A/N: Hello! Hmm, this is going to be an interesting chapter…mainly cause I don't really like Ronin. And there is a ghost attack that happens here… eh hmm.

Disclaimer: I own Nothing! Except for my OCs!

Chapter Three: How do we negotiate again?

I glanced nervously at the large amount of water that was right underneath the dock we were standing on. A hand landed on my shoulder, making me jump a mile into the air. Whipping around, I nearly punched a surprised Cole in the face.

Cole quickly stepped back, raising his hands in surrender. "Hey! It's just me! Relax! I was just going to ask if you're ok since I know you don't like water very much."

I dropped my hand to my side, relaxing instantly. A sigh escaped me, as I gave him an apologetic smile. "Sorry Cole. I'm just a bit antsy from being so close to the water without my elemental dragon."

Cole sighed, his arms dropping to his side. "Yeah, I know. Will you be ok with this mission?"

I nodded my head yes, just as the fisherman that Zane and Jay were talking with suddenly was yanked into the water by his catch. Zane blinked, before walking over to us. "Ok. We have the location of Ronin's shop. It's this way." He walked off, heading deeper into the questionable neighborhood of Stiix.

…

I frowned as I noticed Lou's bladecup amongst other stolen goods that were put up for sell. Cole noticed the bladecup as well and promptly began grumbling about thieves dare stealing from his family. Shaking my head, I tried to see if I couldn't find either the scrolls or the notorious thief. I hadn't gone far though when I heard the rustling of a net being moved. Whipping around, I promptly yelled at my brothers. "Guys! Trap! Move now!"

Cole quickly dove to the side, knocking into Jay, while Zane stepped back. A thick net made of vengestone landed in the middle of the room, followed by an annoyed growl. A minute later, guy wearing a red straw hat, tealish long sleeved shirt and matching pants, as well as patches of grayish armor held together by brown buckle straps. His shoes were mud caked brown work boots. Long brown hair flopped down, covering his ears. A brown eye patch covered his one eye, while a glaring dark blue eye took us all in. Stubble covered his face.

Reaching a hand up, he rubbed his stubble, his eye flickering towards me. "I forgot that you have more sensitive ears than the others."

"Ya think!?" Jay exploded as he wiggled out from underneath Cole.

Cole scrabbled back to his feet, before helping Jay up. "Sorry. I kinda reacted without thinking back there."

"It's fine. You were just making sure I didn't get caught in the net." Jay sighed as he brushed dirt off his gi.

I folded my arms, glaring at the thief. "Ronin… you stole something that we need."

Ronin frowned, spreading his arms out mockingly to gesture at the goods cluttering the store. "You might wanna be more specific, Kai. I have stolen quite a bit in my day."

I clenched my fist, my teeth grinding together in annoyance. "Scrolls Ronin. We need the scrolls of Airjitzu which you stole."

Ronin brightened up immensely, rubbing his fingers together. "Ah…I might be able to help you for a cost…let's say two hundred dollars."

I blinked, frustration rising up inside of me. I much rather risk going to the Haunted Temple of Airjitzu than pay that price! "I really don't think so… how about four hundred and fifty dollars?"

"Kai! We don't have that much!" Cole bellowed, shock crossing his features.

I quickly shot him my best just trust me look, before turning back to Ronin who looked really excited about my offer. "Deal!" He shoved his hand into my face.

I lifted my hand up to shake, ignoring the groans escaping the others. "Deal. Just give us till sundown to get the money for you."

"Please… go right ahead." He gestured to the door.

I nodded my thanks, before walking out the door. I was soo gonna get it from Cole for this.

…

I stared down at the crane's controls, wondering why Zane would place me on crane duty, with my history with technology. No, scratch that. I knew why he placed me here. I have the better hearing out of all of us, thus I should be able to hear him from here while the others would hear him better down below with him. I fumbled with the controls, dropping the new planks down in front of Jay and Cole. The two best friends quickly laid the planks down, securing them in place.

Zane, who was up ahead keeping the Strangle Weed at bay, suddenly began to do some kind of weird dance on top of the pole he was standing on. A minute later, he raised a hand up to his neck, rubbing it. I picked up a walkie-talkie that would allow me to speak to the others, worry flooding me. "Guys? Is something wrong with Zane's humor switch? He just burst out dancing on his pole."

Cole and Jay glanced over at him, before turning and very visibly shrugging their shoulders. Zane turned and began waving wildly at me. Confused, I tried to get closer to see if he was saying something…and promptly knocked one of the controls on. Oops.

…

Jay bounced excitedly as he led us through the small town's back alleyways. "The plan is simple. We wait for Ronin to close shop, sneak inside…and steal the scrolls! Then we'll return them back to the Library of Domu!"

Cole shook his head at Jay, glancing sideways at us. Zane was still rubbing his neck; apparently a fly had messed up his voice box, a look of poor frustration on his face. "Sllorcs eht neddih sah eh erehw wonk ot deen ew."

I groaned, shooting a glare at Jay who had attempted to fix Zane. "Ok…you made him speak backwards…what did he say?"

Jay gave a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his head. "Umm…he pointed out that we still don't know where he hid the scrolls."

I quirked my eyebrow up at that, wondering if he had forgotten about my hearing. "Jay…After we left the shop, Ronin moved a vase around in there. Knowing him, since we were asking after the scrolls he was double checking that we hadn't found their hiding spot yet." I folded my arms, a smug look crossing my face. "And thus we can deduce that he has them in a vase."

"Seriously?! You just now decide to tell us this!?" Jay screeched as he swings his arms around in the air out of frustration, annoyance flashing in his eyes.

I blinked, startled by his response. "Dude… I thought you guys would ask me if it was important."

Cole ran his hand over his face, exasperation flooding his eyes. "Kai… we're not used to you having such good hearing! Sorry, it didn't occur to us that you might have heard something that would give him away!"

I flinched, rubbing a hand against my ear. "Cole… I'm standing right here. You don't need to yell."

"Maybe I'm yelling because I am really frustrated with you right now." Cole muttered under his breath, annoyance flooding his countenance.

I rolled my eyes, before glancing up at the darkening sky. "Come on. If we're doing Jay's plan, then we need to get going. He'll be closing up soon."

…

"Guys, I really think something's wrong." I hissed at my teammates for the tenth time since we had arrived at the, according to the others, empty store. Problem is, I can hear Morro and someone else watching our every move. Just as easily as I can hear Ronin struggling in bonds…the sign that Morro was holding him prisoner.

Cole picked up the bladecup, annoyance flaring in his eyes. "Come on Kai. Stop being paranoid. Everything's fine."

I opened my mouth to respond back, when I heard the soft whistling of the wind, signaling that Morro's friend was on the move. Whipping around, I carefully tracked the movement to…the organ pipes behind Jay. "Jay! Move! Now!" I yelled as I charged off towards the blue ninja.

The organ pipes fell over, trapping him, a new ghost appearing out of thin air. "I would listen to your friend there." He snarled at the others.

Zane tensed, pulling his shruikens out. Glancing back over to where Morro and Ronin, I raised my voice. "I know your there Morro. Get out here…oh. I guess you should release Ronin too."

A growl erupted from the shadows, before Morro showed himself, throwing a tied up Ronin to the ground in front of him. "How did you do that!? Even with my ninja training, my hearing isn't that good."

I rolled my eyes at that, even as Zane stepped forward. "Thgis sih naht gniraeh sih no erom yler ot gnivah shtnom lareves tneps dah eh tcaf eht ot eud su fo tser eht naht gnireah reparhs sah iak."

Morro blinked, confusion crossing his face. "What!?"

Jay pinched his nose, exasperation flooding him. "He was just telling you that Kai lost his eyesight temporarily for several months. His hearing is still sharper than usual cause of that."

Morro blinked, before glancing over at his friend. "Soul Archer? I am highly considering calling for back up…what do you say?"

"Go for it." Soul Archer notched an arrow into his bow.

A minute later, we were swamped by ghosts on all sides. Ronin struggled into a sitting position, his eye flickering to what looked to be a collection of some sort of weapon. "Guys! The Aeroblades! You can use them to defeat the ghosts!"

I quickly glanced around to see if any of the others had heard him. Zane was failing at punching three ghosts…Cole was losing to four ghosts…and Jay was barely dodging another five ghosts. Growling, I snatched up one of the Aeroblades and threw it at a ghost. The second it touched the ghost, it was like it was water. The ghost exploded. Grabbing a handful of the things, I quickly tossed them to my brothers. "Quick! Use these against the ghosts! They work! See?" I re-threw the Aeroblade at another ghost.

"Cool!" Jay leaped forward, flinging his Aeroblade right and left.

…

I pounded the dock with my feet as I gave chase to Morro…and maybe Ronin. The thief had called upon his oh so special R.E.X. to give him a getaway ride. Horror flooded me upon seeing that Morro had snagged the scroll. I quickly leapt after him, only to find myself trying to balance on a pole with Strangle Weed climbing up on every side. I watched with frustration as Morro and the Soul Archer escaped on the back of Morro's dragon. Without thinking, I took a step back…and immediately fell off the pole towards the water below. Panic began building up, though before I could hit the water, Ronin appeared and caught me.

"Thanks…now knowing you, you expect payment for saving my life?" I folded my arms against my chest, arching one eyebrow up.

Ronin grinned as he navigated R.E.X. back to the others. "Of course. How about this time, we negotiate something you can actually afford."

…

Cole glared at me, fury dancing in his eyes. "You did what?!"

I groaned, running a hand through my hair, effectively messing it up. "I sold all of our shares of the tea farm to Ronin. Now come on. We need to get going."

Zane frowned, worry creasing his brow. "Llorcs eht sah orrom. Ot erehw?"

Jay nodded fervently, panic setting into his eyes. "What he said. Morro has the scroll. And we don't know what the next clue is."

I grinned as I rubbed my hands together. "You guys remember what I said about how it's a bit of a ghost story?" They all nodded in affirmation, clearly puzzled by my question. "If we go to Sensei Yang's temple and survive the curse, we get a scroll of Airjitzu."

Jay immediately made the time-out sign with his hands. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Time out! What curse!?"

I rolled my eyes at that, a smirk settling in place. "If you don't leave by sunup, you turn into a ghost and can never leave." I spread out my arms dramatically, humor dancing in my eyes as I lower my voice to a bare whisper. "Many of tried and many of failed. Will we be the next victims?"

Jay screamed like a little girl, jumping into Cole's arms. I burst out laughing, finding the display hilarious. Cole glared at me, before shaking his head, dropping Jay back down to the ground. Zane groaned, but didn't say anything about my attempt at humor.

We're coming to beat your curse Sensei Yang.

A/N: Done! Kai really shouldn't scare Jay like that…but nice fore-shadowing for the next chapter. See ya all later!

Review!

SkyTalon