Chapter Six:

The Missing Ninja

The morning had come, 6:30. The ninja were out of bed, dressed in their uniforms, and heading to the dining room. The day was warm. The sun was shining, making the golden rims of the Destiny’s Bounty gleam in its rays.The boys sat down at the table.

“I wonder what’s for breakfast this morning” Jay inquired.

“Yeah, isn’t it Kamara’s turn to make it this morning?” Cole asked.

“My sensors do not detect any cooking smell,” Zane observed, “Do you suppose Kamara accidentally slept in?”

“It’s possible. Wouldn’t be the first time” Cole agreed.

.

As they were contemplating this, the door to the kitchen slid open. But it wasn’t Kamara. Instead, it was Nya. She looked concerned.

“What’s wrong, sis?” Kai asked.

“Has anyone seen Kamara? She wasn’t there when I got up this morning” said Nya.

The four boys looked at each other.

“No, we haven’t seen her” Cole replied.

“Maybe she ran off again” Jay proposed.

Nya frowned. “See that’s the thing-”

As the words left her mouth, she pulled out a cellphone. It was Kamara’s cellphone.

“-Kamara never goes anywhere without her phone! Even when she’s left in a hurry, she’d still bring it! I found it still plugged in.”

Now they were starting to get concerned, especially Kai, whom the blood had almost drained from his face.

“Have you checked the tracking beacons? All of us have one in our suits!” Kai checked.

Nya nodded. “I did, and even though I found her suit missing, I couldn’t find her tracking signal.”

.

With this, Kai stood up.

“We need to go find her!” He demanded.

His eyes had changed dramatically to those familiar, flames of determination. He was deeply concerned.

“Slow down Kai, let’s not panic yet,” Cole said calmly, standing up as well, “Let’s call the people she knows and see if she’s with them or knows where she is, first.”

Zane rose from his seat. “I concur. But I also agree with Kai. I sense something is very wrong. We should defer this to Sensei and inquire as to what he thinks.”

“Good idea,” Cole replied, “Let’s go team!”

“But we haven’t had breakfast yet!” Jay reminded.

“We can worry about that later! Come on!”

Jay sighed, and reluctantly stood up, and raced to follow them.

.

They found Sensei Wu in front of a pot with smoking bamboo sticks, criss-crossed, with his head down, meditating. Cole slowly pulled the side-door opened.

“Sensei? We need to speak with you” he informed.

He was trying to be discreet.

Instead Kai came barreling in and announced firmly, “Sensei, Kamara’s missing! We don’t know where she is, her tracking beacon is disabled, and she didn’t take her phone!”

Cole scowled behind him, but he didn’t scold his sword-brother. Instead, he, along with Zane and Jay awaited their teacher’s response. There was a couple seconds before Wu responded.

“Mmm…” He said, “I sense a disturbance.” He lifted his head. “Something evil is coming, and it’s not the Serpentine. It’s something more…twisted.”

“Are you saying Kamara’s involved?” Cole asked.

Sensei Wu slowly stood up. “It’s hard to say,” he replied, “I pray that that’s not the case.”

“Sensei, we’ve got to find her!” Kai insisted, with a hint of anxiousness in his voice.

“Mmm, patience Kai,” Wu warned him, “Panic clouds the mind. We must first think logically, and brainstorm on where she could be.”

“Nya is already calling up Kamara’s parents and friends. It’s a high probability they know where she is” Zane announced.

“Good. Good” said Sensei Wu.

But even he couldn’t help being a little nervous himself.

Where was Kamara?

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

The loud ringing in her ears slowly faded away. Kamara opened her eyes. Kamara was looking up at a stone ceiling, with a source of light coming from the right. She bolted upright. Where was she? She was lying on a straw bed, held up by a metal surface and chains. To her left was a stone wall, curving towards her. To her right, was a barred gate. She was in some kind of cell.

.

Kamara jumped up off the bed and began pulling at the bars, somehow believing she had the strength to pull them apart. When that didn’t work, she searched for the wiring inside her uniform that had the tracking beacon and communications chip. When she found the hemming in her uniform hiding it, she found that the both the cloth and the wire had been cut. I shivered.

“That meant someone was putting their hands through my suit! Gross”

.

Just as Kamara put it away, she heard the handle on the heavy metal door turn. The door was heaved open by a woman with long, curly brown hair with purple highlights. She wore a purple tank top that was short, but her otherwise bare skin was covered with thick netting, and she wore purple bottoms and shoes. She smiled.

“Ah, you’re awake,” she said, in a low voice.

“Who are you!? Where am I!?” Kamara demanded.

“Forgive me,” the woman replied, “Welcome to the Kurai Kodomo Sankuchuarī. My name is Nanbā Ni Safrina. You may call me Safrina. I apologize for the…abrupt way we sent you here, but you would not have come with us either way.”

“Kurai Kodomo Sankuchuarī” Kamara echoed in her mind, “That means ‘Dark Children Sanctuary’.”

“What do you want me for?” she asked.

.

Safrina looked down at the floor, as she walked forward.

“It seems that…Your Sensei Wu made a mistake on identifying who you were, and who you are meant to be.”

Kamara retorted.

“How does she know Sensei Wu!? What does she know about me!?”

But she said nothing, and let Safrina continue.

“Do put it bluntly: Your Sensei has led you astray from your destiny, that is, to be a ‘Pillar Warrior’, one that is destined to be a powerful ally to the Green Ninja. That destiny does not belong to you, mī imouto.”

.

A flash of anger burned inside her. How dare she!?

“I am not your sister! I don’t even know you!” Kamara snapped.

“I don’t expect you to. That is why in due time, I will teach you more about the Kurai Kodomo, and our purpose is to conquer Ninjago.”

“I have no interest in taking over anything! My purpose is to save it from people like you, whoever you and your crazy cult are! My sword-brothers will come for me! I won’t be here long!”

Safrina scoffed. “I sure hope not, imouto. I do not desire to fight the guardians of Ninjago. At least, not yet.”

Then, Safrina started back towards the door.

“I will return shortly with refreshments, imouto; and please, don’t think about escaping. I can conduct the oxygen in this room. I can give and take it as I want to. So don’t do anything brash.”

And with that, the door closed behind her.

.

Kamara didn’t know what to think.

“Whoever that guy was, kidnapped me and brought me here. Who are these Kurai Kodomo? Why do they want me? Why do they call me sister?”

I glanced over back at the hemming where the wire had been severed.

“Well, the best I can do is try to fix my homing beacon. Maybe I can send a message to the Bounty.” I sighed. “I wonder if they even care that I left…”

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

Nya groaned in frustration.

“I contacted Kamara’s friends. They haven’t seen her since the concert last night” she informed.

She, Sensei Wu, and Lloyd Garmadon were all standing in the bridge. Nya had been eyeing the virtual map like a hawk in between calls. Sensei Wu sighed worriedly.

“I hope she’s okay” Lloyd commented, concerned.

Just then, Kai, Cole, Zane, and Jay practically burst into the bridge.

“Anything, sis?” Kai asked, eagerly.

Nya frowned. “Nothing from Kamara’s friends or her parents. Her last phone call to the Silverknights was Thursday, telling them about the concert. They haven’t gotten any visits from her since four months after we moved into the Destiny’s Bounty!”

The boys moaned in disappointment.

“Where could she be?” Kai asked, discouraged.

“Any luck with the homing beacons?” Cole inquired.

Nya shook her head. “I’ve tried everything. No signal from her anywhere.”

.

Kai had started to pace around the room.

“This isn’t like her. If she had left, we would’ve seen or heard some kind of outburst!” he exclaimed, “Or…Any kind of commotion!”

He turned to Wu. “She would’ve told you if she left, right Sensei?”

Wu sighed. “Yes, she would have. I’ve made sure I had her trust, since the day I met her.”

Kai sighed, irritably again.

“There’s gotta be something we missed!” Cole insisted.

“Though chances are low,” Zane informed, “Perhaps we should consider the possibility that she was seized at some time from the Bounty.” Jay scoffed.

“No way! Kamara’s like, the most sneakiest ninja right now! No way someone could have gotten the drop on her! We can’t even get the jump on her!” he objected.

“Perchance someone discovered a way…” Zane added.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

Kamara grunted. Her eyes were being strained as she tried to see what she was doing. She was attempted to mend the wire of her homing beacon back together. She was a little uneasy considering there was still electricity surging through one of the halves. Jay and Nya were the ones who handled all the tech back at the Bounty. Kamara was always afraid of breaking something if she attempted to fix anything.

“I wish I had duct tape!” Kamara thought to myself, “I’m gonna kill myself trying to do this.”

Just then, Kamara could hear a whirr of electricity. She almost squealed with excitement. She squeezed the wire in place, encouraging the beacon to boot up and give the Bounty a chance to find the signal.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

“W-wait! I see something!” Nya announced.

Everyone whirled to stare at the virtual map. A very small brown dot appeared on the map. Suddenly, a voice box appeared.

“CSHH Can anyone hear me? CSSSSH Hello!?” It was Kamara! Nya’s hands flew across the keyboard.

“Kam! Where the heck have you been!?” Kai exclaimed.

“CSSSSHH Don’t know. I’m- CSSSHHHHHH This weird CSSSHHH Kurai Kodomo CSSSSSSHHH Sister!”

“Kam, your connection is awful! We can’t hear you!” Cole called, “How do we find you!?”

“I’m CSSSSH cave! CSSSSSSSHHH tell you.”

“Agh!” Nya exclaimed, “I can’t get her location! The signal’s too low!”

“We’re trying to find you Kamara! Hang on!” Kai assured, anxiously.

They could hear Kamara chucking nervously. “CSSSSH working…CSSHH Jade! She’ll- CSSSSHHH to do!”

Then, the voice box vanished, and brown dot on the map was gone.

“Kamara? Kamara!?” Kai growled, and pushed everyone to get to the front.

“Bring her back, sis!” He demanded.

“I can’t Kai! Her signal’s completely disappeared. I wasn’t able to get a clear location. I’m sorry” Nya replied, discouraged.

.

Kai started pacing the room again.

“Who is Jade?” Zane inquired.

“She’s Kamara’s sister,” Nya responded, “I’ve only met her once. Kind of stand-offish and she’s a workaholic.”

“Do you know where she works?” Cole asked.

“She works for the S.P.F.: the Special Police Force. Though, I have no idea where they’re stationed. They’re suppose to be a secret.”

“ ‘S.P.F.’?” Jay echoed, “Aren’t they the guys who try to wrangle the Serpentine and steal our limelight?”

“I for one am grateful that they are around. We can focus on the most important fight, without worrying about civilians” Zane commented.

“What is ‘Kurai Kodomo’?” Lloyd wondered.

“ ‘Kurai Kodomo’ is Japanese for ‘Dark Children’ “ Sensei Wu informed, “But I’ve never heard of such a group. However, it sounds like some kind of cult.”

“How are we going to find Jade in order to find Kamara?” Kai asked, frustrated.

Then, Cole got a glimmer of mischief in his eyes. “I’ve got an idea!” He exclaimed, “I have a classmate I keep up with from Middle school. He’s told me that he’s got a position in the S.P.F. I can contact him and see if he knows where Jade is!” “Well, what are you waiting for!?” Kai exclaimed, “Go for it!”