Hello all, welcome back to another chapter! I'm sorry this took awhile, but alot of stuff has been happening in my personal life and in school that forced me to divert my attention away from this story. I also wanted to get a full length chapter out to make up for the lost time. We have ALOT of firsts in this chapter: We have the ninja again (Yay!), Lloyd will be making his first appearance in this story, and we also have some fluff for the Jaya fans, so a little bit of everything! Also, I want to know if you guys prefer full-length chapters in less frequency or smaller chapters in more frequency?
Responses to reviews:
Romeo451: I love cliffhangers mwahaha
Enjoy!
"They're gone." Christopher spat.
Tony and Zane rode up next to Christopher and Hailey and looked around the campsite where Picazo and his men had stayed. It was abandoned. The only thing that told that the thieves were there was the trodden grass, the skin and guts of rabbits, a dirty burlap bag, and a pile of charred logs and ashes.
Hailey dismounted off Ranger and paced the campground, looking for any sign that could give them an idea of where The Untamed could have gone. Zane, Tony, and Christopher did the same.
Zane was walking, scanning the ground for any clues, when he came across the extinguished campfire. Although it was out, there were still tendrils of smoke rising from the burnt logs.
Zane furrowed his brow. He held his hand out to the fire. There was almost no warmth. But there was a definite heat when he felt under the logs and in the ashes.
"They are not ahead of us by far." Zane said to the group.
They all looked up from their own searching.
"What do you mean?" Tony asked. Zane motioned them to come.
"Feel." He said.
Hailey placed her hand on the log.
"It's still warm." She said "Look."
The two men felt the fire.
"They must have left this morning." Christopher said. "We can catch them if we ride fast enough."
"I highly doubt that will be effective in securing Samuel's release." Zane said. "These men are wild and unruly. If they find out we are following them to rescue him, then they will destroy not only us but Samuel as well. Not to mention we are outnumbered. They would easily overtake us."
"Well, that is true." Christopher admitted. "But how will we get him then?"
Zane thought for a moment.
"We are all soldiers here. I myself have dealt with an array of enemies, each with their own strategies and tactics. But one thing they have in common is that they are almost always based out of a particular location."
"But no one knows where they are." Hailey said. "They're spread out all over the place."
"I know." Zane said. "But like you said alongside that, they must have some establishment in one, if not more locations to sell and ship out stolen mounts. It's possible that we can tail the group from a distance and find their location. Then we can formulate a plan there."
"Okay, but my question is," Hailey began. "How are we even going to find where they went? I saw what looked like paths, hoofprints and broken vegetation, but the problem is it spreads out in all directions around here. And after a few yards they become impossible to follow." She rubbed her forehead. "I'm trying to track them the way I do with deer, but other than trodden plants and soil, there's nothing. And game trails are constantly crisscrossing through here, so any prints pretty much got contaminated by wildlife."
"I know what they did." Christopher said. "Overshoes. They wrapped their horses' hooves in cloth to hide their hoofprints."
"It reeks of urine." Hailey added. She was walking back when something hit her foot and popped out of the grass. She bent down to look.
"It's doe scent." She said, holding a glass bottle in her hand. "No wonder it smells. There's so many deer here, there's no way we can track them by this alone."
"Doe scent?" Christopher asked.
"Yeah, the stuff you gargled when we went deer hunting two years ago." Hailey shuddered. "That was disgusting."
Christopher rolled his eyes.
"Perhaps I can conduct a scan of the area, seeing as we don't have any leads." Zane said.
"Why didn't you do that earlier?" Christopher asked. "Zane, y'all are a robot for God's sake and you didn't do this before?"
"I did not want to give myself away." Zane replied. "I estimate that tapping into my abilities would have given me a great chance to be exposed for my real identity."
Christopher nodded. "Right. Sorry." He apologized. "I've been going haywire all day since this came up…"
"Understandable." Zane said as the three watched in amazement when Zane's eyes flowed with icy blue light that swept across the clearing. "This situation is quite distressing. But it's imperative we keep our composure if we are to reach our objective of rescuing Samuel."
The light vanished and Zane was silent. He mounted Gale's saddle and rode towards one of the paths Hailey had pointed out earlier, which led northwards.
The three others followed and watched in confusion as Zane reached up at one of the branches, grabbing something and examining it, but nothing was in his hand.
"How tall is Samuel?" Zane asked.
"Uh…six foot three inches." Hailey answered, obviously confused. "Why?"
"And how tall is a horse on average?"
Hailey looked at her horse. "Ranger is fifteen and a half hands tall at the withers, so about five feet tall."
Zane looked at what he was holding more intently.
Hailey mounted Ranger and rode up to his side, obviously baffled. She peered what he was holding.
It was a single strand of hair.
Christopher and Tony also came over.
"A hair?" Tony said.
"Human hair." Zane said. "It's a light brown. Other than Samuel, I saw no man that had a light brown hair color. It is short in length, and curved, much like his. I theorize that when the Untamed moved out of camp, they took Samuel on horseback. While riding along, one of these low lying branches caught his hair."
"But we can't track them just by looking for his hair." Tony said.
Zane nodded. "Of course. But there are other signs of the Untamed passing through as well."
He dismounted Gale and kneeled, peering at the ground. He took a stick and scraped at the dirt.
"They did an excellent job at covering their tracks, but they made a fatal mistake."
The three looked down to what Zane was pointing to.
A pile of manure. It had been covered by dirt and leaf litter, tucked out of the way under some plants. And it wasn't a simple dropping from one horse, but multiple.
"Their mounts' droppings are a telltale sign of their passing." Zane said. "Being in moist environment, the manure would decompose quickly, and with the forest floor constantly being shaded it's difficult to see visible tracks, and what is visible would quickly vanish due to water movement on the soil surface."
"But why can't we see any poop around the camp?" Hailey asked. "They were there for god knows how long, and we couldn't find any? It doesn't make sense."
"It does." Zane said. He scanned the clearing again. Gale walked over to where the burlap bag was. It was covered in dirt.
"My sensors indicate that this bag once contained horse manure before it was disposed of. My scanning also shows traces of the same wastes all around. This could have been a result of dried manure being lodged in their horses' hooves and being deposited from their journey, or fresh manure that was missed and was washed down into the soil. It's understandable that you cannot see it with the naked eye. They are extremely small and this long grass certainly does not help."
The others were shocked.
"Holy shit." Christopher said in amazement. "How the hell could you figure all that out?"
"It's all programmed in my system." Zane replied. "Being a nindroid has its advantages."
"We've wasted enough time." Tony said. "Every second counts."
"My observations indicate they went that way." Zane pointed through the trees to the north.
Without any hesitation, the group began what would be a long, dangerous journey that could end with a bang at any moment. Literally.
…
The sun was blinding. The dust kicked up from the hooves of horses was chokingly thick as the Untamed made their way across the desert.
The stolen horses were being driven in the center by the other thieves on the sides and bringing up the rear. Fernando was beside Picazo, who was leading the group and the horse Samuel was tied to. They had been riding for hours nonstop in order to get as far away from civilization as possible.
At one point, Fernando glanced back over his shoulder and signaled to Picazo. Picazo nodded and looked back where his right hand man was pointing.
Their prisoner was drooping in the saddle. The heat had exhausted him and burned his skin. His wrists were bloodied from trying to escape his ropes. Sweat soaked his clothes and dust covered his face, his hair, dirty and disheveled. He couldn't see, because his glasses had fallen off and sand was in his eyes.
Picazo turned back around and signaled the group to stop. He dismounted from his horse and gave Fernando the reins. He untied a canteen from his saddle and walked over to Samuel. He pushed the man's foot from the stirrup and replaced it with his own, standing so he could reach.
"Despierta." Picazo said, roughly shaking Samuel.
He undid his gag and unscrewed the lid before pressing the canteen to Samuel's lips. He was only able to get a few gulps before the water was pulled away, not nearly enough to soothe the burning of his parched throat. He groaned as the rope was forced back in his mouth and scratched the corners of his lips.
"No se ve bien." Fernando remarked as Picazo mounted his horse.
"Él estará bien." The ringleader responded. "Unos días en el desierto no lo matarán."
"When do we stop for the night?" The secondhand man asked.
Picazo glanced up to the sky, noting the sun was starting to get low in the west.
"We ride until medianoche." He answered. "Unless if the moon is bright, then we will continue until our horses need rest."
"Vamanos!" He called, and the band of thieves continued on, prisoner in tow.
Samuel looked down at his bound wrists with his blurry vision. He had to find a way out of this. He would almost certainly be killed if the Untamed didn't get what they wanted.
He tried straining against his ropes, but stopped as fresh blood began to ooze from his skin.
He bit his gag in frustration. There had to be a way.
He tried his best to look around and see if there was anything he could recognize or use as a landmark, but his vision was blurred. He mentally cussed himself out.
"Dammit." He thought. "Now I won't be able to see a goddamn thing!"
Samuel looked up at the sky. The sun was above him to his left. They were still heading north.
Still agitated, he did his best to wipe his eyes on the sleeve of his jacket but grunted in pain as the sand scratched his eye.
"My fucking glasses are in the damned desert. Hope someone finds them so I can actually fucking see-"
That's when Samuel has an idea. He pondered about it for awhile.
There is nothing man-made out in that desert, so seeing his glasses was a telltale sign that he had been there. It would give someone a sense of direction where he was headed.
Knowing his niece, he knew that Hailey was coming for him. She would probably have Zane with her. If he could scan his glasses and confirm they belonged to him, then he could do it with other things as well. He could leave a trail of things that belonged to him that could lead them to wherever the Untamed was taking him.
"That's it!" He thought.
Even though he couldn't see well, he looked down at himself to see what he could drop.
The Untamed took his guns and his ammo, but they didn't take his leather holster. He couldn't reach into his pockets to see what else he had.
"Leather is tough." He said to himself. "But I should be able to rip it with my boot or something if I can."
He tried to see Gunsmoke, but he couldn't twist in the saddle to find him.
Samuel sighed. He hoped his horse was doing well. All he could do now was wait.
…
"Here. Let me see that bandage."
Kai took Cole's arm in his hand, rolled up his sleeve, and undid the wraps around his shoulder.
Cole's injury was healing well. Most of it had scabbed over and was no longer a raw color. He sighed.
"Hold on." He said. He left their room and returned with a bottle. He squirted some on his hand and gently applied it to Cole's burn. He saw him wince.
"Sorry." Kai muttered as he finished. He put new bandages on his wound. "There. I hope it doesn't scar…"
"Thanks, Kai." Cole said quietly as Kai finished tucking the bandage end in.
Kai paused for a moment and sighed. He sat next to Cole on the bed.
"Hey, um…" he began, not sure where to start. "I'm sorry. I really am. I feel horrible. I had no idea what got into me. I just snapped…"
"Don't." Cole said.
Kai was surprised. He drew blood from his brother, and he's acting like it's not a big deal?
"What?" He asked. "Why? Cole, I burned your shoulder. Aren't you upset?"
"I was." He answered. "For awhile. But we all make mistakes. It's not like I haven't made any…"
Kai tilted his head. "Mistakes? What do you mean?"
"Kai, being the team's leader, it's my job to keep everyone together." Cole explained. "Now look at us. We're falling apart. And Zane could be dead." He dropped his head. "And none of this would have happened if I didn't tell him to run."
Kai thought for a moment.
"Maybe." He said. "But at the same time Morro would have finished the job if you hadn't. You gave Zane a better chance to live by telling him to run."
"But is he still alive?" Cole asked his brother, but more to himself. "What if he's waiting for us somewhere? I can't just let him die while I just sit here!"
"But what if he's dead?"
"I would still look for him." Cole answered. "Regardless if he is dead. I know I'm not the only one who thinks he deserves a proper burial after everything he's done for us."
Kai saw Cole's lip start to tremble ever so slightly. And Cole never cried.
Kai sighed and covered his face with his arms.
"I just don't know what to do Cole…" he said. "Everything is just crashing down… I don't want to give up on him, but…we've been searching everywhere…"
There was silence.
Kai felt a hand resting on his shoulder. He looked up and saw it was Cole's.
"I don't know what to do either…" he said. "I don't know what to do…"
"Zane was always a part of his team. He was equal to all of us." The fire ninja said. "We all knew that, but I never realized just how important he was. He's like the glue that holds us together. He's always put us before himself."
They sat for awhile in silence, reminiscing when they saw him last. Getting ready to fight together, as they always had. Then, they didn't think much of it, but now they realized how much they took that for granted.
After some time, Cole sighed.
"I want you to know something."
Kai looked up. "What's that?"
"I don't think of you any differently because of what you did." Cole said. "I forgive you."
"But why? Cole, I hurt you so bad... "
"I know. But look at us. We're about to break apart, and Morro is trying to take over Ninjago. Now isn't the time to hold grudges. We're brothers. We need to put our differences aside and stick together. I don't want to lose any more of you than we already have." Cole answered. "Its what Zane would want us to do. He'd hate to see us like this."
Next thing Cole knew he was in Kai's embracing arms.
"Thank you." Kai whispered.
Cole went to return the embrace, but stopped as his injury throbbed. He sucked in a breath.
"Oh!" Kai exclaimed. "Cole, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean-"
"Its okay." Cole said, rubbing his shoulder. "It's just a little sore." He smiled at Kai. "See? Nothing to worry about."
Kai sighed a breath of relief. "Thank god." He paused for a moment.
"I need to go apologize to Nya." He said. He buried his face in his hands. "I feel horrible for acting that way in front of her…"
"I'll come with you." Cole suggested. "So she'll see that we're okay."
"Okay." Kai agreed.
They walked out of their shared room to Sensei's.
"May we enter?" Cole asked.
"Of course." Said another voice.
Kai opened the door and they both walked in. Wu was sitting on the floor cross legged in front of some incense he was burning. He looked up as they entered.
"I see you two have sorted things out?"
"Yes." they both said.
"We're looking for Nya." said Cole. "Is she with Jay still?"
"Yes." Wu answered. "They are at the scrapyard. Why do you ask?"
"I want to apologize to her." Kai said. "For...you know…"
Wu nodded. "I see." he said. "A very good idea of you."
"Thank you Sensei." Kai said. The two of them walked to the deck of the Bounty, where Kai summoned his energy dragon. He helped Cole into its saddle before taking off for the junkyard.
…
Tonight there was no moon and no stars, which cast darkness upon the desert. The only light for miles came from the string and neon lights that shone at Ed and Edna's scrapyard.
Nya and Jay sat on the couch in the living room of his parent's trailer. The lights were off inside, making the holiday lights cast different colors on the floor through the window. Ed and Edna had long since gone to bed, leaving the two ninja alone.
They sat in silence for a long while. Their minds were all over the place. So much had happened in a short time: trying to stop Morro, Zane was missing, Lloyd was possessed, and now the team was falling apart. Neither of them knew where to start.
Nya was the one who finally broke the silence.
"Jay?"
Jay looked up. "Yes Nya?"
She looked up at him with misty eyes.
"What do you think?"
"What do you mean?"
"Do you think Zane is dead?"
Jay was quiet for sometime. He didn't know what to say.
"Jay?" She asked again.
Jay drew in a heavy breath.
"I honestly have no idea, Nya." He said finally. "We've been searching for so long and in every place we possibly can. He could last longer than any of us could, but he's been gone for weeks. But even if he is dead, I still won't give up on finding him. He deserves better."
Nya nodded, staring at the floor.
"Zane isn't one to give up that easily." She said quietly, hands in her lap. "I like to think that he isn't, that he's waiting for us."
"But we have to face reality at some point." She continued. "But I'm not ready to yet…"
"Neither am I." Jay replied.
He knew exactly how Nya felt. He wanted nothing more for Zane to come home. They needed him now more than ever. His absence left a hole in their hearts and their team. He didn't know or want to know what would become of them if he wasn't found.
Jay ran both of his hands through his hair, heaving a frustrated sigh. It pained him horribly to see downhill they were going, especially at a time where they needed to be closer than ever. These kinds of trying times were supposed to bring them together. Yet with each passing day they all were drifting farther apart. The strain of it all had brought out sides of his other brothers that he had never seen, and wish he hadn't.
Jay shuddered when he recalled the fights Cole and Kai had gotten into. The punches thrown, blood drawn, and the words that had cut deeper than any wound. How it was always him left to fix the scratches, cuts, and injuries. Come to think about, it seemed that the only ones that were somewhat stable and not prone to explosive bouts of anger at this point were himself and Nya.
Jay's eyes slid over to Nya's face. She was staring at the floor, obviously trying not to cry. Clearly he wasn't the only one torn over this.
Jay reached over and took Nya's hand, lacing his fingers with hers.
"I won't let anything happen to us." He told her. "It's really tough right now, I know. But we can pull through." He held her hand tighter. "Whether we find Zane or not."
"I don't want to lose him again…" She said, her voice breaking.
"Neither do I. None of us do." Jay said, pulling her closer and wrapping his arms around her in an attempt to comfort her. "And I won't stop until I find him."
"Thank you Jay. For not giving up on him." She whispered.
"Of course. I would never." He lifted her chin to look at her and wiped away a tear that had formed on her face. "Zane's our brother, I'd die before I'd give up on him." He gave her a reassuring smile. "We're going to be okay Nya. Trust me."
"I trust you." Nya said. "I always have."
Jay held her tighter. "It's all going to be okay in the end." He told her. "No matter what
Nya nodded and rested her head on Jay's shoulder. He stroked her hair gently she held onto him.
Having Nya like this with him gave him a peaceful feeling, one no one or nothing could give him, one he hadn't felt since Zane disappeared. She never failed to make his day. When he was with her, he always felt so happy.
"Hey Nya." He said.
"Yes?" She asked, looking up with those beautiful eyes he oh-so loved.
He brushed some hair from her face, pausing to admire her.
"I love you."
Nya smiled, a smile of genuine happiness he hadn't seen in a long time.
"I love you too, Jay." She said, squeezing his hand.
Jay softly chuckled and pulled Nya closer as a feeling of genuine happiness washed over him.
They held each other for awhile, eventually falling asleep.
…
Somewhere outside the trailer came the sound of heavy wingbeats, rousing Jay from his sleep. He looked down at Nya, who was also starting to stir.
"Hey." He whispered, nudging her awake. "Do you hear that?"
"What is that?" She asked.
"I don't know." He said. He got up. "Stay here. I'm going to check it out."
"Hey!" She cried, stomping after him to the door. "May I remind you that I'm an elemental master too?! I'm not a damsel in distress, I can care for myself!"
Jay winced at her outburst. "Sorry." He said. "Just stay close, okay?"
He looked back at Nya, who was giving him a look that could kill.
He scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously, but suddenly a loud roar snapped his attention back to the matter at hand. He snatched his nunchucks off the table. He peered through the blinds of the door's window. Seeing two dark figures approaching, he gripped his weapon tighter.
When they came closer, Jay flung open the door and flew at the newcomers.
"Jay?!" A familiar voice cried. "What are you-"
Suddenly things went slow motion as Jay became confused, but was jarred from his thoughts as he barreled into the mystery person, which actually turned out to be his own teammate. They landed with an OOF!
"Jaaay!" Kai growled as the lightning ninja got off of him. "What was that for?"
"Sorry!" He apologized, offering Kai a hand and helping him up. "I thought you were an intruder."
"It's okay." Kai rubbed his head. "Where's Nya?"
Jay looked around and pointed to the door of the trailer, where Nya was talking to Jay's parents. He ran up to her.
"Nya!"
"Kai?" Nya said, confused. "What are you doing here?"
Kai sighed and looked down at his feet. Then he looked back up to his sister.
"Nya, I'm sorry for the way I've been acting." He said quietly. "I've been acting selfish at a time when we least need it. I'm sorry I made you see and hear things you shouldn't have." He gulped as he remembered him and Cole's altercation. "Its my fault the team is falling apart. I hope it's not too late for me to fix my mistakes…"
Nya jumped off the steps of the trailer and into Kai, throwing her arms around his neck.
"Of course I forgive you, Kai…" Nya said. "It's never too late. We're siblings, we're a family, and we all make mistakes."
"Thank you…" Kai said in relief, returning Nya's embrace.
"Cole and I talked. We're good now." He let go of Nya and gestured to Cole next to him.
"I'm glad to see you're doing better!" Nya said. She hugged him but let go when Cole yelped in pain. Nya gasped.
"I'm sorry!" She frantically apologized. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Cole said, rolling his shoulder. "It's just a little tender…I'm fine, see?" He gave Nya an awkward smile.
"And we settled our differences, so we're good." Cole and Kai put a hand on each other's shoulders. "See?" They smiled together awkwardly.
Nya rolled her eyes. "You two are dorks."
"So…" Jay began cautiously. "There won't be any more fighting?"
"No." Cole said firmly. He faced his teammates. "No more fighting. Sensei Wu brought all of us together for a reason. He saw something in us that we didn't see in ourselves. We're a team. We're brothers. We've been through too much together to turn back now. Like Sensei Garmadon told us when we defeated Master Chen, 'You did what the previous elemental masters could not, you stuck together.' Let's not prove them wrong! We drifted apart last time
Zane left us. Do you all remember how lost we felt?"
The ninja exchanged glances and nodded in silent agreement as they recalled how they parted ways shortly after Zane's death a couple of years ago.
"Y-yeah…" Jay muttered. "It was terrible."
"Exactly." Cole continued. "Zane cares about all of us. He's always put us before himself. He gave his life for us! Besides Pixal, we are the only family he has. Can you imagine how crushed he would be to see us in shambles like we are? He was devastated when he heard what happened the last time. After everything he's done for us, the least we can do for him is to stay together. We need to. Morro still has Lloyd, and we're the only form of defense Ninjago has. If we can't function as a team, then he might as well bring us all to our knees. But we have to fight together as a team. Zane wouldn't want his absence to affect our ability to defend. He would want us to fight."
"But Cole, we have both finding Zane and dealing with Morro at the same time. How are we going to do both?" Kai asked.
The air around them became tense. Kai must have felt it too, because he then corrected himself.
"No, no, I'm not saying it like that." He added. "But think about it this way: We need Zane back but also Morro is still a huge threat. And dealing with both are just as important. So what do we do?"
"The ghosts haven't been very active at all, so while that's going on we can continue to look for Zane."
"He wouldn't give up on us, so it's only right that we don't give up on him." Nya said. "Whether he's alive or not, we won't stop until we find him!"
"And we'll fight for him too! Let's show Morro that it's going to take more than this to break us apart!"
"From this moment on, we're a team again! No more arguments, no more splitting up! We're going to fight Morro and find Zane together, or go down trying!"
"Ninja can do alot of things, but one thing we don't do is give up!" Jay said in a rallying voice. "And why is that?"
"BECAUSE NINJA NEVER QUIT!" They all shouted together.
In that moment, the anger, sadness, resentfulness, the tension that plagued the air between them, the constant fear that the smallest word said at the wrong time or in the wrong way would trigger a fight was gone. The hurtful words that were spoken, the tears of the emotional and physical pain that followed, all became a distant memory. In that moment emerged a new resolve among them. It was a resolve stronger than any enemy they had faced, or any ghost army they would eventually have to battle. It was the resolve to be one again, as they were once before.
And for the first time since Zane went missing, the ninja felt together again. Truly together.
Their celebration was cut off when Nya spoke up.
"Guys, its Sensei Wu." She said, holding a hand up to her earpiece. "He wants us all back at the bounty. He says he wants to talk to us about something urgent."
"Tell him we'll be right there." Cole replied. He faced his team. "I'm glad to have us all back. Let's stick to it this time, yeah?" He said jokingly.
"Please…" Kai muttered. "That was worse than last time…I don't want to go through that again..."
Jay bade goodbye to his parents, and soon they were on their way back to the Bounty, Cole riding with Kai since he still wasn't completely healed from his injury.
…
Wu heard the door open and looked up to see the ninja enter the control room. A sense of relief came over him as he saw them all together.
"We worked it out, Sensei." Cole said. "No more arguing. For us. And for Zane too."
Wu nodded to the team, grateful they wouldn't break apart as he feared. "I knew you would. We have been through too much to end it here, especially at a time where we need to stay together."
"Sensei, what was it that you wanted to talk to us about?" Nya asked. "You sounded really concerned."
Wu sighed. "Right…" He said.
"I wish to consult all of you about a vision I had while meditating some time ago."
Jay groaned and facepalmed. "Oh no." He said. "These are never good…"
"What was it about?" Kai asked.
"I'm not sure…" Wu continued. "I saw many things that I have never seen before."
The master described to his students the vision he had, about the dragon protecting the person, the ghost army fighting another group they hadn't seen anything like it with the dragons circling the sky, and finally the person falling into the riverbed.
"Whatever it is, it involves Morro, and its not good." Wu concluded. "I highly advise that all of you keep up your guard as well as training. Whatever is coming, I sense its going to decide the fate of Ninjago as we know it…"
"Wait!" Jay cried. "The person in the riverbed and the dragon! Do you think-"
Everyone's eyes went wide when the realization hit of what Jay was trying to say.
"For the first two scenes, I am not sure, but the person falling into the riverbed was definitely Zane."
"So that means-"
"He's still alive!" Nya whooped, punching the air.
"That I cannot confirm or deny, the spirit smoke was not clear." Wu said.
"But it's still something!" Cole said. His chest swelled with hope. Was there really a chance they could get Zane back?
"Sensei, how long ago did you have this vision? And did you see anything that could give us any clue about any potential location?"
"A couple weeks ago. And no, I know no place that looks like what I've seen. It was a forest, but none like here."
Silence fell upon the ninja, each in deep thought trying to pinpoint a possibility of what this all meant.
"The war you saw…" Kai began. "Do you think Zane's disappearance has something to do with it?"
"I'm afraid it appears so…" Wu said quietly.
A thick, uncomfortable silence fell over the room.
"Ugh." Jay mumbled. "We're so hooped. We need to find him…"
"Aye aye, Captain Obvious."
"HEY!"
Suddenly lights flashed and sirens blared. Nya raced over to the control panel and pressed a few buttons. A huge map of Ninjago showed up on the screen with a red dot.
"We've got a situation!" she said, typing on the massive control panel. She gasped.
"What is it?!" Kai shouted over the wailing of the sirens.
"Morro! And Lloyd's with him! They're at the city of Stiix!"
"Well what are we waiting for?!" Kai cried. "Let's get him!"
Kai pulled on his hood and ran for the door, but was stopped by Cole.
"Wait!" Cole said. "Before we run into anything, we need to know why he's there. It may be a trap!"
"Cole is right." Wu said. "We must proceed about this mission with caution. Morro is clever and tricky. It's not unlike him to set up something to lure you in."
Kai grumbled something to himself and pulled off his hood, looking exasperated. "Then what do we do?"
"We're still going, but we need to do this carefully. Keep a low profile as we go." Cole instructed. "Morro has the Sword of Sanctuary, so he has the upper-hand here. If its there, we can grab it when he's not looking. And Lloyd too."
Kai seemed to ease up at the mention of the last statement. The ninja pulled on their hoods and raced outside, bound for the town of Stiix.
…
Deep in the Caves of Despair, Morro paced the floor of his cavern hideout feverently. The inability of him not being able to continue on with his plan was driving near to the point of insanity.
There was a reason he wasn't able to. And he was sitting shackled in a vengestone cage.
The green ninja had been fighting his possession, which made it near impossible for Morro to go searching for the realm crystal to summon the Preeminent or any ghosts through the Allied Armor, and he needed a spinjitzu master so he could find the FSM's tomb. Once he did that, the rest was supposed to be relatively easy.
But despite Lloyd's bad shape, he had a strong will, and a solid conscious. He kept shunning Morro time and time again. The ghost thought after awhile the ninja would finally break, but each time Morro tried to possess him the stronger he became. It seemed like he was becoming immune to it. He and the ghost army had been at Stiix to silence witnesses from giving the ninja their whereabouts, but they were cut short as Lloyd, for the countless time, threw him from his body.
Morro glanced at his map of Ninjago, his eyes wandering to the blank part of the continent, the frontier. He thought about the elemental master Ghoultar had told him about, and the nindroid that could still be alive. He knew the latter was also a Spinjitzu master. If he wasn't dead perhaps he could use him instead. As for the other elemental master-
"You're not getting away with it."
Morro spun around. Lloyd was staring at him defiantly.
"What did you say?" Morro growled.
"You won't get away with this." Lloyd repeated. "Without me, you can't find the crystal. And my friends are coming for you."
"You're friends don't have a clue where you are." The ghost spat. "They'd die in here before they found you, just like I did... "
"And besides, whether they come or not, it works either way for me. I will get the Realm Crystal by any means necessary. You and the others can't stop me. Your team is one down as it is."
Lloyd thought Morro was referring to him. He wasn't aware about what happened to the master of ice. Lloyd continued.
"You don't have to do this Morro." He said almost pleadingly, gripping the bars of his prison. "Sensei Wu would be so disappointed. You being the green ninja-it was never meant to be. Let it go, its not your destiny-"
"BE QUIET!" Morro roared, throwing his ghost blade at the cage. He stormed over, grabbed Lloyd by the collar of his gi, and pulled him against the bars.
"I DON'T CARE WHAT THAT OLD MAN THINKS! I DON'T CARE WHAT DESTINY SAYS I CAN AND CAN'T DO! I MAKE MY OWN DESTINY! I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE GREEN NINJA, NOT YOU! BUT NO! I WAS LED ON ALL MY LIFE! AND NOW ALL OF NINJAGO AND EVERY OTHER REALM WILL FACE MY WRATH, AND THEY'LL ALL SEE WHO'S TRULY THE MOST POWERFUL ONE!" Morro screamed in the ninja's face.
Morro let go of Lloyd and stormed out of the cave, seething, knocking over a table covered in weapons on his way out.
Lloyd sat back in his cage and sighed. He had hoped to sway Morro, even just a little. But maybe it was best if he kept his mouth shut.
Lloyd looked wistfully after where Morro had gone.
"Come on guys, where are you?"
…
"Jay, give me a boost."
Jay put his hands together and lifted Cole up. The earth ninja grabbed the window ledge and peered through the glass. They had scoured every nook and cranny of Stiix, with no sign of Lloyd or Morro. This was the last place they hadn't checked.
"Any sign of Lloyd?" Kai whispered.
"Not here." Cole said. He gestured for Jay to put him down. "Looks like we'll need to find another way in. But we need to be careful."
They scaled the building up onto the roof. After some poking around, Jay discovered a ventilation shaft that led inside. The three carefully shimmied their way through.
"Ugh, it reeks like Kai's laundry in here!" Jay complained as they finished clearing the second floor, with no sign of Lloyd and the ghosts.
"Hey!" Kai hissed. "I wasn't asking to be attacked, Jay!"
"Shhh!" Cole said. "Be quiet! Do you want them to hear us!?"
No one got the chance to answer, because suddenly a vent cover they were crawling along gave way underneath them. They all fell from the ceiling, collapsing into a heap on the floor.
Once they got over their daze, they sprung up, got into their battle stances, and drew their weapons.
Only to be met by a neat and well kept pawn shop and a very confused Ronin.
"Uh…" Cole began.
"I...shouldn't even ask, should I?" The ex-thief said.
"Ugh. Please don't." Kai said.
Cole looked around the shop. "Wait-where's Morro?"
"And Lloyd? Weren't they in your pawn shop?"
"Key word: were." Ronin stepped from behind the counter. "I came back to sneak in and grab a few things, but it turns out they cleared out of here."
"But why?"
Ronin shrugged. "Beats me."
"But we got an alert that they were here! Like an hour ago!"
"Well, if Morro and his army were here, they're gone now."
Kai felt like punching the wall. They missed them! And yet they had came so close to catching them!
"Where do you think they could've gone?" Jay asked Ronin.
Ronin shrugged again. "I have no idea."
Kai growled. "Well, the sooner we get out of here the sooner we find him. I'm going to take Morro out myself!"
"Hold on!" Ronin said as the ninja turned to leave. "If you're going after Morro and his army, those weapons aren't gonna cut it. You'll need something better."
Cole turned back to Ronin and raised an eyebrow. "Like?"
Ronin went behind his counter and set down what looked like three black shurikens
"Aeroblades." He explained. "Made from deepstone, the only other substance that can defeat ghosts other than water."
The three ninja each picked up an Aeroblade.
"Cool, thanks Ronin." Cole said. He gestured to the others. "Lets go!"
"Ah-ah-ah." Ronin tsked. "I don't do this for free." He held out his hand. "Three hundred each."
Jay groaned. "We don't have that kind of money!"
"Come on Ronin, cut us some slack! We have a literal ghost army to defeat!"
"And I have a living I need to make." Ronin replied flatly. "Three hundred."
"Fine." Cole huffed. "Two fifty."
"Two seventy five."
"Four hundred, take it or leave it." Kai interjected. Ronin smirked.
"Deal." He shook the fire ninja's hand. "Now pay up."
"Kai, you are the worst negotiator ever!" Jay said as they walked out of Ronin's shop, Aeroblades in hand.
"Yeah," Cole agreed. "I don't understand how you can even go grocery shopping…"
They returned to the Bounty on their dragons. As they landed on the deck, Nya raced out to greet them, followed by Wu, expecting to have Lloyd.
Nya's face fell when she saw only the three of them. "Where's Lloyd?"
"We couldn't get there in time." Cole told her. "They left before he had a chance to stop them at whatever they were about to do."
"Sis, is there any way you can track Lloyd somehow?" Kai asked her.
"Hmmm." She said, thinking. "I think so, but I'm not sure if it will work."
She walked back into the Bounty, the others following. They came into the Op room, where Nya began typing on the keyboard.
"I can try to track the beacon from Lloyd's earpiece, but depending on his location, it may not work…"
Nya finished typing and pressed a key. The words "LOCATING BEACON..." popped up on the screen.
They stared as the system tried to locate Lloyd. An eternity seemed to pass.
Finally, when Nya was starting to give up their hope of finding Lloyd soon-
Ping!
The ninja's eyes snapped up to the screen, where there was a red dot labeled with Lloyd's name on the map. They gasped.
"He's at the Caves of Despair!" Nya said.
"How are we going to find him, that place is like a maze!" Jay asked.
Nya smiled. "I think I know a guy…"
…
It was a quiet night at Borg Industries. After checking on PIXAL-who was still depressed following Zane's disappearance- Cyrus had busied himself with organizing some files of plans for future inventions. One of these were plans for new vehicles for the ninja to use against the ghosts in their fight to defeat Morro.
He had just finished placing the folders in a file cabinet in his office when suddenly there was a knock on his door.
"Uh-come in?" He said, confused at who would be out at this hour.
Four people walked in, Cole, Jay, Kai, and Nya. Cyrus smiled.
"Ah, the ninja!" He greeted them. "What brings you here at this hour?"
"Mr. Borg, we need your help with something." Nya said. "Earlier today we picked up Lloyd on our sensors. He's at the Caves of Despair. Even though the Bounty picks up his general location, we need to pinpoint exactly where he is so we don't get lost in the cave system. Do you have something that can help us?"
Cyrus thought for a moment, scratching his chin. "Perhaps…" he said slowly. He wheeled out of his office. "Follow me."
They followed the inventor into an elevator, and went down a few floors and through a long hallway. Borg stopped at a door and pressed some numbers into a keypad. There was a beep and a green light as the door slid open and the four walked inside.
"Oh my gosh!" Jay said, eyes wide like a kid in a candy store. He jumped up and down in excitement. "Look at everything!"
The room was lined wall to wall with different devices, each locked away in a glass ran up to one, face pressed to the glass as he looked at what looked like a smart watch. He gasped.
"No way!" he said. "Don't tell me-"
"The BorgWatch?" Cyrus said as we went across the room. "Yes, it's not just a public rumor. But you must keep it a secret."
"I will!" Jay could barely contain himself, it looked like he was about to explode.
There was a beep as the door to the room opened. They all turned just in time to see PIXAL run in.
"Did you find him?" Were the first words coming from her mouth, eyes full of hope.
The ninja all exchanged sad glances before Kai spoke up.
"We've been looking, but there's still no sign of Zane. Sorry Pix…"
PIXAL looked crestfallen and her shoulders slumped. "Its alright…" She muttered. She sighed. "I understand…"
She shuffled out of the room.
"Poor PIXAL…" Cole said.
"She hasn't been herself since we got the news." Borg said. "I'm trying everything I can to cheer her up, but…" He shook his head. "Nothing gives. I hate seeing her this way, and I can't bear to think what will happen if…"
Cyrus didn't have to say it. They knew it was their worst fear.
"I'm going to talk to her." Nya said before she left the room.
Nya didn't have to go far. She found PIXAL at the end of the hall, making her way to the elevator.
"PIXAL!" Nya called after her. "Hey, wait up!"
PIXAL turned around, surprised to see the water ninja following her.
"Nya, what-" She began, but was cut off as Nya wrapped her arms around her and pulled her into a tight embrace.
"It's okay PIXAL, I know you're hurting with Zane being gone, but I promise you we'll find him."
PIXAL smiled and returned the embrace. "Thank you, Nya. I just miss him so much…"
"I know. We do too." Nya replied. She let go of PIXAL and thought for a moment.
"I have an idea."
"What is it?"
"I know you miss Zane a lot. It's perfectly normal to feel that way, but your creator's been very worried about you. How about you do something to help you cope?"
The droid raised an eyebrow. "Cope? How?"
"Um…" Nya searched for a way to explain. "You know, like dealing with his loss so you can feel better?"
PIXAL was still clueless. "I do not follow…"
"Okay, how about this: What do you do when you feel sad?"
PIXAL shrugged, unsure of how to respond. "I've...never dealt with something like this before...and the one instance it did happen he came back, but now that's not likely…"
Nya's heart wrenched at the look of PIXAL about to cry. Maybe this would be harder than she thought.
"I think I have something that'll help you." She said, "I'll tell you what I did. When Jay and Kai were away on missions and were gone for some time, I missed them a lot too. Of course it got me down. But when that happened, I decided to do something for them that I could give when they got back. It never fails to make me feel better. Maybe it'll help you too?"
"That's...a good idea." PIXAL sniffed. "But what do you suggest I do?"
"Do you know how to cook?"
"No, but events in my memory drive lead me to believe it would be an easy skill to acquire."
"Okay, great! Maybe you can master cooking, and try to find a dish you want to make with him."
PIXAL smiled. "I would actually like that very much. I will definitely do that. Thank you for your help, Nya."
It was the droid's turn to embrace the water ninja. After they let go, PIXAL made her way back to the elevator.
"Keep me posted!" Nya said as the doors closed. PIXAL smiled again and gave Nya a thumbs up before the elevator went down.
Hope you enjoyed! Be sure to drop a review! Love y'all!