Why was my pillow so hard?
Come to think of it, why was I sleeping half sitting up?
Groggily, I tried to lever myself into lying down, but something hard and cool pressing up against me from behind kept me from doing so. I tried to fluff up my pillow, but my hand just slipped right along its rough surface.
What was going on?
At a loss, I opened my eyes and peered around me. I was in a clearing in a forest. Jay and Nya were with me, but nobody else. The sky above me was dark and just beginning to lighten with the first rays of dawn.
Huh?
Memories came rushing back to me: going to pick strawberries, the Serpentine attacking, losing Zane, going on a mission to get him back, taking a break. Apparently our break had taken much longer than anticipated. That was more than a little worrisome. We didn't have the time to take long breaks. Or rather, more importantly, Zane didn't have the time.
Jumping to my feet, I rushed over to Nya, grabbing her by the arm and shaking her. "Wake up! C'mon, Nya, wake up!"
Her eyelids cracked open and she stared at me for a moment, then she brushed my hand off of her arm, rolled over onto her stomach, and closed her eyes again.
Oh no she didn't. I grabbed her arm again and began shaking harder. "Nya! This is important! You've got to wake up!"
"What's so important?" Nya muttered without opening her eyes.
"Uh, how about rescuing Zane?" I demanded.
Nya's eyes popped open and she sat up, looking around before locking eyes with me. "We slept."
"Yeah! Through the whole night!" I said frantically, leaving her and heading over to Jay, shaking him by the shoulder. "Jay, c'mon, Jay, wake up! Get up!"
"Mmm," Jay hummed tunelessly, swatting at my hand. "Go 'way."
"Get up!" I urged, shaking him by both shoulders now.
"Wha' is it?" Jay groaned.
"It's morning, that's what it is! The next day's morning!" I said.
Jay's eyes opened a bit and he peered around, eyes catching on the various trees and rocks surrounding us. "Huh. Why're we in a-"
"Because we're on our way to the School to get Zane back," I stated quickly. "Now get UP!"
"I'm getting, I'm getting," Jay grunted, sitting up. He yawned broadly, stretching. "Hngh. I'm getting up."
Satisfied for the moment that he was at least starting to be awake, I headed over to our backpacks, which Nya was already reloading with the food and supplies we'd taken out previously. Together, we made quick work of putting everything back in. I shrugged on my backpack, Nya put on hers, and I tossed Jay's at his feet.
"Let's go, let's go," I insisted when Jay took a moment to rub his eyes before putting his backpack on. "Come on, let's go!"
"I'm going!" Jay protested, slipping on his backpack.
We spread our wings, ran across the clearing, and were off into the sky. Normally, the fresh early morning air blowing against my face as I took off would've calmed me, but at the moment, I was too on edge. We'd wasted so much time. Who knew what had happened while we slept? Who knew what the whitecoats had done to Zane?
AN: Hope you're all enjoying reading this! I know I'm enjoying writing it. I'm also enjoying writing another Ninjago fanfiction, this one an AU of the movie, which I'll start publishing in the next few days. Keep an eye for "To Be the Son of Garmadon!"