Snow drops lightly through the slate sky as you exit the pass, the furious winds from before left behind at the mountain peaks. Instead of ice, mud tugs at your shoes and threatens to send you sliding.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?"
You track his reaction even as he releases yet another exasperated sigh at the oft repeated question. His footsteps stop dead.
"Y/n, have I ever given you a reason to doubt me?" he demands, the edges of his mouth faintly upturned.
"No. Not yet."
"Not ever. And the ninja are already busy with our mysterious, destructive 'friends' in the shadows, so why not give them a hand elsewhere?"
You shrug unconvincingly. "I guess."
Before he can reply, you walk past, eyes deliberately on the slippery path ahead. The scenery continues to melt away into a different setting, literally and metaphorically. After the brief section of sludge, the hills below are bright green and every piece of flora and fauna shivers with life, not deadened cold.
A small clump of snow drops across your neck and you shriek, immediately retracting pleasant thoughts of summery weather to shout at the wintry cold still hidden in the trees. Your tirade ceases when you notice Morro's muffled laughter, and you take a closer look at the boughs above. And there, directly above, not a single snowflake in sight.
Wind rushes through your hair and you think to duck out of the way before the next snowball hits you.
"Hey! What do you think you're—"
SMACK!
Another hit, and his laughter bursts free, light and contagious despite your burning irritation. Unfortunately, the return shot flies right through him, causing him to flinch but lacking the effect it would have had on someone more solid.
"Ow! Careful, that stung." At your puzzled expression, he continues with a heavy sigh. "Ghosts can't touch water, it's like the equivalent of a mortal body touching fire or being boiled. Soooo, I would really appreciate it if you would refrain from throwing more slush at me."
"Sorry," you say, unsure of how else to respond. You stare at the ground, hoping to melt into the sludge to escape the burning sensation across your face and ears.
Great going, making a mess out of everything as usual. Now you've actually hurt someone... and of all people you've managed to harm a ghost...
"I'm so sorry, I didn't realize it would hurt you, especially that badly."
Morro studies you for a few seconds before shrugging, perhaps assuring himself of the honesty in your words. "It's nothing." A grin returns to his face. "That just means you can't return fire."
"Oh, well that's real fair."
"So much for being rushed for time. You sure seem to enjoy wasting it."
A splutter breaks through with those words. "You started it! You seem to have a knack for starting things..."
Morro pauses, obviously struggling with whether or not to respond. "Unless you want Ninjago to face an even bigger threat than myself, I suggest we keep moving. It's better that we split up for now, but the ninja might need us later. And I hope you're right about where you recognize that writing, I highly doubt whatever curse is being brought to light is one that will resolve itself."
You sigh, quickening your pace nonetheless, and desperately hope the same.
~~~
"We're almost there."
Silence. Was that faint hum a response, or simply the wind blowing through rough sand and rock formations?
For most of the journey, you busied yourself grumbling internally, mostly towards your fellow adventurer. Aside from shrugged shoulders and a nod or two, Morro hasn't responded once to any form of conversation. If it weren't for the risk of genuinely irritating him, you consider making a remark. Anything to break through the quiet shell of loneliness.
I really wish he were just a little more transparent... Hehe, transparent.
"Is something wrong?"
Almost tripping over your legs, you meet his gaze. "No, nothing. Just thinking."
There it is, another one of those infuriating shrugs.
The air stills around the small cliff faces, too solid and winding for even the more tenacious breezes. Compared to the sharp chaos of the Wailing Alps, it may as well be entirely silent. Not calm though. The adrenaline takes care of that, as you focus on the present quest. The paper you sketched out a perfect copy of the markings onto is tucked neatly into one pocket, crinkling whispers of the secrets it holds and urging your aching feet forward.
"Are you sure?" he presses. The small scroll itself remains tightly gripped in his hand.
"Nope."
"Hm. Is that why you won't stop checking your map or fiddling with the message, then? Or why I can hear your heart just about beating out of your ribs?"
Both of your eyes shoot wide open. "You can seriously tell all that?"
"Of course not. But I can now that you've admitted to it." He laughs faintly at your expression. "Although... there are still a few sensations that can only be perceived by the dead, at least as far as I was told. Some of our more unique traits, even among ghosts."
"Oh? And what might those be? Making sarcastic or grumpy comments every time you're engaged in conversation, or annoying people by your very presence?"
Morro grimaces. "No. In all fairness, none of that is completely my fault. I'm only to blame for the better half of it, although if more people were as nosy as you, they might realize pretty quickly that I barely had a say in my own fate." He strides ahead, leaping down ledges without glancing back. "Both before I died and after. Which is why I've decided to do the best I can to make up for what I've done, and what I could never do."
He smiles slightly, softening his strained expression.
"I'm glad you seem to know where your fate is leading you. Even if that involves following around a bunch of ninja and a ghost. Maybe I was just never good enough at following."
"I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing, or what I'm supposed to be doing," you admit with a laugh. "I guess I'll figure it out along the way." The space in your chest grows hollower at the confession while the pain increases.
"We should get going." Halting, reluctant. "The sun will be setting soon, and the closer we get to our destination, the better."
Morro gestures for you to lead instead and follows behind. You can't hear him, but you can certainly sense his presence, like a dull humming tickling the back of your mind. The feeling lacks the jagged flashes through your consciousness from before, in the clearing. It almost lulls you to sleep, until a sharp glance from your companion snaps you back to reality.
Rocks, rocks, and more rocks, strung about trails of reddish sand. Since the hours long trek, though, the maze is finally thinning out to a barren, pale form that makes up most of the vast deserts across Ninjago. Deserts, naturally, being one of the few and most important biomes for a junior-researcher-archaeologist-in-training such as yourself. Not because of the natural formations themselves; there are a variety of artifacts lost to sand and rock and worn away by weather into smooth stones or even dust themselves.
And also, as Jay cheerfully mentioned to you a couple days before, dark, powerful secrets have a tendency to end up underground. Where they inevitably are unearthed by someone who plans to use them for evil, or surface all by themselves.
"Looks like we're just about there."
Morro stops in his tracks. "This place looks... familiar. Where did you say we were headed exactly?"
"They're a series of tunnels, they used to be used for mining certain raw materials. If I remember correctly, it's also where one of the golden weapons was hidden."
"Hm. I don't recall ever seeing a place with any of that."
You offer a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, I won't get us lost. I may be new at this explorer stuff, but I've got a natural sense of direction. Great instincts."
He raises an eyebrow (ghosts can raise an eyebrow?) and glances away far too quickly and nonchalantly for your liking.
"Hey! I do!"
"Never said you didn't."
"Master Wu says words unsaid speak louder than spoken ones."
A long, weary sigh. "Of course he does."
The rolled up piece of paper, unfortunately, passes through him just as easily as anything else, and bounces down the rocks. Within seconds, the flash of white has vanished entirely.
"Did you just lose our map?"
"...No."
"Are you sure?"
You don't hesitate a moment more to begin sprinting after it, each step a twisted ankle waiting to happen as the stones slide around.
The wind suddenly pushes it even farther out of reach, sweeping it away into the sky and then across the rugged ground.
"Hey! What happened to the wind being on our side?" you shout.
"I don't know!"
He sounds almost panicked, at least far more anxious than ever before in your brief time as cohorts.
"Can't you stop it?"
"I—I can't! My powers aren't doing a thing!"
You feel him drawing alongside you, running silently but steadily.
The trouble with the desert is that even the outskirts never stay still for long. Sure enough, even the largest boulders sway and tip under your feet. You sprint all the faster, nearing the scrap of paper as it drifts across the reddish backdrop.
A shiver spikes down your back in time to your pounding heartbeat.
Ten steps away, then five, then you're reaching down for it amidst shards of rock and sand...
"Y/n, stop!"
A shock of immobilizing cold rushes through your body.
Then the world around you falls away as a chunk of the earth gives out entirely, dropping you with it.