Hey everyone! I'm back! Finally! Sorry… I know I'm not all that good at updating. It's not like I have millions of adoring fans depending on these updates or anything, but still. I'm not super depressed, I don't have enormous life-troubling writer's block, I'm not sick, I'm not dead, and I'm not so busy that I never have time. At this point, it's not even the fact that I don't have a computer. I can use my phone to type these stories, and even enjoy it. The truth of it is that sometimes I just don't want to. I like the stories, I like writing, and I love when I get reactions to my stories, but honestly, I'm just really kind of lazy and tend to do other things when I have free time. Play on the piano, draw, facebook, pretend I'm in a big movie scene in the bathroom mirrors... Ahem! Anyway, I guess I'm just not used to updating very much. When I first got my account, I tried to be, but that was a beginner's kind of thing, ya know? Then I settled in a bit. It's been what, two years? Since I was last into more regular writing. Then I just kinda stopped. I want to be better about it now, so I'm trying, but I'm severely out of practice and so I'm still not fantastic about it. I'm working on it though. Anyway, I hope you guys have been liking my story, and I hope you'll stay with me long enough to see its end. Here is the third chapter, and I hope you like it!
-LizzyLucky
Kai walked back out to the makeshift "living room" of the bounty where everyone else had piled in. No one except Sensei Wu and Nya knew he'd left to check on Zane. As he walked in, Nya looked at him and placed a hand on Wu's shoulder to get his attention. He paused mid-sentence and turned his head.
"Ah." He hummed to himself. Nya nodded and walked back into the group of boys on the other side of the room.
"Excuse me for a moment." Wu said, turning his head back to Garmadon before making his way over to Kai.
"Is Zane alright?" He asked when he caught sight of Kai's worried face.
"I don't know, Sensei. He seems kinda out of it. I mean, ever since his falcon went missing… I dunno. Now whatever it is he had a nightmare about his morning's got him-" He started to explain.
"Nightmare? Another dream? Why didn't anyone alert me?" Wu looked concerned, holding a hand out.
"I guess it just never occurred to us. You guys left pretty early, and he doesn't seem to be very comfortable with telling the rest of us either. I think he's starting to feel like he doesn't belong. He kinda… forgot that… Oh I don't even know! Something's just not right with him, Sensei!" He threw his hands up exasperatedly. Realizing how loud he'd started to get, he noticed every other pair of eyes in the room on him.
"Not right with who?" Lloyd asked, looking confused. Kai looked around the room, trying to think of something to say. Sensei beat him to it, however, and cleared his throat.
"We have a friend in need." He said, moving his hands into a locked position behind his back, the way he tended to when he was thinking. He walked slowly over to the table and motioned for the others to follow him so he could explain the situation. No one said a word as they all gathered around the table in a circle.
"What's wrong, Sensei?" Jay asked, placing his hands on the edge of the table.
"Kai, could you please explain?" Mildly surprising the group, Wu turned to Kai, who raised his eyebrows for a brief moment before shaking his head.
"Uh, right. Um, yeah, so… Ya know how Zane was the last one to wake up this morning?" He started.
"Oh, yeah! He had some nightmare or something, right?" Jay asked, almost excited at how he was able to remember, then slumped at the idea.
"Woah, wait, what?" Lloyd scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. "Zane had a nightmare? Didn't you guys tell me that the last time he had a dream, it was like, really important? Is he alright? Did he tell you the dream?" He leaned forward anxiously.
"Relax, kid. I haven't gotten to that part. And no, he didn't tell any of us his dream. At, least, not that I'm aware. Did he tell any of you?" He looked around the circle, everyone shaking their heads or shrugging.
"Um, okay, anyway, Zane had a nightmare and he wouldn't tell any of us what it was, but he seemed pretty freaked out. I didn't really see much, but he did wake with a start. Hit his head pretty good on the bunk, too…" Lloyd winced.
"Is he alright?" Garmadon asked, father instincts kicking in. (Yeah, I totally love that gushy fatherly stuff…)
"Yeah, I think so. Looked like he just bruised it." Kai paused, unsure of how to continue.
"It would seem that this dream of his is not the only issue though, is it?" Wu said, turning the attention back on him.
"No." Kai said glumly, looking to the side almost guiltily.
"As you know, or as you should know by now, Zane's falcon has gone missing. Zane has been unable to connect with it and it has been gone far longer than is needed to complete its mission, which was to double check for trouble around Ninjago city after the Final Battle. I believe, with the holidays coming up, we have been too involved in our own matters and have consequently left Zane feeling very alone. His father passed very recently, as you'll recall." He explained. As the idea set in, the other ninja found themselves mimicking Kai's self-disappointed stance. They'd been so wrapped up in the holidays that they didn't even notice how lonely Zane had become.
"What's worse is that I think he's begun to doubt himself because of it." Kai said, turning the attention of the group once more.
"What do you mean?" Cole asked,
Ml his head.
"After Zane left the room, I went to check on him, and I think… I think he's starting to feel like he doesn't belong here. Because we've been, uh, ignoring him lately, he's started to feel like maybe we don't like him. Like, because he's a nindroid, or a robot, as he said, he doesn't feel like he has the right to… to…. I don't know. Just like he's not supposed to be lonely. When I went to talk to him, he said that robots weren't supposed to be able to be injured or feel pain. He acted like he couldn't even remember what it was like before he found out he wasn't human. He treats himself like a mindless machine more than I think any of us ever has."
"That's awful! What did you say to him?" Cole asked, clenching his fists. Jay put a calming hand on his shoulder to remind him he wasn't at fault.
"I told him only what I could think to tell him. That he's just as human now as he was before he found out he was a nindroid." The entire table was silent for a few seconds as the conversation sunk in fully.
"It sounds like we need to bring Zane's spirits back up." Wu said simply. Nods went around the table.
Kai put one hand on his chin and the other behind his back. He looked down in thought. Then, suddenly, his eyes widened.
"Guys!"
"What is it, Kai? Did you think of something?! Do you know how to-" Jay lifted himself off the ground and leaned over the table.
"Look! I think this is-" He lifted up the piece of paper that had been sitting directly in front of him. As it happened, this was the paper Zane had been trying to lay out his dream on before. "Zane's dream…"
"Let me see! What does it say, what does it SAY?!" Jay leaned further over the table, trying to reach the page with his right hand. Kai pulled it up and out of the way, Jay falling down flat on his face on the table.
Wu looked at Kai almost warningly. Garmadon and Misako shared his expression.
"Well what is it?" Cole asked, pulling Jay back down to the ground.
"Maybe it can help us to help Zane!" Lloyd exclaimed.
"Does it really have his dream on it?" Nya asked, also leaning forward some. Kai held the paper further behind him like he was afraid they were all gonna pounce and take it from him. He glanced around at the faces of their three oldest members.
"No."
"What?!" Came the chorus of groans and shocked faces.
"I mean, yes, it has his dream on it. It's pretty plain to see, but…" Kai trailed off, pulling the paper in front of him and gazing at it for only a moment before turning his head back up to the rest of the group. Nya's face dawned with realization and she nodded.
"It's not right. To read it, I mean, without his permission. Whatever that dream was was obviously pretty crazy and Zane wasn't comfortable sharing it with us this morning. Reading this would be invading. We need to wait until he's comfortable telling us himself." He folded the piece of paper into eighths and handed it to Wu, who readily grabbed it and tucked it away in his pocket. The ninja shared a look of understanding, and their senseis, one of relief and admiration for his being able to understand.
"Alright. Good. I'd say it's high time to call it a night. Wouldn't you agree, Wu?" Garmadon stretched and turned to his brother.
"Absolutely. Off to bed, students." He nodded to his students, each of which walked away without a word of complaint. They had a lot to think about.
Kai was at the head of the line towards their shared bedroom. He walked in first, and, thinking it appropriate, muttered a quick "Goodnight, Zane" as he passed said nindroid's bed. The others followed suit, before changing and climbing into their own beds.
So! What do you think? I'd like to introduce my OC in the next chapter, if I can. I know we didn't get too far with this chapter, but it's something. Just as a forewarning, I really love brotherly fluff, especially between Kai and Zane. I love fatherly stuff too, like Wu or Garmadon for any of the ninja. That's just something I like, so don't be surprised if there's more of it later on. Anyway, that's chapter 3, I hope you liked it! Hopefully I'll update again soon.
-LizzyLucky