Salt: A Ninjago story

34: You're my density!

Lloyd wanted his team, his family. He was in scarily familiar territory but felt no more certain about it than he ever had before and had never faced something like this without them. Now he faced the unknown with his beautiful stranger, who he trusted with a certainty, but realised he had no security in that trust, not the security built from experiences shared with his team. But they were here and working on it and it felt right.

'Lloyd... Lloyd?' Harumi called to him. He turned to her from staring out at the mist from the shingle beach 'Do you fancy helping me with this boat?' Harumi huffed and thrust her hands towards the small dingy, as if he had not seen it right beside her. She had dragged it a certain way from the boat-house but was getting nowhere and now it had hit the shingle its prow sank deep into it like a bog with sticky fingers holding tight 'perhaps the boat does not want to go where we are going' she said and pulled at it for effect before dropping the rope, exasperated. She kicked it for effect 'clever boat' she said through clenched teeth.

Lloyd watched her show and it immediately lifted his spirits. She was highly strung. Now she had free will to speak her true mind it was like she could not turn it off. He found it very amusing and considered letting her huff and rant a bit longer, but then thought better of it. He started to trudge towards her, the steep unstable beach slipping annoyingly beneath his feet. He stopped and thought he would try something else.

Harumi growled 'well? Are you gonna help m...!' but stopped abruptly when she started to rise from the ground, the boat alongside her. The soft strands of Lloyd's energy, held her without pressure and after the initial surprise, she lay back and relaxed into it. The boat floated on and settled at the shoreline as Harumi slowed to a stop in front of her smiling charioteer 'well this is much more comfy than that lumpy bed I made, couldn't we have tried this out last night?' she said coquettishly, turning to hover on her side '...in-fact, couldn't we just float over to the Dark island?'

Lloyd laughed 'I don't think I could maintain this type of energy for that trip... but I wouldn't mind jumping in there with you now'

'It's a free world' Harumi said with a smile and a glint in her eye.

Lloyd leant back onto the energy field 'Perhaps when we get back... something to look forward to'

Harumi let out a long sigh and rolled onto her back, her body bobbing down gently into the mist 'I don't think I can wait that long'

Lloyd moved into the energy cloud and placed his hands beneath her. The mist dispersed slowly and he supported her body as she came back down to earth.

'Spoil sport' she joked. But Lloyd kept his arms where they were and gracefully pulled her to him 'We need something to focus on, something good in a dark place and to be honest I'm finding it difficult to think about anything else at the moment, so lets hold that thought'

'What are you expecting to happen when we get there exactly?'

'I don't know. But the Island exists as a proof of creation. Without it, all the good in the world could not exist, and I wonder if that doesn't actually make it a bad thing. Perhaps it's something else, something beyond good and evil? That's another thing I don't know'

'You should have studied more...'

'Believe me Harumi, studying is all I do! But some books cannot give all the answers'

'I guess not, I mean why would it call to us? Is it sentient or is there something there? It's showing us old demons and we're just running towards it with open arms; which doesn't make much sense'

'No, but compulsion is only partly under our control'

Harumi looked at Lloyd, the confusion on her face obvious to see 'What do you mean?' she asked Lloyd