Shifting Winds (Chapter Nine: Good Intentions)

She tried to keep her mouth shut as much as possible. Every now and then she would ask the ninja walking beside her if they were still heading in the right direction, to which he would always answer "yes". Laurie's eyes continued to rest upon the sword sheathed across his back, hoping that it would stay exactly where it was right now. "I never caught your name," the red head started, absentmindedly fiddling with the straps that kept her gloves secured around her wrists. "I'm Laurie, if you didn't hear me earlier."

"Kai," the brunet answered, turning to look at the girl for the first time since they had started traveling. "And I heard you the first time." He could see she was very uneasy; her motions reserved and eye contact lacking. This was definitely not the person he had been fighting in the street earlier. The explanation Lloyd had given him for her sudden appearance had included her wanting to take Lloyd back to Lord Garmadon. My father's not the nicest guy and I don't want him anywhere near my brother. If she felt that way about Garmadon, then why was she helping him? "Do you mind if I ask you something?" the Ninja of Fire, taking in a deep breath. All of the annoyance and frustration that had built up inside of him since this morning had fizzled into nothingness. With prolonged silence growing between the two teenagers, Kai just assumed that he could go ahead with his question. "Why are you here? What made you come to Ninjago City?"

That was two questions, the red head thought sourly. "I didn't mean to come to the city," Laurie sighed, clasping her hands behind her back awkwardly. She was feeling slightly fidgety and had nothing better to do with her hands. "In all honesty, I should probably be dead right now." As much as she hated looking back on it now, if her father had not have found her back in the desert, she would not be looking for Lloyd with Kai. Lloyd might not have ended up in a situation like this though. "I was searching for my father because I finally learned why he had left when I was younger. I learned exactly what he was trying to do and that he had returned to Ninjago." She turned her head to look at the red ninja and noticed that they were now holding eye contact. "I wanted to try and stop him. I wanted to prove to him that I had grown up fine without him…you know, when I really start to think about it…"

He could kind of relate. It reminded Kai of when Lord Garmadon had been brought on the Bounty by Sensei; the thoughts of hatred that had passed through his mind during that time. If he could stand up to Lord Garmadon, he would unlock his true potential and become the Green Ninja. All of the seemed pretty childish when he looked back on it. A small smirk spread its way across his face and Laurie tried to ignore it, focusing her attention straight ahead now. "So, you had to have found him," Kai continued, scanning the sand up ahead for any signs of Ouroboros. They had been walking for a good amount of time now. The city should not be far away now. "You found your dad, right? You said he had told you about us."

"Oh, um, yes," Laurie replied quickly, a sudden realization creeping over her. It was really dark out, even with the twinkling light from the stars up above. Without noticing, she closed the distance between herself and Kai slowly. "That's where everything gets a little complicated. I found my father, yes. Something happened though and it's kind of fuzzy. He was telling me that there were ninja in Ninjago City and they had kidnapped Lloyd." Laurie could feel the heavy sensation of guilt settling in her stomach. "And I believed him. So I came to the city, like he instructed me to, and then everything just went downhill from there: the Serpentine, Lloyd being stubborn, and my own arrogance." Laurie internally scoffed at herself. She was so stupid sometimes. "I thought I could take you guys down if you had tried to stop me from taking Lloyd. And then, when I finally get a good grasp on what is going on around me, I have a sword at my throat and I'm just petrified." She chuckled slightly. "At least something knocked some sense back into me."

The story seemed to make sense and, honestly, it sounded like something Lord Garmadon would do. He still felt like he had to keep his wits about him. This girl could be a very good liar. "Well, when we find Lloyd you need to come back to the city with me. Our Sensei, your uncle, wanted to talk with you before the whole Serpentine thing happened." He could see the slight shadow of shock make its way across Laurie's face. "Wait…you didn't know that your uncle was the one who trained us?"

"I-I never really connected him looking for ninja and the fact that I'm now roped into this whole ninja mess." Wow…she really was stupid. If Lloyd was in the hands of Uncle Wu, then he was going to be completely fine. She could always remember her uncle being a patient and kind man. His influence would be great for Lloyd! "I haven't seen Uncle in years so it all kind of slipped my mind. Besides, my mother took me with her on her archeological excavations and stuff. Thought it would be good for me. Everything just kind of slipped my mind until my mother finally told me about my father: why he had just disappeared and what he was trying to do." It all sounded really silly when she said it out loud. "Hey, um, do you mind if I ask you something now?"

Kai shrugged his shoulders. He had been asking her a lot of things and it all seemed to be giving him a clearer picture of who she was and what her intentions were. "Yeah, you can ask me a question. Go for it."

"Would you have killed me when I first woke up?" She felt a small pang of fear creep up inside of her. Why had she asked that? Laurie's eyes darted to Kai's sword once more. "I-I mean, I'm not saying I thought you were going to kill me. I was just a little nervous back there." She felt her face turn bright red as she trudged on ahead, trying to put a bit of distance between her and Kai now. That had been really dumb of her. She should have just kept her mouth shut.

Take him.

She stopped where she was and just blinked. Kai jogged up quickly beside her, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Whoa, you took off really quickly," he breathed. That had all been really odd. "You didn't even give me a chance to answer your question." His eyes scrutinized Laurie's expression. She seemed slightly confused and just petrified. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Did you say something to me when you were trying to catch up?" Laurie questioned, feeling a pressure building up in her head. It was like a terrible headache, blurring her vision slightly and slowly growing more unbearable by the second. The red head clenched her teeth in an attempt to alleviate the sensation, but it would not work. "D-Did you call out after me or something?" she asked once more, her tone full of urgency.

The Ninja of Fire just thought for a second. "No, I didn't say anything until I got to you. Why?"

Laurie shook her head, still feeling the pressure. "I thought I heard you say something. Sorry, let's continue on. Lloyd is still out there somewhere." She rolled her shoulder, feeling as Kai's hand fell off and gestured for them to keep going. Narrowing his eyes slightly due to the abrupt change of the subject, Kai started onward as Laurie trailed slightly behind him. She could have sworn she had heard a voice.

Subdue him.

The pressure continued to grow and the red head squeezed her eyes shut, sucking in a breath. Okay, that time someone had definitely said something. The voice was familiar, but she could not place a face to it. One thing was certain: it was most certainly not Kai. Laurie watched as Kai was waving his arms around slightly, as if he were in a conversation with someone. Her feet barely lifted off the ground as she trudged along the sand. Hearing things was never a good sign of anything.

I control you, girl. Take the ninja.

She gasped slightly as she finally recognized the voice. Her lips parted as she tried to call out to Kai, but nothing came out. Her vision was swimming, the ambient sounds of the night growing quieter. It almost felt like she was being submerged in water, drifting away from what was happening around her. And then everything went black.

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Laurie's question really had him thinking. He would not have killed her, right? Sure, he had been angry and it was no secret that his patience and temper could be very thin. Despite everything Kai had said back in the city, he was slowly beginning to realize that Laurie really was just another person. Lloyd's sister. Visions of his brothers threatening Nya in the same manner crossed his mind and he shook them away defiantly. "I wouldn't have killed you," he answered softly. "I can be a bit reckless sometimes. I don't always think things through before I jump into action and, talking with you, I can see that you only want what's best for Lloyd." A harsh wind blew across his back and Kai turned to see Laurie quite far behind him. "Well come on then," Kai shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth. "We won't get to Ouroboros by just standing around."

Turning on his heel, the Ninja of Fire continued onward, hearing the hurried sound of Laurie's breathing growing closer and closer. He heard her give an angry grunt and glanced backwards in time to see her twist her body around, lashing out a kick. With quick reflexes, the red ninja ducked, managing to avoid the attack. "All I said was that we weren't gonna get to Ouroboros by just standing around. No need to get upset about it!" Soon after collecting herself from the failed attack, Laurie thrust her fist forward, but Kai caught it. "What's wrong with you?" he asked forcefully. Her attitude seemed to change in the blink of an eye. Now she was back to acting like she did when they were fighting in the city.

Wait a minute…

He brought his eyes up to her face and frowned. Gleaming, red irises stared back at him. How could this have happened though? It had just been the two of them in the desert the entire time. Scanning his surroundings, Kai checked for any sign of the Hypnobrai, but found none. "Hey, if you can hear me, try to listen, alright?" he was surprised with how calm he actually sounded during this situation. "I don't know how you did it before, but you managed to break your trance. You can do it again." Laurie managed to pull free from Kai's grip and tackled him to the ground. The two teenagers, rolled across the sand until Kai pinned Lloyd's sister underneath him. "Laurie, snap out of it," Kai tried once more. His hand instinctively itched to grab the sword from his back, but his thoughts prevented him from going through with it. "You can't help Lloyd if you're like this."

Managing to bring her legs to her chest, the red head kicked Kai off of her. He stumbled backwards and finally regained his balance as something wrapped itself around his arms. "If I had known in advance how weak of a fighter the girl would have been, I would not have wasted my time." Kai squirmed and tilted his head back to see Skales detaining him. Thrusting an elbow backwards, the Ninja of Fire hoped to free himself, but the momentum from the attack was too weak. Watching as Laurie got to her feet, he once again attempted to pull away from the Serpentine behind him. He could feel Skales struggling to keep his hold on him now. Perfect, he could get out of this!

A hand on his shoulder brought Kai back to his surroundings. Laurie glared at him, her lips forming into a small smirk. The red ninja looked at her with a somber expression. She had not wanted to be a part of this at all from what he had gathered. No, the only reason she was here was because Garmadon had tricked her. Now she was wrapped up in a whole other fight. Before he could try and reason with her again, she brought a knee up into his stomach. Coughing and choking, Kai felt his knees weaken slightly, Skales' grip feeling tighter. As he managed to suck in a deep breath, he watched as Laurie threw another punch at his face. Only this time, the attack made contact.

It was harder than he could have imagined. Kai's cheek and jaw erupted with pain and he felt himself gasp. "You have to…get control of yourself…" he said weakly, feeling his eyelids waver. Laurie shifted in and out of focus as the pain from her punch radiated outward. Well, she did not hit like a girl when she actually managed to land a hit. Before Kai could say anything else, the red head hit him again, her knuckles pressing hard against the tender spots of his jaw line.

Kai fell limp in Skales' arms.