Chapter one: And so it Begins.
"Sensei, I fear the falcon has troubling news."
Zane had just entered Sensei's room on the lower deck of the Destiny's Bounty, and was still trying to catch his breath. The figure dressed in black was frowning at him.
"Did you have to interrupt our conversation? It's not like there has been anything bad happening ever since we defeated Lord Garmadon"
"Cole," Sensei said as he looked up from his teapot. "remember that as long as we have been fighting the serpentine, the falcon has always brought us correct information."
"Sensei, the serpentine are still trying to find and attack us, and now the Hypnobrai are attacking Allsworth Village, in an attempt to increase their army!"
"Well at least we didn't stop practicing this time." Cole mumbled.
"We shall set a course at once. Cole, tell Nya we are setting sail."
"I'm on it" Cole replied as he ran towards the bridge.
"Zane, what else did you see?"
"It appears the Hypnobrai have targeted Allsworth Village for a reason, it's too far away from where we saw them last, they must have a reason." Zane explained. "According to my database the inhabitants of this specific villagers are generally well educated, and the warriors strong."
"They must be looking for new expendable minions. And Skales will not be likely to bring the tribe's staff there." Sensei was obviously worried. "We must get there as soon as possible, but we must not let them return to the hypnobrai tomb to guard their staff more effectively."
"Zane," Sensei continued, "I want you to tell Jay and Cole that they will drop off when we get near to the tomb. The rest will go with me to Allsworth Village to measure the damage and fight the Hypnobrai."
"Yes Sensei" Zane said a moment before turning around to tell Jay and Cole
"They must be ready. Even divided, the serpentine are ancient and no stranger to war."
- Jay's point of view
"WHAT?! They're back?!" Jay exclaimed as Cole was telling Nya to set a course.
"I was talking to Nya but if you need to yell through our conversation again that's fine Jay. Absolutely fine." Cole responded, well it's not like it's everyday that an enemy we thought defeated returns.
"Before you get annoyed with me again, you should learn to knock on the door, your always interrupting my good moments."
And then Zane decided to barge in as well. At least it was in my favour.
"Am I interrupting?" he asked in his monotone voice.
"Yeah that's better than running head first through that door to tell my girl she should get to work."
"Whatever Jay, just get over it." Of course Cole had to have the last word again. He always does.
"Sensei say's that when we get near the Hypnobrai tomb the two of you must get off the ship and steal their tribal staff." Zane said, almost as if Cole and I hadn't said anything.
"Oh great, now the two of you go on a mission together without anyone to keep you from bashing each other's head in" Nya said. "Just get out of there in one piece." And now even Nya was grumpy. Man I hate Cole right now. Couldn't he just stay out of this?
"Wonderful. Just don't argue with me anymore and remember who's in charge."
That's what I meant. Always has to have the last word I thought.
"You better make sure you're on the top deck when we get there." Cole said as he left.
"And now the snakes are back. Didn't those guys get enough already?" I exclaimed.
"Nya, you should stay and if necessary prepare the samurai suit for when Allsworth village is reached. I will no go to prepare as well." Zane said as he turned to walk away, leaving only the two of us again.
"Just try to get along with him ok? I'd hate to see the two of you argue with each other all the time again." And now he got Nya worried. Doesn't he think about what he does?
"I'll just get that staff and escape before he even has the chance to argue again. This earned me a quick smile from Nya.
"Now I need some help with the exo-suit. Care to lend a hand?"
I was playing a video game with Lloyd again, who believed he was unstoppable. But then the scoreboard came in.
"Told ya Lloyd, this is Fist To Face 3, You can't beat me on my game.
"No way Kai! You gotta be cheating. No way you can beat me in any game!"
"Just be happy you got a close second, next time I'm not holding back.
"Am I interrupting you?" Zane asked, coming seemingly out of nothing.
"Zane did you have to do that?" I ask annoyed. "And no you didn't interrupt, I was just finished humiliating Lloyd." "Humiliating me? I was humiliating you!" "No you were not, my score was way higher."
"If I may? The Serpentine are attacking Allsworth Village and when we arrive there we will be confronting them again while Jay and Cole try to steal their staff from their tomb. That is all." Zane said as it fit were nothing.
"That is all?! The serpentine are returning out of nothing again and now we're on our way tot hem already?" I ask, but before I can continue Lloyd cuts me off; "Woohoo! We get to fight serpentine again!".
I guess I should be happy, I was getting a little bored now that Lord Garmadon is finished, but it just came out of nowhere and now I'll be fighting them in a couple hours again. Even I need can use some time to prepare.
"I will prepare now. I would advice you to do the same." Zane said as he left.
Lloyd and I look at each other for a moment.
"We'll finish this later, now we'll get some fists to faces for real!"
"This time I'll beat you, just watch me." Lloyd said, trying to compete with me again.
It was time to make the jump. I had already got one of the glider's Jay made and now I was waiting for him. At least I didn't have to wait too long for him to get here.
"You don't have to tell me, I know you are here first and that you want to lead."
"Good, then we will get along just fine. We just gotta do this and then we can argue all we want when we get home. You ok with that?" I ask, trying to make sure our argument won't affect our mission. "Yeah fine by me, let's go." I take a deep breath before jumping down, with Jay doing so after me.
"So, what's the plan?" Jay asked. Unfortunately I couldn't think of anything, I had never been there. "There is no real plan, we just sneak in there, grab that staff and then we get out as fast as we can, preferably without attracting attention." I reply, trying to sound like I'm not entirely unprepared. "Sound's like a plan." Jay say's as we land in the snowy area.
"Right, now that we're here remember that being undetected is most important right now." I said as we climb into the tomb. "I'm behind you." Jay replied.
The Hypnobrai tomb has to be one of the worst places you can be if you're trying to remain undetected, there are crystals casting your reflection everywhere, so if we would need cover, I knew we would have to find a rock wall. Good thing there were lots of those, but that was the only good thing about this mission. We didn't even know where to look for the staff.
"Shouldn't there be guards at the entrance? This place seems empty."
"Zane said the others are attacking Allsworth Village remember?"
"I know but even then, we haven't seen a single Hypnobrai."
Although most of the thing's Jay said aren't useful, this time he did make sense.
"They are probably closer to where the staff is. We follow the trail, we find the staff.
Before I finish that sentence we spot the first Hypnobrai guard so far.
"And that is where the trail begins" I whisper.
This particular Hypnobrai was quite well positioned, either that or we were just positioned very poorly. I took the largest rock I could find lying on the ground near me and threw it at the guard. Before he could properly react the rock hit him in the face causing him to pass out, and I signal for Jay to continue.
The next few Guards were easily bypassed and the presence of the Hypnobrai was getting more concentrated.
"This seems like the inner hall. Look, on that plateau is the staff!" Jay whispered.
"We can't just bypass all the serpentine there, they're surrounding it too closely, I'll throw up a rope and we climb up there.. You ready?"
"I'm always ready!" Jay whispered a little louder than he did before.
"Here goes."
I throw up the rope furiously hoping that the weight at the other end of the rope won't make too much noise as it lands.
It didn't.
The two of us climb up to get to the high plateau where the staff is being kept on a standard.
"Right, now let's get out of here as quickly and silently as possible." I say to Jay, causing him to nod. I look back at the ledge where the weighted end of the rope was.
Unfortunately, that's where the rope WAS.
As I turn around I'm greeted by the face of the tribe's second in command, Slithraa.
I'm afraid the siege of Allsworth Village won't stop until me and my fellow civilians are all enslaved by these creatures. Right now I'm at the front line where we try to prevent the snakes from gaining more ground, but with a bunch of lightly armed civilians and a few samurai protectors, I fear we must pray for a miracle.
"For every moment we fight another villager can escape! Don't give up!" A samurai yells, trying to rally the civilians. Although morale remains low it is amazing what a shout from a man clad in armour can do on the battlefield. Alas, the serpentine keep coming, while more and more villagers are either fleeing or hypnotized to fight us, yet here I am fighting the blue scaled serpentine, without a weapon in my hands. Then again, I've always been good with my fists, and the daggers other villagers were using were of no use against their scales anyway.
The last villager between me and the serpentine in front of me fell, and I rushed in to take his place, determined not to let the person behind me to do the same as soon as I were to fall.
Then the serpentine in front of me chanted "Look into my eyes... I am your master..." I quickly turn to the side while trying to hit him with my elbow, judging by the painful sound that seemed to come from the serpentine I was facing, I expected it was a hit. Quickly I used one of my favourite moves, which I had always used in cases I would have to fight, although the occasions were few.
I turned by back slightly towards him, with a part of my right side still exposed to him, I place my right elbow on his throat as I duck to grab his legs with my left arm. Gathering all my strength I lift the serpentine up and throw him into the crowd of snakes in front of me.
Some of the villagers in the line behind me cheered as they saw that I had defeated one and knocked down some others, who had trouble getting up in the mass of snakes they were in, and having one of their defeated comrades on top of them didn't help.
Alas this little victory was short as another serpentine came to cover the gap, shielding the troubled serpentine behind him, just as I realized I was doing, but I was ready for him.
This one quickly punched me, hitting me in the upper part of my chest, which was not too effective. In the hurry I noticed he had his arm fully extended, which was a great mistake, one which I could use to my advantage.
I again turned in the same way I had before, grabbing his arm with my left hand, putting my arm to his shoulder and my right foot on top of his, as I continued to pull his arm while keeping the rest of his body in a fixed position with my right arm and foot.
I heard a rather distasteful sound coming from his shoulder as I pulled his arm, confirming that I had broken it. I released him from my grip, turning back with my side and front facing him, then flattened my hand and hit him on his upper arm with it, causing him to fall to his knees in pain, which was answered with my right fist connecting to his head, causing him to at least pass out.
The bunch of serpentine that I had hit earlier had gotten up during my battle with that last snake, and they were none too happy about the fact that I had thrown a defeated serpentine on top of them.
As they approached I looked behind me, finding that there were barely any villagers behind me anymore, and that the ones who were still there were running for their lives, leaving only me and a couple of overwhelmed samurai, and I knew that soon I too would be overwhelmed.
The reason I fought so well earlier is because there were innocents behind me, innocents whom I could protect, and that reason was gone now.
So I ran.
I noticed the serpentine in the back of the enemy formation were distracted by something behind them, but I didn't care. The samurai that fought so valiantly were hopeless, only trying to take some last snakes down with them, and I knew that if I stayed any longer I too would be lost, so I ran, I ran as fast as my legs could carry me.