The Rise After The Merge- A Ninjago Fan Fiction *on break rn*

Chapter 7- The Land Of Oni and Dragon

Grace looked out at the view through the window in the back of the Bounty. She had changed out of her Ninja outfit for the time being, and leaned against the window holding a cup of tea. The view was beautiful, being a cascade of all different shades of colors. She smiled. They were getting closer to the Realm of Oni and Dragon, as the signal from the device was strengthening. Grace didn't tell them, but she could sense it could. In fact, she could sense any oni or dragon from a very far radiance. "Hey Grace," Lloyd greeted her, making her jump a little. "Hey Lloyd," Grace said back, now facing him. Lloyd had also changed, he was wearing a white outfit with gold and green accents. He also was wearing a green headband."Nice outfit," Grace said."You look like a Ninja master." "Really? Thanks, Grace. I'm just trying this out. I like your outfit too!" Lloyd responded;. They then stood in silence for a while,not knowing what to say to each other. Grace didn't say anything, as there was way more to her outfit than he thought. She had worn this in hard times, and it was once covered in blood and went through a chemical reaction that had turned her purple outfit to green. She tried to get the color back, but nothing would work. So for a while she didn't wear it, she preferred wearing black at home to cover bloodstains of her own or her fathers'. But now she wore it, as she didn't feel as depressed as she had been for a very long time.

Lloyd was confused on what to say since Grace didn't say anything. They just stared into each other's bright green eyes. For him, it was interesting to see someone with the same bright green eyes as him. It was refreshing, and calming to somehow see that quality on someone else. Grace turned back to look at the window and Lloyd did the same. "Hey, Grace?" Lloyd asked. "Yeah Lloyd?" Grace responded back. "Is there a reason why you're doing this? I mean, helping us out?" Lloyd asked as he leaned his arms on the window sill. Grace stood in silence for a moment, leaning her arms on the window sill as well as she thought about her answer. She took a deep breath." Well, ever since the Merge, I've been trying to find my family. I lost them in the Merge. So in addition to trying to find my family, I've had the courage to finally leave my village and expand my horizons, you know? I just want to really explore the world with nothing holding me back. But I won't truly rest until I find my family. After all, family is key," Grace responded as they moved closer to each other. "Yeah, I hear you," Lloyd replied as he turned his head to face Grace. "Have you tried to find your family? Your parents, I mean," Grace said. Lloyd bit his lip. He had not really thought about his parents for a while. It would be the last thing on his mind. His parents, Misako and Garmadon were not present all of the time in his life. And he still couldn't get over the fact that his own father cared more for a plant than for his own son. He had not had any contact with his parents a little before the Merge happened. Grace saw the look on Lloyd's face and wished she hadn't said anything at all. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything," Grace apologized."No, it's fine,"Lloyd said."I just haven't thought about them for a while." Grace put her hand on Lloyd's. "Well, it's fine. You don't have to talk about it. But if you do, I'll be there," she said as she flashed a small smile. They were very close to each other when the speaker came on. "WE ARE HERE AT OUR DESTINATION!" Arin yelled through the speaker. Lloyd and Grace broke apart in shock, ready to head to the deck. Grace ran ahead of Lloyd, her face red. She had never talked to someone like this before. And never had she had any sort of romantic relationship with anyone, but Lloyd made her jittery . Her heart was still pounding a little when she reached the deck, and her face was still a little red.

No, love is for the weak, she told herself.

You must not let anything like that interfere with what you do, Grace.

But was it for the weak? Or was it that she never had any relationship with anyone? She didn't know...

Lloyd was confused that Grace had run off like that. He hadn't done anything to upset her at all. Was it something that he had said? But he was reminded of Harumi during that talk, before he found out she was the Quiet One. It seemed like Grace had her best qualities, like her comfortness she gave her. He almost felt the same feelings as he did for Harumi, but he knew that he could trust her.

It's just that sometimes you're too trusting, Kai's voice echoed in his head. Lloyd decided to shake it off. I don't want you to get hurt, Kai's voice kept on persistently echoing in his head.

I'm just looking out for you.

Lloyd wondered if Kai's words were true, but to be honest, sometimes Kai was a complete knucklehead. He always assumed the worst when it came to Lloyd, always trying to shield him as much as possible as his big brother. But Lloyd had grown up. He had faced many things, went through so much pain and managed to survive, all with learning all of the dark truths with no shielding. He didn't need Kai's protection anymore. He could tell when things were wrong, and he was also a teacher now. He knew how to act and how to avoid mistakes on his own. And with his gut, he trusted Grace. Lloyd walked to the deck, reflecting in solitude. Arin had very loudly announced that they were in the Land of Oni and Dragon. That was the land of Lloyd's ancestor, the First Spinjitzu Master, before he fled to come to Ninjago and create realms. That means he could see dragons or oni, but he wondered how they would react to them. The grandson of the FSM, back at the land of his origin. He pondered this while he walked to the deck. When he got there, everyone was waiting. Grace seemed back to normal, she wasn't red anymore. "Look!" Arin said as he looked at the landscape of the Realm of Oni and Dragon as they landed with ease.

The sun was setting in the First Realm, and dragons could be seen flying around populating the sky. There was no sign of other life except for the dragons. Everyone hopped off the Bounty except for Grace. She was still scared of the thought of being ripped to shreds by a dragon because of her Oni heritage. "Grace, you coming?" Lloyd asked her as she stared into the sky. "Yeah," she said doubtfully. At least Lloyd and the others would be there if anything were to happen. As they walked through the realm, they spotted all sorts of wonderful and beautiful things that probably had been caused due to the Merge, like exotic plants. Whenever Grace saw a dragon from a far distance, she would automatically walk faster. "So what are we looking for actually?" Lloyd asked as he pushed away a leaf. " I guess something that seems different," Zane said as he carried the tracker. "But everything is different," Grace argued. "So how do we tell things apart?" Arin ventured further into a cave ahead of everyone else. "It's dark in here!" Arin said as his voice echoed in the cave. The others walked towards him and Lloyd lit up his hand with his elemental power as they ventured deeper into the cave. They kept on walking in the cave, not making any sound. Then they stopped. There was two symbols ahead of them, one that looked like a dragon and the other looked like a demon of some sort. "Oh look!" Arin said pointing out the engravings. They all looked at each other. They had to be careful, just in case, after all this was the First Realm, anything could happen. The group walked one more step before without warning the floor dropped from beneath them. "AHHH!" They all screamed in unison as they slid downwards into who knows where. Arin and Zane where split up from Lloyd and Grace, who descended more downwards before falling down. Grace landed on Lloyd and they quickly broke apart, both blushing a little out of embarrassment. As soon as Grace finally got up, she was faced with a weapon pointed at her neck.

"FREEZE!" the Oni yelled as they surrounded Lloyd and Grace.

Word Count- 1486

YESSSSSS 7 chapters ALREADY!
Chapter 8 will come out soonish, it's not finished right at the moment I am typing this

It's ONI TIME >:)