balance of light and darkness book one : emergence

chapter six : early mornings and flower crowns

written by : artisticninja

words : 5,026

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The sun was still rising in the pale pink sky, illuminating the monastery in a soft yellow light and casting long shadows from almost everything that it touched when Cole woke up early the next morning. The raven-haired boy yawned before he opened his eyes, groaning softly as he sat up in bed and stretched. He rubbed his eyes before he ran a hand through his somewhat messy hair, yawning once more.

For a moment he regretted making the decision to get up early and train, but tried to reassure himself that it would be worth it to get some extra training done, and work on trying to complete the course in the amount of time that it would take Sensei Wu to drink his tea. Why did it have to be such a short period of time? Cole swore that he never saw the ninja master drink tea so quickly than when it was time for him to run through the training course. Every other part of the day, Wu would take his time to drink his tea, occasionally spending hours drinking from the same cup. Or so it seemed. Of course he didn't take his time while watching Cole train, that made perfect sense.

Cole shook his head in amusement, attempting to clear his thoughts, his expression still sleepy. He debated laying back down and falling asleep again, extra training or not, but finally he made the decision to start getting up. The raven-haired boy glanced over at Lyla's bed for a moment, and a small smile appeared on his face as he realized that his sister was still sleeping peacefully. They were still sharing a room, at least for the time being. Sensei Wu was still trying to get everything set up in the monastary, but he'd mentioned the possibly of switching things around when and if any other students joined them in the near future. It was one of those things that you just had to wait and see how it would turn out, and Cole was sure that whatever happened, it would be interesting at certain points. But interesting didn't always mean bad.

I could use some more 'interesting' in my life. He thought jokingly to himself as he pushed the covers back and hopped carefully out of bed. After a quick glance over at Lyla to see if she had woken up, Cole began tidying his bed. He didn't spend too much time on it, just fixed it up and hoped that it would be enough to keep his sister from correcting him about it later. She could be picky about things like that sometimes.

While they were growing up, after their mother's death Cole had been focused more on keeping them both alive, cared for, and safe. To him if they had enough food and could keep the house in relatively good shape when they weren't busy with schoolwork or necessary jobs, that was enough. A slightly messy house and things being less than perfect didn't bother him. But Lyla had always tried to keep things more tidy, she liked having routines and was better at keeping things in order around the house. Between the two of them and their separate talents and abilities, they'd always made a great team. They'd done a good job handling things, even though they had mainly done it themselves.

It was funny how even now, while he and Lyla were living here with Sensei Wu, a lot of things that they did around the monastery were similar to the things they had done back at their home not that long ago. They'd both settled in and adjusted fairly quickly to life at the monastery, and were grateful for the short time they'd already spent here. Cole was somewhat nervous about the thought of adding in several more people when the time came to welcome the other ninja-in-training, but he was hopeful that the transition would go smoothly and that they would soon all become close friends before too much time passed. If not, training, chores, and mealtimes were going to be super awkward.

With those thoughts in mind, Cole took one last glance at his bed before he decided that it looked fine, then grabbed his clothes and headed off to get changed. He was careful to be as quiet as he could so he wouldn't wake up his sister, and as he tiptoed down the hallway he didn't hear any other signs of movement in the monastery. So unless Sensei Wu was in the kitchen or hiding around some corner to scare him, Cole was fairly confident that he could safely assume that the ninja master was either still asleep, or meditating somewhere quiet.

Once he'd gotten to the bathroom a couple doors down the hall from where he and Lyla slept, Cole slipped into the ninja gi that had been given to him by Sensei Wu only a week or so ago. The gi was a plain black one complete with a hood, and actually quite comfortable. The material was durable, and was already showing just a few small signs of wear as a result of being worn almost constantly. The hood was seldom used, at least for the time being, until he got used to wearing it more. At first, wearing the gi had felt like being a kid playing dress-up, but as Cole continued with his training and became more skilled, the gi was becoming more like a uniform that was part of something that he was proud of. It was an honor to be worthy of owning one, and he took both the wearing of it and his training very seriously.

After making sure that the sash on his gi was tied correctly, Cole studied his reflection in the mirror above the sink. His dark brown eyes were still somewhat sleepy looking, and his hair was a mess. He chuckled softly and rummaged around in one of the cabinets for a comb, but gave up searching after several minutes. Running a hand through his hair a few times was enough to calm down the worst of the bed-head, and after a couple more tries Cole got the thick black hair to settle into a reasonably presentable state. He glanced in the mirror one last time, nodding in satisfaction before he gathered the rest of his things and headed back to drop them off in the bedroom before breakfast.

Still trying to be as quiet as he could, as not to wake Lyla, Cole snuck back into the room. He made his way to the dresser and pulled the bottom drawer open, depositing his things atop the mess that was the rest of his belongings. After several more moments he'd managed to get things rearranged enough so that the drawer would close again without too much trouble, then snuck back out of the room and headed off in the direction of the kitchen. There were no other noises except the sounds of Cole's footsteps in the hallway, and upon entering the kitchen he saw no sign of Sensei Wu. So he began to hunt through the fridge for a quick something to eat before training.

Once he'd found some food Cole settled himself at the table and began eating, his gaze wandering around the kitchen. On the counter nearest the stove there was a familiar tray of tea supplies, and a few thin wisps of steam could be seen rising from the teapot close beside them on the stove. So Sensei Wu was awake, likely meditating or doing something else important. That meant that Cole might be able to get in a little extra training time before the ninja master came out to watch him run through the course, if he could finish eating before too much time passed.

The faded blue vase containing the wildflowers that he and Lyla had picked yesterday was still sitting at the center of the table, a cheerful splash of color in the middle of the dimly lit room. It was still fairly quiet, few other noises audible except the faint sounds of birds singing somewhere outside the monastery, announcing with cheerful songs the beginning of a new day. Cole enjoyed the peaceful silence, and did his best not to disturb it by making a lot of noise of his own. Eventually he finished eating, and after he had washed the few dishes that he had gotten out, the raven-haired boy stepped out into the sunlit courtyard and began warming up for his morning training exercises.

Cole fell easily into the motions of warming up, the actions familiar and welcoming to his body, which was still slightly sore from training yesterday. His mind wandered as he moved on to a couple of the training exercises, a faint smile forming on his face. This was what he was good at. This was where he belonged. Out in the monastery's courtyard alone as the early morning sun rose above him, putting all his effort into training as he slowly built up his strength and endurance, pushing his body to do just a little bit more each day as he became stronger.

While training, Cole often had a clear mind, and he could think through things while he worked. His body eagerly accepted the routines and movements, and often he found himself getting so lost in thought that he ended up training for hours without realizing it, his body on autopilot, almost as if he was in a trance and unaware of anything else that was happening around him. When that happened sometimes Sensei Wu or Lyla would appear without Cole realizing it, and their arrival would bring him back to the present and out of his thoughts.

This was another one of those times. Cole was unaware how much time passed, so concentrated on what he was doing to notice much else, but eventually Lyla appeared in the doorway of the monastery, calling to him in greeting. He paused in his training when he heard his sister's voice, and he turned to face her as a smile found its way onto his face. The sun was now high in the sky above Cole, and he had to hold a hand above his eyes to block out the light so that he could see his sister. He waved to her with his free hand, and she waved back at him.

"Hey Cole!" Lyla exclaimed as she jumped down from the monastery steps, running over to him as soon as her feet hit the ground. There was a happy sparkle in her blue eyes as she came to a stop beside her older brother moments later, tilting her head up just a bit so that she could see him better. "How's training going?" She questioned with a smile, still slightly out of breath from her sprint across the courtyard. 

Cole chuckled, gazing down at her with a gentle smile. "It's going well, thanks Lyla." He couldn't help but notice that some of her blonde hair was slightly messed up from running, so he reached down to ruffle it playfully. She laughed in response, hopping back and out of his reach as she tried to rearrange her hair to get it back to the way that it had been before. Suddenly conscious of his own hair that was likely messed up from training, Cole ran a hand through it in an attempt to fix it, pushing back a couple pieces from where they had stuck to his forehead and wiping away some of the sweat from his face. Lyla didn't seem to mind his appearance, though. Either that, or she was just used to it by now.

"That's good!" She said cheerfully in response to his answer, glancing down as she absentmindedly smoothed several wrinkles in her clothing before she looked back up at him again. There was still a small smile on Lyla's face, though it faded slightly as a thought occurred to her. "I hope I'm not disturbing you or anything, I just wanted to see how you were doing since you've been out here for a while. I can leave."

Cole grinned and shook his head, gazing down at his sister. "You're not disturbing me at all," he assured Lyla, and was happy to see that her smile had returned fully upon hearing his words. "It's nice to see you, and I should probably take a short break soon anyway, since I've been out here for a while." He reached down in an attempt to ruffle her hair again, though this time she was prepared for it and giggled as she dodged out of his reach. Cole chuckled, an amused look forming on his face, then decided to ask her a question instead. "How'd you sleep?" 

Lyla smiled brightly, straightening up once she'd taken a step back, now standing several feet away from her older brother and hopefully out of his immediate reach. "I did sleep well, thank you," she replied after a moment. "I did some cleaning, and I got to sit with Sensei and talk to him for a bit." Her brow furrowed a little as she spoke, as if she was suddenly remembering something, and her expression was thoughtful when she looked back at her older brother once more. "He said that he has another errand to run today, and that it's a really important one." 

The raven-haired boy tilted his head to the side slightly, curious. "Another errand?" He repeated, looking down at Lyla. "I thought that he just ran a bunch of those yesterday." His sister just shrugged once in response, equally curious. Cole couldn't help but wonder what was so important that the ninja master had to go out again today. "Did he say anything about what time he's planning to leave?" He questioned.

Lyla shook her head, frowning a little. "Not really. He said that he doesn't have an exact time planned, though it'll probably be sometime later this morning. He doesn't know quite how long he'll be gone, but says that it could possibly take a while." She perked up a bit, a small smile making its way onto her face once more. "Oh, he wanted me to tell you that he'd be out here in a couple minutes to check on you."

A look of nervousness crossed Cole's face, but it quickly vanished as he nodded and gave Lyla a smile. No matter how many times he'd tried the training course, he always seemed to fail. But perhaps today was finally the day. Maybe he wouldn't fail. Or maybe he would. Either way, he told himself not to worry about it too much. He'd do his best, that's all that mattered. Worrying about it wouldn't help anything.

"Hey, do you want to spar for a little while once he leaves?" He suggested, the smile on his face widening a little. "We can start whenever you're ready, and we should have plenty of time to work on things before lunch. Since we were out a lot of the afternoon yesterday, I'm going to try to get some extra training in today, so I probably won't be able to do much this afternoon. But we could take a walk if you want."

A look of excitement had formed on Lyla's face when Cole mentioned the chance to do some sparring, and as he finished speaking she looked up at him with a happy smile. "Sure, that sounds like a great idea!" She exclaimed, her blue eyes sparkling. "I have to get just a few more things done inside, and I'll have to figure out what we're doing for dinner if Sensei ends up coming back late, but I should be ready to spar for a bit not too long after he leaves, and we can start then. After that I'll leave you alone so you can train a bit, and we can go on a walk later on!"

"Alright, I guess it's settled then." Cole replied, chuckling softly as he processed through his sister's hastily spoken words. Her excitement could be infectious sometimes. "And I already told you that you're not bothering me or anything by being out here, so feel free to stay as long as you want. I really don't mind if you're out here while I'm training, just as long as you're not purposely trying to bother or distract me."

"I'll make note of that. Normally, it's not my goal to distract you, I just like watching." Lyla said with a smile. She opened her mouth to speak again, before the sound of the monastery door opening behind them caught her attention. She turned around so that she could see Sensei Wu standing in the doorway, a tray of tea supplies in his hands and a relaxed smile on his face as he glanced over at Cole and Lyla. He paused to carefully place the tray down on the monastery steps, then stepped out into the sunshine and make his way across the courtyard.

The ninja master's hat shielded him from the bright sunlight above them, and in the shadow that it cast over his face they could still see his gentle blue eyes, and the smile that was partially hidden by his long white beard. "Good morning Cole, Lyla," he greeted as he came to a stop in front of the siblings, hands clasped comfortably behind his back. His posture was straight and attentive, but also relaxed. Cole and Lyla echoed Wu's greeting with a cheerful good morning of their own, and his eyes twinkled warmly as he gave them a small nod in response.

Sensei Wu's gaze wandered to observe a pale yellow butterfly that was flying through the courtyard, the delicate insect almost appearing to float and drift gracefully through the air above them before it disappeared beyond the courtyard walls. Once it was no longer in sight, the ninja master turned his attention back to Cole and Lyla, a small smile still on his face. They had also been watching the butterfly, having followed Wu's gaze to see what had captured his attention, but they turned to look back at him once he began speaking to them moments later.

"I will be heading out shortly, and I hope to be back before too much time passes." His gaze lingered on Cole for a moment, and the raven-haired boy straightened up a little in response as he listened attentively to whatever the ninja master was about to tell him. Wu gave him a gentle smile, before he continued speaking. "Cole, if you are ready to run through a couple things while I'm here, then you should be pretty much finished with what I will assign you to do today. But depending on when I get back, I may require more of you later this evening."

Cole nodded in agreement, a small smile forming on his face. He was about to say something to Sensei Wu in response, but at that moment Lyla looked up at her older brother with a happy smile, speaking before he had the chance to. "If you're going to do some training for a bit, I'd better get a few things finished inside. Good luck!" She stepped closer to give him a gentle hug, wrapping her arms loosely around his waist.

The raven-haired boy smiled, returning the hug. "Thanks, Lyla. I'll probably still be here whenever you're finished, so just let me know whenever you're ready to spar and we can get started." A sudden realization hit him, and he glanced down at his sister, studying her for a moment. She's getting taller again. When did that happen? He thought, a smile spreading across his face. Maybe she'd be almost as tall as him one day.

Eventually Lyla pulled away from the embrace, stepping back as she looked up at her older brother. "Alright, I will. Have fun!" She gave him a happy smile, her blonde hair shining golden in the sunlight as she turned to hurry back across the courtyard. Cole chuckled softly as he watched her disappear into the monastery, after carefully avoiding the tray of tea supplies on the steps and closing the doors behind her.

Then he turned to look back at Sensei Wu, who was watching him. The ninja master smiled as his blue eyes met Cole's brown ones. "Are you ready to get started?" He questioned, taking a step back as he gestured toward the training course that was set up close by. The raven-haired boy nodded with a small smile, heading over to start with a couple simpler exercises before he would attempt to run through the course.

He was able to get through the exercises without too much trouble, and felt like he did a decent job on them. If Sensei Wu thought otherwise, it was hard to tell. The ninja master's expression was one of attentiveness, his face not betraying his thoughts about how well his student was doing. It was enough to make Cole nervous, but he pushed through and kept going, trying his hardest. Weeks of training had made him more agile, and much stronger. He'd already come a long way from his awkward, clumsy first attempts at the training course not that long ago.

When the time came for him to attempt the course again, Cole waited for Wu's signal to begin. He was tense, ready to move as he watched the ninja master sit down on the steps leading into the courtyard. Then he looked over at the raven-haired boy with a nod, and Cole dashed forward with a surprising burst of speed. There was a determined look on his face as he hurried through the course. Hopping over the planks, dodging a sword that was suddenly swung at him, avoiding the dummy that threatened to crash into him, all motions that had once been unfamiliar. He'd gotten better at anticipating the obstacles, and was getting faster at avoiding them as he hurried through the course.

Refusing to let anything distract him, Cole ignored all other things that were happening, even avoiding any glances over at Sensei Wu as he drank his tea on the monastery steps while the raven-haired boy continued through the training course. He tried his hardest, using all of the skills he had and all of the strength that he'd built up over the hours that he'd spent training these last few weeks. And it payed off.

When he reached the end of the course, Cole came to a stop and straightened up, panting softly as he looked over at Sensei Wu. The ninja master set his cup down on the tray beside him on the steps, an unusually wide smile on his face. As he looked over at the exhausted ninja in training his blue eyes sparkled, and there was a look of happiness, perhaps pride on the ninja master's face. "You passed," he said simply.

For a moment Cole just stood there in shocked silence, hardly daring to believe it. Was it actually possible? But it was more impossible to believe that Sensei Wu was joking or teasing him. So it must be true. A wide grin spread across Cole's face, and he suddenly felt happier then he had for a long time. He'd finally done it. Though in the grand scheme of things finishing a training course wasn't that big of an accomplishment, in that moment, for Cole it was. This was something that he'd worked on for weeks, and all of his work had finally paid off. 

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"Do you feel any different after completing the training course?" Lyla's voice was soft and curious as she looked up at her brother from where she was seated on the ground, her crystal blue eyes just a few shades lighter than the sky above them. There was a bouquet of colorful flowers laid carefully in her lap, and the soft breeze that was blowing that afternoon had caused her blonde hair to become somewhat messy. The breeze rustled gently through the wildflowers and grasses surrounding them, and the sound of it was both familiar and soothing.

Cole looked up from the small pile of flowers in his own lap as Lyla spoke, a smile on his face as he pondered the answer to his sister's question. "Not really, I guess, if I think about it. I mean, I feel like I finally accomplished something, but at the same time I don't feel any different, if that makes any sense." The raven-haired boy's fingers paused in their work on twisting together several flower stems, his brow furrowing slightly as he leaned down to inspect the small crown that had begun to take shape from the circle of flowers.

"I think I understand." Lyla carefully gathered the bouquet of flowers from her lap, holding it in one hand as she stood up with a smile. She wandered over to stand beside the rock that Cole was seated on, watching him work. The small smile on her face widened slightly as she looked back up at her older brother after several moments.  "It looks great! You're really good at making flower crowns."

Her words made Cole chuckle, and he glanced back up again to give his sister a smile. "Thanks. I guess that's one thing I'm semi-skilled at doing, though I doubt it's very useful. I don't know why I keep agreeing to make them for you." He elbowed her playfully, and Lyla rolled her eyes before she elbowed him back. It wasn't hard enough to hurt, and the raven-haired boy just smiled as he shifted his position on the sunbathed rock. Surprisingly, it was a fairly comfortable rock, and after spending most of the day training it was nice to sit down for a bit.

He and Lyla had done some sparring once they'd eaten lunch, and after spending time training for a large portion of the afternoon, Cole had agreed to go out with her for a short walk. That "short walk" had eventually turned into spending time sitting and talking about the day in one of the fields out beyond the monastery late that afternoon. Sensei Wu still wasn't back yet, but it was likely that he would return soon. The field they were in was close to the path that lead to the monastery, and they were planning to head back before much more time passed.

Silence settled between the two siblings, Lyla content just to watch her brother work. Eventually Cole held up the finished flower crown, looking at his sister with a satisfied smile. "There. I think it's finished." The breeze had ruffled his black hair, some of it falling into his face, but that didn't hide the playful sparkle in his brown eyes. Before his sister could respond, he had dropped the flower crown onto her head.

She laughed softly, trying and failing to give Cole an irritated glare as she reached up to adjust the flower crown so that it was no longer in front of her face. "Thanks." The raven-haired boy nodded in response, smiling brightly as he looked over at his sister. He'd chosen to use mainly the blue and pink flowers that Lyla had picked to weave into the crown, and they really brought out her blue eyes. Cole was just about to compliment her on them when she suddenly hopped up from where she was leaning against the rock close beside him, looking excited. he glanced over at her curiously, asking what she had seen, and Lyla replied that she thought that she had heard Sensei Wu's voice.

Cole smiled and brushed the few remaining flowers from his lap before he hopped up from the rock he had been sitting on, offering Lyla a hand. "That would make sense, since he's probably on his way back by now. Here, you might be able to see him better if you stand on the rock." She smiled in response, murmuring a thank you before she accepted his hand and carefully pulled herself up. The rock wasn't big enough for them both to stand on, so Cole waited patiently as he glanced up to watch his sister for a moment, just in case she fell.

Lyla had to hold a hand up to shield her eyes from the late afternoon sun as she looked off into the distance for several moments, but eventually she turned to look back at Cole once more. Her blue eyes were sparkling with excitement greater than he had seen in her for a long time, and there was a wide smile on her face. "You're right, I did see Sensei Wu! But guess what, there's someone else with him!"

"Really?" Cole asked, frowning in confusion. Lyla nodded eagerly, a smile still on her own face as she hopped down from the rock, and the raven-haired boy didn't correct his sister for not being careful, instead quickly climbed up onto the rock to take a look. He too had to hold a hand up to shield his eyes as he squinted, looking off into the distance. After a moment he could make out two figures on the path ahead, and there was no doubt that one of them was Sensei Wu. But Cole's attention was drawn to the person walking close beside the ninja master, a boy with auburn hair that looked about his age, wearing a faded blue shirt and carrying a bag that was slung over one of his shoulders.

A wide grin spread across Cole's face as it finally hit him: this was one of the other students. Suddenly filled with a sense of excitement and hope that he couldn't explain, the raven-haired boy hopped down and off of the rock as he turned to look at his sister. There was a smile still on Lyla's face as the two of them gathered together the few things that they had brought with them, then hurried off down the path.

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Thank you all for sticking with me through all of my craziness and lack of a consistent writing schedule these last few months, you guys are amazing and I'm so grateful to have you as my readers! The amount of support that I've already gotten for this story, even though it's barely started yet, is incredible, and I certainly wasn't expecting it! I'm so happy to finally be able to share my Ninjago fanfic with all of you, it's going to be a crazy ride for sure but I'm super excited to continue writing! Throughout the upcoming chapters Cole and Lyla will be able to meet the other ninja and things will start moving toward the pilot episodes, then continue on throughout the next few seasons! If you have any thoughts, questions, hopes, or predictions about the story, please feel free to drop a comment or even message me! And if you're interested in supporting Emergence on another site you can find it on Quotev, or I can send you the link if you're interested. Thank you again for all of your support, keep being the amazing people you are! 

~ArtisticNinja <3