Chapter 3

He was in a hurry. Only a few hours ago, Sensei had told him to go to the caves of despair. Apparently, someone else was attempting to take the Scythe of Quakes, and it wasn't the Skulkin. Whoever it was had to be stopped because even Sensei didn't know who it was. Maybe they were working for Garmadon, maybe not. Either way, he knew that every second he wasted was making it easier for this strange person to succeed.

He'd only been training for three weeks or so. It was going well. He still appeared small, and looked weak, but he was happy to keep it that way. If his opponents underestimated him, it would feel so much better to beat them.

Looking at the setting sun, he wondered how long he'd been running. He was tired, his heavy breathing proved it, but he didn't care. If someone collected the golden weapons before he did, who knew what would happen? Briefly, he wondered if he was lost; had he misheard Sensei's directions? Immediately, he pushed the concern away. Neuro was smart, and he was right.

Only half a mile away was a taller, stronger boy, with brown hair and red-tinted sunglasses. He was much paler than the first, despite the last few weeks where he'd spent almost the whole day outside.

From his hiding place behind the rock, he found a cave that seemed to be heavily guarded. Heavily guarded meaning two guards. He had already guessed that his enemy wasn't very bright. Finally, he sprinted across the opening of the caves. If any of the skeleton had noticed him, they didn't say anything. He was the master of speed after all. Even if he hadn't found his true potential yet, he was still faster than almost anyone he knew.

Finally, he reached the cave. It was high above the ground he was on, with a long sort of ramp connecting the two levels.

He laughed to himself at how poorly the army was at, well, being an army. He casually strolled up the ramp, as if he was mocking them. At the top, he turned a corner to the cave, and was met with a sword in his face.

"What are you doing here, human?" asked the Skulkin. He froze. Any move he made would not be a good one, and he had no weapon with him of his own. So, he resorted to the only thing he could think of; his mouth.

"Pssh. I'm not a human. I'm your general."

"No you're not. You probably don't even know our general's name." Again, he froze. 'Calm down,' he told himself. 'Just keep talking.'

"Well, do you?" asked Griffin.

"Of course I know Samakai's name. What sort of soldier do you think I am?"

It took every ounce of willpower to keep Griffin from answering that question. "Okay, you got me. My name's Griffin, and I'm here to steal the Scythe."

"You are?" said the other guard. "Kill him!" The first pulled his arm back, and Griffin barely had time to react.

"No. Wait. You had the idea to kill me," he said, pointing at the second guard. "But you are about to kill me." He pointed to the first soldier. "He's going to get all the credit. How's that fair?"

The second guard glared at the first angrily. "He's right! I'll kill him. It was my idea after all."

"No! I saw him first. I'll kill him!"

"I'll kill him."

"I'll kill him."

"I'll kill him."

"So, while you two are fighting, is it okay if I take a look in the cave?" Griffin asked, faking an innocent smile.

"Go ahead," said one of them dismissively. Griffin couldn't tell who.

As he entered the cave, he briefly noticed the size of the cave. It was huge. There were also several skinny columns of rock that looked like they could easily collapse at any second. But Griffin didn't care. All he was focused on was that golden weapon, sitting in the middle of the cave, begging him to just take it.

Smiling, Griffin climbed up the ornate dragon statue, and grabbed the scythe. He pulled it out with ease and relaxed. His first mission, a success.

"So, have you figured out who's going to kill me yet?" Griffin asked casually. The two stayed silent, glaring at each other. Finally, one jumped on the other, and the two were on the ground, wrestling. "I'll take that as an 'almost'," he added, before running off.

Minutes later, Neuro arrived at the caves. No one was there. A few weapons were on the ground, as if whoever was there left in a hurry.

Cautiously, he walked into one of the caves, where he was certain the scythe was. Looking around, he didn't see it. He turned around to search somewhere else…

…and was only feet away from a huge earth dragon. It was so big, it was barely able to fit in the cave. It eyed Neuro angrily, before shooting a large amount of rock and dirt at him. As he dodged the attack, he looked for an escape.

Getting back to his feet, Neuro ran around the perimeter of the cave. It was the wrong choice because the dragon turned to face him, and its tail smashed several of the pillars of rock. Neuro groaned; the cave was collapsing.

Using the little he'd learned, he quickly jumped at the dragon. He avoided his teeth, and he climbed on top of him. Moving quickly, he jumped out a small hole in the roof of the cave. Now on top of the cave, he realized that he was still in danger as the rock shook beneath him. Quickly, he scaled down the top of the cave and to solid ground. Only seconds later, the cave collapsed behind him.

After resting a minute, Neuro went back over the rocks to search for the scythe. As he moved one, he saw the dragon's head. It roared, but this time Neuro didn't flinch. Calmly, he reached forward, and lightly touched it.

The rocks shook beneath him. Fear filled his mind as the dragon broke free from the rock. Neuro watched, scared, as the dragon landed in front of him. However, to his surprise, rather than attacking, the dragon bent down, lowering his head to Neuro.

"You aren't… afraid of me?" Neuro asked. If he was thinking clearly, he would have realized how silly it was that he was speaking to a dragon. The dragon didn't move. "Oh, you're just trying to protect the weapon. So am I. Where is it?"

The dragon turned its head around, looking out into the distance. "Someone took it?"

"Sensei said I had to get all four. Maybe, whoever took it is going for the next one. I think the closest would be the shruriken. I need to get there…" he said to himself.

As soon as he said so, the dragon lowered its wings until they were almost at the ground. It looked back at Neuro, as if it was telling him to climb on. Even though the logical part of his mind was telling him not to, that he was too afraid, he found himself sitting on the dragon's back. As he sat down, he calmed down a bit…

…but that fear immediately came back as the dragon flew off. As the ground got farther and farther away, he began to feel sick. He tightened his hold on the dragon's back. His head was spinning, but as they flew off towards the next destination, he thought one thing.

Whoever you are, trying to stop me, I will find you… and when we meet, I will defeat you.

(A/N) I'm back...

and I have no excuse for what took me so long. Sorry.

But I'm back!

Let me know what you think. Was it good, bad, and what can I fix?

I also had a question in a review, so I'll answer it here:

Derpypigeon asked "I can see that you've chosen Griffin, Shadow, and Neuro. But who's the fourth one?"

The answer to that is... what makes you so sure there are four? This isn't following the series exactly, so the number might be different...

Thanks for the question. If you have any, make sure you review with that too.

Until next time,

Frostbite