It was entirely coincidental Chen was in the forest that day.

He had spent the last couple of months alone in his monastery and his life had become a bit of a boring routine. Chen knew of nothing worse than being bored and had immediately decided something new needed to happen.

As such he packed a small bag of food and water and went into the forest to do some training.

It was a cold autumn day, not at all ideal for outside training. But it had been something different, enough to keep him entertained for a couple of hours.

When twilight fell, he had been on his way back home. Suddenly he stopped dead in his track, staring in-between the tress in the distance. A strange green glow had caught his attention. It had only been visible for a moment, but long enough for Chen to notice it. He trusted his senses enough he couldn't believe it to be something he had imagined.

Chen had always been a curious person by nature. Curiosity often led to a lot of fun, as long as one wasn't reckless, and Chen knew of nothing as great as having fun. Besides, he was strong and well-spoken and despite being in quite a few dangerous situations in his lifetime, he had always come out of it alive. He didn't think twice about letting his curiosity lead him anymore.

Slowly and without making any noise, he went to the place he had seen the strange glow. At firste he couldn't see anything. Despite it being autumn, a lot of the treetops were still dense enough to cover the sky up. Chen kept going, certain he would find something.

Deeper in between the trees was a small clearing. Chen stopped just short of it, scouting it. He felt a small jolt go through him as he finally found something of interest.

In the middle of the clearing, lying in the grass, was a young man. He was on his side, almost completely crumpled into a fetal position, his hand pressed into his own body.

The young man was dressed in clothing Chen could tell was not from around these parts of ninjago, all of it was ruined and dirty and even laying down, Chen could tell it was hanging loosely from his body. Generally, Chen could tell the man was filthy, his long black hair hung in greasy clumps down his face.

Though it was weak, Chen could certainly tell the strange glow he had seen had come from the stranger. His hand still emitted a faint light of green. Chen immeadiaetly made the conclusion it had be to magic.

A long time ago, Chen had been studying magic himself. Despite his efforts, he had never been able to master it, not even the tiniest fraction of it. At the time he had been told it was due to the fact he hadn't been born with the gift of magic, he didn't possess the ability naturally, and as such he would never be able to use any magic without the help of magical artefacts.

And then here was a much younger man who obliviously possessed this gift, a gift Chen knew very well could be very powerful, and even more useful, with the right training.

Chen felt his curiosity rise even more. He slowly approached the young man wanting to find out more. He had never been one to pass up opportunities, and this was certainly an opportunity by all of his definitions.

He deliberately stepped on a big, old branch a good distance from the other. The branch cracked in two with a loud noise and alerted the other to his presence. The stranger didn't look like he was in any condition to fight, or run for that matter, at least physically he was obviously not in any state to do any sort of harm, but Chen didn't want any magic thrown in the face.

Until he was absolutely certain the other wasn't hostile, he was going to shown caution.

The way the young man reacted to his approach, was a bit like a wild animal. His upper body shot up at the noise from the branch. The moment he spotted Chen, his eyes grew wide and he started pulling himself backwards on weak arm until he backed himself up against a tree. There he remained, trembling in fear. His magic had disappeared the moment his attention had been directed towards the approached and despite Chen getting closer, he didn't lift his hands or make any indication he was going to do more magic. Chen took it he wasn't going to get his face magically burned off on this day.

"Good evening" Chen said, a friendly smile on his face.

He stopped a respectfully distance from the other, awaiting his response.

None came.

Chen looked at the other for a moment, then he reached into his bag, pulling out some leftovers from the meal he had brought for himself.

"You look hungry" Chen noted nonchalantly and threw a large piece of fish meat to the other.

For a moment nothing happened, then the other took the fish, lifting it to his face and looking at it like he has no clue what is was. He stuck out his tongue tasting it, then shoving the entire thing into his mouth like a starving animal.

Chen wasn't one to show kindness towards his fellow man. In fact, he quite often looked down on those who did.

But he had learned a bit of kindness was often a better tool for getting others to do what he wanted. People were a lot more cooperate when thinking one meant well. As such he wasn't giving the other man food out of a good heart or empathy, but rather because he felt like violence wasn't going to get him the information he wanted.

"Tell me your name and I'll give you some more to eat" Chen said, shaking his bag slightly.

A few seconds went by, the two were just staring at each other. Chen started thinking the other wasn't capable of talking.

"Clouse" the young man then finally said "My name is Clouse".

"Hello Clouse" Chen said, throwing him some more fish.

Clouse ate the piece of food as quickly as he had eaten the first one. Chen waited patiently for him to finish. He was just about to say something, but Clouse beat him to it.

"Whatever you want… just take it and leave… please" he said and hung his head in a defeated manner. The last word had been little more than a whipser

The sentence struck Chen as being odd. Clouse obliviously had nothing beyond the his dirty, ruined clothes. Nothing worth any value, nothing worth stealing. Unless one could steal his abilities, but Chen doubted it.

"I want to know who taught you magic".

Clouse gave him a wide eyed look, then his eyes started darting from side to side nervously as if the mere mention of his abilities made him uncomfortable.

"I… I wasn't taught, it's just something I do. I have always been able to do… things" his voice started quivering as he continued "I… I know I shouldn't do it. It was just… I was freezing, it was cold, I just needed the warmth…".

"Who told you, you shouldn't use magic?" Chen asked.

He personally didn't understand why anyone wouldn't use such a gift, he would personally use it for a lot more than keeping himself warm.

"I…" Clouse began but then shut his lips thight. Something in his eyes told Chen he was reliving something unpleasant.

Chen tried piercing some information together. Clouse's pale skin and the way his clothing looked clearly indicated he was not from around these parts, but rather from the northern parts of Ninjago, far from these eastern parts he was currently in.

Magic was generally not reputable in Ninjago, it was considered to be an imitation of the natural and pure elements traditionally considered to be related to the creation of Ninjago as known in the myth of the first spinjitsu master, but even then, magic was far more accepted in the eastern than the northern parts of Ninjago. Chen knew not why, something to do with culture probably. He had read quite a few tales about people with magical abilities getting cats out from society or even burnt a fire in northern Ninjago, chance were a person from those parts, with magical abilities, would probably being just a bit nervous about spilling the beans.

However, things were different in these parts.

"Magic is a gift, one you should not be afried to use" Chan told Clouse, who in turn stared back at him like he was speaking nonsense "It's just part of who you are, nothing to feel bad".

Clouse took a deep breath.

"I… I can't control it. I hurt people" he said, the last of his words once again being little more than a whisper.

Chen got closer to Clouse. He leaned down, pushing some of the filthy hair out of the other man's face. Clouse stiffened, like he wasn't comfortable being touched, but he didn't put up any resistance.

Chen couldn't help his smile. Whenever one was incapable of doing something, the next best thing would be to have someone in one's possession who wasn't.

"You can learn how to" Chen said, giving the other soft smile.

Clouse stared back at him with conflicting eyes.

"I've got a place not far from here. You could come with me, then I could teach you a thing or two" Chen continued.

He dumped the last pieces of food he had down in Clouse's lap. Partly to emphasize his good intentions towards the other, partly because he had a feeling Clouse hadn't really experienced a lot of kindness lately and then a just a bit of kindness would probably make him take the bait.

Everything was quiet for a bit. Clouse was obliviously trying to considering the risk of going with Chen, this stranger he had just met.

Chen on his part had to bite back on a sour remark, he felt annoyed his offer even had to be considered. The other would have to be a complete idiot choosing the forest, all alone and completely helpless, rather than roof over the head.

Luckily Clouse wasn't a complete idiot. He took the bite and gave Chen a nod. Chen felt a spark of joy within. This was going to be a lot of fun.