So apparently I keep updating every other week, so maybe that'll be my official schedule now. Even though I have everything written through chapter 17, but that's okay. This story has already taken off in a few different directions than I originally intended, and if I need more time to explore those directions, then that's what will happen.

Anyway, I'll admit this isn't my favorite chapter. It more or less just... sets things up for later. You'll see why in a minute, and some things won't be fully explained until later.

I want to give a big shoutout to FireWriter316 for dropping not one but THREE reviews! Thank you so, so much! (You got it right the first time. Kalex for the win ;) )

Without further ado, here's chapter 11!

Disclaimer: I do not own Ninjago

Mira clutched the whip in her lap as she sat across the room from the ninja, the kunoichi, and the old man. She'd 'met' most of them earlier that day, but the only name she remembered was Zane. The two girls that had tried to talk to her hadn't offered up their names yet, but they both seemed nice. That was good, since she suspected if she agreed to this, she'd be working with them a lot.

The old man introduced himself as Sensei Wu. She couldn't help but marvel at his incredibly long beard. He gave off a sense of comfort and wisdom.

"I'm Nya," the dark-haired girl said next, drawing Mira's attention to her. She was the girl in yellow and orange, and the colors complemented her darker skin well. She was holding hands with the boy in blue next to her, giving Mira plenty of reason to believe they were dating.

"I'm the kunoichi of air," she explained, holding up her hand as she spoke. A miniature tornado appeared, and Mira watched as it swirled in her hand. "I'll be one of your teammates, and I'm really looking forward to working with you and your powers. If you join us, you'll live with Alex and I."

She gestured to the girl with red hair, who waved at Mira. "Hey, I'm Alex." Her skin was fair and covered in freckles, and she had beautiful blue eyes. "I was the newest kunoichi before you came along. I've been with them for a couple of weeks or so, and if you want, Nya and I can tell you all sorts of things before you decide if you want to join us or not. For example, Kai here has a terrible fear of-"

The boy next to her covered her mouth with his hand, trying to muffle what Alex was about to say. It worked, as Mira couldn't tell what Kai had a terrible fear of, but Alex's eyes narrowed, and the boy let out a yelp before snatching his hand away.

"Did you just lick me?" he asked incredulously. He wiped his hand on his leg as everyone else laughed.

"Anyway, I'm the kunoichi of darkness." Alex was still laughing, but she concentrated for a moment and made the shadows appear again, coming out of her fingers like claws. She wiggled them at the boy in red teasingly, and retracted them when he rolled his eyes.

"Um…" Mira started to say something before hesitating. The group dynamic confused her a bit, but they all looked at her expectantly. "Why are there only three of us," she pointed to herself and the two girls, "and five guys?"

Sensei Wu nodded, and it looked like he was thinking before he answered. "The kunoichi of nature is still out there, so there will be four kunoichi soon. Until then, it's just the three of you."

The boy in blue started talking next. "Yeah, I'm Jay, the ninja of lightning. We don't have golden weapons anymore, so the most I can do is give little zaps, like this!"

The boy in red yelled angrily as Jay stuck his finger into the other boy's side, presumably shocking him. Angrily shoving the ninja of lightning away, he crossed his arms.

The rest of the group laughed again, Jay louder than the rest of them. Nya gently grabbed his other hand as well, as if to keep him from tormenting the other boy further.

The boy in blue was cute, but in an average sort of way. She could only assume that there was something about his personality that had utterly captivated Nya, since all the other guys were very attractive as well.

Zane spoke up next. "I have already introduced myself to you, but I'll do it properly this time." He spoke in a rather formal way, which Mira would normally have thought of as odd, but it seemed to suit him. His platinum blonde hair was in a crew cut, and his skin was like porcelain. He looked delicate in so many ways, but she'd seen him fight and knew he was anything but delicate.

His eyes, however, were what kept capturing Mira's attention. She had a weakness for blue eyes, and his were unlike any she'd ever seen before. Alex's were lovely, but Zane's were ethereal. Everything about him was, but it was the eyes like crystals that kept drawing her in.

He held her gaze as he spoke, "I am Zane, the ninja of ice. Since ice and water are closely related, I would be happy to help with your training if you ever want my assistance."

She nodded with a shy smile, knowing the extra help would be much appreciated. She watched as he conjured a few snowflakes which floated gently through the air.

The boy in black cleared his throat. He was sitting next to the young boy in green. "I'm Cole, the leader of the ninja. I'm the ninja of earth," he said simply. Unlike the others, he didn't offer a demonstration of his power.

He was probably the most conventionally attractive of the ninja, with his dark hair sweeping across his face and his green eyes like a gem you could find underground. His jaw was strong and square, and Mira could tell there were muscles hidden under his gi.

The ninja in red sighed. "I'm Kai. Ninja of fire," he said grumpily. He was clearly still upset about being picked on earlier, though he was significantly more upset after Jay shocked him than when Alex licked his hand.

He held out his hand, and a small flame danced across his palm. It reflected in his amber eyes and lit up his face. He seemed more relaxed after using his element, and the flickering flame reminded Mira of his spiky brown hair. He looked edgy, and Mira knew it would take them a while to get along.

The young boy in green stood up quickly, as he was the only one that hadn't introduced himself yet. "I'm Lloyd, and I'm the green ninja!"

He looked expectantly at Mira, obviously expecting a response from her. She smiled awkwardly in return, wondering if this was someone's kid brother they'd been forced to drag along.

"Congrats…?" she offered with a weak smile.

He had green eyes as well, and his blond hair was in a basic haircut, like he hadn't found his own style yet. He still had the baby fat that kids have, making Mira think he wasn't even a teenager yet.

Lloyd looked very put out by her lack of a reaction, and started concentrating. His hands began to glow green, and Cole's eyes widened next to him.

"NO!" he yelled, pulling Lloyd back down on the couch with him.

Mira stared at him, shocked by his outburst. He offered her a sheepish grin before muttering something to Lloyd, who sighed and nodded before crossing his arms and pouting like Kai had earlier.

Sensei Wu stood again. "Lloyd is my nephew, the son of Lord Garmadon. His powers are great, though his age prevents him from controlling them properly. He will one day be able to use the ninjas' power as if they were his own, as well as controlling his unique element. He is still young, but his destiny is to one day defeat his father to save Ninjago."

Mira gasped at that, horrified by the very idea. Her and her parents didn't have the closest relationship, but she couldn't imagine the idea of possibly killing one of them someday.

The young boy hung his head, hiding his face from those around him. Next to him, Cole put his arm around Lloyd in a comforting manner.

"Wait, isn't Lord Garmadon the one that defeated the Great Devourer?" Mira asked, remembering seeing it on TV and being grateful that she was nowhere near Ninjago City.

Chuckling to himself, Sensei Wu started to respond before Kai spoke up.

"It was only for his own agenda. If the Great Devourer destroyed Ninjago, then he had nothing left to take over." Kai seemed angry, and Mira knew why he was the ninja of fire. His temper made him a clear choice. "Besides, it was an excuse to get our golden weapons. Now we're weak, since we needed the golden weapons to use our powers."

Sensei held up his hand to quiet the angry ninja, who sank back into his seat. Alex whispered something to Kai that seemed to calm him down.

"My brother is great at deception. The Serpentine were sent here to capture you and your silver weapon to take you back to Lord Garmadon. His recent actions would have led you to believe a lie, and though you are no fool, he is good at manipulation," Sensei told her. He let out a bitter sigh. "We are all deeply sorry for ambushing you earlier, but things today could have gone worse."

Mira shuddered as she imagined the snakes dragging her underground again. The suffocating darkness still flashed through her mind, occasionally making her headache flare up again.

A key was inserted into the lock on her front door, making Mira bolt up. Her eyes were wide as she stared on in horror, watching as her parents entered the house, talking quietly about their day. It took them a moment to realize their living room was full of people in oddly colored costumes, and they stopped in the hallway, giving Mira a stern look.

She ducked her head, trying to figure out what to say. With everyone's attention on her, she could only stammer blankly.

Luckily, Sensei Wu stepped forward. "We are very sorry to impose, Mr. and Mrs. Kalua. We are the ninja and kunoichi, a team that is going to save Ninjago, and your daughter is destined to join us."

Neither of Mira's parents offered their first names, and instead laughed amongst themselves. "That's ridiculous," Mr. Kalua said. "There's no such thing as destiny."

Mrs. Kalua expressed a similar sentiment. "Besides, why would we let our daughter go with a group of strangers?"

Mira backed against the wall in the hope that she could disappear into it. She reached up to tug on one of her curls, winding it around her finger.

"We need Mira to save Ninjago," Sensei insisted. "Would it be alright if I stayed and talked to both of you about this while Mira gets to know her teammates?"

Mr. and Mrs. Kalua shared a look before Mrs. Kalua spoke up. "I don't like how you assume we're going to let our only daughter go with you, but I suppose we'll at least hear you out before we say no."

Turning to Mira, Mr. Kalua said, "Take them out to the ocean or something, Mira. Be back within two hours."

Mira nodded obediently before gesturing to Alex and Nya, who followed her out the door. The rest of the ninja remained in her living room, awkwardly looking at each other. Sensei Wu gave them a look, and they silently slipped out the front door.

The girls had already disappeared, so they stared at each other. "Um… now what?" Jay asked.

"I'm hungry," Lloyd commented loudly, nudging Cole with his elbow.

The rest of the team shrugged, and Cole sighed. "Let's go find some food, I guess."

…

Mira leaned against the sand, glad that she'd put on clean, dry clothes when she got home earlier. The sun was slowly making its descent, but the sand was still warm from earlier. Alex and Nya were relaxing beside her, having changed into civilian clothes once they left Mira's house. Well, fled was a better word for it.

"You know, I didn't expect your parents to be like that," Alex said beside her. She yelped quietly, presumably from Nya hitting her side.

Nya sat up on her elbows to look over at Mira. "I'm sorry about that."

Letting out a sigh, Mira sat up as well. "It's okay… she has a point. They're not exactly the kind and loving parents every girl dreams of."

The two other girls gave her a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry too," Alex said. "But we might as well take advantage of this. Do you have any questions?"

Mira thought for a moment, looking out at the ocean. "How long would I be gone?"

Nya shrugged, which wasn't the answer Mira was hoping for. She was rather attached to her town, and while saving the world might be neat, what would the cost be?

"There would be sacrifices," Nya began slowly. "Alex and I train practically every day since we don't have the head start that the ninja have. They train Lloyd daily as well, but we go out into a field since we mostly have to work on using our powers. But, um… we can try to find a lake or something for you."

Mira began to play with her hair again. "But there's no idea of how long I'd be gone?"

Sighing, Alex shook her head. "Mira, there's not a day that goes by that I don't miss my family, my home. It's different, but Nya, the ninja, even Sensei… they're becoming like my family. Nya's like a sister to me, and Lloyd is like my little brother." Alex smiled as she thought of the young boy. "It's hard to leave everything you know behind, but we'll help you through it if you let us."

That eased Mira's nerves a bit. "And… where would I be living?"

The two other kunoichi chuckled a bit. "Well, we have a small apartment in Ninjago City," Nya explained. "We used to have a giant flying ship, but it belongs to Lord Garmadon now."

"A… giant flying… ship?" Mira was baffled by that. Ships were meant to sail, not fly. And how would a giant ship even manage to fly?

"Yes, it's amazing," Nya grinned. "I used to help control it, since I'm really good with technology and building stuff. Jay helped too," she said, thinking back.

Mira looked to Alex for more explanation, but the other girl just shrugged. "Beats me. Like I said, I've only been with them for a couple of weeks. I just saw it once."

Mira nodded slowly. "So… what about when you're not training?"

To her surprise, both girls blushed. "Well, we've only had one day off and… I went on a date with Jay." Nya had that silly grin on her face again. Mira had already noticed that Jay was the only one that could make her look so happy.

Alex managed to control her blush by the time Mira looked over at her. "Kai showed me Ninjago City. Well… we only saw part of it, but it was still really cool."

Mira stared at them both for a long moment. "I mean… what's something you do for fun? Like a hobby?"

The other girls chuckled awkwardly. They lay back down on the ground, feeling the warm rays of sun and watching as the sky began to fill with colors.

"I like to build things," Nya said. "Before I trained every day, I would spend a lot of time at a mechanic shop. I'm working on the Ultra Sonic Raider for the ninja. I have a few tricks in mind for the next time they use it, but I guess I've been so busy with training that I completely forgot about it until now."

She sounded sheepish, and there was a certain longing in her voice. That was her passion, and though kunoichi training was fascinating, it was more distracting than she'd originally thought.

"So… you're too busy to do the things you love?" That definitely wasn't a selling point for Mira.

"I mean, I like reading books," Alex offered. "I don't have that many with me, but… I brought a few. I did gymnastics, so I actually have fun practicing that in training."

Mira looked between the two of them sadly. She didn't know if she could join them if all they did was train all the time. "Have you saved anyone yet?"

"Actually, yeah," Alex laughed. "The boys are dorks, and we saved them from a bunch of pirates."

Whatever Mira expected, it definitely wasn't that. "Uh, pirates aren't around anymore."

"I wish they weren't around," Nya said. "But Garmadon created them, and they tried to destroy Ninjago City."

Nya said it so casually that it took a moment for Mira to understand what she'd just said. "Wait, Garmadon created pirates?"

The water began lapping at Mira's feet, beginning to cool after a long day in the sun. She drew her knees up to her chest, watching as the tide started to come in. The other two girls scooted back as well.

"Well, we have silver weapons, you know?" Nya waited until Mira nodded before continuing. "The boys have golden weapons, and when the Great Devourer tried to destroy Ninjago, Garmadon took the golden weapons. If a powerful being gets all four weapons together, they can turn them into the Mega Weapon. Garmadon managed to do that, and now he has the power to create things."

Mira's eyes widened. "Whoa," she whispered. "Are there any limitations?"

Alex laughed. "Well, if there weren't any, then we'd be pretty screwed. I mean, he created pirates. I think it has to take a lot of power for him to do that, since the pirates managed to take control from him." She rolled her eyes, amused at the idea of Lord Garmadon being defeated by a ragtag team of pirates.

The idea made Mira giggle a little as well. She grew solemn quickly, knowing their time alone was short. "Why should I join?"

Her question made Alex and Nya grow quiet. The waves could be heard crashing against the shore, some of the water washing up more peacefully by their feet. Mira dug her toes in the sand and let them contemplate for a few minutes.

"You feel the water, don't you?" Nya spoke up first. She didn't wait for an answer, and instead began to swirl the air around the three of them like a lazy tornado. "There's a connection, and you know it. Maybe it scared you at first, knowing you weren't like everyone else, but now that you know there's a reason, you're relieved." The tornado dissipated, leaving Mira slightly breathless as she took in Nya's control over her powers.

Alex began talking next, the shadows she controlled creeping out of her fingers. "I didn't like my powers at first. I felt insulted when Sensei told me I controlled darkness. I thought it would make me evil, but it doesn't. There's a lot I don't understand yet, but I think I'm getting there."

One of the shadowy tendrils brushed Mira's leg, and it made her shudder. The cold shadows were careful, with a certain tenderness that Mira hadn't expected. They brushed one of her curls out of her face gently.

"They can do terrible things, but as long as I'm in control, they're not dangerous," Alex smiled as she pulled the shadows back, forming a snake in the sand instead. She laughed as it was dashed away by a wave. "It's beautiful, and so is your power. You were chosen for this, Mira. Whatever is making you hesitate, we can help."

Her voice was so sincere that Mira stood up and sighed. Both of her hands went out in front of her as she concentrated. A couple beads of sweat trickled down her face as she battled with the harsh strength of the ocean. One hand went to her whip, which glowed purple as Mira sent a wave crashing on the rocks a few feet away, sending a spray of water at the kunoichi. Nya and Alex moved to cover their faces, but Mira stopped the droplets of water. They hovered in the air, the setting sun reflecting off of them. Each droplet glittered as Mira formed it into a ball, her hands shaking from the effort.

With a gasp, Mira dropped to her knees. The water burst, drenching her clothes for the second time that day.

Nya rushed to her side, but Mira held up a hand. Her wet hair hung in front of her face, preventing Nya from seeing her eyes. Mira's shoulders began to shake.

"What if I… what if I can't do it?" Mira whispered, lifting her head. A few tears glistened in her eyes.

Alex knelt by her side as well. "Sometimes you won't be able to," she admitted. "That's why we're a team. If one of us can't do it, then we do it together."

Nya nodded in affirmation. "Without us, the ninja would have gotten crushed when they went up against the pirates. They need us, just like we need them, and each other. None of us can do this alone." She touched Mira's shoulder gently, offering a kind smile.

Mira stayed quiet for a while, reflecting on their words. If she went with them, she'd be leaving everything she'd ever known. She wanted to tell them to leave her alone and never bother her again, but something made her hesitate.

Whenever Mira got stressed, she would search out the ocean. And now, instead of it bringing her peace, it only served to remind her of the difficult choice in front of her. Something that had always been a comfort to her was now her biggest stressor. It felt like a betrayal, and it confused her greatly.

She put her head in her hands, trying to clear her mind. Colors flashed across her vision - purple, teal, green, crystal, dark blue. Cool colors, like the ocean. As she let out a deep breath, she knew what her decision would be.

Grimly, Mira stood up, shaking off Nya's hand. She turned to the other girls. "I'd like to go back to my house now. I've made my decision."

…

The five ninja sat together in a cheap pizza place, celebrating their first team outing in several weeks. Besides training, they had been too busy to get together as a group. They didn't have any of the girls with them this time, so they were up to their usual antics again.

Lloyd was enthusiastically eating a slice of pizza, and his mouth was so full that the other boys could hardly understand him. The rest of the team wasn't quite as eager to eat, casually chatting as they relaxed in their chairs.

"You know, I haven't had pizza this satisfying in a while," Jay managed to talk around his food. His cheeks were full of pizza, reminding the others of a chipmunk. "With all that nonstop training, I haven't had a meal this greasy in a while." He let out a loud belch before taking a sip of his soda.

Chuckling, Cole leaned back in his chair. His feet were propped on the empty chair beside him, and his arm was draped over the back of his chair. "With all those fancy meals Zane makes, I never thought I'd miss eating something like this."

"Me 'oo!" Lloyd mumbled through his food, a few crumbs spraying out of his mouth. There was no doubt that the young boy was thoroughly appreciating the meal.

"Hey, say it, don't spray it!" Kai fired back, sweeping some of the crumbs off the table. "Just because the girls aren't here doesn't mean we can't have any manners." He made a face at Lloyd before grabbing another piece of pizza.

As the four boys bickered, Zane stared in front of him. He tuned them out, mindlessly eating his food. All he could think about was how he had failed. If he'd just been able to convince Mira sooner, she never would've run away and been taken by the Serpentine. If he'd just gone after her instead of giving her space, those snakes wouldn't have gotten her.

He blamed himself for everything, clenching his fists in frustration. His grip grew tighter as his frustration grew, until Cole yelled beside him.

"Zane, what are you doing?" he cried out, watching him in horror.

Zane looked down at his hand, which had shattered the cup he was holding. He'd clutched it so tightly that his steel hand had broken it. Broken shards of glass were embedded in his hand, piercing the covering that acted as his skin. The rest of the glass was now spread across the table in front of Zane, shining under the flourescent lights of the restaurant.

He stared at the shards blankly. His other hand reached out and easily pulled out one of the broken pieces. The rest of the team stared at him, their shock evident.

It was then that Zane knew their shock was in reference to not only the breaking of the glass, but his own lack of a reaction. As a "nindroid," he didn't feel like the rest of the team. While his father had made him remarkably lifelike, there was no way to replicate human emotion and sensation. Thus, he was the odd one of the group.

Noticing that the group was still silent, Zane looked up with a peaceful smile. "I am alright." He continued picking shards of glass out of his hand. When no one said anything, he looked up again to see the concerned faces around him. "What is it?"

Kai and Cole looked between each other before Cole spoke up. "Zane… we're your teammates. You don't have to hide anything."

"Yeah," Kai agreed. "It's been a long day, but it all worked out in the end."

"She hasn't said yes yet."

The table went quiet again, reflecting on Zane's words. That was the hard part about all of this - the kunoichi had to make their own decisions. If one of them said no…

The silence was broken by Jay's phone buzzing, and he checked it quickly. "The girls are heading back to the house. Mira has made her decision."

Everyone took in a deep breath, knowing that her decisions would greatly impact the future. Cole stood up first, looking over his team. "Let's go see what she has to say."

Oooooh, a cliffhanger. Will she say yes? Will leaving everything behind really be worth it?

In case you hadn't noticed, each mini arc as we get a new kunoichi focuses primarily on the new kunoichi and a ninja. So for all you Zane fans, we're about to dig deep into what makes him tick! Literally! I've had a lot of fun writing about him as a robot, because it's such an interesting aspect of who he is. It's what sets him apart - but maybe he doesn't want to be different. Agh, he's just so interesting to write.

I can't give away much about the next chapter, but I will say this: Garmadon's coming back, and he has a new, dangerous idea...

Anyway, please drop a review if you can! I'll be back in a couple of weeks!