Another long chapter! I hope you guys like this one, but it's mostly recap. :(
Big thanks to Seleine16, Grammarosprey, and ColdWaterChicken! Most have you have been reviewing since the start and I've never been happier!
Seleine16– Thank you so much! I'm glad to hear that someone thinks they're awesome, because I always wonder if they're a bit iffy.
Grammarosprey— Yes, I knooow! I think it has something to do with him being a Nindroid, like maybe he has some way of knowing the probability of what will happen to them, like P.I.X.A.L. But, that's my opinion, so I dunno for sure. Thank you for reviewing!! :D
ColdWaterChicken— Man, you're having some tough times. I'm sorry, but I'm not sure what to say. Kind of not related, but I'm curious: Are your chickens meat chickens or egg chickens? You don't have to answer, if you don't want to. I hope you cheer up soon! If you look to much on the past, you won't see the future, right? Anyway, thanks for reviewing!
. . .
"Sign me up," Jay mocked. "Way to go, Sparkplug."
The four of them were on their way to the first weapon, and as Sensei had promised, they were taking the horse carriage. What that was, exactly, was a regular carriage that was pulled manually instead of using an actual horse. That meant that while Sensei Wu sat in the carriage, the four of them pulled it. While running.
Kai hated it. His feet were starting to hurt, and he swore he would collapse at any given moment.
Zane gasped for air beside him. "I sense this is some strange form of... team building..."
"Just keep pulling. We have a long way to go," Cole replied. He, of course, was in the front, Zane and Jay were pulling on the sides, and Kai was in the back.
Kai pushed a little harder on the bars. "So... where did Sensei find you three?"
Cole turned a little to look at him. "Let's just say if it wasn't for Sensei Wu, I don't think we would ever be seen together. I was testing my limits."
"I was testing my invention," Jay added.
"And I... was testing myself..."
Kai nodded. "You're right. If it wasn't for Sensei none of us would of—"
"Stop!"
Speaking of their sensei, Wu made them slow down before he hopped off the carriage. His students steps behind him, he hiked up to the top of the mountain they were climbing.
Kai peeked his head around a large, rust-colored boulder. As they had been hiking, the trees and other vegetation slowly began to disappear, until the landscape was completely barren in sand, earth, and rock. As he looked around the rock he saw that the mountain had been completely hollowed out at the top, dug out and mined by the Skulkins until there was hardly a mountain left.
"The Caves of Despair," Wu told them. "Samukai must be close to unearthing the Scythe of Quakes. Remember!" he warned. "Do not use the weapon. For its power—"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Jay interrupted, rolling his eyes. "'Is too much for us mortals'. Alright guys, let's chop-socky this lemonade stand! Cole, you got the plan?"
That was the last thing Kai heard from them before he completely lost his patience, and slid down the mountain side on his own, into the quarry. He paused for a brief moment behind a large stone to think. There were four watchtowers, but no Skulkins were up there, from what he could see. A few were scattered around the edge of the quarry, but the rest of them were crowding around the mining area in the middle.
He sneaked around the edges of the quarry, staying just out of sight of the Skulkins. Still none in the watchtowers, except... for one.
Samukai, the four-armed, red-eyed leader of the Skulkins, was in the watchtower farthest from where Kai had entered. And, he was holding the map.
Kai's fiery red mask stuck to his face from sweat as he moved from his hiding spot to climb up the tower— when Zane, Jay, and Cole materialized out of nowhere to join him. They could all see Samukai and the map closely through a hole in the roof.
"What's the matter with you?" Jay whispered furiously, clapping Kai on the back.
Kai made a shhh! noise, and pointed to the Skulkin below them. That's when the four of them noticed something rather obvious about the map.
"It's upside down!" Jay exclaimed, keeping his voice low. "They're digging in the wrong spot!"
"The Golden Weapon is near," Zane told them.
The 'Master of Ice', as he was supposed to be, tied a thin rope around one of his shurikens, and threw it down at the map Samukai had so obliviously left on the table. He pulled it up, letting Cole examine it for a moment— when Kai abandoned them once again.
"There's no time to waste," he said, before jumping off the tower.
Jay shook his head. "What is it with that guy? Always in a rush?"
. . .
Kai followed what the map had said and made it to the other side of the caves, where the Golden Weapon was supposed to be. He spotted a boulder touching the wall that looked a little suspicious, and started to push on it with all his might to get it moving... but, his body was still sore from pulling Wu all the way here. He couldn't do it alone, it wouldn't budge.
"Hey, before you race off again, you need to remember we're a team," Cole told him. The three of them kept following him, they stayed right at his heels. They wouldn't leave.
Kai stopped pushing. "Yeah. Whatever."
They helped him push, and soon enough, the boulder moved aside to reveal a cave hidden behind it.
When the cave should have been dark and cold, something lit up the room. Large stone statues of samurai warriors lined the walls, staring ominously into the center— where the Scythe of Quakes sat in the mouth of a stone dragon, emitting a soft golden light.
"Woah," Jay astonished. "That is so cool!"
Jay's voice echoed through the cave system, and he cringed, quickly realizing that was a bit too loud.
"Shhh!" Cole reprimanded as he removed the scythe from its resting spot in the dragon's mouth. The handle was smooth and radiated warmth. The blade was carved like a dragon's mouth breathing fire, and a small gemstone in its eye looked a lot like a tiny smoky quartz. "Not so loud!"
Jay waved him away, examining one of the stone samurai. "Aw, don't be paranoid. We're totally on the opposite side of the caves."
Kai could see Cole's brow furrowed under his mask. "Zip it, okay?" Kai stumbled backwards in surprise when their leader tossed the scythe to him. "Now that we've got the scythe, let's sneak out while those boneheads are still busy. Alright, team. Everyone stick together. The way out is just around the corner—"
And suddenly, the four of them turned and were right in front of Samukai and his army, which extended all the way through the caves to the entrance. Samukai sneered, brandishing his four sharp bone daggers.
Cole quickly pulled out his own scythe, and Jay with his nunchucks, Kai with his katana, and Zane with his shurikens. The rest of the Skulkins launched themselves into battle, wielding swords, spears, haladie, and flails.
Kai let himself loose on these guys. He hadn't had a proper fight since his tousle last night, and he didn't even get a chance to win that one. His metal against their bone, he sliced heads, limbs, and jabbed chests with the hilt of his sword to knock the Skulkins off their feet. But at some point, a group of them surrounded him, and he was ready to throw down on them if they when anywhere near the Golden—
"Kai!" Zane called. "Throw it here!"
He tossed it to the ninja clad in white, and barely heard a "Going long!" from Cole before it was tossed to him as well.
"There's too many of them!" Kai grunted.
Jay, however, was still practically overflowing with zealous energy. "Let me handle that." He knocked out three skeletons with his nunchucks around himself and Kai, before Jay realized something.
He grinned under his mask. "Eh, guys! It's just like the training course!"
And it was. Seven skeletons holding swords and spears surrounded a single skeleton swinging a flail in the center, much like the swinging planks in their training course back home.
Jay kicked four skeletons in the head in a row, "Over the planks..." flipped over three, avoiding their blades, "...dodge the sword..." and began to spin in a rather rhythmic motion, hurling himself towards the one in the middle. "Here comes the dummy, cha-ching!"
Except, he didn't stop spinning. He kept going. Soon, his footsteps were replaced with sparks of blue and bright white electricity, and then he was completely enshrouded in a tornado of pure lightning. He continued to knock out several Skulkins, until a large percentage of Samukai's army was completely wiped out.
Kai's eyes widened. "Spinjitzu. Jay, what's the key?"
Jay's laugh rang from inside the surging twister. "I'm just going through the motions!" It was incredible using Spinjitzu. Things sped past you at the speed of light, but so did he. "This is what Sensei must have meant when he said we already know it!"
Soon, Kai was a tornado of red and orange fire, and Zane of ice. "I sense you do not stand a chance," he told the Skulkins. Cole's Spinjitzu was one of earth and rock, and one could swear the elements were coming right out of their feet. Eventually, Samukai called for a retreat.
Cole slowed to a stop. "Heh, guess they didn't want a second serving of these babies," he crowed, glancing boastfully at his biceps. Jay refrained from rolling his eyes, and Kai face-palmed. "Good thing they didn't check out the merchandise in the back!" he continued, swiveling around.
Kai laughed, high-fiving Jay, who let out a whoop of victory.
"Uh... guys?"
Zane hummed in thought. "Didn't Sensei say there was a guardian protecting the weapons?"
"Is that— a... that's not what I think it is, is it?" Cole stuttered. Zane, Kai, and Jay turned around to see what Cole was talking about, and sure enough, there had been a guardian. A creature much larger than all of them combined stood up on its hind legs, extending its claws. Stone hard, sharp scales an earthy brown color covered it from head to toe, scaly brown frill was spread wide behind its ears, wings spread out so far they touched both ends of the cave, and chilling green eyes stared down at them.
"Y-you mean a dragon?" Jay replied.
Kai took a step back. "Uh, that sure looks like a dragon."
Zane gulped, voice tinted a little in fear. "I sense we won't be able to spin our way out of this one."
Suddenly the dragon lurched forward, and instead of breathing fire, had a breath that caused dust and rocks to spring up wherever it landed. The four of them jumped out of the way just in time before they were nearly buried alive. The dragon gave a low growl, and did it again. The ninja collectively ducked out of the way and hid behind a rock crevice.
"I thought dragons weren't from this world!" said Cole.
Kai glanced down at the scythe in his hands, then ripped off the protective cover they had put on it, revealing its golden expertise.
Jay's eyes widened. "Nonono, Kai, bad idea. Sensei told us not to!"
"Then you better keep your mouth shut," Kai retorted. He rushed forward, raising the Scythe of Quakes over his head— before driving it into the earth below him, in front of the dragon.
The dragon cocked its head in confusion. The caves began to shake, and a large fissure appeared under the dragon's feet. Chunks of Earth and stone started to fall from the ceiling. The four ran to the other side, but the entrance had already caved in.
"We've got to escape!"
Then, Cole looked up at a crack in the ceiling open to the sky, and knew immediately that there was only one way to it before they were all crushed.
"We'll use Spinjitzu," he proposed, pulling out his scythe. All four of them started to spin as soon as the dragon got up again, and squeezed through the crack that a dragon couldn't fit through. They burst back out into the sunlight, where Sensei Wu was waiting for them, and slowed down to a stop.
"Oh ho, that was so awesome!"
"Yes! We are unbelievable."
Wu frowned.
"We are the best!"
"Ha! Did you see that? I was like pow, and you were like bam—"
"Enough!" Sensei snapped. "I told you not to use the scythe!"
Jay instantly pointed to Kai, who stood right there with the Scythe of Quakes in his hand. "He did it."
"What?"
"I warned him, Sensei."
Kai scoffed. "Using it was my only option!"
Wu stepped up to him. "And what makes you think you are more important then the team? Huh?"
Kai bristled, then snarled, "They took my sister, remember?"
"There are still three weapons left," Wu replied, cooling off. "Maybe next time you can do it right."
Kai huffed. He doesn't get it. Nya's all I have. He gripped the scythe a little tighter, rested it on his shoulder, and followed the rest of them back to the carriage.
. . .
It was nighttime in the Forest of Tranquility. The sounds of crickets and the distant hoot of an howl couldn't be heard, as well as the crackling the fire, when Cole was constantly striking the bongos he had brought for celebration. Zane's eyes were closed, but he couldn't meditate properly with all of the noise.
It had been three days since they had first retrieved the Scythe of Quakes from the Caves of Despair. From there they moved onto the Frozen Wasteland to find the Shurikens of Ice, then to the Floating Ruins for the Nunchucks of Lightning. From what Jay and Kai said, they were winning, but that would have been too easy... right?
"Come on, Sensei, join us!"
Now, they were celebrating, at least Kai, Jay, and Cole were. The cheerful beat of Cole's bongos left the other two to dance, goofing off when they should have been sleeping.
"There is still one weapon left," Wu told them. "We must get our sleep."
Jay groaned. "Aw, Sensei— c'mon, you've gotta admit, we're kickin' their bony butts!"
Sensei thought about it for a minute.
"Get up here, show us some moves!" Kai urged.
He bowed his head. "Mm. I... guess I could." He stood up, and stepped closer to the fire. Cole's music stopped as they all watched their master carefully. "Now, this move is very special," Wu said.
Zane unfolded his hands, grinning wryly. "But if done incorrectly, could lead to disastrous consequences?"
Earlier, on their ship to the Frozen Wasteland, Sensei Wu had mentioned something about a "Tornado of Creation" that only worked when the four of them combined their Spinjitzu. According to Sensei, it had the power to create something out of nothing, but when it was done wrong, it would lead to a terrible outcome.
The three of his teammates burst into laughter.
"Aw, Zane, is that a joke?" Kai asked. "A sense of humor! You found it."
Zane blinked in surprise. Really? Was that all it took?
That's when Sensei Wu started to dance, the steady beating of Cole's bongos picked up, and the laughing ensued. Zane sat down, refusing to dance with them but settled on watching. It just wasn't his... what did Jay call it? "Thing". Eventually his hands strayed to the Golden Weapons that sat aside their fire.
The nunchucks were forged in pure gold just like the scythe, with two dragon heads connected with an odd little bolt of electricity instead of the usual chain. You couldn't disconnect them— Jay had already tried. There were also tiny gemstones about the size of a pea in the dragon's eye and on the handles, which Zane recognized as either blueberry quartz or amethyst.
The shurikens weren't much different— the same gold, the same dragon design on the handles. The tiny gemstones in the dragons' eyes were probably moonstones. Zane caressed their smooth surface gently. He couldn't wait to use these in battle.
Jay had been gloating about how great they were earlier, that the Skulkins couldn't possibly defeat them, but Zane had a different idea. He didn't know why... but something told him things wouldn't go as planned.
. . .
Next chapter is gonna be called "Welcome to the Fire Temple", where all the FUN stuff happens! Anyone else excited? :D
Thank you for reading! And please review!