Roots of Earth ~ A Ninjago Fanfiction

Chapter 83: Retribution

Streak's expression was incredulous. She lashed her tails furiously. "There's more to the story than that. There's got to be. I know you care more than that."

"You don't know me."

"I'm your tribe-mate."

"So what?"

"Talon," Streak snapped. "Little Leaf may complain sometimes, but she loves her home. She's loved here. I love her like a sister. I know there's no way she'd just run off with those toms without a good reason."

"There are females, too," Talon muttered. His whiskers twitched in amusement at the thought of Nya blustering angrily at the implication that the ninja team consisted only of boys.

"Talon, tell me. If it's a secret, I promise I won't go blabbing it around to the tribe." Streak shifted forward, forcing him to look at her. "Please. She's my friend."

The two cats held each other's gazes for a few moments. Then, quietly, Talon murmured, "She said that Black Blood tried to kill her. That's why she ran away. To escape."

Streak's eyes widened. She inhaled sharply, gasping, "Ancestors save us..."

"It's mouse-brained," he muttered, taking another bite from his rabbit. There was a satisfying snap of bone this time. He crunched through it with a growl of satisfaction. "She's not right in her mind."

A weight slammed into his head, shoving his face into the mess of bloody meat and fur. His ear rang with pain. He yanked his head up with a loud growl. "What the—?!"

"What is wrong with you?!" He looked up to see Lightning Streak standing over him, bristling angrily and glaring at him, ears flattened against her head. Both tails lashed as she spat, "Why are you acting like you don't care?! She's your sister! She told you Black Blood tried to murder her, and—what—you don't believe her?"

"She's young," he hissed. "Easily mistaken. She doesn't know Black Blood. She doesn't know what she's talking about. Her head's been in the clouds ever since she snuck away on that one patrol that found Ll— the Son of the First."

"Your head's in the clouds, Eagle Talon!" she cried. "You're one of the most annoyingly overprotective big brothers there ever was in the tribe. Suddenly Little Leaf's on the humans' side just as we're on the brink of war, and for no reason at all you don't care? What happened to you?"

For a long moment Talon didn't respond. He only glared up at her, flexing his claws in and out as he resisted the urge to leap up and scratch her nose. At length he growled, "She's ten and five seasons old. She's capable of making her own decisions."

"She hasn't even earned her full name! Just last season you were telling her to stay in the nursery when that bear was loose!" Streak sputtered. "I can see right through you. Why are you acting like you don't care?"

There was no hiding it from Lightning Streak. Talon twisted his face into a scowl and looked away from her prying gaze. "Sometimes it's easier not to care. Especially when it's about something you can't change. Why waste your heart crying about it?"

Steak fell quiet. After a few seconds, Talon risked a glance up at her face. She was staring at him with a strange expression.

She eventually whispered, "When did you become so cold?"

"I became cold when the world did, and that was a long time ago," Talon snorted. He looked away again, determined not to meet her shocked gaze. "She's gone, and that's that. So just leave me alone."

A long, frozen silence followed his bitter words. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Streak's white paws trembling—whether with outrage or hurt, he couldn't tell. Finally, without a word, she turned and walked away. Talon ignored her, instead turning back to his rabbit.