Of course, the speeders had to break down after only 3 hours.
You were sat on the ground, working on combining atoms to make little water for everyone. While you tried to do that efficiently, Kai and Jay were constantly fighting about their water rations.
"Admit it! You're a water hog!" Kai said, trying to pin Jay to the ground to try and pry the bottle out of his hands.
Jay flipped him over, and spilled some of the water out, "Where's Nya when you need her?" How would Nya help with being in a desert?
Faith unsheathed her blade next to them and they started panicking. She then pushed through then and sliced a cactus in half, it was full of water, "Now we all have water." As she walked away, they started fighting again.
Seeing you weren't needed for water, you walked over to Zane and her to help with repairs. She was teaching you about how the speeders worked by using the magnetic pull of the First Realm against an opposite magnet to have it fly. You wondered if Borg had done it the same way for his hovercraft and hovercopters.
You were helping tighten some bolt looking thingies when Cole yelled at you.
"Guys?!" He pointed to the horizon, a dust cloud was forming from the ground.
Faith gasped, "Baron's hunter's. We need to go." She put on her mask and hat as you climbed into a vehicle next to Zane.
The hunter's were much faster than you and quickly caught up. Damn these shitty vehicles.
Groups lined up beside you. A man with a soldering mask on was making noise and you realized his stomach had what looked like a slot machine. It all landed on a wrench icon.
"We won!" Jay cheered from above you. The hunter then shot a chained crossbow at you, wrapping around part of the vehicle. "Uh..maybe we lost." Another one shot from the other side, "definitely lost."
You groaned, "Jay! Please just shut up for a second! I need to focus!" You swung a rock out and hit one of the vehicles as Zane turned and caused the other to slam into a bigger rock.
Jay chuckled, "We- you- just did that! Let's see what you got!"
Kai broke free from his vehicle's chains as he zoomed ahead. Straight into the meal of an ice dragon. It flew up and froze one of the Hunter's speeders, but then went to target Wu and Cole.
Kai and Faith were talking and suddenly Kai started driving. He had suprisingly gotten better since you last saw him drive. You never thought he was even possible of driving in a straight line.
Then you all dipped down into a shaded canyon.
Swerving around rocks and boulders, you started to get a headache, but shook it off. You heard a crash behind you and prayed it wasn't any of the other Ninja. The dragon hissed and another crash was heard. Either all the other Ninja were dead, or you had gotten off the trail of the Dragon Hunter's. Looking back, you were glad to say it was the latter.
The other 2 speeders caught up with you and you sighed in relief.
Faith robotically laughed, "Where to, son of First Spinjitzu Master?"
He chuckled, "An easier path. This way." He pointed off to a slope out of the canyon.
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You yawned, since when had it gotten so dark? Thankfully the speeders hadn't broken down again. Zane shook you and you realized you had almost drifted asleep.
Climbing out of the vehicle, large dragon skulls hung on pillars. It seemed to go on for miles, and it made you feel both sad and anxious for what was ahead
Faith took off her hat, "Are you sure it's this way?" Her accent seemed to stick out more when she was tired.
Jay rolled his eyes, "Well we're not going back! 'Cause then it'll be our skulls on pikes." Real nice and optimistic Jay.
Cole seemed to go and answer Wu as he walked up 5o the line of pikes, "Yes. The Dragon Armor is this way. "
The hunter shook her head, "I was afraid you'd say that."
"Afraid?" -Kai chuckled "-you don't seem like the type who'd be afraid."
Faith sighed, "This is Oni land. As long as we stay on our side, they will stay on theirs. But- we need the Dragon Armor."
Cole grabbed onto the side of his speeder, "Need?" He scoffed, "'Need' is such a strong word. There could be other ways of getting home."
You stared at him. If there way any other way you would've told them and wouldn't still be stuck here.
"Gaining the Firstbourne's trust do that her dragons can ferry us home is the only way back to Ninjago." Like Zane had just said, only way home.
Wu titled his head, "How dangerous are these...Oni?"
Faith looked to the horizon, "Dangerous enough that when Iron Baron and his bravors crossed this line to get the Dragon Blades, he was the only one to come back." Welp maybe there was another way home, because this seemed impossibly hard. "Oni have a dark magic about them, a destructive magic. They are like nightfall, consuming darkness. After the stories Baron told us, we know better than to search these lands. I will ask you again. Are you sure the Dragon Armor is this way?"
He paused, "I think so?"
She shrugged, hopping into her speeder, "Your first instinct is usually correct." She put on her mask and her voice changed entirely, "We must go before it gets dark." It already seemed pretty dark, but alright.
You hopped in the seat behind Zane as you sped off into Oni territory.
Zooming along the flat landscape, it didn't take long to stumble across something interesting, a thin lake was spread across for miles. At least you didn't have a problem with little water now. It was probably safe enough to drink.
The rocks began to build around you, forming almost another canyon.
"It's a dead end!" Cole yelled out to everyone.
Swerving down, Zane came to a stop ontop of a flat rock as everyone began piling out.
Jay sighed, "so these Oni? If they're shapeshifters, how do we know when we see one? I mean how do we even know one isn't already pretending to be one of us." You remembered when Chamille pretended to be you in the tournament.
Kai pushed Jay back as you all walked towards the base of the cliffs, a giant skull seemed to be balanced in the wall.
Everyone started freaking out, but you didn't even process what was going on as the skull shaped figure was lit ablaze by Kai. It did have a weird face but honestly was not Oni. You think.
Zane scoffed, "A gate."
Faith nodded, she still had her Heavy Metal gear on, "To an Oni stronghold. But it's open..."
The group walked towards it and Jay made a comment, but you were too exhausted to care.
Faith pushed the door open and everyone slowly crept inside. Inside, it was dark and a mess. Pillars were knocked over and there was cracks everywhere, the floor, the walls, even the step.
"Where is everyone?" Cole questioned.
Zane shook his head, "Wherever they are, they haven't lived here for centuries."
Faith started yelling, "That liar! All this time, he lied to us! It was just s story, made-up."
Kai placed s hand on her shoulder, "What uhm- what are you talking about?"
"Iron Baron. He made us believe this was Oni land. No one has ever seen one, because look around. They're all gone!" Her voice echoed down the large hallway. She started screaming in frustration
"He used fear to control you." Kai realized.
The hunter threw her mask to the ground, "He wasn't enslaving dragons. He was enslaving us! How could I have been so stupid? Is any of it true? Is there even Dragon Armor?" He accused Wu.
Wu stuttered, "I don't- I don't know."
She poked him in the chest, looming over him, "Don't know? Don't know?! Do you know how much I sacrificed to help you? If we can't get out of here, and Iron Finds me, he'll- he'll-" she threw her hat against the wall, snapping it in two. "
"Why did you tell me you knew where it was?!" She was cornering Wu, this might get bad soon.
He was shaking. "I had a dream, and in it my father told me to have faith. And then we found you. I still believe we will find it, even if you don't."
Faith on the other hand, ran away and was yelling while punching the door.
"I know that was hard to do, but it's better to admit the truth than continue a lie." Cole reassured Wu.
You were honestly fed up as well, "Do you want to know what is actually hard?" Your eyes felt damp, "Living in a wasteland without anyone to talk to or help you out for 2 years. Then finally when they do come to help by chance. But they don't give a shit about you so you try to be useful, but no one ever cares."
Everyone was staring at you now. Maybe it had come out of nowhere, but you were used to bottling up your emotions. You stomped over to a ledge and sit on it, placing your head in your knees.
After a bit, you felt someone nudge your leg. Looking up, Cole gave you a small smile, "Hey, look up at the doors."
You begrudgingly looked over and saw a painted map on the back, inspecting it more, there was a location marked for a set of armor. The Dragon Armor. You looked back to Cole, "It's not fake?"
He nodded, helping you stand back up. Maybe all hope wasn't lost.
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Ty so much for 3k?? I'm doing a little cry? Perhaps a little sob of joy?