Who doesn't want another flashback of Morro and Nalia to brighten a new chapter? :3
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*Flashback.*
"Momo, this is wrong. We shouldn't steal.* Nalia was watching Morro trying to lockpick a door to someone's house.
"Don't be a stick in the mud, Nalia. Live a little would you?" whispered Morro while picking the lock.
"But stealing is bad, that's what the old man always told me." Nalia whispered, glancing around them nervously that someone might see them.
Morro finally unlocked the door and carefully opened it. "Nalia, stop thinking like that. Stealing isn't always a bad thing. Now be quiet, last thing we want is someone seeing us."
Nalia pouted but still followed close behind Morro.
The two snuck into the house, Morro right away began looking for valuable items to steal. While Nalia just nervously walked around until she stumbled over something.
"Ah!" Nalia hit face first into the floor, and before Morro had time to react she had started crying out loud. "That hurt!"
Morro rushed over and covered her mouth quickly. "Shit, Nalia stop being a crybaby and shut up."
Somehow Morro's words only made it worse and her crying only got louder.
"What's going, why do I hear a crying child?" spoke someone who had woken up from Nalia's crying.
"Tisk, looks like this is a bust." Morro picked up Nalia and quickly got out of the house.
*Two hours later.*
"Have we calm down now?" Morro asked, having treated Nalia's forehead and nose from having hit the floor.
Nalia sniffled, still a few tears in the corner of her eyes. Nodding her head to his question. "I-I'm sorry for ruining the break in... even though it was still wrong."
Morro gave a sigh and sat down on a chair in an abandon building he had found for them to use at the moment. "It's fine, there is always next time."
Nalia looked down at the floor, feeling guilty knowing it was her fault. "I don't wanna steal, I hate it."
"Nalia, we hardly have much money left on us, and I'm not planning on getting a fucking job. So you're gonna have to get used to it, whether you like it or not." Morro told her in a harsh tone.
Nalia sniffled before she started crying once more from his harsh way of speaking to her. "But stealing is bad! And I don't wanna *sobs* be a bad person!"
A frustrated groan came from Morro when she cried again, giving him a headache.
Nalia kept on crying out loud until something sweet got shoved in her mouth. "huh?"
"Just eat this and please shut up." said Morro, having shoved a mango into her mouth. Hoping it would keep her quiet for a bit.
Nalia did in fact stop crying and her eyes lit up like sparkling stars. She took a big bite of the mango and ate it before speaking up with a bright smile. "What is this? It tastes amazing!"
"It's called a mango, I just bought it randomly with any of the other food I had the money for." Morro told her, a small smile appearing on his face when see her change in mood.
"A mango." Nalia looked back at the half eaten mango in her hands like it was the most fascinating thing she had ever seen or tasted. "Can we get more? Please, please, please, please!"
Morro couldn't help but chuckle at how excited and happy she was about something as simple as a mango. "Sure, I'll try and get you some more mangos."
"Yay!" Nalia ate the rest of the mango before then jumping into Morro, knocking back the chair he was sitting in and hugged him tightly. "Thank you Momo. You're the best!"
Morro for once, actually felt like he got the wind blown out of him when she tackled hug him with a little too much force. "O-Of course I am, no one is better than I."
Nalia smiled happily while hugging Morro, completely forgetting about the stealing part. "I'm so happy I met you, Morro... I might not know much about family. But with you, I feel like I have one."
Morro looked at her, and hesitated a little. Thoughts running through his mind before he gently stroke her head. "Same here. So what do you say about us becoming siblings, Lia?"
*End of flashback.*
Nalia slowly started waking up, letting out a wince when she moved her injured shoulder.
"You probably shouldn't be moving that shoulder too much." said Wu, walking over with a cup of tea. "Here, drink this."
Nalia took the tea, giving another wince when holding the cup in her bandaged hands and sip some of the tea. "I could easily heal it with a song, Sensei."
"I know, but you shouldn't be relying too much on your healing powers." Wu told her while observing her.
Nalia started pouting a little at what he was saying. "But you told me that if I were feeling strong emotions, I should put it into singing instead of biting people."
"That is true, but that doesn't mean you should use your healing as a crutch." Wu gave a small sigh and patted her head. "For the time being, I forbid you from using that power."
"But—" Nalia tried to argue but were cut off.
"No buts, now. The others have been worried about you since we got the sword. You should go out and see them, but be careful with your shoulder. Last thing we want is that wound to open up." Wu took the empty tea cup and left.
Nalia huffed in annoyance and looked down at her bandaged covered hands. "Not my best move, how am I gonna hold stuff without it hurting?"
With a heavy sigh Nalia carefully got out of the bed and left the room, trying to find the others.
Seeing that they weren't on the deck or anywhere on the Bounty, she got off and headed to the tea shop. Since she had been unconscious the whole way back.
*Heading to the Steep Wisdom, Nalia steps on a tripline and sets off a bell.*
"The early-detection warning system." said Misako.
"Intruder!" shouted Kai.
"Let him have it. Pull!" shouted Jay.
*Everyone catapults water balloons, but it was actually Nalia.*
"Great, I felt like I needed a bath." said Nalia sarcastically with a deadpanned look, water now dripping down her face.
"False alarm. Sorry Nalia." said Zane.
"Sheesh, I think Lia got the wrong foot out of bed." Jay whispered.
"I think anyone would be annoyed when getting suddenly hit by water balloons." said Cole.
The postman suddenly appeared behind Nalia, giving a small sigh. "No wonder you're going out of business"
"No, you're the one going out of business. Heh, who sends letters anymore?" said Jay and looked at the others.
"Guys, he's right. It says he's gonna shut us down unless we drum up some business." said Kai.
"Well, don't tell Ronin. If this place is worthless, he won't stick around and we need all the help we can get. Come on, we're gonna need more water balloons." Cole told the guys and Nalia.
"What are the water balloons even for?" Nalia asked, shaking her body to get the water off of her.
"They are part of our defense system against the ghosts." Zane explained.
"How are you doing Lia? Taking a sword like that head on really caught me by surprise." Kai asked with concern.
Nalia gave a short nod to Zane's explanation, then turned her attention to Kai. "Besides it hurting a bit whenever I move my shoulder or grab anything with my hands. I'm mostly alright."
*A few minutes later, everyone gathered for a meeting.*
"Thanks for gathering on short notice." said Misako looking at everyone gathered.
"Looking for something?" Kai asked glancing over at Ronin.
"Ha, just making sure the tea blends are in alphabetical order. Yup, A to Z, heh." said Ronin playing it off like it was nothing.
Nalia raised an eyebrow at him but looking back at Misako.
"So you figured out where the tomb is?" Jay asked.
"Not yet, but we think we know how to locate it." said Misako.
Ronin tries to sneak away, but Wu comes inside. "Oh! Hey, hehehe."
"Something is going on with him." Nalia thought when glancing back at Ronin, as she couldn't shake off a bad feeling.
"Zane?" Misako turned to Zane who has his Falcon projects the skull image, and Wu turns off the lights. "To bring you up to date, the skull symbol refers to the tomb's entrance."
"We also know my father's resting site, where the Realm Crystal resides, is protected by three deadly tests designed to keep anyone unworthy away, and only the Sword of Sanctuary can see past its riddles." Wu explained.
"Yeah, but where is it?" Cole asked.
"We started to wonder if the scroll and sword combined held a secret. That's when Kai reminded us there was a map on the back of the scroll a—" Misako further explained.
"And if you use the sword on the map, the blade's reflection will reveal the tomb's location." said Kai.
"Exactly." said Misako.
"Which means we'll have to get our hands on that map." said Cole.
Ronin sneaks away and heads into a shed. Not noticing Nalia having decided to follow him.
"Aah." When Ronin opens the sword's case, it was gone.
"Something about what you said stuck with me." Nya points the sword at him.
"Oh, yeah. And what's that?" asked Ronin.
"That you don't care. If you don't, why are you here? Sure, this tea shop could potentially help you pay off your debt in time. Or, you could speed things up by just giving them the sword in return for your cursed soul." said Nya narrowing her eyes at him.
"So, where does that leave us?" Ronin asked.
"I don't need the sword to tell me where this is going." said Nya.
"I knew it!" shouted Nalia as she suddenly appeared. "I had a feeling something was off."
"Nalia, where did you come from?" Nya asked.
"Ronin was acting off, so when he left the meeting I decided to follow. Looks like you caught on too." said Nalia.
Seeing a chance Ronin starts attacking them. "I need that sword, and song bird here if possible. I don't wanna have to hurt either of you."
Nalia narrowed her eyes at Ronin and began dodging his attacks, wincing as she was moving her injured shoulder. "Damn shoulder."
"You know, I was thinking the same thing." Nya looks at the sword to find Ronin was going to kiss her and trying to knock out Nalia. "Ugh!" She kicks him.
"Aah! What did I do to deserve that?" Ronin asked annoyed, and snuck a glance over at Nalia.
"You know what you were about to do." said Nya glaring at him.
Ronin trips her with a garden hoe. Nya grunts.
"Like I said, try too hard and you'll trip over yourself." said Ronin before going for a sneak attack on the back of Nalia's head.
Nalia grabbed her staff by instinct growling in pain from her hands as she blocked his attempt. "Don't you even think about it."
"Worth a try." said Ronin using the sword to block an attack from Nalia's staff. "I do have a message from Morro to give you."
Nalia almost lost her grip on her staff from the pain in her hands when Ronin countered her attack. "And what's that?"
Ronin leaned forward and repeated the message from Morro in a whisper. "If you want Lloyd back alive, then take the offer. Last chance, little Lia."
Hearing this message, Nalia actually hesitated and concern grew on her face. "Lloyd..."
Seeing the state Nalia was in after receiving that message, Ronin took the chance to run away with the sword.
"He's getting away with the sword!" shouted Nya as she got to Nalia's side. "Lia, we need to stop him."
"I... yeah." said Nalia as she tried holding back tears. She put back her staff and followed Nya to catch Ronin.
The ninja approach Ronin. "Huh? Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. We can do this the easy way or the hard way." The ninja activate their own water traps. "Haha! That was way too easy!"
Zane lands on Jay. "Ow!"
"We're not gonna let you get away!" shouted Misako, taking him on.
They fight each other, but Ronin slices a few herbs, creating a dust cloud. "Oh, now that's a nice blend. We should fight more often." Whistles to summon R.E.X.
Kai uses Airjitzu, but fails to go high enough to catch him. "Aah! He's getting away. To the Bounty!"
Nalia took off into the air and started following him. But her thoughts kept going back to the message and what would happen to Lloyd. She knew Morro was one for lying, but if he had a goal in mind. He would do anything to get it... even if it meant hurting others.
"Momo you big jerk. Just as I accepted to finally take you on to save Lloyd and stop what you are doing. You always find a way to force my hand." Nalia growled angrily with tears running down her face.
*Everyone eventually catch up to R.E.X., but finds it empty.*
"He's not aboard the ship." said Misako.
"It's a trick!" Wu suddenly realized.
"Then where did Ronin go?" Kai asked.
Everyone looked at each other, but none of them had any idea.
*The team are back at Steep Wisdom.*
"Well, obviously he's taken the sword to Morro." said Jay with a sigh.
"But where's Morro? He could be anywhere." said Zane.
"Did Morro tell you anything Nalia by chance?" Kai asked.
Nalia shook her head as her hands were getting new bandages. "No, he never told me anything. But then again, he was never one for staying in one place for long."
"Look, Nya, I know you're not a ninja yet, but if you're gonna be one of us—" Cole started.
"I'm sorry. I should've told you when I first suspected Ronin would steal it." said Nya apologizing.
"I'm sorry too. I thought I could stop him, and with Nya's help I really thought we had a chance." Nalia apologized too, feeling bad that she didn't say anything.
"Enough! We all knew the path to save Lloyd was never going to be a straight line. We were all fooled by Ronin, but that doesn't make us fools. At a time like this, we mustn't butt heads, but put our heads together." said Wu, ending any argument within the team.
Jay snickers. "I'm sorry. You said "butt heads." " He giggles further on.
Nalia tilted her head confused. Not understanding what was so fun about that.
*The Falcon squawks and projects a message from Ronin.*
"I can't talk loud, but I wanted to let you know, Nya, you were right. Morro didn't hold his end of the bargain. And Misako was right too. The scroll and sword did reveal the tomb. I know where it's located. I know you don't have the sword, but I know you can beat them to the tomb." Ronin gasps. "They're coming."
"Where is it? Where's the tomb?" Jay asked.
"The Caves of Despair! The tomb is in Caves of Despair!" The message cuts off.
Nalia froze at those words, her face turning pale. "No."
"Caves of Despair? We've been there. I don't remember seeing any tomb." said Wu turning to Misako.
"But there are still miles of unexplored mines. It could be there." said Misako.
"But why should we believe him? It could be a trap." said Nya.
"We don't have the scroll and we don't have the sword. With Lloyd's life at stake, what other choice do we have?" Kai questioned looking at the others.
"We're in." said Cole.
"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. What good will it do us if it's all just a setup?" Nya asked, finding it skeptical.
"The ninja are right. Even a misstep could be a step in the right direction. We cannot afford to do nothing. The ninja will go. As for Nya, you're still not ready." said Wu, ending the discussion.
"Nalia what's wrong? You haven't said a word throughout all of this." Zane asked with concern.
"Do you by any chance know anything?" Cole asked.
Nalia opened her mouth but no words came out. She took a few steps away from the team before leaving the room. Heading outside for some air as she seemed to struggle breathing.
Memories of that place and the danger it holds further inside that cave. Nalia thought she had gotten over it by now, but the trauma of losing Morro there and coming close to ending her own life.
Nalia knew she had to warn the ninjas about this, but she didn't know whether it was really a trap or not. Because Morro had gone there searching for the First Spinjitzu Master's tomb, and for all she knew it might actually be there.
*At Stiix, it's revealed that the message is a trap.*
"It's a wrap." said Ghoultar.
The Ghosts laugh as Morro releases Ronin from his possession.
Ronin groans. "Pretty good impersonation. But they'll never buy it was me."
"We shall see." said Morro with a smirk.
Lloyd struggles freeing himself from his. "You're no Green Ninja. The Green Ninja would never need to lie."
"Oh, you won't be the Green Ninja for long. Save your strength, because I'll be needing it. Prepare for a voyage. We head to the tomb at dawn." said Morro with a confident smile.
"Nalia will never forgive you for this. A brother would never put his own sister in danger." said Lloyd narrowing his eyes at him.
Morro glared at him, the smile on his face disappearing. "Don't try and act like you know Nalia better than I do. She might be upset for a bit, but she'll get over it."
"You've been gone for a long time since you last saw Nalia. She isn't some little girl who can't defend herself." Lloyd told him.
"And that's where you're wrong. She might have grown a little stronger and older. But she is still a weak little girl that got her heart broken by you." Morro grabbed the bars on the cage, causing Lloyd to lose balance and fall. "I'm gonna make sure you pay for it, as no one is gonna hurt my sister and get away with it."
The ghosts and Ronin watched the confrontation between the two. Not sure how to really feel about it.
"What about Ronin?" Soul Archer asked.
Morro let go of the cage and moved away. "Leave him. He's worthless now."
*The ninja travel to the Caves of Despair.*
"The Caves of Despair." said Kai looking at the opening to the cave.
"This is where we first came for the Golden Weapons. It's like everything has come full circle." said Cole reminiscing about the past.
Nalia decided to come along, despite her fears and past memories. She would do anything to make sure everyone got out alive. Nalia had made it up in her mind that she wouldn't lost another person in this cave, no matter what.
"Don't say that. Full circle means it's coming to an end, and I don't want to hear that before I go into the Caves of Despair, one of my least favorite words. How do we even know the tomb's in there?" said Jay with concern.
"Searching for clues." Pixal finds a crudely carved skull.
"The third symbol." said Kai.
"Good enough for me. Let's go." said Jay as they all headed inside.
Nalia decided to stay in the middle of the ninjas, that way she would be in reach for any of them.
*At a distance Ghoultar is carving another skull with his scythe. He laughs maniacally.*
"There's another symbol." Jay pointed out.
"Huh. Looks like it only gets darker the deeper in we go." said Cole.
Kai sees four lanterns. "Then it's a good thing we have a little light."
"Wait! What if this is one of the tests?" Cole quickly began to question.
Jay gasps. "Yeah, Sensei said the tomb was gonna be protected by three deadly tests. Maybe if we pick the wrong lantern..."
Kai carefully grabs one, but nothing happens. "Ha! Nope, just a lantern."
Zane and Cole each grab one, but Jay hesitates before reluctantly taking the last.
"Like I thought, just another lantern." said Jay, then glanced over at Nalia. "How are you gonna see anything without a lantern?"
Nalia tried thinking of a salutation until she got an idea. She raised a hand and used her cosmic powers to summon a star with a bit of light, while also using her aura sight so she could see the ninjas elemental auras. Even though they didn't have their powers.
"Wow, never knew your eyes could glow in the dark." said Kai as Nalia's golden eyes were very visible in the dark.
"Wait!" shouted Jay suddenly as they got to a wall.
"Looks like there was a cave-in." said Kai.
Nalia grew nervous seeing all of this again, just like how she left it.
Jay sniffs. "Ugh! What's that smell?"
"My sense pick up traces of Kethanol, a highly flammable gas released from deep well mining." said Zane.
"Sure. Bet that's what all Nindroids say." said Cole.
Nalia looked around as old memories appeared in her mind, her breathing slowly starting to increase.
"If you're implying that smell came from me—" said Zane almost offended.
"Look! Some of these rocks appear to have been recently moved. Maybe Morro's already been through here. Ash. Everything here has been burned. Perhaps one of the traps?" said Kai when observing the place.
Nalia grabbed Kai's wrist, stopping him from moving any further.
"What's wrong Nalia?" Kai asked, slightly confused.
"The Kethanol geyser. We cannot stay long. It might ignite again at any moment." said Zane with a bit of urgency in his voice.
"Look." said Cole noticing something under a few rocks and began removing them.
"Whoa." They see a skeleton. "Ew! You think it's him?" Jay asked.
Tears formed in Nalia's eyes and soon ran down her face. "T-this is where Morro died."
"What? You mean to say this is how he died?" Jay asked.
Nalia gaved a small nod and tried wiping her tears. "He died because of me. If I hadn't followed him, he probably wouldn't have died."
"Wait a minute, if he's here, that means..." Cole suddenly realized.
"It is trap! Now you suffer same fate!" Ghoultar uses his scythe to trap them.
"There's no way out. If this was a test, I think we certainly failed it." said Kai tried to find a way out.
Jay starts coughing. "And all this gas is making me a little lightheaded."
"This cavern is a virtual oven. If those geysers decide to ignite, we'll be cooked." said Cole growing worried.
"Nalia, how did you get out of here last time?" Kai asked looking at her.
"I... I don't know. I can't remember how I got out the first time. I-I think I was in a shock after Morro's death, everything after that is all blurry to me." Nalia explained with a worried look on her face.
"Why didn't you say anything sooner?" Jay asked.
"Because I didn't know if this was actually a trap or not. And last thing I wanted was for Morro to get the Realm Crystal." said Nalia.
"Could have mentioned how deadly this place was." said Cole.
Nalia knew he was right about that, she should have told them beforehand. But just the thoughts of the past scared her, and last thing she wanted was to be the one holding them all back from getting ahead of Morro and save Lloyd. "I'm sorry..."
"Pixal has located an opening. The cave-in must have created a gap." Zane told the others.
"Oh, but a gap to where? For all we know, it could be a dead end and for the record, that's another one of my least favorite words. "Dead end." " Jay complained.
"Too late!" Cole grabs a boulder and blocks the geyser.
"Cole, no!" shouted Zane in a panic.
"Ha, solved that problem." said Cole feeling relieved.
"Correction, you made it worse. Now the pressure will compact the explosion, multiplying the damage tenfold." Zane explained.
"Oh, what are you trying to say?" Jay asked, both he and Nalia slightly confused.
""When that rock goes, every cave in a 10-mile radius will be filled with a wall of fire so hot, it'll incinerate everything in its path." Zane explained it in a way for them to understand.
"Guess we better get hot on our heels." said Kai.
"Cyclon-do!" Everyone, except Nalia, Airjitzu their way out of the gap. While Nalia just flew right after them.
"Hurry!" shouted Zane.
"Go, go, go!" shouted Kai, as they hop into a mine cart.
"Great, now what? How do we stop this thing?" Jay asked as the cart started moving.
"Uuuh..." Nalia tried looking around for something to stop it with.
*Everyone screams as the cart speeds up.*
"Obstacle." said Pixal.
The ninja screams. Jay falls out of the cart. But gets back up and starts running, trying to catch up to the cart.
"Almost got you." said Kai holding out a hand.
"Here, grab my staff!" Nalia held out her staff for Jay, while ignoring the pain coming from her hands.
"Watch it." said Zane as the moving for the cart was causing the ninjas to bump into each other.
Jay grabs hold of Nalia's staff and gets pulled back in the cart, just as he sees Ghoultar and uses his Aeroblade on him. "Haha, I caught it, guys! I caught it!"
"Looks like we're coming to a dead end!" shouted Cole.
"Oh, there's that word again. Never say that word! Aah! What do I do? What do I do?" Jay shouted, panicking about what to do.
Nalia went on and used her staff, trying to slow down the cart. Growing in pain as blood started seeping through the bandages on her hands, not to mention her injured shoulder.
"It almost feels like we're going faster!" shouted Jay.
"I'm not losing anymore people!" Nalia put more force into stopping the cart, causing the rails and ground under them to break.
"Whoa! Aaah!" Everyone started screaming as they started falling to their doom.
In a panic Nalia tried using whatever powers she had in her to save the ninjas, tears forming in her eyes as she didn't want to lose anyone else.
Suddenly to Nalia surprise, everything around her had turned gray. The ninjas and mine cart frozen in place, as if they were frozen in time. Another symbol on her body turned to dust.
"Wha—Just like back when I went back in time. Trying to save Morro from his death." Nalia was shocked but her attention turned to a ladder hanging just a few meters over them.
She didn't know how long they would all stay frozen like this, so Nalia went on and flew each ninja to the ladder and had their hands grab a hold of it. Making sure they wouldn't fall off.
And just in time as Nalia moved Cole as the last person on to the ladder did time return to normal.
"Haha! I could kiss Ronin! After I clobber him for getting us into this mess." said Cole with relief. None of the ninjas knowing what had just happened.
*They climb inside, but Ronin's not there.*
"Oh, oh, oh. Autopilot! Course he's too scared to show his face." said Jay rolling his eyes.
Ronin suddenly appears on screen. "Hey, ninja and Nalia. If you're getting this message, I'm sure you have some choice words for me."
"Haha! You've got that right!" Cole exclaimed.
"But I want to tell you, that wasn't me who sent you to this trap. I was under the control of Morro. I know you think I'm a crook by taking the sword, and I wanna make things right by offering my airship, R.E.X., as a peace offering. I know it's not what you had in mind, but I've remotely entered the location of the tomb. The real one this time." Ronin shows them a map of the Endless Sea.
"Look at that. The reason Misako never found the tomb in Ninjago was because it was never there in the first place. It's under the ocean." said Kai, finally realized.
"Morro has a head start, but R.E.X. should get you straight there in a jiff. And if it's any consolation, this'll be the last you see of me. If Nya wants to know a reason, tell her it's because I care. Okay. Good luck. And go make things right." said Ronin ending the message.
"Looks like we're headed to the tomb. Time to buckle up." said Kai determined.
"Right, but before that. I think something is wrong with Lia." said Cole, being the first to notice Nalia sitting on the floor and looking a bit pale.
"I believe Nalia but too much stress on her injuries, and something else but I can't say what." said Zane when giving her a checkup.
Nalia was sitting on the floor, panting with her vision getting blurry. Her eyes flashing back and forth from gold to normal.
The ninjas tried speaking to her, but their voices were going deaf to her.
"A trap, Morro set the place he died in. Into a trap..." Nalia's emotions was all over the place, but the stress from her injuries and the sudden use of a new power had really taken it all out of her. Clouding her mind.
The ninjas grew worried by Nalia not showing any response to them, and with the state that she was in.
Before they all knew it, Nalia had passed out which only caused for more concern from the ninjas. And right now, there was no way of them being able to leave her back with Sensei Wu and the others, otherwise they wouldn't be able to stop Morro.