- You -
Lloyd and I were supervising the serpentine as they work on Lloyd's treehouse headquarters. I feel bad for these guys, working their asses off for this. I saw someone trip in their own feet and was about to fall over. I quickly dashed and caught his hand, pulling him back up.
"...T-thankssss." I nodded my head in a 'you're welcome' response.
The Serpentine worked day and night until the base of the treehouse was done. Now, they moved on to the traps.
"If I see one girl in here, except (Y/n), I'm gonna go ballistic." Lloyd stated.
Little did we know, a white ninja was witnessing our construction...
- Kai -
One morning, Zane woke us up, saying that he made a discovery in the near by forest. He said that he had found Lloyd's secret headquarters. We were running through the forest, having Zane lead the way. Then suddenly, he stops.
"So, tell us again how you found Lloyd's secret headquarters?"
"I followed a bird." He answered.
"Why did you follow a bird?" Jay asked.
"Because it's danced."
"Oh. Okay. Was it a cuckoo bird?" He joked, causing us to laugh.
Except for Zane, "of course not. Everyone knows cuckoo birds are not indigenous to these forests." And he went on running.
We just shrugged and continued to follow him. We stopped again and see that Zane was right. There was a high treehouse being held by three giant vines.
"Holy cannoli, Frosty was right!" Cole said, wide eyed.
"We can't let that brat and those snakes get a hold of Ninjago. We have to destroy that thing before it becomes operational." I said.
"Whoa-ho-ho, are you sure?" Jay interjected. "It looks like a pretty good treehouse. There's a ropes course, oh, a tree swing-"
"Hey, remember who's team you're on!" Cole reminded. "Alright, so what do we do?"
"It looks like the entire place is being supported by those three trees. If we cut those tides out, it'll fall like a house of cards."
"Why would one build a house of cards? Such construction could be careless." Said Zane.
"Travel in shadows, boys."
I grabbed on a vine that was tide to the ground and snapped it, flinging me on one of the high floors. Cole went under an elevator and Jay and Zane climb a tree.
We each caught a glimpse of Lloyd and (Y/n) through a window of the treehouse. Lloyd asked one of the snakes to hold a sign that said 'no girls or ninja allowed', he then pulled a lever, and a trapped door opened, making him fall. We set our plan into action, going on the roof. Jay had cut the first vine and Zane got the second, all that was left was for Cole to cut the last one.
Suddenly, I felt a presence behind me. I turned around and I wished I didn't....
- You -
When I felt the fortress dramatically shift I looked up and saw one of the ninja on the roof. I guess Lloyd saw them too when he commanded, "I said no ninja! Attack!" Instead, I heard Scales call retreat as the serpentine were falling. I followed Lloyd's command and run up to the ninja. The red one turn to see me and I could see the guilt in his eyes. I pulled out my double-sided axe, ready to attack. I mouthed, "..I'm sorry...," and take my blow. (This is your axe.)
I try to land a hit but Red keeps blocking me with his sword. I went to take another chance to hit him, but stop dead in my tracks when I heard Lloyd's scream. I run to the edge and see he's trapped in a cage. I watched, completely devasted, as the serpentine take Lloyd away back to their tomb. Damn it! My thoughts were cut off when the treehouse began to shake more violently.
The white and blue ninja joined their 'brother' and I hear the blue one asked, panicked, "where's Cole?!"
Red pointed in his direction saying, "we have to get out of here, this whole place is about to collapse!-"
"No one's going anywhere, not until you go through me!" Cole, the black ninja, threatened swinging his scythe.
He was clearly under Scales control, the four of us stepped back. "Okay, come on now," Blue chuckled. "Friends don't hit friends-" then Cole kicked him across the face, "awh, okay, I'm going to ignore that."
Cole kept swinging and kicking, but missed us by an inch. He then dug his scythe on one of the boards and broke it off, missing his attack on Red. I'm starting to realize that I'm calling them by their suit color until I catch their actual names, but that's not important.
"What are we supposed to do?" Red conferred. "If I use my sword, this place could go up in flames faster than a tinderbox."
"Isn't the anti-venom in the staff?" White recalled.
"Yeah, but the staff is back at the monastery."
Cole took a kick at Red sending him flying on a corner pole, breaking it, and nearly falling over. White caught and flunged him back up on his feet.
"Jay, use your lightning," White instructed. "Try to shock him out of his trance!"
Jay, the blue ninja, followed with the attempt, apologizing to Cole,"sorry, Cole, this is gonna hurt you a lot more than it's gonna hurt me.."
After Jay shocked him, it made Cole even more furious. He sprinted back up and punched Jay off the roof. Luckily, he got hold on a vine and swung up to the floor beneath us. Cole ran up the vine supporting the fortress and was about to cut it. Out of the blue, we heard flute music being played. The tune seemed to have freed Cole from the mind control.
"Huh, where am I? What are we doing?"
"We're getting out of here, because this whole place is coming down!" Nya said.
The remaining ninja took a running start to jump while I stood in my place. The building was shaking, ready to collapse. Red noticed and reached his hand out to me.
"Kid, come on! It's too dangerous to stay here!"
I was stuck debating whether I should go or not. I couldn't think long enough as the building began to fall. I sprinted and jumped, gripping Red's hand. He hoisted me up on their dragon as I witness the treehouse descending into the ground.
"That flute," started Red.
"It cancels their powers." Finished Jay.
"Its as old as the Serpentine themselves. But we must hurry. The monastery's unguarded. Quickly." Said their sensei.
We flew to the monastery and find it in flames. I also see their other dragons trapped in their stables. We land and Cole quickly opens the dragons' stable doors, letting them free.
"Shard, put this out!" Ordered the white ninja. After the dragon put out the fires, the heroes gazed at their no longer home.
"The training equipment, gone..."
"Our video games, gone!"
"They've stolen their staff back."
I look at Red and he seemed completely fed up. He crushes a dirt pebble and points his finger at White.
"If you hadn't followed that silly bird, none of this would've happened!" He accuses.
"Kai.." sensei warned but was cut of by Jay.
"No, sensei, he's right! Because of you, my high score has been DELETED!"
"This is a teaching moment," White tried to reason. "We must learn from this-"
"Teaching moment? What's wrong with you? Don't you get it? Everything is GONE!-oof!"
I was now fed up by these ninja's attitude as I kick Cole in the stomach and shoved the other two away. "That's enough!" I shout at them.
"I strongly agree," said sensei.
As he scolded the ninja, White walked off, so I followed him. "White, wait!"
"(Y/n), what is it?"
"Where are you going? Were you hurt that badly by their words?"
"No, of course not. I saw the falcon, and I want to see where it takes me. By the way, why do you call me 'White'?"
"I just never caught your name yet."
"Oh, well, my name is Zane."
"Pleasure."
"So, where are you headed? Going back to Lloyd?"
"I have to. I gotta protect him and... you know."
"I understand. Good luck!"
"And to you."
We parted ways and followed our own paths. I hope he finds what he's looking for. I make my way back to the snowy mountains. I had a hunch that the serpentine would be there. I look inside the tomb and see a fight happening between the general and Scales. In the end, it was Scales who won,and was given the staff. The general's tail disappeared and turned into legs as the exact opposite happened to Scales. He no longer had legs, but a long tail.
The clan was now chanting his name and he points the staff to the former general, "you will be loyal to me now!"
"I will do as you command," the former general says in defeat.
Scales then turned his head towards Lloyd, "You, leave and never return!"
They untied his hand and let him go. He runs out of the tomb and meets face to face with me. I immediately hug him, thanking my ancestors that he's safe. He hugs back, then later pulls away, and wipes my cheek. It came to my attention that I was crying and felt kind of embarrassed.
"Hey, it's okay. I'm here." He smiles, genuinely.
I feel heat rise on my cheeks. This feeling. Have I felt it before? No, this is much more different...but what?
- Lloyd -
We leave the mountains and find ourselves in the warm desert. I see an abandoned ship in the sand and see the ninja inside, eating cheerfully. I looked at them with a hint of jealousy. I then feel a hand intertwine their fingers with mine. I looked up at (Y/n), who had a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry, I have enough money to buy us food for tonight."
I gazed at her jaw dropped. I've never heard her talk until now. She just giggles at my reaction and closes my mouth with her hand. (Y/n) then pulls me forward and we walked away to a nearby town. My mind processes and comes to realization. She actually talked and laughed! I feel my face heat up. What's going on with me?