Chapter 6
Nya and Kai stared at the bounty screen perplexedly. Where could he be?! They had searched everywhere in Ninjago, no sight of Lloyd or anyone matching the description of the mysterious stranger who knocked Sensei Wu unconscious. Thankfully the old Sensei had woken up two hours ago and told them about the guy who attacked him. Sensei had said he had no idea who this guy could be, that he had moved so fast, it was unlike anything he had seen before.
Kai had been especially angry at the lack of results and the knowledge that all he could do at the moment was seethe at the screen that showed only six tracker signals(including Pixal who had joined the search earlier) Was Lloyd's broken? Was he deep underground somewhere, Kai didn't want to even entertain the idea he could be dead.
Suddenly the red ninja was interrupted from his thoughts when Jay's voice came through the intercom.
"Hey guys, uh so I was just double checking Tiroshi Str. you know that place where that old tea shop Wu likes is located and well…..just I need everyone down here pronto!"
Kai and Nya looked at each other in confusion, before rushing out the door and jumping off the bounty to form their dragons.
Koso must have been insane to think Lloyd would sleep at all throughout the night. He needed to keep his eyes open, to watch out for Morro, who was turned to the wall so Lloyd really didn't know if he was awake as well.
This whole situation was amazingly surreal, first this crazy guy says he's his great uncle and that he's going to be trained to control some other element. It couldn't possibly true…,but then again, Koso was able to deflect his energy blast, in Lloyd's long career as honorary green ninja he had only ever seen two other people able to do that and they were his father and the overlord. Lloyd swallowed shakily at the bad memories those names brought with them. Lloyd had to shake his head to stop from sinking back into those dark thoughts. Regardless whether Koso was actually his great uncle doesn't matter what mattered was tomorrow and using any opportunity he could to find a way to message the bounty and get help.
Another thing that plagued Lloyd's mind was the unknown amount of power Koso possibly possessed.
Did he really deflect his energy that easily or did it actually take a lot out of him? He had easily taken down Morro without showing the slightest hint of exhaustion so maybe not.
Could it be that sword he was always carrying? The older man hadn't not used the weapon once during his short fight with him or Morro.
Lloyd looked over and narrowed his eyes at Morro, and remember to keep an eye on him Lloyd, you let him take advantage of you once ,but never ever again!
All night Lloyd stayed awake planning his next moves carefully, he almost didn't even realize when it became morning until Koso had burst into the room at the crack of dawn.
"Good morning! Sleep well?"
Koso received no reply from either boy ,still he continued anyway,
"I see, well time to get up you lazy mongrels daylight's burning!" With that the older man snapped his fingers and both teenagers could move their bodies again. Lloyd immediately shot to his feet and straightened up to his full height out of habit from so many mornings of sunrise exercise on the bounty.
Morro did the exact opposite, he got out of bed ,but he did so groggily and slow and contrast to Lloyd slouched down some making him appear shorter than the green ninja.
Lloyd and Koso both eyed Morro, weirded out by the change in demeanor of the arrogant wind master,though neither said anything out loud.
There was a short silent pause before Koso spoke again.
"Hmph well if you'll be kind enough to follow me." Koso said as he walked out the door beckoning the teenagers along. Lloyd followed along obediently, whilst also eyeing Morro who walked behind him.
Koso quickly led the two teenagers to the kitchen, where on the table rested three wooden spoons and three glasses of water a giant pot of what appeared to be oatmeal rested on the stove. Lloyd eyed it warily. While Koso's last two meals were pretty edible , the green ninja was not particularly fond of oatmeal even when it was served with the utmost perfection. Koso either didn't notice the scowl painted on the green ninja's face or just didn't care, and quickly spoke once again,
"C'mon quit standing there like a couple of buffoons and sit down."
Wanting to get on Koso's good side in hopes he would drop information on where they were, Lloyd quietly obeyed and took a seat at the table. Morro surprisingly obeyed as well and sat down beside the green ninja.
Lloyd watched as Koso served himself and them a bowl of the ugly brown mush, before taking a seat at the table himself.
Morro stared at his meal for a second, before picking up his wooden spoon and munching on the oatmeal mechanically without complaint.( His flippant attitude was really starting to freak Lloyd out)
The green ninja on the other hand prodded and marveled at the ugliness of his food without actually putting any of it into his mouth. Koso seemed to notice because he sent a very Stern glare Lloyd's way clearly saying 'eat the food or I'll shove it down your throat'.
Though Lloyd was definitely not scared of the older man who was currently holding him captive in a, he still reluctantly obeyed picking up a small spoonful of oatmeal into his mouth.
It didn't taste as bad as he remembered ,but it still wasn't pleasant. Seeing Koso was still staring at him, Lloyd sighed and began taking a second spoonful and then another and another until before he knew it his bowl was empty.
When Lloyd looked up again he noticed Koso and Morro had just finished as well, and within the span of a few seconds Koso stood up and swiftly grabbed the three bowls and sat them in the sink and turning back to them.
"You'll clean these later, we don't have time right now because of this one's little fit" The older man glared at Lloyd who tried his best not to point out that he had finished the stupid oatmeal the same time they had. Arguing with the crazy man would be pointless. After a second of silence Koso began walking out the front door gesturing Morro and Lloyd to follow "Ok follow me"
"Where are we going?" Lloyd asked.
"To the training field."
"Training?!"
"Yes, that's what I said, are you dense or could you not hear me through that floppy hair of yours."
"Ok enough! I'm not sure if you understand this ,but I'm not staying here any longer than I have to, and I'm definitely not letting you train me!" Lloyd annocened crossing his arms defiantly.
Koso narrowed his eyes as he replied
"And I'm not quite sure if you understand that, I can and will train you however I like lest we forget the amount of times I've had to hit that little lesson into you."
Lloyd gritted his teeth in frustration.
"Look you can't just kidnap me and bring to the middle of nowhere, and expect me to just go along with this crazy bullsh*t!".
"And yet here we are." Koso replied casually.
At that moment Lloyd wanted to strangle the man, but wisely decided to avoid eye contact instead as he lowered his head to glare at the floor.
"Well now if you don't have anything else to complain about follow me please"
Neither Morro nor Lloyd looked at each other as they followed along silently out the cottage and into the forest. They walked a good few miles before stopping when they came upon the same clearing they had fought in yesterday.
Koso turned back to the two teenagers, looking at them skeptically as he unsheathed the sword on his back.
"Well let's get started shall we?"
ForgottenFamily
When Nya and Kai had made it to the tea shop they were shocked at the sight that met them.
The shop was destroyed, the structure of the building completely ripped apart, remnants of tea jars and boxes laid scattered everywhere.
Kai turned to Nya.
"What happened here?!"
"I don't know this place is completely destroyed what could have done th-"
"Hey guys over here!" Jay,Cole, and Zane yelled running up to the two siblings.
"What's going on here?" Kai asked hurriedly.
"We…... aren't sure, it was like this when we arrived" Zane explained.
"Maybe it has something to do with Lloyd." Cole said.
Jay spoke up "None of this makes any sense how could our leader being kidnapped and a tea shop being torn to shreds be connect-"
"Ninja!"
The colorfully dressed teenagers turned to see a small boy maybe seven or eight years old, with Auburn hair and round glasses standing before them. He was in tears.
Kai, casting a side glance at others in confusion, stooped down to the child's level.
"Hey kid, what's the problem?"
"I-I…...you have to find her!"
"Whoa whoa find who?" Kai said trying to calm the boy.
"G-grandma, she was just closing the shop when…..w-when…"
"Okay okay kid take a deep breath," the boy obeyed Kai's instruction "good now let it out." The child let out a ragged sounding breath.
" Now, can you tell us your name kiddo?" Kai asked gently.
"Nathan." The boy answered.
"Okay, Nathan can you tell us what happened here?"
"I-I h-had finished h-helping with the t-tea sorting and was on my w-way home, b-but I forgot m-my hoodie, and I went back to get it ,b-but when I got t-there….."
Flashback
Nathan was about to run right up to his grandma as she was about to lock the shop doors when, suddenly a man in a white hat and cape jumped from out of the shadows right behind her.
Nathan stopped his running, just a few feet from the shop, as he watched the man tap his grandmother on the shoulder. The old woman didn't even flinch at the contact, however when she turned to face the man, her face took on a look of pure horrified shock and she was unable to speak.
From his hidden spot beneath the shadows , Nathan could see the man smirk as he began to speak.
"Hello Greta, my my it appears life has been fairing well for you these past sixty years, it is a shame you lost your immortality though I must say you look fine for your age, not a day over 106"
"K-k….Koso?!" The woman finally breathed out, "H-how are yo-"
"Alive? Well what good would learning sorcerery all those years ago do me, if I couldn't bring myself back from the dead from time to time?"
"But why? What have you come here for?!"
The man's fake gleeful face quickly changed, to something far more threatening looking.
"What have I come here for? Well Greta, I'm here for quite a few things actually, the first of which is simply, answers."
"Koso-"
"You see Greta when I crawled from my grave that my brother oh so kindly decided to put in his own tomb the first thing I did, aside from shouting profanities at my brother's corpse was take notice that, that the wretched remains of the crystal he used to take my powers from me, was nowhere to be found. The next logical course of action I took was use my magic capabilities to locate the heir of my elemental power and you want to know what I found?" Nathan watched the mysterious man pause. Grandma Greta didn't utter a word. The man continued
"I found that there were in fact two heirs, that little blonde twerp everyone can't stop fawning about and another young boy, with a peculiar green stripe in his hair, who my curse took part in resurrecting." The man paused again, gauging at Nathan's Grandma's reaction. The old woman stared at the ground refusing to make eye contact as the man continued
"Now tell me dear Greta, who else do you recall having a green stripe in their hair?"
"Koso I'm sorry I didn't know she was pregnant with a child , until I found a letter one morning telling me she ran off. I looked everywhere for her ,but she wasn't anywhere to be foun-"
"I ASKED OF YOU ONE SIMPLE TASK AND YOU COULDN'T EVEN FULFILL IT!" The man shouted as his face twisted into an angry grimace.
"KOSO! She wasn't the same after you passed, she wouldn't talk to me!"
The man, Koso, looked at the old woman pure hatred reflected in his eyes.
"She was my daughter and it was your job to look after her and you failed me…." Koso paused taking a breath to calm himself down.
"However I will do my best to rectify this soon enough, see Greta , another thing I require of you is, some what did you call it travelers tea."
Nathan watched as his grandmother's head shot up so fast he was afraid she would break her neck.
"Koso whatever you are planning will only-"
"You have no right to judge my actions Greta, not after you not only failed to keep my daughter safe ,but then proceeded to use my stolen powers to make that little travelers tea of yours"
"..."
"Oh, did you really believe I wouldn't find out about that little business practice of yours, sailing to my brother's tomb once every 10 years and shaving off just a tiny piece of that wretched crystal, so you could make a tea that would accomplish that of the realm crystal, just in much smaller fractions at a time. How very clever of you"
.Nathan couldn't believe what was going on, who in the world was this man, and what was he saying about their tea?!
Grandma Greta looked as pale as the moon as she tried to splutter a response.
"Koso…..I-I didn't…...I'm sorry, but I was afraid that someday Ninjago would need the powers of the realm crystal, I was only-"
"Only what? Do you think yourself noble? If so, then please explain to me why, my daughter's son was sent to the cursed realm!"
"Koso, I told you, Elizabeth ran off, I couldn't find her and if I could I would have made sure her child was cared for I swear!"
"ENOUGH!" Koso shouted exasperated. Nathan started to wonder if he should approach when Koso spoke again.
"I don't care about your excuses, you can make them to me for all of eternity,but it doesn't change the fact you failed me, and now that I'm back , I plan to take one last attempt to spite my brother's legacy. Greta, I need that travelers tea and since you seem so opposed to hand it over I'll have to threaten force…"
"Koso think about what you're doing?! You don't belong here, you were meant to stay in the departed realm!"
Koso reached behind him and pulled out a long silver sword.
"So be it"
End of flashback
"...and t-then b-before I could do anything t-the scary man, h-he just tore the shop a-apart nd I-I didn't even t-try to s-stop him! I'm just a b-big coward!" The boy said tearing up.
The ninja all looked at each other in shock. The description of the man who attacked Wu matched almost perfectly. Could that mean….
Kai immediately turned back to the sobbing child.
"Hey hey kiddo it's okay you didn't do anything wrong Nathan. In fact you just helped us a lot by telling us this. Now can you help us out some more and tell us what happened after that man, you said his name was Koso, destroyed this shop"
Sniffling the last of his tears away Nathan replied.
"Y-yeah. Uh after the shop came crashing down, Koso ordered G-grandma to tell him where, the travelers tea, was. I guess he somehow knew she didn't keep it in the shop anymore, since everyone started r-requesting it so much. A-and t-then Grandma she took him t-to the storage place across the street where we k-keep all the extra tea and then they walked inside. K-koso came out with the last box of travelers tea we had ,b-but Grandma didn't and when I went to look for her in there I couldn't find her anywhere! W-what if he k-killed h-her oh it's all my fault!"
The boy began to cry again, as Kai tried fruitlessly to soothe him, as a single question plagued the fire ninja's mind
'what the f*ck is going on here?!'