Onyx and the Tournament of Elements

Rabbit Fold

The second Onyx stepped into the arena, a blast of indigo crystal came flying in her direction, and she barely managed to duck it, hearing it shatter against the closed gate like glass. Onyx hissed, realizing just how easily the crystal would be able to slice her open. Then again, if she were able to get ahold of a long enough piece, she'd be able to turn that against her opponent.

'Move!' Onyx stopped thinking and fell into the familiar dance with death, skirting around blasts of crystal and leaping, rabbitlike, away from the danger. The master of crystal, Amethyst, the cultist announcer had called her, twisted her lip into a snarl as she fired ruthless blasts at Onyx, who circled around her, eyes flicking around for the jadeblade between attacks. Finally, her eyes alighted on a leather-bound handle poking out from a hole in one of the rocks. Onyx shifted her gaze to a different spot in the arena and stared intently at it, attempting to divert Amethyst's focus.

To her satisfaction, the short woman took the bait, eyes flicking over to where Onyx was staring. The moment her brown eyes were away from the ninja, she flung an elemental blast of her own at her, knocking her back. Onyx began to run backwards on her heels towards the jadeblade, not willing to risk exposing her back to the enemy. Amethyst was only distracted for a split second, eyes almost immediately flying back to Onyx, who noticed black crystals forming around her hands.

Onyx threw herself behind a rock outcropping as the wave of elemental power flew at her, wide enough that she wouldn't be able to dodge it on her feet. Onyx hunkered down behind the rock as the crystal formed around it, sharp icicles of the black material appearing in her peripheral vision, nicking her cheek. When the crystal had stopped spreading, Onyx pushed herself away from the rock. She had to get away before Amethyst-too late.

The Master of Crystal launched herself over the rock and tackled Onyx, pinning her to the ground. Onyx's eyes widened as Amethyst slashed at her face with a shard of crystal. She flung her hands up to protect her neck and eyes with her arms, giving a tiny whimper as she felt the sting of the crystal biting into her forearms. Onyx braced herself for what she was about to do.

She caught Amethyst's wrist, wincing as she felt the sharp crystal slide down her palm, opening another wound. When her hand had been stayed, Onyx twisted the wrist back, hearing it snap. Amethyst gave a cry as she brought her other arm up. Onyx realized what she was trying to do and reacted in defense. "No!" She blasted a ball of darkness into her opponent's face, throwing her back. Amethyst screamed as she hit the rock.

Onyx frowned. Even if Amethyst was a dramatic person, that reaction seemed-oh. She realized why the Master of Crystal had screamed like that. Onyx had thrown her back onto the sharp outcroppings of her own crystal. She backed away from the woman, who had her hands over the place where the crystal had penetrated her body. 'It's fine. It's fine! That's a kidney. You only need one of those. It's fine!' Onyx's mind raced desperately as she backed towards the jadeblade, unable to pull her eyes away from the elemental master she'd just gotten impaled.

'What if she only had one kidney? Then you just killed her. You might have just killed someone.' Onyx shook her head as her hands wrapped around the jadeblade's handle, trying to banish those thoughts. 'I did what I had to do. I would've died if I hadn't. I promised Ori that I'd get her home. I'm not in the wrong here!' That managed to quiet her thoughts just enough to thrust the jadeblade into the air as Amethyst fell into a pit that had just opened up.

Onyx looked down at the jadeblade as she was ushered out of the arena by a few cultists. The blood from her arms and palm had dripped onto it, speckling the green that represented life and security with red that represented danger and pain. It was almost a blessing when another cultist took the blade from her as they went back into the arena.

And then Ori appeared, reaching up and grabbing Onyx by the shoulders. "Onyx, are you okay?" She asked urgently. Onyx forced everything from her mind, filing it to worry about later. She held out her arms. "I need bandages," she said. Ori swallowed and nodded, pulling Onyx over to a small table in the garden they were now in and pushing her into a seat, flipping the medical kit open, and pulling on a pair of gloves that were inside.

Ori narrowed her eyes at the packaging. "You're not allergic to latex, right?" She asked. Onyx shook her head. "No, I'm not. Kai is, though," she said. Ori dabbed at the cuts with iodine wipes, causing Onyx to wince and inhale sharply. Ori immediately drew back. "Sorry!" She cried. Onyx shook her head. "No, it's fine. They need to be cleaned," she said. Ori gulped and nodded, resuming the task, wincing whenever Onyx winced, but she didn't stop again.

"I think some of these might need stitches," she said. Onyx raised an eyebrow. "You are not sewing me up. Use the butterfly stitches once I stop bleeding. They'll do for now," she said. It took Ori a moment to find the butterfly stitches, setting them aside. Onyx gritted her teeth as Ori put pressure on the cuts. If it had just been one or two, she would've been fine, but with upwards of seven of them, the pain was coming from all of them, and it was miserable.

Onyx carefully directed Ori on how to apply the butterfly stitches, making sure she got them to stick the sides of the worst cuts together. When she's finished and begun putting bandages over them, Onyx offered her a smile. "Good job. Not bad for your first time. I've been taking care of injuries for years, and you did just as good as me," she said. Ori grinned brightly.

Onyx took a moment to enjoy the girl's excitement before frowning. "Let's go find the others. We need to find out what happened," she said once Ori had finished, standing up and sighing at the bandages on her arms and hand. It looked like she'd have to hold off on taking full baths for the next few days.

As they stood and walked out of the courtyard, Ori spoke. "You were protecting yourself," she said quietly. Onyx didn't respond, but she looked over and smiled affectionately at her, the words making her feel much more at ease.

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That chapter was honestly pretty fun to write. You know, now that I think of it, that's the first time Onyx has actually injured someone who wasn't trying to destroy Ninjago. Of course, it was in self defense and, in my opinion, justified, but you know how teenagers and people with decent moral compasses are.

Also, I gave an acquaintance of mine access to my word document of The Modern Prometheus and the New Dionysus. He's going to give me feedback! I can't wait.

Musical of the Day: The Lion King (I love the Lion King SO much)