Ninjago: An Elemental Curse

Chapter 9: Ghost Story 2.0

The crickets chirping outside filled the silence as Ry laid under the white sheets of her new bed in her monastery bedroom.

Despite how tired she felt, no matter how hard she had tried, Ry just couldn't fall asleep.

She had barely left her room since this afternoon, not wanting to see or talk to anyone, not after what happened earlier that day.

Ry knew they would just ask her about what she saw in the pink flowered tree forest during her elemental training.

Everything that had happened there: the transparent dark green figure leading her to a scene of even more similar figures, who had seemed to be playing out some sort of scenario that involved the ninja, Wu, and her uncle Morro.

That whole experience was just so confusing. Ry couldn't determine how she felt. She didn't know what to think about it. She didn't even know what it was.

All she knew was that based on what she saw, her uncle Morro hadn't just tried to curse the realms.

Somehow Morro possessed Lloyd and used him against his team. Why or how exactly, Ry didn't know, but now it was clear that Morro might've been targeting the ninja and Wu directly.

It was only her second night at the monastery and weird stuff was already happening. Just the life of the famous ninja, always getting affected by the strangest of things. She wasn't even a ninja, at least not yet.

However what she saw in the forest wasn't the only thing keeping Ry awake. She was terrified that if she closed her eyes and drifted off, she would have the nightmare. The same nightmare with the purple glowing woman that she'd seen the past few weeks.

Ry groaned into the soft fur of her two favorite plushies, a gray wolf and a snowy owl, that she had always slept with. They were her only source of comfort right now, the her only things that reminded her of home.

Even though in a way this whole experience was letting her live her dream of seeing the world outside her village, Ry couldn't help but miss it. She missed home. She missed her parents, her little siblings, her friends, her own room.

Everything felt so out of place and usual at the monastery. It didn't feel like home at all. What made it worse was that she felt like the majority of the ninja didn't even want her there.

Suddenly Ry sniffled, feeling a few tears form in her eyes, silently sliding off her cheeks into her plushies' fur. She felt so so homesick. She felt so alone.

Just before her little sniffles would've turned into soft cries, an idea came to Ry.

Back home she loved to stargaze. When she felt trapped and alone, staring up at the stars made her feel free.

Seeing the millions of stars twinkling high up in the sky reminded her that she wasn't alone. She was never the only one staring up into the sky. It somehow made her feel more connected to the rest of the world. Right now, Ry knew if she stared up at the stars, she would feel connected to her family. Maybe they would be looking at the stars too.

With that realization, Ry slowly sat up from her bed. Using the long pink sleeve of her pajama, she wiped the tears off her face. After that she gave both her plushies a gentle kiss before setting them on her pillow. Then she slipped her feet into the fuzzy dull pink slippers she had brought from home.

As she stood up, the moonlight seeping into her room caught her eyes. She shifted her gaze over towards the square window next to her bed.

She walked over to it, placing her palms against the cool glass. Her eyes fell upon the training yard, her mind instantly overthinking every little thing she did during training that day.