The Destiny's Bounty flew several miles across vast forestland and valleys before Eagle Talon ordered the ship to be parked, saying that if they flew any closer they would risk detection. The ninja team landed the ship where few—if anyone—would be able to reach it or get it. Nestled in the curve of a valley covered by thick woods, the Bounty was well-hidden.
Master Wu, Matilda, nor Eagle Talon had to alter their appearances much, if at all, but the ninja found themselves disguised as traveling rice farmers, their simple peasantry garments complete with sandals and straw hats like Wu's. They carried their new uniforms in backpacks. Cole complained that if they were venturing into enemy territory, it made more sense to wear Cyrus Borg's new gi, seeing that they were intended for fighting werecats. Wu, Matilda, and Zane voted to stick to the original plan, however, and Liana and Nya agreed. So ninja disguised as rice farmers they were.
Eagle Talon took the lead, claiming to know where his tribe-mates were planning to drown Jay. He was quiet and spared few words. None of the younger travelers seemed to take to the idea of following the werecat, but sharp glances from both Wu and Matilda made them hold their tongues.
The group traversed up steep hills of woodland to the point where their heads were constantly tilted upwards to see where they were going. Scaling the mountainside took time, with the five humans and one nindroid stepping past stumps half-buried in mud, weeds and undergrowth grabbing their legs, and dodging endless pines. Eagle Talon was the only one who seemed at ease in the terrain. His had probably known this forest for years. In fact, he clarified this when Nya—huffing and puffing—asked skeptically if he really knew where he was going.
"Trust me. I know this place like the back of my paw." Eagle Talon stopped and took a moment to glance at his hand. "Hey, that's new."
Nya stopped and glared at him.
"Joking." The werecat rolled his eyes. "Only joking." He continued up the mountain path.
"'Joking'?" Cole arched his eyebrows. "I didn't know werecats had a sense of humor."
"Only when we need it."
"Huh." Cole hopped nimbly over a tree stump and came up behind Eagle Talon. "What, were you trying to lighten the mood or something?"
"The Daughter of Water is in need of some humor," the werecat said dryly. "She's had her tail in a twist all day."
"Hey, I'm right here, you know," Nya snapped. "I heard cats hate water. How would you like it if I gave you good splash in the—?"
"Oi, shut your pie holes!" Matilda exclaimed crossly. "Fluffy, Waterlily: quit trying to pick a fight. If we're going to be walking these muddy mountains for nearly three days, I think I speak for Liana, Frosty, and Mr. Sensei when I say we don't want to have to listen to you bickering like spoiled toddlers."
She twirled her wand between her fingers with a frown. "I know a spell that takes away a person's ability to speak, and I've used it on noisy teenagers before. Unless you want to be mute for a couple of days, I suggest you either shut your traps or find something else to talk about. Understood?"
Eagle Talon and Nya glared at the witch resentfully, but their silence was an answer in itself.
"Good." Matilda jammed her wand back into its sheath and continued up the slope. Nya and Eagle Talon shared a silent, heated glare. Liana ignored all of them and kept walking quietly by Wu.
Zane caught up with Cole and muttered, "Is Matilda always like this?"
"If by 'this', you mean an impatient, bossy old hag, then yes." Cole cast a mischievous glance at Matilda's retreating back. "You get used to it."
Zane tipped his straw hat back from his head, asking, "How did you two meet?"
Cole stuck his hands in his pockets and smiled gently at the memory. "I was climbing some mountains by myself in a storm one night, and I fell of a cliff. She found me and—"
"Saved your worthless hide, that's what I did!" Matilda's voice rang sharply from the front of the line. "Let me tell you, that boy was climbing a steep, man-forsaken cliff in the dead of night during one of the worst rain storms you'd ever seen—"
"Matilda..." Cole muttered. Zane looked at him and the witch with an amused smile.
"I'm just trying to keep dry under a bush, in my cat form, and after trying to wash my ears I look up at the cliff a few hundred yards away from me, and what do I see?"
"Matilda..."
"I see that kid hanging on for dear life onto a smooth boulder slick with mud on the side of a cliff, soaking wet and a pitiful mess, and I see the earth crumbling beneath him. It's obvious he's going to fall, but does he try to hop off and land on a safer ledge?"
"Matilda, can you just—?"
"Nooo, not Mr. Super-Strength here! That boy clings onto that crumbling rock, and guess what? He fell off the cliff, and I swear I thought he was done for. I sit up and see his body hurtling down the mountainside like a tumbleweed, banging into rocks and messing himself up like he's some rag doll—"
"Matilda!"
Now Zane and Nya were both grinning, Liana seemed to be fighting a smile, and even Wu had a mischievous twinkle in his eye. Only Eagle Talon seemed to be ignoring them.
Matilda smirked at Cole. "What, you don't like that story?"
Cole scowled back. "That was years ago. We don't need to bring up ancient history."
"Heh." Matilda turned back to Wu. "Did he ever tell you lot about the time we drank—?"
"Matilda!"
* * *
The travelers set up camp as the sun set behind the trees. When the sky was dark and stars began to appear, they started a fire... at least, they tried to.
"Erg." Cole growled crossly as he crouched down by the pile of kindle. He held a couple of pieces of dry, brittle sticks in his hands and rubbed one's end underneath the crude notch he had created beneath the other's bark. He spun it around furiously, but his valiant efforts were all for naught; not even the faintest wisp of smoke could be seen.
"You've been at that for nearly fifteen minutes." Nya crouched down beside him. "Want me to try?"
"No. I've got it."
She rolled her eyes. "Of course you do."
Cole rubbed and spun the sticks end into the bark for a little longer, then finally exclaimed, "Ugh! This would be so much easier with Kai!"
With that, he clenched his fists around the sticks, and his hands began to glow eerily. The feeling of solid stone ran through his flesh, and with a frustrated shout he snapped both branches in two in his bare hands. The wooden pieces dropped uselessly to the ground, and he glared at them. "Ha! Take that, you stupid little splinters! How you like me now?!"
"Oh yes, you really showed those sticks who's boss," Eagle Talon muttered. He'd been pacing idly nearby the camp in the shadows, casting the group resentful stares. Now he leaned against a pine tree, arms crossed.
Cole sneered at him. "Ha, ha. Why don't you come over here and make yourself useful?"
"I am," Eagle Talon replied coolly. "I'm staying out of your way."
"Do you have to be a creeper and watch us like a cat?"
"I am a cat. Deal with it." Eagle Talon rolled his eyes and drifted away into the trees.
Cole stared after the figure disappearing into the shadows, then turned back to the pile of kindle. "I swear, that guy really creeps me out. I know he's not really human, but the way he just—"
Cole stopped when he looked at Nya. She was staring at the ground, looking lost in thought. This wouldn't have concerned him if there hadn't been that pained expression on her face.
"Hey," he said. "You OK?"
Nya blinked, as if waking up. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" She leaned against a fallen log serving as a bench. A small sigh escaped her lips, and she stared off into space.
Cole looked at her thoughtfully. "Was it because I mentioned Kai?"
"What? What are you talking about?" She averted her eyes. "I'm fine, there's nothing wrong with me."
"Sure there isn't, and I'm a werecat." Cole sat down beside her. "I know you miss him. And Jay. And most everyone else."
Nya kept her gaze to the ground. She idly tugged on a few strands of grass. "Everyone's acting like Kai and Skylor are dead. We have no idea what happened to Ronin, Misako, or the policemen, and Eagle Talon said that they're going to— that Jay will be..." She took a long, shuddering breath. "What if we're too late to save them?"
Cole glanced at the other members of the camp, wondering if anyone was watching them. Zane was rummaging through the straw packs for foodstuffs and cooking supplies, Wu and Liana were sitting on a fallen log across the would-be campfire, going through their inventory, and Matilda was nowhere to be seen. Nobody was watching the two have their conversation, though that didn't mean they couldn't hear it.
Cole glanced over at Liana uneasily, well-aware that her sense of hearing was astoundingly superior to others'. Still, it didn't look as if she was eavesdropping, for she was sharing her own friendly conversation with Wu.
He turned back to Nya. "Hey, listen. They're alive, all of them. We'll find them, and we'll save them from this so-called 'Dark Sleep'. Even if the werecats say they're dead, we won't stop until we find our friends. Ninja never quit. All right?"
Nya finally looked up and held his gaze. He looked back steadily. "Jay's going to be fine."
She smiled ever so softly. "I know." She gave him a brief, one-armed hug, and he returned it. "Thanks, Cole. Still need help with that fire?"
"I don't know what the Master of Water can do about that." Cole frowned at the pile of kindling in front of him. "I'll try again, but this stuff may be too damp to start a fire."
Both he and Nya jumped when a stream of fire suddenly hissed from behind them and shot at the pile of twigs, leaves and pine needles. The kindling burst into flames, and the fire-line evaporated into smoke as quickly as it had appeared.
Nya and Cole spun around to see Matilda standing there, pointing the tip of her wand at the campfire.
Cole sputtered, "Where were you ten minutes ago?!"
"Watching you flounder." She smirked. "I wanted to see how long it would take for you to remember just because the current Master of Fire is absent doesn't mean some of us can't wield ancient powers as well."
"You could have saved me a lot of trouble."
"I know." Matilda sat down on the log nearby and twirled her wand between her thin fingers. "I was patrolling the area just now, looking out for unwanted visitors. Where's Grumpy Cat?"
Nya shrugged. "I don't know. He was just here, but he went into the forest a few minutes ago."
"Hm." Matilda's gaze drifted into the shadows of the surrounding trees.
"You don't trust him?" Cole inquired.
"Do you?" was her response.
They sat there in silence for a minute, then Nya stood up and offered to help Zane with cooking dinner. The nindroid accepted with appreciation, and Matilda and Cole watched them work for a little while.
Feeling restless—not to mention suspicious of Eagle Talon's motives—Cole finally stood up. "I'm going into the woods. I'll be right back."
Matilda's frown deepened. "Don't do anything stupid, kid. No more than usual, I mean."
Cole rolled his eyes and walked away from the campsite, heading into the direction Eagle Talon had disappeared. He felt Matilda's gaze on him as he drifted into the trees and brushed his way by the undergrowth.
Faintly he Liana call his name, but he ignored her.