The Bounty arrived at the Never-Realm but crashed into the snow. I jerked as I held onto my seat.
We flipped around a couple times and harshly crashed, upside down now.
Lloyd groaned "Everyone okay?"
"Great, now I know how my socks feel in the dryer." The earth ninja replied.
"Cole, don't get sick. We literally just arrived." I frowned. We all unbuckled our seatbelts and landed on our feet except Kai and Jay fell. My brother groaned "I'm not liking this Realm so far."
"Me...Uhg. Neither." The fire ninja agreed.
Nya pressed a button on one of the computers and it beeped. She turned to us and shrugged "We're off the map. Coordinates unknown."
"Looks like we made it" Cole sighed. "From what Master Wu said, getting here isn't the hard part. It's getting home." Lloyd said and looked around frantically "The Traveler's Tea?"
Cole looked down and grabbed it. Lloyd nods "Good. Whatever happens, don't-"
The Bounty slightly rumbled and I gasped as I stumbled from the movement.
"What was that?" Jay asked while clinging to Kai. Lloyd looked out the windows and gasped "Oh no."
"What? What is it?" Jay asked and started to approach.
"No, don't!" Lloyd tried to warn but the Bounty rumbled again. "We have the get out of here!" Nya exclaimed. "Now!"
We all quickly exited and I looked behind me, seeing the Bounty fall off and Cole barely made it. My eyes widened "Cole!" I dashed over and held my hand out to the earth ninja.
"Grab my hand!"
He looked up to me and took my hand, I helped pull him up. My brother scoffed "Worst parking spot ever."
Cole walked away as he checked for something "I thought for a sec..." He gasped "Oh no!"
"What?" Jay asked.
"The Traveler's Tea. It...It's gone!"
Jay scoffed "Well that's just great! That's awesome! Now we're stuck on a mountain in the middle of a blizzard with no vehicle, no supplies and no way back!"
The fire ninja groaned "How could you drop it?"
"Enough!"
The group looked at me as I glared at both Kai and Jay. "It isn't Cole's fault. We nearly fell off a cliff...Besides, I can travel through realms. We have a way back."
Lloyd sighed "Asteria's right. It isn't Cole's fault for losing it." He turned to the water ninja "Nya, anything on the tracker?"
She pulled out the tracker and looked at it for a moment, she frowned "Nothing. No signal."
My brother exclaimed "Oh, of course not. That would be too easy. That would give us hope!"
The earth ninja frowned "So what do we do?"
"We need to get off this mountain before we all freeze to death" Lloyd replied.
~~~
I walked with the others as I had formed my Dragon features away. I didn't want the people in this realm to either attack me or feel panicked.
We walked in a forest and I glanced around cautiously. Cole shivered "I'm so cold."
I tilted my head as Kai tried to use his fire, I frowned. I held my hand out and summoned a fire on it "Here. I can help."
"How are you not cold?" Lloyd asked while the five of them surrounded around the fire on my hand. I shrugged "I'm not sure...Might be apart of my Dragon ability? I know some Dragons are resistant to the cold."
I heard the sound of growling and we all looked, a few wolves starting to approach us. My brother gasped and Lloyd yelled "Run!"
We quickly dashed off, I looked behind me to see the wolves gaining up on us. I pulled out a smoke bomb and threw it as it activated and smoke blocked the wolves's vision.
~~~
I panted with the others as we finally got at a good distance away from the wolves.
"Did we...Did we lose them?" Kai asked. I sighed "Yeah. We did..."
Lloyd sighed "Okay. Let's keep going before they find us." He walked off and I followed everyone.
We came to a stop and my eyes widened, seeing people trapped in ice. The earth ninja gasped "What happened to them?"
"Looks like they've been...Frozen" Nya walked to one of the frozen people. I frowned.
"Frozen by what?" Cole asked. I heard the tracker beep and Nya pulled it out. "Lloyd! I just picked up a faint signal. From the mech!"
"Where?" Cole asked urgently. Nya looked at the tracktor again and pointed right "That way. Due east."
"Wait, what about these people?" My brother asked. "We can't just leave them like this."
Lloyd put a hand on Jay's shoulder "There's nothing we can do for them now. We don't even know what happened."
I spoke "We'll come back. But right now, we need to move. It's getting dark."
~~~
We followed Nya as she held the tracktor "The signal's very faint. Must be some interference or something."
"Maybe it's the cold" Cole guessed. I shrugged. I heard the noises of growling and we turned to it, met with a few wolves starting to approach.
"Oh, great!" Nya exclaimed sarcastically. "I'm getting a little tired of this!" Kai growled. "Yeah, I think I'm done running. What do you say, guys?" Cole looked at us.
I held my fists up "I say we take them down. They won't stop coming after us."
"Here they come!" Jay said and we pulled our ninja hoods up. The wolves ran at us and Lloyd yelled while summoning his green power "Let 'em have it!"
I was back to back with Nya as I used lighting and fire off my hands. "Nya, use your powers!" Kai exclaimed. "I'm trying but nothing's happening!" Nya told her brother.
"It's all frozen!"
I was then tackled by a wolf.
"Asteria!" The others yelled. My eyes widened as I held the wolf by its snout to keep it away from trying to eat me. I moved my head away but it clawed my face, my hood tearing and my skin started to bleed.
I growled and arrows shot at the wolves all around. The wolf on me jumped off and ran off with its friends. I sat up and pulled my teared ninja hood down as I looked up, seeing three hunters standing on a small hill looking down at us.
The female gestured for us to follow as Nya helped me stand. "Are you okay?" She asked and I nod "Yes. I'll heal quickly, don't worry."
~~~
We arrived at a small village and the three hunters led us to a small home, one opened the door and an elderly sat at the fire. She looked at us and smiled "Come, come. Warm yourselves."
We gathered around the fire as we thanked the woman. She seemed to notice the bloody scratch on my cheek. "Oh my, you are hurt."
I looked "Huh? Oh, yes. I'll be fine though."
She shook her head "No you won't. It'll become infected and not heal. Come here so I can treat that for you, dear."
I listened and walked over, taking a seat next to the woman as she started to tend to my scratch wound.
Nya spoke "Who are you? What is this place?"
"This is my home" the woman smiled. "I am Sorla, of the People on Great Lake. Who are you? Where do you come from?"
She finished tending to my injury and I spoke "We come from somewhere called Ninjago. We are looking for a friend."
The hunters nearby murmured to eachother.
Lloyd nods "His name is Zane."
"Oh, we have seen no one for many years" Sorla said. "We are the last tribe on the ice. The others have all fled south and soon, we too must go. The cold grows too strong. The ice, too thick. But perhaps, Sorla can help."
She grabbed a small bowl "Look into the hearth fire." She threw something in it and the fire turned green. "Tell me again, the name of your friend?"
"Zane." Lloyd replied. "And the place from which he came?" Sorla asked. "Ninjago" Nya said.
Sorla closed her eyes "Show us spirits of the earth, spirits of the lake...Show us the fate of Zane from Ninjago."
I watched as smoke erupted from the fire to reveal a palace of some sort. I narrowed my eyes, not liking the look of that.
The hunters gasp "The Emperor! The Castle of Ice!"
Sorla frowned "I...I am sorry for your loss." She says while the fire went back to normal. "What do you mean?" Lloyd asks.
"You cannot save your friend" Sorla's eyes saddened as she stood "He has been taken prisoner by the Ice Emperor. For decades, he has ruled this realm, crushing all who stand in his way. His Ice Castle is on the other side of the mountains."
"A bitter, foul place where the ice is corrupt. A place we do not go."
I stood "Can you show us the way to this Ice Castle?"
"You cannot!" Sorla exclaimed. "It is too cold! The ice there is evil. Dark ice! No one goes there but the Emperor and his Blizzard Samurai. And they are inhuman."
"Only a fool would go there. Your friend is lost" Sorla turned away. I walked over to the others and set a hand on Lloyd's shoulder. I nod at him.
Lloyd looked at Sorla "I refuse to believe that. Zane is strong. I know him. And he would never give up on us, and we're not gonna give up on him!"
Cole smiled and chimed in "Yeah! And if you think we're not fools, you got another thing coming."
Nya smirked and looked at Sorla "Ninja never quit."
She turned to us "All of you speak as one?"
I smiled and nod as Lloyd replied "We speak as one."
"Your friend is very fortunate" Sorla smiled. "But be warned. The Emperor's general Vex, sees many things. The Dark Ice serves him. If he knows you are here, he will warn the Emperor."
"Vex?" Lloyd asked.
"He will send his Samurai" Sorla said, panicked. "They feel nothing. They fear nothing. They will come for you."
I approached and gently held Sorla's hands "It'll be okay, Sorla. I promise you that."
She smiled "I do hope so."