Announcer voice: Today, on Way of the Dragon: Lloyd gets kidnapped! What will the ninja do? And what is this 'sleeping fist' that Sensei Wu speaks of? Find out today!
Jinlong voice: Chapter 7: Sleeping Fist
"First, I'd thunderclap in his ears, then while he's stunned, I'd stomp on his tail and-"
"You're already hypnotized, or bitten."
"Or he's already put you into a squeeze."
"Or spit venom in your eyes," Kai shuddered. "Trust me, kid, not fun stuff."
"Aw, man," Lloyd whined, before turning to the head of the table. "Uncle, how do you defeat a snake?"
The blond boy just whined again as Wu went into yet another babble about the sacred flute, how the ninja shouldn't have lost it, yada yada yada. Typical elder stuff, in Jinlong's experience.
Jin, seated next to the gremlin, humored him and smiled. "Don't worry, I'll teach you Tiam Ikman. That can defeat any ol' snake, I promise."
A grin, somehow both wicked and adorably innocent, crept onto his face. "Any snake?"
"Any snake."
The alarm blared to life, sending the ninja, Wu, and Nya scrambling to the Bridge while Jinlong and Lloyd trailed after them, slower, more carefree.
"Serpentine have been spotted in Mega Monster Amusement Park," Nya told them, fingering her bracelet for some reason. "Hurry!"
"If we're fast, we might be able to beat the samurai there!" Jay cried, running off.
Lloyd's eyes lit up as the ninja raced off. "Amusement park? Can I go? Please, uncle? I'll be good, I promise!"
"No," Wu replied, watching the ninja leave. "It's far too dangerous, with Serpentine on the loose."
"I never get to do anything fun," Lloyd pouted. "No fair."
"You can play MahJong with me," Jin offered.
Lloyd groaned, dramatically plopping onto the ground. "Not that."
"You've played MahJong?"
Realizing her mistake, Jinlong turned to Wu, her face pinkening.
"Yes," She said tightly. "I used your set once. I'm very sorry."
An odd mix of curiosity and amusement shone in Wu's eyes. "It's quite alright, Jin."
"Hey," Lloyd piped up from his spot on the floor. "Where's Nya?"
Wu smiled knowingly, but said nothing, turning and walking out of the Bridge.
The rest of the day was uneventful, at least for Jin. The dragon-girl scrubbed the walls and windows, but apart from that, she just sat in her and Nya's room, knitting.
oOo
"Psst."
Jin groaned, rolling over.
"Hey, Jin."
She shoved her head under her pillow. Too early.
"Jin."
With an exasperated sigh, the golden-freckled dragon-girl tossed herself into a sitting position, her pillow going flying just in time for her to knock heads with a certain gremlin.
"Ow!" They both yelped, clutching their foreheads.
"Lloyd?" Jin hissed. "What are you doing here? It's the middle of the night!"
"Jin? Lloyd?" Came Nya's groggy voice. "W'as happenin'?"
There was a soft click, and the warm glow of Nya's homemade lamp illuminated the room.
Lloyd moved to bolt, but Jinlong grabbed his wrist, seeing for the first time that there were tears on his face.
"Lloyd? What's the matter?"
"Nothing!" He twisted in a vain attempt to free himself. "Leave me alone!"
"You woke me," Jin said.
"It's nothing," Lloyd hissed, finally wretching his hand free.
"So you just mosied on in here and woke both of us up for no reason?" Nya asked, clearly not buying into it.
"No, I- it's just stupid," Lloyd muttered. "I had a nightmare."
"Oh," Jin gave him a small smile. "That's not stupid at all. I have nightmares all the time."
"Me too," Nya added in. "I just had one last night, actually. You can ask Kai. I always wake him up when I have one."
"Really?"
The teen nodded, her disheveled black hair bobbing with her.
"Do you want to talk about your dream?" Jin asked. Lloyd rapidly shook his head before she was even finished speaking, and they all sat in silence for a while.
Finally, Nya spoke up. "If you don't want to sleep more, we should at least do something. Sitting here's pretty boring."
"I'm not tired," Lloyd insisted, despite the faint circles under his eyes. "Let's do something."
"Like what?"
A slightly wicked grin spread onto Nya's face. "We could raid the ninja's candy stash."
The gremlin's eyes lit up. "They have a candy stash?"
"Come on," Nya said, sliding out of her recently-acquired bed. Jin got out of her also-new sleeping bag, following Lloyd out of the room. The tro crept into the Bounty's kitchen, giggling mischievously to one another.
"Sensei doesn't like us eating candy," Nya whispered, pulling up a chair and standing on it, reaching into the top cupboard and pulling out a large jar. "But we do it anyway."
Seating herself in the chair, the girl popped the jar open and took out a chocolate, then offered the container to Jin and Lloyd. The gremlin pulled out a lollipop and a taffy, and Jin, who'd never seen that sort of candy, selected a package of N&N's.
"Ew," She made a face, chewing her candy. "What are these?"
"N&N's," Nya said. "They're made of chocolate. Jay really likes them."
"The N must stand for nasty," Jin muttered, setting the candy down.
Lloyd made the most offended squeak Jin had ever heard, his mouth wide open. "You don't like chocolate? What's wrong with you? You have no taste in candy."
"It's disgusting, what's wrong with you?"
"Hey, quiet down," Nya chided, although she was smiling. "Sensei's a light sleeper, and if he finds us we'll have to run suicides tomorrow?"
Lloyd grined, chewing his taffy- presumably grape, judging by the smell. "We should call ourselves something. We're all criminals now."
Nya snorted. "If you say so."
"The Candy Criminals," Jin said, smiling.
The red-eyed child shook his head. "Nah, too obvious. It needs to be like a code name, so no one will know what we do."
"The Crooked Criminals, then," The black-haired girl suggested.
"Hmmm...no," Lloyd said, before sitting up straight suddenly. "I got it! The Trio of Terror!"
"I like it," Jin giggled. "But you're the biggest terror out of us three."
"You totally are," Nya agreed, laughing a bit before turning to Jin. "So, what kind of candy do you like?"
"Dragon's Beard," She answered without missing a beat.
"W'as that?" Lloyd's voice was muffled by his lollipop.
"You're such a hippopotamus, Lloyd," Jinlong said, smiling at her smart-sounding vocabulary. "You say I have no taste in sweets, but you've not had Dragon's Beard candy?"
Nya burst out into semi-quiet laughter, snorting as she tried to contain it. "Did- did you just call him a hippopotamus?"
Her smile dulled. "Yes. That's someone who criticizes others for something they themselves do. Zane told me so."
"That's a hypocrite, Jin," Nya gasped out. "But I'll have to call Lloyd a hippo from now on!"
"What?" The gremlin looked, once more, very offended. "No!"
Nya laughed even more. "We're going to be so tired tomorrow."
oOo
Nya was, as usual, correct. When Wu woke everyone up at precisely 5:00 with his gong, a collective groan rose from the Trio of Terror.
Thankfully, it was Jin's day off and Kai's turn to watch Lloyd. After breakfast, when the ninja all set about their daily business, Jinlong decided to go out and buy herself some clothes.
The only issue being, of course, that she had no money. Maybe...maybe she could sell something?
That's it, I'll sell my old qipao! It was musty from being in an old sack for so long, and slightly singed from the fire at the monastery, but it had to be worth something, right?
Or, actually, a fair amount according to the man at the clothes store.
"It's made of pure silk," He exclaimed, examining the fabric. "Very well made, too…"
Jinlong knew the look on his face and, not wanting to stick around for the inevitable 'where'd a little girl like you get this', she took her money and made her leave, heading to the other clothes store she'd seen.
This time, the dragon-girl decided, she wanted something practical, but not ugly. Or 10x too big. And preferably gold-colored…
There were a lot of pretty dresses that caught her eyes, but they would be impossible to work in and were way out of her price range, anyway. Tank-tops looked really cool on her, or so she thought, but Jin worried she'd get cold too easily, and that they would be a bit too immodest. Hoodies felt nice, but would be hard to fight in.
Finally, after browsing the store for nearly an hour, Jin settled on a bright gold t-shirt and black trousers, both made out of the same breathable material as the ninja's gis. Just as she was checking out, though, something else caught her eye.
"How much is that?" She asked the cashier, pointing at a massive straw sunhat with a white ribbon tied around it.
"15 dollars."
"I'll take that, too, " Jin said. Since the hat wouldn't fit in the little plastic bag with the rest of her new clothes, she just put it on, counting her remaining money as she briskly trotted back to the Bounty.
Skipping onboard, she was struck by how quiet it was. Odd...the ninja weren't really the quiet type.
"Hello?" She called, wandering throughout the ship. "Is anyone home?"
"In the Bridge," Cole's voice called, and Jin hurried up the stairs to said place. She expected to be hit with a wave of laughter at her hat, but was greeted with eerie silence and somber stares instead.
"What...what happened?"
"The Serpentine have Lloyd," Kai spat with as much venom as the snakes it's directed at.
"I- what?"
Tears began to rise in Jinlong's eyes, only to be rapidly blinked away. Her mouth opened and closed, like a fish, as she searched for words. Finding none, Jin did one of the worst things someone in her position could: turn tail and run.
oOo
Over her quiet-ish sobbing, Jin vaguely heard the door of her and Nya's room slide open.
"Go away," She wetly demanded, even though she knew that wasn't really fair. It was probably Nya, and it was her room, too.
"Jin," Sighed a voice that was most certainly not a 14-year-old girl. "I know that you are upset by the loss of my nephew, but we must talk."
Spinning around, seated on her sleeping bag, Jin looked Sensei dead in the eye, still crying softly.
"About what?"
"You," Wu answered, sliding the door shut and sitting across from the weepy dragon-girl. "I know who you are."
"Do you?" She chuckled bitterly, though it was rude, wiping away her tears.
"More than you think," Wu said in a voice that made Jin want to believe him, and suddenly the old man in front of her looked rather draconic.
One dragon knows another.
"But I am not here to talk about that," He went on. "I am here to speak to you of your abilities, your potential. Your 'sleeping fist' if you will."
"'Sleeping fist'?"
"You may not have an elemental power, but do not downplay your abilities, Jin," He said. "You are capable of doing great things for this world and your own. But you must trust yourself, follow your head, and awaken your sleeping fist.
"Follow my head?" Jin repeated. "Do you mean heart?"
"No, I do not," Wu said, but offered nothing more.
oOo
Jinlong couldn't sleep that night. She laid awake, staring up at the ceiling in total darkness, aware that Nya, too, was awake.
They were both worried about Lloyd. Everyone was, especially Wu, but the girls had come to see him as a younger brother, the third member of the Trio of Terror.
"Jin," Came Nya's sleep-addled, half-conscious voice. "I'm Samurai X."
"I'm a dragon," Jin said, and they both drifted to sleep.
Announcer voice: Next time, on Way of the Dragon: Jinlong strikes out on her own! Will she be able to save Lloyd, or will she only be putting herself in danger? Find out tomorrow on Way of the Dragon!