I'm back! Like I said, I will be updating whenever possible. I won't let myself have an update be as late as two weeks, so don't worry! At this point, it's looking like one update a week or so. Let's do this.

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Chapter 6: What Must Be Found

A blinding white light. That is all that Lloyd saw after he entered the portal. It was the last thing he remembered seeing before it went from all white to all black.

"Ugh... What happened?" His vision blurred back to reality at a phenomenal sight around him:

He lay on a small bed of fluff at the foot of a gateway. Past the gates, he saw flying boats floated through the air past hundreds of small structures, all interconnected through bridges made of stone and supported by clouds. The white lights of the clouds illuminated the entire realm it seemed.

"Heh, now you see why it is the cloud kingdom, ey young Sensei Garmadon?" He spun around to see Mystake already on her feet, and behind her was a fully functional Ultra-Jet, laying next to the crafts their pursuers had used. But there was no sign of them.

"What happened? The last thing I remember is going through the portal. Why didn't we crash?"

"This realm holds a strange power, Lloyd. One that allowed us all to be here." He twisted his face in confusion at her words. "What strange power?"

"I believe we can answer that." The sound of footsteps from the gateway caused them both to turn their attention towards the gateway. As if out of nowhere, a man with neatly cut gray hair in a white tunic approached them. Behind him was a similarly dressed younger man with a ginger bowl-cut, and several brown-clad monks. At the end of their crowd was a large hairy beast with brown fur and the face of a dog lurched forward, holding Pythor and Cryptor in each hand.

"Sensei Lloyd, my name is Fenwick, Master Writer of the Cloud Kingdom Realm. This is my second, Nobu." The young ginger nodded with a smile. "Your arrival was always planned, and we are pleased that the time has come. But we did not plan on you having any unwanted tag-alongs. Nimbus!" He gestured to the beast, Nimbus, who shook the two in each hand for a moment, causing them to yell in protests.

PLANNED. Not expected. "What is this place exactly? Mystake told me that you would have all of the answers." Fenwick chuckled to himself as a larger boat stopped at their side. "Perhaps I could answer while we make haste?" Eager to get his answers, Lloyd quickly looked back-and-forth between Mystake and Fenwick before nodding.

He stepped on board with Mystake, then Fenwick followed on with Nobu. The young Writer looked to the robed monks and Nimbus. "Take the Snake and Nindroid back to the confines with the others until we have decided what to do with them." They nodded, leading Nimbus back the way they came.

"Alright, Fenwick. Time to tell me what I want to know."

With the Destiny's Shadow fully fixed, it carried Kai and his newfound allies out of the storm. "Ok, Kai, who is the closest Elemental Master you found? Those bikers will likely attck them next!" His mind racing a mile a minute, he sruggled to think.

"Uh... Shade! The Master of Shadow. He's in the fisherman's village off of the coast, by Styx!" Skylor nodded and put the coordinates in the ship's controls. "And you said there were three who were in some sort of traveling circus?"

"Yeah, Ash, Camille, and Gravis. Masters of Smoke, Form, and Gravity. They said they were traveling through the string of mountain villages, eventually stopping at Jamanakai. The Master of Nature Bolobo is in isolation near the southern tip of Hiroshi's Labyrinth." The others nodded in understanding.

"They're pretty far apart, we cannot afford to waste a moment!"

Within a day, every student had mastered the art of basic Spinjitzu. Zane, Pixal, Nya, Cole, and Dareth couldn't be prouder. After the last student, a young lad who wanted to look different in his purple robes named Nelson, had spun successfully, their mentors had them crowd in the center for Cole to give a short speech. "Well done, everybody. You have just taken your first steps into a larger world. I can promise you this: It will not get any easier. You know how to spin, but that hardly makes you a Master of the Arts of Spinjitzu."

"Umm, arts, mentor Cole?"

"That is right Nelson. As it turns out, there are three Arts: Spinjitzu, which you have only just begun to understand. Then there is Airjitzu, which grants a user the ability of flight, and lastly, the most dangerous and restricted: Forbidden Spinjitzu, which is so dangerous not even the First Spinjitzu Master himself dared to share its secrets."

A series of oooohhhh's came from the crowd, prompting Gene to speak up. "Can you show us one of them?"

Cole blushed slightly, realizing his mistake. "Uh, erm… well, I don't know either of them yet... Sensei Lloyd and Misako are journeying to find their scrolls as we speak."

"So you are not a Master either." The students giggled at Gene's bluntness.

"Listen here you little-" Dareth stepped forward to diffuse the situation. "I think What Cole is trying to say is that this is an opportunity for us all to learn, even though he and the rest of your mentors have a considerable advance of knowledge ahead of you, and you would be wise to respect that fact. Now, I think that's enough training for one day. Go wash yourselves and prepare for dinner."

At his word, the students clamored out of the large training room. Cole and the others turned to Dareth, surprised at the wisdom in his statement.

"What? Its not like you were any different at first: eager to learn, but ignorant of the lessons involved. Hell, I know I was that way." Zane smiled in satisfaction. "It seems we are all still growing, even in the absence of..." His voice trailed off, unable to say their names. The room went silent.

"I miss them. I miss him." Cole turned to his girlfriend, a look of understanding in his eyes. "I do too. We did wrong by him, so much wrong., but now... we have a chance to honor his legacy." Nya smiled as a tear trailed down her face, right before they all jumped as the jumbo screen on the wall lit up without any warning, with the distressed face of Cyrus Borg on it.

"PLEASE WARN ME BEFORE YOU SEND 100 HYPER CHILDREN UP HERE WHILE I AM WORKING!"

Pixal giggled at her "father's" distress. "Apologies, Mr. Borg. We are on our way to help diffuse the situation."

Deep in the unexplored regions of the Desert of Doom, the Ultra Sonic Raider (land-half) treaded through mountains of sand, scanners beeping wildly. "I'm telling you, Misako, it's somewhere here?"

"How can you be sure, Clutch?" The scruffy man turned his head to face her, obvious annoyance in his eyes. At this point, she was messing with him, as he had already explained himself several times before. But a part of her began to suspect he was either wrong... or lying for the credit of the supposed find.

"*Sigh* As I said, when I found the Constrictai Fang Blade in the deserted Serpentine temple in the Sea of Sand, there was a tablet that spoke of the lost pyramids of the first Serpentine, the Vipers: the direct descendants of the Five Serpentine Tribes as we know them. The pyramids were located in this desert millennia ago, when it was a lush land. And at the end, there was mention of an "ancient scroll of Forbidden Spinjitzu," but the tablet was shattered before I could read anymore due to the building crashing down upon me."

Misako had to take his word for it. She didn't ever truly think he was lying, but what if he was wrong? Lloyd and the others needed to find the scrolls before anyone else could, for Ninjago's safety. A sudden beep beep beep brought her back to reality.

"Somethings on the scanner, Clutch- a massive structure is up ahead!" They looked up to an incredible sight: Coming up fast stood a massive dark pyramid, its tip pointed like a dagger to the sky. The U.S. Raider stooped at it's base, in front of the large entryway. It did not take even a second for Misako to notice the large carvings of vipers along the entrance's walls.

"Ha ha! We found it! Well done, Clutch. Now let's go, while the sun is still out!" The emerged from the vehicle with their flashlights out, and without hesitation, entered the temple.

Once walking through the large hallway down the dimly-lit staircase, making sure to jump over a webbed booby trap in the process, Clutch looked around at their surroundings. "Huh."

"What is it?"

"Well, although this is clearly the Viper Pyramid, the construction is different from any other structures of Serpentine culture. The Lost City of Ouroboros has a only a few familiar traits, mainly the large snake statues of similar design. Besides this, it is as if they are two separate cultures entirely." She realized he was right.

"When the majority of Vipers died out, the last generation's offspring were scattered throughout the land, gaining their own traits. This is how the five tribes were created. That is why none of them know this Temple. I wouldn't think anyone-"

A light at the end of the lower hall and a gruff voice in the distance cut her off. "Are we sure it is down here?" She didn't recognize the voice, but thankfully, she and Clutch both moved behind the closest pillar before anyone at the end of long hall could see or hear them. Clutch held a finger to his lips and pointed at the source of the light. Peering out, she saw the Skales, Fangtom, Acidicus, SKalidor, and roughly 20 serpentine soldiers walking down the hall in the direction they were heading. At the front of them was a strange man with a metal arm and a red coat looking at some sort of parchment.

Skales sighed in frustration. "Yes, Mechanic. It is just like he said. We'll find it here, set up what we need to, and wait for the others."

"Mechanic" turned around, also out of frustration, pointing at Skales. "Look, I know the plan. Trust me, after a guy like him tells you a plan, YOU DON'T FORGET IT. But what if the way is blocked, or if they don't make it here before we're discovered?"

"That is precisely why we must make haste, Mechanic. Look at it this way, once she has this, we can leave this forsaken Pyramid." The Mechanic nodded in agreement, or surrender, and turned back. But in the split second that he did, she saw what he was holding.

OH NO. She couldn't help what happened next. "The first scroll!"

Yeah, so I know not much happened in this chapter, but that's only because the last couple of weeks have kicked my ass, and that will continue for the next two as well. But not to worry, I will still update whenever possible!

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