Disclaimer: Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu and Legends of Chima are both owned by LEGO Company.
In the Crocodile Swamp, Fangar and his hunters had completely frozen the place, the hunters making themselves comfortable. Strainor screams while Stykor overpowers his grasp and takes off with him.
Fangar growls in annoyance, not pleased with his hunter's antics. Stealthor suddenly comes to him with a load of chi. "The plunder is good here, sir," he tells his leader excitedly, as Mungus returns with a plentiful lot of chi.
"Woohoo! So many orbs!" VoomVoom cries with delight, "Ugh. So many orbs..." Vornon says with apathy, contrasting his friend.
Fangar takes an orb from Stealthor's pile, "Magnificent! There are still hunters to awake from their dreamless sleep, bring them those orbs!" Fangar exclaimed, observing the orb closely.
"And what about... Them?" Stealthor asks with intrigue, looking over at the rest of the crocodile tribe, still frozen and in a line. "Hm..." Fangar muses, hitting Crominus' icicle sculpture with his blade. "I have something "special" in mind for them," Fangar says with a smirk, his spear flaring to life as the frost bellowed at his command.
Meanwhile, in the Lion Temple throne room, the elders of each of the tribes assemble to discuss the newest threat. Last to arrive were the Generals of the five Serpentine tribes, Arcturus leading the group.
"What's the situation Lagravis? What is the meaning of this meeting?" he asked as they arrived, concerned and annoyed at the interruption. "Arcturus, glad you could make it. Please, join us!" Lagravis said, gesturing them to join the others in the center of the room.
"A new threat has arrived, ice appears to be encroaching on Chima for the first time in decades, and if young Cragger is to be believed, it did not come here naturally!" he announces, surprising the other leaders, while Skales busied himself looking at the block of ice that was Crug.
"The boy speaks the truth. Arcturus, take a look at this!" he says, ushering his fellow General to take a closer look at the block. "Can it be?" "It has to be!" they discuss among themselves, taking note of the minute details in the ice.
"Gather your forces at once! This isn't just any ice, it's elemental ice!" Arcturus announces, his tone and manner denoting worry. "What do you mean?" Lagravis asked, having learned to take the old General's words seriously.
"It means, this is the work of an Elemental Master!" he clarified, with urgency, "And you're not ready for them!" he said as he moved to gather his forces, the others following not long after.
Outside the temple, all the tribes except for the crocs assembled, Lion tanks and Gorilla mechs marching side by side. Rhinos and Wolves all go towards the crocodile swamp through the forest, with Eris and some eagles flying above. "To the croc swamp! So, we can put a little heat on that bad ice!" Laval exclaimed, leading the charge.
Back at the throne room, a fire has already been made to set Crug free, somewhat succeeding because even though Crug is half free, his tongue doesn't seem to work. "Ooh! Haha! I love campfires! anyone bring some marshmallows?" he says in a muffled tone, his tongue still frozen.
"Did we melt enough? Are you okay?" LongTooth asked with concern, unsure if everything was right with him. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?" Crug replied perfectly normal as if nothing was wrong with his situation.
"Uh... No reason! Just thought the ice might've affected your, face." LongTooth said, unsure how to put it, as he looked at him with concern. "Oh no, haha! My face looks great." Crug said with a laugh, completely unfaced.
"Ugh! Why'd they ask ME to defrost him? I'd much rather be out there getting hurt in battle than dealing with this croc-sicle here." LongTooth said with a sigh, struggling to deal with the half-frozen croc. "So... About those marshmallows," Crug asked without care, completely unaware of the old lion's disdain.
"So, Arcturus. What exactly is an Elemental Master?" Lagravis asked his fellow ruler, having decided to stay behind to further discuss things. Arcturus turned away from him, sighing as he steeled himself. "It is a long story, but one I fear we have postponed long enough!" he told him solemnly, knowing he had no choice but the recall the past.
"Back in our homelands, before we were banished to the Outlands, we were at war with beings that could control the very elements themselves. Each granted this power by a greater being, passed through the bloodlines, only one of each existing at a time." He explains, with almost reverence in his tone.
"They were the protectors of the lands, fighters of the greatest quality determined to defend their home no matter the cost. Many coveted their power, few could gain them, or stand up to them!" he told him, an air of respect obvious as he turned to face him.
"We were but one of the few that could!" he informed him with pride, "With my guidance, we turned the tables on the war, gaining more ground with each battle. But no matter how well we did, the Elemental Alliance always stood in our way!" he recalled, the many victories and defeats they had faced.
"It was only through deception that we were able to beat them, and it was through deception that we lost it all!" he said, recalling the very reason why they were now here.
"With the abilities to call the elements to defend, now traditional army stand against one of them!" he says, returning to the matter at hand, "If we are to succeed, we must rely on our numbers! If we can't work together, we will all loose!" he explains, finishing his story.
"Could one of your all foes be back for revenge?" LongTooth asked, having heard their conversation.
"Unlikely, the Master of Ice I faced was a kind and sage combatant, who fought only to protect those that could not protect themselves!" he told him, respect lased in every word.
"Whoever, or whatever, we face now is something else entirely!" he said, his mind in deep reflection, as he could only fear what kind of force they were up against.
Having the entire Fang area frozen, the hunters make their way to their long-lost temple, where Fangar rose from beneath the earth. The huge visage of a saber-tooth tiger marking its entrance, its appearance frosty and aged. While on their way, the crocs are kept inside a small cage attached to a mechanical mammoth's stomach.
From the front of the pack, Sir Fangar addresses his hunters, "They can freeze us, bury us, pretend we never existed. But the hunters always rise." Fangar proclaimed to his followers, before being distracted by a screaming Strainor, who was busy getting dragged around by a manic Stykor.
Huh?" Fangar growled with annoyance before dismissing the situation. They shall feel our righteous power! Let the hunt begin again!" he continued his speech, much to the other's delight. "A little help here?" Strainor pleaded as he continued being dragged around the place.
Meanwhile, in the Snake Warrior's hideout, Aspheera and Pythor are having a little conversation of their own. The exiled General having grown tired of the old witch's secrecy.
"You have some nerve!" he says to her harshly, uncaring of her so-called power. "Rushing our attack was one thing, but going straight to Cavora, that's suicide!" he yelled at her outraged at her proposed plan.
"I don't care what you think! We're heading there now, and that's final! Remember your place!" the self-appointed Snake Queen said, glaring down at her subordinate.
"Remember YOUR place! Those men won't be going anywhere without my say-so, so you better start explaining before I decide to declare marshal law!" Pythor snapped back, done with her attitude.
Glaring at each other for several minutes, Aspheera finally decided to speak. "There is a great power dormant in that mountain, one we will need if we are to win." she began, her tone one of reflection. "The hunters have gained dominion over the ice, I know not how, though I hazard a guess," she said, her mind flashing to the scroll.
"If we are to stand a chance against them, we must gain the power of the flame! A power hidden there by my old masters long ago." she explained to him, her words lacking the usual manic they often held. "This is more than just impatience, if we want any hopes of salvaging this operation, we need to have that power!" she declared, a sincerity to her tone that spoke of truth.
"Even so, we hardly have the means to launch such an attack. We barely have the numbers to fight one foe, let alone two!" he exclaimed, still uncertain about this course of action. Thinking hard as he might, he just couldn't find a solution.
"Who said anything about us fighting!" Aspheera suddenly said, gaining the general's attention. "Those animals don't know of our presence, only the hunters. I say we let our enemies wear each other out, before striking them when they least expect it!" she declared, her deviousness at full display.
"Hah? And here I thought you couldn't be tactful!" Pythor said, giving her a devious smile to match her own. "Commander! Prepare your squad for a recognizance mission! I need you to keep an eye on our foes, but make sure your presence remains unnoticed, by any means necessary!" he orders, turning towards Machia, who salutes before rushing out.
"Well let them tear each other to shreds, while we sneak in and claim what is ours!" he declares, finally on the same page with the queen! "Revenge is at our hands!" he said, assured of their victory to come.
While back in the forest, Laval and the other tribes continued on their way. "Sure doesn't feel any colder here, Cragger. You sure about this?" he asks his friend, still a little skeptical about the situation.
"Just wait. These tribes are unlike any you've ever seen! Their ice is both a weapon and a shield, they got glowing bones and ice-cold hearts." he exclaims, dramatically describing their foes. "Yeah. We'll see about that." Laval says with confidence, assured that they could tackle anything together.
"Look out! They're coming!" Eris cries out, and as if on cue, the ice continues onwards. Luckily, the tribes don't freeze as the forest around them slowly becomes a frozen wasteland. "Uh oh!" Cragger exclaims, the first to spot their incoming foes.
Soon, they all see the hunters marching towards them in the distance. "What is that?!" Laval exclaims, his previous skepticism banishing, as all their tanks start to go crooked because of the ice being slippery.
"Woah... Slippery!..." Laval yells as he struggles to maintain his traction. And he wasn't the only one, as the Rhinos grunted while they tried to keep balanced, though they failed and fell. Gorzan grunts while he tries to keep his balance steady, but he slips like the rhinos, "Not happy!" he says atop the pile.
"Ugh. You can't take these guys anywhere." Worriz said with second-hand embarrassment, being one of the few who didn't slip around, as he prepared to fire his weapons. But before Worriz can start shooting, the hunters attack with their firepower from the distance, shooting down Eris in the process.
She gasps before she falls with the jet, struggling to maintain her altitude. "ERIS!" Laval cries with worry, while the hunters keep on firing, Eris lies sitting in the cold while her jet is frozen solid except for the inside.
"They iced Eris right out of the sky!" he points out, as she shivers inside her jet, "And they froze your home!" he continues, more indignant by the word. "A few friendly warning shots might beat it all, whatcha think?" Cragger suggested with a grin.
Laval agreed as he roared at the enemy while thrusting his blade forward. "Yeah!" Gorzan joined, shooting back with his allies. "That should teach them a lesson!" Laval said pleased before the smoke settled and revealed the true outcome of the assault.
All the blasts freeze before they get far enough to reach the hunters, one rolling back. "Uh... Did they just freeze our pulse beams? Huh?" Cragger says dumbstruck, as the rest of the frozen beams come rolling back and the hunters shoot another round.
"Woah!" Laval cries, as he dodges the attack with the rest of his allies. Riding into help, two rhinos are blasted into ice. With the odds quickly stacking against them, Cragger asks, "What now?"
Back at the Lion Temple, LongTooth is losing his own battle, the battle for his sanity! "I love campfires!" Crug said obliviously, still half frozen in the ice block. "We're not camping! We're defrosting!" LongTooth pointed out impatiently, struggling to deal with the dim-witted croc.
"Ooh! Did I ever tell you about the time Crawley and I made this campfire in Humming Moss Point?" Crug recalled with excitement, completely oblivious of his companion's annoyance. "Not interested!" LongTooth replied uncaring, just wanting to get this over with.
"The moss there actually hums, haha! Like, hmm... But, if you step on it too hard, it goes..." he said, making a weird noise as an example, only further annoying the lion. So, LongTooth puts a toasted marshmallow into Crug's mouth so he can shut it.
"Next time, let's defrost the feet first, and keep his mouth for last," he said to himself, lamenting his lot in life. "More marshmallows!" Crug cried out childishly, waving his arms and pointing at his open mouth. So, with another sigh, he goes to fetch more marshmallows.
Meanwhile, back in the Forest, the battle continues and the defenders are at a disadvantage as some can't move or even hit the enemy. Fangar roars at the tribes of Chima, the sabertooth managing to freeze Laval's tank wheels, and thanks to that he has no choice but to lead the charge to a melee battle.
"Everyone, follow me!" he cries out, with Cragger and some others coming out of hiding to join the battle. "FOR CHIMA!" they cry out, the two armies charge towards each other, but the further the tribe of Chima the more slippery it gets as most of them cannot go without falling.
Face to face with each other, Laval comes sliding into Sir Fangar and luckily slips right before he swings his blade. "Woah! Careful with that thing!" he says, reaching for his blade and dodging to the side, making Fangar miss his finishing blow.
Close behind, Gorzan searches for another way across, "To the trees, battle dudes!" he cries, noting the trees all around the battlefield. They hoot as they begin climbing the frozen trees.
They reach some distance until Gorzan's arms get stuck to a branch, as he is shot and iced. "Aww! My hands are all stuck to the chilly bummer tree!" he cries out, struggling as the gorillas bellow run away while hooting in fear.
Rogon places a rock into his small catapult and flings it to a flying VoomVoom and Varnon. "A big rock! This'll be fun!" VoomVoom exclaimed with glee, as Vornon ices the rock.
"Ugh... A big rock, this is gonna hurt." Vornon says in his usual tone, as the rock hits both the vultures and pushes them onto the ground.
"ICE ROCKS RULE!" Rogon exclaims excitedly, as he continues throwing rocks at them. This catches the attention of Maula, the mammoth matriarch not to pleased with this turn of events.
"How rude! Mungus dear, would you be a sweetie and smash that aromatic beast into a pitiful pulp?" she kindly orders her son, who stands up from his job to make a snow angel and marches to Rogon's truck with his giant club.
"Mungus make the hurting! Happy, happy!" he says, as he tips over the truck, much to Rogon's disappointment. While Cragger goes to fight Vardy but his tail ends up getting stuck.
"Oh no. HEY! I'M STUCK! NO FAIR! Get over here and fight me!" he cries out, struggling to break free and fight the apathetic vulture. "Sorry. But I'll beat you soon enough." Vardy says disinterested, as Cragger screams while he rapidly swings at him but misses.
Though the battle carries on, many of Laval's army get iced and Laval himself sees this happening. Plugging an orb of chi, he charges towards Mattrot and Stealthor who freeze him, but he, to their surprise, breaks out of it with a roar, pushing both of them to the ground straight after.
Fangar is about to plug his own chi until Laval charges towards him, giving Strainor the signal to let Sykor off the chain and so he does. Sykor growls as he overpowers Laval, Fangar, and Strainor laughing in front of him.
While back in the Lion temple, Crug laughs as he's now free enough to use his legs, with a tiny block of ice covering the middle part of the body, he slides across the room.
"Weeee!" he exclaims before he crashes into a wall that smashes the rest of the ice. "Never again!" LongTooth cries out with exasperation, wishing above all else to have joined the others in battle.
Said battle still taking place, as the tribes continue their struggle against the hunters. Sykor growls while he keeps Laval still on the ground until his majesty pushes him off
Spotting Eris out of her cockpit and fighting in the field, Laval rushes to her aid. "Eris!" he cries out, alerting her to some incoming blasts. "Ooh! Ha! Ha!" she cries out relieved, as she barely manages to dodge them.
"This is one battle we may not win, Laval!" she tells him with concern, not liking their odds. "Aw, come on! I'm just getting-" Laval started to say before their feet were shot and the ice began to rise.
"C-C-C-Cold!" he exclaimed, shivering at their new situation.
All the while, Cragger still tries to hit Vardy to no avail, "So you're just gonna sit there?!" he asked exasperated. "Why not? I'm in no rush." Vardy replied casually, completely unconcerned with the situation.
"Yeah, but we're in the middle of a battle! WE'RE SUPPOSED TO FIGHT!" Cragger yelled annoyed, getting bothered by his lax attitude. "Maybe you are, me..." Vardy begins to say, grabbing a crossword puzzle on a piece of old paper, "I can wait here all day!" he finishes, leisurely starting to work on the puzzle, while Cragger yells as he tries to hit Vardy and growls at the vulture for not paying attention.
Meanwhile, the two friends are halfway to getting iced, so Eris plugs a chi into Laval and that's enough to get them free. "Hm..." Sir Fangar grunts abusively, sniffing the orb of chi in his hand, not yet having seen Chi being used that way.
"HA!" Laval cried out, as he kicked away a hunter and slid to a blaster, pointing at Fangar and Strainor. "Pulsorz? Again? Oh please! That does nothing to us." Strainor said overconfidently, not even bothering to block the shot.
"Who said I'm using it on you?" Laval told him, as he shot down the iced gorillas from the trees. Strainor screams before he's smashed into by the gorilla's ice which sets them free, and immediately they all retreat.
"We're getting out of here! Gorzan! Grab our frozen friends over there!" Laval quickly told the now-freed gorilla, pointing towards their slowly freezing friends. Gorzan and some other gorillas collect the remaining bodies, with those still frozen without enough time to be set free, loaded up into a wolf truck.
"RETREAT!" Laval yells, growling as he does so, hating having it come to this. With the last person saved, the truck drives away with them, the hunters in close pursuit. While further ahead, Cragger and Vardy are still locked in their "battle".
"Ha... Okay, okay. Why don't you just get this over with already?" Cragger said defeated, preferring ending it all to staying with the easygoing vulture any longer. "Now, why would I do that? When I can just wait for you to perish." Vardy told him creepily, a hint of his inner sadist coming through.
"Cragger! What are you doing?!" Laval suddenly asked, spotting the croc as they fled the battlefield. "Uh, hello?! Tail's frozen, and bird brain here won't fight me!" Cragger pointed out with exasperation, franticly trying to get loose.
"You shall be defeated soon enough. Patience is my greatest weapon." Vardy says in an eerily calm voice. "You know what my greatest weapon is?!" Laval says, showing his blade, "This! HA!" he cries, as he strikes away Vardy with his sword.
"I couldn't wait for that to happen!" Cragger said gratefully, his voice filled with relief. Laval then goes behind Cragger slowly, "Hey. What are you doing?" he says nervously, as Laval raises his sword, "Don't cut off my tail! I NEED IT!" he cries out franticly, afraid Laval was going to cut his tail off.
"Sorry, gotta get you out of this!" Laval says apologetically, readying to swing his blade. "NO!" Cragger yells out, as Laval chips off most of the ice but leaves the middle of the tail to just melt or something somewhere safer.
"Oh, for a moment there I thought... Well..." Cragger said embarrassed, probably should've realized his friend wouldn't have done that. "LET'S JUST GO!" Laval cries in a hurry, as the two heroes try to escape but the ice is so slippery they stay in the same spot while the hunters shoot at them.
"I think the only thing I dislike more than water is... Frozen water!" Laval tells Cragger, as behind them Sykor growls while Maula blows her trunk, with her two sons charging to crush them as Fangar roars.
"Any idea how we get out of this?..." Cragger asks worried, as the mammoths get closer. "GRAB ON!" Woriz yells as he drives past, Cragger and Laval hanging onto a rope attached to the truck, the wolf dragging them away before Mottrot and Mungus hit them.
Cragger and Laval having extreme fun while being dragged around the ice, dodging and ducking every hunter attack. Mungus growls at Woriz driving at him, pushing the truck away.
"Mungus make the crunching!" he cries, banging the ground with his club and making cracks in the ground that make VoomVoom and Vornon fly.
"Woohoo! We're flying!" VoomVoom exclaims happily, "Ugh, we're flying. And flying only leads to crashing..." Vornon says, as they both drop down onto Mungus and send the big babyish brute down.
Fangar growls in annoyance and goes to take matters into his own hands, preparing to use the scroll until Windra trips him up from the bushes and an orb gets stuck down his throat.
Worriz stops by Eris' jet at Laval's request, "Eris! Hit those claw bolts with everything you've got!" Laval ordered, an idea rapidly forming in his head. "But they'll just freeze our pulse beams with their ice!" she says, apprehensively getting back on her jet.
"Exactly!" Laval says with confidence, much to the other's confusion. "Huh?" Cragger voiced, not getting what his best friend was planning. "Tell the other eagles!" he orders, as soon all the eagles come in with their jets.
Fangar coughs and eventually swallows the chi, unleashing a surge of power that causes the scroll to unleash a wave of dark ice icicles across the ground. While the eagles let loose on the hunters, as they start to create a wall of frozen blasts.
"Freeze them all!" Fangar ordered, hopped up on power as his whole body glowed. "But sir! Don't you think that won't backfire on us, and-" Mottrot tried to say before his mother interrupted him. "Don't question Sir Fangar, Mottrot! can't you be more like your brother, Mungus?" she says, as Mungus playfully plays with snow while letting an innocent babyish hum.
The eagles continue to fire, Fangar screaming to the point that he had enough, so he climbs a tree and boards Eris' jet, though she easily shakes him off and into a pile of snow. "After them!" he commands, but his hunters are unable to obey, blocked off by a massive wall of ice. "Ah! We seem to be stuck." Strainor told his leader, as he tried looking around the wall before him.
"That was what I was trying to tell everyone before!" Mottrot said, Maula hitting him with her trunk. "So why didn't you say something?!" she asked annoyed, blaming the predicament on her son.
"Actually, I did! and-" he pointed out, till Maula hit him with her trunk again. "Why can't you do anything right?! I don't know what we'd do here without your brother." She complained, missing the fact that said brother was busy grunting as he tried to pull his trunk out of the ice.
Unaware to all, a certain set of reptilian eyes watched them from the bushes. Satisfied with their work, and tired of the family drama, they retreated into the forest and back towards their lair.
Meanwhile, back in the Lion Temple throne room, Crug is asleep snoring on the lion throne with a blanket. Longtooth sighs after sweeping the ice. "I'm never doing that again! EVER!" he declared, never having been more exhausted in his entire career.
Suddenly, Lagravis burst into the room saying, "LongTooth, get that fire going! We have some defrosting to do." As he marched their frozen comrades behind him. LongTooth's eyes begin to twitch before he screams and runs outside to the night.
While back in the Snake Warriors camp, Commander Machia had just finished detailing her report. "Well done, Commander. This will prove to be very useful in the future." Aspheera told her Vermillion Commander, a sly smile on her face.
She now had no doubts about the source of his power and had learned important details about their foes. "The fool has no idea how to handle such might, the scroll is unstable! Which means I still have a way to salvage this mess!" she mused in her head, her scheming mind delighted at the implications.
"Keep an eye on them, we'll begin our assault as soon as those ingrates have torn each other down!" she commanded, as her soldier heeded her orders and marched back towards her squad.
"Soon my old friend, soon we shall meet again!" she said, the object of her ire on her mind, "And when we do, you shall be sorry you ever thought you could go behind my back!" she snapped, her fangs itching to sink deep into his flesh.
"You will pay for what you've done, with your life!" she cried, her rage a protecting fire against the cold of the night!
Author's Notes:
And thus the first encounter against the Ice Clan comes to a close. And now that all the players are at play, the story may proceed, the Vermilion have their orders and Aspheera is cooking up something for her foes. But just how connected is she to Chima's past, and what would her involvement mean for its future?
Now, with that said, if want to answer something I've seen asked a few times. Many in the comments have asked about doing commissions for this story, and while I am flattered, at this moment I am financially unavailable to ask for any commissions. If anyone wants to do some art on their own time, you are more than welcome so long as you give credit, but aside from that I just can't ask for anything else.
I thank you all for taking such interest in my work, it really makes my day to know so many find joy in my work. Thanks for reading and till next time!