Legends of Ninjago Book 2: Rise of the Serpentine

Chapter 11: Two Truths and a Lie

    Jay was running down the road as fast as he could, throwing his feet with so much force he thought that he would have bruises the next day. He had to get home—he had to get home right away! Something was wrong, very very wrong.
    He had been going down the same road for ages, it felt like. That lonely stretch between the junkyard and Ninjago City stubbornly stretched out further than it had any right to, but it wouldn't stop him. Finally, the junkyard came into view and he doubled his speed, hoping that he wasn't too late.
    The gate whizzed by him, and now he was standing in front of his house, positively drenched in sweat.
    "Mom!? Dad?!" He shouted. No reply.
    Up to the front door he raced and shoved the door off of its hinges to get inside. He was about to call for his parents again but was silenced by the towering figure of Lord Garmadon. He grew bigger and taller, filling up the room—wait, the house was gone now, replaced by pools of lava and sulphur and smoke. Garmadon laughed coldly, emitting a fear so great that Jay felt that he couldn't breathe. He had done away with Jay's parents, surely, and he was next! Where were his parents?! Why weren't they protecting him?!
    "MOM!"
    A wave of static electricity went over his whole body, ricocheting off his sheets and leaving goosebumps all over his skin. Jay was sitting up, in bed, breathing heavily and feeling cold beads of sweat trickle down his chest, neck, and back. He threw off the blanket he had over him and started wiping away the sweat over and over again, while the dream replayed in his mind.
    'Why can't I ever just GO TO SLEEP?!' He would've shouted if there wasn't anybody else nearby. Instead, he forced his thoughts to remain inside his head, releasing only an occasional whimper of anger. 'Why do I always have to have nightmares?!' His heart was aching from an over abundance of misery, his back was sore from tossing and turning, his eyes were heavy and stinging from overuse, and his temples were throbbing from a massive headache he had coming on. 'Why?' he silently asked again. 'I didn't ask for this...'
    His shirt was practically drenched, so in a fit of frustration, he pulled it off of his body and threw it against one of the walls. Why, oh, why did this keep happening night after night? Sometimes it was fine. Sometimes the dream wasn't all that scary. Sometimes he didn't dream at all. But more often than not, the nights were like this. Miserable. When did sleeping become such a chore?
    As he reached to hug his knees, he could feel his jaw tighten and his eyes water.
    'No!' he told himself. 'I won't cry!' He swiped at the tears vigorously, making sure not one slid down his face. He was probably the only ninja who was still acting like a kid... crying for his mommy in the middle of the night. The other guys were much braver, he thought. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shake his anger or his tremendous feeling of sadness which was brought on by the dream. He hadn't dreamt about his parents before now, and it revealed to him a deep-rooted fear he had never known he had: the fear of his parents getting hurt while he was away. If anything like that happened... he'd never be able to forgive himself.
    His room was smelly and messy, like it always was, and the moon wasn't in the window so it was even darker than usual. The odd shapes of furniture and clothing seemed to grow and shorten in the minimal light, leering this way and that. He found himself jumping at even the slightest notion of movement he caught in the corner of his eye, only to find out that his mind was playing tricks on him.
    The other boys were still in their beds next door, and from the sound of their snoring, they were all still sound asleep. They didn't know how lucky they were.
    After a few minutes of sitting on his bed, feeling awful and jumping at shadows, Jay figured that he'd have a slim chance of getting back to sleep, so he decided that he would take a walk around the monastery. He had never done this before, and he was very unsure about the idea, but he didn't want to just sit alone all night. He needed to get up and do something to get the jitters out.
    Slowly, he got to his feet, careful not to make a single noise, and slid his door open. The hallway was brighter than his room, but not by much, and the stairwell, he noticed, was pitch black. It was practically screaming: "There could be anything down here! You never know! A monster could spring up and get ya!"
    'It's just the stairs,' he told himself. 'There's nothing down there. Everyone's asleep. It's just the stairs. There's nothing down there. Everyone's asleep.'
    He kept repeating the words over and over and over again, desperately trying to believe them, but even as he approached the dark staircase, he could feel his body tense. One, two, three, four, five steps down, and nothing bad had happened. Seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, and everything seemed fine. Near fifteen steps he saw the light of the next hallway and was relieved to be able to see his surroundings once more.
    The monastery was spooky at night. The old, wooden building creaked and groaned every so often, making it seem as though anyone could be hiding just behind the next wall or pillar. Perhaps there was someone... after all, the Skulken assassins had found their way here twice. THAT certainly didn't make him feel safe! Not one bit! Maybe he'd better turn around now?
    'No!' he told himself. 'You're not a baby! Besides, you're already down here, might as well go for that walk.' It was decided. He had talked himself into it, despite still being reluctant.
    He was on the second floor, passing by classrooms, bedrooms, and game rooms that he knew were totally empty, making him feel awfully alone. Every item was left idle and unwanted, every candle had been smothered and forgotten, every door had been shut. Where did he go now? He thought about it for a moment. There was a large room not too far from here with a great view of Ninjago City. That would be the perfect place to unwind.
    Off he went, gingerly tiptoeing through the shadows toward the big room with the good view. All the while, he had a terrible feeling that someone was watching him, and maybe even following him, but every time he looked around, all he saw was his brain playing tricks on him. Then, something creaked behind him and he bolted for the big room. Reaching the door, he opened and closed it as fast as he could with his shaky hands. He only breathed a sigh of relief when he paused and didn't hear footsteps in the hallway. There didn't seem to be anybody standing in the room with him, either. He was alone now.
    Jay walked passed some sort of flower arrangement on the right wall and stopped at the window, opening it slowly. The moonlight and streetlights poured in through the glass and filled the room enough to relieve most of Jay's nerves, and he sat down to watch the tiny cars go along the streets of the city. This was nice—even though he had nearly wet himself on the way down here. What a good way to relax his mind after that dreadful dream.
    Speaking of that dream, Jay wondered if perhaps it had manifested because of how homesick he had been feeling lately. It was definitely possible. He didn't know much about dreams, but this wouldn't be the first time his thoughts had influenced what he dreamt about at night.
    Looking out over the city, he tried to make out where the junkyard would be. It was impossible to actually see it, what with all the trees and then the buildings in the way, but he imagined that it was just northwest of here, sitting quietly on its pitiful plot of land.
    Hmmmm.... how were his parents doing? How was business? Did they miss him as much as he missed them? Their separation seemed to deepen the more he thought about it. Then something hit him: he hadn't spoken to his parents in over five months... nearly half a year... when would he see them again?
    "Out for a late night stroll?"
    Jay actually screamed and jumped to his feet, lighting blinking at his fingertips, ready to attack whoever had just snuck up on him, but found the smiling face of Wu staring back in utter calmness.
    "Sensei Wu!" Jay realised, a little too late. "I'm so sorry, I-I—"
    "At ease," the old man said gently. "The mind can often play tricks on you in the dark." Jay was relieved at how understanding he was and turned back to look at the city. His chest still ached as though a dagger of adrenaline had pierced him, but he tried to steady himself, and eventually the feeling faded.
    He swallowed and said, "Yeah, I'm just out to clear my head." He tried to seem casual and turned his attention back to the sparkling lights, awkwardly shuffling his feet and trying to cover his bare chest with folded arms. Wu seemed to be just as encapsulated by the lights, and the two of them stood in silence, watching the night grow dim.
    "Are you still having bad dreams?" Wu asked suddenly.
    Jay looked up and stared at his mentor for a second. "Oh, uh, well, depends on what you'd call a 'bad dream.' Is, like, a two-out-of-five-star dream considered bad?" The weak joke had no effect on the old man and Jay was left inwardly cringing.
    "And what have you been dreaming about?" He went back to looking out the window and Jay could feel that the conversation was ever so slightly turning serious.
    "Just regular dumb stuff," said Jay, shuffling his feet again. Wu probably expected more of an answer. "You know, like... people chasing me... falling forever... that sort of thing. What do you dream about?" Jay turned to look at Wu as he spoke and felt his insides freeze when he gave the young ninja a strained glance. As if he were saying, 'Really?' Jay gave a nervous cough.
    All of a sudden, he felt a familiar tingling sensation near the back of his head. Boy, that brought back memories. He hadn't felt this since he first met Wu, but now that it was back it continued to work its magic and calmed him down a bit.
    "I've been dreaming about things.... bad things..." he started, his throat tightening. "Sometimes I see... the torture chamber in the Underworld... sometimes... I see a Skulken face... following me... other times I see Garmadon, or a dragon..." Wu was listening intently now. "Recently, though, I've been dreaming... about the accident... falling into the river... and... my parents..." There it was, the ugly truth. Laid out for his sensei to see. "But, you know, it'll probably go away sooner or later."
    "Any other dreams?" Wu pressed.
    "Ummm..." Jay had to really think for a bit. "There's one I've had a few times, but it's really weird and stupid, so, you know—"
    "What was the dream?" Wu was giving him his full attention now, and Jay was getting a little uncomfortable.
    "Nothing—nothing at all. Forget I mentioned it." The dream he had been thinking of was the one where he could hear people talking about him from behind the mirror, but it was too weird to talk about. Wu seemed to let the matter go and they both went back to their window staring.
    "I used to have nightmares, too," said Wu. "When I was young... a long time ago now." It was hard to imagine a young Sensei Wu, especially for Jay. What would he even have looked like? Then Wu lifted his hand and golden energy began to spin in his palm. "This tonic saw me through many rough nights. Perhaps you would like to try it?" The energy cleared away and what it left behind was a tiny cup filled with a deep blue liquid. It reminded Jay of a small cap full of medicine.
    "What does it taste like?" he asked, eyeing it suspiciously.
    Wu chuckled. "Blue raspberry," he said, and he lifted the cup for Jay to take. He grabbed it carefully and swirled its contents around just a little bit. Bringing it up to his nose, he gave a quick sniff and frowned. It didn't smell like anything. Again, there was silence.
    "Hey, um, Sensei?" he asked after a while. Wu turned and smiled at his student. "Did you, uh... did you ever have a crush on a girl?"
    Wu breathed in a decisive breath. "You are young. Feelings come and go. Some feelings can be a distraction." He gave Jay a very serious look. "Perhaps it would be best to relieve yourself of such distractions and focus on your training?"
    Jay looked down at his feet and felt his stomach drop. Not quite the answer he had been looking for. He should have known better than to ask his Sensei about crushes.
    "Yes, Sensei," he mumbled.
    "I hope that tonic works for you. Goodnight," and Wu left the room.
    Everything was all business these days, huh? Never a moment for a laugh anymore. Well, maybe not entirely. Tomorrow was Nya's birthday, after all, so he was gonna make sure she had a great day. Nothing was gonna stop him.
    With the tonic in hand, he felt much more confident about returning to his bed, so he started tiptoeing his way out of the room and back up the stairs. The dark seemed less frighting in this direction, and he managed to get back to his room without so much as one jump-scare.
    His room also seemed less menacing now that he was back, airing out his sheets and making himself comfortable. He sat down on his mattress, blankets pulled up over his thighs, and he held the small cup in front of his face. Whatever the experience, he was going to drink it and get it over with. One... two... three! Down the hatch it went, sliding over his tongue and down his throat.
    He gave a terribly gagged cough from the bitter taste of the blue syrup, and he scrunched up his face, feeling it linger on his tastebuds. That was by far the... the most...
    His head rolled back and he fell onto his pillow with a PLOP, completely passed out. He hadn't even had a chance to put his cup down.