Chapter 11: Trail of Paws
Moi grabbed more stems and roots off of the counter, chewing them into a goopy mess and adding it to the mixture. Zane gave her a pat on the head. The little cat purred with a smile. She went back to work with the plants. She'd gone out the other day to go find more of the flowers and leaves to make Zane's antidote last longer, so they could go and find more corruption to study. So far, the purple substance could not be removed from anything it touched, and Skylor's dagger remained tarnished violet after multiple tests.
Moikka gasped beside him, and he jumped, having to grab the vials so that they didn't fall.
"What is it?" he asked, exhaling sharply.
"Moi jus' reemembuhd sometin'!" she cried. Zane pushed his protective glasses up to his forehead.
"What? Is there something we missed in the mix?" he asked.
"No! Wee did faeen! But, der iz a flowuh that can help us! Wee cood go too mah ohld villuj!" she mewled, chasing her giraffe-like tail. "Den, we cood faeend sum uv duh old flowuhs dat cood maeek sumone immyoon to duh poison for a hol moon!" There was a plant like this that Zane had heard about in the book that Garmadon jotted things down in. However, he hadn't had the time to ask Moi about it since she and Suzanne were out trying to sniff down Skylor.
"Alright, how far in is the village?" he asked, and Moi helped him put rubber stoppers into the finished elixirs. She seemed to have opposable paw segments that helped her grip things, and her claws, although a bit dull, were easily able to cling onto things. Any she could inflict a little bit of pain. He'd realized this when something made the creature scared, probably a shrill noise, and she'd jumped and latched onto his shoulder. He put his palm to the spot where she had to be coaxed off by the Master of Wind.
"Moi'll taeek yoo! Wee can all go!" she purred, nuzzling his arm. He picked her up, and she assumed her position draped across his shoulders. She had an odd sense of balance, and she looked more like the old furs of otters and foxes that aristocrats wore years ago, except Moi blinked and purred and spoke in broken Ninjagan.
He stepped out of the lab and into the hallway, and he kept walking until he found the doors where Suzanne and Jay were sharpening their skills. He found it a little odd that nearly every door was different, although they stayed the same after you opened them, there were still things that he hadn't explored after two weeks in the base. These doors were shoji-styled, and Zane could only wonder if Garmadon had found them nostalgic when he'd created them. He took one door and pushed it over the other.
Suzanne and Jay were sparring in the middle of a giant training room. Another anomaly in this odd and chaotic palace. By this size, the lab and even the kitchen would have been engulfed, or rather, never to have existed.
They startled when Zane and Moi entered without warning, and Suzanne nearly fell over to stop herself from kicking her opponent in the stomach.
"Hey!" she said. "Y'done with science?" Zane smiled, and Moi jumped off his shoulders, running over to the two with enthusiasm.
"Dat looked fu~n!" Moikka said, not letting Suzanne finish her sentence. She tried to stand on her hind legs, but she instead fell on her rear, tail still twitching with happiness. Jay picked her front paws up and set her upright, scratching her behind the ears.
"Yeah, if you're winning," he told her. "We're usually pretty evenly matched, we are in a lot of activities."
"Too pees of duh saeem pod!" Moi jumped around, flexing her claws. "Yoo too are unsehpahrahbul!" The last word was almost choked out for lack of breath.
"So, what's up?" Suzanne continued her previous thought.
"Well, we wanted to see if you two wanted to go with us on a little mission... tomorrow, Moi?" Zane asked. Moi stopped trying to knock over a training dummy.
"Duh poshun will bee dun toomoroh mohrneeng!" she replied. "Wee can set out whenevuh!" The Master of Ice nodded, and he activated his aura, white flakes, and lines of color swirling around him for a moment until he opened his eyes to a new outfit. He had changed into a simple training gi like the other two.
"Alright, then," he said. "Who's first?"
Zane set his items in his bag, extra vials just in case the corruption was too much for the potions to handle. Moi padded in and jumped up onto his bed, which he still needed to make. He had been extremely unorganized ever since Skylor had attacked him. He was always looking over his shoulder, and it drained his energy to know the feeling that he could be killed at any moment. Because he didn't usually sleep that much, he didn't have a sufficient recharge every day. Even so, he had to continue his work.
"Yoo look taee-uhd," she said sleepily. Zane shrugged.
"I didn't know it showed that much," he replied, rubbing her head. "I'll just drink some tea or coffee." Moi put a paw on his arm. She didn't say anything, but she closed her eyes and hummed a little bit. Her paws glowed a pink hue, and suddenly he felt rejuvenation fill his artificial veins. It was like what Lily could do back home. She had the ability to heal many types of wounds, including a bit of Serpentine poison.
"You can use magic, Moi?" he asked the cat. She nodded, and her yellow ears twitched.
"Moi has a few uhbiluhtees," she replied. "Heeling is a big won. I can doo heeling anytime." Zane breathed slowly as soon as Moi lifted her paw away, a sense of life surging through him. They could use a healer in the base. After all, Skylor was apparently not as friendly as she seemed. He shrugged the thoughts away, and picked up his bag, motioning for Moi to follow as he slung it over his shoulder.
"Advenshuh!" Moi meowed.
"Adventure, indeed," Zane replied.