Zane couldn't control the flood of emotions that had suddenly came over him. How dare he forget about P.I.X.A.L! He couldn't believe that he hadn't thought of her all this time, even for a second. She was pretty much is his whole world, and not once had he ever considered her. She was probably thinking about him, if he was okay, where he was, and if she'd ever see him again. And what had Zane done in return? He didn't even think about her once until now. Zane buried his face in his hands. Right now, he felt a mix of anger, sadness, and . Zane eyes were starting to get watery. He tried, unsuccessfully, to stifle a sniff. All Zane felt at the pit of his stomach was an empty abyss of sadness.
"Got someone special back at home?" The Dark Archer asked, a tone of deep sympathy and regard. "Y-yes." Zane said, in between what seemed sniffs and sobs. The Dark Archer did his best to console him. He tried to reach back to pat Zane on the shoulder, but it was difficult because he was holding the reins of the Shadow Charger in one hand.
"We all have that one special person that we miss" the Dark Archer said somberly. "I'm no exception." The Dark Archer cast a wistful glance in a direction in which Zane couldn't name. Then he turned his attention back ahead of him, looking for any obstacles and hazards so he could guide the Shadow Charger through them.
Zane finally toughened up about to speak clearly. "Who do you have back at home?" Zane didn't quite know if he should be asking this, it might be a really touchy subject to him. But surprisingly, he answered, but slow and mournful. "My wife and my 2 beautiful children. Or used to, I don't know what happened to them, it's been so long since I've seen them." Zane began to feel sorry for the Dark Archer. He also had family somewhere. But what was he doing roaming this bleak mountain range if he could just go home? Zane repeated his thoughts to the Dark Archer.
"Aye, I wish I could. I'd give anything in the world to return to my friends and family. But I can't. My time has been long passed." Zane wondered what this meant. Then a violent jerk from the Shadow Charger almost sent Zane flying off its back and sprawling into the snow. "Whoa, easy now!" Zane looked at the Dark Archer's face. He could see a smile through the mask. "I guess you're getting as old as me, huh boy?" The Dark Archer said with a laugh. He petted the horse's neck. Zane was fascinated to see that his hand went right through the mane of fire. The Dark Archer didn't even flinch. Zane, our of curiosity, decided to check his internal compass. He had expected it to say South, the way back to Ninjago, but instead it said East. The ground began to slope steeper down now.
"Um-" Zane began, but stopped. "Yes?" The Dark Archer turned to look at him. "Where are we going?" The Dark Archer simply said "Where I can." Zane confused, turned back. Then he remembered he had questions to ask him. The Dark Archer took notice of Zane's expression.
"Seems to me that you've got a lot on your mind." The Dark Archer remarked. Zane, somewhat startled, replied "Yes, I've got quite a bit running through my memory chip right now." "Well, if you want to ask me a few things, go ahead. I have lots of patience." "When you said to me that you fought the ghosts awhile back-" Zane began, but the Dark Archer finished his question for him. "I was trotting along, when my Shadow Charger here," the Dark Archer pointed the the animal that they were on. "Bolted off, and for a second I didn't know what got into him. I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't stop, so I let go of the reins and let him go to wherever he was going to go. He galloped on through the whiteout, which led me to the pair of ghosts. I tried to fight them off, but only my sword was a little effective. They managed to slip by me while drawing my saxe knife, but I lost sight of them after that." Then he turned to Zane. "And then that's when we found you." The mountain slope going down had stopped, tiring into a small, winding gorge. A small creek of The Shadow Charger underneath them swayed a little bit as the ground they were on changed from mountain side to somewhat flat land. They were now in a small winding gorge with a small creek of ice cold water mixed with chunks of ice flowed through them. The Dark Archer swung up his left leg and slid off. He motioned Zane to do the same. Zane began to slide off, but then his wound sent such a sharp pain through him that he almost fell off. Luckily the Dark Archer was there to catch him and help him onto the ground. Zane bent over, clutching his side until the pain receded into a dull throb. After the Dark Archer made sure Zane was okay for now, he went over to the Shadow Charger and led it over to the creek to let it drink.
Once that was done, the Dark Archer, Shadow Charger, and Zane all rested, taking shelter beside a snow covered boulder off to their side. It provided some protection against the driving snow. The Dark Archer led them to one side, where the boulder blocked the snow. He motioned for Zane to sit and rest. Zane gratefully slid down to sit, his back to the rock face. The Dark Archer undid a pack on the Charger's saddle. Zane saw that it was a cloth sack full of coffee beans. Then the Dark Archer tied the pack back up, went to the Charger's other side undid another pack, then closed that one up again. After he came around, Zane saw that he also had a fistful of dry sticks. Walking back over, he cleared a spot on the snowy ground to set the stick down. Then the Dark Archer set them alight with his elemental power. Then he pulled out a kettle, scooped up some water from the creek, and set it down on the fire to let it boil. Once it started to bubble, the Dark Archer threw in a handful of the coffee grounds. He let it boil for awhile, until steam began to rise from the kettle. Taking out a couple tin cups, the Dark Archer poured the steaming coffee into them, handing the first one to Zane, then the other one for himself. Zane took a long draught from the cup. The coffee caused a warm feeling to spread through Zane's body. He was very thankful of the warm cup of liquid in his hand. The Dark Archer took a few sips from his cup then set it down.
"So, you say you're the element of ice?" The Dark Archer asked. "Yes. Yes I am. Although I can't show it right now, I'm to. . .uh. . .?" While Zane was talking, the Shadow Charger had shuffled quietly to where it was behind the Dark Archer. Zane was even more shocked when it lowered it head and started to drink the coffee from the Dark Archer's coffee. He didn't even notice until Zane leaned to the side to get a better view. "What?" The Dark Archer said when he saw the look on Zane's face. Zane pointed to the Shadow Charger, and the Dark Archer turned to see the horse absolutely enjoying his coffee. The horse didn't bother to stop, it's eyes closed with enjoyment. When it finally opened its eyes, it froze for a moment in mid-swallow, then swiveled its ear in his direction. It finished swallowing, and froze again. The Dark Archer stared in shock for a moment more.
"Hey!" The Dark Archer yelped, gently pushing the horse's head away from his cup. "That's my coffee, not yours!" There was a a hint of amusement in his voice. Zane chuckled when the horse seemed to shoot the Dark Archer a look that said what? I can't have coffee too? with drops of steaming coffee dripping from its muzzle. Zane was about to take another sip of his coffee when a shriek tore through the air, almost drowned out by the driving wind.
The Shadow Charger snorted and stomped its hoof impatiently. The Dark Archer bolted up, a look of fear and alarm in his eyes.
"We need to go. Now." The Dark Archer quickly threw everything into the sack, hastily tied it, and sprung into the saddle. He rode over and pulled Zane up onto the back. Then he spurred his horse, and they galloped off, full speed. It wasn't a second too soon. Right when they were about a few yards away, Bansha and Ghoultar jumped down from the rock that Zane and the Dark Archer were residing by. The two ninja took off into the raging whiteout, with the ghosts in hot pursuit. The ninja lost them, but their aura was still faintly visible through the storm. But it didn't take long for the ghosts to completely vanish in the seemingly never-ending white. Zane breathed a sigh of relief, watching the gradual disappearing of the ghosts.
"We lost them." Zane shouted over the wind to the Dark Archer. "Did we now?" The Dark Archer said, mildly surprised. "Well, we were lucky to escape in time. We've rested too long. What a fool I was." He muttered under his breath. The wind whipped snow into the ninjas' faces as they galloped through the storm. They soon began to blindly climb a steep mountain slope, which leveled out. They galloped on. They rose up another side, this one shorter, until they were at the top of the rise, which overlooked a valley. Much to Zane's wonder, the storm seemed to let up for just a brief moment to let him see what lay beyond. Zane saw snow capped peaks rising off in the way distance, and the land in between was thick forest. Then the blizzard veiled his view again. The Dark Archer stopped. "Are you well enough to get off on your own?" Zane nodded. The Dark Archer motioned Zane to get off. Gritting his teeth, Zane slid off the animal's back and landed awkwardly into the snow. Waves of pain radiated through his body, but he did his best to ignore it then he looked up at the Dark Archer. He still wondered why he hadn't taken him to Ninjago and farther into the mountains instead. Zane questioned the Dark Archer . Why can't we turn back to Ninjago? That's where I need to go. I have family there." The Dark Archer looked down at Zane. Zane then remembered how imposing he looked on that animal. "I can't go that far, Ninjago territory is far beyond the borders of my own. I can take you from one end of my territory to another, but no farther than that." Zane glanced upward at the Dark Archer. He began to thank him, but the Dark Archer cut him off.
"Don't thank me. It's my duty to help and protect others." Then he cast a forlorn look at the direction of the valley." " Or it was, for that matter." Zane was absolutely baffled by his words. The Dark Archer began to turn his horse back to the direction in which they came. The Dark Archer turned to Zane. " Good luck on the rest of your journey. I can no longer accompany you. I wish you as safe a journey as possible." Zane was still at loss for words. Then, the Dark Archer turned his back to Zane, and as quickly as he appeared when Zane laid eyes on him for the first time, he galloped off into the raging whiteout, where he was swallowed up by the storm and faded into the white. Zane watched him go.
Soon, there wasn't a trace of the Dark Archer being there; not a hoof print in the snow, nor the silhouette of a horse and rider. Zane stood alone on the crest of the mountain range. He stayed there, absorbing everything that happened. The way he disappeared had an atmosphere of mystery. Then he shook his head. There was no way there could be another elemental master, otherwise Sensei would at least tell them about it just once. But he remembered the way, the violet fire sprouted from his hand. And that was no magic act. Zane scanned the horizon, or as far as the blizzard would let him see. He still saw no sign of the Dark Archer, but Zane decided it was time to get going again when he saw two green auroras shimmering through the white of the driving snow. Zane slowly began to walk towards the edge of the crest to where it began to slope into the foothills below, and from there they gently rolled into the valley. Zane reached the edge and began to pick his way carefully down the side of the mountain.
Soooo, some reviews to get to I know I should be doing this at the top but I'm on a time crunch here. Imortalice, the song has absolutely nothing to do with Ninjago, but good guess. The song that inspired this chapter is actually old, one line being "I walk these streets, a loaded six-string on my back, I play for keeps, because I might not make it back." For the rest of you, think about when Zane first saw the Dark Archer appear and how he disappeared, and think of any songs you know and try to match it up. Tell me in the reviews if you think you got it. Anyway, please review because I thoroughly enjoy reading them, tips and advice greatly welcomed, and comment anything that you think could make this story more awesome (I will give you credit). Good night to all of you guys, and STAY AZOME!