Chapter Text
The green-and-gold kite flew through the air, propelled by careful gusts of wind. On the ground, the small boy shot another gust out of his palm, grinning when the kite flew even higher. He shook his dark hair out of his eyes as he laughed, the breeze ruffling his gi.
“Morro!” He turned at the call to see Sensei Wu standing there, smiling proudly. “It’s time.”
He gasped excitedly and followed his sensei, trying to keep himself together as his sensei pulled the Green Ninja gi out of his drawer. He handed it to Morro, who nearly squealed at the gi being here, physically, in his hands. He had never been so excited, nearly trembling with anticipation. This was it. This was his destiny.
His sensei pulled the case containing the Golden Weapons out of its spot, opening it carefully. Morro peered inside, somehow smiling even more than he had before. He had been training for this for years, and now it was finally happening. He set the gi down and took a deep breath, stepping forward.
“I’m ready,” he told Wu. “Do you have to take them out of the case?”
“No,” his sensei replied. “Just step a little closer. Maybe…”
“Maybe what? Why isn’t it happening? Do I have to touch them?”
“No.” Wu sighed deeply. “I am sorry, Morro.”
“Sorry for what?” Morro looked up at his sensei. “I’m the Green Ninja. Right?”
Wu looked at his pupil sadly. Morro took a step back, his voice small. “Right?”
“I am afraid that I was…mistaken.” He reached out to comfort Morro, but the boy shied away from him. “Morro-”
“No! You- you promised!” The wind ninja backed up, fighting back angry tears and trying to get away from the traitorous weapons. “You said it was my destiny!”
“I was wrong! Morro-” Wu reached for his pupil as Morro fled from the room. “Morro!”
He was running, faster, faster, holding back his tears. If he just kept running, he could outrun the realization, the simple, stinging fact that he wasn’t the Green Ninja. He wasn’t anything. He had no grand destiny. He wasn’t a hero. He was just a little kid.
The wind howled outside his room as he rushed in and slammed the door. He sunk to the floor beside his bed, letting out a single sob before his anger overtook the tears. It was his destiny. He would find the tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master himself and prove it if he had to.
Wait.
His eyes widened at the realization. That’s exactly what he could do. He’d find the tomb and take his destiny. He’d prove Sensei wrong.
He took a deep breath and the wind calmed down to a breeze. His new plan was perfect, except for one thing. He didn’t know exactly where the tomb was, but that wouldn’t stop him. He’d go to the — what had Sensei called it? — the Library of Domu and find out.
He pulled his cloak around his shoulders and nodded to himself. He walked calmly and confidently out of his room and out of the monastery, descending the stairs down the side of the mountain.
“Morro! What are you doing?” Wu called after him as he walked out of the monastery.
“Finding my destiny!” Morro yelled over his shoulder. “I’m not coming back until I find the tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master!”
“Morro!”
He watched his pupil- his son- descend the stairs until he was out of sight. Should I go after him?
He shook his head, more for himself than anything. No, he’ll come back. He always does.
——
Morro struggled up the mountain, the winds buffeting him from every angle. He tried to focus his powers and control them, but he was weak from fatigue and hunger. That wouldn’t stop him. It was nothing he hadn’t felt before. He couldn’t give up. He was so close.
He spotted a man climbing the mountain ahead of him and surged forward to catch up. Once he reached the man, he pulled his stolen knife out of his pocket and pressed it to the man’s throat.
“Where is the library?” he hissed in the man’s ear, digging the knife into his neck. The man stayed stubbornly still. Morro was almost impressed at his bravery, even with a blade to his throat. He released the man, allowing him to get a few steps away before he grabbed the man’s arm and yanked him back. He wrenched the man’s arm behind his back, smirking as he cried out in pain.
“Tell me where the library is,” Morro growled, twisting the arm. The man finally relented, pointing a shaking finger up the mountain. He loosened his grip on the arm for just a moment, enough to make the man think he might have a chance at escaping, before wrenching it back and snapping it as easily as a pencil. He let go and the man collapsed to his knees, crying into the snow.
“P-please- please don’t kill me- I did what you asked- let me live, please-“
Morro scoffed as he reared his foot back, delivering a vicious kick to the man’s ribs. “That’s for wasting my time.”
The man wheezed, pathetically rolling over to try to get away from the attack. The wind master rolled his eyes and left the man where he was, continuing his way up the mountain.
He’d survive. Probably. That wasn’t Morro’s problem anyway.
Finally, finally, despite all the obstacles he’d encountered, Morro pushed open the doors to the Library of Domu. It had taken so long, and he had been afraid the whole time that Sensei would somehow find him and drag him back to the monastery, so he could train and train and train to be a nobody.
He shook his head as an attempt to clear his mind of thoughts of Sensei. It didn’t work, but he did his best to ignore them as he walked over to the scrolls. He quickly looked over them, wanting to be in and out as quickly as possible.
“Aha,” he breathed, pulling the scroll he wanted from the shelf. The location of the tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master.
The tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master houses the Realm Crystal, a powerful relic used to travel to other realms. The exact location of the tomb is unknown. However, translations from many texts refer to a cave in the deep.
“A cave in the deep,” Morro repeated. “A cave…”
He racked his brains for what this could mean. A cave in the deep. What cave? In his travels across Ninjago, he had come across many caves, but none of them were particularly deep.
He groaned in frustration. Why did scrolls have to be so vague? For once, he wanted to read a scroll that gave detailed directions and a step-by-step instruction guide to what he was supposed to do.
Morro tried to remember if Sensei had told him about any caves. He thought there was one, but he couldn’t quite remember-
The Caves of Despair. Sensei had warned him about them, telling him they were too dangerous and never to go there.
Sounds like a perfect place to hide a tomb.
He pulled a map from the shelf and examined the route he would have to take. Finally, he was one step closer to becoming the Green Ninja.