Chapter Seven: The Strength of Ten Woman
I had been upon their ship for several days now; almost a week. Throughout my time, I had really just been alone in my room. I never came out, unless it was to eat. Everyone respected my privacy except for my uncle; he always came to check on me to make sure I didn't need anything. I spent the most of my time sleeping off my injuries. Day after day, night after night, it was the same. I always avoided conversation with anybody, so they learned not to converse with me. The only one who actually tried to make anything of me was Lloyd, I could tell he was growing concerned but never said anything.
I sat on the edge of my bed, staring out my window deep in thought. I couldn't help but think I should talk to Lloyd, but the thought of me not owing him anything kept popping up in my mind. I jumped at the noise of a knock at the door. Shaking my head to get myself to focus, I turned myself towards the door and yelled, "Im fine, Wu. Thanks."
"Oh it's not Wu," Said a voice. "It-it's Lloyd. Could I come in maybe?" He asked.
I did not expect him to just show up at my door. "Uhm, give me a sec." I stood up and threw all my dirty dishes I used to eat on under my bed. When I ate, I always brought my food back here. I didn't feel comfortable being around the others for so long. I fixed my bed sheets too, since they were such a wreck. "Ok, uh, you can come in." I sat on my bed, pleased with my swiftness.
"Hey, uh," Lloyd popped in. "I just...wanted to check in. See how you're holding up. Uhm, I hope you know that if you need anything you can let any of us know."
I half-smiled. "Thanks, Wu's told me that countless times." I sighed with a quiet laugh.
"Oh," Lloyd awkwardly laughed. "So Nya told us we're going back to Ninjago City today to help the NPD. Theres been an apparent serpentine outbreak again. And the cities power generator is out." He sighed.
"Outbreak is an understatement." I said but Lloyd looked at me confused. "I was in Ninjago City when it started. I served the Slithraa with bounties since my neck was constantly in their grasps. I did...really bad things for them." I sighed.
"What bad things?" Lloyd turned his head.
"Like...giving them the key to the city generator. The only reason I did It was because I was going to die if I didn't. I wasn't going to take that chance. Not when hundreds of slithering creeps are after you." I said.
"I probably would've done the same thing," I was not expecting the green ninja to say that. "I mean, if I was alone and had all these snakes on my back, I wouldn't even hesitate." He laughed.
I looked away trying to hide my frown. He didn't mean it in this way but when he said alone all I could think about was Misako and my father.
"Oh, god, I- Im sorry I didn't mean to-"
"It's okay, really. I know you didn't." I smiled.
His green eyes met mine. "Uh so, would you want to come with us? I mean, off the Bounty? Maybe help us? We need all the help we can get."
"Um, I think I'm okay here. I don't really want to, you know, see Ninjago City again and everything. You guys go though, I'll stay. Wouldn't want to get in the way." I shrugged.
"Okay but, we could really use someone with your power. Light is an element not a lot of us are familiar with. I mean, my energy is similar and so is Jay's lightening, but yours...we've never seen anything like it. It would be cool to...you know see what you could do?" Lloyd said.
"Are you implying that I join your little ninja team?" I scoffed.
"I didn't say that but, if you wanted to, we could just see what you could do and go from there." Lloyd started to open the door again. "Let me know if you change your mind about coming. We're landing in about thirty minutes."
"Alright. Thanks." I nodded at him and he nodded back to me and shut the door. I let out a breath I had been holding in for a long time. Why was I so tense? Was it because he was my brother or the green ninja? Maybe both, I'm not sure.
I really didn't want to see that half-assed city again. Every time I think about it, my blood curdles. I don't want to be reminded of my awful childhood. I don't want to be reminded of Ley and his bar- the one I completely destroyed. The life I ruined. Killed. I started to sob at the thought. I covered my mouth with my hand to control any sounds I was making. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I continued to think about it. I thought about what Wu would say to me in this situation and it finally came to me, almost like a vision. "Do you face your fears or run from them? Either is your choice and full of validity, but which one is the choice of your heart?"
"Which is the choice of my heart..."
...
After pacing for what seemed like forever, I came to a decision. "I'm doing it. I'm going. Oh god, am I? Am I really? Shit. Okay. We are going." I shook my head to focus again. I re-did my hair, putting it in a braid that dripped down my back and at the end, the quaint ribbon held it all together.
I slid open my door and walked out. Nobody was in the halls or the kitchen. I was confused. They said we were landing in thirty minutes, it's only been twenty-two. I came out of the kitchen and scratched me head. Then I saw it. Right outside of the kitchen was a staircase that led to the deck of the ship. I had never gone out there, but I wanted to see just incase they were actually on the deck. Slowly, my bare feet crept up the wooden stairs, each step making the loudest noise. I winced as each creak grew louder. Finally, I made it to the top. It was completely open, I could see the sky and smell the fresh air. "What if it rains? Wouldn't their ship inside be destroyed?" I thought. as I took my last step out onto the deck, I took notice of my surroundings. There were three huge sails; all with red dragons painted on them. A huge area, that looked like where the ninja trained, was filled with machines that simulated as humans but were actually punching bags that had...knives. And swords. And clubs. I turned behind me and there they were, all the ninja, getting on their extra gear that went along with their gis. Wu was standing behind them, just watching, as they all were rushing to get ready for the mission I think.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"Maya!" Lloyd yelled running over towards me. "Are you coming with us?" He asked continuing to adjust his vest.
"I ...uh.." My focus turned from Lloyd towards Cole. He was fixing something with his belt. It was almost...hot. The way he gripped it, and pulled it. And how he grunted as he fixed it. I swear I was drooling.
"You okay?" Lloyd waved in my face.
"Oh," I shook my head. "Sorry, yeah, uh, if you all are willing to have me, I would like to come along." I said.
"Great! Come grab your stuff." Lloyd walked towards the clutter of ninja.
"My stuff?" I asked.
"Yeah, Wu had a feeling you would tag along, so we gathered some supplies for you."
I looked at Wu with a bit of a glare. He just smiled at me. "Alright, what do you have for me?" I asked.
"These are your shoulder pads. Very important. We tend to bust these up often, so we know if we don't have these, we would have no shoulders." Lloyd said throwing the brown shoulder pads into my arms. "This is a protection vest. It goes over your gi. Yours is purple since your gi is purple. We like to color code. Here are your shoes, your gloves, and this is your hood." One after another Lloyd piled the equipment onto me. Considering how heavy everything was, I was quite surprised how the ninja were able to sneak around.
"I've never done any training. I won't be able to keep up with all of you or do anything useful." I sighed.
"Nonsense! You almost killed Cole, I'm sure you can handle a few snakes." Jay cackled.
"Not to mention how she almost slit YOUR throat, Jay." Cole hissed back.
"Okay, okay. In all seriousness, all you have to do is just follow me. You'll do great. You already know these guys and what they're like, maybe you're more useful than you think. Come on, I'll help you put your vest on while you finish your shoes." Lloyd grabbed my vest while I continued to tie my shoes. They were also purple, matching my gi. They almost looked like a boot, but were very lightweight and blended in with my pants.
As Lloyd slid the vest through my right arm, it snagged on my IV that was still in me. I let out a small whine. "Ouch!" I ripped my arm out of the vest.
"What's wrong?" Lloyd jumped back.
"My arm," I lifted my sleeve to reveal that my IV was still in place.
"Zane, I thought you said this would be taken care of." Lloyd whipped around.
"I must have forgotten. I apologize, Maya. Let me remove that for you." Zane walked up to me where I sat upon a log. He knelt down and grabbed my arm. He removed the tape that covered the tube, then slowly, he removed the catheter that was inside my arm. I winced as it slid out. Once it was removed, blood started gushing out from the IV site.
"Why is it bleeding so much?" I grabbed my arm to try to stop the bleeding.
"It must have aggravated the vein when Lloyd accidentally caught the IV on the vest. Here," Zane started to wrap my arm with gauze. "That should be good. Does it feel better?"
"Yeah, thanks." I said rubbing my sore arm.
"Make haste, Maya, we are landing in the outskirts of Ninjago soon." Wu said handing me the rest of my gear I needed to put on.
"In exactly one minute and twenty-three seconds!" Nya called from her pilot station.
I quickly rushed, with the help of Lloyd and Zane, putting on the rest of my gear. As the final step before heading out, I saw all the ninja pull over their heads their hoods. It was just like in the commercials, and posters, and billboards, but so much cooler. All of them stood in a stance that made me feel so out of place. They looked ready to save the world. I looked like an awkward grape getting ready to go skydiving. Slowly, I pulled my hood down, adjusting it over my face. Awkwardly, I looked over to my uncle.
"You look like a true ninja. Let's see if you can act like one as well." Wu said.
"I'm not trying to be. I told you that." I said.
"Like I said, we will wait and see." Wu smirked.
"Lets get this show on the road!" I heard Kai yell.
seconds later, the Bounty finally landed. One-by-one each ninja jumped from the top deck all the way to the ground in the soft sand. Cole was the only one left at the top. Before he jumped, he turned around and looked at me. "Hey! Come with me. I know this seems scary at first, but let's jump together. You'll love it." He reached out his hand.
I hesitated, but willingly let Cole grab my hand. I noticed he was the only ninja who didn't have gloves on. Maybe it had something to do with his power? I looked down over the side. I wanted to puke. If I had my grappling hook, this wouldn't be so hard.
"Come on, it's not that scary. Here we're wasting time," Cole grabbed my waist and pulled me tight next to his body. I let out a whine. It didn't hurt, but rather the opposite. I was basically frothing at the mouth for this guy. His hand placement on my waist was firm and tight. I wanted to squeal but I would never even try to in front of Cole, let alone anyone here. "On the count of three, one...two!" We jumped. I screamed and squeezed his arm that held me close to him. When we finally hit the ground, we landed so swiftly that I thought we were still falling. I opened my eyes and realized that we were on the ground. I looked around and saw that the rest of the ninja were laughing. I wasn't sure if it was at me or Cole.
"Oh," I immediately stepped back from Cole's grip. "Um, thanks." I looked at his beautiful brown eyes.
"Anytime." I could tell he was smiling by his eyes. They were glowing ever so slightly.
"Come on guys, we have to get moving. No more messing around. It's time to get the mechs." Lloyd said crossing his arms while smiling.
"The who now?" I turned back around towards Cole.
"Oh just you wait. Best part about any mission are the mechs. We're going to go get them now ." Cole said as he rubbed his hands together in excitement.
"Alright, I guess." I shrugged as I talked quietly. Whatever was going to happen on this mission, I had the feeling I would play a much bigger part than I expected to be.