Snow lashed into Julia's cheeks. Her entire body throbbed from walking in the dark for so long. The chill of Ninjago's winter had settled into her bones like a parasite, but still she trudged on. She had to. If it weren't for the precious bundle she clutched to her chest beneath the folds of her robes, she would have turned back long ago.
Almost there... I've got to be. I swear, I've been walking for hours!
Bright blond hair in flowing curls whipped around the young woman's face while the wind howled in her ears. Of course this had to be the one winter where blizzards went on for a week straight. During the rest of the year, this place was a desert! She gritted her teeth and forced her legs to shove through the shin-deep snow. At least it wasn't quite as bad as it had been in the north. It had made fighting much, much harder than she liked.
For all the bone-chilling exhaustion she felt, however, Julia couldn't help but grin wryly to herself. They wouldn't find the moonstone—even those horrible werecat sorcerers wouldn't guess where she left the moonstone that her friend Arianna—also known as Lilly—the Master of Earth, had given her a while back. Unbeknownst to them, it lay in the lavish mansion of Cliff Gordon—her husband. Even some of her fellow Elemental Masters hadn't known about the marriage. If they wouldn't know where the moonstone was, then the werecats definitely wouldn't.
Now I've just got to hide the secret that's most precious to me. The small thrill of jubilance quailed at the thought. There was a good chance she would not be able to get her hands on this treasure for a very long time, if she wanted to protect it thoroughly. Still, she was willing to risk it.
Colored lights flickered in the dark. Julia blinked through the rain of snowflakes. She could just barely make out the silhouette of what looked like small mountains—but, if she hadn't gotten lost, she knew those weren't mountains.
The junkyard, she thought with relief. Ha! So I didn't get lost! That'll show Lilly, the know-it-all.
A new sound entered the howl of the wind. The Elemental Master of Lightning stopped. She strained her ears to listen.
There. She heard it again.
Was that the hunting growl of a nekomata?
Though her body already shivered in the snow, her blood felt as if it'd suddenly ran cold. I hope I'm wrong. Please be wrong. Please be wrong. She quickened her pace. Maybe I'm just hearing things. They couldn't have caught up with me that quickly... they should have lost my scent...
The short figure of the girl stumbled her way beneath the sign of flickering lights that read "Ed and Edna's Scrapyard". The lights of a small trailer glowed like a golden flame through the darkness. Julia's heart hammered against her chest. She ran harder, trying to reach the door as fast as she could.
She was gasping by the time she made it. She kept her head down, in case any of the occupants happened to glance out a window. When she pressed her ear against the ice-cold metal exterior of the trailer, she could just barely make out the voices of a man and a woman; both spoke in happy, relaxed tones.
Matilda had better have been right about these people. She made them sound loving and kind. If she's wrong, I'll never forgive her. Julia took a few moments to catch her breath. She sat at the foot of the snow-covered wooden steps that led to the door. Though snowflakes still fell, she was sheltered from the worst of the wind here. She took her hood down, allowing her hair to fall loose around her flushed face. She swallowed and, with trembling hands, lifted up the bundle she had been carrying all these miles.
The tiny figure wrapped thick blankets wriggled uncomfortably. Big electric-blue eyes blinked up at her through the darkness. A shaft of light from the trailer fell upon the tiny tuft of auburn hair upon his head.
She lifted the infant up so that she could press her lips tenderly against his forehead. "You'll be taken care of here. I'll come back for you one day. I promise."
Cliff hadn't wanted her to do this. He'd wanted her to hide with him, to take her son with them as they traveled the continent, never staying in one place for too long. That was before they separated, however. Things were different now, though she still loved him.
The baby boy was placed carefully on the steps, after some of the snow had been cleared away. The key and note were still tucked snugly into the folds of the blankets. She made sure to lay him in a shaft of light, so that it would be hard to miss him should anyone look outside.
The infant's eyes grew wider when his mother released her grasp on him. He seemed to sense what was going on, although he was only a few months old. His bottom lip quivered.
That single quiver felt like a dagger through Julia's heart. Nearly choking, she knelt in the snow and bent over the bundled-up baby lying on the wooden steps. Her son whimpered quietly when she took his tiny, chubby fist and kissed it.
"I love you." Her voice trembled, though she spoke in only a whisper. "I love you so much, my little boy. I'll come back for you one day. Just wait for me. Wait for Mommy."
The tiny fist grabbed onto her thumb and hung on tightly. A choked sob tried to force its way out of her throat as she forced the fragile fist to let go of her. The boy's eyes filled with tears, and his face twisted.
"I'll come back. Just wait." She stood, flipping the hood back over her head. Leaning forward, she rapped the flat of her hand against the trailer. Startled murmurs came from the interior.
Tears rolled down the baby's cheeks. A small, thin wail rose. "Mama!"
Julia slapped her hand over her mouth to keep from sobbing. She turned and stumbled away as fast as she could—away from the sound of the baby boy crying for his mother. The light faded away quickly, and she disappeared into the shadows. As she kicked her way through the snow, however, she could just barely hear a man's voice cry out in astonishment. "Edna! Would you look at this! Someone left a baby here!"
"Ed, now, don't you tease—! Stars above, you're right! There is a baby...!"
Their voices drifted away into the wind. Julia fled from the junkyard and into the surrounding shadows and snow. She didn't know where she was going. She just knew she had to get away, as far as she could. The farther she was from her son, the better.
It was an empty wasteland of wind and snow. The girl left the last trace of human civilization behind her as she fled. The storm quickly swallowed her tracks. Julia gritted her teeth and clutched the folds of her robes around herself as she trudged onward.
Suddenly, a low growl sounded from behind her, loud enough to reach her even through the screaming wind. She froze in place.
"Where is the moonstone, Daughter of Lightning?"
A pair of cold amber eyes blinked at her through the darkness, right in front of her. An enormous dark gray cat the size of a lion stalked up to her, ears flat on his head.
"Where is it?" he repeated.
The Master of Lightning swallowed back her grief. She forced herself to respond nonchalantly, "I have no idea what you're talking about, Rip Claw."
Two more nekomata crept out of the shadows into her line of vision. They surrounded her on three sides. Rip Claw leaned forward and sniffed. "Where's your kit? You smell of milk."
"I don't have any kids, idiot. I'm not even married. And why would you care?" Sarcasm edged into her voice. She was good at sarcasm. She loved sarcasm. It was a great mask for fear.
"We wouldn't want another Daughter or Son of Lightning running around after we get rid of you." All three cats purred menacingly at that. They crept closer.
Julia's pulse skipped a beat. Yet, almost out of habit, she reached behind her and unsheathed the katana she had strapped to her back. "Why? Would that be a catastrophe?"
The cats groaned in unison. "Would you stop it with the dumb puns!" one of them exclaimed.
Silent tears rolled down Julia's cheeks. She raised her sword and giggled, "Hey, if I'm going down, I might as well go down laughing!"
Rip Claw and the other two Moon Tribe warriors hissed and lunged for the Master of Lighting.
She never did fulfill her promise.
* * *
"It's OK. I think I just pulled a muscle or something," Nya muttered.
Aside from a bruise and a skinned knee, Nya's leg didn't appear to be too injured, despite her limping. Still, Jay knew she often downplayed her condition in order to appear stronger than she was. It was a dumb, vain habit of hers, but Jay knew better than to press her about it. He only replied mildly, "I bet Misako brought a first-aid kit with her. C'mon—let me help you to the Bounty."
He felt another pang of concern when Nya didn't strike up her usual bluster about not needing the help of a man and being able to take care of herself. Of course, she was typically gentler with him, anyway, but the small wince she gave as she nodded wordlessly made him want to sweep her into his arms and get her out of that miserable warehouse as fast as he could. Instead, he let her lean on his shoulder and helped her limp out.
Dazed and wounded miners, excited villagers, and armed police officers leading bakeneko and nekomata alike on thick muzzles and leashes made the entrance area of the enormous warehouse a loud, buzzing hive of activity. Through all the hubbub, Jay could pick out a member of the ninja team here and there: Lloyd, eyes watering and nose stuffy because of his allergic reaction to cat fur, was talking to the Commissioner. Misako stood with him, occasionally laying a hand on his shoulder as if to reassure herself her son was still there. Master Wu and Zane were standing over an old man sitting on a bench, the man looking overwhelmed and confused as medics inspected him.
Meanwhile, Cole— Jay felt his mood darken as his gaze landed on the small group that stood huddled together, further away from the crowd. Cole stood with his father, his werecat half-brother, and that brother's half-sister. Mr. Brookstone was dabbing at his eyes every once in a while as he talked. Eagle Talon, in his human body, wore a small, uncertain smile while Cole grinned—he looked stupidly happy, in Jay's opinion. Little Leaf was smiling and giggling while she had her arms seemingly glued around Talon's torso, as if afraid her big brother would disappear again. All in all, the group looked shockingly happy, considering all of the hurt and betrayal they had all done to each other previously.
Should we trust Talon? Jay thought incredulously to himself. After everything he did? He's a huge jerk! He's probably just here to kill us all in our sleep! Or worse...
He shuddered at the mere thought of the Dark Sleep. What if one of those cat wizards used one of those spells and put him in the Dark Sleep again? Would he be able to stand it next time?
"Do you think Eagle Talon really wants to be on our side?"
For a second he thought that it was Nya that had spoken. Then Jay looked to his left and realized Liana was still with them; she'd been so quiet, he'd forgotten she was with him and Nya. Though blind, she walked close beside Jay. Her scarred face was unreadable.
"I doubt it," Nya replied in disgust. "He's nothing but a liar. I can't believe he'd show his face again—and I can't believe Master Wu would trust him! I get that whole 'defeat your enemy by making him your friend' thing, but for crying out loud—! Some people just don't change, no matter what you do."
"What do you think, Jay?" Liana pressed. She'd grown quieter after her outburst at Cole a minute ago.
Jay hesitated. "I trust Cole... but it's gonna take a lot for me to trust that slimy hairball-hacker again."
Nya agreed with a small humph! Liana made no reply.
Or any werecat, for that matter, Jay thought darkly to himself. Little Leaf's all right, but she's still kind of a kid. It's the grown-up ones I don't like. Once again, he felt the shadow of the memory of the Dark Sleep taint his train of thought. Only a creature of pure evil could concoct such horrible tortures as the ones he experienced. It took something very twisted in a person to make something like that, and there could be no shred of good in anyone who thought torturing people like that was fun.
"I'll never trust a werecat," he said out loud. "Never."