Author's Note: I know chapter one was really slow and I do apologize for that, but like I said, I literally only had one sentence to work with as a summary to it, so yeah. I was never good at expanding unless it was more than that. (Never that good at writing assignments way back then either, despite my skill.)

Anyway, this chapter is more than likely going to be short, but we'll get into longer chapters eventually.

Chapter 2

It had been weeks since she left that place far behind her. Actually, was it a month? Two? She didn't know. Time seemed so much faster yet longer when she didn't have to feel the need to hide so much from her captors. So far, she had been doing a little better for herself. Well, it could be better if she didn't feel like she needed to survive so much. The long-haired brunette pulled an old, worn quiver by the loose straps around, looking into it and seeing a few left. Most of the arrows were wooden or made of bone, but some of them had tips shining with jade. The jade-tipped arrows had a unique design to them. Something she had seen on the daggers with the same shade of jade, and these designs were just as intricate and refined as those daggers. She had a feeling not to touch them, even if they were already in the quiver when she had to snatch it off a body much like snatching some pouches off of those who laid dead in that place.

She shook her head, mildly disappointed in herself for stooping to a level. She wasn't proud of basically robbing the dead from there, but she had little choice and she needed to do all she could to survive. 'Besides, it's not like they could use it,' She kept telling herself, 'Not unless they stood up with nothing but bones and tattered clothes like those Skulkin from legends.' The teen let the quiver lax against her back while a large jade-colored bow with curved blades on its outer edge remained settled on her other shoulder with the blades tilting away from her body. She definitely wasn't proud of taking the bow from the owner. That... person had been nothing but kind to her and she gave everything to protect her... even her-

Her reminiscing stopped at the sound of something cracking a branch on the ground. She had decided to settle into the woods for a bit. It seemed like a good idea at the time. She didn't like the dark spaces, but there was plenty of cover. It felt much better than the desert heat she had to traverse through and not worry about the idea of sandstorms or any possible larger-than-life inhabitants finding her as a snack in the desert. Now though, she wasn't so certain if the forest was a good idea. She stood up, sliding the large bow off her shoulder and pulling a bony arrow out, setting it on the arrow rest close to the grip.

Her eyes darted about while she gently moved on her feet, careful to not startle anything and give away her spot. The sun was still in the sky but it began to dim and set its course to the horizon. Any longer and it'll be too dark to aim anywhere. Something wasn't quite right. She felt eyes on her yet didn't see anything.. Or she didn't see anything just yet. She went to move her bangs off the other side of her face but didn't get the chance to do so when she finally heard it. A long drawn-out sound of hissing and something slithering across the ground. She shivered and turned around.

Well, it was a serpent, but it wasn't like anything she'd seen before. It looked like a normal snake, but much bigger. Nothing like the legends of the Great Devourer or any of the other wyrms in all of mythology, but it was abnormally larger than it needed to be. It had bright red eyes and the skin was a shade of light orange-red. She could see scars scattered across its elongated body. Slashes and slices all over and starry-like scars from shots. It definitely had seen more than enough battles. It stared at her with its body slowly curling behind it while it began raising its head. Its eyes moved to see the bow in her hand and almost instantly it opened its mouth to bare its fangs and hissed. The body launched towards her and she had to jump away just as it tried to strike.

Its head landed into the dirt and Sam took a chance to try to shoot with the bone arrow. It barely made a puncture, and couldn't even leave a scratch. A loud hiss just rolled out of the snake and it pulled back up, dragging its fangs across the ground. It looked even more angry in its eyes. The teen tried to shoot yet another arrow but it seemed the snake was just as smart as it was battle-ready. It lowered its form, looking like a spiral from above with the head in the center, acting as an anchor, and swung its tail around, swiping across the teen's form. The bow left her hand and flew through the air, spinning around until it stuck its landing with one of the blades into the rotting wood of one tree.

The human's eyes followed after the bow before she turned back to the large serpent. It rose its head back up from the center of the coils and she took a chance to book it to the bladed bow. Her heart was racing, so much so that she could hear it pounding in her ears. Blood was pumping while adrenaline rushed through her. Despite how loud her heart was and how the wind picked up a bit as if it was also panicked, she could hear the snake behind her, slithering after her in a rush and hissing maliciously. Her hands reached out and she grabbed the bow by the not-so-bladed end. She pulled as hard as she could. It was stuck for a moment and she struggled a bit, wedging it back and forth in a panic until finally, the rotted wood gave way, letting it out.

The brunette kept it in her hands and she spun around on her feet, facing the serpent just as it sprung towards her. With no thought other than survival, she swung the bow hard and fast. One of the blades met the side of the serpent's snout, reaching up its face and almost barely meeting the eye. Blood seeped through the cut and onto the bow. Its dark color trickled down to her hands. She grimaced at the feeling of blood on her hands and with any bit of strength she had at the moment, she pulled the blade back, letting it drag down the snake's face and snout. All the while the light orange-red serpent hissed out in pain and finally shook its head, whipping its neck around and dribbling blood everywhere. The serpent writhed to the ground, rolling and hissing loudly while dirt got into the large cut. No doubt it'll get infected.

She didn't stay to find out what would happen to the serpent. She backed up carefully, trying not to get its attention while it was rolling around in pain, more focused on the cut than her. Just when the snake was out of view, she booked it. Her legs carried her through the woods. She was lucky that nothing else was interested in her, or maybe that snake made sure there was nothing else. She didn't know. She wasn't about to investigate, especially if it involved any more snakes, something she never really liked so much to begin with and she had good reasons too.

The woods were far behind her and she was set on a dirt path. Well, if the faint wagon tracks meant anything, then it had to be a road. The brunette looked back and forth on the road. It had to lead somewhere. She looked behind her, glad that the serpent didn't follow her. She should get out before it decides to track her. There was no way she was staying to find out if it was capable of vengeance or not or if it was even alive after a cut like that. The teen shook her head and decided to follow the road, hoping it would lead her out of there or she'd find someone along the way.

It was much later, hours even before she finally caught sight of a town. 'It looks like a nice town and has some alright people.' She hesitated, stopping just a few miles away from town and shuffling on her feet, swaying a bit. To say she hadn't been around many people in a long, long time would be... an understatement and she wasn't necessarily proud of that. Not at all. She shook her head. Her hands gripped the edge of the ragged, torn shirt she was wearing before they loosened. Well, she may not be proud of little human interaction, but that doesn't mean she wasn't curious to see what the town was like. It's certainly got to be better than the desert she trekked or the woods she wandered into. 'Hopefully, the town didn't change so much in a couple of years that they changed currency,' She thought, patting a hand on one of the pouches and carrying on.

For a while, it was nice. The people, more or less, kept to themselves and children stuck a little closer to their homes. 'Probably because of Serpentine activity.' The brunette figured. The Serpentine hadn't exactly become coordinated in their surprise attacks as of yet, but no one, let alone innocent villagers wanted to be caught in the crossfire of any fights with the snake people and those ninjas she kept hearing about here and there. 'Just who are those Ninja anyways?' She thought. Nonetheless, for the most part, the village was still relatively nice and things felt slow. Of course, the evening was early and it was bound to slow down.

Everything felt fine... until it didn't. The seventeen-year-old didn't know why but something felt like it was gnawing at the back of her mind. She felt goosebumps on her arms and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. She swears she felt eyes on her. The brunette looked to where the origin of the spy would be. It felt like it came from the alley between the buildings but she couldn't see who it was. Well... perhaps she could if she'd- No. She shook her head, stopping herself from pulling her bangs aside to look. 'Last thing I need is to freak people out.' She thought. She didn't want people to see her... affliction and be horrified or take pity on her. She already can't handle that herself.

She could grab her weapon but then there would be questions and she wouldn't know how to answer them without looking crazy. Well, the bow was too obvious to grab so that left her with the smaller daggers she made. They were crude, clearly made in a rush, and made of bone. Again, she wasn't proud of the things she did, even if it was just to survive. Her feet carried her to the alley and she looked around.

All she could see were crates stacked upon each other, garbage bins that were overfilled bags twisted up and knotted shut, puddles, and even small, broken wooden furniture discarded into the trash. Nothing happened. For a moment, nothing happened. Rustling of trash reached her ears and she looked over, heading closer to the garbage. She could hear the clinks of glass bottles, crinkles of paper, and bags shuffling back and forth. Slowly, she reached with the tip of one dagger and poked at the trash pile.

It went silent and entirely still.

The brunette suddenly jumped the moment she heard a squeak and saw a few large, dark gray rats run right out of the pile, scattering away from her. One of the rats did stop and turned to her, looking at her for a moment before running away. She let out a sigh, realizing she was worrying over some small rodents compared to what she had met earlier. Everything felt fine and the moment she put her daggers away she heard one of the rats let out a loud pained shriek before it went silent once more.

Her eyes caught a glint of scales ahead of her. It was dark in the alley beside her but she still swore she saw them. Her heart was pounding in her ears and it drowned out the noise of the town. Her eyes looked up and saw eyes staring back at her. They looked nothing like the serpent she saw before. The body was humanoid shaped but too tall to be a human and there was a dark, giant cobra-like hood. A pair of pale yellow eyes stared in her direction. They looked grayed over with age. Any bright lime scales he had dulled over time and any fangs he used to have looked busted or broken. She couldn't tell. It was still dark. With those characteristics, he had to be a Venomari. That much she knew. She should have pulled out her weapons right now, but she didn't she was still frozen.

Her legs shook in place and it took a gust of wind suddenly blowing through the alley, carrying the smells of garbage and old newspapers fluttered off the ground. The wind made her come back to her senses and she suddenly turned and ran away. She could've fought that Serpentine there but for all she knew that could've been a trick, an ambush, and there weren't many people to help with them going inside their homes now.

Everything was a blurry haze and the people that were still outside and around her either moved out of her way at the sight or she bumped into some of them and that led to them yelling at her to "Watch where you're going!" She didn't hear them. She just kept going. The noises were getting louder and she swore she felt something trying to come up behind her but it barely brushed against her. She didn't turn around, not until she crashed into a door. It swung open with so much force. The tiny bell above the door clattered and rang. She shut the door behind her, laying her back against it and panting heavily.

Somewhere inside the shop, an old woman's ears picked up the sound of the bell and she looked out. "We're closed," She went to say but stopped when she saw the new visitor. There at the door was a teenager with dark brown hair and tanned skin. One eye was covered while the other looked unfocused but looking around frantically. She was panting heavily. Her body slid down the door and she lay on the ground. The tea shopkeeper would have scolded her, had she not looked so familiar. It's like she's seen her long ago, maybe some time ago. For an old woman like her, time flew right by.

She watched the child who was usually behind the counter approach the teen. "Ex... excuse me, miss?" She never usually heard his voice that often while she was around. In fact, she did most of the speaking since it was her shop. "Are you alright?" The teen looked at him. Her pupil finally remained still, looking at a solid form in front of her and her breath was slowing down bit by bit until it became manageable. "I... Where..." She swallowed and finally sat up, looking at her surroundings. "Where am I?" Her voice was soft. It was barely above a whisper, but still audible enough to be heard. "You're in Mystake's Tea Shop." The boy answered before pointing back with his thumb, "And that is Mystake." The old woman nodded. "I am indeed. Who are you?" Her voice was a mix of rough and refined, showing her age.

"I'm.." The brunette pulled herself up to her feet and had to lean on the door for a moment before standing up. "I'm Sam." She finally introduced herself. 'Sam... It's definitely short for something. Probably Samantha.' Mystake figured, 'although that name and her face seem so familiar.' She wondered. "What brings you here?" She asked. "I was just..." Sam contemplated her words for a moment. She had no idea who this woman was. How was she supposed to know how Mystake would react to her running away from a stray Venomari or fighting off a bigger serpent that she still couldn't put the name of? "I was just passing through."

"And I suppose you crashing into my shop was just passing through here?" Mystake poked a small bit of mischief at the girl, who only shuffled on her feet. "I didn't mean to... I just.." She was interrupted by the old woman giving a small chuckle. "It's fine. Not many come here that often anymore. However, those that do have a reason to. Do you have a reason?" Sam didn't know how to answer the old woman. "I... I don't know." Mystake nodded in response. "Hmm, we shall see."

Sam almost couldn't help but feel off in this setting. Mystake finally gave her a look over. Tattered clothing, assorted weapons with most of them made from bone or stray wood, and messy hair. She did take notice of the intricate jade-bladed bow that very clearly looked too big for the girl. Her hands held the upper part of her arms and she looked like she wanted to curl inwards. Usually, Mystake would be the kind to send off customers, but this girl looked like no customer. 'Not a normal one anyways.' With her senses, she smelled no malicious intent from her. Just nervousness, fright, and adrenaline dying down. 'Poor thing looked ready to drop at first entry. She practically did so.' The gray-haired woman came from behind the counter.

"You may stay for a short while." She announced suddenly. The girl had jumped up at that. "But... I don't have enough to pay." She motioned to the pouches on her side. "Please it's a tea shop. Not a hotel resort." Mystake chuffed. "You'll stay for a night or two. With the Serpentine activity picking up, I'm certain this is much safer than being out on your own." She raised an eyebrow at her. The teen looked embarrassed. "Was it that obvious?"

"Blatantly so, dear." She was blunt about it. Sam almost felt even more embarrassed. What did she expect? She only grabbed essentials. It's not like clothing was on the table from where she was. "Come now. There's a living space above us. We just have to go to the very back and head upstairs." The boy rushed up to the old woman's side. "But where will she sleep?" He asked. "That'll be arranged soon enough. Come along now. Don't be rude to your host." Mystake urged her on. Sam nearly flinched at the tone but nodded and followed. The mannerism didn't go unnoticed by the woman though. 'Wherever she's from, here is obviously much safer.' The woman noted.

Sam continued following after her before something caught her eye.

A small, old box television sat on the other end of the counter. She approached it and could see what looked like bright stage lights on the static screen. Lights that she once dreamed about way back when she was a child and could barely meet any adult's waist. Three serpentine warriors went on the stage, more than likely about to attack the guys in full-body suits and masks. One of them, a ninja adorned in all black with what looked like a studded leather vest wrapped around his chest and silver pauldrons sitting on his shoulders, reacted in kind. He was swift in his movements, making a jump at them. 'One... two... three hits.' She counted. The guy landed and almost very clearly she heard him imitate a tiger growl. 'Sounded more like a meow but still..' She thought.

She had to pull back from the screen in shock and awe, along with a flushed face as well. There was no way anyone could ever pull off a triple tiger sashay. Not unless you were the creator of it. There was one person who did come to mind, someone who was adamant about wanting to learn it more than anyone, but that was impossible. 'Especially after,' Her thought stopped and her heart nearly dropped to her stomach in shock when the name rolled on the bottom of the screen. A name she never thought she'd ever see again.

'Cole D. Belmonte.'

"He's alive," she muttered, stumbling back a few paces and sliding her hands across the counter. "Young lady, are you alright?" The old, gray-haired woman asked. The brunette didn't answer her question and just repeated in a much louder and more affirmed tone, "He's alive! He's alive!" Her voice cracked and almost instantly felt tears come to her eyes while a smile grew. The change of attitude was sudden and Mystake watched as the young girl turned from a dull sense of gray to something brighter. Her smile grew on her face and that's where it clicked for Mystake. 'Ah... she's her child. The girl survived but.. it appears no one else did.' She gave the forlorn thought a moment but watched the girl nearly begin sobbing out of sheer happiness.

"He's alive," Sam repeated. This time much quieter, but still Mystake could hear the hope in her voice. "He is." She helped confirm. Sam looked at her. "See? You did have a reason to come here after all." Mystake gave a small smile to her. "Come on now. Let's get you properly cleaned up and ready for your journey." Sam looked back at the television, seeing it paused on the ninja in the black suit with the name plastered on the screen. The smile she had became smaller but still prominent on her face.

"Yeah.. I'll stay for a bit." She agreed. "Boy, help make space for her. It's only temporary." Mystake turned to the child. "I can sleep somewhere else." "Nonsense, like I said it's temporary. Just enough for you to grab your bearings and actually be more properly attired for your journey." Sam crossed her arms over her torso. "Upstairs now. I'll be there in a minute." Mystake gently pushed her to the stairs. Sam wanted to flinch away at the contact but didn't want to seem rude. She went along, climbing up the stairs while the old shopkeeper did whatever it was she was doing.

Sam couldn't believe it. She nearly wanted to cry again. Never had it crossed her mind that...

'Cole's alive.'

Author's Note: Welcome back! Chapter 2 was a little longer than the last chapter (like somewhere around eight hundred words longer or something, I don't know) but I am glad for it.

I know it looks jumbled here and there with details. Trust me the big snake and the old Venomari do have a purpose, but it's not obvious just yet. Might not be obvious for a long time, but it'll be there. Just stay with me on this one. Also, you do have to remember that I only had one sentence to work with as a summary of this chapter too so yeah, it looks very unplanned but I don't hate it. It could be worse.

And also, finally a name for the OC. Y'all might've already known if you followed me on Tumblr (ninjakitten1699) or DeviantArt (Gamer-Katie) (shameless plug I know), but it's nice finally having something other than pronouns to type. (Not that there's anything wrong about it- oh I'm definitely getting canceled for that. Lemme just do that for you. *lowers chair into the Underworld* Yep. Here I am right where I belong after that.)

Aside from all that, I really do hope you enjoyed the chapter and if you did please leave a review for the sake of my self-esteem because I really do be throwing this out there for ya and hoping my feelings don't get hurt with little to respond. Please I actually liked conversing with you guys I miss it very much. Well, while I wait for that to happen, I'll try to get chapter 3 underway while I'm still stuck on my Ninjago hyperfixation.

Anyway, see ya soon!