Wow! I have to be honest; I'm really glad there are still people who enjoy my story! I got a super achievement this week, too: I updated the same story more than once! I haven't done that in a very long time, so I'm proud of myself. You guys and your comments are helping me to get off my lazy butt. And toothlessturtle21, wow, just wow. You're awesome, man. I'm glad to see you're so interested in keeping track of my story. AmberJackson, too, thank you! I'm sorry I still haven't done your story request yet, but it means a lot that you're always checking in on me. And even though it was forever ago, your comment here made me smile.
Alright, without further ado, I give you chapter 4!
-LizzyLucky
It had been hours since everyone had gone to bed, but for once, Zane couldn't get to sleep. He was baffled by it at first, wondering why he wasn't able to fall asleep the regular way or just shut himself down manually, but then remembered what Kai had said to him the day before.
"You are not just a robot." It echoed in his head and it flustered him. He couldn't believe how much he'd just let himself start to believe that he was just a robot. What Kai had said was right. Several months ago, he thought he was as human as could be, so did everyone else. He was a little strange, but some people are that way anyway. He could bruise, bleed, feel pain, feel sadness… He could be hurt. But… he could also feel pride and joy, he could be satisfied with a meal, enjoy the smells, sights, tastes, of everything. He could do anything a regular person could do, and he had his own limitations that made him seem even more human.
So what exactly changed his mind? Why did finding out he was a robot- a nindroid- make him suddenly feel like he wasn't human? Like he wasn't supposed to even be capable of feeling all of these other things? Like he didn't deserve to have friends or the comforts of a home and a bed?
Zane sat up on his bed and tried to meditate. Maybe if he just sat still and listened to everything happening around him, he could clear his mind and relax a little.
"I'll never be able to concentrate tomorrow if I don't get any sleep." He muttered to himself. Then he smiled.
"Just like a regular person."
He closed his eyes and straightened his back. He tried to clear his mind and focused only on the sounds he could hear around him. Or, even, the lack of sound. Outside, the snow fell gently. The sounds of the always bustling city were muffled. The cars and the working factories made sounds which were now dispersed through the air and left a sound which could only really be described with the word soft. The wind blew just as mildly, causing soft, powdery snow to blow by the window, like a white mist. A gently spraying sound of sorts, reminding him of the sea.
Inside the room there were no noises. No creaky footsteps, no television or video games, no arguments. Not even the soft flapping of comic book pages on those nights that Lloyd couldn't sleep himself. All he could hear was breathing.
Kai, of course, snored lightly, but it was more of a peaceful sound. Jay was usually the loud sleeper, but not tonight. He was nearly silent, tossing in his bed occasionally. Quiet breaths, too, came from Cole, and even Lloyd. The room, for the most part, was silent, and Zane was finally beginning to relax.
With these sounds running through his head, and the peacefulness that came with each of them, Zane began to lay back down, pulling the covers over himself as he did so. He was finally starting to become….. tired enough… to fall… asleep….
Zane's figure relaxed into a comfortable position and he began to fall asleep.
But, as you probably know, getting comfortable in bed is usually when you realize you forgot to do something, or when your alarm for the morning goes off, or just plain when something goes wrong and you have to get up again anyway. Thus as it is for our poor, sleepy nindroid…
Just as Zane was about to fall into a dreamless sleep, there was a loud bang! outside the window. His eyes practically flew open, and several other ninja woke with a start.
"What's that?!" Kai slurred, still half asleep.
"We're under attack!" Cole shouted, jumping out of bed and effectively waking the rest of the room's residents.
Zane sat up quickly, being careful not to hit his head again and jumped up, running toward the window. The other ninja followed suit, each standing ready to attack should the need arise.
Another bang went off outside. Someone screamed and there was a thump against the wall.
Zane looked over at the nearest person to him with worry. Kai, who was standing right there, shared the same expression. It sounded like someone outside could be in trouble. Nodding to each other, the two walked cautiously over to the window. Zane moved to open it but jumped back before his hand could even reach the latch.
In one moment of utter terror, the ninja watched something come flying through the window, causing shards of shattered window to shower Zane and Kai, then spill all over the floor. The five ninja turned their heads immediately to see the object fly through the air and crash into one of the bunk beds with a loud snap, flip around, and collide with the back wall of the room.
Once it sat still, the horrifying realization hit: It was a person. Whether this was a good or a bad thing, a person just came crashing through the window and smacked into the back wall. And, shuddering, Zane realized he wasn't sure if that snapping sound was the bed, or the unconscious figure now in their room.
Turning back around, each ninja took their turn jumping out the window only to come across a massive gathering of serpentine. There were hundreds of them, every kind, fully armed and ready to attack.
"Oh no…" Kai muttered. A glance was shared between them before the serpentine charged, already feeling triumphant, for their home.
"Kai, go get Nya to start up the ship, and we'll hold them off!" Cole ordered, charging in himself. Zane, Jay, and Lloyd ran up with him, spreading out and creating a temporary barrier between the Serpentine and the Bounty. Kai nodded and ran back in through the window without another word, calling his sister's name all the way.
"Nya! Nya, start up the engines! Now!"
Nya poked her head from her own room down the hall and looked at him grumpily. She must not have been waken up before. By the looks of it, no one else at all had been woken.
"We're under attack, we can't hold them off for long!" He shouted, running past her room and to his sensei's.
Nya blinked rapidly and her eyes widened as she registered what he'd said. She took off at a sprint down the halls and to the other side of the bounty, turning on the aerial systems and flipping switches everywhere there was to flip a switch.
"Sensei! Sensei, we're under attack!" Kai pounded anxiously on the door and jiggled the door knob.
Outside, the remaining four ninja were severely outnumbered. They were beginning to run out of stamina and time.
"I don't know if we can do this any longer, Cole! Especially without our weapons!" Zane called, locked in a battle of strength with another serpentine.
"Why couldn't I have gone to get Nya, huh?" Jay whined loudly as he ducked away from one of the hypnobrai's tricks.
"Shut your yaps, guys, the engine's starting up already, hear it?" Cole replied, turning his head back to the Bounty, which was rumbling to life.
"Everybody, let's go! It's already taking off!" Lloyd shouted. The other ninja grunted their agrees and each spun their way out of the crowd of Serpentine, then turned around for the Bounty.
Zane, however, turned to run with the others and got his ankle caught by a scaly hand.
"Let! Go!" He shook it off and turned to run towards the ship. Cole got there first and watched to see the others get in.
"Hurry, Zane!" He called. Zane stumbled the last few feet and dove in through the window just as the ship began to fly upwards, Cole following suit. The two landed in a heap on the floor, the other ninja standing around them. The room filled with the sound of panicked panting. Not as peaceful a sound as when they were all asleep, Zane decided.
Wu walked into the room with Kai behind him.
"Is everyone accounted for?" He asked, looking around the room.
"Yes, Sensei! We're all here, but-" Jay cut Zane off, who was trying to tell Wu of the person who came crashing through their window.
"WHAT was that?! Huh?! Why are we being attacked by Serpentine!? I thought we were rid of them AGES AGO!" He shouted, waving his arms around for exaggeration.
Wu chuckled amusedly then frowned in thought.
"I do not know." He said.
"What if they're trying to take over the surface again?" Kai asked.
"I suppose that's a possibility. However, there are many possibilities, so we cannot immediately determine what they may be trying to do."
"Sensei, there's a-" Zane started again but paused when all eyes turned to him. Since when is he shy? Well, technically, he was always shy, but not to the point he would freeze up in front of his own friends!
"Ah, yes, Zane! I do realize, the serpentine may be responsible for the disappearance of your falcon." Wu said, turning to Zane.
He was taken aback. He almost forgot about that, considering everything else that had been happening in the previous 24 hours.
"Maybe he's out there, Zane!" Kai exclaimed, gesturing to their computer, which had a tracking device installed. For a moment, Zane forgot all about the person on the floor and looked toward the computer himself, hope glimmering in his ice-blue eyes. Then he frowned and turned his head away, knowing that even his falcon wasn't as important next to the issues at hand.
"What's wrong, Zane?" Jay asked quietly.
"There is- someone came flying through the window-" Zane replied distractedly. He stood up and walked towards the back wall, the rest of the room watching him.
"Oh yeah! Ugh, who's going to have to clean all that glass?" Jay groaned.
Cole rolled his eyes and he and the rest of the group walked to follow Zane.
"What?" Jay stuck his arms out, oblivious, as usual.
"Be careful guys, it's probably a serpentine." Kai said, walking up behind Zane. The ninja and their Sensei crowded around the figure. The first thing they heard was a gasp from Zane.
It was not a serpentine.
Not a hypnobrai. Not a constricti. Not venomari or any of the others.
It was not a snake, or a skeleton, nor was it any of the other strange creatures inhabiting Ninjago.
In fact, it wasn't even an enemy.
The person sat in front of them was just that: a person.
It was a teenaged girl.
A child.
And she was hurt.
I honestly imagined that ending (to the chapter guys, don't worry) being very dramatic. It probably wasn't, but whatever. I'm not the greatest writer in the world, but I hope it was good enough… Tell me what you think? Please? I'm such a crazy bad writer…
-LizzyLucky