Chapter Text
FLASH
Jay felt himself falling as the anti-gravity effect of the storm that had held onto his Titan-mech started to fade. The next thing he processed was the impact as it returned to the earth and as Jay opened his eyes he was thankful he put on his seatbelt. The mech was facing the ground and he could tell through the shattered window and the lack of power in the cabin that the arms and legs were probable destroyed. Jay used a tool to finish breaking the glass just enough to create a hole he could escape. Once out of the wreckage he yelled "Talk about a thunder-crash" hiding the frustration that his year long project didn't last one fight while signaling to his team that he was fine. Only to realize The Bounty was no where in sight, and the rest of Ninjago for that matter. He continued to look around as he got an unsettling feeling with world around him dark, foggy, and still with an erie glow illuminating the landscape.
Jay quickly reached to his earpiece communicator and frantically called out "Hey guys I just crashed my mech. I'm alright, but where are you?" with only static and silence following. This can not be happening. "Nya! Cole!" He called, still no answer. He felt his heart rate start to spike, but before he could go into a full on panic he heard a familiar voice behind him.
"The Blue Ninja, what are you doing here?" A past foe asked and Jay turned to face him.
"It can't be..." wondering out loud in shock and unable to react to what happened next.
About 5 years later
The City of Temples is an amazing place and the crowds were so thick from visitors across the realms coming to see this once-in-a-lifetime competition it was hard to absorb it all. Nya didn't try though, she was busy scanning each crowd looking for a sign of her lost love. She knew that she and her friends were not invited to this competition due to whomever was hunting the dragon’s interference, but she could not help to hope that despite being a ninja too, Jay got an invitation or at least heard of the tournament. She hadn’t seen him since the merge, but that didn't change how she felt. Thinking of how when they would finally reunite she's going to give him a the biggest hug, he'll tell her he loves her, and they'll never let go of each other again.
These years apart were hard for Nya. From traversing the merged realms alone to loosing her brother to Nether space, the only thing that kept her going sometimes was knowing Jay and her friends were out there. She knew as long as Jay had hope he would move the largest mountains if there was the slightest chance to reach her again. With Kai gone, she needed that support. He had a confidence that she could do anything and get through the hardest things because she was the bravest, smartest, most amazing person he’d ever know. Like Lloyd, Cole, and Zane, Nya's confidence came from what she had seen work and as such didn’t like running into unfamiliar territory. It was why it took her so long to become Samurai X because for her it had to be perfect. Kai and Jay on the other hand had a trick of just believing in an idea despite having nothing to back it up, because they did not have the proof to disprove it either. Though Jay tended to be more negative overall compared to Kai in dangerous situations, both had the knack of bringing up the team’s confidence when going got tough.
“Are you okay?” Sora asked as she watched Nya become lost in thought scanning the crowds.
Nya turned to answer, and again, she wished that they both were there for the kids. Arin was still struggling with not being able to find out where his parents were and all three of them hurt thinking of the amazing friends they lost. “Yes, I was just looking for someone, but there's no sign of him. Let’s catch up with the others” she said and then followed Sora as she remembered how when Zane was lost to the never realm Kai and Jay kept bouncing and arguing about ideas of how they could return him, keeping the rest of the team, especially Pixal, in a hopeful mood. Some of the ideas got wild, but not as wild as the time Wu was lost in time for a year, though that was probably because they did not have as long to think, and Kai had in a fouler mood, focusing on his lost powers.
Just as Sora disappeared into the building their quarters where in, Nya started smiling as she thought of all the dumb plans and jokes over the years and had to wipe a few tears. Before she had a chance to come in though a little wolf boy suddenly bolted from the crowd and ran into her. He couldn’t have been older than 5 as he bounced off her to the ground. Overall, he was grey as her normal gi, outside of under his chin and the underside of his neck being a near silver white which probably continued under his blue striped shirt. She noticed while helping him back up that he did have the smallest highlights of brown and black in the mop of hair which grew past his fur that matched his curious wide eyes perfectly.
“Wow…” the boy muttered in awe and as Nya was about to ask where his parents were there was a cry over the crowd.
“Rider!!!” The source was a small teen, maybe around Wyldfyre’s age. He had ice blue eyes, wire like bronze hair and a muddy complexion. Nya thought if the boy had been lighter outside of the eyes, he’d probably look just like a shorter version of Zane when the ninjas first met. As he saw the situation, he ran over saying “Miss, I am so sorry about my brother. Rider didn’t Phopa tell you what to do when you get into this kind of situation.”
“Oh right!” Rider said taking his gaze off of her to the ground shamefully “I am sorry for running into you miss...” then turning towards the teen “... and I’m sorry I ran to far from you too Ace, but..." His tone started to change "Look at her colors, I haven’t seen so much gray covering other lights outside of Phopa!” The kid was now with excitement gesturing towards her, any sign of remorse gone.
“Rider… Phopa said to…” Ace continued pulling him back with a slight annoyance in his voice, though the way he shook his head immediately told Nya this was a common situation.
“I know but I wanted to ask her why” Rider continued pulling himself out of the teen's arms and locking eyes with Nya “What are you feeling? Is it grief?” her heart stopped, Am I that obvious…
“Rider! Respect others boundaries” Ace scolded “I am so sorry miss…”
“Nya” Nya introduced herself, stunned but becoming more curious of the pair
“Miss Nya. I am so sorry, my brother has a gift for sensing these things, even stronger than a typical empath. It’s why he ran… was invited to this tournament, though once we arrived, he was informed that he is far too young to participate…”
“But not you!” Rider butted in starting to grab onto the Elder’s clothes and just then Nya realized he was indeed wearing the general competitor’s uniform.
“Yes..." Ace quickly retorted "...though I was unaware that I could. So, he and I are here until I get eliminated or win the competition. I'll most likely lose and then afterwards we are going straight home.”
“Accce, you have been trained by the best fighter in the world! I know you can win and then when we come home Phopa won’t be mad that I ran away!”
“You ran away? From who?” Nya asked confused.
“From what you could call our father.” Ace explained “Phopa is the protector of our home and is unable to leave his post for even a day without gravely endagering it. When the invitations to the tournament came, he said we could not go but Rider…”
“But it’s just like the stories of the Ninja, Ace!" The kid butted in again grabbing tighter "Elemental Masters, mysteries, treasure, danger” he was swinging off his brother like a jungle gym at this point. “... just like Lily Brookstone, Libber Gordon and Mr. Hiburnus and Julian or Nyad and the first elemental alliance of the First Spinjitzu Master… we are making history!”
Nya couldn’t help but giggle, she recognized Cole’s mother and her ancestor, but none of the other names, though it was clear this boy was a fan. “Do you want to know something?” she said playing along with the hyper child.
“What?”
“I’m an Elemental Master too” She whispered into Rider’s ear. Then as his eyes went even wider and he started to squeal, she turned and looked at Ace “Do you two need any help getting home or need a place to stay?”
Ace shook his head as Rider looked downtrodden “Thank you for the offer, but as I was saying before I was interrupted" giving the younger a stink eye "Since Rider somehow snuck out so far, our Phopa could not get him without abandoning his duties. I came to bring Rider home, but Rider had been recruited by some fellow competitors and I promised to take his place. So they're taking care of our…” Then another sound came careening over the crowd
“Accccee, Riiiiideeerrr” An orange serpentine teen called “You’re late for training…”
“Coming Frak!” Ace called back, with Rider started running toward the voice. "Rider! Nya Thank you for the offer and the chat, but I have to go.” he said before bounding after his little brother.
“Anytime” Nya smiled and she realized she had let the conversation distract her from her thoughts. For their father’s sake, I hope they make it home soon. What a handful.
Then she entered the building,
“Who were you talking to?” Asked Sora who listened in from inside, but didn't know how to join.
“A fellow competitor” Nya answered and then gave a reassuring nod. "Let's get ready for the feast tonight" And hopefully Jay will show then.