Mmmf...
These blankets are actually pretty warm... even though... this is kinda my prison bed.
"Mm... mm... mm... mm..."
I almost wish I could sleep forever but... I can't let myself be that vulnerable in an enemy base. Naturally, I reluctantly rose up and out of the foreign bed.
Quickly, I glanced at the clock, apparently it's four in the morning? "Maybe I should yawn go get some intel on the Kunoichi while everyone's sleeping."
Someone's groggy voice brambled out of the darkest corner of my room. "Or maybe you should be quiet while everyone's sleeping, eh Nya?"
"Huh? Who's there? I've got a..." I quickly glanced around the well-decorated room before snatching an object off the nightstand and brandishing it against this intruder. "I've got a... lamp and I'm not afraid to use it!"
The person who was hiding in the shadows yawned a bit. "It'll take more than a lamp to beat me, Nya."
Wait I know that voice..!
"Ronin? What are you doing here? Get out!"
My uninvited guest sauntered out of a chair he had been resting on in the corner of my room, a cocky smile plastered on his face. "Aww and I thought you'd be happy to see me after our little tussle with the Kunoichi got us separated."
Ronin looked unharmed, a fact that I might have to change in a minute if he doesn't have a good reason for being in here. His outfit had changed from the last time I saw him, he was now wearing a simple white tshirt and jeans, a more casual look compared to his old armored clothes. Aside from that, he looked like his same old, obnoxious self, adorned with a straw hat I had seen him wearing a few times before.
"Hm... nope. Not even a little bit." I countered. "What happened to you and Skylor after the Kunoichi attacked?"
Free said that... you were offered a proposition... I guess she meant that you're working with them too.
Ronin pulled his wooden chair out of the shadows up to my bedside. "Well... when I woke up, Skylor and I were separated and the purple girl, Free, she had me tied up and was interrogating me."
So I guess she wasn't lying about the interrogation... so I guess Skylor is most likely alright too. If Kai were here, I bet he'd be overjoyed.
"What was she asking you about?"
"The ninja, you, me, Skylor. The basics." She knew... a lot of the information I told her though... it was ugh... embarrassing. Those girls are smart and dangerous Nya, I'd suggest you stay on their good side."
"So you just gave away our information?"
"It wasn't like that, Nya. Free is just... very persuasive."
"So you let her trick you because she's pretty?"
"I never said that! I said she's persuasive, they all are!" Ronin leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms in anger. "Look, a lot of the stuff I told them, they apparently already knew. If you're gonna leave this room to go "get some intel", then I suggest you do it as carefully as possible."
"Nice to know you care." I leapt out of my bed, and began heading towards the door but something was bugging me. "You still gonna be here when I get back?"
"I might." Ronin tilted his hat over his eyes, blocking every part of his face aside from a small, sly smile.
I sent my own smile his way before opening and dashing out the door to my room.
It's good to know he's alright but I've got bigger fish to fry. But where should I even start? Well... I've seen all there is to see of the Arena... and I can't risk snooping around their rooms. I doubt Free would let me just walk out of this place and I have no idea which floor the exit's on anyway. But wait... I think there was a computer in the Conference Room. I'll have to take the stairs, obviously...
Quickly, I tiptoed past the various bedrooms of the Kunoichi out and over to a doorway that led to the stairwell.
There were several flights of stairs going in both directions: up and down. "Okay... I'm on the second floor right now. Going up a couple floors should bring me to the training arena but... wait... no that can't be right. That elevator... it felt like it was bringing us down when we were traveling to the training arena from the Conference Room and then... we were going up from the Arena up here."
Ugh... Free must've tricked me when she gave me the floor numbers. But... I know for certain this floor must be above-ground considering that there was sunlight coming from Wake's room. And now that I think about it... there's no way that that huge arena could be above ground, let alone on the fourth floor of a building.
"I guess it doesn't matter which way I go, up or down." Downwards would probably take me to a basement area while upwards would take me further up in this building...
"Maybe I can get to the roof if I keep traveling up..."
With a decision made, I surged up the stairs, as quickly and quietly as possible. The grey, stone stairwell had me missing my beautiful prison cell bedroom, the huge arena, and even the Conference Room I had awoken in.
Okay looks like there's only one more flight left!
Excitedly, I smashed through the door and was instantly greeted by a couple of old friends!
"Sunlight! Fresh air! Oh how I've missed you!" My deduction was absolutely correct! From what I can tell, this was the roof of an average-sized building in a city... somewhere!
I'll have to get more details later but... I'm probably still in New Ninjago City.
I twirled about my wonderland for a bit before a sound caught my attention.
"Nya? What are you doing up here?"
"K-Kayde!"
The Kunoichi with a dragon tail stared blankly at me for a moment. I hadn't noticed her at first because she was leaning against a vent on the roof, her slender-ish figure hidden by the sunlight's glare.
"Are you planning an escape from here using your Elemental Dragon?"
Hm... that's odd. The Kunoichi know everything else about me and yet... this girl doesn't know that I can't summon a dragon yet. Maybe I should play along. She seems weaker than the others, maybe I can get some information out of her.
"Well um... yeah! So I suggest you step out of my way before I use my dragon to... blow you up!" I struggled through my threat, as I don't really know much about dragons, aside from Flame, Kai's old dragon.
"Whoa! No need to get nasty! W-We're friends, here!"
"Friends don't kidnap each other." I growled, brandishing a water orb in the palm of my hand.
"I wasn't the one who kidnapped you." She sighed. "I don't really want anything to do with them but... it feels like I don't have a choice considering my past..."
"Your past?"
Kayde seemed to flinch under my gaze, she turned back, glaring at her tail. "I've probably said a whole lot more than I should have already, I'm not about to tell you anything about my past."
Ugh... and I was so close...
"Look, escaping from the Kunoichi is a bad idea. They know your friends, they know where to find you, and they're all crazy strong."
She's not wrong about any of that but.... in that case they're all in danger, no matter what I do. Kai, Jay, Cole, Zane, Lloyd, Wu, Misako..! All of them! I should've told them about the Kunoichi earlier but... ugh.
My voice rushed from my throat like a raging waterfall. "In that case, my friends are in danger and you holding me here isn't going to help!" I stepped closer and closer to Kayde, hoping to scare her into submission. "I need answers about the Kunoichi! And if you don't tell me, I swear I'm gonna-"
Huh?
My attention jumped to the cold, wet feeling in my hand. The orb of water I had summoned... had popped completely for some reason!
"Huh? What did you do?" I stammered, sending a glare at the dragon girl.
"Nothing!" Kayde's tail pointed to the sky, with her hand pointing at me. "Wait... you don't have full control over your element!"
"Wh-What? Of course I do! I've unlocked my True Potential, I have my dragon, I can-"
"Your anger messed up your elemental flow! You may have your True Potential, but there's no way you can summon your dragon!" Kayde's tail pounded the ground, smashing hard into the stone roof. "So you lied to me, oh your definitely gonna pay for that, Nya!"
Ohhh man! And just when I thought I had my powers under control..! I don't even know Kayde's element of any of her skills! For me to fight her... I'd need at least a little bit of information!
The white tattoo of a dragon glistened on Kayde's arm and her whole body seemed to tense up with rage; the angry glare of her grayish-brown eyes became more draconic.
"Hm... you're gonna fit in with this group of thieves, criminals, and monsters! But only if you can survive... this!"
Kayde charged at me at an alarming pace, her footstomps crashing into the stone below her thanks to my stupid decision earlier, she'd close the gap between us in only a matter of seconds!