Kai

by Greg Farshtey

  TITLE PAGE

  FROM THE JOURNAL OF SENSEI WU

  IN HIS FOOTSTEPS

  THE VANISHED VILLAGERS

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  COPYRIGHT

  Of the four young men I recruited to join my fight against Garmadon, easily the most … challenging was Kai. He was the last of the group and my hope was that he would become the Ninja of Fire. Certainly his temperament made him ideal for that element.

  Kai is the son of one of my oldest and most trusted friends. He and his sister, Nya, were raised by their father. They lived in a little village, far from any major city, a place where one could work and strive for years and never be known outside the small settlement. Kai’s father worked as a blacksmith and his apprentice was Kai.

  Training Kai in the art of forging weapons and armor was, I gather, not an easy task, for the same reason it has not been easy to train him to be a ninja. He is impatient, reckless, quick to anger, and reluctant to listen to the advice of others. His manner can be brash, but I believe that is a shield he has built against the world. With the passing of his father, Kai became the man of the family with the responsibility to look after his sister. That can be a great burden for a youth.

  I found Kai and Nya at work in their shop, 4 Weapons. Unfortunately, Samukai and his skeleton warriors arrived at the same time, in search of a map that marked the locations of the Four Weapons of Spinjitzu. The skeletons attacked, and in the battle, made off with both the map and Nya. I convinced Kai that by accepting my training, he would have the best chance to retrieve his sister safely.

  With the help of my other three young warriors, I set about teaching him what I could about the art of battle. It was not easy. The challenge was how to break him of his bad habits — rash actions, dangerous risk taking, and letting his emotions cloud his thoughts — without breaking his spirit. The other three, Cole, Jay, and Zane, had had more time together and knew how to work as a team. Kai was used to being on his own, except for Nya, and was reluctant to rely on others.

  Ah, Nya … I do not know why Garmadon ordered the young girl’s capture, except perhaps to use as a hostage against me in the future. Its most immediate effect was on Kai. He was consumed with the desire to rescue her, which blinded him to almost everything else. I feared that in the heat of battle he would put himself or the others in danger out of concern for Nya.

  Still, there was much potential in Kai — potential that I am happy to say was realized. He is brave, loyal, intelligent, and willing to work hard to better himself. He has speed and grace, two key ingredients in mastering Spinjitzu. He is also fearless. I have no doubt he would challenge Garmadon himself in single combat if given half a chance, and never feel a moment’s hesitation.

  I look at Kai and I see his father. They share the same tendency to rush headlong into danger, the same passion for life and devotion to family, and even some of Kai’s moves in mock combat echo his father’s. Kai did not know of his father’s past, thinking of him only as a simple blacksmith, until I told him.

  In the end, I am happy to say that Kai justified my faith in him. He earned the Sword of Fire he wields now. More important, he learned to work as part of a team and to see the grand picture of the world rather than focusing on just his corner of it. He could have left with Nya and returned to his village and his old life, and no one would have thought less of him for it. But he chose to stand beside his partners and prepare for any future danger that might threaten.

  Does he still leap into danger?

  Yes. Is he still both amazing and exasperating? Yes. Is he like the fire he wields, burning hot and bright no matter what? Yes, indeed. He is Kai, unique as a spark of flame, sharp as the sword he carries, a true hero at last.

  Kai crouched down, his brow knitted in concentration. His eyes were locked on the practice dummy ten feet away. It was just a thing of cloth and sticks, but it seemed to be making fun of him. He could almost hear it saying, “Ha! You call that a flying kick? You look like a chicken trying to fly … with one wing … blindfolded.”

  The young would-be ninja broke into a run. On his fifth stride, he planted his right foot and leaped into the air. His left foot was pointed straight out before him and aimed right at the target dummy’s head. This time, Kai would knock the head off. He was sure of it.

  Just short of contact, he faltered. His left leg dropped perhaps half an inch, just enough to throw off his balance. He fought to correct it, but that only made the problem worse. Suddenly, his flying kick had turned into a confused jumble, arms and legs going every which way. Kai landed on his rear end, bounced, rolled, and wound up at the foot of the practice dummy.

  Nearby, Sensei Wu looked on. After a moment, he began to slowly clap his hands. “Amazing,” he said. “Not just anyone can botch a flying kick that badly. That takes real talent.”

  Kai got to his feet, brushing the dirt off his clothes. That had been his twelfth attempt at the maneuver, and his twelfth failure. He was angry at himself. His sister, Nya, was missing, captured by skeleton warriors, and she needed him to save her. And here he was struggling to master the battle techniques he would need to know, while time was running out.

  For the first time, he began to doubt. What if Sensei Wu had been wrong to choose him for training? What if he didn’t have what it took to be a ninja, or to learn the art of Spinjitzu? Maybe he was just a blacksmith, as his father had been. Was he fooling himself that he could ever become a warrior?

  “Try it again,” repeated Sensei Wu, sipping from his cup of tea. Kai had never seen him actually make any tea, but he always seemed to have a cup of it on hand.

  “What’s the use?” Kai answered, his eyes on the ground. “Maybe I’m not cut out for this. Maybe I should go back to making swords and armor.”

  Sensei Wu smiled, remembering the incredibly bad sword he had seen Kai forge. “Yes, as I recall, you were a master at that.”

  Kai shot him a hard look. “Okay, so maybe my work was a little … creative. At least I knew which end of the sword to put in the fire. Here? I’m not a ninja. I work in a blacksmith shop in a market square, just like my father did. I’ve lived in that village my whole life, the same as he did. We’re just regular people. We’re not warriors and adventurers.”

  Sensei Wu gently eased himself down onto a chair. He was looking in Kai’s direction, but his eyes were focused on a past time. When he spoke, it was very quietly.

  “Your father,” Sensei Wu said, “did not live in that village all his life.”

  “What are you talking about?” asked Kai. “You told me that when you decided to hide the Four Weapons of Spinjitzu from your evil brother, you came to our village. You asked my father to draw a map showing the locations of the four hiding places.”

  “True,” said Sensei Wu. “And from that day to this, I had never set foot in your village again … because your father asked me not to.”

  Kai looked at the sensei in disbelief. “That’s crazy. You’re a sensei, a master of Spinjitzu, and you let a blacksmith tell you where you could and couldn’t go?”

  “No,” Sensei Wu answered. “I respected the wishes of my best friend.”

  Seeing the expression on Kai’s face, Sensei Wu smiled softly. “You look surprised. Did you not think Spinjitzu masters had friends? There was a time when your father and I traveled the length of this land, righting wrongs and aiding the weak. That was long before you were born, of course, or your sister.”

  “Are you saying my father knew Spinjitzu?”

  Sensei Wu shook his head. “No. He could have, if he had chosen that path. But he did not.”

  There was an
uncomfortable silence. Finally, Kai sat down at Sensei Wu’s feet and said, “I never knew any of this. Tell me about him … please.”

  “Your father was wise, brave, and the most trusted ally any man could have,” Sensei Wu began. “We fought together for many years, sometimes even with Garmadon beside us, before my brother turned bad. We brought peace where there had been disorder. Your father was a hero, Kai.”

  The sensei smiled. “In the early days, he was much like you — headstrong, reckless. Once, we were searching for a group of samurai bandits. Your father was sure he saw them in a nearby field in the moonlight. Without waiting for me, he drew his sword and charged.”

  “What happened?” asked Kai.

  “In the morning, we had to pay the farmer for all the scarecrows your father had ‘defeated,’” the sensei said with a chuckle.

  “As time passed, Garmadon and I grew further apart. I came to rely on your father’s advice and aid more and more. Yet another life beckoned to him. He had met and married the woman who would be your mother. Eventually, you and Nya were born. He chose to lay down his sword, settle in that village, and be with his family.”

  “Why?” asked Kai. “Why would he choose to live in a little out-of-the-way place when he had a life full of adventure?”

  “I asked the same question, at the time,” answered Sensei Wu. “Your father’s answer was, ‘Protecting the world begins with protecting the ones you love. There are many men who can wield a sword or win a battle. But only I can be a husband to my wife and a father to Kai and Nya.’”

  Kai shrugged. It still didn’t make sense to him. “And that was it? You two said good-bye?”

  Sensei Wu nodded. “For a very long time, yes — where I traveled, danger traveled with me, and your father did not want his children put in jeopardy. When I finally defeated Garmadon and chose to hide the Weapons of Spinjitzu, I knew I had to share the secret of their location with someone I trusted.”

  “So you came to my father,” said Kai.

  “He made the map and hid it where we hoped no one would find it — inside the banner of your shop,” Sensei Wu replied. “He knew it was a risk, keeping it there, but it was a greater one to allow it out of his sight. And I slept peacefully, knowing it was in his care.”

  “But Garmadon found it anyway.”

  Sensei Wu nodded. Kai said nothing for a long time. Finally, he looked up and asked, “Do you think my father would be proud of me?”

  “If you try again, yes,” Sensei Wu replied. “If you quit … that he would not understand. Your father chose to be a different kind of hero, a kind I could never be. He knew he was the only one who could raise you and Nya and keep you strong and safe. And, Kai, you are the only one who can do what needs to be done now.”

  Kai stood and walked back to his start position. Once again, he concentrated on the training dummy. He pictured every movement he would make, from his leap to sailing straight and true through the air toward the target. But this time, as he began to run, he felt something more than a determination to succeed. He knew he was running in the footsteps of his father.

  I will learn everything Sensei Wu can teach me, Kai thought as he took off into the air. I will rescue Nya, Father. I will carry on your legacy and make you proud.

  There was no confusion, no wasted motion now — simply a young man with fire in his heart doing what he must do. He was one with his body, and the world around him seemed to slow down. Then his left foot landed on the target dummy, punching through the straw and sticks and rags. The dummy toppled as Kai landed cleanly on his feet.

  Sensei Wu gave the barest of smiles. “Better. Today, you fought your first great enemy — your own doubts — and you won. Take that victory into your tomorrows and you will bring honor to your name … and to the memory of your father.”

  “Whew!” said Kai. “After all that, I’m thirsty. Got any more of that tea?”

  Sensei Wu smiled. “Snatch the cup from my hand without disturbing the tea inside … and we’ll talk.”

  Kai raised his axe and brought it down in one smooth motion, splitting a log with a loud crack. He had been chopping firewood for over an hour now and already had far more than was needed.

  At least this makes me feel like I am doing something, thought the young ninja. All this waiting around is going to drive me crazy!

  He put another log in place. As he lifted the axe, he imagined the log was the skeleton warrior who had kidnapped his sister, Nya. Kai had joined Sensei Wu’s team in order to rescue her, but so far they had been mainly concerned with finding the Four Weapons of Spinjitzu. Kai knew that was important — the Weapons had awesome power, after all — but it didn’t feel like the search was getting him any closer to Nya. When he thought of her as a prisoner of Samukai and the skeleton legion, it made him want to explode with rage.

  Kai swung the axe a little too hard this time and turned the log into splinters. He was just brushing them off his red garment when he heard a voice behind him.

  “You should take it easy. What did that log ever do to you?”

  It was Zane, the Ninja of Ice, leaning against a tree with his arms folded across his chest. His tone of voice, as always, was serious. The saying around camp was that Zane wouldn’t know a joke if it bit him.

  If someone else had made that remark, Kai might have snapped at him. But he had learned to accept that Zane was different, even if he didn’t always understand his fellow ninja. Zane honestly didn’t seem to get why other people reacted to things the way they did, particularly when it came to anger or other strong emotions.

  “I was thinking of … other things,” Kai replied.

  “Oh,” said Zane. “And these other things are upsetting you?”

  “What was your first clue?” said Kai, turning back to his work.

  “It was the way you were chopping down a half dozen trees for one night’s campfire,” Zane answered calmly. “You should save your energy, Kai, for the fights to come.”

  Kai threw down the axe and sat down on a stump. “What fights? All we do is chase around Ninjago looking for … things. Meanwhile, my sister is out there somewhere in terrible trouble, waiting for me to save her, and what I am doing? Camping out!”

  There was a long silence. Then Zane said softly, “I envy you.”

  Kai looked over his shoulder. He couldn’t believe he had heard that correctly. “Envy me? What’s to envy? My sister is missing because I wasn’t fast enough or tough enough to save her from the skeletons.”

  Zane flashed the barest hint of a smile. “You don’t understand. I don’t envy the fact that your sister is missing — it’s that you know she is missing. You have memories of her. That is more than I have.”

  Kai rose and walked over to his friend. He had heard fragments of the tale of Zane’s past, but never in detail. I’ve been so caught up in my own problems, I never stopped to think about what his might be, Kai said to himself.

  “Did you have a sister?” asked Kai.

  “That’s just it. I don’t know,” said Zane. “Not so very long ago, I woke up on a road outside of a small village. I had no memory of where I was or how I had gotten there. The people of the village took me in and gave me a home, but they couldn’t tell me who I was. All I did remember was my name.

  “I lived there until Sensei Wu came to me and offered me a place on this team. I thought that by adventuring I might uncover some clues to my past. So far, though, there hasn’t been time to investigate.”

  Kai frowned. The sensei had often told him that worrying about his sister might distract him at some crucial moment. Yet he allowed Zane to go on missions when the ninja’s entire past was a blank. Wouldn’t that be at least a little distracting?

  “How far away is that village?” asked Kai.

  “Five or six miles, I would guess,” answered Zane. “Why?”

  “Because we are going to pay the place a visit,” Kai replied. “Sensei Wu says we won’t be moving on for a day or so anyway. That gives us time
enough to check the place out and see if we can find answers to some of your questions. Let’s go.”

  As the two ninja headed back to camp to get their gear, neither noticed a shadow detach itself from the larger darkness. It belonged to a skeleton warrior, who was even now rushing back to the Underworld with most interesting news.

  Samukai, leader of the skeleton legions, steepled his bony fingers and smiled. “Fascinating. It is a shame you missed the first part of the conversation, Kruncha, but what you did hear might prove useful.”

  Kruncha bowed his skull and tried hard to contain his excitement. Samukai was pleased! This might mean a promotion, or even permanent assignment to the world of Ninjago.

  “If Kai and Zane are going to this village, then there must be something of importance there,” Samukai continued. “They would not take time from their mission for anything less than a critical quest. That means we must get there first.”

  Kruncha, eyes still on the ground, said, “But, wise and powerful Samukai, what if the two ninja arrive while we are searching for … whatever is there? The treasure might be destroyed in the battle … along with the two ninja, of course,” he added hurriedly.

  Samukai rose from his throne. “That is why we will distract the two would-be heroes, giving us all the time we need to find what they are seeking. Assemble a squad. Here is what we will do …”

  Kai and Zane moved quickly through the woods. The ice on the tree limbs glittered like gems in the sunlight. The snow on the ground was topped with a thick coating of frost, which crunched loudly beneath Kai’s feet. The fire ninja envied how Zane could move over the snow so lightly that he left no trace.

  “You’ll have to teach me to do that,” Kai said.

  Zane shrugged. “I’m not sure I can.”

  “Didn’t Sensei Wu teach it to you?”

  “No,” Zane answered. “I’ve always known how to do this. Or, at least, I woke up that day knowing how.”

  “And there wasn’t anything on you that might have hinted at where you came from?” asked Kai. “No mud stains, pieces of plant, anything that could have shown where you were before?”