Six Months Ago

One hundred and two degrees.

That was how hot Ninjago was that day, and that was exactly what pushed Jay, Kai and Nya to dash to the pond, which was at the edge of a clearing in the forest. School had just ended in order to give families enough time to begin packing and cleaning their houses, and would resume on the Dark Island.

At first, Jay and Nya were reluctant to go. Two days earlier, an ice cube had pierced Kai's eye while he had dug into the ice tray to make his water colder. He had burrowed a little too furiously, and the ice cube had flown from the tray and into his eye.

The town eye doctor told his family it had hit Kai's eye just right for it to take a while to heal. As a result of the incident, Kai now wears an eye patch on his right eye for the next three days.

But Kai had assured them it would be no problem going to the pond, so Jay and Nya reluctantly agreed.

The three reached the clearing, and the sight of the pond made the them do a double take.

The pond was large, and it stretched farther than either of them could see. Based on what their parents told them, the pond only came to an end when it reached the rapids, which then would lead into the open ocean.

The surface shimmered in reaction of the few remaining sun rays that existed behind the mountains, and the soft wind gave it ripples as well as a slight shake in the treetops behind the three. Nobody else in town had thought to come here for a respite to the heat like they had, so Kai, Jay and Nya had the entire pond to themselves.

It was Nya that gave a yell first, and ran in, diving into the water as soon as she reached it. Jay followed close behind, staying a second in front of Kai.

And for an hour, the three frolicked in the pond, trying their best at performing swan dives and cannonballs from the side. Jay surprised them with a rope he had brought, and he tied it to a low hanging tree. Both Jay and Nya used it to swing into the pond.

However, Kai stopped in the middle of their stay because water had gotten in his patch, and he decided to lie down on the flat rock next to where Jay and Nya were swimming.

"So, Nya," Jay said after the two had been swimming for a while. "Maybe we should explore for a while. Do you want to come?" Nya glanced at her brother, who had closed his eyes but hadn't fallen asleep.

"No thanks. I don't want to leave Kai alone." Nya said.

"He'll be fine," Jay had replied quickly. "He can take care of himself."

"No, actually, he can't." Nya's voice hadn't been at all unkind; more like in a matter-of-fact kind of way. "Ever since his eye was cut, I'm worried something else might happen to him. He's not as strong with one eye, you know. If something else happens, he's going to be just as helpless when we leave for the Dark Island."

Kai immediately bolts up, staring holes into his sister. It wasn't until Nya saw him that she realized what she said.

"Don't mind me," Kai says tightly. "I'm just a helpless idiot with a scratched eye!"

Before Nya could tell her brother that that wasn't at all what she meant, Kai stands up and dashes into the woods.

Nya and Jay chased after him, Nya shouting his name over and over again. But Kai had continued running, with only one eye working at the moment, not seeing the Ninjago Canyon not ten steps from him.

It was Jay who gave the last shout, trying to warn him of what was ahead.

"KAI! STOP! THE CANYON!"

But it was too late. Kai took his last step, slipped on a rock, and fell. He tumbled down, crashing into many rocks on the way, and landed on a narrow ledge about ten feet from the frantic faces of Nya and Jay. It had all happened so quickly that it took a moment for Kai to realize he was bleeding.

A few bruises had lined his arms, but his real injury was the cut on his left cheek, that would later turn into the only blemish on his face. The cut was deep and long, like it was slit open with the blade of a knife.

Suddenly, a rope appeared right in front of Kai, followed by Jay shouting, "Climb up!"

Kai quickly obeys, and in a minute, Nya's hugging him tightly, sobbing. But he pushes her off before she can even utter an apology.

Nya tried to speak to him, to explain what she had meant. "You misunderstood me!" she had said desperately more than once. "I was trying to express how difficult it is for you!"

Then Kai had fired back, "To do what? What is so difficult about me that you tried to expose to Jay about?"

Nya was silent for the rest of the walk home. But later, when she repeated her apology, he didn't even acknowledge her presence.

To Kai, Nya's pleas for forgiveness were just words. She had been so used to seeing her brother as the strongest and needing barely any help, and as a result looked up to him. But in those few days, she saw how vulnerable he could be when something important no longer was able to work. And to Kai, it seemed like she had little faith in him, and viewed him as weak.

That was what got him to eventually hate his sister.