67
"Are we going to the binding?"
Phos glanced up from his spot grinding herbs in a mortar. Syn was leaning on the other side of the table, head in her hands.
"No."
She sighed, drooping in disappointment, but didn't argue. After a few moments she crouched down to scratch Nip under the chin.
"But you're going, right?" she asked, and Phos sighed a little.
"Yes…but only to make sure it gets done properly."
"But what if someone recognizes you?" she asked quietly. Phos just shook his head.
"I'm well known enough around these parts as a Healer…"
"I meant, recognizes you from when you went and saved Hershel," she interjected, and he gave her a withering look. She smiled sheepishly, realizing she had interrupted.
"I would hope that if on the off chance someone did recognize me from that encounter they'll realize that I am not to be fooled with," the Healer finally answered. Syn nodded.
"But that's why we can't go…because they could recognize Hershel…"
"Isn't there something you should be doing?" Phos asked, irritated. She smiled guiltily and stood up. A moment later there was a crash from the back room. Syn jumped and Nip hissed, and the Healer sighed heavily. He made it to the door flap quickly and entered the room in time to see a reddened Hershel trying to tidy the pots he had knocked to the ground. The teen himself was sprawled out in the dirt by the work counter.
"I told you…" Phos started sternly, and Hershel shook his head.
"I was just…trying to stand…."
The Healer scowled and Hershel gestured to his mat in frustration.
"I can't just sit here, day after day…." Hershel argued. "I'll be so much more productive if I could at least stand up."
"Your legs are broken, Hershel…you can't stand up!" Phos reprimanded. "And every time that you try something idiotic like this you only delay the healing process further…."
"I didn't ask for my legs to be broken!" Hershel snapped angrily, and he pushed himself up on his hands to try to maneuver back to his mat. Phos shook his head and moved to help him, but Hershel shied away.
"I'm fine!" he assured, and his long hair flopped into his face. His face contorted in frustration and he used one hand to shove it out of his eyes. A moment later it swung back and he growled in annoyance and stopped to grab his hair, his hands shaking in irritation and frustration.
"I just need to chop it all off…" he fumed, but Phos just scoffed as came over and reached out to pull Hershel's hands away from his hair.
"That'd be a waste…" he muttered, and Hershel relaxed in confusion as Phos went behind him and pulled his hair back and out of his face. The Healer grabbed a scrap of twine and used it to tie the hair at the nape of Hershel's neck.
Meanwhile the teen had simmered down and was staring at the ground. Phos finished the knot and moved so that he was in front of Hershel again. He reached out and lifted the boy's face to meet his gaze. Hershel sighed.
"Master Healer…I just need something to do…something that I can still do…"
"I intend to keep you busy. Don't try to stand again, Hershel…you need to let yourself heal."
"Yes…Master." Hershel mumbled and Phos nodded slightly before standing. Syn had entered the room and was busy cleaning up the fallen pots and herbs. Nip sniffed at some of the herbs and sneezed before meandering over to Hershel to rub her head on his side. He gave the creature a ghost of a smile before scratching her behind the ears.
Phos walked back into the front to finish what he was working on. Syn and Hershel were quiet as she finished tidying up and Nip climbed into the teen's lap for a daytime snooze. Hershel seemed lost in thought and Syn came over to tug on his tied-back hair.
"You look like Master Healer now…" she teased, and Hershel reached up to feel it. He didn't answer and Syn eventually wandered away to get working on the rest of that days' chores.
"Should we…just go in?"
The group of four stared at the southern fortress, and Keyda folded her arms angrily.
"It's hard to miss a dragon landing…I know he knows we're here…"
"Maybe we should have landed inside the wall…" Tolan pointed out, and Cole scratched his head.
"Well…we could always just tour the area ourselves, I guess…"
"The point of these visits is to be working with the leaders!" Keyda started. She was cut off, however, when the iron gate in the Southern Fortress's wall began creaking upwards. They all turned at the sound and waited. Sure enough, a few moments later an Oni woman approached them.
"Where's Ottan?" Keyda asked, tone sharp, and the woman merely gave a shrug.
"The Southern Leader had pressing matters to attend to…I'm his Advisor. I am just as capable of showing you around our province as Ottan, without wasting his time…"
Keyda's eyes flashed, but Cole just sighed.
"Yes, well…we would love to speak with Ottan himself when the tour is over…"
The stone-faced woman merely raised a thin eyebrow.
"We'll have to see," she finally said, and then turned and beckoned the group onward, the tour beginning. Her tone was monotone as she pointed out the different features around them, and Cole couldn't shake the feeling he was back on a school field trip at one of Ninjago's museums.
"The Southern Fortress was one of the first completed, because dragon aggression targeted this area the hardest. We in the south have always had a lot against us…which has made us the strongest in the long run…"
"What's the main trade here in the south?" Cole cut in, speeding up his walk to try to match that of the Advisor's. She scowled.
"Slaves. But of course, with your meddling…now we don't really have one."
"Isn't there anything else you do? The East mentioned you grow crops for weaving…"
She scoffed.
"Hardly does any good, with the central region growing most of it…"
"What's that sound?"
Keyda had paused, frowning as she heard yells and clangs in the distance. The Advisor turned back towards her, looking annoyed.
"The Pit," she said dryly, as if that explained everything.
"The…what?" Cole asked, and the Oni woman rolled her eyes without answering, beckoning them to follow her. The noise grew louder and they caught sight of a large crowd of Oni in the distance, yelling and jeering. They drew nearer and Keyda's eyes narrowed as she caught sight of Ottan, laughing and elbowing the Oni to his left as he stared down at something. The group with Keyda approached hesitantly, already guessing at what they would find.
Oni glanced over and moved out of the way as they recognized the Advisor and Keyda, though, they glared at the latter and hissed under their breath. The group eventually reached the elevated platform that Ottan's large chair was on, and he glanced over at the group with irritation.
"Kloh…." he started, but his advisor just sighed.
"Apologies, Ottan…the Ruler and her followers wished to see the Pit."
"This is why you couldn't meet us?" Keyda asked, not even trying to hide her own irritation. The bearded Oni shrugged.
"Someone's gotta be dedicated to keeping Oni culture alive…" he answered, his tone defensively unapologetic. She looked down into the pit where two large and scarred Oni were battling each other without weapons. One landed a punch and the crowd jeered around them.
"This is Oni culture?" she asked dryly. "It reminds me of a tiny version of the Baron's arena…"
"Where do you think the Baron got the idea?" Ottan growled, leaning forward in his chair to watch as the battle grew more heated. "This is the original Battle Pit…not nearly as large and opulent as the one he built to hold his dragon fights….no, the Pit is for Oni to Oni combat, the way it's supposed to be."
"What kind of people generally do the fighting?" Cole asked, watching as one of the fighters managed to put the other in a headlock. Ottan stroked his wiry black beard.
"Depends. It started as a way for the best warriors to prove themselves…though sometimes it's been used to check which slaves were the strongest. And every year we hold a tournament on the Summer solstice, the winner of which becomes my Captain of the Guard…"
Cole had been watching the fight as Ottan explained, and he suddenly felt a nudge. He glanced over at Ret, who used his head to gesture away from the fight. Cole squinted in the distance. It looked like a couple of slave traders were disappearing into a small cave into the nearby mountain base…
He jumped as Ottan slapped him on the back, talking with Keyda.
"Your little Outsider would probably hold his own pretty well…if the rumors I've heard are true…"
Cole glanced back at the Pit, expression darkening as he remembered his time in the Baron's arena.
"Um….I'll have to decline that offer…" he said, turning away from the Southern Leader. "There's actually something else I'd like to check out…"
Ottan reached out and grabbed his arm as he went to leave.
"I'd love to see you in action, Outsider….I insist…"
Keyda's eyes flashed.
"You don't get to insist on it…" she said, her tone threatening, and Cole ripped his arm out of Ottan's grasp. Tolan tutted.
"She really doesn't like it when people touch him…." he explained to the leader and Cole stepped off the raised platform to head over to the mountain, Ret following behind.
"Where are you going, Cole?" Keyda called, looking at Ottan distrustfully.
"To check something out…"
Keyda and Tolan followed them as they walked towards the cave entrance and Ottan's expression darkened. He snapped and gestured to the departing group, and Kloh nodded her understanding and followed after them.
"So, what's in that cave?" Cole asked, and the Advisor sighed.
"Nothing of interest to you, I'm sure…"
Cole and the others sped up in response. They reached the entrance at the base of the mountain a few minutes later and Ret motioned for Cole to stop so that he could enter first. Cole sighed but obliged, and a few moments later the large guard reappeared and nodded that the situation was safe. Tolan looked over at Kloh, eyebrows raised.
"Last chance to tell us what's in there…."
She clenched her jaw.
"It's…a holding facility…"
"A holding facility for what?" Keyda asked as she followed Cole through the tunnel. She fell silent as they reached the main cave, her question answered for her.
"Why do you have so many slaves in here?" Cole demanded, and they turned to Kloh for an explanation. She bristled and the rows of chained forms looked over with mild interest in the dimly lit area.
"You banned slave trade…" the Advisor explained, tone tight. "So we have nothing to do with them all…we can't sell them to anyone, can we? So we've had to just keep them here…"
"You could set them free…" Cole argued and she scoffed.
"These slaves were gathered from all over the realm…we can hardly sustain them in our villages here!" she pointed out. Tolan shrugged.
"Um…isn't that what you're doing right now in this cave…"
"Then let them go home!" Keyda argued, and Kloh shook her head again.
"They're here for a reason, Ruler. Their own villages couldn't sustain them, or their behavior was poor enough for them to be sold…"
"Well you can't just keep them in here!" Cole pointed out, and Kloh huffed.
"We don't want to keep them here…but our hands are a little tied at the moment…"
There was a sudden crash and they turned in time to see the tunnel entrance blocked off by rocks. The four immediately assumed fighting positions, and Keyda glared at the Advisor.
"What's going on?" she hissed, but for once Kloh looked unsure.
"I…don't know…"
"An opportunity…that's what's going on…"
They all turned at the oily voice as a torch flickered to life and illuminated at grinning slave trader. Cole narrowed his eyes; that guy looked just like the one who tried to buy the children in Vieri's village…
"Got away easy last time, didn't you, Outsider?" the man sneered, and then he pointed a sword at Retrevan. "You said the plan was fullproof…blooming knocked me out for it…and for what? The yellow-skin barely got a slap on the wrist…"
"That wasn't him." Cole said, his arms powering up. "And you should think really hard about whether you really want to do this…"
"Oh, we certainly do…" the trader assured, and more torches flickered to life as traders appeared all around them, jeering. Keyda's hands and eyes began blazing, and slaves began scuttling away from the traders and Ruler.
"Careful…" the first trader warned. "Hate for any of them poor slaves to get hurt. You lot do seem to have a soft spot for em; might wanna go easy on the power surges…."
Tolan and Retrevan had pulled out their swords, and the youth scoffed.
"Just attack already, and stop wasting our time."
The traders around the group charged suddenly and Retrevan leapt in front of Cole as Keyda sent one of them flying with a blast. Tolan's movements were so fluid, Cole couldn't help but think the guy looked like he dancing more than fighting. Kloh gasped in shock at the attack and drew a long knife from a thigh hilt. Her expression was resolute, but her hands were trembling.
"You are in direct defiance…" she started, but one of the traders fired a crossbow and her words were cut off as the bolt hit her shoulder. She sank to the earth, her eyes glazing over in pain. Tolan reached the crossbowman before he could fire another bolt.
"Ottan claimed he could keep this slave wench in line…but even he bowed out in the end, didn't he?" One of the traders jeered at Kloh. "You lot of filthy cowards…"
"Say the men who only dare attack us in a closed off cave, hiding behind a shield of slaves…" Cole growled as he dodged two swings of a trader's sword before spinjitzuing into the unbalanced Oni. The trader was whipped around a few times before he flew out and slammed into a wall, and Cole came out of his spin by another trader. The man went to strike, but Retrevan got to him first.
"Go clear the entrance" the guard said to Cole as he blocked sword blows, and the ninja nodded his understanding before racing for the stone blocked tunnel entrance. He glanced over and dodged one of the traders that swiped at him with his torch, momentarily dazzlingly Cole. He blinked spots from his vision as he narrowly missed getting sliced; the tip of the sword grazed his shoulder and he grimaced before knocking the man back with a blast of earth. The cave shuddered as he reached the block and slammed a powered up fist into it. The slaves cried out at the rumble in the cave; they were still shackled to each other, and it made it difficult to dodge the continued attacks. Retrevan had made it to the entrance as well, and he blocked incoming traders as Cole slammed punch after punch into the blockade. Boulders crumbled down and the Elemental Master sighed as he finally knocked enough of them out of the way to see a glimmer of sunlight, a meager breeze finding its way in.
Keyda blasted another trader, but he went flying backwards right into a group of slaves, which shrieked and scuttled backwards. Keyda ran towards him, but the trader grabbed the slave closest to him and put his sword to the child's throat.
"Careful there, Ruler….or someone could get hurt…" he muttered slimily, and Keyda hesitated, her eyes become burning slits of purple. However, one of the bigger slaves behind the trader struck him across the back of the head and the oily man's eyes glazed over as he slumped forward. Keyda breathed a sigh of relief and the child writhed out of the trader's grasp.
Tolan wove through the last few torch swinging traders, rolling his eyes at their attempts to land a blow on him. He darted out of the way of one of the attacks, swinging his sword hard enough to knock the torch out of the trader's hand. The man cursed and swung in the darkness, but Tolan dodged easily and landed a killing blow himself before twisting out of the way to dodge the swipe that came from behind. As he turned his sword whipped out, glinting in the light of the fallen torch before making contact with the assailant's side. The man dropped, yelling in pain, and Tolan kicked him out of the way before looking around.
"I think we got em all…yeah?" he called out. Retrevan landed a crushing blow to the head of the trader he was facing and looked over at where the younger guard was.
"Looks like it…"
Keyda reached Kloh, who was kneeling on the ground, staring downwards and taking shallow breaths as she clutched her shoulder.
"You alive?" Keyda asked dryly, and Kloh glanced up. Keyda folded her arms. "If this was Ottan's way of…"
"He didn't have anything to do with it." Kloh finally hissed through clenched teeth. "These traders were rogue…"
Tolan had reached the pair and Keyda gestured for him to help her get the Advisor to her feet. Tolan wrapped an arm around the woman's waist, seemingly oblivious to the blood that soon soaked his side.
"Got to get her to a healer…" Keyda muttered before turning to the groups of slaves. "Is anyone hurt?" she called. No one really answered for a moment, and finally the slaves began looking around at each other. After a few minutes Keyda was finally assured that none of the slaves had been injured in the battle and she sighed in relief.
By this point Tolan and Kloh had reached the tunnel entrance, and Retrevan and Cole stepped aside to allow them to go through first. Keyda reached them soon after.
"Are you alright?"
They both nodded and Cole glanced over at Tolan and Kloh.
"Do you think that Ottan was behind this attack?" he asked softly, and Keyda clenched her fists.
"I don't know…" she turned to Ret. "I need you to figure out which traders are still alive and bind them….they will be questioned back at my fortress."
He nodded his understanding and she faced the tunnel. Time to go get some answers.
The look on Ottan's face when Kloh came out of the tunnel was almost evidence enough that he hadn't been behind the attack.
"What happened?!" he roared, glaring at Tolan and then at Keyda as she came out behind them.
"Your slave traders organized an attack," she responded angrily. "How dare…"
"What?!"
"It's true…" Kloh muttered. "They must have known that the Ruler would want to know about the slaves….they were in there waiting…."
Ottan muttered darkly and snapped his fingers to one of his personal guards.
"Take Kloh back to the fortress…" he turned to another guard. "And find a healer …"
"She's bleeding out…" Keyda mentioned, and everyone looked over to her. She gestured for Tolan to lay the advisor down and he did so. Ottan narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to argue, but she just glared back.
"She'll never last long enough for the healer to get to her!" she argued, kneeling next to Kloh. "Hold her still," she ordered, addressing Tolan, and he moved to pin the advisor down. Keyda grasped the crossbow bolt and Kloh flinced.
"No…" she murmured, but Keyda ignored her as she yanked the bolt out of the woman's shoulder. Kloh screamed out, but then the next moment Keyda was pressing her hand to the wound, cauterizing it with a blast of power. The Advisor jolted and Tolan pushed down firmly as she cried out again, but as Keyda pulled back and studied the wound she finally sighed.
"That should hold it…." she said, and Tolan released his grip on the Advisor. The woman curled up instinctively, but Ottan's guard came over and pulled her up off the ground. She was still pretty limp, her eyes closed against the pain, and the bearded leader finally shook his head.
"Just pick her up, for ancient's sake…"
The guard did so and started back towards the Southern fortress. Ottan turned his attention to the Ruler, who had stood once again.
"I suppose you have things you would like to discuss," he finally said, grudgingly. "We can retire to the fortress."
"Quite a few things." Keyda snapped. She looked down at her hand and then over at Tolan's soaked uniform. "And we should probably get cleaned up.
"Do you have enough food to last you till planting season, though?"
Ottan scowled at Cole, but the Elemental Master was not backing down.
"We trade for food, mostly…we don't grow it…"
Cole frowned, thinking.
"But clothing-making plants grow down here," he pointed out, and the Southern Leader shrugged uncommittedly.
"Sure, but we could hardly make a trade of it, what with the central region…"
"Your advisor mentioned as much." Cole interjected. "But what if that wasn't really a problem?"
The Leader leaned forward, intrigued but wary. He finally looked over at Keyda, who was wrapping her arm where a trader had burned her with a torch.
"You'd be willing to shoot your own region in the foot? Word is you're poor enough as it is…"
"We are not ignorant to the problems of the central region," Keyda snapped, tying off the bandage with a fluid movement before looking over. "But we've been trying to reconfigure trades…pick things that work better for the different areas…"
"Slave trade worked just fine here," Ottan growled, and she put her hands on her hips.
"Speaking of….we still need to decide what to do with all those slaves." She pointed out. "We can't just leave em in there…."
"Most were allotted to the northern fortress before your little announcement." Ottan argued back. "Face it lass…you're just going to have to make an exception to your rule this time…"
"No. We are not starting this law off with exceptions." Her eyes flashed to emphasize her point and Ottan threw his hands up.
"Then I don't know what you want me to do…we certainly aren't going to feed em at the cost of our own, and you can't feed them. What are we 'sposed to do with them?"
Keyda held his eye contact for a few moments longer before looking away. He scoffed.
"You don't know, do ya?"
"We'll think of something!" she assured angrily, and Ottan just rolled his eyes.
"Well, we aint feeding them from here on out…so you best think of something quick."
Cole rested his head in his hand, thinking.
"Ret said he got all the traders that were still alive…there's like four of them."
Everyone looked up as Tolan entered the room. The youth had been cleaned up and was no longer coated in blood, though the stains could still be seen on his uniform. He glanced around at the expressions in the room and whistled low as he leaned up against the wall, shaking his head.
"What depressing thought are we stewing over now?"
"Trying to decide what to do with the slaves," Keyda explained, rubbing her temple. These province visits had been way more complicated than she had thought they would be.
Tolan shrugged.
"Why not just ask them where they want to go?"
Ottan scoffed at the idea, but Cole and Keyda both looked up at the lanky guard.
"That…could work…" Cole mused. "It would probably end up dividing them back up to where they came from, for the most part…but if they really didn't come from a good place it gives them a chance to start over somewhere better…"
Ottan glowered at the Outsider.
"Oi…they're our property at the moment, aren't they!? We can hardly allow you to take em and split them up all over the realm without receiving payment for them…."
"Weren't you just saying you were going to let them starve to death?" Keyda asked dryly, folding her arms. Ottan reddened.
"If you take em, Ruler…you're stealing…"
"Then why don't we pay you for them?" Cole offered, and Ottan narrowed his eyes.
"Doesn't that count as slave trade? What, you can break your own laws?"
Even Keyda looked unsure, but Cole shook his head.
"No…we'd be buying their freedom. They wouldn't be slaves anymore…we wouldn't own them…"
Ottan scoffed and Tolan raised an eyebrow across the room.
"You gotta admit it…the Outsider's good at finding loopholes…"
"But what could you possibly offer me?" Ottan asked, eyebrows furrowed.
"You would seriously charge us for their release? If you don't release them they'll just starve and die…" Keyda snapped, but Ottan just shrugged smugly.
"Which means they obviously mean more to you than they do to me. Good leadership is making the most of opportunities, lass."
She scowled at him, but finally relented.
"What do you want?"
He made a show of thinking about it and Keyda rolled her eyes.
"Redact the slave trade announcement…"
"No."
"Then I'd love my own personal dragon…it'll make travel a lot more convenient…"
"NO, Ottan!" she snapped. "You know I'd never agree to those!"
"Then I guess the slaves don't really stand a chance…."
Her eyes blazed.
"You are treading on dangerous ground…it's bad enough we were attacked in your province under your hospitality…"
He took in her words and the tone she spoke them in and finally looked away. After a few moments he sighed.
"Then we'll have to take the boring route and settle on cold hard currency, won't we? The greatest irony is the Central Fortress has plenty of money, but the people are dying off from lack of food, eh?"
Keyda's eyes flashed again and Ottan was wise enough not to say anything more. Finally she sighed.
"How much?"
"I'm sure we can work out a price…" Ottan said smoothly. He suddenly grinned as if another thought had struck him, and those in the room could see a metallic glint from a silver tooth. He leaned forward. "And one more thing."
Keyda narrowed her eyes.
"What?"
Ottan's gaze slid over to where Cole was seated, and the ninja frowned at the leader's expression.
"Tomorrow, the Outsider battles in the Pit."
68
"Perhaps he will let me take your place."
They had made it back to the central fortress, turning down Ottan's offer of letting them stay there at his. Cole looked over and gave his personal guard a ghost of a smile before shaking his head.
"I don't think he'll let you…he's pretty adamant that I have to do it. Why he wants me to do it, I don't know…"
"You don't have to do this, Cole." Keyda said, folding her arms. She had been against the idea, but Cole had finally agreed to it.
He shrugged.
"It feels like his attempt to have some control…force his will on us for once. But I don't know that there's a lot of danger; I mean, I may get bruised…but he knows how you would react if it became more than that."
Keyda's expression darkened further and Jaqah shook her head.
"I'm glad you didn't stay there tonight; I don't trust Ottan to keep you all sufficiently safe…especially not after what happened with those slave traders. Are we sure that Ottan didn't have anything to do with that?"
"The two we were able to bring from the southern fortresses are being interrogated right now." Keyda assured. "So hopefully we'll know by tomorrow."
"As Ruler, you could have technically just forced Ottan to hand the slaves over as part of the new law…" Omar pointed out, and Keyda glared at the floor.
"Yeah…but if I keep iron fisting the leaders, it'll only cause them to balk more. I need to work with them as much as possible…even if they act like smug hoofers in the process…"
Cole sat up suddenly, as if something had just occurred to him.
"Hoofers…" he looked over at Keyda. "The central region needs new trades, because we've basically sent all the farming east and south…"
"What kind of trade could Hoofer's support?" Jaqah asked carefully, and Cole turned to her.
"Well…I mean the central region really isn't suited for crops…but the mop plant grows everywhere and that's what the livestock eat, right? So what if the central villages raised more livestock…"
"They already do have some." Omar pointed out. "But there really isn't a need for more…"
"That's because right now Hoofers are only used to…what? Eat?"
Keyda shrugged.
"Some are eaten, but mainly villages just keep them for milk and to pull farming equipment…"
"But what if people could ride hoofers? Wouldn't that open up a whole new need for them? Everyone's complaining enough that transportation is horrible…but on hoofers it would probably be way faster…"
Tolan snorted in the corner.
"You can't ride a hoofer…you'd break your head…."
"With a saddle and reigns…it's actually pretty manageable," Cole argued, and the guards raised their eyebrows.
"You've ridden hoofers?" Retrevan asked, and Cole chuckled.
"Yeah…first time was a little rough but the second time around it went a lot better. Anyways, the point is that we could make the central region into a region of ranchers and that could solve a lot of problems…"
"What's a rancher?" Omar asked, scratching his curly head as he tried to keep up. Keyda looked at Cole for a few moments before sighing.
"I mean…it could work…but I can't shake the feeling that by changing all of this stuff we will just as easily make everything worse…" she hugged herself. "I mean, things are pretty bad right now, so hopefully these changes will help…but if we can't get the leaders to be on board or the villagers revolt…"
Cole reached over and took her hand from his seat next to her, giving her a comforting smile.
"Change is hard, Keyds…but in the end I really do think things will be better. The areas are better equipped for different trades… I'll bet it's been awhile since they were willing or able to really make decisions together to change the nation."
"I guess." she sighed. "It's just a lot to think about…and we got the binding in a few days…" she looked over, slightly accusingly. "And now I have to worry about your fight tomorrow! Maybe it's not too late to back out of that decision…"
"It'll be fine Keyds…in fact, I pity the Oni Ottan sticks in there with me."
As confident as he had been the night before, Cole couldn't help but feel a twist of unease as the Guardian landed near the already-crowded Battle Pit.
If things go south, all you have to do is ask and I'll eat your opponent.
Cole chuckled; he wasn't sure if the Guardian was joking to help him feel better or if he was serious…but at times like this it was nice to know you had a dragon on your side.
"I'll keep that in mind," he promised, patting the reptile's neck.
"Keep what in mind?"
Keyda quirked an eyebrow, but Cole spotted Ottan coming over to them and just shook his head.
"I was wondering if you'd show up…" Ottan boomed as he crossed the dusty ground to where Cole, Keyda, Tolan, and Retrevan were dismounting. Cole frowned as the leader approached.
"Well…a deal's a deal…" he replied, and Ottan scoffed.
"Clearly. Speaking of…" he turned to Keyda and cleared his throat expectantly. She gave him a withering look but slowly pulled out a pouch of currency. His eyes glittered as he reached out for it and she handed it to him.
"Hope it wasn't too big an inconvenience, counting this out for me…" Ottan said smugly, handing the bag to an Oni standing nearby, which the group could only assume was his stand-in Advisor. "Especially since I'm going to have to have it all counted again…"
"It's all there," the Ruler replied bluntly, her arms crossed in irritation. The leader just chuckled in reply; he was obviously enjoying himself. He put an arm around Keyda's shoulders to guide her over to the pit, and her eyes flashed as she shoved him off.
"Don't touch me."
He shrugged and gestured for them to follow him.
"I had chairs brought out because I assumed you would all like to watch from my personal platform…"
"How thoughtful," Cole said dryly, and Ottan turned, as if suddenly remembering that the outsider was there.
"Nearly forgot about you…" he turned to another Oni hovering nearby and waved him to Cole. "Roho…take the Outsider down to Pit…make sure he knows the rules…"
The group made wary eye contact but then the other Oni was guiding Cole in the opposite direction. He flashed Keyda a small smile before he and his guide reached a dusty staircase and disappeared down towards the Pit.
"Why is it you insist on Cole fighting?" Retrevan asked as they resumed their walk over to Ottan's raised platform. The Southern Leader stroked his wiry beard.
"He's gonna be helping run the nation, ain't he? I'd just like to see what the Outsider is made of…"
He clambered up onto platform and sank smugly into his padded chair. There were three other chairs, plus the one his advisor was sitting in on Ottan's right hand. The bearded Oni gestured to the empty chairs as Keyda and her guards hesitated to sit in them. Tolan finally sat, leaning back in the chair as he waited for the fight to start. Keyda remained standing, catching the amused expressions in the crowd. There were far more Oni here today to watch than there had been yesterday…she had no doubt that Ottan had spread the word about this battle.
"Pull up a chair, Keyda…you won't want to miss this," the leader pressed, and she glared at him.
"If it gets too intense, I'm going to call it off…I don't know what you have planned, but I won't let you…"
"You are positively wretched." Ottan scoffed. "This is the way Oni have been entertaining themselves for centuries...I don't have anything unsavory planned for your little Outsider. We won't even make it to the death…the challengers are instructed to back down once the opponent is unconscious…"
Keyda opened her mouth to snap at him, but Tolan just chuckled wryly as he put his hands behind his head.
"That's assuming Cole would ever let them get that far…"
The Pit stank. Cole supposed it made sense…but he tried not to gag as he descended down into the underground tunnels full of sweaty, unwashed bodies. It was like a month of Jay and Kai's unwashed laundry…
"This way," Roho said as he turned down a sudden corner, and Cole blinked and sped up to follow him. Suddenly the short Oni came to a stop and Cole nearly ran into him. Roho looked up at the wall, where different strips of leather hung. He pulled two down and turned to Cole.
"The Battle Pit rules are pretty simple…No weapons, no armor, no…powers…"
"I'm not sure I can really control that last one…"
"You'll forfeit...and Ottan sure hates when people forfeit…" Roho warned and Cole sighed.
"I'll try to keep it under control," he finally said, and looked at the leather strips the Oni was holding. "What're those for?"
"You may bind your hands to protect them…only thing you're allowed."
"Ah." Cole said, accepting the strips of leather, trying not to think about how many other Oni had used them before him. He tentatively started binding his hands, glancing up at Roho. "So…how exactly does this work? The Battle, I mean?"
The Oni grinned for the first time.
"You knock em out before they knock you out. Easy enough, eh Outsider?"
"Sounds doable…"
They heard the sudden roar of the crowd, and they both glanced up at the rumble over the tunnel roof. Roho chuckled.
"Guess we'll find out."
Keyda was still refusing to sit as Ottan addressed the crowd.
"Oi, enough waiting, yeah? You've all come for a show…"
The Oni surrounding the pit roared with approval, and Keyda's scowl deepened.
"We wanna watch the Outsider in the Battle Pit, don't we?! Time to see if all those rumors are true…" Ottan continued, and the Oni shouted and stamped. "So let's bring him out!"
"What rumors?" Keyda demanded as Ottan finished his battle commencement speech and sat back down. He waved away her concerns.
"They say he's basically invincible…no matter what the Baron or anyone else threw at him, he never went down. I must say I've been curious to see how much truth there is to that…"
"What are you planning on doing to him?!" she pressed, her eyes burning. Ottan just tutted.
"I'm planning on watching him fight, Keyda. And I would suggest you sit down so you can do the same!"
She refused to do so, but what she was going to say was cut off as the crowd roared again. Cole came out into the arena, blinking in the blinding sunlight, and after a moment his eyes adjusted and he found Keyda in the crowd. He gave her a little smile and a wink, and she rolled her eyes.
"The Idiot…" she muttered, her voice tinged with worry. The crowd yelled again as another figure entered the arena. The Oni was taller than Cole, but not too much bigger, and Keyda couldn't help but feel a little relieved. The Oni lifted his fists, and after a moment Cole mimicked the position. Keyda noticed that both had their hands were bound in some kind of leather, and with both of their shirts off she was realizing how yellow Cole was. An Oni standing on the opposite side of the pit from the Leader's platform rang a gong, and the Oni launched towards Cole. He hesitated a moment and then darted out of the way at the last second, not realizing how quickly the fight was going to start. A few minutes went by with his opponent continuing a strong offensive with Cole mainly darting out of the way. Ottan leaned forward, expression unsatisfied.
"Does the outsider not know how to fight?" he complained, and Keyda bit her lip. She was glad that the other Oni wasn't landing any hits, but she couldn't help but feel like Cole was better than this. What was he doing?
The Oni struck again and again, and Cole went to duck out of the way. The Opponent followed Cole's movement, but at the last second the Elemental Master doubled back and landed a solid blow on the Oni's side. The Opponent went flying across the circle, slamming into the side of the Pit and sliding down. Cole winced a little and the Oni crowd booed and hissed as Ottan stood, expression sour.
"Oi Outsider! NO POWERS!"
Cole looked up sheepishly at the irate leader.
"I can't help it!" he complained, though he didn't have much time to defend his case because the next moment the opponent was nearly taking his head off with a punch of his own. Cole did some frenzied dodging and blocked one of the punches with his arm, using his other fist to connect with the Oni's jaw. The Oni grunted and managed to knee Cole hard in the stomach, and the ninja stumbled back, winded. The Opponent didn't waste time taking advantage of it, Kicking Cole back into the wall. The fist came swiftly, but Cole managed to move his head in time and the Oni connected with the hardened dirt wall instead. Cole kicked out hard, and once again the Oni flew backwards, hitting the ground and skidding and rolling across the dirt.
Ottan glowered, and Tolan chuckled from his seat next to the leader.
"He can't turn it off…" he pointed out, glancing over at Ottan. "And you were the one who wanted him to fight…"
Ottan scoffed, but after a moment he couldn't help but chuckle as well. He made some gesture to the gong ringer as he smirked.
"Then I guess we have no choice but to even out the score…"
The gong ringer struck two more times, and Cole hesitated, looking up. Rather than ending the battle, however, the gong summoned two more fighters to the ring. Cole had enough time to shoot Ottan a withering gaze before the fight began anew.
Keyda watched Cole back up as the three fighters ganged up on him and turned to Ottan, furious.
"Stop the fight! This isn't fair!"
"The boy has powers, doesn't he? It's not fair for any of the fighters to take on a superpowered opponent alone…"
"But three on one in that tiny space? It's ridiculous! Stop the fight!"
Ottan's eyes never left the battle as he shrugged.
"Let's just see what happens, shall we?"
In the Pit, Cole was struggling to figure out how to deal with the newcomers. He had been in crowded battles before…but not usually weaponless in cramped areas. He studied the three Oni, trying to decide how he should go about attacking. The biggest problem was that in order to get close enough to any of them to attack in this hand-to-hand way, he would be exposed to the other two…"
The three had been triangulating, forcing him into a corner, and his expression darkened as they approached; this was going to be pretty bad unless he allowed himself to use his powers at their full potential. One finally charged him head on and he made up his mind; better to forfeit than let himself be beaten to a pulp.
He dodged the initial swing and landed a counter blow of his own to the side of the Oni's head. Immediately afterward he spinjitzued in order to make it out of the way of the oncoming punch from another one of the opponents. This Oni was shorter and he jumped back in surprise at the sudden earth-tornado before looking up at Ottan to see if the Leader was going to allow this blatant breaking of the Battle Pit rules. The bearded leader merely shrugged and gestured for the battle to continue, and the three Oni turned towards the tornado as Cole spun out of it. Staggering a little to keep his balance, Cole exhaled and raised his fists again. This time the opponents were a little more wary and calculating in their approach, unsure of what Cole would do. Two sprang at him at once and he dodged one blow but felt the other Oni land his punch on the side of his head. He winced, his ear ringing in pain as he powered up his earth punch and went to hit the Oni on the chest. The Oni blocked the punch, but then cried out and stumbled back and Cole grimaced; he was pretty sure he had just broken the guy's arm. He didn't have time to feel too bad because the third Oni had managed to slip behind the three fighting figures and grabbed Cole in a sudden headlock. Cole grunted at the sudden pressure on his windpipe as the taller Oni behind him managed to lift him up so his feet were barely touching the ground. Cole writhed in his grip, but he could see the other uninjured Oni—his original opponent—approaching quickly. With his current position pinned to the Oni behind him, he would make an easy target…and he couldn't breathe. He closed his eyes closed, concentrating, and managed to get a good enough twist in to spark another spinjitzu tornado. The Oni behind him went flying backwards, slamming hard into a wall. The approaching fighter balked a little, unsure, but then Cole came flying out of his spin and tumbled across the dirt. He panted a little in his place on the ground but managed to push himself up as the three started towards him again. They were looking a little more sure of themselves…his exhaustion must be showing. Spinjitzu was effective but tiring. He would have to try to keep it more hand to hand.
The Oni with the broken arm hung back a little, but the other two ran at him, trying to catch him while he was still trying to recover. He blocked a punch from the taller Oni, but his original opponent kicked him in the side and caused him to stumble. The first Oni recovered quickly from the block and used his other fist to land a solid hit across Cole's cheekbone. The Elemental Master landed a blow of his own, but the first challenger shoved him against the nearby wall. Cole twisted to land an earth punch on his original opponent, which sent the fighter flying backwards, but the taller Opponent grabbed his hair from behind and slammed him up against the wall again. Cole yelled and pushed back against the Oni, but he was pinned with his chest against the wall, which made it nearly impossible to punch or kick the fighter behind him. His eyes were smarting from pain from his yanked hair, and he thrashed to turn himself around. Before he could do so, the taller Oni kneed him fiercely in the lower back.
White hot pain exploded up Cole's spine and he screamed out. The sudden pain caused a shot of adrenaline and he pushed against the dirt wall with both his arms and legs to launch himself backwards. The Oni kept his grip on Cole's hair, but the sudden force made it so he couldn't keep Cole pinned; the Elemental Master finally managed to twist around and landed a solid punch on the Oni's temple. The fighter dropped like a rock, and Cole stumbled a little, his back still feeling like it was on fire as he blinked away sweat and tried to figure out where the other fighters were. The one with the broken arm was watching from a few yards away, and his original opponent had recovered from the ninja's previous blow. Cole was faintly aware of the Oni yelling and jeering from the sidelines but it all felt far away…he panted as he narrowed his eyes at the approaching fighter and summoned a large earth blast. The challenger put his arms out as a way to block the attack, but the thick chunk of earth hurtling towards him managed to knock him off his feet regardless. Cole planted his feet, regarding the two conscious Oni warily as color traveled up both arms. The fighters seemed less than willing to charge him again, but no end call had been made, so they finally both ran at him at once in an effort to beat him by numbers. He yelled out and earth swirled around his hands as he stood ready for them.
A deep gong suddenly echoed in the pit, and the two remaining opponents stopped short of their attack. Cole tensed, thinking that another fighter was on their way out…but he noticed the two other fighters relaxing their stances as they glared at him. He blinked and his arms finally died down as he looked around. Was the fight over, then?
"Well…wasn't that interesting to watch?!"
Ottan's voice boomed across the Pit and the observing fields. Cole finally relaxed his own stance, though he couldn't help but glower up at the Southern Leader as he spoke.
"Yes…I hope you all don't mind me ending early…but as we all know, the Outsider already forfeited…and I didn't want him roughing up our fighters too much…"
Cole rolled his eyes. He hardly could do anything but use his powers once Ottan stacked the odds against him. The crowd booed and jeered, and Cole put up an arm to guard his face as a few random pieces of trash and stones came flying at him from the audience.
"Stop it!"
Keyda's angry voice rang across the clearing, and everyone suddenly seemed to remember whose Outsider he was. Cole could see her eyes blazing from where he was, and he couldn't help but smile a little. Ottan called out to the crowd again.
"I know some of you won't be able to realize bets without the fight completing…but I suppose that just serves as a good reminder to 'never bet on the unknown', eh?"
There were grumbles in the crowd, but Cole was less concerned with the crowd than the other fighters. They were already heading out of the Pit, and slaves had come in to move the unconscious fighter out as well. Cole headed back to the entrance he had come out of, happy to see that they had raised the metal gate so he could leave. Roho was waiting for him, shaking his head as if ashamed of the ninja. Cole shrugged, only semi-apologetic as he undid the sweat-soaked leather strips from his hands.
"You cheated…" He accused as Cole handed him the strips.
"So did Ottan," Cole pointed out as he took his shirt from the Oni.
"That was the most Idiotic thing I've ever seen…"
Cole looked over in surprise to see that Keyda had pushed her way down the staircase into the Pit Tunnels; he could see her glowing eyes and look of disgust a few yards away. He walked over to her, shirt slung over one arm.
"Really? Out of all the things I've done, this one takes the cake?" he teased, and she scowled.
"This has nothing to do with cake…" Her nose wrinkled as he reached her. "It reeks down here…and you're hardly better," she complained, and he ran a hand through sweat soaked hair. He winced as doing so tightened muscles in his back and she finally sighed.
"Ottan's offered his fortress for us to get cleaned up and get something to eat…"
"Yeah?" Cole asked. "And…you want to do that?"
"I didn't…" she admitted as she looked him up and down. "But I can hardly sit behind you all the way back to our fortress…not with you smelling like that."
He gave her a tired smile.
"Sounds like a plan."
69
"Maybe just a semi-annual thing….you heard the crowds during the fight! Powers add a whole other entertaining element…"
"NO, Ottan! I should never have even agreed to it this time!"
Cole was rubbing his hair with a towel as he reentered the room, and Retrevan stood respectfully. Keyda's back was turned to him, but Ottan glanced up and couldn't help chuckling.
"There's the Pit Prodigy now…feeling better?"
Keyda turned and Cole shrugged.
"Um…I guess. I mean, the water's cold enough that it kinda numbs the pain…"
Ottan laughed outright at that.
"One of the few perks of it, I must say. At any rate, Keyda and I were just discussing how often you'd be making an appearance in the Pit…."
"Which is never. I'm just trying to get it to stick in Ottan's thick head…" Keyda snapped as she stood and came over to Cole. He gave her a smile, but her own expression was concerned as she circled him, checking for damage. She came back around and tsked as she reached out to lightly touch the bruise that had bloomed on one cheekbone.
"You realize we're going to get bound in a few days with you looking like you've been through war…"
He chuckled at that.
"It'll fade…"
She narrowed her eyes disbelievingly.
"How's your back?" she asked quietly, and his smile faded.
"Um… it'll probably be stiff the next couple days, but I'll be fine."
She didn't look totally convinced and Tolan stood and stretched.
"Does this mean that we can finally eat?"
Ottan stood as well.
"The Outsider took his sweet time…but yes, the slaves have set out our meal in my personal dining hall…if you'll follow me,"
He turned and headed out one door and Tolan followed immediately behind. Retrevan waited for Cole and Keyda to pass before taking the rear position. Keyda's arm was wrapped around Coles, but as they walked together she looked down, her eyebrows furrowing.
"You're limping…." she pointed out quietly, and Cole flushed slightly as he glanced down.
"Just stiff, Keyds…I'll be fine in a few days."
She was silent for a few moments and finally sighed.
"I hope so."
It was still light as they made it back to the fortress. The Guardian landed and they all dismounted, with Cole being significantly slower than the rest. He grimaced as he accidently twisted the spot on his back, and Keyda raised an eyebrow.
"I don't think you'll be able to walk this one off in a few days…" she pointed out dryly as Retrevan helped him dismount. Cole sighed and then gave her a sheepish look.
"You might be right." he admitted. "I think I'll turn in early tonight..."
They entered the doors and headed towards Keyda's office to fill in the other guards on the proceedings of the day. They pushed open the heavy metal office doors, expecting to find Jaqah and Omar and maybe Ves…
"SURPRISE!"
Retrevan and Tolan immediately pulled out their swords while Keyda's eyes flashed and Cole jumped. He winced as the movement once again jarred his back.
The band of colored ninja held up their hands as the guards instinctively moved to attack.
"DUDE, this whole nation needs to be coached in the ways of the 'surprise!'" Jay complained, and Cole pushed his way into the room.
"Guys?! What are you all doing here?!"
"They arrived shortly after you left this morning." Jaqah replied, coming over to stand in front of the group from Ninjago. "I assumed they were your guests…though they seem to have gotten the time wrong…"
"For the last time, we meant to come early!" Kai huffed.
"That way we could tour around a little before the wedding…or whatever it's called here," Nya added. "So far we've seen the fortress…" she looked around, clearly not super impressed, and shrugged. "Real…homey."
"I called Wu yesterday and asked him to come pick us up," Jay explained, coming over to give his friend a slap on the back. "It's good to be back..." he trailed off and then chuckled wryly. "Well…good to see you. To be honest this whole place still creeps me out and reminds me of the Baron…"
"Well, I don't know what we're going to do with all…" Cole trailed off as he saw another figure near the back and his eyebrows shot up. "Pop? You came early too?"
"Of course, Cole…I wasn't about to get left behind!" He approached to give his son an embrace, but as he took in the way Cole was standing he frowned. "You hurt your back again, son?"
"And not just your back, by the looks of it." P.I.X.A.L added, gesturing to the bruise on his face. Cole reached up and touched it, a little self-conscious.
"Oh…yeah. Just some classic Oni-gladiator battles and stuff…no big deal…"
"He got roped into a stupid agreement," Keyda interpreted dryly, and Jay gave an awkward chuckle.
"Sounds like Cole. Anyways…. do you have any grub? I'm starving!"
Keyda glanced over at Jaqah, who sighed.
"I suppose I can go ask the kitchens to make a light meal…" she disappeared out of the office and Cole looked at his friends, suddenly feeling a little bashful.
"Uh….would you like a tour, or something?"
"Not of the fortress…I mean the Baron already did that and it was super boring," Jay pointed out. Zane, however, rubbed his chin.
"I for one would not mind a tour…"
"Wu's gone to get our elemental Guardians." Kai explained. "So when he gets back, we could maybe take a tour of the whole realm…"
"Uh…" Cole glanced over at Keyda, who looked just as concerned. He also caught the wary glances that the head guards were giving each other and snapped back to his friends. "You know, that sounds like a great idea…"
"Cole…" Keyda muttered behind him, but he continued.
"In fact, speaking of Wu, you should see what he's doing with the dragon lands. You'd never even recognize them!"
"The dragon lands? Isn't the whole nation, you know, unified now?" Kai asked, but Lloyd seemed to pick up on Cole's underlying tone.
"I'd love to see what the dragon lands look like. Frankly, it's just super cool to be here…I mean, this is the realm my grandfather was born in…"
"It is?" Keyda cut in, confused. Cole turned to her.
"Yeah, you know, his dad's dad was the First Spinjitzu Master…or Child…or whatever it is he was called by Oni…"
She blinked. She realized it made sense…she knew Wu and Garmadon were related to the child, and this kid was related to them…but she had never made the full logical jump…."
"Ze Child!? You are related to ze Child from legend!?" Ves asked, eyes widening in awe. Lloyd suddenly became a little uncomfortable.
"Um… I mean, if that's what you call the First Spinjitzu Master…"
"I was expecting the outsiders to be yellow…" Tolan suddenly interrupted, leaning in close to Skylor. She leaned back, clearly uncomfortable, and Kai shoved Tolan back angrily. The guard didn't even seem to notice as he turned towards Zane and P.I.X.A.L. "But those guys aren't even people, really…" he squinted at Zane. "I mean, I heard about the metal guy, I guess…"
"If it is unnerving, I can change," Zane assured, and the guards balked a little as Zane's form became far more human like. Cole tried not to face-palm.
"Yeah, one of the perks of being a nindroid…" he explained. He glanced over at where Tolan was fingering Lloyd's hair, seemingly transfixed by the color. "You'll have to excuse Tolan, he's…well….he's Tolan."
Keyda shot the youngest guard a look. He rolled his eyes and backed away, and Lloyd relaxed slightly.
"When Jaqah gets back we can go to my dining hall to eat." Keyda offered. "Hopefully by then Wu will be back and you can all go explore the Dragon lands…"
"And the rest of the realm," Nya added, and Keyda narrowed her eyes as he turned to the dark-haired girl.
"No. Honestly, it was going to be hard enough for you all to attend the binding…we can't really have you travelling wherever you want in the realm…"
"It's not like the Oni can really do much," Kai pointed out dryly. "I mean, we've got huge dragons, and they have the union, so we should be fine to do some exploring…"
"The political situation is a little…tense at the moment…" Cole said, holding up his hands. "I promise I'll show you some places tomorrow, but I think small groups would be best, at predetermined locations…"
"Gee…good old Mr. Responsible to the rescue…" Jay said dryly, but Lloyd smacked the blue ninja on the back.
"Sounds good to me. We didn't want to come and create more problems for you guys….right Jay?"
"Fine. As long as we really do get to eat first!"
Retrevan followed Jaqah as she headed towards the kitchens. As they moved further away from the office the new Captain of the Guard clenched her fists and let out an angry huff; Retrevan mused that the Outsiders must have been driving her crazy since their arrival.
Omar approached from the other direction, looking a little nervous. He waved at Jaqah and she sighed and came to a stop.
"Just headed to the kitchens. Did you find enough bedrooms and inform the slave Matron?"
"Yes…" Omar said hesitantly. Her eyes narrowed at his tone.
"But there's some problem? What's going on?"
"No, nothing's wrong…um…" he took a deep breath, finally looking up at her. "I've just been thinking, Jaqah…and I was wondering if you would like…er…if you want to…"
"Look, Omar, I've got a lot on my plate right now keeping the realm from falling apart, so whatever you're about to add to my to-do list, could you just not?"
Omar shrank back a little and Jaqah pushed past him to head to the kitchen. Retrevan hung back with the curly-headed Oni, who sighed deeply.
"Do you reckon she knows? Or…"
Retrevan put a large hand on Omar's shoulder.
"She's Captain of the Guard…Captains know everything." He tilted his head a little as he thought for a moment. "Except she does seem to be a little oblivious to this…"
"Or she's just really not in the mood to encourage it," Omar pointed out dejectedly. Retrevan patted his shoulder.
"It's probably still a little too soon, Omar."
The smaller guard sighed again and headed back to Keyda's office.
"Yeah. Probably."
Cole watched his friends fly off on the three Guardians and Ultra-Dragon, waving as they went. They were a little upset with him that he wasn't going to join him on his tour, but he doubted he would be enjoyable company with the pain in his back. As they became specks on the horizon he sighed.
"Hopefully Lloyd and Wu will keep them in line…" he said, and Keyda wrapped a gentle arm around his waist.
"I think they know it's important to you…so they'll follow through." She paused. "Maybe we should have threatened to send them home if they misbehaved."
Cole laughed at that, turning towards her.
"Because that worked so well for me."
She rolled her eyes and leaned up against him.
"Shut up, Idiot."
"This is your room?"
Jay looked around the cramped quarters and shook his head. They had gotten back a little while ago and everyone was more or less getting ready for bed. Jay had sought Cole out and finally found him in his bedroom. Jay looked unimpressed, but Cole just shrugged.
"Yeah…it's no smaller than what I lived in at the temple, or on the bounty…"
"Well, yeah…but this fortress is huge! Even the room Nya and I got is bigger than this closet. And you're super far from anything…especially Keyda…"
Cole shrugged again, not really sure what to say, and Jay trailed off to chuckle.
"But I guess you'll only be in here a few more days anyways, huh?"
The Master of Earth looked around, realizing his friend was right.
"Um…yeah, I guess." He frowned, lost in thought, as Jay sat on his bed.
"So…whatcha wearing for the wedding? Do you have a tux? Cuz I'm pretty sure your Dad brought one…."
Cole sat down next to Jay, brows furrowing.
"I…think I have the suit I wore to my Dad's play around here somewhere…" he hesitated. "No wait…that was destroyed in the laundry…"
"Destroyed? Destroyed how?"
Cole laughed.
"Let's just say Oni don't really do dry clean only. I didn't even think about it until it was too late." He scanned his room and finally ran a hand through his hair. "I guess I'll just wear a gi…"
"It's your wedding for crying out loud! You can't just wear the same thing as every day! Where's the suit you wore for my wedding?"
"Back at the temple…"
"What?! Why'd you leave it?!"
"Cuz it's blue!" Cole complained. "And I didn't ever know when I'd wear it…and Kai was right. It was itchy,"
Jay face-palmed, groaning.
"Seriously, I'm pretty sure you have rocks for brains…"
Cole flushed.
"It really doesn't matter, Jay. Keyda couldn't care less what I'm wearing…same with the rest of the Oni. Phos said that the only things we need are the ornamental scarves, so…"
"You're just going to wear the same thing you wear everyday…with a scarf? You realize your Dad is going to have a fit, right?"
Cole sighed, but then he couldn't help but laugh with his friend.
"Well…things are done differently here. I'm sure he'll understand."
"Is the room alright for you?"
Lou looked up as Keyda entered his small room, her arms folded in concern. He chuckled.
"Yes, it's fine…kind of you to give me a private one. I must say I'm not quite as…well, I don't fit in with my son's friends, I suppose." He had pulled his bag out onto his bed and was slowly opening it. Her frown deepened, unsure why he had requested her to come to his room.
"Then everything's fine?"
He nodded and then beckoned her over.
"Yes, everything is great. I just wanted to show you something…"
She came over to the bed, unsure. A moment later he pulled a small package wrapped in thin crinkly material and handed it to her.
"This is for you…I mean, you may already have something, but I guess I couldn't help myself…"
She accepted the package and stared at it for a few moments before looking back up at him. He laughed at her expression.
"Open it!" he urged, and she found the seam in the wrapping and split it open. Her eyes widened at what was inside, and Lou couldn't help but grin as she took hold of the cloth and let the rest of the dress tumble to the floor.
"Oh…it's…." her words caught in her throat as he looked over at the performer, who seemed pleased with her reaction. She was clutching the dress tightly in one fist, and he came over and eased it from her grasp so he could hold it up for her to admire.
"It's a dress. You didn't get to keep the last one, so I had this one made…"
She didn't know what to say, so she came to look closely at the cloth. The dress was made of an incredibly soft and smooth fabric, deep grey in color. Over the top there was more of that strange type of sheer fabric that had transfixed her on the purple dress she had worn in Ninjago. This fabric was silvery, and she swallowed. The dress was beautiful…and it even had long sleeves so she wouldn't feel so exposed.
Lou cleared his throat, suddenly a little sheepish.
"I mean, don't feel like you have to wear it…."
"It's beautiful," Keyda admitted. "But….but I can't accept this…not after I destroyed the last one…"
"Nonsense!" Lou waved off her concerns. "Everyone deserves to wear something special for their wedding. It's yours regardless, whether or not you choose to wear it…"
He handed it back to her and she looked down at it, not sure what to say. Part of her just wanted to try it on, see how it looked….the other part of her wanted to shove it back into the mustached man's hands. She ran a hand over the soft fabrics and finally looked up.
"Thank you."