Fandom - Ninjago

Summary - When Morro is rescued by the Elemental Alliance, he must choose whether or not to continue his search for the Tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master or join the Alliance in their war against the Serpentine. At the same time, he learns something about his Sensei's family that he formerly didn't know, all while uncovering the story of his own forgotten past.

Rating - K+ for light descriptions of wounds and violence. No sex, no swearing.

Characters - Morro, Ray, Maya, Garmadon, Wu, Elemental Masters, and OCs

CHAPTER ONE

The first thing Morro noticed was a heartbeat- a quiet th-thump deep within his chest. It started out unsteadily, then slowly grew stronger until it was deafening. Then his sense of smell returned to the stench of singed hair and burnt flesh, overlaid with the sweeter, soft scent of healing herbs.

He didn't open his eyes yet, his eyelids feeling far too heavy and sore to exert the effort needed to move them. But he must have made some sort of sound, because the next thing he heard was the sound of footsteps approaching, and a female voice saying, "I think he's awake."

There was a light touch to his cheek. "Can you hear me?" the same voice said softly.

Morro's brows knit a little bit and he gave a very small nod of his head.

Now, he forced his eyes to open a sliver. The world outside was blurry and altogether too bright. It was a mix of reds and whites that made him dizzy. He gave a soft groan and closed his eyes again.

"Shh, it's alright. Here, drink this. It will help." Morro felt a hand lifting the back of his head and something touched his lips. The smell that hit his nose was one that was all too familiar—it was an herbal tea, like the kind he used to drink with Sensei.

"Ginger and Peppermint," he murmured softly, taking a sip of the tea. It felt good on his aching throat.

"Um... yes... it is."

Morro opened his eyes again, now blinking a little bit. It still hurt, but it wasn't so bad now. Actual shapes began swimming into his vision as the cup of tea was pulled away from him. A young woman with black hair and tanned skin was sitting next to him. He was inside a tent—he could tell that much from the size of the interior, and from the color and shape of the walls.

"I... where am I? What happened?" he asked, his voice scratching against his sore throat.

"You're in an Elemental Alliance camp," the woman replied. "We just rescued you from the Caves of Despair. We got word of a group of Serpentine planning to attack a village in there, but evidently the news was false."

"It wasn't all wasted, though," another voice spoke up, this one male. Morro turned to see a young man who was about the age of the woman enter the tent. "We found you just before the kethanol geyser killed you."

Morro frowned a little. Kethanol geyser? Caves of Despair?

Slowly, the memories of what had gone on began to return to him. He'd been searching for the tomb... Garmadon had told him it was there, deep inside the caves. Then he'd come to a bright chamber. He'd thought he'd found it—it had just been so different from the rest of the caves, it looked so much more dangerous. He'd been sure he'd be able to find a way to the tomb from there. But he hadn't. Evidently, he'd been in the gaseous chamber for far too long. He vaguely remembered collapsing. Morro closed his eyes again. He'd been tricked. Sent to die. The tomb wasn't in the Caves of Despair. Why would it be in a place with a name like that anyway?

"Uhh..." he groaned, tilting his head slightly. "I... what's wrong with me?"

"You inhaled a lot of gas," the woman replied. "But I think you'll be alright. What's your name?"

He blinked, slowly. Finally, his eyes were adjusting to the outside world. "It's Morro," he rasped. Now he had a closer look at the two in the tent with him. The woman seemed at most five or six years older than him, while the man was just a little older than that. The woman was actually quite pretty, her long black hair freely resting against her shoulders and her blue eyes seemed intelligent and kind. The man's hair was deep red-brown and spiked up, and his eyes were dark and almost playful. He had a thin mustache and beard. She had on blue robes, and he wore red. Both were decorated with kanji. Morro frowned a little. Hers was the symbol for water, his for fire... Hadn't they said something about an Elemental Alliance?

"You're... you're elemental masters," he whispered, his eyes widening just a bit.

The two of them nodded. "I'm Ray, master of Fire, and this is Maya, Master of Water." The man introduced them.

A small smile quirked onto the edges of Morro's face. "I... I didn't know there were others," he said softly. "I'm the master of Wind."

They turned to look at one another, then at Morro. The boy watched them with a growing frown, uncertain if he should have said anything—after all, the last time he'd said anything about who he was, he'd gotten sent to his death. That Garmadon... Morro hadn't even done anything wrong! Why had he wanted to kill him? Maybe he really knew the tomb's true location and just didn't want to tell some kid where to find his father's tomb. But why try to have him killed then?

"What's wrong?" Ray asked, jolting Morro back to the present.

"I... nothing," he croaked. "Could I have more tea?"

Maya nodded and held the cup to his lips. He drank it down quickly, the warm liquid coating his throat. He closed his eyes and sighed. His eyes still stung, probably from the ash. That wasn't the only problem though. By now, the pain had begun to return, now that the initial shock of actually being alive had passed. Not to mention the fact that, despite the warm tea, he still felt cold inside. Come to think of it, he'd felt that way ever since he'd left Garmadon's camp to head to the Caves of Despair... but not as bad as it was now.

"I... I'm not feeling well," he whispered, squeezing his eyes shut now. "Could I... could I sleep?"

Maya nodded, a frown creasing her expression. "Of course. We'll let you rest."

Morro listened as their footsteps retreated, and then relaxed into the cot he lay in. Certainly, his life had been saved. But what now? He was no closer to finding the tomb than when he'd started, and in his current condition, he doubted he'd be ready to search for it any time soon. But what was all of this? Serpentine attacks? The Elemental Alliance? There were other elemental masters? How many were there?

As these questions ran through his mind, he finally drifted off to sleep. His body still needed time to heal.