A/N: Hello! Time for the ninja to ditch school! I am so excited for this chapter! *squeals excitedly* I hope you all enjoy this one. Cause you know, I am soo excited for this one.

Disclaimer: I own Nothing! Except for my OCs! By the way, Chayton is not an OC! He is an actual character from the show that I've renamed!

Chapter Nine: How to Ditch School for the Year

Cole slowly came to, turning his head to the side to see that Lloyd was curled up next to him, round eyed with fear. Oh, and the kid was gagged and bound. Shuffling around, he strained his head to see if he couldn't locate all of his friends, and see where they were at. A frown tried to turn the corners of his lips down, but a gag in his mouth blocked it. Growling, Cole spotted Kai and Nya near a large door, and Zane was underneath a filthy window that looked like it hasn't been watched in a hundred years. Jay was in the center of the room, softly whimpering through his gag in fear as he stirred awake himself. The room they were in must have been some sort of storage warehouse for some company at some point. It was covered in dust and cobwebs, and had large crates scattered everywhere. Kai must have wakened up right then, since he was starting to squirm like crazy. Just then, a serpentine walked in through a smaller side door. Strolling forward with purpose, he walked over to Kai and kicked him in the back.

"Knock it off prissssoner!" He angrily hissed as he glared at the young teen, before spinning around to glare at all of the frightened kids. "That goesss for all of you! We don't want a sssingle peep out of any of you!" With that said, he left the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

Terrified, Cole slowly and painfully pulled his knees up to his chest, tears streaming down his face. This wasn't good at all. Jay, always the most energetic out of the friends seemed to shrink into himself, suddenly even more afraid for himself. Cole closed his eyes as he struggled to keep his tears at bay, knowing that the much younger Lloyd would start up if he realized what Cole already knew. There was no escape for them.

It wasn't until nightfall that they had visitors that appeared to take pity on them. Cole was the first to notice that something was off. He could feel something biting and yanking on his bonds, loosening them greatly. Heart bounding loudly in his chest, Cole twisted his hands, finding them moving much easier than what they did earlier. Amazed, he slowly and carefully pulled his hands out of their bonds. Sitting up, he looked down to see in the dim light that the rope had rubbed skin away, leaving his wrists raw. Pulling his gag off, Cole grimaced before quickly untying his feet. A soft hooting sound caught his attention. Cole twisted around to find a small Burrowing Owl standing next to him, looking as if it were extremely proud of itself.

Cole gently ran a finger through its feathers. "Hey there. Did you untie me just now?" Another soft hoot as the owl nodded his head.

Zane suddenly stood up, a falcon resting on his shoulder. Kai also moved quickly, a Robin perched on his head. Jay scrambled to his feet, a Mountain Bluebird hopping around his feet. Turning to face Lloyd, Cole quickly untied the ten year old. A rather unexpected, and loud, thump suddenly shook the air. Freezing, everyone turned to look at the siblings. Apparently, Kai had untied Nya, who then tried to stand, only for her legs to give out from underneath her. Snatching the owl up, Cole scrambled up the stacked crates next to the window. Pushing on it, he used his superstrength to force the locked window open. "We have to go now! Before they send someone down to check on us!"

Zane and Kai helped Nya and Lloyd to climb up the unstable makeshift ladder to the window. Jay scrambled up after them, panic gleaming in his eyes.

~Power Plant, 11: 58 p.m. ~

Cole frowned as he noticed that the power plant was completely empty, minus the guards that were patrolling the area. Nya scooted over, a small frown on her face. "Need me to distract the guards so we can get in and rescue our teacher and classmates?"

Zane quickly shook his head, nearly dislodging the falcon from his shoulder. "No. They are not here anymore. I do not sense their presence."

Kai growled as he punched the wall. "Zane's right. I don't sense them either."

Cole twisted around, a sigh of disappointment escaping him. "Ok then. I guess we should head back to the school."

Lloyd immediately grabbed his arm, stopping him. "Wait. The serpentine were interested in this place. Which means that one of the pendants must be in there somewhere. We have to find it before they do!"

Jay nervously laughed as he glanced back down at the patrolling guard down below. "How do we know that they haven't found it yet?"

Cole sighed as he turned to look at the long hallway down below them and to the side a bit. "We don't. But it shouldn't hurt to at least try. Anyone who isn't with me stay here."

Two seconds later, all six of the friends were dropping down into the hallway that the serpentine had taken them from earlier. Immediately, Lloyd suddenly noticed something highly interesting. Amongst multiple doodles on the one wall was the hieroglyphic for energy. Excited, Cole used his superstrength to pull a large chunk of the metal wall off. Reaching inside, Lloyd pulled out a green pendant with a gold katana etched into it, and a scroll. The pendant quickly jumped around the young kid's neck, causing him to squeal loudly. Tensing, the friends leapt up onto the ceiling, just as several guards came running into the hallway.

~Hill near the Power Plant, 12:15 a.m. ~

Nya sat down on the ground, exhaustion filling her eyes. "Can we please take a break from hopefully saving all of Ninjago? We don't know why they even want the pendants."

Kai arched his eyebrow upward as he stared at his sister in disbelief. "Sis! The pendants have unexplainable magical powers! I think that is reason enough to keep them out of their hands."

Zane quickly pressed a finger against his lips. "Lloyd is asleep. As we should be. It is too late to argue right now. Perchance after we rest up, we can see things a little clearer."

Murmurs of agreement rippled through the tired teens as one by one they nodded off.

~Dawn, sunup, sunrise…etc. ~

Cole groaned as the sun shone right into his eyes, forcing him to wake up. And not just him either, all of his friends groaned as they rolled over, pushing themselves up into sitting positions. Lloyd rubbed his stomach, pain crossing his face. "Do we have anything to eat? Our last meal was a light lunch during the tour, which was who knows how long ago."

Zane rubbed sleep out of his eyes as he automatically responded. "Two days, three hours, forty minutes, and fifteen seconds….sixteen seconds…seventeen seconds…."

Kai quickly clapped a hand over his mouth. "Yeah, yeah. We get the idea Zane. No need to count every second."

Nya ran her fingers through her messy hair. "We need to eat soon, or else we're gonna get sick from lack of nutrition."

Groans escaped everyone has they settled in a circle, sitting criss-cross-applesauce on the ground. Lloyd pulled out the scroll, quickly unrolling it. Leaning forward, the tired, starving friends stared at the new riddle. Nya frowned, confusion crossing her face. "You swim in me. I am needed for all living things. What am I? Seriously? The answer is obviously water! And I think I did see a hieroglyphic in the school's swimming pool."

~With the Spiritia~

All eyes turned to Water, their eyebrows shooting upwards. Energy folded his arms as he scoffed at her. "And you said that my riddle was too straight forward!"

Water rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms. "Hey! It got the job done!"

Earth shook his head, pushing the arguing siblings apart. "Just wait till they read my riddle."

~Back with the Friends~

Jay suddenly snapped his head up, nearly dislodging the Mountain Bluebird from the top of his head. "Where did the Gold Eagle came from?"

Startled, everyone turned around to notice that a gold eagle was perched on Lloyd's shoulder. Nya immediately crossed her arms in a huff. "Oh! Come on! I'm the only one that doesn't have a bird shadow now!"

Cole smirked as he pointed out a little fact. "Burrowing Owls are nocturnal. The little guy is obviously asleep in his…"

Kai pointed straight at Cole's hair. "In your hair? He's actually cute when he's sleeping."

Cole groaned as he reached up and pulled the sleeping owl out of his hair. "Great. Ok, here's the plan. Once the sun goes down we'll sneak into the school's kitchen to grab a bite to eat. After that is done, we go to the swimming pool to get the next pendant. Nya? You're our best swimmer so you should be the one to go get it."

Nods all around. A plan was a plan, and no one could see anything wrong with this one.

~That Night, Swimming Pool, 9:47 p.m. ~

Nya propelled herself back to the surface, shaking her head fiercely. "It's too dark down there. I need light. Think you guys can…you know?"

All five boys nodded their heads as they pulled out the pendants. A minute later, bright lights filled the room, blinding everyone in there. The lights were black, blue, white, red, and green in color. Nya dove back down again, quickly swimming over to the large tile that had water written in it in hieroglyphics. Grasping the tile, she pulled it up, biting the bottom of her lips to prevent herself from gasping at the strain. Sitting it to the side, she picked up the small treasure chest sitting underneath it. Careful not to bump the lock, she quickly swam to the surface. Kai quickly helped his sister out of the water. Shivering, Nya sat the chest down next to Zane's feet, before hurrying into the girls changing room to change out of her swimsuit and back into her clothes.

Kai waited impatiently for her to come back out. The second she appeared, she quickly swiped her finger next to the lock. As expected, the lock unlocked, opening the chest. Inside was a blue pendant with a maroon stripe and a gold trident engraved into it….and a scroll. Nya picked up the pendant, which quickly jumped up onto her neck. Zane unrolled the scroll, clearing his throat loudly in preparation to read the riddle. "Go to the broken drinking fountain that has the saying, thirst after knowledge above it. It is a secret passageway that will lead you to the answers you are looking for."

~Back with the Spiritia~

"Earth!"

Earth shrugged, a smirk crossing his face. "I didn't tell them which questions we have the answers to."

Fire groaned as he banged his head against the wall. "Honestly! It was supposed to be a riddle for a reason! That way if someone that isn't the prophesied ones find it…no one can find us!"

~Back with the Friends, at the broken drinking fountain, 10:12 p.m. ~

Jay bounced excitedly as he looked over the fountain. "I wonder if they know why my birth parents abandoned me at a junkyard! That would be awesome!"

Everyone turned to stare at him. Shaking her head, Nya turned her attention back to the fountain. "At least we now know why it's always been broken…"

Kai blinked as he reached to a piece that didn't quite make sense for a drinking fountain. It was a dragon's maw, snapped shut tight. "I wonder if this piece can open to look like its roaring…Ahh!" The last part was as the metal dragon's maw opened, so did the floor beneath them.

Screaming, they freefell towards who knows where, the wind ripping their voices from them quickly. The five birds that have been following them all day dove into the hole, followed closely by a beautiful swan.

A/N: Done! Next chapter, they meet the spiritia! And we finally learn what exactly they are…and we will learn about the prophesy too. So, till next time!

SkyTalon