Disclaimer: I do not own Ninjago! I only own Akali and the village of Serent.

The boy cocked his head to the left, eyebrows knit together with concern. Akali should've thanked him, but she just felt more anger bubbling in her blood. She turned her head away from his gave to see the black tornado shoot a large pile of bones into Bone's groaning skull. "Are you okay?" the boy holding her asked. That did it. These people needed to back off. She shoved her hands against his chest, holding her breath as she pushed. She hadn't expected she'd get out of his grasp so quickly and landed uncomfortable on her back. Pain rippled through her body and she hissed with a mixture of agony and warning. When she stood again, the red, blue, and black had joined the white with concerned expressions. All four were boys. Fantastic. Still, she exploded on them. "Who do you think you are!" she poked the white boy in the chest with her finger. The bewilderment on his face almost made her apologize for snapping. Almost. But the pain was egging her on, encouraging her to blame them for everything. Technically, it was their fault.

"Um, the one who helped saved your life?" the blue one spoke up, blinking. Akali growled. "I was fine on my own! I had it all under control until you guys sprung out of nowhere and took my fight! Klub wouldn't have snuck up on me if –"

"Klub would've killed you had we not intervened." The spiky red boy argued. Akali was positively fuming. "And the whole reason he had me was because you four distracted me! I don't know how much you saw, but I took down six –"

"Seven." The blue one interrupted. Even better, they had been watching her."- seven skeletons without you and I could've taken the rest." She finished, arms crossed lightly on her chest. She winced at the pain, but refused to let them faze her. The black one was looking incredulously at her. "Is it too much to ask for a thank you?"

"Get lost." Akali turned to leave, looking for her staff on the ground. Relief shown in her eyes when she saw her weapon lying unharmed by a wall. It must've been kicked there accidentally when the black one had been tornadoeing or whatever it was to Klub. She took a few steps towards it, refraining from clutching her chest but instead clenching her fists firmly. A hand rested on her shoulder and she tensed up. "You are hurt." By the voice she knew it was Whitey. She brushed the hand off. "It's just a bruise. I can handle it."

"No, I sense you fracture a few ribs. Sensei Wu can assist in your healing. Please, come with us." He pressed, true concern still evident in his eyes. Akali shook her head, taking the last few steps to her staff. Instead of leaning down, she kicked it up with her foot. It leapt into the air and she neatly plucked it from the empty space. She spun around, surprised to find that the other three now stood side by side with the white boy again. Red, blue, black, white. Was there some kind of rainbow party she wasn't aware of? She growled. "What color is next? Green?" She shouldn't have asked. Their individual chuckles said enough. Her growling was slowly progressing into a snarl. "Look. I don't want help from the rainbow quartet, okay? I don't need you," she looked to the one who had caught her, " ,to doctor or save me. You," this was directed at blue boy," to criticize me. You," the black suited one was her next victim, "annoying me. And you," the spiky one raised an eyebrow, actually surprised. "interrupting me. Are we clear?" she had expected them to nod and be on their way. She was wrong.

"Okay, what if we just have Sensei look at you? You can return home after. I've broken a rib before. It isn't fun." Spiky said, arms folded across his chest to mimic her. Akali debated it. Broken – no bruised – ribs or follow four boys to their Sensei for treatment. Hmmm. Rubbing her staff with her palm, avoiding eye contact, she reluctantly gave in. "Fine. But just an examination of my bruised ribs. You guys had better be telling the truth or all that'll be left of you is that." Emphasizing the last word, she jut her staff in the direction of Klub's bones. The boys seemed offended. "We're the ninja! We stand for everything good and just, of course we actually want to help you!" Black boy stated. "Yeah! The Saviors from the Serpentine, the Destroyers of the Devourer, the Gods of Good!" the blue boy said dramatically, striking a heroic pose for each name.

"Gods of Good?" Whitey put in, amusement in his voice. Akali sighed, holding her hands up in the air. "Okay, okay. Whatever. Let's just get this over with alright?" She looked around the ground, panicking when she didn't immediately spot what she was originally protecting in the first place. "Wait: my groceries. Where are – "

"Hey, rice cakes!" The blue boy had the bag in hand, his mouth watering as he started to reach into the plastic. The snarl that followed caught all four of them off guard, and the boy dropped the bag automatically. "Uh, Jay you might not want to touch those again." The black one warned, keeping a wary eye on the girl. "Right. Hehe." The blue one rubbed the back of his neck to avoid eye contact, a nervous smile on his face. Akali exhaled quickly out of her nostrils, successfully snorting. It was her own way to answer almost every question or express any emotion. In this instance, she was telling – Jay was it? – that he had chosen correctly in leaving the cakes be. Another shot of pain zapped through her, but she watched with a hawk's eye as the blue boy gingerly lifted the bag, his intent to carry it. Akali gave a curt nod and winced. It hurt to take a deep breath – which had been trying to do to calm herself – and she involuntarily clutched her ribcage. She heard four separate sighs – whether from relief or irritation she did not know. Probably the latter.

"Would you like me to carry you, miss?" The white boy asked. Akali was surprised at the offer. She'd basically taught herself growing up that the only one she could truly depend on was herself and here these boys were – offering her medical attention and to carry her there to get it. She blinked and returned to normal. She still couldn't entirely trust them. Allowing Whitey to carry her would put her in too vulnerable a position to keep her at ease.

"Zane, I'm stronger. It'll be easier for me to carry her." The black one spoke, his arms also crossed across his chest and leaning on his right side. Zane had his mouth open to say something, but Akali beat him to it.

"Akali here is more than capable of walking with her own two feet thank you very much." She retorted, taking a few steps towards them to prove her point. A breeze blew by as she did so, sending an involuntary shiver up her spine. She had forgotten she was in her wetsuit and the battle had not helped to dry her body. The looks of concern on their faces did not help improve her mood. "Yes, I am fine and no, none of you will carry me. Is your, uh where are we goi –"

"Ship." Spikey put in. A ship? Her mind was sending warning signals to her body, but she ignored her beating heart. "Okay, is your ship warm by any chance?"

"It is, okay can we get moving? It's Zane's turn to cook tonight and I want to eat as much as I can today so I don't starve with Cole's food tomorrow." Jay said. The red boy was laughing, resting one of his hands on Jay's shoulders.

"Hey!" The black one – apparently Cole – said, clearly offended. "Whatever. Let's get going. And my cooking isn't that bad!

"Worst day of my life." The girl mumbled under her breath. A steady wind had decided to bombard the village of Serent, including the forest trail she now traveled with her guides. To count off everything she was in unfamiliar surroundings, her parents thought she was at Nanuk's and wouldn't expect for at least another fifteen minutes, she was injured, cold, and – her stomach growled ferociously, begging for attention. And hungry. Very, very hungry. The blue one – Jay – jogged up from behind her to walk by her side. She had expected him to give her some kind of lecture, and was surprised when he did otherwise.

"You were amazing! We got there after Nya picked up something on the radar and you should've seen our faces when we saw you beating them up! Cole's mouth was wide open, and I would've blown our cover if Kai hadn't put his hand on my mouth to stop me from cheering you on. Even Zane seemed to be enjoying the fight!" he babbled. "I mean, you were whacking them away with your giant stick –"

"Staff. It is a staff." Akali corrected, lifting her weapon up and shoving it into the ground with force. Jay looked down at his feet, as if to make sure he hadn't suddenly lost one to the "stick". A small breath of relief escaped him and his shoulders loosened. "Staff, got it. Hey Zane, how long until we're back at Destiny's Bounty?" he asked over his left shoulder. The boy materialized beside Akali without as much as a light thump for his steps. "About six point eight minutes, Jay. I programmed the falcon to go ahead to announce our arrival to Sensei." Akali would probably never get over the way he talked. Much more old fashioned than the other three. Wait, six point eight seconds? Why so exact. And programming a falcon? She shrugged it off. He probably meant to use another word. The guess was just random. "Thank you for the compliment. But why were you four so surprised at my fighting?" she questioned. She may have seemed relaxed, but she was really trying to assess the four for weaknesses. So far, Jay just seemed to talk. A lot. Cole was the silent guy, Zane the also silent but odd type apparently with a falcon, and the red one – apparently Kai - who just seemed to always have a plan. Oh, and all four turned into fighting tornadoes. None of this would help her succeed in a fight.

"It's because you're a girl." Cole stated matter-of-factly. That made her stop in her tracks, digging her staff into the ground as she spun around to face the speaker. The cold didn't bother her anymore; neither did her growling stomach or chest. "Excuse me?" she said incredulously, hazel eyes seething. Cole shrugged. "What? Girls aren't exactly 'warriors' these days now are they? They spend their time knitting and giggling. Usually, they shriek, run away, or yell for our help if they're ever faced with a situation like the one you'd been in. You know all the quotes. You throw like a girl, you act like a girl, you fight like a –" Cole stopped with a cry as he fell on the ground bottom first. Before he or the others had time to react the staff was centimeters from his throat. Akali was about ready to smite him. Even through her now intense pain, she leaned down into Cole's face. Her eyes were hard, portraying her fury.

"Now you listen and you listen good. I take enough talk back in Serent, from my own parents even! Everyone but Scyther says I should be perfecting my pastries, not my fighting skills. They say I'm not acting like a lady. Well guess what, I don't care what they say. I'm not meant to be some brainless idiot stuck in a house. No way. So what if I'm a girl? I can still knock you flat on your bottom in three seconds flat very similarly to what I just did. Deal with it." She pulled away and, still furious, stalked ahead of all four ninja. As she passed, she gave each one a hard look. "I shouldn't have expected you ninja to be any different from the villagers." She finished with Zane, narrowing her eyes. "And next time you try to play hero for the damsel in distress, do me a favor. Don't." Akali knew she had hurt him, but at the moment she didn't care. After all, she'd physically hurt Cole and emotions couldn't effect someone worse than that. It was evident on his face how wrong her logic was. She didn't dare look at the other three, just snorted. The pain brought tears to her eyes. She really needed to stop doing that.

The rest of the six point eight minutes to Destiny's Bounty was finished in tense silence. Even Jay had nothing to say, no joke to lighten the mood. He just led the group onward. Zane was sulking at the back of the group with Cole who occasionally rubbed his backside and sent a glare at the girl. Kai was between Akali and her two victims at the back making sure she didn't do anything stupid. It went relatively well, and they arrived at the ship in one piece. Akali had calmed down by then, but not enough to apologize. Not even close. Still, she couldn't help but be surprised at how big the ship was.

It had to be at least fifty feet across, with masts at least twenty feet high. The red made the dragon head look like a fire inferno, mouth open ready to release its own fire at any moment. The craftsman shipped seemed unflawed, and the girl couldn't imagine the time and patience it took to create such a magnificent –

"Thank the ninja we're home!" Jay cried, sprinting up the ramp without an acknowledgement of what Akali thought to be a work of art. Kai and Cole followed after, Kai shouting in relief and Cole giving Akali as much distance as possible. That just left Zane, head bowed in obvious unhappiness. It reminded her of a lost puppy. She sighed deeply. She couldn't just leave him to sulk now could she? Sure, Cole insulted her, Kai had had her come in the first place, and Jay had brought the whole fighting thing up, but Zane? Zane had done nothing but help and she had blown up on him too. She stopped, and Zane allowed himself a curious glance at her. "Why do you remain stationary Akali?" even his voice sounded different. Well more different than before. She retraced her steps back down the ramp, a small smile that looked more like a grimace on her face. She was not the type to apologize.

Walking straight up to Zane, she looked at the ground with discomfort. "Look, Zane. I'm sort of, well really, very….." she took a deep breath, rubbing the back of her neck for support. Zane was now staring at her curiously, a blank expression on his face. "I'm sorry I snapped at you. You were only helping me and I wasn't appreciative like I should have been." She wasn't sure whether to sit there and wait for a response or go follow the others. When the boy remained silent, she turned to walk away. A hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Thank you. I had searched through my database for possible reasons I was to be blamed for, and found nothing." Shrugging, Akali started up the ramp. She nearly struck out when the boy moved in front of her. He moved his face closer to hers, serious expression on his face. She didn't move, but frowned. "Zane? And what was that you said about databases?" the boy didn't respond. A few seconds of uncomfortable silence passed before he replied.

"You are puzzling." Akali blinked, surprised. He cocked his head slightly to the right, intense gaze still on her as if elaborating. He continued. "You were faced with an army of skeletons and chose to fight, not flee. You were rescued by the ninja of Ninjago – considered heroes – and appear infuriated. You were offered comfortable travel here and you refused. Then you were angered more so and attacked each of us emotionally excluding Cole who received physical, yet minor harm. Fourteen seconds ago you were absolutely fuming with no intent on calming down, and now you apologize? I, nor the other ninja, understand you." Another blink. How was she supposed to respond to that?

"Well, let's just say I'm like water. I'm usually calm and silent, but when my peace is disrupted I become agitated and engulf my enemies both physically and mentally. But as soon as my enemies are gone or contained, I am at peace. Minor disturbances do not cause a ruckus, but as more and more build up problems are inevitable. What Cole said, it pushed me over the edge." It was Zane's turn to be unresponsive. She was at the base of the ramp now, and more than anything she wanted to go home. Home-sickness gripped her firmly, digging its roots into her skin.

"Hey Akali, you want to get fixed up don't you?" Leaning over the edge of the ship was the red boy – Kai she remembered – hands cupped around his mouth to help project his voice. With a curt nod Akali turned away from Zane and started up the ramp. Each footstep echoed against the silent surroundings and she tensed up again. When she got on the deck Kai punched her lightly on the arm, a half smile on his face. . "I heard the whole thing, you big softy." Akali couldn't help but out on a little smile and chuckle. It came out more of a wheeze as she fought to keep the pain induced tears from falling down her cheeks. She didn't cry. Ever.

Kai seemed to notice and remember the whole reason she was here was for, "We'll have you wait in our room. It's warm, just like we said." The trip was short and in no time she was sitting on a bed, elbows on her knees and head in her hands as she waited for this sensei guy to tend to her. Not as exciting as one would think. The room the ninja shared was normal. Two sets of bunk beds sat on opposite sides against a wall. The beds opposite her were different. The top one was folded and neat with white covers while the other was black, untidy and had a few tears. The bunk she was sitting under had had red sheets with the covers pulled halfway down the bed as if the person had literally jumped out of the bed and thought nothing more about their sleeping quarters. The bed she sat on was neat like the white one but when Akali had sat down one of the pillows had fallen to the ground. As she went to pick it up, two photos had come out of the covers. Curiosity got the best of her and she quickly snatched them up. The first one was of Jay with a man and woman who Akali guessed were his parents in front of a sign with the word "junkyard" on it. All three had their arms around each other and where smiling happily. Jay looked about the same as he did now. In the second picture was a girl dressed in red with a smile on her face. She looked a bit like Kai. Akali allowed a faint smile to flash on her lips. Looks like Jay fancied someone.

The faint sound of voices made the girl quickly stuff the pictures back into the pillow and in turn put the pillow back on the bed. Her actions had been too quick, and the others came in to find her clutching her chest about ready to swear. They stayed back to allow someone else to get through. The first thing Akali noticed was how old he was. Deep wrinkles lined his face and the only hair on his head was in his impressively long, snow white beard. He had both hands behind his back as he strolled calmly into the room. His eyes and smile expressed his calm nature while the ninjas' showed worry. Even Cole seemed genuinely concerned. Akali, still clutching her chest, narrowed her eyes. From behind his back, the old man pulled out a tea kettle with two cups.

"Greetings, Akali. In the short time the ninja have returned, they explained to me your current condition. If you had not already guessed, I am Sensei Wu. Tea?"

Author's Notes: This chapter was originally much longer, but I decided it could be split into two. I'm not too fond of this chapter, too much dialogue for my taste but what is a female to do? Anyway, thanks for the awesome reviews and I hope this chapter also meets your expectations! If it doesn't, I must know why!

Note: Yes, it was Zane who rescued Akali. :3 Cole just took over when Zane caught her. As for what will become of my dearest little warrior girl….that will be in the one of the next few chapters. ;)

~AK