Chapter 17
Fever
The wind howled frozen murder and large, icy waves smashed against the hull of the ninja’s ship, exploding into foam and spray and mist. Ann was doing her best to keep them steady, holding her position on the deck even as more saltwater crashed around her and thunder rumbled in the distance. If she didn’t, there was no telling what might happen to them all, tumbling across an unforgiving sea in a ship with no sails. Jay used to think he knew what it felt like to be helpless, but nothing could have prepared him for this.
He and all other unessential personnel were tucked away, safe and secure, below deck in the barracks. Nya and Keaton had put up some hammocks so that they wouldn’t have to keep laying on the freezing floorboards anymore, and as Jay was laying on his, swinging with the rocking of the ship, he watched the dark sky through the window. It was his job to let the others know if the storm would become too dangerous, forcing them to park somewhere near land. So far, the lighting was keeping its distance, content to play far out in the middle of the sea, where no one would get hurt.
Suddenly, the ship lurched, and Jay instantly knew that another big wave had knocked into them. He gripped the sides of his hammock and waited for things to die down a bit.
“Woah!” Cole yelped as he fell across the floor. He grumbled a bit more before resuming his sit-ups. Jay guessed that exercise was how he dealt with stress, and if he was stressed over a little storm, well… it didn’t do anything to help his own stress.
Zane turned over in the hammock next to him. He was doing his best not to do anything, or else his powers might get away from him in a winter storm like this. He turned over again, readjusting his blanket.
The ship creaked and shook, and for more than a few seconds, Jay wondered if maybe it was about to fall apart under the stress. Exactly how much could this old tub take? If he were to venture a guess, he’d say that there would be some maintenance work in his future. Which would mean having to work with Kai some more. Thunder rumbled in the distance.
“Achoo!”
“You okay?” Jay asked, looking over at Nya’s hammock.
“Fine,” she sniffed. “It’s just a little chilly. I’m more worried about…” She looked up.
“Yeah. Me too,” he said, imaging what the others were enduring up there. The boat dipped down suddenly as they rode another wave, then it started to climb again. Cole paused mid push-up and held his stomach for a minute.
Meanwhile, above deck, Ann, Keaton, and Kai for fighting the storm with everything they had. Ann, of course, was mainly focused on keeping the boat upright and moving, while Keaton desperately tried to blow away as much water as possible, though it only helped so much, and Kai was doing everything he could to keep them warm.
“Watch those flames!” Ann hollered over the wind in her ears, freezing them right down to her eardrums.
“You wanna switch places?!” Kai shot back, spitting out more saltwater. It wasn’t like there was a literal ocean around them, constantly trying to put out the fire or anything.
“How much further?!” Keaton asked. It had been well over an hour now, and her arms had begun to shake from the strain of fighting the mighty forces of nature.
“I’m not sure!” Ann tried to concentrate on their location, but with the waves all higgledy piggledy, all she was getting was a massive amount of confusion and anxiety. “Maybe we should just call it now!”
“Are you sure?! I was just getting warmed up!” Kai quipped. Truthfully, he was sick of the ocean, and of winter, and would give just about anything to live in a desert right about now.
“Well that makes one of us!” Ann shot back.
All of a sudden, another massive wave cropped up. They didn’t notice it until it had reached a truly alarming size, and was primed to hit them on their starboard side.
“ANN!”
“I see it! Hold on!” With enough strain to pop a vein on her forehead, Ann pushed the ship forward. Hard. They were now riding the wave as if they were a surfboard, fighting the current that wanted to flip them over, while also trying to escape the splash zone when that monstrosity eventually came down. The ship was tilting, wanting to roll as the water beneath it was swept up into the growing wave, and the wind was blowing vapour and foam up at them as well; a vortex of bone-chilling terror.
“We’re tilting! Tilting!” Kai cried, his feet beginning to slip on the snot-like surface of the deck.
“I KNOW!” Ann screamed, going practically red in the face with the effort it was taking to keep them steady and moving forward.
“I’ll try to—AAHHH!!!”
“KEATON!!!” Kai went after her instantly. A bit if a wave had broken against the hull, and they were going so fast, a large piece of it had knocked the little ninja over, sending her flying into the violent wind. He grabbed her hand, and forced his numbing fingers to hold on, even as his shoes slipped and his body slammed into the deck. At least Keaton wasn’t lost at sea. Instead, the two of them were simply clinging onto the side railing for dear life.
“WE’RE ALMOST OUT!!!” Ann shouted, seeing the end of the wave. “HOLD ON!!!”
“WHAT DO YOU THINK I’M DOING!?!?” Kai screeched, his throat feeling like someone had put it through a wood chipper. He used his body to help steady Keaton, and then got himself into a more stable position, one hand on the railing, the other still gripped tightly around Keaton’s wrist.
Then, in the snap of a finger, it was over. They had made it out of the wave, the ship righted itself, and everyone could breathe again. Even the ocean seemed to be breathing steadily.
“Is that… what I think it is?” Keaton asked.
Kai looked up, and to his surprise, he saw pale sunlight peering through the clouds, streaming down onto the waves in golden beams. “Finally…” he sighed, letting his head fall against the railing. It was no electric heater or fireplace, but any form of energy was enough for him right now. Thanks to Wu’s training, he zeroed in on the light, now falling on his face as the low clouds moved around. He let the heat well up inside of him, warming up his skin and fingers and toes. After a second or two, he started to notice steam rising from his jacket.
Keaton scooted closer and rested her head on his arm. “Thanks for saving me.”
“I’ve got you,” he said, finally letting go of her wrist and wrapping his arm around her.
With not much else to look at, his eyes found their way over to where Ann was standing. Well, ‘hunching’ might have been a better term. She was bent over, her arms on her knees, breathing heavily. He would have asked if she were alright, but he got his answer as he saw her legs buckle and she crumpled to the floor.
“Ann!” He called, forcing himself to get up and go to her. Keaton was right behind him. “Ann, you okay?” She was still awake, but very weak, and very cold.
“I’m fine…” she croaked, so quietly it was practically a whisper.
“Hold still,” said Kai. He reached out both hands and laid them on her face, letting the warmth in them seep into her cheeks.
“Is she alright?” Keaton asked, her voice cracking.
“I told you, I’m fi—ack! Ack!” She rolled over, trying to cover her cough. “—fine,” she finished with a grimace. “Just gotta… get the boat to shore…” She slowly propped herself up and it looked like she was trying to lift her arms like she usually did when steering the ship, but they both just wound up palm-side down on the floor. To her credit, the boat did move, albeit a little. It sort of lurched a bit, toward land, but it seemed to Kai that the ocean was doing most of the work, turning them and slowly sending them to safety.
“Come on. Let’s get below deck,” Kai said, trying to pick her up.
“No—no, I gotta—“
“Get some rest,” Kai insisted.
“I’m fine!” She repeated, pushing his shoulder back.
“No, you’re not!” Kai snapped, pulling her up by the arms.
“I’ll grab her legs,” Keaton offered. Between the two of them, they were able to subdue her, and Kai had her draped over his shoulder as they walked downstairs.
“I hate you,” she grumbled.
“I think I can live with that,” he grumbled back.
There was some amount of water swishing about down here, but as they were already dripping wet, Kai didn’t really care that his shoes were soaked through.
When they arrived at the barracks, they were met with a lot of surprised faces. Everyone, naturally, wanted to know exactly what had happened, and Keaton was happy to fill them in as Kai plopped Ann into her hammock.
“Ow,” she muttered.
“But you’re ‘fine,’ right?”
She glared at him and shoved him away with her foot. Then she coughed again and pulled her blanket up around her shoulders.
“I thought you were supposed to be up there keeping them warm,” Cole prodded, arms crossed.
Kai’s eyes narrowed. “You try it sometime, Mole.”
Cole was forced to sigh and some of the tension in his body left. “How long until we make landfall?”
“Soon,” said Kai. “You’ll have to bring us in.”
Cole sighed again but nodded. Then—
“ACHOO!!” Keaton let loose another of her signature sneezes and opted to lay down as well. “I think I might have a cold,” she sniffed.
“Oh no,” said Nya, as all of them realised the many ways this could complicate their next mission. “Kai, do you think you could—?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m on it.” He stepped into the center if the room and started radiating heat, as well as creating several fireballs. Once again, he was everyone’s personal heater. Yup. He couldn’t wait until winter was over.
* * *
The ship had made landfall about a half an hour ago, and by now the clouds were starting to clear, and the sun had started to set. There were a few lights which they could see in the distance, some from buildings like lighthouses, others from boats out on the water.
There were many small peninsulas on the North end of Ninjago, which some called ‘the Dragon’s Head,” and they had found a wide inlet where they could hide their ship for the night. Cole had created another make-shift dock out of stone and he, Jay, and Zane had gone together to scout the area and find out where they were while Kai stayed behind to keep the girls warm and dry off.
This area was mostly rocks and hills and sand, with some maple trees scattered around, eagerly awaiting spring. The shadows were growing long, and the eastern sky was growing dark as the sun slipped further and further away. Lucky for them, there was only a thin spattering of snow on the ground here.
“Heh. I’d kill to have a flashlight right about now,” Jay quipped, eyeing a particularly knobby and shadowy tree. When no one else said anything, he added, “You know, cause it’s so dark?”
“We get it, Jay,” said Cole.
Jay shrunk back a bit, rubbing his arm as they walked.
By now, the pain from his wound had become something of a constant for him, to the point that he had begun to forget what it was like without it. But he shouldn’t have long to wait, now. As soon as that green scab cleared up, he’d be good to go. He just needed to give it time and weather the storm until then.
By twilight they were walking back to the ship, having discovered a small town nearby which Cole recognised. They were a few miles away from Ninjago City, maybe even close enough to walk, which was looking to be more and more the case. When they finally did get back, both Keaton and Ann had a fever. Nothing too serious—yet, that is—but it would mean that their ship would be without a driver for a while.
Cole went to grab some food from their pantry while Jay sat on the edge of his hammock watching Nya tend to her female companions. Although, there wasn’t much she could do besides help keep them warm.
“If we get the chance to do another supply run, we should buy some tissues and maybe some cough syrup,” she said to Kai as she sat back down.
“We can head into town tomorrow,” said Cole as he came back, holding several cans of soup, utensils, a can opener, and a couple of oranges. Kai heated them all up before they were opened, and soon, everyone was slurping away at their individual cans while a gentle wind whipped outside.
Jay watched a floating fireball that was near to him for a few minutes, flickering and jittering in the air. “So what’s the plan for the museum?” He asked after a while. “How are we going to get the Blade Cup?”
Cole set his can down. “Well, I’ll scout out the place first, since I’m not on the police’s radar.”
“Wouldn’t it be easier to just leave it there? Isn’t it guarded day and night?” Kai pointed out.
“Like that’s gonna stop the Serpentine from hypnotising the security guards?” Cole countered. “The only people strong enough to keep it from them are sitting in this room.”
“That’s a scary thought,” Jay blurted.
“Yeah,” said Nya. “What about the military? I think they’d have enough resources to stand up to them.”
“Sure, but what would compel them to guard an old trophy?” Kai pointed out. “We’re the only ones who know what they’re looking for.”
“And we still do not know what precisely they will be used for,” said Zane. “Simply the Serpentines’ motives.”
“Uncertainty. It’s what’s for dinner,” Jay quipped, taking another bite of soup.
“And don’t forget,” said Ann from her hammock. “We need to be back at the cave as soon as we’re done—“ she coughed a few times, “—Wu could be back any day.”
Everyone in the room seemed to shift uncomfortably. They had more or less forgotten about that fun little detail. Speaking of which, Wu had said that he was going to bring an ally to help them. Maybe it was some sort of guru or another wise old master or something cool and mystical like that.
“Well, let’s get some sleep then,” said Cole, downing the last of his soup.
* * *
During the night though, Jay couldn’t sleep. He was tossing and turning, wondering when the night would just be over. His arm was acting up again, even worse than usual—one might even say it felt like the wound was crawling—but he didn’t dare make a sound above a whisper, for fear of waking the others, hanging all around him in their hammocks.
Inwardly, he flinched as he imagined what their reactions would be if they found out about his arm. The lecture from Ann, the rant from Cole, the groaning from Kai, the worried looks from Keaton, the confused reaction from Zane, and above, the dreaded question, “Why didn’t you tell us sooner?” It was too late now. He’d already decided. He could handle this. He’d come a long way since the junkyard, and he wasn’t about to go back to that whimpering, weak kid, always asking for help.
As the ship gently bobbed, he wished that Wu was there to give him more of that sleep syrup stuff. He knew he’d be just useless if he couldn’t recharge tonight. Surprisingly (not), he failed to fall asleep within the next five minutes, same as the five minute before that, and the five minute before that. Then his leg began to bounce.
By this point, he knew what he had to do, and so he gingerly slid out of his cloth hammock, tip-toed across the room to the door, slowly pulled it open, and—
cough! cough! cough!
He froze his hand still on the door, and then let out his breath very slowly. It had only been Ann, far away in her hammock, coughing in her sleep. Er, well, near sleep? Probably drowsy at least. Whatever, the terminology didn’t matter. He slid through the opening the door had created, and then gently closed it behind him. Which was not an easy feat, as this was an old, old, old door, with worn down wood, small, wonky handles, and more than a little rust.
Mental note: fix the doors and oil them.
From there, the walk became much easier. He still tread lightly, as the boards were prone to creak, but he doubted that the others could really hear all that much from down below. Especially as he emerged on the top deck.
The moon had come out, shining through the occasional wisp of cloud, like a white spotlight directly overhead, lighting up the boat and the inlet and the tree surprisingly well. Jay smiled. You never really got nights like this when you lived next to a big city. Sure, they were far enough away that sometimes you might get an okay night, but nothing like this.
Actually, the more he thought about it, the more the moon really did remind him of a spotlight, like the ones at the performing arts competition. His arm had kept him from fully enjoying it, but overall it had been an exhilarating experience. The music, the crowd, the lights, the feeling if her heart pounding as you glide across the stage… Jay didn’t know if he would ever admit it, but… Mr. Becket just might have turned him into a believer. Maybe, if he ever had another spare moment in his crazy life, he could find a way to reach out to a dance studio or something. Could be fun. Then again, if he was all caught up with showbiz, when would he ever work on his inventions?
Crack!
Jay turned around. That had sounded like a twig, somewhere out in the forest. It echoed across the hills, like a pin drop in an empty room. His eyes scanned the world around him, but the moonlight didn’t reach far beyond the treetops. There was no movement which he could see, and yet, somehow, that did not put his mind at ease.
‘Could just be an animal, like a deer,’ he reminded himself.
His heart froze.
There, across the water on the shore, from deep within the shadows of the trees, were two small orbs of white light, watching him. His mind jumped to cartoonishly outlandish conclusions, but there in the night, completely exposed, somehow they seemed all too real.
‘Could just be a wild animal,’ he reminded himself again, but his heart rate didn’t go down.
Then, it was just gone. The eyes hadn’t moved, they’d simply… disappeared. He thought about having a lightning bolt ready, but they always made so much crackling noise—if anything, it would attract more attention.
His ears were working double time and his eyes kept on searching those trees, but so far, nothing. Perhaps he should get below deck. They needed to stay hidden, right? But then again… if there was something out there… what if it came aboard the ship in the night? What if it was the Serpentine?
And just like that, Jay was the new, self-appointed guard dog of the ship. The only way on—unless the Serpentine could swim—was the stone dock, so Jay climbed down to it and put himself between the ship and land, daring any would-be attackers to strike.
He waited.
And waited.
And waited some more.
It couldn’t have been less than thirty minutes later, and he was still standing there, on the stone dock, waiting for something to happen. Hopefully, this was a good sign. Maybe there was nothing to worry about after all. Maybe he could just slip back into bed, and finally get some sleep. Maybe everything would be fine. Or maybe—
rustle RUSTLE
—there was something out there after all.
* * *
Nya blinked hard and rolled over so that the morning sunlight wouldn’t be shining in her eyes. She was so not used to how early the mornings were up in the north, with no mountains to hold the sun back for a few hours. The reflection on the water didn’t help either.
Drowsily, she looked over at the hammock next to her—Jay’s hammock—and expected to see him there, lightly snoring, like he tended to do, but instead she frowned. There was a surprising lack of weight in the hammock, so either he shrunk down to the size of a centipede during the night, or he had already gotten up. She surprised she didn’t hear anything, as she was usually a light sleeper.
She had planned on going back to sleep just then, but… it was strange. She felt so restless all of a sudden. So… uneasy. She looked back over at the empty hammock and the feeling steadily grew.
‘It should be fine,’ she said to herself. ‘But… just in case…’
It wouldn’t be the first time the guys had mysteriously disappeared in the night. Speaking of which, she quickly did a head count. Everyone else was still right where they should be. Asleep. So what was Jay doing up?
She slipped out of bed and walked herself up the old wooden stairs to the deck. Again, it was probably nothing to worry about. He might just be training, or couldn’t sleep, or something simple like that.
That clear, water, ocean, sea-plant smell hit her like a truck when she got outside, and the light reflecting off the shifting surface of the inlet made her squint something awful, but she still see clearly enough to tell… Jay was definitely not here. She poked around the top and bottom of the deck. Still nothing. She looked down at the dock. Nothing.
“Okaaaay,” she said, somewhat nervous. “Maybe he’s just inside somewhere.” So she went back down and looked around all the unused rooms thinking that maybe he’d… gone off to be alone? That thought struck her. He wasn’t anywhere in the ship, so maybe he’d gone for a walk? It was her only logical answer, and if that wasn’t it… well, she really didn’t wanna then about it.
She ducked back into the barracks and hesitantly approached her brother.
“Kai,” she whispered, nudging him. “Kai!” He didn’t even twitch. “Kai!” She said again, this time shaking him.
He woke with a start, his arm going up like it was ready to knock her out.
“Woah, woah! It’s just me!” She said, instantly backing up.
“Ugh, what?” Kai asked, collapsing back into bed.
“It’s Jay. He’s gone.”
Kai lifted his head. “What?”
“He’s not on the boat,” she clarified. “I thought that maybe he went for a walk or something, but I didn’t think going off by myself to look for him was a good idea, so—“
“He’s gone?” He repeated, getting up. “For how long?”
Nya shrugged. “I just woke up and his hammock was empty.”
He looked over at the empty thing, a frown slowly forming in his forehead. Without hesitation, he lifted a leg and shoved Cole awake.
“What?! Sho—huh?” He said in a drowsy stupor.
“Jay’s missing.”
Cole’s eyes focused and then his head dropped. “Not again.”
Again? Well, this was news to Nya.
Kai got up and shoved Zane awake. “Jack Frost, get up, Jay’s missing.”
“Again?” Zane asked.
“So help me if he got himself killed…” Cole mumbled as he adjusted his jacket and started heading for the door. Kai and Zane were right behind him.
“Wait, you’re just gonna leave me here?” Nya asked, suddenly feeling a little vulnerable.
“You’ll be fine, just keep quiet and wake up Ann if anything happens,” Kai said over his shoulder. She could hear their heavy footsteps racing up the stairs and across the deck, then they were gone.
“Ooookay,” she said to herself, glancing around the room. “Just sit tight. Easy for you to say.”
* * *
“What’s his problem, anyway?” Kai grumbled through his mask as they ran through the woods. “Can’t just sit still for two seconds!”
“Shut your flame-hole, Cheeto dust, you want the whole prefecture to know where we are?” Cole retorted, watching the ground. Jay’s footprints in the thin layer of snow were getting fainter and fainter the further into the forest they went, so he really needed to focus. So far, it didn’t seem like anything had happened to him, he had simply walked away. It’s possible he might have been following someone, or maybe he thought he heard something, or maybe he just went on a walk and they were worrying over nothing. At any rate, there didn’t seem to be any other footprints around, or snake-prints for that matter.
The trail turned suddenly, leading to what appeared to be some sort of little cave beneath a collection of boulders. Well, cave wasn’t really the right word, it was more like a hole. A man-sized hole, but still a hole. The footprints led inside.
“What the—?” Said Kai as they got closer.
“Perhaps he decided to hibernate?” Zane suggested.
“Only if he was a bear,” Kai replied.
“Both of you, knock it off,” Cole hissed, and he tensed his body, prepared for anything that may be waiting inside.
* * *
Jay felt his eyes open. The first thing he saw was light shining onto a stone wall. The first thing he heard was Cole’s voice as he shook him awake.
“Guys?” He blurted, lifting his face out of the dirt. He would have asked “what’s going on” if he didn’t already know. The three of them were staring at him, sitting there in a little cave/hole/thing. “What time is it? What are you doing here?”
“Looking for you, you little maniac,” said Cole, clearly frowning under his mask. “What the heck are doing out here?”
“Pfft, nothing!” Jay said, getting up and dusting himself off. “Just communing with nature!” He smiled as he walked passed them all, but inwardly he was grimacing. The memories from last night were a little hazy now, but he distinctly remembered guarding the ship, then hearing a sound, and following it into the woods. It had all seemed so logical at the time. But then, that’s where things started to get a little funny. Being out in the woods, all alone, he started to feel… well, weird. He couldn’t really describe it. Whatever sound he had heard, probably wasn’t anything more than a rabbit or owl or something, and he had given up the search. Next thing, he was feeling cold, and almost instinctively, he found that little hole in the ground and… well, fell asleep by the looks of things. Again, it all had seemed to make sense at the time, but boy did it feel strange now. “You guys seriously didn’t have to come all this way to check on me,” he said to them, turning around with a smile on his face. “What, did Kai miss me?”
Kai, however, did not look amused. In fact, he looked very tired. And possibly ready to murder someone. “Get your butt back to the ship,” he growled.
“Aww, I think he did—AHH!”
Kai had grabbed Jay by the head and was squeezing hard.
“Uncle! UNCLE!” Jay yelped, trying to pry his arm away.
“Would you knuckleheads cut it out!” Cole snapped. Kai rolled his eyes and let a grateful Jay go. “Get down and keep quiet.”
Jay suddenly crouched to his knees and looked around. Enemies? The Serpentine? A wild bear?
Cole inched closer to a wide tree and peeked around it every so often. Before Jay could even try asking a question, Cole motioned for them to stay low and keep their mouths shut. Jay slowly closed his.
There wasn’t anything out there that he could hear, and he certainly couldn’t see anything, but Cole had definitely locked onto something. Then, he gave the signal to slowly start moving back. Jay moved across the ground like a nimble cat, using every stealth trick Wu had taught him up till now, and the others did the same. Whenever he had a spare second, he also slowly pulled his mask over his face.
“Thought you could get away so easy?” Said someone behind them, a strange voice they did not recognise.
Jay’s first instinct was to run, and luckily for him, Cole’s first instinct was to create a stone barrier between them and the stranger.
“Into the trees!” Zane called. None of them really had time to think, and into the branches they went, like large monkeys jumping from one branch to the next. This much pressure on his arm, though, was severely hindering Jay’s mobility.
“Come on!” Kai cried, grabbing Jay’s arm and hurrying him along to the next branch.
Finally, they were at a level where they felt comfortable enough to start heading back toward the ship, away from—Jay looked down—what appeared to be the police. There was at least a dozen men running around down there, chasing after them.
“I think they want us to pull over,” Jay quipped as he jumped to the next tree and nearly lost his footing.
“How’d they even find us?!” Kai cried.
“They probably wouldn’t have if we’d all been in bed this morning!” Cole shouted in Jay’s direction.
“Like I knew there’d be a police squad picking daisies in the forest at six a.m!” Jay shot back, feeling his face warm just a touch.
“Look out!” Zane suddenly called as each of them slammed into the trunk of one tree in particular.
THUNK
THUNK
THUNK
THUNK!
“Why’d we stop?” Jay asked.
“Gee, let me think,” said Kai dryly.
Jay peeked around the trunk and saw quite a shocking lack of trees in front of them. Of course it was just their luck that they would run into a small meadow. “That’s a long way down,” Jay observed, spying the officers who looked about as big as his outstretched thumb.
Right when he finished speaking—after the final syllable was uttered—there was aa blood curdling CRACK, and the tree shuddered.
“You jinxed it,” said Kai, glaring at him.
“Oh, come on, it’s probably fine—“ just then the tree started to fall. “Okay, I jinxed it. AAAAHHH!!!”
THUD!!!
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