Okay, I hope Y'all don't get to upset but... I'm not putting the Falcon in this story. Yes, he has proven to be extremely useful, especially in season two, but for this Zane, he doesn't make sense. I'm still working out a few details on Zane's parents but it's going to take me a while. I actually contemplated adding the Falcon or not. For me, he didn't make sense. Sorry, Y'all.
Sensei Wu was meditating in his room with his spirit smokes.
"My turn. Uh... it's my turn!" Kai shouted.
"Oh, you want a little more? Take this," Cole shouted. Sensei Wu opened his eyes once he heard Cole punch something.
"Yeah? How about a little of this?" Jay shouted.
Sensei Wu stood up from his spot and walked over to a flute on a stand. He picked it up and put it in a caged shelf. As Sensei Wu was doing this, distant thudding could be heard.
"Monkey Paw to the head!" Kai shouted.
"Ninja roll!" Cole shouted.
Sensei Wu walked to the video game area and was surprised to find an empty room. "Dragon punch!" Jay shouted. He went to the training area and found all the ninja training with their weapons. Kai was with the spinning swords and practicing his spinjitzu, Jay was dodging arrows, Cole was fighting the fake warriors with ax's, and Zane was mediating. His tail was flickering every few seconds and his right ear twitched every so often.
"Ninja, go!" Kai shouted then he did his spinjitzu.
Soon, Zane opened his eyes and jumped from his spot. Using his enhanced hearing, he dodged the arrows that Jay was dodging. "Hey." An arrow went into Jay's nunchucks since Jay was distracted.
Zane grabbed Cole's Scythe of Quakes and used it to slice the warriors on the spinning dial. "Hey! What?"
"Ninja, go!" Zane did his spinjitzu which spread ice almost everywhere on the training grounds. This action caused Kai to trip.
Kai walked over to Cole and Jay who were watching him with annoyance. "This roof isn't big enough for the four of us," Kai said annoyed.
"Correction. This roof isn't big enough for him," Cole told them.
"It's like he's in his own world," Jay told them. They turned and saw Zane finish his spinjitzu. "I bet he can't even hear us." Zane ignored him and returned to his training. He threw one of his shurikens then did a spin in the air.
Sensei Wu noticed their discomfort and walked over to the trio. "Sensei, Zane's weird," Kai told him.
"What is weird? Someone who is different or someone is different than you?" Sensei Wu asked them. Sensei Wu knew that Zane was different, he was a snow leopard hybrid after all, in fact, he was the only hybrid in the monastery.
"No, sensei, he's "weird" weird."
Cole told him about a time when he was about to take a shower but he jumped back when he noticed white hair and some different shades of gray hair in the drain. "I apologize, my friend." Cole jumped back in fear. He hid behind the curtains since he was in his underwear. "I meant to grab my fur when I got out of the shower but wet fur and water in my ears is a most unpleasant feeling." Zane cleaned the fur out then went on his way.
Jay told him about a time when he, Nya, and Zane were watching a romance movie together and during a scene that was very sad, Zane laughed. They looked at him confused. 'How can Zane laugh at this? Doesn't he know that this is a sad part?'
Kai told him that in the middle of the night, he went to get a snack in the fridge, and was startled to find Zane inside holding a sandwich. "Holy baloney!"
Zane's tail was moving back and forth. "I'm sorry. I consumed the last of the deli meat. Cheese?"
The group watched him bow towards one of the fake warriors but it hit him back. Zane's ears flattened as he rubbed his head. "Don't get us wrong, Sensei, we don't care that Zane is a hybrid. We like the guy, he's really smart. He's just, uh, a little off sometimes."
Sensei Wu looked back at Zane, who was throwing fake punches at the wood warrior, then he looked back at the others. "Zane is a brother, and brothers are often different. I should know."
Outside the monastery, the postman was walking up the stairs to deliver the ninja their mail. He was sweating bullets at the hundreds of steps he was climbing and it didn't help that it was hot outside. He finally made it up to the door and rang the doorbell. He jumped startled since the gong doorbell normally freaks him out. 'Why can't these people have a normal doorbell?'
"Mail!" Cole, Jay, and Kai shouted with excitement as they ran to the door.
The postman sighed. He looked through his bag for the letters. "Let's see, a letter from Jay's parents." He handed Jay his letter. "Hmm... Kai has a fan letter." He handed Kai his letter. "Oh, and something from Cole's father."
"What? No package? I'm expecting something from Creatures, Beasts, & Beyond."
The postman shook his head. "Hmm, no, nothing from, uh..." He looked through his bag once more and he found it. "Ah, here it is." He handed Cole the box.
"Ha! Rocky's gonna love this," Cole said excitedly then he rushed off to give Rocky his present.
Jay and Kai opened their letters and started to read them. Zane, with a droopy tail, started to walk inside the monastery. Jay asked Zane, "Hey Zane. How come you never hear anything from your parents?"
"My parents... my parents are gone. I have been an orphan since I was very young."
Jay and Kai looked at each other then back to Zane. "You mean you've never had a home?"
Zane just shook his head silently. 'I have lived in many places but not one of them truly felt like home. I could never stay in one place for too long.'
"The monastery is your home now," Sensei Wu told him. Zane just walked back inside without a word. Jay and Kai did feel bad about bringing Zane's parents up but knew they shouldn't ask Zane about it. He would tell them when he was ready.
Sensei Wu also felt bad for Zane. Zane liked living at the monastery and he appreciated the people living there but he was the only hybrid here. Zane was just... misunderstood. He was also still afraid of humans. Sure, he wasn't scared of them anymore but he wasn't comfortable talking about his past. The scars that Zane has will take time to mend.
Cole, on the other hand, was happily feeding rock a toad he purchased from Creatures, Beast, & Beyond. "Liver and toads, Rocky. Your favorite." Cole threw the toad at Rocky was ate it happily.
Meanwhile, the snake who had hypnotized Cole was looking through his eyes once more. A snake person told him shocked, "I can't believe you hypnotized one of the ninja. Does the general know?"
"Course not. He's been put under the control of Lloyd, I plan to use it for my best interest."
The snake walked away as the general came over to his second in command. "Everyone works while you two slack. As my second in command, I expect more from you, Skales."
"Yes, general," Skales said as he bowed. The general turned to slither away but Skales stopped him. "General, you know I am most loyal to you, but must question this childish agenda." The general turned to Skales. "The ninja have stolen out staff, yet you instruct your army to make this playhouse for Lloyd?" The general looked down as if he was contemplating something. "Snakes don't belong in trees."
The general looked at Skales and told him, "You know better than to question my judgment, Skales. I'll pretend you didn't ask."
"Hey!" The two snakes turned toward Lloyd. "If we plan to rule Ninjago from here, this elevator needs to have a trap door. I want more booby traps!"
"As you wish, young Garmadon," The general told Lloyd.
He looked at Skales and gestured to him, who bowed as well and said, "As you wish, general." Skales walked away angry and with a plan to get rid of Lloyd once he had the chance.
That evening, in the monastery, the ninja, along with Sensei Wu and Nya, were in the dining room waiting for Zane to bring out dinner. "Mm. Oh, I love it when it's Zane's night to cook," Jay told them.
"Hey, I didn't hear any complaints about my duck chowder last night," Cole said to them.
"That's because it glued our mouths shut. You really thought Jay was speechless all throughout dinner," Kai told him.
"Yeah. Please don't make that again," Jay told him after he crossed his arms.
Zane came out with a cooked turkey, set it on the table by Kai and Cole, and told them, "Dinner is served." They all looked at him with his flowery pink apron on and laughed at the sight of it which confused Zane. "I'm afraid I do not understand. What's so funny?"
"Zane, you're wearing a... Well, even I wouldn't wear that," Nya told him.
"You laugh because I take steps to ensure I am clean after cooking," Zane said as he walked to the head of the table. Zane didn't understand why they thought it was funny. He was part cat so he preferred to stay clean, many cats and cat-like hybrids did.
"Ha-ha! No, we laugh because you came out wearing that ridiculous outfit," Kai told him.
"I guess we don't share the same sense of humor," Zane said with a bit of sadness in his voice.
"Well, how about this?" Cole grabbed a plate of shrimp and shoved them into Kai's face causing a burst of laughter from everyone but Zane. Sensei Wu stood up and grabbed a bowl of soup. Cole turned to a confused Zane and asked "How can you not find that funny?" Sensei Wu dumped the bowl on Cole's head. "Ahh."
Sensei Wu and Kai laughed at the sight. "Now you are brothers?" Sensei Wu said as he winked at Zane then returned to his before the oncoming chaos ensued. Jay, Kai, Nya, Sensei Wu, and Cole proceeded to throw food at each other but Zane was just on the sidelines, getting food on his apron, gi, and some on his tail. He just watched them in confusion. Sure, his humor was different and he had a better understanding of it but he didn't understand why his want to stay clean was funny.
"He looked so cute in it," Nya told them.
After Zane had cleaned up the mess in the dining room, he brought the trash outside and dumped it into the can. He threw his apron in the trash as well since he would get a new one. Probably a plain white one or something. Zane sighed as he looked up to the sky. 'The sky doesn't look much different from when I lived in the forest.' He sat down on the edge of the cliff and just listened to the sounds of the night. He always found it to be peaceful.
Zane wished he was human sometimes. Maybe his life would be different, maybe he would be different, his parents would still be alive and he wouldn't have to live in fear of human-hating hybrids but wishes were just that... wishes. They rarely come true and his was impossible. He can't change who he is, no matter how badly he wants to.
Zane felt the wind in his ears and saw the leaves blow by. 'The wind feels... off.' He smelled the wind and it too was off. Zane turned to the monastery and heard everyone laughing but instead of going inside, he followed the wind.
Zane followed the wind into the forest. He wouldn't tell the others this, maybe Sensei Wu, but no one else, but hybrids trusted their animal instincts. While it was weird, their instincts were rarely wrong and to him, the wind felt off, it smelled off. All Zane knew was that the wind from the forest had its own scent and this wind smelled off, it felt off. All he knew was he needed to go to the forest.
Zane ran until he saw a large treehouse. He was shocked to see Lloyd and the Serpentine. 'Lloyd Garmadon and the Serpentine? That must have been the source of the strange scent. '
Four Serpentine were holding a plank of wood up with Lloyd on it like he was a king. "If I see one girl in here, I'm gonna go ballistic."
'I must tell the others.' Zane ran back to the monastery to tell the others that he found Lloyd and the Serpentine.
The next morning, Zane was leading the others to Lloyd and the Serpentine. Zane was further ahead of them. He stopped to smell the air once more.
"I don't even think Zane knows where he's going," Kai told the others. Once they caught up with Zane, Kai asked, "Uh, tell us again how you stumbled upon Lloyd's secret headquarters?"
"I followed the wind," Zane told them as if it was obvious.
"And why did you follow the wind?" Jay asked.
"It smelled off and it felt off," Zane told them.
"Oh, okay. Did someone cut the cheese?"
Everyone laughed at Jay's joke but Zane. "Of course not. Cutting cheese in the forest would not be wise as it could attract animals and I do not see snakes eating cheese."
Zane ran off and the others just shrugged their shoulders in confusion. They continued to follow Zane through the forest until they arrived at the treehouse.
"Watch it!" Lloyd shouted. "No, bigger!" Lloyd soon shouted, "Come on! We don't have all day! It's not time for a lunch break!"
"Holy cannoli, Frosty was right," Cole said shocked.
"We can't let that brat and those snakes get a foothold in Ninjago. We gotta destroy that thing before it becomes operational," Kai told them.
"Whoa. Are you sure? It looks like a pretty cool treehouse. There's a ropes course. Oh, a tree swing," Jay said excitedly then Cole stopped him. "Hey. Remember whose team you're on. All right, guys, what do we do?" Cole asked them.
"It looks like the entire place is being supported by those three trees." Kai pointed to the three trees with some rope tied around them. "Once those ties are severed, the whole thing is gonna fall like a house of cards."
"But why would someone make a house of cards? Such construction would be careless and I imagine it would take over a million cards to make a house that could fall down with just a small breeze," Zane told them not understanding the metaphor.
"Oh, brother." Kai facepalmed himself.
"Travel in shadows, boys," Cole told him then he ran off with the others following him.
Grabbing a rope tied to a stake, Kai cut the rope and got up to the treehouse without a Serpentine spotting him. Two Serpentine carrying a log got onto an elevator and Cole was under it by holding onto the edges. One of the Serpentine on the elevator punched the other Serpentine in the arm and he punched him back. (I know that there are male and female Serpentine but I can't tell the difference.)
Meanwhile, Zane and Jay were climbing the tree branches by jumping on them one by one. Jay almost fell off a branch by Zane helped him back up. "Gotcha."
Eventually, the ninja made it up to the roof and watched Lloyd. Lloyd chuckled evilly. "It's almost finished. Soon, my fortress will be complete." Lloyd looked at a random Serpentine. "You!"
"Huh?" The Serpentine turned around to Lloyd.
"Hold up that sign for me." The Serpentine grabbed the sign that said no girls or ninja, in all uppercase letters. Lloyd pushed a lever and the Serpentine chuckled since nothing happened. Seconds later, a trap door opened under him. The Serpentine fell down and Lloyd shouted, "Booby trap!" The Serpentine hit multiple branches before hitting the ground with a hard thud. The Serpentine sat up and he was very dizzy.
The ninja went to the very top of the treehouse and Kai with to the very top that was shaped like Garmadon's helmet and the others run up the ropes.
"Ninja Go!" Jay did his spinjitzu and cut one rope causing one part of the treehouse to tip down and many of the Serpentine fell down.
"Ninja Go!" Zane did his spinjitzu, cut another rope, causing the treehouse to tip even more. The tip of the treehouse fell down and more Serpentine fell down.
Lloyd looked up and saw Kai on the roof. "I said no ninja. Attack!" Lloyd shouted.
"Everyone, retreat!" Skales shouted. The Serpentine ran off or fell down from the treehouse.
"Cole, wait till we're off the treehouse, then cut the line," Kai told him and Cole nodded in agreement.
Skales looked around saw Cole and shouted, "You!" Cole's eyes turned red and he heard Skales voice in his head. 'You will obey my every command.'
"I will obey your every command." Cole did a small bow at Skales.
Zane and Jay joined Kai on the roof. "Where's Cole?" Jay asked him.
"This whole place is coming down!" Kai told them worried. 'Where is he? He was up there one minute now he's gone.'
Cole jumped on the roof and had his weapon out ready to attack. "No one goes anywhere until you deal with me." Cole started to approach the other ninja with them backing up. The other ninja were stuck at a corner of the roof with Cole threatening them.
"What's gotten into him?" Kai asked confused. 'I don't understand. What's wrong with Cole?'
"He's under their control," Zane told them.
"Yeah, well, he better snap out of it quick, because this whole place looks like it's about to go down," Jay told them as Cole got closer to them.
Lloyd was following Skales and telling him, "Don't go. We have to protect my treehouse fortress."
Skales turned around and told him, "Your treehouse? It' about time we did this." Skales walked backward to the lever.
"Did what?" Lloyd asked. Skales pulled the lever causing Lloyd to fall into a caged elevator and the other Serpentine to laughed at Lloyd.
"Now to get the staff," Skales led the other Serpentine off the treehouse to get their staff back.
Back on the roof, the other ninja were getting closer and closer to the edge of the roof. "Okay, now come on. Friends don't hit friends," Jay tried to convince Cole but he kicked him in the face. "Okay, uh, I'm gonna ignore that."
Cole continued to try and hit the others but they all dodged each attack. Even though Cole stopped to catch his breath, he still didn't stop his attack on his friends. Cole slammed his scythe down causing a piece of the roof to fall off.
"What are we supposed to do? If I use my sword, this place will go up in flames faster than a tinderbox," Kai said as he dodged each attack from Cole.
"Isn't the antivenom in the staff?" Zane asked his friends as he dodged Cole's attack.
"Yeah, but the staff is back at the monastery," Jay told him as he dodged Cole's attack.
Cole kicked Kai hard causing him to hit a corner of the roof. The corner of the roof broke off and Kai would have fallen off if Zane didn't grab him by his foot and throw him back up. "Jay, use your lightning. Try to shock him out of his trance," Zane told him.
"Oh, sorry, Cole, this is gonna hurt you a lot more than it's gonna hurt me," Jay told him. Jay took out his nunchucks, spun them, charging them up, and sent a lightning bolt at Cole.
Cole fell down and the others watched and hoped that Zane's plan worked. Cole sat up and his eyes opened to reveal that nothing changed. He was still under Skales control. Cole rushed toward Jay, picked him up, and threw him off the roof.
"JAY!" Zane and Kai shouted in fear.
Jay grabbed a vine and swung around the treehouse. He landed on a far edge of the treehouse. This action causing the treehouse to tip even more. "Okay. That is a serious safety hazard."
Cole ran up the final rope. He jumped off and got on the platform near it. He held up his scythe and was ready to cut the rope.
"No, Cole, don't!" Kai shouted.
"No. No, Cole, no!" Zane shouted.
None of their words got through to Cole until soft music could be heard. Zane covered his ears in pain as he fell to the ground. "Zane! What's wrong?! Jay, what's wrong with him?" Kai asked.
"I don't know! But look!" Kai looked at Cole. His eyes returned to normal and they could see Nya and Sensei Wu on Flame. Sensei Wu was playing on a small flute.
"Huh? Where am I? What are we doing?" Cole asked very confusedly.
"We're getting out of here because this whole place is coming down," Nya told him. Cole jumped on Flame as the circled around.
Once Cole returned to normal, Sensei Wu stopped playing his flute and Zane's ears stopped hurting. Once Flame was close enough, the other ninja ran off the roof and jumped on Flame, seconds after jumping, the treehouse completely fell apart. They all sighed in relief. Zane, however, was rubbing his ears in pain. The music was still ringing in his ears.
"That flute..." Cole said shocked.
"It cancels their powers," Jay finished.
"But it hurt Zane," Kai told him.
"It's as old as the Serpentine themselves. The Serpentine are reptilian humanoids and Zane is a human-animal hybrid. While this is effective against the Serpentine, it will hurt any hybrid that hears it." Zane nodded. He would need to have earplugs whenever they needed to play the flute with him around. "But right now, we must hurry. The monastery's unguarded. Quickly!"
They flew back to the monastery as fast as they could but it was too late. The monastery was burned down. Everything was on fire. "We're too late. Those snakes," Kai said clearly angry.
Wisp, Rocky, and Shard were roaring in fear and Cole noticed this immediately. "Rocky!" Once they landed, Cole ran to the other dragons and freed them from their pen. They flew out.
Kai removed his hood and looked around in anger. "Our home."
Zane looked at Shard and told him, "Shard, put this out." Shard blew ice all over the monastery putting out the fire. Some of the flames were still burning but nothing too bad.
The ninja had taken off their hoods and just looked around. Their home was gone, the training facility was gone, everything was gone.
"The training equipment, gone," Zane said.
"Our video games, gone!" Jay said distressed as he used Zane for support since he nearly fell to the ground.
"They stole their staff back," Sensei Wu said.
"What do we do now?" Cole asked. Rocky rubbed against Cole. Cole petted Rocky comfortingly.
Kai picked up a burned piece from the monastery and crushed it in his hand. 'This is all Zane's fault.' He went up to Zane and shouted, "If we hadn't followed that stupid nose of yours, none of this would've happened."
"Kai," Sensei Wu said in a warning tone. Sensei Wu knew that Zane was sensitive to hurtful words and he could tell things were about to go south.
Jay walked up to Zane. "No. Sensei, he's right. Because of you, my high score has been deleted."
"I... I am sorry. Maybe this is a teaching moment. We must learn from this."
"A teaching moment? What's wrong with you? Don't you get it? Everything is gone!" Cole shouted.
"Enough!" Kai, Cole, and Jay turned to Sensei Wu. "We are all at fault. Zane is your brother. Apologize at once," Sensei Wu told them.
Cole sighed. They turned back to Zane and Kai said, "I'm sorry, Zane. I..." They noticed that Zane was gone. "Zane?" Jay asked confused about how quickly Zen disappeared. They heard wings flapping and turned. They watched as Zane was flying away on Shard.
'Oh, Zane.' Sensei Wu hoped Zane would return and once he did, they would find a new home together.
The Serpentine and Lloyd returned to their lair with the staff in Skales hand. Lloyd had a rope around his wrist and was being dragged by another Serpentine. The General was slithering beside him and Lloyd whispered to him, "Do something, General. You're still under my command, right?"
Eventually, the General demanded, "Enough! I am the general! You will return my staff at once."
Skales looked at the staff and told him, "No." The other Serpentine gasped and looked at each other.
"You dare challenge my command?" The General asked. Lloyd smiled at the sound of that. 'Perfect. If Skales loses to the General then I'll be in charge of these Serpentine forever.'
All of the Serpentine except for Skales and the General started to chant. "Slither Pit. Slither Pit. Slither Pit. Slither Pit."
Skales smiled as everyone was shouting Slither Pit. "I guess we will have to fight for it. In... the Slither Pit." The Serpentine cheered at the sound of that. It appears they haven't seen anything like this in a long time. Lloyd, on the other hand, looked worried.
Skales handed a Serpentine the staff as he and the General prepared to fight. The other Serpentine were cheering and laughing in excitement.
The Serpentine who was handed the staff walked up to a high stage with levers. "Winner gets the staff and leads the tribe. You know the rules: There are none. But in the Slither Pit whatever I say goes." The two Serpentine nodded in agreement. "All right, fight."
Skales and the General turned to each other and start to circle each other. The General made the first move by doing a sweeping motion with his tail. Skales dodged the attack by jumping then Skales tried to punch him but the General grabbed his wrist. The General held him tight and prepared to punch Skales but Skales got out of the hold and kicked the General hard. The General shook his head as if to shake off any confusion.
Lloyd, who was tied to an icicle, was watching the fight from a distance. He needed the General to win so he could control the Serpentine and rule Ninjago. Lloyd then noticed something out of the corner of his eye. 'Huh? What's that?' He turned and saw a paper rolled up inside of an icicle with the skeleton of a Serpentine. He looked to make sure no one was watching him.
"Two weapons!" The Serpentine pulled a lever and a rack of ice weapons came down. Skales grabbed the katana and the sword while the General grabbed the pickax and a shield. The General threw his weapon which Skales dodged easily. The pickax embedded itself into the wall and three icicles shook from the ceiling but only one fell down. One nearly hit the General but he used his shield to protect himself.
"Sidewinder!" The Serpentine pulled another lever. The caused the ground below Skales and the General to move. The General had a hard time keeping his balance but Skales was able to.
Lloyd tried his best to grab the rolled-up paper and it took him a while, but he managed to grab the paper and he hid it behind his back. 'This could prove to be useful to me.' Lloyd then shouted, "Go, General, Go!"
The General tried to hypnotize Skales but he kicked him in the face. Skales used his swords to attack but the General used his shield to block each attack. Skales wiggled his body in a hypnotizing manner. The General was distracted then Skales jump kicked him in the face. The General fell to the ground and his shield was gone since it fell underground.
"He used Fang Kwan Do," One Serpentine noted.
"Uh, get up. Get up!" Lloyd shouted. 'Come on. Please. I need to be in charge, just like my dad.'
The General tried to get up but he could not. "We have a winner." The Serpentine said lifting up Skales's arm. The Serpentine cheered as Skales was given the staff. He started to glow as his legs were forming into one tail and the previous General's tail was forming into legs.
"Skales! Skales! Skales! Skales! Skales! Skales! Skales!" Every Serpentine was chanting the name of their new General.
"You will be loyal to me now," Skales told the previous General.
"I will do as you command," He told him.
Skales turned to Lloyd. "You! Leave and never return." Lloyd gasped in fear. He lost and now he was stuck. 'How am I going to make my dad proud now?'
After Zane left, he just flew on Shard for a while. Shard was concerned for his hybrid master since he had heard the hurtful words spoken. Zane had barely spoken a word. Eventually, they arrived at a desert and he landed on a tall rock structure.
Zane jumped off and just sat down with his feet dangling off. "I know they didn't mean to say those things. They were speaking out in anger. I know how they feel. When I lost my parents and my home, I spoke out in anger towards other humans. I would have hurt one if a kind human hadn't stopped me. We have to do something. How are we going to find a place for all of us to sleep and eat?"
Shard sneezed and Zane did the same. Zane stood up and smelled the air. "Shard, do you smell that?" Shard nodded. "Come on, let's go find the source."
They flew through the air until Zane found the source. "Over there!" They landed on the ground and Zane saw something that would change everything. 'Whoa! This is perfect. I must get to work right away.'
With their home gone, and with what few supplies they had. Kai, Cole, Jay, Nya, and Sensei Wu made a small fire and tent for themselves. Their dragons were resting beside them. With no kitchen, they had to make with what they could find in the wild. Currently, they were all roast a lizard-like creature over a fire.
"Uh, what are we eating again?" Kai asked a bit disgusted and confused.
Cole bit a small piece of his dinner as Jay threw a rock. "Ugh. Mud newt. Not bad for something that lives underground."
"What? Aah! Ugh!" Jay threw his stick on the ground and threw another rock. This rock made it into the can. "Yeah, a new high score."
"Remember, we must be thankful for what we still have," Sensei Wu told them.
"What do we have? Our home is gone," Cole told him.
"You know, I don't miss our home, what I really miss... is Zane," Kai told him. He and the others still felt guilty yelling at him like that. 'It wasn't Zane's fault that our home was destroyed. His sense of smell is a part of him and we shouldn't have been so mean to him.'
"Yeah. I miss Zane," Jay told him.
Nya turned her head and gasped. "Zane?"
Jay turned to her and said, "Yeah, Zane. You know, white ninja? The smart, strange one whose a snow leopard hybrid?"
Nya shook her head. "No! Zane!" She pointed behind Sensei Wu and Zane was walking towards them.
"ZANE!" Everyone stood up and walked towards their hybrid friend.
"Oh, Zane. We're so sorry for everything we said. We're a team, and that means we're all responsible," Jay told him.
"You don't need to apologize to me," Zane told them.
"But what about all those awful things we said? Isn't that why you left?" Kai asked.
"True. I was upset but I know you didn't mean anything you said. I left to think. Flying on Shard clears my head. Eventually, we caught a whiff of something and followed it."
Everyone smiled at the sound of that. Zane was always one who followed his instincts. "That's our Zane," Cole commented.
Everyone gathered for a group hug around Zane. "We're happy to have you back," Nya told him.
"I guess it's my turn to make dinner tonight? Right?" Zane asked.
Everyone laughed at his little joke.
"Yes, Zane. We would love for you to make dinner," Sensei Wu told him.
"But I already made it. Come, I want to show you what I found. I think you will all be pleased." Zane gestured for everyone to follow him. They all looked at each other confused then proceeded to follow Zane.
Zane led them through the desert but stop for a second. He turned to his friends then said, "It's hard to explain, but I have certain instincts that I follow since I'm a hybrid, not like my sense of smell or taste but a gut instinct that I feel the need to follow. I think it's a part of my sixth sense. I think it's going to help show us the path we need to take." Kai looked at Jay who just shrugged his shoulders, considering Zane was a hybrid, he was hard to understand sometimes, but they decided to trust Zane when he said this.
Zane continued to lead them past a large boulder and he showed them what he found. It was a big red ship with a dragon mast. It had white paper sails and it looked like it could fit all of them and more. They gasped in surprise. "This is our new home."
"My goodness," Sensei Wu said in awe.
"Oh, so cool," Cole said impressed.
Jay watched as smoke was coming out of the doors of the ship. He smiled at the scent. "Do I smell pie?"
Zane nodded. "Cobbler berry. Oh, and I made myrtle berry, and apple, and..." Everyone smiled at the sound of all the pies Zane made. A tear fell from Jay's face then he along with Nya, Kai, and Cole ran to the ship to get all the pie they could.
Zane and Sensei Wu stayed behind to talk. "I am proud of you, Zane. I know it was hard to lose your family when you were young. I also know that it's hard being the only hybrid on the team."
"Thank you, Sensei. My parents may be gone, but I have you and the others and that's all the family I need. I may be the only hybrid, but that's okay. I think it's going to help. If other humans see us working together, maybe others will see that humans and hybrids are not that different."
Sensei Wu smiled at Zane's words. "I have a feeling that one day, all humans will accept hybrids and hybrids will no longer need to fear humans."
"Sensei, will I become the Green Ninja?" Zane asked. Zane may have no interest in becoming the Green Ninja, but he himself is curious about which one of them is going to be the Green Ninja.
"It's too early to tell. But if it's in our path, you will know. Come now, it would be a shame to let them eat all that pie."
Zane and Sensei Wu went to the ship and started to eat the pie Zane made along with some other food that he made. Zane threw a plate of shrimp at Cole's face causing them all to laugh happily. They started another food fight, one of which Zane was okay with getting dirty. After all, he could take a shower after dinner.
From a distance, Lloyd was watching them eat and laugh with each other. He sighed then walked away. 'Great. now what? I lost control of the Serpentine and even though we burned down the ninja's home, they still got a new one.' Lloyd walked away in sadness, wondering how he was going to live up to his father's evil nature.
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