Hey there, wide world of Ninjago fans! I'm Lady Stellar, and here's the first chapter of my new story. I actually have several chapters written out and checked over, so hopefully you won't have to wait too long before seeing the first real chapter.

Thank you SO MUCH to KaitouKiwi and TombRaiderNinja for betaing this story! You've both helped me out a lot, and I couldn't be more thankful!

Disclaimer: I do not own Ninjago

The dreams were haunting him again.

A darkness coming in and surrounding Ninjago while five figures struggled to fight it off. Up until the Great Devourer incident, that was the extent of the dreams. It was a relief for Sensei Wu. He hoped that a certain prophecy would never come to pass.

The old man knew more than anyone that not all prophecies came true. A long time ago, him and his brother were supposed to be the ones to save Ninjago from a great evil. Now, his brother was that great evil.

What a funny thing fate was. Never set in stone.

Leading up to the Great Devourer, the dreams were relentless. They crept in when he least expected them to. They were horrible nightmares, but they always ended the same. Five ninjas gathered in the center of the darkness and fought it off. A happy ending to a potentially terrible fate.

He didn't know why he'd expected them to go away. Garmadon had ended up helping them defeat this evil, but now he was stronger than ever.

The dream had began like all of the others. Ninjago, surrounded by darkness. Sensei Wu could feel its chill, feel how it smothered him, even in the dream. It filled him with dread. The darkness swirled around Ninjago, tightening its grasp until all that was left was Ninjago City. A single piece of light in the darkness.

One by one, the ninja rose up in the middle. First Cole, the leader. The first of Sensei's students. He used his hands to pull rocks from the earth, a powerful force even without his golden weapon. Zane was next, surrounded by crystals of ice and snow. They swirled around him like a blizzard, battling the cold of the darkness. Jay's arrival was made known by a bolt of lightning, the air around him sizzling as he stepped forward. Lights flared around him as the lightning crackled, his eyes burning blue. An even brighter flash of light signaled Kai's appearance. His amber eyes glowed the same color as the flames surrounding him.

In the middle, the final figure appeared in a flash of green light that made the darkness draw back. Lloyd stepped out, but he was older now. He looked just like his father, only with blond hair. He sent shots of green light into the darkness, and the ninja's powers began to swirl around him as well.

The battle began. Sensei Wu could only watch in horror as they were each overtaken. Something had happened, something had changed the path of their destiny, and it was different now.

This time, when the ninjas tried to fight off the darkness, they failed.

In mere moments the ninja were wiped out, leaving only Lloyd in the center. He began to glow gold as the darkness crept in, but as soon as it touched him, the gold turned black and Lloyd was swept into the darkness as well.

Everything stopped.

Sensei Wu watched as Ninjago was finally overtaken by the darkness that threatened it. If this was a vision of the future, then things were going to go very, very wrong.

Then out of the darkness, there was light.

A bright pink light shone in the middle, illuminating the dark Lloyd. He squinted up at the light as the shadows were washed off of him.

Sensei couldn't see through the pink light, but a new figure appeared to capture his attention.

She wore yellow and orange, and two fans were tucked into her belt. With every step she took, the winds gusted more. They moved the darkness out of the way, uncovering Jay, who had collapsed on the ground. She grabbed his hand, bringing him to his feet beside her. The wind whipped around her as Jay's lightning came back to life.

A new chill overcame Sensei Wu, and he watched as the next figure stepped out of the darkness with her own shadows. Her red and grey uniform was dark, blending into the darkness she created. It wasn't as angry as the rest of the darkness, this chill was almost comforting. Her katana was sheathed across her back, but she didn't need it as she raised a hand, sending shadows over where Kai had fallen. His flames returned and danced with her shadows as she grabbed his hand, and the kunoichi of air grabbed his other hand.

Sensei heard the next kunoichi before he saw her. Waves crashed against an invisible shore, their sound crescendoing to a roar as a figure rose. Her colors were purple and turquoise, and she could almost blend in with the water that swirled around her. Her whip was hanging from her belt. Her movements were lazily graceful as she walked toward the next fallen ninja. With a wave of her hand, water washed over Zane. He froze every drop of water that touched him, letting them turn into shards of ice. The kunoichi of water grabbed his hand, her water feeding his ice. Her other hand went to Kai, their water and fire colliding to make steam where their hands connected.

The last kunoichi appeared in green and brown, plants blooming where she walked. A bo staff was slung across her back as she walked. Her movements were light and fluid, almost as if she had a background in dancing. She approached the last ninja, Sensei's first student. Her plants grew from his earth, and she cleared the area around him. She reached out to him with one slender hand. Cole took her hand, allowing her to help him up. Once they were up, she reached for Zane's other hand. The plants closest to Zane froze from his icy powers. Cole reached out for the first kunoichi, his opposite element.

There was a bright flash as the circle was connected, and the pink light in the middle solidified into a human form. She was young, as young as Lloyd was now. When she reached for Lloyd's hand, she grew taller, aging as Lloyd had earlier in his dream. Her suit was pink and silver, resembling the pink light that emanated from her.

As their hands joined, her light changed from pink to silver. Instead of glowing green, Lloyd now shone with a golden light.

And at long last, the darkness was fought off.

Not every prophecy came true, and Sensei Wu had hoped that the prophecy of the kunoichi would remain dormant for many years. Maybe even forever.

But it was time for them to rise.

So, this is just a prologue! It gives you a peak into what Sensei knows and part of what he's going to hide from the others for most of the story. We'll be meeting the first kunoichi next chapter - spoiler alert, you already know her!

Please leave some kind of review or feedback, I'd love to hear what you think! Don't be shy! And if I get a couple reviews, I may update mid-week instead of next weekend like I'm planning.

Edit: 11/22/19

So I got a complaint that my story was a little too similar to someone else's. I checked it out, discovered that there were a few similarities that were too close, and I completely revamped this prologue. Good news is, I like it a lot better! And if anyone has any complaints, I'm happy to hear them out. I have a lot of ideas for this story, and I know that female ninja/kunoichi is/was a pretty popular AU in this fandom. I've done my best to make mine pretty unique, even if it doesn't seem that way right now. I've worked really hard on this story though, and these characters are my babies. They've all had a lot of time and effort poured into them, and any similarities to another story is purely coincidental.