It was after Matilda's grueling mind-bending session that Liana and Nya got out the bow and arrows and presented them to the team. Nobody knew how they worked, of course, but Jay—having a passion for mechanics and electronics—volunteered to go out to the field where the Bounty was parked with some practice targets and to help Liana find out what the Borg bow did. Overhearing this, Cole immediately offered to join them.
This on his part wasn't so much as to discover the purpose of Borg's strange gift, but rather to share a word with Liana. Cole still felt disturbed by his friend's situation with the Dark Sleep spell and the secrecy, and he wanted to talk to her about it—although he had no idea what he wanted to say.
The ninja got out a few old targets and some extra bows and quivers full of arrows from the storage room of the Bounty, just so that some of them could get some practice in the meantime. Thus Liana, Nya, Jay, and Cole left the Bounty and went out to the grassy field, nearby the forest where they had just had their training sessions with Matilda.
Cole carried the extra quivers of arrows along with his own longbow, trailing behind the others. The puffy white clouds spread apart to reveal a bright blue sky. A low breeze was blowing and made the bright green grass wave rhythmically, like the ocean. The wind toyed playfully with Cole's hair, and several times he had to blow his shaggy bangs out of his face.
"So, what are we planning to do?" Nya asked, shouldering a couple of the wooden targets beneath her armpit. "With Borg's electric bow, I mean."
"Just try it out. See what it does," Jay responded lightly, walking alongside Liana with two more targets.
Liana shrugged under her own load of her bow and extra arrows. "That's about all we can do."
They set up the targets together and placed themselves at a shooting distance from them. Liana slung the quiver over shoulder and picked up the bow, after attaching the earpiece to the curve of her ear. She turned on the bow, and the lights on it and the arrows turned on.
"How many of these arrows are there?" Cole asked, fingering one of the said arrows that he had taken from an extra box Nya had taken along with them.
"We didn't count, but I'm guessing like fifty, maybe more." Nya stepped back from Liana to give her room.
"So... how exactly is Liana supposed to shoot those targets?" Jay ventured, looking skeptically at the equipment. "I mean, Cyrus Borg's nice and all for giving her this stuff, and it looks super-cool, but... why her? No offense," he added hastily.
"None taken," she replied easily. "This is kind of the last thing you'd expect a blind person to use."
"What do these things do?" Cole discovered the bag of the little round plastic objects among the extra arrows and pulled them out.
"No idea." Nya shrugged, casting a helpless look at the objects. "Try shooting, Liana."
Liana drew an arrow and stuck it in the nock clumsily. "Where do I shoot?"
"Just in front of you. Point it kind of up like— yeah, like that."
Liana drew back the bowstring, and upon Nya's approval, kept it steady and aimed at an invisible target. "What now?"
"Let go," Jay said.
Liana let go. With a thrum, the glowing arrow shot out and over the expanse of grass before falling to the grass. It sunk and disappeared in the green landscape. The ninja heard a low thunk.
"Majestic," said Jay.
"You said it started beeping when you pointed it at Nya?" Cole ventured.
"Yeah. I just turned it like this." Liana nocked another arrow and swung it toward Nya and the boys. "And—"
Jay yelped and jumped out of the way when the arrowhead pointed at his torso. "Can't you watch where you're pointing that thing?!"
"No," Liana retorted.
"You know what I mean." Jay looked at it warily. "Is it beeping now?"
"Yup." She turned it again, stopping it right between Nya and Cole. "Now it's stopped." She turned again and aimed it at Cole. "Now it's started again."
"Looks like it starts beeping whenever you point it at a person," Cole observed.
"You know, this thing could have some kind of heat-seeking mechanism," Jay ventured, eyes lighting up. "Kind of like missiles. Maybe whenever the arrowhead points at a living thing, it sends a signal into the earpiece and tells Liana that she's aiming at something alive."
"Hm. That could make sense." Nya chewed her lip.
"Then what are these for?" Cole held up the bag of round objects again.
"No idea, but maybe we should take another look at them."
Cole turned over the bag and dropped some of the little pieces into the cupped palm of his hand. The ninja scrutinized the little round things. After a few moments, Jay exclaimed, "Wait—that's my symbol!"
He picked up one of the things from Cole's palm and held it up. Printed in blue on one side of the round object, Jay's lightning octopus insignia stood out.
Surprised, Cole turned his gaze back to his palm and turned some of the objects over. "There's mine!" he exclaimed upon seeing the earth gorilla drawing.
Nya stood by him and helped him sort through the gadgets, muttering names as she recognized the varying symbols. "Kai... Lloyd... me... Wu... Zane... maybe that's Misako's... and a few more, without any markings."
"They turn on." Jay picked ran his thumb over the item he held and caught a small button invisible to the others. A small blue light flickered from one side of the little plastic circle.
"You know, it might have helped if Cyrus Borg had told us what these were all about, or at least left us instructions," Nya complained.
"Hey, he's a very busy genius!" Jay protested.
Cole fingered the clips at the other sides of the gadgets. "You think we're supposed to wear these?"
"Couldn't hurt to try." Nya paused a moment, clearly pondering. "I wonder if something will happen if Liana points the bow at us when we're wearing these."
"Could be. They seem to go with everything else here," Cole replied, noting the matching blue color of the lights on all the devices.
Cole, Jay, and Nya took the gadgets wearing their symbols and clipped them onto the shoulders or collars of their uniforms. At Nya's suggestion, they stood in a small circle around Liana, and once again she drew the bow. The girl swiveled in place with the arrow aimed forward evenly. After a moment of turning, she stopped at Cole.
Cole hoped she wouldn't let go of the bowstring. "Anything different?"
"Yeah. Well, no. I mean—" Liana shrugged. "I don't know. It's beeping, but it sounds different."
"Different how?" Jay challenged.
"First it was like 'beep-beep-beep'. Now it's more like 'BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.'"
Cole sighed, feeling exasperated. "This is getting ridiculous. I don't know what these things are for or what they do, but maybe it's better if we—"
"I got it!" Jay grinned broadly.
"Oh?" Nya arched an eyebrow.
"What, then?" Cole pressed.
"Liana, you're blind, right, so you can't see, but you can still hear stuff, right?" Jay started rapidly, looking pleased with himself.
"Jeez, no, I'm deaf, and I can't hear a word you're saying," Liana returned dryly.
"Just hear me out, OK? You're pretty good with nunchucks because that's close-range and easy for you, because you have to get right up to the bad guy and meet him head-on, and it's kind of hard not to know where he is." Jay jabbered rapidly, "But with everything else, it's harder, because you can't always rely on hearing the person you're fighting. That's why Cyrus Borg gave you these things." He tapped her bow. "You may not be able to see your target, but if it's alive and breathing, that thing will beep in your ear and tell you you're aiming in the right direction."
"And the little devices with the symbols?"
"I'm getting to that. When we put those on and activate them, and you point at any of us, your friends, it'll do that deeper beep to tell you that you're aiming at one of the good guys. That way, one beep will tell you you're aiming at what's probably an enemy, and another beep will tell you that you're aiming at a friend. That way you can keep from shooting us, and you can shoot down the bad guys!"
"That wouldn't work if we're fighting somewhere like Ninjago City," Cole pointed out. "There'd be too many innocent people who'd get in the way."
"Maybe she's not supposed to use it like that." Jay clung to his theory. "Maybe she's supposed to use this for long-range shooting, in case we're somewhere where the enemy is coming to us or we're chasing someone. Look at this thing! It's obviously made for long-distance shooting, not for close-range fighting."
Cole and Nya shared a perplexed look. Then a small smile of understanding spread across Nya's face. "You know, I think that makes sense. I think Cyrus Borg wanted Liana to have something special that specially connects to her abilities."
Cole still felt skeptical. "Really?"
"But why?" Liana wore a puzzled frown. "I mean, I'm starting to get a little excited about this stuff and all," At this she briefly allowed a little, girlish grin on her face. "But why me?"
"I think it's because he likes you." Nya smiled. "Both of you have a disability, and he wants to give you something that can give you an advantage in battle that no one else can have. I mean, what if we're fighting in pitch-black darkness, like the middle of the night or in a cave? The rest of us won't be able to fight so well, but you can use these devices to shoot down the enemy as easily as if we were doing it in broad daylight."
"Making you twice as dangerous!" Cole finished, the importance of the gift finally dawning on him. "Heh, OK—that's actually pretty cool."
"Now you get it!" Jay crowed.
"But," Nya added, glancing over at the targets standing in the grass. "If the arrows only send a signal when you're pointing at something alive, then how are you supposed to practice and—you know... actually learn to get good at it?"
"Like this!" Jay took one of the extra tracking devices from Cole and ran to the targets standing in the grass. Cole and Nya watched him reach one of the targets and bend down in front of it, doing something the others couldn't see. When he returned he explained, "I attached the tracker to the front of the target, right where the bull's eye is. Liana, when you turn that thing in your ear on, you'll hear the signal, and you can practice shooting at it."
"But... won't I break the tracker if I do hit it?"
"Yeah, but that's one of the smaller ones. There's a bunch of little trackers with the big ones, so they're probably for practice." Jay added slyly, "Or, Cole could wear his, get out there, and you could practice shooting at him."
Cole rolled his eyes. "Har-har, hilarious."
"I think this could work!" Nya looked satisfied. "You can practice in our spare time, Liana, and soon, blind or not, you'll be able to hit a werecat a hundred yards away in the dark!"
A broad smile spread across Liana's face. She hugged the bow. "This is awesome."
Liana, Cole, Jay, and Nya might have gone on to spend some time on the field trying out Liana's new gear, if it weren't for the appearance of Lloyd. The others whirled around when he stumbled up from the waist-high grass.
"Lloyd! What's wrong?" Cole asked, alarmed.
"Nothing's wrong," Lloyd panted, hands on his knees. After a couple of gasps, he straightened up and swiped a few bangs of hair out of his eyes. "Master Wu and the others just wanted me to come get you. We've been talking, and we think we need to find Zane as soon as possible, so that—"
"What about those moonstones?" Jay interjected.
Lloyd waved him off. "Master Wu, Matilda and Misako can tell you back on the Bounty. Just come on."
He turned away and Nya and Jay followed. Cole and Liana started forward until Cole remembered the abandoned gear. "You guys go on. I'll grab this stuff and catch up."
"Fine." They went on ahead.
Cole bent down to grab the box of spare arrows. He glanced over his shoulder to realize that Liana was still with him; she was crouching down to feel for the bag of trackers they'd dropped.
"I'll help you," she muttered.
"We'll pick up the targets later—or leave them here for you." They quickly stacked the arrows and trackers in their arms, with Liana's bow added to her own load. With their burdens, they began a brisk walk back to the Bounty.
The ship was about a hundred yards away. This gave Cole and Liana enough time for an idle silence to fall between them. For now, they were alone.
"What do you think is more important: finding Zane, or finding the moonstones?" Liana asked, shifting the pack of arrows and the bow in her arms.
Cole thought about it. "I don't know... Zane's our friend, and he could run into trouble. But then, he ran off on his own, so maybe he doesn't want us for a reason, and it'd be better if we focused our attention on getting those moonstones... before the Moon Tribe does." He murmured that last bit darkly. The thought of Black Blood gaining virtual immortality was disturbing.
"But there's no sign of the stones. At all," Liana protested lightly—perhaps more out of thought than for the sake of argument. "Maybe they're gone. Maybe they were destroyed. Maybe that means we don't have to worry about the Moon Tribe anymore."
Cole heaved a sigh. "Maybe, but it's better to make sure. We can't just give up. There's too much of a chance Black Blood will win. Besides, even if she didn't get her nine lives, they'd probably still go after their old territory."
Liana's shoulders slumped. "Yeah... I guess you're right."
"I wish I wasn't. But it looks like whatever happens, there's going to be a fight. The Moon Tribe doesn't just want their old land back and nine lives. They want revenge, too."
A dark silence followed his words. They waded on through the grass quietly.
Cole glanced over at her. Her eyebrows were lowered thoughtfully. Perhaps now was a good time...
Warily he ventured, "You've been having those nightmares ever since we got back from Dog Bone's palace?"
Her face darkened. "Yeah."
After a careful pause he asked, "Why didn't you tell me? Or anyone?"
Liana shifted her load again, which almost made her drop an arrow. "I thought nightmares after a day like that would be normal. I didn't know it was Raven Frost actually attacking my mind and trying to— to brainwash me or whatever! How was I supposed to know?" She paused. "Sorry."
"It's OK. Just—" He tightened his hold on his load with one hand while he used the other to reach out for her. Gently, he placed his hand on her shoulder. "Just remember... You're with us now. You're part of the team, ninja or not. You trust us, right?"
"Of course I do!"
"Then, when something like this happens—even if you're scared and confused and don't know what to do... You can tell us. All right?"
Liana inclined her head slightly in his direction. He felt the tension in her shoulder relax. "Yeah... OK."
"You sure?"
"I'm sure. Being part of a team's new, but..." She gave a one-shouldered shrug. "I'm getting used to it. And I'm glad to be part of it."
Cole felt a small smile, and he released her shoulder. "Good." His hand tingled warmly where he had touched her. Abruptly feeling awkward, he coughed. "Just, uh— wanted to clarify that."
"Yeah." Liana turned her head away, facing forward once more.
They walked on in silence.
* * *
"So it's decided, then." Lloyd said, crossing his arms. "We're looking for Zane."
Standing alongside Nya, Jay, Lloyd, and Liana on the deck of the Destiny's Bounty, Cole protested. "Whoa, whoa, wait. What about the moonstones?"
"Do you have any idea where the moonstones are?" Matilda shot back. She, Wu, and Misako faced the teenagers, together creating an awkward circle.
"No, but that doesn't mean we should give up!" Cole returned.
"To give up is one thing. To pause and focus our attention to a more immediate problem is another," Wu cut in. He stood between Misako and Matilda—almost like a protective barrier. "Consider this, Cole: we have been researching places and eras where moonstones have been and could have been for days, and our searches have brought up nothing. No good will come of trying the same thing over and over again when nothing comes of it."
"Besides, Zane's our friend. For all we know, he could be in trouble right now," Lloyd pointed out. "I know he wants to be alone and ran off without telling us, but we should help him."
"And, who knows?" Matilda added idly. "Sometimes when you're looking for something, it chooses to turn up only when you divert your attention to something else."
Misako spoke up. "If we there is any sign at all of the Moon Tribe moonstones, we will investigate immediately."
"Unless the Moon Tribe's gotten them first," Matilda muttered.
Misako shot her a sharp glance. "We can still take it from them."
"Not without a hard fight."
"You underestimate these ninja, Matilda," Misako said coolly.
"Nah, you're just underestimating Black Blood and the Seven Sorcerers."
"I've seen firsthand how powerful they can be, if you don't recall—"
"Oh-kaayyyy, so, heh heh," Hastily Jay intervened. "We're going to look for Zane! And, you know, moonstones—if any turn up. Heh-heh, heh..." he chuckled uneasily.
Matilda and Misako shot Jay icy looks, but otherwise didn't protest. Jay gave a quick sigh of relief. "So... where do we start?"
Now Nya spoke. "Well, if we look at the map on the computer down below, we can see that there are three villages that Zane might have stopped by, the closest areas of civilization in this area. There we can question villagers if they've seen him. If we fly to all of them using our dragons, we should go through them in no time."
Cole liked the plan. "And if no one's seen him?"
Nya shrugged. "Then we wing it."
"No dragon pun intended, I'm sure," Matilda muttered.
"When do we start?" Cole clapped his fist into the palm of his hand. Finally they were actually doing something! He felt like they'd all been idle for too long.
"Right now." Lloyd pulled up the hood of his mask.
"All right!" Cole exclaimed as he, Jay, and Nya followed suit. "Now we're getting somewhere!"
Lloyd took a running start and hopped onto the railing of the ship. In a flash of light his green dragon appeared.
"You lot know where you're going, I assume?" Matilda called over loud flapping of the dragon's wings and its huffing breath.
"I know the way!" Nya was the next to jump and summon her dragon. Jay followed, voicing a happy whoop when his sparking, electric-blue beast twisted gracefully in the air and growled loudly.
"Boy, have I missed doing this!" Jay crowed from the back of his dragon.
"Be back before sunset!" Misako called.
Cole hopped on the railing and teetered for a moment. Then he remembered something. "Liana, you can ride with me." He grinned at her, even though she couldn't see it. "Just until you get your own dragon."
Liana smiled, though it was uncertain. He stepped back to take her hand. Balancing on the edge, he concentrated, summoning a warm surge of power within himself.
Cole felt Liana jump when his own dragon appeared: a hulking, dirt-brown beast shimmering faint green, whose wide wings sent a rhythmic breeze blowing in the faces of those standing on the Bounty. Matilda planted one hand on her hat to keep it from flying off.
Liana teetered on the railing, knees bent so that she had one hand gripping the edge. Cole released her hand and hopped off, to land on the back of his dragon. It felt satisfying to sit with his legs stretched out, feeling the pulse of the dragon vibrate warmly beneath his weight. He sat up in his seat and grabbed the chainlink reins.
"Uhh..." Liana wobbled on the rail. "Cole?"
"Just jump." He stood and reached out. There was a mere five feet of space between them, but even so, he knew it was daunting for her—though she may not ever admit it. "I'll catch you."
She stiffened. "I don't need you to catch me."
Cole decided to not argue.
She straightened up, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. She bit her lip, clenched her fists... and jumped.
Liana landed squarely on the dragon's back. She voiced a startled grunt and waved her arms wildly to catch her balance. Instinctively Cole reached out and grabbed her before she could slip and topple over. After several seconds of wobbling and trying to balance, Liana gently shook off his hands.
"See? I've got this," she said almost loftily.
He felt himself grin. "Sure you do."
She seated herself behind him with a good-natured shove to his back. Chuckling, he gripped the reins. "Hang on."
A sharp kick sent the dragon jump with a snort and leap into the sky with a might flap of its wings. With a startled yelp Liana curled up and gripped Cole tightly around the waist.
The wind whistled in his ears and made his eyes water as the dragon flew up and then gilded on the wind. The Bounty and trees around it soon shrank from view. He guided his dragon so that it soared smoothly through the sky. Its wings were outstretched in the breeze and parallel to the ground. The grass and trees whisked by his view down below.
As the ride settled into a smooth glide, Liana slowly sat up and shoved his back again. "You did that on purpose."
His grin grew. "Sorry."
She scoffed but he could hear a smile in it. She shifted and loosened her hold around his waist—though not by much. "How long until we get there?"
Cole could see Lloyd, Nya, and Jay's dragons flying ahead of them. The figures of their riders looked small against the clear blue sky. "Could be a little while. Better enjoy the ride."
"Oh, great," she sighed. "I miss the ground already."
* * *
The first village was a small, quiet town, medieval and simple, as many country villages were in the area. Despite this, it took the ninja hours to reach it and wander the streets to ask random passerby and shopkeepers if they'd seen anyone matching Zane's description. "No" after "no" were the replies. After a long time, when the noonday sun was high overhead and warming the ninja through the thick padding of their uniforms, they had all grown weary of asking the same questions over and over again.
"He's a titanium nindroid! Not exactly hard to spot!" Jay complained when they gathered in the small town square after their fruitless search. "You'd think somebody would've seen him!"
"That's just proof he didn't come this way," Liana pointed out. "We have two villages to go. There's still a chance we can find out where he's headed."
Thus they took off again, their flight to the second village shorter than the first. This one was bigger and more modern, though not by much. It looked like how Ninjago City was before the Great Battle happened and Cyrus Borg transformed the island with his technology. It was a little town, nearly as small and quiet as the last one was, that sat at the foot of a large mountain range and forestland circling it from all sides. The ninja landed by the trees and ventured into town, first making their way down the main road in town and asking passerby the same questions as they'd asked in the first village.
Again they were met with shaking heads and negative responses, along with occasional apologies, as if it were the villagers' fault they'd seen no sign of the nindroid. The ninja always thanked them—whatever the people's responses, though some of them were annoyed and brusque—and moved on. The routine quickly grew monotonous.
Cole felt irritated that they didn't seem to be getting anywhere. For all we know, he thought, Zane didn't pass by any of these villages, and we're interrogating people here for nothing! What if he's gotten in some sort of trouble? He could've been captured by the Moon Tribe while we're out here wasting our time.
In the middle of the town square, where several produce stalls stood, the ninja waded their way through the little shopping crowd and repeated their questions. Again the responses were negative. At last they stopped for a break nearby a stand selling melons.
"No sign at all." Lloyd said, shaking his head. "No one here seems to have seen him."
"Gah, this is taking forever!" Jay exclaimed, slumping against the stall's counter. "And we still have, like, half this town to go and the next one! At this rate, we'll be here 'till midnight!"
"Midnight?"
A new voice made all of them start. Cole looked past Jay to see an elderly, white-haired man leaning across the counter of the stall and looking inquisitively at them. "Ohh, I don't suggest you stay out at midnight, youngsters. It ain't safe at that time."
The ninja exchanged mystified looks while Liana wore a puzzled expression. Lloyd ventured to ask, "Why not? Are you having trouble with bandits here?"
"If you are, we can straighten them out," Cole added in, flexing his fists.
The man barked a short, wheezing laugh. "Ah-heh-heh, no, sonny. We don't have any bandits, because they know better than to rob these parts—especially at night."
"Why not?" Nya asked, frowning.
The man looked delighted to be at the center of attention. He leaned forward and spoke in a conspiratorial hush. "It's obvious you young'uns ain't from around here. Up in these parts, we folks keep the lights on in town and our doors locked when the night chill sets in, b'cause there's something out there. Something that waits until night to hunt its prey."
The ninja exchanged more looks. Jay appeared unnerved already. Liana, on the other hand, only looked impatient. "Well, what is it?"
"Ah, well, no one knows. Thing is, a long time ago, in this part of Ninjago, people who left their houses at night disappeared and never returned. Just vanished, like ghosts. They said it was a demon; a dark spirit returned from the dead to haunt its old home and take vengeance on the people of our town for some unknown reason. Few believed the rumors, until..." At this, he grinned, baring crooked yellow teeth. "...the demon itself was spotted!"
Now Jay was completely hooked. Eyes wide and round, he stared breathlessly at their storyteller. "What did it look like?" He leaned forward with his elbows on the counter.
The old man looked delighted by Jay's attention. "Those who managed to see what it looked like and lived—and keep in mind, not many who saw it did live—claimed the demon took the shape of a fox, with eyes as bright and evil-looking as fire and a toothy grin that would make your blood run cold. It's got a heart as black as death, and it has strange, magical powers that help it hunt down its human prey."
Skeptical, Cole cast a glance at the others—except Jay—and confirmed they felt the same. Partly out of politeness he asked, "So... is this spirit still attacking people of your village?"
The man's grin faded. "Well... no, actually. Come to think of it..." He stroked his white mustache. "No one's disappeared for years—decades, even."
Idly Nya suggested, "So, maybe the creature's gone, whatever it was."
"No, it sure ain't, even if people are still living," the man exclaimed. His raised his bushy eyebrows up so that his eyes were wide and eery. "B'cause we still catch glimpses of the spirit these days. Why, just last week, walking back from the evening council meeting, three other fellas and myself saw the spirit, standing there at the town meeting, bold as can be!" He gestured behind the ninja to the spacious road behind them, which winded by a few buildings beyond their view before opening up to the gate at the front.
"Just when you might think the creature's gone for good, it'll show up outta the blue, like it's reminding ya that it's still there. Even if people seeing it weren't good enough proof for you, lemme tell you that in this town..." He grinned. "Nobody gets too attached to their chickens and such, because sooner or later, the spirit's gonna nab one for itself."
"You say you saw it?" Lloyd asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Sure did, with my own two eyes! 'Course, it was dark and a lil' misty at the time, but I swear, that thing was in its fox shape, and black against the lanterns, and its eyes were glowing an unearthly yellow. Unearthly, you heard me right. Oh, and another thing," He leaned forward even more, his nose nearly coming into contact with Jay's. "It cackled."
Jay's eyes were bigger than ever, if that were even possible. "It cackled?"
"Cackled," the man confirmed with a grave nod. "It has the most eery, spooky laugh one ever did hear."
"Or maybe it was just a fox barking." Liana looked bored. "Foxes do that."
"No ma'am, that thing cackled, near humanlike!" the man said again, emphatic.
"Whoa," Jay breathed. "Has anyone ever tried to catch it?"
The produce seller shook his head. "No sir, boy, not for many decades! Those who did try to catch the demon never came back."
Before any of the ninja who had not yet found themselves enamored of the story could find a way to escape, the man said, "Y'know, we have a song here in these parts about the spirit. Some even say they know its name. Wanna hear it?"
"Yes!" Jay said.
"No," Cole said.
Nonetheless the merchant pulled out a lute and sang:
"Raise the lantern, raise the light
Beware the mist, beware the night,
At dusk, when a lone maiden strides so soft and fair
Beware, beware
Look not into her eyes, look not into her heart
For within the skin hides, a labyrinth of black art
Kohuru, Kohuru,
Kohuru's a fox and Kohuru's her name
Beware her sly tricks and beware her dark games
Kohuru, Kohuru,
Beware her moon rocks, her magic star balls,
Beware her possessing your body, your mind and all
Kohuru, Kohuru,
A spirit of death, she in the mountain alone
Chewing on fleshy strips and gnawing on human bones
Kohuru, Kohuru
When the fox of fur white or gold
Approaches the lone traveler, in a young woman's—"
"Wait," Cole interrupted. "Go back."
The old man glared at him. "Hey, I was only halfway through—!"
"I know, I know, sorry," Cole apologized with a wave of his hand. "Just go back. What did you say about— 'moon balls and star stones'?"
"'Her moon rocks and her magic star balls'," the villager corrected with a frown. "Moon rocks and star balls. Y'know... spirit stuff. They use 'em for magic."
Moon rocks. Cole's mind reeled. He looked at the others, who were giving him mystified stares. "Guys. Moon rocks. Could that be another word for moonstones?"
Nya gasped, and Lloyd and Jay shot stunned looks at one another. Liana breathed, "Oh, no way."
"What? What're you kids going on about?" the man huffed.
"What if this 'Kohuru' has the sixth moonstone?" Cole pressed excitedly. It felt too good to be true. "Maybe she has both! What if she's the key to defeating the Moon Tribe?"
"But— a spirit?" Liana sputtered, skeptical. "I mean, we don't even know if this thing's real, but if it is..."
"We've dealt with ghosts before. Maybe she's just a grumpy spirit," Nya suggested.
"Do you know where this Kohuru person lives?" Jay turned eagerly to the melon seller.
The man stared at all of them as if he'd just witnessed them grow four arms each. "What? Yer not telling me you actually want to go looking for the demon-spirit?"
"Yup," Lloyd said briskly. "How do we find it?"
The man's jaw dropped. "Did you— Did you not just hear the song I was singing?! 'Beware her sly tricks and beware her dark games', 'beware her possessing your body, mind and all'? Seriously, I was only halfway though the song, and you already have half a dozen good reasons to stay well away from the East Mountain!"
"So she's in the East Mountain!" Liana exclaimed triumphantly.
The man cursed. "You've gotta be kidding me. That's a two-day journey from here—an overnight trip."
Lloyd turned to the others. "We still have to find Zane."
"We could split up." Cole suggested, "Some of us go to Kohuru, the rest go look for Zane. There's still one village we could ask after this one."
"Split up?" Jay repeated skeptically. "Uhh, I'm not sure that's a good idea..."
"Which is more important: finding Zane, or getting the moonstones before Black Blood does?" Cole challenged.
Jay didn't answer.
"I don't really like the idea of splitting up..." Lloyd said thoughtfully. "But in this case, it may be best. We want to find Zane as soon as possible, but we also don't want to miss out on a chance to get the next moonstones. For all we know, the Moon Tribe are going after this Kohuru-spirit already."
"Listen," the man interjected, appearing concerned. "I don't know what yer all talking about, but I'm serious. People may not have been taken for a long time, but that's only because we've been wise enough to lock up and to not wander around outside town at night. Going into the East Mountain itself is just nuts! There really is something up there, and it is dangerous!"
"Thanks for the advice," Lloyd said. "But there's a lot more at stake here than just our lives. We need to find Kohuru and talk to her."
The man groaned and turned away, grumbling something about "crazy kids". The ninja stepped away from the produce stall and gathered in a tight circle.
"So we're splitting up?" Nya pressed.
Lloyd nodded. "We need both Zane and the moonstones. It only makes sense to do it this way. Some of us will go on to the next village and ask about Zane there. We'll contact you if plans change, and keep regular updates." Lloyd reached into the pocket of his uniform and pulled out one of their small communication radios.
Liana pointed out, "Someone will have to tell Master Wu and the others."
"I'll contact them." Nya pulled out her own radio.
"Who's going for Kohuru?" Jay asked. He looked much less excited about the fox spirit than he had a minute ago.
"I can," Cole volunteered.
"I'll lead the team to the next village. Who's coming with me?" Lloyd asked.
"I am!" Jay exclaimed quickly.
Nya glanced at Jay with amusement. "I'm in, too."
"Liana, you can go with Cole," Lloyd said. "I think the group going after Zane should be bigger. At least down here, you're far away from Moon Tribe territory, so it's a little safer."
Dryly Liana quipped, "So instead of going after magic cats, we're going after spirit foxes."
"Nice change of pace," Cole added.
Lloyd cast his gaze briefly around the town square, seeming to note the numerous shops and stores. "There should be enough stuff here for you two to stay in the mountains overnight. You've got money?"
Cole replied, "I have enough."
"Good." Lloyd sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Wow. This is fast."
"At least we're not trudging through town asking everyone the same question over and over again anymore," Nya returned.
"Yeah." Cole felt the excitement of a new turn of adventure growing. He stepped beside Liana and faced the rest of the ninja. "Well. Here goes nothing."
"Ninjaaa, go!" they chorused as they turned and parted ways; Lloyd, Nya and Jay trotted for the front gate of the village, while Liana and Cole left the town square and entered one of the shops in search of supplies. Meanwhile, the man at the melon stall was left staring incredulously after them.
After a few moments of silence, he turned away with a despairing groan and repeated his earlier comment. "Crazy kids."