#Blake the Overlord's successor

[silver-ninja-of-the-tides]

Tales of Silver and Gold

Author's Note

This whole collection of mini stories has to do with my Ninjago fanfic series called Silver and Gold. I'm pretty sure most of these will be "canon" to my fanfic series, but I'll probably just have fun ones for kicks, too, like maybe some "what if?" scenarios.

They probably won't be in chronological order, so they'll take place at random points in the series. Hope you guys enjoy these! :)

(Next chapter) (AO3 version)

[silver-ninja-of-the-tides]

Silver and Gold 4--Not Just a Tournament

Chapter 10--The Matches

Summary

Fractured once, then fractured again. Four of the heroes of Ninjago have hung up their ninja gear and vainly started anew. And they’ve convinced themselves that they’re not going back.

But as Lloyd and Janet try to piece their team back together, a mysterious invitation to a massive tournament tells them that Zane is alive.

Bonds will be tested. Suspicions of everything they know and don���t know will arise. It all goes down at the Tournament of Elements.

(First chapter)

3rd person POV

The first arena was situated outside near a mountain, and a drummer pounded against his instrument. The stands overlooked a cliff bearing a tree bursting with pink blossoms. And there was where the competitors would fight for a Jadeblade that was tucked into the highest branch.

“Turner, Master of Speed, versus Gravis, Master of Gravity,” Chen introduced. “Fight!”

Griffin instantly darted for the tree, and Gravis used his powers to float to the coveted prize.

“Anyone else have the thought that we’re basically watching Chen get more powerful?” Janet asked from next to Cole.

“How can I not?” Jay hissed, watching a streak of white and red sprint up and across the branches.

“We have to keep playing along,” Lloyd said.

“But somehow we have to figure out why Chen’s doing all of this,” Kai said.

At the tree, Gravis was flying to the top only for Griffin to smack him back. The white clad master’s laugh was short-lived when Gravis smacked him right back with a branch.

Although momentarily stunned, Griffin bounced right back. “What? Can’t keep up? I’m over here!” He bolted up a couple branches. “Can’t catch me!”

Determined, Gravis soared forward, but Griffin kicked him back before whacking him with a branch. Furious, Gravis levitated hundreds of blossoms and surrounded the duo.

“This . . . doesn’t look good.”

The Master of Gravity then hurled the flowers at him with a mocking laugh.

“What if we tried looking underground again tonight?” Destiny suggested, seated next to Kai.

“It’s too much of a risk,” Cole said. “With the close call we had before, I don’t wanna know what might happen a second time.”

“And it probably won’t be a missing piece of fabric,” Jay commented.

Suddenly the crowd erupted into cheers, and the Jadeblade was seen in the hands of Griffin Turner.

“Winner!” Chen exclaimed. “Loser!” Pressing a button, a trap door opened at the ground, and Gravis laughed at the effort. Chen, however, merely pressed another button to drop a heavy bag on top of the master, who fell right into the hole.

“Woah,” Griffin said. “How many buttons does that man have?”

“Master of Speed, move on. Now, on to the next match!”

The stands began to clear out, and the other masters were guided to the next arena.

“On second thought maybe another look wouldn’t hurt,” Jay said.

“But we’ll have to be careful,” Lloyd warned. “No doubt Chen’s heightened security around here.”

                                                         * * * *

The cheetah watched Blake attentively as he listened to the other end of the line. His hand curled with every word that was spoken to him, and he wanted to strongly protest against the old man. He was more than ready to get back on his feet again, especially if Destiny was missing. But he held his tongue.

". . . Fine. We'll leave it at that," Blake said, and he irritatingly hung up the phone before handing it to the green-eyed woman.

The silence that followed warranted the wolf in the room to glance between Blake and the woman, and it eventually plopped its head back onto its paws with a huff. Blake was fed up with being cooped up at the monastery the Ninjas and company had come to call home. His condition was fine so long as he didn't fight. And he was sure Emma would rather join the search than watch over him.

“If Wu says they’re on the case, then you need to trust him,” Emma said.

“You’re not the least bit worried?” Blake questioned, shifting on the bed.

“My girls are missing. Of course I’m worried. But I know that Nya and Ryan will find them and the others.”

The blonde ran a hand down his face, wincing as he passed over his eye patch. “And you’re sure you entirely trust this Ryan Grand I’ve heard so much about?”

Emma stayed quiet. “I think we should start pitching in.”

“Wonderful suggestion, Mrs. Stone.”

The second match was about to take place outside during the evening, but this time the Jadeblade was stabbed into the top of a giant boulder. The open field had swirling designs in the dirt, and the next pair of fighters were awaiting Chen’s signal.

“Neuro, Master of Mind, versus Bolobo, Master of Nature,” Chen announced. “Fight!”

Instead of lunging for the blade, Neuro focused his element on his opponent, who readied his staff.

“They call this a fight?” Lloyd argued.

“Wait for it,” Garmadon said.

To an outsider, Neuro hardly looked like he was trying, but to the master, he was actually reading Bolobo’s mind. And just as he saw, the bearded man directed vines at Neuro to block him only for Neuro to jump onto one and latch onto the boulder.

Angered, Bolobo pounded his staff into the ground to summon another vine to carry him toward the blade. He then shot a vine at Neuro that wrapped around him and lowered him away from the blade. Neuro, however, quickly jerked around and forced Bolobo to the ground with his mind.

“That was pretty impressive, actually,” Janet complimented, seated next to the sensei.

“Never underestimate the power of the mind,” Garmadon said, but as Neuro fired again, Bolobo rolled away and had more vines tie themselves around Neuro.

“I—didn’t—see that—coming,” Neuro grunted.

“In man versus nature, nature usually wins,” Lloyd replied.

With the Master of Mind tied up at the moment, Bolobo seized the opportunity to have a vine bring the Jadeblade to him. Refusing to give up, Neuro used his powers once again to give Bolobo what looked to be a massive headache. He nimbly jumped off of the Master of Nature’s back, climbed the vine, and claimed the Jadeblade.

“You were saying?” Janet teased.

“Winner!” Chen announced. “Loser!” One button press from him and Bolobo was eliminated from the match. “Master of Mind moves on.”

“This is it,” Destiny said. “Kai’s match is next.” The team glanced to the Master of Fire.

“Don’t worry,” he reassured. “I’ve got this in the bag.”

“Don’t let your arrogance be your downfall,” Garmadon warned. “If we’re going to stop Chen, it’s going to take all of us. We can’t afford to lose each other.”

The Ninjas stood around Kai at the base of an escalating staircase of rock. Even from where they were, the temperature emitting from the lava was close to boiling.

“Go get ‘em, Kai,” Lloyd encouraged.

“Show ‘em whose boss!” Jay said.

“You got this,” Cole said.

“And don’t get cocky,” Janet warned firmly.

“Especially that,” Garmadon agreed. Kai nodded sternly, and the team walked off to the stands.

“Hey Spike!” Destiny called as Kai marched up the stairs. “Be careful out there!”

“I will, Water Girl,” he called back, sliding in a wink before hurrying up the stairs. Waiting for him in the middle of a wooden bridge was the Jadeblade, and on the other side of the bridge was his opponent looking as eager as ever. Maybe even too eager.

Both contestants stopped at their end of the bridge that hung above boiling lava, and Kai glanced over to his team now sitting down. A figure of orange stole his attention, and Skylor smiled at him.

“Kai, Master of Fire, versus Ash, Master of Smoke,” Chen introduced. “Fight!”

The Red Ninja ran across the bridge as Ash swung around by the rope and whipped the bridge. The ripple effect lurched Kai off, and he latched onto the edge of the bridge to see the Jadeblade secure itself head first into a rock pillar.

Kai swung from one board to the next as Ash rushed after him, determined to not let him win.

“Come on, Kai, you can do it!” Lloyd egged on.

Throwing his legs forward, Kai burst through the boards and came in for a kick. Or at least, that’s what he hoped to accomplish. Instead he passed right through a cloud of smoke, and Ash materialized in front of him with a mocking smile.

He fired a ball of smoke at Kai, who powered through to deal another kick to Ash. Once again Ash vanished into smoke and reappeared, but Kai wasn’t about to give up. With every attack he made Ash constantly appeared and reappeared to deal an attack of his own, before he ultimately knocked Kai back hard enough to sent him through several boards. Luckily he wasn’t stunned enough to not grab onto the bridge again.

The move warranted cheers from everyone in the crowd except for the Ninjas and Skylor.

“Don’t quit now, don’t quit now,” Janet muttered.

Kai swung from side to side to avoid balls of smoke, but the board he was on shattered, and he grappled onto another broken half of a board. Swallowing his panic, he threw himself into the air and . . .

“Ninjaaa-GO!” With his fiery Spinjitzu he finally made it back onto the bridge and forced Ash back.

The whirlwind was dismissed, and both competitors lunged forward. Ash, however, dematerialized, but Kai was quick to make sure he landed on his feet.

“Come on, Kai,” Lloyd said. “Use your power!”

Igniting his hands, Kai shouted his element as he shot at Ash three times, and each time Ash narrowly avoided the fireballs. And since Kai kept firing, Ash kept fading into smoke, until the Master of Fire shot with both hands. Ash faded away once again, but the bridge wasn’t so lucky. And Clouse wasn’t about to let the Ninja win.

“Ah! No magic!” Chen ordered. “I’m enjoying this.”

Ash hopped from one steaming board to another and appeared behind Kai to strangle him. With a free arm, Kai set the bridge on fire and caused it to collapse, and he managed to land on a platform next to the Jadeblade. Unfortunately for him, so did Ash.

They lunged for the blade and became a flurry of attacks, before they eventually shoved each other back to a platform. The two darted for the blade again, and Kai back flipped to kick Ash, who still sent punch after punch his way. Suddenly they were both on the same platform and pushing against one another. And it was anybody’s game now.

Ash vanished once again while jumping back toward the Jadeblade, and that’s when Kai had him pinned.

The Master of Fire sent two balls of fire as he jumped for the blade, and just like before, Ash disappeared into smoke to avoid it. Kai’s hand wrapped around the smooth hilt of the blade, and with his momentum he yanked the prize free.

“Winner!” Chen exclaimed as the stands erupted into cheers.

“Yes!” Destiny exclaimed, nearly louder than her standing team.

“Loser! Master of Fire moves on.” With the third button press of the night, Ash plummeted through the trap door. “That will be all for tonight! Time to rest up!”

Chatter buzzed amongst the remaining masters as the Ninjas hurried off to where Kai was headed. He was already halfway down the stairs before they even reached him, and one of Chen’s men held his hand out to receive the Jadeblade.

“That was amazing!” Cole exclaimed. “You really had me back there.”

“I knew you’d pull through,” Lloyd said.

“Excellent work,” Garmadon complimented.

“At this rate we might actually beat this thing,” Jay said.

“Remember we’re here for Zane? And we still have things to uncover from Chen?” Janet reminded.

“Aw come on! Aren’t you the least bit excited?”

“He was pretty impressive,” Destiny said, playfully elbowing Kai.

“Of course you’d say he was,” Janet teased.

The evening was idling by, and Master Chen and his right-hand man were watching the Kabuki perform. Chen was clearly enjoying the performance, but Clouse had his mind on more pressing matters.

“Master, it was the Ninjas who snuck into our ceremony,” Clouse explained with a hint of bitterness. “Yet we allow them to move forward.” His hand began to glow with dark magic. “I beg you, let me use my sorcery and put an end to this.”

“We’ll use your magic in time. But not now,” Chen reassured. “Not when there are . . . other ways to whittle them down. Perhaps it’s time to switch things up!”

(First chapter) (Next chapter) (Previous chapter)

[silver-ninja-of-the-tides]

Silver and Gold

Chapter 21--Inner Conflict

(AO3 ver.)

(Prologue Tumblr ver.; AO3 ver.)

Blake’s POV

In no time those Ninjas won’t stand a chance against us. Destiny has mastered the Dark Waters, and it won’t be long before the light within Janet is fully extinguished. Then I’ll finally be able to finish what he started.

As expected, I spotted Des practicing with the Dark Waters with increasing ease. Ever since she’s mastered them she spends a lot of time there, but despite that, she’s been looking distracted all day. “Hello, Destiny. You're looking nice today,” I greeted.

I caught a sigh from her before she briefly looked over her shoulder. “I’ve had this suit on for about three days now, but thank you anyways.” Her attention resumed to the Waters while I continued to watch her.

She gently waved her arms to the right and balanced on one leg, the Waters obeying her every command. After taking a step back, she switched sides at a faster pace. Like the element she could control, her movements were fluid. “You have something you wanna say or are you just gonna watch me?”

I briefly shook my head with a blink. “Not really. I’m just amazed at your progress.”

She flashed a smirk of satisfaction. “Flattery is really all you got, isn’t it?”

“You know I have so much more to offer. I’m just expressing the truth.”

“Mmhmm.”

I placed a hand on her shoulder. "You know I'll never let anything happen to you, Des, right?"

A soft, genuine smile graced me. "And neither will I."

Her arms lowered, and her eyes went downcast as a distant look overtook them. With hands curled into fists, the Waters actually darkened for a moment as her eyes found their way to the horizon. “Janet’s up to something. I know she is.”

I refrained from squeezing her shoulder. “I know. She’s clever, and we have to keep a close eye on her.”

“Then why did you leave her alone?”

Janet’s POV

Last time I checked, I could train myself. But no. I had to listen to Mr. Mini Dark Lord.

Sighing, I glanced down below me for what felt like the hundredth’s time. Even with the pool of dark matter below me, I could still spot my silhouette. This was totally a bright idea.

I slowly exhaled as I concentrated on keeping myself afloat. Even after all this time training by myself, I could feel the strain in my mind and body. What’s he even doing over there, anyways?

You must come to your senses.

I furrowed my eyebrows and looked to my left. “Who’s there?”

There are more things at stake than the successor’s plan. This is a battle you must win.

I growled as I looked around. “Show yourself! Who are you?!”

An ally.

“Then why are you in my head?”

This is the only way we can communicate.

My eyes scanned the area. Okay. I’ll play along. “. . . What else is at stake?”

Look within yourself. See through the deception of the dark matter. You must fight back.

“And why should I listen to you? For all I know you’re probably working with the Ninjas.”

There was silence for a few moments. You care for your sister, do you not?

“Of course I do.”

Then do it for her if not for me.

I thought back to Des seizing control of the Dark Waters. Something about what Blake was doing was wrong. It still is. And I don’t like how the Waters affected her. I don't care what he said.

Closing my eyes as I let out a breath, I tried to imagine what it would be like to look within myself. Maybe I would see a door. Or maybe I would see myself. Or I might not even see anything.

Suddenly everything under my eyelids went black, and it took everything in me not to open my eyes. Focus, Janet. Just do what the voice in your head told you to do no matter how crazy it might be.

As I maintained my focus, I began to feel a coldness brush against me. I felt colder and colder the longer I concentrated, but I kept my focus. A sort of foreign noise that seemed to be coming from the dark matter was just scarcely out of earshot. Then it got louder.

And louder.

And louder.

And louder.

Until it turned into screeching.

I squeezed my eyes tighter as the noise intensified. It felt like some creature was screaming right in my ear.

The cold began to bite at my skin, making me draw back. Instantly the temperature rose, and I felt tempted to just drop everything and retreat. Everything was warmer away from the cold, and the banshee-like cries would go away if I just opened my eyes . . .

But way beyond those things was a kind of warmth. It was like it was encouraging me to press on. This is crazy. I’m listening to a voice in my head that could be the enemy!

But . . . what was the source of that warmth? And that voice?

I guess there's only one way to find out.

Taking a breath, I powered through the bitter cold and unbearable cries. I felt myself grit my teeth as everything bore down on me. My ears began to ring as I felt icy teeth gnash at me, but I steeled my will against it. I’m going through with this, no matter what.

“Janet.”

Words caught in my throat as I felt the warmth, the light. I reached out to it, and I felt empowered, stronger, like I could never stop for anyone or anything.

“Janet!”

A miniscule gold light captured my attention before the voice outside could snatch it back, and I extended my mind out to it as much as I could. It grew bigger and bigger, and the figure of a man was beginning to take shape.

Who are you? I thought.

Soon I reached a point where I could just barely pick out his features. His hair was pulled back and hung down behind him. He sported a rice hat and a sword of white hot flames, giving off a literal golden aura of immense power and strength. But besides that, I had a feeling he also held vast wisdom.

A clawed purple hand dared to take him within its grasp, but he effortlessly sliced through it, revealing the source of the screeching. A fist plastered itself against the flat part of the blade, and he shoved it back with little effort.

Although his attention was still glued to the surrounding darkness, his head turned to the side, and I could see part of a drooping mustache.

You know what you must do. Even his voice carried wisdom!

I was baffled at what I was seeing. This needs to mean something. I need answers to this. Who are you?

Soon, you will know.

“Janet!”

The brunt of his sword swing produced a bright flash of light, and I opened my eyes with a sharp gasp. I was back where I was, and miraculously I was still hovering perfectly.

“Earth to sister!” Des called. “Didn’t you hear Blake?”

“He’s hard to ignore,” I practically grumbled.

There was silence behind me.

“I need you to do something,” Blake said.

“And I need you to answer something,” I countered.

The blonde kept his mouth shut, solidifying my suspicions of him steaming back there.

“It’s important.”

“What is it?”

He said that pretty quickly. Too quickly. “Why does Des need to control the Dark Waters?”

“To use her powers to their fullest extent.”

“Is that really the reason?”

Blake let out a bitter laugh. “You’ve been asking a lot of questions. Too many questions.” He took a few steps forward. “What are you up to?”

“You know what you must do.” “Something you’re probably not going to like.”

I shot up with a burst of air and swiveled around to thrust my fist toward them, releasing threads of lightning. Two streams of fire boosted me forward, but something forced me to close my hands. And suddenly the world began to rush past me as I plummeted toward the pit.

Only for a tendril of water to grapple onto me.

I was centimeters away from the dark matter, and I began to squirm as I rose.

Des gradually came into view, and her expression was the definition of pain.

“Let me go! We’re on the same side!”

“No, we’re not.” Her shoulders tensed. “I can’t believe you would . . . you would do this! We are all we have. How could you just . . . just . . .” She shut her eyes as she turned her head away.

Blake glowered at me with a livid expression. “Get rid of her.”

The water hurled me toward the other wall of the pit, and I had seconds to react before I was done for.

Fire emitted from my hands, and I pushed myself to raise myself away from the dark matter. Gradually, I began to pull Des toward the edge. She dug her heels in as Blake pulled her back by the shoulders. The temptation to close my hands yanked at me from the inside, and I grunted as I fought against Des’s might.

“There are more things at stake than the successor’s plan. This is a battle you must win.”

The strenuous effort I was putting in caused a breeze to pick up, but a jerk from the other side ceased it instantly.

“I’ve waited this out for long enough!” Blake barked. “That light will be destroyed even if it kills me!”

Unwillingly my hands began to close, and I strained to keep them open. A strained yell tore from me as I let out a giant burst of air. Instantly Des and Blake were shoved back, and I desperately lurched myself to the other side. My breathing was labored as I wearily turned to face my sister and Blake. She and I just stared at each other before I floundered to my feet and bolted off. I can’t fight her. I won’t.

“There’s no way off this island, Gold Ninja! Don’t you dare think you’re going to get away!"

(First chapter) (Next chapter) (Previous chapter)

[silver-ninja-of-the-tides]

Silver and Gold

Chapter 23--Finding the Light, Fighting the Dark

(AO3 ver.)

(Prologue Tumblr ver.; AO3 ver.)

Jay’s POV

“We’ve searched every inch of this place and still no sign of it!” I complained. “What are we missing?”

Garmadon hummed to himself in thought. “Perhaps we’re looking in the wrong places.”

“I’m pretty sure a temple of light would have light matter in it.”

“I meant we’re looking in places where we expect to find it.”

Cole’s eyes glanced to the four pillars of the room. “What if we need to put our swords in like we did for the Golden Mech?”

“But we’d need Kai for that, and he’s all the way out there,” I said. “And we have no way of contacting him.”

Misako cocked her head at the bell. “Maybe the bell might . . . no, that wouldn’t work . . .”

“Hey Zane, any suggest—Zane?” The guy was entirely ignoring us and walking right outside. “Uh, where are you going?”

“Upon arriving here, I noticed a 0.5 percent increase of brightness in the source of the light outside the temple,” he explained. “Perhaps there may be a clue there.”

Exchanging glances, the rest of us followed him out to the tower on the right.

Cole trailed Zane’s line of sight to the shining light. “What, up there?”

“I am picking up an energy reading emitting from one of the towers.”

The dragon’s footsteps turned my attention to him, and Zane hopped onto the ice head.

“Going up?”

After the rest of us hopped on, the dragon flew up to the roof, and we hopped off with Zane leading the way.

“Check out this view! You can see everything from up here!” I exclaimed. Despite the sense of doom hovering over this place, the green shade of the treetops under the afternoon sun easily made you forget this was an island of darkness. There was even a nice breeze that carried the scent of saltwater all the way out here.

Glancing back to the others, they were already nearing the tower. There, a golden cube could barely be seen through its light, and I had to squint the closer I inched to it.

“Anything?”

“Besides the blinding light over here? No not at all,” Cole replied.

Through squints, I could see Zane feeling the cube with his eyes closed. “There’s an inscription written on the cube, but I can’t seem to make it out.”

“Can you move it?” I asked.

“I . . . don’t see any reason to, but, let me see . . .”

Gently, he began to carefully turn it away from him. Metal scraped against stone for a few seconds before something heavier began to move behind us, and rumbling soon followed.

“W-what’s going on?!” I asked.

“It’s revealing the light matter!” Misako exclaimed. “Look!”

We eased our way to where she disappeared to, and we were greeted with a secret storage space. And inside that space was a golden bowl harboring a golden substance.

“Excellent work, Zane!” Garmadon praised.

I studied the light matter with a raised eyebrow. “So uh, how much do you think we need?”

Cole cautiously reached his hand out and brushed his fingertips against the matter. “I don’t think we’ll need that much. I barely even touched it and I can tell how powerful this stuff is.”

Slipping his hood off, he scooped up a few handfuls of it before placing the matter inside his hood. But before he could finish, the bowl was instantly sealed away, and the cube turned back to its original position. “Let’s hope it’s not too late to reach them.”

Sensei’s POV

There was still no sign of Janet, and I would have begun to believe that she had hidden herself well were it not for the cheetah’s persistency. Many twists and turns, and even ups and downs we had to follow, and many times the trail even backtracked.

“There are signs of a struggle scattered across the trail,” I inferred.

“She has to be fighting back,” Lloyd confirmed. “It’s . . . amazing how strongly she’s fighting it off.”

“Alone she may be strong, but with others, she can be unstoppable.”

“We’re stronger united.”

All of a sudden the three of us were lurched away from the ground and into the air, and we crashed down in different directions. Shaking my head, I sat up to see earth shards obscuring someone from view.

“Don’t you come any closer,” Janet growled.

Upon spotting her, the most noticeable thing was a decently sized spot stemming from her heart revealing her gold suit. With closer inspection, I noticed half of what was her left eye was a fierce green.

Lloyd was about to speak when the cheetah stalked forward. Her gold eyes examined Janet, and the Ninja fought against restraints invisible to the naked eye. The tip of the cat’s tail twitched as it smoothly swayed, and Janet’s arms gradually lowered.

My nephew glanced to the skies with a prayer in his green eyes. “C’mon, guys. Where are you?”

Janet shook her head, and lightning began to crackle between her fingertips. In a heartbeat the cheetah whirled around to bring Lloyd down to the ground just as threads of lightning skimmed over their heads.

“Ninjaa-GO!” I leapt to the rocks and hopped from one to the other before bringing my staff down.

By the skin of her teeth the Gold Ninja lunged out of the way, and she summoned her sword to retaliate. Instantly she winced, and she began to struggle to dismiss her sword.

“Sensei . . .” she strained to warn.

Thunderous wing flaps brought everyone’s attention to the skies. The Ultra Dragon roared triumphantly as the rest of the team save for my brother jumped down. In Cole’s hand was his hood glowing with what I could only assume was the light matter.

“Just in time!” he announced, but the notion only caused Janet to grip her sword with both hands with a low growl.

“Eeeasy there, Janet,” Jay soothed in a nervous tone. “Niiice and easy.”

“You’re outnumbered,” Garmadon stated. “Your best decision is to stand down.”

“Or else what?”

Holding Kai and Nya hostage was Destiny and Blake, and the wolf was unwillingly as submissive as a domestic dog.

“How about a trade?” Blake challenged. “Your friends, for the Gold Ninja.”

“Uh, ahem, you ever considered the fact that you’re waaay outnumbered?” Jay asked.

Blake formed a sword of dark matter and held it close to Nya. “That has never bothered me before, Blue Ninja, and I don’t think it ever will.” Kai squirmed under Destiny’s grip as Nya swallowed.

“Ohhh don’t you even think about it!”

“Then hand over the Gold Ninja!”

The group remained silent as Janet’s eyes darted around. Even the dragon felt the tension in the air.

“You lose someone no matter what. There is no point in worming your way out of this.”

Cole’s eyes darted from Janet to Kai and Nya, and I could see a sort of glint in his eyes. Clenching a fist, he pulled his Earth Sword out to summon its blade, and he pointed its tip at Janet.

“Cole! What are you—?”

“Saving our team, Zane. Now come on.”

Janet dared to stare down Cole and his unwavering gaze, but eventually she dismissed her sword before walking forward.

“And don’t try anything funny.”

Destiny seemed as surprised as the rest of us, but Blake carried on the trade as if in routine. I watched Cole’s every movement, and he remained as grave as ever as he readjusted his grip on his hood.

What are you planning, Cole?

The group met in the middle, and Kai and Nya were shoved forward while Janet begrudgingly took her place next to her sister.

“I bet you think you have the upper hand, don’t you, Blake?” Cole retorted. “Well think again!”

Blake rolled his eyes. “Please. If this is about numbers again then you’re out of hands to play.”

“Not yet.” His eyes glanced to Janet, and Blake’s eyes looked behind him before turning around.

Shock collided into us as Janet was reverting back to normal. She let out a breath as renewed vigor flared in her eyes.

“Nice one, Cole!” Jay cheered.

“How did you—?” Destiny whirled around to lock on to Cole’s hood, the light matter glowing. “You! What did you do?!”

“Like I said, we’re not out of hands just yet,” Cole challenged.

Janet forced Blake and Destiny forward as the rest of us began to close them in. “This is for your own good, Des.”

Destiny balled her fists as her back hit Blake’s, and she summoned a corrupted water whip.

Blake’s POV

My eyes darted from one member of the team to the next as the rest of the Ninjas readied their elemental swords. “We’re outnumbered, Destiny. We need to retreat.”

“Oh no! I am not retreating from these guys!”

Curling my fingers, I reached for her hand. “Listen to me. Look at their numbers. It’s us against all of them. If we’re going to get your sister back, we need to retreat.”

Kai, unsurprisingly, was the first to attack, and I formed a sword of dark matter to meet his blade. Des took the chance to blast water at her sister, who merely froze it. Immediately the Ninjas divided to conquer, but I refused to back down.

“It’s good to have you back, Janet,” Lloyd said from behind.

“Good to be back,” she replied.

“Keep her still, Janet!” Cole called, avoiding a watery tentacle by a few inches.

I shot Zane back and blocked Wu’s staff before kicking Kai’s thigh. “Stay close to me, Destiny!”

“I’m—busy—here!” she barked between hits.

“Cole! Up here!” Garmadon called.

The Black Ninja chucked his hood at the old man, and I was about to blast it out of range when Nya kicked my hand. My sword dissipated the moment it hit the ground, and I slide kicked Kai before pinning him down.

“You’re not getting rid of us that easily,” I breathed. “Especially me.”

We tousled in the dirt and knocked over Nya and Zane, both of us swatting away each other’s punches. The ground shook behind me as the earth shifted, and a yelp from Des was quick to follow. I stole a glance over my shoulder at Janet and Lloyd just securing hastily formed earthen chains to her wrists, giving Kai the opportunity to throw me off of him.

From the dragon, Garmadon was aiming a handful of a golden substance at Des. With a growl I abandoned my opponents and freed her with a pulse, forcing the others back. The earth shattered like glass, and I was barely able to shield her from the golden substance. A searing sensation ripped through my upper arm, and I cried out in pain.

“The matter burns him!” Kai shouted.

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[silver-ninja-of-the-tides]

Silver and Gold

Chapter 25--Back to Normal?

(AO3 ver.)

(Prologue Tumblr ver.; AO3 ver.)

The hum of Lloyd’s powers was the first thing that broke the silence. The heroes of Ninjago slowly raised their heads to a starry sky coated in golden strings of light. Opening one eye at a time, Lloyd eased the shield down as the Ultra Dragon lowered his wings.

“Woah . . .” the boys breathed. The ground was littered with debris, branches, and traces of the four elements. Trees that were bent were covered with a layer of dirt, but what caught their attention was an awakening Gold Ninja. “Janet!”

“Ugh, what happened?” she groaned as the young heroes flocked to her.

“You have unlocked your true potential,” Sensei Wu said.

“My . . . what?”

“You must’ve overcome an obstacle within yourself,” Zane stated.

An obstacle within myself . . . “I guess . . . finally accepting that it’s okay to need help must’ve been it.”

“You were amazing!” Jay complimented.

“I think she nearly outshined all of us,” Cole joked.

Although he was proud of his teammate, Kai’s smile faded at the absence of Destiny.

“But . . . where’s Destiny?” Lloyd asked.

The group scanned the area for any sign of their friend. But no glint of silver caught their eyes.

“Okay, who’s the one that smacked my head five minutes ago?”

Unanimously they looked off to their far right to see a familiar brunette rubbing the back of her head, her ninja hood off and her hair a wind-swept mess. “Destiny!” the group cheered.

She caught sight of the young heroes rushing up to her, and the second she was on her feet they tackled her in a hug.

“You’re okay!” Nya exclaimed.

“I’m glad you’re back, Des,” Kai spoke.

“Me too,” Destiny replied with a soft smile. As everyone else parted, those two contently remained exactly where they were.

“Ahem?” Jay said.

The duo’s eyes shot open, and they hastily released each other with sheepish expressions.

“It’s good to have you back, Destiny,” Misako said.

Destiny gave the elders a kind smile, but it faded away as the memories of her deeds under the dark matter immediately surfaced. “I am so . . . so sorry for everything I did. Everything.”

“Me too,” Janet added solemnly.

“You guys weren’t yourselves,” Kai assured. “Blake is the one to blame here.”

“And boy did he get what he deserved!” Cole added.

"You really knocked him out of the park!" Jay beamed.

Nosing her way through, the wolf looked to Destiny, who reared back at her sudden appearance. Much like before, they locked eyes with each other for a few intriguing moments. Respectfully, the canine lowered her head, and Destiny gingerly rubbed the wolf’s head.

“Um, nice wolf?” Destiny queried.

Having finally found the Ninja of Silver, the wolf tackled her and licked her face.

“Hey—! Easy!”

As for Janet and the cheetah, they both made steady eye contact as they circled one another.

“This is . . . uh . . .,” Janet started.

After a few circles they switched directions, until finally they stopped. The cheetah nosed Janet’s hand with a quiet maow, and the Gold Ninja accepted her.

Destiny’s hand remained entangled in the wolf’s fur, feeling strangely—at least to her—calm. “Is it weird to say this feels—”

“Right?” Janet finished. “Not sure.”

“Well, I guess that solves that,” Nya concluded. “Let’s go home, guys.”

Nya’s POV

Weeks have passed since our final encounter with the Overlord’s successor. The citizens welcomed Janet and Des back with our help, and the cheetah and wolf easily made themselves at home with us. Janet had named the cheetah Dawn while Destiny took the name Midnight. Everyone still trained every now and then, but after a while, no one found a reason to anymore. There just wasn’t an enemy to fight. Even Sensei, Misako, and Garmadon came to that conclusion.

“I’m still keeping my eye on you, Mr. Hot Head,” Janet said. We were relaxing at the park and Janet had been eyeing my brother for the past twenty minutes.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Kai brushed off.

“I dunnooo,” Jay chirped. “You two have been hanging out a lot lately.”

“They have been getting rather close,” Zane added with a smile.

“We might have another pair of lovebirds on our hands,” Cole teased.

“Oh cut it out!” Des said. Dawn yawned in disinterest as she continued to soak up the sun, her pelt still glimmering with traces of gold and black diamonds.

Suddenly Kai straightened up. “Uh what time is it?”

“Three-ish. Why?

“Ah man!” He shot off the bench within the blink of an eye.

“What the—where are you going?!”

Midnight nudged her with a dopey grin on her face.

“I think someone has an idea,” Zane teased.

Holding a grin back, Des followed Midnight down the path Kai took.

Destiny’s POV

“Okay, he’s been taking off for no reason at all and it’s getting really annoy—”

Midnight scooped me up before shooting forward.

“Ahh! Are you behind something?”

All I got in response was a gleeful bark. All right, what’s going on here? Are these two--ugh.

After a few minutes Midnight slowed to a halt by a restaurant. Glancing to her, she gave me a grin as she panted. When I looked up, I spotted Kai smirking with his arms crossed.

“What are you up to?”

“Trust me. You’ll like this,” Kai reassured.

I shook my head with a sigh. “You ninjas and your secrecy.”

Following him to the entrance, he reached for the door. “After you—”

An employee beat him to the punch, leaving him hanging. “Welcome.”

I couldn’t help snickering as I walked inside, catching an annoyed look from Kai. The content expression of the man soon changed as he laid eyes on Midnight. “Um she’s with us.”

“No worry. Service animals are welcome here.”

Midnight snorted at the title, and we carried on inside to what was apparently a fancy restaurant. A chandelier greeted us as Kai confidently approached the small desk up front. Up ahead, there was a chef effortlessly preparing food right in front of some guests.

“Reservations?” I asked.

“Right this way, Ninjas,” a woman said.

All he did was smirk as the three of us followed the woman to a table. Once we were seated, she handed us menus before going off. “This was really hard to get in to, by the way.”

“Even for the high and mighty hero of Ninjago?”

“Hey! Don’t sell me too short.”

I gave him a flash of a challenging smirk. “Things are gonna be interesting, aren’t they?”

“Heh. You think so, huh?”

“Well let’s see. You suddenly take off, Midnight even knew what was going on, and I’m beginning to think you two were in cahoots and—and now there’s a rose on the table. Where did you get—why—?”

He laughed in self satisfaction. “Just relax.”

We both smiled at each other as the waiter approached our table. Snapping our attention off of each other, we ordered our food and drinks. After that it was pretty quiet between us.

Midnight slapped Kai’s sneaker in impatience, and he cleared his throat to cover up the notion.

“So, you like it?”

“Best place I’ve ever eaten at.”

“I knew you’d like it.”

I couldn’t help laughing a bit, and he smiled contently.

Gingerly he placed his hand on mine, and I had flashbacks to Blake doing the same thing. Then the chain of thoughts zipped to the Dark Waters gripping the team and my sister.

All because of me.

I could never forget their cries of pain, especially my sister’s. How could I . . . ?

“Des?”

I blinked back to the present.

“You looked a little distant. Everything okay?”

My eyes drifted to our hands, and with a quiet sigh through the nose I retracted my hand a bit. “What I did a couple weeks ago, I . . .” I let out a sigh. “I just need to remember that I can’t change the past. I also need to remember that you, Janet, and the others are here to support one another, no matter what.”

“Aaaand don’t forget I was the one who snapped you out of it.”

I laughed in spite of myself. “All right. I’ll admit that. I saved you . . .”

“And I, saved you.”

Smiling softly, I reached for his hand again. “Not just you, Spike. Everyone else, too. But yeah, you did.”

Our food finally arrived, and we chatted over the meal with Midnight giving her input. Besides getting to know each other’s techniques, we finally got to know each other a little more. Turns out he’s the first blacksmith I’ve met.

After that, we made our way out and walked under the city lights, the sun just beginning to set.

“You think we’ve been keeping everyone waiting?” I joked.

“Ahh I’m sure they can wait a little longer,” Kai said smoothly.

“You just want me aaaall to yourself, don’t you?”

“Well . . .”

We both glanced to Midnight walking behind us, her fur maintaining its glistening silver even now.

“I totally let your sister beat me the other day.”

I laughed again. “I’m sure you did. But, I got you pretty good the day before that.”

“Not before I pinned you down.”

“Ah but I kneed you before you pinned me down.”

“And I did Spinjitzu before you did that.” “Sure you did.”

“Admit it. You can’t catch me off guard.”

I smirked at the claim. “Oh, by the way,” I pecked him on the cheek, “thanks for dinner.”

That left him stunned as ever. “Well, ‘bout time you two came around!”

We glanced to Cole crossing his arms with a smirk. “Nice rose, Des,” Janet said.

“I think someone’s in a daze,” Zane teased, immediately putting a glare on Kai’s face.

“Heh. I remember our first date,” Jay said. “You remember, Nya?”

“Don’t think you can forget turning into a snake,” she commented.

“Wait. He turned into a snake?” Janet and I asked.

“Uhhh that one’s gonna have to wait,” Jay said.

“You ready to head back?” Lloyd asked with a smirk.

Kai and I nodded, and we all began the walk back home.

“Feels nice to have a home to go to again,” I said.

“Especially with these guys,” Janet agreed.

“Sooo what happens now?” Cole asked. “The fight’s over, the Overlord’s gone, and there’s no enemies left to fight.”

Everyone stayed quiet for a bit. “I guess we just . . . stay on the lookout for trouble,” Kai answered.

“Because there will always be a need for Ninjas,” Zane said. “And a Samurai.”

“Always,” Lloyd agreed.

“Excuse me. Are you the ones who saved Ninjago from the Overlord?”

We all turned around to see a man in a wheelchair. “Indeed we are!” Jay answered proudly.

“And these young ladies here?” He gestured to Janet and me.

“They’re pretty new, but I’m sure they’ll be able to handle anything,” Kai said, and I elbowed him playfully.

The man smiled in greeting. “Eh call me Cyrus, Cyrus Borg.”

[And that just about wraps up this one! As I've said before, I'll be working on and posting (VERY very soon) Book 4 for some of my readers who've been around since Day 1. The sequel to this will be coming around, obviously. Just not soon.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it! :)]

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[silver-ninja-of-the-tides]

Silver and Gold

Chapter 24--The Strength Within

(AO3 ver.)

(Prologue Tumblr ver.; AO3 ver.)

Janet’s POV

Furious, Des swept Lloyd, Misako, Wu, and me away with one tendril, and she angrily blasted everyone else all the way toward the dragon. “Are you okay?”

Blake huffed as he straightened up. “I’ll be fine!”

As the team and I worked together to keep Blake and Des at bay, I began to realize something. Everyone’s pitching in to save my sister. I know I can save her myself with all the elements I control, but somehow, a voice in the back of my head constantly told me that I don’t have to do everything myself. And it wasn’t a man’s voice this time.

I flipped over a blast from Blake and once again froze another stream of water from Des. A surge of heat flared up behind me, and I glanced over my shoulder to be greeted with a wall of flames blocking Blake from getting to me, fresh from Kai’s sword.

“Over here!” Jay called. “I’ll give you a boost!”

As the flames died out with a hiss, I rolled under a stream of purple and jumped up. With his hands he boosted me up into the air, and I fired lightning to separate Blake and Des.

“Ice!” Zane and I formed an icy wall between the duo and ultimately frustrated Des.

While Sensei and Misako kept her busy, Cole and Nya joined me in facing off against Blake. It was two blades and a pair of fists against one sword, and Nya quickly seized the chance to sweep her leg under Blake. With an irritated growl he blasted us back, and the resonance of the dark matter blared out.

Shooting to my feet, I joined Lloyd in firing at Blake. He immediately dropped to the ground, and my wind and his green light shattered the icy wall, revealing a small wall of dark matter surrounding Des. And strangely her back was turned with her hand outstretched toward the rest of the jungle.

“Quick! Take the shot!” Jay yelled.

“May I remind you we have a limited supply on our hands?!” Garmadon warned.

“Well how much do we have?” I asked.

“Only enough for one person!”

The team and I stood side by side against Blake. I could feel some form of strength beginning to bud inside of me, and my mind was filled with nothing but focus. “Well whatever happens next, I won’t be fighting alone.”

“Here here!” Jay agreed.

When Nya glanced to me, her expression turned to one of confusion. “Since when did you have gold eyes?”

“What?” I asked.

“What is that?” Lloyd asked warily, his attention up ahead.

Peering ahead, I could spot a dark, slithering mass rocketing toward us. Soon everyone else noticed it, and we all took cautious steps back. Before we could figure out what it was, it was too late.

Destiny suddenly whipped around and directed the dark tendril at me. Exclamations from the team rang out as they stumbled back, and I cried out as I was raised into the air.

“What are you doing?” Nya asked, horrified.

“She’s using her powers to their fullest extent,” Blake shot, lowering the wall.

With a stretch of her hand Destiny spread the murky-looking water to everyone else. Shouts and cries of pain from everyone filled the air as we strained to break free. Even the animals were helpless against her.

“What—is this?!” Cole shouted as he fought.

I couldn’t move at all. Everything inside me felt frozen, and the biting cold I had felt from before dominated every part of me. And whatever power I felt welling up inside was probably gone.

And who was I kidding? Even with everyone’s help, we still couldn’t get to her. This is hopeless.

Glancing to Des, I saw no trace of my sister. The merciless look on her face deepened the hopelessness I had. And looking around to everyone else, I saw nothing but fear in their eyes.

But one was missing.

Blake’s hands curled in fists. “Where’s the Red Ninja?!”

“Right here!”

In his hand was Cole’s hood, and in his other hand was the last of the light matter.

Instantly Blake charged straight for him, but Kai threw the matter seconds before Blake collided into him. I watched as it flew right into Destiny's chest, making her stumble and lose her grip on the water.

“It’s over, Blake,” Kai shot. “You’re at the end of your rope!”

One by one, Destiny began to release the team. But whatever darkness was in her water seemed to slow down the light matter’s work.

“Bring your sister down!” Blake ordered.

The dark water slithered away to let me drop, and Cole, Zane, and Sensei began to take their place beside me. Summoning my sword, I had signaled Cole and Zane to ready theirs. Despite the lingering shock in their eyes, each of them had a renewed vigor to them.

Blake gradually went from a stalk to a run as he dug his nails into his hand. From his hand, I could just make out a clump of dark matter growing and taking shape. Within seconds we were locked in combat, and a knife of pure dark matter was beginning to form.

“I’ve been as patient as ever trying to get you to stay under my thumb, but it seems as though I need to do everything myself!” he seethed.

“Well you still have us to deal with!” Cole fired back.

He blocked and parried all of our attacks, and together the four of us gave him everything we had. As more of the team came together, Blake furiously strained to keep up with us. That empowered feeling I had came back, and the wind began to pick up. I know we can stop this guy. Together.

3rd person POV

Fear began to sneak its way into Blake’s eyes at the sight of her now gold eyes. Wind began to swirl around her, and everyone was forced to fall back.

A gold light began to shine from her as a vortex of wind raised her up. A matching force field rippled around her, and the wind began to tear at everything. The earth began to shake as thick shards began to emerge, and particles of it encircled her legs. Fire from thin air surrounded her arms. Lightning flashed between her finger tips as a bolt came dangerously close to Blake. Ice froze the ground underneath her. And she was a force to be reckoned with. “Her true potential!” Jay realized. “She’s unlocked it!”

“I think we better find cover, guys. The wind’s really picking up!” Nya yelled over the wind.

“Whaaat?!” Kai asked.

“We need to find cover!” Zane repeated.

“What about Destiny?!”

“I can’t see her!” Cole shouted.

The force field coated her body, and she directed ice and earth at Blake. The elements clawed at his right eye, making him yell in anguish. Fire and lightning were hurled at him, and his cry filled the air as the elements skimmed over him. Finally, a Blake-sized tornado of air ensnared him before raising him up to Janet’s eye level. A glower from her sent another shock of fear into the successor’s heart, and bolts of lightning rained down on the island.

The Ultra Dragon raised his wings to shield the team as debris even from the abandoned dark matter digging site began to litter the air. Even particles of dirt and sand were getting kicked up. But it wasn’t enough.

“Lloyd! Your force field!” Zane exclaimed.

Effortlessly Janet sent Blake soaring away from the island and towards the sea. With her true potential at its peak, the wind tore at everything and even caused some trees to snap like twigs.

“It’s now or never, Lloyd!” Nya yelled.

Janet closed her eyes, feeling the unique pulse of every element she could control. A few moments went by before she came across the man who was fighting off the clawed hands. Sword in hand and hat obscuring his eyes, he nodded to her in respect.

And all the noise she heard suddenly snapped off.

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[silver-ninja-of-the-tides]

Silver and Gold

Chapter 22--Arriving to Fight

(AO3 ver.)

(Prologue Tumblr ver.; AO3 ver.)

Kai’s POV

I miss having those two around, especially Destiny. And if Blake even tries anything funny, I’m gonna make sure he regrets it.

“Land ho!” Nya announced.

Fast approaching us was the Dark Island in all its gloomy glory. A brown and red mass on the beach caught my eye, and I squinted to get a better look at it.

“It’s the Bounty!” Dr. Julien pointed out.

Even from here I could tell that it was far from taking off or sailing ever again. Immediately my mind dug up all the times we thought it was lost or destroyed only to find it again. That ship’s been tossed around so much since we’ve had it.

“I can’t believe it,” Cole admitted. “It looks as terrible as it did when we first found it.”

“Heh. No kidding,” Lloyd mumbled.

“You say something?” Jay asked.

“N-nothing. Just . . . thinking out loud, that’s all. Heh.” Although I was curious about the small frown on his face, I decided not to pry.

“Now that we’re on the island,” Garmadon started, snapping us out of our grievances, “we should be making our way to the Temple of Light. Legend has it the light matter might be located there.”

“Then let’s get going,” I urged.

The beach swept under us as the Ultra Dragon began to soar over the jungle, and I couldn’t help but look back at the Bounty. Maybe after all this is over we could restore it back to its former glory . . .

"So this light matter,” Cole started. “How does that stuff work?”

“Similar to the dark matter, one must be in contact with it in order for it to work,” Misako answered.

“Let’s hope it works just as fast as the dark matter,” Lloyd said over his shoulder.

The rest of the flight was quiet after that. Along with the cheetah and the wolf, I kept my eyes glued to the ground for any sign of those three. But there was nothing but foliage and dirt.

“It’s pretty quiet out here—what are you doing?!”

At Cole’s outburst I jerked my attention to him just as the tips of the cheetah’s and wolf’s tails disappeared over the side. Lloyd yanked back on the reins in surprise.

“You can’t just jump off of a dragon like that!”

“Why not? We used to jump off the Bounty all the time,” Jay pointed out.

“Well . . . that’s . . . that’s different!”

“It appears our furry friends have found something,” Zane justified calmly.

Everyone looked over the side to see them sniffing the ground. Just barely I could spot indentations in the ground.

“Footprints! And they seem to follow different directions.”

The wolf barked up at us.

“I have a feeling those guys are looking for who we’re looking for,” Cole concluded.

“Then I’m following that wolf,” I said, getting ready to jump. “Maybe she might be able to find Destiny.”

“And you’re not going without me,” Nya added.

“I guess I’ll follow the cheetah, then,” Lloyd said. “Anyone else wanna join?”

“Go with him, brother,” Garmadon said. “The rest of us will locate the light matter.”

Nya followed me off the dragon with Sensei and Lloyd not too far behind, and we each mounted the animal we were going to follow.

“I hope it’s not too late to stop whatever it is they're planning,” I said.

Blake’s POV

“Rrr, she could be anywhere!” Des snapped. “And on top of that we have to be ready for those stupid Ninjas when they show up!”

I vainly tried to keep up with her. “Calm down. You need a clear head if we’re going to fight your sister.”

“I know! I’m just . . .” She stopped on a branch. “I can’t believe she would just turn her back on me.”

“I’m sure she’s still in there. Once we get her to come to her senses she’ll be your sister again.”

Her eyes narrowed and hardened. “She’s not my sister. Family doesn’t turn on family.”

“Then we’ll make her see what the cost of betrayal is.” Without waiting for her reply, I took the lead. I don’t need the dark matter to finish the job. I am the dark matter.

Seconds later she had caught up with me. “By the way, what light is inside Janet anyway?”

“It’s not her light. It’s someone else’s.”

“Who’s is it?”

“Someone who’s arch enemy is—”

Blurs of color zipped by us, and I grabbed Des’s wrist as we came to a halt.

“What was that?” she asked.

“Something to worry about.”

The main chunks of the blur slowed to a halt, allowing me to properly distinguish what they were. Scanning the air was a cheetah and a wolf literally made of gold and silver. Riding them were Kai, Nya, Lloyd, and Wu.

“Them,” Des hissed. “Great.”

I held my hand up as my attention remained glued to them.

“Why’d they stop?” Kai asked.

The animals’ gazes remained fixed in front of them until the cheetah, with a brief snarl, hurriedly continued on its way.

“Well, I guess it’s just you and me, brother,” Nya said, dismounting. Her brother quickly followed, and the two fanned out a few feet.

Des’s eyes remained fixed not on Kai, but the wolf. Appearing to sense this, it calmly turned around to meet her eyes. Its eyebrows furrowed as the siblings located us, the creature's blue eyes maintaining their gaze. Suddenly she dropped down below, forcing me to follow.

I placed a firm hand on her shoulder, and Kai’s arm flinched for his sword. The sudden movement snapped Des out of whatever trance the wolf caught her in, and she assumed her stance.

“You,” Kai growled at me.

“Yes. Me,” I replied mockingly.

“Get out of the way,” Des demanded. “We have someone we need to take care of.”

“Ha. Trust me. It doesn’t look like that’s gonna happen,” Kai challenged.

“Fine, but don’t say we didn’t ask. Ninjaaa-GO!”

He yanked his hood on as Nya’s stance deepened, and I ran alongside Des before tackling his sister. “Nya!”

She shoved me off as footsteps hurried after me, but a breeze swept by me before coming to a halt.

“You want your sister? You’re gonna have to go through me,” Des snapped.

The two of us stood back to back, and the wolf appeared by Nya’s side.

“It’s you and me, Blake. Let’s do this.”

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[silver-ninja-of-the-tides]

Silver and Gold

Chapter 17--Disturbances

(AO3 ver.)

(Prologue Tumblr ver.; AO3 ver.)

Destiny’s POV I've been trying to move the Dark Waters for a long time now, and I was starting to get impatient. The faster I can get this the faster I can take the Ninjas down. But this stupid water isn’t cooperating with me!

I took a deep breath and concentrated on the water. I put as much focus as I could into it, and slowly, some of it began to rise. But it was as slow as molasses. “You're almost there,” Blake encouraged.

I focused harder, and the water rose a few more inches. “Come on . . . Come on . . .”

As the water was rising, my mind began to wander. I thought back to my dad training me. Both my sister and I trained hard, but when we figured out we could control elements, Mom and Dad had some . . . conflicting feelings. Although Janet and I were excited, we had to keep it to ourselves. But that didn’t mean we didn’t practice amongst each other.

I drifted to my training with the boys, and eventually I stopped at the Fire Ninja.

Ohhh I hate that guy!

My concentration wavered, and I vainly tried to keep it only for the water to slump back down. I had it, but that stupid Spike just—ugh!

I felt just about ready to punch someone when Blake placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Easy there Des. You'll get it.”

I huffed a sigh before I turned to look directly into his dark gray eyes. “You're rather patient with me, aren't you?”

Blake only smirked. “Just keep trying, and I’ll be right back.”

Blake’s POV After Des focused again, I turned around to see Janet standing there with her arms crossed.

“You done yet?” she asked, unfazed by my surprised flinch.

“Yes. Now follow me.”

She was quick to do as told. “Where are we going?”

“Somewhere where you can gain more power.”

“Which is where?”

“In the forest.”

“What’s in the forest?”

“Power.”

“What kind of power?”

“Patience.”

Janet rolled her eyes. “You sound like Wu.”

I resisted the urge to growl. “Just trust me.” The faster we get this done the faster we’ll defeat the Ninjas.

She was about to retaliate when suddenly a frustrated yell rang out behind us. She was the first one to bolt toward Des, and I soon followed after her. The closer we got, the more we could see Des dropping down to one knee.

“Des! Let it go!” Janet shouted as we reached her side, but her sister ignored her.

A silver mist that was beginning to form over the Dark Waters was turning purple, and Des dropped to her other knee. “Almost . . . there . . .”

“It’s corrupting you! You need to—”

I grasped Janet’s shoulder, and she glared at me the next instant. Her eye color flickered from purple to green to purple again, and it was hard to keep my shock under wraps. That light is beginning to overpower the dark matter. I need to work faster.

We both watched Des push herself to her feet, and soon the silver mist had become purple. The water rose faster and faster, and before long she was able to shape it into a whip.

“Nice job, Des,” I praised. “I told you you’d get it.”

The Silver Ninja maneuvered the water with ease and thrust it toward a bush. When it made contact, the bush steamed up and disintegrated. Janet, on the other hand, was straining to hide her worry.

“You were right, Blake. I do feel more powerful,” Des stated with a wicked grin. “I can't wait to test it out on those Ninjas.”

Kai's POV

“Senseeeeiiii!” Jay called. “Llooooyyyd! Anyone?!”

“Rrr, could you keep it down?” I complained. “Well excuse me if I wanna get off this rock.”

I merely sighed in response. I’m surprised he hasn’t lost his voice by now.

I wiped my forehead with my sleeve. “We’ve been walking for hours and there’s still no sign of anyone. I bet they’ve already reached the Dark Island by now.”

Jay stopped in front of a malachite-leaved tree before rubbing his chin. “Have we passed this tree already?”

I growled again. “This is so frustrating!”

“Hey, all I asked was a simple question.”

“Not that. This.” I gestured widely to our surroundings. “I can’t think straight with all these stones and jewels everywhere.”

THUD! Both of us tensed.

“I don’t like the sound of that,” Jay said warily as the vibrations continued.

We both scanned the area.

“You think it’s an earthquake?” I asked.

Suddenly a gigantic thing crawled out of the ground, making us both jump back. The further it climbed out, the further we had to tilt our heads back, and soon its shadow was shrouding us.

Jay let out a squeak as it dropped onto all six of its massive legs. Its beady black eyes seemed to drill into us, and its slightly yellowed teeth glinted in the sunlight. It was a hideous hybrid of a crocodile and a beetle, and the thing was nearly more than half the size of the Bounty.

“Heh. Some earthquake, huh?” Jay meekly joked.

“Who has disturbed the vegetation of this island?” he interrogated in an incredibly deep voice, its antennas twitching in irritation.

I swallowed nervously. “Uhh . . .”

From the corner of my eye, I caught something glinting from Jay’s pocket, and the creature’s huge eyes darted to Jay.

“You,” the beast snapped. “Reveal what you have stolen.”

The Blue Ninja was frozen in place, the creature’s stare unblinking.

“Jay, give him what you stole,” I muttered slowly.

With a shaky hand, he fished out two roses. “Uhh, heh heh. Nice, umm . . . creature thing. Uhh, here you go.” He unsteadily placed the flowers on the ground in front of the beast.

“I am no ordinary creature!” the beast bellowed. “I am the Guardian of the Northern Side, and you will pay for what you have stolen!”

He slowly stood on his hind legs, and that’s when we decided to run. “You just had to touch something, didn’t you?!” I snapped. “I thought Nya would like them!” Jay snapped back. “Yeah. My sister would totally go for forbidden plants! Augh, I knew we weren’t supposed to touch anything!”

“Oh well you could’ve warned me!”

Lloyd's POV

“They could be anywhere,” I said. We've come across dozens of rivers, mini forests (why a forest within a forest, I don’t know), and about a bazillion different kinds of flowers and plants. It took all of my self-control to not touch anything.

“What if we don’t find them before Janet and Des make it to the Dark Island?”

“Patience, my nephew,” Sensei said. “We will find them soon enough. As for Janet and Destiny, I fear they may have already reached the island. But we must not lose hope. We will find a way to—”

Two screams in the distance interrupted my uncle, and we both looked to each other.

“That sounds like Kai and Jay! We have to help them!” I exclaimed. We bolted in the direction of the screams as I pulled my hood down.

“We can’t outrun that thing!” Kai exclaimed.

“Of course we can’t!” Jay replied just as loud. “You wanna know why?! Because it can fly!”

“Thing? Something lives here?” I asked.

“Four somethings,” Uncle replied gravely. “There are four guardians for each of the four sides of the island. Kai and Jay must have disturbed one of them.”

Suddenly the suits of Kai and Jay burst into the view, and behind them was a massive . . . uh . . . I don’t know what to call it.

“Lloyd! Sensei! Ruuuun!” Jay screamed.

“It’s right behind us!” Kai warned.

Before we had any chance to react they jerked us along with them, and I stole a glimpse over my shoulder at the beast. Its scarab beetle shell was open, revealing wings the size of helicopter blades. It had four powerful croc legs and two insect legs, and its horned half-crocodile snout tried to snap at us. The distorted and livid hiss that followed sent chills down my spine.

“You can’t run forever, trespassers!” it roared.

“Uh Sensei? Which guardian is that?” I asked.

“The Protector of the Northern Side!” he replied, holding on to his hat.

“Well how do we get it off our tails?!” Kai asked.

A blur of yellow and black suddenly blocked our path, making us stop. The deafening humming of the protector’s wings drew closer to us, and the ground shook when it landed. The blur turned out to be a gold cheetah with black diamonds for spots, its tail twitching back and forth. The cat was big enough for two people to ride on, and it was eyeing us like we were dinner.

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[silver-ninja-of-the-tides]

Silver and Gold

Chapter 16--Influence

(AO3 ver.)

(Prologue Tumblr ver.; AO3 ver.)

Blake’s POV

The first thing I saw when I woke up was the roof of the ship’s bridge. Every now and then I could hear the control panels buzz and spark. The ship would creak and groan occasionally, and the torn sail could be heard lightly flapping in the breeze. Overall the silence was calming, but something felt . . . off . . .

Sitting up from a mat, I looked over my shoulder expecting to see both girls still asleep on two of the mattresses we were able to find. But one Ninja was missing.

I stood up to head out to the stairs overlooking the deck, which turned out to be empty. I scanned the port side of the ship to find a beach that was also empty. The sun wasn’t even out yet, but the sky was just barely beginning to brighten. Where could she have possibly gone . . . ?

“I bet I can get it before they get here.”

I glanced to my right to spot someone standing by the shore, and I resisted the urge to sigh. I skipped a few of the steps on my way down and made my way off the ship. Almost immediately the sound of waves against the shore hit me, and ahead of me the person was locked in focus. When I finally approached them, they still hadn’t noticed me.

“What are you doing up so early?”

The Dark Waters jerked out of her grip, and she sighed before shooting me a cold look. “I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to start practicing.” I crossed my arms. “Have you recovered completely?”

“I’m fine, Blake. Stop worrying about me.”

“Go back to the ship and I will.”

She balled her fists briefly. “I’m keeping watch. Those Ninjas aren’t going to get to my sister on my watch.”

“Then I’ll keep watch with you.”

She kept her attention glued to the ocean. “. . . Fine.” She sat down away from the Dark Waters with a huff, and I sat down next to her.

“This is pretty early for you, even when you were training.”

“I don’t care. I’m going to keep them away from her.”

As her focus deepened, I stole a glance to her. Her hair was in a messier bun than usual, and the silver shine her suit once had was now tainted and dimmed. I couldn’t help but picture her as how she looked before she was corrupted—elegant, fierce . . . amazing . . . Now she was twice those things, maybe even more so.

“You’ve ever seen a sunrise?” “No.”

I smiled. “Maybe this might be your chance to.”

The Ninja stifled a yawn. “If I can stay awake.”

I hummed an amused laugh, and we watched the sky brighten ever so slowly. Neither one of us spoke, however. We merely enjoyed each other’s company. But at one point, I felt her rest her head on my shoulder as she yawned. I hesitated to move my arm toward her, but I drew it back before she could notice.

When I finally noticed a change of color in the sky, I nudged her. Groaning, she raised her head, and her eyes widened at the sight before us. The golden sun had a pinkish purplish haze around it, and the clouds mimicked the sun. The sea acted as a mirror to the heavens, and the dark blue of the night was gradually being chased away. “This is . . . really nice,” she finally said after a full minute. “I didn't think it would be this beautiful.” “Well, now you've seen one,” I replied coolly.

Destiny glanced at me with a soft smile, resting back against the palms of her hands.

For a few minutes we watched it climb up the sky as time went by. I watched her close her eyes and bask in the first rays of the sun, and her suit managed to glint in the light.

“We should probably head back.”

I snapped my attention forward the second she opened her eyes.

“My sister’ll be up any minute.”

“Yeah, good idea.” I helped her to her feet and dusted myself off. “See you later, Des.”

In response she smiled at me, and she walked back to the ship as she dusted herself off. I couldn’t help but smirk slyly. I’d like to see Kai and his allies get in my way now. Once she has control over the Dark Waters and her sister is at her full potential, everything will become as my master has envisioned it.

Zane's POV

We had woken up earlier than usual to begin our search for the others, but it seems as though the chances of getting lost were increasing. “I sure wish we had a map of this place,” Cole said. “I think we’ve passed by that tree before.” “Technically that is a tree with rose quartz hibiscuses. Not rose gold,” I replied.

“You wouldn’t happen to have a map of the island, would you?” Nya asked. “I don’t, but I do remember having a scroll on a certain animal here,” Misako replied.

“Wait. Things actually live here?” Cole asked in disbelief.

“Legend says the animal was brought here by force, but no one knows how or by whom, or even why. It was seeking for something in particular, but that’s unknown as well.”

“So where is this thing, anyway?” Cole asked.

“Trapped within the Eastern Temple, but it is guarded by a powerful creature tasked to watch over its side of the island.”

“ ‘Its side of the island’?” Nya asked.

“There must be other creatures guarding the remaining three sides,” Garmadon commented.

“Well if this animal is as important as the legend says it is, then we need to find it after we find the rest of the team,” Cole concluded. “Misako, how long has it been here?” Garmadon asked.

“The scroll said it’s been here for many years,” Misako replied. “Then there is no hope for him. He’s trapped here forever and now has the substances of the rest of the island.”

“So then . . . if we were to remain here for an extended amount of time, then does that mean we will become like the rest of the island?” I asked.

“Which is why we need to move quickly.” “But there's a loophole,” Nya said. “It was brought here by force, so maybe we can still save it.”

I began to go over the possibilities of Nya’s suggestion being correct. “I've checked the probabilities, and they are more than half. We may be able to save it.”

“Well if we're gonna go against a guardian, then we need to find the rest of the team,” Cole concluded.

3rd person POV

Deep within the jungle resides an ancient temple that harbors a creature unlike any had even seen before. Also inside that temple was an animal with rather unique properties.

The protector of the eastern side entered the part of the building where the beast was chained. He stopped in front of it and crouched down, meeting the prisoner’s cold glare.

You will never escape this prison, urchin, the protector spat.

The prisoner only growled in response.

And I know who you are searching for. I see it in your eyes. You seek for the Ninja of Silver.

[Finally some chapters! Yay!]

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[silver-ninja-of-the-tides]

Silver and Gold

Chapter 13--Aerial Pursuit

(AO3 ver.)

(Prologue Tumblr ver.; AO3 ver.)

Blake's POV

Des was constantly pacing back and forth and fingering her pin. “Rrr, where is she?”

“I’m sure she has a good reason for taking off,” I said calmly.

“You still could’ve let me go out there after her.”

“I don’t want to risk losing both of you to them.”

She stopped. “What, you think we’re not strong enough to go up against them? We have fought them before.”

I placed a hand on her shoulder. “I just don’t want to take the chance of losing valuable allies.”

Her eyes glared daggers at me. “You’re irritating, Blake. You really are." Her expression quickly softened. "But I appreciate the concern.”

The hatch slipped open and closed, and Janet came sliding down the ladder. She looked from me to Des and then back to me, and I snatched my hand off the Silver Ninja’s shoulder.

“Where have you been?” I interrogated.

Janet slowly turned around.

“What were you doing out there?!” Des exclaimed.

“I sold us out.”

“What?! Why would you do that?! You know who else did that to us?!”

“You don’t need to remind me!” The area fell silent as her outburst echoed throughout the area. “Look I don’t know why I did it. It was just an urge I couldn’t ignore.” That light won’t go down easily, will it? Well that’s exactly why we’re going to the Dark Island. Well, one of the reasons.

I sighed heavily. “All right, look. We need to move now while they’re busy preparing.”

“If you expect me to do all the work, then you might as well give me back to the Ninjas,” Des snapped.

“Well we can’t steal their dragon,” Janet said. “And you won’t be doing all of the work.”

“What about a boat?”

“We can steal that.”

“No, we’re not stealing a boat,” I concluded. “Now let’s move. We have a long trip ahead of us.”

3rd person POV

“So this opposite,” Nya started, “it’ll turn them back?” The group of heroes was just finishing up preparations for their trip to the Dark Island, and they were hoping Blake, Destiny, and Janet haven’t already gotten a head start.

“Absolutely,” Garmadon replied. “An opposite of the dark matter will reverse the affects completely. If we’re going to beat them to the island, we must leave now.” “I'm bringing my scrolls for a resource if we need one,” Misako said. “I have a feeling we'll be able to benefit from them.”

A yell from Lloyd along with a crash brought the group outside. The Ultra Dragon was landing on the ground with Lloyd on his back, the Ninja’s hair coated in heavy frost with his sleeves slightly burnt. “He uh, he just needed to get something out of his system,” the Green Ninja admitted as he fixed his hair. The earth head laughed lowly. "Hah. Okay, boy, very funny." The rest of the team mounted the dragon, and the falcon left Dr. Julien’s arm to perch on his son’s shoulder. “I may not be there entirely, but a part of me will be with you,” he said. “Good luck to all of you.”

“Thank you, Father,” Zane replied. “And we will return soon.”

With another wave and a shake of the reins, the team took off into the air.

"Is anyone else feeling queasy about the fact that we're returning to the Dark Island?" Jay asked. "It is strange going back," Garmadon replied. "We all feel the same after what happened not so long ago, but we must do what we must to bring them back,” Wu said. "Whatever it takes. We’re ready,” Kai affirmed. Back with the trio, they were miraculously picking their way through the city without any notice. But some people were more restless than others.

“Couldn’t you just fly us there? You have wind, you know,” Destiny whispered.

“Do you want to get caught?” Janet hissed.

“No, I want to get there faster. The sooner we leave the better.”

“Just shut up, please. We get there when we get there.”

With a huff Destiny stayed quiet for a few moments, but from out of nowhere a shadow zipped right over them. The trio looked up to see the dragon flying ahead of them. “Now can you fly us?!”

“We need directions!” As if on cue, up ahead whistling his way down the sidewalk was a certain brown ninja. The sisters exchanged mischievous looks.

“Hey you!”

“Huh?” Dareth squinted at the incoming trio hard, but by the time he figured out who they were it was too late.

Destiny grabbed him by the shirt and shoved him up against a wall, and he yelped at the notion. “You know where the docks to this city are?”

“D-docks?”

“Yes, the docks. Do you know where they are?”

He steeled himself against her threatening tone. “As the official Brown Ninja, I will not fall to the likes of you false ninjas.”

In a heartbeat Janet summoned her sword and pointed it to his neck.

“Ah-AH! Okay okay I’ll take you to the docks! Just-just . . . don’t hurt me.”

The Silver Ninja tossed him out into the open. “Can you—”

“Don’t—ask me—again.” Janet summoned the wind to sweep the group of four off their feet, and a scream escaped Dareth. But her sword was quick to shut him up. “Start giving directions. I don’t know how long I can hold the four of us.”

The “Brown Ninja” sputtered direction after direction, and along the way the group earned all sorts of looks from the people down below. But after they identified the group, exclamations were quick to turn the heads of the Ninjas. Racing behind them on a current of air was the trio plus an extra member.

“They kidnapped Dareth?!” Jay spat. “And she can fly?! Oh that’s just great.”

“She might not be able to hold on for long,” Garmadon said. “We need to move quickly.”

The Brown Ninja finally registered the dragon they were now catching up to and its passengers. “The Ninjas! Oh I’m so glad those guys are here! Over here!”

“Please just stop talking,” Destiny said, exasperated. “Or I’m drowning you.”

Gradually the groups became neck in neck, and Janet stole a glance at the Ninjas before picking up a little speed.

“I’m sorry about this, but I have to stop you!” Kai exclaimed. “Fire!” A burst of his element made the group of four waver a bit, and Destiny sent a gush of water that nearly drove the dragon off course.

“Back off, Spike!” she barked.

“Not until all of you are grounded!” Wu fired back. Jay couldn’t help snickering at that.

“Haven’t you ever heard of ‘Ninjas never quit’?!”

Cole shrugged. “Eh, she has a point.”

“See? The talking rock agrees with me.”

“Exactly! Wait . . . Hey! I’m not a rock! Do I even look like one?" "Is that a trick question?"

Cole held an unamused expression, but his dark eyes widened as he was nearly knocked off the dragon by a blast from Blake.

“Come on! You can do better than that!”

“Ice!”

Dareth screamed as the shot accidentally skimmed over his head, and Janet wavered more than before.

"Sorry, Dareth!"

“Could you not antagonize them?! I’m flying here!” the Gold Ninja yelled as Blake and Destiny attacked the Ninjas.

“Well fly faster and we won’t have to deal with them!” the older sibling ordered.

With a growl Janet shot forward, and the dragon roared as he followed suit. But the burst of speed temporarily died down, and she began to feel the fatigue from the effort.

“She’s getting weaker!” Cole announced.

Janet’s breathing was becoming labored, and she looked over her shoulder to see the Ninjas catching up despite the multiple shots fired at them. “We better be almost there!”

“Uh yes! D-definitely!” Dareth said despite his franticness.

“C’mon, Janet, just a little more . . .” Destiny encouraged. The group dropped a few feet, and she began to reach out to the fast approaching water.

“They’re getting close to the water!” Kai shouted.

“C’mon, boy, faster!” Lloyd urged.

“Drop him!” Blake commanded.

“What?!” Janet barked.

“Do it!”

She gripped the back of Dareth’s shirt, and he once again yelped.

But her grip loosened.

She knew it would only do more harm than good.

She knew it was wrong.

The dragon’s shadow was right on top of them, and up ahead were the docks fast approaching them.

“Janet,” Destiny warned.

“Throw him!” Blake ordered.

The dark matter in her took hold again, and she tossed Dareth off the wind current.

But the wind slipped from her command the next instant.

Everyone exclaimed different names, and Destiny was forced to command the sea to catch them. Blake fired at the dragon, and the shot thrust them off course.

“We’re out of control!” Jay exclaimed as the rest of his team yelled.

The screams of the heroes faded out the further the trio surfed away, and a giant splash sounded moments later.

“Did we . . . did we lose them?” Janet asked, leaning against her sister drained and exhausted.

Destiny looked over her shoulder to see the dragon floating in the water and the team scattered. They had managed to save Dareth, but a certain red ninja was downheartedly watching them race off. She tore her attention from the group to focus on the task at hand. He was the enemy, and he was the one she hated the most.

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[silver-ninja-of-the-tides]

Silver and Gold

Chapter 15--All That Glitters

(AO3 ver.)

(Prologue Tumblr ver.; AO3 ver.)

Cole's POV

The screams of the team echoed in my head, and my eyes flew open before I shot up with a gasp, coughing up water afterwards.

“Easy,” Garmadon urged gently.

“What . . .” I skimmed over my surroundings. There was nothing but ocean and sky, and the dragon was floating in the water. “What happened?”

“Zane said the Leviathan found us before he disappeared,” Nya explained.

“Where’s everyone else?”

“We haven’t seen any signs of the others,” Misako answered.

“And Janet and Des?”

“Long gone, I presume,” Garmadon replied.

“The others must have been relocated,” Zane answered.

I slipped my hood off. “Then we better start looking for them.”

Sensei's POV

​The darkness was the only thing I saw for a very long time, and the muffled sounds of the past events replayed in my mind. My eyes twitched open, and the high noon sun almost blinded me. Closing my eyes again, I slowly sat up as I opened my eyes once more to let them adjust to the sun. I heard crashing waves in front of me, so I could only assume we had washed up on the Dark Island.

Getting up with the help of my staff, I spotted Lloyd not far from me in his usual ninja attire. I briskly walked to him and felt his pulse. “Lloyd, wake up.”

He groaned and squeezed his already shut eyes tighter before sitting up. “Where are we?”

I looked to the forest behind me. “Not on the Dark Island.”

He got up and rubbed the back of his head. “Where’s the rest of the team?”

“They may either be on another side of this island, or on a different island entirely.” “Let's hope they're on the other side. But hey! At least we can spend some quality uncle-nephew time, right?”

I patted his back with a smile. “Yes, that much is true.” With an arm behind me, I began to walk toward the dense-looking forest. “Come. We must find the others quickly.”

Jay's POV Waves brushing up against the shore was the first thing I heard. Oh good! Land! Now we can figure out what Blake intends to do here. (You know without getting ourselves killed.)

I quickly had to shield my eyes from the sun, and when I sat up, I found myself on a nice beach. Yeah, I’m pretty sure the Dark Island has worse beaches than this one.

As I looked around, I couldn’t find anyone else nearby. Oh this is just great.

“Hello?! Anybody?!”

Nothing.

“Ugh, great. Now I’m stuck here by myself and—”

“Jay?” Wait. I’d know that voice from anywhere! “Kai?! Over here!” I jogged down the beach and managed to pick out Kai's suit from where I was. “You find the others?!”

“No. Looks like we’re the only ones here!” The two of us caught up to each other. “Think they might be on another island?”

“Oh who knows? The point is we’re stuck here with no way off this island.”

“Hey, I’m not too happy about being stranded here, either, but we might as well start figuring out where the others are.” He turned his back to me and headed for the forest. “Maybe they might be here, too.”

After looking around for a bit, I followed him on our trek into the forest. The air had this kind of foreboding feel to it. Something’s off around here, and I’m pretty sure I’m not going to like it.

“Call me crazy, but aren’t trees supposed to be . . . I dunno, not shiny?”

“We’ve only been on this piece of rock for a few minutes and you’re already going crazy.”

“Okay. Then explain how that trunk over there looks like bronze.”

Kai stomped to a stop and whirled around. “Jay, trees are not made of—”

His eyes flickered to the tree, and with a raised eyebrow he walked to it. He squinted hard at it, clearly not believing what he was seeing. To make absolutely sure, he knocked on the tree.

“You’re right . . .”

Our eyes travelled up the tree, and we practically marveled at the jade and emerald leaves. The sunlight caught in the emerald leaves casted millions of green dots all over the ground. I could even see amber flowers up there!

A red flash caught my eye, and I was immediately drawn to a garnet rose. "Woah-ho-ho, check this out, Kai! I can’t believe this!” His attention was still glued to the canopy of leaves above us. “The whole island must be like this . . .”

More glittering drew my attention to the path ahead of us. In every direction you looked there were plants of all kinds in every precious gem, stone, and metal you could think of: a bush of aquamarine and pearl roses, a tree littered with gold orchids, everything! Even the sand had gold particles in it! Gold—particles! “Aw this place is unbelievable! Think of all the stuff I could invent with these things!”

Across from me I spotted a ruby rose paired with a sapphire one. I practically darted toward them and plucked them out of the ground, and I marveled at the way they captured the light when I turned them. I bet Nya would love these!

I heard Kai finally start moving in a dazed way, and I turned around to see him locked onto a group of topaz tiger lilies. He squatted down to examine them a little more, and his hand slowly reached out to pick one . . . His fingers curled, and he squeezed his eyes shut as he turned his head. Abruptly he stood up and walked off. “All right let’s get back on track. The sooner we find the others the sooner we can get off this island.”

Sensei's POV

​We have washed up on a forbidden island whose name I have long forgotten. Nothing was as it seemed here, and I only hope that the others are careful should they be here.

“Hey these are pretty cool,” Lloyd commented. He placed his hands on his knees to analyze silver and gold pansies and tulips. “Really . . . cool . . .” As if caught in a trance, he reached out to them. “Don't, Lloyd!"

My nephew jerked his hand away and stood up immediately.

“This is a forbidden island. We cannot disturb anything here. If we do there will be dire consequences.”

“What kind of dire consequences, exactly?”

“If you want to find out, then pick one.”

Lloyd hardly needed a second to answer. “I uh, I don’t think I wanna take any chances.”

“Then let us keep searching.”

Nya’s POV

“They have to be around here somewhere,” I said. The sun had begun to set, and we haven’t found any sign of the others or heard from the falcon. “Who knows where they went?”

“Look!” Misako exclaimed. The rest of us spotted the falcon flying back to us.

“Eh hello? Can anyone hear me?”

“We hear you, Father,” Zane replied, and the mechanical bird landed on the earth head. “Have you found the others?” “Well, uh, not exactly, but I did find an island they could be on. It may be a bit of a long journey, but I think there’s a good chance they just might be there.” “Lead us there,” Garmadon said. “Who knows how much distance those three have made?”

Blake's POV

Janet glanced over her shoulder at her sister, who was still recovering from the stunt she had pulled earlier.

“Are we there yet?” Des breathed. The three of us dropped dangerously, and I could see Janet straining to keep us steady. Up ahead was a patch of land speedily approaching us.

“Just a little more . . .” I said, resting a hand on her forearm.

I felt us slowing down and speeding up repeatedly like a train climbing a steep set of tracks.

“A little more . . .”

Just when I thought we were going to splash down, we dropped onto solid ground. Spitting out sand, I pushed myself up, the Gold Ninja breathing heavily beside me. Off to my right was a shipwreck that seemed long since abandoned. Huh . . .

“Stay here. You’ve both done enough for today.”

None of them protested as I got to my feet to inspect the tainted ship. As expected, there was no sign of animal life—only the waves against the dark beach filling the silence.

Approaching the ship, I ran my hand against the prow. The eyes of the dragon head were empty, desolate—just like the rest of the vessel. The sail was battered and torn, and several spots of the deck were in splinters. The glass windows of the bridge were entirely gone, but the wheel was still intact. Dead screens inside were cracked along with an almost untouched control panel. Sand even littered various sections of the ship. Whoever owned this ship must’ve crashed here, and there’s no doubt her crew is long since dead.

“Must’ve been a cool ship.”

I turned my head slightly at the sound of footsteps. Moments later Des appeared at my side. “Des, you’re supposed to be resting.”

“I can do that later. Now what are we supposed to do?”

Calmly, I faced her and placed my hands on her shoulders. “I want you to rest. Okay? Especially since you used all of that power. There’s nothing I want more than destroying those Ninjas with you, but there’s no point in doing that if you don’t have all of your strength.”

She tilted her head at me, a trace of a smile on her lips. “All right. I will—if you tell me what we’re supposed to do.”

“Persistent, aren’t you?”

Des smirked in accomplishment.

Sighing, I started to walk back to the shoreline. Passing Janet, my fingers brushed against Des’s, and surprisingly she hooked her fingers onto mine. My head twitched down to our hands in slight surprise, and she was quick to let go. Shoving what that tiny moment brought aside, we came to the shallowest part of the shoreline, and she mirrored me as I squatted down.

“You see how this part of the shore is darker than the rest of it? This is where you really get your power from—the Dark Waters. Once you get control of it, you'll be able to manipulate and corrupt any water that's around, even in people, making you more powerful.”

“Huh. Sounds good to me.”

Both of us stood up, and she got into her position. Concentrating on the inky water, it remained as still as ever for the longest time until slowly, it began to rise up like molasses. As soon as she had it, the water plopped back down. Easily getting frustrated, she tried again. The water rose a bit more than last time, but she couldn't hold it for more than a few seconds. She growled in frustration. “It just takes practice. You'll get it.”

She kept her eyes on the water, crossing her arms. “I bet I can get it before they get here.”

“Get some rest first.”

“Uh hello? What about me?” Janet asked, now sitting up.

I couldn’t help smiling. “You, have the most important job. But you’ll be preparing for that in the morning. For now, rest.”

That light was going out whether it likes it or not, and nothing is going to stop me.

Zane's POV

We had landed on the island the falcon had found by nightfall, and the dragon was more than exhausted.

“That jungle looks like it goes in pretty deep,” Nya stated. “They could be anywhere on this island.”

“This is the Island of Forbidden Riches,” Garmadon said. “Nothing is to be disturbed here, no matter how tempting it is.” Cole, Nya, and I exchanged looks.

“Let's hope Jay didn't touch anything.”

Illuminating myself to provide light, we entered the forest with the dragon following close behind. “Sensei? Lloyd? Anyone?” Cole called.

Garmadon was right—these plants were made of actual riches, and they appeared exceedingly tempting. The vegetation that caught my light provided for an extremely coaxing appearance.

“So, any idea where to start?”

“We could start by making camp,” Misako suggested. “We're going to need all our strength if we're to survive here. There are untold beasts here that guard each of the four sides of the island.”

“Well that certainly adds some charm to this place,” Nya replied with little enthusiasm.

Eventually we had come across a pair of tall peridot plants large enough to shield all of us. “You did good today, boy,” Cole said. “Now go get some rest. You earned it.”

Without question the dragon settled down as I took my place outside of our shelter, dimming my light.

“I hope we can find the others before Blake, Janet, and Des get to the Dark Island. Judging by the looks of this place, this island is pretty huge. It'll take us days to find them!”

“Days that we don’t have,” Garmadon added. “We’ll need to be up extra early in order to find the rest of the team.”

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[silver-ninja-of-the-tides]

Silver and Gold

Chapter 14--Wipeout

(AO3 ver.)

(Prologue Tumblr ver.; AO3 ver.)

“Everyone okay?” Nya asked. The group murmured replies as they situated themselves on the dragon.

“Zane, how long until they reach the Dark Island?” Misako asked.

“According to their speed, alternating modes of transportation, and their experience with their elemental powers, their arrival might be within a week and a half, perhaps two weeks at the most,” he replied.

“Well that’s good news,” Cole commented.

“But it certainly doesn’t mean we should take our time getting there,” Garmadon added. “Whatever they plan on doing there can’t be good.”

“Then we better get moving,” Kai answered, keeping his eyes on the small dot that was the trio. “The sooner we get there the sooner we can get them back.”

  Destiny had not taken her eyes off the horizon since they had lost the Ninjas. The trip had been filled with silence so far, but she wished she could say the same for her mind. The majority of her thoughts held anger and hate, and the rest of them held the mission in high regards. If she wanted to get those Ninjas off their backs she had to cover as much ground as she could before she reached her limit. Or in their case, water.

“I still think we should’ve stolen a boat,” she spat.

“I’m pretty sure none of you know how to man a boat,” Blake replied.

“And I’m pretty sure you don’t, either,” Janet answered simply. “First time for everything.”

“And might I remind you that we’re surfing blind?” Destiny said. “It’s pitch black out here.”

“Oh just stop you’re whining!” The Gold Ninja produced a large flame and held her arm up.

“I’m not whining. I’m just expressing how we could’ve all been doing the work with a boat instead of only two of us doing the work.”

“I’m guiding you to the island,” Blake said. “That’s playing my part.”

“Well who’s actually getting us there, Blondie?”

“Oh just shut up, both of you,” Janet moaned. “If we’re pulling an all-nighter we need to have as much energy as possible.”

“Just trust me. All of this will pay off in the end,” Blake reassured.

Gradually the night grew older, and the Silver Ninja was soon left with her thoughts. The moon was the only source of light for miles around, reflecting off of the glassy surface of the water. With the slight breeze passing through and the sound of the waves, she was slowly being lulled into sweet slumber. And sleep seemed so good right now . . .

Shaking herself awake, she refocused on the water. But fatigue kept poking at her, and she felt their momentum slow. She strained to keep the wave higher, but the more she tried the lower they got. She put all her energy into raising them higher, but soon the ocean began to crawl its way to them.

That is until they suddenly stopped.

“It’s my shift now.”

Destiny looked to see her sister maintaining their position with a hand on Blake’s ankle, her deep purple eyes appearing to glow. Relaxing, she leaned against her as they propelled forward. Her eyes began to study the movement of the sea, and its rhythmic pace filled her ears.

“I know you really want to get as far away from those guys as possible, but you almost drowned us.”

“Yeah yeah, I know. I’m sorry.” The Ninja turned her attention back to the sea.

“. . . Something else is bothering you.”

Des sighed in annoyance. "It’s nothing. Now focus on the task.”

“I’m going to drop us if you don’t spill.”

She pursed her lips and sighed in frustration. “Fine. It’s those boys.”

“Really? The boys? You’re going to let them get to you?”

“I’m not letting them get to me. I just don’t want another Delshir.”

“We’re not going to have another Delshir. They turned on us, so we’re going to show them what happens when they mess with us.” They’re your team! You can’t fight against them!

Janet furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. I can’t believe I just thought that.

“But those jerks aren’t going to quit.”

“So then we won’t, either.”

Destiny cursed the Ninjas under her breath as she crossed her arms, Janet sighing at the notion.

She felt a pang of some sort in her head, almost as if something was scolding her. But she passed the feeling as a headache. “Just go to sleep before you wake up Blake.”

Zane's POV

By sunrise most of us were already awake. The dragon had resulted to swimming during the night, but I knew that even dragons needed their rest.

“If we continue at this rate we might reach the island before they do,” I stated.

“That is if you don’t count breaks,” Nya added. “I think the dragon’s getting a little tired.” The lightning head growled in agreement.

Looking at the horizon, I switched to Falcon Vision. My friend was much farther than we were, but I couldn’t see any sign of land through him. What I did see were three people riding a current of air. Almost immediately after I had spotted them, he sent their coordinates to me.

“The falcon has spotted them,” I announced, switching back to my original view.

“How far off are they?” Cole asked.

“They're five miles away.”

“Whaddya say, boy? Think you can catch up to 'em?” Lloyd asked.

The fire head roared as if to say, “Of course I can!” Quickly, the dragon rose from the water and took off.

“Zane, can you keep an eye on them?”

With a nod I reconnected with the falcon. But once I did, I found him narrowly avoiding shots from Destiny. “They’ve spotted him! We need to move quickly!” I scarcely felt a hand on my shoulder as I felt our speed increase.

“It’s just a bird! Don’t waste your energy!” Blake snapped.

“It’s not just a bird! It’s Zane’s falcon! They’re tracking us!” Destiny shot.

“And once again I’m the one who has to make like a banana and split!” Janet shot back.

“Well we need to slow them down! I don’t care where they are!” Blake ordered.

“What do you want me to do, make a tsunami?!” Destiny fired.

“Well you’re strong enough to make one!”

“Fine!”

“Destiny’s going to try to slow us down!” I cautioned.

“She can't be that strong!” Kai said.

“You’d be surprised what one is willing to do when they put their mind to it,” Garmadon replied.

I felt the dragon climb toward the sky as I refocused on the trio. There was something dark looming underneath them, and its mass was very concerning.

“There’s something in the water!” Destiny warily warned as the falcon swooped under Blake’s shot.

My friend scanned the shape in the water. Judging by its length and somewhat familiar movements, I could only assume what it was.

The falcon cawed twice urgently, and I spotted a stream of fire becoming extinguished. When I switched back, I found that we had already caught up with them.

“Ohhhh I do not wanna know what that thing is!” Jay said, peering into the water.

Destiny was able to raise a wall of water in front of us, but right before she could send it crashing onto us, the sea erupted behind them. Several tentacles protruded from a squid-like creature, and a fierce roar rattled the sky.

“It’s the Leviathan!” I exclaimed. Janet immediately shot fire at it, agitating it. “Wait! Don’t!”

The Leviathan dove back under the water, and moments later it appeared in front of us.

“Go go go!” Destiny urged.

With one swing the creature knocked the trio aside, scattering them in different directions. Diving back under, it began to make significant ground toward Janet.

“We have to help them!” Kai exclaimed.

“Cole! Take over!” Lloyd exclaimed. After hastily handing the reins off, he jumped off the saddle and summoned his golden dragon, his suit turning golden, as well.

As the rest of us flew after Destiny, she summoned a wave and sprinted toward Blake. Several blasts of water were fired at us, and the ice head froze every single shot. Soon she was able to snatch up Blake, and she began to head toward Janet, who was battling Lloyd while avoiding tentacle swings.

The Silver Ninja sent a wall of water toward us, and we narrowly flew up to avoid it. Blake kept us occupied as Janet and Lloyd shot lightning at the same time. They thrust each other back, and the Leviathan managed to catch Lloyd just in time.

“Janet!” Destiny turned on us immediately with a livid expression, and a silver mist-like substance began to form over an extremely large patch of water.

“The water!” Cole shouted.

“GO UP! GO UP!” Jay screamed.

“What about Lloyd?!” Garmadon said.

As the Leviathan made his way to us with the Green Ninja above water, an enormous wave coated in a silver substance towered over us. Dread fell over us at the mere sight of it, and before we knew it the wave came crashing down.

[I have returned! My house is fine and so is the property, and I'm doing all right. Now I'm just trying to get back into my routine. But, I'm back. :)

Oh! By the way, if you want to know when I've posted go ahead and turn on the notifications to make things easier.]

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[silver-ninja-of-the-tides]

My ask box is always open, but I’m expanding it to my OCs Destiny, Janet, and Blake. Soooo feel free to ask them some questions, but I am not spoiling a thing.

[silver-ninja-of-the-tides]

Silver and Gold

Chapter 12--Insight

(AO3 ver.)

(Prologue Tumblr ver.; AO3 ver.)

3rd person POV

Two of their own were out cold, and he could barely land a hit without getting hit himself.

Blake easily avoided a sword swing and blasted him back square in the chest. He rolled a few times before landing on his stomach, and Destiny was quick to avenge him. The battle between her and Blake was like a vicious dance as they exchanged attacks, and the others with the exception of Sensei Wu were scarcely making a hit.

He stabbed his sword into the ground to force himself to stand, blatantly ignoring his body’s fierce protests. Blake blasted the rest of the team back with a sonic pulse, shattering the heads of most of the lampposts. He figured he wasn’t doing the team any good by fighting in his condition, let alone even being here.

As Wu and the White Ninja continued to bring the fight to Blake, Nya and Destiny stayed behind to help the other male Ninja to his feet.

“You need to head back,” Nya urged. “You can’t fight like this.”

“Not while the team still needs me,” he said, watching Zane get rammed into a pole by a powerful pulse. The girls glanced to Blake and Wu having a stand-off.

“I’ll take him back,” Destiny said. “Go help Sensei.”

Nya worriedly looked from him to Wu, who was now locked in intense combat. With a restrained sigh she joined the old mentor, and the Silver Ninja was practically dragging him away from the fight.

“Hey what are you—”

“Listen to me.” She held him by the shoulders. “You’re going back. Okay? The rest of us can handle Blake and my sister. You’re doing yourself more harm than good if you keep fighting.”

But he wasn’t paying attention to her.

Without warning he yanked her to the ground as another blast skid right over them. The duo raised their heads to see Nya unconscious and their sensei trapped in a dome of dark matter.

Blake took his time walking to them. “You’re helpless against the dark matter. Your team of ‘ninjas’ is nothing against it.”

The duo stood up and readied themselves.

“Heh. Looks like you’re stuck with me,” the Ninja said. The Blue and Black Ninjas, now fully conscious, quickly ran back into the scene to help.

“Take one step further, and Wu ends up like your Gold Ninja.” Upon command, the dome shrunk down two sizes, and the Earth and Lightning Ninjas were forced to watch their comrades battle it out.

“Ninjaaa-GO!” the other two Ninjas shouted.

Their Spinjitzu enveloped them and surrounded Blake, and the trio became a mesh of silver and orange. After taking multiple hits from the Ninjas he slammed an elbow onto his lower back. The orange tornado vanished instantly as its wielder stumbled onto the ground, pain clear on his face.

With a blast of water Blake was shoved away from them, and the silvery tornado died out to reveal Destiny ready to deliver another water whip. The moment he was back on his feet, Destiny charged at him only to be swatted aside by a dark pulse.

“Destiny!” the remaining heroes exclaimed, and Zane and Nya headed straight for Blake.

“No wait!” Cole exclaimed, and the dome shrunk down another size.

“If we get in there he’ll turn Sensei against us!” Jay warned as Blake marched to the fallen Ninja.

“Don’t worry about me!” Wu said, briefly studying the dome. “You must help your team!”

“But we can’t risk losing you, too!” Nya protested.

The fallen Ninja was struggling to sit himself up, and he was falling increasingly helpless against Blake, who was closing in on him.

“Kai! Get out of there!” Zane shouted.

In the palm of the successor’s hand formed a small ball of dark matter, and all the Ninja could do was inch away from him. He tried to reach for his sword, but it was barely within reach.

“We have to do something!” Nya shouted.

“But we’ll lose either way!” Jay exclaimed.

Blake was nearly on top of him, and fear and regret began to take hold of him. The team was pinned down in a corner, and it was all because he was too stubborn to stay behind.

He towered over the fallen Ninja, and the Ninja shut his eyes as he prepared for the worst.

A gust of wind past in front of him, and his eyes flew open just as Destiny hit the ground.

“Noooo!”

“Kai?”

The Red Ninja flinched into the present, and he blinked a few times before looking to his sister.

“You okay?”

He turned his head away from her, his mind barely registering the rest of the team intently discussing how to locate Blake, Janet, and Destiny. I could’ve done something. I could’ve fought my way out or used my surroundings to get myself out of there, but I didn’t. Why couldn’t I just get up?!

He felt like tearing all of Ninjago apart until he could find Blake—the one who started it all.

“It’s my fault that we lost them,” Kai admitted. “If I had just stayed put none of this would’ve happened.“ We would’ve had one of them instead of neither.

Nya placed a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll find Blake, and we’ll get them back. I promise.”

Kai smiled at her. “Thanks, sis.” “… . So we’re wandering around with no plan here?” Jay asked. “What if we actually run into them, huh? Whaddowe do then, yell at the top of our lungs?”

“Earpieces, Jay,” Nya said.

“Oh. Right.”

“I doubt they’d leave the city, so those guys could be anywhere,” Cole said.

“I suggest you all keep sharp eyes out,” Garmadon reminded. “They’ve been trained by another and us.”

“And we all know how evasive Janet and Des were,” Lloyd said.

“Uh, still are,” Jay commented.

 Hidden away from all contact from anyone laid Blake and his newest allies. Now that his first phase was done with, all they had to do was take those Ninjas down once and for all.

But first he had to get to the next phase.

“It reeks down here!” Destiny snapped, holding her nose.

“So what do we need to do?” Janet asked. “We can’t take them out now.”

“We’re laying low until the time is right,” Blake said. “There’s no doubt they’ll be looking for you by now.”

“Yeah. This is low, all right.”

“And the big plan is?” Janet asked.

“We’re going somewhere far from here,” Blake answered, “and you’ll learn how to actually use your powers there.”

“And where exactly are we going?”

Nya’s POV

“No sign of them in the main square,” Dr. Julien’s voice said through my earpiece.

“Nothing from us, either,” I replied. “We’ll keep looking.”

He broke connection as Lloyd and I crossed the street. Activity out in Ninjago City has slowed down since the sun has started to set, but people were a little on edge. With Janet and Des loose on the streets with Blake, I’d be on edge, too.

I glanced to Lloyd, and he seemed focused on other things. He hasn’t spoken much since we’ve left. I wonder what’s on his mind …

“You okay?”

Lloyd looked to me and averted his gaze the next instant. Then he sighed. “I just … can’t seem to wrap my head around something, that’s all.”

“Like what?”

He hesitated. “Well, once you’ve been corrupted by the dark matter there’s no going back. But Janet was fighting against it.”

“Maybe she’s stronger than we thought.”

“It can’t just be that. It’s … something inside her that’s … kind of familiar, but I can’t seem to figure out why.”

“The connection you two share might have something to do with it.”

“I think you’re right …”

“It’s the Rogue Ninja!” someone shouted. Both of us turned around to see someone dart past a building, and we exchanged glances before going after them.

“Man. People already have a name for them.”

“You know how Gayle is with her news,” I said. The runner darted right into the street and was nearly hit by more than a few cars. Luckily for us they got a red light.

“If we split up maybe we can catch them!”

“Got it!”

I followed after our runner as I weaved my way through the crowd. The culprit expertly avoided passing people, earning a lot of surprised exclamations. I caught something dull hop onto the top of a bench just as a bus was going by, and I pushed my way faster to catch up. But by the time I made it through, they were gone.

“I lost track of him,” I said. “What about you?”

“I got ‘em on the run! They’re on the roof!” Lloyd exclaimed. “Why do these guys like roofs so much?”

I looked above me to see him right on their tail up on the roofs of several shops. “I’ll stay down here in case they decide to pull a—”

Suddenly he yelled, and I watched him get blown off the roof. Citizens made surprised exclamations as he rolled to a stop, and I halted in my place as the runner easily landed by means of air. Seconds later people were running from the scene, and I had to avoid getting run over by some of them.

Lloyd slowly got to his feet and looked the enemy in the eye. “Janet! I know you’re still in there!”

“Nya, Kai says the falcon’s picked up activity in your area,” Zane said. “Is everything all right?”

“We’ve found Janet, but don’t move in just yet,” I said. “If things get too heated we’ll—”

A blast of air knocked me back, and I managed to grab onto a lamppost in the process.

“Nya?!” Jay called in a panic.

“Everything’s fine! Just a little windy!” A yelp escaped me as my grip nearly slipped.

“We’re coming, Nya!”

“Jay, we can handle this! Just focus on the mission.”

“At least let Zane and me help!” The wind died down as Janet focused more of her attention on fighting Lloyd.

I couldn’t help sighing. “Fine, but just you two. We need as many of us as possible out on the field if we’re going to find the other two.” I slid down the lamppost and tried to make my way to Janet from behind.

“Going for Round Three?” she taunted.

“I’m not fighting you,” Lloyd argued, and he narrowly flipped over a stream of fire.

“Remember how that worked last time?”

She shot ice right at his head, and the biting element scraped his shoulder. A jolt of lightning came hurtling toward him, and he countered it with his own stream. The instant their elements met it knocked them back, Janet crashing into me in the process.

“We’re too even!” Lloyd stressed.

The Gold Ninja locked on to me, and she was quick to surround herself with Spinjitzu. I backed away and skimmed the area for a weapon. Snatching a crowbar, I whacked her in what I hoped was her shoulder, and her tornado lurched to the left before sputtering out.

Spikes of earth suddenly surrounded and crossed over Janet, and I took the opportunity to get to Lloyd’s side. It took her no time to shatter the spikes, and she immediately turned to charge right at us. Both fire and air were hurled at us, but Lloyd fired his green powers in reply. Their elements met in the middle, and both of them pushed against the other.

“You have to fight back!” he tried to persuade her. “I know you have it in you!”

Janet bared her teeth as she put more force into her elements, and the Green Ninja was forced to make his element stronger. Gradually, he began to slide back. I have to think of some way to help!

Suddenly her elements flickered, and the stream of green became greater for an instant. She squeezed her eyes shut, and for some reason Lloyd did, too.

“He’s … planning to leave …” she grunted.

“… Who?” Lloyd forced out.

“Blake …” Janet pushed herself to keep her stream going, but she was gradually pulling back.

“Where is he going?” I pressed.

“He’s … going to …”

Lloyd furrowed his eyebrows in concentration, and Janet mirrored him.

“The Dark Island …”

His green eyes flew open with a shocked expression, and suddenly he flew back.

“Lloyd!” I bolted for him just as I heard Janet let out a loud breath. “Are you okay?!”

He forced himself to sit up. “There’s something in her definitely fighting back. I just … ,” he restrained a grunt as he stood up, “can’t seem to figure out what.”

Janet studied us, and gold sparked up in her hand as her sword materialized.

I stood to face her. “Janet, if you’re in there, tell us when he’s leaving.”

Her hand tightened over the hilt, and she fought to loosen it. “I … I don’t know.” She lingered for a bit longer, and she growled as her sword vanished. Her hands tightened to fists, and she quickly darted off. Narrowing my eyes, I ran after her.

“Wait!”

Lloyd’s urgency made me stop. “If we follow her she’ll lead us to Des and Blake!”

“We need to tell everyone about his plan. There has to be a reason why he’s going to the Dark Island.”

I glanced back to where I last saw Janet. As much as I want to go after her, he’s right. Whatever reason he has for going back to that island can’t be good.

The falcon cawed from above, and I spotted it slowing to a hover.

“Garmadon says there might be a way to reverse the effects of the dark matter,” Kai said. “I already told the others to meet back home.”

“Reverse the effects?” I asked.

“He can’t remember what it’s called, but if it means getting them back, them I’m all for it.”

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[silver-ninja-of-the-tides]

Silver and Gold

Chapter 11--Corrupted

(AO3 ver.)

(Prologue Tumblr ver.; AO3 ver.)

Janet's POV

My legs gave out from under me, but I managed to catch myself before I could fall. Something was tearing away at me from the inside, and I felt like I was on pins and needles. Sound faded in and out, and my heart began to pound in my ears.

"Janet! Get up!" Des cried. "What's wrong . . ."

". . . dark matter!” Zane exclaimed.

‘Fight the darkness! Find the light within yourself!’ a voice urged in my head. Who . . . who was that . . . ?

I squeezed my eyes shut as the numbing feeling carved its way into me. “Go . . .”

“I’m not leaving you! I’m not—losing you!” Des stated. “Isn’t there a-- . . ."

“I . . . am afraid not . . .” Sensei said, his voice filled with dread.

The numbness paused as I strained to focus on any light left inside me, but I couldn’t hold it back for much longer.

Dark matter began to pulse through me, and my eyes were slow to open. I could hear my labored breathing, and the rest of me began to relax.

"Janet?" Nya called hesitantly. I'm surrounded. I can fix that.

I abruptly shot a pulse of wind at the person in front of me, and a few people in the group shouted protests.

“Sensei!” the group exclaimed. The group pulled away from me as I stood, and the earth stirred a bit the second I laid eyes on them.

“You! What did you do to her?!” Des demanded.

“Your sister’s mine now!” Blake fired back from behind me.

My sister balled her fists. “You're gonna get it, Blake!"

“We can’t fight both of them!” Jay said. “Janet’s too powerful on his side!”

“Hello? Ultimate Spinjitzu Master here?” Lloyd reminded.

“Oh. Right.”

I merely summoned a gold sword in response, and spikes protruded from the blade once I stepped forward. But suddenly a bamboo staff pressed itself against my collarbone, and I viciously fought against it.

I flung Wu over my head, and he managed to land on his feet as the rest of the group split into two. This is what I get for trusting these guys.

Destiny's POV

With one stomp the earth knocked us all into the air, but Jay was the first to recover.

"Try not to hurt her!" I exclaimed

Then Jay made contact with Janet's gold tornado, sending her into a wheel barrel the next instant.

"I said don't hurt her!"

"Sorry!"

I ran to Blake as he was being kicked in the side by Nya, and I sent a small wave at Blake only for him to shove it aside with a dark pulse. He caught my fist and kicked toward the spot she used to be at, and I heard Jay yell before a thud followed afterwards.

I pushed against Blake as he barely ducked a punch from Cole, and I was able to knee his gut. I bent back to avoid a swinging punch before flipping over his head as he was struck by a hard kick. Before I knew it I was engulfed in a silver whirlwind streaked with aqua.

"You did it!" Nya cheered.

I clashed with Blake, who was sucked into my tornado and could barely avoid my attacks.

"You have a lot of spunk. I like spunk," Blake commented.

I shoved him out of the whirlwind and ceased spinning, and Cole and Nya were quick to lock him in combat. I heard someone hit the ground, and I looked to see Janet hurl a boulder at Kai. I hastily wrapped water around him and yanked him toward me, and the boulder missed his head by inches. "That was close!" he breathed. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," I said. “Now please stay in one piece.”

Jay and Sensei broke from the others to help out Cole and Nya, and soon Lloyd was the only one able to keep up with my sister.

"You wouldn't have a head if I didn't see you sooner." "And I happen to need it," Kai replied.

“Ironic when sometimes you don’t even use it.”

Right when we were about to head toward Janet and Lloyd, a ring of earth surrounded them. He flipped over a stream of fire, and a pillar of earth rose between me and the blast before I knew it. Did she just . . .

“I can handle this! Help the others!” he shouted. Janet’s eyes glanced to us, and the ring rose to become a wall.

“I think she was trying to protect us,” Zane guessed.

“But the dark matter corrupted her,” I argued. “Unless . . .”

“She’s fighting against it!” Kai concluded.

Lloyd's POV

I rolled under a blast of lightning that made my hair stand on end, and behind me a chunk of the earth wall flew out. I was quick to retaliate with a blast of ice that she was quick to melt.

“I know you’re still in there,” I said. “You wouldn’t put this wall up if you weren’t fighting it.”

“Talking isn’t going to do anything!” she snapped.

She charged at me with a dimmed Spinjitzu, and I had no choice but to meet her the same way. I avoided all of her blows and tried to stun her every chance I got, but we were too evenly matched.

Both of us fired an element at each other, but we ended up thrusting each other back. We dazedly stood up after a few moments, and her hands were quick to ignite. The fire made her purple eyes stand out, that look of pure hatred making her seem pretty intimidating.

She fired twice at me, and I was barely able to avoid them along with a blast of lightning. Suddenly she drew her arms back, and the wind threatened to pick up.

“Go,” she snapped.

“W-what?”

“I said go! Before I change my mind—” She squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head to the side, lightning flickering in her hand. The memory of my father fighting the Overlord’s possession flashed in my mind. But this was completely different! Once you’ve been corrupted by the dark matter there’s no going back. So how is she—

“Nooo!” Kai shouted.

I looked over my shoulder at outburst, and the next thing I knew, I was soaring into the air. I slammed into the ground with a nasty thud, and I struggled to raise my head to see the earth wall lower. A hand helped me sit up, and I looked to see my uncle by me. The rest of the team was worn out despite them only fighting against Blake.

But Des was missing.

“W-where’s Des?” I asked.

“Right here.”

We all looked to see Blake walking toward us beside Des, who was corrupted by the dark matter. Janet summoned her sword again with her eyes locked onto us, and she began to march toward us.

"Ease down, Janet," Blake ordered, and she reluctantly came to a halt before dismissing her sword.

“Whatever plan you have with them, we will stop it,” Uncle stated.

"With the Gold Ninja as my ally, I think not. Your ‘Ultimate Spinjitzu Master’ hardly stood a chance. And I’m not the Overlord. I’m his successor.”

The team made exclamations of shock.

"You’re his successor?" Jay asked. “Since when does the Overlord have a successor? Especially one like you.”

“I’m not just anyone, Blue Ninja,” Blake retorted. “I was made from the dark matter.”

"But the matter doesn't have the power to create,” Zane objected. “It can only corrupt.”

"Believe me. The Overlord has his ways.”

Des and Janet used fire and water to craft a smoke screen (it’s more like a steam screen in this case), and within seconds the square was covered in thick steam. Kai darted through the steam after them, but when everything was cleared, the trio was gone.

"What—just—happened?!" Jay asked. "Our friends have been corrupted by the dark matter and—”

“Zane, it was a rhetorical question.”

“There has to be a way to get them back,” Nya stated.

Uncle helped me stand. “My only guess is defeating the Overlord’s successor.”

“Then we’ll find them,” Kai concluded firmly. “And we’ll get them back.”

“Ninjas of Ninjago! Can you answer a few questions?” Gayle Gossip asked, her news team trailing behind her. How is she still here?!

“Uhh now’s not really the best time for that,” I tried to say, but she kept pressing us. And by us I mean me.

“Green Ninja, is Ninjago City safe with the new evil Ninjas loose on the streets? Who was that boy with them? Is a new threat now taking over Ninjago in the form of rogue Ninjas and their leader?”

“Everything is under control,” Uncle said. “Now if you will excuse us, we need to um . . . regroup. Uh good day.” He ushered us away from the news team, and luckily they were quickly occupied by witnesses.

“I can't believe we lost against one guy,” Cole said, defeated.

“And we would’ve still had them if we just—”

“Enough!” Uncle ordered, cutting Kai off. “We will get them back. Right now we must focus on today before we focus on tomorrow.”

(First chapter) (Next chapter) (Previous chapter)

[silver-ninja-of-the-tides]

So just finished book 1 and I have to say it was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!! I loved it so so much!! And I'm curious, how did you think of these characters?

I’m so glad you liked it! 😁

Hoo boy. I hope you like long stories ‘cause this’ll be a while. Also my thought process was kinda all over the place now that I look back at it. 😂

So back when Season 2 ended and there was that giant hiatus, I was thinking “I wonder if there’ll be a water ninja” since there was the four elements and all that. And then I was thinking “what would happen if there was someone else similar to Lloyd and could rival his power?” So thus Destiny and Janet entered the concept stage.

I really liked the name Destiny so I gave that name to her, and my sister picked the name Janet. Janet was kinda inspired by my sister so I made Des and Janet sisters and went from there.

Since Janet is basically the more level-headed one, I had Des as the one with the temper, so Janet more or less helped me figure out Des’s character and whatnot. For their suits since there was already a Blue Ninja I had Des as silver, and to show that Janet had a connection to Lloyd I had her as gold. (Here are their suits in case you haven’t seen them.)

For Blake, I wanted to play around with the idea of the Overlord coming back but not him exactly. So originally I had Blake as his son but much much later down the line I thought “well that’s stupid and more or less impossible.” Thus he became his successor instead. And for his name I basically came up with it on the fly and it fit so I went with it. I also wondered how things would go if he also started having feelings for Des, so I played around with that.

Then there was the matter of the sisters’ backstory. I wanted to start with their parents so I had their dad teach them to fight. Since I had to figure out how to get the girls on their way to Ninjago City, I had something happen to their parents (which we’ll be going into more detail with in Book 2) that led Janet and Des to think their parents were gone for good. It also led them to not trust other people very easily. (On a side note, I wrote something about their first time in Ninjago City in Tales of Silver and Gold if you’re curious about that).

By the time Season 3 came around I more or less had the sisters and Blake figured out, and that’s kinda the time I had first started writing Book 1 (on the Lego Message Boards, actually. I was fawn447 there). As the series went on I began to tweak things about Janet and Des like what Des’s actual element is and how Janet can wield the four elements. And we won’t be touching upon that bit until we get to Season 4 territory.

Janet’s own element which is wind didn’t really come to mind until Season 4 came around, and then Season 5 aired and I had to figure out how to work with that (which I did, thankfully, and I’m so excited to write that. I don’t like going against canon so I basically work with it while making sure my characters make sense).

I hope that answered your question! Pretty sure I started rambling since I got excited writing this so sorry about that.