Not this time

chapter 4

It took several hours before they finally found a place to land. While Nya steered the ship through the storm clouds, Lloyd was in their infirmary with Zane, getting his wrists bandaged.

After cleaning his wounds with water and using tweezers to remove the cloth that had burned itself into his skin, which hurt by the way, Zane used the gauze they had to bandage the wounds. None of them said a word. Lloyd knew it was going to scar. The amount of heat the ghost had used to burn him was way higher than Kai would ever use during training.

Enough to leave the flesh exposed, bleeding and in an angry red color. The blond tried his hardest not to hiss at the pain. The stinging sensation climbing up his arms once more. They weren't his first scars. And they wouldn't be the last. It would just be another reminder that he wasn't invincible. Not like hadn't known that before.

When they finally landed and made a fire for them to warm up, Lloyd hated that he had to do it himself. Sure, they could do it the traditional way, but with the ability to make fire at the flick of the wrist, it was easier.

He hadn't used the fire element in a long time. Lloyd saw no use for it until now. When they had gathered around the fire, it was tense.

"I think it's time you tell us what's going on Sensei" Cole crossed his arms.

"Yeah, today was more than weird" Jay nodded.

"Very well" Wu sighed. "You all deserve an honest answer. It has been a very long time ago when I first met Morro."

Wu had turned his eyes onto the fire, refusing to look anywhere else.

"I was still young, Garmadon had just left to train under Chen, leaving me to take care of the monastery. Morro was still a child himself when he found himself in front of the gates. An orphan, abandoned to take care of himself. I took him in and cared for him. It wasn't long until I found out that he was an elemental master. And I thought that I had finally found the green ninja."

As Wu told the story about his first student, none of them said a word. Listening closely to get every detail. To Lloyd, some parts of the story felt like his own. Left alone, no one to take care of him when he didn't even know how to do anything on his own yet.

"I noticed too late how obsessed Morro became with proving himself. And when the golden weapons didn't react to him, he tried even harder. He left, wanting to find my father's tomb, and proving that he was indeed the green ninja. It is my biggest regret that I let him leave that day" the old master finished.

Lloyd took a deep breath. That explained a lot. The ghost couldn't let go. Something else must be behind this though. That couldn't be all.

"Now Morro has turned his back on me in anger. Though I wonder if it was his anger and actions that ended him in the cursed realm, or if it was someone else, cursing his soul to a never-ending torment" Wu continued, catching their attention once again.

"Master, it's not your fault. He clearly made his choice" Zane said.

"How did he get out though?" Cole asked.

"He said it happened when I banished my father" Lloyd muttered.

"It doesn't matter now" Misako said, trying to console her son. She didn't want him to blame himself. "Important is that we find the clues to the tomb and help Kai."

"Indeed" Wu nodded, looking at the staff of his father. "Though I wonder how he has hidden them on the staff without me noticing for this long."

He ran a finger over the smooth surface of the staff, only to notice that it wasn't so smooth after all. Wu frowned and took a closer look. Was it possible?