I finally got this up. Remember to read the AN at the end bacause it's important. Disclaimer- I do not own Ninjago

Chapter 7: Stolen-

It has been about a week since the firefly festival, and everyone was acting like it never happened…sort of. Robin and Kai kept exchanging looks while training, Leah and Cole haven't spoken to each other outside of training without blushing, and I can't bring myself to face Zane. It looks like Robin's plan to get everyone together had failed for everyone except her. For now we are practicing with our golden weapons. I really think I have made a connection with my fans. Their like an extent of my body and soul, which is what I have been calling them. The left one is body and the right one is soul. Not the most…normal of names, but their mine. All of the sudden Zane gets up from meditating and jumps in front of Jay, grabs Cole's scythe, then freezes most of the training course causing Kai to slip and knocking Leah down. Robin and I exchange a glace from on the poles before hopping down and joining the rest of the angry ninja. "This roof isn't big enough for the seven of us." Kai says freshly angered from his fall.

"Correction. This roof isn't big enough for him." Cole says glaring at Zane.

"It's like he's in his own world." Jay says as Zane finishes freezing the training course. "I bet he can't even here us!" He yells over in Zane direction. As if on cue, Zane throws one of his shuriken completely oblivious to their words.

"Don't be so rough on him." Leah says coming to his defense. "All of us space out sometimes."

"And knock each other down. I think not." Cole says arguing. Leah shrinks back and remains quite. It seems that Robin wants to add something but I glare daggers in her direction.

"Sensei, Zane's…weird." Kai says as Sensei walks up. Leah and Robin haft to hold me back from smacking him upside the head.

"What is weird?" Sensei replies calming me down a little. "Someone who is different, or someone who is different than you?" Ha! Show him Sensei! I think grinning in triumph.

"No Sensei." Cole says arguing and causing me to glare daggers again. He then proceeds to describe an embarrassing event of him in the bathroom as Zane walks in and combing his hair. Jay jumps in and talks about when he and Nya were watching some sad movie that Zane burst out laughing. Kai describes how he went to get a midnight snack only to find the fridge empty with a note from Zane. Robin and Leah were smart enough to shut up and hold me back.

"We like the guy, he's really smart. He's just off sometimes." Kai says.

"Zane is a brother, and brothers are often different." Sensei says in his defense. "I should know." He gaze saddens a bit causing a depressing mood to fill the air. Robin and Leah release their grip on me thinking I had calmed, but they were very wrong.

"Ow, ow, ow." Each of the boys say as I smack their heads.

"You should be nicer to your brother! What if it was you who was acting 'strangely'? Would you want your brothers talking about you behind your back?" I say scolding them. They look at the ground in shame.

"Sorry Anna." They say in unison.

"And you!" I say turning to Robin.

"What did I do!" She says holding her hands up and taking a few steps back.

"I'll talk to you later." I say glaring daggers at her. I have still not forgiven her for un-purifying Zane. I highly doubt that Zane would be the one too….I don't want to think about it. I think turning a light shade of pink but still glairing. Around that moment the doorbell rings.

"Mail!" Everyone but Zane, Sensei, and I yell happy to get out of my gaze. They open the doors to show and exhausted looking mailman.
"Let's see. A letter from Jay parents, Kai has a fan letter, multiple letters from Robin's sisters, a funeral request for Anna, and a letter from your mom Leah. Oh, something from Cole's father." The mailman says with a sigh. We each take our letters as they are called out, and I can't help but notice Robin stealing Kai's fan letter.
" What, no package? I'm expecting something from creatures, beasts, and beyond. "Cole says as we go off to read our letters.
" No nothing from uh. Ah, ah here it is." The mailman says digging deeper into his bag.
" Rocky's going to love this!"
"Hey Zane. How come you never hear anything from your parents?" Jay says as Zane walk up completely back to earth.
" I don't remember my parents. I've been an orphan all of my life." Zane replies causing a knife to go through my heart. Poor Zane…
"You mean you've never had a home?" Kai says. Zane gives a shake of his head causing me to pity him more.
"The monastery is your home now. " Sensei says walking up. Zane gives no response, instead walking off with his head hung low. I'm about to go after him when Sensei places his hand on my shoulder. "Give him some time, Anna. You may comfort him later, but for now let be." I nod then open my letter.

Dear Anna,

I am regretful to inform you that an illness has spread throughout the village. Many villagers have fallen victim to the virus. We would like you to arrange their funerals, for we are too busy searching for a cure. We will be waiting at your estate, so please return as soon as possible.

With great sorrow,

Yamada Taro, mayor

"Sensei." I say turning to him.

"Yes Anna?"

"My village calls for my aid in burying the dead. Would it be okay if I leave for a day or two in order to help them?" I ask. He stands there debating it.

"Very well. You may leave tomorrow, but tonight we enjoy Zane's cooking." He says with a small smile. I give a halfhearted one to match his. I will need to confront Zane before I leave.

~Spirit~

"Mmm. I love it when its Zane's night to cook" Jay says scarfing down food.
" Hey! I didn't hear any complaints about my duck chowder last night!" Cole argues.
" That's because it glued our mouths shut. You really thought Jay was speechless all throughout dinner." Kai says agreeing. Robin gives a visible shudder as if remembering the horrid meal. Good thing I'm a vegetarian and didn't eat what everyone calls horrid.
"Yeah. Please don't make that again." Jay says. Zane then walks out with turkey and side salad wearing a pink apron….wait a minute. Pink apron?
"Dinner is served." He says setting it and the salad down. There is a moment of silence as everyone else comprehends what he is wearing. Once they do they burst out laughing. Even I haft to subdue a few chuckles.
"What's so funny?" Zane asks confused.
" Zane! You're wearing a... Well, even I wouldn't wear that!" Nya says through her chuckles.
" You laugh because I take steps to ensure I am clean after cooking?" Zane says as he walks to his seat.
" No. We laughed because you came out wearing that ridiculous outfit!" Kai says, and now that my head is clear, I want to smack him.
" I guess we don't share the same sense of humor."
" Well, how 'bout this?" Cole says throwing a plate of food in Kai's face. Everyone but Zane laughs. I am grinning in triumph more than I am laughing though. As everyone is distracted Sensei walks up behind Cole with a bowl of food in his hands. "How could you not find that funny?" He is stopped in shock as the food is dumped upon his head. "Waah! "
"Now you are brothers." Sensei says as the contents of the bowl drip down his face. I can see that Leah is trying really hard not to laugh at him. Then he put his hands on Zane's and Cole's shoulders before he walked back to his seat. More laughter sounds as Robin and Jay start a food fight. As everyone laughs Zane slips outside. Deciding the food is past the five second rule, I slip out after him. I watch as he takes the apron off and throws it into the garbage. As I walk down the steps to go and comfort him a falcon's cry suddenly breaks the silence. I look over to a nearby tree too see a falcon perched on one of its branches. It seemed to be staring right at Zane. I walk up to Zane as he tilts his head. The falcon copies him leaving me in wonder. He shakes his head making sure he had saw that right, only to have the falcon copy him once again. I stifle a giggle as he flaps his arms up and down. Once again the bird followed his movements exactly. We watch it for a moment as it hopped along the branch and took off. Zane looks to me for a moment and I nod. We follow the falcon down the mountain and into a forest. It stops every now and again to make sure we are following until we reach a clearing. In the clearing is a brightly illuminated tree house. Looking closely I can see it crawling with serpentine.

"If I see one girl in here, I'm gonna go ballistic." I hear Lloyd say as he passes by standing on a board carried by the snakes. I frown at his words wanting to make a comeback. Then, the falcon cries again causing us to look up. It motioned for us to go back and tell our friends.

"Thank you, my mysterious friend." He says turning to leave. I follow until we are about half way there where I stop him.

"I need to talk to you about something." I say.

"I have been sensing that something is troubling you." He responds. I take a deep breath before I continue.

"Back at the firefly festival I was talking about my mother before I stopped. I want to tell you what happened to her." I say trying to suppress my tears at the memory. I look up when he places a hand on my shoulder.

"You do not need to tell me if you don't want too." He says in the exact same words as at the festival. I shake my head and wipe away a tear.

"I need to tell someone, and I trust you more than anybody." I say. It was true. Robin and Leah may be my two best friends in the world, but in the past two months Zane has become the person I trust the most. He gives a nod encouraging me to continue. "The day before I traveled to the monastery to become a ninja my mother was on her death bed. She had been sick for months, but I never expected to find her dying as I returned with her medication. I never even got the chance to use the remedies as she breathed her final breath. She was an only child and I never knew my father because he died before I was born, so it was always me and her. When she left me I felt so hollow inside. I have no one left but everyone at the monastery, and that still doesn't replace her. I miss her Zane, I really do." By now I am crying. I am crying the tears that I didn't shed when she died, the tears I have kept in all of this time. I can feel Zane pulling me into a hug which I accept. For the better part of the hour I just sit there crying into his shoulder until I have no more tears left to cry. "Let's go back home." I say when I'm finished, wiping away any leftover tears.

"We have been gone for a long time, everybody must be wondering where we went." He says with a nod.

"They probably think we snuck off somewhere to make out." I say returning to my normal self.

"What is 'make out'?" He ask causing me to laugh.

"I'm sure Robin will tell you, but if she tries anything like last time…" I trail off shaking my head in the end. "Let's go."

"You are…highly confusing."

~Spirit~

The next day Zane led Cole, Jay, Kai, Robin, and Leah to where we found the tree house while I headed home to deal with the problem. Last night when we returned home, just as I predicted, Robin had accused us of making out. It took forever to convince her otherwise. I'm pretty sure she still doesn't believe me, but that's what my plan for revenge is for isn't it. In about an hour I find myself over the village. Everyone looks up at me smiling and waving. Strange, I think, they don't look sick. Reaching my house I find it eerily abandoned. "Wait here Willow." I say heading inside. The living room is pitch black, and there is no signs of life. "Hello? Is anybody here?" I yell into the home. Climbing up the stairs I hear a slam and a click.

"Lookssssss like you fell into our trap." I hear a serpentine say from behind me. I don't have time to react as I feel a sharp blow to the back of my head. The last thing I see before the world fades to black is the serpentine surrounding me. I smell…burning. I think as I regain consciousness. Cracking my eyelids I see a horrifying sight. My dragon is nowhere to be found and my house is in the process of being engulfed by flames. I shout for them to stop only to find my mouth gagged. "She's awake! Guards!" there is another sharp blow to my head as the darkness returns.

(Robin's POV)

After Anna left we all immediately took off. Zane seemed to intent on reaching his goal to realize we were lagging behind quite a bit. "How do you think Zane knows where he's going? " Kai asks as we catch up.

"Don't know, maybe asking him will solve things." I say with a bit of a sarcastic tone. He glares at me for a second before turning to Zane.

"So, tell us again how you stumbled upon Lloyd's secret headquarters?." Kai asks him.

"I followed a bird." Zane replies casually.

"Why did you follow a bird?" Jay asks in disbelief.

"Because it danced."

"Oh. Okay. Was it a cuckoo bird?" Jay's words make us all laugh. Not having Anna around sure had its perks. Zane on the other hand just looks at us with confusion.

"Of course not. Everyone knows cuckoo birds are not indigenous to these forests."

"He was being sarcastic Zane." Leah says. He doesn't respond, instead running off again. We look at each other and shrug before following him. It's not long before we reach Lloyd's tree house base.

"No, bigger! Come on, we don't have all day! It's not time for a lunch break!" I hear the little brat yell from inside.

" Holy cannoli, Frosty was right!" Cole says shocked.

"You really should have more faith in your brothers." Leah responds causing him to turn the faintest shade of pink.

" We can't let that brat and those snakes get a foothold on Ninjago. We gotta destroy that thing before it becomes operational." Kai says.

"Are you sure?" Jay asks. "It looks like a pretty cool tree house. There's a ropes course, oh a tree swing!"

"Remember whose team you're on." Cole says snapping him out of, what I like to call, boy mode. "Alright guys, what do we do?"

"It looks like the entire place is being supported by those three trees. Once those are severed, the whole place is gonna fall like a house of cards." Kai says pointing to the supports.

"But why would one make a house of cards? Such construction would be careless." Zane says causing me to face palm.

"Oh brother." I hear Kai say under his breath.

"Travel in shadows, boys. " Cole says. I'm a bit insulted by this and hold Leah back.

"Why aren't we joining them?" She asks.

"He said boys. Apparently we are not needed." I say, but the grin on my face says otherwise.

"Evil plan to out stage the boys?" Leah says reading me like a book. I simply nod and rub my hands together in an evil way that makes Leah sigh. "Why do I put up with you?" I watch as Kai jumps out from behind a tree, then takes out his sword and slices a rope, which sends him onto the tree house. Cole grabs onto the wood at the bottom of an elevator and held on to it as two Serpentine were raised up to the tree house. Jay and Zane climbed up a tree. As Jay landed on a branch and almost loses his balance, Zane grabbed his wrist and pulled him up. I then see Lloyd walk around the corner.

"It's almost finished. Soon my fortress will be complete. You! Hold up that sign!" He orders out. The snake obeyed, and held up a sign that said-

No

Girls

Ninja

Gah! Torn feelings who do I hate more? I franticly think looking back and forth between the boys and Lloyd.

Lloyd then pulls a lever, the floor under the snake gave way. Being caught by surprise, it fell to the ground below, screaming the whole way down.

"Booby trap!" He screams watching it go down. Lloyd… I decide. I then grab Leah and hop onto the tree house. The boys get in position as Leah, Kai, and I stand guard.

" Ninjaaaaa-Go!" Jay yells spinning into his elemental tornado and cutting the rope.

" Ninjaaaaa-Go!" Zane yells mirroring Jay's moves. With only one support left, the tree house falls apart.

"I said no ninja! Attack!" Lloyd yells from down below spotting us.

"Everyone! Retreat!" One of the Serpentine say, having other plans.

" Cole! Wait 'til we're off the tree house! Then cut the line!" Kai calls over to Cole in order to gives us time to make it to safety. Cole nods as we start to take off.

"Where's Cole?" Jay says once we all reach safety.

"Oh, this whole place is coming down!" Kai says steadying himself. At this moment Cole joins us, but with blood red eyes.

"No one is going anywhere until you deal with me." He says advancing.

" What's gotten into him?" Kai asks while we back up.

" He's under their control." Zane points out.

"Snap out of it Cole!" Leah says in an attempt to cure him.

"He'd better snap out of it quick! Because this whole place looks like it's about to go down!" Jay says when Leah's plan doesn't work. "Okay, now, come on. Friends don't hit friends." Cole quickly thrust his leg up, kicking Jay in the face. Ooooh that looked like it hurt. "Ow! Oooh, okay, okay, I'm going to ignore that." Cole then begins jumping around the platform, swinging his scythe around. He strikes a board next to Kai's feet, knocking the wooden plank off.

" What are we supposed to do? If I use my sword, this place will go up in flames faster than a tinderbox!" Kai says dodging his attacks.

"Isn't the anti-venom in the staff?" Zane says offering a solution.

"Yea but the staff is back at the monastery." Jay points out. Cole suddenly hits Kai in the stomach and knocks him back. He lands on the curved corner of the roof, slides down it, and lays there for a moment, dazed.

"Kai!" I yell rushing over to him. Suddenly the woods breaks and her falls. I make a quick leap and are able to catch him by the feet and swing him back up.

" Jay, use your lightning! Try to shock him out of his trance!" Zane says coming up with a plan. Jay takes out his nun chucks and starts to swing them around.

" Oh, sorry, Cole! This is gonna hurt you a lot more than it's gonna hurt me!" Jay says as he shoots a ball of electricity at Cole, which causes him to fall backwards and let go of his scythe. I feel relived as he struggles to get back up. Unfortunately when he gets back up his eyes are as red as before. Kai worthy anger emits from him as he gets up, rapidly runs to Jay, and throws him over the edge.

"Jaaaay!" We all cry as he falls over.

"That is a serious safety hazard!" We hear him say from the other side. Good, he made it. I think in relief. Cole suddenly turns and runs back up the last rope holding up the tree house. He raises his scythe, about to swing.

" No, Cole, don't!" Zane cries in protest.

" No! No, Cole, no!" Kai pleas.

"Don't do it Cole!" I yell.

"No, for me, please." Leah says getting quieter at the end. Suddenly, the sweet music of a flute plays throughout the forest. This cause Cole to hesitate, close his eyes, and shake his head. When he opens his eyes again, they were back to their normal black.

" Wha...? Where am I? What are we doing?" Cole says confused. I look up to see Sensei and Nya riding Flame toward us.

"You're okay!" Leah sequels in delight running up and hugging Cole causing him to turn pink. Yep that Cole.

" We're gettin' outta here, because this whole place is coming down!" Nya says. Cole and Leah hop on followed by the rest of us. As soon as our feet leave the wood the entire place crumbles to the ground.

"That flute," Kai says once were safely on, "It cancels their powers."

"It's as old as the serpentine themselves. But we must hurry, the monastery is unguarded quickly." Sensei says causing the dragon to flap harder. The house is on fire! I think, panicked as we return to the monastery on Flame.

"Were too late!" Kai says from in front of me. "Snakes." I look at the burning building a bit longer before my eyes shift to the dragons.

"Rocky!" Cole says in panic as we land. As soon as his feet touch the ground he is running for the stables. The dragons are released, and we are left staring at the ruins of our home.

"Our home." Kai says flipping off his hood.

"Shard, put this out!" Zane says commanding his dragon. In one breath from the dragon of ice the flames are extinguished. "The training equipment, gone."

"Our video games! Gone!" Jay says more worried about his record.

"My animals." I hear Leah say in a small, sad voice.

"They stole their staff back." Sensei says.

"What do we do now?" Cole asks as Rocky nuzzles up to him. I look over to Kai who crushes an ember in his palm. Uh oh. I think as his temper gets the best of him.

"If you hadn't followed that stupid bird none of this would have happened!" He snaps at Zane.

"Kai." Sensei says in an warning tone.

"No, Sensei, he's right!" Jay says agreeing with the hot head. "Because of you my high score has been deleted!" Leah was too busy crying to add something, and I was smart enough not to.

"This is a teaching moment, we must learn from this." Zane says with all the wrong words.

"A teaching moment?" Cole says joining the argument. "What's wrong with you? Don't you get it? Everything is gone!"

"Enough!" Sensei says outraged. "We are all at fault. Zane is your brother, apologize at once." The boys hang their heads in shame before turning around.

"I'm sorry Zane." Kai says turning around to find Zane missing.

"Zane?" Jay questions. We all look over the cliff to see him flying off on Shard. The only thing I could think of is Anna is going to be soooooooo peved when she gets back. As if on cue her dragon flies down.

"I can explain!" Kai says in fear as the dragon lands. No one gets off of the dragon. Curious I walk up to her. Nothing is in the seat except a note.

"Your friend has been captured by us. If you ever want to see her again, hand over the staff." I read aloud.

"Well it's a little too late for that!" Jay says. "They already took it!"

"It seems like the Serpentine had a backup plan." Sensei says causing all of us too look at each other probably thinking the same thing. The serpentine had Anna, and there was no way of getting her back.

(Anna's POV)

The next time I regained consciousness I find myself tied up next to Lloyd. "Ll-Lloyd?" I ask waking up.

"Finally you're awake. I had thought they killed you." He responds looking at me.

"Why are you tied up?" I ask still trying to comprehend the situation I'm in.

"It's that stupid traitor Skales. He challenged the general to the slither pit. If the general doesn't win…" He trails off a worried expression playing across his face.

"Fight!" I hear a voice ring across the ice cave. I watch as the two snake's battle it out. At this moment Lloyd sees a scroll planted into an ice block next to him.

"What are you doing?" I whisper over to him. He doesn't answer, completely focused on getting the scroll.

"Two weapons!" The voice says again. The General and Skales take their weapons. The General throws his pickax but misses causing it to get embedded into the wall. This causes a tremor that makes a few stalactites fall down. He uses his shield to block one that was about to fall onto his head. "Side wonder!" The arena starts to shift back and forth and I turn my attention back to Lloyd. He finally grabs the scroll and places it into his back pocket.

"Go General! Goooo!" He shouts encouraging the person who could mean life or death for me. The General then attempts to hypnotize Skales, but only gets kicked in the head breaking his concentration. He blocks a few hits with his shield before Skales performs a move that I have never seen before. Gliding back and forth in a strange motion he waits until General is distracted. Once he is Skales jumps us and kicks the general square in the jaw knocking him back.

"He used Fangkuando." I someone on the sidelines say impressed.

"Get up! Get up!" Lloyd shouts panicked. The general attempts to, but it defeated by exhaustion.

"We have a winner." The over voice guy says. The entire room erupts in cheering. The staff is then handed to Skales who starts to glow gold. His feet come together to form a tail in sync with the generals disappearing one.

"Skales, Skales, Skales!" The room cheers.

"You will be loyal to me now!" Skales says pointing the staff to the former general.

"I will do, as you command." The former general says. This causes Lloyd to take on an extremely panicked look.

"You!" Skales says turning to Lloyd. "Leave and never return! But keep the girl. She may provide use for us in the future." The snakes then proceed to untie Lloyd.

"Goodbye Lloyd." I whisper as they take him away.

(Robins POV)

In our search for Zane and Anna we have taken shelter under a make shift tent made from the remaining materials of the monastery. "What are we eating again?" Kai asks looking at the skewered meat.

"Mud newt. Not bad, for something that lives underground." Cole answers. I look at it for a second before setting my piece down.

"What! Agggah!" Jay says throwing his down. He then spits out his bone and throws it into a can. "Yea! New high score." Aaaaaaannnnnd, he's lost it. Cole's dragon shakes its head at Jays insanity.

"Remember," Sensei says, "we must be thankful for what we still have."

"What do we have?" Cole asks, sinking into depression. "Our home is gone."

"You know, I don't miss our home. What I really miss, is Zane." Kai says.

"And Anna." I say joining the depression population seven.

"Yea, I miss them." Jay says slumping.

"Zane?" Nya says in a half question half shocked tone.

"Yea, Zane. You know, white ninja. The smart strange one."

"No, Zane." Nya points out his figure heading toward us.

"Zane!" We all cry in relief.

"We are so sorry for everything we said. We're a team, and that means we're all responsible." Jay says apologizing.

"You don't need to apologize to me." He replies calmly.

"But what about all of those awful things we said? Isn't that why you left?" Kai asks with a guilty look.

"Of course not," Zane replies, "I saw the falcon again and I followed him."

"That's our Zane." Cole says as we indulge him in a group hug.

"We're happy to have you back." Nya says as we part.

"Why? Is it my turn to make dinner?" he asks causing all of us to laugh.

"Yes Zane. We would love for you to make dinner." Sensei says.

"But I already made it. Come I want to show you what I found. I think you will all be pleased." As he leads us to his destination we all exchange uneasy glances. Who was going to tell him that Anna was missing? "I can't explain it, but I feel a strange connection with the falcon. I think he is trying to help show us the path we need to take." He says before we turn the corner to see a huge ship sitting in the middle of this wasteland. "Our new home." We all gasp in awe.

"Do I smell pie?" Jay asks his mind immediately going to his stomach.

"Cobbler berry, oh and I made marital berry, and apple." We all smile and run to the ship leaving Sensei with the task to tell him about Anna.

(Zane's POV)

"I am proud of you Zane." Sensei says as the others race to the ship. "One day I promise, we will find your family."

"But, I've already found them." I respond, and for some reason my mind flashes to the moment of Anna and I in the woods when she confessed her past with me.

"I feel there is more too you than meets the eye. There's something special about you Zane." His words cause one question to come to mind.

"Sensei, will I become the green ninja?" I ask him.

"It's too early to tell, but if it's in your path you'll know." He responds. This brings another, unrelated, question to mind.

"Sensei, why did I see Anna's dragon at the camp but not Anna herself?" I ask wondering. His features flash in pain for a moment.

"That is something I need to discuss with you later. Come now, it would be shame to let them eat all that pie." His answer only leaves me with more questions, but I follow him to the ship anyways.

The end. For now. I am probably not going to have the next chapter up for a while, so I'm going to talk about something else. 15 days ago is the time where I had been on Fanfiction for a year, so to celebrate I am going to be doing 100 Ninjago one shots. Just PM me any couple you would like to see and I may put them into a one shot. I say may because I am NOT doing Lord Garmadon and Sensei Wu, that paring scares me and I really hope no one ever writes one. On another completely unrelated topic, my birthday was 6 days ago so you guys owe me cake. Now onto the reviews.

StoriesAreMagic- That's the power of Robin for you. And just wait, Anna's revenge is coming. *evilly laughs*

JaysGirl2/Guest-Thanks~

(Other) Guest- *Continues evilly laughing*

Inkheart5351- I actually came up with the firefly festival through a mixture of Harvest moon and that song.

Fun fact-

Not really a fun fact more of a question. How do you think Zane is going to react when he finds out Anna has been stolen?

~Kitty