Opening a single eye was enough for the white Pomeranian to realize that she has awoken from her morning nap. Yawning and crawling out of her foggy bed, Cloud instantly hopped onto her owner's bed to wake her up. Except, Harumi wasn't there.
That wasn't really a big shocker for the puppy but in terms of prediction, she wasn't at all surprised. Harumi has been acting funny lately and Cloud would be mad if the other resistance members didn't notice it. All because of that Collin guy who interferes in their lives, whoever he is.
It was no surprise either that she was missing, had she been kidnapped again? Cloud wasn't too sure.....that is, until she spotted a torn up piece of fabric on the side of her bed. Cloud jumped off to examine it further, instantly taking in the scent as she only got closer. Aha, she recognized that scent, who would have thought, that it'll belong to Collin. Was he involved in Harumi's disappearance from her room?
Not feeling too amused with whatever happened while she was a sleeping, Cloud growled and pushed the bedroom room open in order to make her way to the Ninjas' quarters and inform them on the situation.
~~~~~~~~~~
Ninjago city was oddly calm this fine morning as the skies showed no sign of rain interrupting the summer day. Anyone could be out there doing whatever they wanted, play in the parks or hang out with a couple of friends that they haven't seen in so long. However, standing on top of a building and admiring Borg Tower from afar wasn't one of them.
Nervously, the white haired girl along with her friend Collin was seen on the rooftops of a nearby building, they were looking at Borg Tower, that's for sure. But not directly at the walls, their eyes darted down at the front entrance of said place. "Collin....you don't look too good." Harumi finally spoke after blinking for the tenth time this second.
Sighing and crouching down a little, Collin rolled his eyes at her. "I'm fine, Rumi. It's just a scratch." He reassured her, judging by his sheer annoyance, it could be easily deciphered that Harumi had been worried about him the entire trip to be where they were. Then, taking a deep breath to find the right words, she inquired him a simple question: "What even happened?"
It didn't take long for Collin to fix her with a dismissive glare and show a sign that he was about to snarl at her. "Nothing important." He responded very quietly.
That answer meant rejection and a slight tone of ignorance to it. It was clear that Collin didn't want to talk about it and Harumi shouldn't ask too much about it. It was his privacy and she should respect that. That's what she did, she turned away from the boy and bit her lips. "O-Okay and...are you really sure that we should be doing this? It looks dangerous enough." She changed topics upon noticing two oni guards guarding the entrance.
"We'll be fine, trust me." Collin reassured the girl before sitting down and dangling his legs from the roof. He was planning to jump down and Harumi couldn't help but be nervous for all of this after noticing the oni guards. Yet once upon a time, Killow and other SOG members would be the ones guarding that place. She had felt utterly powerless the last few months.
"You didn't tell me why we're here. Come on, tell me." Harumi insisted, getting down at the same level as him except she didn't dangle her feet from the ledge. It was true though, she demanded answers from him.
She wanted to know why she was suddenly called out form her bedroom and asked to come with him. She was a bit appalled honestly to see that they've came back to Borg Tower.
Collin glanced at her for a second then spoke. "We're going to retrieve the realm crystal from the oni." He declared the reason behind their little promenade of theirs much to the shock of the Jade princess. She gasped and shook her head at him. "What? Are you crazy? They're gonna kill us!!" She snapped, even bringing her hand to nudge at his shoulder.
But a simple complaint and insult like that wasn't enough to change his mind. Huffing and without another word, Collin jumped down from the roof and landed easily onto the ground. Luckily, the building wasn't a tall one so anyone with the right training could land without much harm. It also explains why Collin and Harumi were able to spot the oni that easily from a fair enough distance.
But seeing him jump down and not even bother to wait for her down there caused the white haired girl to break down into a chase. "W-Wait!!! Hold on!" She called after her companion, immediately jumping down and winced at the impact of the landing a little. It didn't stop her to run after him though, she tried to catch up...
Seeing him get slaughtered by the oni like that would be...
"Collin....Collin...."
~~~~~~~
Her attempt to wake up Lloyd Garmadon wasn't futile for the boy just wouldn't wake up. The rest of the crew were nowhere else to be seen aside from Nya and Cole who were in the kitchen making breakfast. Easily annoyed, Cloud moves on from the deep sleeper and instantly went out to search for the last person she wanted to ask for help.
The oni lord was found on the deck, his direction was facing towards the view from above the buildings, not really much emotion this fine morning—which was good compared to his performance a few days ago. Cloud ran up to Garmadon, even barked at him in alert a few times.
Meditation, that's what the man was up to. His eyes were shut as he tried to dance along the silence and peacefulness of this bounty....until a certain piece of commotion was heard coming closer and closer and closer....Garmadon's eyebrows narrowed as he intended to concentrate....concentrate....
Cloud's barking only got louder as she figured that she was being ignored by this eccentric man. Usually, the man would have a high tolerance for pets being a royal pain, he knew that Cloud was always around Harumi. Speaking of, where was Harumi anyways? Why was Cloud coming here herself without a companion? It hit to a certain point where his irritation of undergoing through such pain caused him to glare at the puppy.
"What do you want and will you shut up?" He sulked, ready to listen and maybe argue about anything the puppy would have to show. At first, it annoyed Garmadon that the puppy only stood there, continuously barking at him before she raced off at the speed of light. There could be theories that Cloud did that in spite of him not listening to her the first time. But, no one was really too sure.
Garmadon knew that he had no other choice but to follow her. Of course, he had all the authority in the world to ditch the puppy but, with Harumi not being around, it bothered him slightly. Growling and reluctantly, Garmadon followed Cloud into the hallway where he found Harumi's bedroom door opened. His eyes widened slightly as Cloud showed a sign that she wanted him to come inside.
"What happened here? What is the meaning of this?"
He hissed, walking inside of the room and not spotting Harumi inside. So this is what it is, why she was barking and trying to get his attention, he finally understood it now. At the corner of his eye, he could see the white furred puppy nodding at him with a concerned but fierce look.
~~~~~~~~~
It didn't take long for a full panic to break an entire plan. Collin and Harumi, now close to one another, were running for their lives as the two oni guards from the main entrance spotted them and are now chasing after them. Most importantly, they had managed to get inside of the tower.
However, while one of them was amused and delighted with their progress so far, the other was obviously upset about all of this. That person would be Harumi, the Jade princess, who was dragged into this mess with a persuasive request. Still running off from the oni, Harumi whined and tried to outrun Collin. "I told you, this was a bad idea!! Now they're gonna catch us and kill us!" She screeched.
Despite the situation they were in and their lives on the line, Collin had a cheerful smile on his face as he pulled Harumi closer by the arm. "Relax, I see the lift anyways up ahead, they won't catch us!" He reassured her. Even that handsome smile of his couldn't take away the start of flustered pink cheeks from her side.
"O-Okay...I trust you." She whispered back to him, finally letting go of his hand and slowing down a little. Harumi whipped her head back to check on how close the other two guards were getting. She gulped, seeing their small heads in the distance approach them, she could see the blank looks in their eyes, she knew they were getting closer. But looking back was a fatal mistake,
Time had began to slow down for her as her body leaned forward a little. Harumi realized what was happening but knew she couldn't stop what was going on. She was falling, the ground was near. Collin was distancing himself from her, running away peacefully and carefree. She tripped onto the ground and winced as the pain blossomed on her right ankle. She had twisted it and brought herself to stand on her knees, she couldn't move afterwards.
She could only hope that Collin would get away. She would be his decoy, no matter what. "Collin, Collin help." She mumbled to herself as a sign of fear as she saw his happy expression one last time before he turned a corner. Harumi whimpered and brought herself to look back at the guards who instantly stopped in front of her. That was it, they were separated and Harumi was caught.
Transporting her to an empty cell was rather easy with two strong onis lifting up an almost frail body. Harumi didn't fight back, there were two hints to why that is.
First of all, her right ankle was hurting immensely after twisting it like that. She didn't feel like she should move it any longer, she only remained in the two guards' hold.
Second of all, she couldn't resist any further for on her left leg, there was a chain ball attached around it. She gulped once more, digging her nails into one guard's shoulder as she was transported away from the second floor. The basements, that's where they were going and Harumi was not at all pleased with what she saw when they arrived in the cold musk dungeons.
An empty cell with the scent of dried out blood, Harumi recognized it all. She had made not really many good memories here in her time as Lord Garmadon's second in command. But who was she to complain, she was stuck in this cell anyways, no food, no light nor anyone for that matter. Harumi was left on her own for the next twenty five minutes.
That's until, her cell door opened at approximately 1:30PM in the day. Screeching at the bit of light entering her eyes, Harumi sat up from the ground and stared at her visitor. It was an oni, obviously. But not an ordinary one like Garmadon. No, with looks that can kill and the cape behind that oni's back, it was king Omega, ruler of all Onis.
"It's you...you were fighting Garmadon on the bounty a few days ago..." she whispered, practically limping towards the oni. She was more fascinated than scared, she wanted to know more about this man like he was excluded from some history book. Harumi however, didn't receive a welcoming look by him.
Omega's eyes darted down at the pathetic lifeform beneath him. He pushed her away instantly and Harumi ended up on the ground again. With a calm but cold
tone, he reminded her a little of Lloyd's father. "If I have?" Were all onis supposed to be distant from mortals, did they not find them worthy? The jade princess flinched at his answer but didn't lose hope, she knew that it was him and he wasn't trying to mess with her memory.
Without thinking, she attempted to stand back up from the cold stone flooring. "Don't lie to me, what do you want with me?!" She pronounced all of it in a single breath, with beared fangs to say the least.
But even with a threat like that, Omega was not at all threatened, why should he be anyways? He was the king of all Oni and currently took possession of Borg Tower.
Spawning a dark purple dagger from his waist, he aimed and threw it. "No need to get all defensive," he said in a rather hushed tone as he watched his prey whimper and crawl in a ball. "I'd like you to be as silent as possible. It's quite irritating." He remarked and warned her as the scent of fresh blood finally sept in the cell room. He had aimed the dagger at her out of commission leg. Now, she really couldn't walk with that leg.
Harumi gasped in pain and raged, this was hopeless, all so hopeless. Was there a reason? Why did she need to get hurt again? Why?! "O-Omega, trust me, I will escape, you won't hurt Collin, I-I...I'll find him and rescue him..!!" She cursed beneath her breath and shot a pained glare at the king. Again, he was unphased by such a nasty look belonging to the princess. Therefore, with his task of restraining her completed, he felt no need to stay longer than needed.
Seeing him leave despite him being the enemy was still a massive punch to the gut for the girl. It was a painful reminder that she wasn't accepted on any side, that she'd always be alone. Chuckling to herself and lowering down on the ground, Harumi glanced at her injury. "Dammit..." small laughs escaped her almost breathless lips of hers. It wasn't fair, why couldn't she escape pain just this once?
Why couldn't she be the one running away and getting the job done?
Sooner or later, Harumi drifted off to sleep, not having anything else to do for the next few hours seeing that Omega has left her alone.
~~~~~~~~~
She woke up to several noises in the room along with her. They weren't a bother at first but they only got louder. From the cell door creaking and several footsteps that certainly didn't belong to her to sniffling.
Harumi's eyes fluttered open and had the surprise to not see two Oni guards but two allies of hers.
Immediately getting up into a sitting position, she smiled. She was relieved to see her rescuers, were they rescuers of hers? "Cloud, Garmadon, how did you get in here?" She questioned, smiling a bit brighter when Cloud got close to her to lick her cheek. She was honestly relieved that the two of them were able to find her.
Then, she was lifted off of the ground by Garmadon and the chainball was carefully cut off. Cloud, using her muzzle, rolled it over to the side the room.
"We followed your scent, it was all thanks to Cloud, really." Garmadon admitted as he carefully carried the girl in his arms.
She was not at all heavy, which surprised the man the first time, but he knew that he couldn't waste time in their little break-in. The oni had no idea that Garmadon and Cloud managed to get inside of here, let alone manage to get inside of the dungeons. Keeping her arms around the man, Harumi rested her head on his shoulder.
She hummed sadly and pouted, the light of the outside world entering her hollow and sad eyes when they finally leave the tower by the main entrance. Noticing her silence, Garmadon instantly recognized something being wrong. "What's the matter, you're not satisfied, are you?" He had the courage and care to ask such a question. Trotting down below them, Cloud glanced up at Harumi, expecting an answer. She may be a pup, but she understood as well that her owner was feeling a bit under the weather.
Already with the two gnawing at her with these questions, Harumi sighed and shook her head. Her vision was left on the afternoon sky in the meantime, it was if she didn't want to look at the two of them...afraid that they'd judge and...she knew they would with what she had to say next. "I'm worried about Collin, that's all." She admitted to the two of them shortly.
Now, the reactions she received weren't exactly the best ones but she expected them...she wasn't allowed to complain now. Garmadon gave her wide eyes and Cloyd only growled at her. Harumi shook her head to himself, no one had said anything. Oh, but her mind wasn't at all silent. Her lips were sealed, yeah. But her mind had ideas, a calling for justice. A calling...to help Collin.
Shutting her eyes and darting off back to sleep, Harumi vowed. "When I'm healed and alright, Collin, I will save you. Just wait for me, I will save you."
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A/N: Hi hi! Lilla here and thank you for reading this week's chapter! Did you guys think that Collin and Harumi's realm crystal plan was pretty dumb or spectacular, leave your thoughts down below and any form of feedback is highly appreciated anyways!
Actually, it was Jdizzle's birthday last Wednesday and I'd like everyone to just wish her the best of wishes and the best of year, she's a fantastic person and she deserves it greatly!! 🎁 💜
Choice of the Demon Arc is moving smoothly as the puzzle for the story is only starting to piece up now, stay tuned for more chapters to come. That's my author note, I'll be seeing you all in the next chapter, cya!^^