I... should probably get to writing Movie Mode. My apologizes to those who read that, but we've reached the part that I was excited to write in this story, so I'll hopefully get to finishing the next Movie Mode chapter after this.
Review Replies:
Destiny Willowleaf: I know, right?!
Ninjagorulz: Dareth isn't really on my top characters list, but I am far from disliking- or even hating- him. That was simply him from Echo's point of view, and I think Dareth had gotten a tad overexcited. He, of course, realized his mistake when Zane shoved him away, and tried to apologize by giving Echo the coloring book. It is likely Dareth will apologize to Zane in someway, be it by actions or words, sometime later in the story.
TheAmberShadow: Oh, so I have. Well, thanks for pointing it out, I'll be sure to fix it.
INFJwriter: Haha, he was XD
Chapter Four:
Dark
Jay's feet pounded against the dirt, his heart hammering in his chest as though it was trying to escape his rib cage. The muscles in his legs burned at the exertion of running up hill, an invisible fist gripping his lungs and leaving him gasping desperately for breath. His blue eyes were wild with fear, his brain scrambling to come up with a conclusion, to settle his flying nerves.
He burst out of the canopy of trees, coming to a stop and almost falling over as he rested his hands on his knees, chest going up and down rapidly as he attempted to right his breathing. Seven pairs of startled eyes bore into him, and Jay tried to speak, to explain what happened, but he was panting far too hard to form a proper word.
"Jay?" said Nya, dropping the sandwich she was about to eat and running over to him, concern furrowing her brow. "Are you okay? What happened?"
Jay tried to speak again, but all that came out was a breathless rasping noise. Lloyd looked around, his own frown deepening. "Uh, Jay? Where's Echo?"
Zane stepped forwards, looking around in search of his younger brother, eyes widening upon realizing he wasn't anywhere to be seen. He turned to Jay, still panting, his eyes almost pleading. A hard sort of look coming over Zane's face, his metallic jaw clenching and fingers twitching. "Jay, where's my brother?"
"He- He-" Jay rasped, "He just- vanished. I turn my back for- for one second a-and poof! He- He was gone."
"You lost Echo?!" exclaimed Cole.
"Zane," said PIXAL, green eyes glowing in concern, "Your pulse is rising."
The titanium droid's hands reached out and snagged the front of Jay's shirt, pulling him up and almost entirely off the ground, electric eyes blazing in fury. "How could you lose him?!"
"I-I'm sorry!" Jay gasped, still slightly out of breath, "H-He couldn't have gone far, maybe if we-"
The arrow zipped through the space between their heads, scraping the tip of Zane's hand and a blue liquid welling up in the cut, before impaling into the dirt, straight through a dried leaf. With a start, Zane dropped his blue brother, who landed on his bum with a yelp.
The Ninja immediately got into fighting stance, their elements appearing on the tips of their fingers, moving to stand in a circle, eyes scanning the trees, the ground, in search of their attacker. The forest was silent, with nothing but the hum of green energy, the flicker of flames, the trickle of water and the zing of electricity. The group strained both ears and eyes, shoulders tense and muscles coiled in preparation of a fight.
A glint in the afternoon sun, and Zane's head snapped towards it, just as a bolt of fire reduced the arrow to ash before it's target could even become apparent. But then there was a yell, and Zane's eyes landed on a man dressed in ragged, dirty black clothing with a shawl covering his face, running towards him with a spear above his head, his mouth open in form of a battle cry.
It happened all at once, and many more followed the man, male and female, all dressed in dirty rags with their faces covered, some barefoot and weaponless, others armed with spears, swords, axes, bows and arrows, the like. The skin that they could see was pale, almost sickly, and their eyes were focused solely on them, no hesitation in their movements.
Zane lashed out, his fist connecting with the yelling man's face, breaking his nose as though it was as delicate as an egg. The man's yells turned into pained screams, and he jabbed his spear at the nindroid blindly, sloppily.
With ease, Zane gripped the spears long handle and wrenched it from the mans grasp, throwing it to the ground. He could hear the others battling as well, appearing to find this as easy as he was. Enraged, the man lunged at him, and Zane ducked, his attacker landing in the dirt behind him.
Spitting out mud and fixing his shawl, the man grabbed a stick and twisted to his feet, throwing it at the nindroid. It soared over Zane's head, smacking into a clump of tree branches and causing one of the archers to fall out with a scream.
Blinking, Zane turned back to the man, only for a fist to collide with his eye. It was surprisingly strong, cracking his eye lens and knocking him back a step. Zane grabbed the man's wrist, who's knuckles were bleeding either from the punch or from landing on the ground, and twisted it.
The man screamed, bone snapping beneath Zane's fingers. The titanium droid raised a leg and kicked him in the gut, winding him and knocking him onto his back. Zane turned, only for another person- this one a girl, her feet bare and a rusted, flimsy looking mace in her hand- to leap in front of him. She swung her mace, but Zane ducked, his hand shooting up and hitting the girl's forearm.
She dropped the mace, which fell right into Zane's open palm, and without a moments hesitation he swung it at her legs. There was a sickening snap, and the girl screamed, falling to the ground and clutching at her leg.
Zane straightened, dropping the mace, it's handle coated in frost, and looked around. More than half of their attackers lay on the ground, unconscious or too injured to keep fighting, arrows still raining from the archers in the trees. Misako was fending off one of the attackers with a half empty bottle of soda and a plastic knife, while Wu was surrounded by unconscious bodies, the other Ninja taking on at least two at a time.
He was suddenly rather glad Echo wasn't here.
Telling himself that they'd find him later and hopping he was safe, Zane jumped up onto the picnic table, Gizmo giving a frightened squeal from where he was hiding bellow. One of the attackers jumped up after him, spinning a knife between her fingers. He reached down, metal fingers clasping the picnic basket's handle, and swung it at her head.
Sandwiches and small cakes sprayed across the forest floor, the force of the blow breaking the basket's handle and knocking the women off the table. Gizmo raced out from underneath the picnic table with a plastic fork in hand, jabbing it into the attackers arm and drawing small speckles of blood.
"Ow!" the attacker gasped, glaring at him from behind her shawl. She raised an arm and whacked him back under the table, only for Zane to jump down and kick her in the forehead, knocking her out cold.
With a satisfied smile, Zane looked down at his little friend to make sure he was alright, who gave a small beep of confirmation. Zane straightened, grabbed a small handful of the plastic cutlery, and ran towards another one of the attackers.
"Wait!" Echo yelled, ducking under a low hanging branch, still running after the tiny little creature. A giggle rose in his throat. "Come back!"
The tiny creature fluttered over a small stream, which Echo jumped over, almost falling into it anyway when he landed on the other side. He continued after the tiny creature, almost losing it in the trees and leaves more than once.
The sound of rushing water met his robotic ears, the dirt beneath his feet becoming muddy and slippery. Echo slowed to a stop upon reaching the river, watching in dismay as the tiny creature flew over it and out of reach.
"Hey!" he called, "Please come back! I want to show you to my brother!"
But the little creature either couldn't hear him or didn't care, for it carried on, and soon disappeared into the leaves on the other side of the rushing river. Echo's shoulders slumped, a cloud shifting in the sky and covering the sun.
With a sad sigh, he turned around to start heading back to where he'd left Jay, when the sound of a twig snapping broke through the rush of the river. Echo froze, his back going ramrod straight. His fogged eyes scanned the tree's, the ticking of his clockwork heart becoming audible, his body completely still.
"Who's there?" Echo called, after a long moment of silence. He took a step back, mud squishing beneath his foot, water soaking his heel. "Come out!"
There was no answer. The sun had completely vanished now, hidden behind a large cluster of fluffy white clouds, and a small, chilly breeze was starting to form. Echo began to slowly relax, shaking his head, mentally demanding his heart to stop ticking so loudly.
It was probably just another bird, looking about in search of worms.
Giving one last reluctant glance over his shoulder to where the tiny creature had disappeared, Echo began making his way towards the trees, in the direction the snapping had come from. He'd barely gotten halfway there, however, when something abruptly rammed right into him and he went flying straight into the river.
Echo gasped, which turned out to be a mistake, as water immediately went down his throat, getting into his gears and rusting his screws. The water propelled him forwards, and he smacked into a rock, face plate cracking upon impact. His hands scrambled upon its slippery surface, digging into in desperately, his head breaking the surface of the water, coughing, the liquid pouring from his mouth as his robotic body worked to get it out of his artificial lungs.
Before Echo could fully process what had just happened, something hooked around his chest and arms, pulling him from the rock and back to the muddy ground at the edge of the river. Gasping, his face plate feeling as though it were on fire, Echo scrambled back onto land, not caring that he his hands, arms, legs and front were now covered in muck, and a few random wet leaves and twigs.
Hands grabbed his arms, forcefully pulling him to his feet, and Echo looked up to come face to face with a women in dirty, black rags, her face hidden behind a shawl. She spat something in a language he didn't understand, and another person in rags and a shawl came forwards, a large sack in hand. A faint ticking noise rose over the sound of the river.
These were not his friends.
His memory unit flashed, showing him a scene of himself and Zane in Dareth's dojo, his brother showing him the right stances to the beginners fighting technique he was trying to teach him. Memory-Echo copied him, doing his best to store the movements he was being showed into his memory unit, only to trip over his own feet and fall down. Memory-Zane gave him a small smile, reaching down and helping him up.
"Don't worry." he said, "We were all terrible at this once."
Echo blinked back to the present, just in time to tear himself from his captors grasp, right before the sack could be shoved over his head. He rammed himself into the sack-holders chest, causing him to grunt in surprise as they both went flying into the mud.
The bot scrambled to his feet, slipping and sliding, and aimed a punch at another one of his attackers, but it was easily blocked and they sent their own fist slamming into his already cracked face plate. Echo went flying onto his back, spraying mud, his body erupting with pain.
He struggled onto his knees, arms shaking, only for a foot to slam into his back, sending him to the ground again. Echo twisted around, his wide, terrified yellow eyes meeting the violet that belonged to the women, as she raised a club over her head and brought it down on his forehead.
His vision flickered, like a faulty light, the force sending Echo onto his back again. The women raised her club for another blow, but the bot rolled out of the way in the nick of time, and it smacked into the ground where his head had been not moments before, spraying more mud.
Clockwork heart ticking rapidly, vision still flickering, Echo scrambled away from his attackers- and plummeted right into the river, the current once again taking him in its hold and forcing him down its course, limbs flaying and head spinning at the sudden submerge.
Echo kicked towards the surface, the ticking terribly loud in his ears, and gasped once again as his head came out of water. His head snapped left and right, but there were no rocks to grab onto, and he looked behind him just in time to see his attackers vanish from his sight.
He turned to face forwards, his stomach becoming cold as though he'd just poured icy water into it. The rushing was becoming louder, as though the water was falling into another pool, and there was a rather odd white mist just ahead of him.
His heart ticked faster, and Echo tried to swim back to shore, but the current had a tight hold on him, dragging him closer and closer to the waterfall. Echo opened his mouth, fear clogging his throat, heart ticking in his ears, "ZA-"
He went over the edge.
The attackers had fled, dragging their unconscious friends with them. They were gone in moments, as though they'd vanished, despite the Ninja having tried running after them. There were two unconscious attackers their comrades hadn't been able to carry, having been too heavy to run with.
But they couldn't exactly interrogate dead bodies.
"Who were those guys?" asked Cole. The only thing they'd been able to savage from the attack was the blanket, and even that was torn and dirty, but Misako had insisted on keeping it. It was the same blanket she and Garmadon had used, after all. "I mean, they're not much of a threat, but we've never even seen them before."
"Dunno." Jay shrugged, "Maybe they don't like picnics?"
"We can discuss it later." Zane snapped, his voice harder than he intended it to be, one of his eyes still in need of repair. But that could wait. "Let's just focus on finding Echo."
"I'm sure he's fine, Zane." said Nya, gently, "He couldn't have gone far."
"We should split up." said Lloyd, "That way we'll be able to find him faster. We'll meet back up at the Bounty in an hour."
Zane gave him a curt nod, before turning on his heel and marching deeper into the forest, out of sight within moments. Jay sighed, a guilty look crossing his face, before he too turned and went in the opposite direction.
Those remaining shared a few glances, before splitting up themselves, Nya jogging after Jay.
It was dark. Wheels, crunching the gravel beneath them, bouncing as they hit slightly large rocks and potholes in the road. The only light came from the teeny weeny little crack between the trucks doors, and the two identical glowing eyes on a cracked face plate, the owner of which lay curled into a tight ball in the furthest corner, hands and feet bound by thick, heavy chains.
If robots could cry, Echo would be.
He was still dripping wet from his trip down the waterfall, and his body was covered in scrapes and dents. While the water had washed away most of the mud from earlier, he was still covered, having crawled out onto an even muddier bank. The crack in his face plate was terrible, ugly, going from the tip of his left eyebrow to his right cheek, jagged and filled with muck, a small leaf stuck in it.
On top of that, he was terribly sore.
They'd found him only moments after he'd crawled to shore. Then electricity bolted through him, striking his clockwork heart, going to the tips of his fingers to the ends of his toes. He must have blacked out, because he'd awoken here, in the back of this truck, chained, and very, very scared.
The ride lasted hours, perhaps even days. The door was never opened, and the trucks stops were brief and far between. Echo tried multiple times to break his bounds, to open the doors, to find some way out. But the truck was as thick as a dragons hide, as strong as a tank, and no matter how much he punched, kicked, screamed and dry sobbed, there was no getting out.
He'd pounded his aching fists against the wall where the driver seat must be, screaming and yelling for them to let him out. But much like the tiny creature, they either had bad hearing or didn't care. He heard no sounds coming from their end either, be it music from a radio or a brief exchange of words. Perhaps he just couldn't hear it.
Echo dragged himself back to his little corner, curling into yet another metal ball, tucking his head between his knees. His shoulders began to shake, and he once again found himself crying without tears, just broken little sobs passing his mud caked lips, fogged yellow eyes clenched shut. At first, he'd screamed his brothers name, screamed it until his throat was raw, clawed at the impenetrable walls like an animal trapped in a box.
But now his screams had been reduced to quiet whimpers, hardly audible to even his own ears. There was nothing but the quiet ticking of his clockwork heart, nothing but his own strangled cries and pleads for help. For his brother.
He just wanted Zane.
Oh, it's so short. Terrible work here, Toni, just terrible work. Well, I suppose it'll have to do.