So far the third option for pairings and the original pairings are still tied.
I'd also like to state that for a bit, some of my reviews aren't showing up. So if I don't reply to some of you, I am deeply sorry.
Grace groaned as she blinked her eyes awake, shaking her head. Dear lord almighty, did that skeleton hit her hard and-
She winced when something wet had hit her face, and looked up to see Nya across from her. They seemed to be in a cage of some sort, with their hands tied to the bars...
"Ugh...N-Nya?"
"Finally! I've been spitting at you for hours!"
"Hours? Wait...You've been spiting at me?"
"Well you didn't wake up when I was yelling at you..."
"That's disgusting...!" The monastery girl shuttered at the thought..Before frowning at her companion's sorrowful expression.. "B-but hey! It worked..! So don't you worry about it-"
"That's not what I'm worried about...Knowing Kai, he'll do something outrageously stupid to try and get me back home..Idiot.."
...For a moment, the blonde didn't really know how to respond, if at all. Was she allowed to have an opinion on this kind of matter? Hm..After a bit of debating with herself, she shook her head. The other girl needed her... "Well uh...Hey..! That just means that he cares about you, right?"
"Well..Yeah.."
"Then he can't be that bad of a guy.."
"Ooooh trust me..Kai can get pretty bad once I'm not there to keep him in line."
"Well then don't you worry...! My Father will make sure that we're both out of here safe, I know it."
"Oh yeah?" Nya gave the smallest hint of a smile at this, looking a bit hopeful.
"Of course...! My Father wouldn't let me out of his sight, so he'll probably be doing all he can to get us back..!"
"And that." The happy atmosphere was sliced to shreds as Samukai came in, eyes gleaming. "Is exactly what Lord Garmadon is hoping for.."
Bunny coughed as she fell to the ground, gasping for air as she took off her glasses. "I-I think...My condition...Is...Isn't helping..Me.."
"Yeah, a condition called laziness...What, have you never even gone running before?" Kai asked, crossing his arms as he looked at the blonde.
So far, only Kim-Ly had been able to get through the entire course. She had waited till the very end of the day, that first day, watching Kai and Bunny...Before using garnered knowledge to get through it all.
Sensei Wu had almost drank all of his cup when she had finished.
Ever since then, Kim-Ly has been sitting at the corner of the Monastery wall, watching Kai and Bunny continue to train.
"W-well, I've never had to run in the City before...! Everything was just...There when I needed it..!" The blonde explained after catching her breath, and after Kim-Ly had handed her a cup of water. "Maybe I...Maybe I'm just not cut out for this Ninja business..."
Kim-Ly watched her for a moment...Before simply turning and walking away, and going outside the walls of the Monastery.
Outside sat Sensei Wu, carefully sipping his tea as per usual... "Sensei.."
"Are they ready to try today, Kim-Ly?"
"No, sir...I just have a question.."
"Yes..?"
"..Why did you choose us?"
"Do you mean, why did I choose Bunny?"
She frowned a bit at the question, he had seen right through her.. "I don't think she can even handle doing these simple practices and-"
"Kim-Ly, I am a bit disappointed in you." The female didn't seem to mind this blatant statement. "You should know that every team has a variety of members.."
"Yes, but they are members who work well with one another."
"Have you done anything with those two?"
"Yes Sensei, we have done the course."
"No, you all have separately gone through the training course. Not once have any of you aided one another, nor have you talked with one another outside of the practice area."
...
Kim-Ly fell silent at this..Before Sensei Wu stood up, sighing. "Now then, come. Your team mates will be trying again..And perhaps, you can try to see things through their eyes, and become a team.."
.."Yes, Sensei.."
~X~Time Skip~X~
Kim-Ly sat and watch her team mates, as she did every day. However this time it was..Different.
This time she actually watched them, not just skim over them.
She watched as Bunny evaded almost all obstacle, not wanting to get hit. Yet for good reason actually. The City girl couldn't take a single hit it seemed..
While Kai was in too much of a rush it felt like. Though he was determined, he kept looking back at Sensei Wu. Then when he thought he was doing good, he got too cocky..
"This is USELESS!" The boy yelled, throwing down the sword that he was carrying as he .
"It...Does seem that way..Doesn't it.." Bunny sighed out, frowning at the ground.
"Then I suppose we will do this again, tomorrow." Sensei Wu hummed out, standing and departing. "I shall see you all then."
Once the door slid closed, Kim-Ly got up from her corner, and walked over to the fuming Kai and depressed Bunny... "Would..You two...Like help?"
Oh geez this felt weird..
"Oh wow, could have offered after the first day, couldn't you?"
"Uhm..Y-yes, please, Kim-Ly..That would be really uh..Helpful.."
Kim-Ly nodded her head... "Well first off, City Kid...Don't listen to him..."
"Hey!" The fiesty male growled out, yet the calm female didn't even bother.
"You have been getting better."
"I...I have?"
"Yeah. You barely got through the planks that first day, but now you can almost dodge the dummy."
"O-oh wow I..I didn't even notice...!"
"Well I have..But here's the problem. You're trying to do the course like how Kai does it, but that's wrong. You do it in your own way."
"I...Do it in my own way?"
"Yeah."
Bunny seemed just as confused as Kim-Ly felt. Okay, so the Thuy girl had some work to do on her advising skills...
"And what about me?"
Kim-Ly looked at Kai, pursing her lips as she thought about how he did the course... "Well..You're good-"
"Obviously."
"But you aren't fast enough...Well, you're not faster than Sensei Wu..Maybe, you should..I dunno, stop him?"
"Stop him?"
"Yeah...Maybe stop him from making his tea...You carry that sword around, why not put it to use?" The male seemed to stare at her for a moment..Before his eyes widened, as if an epiphany had come to him.. "But uh..Yeah, that's..That's all I have to say.."
Kai nodded as he left to go and prepare for tomorrow, while Bunny gave the other girl a large smile. 'Thank you so much, Kim-Ly."
She froze a bit at the blatant sincerety and gratitude..Before coughing, giving herself a moment to think.. "Yeah just...Don't screw up."
"I-I won't...! I promise."
"U-uhm..Yeah, great.."..Kim-Ly started backing out of the training area. "I'm just gonna go and..Yeah..."
Bunny smiled as she carefully sat down at the table in the dinning room, carefully writing to her family. Already she had taken a bath and ate a small bowl of rice with chicken.
Her little glass of milk was rested right beside her.
Dear Mom, Dad, and everyone back at the Shop ,
How are you all? I hope you all are doing pretty good. It's odd not hearing the ringing of the shop's bells every day, or the constant buzz of voices, but it's nice. It's quiet out here, and really soothing..
Sensei Wu is a really amazing teacher. He's been having me and his other students train on this crazy course. I get so sweaty and-I know how weird this sounds but-I kind of like it. When I sweat it feels like I did a really good day of training...
Speaking of the 'other students' for now there are only two. There's this guy named Kai, and this girl named Kim-Ly. They both come from pretty rural areas I think, and are pretty tough...At times I find it really hard to keep up with them..But I can't give up. Not when Ninjago is counting on me..Because, well, you're all my Ninjago.
You're all my home, my safety...And I can't risk you all getting hurt...
Haha, look at me, I sound so heroic..Show this to Charlotte if you can. She'll flip the fridge with how excited she'll get, her sister's like a superhero! Even though technically, we're training to be ninja...
But, you know, potato-potatoe.
Anyway, that's all I'll say for now. I hope the shop's okay, and I hope you are all alright.
I love you all,
Bunny.
Bunny paused, looking at her own letter...And smiling a bit.
Usually when she'd leave home, on the off chance her dad needed her to get fabric with him, she would only write about business...Any other subject just seemed too foreign to her on paper.
"Hey." The blonde jumped, whipping around and staring at Kim-Ly. The girl had just taken her shower also, a towel wrapped around her neck as she wore a grey tank top and her orange worker pants..In all honesty, just being around her left Bunny with a chill down her spine. She seemed so cold, compared to the usual warm atmosphere that was in her parent's boutique.. "You should get to bed."
"H-huh? But...I-I don't usually go to bed till-"
"If you go to sleep now, you can wake up early tomorrow...Maybe...Ya know, you could..Warm up, before Sensei does his exam..."
"O-oh! Oh, okay! Yeah, I'll-I'll go to bed then..." The black haired girl nodded, turning and walking away... "U-uh, Kim-Lee?"
..The footsteps stopped...
"...Thank you.."
"..Yeah.."
Bunny sighed, frowning as she heard the footsteps walk away from her. Geez, that girl was so...So cold...
Kim-Ly sighed, frowning as she sat outside in the training area. Not even the sun was up at this hour, but it was close.
She glanced up at the sky, before slowly closing her eyes and feeling the brisk wind.
This scene felt so familiar to her, and yet so distant.
Back home she would have to walk up earlier than anyone in the house, and go to the mines. Break times meant getting to step outside of the rock and just relaxing for a few moments..
Yet there wasn't the usual grumbling of older men.
There wasn't the distant cheer of children and of the village..
It was just them up in an isolated mountain..
Just the four of-
She jumped up when she heard a twig snap above her, and looked up, seeing the slightest flicker of shadows...
...
She silently scaled the side of the wall, and looked around. It didn't look like anyone was there.
With a hum Kim-Ly nodded, and jumped off the edge, before going inside. The others needed to wake up, so that they could start learning..
Grace frowned as she was taken away from Nya by the skeletons, guarded on all sides by the creatures of the Underworld.
All day she had been thinking, trying to remember. Had she ever met a Garmadon?
Surely not, her Father never even let her outside the Monastery...
So, why did Lord Garmadon wish to meet her in private?
"Lord Garmadon." Samukai called out as they entered a throne room of some sort, with a male sitting on his throne. "We have brought the girl.."
"Ah, good...Now, begone."
"But-"
"Begone." He growled out. "Go to the Caves of Despair and check on the progress."
"..Yes, sir.."
There was a heavy note of malice in the skeleton's voice, yet he and his companions left Lord Garmadon and Grace...The Monastery female looked to the master of the underworld... "Have I...Ever met you?"
"Ooooh, once, when you were younger." He hummed out, standing swiftly. "My how you have grown...Tell me dear, how have your destructive tendencies been?"
"Excuse me...?"
"Oh you were a prodigy even as a baby, in all honesty. Who knows how many of your own toys and objects you broke..."
Grace frowned, trying to untie the rope that bound her hands. "What are you talking about...?!"
"Why, your element, my dear Niece." She froze at the last word, staring at him.. And the Lord just chuckled in amusement. "Oh my, did daddy dearest not tell you of his...Brother..?"
"..My father tells me-"
"Absolutely nothing, I see. Why, he didn't even tell you of your element...!"
"I don't have an element..!"
"Oh..?" It was the way he said that simple word..He knew something that she didn't.. "Tell me dear, are you...Well, could you be considered clumsy? Such simple things like taking a glass to someone, becoming you cleaning up broken glass shards?"
She didn't respond, remembering all those times she had to clean up her own messes..
"Grace, it is not simply that you are clumsy...But your body needs to destroy something..!"
"What are you talking about...?"
"My dear..You have the purest, most untapped form of Destruction within you. It has been waiting so long to come out. Didn't you even notice what was happening around you when you did Spinjitsu? How you faught?" He walked around her, smirking. "You knew how to take them down..You saught out their weaknesses, and you managed to destroy weapons...! You are pure Destruction. That is your element."
Grace froze up, just taking all of this into consideration.. "But that...That's..."
"It isn't impossible, nor is it common. You are the counterbalance to creation, my dear Niece...After all, you need destruction to make creation. You need to destroy a tree to gain wood, you need to destroy mountains to gain metals and rock...It is all a part of the cycle that keeps everything in balance..."
"I...It..It can't be..."
"But it is, and you must accept it...In fact.." Lord Garmadon turned around, giving her a grin and offering her his hand. "Let me teach you the ways of Destruction."
Bunny grinned as she skidded to a halt after her run through the course, and looked to her Sensei. "Y-You're still drinking...!"
"Hm...?" He blinked, lowering his tea cup..Before giving a small smile. "It appears I am...Good job, Bunny."
"I did it...!" She grinned, jumping up and down in excitement. "Yes...!"
"Heh, pretty loud for a wall flower."
When Kai spoke up, the City girl seized up, and blushed. "O-oh...Uhm..I-I mean-"
She gave a little 'umph' when Kim-Ly patted her back. "...You...Deserve, to celebrate.."
"T-thank you, Kim-Ly..."
"Now then.." The stone cold girl looked to Sensei Wu.. "When are you going to teach us Spinjitsu?"
"You all have already learned it. Your final test comes tomorrow." He hummed, getting up and walking into his room, the door shutting behind him. "My advice is to get some sleep."
~X~Time Skip~X~
Kim-Ly and Bunny had both fallen asleep rather swiftly.
The miner was asleep in an orange sleeping back atop the bed, her entire body and head covered with just a bit of hair sticking out.
The city girl had pillows on both sides of her, with an avocado mask and cucumbers on...What? Working out so much left her skin terribly dry.
At first, everything was nice and silent...
Until Kim-Ly heard the sudden ruckus that was occuring over head.
Grace kept a blanket spread out over the top of her room, to avoid anyone sneaking in on her...Yet that didn't block the sound.
The black haired girl hastily undid her sleeping bag, hair going into a complete frizz, and rushing over to Bunny. "BUNNY! WAK-
"H-huh?" The wallflower sat up, pulling off a cucumber...Before screaming. "AH!"
"BUNNY IT'S ME!"
"..O-oh...Uhm..H-hi, K-Kim-Ly..."
She knew her hair was most likely in a round sphere of frizzed black around her head.. "Look, no time to fix ourselves, we gotta go."
"But-"
"We gotta GO!" She grabbed Bunny's hand and pulled her up and out of the room, racing outside..To see Kai fighting against three figured dressed in black. "Come on, we have to-"
"Stooop!" Sensei Wu's voice from behind her cut Kim-Ly off, and the fighting before her came to an end.
"Yes, Sensei."
"Wait a minute, they're your student to-" Kai paused when he noticed the two girls...And started laughing. "What the HECK happened to you two?!"
"I ask myself that all the time when I look at your face..." Kim-Ly hummed out in her monotone voice, not really minding the laughter..Yet from the corner of her eye she saw Bunny inch back. A hazel eye twitched, and she went over to the laughing male, punching him square in the face. "There's your punchline..."
"Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-Heh..Okay, while that was pretty funny...You never said anything about a fourth, fifth, and sixth...! It's always three...! Three blind mice, three musketeers, three-"
"Uhm...What he's trying to say Sensei Wu, is that the three of us have trained together. We're solid." Cole explained for Jay, trying to let the older male understand.
"Didn't look so solid to me." Kai grumbled out as he got up, Kim-Ly returning to her place, slightly in front of Bunny.
"Master, what is the meaning of this?" Zane asked as he stepped forward, all eyes on Sensei Wu.
"Each of you have been chosen. Each in tune with elemental properties." The male nudged the two girls closer to the four boys, before quickly doing Spinjitsu, and going past each of his students. "NINJAGOOOO!"
When each of them had been skimmed over, their clothes had been switched out with a ninja uniform.
"Whoa...!" Kai gasped, looking over his red attire. "How'd he do that?"
"Ha ha~! Look what color I am..!" Jay grinned, looking at his light blue uniform.
"Wait a minute..I'm still black..!" Cole pointed out, yet Sensei Wu walked towards Kai though, ignoring the male.
"Kai, Master of Fire..It burns bright in you.." The bearded man hummed before turning to the darker blue ninja. "Jay is dark blue, Master of Lightning."
"That's not all I'm the master of..! I do a little inventing, I dab a little in model building, touch of cooking, a little poetry-"
"More like mouth of lightning." Cole sighed out with a small glare, before Sensei Wu acknowledged him.
"Black ninja is Cole, solid as rock, Master of Earth." To prove some sort of point, Cole did a few spins and tricks, making Kai scoff. Kim-Ly thought gave him a small hum...Before Kai flinched as the Earth Ninja's scythe was held out to him.
"Nice ta meet ya kid." He drew it back...Before pushing it back into Kai's personal space. "I got your back."
Cole then swished off his hood. "And for the record, there ain't nothin' in this world I'm afraid of."
"Except for dragons." Zane interjected, making the leader flinch back a bit.
"Dragons aren't from this world Zane...I said in this world..!"
"White Ninja is Zane, Master of Ice." Grace felt butterflies in her stomach as she realized her turn was up next, as Sensei Wu introduced the blonde male, who flipped out two Shurikens and made them disappear. "And see-er with sixth sense."
"I sense this one takes things a little too seriously.." Kai whispered loud enough for everyone to hear, making Zane look at him.
"You too have the gift?" He questioned, flipping down his hood..Jay was the nice one though.
"Heh-heh, he's just making a joke Zane...!" Jay soon flipped down his own hood, leaning towards the platinum blonde. "Remember what we talked about? Your sense of humor? Huh?"
"Yes, it was a joke, ha-ha."
"Silver ninja is Kim-Ly." Sensei Wu continued, his staff pointing to her. "As strong and durable as the metal that she controls."
She let a little smirk appear on her face, before quickly making it disappear as she took off her hood. The Spinjitsu had managed to tame the wild wisps. "It's...Nice...To meet you all..."
"Then finally, brown ninja is Bunny, docile and placid, like nature." ...The girl just peeked out from behind Kim-Ly, feeling safe behind the Metal ninja, and simply gave a little wave. With that, Sensei Wu continued. "You six are the chosen ones..! You will protect the six weapons of Spinjitsu! From Lord Garmadon."
"But what about my sister...?.!" Kai exclaimed for them all to hear, pointing a sword at Sensei Wu...Jay though...
"We're saving a girl?.! Is she hooooot~?"
"Jay..!" Cole scolded the blue boy lightly, who held up his hands defensively.
"He-Hey! I just want to know what we're getting ourselves into...Does she like blue..?"
"Back. Off."
"When we find the weapons, we will find your sister...And, my daughter.."
"Wait, Grace has been captured?" Zane blinked in surprise, looking up at his Sensei.
"I am...Afraid so...But fear not, she is safe..Lord Garmadon has no use in harming her." Sensei Wu paused, and almost all of them could see that he had to force those words out...Before he coughed. "It is time! We must go to the first weapon."
"Whoa-whoa-whoa hold on a minute..!" Cole finally snapped out of his shock to come to. "You said that you'd teach us Spinjitsu!"
"Spinjitsu is inside each and everyone of you, but it will only be unlocked once the key is ready to be found."...The bearded old man nodded when no one else spoke up, and started walking out. "Come! My feet are tired...We will take the horse carriage."
"Great, now we have to find a key?" Jay groaned out with a small glare, Cole speaking up to clear the Lightning Ninja'squestion.
"Yeaaaaah...I'm feeling like he's taking us for a ride."
"Well if it means finding my sister.." Kai began, flipping his hood down and walking after Sensei Wu. "Then sign me up."