Chapter 10: Origins
Quiet mews filled the large den to have Nya glance left and right from where she sat. Cats of short or long fur, old or young of age, all prowled in the den to be around the samurai. Many begged for the girl to pet them, but Nya simply shooed them off. The girl wished she could move away, but she was pinned to the couch as a cat laid in her lap. How could Dawn live with this many cats was beyond her? But also why did Dawn keep looking at her like if she was expecting her to come?
The raven haired girl in the yellow blouse sat across from her with the sandy furred cat, Blossom, on the arm rest of her chair. The small smile of hers made Nya a bit nervous to be in the large house in the suburbs of Ninjago City. It didn't help her as they looked at her amused as well. It really didn't help her as a lot of things were happening around her with this certain cat that has been following her around for the past few days. Why?
"Take no mind to them," the girl finally spoke to end the silence. "They really like new company that come here. Little attention seekers they are." She chuckled in the end to make Nya laugh sheepishly a bit. The cats around her shifted a bit as few finally left, even the one on her lap. The only cat remained was Blossom as she purred to Dawn's hand stroking her head. "Blossom here is an Oroborus Mau," Dawn continued. "A cat said to be sacred in ancient Ninjago times and an enemy to the Serpentine."
The samurai glanced at the Mau with an acknowledge look to nod. "Okay..." she said, puzzled. "But... what does she have to do with anything really?"
Dawn smiled. "In the ancient times, the People of Oroborus once lived in the Sea of Sands to honor and worship the Mau's for protection and strength. And in return, they would possess them with a...certain reward. Not only that, their gods were in wars against the Serpentine gods, tiresome wars against the Serpentine and Oroborus people until many years later they were sealed away in their tombs." Nya had to nod and rethink of the time when Lloyd found the Hypnobrai, Fangprye, and Pythor's tombs to unleash all of the Serpentine. "Blossom, however, isn't the typical cat for one to have around. For she knew of your fate."
Nya had to snap her head back to her to have her brown eyes widen a bit. "M-My fate?" she asked.
The raven haired girl finally stood from her chair to walk over to a bookcase and pulled out a thick book and walked back to Nya to take a seat next to her while Blossom remained in her spot on the arm chair. The samurai took a long stare at the thick book to raise a brow at the cover and opened the book to stare at the pages more. Each page held pictures of ancient ruins like she would see on the Lost City of Oroborus along with descriptions of each structure. It even held pictures of statues of cats, large and small kind. Each picture and description made her puzzled, but was fascinated with everything. She had to turn to Dawn to see her small smile. "You did this entire book?" she wondered.
"My mother is an archeologist and has taken me on a few expeditions to the other ruins in the Sea of Sands." Dawn replied with a small nod. "What fascinated me about this was the certain reward I haven't mentioned yet when it comes to the cats, even from Blossom." She looked towards the cat with Nya to see its amused face. "The People of Oroborus were gifted with a special ability that would make them unlike any other. But it only affected the female as the cat gods were actually goddesses." She turned the page to show a painted image of a female body goddess with a cat's head. And in her arms was an Oroborus Mau.
Nya had to try and catch her breath as it hitched to the sight of the cat like the one from across of her. This cat was everywhere she was. "So... What does this have to do with me then being here?" she asked, not in a demanding tone to know the answers.
Dawn took the book from them to set it on the coffee table and turned to her to look her deep in the eyes. "You may have never noticed," she said. "But you're a Catwoman."
Thin brows became furrowed to the name to stifle a laugh. "I'm sorry, but I'm a what?"
"A Catwoman, you were given such a gift that enables you to become unlike any person around you. You have abilities of like a cat, and among other things. This is the reward you were given from Blossom."
Another stifle laugh escaped from the samurai to get up from her seat to look at Dawn in the eyes. "I don't think there's anything like that at all," she said. "I've seen skeletons come to life, fought against Serpentine and pirates and even certain samurais that looked like stone. But in my head, I doubt there's anything of a Catwoman or I have cat-like abilities." and turned on her heels to head for the door.
Not facade in anyway or feel struck, Dawn simply reached behind her to open a small box to reveal a mesh ball and tossed it to the girl as she walked away. Nya felt it land her shoulder to grab the ball and looked at it. But a strong smell emitted from the ball to feel her mind become foggy to the sweet aroma to quickly nuzzle her nose against it and rubbed it against her cheek to play with it. Dawn only smiled as she walked to her and gently took the toy from her. "Catnip," she inquired. "A favorited herb only affects onto cats and Catwoman alike." Nya felt her heart racing now to feel like she has to believe this now. She just acted like a cat with a toy. "Come with me," and lead the way.
The distrusted girl followed after her in the large house until they entered to what looked like a small library. The two climbed up the small winding staircase to the second floor to walk down the metal catwalk until they reached a small case that housed cat statues and a mask that looked like a cat's face. "Catwoman were strong women for when it comes to their time of needs to use their abilities in their own ways. Each generation, a new Catwoman would appear in Ninjago. Many of which can either make them a hero or a villain. Even for you now." The samurai looked at the case to shakily nod. "You speed and agility have increased, your strength is much stronger than it was. Your eyes can advance as if you were seeing up close. And your ears can depict from far locations as a bat would."
Puzzled, the girl looked at her hands to take a shaky breath to wonder how she knew all of this from the Mau in the other room. She had to wonder how she obtained these abilities then. "How does this affect me then when I don't remember anything?" she demanded.
"You don't remember what happened on the night of the fire then, don't you?" Dawn asked. Nya's eyes widen to the mention of her with the fire at the conservatory and the Mau that lead her to that. "You died." Her brown eyes widen to take a shaky breath. "Blossom knew of your fate, the fire and fall that took your life away, but she revived you to be a Catwoman."
Her heart was racing to take more shaky breathes to lean on the railing to try and catch her breath. But in her head, she could see images flash in her mind of the fire incident, cats surrounding her with Blossom on her chest, and the jewelry robbing that happened last night with her fighting the other two robbers. Everything was becoming too fast to her to turn back to Dawn as she laid a hand on her chest to be gently pushed off the railing that opened up to let her fall. But in her response, she quickly turned her body to gently land of her fingers and feet in a crouch. This made her worried and scared.
"Do not be afraid, sister." Dawn called from above with a file folder in her hand. "For there were others before you." and tossed the file to let the pictures and files fall and surround Nya. The samurai gazed at each picture to see pictures of women from olden times of Ninjago to ones that were almost twenty years ago. Newspaper articles describing of cat burglars to rescuers. All were almost the same, along with the one Oroborus Mau in the center of the pile. Her heart kept racing to the images and didn't hear Dawn approach her to be startled at her touch on the shoulder. She looked down at the cat mask in her hand. "Accept the mask, sister. For you were given this gift and destined to wear it for the one that had killed you."
Her hand felt stuck to move but softly took the thick velvet felt mask to gaze into the eyes to feel her eyes become watery, but dared to not shed any tears. Seeing she had actually died and revived by Blossom and other cats was awful news to her, but to bear this new life. "So I'm no longer Nya," she softly choked.
"Oh but you are still," Dawn softly chastised. "But the old Nya is gone, and the new one is still you." The girl turned back to the mask to feel unsure of herself.
The cool night sky sent small shivers down her tanned skin as she sat on the ledge of Dareth's roof to see the large skyscrapers of Ninjago City around her. And in her hand was the velvet felt mask Dawn had given her to sigh softly. The entire time and she never could figure it out was the fact that she had actually died. From what Kai had told her before, the ability to take down Cole swiftly in training, and even the bed full of stolen jewelry, she was a Catwoman now. A person with cat-like abilities to make her different from her brother and friends. And was even killed to become such now. All was just too much for her to let it comprehend into her at once. She had to accept it though.
A small mew didn't startle the girl as she heard the Mau approach her to avert her chocolate brown eyes to the cat as it sat next to her. She softly sighed again to gently scratch her neck and turned to the city skyline. "Someone out there murdered me, Blossom." she breathed quietly. "And I'm going to find out who."
Darkness surrounded the meta-human girl as she walked in the quietness below the city. Her footfalls echoed after each step from the moisture on the stone floor. The foul smell of the sewer lingered in the air, but it couldn't bother her as the sweet scent of her pheromones concealed the smell from her. It felt safe for her to be below the city. Away from civilization for she didn't know how people would see her as of today. Green skinned with bright red hair.
Ivy finally felt the space around her slowly become large to realize she was now walking into a large clearing to finally stop. She held out her right hand high to close her eyes to feel a small sensational feeling leave her palm to see light appear through her eyelids to finally open them to see small plants of translucent green and blue hue brighten the dark room. She smiled to this to turn to the venomous bulb plant that rested on her right shoulder. "I think this will do fine my darling." she said softly and walked to the center of the clearing. "In the legends, it took the First Spinjitzu Master a miracle to create Ninjago," She conjured a vine to sprout from the stone floor to reveal the earth beneath it. "Let's see how I can favor as well with miracles." Her right hand glowed softly to produce seeds and dropped them into the hole of dirt.
The ground softly shook to have Ivy spring to her feet to maintain her balance but watched as vines grew from the ground. But they suddenly grew large and thick and started to form around in the large clearing. Ivy smiled to herself the plants around her were growing and growing until everything had formed into a fortress. A towering plant wall with blossoms of different variety of flowers everywhere with vines hanging from the ceiling to make appear as a jungle underneath Ninjago City. The girl kept her smile plastered and turned to her bulb friend to stroke it gently. "So my darling, what shall we do first?"