Chapter 16: Second Thoughts
Trusting his instincts and memory, Jay adjusted the prosthetic tailfin and leaned left and Kai followed the action by angling his body left, and they made it past the first pillar. Kai quickly swerved back right and Jay tried to keep up; shifting his weight and the tailfin as another pillar flew past. He tried to keep up as Kai did most of the work. Everything around them was a blur of grey and black rock, but there was something there. Inside, waiting for the moment.
Jay barely had time to think as Kai seemed to roll in mid-air, not even noticing as the blood rushed to Jay's head and gravity tried to pull him down.
They both moved in synch, and within seconds they were out of the maze of stone. The sky seemed to clear as they left the fog, returning to the clear blue they had seen before. Jay was panting in adrenaline, and slowly he realized what they had done. Happiness seemed to be radiating from Kai in waves, and Jay couldn't help but laugh as he threw his arms in the air.
"Yes!" He shouted, closing his eyes as he took at the moment. Jay felt Kai move under him and looked forward before his face fell. "Oh come on..." He groaned. One important thing he learned about dragonbloods was that while humans celebrated by cheering and jumping around, dragonbloods celebrated by creating a wall of fire and flying through it...
Jay shuttered, still trying to come to terms with what they had done. We had both landed safely on a small cliff that stood off a larger cliff face, and Kai had lit a small fire before sitting down against the rock wall, happily smirking as he devoured some meat Jay had managed to get Ninjago. Suddenly Kai looked up as if he had heard something, before shrugging it off and looking at his friend.
"Hungry?" He asked, offering Jay a half-eaten chicken leg.
"Uh... no thank you." He politely declined with a small smile as he shifted away from the chewed on meat. Kai snorted before going back to his own meal.
"I'll have some if you let me have a look at your knife?" He suggested and Kai thought about it for a moment.
"Deal." He sighed as he hesitantly handed over his knife. As Jay's hands passed over his knife the dragonblood seemed to flinch, and for a second Jay thought he was going to pull back his blade, but instead he slid it into the human's hand.
"One scratch and-"
"You'll tear off my head and cut my eyes out with a rusty fork I know." He finished and Kai froze for a second, and Jay grinned as he realized he used the mind link to find out what he was going to say.
"I was going to say I'd burn your deck in the fiery pits of hell, but either will do." He shrugged and Jay held back a laugh as Kai tried to cover it up, but one of the positives yet negatives of a mind link was you could tell when the other was lying. Jay carefully examined the blade, and the realization finally hit him.
"It's flawless." He breathed in awe. Kai chuckled and Jay realized he had just fed his ego again, as he handed the other's blades back.
"No weapon is flawless, but this is as close as they get." He brushed off, Jay shook his head knowing Kai was a hopeless cause when the sound of wings beating broke through the quiet solitude. Jay looked up and saw three dragonbloods flying towards them, as Kai growled under his breath. As they landed, Jay realized the three of them as Smoke, Energy, and Form Dragonbloods. He recognized them from the books back in the great hall back in Ninjago.
The Smoke Dragonblood's bright ebony eyes sat concealed within the creature's narrow, thorny skull with large, angular ears.
A row of tendrils ran down the sides of each of its jawlines. Its nose was flat and had two short, rounded nostrils. Several rows of large teeth poked out from the side of its mouth. A strong neck ran down from its head and into a bulky body. The top of its body was covered in curved ash grey scales. It also had a row of small darker grey spikes running down its spine and its bottom was covered in thick blacks skin. Four slim limbs carried its long body and allowed the creature to stand towering and elegantly over them.
Each limb had four digits, each of which ended in narrow nails seemingly made of onyx.
Delicate wings grew from its sharp shoulders. The wings were almost angel-like, the skin of the wings seemed to glow as if made from silver glitter and small, sharp tips grew from each ending like massive spears. Its narrow tail ended in a curled tip and was covered in the same curved scales as its body. The Energy Dragonblood was much smaller than the other two, so Jay guessed it was a child. Its dark emerald eyes sat far within its horned, narrow skull.
Several small tendrils sat atop its head, just above its warped ears.
Several rows of small crystal growths ran down the sides of each of its jawlines. Its nose was short and had two small, pointy nostrils and there was a crystal growth on its chin. A short neck ran down from its head and into a slender body. The top of its body was covered in smooth emerald scales and its bottom half was covered in wide, golden scales. The beast had four mighty limbs that carried its body and each limb had five digits, each of which ended in huge talons seemingly made of gold.
Its gigantic wings grew from just above its shoulders and end at its hips.
The wings were bladed in structure. Thick-skin and eerie bone structures made up most of the wing and small, sharp tips grew from each ending like massive spears. Its barbed tail ended in a single tendril and was covered in the same smooth skin as the rest of its body. Jay gulped as the Form Dragonblood seemed to glare a hole into his head. Savage violet eyes sat gracefully within the creature's thorny, narrow skull, which gave it a frightening looking appearance.
Several enormous central horns sat atop its head, just above its thick, curved ears.
A row of tiny horns ran down the sides of each of its jawlines. Its nose was stubby and has two large, slitted nostrils. A lean neck ran down from its head and into a long, slim body. The top was covered in smooth, dark purple skin, and rows of thick armor plating ran down its spine. The bottom of its body was covered in black, stone-like scales. Four slender limbs carried its body and each limb had six digits, each of which ended in keen talons seemingly made of crystal.
Delicate wings grew from its shoulders and were bat-like.
The edges of the skin inside the wings were tattered and damaged and armor-like scales grew on top of the wing's primary bones. Its simple tail ended in a scythe-like blade and was covered in the same smooth skin as its body. As soon as they landed they transformed Jay could see the smirks on the Form and Smoke Dragonbloods' faces. He had been right when he thought the Energy Dragonblood was younger than the others, looking around the age of twelve.
He had long, blonde tousled hair, and brown arched eyebrows with bright emerald green eyes that many people would state could sometimes glow in the dark.
He wore a dark green jacket with a white t-shirt and black pants and black and dark green sneakers. The Smoke Dragonblood had gray hair in a spiky fashion. He had thick black eyebrows and lines on either side of his mouth. He has a grey, padded square-patterned on his body with black gloves and brown and gray shoulder pads. He had a large belt with a gray buckle and a brown interior. His legs and waistline had silver chainmail-like material on them.
The Form Dragonblood had medium-length, bright purple hair with darker purple eyes.
She was wearing pale purple leather armor with a red and gold metal corset with a matching belt.
"Hey, there hothead." The Form Dragonblood smirked as they walking over to Kai casually, while the latter stood away from the rest before Jay realized it was watching him. After a stare-off with the female dragonblood, Jay glanced over to where the other two had gone. Kai had not moved and somehow managed to stand his ground while sitting. The other two-towered overhead, but it was obvious which way the pecking order went. Kai was in control, and neither the Form nor the Smoke Dragonblood liked it.
The silver-haired male opened his mouth to speak.
"Where've you been, idiot?" He growled his voice harsh and demanding respect.
"Yeah, we heard Nya's been worried." She chuckled, an almost sadistic look in her eyes. The blonde-haired dragonblood moved closer to Jay, sighing under his breath, flicking his fringe away from his eyes.
"Yeah, I heard a rumor someone saw her crying." The other two dragonblood's laughed harshly, and Jay saw Kai pull his hand into a fist.
"Wittle old Nya crying for her big brother." He mocked as Kai grounded his teeth together, but not letting his anger show to the others.
"You've obviously fallen for one of Lasha's little mind tricks again, Ash, but that's no surprise; you petty thieves are never particularly bright," Kai smirked as the Smoke Dragonblood, Ash, and the female stepped back in shock and the blonde-haired boy's laughed. Jay also held back a laugh, but he knew being the little human he would be dead before he could scream.
"You think we're low! I'm not sitting on my arse associating with that... thing!" The woman snarled as he motioned at Jay and the human felt himself flinch, but he should have been used to worse.
"Associating, that's a big word Chamille, been using that dictionary?" The Energy Dragonblood looked ready to fall in a heap of laughter, as Ash and Chamille fumed, but Kai barely noticed. "And anyway, I'm not the one dragging Lloyd around, causing trouble, and Jay's better company than you; at least he has more than one functioning brain cell." He added and Jay felt the corner of his lip turn to a smile but saw out the corner of my eye the youngest look at him in horror.
As if that information made him ten times more dangerous.
Kai and Ash started fighting, as Chamille sat down nearby to watch. Jay looked to see the Energy Dragonblood, who he now knew was called Lloyd, watching him again, and sighed. An idea struck him and he slowly reached into his bag. The boy started to growl, ready to attack, but Jay saw him relax as he pulled out a handful of meat. He hesitated, before tossing the dragonblood the meat. Lloyd caught the meat with ease and quickly sat down, tearing into the food.
Jay almost laughed at the clear lack of table manners that all dragonbloods seemed to have.
When Lloyd finished, he looked over the human and Jay smiled softly. Slowly Lloyd stood and walked closer to the ginger-haired teen. Jay tried not to be bothered by the fact when the dragonblood sat next to him. Before too long he found the dragonblood head resting on his shoulder, acting as if to be asleep. He could sense Kai mentally laughing as he and Ash verbally sparred, and Jay felt like punching him. That's when he caught on to the fact Chamille was watching him, shaking her head in utter disbelief.
"His parents trusted up to teach him how dangerous humans are, and we bump into the only human ever that wouldn't try to kill a dragonblood on sight."
"Oh...sorry?" He muttered nervously as she laughed at him, and he realized how stupid he sounded. "Never mind."
"Ha! That's brilliant."
"Glad to be of amusement." He replied as she stopped laughing, giving him a pleading look.
"The name's Chamille, do I get something to eat?" She almost demanded and Jay turned his bag inside out, showing he didn't have any food left to share.
"Sorry."
"Pity." She huffed, looking over to the horizon, before standing up and stretching. "We best be off, up Lloyd." She ordered and the boy who had been leaning on Jay shot up and walked over to her as quick as possible, as she looked over at Kai and the Smoke Dragonblood. Seeing they were still fighting, she sighed. "How do you feel about another buddy?" He asked and Jay glanced over to the other two, knowing the answer already.
"Thanks for the offer, but I'll pass."
"You sure? I insist you take Smoky." She laughed again, before walking over and dragging Ash away by the collar.
"I'm gonna kill you one day you smug prick I swear!" He roared. Kai waved as the dragonbloods transformed and flew off, but not before Lloyd turned to Jay.
"See ya, Jay."
"See ya later kid." Jay waved and Lloyd transformed before following the other two dragonbloods. Jay watched the three vanished from sight, as my heart fell to my stomach. "Everything we know about you guys is wrong."...