Josh was trying not to get caught.
One of the initiations before being accepted into the newly formed Ninja Academy (brought together from the Wind and Thunder academies by the Power Rangers Ninja Storm) was stealth. Light on the feet, quick to disappear and reappear. His testers were some of the toughest in the entire academy.
No one knew who their testers were until after they pass the test. It kept people from analyzing them, checking weaknesses. This was true stealth.
Josh leapt from one branch to the next silently. He could sense his pursuers' proximity.
But he had reached the end of the forest and there had to be at least 3 minutes left on the 30 minute clock. He needed to buy time, fast.
He considered using his own personal special ability to buy a minute but he didn't want to risk exposing himself... as a firebender.
Suddenly he felt an intense amount of heat invade the atmosphere.
He looked up and saw a meteor breaking through the atmosphere and heading directly towards the ninja temple.
Time was of the essence.
Josh sprinted from each branch to the next, landing as well as possible to reach the next one safely... not to say several didn't break on the way.
Josh leaped from the last branch over to the judge's table. The entire ninja class was looking up at the meteor.
"Is it heading this way?"
"Are we safe here?"
"Should I cancel my date tonight?" Random questions out of fear emerged from the students.
His 3 chasers emerged from the woods and landed beside him.
"Holy crap." Dustin said, unveiling his face from his ninja mask.
"We've gotta stop it." Shane said, discarding his mask.
"Right." Tori agreed.
"You can't." Josh said, trying to decide how best to take it down.
"We've gotta try." Shane decided, he absorbed the air around him and shot a billowing gust at it, trying to change its course.
Dustin shot everything he could lift with his mind but to no avail.
Tori tried a strong tidal wave but the meteor continued its descent.
Josh decided that it didn't matter if he kept himself secret now... if he didn't take it down, it would take them out.
He absorbed the heat from the meteor and spun around, drifting forward with each rotation.. on the final spin he punched towards the meteor and let the power of fire dominate his being. As the dragons had taught him, fire exploded, in complete control, out of his fists and smashed into the meteor, disintegrating it completely.
When the fire disappeared Josh put his hands down as a master would and allowed himself to breathe more fluently and less controlled.
"That was..."
"Unbelievable.."
"Fire-bending..."
"Wasn't that forbidden?"
"Josh, come forward." Sensei Watanabe requested.
Josh stepped forward reluctantly.
"You have been hiding that you have been practicing the ancient art of fire-bending."
"Yes Sensei." Josh agreed.
"You realize of course that fire-bending is a prohibited practice on the grounds of the Wind Ninja Academy?"
"Yes Sensei."
"You also realize that we are not on the grounds of Wind Ninja Academy anymore?"
"Yes Sensei." He answered, not sure what he was playing at.
"Come with me young fire-bender. And along bring Sensei Shane, Sensei Dustin, and Sensei Tori." Sensei said, turning around to calmly walk to his chambers.
The 4 followed him.
"Sensei what's going on?" Shane asked when they reached the old hideout for the rangers.
"10,000 years ago the avatar kept balance in the world. Avatar Kozu decided that the world would be a safer place if bending did not exist openly and used spirit magic to bend the human race's mind into forgetting the world of bending." Sensei explained, bringing a scroll that displayed a guy in dark red armor with glowing eyes unleashing the 4 elements onto the world.
"I read about that." Tori mentioned. "Avatar Kozu decided only a small group of people could keep their bending... and that's what established our roots. The Wind and Thunder Ninja Academies."
"Precisely Tori." Sensei agreed.
"And then Avatar Kozu died from bending to much energy and the Avatar was lost to the ages. No one ever found his next reincarnation and the world forgot what bending was." Shane added, having been with Tori when she was reading up on it.
"All but like...us right?" Dustin asked.
"Yes Dustin, except us."
"But your people banished fire-bending because they thought Avatar Kozu was insane for ending the Avatar cycle and changing the world so they took their revenge by banishing the art of fire-bending and expelling it from their lives." Josh finished.
"Why fire though?" Dustin asked. "I thought the avatar could bend, like, all the elements."
"Kozu was born fire-nation. His home was in the fire nation capital." Tori explained.
"And they obviously couldn't take it out on the dead Avatar so they blamed his nation." Shane added.
"Also because there was a lot of love lost for the Fire Nation after the 100 year war." Josh suggested.
"Yeah that didn't help things." Tori agreed.
"But what does that have to do with us now, Sensei?" Shane asked.
Cam, Hunter, and Blake walked in.
"They're up to speed, Dad." Cam said, moving to sit in his chair.
"Sozin's comet is due to return next summer." Sensei told them. "Along with the recurrence of Harmonic Convergence... and... the death of Avatar Kozu. This will not be a happy anniversary rangers."
They let that sink in...
"But now that a fire-bender is among us, the new avatar can begin their training and master the 4 elements." Cam told them.
"The only problem is...?" Blake asked, waiting for the punchline.
"We have absolutely no idea who he or she is." Cam said, dejectedly.
