Ninjago: The Purple Ninja - Book 2

SOFS: Ice Chapter 3 - An Unlikely Ally

"Sis?" 

Katarina perks her head up and turns her head to see Lloyd, laying on his left side. He was propped up with his left elbow, looking at her sleepily. 

"What are you still doing up?" He asks, quietly as possible, so as not to wake up the Ninja. She had been awake for the past few hours, definitely not talking to Keres or anything. 

"Nothing. Just having a little trouble sleeping, is all," She lies easily. She gives him a reassuring smile, to tell him that nothing was wrong and she was alright. "Don't worry about me, okay? Go back to sleep."

He squints his eyes at her suspiciously. She thought it was because he knew she was lying and he could right through her lie. A nervous moment later, he slightly shrugs and nods. 

"Okay. You get some sleep, okay?" He says with a yawn. He lies back down on his bed, and turns on his right side, going back to sleep. 

She breathes a sigh of relief. "He's right, I should go back to sleep." She whispers.

Keres nods. "Okay."

"Thanks for talking to me until I felt tired. I'm not sure if you know this, but-"

"You have insomnia, I know. Just because I'm a part of your mind, doesn't mean I don't know everything about you." Keres explains. 

Katarina quietly chuckles awkwardly. "Right. But that doesn't mean I'm not grateful to have someone to talk to when I can't sleep sometimes. I don't want to keep waking Lloyd up because of that."

"Well, I'm glad I could help. Good night, Yang."

"Night, Keres."

"Nya?" Lloyd interrupts Nya from her angry rage. She was furious about being unable to use her powers on ice, and now she was about to take it out on a house. But she stopped when Lloyd called out her name, and was now pretending she wasn't about to kick the house until it was a pile of wood. 

"You okay?" 

She looks away from him. "I... it's nothing. I just feel... useless without my powers."

He walks towards her. He jumps down on the frozen ravine. "You're not useless—" He was about finish his sentence, when he yelps, slipping on the frozen ravine. He takes a few seconds to steady himself, and continues to tread carefully across to her. 

"In fact, that's what I wanted to ask you. I need you to protect the village with the others, in case those Blizzard Samurai come back." Nya lifts Lloyd up to her side of the ravine. 

"What about you?" She asks. 

"I have to go away for a while." He says. 

She puts her hands on her hips. "Going after Zane? I hope you don't think you're going alone. We're coming with you." She says determinedly. 

He shakes his head at the idea. "I've thought about this, Nya. There's only two ways into that castle, by force and by stealth, and force won't work. You've seen how powerful the Ice Emperor is."

In the near distance, Cole was pushing a hammock that Kai and Jay were on. 

"So we sneak in, like the crafty ninja we are."  She turns around to see Cole getting knocked over by how much the hammock was swinging. The hammock swings all the way over once, until Jay ends up on a bare tree and Kai falls face first in the snow. 

"One of us has a better chance than six. And the Ice Emperor will be watching you guys, not me. He'll send more of those Blizzard Samurai here, which is why I need you to stay and protect these people." Lloyd explains to Nya.