Announcer voice: Today, on a very short chapter of Way of the Dragon: A depressed Jinlong runs away in search of Lloyd! Will she succeed?
Jinlong voice: Chapter 8: Exit the Dragon
The past two days had been awful, but at least knitting was helping. Chores sure didn't, and neither did talking, so Jin spent most of her time knitting.
"Hey," Nya's voice made the dragon-girl look up from a half-made washcloth. "You should say goodbye to Sensei. He's leaving on some journey."
"Mph," She grunted, going back to her project. The words barely even registered, her mind focusing solely on her knitting needles. She heard Nya sigh, then the door slide shut.
Whatever. It was better than trying to talk to anyone, or take her attention off knitting. Because, undoubtedly, as soon as she did, her mind would wander to...Lloyd.
No, she chasitized herself. No, nope, back to knitting.
Lazy as she was, keeping her hands busy had always been a good way to keep her distracted. So, she knitted.
oOo
Her fingers hurt.
Sighing, Jinlong set down her needles, flexing her hands, wincing at the ache in her joints and tendons. Maybe she would take a break or something…
And do what?
Frowning, Jinlong thought. There wasn't much to do without the ninja, and hadn't Nya said they'd gone off to put up flyers for something? The black-haired girl herself was nowhere to be seen, as was usual for her those days. So what could she do?
What could she do about anything, really? She hadn't been able to get herself back home, or even figure out how and why she was in Ninjago. She hadn't been able to protect Lloyd. What could she do?
Sensei had said that Jin could do much good for the world. Was that true? Probably. People his age were rarely wrong. So, maybe…
Knowing what she had to do, the dragon-girl changed into her new clothes, save for her sunhat. She tied her golden hair back into a bubble ponytail, then strided out of her and Nya's room.
As she walked onto the deck and looked over the railing, the perennial chill of what the ninja had called Jamanakai Village seeped into her. Good thing she hadn't gone with the tank-top.
"Jin?"
The dragon-girl turned around to Nya, who wore a weary expression.
"Yeah?"
"Where are you going? The ninja left the village a while ago, apparently, so you won't find them there."
"I…" Gathering her courage, Jin took a deep breath. "I'm going to look for Lloyd."
A stormy look grew on Nya's light-brown face. "First Sensei, and now you too? Look, Jin, I know you're worried, I am too, but you can't just abandon the rest of us."
"I have to," Her voice came out more pleading than she would've liked. "Sensei told me I need to awaken my 'sleeping fist', and I know he was talking about saving Lloyd!"
"You sound like my brother," Nya muttered, rolling her sea-green eyes. "The boys rely on each other as they try to find their true potential. You should, too. We're all family here."
"Then Lloyd is our little brother," Jinlong nearly shouted, though not angrily. "Nya, I have to help him!"
The taller girl sighed. "Fine. But before you go, at least let me give you a decent pair of boots. Those rubber ones won't hold up."
And that was how Jin ended up with Nya's spare combat boots, and a pair of her turquoise socks.
"They might be a little small, you have pretty big feet," The black-haired girl said. "But they should work just fine."
"Thank you very much," Jin said earnestly as she walked back onto the deck. "And I promise I'll be back, hopefully soon."
"You'd better," Nya grinned. "I like having another girl around here."
Smiling and waving, Jinlong made her way off the Bounty, the snow crunching under her new-ish boots.
She, surprisingly, didn't need directions to get down from the mountain village. There was a long, steep path down that she took, taking large, skipping steps to get down faster. And because it was pretty fun.
By the time she'd gotten down, the sun was beginning to drop below the horizon, so she decided to set up camp, which actually just meant finding a nice little alcove to sleep in.
"Don' worry, Lloyd," She mumbled as she slowly dropped off to sleep. "I'll find you…"
oOo
Gentle, rocking waves and a petite hand running through her golden mane, petting her white scales. A voice, sweet like honey, dancing through her scenes.
"Xiao yongzhe long," The heavenly voice sang. "Ni shi jin..."
Ni shi jin.
Announcer voice: Next time, on Way of the Dragon: Jinlong finds Lloyd, but he's being held captive by dangerous Serpentine! What will she do? Find out tomorrow!