Chapter Eighteen: Research Projects And Treasure Hunt Begins...
Lloyd grabbed the counter to keep himself from being knocked over as his friends tackled him, their voices piling on top of each other in their earnestness to catch up with him. "Guys! Can't breath!" Lloyd gasped out, a quick scramble to give him space quickly following his declaration.
"Sorry! But we were really worried about you kid!" Kai ruffled his hair, relief flashing in his eyes.
"Yeah... I noticed. Now back off. Scales, what do you know about the mission that this Snatcher guy was on?" Lloyd twisted around to resume his conversation with his mentor.
Scales sat his knife down, glowering at the others, he really liked the quiet, "Honestly... not much. He was sent to see if he could not find the Lost Treasure of Darkely's…."
"The what now." All six of the teens spoke in perfect unison.
Scales pinched the bridge of his nose, exasperation briefly flooding him. "The Lost Treasure of Darkley's. The Founders had taken a great deal of treasure from cultures all over the world, however they never told anyone where they hide this treasure of theirs. According to the legend, only the true heir of Darkley's will be able to find the treasure. They... supposedly left clues scattered in places that only a Darkley's agent can reach."
Lloyd mulled over the new facts that Scales just gave him for a minute, before nodding in acknowledgement. "Well then... maybe its time for us to prove that a ninja can find it better than a Darkley's agent. Where did you stumble upon Snatcher and me?"
Scales moved over to where Zane's laptop was resting, pausing briefly, as he glanced over at the teen. Zane nodded his approval, signaling that he knew that Scales was going to ask him if he could use the laptop. Scales quickly logged in, everyone knew Zane's password it seemed, pulling up something on the internet. "I found you not far from Gypsy Cove. It's..."
"Three clicks north of Cannon Beach." Nya interrupted him, surprise flashing in her eyes. "That's where we were vacationing before Scales joined up with us."
"It's also the most likely place to have any kind of clue on where I came from then." Lloyd decided not to ask how she knows how far from Cannon Beach that Gypsy Cove was.
"Then let's get going..." Cole shrugged, figuring that finding out about his birth family might be good for his friend.
"Um... yeah... you guys might wanna take a look at this..." Jay tapped away at the computer, pulling something up that made all of them freeze. An ancient pirate ship was just found abandoned in a hidden cave at the Cove... not only that but said pirate ship had Darkley's symbol carved into it. "It's all over the news. Chances are that Darkley's already knows and is sending someone right now to get that clue."
"Then we just have to be smarter and faster than them." Lloyd scoffed, already walking out of the room to load up the jet.
"Keep your eyes peeled! Mindroid and Nindroid are here!" Lloyd barked out into his earpiece. He didn't wait to see if any of them would acknowledge what he just said, before summoning his dragon to chase after the criminal brothers.
Dodging the many hot air balloons that were floating along in the air, apparently Gypsy Cove holds a hot air balloon festival every year and today was the first day of the festival. Cries of alarm escaped the innocent civilians as they pointed in his direction, none of them having seen a dragon before. Eyes narrowing, he leaned to the side a smidgen... snagging the clue, an old lantern of all things, right out of the bumbling duo's hands. "I'll take that! Thanks guys!" Lloyd quickly flipped around, flying as fast as he could away from them... all the while getting the feeling he was being watched... closely watched to be more precise. Shivering, Lloyd flew towards a familiar jet that was hovering in midair, waiting until he was within reach of the open door before dismissing his dragon. Lunging forward, he snagged his fingers on the bottom edge of the jet, before pulling himself in. Standing up, he slammed the door shut.
"Did you get it Cole?" Lloyd wiped his empty hands on his pants, not bothering to explain what it was that he was talking about.
"Oh yeah... honestly it is busy enough out there that it'll take them quite some time before they realize that you dropped the clue." Cole's voice crackled over the earpiece.
"That's good." Kai commented from where he was standing behind Zane. Zane hummed in agreement, but made no move to look away from the jet's controls.
Jay handed a water bottle to Lloyd, a grin on his face. "That was awesome! I mean did you see how you..."
Nya walked over and placed a hand over her boyfriend's mouth. "Jay... I think we all saw that."
Scales glanced at the other door to the jet, which slid open as Cole flew his dragon into it. The second he was inside, Cole dropped his dragon, and closed the door, before handing the lantern to Scales. "Hmm... one clue down... only a couple more to go."
"Yeah but first we need to figure out where this one leads to." Lloyd rolled his eyes as he eyed the old lantern.
Scales turned the lantern around... only for an old scroll to fall out of it suddenly. "Why didn't that fallout before now?" Jay asked as he shoved Nya's hand down.
Scales shook his head, before unrolling it. "Hmm... it looks like it is a map of some sort. Zane? Do you recognize where this leads? At least the general area..."
"Actually that leads to an ancient Fire Temple in the midst of the jungle. Last I checked Sis and I are the only ones that know it even exists." Kai interrupted Scales as he eyed the map.
Jay scratched the back of his neck, suddenly looking very nervous. "Don't turn on the news then. Some famous archeologist found it. Which means if there is any clue on it like the ship to let Darkley's know that there is a clue there..."
"Probably is. We best get moving."
A/N: Reviews:
CopperHillsGrizzly2010: Maybe its Ronin... maybe its someone else entirely. Hasn't Wu made an appearance already? If not, oops! Yeah he's there... with the Masters... in the background...