I shook my head as Tobi stumbles into my room, the blood from his lip trickling down his chin.

I sigh. "Was it worth it?" I ask, already rushing to grab our first aid kit.

He grunts in pain but smiles anyways. "Of course it was, you know that."

"I wish you could just get a job," I mumble, wiping the blood away from his mouth.

He shakes his head. "You know as well as I do that won't happen. We're not old enough, remember?" That's true, we are only fourteen.

I sigh. "I know. I just wish I could help."

He shakes his head. "You don't need to get involved in this."

"But mom-"

"Dad and I have got it. Don't worry about it."

I frown. "I'll just find a job then."

I finish wiping Tobi's lip and hand him a small bag of ice.

Tobi laughs. "Good luck finding one."

I wake up and stare at my ceiling, deep in thought. I've been getting more and more of these flashbacks, and I had hoped the move to Ninjago City would help me. But I suppose you can't run from your problems.

I go take a quick shower and get ready for my first day on the job. I grab my phone and wallet and head out the door.

I arrive like twenty minutes early, but I suppose being early is better than being late.

"Elaine, you're early," Mistakè says.

"I didn't sleep well," I respond.

"I have just the tea for you. Follow," she says, and disappears behind the curtain.

I hesitate but then follow her behind the counter and into the back room. She walks down a ladder with some sort of leaf in her hands.

"This way, dear," she says.

I follow her into the same room I was in for my interview.

"Sit," she instructs.

I sit on one pillow and she sits across from me. She lights the candle and pours water into the pot.

"Close your eyes." I do as I'm told.

"I want you to focus on the scent of the leaves. Can you smell them? Feel the air rushing to your face. The air carries the scent of the leaves, the very essence of them. Focus."

I do as she says, feeling calmer by the second.

"Open your eyes," she says. I open them.

She pours me a cup of tea then herself one and raises the cup to her lips. I do the same.

"How did that work so well?" I ask.

"Because, dear, the elements are meaningful to our bodies."

I nod. That makes sense, I guess.

She shows me how to keep inventory and cash out customers, then leaves me to work.

I was counting down the minutes till my shift ended when suddenly, I hear screams in the distance.

Holy shit, my friends were not lying yesterday about the snake tribes. I run to the window and look out. Snake men, or whatever, are out on the street, terrorizing people.

I heard hissing near the door and run outside. I didn't want to leave Mistakè by herself, but they can't swarm the place either!

I don't know what I was thinking, how am I supposed to do this!

I see a red snake hitting a lady nearby and run to help.

"Hey, fang face!" The snake hisses and turns towards me.

I punch the snake in the jaw and kick it's stomach before it can do anything. The lady turns towards me, fear evident in her eyes, then runs away.

Suddenly, I'm hit in the back. I stumble but quickly turn around and throw a punch blindly. I hit its neck and it falls down. I had no idea I could fight like this. I suppose it was the adrenaline pumping through me, or perhaps Mistakés tea held some sort of remarkable power.

"Over here!" Someone shouts. I look up and a red ninja is running towards me. So my new friends were right, there were ninja and snake men who dwelled in Ninjago.

"Behind you!" He shouts. I turn around and punch the black snake in the head. It grabs my wrist and I knee him in the groin. He groans and I kick him in his stomach.

"You're a good fighter," the red ninja says.

"Thanks," I respond, looking back towards the other ninja.

"You can't be here!" Another ninja says—the black one.

"Well, you're stuck with me now." I mumble.

Suddenly, a dozen of the snake men surround us. The six of us back into each other, forming a small circle inside the snakes.

"Uh, guys?" Red says.

"What do we do?" White asks.

"We fight. Be careful, uh, whoever you are," Green says. I nod and close my eyes, remembering what Mistaké taught me this morning.

Focus on the air. Feel the breeze rushing to your face.

I open my eyes and shout. A huge gust of wind releases from my palms and knocks down the front row of snake men.

"How'd she do that?" Black asks.

I stare at my hands. "I-I don't know," I say, muttering to myself.

"We'll figure that out later. Right now, we sorta have a problem!" Blue exclaims.

"Ninjago!" They all shout, becoming enveloped in a tornado thing.

"Okay, what the hell?" I mumble.

I summon gusts of wind and knock the snakes over, one by one. Pretty soon, all the men were defeated.

"We did it!" White says.

I take one last look at my palms then run away as fast as possible.

"Guys, she's getting away!"

"Let her go."

-

I hide behind a ledge and watch the ninja take one last look around.

The red one takes off his mask, followed by the rest.

"Oh my god," I murmur.

"Those are your friends, correct?"

I jump and turn towards the old woman from the tea shop.

"Who are you?"

"I am Madame Mistaké. Come, we have lots of work to do."

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