Legends of Ninjago Book 1: Brotherhood (Ninjago AU, Cole, Jay, Zane, Kai)

Chapter 19: A Hop, Skip, and a Dragon-Ride

Lights, fire, thunder, noise, chaos, THUD!
Ann had taken a misstep, and with Kai's weight putting her off-balance, she toppled over. Thankfully Zane and Nya were there to catch them, but as Ann straighten herself, she could've sworn that she had seen the most uncannily real image of Keaton, Jay, and Cole flying through some sort of void.
'Just stress,' she told herself, and carried on.
The horses were shrieking in fear and pulling against their restraints as the temple rumbled and creaked and cracked. There was no hope of calming them, so Zane carefully jumped passed them, opened the door, and then came back to break the rope tying them down with shards of sharp ice. The horses bolted through the door at the same time that the wall to their left came crashing in. There were bits of stone and plaster and dust flying everywhere, making the ashy air even harder to breathe in.
Wu did his best to keep Garmadon away form them, but even so, some of their attacks came dangerously close.
"Zane! Take Kai!" Ann ordered as she raced to his side. They carefully exchanged him and Ann was free to create a large bubble shield around them and Nya. She scooped them all up and launched them into another room, lit by bright torches.
"Garmadon, you must stop this!" Wu cried at one point, but they were all so distracted that it was difficult to tell where he was.
At the sound of his master's voice, Kai's eyes fluttered open. "What's going on?" He asked slowly.
"Try not to move," Zane told him. But that didn't stop Kai from craning his neck around.
Wherever Ann moved them to, Garmadon and Wu were close behind. It kept pushing them further and further in to the heart of the temple, where the heat was strongest. Soon, Ann's bubble was steaming.
"Where are we going?"Nya asked.
"Anywhere to get out of danger," Ann explained.
They were now standing in a very large lava chamber, most likely the place where they had found the Sword, although the volcano had brought down several walls. The lava level had risen, and the back wall was one of the structures which had fallen, leaving an opening into an extremely large cavern, also oozing with lava. Most likely, it was a part of the volcano itself. There were many ledges and balconies high above the walkway, and from the ledge closest to the door of the room, Ann tried to think of a way to get them out of there.
"Wait," said Kai. "Where's Wu?"
When Ann didn't speak, a loud scream below them answered for her. She popped her bubble and they could see the world clearly again. Too clearly. Down on the stone walkway, Wu and Garmadon seemed to be at an impasse, and Wu looked especially thrashed.
"Sensei Wu!" Kai cried desperately, but his voice was too weak to reach very far.
"Get away!" Wu shouted at them, before his attention was drawn back to Garmadon. "Leave at once!"
Ann closed her eyes and clenched her fists, preparing them to escape; Zane looked on and  wished his master good luck; Nya held onto Kai's hand and tried to look anywhere else, but Kai couldn't tear his eyes away for the scene that was unfolding before him. Garmadon had Wu cornered, pushing him back closer and closer to the edge of the path.
"No!" Kai screamed as Ann's bubble returned, launching them up, up, up, through a hole in the ceiling which led to the outside world. He saw Wu standing there, holding the Sword, and then he produced his teapot from the folds of his robe and fell off the walkway, plummeting toward the lava. He couldn't look away even after the temple roof had blocked Garmadon from view, or when the entire temple was blocked from sight by branches and leaves.
They had landed in the forest just outside the temple grounds, and Ann made it clear that they were not stopping. Kai was numb the entire time. He didn't care where they were going, he didn't care that the air was polluting his lungs, he just knew that he had watched his sensei probably die... and it was his fault.
"No!" Kai said again, his eyes becoming red. Zane tightened his grip on him, but they didn't stop. "It's all my fault... all my fault..." Kai was on the verge of tears.
"Kai..." Nya whispered. She didn't quite know what to say.
After a while they paused to catch their breath and to get a better look at Kai's wound. Zane patrolled the area while Ann removed the dirty cloth from Kai's chest and put on clean ones. Nya sat beside her brother and stroked his head again.
"All my fault..." he kept muttering.
Ann noticed Nya's distressed expression and reassured her that Kai was just experiencing severe exhaustion and stress. Once he had some rest, and allowed his wound to heal, he would feel much better. Nya nodded sadly and did her best to believe that, but staring down at Kai in the state he was in made it very difficult.
They were moving again by noon, further into the forest where it would be more difficult to be captured, so that they might have some place to rest for the night. But the thing was, as Ann observed the sunlit trees and bushes, there was a stunning lack of movement or noise. This went on for several hours, and the stillness was beginning to drive her mad.
"So now what do we do?" Zane asked, sitting on the soft grass. No one looked up. No one said anything, either. The silence seemed to be saying everything that was already on their minds.
Then Ann cleared her throat. "Without horses, we can't travel very far, or very fast, and I can only take us so far in my bubble."
"How come?" Nya asked in a small voice.
Ann squinted at the ground for a split second. Something about they way Nya had asked that question seemed... familiar? Whatever. It didn't matter. "Well, my powers aren't infinite," said Ann. "And carrying all of us is... more intense than I think you realise."
"Oh," was all that Nya said in reply.
Then there a gentle breeze.
Twittering birds.
A woodpecker somewhere off in the distance.
A cricket that had begun to chirp a little too early.
Leaves rustling.
"So..." Nya began with a shaky breath. "Are we... camping out in the woods tonight?"
"We'll have to," Ann said simply. "Kai shouldn't move, and we won't be able to get him across the boarder without being caught anyway."
Nya hummed her agreement and went back to starring at the pile of dirt she had been absentmindedly playing with.
Kai had drifted back into sleep a while ago, giving them all a temporary rest from his constant self-belittling, but that wouldn't stop Nya from worrying about him, at least a little. Ann admired that. Selflessness, in her opinion, was a great asset. A sign of a loving heart. And also a very hard thing to learn. It made her wonder about what kind of parents they must have. Defiantly good ones.
Zane shifted and then got up to look around again, but he came back a little while later saying that the coast was clear.
"Something isn't right," Ann finally said.
"I was thinking the same," Zane agreed.
Nya sat up straighter. "What do you mean?"
Ann turned to look at her as she got up and stood next to Zane. "The Skulkens should have followed us. We should have seen at least one by now. It just... I don't know what it means, but I've got a bad feeling."
"What do we do?" asked Nya.
"For now, sit tight. I'll do a wider search." Ann nodded at Zane who sat down next to Nya.
The forest wasn't particularly easy to navigate, and even harder to move through gracefully, but all of her wilderness training hadn't been for nothing. She knew it was risky, but the first place she checked was the perimeter of the Fire Temple, and to her surprise, she still didn't hear any noise. Either the soldiers had taken a vow of silence, or they were gone. She moved closer, going against her better judgement, until she could actually see the building in question to find it quite abandoned. The Skulkens and their strange vehicles were gone, the volcano had quieted, the air had cleared, and the lava had cooled—at least somewhat.
Ann stayed where she was for a long time, waiting to catch any sign of movement. Eventually she was forced to admit that it was very unlikely that there was anyone still here, and she moved even closer. She crept in through the—now demolished—secret entrance and quietly checked as many rooms as she could, including the sword room. All were empty.