Flames of a Phoenix //Ninjago - Next Gen\

O n e

"Just put the damn apple on your head!" I snort into the palm of my hand at Maddy's outburst, watching the woman hold out a red apple towards her sister who only scoffs before harshly ripping the fruit from out of her hand, "Thank you!"

"Whatever," Jade retorts with a huff, "Just know that if you hit me, I'm going to hit you right back." I watch the scene unfold in front of me with amused eyes from the stone steps of the training course, the chilling wind whipping past my cheeks, leaving a slight sting.

Most of the days consisted of mild training now that there was no immediate danger threatening Ninjago. The most action us ninja got were a few robberies when some lowlives got gutsy. I didn't mind the silence and loss of action, it was almost refreshing to take things at my own pace. For once, we all got to have sleep-ins and personal time with each other without stress piling up on our shoulders.

"Hey, Alyssa!" I blink for a second, snapping out of my daydream to see Maddy grin towards me, waving her bow around, "You hearing this? Jade thinks I'm rusty!" She turns her blue eyes to her sister, raising the golden dragon carved bow up to her sight and pulling the empty string back, "Put the apple on your head, Jade!"

Jade growls lowly but complies, putting the apple on the centre of her brunette head. Crossing her arms tightly over her chest, she glares heatedly back at her sister who stood a good few feet away from her. "Just get this over with already, I look stupid."

A bright yellow glow burns brightly between the pulled back string of the bow and if you were to blink, you would have missed how the glow takes shape of a sharp gold coloured arrow. I watch as Maddy inhales slowly and just as she lets a breath out, she releases the arrow. It wizzes through the air at breakneck speed and impales the apple from Jade's head before getting stuck in the wall behind the girl.

Jade shudders and takes a quick step away from the burning arrow, and I watch with amazement as it dissolves into golden sparkles. The apple drops to the ground and splits perfectly in half like it had been cut expertly with a knife. "I'm never doing that again."

Grinning, I raise from the steps and give Maddy a clap for her performance. I feel like a proud parent, watching their child learn how to walk for the first time. "Very nice! It's crazy to think how you nearly shot Kai that one time when you shoot like that."

"Sometimes I wish I didn't miss." Maddy sighs with a pout, walking over to neatly place her bow on the weapons rack in the corner of the courtyard.

Jade snaps her head in the direction of the girl with a raised eyebrow, "Hey, watch it! That's my man you're talking about." She stands up from where she was kneeling, the two parts of the apple in her hand. She looks down at it with a thoughtful frown, "Five seconds rule?"

"Gross!" Maddy shrieks, going over to her as the other woman goes to take a bite out of the apple. They proceed to argue over wether the five second rule actually meant germs couldn't touch food or not.

I shake my head at their bickering, hands rested on my hips. I should of seen this coming. While they were distracted, I turned to head inside the Monastery but stopped short when I nearly bumped straight into Kat. "Shit, sorry. I didn't hear you come out, which is a first."

Damn, was I getting rusty or was she just getting better at sneaking up on people? Either way, I really need to keep my senses up. Don't want to accidentally punch someone in the nose if they tried to sneak up on me, accident or not.

"It's okay, I actually came out here to find you." She smiles up at me, a teasing glint sparking in her brown eyes, "I wanted to know if you wanted to train with me for a bit. I need to make my illusions more realistic and I want you to be my guinea pig."