Kaiyo? Kaiyo!" a voice in the darkness called. Kaiyo slowly opened his eyes and saw Aelic, the former White Ninja, staring down at him. "Are you all right?" Aelic said in a worried tone.
Kaiyo squeezed his eyes close, but the black dragon of his dreams still filled his mental vision. Aelic, who had known for a while that Kaiyo didn't talk much, continued without waiting for an answer. "You were making that whimpering-babbling-moaning noise again. I was wondering if you were, uh, still having nightmares."
Kaiyo rolled over and got to his feet before giving a silent nod. He was still getting used to speaking again, after being selectively mute for five years. Aelic put a gentle hand on Kaiyo's shoulder and said, "Hey, we're going to get through this—together."
"To…together." Kaiyo's mouth felt dry as he formed the syllables. Speaking after being silent for so long wasn't all that easy. He still struggled with formulating verbal answers, even though his…handicap didn't bother him as much as it used to.
"Hey, I'm playing hide-and-seek with the other Finders, and Geo's it. Want to get a good spot before Geo's finished counting?"
Kaiyo nodded eagerly (nonverbal cues were still easier for him to use than words). He limped along behind Aelic as fast as his brace allowed. But Aelic, who'd forgotten Kaiyo couldn't move as fast as he could, had left him far behind. "Ay-lick?" Kaiyo called, forming the syllables of Aelic's name as fluently as he could. "Ay-lick!" he called again. But Aelic was nowhere to be seen. As Kaiyo gazed around frantically in the mist, he suddenly heard a bone-chilling scream. "Aelic!" he suddenly cried out in fright. Half-running, half-limping, he headed in the direction the scream had come from. When he burst into a clearing a few seconds later, he let out a startled cry. There were hunters, lots of hunters, chasing the Finders in an attempt to capture them. Geo was fighting against a whole mob of them (while trying to not get pinned to the ground), and Fritz had shifted into his Eagle form only to get entangled in a net. Spitz was trying to use his powers of hypnosis to get another band of hunters to back off, but to no avail. Bonzle was pinned against a giant bell and quickly discovering that chucking her collection of cast-off bones at the hunters didn't faze them in the slightest. Even Aelic was struggling to defend himself, despite having his White power to help.
A hunter heard Kaiyo's shriek and started heading towards him. Kaiyo tried to run, but his feet seemed to be frozen to the ground. If only Cole were here! the young pup thought to himself. But the Earth Ninja had taken off just a few days ago, chasing after some sort of strange glowing golden ball of light. As the hunter got closer and closer, Kaiyo squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the end to come.
A sudden scream woke Kaiyo from his sound sleep. It took him a few seconds to realize that he was the one screaming. He stopped, panting with fright. It was happening again. The same dream that had been haunting him for weeks now had come back again. Kaiyo gulped. If only it were just a bad dream. But he knew, deep down in his heart, it was not. His friends really had been taken by hunters, and he had been the only one to escape.
Hot tears began to fill his eyes. Why had Aelic sacrificed his own escape to ensure Kaiyo's? Why? Kaiyo's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a sound of someone shouting one word over and over again. The word was in a different language, but Kaiyo guessed its meaning right away. The crier was looking for refuge.
Kimaktahk! Kimaktahk! Zane's eyes shot open when he heard the cry ring out over and over again. Above the cries he could faintly hear the sound of someone pounding on the gate with all their might. It only took him two seconds to recognize the language this continual cry was from. The word kimaktahk was Inukian in origin and meant "refuge".
Putting two and two together, Zane sprang to his feet and was at the gate in a flash. His sensors picked up the presence of all his teammates, who too had heard the cry and had raced to the gate out of curiosity and a longing to help. Zane wasted no time in opening the gate, and onto the ground sprawled a black-haired, blue-eyed boy who looked to be no older than twelve years old. Zane silently gasped as he realized that this boy was indeed Inukian—maybe even from the Never-Realm itself. The Titanium Ninja had not seen an Inuk up close since his time as the Ice Emperor, but there was no mistaking that high forehead or the shaggy black hair so typical of a juvenile Inuk.
It was Everest who first broke the awkward silence. "Zane, do you know this kid?"
"And where did he come from?" Rocky added.
Zane did a quick scan to be sure his hypothesis was correct. "My sensors indicate that this child is from the Inuk tribe, a people native to the Never-Realm."
"But the Never-Realm is miles from here!" Ranger exclaimed. "How could he get all the way over here?"
"Maybe he flew in on a dragon?" Snoutlout suggested. Then he yelped as Sweetie clipped him on the back of the head. The princess pup had already expressed her growing dislike of the burly Viking several times. Zane ignored the yelp and explained, "Negative. The Never-Realm is too frigid and harsh for dragons to survive in."
"The only dragon that ever lived in the Never-Realm was made completely of ice." Sweetie clarified. She remembered the Ninja Pups' time in the Never-Realm vividly, as did Everest, Tracker, Rocky, and Ranger. In fact, Kaiyo was the only Ninja Pup on Zane's team that had not been to the Never-Realm before.
"Made of ice?" Fishlegs asked in confusion. Clearly, he was used to seeing dragons made of flesh and bone, not Elemental Powers.
"It's a long story." Everest answered. But Zane paid no attention as he knelt down to look at the Inukian boy. The child looked back at him and jerked his head away in fright. Zane winced inwardly as he realized that this child was afraid of him, possibly for good reason. Considering that time worked differently in the Never-Realm, the boy may or may not have recognized Zane as the former Ice Emperor. Until Zane knew for certain, he would have to be careful about revealing his powers to him.
"What's your name?" Zane asked, hoping that the boy understood enough of Ninjago's native language to answer. Zane didn't know enough Inukian to ask the question in it.
"Chinook." the boy answered, still not looking up. Apparently, Chinook did understand the native language, even if he couldn't carry on a conversation in it. "Kina atiit?"
Zane gulped. Chinook had just asked what his name was. "Zane." the Nindroid finally said. "My name is Zane. And these are my friends." he continued, naming each one as he pointed them out to Chinook. Chinook seemed to calm down, and Zane continued with the question, "How did you get here?"
The words came spilling out of the boy's lips as he explained his story. "Mamianaaga iwinnaaktauyuk! Mamianaaga iwinnaaktauyuk, unalu nutkaktilimaitavut."
"What did he say?" Everest asked. Zane wasted no time in translating. "It seems that Chinook's village was attacked, and his people couldn't stop the attackers." Then Zane turned back to Chinook. "Who attacked your village?"
"Anguniaktit keernariktut! Appata unalu nangayara!"
"He says hunters in black wounded his father and took his sister." Zane translated.
"They took a kid?! That's terrible!" Tracker exclaimed.
"What's your sister's name?" Sweetie inquired.
"Kitsu. Atia Kitsu." Chinook answered before bursting into tears. The sound of Chinook sobbing made Zane's chest ache with sorrow, almost as if his heart was breaking in two (which was impossible, as he was a Nindroid.) Was it too much to promise Chinook that they would get his sister back, Zane wondered. After all, the team's mission was to stay here in case Lloyd and Toothless came back on their own. But the more Zane thought about it, the more he realized that this was exactly what Lloyd would want them to do. He was about to say so when Ranger asked, "So what do we do now?"
"Zane, you have any ideas?" Everest asked.
Zane silently mulled over the question. It was clear that they weren't going to be able to help Chinook at all until they could find some answers. But Chinook didn't speak their language, and they couldn't really speak his. Plus, he could still be in danger from those hunters, whoever they were. "I suggest we allow Chinook to dwell with us until we can settle on a plan to retrieve his sister." Zane finally answered.
"Huh?" Snoutlout and Fishlegs said together.
"What Zane means is that Chinook will stay with us until we figure out how to rescue Kitsu." Everest clarified.
"All right!" Fishlegs shouted. "Hey, you think he'll want to help me feed the dragons later?"
"And help me with fixing Toothless's tail fin?" Rocky added.
"Why don't you ask him?" Everest suggested. But before anyone could ask anything, Zane held up his hand in warning. "My auditory sensors are picking up a distant sound. It seems that we are not alone up here."
Tracker's ears perked up and twitched as he tried to locate the sound Zane's ultra-sensitive hearing picked up on. "I hear it too! Footsteps! And they're getting closer!"
Quick as a flash, Zane planted himself directly in front of Chinook. Everest, Tracker, Kaiyo, Rocky, and Sweetie quickly joined him in an attempt to shield Fishlegs, Snoutlout, and Chinook—all of whom had no defense—from the approaching intruder. Chinook stopped sniffling and instinctively scooted away from the tiny band of fighters standing there.
"Stay sharp, guys!" Everest barked out as the sound of footsteps got closer. Then a small head popped up, and Zane gasped as he and the others realized what the head belonged to.
"Get Chinook out of here! It's a Photac!"