Announcer voice: Today, on Way of the Dragon: As the ninja and co. set sail for the Dark Island, they encounter a lone tower at sea. What secrets could it hold? Find out today!
Jinlong voice: Chapter 22: Tower of Death
Jinlong laughed, running- though not as fast as she could, for the sake of the children having fun- in spiraling, wild twists. Behind her, in a long line, quite a large group of evacuated children twisted behind her, their hands on the shoulders of the child before them, running. Jin was chasing the last child, the 'dragon's tail'. She'd played this game a thousand times before, 'Catching the Dragon's Tail', but it was far more fun with such a number of players.
"Jin! Jin, we're setting sail now!" Lloyd called from the Bounty.
The dragon-girl faltered, stumbling to a stop with a frown. The children stopped, too, looking up at her with round eyes.
"I've gotta be going now," She said apologetically. "Simon, you can lead now. Bye!"
The kids all groaned, or whimpered, besides from the now-elated Simon. Jin turned and jogged back onto the ship, standing beside the ninja, Wu, Misako, and Nya. They looked out over Kaiyo, the little seaside town they'd brought the evacuees to, waving at a few who had come to see them off. Cole's dad was there, Jay's parents, and a number of their fans. The Ultra Dragon had flown off that morning, since they didn't like staying put.
She knew that Kai and Nya's parents had either died or ran off long ago, and Lloyd's father was the very person they were going off to defeat. But she didn't know anything about Zane's parents. Granted, he was a robot and therefore wasn't born, but who built him? She was too embarrassed to ask.
They set off soon afterward, and slowly, slowly, Ninjago faded from view. It must have been odd for her friends, Jin realized, leaving the only continent they'd ever known. But it wasn't all that strange for her. After all, she'd inadvertently done that, like, 2 months ago.
Eventually, they all wandered into the Bridge, watching the screen that the falcon was relaying its vision to. The Dark Island was real, apparently. Jin had been doubtful at first, and she wasn't sure why. The past few months had proved to her that nothing was too weird to happen.
As they watched, though, they saw one of the Stone Warriors shoot an arrow, flying towards the camera, before the feed was cut. Jin gasped, looking over at a distraught Zane. He was incapable of crying, he'd said, but he looked near tears now.
"He...he was my only family," The nindroid whispered.
Jin stood up suddenly, forcing up a brave face.
"We're your family, Zane," She said. "And when we reach the Dark Island, we'll get the falcon back and fix him."
"Jin's right," Cole declared. "We're all family now."
oOo
There was a terrible storm that night, one that tossed the ship about so much that the ninja+co. ended up huddled in the lowest part of the ship, holding onto each other and the walls to keep from going flying.
The next morning, very early, when the tempest subsided, they ventured above deck to see that the sail had been torn badly, and the mast was near breaking.
"What a storm," Misako remarked. "I'm glad we all made it out okay."
"Aw, the poor Bounty," Cole sighed. "Get's wrecked all the time, and you don't even count it as part of the team."
"All the people," Misako corrected. "And dragon."
"Hey, look, there's a tower in the distance," Jay called from on top of the cabin. "We should try and stop there to make repairs."
They managed to steer the ship in that direction, although without their sail, it was slow going. So slow, in fact, that they didn't reach the tower until almost 2 days later.
"It looks like a tower of death," Jin muttered as they all got out, the Bounty anchored firmly next to the dock. "I think it's abandoned. No one could or would live all the way out here."
She was quickly proven wrong, however, when an old man came hustling down the stairs from the tower, presumably to meet them.
"Hello, weary traveler-" He stopped short when he caught sight of Zane, and a wide smile suddenly broke over his weathered, aged face.
"Zane!" He cried, running down the stairs and embracing the nindroid.
"Have...we met before?" The ice ninja asked.
"Of course! It's me, Dr. Julien. Oh, silly of me- have you discovered your memory switch?"
Slowly, Zane, too, began to grin. "Father?"
oOo
The remainder of the day was spent talking to this 'Dr. Julien', who Jin was a little wary of. He told them of how he was captured by the skeleton army, who forced him to build their machines, and how they'd even chained a leviathan up in the ocean to keep him from escaping. He'd stopped receiving supplies about a year ago, and had been living off of the fish and seaweed he could gather.
"You'll come with us, won't you, Father?" Zane asked. "We're headed for the Dark Island."
"Certainly!" The old man replied. "So long as you'll let me, that is."
"We'd be honored to, but our ship needs repairs," Lloyd explained. "Could you maybe give us a hand?"
The next day, Dr. Julien, Jay, Nya, and Zane were all hard at work with the repairs to the Bounty's mast and engines(which, apparently, had been eaten away at by some monstrosity called starteeth), while the rest of the ninja+co. worked on sewing up the sail.
"I never knew you could sew," Jin commented absentmindedly to Lloyd. "Who taught you?"
"I just picked it up after I ran away from Darkley's," He answered. "Since I couldn't buy more clothes, I just mended my old ones."
"Oh." As per usual, she was a little sorry she asked. All her friends had...messed up lives, to say the least, before they joined the ninja team. And she hadn't. She'd lived a comfortable, safe life, tucked away on her people's island, sheltered from the hardships of the world.
Thankfully, the repairs were soon finished, and they could set sail again. Before they got far, though, Zane stood up on the railing, facing the sea.
"Hey, what're you-"
He jumped forward, sinking like a stone into the waves, and Jin may or may not have screamed as she, along with the others, rushed over to peer into the depths. Cole was climbing over the railing, about the jump in after him, when the nindroid surfaced.
"No one deserves to be held captive," He said, climbing back onboard. "Not even monsters."
"You freed the leviathan," Dr. Julien noted.
"Yeah, maybe give us a head's up next time?" Kai admonished, and they all smiled. Well, all except for Kai.
Announcer voice: Next time, on Way of the Dragon: The ninja arrive at the Dark Island! What will befall them there? Find out tomorrow!