Chapter 1-Standstill
Lloyd lifted his head, studying the goddess before him. Her hair was extremely long, floating peacefully around her thin, pale face. As Lloyd stepped closer, he realized that the strands of hair were made of multiple words. Each strand was a story. Everything that ever was, or would be was written there.
There was a green glow from within his chest. Lloyd kept his head up, arms trembling. The future of Ninjago lay in his hands once again. Failing wasn't an option. But it was a very big possibility.
"I am Hope," He muttered, causing the green glow to cloak his body. He felt stronger. But would it be enough?
There was a soft red glow beside him. Lloyd couldn't help but smile. He would not be alone for this battle.
"I am Courage," Lloyd's friend smirked, his glow glowing stronger as he said the words.
Maybe this battle could be won after all. Lloyd was surrounded by people he trusted.
"I am Humility," Blue
"I am Kindness," Gray
"I am Selflessness," White
Lloyd felt powerful. He was equal to the goddess before him. He was a hero.
Sudden darkness surrounded them. Was Lloyd alone once again? He could not tell. There was nothing around him. Nothing but a strong pressure that pushed the breath from his lungs.
"I am Death," A voice snickered, sending waves of pain throughout Lloyd's head. The young boy fell to his knees.
"I am Everything."
It was as if Lloyd's mind shattered.
The green ninja shot up, forehead embedded with sweat. He blinked a couple of times, trying to shake away the dream. He couldn't recall exactly what had happened, but the pounding on his head told him it hadn't been something pleasant. Looking at the window, he could see that the sun was sitting well above the horizon.
A cold chill ran through him.
Why hadn't sensei come to wake them? Lloyd tried to think back to yesterday, searching for a reasonable explanation. There was none. Sensei Wu would never allow them to oversleep. The young man stood, slipping into his old green uniform. It felt better on him than his golden uniform ever had. Green was the best color in the world after all.
Walking out of his room, Lloyd trotted towards the teacher's lounge, thinking that maybe the ninja were having an early meeting. That would be a good explanation to why Sensei had allowed him to oversleep. And it wasn't too improbable either; the ninja did always tend to leave Lloyd out of everything that went on.
The room was empty.
Maybe they're asleep too Lloyd thought to himself, but a bit of panic was now rising within him, making his heartbeat faster and his palms sweaty. He trotted back to where the rooms were. Slowly walking down the hallway to where the ninja's slept, Lloyd couldn't help but notice the eerie silence that seemed to float around the building. Shouldn't some of the students be up by now?
"Guys?" Lloyd knocked on the door, hating the fearful tone in his voice. If everything turned out to be alright, his friends would only laugh at Lloyd's paranoia. "You in there?"
Silence. Silence. Silence. Lloyd knocked more forcefully, feeling more alone than ever. What if they weren't in there? Was he. . . Alone? A knot was formed in his throat at the thought of it. If there was anything Lloyd feared more than anything, was loneliness. He'd been alone for far too long. He couldn't lose-
The door swung open, and an annoyed, wild haired Cole appeared, mouth frozen as he attempted to speak in mid-yawn. "Wha. . . What now pipsqueak? Shouldn't you be in bed? I mean if Sensei hasn't called us it has to be far too early for-"
Cole's voice stopped, as he too noticed the sun had risen. He looked at Lloyd, suddenly understanding of the panicked look that was glued to his young face. "Why didn't Sensei wake us?"
"I don't know," Lloyd shook his head. "I went to the teacher's lounge to see if he or you guys were there but. . . nothing. A-and the school is too quiet. I can't hear any of the kids. I went to school here for six years, back when it was still Darkley's. It's never this quiet Cole."
The leader nodded, turning back to the room, leaving the door open so that Lloyd could step inside. Cole flung his pillow at Jay, who twitched violently, snapping back to reality. The black ninja repeated the process with the others, getting a deadly growl from Kai and a calm curious look from Zane.
"Something's wrong guys," Cole explained. "Sensei didn't wake us up and the kids are awfully quiet."
"That is rather strange. . ." Zane nodded, assessing the situation and getting dressed in a matter of seconds.
Kai muttered something into his pillow, refusing to stand up. Jay shook his head, reluctantly slipping into his clothes. "Well maybe they're sleeping in. . . What's wrong with that? We should do that. . ."
"Sensei? Sleeping in? Don't make me laugh," Cole responded, pulling Kai's arm causing the red ninja to fall onto the floor. "Kai, don't make me get an ice bucket to dump on you. . ."
"I'm up I'm up jeez. . . " Kai said in a grumpy tone. "If this turns out to be nothing I call dibs on punching Lloyd."
"Hey!"
"No one is punching anyone," Cole fixed his hair as best as he could, then forced everyone to step out of the room. "Let's try to find Sensei."
The ninja searched. And searched. But each and every classroom was empty. No kids, No Sensei. By now even Kai and Jay had admitted that something was very very wrong. The silence was suffocating. And terrifying.
"Maybe Sensei did oversleep." Jay chuckled nervously, yearning to hear something other than silence. "We should check his room. Just in case. And the kids have to be in their room. I mean you can't hide that many kids in one building right guys?"
"Jay has a point," Cole said. "Sensei can't just have disappeared."
"Why didn't we just check there in the first place?" Kai groaned, still struggling to remain awake.
Lloyd led the way to the room, walking faster than the others due to the nerves that seemed to control his body. Anxiety was eating up his insides now. If Sensei was missing. . . How would they possibly know what to do?
The green ninja, knocked on his uncle's door. "Hey Uncle? You there?"
Nothing answered. Lloyd continued to knock, refusing to believe that his uncle wasn't there. Cole pushed Lloyd aside, then the ninja of earth kicked the door open. It flew off its hinges, shattering the silence. The room was filled with sunlight, illuminating the small blue teapot Sensei Wu usually carried around with him.
And before it, stood Sensei Wu himself.
But the man wasn't moving. He stood, reaching for the teapot, his blue eyes focused on the task at hand. He didn't react to the ninja, wasn't even startled by the sound the door had made. He just stood still.
"Sensei? C'mon quit playing." Jay frowned, feeling goosebumps traveling up his arms. The scene before him was a lot of things, but it was most definitely not normal.
"There appears to be something written on his skin. . ." Zane said, stepping closer towards Sensei Wu. The others did the same, looking at the letters that were imprinted upon their master's skin.
Once upon a time, a young man named Wu was born. He was the younger sibling, and as many younger siblings before him, he weak and inadequate when in the shadow of his elder brother. The feeling of being flawed only grew stronger when he ruined his brother's life with one simple mistake. . .
The words went on, but the ninja had seen enough. Jay ran his hands through his hair. "Okay, if this is a joke it's gone far enough. . . What the hell is going on?"
Kai frown, his eyes coated with a puzzled look. "It's . . . It's Sensei's story. . "
"Wow no kidding," An amused voice snickered from behind the ninja. "You're brilliant hair."
"And no it's not a joke," The voice continued. "This is very much real. I'm afraid Ninjago has been chosen. . . Your life stories have attracted My Lady's attention. She's going to take them all for herself. Don't worry though, you guys will be just fine. . . If you're alright with being dead that is."
The ninja turned. The owner of the voice was tall, slim, and with an amused smirk hanging from the side of his thin lips, flashing his sharp canines in the low-light. He had wild black hair, which seemed to stick out at whatever angle it pleased. His eyes were grey and wide, taking in every bit of the ninja's faces with delight.
"No we're not alright with being dead actually," Cole said, protectively stepping forward in front of his teammates. "Who are you? And what the heck are you talking about?"
"Me? I'm not very important. Not someone you should be worried about," The stranger laughed, a disturbing, crazed snicker that sent goose bumps all throughout Lloyd's skin. "Not yet. My name's Dillon. Well, it's one of my many names. But that's none of your concern is it? No no, all you really want to know is how to save your friends right Cole? Straight and to the point. I love it. I wonder what your nightmares are made of. I'm looking forward to making you suffer until the end of time."
Cole frowned, a bit of sweat damping his forehead. "How did you-"
"Know you? It's my job to know my victims Cole. And I must say I'm very good at what I do," Dillon swept his eyes through the ninja's faces, lingering slightly upon Lloyd's emerald eyes. "This is all beside the point . As I said, I'm not very important."
"Stop babbling and tell us what's going on," Kai half growled, getting annoyed at the man's attitude.
"As you wish Kai," Dillon's smirk was consistent, never fading, never faltering. "My lady is the Goddess of Stories. She travels the world, trapping the people that capture her attention. She writes their stories, and then takes their souls to the Bewitching Forest, where I can torture them as much as I please."
"The Goddess of Stories loves a good challenge, however. Which is why she always chooses to spare a small group of people, so they can have a shot at destroying her. No one's ever done it. But it's all very entertaining." Dillon paced around the ninja as he talked, like a vulture. "In order to defeat her, you need to travel through the Bewitching Forest, search for your own stories, until you are able to find the thing your soul truly represents. Once you find that, you can fight her. "
"Find what our souls truly represent?" Jay scratched the back of his head. "What . . . what is that supposed to mean? How can we fight some Goddess thing if we don't even have clear instructions?"
"That sounds like a personal problem. Figure out." Dillon flicked a hand towards the ninja. " I'll give each of you one clue. Check your wrists."
Jay looked down. Thick, black cursive letters were wrapped around the skin of his wrist, like a tattoo. A great mind does not need recognition.
Everyone else followed the blue ninja's example.
The weak man's strength Said Lloyd's.
An unyielding weapon Wrote Kai's.
Your life isn't your possession Read Zane's.
And finally, Cole whispered his own phrase, "The beauty underneath,"
"If you're brilliant enough, You'll figure it all out. I honestly doubt it though. Either way, it'll be fun to watch all of you struggle to survive. . ." Dillon sighed, his eyes filled with joy. "Oh and I almost forgot! You've only got three weeks. After that, your stories belong to My Lady, and your souls become my new toys. . ."
After Dillon's final words, Ninjago's heroes disappeared in a flash of darkness.
So. . . I'm still getting ideas for Ninjago stories! I feel like maybe I should have waited until I finished one of my other fanfics but oh what the heck. I loved the idea of watching the ninja struggle in a fairy tale-ish setting. What do you guys think?