Ahhh…Nothing like a good shower to get you going. All my greatest ideas seem to sprout from hot water. ;D
Hi, everyone! I'm back with the next chapter of SHADOW DANCER! This one, by far, has to be the greatest. XD
Thank you all for your awesome reviews! I don't have much to say at this point, but if anything, I really hope you guys enjoy reading this chapter as much as I did writing it!
All is not well on the Bounty today…
SHADOW DANCER
3: What Lies Beneath, We Cannot See
"I swear to you," Zane murmured for the thousandth time that evening, doing a very un-Zane-like thing: pacing. "I really DID see a snake. He stood RIGHT THERE." he pointed to the archway, the archway that Kai now stood under, arms crossed tightly across his chest. His lips pursed into a loose pucker. Although Lloyd was absent, the crowd fathered in the kitchen was almost suffocating. Surrounding the dining room table, Jay, Cole, and Nya followed his every move in the designated path Zane had driven himself. Up, and down, up, and down the side of the table he went, hands crossed tightly behind his back. A frown was plastered to his face; his eyes were wide enough that his entire iris' circle could be seen.
Kai touched his forehead. Behind his eyes there was an awful pounding. The birth of a migraine, maybe, but Kai didn't feel like dealing with it.
"We believe you, Zane," said Cole honestly. He'd been repeating himself for hours. Kai didn't know if that was a promise or not. Kai felt like something was DEFINATELY wrong here; Zane was the most rational of them all, the one they were always able to count on because he was so...Well, easy-minded. He never made a Moment for a joke purposely, and he sure as heck wasn't a liar, for any reason at all. It was something they could always count on.
But now, Zane seemed to be changing. More emotion was being shown on his face. Maybe it was him becoming more accustomed to how real humans interacted. After all, he'd been living with the ninja for at least four years now, and Kai was certain they all had heartbeats. It just might've been Zane finally getting into the swing of things.
Or maybe it was something else.
Kai frowned, running his eyes with the hard heels of his hand. Of course it wasn't something else. He was just being stupid, that's all. It was Zane becoming more of a human.
"It just does not compute with my system," Zane continued. "My interactive photography microchip should've performed its functions properly. No damage has been done to them. Then why did they not correctly show the images I am certain I captured?"
Kai took back his earlier statement.
"Did you look at the sun?" asked Jay, giving a weak laugh. Cole smacked his arm.
"Why would I do such a silly action?" asked Zane without pausing his pace. He shook his head. "It just does not make sense."
Cold stood, his palms resting gently on the table. He leaned forward to try to meet Zane's gaze, but the nindroid avoided his eyes. Cold maneuvered around the edge of the table to catch Zane by the arm mid-pace.
Zane flinched so badly, his whole body jerked with it. He stepped back from Cole. Nervously avoided his eyes. "I apologize," said Zane softly. "You frightened me."
"A little on edge today, Zane?" Cole asked warily. He didn't touch the nindroid again.
Zane just shook his head. "I think..." he sighed. "I think I must rest now."
"Good idea," agreed Nya as cheerfully as she could. "Maybe if you take a nap, you can rest off your...jitters." She stood, walking towards him. Zane's head bowed. Resting a hand gently on his shoulder, Nya guided him out the opposite door, the one Kai WASN'T standing in. He watched them go.
"Poor guy," murmured Cole absentmindedly.
"Poor nindroid." Jay agreed with a shake of his head sadly.
They both looked to Kai, but Kai just rubbed the heels of his hands against his eyes at the dark burst of pain behind his lids, trying to avoid opening them. He feared the light would attack his pained pupils like knives jabbing into them. Then, with a soft, agonized groan, he left in silence, leaving the other ninja to wonder.
? ? ?
He took the dragons.
They blew through their noses at the sight of him, giving little groans of pleasure. They hadn't been used in so long. Hidden in the caves beneath where the Bounty rested- - eternally, it seemed- - the dragons would've rather just fell to their deaths rather than sit forever. Everyone was busy doing nothing nowadays. They were never exercised- - and that's just what the big beast needed, was a nice, stress free exercise.
He patted each of the four dragons' noses as he passed. Rocky gave him an affectionate sniff. It ruffled the silky fabric of his black cloak. "Easy," he told the dragon. "We dont want to disturb the ninja, do we?"
Climbing aboard the large beast, feeling their scratchy scales against the denim of his worn-out jeans, the visitor grabbed the familiar reigns, fitting it gently into the palms of his hands. "Here we go, boys," he said lowly. "First stop, Ninjago City!"
He kept beneath the clouds in hopes to avoid being seen by the first mates aboard the Bounty. it took them four hours to finally reach the city, but upon arrival, he felt quite relieved. He felt like he was getting a little bit of motion sickeness, riding the long-necked, body-conjoined dragon. When he landed, he chose a familiar spot in which he knew well.
Grand Sensei Dareth's Mojo Dojo.
The jolt of the landing jarred Dareth right out of the dojo, running out onto the street with a scream. People had gathered round to stare at the large beast, perched atop the building with four simultaneous roars. "It's the ninja's dragon!" cried someone on the ground.
He made sure to keep his head down, for someone had yelled, "Yeah, but who's that?"
He descended the dragon, keeping his hood over his face. He didn't want anyone seeing him. Not now, after all the tedious trouble he'd gone through to make sure he wasn't seen, that his identity was kept hidden. He leapt from the building, sending himself right off the edge, landing in a neat, almost soundless crouch. The crowd around him stepped back, except for Dareth beside him, who stared and frowned at the same time. When the visitor rose, he made sure that he turned as he stood so the crowd wouldn't see his face. Dareth stared in shock. "What are you doing here?" he asked, breathless.
"We must speak," said the visitor urgently.
Inside, after Dareth had fought off the crowd wanting to see who'd stolen the ninja's dragon, practically forcing their way through his weak animal "karate" moves, he shut the shades in the visitors request. Dareth brought out two cups of tea from the small kitchen, holding one out tentatively for the other to take. It fit snugly between the visitor's palms.
"So what brings you here, ninja? I thought you'd moved out of the city," Dareth inquired, taking a slow sip of his tea. The visitor stared at his. He didn't know if he could stomach any.
"Something has come up," he said quietly. "I fear that though the Overlord is gone, peace may not be completely restored to the world."
"What?" Dareth gasped, stepping back. "You mean... A new evil?"
"No," said the visitor softly. He looked deep into the brown eyes of Dareth, watching the confusion swirl in his irises. "I mean a Greater Evil."
Jay
Nya returned from the bunk room where she'd assisted Zane to bed moments after Kai ran from the room, groaning in pain. A confused look shadowed her face. The look made Jay leap from his chair, because it looked to him like an expression that meant something was awfully wrong.
"Nya?" Jay raced towards her, enveloping her in his arms. She rested her hands on his biceps, painfully small. "What's wrong?"
Nya shook her head, a dazed twinkle in her eye. Instead of answering, she asked, looking over his shoulder at Cole, "Have you guys seen Lloyd?"
"He said he was going to lie down in the bunk room," said Cole, pulling a water bottle from the fridge, "cause he was looking like a ghost again."
A look of confusion surpassed Nya's face, mixed with a little irritation. Jay pressed his lips to her forehead. "Why?" he asked softly against her warm skin.
"Because he wasn't in the bunk room," Nya said, "and he wasn't anywhere else."
In Dareth's Dojo
"Explain to me why you still have your hood up," Dareth said, leading the visitor into the kitchen. The visitor followed close behind with his cape ruffling, agitated by the slow steps he was taking. But he couldn't move any faster. He was getting weak. "I mean, there's no one here but me." after a pause, he added, "I don't teach classes on Thursdays."
The visitor took a deep breath, bowing his head. Dareth couldn't see his face without the shadow eclipsing his skin, deeming him unable to fully see him. He liked it that way. Dareth didn't NEED to see. But at the same time, he had to, in order for any of this to work.
"Because what I'm about to show you is completely awful, and I need you to react without horror."
Dareth eyed him, but nodded. "Aye, aye," he said softly. The visitor sighed. He wished he wouldn't have to show Dareth this, but it was the only way...
Slowly, he reached up, taking his hood from his face in a slow, tentative manner, watching the horror unfold on his handsome face, even though he'd told him not to react that way. The visitor tried not to hang his head in shame.
"What...what IS that?" asked Dareth breathlessly, recoiling back the fraction of an inch.
The visitor shook his head. What Dareth saw was the pale, round face of someone who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. A bloody, worsened mess, with the entrails of spewed blood drizzling down his chin, dripping onto his shirt. He held back tears. This is what he'd become.
He took a shaky breath.
"I'm sick, Dareth," said Lloyd, voice trembling. "And you're the only one who can help me."
Let me know what you think! Please R&R, and keep your eyes peeled for Chapter 4 coming today! Suggestions, questions, comments, ETC. are greatly appreciated & accepted! Have an awesome day, and keep checking in-I'm always posting!
Now, to start on SHADOW DANCER chapter 4... :D
-Kairi
