The Sensei's Tea
Summary: The ninja are on their quest to find and take all the four golden weapons before the dark lord Garmadon and his minions get ahold of them and destroy the last hope of saving Ninjago. With the constant threat of perusing skeletons, tension runs high in the ninja's newly established team. Can they set aside their problems and differences in time to save their supposedly infallible teacher from a despicable plot? One-shot. Takes place during the ninja's hunt for the four weapons.
A/N: this is a one-shot that I wrote for xXx skytale xXx who wanted me to portray another side to Sensei's great love of tea and how it might not always be such a good thing XP I mean there is hardly a time that he is ever without his trusty tea-pot. It takes place during the hunt for the golden weapons, which, if you think about it, must have taken quite a while since they traveled nearly all over Ninjago to get them. So, after a bit of brainstorming this Tale was born! I hope you all enjoy this one-shot!
A/N 2: Edited for some grammar issues :)
xXx skytale xXx- Here is the oneshot you wanted. Sorry it took so long. I hope you like it.
Disclaimer: Of corse I own Ninjago! That is why I am sitting at home writing Fanfictions for it…. (Sarcasm)
The Sensei's Tea
"I'm bored!"
The blue-clad ninja's plaintive voice echoed through the woods where the four ninja and their master had made camp for the night.
Perhaps it was the slightly whiny pitch his voice carried as he complained, perhaps it was the fact that he had practically yelled when they needed silence, or perhaps it was because this was about the millionth time he had affirmed the same statement; whatever the reason, everyone in the camp tuned towards the ninja of lightning and simultaneously told him to hush.
"Just saying," Jay muttered, somehow managing to appear both chastened and indignant at the same time.
Sensei Wu sighed as his four pupils began glaring at each other. He knew they were exhausted by the ceaseless race to get the four golden weapons before Samukai and the rest of the dark Lord Garmadon's warriors beat them to it. So far, they had obtained both the scythe of quakes and the shurukins of ice and they were attempting to get the nunchucks of lightning. They were a third of way up the Storm Top Mountains. Over its crest, hovered the Floating Ruins that were situated in the center of a never-ending storm called the eye. It was there that the next golden weapons were rumored to be hidden. Time was not on their side and it was wearing on his students both mentally and physically. To make matters worse, they still weren't used to acting completely as a team. They were still so strong willed and youthful. They had much to learn about both themselves and each other and their present edginess was doing nothing to mitigate the situation.
The camp fire began to burn low and the high mountain pine forest shadows seemed to deepen around them, drawing ever nearer as the comforting light of the flames slowly began to die. Sensei prepared himself for the first watch as his four students arrayed themselves around the dwindling fire in as comfortable of positions as they could manage on the loam strewn craggy ground. A few moments of blissful silence elapsed before the still night was once again shattered by the ninja of lightning's voice.
"I'm bored," Jay announced again.
Groans of annoyance filled the camp and the condemnation aimed at the garrulous ninja was almost a tangible force in the darkness.
"Well, find a way to entertain yourself," Kai snapped angrily, running a hand through his spiky brown hair in exasperation.
A few more moments of silence and then…
"It's not working."
Kai rolled over from his back to his side and place the knapsack he was using as a pillow over his head. Even Zane, usually noted for his rather icy imperturbable nature, winced from where he sat in the lotus position as his he was once more interrupted from his meditation
Cole sighed, "Why don't you write a poem? That ought to amuse your board brain."
"That's a great idea," Jay exclaimed, reaching in his pack for what he would need, completely missing both the sarcasm and the insinuated insult in the use of the homophone. As expected, Zane missed the pun as well. Kai didn't though, and he gave a muffled snicker from under his satchel.
Sensei shot Cole a disapproving glare, and the dark haired earth ninja apologized softly. For a long while, the only sound in camp came from the furious scratching of Jay's pen upon his scroll.
Sensei could not hide his amused chuckle when Jay loudly announced that he had finished his masterpiece. His rowdy exclamation roused Kai and Cole from the half sleep they were in and started Zane from his meditation yet again.
"Did you have to say that out loud?" Kai demanded. "Wait, don't answer that." The ninja of fire eventually sighed in resignation. "Well then, let's hear your masterpiece."
Jay cleared his throat, unfurled his scroll with a flourish, and began. "It's a limerick and I titled it, 'Sensei and Tea'."
"There once was a sensei named Wu,
With wisdom and heart always true.
But when put in a fight,
Despite all his might,
He would lose when without his tea brew."
Jay smiled broadly and bowed dramatically, eliciting chuckles from everyone save Zane. Even Sensei laughed after he had brandished his ever-present tea pot at Jay in a menacing gesture.
"Wow, Jay; that should go right up there with the great classics of Ninjago. You, my friend, are a paradigm of poets," Cole said sarcastically with a chuckle.
"You know what, Cole? Respect needs to come out of your mouth right now or else I will unleash all my ninja skills upon you."
"That's cute."
Jay shot him a baleful look.
"I was only kidding, Jay," Cole amended with a smile. "I liked it, it made me laugh, which is something I haven't done in a while."
Kai agreed and Jay looked pleased.
"Your rhythm and rhyme structure were near perfect," Zane said applauding softly, "But I fail to comprehend the logic behind comparing Sensei's prowess and victory in battle to his tea."
"It was a joke, Zane," Jay said shaking his head with a wry smile. "Remember your sense of humor?"
"Ah," Zane said with a look of profound understanding.
~x~X~x~
Placation subterfuge, underhanded dealing, that was all in Samukai's nature. He knew what people wanted and he was able to play with that in order to get what he wanted. Manipulation, that was the perfect word to describe him with, he thought with a grin—which was not the best way to describe the death's head leer that permanently marked the bleached ivory hew of his skeletal face.
He flexed his four arms and listened to the customary grating of his ligament free joints. He was lord Garmadon's second in command merely because he knew how to play. Garmadon thought he was loyal, but Samukai was only waiting for the right time. As the ravages of time had not affected his skeletal form, so did it not affect his mind. He was nothing if not patient and he could wait an eternity to achieve his desires, for he was not bound by the restraints of short lived mortals.
Garmadon had given him strict orders to speed the ninja along on their quest for the four golden weapons. He was to provide them with the motivation to keep moving by the constant hounding threat of his skeleton warriors hot on their tail. The sooner they found all four weapons, in hopes to use them to save their world—when all they were really doing was saving Garmadon the trouble of locating them himself—the better. The poor misguided fools, he chuckled to himself. He had no problem obeying his liege lord's plan, for it furthered his own schemes.
He kicked over the dead embers of the ninja's camp fire. He could tell by the slight warmth that still faintly lingered in their dying hearts, that the ninja had been there just the night before. He smiled at that knowledge; they were well on schedule.
He bent down with mild surprise as the fathomless black hollows that made up his eyes caught sight of something on the ground. He picked up the scroll with his fleshless fingers and read the crude poem scrawled upon it.
He had always thought that if the ninja's pesky teacher were out of the way, it might be easier to bend the ninja towards lord Garmadon's ultimate goals. If this scroll, written by one of the ninja was, in fact, true, then he knew how to get the meddling old man out of the way.
He initiated his mental link with the dark lord and quickly made his intentions known. To his surprise, his master seemed pleased with his idea, saying that it would be much easier to influence the young ninja without their teacher, and make it easier for his ultimate designs to reach fruition.
One thing milord? Samukai mentally asked, for this to work I need to know your brother's favorite tea.
A dark peal of laughter ran through their mental link and into Samukai's skull.
~x~X~x~
Sensei sighed as he glanced at the iron bars of the cage that imprisoned him. He had known it was a trap from the start and he had gone for the bait anyway. What made it embarrassing was that this was not the first time this had happened to him.
He could hear his teenage brother's laughter ringing back towards him through the bounds of time, dancing in his memories, "Are you ever not going to fall for that?"
Apparently not, he sighed.
In all fairness to himself though, how was he to resist? The bait, which he now cradled lovingly in his hands, was nothing less than the rarest, most delicious tea in all of existence; he couldn't have just left it there. Besides, the prison he was in was rather a crude trap and he could be free of it in no time. He reached out a hand to strike the weak point in the iron construction, when something made him stop.
His four students were not yet entirely cemented together as a team. They were merely four separate wills under the guise of teamwork. He knew that if this problem were not soon remedied, his warning vision of ultimate destruction would become a reality. This situation might just prove to be the perfect teaching tool, he thought as he sat down comfortably in the lotus position to wait. With one last longing look at the precious tea leaves, he re-warped them and stuffed them inside his kimono front and, clearing his mind, began to meditate.
~x~X~x~
The four ninja shifted impatiently as they looked towards the path through the thick brush where Sensei had left nearly a half an hour ago to scout the safest path to the highest reaches of the mountain where there brewed the never-ending thunderstorm.
"He should have been back by now," Kai said frustrated. "The skeleton army could be here at any moment."
"He could be injured or in trouble," Jay said worriedly.
"Sensei is quite capable of taking care of himself, but I must admit that his extended leave of absence is becoming worrisome to say the least," Zane murmured.
"I think we should go after him," Cole said. "If something went wrong he could need our help."
"What about the armada of skeletons after us? If we don't get to the top of the mountain first Garmadon's forces could take possession of the nunchucks of lightning," Kai said with a frown. "I can't let that happen, not only for the fate of all Ninjago, but also for my sister.
"But Kai, what about Sensei? We can't just leave him," the blue ninja's face was creased with worry.
"You would put the life of your sister over the life of your teacher?" Cole demanded, regretting the words as soon as they escaped his mouth.
"I would do anything for her," Kai snapped, hurt painfully evident in his eyes as they took in the faces of his team. "Besides, we don't even know that Sensei is in trouble."
"To you, she is more important than the rest of us?" Jay whispered.
"No, it's not like that. You don't understand. I swore an oath to protect her. She is all I have left. I am her brother and I let her get captured, I failed and I need to get her back. I love her... but it's not like I would expect the rest of you to understand," he said, glaring pointedly at them. Cole and Jay shrugged it off.
Zane's icy blue eyes, however, flickered momentarily as the barb hit; but he regained his composure almost instantly. He refused to let anyone know how much that particular jibe had hurt, or how he could not remember his family, if indeed he'd ever had one; how he never knew who he was or where he came from. Just because he had no one left to show affection to in that way did not mean he was incapable of experiencing it, did it?
"I believe Kai is right and we should try for the golden weapon, a lot more is a stake if we fail in that area. It is more logical that our immediate efforts should be focused on protecting all of Ninjago," Zane finally spoke.
"I think we should stop the skeletons once and for all."
"Oh? How, pray tell, would you accomplish this feat Jay?" Zane asked, still bristling slightly. Everyone thought he was emotionless, but even though it was true he did not understand the other's bursts of passion, fear, or witty quips, it not mean he was soulless. He did feel. And, at the moment, his feelings were a tangled muted muddle of pain and anger.
"I could rig up a trap to stop them." Jay replied promptly.
"I hardly think that logical or well within your skill."
Jay's eyebrows knitted together and an uncharacteristic, miserable, pouting frown spread across his expressive face. His lip quivered. He was tired of being told, and feeling that he was worthless. He was tired of being brushed aside. He had never felt proud or comfortable with who he was: a nobody, born in a junkyard of all places. He took a step back.
Cole sighed and stepped into mitigate the situation like he normally did.
"Guys, we don't have time for this. We have to rescue Sensei now! He should be our top priority. After that is achieved, we can go for the weapon and ambush skeletons. As team captain, I say we should take this action first".
"Well maybe it's time someone else became leader," Jay snapped. "Perhaps someone more creative is needed to guide this team."
"Or perhaps it would be best if we were to have a more logically minded team leader, like me," Zane said.
"Or maybe our leader should be someone with drive. Out of all of you that leaves me." Kai challenged.
Cole said nothing, his dark eyes suddenly becoming as hard, cold, and fathomless as stone itself. Instead of blustering or asserting his dominance like his team-mates expected, he merely blinked, turned and began walking down the path that Sensei Wu had followed, without so much as a word.
Kai and Zane began to hike up towards the mountain top, and Jay gathered his pack and headed down hill to the thick copse of trees. Before any of them went more than ten paces, a noise caused them all to halt: the sound of tramping feet. Above, below, and to the left of the ninja, there appeared a giant half-circle shaped formation comprised of the skeletons of Garmadon's army. They swarmed over the steep slopes of the mountain.
"They must have surrounded us while we argued," Zane whispered.
Wordlessly, the four ninja turned and ran the only direction where the skeletons did not bar their way: down the path that Sensei had traveled that morning.
The four sprinted down the narrow winding mountain path. Kai's agility, Cole's strength, Jay's speed, and Zane's stamina soon carried the fleeing ninja far ahead of the undead warriors. As if by fate's design, the clearing in which they finally emerged held a cage, and at its center, sitting much like a fly trapped in the proverbial web, was Sensei Wu.
He seemed pleased to see them but, before anyone could say anything, there was a clatter at the tree-lined fringe of the clearing—alerting the ninja to the unpleasant fact that the skeletons were closing in and fast.
Cole took in their surroundings at a glance. The mountain clearing was enclosed on three sides by a fifty foot sheer cliff of pocked-marked slate. To his right was a lichen encrusted dead fall which left the path and about five feet on either side of it as the only way out. It was as if they had walked into a bottle. He could see the skeletons gambit for what it was and cursed himself. They were trapped between a rock and a hard place, quite literally. They were caught between this dead end and a perfect pincer battle formation. His mind whirled as he turned to his friends. If they didn't act soon, they would all be captured or killed.
"Jay!" he shouted. I want you to get out our rope and see if you can jury-rig a winch right away. Zane, tell me the most logical way to set up those fallen tree trunks to make the quickest, most effective blockade to slow the skeletons down before they get here! Kai, with me! Help me move the wood."
Cole smiled to himself as he watched his friends jump into action without hesitation, as if they had completely forgotten their previous qualms with his leadership.
The skeletons reached the clearing when the last log of the hastily built blockade was in place. Jay handed Cole the rope and winch.
"Zane, Kai, get on top of the wall and hold them back for as long as you can and tie this around your waist." He handed Kai one of the ends of rope. "Zane, when I give the word, grab onto Kai and hold on like your life depends on it, because it probably will. Jay, free Sensei and then follow me."
Zane nodded and he and Kai took up offensive positions. Sensei watched with interest, pleased with the way Cole had deployed them all. His pleasure grew as soon as he saw the growing pile of bones at Kai and Zane's feet. Because of the blockade, the enemy could only come at them two at a time. Kai would fight like a banshee for the sake of his sister, but even he would have fallen had not Zane sensed and enemy spear coming and pulled him out of the way in time. Jay picked the lock to Sensei's prison with surprising ease and Cole free-climbed up the slate cliff with the speed and skill of a mountain cat. Climbing was obviously a gift of his.
When he was up, he secured the rope and pulley and Sensei and Jay began to climb up the other end, the one that was not attached to Kai. They were at the top when the skeletons finally burst through the ninja's fortifications. Kai and Zane began to be surrounded when Cole shouted, "now!" from atop the edifice.
Zane latched onto Kai just as Jay's winch was activated, pulling them to the top of the cliff at an alarming rate, and leaving the skeletons far below them. Once they were all on top of the slate edifice, Kai looked around with a smile.
"Looks like you actually did manage to find the quickest path to the top of the mountain," he teased Sensei, pointing to their right; they were now drastically closer to the stormy mountain's top.
The climb up the cliff-face had taken them above the tree-line and they were now standing at the base of the steep, bald, jagged, snow sprinkled peak of the mountain. The thick black clouds that stormed overhead let out a near constant keening rumble, and the black shadows of the massive dark condors could be seen circling the crags just under the lightning strewn sky as they glided. It would be a difficult hike to the top through the thinning air brought on by the extreme altitude.
"Well done all of you, and thank you. I am impressed," Sensei Wu said, "But we must hurry on to the top of the mountain before the skeletons scale the cliff.
Kai nudged Cole and Jay with a roguish grin that was mirrored by the other three, even Zane cracked a smile.
"I think our enemies will think twice before they try to pull a stunt like that again," Kai said happily.
"Did you see how awesome we were?" Jay asked by way of a rhetorical question.
"Heck yeah!" the others answered enthusiastically.
Obviously humility was a skill that still needed work, Sensei decided, but he was pleased none the less. He could tell that their teamwork and understanding of each other had improved dramatically. They had proven that it was possible for them to work brilliantly together. To sweeten the deal further, he had also gotten the most precious tea in all of Ninjago as a bonus. Not only had Garmadon failed to weaken them, he had also given Sensei an unexpected yet much appreciated gift. Sensei chuckled.
The old master watched as Zane's smile faded suddenly to be replaced by a thoughtful expression. He fell back to where Sensei was walking behind the others and spoke in troubled, soft tones.
"Sensei? Now that I look back, I recall seeing several weak points in the cage you were imprisoned in. To my knowledge, simply performing spinjitzu would have caused enough damage to weaken it into fracturing. Forgive me if I am overstepping my bounds, but surely you could see that?"
"Yes, I could," Sensei smiled enigmatically before striding ahead, leaving Zane even more puzzled then he had been before.
~x~X~x~
A Sensei of a high degree,
had senses and skills to foresee.
But despite what he thought,
He could always get caught,
If the trap it was baited with tea.
Thank you for taking the time to read! Feedback is always welcomed and loved. Sensei Wu always reminds me of Iroh from Avatar the Last Airbender, and it was his character that gave me a bit of inspiration. As for the descriptions of the place I tried to make them as accurate as I could, based on what I saw in the movie and form the Ninjago website.
Question: Do any of you have a certain extreme love of something that could ultimately lead to your capture if a trap was baited with it?