Chapter Fourteen: Sailing On
Lloyd paced back and forth inside the ship's room, trying to calm the adrenaline that coursed through him. The first time he'd stood up for himself had been terrifying. He had been sure that the others would do something. Smack him, whip his back, maybe even throw him overboard, but nothing occurred. They had actually...listened. The satisfaction that spread throughout him had been extremely pleasant. So when Zane had suggested on leaving him behind...Lloyd had risked it again. He had protested. Him! The former slave! He'd talked back to someone! The rush of adrenaline was exquisite.
This time his protest went unheard. That awoke something within him, something dark and angry. A small, seductive voice that had begun doing laps around his brain ever since the Sensei had told Lloyd that he was the Golden Master.
You're Ninjago's hero, the voice told him. You can do anything you want now. The world is yours.
At first, Lloyd didn't dare to believe it. He couldn't really do anything he wanted, could he? So far though, he'd gotten away with a lot. His master would have surely punished him for having any kind of attitude, but there was no one to punish him anymore.
"I can do anything I want," Lloyd muttered to himself. "I could sneak out to the castle, beat the Fangpyre myself, and they wouldn't be able to do anything about it. I'm the Golden Master. They can't punish me." The former slave chuckled softly, his hands tightening into fists. "They can't punish me..."
"This is taking forever," Kai complained in a curt manner. Feeling a mixture of exhaustion and anticipation manifesting within him, the blacksmith lay sprawled out on the lower deck of the vessel. His right arm was thrown haphazardly across his face, blocking out the rays of the unforgiving sun. It had been a couple of days since they had formulated their plan of attack and since then the atmosphere had felt tense, even more so than usual. Kai had been trying to find new ways to produce and control the flames he now knew existed inside of him. If he concentrated hard enough, he felt like he could feel them coursing through his blood and attempting to break free.
The environment around the blacksmith cooled dramatically and he sat up quickly to see he was bathed in Cole's shadow, the eclipsed behind the merchant's head. "Being impatient isn't going to help us get there any faster," Cole sighed, his expression one of understanding, oddly enough. It was very difficult on the psyche, taking an extended voyage to a location and then turning around soon afterwards. Not to mention the fact that they were constantly at the mercy of the sea. Cole felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. The sooner they made it back to the mainland, the better.
"I know," Kai answered, getting to his feet and stretching his arms up over his head. The slightly sickening sound of bones popping filled the air. "Can't blame me for wanting to get back to Ninjago as quickly as we possibly can."
"No, I'm with you on that," Cole nodded, clutching the side of the ship tightly. "Believe me, I hate this much more than you do."
"Why, because stone sinks?" Kai smirked.
Cole's skin turned a bit paler than usual. "Please, shut up before I throw you overboard."
"Hey, hey, no fighting you guys," Jay shook his head, approaching Kai and Cole with his usual happy-go-lucky energy. "We're a team now. That means we've gotta love each other and stuff."
"And stuff?" Kai raised an eyebrow.
Jay winked. "Yes, and stuff."
"You're disgusting and weird," the merchant shook his head, smacking Jay's forehead lightly. The strange puppeteer might be a weirdo, but he was good for a laugh once in a while. Besides, there was a new sense of purpose that connected all of them. He hadn't felt this at home with others in a very long time.
"If this is the start of a confrontation, I will not hesitate to come down there and break it up," Zane hollered from the upper deck. His calm, blue eyes had finally drifted from the horizon to the others, in time to see what appeared to be Cole initiating a fight with Jay. As the android continued to keep a watchful gaze on his companions, he noticed that everything was not as it seemed. In fact, the others looked quite content at the moment.
Jay rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand and chuckled. "Relax, Zane," he shouted back, an impromptu headwind amplifying the sound of his voice. "No one's fighting anyone. It's alright."
"It's pretty funny if you think about that for a second," Kai pointed out, the right corner of his mouth tugging upwards into a half smile. "Zane, the one who was prepared to beat the life out of us back in the forest, is now trying to stop us from potentially fighting with each other." Everything seemed to be coming full circle. It was becoming increasingly difficult for the blacksmith to recall being strangers with each and every one of the people around him just a short time ago. The sound of a door closing broke Kai from his thoughts and he looked over to see Lloyd emerging from the single, interior cabin of the ship. Lloyd had been spending more time on his own than with them. Probably still steaming over the fact that we won't let him come with us, Kai thought. "Hey, kid, how are you holding up?"
"Fine," Lloyd shrugged. "Are we almost there?"
"One more day, if my calculations are correct," Zane stated. "I must say though, I am always correct."
"One more day?" Cole groaned, his knees shaking as he slumped against the deck. "I don't think I'm going to make it."
Lloyd stepped closer to the others, his green eyes studying them closely. "I was wondering if...maybe you could try to train me? A day's plenty of time for me to learn a thing or two."
He started shaking his head before he was even consciously aware of it: an automatic response. "I know you really want to get out there and help, but I'm just not sure if we're ready to properly do that yet," Kai frowned, realizing that he was sounding more like an unwavering authority figure than he ever had before in his entire life. It was both odd and kind of refreshing. Maybe he was finally growing up, becoming a bit more mature.
The spark of unbridled disappointment became apparent in Lloyd's expression and the blacksmith hurried to complete his train of thought before the Golden Master could interrupt. "I know what you're going to say, so just hold on for one second. Yeah, sure, we learned pretty quickly back on the island and, yes, we've all been discovering a bit more about our powers with each passing day. That doesn't mean we're experts, Lloyd. I know that I wouldn't be comfortable teaching you what I know until I was fully comfortable with it on my own."
"Well would you look at that," Cole said. "Looks like the hothead might be cooling down a bit. Seems like some improvement to me. He's actually using his brain for once."
Glancing behind himself, Kai narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, make fun of me now. Careful not to fall overboard or something, Cole. I might just act impulsively and push you into the sea when you least expect it."
"D'aw, stop it you two. It's like watching an old, married couple argue," Jay chuckled, pulling both Cole and Kai into an uncomfortable embrace. The puppeteer turned to Lloyd, who still carried a sulky expression. "I have to agree with spiky hair here, Lloyd. I honestly don't really know what I'm doing. I could try to teach you, but I'm afraid we'd just end up sinking the ship or something."
Cole moved away from Jay's arm, wiping some sweat against the fabric of his pants. "Please, let's stop talking about sinking for a second. This is hard enough as it is."
Lloyd ignored Cole's comment, keeping his green eyes set on Kai and Jay. So, having the potential to be the strongest human in all of Ninjago wasn't exactly enough for everyone to follow his desires. The Golden Master' allowed an annoyed sigh to escape his lips. He wasn't fully in control.
Not yet, whispered the voice in the back of the boy's head.
"Fine, no training then, but you guys are going to have to start eventually. I mean, are we going to get to Pythor's door with me still untrained? You can't keep putting it off." Lloyd's voice was full of impatience.
"We will begin to train you when we are ready. Rushing things will only make things worse for us." Zane's voice was so commanding, Lloyd instinctively took a step backwards. He could snap back at any of the others knowing that they wouldn't do anything to harm the boy destined to be Ninjago's savior, but Zane had been Pythor's assistant. Lloyd wasn't exactly sure he was comfortable with that.
"Alright," the Golden Master answered, his eyes cast low.
"Yeah, don't sweat it," Jay chimed in, trying to cheer Lloyd up. Seeing the boy look so somber was not sitting right with him. Lloyd had spent a majority, if not the entirety, of his life being a slave; serving others and being more of an object than an actual person. He should deserve to be a little happier now that he knew he was the Golden Master, right? "We'll have you all ready to fight and take down Pythor when the time comes. You just have to count on us."
Kai felt bad for the blonde boy. He saw a lot of himself in the Golden Master, felt like he could kind of guess how Lloyd was feeling. "We're all trying to learn, kid. You'll have the chance to prove yourself and be the hero in the end. Don't worry about that." The blacksmith shot the boy a small smile, but he was not sure if Lloyd saw it or not.
"When we get to the mainland, Zane, how are we going to get to the Fangyre castle?" Cole spontaneously said. It had been weighing on his mind periodically throughout the journey. He was already nervous about having to be the one to take down the Fangpyre leader, so he just wanted a little peace of mind. Having everything else planned and ready was just part of that.
"I have the schedule of the Fangpyre's duties. I will know exactly what places are left unguarded at certain times. It will be my pleasure to guide us all towards our destination. Once there, we can easily sneak inside through the servant's entrance. The Serpentine think really highly of themselves. They do not approach, much less protect, that section of the castle," Zane informed everyone, mapping out the possible routes that they could take. "You shouldn't worry about getting there, Cole. The only part that should be of any importance to you is defeating the Fangpyre leader."
"There's one thing that's bothering me though," Kai muttered, eyebrows forming a small frown. "I know that supposedly the Fangpyre will leave us alone once we defeat their leader, but the others will be after us. Pythor will throw everything he can at us. How are we going to move from place to place?"
"Walking," Jay shouted, a proud smile on his face.
"Really?" Cole shook his head. "If we walked, it would take us years to reach every Serpentine tribe. Not to mention we'd be tired all the time."
"Well I walked everywhere I went and it worked just fine." Jay crossed his arms.
"Yeah, but not all of us are fueled by a neverending supply of energy, Mr. Blabbermouth."
Kai shut his eyes tightly, trying to ignore what was happening around him. He thought Nya had been a bit of pest when they were both younger, but it was beginning to dawn on him that having a little sister was not nearly as bad as it was to have brothers his own age. "You know what? Forget I asked," the blacksmith huffed, creating some distance between himself and his squabbling friends. "We'll probably just figure out what to do about it when the time comes, kind of like everything else we do."
"That is not necessary," Zane answered slowly, looking to ease some of the sudden tension. "We will attempt to locate a means of transportation as soon as we reach the shores of Ninjago. If that will calm your nerves before we begin heading to the Fangpyre castle, then it should be more of a priority."
More of a priority? the blacksmith internally scoffed. Taking the land back from the Serpentine should be the biggest priority. "Don't worry about it, Zane. I'm sure we'll figure something out."
"Is this how it usually goes?" Lloyd looked up at Kai, chuckling slightly as he heard more bits and pieces from Jay and Cole's bickering.
"More or less," Kai answered, looking towards the horizon.
"I like it," Lloyd admitted. "It's way better compared to how things used to be for me."
Feeling an unexplainable warmth spreading through him, the brunet just nodded and placed a reassuring hand on the Golden Master's shoulder. Now, Kai had never been a slave before, but hearing the words Lloyd had spoken reminded him of how fortunate he really had been in life. Yes, both of his parents were gone, but he had always had Nya. Lloyd though...he had had no one. "Yeah, I guess I kind of like it too."