Chapter 10- Naomi's shot

"I swear mom I'm fine," Lloyd finally managed to move his mom enough so that he could stand. He looked down at his suit and tried to fix the hopelessly wrinkled mess.

"Fine," Misako gave it up, her son was far too stubborn him being a Garmadon and all. "But you still don't have to come with us, Are you sure you don't want to stay with your father?"

"Yes," Lloyd muttered for the billionth time, the annoyance in his voice making him sound slightly rude. His mom had required Naomi to accompany them so Lloyd was obliged to be there as well so that he could protect her from whatever dangers the forest could hold.

You're sooo lovesick A mocking voice echoed through his mind.

Yeah yeah whatever He'd finally admitted to himself what he was feeling. It hadn't gone away like he'd planned so he would just have to stop running and deal with his… emotional problem. Either way ignoring it took far more energy from him than it was worth.

"Alright then," sighed Misako knowing she was fighting a lost battle. "We had better hurry the others are waiting,"

They stepped out onto the unforgiving sunrays. Lately the days had been so hot the ninja were definitely looking up to the change of scenery the trip would bring. As if being controlled by an invisible magnet Lloyd's eyes located Naomi almost instantly. Her hair was pulled up into two buns, kept in place by light purple ribbons that matched her eyes. Since her hair wasn't exactly 'tamed' strands of it had escaped the ribbon's grasp and were hanging loose at the sides of her slightly sunburned cheeks.

Ok so how do you make a girl like you?

To be honest he'd prefer to battle against thousands of overlords than to deal with stuff like this, but it wasn't exactly up to him. He knew acting like a fool around Naomi wouldn't get him anywhere though his body seemed to have different ideas. She's looking at him? Let's turn his cheeks bright red for good measure. Oh wait he's trying to talk? No that won't do at all! Stuttering is always best, Or maybe-

SLAM!

Lloyd smacked hard against the mast. His mind had purposely distracted him while blurring out his surroundings, thus slamming against the ship's main mast had been inevitable. He rubbed his face and tried to play it cool, but the guys had seen it all and had already started laughing.

"Oh son I really do think you should stay." In Misako's eyes his sudden clumsiness was due to the blow on the head he'd received.

"Instead of worrying about me shouldn't we get going?" Lloyd muttered rudely moving quickly towards the earth driller (I don't think it has a name but Cole drives it in 'The island of darkness'). He could feel Naomi's eyes on him and for god's sake his legs just wouldn't move anywhere near the speed he'd like.

Zane sat beside the green ninja allowing him to finally relax a little. Had it been any of the other guys beside him it would have been a long trip. Nya jumped in after double checking the gas tank making sure it was full. The trip was bound to be a long one, Misako hadn't given exact instructions as if she herself had no idea as to where they were heading, and there was no room for any delays.

Destiny had other plans, however, the way he always seems to do whenever something is needed to go well. Deep within the forest Misako tried to match up their surroundings to the vaguely sketched map on her hands. Her sister had still been young when she'd drawn it and the childish symbols were almost impossible to decipher. Lloyd's mother grew more and more nervous the deeper Nya drove into the forest. She knew the dangers this forest held under its mask of beauty all too well, and one second too many outside of her sister's protective circle could prove itself to be lethal.

"It's kind of nice here," Jay smiled following a butterfly with his eyes then winced when it slammed against the windshield. "Ok maybe not for bugs."

"Don't let it fool you," Misako warned, making sure to keep everybody alert. "There are probably predators watching us this very moment."

Jay and Naomi shivered.

"As if they stood a chance against my fire," Kai proudly patted his fire sword his ego so thick around him that it was almost physical.

"Fire would not be a very wise weapon in a forest," Sensei Wu pointed out without looking away from the scroll he was studying.

"Sensei is right Kai. The possibilities of burning more than 75% of the forest are very high," Zane agreed running every possible scenario through his mind in a matter of seconds. Kai mumbled to himself, deeply annoyed at not being able to be the hero if any disaster decided to sneak up on them.

As if on cue Nya groaned. "Oh no the engine is overheating, we're going to have to stop for a few seconds."

Misako frowned, "Is it really necessary?"

Nya nodded. "If we keep going the engine might give out completely,"

"I would definitely love to stretch out a little," Lloyd was eager to get out and try talking to Naomi. He wasn't a super smart robot that could learn sign language in a matter of seconds but he could read Naomi's expressions pretty good. Besides Jay had conquered Nya by spending time with her and that, being too shy to ask his mother for advice, was Lloyd's only guideline.

Misako agreed that her muscles where getting tired of sitting and the engine giving out on them was far worst than them resting for a while."Let's stop but everyone should stay close together."

Nya stopped the earth driller and opened it up allowing the sweet smell of the forest to finally sneak in and be breathing in. Everyone stepped out and walked around a bit. Naomi stretched a bit in her seat but otherwise stayed put. Clearly she still wasn't very comfortable around the others. Lloyd analyzed the situation. Should he sit right beside Naomi or on the seat in front of her? He definitely wanted to be close but the closer he was the higher the possibilities of his cheeks bursting into a bright red color that would put Kai's ninja suit to shame. After weighting out his options he decided that being in front was the safest way to go. He got ready to climb up onto the vehicle but a tremor through the earth sent him back onto the ground.

An earthquake? Or maybe. . . Cole? Lloyd sat up at looked around him where all the other ninja where all alert and ready. He risked one quick glance at Naomi and saw she was clinging tightly onto the bow and arrows Zane had made for her. The purple eyes where desperately praying that the threat approaching wasn't her brother.

Luckily for them Cole and Pythor were far away focused on their own problems. All the same the danger coming to them was no laughing matter. The thick trunks of the trees in front of them were thrown aside effortlessly by a giant, who stood well over 50 feet above them.

"Uh Lloyd?" Jay got his sword ready, "Do you have any more of those bottomless pits?"

Lloyd pulled his ninja hood to cover his face. "No but I do have THIS!"

He shot raw energy at the giants chest forcing it back a couple of steps but apart from burning its skin a little it really did nothing but anger it even more. The giant picked up a tree and threw it hard at Lloyd's direction. The ninja was able to cover himself with a force field and escaped the attack physically intact but his energy drained. His mother had been right; He hadn't completely recovered from his encounter with Pythor.

"Do not worry friends," Zane froze the giant's feet to the ground though the giant was only held back for a second and before anyone could congratulate Zane, the giant sent him soaring through the air with a strong blow. Jay ran to see if he was alright and Kai pulled out his sword which sensei quickly kicked from his hands.

"Don't make this worst Kai you know you can't use fire here,"

While the battle raged around her, Naomi was having her own internal war. For the third time on this couple of weeks she was watching other people get hurt while she stood back hiding in the shadows like the coward she was. She had a perfectly good weapon in her hands and Zane had been an excellent teacher. Then why wasn't she helping? Lloyd was using all of his energy to defeat the giant even though he still looked weak. Zane had already shaken off the blow and was already back into the fight freezing the giant's arm giving Lloyd extra time to evade the attacks. Jay was electrocuting it without rest hoping to make their enemy pass out. Even Kai, Sensei and Misako had found their own way to help by using spinjitzu on the trees around the giant causing them to fall and hit the monster on the way down.

So what about Naomi? Why wasn't she risking her life to protect the others too? No wonder everyone talked to her like she was still a small kid in need of protection. She hadn't proven herself of being something else. She'd allowed her grandparents to be eaten and Lloyd to be beaten up near death so what would her cowardice cause this time?

She didn't want to find out.

Naomi placed and arrow on her bow and pulled it back relaxing her muscles and trying to remember everything Zane had shown her. Where to shoot though? If she aimed at the creature's chest it would feel no more than a tickle and if she aimed at its head the arrow would not be strong enough to penetrate the thick skull. Except. . . If she was able to get its eye the arrow would travel directly to the giant's brain causing almost instant death. . .

Purple eyes centered on their mark. This was the time to show the others she wasn't as helpless as the others thought, that she wasn't fragile.

It was time to prove she was worth the legendary green ninja's attention.

Naomi released the arrow.