Hey, guys! Sorry this took me so long, but I had an epiphany for the ending!

I don't want to spoil any of this for you, so I'm just going to shut up and let you discover everything on your own, okay? :D

SHADOW DANCER

14. Venom of a Striking Cobra

Dreams.

Dark, cold, deep dreams.

Dreams he couldn't escape.

Nightmares becoming into a reality.

He couldn't find the strength to open his eyes, though he could feel them there, resting gently against his eyes, glassy and cold.

The dreams he had were unusual, so peculiar he was sure they were unreal; he was sure that when he'd left the Bounty, finally abandoning the ninja and their invisible snake problems, that everyone had been (mostly) normal. But what the dreams showed Lloyd did not imply that there was peace on the Bounty.

When he'd been leaving, slipping off the Bounty's edge as everyone humored the restless Zane in the kitchen, he'd seen Kai standing alone, his face pressed into his palms, kneading his temples when he rose. His expression was of pure agony, a withering rose in the murder of the dreaded scissors; Lloyd could relate to the terrible horror of the needless ache and pound behind his lids. But he hadn't thought much of it. Everyone got headaches. Kai's was just another in the thousands of headaches that happened every day.

Lloyd sat alone, resting his head against what was once the mast of the Bounty, unable to make his move, to shift positions, because he felt so weak. Usually, when something interesting was happening, he was just randomly teleported into the area in which the event was taking place. He didn't have to work too hard. And he was okay with that. His angry, tired muscles were overworked from thrashing in his sleep, the venom of the black widow and the Great Devourer already seeping through his veins, pouring through them in replacement for all the blood in his stomach. What an awful way to live. Dying from your own poison.

Karma. It's always Karma.

He'd witnesses the before and the after of he Bounty's death. It was horrifying, a terrible thing to have to go through—and the other ninja around him, the ninja who couldn't see him, seemed to be playing that part well. But Lloyd knew it was just a dream. It was the venom playing with him. There were lies in these nightmares—and yet they were still nightmares. Nightmares weren't real. They were supposed to scare the living daylights out of you, on purpose.

Or, maybe the midnights out of you. It was dark. The moon was barely a blip in the sky beneath the clouds, still dissipating from the storm that had killed the Bounty, an inhumane action from Mother Nature in these parts.

Lloyd stared at the three, motionless lumps in the sand, absent of Cole, who Lloyd had watched Kai chuck over the side for no reason at all other than the fact that he was possessed. It had made Lloyd yawn. Couldn't his subconscious come up with anything better to intimidate him?

Now, he watched a single form rise from the sand, lifting itself from the pieces of life that had once prevailed through many a battle. Against the moonlight, Lloyd was well able to make out the familiar spikes of Kai's intentionally pointed hair. Kai moaned softly. He spoke in tongues; half asleep, Lloyd didn't think Kai even knew what strange words he was mumbling. They didn't sound like they'd come from this world.

Kai lifted his pale face to the sky, his features casting blue shadows across his face, the uncanny, iridescent glow of his green eyes pointing heavenward. With his neck extended backwards in an arch, Lloyd watched the ninja close his dazed, confused eyes, squeezing them shut. He pressed the heels of his hands against them.

Lloyd was startled when he heard the deep, rumbling growl come from Kai's throat. Feral, ferocious, and completely animalistic, it tore through Kai's lips, snarling out the violent sound in the air, though no one was awake to hear. All except Lloyd, who couldn't help but watch, mesmerized, as the dark, thick black smoke, it's source unknown, curled around Kai's ankles, a snake twisting its form around its prey—though this smoke snake seemed less-than-frightening. Even if it was a dream, though, Lloyd found himself examining the smoke closer. It's pungent aroma fluttering towards him tasted like dirt, but smelled like blood. It reminded him of the phrase "Blood, sweat, guts, and years of death becoming one."

Kai was consumed by it, this fluttering mass; the fascinating wisps curled gently around his throat, as Kai—with a noise that sounded more like Kai and less than the animal—groaned in pleasure, his pain being relieved, by the sound of it.

Then the voice, masked by anger and worry, a dark, low voice of someone Lloyd couldn't see, spoke aloud to the air. It sent shivers crawling up his spine. "You will not take my son from me," it growled angrily. "I'll never give him up."

Lloyd's eyes widened, brow rising. The voice seemed to seep from the smoke, curling around Kai still, who was barely visible through the dark mist.

He didn't know where the next voice came from; his subconscious seemed to like tinkering with his mind. "Oh, but you'll have to!" cried a voice, high pitched, loud with laugher and greed. "Not all things have a choice. Do you think snakes have a choice on if they want to molt or not?"

A senseless, inhumane cackle followed after, a scream in the air. An unseen force attacked the smoke, causing it to rupture and flutter, though it didn't loosen its hold on Kai.

"You will never hurt him—ever." the black smoke rebelled, its clouds reaching forward with a tight grip around the dreary, half-asleep Kai, as it pushed hard against what Lloyd couldn't see. The force of the cackling evil was being forced away, inch by inch. "I will protect my son from your wrongdoings."

"And yours are better?" forced the invisible, high-pitched yelper daring a blow against the black. Lloyd frowned. He must REALLY be in a deep sleep. "You've already failed as a father, Elathan," spat the voice. "It's too late!"

"You are wrong." Suddenly there were random sparks flying amid the air and the even more random cloud; Lloyd rubbed his forehead.

"Am I?" it challenged the smoke. "Go ahead, ask your son: How's he feeling right about now? Good? Great? Try SICK. Your boy's been poisoned."

Lloyd's stomach lurched.

"You're lying." But the smoke's deep octaves sounded fearful.

"Sure. Sure, I'm lying." The other power laughed. "I'm sure you'll still be saying that in a few minutes, Elathan. In fact, maybe a few SECONDS. Your patheticism is most laughable. Your boy is sick."

"With, what, a human flu? That's hardly anything to stress over."

"No, Elathan." there was a pause. "Arachnaeus."

The cloud gasped.

"Hes been attacked by the venom of a striking cobra. Someone who is beginning his journey but isn't yet over," said the invisible man. "There is no hope for him now."

Lloyd screamed. He screamed because he didn't know why. He screamed because even if it was a dream, the thought of Kai being damned to death with Arachnaeus just like he was happened to be the most mortifying thought, dream, and sentence he'd ever come across. He screamed because he could feel it welling up inside him, a pot broiling over, a kettle ready to sing. He screamed because it hurt. His stomach, his head, his jaw, his throat. It all hurt, engulfed in fire.

Through his howls he missed the last part of the conversation. It was only moments later that the gust of clouds faded, leaving Lloyd to his own, when Kai knelt over to retch uselessly into the sand, as though the conversation Lloyd hadn't seen was gone, lost on Kai himself. A second later, ten feet away as he vomited, Zane raised his head at him and quietly cried.

NINJAGO CITY HOSPITAL

Room 25, patient no. 17

TERMINAL

Doctor(s): Stefan Marmalade

Nurse: Jocelyn Rae

Visitors? YES

Visitor Qualification: FAMILY ONLY

Visitor Max Capacity: 2

At his bedside, Garmadon rubbed Lloyd's small, strong hand between his own, warming his chilled fingers as the boy shivered and shook with his dreams. Glistening on his forehead was a significantly thick layer of sweat; his paling skin shined underneath the gentle lights above them. The whole bed trembled with the boy's almost fearful battle, an internal war that Garmadon couldn't see. He wanted to fight the battle for Lloyd instead of watching him suffer. Garmadon still wasn't used to the fact that Lloyd had grown up so quickly. He could still only see him as the little boy he used to be. He wished he could somehow let Lloyd know that he would and will do anything to save him, no matter what the cost.

Though the Devourer's venom had left Garmadon's body, not all of it faded away; he still clung to the sliver of determination and the flash of deviousness that still lingered in his system. It seemed that was the only way he'd ever be able to fight the way he used to.

With Misako gone to get coffee, Garmadon felt the coolness of the tension in the room. Lloyd's disease wasn't contagious, but it was like he could taste its poison on his tongue, invading his lungs. How could he have let this happen? How could he have not noticed his son was sick? The paleness, the headaches, the throwing up—then the sudden urge to leave town quickly to see the ninja. He just couldn't believe Lloyd had bought a deadly spider to poison someone.

It all came down to the question everyone wanted to figure out, the question that they couldn't receive an answer to. The question that hung in the air between Garmadon and his unconscious son:

Who had he wanted to kill?

There were three sudden, loud knocks on the pale, wooden, white door, seeming louder than they really were, a shrill cry in the silence. Garmadon jumped. His heart raced at the sudden sound. Then, a little hoarsely, he called into the entrance, "Come in."

The door opened. There stood a familiar, pretty face: the nurse. Garmadon had only ever seen her come in once, briefly, though he hadn't gotten a good look at her. She'd touched Lloyd's forehead, took his temperature, and left. She looked far too young to be a nurse, that much Garmadon had gathered, but if the city had hired her in hopes that she was as old as her license said her to be, then he supposed he had to deal with it. She was about a head smaller than Lloyd, an auburn shaded young woman, her face round and friendly. In fact, Garmadon was sure she'd been about his height before, although the thought was crazy. What had she done, shrunk? Her eyes, a honeysuckle brown, were constantly wide, like she was trying to see everything all at once. On her head, she wore a white hat that Garmadon didn't think nurses wore anymore. Her white scrubs hung baggily on her shoulders, practically sliding off her hips.

Garmadon frowned. It was quite unusual. They'd fit her just fine before.

The nurse, "JOCELYN" said her nametag, went to the side of the bed. At Lloyd's huffing body, his shoulders rising and falling quickly with every short breath he could manage sucking into his lungs, she frowned, reaching towards him with small, long fingers to grasp his wrist. She held onto it tightly. Garmadon tried not to interfere, keeping his hands on his lap, nervously watching his son's growing discomfort.

The nurse didn't do as a normal nurse would've operated the situation. She instead fluffed Lloyd's pillow beneath his head, then checked his pulse again. She arranged the chairs neatly on the side of the room, the ugly-patterned, scratchy chairs that Garmadon didn't want to sit in, instead residing in the plastic lawn chair beside Lloyd. She opened the shades, then closed them; she opened them again before sullenly deciding they didn't need to be open. Not once did Jocelyn touch the heavy equipment, hooked up to Lloyd like a fish tank. She barely even glanced at it. What kind of nurse didn't touch the equipment?

Finally, when he could stand it no longer, he whirled on her, fully turned in his pathetic plastic chair to stare her down in a glare that he'd tamed over the years, becoming a true eye-dagger-throwing master. He demanded, "Aren't you going to do something instead of play house cleaner? My son is sick. Give him medicine or something, for crying out loud!"

The nurse turned on him, her cool brown eyes settling on him without emotion. "I am waiting for Mrs. Garmadon," she said simply, her voice monotonic. Garmadon's nose wrinkled.

"For me?" said a voice from the doorway. Misako held two Styrofoam cups in her hands, shutting the door quietly with her shoulder; she quickly glanced at Lloyd with an expression of eternal sorrow before meeting the eyes of the rather quite odd nurse. "What's going on?"

Handing Garmadon a cup, he took it solemnly, though he wouldn't have minded if there were something a little stronger than just creamer and sugar in there.

Jocelyn moved to the side of the bed opposite Garmadon, reaching for Lloyd's wrist again. Garmadon could only watch incredulously. "You've done that four times!" He cried. "His pulse hasn't changed! Ask the heart monitor!" he jerked his thumb towards the softly beating machine behind him.

Jocelyn barely glanced at it, instead straightening, her eyes meeting Garmadon's gaze steadily. "I'm programmed to deal with it this way, sir," said Jocelyn in that same monotonic voice.

Garmadon froze. He glanced at Misako. "What did you just say?" He asked, as though she'd just spat a dirty word in front of little children.

Jocelyn watched them. "My name is Caroline Matthews," she said, her movements jerky and straightforward, yet graceful and balanced. She pulled the hat off her head, tossing it to the ground. "My father is Dr. Julien. I'm sure you're aware," she said, namely in Misako's direction, with a glance that was met with Garmadon's wife's startled one. "I have come here strictly on business."

"Doctor Julien?" Repeated Misako. "You mean—Zane's father?"

Caroline nodded curtly. "Precisely." She raised her small wrist, revealing a circular tattoo, its internal shapes made of intricate lines, almost like clockwork designs. Misako gave a tiny gasp. "My father has sent me here to Ninjago City in search of father's first creation, Zane, for he is not anywhere on my radar within a hundred mile radius, as for the same of his ninja friends. I thought perhaps you knew of his whereabouts." Caroline started removing her pants. Garmadon howled in discomfort, holding up his hand, but beneath the misfit scrubs were a pair of shiny, tight black pants, the kind one would use if they were intent on moving quickly, accurately, and without being caught in the act of being too constricting. Now it was his turn to gasp. "He was supposed to arrive yesterday at the Mountain for a visit to Dr. Julien—but he never did arrive. However, then I caught sight of the unfortunate green ninja." She waved her hand over Lloyd's huffing body. "Perhaps I can be of assistance."

"Pfft!" gasped Garmadon. Robots. Robots, robots, robots. "What can you do? You are but a piece of metal!" he howled.

"Garmadon!" hissed Misako.

Caroline didn't look offended. She turned on him, a blank expression on her face. "I know a way," she said. "I know just where your cure is."

"Oh?" Garmadon laughed. "I suppose you do! Robots know everything."

"Robots' is a derogatory term. We prefer specialized humanoids." Caroline went to the window, her thick soled boots hitting the floor in long, measured strides. With the scrubs completely missing, the auburn haired girl looked as though she was ready to kick someone's butt—her whole leotard was completely menacing. She pulled open the shades, glanced out the window; this view from Lloyd's room featured the outskirts of town, where no one hid. Caroline peered out the back. "As an answer to your unspoken question: The journey is dangerous, but I am sure that with your previous lordly abilities and my programmed strength, agility, wit, intelligence, lack of fears, pr—"

"Okay, we get it; you've got a lot on your plate. Now go on, will you?" Garmadon waved his hand at her, unsure of what to do. Take a chance and trust this stranger? Or let her go let Lloyd suffer?

Caroline shoved open the window, though they weren't even supposed to open. She motioned outside. When Garmadon stood, he saw a massive vehicle perched just outside the hospital, full of gears, engines, and Lord knows what else. It appeared there was someone in the driver's seat, although he couldn't be sure. It towered over any other vehicle he'd seen roaming the streets. He wondered how it had even gotten there, but instead of gaping, he faced her squarely, trying to search her blank expression for something worthwhile. He found…nothing.

"As I said," she continued, "the journey will be difficult. But I am certain with my help, there will be success in our future."

"Why do you even want to help?" He snapped. "You don't even know my son."

"I sense you are out of options," Caroline countered. "Besides, as hopeful as you may be that your son's dance with danger is almost over, I fear it is far from over, sir." Caroline bowed her head. "The Great Battle is coming—and I can only help and support with the outcome, rather than decide it."

"The…Great Battle?" asked Garmadon, fearing the words even as she spoke them. He knew the worst was just around the bend.

Caroline nodded once, her hair flapping as she did. "The Great Battle. The Final Battle—his war with you—was the final segment of your journey. It was only the kick-starter. I'm afraid, sir, that your son is destined for far greater things. His side has been decided, Garmadon. He is good. Light," she added, glancing over Garmadon's shoulder at the motionless body of his son. "But however, there is an evil rising…an evil no one is proud of."

"Explain."

Caroline sighed. "I'll tell you more in the motorized vehicle awaiting our arrival. We must get Lloyd out now." She moved past him, her small body seemingly not even worth the strain she put on it when, after detaching the chords of Lloyd's machines to his body, she lifted him into her arms like he was a child, as though he weighed nothing. Garmadon gaped. "But for now—" Caroline held Lloyd levelly, just below her chin. It was awkward seeing the tall, lithe boy wrapped in the arms of a small, almost childish robotic girl. Garmadon shivered.

It would seem that his choice had been decided for him. It was Lloyd who needed this. Not him. Lloyd.

"For now," she said again, placing a boot against the edge of the window. Garmadon and Misako edged closer, worryful for their son. "All I can say is that your son must participate in a battle with his new, equally as strong opponent."

"And that is…?" Garmadon impatiently waved his hand.

Caroline smiled. It looked forced. "Now that he's discovered himself, all that matters is unlocking his true powers."

"Who?!" Garmadon practically shouted.

Both Caroline's feet were on the ledge now. Misako reached forward as if she could stop the robot, but it wasn't enough. Caroline glanced down without fear. "Lloyd must fight the bringer of true evil. The darkest of them all: The son of the Shadow King."

Then, she jumped.

MWAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Didn't see that coming, did ya? *dances a happy jig* Anyway, my inspiration for this chapter came from my favorite score artist, MICHAEL SUBY, and his particular masterpiece today that brought me up was "Mystic Falls" (featured on the Vampire Diaries)

SO! Caroline is an OC – I have to make tons of them in order to get this story going with the right velocity, which I really didn't want to do, but, whatever. :D So the list of them is getting pretty long D: (Just to clarify: Sakura, Ellecia, Naoki, Masao, Caroline, Shadow Dancer, Elathan…Um…Am I missing anyone?) (And don't worry…Only about 3 of them are actually going to last to the next book.)

SEE THE STUFFS BELOW PLZ! :D

You guys will have to stay tuned for the next chapter! Just a reminder: DeviantArt page is up, which also, I'm at a loss for what to draw, & I think I want to do a piece of art portraying a certain scene from SHADOW DANCER…Which one should I do? Can be any one!

Also, for my Multi Media class, we're doing a segment called "promotional trailers" which is basically we are creating "trailers" (like for movies) portraying something of our choice, that we have made up originally. I'm thinking about doing one for SHADOW DANCER, then posting it to YouTube (as unlisted, unless I decide otherwise) so you guys can see? Do you think I should make a trailer for SHADOW DANCER ?

Go have an awesome day, and I'll "see" you tomorrow! -Kairi