(Second person POV)
(Time skip - 11 hours)
Despite having a van and the map, it took the two of you quite a while to find the tomb of the Fangpyre. Walking into an unkept cemetery shrouded in the evening mist, you followed closely after Lloyd who held a flashlight and the map, cautiously observing and analysing your surroundings. You were almost certain that if someone were to attack, it would be directed from the back at the boy you were trailing after as he was significantly weaker than you and force you to protect him.
Hearing a wolf howl in the distance, you gently rubbed Dart who seemed uncomfortable with the atmosphere in this graveyard which you understood.
"It's not scary," Lloyd grumbled aloud, unsure of whether he was trying to reassure you (who clearly didn't need it) or himself. "Um... Maybe just a little, but... I like scary, yeah, that's it!" he boasted, looking around him nervously as you didn't reply, just listening in on the boy's rambling. "I'm the son of the Dark Lord! I love the dark!" he proclaimed as he began walking backwards, talking to no one in particular, "I- I eat this stuff for breakfast-" Turning around, the kid let out a loud shriek, almost making Dart leap out of her place around your neck as you winced in pain from your oversensitive ears, ready to protect the boy at a moment's notice.
Sensing no animal auras around you, you reopened your eyes and glanced over at Lloyd in confusion, not sure why he get so scared when there was nobody around. Directing his torchlight to the giant decaying tree that grew in the shape of a two-headed dragon, the boy let out a silent sigh of relief as he replaced the worried look on his face with a smirk as he thought about getting revenge. "I'm gonna make the Hypnobrai pay for betraying me," he declared, looking back down at his map, "I have to find the Fangpyres. If there's anything a snake doesn't like, it's another snake!"
Stopping in front of a giant conifer that had scared him moments prior, Lloyd exclaimed "Here! By the mutated tree! I found it!" Brushing away the thick fog, he boasted to himself "Soon the Serpentine will know who their master is, and it will be I, Lloyd Garmadon and my second in command, (y/n)!" Suddenly, the clouds overhead boomed as lightning struck the earth, making the child yelp in fear as he leapt back, hugging your waist tightly as you stiffened, unsure of what to do.
"It's alright," you murmured, not wanting to scare him any further, "It's just the thunder. You'll be fine and besides, you've got me to protect you if something happens."
Nodding, the boy crouched down over the tomb and pressed a button made of stone when the hatch in front of him opened, releasing a musty smell of dust and earth that made your sensitive nose sting. Along with the odd scent, multiple black blurs leapt out from the giant hole, startling Lloyd and causing him to latch on to your side again as you readied your elemental powers.
Letting out a fierce hiss, one head of the dual-headed serpent snarled "And who...", its 'W's sounded to be a mix between 'V' and 'W'.
"...May I say released us..." the other continued, its voice noticeably higher pitched than the other as it spoke the 'R's with a noticeable trill.
"...From our captivity?" the first head finished, looking from you to the boy who was still holding on to you for safety.
"Uh... Lloyd... I released you to make the Hypnobrai pay for betraying me!" the child answered, gaining more confidence as the sentence went on.
"The Hypnobrai...?" the shriller-voiced of the two heads hissed, looking at the other.
"...Those hypnotizing deceivers..." the deeper pitched head rumbled, sharing a mutual glance with the other.
"It'll be..." they began, turning to face you and Lloyd.
"...Our pleasure..."
"O-oh, good!" the boy grinned, detaching from your waist as he stepped toward the Fangpyre general, "I'll lead the way! Then after that, there's some ninja I want dealt with."
"Sounds like..."
"...You know..."
"...What you want..." the snake hissed before the lighter-pitched voice cut in.
"...But the Hypnobrai are strong..."
"...And we are few in numbers..."
"...We need..."
"...Reinforcements..."
"W-what did you have in mind?" the human child inquired as you watched their interaction with interest, eyes carefully observing the dual-headed serpent. With each blink, you felt as if a shutter had gone off in your head, taking down a vivid mental image. Pulling out your sketchbook and pencil, you piped up "May I draw a portrait of you, General...?"
"Fangtom..." the deeper-voiced snake answered as both heads nodded, giving you the leeway to get started on your diagram. Kusho Sensei's going to be amazed at this... you thought to yourself as you started sketching, no longer paying attention to the serpents' menacing hisses that were sounding around you.
(Time skip - 1 hour)
Turning off the engine to your camper, you looked around your home that was now jam-packed with members of the Fangpyre. As the general had said, the army was small and your single van was able to fit them all inside without too much trouble. Thank goodness they're respectful and don't go around making a mess, you thought as you opened the door, allowing your allies to leave your home as they each gave a small hiss of thanks as they passed. Though I don't understand why they offered to bite my vehicle. Perhaps it has something to do with their powers?
Stepping outside and hiding your van in the shadows of the night, you made sure what little possession you kept in the vehicle and not in your pocket dimension wasn't disturbed, you locked the door and joined Lloyd's side. Looking up at the multicoloured sign that illuminated the yard in front of you, you tried to decipher what each symbol meant in your mind. Ed... curly thing... Ed...na's scrap n junk...? you guessed, unsure if you read that right. Because the only education you received since waking up was from your teacher who was at least four hundred years old, you were well versed in a language that was long since no longer in use. After spending four months travelling through Ninjago, you managed to pick up the alphabet and a range of basic words but you still struggled with some words. At least the spoken language is the same... you thought to yourself, not sure how you could have survived if you didn't know how to communicate with others at all.
Pulling out your sketchbook again, you continued to draw General Fangtom from your surprisingly good memory for someone who couldn't remember a thing about their past beyond your time with Kusho Sensei. Adding highlights with your grey-lead pencil. Humming in satisfaction at your work, you showed it to the snake who seemed genuinely pleased with the portrait. "Can you tell me about your properties?" you inquire, ready to take down notes in small captions as the serpent's heads nodded in response.
Before long, a large vehicle pulled into the yard, diverging your attention from the Fangpyre's information. From your spot in the shadows, you saw a man pull back his helmet, revealing a head of streaky white hair as a woman to his right did the same, her graphite-grey hair fashioned in a bun. "Home, sweet home," the elderly male announced with a smile as he stepped out of his car, allowing you to catch sight of his teal overalls that were dotted with splotches of what smelt like oil. "And back to the grind,"
That doesn't make any sense. How can a house of metal be sweet? And what does he mean by grind? Grinding what? you wondered, using Shadow Step and sinking into the swampy darkness to follow after him. Leaping out of the dimness behind a pile of discarded things, you peered at the man, who you assumed was 'Ed' from the sign on the gate, that was heading past you with a toolbox in hand. From the caravan, the woman that you guess was 'Edna' bubbled "Oh sweetie, you've been working on that thing day and night."
Letting out a chuckle in response, the male beamed "Well, you never know when Jay might show up,"
"Oh, you're right! You never know!"
I'm learning a lot from this interaction, you thought, scribbling down notes on a new page in your sketchbook. Homes can be sweet, people can be sweet too, and a person named 'J' lives in a caravan. That reminds me, isn't one of the males that blew up my house called 'J' too? Is it a popular name in these parts? you wondered as you continued to observe Ed from a distance.
Watching in interest as the man pulled out a mask and an odd pen attached to a wire, you saw him press a button and the tip of the instrument set ablaze with an azure-blue fire. Fire can be blue and come out from a pen... you wrote down, wondering if this person was a fire elemental before continuing to observe him.
Suddenly, a dark blur caught your attention as Ed seemed to notice it too, flipping his mask up and calling out "Uh, Edna? Was that you?"
Siding open the caravan door, the woman who you correctly assumed was called Edna exclaimed back "What, Ed?! Are you hearing things again?"
"Uh, yuh- you turned on the security alarm before ya left, didn't cha, hon?"
Hearing this, the lady headed to the side of the caravan where she lifted a small flap and twisted the knob before responding "Uh, must be broken,"
As soon as the words left her mouth, the lights overhead went out, plunging the whole yard into darkness. This benefited you greatly as you could now freely use Shadow Step wherever you liked, so long as it wasn't in the light, making you feel all the more at home. The couple, on the other hand, grew wary in the blackout, shifting uncomfortably in their spot.
"Whoever's there, my son knows Spinjitzu!" Ed called out into the darkness, earning a distant hiss in reply. Even from where you stood, you saw the silhouette of a snake against the powder-white wall, making you sigh in disbelief at how terrible the Fangpyre were at sneaking around.
As if attesting to your thought, the old man let out a small worried gasp before rushing to an oblivious Edna's side in a hurry.
"W-what is it?" the woman inquired before catching sight of the male running towards her, "Oh, why are the lights out?"
"Call Jay, hon! Someone's broken in!" Ed exclaimed.
Before either of the two could do anything, Lloyd called out from atop the caravan "How about we wait until he calls you?!" before chuckling evilly, a disconnected telephone in hand. Snapping your fingers, you made your sketchbook and pencil disappear into your pocket dimension before teleporting to the boy's side as the elderly couple looked on in worry.
"E-Ed..." Edna murmured, an orchid-purple glow filling her aura, her body language telling you that she was feeling frightened.
"Be strong, Edna," the old man responded, hugging the other towards his chest, "I-I won't let them hurt you,"
Completely ignoring the two human's interaction, Fangtom hissed "If we plan..."
"...To attack..."
"...The Hypnobrai..."
"...We'll need to grow..."
"...Our army..." the two heads interchanging who spoke as they looked at you and Lloyd.
"And, uh... How do we do that?" the boy inquired as the snake grinned.
"Let's just say..."
"...We Fangpyre bite off more..."
"...Than we can chew..."
Turning their attention to the rest of the serpents that were still hidden in the shadows of the junkyard, the crimson snake announced "Have at it, boys!"
Emerging from their place in the shadows, the humanoid began sinking their fangs into various objects around them, an emerald-green hue spreading through the items from the place they were bitten. Once it spread through the entire article, a pear-coloured smoke erupted around them, turning the once inanimate objects sentient and snake-like.
So that's why they offered to bite my van, you thought, hurriedly recording everything that was going on whilst drawing a rough diagram for now, Does it work on humans?
Letting out a horrified gasp, Ed paled, covering his mouth in shock as he could do little more than watch his home become infested with serpents. "My creations! They're turning them into-"
"An army?" Fangtom cut in as he somehow made his way from the top of the caravan to the humans' side.
"You are correct..."
"But we can also..."
"...Turn people too..."
Slowly, the snake-men gathered around the couple, hissing menacingly as the two hugged each other in fear, quaking in their spot as you merely observed from your spot next to Lloyd, a neutral expression on your face. Sure, it might be cold to watch the Fangpyre sink their teeth into two innocent people, but you could get more information out of this and benefit from it. It would satisfy your curiosity and also your teacher's when the two of you reunite. That would ensure that he need not leave you in search of knowledge again and nothing will change. Plus, it would help no one if started to openly oppose the serpents now, especially since you can't beat all of them, grab the two elderly humans and Lloyd, and then escape all before the snakes manage to regroup and strike back.
So you did nothing but note down your observations and Fangtom's ramblings as you drew detailed images, hoping that the humans were able to fully complete their transformation as soon as possible so you would be able to record it down.
Author's note:
Thank you for reading this chapter. It was 2219 words long and I hoped you enjoyed it. The reader might seem a little cold right now, but don't worry, she won't be too uncaring. Anyway, I'll see you in the next one :)