~ Present Day ~
~Realm of Ninjago~
Darkness. That's all I could see around me. Nothing was here, nothing but me. I forced my breathing to slow as a tried to find something here, and then I did. There, in the ground. There were two flowers: a white Lily, and a deep red Lycoris Radiata.
The symbols of life and death.
Mother always talked about the symbols these flowers held, however I always thought that was a myth, a mere legend.
Suddenly, a figure began to break into the nothingness, as if it's mere presence to shoo away darkness itself.
Wait, not it. She.
A white she-wolf appeared in front of me, staring into my soul with her white, dead eyes.
"Watch," she commanded. For whatever the reason was, I listened, but as the wolf tried show me what she wanted, I was quickly pulled out of my unconscious state, back in the desert, sand in my mouth.
Damn, I can't believe I passed out again.
I cautiously push myself back up off the heated sand and shake off all the sand, forcing myself to begin walking once again.
It's been a couple of weeks since I decided to run away from home and I've come to realize that this wasn't the greatest idea. I was lucky I even got out of Molotoke and into Ninjago through the tunnel that was usually guarded. They would've recognized me and sent me straight home to Mother.
I was barley prepared and I expected to see my destination by now but I've been running all over the place apparently. That's what I get for not paying attention in history class.
I shuffled my bare feet, keeping me more steady in the sand as I try to ignore the pain in my throat. I ran out of water after I left my previous camp with a few other strangers and I needed it badly. As a Moonblood, I was lucky to have the ability to go without water much longer than the average Sunblood that I have been around, but that doesn't stop it from hurting and doesn't stop the need for the resource.
I'm drained but determined. Determined to reach my full potential, unlike my parents.
"Ninja Hunters need to stay in secret," hissed her mother's voice in her mind.
She never understood. We should be recognized for out power and honored for it. We could be legends.
Apparently at some point, we were. But that was in the past now, before Liz's time.
I want to be more than just an assassin. Sure I'm only 10 years old, but life feels too short to let myself settle as a killing machine pretending that one day, I'd hunt down the remaining Ninja Hunters. Most aren't surprised at the young age, it was actually quite common and a shame if you haven't killed someone yet, let alone beginning training at this age.
That's the world I live in. Thanks to the Moonblood Rebellion many years ago, freeing the Moonbloods and wiping out the Ninja Hunters. She didn't know if she liked it or not.
My side started to cramp and I franticly held the other side to ease the pain. Suddenly, I realized I arrived.
I squinted at the sight of a tall mountain with what looked to be none other than the Monastery of Spinjitzu.
I full on leaped for joy, the pain in my side bearable as I jumped to the ground into the form of a wolf, my black fur brushing against the wind as I ran with all the strength I had left.
My blue eyes glowed with desperation as my paws found their footing in the sand, the grains moving through my claws, my Moonblood charm bouncing on my neck along with my running.
I halted to a stop as I saw the stairs leading up to the Monastery. I took a deep breath, I didn't have much time in my wolf left before I'd have to shift back with the sun being absorbed in my thick black fur.
I huffed as I begun the climb. Every step I took was another reminder of where I almost was and who I'd become. But pretty quickly, it became a pain in the ass and a reminder on how I'm not there yet.
Damn, how much longer?
But I kept climbing. Unlike being rushed into hiding and agreeing with it, I kept taking the steps to achieve who I truly was and who I'm meant to become. The steps were just a mere rock in my road.
Finally, I made it to the top. My small (for a Moonblood) wolf form quivered under the heat and the amount of steps I just took. I was no taller than a dog, let alone a full grown wolf, so I had to shift to reach the door and push it open. I stepped into my Sunblood form and took small steps, shaking out the weakness as I pushed open the large doors.
I made my way inside, adjusting the large purple Bennie on my head hiding my ears and the charm around my neck to its proper place in my middle of my chest.
The area where it seamed the martial artists would train was empty but beautiful. It was peaceful. Something I wasn't used to.
I continued making my way through the open space and could feel my heart pound as the adrenalin I had only seemed to get stronger. I reached the door, raise my hand, knocked, and then I waited.
But nothing happened. Maybe no one is home? I tried using my ears to listen and there were definitely voices in there. Very loud noises. But then I heard footsteps and soon the doors were opened by an old man. His white beard moved as he opened the door and looked shocked to see me standing there. A hand adjusted his big hat, a staff in the other.
I felt like I wanted to shrink back into the ground. Whatever confidence brought me here left me at the door. I felt my tail start to bristle a little and I forced my hair to stand down. He can't see I'm afraid.
I definitely didn't care being started at like this, not that there was much to look at. I was quite small, had short brown hair, blue eyes, and I wore some black jeans and a giant black hoodie with my purple Bennie I never went without. And of course my enchanted neckless that kept the wolf inside me in check and my clothes intact.
After what felt like too long, the man spoke
"May I help you?" asked the old man. I could practically feel myself getting wiser in his presence.
I swallowed and took a breath.
"Yes, I'm in need of training," I answered.
"What kind of training, exactly?" He asked.
"I..." I can't tell him I'm a Ninja Hunter. I don't know this man, let alone know his intentions. Do people in Ninjago even remember the Ninja Hunters? Maybe I'm safe? I have to make that bet.
The man seemed to notice my uncertainty. "Young one, I won't hurt you."
Like you wouldn't turn me in if you knew who I was. I hesitated to speak, planting my feet in the ground to avoid my body from just running away back home to my crazy mother.
"Let's start small," he said. "What's your name?"
"Lizabeth," I replied. "Lizabeth Wolfadeer."
"Wolfadeer?" the man repeated.
My gut drops. "Yes, sir," I answer.
"You wouldn't happen to be Foxstorm Wolfadeer's daughter, would you?"
My gut is now gone to the Underworld. How did he know her? "Yes..."
"Then you're a Ninja Hunter," he states.
I sigh. Queen Crystal, have you come to collect my soul now?
But now there was another problem. How'd he guess? While yes, it would be safe to assume that a Moonblood was also a Ninja Hunter but most were found and killed. How I stayed hidden my whole life is beyond me. So how did he know?
"I'm Master Wu," said the man. "I fought along side your mother many years ago, she was a hero."
A hero? Hell no. Never in a million years was my crazy mom fighting in Ninjago. How could she have?
"What's your Heart Name?" I asked, realizing he only gave me his Day Name.
"Here, not many of us have nicknames for us or as you call them, Day Names. My name is simply just Wu."
I blankly stared in confusion, causing Wu to chuckle.
"I'm sure you have many questions, why don't you come inside and meet everyone?" The Day Nameless man suggested.
After the long journey, all I could do was nod, but before I could make my way inside, my eyes caught sight of a white lily floating down towards the ground.
I glance at Wu, his jaw dropped, before looking back down at the flower than now landed in my open palms.
"It's just like the one in my dream," I whispered.
"Mine too," Wu said.
My gaze shot up to Wu's and he simply just nodded. "There was this white wolf that told me that were would be life and there would be death. The last thing she said was 'watch'." Wu said to me.
"That what she said to me too."
Wu smiled. "Come," he beckoned. "I think you'll fit in just fine."
Before I could run away, I felt the breeze that came from inside drawing me into it's comfort and I couldn't say no.
The wood rewarded my courage with it cooling my rough feet and I made my way through the hall behind Wu.
Well, I'm not dead yet.
I was then lead into a room with a girl who looked about 15 years old or so. She wore a long read dress with striking yellow markings and her black hair was short. Not as short as mine though, hers was just under her ears, mine my shoulders.
"Nya," Wu addressed the girl. "This is Lizabeth. Lizabeth, this is Nya."
"Liz is fine," I correct, my ear twitches as my eyes met with Nya's soft caring blue ones. She felt safe. No one made me feel like that anymore.
"I'm going to grab the boys," Wu announced. "I'll be right back."
And with that, I was alone with the mysterious safe girl. I took in my first deep breath since I got here, my hands no longer resting right by my daggers.
"It's nice to meet you Liz," Nya said with a smile, breaking the silence.
"I haven't talked to anyone in ages," I softly spoke. "It's nice to see others again."
That was only partly true. I didn't dare admit that I was scared though.
"Where did you come from?" the girl asked.
"I come from the realm of Molotoke," I simply answered.
"Was it a tough journey?"
"Yes it was. But I made it."
"Yes, you did."
I watched as her gaze shifted to my side. She must have noticed the daggers.
"How old are you?" she asked.
"I'm 10 years," I answered.
"Is it a dangerous place where you come from?"
She definitely saw the daggers. Luckily for me, she didn't seem to know a thing about my realm.
"Depends on where and who you ask," I answered, reaching down to retrieve my daggers. They were quite old but they got the job down. You didn't get new daggers unless you earned them.
"These are my daggers," I showed her. "Most Moonbloods my age have gotten their first weapons. It's dangerous for us to live in Molotoke. We're lucky we weren't wiped out with the Ninja Hunters. We need to keep our home from the Sunbloods so we keep the tradition going by making warriors. Alpha's orders."
"Sunbloods?" Nya questioned.
"Sunbloods are you and most people who live in Ninjago. They are not us."
Nya went to say more, but was interrupted by Wu's arrival. Following him were four boys, each dressed in a different color. They looked to be in their later teens, if I had to guess, probably around 16 and 17.
The red one looked at me up and down with a disapproving look on his face. The blue one looked the nervous clutching the drink in his hands, his fearful gaze stroking satisfaction in my gut. The black one was more curious and so was the white one.
"Boys, meet Lizabeth Wolfadeer."
The red one spoke first. "What is it?" he asked, earning a slap on the arm from the one in blue.
"Kai," he scolded, most likely out of fear what I would do if it pissed me off.
The white one stepped forwards with a look of wonder. "Are you a Moonblood, may I ask?"
I was shocked he knew what I was. "I am," I steadily answered.
"A Moon-what?" questioned the black one.
"A Moonblood," the white one repeated. "Those of the heritage of Moonwatcher. They're not fully wolf and not fully human but their own type of creature."
"Thanks for the lesson, Zane," the blue one said, rolling his blue eyes.
"Liz," Wu turned to me. "These are my students that will aid in your training."
"Training?" The one in read, Kai, asked, shocked. "Why would we be training her?"
"Because she's on a similar path as you, wanting to reach her true potential. Unlike, you, she's willing to put in the work necessary to accomplish this."
"But... she doesn't look like she has powers," the one in black mentions.
"That's because she doesn't," Wu responds. "Not yet anyways. She's also a Ninja Hunter."
I gasped as the blue boy spat out his water. "A Ninja Hunter?" he yelled.
I felt my ears flatten and I told an involuntary step back.
"Don't scare her," Wu scolded as I felt Nya's hand on the small of my back. "She's not that kind of hunter, it's just a way of saying she hunts martial artists, such as elemental masters, to be able to train her."
"Wait," I interjected, all eyes on me. "They don't know who I am?"
Wu smiled in reassurance. "No. Ninja Hunters were long forgotten after the Purge.
"The Purge?" Kai repeated.
"Never mind that now. Liz, I've been rude, I haven't introduced you. The one in red is Kai, Nya's brother. The one in Blue is Jay, the one in black is Cole, and the one in white is Zane."
"It's nice to meet you," I mumbled.
"What did she say?!" Jay asked obnoxiously into Kai's ear.
Kai groaned. "She said 'it's nice to meet you,' douffos," he answered, pushing Jay off his arm.
"We are very excited to train with you," Zane said to me.
I flashed a fake smile. "I'm excited too." This might take a while.
"Boys, why don't you take Liz with you and show her around," Wu offered.
Kai's foot tapped. "Sure, why not," he responded with no real drive to his voice. Mother would have had my head if I talked to her like that.
I watched as the boys followed Kai as he turned on his heal and walked down the hall. "Keep up, pup," he called.
I flattened my ears at the name as I followed them into a darker room. I'd never seen anything quite like it. It was a smaller room with a large black thing on the wall with boxes and lots of weird things I've never seen before. The smells were dominated by Kai's weird, strong sent as I tried analyzing the scents, so I gave up trying.
In the middle of the room, there was a large red couch with pillows on it that could fit a good amount of people on it. I hated to admit that it looked kinda nice. Minus what I would only assume was food on the ground with these bright yellow weapons.
I watched as the boys sat on the couch and to my surprise, the black box turned on, the lights swirling together and creating an image on the device. My ears perked at the sound of a soft pat on the couch, turning around to see Kai patting his hand. He was looking at me a little softer than earlier and removed his hand to allow me to sit. I cautiously took my seat on the edge of the couch, my tail nowhere near touching Kai's side.
"You don't know what this is, do you?" he asked, gesturing to the black thing.
My confused face must have been more noticeable than I realized.
"That," Kai said, pointing at the black thing, "is a TV."
"A TV?"
"Yeah!" Jay interjected. "You can watch movies like Fritz Donegan or play really fun video games! Have you played any video games?"
"Jay, back off," Cole said, roughly. " You'll scare the poor thing."
My ears flattened, my tail bristling as my gaze sharpened. "'Poor thing'? That's what you think of me?" I challenged. I looked at their faces for their fear and found it.
If you want that power of yours, you better make them like you, Lizabeth. Commanded a voice in her head.
I sighed and relaxed. "I'm sorry," I apologized, my tail fur relaxing. "I shouldn't have said that."
"No Liz," Kai sighed. "We're sorry. Cole shouldn't have said that.
Embarrassing.
"Hey guys, could you give me an the squirt some time to talk?"
I stiffened. What is this about?
The boys agreed, and the each of them exited the room swiftly, one after the other.
I could feel the burn of the red ninja's gaze on me and his scent on my nose and I turned to face him, not showing my uneasiness.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked me.
I looked at Kai in confusion. "About what?"
Kai smiled. "You clearly have had it rough. Care to share?"
I pull my tail closer to me with my hands as I hesitated. Could I trust him? What if he makes me leave? I need to get my power unlocked.
And what a better way than to be a little vulnerable. Whispered that voice.
I sighed and knew that this voice was right. I shifted my body to face the red ninja and I pulled my legs up and crossed them. "I... don't really know where to start."
"Let's start from the beginning," Kai suggested. "Where did you come from?"
"I'm from a place called Pawstocious," I responded.
"Pawstocious? I've never heard of a place like that in Ninjago."
"It's because it's not. It's from Ninjago's sister realm. Apparently there are stories about how Ninjago and Molotoke were simply a tunnel away. It still is but it's hidden now, people deciding to stay on their sides of the realms."
Kai didn't press any questions on that, which I appreciated, I knew barely anything about the history of Molotoke.
"Do you have any parents?"
"I have my mom but my dad died a year ago."
"I'm sorry to hear that, squirt." Kai's tone was soft, his gaze was not. I made a mental note of that for later.
"It's whatever, it wasn't your fault."
Kai shifted in his seat. "I lost both of my parents when I was about your age."
My heart sunk with his.
Curse empathic abilities.
"Had to take care of Nya and keep the blacksmith running." Kai sighed. "Then Master Wu found us. When Nya was captured, he told me I needed to step up and become the Fire Ninja I was supposed to become." Kai chuckled. "I didn't believe the old man at first but I worked hard and I met the guys and together we beat the shit out of Lord Garmadon and we got my sister back."
I let the story sink in. Elemental masters were interesting to me, how they were kind of just born with these powers. It was interesting and made them weak.
I suddenly jumped to the sound of a door bursting open. How I didn't hear the footsteps was beyond me. The door slammed against the wall, probably leaving a dent in its way as Nya walked in, breathing heavily.
"Sorry to interrupt, but we have big problem," she said.
"Nya? What is it, sis?"
Nya's eyes met Kai's as she caught her breath. "It's Garmadon."
"Shit." Kai rose to his feet.
"Kai! Language!"
Kai ignored Nya and he quickly scrambled off the couch. I stood up as well as Kai moved towards the corner where a shiny sword laid. I started the feel the weight of her dangers as she realized what was happening.
"Guess we didn't beat enough shit out of him," Kai said, glancing back at me with a small smile. I chuckled once as she watched him pick up the golden sword.
Suddenly, all hell broke loose as the other boys ran into the room like they were chickens with their heads cut off.
"Shit man!"
"Jay, pass me my other shuriken please?
"Move!"
"I'm trying!"
"Would you just stop yelling?"
"Would you just stop yelling?!"
It was pure chaos. I've seen five year olds be more organized.
"Boys!" Nya bellowed. " Get your shit together and GO!"
The boys continued to yell at each other as they gathered their things and left the room as Wu watched behind Nya and sighed as he watched them move their sloppy asses out into the hallway.
"Just get to the stables!" he called out after them.
Their stomps became distant footsteps soon enough and I felt like I could finally breathe again. However, I didn't have much time to recover when Wu moved purposely towards me.
"Lizabeth, I know you just got here, but with that lily, I think you are crucial to my plan."
My ears perked in surprise. "What?"
"I have a nagging feeling Garmadon is not the worst thing we have to worry about."
"What do you mean? Just get to the point!" I snapped.
Wu stayed calm. "Surley you've heard of Princess Phantom, the Cursed Realm Queen's daughter?"
"Sure I have bu-"
"Perfect, because I think she might be a part of this."
"How? Queen Darkness wouldn't let Phantom get away with anything, she'd always stayed out of our way!"
"Yeah well she's been surprising us lately."
I stiffened as her gut dropped.
Queen Darkness said she and the dead would stay out of the overworld. But what happens when your daughter starts pulling the right strings? Will she ignore the deal?
"I need you to go with the ninja."
"What?" This time, Nya spoke up.
"Do you think you'll be small enough to fit into the storage compartment on the back of one of the Ninja's dragons?"
Dragons???
"I-I'm sure I will-"
"Excellent. Hide in there and don't let the boys see you. I need you to be a spy on the inside. We can not let the Cursed Realm get into this mess and take over Ninjago like they've been so close in doing before."
"How the hell do I do that?" I questioned, my tail bristling again.
"You'll figure it out, your mother was smart, I'm sure you are too."
Why do I have to do this?
Then again, I knew what these dragons in the cursed realm could do. I can't let them take Ninjago. If they took Ninjago, what would stop them from taking Molotoke too?
"I'll do it," I mumbled.
"Perfect. Now quick, before they leave."
My heart started pounding faster and faster as I raced down the hall. Phantom couldn't be apart of all of this! But yet she is. Hissed the voice. I quickly let my muzzle and hair grown as I took my animal form, making me smaller and harder to detect, allowing me to hide in the shadows as I followed them to the stables. I halted as I gained up on Jay who apparently forgot his water bottle and I stalked into the stables, my eyes widening at the sight of the big dragons. I can't do this. I can't.
Now or never, Liz . Whispered a voice in her head.
Shaking the oddly familiar sounding voice in her head, Liz hid in the shadows with her dark pelt as she closed in on Kai's dragon. Kai was distracted by trying to reach his dragon's reigns as I climbed unnoticeably into the very cramped storage compartment. I just hoped it wouldn't be a long ride to this village as I shifted back into my Sunblood form.
I braced myself for the take off as I heard the Ninja holler and howl as the doors opened to the sky, and a part of me wanted to join it. But all I could do was sit, wait, and pray that whatever they found in this village that Phantom wasn't a part of it.