Finding Balance

Finding Balance

Chapter 1 : Multiple Suprise Visitors

(For @ninjago-fic-fest)

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2

Summary: After he is retrieved from the lighthouse by his brother and new friends, Echo must adjust to his new life. Even though his new home and family are amazing, it's still so different from what he's used to. Maybe a walk in the city will help clear his mind.

Chapter 1

Multiple Suprise Visitors

Zane was scrubbing at a particularly stubborn dark spot on one of the lighthouse windows. He scowled at the mark and pressed with the rag a little harder. The mark still didn’t budge. He decided to give up with the rag and started scraping with his fingernails. After a couple of passes, the mark was gone.

Zane stood back to admire his handy work when there was a loud thumping sound from downstairs.

“Thump, thump!”

He paused; certain his audio receptors were glitching. His only other companion, a small cleaning robot named Ty-Dee, was in the far corner of the room dusting away some cobwebs. What could possibly be making noise downstairs?

The noise sounded again.

“Thump, thump!”

It sounded a bit like someone knocking on a door.

But that wasn’t possible of course.

Nobody else had been on the island for years. Not since the day his father left.

And he had disappeared years ago.

Zane remembered it very vividly.

It was like any other normal day. He had worked on inventions with his dad, had some lunch, gone downstairs to his room to work on his own personal invention, and then went to sleep. But when Zane awoke the next morning, his father had vanished.

He hadn’t left a note behind explaining where he was going or anything.

Just like that, gone.

And from then on it had just been him and Ty-Dee.

The sound came again, louder this time, “THUMP, THUMP, THUMP!”

That was definitely, a knock at the door.

Someone was here, Zane thought. Someone who could finally get him off this rocky island of solitude. Someone was here to rescue him!

Had his father returned? He barely dared to hope.

Zane raced down the stairs, two steps at a time; Ty-Dee rolling along after him, clunking down the stairs one by one. Upon reaching the bottom, Zane bolted toward the front door.

And then he paused, his hand clutching the door knob mid turn.

As excited as he was at the prospect of seeing people again Zane also found he felt a bit nervous. He hadn’t seen a human being in years. His mind started to wander. Who was on the other side of that door? Were they really here to rescue him? Or had they stumbled upon the island by accident? Would they be friendly? He certainly hoped so.

Only one way to find out.

Zane slowly opened the door, just a tiny bit, “Hello?”

“Oh good, Echo you’re here!” an excited voice responded.

Zane jumped a little at the sudden exclamation, but then opened the door a little wider to see who had spoken. A young man dressed in blue, greeted him with a small wave, smiling warmly. There were five other colorfully clad humans standing behind him on the wide stone steps that led up to the lighthouse door.

One of the blue stranger’s companions, a girl with dark wavy hair, must have noticed Zane’s caution and stepped forward.

“It’s okay Echo,” the young woman said gently, “We’ve come to take you home.”

Zane looked back and forth between her and the first stranger. They were both smiling at him. But their eyes were darting back and forth and they both shifted from foot to foot. They almost looked as nervous as he was.

Examining the two closer, he felt a strange sense of Deja Vu.

But then in a blink the feeling was gone. Odd.

No matter, Zane was much more interested in the name the girl had called him. “Echo”? Who was that? He opened the door a bit wider.

“Echo?”, Zane asked, finally stepping out of the lighthouse. “I’m sorry, but no one by that name lives here.” And then, not at all eager to be left behind he added, “But, um, maybe I can help you find who you’re looking for?”

The blue stranger looked confused for a second before the girl elbowed him in the ribs and whispered something Zane couldn’t quite catch.

But before he could begin to wonder what she had said, a movement from behind her caught his eye.

One of their companions was coming closer, traversing the last couple of steps. The young outsiders who had first greeted him stepped to either side, creating a space on the last step for the new arrival.

Now, he and this third stranger were standing face to face.

He was clad in white, and a bit taller than the first two strangers. He had short cropped hair and a confused look on his face.

And he wasn’t human.

The stranger was mechanical.

Zane had never thought he would see another human being ever again. Let alone an android like himself.

But this wasn’t just any android…

Zane’s eyes widened even further as he realized that the other android looked just like him.

It was like looking in a mirror. The shape of the face, the cropped pieces of curly wire for his hair, the lines down his cheeks where the sheets of thin metal had been welded together. The only differences being that this android was a shiny silver, instead of the brass and copper of his own rusting metallic skin. He was a bit taller as well, and his eyes were a brilliant blue in contrast to his hazel. But other than that, they were exactly alike.

Zane took a step back in surprise.

After a few more flabbergasted seconds he finally worked up the courage to ask,

“Who are you?”

The other android blinked twice, as if confused as well, before he answered, “I am Zane. I was built to protect those who cannot protect themselves,”

A heavy silence hung in the air.

Until, finally, Zane found his voice again.

“But I am Zane,” he replied.

The silence again, was thick.

And then another thought occurred to him. If this looked like him, then did that mean…

“Do you know Dr.—”

“Julian. Yes,” the stranger finished, “He was the one who made me. He was my father,”

And then the visitor’s eyes were shimmering with oily tears. Zane hadn’t quite expected that.

And then, the stranger leapt forward and wrapped his arms around him.

He jerked back in surprise, but the stranger who looked like him only pulled him closer.

And suddenly, the pieces fell into place.

If father had built this other android…

“A-are you, my brother?”, Zane whispered.

“I think so,” the stranger replied through his tears.

He had a brother?

Why had father never told him?

Zane felt his own eyes wet with tears.

Finally, after all this time. Someone had come for him.

His brother had come for him.

Now both androids were sobbing as they slumped to the ground.

They clung to each other like their lives depended on it.

“I’m so glad I found you,” the taller of the two whispered.

Zane only hugged his brother tighter.

After a minute or so, he pulled away still holding tight to his new brother’s hand, his smile wider than he ever thought it could go. The taller Zane smiled back, wiping away his tears with a baggy, white sleeve.

A large man dressed in black approached the two. The sleeves of his gi looked to have been ripped off, his muscly arms on full display. Zane thought he looked rather intimidating, but his voice was soft when he spoke.

“Are we ready to go Zane?” he asked.

The two androids turned and spoke in unison.

“I think so,”

“Yes please,”

They looked back at each other in surprise and then started to laugh.

“This could get a little confusing,” the stranger in red chuckled. His hair was spiked almost straight up from his head in a way that Zane thought looked rather silly.

“So, what should we do about this brother?”, the silver android asked, ruffling the other’s curly copper hair. “Do you want a nickname?”

Zane thought for a moment.

He wasn’t quite sure what he wanted to do.

He was Zane. He had always been Zane. He had stated that matter a factly not two minutes earlier.

But with the sudden appearance of his brother, he wasn’t so sure if the name was really his anymore.

Nobody had called him “Zane” in years. There hadn’t been anyone around to call him by any name actually. He admittedly had started to feel a bit disconnected from it.

Maybe a nickname would be nice.

Suddenly he remembered the name the stranger in blue had called him earlier.

Echo.

There was the strange feeling of Déjà Vu again. Weird.

He thought he rather liked the sound of that name though.

He wasn’t sure why, but he felt connected to it somehow. He had no memory of it that he could think of, but at the same time it felt familiar. Like when you wake up from a dream and can only remember the feeling of it but not any of the details.

“Oh, but …you don’t have to decide right now or anything. Or we can keep calling you Zane if that’s what you want, or um…” his brother spoke up again, stumbling over his words.

“Actually, a nickname sounds nice,” Zane interjected.

Maybe “Zane” could be his middle name, he thought with a smile. He wasn’t sure he wanted to let go of the name completely. It was what his father called him after all.

“How about Echo?”

Not a mutual but to me you're space🙈

As much as I love space, stars, and galaxies, you don't have to think of me as this kind of space. 🥹

Please don't be shy about leaving comments and stuff on my posts. Seeing people engage with my art makes my day. And if you have any feedback or constructive criticism, I'd love to hear it so I can keep improving my art. ☺️

I'm just a normal gal. So please don't be intimidated to drop in on my posts and say hello. If it helps, this is me.

As for DMing me, well, I try to stay very safe online, and I don't really like to communicate directly with people on the other side of a screen when I don't know them. So I don't really use the direct messages here on Tumbler. (You stay safe out there on the interwebs, too, okay. 😊)

But thank you so much for interacting with my posts! That honestly means so much to me! The fact that people like you seem to like my art and writing just makes me so happy, and I'm so glad I decided to join this platform so I can share my creations with people like you!

Have an awesome day/night anonymous.

God bless.

- Nocturnal Nexu 🌌🐱

AAAAHHHJJHJJHDDJSJWJWJEJJD!!!!!!!!

YEEEEEEESSSSSS!!!!

That fits them so well!!!

Arin and Sora as the song Two Birds by Regina Spektor who’s listening to me

Saw a kid watching Dragon's Rising on my flight. It was cool to see another Ninjago fan in the wild. So I decided to sketch him a quick Zane. When we landed, I asked him who his favorite character was. It was really awesome to talk with another fan even though we didn't really know each other.

So, from one fan to another, thanks for talking with me about Ninjago, and enjoy the rest of Dragon's Rising buddy!

I finally got around to hanging these up on my wall! They look so good! @joshuad17 , your art is so awesome!

I don't know if he still has posters available for purchase right now, but Ninjago fans, do yourselves a favor and go check out @joshuad17 's work. It's so detailed and gorgeous!

Finding Balance

Chapter 2 : Cupcakes and Questions

(For @ninjago-fic-fest)

Chapter 1 - Chapter 3

Summary: After he is retrieved from the lighthouse by his brother and new friends, Echo must adjust to his new life. Even though his new home and family are amazing, it's still so different from what he's used to. Maybe a walk in the city will help clear his mind.

Chapter 2

Cupcakes and Questions

Over the next couple of weeks, Echo was showered with affection from the whole team, as they tried to make him feel at home.

First things first Zane took his brother down to the workshop underneath the monastery. There Echo met P.I.X.A.L.; another android, like him and Zane. She had seemed very confused upon seeing him, but after hearing Zane’s explanation of the situation, she got right to work. She sanded down Echo’s rusty arms and legs until his metal coverings were once again shiny. She carefully applied oil to his joints and even fixed that rouge gear in his chest that always seemed to slip out of place. P.I.X.A.L didn’t say much while she worked, but her smile was warm and kind.

“Let me know if that gear gives you anymore trouble, okay?” she had told him once his repairs were finished.

Jay introduced him to video games, which he picked up pretty easily. It was funny to see Jay’s overly animated fake outburst when Echo won. He also gave him some soda to try, but Echo found it felt funny on his taste sensors.

Nya showed him the art of painting. Echo ended up painting a sunset over an ocean view. It was nice to be off the island, but he found himself missing the sea sometimes. Nya seemed to understand that a bit, and showed him some water tricks she could do with her element. She floated shiny orbs of water in the air and swirling streams all around the room.

He got to help Cole bake his very own “Welcome Home” cake. It turned out a little dry, but Cole didn’t seem to mind. Echo really enjoyed frosting it too. They both ended up on the floor covered in frosting and laughing their heads off by the end of it.

Kai gifted him a pair of sunglasses and then tried to teach him some cool looking Spinjitsu moves. Echo had to reattach his arm multiple times during Kai’s crazy lesson but he had a lot of fun nonetheless. Kai also told him that having siblings was totally awesome, and that Echo was going to love it.

Lloyd showed him the obstacle course and how you could hang upside down from the rings. He also gave him his old Fritz Donnagen comic books. He then proceeded to go on a rant about easter eggs and plot inconsistencies and other stuff that Echo didn’t understand. But seeing Lloyd excited got him excited too. And it felt nice to just listen when he couldn’t think of much to talk about himself.

Master Wu was very glad to have another member added to the family. He welcomed Echo with open arms showing him around the monastery and gifting him a large pile of books from the library. When Echo asked if he should put them back when he had finished reading them, Wu smiled and said that they were his to keep.

Zane always seemed to be hovering near him. He followed him around, asking if he wanted anything, and he always seemed to be offering him food for some reason. Being a “nindroid” as Echo now knew he was called, he didn’t necessarily need food to survive, but he supposed the extra energy he got from it was nice. Not that he was complaining. Zane’s food was always delicious, especially since the only thing he had in the lighthouse after Dr. Julien had left was a bit of tea now and then.

It seemed to Echo, that Zane was worried about him. He wasn’t quite sure why though. He was quite happy here. Kai told him it was an older brother thing.

“Older brothers worry about their little siblings. It’s just something that we do,” he had reassured him.

But he didn’t really elaborate beyond that.

After a few weeks, things had settled into kind of a new normal. Everyone went about their daily tasks as usual, and even Zane had started to be a bit less clingy.

But even though everything was calming down, Echo was feeling a little claustrophobic. As big as the monastery was, he always ran into someone. There always seemed to be someone there.

He found himself spending more and more time in his room away from the common areas. He would turn the corner when he saw someone coming down the hall, and he was much quieter during mealtimes.

Sometimes, it felt like he was trapped. Like he was stuck in a new, albeit different, prison. But that didn’t make any sense.

This was all he ever wanted. To have a family, to be around people again. He loved his brother and his new friends. They were all so nice to him. So why did he have the sudden urge to hide away?

Maybe Zane could help him.

Echo found him in the kitchen stirring batter in a bowl.

“Hi Zane. What are you cooking?” Echo asked.

“Oh, hello, brother!”, Zane turned to him, “I’m making cupcakes. Would you like to join me?”

“Maybe not today. But I do have a question.”

“Fire away.”

Echo took a deep breath.

“Do you enjoy living with so many people?”, he said slowly.

Zane looked thoughtful. He set the bowl of batter on the counter and turned to Echo.

“The ninja are my friends, my family. I cannot imagine life without them,” he said.

“Ah, yes. Of course,” Echo turned to look at the bowl of cupcake batter, not wanting to meet his brother’s eyes.

But then he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Zane smiling down at him.

“But I know how you feel Echo,”

“Huh?”

“Sometimes they can be a little much for me too,”

Echo stared quizzically at Zane, who winked at him knowingly.

Oh.

Echo felt a mite embarrassed. He thought he had been hiding his feelings pretty well.

“Oh. Um you noticed then huh?”

“Of course I noticed. You’re my little brother!” Zane said in mock exasperation, before pulling Echo into a tight hug. “Now, how can I help,”

“I just don’t understand it,” Echo sighed, as Zane released him. “I didn’t like living alone on the island. So why do I want to be alone now?”

Zane hummed in thought before answering, “Spending time around people is good, but it’s also important to spend time by yourself. It’s a balance. You can’t have too much of one without the other,”

Zane grabbed the spoon out of the bowl of batter and proceeded to balance it lengthwise on his index finger. It wobbled a bit as Zane tried to keep it balanced, stumbling forward to follow the movement of the spoon.

Echo was laughing hard as Zane circled the kitchen, swaying this way and that with the spoon, almost tripping a few times before he finally plopped it back in the bowl, splattering chocolate batter on the kitchen wall.

Zane smiled warmly when he saw that his antics had had their intended effect. “Just like that!” he laughed.

When Echo had let out his last chuckle, his brother slung an arm over his shoulder and pulled him close.

“It’s okay to want some alone time, Echo. Being around a lot of people is new for you. It’s normal for you to feel this way,” Zane said softly.

Echo nodded to show he understood.

“You know what I do when I need some time to myself?”

“What?”

“I go on a walk. Sometimes in the park in Ninjago City, sometimes just around the monastery. It helps clear my mind.”

Echo thought a walk sounded nice. And he would love to explore Ninjago City. Yes. That’s what he’d do, he decided.

But then again, Echo thought, he hadn’t really left the monastery since arriving two weeks ago. And he had the distinct feeling that his brother wouldn’t be too comfortable with him exploring a huge city all by himself.

Well, the only thing to do was ask him, he supposed.

“Can I go on a walk in the city?” Echo asked his brother tentatively.

Zane seemed a bit startled by the question and his face suddenly tensed. There was that worried look of his again, Echo noticed.

“Um, well, I mean I figured, just around the monastery would be…”

“Oh! Please don’t worry, brother!” Echo pleaded. He was so tired of being cooped up in the monastery. “I’ll be really careful, I mean it!”

Zane walked over to the kitchen counter, picked up the mixing bowl, and continued to stir the batter. He tapped his foot for a few seconds, apparently trying to make up his mind.

He let out a long sigh, “Ok, you can go,”

“On one condition,” Zane amended with a smile.

“Yes! Thank you, Zane!”, Echo rushed forward to give his brother the biggest hug he could.