Happy Friday everyone! It's time for another update. Let's see what's going to happen to Lucas after being captured last week. Enjoy.


Chapter 5: Apprentice

"Lord Garmadon! We have captured a spy!

"Bring him to me!"

I slowly opened my eyes after hearing Samukai's voice and the same one that stopped him from killing me and found myself still in darkness. I didn't realize I dozed off after I was captured by the skeletons and begin to stretch my arms. But I stopped as I remembered that they were tied behind my back and my mask was still in my mouth to gag me. I began shaking in fear as I remembered after being captured. I was enclosed in darkness of a bag and had no clue where I'm at now. What was going to happen to me now for being a ninja and spy?

I suddenly felt weightless as the sack was being lifted and groaned as I hit something hard against my chest as I was unexpectedly thrown to the ground. How much pain are they going to inflict on a ten-year-old child? I saw light break through the bag as it was finally opening up and squinted my eyes to the new light. Then I felt something grab the collar of my suit was pulled out of my imprisonment. My eyes still burned to the light and was thrown back to the ground and laid on my side and felt my backpack hit my ribs. Seriously, how much pain are they going to inflict on a ten-year-old?

My eyes finally adjusted to the new light and found myself surrounded by more skeletons than back at the camp. I used my left elbow, as I laid on it, to lift myself up and sat on the stone floor. I looked around my surroundings as it appeared I was in cave lit by purple torches. I saw that large chunks of rocks were floating the air and were connected with wooden bridges. I can see a castle of dark purple stone with a stone bridge for crossing with curved bones climbing up. I saw something above and looked up to scream through my gag as I saw my worst fear hanging and clinging on the stalactites. Giant slim spiders that looked like black widows but were a deep shade of blue with a skull on the body staring at me hungrily with their eight eyes.

I slowly realized where I was. The skeletons. The cave-like area with the floating stones. A castle or fortress inside the cave. The giant creatures of my fear hanging above me with the pinchers clamping like I'm their next meal. The tales my father told me once about the skeletons and their home. I've gone to place that any human has gone before.

I was in the Underworld.

Sweat began to drip down my face with nervousness as the skeletons slowly advance towards me with their weapons drawn out. I began to scoot away from them and looked up to see a spider climb down from the ceiling and landed in front of me. I was screaming the loudest I can through my gag and scooted as fast as my bounded hands and legs could let me as my worst fears snapped its pinchers-jaws with venom dripping from its fangs and slowly came closer and closer to me. I stopped as my gloved fingertips no longer felt stone and looked over my shoulders to stare in shock of a cliff edge and below was a river magma. I looked back at them with wide eyes as I was now trapped and soon eaten by my fear. Someone save me!

"Bring me the spy!" a deep voice commanded.

I watched Samukai swipe the spider away and the spider hissed at him and began to climb back to the ceiling. The skeletons sheathed their weapons and stepped away. Samukai grabbed my backpack from the ground and walked over towards me with the red fire in his eye sockets blazing. He grabbed the front of my shirt before I lost my balance and hefted me over his shoulders. I gave up on struggling to escape as it was no use and we both headed towards the fortress.

I lifted my head as it drooped for I didn't know what was going to happen to me. I saw the skeletons watching my fate leaving as we crossed the bridge and moat and entered the fortress with the giant wooden doors closing. Sealing me in doom. Not knowing what will happen to me. Will I be held prisoner until I die? Or will I die in the hands of the one who saved me from death? God help me.

Samukai's footsteps echoed on the stone floor from his iron boots in the empty chamber. I gazed upon in astonishment to the chamber to the stone-carved pillars supporting the ceiling. The walls were bare on the dark purplish black stone with no portraits hanging. Above us was an enormous bone chandelier blazing with the purple flames emitting on the candle wicks. I looked over my shoulder to see a hole in the floor and realized it was a spiral bone stairway and we trekked our way down.

Once we reached the last step, I looked over my shoulder to see another set of double doors and Samukai pushed them open and entered. Once we crossed a bridge made of thick bones, we were in the center of the new chamber and Samukai flipped me off his shoulder and had me on my knees. I scanned around the chamber as the walls were bare too as the first chamber I was in and stared in front of a throne designed from conjoined bones with a figure in the shadows. The figure stood up from his throne and slowly climbed down the steps to reveal himself in the light. My eyes grew wide as he wasn't a skeleton, but a black-skinned man with crimson red eyes that had fire in them. I didn't struggle or squirm as I felt frozen with fear as the figure must be the ruler of the skeleton army and will decide my fate for being a spy and a ninja. But my question before I die was: Who was he?

The figure stood in front of me and looked down with his red eyes piercing me as I shook scared. But I noticed his expression changed as his eyes kept studying me. Almost like he knew me. "Lucas, it that you!?" he asked me. I looked at him with a confused look and slowly nodded my head. How did he know my name? The figure slightly gasped in surprised and looked at Samukai. "Cut his bonds off at once, Samukai!" he demanded.

"As you wish." Samukai grumbled and drew out his dagger and knelt behind me.

I heard the rope being cut around my wrist and ankles and no longer felt them tied. I slowly stretched my arms out for being stiff and rubbed my wrists as they felt raw and chaffed from being tied tight. I felt a bony hand grasp the back of the cloth wrapped around my mouth that kept my gag in yanked off. I spat out my black mask out and watched it fall to the floor. My mouth felt dry as cotton and my tongue was like sandpaper as the moisture in my mouth was absorbed into the fabric of my mask. I weakly stood up to my feet and didn't know why I felt weak, but my legs gave out and felt weightless to fall towards the stone floor; greeting me for impact until a pair of strong arms caught my underarms. I looked up to see the figure who knew my name was the one who caught me with a worried look on his face. "H-how do you know my name?" I asked him in a quiet voice as I couldn't speak for awhile, demanding the information from him about knowing me. "Wh-who are you?"

"My nephew, do you not recognize your uncle?" he prompted while helping me to my feet.

I looked at him confused. Did he just say he was my uncle? No, he can't be. I knew what my uncle looked like when I was seven before my father said he ran away. But he was weird. He had red eyes and the person who claims to be my uncle has the same color and his voice sounds the same as my uncle's. And his skin was different because he had pale skin, not charcoal black. "There's no way you're my uncle!" I grimaced and stepped back. "I knew what my uncle looked like before he ran away and you're not him."

"Appearances change over time, Lucas." He said back and reached into his dark purplish-black kimono. "But if you want proof, have a look at this." and tossed a piece of paper at me.

I caught the paper and realized it was a picture. And on that picture was the person I knew. My uncle. With his red eyes and pale skin. Brown hair that grew to almost touch his shoulders and was wearing a purple button-up shirt with a leather jacket over it. How did he get this picture? I studied the picture more and noticed there was someone else with him.

On the left of my uncle was a woman with burnette hair braided in a ponytail with my uncle's right arm around her shoulders. I looked down and noticed her belly was swollen and knew she was having a baby. Who was she? I kept studying the photo and noticed the right side was folded underneath and slowly unfolded it. And what I saw shocked me.

On the right of my uncle was my father with his head full of blonde hair and no beard growing. And next to him was a woman with burnette hair as well, but in curls that grew past her shoulders with deep hazel eyes. And in her arms was a bundle wrapped in a blankets and I could see a bady inside the wrapped cocoon of warmth with its eyes closed and had small thin strands of brown hair on top of its head. I gasped as I realized that the woman next to my father was my mother. And the baby was...me!

My stomach started doing somersauts as I kept looking at the photograph of my uncle than back at the charcoal-skinned man. My hands started shaking violently and let the pciture fall to the stone floor as I see it now. The black-skinned figure with crimson eyes was really my uncle. Garmadon. What happened to him though? "You...You really are my uncle." I finally spoke to him scared a little. And my uncle frowned and nodded. "What happened to you?" I asked quietly.

"Evil runs in my veins and has changed me." he replied while looking as his dry, rough hands. "I tried to steal the Golden Weapons and your father banished me here. I never ran away. Your father lied to you about me to keep you safe from knowing my true intentions." I felt my blood boiling up in fury as my father lied to me about him and for not leading me to the path as the strongest and powerful ninja. "But my nephew," he continued, "What are you doing outside the Monastery?" he asked me. "Don't you know how dangerous it is outside the walls?"

I looked at him with my eyes narrowed and my fists clenched tightly. "I ran away." I replied through my teeth in anger.

"Why is that?" he asked me confused. "Why did you run away?"

"Because my father wasn't leading me to become the strongest and destined ninja." I replied, "I've been training to become a ninja since I turned ten and now hate him as I overheard him saying I wasn't the chosen one. Now my anger and hatred to him wants me to train and fight against him to show him I am the strongest ninja there will be."

My uncle looked at me with a wondering look and changed it to a wicked smirk. "I too want to destroy my brother so I can possess the weapons and control Ninjago. And I will help you with your path."

"You will?" I asked a bit puzzled.

"Yes. I will take you under my wing as you have nowhere else to go and will continue with your training as a ninja and we shall rule Ninjago together."

What was this feeling I have in my chest? I felt it running in my blood and couldn't escape it. It didn't matter, I liked it. "I like the sound of that." I smirked. Before, I thought I was a goner to Samukai, I thought it was hopeless to me. But now, my uncle has given me a new home and took me under his wing. And he will help me become the strongest ninja and I'll show my father that I am stronger than him. I have found my destiny.

"Excellent." my uncle smirked back and held his right hand out. "Come forward, Lucas. Kneal to one knee and bow your head for your acceptance."

I nodded and rested my right knee on the cold, stone floor with my left knee touching my chest and bowed my head. I averted my gaze to see my uncle's feet in front of me and felt his right hand touch the back of my head. "Tomorrow, I will continue your training and you shall follow my orders and rules to train yourself as a ninja."

"I will do everything you command me to do and will follow under you." I said back and felt his my uncle's hand removed from my head and heard his fist clench to make his knuckles pop.

"Now rise," he commanded, "my apprentice."

I stood up and heard my knee pop and felt the blood rushing down for kneeling to stop the circulation. I lifted my head up with a smirk and my hazel grey eyes narrowed as I will train with and by him to be his apprentice. "As you wish." I said, "Master."


The Start of the Storm has begun. Lucas has become the apprentice. What will he do now to train himself as a ninja. Find out next week. Hoped all of you enjoyed this. I got my last finals today before I end my junior year of high school and it's summer vacation for me. Have a wonderful weekend and see you next week. :)