Roots of Earth ~ A Ninjago Fanfiction

Prologue

She gazed at him for a few seconds more, then grunted. "What are you doing here?"

The young man shifted on his feet. "Just thought I'd drop by. Be a good nephew and check on my dear aunt." His eyes drifted over the shelves lining the room.

"Humph." Matilda's fingers left her belt. "Is that so." She turned back to the steaming broth and poked at the meat with a long wooden spoon. "Close the door, kid. You're letting in the cold air."

The boy blinked, then quickly shut the door before his gaze returned to the shelves. Countless notebooks, journals, papers, bottles, and vials filled them, with the occasional clump of herbs or flowers bringing a faint, sweet scent to the room.

His eyes rested on a small blue-colored stone nestled between several vials filled with hair. It was but an ordinary stone, with a thick layer of dust coating it, but the teen's eyes gleamed hungrily at the sight of it.

He flexed his fingers, but before he could move, the woman spoke without looking up.

"How's your sister? And Calvin?"

Steven glanced over at her uneasily. "Uh— they are well. We, ah—" He looked at the stone again. The shelf it was sitting on the wall right behind the witch. "We found a jackpot of iron yesterday. We got to forge a new helmet for Calvin."

"Mm." Matilda didn't take her eyes off he soup. "That's good."

Steven began to slowly edge his way around Matilda without drawing attention, licking his lips as he stared at the stone.

"Seriously, though, why are you here?"

Steven paused. "What do you mean?"

Matilda snorted. "When was the last time you visited me in the dead of night, trying to 'be a good nephew and check on your aunt'? Do you think I've got dirt for brains?" She poked at a chunk of meat. "What do you want? Are you in trouble again?"

Steven's lip curled with something like anger. His eyes narrowed at Matilda's back.

The witch stilled, suddenly sensing something amiss.

Before she could turn around, an unearthly growl sounded from Steve's throat. "I want... this!"

Long claws suddenly formed from the teenager's fingernails, and he slashed at Matilda's back. The woman swore in shock and rolled onto the floor, narrowly missing the cauldron.

She whipped around and stared in astonishment as her nephew's pupils suddenly narrowed to vertical slits and the tips of his ears turned pointed. With a scratchy hiss, the creature sprung at Matilda and slashed his long claws at her cheek.

Shrieking in mingled pain and fury, she reached for the stick in the sheath. Her attacker stumbled and knocked over the cauldron with a loud splash and clatter. Both sprang back from the boiling broth spilling across the floor.

As Matilda stumbled to her feet, the creature snatched the blue stone from the shelf. For a split second their eyes met. In that moment, she felt herself gasp in recognition.

The creature snarled, displaying fangs, and sprung at her.

She snatched her wand from her belt and shouted something unintelligible under her attacker's roar. There was a flash of light, and the creature caterwauled in pain. He grabbed the woman and smashed her to the floor, knocking over a chair as well as knocking her head.

Mind reeling from the shock, she tried feebly to defend herself. She moaned, her eyelids flickered, and she was dimly aware of the bleeding from her cheek and the claws digging into her shoulders. Despite her best efforts, she succumbed to unconsciousness, and slumped under her attacker's weight.

* * *

The first thing Matilda was aware of was pain. It seemed to pulse everywhere. With a low moan she forced her eyes open, and found herself in lying in a pool of chicken broth. Her home was dark and silent. The door was wide open, letting in a cold breeze and faint starlight.

With disgust she wiped chopped carrots, onions, and garlic from her robes and stood up. She picked up her wand from the floor and surveyed the room and shelves. Nothing else had been disturbed.

The witch rubbed her head, wincing from the pain as she tried to make sense of what had happened. Obviously a master of disguise had impersonated as her nephew in order to steal something from her. Steal what? She gazed at the shelf and found that the little blue stone was gone.

She raised an eyebrow. Odd. Of all the things to steal from this house, why that? It was virtually useless, and nothing practical could be done with it.

Matilda quirked her lips in thought. While useless in this world, there was another in which that stone could become dangerously powerful. It was quite a long time ago, but she recalled vicious battles, heroic warriors, and ancient enemies, all an intricate story in a distant land. She remembered a handsome warrior with a heart as cold as ice, a good friend with the power of earth, and a brave boy with eyes like emeralds. She remembered...

Her hands balled into fists. That was no ordinary thief that stole the stone. If her worst fears were confirmed, if that creature was what she thought it was, then that meant...

The witch said a single word; a name that triggered the memory of a forgotten journey from long ago:

"Cole."

She gazed at the stars out the door for what felt like a long time. At last she turned to the line of shelves. From there she took a small bag full of tea leaves and stared at it firmly.

"Time to return to Ninjago."