Hiya, I'm back again! And I'm actually writing this chapter at a normal time of day for the UK, not twenty past one in the morning! Maybe miracles are real...
Anyway, welcome back to Running Wild!
Before we begin, I just wanted to apologise once again for the change in names. This story used to be called Shifting the Scales of Balance, with the other story being called Different, but then I realised I had the plots wrong, so now this story has been called Running Wild while the other one is now called Shifting the Scales of Balance. So I am sorry once again.
To avoid any more confusion, here is a quick recap:
Lloyd, Kai, Cole, Jay, Zane, Nya, Akita, Skylor and Pixal all went on a camping trip together around Ninjago. While there, they encountered a black wolf with an injured leg. The helped the wolf and she asked Akita to be able to stay with the team. The entire team agreed and the wolf stayed.
Then a group of hunters came out of nowhere and grabbed Nya and Skylor from behind, drawing all attention. The leader had a conversation with Lloyd about some rare and dangerous species that needed to be wiped out, and Lloyd quickly tried to defend both wolves (Akita and the black wolf) but another consciousness entered his head and gave all of them instructions. The consciousness told them all to run, so they did, only to find that the black wolf was no longer behind them.
Instead, there was a large black griffin.
The griffin scared off the humans, and slowly turned into the black wolf again. It then tried to leave, but the team stopped it, and the wolf stayed.
The next morning, everyone awoke to screaming, as Cole had woken up to find another human where the black wolf had been the night before. If you would like another description of her, I'm afraid you will have to look back at the previous chapter, because it is now time to start this one!
So, now that that's out of the way, let's begin chapter two of Running Wild!
Quick note! There are some made-up words in this chapter, so here is a pronunciation guide. There will be another one of these at the bottom of the chapter.
Monólyn - moh-NOH-lihn
Monóliné -moh-NOH-lih-neh
Lloyd paces around the clearing, Akita padding along beside him. The black wolf sits at one edge of the circle, ears bent down slightly, presumably in shame. Cole, Zane, Pixal, Nya and Jay perch on or lean against a few of the logs surrounding the empty fire pit, their eyes flitting between Lloyd and the black wolf. Kai and Skylor stand behind one of the logs in silence, occasionally shooting each other glances. Skylor bites her lip as her eyes return to Lloyd and Akita. The Green Ninja turns and stares at the black wolf accusingly.
"First Akita," he growls, "then you. What is it with Formlings not telling us that they're humans too?!" Akita bites her lip as well and ducks her head slightly, a light blush creeping onto her cheeks. She still wishes that she hadn't lied to Lloyd. He soon rounds on her. "And why didn't you tell us that you can mentally communicate?!" He exclaims, oblivious to the obvious look of shock and confusion on her face.
"I... I can't..." She replies, her eyebrows knitted together.
"And I am not what you called a Formling." The now slightly familiar voice of the black wolf rings in their minds, and all eyes immediately flick to her.
"So... what are you?" Jay asks nervously, gripping Nya's arm tightly. "If you don't mind me asking, that is! I mean, you say you're not a Formling, and you're clearly not human, so what could you possibly be?"
The black wolf shakes her head slowly, a huffed sigh escaping her lips. "There are many names for us, though as far as I know, 'Formlings' is not one of them. They do, however, include Animagi, werewolves, werecats, or whatever animal one may become, a few have been called vampires, but we are most known as shapeshifters. However, there are differences between each name's meaning and origin. For example, a werecat is one who can only become a cat-human hybrid. A werewolf is one who can only become a wolf-human hybrid. This is because of the combination of the words 'were' meaning man and, in the second example, 'wolf'. Werewolf, man-wolf. An Animagus is one who can become an animal such as a dog, a deer, a rat, a beetle, etc, but they can only become one animal, like the werewolves and werecats. Vampires can change between bats and humans, nothing more. Shapeshifter is a much more diverse name, and can be given to any creature with the ablitly to change its form. However, the real name for us in our native language is Monólyn, or Monóliné for a singular one of us."
Everyone exchanges glances with each other, refusing to spare the black wolf a single one. Until she flinches and whimpers.
Akita immediately flicks her head towards her, concern flashing in her dark eyes, even as the black wolf lays her head on the grass and wipes her paws over her ears, flattening them further.
"Please, try and keep all your thoughts in line while mentally communicating, you'll give me a headache within seconds!"
Confused, Lloyd speaks up. "Sorry, none of us realised that our thoughts in turmoil would cause you pain or distress..."
"It is fine, but remember that everything you think, if you think it correctly, will enter my mind though the mental link used in the communication, and I will hear it."
A slight ripple of fear seems to echo in the group, passing through the concerned looks the ninja and their team shoot towards each other.
"What do you mean, if we think it correctly?" Lloyd asks hesitantly, his voice threatening to break, which would add insult to injury. Somehow, it finds a way to stay stable.
"There are two different kinds of thoughts. Ones the mind wants to share, and ones the mind wants to keep to itself. Most thoughts, whether they are subconscious or not, are the latter. However, if you are in a mental communication link with a shapeshifter and have a thought of the first category, that thought will be transmitted trough that link. A private thought will, on the other hand, not be passed through the mental link during conversation." A collective matter of realisation flitters through the group as the black wolf stands and begins to pace back and forth. "Now, what do we plan to do with the rest of the day? We waste time sitting here to discuss my abilities, when we could easily complete a task doing the same thing. Besides, I am growing tired of this topic of conversation, and I have been told that I am no fun to be around when I am bored. So, what is our plan?"
The group share another glance, much to the wolf's annoyance. She growls slightly, a low ripple of noise tearing through the silence of the camp.
"I don't think we actually had any plans for today..." Lloyd replies, and the wolf lifts her head, eyes wide.
"Really? Well then, surely we must find something to do for today, since we have the entire day at our disposal. There will be about ten more hours of sunlight before dusk, so we could theoretically complete a number of tasks. Or, if you have no necessary things to do, we could get to know each other better. I have spent many years among your kind, and I know how these camp games normally work." Everyone's eyes flick to the wolf, eyes wide or with one eyebrow raised. "You all seem intrigued. Very well then. Do any of you have any bags of candy or anything? This game works best with one of those." Jay and Lloyd immediately blush slightly and retreat into their tents, mumbling about how heir midnight feast was ruined before it could even begin, gaining chuckles and eye-rolls from the other members of the camp. Both boys emerge minutes later, clutching bags that look fit to burst. The black wolf's eyes lighten, and she seems to grin.
Hesitantly, she pushes herself up onto her hind legs. The humans, Formling and nindroids look on in confusion as her fur ripples and loses its shadowy colour, becoming a midnight blue. Her fur changes its substance, it's length increasing around her head while it retreats over the rest of her body. In its place appear dark blue jeans and a plain shirt of a similar shade. The long sleeves extend down her arms even as blue trainers appear on her feet. Her skin becomes the dark shade it had been that morning when Cole had accidentally discovered her in her human form. As it did before, her midnight hair covers half of her face, though this time it isn't with natural curls. Instead of the waves, short side-swept bangs cover her right eye and Nya seems to eye them with envy even as she crosses her legs and reaches out her hands for the bags of candy, which Jay and Lloyd reluctantly hand over, lost for words. Cole's jaw drops and Kai stares with wide eyes. The girl gestures for the rest of the group to arrange themselves in a circle and everyone obliges, mentally agreeing not to get on the shapeshifter's bad side.
"How this game works," she announces with an odd accent that no one recognises, "is that the bag of candy gets passed around each turn. Every time the bag comes to you, you take a piece of candy and state your name before telling everyone a random fact about you. This continues until the bag is empty or people get bored." With that, she reaches into the first bag and plucks out a bright orange sweet. "My name is Luna, and I am a shapeshifter from a forest near here. I am said to be the most advanced female left." She passes the bag to her left before popping the candy in her mouth. Nya carefully takes the bag from her and pulls out a blue sweet similar to Luna's.
"I'm Nya, and I'm allergic to kiwi." She says before passing the bag to Jay.
Even the ninja team find out new things about each other through Luna's game, including the facts that Lloyd is afraid of heights, Jay's favourite time of day is three P.M. for some reason, Kai still has his first stuffed toy hidden away somewhere (but no one could get him to spill where he had hidden it), Cole's favourite song is, to everyone's surprise, the Cupid Shuffle, Skylor has broken her wrist more times than she can remember, Pixal physically can not perform a perfect front flip without assistance, Akita has never heard of grapes, and Zane once made enough soup to feed the entirety of the team for two months.
By sundown, the two bags of candy are empty and the circle continue to share random facts about themselves even without the candy. Luna smiles and leans back slightly, propping herself up on her elbows as she raises her head upwards to look at the stars above. The moon shines bright in the dark sky, casting shadows through the trees. Kai soon steps forward and ignites the fire pit, starting a crackling fire to provide the warmth and light needed to survive in the wilderness. Hours of jokes and facts pass in seemingly seconds, but the team soon retreat to their tents, bidding each other farewell. Akita hangs around outside her tent before clearing her throat.
"You can stay in my tent with me tonight if you wish, Luna."
The shapeshifter raises her head again from where she had rested it on the grass and smiles gently.
"Thank you, but I would prefer to stay out here." Akita nods and hides in her tent, sealing the flap behind her. Luna smiles and shifts back into her black wolf form before curling up around herself and drifting off to sleep.
I know this chapter may be a bit shorter than the previous one, and I'm sorry for that. But this is all for now, until the next update.
I hope you all enjoyed this new chapter, and I am really sorry for the massive wait. I am trying to get these chapters out, but I am also trying to get into a more healthy sleep schedule, so these may only be released on weekend and holidays, and since Christmas break is nearly here, these should be getting out a bit more within the next two weeks.
For now, however, this is it.
See you all soon!
-LunaPikazard