Chapter Text
Ah the wind, it's a mesh of different scents, usually just the smell of the ocean and salt. But there was something different here, the faint smell of fire and smoke. Usually a sign of disaster on the water, manmade or natural. She didn't sense that this water was anything like the Boiling Sea, if it was, she would've known immediately. High temperatures like that tend to be obvious, they also tend to set parts of the ocean on fire. How did that work? Great question, ask the First Spinjitzu Master. She wasn't close enough to the origin to tell. She suspected it was manmade, that tended to be her luck.
Nya walked across the deck of the boat, joining the group near the front. Tang was sitting down, notebook in hand as he jotted things down. She suspected it was of the events of the day, then again she didn't know him well enough to know for sure. Pigsy kept near the front of the ship, holding onto the railing as he gazed ahead, occasionally looking back at MK and Mei. Those two in question were goofing off, MK playing with the staff and making fun poses. Nya narrowed her eyes at that in a sense of judgement and worry.
Growing up at The Four Weapons in Ignacia, weapons weren't to be played with. They were to be handled with care, precision, and purpose. Those weapons that Kai and her created were their key to living, playing with weapons meant playing with death. And this was a legendary weapon of some powerful warrior that she STILL knows nothing about. Sure, he might not be playing with death specifically but that didn't erase the fact that it was making her inner blacksmith twitch a little.
And then there was Arin, he was sitting down at the rail of the boat, waving at Mei to sit down with him, which she eventually did with her phone in hand. It looked like she was recording MK. Nya was glad that they were having fun…weapon misuse aside.
Tang seemed to notice her approaching, scrambling to sit up as he scuttled towards her.
“Nya, you're just who I wanted to talk to!” He spun his pen in between his fingers, “Normally I keep notebooks for myths or extremely important events, but I think your situation qualifies. If you don't mind, I have a few questions about you and your realm…by a few I mean a lot.”
Ah, she was expecting this sooner or later. It was good to have a sense of curiosity, just be careful to not disregard common sense. Wow, she sounded like Lloyd there.
“Oh yeah, of course. Go for it.” Nya nodded, a hand on her hip.
The flood gates opened, “Great! So how do elemental powers in your realm work? Does everyone in your realm have powers? How did you get elemental powers? Is it natural, a selection? Do you have celestials and demons as well? Or do they have different names? Maybe different beings all together? None at all? Oh! Do you-”
“Alright, I'm going to stop you right there.” She made a motion with her hands, overwhelmed with all the questions. “Try again, but slow.”
“Ah, ahem. Right, sorry. I get excited sometimes.” He chuckled sheepishly, “Alright, so elemental powers, how do they work in your realm?”
“Elemental powers are extremely rare, passed down through genetics. However, there can only be one master of a specific element at a time. Once a parent passes down their element, it's no longer theirs.”
“Oh, what happens if there are twins? Or if the elemental master dies? Does the power just have nowhere to go?”
“If they're twins, then it goes to the firstborn and the second child gets nothing. But, if it's an elemental power that has the ability to be split, then it goes to both twins.” Nya walked closer to the rail, leaning on it, “if the elemental master dies, the elemental power transports itself to another realm and goes to a new person just born or otherwise. I've met multiple exceptions to this rule so take what I'm saying with a grain of salt.”
“Salts taken…” Tang jotted down bits and pieces of what Nya was saying, shortening them into bullet points. “Do you have any demons or celestials?”
Nya inhaled through her teeth, “Not exactly. We have Oni and Dragons but they don't originate from Ninjago. They're actually from the First Realm, Oni having the power of destruction while Dragons have the power of creation. The First Spinjitzu Master, the creator of Ninjago, was both Oni and Dragon. One of my closest friends, Lloyd, is actually his grandson.”
“Like a hybrid of sorts, that's awesome! Oh! That reminds me! You never told me what Spinjitzu was.” Tang readjusted his glasses, his eyes locked onto Nya. “Sounds important to know, I think.”
“Right! Spinjitzu is a martial art technique, it's used by spinning rapidly to create a tornado of energy. Nobody automatically knows Spinjitzu, it's something you have to have taught to you. It's not limited to elemental masters though so anyone can learn it. That's one of the reasons Arin is so special, he figured out how to teach himself Spinjitzu. It wasn't perfect but it was still Spinjitzu.” She readjusted some of her loose hair, “That’s really the simplest way I can put it.”
“...oh wow, that sounds epic! Is it just spinning then? What's special about how you spin..? I'm a bit confused about the application.”
Nya nodded to herself for a second, pondering on how to go about this. Spinjitzu was both easy and difficult to explain. From an outside perspective, it's simple. Just spin into a tornado, done! But the actual application was way more complicated. You have to spin while keeping balance, true unbothered balance. That was why Master Wu was so adamant about his obstacle courses. Once you master that, just input those movements and mindset into your Spinjitzu. Of course, she could've just said all of this out loud and been done with it. Stress must really be getting to her head…and whatever this static feeling ended up being. Maybe once she catches one of the other ninja, she can know for sure. Just…say what she was thinking, easy.
“The trick is having balance, true unadulterated balance. Master Wu, the one who taught all of us Spinjitzu, insisted on using obstacle courses to help with the motions. Once you master that flow and motion, Spinjitzu comes a lot more naturally.”
“All of you?” Tang paused his writing, looking back up at Nya with a bit of confusion. “You mean there are more of you traveling through different realms?”
“Oh we're not traveling per say, we more so…got banished.” She gave a sheepish smile, it didn't sound good to say out loud. Saying you got banished from a whole entire REALM is a crazy sentence in the first place. She didn't expect it to happen, she expected to beat Thunderfang and go back home. Not be punished for his crimes along with him.
“YOU GOT WHAT?!”
“Banished?” Pigsy spoke up, overhearing the conversation as he turned to face them. “You didn't say anything about being banished.”
“It's not something you bring up when you meet someone.” Nya crossed her arms, “it's not that we were intentionally hiding it either, I think that we were wrongfully banished, all for the sake of protecting the order of the world. We're ninja, protectors of the realm, we're not evil people.”
“It's still important to know. I'm not taking any chances with randos who fall out of the sky.” Pigsy drew closer to the two, “in fact, I'm surprised all of you immediately decided to trust these guys.”
“Well, yeah, they protected me or at least attempted to. That deserves some trust.” MK jumped into the conversation, holding the staff more loosely in his hands. He paused for a moment before chuckling guiltily, “Right, eavesdropping, sorry.”
“It's fine kid.” Pigsy sighed, “Look, I'm glad that you tried helping MK, I really am. But there are a lot of rotten people and demons in this world, ones that you don't see coming until it's too late. I'm just trying to make sure that nobody gets hurt in that way.”
“I understand, it's a noble effort.” Nya nodded, “It's good not to trust someone immediately, you never know their true colors until you get to know them.”
“You're not helping your case too much but you're right.” Pigsy looked back out towards where the boat was headed, the sea line vast. They still had a little while to get there.
“Nonono, go back to the banished part.” Tang moved his hands wildly, “How do you get banished from A WHOLE REALM?! And how many of you were there anyway?!”
First Spinjitzu Master, she hated this topic. She hated it all with a burning passion. Why did they get banished? It was completely unfair. For the balance of the world? Come on, Thunderfang's Chaos Tears were throwing the world out of balance, it was in balance before he was released. How did they get involved in the punishment??
“The Source Dragons wanted to banish Thunderfang, a dragon of chaos. But in order to do that they had to get rid of a large source of order within the realms. And apparently that was the ten of us. Although oddly enough, two more people were added on. Some Mercenary called Rogue and Ras, one of our enemies. I don't know the Mercenary all too well, but I know Ras is pure trouble. Why would they classify what he's done as “Order?” Besides, Thunderfang was throwing all balance out of order anyway, so they should've just banished him! They didn't even give us a chance to say goodbye! And Cole-” Nya paused her ranting, her angry tone shifting into something vaguely resembling mourning. “...Cole got left behind. He probably doesn't even know what's going on, he's stuck back in the Merged Lands believing we're dead. If this banishment doesn't have a loophole, we'll never see each other again. Jay too…I'll never be able to bring him back to us. He's stuck on the wrong side and there's nothing I can do about it. I'll never get his love back…”
This situation isn't like others she's been a part of. It's not some obstacle to get around, this could possibly be her new home realm. She didn't know when the other ninja were getting here, and that was a stressful thought. She'll hold on until then, no problem. It'll just be a uh, bumpy ride. She took a deep breath running her fingers through her loose hair. Calm down…deep breaths. It doesn't have to be perfect, just calm.
That static feeling has grown again throughout her rant, it was difficult to ignore. The feeling of small needles digging harshly into her skin, it's not pleasant. But through that static there was some strange surge of power. Just a gentle flow circling through her. …What was going on with her elemental powers? Last time something similar happened was with Woljira, even then there wasn't this static feeling. Just…push forward.
“Uh, Nya…?” She heard Arin mutter, a frown morphing onto his face. “You’re uhm…”
“You're glowing.” Tang pointed out bluntly, lighting pointing at her.
“What? Where?” She raised her eyebrows, looking at her hands for any glow but none was within sight.
“It's your markings, they're glowing…” Arin spoke up louder, concerned at what exactly this means.
Nya's expression dropped as she immediately turned her body, arcing her hand around as water flowed into her hand from the ocean. It was formed into a small reflective bubble. She peered into it, and yeah she was definitely glowing. The marking from her time merged with the ocean was gently glowing and aqua blue.
This has…never happened before. Her markings were always dormant, they never glowed like they did when she merged with the sea.
“I don't-” Nya hesitated, her words tripping over themselves. “I don't understand, this shouldn't happen. They should never…”
“I'll take that it's not normal then.” Tang commented awkwardly, as if he didn't know what to say in this situation.
Mei and Arin had gotten up, dragging MK alongside them to see what Nya's situation was. It was likely that they were eavesdropping on the whole thing. Their own conversation had stopped a while ago.
“Hold on…” Mei leaned in closer, “Those markings-”
BOOM!!!!
A geyser slammed into the boat, knocking crates off the ship and everyone not stabilized off balance. Nya stumbled, bending her knees to anchor herself. Tang was unlucky, falling over onto his back, the poor guy kept falling. MK flailed a little but ultimately kept his balance. Pigsy had been holding onto the railing once again so he turned out to be fine. Mei took a tumble, not stable at all, Arin however had caught her, now hoisting her back onto her feet safely.
“Huh?” Arin and MK shared the same thought, everyone looking at what was ahead of them.
A giant ring of volcanos, that explained the smell. Fuck.
“Welcome to the Flaming Mountains, gang! A volcanic ring surrounds the mountain making it virtually impassable. This path is the only safe way through. That's as close as the boat can get.” Sandy called out from on top of the ship, seemingly not having been in earshot of the conversation beforehand. “Just... be careful.”
Ah right, giant Bull King trying to take over this realm, another big baddie to take down.
MK spoke up this time, “Okay, we'll figure out the weird mystical glowing markings mystery after we return the staff to Monkey King! We need to get through the mountains, so who's coming?”
Arin jumped in, “We're all here, who'd back ou-”
“Not me.” Tang took multiple steps back, collapsing dramatically on the ground. “My ankle is incredibly weak, I don't want to weigh you down. Plus volcanoes are by definition HOT! I'll melt there!! I'd love to meet Monkey King, but I'm afraid you must go on.”
Arin gave him a dumbfounded look, before gazing back at MK. “...is he always like that?”
“Unfortunately yeah, that lazy freeloader doesn't know when to start working.” Pigsy responded instead, pinching the bridge of his nose. “One of these days, I'm actually going to kill you Tang.”
Tang was now fanning himself with his hand, waving his ankle in the air.
“Death by heat or death by Pigsy!” He yelled out, “See what I have to deal with Sandy?”
“Oh my-” Pigsy rolled his eyes, “Fine, stay here all Cozy. Everyone else will go play the hero.”
Tang smirked, “I knew you loved me.”
Pigsy was going to say something but gave up. Pigsy and Tang huh? Nya wouldn't have expected that one. Anything's possible when you don't know other people. For all you know they could be leading an evil biker gang set on resurrecting your friend's father, you never know.
“... Alright, let's go then. Don't want your whole city to fall to a big bull.” Nya took a deep breath, it's like MK said, focus on that later. Even if it's probably more pressing than that, they've got evil plans to stop.
Save the world…heh, easy.
★—-------★
Past
Present
Future
Normal concepts of time, everyone is aware of them, everyone has a sense of them. Some focus too hard on the past, some focus too hard on the future, and some are grounded in the present. All of them are dangerous if you focus too hard on a specific one. You have to have a balance between them, have them separated. Learning that was a difficult process, but it was manageable. Personally, it was easier to focus on the present without the constant gnawing of the future and past. But of course, the past is haunting. It's filled with so many horrors, so many mistakes, so much pain. You can't take that back, that's what makes the past the past.
There's been a voice, there's always been for a while. Or rather, there will be a voice, there was in the past as well. Whispering and commanding, ordering…it's unpleasant. Every time the voice emerged, it was the same, cold and wispy and always feminine. It was never expected to change, that's just how the future laid down the path. All the different possibilities of the future.
Recently, it shifted. There was another branch, all the other voices were erased from those possibilities. There was no real way to know what caused this, from a quick check, nothing was found. It kept its other properties before, keeping cold and commanding. But it was more shrill, more sharp. It didn't sound the same anymore, it didn't sound as feminine as it used to, as formal and put together. It didn't sound masculine but it definitely didn't sound feminine either. Even though the voice itself was different, the presence inside the voice wasn't unnoticed.
All of the other voices and chatter that have been heard have also been changed, ever so slightly. Voices that weren't there before added into the mix, their chatter, their overwhelming chatter:
“A new power? Interesting” silky and hungry, definitely a demon.
“Goddamn it! Stop! This isn’t what we agreed!” betrayed and helpless, that same shrill voice…
“Still. Or you're dead.” Deadpan and serious, stuck in a state of survival.
“And you, wind lady, have PISSED ME OFF!!!” Done with everything and aggressive, wind lady? What an odd way of speaking.
Those were the ones that were able to be heard clearly. Hearing everything at once made it difficult to pick out, but some were more clearly heard than the others. One's that were more likely to happen. It wasn't good to rely on the future that was heard, they're all possibilities, not guaranteed. Hearing so many things so clearly was rare and honestly concerning.
And then the noises quieted, and eventually disappeared until activation once again. A clenching of the fists, a sigh. And then back into the shadows.
Apparently the Demon Bull King himself had risen back into the mortal realm, trying to enact whatever plan he had. The guy still thought he had a chance here, he may be powerful but he isn't on top of the world. No matter how many times he may try to claw his way up, he'll always come crashing down. There were more pressing problems than him.
Soon, there will be trouble, a havoc released onto the world, a deadly silence that balances past, present, and future. Encompassing everything in unmoving ice. The voice would call it perfect.
I don't believe it.
★—-------★
Volcanos.
The last time Nya vividly remembered volcanos it was with the golden weapons. Which was a really long time ago now. She wasn't a big fan of the heat, it messed with her perception as well as her energy. Nobody wants to fight in the middle of a volcano. It's a big no. And yet every time there's always a fight there. All of that being said, crossing this pathway to Flower Fruit Mountain gave her a bad feeling. There was something in the air, other than the soot. She didn't like it. Pigsy, Mei, MK, Arin, and her had headed off the boat, setting foot on the ashen lands. As expected, it was hot and barren, geysers of lava spewed into the air occasionally. So it was active, great. She took another look at her reflection in the water before she caught up with the others. Her markings were still glowing faintly. She hated not knowing why, it was gnawing at her.
“Stupid Sandy. Stupid Tang. Staying cozy in his stupid boat. What did I do to deserve this, Noodle Gods?” Pigsy looked up at the sky, but next to him a geyser erupted. He barely dodged it, “AHHH!!”
“Careful, piggy! Eeeee!” Another geyser erupted as Mei talked, she dodged it as well. “You gotta wonder why Monkey King decided to live here of all places.”
“Speaking of, you never told us anything about him. All me and Nya managed to figure out was that he's a legendary hero of some kind. And uh, also the king of monkeys for some reason.” Arin trudged forward, asking the question Nya was going to ask.
“You don't know about Monkey King?! How!!??” MK stopped for a second, realizing his mouth moved faster than his brain. “Not from this realm, right. Wow, where do I start? Tang told me all the stories I need to know, including some things about DBK! Monkey King though! I know his whole life, I documented all of it!!”
“Oh boy, here we go. Strap in everyone.” Mei commented, if she was able to spawn popcorn out of thin air, she would definitely have some in her hands.
“There's a story called Journey to the West that tells the whole story of the pilgrimage!! Monkey King is an extremely powerful, awesome, and mystical warrior who was born from stone! He has amazing powers and magic, plus a whole stack of immortality, it's like almost 11 stacks or something but we'll get there later. He was so powerful that the celestial realm wanted to stop him, it didn't help that he was incredibly mischievous. But no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't stop him!! But through a fight, they managed to contain him down in a mountain for 100 years. During that time, the great monk Tang Sanzang was tasked with the pilgrimage to the West and he needed protection and a guide, so Monkey King was tasked with this. In order to keep him in line, he actually used a golden pain crown, which was basically torture if you're asking me, completely unnecessary.”
MK continued to ramble on about Monkey King and the events of the pilgrimage, Nya found it pretty incredible that beings in this realm were so powerful. It didn't take long for MK to grow off track, throwing in bits and pieces of later information. The whole story of the Monkey King, what she could gather went like this: Powerful immortal monkey goes on a journey with a monk and a group of demons (and a dragon horse for some reason, MK didn't really dwell on that one). On this journey, there is a lot of kicking demon ass. She did feel like he skimmed over a lot of stuff though.
“...it was incredibly cool to figure that one out!! Oh yeah!! You know when Monkey King had to get through the Flaming Mountains he actually used Princess Iron Fan's fan to blow-”
A gust of wind swept over the volcanic land, a menacing laugh flowing through it. The winds gathered in the air, circling in a tornado. What is it with tornadoes? Can everyone stop it with all the storms and tornadoes, she's had enough for her whole life. The winds dispersed, revealing a familiar figure emerging from it. Princess Iron Fan, heh, speak of the devil and it appears.
“Well, well, well. Aren't you a little Monkey King fanboy?” She held what Nya now knows to be a giant fan in her hand, she hovered it over the lava, the winds controlling its path as it erupted into a fireball. She swung her fan forward, releasing the fireball at the group.
“GET DOWN!!” Nya yelled, jumping in front as she created a wall of water. There was a large splash as the fireball impacted into the wall, she heard the sizzling as it evaporated. The water fell to the ground, returning to the shoreline behind them.
“Kids! Everyone, okay?” Pigsy scrambled to check everyone, especially concerned about MK.
“Still kicking.” Mei groaned, looking up at Nya. “Wow that lady's badass…”
Princess Iron Fan laughed, “I'll be taking that staff now.”
“This belongs to the Monkey King. There's no way I'm letting you take it.” MK shouted back, clutching the staff tightly in his hands.
“Oh, you're just a little Noodle Boy playing at being a hero. Sorry to disappoint. Playtime is over.” The winds picked up again, visible as they swirled.
MK gritted his teeth, leaping into the air and straight at Princess Iron Fan. He fell for her taunt, Nya could see the princess’s grin widen from here. He spun in for a strike.
“Kid no!” Pigsy yelled out, but it was too late for any persuasion.
A wire shot through the air, wrapping around MK's waist before he could get farther. Arin had released his grappling hook, thinking incredibly fast. Nya gave him some credit, he was a quick thinker when he wanted to be. MK was yanked back, crashing into Pigsy's arms. Iron Fan gritted her teeth, her eyes narrowing in annoyance.
“Dang it kid, don't jump off into danger like that!” The pig said, letting MK stand. A geyser went off in front of them, that would've been really bad if MK fell into it.
“Good job Arin.” Nya nodded at him, before facing Princess Iron Fan.
“No biggie, just trying not to let him make the same mistakes I have.” He gave her a thumbs up.
“Water Demon…pesky brat. You've been making today very difficult.” She looked down at her, hovering in the air. “Have you no concept of who you're fighting?”
“None at all. Except that your bark is way bigger than your bite.” She grinned at her opponent. Here she was in the boiling heat, fighting with water. Great idea, what could go wrong. “Also not a demon, told you this already. Are you deaf too?”
She got a scoff from that.
“Well then, it's your life to forfeit.” Iron Fan's eyes lit up in a blazing orange, her body looked like it glitched for a second, intense speed following her. In a blink she was right in front of Nya, swinging her fan forward. On reflex only, she jumped to the side, avoiding the burst of wind the fan summoned. The onslaught continued, Iron Fan releasing quick and intense winds as she swung her fan. Nya took out her spear, weaving out of the way just barely of the blows. She had to get closer, staying on the defensive will only lead to exhaustion, especially in this area.
Nya sprinted to the side, guiding her trident to arc and strike at the bull princess. Iron Fan blocked it, their two weapons colliding. The water ninja spun her trident, using the back of the spear to get a good hit in on Iron Fan. It slammed into her forehead, no doubt going to leave a bruise if beings in this realm had the same healing as her. Princess Iron Fan gritted her teeth, the winds picking up once again. The good thing about these types of wind powers is that they're not invisible, you're able to see them. They were a lot easier to dodge that way, the bad thing is that wind is an incredibly powerful element if used correctly. And she was using it…alright, it felt as though she was holding back a lot. Which was concerning, but then again, Nya wasn't exactly going all out either. Princess Iron Fan was doing all of this with just one hand, and that looked like one hell of a fan. The winds pushed against her body, sending her back a few feet. Nya stumbled, catching herself as the bull princess swatted the air with her fan. A sharp blade of wind bolted through, Nya twisting her body barely to get out of the way. The wind slashed through a bit of her cheek, blood now slowly flowing down her face. Nya gasped, her eyes wide. The wound didn't hurt too much, the stinging felt similarly to a paper cut. What shocked her, was the fact that it cut her in the first place. How was it even that sharp, it shouldn't be possible. Iron Fan covered herself in wind, vanishing from thin air. Damn it, where'd she-
A gust of wind hit her back, drawing out a yell as she was violently thrown across the land and past the shoreline. It wasn't high enough where she could use the saves to recover. So instead she painfully splashed into the ocean, her back impacting into the water. Damn it damn it damn it! The static instantly got worse, an overwhelming buzz in her nerves and ring in her ears. It was uncomfortable before, just pins and needles. Now it was like her body was on fire, bubbles escaped her mouth as she yelled in pain. The ocean was dark and suffocating, she's never felt so out of place in the water before. Yet that's what it is, water. She's the elemental master of WATER damn it! She should be in tune with the waves, not struggling against them.
Ever since she got into this realm, her powers felt weird, they're different. It's not the familiar “create small blasts of water and the occasional tsunami,” no. Now it was more powerful, more flexible, more uncontrollable. When she fell through the portal, it was the first time she felt the static feeling, yet at the same time, it felt rejuvenating. New realms are different with new rules, she's gone over this continuously in her head. What if the rule here…is more magic? More energy in the air, adding more potential to the elements. Going into this realm gave her a…power boost. That's what the static feeling is, her body's adjusting to the boost. It's trying to get her to use her elemental powers. With all the theories running around in her mind, she was completely certain that that's what this was. She'd figured it out. Her absolute max limit in Ninjago was merging with the sea, how powerful can she push her powers now? New realm, new possibilities.
Her body glowed a soft aqua, the water around her swirling. Forming on her head was a pair of translucent glowing horns, gently flowing like coral branches.
How about she tests her limit then?