A/N: IDONOTOWNNINJAGO
OMG, I am so excited! I actually already have readers, and terrific reviewers, for this! Thank you all for helping me get off to a wonderful start! I hope I can keep you interested! I'm always a little slow to start, so not as much action yet as I'd like.
Sorry the chappies are not so long. Like I said earlier, I wrote the outline and some scenes for this over a year ago, but fleshing it out and writing what I call 'bridge scenes' is kicking my butt for some reason. So chapters may be shorter, but, hopefully, may come more frequently.
Okay, let's see how this goes...hope you enjoy the read, let me know how you feel about the 1st versus 3rd POV, and please review!
DESTINY'S BOUNTY, FIVE HUNDRED FEET ABOVE SHADOWSPAWN FOREST'S EDGE
**Arwyn's POV
I hate getting wet when I don't wanna be. How can they stand this without complaining?
The rain plip-plopped on my helmet in a taunting singsong as I hunched my shoulders with my arms folded over my chest and stared down at my tabi boots surrounded by a puddle on the clean deck. I had my head lowered to keep the cold water from running into my face, and my mind was skipping to more comfortable places and things.
Instead of getting drenched, Cole and I should have been snuggling in a beanbag and sharing toffee-coated popcorn, watching Kai and Lloyd battle it out over something involving virtual weapons instead of the ones we were packing.
As an alternative to that pleasant activity, I was standing in such wonderful weather with my team of guardians, participating in a quick planning session before we all took off for Sanctuary.
Sanctuary. It sounded like such a desirable place to live. A safe haven, a protected shelter, a nice village in which to raise kids. Such a shame that those who resided there were suffering in some way and needed our help. That thought made the rain seem like tears shed from the heavens in an attempt to wash away the wrongs in Ninjago.
Tapping a finger on the device on my wrist, Cole asked for my attention as he was going on with his usual pre-deployment instructions, and I tried to concentrate on what he was saying. "Everybody's got their homing devices and comlinks, right? We're all on the same channel, correct? Keep your radars on, and keep an eye out for anything unusual along the way. Zane, did you send out Merlin for a flyover of the village?"
"That is an affirmative." The ice ninja's precise enunciations carried over the persistent pattering on our equipment and the ship's wood. "I should be getting video feedback in five to six minutes. We will soon be able to visualize any Serpentine that may be in the area."
"Good. Let me know as soon as you do," Cole reminded him, setting the butt of his scythe on the deck to form a triangle with the toes of his boots. "If all seems peaceful, we'll dispel our vehicles in the woods and infiltrate quietly from four different directions to investigate and take care of whatever might arise."
"However, if there's any kind of fighting going on, regardless of who the attackers are, there'll be no need for us to be stealthy. We'll engage as soon as we arrive unless something else crops up." The group around me shuffled on the deck expectantly, murmuring agreement, ready to be off.
Determined to hold the reins, our leader went on with getting us all on the same page. "As it stands, Nya's only getting what appears to be normal village activity and nothing subterranean. If I detect anything underground, I'll put out a warning. We don't want to be surprised by anyone or anything this time around." Even with my head down, I knew he looked pointedly at me when he said, "We have to be careful."
Standing a short distance away from the group, Kai restlessly shifted his weight from one leg to the other and swung his sword in a low arc around himself. "Yeah, but I still hope we're not going out there for nothing. The ol' Sword of Fire wouldn't mind sharpening itself on a few Serpentine bones."
"It'll be good training for Arwyn, even if we are going out for nothing," Cole grated out, sounding like he was forced to say the words and trying to convince himself. More quietly, he added, "And let's hope we are." His hand rested on the back of my shoulder, at my armor's edge.
I know I'm hoping…I could feel my heart rate picking up as we got closer to leaving. Putting this mission stuff off a bit longer suddenly wasn't such a bad idea.
A blur of blue zipped up close to my other shoulder, and the flash of an electric bolt snapped at my arm, not effecting me, but making Cole jerk his hand away with a painful, startled yelp. The involuntary giggle I let loose was bitten back.
"Oops, sorry, Cole!" Jay gave a short laugh and another teasing zap to my elbow. "C'mon, Arwyn, look alive! You're about to go on your first official mission! Don't be Gloomy Gus!"
"I'm not!" I insisted, finally showing my face to everyone and trying to act enthusiastic. I couldn't show any weakness. I can't seem like a wuss. I'm a ninja. Right? So I lied. "I just don't like the rain in my eyes. I'm ready to get going any time you are."
"Well, then, we should begin, my friend," Zane announced energetically as he gave Cole an encouraging slap on the back.
"Right. It's time to go." Cole sounded anything but ready. I'm not in such a big hurry, myself.
After the usual 'Ninja go!' team cheer, Jay jumped the railing and jetted off with Zane close behind him.
Kai eased up next to me before I got to the gunwale, asking secretively under his breath, "You wanna ride with me and avoid a tongue-lashing on the way?" He paused, leering suggestively like he was flipping through a dirty magazine. "Of course, maybe you'd like that!"
I started to decline his offer and smack him with a scathing come-back for the innuendo, but I had no time. Cole, making a beeline for the ship's side, slipped an arm around my waist from behind as he walked purposefully past, scooping me up from the deck without a word to Kai or me.
Leaping to stand balancing on the slippery railing, he spun me in his arms to meet his entrancing gaze, holding me around the waist firmly against his rigid, muscular body under the early-summer shower. Instinctively, a frisson of arousal went through me as he clasped me to him. For a moment, it was as if the rain, even time itself, had frozen around us, and I caught my breath, hoping he was about to kiss me.
Our embrace was not one of my adoring fiancé's usual, passionate cuddles, however. I could see something else in the way his dark, heavy brows nearly met over brooding, greenish-grey eyes, the way his mouth was set in a firm, straight line. It was a confirmation of what I already knew. He's worried sick…
My arms automatically went around his neck, since we'd done this dozens of times in the past, and I gave myself up completely to his care. With my cheek against his collarbone, I leaned with Cole over the edge, and we fell as one, twisting in a slow spiral, headfirst toward the ground, and whatever was to come.
SORROW'S END INN, SANCTUARY
**3rd POV
The serving staff of Sorrow's End frantically bustled about the filled-to-capacity common room of the old, timber-frame-and-stone inn. The handful of hard-working men and women were fearfully doing their best to keep up with the insistent demands of the non-paying reptilian troop that filled the place for the midday meal.
Near the double wooden kitchen door stood the scowling soncho of the village, ever-watchful for a dissatisfied snake or negligent employee. He had recently finished conferring with the inn's short, portly, and very-distraught proprietor, stressing that they did not need to have the hostile Serpentine crew becoming enraged over an empty keg or a spilled platter of meat.
When the dominating Constrictai general led his contingent of scaly minions out of Sanctuary, the village headman wanted them to be pleased with their time spent occupying the passive settlement, so that the next invasion, if there was one, would be less violent.
From his vantage point, the pasty-faced man had a clear view of the reptilian chief and Bytar, his second-in-command, a two-legged, black-and-grey brute with an orange skull crest. Having spent most of the morning at their humiliating beck and call, he had just been given a respite after broadcasting a distress call at the astonishing behest of Skalidor.
Although the head of the village had considered it a waste of his time, a response had come back almost immediately after the transmission. That was something he never would have expected.
What further surprised him was the fact that Skalidor's bipedal assistant had not allowed him to answer the response. Why encourage him to call for help if he could not communicate with potential rescuers? Why let him call at all?
His eye on the Serpentine leader and his deputy, the man deliberated about their possible motives, knowing only that, at all costs, he was going to do what he could to protect his investments in the community.
Wishing he could be a fly on the wall, the soncho slowly made his way toward the far side of the common room where Bytar was settling himself on a bench at Skalidor's table.
"The distress call has been successfully sent by that groveling snit, and the ship of fools jumped on it right away, just as you thought they would." The grubby lackey twisted a large chunk of roasted flesh from the carcass on the platter resting at the center of the table. "Given their present location, from the scout's information, the sitting ducks should arrive well before the top of the hour."
Skalidor's mouth smacked after he emptied his earthenware stein and slammed it to the food-scrap-littered tabletop. The back of a taloned hand and a forked tongue swiped at the suds left on the edges of his jaws. "Ahh, excellent! I like instant gratification."
Otherwise ignoring her, he leaned back from the table to allow the attentive serving girl to refill his mug with ale. "So, the lure was cast and has already been swallowed whole by the unsuspecting quarry. Now we need do little more than wait patiently for the self-righteous heroes to reel themselves in and be delivered into our hands."
Bytar grunted his consensus, but was too absorbed with biting the last few, juicy morsels from the bone he held with both hands to say anything. His superior eyed him with some disgust, then raised his replenished cup to swill more of its fermented contents.
"Tsk, tsk." The tip of his tongue clicked against the hard palate of his oral cavity in mock concern. "It is truly a pity that Wu and his plebes are so easily taken in when it comes to their single-minded mission to save all of the undeserving surface-dwellers in this great land of ours."
"If only they were not so selfless and generous with their gifts and skills. If they took a more mercenary approach, they might turn a nice profit and avoid falling into these obvious snares." Reaching ahead of Bytar, Skalidor filched the last meat pie from the serving tray. "Of course, I still believe they would be valuable allies if they could only be convinced to be more cooperative and play the game our way."
The general's underling frowned at the loss of the filled pastry, but shrugged ambivalently regarding the last comments. "Guess they're just not smart enough for that. But, anyway, I think everyone's almost done eating, and they'll be ready to take on the ninja as soon as they arrive. I've got four guards set around the edges of town watching for any signs of them. This'll be easy as pie," he stated with assurance and spooned up a bite of the fruity dessert next to him.
Skalidor wiped his greasy hand on his chest plate, and drilled his right-hand man with an authoritative look that accompanied his command. "When they come, make no mistake, I want to see all of the ninja destroyed, but I want your primary target to be the deceiver in black." He rested his back on the wall behind him. "Fool that he was, I am forced to admit, far too late, that Acidicus was right about the swine."
"'Valerio Cole' he called himself." The name was uttered with naked resentment by one who believed a great injustice had been perpetrated against him. "Even if you only get that lying cheat, at least he will pay for denying me the chance to possess him!"
Bytar cut his eyes toward his chief. He had heard little else but this constant ranting since he and Skalidor had met up at an alternate rendezvous point after the debacle at the Castle of Poisoned Dreams. He could understand the Constrictai commander's anger over losing the Scythe of Quakes and so many soldiers, but he sometimes wondered if the officer's unhealthy preoccupation with the ninja captain was based on something else.
After motioning with a soiled hand for the warriors in the inn to begin vacating it, Bytar watched as the human crew began their cleanup and remarked, "I still find it hard to believe that he made it out of that tower alive. You barely escaped with your skin. Had I been there—"
"Instead of having been passed out intoxicated in the latrine?" Skalidor snorted with scorn while Bytar frowned at his loss of dignity. "Yes, you surely would have expired in the tower along with that conniving Acidicus."
"I do not find it a stretch of the imagination that the scum in black survived the collapse of the tower." Sitting forward again, the black-and-orange boss agitatedly toppled the stein in front of him, wetting the table with what was left of the brown liquid in it. "He knew very well what he was doing. He is quite powerful and extremely dedicated to that group of his."
Skalidor's hideous snout held a thoughtful expression, and he repeated, "Extremely dedicated…He took an exceptional risk for them all. Even the girl, whom he insisted, so convincingly, meant nothing to him…"
Bytar drank the last of his ale and set the mug on the table. "He lied to you."
"Yes, and he will die for betraying me!" The general had been mulling over a thought he had had at the castle. "Unless I can find a way to make him suffer even more…"
He had considered then that if the girl in green was the Master of Earth's mate, anything done to harm her would be more effective at making the ninja suffer than exacting vengeance on the young man personally. Perhaps—
The usually-cowering village leader stepped boldly from the shadows near the conversing serpents, causing the long-tailed snake to recoil the slightest bit and Bytar to reach for his dagger.
The man's hands went up in front of him, his palms facing out. "Forgive me for being so forward! I did not mean to intrude, but I could not help but overhear that you have condemned a traitor to death." He paused as the reptiles regarded him in wary silence.
"Your numbers are sparse," the soncho said straightforwardly. When he sensed from their defensive body language that he may have sounded insolent, his flattering tongue added quickly, "Although I'm sure they are more than capable of vanquishing twice that amount in battle."
Having roused the pair's curiosity as to why he may have approached them, the man edged closer to the corner of the table, stacking the dirty plates and righting the drinking vessels as he inquired, "Would you like to achieve his demise without the loss of a single warrior?"
Bytar scoffed and stood quickly, shoving the bench away from the table. "We don't need any help—"
A clawed hand was held up for silence by the scaled one in charge who inclined his massive head for the man to continue. Given permission, the mayor began speaking again. "I have a secret weapon that may be just what you need—if you would consider cutting a deal with us."
"We don't make deals with inferior wretches!" Bytar sneered, stepping intimidatingly close to the councilman.
Skalidor's fist came down on the table in warning, rattling the utensils. Gleaming, yellow slits examined the fellow cynically. "You would have something valuable I have not looted during my previous visits?"
Dull, red-rimmed, blue eyes stared back at him. "You might say that."
A/N: Dun, dun, dduuunnn... Please leave a tip! ;) Later!