(author's note~ yeah updates are gonna continue to be slow, so plz bare with me. anyways, fun fact for this week, i think im gonna run track in college, which is pretty cool. i can't decide where to go tho because im too indecisive lol)
{3rd Person POV}
(Y/n) and Cole sat next to each other on the airship as they and the ninja headed to the tomb. Out of the floorboards appeared three rows of seats, which is where (Y/n) and Cole ended up. The silence between them was almost deafening, and 100% awkward. Cole wanted to say something, anything, to her to fix things. But the words wouldn't come. So instead, Cole did what he did best. Comic relief.
"Watch this," he whispered to (Y/n). She raised an eyebrow and he began his performance. "Oh my God, Jay there's a spider on your back!" He yelled with alarm. It was actually pretty believable. Jay began a freak-out session.
"What?! Where?! Get it off, get it off, get it off!" He whined as he jumped around the tiny ship all over the place. The rest of them laughed at his antics as he continued to squirm and jump around.
"Oh, wait. I think it was just some fuzz. My bad Jay," Cole said and shrugged. (Y/n) laughed. Cole couldn't help but watch her as she clutched her stomach from laughing so hard while Jay went off on Cole. She just looked so pretty when she laughed.
"I swear if you weren't a ghost I would-" Jay continued yelling obscenities at Cole for at least another full minute. When he finally sat back down the rest of the cabin still softly chuckled.
"You really still haven't changed," (Y/n) said to Cole as her eyes were still glowing, and watering, from laughing.
"I try to stay true," Cole responded in a cocky tone.
"I did miss being around you guys," she said. Cole sighed as they gazed at each other, just like they used to do. He opened his mouth to finally say something to her, an apology, or to just tell her he missed her too, untl Zane interrupted them.
{First Person POV}
"We're almost to the tomb of the first spinjitzu master," Zane said, which snapped both me and Cole back to attention.
"Yeah, can't believe we're almost there after all we've been through," Cole answered.
"I can't believe I'm underunderwateri said uneasily.
"You? What about me? Just how thick is this glass?" Cole asked while he tapped the window a few times.
Sensei Wu and Misako appeared on our screen. "We're heading to your location now. With Moro already ahead of you and able to foresee the traps protecting the tomb with the sword of sanctuary, it's going to be up to your five to find the realm crystal before he does," he said.
Jay laughed nervously. "Hehe, Cole's a ghost, Kai can't swim, (Y/n) is the only one with elemental powers, and o magic sword. What could go wrong?"
Misako continued after Wu, "I may not know the three tests you're about to face, but I discovered a riddle that makes reference to it that may help," she began to read the riddle to us, "A spinjitzu master can. A spinjitzu master cannot. To move forward, don't look ahead, to find his resting spot."
"Huh, that's food for thought," Cole said.
Suddenly Jay gulped. "Speaking of food! We're about to be some!" I looked out the window a saw a huge squid-like creature.
"What the hell is that thing?!" I yelled.
"It's a Leviathan," Zane said gravely.
"We have to go faster. Much faster!" Kai said. Cole grabbed the handles of the ship and cranked them to increase our speed. The leviathan grabbed a hold of us and began to crack the glass to the ship's window. "Why did the tomb have to be underwater," he wondered aloud.
"Hold on!" Cole yelled as we picked up more speed.
"Ugh! what kind of weapons is this thing equipped with?" Jay yelled.
"We don't need weapons. Aim for that rock!" Zane said back and pointed ahead.
"On it," Cole said back. He manuevemaneuveredo a small rock arch, which the squid tried to follow us through. Instead, it got stuck. We cheered as Cole escaped the kraken'Kraken's
We arrived in a cave that funneled up to an entrance. Yep, this looks like a tomb alright.
Jay found a piece of green fabric and grunted.
"Ugh! There goes any hope Moro couldn't find this place!" He said.
"Hey, stay positive," Kai said, "We're about to risk our lives going through traps we know nothing about. All we have to rely on is each other. At least feel lucky we got this far."
"That was very mature Kai," I complemcomplimentedve him a look of approval.
"Oh, I'm sorry. You're right. What was I thinking? Hey! There goes any hope Moro couldn't find the tomb. We're not alone! Yay! Now we're gonna have to fight him again. Sure! We got our tails handed to us last time, but you never know the future! Because Ninja never quit!," he said sarcastically. "Better?"
"Eh, I'll take it," Kai shrugged.
"Look!" Zane redirected our attention from Jay's temper tantrum to see a statue behind us. It was a stone carving of a man meditating, and candles were lit in front of him.
"The first spinjitzu master, creator of all Ninjago..." Cole said. We all awed at the statue.
All of a sudden the ship began to retract into the water. "Destination reached. Auto return initiated." An automated voice said.
"Auto return? No, no, no! Bad Rex! Bad!" Jay yelled as he chased after it. It completely submerged back into the water and was now gone.
"Our aeroblade weapons were in there," Zane said.
"Not to mention our only way back..." Kai added.
Jay chimed in. "Hey, stay positive! Who needs a way back when we gotta go that way!" He said, once again sarcastically.
"No sword, no powers, no problems. We can do this, guys. As long as we got each other, right?" Kai asked.
"Brother sharpens brother," Cole agreed.
We walked through a long and narrow cave. Inside the walls were blue luminescent stones, that somehow just made the entire place more mysterious. I ran my hand along the coarse rock and the smooth stones.
We met a door, and behind it was a circular room with more doors lining the outside, all leading to seemingly different places. On the doors was a little figure of a man holding a crystal. Each door had the man in different positions. I went to inspect one more closely. It was obviously supposed to be the first spinjitzu master.
"This could be the first test," Cole said.
"It is definitely the first test," I confirmed.
"Ooh, why did it have to be tests? Why can't the tomb just be protected by dragons? We're good with dragons!" Jay said having yet another usual freak-out.
"I think we're supposed to pick a door. But which one?" Kai asked. We all turned to look at the various doors.
"What was it Misako said?" Jay asked. Zane reiterated the riddle for us. We all pondered what the riddle meant, and how to interoperate it.
"A spinjitzu master can. Can what?" Kai asked.
"Sixteen doors. For sixteen realms?" Jay followed.
"Could the symbols on the door match up with the sixteen realms?" I also asked.
"Well, could be. But let me guess- pick the wrong door and we'll be in a realm of hurt," Cole added.
"Ugh, I wish we had the sword right about now," Jay groaned. We went back to searching for clues in the various doors. "The symbol above this door. It's a tornado. This could be the one, right?"
Kai shrugged, "You could be right."
Jay began to reach for the door before Zane interjected. "Jay, wait!" He had found a pattern. "Step away from that door, Jay," he said as he moved Jay out of the way.
"What is it?" He asked.
"It's a zoetrope," Zane responded. Suddenly, it clicked for me too.
"A zoe what?"
"A zoetrope. The engravings in rapid succession creates a moving image."
"Uh, I don't get it," Cole said.
"It means if a subject is in the center of the room and is moving fast enough, the symbols on the door will make a picture. Kind of like movie frames," I explained.
"A spinjitzu master can... Do spinjitzu!" Kai exclaimed.
Zane began to do exactly that, and finally, pointed us to the correct door.
"I don't know Zane. Isn't that the same door we came in? Are you sure?" Cole asked.
"Are you sure you want to doubt a nindroid?" He snapped back.
"Open the door, let's find out," Kai said and motioned to one of us to open the door. I grabbed the handle and creaked it open slowly. Inside was a small rectangular room with stone pillars running up the sides. The floor had a geometric pattern on it.
"But, that wasn't here before! How can it be the way if that's the way we came in?" Cole asked.
"Well, welcome to the tomb of the first spinjitzu master," Kai replied. As we further entered the room, we all noticed the golden staff perched at the back of the room.
"Hey, hey! Nice one Zane. Who needs the sword of sanctuary when you've got a nindroid!" Jay cheered.
"So, what now?" I asked.
"Woah. The staff of the first spinjitzu master!" Kai exclaimed and pointed to the staff across the room.
"Wait! This is the second test, remember?" Cole said. "Zane, what do you think?"
"Pixal can see no pattern. For this riddle room, I'm at a loss," he replied.
"Think about it. The first test was a spinjitzu master can. So this one's a spinjitzu master can not. Though, saying it out loud, I don't like the sound of that," Jay said and gulped.
"What about (Y/n)? She's technically not a spinjitzu master," Kai replied. I gave him an alarmed look. He pondered and stepped on one of the tiles on the ground. All of a sudden, spikes began to shoot from the wall and toward us. We all jumped in different directions to dodge.
"Is everyone okay? (Y/n)?" Cole asked.
"I'm good, I'm fine!" I called back. Everyone else confirmed also being okay.
"That was a close one," Zane commented.
"Every step, a trap," Jay murmured.
Zane wondered aloud, "How does one reach the staff if it becomes more difficult with every step to get there? If I'm correct, this riddle room poses quite the conundrum."
"So if a spinjitzu master can't do it, how are we supposed to reach the staff?" Cole added.
"Kai, what about you? You know airjitzu," I suggested, kind of getting back at him for his earlier comment.
"Hmm. Worth a shot. Watch and learn," he said. He took off using airjitzu and landed directly on another trap tile. He began setting them off rapidly one after another. While we all made efforts to dodge his mistakes, Jay accidentally stepped on a tile himself, which triggered a collapse of the entire floor beneath us tile by tile. One trap set off a big rolling boulder, causing us to jump across the chasm created by the falling of the tiles.
But Cole wasn't able to get over in time. My breath caught in my throat and I closed my eyes, unable to watch... Until the boulder passed right through him. I breathed a sigh of relief, until a tile from the wall opened and begun filling the room with a steady stream of water.
Kai's eyes narrowed. "I can make it."
We all protested but of course he won't listen. He dodges every trap just by a sliver.
Jay, upset and stressed out like usual, screamed, "Will everyone just stop moving!"
"I can make it, just a hop, skip, and a jump," Kai said again after the room fell to peace. He tries to jump to a tile that looks safe, but it causes ten or so more tiles to fall.
"What else comes with a hop, skip, and a jump? You trigger one more trap, I don't know how much more we can take!" Cole says helplessly.
"The clue clearly says this is a test a Spinjitzu master can not do. So why are we not listening to the clue?!" Jay stammers.
"Okay, relax dude. We need to think on the surface level. Riddles normally have stupid and obvious answers," I said.
"Trust me, I can make it!" Kai insisted.
"No!" I and everyone else yelled.
"Wait. What if (Y/n) is right? What if it's a trick? What if the reason we can't do it is because we were never meant to reach the staff?" Cole asked.
"Exactly, there has to be another way out," I agreed.
"What is the first rule of being a ninja?" Cole asked quickly.
"A ninja never quits," Zane responded.
"Exactly, and that's why we can't do it. Because a ninja would never give up," Cole continued.
"What are you trying to say? We just quit? Are you insane?" Kai accused.
"No, Kai. He's right. There's no feasible way this is the true answer to the riddle. You have to go from a different angle," I said. Suddenly my eyes fell to the foreboding area below us. Cole's eyes did as well, and then we met gazes. I nodded to him. His gaze turned determined and he nodded back. Even though I could technically still see right through his eyes, it felt like he could see through mine too with his powerful gaze.
"This time, trust me," he pleaded. And then he jumped. Everyone yelled for him as I followed him down. He began to yell for the rest of them to follow. After we hit what was supposed to be the end of a dark fall, we realized it was basically one giant slide! I looked at Cole and laughed, to which he did the same. It seemed as though Kai and Jay did not find this as amusing as we did. We were thrown through loops and sharp turns, basically like a roller coaster. Somehow we all met each other on one path eventually, and we tumbled through the slide maze like a bowling ball, until Jay finally joined the group and wrecked into us, turning us into bowling pins instead.
We went under a tunnel with long icicles sticking up, creating a tunnel for us to go through. Some of us emerged either holding or riding on the icicles like skis. Me, as a certified rich girl, knew how to ski extremely well. I was tearing it up. Until we were all thrown through a thin ice wall. We finally stopped after hitting a snowbank. Zane asked if everyone was okay, and we all grumbled in return.
We helped each other up and saw we were faced with a maze of some sort.
"What did we get ourselves into?" Kai wondered aloud.
"Let's just take a moment to appreciate that I was right about that last test," I smiled to myself.
Jay climbed up a tall icicle to get a better look around.
"It's a maze! I'm great at mazes!" He yelled.
Kai gasped suddenly, and we all came to him to figure out what was wrong. "If my reflection means anything, I'm starting to think we won't be breaking out of this maze any time at all," he said.
We all went to see our own reflections.
"My reflection. Is that me? I look older, but our attire is different," he said. I pondered how a nindroid could look older, but I continued to listen to what he had to say. "I don't believe these reflections reveal our inability to escape, but a mere glimpse at our future selves.
"Misako said to move forward, don't look ahead. Is that what it means?" Cole went up to a wall. "Wait a minute! Why is it I can't see my reflection?" He asked panicked.
"It's probably because you're a ghost!" Kai responded.
"Ghosts cast reflections, Kai," Zane corrected and put a hand on Cole's back. "He's probably just looking in the wrong place."
"I am looking at the same place you are!" He yelled in frustration.
"Hey guys! Guess what? I get an awesome eye-patch!" Jay yelled. He mumbled something else, which none of us could really hear. Cole questioned him, and he dismissed it quickly.
I looked at my own reflection. I looked much older, but my hair was the same length. I was wearing a purple dress, and I looked happy. I peered closer. There were wrinkles by my eyes and I had defined smile lines, but I still looked like me. My arms were decorated with shiny bracelets, and I had a single clip on the left side of my hair. I smiled and continued to look.
"Wait a minute, I think I see me," Cole said. He gasped suddenly and began to freak out. "It's Moro! He's in the maze too!" The glass in front of Cole shattered, throwing him backward.
"All you ninja do is talk! Blah blah blah! I'll stop you from talking!" Moro yelled as he began swinging a sword at Jay. He understandably began frantically running away. We ran to help him, but the maze was quite tricky. Many of us had to reroute.
I could hear the struggle on the other side of the wall. I grunted in frustration and turned the corner to finally find them. Cole and Moro were sword fighting, only Cole was fighting with an icicle. Not quite a fair match for Moro's mystically sword. The future of the sword was still untouchable. No matter what angle any of us went at, he was still a step ahead. The slippery floor only made it more difficult. We basically took turns fighting him. When one of us would go down, another one would jump in. Kai finally found us, and began taunting him! I rolled my eyes, until I saw the method of his madness.
All of the icicles would multiply when one was cut. Kai used this to his advantage to try to trap Moro in an ice cage, and it actually worked! The more Moro struggled against the ice, the thicker his cage got. Moro screamed from the inside.
"You can't trap me. I'll find you, ninja. Just wait! You'll see!" Moro threatened. We took our opportunity and ran for an escape.
"How do we get out of here?" Jay asked.
"To move forward, don't look ahead," Cole recounted.
"Look below!" Jay finished. He pointed out a crack in the surface of the ice. We all began to dig through to the bottom. For the second time today, we fell through. Only this time there were no fun slides, only hard cave surfaces.
There was a river flowing through the cave, and a rocky staircase that lead to the area beside the river.
We jumped down, and all ran towards something laying on the ground. A resounding gasp came from all of us.
"It's him. The first Spinjitzu master," Kai reveled. The ninja bowed to him, and I stepped back. It felt like I was intruding on some sort of ritual. Zane pointed to something the skeleton was holding.
"The realm crystal..." he said as he plucked it from his hands. It was a deep sapphire blue, and almost had a certain sound to it, like it carried dimensions unobtainable to a normal human being.
"How does it work?" Kai asked. We all marveled at it as Zane held it up.
A voice interrupted from above the stairs. "How it works is you'll hand over the crystal, or say goodbye to your friend!" It was Moro's voice, though it sounded empty and echoey. We all looked to see him in a normal ghost form holding Lloyd by the neck with the sword pointed as his throat menacingly.
"I'm sorry... I couldn't stop him..." Lloyd said weakly.
"So what'll it be?" Moro asked.
"If we hand him the crystal, he usher the reign of his master, cursing Ninjago and every realm," Zane exposed.
"But if we don't, when has he never made good on a threat?" Cole asked.
"It's basically Lloyd's life, or the destruction of life," I added.
"Look at Lloyd, he's too weak to protect himself," Cole said.
Jay groaned, "Either option totally stinks! What do you think Kai? What do we do?"
Kai took the crystal from Zane, and looked deeply at it.
"Looks like the decision is up to you, Kai. So choose!" Moro said.
He contemplated. It seemed like none of us really knew what the right decision actually was. It may have seemed obvious, but there had to be a way around it, right? Some sort of trick, or deal. I shook my head. No, compromises with Moro aren't possible. It's his way or the highway. I closed my eyes to think harder.
"Stop stalling! Give me the realm crystal, or else!" Moro grew increasingly frustrated.
"We're not stalling! We're thinking!" Kai responded, "He's totally right, I'm stalling. What are we gonna do?"
"Ugh this guy really chaps my hide. I swear, when this is all over..." Cole said as the ground began to tremble lightly under him. I peered at his feet and saw tiny pebbles rising up through the air as well.
"Our powers! Now that Moro is out of Lloyd's body, they're starting to come back," Kai said. Everyone began to try their powers out slightly.
"Yeah, but like Lloyd, they're weak. And we're in no position to fight back," Jay said back.
"Leave that to me," Kai turned towards Moro who was seething with anger.
"Time's up! You leave me no choice!"
"Wait!" Kai yelled, "We'll give you the realm crystal." He had his back turned to us. None of us knew was his plan actually was. We gave him blind trust, but was it enough? He threw the crystal and Moro laughed. He threw Lloyd down to catch it and immediately screamed as it hit his palm. Kai must have heated it up with his fire! It was too hot to hold now! The crystal fell in the river and Moro screamed and cursed his frustrations at us. Lloyd jumped up and kicked the sword out of his hands with what little strength he had. Suddenly, Moro used his wind to throw Lloyd off the cliff and into the river! We all ran to try to reach for Lloyd in the water.
"I can't get to him!" Cole said.
"I can't swim!" Kai yelled back.
"You can't swim? I can't touch the water! I'm a ghost, remember? You at least had a reflection, what happens to me?!"
Zane, Jay and I were caught fighting with Moro again. He grabbed the sword first, but Zane was able to freeze it with his powers! He couldn't see the future anymore. I crafted my own sword and began to go head to head with him. We were much more evenly matched this way now. I actually stood a chance. The ice soon began to break though. I tried to look downward to see if Kai, Lloyd and Cole were okay, but Moro took that chance to sweep my feet from under me, and then Jay accidentally struck Zane with his powers.
"Oh no! Kai's got Lloyd, but who's got Kai?" Jay asked.
"And what about Cole? He absolutely cannot touch the water!" I began to run after them, despite them being way farther than I could catch up too. We watched as Cole tried to grab their hand before they went over the waterfall. It was a super close call. He almost wasn't able to grab them, but he stretched out a little further and dragged them up onto the rock!
The realm crystal went over the edge. The suddenly, as if defying gravity, it came back up. I gasped and whipped my head around to see Moro using his wind to bring the crystal back to him.
"Everyone run!" Cole yelled, but the group yelled back at him. We couldn't just leave Lloyd by himself, and he was in no condition to even walk on his own. Moro was going to get away with the crystal. We were unquestionably and absolutely screwed. We all sat down for a second to check on each other and catch our breath. I had my arms on my knees and my head hanging low.
"I'm sorry..." I heard someone whisper to me. I looked up to see Cole. Jay, Zane, and Kai were tending to Lloyd, which left a small space of privacy between us.
"Huh? For what?" I asked and scooted closer to him.
"For dragging you into this. I don't know what I was thinking," he said apologetically.
"Hey, it's okay. I was bound to get involve sooner or later. You know my family. Don't be sorry for that. I'm just... glad we all have each other. I'm just glad I have you..." I said the last part a bit quieter. And then, for the first time since this whole mess started, I touched him. I laid my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes. It was a weird and cold sensation, but we were touching. And it was soothing and poignant and electrifying all at the same time. We heard some whispers behind us but we promptly ignored them. For a few moments, it was just us again. And it was nice...
Finally, we all stood up to get moving. Kai all but carried Lloyd outside where we were met with the bounty. Wu, Misako, and Nya all cheered for us and we waved and did our best to smile.
"You all sacrificed so much to save me," Lloyd said.
"Heh, I promised I'd look after you didn't I?" Kai responded.
"But now Ninjago is gonna be cursed."
"Yes, but, now we have you," Zane said and smiled.
"And now our powers are back," Jay added.
"As you get strong, so will we, and they haven't even seen us at full strength," Cole said and they all fired their powers into the air.
"Oh, and when did (Y/n) come back? Man I feel like I missed a lot," Lloyd said and we laughed. He then pulled Cole in closer and whispered something in his ear. He looked embarrassed and then whispered back with a grin on his face.
{authors note~ hey lovelies, this took way too long, i know. forgive me :) life has been crazy cuz im about to graduate and im sooooo busy but i still like writing and its a nice fun project to do so im gonna keep doing it, its just gonna be really slow for awhile. thanks for being patient if youre still here, peace and love}