Liam POV
Liam knew to desert his gang, the Brass Sword, could end in death, but there was something even more oddly cryptic about the message he had received.
He pulled the hood of his sweatshirt up over his face hoping that no one would recognize him as he headed through the streets. He kept to following back roads and allies he knew, but this didn't ease his nerves much. The members of his gang also happened to know most of these passageways. He wasn't sure what he would do if he ran into one of them.
Liam had little with him other than the clothes on his back. He'd even left the newspaper behind, afraid that if he were confronted that would be used as evidence against him. He didn't know how he was going to survive outside of Ninjago, or what waited for him on the other side of the city's gates. He wasn't even sure he knew exactly how to get to the Wailing Alps, it had been years since he had even left the city. He told himself to focus on the present. He had to first make it out of the city before he could even begin to think about any of that.
He had the strangest feeling that someone was following him as he neared the outskirts of New Ninjago City. He paused after taking a few steps, waiting to hear if he would hear footsteps echoing after him. There was nothing but silence. He shrugged, trying to shake off the feeling, and started walking again. He wanted to sprint past the gates the Mayor had installed and become free of the place, but he knew better than that. Running would only draw attention to himself and make him look suspicious.
He sauntered past the gates, drawing himself up to look confident of where he was going. The stench that hit him as he walked past the gates nearly sent him puking and staggering back into Ninjago. He swallowed hard as he caught sight of the source of the smell...the body pile. He trained his eyes to look away and started off again.
The road to Ninjago was lined by grassy hills that were once luscious with farmers crops. Now they were more dried and barren, the farmers who had once lived here long gone. Liam didn't know what had happened to them, but he assumed that it, like many other things, was the fault of the Mayor.
As Liam continued on outside of New Ninjago City he saw that many things had shriveled up since he had last been outside of the city as a boy. Everything was dead. He stifled his anger as he continued along. I'll do something about this, he told himself, maybe I'm going to do something soon. Who knows what I'll find at the temple? But there's nothing I can do now, so there's no use in getting angry...
Niella POV
Niella Garmadon was flying over the city of New Ninjago. The wind whipped past her, but she couldn't feel it from inside her mech suit. She felt queasy looking down at the seemingly small little buildings and streets. She had never flown this high before in her test runs, but she had to be sure no one down below would see her very well.
"At this rate, you'll get there by next year," Borg complained in her ear, his voice muffled against the sound of the wind outside. Niella had uploaded him into the computer hard drive of her suit so that he could help give her directions and advice. She was already regretting it.
"I'll be there by nightfall, you'll see," Niella told him, but she boosted her speed nevertheless.
Liam POV
Liam stared up at the mountain, knee deep in snow. It was impossibly cold, and his teeth chattered wildly against each other. It had taken several days of tracking through Ninjago and begging for food to get here, but he was already regretting it. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was extremely ill-prepared. Sure it had been cold as he approached the mountain, but he had a feeling it got much worse...he couldn't imagine the temperature it must get to at the altitude of the temple.
If there's a temple, he thought suddenly. He had heard a few stories, a passing word here or there, but there wasn't a lot of people left to confirm the fact that the temple existed. It was rumored to have belonged to Sensei Ying, the cousin of Sensei Yang, who had invented Airjitzu. It had supposedly been abandoned due to the harsh environment and weather circumstances. Looking up at the snow-draped steep mountain, he could see why.
Shivering he took a determined step forward. There was only one way to the top.
Thirty minutes later…
Liam slowly plodded on. He was too cold to even shiver anymore. The wind froze his skin, almost burning. He was sure his eyes were going to freeze over at any moment. The wailing of the wind for which the Alps was named, haunted him. It was the only sound he could hear. His thoughts were becoming clouded and vague. He wasn't sure how far he had gotten, but suddenly he realized he could go no further. He tried to take a step and even as he did so his body swooned forward, his face landing into the snow, his eyelashes shuttered closed and stayed there, too numb to move.
Rose's POV
Rose plodded up the side of the mountain, trying to keep Liam in sight. Rose shivered. Even with the winter jacket, she was able to find, she was freezing. Suddenly, she saw Liam fall into the snow. She forced herself to rush over to him and saw that he was unconscious. She looked around, hoping to spot some shelter nearby. She spotted a cave after a few moments and started dragging Liam towards it, slowly but steadily.
Inside the cave, there was a pile of sticks and some flint and steel, as if someone was expecting them to need warmth. She dragged Liam deeper into the cave and got a fire started. She propped Liam up against the cave wall, facing the fire. As for her, she kept looking at the mouth of the cave, occasionally coming back to the fire for warmth.
Thirty Minutes Later…
Rose came back to the fire to warm up and add some sticks, and as she started to turn back to the cave opening, she saw Liam's eyes flutter open. then he jumped up in surprise, looking around with fear in his eyes.
Finally, Liam's eyes focused and landed on Rose.
"Who are you?" he demanded, trying to keep his voice from shaking. Rose removed her hood. "YOU?!" Liam shouted angrily. "HOW did YOU find me?!"
Rose felt hurt, and tried and failed to keep the hurt from showing on her face. "I followed you," she whispered.
"W-why?" Liam asked, a bit softer.
"I have my reasons," Rose said firmly as she looked to the side, avoiding his eyes.
"Thanks for saving me…" Liam murmured reluctantly.
"You're welcome," Rose said softly, still avoiding his eyes.
"Come on. We've got a long journey ahead of us," Liam said as he headed to the cave opening.
"Wait!" Rose called. Liam immediately stopped and turned to face her.
"Y-yes?" he asked, his teeth already chattering.
"Here," Rose said as she pulled a raggedy, folded up winter coat out from under her own. It was army green. Then she handed it to him.
Liam looked suspicious, but went ahead and took it. He immediately put it on and his teeth stopped chattering so fast. "Where'd you find this?" he asked gruffly.
"I have my ways," Rose said mysteriously.
"Thanks? I guess?" Liam said, starting to smile himself.
"Don't mention it," Rose said cheerfully, her smile turned into a full out grin. "Now, come on. We have a temple to find!" Rose said cheerfully as she practically bounced back into the frigid weather. Liam smiled at the back of her head before following her out into the snow.
Niella POV
Niella anchored herself down into the side of the cliff as a gust of wind howled past her. It seemed the farther she climbed up the mountain, the stronger the winds became.
"How much further is it?" She asked Borg, gritting her teeth against the wind.
"Not too much. You should catch sight of the temple once you round the corner." Borg told her, "If you don't get blown down the mountain before you get to it like you probably will that is."
"Gee thanks for the optimism," Niella growled. She put her hand up against the wind as it lessened in strength and struggled forward again.
Rounding the corner, a huge gust of wind flattened her against a snow bank. She could hear Borg laughing as she struggled to ground herself against the wind. As much as she hated his smug face, she almost wished she could see it so that she would have something to glare at besides the blank empty whiteness of snow rushing towards her on the wind.
Squinting through the snow she could almost make out something up ahead to the left of her. Perhaps it was just a delusion, or perhaps it was the temple!
Liam POV
Liam followed the mysterious girl up the side of the mountain. He realized that the mystery of why he'd felt as though someone was following him was solved. What he didn't understand though, was how she had followed him. He had been trying very hard not to be followed by taking extensive twists and turns.
Regardless, he had to admit he was glad she had followed him. Without her, he probably would have been dead.
"The wind is awfully strong," Rose noted, squinting against the snow.
Liam didn't bother to reply. It was obvious that the wind was strong, what more was there to say?
It was clear Rose wanted to talk to him, but he didn't say anything further to invite conversation. So instead, a sort of awkward silence ensued, with nothing but the wailing of the wind to break it.
As they climbed higher up the mountain the temperatures continued to drop and the intensity of the wailing wind intensified. Liam shivered violently, even in his new coat, he could feel the cold wind burning against his skin. He wondered how Rose could stand it.
He turned around to look at her, and suddenly his heart dropped. She was just sitting in the snow, frozen in place a yard or two back. Mustering up all the energy he had, Liam waded through the snow back to her.
"Rose?!" He yelled over the wind, shaking her. She looked up and nodded feebly at him.
"You go on, I'll come and catch up…" She told him, "I just need to rest…"
"No," He helped her to her feet. She numbly complied, leaning into him because she was so cold.
"We'll stick together," he told her, "share our body heat."
Lora's POV
Lora was already regretting leaving Ninjago, and they had barely left the city. The air stank of death and decay, and she hated putting her little brother through such a thing.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Lora asked for the tenth time that day.
"Positive," Finn confirmed.
Lora grumbled as they walked, not wanting to risk her brother's life over some stupid message on a newspaper.
Thirty Minutes Later…
Lora and Finn stood at the bottom of a mountain, preparing themselves for the climb.
"Remember, stick together!" Lora warned.
"I know, I know," Finn said, although he was rather distracted by the excitement of climbing the mountain.
"Alright," Lora said, taking a deep breath and zipping up her coat. "Let's go."
Neila's POV
Neila approached the temple cautiously and peeked inside before entering. To her surprise, she saw an old man sitting in the center of the temple, drinking some tea.
"You came," he said without even looking at Neila.
"Who are you?" Neila asked, stepping into the temple.
"I," the old man started, "am Sensei Wu."