Roots of Earth ~ A Ninjago Fanfiction

Chapter 37: Jay's Terror

Lloyd looked at Cole. "What's he—? Oh, right." He bit his lip. "The deal you told me about."

"Yeah." Cole looked at Eagle Talon uncomfortably. There was no moonstone to give, but Talon didn't know that—and when he did, there was sure to be some trouble. Cole didn't know if Nya had a plan or not about what to do, but he figured it couldn't hurt to stall for time. "Right—right now?"

Talon crossed his arms. "Unless you need some time to remember where it is. I sure hope you haven't misplaced it." There was a dark warning note in his voice.

"Remember what Nya said? A friend of ours has it, and we'll need to contact them." Cole tried to think of a good excuse.

"And anyway, shouldn't we rescue Little Leaf first?" Lloyd added, "The bandits still have her, and the longer we wait, the more danger she's in."

Cole flashed him a grateful glance. Talon hesitated, now looking a bit uncertain.

"You'll need our help, Talon. You can't single-handedly find and rescue your half-sister; it'll be better if we work together," Cole said.

Talon's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What does Little Leaf matter to you?"

Lloyd hesitated. "She helped me escape her tribe-mates. I owe at least that much to her for saving my skin."

Talon still looked disbelieving, but before he could open his mouth to say more, another voice called from outside the ship. "Hey! Anyone home?"

"Dareth?" Cole and Lloyd jumped from their seats and sprinted to the railing. There, standing on the floor of the cave in a flashy brown outfit, stood their friend, his hair as carefully styled as ever.

"Hi!" Dareth waved his hand casually up at them. "Just came to see if you guys were here! Haven't seen you around for a few days."

"Why— well— hi, Dareth," Lloyd spluttered in surprise. "Come on up. Most of us are on board."

As Dareth strode up the gangplank, Cole demanded, "How do you know about Nya's hideout? Did she tell you?"

"I'm the Brown Ninja, aren't I? I know all your guys' secrets! By the way." Steeping on deck, Dareth ran a brush through his hair. "Could you tell Nya that her mini-fridge is getting low on Cheesy Puffs? I've been stopping by recently, and I need my protein after a walk like that."

Before either Cole or Lloyd could reply, Dareth stared at them and exclaimed, "Good gosh! What happened to you two? You look like something the cat dragged in!"

Cole glanced behind his shoulder at Eagle Talon at the cat-comment, but he realized the shapeshifting feline was no longer there. He must have slipped off at the first sign of an unfamiliar human.

Lloyd looked at himself and Cole and grimaced. They did indeed look pretty bad. Their clothes were soiled with dirt and sweat stains, Lloyd's green gi torn at the knees and Cole's uniform slightly scratched by the nekomata's claws. Both their mops of hair were streaked with dirt and messier than ever, and Lloyd could only guess at how many cuts and bruises blemished their sore and aching bodies.

"It— it's a long story, Dareth," Lloyd sighed.

"Does it have anything to do with the teashop?" he asked. "'Cause I when I went up to visit, there was nothing but a pile of ashes and burned wood. Plus, people back in town have been going on about some kind of animals escaping the zoo and attacking the police station and a hotel. Oh, and a couple of cops and a teenage girl from Stiix are missing. Huh!"

"Not to mention Skylor, Misako, Kai, and Ronin," Cole added bitterly.

"Huh?"

"I guess we should explain." Wearily Lloyd sat back down on the companionway and began. "See, there are these creatures called bakeneko and nekomata, which are shapeshifting..."