Happy Friday everyone. Time for another update. Many of you guess on what happens next and shall see what happens. Oh by the way, I found and knew the perfect soundtrack for this chapter and part. Type in the link, watch?v=G4oTRqX5O3A, and when you see the mark, *, enjoy and imagine. Enjoy the chapter. :)
Chapter 11: Storm
After what seemed like hours, or decades, we finally reached the location of my golden weapon. The Misty Forest. The forest was everything the riddle said to be. A dense fog that no-one can see through the naked eye. A thick jungle-like texture of the forest to send shivers down your spine. It looked as if it was haunted with ghosts and ghouls, but I know they don't exist. But somewhere in this humid, thick canopy jungle forest is my golden weapon. Hidden away from the world and my possession. But my uncle told me I won't use it until it is time.
"How are we suppose to cross this when the fog is thick?" Kruncha complained.
"Do not underestimate me, General." Samukai spat. "There's a way through." The question is how? Fog can go away when it's less humid and this weather condition won't go away so it stays. The riddle didn't leave much of a clue to help us search the way through. It was accuriate on it being hidden by the fog. "You, boy, did the map say anything where the weapon would be?" Samukai grumbled with a knife drawn out at my throat.
Was that suppose to be a threat? Oh please. I've been in the Underworld for three years now and he's only doing it to scare me. "That thing spoke in riddles." I spat at him. "To search the temple you must cross the way. The one of the element can seek the way. When he sees through the fog, he has found the way. That's all it said for this part." and slowly pushed the knife away. "What do you expect me to do?" I growled.
Samukai brought the knife back at my throat. "Well think of something." he grimaced. "Otherwise, it'll be your life." and removed the knife away.
Bossy. Now I know why Kuzca hates him. But he would never kill the apprentice of Garmadon. If my uncle found out with the Reflective Pool, he'd be furious at the leader of the skeleton army. But still, how does he expect me to know? I'm only a teenager that doesn't know much of anicent riddles or this forest.
Let's see. Only the one of the element can seek the way. It's talking about me and my element, but I don't see any path. Just fog and trees. I removed my mask to think and slumped back into my seat and slowly exhaled. I looked up to see the fog shifting from my breath and it dawned onto me. It made sense now. Only the one of the element can seek the way. I can move fog. And fog is water. "Samukai, I know the path now." I said excitedly.
"Well get to it, boy." the hunched skeleton grumbled.
I rolled my eyes at him and jumped onto the hood of his vehicle. I held my gloved hands out in front of me and closed my eyes. I felt my powers of water course my veins and could feel the fog surrounding my body and swiped my arms out and opened my eyes. The fog was being pushed away and moving aside for us. I could see the ground as the fog was moving still to create a path with the fog creating a wall without moving anymore. Like a force field to prevent the fog from hiding the path. When the last of the fog stopped moving, I could see a narrow pathway to my weapon. "There!" I exclaimed. "That's the way!"
"Skeleton army, move out!" Samukai commanded and hopped out of his vehicle. "Leave the vehicles here, but grab the equipment."
The skeletons did as what they were told to do and climbed out of their vehicles with the crates. I eyed them curiously on why we need this to retrieve my weapon. "What's with the crates and equipment?" I asked and jumped off the monsterous vehicle and landed near Nuckal.
"Oh...uh...in case something happens." the one skeleton replied nervously.
I raised an eyebrow in curiousity at him. "Like what?" I asked. Nuckal looked at me uneasy with his one eye and walked away. He's hiding something from me. Do they all know besides me?
"You, boy, get over here." Samukai demanded. I rolled my eyes at him and walked over to him. What does he want now? I created the path for him and now needs me again. I better not be his pack mule. "You're the one who can move this fog, lead the way." he commanded.
Again bossy. I made sure my sai's were secured in my belt and threw my mask over my face. I looked at the skeletons as they were prepared to venture in. I stood in front of the entrance and felt chills down my spine as it looked like something you would read in a scary book. But instead of a serial killer or monster, there could be wild animals that could call it their home and know the way though. I took a deep breath and slowly ventured in.
...
We've been walking for hours and the temperature has been rising up. I had to remove my mask because it was hard to breathe and been getting funny comments as my hair curls to this humidity. I'm not annoyed or anything. But I think they find it amusing because I'm the only human with them. Anyway, we've been trekking for hours now and I began to hear water nearby. It sounded like a waterfall.
I moved branches away to pass through and stood into an open clearing from where the fog used to be. I could see a waterfall pouring out gallons of water from a cliff side of a mountain into a pool of water and a river leading away into the fog. I looked around to find any pathways to the temple and no fog was moved aside to create a way but this area. I must've found the location. "Samukai, this is it!" I shouted as I was ahead of them.
"Are you sure, boy?" the hunched skeleton grumbled as he used his swords to cut through the vegetation of vines and branches. "Better not play with me." He broke through the branches and walked into the clearing with the others behind him.
"I am not playing." I scowled. "There's no more pathways and this area is clear of fog. This has to be the area." I pointed the waterfall. "The riddle also said 'Cross through the water and you have seeked the gold.' The temple must be hidden past that waterfall and underneath the mountain."
Samukai looked at me and huffed. "Skeletons, advance inside." he ordered while taking the lead with me behind him. We reached the pool of the waterfall and river and I could see stones jutting out of the water to a large incline rock being poured by the water. I was being pushed forward to test the stones and found them sturdy. I hopped over to each one and immediately get sprayed with water. My messy shaggy hair already became drenched. I step on the slippery incline rock and didn't slip for the rubber soles of my shoes provided traction for me to run and begin to walk in until something grabbed my shoulder and pulled me away. "You stay here, ninja." he hissed. "Your master wouldn't want his apprentice to get hurt, wouldn't he?"
I glared at him, but didn't pout. The drops of water went through his ribs as he enter the water and disappeared. I moved aside to let the others through and watched them disappear through the water. I was alone now. Not worthless as I have my sai's with me, but alone.
...
Hours have passed. Or so I think. I can't see the sun to tell the time. My suit has been completely soaked as I sit on the inclined rock with the water pouring on me. And somehow I find it relaxing. Since I was alone now, I removed my gi, undershirt, shoes, socks, gloves, and even pants. I showered myself in my boxers under the warm water as I washed my body off the sweat, dirt, and oils and began to feel clean again and threw my damp pants back on and sat underneath the waterfall to...meditate.
My body felt clean now. Back in the Underworld, there's no running water because there's no river or spring source anywhere. So the only time I can bathe is when I go train my elemental powers in the river on the surface. I rather not say how I use the bathroom. People back in the medieval times had their ways with castles and fortresses. But to make sure my uncle and I have water in the Underworld, my uncle had skeletons construct a stroage tank for water. We use it for drinking, cooking, and bathing for when it's winter.
When the temperatures drop during winter on the surface, I have a tub in my room to train my powers. I even have these small skeletons, who I never asked for their names yet and appeared to be children, come into my room with buckets of water and use my fireplace to heat it up and pour it in the tub so I can bathe. I honestly can't bathe when it snows. Don't want to catch hyperthermia. My uncle gave me those skeleton kids as servants, but I don't take them for granted. But they do help me around my room such as my laundry or help me clean my room. Again, I don't take them for granted.
After I felt calmed and relaxed, I threw my grey undershirt, gloves, and gi, damp socks and shoes back on and looked at the waterfall. They've been gone for a long time and haven't returned with my weapon. What's taking them so long? I poked my head through the water to stare at a pool of water and a rocky wall. Where are they? Shouldn't there be a path into the mountain? But then, something caught my eyes below the pool of water and looked down to see a...torchlight? How was this possible? Can fire really burn underwater? I slowly crawled down, held my breath, and plunged my head under the water.
I gasped in surprise as the water felt...dry! Like I can breathe underwater. I think a shield was keeping the surface of the water away from this area for those that want to look for the weapon. It's amazing. But suddenly I saw something move in the shadows in the long tunnel. My eyes were growing wide as the shadow was enormous and heard it growl with gleaming grey eyes glaring at me. I quickly resurfaced and climbed out of the waterfall. I quickly ran across the stepping stones and stared back at the waterfall to see a shadow grow larger and heard a roar. Without hesistation, I took off running by following the river.
I sprinted down the forest as fast as I could. Branches whipped me as I ran through them. Vines would entangle me and I broke free from them. I used the river as my compass because it'll most likely help me escape the forest. What was that in the waterfall!? Did it get Samukai and the others and destroyed them? I realized that it must be the guardian as the riddle said that a guardian keeps the weapon safe and it got them. Now it's coming after me!
I heard a roar in the distance and turned my head to see birds fluttering away with the sound of trees breaking. It was definitely coming after me. I continued to sprint as fast as my legs could let me. No matter how much they burned for me to stop. The sound of trees crashing down told me that it was gaining closer. I heard the water was starting to become choppy and saw it was picking up speed. I broke through a shrub to an open clearing and stopped as the river was now a waterfall and I was centimeters from falling off the cliff. I was now trapped and had nowhere else to run.
Stomp! The ground shook a little. Stomp! My blood felt like ice and my heart was racing rapidly against my chest. Stomp! The sound of tree falling made the birds flutter away as it was near. Stomp! Ggrrrooowwlll! I was shaking in fear as I saw the gleaming eyes through the fog and felt my heart skip a few beats. This is the end.
Suddenly the guardian broke through the leafy covers and landed in front of me with a loud roar. I was screaming and fell to my knees while shielding my face as I coward in fear. I peeked through my arms to see a grey dragon with strong front and back legs. Grey scales gleaming off the mist of the waterfall. Wings that were extended to show the scars and holes in them. A dragon was the guardian my father put to protect the Golden Weapons of Spinjitzu. Why would he use them? I thought they didn't exist. But there was a real dragon in front of me and it looked mad and hungry.
The dragon eyed me with his grey reptilian eyes. He folded his wings and took a step forward. I quickly went back to cowarding and shielded myself. "Please don't eat me!" I begged without shedding a tear. This was different when I encounter with Sherra. I dare not open my eyes, but felt something being softly pressed against my chest and looked to see him nudging me with his snout. "Huh?" I was confused. "You're not going to eat me?" I asked him. This was confusing. This dragon was being friendly, not angry anymore. It nudged me again with his snout and I slowly patted it on the snout. And in return it gave a rumble in its throat like a cat's purr and licked me with its tongue. "What is happening?" I inquired myself.
"Happy Birthday, Lucas!" Garmadon's voice rang. I looked around for my uncle's shadow as he using the Reflective Pool and couldn't find him anywhere. "Over here." he said.
I directed my head to his voice and spotted his crimson eyes through the fog as he was in the shade of what appeared to be an Elm tree with elm leaves that were large as maple leaves. "Master, what is going on here?" I asked. It's not everyday that a dragon chases you to a cliff and becomes friendly all of a sudden.
"My dear nephew, it's your birthday present." he replied. "Your very own dragon."
Okay he's got to be joking. This overgrown flying reptile is mine!? At first it was all angry and chases after me, but then becomes friendly to me. This has to be a dream. To make sure, I pinched myself and felt it. It wasn't a dream. This was real. "I don't understand." I sheepily said, utterly confused.
"Each elemental ninja has their own golden weapon and dragon." Garmadon explained. "Your father placed them there as the guardians of the weapons of the element. This here is the water dragon of your element. And he is yours." I looked back at the dragon as he nudged me again with his snout and I kindly patted him back. And again in return, I get a deep throat purr and a lick. I think I might like this. My very own dragon. I always wanted a pet back at the dojo, but my parents always said 'No'. But I finally have one of my own. And this was way better than a puppy. "Now that you've connected with your dragon," he continued. "You must now name it."
I looked at him and wondered about the many names for him. Lucky? Max? I started to realize that the names I have in mind were childish and wanted to give him a serious name. I studied him and as I thought of a name for him. I studied his scaly, muscular body. His grey eyes with vertical pupils of a reptile. That attitude he had before we became connected. I slowly realized that I don't have to give him a name that's childish, but give him one based from our element. "Storm." I finally said to name him.
Storm roared in reply on his name and bent his front legs and leaned to the side. What was he doing now? "Now that you name him," Garmadon continued. "You must complete the connection by being one with your dragon."
Being one with your dragon? "How?" I asked.
"Why fly with it of course." he replied. "You cannot be one with your dragon until you took your first flight with it. Return to the Underworld once you complete the connection and you'll be relieved of training for the day." and his shadow disappeared into the ground. We were now alone.
I looked at Storm as he remained in the same position; waiting for me to climb on for our ride and realized I had nothing to hold onto him with. I scanned the area to find something to help me with and spotted some vines to use hanging off an tree. I drew out a sai, told him to wait, and ran to the tree that had the elm shaped leaves, but were large as maple leaves. I cut part of the vine off and pulled some of it out until I felt a tug and made the final cut. I got enough length to use as rope and ran back to Storm with my coil of vine.
I stood in front of Storm and lengthed my vine to find the center and found it. "Can you open your mouth, please?" I kindly asked. Storm opened his mouth to show his sharp teeth and my face cringed as his breath was awful. He could use a mint or a hundred of them. I shook my head to bring myself back and placed the center of the vine in the back of his mouth and threw the ends onto his back. He closed his mouth and leaned to the side for me to climb onto. I cautiously climbed onto his back, sat down bareback, and took hold of the vines and wrapped my arms around them so I wouldn't lose my grip. I felt Storm move closer to the cliffedge and waited for me to give him a command. "Uh...okay, uh...f-fly-Whoa!" I screamed as I felt a torgue of speed as Storm launched us over the ledge and into a dive.
I was screaming as the wind was blowing in my face with my hair blowing out of my face as we were diving to the ground. Why couldn't he just flap his wings and took us off the ground, but instead went into a dive? I saw him fold his wings closer to his body and felt gravity take hold as I couldn't feel myself on his back. We were increasing in speed. To what!? Death!? I looked over Storm's head and screamed the loudest as we were closer to the tree canopies and ground. "Go up! Go up!" I screamed at him. I watched Storm unfold his wings and felt gravity again and felt myself on his back and closed my eyes as we closer to the ground and didn't open my eyes until I felt a force that made me fall back and no longer felt ourselves falling.
*I carefully peeked one eye to see and both eyes shot open to gasp in surprise as it was happening. I was flying. I have connected. I have connected with Storm. My dragon flapped his wings as he flew in grace above the tree canopies with the sunlight finally showing in the cloudless sky. I finally saw the sun. That was scary at first, but now it's calm and fun. I think I might like this now. This will be even better than a dog or cat. Now how do you fly your own dragon?
I pulled my left arm to direct him to the left and he responded by listening and glided to the left and glided his left wing through a shower of water. We both get sprayed with droplets of water. I wiped my face to see and heard him chuckle in his throat as he thought it was funny. That's the first step of flying, what else can I do with him? I whipped the vines and Storm flapped his wings harder and we both were flying in fast speed. Okay this is too much speed, how do you slow down? I pulled the vines and we stopped. Okay that's step two. Now what?
I pulled the vines and we began to gain altitude. We broke through a thin cloud and felt the moisture on my face as we flew in great speed. What else can he do? Can he breathe fire like all anicent dragons? "Can you breathe fire, Storm?" I asked. Storm roar in deniance. "Why not?" He roared and opened his mouth. A greyish glow filled his mouth and fired an orb of water. The orb flew up in the sky and began to fall down on us and I didn't close my eyes as it drew closer. Suddenly the orb exploded and we both got showered with water and I cheered in joy as it was the most fun I ever had as we glided across the sky. The wind on my face hair was great and the heat of the sun was relaxing.
...
We soon found ourselves out of the forest and over the land of Ninjago. I could see the world around from here. The mountains. The sea in the distance. The desert; The Sea of Sands. Even the largest city in all of Ninjago in the distance. Ninjago City.
This is amazing. I can see more of the world than before. My father would never let me outside the Monastery walls. Except when my mother was still alive and she would take me to Jamanakai Village. But when she passed away, my father would never let me see the outside world because he was worried for my safety. He even told how my uncle became evil when he was young. But with my uncle and Storm, I can have the freedom I always wanted and see the world.
I soon found myself flying over a familiar mountain area. I looked over Storm's neck and noticed I was near my old home. What are we doing here? We didn't descend as we glided over my home, but I didn't want to see it. I tugged on the vines to the right to stay away from it. And Storm roared in question. "Not here, Storm." I told him. "That isn't my home anymore. My home is in the Underworld. I think it's time we head back."
Storm roared and dove down into a dive. I didn't scream as I was used to him doing that. Suddenly I noticed him curving his wings in and was doing spins as we were heading into the ground still. This time I screamed as our speed was increasing and everything was starting to become a blur as we were now acting as a drill to the ground without pulling up. What was he doing!? I immediately shut my eyes tight as we impacted into the ground as everything was dark.
Am I dead?
I opened my eyes to see I was still alive and was flying through a narrow tunnel or channel as we flew past other tunnels. Did my dragon just...teleported or something for this to happen? Storm flapped his wings to gain speed and I ducked and steered Storm to avoid icicles, jutted out rocks, bolts of lightning, streams of fire, passing through waterfalls and felt a gust of wind nearly knocking me off of my dragon. Once I saw that there was no more of the elements, we found ourselves to an open area and a dead end. I started screaming again and closed my eyes as we made contact to a swirling vortex and saw darkness.
...
"Welcome back, my apprentice." my uncle's voice greeted.
I slowly opened my eyes and quickly opened them to find myself still alive and in the courtyard of the Underworld. How did that happen? I saw my uncle standing near my dragon as he inspected him. And next to him was Samukai, who was still alive with his four arms crossed. Guess my dragon didn't kill them because you can't kill what's already dead. "Master." I greeted back and hopped off of Storm.
"Have you become one with your dragon?" he asked.
I looked at my uncle with a wondering look and didn't know if I was to feel a force or something to connect with him. Suddenly I felt Storm's head resting on my right shoulder and was nuzzling my cheek with a deep throat purr. I smiled as were one with each other and stroked his scaly snout. "We have, master." I replied. "He may have been all aggressive when we first met, but has a soft spot for his rider."
Garmadon gave out a small smile. "Good to know." he said and placed a hand on my other shoulder. "Now take him to the keep and you'll be relieved for the day." I gave him a confused look. Since when did we have a dragon keep? "To reach the keep," he continued and pointed at a stone bridge that lead to a cave. "You must cross the bridge and enter through the cave. There your dragon shall stay when you need him. Remember, Lucas, your dragon is like a pet. You must take full responsibility of him."
"I will, master." I said. I pulled the vine in his mouth and walked him over to the keep. After we crossed the bridge and entered the cave, I took the vine out of his mouth and let him roam around. Storm found himself a spot to claim and rested his body with his wings draped over his body like a blanket. I smiled as he seemed happy now to his new home and started to head back to my room. But was stopped as Storm called for me and turned to see him a bit sad. I now hate to see him like that since we just became connected. "Don't worry," I told him. "I'll be back." and made the promise to him and left for my room.
I tiredly trekked my way back to my room as I was exhausted now for an unknown reason. I guess it can be from the excitement of meeting your own dragon, connecting with it, and flying with it. As I stood in front of the doors of my room, I pushed them open to enter and shutted them behind me and locked them. I leaned against the wood as sleep was crawling up on me while I ran my fingers through my hair and drew out my sai's and tossed them to the small couch and kicked my shoes off. I drowsily walked over to my bed without removing any article of clothing and collapsed onto my bed and fell into instant sleep with a smile. This is all I could do that happened to me today.
Today was one of the best birthdays I ever had.
We now know how Lucas got Storm. Hope you enjoyed this chapter with the soundtrack. I love this soundtrack from Avatar and knew it would be the perfect one. Again hope you enjoyed this chapter and see you next week. Have a wonderful weekend. :)
