Ok, I know it's been a while since I updated, but I've been really busy lately. I really have. I feel really bad about making y'all wait so long. I didn't even submit this chapter to my beta reader first because I didn't want y'all to have to wait any longer. So please don't throw anything at me! (Dodges fruit and vegetables; a tomato hits me in the forehead) All right, I guess I deserve that, but I hope this chapter will make up for the long wait I've given y'all.
I'd like to thank everyone who's reviewed! Y'all are truly a great encouragement and I LOVE reading your reviews so please keep em coming! ;-)
Also, about the drawing contest for my OC characters, I decided to go ahead and choose the winner. Thank you everyone who entered a drawing! They were all really awesome, but there can only be one winner, sooooooo the winner is (drum roll) LadyMarissaGarmadon or SkyguySnips! Congratulations! If you want to check out her drawings, head on over to and look on her gallery page. She drew every one of my OCs almost exactly like I had pictured them!
Anyway, here's the next chapter and I hope that you enjoy it!
Chapter 28
'Where are they? They've been gone for so long. What if something happened to them?'
Nya stood at the wooden railing, her eyes studying the tunnel exit that was in view as she anxiously watched for any sign of her daughters. She didn't realize how tense she was until she felt one of Kai's strong hand begin to massage her shoulder as he came to stand beside her.
"They're just fine, Sis," Kai assured her.
"How can you be so sure?" Nya asked him, not taking her eyes of the dark hole in the mountain.
"Because I just know," her brother replied. Nya gave him a look, letting him know that she wasn't satisfied with his answer. "Nya, Sensei wouldn't have sent them in there if he didn't think they could handle it."
Nya sighed. "You're right, I guess I'm just worrying too much." A tiny smile came to her lips, causing her brother to smile return.
"I think that's supposed to be a mother's job," he told her. "If it'll make you feel better, I'll go talk to Sensei and see if I can get him to tell me anything else about the kids."
"Thanks, Kai," Nya replied, her smile widening.
She watched as he nodded and turned to head below deck before she allowed her attention to wander back to the teenagers. She knew Kai was probably right. She was worrying too much. Still, she couldn't ignore the nagging voice inside her head that kept telling her that something was wrong.
As the older ninja would learn later, Nya's worries were not in vain. Unbeknownst to them, the four teenagers were in the middle of the toughest serpentine battle that they had ever faced.
Once they had each completed their tests, the four tunnels had led them out into a large cavern where they found the serpentine gathered, waiting to ambush them.
At first, the young ninjas had stayed together as they fought off the serpentine, but as the battle wore on, the serpentine began to successfully separate them, causing their defenses to weaken.
The serpentine's strategy was to separate them. They knew that if they were successful in getting each of them alone, they would be able to overpower them.
Keegan was the first to realize this. His eyes scanned the army of serpentine until he spotted his cousins and Ayana. They too had been separated from each other. Quickly, he began fighting his way towards them.
"We have to stay together!" Keegan to them as he got closer. "We're strongest when we're together and they know it."
The girls fought their way over to him and the four young ninja stood back to back in a square as the serpentine continued to advance on them from all sides. They fought with everything they had, but the teenagers were rapidly growing weary. Their tests had taken a lot out of each of them, not to mention the fact that they had been battling the serpentine for a while now. Although they were using every ounce of fighting knowledge that they had been taught, it wasn't enough. The serpentine were still coming, fighting just as strong as ever. They needed something else. Something new. A miracle.
As these thoughts whirled around in each of their heads, a sudden idea came to Kailee. With one hand she reached for the pendant which hung around her neck.
"Jayne! Our pendants!" she called to her sister in excitement. Jayne, who was standing with her back to Kailee, was confused.
"What about them?" she yelled back as she fought off a threatening hypnobrai.
"Both of them are halves of a broken heart," Kailee explained. "If the halves were put together, they might have some kind of special affect." Jayne grasped her pendant in her palm and studied it. Kailee had a point. In fact the edge was sort if jagged as if it was supposed to be connected to something.
"It's worth a try," Jayne agreed as she turned to face her sister.
"You two might want to stand back," Kailee told Keegan and Ayana. "No telling what might happen when these are reconnected." They nodded and stepped away from the twins.
Standing facing each other, Kailee and Jayne each held their halves of the broken heart in their hands. Kailee took a deep breath.
"You ready?" she asked her sister. Jayne nodded.
"Let's do it," she replied. Then Kailee started their special saying.
"'Together,'" she began as she lifted her hand, palm facing her sister. Jayne joined in on, "'Forever,'" and raised her hand to meet Kailee's, folding their fingers together. Then Jayne said "'Divided,'" and raised her half of the broken heart as Kailee joined her on, "'Never.'" She lifted her half of the heart to meet Jayne's.
As the distance between the halves of the heart grew less, each half began glow brightly, the glow growing brighter the closer the pieces got. There was a soft 'clink' sound as the metal halves connected with each other, the glow that was radiating off of them was so bright it was almost blinding. The light continued to grow until it had completely engulfed the twins in its brightness. Keegan and Ayana covered were forced to cover their eyes in order to protect them from the dangerously bright glow.
The serpentine were spellbound. They seemed to have forgotten everything as they stood and stared at the light that surrounded the girls.
Suddenly, everything seemed to happen at once. The wind began to swirl violently, creating dangerous tornados within the cavern. Lightning began to flash threw the cavern, striking several of the serpentine. Rain began to fall in torrents, bringing with it baseball sized chunks of hail. Fire began shooting out of the bright glow, igniting any serpentine it touched, burning them to a crisp within seconds. The hard packed rock floor began cracking and separating, causing large bits of the rock ceiling to fall.
Panic was everywhere. Serpentine were yelling and screaming and making any other noise imaginable for a serpentine to make as they ran around in circles, frantically trying to escape the angry elements.
Keegan had dropped to the ground, pulling Ayana with him, in an effort to protect them both not only from the angry elements, but also from the panicking serpentine. His arm was wrapped protectively around Ayana as they lay on the ground, her face buried in his shoulder.
"Retreat!" Scales yelled loudly above the panic to his army as all of them began to make a wild dash for the cave exit. Each of the elements followed them, continuing to torment them until they were completely out of the cavern. Once all of the serpentine were gone, the bright glow surrounding the twins began to fade.
Sensing that it was safe, Keegan slowly opened his eyes and seeing that it was, he stood to his feet, Ayana following his lead. As the last glow of light disappeared, the twins dropped to the ground in exhaustion. Keegan and Ayana cautiously approached them.
"Kailee? Jayne?" Keegan said his cousins' names as he reached them. Kneeling beside Jayne, he gently touched her shoulder. No response. They simply lay there, still, unmoving, as if they were dead.
'No, they can't be!' Keegan thought to himself.
"Are they all right?" Ayana asked, her voice filled with worry as she knelt by Kailee. Keegan didn't respond right away. His eyes searched his cousins for any sign of life. His hands were shaking as he reached for Jayne's wrist to feel for her pulse.
Oh no! Are the twins really dead? You tell me what you think in the reviews!
Also, just a little side note, I will be going to church camp on Monday for a week and we're not allowed to bring our iPods so I won't be able to reply to anybody's reviews or read any new chapters until I get back. But don't worry, I will catch up in them! I promise! So make sure you review! ;-)
