

"Still means I get shortbread though," I pointed out, grinning at Lloyd. Lloyd was the Green Ninja, Wu's golden boy nephew. He was a secret prankster, I was certain of that. Everyone thought it would naturally be Jay instead. Which meant it would be beneficial to get Lloyd on my side. Maybe Jay as well. Two down, four to go.

Cole was easy to win over, just buy/cook him food. Zane, again, simple. Just bake with him. Next up was Nya. Straightforward again: talk to her. Jokes, boys, weapons, how difficult it is to be a girl. I was sure we could find a lot to talk about.

But how the hell was I supposed to get Kai to trust me?!

I usually liked a challenge or two but with Kai, I had no clue. Oh, that rhymes! Anyway, yes. Urgh, I hated socialising. It depended on the person, actually. But still.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Alex asked me then, jerking me out of my thought track. Somehow, we had got to the temple without me even realising. Now Wu, Lloyd, Jay, Kai and Alex had stopped to stare at me. I know, I know, I'm fabulous.

"Shortbread," I lied smoothly. There was no way I could and would explain what I was really thinking about. Wu smiled slightly, knowingly. Lloyd seemed amused, whereas Jay was just completely and utterly confused. Alex looked like a sudden headache had conveniently started to bother her. And Kai, the hot-headed killjoy? He clearly didn't know whether to be amused or annoyed.

"Someone get the girl some shortbread," Alex spoke up then. "She won't shut up about it otherwise." Yes, shortbread time!