Chapter Text
There was one boy. Waiting silently alone. He’s not exactly a boy. He was a young man, clad in sage green, cloudy grey eyes staring down at a page laid out before him as ink gracefully glided across the page. The young man pulled his hand back, his brush lifting from the paper. He swept his black hair out of his eyes, a single streak of vibrant green falling over the left side of his face.
Morro, a well disciplined Ninja with unknown origins, grimaced as he examined his brush work on the page.
“You’re improving, I’d say,” A wise elder, a Sensei of Spinjitzu lingered in the doorway of the young man’s room.
Morro pinched the shaft of his brush in his right hand while his left held it steady as he sighed, tilting his head in scrutiny of his calligraphy work. “It’s difficult. I’m not right handed. It looks bad.”
“No one is stopping you from using your left hand,” Wu said, walking close to his first student, his star pupil, his very own son. In a way.
“I am,” Morro said in response, placing the brush down. “I want to do it properly–” Upon turning around, he paused, realising that Wu was not the only visitor to his room. Clearing his throat, Morro stood up, straightening out his gi as he regarded another young man standing just beyond the doorway. “Someone new?”
Wu glanced over his shoulder as he tapped his bamboo staff on the ground to make a gentle tok. “This is Zane.”
The young man stood stiffly, his short pale blond hair styled perfectly out of his face. He bowed, almost at a 90 degree angle, before snapping upright once again in the same rigid manner that he held himself in, his blue eyes staring Morro down with a frosty air though somehow still full of tenderness and compassion.
“Nice to meet you,” he said in a resilient voice.
Strange boy. Morro bowed his head, not as low Zane had, but still enough to show respect. “Likewise,” he said. The room was colder the longer Zane stood there. Morro glanced at the Sensei beside him for just a brief moment but long enough to understand enough.
“Morro, could you show Zane to his new room?” Wu asked, passing a gentle smile to his son.
“Of course,” Morro said, slipping past the Master and into the hall. “Zane, if you would?”
Zane bowed again to Sensei Wu before he scurried after Morro. They walked in silence, almost uncomfortably so. Everything about this new environment, the man leading him down the hall, the way he combed his hand through his mid-length raven hair with a certain elegance, it all intrigued him.
“How long have you been here?” Zane asked. “You don’t share a resemblance with Sensei Wu, I doubt you’re family. Are you a student like I am?”
Morro glanced back over his shoulder before taking a deep breath, lifting his chin while he walked, almost proudly. “I’ve been here a long time. Long enough that I expect I’ll be teaching you a few lessons.”
“Are you like me?” Zane quickly asked, attempting to keep up a conversation.
Pausing in the hallway and turning to look at him, Morro’s sharp eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”
The weight of that glare made Zane pull back and his shoulders stiffened. He worried that his question might have angered Morro, this upperclassman of sorts to him. Zane didn’t think there was anything wrong with the question he asked. “I mean… Before I was led here, Sensei told me that something was waiting within me. Or– my heart. Waiting to be drawn out.”
It was then that Zane got a good look at Morro and the exact way he held himself. Not rigid like Zane was, but proper and refined. It made sense that Morro was here for a long time just as he said if any lessons he learned from Wu resulted in this almost regal presence and perfectly tailored gi. His face was almost stuck in the same expression the entire interaction since the moment Zane saw Morro stand up: dull.
Morro’s somewhat somber and almost… dead gaze washed over Zane, before he finally spoke again.
“Hard to say,” Morro said, raising his hand and waving it gently in front of his face. Behind him, a strange wind suddenly picked up, though they were inside, and opened a door to reveal the room beyond it. Zane stumbled back, his eyes wide and astonished as the mysterious wind Morro seemed to have conjured up from the idle wave of his gloved hand.
“He often talks in riddles,” he said while he stepped inside and gestured for Zane to enter the newly opened up room. “This is all yours. Make it your own.”
Morro left back the way he came, leaving Zane alone and bewildered at what he had just witnessed. He carefully stepped past the doorway and into the room, looking around at what was essentially gifted to him to live in.
It was a decent size, drawers on the left that held a folded up futon when Zane looked through them. A barren desk was beneath the window on the right, a cushion neatly placed at the base. This was his own. A room, in a home.
This was Zane’s.
A single sigh of satisfaction slipped past his lips.
. . .
Morro carried around his calligraphy materials, brush, ink and all, through the hearth of the Monastery of Spinjitzu atop the mountain near the clouds. Sitting in the middle of the room was Sensei Wu himself, sipping a steaming cup of tea while a tray with the rest of the set sat comfortably on the wooden floor table.
“What did you think of the boy?” Wu asked, pouring another cup for Morro.
The young man hummed, opening a cabinet to put his materials away. “He’s strange,” he said, joining Wu at the table. “Who is he?”
“I thought you would have figured it out by now,” Wu said with a playful smile beneath his long beard.
“Mm, I always like to have you confirm my suspicions.” Morro pursed his lips together as he raised his cup in his right hand, flicking his left hand so that a miniature twister flew over the beverage, cooling it off with a breeze.
Wu chuckled, shaking his head. He sipped his tea once more, letting the flavour rest on his tongue for just a moment. “I found him wandering alone. He was meditating at the bottom of a lake.”
“A-at the bottom of a lake…?” Morro echoed.
“Quite so.”
“Huh.” Morro straightened his back out of habit.
“I had a vision while meditating before the spirit smoke,” Wu said, lowering his head enough that his kasa covered his eyes from Morro's view. “In it, the sky darkened, the ground rumbled… I fear my brother is plotting his return.”
Morro narrowed his eyes as he looked down at his cup, sipping it silently. “Is it faint?”
“Not as much as I hoped it to be. Which is why I must gather the Elements of Creation, the new wielders of the Golden Weapons.” Wu answered, standing up. He grabbed his bamboo staff and used it as a sort of crutch to walk around. “I'll be back. Perhaps in the meantime, you can begin to introduce Zane to his more icy abilities?”
“What?” Morro shot up to his feet. “How would I even… I don't… I wouldn't know where to start.”
“You're a grown boy now, Morro, you've been my student for… twelve, almost thirteen years now.” Wu walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I'm sure you'll step into this new role perfectly fine.”
“What, all in preparation to find the Green Ninja?” Morro asked as Wu pulled away and made for the door. “I'm not even part of that prophecy, why should I do anything to help?”
“Because I know you care,” Wu said as he turned into the hall. “I've brought you new gloves, too. They're waiting on your desk.”
Morro grumbled beneath his breath, turning to his tea to finish it up before cleaning up the set and returning to his own room.
Lo and behold, just as Wu said, there was a new pair of gloves sitting on his desk. Morro sat on his knees while he opened the package up and set them aside, pulling his own gloves off to reveal his hands and more importantly, his scared wrists.
He picked up the new pair of gloves and examined them, the feel of the fabric, testing it out before actually putting them on. They seemed to be smaller than needed, but they were really for pressure. Around the wrists of the glove was the band that consisted of multiple strands so Morro could adjust the tension on his own terms. The final new attribute was the fact these gloves were fingerless.
Morro hummed, sliding the first glove over his right hand first, feeling the cool and gentle material across the palm and back of his hand. As he fixed up the wraps and covered his left hand next, there was a knock at his door.
“Yes, Zane?” Morro asked without turning, knowing it was the new boy since there was literally no one else in the Monastery at the time.
“Sorry to disturb you, I was just curious as to what I’ll actually be doing here…?” Zane spoke timidly but stiff nonetheless.
Morro finally looked up, nodding. “You know what, we can try something now,” he said as he got to his feet and walked into the hall. “Follow me.”
He brought Zane to the courtyard, stopping onto the middle of the stone ground just in front of the singular golden dragon decoration. Morro raised his arms and gestured for Zane to copy him to which he snapped his arms up.
Morro stared at him for a beat. Stiff.
He started to walk around Zane, gently adjusting his stance, posture, height of his arms, all the minor details. “Do you know how to fight?” He asked.
“No,” Zane said. “I was told I would learn.”
“Why do you want to fight?”
“I don’t.” Zane looked over his shoulder to just catch Morro behind him in the corner of his eye. “Though, if I had to give an answer… I don’t like to sit by while other people could be hurt. If there is indeed something within me that will help me protect people, I’d like to learn.”
. . .
Morro discovered that Zane could cook. Well, Zane offered to cook dinner and insisted when Morro tried to stop him. The boy had whipped up a delicious serving of udon, brilliant flavour and perfectly cooked noodles. On the side was an entire box full of hand-made dumplings, wrappers and all. It was a great feast, but it was only the two of them. The entire dinner was spent in silence.
The only thing was, Morro had to buy food for the next day. Early in the morning, he left the Monastery and was now climbing the steps of the mountain with a bag of groceries in his hands. He pushed the gates open to see Zane sitting on the porch, Wu standing in the courtyard and a young boy (around Zane’s age) dressed in a bright blue get up, a bag around his shoulders. His hair was short, choppy and unkept, his eyes the same vibrant blue as his attired with just a spec of yellow in his right eye where there was a slit in his brow on the same side.
Morro’s shoulders sagged. “Oh. Another stray.”
“It’s pronounced Jay.” The boy corrected with a lopsided smile on his face.
Morro knew exactly who this was. He nodded, as he walked past them, fully expecting to retreat into the halls of the Monastery but Wu grabbed his shoulder to keep him from running away. Morro let out a silent frustrated sigh and turned around.
“I'm Morro,” he said, turning around again.
Wu stopped him once again. “Manners.”
Morro's expression scrunched up before he turned around once more and bowed his head slightly. “Nice to meet you. I'm going to cook.” He brushed off Wu's hand and stepped onto the porch, kicking his shoes off and trading them for slippers.
“I can help!” Zane eagerly exclaimed, practically jumping to his feet.
“No, you did last night,” Morro said in a stern tone. One could think he was upset. But with those dull eyes of his, Zane wasn't sure. “You have lessons to attend.” He pointed to Wu and Jay standing only a few meters away. And with that Morro essentially retreated into the Monastery.
He began to unload the bags he brought home, stocking the shelves of the cabinets and fridge in the kitchen. From behind him, a door slid open and Wu entered.
“I thought you were training them,” Morro said, watching as his father approached with that certain serenity he always held.
“I just let them try the course.” Wu shrugged it off easily.
“Poor kids,” Morro said, kneeling down to store away a few items in the cabinet down below.
“How did it go with Zane yesterday?” Wu asked.
“He's very rigid. But he likes to learn. He has a good heart.” Morro stood back up, combing his fingers through his hair, the strangely natural green streak falling down again. “Jay is lighting, I'm guessing?”
“Guessing?”
“Okay, Jay is lighting.” Morro rephrased himself, turning his words into more of a statement.
In the distance, there was a loud scream followed by a crash.
“Jay! Are you alright?” That faint voice was Zane.
“Yeah, I'm all good! I've had worse crashes. Did I ever tell you I was making an invention that could let me fly? Haha, believe me, the crash tests hurt a lot more than this parkour trip!” Jay's voice replied with an energetic pace.
“He's as chatty as the last master. You wouldn't remember. You never talked to her” Wu turned away from the kitchen. “Finish up quickly! You can cook later. We'll teach a few more lessons today, and then, I suppose I'm off to climb a mountain.” Wu called.
“For…?”
“Lily's son,” Wu said. “I believe it's been a few years since she passed now. I figured, with my vision plaguing me, I should begin his training.”
“I see.” Morro finished. He raised his hand and threw it out across his body, a wind picking up and shutting all the open cabinets and drawers in the kitchen.
The two walked together to get back into the courtyard, sliding the doors open to reveal a rather peculiar sight. Zane was sitting on the side, his legs crossed as if meditating. Jay, on the other hand, had stopped the motion of the course and had opened a panel, pulling at the wires and gears within the mechanism while oil was smeared across his face. Jay whipped around, his hands hidden behind his back as he tried to conceal a comedically large gear in his palms.
“Oh, heeyyy, Sensei! What a coincidence!” Jay exclaimed as the exposed panel behind him sparked up.
Morro tried to retreat to his room but Wu grabbed his arm and kept him stationary in place.
“What are you doing?” Wu asked.
“Nothing! Nothing!” Jay raised his hands in defence, revealing the gear he thought he was so cleverly concealing. He winced and shoved it back into the open panel. “We were just running the course, right Zane?”
Zane opened his eyes like he forgot where he was. “Pardon?”
Jay groaned in frustration and his shoulders dropped. He wiped his face with his sleeve only to smear more oil on his cheeks. “Okay, I’m sorry, I know I’ve only been here for like five minutes and I’m already tearing apart your parkour simulator.”
“And why is that?” Wu asked as he approached the panel to peer inside and take a look.
“It’s uh… Well, it’s uh….” Jay hesitated to give an answer.
Zane stood up and joined Jay at his side. “It was running too fast. We had trouble making it through.”
“Oh, is that it?” Wu chuckled, taking the gear and handing it to Jay. “Put it back the way you found it. It is fast for a reason. If you overcome roadblocks by tailoring it to your already set capabilities, are you really overcoming it? You’re taking away the challenge.”
Jay poked his head into the panel and tinkered away to put the mechanism back the way he found it. “Well, if a machine doesn’t work, then that means you have to make adjustments,” he said.
“To the machine? Or you?”
Jay pulled back, closing the panel shut and the course returned to full speed. Wu guided Jay and Zane to the porch to sit down at watch. He raised his staff to Morro, silently directing him to the beginning of the course. “Morro will show you that this course is not impossible.”
Morro let out a breath. He hasn’t run the course in a while, preferring to idly run through forms and spar with a single rotating wood target. He took a deep breath, in and out, before widening his stance. Wu hammered his staff against the stone ground he stood on, signaling the start as Morro raced to enter the course.
He jumped through the first round, passing through the obstacles and weaving his way through the rotating tree targets with a composed elegance. It was like he turned into the wind itself while he danced across the fast pace obstacles and obstructions. He quickly passed over the spinning blades and the rising posts and swinging pillars, safely making it out to the other side.
Jay and Zane were starstruck with their mouths agape, eyes wide and breath stolen. They had never seen anyone move like that before. Morro let out a sigh of relief that he didn’t embarrass himself with any slight mishap, or tripping. He tightened his gloves and used a breeze to wash over him and blow his bangs out of his face, incidentally passing a gust of wind over the other three men watching him.
“H-how did…?!” Jay stammered, his hand jolting up to point at Morro, then the rest of the course. “He just…!”
“That was amazing!” Zane cried, standing up at once as he was swept up in amazement.
Morro bowed his head again in thanks.
“All it takes is hard work and resilience.” Wu fixed his kasa on his head and regarded the young boys. “Something I’m sure you have, Jay, considering all your crash tests…” He pressed the end of his staff to Jay’s chest before passing by him.
. . .
The air was colder atop a mountain. Strangely, atop the Monastery of Spinjitzu, no snow fell and the seasons continued like normal, the only indicator was the single tree beyond the gates and before the treacherous stairwell down the mountain. Sitting on the roof of the Monastery was also surprisingly a very comfortable meditation spot.
Morro was perched on the roof, his knees together as his hands were interwoven. He was so still, one might assume he was dead. Behind him, he heard sounds of a struggle and a heaving breath. Someone had joined him on the roof.
He opened his eyes and looked to his left to see another young man had climbed up. He was tall, well built and carried a rope around his torso with a strange lack of a shirt. His thick curly black hair fell over his eyes, shagging in just the perfect way that still made his defined brows peek out from under his bangs. He wiped his forehead of sweat, meaning he must have had a workout.
“Are you Morro?” He asked, a slight rasp in his voice. Morro nodded and the boy’s face lit up. “I was sent to get you.”
“You must be Cole,” Morro said in return. Something about his eyes were kind in contrast to his built stature. It was easy to look at the boy and connect which element he was. Earth, of course, with his steady and strong posture despite being tied from a climb.
Cole nodded while his lips pressed together to form a thin line. “Sensei Wu told me you’d get me started?”
Oh.
He really didn’t want to. But Morro jumped off the roof and landed on the ground with a roll to soften the impact. Cole peered over the edge and hesitantly lowered himself, stumbling to a heavy landing. This was going to be more difficult than any of the other boys. Cole was Earth. The direct opposition to Morro’s wind.
This was a test. Wu was testing him. Morro thought he was going to fail this for sure.
“You should change first,” Morro said, entering the Monastery without a moment to spare.
Cole lingered behind and looked down at himself. “Oh, yeah. That’s a good idea. Should I wait here? Or should I–” Morro had already disappeared into the building. Cole rolled his eyes and scoffed. “Okay, rude.” He wandered in after Morro.
Morro marched down the halls, opening doors and searching for something and someone. Eventually, he came across the hearth, sliding the doors open to reveal Wu, Jay and Zane inside the room with a stack of neatly folded gis in front of them all. He paused in the doorway as Cole rushed up behind him, peeking inside.
“Ah, Morro. I see Cole managed to tear you away from your perch.” Wu smiled.
Stepping aside, Morro let Cole enter the room and awkwardly nodded to the other two boys.
“Cole, this is Jay, Zane, you already met Morro,” Wu said, gesturing around the room. Each boy awkwardly waved at each other.
“Morro.”
Everybody turned to the door where Morro had been stopped in his tracks by Wu's call, his attempt at a silent escape from the room foiled. Wu gave a look as Morro dragged his feet across the floor and sat beside him, patiently resting on his knees, hands in his lap.
“You three, take these. The proper attire for a Ninja to train in.” Wu stood up, passing a black Ninja gi to each of the newcomers in the Monastery. “Take your time, make them your own. Cole, your room is one door down from Jay's, I'm sure they'll show you.”
Zane and Jay took their gis gratefully with the bow of their heads while Cole gave a choppy bow as he received his gi.
“I'll take you down the halls,” Jay said, nudging Cole along. “This place is a maze at first.”
“Only for you,” Zane said, following them closely behind. “If I recall, you couldn't find your way without me.”
“What?! What's not true!” Jay cried.
Cole chuckled, a playful smile pulling at his lips. “I think I'll find my way around quickly.”
Jay scoffed. “No you won't– I bet you won't!”
“I'll take that bet!” Cole exclaimed as the boys rushed into the halls, exchanging conversation as easily as already established friends.
Wu watched them prance down the corridors with lively chatter and laughs. He turned on his heel to see Morro still sitting on his knees, his hands picking at the fabric around his knees. His brows were furrowed, pinched together over the bridge of his nose while his eyes had almost narrowed into slits. Wu frowned, taking a moment to let out a breath and refill his patience with a stroke of his beard.
“What's wrong with you?”
Morro snapped out of his idle fidgeting and looked up. “There's nothing wrong with me.”
“I could list a few things that can disprove that statement.” Wu sat down beside the young man, staring down at the patterns in the tatami mats that they sat down. “I'd like for you to tell me what's wrong.”
Morro shut his eyes. “Father, it's been just us for over a decade, and now there are three new boys living here, I need time to adjust. And I don't like talking to people.”
“Well, then, you'd better start now, my son,” Wu said, almost immediately, as if he knew what Morro was going to say.
“Frustrating,” Morro said.
Wu let out a chuckle. “I know it's strange. When was the last time you were surrounded by so many?”
“Almost exactly… thirteen years.” Morro clarified.
“Goodness me, time passes faster than I thought it would.” Wu hummed. “It seems I've finally let the old age of mine show.”
Morro raised a brow as he glanced beside him, taking in the elderly appearance of his father. He shook his head. “Final thing, are you testing me?”
“I am not testing you, no.” Wu placed a hand on Morro's shoulder with a gentle touch. “Though, I would like for you to start being more of a leader.”
“To them?”
“In time, yes.”
Morro tucked a strand of hair behind his ear.
“That's a lot of pressure.”
“Well, maybe with the boys here, you can become friends. Be a part of the team instead of leading it. Maybe, they can get you to smile again.”
Ah, there it was. The other path Wu set him up. Morro narrowed his eyes, his frown deepening, producing the opposite of the result Wu wished to have.
“You think you're so slick.” Morro hissed as his father only met him with a playful smile. “Might I remind you, thirteen years? I like to keep my promises.”
“Okay, then promise me this: you'll be a part of the team.” Wu stood up, and promptly left the room without hearing an answer. He didn't need to hear an answer, he already knew Morro would agree.
As he said a couple days ago, he knew Morro cared.