Chapter Text
After the minor fiasco at the Caves of Despair, they were sailing on a boat to the Frozen Wastelands of Kōrīng Dìchi, and everyone was kinda bored. Cole was steering them through the ice floes, Kai and Zane were hanging out on deck, Morro was quite comfy in the crow’s nest, Wu was on the stern, and Jay was trying to pass the time by playing ‘I Spy’ with Cole. Suffice to say, Morro could hear Cole getting frustrated, even if he couldn’t quite make out everything that was being said. Then the boat hit some ice.
“I spy something broken,” Jay said. Morro rolled his eyes at Jay’s snark.
Right now, I spy someone who’s going to get socked on the jaw if he doesn’t stop trying to play I Spy and distracting the navigator.
Morro turned around from where he’d been watching Cole and Jay in order to make sure they weren’t going to start fighting and saw Wu finally start to move from the stern.
“The most powerful move in Spinjitzu can only be accomplished when all four elements are combined,” Wu said as he flipped dramatically off the stern. Morro rolled his eyes again.
Ah yes, all four elements. Only four elements, totally, not like the Master of Wind, which is not one of the four elements, is right here or anything…
“Earth, Ice, Fire, Lightning,” Wu recited as he demonstrated a pose for each one, and Morro just shook his head.
Guy’s my dad in all but blood, but does he really need to be this dramatic? He did the exact same speech on me when I was their age, honestly, does Drama run in his veins or something?
“Uh, what happens when all of them are combined?” Jay asked as he moved to stand with Kai and Zane. Wu turned to look at Jay.
Cue dramatic pose…
“The Tornado of Creation,” Wu said, making the exact pose Morro expected: simple, with his hands clasped in front of him, but dramatic because he had been moving around more just moments ago. “The power to create something out of nothing,” he continued as he used his elemental ability to make a cup out of thin air.
Subtle, like your beard.
Kai seemed to take this as a challenge to do it all on his own, again, and started trying to copy Wu’s movements, and not very well at that.
“No, Kai, if done incorrectly, it will lead to disastrous consequences,” Wu scolded. Kai kept trying anyway, because apparently he was dumb like that.
Mm, kinda reminds me of another ninja I know all too well. Me. It’s me.
“Disastrous consequences, right,” Kai said sarcastically.
“Kai, enough,” Morro said, rolling his eyes for the third time within the same five minutes.
Good grief, my eyes are getting a workout. I really hope we get there soon, because my eye muscles are going to strain or something with all the rolling I’m doing.
Right after that, the boat made landfall. Would it actually be landfall if the land is ice? Regardless of what it would be called, their arrival was heralded by the boat shaking and the sails quickly freezing due to sheer proximity to the Frozen Wastelands.
Yup, here, it gets up to a balmy freeze your buns off during the summer. Glad we’ve got insulated gis.
“Uh, wasn’t me!” Cole called from the helm. Morro saw that nobody else was paying attention to Cole, so he sent a thumbs-up Cole’s way so he knew they’d heard him.
“Did I do that?” Kai asked from the deck where he’d been knocked over.
Kai, for real, you need to stop being so self-centered. Seriously. I’m so tired of this. You are not the main character of this story.
“No,” Wu said as he moved to the railing along the side of the boat. “We are here.”
‘Here’ being the shore of Kōrīng Dìchi, right in front of a bunch of giant torii gates that line the path that leads up to the Ice Temple where we should find the Shuriken of Ice.
After a few near mishaps while disembarking the boat, they trudged their way up the path. By Morro’s reckoning, it only took half as long to get to the Ice Temple as it did to get up to the Monastery the long way.
Short way being to use the Wind to cut out the climb, not that I use it much; Wu’d have my hide if I let myself rely on my elemental abilities and get lazy.
Looking up, Morro saw what looked like an eternal snowstorm swirling above the temple. As they entered the temple, Morro and his brothers could see several frozen Skulkin soldiers scattered throughout the chamber.
“Whoa, looks like someone’s already been here,” Cole said, his voice echoing through the large, empty room. Well, mostly empty; there were all those ice lumps of Skulkin, so… anyway. It didn’t take them long to find the Shuriken of Ice, suspended in midair beneath a dragon’s open mouth. Oh yeah, there was a dragon in, on? the ceiling, so that was fun.
Yeah, that’s gonna be a lotta fun to deal with in a few minutes…
“The Shuriken!” Zane exclaimed softly as he came to stand beneath them. The Shuriken were too far above the ground for any of them to feasibly reach alone, especially without using their elements, which four of the five of them didn’t even have access to yet, but they had to get the Shuriken somehow.
Hmmm, I wonder…
“Hey guys! What if we did something like a cheerleading pyramid to get Zane up there?” Morro asked, only slightly grinning like a goblin at the mental image his suggestion evoked. Zane and the others looked at each other and shrugged before attempting just that. As Zane grabbed the Shuriken, he was frozen like the Skulkin warriors on the other side of the room. The room began to shake and the dragon dropped to the floor.
“Guys, we gotta run! Move Zane so we can run faster!” Morro shouted at the others. They repositioned Zane and ran from the dragon, because that dragon did not want them to escape, apparently.
Like, I know it’s trying to do its job, but seriously, what if we were Wu? Would the dragon go after Wu? I don’t think so, which is so rude.
As the dragon chased them, Morro couldn’t believe they were doing this, but they were riding on the Zane-sicle like a sled.
Seriously, riding a person like they’re a sled is a whole new level of weird in my life, and I’ve met Bolobo. Not that he’s not a cool guy, he’s just a little funky.
So, they rode the Zane-sicle down the entire path they’d traveled just a short while earlier. Morro was honestly impressed with their sledding skills, because that path didn’t have safety rails or anything and it had curves.
I’m seriously just glad I don’t get motion-sick like some people; that would suck right now.
As they sledded down, they came upon a turn that they didn’t quite get. Their sled caught just a little air, just enough to make them jump, and they slammed right into one of the many torii gates lining the path. They impacted the gate so hard, in fact, that the Zane-sicle broke apart to leave only Zane.
“Ow,” everyone said to varying degrees as they dropped back down. Morro glanced up and saw Wu standing just a few yards away with the boat.
Huh, I guess we made it all the way down before a mishap. Sweet.
“Hey Wu, we got the Shuriken!” he said with a thumbs-up and a grin that Wu knew to be wary of. Groans erupted from Morro’s brothers as they tried to get up with him sprawled on top of at least two of them. Once they’d all gotten their feet under them and had made their way back to Wu, he brought out the map, which showed where they needed to go next.
“The Floating Ruins of Kinshǔ Kamindiàn are next, looks like, so everybody pack your rubber underwear, we’re gonna need it,” Morro joked. His brothers all looked at him with disgust, and Wu just shook his head in resigned acceptance. Good, Wu knew he couldn’t stop Morro from making jokes; that just gave Morro more free rein on them.
It took a couple of days, but they managed to make it to the grounded portion of the Floating Ruins.
I’m hilarious, even if it’s just to myself.
They’d just managed to climb up to the chain that anchored the secondary portion of Kinshǔ Kamindiàn to the rest of Ninjago when Zane looked back.
“We are being followed!” he said urgently. Morro took a look and, sure enough, Samukai and several Skulkin warriors were close behind them.
“Well, that’s just dandy, isn’t it?” he muttered as he whipped out his tesshàn and got ready to rumble.
“Let’s go!” Jay called as he and the others started climbing the chain. “Morro, come on!”
“You go! I’ll hold off the Skulkin, just get those Nunchaku!” Morro called up, without looking away from his opponents. He heard Cole start herding the others up the chain, and he was glad that Kai wasn’t giving them too much grief today.
“Alright, boys,” he said to the approaching Skulkin as he brandished his tesshàn. “Let’s dance.”
One of the Skulkin warriors didn’t even think about threat assessment, apparently, since he just charged Morro, who summarily swept him off the anchor and down the summit. There were some echoing cracks that made their way up, making everyone present wince, if only a little.
Boy, am I glad I’m not that guy. I like my bones the way they are, nice and not shattered.
Several other Skulkin decided to take that moment to rush Morro, but unfortunately for them, Morro had trained for (and experienced) a great number of scenarios, which included this type: multiple opponents coming from various angles. Morro didn’t even use the Wind, he just used Spinjitzu to send each one flying down the mountain.
Seriously, not only have I been fighting off multiple attackers since before I met Wu, these guys don’t even hold a candle to the street kids I’d fight sometimes over food. Those kids had more mass and they were vicious. I know of at least thirty-nine kids who would bite at a moment’s notice with zero hesitation. These Skulkin aren’t even close to that level of vicious.
“Morro! We got the Nunchaku; let’s go!” Jay called out as he and the others whipped out their gliders and jumped off the Floating Ruins. A screeching roar echoed soon after.
I think he forgot to mention the dragon…
Morro shook his head and took a dive, since he, too, had a glider. No need to stick around if the Nunchaku were safely in Jay’s hands, after all, so he left the Skulkin to find their own way down.
And maybe they can deal with the dragon, while they’re there.
Morro and the other ninja had landed safely, somehow, and had set up camp with Wu. Cole was messing around on the drums that they’d packed for some reason, and Jay and Kai were dancing around acting silly. Morro and Wu were sitting, with Wu trying to sleep sitting up, and Zane was standing next to Cole, watching how he played.
“Come on, Sensei! Join us!” Kai called, and no. By the First Spinjitzu Master this couldn’t be happening. Cole stopped playing the drums at that moment.
“There is still one Weapon left! We must get our sleep!” Wu scolded, opening his eyes only to glare at Kai for a moment before shutting them again.
Phew. Bullet dodged.
“Aahh, Sensei, look. You’ve gotta admit we’re kickin’ their bony butts!” Jay said as he threw a couple mock punches.
“Get up here! Show us some moves!” Kai cajoled.
“Mm, I guess I could,” Wu said, standing up.
No! Bullet un-dodged!
“Dad, no, please! Please don’t do this! Don’t make me watch this again!” Morro begged. Wu turned to look at him, and the only thing in his eyes was spite.
“I don’t know where to start with that. Dad? Again?” Cole asked, looking at Morro with his eyebrows raised higher than Mount Yamashān. Jay spluttered.
“Wait wait wait, why would Wu have found you in an arcade then?!” Jay asked, waving his arms around in typical fashion. Morro raised one of his own eyebrows.
“Bold of you to assume he did. I just said he found me,” Morro corrected.
“Actually, you told us you had been looking for food with other children and that was when you and Wu met,” Zane piped in.
Oops. Minorly busted.
“Now this move,” Wu interrupted as he started the dance, “is very special.”
Thanks, I guess.
“But if done incorrectly, will it lead to disastrous consequences?” Zane asked. Morro, Kai, Jay, and Cole started laughing. Morro realized Zane was being one hundred percent serious, but it was so funny with the context of the Tornado of Creation conversation.
“Zane! Was that a joke?!” Kai asked through his laughter. “A sense of humor! You found it!”
Okay, Kai, maybe don’t go that far. Yeah, it’s funny, but don’t bring that in…
Cole started playing the drums again, and Wu started Morro’s nightmare.
“Shake what your mother gave you,” Wu said, mischief making his eyes twinkle as Morro hid his face in his hands.
“Please don’t make me watch Wu dance; he’s terrible,” he pleaded.
“Yeah! Look at this one now,” Wu continued, pulling at his moustache and ignoring Morro. Morro groaned.
No, not the ‘stache. I know I don’t have to, but I can’t help looking up! It’s like a car accident.
Wu continued with the ridiculous dance moves and continued making noises like ‘mm!’ and ‘yeah!’, which honestly just made everything worse.
“Spin ‘round! Oh yeah! I put my feet –!” The others started laughing and dancing around again, while Morro just shook his head and begged the universe to put him out of his misery.
“-ya! Wait up!” Morro heard from beyond the veil of sleep. He stirred only to notice Kai getting up and running off, obviously chasing after something.
But what, dear Watson, is the question.
Morro got comfy again to go back to sleep, but then woke again.
Rats. I gotta go after him, don’t I? Man…
So, Morro got up as quietly as possible, which was effectively silent, given that he was a ninja. Seriously, Wu trained him to be able to do anything quietly, even open a bag of chips or some other typically noisy item. Instead of following Kai on the ground, though, Morro decided to follow from the trees, where the leaves would disguise him and any noises he might make could feasibly be explained away as the wind or a nocturnal critter moving through them.
I mean, it’s technically correct…
“Slow down! Why are you running so fast?” Kai called out, probably to whoever ‘-ya’ was – wait. Kai’s sister’s name was Nya, right? The sister who’d been kidnapped by Garmadon? That sister? Yeah, this wasn’t going to end well, was it?
It took a little bit, but they eventually reached the forest’s edge, and the Fire Temple was in sight.
“Nya, where are you?” Kai asked, looking around the area. Morro didn’t see anyone, but for all he knew, Kai was seeing something he wasn’t.
Now, is he seeing something because he ate a funky mushroom, or is it something else?
Kai must’ve heard something, and Morro thought he heard a girl’s voice on the wind, so it could’ve been that, but Kai went running into the Temple they were supposed to investigate in the morning.
Great. Now I’ve got to either go back and wake Wu up or stick with Kai and potentially be without backup until the others somehow eventually find us, or at least our corpses.
Morro decided to stick with Kai, if only because he’d never forgive himself if Kai got hurt because he left him behind. Now Morro’s only problem was if he should show himself to Kai now, or if he should wait until Kai was in actual danger.
Well, probably better to let him know I’m here now, rather than have him nearly take my head off because I surprise him while he’s fighting for his life or something.
“Kai! Hang on!” Morro called out as he jumped down from his tree. Kai whipped around in surprise, and Morro waved.
“What are you doing here?! Why are you following me?!” Kai shouted. Morro was feeling generous at the moment and deigned to answer.
“Because we need to not do anything stupid alone. Going into the Temple alone? Stupid; which is why I’m coming with you. Buddy system, you know?”
Wooow, I had no idea Kai’s face could get that red… Man, the guy’s a beet, but in the angry way, I’m pretty sure.
“Okay, fine, whatever. If you get in my way or stop me from saving Nya, I will hurt you,” Kai threatened, and Morro wasn’t sure if Kai knew just how he would hurt Morro, just that he would. Morro was pretty sure, however, that Kai probably wouldn’t be able to do that much, given the skill-level difference between them.
“Ninja’s honor: I won’t do anything that isn’t in yours or Nya’s best interests,” Morro said, crossing his heart. Kai glared at him, which was kinda fair, since Morro didn’t specifically say he wouldn’t get in Kai’s way or stop him from saving Nya, but that was the best Kai was gonna get. Instead of dramatically accepting Morro’s vow or demanding an alternate promise, Kai whipped back around and started back toward the Temple entrance, only this time, Morro followed him openly.
Man, it’s toasty up here. Good thing I can just whip up a breeze – oh wait, I can’t, Kai doesn’t know about all that yet, dangit.
They finally reached the doors a few minutes later, and when pushed, the doors to the Temple creeaaked open ever so slowly. As Kai and Morro walked in, a fresh wave of brutal heat washed over them, though it didn’t seem to bother Kai quite as much as it did Morro.
Okay, so maybe the fact that I’m inside a volcano-Temple fusion, which just so happens to be mildly underground with all the volcano above us, might be bothering me just a teeny tiny bit alongside the heat. Oh, who’m I kidding, it’s bothering me a lot.
The place was creepy, that was for sure. Morro could see the Sword of Fire, and then he couldn’t, because a girl was blocking his view. Her hair was short and dark, she had similar features to Kai, and she was wearing a red dress with red leggings; Morro was willing to bet a whole lotta money that this was Nya. Kai started running to her, even though she had just faded out of the steam like some kind of horror-movie ghost.
“Nya!” he called.
“Don’t worry, I’m right here, brother,” ‘Nya’ said as she turned into the shadowy form of Morro’s Evil Adoptive Uncle Garmadon and started laughing his evil laugh. Morro gritted his teeth.
As good at Spinjitzu as I may be, Garmadon has literal millennia on me, not to mention he’s literally Wu’s older brother and the son of the First Spinjitzu Master. If Kai and I are going to stand a chance, we’re gonna have to get real lucky real fast.
“Garmadon,” Kai glowered, reaching behind his back for his sword, but he was met with nothing but the back of his gi.
Oh yeah, we hadn’t gotten around to the ‘keep your weapons on you at all possible times’ lesson by the time Wu decided to start this crazy road-trip. Note to self, get that hammered into Kai and the others’ heads before this is all over.
“Forgotten something?” Garmadon hissed.
“You can’t hurt us here, you’re banished! Trapped in the Underworld!” Kai said, backing away from Evil Uncle Garmadon. Garmadon finally seemed to notice Morro.
“Ah, yes, my little brother’s little pet street rat. Enough about him; I want you to remove the Sword of Fire for me,” Garmadon said, his shadow looming over Kai and Morro.
Well, this is a nice little pickle, isn’t it?
“I don’t think so!” Kai shouted. Garmadon’s shadow loomed even more, if that was even possible.
“Are you sure about that?” he asked as a girl, who Morro assumed was the real Nya, was dropped from an opening above the Sword of Fire and dangling from a chain.
Great. Garmadon really had to go for the hostage route.
“Kai!” she cried as she swung a bit.
“Nya!” Kai shouted back, rushing forward with his hand outstretched. Morro stretched out his arm to hold Kai back, and when Kai glared at him, he shook his head gently.
Sorry Kai, but one of us needs to have a level head here, and I’m not sure I can trust you to be that person.
“If you don’t remove the Sword, how else will you cut the chains to save your precious little sister?” Garmadon asked in a silky-smooth voice.
Urgh, gag, note to self: NEVER, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, REFER TO UNCLE GARMADON AS HAVING A SILKY-SMOOTH VOICE! I’m gonna need brain-bleach for the next couple thousand years.
Apparently like Morro, Nya wasn’t buying what Garmadon was selling. Kai, though, looked like he might be just desperate enough to fall for it.
“You know it’s a trap!” she said as she started struggling against her bonds. “I can… free my… self!” Her efforts were for naught, though. “Okay, that’s tight.” She muttered. The chains holding her suddenly started dropping her straight toward the lava.
Crud. This isn’t going to end well. Gotta do something…
Morro decided that the best course of action would be to get Wu here so he could fight Garmadon before he killed Kai and Nya. So he summoned the Wind and flew back towards camp, but before he reached their campsite, he saw Wu running through the trees.
Man, does Wu have some kind of internal radar specifically for initiating Sibling Rivalry Fights?
“Master Wu!” Morro called as he dropped back to the ground. “Kai’s in trouble, and his sister’s there, too. Garmadon’s got Nya tied up over lava and is dropping her and he’s using her to get Kai to pull the Sword of Fire. We’ve gotta go help them now!” he reported.
“I feared this may happen. Help me get there faster,” Wu ordered, and Morro was only too happy to oblige. Morro made sure to take a more hidden route than the one he and Kai had taken not fifteen minutes ago, because if Garmadon caught wind of Wu’s approach, he would quit playing games all the faster and likely kill Kai and Nya. Morro landed and dropped Wu off in a hidden place near the ceiling and then had to find his own spot to hide and wait in.
It soon became apparent that Kai and Nya were in trouble, with or without Garmadon getting nervous about Wu showing up; Kai was getting his butt kicked by his own shadow, which Morro didn’t realize Garmadon could do, since he wasn’t the Master of Shadow.
Honestly, it kinda just gives Shade a bad rep, and I’m pretty sure he can’t even do that. Or, if he can do that, he hasn’t figured out how to yet.
“That’s not fair!” Nya cried indignantly.
“Oh, am I being too hard?” Garmadon asked as he, somehow, made more Evil Shadow Clones. Kai, who’d been knocked on his back, picked himself back up, using the Sword of Fire as a crutch as he regained his balance. That was when Kai decided to fight through his injuries and continue to not make any progress, apparently.
Well, he’s got tenacity, even Stinky Uncle Parmesan has to admit that. I have to admit, though, he’s not really learning from his experiences; come on, Wu, get out there and kick some shadow butt!
Things got really tense when Kai was knocked down again, more harshly this time, and lost his grip on the Sword of Fire, which landed on the ground near the edge of the lava pool. One of the Evil Kai Shadows picked it up and held it up victoriously, while Kai reached out a hand as he struggled to get up.
Oh boy, first aid is definitely on the to-do list…
The Evil Kai Shadow was stopped, however, when Wu’s shadow came busting in. Wu had dropped onto a rock that was floating in the lava and was using the light put off by the lava to cast his own shadow into the fray so he could take out the Evil Kai Shadows. Morro decided to help out and cast a shadow puppet of his own; a falcon.
Old man always has loved his shadow puppets… Not like I don’t, though…
As the Shadows fled from the falcon-shadow, Morro could hear Wu laughing. Morro dropped himself down to see to Kai’s injuries while Wu retrieved the Sword, but all too soon, he heard Uncle Parmesan again.
“Brother, I see you protect one, but what of the other three?” he hissed.
He’s not seriously suggesting that the others are in danger, right? What am I saying, of course he is! Crud! I should’ve gone to them as soon as I dropped Wu off here, not stuck around playing shadow puppets!
“They are safe! Far from your grasp, Garmadon!” Wu shouted back at him. Morro and Nya helped Kai walk as they made their way over to Wu.
“I wouldn’t be so confident,” Garmadon sneered softly. “Samukai and his warriors have captured your other students and have taken the other three Golden Weapons as well. I’d have thought you would be wiser and not leave your poor, innocent, defenseless students unattended.” With this, Garmadon faded out of sight, and since no one could see him, Morro figured he was gone, at least for the time being.
Stupid dramatic old man. He’s older than Wu, he should be more mature, but noo, he had to be Diva Drama Wannabe-King and do this.
“My brother must not unite the Four Weapons. We must keep them apart!” Wu said urgently, looking at Morro, Kai, and Nya before racing to the exit.
Man, poor Nya. She doesn’t have any clue what’s going on, and now she’s stuck in the middle and just trying to escape with her brother and her life.
“Awaken, Guardian of the Temple! They’re stealing the Sword! You must not let them escape!” Garmadon shouted, and as the dragon rose from the lava, Wu leaped onto its head, but Morro didn’t think he meant to do that, because he flipped back over to where Kai, Morro, and Nya were standing.
Garmadon really had to do that, huh?
The dragon reared its head and roared at them. Morro didn’t know about the others, but staying still and acting as non-threatening as possible was high on his agenda right now. Nya, unfortunately, screamed.
Guess she couldn’t get a look at the agenda, then.
The dragon used its tail, somehow, to bring down stalactites to block off the exit. Which, honestly, was so unfair.
“There’s no way out! He’s taken all our options!” Kai exclaimed as he looked around the temple.
“All but one,” Wu corrected. Morro turned to look at him, because last Morro checked, this temple had a roof, meaning he couldn’t get them out by flying; the entryway was blocked, so it couldn’t be that, so what was the remaining option…
No. Please, no.
Wu jumped onto a rock floating in the lava.
“Sensei, what are you doing?!” Kai called out. Morro could only hope that he was wrong about what he thought Wu was doing, but he knew his Master too well, he feared.
Wu severed the rock’s connection to the rest of the stone on which they stood. He started floating down the lava river.
“No, you fool!” Garmadon shouted, his shadow writhing in rage. Morro wanted to say something to that extent, but the sentiment was different.
“If he is to bring the other Weapons here,” Wu said, “then I will take the Sword of Fire to the Underworld. It is my sacrifice to pay.” Wu sat down on his chunk of rock, which was drifting in the current of the lava-flow.
No…
Morro’s heartbeat was the only thing he could hear. It was pounding in his ears like an execution drum roll. He could tell Kai was saying something, but it was muffled, like he was underwater.
No…
Wu fell down the lava-fall.
NO!!
Morro couldn’t remember his birth parents very well, if at all, since they died when he was five, but he did remember the pain of their loss. To lose another parent, one who seemed like he would be permanent, was agony.
Morro could hear Garmadon hissing something angrily, but it just… didn’t matter. Morro’s master, his father, had just sacrificed himself, and there was no coming back.
Why… why did he leave me? Morro shook himself. No, he didn’t leave me, he just had to do something, and that was the only option he was willing to take. I just wish he hadn’t picked himself to take the Sword… Well… guess that’s what fathers do. Now it’s time for me to pick up where he left off.
Morro felt hands on his arm, trying to pull him somewhere, and it helped him snap out of the mental fog that had taken over his thoughts.
“Come on, guy, no time to have your head in the clouds. There’s a great, big, probably super hungry dragon alone with us,” Nya said as she continued to pull at him. Morro shook his head.
“From what I remember Wu telling me, dragons can go hundreds, if not thousands, of years without food and be fine. Hungry and cranky, probably, but these dragons haven’t been doing much of anything, and they’ve only been at it for about ten years. Trust me, this dragon is, at worst, a bit snacky,” he said as he allowed her to bring him closer to Kai.
“It’s about time you pulled your head out of your butt,” Kai snapped. “Sensei Wu just sacrificed himself and all you were doing was standing and looking at the lava. Didn’t you care about him? Aren’t you the one who called him ‘Dad’?”
Okay, grieving in his own way or not, he’s gonna get it.
“You think that I was just watching the lava? No. You think I had my head up my butt? No. You’re the one with his head up his butt. You said it, Wu was my father in all but blood, and I just watched him possibly die. I am not you, so don’t expect me to react like you,” Morro took a deep breath. “Look. Right now is not the best time to be arguing, and if you’re going to act like this, then you’re going to have more problems than a dragon, trust me. Now, the dragon probably won’t leave us alone for long, because the Sword was the dragon’s charge, and dragons don’t take having their charges stolen lightly. Anybody have any ideas? Anyone, anyone at all? Nya?” Morro turned his head to look at her when she held her hand up.
“Well, uh, first off, who’re you? I don’t know you and I have no idea what’s going on, so… explain? Please?”
Oh, duh. Wow, smooth going, Morro; freak the kid out by spacing out and then tear her brother a new one and then act like you know her and never introduce yourself. Sandpaper’s smoother than me.
“Sorry, name’s Morro, fellow student, well, technically ex-student after I achieved my mastery, but Wu taught me as well. Kai told us your name and that you’re his sister, I don’t know why Garmadon snatched you at the forge, Garmadon’s after the Four Golden Weapons of Creation, we’re in the Temple of Fire, there’s an angry dragon looming over us, and Kai’s being a jerk. Any questions before we figure out how to deal with the dragon?” Nya shook her head.
“No. Uh, thanks for the run-through, I guess? Anyway,” Nya shook her head again, more vigorously this time. “Kai, do you remember those stories Dad would tell us about dragons? How they could travel between realms? Wouldn’t that include the Underworld?”
“Uh, yeah, I remember… I think you’re right, Nya! Morro, does the Underworld count as one of the realms?” Kai asked, looking more upbeat now.
Which is ironic, since I just ripped him a new one and there’s still an angry dragon with us. But hey, better attitude is better.
“Yeah, it does! Alright, so, that gives us a way out of here, but it relies very heavily on the problem we’re facing right now getting fixed really well, really soon. Any ideas on how to get the angry dragon to stop being angry?” Any celebration that had started when Morro confirmed Nya’s idea ceased when he finished saying his piece.
“Wait, hang on a sec, you said dragons don’t like it when their charges, which, why’d you call it a charge anyway, what are you, nine hundred? Anyway, didn’t you say they don’t like it when their charges stolen? What if we tell it that we’re trying to protect the Sword too? Do you think that’d work?” Kai asked animatedly.
Hmm, how to communicate it to a dragon, ‘cause I’m not sure if they can understand humans. Well, humans who aren’t Wu, who probably isn’t all human, since he’s been around since ‘long before time had a name’ and all that jazz.
“What if we just talk to it? Also, do either of you know how to tell boy and girl dragons apart? It feels really rude to keep calling the dragon an ‘it’,” Nya asked, looking at the dragon with a critical eye. Morro and Kai looked at each other.
“Not it!” Kai shouted, touching his finger to his nose faster than Morro could.
Joke’s on him, he doesn’t know draconic dimorphism like I do, and I only know it because I asked when I was twelve.
“It’s a male. Look, you see the coloration and patterns on him and the shape of his wings? Those are all indicative of a male Fire dragon,” Morro pointed out. Kai and Nya simultaneously nodded in the way people do when they’re not sure they’re following but they’re seeing what’s being pointed out to them.
“Okay, so, uh, Mr. Dragon? We’re trying to protect the Sword, too. Please don’t eat us,” Nya said, looking at the dragon before them. The dragon cocked his head as he lowered it to look at her. A great, hot blast of air shoots out of the dragon’s nose and into Morro, Kai, and Nya’s faces.
Woof, dragon breath. First chance I get, I’m finding a way to get that toned down. Wowza.
“Aww, he’s actually pretty cute,” Nya cooed as she walked closer, reaching her hands out to touch his snout. “Who’s a good dragon? I think that’s you, that’s who!” Kai looked at Morro and pointed a finger down his throat and made a gagging sound. Morro laughed and started moving closer to the dragon himself.
“Yeah, you’re a good boy. You’re just a good boy who’s trying to do his job and people keep taking your job away, huh?” Morro stroked his scaly snout. “Poor guy. Wu never thought he’d need to take your charge away, or if he did, he probably thought he’d be able to do it properly and give you some closure.” The dragon moved his head away from Morro and moved toward Kai.
“Whoa, hey there… buddy? Uh, why’s he getting so cuddly with me?” Kai asked, having to brace himself to withstand the force of the dragon butting his head into his chest. Morro chuckled.
“Looks like he can sense you’re the Master of Fire; he probably likes you most because of that,” he said.
“Huh. Well, I guess we’ve figured out how to get the dragon to not kill us, so I guess now it’s on to Phase Two: Get out of the Fire Temple,” Kai said as he petted the dragon almost absentmindedly. Morro nodded and cracked his knuckles.
“You got that right. Now, let’s do this.”