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◽~Skylor's POV~◽

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"Okay, let's give this a try," I said, standing up and straightening my– I mean, Kai's armor. I walked a few feet away from where Nya was sitting on the grass. I cleared my throat and then did a man-ish march towards the girl.

"Uh, hi there!" I acted out, deepening my voice and sounding awful, to say the least. I saw Nya cringe but I let it slide. I continued, "Where do I sign up?" I patted the weapon on my side as I talked to an imaginary man. "I see you have a sword. I have one too. It's very manly and tough."

I tried to pull out the sword and display it like I had seen Ray do many times. But the iron hilt was so well polished, it slipped out of my grasp halfway through the pull and the whole thing clattered onto the ground.

Nya burst out laughing. I pouted. Even Toyo and Fei, who were resting a little way off, snorted and neighed as if in laughter. Nya couldn't seem to control her giggling fit and leant back in a frenzy. Her father's armor must've been three sizes too big for her because its heaviness pull her down and she fell backwards on the grass with a clunk.

Fei whinnied again.

I stomped up to my sister-in-law and looked down. She was still smiling. "I'm working on it, okay?" I snapped, lending her a hand. She took it and sat herself up, wiping away the tears from her eyes.

"You should ask them to hire you as a jester to uplift the army's sour, crabby mood," she suggested. I rolled my eyes and slightly pushed her forehead which led her to fall back again.

"I'd like to see you do better," I challenged, plopping down next to her. She struggled to sit up again but was having a hard time. After I denied helping her (in response to the joke she had made) she threw out her hand and grabbed my shoulder instead. Huffing and puffing, she pulled herself up while nearly making me fall over.

"This . . . is ridiculous," she panted, letting go of me. "These armors are a nightmare."

We had set our camp in a cluster of trees which was situated at the edge of the training grounds where the tents of the army could be seen. We hadn't directly stomped inside upon arrival. I had suggested we make ourselves one with our new personas first so that we wouldn't draw unnecessary attention from the other soldiers later on.

It didn't seem to be going good. But this is what happens when you force women to act dumb and scrub dishes all day; my soft, soap-pampered hands couldn't even handle a stupid sword.

Nya scrambled to her feet and walked over to the rows of ferns which hid us from view of the camp. She pushed them aside and glanced out, sighing downheartedly. "Who are we kidding? It's going to take a miracle to get us into the army."

"I'm sure we'll figure something out," I stated, plucking out clumps of grass.

Nya faced me, eyebrow raised. "Figure out what? How to grow biceps and washboard abs overnight?"

I graced Nya with an unimpressed look but I didn't say anything. I knew she was going through one of her stress-driven, agitated phases so I tried to pacify her a little.

"Nya, listen to me," I said, trying to catch her attention. "You're afraid of failing. I get it. But that's how life's going to be. This chance to join the army and bring peace to Ninjago is going to vanquish that fear, I promise."

The ravenette scowled. "The only reason I'm dressed as a man right now and hiding under bushes is because I failed at being a good daughter."

"We just need to find a way around the problem," I said quickly, not wanting Nya to go in the direction of topics that are sure to overwhelm her.

"And have you found it?" she demanded, folding her arms and tapping her foot.

I grimaced. Unfortunately, I hadn't come up with a solution yet. So my only option was to shrug innocently at Nya and disclose my proposition– which wasn't very trustworthy.

"I was thinking maybe we could wing it."

Toyo and Fei both turned to look at me as if I had decided I was making horse soup for dinner. Nya rubbed the bridge of her nose. "You do know that if we get caught, the penalty is death, right?"

"No one's getting caught and no one's going to die," I replied without faltering, keeping my expression neutral. "Positive thoughts might come in handy, Waterlily."

Nya sighed. She walked back to me and kicked a pebble out of the way before sitting down. "I don't know how you're so confident about this," she grumbled. Picking up a stray twig, she began sketching random patterns in the damp earth visible between the grass. "I want to be unafraid like you. I want to be okay with taking risks."

"You took this one," I murmured softly, smirking at her gloomy face. "I think that's very brave regardless of what our culture says."

Her eyes lit up momentarily. She directed a bashful smile at me. "I wish my mother would do for my father what you're doing for Kai."

"All women are warriors, Nya," I said getting up and nodding at my sister-in-law to do the same. "Some just have a gentler way of fighting."

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◾~Nya's POV~◾

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Someway or another, Skylor rallied me up and I agreed to "wing it". We guided Toyo and Fei through the entrance and tied them up in the makeshift stable with the other horses. We hid ourselves behind the farthest tent, peeking out at the other trainees.

"So, how are we doing this again?" I asked, disdainfully watching two men bicker over by the bullseye targets.

"Just follow my lead," Skylor stated. She stood straight, her chest out and legs apart. Like back in the clearing, she began strutting forward, her armor clanking with each step. Her failed attempt at a march made her look like a twist between a zombie and a drunk soldier.

"Oi, Miss Man!" I hissed, not daring to walk out after her. "You look ridiculous. Stop it!"

Either the noise from Skylor's armor was too loud or she was the female version of my brother (also known as stubborn) because she didn't stop. It was painful to watch. Even the two men from earlier had stopped arguing and were looking at Skylor like she had grown two heads.

"Ancestors, save our behinds," I muttered before rushing over to the redhead and yanking on her arm to stop her.

"Will you listen to me?" I snapped, glaring at her.

"Look!" Skylor pointed ahead, a huge smile on her face. I turned to see what had got her so excited and did a double take.

It was Jay.

"Oh no!" I hissed, pulling Skylor in front of me so that I was hidden from view. "This was a bad idea. We can't let him see us. He'll recognize us straight away!"

Skylor resisted but I still managed to drag her to the other side of the ground. I made sure we were out of Jay's line of sight before coming to a stop. I sighed, leaning against Skylor heavily.

She frowned at me. "What is up with you?"

"Do you want us to get caught?" I shot back.

"Don't worry," Skylor mumbled and began digging through her armor. "I already planned ahead." She pulled out two pieces of cloth big enough to be used as masks. She handed me one and set to work tying hers around her face.

"You could've given this to me sooner," I fumed, wrapping the cloth over my nose.

At that moment, someone walked into me and I stumbled forward. I scoffed, looking around. A young guy around my brother's age with dark tan skin glared back at me. He was tall, broad and burly and had messy, black hair framing his chiseled features. In short, his whole being screamed "tough".

"Watch where you're going, loser!" he snarled. I shrank back, not wanting to mess with him. He shot me a contemptuous look before moving away.

"Punch him," Skylor whispered to me. "I think it's how men say hello."

I wrinkled my nose. "Are you crazy? Where'd you get that concept from?" I gestured at Tough Guy's defined shoulders and muscular back. "Besides, look at this guy! You want me to hit him?"

"Trust me," Skylor replied.

I'm pretty sure something had come over my sister-in-law as soon as she'd set foot in the camp. However, I couldn't ignore the fact that I had trusted this woman my whole life. I wasn't going to break the chain now– even though her idea seemed a bit bizzare. I shrugged before loosening up my arms. Then, pulling my right fist back, I stepped closer to Tough Guy. He was talking to another man and he didn't notice me.

I clenched my teeth . . . and threw my fist at the back of his head.

"What the–" Skylor commented on what happened next. Even I was shocked at my strength. Tough Guy took the blow and went barrelling into the other guy. The latter was a tall, skinny person but he still managed to prevent the dark-haired one from meeting the earth.

Tough Guy turned around, eyes ablaze. I gulped. Thanks a lot, Skylor, I thought to myself as I got ready to have the daylights punched out of me.

"Oops," I heard Skylor mutter.

"You're gonna pay for that!" the man screamed before charging at me with full force. I yelped, quick enough to only throw my hands in front of me. I waited for the crunching of bones and the pain but it never came.

"Cole, stop!"

It was still a few seconds later that I reopened my eyes. Blocking Tough Guy and his skinny friend from view was the blue clad back of someone only a few inches longer than me. Someone whose voice had my heart fluttering. I glanced thankfully up at Jay even though he had his back turned on me. Touch Guy –or Cole, as Jay put it– glared at me from over his shoulder.

"Let me at him, Jay!" he roared but got pulled back by the skinny one.

"I need you to take deep breaths," he said, patting Cole's head like a mother.

"I'm fine, Zane!"

Both Jay and Zane pacified Cole to a little extent. He relaxed his hunched shoulders and balled-up fists, exhaling slowly. Jay smiled at me and I immediately lifted my hand to see if I had the mask on.

"I'm sorry, he can get a little rough sometimes," he explained, glancing back at his friends.

"Thank–" I began but stopped. I cleared my throat and altered my voice a little bit. "Uh, thank you, kind sir," I rasped, feeling ridiculous. I could see Skylor coughing into her fist in my peripheral vision.

Cole pulled Jay away from me and began leading him and Zane towards a tent. He twisted around and scowled at me and Skylor. "You ain't worth my time, chicken boy."

I rolled my eyes as he walked away with the other two. "Come on, Sky–"

"Chicken boy?!" my sister-in-law raged in reply. "Say that to my face, you limp noodle!"

My mouth dropped open when Cole stomped back towards us at a mercurial speed. I glared at Skylor who only shrugged as if to say "What?" I said, nothing. I simply seized her hand and made a run for it.

I could hear Zane and Jay yelling at Cole to stop but I didn't turn around to see if he had obliged. I did scream back at Skylor though.

"Are you trying to get me killed?"

"I'm sorry! He called you chicken boy!"

I could see other men spectating our freak show. I gasped in horror when a few even joined the chase. That was so not fair. In a few minutes, Skylor and I were surrounded. One thing led to another and a whole fight broke out among the crowd.

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