Legends of Ninjago: Book 3: The Four Fangs: Chapter 1 - A Fiery Disposition

Lloyd felt his eyelids growing heavier and heavier every second, begging to go to sleep. Just as they were about to close, though, his head snapped to attention and he rubbed his face vigorously. There would be time for sleep later. Right now, he needed to keep his eyes on the purple Anacondrai in front of him.

Pythor slithered just a few paces ahead of Lloyd, swivelling his head this way and that, asking questions every few minutes.

"How many tombs have been opened?"

"Where are we headed?"

"What's that strange moving carriage?"

He was an awfully curious snake, but Lloyd guessed that was to be expected of anyone who had been locked away for his whole life.

The sun had set some time ago, leaving the troop to wander the desert in the darkness of night. The moon was a crescent, so its light didn’t reach very far, and Lloyd was tripping over shadows and stumbling in the shifty sand. He tried to force his feet to be more steady, saying that they just needed to go a few more miles, but that only seemed to make himself more disoriented.

After they had exited the desert, and gone up and down some grassy hills, they were finally under some tree cover in a thin wood. By now, it was deep into the night, when even the bats were asleep. There were no fireflies or owls or even crickets. Only silence.

They stopped to rest a bit by some boulders and Lloyd could feel his brain drifting off, but just before he lost consciousness, a Hypnobrai shook his shoulder.

“Get up,” he said. “We’re moving again.”

Lloyd groaned slightly and peeled himself up off the ground. How much further?

Right when it was beginning to feel like the road would just keep stretching on forever and ever, Lloyd caught a glimpse of light up ahead. He sniffed the air a few times and it bit back with the harsh smell of smoke and burning chemicals. He was suddenly very much awake.

It wasn’t long before the source of the light and the smoke was revealed. Greta Junction was a tattered, flaming mess, but the worst part of all, was that it looked completely abandoned. Lloyd couldn’t hear a single voice or footstep as he and his entourage entered main street. There was just broken glass, rubble, and flames as far as the eye could see.

“What’s all this, then?” Pythor asked. “Where are we?”

“This is Greta Junction… isn’t it?” Lloyd asked, turning toward his snakes. They nodded.

“What happened here?” One of them mumbled.

Lloyd didn’t know what else to do, so he turned and tore up the stairs of city hall. He threw the doors open, looking inside while a strange feeling settled over him. The hall was abandoned as well. The lights were off, the map from the table had vanished, and there was not a single soul in sight.

“Slithraa?” Lloyd called loudly. “Mezmo? Hellooooo?!” The hall was echoey and cold.

Lloyd’s insides began to squirm. What exactly should he do now? Had Slithraa deserted him? Had the Serpentine been defeated? Why did every single one of his plans have to end up imploding on him?! Was it too much to ask to have something go right for a change?!

Just then, he thought he heard something. There were voices coming from outside. Lloyd turned around and walked back out through the doors.

“There’s no one inside—“ he started, but then he froze mid-step. His snakes were still there, but they were accompanied by a platoon of other soldiers; both Hypnobrai and Fangpyres. “Oh, there you are…” Lloyd said, eyeing them cautiously. “Where did Chief Slithraa go?”

The snakes looked at one another in turn, a secret meaning passing between their gazes. Then one of them spoke up.

“Come. The Chief has-s-s reques-s-sted your pres-s-sence.”

Lloyd stood up as tall as he could (his head only reaching the Serpentine’s chests), hardened his face, and marched forward. Something truly disastrous must have happened if Slithraa had abandoned his position. Only one group of people came to mind. Curse those ninja!

A Hypnobrai led the way, slithering in the dark, meanwhile the other snakes stayed close to Lloyd’s side.

“My, my, this isn’t quite what I had expected,” Pythor remarked. “Such a dreary bunch, aren’t you?” Lloyd kept his eyes on the black ground. “And not much for conversation either, it would seem…”

They were taken to a place much further from Greta Junction than Lloyd would have liked. It was a murky, river cove in the middle of a mossy wood, and as far as Lloyd could tell, far away from any civilisation. The water from the river made the air cold and damp, and there were bats flying overhead catching unsuspecting bugs. On the banks of the small cove—like long, looming shadows—the Serpentine stood, whispering among themselves.

“My Chief!” The lead Hypnobrai in the group said. “We have returned with Lloyd Garmadon!”

The crowd parted instantly as they approached, and although he couldn’t quite see them properly, Lloyd could feel their eyes on him. He wasn’t scared though. He was going to get answers.

“Chief Slithraa?” He called, moving through the crowd. He thought he caught a glimpse of gold up ahead.

Then, a gargled, raspy voice churned up the air.

“Chief S-s-slithraa… is-s-s no longer… with us-s-s…”

The final snakes had moved aside to reveal the leader of the Hypnobrai, and who should be standing there waiting for him but the misshapen form of Scales. Half of his face looked black and melted, as if it had turned to wax, and his red eyes pierced the darkness like flaming embers.

Lloyd gritted his teeth. Hard. “Chief Scales, I presume?”

He slammed the golden staff into the ground. “You dare addres-s-s me with s-s-such s-s-snide?”

“Little humans…”

“…they are such vile creatures.”

Lloyd turned and instantly made out the two-headed silhouette of Fangtom, the Fangpyre chief.

“And quite…”

“…delicious, mmhhmhmh,” the two heads finished.

Lloyd felt every eye on him tenfold, and it was only then that something truly registered; he was surrounded by snakes.

“S-s-slithraa may have taken pity on you, weakling,” said Scales, “but I have no s-s-such frailty.”

A hundred fangs, a hundred forked tongues, a hundred glowing eyes, and they were all pressing in around one target. Just as the first snake lunged forward, his jaw wide open, Lloyd shrieked and let loose an explosion of purple energy. One touch, and the closest Serpentine could feel their outer scales turning to dust.

“Not another step! I-I’m warning you!” Lloyd cried. Then he turned back to Scales. “Slithraa and I had a deal!”

“Yes-s-s… you did.” Scales’ gnarly voice made Lloyd’s skin crawl. No, it made his skin burn! That two-faced, backstabbing, slimy little worm-weasel didn’t deserve to be chief! He didn’t deserve anything other than pain!

“What’s-s-s this-s-s then? Are you going to throw a tantrum?” Scales taunted, noting the glowing red light in Lloyd’s eyes.

That was it! “YOU WANT A TANTRUM!? I’LL GIVE YOU A—“

“GENTLEMEN! Gentlemen!”

Pythor, of all snakes, had just slithered in between them, narrowly avoiding Lloyd’s death-grip. “Please! Let’s not degrade ourselves by acting like wild animals! I’m sure there is a mutually beneficial arrangement that can be met, yes?”

“NEVER!” Scales and Lloyd both shouted.

“Come now, come now!” Pythor went on, as if he hadn’t heard a thing. “Surely we can put our petty prejudices aside so we can fight our common enemy: Ninjago! They’ve hurt us all! They treated us like monsters—slimy, filthy, ugly, abominable, fowl beasts! They locked us away and promptly forgot! Their collective downfall is our endgame. An endgame that will not be realised if we throw away our greatest advantages.”

“Like what?!” Scales spat.

“Master Garmadon knows the surface world better than any of us, not to mention he’s powerful. His skills are invaluable.” As Lloyd listened to Pythor speak, he could feel his anger subsiding. “And you need us snakes, young master! One boy does not an army make.”

“His-s-s kind are nothing but trouble! By eating him now, we s-s-save ours-s-selves a lot of grief!” said Scales, glaring at the boy.

“And just what do you think that will do? Hmm? I’ll tell you what…” Pythor slithered up close to the chief. “His death will spark newfound resolution in the rest of humankind—particularly his conniving father. If you kill him, you bring their full wrath down on all of us. The humans have more resources, and more numbers. If they mobilise quickly enough, they will overpower us. You kill him, and you kill us all.”

All the Serpentine, even Scales, were starting to looked convinced, if not a little disappointed. Then Scales looked up at Lloyd again.

“Very well… we will not kill him…”

‘Oh, goody, I suppose I should be grateful?’ Lloyd thought.

“…but we will make him obedient.”

CHOMP!!!

Lloyd’s stomach practically swallowed itself. With a few shaky breaths, he turned his head to see a Fangpyre face pressed up against his neck, sinking its fangs deep into his flesh. He could feel them moving under his skin ever so slightly, while a burning sensation began to consume his body. When the Fangpyre let go, Lloyd’s legs gave out, and he fell limply to the ground. He twitched and gasped, wanting to scream or cry from the strange pain he was in and the betrayal and anger he felt.

“Your time is-s-s up, human,” said that slimy voice. “S-s-sleep now. You’ve got a big day tomorrow. Ha ha ha!”

* * *

One Month Later…

* * *

“One! Two! Three! Four! Rest! Again!”

Kai felt his limbs fly through the air with each command, but in his mind, he was day-dreaming. This routine had been practiced at least a hundred times already. Each pose he struck, every punch he threw, every stance he took, was perfect. He was far more concerned with how much longer it would be until he could warm himself by the campfire.

“Chin up,” Sensei Wu said next to Jay, and Kai could hear the “whiz” of his teacher’s staff as it adjusted where Jay was looking. “Wider stance,” he said next to Cole. “Now, again! One! Two! Three! Four! Rest!”

They went through the movement at least three more times before Jay started shaking. Kai swore that it was like Jay was getting weaker every day.

“Stop!” Wu ordered, and everyone resumed their resting positions. “Stop, I said!” Kai craned his neck and saw Zane still punching the air. He stopped when Wu spoke the second time.

“Sorry, Sensei,” he said, blinking.

“Jay…” All eyes turned to the blue ninja. “Go sit down.”

“Y-yes, Sensei.” Jay bowed and then left, discreetly swiping at his eyes once or twice.

“Let us move on to kicks,” said Wu, regaining Kai’s attention. He mentally rolled his eyes as he got into position, though. He hated kicks. Not because he wasn’t good at it—definitely not! He was just… slightly less good at it than he would’ve liked… yeah, that was it.

“Strike! Strike! Strike!”

Kai’s jaw felt as though it might snap from how tightly it was clenched. Up and down his legs went, one after the other, aiming for an imaginary target in front of him. He had thought that after a month’s worth of training, his tendons would be hurting less, but nope. He was still in as much pain as ever.

“Higher, Kai!” Wu ordered.

With a quick glare, he huffed through his nose and forced his leg to rise beyond its limit, which resulted in him losing his balance.

“Stop!”

Kai braced himself as Wu calmly walked over.

“Did I not teach you the proper technique for this kick?”

Kai stared at the ground. “..yes, Sensei.”

“Then you know how to perform it?”

“…yes, Sensei.”

“Good.”

Kai watched his master’s feet as they moved away.

“Again! More fluid this time, Keaton. Begin!”

The kicks went on for what felt like an eternity, and only when Kai was sure that there were no more muscles left in his legs to strain did they stop. By now his breath was so warm that he could see it it floating through the air.

“The trick is to control your breath,” Ann whispered next to him.

“Yeah? Control your own, you windbag.”

“Kai!” Now Wu actually sounded upset. “One hundred squats. Now!”

Kai stared at his Sensei for a second, then grumbled as he stomped over to a fallen tree limb next to the training area. As he slung the log over his shoulders, he thought about how fun it would be to smash the wretched thing into splinters, but he swallowed back his thoughts and began sinking and rising on his shaking legs.

Training had been like this for the past four weeks with no signs that they would be slowing down, and it was impossible to tell if Kai was getting stronger because he was always hurting so much. Still, it did give him something to take his anger out on. It only slightly kept him from going stir-crazy though. He stole a glance over at the campfire and saw yet another pot of soup boiling. His stomach didn’t grumble.

Kai watched his teammates train instead. Ann and Keaton were still lightyears ahead of everyone else, but the group managed to stay in sync, and with each passing day, Wu had a little less to correct. Sometimes it was hard to believe that so much could be accomplished in the span of a single month.

When Kai was finished with his squats, they were all allowed a break, which they spent sitting around the smouldering fire. Kai noticed, though, that Jay retreated to his tent the second everyone started coming over.

“It’s certainly getting colder,” Zane remarked.

“It might have something to do with the fact that it’s almost winter,” said Cole dryly.

Yeah, winter. Then after that, Spring, which would mark the one-year-anniversary of the start of this whole mess. Although, Kai genuinely had no idea where else he would be right now if he hadn’t chosen to stay with Wu, so he couldn’t exactly complain.

“Hey, guys,” Nya said as she came over with two buckets filled with water. She left them by the food prepping station. “You have a sec?” Everyone just sorta stared at her in reply.

“What’s up?” Kai finally said.

“I was kinda wondering if anyone here knows how to cut hair?” She indicated to her head, covered in shoulder-length locks.

“I have some experience,” said Zane. “How short do you want it cut?”

“Um, like, up to here,” she said, and her hand went up to her jaw.

Zane stood and scooped up an idle pair of shears (clean, of course) and motioned for Nya to sit down on the nearest log.

“Here,” Ann said, handing them one of her blankets to wrap around her while he was snipping.

“So, how much experience do you have exactly?” Nya asked, eyeing Zane’s scissors in the corner of her eye.

“Plenty,” he said calmly, and he started straightening some of her tangles. “One of the women in Sakana taught me.”

“I didn’t realise it was so hard to cut your own hair,” Cole jabbed, reaching for the cup of water he’d left that morning.

“It wasn’t for my benefit. She needed someone to run her salon while she was gone for two weeks.”

Cole paused mid sip and his cheeks bulged with water.

“You ran a salon for two weeks?” Keaton asked.

“Why does everyone always sound so surprised?”

Zane didn’t take his eyes off of Nya’s hair while he brushed it out as best he could, soaked it using several careful cups of water, and then cut it one section at a time. When he was done, he asked Keaton to blow dry her while he created a smooth piece of ice for Nya to see herself in.

“Seriously, who even are you?” Nya said as she looked herself over, bewildered.

Zane sounded genuinely confused by her question. “A man of many talents?”

“A wizard is more like it,” said Cole.

“It looks so good, though! It’s just… just…”

Just like how Mom used to do it, Kai thought.

“It’s perfect! Thank you, Zane!”

With that, they cleaned up all the hair and put everything back the way it was.

“Kai, Keaton!” Wu called, coming over. “I want the two of you on patrol today.”

Kai sorta mumbled “yes, Sensei,” and then followed the little ninja away from camp. This was a regular occurrence by now, but Kai always dreaded the days when he was paired with—as he called her—The Long Winded One.

“Zane is super crazy talented, isn’t he?” Keaton rambled as they walked through the woods alone. “I had no idea that he could cook, and fight, and do people’s hair! He’s so cool!”

“You’re easily impressed, kid,” Kai grunted.

She made a pouty face. “Oh yeah? Says who?”

“Me. You were cooped up in that monastery far longer than I think you realise.”

“It was my home, where else would I have been?”

By now they were halfway around the campsite, scanning for signs of life. Mostly, they were worried about tourists and hikers, but there was of course the slight chance that certain government officials had managed to track them down, so they kept their voices low.

“You could have been a normal kid,” said Kai.

“What is your deal with being normal?” Keaton moaned. “You and your sister. She said the exact same thing!” They had stopped walking now.

“Well maybe she was on to something,” Kai pressed. “There’s nothing wrong with being normal, you know.”

“But I wasn’t a normal kid, and I never will be! I—“ She let out a tense huff. “Never mind… forget it.” She started moving again, stepping over rocks and branches.

Kai eyed her for a moment, but then remembered that he didn’t care. The rest of the recon was carried out in silence.

* * *

Cole sipped more water and let his eyes wander about the campsite. Everything he saw, though, only served to remind him of something that had happened in the past few months. Especially the people.

Ann had become more like herself every day, which included her sullen disposition, though she was less inclined to snap at people now. He still had no idea how much she remembered of their kidnapping, and frankly he was too afraid to ask. It was better to forget and not slow down.

He hid a secret smile. The old Cole might have obsessed over not knowing what Ann thought of him. Now he let those thoughts out with a slow, deep breath and watched the wind blow them away.

“Cole, Zane, Ann, Jay, let us clean the campsite,” Wu said.

Jay timidly got out of his tent and everyone except for Nya started putting things away and clearing the dirt floor of all its twigs and rocks. As he swept, Cole looked back at Nya, sitting alone around the campfire. It was kind of exciting to think about what was going to happen in just a few hours. Nya’s training was long overdue.

“Ow!”

“Oh—I’m sorry!” Cole faced forward and could feel his cheeks turning red.

“Just… watch where you’re going next time,” Ann said gently.

“Sorry,” he said again, and he quickly resumed his sweeping, his eyes glued to the ground.

Okay, so maybe he wasn’t quite as “put-together” as he would’ve liked to believe, and maybe it would take some time for him to shake off his embarrassment… and maybe letting go of a crush didn’t happen overnight.

Baby steps, he told himself. One moment at a time.

* * *

Ann glanced back at Cole as he swept. He was so weird sometimes. And clumsy.

As she went around the camp picking things up and putting them away, she drilled herself on the names of each item. Beans. Staff. Pot. Pack. Blanket. It was a comforting ritual she had started doing ever since she woke up without her memories one month ago. It all came back fairly quickly, but there was definitely some lingering damage. Every so often, her memory would lapse, and she’d forget simple things. Or big things, depending. She would remember after a second, but she hated that she forgot it at all. Sometimes it would make her pause mid-sentence because she’d blanked on a word or phrase, and then she might stutter and make herself look like a total fool.

The weirdest part of all, though, where the memories themselves. Everything felt so messed up. Sensei Wu and Jay had likened the experience to a computer resetting, but that’s not what it felt like at all. When a computer resets, everything is in order again. Ann’s mind was anything but order.

Some of her memories were broken or missing pieces. Others would start and then abruptly end, or she wouldn’t be able to recognise the faces of the people in her mind’s eye. Then there were memories that she wasn’t sure were real or not. They could just be dreams, and yet they felt so vivid. Most of them involved the Serpentine, so perhaps they were flashes of her kidnapping. Others were more… abstract. And very weird. For example, just last night she had a vision—she still couldn’t believe that it had entered her brain at all, much less that she was still thinking about it a day later—and in it she had clearly seen Cole’s face very close to her’s, almost as if… almost as if they’d kissed. The very idea of it made her feel weird all over, and she couldn’t decide which was worse: if it was a figment of her imagination, or reality.

If it was a dream, what did that say about her subconscious? And if it was a memory, well… umm… There was that weird feeling again.

Worst of all, she could never, ever, ever ask Cole about it. What if she did and it turned out to be only a dream? That would be mortifying! Instead, she would burry these thoughts and never think of them again. With any luck, nothing would ever come of it.

She looked back down at what she was doing. Shoot, what was she doing again? She made sure not to break her calm disposition and glanced around. Everyone was cleaning up. Cleaning! That’s right. Back to work.

* * *

There was a new moon that night, and without the roaring campfire, everything would be invisible. That’s why Cole and Jay had spent so much time collecting firewood. They needed plenty of light for the ceremony.

Nya watched the fire burn from the dark edge of camp and fidgeted with her neatly cut hair. She found it was easier to focus on the light rather than the people moving all around it. Especially her brother.

“Don’t tell me you’re nervous,” he said casually. She didn’t reply. “Come on, it’s literally just a few words.”

“Words have power, Kai.” She stopped fidgeting and turned to look at him. “I don’t throw them around like you do.” His face hardened as he gradually understood what she meant.

“It wasn’t a spur of the moment thing—“

“Yes it was. We were about to go home, and then you signed a life-long ninja contract.” She made sure to keep her voice low, but she knew that at least one person could hear them talking. “And how much closer are we to finding Mom and Dad?”

Kai squirmed, but only for second. “The situation just hasn’t been in our favour yet. It’s not my fault the IBI raided the monastery and arrested us.”

“You’re the one who cuffed us to the whole situation in the first place. We wouldn’t even be on the IBI’s radar if we’d just gone home.”

“So, what, you wanna leave? You wanna go find them on your own? With no training?” Kai pressed, clearly agitated.

Nya looked at the ground and poked at a small pebble with the nose of her shoe. “I want… to not relive Greta Junction.”

At just the mention of the name, she could see the flaming buildings, hear the loud crashes and sirens, and worst of all… she could feel the absolute terror and adrenaline that tore through her body when that Serpentine had leapt at her like a demented jack-in-the-box, only to be impaled on the blade of her naginata, still snarling at her even after the life had passed from its eyes. The memory gripped her spine and made her shudder.

Kai hadn’t been there to witness the attack, but he had seen how rattled Nya was after the fact.

“Learning self defence is the best way to keep you safe.”

She looked at him, matching his gaze. “I don’t want to… kill anyone ever again.”

What else are you supposed to say to that? The two siblings couldn’t seem to think of anything, and maintained their little staring contest until they realised that everyone else was seated and waiting for them. Kai sheepishly walked over to his spot by the fire while Nya tried to meet the eyes of Master Wu.

“Are you ready, young Nya?” Wu asked gently. When she hesitated, he added, “The vow of the ninja is not to be taken lightly.”

I know that, she grumbled in her head, casting a glance in Kai’s direction.

The truth was, she wasn’t ready. Not at all. She stood there, looking up at Wu, the fire roaring behind him, and his students sitting on either side of him. They all wanted her to be like them. They had their own reasons and justifications, but what about her own reasons? What about her desires? It truly felt like she was being backed into a corner here. The worst part was that she was willing to make a compromise, but how? Only train half-way?

Everyone was waiting for her to do something.

The pressure of her friends’ gazes was what prompted her to move forward, but it was the flames of the fire that made her stop.

Fire… just like Kai… just like her dad. The flames of his blacksmith forge were so tied into the memory of him. The smell of smoke and metal… the comforting heat… and just like that, it was almost as if she could feel his hand on her shoulder once again. She tried to imagine what he would say to her right now. What wisdom would he impart? What was the right thing to do?

She opened her mouth, hoping she’d made the right decision, but then her breath caught.

CAW! CAW CAW! CAW!

Off in the distance, a flock of birds had just been angrily woken up.

“Move! Now!” Wu ordered.

Nya lost track of everyone as she took off toward her tent and began tearing it down. She folded up the canvas, her sleeping bag and other assorted items still inside, and slung the bulbous package over her shoulder. When she turned around, the boys were already grabbing any other essential items they could find.

“Nya!” Keaton called. She and Ann were already moving toward the evacuation path. Nya blinked and followed them, her brain on autopilot, following the emergency drill that Wu had pounded into them over the last month.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Cole using his earth powers to completely burry the campfire, and then all light vanished. She couldn’t even tell when her eyes were open or shut, it was so dark. Luckily, she didn’t need her eyes. Only memory.

Wu had made them walk this path every morning and every night, so even though she was panicking a little on the inside, and even though the boys were running up behind her—likely to run her over if she didn’t hurry—her feet never hesitated. Ann and Keaton’s breathing was always directly in front of her, and she made sure to feel for every familiar stone and tree to keep track of where in the trail she was.

As they navigated the woods in the dark, Nya couldn’t help but wonder who had stumbled upon their base. It was totally possible that it was a wild animal, but if it wasn’t… could there be IBI agents out there right now? Or worse, was it the Serpentine?

Please let it be a wild animal, she silently begged.

There were voices. Voices coming from somewhere here in the woods. They were muddied with echos, so the people, whoever they were, couldn’t be close, but even as Nya tried to comfort herself with the thought, she looked to her right and saw pale, white light flickering deep within the forest. Flashlights.

She suddenly became very aware of the hand that had grabbed her by her shirt and pulled her down to the ground. The entire group had gone silent and still. Her mind was vaguely aware of Keaton on her left side, and one of the boys on her right, crouching low, but her body was wholly fixed on the bobbing light that seemed to be getting brighter.

“…fan out, maybe we can find…”

“…not over here…”

“…move this way…”

The voices still weren’t particularly close, but she could hear them clearly enough now to guess that they were probably human. Some lost hikers perhaps? Maybe?

She felt a tap on her shoulder and knew that it was time to keep moving. They shimmied low to the ground, stumbling every now and then over a tree root or stone, but they all managed to keep quiet. She tried to picture it all in her head, the way Wu had trained them. Ann or Wu would take the lead, while Cole stayed in the back to cover their tracks with his powers, and if things really got dire, Ann would bring in a cloud of mist to hide them even further.

It didn’t look like it would come to that, now that the light was beginning to fade away along with the voices.

“Tck tck.”

That was the signal for “go back to normal” more or less. She gratefully unfolded her legs and stood up, finally able to use her feet the way she was meant to again.

Her toes caught on something and for a moment she was worried that she might trip, but then she remembered that there was a particularly gnarly tree root here and recovered herself before anything could happen.

“Ack!”

THUD!

It had felt like someone bumping into her at first—the result of tripping over that gnarled root, no doubt—but it quickly escalated to the both of them losing their balance altogether and smashing against the hard ground. Nya was spitting dirt out of her mouth while the boy who had tripped scrambled to right himself.

“Sorry!” He whispered frantically.

“Jay! What are you doing!” Kai seethed from further back.

“…did you hear something?” A man said, far away.

The ninja instinctively became like statues, watching the flashlights in the distance grow brighter. Nya wondered if their plan was to wait for the strangers to give up searching, or just surrender now, because no one was moving.

Then she heard an owl hooting nearby and instantly recognised its unique sound. With Wu’s signal received, Ann, Keaton, and the boys, all started lowering themselves slowly to the ground. Nya already had them beat, so she made herself comfortable underneath a trio of giant fern bushes. Soon, she could feel Keaton’s feet curled up near her head, and she had to remind herself not to stretch out her legs, lest she smack Jay in the face.

Then they waited.

Nya watched as the pine tree they were hiding beside gradually lit up with pale light. Then, like a lighthouse digging through a soupy fog, a spotlight would pass over, searching for them. Nya had no idea how well the fern leaves were hiding her, she just hoped that her red tunic-top wasn’t visible through the tiny gaps in the leaves.

…stomp… stomp… stomp, stomp… stomp stomp.

Someone’s footsteps were getting closer. It sounded to Nya like he was wearing heavy boots. What if he stepped on top of her?

The man’s flashlight passed over the forest a handful of times, and as Nya kept staring at the pine tree, she could just make out his shadow, backlit by his companions’ flashlights. It may have just been an optical illusion, but he looked really big.

“It could have just been a deer or something,” one man said.

“Or a… heavy thing falling from a tree,” another said stupidly.

Nothing happened for a few seconds, and Nya was beginning to think that maybe they were done, until the big guy started getting closer. She could hear his heavy boot-steps directly behind her. She could almost smell the rubber soles.

Then he stopped.

As slowly as she possibly could, Nya turned her head just far enough to see through the tiny cracks in the fern leaves and up at the man’s face. It wasn’t an optical illusion. He really was huge. He was at least six feet tall, maybe more, with bulging biceps and one of the thickest necks she had ever seen. His face was all shadows, but she could clearly make out the police officer uniform he was wearing.

The searchlights passed over one more time while Nya mentally begged for the officer not to take another step.

“Come on, Tim, the report said that the smoke was coming from over there,” one of the other officers said. “They can’t possibly know we’re coming.”

The big guy seemed to be listening intensely to the world around him, and even though Nya couldn’t see his eyes, she could feel them looking for her.

Finally—thank the First Spinjitsu Master—he began to go back toward the main group; his flashlight fading away. Only once he and his friends were out of earshot did Wu give the order to keep moving, however this time, they remained on their stomachs for a good, long while.

Nya flinched as rocks and twigs and roots dug into her stomach and grainy bits of dirt got pressed up into her finger nails. It was not at all the night she had envisioned.

Many painful minutes of crawling later, Wu told them to get on their feet and start running. It was so weird how the ninja shoes they were all wearing completely muffled their footsteps. It almost freaked Nya out a little bit, but she wasn’t about to complain. Without them, they’d have been found in seconds.

It was late into the night when they had finally reached the safe zone: a desolate, ocean cave. It was freezing, pitch black, wet, slippery, and it smelled like sea scum and rotten fish. Kai lit a fireball so they could see where they were going, but it couldn’t reach the water beneath their path. Nya didn’t really feel safe here with the thought of slipping and falling into the water below and then getting smashed against the rocks constantly popping into her head. After a certain point, it almost felt like the water was taunting her as it splashed up alongside the rocks, getting her wet.

Ann led them further inside, probably to find someplace safer and a little bit dryer. Nya had no complaints. Ever since she had come to the coast, she had found the ocean nothing but creepy and salty and scummy.

They were so far in that now the waves sounded ghostly and echoey. She got so caught up in listening to them fade away that she jumped when Wu’s voice suddenly broke the silence.

“We are here,” he said slowly.

Nya stopped and looked around. It was a modest-sized cave with loads of stalagmites and stalactites all dripping with water. The ground looked particularly grody, covered in bird droppings, broken shells, and goodness-knows what else. The way out was around a sharp corner, so they would never be able to see any moonlight, and with some luck, no one outside would be able to see their firelight.

“How are we supposed to set up our tents on solid rock?” Jay asked, looking around.

“You will not need them tonight. Only your bed,” Wu explained as he took off his own pack and began making a place for himself to sleep.

Sleeping exposed in the middle of a damp, creepy cave? She better not wake up in the morning with a seagull on her face or someone was going get an earful. Most likely the seagull.

A short while later and everyone had a more-or-less dry place to sleep for the night. Cole had gone with Kai to collect some firewood earlier and now there was a small pile of burning sticks in the center of the group. Nya watched it, laying on her stomach with her arms resting over her pillow. The ground was too bumpy to really feel comfortable.

“I’ll take first watch,” Keaton said, getting up.

Ann looked worried. “Keaton, you need your rest—“

“I’ll take first watch,” she repeated, and walked over to the bend in the path.

Nya stared again into the fire and rubbed her cold feet together under her wool blanket. She noted how rough her skin felt—how dry and cracked it had become—especially her hands. She also smelled like a warthog after a mud bath, what with her sweaty feet, shampoo-thirsty hair, and old clothes. After tonight, she could also add “sea scum” to the ever growing list of odours she was carrying around. How did the others manage it? Living like this and barely complaining about the state of things? They were literally living in a cave like a bunch of hobos, for crying out loud, and yet everyone was acting like it was business as usual.

“So what now?” She asked no one in particular.

“Sleep,” said Sensei Wu. “And in the morning, we shall discuss our plans. Rest well. Goodnight.” He laid down, pulling his blanket over his chest and closing his eyes.

Everyone seemed to take their cues from the old man and one by one they fell into their sleeping positions while the fire sang to them its crackling song, but Nya kept her eyes open. She was resting on her pillow, still watching the flames flicker, and occasionally she would add another stick or two.

On one of the sticks, there was a tiny branch—a twig, really—which she snapped off before setting the rest of it into the fire. She held the twig for a bit, playing with it, and then she dipped the tip of it into a section of the flames, lighting it up like a match. She brought it closer to her face and admired the little ball of light. How fragile it was, and yet how potentially dangerous it could be. If given the right conditions to grow, of course. The longer she held it away from the campfire, though, the more it began to die. All by itself.

She sighed and threw the twig into the fire.