It was quiet. Too quiet.

Alarmed, Jay shot up from his bed the next morning, and she ran to Mia's room . It was empty, the covers neatly folded. Panic clawed at his throat. "Mia?" he called out, his voice echoing in the stillness.

There was no response.  He raced out of his room and found Nya in the training room, her brow furrowed in concentration as she practiced her water techniques.

"Have you seen Mia?" Jay blurted out, his voice laced with urgency. 

Nya stopped mid-flow, her water whip dissipating into a splash. "No, I haven't.  Shouldn't she be in her room?"

Jay shook his head, dread pooling in his stomach. "Her bed is made, but she's not there.  I checked everywhere."

A worried look crossed Nya's face.  They both knew Mia wouldn't just disappear without a word, especially not after their conversation the previous day. 

Just then, Wu entered the training room, a basket overflowing with groceries in his hand. "Good morning, everyone!  Slept well, I trust?"

Relief washed over Jay momentarily.  "Master Wu, have you seen Mia?"

Wu blinked, a furrow appearing in his brow.  "Mia?  Why, no.  She went out to run some errands for me earlier this morning."

"Errands? By herself?" Jay exclaimed, his relief replaced by a surge of anger.  They'd just discussed how Mia might be trying to avoid them, and Wu sends her out alone?

As if sensing Jay's rising temper, Nya placed a calming hand on his arm. "Let's hear Master Wu out, Jay."

Wu chuckled nervously, shifting the basket from one hand to the other. "Well, it wasn't exactly a dangerous errand.  I just needed some fresh mangoes, and Mia offered to pick them up."

Suddenly, a high-pitched, crackling sound filled the room.  It was the monastery's communication device.  Wu fumbled for it, his expression turning serious as he answered the call.

"Hello? Mia? Is that you?" 

A strained voice, laced with annoyance, crackled through the speaker. "Master Wu, what do you want? They have mango, passion fruit, even guava. Make up your mind."

Wu sighed. "Mango, please, Mia.  But what about the others?  Did you get anything for them?"

Mia's voice grew colder.  "Master, we talked about this.  They can get their own snacks.  I'm not their personal shopper." 

The line went dead, leaving an uncomfortable silence in its wake.  Jay clenched his fists, his anger boiling over.

"See!" he exploded. "She is avoiding us!  How could you send her out alone after everything we talked about?!" 

Wu held up a placating hand. "Jay, calm down.  I thought a simple errand might be a good way for Mia to get some fresh air and clear her head. "

" Okay?!" Jay yelled. " My sister is avoiding us!"

Master Wu sighed. " Listen, Jay. This is between you ninja and Mia. If Mia is avoiding you, try to bridge that gap."

" HOW?!" Jay yelled.

" I don't know! I am neither you nor Mia. This is a journey you must go on."

" Guys! Weird reports are coming in hot!" Lloyd cried, entering the room.

"Reports?" he choked out, his voice barely a whisper.  "What reports? Who's saying these things?"

Lloyd, who had been fidgeting nervously during the exchange, piped up, his voice small. "Some traders from the nearby village. They… they saw Mia buying ice cream and… and…"  He trailed off, unable to meet Jay's eyes.

"And what?" Jay pressed, his voice tight with a mixture of hurt and disbelief.

"And they said she was muttering something about keeping it a secret because her brother… well, because you slap her," Lloyd finished in a rush.

The room spun.  The image of Jay raising a hand to Mia, his gentle, kind sister, was unthinkable. Denial bubbled up, a desperate attempt to push away the horrifying possibility.

"No! That's not true!" he roared, his voice cracking with emotion. "I would never…"

But the seed of doubt had been planted.  The worried glances exchanged between Nya and Wu did little to ease the turmoil within him.  Did Mia feel so unsafe, so unheard, that she would resort to such a lie?

Master Wu, ever the voice of reason, stepped forward.  "Jay, calm down.  Accusations won't solve anything.  We need to find Mia and talk to her, understand what's going on."
-----------------------------
Their search for Mia was proving fruitless. Frustration gnawed at Jay as they hit yet another dead end.  They questioned the ice cream vendor, a portly man with a handlebar mustache, who swore he'd never seen Mia in his life.  Then they canvassed the customers, a motley crew of villagers, who offered a confusing mix of responses.

"Oh, that girl?" one woman recalled, her memory hazy.  "She seemed lost, muttering something about Washington state."  Another customer, a wiry man with a suspicious twitch, chimed in, "Yeah, I think I heard Michigan."

A third person, a young girl clutching a melting popsicle, offered a completely different location.  "England!  She definitely said she was going to England to see the Queen!"

Jay threw his hands up in exasperation. "This is getting silly!  These people are making things up!"

Cole, ever the optimist, clapped Jay on the shoulder. "Hold on, Jay. Maybe there's a pattern here.  Washington, Michigan, England…  They're all places far away, right?"

Kai, who had been unusually quiet throughout the search, finally spoke up. "So, she's trying to throw us off the scent?  Make us think she's gone somewhere she wouldn't dare go?"

Nya, her brow furrowed in thought, nodded slowly. "It could be.  But why?  What's she so desperate to hide?"

A heavy silence descended upon them.  The accusations about Jay hitting Mia hung in the air, a poisonous cloud tainting their efforts.

Just then, Lloyd piped up, his voice hesitant. "Maybe… maybe we're looking in the wrong places.  What if Mia isn't trying to go far?  What if she's hiding somewhere close?"

His words sparked a glimmer of hope in Jay's eyes.  He remembered their conversation the day before, how Mia had stormed off towards her room.  Had she ever left the monastery?

Yes, yes she had left the monestary.

"How?!" he exclaimed, his voice laced with a mixture of anger and despair.  "My sister isn't in the monastery, the people say they haven't seen her, and –"  His voice trailed off, replaced by a dawning realization. 

"What?" Lloyd prompted, sensing the shift in Jay's tone.

"What if Mia told the people what to say?" Jay said slowly, his eyes narrowed.  "We all know Mia can be very convincing, especially when it comes to protecting something or someone."

Kai scoffed.  "Plus, she's a kid, a wind ninja who can manipulate three other elements!  Fire, water, lightning… still can't believe it!"

Jay shrugged.  "Our parents could control time, lightning, and wind.  Mia's elemental abilities are impressive, but…"  He trailed off, a new thought striking him.

"That's not the point," Nya interjected, her voice firm.  "The point is, we need to figure out where Mia is."

"Speaking of Mia?" a sassy voice said, slicing through the tension.  They all turned to see Blackie, Mia's loyal feline companion, perched on a nearby rock, tail flicking impatiently.

"What is it now, Blackie?" Jay sighed, already dreading the feline's cryptic pronouncements.

Blackie narrowed his emerald eyes at Jay.  "Have you ever read rule number five?"

Jay blinked, surprised by the question.  "Mia has rules?!"

Blackie let out a derisive snort.  "Of course, for her darling king," he added, his tail swishing towards a faded sign hanging near the room entrance.  It was a childish drawing of a crown and a stick figure cat, with a caption scrawled beneath it in messy handwriting: 'Rule Number Five: I don't need your sass, I have my own.'

A groan escaped Cole's lips.  "Seriously? Rule number five?"

"Wait a minute," Lloyd piped up, his eyes sparkling with a glimmer of hope.  "Could this be a clue?"

Kai, ever the pragmatist, rolled his eyes.  "A clue to what? Maybe it's just a dumb drawing Mia made for her cat."

"Maybe," Lloyd conceded, "but what if it's more?  Blackie wouldn't come all this way just to meow at us."

Intrigued, Nya knelt down in front of Blackie, her gaze meeting the cat's unwavering stare.  "Blackie," she began gently, "can you lead us to Mia?  Show us where she might have gone?"

Blackie stared at her for a long moment, then let out a single, sharp meow before turning and leaping off the rock.  He glanced back at them expectantly, his tail held high.

A thrill of excitement shot through Jay.  Could this be the answer they'd been searching for?  Without a word, he started following Blackie, the others close behind.  The cryptic clue on the sign and the feline's sudden cooperation offered a glimmer of hope in their desperate search for Mia.

But he took Jay to the kitchen.

" I am your king, so I need food." He proclaimed.

" Wha-" Jay started to yell, but Blackie's tail swished to a printed picture with Blackie and the captions, ' I is Ashoka. Bow down to your king.'

A sigh escaped Cole's lips.  "Seriously? Still clinging to that delusion?"

Blackie ignored him, focusing on the tuna Jay placed before him with a clatter.  While the feline king feasted, the others sprang into action.  Nya contacted their allies in the police force, hoping for some official help in finding Mia.  Lloyd, ever the optimist, tried to decipher any hidden meaning in the cryptic sign and Blackie's behavior.  Kai, meanwhile, paced restlessly, his frustration mirroring Jay's.

After what felt like an eternity, Nya hung up the phone, her face etched with disappointment.  "They say there's no missing girl report matching Mia's description. No girl named Mia Walker in any of their databases."

"They're lying!" Jay exploded, his voice thick with anger and disbelief.  "Mia convinced them too! She can be very persuasive, especially with weak minds."

Nya shook her head.  "Jay, that's not likely.  The police have protocols.  They wouldn't just dismiss a missing person report based on a hunch."

"But what else could explain it?" Kai chimed in, his voice laced with helplessness.  "We've searched everywhere, asked everyone, and now even the authorities are clueless thanks to Mia's… manipulations?"