• 𝓓𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓷𝔂 • {𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐚𝐠𝐨}

•S1 E3: Snakebit (I)•

A pause, and then light like two suns exploding. When the ninja recovered from their near-blinding experience, Ed laughed, 'Like 'em? I used a little extra juice.' He dimmed the lights, waving to his son. 'Yep! Bye, son! Couldn't be more proud of you!'

The car pulled into reverse, and they began to drive away. Just as Jay began to think that he was safe, Edna shouted, 'And bring Nya with you, will ya! I can see why you like her!'

'Mom,' Jay hissed beneath his breath. He could hear Nya chuckling behind him.

When the car finally disappeared into the horizon, Wu said, 'Now that they've left, maybe Jay can teach us the art of pillow kissing.'

Jay threw his hands in the air with a shout of protest before storming back onto the Bounty, leaving everyone else laughing outside. He hated this. He hated when his parents did things like this. He hated when they told embarrassing stories about him, he hated when they poked their noses into everything...

Yet he couldn't help but think of all his parents' praises—the looks on their faces during the little "tour"—and be just a little happy.

◑ ━━━━━ ▣ ━━━━━ ◐

'It's not that scary,' you said, as you and Lloyd stood before the graveyard's gates. The fog was so heavy you could almost hold it in your hands. The only source of light was your brother's flashlight, and even that only cut a single, thick beam into the darkness. The moon had long since been covered by the clouds, and even then it wouldn't have been able to get through the dense mist. Every step inside the graveyard cast new shadows. You could have sworn more than once that you saw something move, and that it wasn't something human. Maybe. Possibly.

You nearly jumped out of your skin when an oddly shaped gravestone caught you off guard, almost dropping the map. 'OK. Maybe it's a little scary.'

'But we like scary,' Lloyd quickly added, puffing up. 'Yeah, that's it. We're kids of the Dark Lord. We love the dark!'

'We eat this stuff for breakfast,' you snickered, as though it would smother the lingering aura of fear around you. You and Lloyd laughed for a bit too long, a bit too hard. Without acknowledging it, you took each other's hands and continued deeper. It was a cold night, the kind that really slithered beneath your clothes and under your skin. Your heart hammered in your chest, but you forced yourself to take more steps. Your father depended on this.

Lloyd's flashlight suddenly turned on something very large and very not human, and you just about fainted had it not been for the cold shock through your veins. It was just a tree, split down the middle—growing in two directions. Like a two headed snake... like the tree on the map.

'Those Hypnobrai are gonna pay for betraying us,' you muttered, 'and if there's one thing a snake doesn't like, it's another snake. And right here, by the mutated tree...'

You and Lloyd brushed away the many layers of dust and dirt atop a stone lid, almost like the Hypnobrai's. A two headed snake. Lloyd grinned. 'The Fangpyres. We found them!' Some of his pride returned. 'Soon, the Serpentine will know who their real masters are—us. Lloyd and [Y/N] Garmadon!'

    A very coincidental flash of lighting behind him almost sold the effect. Your little heart swelled with pride.

    You rummaged around the dirt, ignoring what may be in the dirt, and found a button. The stone lid dropped down with a loud, echoing clang.