"So, where were we?" Neuro asked Tox, after the others left on their mission.
"Where were we on what?" Tox said coldly, suddenly so interested in the depot's walls, studying them closely.
"You know, about the masters of Form and Smoke, Chamille and Ash?"
"Oh," Tox scowled, "That one."
"What happened with the lovebirds anyways?" Paleman chimed in.
Tox refused to answer, still watching the walls, so Neuro instinctively used his element. He put his hands on his temples, tapping into Tox's mind.
"Tox was best friends with Chamille," Neuro described her memories out loud, "Then, they had a fight. Ash intervined and made it worse and-"
"Do you mind?" Tox asked, crossing her arms and turning to Neuro with a 'seriously?' look on her face.
Neuro stopped, putting his hands down. "Sorry."
Tox sighed.
"Yeah, she was my friend. Though, when she unlocked her elemental dragon, she got really..cocky. She started horribly misusing the dragon to scare people to get what she wants and stuff. So did Ash, always in sync. We stopped talking after that.
"When I got to her doorstep to ask for help in the Resistance, telling her how Ninjago City was, she just upright slammed the door in my face."
"Then what was that fight Neuro said was about?" Paleman asked.
"Oh, that was when Chamille started threatening people with dragons. It's horrible what she's doing. She knows that the ninja helped us unlock our elemental dragons, and she wont help them now?"
"That sounds..pretty evil," Neuro said.
"Are you sure she's not part of the Sons of Garmadon?" Paleman asked.
"No, of course not. They're not that insane. I miss 'em too, those selfish jerks," Tox admitted crossly.
Paleman softened, nearing Tox. He mustered up enough courage to put his hand on her shoulder, and surprisingly, Tox didn't react or tell him to back off. It was a good sign, he thought.
"They're not your only friends," Neuro said, Paleman nodding.
Tox smirked. "That's really sappy," She said, "But thanks."
Goin' wild with the ChamillexAsh ship lol
I like that you're getting into their personalities more.
YES, I've always liked the fan made ship between Chamille and Ash.
Neuro listened to the sounds outside. Tox and Paleman was in a very deep discussion about how they would steal the most guarded artefacts from the Ninjago museum and how they would breakout of the Kryptarium prison, hypothetically speaking, of course. Neuro wanted out of the conversation, by using the lamest excuse there is. Instantly regretting it, though true to his word, he listened to everything he could outside of the depot.
Then he heard it. The sound of their fellow Masters coming back, presumably victorious.
"It's them!" Neuro said to Paleman and Tox. The two nodded to each other.
"Places, everyone!" Tox yelled out.
The three elementals had planned a dramatic introduction to the ninja, and given that their time inside the depot waiting for their friends was excruciatingly long (for them, at least), they planned it flawlessly.
Neuro ran up the staircase to the supervision part of the depot, where a big glass-paned room sat on top of the big, empty building. When he would be introduced to the ninja, he'd walk down the stairs, the awesomest dramatic appearance he could think of.
Tox wanted to find a cool, shadowy corner so that when a friend of hers gave an introduction, she'd tilt her head up to show her face and say, "Hey." The master of Poison ran everywhere, trying to find a place that best gave that noticeable mysterious flare she thought of. Finding none, she just chose to pose coolly right there, on the spot, the first the ninja would notice.
Amidst his two friends' preparing, Paleman just chose to disappear, the best way for a not-so-first impression that would also be showing off his element.
Mistakè, who had watched, couldn't contain her laugh.
"Maybe I should do one too," She said. She chose to transform into a rat, her classic choice, hiding behind a conveniently placed table near her.
The ninjas of Water and Energy had been training for the first time that week. Lloyd smashed into the wall of their temporary 'base', hitting the metal hard due to the impact of Nya's hit. She scowled.
"Come on, Lloyd!"
She went for a blow again. Lloyd dodged again and again, not even returning a hit from her once. Infuriated, Nya kept hitting blow after blow at Lloyd. He'll fight back soon enough, hoped Nya.
~~
Pixal was watching Nya and Lloyd train from the distance. She sat, listening to Misako explain something to Dareth. She was fascinated by the mother and son bond between her and Lloyd. She knew that Misako could actually feel Lloyd's sadness-
Or is it the sadness of my own?
Absentmindedly, Pixal glanced at Nya and Lloyd again. They've changed over the past week, no surprise. Grief has taken the toll on both of them, and the impending threat of Garmadon's footmen finding them had stressed all of them, not helping their sorrows. Pixal tried to remember her own grief, her mourning when she thought Zane was gone, that felt long ago. Maybe, if she had remembered what it felt like to lose someone, she sould aid in Nya and Lloyd's sorrow, and it may help all of them.
But she knew she already put that memory away. Maybe even erased it. It hurt. And now, she had no sense of mourning. She felt no sadness for another loss of Zane. Along with a new body, the body she had built herself, came a new upgrade. She could control her emotions, really control them, so if she doesn't have to feel, she won't. And now? She couldn't. Of course, she remembered how she had mourned for Zane all those days ago. She ran away from people, being in her own company, which she couldn't decide was helping her or just making her feel even more lonely. If she had to experience grief again, now, the chances of her abandoning her friends are alarmingly high.
So for now, she can only remember her compatible pair. Through memories of friendship and love. No more mourning, for the better.
Ronin gathered all his energy to utter simple words,
"Man, what happened to me literally sounds like a cartoon scene."
To his utter surprise and disbelief, he heard three laughs.
"You're not wrong."
"Oh, it did! Haha!"
"Whoa. Whooaa it was!"
Ronin blinked and blinked. Finally his blurry vision told him that he was tied up in a chair. His surroundings were pretty dim, though some sunshine managed to slip in the creeks of the walls and ceiling. Ronin thought of the place he was captured in as a poorly built tent he'd usually find in the streets of Stiix.
Ronin then got his normal eyesight back, and decided to look up at his captors standing in front of them.
"Lookie who's awake," Said the tallest one out of the three, with blue hair tied in a ponytail and a smile so robotic it reminded him of Zane's.
"Good morning, sunshine," Joked the one with a white painter's torso all splattered with, what else, paint. He was dressed really noisily. He also had ninja pants on him, and reflective sunglasses on his face. His confident smile told him that he's sure he looks cool, though.
The third one giggled. Ronin saw her as the most normal of the trio, wearing a red lady's suit and inventor's goggles on her head. She had the same haircut as Kai's, and for Ronin's taste, she wears it well. She smiled when Ronin turned his head to her.
"Heya, Ronin! Sorry for...ya know..."
"Yeah, I know," Ronin said briefly. He had a weird feeling with these three already.
"Uuugh," Blue Hair mocked Ronin, "Don't be so mad, Warrior."
"'Don't be mad'? You guys knocked me up and tied me to this chair, so yeah, it's probably me who's just sensitive," Ronin rolled his eyes.
The sunglasses one snorted at his sarcasm.
"You want some tea, Ronin?" Goggles asked, preparing a kettle on top of a nearby stove. He must be in the living room of their hideout or something.
Ronin arched an eyebrow. "Tea? You're not gonna turn me in?"
"No," Sunglasses said, "We're still holding you here."
Apparently Goggles took his question as a yes, because she put a teacup beside him.
Ronin noticed something. The three didn't look anything like bad guys, much less as Garmadon's army.
Goggles smiled falsely sweetly at Ronin when she set down the tea. The others looked horribly friendly, too. At least, the girls did. Ronin decided he couldn't keep his suspicions in anymore.
"Hey, what's up with you guys?" Ronin asked.
"That's not a very nice thing to say," Blue Hair frowned.
"Are you guys part of the SoG?" Ronin remembered how they dressed, and said, "Where's your skull face paint? What about your biker's jackets?"
"Oh, he thinks we're part of the Sons of Garmadon," Goggles stage-whispered to Blue Hair and Sunglasses.
"Yes, Dei, we know," Blue Hair patiently said, then turned to Ronin, "No, Ronin, we're not part of the SoG. We're not bikers, at the very least."
"Oh my!" Goggles, or actually, Dei gasped, "We haven't introduced ourselves!"
"You're right, Dei, how rude." Sunglasses pointed at his chest, smiling. "I'm Will. And this is Rose."
"Sarah Irvine Rose, actually," Blue Hair corrected her friend.
Ronin couldn't help but express the irony. "S. I. R.?" He asked. Blue hair nodded.
"S. I. Rose, preferably. Or, you know, Rose. And you've met Dei, of course,"
"Hi!" Dei smiled.
"So, you're scavengers then? Like me?" Ronin asked.
"Scavengers?" Rose asked.
"Like you?" Will raised an eyebrow. "No, I don't think. Dei saw that show about catching people, and saw that you were on the list. We just thought we had to catch you first."
"Yeah? And why's that?"
"You know Garmadon, Ronin? Or Harumi?" Will pulled a chair to sit in front of Ronin.
"Yeah, the old nemesis of the ninja and the princess-turned-bad? Who doesn't?"
"The princess?" Rose looked completely stricken. So did her friends.
"She set the bomb in her own palace?" Will asked.
"Wow this place is really messy," Dei thought out loud.
"I'm guessing you guys aren't from here." Ronin said.
"Woah, how did you guess that??" Will asked, exaggerating on his surprise.
Dei laughed. "Yeah, we aren't from here. We just got here yesterday."
"We'd like to know what's happening, though," Rose said.
"Oh, and you'd like me to explain," Ronin sighed. The trio gathered around Ronin, reminding him of little children waiting to hear a bedtime story.
Exasperated, Ronin chose to help them know what's happening.
"I'm actually from Stiix," Ronin started explaining, "And I haven't been reading up on the news lately, so I only know a little."
Despite the excuse, the trio still leaned closer eagerly. Dei and Rose were now sitting on the floor. Rose supported her head by putting her knuckles below her chin and her elbows on her thighs, and Dei was sipping a cup of tea she brewed for herself.
Ronin couldn't help but acknowledge how weird it was, him being tied up in a chair to tell his captors what has happened lately, while they sit around like they're catching up with an old friend.
"I think the SoG started to be a problem a while ago. Word from the street a while back was that the ninja wanted to guard the royal family personally, also protecting a..mask? In the Jade Palace."
"Ninja?" Rose asked.
"Oh! The ninja! I heard about the Green Ninja on tv!" Dei said.
"Yeah, I bet. Let me guess, whoever catches him gets extra points or whatever?"
"Yes, exactly!" Will said.
"Figures, huh? Garmadon is his dad."
"His what?!" The three gasped. Their extremely shocked faces made Ronin laugh.
"Yeah, he is."
"Oh my, I thought Harumi was evil," Dei said.
"You're right, Dei. This place is a mess," Rose said.
"Tell us more about 'The Ninja', Ronin," Will asked.
"Well, if you say so. They're the protecters of Ninjago, practicing the ancient art of Spinjitsu and all that bizz. Elementals, all of them."
"They're a what now?" Rose asked.
Ronin laughed again. "Wow, what kind of rock do you guys live in? I can't believe someone could be more oblivious than me being in Stiix and not listening to the news."
Dei laughed too. "Okay then, they're a big deal. But what makes you so interesting to the SoGs?"
"Oh, me? I have a history with the ninja," Ronin said. Will, Rose and Dei moved closer. Ronin chuckled.
"You're in for a good one. See, I had a debt with the Soul Archer. Struggling to pay it off, I was absolutely delighted when the this guy, a Master Chen, was willing to pay me a fortune to kidnap this robot. That turned out to be one of the ninja, Zane."
"One of the ninja was a robot?" Rose asked. How she blinked in surprise and tilted her head slightly in curiosity now reminded him heavily of Zane.
~Continues
Ronin trying to explain all this to them is pretty funny. XD
Ronin peeked out of the trio's tent, seeing Will with a full ninja suit that he personalised himself on, keeping a lookout for SoG patrols. He slightly panicked about how Will would get away if the SoGs had caught him.
He dived back into the tent, asking Dei, "Are you sure Will'll be okay?"
"I'm willing to find out," Dei answered. Ronin cocked an eyebrow. Dei laughed. "Joking! I'm joking. He'll be fine, Rose is with him."
Dei pulled Ronin out of the tent to point at Rose on Will's tail. Ronin was still a bit worried. Who knows if the SoG will actually capture those two?
Dei laughed all of a sudden. Ronin slapped her lightly on the forearm.
"You're laughing while your friends are out there?!"
"Sorry, it's just, you said that you couldn't believe it took one story to make us let you go. Well, it took you to tell us only one story to make you care if we sacrifice ourselves in order to make you go free," Dei said. Ronin chuckled.
"Yeah, that's right," Ronin admitted.
"Hey!" Rose yelled suddenly. Ronin and Dei both turned sharply at her, who was yelling to some SoGs. "Hey! I think I saw the ninja!"
"Welp, that's our cue," Dei said, opening the tent's curtain doors widely, "See ya, Ronin."
"Hey, take care, okay?"
"Oh my gosh, Ronin, just go!" Dei joked. Ronin chuckled. He held out a hand, and, fondly, Dei shook it.
"Bye, then, Dei." Ronin launched himself away from the tent, before he decides he wants to go back. He ran towards the place where Rose called the SoG, eager to watch. He hid behind a nearby building, peeking around a corner.
"You? You're not a ninja," The SoG with the bob haircut put her hand on her hip.
"Well, technically, I am a ninja, just not a part of the ninja, no." Will pulled up his ninja hood to show his face that's not in any of the wanted posters.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Rose said to the two bikers, "I actually thought.. but no.."
"Let's go. They're just trying to scam us into getting a jackpot," Bob Haircut's partner said to her. She nodded, and jumped on their bikes and speeded away.
"Ronin!" Will whispered loudly. Rose turned to him, smiling.
"Go!" She said. Ronin nodded and waved, them waving back.
"I guess it's time to head back to Stiix," Ronin said to himself.
~End
Very nice. I like that Ronin's new friends helped him escape.
Skylor approached Lloyd's mother, who was sitting near the walls of the depot, basically leaning on them, gazing at her son and Mistakè in the supervisor's box.
"Misako? Remember me?" Skylor asked.
Misako was snapped out of her staring, and Skylor felt rude to startle her like that, but then Misako looked at her and wore a very motherly smile.
"Ah, yes. I see the Anacondrai scales have disappeared?". Skylor laughed.
"Yes, um," She sat next to Misako, her laugh awkwardly fading.
"What is it, dear?"
"Where are the others? Are they not coming?"
Misako's look softened, almost as if pitying Skylor. "You don't know? Did no one tell you?"
Skylor was completely baffled. "About what? What happened to Kai?"
"Well, Skylor, up until moments ago, we thought the rest of the ninja and Wu was gone. Garmadon's creation had smashed the Destiny's Bounty to pieces, while the ninja and their master was still on board."
"What?" Skylor didn't mean to raise her voice. She was taken aback by the fact that she did not know this at all, that she thought the ninja were alright, but just hiding.
"Yes, but we found some traces of Traveller's Tea in the wreckage. It's a tea that could transport people to places. Other realms. Wu used it once."
"So they're okay? Just missing?" Skylor asked, heart thumping on her throat.
"Yes, they are. Oh, I'm so sorry no one told you this, Skylor." Misako put her hand on the elemental's, calming her down by a hundred percent. "Apologies, I forgot that you and Kai were together. This news must shock you to bits."
"It's fine, our thing isn't so public anyways. So, where exactly is him? Do you know?"
"Oh, the thing is, we believe they will find their way back. See Mistakè and Lloyd over there? She's probably telling him that we just have to have patience."
Skylor's mind had drifted to Kai when Misako had spoken about Mistakè and Lloyd. His smile, his warmth, and his over-the-top confidence overall, she hadn't realised until now that she missed him so much.
"I'm sure you're excited to reunite with him again," Misako said, easing Skylor out of her romantic thoughts.
"Yes," She turned to Misako, smiling, then averted her gaze to her hand. "It'll be nice to have fire again."
She was watching the five elementals race to the control room with the giggling Pixal next to her. If she had a humour switch, it would be on at full power. Nya and Skylor were watching too, and they roared out their laughs without control. Neuro had also watched too, though his laughter was more quiet.
"Oh, I'm sorry that Lloyd missed this!" Nya said, then continued to crack up.
They watched Turner, already on the ladder, though in a hand-to-hand slap fight with Shade. Tox spewed poisonous gas everywhere (it smells like burnt plastic, but otherwise harmless) to cloud their vision. Paleman disappeared every second he could see a step of the ladder he could slip through, though he reappears every time someone would cut him. Karlof had trouble climbing the ladder with his fists. No one was fighting him, thankfully, because it would just make him lose balance and fall.
They all managed to get to the control room, and because it was only one square meter wide, everyone was pressed together. They kept arguing and occasionally mock hitting each other, until Shade turned into a shadow and slipped through them, having a seat in front of the control panel.
"Hey! Not fair!" Turner groaned.
"You snooze, you lose, glasses." Shade pulled a lever and the crane moved to the metal sheet.
"I wanna have a go!" Tox said as Shade pushed a button and the lever lowered.
Shade tried to pick up the metal, but he kept missing, so Paleman decided to take control.
"I got this." He pushed Shade and pressed a button, and the crane lowered. "Uh, how do you pull it back up again?"
"Out of the way, Mister Man." He shoved the two, having a go on the controls. He pushed another button to pull it slightly up, then moved it to Nya's direction.
"Okay, left, nice and easy now!" Nya yelled from below, watching carefully at the metal sheet.
"Woah, okay okay, too far!"
"Move aside, Turner." Tox squeezed past them. She grinned maliciously at the panel.
"Bring it down!". As Nya ordered, she brought it down slowly and held the position.
"That's enough! Thanks!"
"You're welcome," Tox said, wearing a smug smile. All the elementals headed down.
'Oh, I gotta see this.' Tox shot up and walked to the others. She had immediately forgotten about Shade, though immediately reminded when he stood up too.
She felt somewhat guilty. Even though she acts all "I could care less" with people, Shade is her old friend. And more importantly, Chamille's friend first. He probably hates her as much as she does right now, and as betrayed as she does too. Tox turned to Shade, and he stopped, confused.
"Hey, talk later?" She asked him.
Shade chuckled, completely stricken with surprise. "Sure, greenie."
The ninjas of Water and Energy had been training for the first time that week. Lloyd smashed into the wall of their temporary 'base', hitting the metal hard due to the impact of Nya's hit. She scowled.
"Come on, Lloyd!"
She went for a blow again. Lloyd dodged again and again, not even returning a hit from her once. Infuriated, Nya kept hitting blow after blow at Lloyd. He'll fight back soon enough, hoped Nya.
~~
Pixal was watching Nya and Lloyd train from the distance. She sat, listening to Misako explain something to Dareth. She was fascinated by the mother and son bond between her and Lloyd. She knew that Misako could actually feel Lloyd's sadness-
Or is it the sadness of my own?
Absentmindedly, Pixal glanced at Nya and Lloyd again. They've changed over the past week, no surprise. Grief has taken the toll on both of them, and the impending threat of Garmadon's footmen finding them had stressed all of them, not helping their sorrows. Pixal tried to remember her own grief, her mourning when she thought Zane was gone, that felt long ago. Maybe, if she had remembered what it felt like to lose someone, she sould aid in Nya and Lloyd's sorrow, and it may help all of them.
But she knew she already put that memory away. Maybe even erased it. It hurt. And now, she had no sense of mourning. She felt no sadness for another loss of Zane. Along with a new body, the body she had built herself, came a new upgrade. She could control her emotions, really control them, so if she doesn't have to feel, she won't. And now? She couldn't. Of course, she remembered how she had mourned for Zane all those days ago. She ran away from people, being in her own company, which she couldn't decide was helping her or just making her feel even more lonely. If she had to experience grief again, now, the chances of her abandoning her friends are alarmingly high.
So for now, she can only remember her compatible pair. Through memories of friendship and love. No more mourning, for the better.
xD Looking at more recent pages! I tend to read up to date before replying, but I wish I can look into the future. It'd make everything so much easier and cool. I'm afraid I can't help with posting your story.
Aw, you really got my hopes high up, bud
I'm sorry, you know I can't reveal my time-traveling secret- *covers mouth* o_o
![[derp]](http://storage.proboards.com/6672327/images/YqNTPqyQUocVMYXZgUAI.png)
![[y]](http://storage.proboards.com/6672327/images/WYWPH2VRo26pOFDid7QZ.png)
I like that Ronin's new friends helped him escape. ![[fp]](http://storage.proboards.com/6672327/images/72cJSUMelnneD_GuLdak.png)
Gotta re read some of my pieces first before posting them![[lenny]](http://storage.proboards.com/6672327/images/7elNEqtPK2hcSAiIMFNh.png)
