Chapter 12-Survival

The lamp within Lloyd's fingers slowly began to grow old and rusted, until it was no more than a shadow of its former self. The child's heart twisted, as he imagined the only possible explanation. The Djinn had broken free. Which meant his father had given up. Lloyd had been too late.

No. No, it couldn't be too late. His father had given himself up, yes, but there had to be a way to fix it. A way to put the Djinn back in the teapot, and free whatever souls he'd trapped within.

"Master Lloyd?"

Lloyd looked away from the teapot, turning to see a rather confused Zane. His sword was half raised, as if he'd been seconds away from slashing Lloyd's back. Zane noticed this quickly, his pale hand dropping the sword instantly.

Of course! His father's wish. It had been undone, now that he. . . Lloyd shook his head. He wasn't gone. Just. . . Absent. For now. "Zane! Don't worry. You wouldn't have tried to hurt me if it wasn't for a wish my dad made. But it's a really long story, and we probably don't have time to iron out all the details."

"No time?"

Lloyd ignored the question, trying his best to think. He had to find a way to get his father back. There had to be one. But alone, he couldn't do much. Even with Zane by his side, Lloyd didn't think he could go up against a Djinn. The creature would most likely surround himself with all sorts of defenses, to ensure the protection of his new-found freedom.

"Zane!" Lloyd shouted, startled as an idea popped into his mind. Wu's soldiers were back to normal. But if the Djinn's plans were to stay in Ninjago, he would no doubt use his powers to turn Wu's soldiers into his own. "You need to say you're loyal to me now. It's important!"

"I'm. . ." Zane frowned, trying hard to understand. But doing so seemed impossible. There was a rather large blank space within his memories. All Zane knew was that Lloyd was extremely agitated. And that they were out of the mansion, within the streets of the town. Had the young boy gotten back, only to run away once more? If that was the truth, he should take him back, and perhaps Wu would be able to shed light in the strange situation. "We must take you back home, Lloyd. Your mother has been extremely worried."

"No!" Lloyd shook his head frantically, trying to pull back as Zane took his hand. "Zane, don't. You have to listen to me. Wu isn't there. My dad stranded him on the island. We need to go get him back. But the Djinn. . . It can make you do his bidding. That's why you were about to attack me, you weren't . . . weren't yourself. Trust me. Say you're loyal to me."

Zane stopped, knowing that the boy was speaking the truth. Honesty shone within his eyes. But Zane couldn't accept it. Had he truly been so easily controlled? Zane looked down, wondering how strong his loyalty truly was, if it had been so effortlessly corrupted.

"Come on Zane," Lloyd looked back at the mansion, his stomach filling with an aching sense of dread. He wondered if the Djinn would wish soon. Wondered if he'd go in search for Lloyd, in order to snatch the rusted lamp from his grip. "We need to get going. Please say it."

Zane looked down at the child, and realized that now was not the time to dwell on his insecurities. Lloyd looked far beyond stressed, with his eyes twitching toward the path every few seconds. If Wu truly wasn't near, there wasn't anyone better to serve that Lloyd. Zane bowed his head in a small nod. "Of course I am loyal to you, Lloyd."

"Thank you." Lloyd's shoulders sagged with relief. He wasn't sure it would be enough to counter the wish, but with the way the Djinn slipped through loopholes to wind up in the worst scenario, perhaps Lloyd's own loophole would be effective. Lloyd hoped it would be. At the moment, Zane was all he had. "We need to get going. We. . . We need a ship."

Zane looked towards the beach, his eyes roaming through the ships that Wu's navy was made up of. Trying to sail with only a child to aid him would prove to be difficult. But it would not be impossible.

After all, Lloyd needed help. And Zane would do everything in his power to get Lloyd where he wanted to go. With a powerful look of determination, Zane began to trot towards the beach. "Let's go."

Kai stood as still as possible, pressing the palm of his hands heavily against the sand.

He tried to feel for the strange, sudden shudders, but there was nothing. Whatever had been there was now gone, or at least, it seemed to be. Kai stood slowly, adrenaline keeping every one of his muscles ready to sprint.

He took one step. Then another. He stopped briefly, his mind still on edge. But still, there was no movement beneath him. Slowly, he began to relax.

"Maybe I'm finally going insane." Kai chuckled, trying to shake off the fear. He began to trudge back towards the jungle, more than eager to get back to his sister. He'd seen more than enough of the island.

After a couple of steps, the ground once more began to shake. This time, the movement was stronger, as if it were emanating from different places at once. Kai tried to pinpoint an exact location, hoping to move away in time to avoid it. The ground, however, shook far too violently for him to make sense of anything.

Without having any better ideas, Kai broken into a run, hopping towards the nearest palm tree. His hands scrapped against the side of it and the muscles in his arms complained about the sudden exertion as he pulled his body upwards.

Seconds after, large holes split through the beach. This time, two of the bizarre creatures emerged, briefly slithering through the sand before returning to the ground. Kai wrapped his arms tighter around the palm tree, his mind racing, trying to make sense of it all.

He wasn't too far from the jungle. Whatever these creatures were, they seemed to at least be contained to the empty sand of the beach. Maybe he could make a run for it, and hope for the best.

But there had to be a way to predict the creature's movement, had to be a way to be sure they wouldn't split the ground beneath his feet to swallow him whole. Kai shuddered at the imagery, then forced himself to think back.

As of now, there was once again no sign of the creatures. And before, when he'd been laying on the sand, they'd appeared to be gone too. It wasn't until he moved that they had returned. Maybe they responded to movement. It would make sense. If they hid beneath the earth, they wouldn't emerge until the felt something above ground.

But it wasn't just movement. It couldn't be. He'd moved a couple of steps after his first encounter, and there had been no sign of them at all. The creatures responded to loud movement. Or more specifically, to sound.

"Better make sure I'm right. . ." Kai muttered to himself, reaching above him to free a large coconut from the palm tree. It weighed somewhat heavily upon his hand. "Here goes nothing."

Kai threw the coconut down, putting as much force in it as he could muster. The coconut slammed against the warm beach, tossing bits of sand every which way. As Kai had begun to guess, the creatures were instantly attracted to the sound. The ground began to tremble.

Unfortunately, Kai's throw hadn't landed as far as he'd hoped it would. It sat only a couple of feet from the palm tree, and with each shudder, Kai's grip began to slip.

When one of the creatures broke through the ground, Kai fell back.

Jay followed Cole through the jungle, sticking to the cobweb paved path. The more they walked, the thicker the shadows became. The sun had begun to lower itself against the horizon. Soon, there would be nothing but the moonlight to guide them forward. Jay quickened his pace, in order to reach Cole's side.

"We really should go back," Jay said, for what seemed to be the hundredth time. "It'll be dark soon. Then what? We can't fight if we can't see."

"There's still a bit of time," Cole insisted. "We can make it."

"Why are you so persistent? How could you be so eager to fight a giant, venomous insect?"

"I don't want to sit still," The former pirate responded. He didn't want to sit in that cave, surrounded by people who thought he was a threat. He didn't want to have enough time to dwell on how much his world had changed. "If this will help us free Garmadon from the Djinn, I'd like to get it as soon as possible."

Jay sighed, slowing his walk once more, in order to stand just behind Cole. If the grumpy pirate wanted to keep going forward so badly, he could stay in front, and be the first to be eaten. The sun continued to lower, and the darkness relentlessly grew. And still, they were no closer to finding the elusive insect.

"Okay, wait." Jay sighed, leaning back against the trunk of a tree. "Can we take a break?"

"You can," Cole responded, looking back, but moving forward. "But we're close. I know it."

"I'll wait here." Jay said with a pout. "I'm tired. And this is-Cole!"

Cole's body had seemingly vanished, with nothing more than a brief shout. Jay pushed himself forward into a run, his eyes wide. "Cole!?"

"Stop!"

In response to Cole's sudden shout, Jay skidded to a stop. He stumbled forward, his feet stopping mere inches away from a deep hole that had been molded into the ground. Cautiously, Jay bent his body forward, in order to peek over the edge. And there was Cole, his body tangled amongst several thick webs, hanging over a seemingly bottomless abyss.

"Oh no," Jay shook his head, looking around frantically, trying to find a safe way down. "I'll. . . Can you move?"

"Of course I can. I just thought this web looked comfortable." Cole rolled his eyes. "No, Jay, I can't move."

"Can't you. . . I don't know, reach your sword and cut yourself out of it?" Jay suggested, gaining an annoyed glance from Cole. "Okay, Okay. I'm trying to think. I mean. . . I guess I'll climb down. Yeah. I won't get caught in it if I'm careful, right? Yeah let's go with that. Okay."

Cole remained silent as Jay began to climb down at a rather slow pace. "Um, Jay? No pressure but. . . You might want to pick up the pace."

"I'm trying! I don't want to fall. Then we'd both be trapped and what then?"

"Really Jay." Cole pressed. "I might not be alive by the time you get down here if you keep it up."

"Like I said, I'm trying." Jay slowly allowed his head to turn, in order to look down at Cole. His eyes, however, locked onto something different. The giant spider they had searched for rested upon the web, its legs moving forward at a quick pace, and with incredible confidence. "Well that's just great! There it is! Of course it's here, where else would it be?"

Jay continued to climb down, trying to push himself to move faster. But part of him knew it couldn't possibly be fast enough. No, he only had seconds in order to reach Cole. Or else, it would be too late. Jay looked down again, weighing his options.

If he jumped, he would be down before the spider got to Cole. But, he would also wind up just as tangled in the webs as the former pirate, and that would wind up sealing both of their fates. Jay's eyes began to twitch from the web to the spider, an idea blooming within his mind. It was crazy, but there was a chance for success.

If Jay jumped onto the web, he would be doomed. But if he jumped onto the spider. . .

He knew that if he hesitated, or tried to think out too much about the possible outcomes, he would end up doing absolutely nothing. So without any further thought, Jay pushed himself away from the wall, and leaped.

When Kai's back hit the ground, he had nothing more than a few seconds to react.

The ground beneath him shook relentlessly, making it impossible for him to stand. Kai pushed himself forward, urging his body to crawl as fast as possible. He made a mental note to get his hands on a weapon as soon as he could.

Once again, the ground split as the second creature emerged. Kai felt his body being momentarily pulled back as the sand beneath him rushed to fill the abrupt opening. He dug his fingers into the sand, using any strength he had left to pull himself forward. Kai felt the strange creature graze his feet as it traveled up, searching for its prey. He shuddered.

"You are one, really ugly thing, you know that?" Kai spat, finally able to pull himself to his feet. Raising his voice was a mistake Kai instantly came to regret. This time, the worm like creature did not return to the earth after landing against the sand. It turned towards Kai instead, slithering forward, its body moving faster than before.

With wide eyes, Kai turned towards the jungle, his feet almost slipping against the sand. Kai could feel the creature moving closer and closer. His legs burned with effort, and his breath struggled to fill his agitated lungs.

When the jungle was close enough, Kai lunged himself forward, landing face first into the muddy ground. He didn't know if the creature would contain itself to the sandy beach, but he knew he couldn't go any further. This was it.

Kai felt the earth shudder. For a moment, he shut his eyes, wondering if the creature was seconds away from lunging, or perhaps even opening up the ground beneath him. He wondered if Nya would ever be able to figure out what had happened to him, or if she would live in hope, waiting for him to show up again.

He wondered many more things, but as the seconds ticked by, Kai realized he had gone through possibilities in vain. The creature had gone. Under the blanket of the jungle's vegetation, he was safe.

Kai allowed his body to relax, making no effort to stand. He rested against the cool ground, waiting patiently for his breathing to return to normal.

"What are you doing!?"

Cole's shout rattled through Jay's mind, but he didn't have an answer. He'd landed on the spider's back, but now, he was out of ideas.

And the spider was far beyond happy. In fact, it was nothing short of furious. It shook its body relentlessly, pincers snapping open and shut in a frantic manner. Jay did his best to hold on, trying to think, knowing he could not allow himself to get tangled up in the web.

But he couldn't stay on the spider's back either. Sooner or later, he would be flung aside.

"I need your sword, I need your sword!" Jay shouted in a panicked tone.

"If I couldn't move before, why would I be able to move now!?" Cole yelled back. He tugged at his arms, but the spider web was wrapped too tightly around them both. He wasn't going to be of any help.

"I'm just trying to-" Jay's words were cut short as the spider finally succeeded in throwing Jay aside. The man flew back, his body almost flying over the side of the web and into the depths of the hole. Only his foot caught onto the sticky strings, leaving his body hanging upside down. ". . . Think of something."

The web shook slightly as the spider moved forward, heading straight for Jay's tangled foot. Jay struggled to reach up and grab the web, the underused muscles in his abdomen cringing with effort. Adrenaline fueled him just enough to reach the web, and he wrapped the fingers of his left hand tightly around one of the strings.

With the other hand, he reached for Cole's sword, stretching as far as his body could allow. The spider towered over him now, green liquid oozing from within its open mouth. Droplets fell upon Jay's face, burning against his skin.

"Jay hurry!" Cole shouted, knowing his command was useless, but unable to help himself. Worry and helplessness filled him with frustration.

Jay's fingers managed to wrap themselves against the hilt of the sword, just as the spider lunged down, its pincers ready to bite. Jay pulled at the sword, then pushed his arm upwards with a yell, shutting his eyes and expecting the worst.

His arm began to burn, almost unbearably so. He'd been bitten, hadn't he? This was it. He'd gambled and he'd lost and now both him and Cole would wind up as spider snacks. And all because Jay hadn't been able to come up with a successful plan.

"You're okay Jay!" Cole laughed, but Jay's eyes remined tightly shut. "You're way, way too lucky. . . I think I lost more than a couple of years of my life just watching you. . ."

Slowly, tentatively, Jay opened his eyes. The sword had rammed itself right into the spider's head. The burning he felt was the green liquid, running down from the sword and onto Jay's arm. He let go of the weapon, wiping his skin against his shirt.

He chuckled weakly. "We did it. . . We actually did it."

"Yeah," Cole smiled, then frowned. "We. . . did. But um. . . How are we going to get out?"