The moment you've all been waiting for - the first chapter of my new Hunger Games! Told from our four characters' points of view, Lloyd, Kai, Wu, and Ming will lead us through the greatest period of change in the tyrant Cyrus Borg's cruel dictatorship. Can they bring about a revolution to shirk his rule? Moreover, will they ever discover the truth of the matter?
I do not own rights to Ninjago or Hunger Games.
I hope you enjoy! Read on!
Chapter One - Lloyd
"There used to be many cities. Innumerable ones, big and small, with thousands and millions of people living there. Houses too, in neighborhoods and boroughs, all different shapes and sizes."
I look up, bleary-eyed at my teacher, who is just finishing up our history lesson, and, for me, my nap. It isn't her tone that arouses me from my peaceful slumber, nor the never-ending jab of Brad's stylus into my ribs, but her sudden and unprecedented talk of the past.
"We all… I mean, our civilization, our race… We lived in harmony with one another, in alignment with each of our elements, not segregated like we are today." Segregated is too harsh of a word, I know, and surely my instructor does also, but she bites her lip and continues. "When peril struck – when a group of skeletons led by a crazed lunatic lost to history led his army against Ninjago – a band of heroes who called themselves simply 'the ninja' rose and conquered the maverick and his forces."
I snort with disbelief, as do many others in the classroom. Everyone knows that Cyrus Borg came and defeated the foes. Glancing down at my textbook, I can see the countenance of the true hero of Ninjago. Borg has a slightly lopsided grin, slicked-back hair and overbright eyes, but behind that face lives the mastermind of peace, the bringer of order to a chaotic nation. Who is my instructor to challenge that?
"With the help of the ninja a new era of peace began… only to be shattered by the rising of the Serpentine." A few girls shudder at the mention of the snake rebellion, a story we've all had heard before bedtimes many years ago. "The snakes, led by an Anocondrai named Pythor and then by a Hypnobrai named Scales, challenged the ninja and their morals. They were soon wiped out by the ninja, though, encased in a tomb of stone for eternity."
I frown, her information clashing with that of my own, tapping my fingers against my textbook's frayed corners absently. But Borg had obliterated the Serpentine army with a nuclear missile to their headquarters, radiation killing any of the survivors from the blast.
"But as soon as the peace was established the Stone Army came! And then the Overlord!" Laughter breaks out amongst the students, real laughter. The Overlord! That was where I have to draw the line. The Serpentine were somewhat shrouded in myth, but the Overlord? Never even proven to have existed. Desperation fills my teacher's eyes, a look of panic and fear that I've never seen before. The bell rings and the students file out of the door, grasping their school bags and styluses and chatting as they leave.
Purposefully I knock my satchel to the ground, shove Brad off of me, and wait until every student leaves to collect my things. As soon as I straighten up my teacher grabs my arm in a vise grip and holds me close. "Listen to me!" she hisses. "Listen to me! What I say is true! Please, hear me out! I tell you, I speak the truth!" I gasp and stumble away, heart pounding. Without a second glance I flee the classroom and skid into the hallway, putting as much distance between myself and my teacher as possible.
I find Brad and my lunch group sitting at our usual table, the All-Element golden dragon symbol emblazoned on our tunics and school bags. Amongst the group are Tony and Troy, twins with mousy hair and watery eyes, Cassandra, a pretty and vivacious brunette who is deep in conversation with an older boy I don't know, and Steven, a tall and pale boy with deep brown eyes and brilliantly red hair. The All-Elements sit together, as elemental wards usually do. I glance around the cafeteria and see the Fire table, full of rowdy and jocular kids showing off to their sweethearts and friends, the Ice table, quiet and studious, and the Darkness table, full of sullen and hostile kids with odd piercings and tattoos. Body alterations are illegal, but only if you were caught in the act of it, yet this never daunted the Darkness. More piercings, more respect. I'm glad I didn't test as Darkness. I couldn't have survived with them! The other elemental wards are on a different schedule and don't lunch with us All-Elements.
"So guess what she told us, huh? That Borg didn't nuke the snakes, some ol' ninja did!" Brad is retelling history class to a captivated Steven, who is a year older and doesn't have classes with me. Classes are determined by age, not element, so each class is a mix of all the kids from all the wards. I am 13, so all the thirteen-year-olds in school are in my class.
"But everyone knows Borg did it! Sheesh!"
Steven snorts into his milk and rolls his eyes. "Next year ya get Brady. He'd never tell anything but the cold hard facts!" Brad and I groan. Our fourteen-years history teacher will be Professor Brady, notorious for his strictness and adhesion to the absolute truth. Rumors fly around school of him beating kids who lied or cheated in his class, but I suppose that's just childish nonsense. Christina swivels to face us and smirks knowingly down at Brad and I.
"Steve, don't talk! Wait till they get Rosen!" Yet another infamous instructor is named, Professor Rosen of the sixteen-year-olds.
"Guess our future is blighted by maniacal teachers! This year I'm volunteering for the Games!" Brad jokes.
The bright mood of the All-Element table turns sour at Brad's offhand comment. All conversation ceases and every eye is on the blond boy. Brad turns red and lowers himself in his seat. An Earth who is passing by freezes and turns to face a terrified Brad. With his coal-black skin and dark eyes, he certainly looks formidable.
"Don't joke about it." All of the table jumps when the Earth boy speaks, voice low and gravelly. "It is not a joking matter." He swings his bookbag around to his shoulder, the mountain emblem ironed onto its surface, and walks away, each step resonant and ominous in the silence of the cafeteria. Slowly the buzz of idle chatter fills the room again and the All-Elements begin to talk again, the outburst of Brad's behind us.
Today I walk with Troy and Tony from school to the All-Element living complex, kicking rocks with our scuffed boots and tossing the stones into the ditch alongside the road. Three roads lead from the Complex – the living quarters of all of the citizens – one road going to the market, which is predominantly held by Earth, one road going to the school, which hosts students ages thirteen to eighteen, and one road leading to the factory, where a good half of the population work. The rest of the working adults find jobs at the school or the Complex, maybe teaching or being a janitor or something, or work in the fields, which is slightly better because one could take home a daily amount of food home based on individual production. My mother, Misako, stays at home with my little sister Skye, who's seven and had yet to take her aptitude test, while my father works in the factory as a major project overseer. Because Garmadon, my dad, is so high up in the company, my family and I rarely have trouble with money. Some, though, like Troy and Tony, do struggle with paying for food for their own families. Though they didn't let on about it, I can see that the twins are growing thinner. Worry knots in my chest as I kick an especially large rock into the ditch. I hate just standing by while people I know are starving. I want to help, truly, but I can't think of a way that wouldn't portray myself as superior and arrogant. I glance at the twins as they chatter on about history class, and with a sick feeling I turn away, sighing ever so slightly.
The Complex is circular, with element blocks like pie slices fanning out from the center. Each is color coded, with Air being white and Metal a lustrous bronze and so on. The brilliant gold of All-Element is easily visible in the afternoon sky. I walk up to the gargantuan glass doors and place my student tag on the scanner. When I graduate school I will receive a new card for entry that working citizens use. Some even use their finger as a scanner, supposedly getting pricked by a needle of sorts and having their blood tested for entry. I make a face as the doors slid open with a satisfying hiss. I prefer the painless card-entry way myself.
The All-Element Atrium is made of golden marble, with a fountain gurgling in the center. A few young kids, not yet school-aged, are splashing each other with the water. Two staircases, richly carpeted, lead up left and right. Here I part with the twins, them ascending the right staircase and I the left. I have always liked how professional the All-Element Atrium looks. The rooms upstairs are much less posh and clean, but it gives me a feeling of belonging and pride to see my element represented so well.
Once I reach the top of the stairs I turn left and jog down the hallway, take two concrete spiral staircases up, then walk a few paces to the right until I come across room 207. My family's room. Again using my student pass, I open the door and step inside. My family lives in one room, as all families do, but we make good use of the space provided. One corner is the bedroom, curtained off by tall drapes that hide the four small mattresses on the floor we use as beds. Another holds a makeshift kitchen, with a real, working stove, which Garmadon had hired a Metal to trade for, and also a sink, which comes with every room. One corner contains large, plush couches for reading and family time, which are rarely unoccupied, and the last corner is the playroom. I outgrew the playroom years ago, so Skye has taken it over. Now she has her wooden figurines set up to play school, and surely she would beg me to play too. Of course, I will oblige. Deep down, I really love the little kid. Hopefully she tests All-Element too.
Misako leans over the stove, where a bowl of soup boils, filling the room with warmth and the delectable fragrance of wood mushrooms and beef. Fresh meat is traded for, and I wonder if my father had carried out the transaction himself. Skye leaps to her feet when I enter, yellow jumper swishing about her like the skirt of the fairy princesses she fantasizes about. "
Hi!" She waves at me, despite my being a mere six feet away from her.
"Hey, Squirt."
Skye crosses her arms and pouts in reaction to her pet name. "Mama! Lloyd called me Squirt again!" But Skye can't hold her pose of defiance for too long and runs up to give me a hug.
"Hey. How was today?" Skye darts back to her dolls and waves one at me.
"Billy got in trouble today! He took Johnny's toys!" I arrange my features into a look of sympathy for Johnny, then stride over to Misako. She embraces me and ruffles my hair, causing me to reach my hands up and smooth it back down automatically.
"Dad's overseeing a big construction project today – part of the forcefield for the Games." Even the mention of the Games make my stomach drop.
"Okay. Is he trading?"
Misako shakes her head. "I don't think so. Good for us, though! Maybe he'll be on time today!" She chuckles softly and stirs the soup for a moment.
"Where did you get the meat?"
"Garmadon traded for it the other day. I just kept it cold and decided it would go nicely in our stew." I feel slightly on edge, as if she isn't telling me something. Of course, all of my father's trades are top-secret, nonetheless illegal, but still… I reach down and pick up one of Skye's castaway figurines, rolling its wooden limbs between my fingers. We stand there for a moment, the two of us thinking with Skye's banter in the background, her chatter blocking out the sound of approaching footsteps…
"I'm home!" Garmadon steps over the threshold, boots muddy from the road home from the factory.
"Daddy!" Skye launches herself into Garmadon's arms and he spins her around in a circle.
"There's my favorite girl!" Misako gives Garmadon a quick kiss and grabs Skye in a one-armed hug. I give my dad a hug too, as is customary, and discreetly check for signs of trading, like leaves or twigs in his hair or stuck to his shoes, but he's clean. "What's for dinner, I'm starving! Horrible day at work, Douglas thought it would be funny to start up the forcefield and I had to use the defibrillator on him!" Misako gasps.
"Was he all right?"
"Oh, he was fine!" Garmadon turns the sink on full blast and begins to wash his hands.
"Dinner is stew, by the way!" Misako calls to him as she enters the makeshift bedroom and pulls out a towel from the blankets. I almost miss her glance at Garmadon as she reenters the main area, a look of pity and worry and… fear. Garmadon looks back at her gravely and nods. I spin around, eyes wide, trying to act as if I haven't seen their shared look. They are hiding things from me … but what? Garmadon pulls Skye over to stir the soup, hoisting her up on his hip like he did when she was small. Skye giggles and takes the wooden spoon and stirs with wide, sweeping strokes, as if showing off that she gets to help fix the soup and not me. I roll my eyes at her and set the bowls out on the coffee table in the middle of the sitting area and prepare the dinner table, still mulling over my mother's look in my thoughts. What could it mean?
That night I lie awake, listening for any sounds coming from my parent's side of the bedroom. Skye's soft breathing echoes in my ears, but other than that I hear nothing out of the ordinary. I'm about to give up and go to sleep when my mother's voice penetrates the darkness,
"Douglas." A faint rustling of sheets ensues as Garmadon turns over uncomfortably. "He's gone."
"No!" My mother exclaims.
"They thought he was testing the forcefield for weakness. They thought he was weakening it. I don't know! He could be blamed for anything." My mother takes a shuddering breath.
"Did he trade?" Of course, they could get him for that, too.
"Hard to say. It isn't something a fellow is very open about, if you know what I mean." Garmadon laughs weakly. "It was the Nindroids. They haven't released them as guards yet, but they patrol the factory day and night. I have reason to believe they will be in full power by the time the next Games begins." Nindroids? What?
"But that's in a week! You don't think…"
"It doesn't matter what I think!" Garmadon growls. "We should get some sleep. Just… be safe, okay?" Misako whispers something I can't hear and then they are silent.
Nindroids. The Games. A man named Douglas murdered.
What is going on?
How was the first chapter! Confused already?
Thanks a million for reading - even if you quit after this chapter. Your reads mean so much to me! Keep being awesome, dear reader.
And, if you fancy it, tell me what you think already! Any guesses on what might happen? Looking forward to meeting new characters? Reviews are super welcome!
That's all for today, dear reader. Until next time!