Happy Friday everyone. Time for another update. Along with a soundtrack. Never thought that I would need one for this update, but found a way. The link is watch?v=pFH2U0mKWu4 and when you see the mark, *, enjoy.


Chapter 8: The Ninja of Water

Ggggooonnnggg! I snorted in my sleep and slowly and manageably pried my eyes open. I yanwed and stretched as I prompt myself up in my bed. I looked around my room with a cloudy vision as I slowly woke up and felt sleep creeping up on me. Ggggooonnnggg! My eyes shot up awake as I remembered that I have to train with my new powers as the Ninja of Water and swung my legs out of my bed and ran to change.

I looked at my black suit, then turned my gaze to my new grey suit and back at my black suit. Which one should I go with? I quickly made up my mind and changed out of my pajamas. I threw on my grey pants, grey undershirt, and my grey gi. I tied the my belt around my waist and abdomen and threw my black gloves over my hands as the ones I was usin came from my black suit as they fit the most than the others and tucked my mask into my belt. I looked at the sai's on my bed and picked them up to study them.

I like the way they felt in my hands when I gripped the handles. I liked how I was able to defend myself with them with no experience in training with them. Why didn't my father teach me to fight with them before? I think I might get a hang for them. Ggggooonnnggg! I placed the sai's in my belt and left my room.

I jogged down to the grand hall and looked over the railing of the second floor and saw my uncle standing below me; waiting for me. I walked down the grand staircase and towards the center. And as I was in front of him, I bowed as I was ready to train with my element. Inside, I was excited and nervous. Outside, I was confident.

My uncle turned around as I was standing up straight. "Ah, good morning, my apprentice." he greeted me.

"Good morning, master." I greeted back.

"Are you ready to train?" he asked. "To understand and harness your powers?"

"I am." I replied with a nod.

He placed a hand on my left shoulder and pointed at the doors with his other. "Through those doors and past the courtyard lies the gateway to the surface." he said. "Once you past through the stone doors, you will travel through the tunnel to the surface. Outside will be a meadow, you must follow down the path to reach a ravine under the willows. I'll say it again, I cannot leave the Underworld to train you, but I'll use the Reflective Pool to supervise you." I nodded as I understood and threw my mask over my face and moved the eye slit to see better. "Now go!" he commanded.

I nodded and bowed to him and left. I ran across the stone bridge, through the courtyard to cross a wooden bridge to reach the stone doors ahead as I could see them. When I came up to them, the stone doors towered over me and were expertly carved with hieroglyphics of their world and weren't ridden with age. I began to hear something hollow hit the stone floor and kept turning my head to the source and spotted a skeleton walking towards me with a staff. The skeleton was unlike the others I've seen. I can see that he looked old as most of his bones were missing and some had cracks on them and was missing his right hand. He didn't have any armor on or weapons. Just a carved staff and a tattered red tunic and robes. But he also didn't have any red flames for eyes. Was he blind? Is it even possible? "What brings you to the gates to the surface?" he asked in a creaky voice.

I looked at him and stood confidently. "My master wishes for me to travel to the surface and train." I replied.

"Ah, so you're the surface dweller I had to wait for." he huffed and inserted his right arm into the slot in the center of the doors and twisted it. Suddenly, the doors began to glow a golden yellow. The sound of stone grinding made me cover my ears tightly, like dragging glass against a chalkboard, as the doors were slowly opening. The doors stopped opening and I removed my hands from my ears and looked into the dark void of the tunnel. And suddenly, torch lights bursted into flames; illuminating the tunnel. I took a step forward, but felt something hit against my chest and looked at the skeleton with his staff or cane on my chest. "Be warned, kid." he spoke harshly. "Never disobey Samukai or suffer the consequences." and removed his staff from my chest and disappeared in a hollow of the rocks.

I looked at him confused. What did he mean by that? Never betray Samukai or suffer the consequences. What consequences? I shook it from my head as I'll ask about it later and walked into the tunnel. As I walked to the surface, I kept thinking of the skeleton's warning. Never disobey Samukai or suffer the consequences. Again, what consequences? Was that skeleton a traitor to make him a gatekeeper? He was different as he wore that tunic and robes over his bones with no weapon. While the others had armor and weapons. Again I shook it from my head as I'll worry about it later until I saw something ahead.

Could it be? It had to be. I thought I would never see it again. It had to be real. I ran as fast as my legs could until I reached the blinding light. My retinas burned to the forgotten light as I've been in the Underworld for two days. I know it doesn't seem that long, but I missed the sun and light. The warmth. The light. I even smiled to the breeze blowing on my face as I removed my mask. Fresh air. The mountian air. Oh how I missed it so much. My heart kept skipping beats as I felt the sun and air on my face and hair. I missed it so much.

My eyes finally adjusted to the new light. I saw I was on the side of a mountain and below me was a path to the base and below it was the meadow my uncle told me. A meadow teeming with wildflowers and foilage plants and near it was a path to the forest. I began to trek down the mountain, through the meadow, and into the forest. I continued walking on the path with my footfalls echoing in the silence with miminal bird chirps in the distance until I finally spotted the willow trees. I pushed the long, slim leafy branches aside to enter and the branches fell back like a curtain behind me and I saw a river in front of me. The ravine my uncle told me to search for and to train with. But where was my uncle?

"Ah, you finally made it, my apprentice." my uncle's voice rang. I looked around to find his shadow form and couldn't spot him. I looked up to see minimal sunlight breaking through the willow trees and kept looking around. "Behind you." he spoke up again. I turned around to see a tree trunk of a willow branch and spotted my uncle's crimson eyes in the shade. I couldn't see him entirely. Just his red eyes and his shadow. So this is how the Reflective Pool is like when he uses it. "Are you ready to train?" he asked me.

"Yes master," I replied. "I'm ready." I removed my gloves and socks and placed them near the base of another tree. I then removed my grey gi and undershirt and left my pants on. I rolled the pant legs up to my knees and stared at the water. I slowly placed my left foot in the water and found it icy cold and shivered to the cold. I forgot it was March and it still felt like winter and not spring.

"Get in the water." my uncle commanded, starting to grow impatient. "Your body will warm up."

I took a deep breath and placed my other foot in the icy water. Step by step, I slowly walked deeper in the water until it reached my waist. My teeth clattered like the way the skeletons talked as I took two more steps and had the water reach up halfway to my stomach area. I felt my blood boiling up to the new enviroment and my body growing numb to the cold. Even in my reflection, I could see my lips turn from soft pink to pale blue and my skin was once a light tan to pale. I looked at my uncle as I was ready.

"I may not know anything about mastering water." Garmadon confessed. Then what am I suppose to do? "But I think to harness your power is to be one with the water. Notice how it's calm as it flows down the bank. Try calming down and see if you can lift the water."

I nodded and turned back to the water. I closed my eyes and thought about being calm. I thought of the water moving down the bank without being disturbed. I then heard a leaf break free from a branch and opened my eyes to see it breeze along the current and landed on the water. I looked at my right hand and held it out. I felt a cool sensation run across my arm and thought of a wave running across my arm and retreating back into the ocean. The water began shaking and I stared in awe to see the water move the slightest by my hand and held it out to the leaf again. I closed my eyes and concentrated on my elemental power and felt the energy channeling through my arm and opened my eyes to stare in amazement. The leaf was now surrounded in a orb of water and was floating an inch off the surface of the water.

I was amazed. I am the Ninja of Water. But disappointed to not be the Green Ninja. Master of all elements. This is my destiny. My element.

Water.

The leaf in the water began shaking and merged back into the river and drifted away. I held my hand out to recreate the orb, but nothing happened. I tried again and still nothing. Why can't I do what I just did? I looked at my uncle to recieve an answer.

"Impressive." my uncle's shadow acknowledge. "You're a fast learner. I'm sure my brother's ninjas, when he needs them, will take months or years to master their element. Especially his green ninja. But you, however, are a fast learner to understand and gain little control of your element without your golden weapon. I'm impressed even more. A ninja need their weapons to control their element and yet you can control without it. How is this even possible? I'll leave you now for an hour and you must then return to the Underworld. That's an order." and his shadow disappeared from the shade by returning into the ground.

A whole hour. What can I do? I felt my hair as it felt greasy and decided to freshen up. It's been awhile since I last bathed and thought it was necessary to stay clean. After I washed my hair and scrubbed the dirt and sweat off of my body from training yesterday, I decided then to swim down the river and dove under the water. The water looked clear and the koi-fish looked beautiful to me as I gazed at the life below me. I started to feel light-headed and slowly exhaled my breath. But I started to panic as the bubbles of my breath wouldn't climb up to the surface and grew larger around me. I was now surrounded in a bubble and was breathing. This was amazing. I was in a bubble of air under the water to breathe. What else can I do with my elemental powers? I swam back to the surface and my bubble of air was gone and swam back to the willows.

I climbed out of the water to dry off and sat on the grass and felt the rays of the sun breaking through the drooping leaves. A breeze swayed the branches and I laid my back against the trunk and felt the rough bark scratching my bare back and closed my eyes. A well deserved nap I need after the excitement of my powers.

...

Snap!

I opened my eyes as I heard something break and quickly threw my shirt and gi back on and stuffed my socks and gloves into my pockets and climbed up the tree. I climbed up high as I could and looked through the branches to see...my father? What was he doing in the woods? I looked around my surroundings from my height and noticed it as the old river he used to take me and my mother to when I was young and he'd play his flute while my mother and I played in the shallow water up the stream. I watched him sit by the river and pulled out his flute.

"For my son." he said in quiet, heartbroken tone and brought the mouthpiece to his lips and blew.

*I listened to the music as it was my favorite. It's called In Dreams. One that I can always play as I see it as my favorite. My mother would dance to it when I play it on my flute and it brought back memories. The music slowly stopped playing ad my father sighed and stood up and headed back to the dojo. I watched him disappear as I stayed hiding and climbed down. I'm glad that he's given up on me as I'm gone to him. But I can feel that he'll miss me, and my mother, very much as he's all alone. But I won't miss him one bit as he never lead me to become the strongest ninja. But my uncle will lead me to that path as I train under his wing. I felt that an hour has passed and started to head back to the entrance to the Underworld.


How was it? Did you enjoy that Lucas can control his powers well without a Gold Weapon? Review if you want to and have a wonderful weekend and summer and see you all next week. :)