The morning was cold.

Kai felt the freezing morning air blow lightly through his spiky hair, poking against his cheek. Walking out of his room and onto the porch, Kai let out a breath, watching it form into a small visible cloud before dissipating a moment later.

His eyes scanned over the endless, beautiful jungle of the island. For a crime lord, Chen sure was banished to a freaking amazing island. Kai sure wouldn't mind being banished here.

The cold air soon began bothering the Fire Ninja, who was dressed only the sleeveless tournament gi that Chen had given him, which was obviously made a very thin fabric that did little to nothing to keep Kai warm on cold mornings like this. He went from fighting Ash, the Master of Smoke, on a bridge over a pool of lava, to sitting in the cold.

Its funny how some things change.

He had realized that many times recently. They had been a unified, strong team, and then they lost Zane in the blink of an eye.

They had come to this dreaded tournament to find Zane, only to be further strained apart by Chen's endless antics. Not to mention Jay and Cole were still quite sour at eachother over their right over Nya.

How he HATED when those two fought over his sister...

The only two members of the team who really seemed concerned about their status as a team were Garmadon and, of course, Lloyd. That poor kid had been trying so hard to bring the band back together, but no one seemed to keen on helping out.

And Kai? He wasn't even sure if he cared about the team anymore. He just wanted Zane back. He just wanted his life to go back to normal, just like it was before those Skulkin kidnapped Nya, before Wu showed up at the blacksmith shop...

Kai often wondered what his life would have been like had he and Nya never joined the team.

In fact, without them, there may not have ever been a team.

The two siblings had their own important roles on the team. Nya was their "girl power" of the team and her very own guise as Samurai X. She was kinda their "heavy duty provider", as Cole once put it.

And Kai was the Fire Ninja, and...

And what?

Was his element really all that defined him? Would he really be all that useful or interesting of a guy if he hadn't accepted the red gi?

Was he really that useful to the team?

Kai gritted his teeth and stared down at the floor as these thoughts ran through his head. Maybe he wasn't so important as he once thought.

His train of thought was disrupted as the bell for breakfast rang, and the sound of hurrying footsteps was heard outside Kai's room and downstairs. Kai sighed and closed the doors to the porch shut, before locking his own room and walking down the several flights of stairs to the Meal Hall.

He was instantly greeted with the smells of the different foods and delicacies that were provided. Several of the Elemental Masters had already grabbed their food and stole all the good seats.

Figures.

Kai walked to the back of the lines, grabbing a meal tray from the table. He looked at the Master in line before him. Even though his back was turned, Kai instantly recognized the Master of Speed.

Griffin, was it?

The younger Master was impatiently tapping his foot against the floor as several groans spewed from his mouth as he watched those in front of him receive their breakfast.

"Ah! Come on, man!" Griffin griped. "This line is so slow!"

"Must be very hard for the Master of Speed to be held up in such a slow line, I'd assume," Neuro grinned from a few people ahead in line. "Guess you'll have to patiently wait in line like the rest of us."

Griffin rolled his eyes in a scoff, whipping his head around to look away from the Master of Mind.

The loudspeaker crackled for a moment before Chen's ominous, nauseating voice spoke, "May I remind you that today's desert is some of our finest chocolate cake? Limited amount left! Get them while they're still available!"

With this, a large amount of Masters erupted in a loud cheer as they rushed out of the breakfast line over to the table with the cake.

There were two Masters remaining in the breakfast line.

Kai faked a smile as Lloyd waved to him from farther down the line.

"Morning, Kai. Rest well?" Lloyd spoke cheerily, as if a huge weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. Kai wondered how Lloyd could have such a positive attitude in a place like this.

"I act positive just for the sake of it," Lloyd said quickly, almost as if he read the Fire Ninja's mind. Wasn't that Neuro's thing? "If I have no positivity, I have no peace. If I have no peace, I cannot have hope. And without hope, I am nothing." Lloyd spoke as if he had said this to himself in the mirror every night before bed.

Actually, knowing Lloyd, he probably did just that.

"Was that one of Sensei's famous quotes?" Kai asked as the lunchlady filled his plate. "Or was it your dad?"

Lloyd smiled and shook his head. "Nah. I came up with it myself, actually."

Kai blinked for a moment, processing what the Green Ninja had just told him. "Are you sure you aren't a Sensei already?" He joked.

Lloyd chuckled in response. "Nah. I've actually thought about training to become a Sensei one day but...I'm kinda still working out what I'll do when I'm older."

The two ninja walked over to an empty table, trays in hand.

"Don't you ever want to just settle down, get married, start a family?" Kai asked as they sat down.

Lloyd raised a brow. "I...I really don't know. I guess I've never thought of spending the rest of my life doing anything other than my duties as the Green Ninja. I enjoy being a ninja quite a lot, and I guess I just never considered any other life." The Master of Energy looked down at his plate as he played around with his food.

Kai sighed.

Why was this kid so innocent?

After a long pause, Kai spoke. "Where's the rest of the team?" It almost hurt him to say it.

Lloyd shrugged his shoulders as he continued eating. "Last I heard, Cole and Jay skipped breakfast to do something, whatever that is. As for my dad, he's probably meditating somewhere or something."

Kai simply nodded as he too began eating his breakfast.

Over the loudspeaker, Chen announced, "For today's match, we will have two Elemental Fighters battling it out in the palace arena! These two competitors already have a bad case of bad blood towards each other, and this match may finally put that to rest."

Lloyd's eyes widened.

"Please make your way to the arena...Jay, and Cole!"

Hey guys. Yes, I know, a new story!

This will be a multi-chapter story revolving around the Tournament of Elements, but in a more realistic and different way. This means more fights, more secrets, more possible love interests (?) and of course, more nonstop ninja action! I hope you guys enjoy this story just as much as do, and stay tuned for the next chapter!

~EB