Legends of Ninjago: Book 3: The Four Fangs: Chapter 15 — Holiday Fluff

Cole and his friends were standing outside of his house. It was half past seven o’clock. Numbly, he felt the weight of the plaque Mr. Peabody had given him in his hand. His father’s car wasn’t in the driveway.

“Do you want us to come with you?” Kai asked quietly.

He drew in a breath. “I’ve got this.”

He took the key from underneath a nearby garden rock and unlocked the door, wiping his feet as he entered the foyer. In one hand he had the plaque, in the other he held a stack of boxes. He gingerly went up the stairs in the dark and placed all of it on his neatly made bed, the plaque resting on top beside a small note.

Next, he went around the guest rooms, straightening up and grabbing stray items. When he closed the last door, standing out in the hall, he felt this terrible feeling in his gut. Like a feeling of… finality.

In silence, he came back downstairs and looked around. The house really did feel awfully empty.

Cole distributed the things he had gathered among the others, then threw his hood on and shoved his hands into his coat pockets. He kept his eyes on the ground as they started walking down the street, watching the colour of the fairy lights on the houses fade in and out of view on the snow.

The air was so cold that night you could see your breath, flying into the gentle wind. The birds had already gone to sleep. Many people in the neighbourhood had as well. Not a door slam or car engine could be heard for a mile at least. The teens moved unseen, like phantoms in the night.

Before he knew it, they were in the woods again, getting ever closer to their ship which they had left behind. Back to the wild. Back to freezing in his bed. Back to campfires and bug bites and rations.

The ship and everything in it was exactly the same as they had left it, just twice as cold and covered in icicles and snow. It rocked gently as they boarded, and creeped under their footsteps. When they had reached the living quarters, still laden with their sleeping bags and pillows, they brought them all together in the center of the room and Kai made a small fire in his hands for them to warm themselves by. They all watched the silent flames flicker up and disappear.

One by one, they fell asleep, rolling themselves up as tightly as possible, still wearing their coats, and huddling together. Kai stayed awake for as long as he could, but eventually he had to call it quits and put the fire out. The room was marginally warmer now, but it didn’t stay that way for long. Truly, the only thing keeping them warm now was each other.

Cole’s eyelids hung lazily open. He assumed he was staring at the wall, gently bobbing in the darkness. On his right, Jay was snoring warmly. On his left, Zane slept, practically room temperature by comparison.

As he very slowly drifted off to sleep, the last three weeks went by in his mind’s eye. The training, the warm meals, the warm tub, being together leading up to Winter Fest, the snowy little winter town all dressed in twinkly lights, and then the competition had come and ruined everything.

So much for his performance being for his mom…

* * *

Morning sunlight streamed in through the windows at a sharp slant. Cole wasn’t sure who else was up, but there were a few people shifting under all the blankets.

“It’s Winter Feeest,” Keaton drowsily declared with more lament than genuine excitement. No one really acknowledged her.

A few minutes later, Kai asked, “So now what?”

Cole stared at the ceiling. “We go and find the real Blade Cup.”

“Go back to Ninjago City?” Said Zane sceptically.

“Yeah, I don’t need anymore incarceration accounts on my record, thanks,” Jay quipped.

Ann breathed out. “We can’t let them get those daggers.”

“Why not?”

“Because we know that they’re planning on using them for revenge.”

They all stared off into space for a while.

Then Cole heard the sound of someone’s head shifting.

“Do we have to go today?” Keaton asked in a small voice.

“…No… I guess we don’t.”

“Really?” Nya asked, propping herself up so that she could see Ann.

“We don’t have all the necessary supplies for another voyage. Plus, we know where the real Blade Cup is and the Serpentine don’t. We’ve got some time.”

They all continued to lay there, thinking.

“So does that mean we can stay for Winter Fest?” Keaton pressed, sounding more hopeful.

Ann sighed. “Sure.”

“Woohoo!!!” Her sister cried, leaping out of bed and then yelping as the cold air hit her all at once, making her dive back into her sleeping bag. “Can we go right now?! Can we? Can we? Can we?”

“We could get breakfast in town,” Nya offered.

“I could eat,” said Jay, getting up.

“Yeah, why not,” Kai threw in, pushing back his sleeping bag.

“Hold on,” said Ann, sitting up and stopping everyone. “I have one rule for today. Everybody sticks together, got it?”

“Yes, mom,” Jay whined. Ann responded by tossing a pillow at his face.

“Well what are we waiting for!?” Keaton cried, pulling on Nya’s arm and leading them all out of the freezing ship. Zane was at the rear of the group and noticed Cole still laying under the blankets.

“Are you coming?” He asked.

“Yeah,” Cole said quietly. “Just give me a sec.”

* * *

The town wasn’t bustling with activity, per say—most families would be at home, eating breakfast together—but the tourists were out in droves, allowing them to blend in easily. They ended up at this cozy, little cafe that had very recently opened up.

Cole had an espresso with a fresh baked croissant, meanwhile Keaton ordered a massive plate of french toast, assaulted with a mountain of powdered sugar. Every bite she took, she smiled and eagerly shared it with Nya. She offered a bite to Ann, but she politely refused, content with her egg on wheat toast. Meanwhile, Jay was working on his chicken and waffle, shaped like the local prefecture.

As Cole observed the table further, he realised what state they were all in. Their hair hadn’t been combed, their clothes were all wrinkled, and most of them had bags under their eyes, but somehow it seemed appropriate. Today was going to be a day for simply not bothering.

Just as he thought this, there was a sudden—

ACHOO!!

Keaton had let loose a sneeze worthy of a hurricane and accidentally sent the powdered sugar flying, making the table look as though it had been snowing inside the shop as well as outside. Jay laughed as half of everyone at the table started sneezing due to all the sugar that had been sent up their noses.

“Sorry,” Keaton sniffed.

“Nice aim,” said Kai, shaking sugar out of his hair.

“Sneeze a little harder next time, Keat,” Jay wheezed, wiping his face.

Cole stole a glance over at the people behind the counter and grabbed a handful of nearby napkins. Ann joined him.

After finishing their food and apologising to the staff, the gang headed back out into the street to do some shopping. There was hardly much else to do this early in the day. First, they stopped by that clothing store again and perused the holiday options. Cole noticed, as he wandered by a rack of ties and kerchiefs, that Ann was standing by the window, just like last time, checking over her shoulder periodically.

In another corner of the store, the others were trying on ugly sweaters. Jay had found this bright red and green monstrosity covered in Pom-poms, but Zane topped them all with an obnoxiously blue sweater with a horrifying knit rendition of some sort of elf, only it looked more like an ogre with a huge, toothy grin.

“Hey, look, it’s Ann,” said Jay without missing a beat. Nya might have hurt herself with how much she doubled over, stifling her chortle.

After a little while longer in the store, they bought a couple items and stepped out into the street where they came across a quaint candy shop. It was small, but it managed to stuff an impressive amount of sugar in the space. The air inside was practically tingling with sugar particles.

There were rock candy sticks packed in giant buckets, salt water taffy piled high in all the colours of the rainbow, liquorice whips in black, strawberry, cherry, and orange, lollipops that came in every shape and size, from the tiniest sucker, to the gigantic rainbow swirl, and all manner of hard candies wrapped up tightly in bright paper wrappers and displayed in a long line of barrels. Not to mention all the handmade fudge that was resting beside the cash register. Keaton begged Ann to get some, but after all the sugar she had at breakfast, Ann stood fast in her decision to refuse her sister any more of it. Even after Keaton and Nya tried using a double puppy dog pout on her, she wouldn’t relent.

“You’ll spoil your lunch,” Ann said flatly.

Cole bought some black liquorice and stuffed it in his coat pocket for later.

Then, they spent some time wandering around a bookshop, and I mean that literally because hardly any of them were all that interesting in a single book on the shelves except for Jay who had managed to find a complete collection of his favourite comic book series: Starfarer.

“It’s only the single greatest comic book/movie series ever created!” Jay had said upon Zane asking what it was. “The special effects alone revolutionised the film industry and the story is legendary! Fritz Donnegan is my hero!”

Much to Ann’s chagrin, he bought the whole thing—all ninety-seven issues of the third generation reboot—and promised repeatedly that they wouldn’t take up too much space on the ship. Somehow, she still didn’t believe him.

After the book shop—Jay struggling with his backpack full of comic books—they strolled for a while down to the park where the snow sculptors were almost finished, or completely finished, for that night’s competition. There were polar bears, giant koi fish, a dragon, several famous cartoon characters, a Fritz Donnegan statue even, and an entire palace made out of packed snow. Ann had to keep a sharp eye on her sister if she didn’t want to lose her in the crowd.

“Oh, look at this one!” The little ninja shouted as she pointed at a cute bear-like character with chubby cheeks. “He’s soooo cuuute!”

“Nice teeth,” said Kai, looking into the gigantic mouth of a snow dragon which was wide open, its tongue sticking out like one of those old tapestries.

“It looks like you when you yawn,” Nya chuckled next to him.

“Yeah, and that one looks like you,” Kai countered, pointing at a big koi fish, its lips puckered and its cheeks bulging. Nya shoved him playfully.

The palace sculpture they all gaped and gawked at, with its many levels and courtyards and doors and intricate roofs—it was the perfect size for a three-year-old or perhaps a gnome. More than once, Jay was tempted to climb through the little archway at the front, but the “DO NOT TOUCH” signs kept him at bay.

They were making their way to the end of the park now, and Kai was looking at one last piece: a depiction of the monkey king with a handful of peaches.

“Wonder how they get the snow to look like that,” he muttered, reaching a hand to touch the strangely smooth surface of one of the peaches. As his fingers got close, however, something strange happened. A faint hint of steam started to float up into the air. Kai didn’t see it until his fingers were actually touching the sculpture and the surface was dissolving into water faster than you can say—

“Hey! What are you doing?!” Someone had come around the statue who might have been the sculptor, and he didn’t look happy. Kai had his hands in his pockets and was dashing down the last stretch of sidewalk out of the park, his friends at his heels.

“I barely touched it!” Kai said defensively.

“Well, we don’t call you Sizzle Fingers for nothing!” Jay snickered.

“Yeah, well these ‘sizzle fingers’ are about to go right up your nose!”

The two of them started roughhousing as they walked along, the older teens watching them with a hint of bored amusement and the rest of the park staring in concern. After grabbing onto to Kai’s torso, Jay inadvertently knocked the two of them over into a snow drift with a great big muffled PLOP.

Kai spat out a bit of dirty snow as Jay unearthed his face.

“Pile on!” Keaton shouted, rushing over, Nya at her side, and jumped on them.

“NONO!” Kai cried, but it was too late. The girls had canon-balled right on top of him, spewing fresh powder a short ways. “Thaaanks,” Kai moaned, his head just barely visible in all the snow.

“It’s Frosty the Snowman,” Keaton said in a funny voice as she grabbed two sticks and placed them at Kai’s snow-buried sides and wiggled them about. “Hullo! Nice to meet you!”

Nya couldn’t contain her burst of laughter and toppled over into the snow as steam started rising from Kai’s snow-covered head.

“Honestly, you’re all so—“ Ann started, glancing around, but then abruptly snatched Cole and Zane’s arms and dragged them all into the snow.

“What the—“ Cole gasped, swiping at his face, but then he saw two men walking down the path, dressed in thick coats with bright gold badges pinned to their chests. Jay and Kai sunk deeper into the snow while the others carried on goofing off and Cole tried not to look in the police officer’s direction. To his dismay, they stopped anyway.

“You kids alright?” One of them asked. There was just a hint of another question hiding underneath his pleasant tone.

“We’re fine, thank you,” said Ann in a surprisingly mature voice, even laughing slightly and smiling. “Just took a bit of a tumble.” Cole tried to smile too, brushing off some more snow and acting like they were all just having fun, but he found it rather difficult with those two men staring down at them. He noticed that Keaton busy trying to add little pebbles and leaves to the lump of snow where Kai’s head was hidden, but they kept sliding off. That steam had started to reappear too.

“Well… have a good rest of your day,” said one officer. The other tipped his hat.

They couldn’t have walked away at a more opportune time, because right then, Kai came spluttering out of the slushy snow, dripping wet. “That’s enough of that, thanks,” he grumbled as he pried himself away from the ground.

“What’s up with you today?” Nya asked, shaking out her hair.

“I’m cold!” Kai snapped back.

“Could’ve fooled me,” said Cole, rising to his feet and stumbling over to the sidewalk.

After that happy little incident, the group decided to grab an early—and more importantly, inconspicuous—lunch in restaurant row. There were all sorts to choose from, and all of them bustling with holiday patrons, radiating warmth and nostalgic smells. It was the bento restaurant that won the vote, providing them all with a nice, varied selection of vegetables, sushi, and other goodies. Holiday music played softly all around them while shoppers and festival-goers dressed in bright coats and hats, walked the streets, smiling and drinking warm winter drinks.

Jay was filling Kai in on the many adventures of Fritz Donnegan while Keaton showed Zane how she liked to arrange her bento for maximum flavour enjoyment, leaving Nya and Ann to awkwardly eat in silence next to each other. Cole found himself staring out the window, popping a tempura shrimp into his mouth every so often.

The twinkling lights in the restaurant seemed to glow brighter and warmer as the sky darkened with snowflakes heading into the afternoon.

Apart from walking around town looking at more shops, the only other thing they could think of to do was head to the local ice rink. There were dozens of people already out and about, so the group had a long wait in line before they could rent their skates, but eventually they were tying up their laces. Cole was showing them how to do it properly.

“Just make sure they’re as tight as possible. It’s kind of like you want them to be an extension of your leg—you shouldn’t feel any wiggling around.”

Kai and Nya were among the most visibly nervous about stepping on the ice, but Keaton and Zane were very much the opposite. Zane, of course, was right at home, gliding gracefully and weaving around people as though he were flying, and Keaton was practically a human bullet. By the time Cole had gotten half-way round the rink, she’d been in orbit, passing him nearly five times. Pretty soon, Jay passed him too, gathering speed.

“AAAH!!”

Cole looked over his shoulder to see Nya topple over onto Kai by the railings near the entrance to the rink. Perhaps it would have been better if they’d sat this one out.

At any rate, he was doing fine. He’d never been amazing at skating, but he could glide easy enough. Unlike Zane, who was just showing off now, skating backwards, while Keaton was approaching the speed of sound, Jay at her heels.

Just then, he noticed Ann quietly skating by herself on the other side of the rink. He looked back down at the ice in front of him.

“Gotcha!” Keaton cried, grabbing Cole by the arm and pulling him along. He nearly fell over at first, but then he clung onto a nearby Jay who yelped with surprise. They were passing the Raysons now, and Cole could only guess that Jay had missed his intended target, because he ended up holding Kai’s hand rather than Nya’s and did not look enthused about it. Neither did Kai, but that probably had more to do with the fact that he was freaking out right now, his feet slipping and sliding all over the place as he tried to figure out how to stay steady while someone else pulled him along.

“How does anyone do this for fun?” Nya moaned in the back.

“We manage,” said Zane as he brought up the rear, stabilising Nya a bit.

Keaton was doing a great job threading them through the crowd, although the speed they were approaching was a bit concerning. Up ahead, there was Ann.

“Look out, Ann-Ji!” Keaton called. Ann only had a second to look behind her, but Cole could read her expression clearly:

“Oh no—“

Zane plucked her hand and practically dragged her along their skating noodle. Pretty soon, though, it was becoming apparent that Keaton didn’t have enough strength to control it all, especially the faster they went. They were coming up on a turn now.

“Uh, Keaton?” Cole asked, eyes on the wall of the rink. “Keaton, turn!”

“I’m trying!” She called back, wrenching on his arm.

Her skates slipped. They went sailing up into the air, straight over her head, and as she went down, so did everybody else, into one great big heap that bumped into the wall.

“AAAGH!!!”

THUMP!

Cole was the lucky duck at the very bottom of the pile.

“Did anyone break anything?” He groaned.

“Just my dignity,” said Kai, trying to move away. A couple of passersby offered them a hand, although Nya and Kai were adamant that they were done for the day.

The rest of the group skated on through the afternoon, small snowflakes gently falling, and once they finally done, they all got some nice, hot coco and sat together on a bench in the plaza.

“Best. Day. Ever!” Keaton declared, taking another huge sip of her coco.

“More like most painful day ever,” Kai grumbled, rubbing his backside where he had fallen down on the ice several times.

“Oh, lighten up! There’s snow falling, we’ve got hot coco—it’s Winter Fest!” Said Jay gleefully. “Not even Ann could complain about that.”

“That’s because I have plenty of other things,” she said, eyeing him slightly.

“What was that about lightening up?” Nya asked, putting herself between the two.

Keaton lifted her head. “So what should be do after the coco?”

“Well,” Cole sighed, “The festival games should be open by now.”

“There are GAMES?!” Keaton cried. “Well what are we doing here!? Come on!”

Onward they were dragged toward a long strip of parking lot where many booths had been put up, each one boasting a unique game and fabulous prizes. Keaton was instantly drawn to first giant plushie she saw, meanwhile Jay walked over to the bottle game. He sized up the little tower, then the balls they gave you to knock it down.

“Pfft, too easy,” he said cooly.

“Oh yeah, let’s see then,” said Kai, coming up beside him.

“It’s a waste of money,” Jay replied, folding his arms.

“Sounds to me like you’re chicken.”

Right at that moment, Nya had come over.

Jay slammed a fistful of money on the counter and the man in the booth gave him three balls.

“Watch this,” he said, taking a step back, then launching the ball as hard as he could. It missed by about an inch.

“Oh yeah, real easy,” Kai chuckled.

“Yeah yeah, okay, so my hand-eye-coordination isn’t perfect, give me break.” Jay turned back to the tower of bottles and readjusted his stance. His second ball zipped through the air—and bounced off the tower. “What?!”

Kai startle chuckling again.

“Gotta try harder than that,” said the man behind the counter.

“I’ll try ‘hArDeR tHaN tHaT’…” Jay mumbled. He wound up for his third and final shot, his eyes locked onto their target, his jaw set, his breathing steady. Then he released. The ball arched through the air… and only hit the bottle at the top of the tower.

“Thanks for playing,” said the man, handing him a keychain. “Here’s your prize.”

“You’re joking,” said Jay, taking the pathetic little thing.

Just then, Ann came up beside him, handed over some cash, and knocked over one of the towers in her first throw. The man at the counter gave her a giant bunny plushie that she immediately turned around and gave to Keaton.

“Thanks, Ann-Ji! You’re the best!”

Jay watched them walk away, still holding the pathetic key chain.

“Okay, let’s try this again,” he said, reaching for his wallet.

On the opposite side of the path, there was a hammer game that nobody seemed to be having much luck with.

“Oh, oh, Cole, you should totally try that one,” Keaton was saying. He looked the thing up and down, frowning. “Come on, it’ll be fun!”

Well… they were here anyway. Where was the point in saying no?

Cole strolled up to the man in charge, payed him, and took the mallet provided, which looked comically small in his big hands. Ann, Keaton, and Zane watched him as he swung the mallet over his head and brought it crashing down onto the target zone.

CRACK!

Cole blinked. The mallet in his hands at snapped clean in two. On the plus side, he had won the game.

“Sorry,” he said to a very unhappy carnival worker who pulled out a spare mallet.

“That was awesome!” Keaton cheered, her bunny plushie bouncing on her shoulders.

“Maybe a little less force next time?” Said Zane, smirking. Cole couldn’t help letting slip a small smile of his own. Sometimes he could forget just how strong he was.

The sky was starting to turn deep blue now as evening began and the festival lights took over, warming everything they touched. The four of them walked back over to Jay, Kai, and Nya who were still at the bottle tower booth.

“HA HA!” Jay shouted, holding up a duck plushie. “Victory!”

“Yup. Nothing says victory like a giant duck,” said Ann flatly.

“You’re just jealous that he’s better looking than you.”

“Meow, cat fight,” Kai called.

A little while later, they were walking down the festival paths together, looking for any more games they might want to try. The snow had stopped by now, leaving the sky pitch black and ready for the climax of the evening.

“Guys, come on, this way,” Cole said, feeling just the tiniest bit excited. The very last thing that always happened on the first day of Winter Fest was the annual lighting of the town tree.

There was already a crowd gathering in the town square where the lighting would be happening, standing around in the cold.

“What’s supposed to be happening?” Keaton asked, trying to look between the heads of the adults in front of them.

“You want a better view?” Cole asked.

He offered her his hand and lifted her onto his shoulders, while Ann stood by his side. The next few minutes were honestly quite boring, but eventually, a murmur went through the crowd, saying that they were just about to light the tree. A second later, a million multi-coloured lights blinked to life inside a gigantic tree.

“Wow…” Keaton breathed as the star at the top glittered and sparkled.

The crowd clapped and then began looking for cider, coco, and any other warm drink to make standing around int he cold worth it.

“Cool,” said Kai, stretching his arms.

“It’s so magical,” Nya added.

They stood there for a little while longer, watching the lights glint in the night.

For dinner, they grabbed something from a nearby booth and sat down in the plaza again, the naked trees now dressed up in twinkle lights. There were still some shoppers and ice skaters going by, making the neighbourhood feel alive.

As Cole was slurping up the last of his noodles, Keaton pulled out a small parcel from her coat.

“Happy Winter Fest, Ann!” She said, smiling. “It wouldn’t be Winter Fest without presents, right?”

“Oh,” said Ann, staring down at the package her sister was offering her. “Keat, you didn’t have to.”

“Hee hee, I know,” she smiled again.

Ann took the gift and carefully unwrapped it, revealing a teal sweater that looked rather expensive. She held it for a little while.

“I know you were busy keeping lookout when we were shopping, so I thought I might get you something special.”

Then, Ann actually smiled. “Thank you, Keaton. Now I’m glad I got you something too.” Keaton’s eyes lit up with surprise. “Now, it’s no fancy sweater, but…” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a brown bag with the candy shop logo on it. “I hope I got some you like.”

Keaton snatched the bag and tore it open, revealing a little bit of every kind of candy at the store, from the taffy to the fudge. “Oooh, thank you, Ann-Jiiiii!!!!” Keaton cried, hugging her sister.

“Yeah, yeah,” was all Ann said, smiling slightly. “You’re welcome.”

“Did anybody get me anything?” Jay asked, glancing around and grinning.

Ann just looked down at his backpack stuffed with comic books. “Call me crazy, but I think you already did,” she quipped.

Cole was starting to feel a little guilty that he hadn’t gotten someone something, but he felt a little better knowing he wasn’t the only one.

“So… I guess this means Winter Fest is… basically over, huh?” Said Nya watching the people go by.

“Yup… I guess it does,” said Kai.

They sat there a while longer, finishing their dinner. In a short while they’d be going back to the ship.

“We’ll come back into town tomorrow for the supplies we need, then we’ll head out,” Ann explained, folding up her new sweater and tucking it safely away.

“We’re really going back to Ninjago City?” Kai asked.

“We have to. We must keep Ninjago safe.”

Cole’s eyes drifted over to a small family walking down the street. A mother, a father, and a little girl. They were laughing together. If the Serpentine got what they were after… who knows what Brookeside would look like. He straightened in his seat.

“Alright. You heard the lady. We should probably start heading back now, if we want to good, long night of sleep,” said Cole, getting up and dumping his paper dish in a nearby trash bin.

“Back into the fray,” Kai muttered.

“At least we had a good holiday,” said Keaton, munching on some caramel.

This time, Cole was at the front of the group as they walked through town. It had been a good holiday, all things considered. Certainly better than years prior. He just hoped that there would be more holidays to come.

He took one last look at his hometown, sparkling with holiday spirit. Then he looked at his friends, still talking and laughing, and he smiled. It had been a good holiday indeed.

Merry Christmas!