Hello, and welcome to the re-edit of Part II of Ash's saga! I hope you enjoy your stay as I rewrite this monster and make it much better to read. There are a lot of changes, which is why it is being re-posted, and hopefully they will all be for the better. If you're new to the series, the first story is technically An Assassin in Our Midst (which just underwent its own overhaul if you haven't visited it yet) but the AU of Daughter of Dragons is also a prequel. I know, confusing, but hopefully I can explain things alright.

I'm still struggling with some of my others stories, and your further patience is greatly appreciated. I can't even describe how sorry I am it's taking so long, or how much it kills me to not touch them, but I've been slapped in the face by a bad case of writer's block :\ On that note, any and all ideas of improvement/creation are HIGHLY appreciated, so please don't hesitate to use the review box :) Maybe then I'll be able to crank these things out faster.

Anyway, thank you so much for reading and I really hope you enjoy this rewrite :)

- Fell_and_Fallen -

I won't lie. I've always liked the feel of fire. Its warmth, its beauty. But at the same time it terrifies me. The way it can burn out of control so quickly, how it devours buildings and people in a matter of seconds. I stare down at my hands and watch as flames pop between my trembling fingers. I clench them tight against my palms and look up into the wise, dark eyes of Sensei Wu.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" I ask. I blink and the memory of the last time I tried to use my fire blazes to the front of my mind. The flames nearly destroyed the ship we stand on now.

Sensei answers with a curt nod. "You have done enough mental exercises of control. Now it is time to put them to practice. I believe you are ready to face this challenge."

I swallow the growing lump in my throat and force myself to take a deep, calming breath. I turn back to Cole, who stands in front of me with his scythe at the ready.

"Are you sure about this?" I ask.

"You'll be fine, Ash," he assures me. His voice is slightly muffled by his thick hood. "Besides, we have a pretty solid backup plan."

I look near the railing of the ship where Kai, Jay, and Zane stand with sloshing buckets of water. Jay gives me a friendly wave and a thumbs-up.

I take another deep breath. "Alright then," I sigh as I raise my arms. My hands tremble. "Here goes everything."

I concentrate on Cole's shape in front of me, narrowing my eyes and focusing all my energy into the space between my hands. Fire rages in my veins and I tug it back sharply, like putting a lion on a leash. I suck in an uneasy breath and carefully let out a sip of heat.

The flames burst out and fill the air quickly, dancing around my body and tasting the air hungrily. For now, they stay under my control. I open my eyes a little wider and look up at the black-clad ninja in front of me.

"Ready?" I ask in a strained voice. The flames jump, but I haul them back again.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Cole answers as he raises his scythe.

I take in a deep breath and very carefully press forward. The flames spiral toward Cole in a coil of blistering, swirling scarlet fire. Cole twirls his scythe and the flames disperse in a wide halo around him where they disappear in showers of smoke.

"So far, so good," Kai says appreciatively from the corner of my eye.

"Yes, very good," Sensei agrees. "Now carefully apply more energy."

"What?" I echo, my arms jarring as I let my concentration slip for just a second. "I thought-"

"You must learn to use your power to its fullest extent, Ash," Sensei says. "You must trust it."

"I-I can't," I shake my head. My hands tremble violently now. The flames dance around my fingers with more intensity and a drop of sweat slides down my neck, sizzling against my burning flesh.

"Trust your power, Ash," Sensei calls. "Embrace the fire within yourself and let it take form."

"No," I shake my head again. "I-I can't. I'll hurt someone."

My abdomen aches with tension and my arms waver. The fire starts to get wilder, and I struggle to bring it back under control. My hands are tense with exertion as more sweat beads up on my forehead. The flames rage and lick at the air with spitting crimson tongues. My arms are shaking and start to drop, and my vision clouds with grey dots, but before I lose control I force the flames to scatter and disappear in the sky around us.

My legs give out and I fall. My vision's a blur of dizziness, but I manage to stay awake and make out the shapes of the ninja surrounding me.

"Ash, are you alright?" Cole's voice sounds distant, like he's speaking to me underwater.

"I think so," I manage to answer as I sit up, tossing my head a little to try and dispel the dots in my vision. I wipe at my nose and frown when my hand comes away smeared with blood.

"You are overthinking your power, Ash," Sensei appears as a dark blob in the corner of my eye, and I try my best to focus on his blurred shape. "You're afraid of losing control, but you have to let your power control itself. You have to trust it."

"I can't," my hands clench as dark memories flood my head. My town collapsing to ashes, people screaming as their lives go up in flames, and myself standing in the center of it all. "I just… can't."

"Your fear is stopping you from unlocking your true power," Sensei stoops down to look me in the eye. "If you don't destroy your fear, you will never be strong enough to control it."

"But I-"

"Ash, seriously," Kai gives me a soft smile. "You were just a kid, and you're a lot stronger now than you were before. You don't have to be so afraid."

"Kai's right," Jay agrees. "The worst you can do is give us a bad tan."

I bite my lip. "I know you guys are trying to help, but I'm dangerous. If I'm not careful, I could kill one of you."

"Until you learn to trust your power, Ash, I'm afraid you will never be able to gain control of it," Sensei shakes his head. "You must come to terms with your past."

I let out a deep breath just as a blaring alarm goes off. The Bounty's speakers click to life and Nya's voice vibrates through the entire ship.

"Something's going on down below, guys," she reports, "and it looks like our little friend has something to do with it."

"Lloyd," Sensei shakes his head. I recognize the name and get to my feet, a little wobbly before I steady myself on Zane's outstretched arm.

"Don't worry, Sensei, we won't let him slip like last time," Kai says.

"Right, because last time we underestimated him he went on to awaken a banished race of snakes," I pause. "No wait, I wasn't there because you said he would be no problem to take care of without me."

"That was just after you blew yourself out during the bank robbery," Cole returns my look with his own. "We were letting you rest. Besides, how were we supposed to know he would run off and find a snake tomb? I mean, we knew he was a brat, but still-"

"I'm sure he's not all bad," I shake my head. "No kid ever is."

"But he's Lloyd Garmadon," Jay presses. "You know, son of Lord Garmadon, Master of Evil? The kid's kind of genetically coded to be evil."

"Ash brings up a good point," Sensei says. "I do not believe that Lloyd is truly evil."

"But Sensei-"

"The four of you have grown sloppy and inattentive since I told you of the prophecy of the Green Ninja," Sensei narrows his eyes at them, and they all look away. "If it weren't for Ash's training, I'm sure you would all be engrossed in figuring out who it will be. Perhaps you can fill your minds with something else during this mission. A riddle."

"A riddle?" Jay echoes with a moan.

"Yes," Sensei gives him a pointed look. "What is the best way to defeat an enemy?"

"Training."

Sensei blinks at Kai. "No. Go out and complete this mission. Return to me with your answers and we'll see who is correct," he pauses. "And no, whoever answers the riddle correctly is not the most likely to be the Green Ninja."

They try to hide it, but I can't help a small smile as each ninja radiates a sense of disappointment. As Sensei said, they've each been riled up from the idea of becoming something more powerful than the rest, enough to make them all more than a little obsessed. They start to file off the ship, but when I follow, Sensei catches my sleeve.

"Ash, you are the warmest."

"What?" I ask, but Sensei just answers me with knowing eyes before he lets me go. Cole calls to me from the railing and I peel myself away to follow.

"What do you think of this riddle thing?" Cole asks as I approach. "Do you think it's a test for who will become the Green Ninja?"

"He said it wasn't," I answer as the other three leap off the side of the ship and into the empty air below.

"Of course he said it wouldn't be a test. That's the point of tests. Only the Green Ninja would know it's a test and be able to pass it," Cole says.

"Your logic astounds me."

He gives me a pointed look. "You don't think I'm the Green Ninja, do you?"

"I never said that," I shake my head. "Look, I think all of you are reading too much into this. Quite frankly, I don't really see what the big deal is. So what if you get fancy new powers? You'll still be the same goofy person, just with a more inflated ego."

"I just think the position should go to someone who's… qualified," he grins and I roll my eyes.

"You think you're qualified?"

"Who better than the leader of the pack, you know?" he winks. "Besides, I think I would look pretty great in green."

I cough out a laugh. "With your color palette? Please. There's a reason you stuck with black."

He shoves me playfully but lets out a laugh. "Alright, alright, you've made your point. But still. The Green Ninja could be any of us. There's nothing wrong with hope, right?"

"You heard Sensei. It can't distract you," I look down at the empty air below us and try to suppress the rolling in my stomach. "Now are we going or not? I hate to prolong the inevitable."

We climb onto the railing and Cole grabs my hand as I close my eyes and try not to think of the fall. I clear my mind and together we take the leap. Soon enough, we're on our way, speeding along behind the other ninja as we head toward whatever trouble Sensei's nephew has gotten into himself this time.

I think of the riddle and Sensei's words about me being the warmest. I'm sure it wasn't some play toward my power of fire, so he must have been talking about the answer. But what did it mean? I shove the thinking aside and try to focus on the mission. Like the ninja, I can't let this riddle stuff get to my head. Instead, I stare at the road ahead of us and wonder what we're getting ourselves into.