Wu/Garmadon

In Misplaced Feelings, I will be exploring various events that may have taken place in Wu's life. This is a therapy story but it should be uplifting rather than angsty. This is a short story about Wu and Garmadon's relationship as children.

"You are just a sick, dirty, creepy, perverted old man. Ugh!" The fiery young ninja shouted before sliding the new monetary door into place with a loud clack.

Kai did not understand. Wu never expected him to. The young man was just too inexperienced to fathom what transpired throughout his sensei's life to lead up to this moment. After all, that was all that life was in essence. It was a vast collection of moments that were only permitted to be enjoyed one at a time and in their own time. If Wu did have control over the flow of time, he would certainly not want to relive this particular instant again.

He he was not hurt by his pupil's words. The elderly ninja knew from experience that the young man had just taken the situation out of context and allowed his inferno of emotions burn through all of his other senses. It was nothing personal, that was just Kai's way. The way of the fire ninja. When the lad burned up the last of his fumes of anger, they would talk and Kai would allow his sensei to explain the terrible miscommunication. For now, Wu would just allow the boy his temper. It was healthy for the young ninja to burn off his excess rage at times.

Instead, Wu turned to the tame fire that heated his stout glazed clay tea kettle. The flames flickered and fought against one another knowing that dominance meant life for them. Nothing like the warriors Wu allied himself with over the years. The wisps of smoke they cast off twirled and intertwined before they dissipated into the air above. Their playful dance reminded the veteran ninja of the way people interacted. They would be so close dancing about each other then somehow they seemed to fade beyond perception. Wu hoped the young ninja would understand his position. The gray old man had thought they understood and accepted him already but it seemed this was just one wisp of his smoke that had fade beyond their recognition.

Wu had always found it strange how everyone had their own perception of the world. The thought that no one else thought what he thought or felt what he was feeling had never quite sunk in as a boy. How his brother could deliberately disobey their father baffled him as a child.

Memories of the incident with the snake that led to the horrid change in Garmadon were always close at hand but they were not the only examples of the boys' varying personalities. Wu could remember a time when their father had let the two boys leave their secluded home to visit Jumonukai village for a festival. It was the first time the two boys had ever been permitted to leave without an escort.

Garmadon on had just entered his teenage years and still was not showing quite as many signs of his internal struggle with the venom. The day they went to the festival was one of many that Wu was happy to spend with his older brother how the boy truly was. Those days seemed too few but only because they were so cherished by the younger sibling.

The boys dressed in a fine pair of robes their father had made special for each of them and set out into the approaching chill of dusk. As they came upon the village, darkness had shrouded the forest around them so the strung up lights, savory smells, and alluring music served as a beacon to draw the two young men in.

Wu recalled bouncing about the festive place with pent up excitement while his brother cooly sauntered after him taking in the surroundings in a calm way that would make their father proud. Much of the night was a blur but a couple of events were so well ingrained within his mind that if the man closed his eyes, he could imagine them taking place at anytime.

In his youth, Wu pranced up to an old game of toss set up with some stacked tin cups just waiting to be knocked over. The younger brother pleaded of Garmadon to allow him to play. Wu knew the pained expression he sported for his brother would do well in his favor. Garmadon caved, acquiescing to his brother's whiney demands and paid the vendor with a careless shrug to his shoulders.

A few tossed balls later. "Again! Again! I almost knocked them down that time brother." Wu tugged at Gardomadon's sleeve vehemently drawing the older boy's dark eyes to the game.

"No." Wu deflated at his brother's rejection. "If you could not knock them down the first time, you will not knock them down."

Wu did not give up so easily however. "Pleeeaaase! I never had a boomerang before. Please give me another shot Garmadon."

The older boy gave the game another appraisal wit narrowed eyes and a tight lipped stare, proof that he was really thinking it over. With a coin slapped into the round bellied vendor's hand, the older boy made a declaration. "I'll win the boomerang for ya Wu." It always amazed Wu to see his brother so focused. He wore an expression just like during training. His eyes were so focused the young blond was left wondering why the cups did not tumble down by his sheer intent. Back then, Wu's thirteen ear old brother looked decades ahead of him. If ever there was something that he could not do, Garmadon would get it done. Just like the target. Before the ball even left the boy's hand, the tin cups were certainly going down.

Except they did not. Garmadon tossed the projectile with the same certainty as anything else he would do but when the ball struck the stack of cups, they stood strong, casting the ball aside indifferently. Dark eyes widened for just a moment before narrowing venomously. "This game is fixed." He observed with a snarl.

The crooked vendor just shrugged off the brother's anger flippantly. "If you didn't hit the cups kid, you didn't hit the cups."

"But I did hit the cups, clear as day. You RIGGED the game!" The dark haired boy exploded, outraged.

The middle aged man stooped to look the boys in the eye repeating, " If you didn't hit the cups, you didn't hit the cups."

Wu cast wary glances at the curious onlookers and tugged at the fine dark silk f his brother's sleeve. "Garmadon, let's just get out of here."

No his older brother said in a voice that brooked no argument. He dug around in his pocket and pulled out a third coin holding it up for the vendor to see before flicking it at him. "I'm taking another shot."

The game owner smiled sadistically making the younger brother panic. "But-"

"I'm taking another shot." Garmadon declared with that same serious expression on his face but colder. It made the blond boy shiver but nod back at him none the less.

Garmadon grabbed another ball and prepared to throw but for a long time just looked at the target with those narrowed eyes. Wu gulped nervously because now people were watching them. Ever since the snake bite Garmadon had never been the same. Sometimes he got uncontrollably mad. Sometimes he did bad things.

This time, the unpredictable youth moved through the motions of a perfect throw so quickly it was over in an instant. The ball rocketed faster than the onlookers could see and collided with the tins with a loud CRACK! The top cup was flung into the air to someplace far far away but the other two held strong to the stump they were placed on with the ball imbedded into a perfectly round dent just between them. Garmadon brought his arm back to his side calmly.

"The game is rigged." The declaration brought a bunch of irritated prattle from other patrons of the festival who had also apparently tried their hand at the game. All Wu could do was stare at his incredibly amazing older brother. If ever there was something Wu could not do,Garmadon got it done.