So quick heads-up. If I use songs in my chapters, you'll see them in bold above the chapter, as shown underneath.
Wolves – Aviators
The boys were silent as Calli paced along the room, rabbling her story. "Tha's why I don' like coming to Ninjago, Why I don' want to go to Stiix. 'm nothing but a thief to them and they're right. I mean it changed when I went to Ninjago to jus' survivin' and keepin' up an act. T'was only thanks to some friends I made and Pity from the police I don' have a bloody record. Well, That and 'm no' even in the freaking system. But even so- "Breath, Call, Breath!" The redhead took in a heavy breath at Jay's advice, trying to calm the nervousness she felt inside and so she could continue without her accent breaking through more than usual.
"I understand why you don't want to do this. And we won't force you to do anything you don't want to. But as you said we need that blade." Calli bit her lip, very unsure about their plan and eventually, after what seemed for like an eternity of silence she lifted her head, a determination on her face that didn't quite reached her eyes.
"I promised to help you in any way I can, So I'll help you now if the need comes to it."
The four boys looked at each other. Despite her effort to look like she was steady in her resolve they could see she didn't want to do this at all but were grateful she wanted to at least try.
"And besides that, you've left that life behind when you decided to go with Sensei. So, stop torturing yourself about it, Okay?" Easier said than done;Calli thought but nodded otherwise. They were right, it was time to leave the past behind. No matter how difficult it felt to do.
Calli didn't know how she got roped into dinner as she planned to go directly after their conversation. The redhead had managed to finish the plate she'd gotten but it became abundantly clear who's appetite Cole had inherited. Despite that, she had to admit that Lou, unlike his son, was a great cook, something she knew the others would start rubbing in as soon as they left.
"You don't have to help you know." Calli blinked, not realizing she had been zoned-out.
"It's okay, I know the mess they can leave." She told the elder man as she put the dishes on the counter, smirking at Cole's annoyed side-eye as he put away the clean dishes. "Many hands make light work. And I don't mind doing chores."
"We can handle it from here dad." Cole basically shoo-d his father out and then let himself slide down against the kitchen cupboards, earning an amused look from the redhead. It was clear the Black Ninja was done with today and probably this whole week, for that matter.
Calli just shook her head and left him to collect his thoughts as she continued the dishes. She could feel the conflict within him and the anxiety of his father finding out. She understood all too well.
"Come on." Suddenly she pulled him off the floor with surprising strength and handed him one of the plates. "Get yer mind off it, just focus on this and nothing else." Cole raised an eyebrow but did as she told so. After a few minutes of cleaning part of the dishes he noticed he indeed did relax. Especially when another sound came from next to him from the girl who was drying.
"Breathing, I embrace the feeling
of despair that keeps me, standing on my own.
I'm no hero, starting back at zero.
It's an unfair world so,
To the wolves I'm thrown,
To the wolves I'm thrown."
It took him a few seconds to realize she had started singing softly. He didn't recognize the song, so it must have been one she wrote herself. He focused on that as the two continued the dishes and for just a while he felt the tension leave his body.
"M bagstase."
"You're what now?"
Calli dropped the guitar she was holding and pulled the pen out of her mouth. "I'm Backstage. Sorry, had a pen in my mouth." She said in the plastic device.
"We're about 5 minutes away, see you there then." Kai told her on the other side of the line.
"Alright, see you."
"Your friends?" The girl whirled around to Saoirse, the silver-haired beauty had already changed into her stage outfit and Calli could see why she also had a modeling career. She was dressed in a simple, white tank-top, black skinny-jeans and a black leather jacket, her hair was bound together in a messy ponytail with some locks framing her face.
"Yeah, they should be here in a few minutes."
"Call!"
"Or now."
As the boys waked in she couldn't help but giggle at their attire. Still each in their own color but dressed like a barbershop-quartet.
Cole couldn't help but glare but stopped when she flashed him a smile. "Ye look cute."
Saoirse elbowed the girl in the ribs playfully. Obviously waiting for introductions to her friend's companions.
"Oh yeah, Guys this is Saoirse, The Bass player and backup vocalist of 'The Things of Yesterday' Saoirse these are Jay in Blue, Red is Kai, White is Zane and Black is Cole."
The Silver haired girl smiled at the boys as she adjusted the strap of her light blue Bass guitar, even if she would be doing vocals today she made sure to keep the object close to her. . "It's nice to meet you, Calli told me a lot about you." The way she said it made the redhead's cheeks turn red and she coughed to change the subject.
"Anyhow I asked Saoirse and the rest of her band if they wanted to help and they agreed, if they win we get the Fangblade and they get the rest of the trophy. Be glad, because I don't like owning people." The Calli explained the gist of it.
"We couldn't say no to this one." Dante suddenly jumped in. 'She wrote most of our lyrics." Calli couldn't help it when her ears turned red at that, especially when the boys gave her a look.
Li and Jake also joined the group. Both dressed in a T-shirt with the logo of the band on it, Dante wore a black baggy tank-top with white letters that spelled "I'm with the band." in faded typography.
Li suddenly handed her a case with a grin. "so, about that solid." Calliope gave him a warning look that shifted between him and the case now in her hands. She recognized it directly, as she had owned one in the past, A violin case. She didn't like where this was going.
"You know I hate standing in the spotlight." She argued before anything else could be said.
"Do you want to help your friends?"
Calliope bristled. That was a low blow, a very, very low blow.
"… Yes…" She answered with the utmost care, glaring at the young man and taking one step back.
"Good. Ce get her a good shirt and we'll see you back here in a few minutes." Saoirse gave the redhead an apologetic look as she dragged her along.
Dante chuckled. "And that's how you deal with a Calli that won't work along."
The four Ninja looked at the others, it would seem this was a familiar scene. Kai and Jay snickered along and Cole just shook his head with a smile.
"I hate you guys." The redhead growled as she looked at herself in the mirror, despite the fact she actually somewhat liked the outcome. Her hair had been braided back and ended in her usual signature ponytail. She was dressed in normal light blue jeans a white tank top and a black checkered blouse bound around her waist and somehow Saoirse had managed to get some mascara and eyeliner around her eyes. "To accentuate your eyes."The silver-haired beauty had told her but Calli just thought she enjoyed having another victim to play dress-up doll with. The redhead was just glad she'd been able to hide a small dagger in her boots and was able to keep her gloves.
"But you look so nice." Saoirse giggled. "Now go and see your friends, we go on in 10 minutes."
Calli nodded and took a beeline to the dressing room exit, violin in one hand, bow in the other as to force herself to walk normally, trying to mask the tension she felt and the discomfort at wearing something that had no sleeves that laid most of the now silvery lines on her arms bare for all to see. Thievery and saving the world wasn't without accidents and injuries.
The redhead turned around the corner to a sight she hadn't expect to see. Cole was, unlike the others, now dressed in his Gi. Kai caught her eye and tried to look like everything was fine, but the red ninja knew she could hear everything despite the fact she was standing out of the normal human hearing distance, he could see it in her face.
"- And I'm not going wait around to watch you make a mockery out of our family's legacy!" Calli raised a worried eyebrow as Cole tried to plead with his father, but Lou wasn't having it, instead walking out from backstage, slamming the door close behind him and the redhead wasted no time dashing to her friends.
"I'm sure he didn't mean that." Kai tried to cheer up his friend.
Jay picked up. "Maybe if he just saw you in action-"
"No, no, It's okay,"
"It's not." Calli sighed but she wasn't able to continue as the door once again slammed, open this time and a group of badly disguised snakes entered the room.
"Treble makers?" Cole read the name on the door out loud with a look that just screamed "what the actual…"
"What are they doing here?" Jay continued, resulting in a whack on the head from Calli. "Same thing we're doin' here."
"I can't help if I offend anyone, my only job is to tell the truth." The group went rigid as they recognized the voice. Pythor.
Kai growled as he took a peek through the curtains to confirm the suspicions.
"Looks like we're not the only one trying to steal the blade-cup." He told the others.
Zane frowned. "This complicates things."
"Then I say we make our move, we can't risk losing out again." Jay opted. But Calli quickly shot down that notion.
"If ya go now, ya'll only raise more suspicion. "
"She's right, we can't steal it now." Cole interrupted before Jay could offer a rebuttal. "We are going to win this competition, but we're going to do it our way!"
The rest of the group shared a look as the Black Ninja finally gained his confidence back.
"Our way?" The other three chorused.
Cole nodded. "Call, is your group ready as well?"
At the notion the girl paled somewhat as she tightened the grip on her violin. "Ahe..." She tried to laugh it off. "They are… I'm not… At all…." The redhead swallowed a lump in her throat. "There just are so many people…"
Jay smiled and put an arm around her shoulder. "If you can kick snake-butt on a regular basis, you can handle some people looking at you."
"If you say so." The girl wasn't able to get anything else in, in fact no-one did when the redhead's hands flew to her ears to block out a loud high-pitched screech that erupted from the mic mixed with false singing. Having sharp hearing like hers had its drawbacks at times.
Li, who had been searching for her, let out a loud wolf-whistle and tossed a box of ear buds her way. The girl wasted no time plunging them in their ears and breathed a sigh of relief. Whilst it didn't block it out completely, it made it at least bearable.
"That sounds awful." Saoirse commented, face fixed with a rare look of disgust. Then she winked to Calli. "At least we're up next. Let's go"
The redhead just nodded and tried to follow when a hand grabbed her arm,
"Call, Thank you. You can do it."
She smiled at Cole and the boys and nodded. "Good luck."
Sooo I know i'm a day late but I had some last minute appointments yesterday and those had to come first. On the plus-side. I got accepted by the company for my next internship :D yeey. That saves me another headache.
Anyway, Calli's got stage fright ;P and more shipping in this chapter! Also take note that whilst there is shipping, they won't end up together for a while :P.
Reason I chose the song wolves: It gives a bit more insight of how she sees the world and what she's been trough.
Anyhow, onto the reviews:
MightyShipper: haha I always love excitement xD you should hear me fangirl whenever my favourite groups drop a new album xD I hope you did well on your test!
Pappilie: I'm glad you think so :) Also sorry you don't hear much from me on instagram...I'm pretty crap at answering and stuff like that... Sorry
Aurro sister of Morro: Thank you!
I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you in the next chapter!