Garmadon stood on the outskirts of a small village in eastern Ninjago. He had the Scythe of Quakes strapped to his back, and his toddler son in his arms. He kissed Lloyd on the top of his little blond head. It was still a long way to the Caves of Despair, where Garmadon planned to travel alone to hide the golden scythe. And even then, he didn't know how long it would be before he found the guardian. It could be a while before he saw his family again.
"Now, you be good for your mother," Garmadon instructed.
Lloyd grinned. "No!" That was becoming one of his favorite words lately.
Garmadon looked at him as seriously as he could manage. "No? Why you little –" Little Lloyd squealed as his father held him tight and began tickling him all over. Lloyd squirmed and laughed, but was powerless against his father.
When Garmadon finally relented, Lloyd reached up in an attempt to tickle him back, but only managed to scratch his neck. Garmadon pretended to cringe in response. "Oh no you don't!" he said as he passed the boy back to his mother. Ruffling his hair, he added, "I'll see you soon, Lloyd."
"Where you going?"
Garmadon sighed. He and Misako had already tried multiple times to explain in as simple of terms as they could, but of course Lloyd couldn't grasp the whole situation yet. "I won't be far. And I won't be gone too long."
"Good luck," Misako said, but he could see that she was troubled.
"I'll be back soon," he said, trying to soothe her.
"I know. It's just that we don't know how much time we have left. Who knows when Wu could come back? I just hope that if we can get the weapons out of his reach, then maybe . . ." and Garmadon could found his own fears reflected in her eyes.
"I know you're scared for our son," he said, cupping her cheek in his hand. "I am, too. But we can't waste the precious time that have on worrying. Lloyd is safe right now, and that's what matters most. We'll prepare him as best we can, but we'll have to let him face his destiny on his own. Whether that's battling his crazed uncle or protecting the weapons. He'll be alright, Koko, you'll see." Garmadon pulled her closer for a hug.
"I want to believe you," was all she said.
Garmadon smiled in spite of himself. "With any luck, I'll be back in just a few days."
"We'll be here," she said and returned his smile with one of her own that he felt could sustain him for a lifetime.
As he began to walk away, he turned back to wave. Misako and Lloyd waved enthusiastically back. When he got a little farther, he turned back to wave again. But soon, they were out of sight and he found himself on the outskirts of the village. Before much longer, even that had faded away behind him.
Legends about the Caves of Despair told of a beast that made its home there. The caves had once been used by the nearby town for mining, but the appearance of this beast had driven away everyone in the area. Now it was abandoned, declared cursed. People avoided it at all costs. It was the perfect place to hide something you didn't want people looking for.
Of course, Garmadon knew the truth behind the legends. He planned on using the beast to help him with his mission. This was the best plan that he and Misako had could come up with. He just hoped it would work.
It was about a day's walk from the village to the caves. Garmadon trekked through the forest, carrying nothing but a pack of supplies and his father's staff. The path to the mines was still well worn, so he needed only to follow it. His mind was plagued with the weight of his mission. What if something went wrong? But he breathed in deeply and allowed the sounds of the forest to soothe him.
Finally, as the sun was beginning to set, Garmadon saw a hill rising up ahead on the edge of the forest. As he drew nearer, he could see holes dotting the far side where the mines had originally been dug. It was entirely deserted. The wind blew over the openings in the earth, creating an unearthly chorus of howls. Dust blew across the hollow, but otherwise there was no movement or sign of life.
Garmadon set up camp in the midst of the hollow. He gathered up some dry wood and started a fire, made himself a meal, and as the last rays of the sun disappeared behind the horizon, he sat and meditated.
He didn't know how long he waited, but the moon was high in the sky when he started out of his meditation. A portal had opened one the ground near the caves, like a giant sinkhole. An earth-shaking roar preceded some large beast that then shot up out of the portal, its wings spread wide as it rose and blotted out the moon. It hovered there for a moment, then dived back towards the earth. Garmadon stood to watch in awe as the dragon reeled above the hollow, gliding on the breeze and then dropping low to stir up the ground with its breath.
Garmadon raised one hand and waved to catch the beast's attention. As soon as it saw him, the dragon soared nearer, circled him a few times as if to gauge whether or not he was a threat, and then swooped down for a landing.
The large beast stood before Garmadon, regarding him with some wariness. But it allowed him to approach and rest a palm on its clay colored nose. Its scales were rough under his fingers. "I need your help," he said softly. "Ninjago is in danger, and it's up to me to protect everyone. But I can't do it alone."
The earth dragon leaned into his palm and exhaled, releasing its steamy breath through its nostrils to wash over the young sensei. Garmadon smiled.
His brother would return for the weapons, he knew, but Wu wouldn't have an easy time retrieving them. He would have to search for them, he would have to fight for them, but that would only give Garmadon more time to stop him. He really wouldn't be able to do this alone. But with the right help, maybe the weapons would stay hidden, and Ninjago – and his son, for that matter – could stay safe.
At first, Jay had been jealous that Cole had been chosen as the leader – he hadn't even known that Wu was looking for a leader, so it seemed unfair to him. But now that everyone had their eyes on Cole, brimming with expectation, Jay was relieved it wasn't him.
"So what's the plan, O'wise leader?" Kai asked. They were about to make another attempt to face their Sensei in combat, and of course now everyone expected Cole to lead them to victory. Wu had promised that if they managed to land even one hit, then they would be allowed to advance in their training. But so far they hadn't been able to do that even once.
Cole rocked back on his heels. "Well . . . I was thinking you guys could tell me what you think . . . a good leader listens to his followers, right?"
Kai rolled his eyes. "You don't have a plan, do you? And don't call us your followers, we're only looking at you because Sensei said we had to."
"Okay, fine, I don't have a plan yet, but I'll think of something!" Cole looked to Wu and Jay followed his gaze. Their sensei was meditating, appearing as if he couldn't care when they came up with a plan, though Jay knew that if they didn't come up with something soon, he'd get angry.
"He has anticipated everything we've tried before," Zane pointed out.
Jay nodded. "It's not a lot of fun getting our butts kicked all the time."
"Come on, don't be such a downer." Kai said as he lightly punched Zane on the arm. "So he's kicked our butts a few times. But we'll get it right eventually. We can't keep losing forever."
"'A few' is a drastic understatement," Zane corrected. "But are you trying to imply that, statistically speaking, we are bound to win eventually, either by mistake or by luck?"
Kai snickered. "You sound just like my sister. Sure, I guess that's what I mean."
Zane blinked once as he seemed to consider Kai's argument. "Your reasoning is sound. Although the probability is minuscule, I will agree to hold out hope for our success."
Kai grinned. "Smart one agrees with me! That means I'm right."
"Guys, focus!" Cole scolded them.
"Have you finally decided on something?"
"I think so." Cole turned his gaze on Jay. "You're the fastest."
"Me?" Jay said in surprise. "I mean, yeah, sure. Of course."
"We'll distract Sensei Wu while you get behind him and try to hit him," Cole explained.
"But we've tried that before," Jay protested. "He's not surprised by anything!"
"And he's very good at keeping all of us within his eyesight," Zane added.
"I bet he's got eyes in the back of his head," Kai said ominously.
"Don't worry about, Jay. I've noticed that sometimes when he dodges he'll just step out of the way so that you stumble right past him. If you try and hit him, and then pretend to stumble when he dodges, you can get behind . Then the rest of us can keep him occupied so that you have a chance to hit him. But you'll have to be really really fast, before he notices. Think you can do that?"
Jay wasn't so sure about it, but he nodded anyway. Sensei Wu had singled Cole out for a reason. Jay trusted Wu, so he must be able to trust Cole, too.
"Everyone understand?" They all nodded. Cole turned to Wu and called, "We're ready!"
As their sensei got to his feet, the boys formed a line of attack. Jay tried to focus on his own piece of the strategy. He really didn't want to mess it up and let everyone down.
"Go!" When Cole gave the signal, the boys rushed their sensei at once. Wu didn't have any problem fending off all four of them at once. Jay was always amazed at how fast he could dodge and deflect their attacks. He wouldn't have thought that anyone could think or move that fast. Even as he blocked a hit from Kai, he was able to dodge one of Jay's punches in the same instant.
But what was worse was that all of them attacking at once made it hard to coordinate and work around each other. Even with a strategy, it was hard to keep from getting running into each other.
Jay gasped as he was by Cole suddenly getting in his way. He pulled up just in time to avoid running into the other boy. Come on, Jay, he thought to himself. You've got this!
Jay stayed back and looked for an opening. He would have to go at Wu in just the right way so that he would let Jay past. With a shout to called attention to himself, Jay ran at Wu and attempted to punch him in the side. Wu dodged just as Cole said he would, and Jay ran right past him, ended up right Wu's blind spot.
Still, Wu would know he was there, so he had to be careful and not waste his opportunity.
Cole seemed to realize that Jay was in place. "Now!" Cole, Kai and Zane of them released a flurry of simultaneous attacks. Wu was occupied trying to fend them off so Jay whirled around with a roundhouse kick. Hisis foot connected with Wu's back, and the older man to stagger a bit.
The others immediately withdrew, eyes wide.
Jay was also gaping, dumbstruck. "I did it! I did – oomf!" Jay's celebration was cut short when Wu retaliate with a kick that sent the boy flying across the room. Jay skidded to a stop on the hard floor. He groaned as he propped himself up on his elbows.
"Never stop to celebrate," Wu scolded. "Your opponnent will strike as soon as your guard is down."
"Hey!" Kai protested. "He won fair and square!"
"Indeed you have finally beaten my challenge," said Wu. "But that does not give him an excuse to let down his guard." Then he turned to Jay. "Congratulations. Now you can all move on to the next stage of your training."
Jay grinned and forgot all about his teacher's harshness as the other boys ran to give him their enthusiastic praise . Jay glowed with pride. For once in his life he really felt like a hero.