Chapter 24: Fame and Heirloom
"We can! Because reading is the first step to every adventure. Go, reading, go!" All five ninja said simultaneously
"And... Cut! Brilliance plus perfection! Clean up, little fellas, and make some headway here. That's a wrap!" Dareth announced as they wrapped up a shooting for something Cinder couldn't remember. He sat in the corner and watched the whole thing and sighed, noticing one member was missing: Nya. Ever since the defeat of the Preeminent and Morro the team had become famous she was being left out by Dareth because of the five male ninja being thinking of them as a boy band. Leaving the dragonet and Water Ninja, speaking of which as Nya ran in.
"A wrap? I just got here. Dareth said—" she was cut off as the man walked over to the five male ninja.
"Hey, hey! There's my boys! I knew you could Spinjitzu but that acting knocked me out." Dareth congrats but then notices Nya. "Oh, hey, sweetheart. Mind sticking around for a segment to teach girls how to apply makeup?" He said sweetie but the water ninja looked to the back corner, angered.
"You're gonna need makeup when I rearrange your face!" Nya growls and walks over to punch Dareth, but Jay holds her back. Cinder wanted to do the same but was held by his brother.
"Easy! Nya is one of us now, there's no reason she should be treated differently." Jay grunts as he held onto the water ninja from killing him.
"No reason? You added a girl to the group. You know how much that hurts your image? You're a boy band, a hunk machine!" Dareth exclaimed
"No. We're equals. Our power comes from no one being more important than the other." Lloyd advises and Cinder growls at the man.
"If you're so focused on the boy band, are you including me on this? If not then you're being a hypocrite." The dragonet said with a deadpan tone
"Important? No. Irresistible... uh, debatable." Kai said arrogantly and winked at fangirls in the doorway. Girls scream and try to run to him, but guards stop them. Cinder rolled his eyes at that. At least people recognize him for what he did and not gloat about it.
"I don't tell you how to do your business, don't tell me how to do mine. Remember how every time you save Ninjago no one cared? Well, now Dareth's in charge and Dareth says don't change the recipe. You boys are the face of the franchise, and now the face of Teen Idol!" Dareth chuckled and whips out a magazine with Lloyd on it and Jay and Cole on each side of a heart with Nya in it. Lloyd reads the title.
""Sensei Lloyd"? But I'm only a Sensei-in-training."
"And what's this about me and Jay still fighting over Nya? That's old news." Cole said
"Who cares if it's real or not? Isn't this what you've always dreamed of? You're the hottest thing in Ninjago!" Dareth said and waved off their concerns. Cinder huffed in annoyance at the man's stupidity as the team left the studio, but getting back to the Bounty was more of a challenge with their fans. Up above them a show was going in the screens on the buildings of the city.
"Fold your drawers, hot off their new LP, it's the sensei-tion sweeping the nation. The pop that can't seem to stop. Here's another number one hit from Go, ninja, go." A man said
"My favorite? Easy. Lloyd. He's the best." A boy said
"I like Kai. He's, like, so hot. Literally." A lady said
"Crime down. Ninja way up. Who doesn't like these five ninja? Correction, seven."
"Jay. He is so funny. And cute." A Second Lady said
"I like Cole. I mean, he's a ghost. You want him, but you can't have him." A third lady said
"What about his brother, Cinder? He's so cool, and being able to turn into a dragon as well? I'd love to have him as my boyfriend." A fourth lady said
Cinder cringed at that. He wasn't even 18 and already girls are having crushes on him.
"Who likes Nya?" The reporter asked
""Like her?" Meh. Do I want to be her?" Second Lady said
"And get to hang out with them? Oh my gosh!" Third lady said
"Just between you and me, Nya, Jay or Cole?" Talk Show host said
"Honestly, not a chance. We're a team. Instead, I'd rather talk about—" Nya said but was cut off.
"Uh-huh. Not a chance? Really?"
"Oooh."
"I'm telling you, it's never gonna happen." Nya said as the team ran through the alleyways.
"Aah! Zane. Definitely Zane. He's cool."
"Ninjago is safer because they are here, hiding in plain sight…" the reporter said
"My mom says I'm cool." The boy said
"...waiting to defend us from wherever evil lurks. But the real question we all want to know is, where are the ninja now?" The reporter said as the ninja team continued to sneak back to their home.
—-
Cinder relaxed as he continued on his wood sculptures, he and the others were back on the Bounty after sneaking to not get spotted by the fans. Now everybody was doing their own thing or relaxing. Meanwhile he was doing more wood carving right now, particularly the two dragons he didn't finish before the Stone Warriors attacked. He was amazed that they survived from when the Bounty got hit by Dark Matter. As he worked on finishing the male dragon his uncle came in.
"Hey kiddo, what's you doing?"
"Wood carving."
"Ok…" Sparx looked the sculpture and noticed it resembled someone he knew and smirked.
"Kiddo."
"Yes?"
"Do you know what you're carving?"
"No."
"Kiddo, you're making wood sculptures of your parents."
Cinder was astonished
"Really?"
"Yep, I can tell by how your mother looks, especially with that jewelry she wore."
Cinder looked at the wood sculpture he was doing and wondered why he have that dream but shook it off
"Well, it's fine. At least I'll have something of them."
The two chuckled as Cinder continued carving.
—
"Dareth wants me to teach girls how to cook? How about I teach them how to do this?" Nya said angrily as she sprayed water on some sparring bots. Cinder had walked up from below from wood carving and sat nearby the water ninja. He could see Jay and Zane playing chess, with Jay losing every match knowing the Titanium ninja's skill and knowledge. His brother also came out onto deck from Sensei's room with a happy smile, finding out he can go invisible. Cinder smiled at that and turned back to see Misako coming over.
"Bad day? You're supposed to hit them, not destroy them."
"I'm a girl, but I'm also a lot of other things. But what does that matter when everyone only sees me as one thing: the girl ninja." The water ninja groans. "I just wanna be given a fair shot."
"Why? To make things easier? The harder it is, the more you will excel. You'll never be happy if you let the world define you. You've got to define yourself." Misako said and finished repairing the bots. "Now, again. And this time, destroy all the targets."
"Sensei's back, and there's trouble." Lloyd said and. Everyone goes to the bridge. They all stood around the monitor screen in the bridge.
"What is it? Have they sold out of Kai action figures? I knew there wasn't enough—"
"No. It appears when you destroyed the Curse Realm, one ghost escaped. And you know him all too well. Clouse. Security footage shows him buying a train ticket that will arrive in Stiix in just a few hours." Wu stated
"Clouse? The sorcerer from Chen's Island? What does he want with Stiix? That place is just a salvage yard now." Cole questions
"That's why I want you to go there and stop whatever it is he is planning to do." Wu concluded
"But Dareth wanted us to visit the hospital for that Grant-A-Wish thing." Kai protested
"Hey, we take orders from Sensei Wu, not Dareth. Lil' Nelson only has a broken leg. If his wish is to be a ninja for a day, that day can be tomorrow. Suit up." Lloyd orders as they run off to the deck.
"They are growing up." Misako smiled
"Yes, they are. But I'd still like to think Ninjago would fall apart without us." Wu sighed as six roars appeared as the ninja took off on their dragons. Cinder was about to go but was held back as Sensei wanted him to do something once he and the others got back. Cinder warbled in an agreement and quickly took off after the others.
—
"Back to the grind." Nya said as the team flew over Ninjago City on their Elemental Dragons.
"Ha, if it weren't for the Bounty, I don't think we'd ever get any peace and quiet." Jay chuckled
"We're just over Ninjago City. Isn't that where Lil' Nelson is? What do you say, drop by for a quick stop? In and out." Kai said with a smirk
"We don't have time." Lloyd said with a stern face
"Technically, we do. As long as we don't encounter any problems." Zane noted
"What does Sensei always say? Never put off until tomorrow what can be done today." Cole said and Lloyd groans
"Alright, we'll go there, then head to Stiix."
"You guys go do that, I'll head to Stiix and see what Clouse is up too." Cinder said and the green ninja nodded his head with relief and the dragonet splits off from the team as they headed towards the hospital. The dragonet straightens his body out and using his Wind element took off like a rocket. Flying over the city to sandy dunes to plains, then over mountains and forests. After an hour he could see the city over the water coming into view and slowed down his speed as he glided towards it. The city was still in shambles from the Preeminent destruction of the buildings in rough shape and others barely together. The dragonet soon reached the rooflines of the buildings and landed on top of one and scanned the area, trying to see the ghost sorcerer.
He wasn't within the crowds of people so the dragonet sensed the area with his Shadow element to aid him. After a few minutes he found where the sorcerer was at and quietly scurry over to his location. He saw the sorcerer searching through some junk in a barge, and by the looks of it he was focused on something. The dragonet growls quietly and jumps into the barge, making a loud crash from the junk. The ghost's head shot up and saw the purple dragonet.
"Hello Clouse."
"Grrr… it's you. The dragon who disguised himself as a human." Clouse growled
"Yep, pretty much. Chen was smart but me and the others are smarter than him. Now what in Ninjago are you doing here? Not a great place for you to be, especially over water." Cinder said as he took a few steps
"Nothing for you to find out. Now get lost." Clouse sneered
"Hah uh, you're searching for something by concentrating and I think you should get lost or else I splashed you and sent you to the Departed Realm." Cinder states and glared at him. The two stood still staring at each other for a few minutes until.
"Ghost!"
Cinder turned his head to see a few civilians that had seen the sorcerer and were running over to them. Clouse growls in irritation and runs off from the civilians and dragonet. Cinder warbles as the sorcerer gets chased out of Stiix and walks over to a vendor and orders some food. After eating he contacted Lloyd.
"Lloyd."
"Hey Cinder, did you find Clouse?"
"Yes, also stop him as well from whatever he's doing."
"What was it?" The green ninja asked
"Don't know, he was looking through a pile of junk on a barge. So I couldn't see what he got and if he did, he probably couldn't find it before I came."
"Ok, well we're heading back to the Bounty now. Kai got us spotted by the fans by responding to them on social media."
Cinder face-palm, Kai and his ego. The dragonet was going to take the red ninja's phone and freeze it. But he kept calm.
"Alright, I'll head back to the Bounty now. I'll see ya there." He said
"Alright, see ya." Lloyd said and ended the call. The dragonet finished his drink, threw his trash into a can, and unfold his wings. Jumping up he flapped his wings a few times and soon was in the air and angled his body towards where the Bounty was at and headed home. The City of Stiix fading away as he flew to the east. The dragonet flew over the landscape as an hour passed until seeing the skyline of Ninjago City and the familiar floating ship in the distance on the north side of the city. He turned to the right as he skirted along the city's edge. After a few more minutes of flying he sees the flying ship and glides down onto the ship and lands on the deck and sees Sensei scolding Kai and smile. Seems like the red ninja got into trouble for his actions as he padded over to them, the others standing around as Kai gets told off. After a few minutes Sensei stopped scolding and calmed down and seeing the dragonet standing smiled.
"Ahh Cinder, you have returned. How did the mission go?,
"Fine Sensei, stop Clouse on what he's going for. Unfortunately, I don't know what item he's looking for sadly."
Wu nodded
"That's ok. With him being chased he won't start up any nonsense. At least you were sensible to your duties as protector to the others who should be responsible to their duties." Wu said as he looked over at Kai who looked away. Cinder shrugged
"Hmm… Well, I'm going to relax before I cook dinner tonight." The dragonet said as the others left to do their own things but the dragonet stopped before he went below deck and turned back to the Sensei.
But you told me that you have something to say to me about?"
Wu nodded
"Yes, I need you to run this for me as you're the quickest." The Sensei said as he handed the dragonet a box. Cinder cocked an eye ridge in confusion at it and warbles at the Sensei.
"Sensei? Why do you need me to deliver a box? Why not deliver it by the post?"
"Because it's something that can't be delivered by them, as it holds something very dangerous. I'd like you to do it as it is much safer if I know it's safe with you." Wu said
"Ok, that's fine." Cinder nodded and puts the box on his back and walk to the deck's edge and about to take off but sees Nya about to go down and paused.
"Sensei?"
"Yes, Cinder?"
"Can Nya come along with me? Just so she can get more practice in her summoning her Elemental Dragon?"
Wu hummed in consideration but nods
"Yes, I wouldn't mind her going with you on this."
Nya paused and walked over to the two.
"Are you sure, Sensei? You said this box is very important that Cinder is taking it, I don't want to ruin this." She said and Cinder rolled his eyes in amusement.
"Nya, you've been the best person that I met. While the others go off on missions. I stay here because of my inexperience, but you were here helping me trained showing how to fight and defend. As for elemental traits hung you did your best with teaching me and was grateful for that. So don't worry if you'll mess this up,or not, you have to catch up with your training as the Master of Water because of Morro." Cinder said to the water ninja
"You have me to catch you if you lose control of your dragon. I'm fine on carrying you all the way if needs be."
Nya smiled and look to Sensei
"I'll go."
Wu nodded "Ok, you two better go now or else the item within wouldn't make it."
The dragonet and water ninja nodded and both jumped off the Bounty and free fall, Cinder opening his wings and Nya summoning her dragon, and the two headed southeast. Then Sparx flew after then which the dragonet slowed down to let the dragonfly to grab on and continue their trek to their destination.
—
"Well, that was… interesting." Nya said dryly as they left the shop.
The two, plus dragonfly, had made it to their destination with the box, which to their surprise was ingredients for a special tea. The water ninja grumbled over this "important" mission but the dragonet calm her down by saying that they didn't waste their day by this. As the water ninja was able to practice her concentration on her summoning of her dragon.
Now the two plus dragonfly were flying back to the Bounty, Sparx riding with Nya to let the dragonet practice maneuvers in the air. As they flew over the mountain range they went over earlier to get to the shop Sparx noticed something below. He pointed it out to Nya who looked down to see what the dragonfly saw. Down on the ground at the base of the mountain were a group of men and women standing with heavy artillery. Nya looked confused at this and turned to Cinder who didn't notice her stop, and knew they shouldn't get spotted and continued flying. After a few minutes the water ninja flew alongside the dragonet to signal to land. Cinder nodded and aimed towards the ground with Nya following suit.
After landing Cinder listened to both ninja and his uncle as they explained what they saw and wondered why the group was there. So the three trekked to where the mountain was at and looked around the clearing in front of them. There was a ton of artillery and heavy weaponry lying around with a couple of tents set up and heavily armored vehicles parked nearby. Nya looked around at the scene in front of them.
"What in Ninjago is going on here?"
"I'm as clueless as you are Nya." Cinder said, puzzled as he looked around the area. Then he noticed something near the left side of the mountain base: a cave. It sat within the mountain and it stood ominously with bits of scattered metal and gun shells. The dragonet looked at the debris and turned to Nya and his uncle.
"Seems like they were getting attacked, but with what I don't know."
"Don't worry too much, we can follow behind them quietly and see what they're doing." Nya said and the dragonet nodded as the trio went inside the cave. It was long and dark, with stalactites hanging a few feet apart from each other. The sound of dripping water was the only thing the three heard except their footsteps as they trekked through the cavern. Soon they could hear voices as they got nearer and slowly crept up to the group of armed people who had stopped in front of a door.. They then listened into their conversation as two of them argued.
"Seriously Mick? You can't get us past this stupid door?" A female said who wore jewelry over her body.
"Sorry ma'am, I'm trying but I have never seen this language before. Probably a dead language I've never heard of." Mick said and the woman grabbed him and growled
"Then you better look it up and find what they mean. Or else you're getting your head cut off."
Cinder cringed and felt a little sorry for the man. But these people were very hostile and wouldn't shoot with no mercy. Suddenly he felt some rocks become loose as they made noise as they clanged against each other. That got someone's attention in the group as they looked towards their hiding spot. Cinder kept still as Nya held her breath, Sparx meanwhile went around a corner to hide his glow but couldn't escape from being seen.
"Hah! It's just a dragonfly, and oh boy this one's bigger than normal and glowing."
The man crept up slowly to the dragonfly to not startle him but Sparx noticed this and flew higher to not get caught. The man growled.
"Grrrrr… get back here you stupid insect."
Sparx huffed and crossed his arms in annoyance.
"Who are you calling stupid? Huh?"
That caught the man and others off guard, making the dragonet come out to confront them. Nya followed suit as the two walked out of their hiding spot. The jewelry-wearing lady looked at them and glared at them but Cinder ignored it and stood still as the two groups stared at each other.
"Huh, look who decided to spy on us, a ninja and a dragon. Wonder why you followed us?" The lady said and Cinder snorted
"First off, we're delivering an important package for our teacher and saw ya on our way back. If your lankies noticed the bigger dragon flying over ya."
The lady growled and sneered.
"Well, since you're outnumbered by 2 to 30. Maybe explain why I'm here and who I am." The lady said and smirks
"The name's Kuroe, and what I'm here for is jewelry. I'm a seeker for precious stones to sell to the black market or steal jewelry that I want." Kuroe said and looked at Cinder.
"Right now I've heard there's a rumor of a set of jewelry within this mountain. So my crew and I are searching for it." She said and her smile widened.
"As it seems, you have such pretty scales, it would be an easy profit to sell you off in the market. As for the ninja? Heh… not as great as a dragon but with a pretty face like that, you'll be fine in the market."
Cinder glared at Kuroe
"Ok, I'm not for sale and if you dared to get me I'll take this whole cavern down in an instant."
Kuroe scoffed and waved a hand at one of her men who pointed a gun at the dragonet. But Nya shot a blast of water at him, which soon triggered the others to attack. Cinder backed up quickly from the shooting and used Ice to make the bullets hit them, causing them to explode into tiny shards. Using Ice as well as Electricity to attack the group, it was going pretty well for the Water Ninja and Purple Dragon, until one of the men brought out a rocket launcher and aimed at them and was about to shoot, but Sparx flew in and distracted the guy causing him to miss and the rocket hit the cavern wall. That made the cavern shake and rumble as dust fell and small rocks tumbled down as the cavern began to collapse.
Everyone panicked as the cavern collapsed onto itself and Kuroe yelled to her crew to get out, and they did as the opening caved in. Sparx looked at the two ninja with worry and desperation.
"What do we do!? We're trapped!"
"Well, we got me. Let me figure something out!"
"Well, you better hurry kiddo!"
Cinder scanned the area quickly for a weak spot in the walls, but couldn't see any that could make the situation worse but noticed the door that Kuroe and her crew couldn't get open. It was slightly ajar like it was already opened but Cinder remembered it was closed. But with no other option he ran towards it, Nya and Sparx following him. He got to the door and with his strength pulled the door open and went in. After Nya came in the door closed with a BANG! as the cavern caved in. Nya was catching her breath.
"Oh… my… goodness… that… was… close."
"No kidding, we almost got killed. I thought I'll never get into this kind of stuff again." Sparx said
"Yeah… Now, what… do we… do?" Nya panted.
"Well, we can't go back the way we came. Might as well see what Kuroe was looking for." Cinder said and pointed his tail blade to the other end of the corridor. Nya nodded and walked down it; Sparx groaned but grudgingly followed with his glow lighting up the area for them to see. Cinder was carefully scanning the area for any traps as they trekked through the corridor.
After an hour of walking the trio came upon another door with statues lining along the walls surrounding the door. Four of the statues have slots at the base of them. Around the floor were little pools of water or is it with the color being a silvery white. Cinder then hears noises coming from the opposite side of the room to see four spider-like creatures with orb-like sacs, each a different color: Light Gray, Green, Black, and Dark Red. Cinder saw his uncle freeze upon seeing these creatures and warbles curiously. The dragonfly sighed and explained that he had seen these things before as they were a puzzle for Cinder's dad to unlock one of the doors in the Chronicler's home.
With that in mind the dragonet, with Nya's help, cattled the creatures into the slots. Avoiding the pools and chasms on the ground as each orb lit up when in place. After getting the last one in the slot the door unlocks itself and with a groan opens to the trio. After another couple of minutes of walking they all entered into a gigantic cavern that could fit several dozen dragons and still have space to move.
Cinder looked around at the cavern in awe as he looked and saw carvings on the walls of a dragon being chained by a bigger dragon, then being freed by a smaller dragon with a small insect by their side. Another showing the same dragon but smaller being held with the other smaller dragon surrounded by smoky clouds fighting against an ape-like creature. Then finally the last one showed both smaller dragons chained together and fighting the bigger dragon from the first carving. On the back wall were four more carvings, each showing a symbol of some sort.
But to Cinder's amazement is what was in front of the symbols. Standing before it was a dragon statue like the others he saw in the orb puzzle room, but this one was different. First was that it showed its gender being a female with her sharper head and slimmer body. She has 6 horns that curved back and upwards with scythe blade wing tips on her wings and a massive scythe tail blade at the end of her tail. On her was four pieces of silver jewelry: a choker, bracelets, and tail bracer.
Cinder looked at the statue in astonishment as he could tell that this dragoness wasn't from Ninjago. So wondering what to do he looked at Nya and warbled at her questioningly. Nya shrugged and told him to see what would happen since this is the area Kuroe was talking about, so he did. But before he could his uncle gasped as he looked at the carvings.
"Uncle, what's wrong?" Cinder asked
"I… I… I recognize these pictures." Sparx sputtered
"Oh?" Nya said, perplexed.
"Yes, these three show what happened to Cinder's mom. First one was his dad saving her from the Dark Master's control. Second showed his dad almost losing himself to the darkness to save his mom from the Ape King. And finally the two fight against the Dark Master as the world begins to fall apart." Sparx explained
Nya whistled, impressed by the dragonfly's telling and looked around and noticed another opening to the right of them and grinned. Announcing to the two about the way out but Cinder wanted to get a closer look of the statue. But before he could there was laughter coming from the entrance. Cinder growled as he realized who it was and was correct when Kuroe came out with a few members of her crew. The woman paused, flabbergasted and glared.
"Well, well, well. Look who survived the cave in, seems like you got here before me. But no worries we still outnumbered you." She said and Cinder growled
"How were you able to get here from that way?"
"Heh, why should I tell you?" Kuroe said but then noticed the statue with the jewelry and smirked.
"Ah ha! There's the jewelry! Finally get to add it to my collection!"
Cinder growled menacingly and he quickly stood in front of the statue. Taking a stand in front of the woman and crouched lowly to the ground.
"If you're taking what doesn't belong to ya. Then you better leave or else."
"Or else what? What are you going to do? Shoot ice cubes or zaps of lightning? Hah! No way for ya to do it here." Kuroe said with a sneer
Cinder growled at her and was going to use Fire but remembered the symbols and Ignitus' words about his mom and pondered about it. Then he realized that this room is meant to represent his mom so he should use the elements from her. Instead of Fire he uses Wind to create a giant wind blast, causing Kuroe and her crew to stumble back. She grows in anger.
"A wind gust? Ha! That's just a weak element to use."
Cinder growls but then smirks at her.
"Wind can be powerful but it's the least powerful of the four I got from my mom."
Kuroe was confused by the dragonet's words but realized a few seconds later as he spit out a green blob at one and her men. Once it hit contact he screamed in pain as the sound of sizzling could be heard as the green blob ate through his clothing. She looked at the dragonet in astonishment but he didn't reply as he kept shooting. But her eyes widen as the dragonet turns into a shadow and charges at them from the ground and then pop up and strike. Then the dragonet released a red sound wave with a screech that sounded like a bat. Which caused her crew to suddenly attack each other and not the ninja and dragon.
Meanwhile Nya was fighting on the other side fighting against the other members of Kuroe's crew. Using her elemental power to soak them or blinding them as well as using Airjitzu to get aerial attacks. Sparx stayed with the water ninja to allow Cinder to go all out on Kuroe. But then the idiot with the rocket launcher came in again and this time he got a hit, well sort of. Because the dragonet heard it and using Dragon Time sprinted towards them and shoved Nya out of the way.
Boom!
"Raawwr!"
An explosion caused dust to sweep up into a cloud. Nya looked flabbergasted but realized what just happened and panicked.
"Cinder!?"
The water ninja couldn't see where he went but once the dust settled down she could see the aftermath of the explosion. Over by the statue was a lump of scales lying there motionless. Nya choked when she saw him and hoped the dragonet was alive. Sparx however was in shock seeing his foster nephew in a terrible state but noticed Kuroe going for the jewelry and he fluttered quickly over to her in anger. Nya, however, was grabbed by one of the men and had a weapon pointed at her head.
"You stupid, no for nothing idiot! You killed my nephew!? You just kill the only connection to my brother!? You're the cruelest being to ever live!?"
While Sparx went off on Kuroe and Nya being captured the dragonet who thought he died took a deep raspy breath as he tried to move but groaned in agony as his whole body ached in pain and blood was coming out of his wounds. He wonders if the others know what's going on with him, Nya, or his uncle. But as he slowly began to lose consciousness he then heard a voice.
"Little one."
Huh?
"Come on little one, stay awake. Your friend needs you"
Cinder was confused but did as the voice said and tried his best to stay awake as he noticed something. There was a glow appearing around him, specifically the statue. The jewelry glowed a silvery white and wisps of energy flowed from it and to Cinder's astonishment the statue growled. The growl caught everyone's attention as the statue moved, looking around at the scene and growling.
"Who dares enter the cavern of which holds my castor's prized jewelry?"
Kuroe spoke up
"I did! Reason was to stop these two from stealing from you. I hope that they'll be punished by whatever means you have." The woman said and pointed at Nya and then Cinder. Sparx snorted, which got the statue's attention and saw him then back to Kuroe.
"Is that so?"
"Yes!" Kuroe nodded enthusiastically with a smirk but the statue just growled and slammed the ground with its feet. Causing the ground to shake and making Kuroe and her crew to stumble, along with the men holding Nya leaving her to move away quickly. The water ninja moves over to the badly wounded dragonet, but stops a few steps once the statue turns its head towards her but nods its head to her to continue to her goal. Nya did so and made her way to Cinder and sat on her knees as she checked on him while watching the scene in front of her. Meanwhile Kuroe was astonished but her face turned into anger.
"Hey! Why did you let her go to him!? I told you that they came to steal!"
The statue growled and turned its head back to her.
"Yes, as the magic within me from the jewelry can sense that the stealer is telling the truth. But there's a reason for not hurting them."
"And why's that?" Kuroe asks angrily but shrieks as the statue hits her with a bolt of purple energy.
"If the castor's kin's blood was spilled onto the base. I'll know they are her hatchling and everything I hear from anybody else is a lie. Because of this, you are the one that's stealing and not them. A very foolish attempt to steal you fool."
Kuroe was about to argue but was shocked again and screamed in pain as the statue's energy blast pushed her to the entrance. The woman looked up at the statue, then to Nya and Cinder, and with her crew ran out of the cavern. Her cries of agony from the two blasts faded as she ran down the corridor. Nya was flabbergasted by this and looked worried at Kuroe as she left but raised her arms up in surrender as the statue turned around to look at her and Cinder. The statue chuckled.
"Do not worry, I won't harm you Master of Water."
Nya was surprised
"How do you know I was an elemental master? Or that you know that you're not in your home realm?"
The statue sighed
"Understandable, for the reason of this I am the essence of the magic from the hatchling's mother used to send their egg away. Same with the jewelry as an heirloom to them when old enough to find it. Once they landed here I was created to protect them until now."
Nya nodded silently
"Once I was created I was given knowledge of the history of this land and I bid my time here waiting, waiting for the hatchling to come to what was his."
"I understand, but right now he's badly wounded. I don't know if I can get in contact with my brother or Cinder's brother to bring medical supplies." Nya said as she looked down worryingly at her teammate. The statue hummed.
"I see, but I do have an idea." They said as the jewelry came off of them and floated over to the dragonet as he breathed heavily. Nya stood back to see what's going on as Sparx landed on her shoulder to watch as well. Each piece of jewelry wrapped onto Cinder's body and once on his body began to glow brightly, so brightly that both ninja and dragonfly had to close their eyes to avoid blindness. After a minute or two the glow died down and the two opened their eyes and were amazed. Cinder sat with a tired grin as his whole body, healed and undamaged, looked at them puzzled but yawns.
"Oh my goodness… What in Ninjago just happened?" He asked but noticed the jewelry on his wrists, neck, and tail and turned to the statue who grinned softly at him. The dragonet warbles in confusion by this.
"Uhh… what did I miss?"
"Oh nothing much kiddo. You nearly died, I went off on the Kuroe lady, the statue came to life, spook the Kuroe lady off, then explained how it was an essence of your mom's magic, and then you fully heal from her magic." Sparx simplified and the statue chuckled.
"Seems like your humor hasn't changed much."
Sparx huffed indignity but smiled and shrugged.
"Hey, going on this kind of adventure brings back old habits I supposed."
"I see." The statue said but slowly it began to fade. It looked down and smiled
"It's now my time to go. I hope that he has a great destiny and that the Ancestors lead his path to great things." It said as they faded almost entirely
"Your parents should be proud of you."
"Thank you, I hope that they are." Cinder smiled and the statue smiled one more time before it faded completely from existence. The dragonet smiled sadly and looked down at his forelegs, now having a physical piece to his parents and closed his eyes. He then feels a tap on his shoulder and opens his eyes to Nya smiling and with looking at her and his uncle in gratitude for coming with him, the trio headed towards the opening. Traveling through it to the outside, and back to the Bounty to the others for a relaxing evening. But for Cinder it's was the most eventful he had for awhile and hoped for a relaxing few months.
—
"We're back!" Sparx shouted as the trio landed on the Bounty.
After leaving the cavern the three headed to a nearby restaurant to get something to fill their bellies after their adventure. They were spotted by the fans who saw him with his mom's jewelry and about to get mobbed and Nya blocked them and informed them that he's exhausted from their mission and needs breathing space. After the attempt of being mobbed by fans they went home.
"Welcome home you three. How did the special delivery go?" Zane quipped as he came out wearing a pink apron, almost exactly the same one he used to have.
"It was… ok, but after it we stumbled upon a hostile group." Nya said
"Really sis? What happened?" Kai asks and then sees Cinder. "And what's with the jewelry?"
"Jewelry?" Cole said as he came out and saw his brother. "Where in Ninjago did you get that from? I hope you didn't spend so much on this."
Cinder chuckled
"No, I didn't spend any money or steal. They're more a family heirloom."
Cole was confused "Huh?"
"I'll tell you what happened but right now I need to sleep." Cinder yawned as he went downstairs to his room to sleep and was out like a light as his head hit the mattress.
—
Ok everyone, I hope this is good. First time writing something of my own from using the scripts from the Ninjago wiki. I'm pretty happy with this but a bit apprehensive of how ppl would react to it.
Overall thx to all who are reading it so far, both here and Wattpad. I'm amazed by how well the story is going. I hope that this keeps going.
I almost have an announcement to make. I'll be adding in dragon characters into my book for when Cinder and the others go to the Dragon Realms. I'll be allowing to add in a OC for ya into it as well as a drawing to see. However of you want to contact me on this plz go PM me or go to my Deviantart account Justincole0715 to Note me.
First chapter of the Dragon Realms is finished but would edited as to some changes I want to do, with second chapter in progress. For now I'll be writing the Season 7 chapters until to the Dragon Realms. But don't worry I'll be making sure I'll update but on here idk how I can said it without getting hit by higher ups here of the website soooo...
Hope everybody has a great day!
Cinder out!