AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Hope everyone's April is going well so far! A tip of the hat goes to all the readers, favers, and followers of this story, and the commenters on the previous chapter: lovesgod12, AveXCninja11, StoryMaker7, TitaniumMasterOfAquaLightning, Stormwing15, and FirstFandomFangirl!
The original account of Sam's first ride on Kai's dragon, which is referenced below, can be found in Chapter 39 of The Fire Within.
In the chapter below, the Bounty arrives in the region of the forest fires…
Chapter 6 - A Summer Morning
At about 7:30 in the morning, the Bounty arrived at its destination in the mountainous forest region of northwestern Ninjago. The daylight revealed that a haze of smoke hung over much of the area, obscuring mountains in the distance. Many of the mountains that the ship's occupants could see were scarred with blackness.
Jay piloted the Bounty toward a mountain that still remained green. From the control room window, Sam, who by this time had dressed for the day in a T-shirt, hiking shorts and hiking boots, could see a cluster of buildings that looked somewhat like an army camp. This was the wildfire combat staging area.
As the ship grew closer, Zane and Cole could be seen standing and waiting for them. They wore fire hats and vests over their ninja uniforms. Several media trucks were parked to one side. Cameras of all sorts were pointed at the landing ship. A fire official stood in front of the media group, addressing them. He appeared to be telling the reporters not to bother the new arrivals, for none of them were approaching the landing Bounty.
Lloyd was also watching through the control room window. "I'm gonna go tell Cole and Zane to climb aboard as soon as the Bounty lands," he announced, "so we can talk to them privately about your dream and your ring before we talk to the emergency personnel." He left the room while Jay continued to expertly guide the ship closer to the ground.
"Hang on!" the ninja of lightning warned as the distance between the vessel and the ground disappeared. Sam braced for a rocky impact, but only a thud was felt. Her first landing experience as a passenger on the Bounty was a smooth one.
"Heh, heh, another good one," Jay smiled, trying to maintain a positive attitude despite the circumstances. Nya, though her eyes were still bleary from having cried herself to sleep just like Sam had done, smiled back at the blue ninja and patted him on the back before helping him flip necessary switches on the control panel as part of the shutdown process.
The sound of approaching footsteps told the control room occupants that Cole and Zane had boarded the ship. As the tired-looking ninja brothers entered the room, followed by Lloyd, subdued hugs and handshakes of greeting were exchanged, as the disappearance of the red ninja cast a pall over the group.
"We worked the overnight shift so that we could spend a few hours with you before getting some sleep," Zane informed them as they took seats around the conference table in the control room.
They've been working for 24 straight hours! Sam realized.
"So Lloyd said there was something new to know?" Cole inquired.
"Yes," Sensei replied. "We have a reason to believe Kai is alive."
As Sensei began relaying to them the story of the evil fire witch, Nya went to the kitchen and returned with a full carafe of coffee and two empty coffee mugs for the fatigued ninja brothers. After filling the mugs, she walked around the conference table and refreshed the others' beverages as well.
When Sensei began to narrate the story of the ring crystal, Sam took off her necklace, hooking the clasps together before she showed it to Cole and Zane. She leaned over to block what light she could so that the earth ninja and the ice ninja could better see how the crystal in the ring glowed.
But when the fire ninja's fiancee straightened up again, she somehow accidentally tipped over her coffee mug, spilling the hot brown liquid on the floor.
"Oh, that was so dumb!" Sam exclaimed, thankful at least that that coffee had not pooled on the table nor had scalded Cole, who was the closest person seated to the accident. "I'll be right back with some paper towels!" she declared, setting the jewelry down on the table and running into the kitchen. Tearing several paper towels off the roll, she rushed back into the control room.
As Sam mopped up the mess, Sensei Wu gave advice to the group. "When we visit the site where Kai was last seen, let us keep everyone thinking that we are the next of kin who are searching only for our loved one. But let us not reveal to anyone what we are also doing - searching for clues as to what Fiora might have done with him or where she might have taken him."
Outside the Bounty, they heard a man shout "Hello!"
"That's Chief Vincent, commander of the wildfire combat battalion," Zane explained. "He is likely wondering why no one has yet exited the ship."
"Then we'd best greet him right away so as not to use up his valuable time," Sensei declared.
As the group exited the control room, Zane took the knapsack of first aid supplies that Sensei had prepared. Jay took the knapsack which held drinking water and some food. Cole grabbed the two wooden poles, connected by canvas fabric, which rested by the door. The poles and fabric formed the stretcher that would be needed to haul an incapacitated Kai off the mountain.
As she prepared to depart, Sam spotted her necklace on the table.
I guess I forgot to put it back on when I got distracted by the coffee spill, she realized. But because of the group's need to quickly depart the vessel, she did not want to take the time to re-clasp the necklace around her neck, so she grabbed it and stuffed it in a zippered pocket of her hiking shorts, then closed the zipper.
It should be safe there till I get a chance to put it around my neck later, she decided as she left the room.
Standing outside the Bounty, on the side of the ship hidden from the view of the media personnel for privacy, Cole and Zane introduced the new arrivals to Chief Vincent. The chief lauded the work of the earth ninja and the ice ninja and cited their willingness to take on an additional shift in order to be off duty upon their friends' arrival. Then the chief expressed hope that they would find Kai alive and safe during their search.
The group received the coordinates of Kai's last known position, along with fire hats and jackets to protect their hair and clothes from ashes blowing in the air. The chief shook everyone's hand once more before returning to his duties.
The group planned to leave the Bounty where it had landed and fly over to the nearby Oracle Mountain on the elemental dragons.
Nya effortlessly hopped up on Jay's blue elemental dragon, seating herself behind the blue ninja and holding onto his waist.
Out of habit, Sam automatically looked around for a red dragon. Kai had taken her on many dragon rides, ever since that first time last summer when they rode back to the Bounty from the grocery store with their purchases. On that day, even though her feet had hurt after wearing business heels all day at her internship at Borg Industries, she had felt reluctant about going home aboard the creature. But when she had peered into Kai's soft brown eyes, she had felt an overwhelming sense of trust surround her, and she knew she would be safe. Each ride she had taken with him since then had been just as magical as the first one, whether the journey took them to ordinary places, such as the grocery store, or special places, such as Sunset Point, where he had taken her to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the day they had met.
The absence of a red dragon hit Sam like a punch in the stomach, as she considered the possibility that she and Kai had already shared their last ride together.
Lloyd noticed the pinched look on her face and understood why it was there. "Come with me, Sam," he gently urged her, holding out his hand.
Sam swallowed the lump in her throat and gratefully accepted his assistance in climbing onto the green dragon. She settled herself behind the green ninja, and then they took off, heading along with the others to Oracle Mountain.