Masters Of The Mountain
Disclaimer: Jeanette, and other OC's are mine!
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Hope you like! And please review, thank you!
Inside the Monastery of Spinjitzu. Cole and Rocky are inside the game room, playing Prime Empire when Lloyd walks in with a basket of laundry.
"Are you seriously playing video games right now?" Lloyd is surprised and annoyed.
"It's my day off." Cole replied. "Why wouldn't I be playing video games? Besides I'm not playing, Rocky and the chicken are."
Rocky smiles at Lloyd.
"We've been gone for weeks, Cole, and this monastery won't clean itself! We've got laundry to do, leaves to rake, firewood to chop, and don't even get me started on repairing the sentry cannons outside the wall." Lloyd listed the chore list.
Cole wasn't paying attention. "That sounds like a lot of work." He said as he continued to watch his son play the game. "Sure you don't wanna play?"
"Yeah!" Rocky turns to the blonde with a smile, holding up an extra controller. "Come play!"
Lloyd continued to look annoyed. "Did you just hear me? Cole, we've got a ton to do and." He paused as he turns to look at the TV. "Wait. What game is this?"
"Prime Empire." Both Cole and Rocky answered.
"What?" Lloyd turns back to Cole in shock.
"What 'what'? Cole asked, then turned to the blonde. "What's wrong?"
"Oh, nothing." Lloyd started. "Except we were just trapped in that game and got cubed!"
Rocky frowned. "Cubed?" He turns to look up at his father. "What does that mean?"
Cole patted his son's head. "Nothing to worry about champ." He said, causing his son's frown to deepen.
Cole looks back to Lloyd. "You need to let go of the past, Lloyd. Anyway, it's totally safe. Unagami and Dyer worked out the kinks and it's really fun."
Rocky continued to look up at Cole. "Daddy, you said you'd help me with this level."
Cole took the controller. "Look Lloyd, we need to concentrate. Just about to beat this level."
Lloyd sighs, then looks back into the hallway, he knew if Jeanette found him not doing chores then he'd be in trouble. But no sign of her, so he tossed the basket of laundry to the corner and joined the two on the couch. "I guess one game wouldn't hurt."
XxXxXxXx
Out in the courtyard Jay and Nya are raking leaves.
"Ugh, how are there this many leaves? I don't even see any trees." Jay complained.
"They blow over the walls Jay. And we've been gone a while." Nya told him, pausing in her work to look at him. "Aspheera's invasion, our little trip to the Never-Realm, being stuck in Prime Empire."
Jay stops raking and looks around. "Ya know, I haven't seen Jeanette since yesterday."
Nya pauses and looks at him. "She's either with Misako or Skylor. According to Lloyd, Jen wouldn't stop crying last night, he tried to calm her down, but it wouldn't work."
Jay frowns. "What? But Lloyd can always get Jeanette to calm down!"
Nya shook her head, going back to raking. "Not this time."
Jay sighs, then goes back to raking too, but he pauses to complain again. "This will take forever to clean up." He watches some leaves flutter in the wind. "Unless."
"No!" Nya said in a warning tone. "Don't get any ideas."
"What? We could be done instantly!" Jay smiles.
"If Master Wu sees you using Spinjitzu to take shortcuts like raking leaves, he's gonna be furious!"
"Oh, he won't know. He's been locked in with his scrolls all day."
"Please don't." Nya sighed.
Jay does Spinjitzu, gathering all the leaves. "Yeah! Woo-hoo! Nice! Haha!" He cheers, then comes out of Spinjitzu." He smiles with pride.
Nya then sees something over his shoulder and she gasps, Jay turns around to see Master Wu emerging from the giant pile. "Aah! Ahem, um!" He straightened to attention. "Master Wu! Sorry, Uh, I got all hopped up on dreams of efficiency and it." He trails off when Master Wu just walks past him without a word. "Uh, what?"
Both Nya and Jay watch as Wu walks into the Monastery and closes the doors.
"Huh. That was weird. Master Wu just totally passed up an opportunity to lecture you on something." Nya commented, moving towards the building. "Lloyd is going to want to know about this."
Jay nods. "Yeah. First Jeanette is acting weird, and now Master Wu." He folds his arms. "What the devil is going on around here? I warned Cole to not make that meatloaf last night!"
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"Grandma, how come mommy won't come out of her room?"
Misako smiles at Alizah. "Because she's not feeling well." She held out a hand. "Now come, let's go find your daddy's new stashing place for his candy."
"But I thought Cole found it." Alizah said with a frown as she took her grandmother's hand, and Misako started to pull her further down the hall.
"Sweetheart, have you noticed something different about Uncle Wu?" Misako asks gently.
Alizah looks off in thought. "Yeah! He's been acting funny and not the same."
The two walk towards Master Wu's room. "You were staring out the window." Lloyd's voice came from inside.
"I've noticed it too, Wu." Misako said as she and Alizah walk in, gaining both Lloyd's and Wu's attention.
"Misako?" Wu looks at her.
Lloyd smiles. "Mom!"
Alizah smiles as she runs over and tackles Lloyd. "Hi daddy!"
Lloyd smiles as he picks her up. "Hi sweetie."
"You've been quiet lately." Misako said as she walks further into the room. "You haven't been yourself. Are you sure nothing's bothering you?"
Wu again sighs. "Perhaps I'm, ah, how should I put it? Feeling my age a little bit."
Lloyd frowns, he looks down at his daughter. "Alizah, why don't you go play with Rocky?"
The child smiles. "Ok!" She turns and runs out of the room.
Lloyd turns back to face his uncle. "Your age? But, Master, that's ridiculous! You don't look a day over a hundred." Wu glares at him. "That's not old! And besides, you're the most skilled fighter I've ever seen! You know more about Spinjitzu than the rest of us put together! You fought all of us at once and kicked our butts! Remember that?"
"Yes." Wu smiles. "Yes, I do. That was fun."
"We couldn't have saved Ninjago all these times without your help, Master Wu." Lloyd continued.
Wu stands from his stool. "Saving Ninjago is for the young." He said, placing his hand on his nephew's shoulder. "And your last few adventures you did just fine on your own." He removes his hand and turns around.
"That's not true." Lloyd told him.
Wu picks up the scroll that's on the table. "You handled yourselves admirably in Prime Empire without me." He moves to put the scroll back. "And against Aspheera, and in the Never-Realm. The truth is, you don't need me anymore Lloyd."
Lloyd walks up to his uncle. "That is not true!"
Wu looks at him. "It's ok Lloyd." He moves to put the scroll away. "All masters face this moment eventually. The time when their students no longer need them." He walks away with Lloyd and Misako watching with worriedly.
XxXxXxXx
The team - minus Jeanette, is now stood in the courtyard, standing around Jay.
"This is incredible!" Kai exclaimed.
"Are you sure this isn't a mistake?" Nya questions.
Jay gasps. "Its real!" He cried, jumping up in excitement. "It's gotta be! It's addressed to us, look!" He shows it to her.
The doors open to reveal Lloyd. "What? What is it? Bad news?" He asks as he walks over to them.
"It is highly unusual." Zane said.
"Ooh, we gotta get ready!" Jay cheers.
"What?" Lloyd questions, jumping down from the steps. "Someone's located the Teapot of Tyrahn? Uh, Pythor's back? My father's been found? What?"
"Heh." The postman laughs, causing Lloyd to turn to him. "You got an invitation. To Shintaro!"
"Shintaro?" Lloyd is completely confused.
"Mm-hmm, the Ivory City! You don't deliver one of these every day. No siree." The postman smiles.
Jay opens the invitation and the secret city's symbol appears. "Oh ho! Fancy card!"
"That's the fanciest card I've ever seen." Cole said, pushing Zane away, the Master of Earth then smells the card. "Oh, it even smells good."
"Shintaro?" Lloyd is still confused, while behind him Master Wu's chicken chases the postman away. "As in, Shintaro?"
"As in the remote and exclusive mountain kingdom of Northern Ninjago." PIXAL explained.
"Invitations to Shintaro are exceedingly rare. In recorded history, there have only been a handful of outsiders allowed into the Ivory City." Zane added.
"I've heard it's incredible! It's the most beautiful city in the world. And the people have wings. Haha! You can't beat wings." Jay cried with excitement.
"What's it say? The invitation." Lloyd wants to know.
Jay clears his throat. '"King Vangelis of the Northern Kingdom of Shintaro of the Sky Folk, kindly requests your and your children's presence,' of course he does, "as honored guests," oh, that makes sense, "to celebrate the birthday of the princess, Vania." He reads the invite.
"Princess Vania." Cole asks. "Who's that?"
"Apparently, the daughter of King Vangelis." Nya replied as she walked around Jay to take Cole's arm.
"Little is known about Shintaro." Zane said. "Up until recently, it was still considered a mythical place."
"Well, it looks like we're gonna see it." Cole said with a smile. "In person!" He, Jay, Nya and Kai cheer.
"Let's go!" Nya exclaimed as she, Cole and Kai turn to run off.
"Ooh, I'm gonna pack!" Jay cried, giving the invite to Lloyd before racing off.
"Let's get the Bounty ready!" Kai exclaims. Zane and PIXAL quickly follow the Ninja.
Wu, Jeanette, and Misako come walking out from the open doors.
"What's this about Shintaro?" Wu questions.
Lloyd turns to them. "Jen!" He smiles brightly as she walks up to him and kisses his cheek, then takes the invite to look it over herself. "We've been invited to the Kingdom of Shintaro, to attend Princess Vania's birthday." Lloyd explained. "Master Wu, this is just what you need. This will get you out of your funk!"
"I am not in a "funk"." Master Wu denies, choosing to ignore Jeanette's giggle. "And I'm not going. I'll stay here with Misako, and PIXAL. I can assist her in the Hangar Bay."
Lloyd comes up to his mother. "He's in a funk." He whispers, then goes back to his uncle. "But how often does a chance to visit a legendary fabled kingdom come your way?"
"I've visited my share of legendary fabled kingdoms." Wu replied. "Once you've seen one, you've seen them all." He turns and walks over to the steps and sits down. "You go. Enjoy yourselves." He slumps his shoulders. "You don't need me tagging along."
"But Master Wu, you're our Sensei and Master! Not to mention you're Lloyd's uncle!" Jeanette reminded.
Misako walks up to stand in front of Wu as she places her hands on her hips. "Now, you listen to me, Wu. I've had about enough of this moping around. You are going with the ninja!"
"I can't go charging off to far-flung places!" Wu said as he stood up on the steps. "Adventures and legendary kingdoms are for the young." He sits back down and looks at Misako. "You of all people should understand that."
Misako glares angrly at Wu. "Why should I understand?"
Wu quickly realizes is mistake. "Uh, w-what I meant to say was, uh, um." He stutters as Misako walks closer to Wu. "You listen to me, Wu. You are going on this journey, and you are going to like it! Is that understood?"
"But-but I - the chicken need." Wu continues to stutter.
"Understand!?" Misako turns around and walks over to Lloyd. "He's in."
"Yes!" Lloyd cheers as he pumps a fist. "This is gonna be just what we need!" He smiles at Jeanette.
"I'm sorry Lloyd, but I'm not going this time." She kisses him gently then turns and walks back towards the open doors, Lloyd watches her leave.
XxXxXx
The Bounty sails between mountains.
"Though, my optic circuits are inputting full visual data, somehow the zeroes and ones of my code cannot convey the grandeur of this moment." Zane smiles.
"Yeah." Jay agrees. "It's like." He places a hand on his chin in thought. "Like." He then throws his arms into the air. "Totally super cool!"
"That really captured the moment beautifully, Jay. Thanks." Nya told him.
Lloyd lifts Alizeh up onto his hip. "It really is beautiful, isn't it?"
"Yeah!" Alizeh agreed with a smile, she looks towards Wu who was standing next to Cole, who has Rocky sitting on his shoulders. "Isn't it, Uncle Wu?" She asks him.
Wu only sighs.
"Yeah, beats doing chores back at the monastery, that's for sure." Cole said with a grin, while Lloyd gives him a look as he shakes his head, just before they heard screeches.
"Daddy, what was that?" Rocky asks.
"There is something you should know." Zane said, gaining everyone's attention. "Early accounts of the mythical city of Shintaro claimed that the mountains surrounding it were home to a vicious species of bat, called the 'Dire Bat.'"
"Dire Bat?" Cole repeated the name as he sits Rocky back down on the floor of the Bounty.
"There is much debate among historians as to whether Dire Bats are real or fiction." Zane continued, while holding a Clutch Powers book.
"Pfft. Haha, that's gotta be made up." Jay said as he moves to the railing, and suddenly a Dire Bat swoops down and grabs him off the Bounty.
Both Alizeh and Rocky cried out, grabbing onto their respective fathers.
"Aah! Not made up! Not made up! Not made up! Aah!" Jay cries.
Another Dire Bat swoops down and knocks Nya down, sending her flying and landed on the lower part of the Bounty, then it lands in front of her.
"Mommy!" Rocky cried, as Lloyd jumps over and lands on the Dire Bat's head before kicking the creature away.
Rocky runs up to Kai, grabbing his arm and using his other hand to point. "Uncle, look!"
Kai looks up to see the two creatures tearing the sails of the mast. "Uh! They're trying to take us down!" He runs over and jumps for the mast, shooting fire at them. "Shoo! Shoo, bats!"
"Get inside the Bounty!" Cole ordered, then moved and ran to jump off the Bounty, creating his Energy Dragon. "I'm coming for you, buddy!" He calls to Jay, who's still dangling from the Dire Bat.
"Wait! Hold on! Can-can we be friends?" Jay asks the Dire Bat, who throws him. "Aah!" He soon drops down behind Cole on his dragon. "Phew!" He then throws his arms around Cole from behind as he yells. "Best friend, ever!"
"What do we do? How do we stop them?" Nya asks as more Dire Bats swoop all around them.
"Use your Elemental Powers!" Master Wu answered, as behind him a Dire Bat is flying right towards him.
"Uncle!" Lloyd cries when he sees the bat, Zane tackles Wu just before the bat attacks and he flies right into the pole of the mast, and the Bounty starts to tilt. Kai, who was standing on top cries out as he falls.
Everyone starts to slid to one side of the Bounty as crates fall off and and drop through the clouds, and the Dire Bats retreat.
The Bounty nearly crashes into a mountain. "Brace for impact!" Lloyd yells. But the impact never comes and the Bounty is slowly lifted upright again.
Nya runs over to Kai, whose dangling off the side, she grabs his arm. "How?" She asks as he turns and does a double take.
"Uh, guys? You're not gonna believe this." He said, and his sister pulls him back onto the Bounty.
The door of inside the Bounty slams open. "Daddy!" Alizeh, Rocky, and Blaze come running out.
"Greetings, honored guests!" Hailmar greeted warmly, flying down to the Ninja as the three children run for their respective father. Rocky hugging Cole, as Alizeh hugs Lloyd and Kai scoops up Blaze. "I am Hailmar. Right hand of King Vangelis. I welcome you to the Kingdom of Shintaro." Hailmar continues, then bows.
"You just saved our lives!" Lloyd said in amazement.
Aliezh smiles as she clings to her father. "Thank you for saving us! Your wings are pretty."
Hailmar returns the smile. "Thank you, Little One. And it was the least we could do. The Dire Bats are a plague. They are one of the many reasons we discourage visitors, for their own safety. But come, let us put our woes behind us and welcome you to the Ivory City of Shintaro." He gestures towards the clouds as a beautiful city comes into view.
"Well, you don't see that every day." Cole said as the Ninja stare with complete shock.