Nalia is 4 years old and first meets Wu at eight years old.
Those wondering, she meets Morro, who is 17, while she is 4.
Little info to know:
The cave Nalia is living in can slow down aging because of a strong spell put in it; she would be 90.000 years old if she hadn't lived in the cave. But since she has lived in it for so long, she is still only four years old, mentally and physically, with only a little growth.
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The day was like every other day inside the cave Nalia lived in, with a few torches lighting the place so she could at least see something in the darkness.
Nalia had lived in this cave her whole life, so she knew it inside and out. But she had never tried leaving, not because she couldn't, but because she was scared of leaving the only safe place that she had known.
But she hadn't been alone all her life. Some old man always visited her a few times to see how she was doing. He brought her all kinds of items, but mostly food and clothes. Even a pair of glasses that helped her eyes from burning in pain whenever she saw the elemental aura around him.
Nalia doesn't know how long she has lived in this cave because everything slowed down, anything from aging, like food or even people slowly. Which at least helped with the food not growing bad for a very long time. The old man had told her last time that she looked like someone at least three years old, even though she would be much older with how long she had been alive.
She got time to pass but played with whatever toy or item she could find in the piles of junk in the cave. If she weren't playing with anything, she would sing songs to herself that would echo throughout the cave, making it seem louder and not as lonely.
Then, one day, the sound of the cave's entrance opened up, and soon enough, footsteps could be heard walking in.
"It must be somewhere in this cave; it has to be, then it will show sensei that I'm the true green ninja." said the person in a somewhat grumpy voice.
The person was walking through the cave until they heard the sound of someone singing inside. "Don't tell me someone got here before me." The person picked up the pace as their footsteps echoed throughout the cave.
Nalia was sitting on a rock singing to herself until she began hearing the sound of someone's footsteps. She started smiling as she thought it was the old man she hadn't seen for a while.
She jumped down from the rock and began running towards the sound. "Old man, you're back! It's been forever since-" she said, smiling but stopping. Her smile faded when she saw it wasn't the old man.
Nalia took a few steps back. She didn't know this stranger, and not knowing something scared her.
"...W-who are you?" she asked in a scared tone while trying to keep her distance from this person who looked to be a boy in his late teens in front of her.
The stranger looked at the little girl with crazy, wild hair and glasses, who was looking up at him. "What's a stupid kid doing in this cave?" he asked annoyedly.
Nalia looked around her junk while still watching him closely. "I'm not stupid; you are," she said before pulling out a wooden sword the old man had given her as a training tool, though she wasn't much into that stuff.
The stranger looked at her with the wooden sword, unimpressed. "Really, kid? Do you think a wooden sword could do something to a real sword?" he asked, pulling out his sword and pointing it straight at her.
Nalia took a few more steps back, shaking like a leaf, while holding her wooden sword. "N-no-not another s-step or-or I'll.....I'll..." she said, trying to sound threatening but failing miserably.
"Or you what? Start crying and calling for your mommy and daddy?" he said mockingly, walking closer to her.
At this point, Nalia ended up breaking out in tears and began crying out loud.
This reaction took the stranger aback. "I didn't think she would cry. Maybe I overdid it a little," he thought, watching the crying kid in front of him.
"You are a meanie, a big meanie!" cried Nalia as she tried to attack him with her sword, catching him by surprise with her quick but still sloppy move with a sword as he quickly cut it with his real one at the last moment.
"You broke my sword! The old man will be so mad when he finds out!" she shouted in shock while tears still ran down her face.
The stranger facepalm himself. "By the First Spinjitzu Master, why am I wasting my time with a kid," he mumbled.
Nalia peeked at what the stranger said as she looked at him with big eyes that had stopped crying. "You know the old man?" she asked.
"....The old man who?" The stranger asked, looking at her confused while holding up a sword.
"The old man, you just mentioned him, so you must know him, right? Are you a student? A friend? A family member?" Nalia asked him all these questions, jumping around now, full of energy and forgetting what had just happened a few minutes ago.
"Ummm, no, the First Spinjitzu Master died thousands of years ago, but my old mentor was one of his sons." The stranger explained with a raised eyebrow. "But how can you know him? You would have to be at least as old as him or even my mentor, and last I checked, you look like a four-year-old," he said, putting away his sword and crossing his arms.
Nalia stopped jumping and began growing a bit sad. "The old man is gone, but he promised that the next time he came to visit *sobs* He would show me the outside world. But now I'm all *sobs* Alone again!!" she began crying out loud again.
The stranger had to cover his ears because Nalia was crying so loudly. "I know that old scroll said something about a powerful being kept away in a secret cave so it wouldn't get into the wrong hands, but all I've found is this kid.... It must have been a mistake because there is no way this kid can be all this powerful," he thought with an annoyed sigh.
Nalia had gone on to sit down on the ground, pulling her legs close to herself and crying into her knees while her glasses were getting foggy. "The old man promised he would...he said it was safe and beautiful...and yet he never came, he didn't keep his promise and most of all he lied....." she thought, even though she could quickly leave the cave herself. She was scared of doing it alone and, most of all, being all alone again, like when she first woke up in this cave.
The stranger sighed, looking at how depressed she had become after that news, so he slowly walked over and got down to her level. "Hey, kid, I'm sorry he couldn't keep his promise... but if you want, I could show you the outside world?" he said, feeling bad for her since she reminded him a bit like himself when he had nowhere to go and no family. But his master had reached out a hand for him once, so he thought he might do it with this kid.
Nalia sniffled slowly, raising her head and looking at him with her foggy glasses and tearing eyes. ".....Y-you want to s-show me the outside world?" she asked, a little surprised.
The stranger nodded. "Yeah, since he couldn't keep that promise, how about I do it instead," he said, smiling. "What do you say, kid?" he asked, holding a hand.
Nalia looked at him and then his hand a few times before she hesitantly took his hand, to which he pulled her back up on her legs. "Alright, kid, before we go, tell me your name. You do have a name, right?" he said.
"Yeah, I have a name...Nalia." She told him, giving him a shy smile.
"Well, nice meeting you, Nalia; I'm Morro, the Master of Wind." he said, smiling at her.
"Master of Wind? What's that?" Nalia asked, looking at him confused.
"It means I can control the winds to my will, like this," said Morro, smiling as he made a small ball of wind and had it blow a slight breeze at her, causing her glasses to fall off.
"Amazing!" said Nalia excited before her glasses began falling off, causing her to see Morro's elemental aura, which was hurting her eyes, before putting her glasses back in place.
Morro chuckled at her excitement and didn't notice the painful look in her eyes that was there for a second. "So, anything you wanna bring with you outside before we leave?" He asked.
Nalia looked around at her stuff and thought, "No, I don't think so." She said, turning to look up at him.
"Alright, then follow me and watch your steps," said Morro, leading her up the cave steps while holding her hand as they approached the entrance.
Nalia became more nervous as they approached the entrance until they finally arrived. She then hid behind Morro, anxious about what could be outside.
"Come on, it's pretty safe out there when I came here," said Morro before leading her outside the cave. Pine trees and a bit of snow now surrounded them.
Nalia had to cover her eyes a bit from the sun when she got outside and was amazed by what she saw and could smell. "Wow..... this is the outside world," she said with big sparkly eyes.
"Yep, pretty much, but this is only a small part. The world is much bigger than just this and more to see." Morro explained.
Nalia turned to look at him, and her jaw dropped. "There are more places!?" she shouted, surprised, before she began jumping around him, cheering happily. "I want to see everything!" she said before letting out a sneeze, as only now was the cold getting to her.
Morro chuckled a little. "We should probably find you some warmer clothes and maybe also give you a bath," he said.
"What's a bath?" Nalia asked, confused.
"By the First Spinjitzu Master, what have I gotten myself into," Morro mumbled as he facepalmed himself.
*Three and a half year later.*
"Lia, I'm back, and I brought back some mangos that I know you like," called Morro as he walked into a small hut that they had found abandoned two years ago. Hence, they decided to make this their home, at least for Nalia's sake, as he didn't want to bring her to all the dangerous places he was going to.
Nalia was lying on her bed reading a book about serpentines and each tribe, at least according to what the author had gathered. When she heard Morro's voice, she jumped up, threw away the book, and ran out of her room, smiling.
"Welcome home, big brother!" she shouted in a cheerful voice, running over and hugging him, almost knocking him over. "How did it go? Did you find anything interesting? Ooo, mangos!" Her mood kept changing with each sentence as she went on to grab the biggest mango she could see and take a bite of it, not even bothering to remove the skin.
Morro rolled his eyes but gave a soft smile. "Lia, you know it would taste better if you removed the skin before eating it," he said, ruffling her bird nest of hair that always came out as a mess since she never bothered to brush it.
"Hey, stop messing with my hair, meanie!" Nalia complained while trying to get away from him.
"Your hair is always messy, silly if you forget to brush it. Do I need to remind you about the last time you didn't brush your hair for a month?" said Morro, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow.
Nalia began pouting. "It was one time!" she complained some more before taking another bite of her mango.
With a sigh, shaking his head, Morro went to the kitchen but let out a small winch from stepping on his left foot. He tried playing it out like it was nothing.
Nalia caught the sound he made and turned her head now with a worried look on her face. "Momo, did you hurt yourself again?" she asked, walking over to him slowly.
"Nalia, I thought I told you I didn't like that nickname; it sounds way too silly," Morro said with a bit of an annoyed sigh while ignoring his foot as he put away the rest of the food he had brought back.
"Momo, please. You know I don't like it when people lie," said Nalia, looking up at him with more worry. Already, a few tears showed up in the corners of her eyes.
Morro sighed before getting to her level, even though it hurt his injury. "Okay, yeah, I might have hurt myself again, but it's nothing serious that I can't handle," he said.
"B-but I can heal it like all the other times, please," said Nalia with teary eyes.
"I know, Lia, but you can't keep using that power each time; what if you lose your voice one day, and I'm seriously hurt, but you can't heal it," said Morro in a serious tone, looking into her eyes.
"B-b-b-but!" Nalia began crying out loud as she couldn't hold it in anymore.
Morro mentally facepalmed himself. "I keep forgetting how much of a crybaby she is whenever I'm injured, but then again, she is only seven years old, so it shouldn't be that surprising with how emotional she is," he thought while trying to come up with an idea on how to cheer her up.
"Hey, hey, calm down, Lia. If you keep acting like a crybaby, you aren't going to get your surprise," said Morro as he remembered what he had brought for her but planned to give it to her later.
Nalia slowly calmed down and looked at him a little curiously now. "A-a surprise?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.
"Yes, it's a surprise. I thought about giving it to you later, but I changed my mind," said Morro, smiling at her as he pulled something out from his back pocket.
Nalia watched closely, wondering what the surprise could be with her big eyes focused on what he was pulling out.
With a soft chuckle, Morro pulled out a small journal that fit perfectly in a pocket. "I bought you this. It's a journal, so you can write down whatever you want, like places you've been, things you've seen, or even people you've met," he explained, smiling at her.
Nalia's eyes widened almost like a cat, with sparkles in them. She happily took the journal, forgetting Morro's injury, and began jumping around, cheering, and laughing.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Nalia cheered before giving him a big hug, even though he was taller and older than her.
Morro smiled and patted her head. "I'm happy you like it, little star; now I'm going to make you some dinner before I head out again," he told her.
"You leaving already, but you just came back," said Nalia as her smile faded.
"Sorry, sis, but I was able to get some kind of big lead, and I wanna check up the place right away," said Morro.
Nalia pouted a bit, crossing her arms. "It's not fair," she said, stomping her foot on the floor.
"Hey, no need to get all upset now after I gave you that journal. Besides, I promise to return as soon as I've found what I'm looking for," he said.
Nalia, still pouting a bit, looked down at the floor. ".....What is the place called that you are going to, Momo?" she asked.
Morro thought for a moment. "It's called the Caves of Despair, but don't think about following me there, is," he said, flicking her forehead.
"Ow! But I didn't say anything." Nalia complained.
"Maybe not, but I know you well enough to know that you will be trying to tag along in some way. But I'm not letting you end the discussion. Now get a bath; you stink, and you need to seriously fix that bird nest of yours," said Morro as he gently shoved her out of the kitchen.
Nalia let out an angry huff but did go to the bathroom to take a bath and get her hair fixed.
"He can say what he wants, but I'm still going to follow him," she mumbled to herself as she was already devising a plan.
*One hour and a half later.*
Nalia had finished her bath and finally brushed her hair, which was going down to her shoulders. Her bangs, which had been growing a lot, covered her glasses a bit.
Morro had made pork stew for dinner and some vegetables, mainly for Nalia, as she kept trying to avoid eating them.
Nalia smiled when she saw what was for dinner, but she frowned when she saw the vegetables. "I'm not eating that," she said, crossing her arms.
Morro glared at her as they went on to have a staring contest; whoever blinked first would lose. It lasted five minutes until Nalia couldn't hold it anymore and blinked.
A smirk grew on Morro's face as he won the contest. "I win, which means you are gonna eat those vegetables, " he said, sitting at the table and eating.
Nalia pouted as she sat down in her hair, glaring at the vegetables as if they were her worst enemy. "You win this time, greenie, but mark my word. I'll get you back," she mumbled to her vegetables before slowly eating them.
Morro shook his head while eating his food, thinking about how close he was to finally proving his sensei wrong and showing him that he was the green ninja.
"...Morro, when are you taking me out on more adventures? I like our home, but.... it feels like I'm back at the cave again," said Nalia, looking up at him.
Morro snapped out of his thoughts and looked over at her. "Hmmm, okay. How about this? After I return, we can go out and explore together tomorrow," he suggested, smiling at her.
Nalia's face lit up with a big smile. "Yay!" she said, throwing up her arms in excitement, then ate the rest of her food.
Morro gave a soft chuckle, and they ate the rest of their dinner in peace until they were all done. Nalia went to bed while Morro headed out again. But not before leaving something on top of a shelf, as he knew her birthday was coming up in at least six months and he wanted something ready for that day, so he wouldn't have to worry about it later on, should he not be there on her birthday because of another clue for what he was looking for.
But the moment Nalia heard the front door close, she snuck out of her window and began following him through the night.
*Three hours later.*
"Why is it so far away? My legs feel like they are falling off." Nalia mumbled, exhausted, following Morro until she noticed him stopping at a cave.
"This must be it, the Tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master," said Morro, smiling as they walked in.
"Wait, he has been looking for the old man's tomb.... but why?" Nalia wondered, confused and worried as she followed into the cave.
Morro was looking everywhere he could in the cave, but the less he found, the more angry he was becoming.
"AAArgh!!! Another fucking blind spot!" Morro yelled in rage as he used the wind to throw around rocks.
Nalia had never seen him this angry, so seeing this scared her a little from hiding until she heard something exploding.
"Oh fuck!" shouted Morro when he heard the explosion and began running, only to then see Nalia coming out from her hiding spot. "Lia! What the hell are you doing here!?" he shouted.
As the explosion worsened, Nalia jumped at Morro's shouting and turned to see him running at her. "W-well, I... you see, I wanted to go with you so bad, but you said no, so I decided to follow," she said, getting a little nervous with teary eyes.
"We will talk about this later! We need to get out of here quickly!" shouted Morro, grabbing her hand and dragging her behind him as they ran, trying to get out in time.
But as they were running, Morro didn't look up as a big rock fell at them; in the last second, Morro was able to act by using the wind to push Nalia away in time, only for him to get hit by the rock.
"MORRO!" screamed Nalia in horror at what she saw, and without thinking about what she was even doing, she ran over, trying to remove the broken rock pieces while having made something of a shield of sand around her protecting her against any danger while she was digging until she found Morro's body.
"No! No! No! No! Come on, don't do this to my Momo. Please don't leave me, too." Nalia begged as she tried to hold back from crying as she began singing in a soft voice. All of his wounds began healing until they were all gone, but even after all that, he still wasn't moving or even breathing.
"No... please, I can't..... you promised *sobs*.....You big idiot, you promised! Just like the old man!.....*sobs* You liar.... If I had just acted faster.... If I had just seen it all coming... I never should have *sobs* left that cave... this wouldn't have happened if I *sobs* hadn't followed him from the start.... or even to this cave." Nalia said as she started crying while hugging Morro's dead body.
The explosions were getting worse outside the sand shield she had made without knowing, and she kept on crying for a while until she finally let go of Morro's body. "This is all my fault. I never should have left that stupid cave." She slowly got up as the shield went away, then ran out of the cave at the last moment and headed back to the hut, not taking any break for those three hours it took her to get back.
When she got to the hut, she went inside and looked around, but seeing everything around the hut was too much for her to take, she decided to leave it. Still, not before she noticed a present hidden away on top of a shelf; she wasn't sure what it was but decided to check it before leaving.
Nalia grabbed a chair and pulled it over, climbing up to grab the present and see a small letter on it.
"Happy birthday, Nalia!
I wasn't sure what to give you.
But I thought back to the day I brought you outside, and you ended up freezing, so I decided to get you this to help you keep warm in the colder areas we are going to explore more.
I would have gotten you a green to match mine, but I couldn't find any, so I hope you don't mind its color.
From your big brother
Morro."
Tears ran down the letter as she pulled it and the present into her hug, crying softly before finally opening it to see that it was a red scarf.
Once again, tears form in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Morro..... I'm so sorry, Morro!" she cried out loud while holding the scarf close to her heart.
*Six months later.*
Nalia had been walking for five days straight with little to no breaks until she finally found her cave. "It's better for everyone that I stay here... safe for anyone and everything," she mumbled, pulling the scarf she wore closer to her face as she walked inside. She closed the entrance behind her to ensure no one could ever open it, then walked down the stairs into the old view of her home.
*Forthy years later.*
Nalia was lying in her old bed, not doing much but reading one of her old books she had been reading what felt like a thousand times before throwing it away. "So boring," she mumbled.
Getting up from her bed, she walked over to her junk food and grabbed whatever, not thinking about what it was, and began eating it only to find out that it was a stupid salad. She was about to throw it away but stopped, thinking back to Morro.
With a sigh, she ate it even though she didn't like the taste. But while eating, she heard something explode at the cave entrance, catching her attention.
"Oh no, what is going on? Please don't let it be another person. I don't wanna put another person in danger," she begged, only for another explosion to be heard, causing the cave to start shaking.
Nalia wasn't sure what was happening, but she didn't like it. She looked around, trying to find somewhere to hide. She soon began hearing footsteps, many of them, along with shouting.
She found a big enough pile of junk and hid behind it just in time as a group of skeleton people came into the cave carrying weapons.
"Look around! According to Lord Garmadon's info, the beast should be living in this cave!" shouted one of the skeletons, probably the leader.
"Beast?" Nalia thought, confused as the last time she checked, she wasn't some beast but a human.
The skeleton kept searching until the sound of something dropping by one of the piles of junk caught their attention.
"Oh, mangos." Nalia mentally facepalmed herself as she had just caused an old toy to drop and hit the ground, making a sound.
"Over there!" ordered the leader.
Nalia panicked as the skeletons found her and tried grabbing her, but she moved quickly, trying to get away from them. "Just leave me alone already!" she screamed, running before stumbling over her old books and falling on the floor long enough for the skeletons to catch her.
"We caught the beast!" the skeletons cheered.
"Lord Garmadon is gonna be so happy about this." said one of the other skeletons.
Nalia tried fighting back, not wanting to go with them to who knows where or to whoever that Lord Garmadon person was. "Let me go, you big old meanies!" she shouted.
"Quiet beast!" shouted the leader, cutting her arm, causing blood to show up, and it was hurting as tears began forming in her eyes.
"Aww, is the little beast going to cry? Well, bad for you; no one is here to help," said the leader with a big smile on what could even be called a face.
"I'm not a beast! Now let me go, you big ugly meanies!" shouted Nalia and began screaming in anger and fear as she kept fighting back.
"Someone shut the beast up already!" shouted the leader, trying to cover whatever ears they had.
"I have an idea." said one of them.
"An idea you have? Well spill it already!" shouted another.
"We make it mute." The skeleton said, pointing a sword towards her throat under her scarf.
"Whatever that makes it shut up already!" said the leader annoyed.
Nalia's eyes widen in pure fear. "No, if I lose my voice, I wouldn't be able to heal..... or even speak." she began putting more force into getting free, but their grip only tightened, and then, as if time went slow motion, two swords cut through her scarf of the throat.
She wanted to scream, but she couldn't because of the pain, so she was in a big panic, not remembering much of what had happened. The sand was everywhere, having knocked over the skeletons.
Nalia didn't care. She just ran out of the cave while pressing the scarf against her throat. Things went on like a blur for her, as she was running on adrenaline for who knows how long until she ran into someone, knocking herself over.
Everything was blurry from her tear-filled eyes as she was trying to breathe. The person was wearing a rice-like hat, just like the old man, but she couldn't hear his voice clearly, and before she knew it, she had passed out.
*Two hours later.*
Nalia slowly began waking up. She opened her eyes and quickly noticed she wasn't in her cave anymore but someone's home.
Sitting up quickly, she tried to call out, but a painful sound only came out as her throat was hurting. She put a hand to her throat, noticing her scarf was gone, and instead, bandages had been wrapped around her wounds, even the one on her arm.
The sound of a door sliding open caused her to jump and move further away until she saw an old man with a long beard and the same hat the old man used to wear. But she soon noticed her eyes hurting from seeing his mental aura, so she had to cover her eyes.
"I see that you are awake, my child. But why are you covering your eyes? Is something wrong?" The old man asked with worry, walking closer.
Nalia let out a painful hiss, and him getting closer only made it worse, so she had to close her eyes while trying her best to motion with her hands in the shape of her glasses.
"Oh, I understand. You can't see. Sorry. Here are your glasses. I just finished cleaning up the blood from them and fixing your scarf," said the elderly man, giving them to her.
Nalia grabbed the glasses and put them on before grabbing her scarf and holding it close.
"How about we introduce ourselves first, young one? I am Wu. What is your name?" said Wu as he gave her a pen and paper. "You can write down your name as your throat needs healing. I gave it some special medicine to help it heal, but for your voice, I can't say for sure," he explained.
Nalia looked at the pen and paper, confused. While she had learned to read, it didn't mean that she knew how to write, so she gave him a confused, owl-like look.
Wu ran his hand through his beard, noticing the confused look on her face. "Do you not know how to write, young one?" he asked.
Nalia simply shook her head in a way to say no.
"Hmmm, I see," said Wu as he offered her some tea, which she carefully took, and she smiled at the taste.
"Then how about while you recover here? I can teach you how to read and write, along with a few other things if you are interested," said Wu, drinking his tea.
Nalia thought long and hard about his offer. "I can't go back to my cave, as those freaks broke it, and they would probably just be waiting for me to return. And I can't go back to that hut yet, let alone live outside in the wild. But this Wu here reminds me a lot of the old man and the calm energy coming from him." she thought softly.
Nalia looked at Wu with a happy smile and nodded, saying yes, that she would be taking his offer.