! WARNING ! Major scenes of attempted "self-termination" (another attempt at using a trigger friendly term)
Please please please, read at your own discretion. Reading this chapter is not necessary to understand the main plot. However, this chapter is referenced multiple times in the future (details are not given, merely implied)
The bridge of the Bounty was silent, save for the sounds of someone's frantic pacing back and forth between the creaking floorboards. Ever since Destiny and the others had pieced together that her mother could have been captured the yellow clad teen was struggling to calm her anxious mannerisms. Her mind was just as panicked, her unhelpful thoughts reprimanding her for not having figured everything out sooner.
What if Lloyd, Nya, and Zane couldn't find any trace of her mother? What if her mother was being tortured? Or worse… Destiny wasn't an orphan now was she? She couldn't be, she just couldn't be. Her and her mother hadn't gotten along very well these past few months, but that didn't mean she wanted anything bad to happen to her. First her father, and now her mother; it was all becoming too much for the young Master of Species.
"Destiny. Destiny, hey." The young girl was brought back to reality by the black ninja once again, he was standing bent down in front of her so he could look her in the eyes. His hands were firmly placed on her shoulders as well, but not with enough pressure to cause any pain. "You need to take a minute to catch your breath, okay?"
"I, I-" The stressed girl struggled to speak.
"Take a few deep breaths." The raven haired boy spoke again, this time slower. He then exaggerated his expressions as he took in a deep breath and then exhaled. It took a little while but eventually the smaller girl was able to get a hold of the Earth ninja's rhythm, and after following his example several times her breathing began to even out.
"There you go." The Master of Earth praised as he let go of his friend.
"It'll be okay." The red ninja spoke up from his side of the room. He and Jay had been watching the new ninja with concern ever since they'd arrived back on the Bounty, but neither had stepped in because they knew full well that Cole had everything under control.
Destiny gave the Master of Fire a small nod, despite his words and Cole's effort her face remained laced with worry. Suddenly the door of the bridge was opened, revealing the green, white, and teal ninja they'd all been waiting for.
"Were you guys able to find my mom?" Destiny asked quickly, and mentally cursed herself for how pathetic she sounded.
"I'm sorry Destiny. We were too late." Lloyd responded sadly, a frown present on his face.
"She was captured the same night the 'Shapeshifters' tried to get you." Nya added.
Destiny could feel her stomach drop and her throat began to tickle, almost as if she had swallowed a hair and now it was sitting uncomfortably in the back of her mouth. The yellow clad rested her weight against the nearest surface she could, she felt like she was going to throw up.
"Destiny?" The short brunette heard someone whisper her name.
"Go away…" She whispered back. Everything was too much. Too much anxiety, too much nausea, and had it always been this warm in here?
"Destiny I-" The same voice attempted to get her attention again. The distressed girl quickly felt her patience vanish though, and couldn't stop herself when she snapped.
"GO AWAY!" Destiny screamed, not daring to look up at the ninja.
The ninja had noticed their new friends' rapidly declining state, but if she did not want them to be around right now there wasn't anything else they could do but leave. As the ninja filed out of the room Cole felt his heart sink. He wasn't sure if the others had noticed, but as they closed the door he had heard the start of Destiny's quiet cries.
Kai placed a gentle hand on the giant of a ninja, hoping his presence would help to ease the sadness his close friend felt. Kai and the others felt guilty as well, but Destiny needed space for the time being. They all knew she wasn't mad at them. Cole knew she hadn't meant to yell at him. However, none of these facts served to quell the sorrow they all shared.
The silence between the ninja was deafening as they all walked into the dining room, and as they all took their seats around the table they remained quiet. It wasn't until Master Wu and Misako walked in that conversation finally resumed.
"What is going on here?" Master Wu asked softly, it didn't take much to notice the somber expressions on all of his students' faces. Even Zane's metallic face held much pain behind it.
"Nya, Zane, and I discovered that Destiny's mother was kidnapped." Lloyd says simply, looking up at his uncle with a look of despair. Master Wu nodded his head in understanding as he used his free hand to stroke through his snow colored beard.
"Were you all able to find out who took her?" Misako questions.
"Yes. A woman named Yuraggi. She appears to be the leader of the 'Shapeshifters'." Zane answered without emotion.
"While we were at Destiny's old house we found a journal that belonged to her father. He mentioned Yuraggi in a few of his final entries." Kai spoke up, his glossed over eyes finally returning to normal.
"Yeah, and from the sounds of it they knew each other." Jay adds, gently nudging the Master of Earth to show the rest of them the journal.
"Y-yeah, we did." Cole stutters as he pulls out the familiar black leather journal from the inside of his gi. Lloyd takes the book from Cole, and begins flipping through the pages.
After a few minutes of reading Nya, who was currently reading over Lloyd's shoulder, covered her mouth with her hands as a gasp escaped her lips.
"Nya? What is wrong?" Zane questioned, noticing the sudden shift in attitude the water ninja exhibited.
"The woman, Yuraggi. S-she's, she's the reason Destiny's father got sick." The Master of Water struggled to say as she stood staring at the page with unblinking eyes. The rest of the ninja felt their eyes go wide with shock as well, none of them knowing what to say or how to react to the horrifying news.
"Listen here ninjas." Lloyd began, breaking the silence. "None of us have known Destiny very long, but I know that we are all feeling the same thing. Yuraggi has hurt not only Destiny, but her family. Now Destiny is a part of our family, and it's our job to be there for her just like how we're there for each other. I refuse to believe that Mrs. Pierce is gone, so here's the plan. The 'Shapeshifter' goons Yuraggi has are probably still roaming the streets somewhere looking for Destiny. I think the best thing to do is capture one of them for interrogation. Once we figure out everything we need to infiltrate Yuraggi's hideout we take down Yuraggi and her goons, and we get Destiny's mom back."
"I'm in." Kai speaks up immediately, a look of determination now covering his face.
"Me too." Nya agrees, nodding her head.
"There's no way you guys are doing this without me." Cole adds, his face just as serious and determined as Kai's.
"Me either." Zane states.
"If there's hope, then I'm all in." Jay agrees, standing up from his seat.
"Go ninja; but do not let anger cloud your vision." Master Wu warns, his hand firmly gripped around his staff.
"We won't Master." Lloyd promises as he bows to their Sensei. With that the six ninja began making their way out of the Bounty, ready to search the city for the 'Shapeshifters'.
With Destiny -
Destiny sniffled a few times, her sobs now reduced to hiccups as her exhausted body sat hunched over on the wooden floorboards. The yellow clad teens' eyes felt puffy, and her head now ached with an all too familiar pounding.
What was she even doing? At this point she had cried more times than she ever thought humanly possible. Now that she had been here with the ninja though that unknown number now only served to embarrass her. Why did they even bother putting up with her? Why would anyone ever tolerate the way she had been acting? The way she had been treating them.
She assumed it was because of their civil duty or something. They were Ninjago's heroes after all, and heroes are meant to help people whether they liked them or not. Destiny frowned as she shakily stood up, hand pressed against the nearby wall for support.
They probably didn't even like her. They had no reason to. All she'd done was ignore them or be too depressed for her liking. She had so many problems, so many issues… the ninja were kind and honest people. They didn't deserve to need to put up with her broken self.
Destiny stumbled her way outside, the dark oak planks of the steps leading down to the deck were slippery with water. The young girl hadn't even noticed it was raining due to how dark it had gotten outside. She could barely see in front of her. As she continued her descent down the stairs she finally reached the deck, and slowly walked over to the spot Cole had taken her to stargaze before.
She could feel tears welling up behind her eyes again, and this time she refused to let them fall. If her mother was gone then that meant she really was alone, she had no other family after all. What was the point in being around anymore? Even though she had promised Master Wu earlier that she would become a ninja, now she cringed at the thought.
She didn't want to be a burden to anyone else any longer. Master Wu would no longer need to waste his time attempting to train her. The other ninja would no longer need to waste their time trying and failing to put her broken pieces back together.
Destiny carefully hoisted herself up into the slick railing of the Bounty, doing her best not to fall prematurely. Silently, the girl began to apologize to her new friends. She was sorry to Master Wu for going back on her promise. She was sorry to Misako for wasting her time with her sad stories. She was sorry to Kai and Zane, who wasted their time and energy saving her. She was sorry to Nya, and Jay, and Lloyd, all of whom had shown her nothing but kindness.
Lastly, the young girl apologized to Cole, the black ninja. The raven haired boy had quickly become the most important person in her life. He had been soft and understanding since the moment they'd met. He'd gone the extra mile to be there for her when she needed someone most. The teen could now feel the tears escaping her eyes as she thought of the Master of Earth.
I'll see you soon… mom and dad
"DESTINY!"
Destiny froze as she felt her blood run cold.
No no no no no no no
The panicked girl turned her head to see everyone standing outside the entrance to the Bounty's hull. They were all here. No, this wasn't supposed to happen this way. They weren't meant to see her like this.
"Destiny, get down from there!" Master Wu shouted, trying to make sure she could hear him over the sound of the violent winds.
"It is not safe for you to be up there!" Zane adds, despite his pointing out the obvious, his tone was genuine and laced with worry. Destiny shook her head, the tears she had been fighting so hard against now flowing freely down her cheeks.
"No, please leave! Please leave me alone!" Destiny cried out, her long wavy hair whipping violently around her face.
"That's not going to happen!" Kai shouts, his face determined, but he was clearly just as anxious as the others.
"Please Destiny, get down!" Cole begs, his gray orbs pleading with the young girl. Destiny could feel her heart break at the sight.
"I- I can't! I can't be a burden to you guys anymore! Please..." Destiny begs in return. The sight of their exhausted friend looking so defeated broke all the other ninja's hearts in turn.
"Destiny, there's still a chance your mom is alive!" Lloyd speaks up.
Before anyone could say anything else Destiny felt her foot slip faster than she could react. The yellow clad teen quickly fell off the side of the Bounty, and before she could even scream or process what happened she was frozen in place. Someone had caught her.
Destiny looked up to see the colors of the red and black ninjas, all three of them were currently hanging off the side of the floating ship as the others used all their strength to pull them back aboard. Once Destiny was pulled back onto the ship she collapsed against the mast, her heart still beating at a million miles a minute.
There were words being spoken, and an array of differently colored figures swarmed her. Not a moment later though Destiny felt something wrap around her, squeezing her body tightly. Doing her best to catch her breath under the pressure she suddenly heard a familiar warm voice whisper in her ear, except this time it sounded scared.
"Destiny, never do that again! Do you hear me? You are not a burden!" The black ninja hugged her tighter, doing his best not to crush her completely. "You are not alone, and you will never be alone so long as I am here! Please, please, never do that again."
Destiny sobbed at the genuine words she heard being spoken, and used what little strength she had left to hug the raven haired boy. She had created a crack in the Master of Earth, and now the immovable mountain trembled as years worth of emotions poured out in a single moment.
Cole didn't care that he was crying. He'd always done his best to keep his stronger emotions hidden from his ninja family, and he was sure that if someone confronted him about his tears later he'd chalk it up to the rain or something. However, all that mattered to the black ninja in this moment was the fact that Destiny was still here.
Even though the rest of the ninja had hugged Destiny as well in a large group hug they had since backed off. Allowing Cole and Destiny the space they needed to process everything that had just happened.
All the ninja now realized just how much they cared for the small girl in front of them. What had started as a simple rescue mission had transformed into something new entirely, and they swore from this moment forward that they would do all they could to make sure Destiny knew just how much she was loved. The yellow clad girl would never feel alone again.