The Child of Silver

3

"What does that mean?" Jay asked confused.

"Every adolescent dragon goes through a transformation before it becomes an adult. We must allow them to migrate east to the Spirit Coves for their transformation."

"Will we see them again?"

"It is hard to say. But we need to allow them to follow their own path."

"Rocky's going east?" Cole asked as the other ninja, Nya and Anirei walked over to the dragons, "Say it isn't so, Rocky."

The ninja hugged their respective dragons, but the dragons glanced only for a moment at the little girl hidden behind the mask. Behind her mask, Anirei smiled, happy to see that they were ready to transform into something incredible.

"Well, I guess I gotta go on this long walk all by myself." Jay said, and although he tried to sound disappointed in not being able to travel by dragon, he smiled and spoke with a hint of hope as he walked over to Nya.

"Sure would be nice to have some company."

Nya nodded, but the others spoke out as well.

OF course we'll go, buddy." Kai said.

"I could use a break." Cole said.

"All you had to do was ask." Zane added.

"Might I also accompany you, Jay? I would enjoy seeing a real junkyard." Anirei said.

Jay sighed, but did not complain when everyone followed him down the road.

~~~~

The dragons flew high into the sky, heading east towards the Spirit Coves as the ninja walked down the road below towards Jay's home. The only sounds heard were the pitter patter of their footsteps and the soft music Sensei Wu was playing on his flute.

"Ah. Of all the days to lose our ride..." Jay said as the dragons disappeared from their sight.

Zane walked up next to Sensei Wu, staring at the flute in curiosity, "That flute, you've never told us why it's so special."

Sensei Wu stopped playing, "Long ago, there were many flutes, created to combat the powers of the Serpentine and drive them underground. But over time, Ninjago's forgotten its ancestors' wisdom, and now this is the only one."

Sensei Wu turned towards Jay and played the flute right in his face.

"I get the lesson, respect your elders or else suffer the consequences. Boy, you guys are laying it on thick." Jay griped.

"Perhaps you are only hearing what you need to hear."

Anirei walked up to Sensei Wu and looked up at his flute.

"If I may, Sensei Wu, might I have a chance to play the sacred flute?" She asked. Wu, eager to see if she could play the flute, handed the instrument to the young girl. But even thought she was wearing a mask, the small hole where her mouth was positioned allowed her enough space to place it without removed her cover.

She blew into the flute and everyone was surprised to hear such a beautiful melody play through the calm air. Anirei only played for a short moment, at least until they reached the junk yard. It was small place, mostly filled with tires but held more than that. 

But Jay became uneasy by the silence.

"What's wrong?" Nya asked.

"It's quiet." Jay answered, "My family's never quiet." 

The ninja pulled over their hoods and everyone ran into the junkyard. Almost instantly, Jay heard muffled screams from a nearby broken refrigerator and kicked it open, revealing his parents tied and gagged inside.