Roots of Earth ~ A Ninjago Fanfiction

Chapter 45: The Fur Flies

"Here is what happened to the one you call Dog Bone!" Cackling, the girl kicked the corpse with scorn. "No longer does this castle belong to him. It belongs to me: Black Blood, daughter of Silver Mist, leader of the Tribe of the Moon! And you," She hissed, clenching her fists, "will all pay."

Guests screamed wildly when enormous cats burst out from the curtains and flung themselves into the crowd, snarling loudly. Fur of many different colors flashed by Zane's vision. People tripped over themselves and each other in order to get away. Tables were knocked over, food and dishes spilling and shattering. Zane found himself shoved and jostled as everyone flooded for the exit doors.

"Ah-ah-ah," Black Blood cooed with mock motherly disapproval. She waved her hand to one of the tall open doors, as if gesturing to someone or shooing away a fly. At the wave of her hand, two figures suddenly appeared.

All the blood drained from Nya's face. Zane saw his companion's horrified expression and looked in her direction—and from his head, Pixal cried out in shock.

Misako and Ronin stood there, and they looked awful. Their skin was pasty, dark bags hung under their eyes, and their hair was in disarray. Their clothes were rumpled and torn, and several black and blue bruises stained their pale flesh.

What made their completely unexpected appearance all the more eery was that their eyes were closed, as if asleep. Something made Zane look at their feet. He realized that they were not touching the floor; Misako and Ronin were hovering just a few inches above the ground, as if they were hung up by some invisible wire. Their heads rolled around limply on their heads, and they were completely motionless—rather as if they were sleepwalking.

Black Blood still had her hand out in a frozen gesture. She grinned widely and made an odd movement with both her arms, as if she were conducting an orchestra.

Back at the entrance doors, Misako's body lurched forward toward the crowd, and the people reeled back. Ronin's body staggered up beside her, slow yet abrupt movements, like a zombie. The party guests hung back from the door, transfixed by the strange, puppet-like figures blocking the way.

Zane stared at Misako and Ronin. Could his eyes be deceiving him? That would be incorrect—his retina and visual scanning programming was in excellent shape, and there was no need for his equipment to malfunction now... He knew what he was seeing.

"Black Blood has possessed Misako and Ronin!" Zane gasped.

Nya's eyes widened, and she glanced at him incredulously. "'Possessed?'" She repeated. "Zane, these are cats, not ghosts!"

"However, some of the Moon Tribe members appear to be sorcerers, with powers not unlike Matilda's," Zane countered. "Perhaps taking control of a human's body is one of their abilities."

If Zane was going to say anything else, it was interrupted by a new chorus of terrified cries. Misako and Ronin's bodies were lurched forward at the horror-stricken crowd, still hovering above mid-air. The guests rolled back further when the enormous cats strode toward them from the sides of the room and closed in on them, penning everyone up into one big circle.

Nimbly Black Blood hopped over Dog Bone's remains, striding up with a sneer. "Would you like to see what happens when a human crosses us?"

Zane would have replied "no", but he detected by her tone that it was merely a rhetorical question.

The Moon Tribe leader gestured again with her hands. Misako staggered forward. She suddenly fell backwards, as if pushed down by some invisible force, but was lifted horizontally in the air. Hovering with her back facing the ground and the tip of her braid mere inches from the ground, she convulsed abruptly. A strangled groan escaped her throat, and she writhed in invisible pain—all the while her eyes remained closed.