Ronin walked around the teashop absentmindedly and checked the shelves and other places while he waited for Wu. The old Sensei had asked him to be in the shop so they could talk, but what for he had not said.

He sighed as he fondly remembered his old shop in the city of Stiix, the one the ninja had destroyed. Well, it was his ship technically, but it was definitely the ninja who were to blame.

Thankfully he had managed to retrieve all his items and had them in this shop now. Since Wu for some reason had decided to open this shop in the middle of the fry season, Ronin's suggestion of selling more than tea had been welcomed once he explained that they needed to make money. Wu was definitely a better sensei than salesman, but he still knew a thing or two about business.

Ronin looked around the shop, and he had to admit: it looked really… Warm and welcoming. His old shop had a lot of booby traps, unlike this one. He had of course installed a lot of them in secret, and he was sure Wu would thank him when trouble came by, which was usual for Ronin.

It's not like he wanted to have traps in his shop. Or even steal everything he could get his hands on.

Ronin sighed as he looked down on the wooden floor.

"But I have to."

He thought to himself, as he remembered the giant debt he had with the soul archer. If he didn't pay up, then his soul was cursed. Ronin felt a cold breeze pass him as the thought of being cursed occurred to him, and he shuddered. That was part of the reason he had built his first shop in Stiix: A lot of water to keep ghosts away, or at least the soul archer. He had always had a faint sense of being safe in Stiix, but now he was on dry land, and he was secretly very nervous, even though he didn't let anyone see it.

"Gotta think positive thoughts."

He muttered under his breath as he watched the dust swivel in the air as the sunlight from the outside poured in through the windows and illuminated them as they gently flew in the room.

He had his arms folded, his robot arm holding his regular arm in a soft grip. Ronin took a moment to look at the robotic arm, with booth his normal eye and the cybernetic he had under his eye patch. The arm and the eye was things that always reminded him of how dangerous his life was, and that he had to be careful: Thankfully he had been able to get Cyrus Borg to give him a new arm and eye. He had to give him almost all the money for them, and it was ironically that money that Cyrus used to build the very building the Overlord took over.

Ronin had not been too happy about spending all that money, but the arm and the eye was the best ones one could buy in all of Ninjago. The arm was stronger than humanly possible, but it was also connected to his nerve system, so he could still feel pain and other things that came in contact with his arm. At first he had thought that no pain would be better, but feeling pain is sometimes a good thing: He learned that the hard way.

The eye was also astounding, as he could adjust it to zoom in and locate things when he needed to locate something precious. At the moment his eye was set to see the same way his other eye did, but with a simple thought he could change that.

For obvious reasons he hid these two, the arm under an orange armor and the eye under an eye patch. It fooled a lot of people to think that he had a blind eye and a damaged arm, which usually gave him an advantage if he had to fight someone who didn't want him to steal their valuable things.

Still, he did miss his old arm, as well as his eye. They had been a part of him for a long time of his life, and now they were gone.

Ronin sighed and tapped his foot against the wooden floor impatiently as he turned his head and attention to the outside, watching Nya train to unlock her elemental power and become the water ninja. He watched her gracefully move her body, the muscles on her arms showing as she stood on her hands. The arms were shining with what could be sweat, but Ronin would almost guess it was water. Even though she was very young, just like all the ninja, she was very well built, and much more mature than the boys. He wouldn't mind having her as his partner, but as fate would have it, she wasn't. It was a shame Ronin thought to himself as he absentmindedly stared at her while she trained.

They were both alike: Both didn't have powers (at the moment for her at least) and they had found other ways to become stronger. Ronin wouldn't have minded to have water powers, seeing as he then could get rid of that pesky archer. Hopefully Nya and the ninja would get rid of them.

It was then that Wu finally showed up, and Ronin watched him emerge from the storage room of the shop. The old man probably sneaked up on a lot of people since he walked quietly, but Ronin was a mercenary, and he had good hearing.

Wu smiled at him a bit, or at least that's what Ronin thought he did: It was hard to tell with that entire beard covering his mouth.

"Hello Ronin. I see you got my message."

Ronin raised his eyebrow a bit, as if the statement couldn't be more obvious since he was indeed standing in the shop. Regardless he shrugged it off and got straight to the point:

"Yeah, I did. So what's this about? You wanted to tell me something?"

Wu walked around the counter looking briefly at Ronin before continuing his walk to the end of the shop.

"Yes I did."

Ronin watched as Wu walked to the window, standing still and watching Nya train by herself. Ronin raised his eyebrow again as he leaned back and watched the old man stare out the window. Just before Ronin could even form a coherent word the old Sensei interrupted him.

"There is a reason I'm retiring Ronin."

Ronin stared at Wu, who was still staring out the window. He didn't even bother responding this time, as he was sure the old man would interrupt him anyway.

"I have taught the ninja most of what I know. What I haven't taught them…"

Wu looked at Ronin and met his gaze as he stared into his eyes.

"Is what you know."

Ronin stopped leaning back, and unfolded his arms as his mind was slowly wrapping around what Wu had said.

"You want me to… teach them what I know?"

Ronin said hesitantly, and Wu nodded while closing his eyes as he did so.

"Yes. My time as their sensei is almost over, but yours… Is about to begin."

Ronin's jaw dropped as he realized what Wu meant. His eyes went wide as he tried to gather himself to retort the absurd thing Wu just told him.

"You want me to be their next Sensei?!"

Wu simply nodded, and this time Ronin immediately continued to speak.

"Woah there old man… I just have shares in this shop! I didn't agree to any of this!"

A simple amused grunt and a smirk was all Wu gave him, and Ronin disregarded it and continued:

"Besides, I'm just a mercenary, a thief, not a sensei! I have no training for this kind of thing!"

Wu waved dismissingly as if it was nothing and turned to the counter while looking at Ronin.

"That's why I will train you to be a sensei."

Ronin didn't think his jaw could drop any further, but it did. He held it up and moved it around a bit just to make sure it hadn't fallen off.

"You're gonna train me? Uh-uh. I only steal and sell things, I'm no teacher, let alone sensei. Can't you find another?"

Wu just shook his head. Ronin gritted his teeth. He didn't agree to any of this. He just wanted to make enough money to pay off the soul archer, not be an unpaid teacher.

"I have been looking for good candidates for a while know, and I have chosen you. You have been all over Ninjago, and you even knew about Yang's haunted temple, something even I didn't know. You have much training in fighting, and you know a lot more than you tell people. With some training, you could become a great sensei."

Ronin stared at the old geezer, trying to deliver the winning argument. But nothing came to mind. So he stormed out, muttering to Wu over his shoulder:

"I need to get some fresh air."

Wu didn't try to stop him, but Ronin could feel the gaze lingering on him as he walked as fast as he could without running.

He passed by Nya, who noticed him storming out of the shop, even though she was upside down and training.

"Are you alright?"

She shouted at him, and he didn't bother looking at her, continuing to walk as fast as he could.

"I'm fine!"

Nya would have probably followed him, but Wu chose that moment to emerge from the shop and continue to train Nya, stopping her from following him. Ronin continued to walk away from the shop, until he was in the woods, and he chose the most comfortable-looking rock to place his bottom on. He sat there for a moment, letting his heartbeat slow down, and letting the sounds of the Forrest take over. He sat there and took some deep breaths, and he listened closely to the gentle chirps of the birds, the flow of the river and felt the gentle breeze against his face.

He sighed and stared down at his lap. The thing that hurt the most about what Wu said to him was that the man had such faith in him: He really thought Ronin was one of them, and Ronin wished he was.

But he wasn't: He had a debt to pay, and he knew Morro would use him in some way, most likely to betray the ninja. He hated being in this position, where he could do nothing and had to lie to probably the only people in Ninjago that tolerated him, let alone trusted him.

Ronin looked down at his chest, and he used his old arm to reach inside his armor, and grabbing the necklace he had hidden underneath the armor.

He held the simple golden necklace in his hand, and he stroked it with his thumb, feeling the soft surface. He then used his robotic arm to carefully open the locket, and inside was a single picture, of his young son.

Ronin smiled fondly as he looked at the smiling baby, and he wondered how his son was doing, seeing as how he was in another realm than Ninjago.

He had made sure that his son was in a safer realm than Ninjago, far away from his cursed father, and those who could bring harm to him.

He sighed again as he fondly touched the picture, while whispering to himself and the picture:

"What would you have done, Emmet?"