Authors Notes: Yup there we go...another. However I can't write anymore till after I'm finished with the Zareth Movie or it'll be spoilery. Enjoy!
Please read and review
Weight of the world
Chapter 12
Pleasant Surprises
Omino looks around at his sister who is currently asleep where Sorcha had been napping a little while ago. He watches Ryan who is currently sitting by the ocean, out the window and sighs.
"Omi...are you alright?" Ryder asks, looking at himself in the reflection.
Midnight's twins look over their project before putting them into their book bags and going into their bedrooms.
"I'll be alright kiddo. I just feel...a pull."
"A pull?"
"Like we're missing something. I should be with the ninja."
"Oh yeah they said something about helping the people. But they'll be just fine Omi. They got the new recruits."
Ryan has been staring at the ocean for a while now. His mind is a mess, still trying to make sense of all this. Getting up and heading back inside, he sits down at the kitchen table and lays his head on it.
Midnight hears the click from the rice timer and brings the plates of curry over to the table. "Come on over, kids. You can eat a nice warm dinner before you go back out there. Who knows when your next one will be." She says, turning to look around at Ryan. "Take good care of them, Ryan." One of her eyes flashes white like moonlight before she turns and looks at her children.
They both nod and run for the sliding glass door.
"I'm afraid dinner...is canceled." She turns and looks at Hope.
"But...they have the wrong person. Perhaps if we simply tell them so, they will leave us alone?" Hope offers, though she knows that won't work.
"Take care of them...?" Ryan frowns and looks at Sorcha, who shrugged. He watches them run and turns to Midnight. "What's going on?"
Midnight shakes her head. "I do not mean for you to take care of my children. Mine are off to the nest, where my server is. I am sorry, but I doubt this body will survive this encounter. However, you all need to run. Omino. Put your sister in Casper's van. Hurry! You have 7 minutes until they are within striking distance."
"Midnight-" Ryan watches her, then turns to Sorcha who lifts Kira over her shoulder and helps Omino carry her to the van. Stuck in confusion for a minute, he finally snaps out of it and runs after Sorcha, getting in the van with everyone else.
"She's a hornet, Uncle Ryan. Same as Gran. But she's like...way better at it." Omino tells him as they reach the van and climb inside. "She was the first one."
Ryder yawns and climbs into the van beside Malt, who curls around Kira and continues to lick her forehead.
Casper climbs into the driver's seat. "All aboard!" He says as he turns to check on everyone and suddenly sees the large black beasts in the distance through the rear window of the van. "Whoa..."
"Casper, floor it! We don't have time to look at the scenery!" Sorcha belts out, surprising Ryan. "We got my suit, we got everyone else in here so let's drive!"
Ryan stops, turning to Casper. "She's right you know."
Casper laughs. "I've actually been waiting for someone to tell me to floor it...for like, ever." He roars with laughter that oddly sounds a lot like his mother, Danika.
A bright amber light can be seen on the other side of the house.
A large wave suddenly rises up and overtakes the house, splashing down and causing the van to be pushed along with it, farther, and faster than it could have gone on its own.
The van stops over near where the Revenge, Bounty, and its new sister ship had landed in the bay.
Ryan grunts as he smacks his head into Sorcha, who was in the seat in front of him.
"Didn't wear your seatbelt, did you?" Sorcha mocks.
"Shut it, beans for brains." Ryan groans and holds his head. "I feel like I got hit by a truck.
Casper groans as well from the impact and looks at the smoke coming from the hood. "No...you're right. We definitely hit a truck." He looks at the large neon lettering for Chen's Noodle House. "Ms. Smith is gonna be pissed...then her mom. Why don't they just call it Smith's Noodle House now. I mean, Skylor's name isn't Chen anymore."
Ryan hisses and shuts his eyes, opening them to focus on the hood of the car.
A little transparent orange bird was sitting on it, almost mockingly chirping with laughter.
Ryan grunts, eyes narrowing in annoyance. "Shut up, Jason-"
Sorcha raises an eyebrow. "Ryan, who are you talking to? There's no one there?" She sighs, choosing to focus on the safety of everyone involved in the accident. "Can everyone move?"
Omino looks up at them and then looks back down at his siblings. "Sorry..." He notices that his grip was a bit too strong, but he was scared.
"Dude!" The doors to the van open, revealing Max standing there. "Surfing now, huh Omino? In a van! Super freakin' awesome." He stops, turning to look at Casper in the driver's seat. "Oh hey there, Casper." Max waves.
Casper blushes and looks back down at his feet.
"Come on, lets get you out of here before your van catches fire." Max begins to help everyone out of the van.
Casper looks up at Ryan as Max leads the kids toward the Revenge. "I have a crush on his sister so bad." He sighs.
"Ohhh." Ryan chuckles. "It's okay, yknow?" He climbs out of the van and begins helping the others out. "Why don't you tell her?"
Casper makes a squeaking noise. "I uh...I um...have you seen her brother?! Plus, he's married to the green ninja! I'll never be better than that!"
"Your uncle married the earth ninja and he was just a bar keep." Omino pats Casper's back in reassurance. "Come on Cuz,...try."
Casper's knees begin to shake and he can't even get the next words to come out properly.
"I think we broke him." Ryder whispers.
Ryan rolls his eyes. "You don't have to be better than anyone. Hell, you think I was some big hotshot superstar when I met Inky? Hell no. I was far from it." He picks Ryder up and let Sorcha pick Malt up, her suit trailing behind on its own. "Is that everyone?"
Omino looks down at Kira who was laying on her side now and watching.
"Making an earthquake again little brother?" Kira asks, putting her head on her hand as her brother picks her up.
"No, but we were making waves." Omino grins.
[I smell chicken...] Malt sniffs the air. Her mouth begins to water as she watches a chicken walk by. She jumps from Sorcha's arms and chases the chicken into some bushes.
Large electric zaps spark from the bush, causing Malt to retreat with her tail between her legs.
Sorcha raises an eyebrow. "Huh. So Jay was telling the truth about that chicken." She shrugs and picks Malt up again. "We ready to-" She pauses, looking at Omino. "Where are we going again?"
Omino points to the ship. "Best place to hide. Where those things can't get us. The sky." He climbs the ladder and stops at the very top of the Revenge, bowing to Lloyd who smiled at them.
"Welcome." Lloyd says, looking over the amount of people that had climbed on board.
"Hey, Lloyd. I'm sorry but these creatures are coming after us and we've got nowhere else to hide." Omino sits down on a nearby crate.
"Oh no, they aren't just going after you. They've been going after all of the citizens of ninjago." Ty tells them as she comes out of the ship.
Sorcha and Ryan both stop when they see Lloyd.
They had heard stories about their verse's Lloyd, and had known him briefly as kids before he vanished.
Instead of bowing, they both climb up and hug Lloyd, squeezing him between the two of them.
Lloyd chuckles, being used to raising children and caring for others, so the hug doesn't bother him. He turns to look up at Ryan. "I have heard tales of you through Dareth, Ryan. I am grateful that you took such good care of our Inky and the children you two had." He sighs sadly. "However, it does sadden me to learn of their parting from this realm. We cannot dwell on the past. Danika's children are among us. A gift we will all cherish."
Sorcha cleared her throat, letting go of Lloyd. "Right. Ryan did a good job."
"They were loved." Ryan focuses on Lloyd and grins. "You're still as short as ever." Ryan rubs Lloyd's head, teasing him.
Lloyd looks over at Sorcha, raising an eyebrow. "You...are you the one Danika told me about? Ryan's sister? I'm afraid I've never officially met you." He holds out his hand.
"She's an Oni." Someone behind them says.
Ryder looks up to see that it was Mei who spoke, with Digital standing alongside her.
Sorcha shakes Lloyd's hand and smiles. "They're half right. I'm a half oni,half human-" She shakes her head. "I don't...really get out of the house, so it's no surprise you haven't met me."
Lloyd chuckles. "I've got Oni and dragon in me too. We don't know how much, though. We aren't sure who my grandmother is so it's all up in the air." He motions for everyone to follow him into the ship.
"Why are they attacking the people though?" Ryder asks.
"To bring me out of hiding." Ty says as she sits down at the table in the control room.
Ryan looks at Ty and frowns. "Kid, you know this isn't your fault right?" He looks to Sorcha who was looking at all the tech on the ship. "Everyone is going to keep you safe."
Ty looks at Ryder. "The FSM was literal in his elements. Well, from what I've heard about him. You're just the elemental of the stars, Ryder. Not the sun. No...I'm afraid they're literally looking for a species."
"What species?" Ryan frowns and raises an eyebrow. "I mean, it's not like Solarians are thing-"
Ty flinches and sighs. "Yeah, they kinda are a thing." She sits back against the wall. "Everyone on the ship knows the story. I'm from another verse. My father is the Lloyd from there and Tyrus...which is why I have the power." She shrugs. "Lloyd tried to hide the fact but after all the realms started to fall more frequently it didn't need to stay hidden."
"I uh, apologize for my brother." Sorcha says and pats Ty on the shoulder. "He's not very smart."
Ryan put his hand on his chest, offended. "Listen, just because I don't know about a lot, doesn't mean-" He pauses. "Yeah, maybe I'm a little dumb."
Hope looks at Ty. "They still come for us." She says, fear present in her voice. "We must protect the people." She looks around. "I guess our best bet right now is for me to…-"
A large explosion suddenly shakes the revenge.
Everyone runs outside and looks over the side of the ship as the Bounty begins to sink below the bay.
Lloyd looks around at the others. "How did they do that?"
"It is night...shadows can fly." Someone in the shadows whispers to them.
Sorcha and Ryan both stop when they hear the whisper, trying to find the source of the sound.
"Show yourself." Ryan has a hand on his thigh, ready to pull a hidden sai from its holster.
There was a soft chuckle. "Well, I would have announced myself sooner, but that seemed important to talk about." Otto slowly came out of the shadows. He had on a pair of board shorts and that was all. "So...what else did I miss?"
Sorcha runs over and picks Otto up, giving him a harsh squeeze. "Ryan told me you died!"
Otto cringes from being squeezed. "Ah yeah, that kinda happens. I just gotta stand around 'til someone opens the door and apparently Aunt Midnight was killed, too." He gestured to the shadows behind him.
Midnight waves as she comes out of the shadows. She looked much brighter than she had at the beach house.
Sorcha carefully puts Otto down and turns to Midnight. "How's the beach house?"
Midnight laughs nervously. "Uh...let's just say I've got space to build a bigger house."
Otto picks up Ryder, who was crying. "Where are your brother and sister?" Otto frowns.
[Sleeping.] Malt motions to the door into the ship, where the two teens were currently.
"Thank you both for looking after them. I owe you so much." Otto looks at Sorcha and Ryan.
Ryan shakes his head. "You don't owe me anything, I don't mind looking after family."
Sorcha shrugs. "My job is looking after people. I could do it all day."
Malt croons and saunters over to Otto. [How I've missed you, big brother.] Her tail swishes back and forth.
"It's good to know they're safe." Otto pulls a book from his pockets and sits it down on a nearby crate. "Mom used to tell me fairy tales of the beasts in black that came from the moon and a temple where a dim light can be seen brighter. We need to go there."
"We have a destination!" Lloyd calls up to the cockpit of the ship.
Ryan raises an eyebrow. "Where is this temple?"
Otto looks at Ryan and laughs like his dad used to.
Nervous, and unsure.
"Good question. Mom wasn't specific. I can give you a general idea." He points. "Like mom did. I mean moms don't get too specific when telling kids fairy tales. I can just verbally tell you what you need to look for."
Ryan crosses his arms. "Like, is it on an Island?"
Otto stuffs his hands in his pockets and sighs. "Donno. So. Wanna go on an adventure with us...to save the realms?"
Sorcha turns and looks at Otto. "Before anyone answers that question, these creatures can rift hop, yeah?"
Ty looks at them and thinks about it. "Well that...uhm...we don't know." She says, looking at Sorcha. "We believe they're coming in from the Cloud kingdom."
"But that realm is lost." Otto says, frowning. "Inky said so."
"Yes, but what is left behind when a realm falls?" Lloyd asks.
Hope gasps. "Darkness...they're expanding their home in fallen realms." She blurts out.
Sorcha gave a nod, sighing. "Do you want me to keep an eye on where Ryan and I come from just in case?"
Otto smiles up at Sorcha and sighs. "We love you...you know that right?" He hugs her. "But it's not safe...even for someone as mighty as you. Stay near. Besides it looks like this generation might need a little help to take care of the children."
A kid runs by without any clothes on, and Aoe runs through after it while laughing and trying to catch the kid.
"I just...want to keep my realm safe." She shrugs when the kid runs by. "I understand me being safe, but I want my home safe as well. Besides. Ryan can take care of the kids." She raises an eyebrow and pokes his nose. "And you can too. Heck Otto, I'm 92. I got great grandkids of my own. Well, two. Maybe more?" Sorcha shakes her head. "I need to protect mine as well."
Otto nods. "Alright, if you feel you need to go, I can't hold you back. Even if I have more firepower than the samurai x mech in one arm. I won't stop you. I just wanted you to know you have us if you need to return...and we have lots of space for your grandkids." He says, watching Malt trot back over.
Malt was nudging the kid back toward their discarded clothing.
"What is up with kids at that age and running around naked?" Kira asks, rubbing her head.
"Oh uh...Pop?" Omino starts, seeming a little nervous.
Otto looks up at Omino. "Yes, son?"
"We went to see Aunt Midnight." He says, watching his father.
The look on Otto's face went from kind to incredibly angry. "You did what?!"
