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Kai rushed to the front of the burning house, stopping inches away from the fire. He kept shaking his head, lips mouthing the word "no" over and over again. Clutching his hair, he stumbled to the side of the forge, the part of the house that was affected the most.

"Not the forge! Please, not the forge!" Kai yelled, voice shaking. He sounded like a scared child after such a long while. The last time Nya had seen him this vulnerable was the night their parents disappeared.

Kai still wouldn't cry though. His voice shook, his eyes watered but tears were still nowhere to be found. Nya let hers fall instead. "I'm sorry!"

The boy stopped. He turned around to face his sister, hurt flickering in his gaze. "You did this?" His voice sounding almost like a whisper in the loud roar of the fire. Nya said nothing but her silence and her sobs answered for her.

"What have you done?" Kai asked, louder this time. "Nya, what did you do?"

The girl still didn't reply. She couldn't make her lips move and confess that she was the reason their only shelter was now snatched from over their heads.

"You went into the forge," Kai guessed almost instantly, anger lacing his tone. "Didn't you?

Nya, realizing she couldn't stall any longer, finally spoke. "I just wanted to help. I didn't mean to-"

"I don't need your help! I never needed your help!" Kai yelled, making the girl step back. "All you had to do was stay away!"

Nya felt the lump in her throat grow bigger but spoke nonetheless. "Please, Kai. I'm sorry!"

"You have a problem with failure? Well, guess what! You will always be a failure because you don't listen!"

Nya froze. The guilt that had been eating her up seconds ago gave way to a rampant feeling of indignation. She was not a failure. She couldn't be. How could her brother call her one?

"If you'd just listened and stayed put back then, none of this would've happened," Kai seethed, oblivious to the way Nya's nails dug into her palms. "I lost my parents because of you. I could've been there with them but you had to run off. This is all your fault!"

Nya's patience broke and she yelled, "We didn't lose them, they ran away. They're the ones who left us!" The scream hurt her throat but it felt good to let go of the pent up grievance.

Kai's eyes widened at her words. She too was half-shocked at what she'd said but it simply felt like the truth. Capable adults didn't just vanish into thin air, leaving their young children to the mercy of the world.

"How dare you?" Kai muttered, the muscle in his jaw tensing. He looked like he was about to yell at her again. But then it all shifted to something softer, something unguarded.

Nya finally saw them; tears escaping from the corners of her brother's now glossy eyes. "How dare you?" he repeated, a little weakly this time.

"Face it, Kai," Nya went on, quieter than before. "We were abandoned. They didn't love us. They just got rid of us."

"Be quiet!" Kai's voice regained its fire but it still shook.

Nya did as she was told. She stood quiet.

Kai took a step closer. "I did everything for you. I took care of you. I fed you. Protected you." Nya cast her angry yet guilty gaze to the ground, unable to meet her brother's eyes. "I worked so hard just for you. And this is what you repay me with?"

Nya didn't have to look up to confirm that Kai was gesturing at the smoldering remains of their home. Still, she took the blame to be unfair. Yes, this was all her fault but she didn't do it on purpose. Her disobedience would never be deliberate, and he knew it.

She continued to stay silent, once again not trying to defend herself. She had her doubts before but now there was no mistake about it. She was a burden on him.

Nya slowly began inching away, eyes still trained on the ground. She heard Kai sniffle but paid no mind to it. Teeth grinding into one another, she turned on her heels. The next thing she knew, she was running away. The heat from the house faded, replaced by the cool evening air. Her feet gathered speed and she shot down the lane.

"Yeah, run away!" She heard her brother's angry cries from far behind. It was clear that he wasn't following her. "Run away like you always do! It's what you did back then, it's what you'd do now!"

Nya wanted to cry. She wanted to scream. But the adrenaline that kept her going suppressed those urges for now. Her legs burned from the exertion but she kept at it. She had to get away from him. She had to get away from everything.

She would never be a burden on anyone ever again.

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Kai coughed, surrounded by the smoke and ashes of his burning home. After he was sure Nya was no longer nearby, he tried to lessen the flames with his powers. It proved fruitless as the old wood provided far more fuel to it than Kai's command could deter it. He had no choice but to watch the shack disintegrate into cinders.

The front signboard, which was previously supported by the porch shed, swung loose from its weakened nails, making Kai scramble back. Seconds later, it crashed to the ground at Kai's feet.

"No," the boy said, voice hoarse from all the coughing. He immediately put out the small flame flickering at one corner of the board and dragged it away from the rest of the ruins. He gazed down at it, taking in the faded letters.

The Four Weapons Blacksmith

His father had painted them with so much care, refreshing them every now and then after they would fade away due to the weather. Kai's memory was hazy but he still remembered glimpses of when his parents first had the sign put up at the front. The pride on their faces was immeasurable.

A sob escaped Kai's lips and he immediately covered his mouth to muffle the sounds. He sat on his knees, placing a dirtied hand on the board, feeling the texture of the rice paper on which the words had been painted.

His gaze paused at the very centre of the paper. In the evening light, he could make out a rectangular shape, stuck beneath the paper. Curious, he grabbed the edge of the board and shifted it upside down so that the underside faced up at him. There it was; a parchment paper stuck to the back.

Kai peeled it off and held it at arm's length. It appeared to be a map of Ninjago. Although he'd never gone to school, Kai had learned to read from his parents. Consequently, he could easily make out 'Ignacia' written on the map. A few other familiar areas popped out at him but the rest were completely new.

Four red crosses had been marked on various locations on the map. Kai frowned at their peculiar names. The Caves of Despair? The Floating Ruins? The Frozen Wastelands? What were these places?

Only one of the four marked areas sounded like home to him; the Forest of Tranquility. Kai turned around to the distant trees bordering Ignacia from the back, swaying in the breeze. The forest had always been a good place for deer hunting and placid recreations. Whatever this map was indicating must be hidden deeper in there.

The reason for the map being hidden behind the signboard was another matter. He had no idea why his father had it or where it led. Was it some kind of treasure? Or a travel map for when his father would trade in other villages? Kai guessed it was one of those secrets that would die along with the trace of his parents.

He felt something hit his nose. A water droplet. Dark clouds were gathering overhead, stamping out the last rays of the evening sun. Kai felt relief flood through him. The rain would help put out the fire. He immediately folded up the map and stuffed it under his shirt before it got wet.

The light drizzle soon gave way to a heavy shower and the house was finally freed from its burning misery. Kai, nearly soaked to his skin, clambered through the wreckage as soon as the last flame was extinguished. He had to salvage whatever he could and then he'd go look for his sister. He hoped Nya, wherever she was, had found some sort of shelter from the rain.

Not much was left after the fire but Kai managed to get a hold of the precious money jar. What remained of the roof provided a mediocre barrier from the rain. He grabbed a bedsheet and spread it over the burnt floor. Everything he was able to find was placed onto the sheet: the jar, a few weapons from the forge, the map and even Nya's old stuffed bunny. The rest was nearly ashes.

Kai tied up the sheet and heaved the load over his shoulder. On his way out, he saw a photograph poking out from under a fallen plank. It was of him and his parents with Nya as a baby. He pulled it out and quickly added it to his pack.

Grabbing the discarded money pouch from his rush earlier, he glanced back at what used to be his home. "Sorry, Mom and Dad," he told the rain before setting out towards the village.

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