Chapter 10: Orange Is My Color
Paige gave them weird looks. "I'd say you're all crazy if Sienna hadn't told me she was a ninja herself."
"I see, she confides her trust in you?" Sensei Wu inquired.
"Yeah, I am her best friend, no, sister after all," the dark-haired girl replied. "But we're not actually related, just in case you were confused."
"If Sienna trusts you, then I trust you," Cole spoke up. He turned to the other boys. "Right, guys?"
The other four ninjas agreed, and Paige couldn't help but feel a bit touched. She had never had so many new people trust her so quickly before. Though they wouldn't be this way if it weren't for Sienna, the chocolate-eyed girl thought. But she didn't care, the yellow ninja was a very trustworthy person, so her best friend was fine with being known by her name.
"I believe that if Paige is to start training, she must first receive her uniform."
Before the young girl could ask what Sensei Wu meant, the old man became a golden tornado and spun around her. Once he stopped Paige was clad in clothing very different from Sienna's ninja outfit. The Italian girl had on a loose orange long-sleeved shirt; its sleeves hung down and flowed with the movement of her arms. She also had an orange mini-skirt that ended about five inches above her knees; the skirt was equally loose and flowing, and shifted around her legs when she moved. To top it all off she had orange flats with ribbons in the same hue that wrapped around her calves, tying in tiny bows just below her knees. Paige observed her new outfit with a bemused expression.
"You couldn't have given me something less... girly looking?" she joked.
The wise man turned to his male students. "I expect you to train the ninja of water until she is strong enough to help rescue her teammate of wind. We will have to wait to save Sienna, but Nya will continue to search for where the Serpentine may have taken her."
"Yes, Sensei," the male ninjas complied.
"But what about Sienna's family? They don't even know she's a ninja, let alone what happened to her," Paige pointed out.
"If Sienna did not tell her family she is a ninja, then it must be for a reason. It is only right though that she is the one to inform them of her destiny."
With that, Sensei Wu retreated below deck, leaving his students to do what they must.
"Paige, be careful!" Zane called to his newest teammate as she tripped and fell face-first onto the deck.
The other ninjas cringed, that had to hurt. Yet the controller of water recovered quickly, bouncing up like a spring with a smile.
"I'm fine!" she chirped with a small laugh.
It was official, Paige was by far the strangest person they'd ever met. Although she was weird, she had a lot of energy and seemed to lift some of the gloominess that had settled over the Bounty ever since Sienna had been captured.
"You're never going to get anywhere in your training if you don't stop hurting yourself. I swear, you're a greater danger to yourself than the Serpentine are," Kai commented curtly.
"Listen here, fire boy. I don't give a damn about what you say, because I don't take crap from arrogant people like you," the olive-skinned girl retorted in an angry tone.
The blue, black, white, and green ninjas were a bit surprised by this, considering most people didn't respond this way to Kai's remarks. Even the fire ninja himself was slightly taken aback, so he didn't say anything else to the provoked girl. Instead, he just scowled and glared at her.
"Why don't we just continue training...?" Jay suggested, trying to ease the tension and break the silence.
"Alright," both the red and orange ninjas grumbled in agreement.
It makes sense that the two of them won't get along, Zane thought to himself, they are elementally opposite. They all resumed their training session, which was excruciating and vigorous, but highly effective. Paige was making progress, slowly but surely, and even Lloyd seemed to be improving a little. The ninja of water noticed the other ninjas' (excluding Lloyd) Golden Weapons as they retrieved them from the weaponry room, making her chocolate-colored eyes widen.
"Cool! Do I get one?" she questioned.
"Uh, they're kinda special, sorry kid. But maybe you can find something else in the weaponry room that you want to use," the earth ninja replied with a small smile.
Paige nodded then she went to said room. She looked around for a few minutes, searching for just the right weapon. As she was searching she began to ponder over this whole situation. Of all the people in the world, why were me and Sienna chosen to be ninjas, the young girl wondered, and what are we supposed to do to help? For the first time in forever the ninja of water thought about her future, without any ridiculous fantasies. Then her thoughts drifted back to her friend... and her encounter with Lloyd at the school before coming here. She finally grabbed a double-bladed dagger and hurried back out to the deck. Paige glanced over at the green ninja, her mind racing with jumbled up thoughts. The Italian girl wondered just what Lloyd meant when he said Sienna was "more than a teammate".
A/N: I am soooo sorry for not updating sooner! I've been neglecting this story and you lovely readers (again)! Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, because I honestly had a lot of fun writing that short little fight between Paige and Kai. Trust me, there's gonna be a LOT more of that in the future! Oh, I just remembered something that literally blew my mind... I have over 20 reviews and over 1,000 views! I can't believe it! Thank you all sooooo much, I love each and every one of you! And... I'm rambling again... Wonderful... *sighs* Welp, Imma go now. Bye! :)
~Have a nice day/night/lunch break/whatever!