Oh my goodness! I just woke up and it's 2:00 in the afternoon! Let's get this update on the road. This chapter was, like, five pages in my Microsoft Word document, but it looks really short on here. Oh well...


Chapter Seven: Damsel No More

Laurie sat on the edge of her bed, the same one she remembered waking up in months ago after her father had rescued her from the desert. "Why did you want me back?" she asked angrily. Belinda had given Laurie her voice back after they arrived on the Black Bounty. "I'm a ninja now and Lloyd tells me that you always want to 'destroy' the ninja."

Lord Garmadon frowned at his only daughter. "Laurie, I love you. I want you and your brother safe, here, with me." He sat down on the comforter next to her, noticing as she shifted farther away. "Pythor told me of the most powerful deity of the Serpentine religion, trapped in the Underworld. I created a portal with the Mega Weapon that allowed her to travel here to Ninjago. She is only here to retrieve you and Lloyd, and then I will send her back to the Underworld."

"You honestly summoned an age old goddess to be a kidnapper?" Laurie questioned, her facial expression communicating boredom. "She's all powerful and stuff like that. You could have her, like, destroy Ninjago a thousand times and rebuild it."

"I summoned Belinda for a specific purpose and then I will send her back." With that, the evil lord stood up and walked to the door of the cabin. "If you need me, I'll be in the captain's quarters" he stated before leaving.

"Yeah, whatever" mocked Laurie, crossing her arms angrily over her chest. "I can't believe how stupid his whole scheme is" she remarked, standing to pace the floor. "There are so many better things that Belinda could do." Hushed voices wafted into the room, silencing Laurie. With a smile on her face, the girl crept to her door.

"Garmadon is in his quarters" remarked a muffled Pythor. "Now, let me enlighten you on the next phase of this plan."

"Next phase" Laurie breathed, pushing her ear to the door. The steel was extremely cold, making her shiver. "I just thought the plan was to bring Lloyd and me back here". She tried everything in her power not to make any noise, but Laurie continually heard her own labored breathing over what was being disclosed.

Suddenly, the door fell away and the girl's face met the wooden floor with an unpleasant smack. Disoriented and confused, Laurie tried to pick herself up, but her head was roughly yanked upwards by her hair. Belinda stared at the girl, smiling when she noticed the red knot that was beginning to form on Laurie's forehead. "Aw, what happened?" the goddess teased, attempting to make a convincing pouting face. "Was someone trying to eavesdrop and then hurt themselves? That's called karma, sweetie."

Laurie narrowed her eyes and sniffed, trying to stay brave in the face of her captors. "Let me go" she stated firmly, feeling as if every individual strand of hair was being ripped from her scalp. Belinda let go of Laurie's hair and the orange ninja caught herself before she could hit the floor once more.

"Yuck" Belinda complained, shaking her right hand. "Some of your hair got on me. Are you molting or something?"

"I don't molt" Laurie huffed, crossing the room to sit back on the bed. Awkwardly, she hugged her legs which were adorned in black fleece pajama pants. Occasionally she had wondered why the ninja did not just fight in normal clothing. Now Laurie understood why. Her uniform made her feel more confident and powerful; her pajamas, not so much. "Humans don't molt".

Belinda entered the room with Pythor trailing behind her. Looking extremely bored, the goddess lazed on the foot of Laurie's cot. "So, pipsqueak, how much did you hear?"

"Hear?" Laurie asked, trying to keep her voice calm and her breathing even. Her heart was palpating hard against her chest and she could feel her stomach tighten into a knot. "I don't know what you're talking about. I was just about to come out of the room to speak with my father, that's all".

Pythor slithered over, a smirk on his face. "You must have been very close to the door if you fell when we opened it." He searched the girl's face carefully and noticed that she was avoiding all eye contact. "Surely you weren't going to talk with Lord Garmadon. He had just left the room a few minutes prior."

The orange ninja swallowed hard, caught in her fib. "I had forgotten to tell him something was all" she laughed nervously. There was no way Pythor and Belinda thought she was telling the truth. Laurie had never been a decent liar, she was only slightly convincing when she had amnesia back when she first met the ninja. "You know what though" Laurie continued, scooting along the bed spread until her back met the wall, "it's not all that important. I'll just stay here."

"Are you sure?" asked Belinda, leaning on Laurie's right shoulder. "You can go talk to your dad if you really want to." The goddess leaned in close, her mouth an inch from the girl's ear. "Of course" she whispered, "unless you're trying to escape."

Escape. The word had never crossed Laurie's mind. She felt like kicking herself for not even thinking of attempting to get back to Ninjago City on her own accord. The girl had just expected Kai and the rest of the ninja to come searching for her. It seemed entirely selfish now that she thought about. Laurie was a ninja, not a damsel in distress. It was time she stopped relying on everyone else and took matters into her own hands. "Escape" Laurie growled, shifting away from Belinda, "why would I do that? You threatened to kill Kai if I didn't come with you. Why would I try to leave and risk you hurting him or anyone else?"

Belinda blinked slowly, leaning away from the girl. She had not expected such a response. "Well then…" she tried to say something but could not think of a single thing to say. She glanced around the room, her indigo eyes looking utterly lost. Finally she stood and whispered something to Pythor that Laurie could not hear. "Stay here, girl" Belinda addressed Laurie, her eyes narrowed in frustration. Pythor and the goddess exited the room and Laurie heard the soft click of a lock.

Finally alone, Laurie let out a breath that she had been holding for the longest time. Her muscles relaxed and she lay down properly on the bed. Laurie had found it easy to dissuade Belinda from thinking she would attempt to escape. Escaping was risky and the counter argument she had provided to the goddess was highly plausible. The orange ninja stared at the ceiling and threw her left arm over her forehead. She had done it; she had actually gotten the upper hand on her captors. Now the only thing left to do was actually try and formulate an escape plan.

The door to the room, the only visible exit, was now locked. Laurie exhaled deeply once more, trying to prevent herself from becoming hopeless. "Come on" she whispered to herself thoughtfully. "You can figure out a way off of this ship. You're the prophesized ninja. If you can't get yourself out of a little jam like this, how are you going to protect your brother?" With her pitiful pep talk completed, Laurie sat up and looked around the room. There seemed to be nothing with which could be used to escape. Then, the orange ninja saw it: a porthole, just above a nightstand, in the wall to her right. She smiled before hopping off of the bed.

The nightstand was made of oak and was heavier than she had anticipated it. Much to Laurie's chagrin, it made an awful sound as she pushed it away from the porthole. She expected Pythor or Belinda to come running into the room any second. Unfortunately, there was not enough time to worry about that. With a grunt, Laurie gave a final push and relaxed when the nightstand hit the corner of the room. Taking in a deep breath, the orange ninja unlatched the porthole and watched as it swung open.

The salty sea breeze felt like an old friend and gave her a sudden surge of strength. "I can do this" she grinned, peering out of the open hole. The water below lapped at the Black Bounty's hull, but the distance between Laurie and the water did not seem very great. "Time to get out of here" Laurie breathed, preparing to fit through the porthole. "I'm coming back, guys".


Aw yeah. It's time to head back to the ninja and leave the Black Bounty behind. Go Laurie!

Still hope everyone is enjoying this because I'm having a lot of fun writing this. More fun than writing the first one, but I don't know why. I think I'm going to close the poll on my profile next weekend so if you haven't voted for the name of my OC and you would like to you only have a little time left. Thanks for everyone who has voted and is reading, reviewing, following, etc. You guys probably do know how much I appreciate it, but I'm going to tell you anyways. I appreciate it! :D