It was a cold, clear day in the mountains. Alone, Eagle Talon prowled the hillsides. He strained his ears for any sound of birds or animals, but all was strangely quiet—subdued, even. As if the valley itself were holding its breath in anticipation of some dark force.
Talon couldn't remember leaving the caves and going out on his own. Padding past dark cloud-colored boulders was the first thing he felt aware of, though he was sure he'd been walking all day.
He decided not to be bothered by the fact that he couldn't remember anything beforehand and to just keep walking. He would need to find something to bring home before returning.
A low growl broke the silence. Eagle Talon froze in his tracks. He was standing in a valley with a field of large boulders scattered here and there. He couldn't see very far ahead of him or around him. He bristled uneasily and unsheathed his claws, glancing around.
From behind one of the biggest boulders, a large, sand-colored shape crept into view. Talon felt his heart rise to his mouth when he saw what it was: an enormous mountain lion. The great beast towered three times as tall over Talon in his bakeneko form. The huge feline's eyes glowed like fire as it set its gaze hungrily upon the small cat.
Another growl sounded behind Talon. He whirled around to see another mountain lion creeping out from the shadows. This one's eyes glowed like amber. Talon found himself cornered by the two beasts, and they were stalking him as they would prey.
Eagle Talon shifted into his nekomata body. The first lion uttered a louder growl and lashed its thick tail, but Talon ignored the warning. Without any thought of caution, he responded with a warrior's yowl, bore his claws, and launched himself at the first lion.
There was a heated skirmish, and Talon found his opponent was using his weight against him, along with snapping those strong jaws at his face over and over. Yet, somehow, Talon was light on his paws and vicious in his counterattacks. He felt grim triumph as he found himself beating the mountain lion—tearing its flesh, biting at its throat, and shoving it down.
The second beast joined with a scream of rage. Talon took it down just as easily, with a few stout clouts to the head to daze it and then the finishing bite on its throat. Both tried to get back up, bleeding heavily, but Talon slashed and bit them all the harder. Before he knew it, they were both finished.
He stood over their bodies triumphantly. Then, their feline shapes shifted and transformed. Once again, Talon felt realization and horror clog up his throat as he recognized the humans who now lay before him: Kai, the Son of Fire, and Skylor, the Daughter of Amber. Claw scratches had torn gashes across Kai's face, his hair soaked in red. Skylor's beautiful body was now mutilated and broken beyond recognition.
"No—not again!" Talon groaned, tearing himself away from the gory spectacle. He ran at a wild, stumbling pace, desperate to get away.
The ground tilted over suddenly. Talon was flung off his feet and plummeted into darkness. His own wail of terror echoed hauntingly in his head.
He hit the ground. Staggering on his shaky paws, he stood up. He found himself on a steep, narrow mountaintop, with only pebbles and dirt to stand on. The sky yawning above him was dark, and a cold, angry wind lashed at his fur. He glanced over the edge of the precipice, but the slopes of the cliffside fell away only into shadows as black as ink. Terrified, he dug his claws into the dirt and crouched down, shivering.
He looked up, and saw a cat standing before him. His blood ran cold when he recognized the pelt and face of the young tom facing him with a sneer: Tall Ears—the cat he had murdered in a duel a few days ago. His kithood tormentor who had delighted in reminding him of the dark rumors surrounding Talon and Black Blood's birth.
"It's true, then," Tall Ears taunted him, raising his voice above the low-whistling wind. "You are a half-breed! Your father is a puny human! And your brother is a ninja, one of those cursed Sons of the Elements!" His eyes glittered spitefully. "You're weak. Your human blood affects you. You flinch and recoil at the sight of it being spilled. You barely had the courage to punish the Sister of Darkness Matilda, and you didn't take the chance then and there to end Cole once and for all!"
The skinny tom lashed his black-and-white tails. "It's just what I've said all along. You're no warrior. You're a coward. A sniveling, human-loving, pathetic coward. If it weren't for you, the ninja would have been defeated by now, and the Moon Tribe would be at peace. Instead, we're still at war, and your tribe-mates will continue getting hurt."
His whiskers twitched in a dark, mirthless sneer. "This is all your fault."
"Shut up!" Eagle Talon burst out. His heart felt ablaze with fury, so hot and lashing that it burned him from the inside. His stomach churned and recoiled from Tall Ears' words, but he poured his fury into his strength.
"Just shut up!" he repeated in a caterwaul, launching himself at Tall Ears with claws unsheathed. He fell upon his enemy heavily. Tall Ears screeched angrily and writhed, biting and scratching. Talon sunk his claws into the flesh of Tall Ears' neck and wrapped his forelegs around him, yanking him down. Tall Ears hissed and yowled as he squirmed to free himself.
The two toms struggled furiously upon the narrow precipice. To any onlookers, they were whirring balls of fur, claws, and teeth, snapping and lashing at each other. Talon felt his flesh scored and his bones bruised, but he ignored the stabs of pain—in a way, the pain gave him a boost of energy. The physical hurt he felt was finally beginning to match the hurt he felt within himself, and it was an oddly satisfying sensation. Empowered by this feeling, Eagle Talon fought back against his tormentor all the more viciously.
Abruptly, there was a loud, single snapping noise. Tall Ears uttered one strangled gurgle and his eyes blinked and stared upwards in a pained daze. Then, the tom sank onto his side and collapsed. Something wet and bright red stained the white patches of his coat.
Eagle Talon fell away from the body. He gasped for breath and felt his limbs tremble with shock. Blearily he gazed at the limp, broken figure lying before him. There was no joy in his success in this vision.
Once again, the body of the one he'd slain shifted and changed. Somehow, a part of Talon had known this part of his series of nightmares would come to this. Yet it could not ward off the spine-chilling, gut-dropping feeling of not only horror, but a terrifyingly real sensation of grief—grief so agonizing it felt as if an ice-cold knife had been plunged into his heart. He opened his mouth to scream, but for that moment of shock, any voice he had found itself trapped and strangled in the deep of his throat.
Cole lay in a twisted, pathetic heap before him. His skin was colorless. The material of his uniform was ripped and shredded where Talon's claws had ripped it. Gashes so great and deep made bile rise in Talon's throat. One of Cole's arms lay at an angle it probably wasn't supposed to. The leathery breastplate had fallen away, straps broken, and the wraps on his undershirt had been torn away to reveal his bleeding chest. His unmoving face was contorted with pain. The howling wind made locks of his black hair—so much like Talon's own—dance around his face, and the jagged green scar running down the side of his head glittered weakly in the darkness.
Then, Cole stirred. With a jolt, Talon realized that he was still alive.
Coughing, Cole wheezed quietly, "Talon... please..."
Talon didn't move. What could he do? What could he say?
Cole stared up at him pleadingly. "We're— we're brothers."
Before Talon could find strength to move, a horrible sob sounded beside him. He saw Liana suddenly appear, her silver-blond hair glowing in the night. For some reason or another, she was wearing long, dark robes like that of Matilda's, and instead of being pulled up in its usual ponytail, her hair was down.
"Cole!" Liana staggered to the ninja's side in a second, as swiftly as if she could see, and she kneeled by him. Her scarred face contorted, tears running down her face. Her hands groped for his face, and they came away sticky and red. "No, no, no... please, no..."
Cole blinked wearily at her. Then he gazed at Eagle Talon with a look that made Talon feel as if his heart were being wrenched out of his chest. His lips parted once more, he struggled for breath to say something—then his head fell back with a small sigh. His chest stopped moving, and his body lay still upon the cold ground.
Liana bit her fist into her mouth, but it could not stop the strangled wail of grief that shattered from her throat. She was trembling from head to foot, tears falling more profusely than ever—some dripped onto Cole's face. She hunched her shoulder and hugged herself, leaning over—
—Before abruptly sitting up and gazing straight into Eagle Talon's eyes. In that moment, he felt sure she could see him. Her cloudy eyes blazed. "You're a monster."
Then she collapsed onto Cole, burying her head in his bleeding chest.
Talon couldn't watch anymore. He turned and ran—toward the edge of the precipice? Yes, he would jump, jump off the cliff and into that never-ending abyss, if only to get away from Liana's cries and Cole's lifeless eyes.
Talon ran with all his might, turning his back on the scene. He saw the edge, neared it, ignored the black mouth yawning before him, and leapt into the air.
The wind suddenly howled louder than ever, until it was fairly screaming into his ears, like a long, chilling wail of agony. He flew through the air, then plummeted. He was spinning and spiraling through darkness. He opened his mouth to scream—
"Shut up!"
A paw cuffed him around the head. Eagle Talon jolted up in his nest. He blinked anxiously in the darkness of the cavern, sniffing the air. He recognized the scents of his tribe-mates around him, and realized he was now safe in the real world.
"Beetle-brain!" An irritated voice reminded him that someone had woken him up. He turned and saw the pale outline of Tiny Sparrow standing over him. The small female hissed irritably, "What's the matter with you?! No cat can hardly get any sleep with you thrashing around like that in your nest, much less when you're yowling like you've got a pack of foxes on your tails!"
"S— sorry," Talon muttered. He lowered his head and looked away. "It was just a bad dream. I'll be quiet now."
"Humph," Tiny Sparrow snorted, but didn't press the matter. She returned to her nest and settled down, though not without a few dark mutters. Talon could sense other cats in the cave sharing a few low murmurs and whining in their beds, but for the most part, everyone was ready to get back to sleep. Within moments, the only sounds in the dark cave were the rhythmic breathing of a few dozen cats, along with a snore here and there.
Yet while his tribe-mates returned to the realm of sleep easily enough, Eagle Talon stayed awake for a long time, alone with his heart that did not slow down for a while. Even if he thought he would be able to soothe himself to sleep, he wasn't sure if he wanted to return to that uncertain realm of his mind just yet.
The faint echo of Kohuru's voice returned to his head, chanting distantly: Blind, blind, one of a kind is the death of the blind!
* * *
One of the things Cole could rarely stand was pity. Rarely did standing around feeling sorry for someone help things—usually, getting up and fixing the problem without whining about it did the trick. Of course, he was aware pity was a sign of caring and compassion between friends, and one shouldn't treat it like it's an insult. Still... often, he found it easier to pity others than to have someone else pity him.
Cole felt a lot of pity directed at him throughout the day. From Master Wu, from his father, from the majority of his teammates, from Little Leaf, from Misako, and from Liana—though, funnily enough, Jay was the only one who didn't seem timid around Cole or tried to speak carefully when addressing him. Perhaps he knew Cole's nature well enough to know that acting as if they were simply on another mission would help keep his friend more at ease—it was that, or, Jay was more oblivious to the world around him than Cole had originally believed.
Whatever the case, the amount of pity Cole could feel directed at him was enough that he decided to lock himself in the ninjas' quarters until they arrived at their destination. He found that he indeed received the solitude he was desiring, but with it came a price: the company of his own thoughts, and few of them were cheerful.
To distract himself, he started to tidy up around the room; he made his bed, kicked his and the other guys' dirty laundry aside into a neat pile in a corner, and, as the finale, began sorting through the collection of clothes and small items of possession he kept in the chest of drawers that sat beside his bed. He went through several pairs of dark underwear, some undershirts, socks, and a pair of leggings with a hole in one knee before finding the heavier things down at the bottom: a couple of sai, some kunai throwing knives, a couple of pebbles for some reason, an old pamphlet for one of his dad's shows—
His fingers brushed against something cold and hard. He pulled out a small, peculiar-looking collection of thin metal rings joined together in a jumbled-up, confusing mesh.
Recognition made him stiffen.
He jumped when a knocking sound came from the door, along with the voice of Liana. "Cole? You there?"
"I, uh— yeah, yeah," he stammered, feeling a little bewildered being jolted out of his thoughts. He hurried to the door and opened it, revealing Liana.
"Is it—?" She spoke hesitantly. "Is it OK if I come in? I don't want to disturb you..."
In his abrupt disconcertion, he forgot that he'd hidden himself away in order not to interact with anyone, which is why he replied instinctively, "Oh, no, no, it's fine, it's fine—come on in."
Liana entered and found her way to Cole's bed. Sitting upon it, she asked, "What'cha doin'?"
"Nothing." Cole shoved the object he held into a pocket of his pants. Liana's eyebrows arched when she heard the faint jingle of the iron rings.
"What's that?"
Cole hesitated, then pulled the rings back out, even though she couldn't see them. "It's— it's a ring. Well, a bunch of tiny rings, I guess," he stammered. "But they're shaped into this weird, wiggly pattern, and you have to put them together like a puzzle to be able to get the full ring. It also makes a picture when everything's put in the right place."
Liana's lips quirked with mild curiosity. "What's the picture of?"
"A dragon." Cole's gaze fell upon the mess of iron hoops again. "Matilda was the one who gave this me—when we all first met, years ago."
"Oh," she responded softly. Both of them fell silent.
At length she asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"
"About what?"
"Matilda... Talon... Black Blood..."
He felt himself stiffen. "I'd rather not, if that's OK," he responded evenly.
"OK." She ducked her head and blushed.
"Sorry. I—" Cole felt bad for being prickly. He struggled to explain himself. "I'm not trying to be rude, it's just—" He looked down at the ring again and said in a more bewildered tone, "It's just that this was broken."
"What do you mean?"
"Before Raven Frost and Broken Fang kidnapped Kai and Skylor," Cole recalled slowly, carefully, mentally rummaging through his memories to make sure he wasn't going crazy. "We were packing up stuff in the tea shop, 'cause we were about to move into the Temple of Airjitzu. Kai found this in one of the storage boxes. Then, a few minutes later, a heavy box fell on the ring and smashed it to pieces." Cole shook his head wonderingly. "I'm not crazy, right? I remember it. All the little rings were twisted and broken... I just put it away, but now— now it's fixed. No twisted hoops, no pieces missing, nothing! Like magic."
The word "magic" made Liana's milky eyes light up. "You know... I've caught Matilda snooping around in these rooms once or twice."
That made Cole remember something else: "She was with us when the ring broke. She was disguised as a cat, and we didn't know who she was at the time, but she was there..."
"I'd bet anything that she was the one who fixed it." Liana's lips curved into a small, teasing smile. "She probably did it while the rest of us were out fighting recently. Surely she's done more here on the Bounty aside from drinking tea with Master Wu?"
"Maybe you're right." Cole realized the idea was a probable one. He felt a little touched that the irascible witch cared enough about the old gift she'd given him once upon a time to take it upon herself to fix it and leave it for him to find. The small, heartwarming feeling, however, was soon drowned out by a fresh wave of sorrow.
If Matilda was destroyed by the Moon Tribe, Cole would never get to thank her for the gift—never even get to tell her goodbye. Holding the ring in the palm of his hand reminded him of this disheartening fact.
As if on cue, Liana murmured softly, "She loves you like a son, you know."
He heard himself ask, "How can you tell?"
"I just can."
He stared down at the mess of iron rings. He felt a strange sort of numbness that wasn't entirely comfortable. Abruptly, he grabbed Liana's hand—gently—and placed the ring into her palm. "I want you to have it."
"What? Why?"
"I just do," he replied shortly. "It hurts too much to remember. Besides, I think you'd like playing around with it better than I do. You've got a knack for detecting patterns and stuff with your fingers."
"We're going to get her back, Cole."
"Just take it. Please." He looked into her unseeing gray eyes. "Think of it as a— as a birthday present from me."
She grinned in a combination of bewilderment and amusement. "You don't even know when my birthday is."
"Too bad, happy birthday." He said it with a smile, but he closed her fingers over the ring firmly. She shrugged and slipped it into a pocket of her purple gi.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
They sat together in an uneasy silence. Cole realized they hadn't had much time together alone recently—at least, not since that night in the meadow, when they'd—
The memory made both his cheeks warm up and his heart give a single little jump. He'd hadn't had much time to reflect upon that experience, and he wasn't sure what to make of it. It was hard enough trying to discern his own feelings concerning Liana without all the drama with his half-feline siblings and the war between them and the ninja.
"I, uhh..." Liana broke the silence, nervously twirling one of her locks of hair around her finger. "Anyway, I came to— to talk to you."
"About Talon and Black Blood?" He quickly felt defensive again.
"No. You've made it pretty clear to everyone that you don't want to talk about that at all," she responded with a wry note. Before he could bluster a reply, she continued, "I wanted to talk about my element—or really, your thoughts on it."
"My thoughts?" he echoed. "What about Master Wu? He knows a lot more about training Elemental Masters than I do."
"Yes, but not about mind-bending," she said. "And that's something I've been playing around with lately. You see..." She bit her lip, clearly remembering something. "Yesterday, while you were fighting Eagle Talon and Black Blood, something— something happened."
Liana explained to Cole her part to play in his battle against Black Blood and Eagle Talon: how she had summoned the mind-bending abilities Matilda had taught them all and had not only felt Cole and discovered where he was, but mentally fought off Black Blood from getting into his head and having the advantage. Cole felt his amazement increase as she told the tale, and by the time she finished, he was shaking his head in wonder.
"That's incredible, Liana."
She blushed and smiled. "Thanks."
"I'm serious!" he insisted. He remembered how difficult those mind-bending sessions were for everyone. The fact that Liana not only tracked him by herself, but fought off one of the most powerful Seven Sorcerers all on her own, was truly incredible. "None of us have got half of what it takes to mind-bend like you do. Even Matilda seems to have trouble with it sometimes. But you— you're a natural at it!"
Liana's expression shifted and became more serious. "That's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about." She hesitated.
"Go ahead," he pressed encouragingly.
Liana took a moment to inhale slowly, then said, "We still haven't figured out what my element is yet."
"Yeah..."
"It's not earth-related or water-related; that much we know so far. Wu was saying to me earlier today that we'll work with fire and air soon, because it's important we learn what my element is." Liana bit her lip, a habit she seemed to have when thinking of what to say about a serious topic. "He pointed out my knack for the mind-bending stuff, but didn't say much else. So now I..." Her voice trailed off.
He felt tempted to press her for more, but he could tell that she was thinking methodically. Patiently, he waited.
"Cole... do you know if— if something like mind is an element? That sounds stupid now that I'm saying it out loud," she interrupted herself hastily. "But, you know, I remember hearing about the Elemental Masters' alliance, that there are a lot—"
"It's not a dumb question," Cole interrupted. "There is a Master of Mind. We met him on Chen's island, before the Anacondrai attack."
Liana perked up. "So— so there's a chance my element is mind, then!"
"Yeah..." Cole thought out loud eagerly. "Neuro can see other people's thoughts, and predict what they're going to do. I've seen him send his opponents splitting headaches and migraines in combat, too. He can be a pretty deadly opponent."
"Can he bust chains apart and make things explode with his mind, too?" she asked.
His rising excitement stalled. "I— I'm not sure. Come to think of it," he said reluctantly. "Those things don't really seem like stuff a Mind Ninja would be able to do. Plus," he added, "healing wounds isn't exactly a mind-related power, either. I mean, I could be wrong. Just because I haven't seen Neuro do it doesn't mean he can't."
Liana nodded thoughtfully. "I'll have to ask Master Wu about it." She got up and headed for the door, her hand trailing along the wall as a guide.
"You're leaving already?"
She paused and turned her face halfway in his direction. She wore a perplexed smile. "Did you want me to stay?"
Heat rose to his face. "Uh, no— I mean, yes, but— I'm OK with you leaving— not that I want you to leave, I like— umm... ugh." Embarrassed, he waved her off. "Do what you like."
He looked away when she'd smirked teasingly, so he didn't see how her face shifted to an expression of affection. "Zane says dinner's almost ready, so you're going to have to leave your room soon, anyway."
"Fine. See you in a few minutes."
"See you." She hesitated, then turned and exited the ninjas' quarters.
With a small sigh, Cole slumped and lay on his back on his bed. He stared up at the ceiling and took advantage of the last few minutes he had of his freedom by allowing himself to be immersed in his own private thoughts.
***
It was a cool, misty morning that greeted the crew of the Destiny's Bounty as they finally arrived at their destination. They were still airborne, but close enough to the ground that they could see the individual evergreen trees that dotted the snow-spotted landscape, along with the single river that wound its way like an agile silver snake up and down the low hills.
Zane stood at the bow, feeling the icy wind brush past his metallic cheeks. Pixal interrupted his meditation saying, "We are nearing a small town known as Oxstone. The villagers here specialize in herding and breeding bovine livestock, as do most of the small towns in this area. The cove marked on the map is several miles north of this village. Other than that, not much is known about this territory. Because we are not sure what to expect, take caution."
"Thank you, Pixal." Zane granted a brief smile in recognition of her help. She responded with a small nod. Zane focused his gaze away from his visual scanner and to the sky beyond. He could taste salt in the chilly air, and he wondered how close they were to the ocean.
The others were beginning to gather on deck now, albeit closer to the shelter of the bridge where Nya was steering and Wu and Misako were observing the maps. Lloyd, Jay and Cole had wrapped their bare arms around themselves, shivering in the cold air, whereas Little Leaf had taken to her bakeneko form, and looked at the shaking humans smugly in her fur coat. Mr. Brookstone stood by idly with them, looking uncertain as to what to do with himself.
Zane realized Liana was walking toward him, guiding herself by the railing. He shifted his stance to give her room at the bow—as well as to let the sound of his footsteps alert her to his presence, should she have not sensed him already. She joined him without comment.
Zane observed the dark circles beneath her eyes. Already knowing the answer, he asked anyway, "You did not sleep well?"
"More nightmares," she replied grimly.
Zane knew he should probably attempt to offer some form of comfort, but logically, he knew there was nothing he could say to Liana to ease the invisible burden she carried day and night.
"I'm bringing her down," Nya announced from the bridge. "I don't want to get too close to the village and attract unwanted attention."
Within minutes, the flying ship landed smoothly upon a patch of snow, in a grove of evergreens. Well-rested and armed, Zane, Liana, Nya, Cole, Jay, and Lloyd quickly found their way to the ground.
"Scout out the area, see what you can find," Wu ordered from the deck. "The place where Dr. Julien's acquaintance claimed the clearstone mine is cannot be far. In case there are Moon Tribe spies about, keep a watchful eye out, ninja."
"Can I go?" Little Leaf's eager voice interrupted Wu's warning. Balancing on the railing, the small calico whisked her tails to and fro between Misako and Mr. Brookstone. "I'll be good!"
Misako gave the bakeneko a skeptical look. "We might, if you didn't have a habit of attracting trouble, Little Leaf."
The little cat was unabashed. "If our warriors have reached this far and set up some sort of base, I'll know how they work and when," she pointed out. "You need me! I'm like a double-agent!"
"She's been in way worse situations before," Lloyd added helpfully. "She's good to have in a fight, in any case. We'd be happy to have her along."
Leaf beamed at the young man's praise.
Mr. Brookstone looked uneasy and opened his mouth to protest, but Wu relented. "Keep her close," he ordered his nephew. "Don't let her out of your sight."
"Yes!" Little Leaf bounded down the gangplank and joined the ninja. Zane had to smile at her innocent excitement.
"Be careful, all right?" Mr. Brookstone added unnecessarily. "All of you." His gaze flickered anxiously between Cole and Little Leaf.
Zane saw Cole give his father a small smile. "We'll be fine, Dad."
Lloyd nodded to Little Leaf and faced the rest of his friends. He pulled his half-mask up to his face. "All right, everybody. Let's go."
With that, the seven of them took off running almost soundlessly into the woods. Lloyd took the lead. The white, ginger and black shape of Little Leaf bounded beside Zane. Jay and Nya ran side by side, and Zane was aware of Cole and Liana taking up the rear. Not for the first time, Zane felt impressed by Liana's agility in running quickly and quietly despite her blindness. Briefly, he wondered if her mysterious element had anything to do with that.
Only a few minutes had gone by before Zane's visual caught sight of a few wisps of smoke drifting in the gray sky, then the dark rooftops of small houses. Together the ninja, Liana, and Little Leaf slowed at a rise of a hill of dead grass. Zane ventured from the shelter of the dark pine trees to scan the small valley that sprawled out before them.
True to Pixal's report, Oxstone was a small village, tucked away within the curve of the large river. The buildings looked as if they'd all been built over a hundred years ago, judging from the old-fashioned courtyards, cracked plaster walls, ancient-looking tile roofs, and faded paint. A wall surrounded the majority of the small stone buildings, most of them no taller than two stories high. The tallest structure to be seen stood over the river: an enormous wooden water wheel, constantly turning at a slow pace with the river's current.
"Not many people out," Jay noted quietly.
Zane quickly scanned the streets and surrounding countryside and realized that Jay was right: only a few people could be seen walking between the cluster of houses and barns. These looked to be farmers taking care of their cattle—pens of bovine were set up several hundred yards away from the outskirts of the town—while a few children could be seen helping their mothers in the few gardens close by some of the houses. Other than that, the streets seemed to be empty.
Frowning in thought, Zane murmured, "I wonder where everyone else is."
"Maybe we should just go down and ask." Jay straightened from his half-crouched position and started toward the village.
"Wait!" Little Leaf's voiced hissed urgently, and Zane turned to see the little cat pressing herself down against the ground, bristling all over. "Jay, get back!"
Jay frowned at the cat ordering him what to do, but Nya snatched him by the collar of his mask and yanked him back into the cover of the trees. Meanwhile Cole looked at the werecat and asked furtively, "What is it?"
Leaf raised her head and tasted the air. She muttered, "Thank our ancestors we're sitting out of the wind. I've caught a scent."
"Of what?" Cole demanded.
She waved her forked tails at him. "Shh... look." She nodded toward the village.
Everyone followed her gaze. Zane was the first to spot what she was gesturing to, and he stiffened when he did. Three men were swaggering down the street, speaking brashly to one another. Unlike the heavy shirts and trousers most of the peasants wore, they wore ragged animal skins over their muscular bodies and walked barefoot despite the chill. Leather belts and baldrics carried stone knives and, of course, clearstone swords. One man had a short necklace of animal teeth hanging from his neck.
On Zane's visual scanner, Pixal's expression darkened. "Moon Tribe warriors."
Zane kept his gaze on the three werecats as they ambled down the main street, passing by two peasants who were carrying baskets of produce. He noticed how, when nearing the group of Moon Tribe men, the couple seemed to grow uneasy and lowered their heads.
Abruptly, one of the men exclaimed something and snatched one of the baskets from the girl's grasp. While the girl cringed and flinched away, and young man beside her shouted angrily. The Moon Tribe warrior paid them little mind, only taking the time to sneer an insult at them and toss vegetables aside as he rummaged through the basket. The other two laughed.
The girl kept her head down and did nothing to stop them. The young man, on the other hand, kept speaking furiously to the Moon Tribe warriors, shaking his fist with one hand while clutching his own basket with the other. His shouts grew louder.
Zane heard Cole mutter beside him, "You don't want to do that, buddy..."
The werecats didn't seem all that concerned with the human's anger, but when the young farmer took a step forward to shout his insults directly in their faces, the man who had taken the basket suddenly thrust his face up to the human's; in that split second, his face changed from human to feline, with a muzzle jutting out, ears becoming pointed and hairy, and spiky teeth flashing. A loud growl could be heard even from where the ninja were hidden.
The farmer yelped and stumbled back; he tripped and dropped his basket of produce. Both he and the girl hastily crouched down and began picking up the fallen vegetables.
The werecat laughed haughtily and said something else to them before dropping the basket he held on the man's head. The farmers didn't react, only concentrated on getting their produce back. The Moon Tribe man shaped his face back into a humanoid form, casting a sneer at the peasants, and the three of them moved on, laughing loudly. They soon disappeared among the tight cluster of houses.
"So," Zane finally said quietly, "this village is under the control of the Moon Tribe."
"Except for when that man turned half-cat for a second, the villagers didn't seem too surprised to see them there in the town," Nya observed. She chewed her lip as she peered down the valley. "That means they must have been here for a while."
"Little Leaf, do you know anything about this?" Zane turned his gaze to the werecat standing beside him.
"I'm not sure..." Leaf replied thoughtfully. "But, I've had this theory—" She hesitated.
"Go on," Lloyd encouraged her, safely behind Cole so that he wouldn't inhale her fur. "What is it?"
"Maybe I should have mentioned it sooner," Leaf responded sheepishly. "But, Black Blood sends special patrols out of our territory, and they don't come back for a month. And they only return when she's already sent another full patrol out. Most of the warriors don't talk about the missions with the younger cats—I think it's supposed to be some kind of secret—but we know experienced warriors are picked out for each team that are sent off, and it's always to the same location."
"And you do not know why?" Zane questioned.
"I don't know what exactly they do when they're gone, or where they go," she said. "But they always—always—come back with clearstone swords and knives. Perfectly forged and ready for use."
Zane felt his electronic pulse quicken. "And you're suggesting that these special patrols travel here for the clearstone weapons?"
"It's just a theory," she interjected embarrassedly.
"But the information could be helpful," Lloyd pointed out. "How many cats does Black Blood usually send out?"
"Fifteen, sometimes twenty."
"What'cha thinking?" Cole asked when Lloyd frowned.
At length Lloyd responded, "I'm thinking that Black Blood sends her forces out here once a month for a helping of the clearstone from the mine marked on the map."
"So why are they in the village when—?" Nya began.
"Guys," Jay interrupted in an uncharacteristically grim tone. Eyes on the river, he gestured with one hand as he said quietly, "Look. By the water wheel."
Everyone quieted and followed his gaze—except for Liana, who heaved the smallest of sighs to herself. Zane looked at the enormous wooden water wheel, and for a second detected nothing strange. There was a young boy walking by the riverbank, carrying a small bundle to his chest, but otherwise everything looked the same.
Then he saw them: the same werecat men who had bullied the couple were now leaning by the water wheel, and all three of them had their feline eyes set upon the young boy coming up the path with his bundle. Malevolence gleamed in their multi-colored eyes.
"Little Leaf," Zane murmured. "Will they catch our scent if we get any closer?"
"I shouldn't think so," she responded, pressing herself against the grass. "We're upwind."
"Good." Zane stood at a half-crouch and darted over the rise, keeping close to the few trees and shrubbery.
"Zane!" Lloyd hissed.
"Liana!" Cole cried out furtively. Zane glanced over his shoulder to see Liana following him, treading lightly and keeping her head down.
"Go back," he whispered, but she shook her head at him.
"I'm not sitting around idle the whole time I'm with you guys. And I can hear if any other werecats are coming."
Zane knew there was no time to argue. He only pressed his lips together and continued on; the two of them walked quietly between the cover of the shrubbery and headed toward the river.
Cole started toward them, but Lloyd grabbed his arm and jerked him back. "There's not enough cover for any more of us to join them," he whispered.
Cole scowled at Lloyd, but didn't move from his place, only turning his gaze back to the figures in gray and purple. Crouched by Jay and Nya, Little Leaf asked, "Maybe I could go with them. I'm small, and I—"
"Look!" Nya's hiss jerked their attention back to the scene at the water wheel.
Zane could see the events playing out as he and Liana crept slowly over the snow-patched ground, west of the werecats' line of vision, with a few dark bushes and boulders as their only cover. The werecat men were ambling down the path toward the little boy. The child saw them and immediately tried to make a break for it. The man with the necklace of teeth sprung over the ground with a guttural laugh and landed in front of him.
"Going somewhere, two-leg?" he sneered.
The quivering boy clutched his bundle to his chest and staggered back, right into the chest of one of the warriors. He found himself surrounded by all three men.
"What's happening?" Liana whispered as they crouched behind one of the boulders on the riverbank.
"The warriors we saw earlier have surrounded a young boy," he replied softly, keeping his gaze on the scene unfolding.
All three of the Moon Tribe warriors were leering down at the child. "What's that you've got?" one of them demanded. He snatched at the parcel.
"You can't have it! It's mine!" the boy protested shakily.
"It's ours if we say its ours," the second sneered. In a single movement, his arm whipped through the air and smoothly grabbed the item from the kid's hands.
"Give it back!" the boy cried out desperately, hopping up and down to reach his parcel.
Contemptuously the warrior shoved the boy away. "Get lost, kit. Don't make me eat you instead." He then ripped the thin paper away, and exposed a dark loaf of bread.
"Give that to me," the man with the necklace grunted as he snatched the loaf. Before either of his companions could protest, he took an enormous bite out of it. Barely a second had passed before he spat it out and yowled something feline. "Phaug! This isn't food!"
"Is to!" the boy argued as he continued to hop up, trying to grab the bread. "And I need it to feed my family!"
The man rolled his eyes. "Learn how to hunt like a real tom. Then you won't need to eat this crow's food anymore." With that, he chucked the loaf of bread into the river.
"No!" a single sob broke the child's throat as the dark shape splashed into the churning water and was instantly swept away. He stood there helplessly, staring at the river, whilst the Moon Tribe warriors chortled amongst themselves. Not caring to take any more notice of the human child, they turned and sauntered off.
Zane and Liana stayed quite still behind the boulder, while Zane kept his gaze on the boy. He was beginning to have a sense of foreboding.
He saw the boy's eyes light up. Zane followed his gaze toward the water, and caught sight of small, dark shape bobbing up and down in the current, getting further and further away by the minute.
The boy's expression turned from dismal to determined.
"Don't do it," Zane whispered.
The little boy set off at a run down the river bank, following the bobbing bread. When he was within a few feet of his prize, he took a flying leap off a rock and plummeted into the river.
"No!" Zane leapt to his feet, Liana instantly beside him. She'd heard enough of the scene to put the picture together for herself.
Already the kid realized that he was in trouble. The current had snatched him and was pulling him away from the town frighteningly fast. His limbs churned against the invisible force, but it was about as effective as a leaf against an ocean. Waves hit his face as he struggled to stay afloat, and they only entered his mouth when he attempted to voice a choked "Help!"
Without a word to each other, Zane and Liana took off after the boy. Zane half-expected Liana to run into a bush, but some sixth sense seemed to guide her safely, and she ran almost just as swiftly as Zane did.
The boy cried out when he hit a rock hidden beneath the surface. He flailed weakly against the waves pushing him down relentlessly. Zane felt his heart jump when he realized the current was getting faster the further it went.
"Hang on!" he called out, just as he leapt off the bank and into the river. He gasped at the freezing temperature that hit his body and sank into his core, immediately soaking into his uniform. Gritting his teeth, the nindroid thrust his arms and swam toward the child's head bobbing in the dark waves.
The boy's eyes lit up with surprise when he saw Zane swimming for him. He opened his mouth to call out something, but a wave hit his face and sent him sputtering. Yet another wave pushed him further away from the ninja.
Zane thrust his legs and swam swiftly with the current, using its force to carry his body closer to the boy. When he was close enough, he reached out and grabbed the child by the collar of his shirt and yanked him to his chest. The boy clung to him desperately while Zane began to flounder. The invisible current felt like a giant hand flying him and the child down a deep and precarious waterslide.
"Ice!" Gripping the kid in one hand, he used the other to freeze the water around him. However, the river moved much too quickly for it to solidify long enough, and the few chunks that managed to stay together soon broke apart and disappeared.
On the riverbank, he caught sight of the rest of the ninja catching up with Liana. He heard Liana cry out frantically, "Don't you have a rope to throw out to them?"
"We didn't bring any rope!" Cole protested.
Nya ran ahead of them and hopped atop one of the boulders that sat by the river. Eyes flashing with concentration, she raised her arms; Zane felt the current gripping him suddenly shift and switch direction.
The river seemed to spit him and the young boy onto the snowy bank, then the water promptly slid back and resumed its original course. Zane fell gasping and coughing on the ground, and he let the boy tumble from his arms.
Nya's arms fell to her sides, and she immediately crouched by the little boy and helped him sit up. "Are you all right? Can you breathe?"
The boy nodded weakly, coughing up water for a few seconds before sucking gratefully on air. His clothes and hair were plastered to his body, his dark locks dripping in his eyes. Shivering, he scanned the faces of his rescuers and gasped, "You're— you're the ninja!"
His look of amazement turned to Zane as the nindroid sat up. "You're Zane, the Ice Ninja! You saved my life!" Before Zane could muster enough breath to respond, the child slammed into his chest in a big, wet hug. "Thank you!"
Zane felt himself smile, and he gave an affectionate pat on the boy's head. "I am very glad you were not swept away by the river, as I'm sure your family will be glad, too. What is your name?"
"I'm Kenzo," the boy answered.
"Well, Kenzo," Nya said, placing on hand on her hip. "Care to explain why you risked your life to get that loaf of bread? You could have died!"
"Yeah, couldn't you have gotten another one from the bakery?" Jay chimed in.
Kenzo's expression darkened. "That bread was the only thing that would've fed my family tonight," he responded sadly. "I needed it. I used the last of our allowance we had to buy that bread. The baker would have probably have given us an extra loaf, anyway," he added. "But his supplies are so low, he can barely make enough for everyone. I was lucky. Until those stinking cat-monsters found me with it."
Zane frowned. "Are the Moon Tr— are the cat-monsters in control of your village?"
"Yeah." Kenzo explained, "They've been bossing around everyone for four years. I was seven when they first invaded."
Lloyd's eyes widened with concern. "Why couldn't your people send for help? Surely someone would've noticed the occupation long ago if—!"
"Hey, ah, hate to break up the party," Jay interjected uneasily. "But is now really the best time and place to be having this discussion? We're too exposed!" He gestured to the wide expanse of grass and snow around them; a few scattered boulders and bushes were all that separated them from the village sitting several hundred yards away upstream. "We could get caught!"
"Plus, this little guy is freezing," Nya added, giving the shivering Kenzo a sympathetic look.
"I am also freezing," Zane pointed out.
"Yeah, but you're the Master of Ice. We're not worried about you," Jay said bluntly.
"You will be once my joints begin freezing together and you have to carry me back to the Bounty," Zane replied wryly.
Sighing, Liana interjected impatiently, "That being said, we need to get back to the Bounty if we don't want the cats to know we're here. It's probably bad enough we've left our scents by the river."
Before any of the ninja or Little Leaf could agree or disagree, Kenzo piped up. "We could go to my house. It's not too close to where the cat-monsters usually hang out, and we have a place to hide you! You guys are on a secret mission, right?" His eyes glittered eagerly.
"We don't want to put your family in any danger..." Lloyd said uncertainly.
"You won't! They never come to our house. The cats won't even know you're here!"
Lloyd exchanged a look with his teammates, then responded, "Thanks, Kenzo. Lead the way."
Grinning broadly, Kenzo hopped to his feet and began leading the ninja back upstream. However, before they got very far, Cole cleared his throat and said, "Before we go there just yet, we probably do have to make a stop at the Bounty."
"For what?" Nya asked.
* * *
On the outskirts of Oxstone Village, a slim, middle-aged woman stood hunched over the old stove in the drafty kitchen, rubbing her hands over the fire she'd managed to coax into life. Her heart felt heavy. She'd used the last of the meager gruel they had that morning to feed her two children and husband before they all went to work. Now there was nothing left in the pantry, and her neighbors had been unable to spare any of their few resources for her. She knew it was going to be a long, cold night of hunger once more.
The door of the small cottage banged open. Whirling around, the woman demanded, "Kenzo, what have I told you about slamming the door—?!" Her words ended in a gasp.
With her eleven-year-old son were a group of strangers. They looked to be muscular teenagers in brightly-clad gi uniforms and masks. Everyone in the group carried some sort of parcel. In her amazement in seeing the strangers step hastily into her house, the woman didn't see the small, two-tailed calico cat with them, ducking its head as it joined them inside.
"Hi, Momma," Kenzo called cheerfully as he slammed the door behind him. "Guess who these are!"
There were only a few candles and a single small fire in the fireplace lighting up the dim cottage, plus a few dirt-stained windows allowing in the last bit of sunlight from the short winter day. Thus it took several seconds for Kenzo's mother to inspect the faces of the strangers standing in her den. When she finally did, she slapped her hands over her mouth as she gasped, "The ninja!"
"Recognize them from TV?" Kenzo said gleefully, even though his mother had already made it clear that she recognized them.
"Y— yes," she stammered.
"We're sorry for intruding," Lloyd hastened to apologize. "We just met this little guy—"
"Zane saved me from drowning!" Kenzo interjected eagerly.
His mother's gaze whipped back to him sharply. "What?"
Kenzo abruptly realized his mistake and shrunk back. "Uhh, I mean—"
Zane decided to step in, and he smoothly explained what had happened by the river. When he revealed how the boy had leapt into the current after the loaf of bread, his mother exclaimed angrily, "Kenzo! How could you be so foolish?! Shame on you!" while simultaneously yanking him into a tight hug.
"It was the only dinner we would've had tonight," Kenzo mumbled against her shoulder.
"I'd much rather lose a piece of bread than lose you!" she continued to scold. "If you keep up this reckless behavior—!"
Zane cleared his throat, feeling a little uncomfortable. "We, ah— we brought food." He held up the small parcel of wrapped paper in his hands. The rest of the team followed suit, holding up grocery bags and covered bowls.
Kenzo's mother stood with and gaped at the gifts the ninja bore. For a few moments, she couldn't seem to find her voice to speak. "I— I don't know what to say."
"Will you say you'll have us for dinner?" Jay quipped, laughing awkwardly. "'Cause, uh, we don't really want the oversized cats out there to find us here, and we need a place to stay."
Her eyes sharpened. "Are you here to stop the cat-monsters from what they're doing to us?"
"Absolutely," Cole spoke up grimly.
The middle-aged woman's expression turned from amazed and wary to welcoming. "In that case, I'm sure we'll all be happy to have you for dinner."
* * *
The mother of Kenzo introduced herself as Suki. Her husband, Shiro, came home from work that evening to find a large group of strangers in his living room, but once his wife explained to him who they were and why they were here, the man's attitude changed from hostile to friendly quite quickly. Kenzo had one younger brother named Hiro. Hiro stared at the ninja in wonderment, but was too shy to talk to them and stayed almost constantly by his mother's side. All in all, Kenzo's family were very grateful to the ninja for rescuing one of their youngest members, and welcomed them warmly into their small home.
It wasn't long before the dining table was set up with the food prepared from the Bounty, and the impoverished family all ate happily. Suki warned her boys not to eat too much, nor to eat it too quickly, for their stomachs were not used to consuming this much food all at once. The ninja team had brought their own snacks to eat for themselves, wanting the family to have the best of what they had. It was only after the ravenous eating had eased somewhat—and when the darkness of evening had truly fallen—when Shiro ventured to ask what had brought the ninja here.
Clearing his throat, Lloyd responded, "We've been on the case of the Moon Tribe for a few weeks, and we thought they might be up to something around here."
Shiro and Suki looked confused. "Moon tribe?" Shiro echoed.
"Sorry," Zane intervened. "The cat-monsters. The shape-shifting warriors. We observed that they seem to run your town, and are getting away with anything they want."
Shiro's dirt-stained face fell into a dark scowl. "Those monsters. They came here about four years ago. One night, they just appeared out of nowhere, a whole army of them. We all did what we could, but—" He sighed. "We're just farmers and herdsmen. We're not made for fighting! And there were more of them than there were of us. They overpowered the town pretty easily. Next thing you know, they've claimed themselves our masters. We woke up the next morning to find creatures you thought you'd only hear about in old wives' tales ruling over our home and taking what's ours."
"They imprisoned the town leaders. We don't know if they're still alive," Suki said quietly.
"Why'd they want to take over a town like this?" Jay asked. "I mean... no offense, but this doesn't really seem like a town villains like to take over. It's just full of goats."
"I believe you mean oxen, Jay," Zane interjected.
"I mean the things with horns," Jay said.
"Yes. Those are oxen."
Jay looked at him blankly. "They've got horns. They're goats."
"I swear, if you start this up again—" Cole snapped.
Liana spoke up loudly. "What I believe they're trying to ask, is, why have the warrior cats taken over this town? What's their motive?"
Shiro seemed to notice Liana for the first time. He peered warily through the candlelight at her scars. "I don't recognize you. Are you one of the ninja?"
Nya responded, "She's our friend. She's helping us fight against the warrior cats persecuting you."
The older man looked skeptical. "You're blind. What can you do?" He addressed the question to Liana.
"You might be surprised," Liana replied wryly, but she didn't elaborate.
Shiro accepted her answer with a puzzled shrug, then responded to her question. "It seems the reason the cat-monsters are here is because of an old mine that's down by the shore. There's some kind of ore there they want. Every work day the menfolk leave at dawn and walk 'bout two miles north and head to the mine. Miners go into the caves and dig out the ore; workers cart it out and purify it, then they send it in to the blacksmiths in the big warehouse. The cat-monsters make the blacksmiths forge swords, knives, the like—whatever they want, whenever they want it. Then they pack everything up, and take it away."
Zane frowned, processing this new information. "Clearstone ore? Is that what they're digging out?"
"Clearstone?" The man shrugged. "I dunno what it's called. We just dig it out and make weapons for them."
"But, you're farmers," Nya pointed out. "How do you know how to make weapons like that? Even your blacksmiths should only know how to make things used for farming, not war."
"It's not us who design these weapons," Shiro protested. "We just see what's on the plans and build them."
"The cat-monsters don't design the plans," Suki spoke up. "I think they're more ignorant than we are on those things. But we've picked up word that they have an old man who makes the designs. Some people say he led the monsters to the mine here in the first place."
Zane felt his interest piqued. "An old man? Who?"
"We don't know," Suki confessed. "All we know is that they keep him in a separate wing of the factory where the weapons are made, and that's where the designs for the swords come from."
Zane shared a significant look with Lloyd. "This is where the Moon Tribe are getting their weapons. They're bullying and using the people here to do the dirty work they cannot do themselves." As he spoke, he turned back to the couple facing them across the table. "So that is why we saw so few people in town when we arrived. Most of them are up north being forced to work in the mines!"
"There's more," Shiro added gravely.
Cole's expression darkened. "More? Isn't that enough?"
Shiro lowered his voice and leaned over the table, as if worried of any Moon Tribe warriors outside overhearing them. "Used to, once a month, new warriors would come while most of the old ones leave. They change shifts every month. But this month," he murmured grimly. "Twice as many came. And they came with new demands—demands straight from their leader, they said."
Zane asked, "What demands?"
"Vehicles," Shiro whispered. "They want us to start building vehicles for them. There're at least a dozen motorbikes ready and waiting in the factory warehouse already."
A stunned silence settled upon the group around the table. The little boys, sensing the tension, paused from scarfing down their food to cast anxious looks between their parents and the ninja.
Zane sat back in his chair, feeling his processors whirl in his head. "Vehicles," he repeated softly.
Jay broke the silence with a laugh. "Pfft, cats on motorcycles? So what? We've defeated way worse bad guys before! Relax."
"But what do they want vehicles for?" Cole demanded, rolling his fists into balls. "They never needed bikes before. This is new. Black Blood is planning something big, and none of her warriors knew about it until now."
"How do you know that?" Nya asked with a frown.
"I've been in Talon's head, remember," Cole responded shortly. "And I'm pretty sure he knew nothing about the Moon Tribe getting vehicles."
Little Leaf sat silently in Nya's lap at the table, trying to keep herself as inconspicuous as possible. Zane could tell from her flicking tail that she wanted to add her opinion to the group, but they'd agreed beforehand not to reveal to Kenzo's family that one of the werecat warriors was with them, since it would most likely only cause confusion and mistrust.
Zane's mind kept wanting to return to one detail—the one concerning the old man the Moon Tribe was allegedly keeping—but he forced himself to focus on the task at hand. "If Black Blood is planning something more than simply gaining the power that comes with nine lives," he spoke up grimly. "I am sure it involves something such as a full-scale attack or ambush on either us or innocent civilians."
"I think it's becoming pretty clear what it is we do next," Lloyd spoke up, looking at his companions. "Stopping whatever is going on here could ultimately ruin the Moon Tribe's scheme. We need to save this town."
"And just how are we going to do that?" The question sounded skeptical, but Cole's eyes glittered savagely when he said it. Zane briefly wondered if he was feeling more aggressive than ever toward the Moon Tribe after the events of the other day.
Zane found himself replying with uncharacteristic authority. "I will tell you what we are going to do: we are going to find a way into the ore mining factory, free everyone in this village, destroy the Moon Tribe's work, and ultimately foil Black Blood's scheme. She is not going to get away with this."
While his teammates cheered and agreed, Zane added to himself, And find my uncle, whatever it takes. Even if it is the last thing I do.