Roots of Earth ~ A Ninjago Fanfiction

Chapter 61: Skylor in the Cold and Misako in the Dream

She was slightly surprised to realize that it was a young man not much older than she was—one with a youthful freckled face and blue eyes. Reddish-brown hair peeked out messily from under some sort of dark-colored cap, of which embroidered at the front was some sort of gold symbol; a curving line with additional dots within its shape. The man's whole attire seemed to hold a gray-and-navy-blue theme. Gray armor was strapped both over and under simple clothing, while dark, thick pants contrasted against big, fluffy white boots that looked as if they were made of fur. A thick belt wound about his waist and carried several pouches and a leather holster carrying some sleek, metal weapon. The slim gloves he wore were cut off at the fingertips. His appearance looked somewhat like a uniform, although Skylor had never seen such a style in warrior or guardsman.

The man froze in his tracks and gaped at her, his mouth hanging open. His arms fell to his sides—one hand carried a ring of some strange sort of keys, one that looked to be made of dark metal and shaped in slanted squares. The person stood there for a moment, speechless, before managing to stammer, "Y— you're up!"

"That, or I'm sleepwalking," she responded wryly.

The man hesitated, then took a cautious step forward. "Who— who are you?"

Skylor paused. There was no reason to hide her identity, but she would rather have known who this person was first. "Who are you?"

"I am Akiak." At this the young man drew himself up. "Second Order Private. Twenty-seventh Regiment of the Polarian Forces of His Majesty the King Silla the Fourteenth."

Skylor blinked slowly. "Uh-huh... Akiak."

"My superior officer and I found you lying in the middle of one of the lakes westward two weeks ago," Akiak said. He ventured a step closer. "I was the one who saved you. You should thank me."

"Thank you?" Skylor repeated incredulously. "For what? For dragging me to this cold place, locking me in this stinking cell and whipping me in my sleep? Yeah, thanks a lot."

Akiak stared at her. Instead of being angry and offended, he simply seemed puzzled. "Don't you have any idea what I am? What people have you in their grasp right now?"

"No," she replied flatly.

He frowned. "Who are you? How can anyone not know who we are?"

"I'm not from here. I come from a land far away." Skylor wasn't exactly sure how far, but she was pretty sure Ninjago was far enough that nobody here knew it.

"We're the only people who live here. There aren't any other places." Akiak's frown deepened. "Surely you can't be one of the savages who live in these parts—but there aren't any other people."

He said this more to himself than to Skylor, but she answered nonetheless. "I'm neither." Instead of attempting to explain, which she already figured would be a futile venture, she changed the subject. "Why did you lock me in here? I didn't do anything wrong!"

"We couldn't tell if you were a savage or a rogue Polarian." Akiak shrugged. "Toklo and the other officers thought it best to lock you up in case you were dangerous."

"And whip me in my sleep?"

"Whatever we did, you would not wake. We thought you might have seen one of those savages' medicine men and had been cursed, so that if you were captured by us you would avoid torment. They wanted to see if they could rouse you with pain."

Skylor felt her disdain for this man increasing. She scowled. "So—when you discover a helpless person who's really sick, outside all alone, the first thing you do is lock them in a freezing cold dungeon and nearly kill them when they can't even defend themselves. Nice to meet you, too."