Silent Dreams 'Tween: Knowledge is Power
Okay, two of you asked for this, and I say that that's enough motivation to get this done. It also just kept bugging me to do a chapter or two where I could take it easy. And, I've been sick recently, which gives me time to do this.
Pardon my dialogue if it's not the best (that was really the main reason why Silent Dreams doesn't have a whole lot of dialogue. Dialogue is my writer's weakness). I hope you all still like this.
I will not be replying to any reviews on this chapter immediately. I'll probably cover those on the Tuesday update. But know that I still greatly appreciate all of you, especially ShinyShiny9 who left me a super long review. Welcome to the review club... if that's a thing!;)
Again, disclaimer: Never owned Ninjago, likely never will. And that's ok. I'm just a fanfiction writer who hopes to develop writing skills through this.
They had to stop for the night at some point, no matter how tense she was and is about being discovered. But there was no use in losing strength over a bit of gained distance. And her body was already reminding her that she hadn't had a full rest since before the strangers had arrived.
So, she had set up a camp for them in a small valley where they were mostly concealed by the hills. She stoked a small fire to keep them all warm in this cold desert. Now, they sit around the flames, laughing and reminiscing over things she does not understand. But she still sits with them: studying their mannerisms and personalities. All she really knows is that the blue one, the one they call Jay, is annoying beyond recall and is continuously referring to a person named Nya, who she can only assume is a girl that he has fallen for. Kai, the red ninja who's rather sarcastic but determined. But she already knew that just by watching. The metal man. Really no other way to describe the oddity named Zane. Cole, the dirt-wielding ninja who is more the quiet type, but at the same time unusually compassionate and parental. The son of the First Spinjitzu Master sits quietly on his own, mindlessly admiring the millions of stars that she usually never notices.
"So... what about you, Faith?"
"What?" She hadn't really been listening much to their conversation.
"We were jut talking about getting to know each other a little more. Anything special about you we should know about?"
Why would they be so eager to get to know her? It's not like she's going to reveal her entire mind in front of these strangers. Just because she is with them doesn't mean she trusts them.
So, she lies. "My first memory was of the Baron."
"Ugh, that's creepy," the little boy in blue comments.
"I hope you pardon my interruption, but you appear to be lying," the metal man says.
"I am not."
"You took 3.9 seconds longer than expected to answer, and your body language-"
"Excuse the robot, Faith. No one can hide anything from him," Jay interjects before the "robot" can prove his point.
"Ro-bot?" she repeats, trying to pronounce the almost-foreign word.
"Just forget it. It's too difficult to explain," Kai dismisses.
Cole looks at her. "You can trust us, you know, right? You don't have to lie."
"I don't trust anyone," she replies directly. That is meant to be the end of the conversation, but the blue ninja doesn't seem to take it as such.
"Seems about right..." Jay murmurs. Kai gives him a fiery look.
She feels the sudden need to explain herself. She inhales. "Where I live, we stay within our clans. Few families within clans will even share recent events. We are rather closed off from each other."
"So you all don't do anything together?" the son of the First Spinjitzu Master asks. She looks at him. "No."
"Wow," is all Kai says after a few moments of silent contemplation.
"But what about birthday parties? Weddings? Graduations?" the blue ninja blurts.
This kid is rather petty. "I do not know what you speak of," she speaks truthfully. "We have coming-of-age celebrations within families, but that is it."
"No wonder it's so boring here." Another look from the red ninja cuts the talkative zappy boy off.
"What was your 'coming-of-age celebration' like?" Cole asks.
Simple question. Simple answer. "I don't know," she says after a moment. "I never had one."
"What?" They look so peculiarly astounded.
"But didn't your family give you one?" Cole asks.
She doesn't answer. She would rather not answer. There's no need to bring up the dead.
They do seem to catch onto the silence, she'll give them that.
"Do you even have a family, Faith?" Kai asks carefully. She breathes heavily, clenches her fists, opens her now-moist eyes that shouldn't have been moist in the first place, because they're dead, as in gone... "No."
"Well, you must have had someone at some point," the blue ninja says.
"Jay!" She is glad that the red one has gotten him to shut up for once. She's sure that it's not for long, though.
"What? It's true."
"Why would you want to know?" she asks.
Kai shrugs. "Well, you know, I guess that's how conversations go. You exchange information-"
"Well, I am sorry that I don't know how to carry conversations well. I've spent many years behind a mask," she responds, a hint of bitterness in her voice.
"Then... that's all right. We can teach you," Cole says. Them. Offering her help?
"Yeah, Faith. Just ask us questions, and we'll ask you some other questions," Jay says.
Honestly, she doesn't have anything better to do at the moment. And if she's going to be allied with these colorful elemental masters, she needs to get to know them.
"All right," she concedes. She begins with a question directed to the blue ninja. "Who is this Nya you speak of so often?"
"Oh, now you'll get him going," Kai chuckles.
"Nya is only the most beautiful woman on the face of Ninjago. She has these blue eyes that flow like a waterfall, her laugh is beyond contagious, and when she looks at me, I feel like the happiest person in the world." This is all she hears before he babbles onwards about nonsensical information that has absolutely nothing to do with her. She didn't expect the boy to give such a long and boring answer.
She doesn't know what to say, other than... "You look like an idiot right now."
The blue ninja feigns offense. "Wait till you fall in love, Faith. You'll be just like him."
She turns to the red ninja. "How would you know? Does the spiky-haired red ninja have a special someone in his life?"
"First of all, my name's Kai. And second, let me tell you about Skylor." The red ninja goes on with a grueling tale of meeting a beautiful red-head who once was against him but then warmed up to his charming good looks and irresistible persona. Or so he says.
"He is not the only one. I, too, have found my match," the metal man picks up.
"Ah, yes. The infamous magnetic pair," Kai jokes.
"You too?" she wonders, rubbing her temples, exasperated. "I am surrounded by dreamy imbeciles." She turns to the earth ninja. "I suppose you have someone as well, rock man?"
The blue ninja snickers silently. "What?"
"She just called you 'rock man'," he laughs before answering the question for Cole. "Faith, Mr. Black-Heart single guy over here is all alone," he says, his tone surprisingly lighter than his words imply.
"Hey, I'm waiting for the right one," Cole says to try to defend himself.
"As long as it's not Harumi." They all laugh, other than the son of the First Spinjitzu Master, who looks about as clueless as she feels. It's probably best that she won't try to ask who Harumi is. "That little green machine sure picked a stunning killer."
"I hope they're ok."
The atmosphere immediately feels somber. "Yeah."
The red ninja breaks the long silence. "Anyway, enough about us. Back to that first question, Faith. Where's your family?"
"Unimportant," she answers within a second.
"Oh come on! That's not fair! We answered plenty of your questions. It's about time you answered at least one," Jay complains.
He is right. It is probably best she reveal something to get them to trust her. "I had a family," she answers slowly.
"Yeah?"
"Jay!" Kai silences the impatient blue boy enough with his fired-up tone.
"That is, until Iron Baron decided that he needed to thin the herd," she continues. Her voice is dripping with contempt. "He killed them. He killed them all." She bites her lip and turns to the ninja. "Happy now?" she ends, her tone forcibly indifferent.
There is an uncomfortable silence. "We're sorry, Faith. We didn't mean to hurt you," Cole begins. He's always the one trying to mend the torn tapestries, isn't he?
"I'm sure you did," she retorts quietly.
"No, we didn't," Cole insists.
"Then what were you planning to do to me? Make me feel something? Well, it's not as easy as you first think to break this shell." She stops herself from saying more. She didn't even realize how loud she had become. Instead, she holds back, as she has learned to do.
"You know, Faith, this might be hard for you to believe." Oh, don't even start. And with that know-it-all tone that the Baron would always use to convince her of some twisted truth about reality. She knows he's only trying to get inside her skin. "But not everyone is like the Baron," Kai says.
"Ha! Please. I wouldn't ever want to be the Baron," Jay agrees.
"But how else could you have power?"
"What do you mean?" Kai asks, his face looking a bit taken aback.
She is careful with her words. "What I mean is... Iron Baron has his ways to control all of his people. He craves control. Without it, he would crumble."
Zane finally speaks up. After analyzing this situation, she's sure of it now. "Faith, have you ever heard of the saying 'knowledge is power'?"
"I'm afraid not."
"It's the idea that true power can only come from knowing someone and their intentions," the ice ninja continues.
"Yeah. I mean, if the Baron can turn you into some sort of unfeeling warrior woman, but he doesn't truly know you, then he has underestimated you."
She has never seen herself as superior to the Baron in any way. He was always placing her imperfections and inferiorities on a pedestal for the entire realm to see. She hates it, but the man's right. She was never close to him in equality, and she never will be able to reach that status.
"Maybe all you need to do in order to break that 'shell' of yours is to be with a family that loves you," the earth ninja starts. He slowly puts a hand on her shoulder in an attempt at comfort. "That's all you've really needed, isn't it?"
She mutters to herself beneath her breath. "It is late. I suggest you get some rest." She lugs herself to her sleeping mat. "Good night."
It is a little while before they answer. "Good night, Faith."
She tries to sleep, but she can't. He is right. She knows it. She has never had a family for long. She obviously doesn't want it. But maybe that is what she really needs.
Okay, that's all for today, folks. I hope to see you on Tuesday. Leave your full opinions in a review, please. I hope you all enjoyed!
#God'sNotDead
