Roots of Earth ~ A Ninjago Fanfiction

Chapter 8: The Dark Sleep

What really disconcerted Kai, though, was the constant whispering he realized he could hear. Invisible eyes watched him from the dark tunnels and crevices, and he caught snatches of hushed words, but wherever he looked, he couldn't see who was talking. For a second he thought it might have been the cats talking... but that was just ridiculous.

Pull yourself together, man! he told himself. Keep a cool head and figure out what's going on and how to get out of here!

Finally his captors led him into a large cavern. Its ceiling stretched hundreds of yards above his head and disappeared into shadows. Many flickering torches lined the walls, giving the huge room a dark, fiery feel to it. Boulders and rocks lay in enormous heaps at the walls, and the sides of the cavern were lined with rocky ledges and crevices, but the middle of the room was clear.

At the center of the cavern was a huge boulder that stood high and mighty. An ancient, hollow tree trunk leaned against the side of this enormous rock, though how a tree might have ended up in that cave, Kai had did not know.

This cavern was far from empty. Many people dressed in animal skins stood facing the tall rock, both men and women, young and old, though there were no children. What looked really strange about this gathering, though, was the fact that cats stood and sat among the people, clearly outnumbering them.

Kai was astounded to see what looked like hundreds of cats gathered there; big cats, small cats, long-haired cats, short-haired cats, cats of different colors and patterns, cats, cats, cats. The number was overwhelming. They flooded the floor, they sat on the boulders, they crawled up the rocks, and they watched from the walls' ledges and crevices.

If Lloyd was there, he would be sneezing himself to death, Kai thought with a grim smile.

As he was led down the center of the room, both humans and felines watched in silence. The cats that had been following them down the hall departed and dispersed among the others. The two men took him to the foot of the tallest rock and forced him to his knees.

"Get your grubby hands off me!" Kai shook them off. He didn't like this silence, he didn't like these people, he didn't like these cats, and he certainly didn't like whatever they were doing to him. Surveying the area, he got the feeling that he was just taken into some sort of throne room.

Movement from the boulder caught his eye, and he looked up.

A black cat stretched lazily on its belly atop the boulder. Haughtily flicking its tail, it watched Kai coldly. Silver markings outlined its emerald-green eyes—which for some reason looked familiar to Kai, but he couldn't recall where he had seen them before.

Silence reigned in the shadowy cavern. His captors standing on each side of Kai did not move nor speak. Kai shifted impatiently on his knees, wishing someone would just talk already.

Then, someone did—or, to be precise, something.

The black cat opened it jaws and spoke in a icy, female voice. "Behold: the Son of Fire. One of the famed guardians of Ninjago."

Kai, utterly dumbfounded at the sight of a talking cat, opened his mouth, then shut it.

The feline tilted her head at him. "Surprised, are you? I'm not. Very few of your kind have heard of our tribe, and when they do," Her voice fell to a hush. "they don't live long enough to tell the tale."

Kai finally found his voice. "Wha— what are you?"

She stood up with a contemptuous smirk. "What am I? Why, I, I am..." At this she leapt to the floor in front of him, landing gracefully on all fours. Kai watched in shock as the cat's body began to grow and convulse.