Time for an update. I think the most difficult part of writing this story was trying to be truthful to the canon character's personalities and, more importantly in my opinion, their speech patterns. I tried extremely hard to write the dialogue and then contemplate if the character would actually say something like that. Just a tid-bit of information there. Please R&R.

Chapter Three: The Orange Ninja

"I'm ready to go, Dad". Laurie was dressed in a light orange ninja suit and held a bō staff in her right hand. "I promise that I will not fail you. Lloyd will be home soon." Pulling her long hair back in a messy bun, Laurie pulled the mask down over her face and prepared to leave.

Lord Garmadon grabbed her wrist before she leapt over the side of the floating vessel. "Laurie, I just wanted to inform you that not every Serpentine you meet is loyal to me. Please, be careful."

With a nod of her head, Laurie stepped up onto the railing of the boat. "Here goes nothing" she whispered to herself, leaning forward enough to begin tumbling downwards. The ground was approaching fast and Laurie tucked into a ball, preparing to roll onto the concrete. She hit the sidewalk with enough force to knock the air from her lungs. Sputtering, the teenager looked around at the slowly fading neon signs of Ninjago City. Dawn was quickly approaching and she was determined to find the ninja before noon.

"Are you lost?" hissed a voice that sounded somewhat familiar.

As Laurie turned around to answer, a tail wrapped around her body; from her shins to her shoulders, the fake ninja was bound, unable to move. "Who are you?" she managed to ask the snake in between gasps for air. The world was beginning to fade out of focus as black dots danced at the edge of her peripheral vision.

"I am Skalidor, General of the Constrictai Tribe" chuckled the snake, tightening his grip on the poor girl. "Who are you?"

"I'm Laurie Garmadon" she forced out. Her arms were helplessly pinned to her sides, causing panic to rise in her throat. "I am the daughter of Lord Garmadon. Perhaps you could release me?" It was becoming harder and harder to breathe. She could feel her pulse racing and her consciousness slipping.

Skalidor seemed to contemplate the cry for help before answering. "I am terribly sorry" he stated sarcastically, "but I am afraid that we Generals harbor a slight grudge against your father". The snake could feel his prey growing limp with every passing second. "I will offer you an alternative though. I have a friend that would love to turn you into a Serpentine! He's around here somewhere…"

"Why can't you just let me go?" muttered Laurie, her eyes beginning to close. She could not last much longer in the grip of the Constrictai General. The colors of every building were starting to become a dusty grey.

"I would let you go, but I cannot think of a better hostage than Lord Garmadon's daughter except, maybe, his son." The snake began to slither off, dragging Laurie behind him. "Fangtom!" called the black and orange snake, "I have someone you need to meet: Lord Garmadon's daughter!"

A two-headed red and black snake appeared from a nearby alley and slithered over. He was obviously pleased with the catch of the morning, clapping his hands together enthusiastically. "Skalidor, this treat is amazing!" he praised in a slight Romanian accent. "I did not know that Lord Garmadon had a daughter."

"Neither did I." Skalidor tightened his grip on Laurie even more. Her head fell to one side without the strength to keep it up. She could have sworn she saw a blur of white and blue somewhere down the street, but her eyes were failing her. The world began to grow black as the Fangpyre General approached. Gently, he laid a hand on her head, above the ear, and a hand on her shoulder as he eased in for the bite.

"Someone, please help" whispered Laurie. Her eyes closed slowly.

From somewhere above, a shuriken buried itself into Skalidor's shoulder. He cried out and his grip on Laurie failed. She collapsed to the ground, motionless. Fangtom turned his gaze to a nearby rooftop. "Who's there?" he hissed angrily.

Another shuriken buried itself in the Fangpyre General's tail. He yelled, pulling it out and throwing it to the ground before retreating down a secluded street. Skalidor had run head first into a street sign and lay crumpled on the asphalt.

A white ninja jumped down from the rooftop and carefully retrieved his weapons. "My sensors indicate that there are no more Serpentine in the area" he said, holding out an arm. A falcon that had been perched on a telephone pole landed on his wrist and cocked its head to the left. The white ninja followed its gaze. "Of course, the patron!" breathed the ninja, kneeling by Laurie's side.

"Zane!" called a blue ninja running down the street. "I chased Fangtom down, but he got away." He bent over, placing his hands on his knees and breathing heavily. "I really should get in better shape. I play way too many video games."

"It is fine, Jay" Zane, the white ninja, stated. "Look, this is the individual that they were trying to turn into a Serpentine."

"He's a ninja too" Jay smiled, standing by Laurie's side now. His breathing was beginning to turn into a normal rythym. "Is he dead?"

"I do not believe so" Zane replied, placing two fingers on Laurie's left wrist. "He has a pulse, but I will have to remove his mask so he may breathe better." In a single motion, Zane lifted Laurie's mask off. Her hair had wriggled free of the tie during the struggle and red hair tumbled to the ground like a fiery waterfall.

"It's a girl!" Jay cried, kneeling down next to Laurie. "I've never seen a female ninja before!"

"What about Nya?"

"Nya is a samurai and that's different."

The two ninja continued to kneel over the girl for a few more minutes, completely enthralled by everything that had just occurred. Zane was the first to speak. "We must bring her to Dareth's Dojo. Kai and Cole are taking Lloyd there today to train. I do not know if Sensei should know about this female ninja." He scooped Laurie off the ground, cradling her in his arms. "She is very light" he remarked as his falcon sought refuge on his shoulder.

"This is a bō staff" Jay said to himself. "This must be her weapon of choice. I've heard it's extremely difficult to master." He managed to tuck the staff into his belt near his nun chucks before following Zane. "Is Dareth's far from here because I'm starving!"

"It is not far at all" Zane called back, staring at the mysterious girl. "An orange ninja" he said to himself, "how mysterious."

Well Laurie is with the ninja now, but probably not the way she was planning. Look forward to another update tomorrow and thank you to everyone who is reading! I really appreciate it. :)