==Hello! I finally got a chapter out with this writer's block weighing me down! It's not my best work, but I'm glad you get some content read :) I have a very important question to ask: What can be the name of Zane's snowmobile?! The other vehicles get cool names except for his and it makes me mad! If you have any ideas, please feel free to PM me or stick it in a review. I'm usually good at this kind of stuff, but I just can't think of anything. So there's your unofficial homework! It would mean a lot to me if you could help me out. Thanks!==
Sander van Doorn, Martin Garrix, & DVBBS - "Gold Skies" feat. Aleesia
See the smoke where the sun shines. We will forever be faded under gold skies. Captivated in your cold eyes. We will forever be faded under gold skies...
Haunted: Collapse into Caliginosity
Chapter 40:
Cold Eyes
Kai hopped off the Bounty and headed into the junkyard to retrieve something. Ed and Edna followed him at a slower pace. I gazed around the upper deck after realizing I could no longer sense a presence. I counted every familiar face except for one, and it was Macca's. She had somehow slipped away unnoticed.
Sensei Wu sauntered to the entrance of his living quarters. This was a peculiar time for him to already be settling in for the night. Sunset was just about to touch the horizon, and we hadn't eaten dinner yet.
"Zane, you coming?" Cole questioned me as I stood in deep thought. Nya was ascending up the stairs already.
"What about Jay and Kai?"
"We're not leaving without them. Nya just wants a head start with takeoff preparations."
Without hesitation, I followed him up to the bridge. Inside, we went to our stations and checked everything. I powered up the camera underneath the Bounty so it would ready, but for some odd reason, it was completely black. I was just about to move the angle when the darkness shifted and revealed that it was looking directly into Jay's nose.
I didn't have time to react. "Jay! Get your nose out of the camera!" Nya laughed into a microphone while pressing down a red button.
He jumped in fright and tried to figure out where her voice came from. Once he noticed the camera, he said, "Sorry, wasn't paying attention."
"How is it looking down there?"
"Pretty good. The bottom of the Bounty took the brunt of the impact. The boosters are looking fine to me."
"Head up, then. We'll be out of here when Kai gets back."
"Aye, aye, captain." The blue ninja saluted and vanished from view.
Cole switched on everything and checked all systems while Nya checked her area. She gazed through the hollow window, probably seeing Jay on the upper deck. When I took a peek next to her, I found my hypothesis to be correct. Jay was just approaching the center of the deck when Kai appeared and nearly bumped him. Kai continued to hurry below deck while Jay abruptly halted, giving him a remark before losing sight of him.
As Jay proceeded to join us, my mind wandered to the object Kai was holding. I was unable to properly observe as to what it was, but his rushed attitude told me it was important. The interesting part was that he headed to the potential hiding place of Macca. Since she was not with us, surely she was somewhere down there.
Jay entered the bridge and went to his station, not presenting any annoyance from the encounter.
"What was Kai up to?" Nya asked him.
"Don't know, don't care," he responded, impatient. "Do we have to wait on him?"
"No. We can leave. Uh, Zane? Can you take over Kai's place?"
Without answering, I stood in front of Kai's designated monitor that detected distance from the ground.
"Alright, we're out of here," Nya announced, turning on the special defense system. Just like earlier, the rocket boosters hummed and the sails spread. The entire vessel jerked once the rocket boosters gained enough power. Nya grasped the steering wheel as the numbers and graphs on each monitor increased in size. The bottom view of the camera supported the statistics of every system.
"We must go to Ninjago City," I reminded Nya.
"Already on it," she confirmed, taking the Bounty in the correct direction. "Does Macca have to be there as soon as possible?"
"I have no knowledge of that. Perhaps we should take our time for the trip unless she says otherwise."
Jay and Cole stepped away from their stations and relaxed. The entire room was silent for a few minutes until the door suddenly swung open and revealed Macca, anger clearly radiating from her.
"What's wrong?" Cole asked her.
She realized how hard the door opened and showed some concern in her expression, her anger easing immediately. "Oops, sorry," she replied, emerging from the outside. She wore small items that she arrived in yesterday, like her headphones. "I didn't mean to hit it that hard."
"How fast do you have be back?" Nya questioned.
"Not fast at all. I was going to call for a ride, anyway."
"Are you sure? We can easily take you."
"I know, but surely you don't want so much attention drawn to you all right now. Plus I need to get my car. I just figured you'd drop me off somewhere outside the city so I can get that in order."
"Whatever is fine with you. We'll be approaching the North entrance."
"I'll make you more burn ointment for home," I said, slipping past her for the kitchen.
I got out a bowl and began filling it with the correct herbs. After a little sprinkle of water, I mashed and mixed every plant until the texture became a smooth paste. I dabbed a finger into it to make sure it was correct, and about that time, another body entered the room behind me.
"Macca?" I said without glancing over my shoulder.
There was a sigh. "No," Kai answered, opening cabinets and gathering items.
I deposited the ointment into a plastic bag and watched him. "It's your night to cook dinner? I thought it was Cole's."
He didn't meet my eye. "It is, but I don't feel like being in the same room as Macca right now."
"She appeared upset when she came up to the bridge. What happened?"
He seemed hesitant in his response. "I…can't tell you."
"Of course you can. I am your brother."
"No," he insisted, almost harsh, "it's best if you don't know. Trust me. And please don't ask her about it, either. I'm being serious."
"Surely you're being irrational in some way," I prompted.
He didn't say anything more. I stood and witnessed him begin to prepare dinner for tonight, and that was when I knew there was no point in pursuing the matter.
The rest of the ointment was scraped into the bag and then sealed so the consistency would remain. My trip back to the bridge was not complete until the bowl and tool I used were washed clean.
Macca was talking to someone on her cellphone when I returned. The others were having a conversation of their own as Nya continued to guide the Bounty toward the great city.
"Well, I figured you'd be more willing to come get me than Linus," she confessed, sitting at the table with an elbow resting against it.
I took a seat next to her as the person on the other line spoke.
"What do you mean you're stuck?" she asked. She took the phone away from her ear as if something had happened to the connection. The screen showed another call coming, and she answered it. A picture appeared of someone's face. "Why are you video chatting me?" she asked him.
"So I could show you why I'm stuck," he explained, moving the camera to show him laying down with a black mass curled up on his rear.
"Is that Geno?" Macca giggled.
"Yeah, he's been there for an hour. I can't move or else I'll wake him up."
"You're ridiculous."
"He's my baby!"
"He's a cat! You're not going to hurt his feelings if you get up."
"I'd like to think of this as relationship goals– Hey what's that?"
"What's what?" She directed the camera in my direction. "Zane?"
He gasped. "That's the guy that kidnapped you!"
"Uh, no, I went with him."
"That's not what the viral video depicted. It's all over the news, Mac. People think you're dead because you just disappeared. And I recognize him because he was also wearing a lot of white in the video."
"Well, he is the White Ninja and he's seven feet tall. It's kind of hard to miss him."
He laughed. "You're a midget."
"Shut up!"
"Hey, Macca, we've just arrived," Cole shared.
"Already?" Macca said in disbelief.
I leaned in to her ear and whispered. "I'll just take you."
"Okay. Gotta go, Trent."
"Wait, what–"
She hung up and he vanished. "Ready?" she itched.
I handed her the little bag of ointment. "Not yet. We have to land first." Everybody returned to their stations when I got up from the seat.
"Where's Kai?" Jay asked.
"He's cooking dinner."
"Guys, let's just not mess up this time," Nya reminded us, letting the Bounty descend. "Keep an eye on the distance from the ground and then turn off the defense system."
The numbers on Kai's screen became smaller with each passing second. Once the digits reduced to a foot off the ground, I turned off the boosters. The landing was soft and we only felt a little thud.
"Now?" Macca continued.
"Do you want to stay for dinner?" Cole asked her.
"No, but thank you for the offer. I need to get some things straightened out for tomorrow."
I had to open the door for Macca to notice we could leave at any time. She immediately came towards the door a moment later.
"It was nice meeting you all!" she finished.
"Bye, Macca!" Nya said with a wave.
Cole and Jay also said their goodbyes. Macca went through the open door "How are we going to do this without Shard?" she wondered.
"Oh, you were bitten when we unlocked our golden weapons."
"What do you mean?"
"I have a vehicle." I didn't pull out my shurikens until we were on the sand. A mere second of concentration brought forth a piercing flash of white light, and I was resting on my rumbling snowmobile.
"No fucking way!" she acclaimed. "That's fucking awesome!"
"Well, get on, then." I scooted back a little bit to give her room. "There's just one thing that I'm weary about."
She took her seat in front of me. "What's that?"
"The only way the vehicle will remain is if I concentrate."
"Okay, then I won't be a distraction." She leaned against me as I revved the engine and started forward. The speed increased once we got on the lone stretch of road that ran into the bright lights of Ninjago City. "Will giving directions be a distraction?" she asked.
"Of course not."
"Okay. I'll tell you when to turn."
Buildings and other vehicles seemed to have squeezed us into the city. I gazed around, intimidated by the unfamiliar surroundings. Seeing it all from the sky was one thing, but being in the middle of it was another. It was all so overwhelming in a way, but I followed in the direction of the other vehicles, waiting for directions.
Eventually, we stopped at a traffic light, and the car next to us rolled down a window. "Oh my god! Macca Soxx!" a girl squealed.
Macca looked at the girl and waved. The red light turned green and I had no other choice but to drive on. Many people began to notice Macca more and more. Excited squeals came and went, but I maintained focus and listened to every direction change.
Finally a familiar dance club came into view. As we approached the extravagant entrance, I was told to pull into the adjoining parking lot next to it. We stopped behind a peculiar purple car, and my snowmobile vanished with a flash of light.
"It doesn't feel right saying goodbye to you again," I acknowledged under the gold sky.
"Hey, it's not goodbye forever. I promise I'll call you in two days. Two days."
"But when will we see each other again?"
She thought for a moment before pointing her finger up with an idea. "I never told you about the upcoming dance battle, did I?"
Nothing in her question made sense to me, so I shook my head.
"It's in five days. I'll send you more information once I get it–" She hugged me tightly "–Surely you can go five days without seeing my face?"
"Yes, but I could use the internet to help me cope."
She laughed and let go of me, looking deep into my eyes. "You're going to be fine. If you're physically strong, you're also mentally strong. Live your life the way you normally would. I care about you too much to lose you. You know that by now. I'll see you later."
"Yes. Farewell."
She left me standing and got in her car. I watched her pull out and leave, waving her hand at me to indicate her departure. My gaze followed until she was out of sight. All I could think of was how much I yearned for the next five days to pass by quickly.
I hope it was good enough for y'all :) Shoutout to Kai4Ever, Wild Cat 214, and The Mayor of Ninjago City for reviewing the last chapter! Thanks ebony umbreon for following this story! I don't know when the next update will come, but I'm making a C in math right now and I'm going to be disowned if I don't bring it up to at least a B. Let's say it'll be at Christmas Break :) See y'all later!