Hello everyone. :)
Welcome to NfaN, Book 5: Shadowland. I know I promised this would come out on the 26th of September, but I decided that I was going to post a few days early, because...well, I miss NfaN a lot, and wanted to share what I'd created thus far with all of you. So I hope you dearly enjoy, and know in your hearts I am grateful for all of you. (And that I don't own Ninjago.) This entry is actually like a pre-logue (the baby that happens when you cross a preface and a prologue!) that talks a little about a past memory of the ninja. Enjoy! -Kairi
Nightmares for a Ninja
Book Five:
SHADOWLAND
* * * * * * * * * *
A Premake of Sorts
"Prepare to eat my dust, because you guys are gonna get left behind!"
"In your dreams, Rocky! I'm going to mop the floor with you!"
"You are all very inaccurate. It is I who shall win this match!"
"All I gotta say is: Get ready to be Kai'd!"
The wind poured over their laughing faces, smiling into the oncoming wind without, seemingly, anything to give a sad dare over; however, in the bask of the quick sunlight glowing down upon their light skin, only of ages ranging from sixteen to eighteen at the time, the four boys had things that they could be busying themselves by stressing over. After all, there was the matter of the escaped Dark Lord to be dealing with, or perhaps the ideals to attempt and reach their true potential by several hours of masculine training, hard work, and complete focus. But even boys who determine themselves with their egos and the power of being adored by fangirls can become threatened by too much work in one day. Normally, that didn't bother Wu Garmadon—he was their Sensei, after all, and training them to become the best Ninja they could be was primarily his main focus. But watching them from the porch as in the sky overhead, they battled each other on the backs of their elemental dragons, he knew that letting them blow off their pent-up antsiness would do them some good. When in a particular mode, each of his four beloved students dialed their strengths to the greatest function their bodies could perform; they wielded even their weaknesses to the better of their advantage. They were all pointed in the direction of success, and each of them easily mattered themselves with keeping their minds fixed on the task at hand. But, as Wu knew from being a young boy once himself—that was many years in his past now—there was always the need for a little break. He offered them, after a long morning with training that seemed to extend its arm outwards towards defeating the missing Dark Lord and divided family member to Wu, Lord Garmadon, an afternoon of relaxation—or, he supposed, in their minds, time to goof around.
Each of them were to be considered "almost fully grown men," but that seemed not to matter. They all acted rowdy, rambunctious, and raucous: The three feared R's of a caregiver's life. Children often went through their "Terrible Two's," but these boys went through the "Three Wearisome R's" faster and more obnoxiously than any pack of children that Wu had ever known. He supposed it was due to the fact that they were all in a centralized, closed space where they were only surrounded by men; when speaking to each of them beforehand on a more relaxed note in the darkness of the fallen night, after treating themselves to a wonderful dinner, Wu had asked them how their lives had been before he'd found them. Of course, Wu had already known the big picture. He was more interested in the small details he had not yet worked out. He wanted to know if they attended school, what home life was like, things to that effect. Treating them as if he were akin to each of them, Wu Garmadon had become somewhat attached to the students he'd been, under his own circumstance, forced to abode with for however many a day it was since picking them up off the curb and helping them prepare their wings to fly.
His eldest student of eighteen, Cole Mitsuhide, was the one who needed that sort of fatherly help the most. When Wu had come upon him in a rather unintentional fashion—Wu had not known, when he found Cole, exactly what he himself was looking for, and in a way, they both helped each other figure that out before the other three became firm to the photograph—Cole had lacked purpose and direction. He was a kind wanderer, a truant, and a destitute child living upon the land, trying to evade the destiny his father had painted before him in his own personal wishes for his son. He hadn't known where he was going, what he wanted to do with his life, or who he really was. Asking himself a thousand times, "Who am I?" never directly got an answer until the two men, one young and another old, finally met face to face. Now, it seemed Cole had a little more than just a pinky on the reigns of life's wild course. He knew more, he was a little smarter, a little stronger, stood a little taller. From the eyes of a teacher, Wu saw Cole blossom from a shriveled, quiet runaway into a strong, loyal, protective leader who would give anything for the other three younger boys he called his brothers. Cole was intuitive, observant, and naturally quiet, (up until he was forced to be brought out of his shell by living with three other boys somewhat congruent to his age) but he was also strong-voiced, serious, faithful to his friends, and more than that, he was determined to make a change. He was the ideal student to every teacher. Wu was proud of him for becoming such a well-trained boy.
Cole, however, was polar opposites with the second student that Wu had come across when he realized what his next direction in tactics was. While Cole had a hard time figuring out how he was supposed to fix the toaster when it over-wired itself on bad mornings, Wu's most lacking student in the art of seriousness was better at tinkering with electronics than he believed anyone he knew was. Jay Walker, the second of his pupils, was all for the jokes, the laughter, and the lighthearted banter rather than the artistic drawing and reading that Cole had once surrounded himself with. Jay's ideal "day off" afternoon, before he lived with Wu and Cole, was poring over blueprints, sketching up ideas, and calculating math equations faster than any human being in current existence. Welding, twisting with screwdrivers, nailing in with hammers, and fastening with power drills kept his evenings filled with inventions, crazy ideas that never worked. But no matter how many failures his creations may tally up to, Jay would never stop dreaming. His imagination ran wild. He was creative beyond any extent, with a heart bigger than Ninjago itself, with the extroverted personality that automatically either wrangled people closer or drove them away, depending on one's tastes in acquaintances. Be no brainiac, no ego to sour his lightweight mind that knew so much, Jay kept his heart wide for anyone—up until they gave him reason to shut the doors, that is. He smiled almost constantly, cracked jokes in the middle of training that got all of Wu's students giggling like schoolgirls, always trying to make somebody laugh, the identity of which recently had pertained to the young face of Nya Smith, a sister to one of Wu's Ninjas that had come to live with them. Down-to-earth, (less than normally) subtle, outburstive, yet ready for the fight that came to turn the switch inside of his heart. He may have been the joker of the group, but that never stopped the flamboyant boy from being serious and ready for a fight when it came to battling the enemy. He was always on his toes, prepared (the majority of the time) for anything. His wit often helped distract the enemy in war using loud comments and quips to take their mind off things.
Yet again very different from the third (and youngest) student of Wu's, who preferred silence, calculation, numbers, lots of books, poems, reading, silence, cooking, deep thought, dancing animals, and silence. Most of the time when it came to training these boys in the best of the abilities that Wu's father had educated him into being able to use one day, the noise centered around one, two, and four but evaded three. Sound hardly ever came from his introverted apprentice, Zane Montgomery, unless he was directly asked a question. Though Zane was eager to learn, ready for the day before anyone else was, able to participate in lessons without becoming nervous, Wu was already hyperaware of Zane's inner differences from the other boys that set him apart from them on a level that no one could truly obtain. The sensei had suspected many reasons for this, concluding efficiently only to a few theories (one of which he'd already proven): that Zane was a definite introvert, had autism, or wasn't entirely human. Wu had, come many times, pulled Zane aside to ask him questions that weren't too direct of his suspicions—Zane was very much oblivious to knowing that Wu was suspecting something deeper inside of him—and had gotten answers that were unsatisfactory to prove his thoughts. The only one Wu had been able to finalize was that Zane was an introvert to a T. No problem with that, however; he was fine with having attention paid to him, but did not prefer the spotlight being sectioned onto his being. His quiet tentativeness, accompanied by his exquisite knowledge of things even the wise sensei did not know of, proved that there was more to Zane than originally met the eye. He was smart, quick, quiet. He did not judge or complain, nor argue on a normal basis. His abilities as a Ninja were advanced with quick speed, agility, and grace, as came with the rest of his brothers. He kept to himself, but enjoyed being accepted, although Wu sometimes felt melancholy when he saw the other three giving Zane weird looks behind his back. Wu cared intensely for the poor boy. Zane was just a little different, that was all.
Coming to finalize the descriptions, his fourth student was anything that had to do with "mainstream child," and completely different from everyone else's. His life, it seemed, was more ideal and perfect than that of the other four people he resided with. Generally loved by his peers, Kai Smith was popular to his school before graduating, was a member of the baseball team since he was young, already had fangirls before he became a Ninja, and enjoyed the attention, basking in it all the time. He had a comparatively large ego that inflated by the seconds. Kai was a "party boy," according to Jay's assessment of his new team member, back when they were first making introductions and slipping into "I'm-not-comfortable-with-you-yet-but-I'll-try" in the early stages of their Ninja training. His personality was acceptable enough for Wu to handle, and he had the qualities that one needed for a Fire Ninja to fully complete the title. Being that kind of Ninja had its downsides to the personality "disorders" (again, Jay's perception) he came packaged with: the impulsive decisions, the hotheaded anger that fueled the short temper. It also did come with great upsides, such as determination to fight to the end, which sometimes took itself to be mistaken for rough competitiveness, and obstinate reluctance to give up. Kai was literally the petrol that the pack of boys ran on, despite his background of being Mr. Popular and completely stray from the others. He completed Wu's crusade of Ninjas perfectly. Without him, they might not have the stamina to continue on. It appeared the "party boy" really did keep the flame lit.
Each of them had their qualities that made them all unique. Wu cared deeply for all of them, dictating himself to be the broad uncle figures in their lives, since it was only Zane and Kai who lacked the fatherly figures they portrayed Wu as in their minds. He taught them basic life lessons that they would need not only for their preparation to become great Ninjas and hopefully one day Spinjitzu Masters, but also for a time after they grew up, started their own families, and became fathers themselves—things they would teach their sons and daughters, passing along Wu's wisdom, keeping the flames alive. That time when they would become young men seemed so far away, looking at them now…
"YOU'RE CHEATING!"
"No I'm not; there's absolutely no way to cheat in a game with no rules, Jay!"
"YOU'RE A DIRTY CHEATER, PARTY BOY! CHEAT-TOR! CHEAT-TOR!"
Okay; perhaps that time was farther away than Wu thought. He smiled into the air, glad the brim of his hat kept the sun out of his eyes, so he could watch while calmly drinking his tea and observing the exercise of the majestic beasts and the broadening of his students' hearts. Taking a sip of the warm Oolong tea, the steam rising into his nose, Sensei Wu Garmadon set looked to the sky, where opportunity, love, and yes, maturity would someday grow.
I am pretty much posting the first chapter right after this one. I hope you enjoyed the little flashback, and get ready for one bumpy ride when you begin reading NfaN Book 5: SHADOWLAND! Thanks for reading! And go have an AWESOME day/night! -Kairi
