Chapter 107
Burning Memories

.:Violet:.

The day was long and stretched on forever as Violet helped the young boy back to his camp. It was a couple hours before mid-day when she bumped into Jonah and the bear but now, the sun was disappearing behind the trees, casting long and dark shadows onto the two travellers and the ground. With the sun no longer filtering through the canopy above, warmth fled causing a chill to wash through the forest.

"We're nearly there." She heard him groan softly.

"Good, once we're there I'll check your wounds again," Violet said with a neutral tone to her voice.

After a couple more minutes, her violet eyes could just make out a clearing of trees; it wasn't a big clearing but enough to have a small camp. As they got closer, she saw ropes connecting from the closest trees to the clearing as if to show the perimeter and the actual space of the camp however the ninja knew that wasn't the case. Judging by the way clothes and cloth was hanged on the line she knew it was a makeshift clothes line. In the middle of the camp, was a stone camp fire with sticks already piled and logs nearby. There were also two hand-made chairs that were on either side of the fire, both made of untreated wood. Towards the edges of the campground, a pile of leaves were gathered however it wasn't too far from the camp. It was simple and empty the camp was but knowing the pile of leaves was to act as a bed, she took Jonah over and helped him to leave down on it. After that, she lifted his shirt and undid the already blood-soaked bandages that she only applied hours ago. She was relieved the bleeding went down but she just hoped an infection won't spread.

"You still haven't explained to me how you did that thing before…"

"Well like I said, it's a long story."

"We have time."

"Alright then," she sighed as she looked at him in the eyes, violet meeting with light brown, "but first, tell me how much you know about the First Spinjitzu Master and Overlord."

"From what my brother told me, the First Spinjitzu Master created Ninjago but the Overlord wanted to destroy it so they fought and both died by the sacrifice the master made and peace was restored," He replied as he stared into Violet's face. What? No no no. She thought as she shook her head. "Let me guess, that isn't right."

"No entirely. You got some parts right but that isn't the true story-"

"-legend."

"No, it's the history of Ninjago. The world of Ninjago was created by the First Spinjitzu Master by using the power of the Golden Weapons he forged. There were five of them, the bow of wind, the nunchucks of lightning, shurikens of ice, sword of fire and scythe of quakes – each containing elemental powers which together form creation hence how Ninjago was created," Violet explained to the young boy while rattling her brain for the history lessons Misako and Scarlett gave her, "When the First Spinjitzu Master created it, he intended for the land to be of light and peace but it didn't last when darkness counterbalance that peace - and that darkness being the Overlord. He challenged the First Spinjitzu Master for the control of Ninjago. The battle raged for many years with neither side gaining a significant advantage for long. The First Spinjitzu Master eventually split his powers among a group of people by giving them elemental powers. The Elemental Masters aided the First Spinjitzu Master but the Overlord also called reinforcements to balance out the playing field. He created the Stone Army, a legion of indestructible warriors which can resist the First Spinjitzu Master's powers – including the ones he gave to the Elemental Masters which placed them at a huge disadvantage. As a result of this, the First Spinjitzu Master used his powers to split the land of Ninjago in half – Ninjago and the Island of Darkness which trapped the Overlord as the two lands were a balance of light and darkness."

"But couldn't he just cross over?"

"No, the Overlord lost his physical body and his spirit couldn't venture into Ninjago because of the balance… Look, I don't really get the balance thing either but that's what my sensei and my mentors told me."

"But how do you know that's all true? I mean it doesn't sound realistic to me, all of this power stuff."

"Well for starters, it's true because my Sensei is the second son of the First Spinjitzu Master. My two mentors – my deceased sister have been in contact with the First Spinjitzu Master in the spirit realm and my other mentor is the wife of the first son. And my little stunt with pushing the bear back is my control over the wind since I'm the descendant of the master of wind." And as she said that, she waved her hand in the air and a strong breeze blew through. "That's the history of Ninjago."

The boy remained silent, Violet could tell he was speechless as his mind tried to process the new information. "You said the reason you were in the forest was because you were trying to get away from the Overlord…"

"Yes."

"So he managed to cross over?"

"He did last year… How long have you been in this forest?"

"My brother and I left home when I was eight… so about six years now."

"That explains it. But before I continue on… how come you live in a forest?"

"Well my family used to live in the Whaling Alps until the structure of the village was deemed too 'insecure' so my parents and my brother moved to another village… I can't remember the name but my mother died giving birth to me leaving my father to take care of my brother and I but when I turned six –my brother twelve- my father married a rich woman. She was horrible, she always acted sweet and kind in front of my father but she used to abuse us so after two years, Tyler took me and we ran from that place and to here – our home… well until the bear incident…" Jonah told her softly as Violet went to wrap his torso in fresh bandages. "But how did the Overlord cross over?"

And so, Violet proceeded to tell him of the adventures she and the others had. It always brought a smile to her lips when she thought back to the old days; when it used to be against skeletons and the serpentine however she left out the personal details and the incident with Vincent. It pleased her to see Jonah intrigued into her story telling because it meant that it was a way for him to keep his mind of the pain and a distraction from the death of his brother.

"And that's why you're here? To get away from the Overlord?"

"Yes and it also means I have to go shortly otherwise you'll be involved with something you don't have to be in," she muttered as she got up and dusted her hands but a look of alarm flooded the youngster's face.

"Wait, you're leaving now?"

"Jonah, the Overlord and his forces can be here any minute, hour or day. I can't risk your life."

"But I can't do anything…" The boy whispered softly and forlornly. Violet mentally slapped herself when she realised she had forgotten all about Jonah's injuries.

"Alright, I'll stay but I think the most I can stay is for three days. After that I have to leave."

"Okay, thank you!"

.::.

At first, all she could see was darkness; just pitch black darkness. No colour, no light, no shade, just black. The air surrounding the girl was freezing, like tiny shards of ice biting at her skin. Then it was like someone had flicked a switch, the darkness faded away to a fiery orange which was all blurred but the heat became unbearable as if it now wanted to melt her skin and set the inside of her on fire. Like a broken camera struggling to focus, Violet couldn't grasp what was happening. Despite what she could see and feel, she couldn't hear anything; it was so silent that her ears started to ring. Finally, her eyes focused onto the orange and the sound hit her like an explosion of a bomb right next to her ear.

A plume of fire exploded into the blackness in a wash of red and yellow sparks and the flame rolling outwards like the smoke of a mushroom cloud. The flames roared like an out-of-time choir of lions that were trying to do the loudest roar competition. But then a subtle shift in the wind direction brought noxious smoke and ash raining down into her hair and eyes. With hands and clothing clamped to her mouth, she could only stand there with eyes as wide as saucers; her legs were frozen in place despite the heat. The glowing embers leaped and twirled in a fiery dance, twinkling like stars in the hot swirling air before cascading to the earth. Only in a matter of seconds, the scenery changed so that it was the interior of a house made of wood and on fire. Instantly the sound of cracking wood drowned the roars of the flames and when female ninja looked up, the wooden beams that went across the roof was engulfed in flames. Immediately she ran, trying to avoid the flames that kept hissing at her and licking her skin.

It wasn't until a loud groan of wood and then a loud snap came from above her head and her mind screamed out as the pain drove through her back. Every thought she just had become confuse as the burning pain licked up her back like scorching fire. Instantly her head fell onto the ground with eyes closed, trying to prevent the wave of tears trying to break through. She wept at her own suffering. She attempted rolled up in a ball -with the burning beam on top of her- of self-loathing and pain, wishing the world to end rather than for her to go through more of this pain. When she opened her eyes, she saw the flames towering over her like a wave at sea instantly bringing the memories of the haunting nightmare to flood her mind. Immediately she closed her eyes and waited for the pain to come, but she didn't feel it, instead she the burning heat changed to freezing cold. It didn't take long until her body was thrashing in the water that engulfed her but as per usual, the power of the ocean's current held her away from the surface.

Not again, please not again! Wake up! Wake up!

But her pleads and wishes weren't fulfilled and she knew she was going to be trapped in this nightmare. Her frantic limbs were trying to bring her body up with harsh, brittle and useless movements. When the surface seemed to be escaping from her grasp, panic settled like stones in the bottom of her stomach. It didn't take long until her chest was on fire; burning agonisingly. Her violet eyes looked to the surface where rays of light penetrated through the waves but faded away once it got deeper into the water. The surface was mocking her, teasing her incapability to swim and to save herself.

Instantly, her violet eyes frantically looked around in her thrashing, on alert for Vincent– trying to ignore the stinging that occupied her eyes as well. Fear hammered in her heart harshly that it was the only thing Violet could hear until a laugh boomed around her, echoing as if she was in a cave rather than the ocean. But it was the laugh that made her blood turn cold like the freezing water and fear no longing wanting to escape but squeezing her heart in an unbearable grasp. Then out of nowhere, a sickening grin she knew too well and deathly grey eyes came into her view – only centimetres from her face.

No no no no no!

Vincent's hands seized her waist and pulled her roughly to him, they were squeezing her so tightly that she was sure he was bound to shatter her bone into pieces. Her hands tried pushing him away but it was no use. His mouth latched onto her neck and bit down hard, making her scream – emptying her lungs of oxygen. Her lungs felt like they were getting torn out by rusted claws that were like icicles; so cold that it burns. At the edge of her vision, she could see darkness seeping into view, threatening to take her away as the pain intensifies. The icy cold water of the sea washed her strength away as it also flooded into her nostrils and throat, threatening to gag her. But once she heard the repetition of her name being timorously called; everything vanished; the water, Vincent's bone crushing grasp on her and the pain was gone. Her eyes snapped open to only see a distorted image that was a blur of different colours with no details. Slowly, her eyes strained to focus on the source that called her name but she was finally met with a face full of worry – a face belonging to Jonah.

"Violet, are you okay?" His voice was timid, like a person trying to handle a deer – not wanting to scare it away.

"I-I'm alright… Sorry if I woke you up," she apologised immediately and sat up, turning her face away from him.

"No, it's okay… Bad dream? I get them most of the time." And upon this, Violet turned her head to meet with Jonah's light brown eyes. "They used to be about how our step-mother used to treat us but recently they're just the same thing, losing my brother to the bear with him saying with his final breath how it was all my fault..."

"I had those when I lost my sister but my parents' was a little different when I was younger," Violet whispered softly.

"Your parents?"

"They were murdered when I was four… I watched it happen underneath the bed."

"That's harsh…"

"Tell me about it," she mumbled as she lay back down but immediately got back up when she saw a small plant with white leaves growing near Jonah's bed. "Why didn't you tell me you had Yarrow?"

Immediately, she went over to the side of Jonah's makeshift bed and plucked the plant from the ground. It was about a meter tall (a little over three feet tall). The stem was green with silk like hair on it and the plant branches out near the top where tiny white flowers were bunched up together. Each flower seemed to resemble a daisy but a much smaller version. The scent was strong and sweet, almost like a meadow of flowers in spring. Immediately, she missed Kai. She remembered how he took her to that meadow where he proposed to her.

"Yarrow? Never heard of it but my brother and I used to collect those plants since it smelt nice."

"Well Yarrow is a great plant for healing burns, blisters, deep wounds and nearly everything. When I was gravely injured once I drank it as a tea but since we don't have any creams or ointments right now, I have to make it into a paste."

And immediately, she limped over to the fire place and put a bowl of water on top and started a fire. She immediately placed some of the leaves and flowers into a pot and grabbed another wooden sculptured bowl – which lay unattended by the fire - and placed the remainders of the plant in it and proceeded to crush it into a paste. Once she was done, she neatly scrapped the paste into a pile in the bowl and pour the tea she made into two finely whittled wooden cups –which she made a mention note to ask Jonah if he whittles- and she brought them over next to Jonah, she gave him a cup and set her's aside and proceeded to undo his bandages.

"Do I have to drink this?"

"What? I didn't poison it. Look, I'll drink it-"

"No, it's not that. I just don't like tea."

"What?!" She immediately shrieked and looked at his with a flabbergast expression. "What do you mean you don't like tea?!"

"I just don't like the taste."

"You're crazy! How can you not like tea?! It's the best!"

"It's awful!"

"No it isn't!" She shouted before taking a deep breath and looking at him sternly. "You know what, that isn't important. What is important is you drinking it whether you like it or not and if you refuse or whatever, I don't care what it'll take but I'll shove it down your throat."

"Okay, okay, okay…. Sheesh." Jonah muttered before giving her a glare and hesitantly drinking the tea. Violet made sure to carefully watch his expressions. It changed from forced disgust to a mild liking. "Okay, I have to admit, this tea is good."

"All tea is good. This one certainly isn't the best but it's nice and sweet… What tea have you tried?"

"How am I supposed to know? It was six years ago… I think it was called Jiaogulan tea…"

"Okay, I'll agree with you with that one, that one is gross."

History lesson, scary and intense scene and then a giggle… But hi everyone! I'm back and I'm so so so so sorry for the long wait but I forced myself to write today because guess what? It's Undercover's 2nd Birthday so hip hip horay! Life have been hectic for me that I couldn't update, it was hectic enough with school work but it was even more hectic since last week because we got robbed, at least $80 000 was stolen, at least! Remember when I said I was moving? Well we had a shipping container on our land we're going to build a house on and we stored some of our stuff in there, our kayaks, camping gear, bikes (including my dad's $4000 mountain bike – a Merida), all our family photos so every memories of when I was a baby to when I was ten is all gone, all my sport ribbons, trophies and just so much more stuff. Last week we found out someone has used a diamond tip grinder to cut through our shipping container and just took everything! All let left was subway rubbish. It's been a big toll on my family and me and is just devastating. And it's the worst time to happen too because it was just before my second week of exams so I couldn't concentrate properly. But anyway, I hope you all had a good Easter and enjoyed that chapter, I'll stop rumbling now. But thanks to everyone who have reviewed!

Xoxo – ZaneLoverFan88