Yes! On time! Hope you guys like this chapter, it's all recap but I love writing about Kai. :)
Thank you Grammarosprey, Nuppa Nuppa and ColdWaterChicken for reviewing! And also to the few people who favorited and followed!
Grammarosprey— Why yes, yes they do. *wipes away a tear* Yeah, hope it's no problem. Writing about an arsonist would have taken a bit longer and some more thought than some careless campers, and I had been running low on time already. Thanks for reviewing! :D (P.S. My family went to Chick-fil-A yesterday and I was very skeptical of everyone who worked there, lol)
ColdWaterChicken— Aw, I hope these chapters are making you feel better after all that. That is kinda ironic, and I hope it's not a problem, but I will most definitely be praying for your sister. :) I have a friend who absolutely loves chickens, and would be devastated to hear something like that. Anyways, thank you for reviewing!
. . .
Kai felt at home.
With the constant bang, bang of his hammer against the anvil and the hot air wafting in from the forge, heating his skin and warming his insides, he couldn't have felt any more content.
Sure, life wasn't too great with a now-fifteen-year-old boy taking care of his now-thirteen-year-old little sister on his own, but he was happy. More importantly, Nya was happy. Life couldn't have gotten any better.
"To forge the perfect weapon, you first need the right metal, and plenty of heat," Kai quoted quietly under his breath, hammering all the while, before bringing the freshly-forged katana to the water basin. "Cool it off, and... Presto!"
But, the metal he pulled out was gnarled and deformed. "Aww," he groaned disappointedly. This is why Nya says I'm such a bad blacksmith. He turned back to the forge to start again.
Nya giggled behind him. "You made it too quickly, Kai." Then she looked serious. "Be patient. If father were still here, he'd say—"
"I know," Kai interrupted. "No matter how much fire you have, experience isn't something you learn overnight."
Something boiled inside of him, so he clenched his fist and said with a determined fashion, "That may work with you, Nya, but I'll be a better blacksmith than Dad ever was!"
Kai turned and saw just that. An older man, with a long, hoary beard and wearing some kind of robe, shuffled in the shop with the help of a bamboo staff he used as a cane. His sharp blue eyes examined them and the small room from top to bottom, before he continued.
"All tools for a samurai, but nothing for a ninja?" The stranger tapped a set of armor with his staff, then turned his age-old eyes back to the set of teenagers.
Kai put the tools he was holding down and laughed. "Ninja? Ha! You're a long way from finding a ninja in these parts, old man. And, this shop is called 'Four Weapons', not 'For Browsing'. Either buy something or peddle your insults somewhere else."
He looked the stranger in the eye, and he scoffed.
"Huh. Too bad. Thought I'd find something special here."
He turned away, and Kai looked to Nya for support. She ushered back to him as if to say, 'Go on, try to get him to buy something'. So, Kai moved over, and grabbed a steel helmet he was particularly fond of.
"If it's something special you're looking for," he began, lifting up the heavy piece of armor with a grunt, "let me sho—"
The man was nowhere to be seen. Kai scanned the forge in appall, but found no one but himself and Nya.
"What is it?" she asked.
"He was just—" He shook his head, and put the helmet down. "Forget it."
. . .
Kai clutched his chest, breathing coming in uneven gasps.
What just happened.
One minute, he was fighting those skeleton warriors (er, well, I think that's what they're called; I kinda remember them saying Skulkin somewhere, maybe that's it?) without a problem. But the next, Nya had joined him, he was on the ground, and she was gone.
"Nya!"
Kai got up as fast as humanly possible and rushed after the vehicle that held his abducted baby sister, still grasping his quite decrepit sword, but he soon realized it was hopeless. She was gone.
Just like my parents before her, he thought bitterly.
"I told you," the voice behind him reminded. "Useless."
Oh, that's right. This stranger had helped them. As soon as the "Skulkins" showed up on their doorstep, this man had assisted them in the fight as if he didn't rely on a cane for support. He had moved Kai out of the path of their collapsing water tower when he was helpless, and saved his life, really.
He had saved Kai. But not his sister.
Kai spun around in white-hot anger, fists tightened and ready to let loose and hit someone. Particularly this man— how dare he call him useless, when he was the one—
He growled in ire, and in order to keep himself from lashing out, began to pace. "You could have done something! You could have used your twist-itzu, or your— your—"
"Spinjitzu," the man corrected.
"But you did nothing," Kai replied, amber eyes bright and furious. "I'm gonna to get my sister back."
He turned back around and proceeded to follow the Skulkin truck's tracks, when he was stopped yet again by the stranger. "Where they go, a mortal cannot."
Mortal?
"That was Samukai, king of the Underworld," he explained. Kai's mind flashed back to the four-armed skeleton wielding four sharpened bone daggers and eyes the color of blood. "And, if it's true that he's carrying out orders for Lord Garmadon, then I fear things are far worse than I had ever thought."
Kai looked him in the eyes again, no calmer than before. "Lord Garmadon? Underworld? What's going on?! What do we have that's so important to them, and why would they take my sister?!"
"What's so important?" he repeated, aghast. "How about everything in Ninjago itself?"
The stranger began to tell Kai a story. He, reluctantly, sat down and listened. He told him of the creation of Ninjago— which was a story every inhabited knew by heart— from the four weapons of Spinjitzu: the Scythe of Quakes, the Nunchucks of Lightning, the Shurikens of Ice, and the Sword of Fire. Of the creator's two sons who fought for the weapons, after one wanted to use them for evil, and how he was struck down into the Underworld. The younger brother hid the weapons and sealed the spots with a guardian, and gave the map to someone else for him to hide.
Soon though, the story came to an end. "That honest man was your father," he explained.
Kai's eyes widened. Dad?
"The older brother is Lord Garmadon. And I need to find those weapons before he does."
"You're the younger brother? Then, you came here looking for the map."
He smiled. "No. I came for something greater..." he pointed his bamboo staff at Kai, who furrowed his brow in confusion, "...you. Since my brother cannot enter this realm, it's obvious he has struck a deal with Samukai. If he were to collect all four weapons, even I would not be able to stop him again." His soft periwinkle eyes lit up suddenly.
"But you! You have the fire inside. I will train you to harness it. Use it. Become a Spinjitzu Master!" he tapped Kai's chest encouragingly.
But, Kai shook his head. "Look, I'm flattered you think I'm all that." He pointed to the road. "But I gotta save my sister. I'm not getting involved in your 'sibling rivalry'."
And no sooner had Kai stood up to leave then he had pinned back down to the ground by the stranger. He laughed.
"Clunky Bull! You are not even ready to face my pinky toe! If you want to get your sister back, you must learn to control the fire that burns inside. Only when you become a Spinjitzu Master will you be ready to face..." he wiggled his eyebrows, "Lord Garmadon."
Kai sagged his shoulders and sighed as he gave up. "Okay. Then when do we start?
. . .
The next few chapters are gonna skip some stuff from the pilots, because recaps are quite boring, in my opinion. I know most of the people reading this know what happens, so yeah. Thanks for reading!