Chapter Text
“Wow, you really do suck at this.”
If Sabine’s glare could kill, Morro would have been eviscerated. It wasn’t his fault the kid had absolutely zero potential when it came to controlling his element. She was wild and all over the place, and it was just so easy to rile her up. It was immensely satisfying to watch the wind explode around her when she threatened to cut him down where he stood. Like she could even aim the wind that far.
“Quit grumbling and aim! Throw your hand out- no, not like that.” He sighed, running a hand over his face, as Sabine hit the dirt. She roared her outrage and he could feel the air pressure rising, but he had run out of his ability to care and turned away entirely to give her a moment to compose herself.
“I can’t do this. It’s impossible. You’re a bad teacher.”
“And you’re a bad student. I can’t teach you if you’re not willing to learn.”
“I am willing to learn!” she insisted, rising and brushing the dirt from her clothes. Suddenly grateful she had chosen to wear something she didn’t care too much about. Morro was beginning to recall old things Wu had said to him during the brief time he had spent training with him, mostly because it was too uncomfortable to go back to when the preeminent had been training him.
“Sure, okay. You’re hearing me, but you’re not listening to me. If you were, we’d be onto something else by now.” Sabine sighed, frustrated. She had thought the hard part of training would have been the physical, but apparently learning to mentally tune out your emotions and pull on an element that was supposed to already be there was harder than it looked. Sometimes she didn’t have to reach for it, sometimes it just came out of its own volition, usually if she was really worked up about something, but intentional usage? Forget it.
“How long did it take you to use the wind?” Morro stared at her a long moment. She took that as an immediately. Sabine kicked a nearby rock and watched it disappear into the dry grass, letting out a frustrated yell.
“Let’s try the poses again.” Morro suggested, dropping back onto his heels and gesturing for her to follow. Sabine would rather rip her own hair out, but she followed his lead. She wasn’t going to learn anything if she didn’t at least try it again. Besides, at least it wasn’t intensely staring at a rock and wishing it would move. Anything was better than those days when it was pretty obvious Morro was uninterested in training so he’d give her something stupid to do. (Not that she’d even succeed at that). The pair ran through a series of drills that Morro claimed were supposed to make it easier to give the wind direction, and thus pull on the knot of power inside her. It wasn’t really working though, it was mostly just moving her hands in a certain direction and trying to look like she was concentrating so Morro wouldn’t hit her with a rock (she swore once she figured this out she would repay his kindness with a dozen rocks of her own). Not long after their first round of drills Morro had removed his black hoodie, folding it atop a nearby rock, and sat down into a meditation position, encouraging her to continue the drills while he did his own thing. After what felt like an eternity of doing this Sabine gave an exhaustive sigh and threw up her hands.
“Okay I’m done for today.” Morro seemed equally done, cracking his neck and stretching his back as he rose from the ground without complaint. He shielded his eyes against the sun and squinted, analyzing it’s position and the way it was poised to drop beyond the mountains in the distance.
“I think it’s about time we had dinner anyway.” Sabine scoffed.
“You don’t have to eat. I’m not even sure you can.” Morro’s mouth fell open in mock-hurt.
“I can do whatever I want, thank you, and that includes killing myself by ingesting some liquid.” Sabine ignored him in favor of heading back to her truck, he trailed behind, picking up his hoodie and muttering something about ungrateful students.
Morro climbed into the already running truck. The once awkward silence between the pair had morphed into a comfortable one. When William was in the car, the tide shifted entirely to entertaining him, but now they were both content to stare out their own windows and lose themselves in the desert landscape. Morro had upgraded to the passenger seat, which he was now counting as character development. Maybe Sabine didn’t totally hate him.
The truck rumbled, a sign of its age, as it made it’s way out of the back desert training area and pulled onto the single two-lane road that was a straight shot into the city. Sabine was lost in thought, the radio a backdrop of white noise, – something about power surges – when a beam of light split the sky in two. It was blinding, coming out of the mountain itself. The flash itself only lasted a moment, before it quieted, returning to a dull glow at the base of the mountain. Sabine blinked a few times, processing what she had seen.
“Did you see that too?” Her hesitant voice broke the silence, but she got no response. A quick look at the passenger seat and she found the deceased master of wind fast asleep. Sabine sighed but continued the drive, her gaze flashing between the road and the faint glow in the distance. Deep in her chest, something stirred. It really was none of her business, she should have kept her head down and continued on into town. They’d get home and maybe she and Morro would watch another episode of the detective show they’d been getting into, devouring their burritos before calling it a night. A quiet night to end an eventful day of not wielding the wind. Sabine sighed, she wasn’t going to get her burrito tonight.
She abruptly swerved off the road in the direction of the light, jostling Morro awake. Thankfully, trucks were generally built for offroading.
“Last I checked, Ninjago City was that way.” Morro rasped, gesturing behind them, rubbing his eyes sleepily.
“Thanks,” Sabine responded, squinting as she tried to locate the light again, which she had lost sight of in the jostle to get off the road. Morro squinted too but she suspected he just wanted to look like he was being helpful.
“I saw something, I just want to check it out. I don’t think it’ll be long.” She explained, her hands white-knuckling the wheel as the car shook violently. Damn, she’d have to get the shocks checked when they got back into town. Morro shrugged, it wasn’t like he was looking forward to a burrito or anything… He may not be able to eat it but he’d have appreciated the thought. His eyes caught on a light in the distance that was slowly growing larger.
“That?” He asked, suddenly aware of the rapidly falling sun and the dwindling relics of any civilization at all.
“It’s awfully out there in the middle of nowhere, Sab, and It’s getting dark.” She shook her head.
“I just have this feeling Morro, we’ll just take a quick look and then be on our way.”
“We?”
Sabine shot him a look, Morro scowled as he opened the glove compartment and pulled out an old map of the area.
“This is really outdated.”
“So are you.”
“I still don’t know where we are.”
Sabine nodded her head in the direction of an old wooden sign as it was illuminated in the truck’s headlights, sunbleached and hanging off rusty hinges.
“The old mining camp?” Sabine murmured, following the road until they got to what she assumed was the main clearing. The silhouettes of old warehouses stood in the distance. Morro tapped on an empty place on the map, humming to himself as the car rumbled to a stop.
“Great, so we’re going on a ghost tour.” Morro opened the passenger door and hopped out, biting back a cough at the dirt and dust he kicked up, and scowling in the direction of the setting sun. They were driving around in the middle of nowhere for what Morro thought was nothing, and he was obviously unhappy about it. Sabine sighed, shutting off the truck as she got out herself.
“Well, then I guess we have the ghost part covered.” she jabbed in response, looking around for any sign of the light from earlier. It had been so bright from so far away.. Surely she’d have seen it by now? But there was nothing but the crickets and the tall grass and the dry summer night blowing across her face. Sabine frowned, a faint rumbling beneath her feet. Did they have earthquakes in Ninjago?
“Hey, Sabine.” Morro beckoned her over, pointing at the sand before his feet. “How long ago was this camp abandoned?” She shrugged.
“I’m not sure, but it doesn’t look like it’s been used for a long time.” The ghost blinked, his gaze following something on the ground she couldn’t make out.
“Okay great, because these tire tracks look pretty fresh.” Sabine pursed her lips and squinted at the ground, bending down to see what he was looking at. Sure enough, tire tracks.
“It could just be old vehicles getting supplies or something. It could be nothing at all.”
“And if it’s not nothing?” Morro challenged. They had driven out into the middle of nowhere, on what Morro now assumed was her gut feeling. The question was, was she ready for whatever she was chasing? She could hardly handle the wind, let alone whatever was about to go down. The responsible thing would be to get back into the truck, drive into town and let the police handle whatever this was. If this was even anything at all.
But when had he ever been the responsible one? and Sabine sure as hell wasn’t. There was one cell of responsibility between the two and that cell belonged to William.
They followed the tracks.
Down the road and between the dunes, a warehouse was tucked away from the primary cluster of buildings, presumably erected as direct storage for the old mine. This was closest to the mine opening and was positioned at the base of the peaks. It was right where Sabine had seen the light, and as the pair crested the nearest dune, it quickly became apparent that it wasn’t as abandoned as they had thought. Morro yanked Sabine to the ground as a large armored car passed their hiding place, the rumbling from earlier.
The sun had long fallen, leaving the stars to swallow their trail in the sand as Morro and Sabine pulled themselves up one of the adjacent dunes. The pair exchanged a look as they gazed down upon a bustling warehouse that should not have been bustling at all. The noise was well hidden, thanks to the natural barrier of the dunes, mountains, and general isolation.
“Well.” Morro murmured, eyes scanning the trucks and shadowy figures with large weapons. “This would be a hideout if I’ve ever seen one.” Sabine couldn’t bring herself to glare at him, she was too busy staring at the flashing inside the warehouse and the sudden wave of absolute terror in her gut. It was now occurring to her that she was in way over her head, and she didn’t even know what this was.
“Maybe we shouldn’t have come, I said I didn’t want to be a ninja. This feels an awful lot like being a ninja.” Morro stifled his anticipatory grin.
“You should have thought of that before we started trekking off into the desert in search of your light source.” She didn’t have time to stop the ghost as he was already moving, pulling himself up off the ground and sliding silently over the dune.
“Wait- wait!” she was frantically whispering as she scrambled after him. They hadn’t even come up with some sort of plan! Didn’t Ninja typically come up with a plan? “What are you doing?!” she hissed quietly, catching up to him as he crouched behind a parked truck. The wheels alone were bigger than her, she wondered what these people might be transporting to warrant such a large car.
“We’re looking for your mystery light, which means we need to get inside that warehouse. Presumably, without being seen.” Sabine blinked furiously if only to stall her panic. Morro’s expression softened. “Relax, Sabine. We’ve done this kind of drill a million times, just stay hidden and don’t be seen. We won’t fight.” He paused, his face contorting as if he wanted to take that back. Sabine bit down a frustrated groan. “I don’t want to lie to you, we might have to fight, but i’ll handle it!” Before she could respond to that, Morro pulled his jacket hood over his head and encouraged her to do the same. They didn’t have gi so this would have to do in regards to concealing their identities.
Morro studied the guards, quickly categorizing them as basic goons, probably hired. They were predictable, and it didn’t take long for him to find the pattern in their guard and exploit it. He recognized he’d have to do most of the carrying here, Sabine was new and nervous, but he would be lying if he said he wasn’t curious about what needed so much security.
This was either the best teaching tool out there or this was about to be a long night. Probably both.
Morro reached for Sabine’s hand, grabbing it and pulling her into a run as the guards changed. Nobody noticed the pair as they dashed across the dark stretch between the parked trucks and the warehouse, and nobody noticed two dark figures scale a ladder on the side of the building. Morro pushed open an old rusted window as quietly as he could, pulling Sabine up behind him into the rafters of the warehouse.
They shuffled awkwardly, Sabine practically holding her breath, her heart thundering in her throat. What were they doing? This has to be one of the worst ideas she had ever had, they weren’t even armed! Not that she’d be able to use a weapon, but having something to defend herself with would have been nice. Morro held up a hand, stalling their progress and gestured down below them.
Below, was an amalgamation of metal, all sharp edges and different colors. It looked like it could pass as a modern art exhibition, or maybe just something straight out of a scrap heap. Arranged in a half-circle. Scaffolds had been erected around it, allowing the people milling atop them to finish the the empty gap in the arch. It was almost complete, only a small portion had yet to be filled in with whatever metal they were using. Morro followed one of the rafter lengths away from the metal semi-circle, his attention caught on three men who descended to a lower floor using a set of stairs below the opposite wall.
“We might have to split up.” Morro murmured when he returned to her, which Sabine thought was the worst idea he had ever had.
“What are you talking about?” she hissed, her gaze flicking between the insane ghost in front of her and the men down below, focused on their construction and fearful of being heard.
“I want to see what’s down there, but there’s no way we’ll both make it at the same time, it’s too obvious. We’ll have to go down one at a time.” Sabine shook her head, frantically. She was too anxious about this whole thing to go and split up!
“I’ll stay up here, then.” Morro narrowed his eyes and considered this. Sabine fussed, he couldn’t force her down there? Right? She was safer up here anyway… but did she really want to be away from the guy who actually knew how to fight if things came to it? He told her they weren’t going to fight, but one look at the guys with really big swords and weapons she’d rather avoid told her that they wouldn’t hesitate to attack if they thought she was a threat to whatever they had going on here. Sabine bit her lip and scowled.
“Okay fine, but I get to go first.”
Morro shook his head, opening his mouth to argue, but Sabine was already shuffling along the rafter away from him, heading for the one closest to the opening. If she was going to do this she would just have to get it over with and commit to it. She heard his irritated sigh and bit back her own smile. She supposed if she died she could just kick his butt in the departed realm.
After a quick glance around, affirming that no guards were coming up the stairs, Sabine attempted to stealthily drop down from the rafters. It was a lengthy drop, but nothing that couldn’t be mitigated with a roll if she landed in the right spot (heres hoping she didn’t drop down and roll straight down the stairs). Thankfully, it was nothing as dramatic as that, and she landed easily enough next to the set of stairs. She looked up at Morro, who was focused on the guards now approaching her. He frantically waved her on, and she descended without a second thought, hoping he would follow as quickly as he could. Just go down into the dark hole in the ground in the middle of nowhere and see what these random strangers with guns are doing Sabine… nothing sketchy or weird about it.
It took a moment to adjust to the lack of light, but once she was actually on the bottom level, it wasn’t that bad. Sabine quickly ducked behind a series of unlabeled canisters, hiding as the guards Morro had gestured about earlier descended after her and marched down the hall, into the wider room before disappearing around the corner. Sabine was about to move down the hall when things began to rumble. It felt like her heart was vibrating, and she tucked into herself reflexively, arms curling around her knees. It stopped after a moment, and she tentatively raised her head. She didn’t know where to go, or if she should wait for Morro. To her right was an unlabeled door, poorly lit and hidden behind the boxes and canisters strewn about, or she could continue down the hall the guards had marched beyond and hope they don’t circle back around to catch her.
She closed her eyes and held her head, focusing on her breathing. Her thoughts and mind were unreliable here, in the midst of her panic, she had to rely on something else. Sabine slowed down, letting her breath come naturally, and then focused on the air around her, on the air at her fingertips, and the air vent moving the currents across the room. She could feel them swirling, could feel the disruption with every breath she took. Sabine’s shoulders sagged as she let go. The air shifted, and she could feel it moving and directing her. Here, in the dark unknown, she had to let someone else take control. Or in this case.. Something else. When she opened her eyes she was staring at the right door. Sabine moved quickly, a phantom wind swirling at her heels.
Morro watched Sabine go and immediately regretted it. He should have been more forceful about going first.. who knows what she was going to encounter down there! If something happened to her he was going to blame himself and then the departed realm was probably going to kick his ass and whoever he got after her was probably going to suck more. He wouldn’t admit it to himself but he kind of enjoyed her company. Morro swung his head around as a voice rose above the others. It commanded authority and respect and was demanding something about the progress of whatever was going on here. Well, that would probably be the leader of this operation. Morro moved in it’s direction hesitantly. He didn’t have a weapon, yet, but he was mostly worried about leaving Sabine down there too long… She could last a few more minutes while he scoped out this potential annoyance... Surely.
Sabine flew through the complex, letting the wind move her where it needed instead of focusing on doing everything herself. She couldn’t do everything herself, she had to put trust into the wind and let it guide her, and guide her it did. Her footsteps were hardly present, the noise swallowed by the air that followed her. She rounded a corner, narrowly sidestepping a stack of crates labeled in a language she didn’t understand. She crouched there as four guards marched down steps on the opposite side of the room and journeyed out the way she had come in. She swallowed and felt the winds tug towards the back of the room. She turned her head, watching as the wind whipped and moved, rustling the fabric covering a giant container at the back of the room. This looked like a storage room, since it was piled high with various boxes and supplies. The closer she got to the box, however, the more constricted she felt. She had only just gained access to a fraction of the power in her chest, and as she approached the giant container, it felt like the wind was being snuffed out of her veins as quickly as it had roared to life. She swallowed and reached for the tarp. Quietly lifting it above her head, peering inside.
Softly glowing bars, pulsing with an energy she could not name other than its sheer wrongness. One touch and it felt like everything building within her was severed. It was horrible. This wasn’t a crate, it was a cage. She gasped, stumbling back, the noise enough to startle the creature within. It let out a soft rumble, its head snuffling as it approached where she stood, stepping into the light. Sabine gasped, as she took in the sight of a real dragon.
It sniffed, pushing itself up against the bars to get a better look at her. Hesitantly, Sabine approached it. The wind had wanted her here for a reason, right? This couldn’t hurt. She reached her hand out.
“Hey there.” she whispered, and the dragon rumbled in answer, pressing its muzzle into her outstretched hand. Sabine didn’t understand why it felt like she was greeting an old friend. She should be terrified, this was a dragon! Something she had only ever heard stories about, And yet, somehow this felt right. She knew this dragon meant her no harm, she was it's equal. Connected in a way only an elemental master could be. They were kin, and this was no place for her family.
“Sabine!” A hurried whisper had her whipping around to find Morro, stumbling down the steps with a look of relief on his face.
“Good, we need to get moving.” Sabine turned back to the dragon, peeling back the tarp a little so Morro would be able to see.
“Not without him.”
“Him?”
“We can’t leave without him, Morro. This is no place for a dragon.” Morro huffed and rolled his eyes.
“This is no place for us either, I’m only down here because the boss came down here, and we’re not ready for a fight like that. They’ve got something big planned, Sabine.” He seemed.. Worried… And rushed. This was concerning because she had never seen Morro upset like this, but that was something she’d address later. She turned back to the cage, her hands taking hold of the strange bars and tugging on them. The dragon within made a low, affectionate grumbling noise as it shifted around inside, clearly excited by the attention. “Shh, Shh.” She cooed, turning her head of her shoulder and hissing at Morro.
“Can you phase through this? Unlock it from the inside?” Morro huffed as if she had just asked him to remove a limb, and then stepped forward towards the cage, as he reached for it, though, his hand settled around it fully, just as hers were. Morro frowned, tugging on the bars.
“I don’t know how you expect to transport a whole dragon through here without being seen, Sabine.” She focused on the door furthest from them, shifting awkwardly as she considered his comment.
“I didn’t think that far ahead.” Morro sighed.
“Well, at least you’re behaving like a ninja. Sorta.” She blinked and didn’t know whether to take that as a compliment or not. He rattled the cage and then pushed on it, baring his teeth in annoyance. “I can’t phase through.” Sabine turned back towards the ghost, bewildered,
“What?”
“I can’t phase through it, obviously it’s made of something that negates powers. That’d explain why your dragon friend hasn’t busted out by now.” Sabine chewed on her lip.
“Then there must be a set of keys somewhere, right? Maybe we can find those and then unlock the cage.” Morro snorted.
“Yeah, and we should go introduce ourselves while we’re at it. ‘Hey! Yeah you Mr. Guy planning something probably evil in the dark, would you mind giving me the key to the dragon you have locked in your basement? Thanks!” Morro shook his head. “That’d take too much time, we’d be discovered by then. Do you have a hairpin? something small and thin?” Sabine reached up and pulled on her hair clip
“Will this work?” Morro took it from her, breaking and bending it into shape and starting work on the cage lock
“Its better than nothing, I hope you didn’t want this clip back..” he muttered to her, as Sabine turned around to watch the doors for any curious people. “This might take a minute though.”
Morro continued to fidget with the lock, Sabine’s eyes darting between the doors and the large crates around the place. She was trying to think of a way out, but frankly, she hadn’t the slightest clue how she was going to pull this whole ordeal off. They’d have to raise hell to get the dragon out of here.. Sabine wasn’t sure if it was worth it yet. She turned as Morro dropped the lock onto the ground with a heavy thunk, and then pulled the door of the cage open. The dragon peered back, before gingerly sticking its head out.
It sniffed the air tentatively, raising its head to stare at Morro as he swung the door wide. Morro stared back, eyes narrowing slightly as a chill danced down his spine. The dragon broke the contest first, lowering down to brush against Sabine, who had approached his side and extended her hands. She laid them on the beast, rubbing gently as she assessed the situation. Morro stepped away, already moving towards the door. The dragon was large, but not large enough that they couldn’t get him through the door. Maybe it was a runt, Morro thought spitefully. He was still annoyed he was going along with this at all. Sabine winced as almost immediately, the dragon shifted and knocked over a set of crates with its tail, fully emerging into the room.
“He’s going to get us caught,” Morro commented, staring disdainfully at the crate which had broken open and scattered… rice? All over the floor. Sabine scowled, but she knew he was right.
“You go first, try to see if the way is partially clear.” she paused, looking between the ghost and the dragon, watching the tension between the two.
“I don’t think you and him are going to get along.” Morro just shook his head, exasperated, but did as she asked and ran up the steps and out the way they had come. Sabine followed, pulling the dragon along as quietly as she could. Unfortunately for Sabine, the dragon seemed to be unaware of the fact that they were trying to be stealthy. The dragon knocked over another set of crates with a crash, Sabine winced and tried to speed up their progress, only to get knocked on her butt when the dragon decided to turn around entirely, hitting her with its spindly tail. “Shh!” She huffed insistently, pushing the dragon forward and praying it’d understand her urgency. She was on her knees as Morro burst through the door above her.
“Guards are coming to investigate the noise, Sabine. We need to leave. Now. If you don’t want to fight we need to abandon whatever you’re trying to do here and book it.” He waved at the dragon for emphasis, who was now digging around in a separate exposed crate.
“We’re not leaving him Morro! Maybe we can coax him forward or-” She was cut off as a group of guards burst through the opposite door. They let out exclamations of surprise as they first took in the free dragon, and then took in the sight of two people who should not be below their secret evil warehouse.
“Oh FSM.” Morro cursed, reaching down and seizing Sabine’s arm, hauling her to her feet.
“Are we about to have to fight?” Sabine murmured weakly.
“No, I’m about to fight. You are going to get your new dragon friend and get out of here.” Morro bit out, pushing her behind him as he approached the guards, who leveled their weapons at him and charged. Watching Morro in action was like watching a hurricane without any wind or rain. It was ferocious and wild as if she was watching a storm take physical form. He parried almost over-aggressively and countered with a fury she had never seen him use, at least not with her. This wasn’t the Morro she had come to know, this was the general of the preeminent, a boy who had come to blows with the ninja and had almost made it out on top. Sabine could only have imagined how formidable he would have been with the wind at his back. The thought made her shudder as she turned her attention to the wayward dragon.
“Okay, Big guy. We gotta go now, so you’re going to need to stop eating that rice and come… with… me…!” She grunted out, as she leaned against him, pushing the beast towards the door. Reluctantly, the dragon moved in the direction she indicated. She felt the knot of anxiety in her chest loosen a little, but they were nowhere out of the woods yet. She looked up abruptly as guards burst forth from the door she was trying to get out of. Sabine stumbled backward. There were a lot of them. “Um, Morro?” She yelled, turning to watch as he deflected one of the guard’s overhead sword strikes and jerked his elbow out and into the man’s face, knocking the guard to the ground before fully knocking him out with the hilt of the sword he had stolen from the other already unconscious guard.
“What?” Morro hissed as he whipped around to face her, blinking as he took in the sight of new opponents. He didn’t get the chance to approach them as a new sword was leveled at his throat.
Morro blinked turning slightly, a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. Was this guy stupid? A sword couldn’t kill him. He took in the sight of an ornamental mask, one slit for an eye, but there was no secondary slit. Interesting. It was too dark to make out any identifying features beyond that, the gold edging of the mask itself flashing in the dull light. Morro looked down at the sword at his throat. It wasn’t the same color as the guard’s, it also felt different. Morro suspected it was something a little heavier than steel. He sucked in a quick breath through his nose as he realized, likely at the same time as Sabine, why the man had pulled a sword on a ghost.
It was the same color as Deepstone, which of course would make this situation just grand. He should have pushed harder about leaving the damn dragon. It wasn’t worth their lives…
“Tsk, tsk. Master of Wind. I do wonder how you’re here in the first place, but that will be resolved later.” Okay, well that wasn’t creepy at all. The masked man nodded toward Sabine and the dragon, who were both frozen staring at him. He said nothing, although every bone in his body wanted to howl at her. Run Sabine! He mentally urged.
Instead, Morro fixed a disinterested look on his face, scowling as the guards charged her. He watched as they disarmed Sabine but not without a healthy fight. She did her best to parry and attack on her own, but she was easily swarmed and inexperience hindered her steps. Why hadn’t they trained with more weapons? He cursed his reluctance to hand her a blade, it wasn’t her reluctance but his own and now it would get them both killed.
They knocked Sabine to her knees. Morro’s eye twitched, in place of a wince, as she hit the ground, spitting. The dragon bellowed, breaking more things as it stumbled backward to avoid the swords being leveled at it. They jabbed at the empty air as the beast evaded, retaliating with a swipe of its claws. Unfortunately, it had been separated from Sabine, and it looked like they were just trying to herd it back into the same cage it had come out of, it wasn’t long until they were successful. Morro fixed his eyes on Sabine again, who looked downright terrified from her position on the floor.
As she should be, but he wished she wasn’t being so obvious about it.
The masked man gestured again and they hauled Sabine to her feet, hands held firmly behind her back before being cuffed. He didn’t think they were vengestone, which was good because it meant they had at least some element of surprise. Not that, Sabine could use the wind anyway… This stunt was rivaling the stupidity of the ninja. The pair were led down the opposite hall, pushed along by the guards with the masked figure leading. They were led into a large cavern, likely the main area of this compound. Morro also figured they were now far enough underground to be under the mountain itself. He craned his neck but could not see the ceiling. Sabine paused as they passed a series of cages, holes carved into the stone and outfitted with vengestone. Cages, essentially, but she was in awe of the sheer amount of them. They weren’t filled, thankfully, but it looked like they were preparing to be.
The guards shoved her forward when they got too far behind, and it almost sent her sprawling to the ground before she regained her balance. Sabine bared her teeth at the nearest one, who simply laughed at her.
“Keep moving, girl.” She fought the urge to retaliate and caught back up to Morro who was still being led at swordpoint, just by a guard instead of this new guy. “Are you alright?” She murmured, and Morro said nothing. He didn’t even turn to look at her, instead, he shot her a glare that said why are you talking to me strange girl I’ve never met? Sabine recognized this as a method of keeping her safe, the less they assumed they were associated, the safer she’d be. After all, she had noticed when the masked figure had called Morro the Master of Wind. They assumed he still had the element, which meant they’d keep a closer eye on him and not her. Or at least, theoretically. They led Morro to one of the vengestone cages, one of the guards gestured to move her inside too, but the masked figure stopped them.
“I’ll take her. Ensure he’s locked up.” The man approached her, his cloak billowing out behind him, making him larger than he truly was. Sabine instinctively stepped back, unnerved by the glowing eyes behind the mask and the distorted, robotic voice. There wasn’t much she could do in her current state, but she couldn’t help her uneasiness.
“Walk with me.” He gestured to a door on the opposite side of the cavern, and Sabine hesitantly moved forward, with the figure at her side. They moved in relative silence, mechanical breathing only broken by his heavy boot steps. They strode through the door and down a separate hall.
“What were you doing here?” Sabine shrugged loosely, fidgeting with the cuffs as much as she could, but she had never been locked in handcuffs before so it wasn’t like she knew how to get out.
“I saw a light, and I followed it here.” Her captor snorted. As they moved Sabine kept trying to sneak glances at them, perhaps identify something that might lead her to discover their identity later on. If she survived this encounter, that is. Although she didn’t exactly get the impression that they were going to kill her. Sabine tried to ignore the irony of being walked to her death.
“And the ghost?”
“I don’t know him.”
The ensuing silence was enough for Sabine to realize she was not believed. The figure may as well have been arching a brow under the mask. Sabine kept silent, she didn’t know Morro. Not really. This wasn’t a lie, it was just an omission of the truth.
“Why break into something so heavily guarded for the sake of curiosity?” There was a level of humor to the figure’s voice, but Sabine couldn’t tell if she was hearing right or if the vocal distortion was playing with her head.
“ I was curious.You might want to fire everyone, by the way, considering it wasn’t very hard to get in here.” The figure seemed to consider this as they took a left and then led her back up the stairs into the main warehouse, and up a second set of stairs and into what looked like an office. She was almost startled by the amount of decoration, considering everything else seemed so sparse and gloomy. The large windows behind the desk told her that it was well into the night. She admired the thin red rug, and the set of bookshelves to the left, set against the wall, full of books and knick-knacks, and a dagger set on a stand with a pristine white handle, she couldn’t read the plaque beneath it. The figure settled himself in the tall chair behind the desk and gestured for her to sit across from him. Pulling already set-out drink cups. That was unnerving, mostly because it insinuated he had been expecting company. She wondered if he had been expecting them or someone else.
“Tea?” He asked, looking up as a thin individual with auburn hair, plaited and coiled behind their head, stepped into the room. Sabine couldn’t tell who they were, their appearance seemed to shift the longer you looked. Sabine bit her lip, unsettled. They settled the tray of tea down onto the desk, sending a scrutinizing glance her way and a questioning one at the figure, who did not indicate a response. Sabine nodded after a long moment. He poured her a glass, unstopping a jar of tapioca pearls. “Boba?” She considered this for a moment, before declining. He shrugged.
“Suit yourself.” He poured himself a glass and dumped a helping of pearls in with it. Sabine shifted uncomfortably as the auburn figure removed her cuffs and then departed, leaving the pair in silence. It was clear she was not seen as a threat, Sabine couldn’t tell if she should feel insulted or flattered. The figure exhaled long and hard, reaching up and pressing a button near his temple. The man removed his mask. Dark hair, cropped close to his skull, the left side of his face was melted and deformed. He grinned a smile that was far from friendly. She fought the urge to squirm under his gaze. He bore a friendly expression, but there was a forcedness to it, like he might snap at any minute and wrap his hands around her throat. Her skin crawled, but she looked him in the eyes, determined to let her impression be that of bravery.
“Well, this curiosity of yours has certainly gotten you into a predicament. Why were you trying to free the dragon?” She frowned, startled by the sudden appearance of a non-mechanical voice.
“He didn’t deserve to be locked down there.”
“It’s a threat to your life, girl. It would have killed you.” Now Sabine blinked, shaking her head gently.
“No… he was just curious. I don’t think he would have-”
“It’s more intelligent than you know, and it would have turned on you in a moment. It’s like letting a tiger free and expecting it to ignore its base instincts. You could have killed us all.”
Her jaw opened and shut, her gaze dropped to her hands. There was no sense in arguing. To a normal guy, that dragon probably would have killed him. (Well- Sabine didn’t really believe that, but she had to if she wanted to survive.) She looked back up at him, a contemplative frown on her face.
“Would he..- It..have really done that..? if I’d let it out?” Her captor nodded, satisfied, settling back in his seat gently.
“Without question.” Sabine let her expression fall, even though her very bones seemed to buzz with the lie. First Master did she hate lying, but.. This was for her own good.
He sipped at his drink absently, his gaze flicking away from her to scan around his office. “The ghost, you say you do not know him?” Sabine shook her head gently, trying to control herself. She couldn’t seem too eager or he’d know, but she couldn’t be too flippant or he might know… oh she was so going to break down into tears once this was over.
“No. I’ve never seen him before- well. I think I saw him on the news once…” Sabine’s eyebrows pitched together as she tried to make it look like she was thinking very hard. He considered this for a long moment, folding his hands in front of him.
“Frankly, I don’t believe you. But because I have no reason to suspect otherwise, and you’re just a kid – I’ll let you go.” Sabine lifted her gaze from the table.
“Really?” The man shrugged. “I’m not the one doing anything illegal. You broke onto private property and freed a dangerous animal.” Sabine swallowed. She hadn’t seen any gates or signs or anything that told her this place was anything but abandoned desert, but she supposed he had a point.
“Right.”
He gave her a pleasant, if entirely fake, smile. “My guards will escort you out the front and you can return to wherever you came from. Next time, try to keep your... Curiosity... On a shorter leash.” He chided, showing more teeth than he needed to. She heard the door open and was nearly hauled out of her seat by a set of large arms.
“Wait- The ghost? What will happen to him?”
The man regarded her for a moment, his grin developing an edge to it. Shit, wrong thing to ask. “What about him?”
“I just- he seemed agitated. He probably needs mental help or something. It’d be rude of me not to ask.” She was frantically backpeddling, afraid that the man before her might smell blood in the water and pounce.
“I’m sure he does, and we’ll take care of him. Now, off you go little girl.” He dismissed and shooed her with one hand. Like he was taking candy from a toddler. “Escort her out front and ensure she leaves my property, will you?” He turned his gaze on the man whose iron grip on her arms felt an awful lot like a threat. She didn’t see the man’s response as she was suddenly whirled out of the room and marched down the hall. Great, this was great. This was just great.
This had been entirely her idea though, so in a way, Morro being locked in the basement of a very-not-abandoned warehouse was kind of her fault. She wondered if they’d kill him and if it’d hurt. She let out a short, hysteric giggle at the thought. How many times had he died now? Ignoring the man who kept shoving her shoulder behind her. No, she was not leaving him down there, she just had to figure out a plan. With no weapons, no experience, and no wind. Yes, everything was going to be fine.
“You’re lucky Lord Kano took pity on you. If it’d been me, I’d have just taken you out back and killed you myself.” Sabine tried not to panic as the guard sneered at her, his words sunk in.
“Most people don’t want to kill innocent kids.” The guard snorted and leaned in, whispering.
“You and I both know you’re far from innocent.” He shoved her again, his voice growing louder and impatient.
“Get moving. I’m tired of playing babysitter.” She stumbled and almost fell, but righted herself, rounding a bend with a mocking scowl of her own. His jeers made it easier for her bend the nearby pipe with the wind, and then promptly bring it down over his head. It made a hollow ringing sound, and the man went down like a sack of potatoes. Maybe she had overdone that a little.. Sabine felt a smidgen of panic as she worried she might have killed him, but rifled through his pockets anyway, unhooking a set of keys.
She doubted she had enough time to get to the vengestone cell level without someone alerting the rest of the complex. “Lord Kano” really needed to hire better security. Sabine huffed as she took in her options, and decided she would just have to be faster than anyone looking for her. She paused, made sure the guard was still breathing (thankfully he was), then jogged around his body, beelining for the stairs. Taking them two at a time, she dashed the way they had come. Her sneakers squeaked as she ran.
Sabine stumbled through a doorway and into a room akin to a loading dock. She swallowed, ducking behind a truck as a set of workers loaded it with big sealed crates. She hid beneath the giant, parked armored vehicle while another squad of soldiers passed her, and then made for a set of doors across the way. She recognized this hall now, this was where they had been captured in the first place. And there, in the cage she had left him, was the dragon. Sabine let out a sharp breath and ran for him, running up to the cage and wrapping her hands around the bars. The dragon rumbled as it approached and then nudged her hands.
“Hey, sorry about that. Let's get you out of here.” She fished into her pocket and wagged a set of pristine keys at the dragon. She grinned to herself. “See? I’m not totally useless.” She thumbed through the keys, trying each until one finally unlocked the cage. She stepped back to allow the dragon room to move. “Okay now get out of here! I’ve caused enough trouble dragging you around.” She gestured towards the loading dock door, which had a direct exit towards the outside. The dragon stared at her blankly, but Sabine only sighed. She had bigger priorities right now. She had a ghost to jailbreak, as she dashed across the room and quickly waved goodbye to the dragon. Sabine chose to put it out of her mind and ran down the hall. She had to hope that he had a better survival instinct than her because she was running towards the people that would probably kill her now. But she was on a timer, and she couldn’t leave Morro here. She had seen the glint in Kano’s eyes, he was going to make Morro suffer. She wouldn’t be able to live with herself if anything happened to him because she had insisted they drop in on this shady operation. Sabine only hoped she wasn’t too late as she threw herself around the corner and recognized the door to the cell cavern. She barely ducked around a corner in time to avoid a set of guards walking straight into her and then took a few steadying breaths as she ran for the door.
It opened automatically, and she cautiously stepped into the giant cell cavern. The first time she had been here she hadn’t been paying much attention. She had been too anxious at having been caught and was now being separated from the one person who could protect her. Now, she was able to get a good look at the space. It was huge, but it wasn’t exactly a cavern like she had thought. The ceiling was held up with thick pillars of concrete, presumably holding the warehouse front above them up. The cells themselves were carved of vengestone, and fit into the wall, three rows of four vertically on both sides of the space. The north end of the cavern had a set of viewing screens and parked trucks. She mentally noted that they had probably gotten in through the room she had come through earlier. The loading dock is likely connected to the other side of the mountain. Sabine swallowed as she hid herself behind a pillar, she was about to start looking for signs of her ghost when she heard yelling. Yeah, that was most certainly Morro.
Sabine’s head shot out from behind the pillar as she identified the source. Morro was being held by two guards, while he viciously cursed and yelled at the masked man - Kano - from earlier. Kano had reattached his mask, his hands neatly folded behind him as he regarded the snarling ghost before him cooly. She took quiet note of the dark sword attached to his hip, which hadn’t been there when he had spoken with her. Sabine gulped, her mind sluggish as she tried to figure out a plan. Her heart dropped into her stomach, however, as Kano sighed irritatedly.
“Well, you’re clearly beyond help or reason. Perhaps the next Master of Wind will be more… useful.” The mechanical voice echoed through the warehouse, bouncing off the walls, and rattling her heart. Suddenly the air felt sucked out of the place, and Sabine watched in horror as he unsheathed the blade at his side with two hands. Morro struggled but was forced to his knees, looking up at that wretched deepstone blade with a deep scowl. There was no fear in his eyes, only a dark wrath that promised vengeance.
“You have no idea.” He snarled, Kano cocked his head, not dignifying the ghost with a response. He had more important things to do than listen to a ranting ghost who was better off dead. Lord Kano hefted the blade high, ready to cleave the ghost in two.
“No!” Sabine howled, throwing her hands out in front of her desperately, the force of it throwing her forward and out from behind the pillar. The wind roared through the space between her and Kano, ripping the metal spokes from the ground, bending the sheet metal in its path, and shattering the blade in his hand in an instant. The lord was launched backward, the debris pinning him to the far wall. He swung for a moment and then lay there limply. It all happened in seconds.
Morro had fallen in the opposite direction, scrambling to get out of her line of fire, running on instinct alone. The guards hadn’t been so lucky, and they too were now pinned by debris. Sabine’s hands shook, her mind wiped blank by shock as she stared at what she had done. The building groaned and sagged around them but Morro’s hand was already on her shoulder, pulling her towards the exit.
“We need to go, the building won’t last much longer with this kind of structural damage.” He took her hand, surprisingly gentle. “You did we-”
“Did- did I kill him?” she interrupted her voice a low whisper, eyes locked onto the slumped form across the warehouse. Morro chose not to answer that, pulling Sabine into a run. She said nothing more, and could not tear her eyes from the figure she had left crushed under metal and debris. A numbness crept in to take over any emotion. She followed Morro pliantly. They went back the way they had come, finding the dragon still compliantly sitting near the door she had directed him to go through. They fled the warehouse, no guards tried to stop them, too disorganized in the chaos of their building and work crumbling around them to notice a ghost, a horrified teenager, and a dragon fleeing the wreckage. Sabine shook harder as she listened to the sound of the warehouse crumbling in on itself in the distance as they dashed across the dunes. The horrible crunch and screech of metal as it collapsed from within… She hoped the guards had made it out in time.
They returned to the truck, panting. Sabine trembled as she moved to get in the driver’s seat, but was stopped by a hand on her arm.
“I’ll drive, you talk.” She blinked at him, staring at Morro’s entirely serious expression. Her throat bobbed but she walked around the other side and pulled herself into the car. The dragon hauled himself into the back, like he had done this thousands of times. Morro peeled out dramatically, despite the added weight, and set the truck back on course for the main road, and subsequently home. Sabine blinked as she noticed the sky lightening. They had been out all night? She swallowed again, thinking about how upset Cora was going to be when she returned. She’d probably be grounded for weeks.
“Spill it.”
“What?”
Morro paused, his hands tightening on the wheel. “Spill your mind before you lose it.” Sabine folded her hands and stared out the front window, mulling the events of the night over. “We almost died. Like. Three times- And there's a dragon in the back of my car-” Morro inclined his head, keeping his gaze focused on the road.
“And… I-I think... I killed someone.”
Her voice dropped to a whisper and she dropped her eyes to her hands, trying very hard not to hyperventilate and cry. “It was an accident, Sabine. You can’t fully control your powers and they reacted to your emotion, it was bound to happen eventually.” Sabine took a shaky breath. “That's the thing. It wasn’t an accident.. I- I wanted him to die.” Her words tumbled out in the rush to defend her decision. Like the former villain beside her would judge her for a choice he had made hundreds of times. This was just her first.. So he remained silent and let Sabine speak.
“He- He was hurting you! And he was hurting those dr..agons and he..” her breath hitched, a soft sob escaping her throat. “He threatened me. He threatened Will, and Cora and.. and-” She let herself cry. Morro said nothing, lips pressed in a thin line, fighting the urge to reach out and offer his comfort.
“I wanted him to die, for everything he said he was going to do. Because I never wanted him to get the chance to do it.”
Morro nodded affirmatively. “There’s nothing wrong with that.” “Yes, there is! There is something wrong with wanting someone dead.” “Not if that person was threatening to kill you and everyone you care about. At this point, it was just… future self-defense!” Sabine shook her head, scoffing. “Of course, the murderer among us would say that.” Morro winced at the venom in her voice, but he could not deny its truth. “I think even Cora would agree that it was only natural to want him dead, Sabine.” The girl sighed, feeling distraught and too tired to argue. “Whatever.”
Morro knew that there was nothing at this moment that would console her, so he shut his mouth and kept driving. He was troubled but understood her reaction. Sabine wasn’t like him. It was one thing to hurt someone in self-defense, it was another to claim their life permanently. He ran a hand over his face, checking the rearview mirror and the dragon now curled up in the bed of the truck. What were they going to do with that?
“I’m going to stop by our training grounds.” Sabine blinked a few times, her gaze flicking to his in the mirror.
“Why?”
“I don’t think Cora would take kindly to you breaking curfew and lugging a dragon into her house.” Sabine sucked in a breath. “Right.” She turned around to look at the dragon. “I wasn’t expecting him to follow us.” Morro shrugged.
“It seems like he likes you, why be anywhere else?” Sabine continued to watch the dragon until she got bored and returned to leaning her head against the passenger side window.
“If the police find out, do you think I’d be tried as a kid or as an adult?” Morro blinked, looking at her with an incredulous expression. He couldn’t help it, he started laughing. “Sabine, nobody is going to find out.” She looked at him with an equally incredulous expression. “What? Of course, someone is going to find out, a warehouse just collapsed! People are dead!”
It took a moment for him to reign in his laughter, snorting as he finished. He might have wiped tears from his eyes if he was capable of that. “A warehouse in the middle of the desert, in an abandoned mining town collapsed after years of disuse.” He framed his words like a news headline, throwing a hand out in front of him with each word for emphasis. “Those guys wouldn’t risk exposing whatever shady operation they were doing to get enough evidence to arrest some girl.” Morro shook his head, amused. He could tell she wasn’t in her right mind right now. “Get some rest, Sabine. We’ll need to switch back before we pass Ninjago city limits but it’ll be a while.” He reached out and hesitantly patted her shoulder. She continued to stare at him, her brow furrowed before setting her head on the window again with a thunk. If he didn’t know any better he’d think she was pouting at him. He elected to ignore it. He knew she was just hurting, she’d bounce back eventually. Right?
—
Cora grounded Sabine for three weeks, which, all things considered, wasn’t that harsh of a punishment. William had come over almost every day. They had resisted telling him what had happened at first until a trip to the training grounds revealed a very real dragon nesting on the obstacle course (which Will had promptly lost his mind about). He had then lost his mind further when they had been forced to explain their caper. William had been especially proud of Sabine’s wind usage, thoroughly praising her (to which Morro only inclined his head). Sabine, however, hadn’t used it since that night. Even with Morro’s not-so-subtle coaxing, which transitioned into bargaining, which then transitioned into threatening when the other two didn’t work.
Sabine would not tap into her abilities again.
She was afraid of them again. It concerned Morro, mostly because he knew these things tended to blow up in people's faces when they least expected it. The last thing he wanted was for Sabine to lose control and then add to her guilt. Plus, it made his whole job ten times harder when his pupil was suddenly unwilling to use the very gift she’d been given.
William had been very offended that they had gone on a “training mission” without him. Despite Sabine explaining that they had been in danger the entire time and that she had been very stupid to approach it in the first place. It hadn’t seemed to matter to him, it was the “premise of it”, he claimed. They had left him behind to go gallivanting off into the desert doing ninja-hero stuff. Morro disliked being lumped into the “ninja-hero stuff” category but he’d long learned to avoid challenging the boy when it came to his heroes. He’d long given up trying to correct him when William would come to him with absolutely incorrect ninja fun facts he had stolen off the internet. Not that Morro would know, of course, but he did like feeding the boy random bits of completely inaccurate information. If only for his own amusement.
The police never did question anyone, although Sabine had religiously stalked all news outlets for information about the building collapse. Nothing ended up in the papers, and gradually, Sabine became less anxious about being arrested and more anxious about the power inside of her. Morro felt like they were back to square one, and he frequently found himself fighting the urge to yell and scream. By the end of those three weeks, William remained offended, Sabine remained anxious, and Morro was unbelievably frustrated with everything and everyone.
They went back to the basics, and Morro was forced to brainstorm.
-
“Alright, let me finish packing up and we can head back into town-” Sabine grunted to no one in particular as she struggled to lift an overloaded box of training supplies into the bed of her truck. She nearly dropped the box when Mantis gingerly mouthed the other handle, lifting it with ease and immediately forcing Sabine to stretch upward to keep up with his speed, settling it in the bed of the truck.
She gave the wind dragon a shocked laugh. Her smile never met her eyes these days, but she was grateful he had attempted to help, unlike some mentors. “Thanks, buddy.” She gave him a few grateful pats on his side before the dragon trotted off. She watched him launch himself into the sky, towards the cave system across the lake that he had called his home since they had saved him. Sabine nodded gently and then rubbed her dusty hands on her jeans, fidgeting with the jacket tied at her waist as the sun began to set in the west.
“Morro? Are you ready to go?” She called, looking around, but her mentor was nowhere to be found. Sabine scowled. Figures.
She heard rustling to her left and whirled, jumpy, letting herself fall back into a fighting stance. Morro had taken to scaring her recently, probably something about scaring the wind out of her. Or maybe he was just being an asshole. It was probably both. She readied herself, raising her hands. Morro stepped out of the brush unceremoniously. He stared at her blankly, looking her up and down.
“What are you doing?”
Sabine lowered her hands, sighing. “I thought you were a stranger, I was going to deck you.” Morro raised an eyebrow. “Okay, I was going to deck you regardless, but I thought you were trying to scare me again.” Morro scoffed, but there was a playful lilt to his voice.
“As if you’d land a hit on me.” Sabine just shook her head, dropping her stance with a sigh. She didn’t want to joke right now, she just wanted to go home.
“Come on, we have time before curfew.” Morro extended his hand. Sabine stared at him like he’d grown three heads.
“What?”
“Did you not hear me? Come on, let’s go.” Morro turned around, retracting his hand and stepping over the brush he’d come from. He promptly disappeared. Sabine looked between her truck and the direction her mentor had gone. She conceded, throwing up her hands as she followed after him.
If she was late for curfew because Morro decided to play a prank, she’d torture him with water. She thought aggressively as she got caught in some brambles and stumbled through the forest. Morro was already so far ahead of her that she could barely make out his ghostly silhouette. She ran after him. Sabine would be lying if she said she wasn’t curious. He’d been disappearing a lot recently and at weird times. Sometimes she’d visit where he was supposed to be sleeping and he’d be gone, other times he’d leave her during training and not return until well into the evening. How was she supposed to learn how to be a master when her mentor wasn’t there to correct her stances? She shook her head bitterly, kicking a rock as she finally fell into step beside Morro.
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll see.”
Sabine gave him an unimpressed look, but he revealed nothing as they wove through the backcountry, sunlight filtering through the sparse desert environment. He led her through the shrubbery, and up the side of a sandstone formation, pulling her up when she struggled to climb.
As they stepped out onto the top of the rock face, she gave a low, appreciative, whistle. Far in the distance, the sun was still slowly setting in the west, continuing its inevitable crawl towards the sea. In the distance, she could even see Ninjago City, its bustling spires winking in the twilight. If she squinted she could find the access road that she and Morro usually took to get here. Sabine glanced at Morro who moved forward and sat himself by a large rock. He pat the ground next to him. Throwing an arm out over the rock he was lazily leaning on, bouncing a leg. She followed him, sitting down and crossing her legs beneath her. Her eyes never left the landscape.
“When’d you find this?”
Morro tilted his head, blowing a stray hair out of his face. “Not long after I started hanging around here. The view is hard to beat.” Sabine nodded.
“It’s beautiful.” Morro nodded. His expression softened.
“A long time ago, I used to like to watch the sunset. I’d climb the monastery walls to feel the wind in my hair and hide myself away on the roof so I wouldn’t be disturbed. It was a moment of peace I took for granted.” He ran a hand through his hair awkwardly. Sabine noted his attempts to appear indifferent, but she silently appreciated his vulnerability. For Morro, talking about anything before the present felt off-limits. She was always afraid of prying too much, if only because she never knew how he’d respond. Some days, he seemed happy to expound upon the torture he had put himself through to become the warrior he was. Other days he was shuttered and withdrawn, a cold, isolated fortress of his own making. His pain was internal, and it was a burden he was determined to bear alone, despite Sabine’s gentle prodding.
“I like to watch the sunset too,” she murmured softly.
Sabine sometimes wondered if he wanted to let go of the pain, or if it had become so familiar to him that letting it go would be like losing a limb. She sometimes wondered if Morro would even exist without it. When you spend so much of your life stuck in the past, how do you look towards the future? At what point does your resentment become who you are?
Morro shuffled reaching behind the rock he was leaning against, he pulled out a carefully wrapped bundle and settled it on his lap. Sabine looked over at him, he stared back, and then gently passed it to her. The gift was soft, and pliable in her hands as she settled it in her lap. It was wrapped in a cheap cloth, tied with twine, but she noted careful hands had tied it. She looked at him curiously, and Morro gestured with one hand, his gaze roaming anywhere except hers as he crossed his arms across his chest, slumping back against the rock.
“Open it, it’s for you.”
Sabine carefully tugged the twine, unwrapping the gift. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at the fine cloth in her hands.”I-” She said nothing more, fully unfolding the fine garment. In her hands was a genuine Gi. It was a sandy yellowish-cream color, inlaid with reflective copper dragon-scale patterning, that looped around the shoulders and led to a symbol on the back, a dragon in flight, curled in on itself, with puffy swirls that might represent wind curling around it. It wasn’t a symbol she recognized, she looked at Morro curiously. He continued to stare ahead, watching the sun.
“I had them replicate Mantis. You always say you’re not a ninja, so why wear their symbol? They don’t own the Gi as a concept, though. Now we have our own.” Morro grinned mischievously, pulling out another bundle. He spread out a black sweatshirt, similar to the one he always wore, but this one had the same symbol on the back.
“Now we can match.”
Sabine didn’t have words.
Morro went back to staring at the sunset, a subtle smile on his face that faded as quickly as it had arrived. She could sense that he was reigning in his excitement for her benefit. “This is very thoughtful, thank you.” She murmured gently, pressing the bundle to her heart.
Morro just shrugged. “It was about time you had something proper to train in.” Sabine smiled, examining the intricate embroidery with an artist’s eye, her heart warm.
“How did you even afford something like this?” The ghost scoffed. “Are you calling me broke?”
“Well, you are kind of dead.”
“I know a guy, who knows a guy…Who threatened a guy… and I threatened him.” Sabine and Morro dissolved into laughter before he continued. “They owed me a favor, I cashed in. I didn’t think Cora would take kindly to me raiding her cash drawer.”
Sabine ran a hand through her hair, stifling her giggling. “Yeah, probably not. She’d probably kill me.” Sabine shook her head, amused, and returned her eyes to the sunset. The pair lapsed into a comfortable silence.
“You know, now that you’ve earned this, you’re going to have to put in more hours right?”
“I still have to attend school, Morro.”
“Do you want to be educated, or do you want to be an elemental master?”
“I don’t think you’re the right person to ask me that.”