*Hotaru*

Three years had flown by, and not a day passed that he didn't miss Tsunami, even though he was kept busy raising three children alone. Kai, who was now a strong young man of sixteen, had begun work as a blacksmith, though he frequently lost patience with the metal. "Slowly," Hotaru reminded him as his son snapped yet another sword in half. "The sword will be less flimsy if you make it slowly."

Kai grunted in acknowledgment, and proceeded to drag the misshapen katana to the rapidly growing pile of scrap metal. The demands for swords were increasing, as a group of deadly bandits circled the rural villages. Strangely enough, they weren't looking for gold or jewels, but for a map that would tell them the location of the most powerful weapons in Ninjago. Several families had been torn apart in their search for the Golden Weapons.

Hotaru couldn't help but feel guilty and furious at the same time whenever someone brought news of their latest victim. Despite his denial whenever anyone asked if he had a guess, he knew exactly where the map was. An old friend had entrusted it to him shortly after the war, and he had kept it safe for years, telling no one, not even Nami.

"Dad! I did it!" Kai cheered, waving a perfectly shaped katana. Hotaru grinned at him.

"Good job," he praised. "You can take a break until a customer comes."

Kai nodded happily, and made his way to the yard, where Aster and Nya were collecting water by the river. He was halfway to the door when snarling began.

*Kai*

Impulsively grabbing a handful of swords, Kai raced outside the shop to his sisters, with his father close on his heels. There were many reasons why the feral noises could be echoing across the yard, and his sisters being in danger was the first one off the top of his head.

When they reached the river, they saw the source of the snarling had been their neighbour's guard dog, which now lay dead, with its crimson blood soaking into the sand. Nya and Aster stood facing them, while four tall, burly men cornered them by the river. Nya looked up, and when she saw her father and Kai approaching, her eyes lit up. One look at his father's face, and Kai guessed immediately that the bandits, whom he'd recognised from newspapers, stood no chance.

"Where is it?" one of them roared. "Where is the map?"

"What map?" Nya asked. Kai noticed the tension in her arms and knew she was going to strike. Unfortunately, one of the bandits had noticed as well, and his arm darted out to pin hers against her body.

"Don't touch my daughter," Hotaru growled, throwing a well-aimed punch at the bandit's head. He let out a brief gasp before unsheathing his sword. Hotaru drew his own sword in response, and a battle began.

Kai tossed the swords at his sisters, both of whom caught them with reflexes uncanny for children. The three siblings charged at the waiting bandits, and for an hour, all Kai remembered was blocking, parrying, and thrusting. Occasionally his sisters would need help, and he would provide it, as Hotaru and the other bandit were locked in a duel to the death.

But as the minutes passed, it became evident that the children were losing. Their soft muscles began to tire, and their movements grew sluggish. Eventually, Aster was disarmed, and the bandit kicked her away to a wall, where she crumpled with a soft groan. Nya was now fighting two-on-one, and Kai suspected he could lose both his sisters if he didn't help. Abandoning his own opponent, Kai launched himself at one of the bandits attacking Nya. His efforts at helping were futile, however, and Nya soon collapsed when a bandit hit her- thankfully with the flat of his blade. Kai was now left duelling three people- a feat he'd never accomplished before.

He began to feel a vicious pride as he blocked blow after blow, and returning a few of his own, though his pride soon evaporated when a bandit disarmed him with a twist of his sword. "Oh, crud," Kai swore under his breath, adding a few profanities that Hotaru would have had his head for, had he heard.

"Kill them all," a bandit ordered. "Leave no one alive, then search for the map." Kai snarled at them, and grabbed Nya's sword. With a swipe, he thrust at the bandit. Oh, no. No, no, no. He had misaimed, he'd been aiming for the sword arm, but instead, the bandit's lifeless corpse lay on the now-scarlet grass.

With matching roars of outrage, the remaining bandits charged at Kai, who nervously dodged, rather than launch his own attack. I don't want to kill anyone else. He continued dodging for another few seconds, reluctant to raise his own sword, though he was steadily wearying, and he was beginning to be less successful. Cuts began to appear across his skin, staining his apron bright red. Finally, he stopped, panting, and backed away.

He was a second too late. A blade travelled across his face, leaving behind a gash that had just spared his eye. Warm blood dripped into his eye, and Kai staggered backwards. He distantly heard a voice yell his name as he fell to his knees. Don't black out, don't black out, he begged himself. Through a slightly hazy screen, he saw his father run towards the bandits, and decapitate them with a slice of his sword.

"Kai," Hotaru murmured. "Are you alright?"

Kai nodded. "I'm fine- Dad, watch out!" he yelled, seeing the bandit behind his father, who turned.

But he wasn't fast enough. With a clean stab, the bandit drove his sword through Hotaru's heart.

"Dad!" Kai cried. Fixing his furious amber eyes on the bandit, Kai mustered his strength, and threw his sword at him.

There was a sickening crunch as his spine snapped, and the bandit fell to the ground, with a sword sticking out of his back.

"That was for Dad," Kai whispered, before losing consciousness.

*Sensei Wu*

Wu walked through the village at a steady pace. Despite his old age, his bones were free of the rheumatism that plagued other elderly people, possibly due to his frequent use of Spinjitzu. On the other hand, he did share the interests of a normal aged man, such as what his brother had called "an unhealthy obsession for tea." Tea, in fact, was the reason he had come here. The best tea in all of Ninjago was sold here, and he had recently run out. He was almost at the shop when he caught the smell of a familiar, metallic stench.

Blood, Wu tensed. Tightening his grip on the Ninjō, he changed direction, following the scent of blood, until he wound up at Four Weapons Blacksmith, the hiding place of-

The map. He'd given his friend Hotaru a map to guard, one that held the locations of the Golden Weapons. If they fell into the wrong hands, Ninjago would be nothing but a chunk of charred, barren land. Stepping over the corpses that littered the yard, he ran his hands over the sign, and to his relief, he found the subtle bump of the map hidden behind it.

Turning his attention to the bodies sprawled across the yard, he checked their pulses, except for the hopeless corpses who lacked heads. To his surprise, he found three limp, but living children. On the other hand, there were two less fortunate men who had stopped breathing, and had cold corpses. The first had a cold, unfamiliar, brutal face, and Wu shuddered to think about what would have happened, had he gotten his hands on the Golden Weapons.

The second corpse made his heart skip a beat. Wu stepped backwards and blinked a few times, to make sure his eyes hadn't deceived him. They hadn't. Hotaru's eyes had once been dancing with mischief and passion, but now they stared at him, glassy and sightless. "No," he whispered. When his father had died, there had been two guardians of the Golden Weapons- Wu and his older brother. When Garmadon had turned traitor, Wu had hidden the Weapons, and left the map with vivacious, honest, Hotaru, who he'd met in the Serpentine War.

Now Hotaru was gone, and Wu was once again left to shoulder a burden that wasn't meant for one person alone. Wu left his friend on the ground and went to check on the people he could help.

Using Spinjitzu, to avoid dropping them, he carried the children in his golden tornado to their living room. The two elder ones he placed on the sofa; the young child of about eight he lay on the table. He recognised all three of them from the descriptions Hotaru had put in his biannual letters. The eldest with spiky hair was Kai, the second eldest with a gentle expression he recognised as Nya, and the last he needed no description to recognise. He remembered her fierce expression, even when unconscious, and her unnatural streak of green hair from a long-ago student.

Morro. And this was his daughter.

Turning to more practical thoughts, he first cleaned Kai's wound, which would unfortunately scar, he began to administer to the minor wounds that the children sported. When he had finished at last, he took one last look at the now peacefully slumbering children. He saw the wind's ferocity in Aster's face, the river's strength in Nya, and a fiery passion in Kai. Not meant for one person to bear alone. Seeing the elements in the three young warriors, Wu realised it was time.

Fire is ready. I need to find the other three ninja, then we will be ready to retrieve the Golden Weapons.