Chapter 11: The Journey

The next day, Master Wu woke the group up early, which shouldn't have surprised Xavier too much: after all, it was a staple of harsh masters to have their students wake up early and perform grueling training before they could even wake up enough to process the world around them. However, Xavier had gotten a bit used to the odd nonchalance with which Wu had approached their training with so far. It had been something which had been in the back of his mind for a while, but unfortunately, with all the noise Wu was making as he woke them up, he couldn't really think it through before being groggily forced to get out of bed.

"Morning, morning, morning! It's time to get the first Golden Weapon! Pull yourselves together!"

Xavier vaguely heard what sounded like the ringing of a gong from far away. He hadn't expected Wu to have such a theatrical streak… in any case, Xavier groaned as he changed out of his pajamas and into his combat outfit, going through his morning preparations with a zombie-like demeanor. Every other ninja was in a similar situation, except for Zane, who seemed equally cool in every situation, but eventually the 5 pulled themselves together enough to stand at attention in front of Wu, who frowned, but didn't comment on their sloppiness quite yet. Instead he merely gestured with his staff to the doors of the courtyard, which had been opened to reveal a sedan chair-like contraption. Xavier groaned internally, seeing where this was going.

"Once we reach the foot of the mountain, 4 of you will pull me to the cliffside where we will find the Scythe of Quakes. The remaining person will follow along until we switch off."

The group was now groaning externally too, but listening to their master, drew straws to see who got to tag along first. Kai ended up winning, leaving Xavier to start off pulling the chair with Jay, Zane, and Cole as Kai followed behind. As they pulled the cart, he decided now was as good of a time as any to ask about them and how they had ended up here. Coughing slightly to break the monotony, Xavier asked his question as blasé as he could.

"So…. Uh, how did you all end up here, doing this? Guess you must be getting better health benefits than me, huh?"

Only Jay laughed at this joke, though Cole cracked a smile and Zane was as impassive as ever, and he seemed to appreciate the levity in this tense atmosphere the most out of the three ninja.

"Well, glad not everyone here is always stone faced! No offense Cole."

"None taken. As for me, well…. Wu found me when I was in the middle of… self-discovery, I guess you would call it. I was testing my limits climbing a mountain, but he got there first, the crafty old fox! I guess I thought I could learn something from someone who was so far ahead of me at that age."

Zane nodded along, this conversation seemingly having earned his attention.

"Indeed, I was in a similar situation when I met our master… I was what one might consider an oddity, I had very little and remembered even less when it came to my past… I made my living doing odd jobs and honed my skills doing what some might call "ascetic practices". However, Wu was the first person I had met who was not only well versed in them, but exceeded my own self in such capacity."

Jay looked embarrassed for some reason upon hearing Zane and Cole's stories, and probably would have scratched his head, had her not been struggling so much with his portion of the weight with two hands.

"Aw man, you guys are making me look bad, you have all these deep motivations… I just wanted to spend some time doing something different, I'm a bit of a renaissance man you know? Do a little inventing model building, the works. If an old looking wise guy with a beard comes and tells me I'm the chosen one, then I just roll with it."

Cole nodded, seemingly understanding this logic. He was struggling the least with the load, fitting his title of master of earth, and so he barely looked winded as he looked towards Xavier.

"What about you, ginger? Master Wu said that you're not attuned to any elemental property, but you and Kai came here too, so what's the story with that?"

"Hey, don't talk about me behind my back!"

Kai responded in indignation from behind the group, causing Xavier to laugh a bit. Then his expression darkened a bit as he remembered the nature of their mission. Though he was still adjusting to this world and the way it made him think about things, Nya was one of the few people close enough to him to feel like a real person so far… if nothing else, he did want to save her from the situation that she was in, plot or not.

"Kai and I come from Ignacia. Our village was attacked by the skulkin a while ago, and when we were raided, they took… Kai's sister, Nya. So Wu offered to train us to save her…"

Jay looked like he wanted to say something, but decided to stay quiet, evidently feeling like his uplifting humor wouldn't help much here. Zane, however, unexpectedly responded to Xavier with a sympathetic comment.

"It must be hard to bear such a burden. I believe there is a connection between ourselves and our loved ones, even when we do not realize it, and I sense that she knows you are coming to help her."

Kai looked thankful for the reassurance, not just reassurance of Nya's wellbeing but also her faith in him. He nodded, passion evident in his eyes.

"Thanks Zane, it means a lot to hear that from you."