Chapter Seven:

Jaded Edge

Ninjago City was jam-packed busy on the warm Saturday morning. Kai, Cole, Zane, and Jay were dressed casual as they searched to find Jade Silverknight.

“Where did you say we’d find her, Cole?” Jay asked.

“She’s at a store called FyNite Electronics. She’s undercover, but Sean said she’ll be more than willing to help us” Cole responded.

“So we’re just going to casually reveal that we’re the ninja?” Kai inquired.

“I don’t see what else we can do. If she’s as trustworthy as they say, we’ll be fine. I’m sure she would have no intention of revealing her sister’s identity.”

.

“There it is!”

Zane pointed to a shop across the street from them, in a multiple level building, with a light blue neon sign that read, “FyNite Electronics.”

“Let’s go!” Kai exclaimed as he bolted in front of them.

Cole was about to yell at him to watch for traffic, but he rolled his eyes, and gestured the rest of his sword-brothers to follow him.

.

FyNite was very well organized. It had only two colors: gray-blue, and white. Each employee were dressed in navy-blue polo, buttoned-up shirts, khaki pants, and black shoes. Jay leaned over to Zane.

“Do we know what Jade even looks like?” He wondered.

“Cole told me that his friend gave him a physical description of who she looks like. Apparently, she looks nothing like Kamara” Zane whispered.

Then, Cole gestured to them, then at the customer’s service desk, in the center of the store. There were two employees standing behind the desk: one facing the front, and one facing the back. Cole was motioning the one in the front. It was a young woman with long black hair, side-swept bangs, and almond-shaped blue eyes. The four boys quietly walked up to the desk. Cole cleared his throat.

“Excuse me?”

The woman lifted her head. She smiled, but smally.

“Welcome to FyNite Electronics. How may I help you?” She asked, politely.

“Are you Jade Silverknight?”

The woman raised an eyebrow.

“Who wants to know?” She inquired, despite the fact her name tag plainly read, “Jade.”

Before Cole could answer, Kai replied in a not-so-quiet voice:

“Your sister’s in danger, and you’re the only one that can help!”

The store went silent, as everyone began looking at them. The four ninja froze. The woman cleared her throat.

“You’re disrupting the store with your commotion. I’m going to have to ask you to leave” she said sternly.

“No, no, please!” Cole insisted, the muttered to himself, “Crap! What did Sean tell me to say?”

Then he lifted his head and stated:

“Man, Ninjago City is beautiful when it’s sunny!”

Jade’s expression softened. She shuffled some papers and put them in a drawer behind the counter.

Then, she straightened and replied, “I agree, but I still carry an umbrella.”

.

She turned around.

“Jeremy?”

A beige-haired young man poked his head above a counter in the back corner of the store.

“Aye?”

“I’m taking an early lunch break. I’ll be back in half an hour!” Jade informed.

“Aye!”

Jade turned back to the ninja.

She leaned forward. “Meet me at the coffee shop on Three Elms street. We’ll talk there.” she informed.

Cole nodded. Jade stepped out of the desk area, walked through an “employee’s only” door, and disappeared.

“What now?” Jay asked.

“I guess we’ll be having lunch with her,” Kai replied, “Come on, the sooner we figure out where to find Kamara, the sooner we can save her!”

He raced out the door. The rest of the boys looks at each other, then ran to catch up with him.

“Sheesh! Kai’s more aggressive than usual!” Jay commented.

“Well, what do you expect? He’s in love!” Cole replied, “I know if I had someone I cared about in that scenario, I’d be anxious too.”

“Well, we’re men. We’re not suppose to be so expressive about it” Jay scoffed.

“Contrary to popular belief, expressing care is not a sign of weakness, Jay,” Zane added, “Rather it shows stronger qualities.”

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

About five minutes later, the ninja discovered the coffee shop on Three Elms Street. They found Jade already sitting at a table in the share with a sandwich and latte.

“How did she get here so quick!?” Jay hissed.

“We can worry about lunch later. Let’s go see what Jade has to offer” said Cole.

Everyone nodded, and walked up to Jade’s table, and pulled chairs forward before sitting down.

.

Jade put her latte down. “You the ninja?” She asked.

Everyone’s eyes widened.

“What makes you say that?” Cole asked.

Jade scoffed. “Even when you’re trying to be ‘undercover’, you’re still color-coded” she replied, “Also, Sean told me you needed my help.”

“Okay, make a note of that” Kai thought out loud, in a sarcastic tone, then explained, “Look, Kamara’s missing, and she told us you could find her!”

Jade sighed, and leaned back in her seat. “What has my big sister gotten herself into now?”

“We suspect that she’s been kidnapped” Zane informed, “We couldn’t hear everything she said, but she mentioned ‘caves’ and ‘Kurai Kodomo’.”

“ ‘Kurai Kodomo’…” Jade echoed, “That’s Japanese for ‘Dark Children’…”

“Is it now?” Kai asked, sarcastically.

Cole elbowed him.

“Ow!”

Jade gave Kai a short glare before continuing:

“I don’t know anything about Dark Children, but I can do some research. I’m sure my boss will let me off for today if I say it’s a family emergency.”

The ninja nodded.

“Thank you so much, Jade” Cole thanked.

Jade nodded back. “Don’t thank me just yet, I haven’t done anything.”

Then, she stood up and announced, “I’ll call you as soon as I find something. Farewell ninja;”

And with that, Jade slipped away.

.

“Wow. She’s an interesting character” Jay announced once she had fully disappeared.

“Hmph, Nya wasn’t kidding when she said Jade was standoffish” Kai grumbled, “I swear she didn’t emote once!”

“I don’t know, she was pretty annoyed with you, Kai” Cole replied, firmly, “Next time, can you at least complain when we’re not trying to persuade someone to help us? We know you’re concerned about Kamara. We are too! But we need to make sure our emotions don’t cloud our judgement.”

Kai scoffed. “You sound like Sensei.”

Cole groaned, then stood up. “Well, come on boys. We’d better head back to the Bounty before anyone misses us.” Jay stood up too. “Sounds good.”

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

The door squeaked open. Kamara sat up on the bed, formally staring at the ceiling. She glared. It was someone she didn’t recognize. This person was covered head-to-toe, leaving much to the imagination. They wore a gray coat, with the collar sticking straight up and covering the neck, gray pants and shoes; and finally, they wore a round, blank white mask with two black eye-holes and a gray aussie bush hat.

“Who’re you?” Kamara demanded.

“Forgive me, I did not introduce myself when we first met,” the person replied.

He bowed to her.

“I am Nanbā San Shifter. It is a pleasure to officially meet you, imouto.”

Kamara scowled.

“I’m not your sister!”

Shifter straightened.

“No, not yet,” he replied, coolly, “You have not yet been educated on who we are. That is why I am here.”

.

Just then, Kamara heard a switch flip, and a mechanical groan.  Gears shifted. She suddenly felt the air becoming thin. Her heart raced as she gasped for breath. She fell to the floor and pulled on her collar.

“You’ll still be able to breathe,” Shifter explained, “but you will be unable to use your elemental powers. Unless of course, you want to suffocate.”

There was a click, and the cell door opened.

“Come imouto-”

Shifter lifted his leg, and slammed it to the ground. Chunks of rock suddenly rose to the floor and clamped around Kamara’s wrists. Her eyes widened and tried to pull away. “

Earth!? He can bend earth!? How!? He’s not supposed to! No one else is supposed to bend earth! Cole is the only one that can do that.., right!?”

The rock wouldn’t budge. Shifter calmly walked up to her, and punched the rock around it. Kamara was free from the ground, but her wrists were still closed tight.

“-It’s time for your first lesson.”

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

The ninja spent the rest of the afternoon training. However, they spent most of it unfocused. They weren’t even sure what they were training for. Kai groaned.

“What’s taking her so long!?” He exclaimed.

“Research can take a long time, Kai,” Zane replied, coolly, “Especially when it involves something that may not even exist to the public.”

Kai pulled a lever and a dummy appeared. He began to punch it aggressively.

“Who knows what’s happening to her right now? I wonder if she’s scared…” He wondered, “No, Kamara’s strong. Whatever these Kurai Kodomo want her for, I know she won’t do it! I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”

.

Behind him, he could hear Jay cry out as he was hurled back and slammed up against the wall of the back of the ship.

“Dagh! Stupid equipment!” He snapped.

In a fit of distraction, he whirled his nunchucks, and struck the course. The circuits surged and shorted. Electricity sparked and that fragment of the course smoked and shut down. Everyone else paused to stare at him. Jay turned away from their gaze, embarrassed.

“I’ll fix that” he sighed.

“I sense that we are unable to concentrate on our training” Zane observed, standing up and discouraged at his botched meditation.

Cole sheathed his scythe.

“Maybe we need to take a ten minute break” Kai recommended.

“Well how can we do anything else with an equal amount of unfocus?” Jay asked,

“I never thought I’d say this, but I wish Kamara was here.”

“Come on guys, we’re wasting time of all we’re doing is sulking!” Cole said, sternly, “We have to be ready for whatever the Kurai Kodomo will throw at us!”

.

Just then, the comm system squealed to life.

“All ninja report to the bridge! Jade is calling back!” Nya’s voice rang out.

Immediately everyone was back on their feet and running upstairs. When they got there, a communications box with Jade’s picture on it appeared over the virtual map.

“Wow, I have never heard anyone more excited to hear me calling” Jade’s voice spoke, in a sarcastic tone.

“Talk to us, Jade. What did you find?” Cole asked, unable to help being eager.

“I had to dig deep to find anything about the Kurai Kodomo! Apparently, it’s a very old prophecy that everyone has forgotten about-” Jade explained.

“Another prophecy?” Kai groaned, “Great! What does it say?”

There was a pause, then Jade replied annoyed, “-I wasn’t finished.”

She continued: “The Kurai Kodomo, or in the common tongue, ‘Dark Children’, is based on a prophecy that ‘the children of the Dark One will pave the way for his arrival’.”

“ ‘The Dark One’…” Sensei Wu echoed, “It’s not Garmadon then?”

“It’s not specific.”

“Well whatever the Dark One is, it does not sound good” said Zane.

“That’s all you could find?” Jay asked.

“Everything I’ve been able to find is in pieces. I don’t have the full description. However, I also know where their hideout may be…”

“Where?” Cole inquired.

“They’re called the Yamiyo Caverns” Jade announced, “The prophecy mentions ‘Yamiyo’ and that’s the name of a series of caves in the Northwest mountain region of Ninjago. It’s the best place to look!”

“Finally! Now we can go kick their butts!” Kai exclaimed.

.

“I’ll rendezvous with you at the halfway point in two hours” Jade announced.

“Woah, woah! Hold on!” Cole butt in, “I’m sure we can handle this ourselves, Jade.”

“But you don’t know which cavern they could be in,” Jade objected, “Not only do I have a map of the caves, but I also have the tech.”

“Why do you want to help?” Kai asked, “You don’t sound like you care very much!”

“You’re wrong,” Jade replied, sternly, “I do care about my sister, very much; and I know she doesn’t always understand what she’s doing. I’m helping whether you like it or not.”

“We are grateful for your help” Zane agreed.

“Then I’ll see you in a bit. Over and out!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I want to give a shout out to my friend Jade! Jade was her original character that she’s entrusted me with for this story. We role-played Ninjago a lot shortly after season one began. Thank you for the time we spent together!