Author's note: Much as I'd like to, I don't own LEGO Ninjago, only my stories and OCs...
Sorry for such a long hiatus...such is life. You might notice a change in chapter titles. There was no other editing.
This is rated "T" for language and violence.
Chapter 21: Division
**3rd Person POV
WITHIN THE CANYON, GōRUDENDORAGON RANGE
Disorienting blindness with rare glimmers of light.
Maddening, unintelligible screaming.
An incessant drive to kill, kill, kill.
Hundreds of tiny, unyielding hands tugging every tendon, contracting every muscle, controlling every movement.
All of it suddenly came to an end with one loud demand.
~FINISH YOUR ENEMY~
Punctuated by a bone-jarring pain in his back directly under his kidneys, the order was abruptly followed by the sight of a rock face rushing to meet him.
Wha—?!
Reflexively, the young warrior tried to stop what he thought was a fall, putting out both hands before hitting the canyon wall.
~FINISH~
Adrenaline flooded his body, readying it for battle, as Cole got a better grasp on his senses and realized he had been pushed from behind. Whirling to face the unidentified attacker, he blinked hard in the brightening cavern, trying to remember where he was supposed to be. An image of mountains viewed from the back of Kai's motorcycle zipped first through his foggy memory, trailed by a blank, and then…
A canyon? How…When…?
A flash of golden light glinted off of a blurred shape in the shadows, claiming his attention as it shoved all further speculations aside. The reassuring hammering of four distinct elements beneath his sternum brought forth a sigh. "Arwyn…"
While his eyes fought to focus, the dark, vaguely-human figure flickered into an unexpected, but familiar, form—that of a Venomari trooper wearing armor of leather and chrome and in possession of the Scythe of Quakes.
"My scythe! How did you get it?!" Surprise at seeing a member of the enemy race instead of his fiancée switched instantly to white-hot hostility fed by fear for her safety. "And Arwyn!" Cole's fist tightened rigidly around the broken weapon he had no recollection of obtaining, priming for a short fight. "What did you do to her?!"
The green beast recoiled at his first bellow, then cocked its head slightly. "Koahl? Ssnaa ta less? Assin scaela ta sinsse lyth sinomess.Uma lessil- rinass?"
Fuzzy-minded, the Master of Earth drew a blank for a moment. The hissing gibberish didn't make the least bit of sense, but he recognized its sound from hearing Zane read time-worn glyphs out loud once or twice. "Ancient Serpenskrit? Who speaks that anymore? Use English, you stupid-ass snake!" Advancing with a threatening step, his look was deadlier. "Hand over my scythe, and tell me where she is!"
The scythe was clutched closer to the padded leather vest as the reptilian head shook back and forth in an alarmed, negative reply. "Amin naas il-y lokiss! Anrayo naa ssal' sscrewien yassen lle dol!"
Panicky as it was, the comeback was disregarded when the hard-as-nails ninja nodded once, snarling, "Be that way. I'll enjoy prying it from your filthy, dead hands."
Taking the chance he might get a load of venom spewed in his face, Cole bounded forward, reaching for the scythe. From his right hip, the broken katana blade stabbed toward the scaly abdomen, intending to gut the Venomari wide open.
Anticipating the attack, the Serpentine kept a desperate, one-handed grip on the scythe's snath and twisted his torso as much as possible to avoid the fractured, but still sharp, sword. The other taloned hand hooked the ninja's wrist, diverting the deadly weapon away from its target just enough so that its tip only scraped against the snakeskin, leaving a thin, crimson trail and pulling forth a grunt of pain.
"AAHH!" Crackling blue bolts zapped around Cole's wrist and hand in payback for the injury, forcing him to drop the katana when the stinging electricity whizzed through his nerves and muscles. Shaking his arm vigorously at the pins-and-needles feeling, Cole retreated, hopping back a few feet, and glowered at his opponent. "How the frick did you do that?!"
"Amin naas Ahwon, Koahl! Ahwon! Amin naas il- y' lokiss!"
A corner of the Spinjitzu master's mouth turned up a fraction at the tremor in the voice as he watched the shaken green soldier start to inch out of his reach. "You'd better start praying to whatever belly-crawlin' demons you worship, snake, 'cause you're about to go meet them. You're not gettin' away from me this time."
-AT THE CANYON TOP-
Only a few yards behind Jay as they had scaled the mountainside as fast as possible, Kai and Zane finally clambered up to meet him as the lightning wielder was confirming their worst fears. Pacing excitedly on the ledge overlooking the mountain's fissure, he was practically flapping his arms as if in a frustrated attempt to take flight.
"He's trying to kill her! I don't believe it, he's freakin' trying to kill her, and he won't even look up when I yell at him! He's trying to kill the Green Ninja, and we can't even help her cuz we can't reach them cuz the canyon's too deep, and Sensei's gonna have a freakin' heart attack fer sure!"
Rushing to the crumbly ridge, Kai stopped himself just in time, teetering on the lip for a second as he caught his breath with dismay. "Cole—no."
From his vantage point, the pair below struggled on the edge of shadow, the Scythe of Quakes between them, held at Arwyn's throat. Each gripped the weapon's snath with unrelenting fists, with the Master of Earth using all of his might in an effort to strangle the life out of his rival. In turn, she was using all of hers to keep him from crushing her larynx.
His late-night conversation with his brother jabbed at his soul, and Kai felt like his own throat was being closed off. "You're the only one who could help me put an end to this demon." He had so, so hoped it wouldn't come to this, that he'd never have to fight his brother.
"Cole, stop! Please! Don't do this!" The straining couple glanced up toward the sky at his cry, and a moment later Arwyn's choked plea drifted up to him.
"He-elp…K-ai…"
He almost didn't resist the impulse to leap from the rim, knowing, ultimately, there was only one he could do, one thing that he had to do. Protect the green ninja! "I've gotta get down there right away!"
A frantic search of their surroundings for a means to accomplish that goal began as Jay continued to lose it. "Of course you do, we all do, but I don't know how we can before the Hulk squishes her! It's too far down, and we don't have time to build anything I might come up with!"
Beside him, Zane was on his knees, anxiously trying to distract his assaultive brother. "Cole! You must stop immediately! You must get control!"
A look over the white-and-gold shoulder into the canyon reinforced Jay's previous little flip-out. "He's freakin' trying to kill her, Zane!"
"I can plainly see that!" he snapped back. And she is doing the bare minimum to defend herself…
Grabbing Jay by his chrome pauldron, Kai got in his face, trying to get him to focus. "You always have a bunch of random gadgets with you! Don't you have something?! What did you bring to get us down there?!"
"What did I bring?! Pretty much zip! We were supposed to be walking into this canyon, not rappelling, remember?! All I have on me is a teeny grappling hook and a rope in case the vein's kinda high, but it's not even twenty feet long! That's less than a third of the way down!"
"Jay is correct. That is not nearly long enough." Zane stood with a worried frown. "We will have to devise another way."
We don't have time…Kai was shaking his head quickly as he unknotted the belt of his gi jacket and yanked it from around his waist with a snap. "Quick! Gimme the rope, your belts, and, Zane, your kyoketsu cord—we'll tie everything together, and I'm goin' down!"
Glancing at each another like they thought he'd lost it, but seeing few other options at the time, his teammates did as Kai had insisted, while below them, their remaining teammates carried on with their contest.
Fully expecting the task of dispatching the Venomari to be easier than it was turning out to be, Cole found himself getting more frustrated as he pressed against the scythe with the combined force of his arms and legs like he was trying to cram it through the wall.
This damned thing should've lost his head by now! How's he fighting back so hard?!
~IT SEEKS CRYSTAL WITHIN THE CANYON TO GIVE IT STRONGER POWERS—KILL IT~
Crystal—There was something buried deep down in his muddled memory about a crystal, so he didn't bother to question the odd voice's source.
"AARHH!" I'm frickin' trying!
Even with the strength she possessed, Arwyn was having a tough time keeping the scythe off of her throat and could feel her arms gradually fatiguing as she toiled to push back against him as if bench pressing a ton or more.
He's never used this much power…*UGH*…must usually hold back…in training…
His prophetic words of the night before came knocking into her mind through the grief-filled clamor which was still fraying her nerves, unbroken.
"If it gets to where I'm not me anymore…You'll have to fight me… use all your power…"
She closed her eyes to the thought of fighting him, of hurting him, concentrated on simply resisting.
He's in there…I know it…I feel it…
When she opened her eyes again, a burning hatred stared back at her through the uneven fringe of raven locks, willing her to give up, fall to him, die. It chilled her to the core, sucking at her will to continue, sapping her strength.
He's there…but so is Onryō…he doesn't know me…can't do this…much longer…
The bruising compression of the weapon over her airway had her wheezing with each labored inhalation.
"Promise me that you'll hold nothing back to protect yourself…Promise me."
A veil of misty black was seeping into the edges of her eyesight, warning of impending unconsciousness, the necessity to do or die.
…I promised…
Night seemed to be falling in the canyon, and her body felt as though it was getting weightless, losing contact with everything solid.
Focus.
Barely audible, her sofu's whisper made itself heard above her rasping breaths and the nonstop howling. The crying. The Tears.
Confidence.
Do something…
In the center of her dimming vision appeared a tiny flame, one that grew in size and brilliance, increasingly concealing the grimacing, tooth-baring visage before her, heating from within. Her grip on the scythe tightened like it was a lifeline, her only connection to the physical realm. All in her sight seemed ablaze, accompanied by Cole's astonished cursing.
"FRICK! What the SHIT?!"
His bewildered expression reappeared in front of her, along with the entire golden scythe glowing reddish-orange between them as if newly forged. Tendrils of smoke curled up from the tailored gloves of the weapon's owner, and he backed away, easing up, but not letting go. Neither would she. Only taking the opportunity to suck in precious oxygen, she held on for dear life, knowing if she gave it up, he would use it.
"AAHH! AH!" After one more unsuccessful shot to get it out of her grasp, Cole jerked his smoking hands from the red-hot snath and slapped them against his torso. Baffled, but livid, he tore the ruined gloves from his hands, screaming at his adversary, "What the FRICK?! How the hell did you DO that?!"
"Koahl…*cough*… Amin naas…"
~CRYSTAL EMPOWERS…KILL IT~
He had his orders. Without arguing, he raised his fist and headed determinedly at the snake to finish the job. The magical growth of a watermelon-like gob of ice over his fist and forearm hardly fazed him and did nothing to slow him as he aimed for the hissing head, swinging it like a mace.
Not quite recovered, Arwyn somehow saw it coming and tried to duck back and out of its way, a millisecond too slow. The ice block caught her just above the temple and skimmed across her forehead. The blow was enough to send her reeling several feet away, falling into a heap. Possession of the scythe was lost on impact, and it slid away from the pair along the floor of the canyon. Stunned and bleeding from the gash in her hairline, she lay still with her cheek pressed to the cool earth.
"OH, NO!"
Appalled that his spur-of-the-moment creation—which had been meant to stop Cole—had instead been used to overcome Arwyn, Zane stood frozen in horror on the edge of the canyon's roof.
Noting the incident, Jay hurriedly finished securing the kyoketsu-shoge cord to the grappling hook rope. "Excellent job, Zane! You just gave him the perfect weapon to bash her head in! Now what?!"
"I—I did not intend—"
From below, Cole heard their voices and paused a moment in his attack to glance up at the red Fangpyre, blue Hypnobrai, and albino Venomari stationed on the canyon roof. Hefting the club of ice in preparation for the final strike on his fallen opponent, he yelled up at the trio. "More snakes? Get in line! You sonsovbitches are next after your friend here!"
Forked tongues flickered. "Maniss ilya tansa?"
~DESTROY~
Disregarding them, with his arm raised high, he advanced on the green one who was shakily coming up onto an elbow.
"Somebody frickin' hit him AGAIN!" Kai was working feverishly on the last links that would take him down to Cole and Arwyn. "For God's sake, DO something!"
Jolted into action, a sizzling bolt of lightning from Jay kicked Cole's arm off target, smashing the ice and spinning the warrior to hit the dirt like a sack of bricks. "Tim-berr! Yeah, bay-bee! He is down and out!" Yet, even as the discharging elemental celebrated, his temporarily-slowed mark was already stirring.
Zane frowned into the dark crevasse. "Um…Actually…"
Several loops of rope were thrust into his partners' hands, and Kai passed the other end behind his back before tightly coiling it a couple of times around his right arm, getting a solid grasp. "Take this, and let me down fast!"
With skepticism, Zane considered the makeshift line, estimating its length and reliability. "Between the knotted connections and what we have to hold to support you, there is less than forty feet left with which to descend. You will still have a drop of another forty feet or more. You cannot safely make that under these conditions!"
From under notched brows, charcoal slits blazed. "Watch me."
"But—"
Not allowing them more time to debate, Kai leaned backwards and stepped off the ledge, pulling the rope between them taut, beginning his descent. His ice and lightning counterparts could only take up their roles as his anchors, letting the knotted cord of sorts slip steadily through their protected hands as Kai hopped against the rock wall in a controlled fall. His memories of the night before fell with him.
"Do we have a pact?" There had been a brief handshake and a heartfelt hug, and, with that, he had promised to fight a brother to the death to protect the Green Ninja.
His teeth ground together at the concept. Please, Cole…please, don't make me have to do that…
A hesitant glance over his shoulder confirmed that Jay's knock-down had been momentary. Not far away, Cole was getting up and preparing to once again lay into his still-stunned victim when Kai realized his descent had abruptly come to a stop.
"We have reached the end of the line!" Zane informed from above.
Yes—we have…
Springing against the steep side with all the strength in his legs, Kai swung into open air, heading for the opposite wall. To ensure he would be the only one dealing with Cole, he let loose a burst of flames, igniting the rope he held. The fire swiftly licked up the length of pieced-together cords and cotton like it was made of paper soaked in rocket fuel. Cries of surprise from the other end reached him as the burning cord snapped, dropping him in a twisting arc to hit the approaching canyon side with both boots.
Running along the wall at an angle, he submitted to gravity's pull, but on his own terms, using what could have been a bone-shattering plunge to quickly bring him within reach of his goal. Still ten feet from the bottom, he leapt, plowing into Cole from the side, using him to break his fall. Hitting the ground rolling, the two men broke apart and were on their feet in an instant, ready to go head-to-head, one with blood in his eyes, the other filled with dread.
-WU'S QUARTERS, DESTINY'S BOUNTY-
"SENSEI!"
Although she had left the bridge as soon as he'd uttered the first syllable over the intercom, Nya still didn't make it to Wu's doorway before Lloyd got to the elderly man. The excited young boy was already hugging his uncle who sat on the edge of his bed with A-Capella burrowing between them in an attempt to gain lap space.
"Thank the stars you're awake! It's been a whole day that you've been out!" Practically shoving Lloyd and his puppy to the side, Nya's arms were encircling the sensei's neck in a flash. "We didn't know if you'd ever come back to us!"
"Yes, yes, you should know I would." He patted her back soothingly, but his tone disclosed a bit of impatience. "But never mind that. Where are my other children?"
She drew back from him, pleasantly amazed at his use of such an endearing term for his crack team of seasoned shinobi. "Umm…"
"My students," he corrected, seeing her reaction to his affectionate Freudian slip. "I must see them immediately!"
Her brow puckered with worry. "Um…They're not here." Pacing in a circle on the worn wooden floor of the captain's quarters, Nya proceeded to bring Wu up-to-speed on the events of the last twenty-four hours, finishing with, "So, they're at the canyon now to get the Tears to make a tea to expel the spirit from Cole."
Wu shook his head in exasperation. "That will be useless!" Rising from his bed and waving away the assistance Nya offered, he hurriedly pushed his feet into the straw zori waiting on the floor. "A simple tea will not save Cole! It must be blood for blood!" Lloyd and A-Capella ran in front to the hallway as he strode for the door. "We must get to them right away!"
A/N: As a reminder, words of the First Spinjitzu Master are LIKE THIS. Those of Onryo are ~LIKE THIS~. Please drop a note, comment, review... The last chappie will be out soon, as it's about halfway written. :)