zane

It was truly a beautiful sight. Jamanakai Village was a petite area set in the side of a mountain near the range named Mountains of Impossible Height, with crisp clean air high up in the mountains, snow capping slopes and painting the village.

Wu said it was the nearest village to where they would be residing for two weeks, so Zane assumed they were camping somewhere. Off in the distance he could spy the tallest mountain in the range, strangely set aside from the others. Something told him it was named the Mountain of Million Steps, and for good reason. Wu parked the minivan in the small parking area and everyone hopped out, eager to stretch their legs and have a look around Jamanaki.

Someone remembered to open the boot for Kai, who immediately ran for a field of grass nearby, hunched over with his Dragons jacket on. Zane stuck his hands in the pockets of his Sphinxes jacket and walked down the main road of Jamanakai. The buildings were well insulated against the cold with strong, thick walls and tiled roofs with snow heaped on top. The road wound around in no particular direction, most likely to save space from what little they had in this position.

Unique red trees stuck up from the ground, huge roots lumping the earth. Zane sat down on a bench shaded by an overhanging branch, scooping up a handful of snow. Imagining it hardening and turning into an ice cube, he furrowed his brow for a good five minutes until he realised his attempts were fruitless. Ice and snow were not the same thing.

"Zane, we're having brunch at the inn!" yelled Lloyd from the other side of the secluded area. "Hurry up before Cole eats everything we ordered!"

"I'm coming Lloyd." he responded, waiting for the young Garmadon to leave for a minute more of privacy. Instead, Lloyd walked closer.

"Um, Zane, if you're an android, how do you eat? How do you po—"

"I advise you do not finish your question Lloyd, not only because it is not the appropriate topic right before we eat, but because I don't have the answers right now. This trip is supposed to help me find them."

"Right...who else knows?"

Zane considered not telling Lloyd. But hiding it, hiding everything would just push him away from discovering everything. "Pixal, Cole, and you, I believe."

Lloyd nodded, looking awfully young as his hair slid over his eyes. Zane had always admired how quickly he'd matured, deflecting the jeers from his heritage, yet still managed to be a kid. It was good he was spending more time with Kai and Nya, practically family. Lately, Zane had noticed his own change on his general outlook on life, like he possessed a sixth sense. He let the snow fall to the ground and followed Lloyd to a cosy, two story inn.

The ground floor was the dining area with a bar and even a small performing stage. Above were lodgings that they wouldn't need as they only had an hour and a half left of their ride. The biggest table had been reserved for them, shoved against the length of the inn with booths on one side and chairs on the other. Principal Wu took the head of the table, everyone filling in after that in a shamble.

It seems they had already ordered and the waiters were coming around with bowls of rice and stew, when Skylor suddenly said;

"Where's Kai?"

"Who?" Cole said through a mouth of food. Nya hit him over the head with a chopstick. "Oh, right sor-ry."

"I don't know." everyone mumbled, too busy shovelling in food.

The redhead sighed. "I'll go look for the idiot."

She left without another word and Zane returned to his stew with renewed fervour, scraping the sides with a slice of crusty bread. His friends were all talking and joking raucously much to the annoyance of other dining patrons. Wu shushed them with the air of a grandfather and everyone quietened down considerably. Steaming cups of tea were brought around and Zane touched his fingers to it, hiding a quiet gasp as a thin film of ice wrapped itself around the cup to cool it down.

The door to the inn opened, with Skylor and Kai standing in the doorway, the latter with a sheepish look, a wriggling lump in his jacket. Dragging Kai by the collar, Skylor stalked back to the table and pushed him into the spare chair.

"Tell them what you did."

His mouth remained clamped shut.

"Kai," Skylor warned in a dangerously low tone, sitting down so she was level with his eyes. "Tell them."

"Fine!" he obliged reluctantly. "Don't yell at me for this."

Kai opened his jacket and everyone's breath caught in surprise.

"YOU BROUGHT RYU?" thundered Nya, standing up to slam her hands into the table.

"He's too cute." Kai wailed in protest. "He did his puppy dog eyes on me!"

"That does not—"

Ryu turned doleful orbs to Nya, cocking his head inquisitively as if to say what's wrong?

"Awwww—wait no, Ryu stop it!" Nya shut her eyes. "Someone else yell at Kai for me."

"No! I talked to Misako and she said it was okay! We couldn't just leave him alone for two weeks my heart would snap in two and I'd never love again."

Skylor snorted and Kai shot her a heated look. Zane looked away, shading his eyes as the two loudly squabbled, towards his girlfriend, who was poorly concealing a laugh behind her hand too. Jay was desperately trying to keep Nya from strangling her brother and Lloyd was cackling in good humour, trying to take photos of everything with his phone. Cole had his hands on the food and was slowly feeding Ryu under the table. Zane gently tugged the puppy away.

"He should not eat such rich food right now. He appears to be two and a half months old and his final vaccines will only take place in another month and a half." Zane's eyebrows rose in surprise. How did I know all of that by just looking at him?

"How did you know that—is it because you're a you know what?" Cole whispered discreetly between mouthfuls of rice and stew.

Zane shrugged. "Most likely. Even I do not know the extent of what I can do."

Initially, he and Pixal had been surprised and defensive when Cole had launched out of the shadows, demanding to know what was going on. So they'd told him, and he'd been...understanding. Understanding, hadn't treated them any differently, yet Zane stil was scared he or Lloyd would tell someone. When I'm ready. He promised himself, turning back to the table.

Wu had more or less gotten everything under control, the innkeeper even had gotten a dish of water and dog food for the tiny puppy. Kai was hurriedly telling Nya that he'd brought everything - dog food, toys, Ryu's bed, everything Misako had packed ready for him to take Ryu with him.

"I think she wanted me to tell you guys before though." Kai admitted sheepishly.

"Yeah? No shit sherlock."

o o o

Zane did not mind walking. It gave him an opportunity to tune out and explore his systems, but his friend's incessant talking in attempts to keep entertained were really getting to him. After lunch, they'd all piled back into the minivan and settled on some music type everyone had grudgingly agreed to as a middle ground. An hour and a half later in the minivan, Wu had parked at the base of the mountain Zane had spotted from Jamanaki Village.

He told them their destination was at the very top of the tallest of the Mountains of Impossible Height, which severely demoralised the non-androids. Zane and Pixal only looked to each other, with a small smirk even, as they started the long walk. Kai was forced to carry Ryu, the dog's supplies and his own since he'd lied to them, a punishment brought down on him by Wu and Nya combined.

It could have been a lot worse if Jay hadn't calmed Nya down beforehand, and Wu was a voice of calm reasoning. So here they were, marching up the mountain in the hot sun. They had filled up their water bottles beforehand, but the beating sun had quickly turned them. Then Zane had an idea.

"Lloyd, pass me your water bottle." Shrugging to avoid talking, the blonde handed Zane his water bottle. It was halfway full, the warmed water sloshing around the inside of the plastic, turned green by the colouring.

Concentrating, just like in Jamanaki Inn, the ice crept around the water battle and Lloyd took a sip of it, his eyes lighting up in glee. "Thanks, Zane."

"What did you do?" Pixal asked softly.

"I just..." he borrowed her water bottle and repeated the action. "There."

"Very useful, Mr Refrigerator." Pixal smiled, taking an appreciative mouthful of cold water.

He laughed it off, secretly proud as he continued to chill everyone's water bottles for the rest of the walk. Most of them were in fairly good shape so they made rapid pace, only slowing to take proper breaks every now and again. Forty-five minutes later, Zane topped the mountain first and took a long drink from his bottle. Everyone else filed in after him, and Wu stepped to the front, his face shaded by the wide brim of his hat.

"Welcome to the Monastery of Spinjitzu, where elemental masters have trained for thousands and thousands of years, and where you will all train in the art of soul-searching to achieve your potential."

"What does he mean by soul-searching?" Jay wheezed out in a terrible stage whisper, still panting from the climb.

"I believe Principal Wu means meditation." Zane supplied, re-chilling Jay's water bottle for him.

"You want us to meditate for two weeks straight?" spluttered Kai, barely holding back a wriggling Ryu.

"No, that would be ridiculous. First, you have chores."

"Chores?" everyone moaned in unison. Wu nodded, pointing a bamboo staff that had materialised in his hands to the monastery behind him.

"Sweeping, cleaning, mopping, you name it. There is no point trying to clear your mind in a space that has not been cleared."

"But Principal Wu—"

"I think it's best if you all refer to me as Master Wu for these two weeks, and for when you continue your training outside of this trip." Everyone still seemed demoralised from the epic journey they'd been envisioning, so Wu's next words were somewhat hesitant. "Slowly, we will integrate physical fighting with your mastery of elements and meditation for your training."

nya

Puffing her cheeks to blow a frustrated burst of air, Nya's hair scattered with the wind as she scrubbed at the walls furiously. Ryu ran circles around the monastery, showing no open signs of tiring anytime soon. Her first concern when entering the monastery was checking that everything was safe for Ryu. Wu assured her it was, and Pixal and Zane had taken a walk, staring at several parts of the monastery strangely before backing Wu up. She, Kai and Lloyd had gone on their own trek just to check and didn't yield any contradicting results.

That left her with scrubbing at the Monastery's boundary walls, from the eggish white back to original colour that peeked through in some places. She let her sponge soak up more soapy water and returned to viciously scouring the walls. Her sore arm fell into a routine, circling the wall until the water had gone brown, then sloshing some of it back on, dunking her sponge and starting again.

Her mind could wander freely while she worked her arm off. An hour after arriving at the monastery, everyone had snooped around to claim rooms and check out the closed doors, which remained firmly closed until further notice. There wasn't much else to do, so they'd started cleaning. Jay and Pixal were sweeping out all of the rooms, Nya was on the walls (inner and outer), Lloyd and Skylor were sorting through the monastery, finding useless and useful stuff. Kai...was doing something somewhere. Nya swore she saw him going around the back to check something out in the small field behind the monastery.

It was painfully obvious that the monastery hadn't been touched in years by the dust lining everything, but the fondness that Wu spoke with, it obviously meant a lot to him. Her arm was getting tired - falling off right now tired, when an idea sparked in her brain. Dropping the sponge to the paved path, Nya took a step away and looked intently at the bucket of water.

Please work.

Her hands clenched as a quivering droplet of water rose from the bucket, others gathering to join it. It helped for barely ten seconds and then dropped back into the bucket.

So much for being the Water Elemental.

Really, that had been one of the few signs that she actually was the Master of Water. The glasses shattering and a pitiful sphere of water that scarcely held shape. Sighing, she took a step back from her work and cheered as she realised that she'd finished her task. Time to head to the kitchen and grab a cold drink and a snack. The stew from Jamanaki seemed long ago according to her grumbling stomach.

"Come on Ryu," she lugged the bucket back, draining the water to leave the bucket by the hose as Ryu trotted alongside her. She passed Jay and Pixal determinedly sweeping out the courtyard of the monastery with brittle brooms and found Cole in the kitchen. He'd obviously been cleaning up, and even though he couldn't cook to save his life, he got the kitchen back into more-or less working condition. The fridge was just cold enough for the food and drinks they'd stocked up on from Jamanaki - and hauled up from the minivan. Wu had insisted they get the most of what they needed then, and she could see why. If Jamanaki was the closest settlement it would be a trek going back and forth. While Nya wasn't ruthless, she appreciated efficiency.

She hopped up on the counter, legs swinging above the ground as Cole continued scrubbing out the oven.

"You like him." came his muffled voice.

She nearly spat her drink over Ryu.

"No I don't."

"I never said who," Cole replied with a cheeky grin, his face smeared with soot from the old oven.

"Well—whoever it is you're talking about, I don't like them." she tried to sound confident but faltered at his self-assured expression. "Don't look at me like that Mister Matchmaker."

"Hey, hey, I'm just saying." he raised his hands in mock surrender. "I don't need love but I can sure be your wingman."

"I don't need help! I'm doing just fine."

"You two stumble over each other like donkeys with blindfolds." Cole snorted, standing up to brush his hands off. "It's the least I can do."

"I...I don't know if I like-like him, y'know?" she whispered, trying and failing to gather her thoughts. "He's sweet, and he's caring, he likes the same stuff I do, but we're not exactly the same but we're not polar opposites. It's confusing. I hate confusing."

"Well that probably means you like him," Cole offered, a hint of a smile playing on his face.

"I can't like Jay. He's my friend, what if we broke up and then never talked to each other again? I don't want that to happen."

Cole just shrugged.

"I don't like Jay!" she blurted suddenly, refusing to accept it. Something at the doorway clattered to the ground and she clapped her hands over her mouth.

Jay was standing at the door, his blue eyes frozen over hers. He shot off faster than Nya had ever seen him run.

"Jay! Come back, Jay..." She was utterly frozen to the ground, Ryu dancing around her feet. Her expression turned furious as she swung towards Cole. "What am I supposed to do now? He probably hates me."

"I don't know, why are you asking me? I've had like, two girlfriends, and one of them wasn't even a real relationship." Cole spluttered. "Ask, your brother or something."

"He doesn't even have relationships! Just stupid flings." she moaned desperately, feeling like she wanted to smack her forehead into the wall.

"I dunno. I heard he and Brittney were getting on pretty well." Cole shrugged again.

"I need ice cream." Nya sighed. "Lots of ice cream."

Cole grinned and opened the freezer, revealing several pints of ice cream in different flavours. "Once Wu decides to let us go, you can pick a movie."

She smiled tiredly. "We'll see, if Wu keeps us working until sunrise tomorrow I might have withered down to my skeleton."

Cole waved her off and she journeyed to find her brother in the last place she'd seen him, behind the monastery in a field of wild growing grass. He was kicking at an old lawnmower, talking on his phone with his hands thrown up in frustration. Ryu scampered along at her feet though his pace had slowed noticeably.

"Brit, I'm sorry I didn't call you today, I'm really sorry babe. I know. Okay. Bye."

Nya tapped him on the shoulder, raising a brow. "What was that about?"

"Brittney is having attachment issues," he sighed. "This is why I don't do relationships."

"Trust me," she snorted, taking a spiteful kick at the mower. "Love sucks."

"She's so clingy," he continued to complain, "I don't even think I said I wanted to be her boyfriend and she wants to print a blanket with our faces on it."

She was laughing uncontrollably as he stared at her, aghast.

"Stop laughing! It's not helping"

"Ba-abe." she guffawed between breaths. "I'm rea-lly sorry baaaabeee."

His face twisted with anger - good natured, though he looked like his hair was about to burst into flames. Fitting for Fire. She took off running with Ryu at her heels, yelling repeated bits of their conversation between gasps and giggles. Ryu tore through the grass at top speed with wee barks that might have been laughter if he was human. Nya took the opportunity of Ryu's distraction to pick up Kai's phone and send a garbled text message to Brittney, picking up her accomplice in crime and rushing off before Kai could find her.

Her hair plastered across her face, Nya huddled in an old shed at the back of the monastery, cuddling Ryu in her arms as she forced a snort of laughter down, hushing Ryu amidst playing with him. The puppy snuggled into her arms and opened his mouth to let a tiny yawn, his eyes blinking close.

"Don't worry little guy, no one's ever gonna hurt you. Promise."

She could have sworn he opened an eye to wink at her.

A/N: i love ryu so much no it's not because i made him to fill the void in my heart that's not it at all noooo. Um. threw in some jaya drama because i did tag this book as a slowburn (not an excuse for me to get my romance skills up to par no not at all) but i love the idea of cole being nyas wingman even though he has like no idea what he's doing lmao. Zane is also confirmed samsung refrigerator :) um. Made a timeline for mos so i have the barest resemblance to a plan. Starting to get my ideas down to something coherent for lmu and evened out all the thingies. Just remembered i forgot something on the timeline thanks—

SIDE NOTE YES I KNOW I SPELT JAMANAKAI WRONG LIKE HALF THE TIMES SORRY IM TOO ARSED OT CHANGE IT.

enjoy this random, not Monday update

-dommie out