The sapphire gem gleamed even in the lightless sky as Nya continued to stare at it. She was holding the one gem that had first brought them to be stranded on Ninjago, for whoever knows how long.
It was about a month after returning from the terrible trip to the pond that she had first discovered it was not lost at all. She had held the bag in her hand, thinking that it was rather heavy to be empty, and she had opened it.
Nya remembered the shock she felt when she found the ring laying in a fold in the bag. She had been, however, mostly relieved. It was a family's heirloom after all.
Right away, she planned to tell the boys, including Zane, of her find. But at the moment, Jay and Kai were out in the town for the day, and Zane had been on the other side of Ninjago with his family on a trip. Neither Jay or Kai had been back until after she fell asleep, and Zane hadn't been back until three days later.
Nya had waited for the correct moment, but it never came. Time passed, and then it seemed better to keep it to herself. After all, what had been the harm? Until now, the gem held almost no purpose and was, in some terms, unimportant. Nya hadn't thought that Jay would foolishly go off into the woods to look for it. Now because of her, they were separated from their families, and unable to see them again for whatever how long.
Nya, after deciding to grab a sweater and a jacket for the cold, closed the suitcase and zipped it shut. She stood up, and began walking back to the group; if she stood any longer than needed, the boys would begin wondering where she was.
She was lost in thought as she grabbed some crunchy carrots and grapevines from abandoned fruit and vegetable stands. How would they react to this? How mad would they be?
She had torn Kai and Zane from Mom and Dad, lied to Jay, and put Cole's life in danger. Who knows if anything would ever be the same again?
Nya sighed, biting into one of the carrots sadly. Worry was Nya's strongest emotion, and until this was resolved, it will continue to be.
"What's taking her so long?" Kai asked.
"I hope nothing happened to her," Zane said, concern clearly on his pale face. Jay glares at the boy, but said nothing. After all, that was what he was thinking, too.
"Wait," Kai suddenly said. "I see her."
Zane and Jay eagerly looked into the fog about three yards in front of them that Nya had walked through almost forty minutes ago, scanning for the girl. But all they saw was thick fog, blocking out any figure that could be there.
"Where?" Cole asked. "I don't see her."
Kai came to the front, pointing toward it. "There. Don't you see?" he asked.
"No," Jay replied. "You must either have super eyesight, or you're crazy."
However, Jay was shown up when he saw the beautiful and curved figure of Nya walking through the fog, carrying food, as promised. Kai smiled slyly at his friends. "Told you so," Kai said, then walked over to his sister.
Jay and Zane both exchanged glances. How Kai could have seen through the most thickest fog was almost beyond them.
"Great, thanks." Kai said, barely glancing at his sister. "Now put it in the bag and we can go."
Nya obeys wordlessly, frowning, and lugs it over her shoulder. They set off right after, heading into the dangerous and intimidating woods that held even more secrets and twists than the five would ever know.
Zane trudged forward in the woods, an arm over his face like the rest of his companions, trying to block out the piercing rain and hail. It had started not long ago, around the time they had first walked in. Rain, and especially hail, was new to them, for the sun had been out for the past fifteen years, so the weather was unusual.
"Kai," he shouted through the pattering of the nickel-sized hail on the forest floor. "Are you sure you know where you are going? We've been walking in these dreaded woods for fifteen minutes! When will we get there?"
"Soon." Kai responded sharply. "I know where we are."
"Yeah?" Nya said, squinting through the rain. "Then where are we?"
After a moment, Kai answered. "We are on the same path as the pond. I remember seeing the hut on the way there those months ago, remember?"
Nya did remember. The hut was rather small, and so was Wu, the hermit who lived there. It was made of wood and straw, mainly, and had a porch that Wu sometimes sat on in his chair, staring at the woods.
As if waiting for something.
It wasn't long before the hail eventually did stop, along with the sharp and blinding rain. When it did, the five looked to the dark sky, as if looking to see where it had gone.
Jay, seeing the 'danger' was gone, let his brother from the roof his arms made for him, and continued walking. Cole took the chance, and sighed to himself. His brother was afraid of him getting drenched in harmless rain. Cole couldn't imagine how worse it would be if he blew his secret.
Cole had been looking down, lost in his thoughts, that he didn't see Nya in front of him stop, and he bumped into her. "What's happened?" Cole asked, looking in front of the girl.
"We're here," Kai called back to the boy. And suddenly, a mixture of feelings ran through Cole. Even he didn't know what they were.