Sweat. Panting. Fear.
It all ran down Cole's face and body as he ran with his companions through the forest, his heart beating in his chest, and his eyes as wide as a doe's. He constantly looked behind him to see if the creatures had caught up to them, or maybe even captured any of his friends.
"The beach is just ahead!" Jay yelled from behind his brother. "We will rest near there."
Cole didn't understand why Jay had picked the beach to hide in, but in a state of panic like this, now was not the time to think.
Zane, with his hand around Nya's arm and pulling her forward, ran alongside them, adrenaline flowing through his head and body. He could smell the ocean's scent, and knew that they were close.
Close to possibly taking a break from the fear.
But Kai wasn't so sure. He sensed something, which was odd, considering it was mostly Zane with a great sense. He heard the creatures still, roaring and thundering and ripping apart the Hut, although he knew it was more than a mile away now.
Jay suppressed a groan, and looked at his blood that held a dried-blood scab, purplish, and oozing what he thought was puss. His cut was getting worse, and he hadn't have a chance to rub Gamot on it without anybody seeing. Perhaps at the beach, where they'll find somewhere safe, he would have a chance to do so.
"There!" he called, and the others stopped.
In the dark of Night, with the big Moon just beginning it's rising, casting it's brilliant Moonlight on the surface of the water, sat the big and black beach. The sand, to the five, looked mysteriously even brighter from the light.
Jay put his hands on his brother's shoulders, and they watched the Moon silently, the light shining in their pupils.
"There." Nya says, pointing to the far left of the beach. "There's a cave. We'll rest there."
"Fine." Kai responded. "Let's go. I'm tired, and my feet are killing me."
Wu shut the trapdoor, and loudly. He wanted the children to know that he had lied; he wasn't coming with them, and just needed them to get away. The old man steadied himself as his house shook.
With arched eyebrows, Wu grabbed his staff, and clutching it, he walked outside of his guest room. And he waited, staring at the wooden door in front of him, waiting for it to break and for the Tura Tribe to walk in.
In about five minutes, that's exactly what happened. The wood from the door splintered around the old man, and he ducked, covering his face. A growl made him stand upright, and he stared into the face of the Overlord.
"Wu..." he said. "We had a deal."
"Yeah, well, I broke it." Wu shot back. "You took my brother first. I didn't have to honor the deal for this long."
"The deal was you would remain here during Night, unharmed by my tribe, if you didn't allow anyone into your home. That was our agreement. And you broke it!" The Overlord tossed a table to the side, and Wu remained with a stoic face.
"They are our food, Wu." Overlord growled. "They are what feed my children and my tribe. And you cheated me out of it!"
"I did nothing of the sort, Overlord." Wu defended.
"No." Overlord growled. "You betrayed me!"
"That's enough."
Overlord and Wu turned to the door, both with a shocked face. "Garmadon." Overlord seethed. "Don't tell me when it is enough. I am your master, remember?"
"Do I look like I care?" Garmadon replied, his face casual and stoic.
Wu's face, however, was as pale as the Moon, and mouth almost as wide.
"Garmadon. It's you." Wu said, his voice barely above a whisper. He hadn't seen his older brother since that Night, when they were both kids. And now that he's seen his brother again, Garmadon seemed even farther away.
He looked at Wu with the same nonchalant look, and looked him over, barely batting an eyebrow. It drove a knife straight through Wu's heart; the only thing that was worse than his brother not even noticing him was acknowledging his presence, and not even caring about him.
His brother no longer loved him.
"Wu." Garmadon finally spoke his brother's name. But that was all that Wu received, for then Garmadon walked right past him, as if he were a breeze.
Garmadon looked around the little hut as if it was a disgusting pile of trash, and spoke again, and didn't even look his brother in the eye. "So," he said. "You've kept this hut for all these years. Why?"
"This was where we grew up," Wu replied. "With Mother and Father. Remember?"
"I remember them." Garmadon spoke, and with a tone that shoved even the Overlord's throat to his stomach.
Wu's brother didn't speak for a while, and then he snapped his fingers. Wu turned around, stunned, when he heard a group of pattering steps, but as hard as the steps of a stampede's.
"Destroy this house." Garmadon spoke, and Wu's eyes widened.
"No!" he yelled, but Overlord blocks Wu from stopping his brother from his action. "Stop!"
"No, brother." Garmadon turned, striking Wu with his talon, and the old man falls backward, clutching his face. He pulls back his wrinkled hand to find it covered in dark red blood; the same that created the dark red line down his cheek and near his neck.
Wu looks around in horror and in pain, as he watches the Tura tribe tear down everything in it's path, and rips down his walls.
He looks up at his brother with fear, and a face of betrayal. Garmadon's response was a dark smile that spread to both cheeks.
"I will not stop until you are dead."