Dawn arrived over the Bounty; sunlight poured in through the shades. It was calm, peaceful. That is, until the alarm clock went off.
"Wha-ah!" Jay had fallen once more. "Not again!"
"Relax Jay." said Kai, getting up to hit the alarm. "It's not Cole this time."
"Well gee, that makes me feel SO much better." The blue ninja replied sarcastically getting up from the ground. "Anymore dreams Cole?"
"…"
"Uh…Cole? You there bud?"
"Huh? What?" the black ninja snapped back into reality. "Sorry guys. I just can't focus this morning."
"It could be the fact that you are dreaming of a child you never met and that you let her down." Zane said sitting up. "Or it could be the fact that you are unsure of how to explain this to Sensei as you do not know what the child means to you and the future of Ninjago."
"…Yeah, that doesn't help Zane."
"Was it supposed to?"
"Either way we better hurry." The red ninja stated, putting on his gi. "Sunrise Exercise starts in a matter of minutes."
"You're right." Cole stated, grabbing his gi. "I'll talk to him after practice."
"Talk to me about what?"
None of the ninja had noticed that their teacher and their once student were standing in the doorway staring at them. They looked at eachother and nodded. Cole stepped forward.
"I had a weird dream last night Sensei."
"Define weird?" the old man asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I would prefer to discuss this with you in private."
The old man looked at him sternly. It wasn't often that one of his pupils wanted to talk to him alone. But when they did, it was due to something troubling them.
"Very well." The old man stated, turning towards the door. "The rest of you head outside for Sunrise Exercise. Lloyd will lead you today. Cole, meet me in my quarters in five minutes."
The other ninja groaned and bemoaned at the thought of the exercises they'd be put through. Though Lloyd wasn't evil, he still acted like it from time to time. This time would be no exception. Cole hurriedly got dressed and walked down to Sensei's room. It was simple. A mat, a table, and of course a place to make tea. The spinjtsu master sat at the table, pouring tea into two cups.
"So tell me Cole," Wu said as his student sat down. "What did you dream?"
"I was another man Sensei," Cole began, staring at his tea. "I was protecting a child; a girl that couldn't have been any more than three or four years old."
"What did the girl look like?"
"I'm not sure. I've forgotten her face. But I do know that she had an unusual eye color."
"I see." The old man sat back. "Continue."
"I'm packing a bag to go somewhere. She's using sign language- which I understood perfectly- to tell me not to go. But I don't listen." He paused to take a drink. "I walk out the door without so much as a good-bye to her."
"Seems like a normal dream so far."
"It seems that way…until I turn back and the whole place is on fire."
The spinjitsu master's eyes widened. "What happened to the child?"
"I dunno." Cole stated as his head hit the table. "As I'm running back a shadow grabs hold of me, telling me to get back on the path; forget the girl. But I won't. The last thing I remember is screaming out her name. Tallie."
"…you were wise to talk to me about this." Wu said standing up. "Most likely you are tapping in to someone's memories. Memories from long ago."
"But whose are they?" the black ninja asked, getting to his feet. "And why do I-"
"Attention everyone!" Nya's voice came from over the loud speaker. "We've got two intruders on the main deck!"
****
"Ya know, this is not my idea of a fun sunrise exercise."
Jay was right. While none of them were looking, two black ninjas had snuck aboard. One possessing shurikens, the other a pair of swords. Both had a harsh glare in their eyes, as if they were mad at the ninja for something.
They were experienced fighters whoever they were. The one with the swords was a good defenser while his shuriken buddy had the boys on the ropes with each toss of his blades.
"Well, Sensei DID want us in shape." Kai said, deflecting his rival's sword.
"Yes." Zane replied, dodging another shuriken. "But I would prefer not to be in pieces of my usually shape."
"Oh, very funny." Jay replied. "Now how about you guys get me and Lloyd down from the mast!"
"A little…busy right now!"
"This is pointless." The sword wielder said in a feminine voice. "Can't we just be done with them?!"
"I don't see why not." The shuriken wielder said, grabbing a rope from the deck. "Catch!"
Before the red or titanium ninja could blink, the two black ninja roped them and hung them from the mast. The two high-fived quickly and got back into battle position. They knew one more ninja was still on board. Not to mention the samurai.
"Do you think the others know we're here?"
"Most likely." The shurikens started to shake. "Be ready."
"Too late for that." A male voice said.
Before either could turn, a scythe pulled them in close for a punch. Both were out before they could make a move.
"It's about time!" yelled Jay as the ropes began swinging back and forth. "Now hurry and cut us down!"
'That was too easy.' thought Cole as he went to cut his brothers down. 'They barely put up a fight. Why is that?'
"Cole behind you!" yelled Kai a second too late.
As the master of earth reached for his scythe, another black ninja tackled him to the ground. They began rolling and punching at eachother, only to have their moves blocked by the other. When Cole finally pinned the other down, he took off his opponent's mask. He was startled by what he saw.
The girl couldn't be more than eighteen. Her hair was the color of golden sunshine, her skin fair, and her eyes were as red as the blood pounding in his head. Anger lit up her eyes, making them seem like they were on fire. She kicked him in the stomach, making him get off of her. And just as she was going in for the final blow…
"Enough!" Wu yelled from the top of the staircase. His gaze met the girl's and the other two as they sat up. "That is not proper attire for any of you. Change immediately."
"Yes Sensei." The three attackers said, bowing their heads.
Immediately the shadows swallowed them whole, leaving three big orbs standing where the girls were.
"Wha-"
"No way."
"This is highly illogical."
"Uncle, who are they?" Lloyd asked as Cole let them down.
"These three are some of my old students." Wu stated as he climbed down. "Had I know they were coming, I would've had you all made the guest room up."
"Whoa whoa time out." said Kai waving his arms about. "You taught them? When?"
"They were very young at the time. I'm surprised they still do as good as they do. Here let me introduce you." He stepped in front of the first orb. "This is Kylina Corazana Sohma. A sword master in her own right, and the master of the Dark Flame."
The orb faded away, revealing a girl with orange shoulder-length hair in high ponytail, tan skin, and red eyes. She wore a red hoodie with black flames on the sleeves, red fingerless gloves, black jeans, and black and red sneakers. Two swords hung from her belt. Her stare was calm.
"It's nice to meet you." she said, bowing a bit.
"Next we have Soulika Alessandra Evans." Wu stated going over to another orb. "She tends be moody like her mother at times." He quickly dodged a punch that came from inside the orb.
"Who you callin' moody old man?" the girl asked. She had short boy cut snow white hair and red eyes. Her skin was dark like Kylina's but a bit lighter. She wore a white sports jacket, a black t-shirt with a skull on it, white fingerless gloves, black jeans with snowflakes on the bottoms, and a pair of white and black boots. Holding her bangs back was a clip with a picture of a mouth and the word 'EATER' on it. "Don't make me take your soul."
"Now now Soulika, he's just teasing." A voice said from the final orb as it opened. It had been the girl Cole was fighting with. Her tannish gold hair reached a bit past her shoulders. Her red eyes were covered by a pair of green shades. She also wore a black leather vest, a green t-shirt, black fingerless gloves, black short-shorts with green accents, and black knee high riding boots.
"Yeah well it still don't make it right." Soulika said, walking away.
"As I was saying," Wu began again. "Soulika is a master of shurikens and the master of the Dark Ice. Finally, we have Tallianne Amoré Redfox. A master of the scythe and the shadows."
"Call me Talynn." She said, pulling at one of her gloves. "Soulika's Soula, and Kylina's Kyna."
"Uh…cool." Lloyd said, a bit confused. "I'm-"
"We know who you are." Kyna said, jumping onto the side of the boat. "We're not stupid. We watch the news." She began pointing at each of them. "Lloyd Garmadon, Jay Walker, Zane Julien, Kai Smith, your sister Nya Smith, and Cole Brookstone."
"Huh, they're good." Kai said aloud.
"What brings you here?" Cole asked suspiciously.
The girls all looked at eachother before regrouping, kneeling down, and replying.
"We would ask that Wu becomes our teacher once more."
/
Okay, before anyone asks, yes I made up these names, yes I had the bounty rebuilt-it's not a Ninjago story without the bounty, and no I do not plan to bring back Garmadon-at least not at the moment.
That's all I have to say, so please comment and fav!