Sparks and Shadows
The training courtyard behind the Destiny's Bounty glowed with the last golden rays of a Ninjago sunset. The sky was streaked in brilliant oranges and reds, the kind that always stirred something in Kai's heart. Fire, after all, was his element—his identity.
But even now, as the evening wind danced lazily across the deck, he stood in frustration. A scorch mark blackened the wooden floor a few feet from where he stood, steam rising faintly from his hands.
Across from him, Jinx leaned casually against a mast, arms crossed, a wry smile tugging at his lips.
"You're still forcing it," Jinx said, his voice quiet but sharp, like a dagger cloaked in silk.
Kai gritted his teeth. "I wasn't forcing it. I was focusing! There's a difference."
"There's also a difference between igniting your element... and inviting it."
Kai blinked. "What does that even mean?"
Jinx pushed off from the mast and approached. His cloak billowed faintly in the wind, the shadowy patterns embroidered on the hem seeming to shimmer in the dimming light. He gestured toward the burn mark.
"You're summoning your fire like it's a weapon you have to draw from a sheath—tugging, yanking, demanding. But fire isn't just a tool. It's emotion. Energy. Intention. If your heart is chaotic, so is your flame."
Kai huffed, crossing his arms. "Easy for you to say, Mister Master-of-Two-Elements."
That earned a smirk. "Come on. Let's try something different."
Jinx led Kai to the edge of the training deck, where a small circle had been cleared and reinforced with sandbags and stone tiles. He stepped into the center.
"Watch," he said.
Then he spun once—and in a blink, a vortex of wind spiraled outward from his feet. His cloak rose, hair swirling as he gathered air into a tight spiral, his body becoming the eye of the storm. Darkness laced through the wind like black ink in water. It pulsed and shimmered with every motion he made.
And then, suddenly, the storm stilled.
With one last breath, Jinx extended his hand. A gust of wind shot forward—gentle, but precise—lighting a nearby candle without even touching it.
Kai's jaw dropped. "You lit that... with air?"
"Wind," Jinx corrected, turning to him. "Air just exists. Wind has will."
"Okay. Yeah. That's not helping."
Jinx laughed. "Then step in."
Kai hesitated, then nodded. He moved into the circle and closed his eyes. "Alright. Let's do this."
Jinx circled him slowly. "Start with the basics. Not your fists. Your breath."
Kai inhaled.
"Now visualize the flame. Not an explosion. Not a weapon. Something alive. Something that wants to grow."
Kai exhaled, and a thin stream of fire danced from his fingertips.
"Good. Again."
They repeated the exercise, Jinx's voice a steady rhythm beside him. After several minutes, Kai's flame became steadier, brighter, more graceful. The bursts stopped sputtering. The power stopped leaking.
Then Jinx flicked two fingers—and a thin slice of shadow darted toward Kai. Instinctively, Kai blocked it with a flare of fire. Smoke hissed where the two met.
Kai blinked. "You just attacked me!"
"I pushed you," Jinx said. "So you'd push back."
Kai shook his head, laughing softly. "Okay... how are you this good with two elements? I mean, come on! You command the wind like it owes you a favor and you bend shadows like they're your pets."
Jinx paused, then looked him square in the eye.
"Two reasons," he said calmly. "One—you've all had, what? A year and a half of real elemental training? I've had over twelve years. Most of it... alone."
Kai blinked. That hit.
"And two," Jinx continued, walking toward the candle again, "I imagine what my element could do. I don't limit it to what it's supposed to do."
He gently blew on the candle—snuffing it out.
"Wind isn't just for flight or knocking things over. It can cut, it can whisper, it can even sing if you know how to listen. Darkness isn't just a shroud—it can twist sight, silence footsteps, bend reality. It's not just power. It's potential. I understand what my elements are, and from there... the path of mastery shows itself."
Kai looked at his own hand, where a small, flickering flame hovered obediently.
"I've been treating fire like a sword," he muttered. "Not like... a partner."
Jinx nodded. "Exactly."
They stood side by side as night finally claimed the sky. Stars shimmered above, and the city lights glowed below. Kai lit the candle with a flick of his finger—this time calm, centered, gentle.
"Thanks," he said.
Jinx shrugged. "You did the work. I just helped you open the door."
Kai looked over. "Still... it's nice having a teacher who knows what it's like to walk more than one path."
Jinx chuckled. "Just don't forget—you have your own path too. set your heart ablaze."